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

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

TERMING AS unfortunate theOctober3incidentinLakhimpurKheri which led to the death ofeight people — including fourfarmersandalocaljournalistaf-ter a vehicle in the convoy ofUnion Minister of State AjayMishraranoverprotesters—theSupremeCourtThursdaysoughta status report from the UttarPradesh government on the ac-cused named in the FIR andwhethertheyhadbeenarrested.A bench, headed by Chief

Justiceof IndiaNVRamanaandcomprising Justices Surya KantandHimaKohli,directedthatthematter be listed Friday afterSenior Advocate Garima

Prashad, appearing for the UPgovernment, said the statewillfileastatusreportwithalldetailsandsoughtaday’s time for this.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SEVENCIVILIANSKILLED IN5DAYS

Takenaside, IDschecked, shot;DGPsaysbid todisruptharmony

Jammu teacher who loved Srinagar, aprincipal’s first day at school in new car

The shift: Off radar, small arms, civilian targetsDEEPTIMANTIWARY&NAVEEDIQBALNEWDELHI, SRINAGAR,OCT7

INWHAT isbeing seenby secu-rity agencies as a shift in theirstrategy,militants have in 2021targeted civilians and,more re-cently,membersof theminority

community in JammuandKashmir.Almostallcivilian killings havebeen carried out bynewly recruited terror-ists or those about tojoin the ranks, usingpistols, po-lice said.Ofthe28civilianskilleduntil

October 7 this year, sevenwere

non-Muslims, includ-ing two Hindu out-siders and five localHindus and Sikhs.Duringthesameperiodin 2020, 37 civilians

werekilled,andin2019,asmanyas39civilians.Policeofficersattributedthis

to the “frustration of terrorist

handlers” following a destruc-tion of their support structuresandeffectivemaintenanceof lawand order. There is a new chal-lenge, though. “Unlike full-timemilitants who gomissing fromtheirvillagesoradvertisethem-selves on socialmedia and thusendupfiguringonmilitant lists,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

BASHAARATMASOOD&DEEPTIMANTIWARYSRINAGAR,NEWDELHI,OCT7

MARKING A disquieting newpatterninviolence intheValley,suspected militants Thursdayshot dead a woman principaland a teacher in their govern-ment school in Srinagar — tak-ingtoseventhenumberofcivil-ians killed by militants in fivedays. Of the seven, four, includ-ing the twoteachers,were fromminoritycommunities.OnThursday,shortlyafter11

am, militants arrived at theGovernment Boys’ HigherSecondary School Sangam inSrinagar’s Eidgah neighbour-hood and separated the princi-pal, Supinder Kaur, a Sikh fromBeerwahvillageinBudgam,andher teacher colleague, DeepakChand, a Hindu from Jammu,

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ARUNSHARMA&BASHAARATMASOODJAMMU,SRINAGAR,OCT7

ATEACHERwhowouldalwaysin-vitehisrelativesinJammutovisitSrinagar, pointing to the “good

weather”and“verygoodpeople”.AndaprincipalfromhisschoolinSrinagarwhohadtakenhernewcartoworkforthefirsttime.Thesewere the two victims

ofThursday’sattackbymilitantsattheGovernmentBoys’HigherSecondarySchool inSrinagar.

In Jammu, at the home ofDeepakChand,histwo-year-olddaughter Rajni walks up to hermotherasgrief-ladenwailsrendthe air. She can’t understandwhysomanypeoplehavegath-ered, andwhy hermother and

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Summons for today forMishra’s son, two aidesheld; UP sets up probeAVANEESHMISHRA&APURVAVISHWANATHLUCKNOW,NEWDELHI,OCT7

THE LAKHIMPUR Kheri policehave summoned Union MoS(Home)AjayMishra’ssonAshishMishra, who is accused inSunday’sviolenceinwhicheightpeoplewerekilled,forquestion-ing at the district reserve policelinesonFriday.AshishaliasMonuistheonly

accused named in complaintsfiledwith police. Two of AshishMishra’s associates, AshishPandeyandLuvkushRana,were

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Terror targetsminorities inValley:Principal, teacherkilled inschool

AtSupinderKaur’shomeThursday.ShewaslivinginSrinagarforthepast10years.ShuaibMasoodi

Notice isputupatMishra’shouse.Vishal Srivastav

PANDORAPAPERS –PART5AN INVESTIGATION BY

THEINDIANEXPRESSWITHINTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS

Sandesara formed6 offshore firms toexpand oil trade

after fleeing IndiaKHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,OCTOBER7

IN 2017-18when investigatingagencieswerebusyprobingcrim-inal cases against NitinSandesaraandhisgroupSterlingBiotech for analleged bank loanfraudofover$2.1bil-lion,Sandesara,whohad fled India, wasbusy collecting char-acter certificates fromNigerian banks and solici-torstofloatastringofcompaniesintheBritishVirginIsland(BVI)toexpandhis oil business, PandoraPapersrecordsinvestigatedbyThe

IndianExpressshow.“WeconsiderNitin Jayantilal

Sandesaraasbeingfinanciallyre-liableandofgoodmoralstandingfromourdealingswithhim,”saidUnion Bank of Nigeria Plc in aFebruary 2018 reference let-ter to Fidelity CorporateService Ltd. Anotherletter of March 2018from Nigerian lawfirm EI Alosiba & Cosaid, “We haveknown NitinSandesara for 15 years

andthathehasnevertothebestofourknowledgeandbelief,been involved in bankruptcy,criminalorsimilarproceedings.”

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Post-Ranbaxy, Singhbrothers, now in jail,opened 2 offshore firmsSANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

IN JANUARY 2009, just sixmonths after the family sold its34.8 per cent stake in RanbaxyLaboratoriestoJapanesepharmamajorDaiichiSankyoforaround

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

THEFIFTHLIST

PAGE8

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

FARMLAWCRITICSOUT INBJPREJIGMISHRACASEDIARYPAGES7, 12

Lakhimpur Kheri: SCsays unfortunate, asksUP for arrest status

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

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LakhimpurKheri:HowfarmleaderRakeshTikaitbecameasaviourfor theUPgovernmentIndianExpress’BhupendraPandeyexplainswhytheUPgovernmentropedinfarmleaderRakeshTikaitafter theLakhimpurKheri incident,andhowhemanagedtobecomeasaviour for them

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J&K schooland fired at them from point-blankrange.Therewerenostudentsinthe

schoolandteachershadcomeforonlineclasses.Recallingthehorror,ateacher

said:“Someofusweresittingonthe school lawn when a carstopped. Three-fourmen cameout and asked for our identitycards. Then they took the twoteachersasideandshotthem."Jammu and Kashmir DGP

Dilbag Singh said the targetedkillingofcivilians,particularlymi-norities,isaimedatcreatinganat-mosphereof fear anddamagingcommunalharmony. “It is anat-tempttotargetthelocalethosandlocalvalues.Itisanattempttogiveitacommunalcolour,”hesaid.In Delhi, Union Home

MinisterAmit Shahheld ahigh-level security reviewon J&Kandthe killings. It was attended byNSA Ajit Doval, chiefs of theIntelligence Bureau, Research&AnalysisWing,theBSF,CRPF,andUnion Home Secretary AjayBhalla,amongothers.Additional Secretary

(Kashmir) PiyushGoyal left forSrinagaronThursday.J-KLtGovernorManojSinha,

whowastovisitDelhionFriday,islikelytostayoninSrinagar.At a press conference, Sinha

said the administration didn'thaveany“specific”intelligencein-putontheattack.“Anincidenthashappened and responsibility isours. I accept that.Wehavehelddetaileddiscussionswithsecurityforces,”hesaid.Top J-K Police andparamili-

taryofficersvisitedthespot.DGPSingh said they had some cluesabout previous civilian killingsandwould trackdown themili-tantsinvolvedintheschoolattack.OnThursday,inanunverified

statement, TheResistance Front(TRF),which,policesay, isanoff-shootoftheLashkar-e-Toiba(LeT),claimedresponsibility.TheValleyhasseenaspurt in

targetedkillingsofcivilians.OnOctober 2,militants shot

dead Majid Ahmad Gojri andMohammadShafiDarinseparate

incidents in Srinagar. The TRFclaimedresponsibilityfor,sayingthetwowereworkingforpolice.OnTuesday,prominentbusi-

nessmanandKashmiriPanditMLBindroo, a street vendor fromBihar, Virendar Paswan, andtransporterMohammad ShafiLonewerekilledinseparateinci-dentsinSrinagarandBandipore.While theTRFagain claimed

responsibilityforthekillings, theIslamicStatereleasedavideosay-ingithadkilledthestreetvendor.The J-K government has

started identifyingoutsiders liv-ingintheValleyandmovedsomemigrantteachersandPanditlead-erstosecureaccommodation.Mainstreampolitical leaders

condemned Thursday killings.“Wordsofcondemnationarenotenough... but I pray for the soulsof thedeceasedtorest inpeace,"tweeted National ConferenceleaderOmarAbdullah.Said PDP chief Mehbooba

Mufti:“Disturbingtoseethedete-riorating situation in Kashmirwhere aminusculeminority isthe latest target. GoI's claims ofbuildingaNayaKashmirhaveac-tuallyturneditintoahellhole.”"Terrorism has neither

stoppeddue to demonetisationnoraftertheabrogationofArticle370 ,” Congress leader RahulGandhisaid.Said Jammu and Kashmir

Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari:“Any further delay in the revivalofgrassrootsdemocracywillonlylead us tomayhem,whichwehavestartedwitnessing.”Said CPI(M) leader

Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami:"Kashmiri Pandits andSikhs arepartandparcelofthelocalsharedhistory, and cultural ethos.ProtectingthepluralisticvisageofJ&Kmust be the top agenda ofeveryKashmiri.”PeoplesConferencechairper-

sonSajadLonetweeted:“...ThisisalunaticfringewhichisacurseforKashmir..”BJP’sJ&KspokespersonAltafThakursaidthekillingofun-armed teachers is “purely an in-humanact”.The Ministry of External

Affairs condemned the attack.SpokespersonArindamBagchisaid: “It is targeted killing.Weareworriedaboutcross-borderterrorism.”

(WITHPTI)

Jammu teachergrandmotherarecrying.Just lastweek, Chand had

cometoJammutodrophiswifeanddaughter homebefore re-turning to theValley. “Around7.30pmWednesday, he calledhis elder brother,who is a taxconsultant, to sayhewill comehomeonAshtami (the eighthdayofNavratra).Healso spoketohisauntandinvitedhertovisitKashmir,” said Chand’s cousinVickyMehra,acontractor.Less than 24 hours later,

Chandwas shot bymilitantswhoalso killed SupinderKaur,theprincipalathisschool.“Deepakused to call every-

bodyinthefamily,askingthemtovisitKashmir.Heused to tellus there is nothing to fear, thatthe people are very good, theweather is goodand that thereis no tension,’’ saidMehra. “Hehadbeen teaching inKashmirfor four years followinghis ap-pointmentunderthePM’sem-ploymentpackageforPandits.”Apart fromRajni, Chand is

survived by hiswife Aradhnaandmother Kanta. “His father

LalChanddiedlastyear.Othersinthe family include his elderbrotherKamalMehraandamar-riedsister,”saidthecousin.In Srinagar’s Aloocha Bagh

neighbourhood,Kaur’s sister-in-law said shehad takenher newcartoschoolforthefirsttime.“Shehad been learning to drive forthreeyears,"shesaid.Kaur’s daughter Jasleen, a

Class VII student, said she hadspokentoheronphone.“Iwasat-tendingmyonline classes. Andwhen I called again, no one an-sweredthecall,”shesaid.Hailing fromBudgam, Kaur

movedwith husbandRamreshPaul Singh, and their daughterandson,whoarestudentsatDelhiPublicSchool-Srinagar,tothislo-calityaboutadecadeago.Singh, whose parents stay

with the family, works in theJammuandKashmirBank. Kaur"used to treat everymember ofthis localitywith respect”, theneighboursaid.AtChand'shome, thesorrow

was soon overtaken by anger."Youmaykillus,butIwanttotellyouthatwearenotafraidofyou,’’saidMehra,thecousin.

The shiftthesepart-timersare largelyun-dertheradarandthusdifficulttotrack,”apoliceofficersaid.DGP, J&K, Dilbag Singh, told

The Indian Express thatnearly allciviliankillingsthisyearwerecar-ried out using pistols and these“weaponswerebroughtinusingdrones fromacross the border”.Healsosaidthemajorityof civil-iankillingshavebeencarriedoutunder the banner of TheResistance Front “although themilitantsinvolvedintheincidentsbelongtoHizbandLashkar.”KashmirIGPVijayKumarsaid,

"Due tokillingof hugenumbers

ofterroristsofalloutfits,speciallytheirleadership,terroristhandlershave started targetingunarmedpolicemen, politicians andnowinnocent civilians fromminoritycommunitiesincludingwomen.”According to him, in some

cases, Over Ground Workers(OWGs) were found to be in-volved. “Policeare identifyingallsuchpart-timeorhybrid terror-istsandstrictactionwillbetakenagainstthem,”VijayKumarsaid.An officer in the security es-

tablishment said thekillings co-incidedwith an influx of smallfirearmsintheValleyfromacrosstheborderandincreasedinfiltra-tionsince Julydespite thecease-fire between India andPakistanholdingup.OnThursday,theBSFinterceptedaconsignmentoffourpistolsandeightmagazinesattheJammuborder.An officer in the security es-

tablishment said the forcepres-ence in theValley is back topre-August 5, 2019. This reducedpresence and an influx of smallarms, havemade it easy for ter-roriststoattacksofttargets.“Thereis a concerted effort fromacrossthebordertotargetnon-Muslimresidents to communalise theValley.Apartofitisalsoareactionto a portal launched to helpKashmiri Pandits lodge com-plaintsaboutforcedsaleofprop-ertyduringthepeakofmilitancyintheValley,”theofficer,whodidnotwishtobenamed,said.Of the 28 civilians killed, the

highest – nine – are in Srinagar.Awantiporahasthesecondhigh-est at five, and Anantnag andSoporedistrictsfoureach.“AfterAugust2019,therewas

aloomingfearoflocalslosingsolerightsoverjobsandland…OveradozenlocalBJP leadershavealsobeenkilled.Buttherecentattacksseemtohavebeencarriedoutto

sendamessage thatPanditsandoutsiders are notwelcome andthatthisafightfortherightsoflo-calresidents,"saidanothersecu-rityestablishmentofficer.

SC hearing“Also(include)thedetails.We

heard that eight persons died,some of them farmers, one ofthema journalist...We need toknow who are the accusedagainst whomyou have regis-tered FIR andwhether youhavearrestedthemornot.Pleasestatethat in the status report,” JusticeSuryaKanttoldthecounsel.As per the cause list

Wednesday, thematterwasreg-istered “by court’s ownmotion”indicating that it had taken suomotucognizanceof theincident.However, the CJI clarified

Thursday that it had not takencognizancesuomotubutdirectedthat the letter addressed bylawyersShivKumarTripathiandCSPandaberegisteredasaPIL.“Ithink there is a communicationproblem,”saidtheCJI.Appearing before the bench

whichheardthematterviavideoconferencing, Tripathi said: “Ihope the courtwill consider itveryseriously.”The counsel argued there

were human rights violationshappening “in this country andUP” and the state hadnot takenanystepstoassuagefarmers.CJI Ramana then askedhim:

“Why (have) you filed this letterpetition?”Tripathirespondedthatitwas

“filed for directing the respon-dents to register the FIR againstthose involved”. He added thatthe “farmers are suffering and(were)alsoafraidofgovernment”.TheCJIaswellasJusticeKohli

pointedouttohimthatpolicehadalreadyregisteredanFIR.

The bench then turned toPrashadwhosaid:“Itwasanun-fortunate incident.” The benchsaid it was in agreement withwhat she said. “Wealso feel thesameway.Eightpeoplelosttheirlives,”remarkedtheCJI.PrashadaddedthatanSIThad

alreadybeenconstitutedandtheentireincidentwouldbeproperlylookedintoif thecourtpermits.“Thegrievanceisthatyouare

not properly investigating andregisteringtheFIR.What(do)yousayonthat?”askedtheCJI.Prashadrepliedthatthestate

had set up a Commission ofInquiryunderaretiredHighCourtjudge to probe the incident andthatshewouldplacealldetailsbe-forethebenchFriday.TheCJIthenaskedPrashadto

update thecourtonthestatusofthePILfiledbeforetheAllahabadHCinthisconnection.Duringthehearing, thecourt

was also informed that themother of Lovepreet Singh, oneof the farmers killed, is in a criti-cal condition due to shock overthelossofherson.Thebenchdirected the state

to provideher immediatemed-icalassistance.

Mishra’s sonarrestedonThursdayafterpoliceestablished their involvement inSunday'sincidents.Four farmerswere killed in

LakhimpurKheriaftertheywerehit by a cavalcadeof three SUVs,includingoneownedbyMinisterAjayMishra.Four other individualswere

killedintheviolentincidentsthatfollowed.TwoseparateFIRswereregis-

teredatTikoniapolicestation:oneonacomplaint byBahraich resi-dent Jagjit Singh against Ashish

and15-20others on charges in-cludingmurder and rioting; an-otherbyoneSumitJaiswalagainstunidentifiedpersons for rioting,causingdeathbynegligence,andmurder.Balendu Gautam, station

houseofficerofTikoniapolicesta-tion, said one of the FIRs wasbasedonthecomplaintbyfarm-ers.“During the investigation of

the Sunday incident that tookplaceunderTikuniapolicestationarea of Kheri, so far six accusedotherthannamedaccusedAshishMishrahavebeenidentified.Outofthesesix,threediedatthespot.Out of the remaining four ac-cused, twoidentifiedasLuvkushandAshishPandeyhavebeenar-rested on Thursday,” ADG (LawandOrder) PrashantKumar saidin a statement on Thursdayevening.AshishMishra has been di-

rected to provide all facts in hispossession about the FIR regis-tered in the case, and has beenasked tobepresent at theCrimeBranch office of the district re-serve police lines at 10 am onFridaytoprovidewritten,verbal,material, or electronic evidence,thestatementsaid.Ateamofforensicexpertshad

onWednesday recovered twoempty cartridges of .315 borefromavehiclethatwasatthespot.The crime scenewas again in-spectedwithmetal detectors onThursday.IG (Lucknow range) Laxmi

SinghtoldTheIndianExpressthatthemenwhowere arrested onThursdayhadbeenfoundtohavebeenpresentinvehiclesthatwerepart of the cavalcade that al-legedlyhitthefarmers.Sumit Jaiswal, the com-

plainantinoneoftheFIRs,toowaspresentinoneofthevehicles,andhadbeenservednotice forques-tioning,Singhsaid.Sumithadnotpresentedhim-

selfatthepolicestationtorecordhis statement until late onThursdayevening.Meanwhile, ADG Prashant

Kumar told The Indian Expressthat in order to ensure anunbi-ased and transparent investiga-tion, modifications had beenmade to the committee taskedwithsupervisingtheprobe.The committee, whichwas

headed by Additional SP ArunKumar Singh andhad six othermembers, will have twomoresenior officials. It will now beheadedbyDIGUpendraAgarwal,andSP-rankofficer Sunil KumarSinghwillbeaseniormember.Also on Thursday, the Uttar

Pradesh government appointedformer Allahabad High Courtjudge Justice (retd) PradeepKumarSrivastavatoheadasingle-member commissionof inquiryintoSunday'sdeaths.JusticeSrivastava,whoretired

just10daysagoonSeptember29afterashortstintoflessthanthreeyearsattheHighCourt,hasbeengiven twomonths to completetheinquiry.Justice Srivastava, whowas

appointed as anadditionalHighCourt judge inNovember 2018,mostly heard criminal appealsand bail matters during histenure.Aweekbeforehisretirement,

on September 22, JusticeSrivastavahadrefusedbailtotwoofficers of Kanpur's Chaubepurpolicestation,VinayTiwariandKKSharma,whowere arrested inJuly2020forallegedlyleakingin-formation to gangster VikasDubey about an impendingpo-liceraidonhiscompound.The raid turned into an am-

bush inwhich eight policemenwere killed. Dubeywas subse-quently arrested in Ujjain, andwas killed by police in an en-counterashewasbeingbroughtbacktoKanpur.Asadistrictandsessionsjudge

beforebeingelevatedtotheHighCourt, Justice Srivastava hadservedinseveraldistrictsinclud-ingShahjahanpur,whichbordersLakhimpurKheri.

Sandesara formed 6 offshore firms

Singh brothers, now in jail, opened 2 offshore firms

These letterswere used bySandesaratosetupat leasthalfa dozen companies in theBVI:Constant Capital andInvestment Ltd; PrimeFinanceandCapitalAllianceLtd;SterlingPetroleumTrading Ltd;WestAfrica Capital Limited; AfricanCapital Alliance Ltd andContinentalCapitalAllianceLtd.Multiple emails to Nitin

Sandesaradidnot elicit any re-sponse.Thepurpose of these com-

panies, according to records,wastoinvestinoilandgasfirmsinFrance,Nigeria,UK,UAEandIndia. Records show NitinSandesara is the solebeneficialownerofthesefirmsandhehasdeclaredthatthefundsinfusedinthesecompaniesarehis“sav-ings”.Amajority of these compa-

nies have been set upwith aninitialinvestmentof$0.5millionandhaveanidenticalprojectionof revenuesof $3million in thefirstyearofoperations.Companyrecordsshowthat

WestAfrica Capitalwas set uponNovember8,2017withNitinSandesara as its sole owner

holding50,000ordinarysharesofasingleclasswithaparvalueof $1 each. The very next day,SandesaraopenedanotherfirmcalledAfrican Capital Alliancewithanidenticalshareholding.At least, twofirmsConstant

CapitalandPrimeFinancewereincorporatedon the sameday,March16,2018,withSandesaraholding50,000sharesof$1eachinthesecompanies.Interestingly,boththefirms

said that they plan to do busi-nessinIndia,amongothercoun-tries. This despite the fact thatSandesara andhis familywerealreadyontherunasIndianin-vestigativeagencieswereprob-ing themforbank fraud.WhileincorporatingConstantCapitalandPrime Finance, the corpo-rate service providing agency,Fidelity Corporate Services, re-peatedly asked Sandesara toprovidea“policeclearancecer-tificatefromIndia”tocompletethe know-your-customernormsforthenewlyformedBVIcompanies.Sandesara did not submit

this. Instead, he transferredConstant Capital and Prime

FinancefromFidelityCorporateto another corporate servicesprovider Sable Trust Limited intheBVIinApril2018.Interestingly,all these firms

set up by Sandesara betweenNovember2017andApril2018have escaped investigation byboth the EnforcementDirectorate(ED)andtheCentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)that are probing the SterlingGroup, Sandesara, his brotherChetanSandesarafortheallegedbankfraudofover$2.1billion.Sandesara and his family

fled India in 2017 after theirbusinesscameunder thescan-ner. In September 2020, Indiadeclared Nitin and ChetanSandesara andDipti Sandesaraasfugitiveeconomicoffenders.Investigation by agencies

hasfoundtheSandesarabroth-ers allegedly diverted the loanobtainedby SterlingGroup fornon-mandated purposes, lay-eredandlaundereditthroughaweb of multiple domestic aswellasoffshoreentities.TheEDhasallegedthattheSandesarasused their employees’ namesandincorporated249domestic

and 96 offshore shell compa-nies.According to the ED, the

groupwas engaged in round-tripping of borrowed funds tothetuneof$600millionbyvio-lating conditions laid by theReserve Bank of India (RBI)while sanctioning the loan. Sofar the agencyhas attachedas-setsworth $1.93 billion in thecase.ED had in June last year

questioned former CongressleaderAhmedPatel in connec-tion with the case againstSandesaras. Patel was ques-tionedabouthis linkswith theSandesarasbasedon the state-mentofawitnesswhoclaimedthat he arranged parties forPatel’ssononinstructionsfromtheSandesaraswhopaidforit.At present, the Sandesaras

arereportedlyinAlbaniawheretheyaresaid tohave takenciti-zenship.EvenasIndianauthor-ities are trying to get themex-tradited, the Sandesaras haveproposedaone-timesettlementofferofameasly$350milliontoIndian lenders for loandefaultsof$2.1billion.

$2.4 billion,Malvinder Singhand his younger brotherShivinderSinghsetup twooff-shorefirmsintheBritishVirginIslands, records in thePandoraPapers investigated by TheIndianExpressreveal.Theserecordsshowthatthe

two firms, ClonbergHoldingsLtd and Forthill InternationalLtd, ownanapartment each inLondon. Besides, they show,Shivinder Singh mortgagedsome properties of ForthillInternational to borrow £5.1millionfromBarclaysBank.Both Maninder and

ShivinderareinTiharjailfortwoyearsonchargesof allegedille-

gal diversion of funds andmoneylaundering.Mailssenttotheir families didnot elicit anyresponse.Pandorarecordsshowthat Clonberg Holdings andForthill Internationalwerereg-isteredinBVIonJanuary2,2009,through Aleman, Cordero,Galindo & Lee Trust (BVI)Limited. Clonberg had issued44.5 lakh shares, and Forthill48.5lakhsharesasofMay2018.MalvinderSingh,hiswifeJapnaandtheir threedaughterswereshareholders of ClonbergHoldings, andShivinder Singh,hiswifeAditiandtheirfourchil-dren were shareholders ofForthill International. Clonberg

wasinitiallyauthorisedtoissueonly50,000 shares,whichwasraised several times over theyears up to 44.5 lakh shares of$1 each. In the caseof Forthill,share capitalwas increasedonseveraloccasionsupto48.5lakhshares. Both Clonberg andForthill had the same set of di-rectors. The records show thatClonberghadoneapartmentinEmbassy Court in London andthreeparkingspacesinthesamebuilding.Documentspegthees-timated minimum currentvalueofthesepropertiesat£7.4million.Forthill had another apart-

ment also in Embassy Court

alongwith two storage spacesand twoparking spaces in thesamebuilding.Documentsesti-mate the minimum currentvalueofthesepropertiesat£6.6million.Malvinder Singh and

Shivinder Singhwere arrestedbytheEconomicOffencesWingin October 2019 for allegedlycausing losses to the tuneof Rs2,397 crore to Religare FinvestLtd, a subsidiary of ReligareEnterprises Ltd (REL). TheEnforcementDirectoratesubse-quently arrested ShivinderSingh and others in amoneylaundering case onDecember12,2019.

FORM NO. CAA 2[Pursuant to Section 230(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rules 6 and 7 of the Companies

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Sri Cheran Synthetics India Private Limited,CIN: U17111TZ2005PTC011749Having its Registered Office atNo. 24, Sankari Bye Pass Road,Pallipalayam, Erode,Tamil Nadu - 638 006. …Applicant/Transferor Company

Advertisement of Notice of Meeting of the Unsecured Creditors ofSri Cheran Synthetics India Private Limited

Notice is hereby given that by an Order dated 22 September 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal,Chennai Bench has directed a Meeting to be held of the Unsecured Creditors of Sri Cheran SyntheticsIndia Private Limited (“the Company”) for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approvingwith or without modification, the Scheme of Amalgamation amongst Sri Cheran Synthetics India PrivateLimited and Pallava Textiles Private Limited and their respective shareholders and creditors (“Scheme”).In pursuance of the said order and as directed therein, further notice is hereby given that a meetingof the Unsecured Creditors of Sri Cheran Synthetics India Private Limited, the Company, will be heldon Saturday,13th November, 2021 at 11:00 AM at the registered office of the Company at No. 24,Sankari Bye Pass Road, Pallipalayam, Erode, Tamil Nadu – 638 006, at which time and place; theUnsecured Creditors are requested to attend.Copies of the said Scheme of Amalgamation, and of the statement under section 230 can be obtainedfree of charge at the registered office of the Company. Persons entitled to attend and vote at the meet-ing, may vote in person or by proxy, provided that all proxies in the prescribed form are deposited at theregistered office of the Company at No. 24, Sankari Bye Pass Road, Pallipalayam, Erode, Tamil Nadu –638 006, not later than 48 hours before the meeting.Forms of proxy can be had at the registered office of the Company.The Tribunal has appointed Mr.V. Nallasenapathy as the Chairperson and Mr.M. Damodaran, PCS asa Scrutinizer of the said meeting. The above mentioned Scheme, if approved at the meeting, will besubject to the subsequent approval of the Tribunal.Dated this the 8th October 2021 Sd/

Mr.V. NallasenapathyChairman Appointed for the Meeting

CLARIFICATIONS&CORRECTIONS

04.10.21

IN THE report ‘After Panama, it’sPandora:facingheat,elite Indiansfindnewwaystoringfencewealthinsecrethavens’,aphotographofAjitBaburaoKerkarwaswronglycarried as that of AjayAjit PeterKerkar,identifiedinthereportastheSettlor. Theheadline toa re-lated report ‘Held for fraud, AjitKerkar of Cox andKings linked tooffshore firms’ should have read‘Held for fraud, Ajay Ajit PeterKerkar of Cox andKings linked tooffshore firms’.Theerrorsare regretted.

07.10.21,PAGE1

IN THE report ‘Long wait over:WHO calls for widespread use ofmalariavaccine’, themalariapar-asite P falciparumwaswronglymentionedasaspeciesof thefe-maleAnophelesmosquito.Theerror is regretted.

A CIVILIAN was killed onThursdaywhenparamilitaryforces fired at a vehicle at acheckpoint in SouthKashmir’sAnantnagdistrict."Anaka(checkpoint)wases-tablished by 40Bn CRPF atMonghal Bridge. A vehiclewithoutanumberwasaskedto stop by the naka party.However, it rushed towards

thenakaparty... Troops firedin self-defence and one per-son died," the J-K Policetweeted, adding that whilethe driver of the vehicle es-caped from the spot, a pas-senger was killed. Policesources have identified theslaincivilianasYasirAli,ares-identof JajerKotli in Jammu.

BASHAARATMASOOD

CIVILIAN SHOT DEAD BY CRPF PERSONNEL

FROMPAGEONEEviction drive:HC asks Assamto file affidavitGuwahati: The Gauhati HighCourt Thursday directed theAssamgovernmenttofilea“de-tailed affidavit” on the violentSeptember 23 eviction drive inDarrang district that left twopeopledead.The court was hearing a PIL

filed by Congress leaderDebabrataSaikia.A division bench of Chief

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia andSoumitra Saikia fixed the nextdate of hearingonNovember3.Earlier, the court took suomotucognizanceof the incident aftercivilsocietygroupAxomNagarikSamajhad filedaPIL. ENS

New Delhi: CPI Rajya SabhaMPfrom Kerala, Binoy Viswam,Thursday wrote to UnionEnvironmentMinisterBhupenderYadavwitharequesttoextendthedeadlineforpubliccommentsontheproposedamendmentstotheForest Conservation Act (1980)thattheMinistrymadepublicear-lierthisweek.Viswamstressedthatthepro-

posedamendmentsbetranslatedinto22languagestoallowallpeo-ple to respond and thedeadlinebeextendedby12weeksforpub-licconsultation. ENS

Proposed forest lawchanges: MP seeksmore feedback time

New Delhi

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.CIN No. L66000MH1919GOI000526

IRDAI Reg No. 190

NOTICEAS The New India Assce Co. Ltd. has launched new NilDepreciation Add On Cover under commerical VehiclePackage Policy, the following two Add On Covers will bewithdrawn completely w.e.f. 19th October 2021 :1) Zero Dep Zero X’clusion Add On Cover under GoodsCarrying Vehicle Package Policy.2) Nil Depreciation Add On Cover under PassengerCarrying (Upto 1+9) Commercial Vehicle Package Policy.For further details, you may visit our web sitewww.newindia.co.in.

Let younger kids visitschool for sports, music:Parents to Kejriwal, L-GEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

MORE THAN 60 parents of pri-mary and middle school chil-dren in Delhi have written tomembers of the DDMA, re-questingthatyoungstudentsbepermitted to visit schools atleast once a week for educa-tionalandrecreationalactivitiesuntil schools reopen for them.The DDMA in ameeting on

September 29 had decided thatschoolsmaybeallowedtoreopenforchildreninnurserytoClassVIIIonly after the festive season,whichisafterNovember4whenDiwaliwillbecelebrated.Schoolshad reopened for classes IX-XIIfromSeptember1.InalettertoL-GAnilBaijal,CM

Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CMManish Sisodia, HealthMinisterSatyendar Jain, and DCPCRChairpersonAnuragKundu, the66 parents have requested thatuntil schools reopen for them,childrenuptoclassVIIIbepermit-tedtovisitschoolsonavoluntarybasisat leastonceaweektopar-ticipateinsports,music,perform-ing arts and other activities inwell-ventilatedareas.“... We appreciate the

DDMA’sconcernforthesafetyofour children. However, we arealsowitnessing adverse effectsof long-term school closures...Such limited relief for ouryoungest children is critical andurgentlyneededtomitigate thephysical and mental healthproblemstheyhavebeenendur-ing for1.5years,” it read.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGURGAON,OCTOBER7

A 35-YEAR-OLD engineer diedwhile his 30-year-old brothersustainedmultipleinjuriesaftertheir motorcycle was allegedlyhit by an unidentified vehicleat Rajiv Chowk underpassWednesday night. Police saidthe brothers were returninghome after purchasing prayeritems for Navratri festivitiesfromSadarBazar.Thevictim,ShaktiSingh,had

returnedfromAbuDhabi,wherehe worked as an engineer, onSeptember 30 to be with hisfamily, said police. His youngerbrother, Avinash Singh, also anengineer, is undergoing treat-mentataprivatehospital,wherehis condition is stable.Accordingtopolice, the inci-

dent tookplacearound9.30pmwhen Shakti and Avinashwereontheirwayhome inSector47.“Shakti was driving themo-

torcycle(Bullet).AstheyenteredtheunderpassatRajivChowk,anunidentified vehicle rammed

into their motorcycle from be-hind. Both fell... Shakti died,while Avinash suffered seriousinjuries,” said their brotherAbhishekSingh, in theFIR.He said he came to know of

the incident from his brother’swifeandrushedto thespot.Police said both brothers

were rushed to the traumacen-tre of a private hospital at HeroHonda Chowk, where doctorsdeclared Shakti dead on arrival.Avinash suffered injuries on hisarmsandlegs. Policesaidtheac-cused isyet tobe identified.

Engineer killed in hit-and-runat Rajiv Chowk underpassSchoolwith

swimmingpool,rooftopcourtstobereadyinayearNewDelhi:ADelhigovern-ment school equippedwith a swimming pool,rooftopbasketball, tennisand volleyball courts isscheduledtobereadyinayear. Deputy CMManishSisodialaidthefoundationstone for this school inMehram Nagar onThursday.Theschool is tobe one of the govern-ment’sSOSEs.

CreateemergencylaneatNehruPlace:HCNewDelhi:TheDelhiHighCourt Thursday directedauthorities to earmark alane for emergency serv-icessothatthefirebrigadeandambulancecanreachNehru Placewithout anyhindrance, and ensurethat no illegal vendorshawk in and around it. Italso directed a team oflawyers and senior stateofficers to inspect NehruPlace and asked them tofileastatusreport.ENS

Inductionof1,245lowfloorbusesapprovedNewDelhi:TheDTCBoardhas approved the induc-tion of 1,245 low floorbuses, including 1,015electricbuses,toaugmentthe ageing fleet of thepublic transporter in thenational capital, officialssaid on Thursday. In itsmeeting last weekchairedbyTransportmin-ister Kailash Gahlot,(DTC) decided to send aproposal for induction ofbusestotheDelhigovern-ment for itsconsent.PTI

BRIEFLY

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,OCTOBER7

BEHINDTHEunprecedenteden-rollment of Kerala students forundergraduate programmes incollegesunder theUniversityofDelhi is the board’s decision tosupport students against thebackdrop of the pandemic. Theboardalsodecidedtodoublethenumber of questions asked tohelpstudents scorewell.Keraladirector-generalofed-

ucation and examination com-missioner Jeevan Babu K ex-plained the reasons behind the

results, which have created rip-ples inDelhi. “Against the back-drop of the pandemic situation,theexaminationwasheldinsuchamanner supportive to the stu-dents. In all subjects, we haveidentifiedfocusareasandtheex-amswereheldbasedonthosefo-cus areas. Besides, the numberof questionswas doubled to en-able students to gainmaximummarksandscores,”hesaid.Theimpactisapparentinthe

results. In 2021, asmany as 502studentsofthestateboardexamhad full marks in Class XII andanother47,881hadscoredabove90% with most of them above95%. Last year, only 18,510 stu-

dents of the state board hadscores above 90% and of them,only 234 had full marks (1,200out of 1,200). This year’s passpercentage was 87.94% asagainst 85.13% of 2020and84.33%of 2019.Tobesure, students

from the Kerala boardarenottheonlyonestohavewho have scoredhigh marks this year.Over 70,000 CBSE stu-dents scored over 95%, up from38,686students in2020.TheKeralahighersecondary

directoratehadheldtheclassXIIexam in the last academic yeardespite thechallengesposedby

the prevailing pandemic situa-tion. As many as 3,73,788 stu-dents had appeared for theexam.Ofthem,3,28,702wereel-igible forhighereducation.

TheDGsaidthereisnopoint inmakingthe result a contro-versy against thebackdropofstudentsofKeralaexamboardgetting admission ina largenumber: “We

have conducted classes for twomonths starting January andheldtheexams,boththeoryandpractical. Many other stateboardshadnotevenconductedtheexamsbutgrantedmarksto

students.Whenweconducttheexamduring thepandemic,wecan’t bring the same volume oftoughnesswhichweusuallyap-plyduringanexam...”According to sources, the

state higher secondary direc-toratesaidalargenumberofstu-dents of the state exam boardwant to study arts andhumani-tiessubjectsoutsideKerala,par-ticularly inDelhi,andalsoaspiretoattendcoachingclassesforthecivilservicesexam.Bygettingad-mission in a Delhi college, suchstudents look forward to betteracademicandsocialexposureaswell as to gain mastery overEnglish.Whereasagoodnumber

of students of CBSE stream inKeralaopt formedical andengi-neeringcourses, sourcessaid.Shamil V, who scored full

marks in the Class XII examfrom Subulussalam HigherSecondarySchoolMoorkanadinMalappuram, got admission inDU’s Hindu College for the BASociologycourse.“Ithasbeenmydream to study inDelhiwhere Icanbettermylanguageskills.Iamalso looking forwardtostudyingfor the civil service exams,” saidShamil, son of farmer AbdulKareem. He said many of hisfriends fromMalappuram,whoscored above 95% in exam, havejoinedvariouscollegesinDelhi.

Amid pandemic, Kerala changed exam pattern to help students

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

AT THE end of the first cycle ofadmissions for roughly 70,000undergraduate seats in DelhiUniversity against the first cut-off list, 41,211 candidates havesuccessfullysecuredseatsacrosscolleges. The University addedthat it has not been favouringstudentsof anyboard.According to authorities, out

of the total seats, 31,172 seatshave been secured by studentsfromCBSE;2,365fromtheKeralaBoard of Higher SecondaryEducation; 1,540 fromBoard ofSchoolEducationHaryana;1,429fromCISCE; and 1,301 from theBoard of Secondary EducationRajasthan. The remaining seatshave been secured by studentsfromvariousotherstateboards.The total number of regis-

teredapplicantswas thehighest

fromCBSEat2,29,264.TheKeralaboard had the fifth-highestnumber of applicants at 4,824,Haryanahadbeen secondhigh-estat9,918,CISCEhadbeenthirdhighest at 9,659 and Rajasthanthesixthhighestat4,789.Inastatement,registrarVikas

Gupta emphasised that theuni-versity has not been favouringstudentsof anyparticularboardintheadmissionprocess.“Being a central university,

the University of Delhi equallyand uniformly values academiccredentialsofallcandidatesirre-spective of their States andSchool Boards. This year too,equal opportunity was main-tainedbyacceptingapplicationsbased on merit only. TheUniversity of Delhi strongly re-futesandcondemnsthefalsityofnews that isbeingcirculated re-garding favouring candidatesfroma fewboards.Beingapres-tigious central universitywith a

long legacy of quality teachingand research, candidates acrossthecountryaspiretostudyinourcolleges, departments, and cen-tres. It isourutmostresponsibil-itytomaintainjusticeandequity

to all meritorious candidatescoming not only from Indianstatesbutalsofromabroad,”readthepressrelease fromhisoffice.This follows aprotest by the

ABVP-led DU Students’ Union

onWednesdayagainst“inflatedresults of stateboards”.Concerns about an uneven

admission process have beenraisedasalargemajorityofseatsin popular programmeswhichhada100%firstcut-offhavebeensecured by students from theKeralastateboard.Universityauthoritieshadmet

ABVP representatives after theirprotest.“Wehadadiscussionandlistenedtotheirconcerns.Weareseekinglegalopiniononifwecanchangeouradmissioncriteria,butit does not seem likely that itwillbepossible inthisadmissioncycle,”saidGupta.Therehavebeenpushesand

pulls over the process since thefirstdayof admissions.On day 1, the process had

beenhaltedforafewhoursintheafternoon after concerns wereraisedonwhetherclassXImarksshouldbeincludedincalculatingthepercentageof students from

somestateboards. InKerala, thestate school board uses the stu-dent’s performance in class XIandclassXII toarriveat the finalboard resultwhileDUonly con-sidersthestudent’sclassXIIper-formance for admission. Someteachersandcollegeshadraisedconcernsoverthisandrequestedthat class XImarks be includedtoactas“ascalingmechanism”.After ameeting, the central

admissions teamdecided therehas to be a universal principle,andsinceotherboardslikeCBSEonlygobyclassXII,onlyclassXIImarks shouldbecounted.On day 2, colleges sought

clarifications on if certain sub-jects by state boards should beincluded incalculating the ‘bestfour’ percentages for particularprogrammes.DU’s ‘EquivalenceCommittee’ shared guidelinesonwhichsubjectcanandcannotbe considered ‘equivalent’ to arelevantCBSEsubject.

Thereare70,000-oddseatsat theuniversity.PraveenKhanna

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

A SOCIAL media post on theKeralaeducationboardbyDelhiUniversity professor RakeshKumar Pandey Thursday drewcriticism from legislators of thesouthernstate.CongressLokSabhaMPShashi

Tharoor andCPI(M)Rajya SabhaMP John Brittas were amongthosewho denounced Pandey,whoteachesphysicsatKiroriMalCollege.Heisalsoaformerpresi-dent of theRSS-backedNationalDemocraticTeachers’Front.Inhispost, Pandeywrote, “A

collegehadtoadmit26studentsin a coursehaving20 seats onlybecausetheyallhad100percentmarksfromKeralaboard.Forlastfewyears,Keralaboardisimple-menting#Marksjihad.”Brittas raised the issuewith

EducationMinisterDharmendraPradhan through a letter. “I re-questyourgoodselftoinitiateur-gentstepsforensuringexemplarypunishment against the delin-quent professor, both penal anddepartmentalactions,”hewrote.In a series of tweets, Tharoor

said the use of “jihad” as a syn-onym for any trend one doesn’tlikeis“exceedingalllimits”.“NowaDUteacherhasgotattentionbyabsurdlydecrying#MarksJihad!I’ve always decried the over-re-liance onmarks as themain cri-terionforDUadmission,but thisis ridiculous. If ‘Jihad’ means astruggle(withyourselfaboveall),theKeralastudentsscoring100%have struggled against the oddstogettoDU. Interviewthemfirstifyouwishbeforelettingthemin,butdon'tdemonisetheirmarks!This anti-Kerala biasmust end

now!”hetweeted.Kerala general education

minister and CPI(M) leader VSivankuttyalsosaid“suchastate-mentcouldbeseenonlyasacon-certedattempttopreventadmis-sion of students fromKerala. Ifthey (Kerala students) are beingdeniedadmissiononissuesotherthan merit, that is absolutelywrong. IfKeralastudentsarede-nied admission on flimsy rea-sons,thatamountstoviolationofdemocratic rights. Kerala stu-dentshaveattendedexamsdur-ingCovidtimesandhavesecuredgoodmarksaswellasgrades”.Thestudentwingsofbothpar-

tieshavealso takenup the issue.On Friday, CPI(M) studentwingStudents’Federationof IndiawillprotestattheArtsFaculty.SFIna-tionalpresidentVPSanusaidthestatementispartofabidtobelit-tle the gains of Kerala students,adding that there is a campaignthat Kerala students are gettingadmissioninDUatthecostofoth-ers. Congress-backedNSUI hascalledforaprotestatKMC.Pandey, however, remained

defiant,sayinghisuseoftheterm“best reflected”what hewishedtoconvey:“WhatdowemeanbyLove Jihad? Itmeanswhen youstartmisusing love for spreadingreligion. This (Marks Jihad) iswhenyoumisusemarkstospreadLeftist ideology. Forme, Leftistsand Jihadis are the same. I don'tdifferentiatebetweenthem.Jihadhassomewidermeaning,notjustreligion,whichfitsintothis.”“Some peoplemight be get-

ting100%marksgenuinely.ButIhave some apprehensions, thatmaybe some clandestine groupinconsultationwithKeralaBoardmightbeinvolvedinpushingthisLeftist ideology,”headded.

SECONDCUT-OFFLISTOUTTOMORROW

41k seats filled in 1st list—most fromCBSE;DU denies claims of favouring one board

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 16,270 15,995ICU BEDS 3,539 3,465

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsOct6 26 21 0 66,682Oct7 44 15 0 64,079Total 389* 14,13,626 25,088 2,80,76,496

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,39,097VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS

1,11,299

Tiwari to takeout rath yatras inPurvanchal areas

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

NORTHEAST Delhi BJP MPManoj Tiwariwill be taking outrath yatras in areaswith a size-able Purvanchal population toseek their feedback on holdingChhath Puja in the capital. Thedecisioncomesdaysafterhehadsaid hewould defy theDDMA’sorderandholdthepuja.Hesaid,“The Delhi government has al-lowedswimmingpools toopenbut banned Chhath puja. ThePurvanchalicommunitywillnottolerate thisatanycost.”The rath yatra will start on

SaturdayandcoverPurvanchal-dominated areas like Kirari,Patparganj, UttamNagar, Badli,Dwarka, Laxmi Nagar, KarawalNagar among other areas, saidBJP leaderNeelkantBakshi.

DU teacher coinsnew gem: ‘MarksJihad’; slammed byMPs, edu minister

New Delhi

4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

JUST ahead of Air Force Day on Octo-ber 8, the Indian Air Force (IAF) re-leased images of Rafale fighter jets

carrying the Scalp stealth cruise missile todemonstrate its pre-emptive capacity.Thenew missile is used to hit high-value tar-gets --- namely radars, airbases, ports andcommunication facilities --- escape theradar and engage in day and night condi-tions with long-range and low altitude

flying capabilities. This is just one of themany combat systems that the IAF is inthe process of acquiring for its opera-tional readiness and strategic heft givenour new geopolitical challenges.

In fact, the IAF has become the key ar-rowhead of India’s defensive edge overits adversaries. Air Chief Marshal VivekRam Chaudhuri has said that India isready for a two-front scenario with

Pakistan heating up the Line of Control(LoC) and China becoming aggressivealong the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In-dia has done well in mountain warfare tocounter the Chinese and the IAF has givenit a much-needed high-altitude strike ca-pability.

The induction of Rafale and Apacheshas significantly added to IAF’s combatpotential. There is also the Meteor, a

next-generation beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to rev-olutionise air-to-air combat. The weaponhas been developed by MBDA to combatcommon threats faced by Germany, UK,France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

The IAF is also committed to and mov-ing fast with its theaterisation pro-gramme, factoring in the alignment as-pects of all the three forces. Now with its

tech-aided edge and a coordinated alertperception and response mechanism, itcan neutralise the threat from a hostileneighbourhood.

Apart from the Rafale that can executea variety of missions, such as ground andsea attack, air defence and air superior-ity, reconnaissance and nuclear strike de-terrence, and stealth missiles, IAF is alsousing BrahMos. The world’s fastest anti-

ship cruise missile in operation, BrahMos,which was jointly developed by India andRussia, was first used by the IAF in 2019.The BrahMos-A is a modified air-launchedvariant of the missile with a range of 500km which can be launched from a SukhoiSu-30MKI as a standoff weapon.

Meanwhile, the Indian defence com-pany HAL and Defence Research Organisa-tion (DRDO) are developing several air-craft for the IAF such as the HAL TejasMk2, HAL TEDBF (naval aircraft), HALAMCA (5th generation aircraft), DRDOAEW&CS (revived from the Airavat Pro-ject), NAL Saras, HAL HJT-36 Sitara, HALHTT-40, HAL Light Utility Helicopter(LUH), DRDO Rustom and DRDO GhatakUCAV. DRDO has developed the Akashmissile system for the IAF and also devel-oped the Prithvi II ballistic missile.

In the future, the IAF will be deployingthe 56 C-295 transport aircraft which isbeing jointly developed by Airbus Defenceand Space and Tata Advanced SystemsLimited (TASL) under the Make-in-Indiainitiative in the aerospace sector. Underthe contract, Airbus will supply the first16 aircraft in flyaway condition while theremaining 40 will be assembled in Indiaby TASL.

The IAF is also keen on an unmannedcombat air vehicle (UCAV) with low radarcross-section, high service ceiling, an ex-pected range of 500 nm (925 km) and thecapability to carry precision-guidedweapons in an internal weapons bay.DRDO Rustom and DRDO AURA are thetwo UCAVs under development. Clearly,the IAF is gearing itself up for an intelli-gent and reloaded shield for today’s mili-tary scenario.

*An initiative by ADVERTORIAL

* ( READ. ENGAGE. DELIVER.) IS THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS TEAM OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS GROUP

The Air Force was officially raised on October 8, 1932, as the supportingforce of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom (UK). The firstoperational squadron came into being in April 1933. After participationin World War II, the Air Force in India came to be called the Royal IndianAir Force in the mid-1940s. In 1950, after India became a republic, itbecame the Indian Air Force (IAF). From six officers and 19 Hawai Sepoysback in 1933, our Air Force now is the fourth largest in the world.

Adoption of digitisa-tion for operationaladvantage of the mil-

itary has been the norm in theglobalA&D industry since thetime of network-centric war-fare and network-enabled ca-pability.However,use of digiti-sation in multiple aspects,such as development of plat-forms and systems increas-ingly in demand by defenceforces, optimisation of inter-nal processes, fast track products and servicesto market,has become a ubiquitous phenom-enon in the industry.Digital technologies suchas Cloud Computing, Big Data, Data Analyt-ics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelli-gence,Augmented Reality,and Blockchain aregradually being leveraged at both agency andoperational levels as change enablers.The de-ployment of digital technologies improveslegacy processes and enhances operation andmission efficiencies besides cost saving.

Due to the changing landscape, armedforces across the globe understand the compli-cations associated with vulnerability in thebattlefield and internal securities and arerapidly incubating digital technologies in theirmilitary operations to gain strategic advan-

tage. Focussing on au-tonomous technologies, the USDepartment of Defence (DoD)allocated $3.7 billion last yearfor the development of un-manned aerial and underseavehicle capabilities. In the samelines, the UK Ministry of De-fence (MoD) has established a$1.95 billion multi-year frame-work, spanning five years for ahost of digital and IT pro-grammes.

ForA&D manufacturers,deployment of dig-ital technologies across the value chain, i.e.processes,machinery & products,gives trans-parency in the manufacturing process, supplychain and equipment performance, therebyboosting efficiencies, cutting costs and en-hancing product quality.Example:OEMs are in-creasingly using sensors in aircraft engines,landing gear and other critical equipment tocapture data and hence aim to reduce lifetimecosts,avoid failure and create predictive main-tenance schedules for critical assets.

The foundation of any successful digital or-ganisation is generating and maintainingmeaningful data. However, handling andmanaging data remains a key concern, fromdata security to data spill-over and theft. Em-

powering data owners is the best way to en-sure the data is not kept in silos,duplicated orinaccurate or subject to inappropriate secu-rity classification.

Investment in digital transformation to ob-tain benefits in R&D,manufacturing and busi-ness environment is the key trend globally.Many organisations have taken the route ofcollaboration and partnership with academicinstitutions or start-ups or unconventionalbusinesses like gaming/ simulation etc tobuild and integrate innovative technologies.

A recent survey done by a renowned con-sulting firm shows the digital penetration inIndia to be slightly less than the global indus-try average.However, the adoption of digitisa-tion has accelerated especially after theCOVID outbreak.Recruiting and retaining di-versifying workforce and upskilling them tomake a cultural change in order to embracedigital transformation is the key factor in thedigitisation journey. In India,as in other coun-tries, technological advance has continued tooutpace policy evolution.While India may beleapfrogging into the“Fourth Industrial Rev-olution,” the story of its societal transforma-tion as driven by digital disruption has justbegun.

Contributed by Mr Vikas Manral- A&D In-dustry Leader & CoFounder of SolutionBuggy

Digitisation changing aerospace & defence

MR.VIKAS MANRALA&D Industry Leader &

CoFounder of SolutionBuggy

The IAF has become the key arrowhead of India’s defensive edge over its adversaries

IAF the best air shield against neighbours

The IAF is alsocommitted to andmoving fast withits theaterisationprogramme,factoring in thealignmentaspects of allthe three forces

THE Indian Air Force, one of the mostpowerful air powers in the world hav-ing ‘trans-oceanic’ reach, has sharply

bolstered its capabilities by acquiring top-of-the-line modern air platforms, weapons andsystems to safeguard national sovereigntyand territorial integrity.By steadily transform-ing itself into a strategic force from a tacticalone, the IAF has maintained strict vigil overnational airspace even while ensuring re-gional stability.

A very powerful air-borne weapon that hastranscended the IAF’s modern air combat ca-pability by enabling it to undertake“long,be-yond visual range”missions in day-and-nightand all-weather conditions against the adver-sary’s high-value ground and sea-surface tar-gets is the supersonic cruise missile BRAH-MOS ,developed by DRDO and NPOM.

Armed on the Air Force’s frontline Sukhoi-30MKI strike fighter, the highly advancedBRAHMOS-A, having precision attack capa-bility,has successfully validated its annihilatingprowess and swift deployability in a number oftest firings conducted from India’s strategiclocations against land and sea-based targetsbetween 2017 and 2020.

On January 20, 2020, the IAF raised theTiger Sharks squadron, consisting of the for-midable Su-30MKI-BRAHMOS-(A) weapon-

platform combination, in southern India tomaintain strategic peace and vigil in the In-dian Ocean region.

In June 2020, the air-borne BRAHMOS be-came the first indigenous weapon of India toreceive the fleet release clearance (FRC) certi-fication from CEMILAC, DRDO which pavedthe way for the pilots of IAF Squadrons to usethe missile during live combat operations.

Reckoned as the world’s best tacticalweapon having impeccable land-attack andanti-ship capability,BRAHMOS has outclassedany other weapon of its genre in terms ofspeed,accuracy, range,versatility, stealth anddestructive power.

While the IAF has also raised land-attackBRAHMOS squadron in addition to deployingthe air-launched variant of the weapon, the‘universal’ supersonic cruise missile has been

deployed by the IndianArmy and Indian Navyas well. The state-of-the-art missile has be-come India’s ultimate force-multiplier for un-dertaking modern, network-centric opera-tions in joint, integrated warzones.

“At a time when modern warfare tacticsand strategies are rapidly evolving, we havedeveloped and delivered a very unique, mostpowerful and highly versatile weapon to ourarmed forces. The BRAHMOS ALCM-armedSukhoi-30MKI is the first such weapon-plat-form integration the world-over wherein a su-personic cruise missile has been deployedonto a frontline fighter aircraft. This hastremendously bolstered and widened our AirForce’s outreach and capability vis-a-vis theadversaries,”according to Dr Sudhir K Mishra,Director-General BrahMos,DRDO and CEO &MD of BrahMos Aerospace, the India-Russiajoint venture that produces the formidableBRAHMOS weapon system.

With an augmented fleet of BRAHMOS-armed platforms in addition to other major airassets, the Indian Air Force would not onlymake the Indian strategic airspace invincibleand inviolable but would also be able to under-take offensive air operations in a more deter-rent manner, if necessary.

BrahMos Aerospace congratulates the In-dianAir Force on its 89thAir Force Day.

BRAHMOS has lent air combat power

WHAT’S AIR FORCE DAY?

New Delhi

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

What began as an estab-lishment of a handfulof Indian pilots under a

British officer in 1932 that laterinducted “Westland Wapitis” ---the British two-seat general-pur-pose military single-engined bi-plane of 1920 --- is today rankedthe fourth air force in the world.With more than 1,70,000 prouduniformed personnel and over1,700 flying machines of variouskinds, the IndianAir Force (IAF) isset to celebrate its 89th anniver-sary today.Our glorious force lives upto to its motto of“Touching the Sky with Glory.”This seasoned organ-isation has historically and repeatedly proven its gritin successfully carrying out innumerable and untoldrecce missions,air strike missions,battle damage as-sessment or follow-up recce and repeated air strikesin wars, confrontations and hostile situations.

Air warriors have been called upon during vari-ous national and international distress scenarios likefloods, internal strife, Covid camp management ormost recently the Afghanistan evacuations. One ofthe heartening transformations in the past twodecades has been an all-encompassing culture ofgender diversity in the force. From the first femaleAir Marshal in the IndianAir Force (IAF) Padma Ban-dopadhyay to the first three women fighter pilotsand grant of permanent commission to women offi-cers, the IAF has ushered in the era of being truly

open and a modern-day strong organi-sation. It has stayed true to its Sanskritmotto from Bhagwat Gita – “Nabhahsparsham diptam.”

The recent modernisation wavebrought in by the French Rafale multi-role fighters, American Boeing CH 47Chinook helicopters and AH 64 ApacheAttack gunships has given us an edge asthey have already been deployed tocounter possible Pakistan-Chinese ag-gression. The IAF’s current inventory,however, is still marred by the infamousMig 21s that are due to be retired by

2030.While our nation is on a planned path to be-come a $ 5 trillion economy, it becomes imperativethat India builds a sturdy domestic industry that isself-reliant and less dependent on imports.Our ulti-mate acid test today is to provide a “secure net-work” for joint operations, combining differenttransport modules --- helicopters and fighter plat-forms --- into an integrated net-centric drive.

National procurement policies are being steadilydesigned and elaborated to garner support from pri-vate industries and encourage their participation innot just component manufacturing and MRO butalso transforming them into being system integra-tors.The most recent contract of 56 transport C295aircraft awarded to aTata-Airbus duo to be manufac-tured in India under technology transfer is a freshstep in the right direction. This will boost domesticcapabilities as against“off the shelf imports.”

Small and medium enterprises that have conven-tionally supported Hindustan Aeronautical Limitedas tier suppliers are likely to play a crucial role in thesuccess of this project. In the pipeline is a plannedindigenous procurement of 114 fighter jets that islikely to trigger domestic industry manufacturing op-portunities. Processing such requirements via a te-dious tendering route will need to be addressed.Fornow,in spite of irritants, the IAF shines bright, leavingmany major countries behind.

*An initiative by ADVERTORIAL

* ( READ. ENGAGE. DELIVER.) IS THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS TEAM OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS GROUP

With gender diversity &modernisation, IAF has the best edge

IAF commemorated Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav with a 75aircraft Elephant walk

Airbus C295

Outgoing Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria with hissuccessor V R Chaudhari

Sub Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, the first Indian femalefighter pilot to fly Rafale

Wg Cdr Ms NeeluKhatri, Retd.

While our nation aims to become a $5 trillioneconomy, India must build a sturdy domestic

industry that is self-reliant and not import-dependent

New Delhi

MMaarrttyyrr oonn 0088tthh 00ccttoobbeerrGunner Balbir Kumar31st May 1983 - 8th October 2005In fond remembrance of Gunner Balbir Kumarwho lived up to the highest traditions ofGunners of the Indian Army and made thesupreme sacrifice, achieving martyrdom, whileguarding the frontiers during the earthquake of8th October 2005.

CCOO aanndd AAllll rraannkkss,, 223377MMeeddiiuumm RReeggiimmeenntt ((YYuuddhhee NNiippuunnaamm))..

Gunner Kishor Kumar2nd May 1981 - 8th October 2005In fond remembrance of Gunner Kishor Kumarwho lived up to the highest traditions ofGunners of the Indian Army and made thesupreme sacrifice, achieving martyrdom, whileguarding the frontiers during the earthquake of8th October 2005.

CCOO aanndd AAllll rraannkkss,, 223377MMeeddiiuumm RReeggiimmeenntt ((YYuuddhhee NNiippuunnaamm))..

Letter No. 8144/1C-9/21 Dated : 07.10.2021

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDINGe-tender Notice (Short term)

The Superintending Engineer, 9th Circle, Public Works Department,Dehradun on behalf of “Governor of Uttarakhand" invites short termtender in two bid system for the following work. Information regardingtender shall be available on https://www.uktenders.gov.in from date16.10.2021.

Office of TheSuperintending Engineer

9th Circle Public Work Department DehradunOffice of the Superintending Engineer, 9th Circle PWD,Dehradun Uttarakhand Website- http://pwd.uk.gov.in

E-mail : sepwdddun@rediffmail.com

S.No.

Name of work EarnestMoney(Rs. inLacs)

Validityof

Tender

Cost ofTender

Document(In Rs.)

Period ofCompletion(In Month)

ContractorCategory ofRegistration

1 2 3 4 5 6 71. Cons t ruc t ion

work of internalroads and drainin Bhaniyawala& Ambiwala ofVi d h a n s a b h aSahaspur, DisttDehradun underState Sector.

3.05 605000.00 +18% G.S.T

09

1 Registerd in‘B’ & abovecategory inRoad worksin Central

Govt. / StateGovt./any

Govt.Undertaking

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAMOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, PWD

NAGAON & HOJAI ROAD CIRCLE NAGAONNo. SE/NRC/TB/NIT/12/2021-22/20

PRESS NOTICE INVITING Re-TENDERThe Superintending Engineer, PWD, Nagaon & HojaiRoad Circle, Nagaon on behalf of the Governor of Assaminvites bid from Assam PWD registered contractors for 1(One) no. of work under SOPD-G for the 2020-21 underMorigaon LAC in Morigaon District amounting toRs. 172.09 Lakhs (approx.). Details may be seen atwebsite http://assamtenders.gov.in and also at the officeof the undersigned during office hours.

Sd/-Superintending Engineer, PWD

Nagaon & Hojai Road Circle, NagaonJanasanyog No. CF/1648/21

Nehru Memorial Museum and LibraryTeen Murti House, New Delhi 110011

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), autonomousbody under the Ministry of Culture, is developing PradhanMantri Sangrahalaya in the Teen Murti complex.NMML invites E bids for the following:MOPM/RFP/2021/004V4 Setting up and Operating a Cafe on

Revenue Sharing basisThe last date for submission of e-bid is 28th October 2021 upto 11.00 hrs (IST). For more details please visit websitewww.nehrumemorial.nic.in, www.tenderwizard.com/NMML and www.eprocure.gov.in.

davp 09142/11/0012/2122

THECITY6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

A 19-YEAR-OLD IIT-KharagpurstudentwasarrestedfromBiharby theCyberCell of NorthDelhiThursday for allegedly stalking50girlstudentsandteachersofaprivate school.DCP (North) Sagar Singh

Kalsi said the accused,MahavirKumar from Patna, is pursuingB.Tech:“Heharassedover50girlstudents and teachers of a re-puted North Delhi school byposting their morphed photoson fake Instagram profiles cre-ated by him in their names. Heused apps thatmade fake callerIDs and virtual numbers onWhatsApp to contact the vic-tims.Tohidehisidentity,heusedavoicechangingapp.”Thematter came to light af-

ter a complaint was receivedfrom the school administrationlast month regarding cyberstalking. “The accused stalkedminor girls on socialmedia andsent them messages onWhatsApp. He called teachersfromvariousinternationalnum-bers andharassed them.The IITstudent joined theWhatsAppgroupscreatedforonlineclasses,

andevenenteredtheclasses,”al-leged the complainant, andshared around 10 phone num-bers fromwhich theywere re-ceivingcalls andmessages.“Severalmorphed photos of

studentswere circulated on so-cialmediaplatforms.AcasewasregisteredunderIPCSection354-D(stalking)onAugust30,andthedistrict's cyber cell unit wasropedinfortechnicalassistance.Later, relevant sections of thePOCSOActandITActwereaddedinthecase,” saidDCPKalsi.Police then questioned the

students, their parents andteachers.“Wemanagedtoiden-tify 33 virtualWhatsApp num-bers,fiveInstagramprofiles,andseveral calls made by the ac-cused using fake caller ID apps.We sent a letter toWhatsApp,Instagram and Gmail and theyall sent IP logs. Our teamanalysed details of the IP logsused to create the socialmediaaccounts and identified the ac-cusedasMahavir.Hewastracedto Patna and arrested,” said aseniorpoliceofficer.During questioning, the ac-

cused told police that hemet agirl on socialmedia three yearsago and started chatting withher. “They exchanged phone

numbers. Last year, the girl saidshewouldnottalktohimduetoher exam, but he forced her tochat with him. She blocked hisnumber. He then created a fakeprofile;posingasthegirl’sfriend,he started chattingwith two ofher other friends. After a fewweeks, they told the girl abouther ‘friend’ and she realisedMahavir was talking to them.Sheaskedher friendsnot totalkto him afterwhich he allegedlysent them their obscenemor-phedpictures,” anofficer said.He further told police he ap-

proachedthegirl’sotherfriends.“...Heaskedthemfortheweblinkof their online class. During theclass,hesharedrandomobscenepictures andwas asked by theschooladministrationtodisclosehis identity. He shared screen-shotsof himchattingwitheightgirls and claimed they hadshared theweb linkswith him.The administration then sus-pended all eight girls and in-formedhimoftheactiontaken...They later called the girlswhentheaccusedstartedmisbehavingwithteachers,” theofficersaid.Police said several obscene

videosandphotoswerefoundinhis phone and that his phoneand laptopwereseized.

IIT student held forstalking 50 students,teachers of pvt school

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

ASIGNBOARDof Akbar Road inLutyen’s Delhi was vandalisedThursday and posterswere putuponthem,declaringthestretchas ‘Samrat HemuVikramadityaMarg’. The Hindu Sena claimeditwasbehind theact.A senior official of the New

DelhiMunicipal Council said ithas removed the poster andcomplained to Delhi Police toregister a FIR. DCP (NewDelhidistrict) Deepak Yadav said an

FIR under relevant sections ofthe lawisbeing registered.HinduSenapresidentVishnu

Guptaclaimedresponsibilityandsaid the organisation demandsrenaming of the road after the“bravestsonsofBharatMataRajaHemChandraVikramaditya,alsoknownRajaHemu..., who ruledDelhi for a short but significantperiodof time”.Inthepasttoo,thegrouphas

defaced road signages andpasted controversial posters inthecapital. InJunethisyear,theyhadputupobjectionablepostersandhoardingsonAkbarRoad.

Aperformanceof ShriramBhartiyaKalaKendra’sannualdancedrama ‘ShriRam’ ; (below)theRamlilaatRedFort isontillOctober16. Photos:TashiTobgyal

ASHNABUTANINEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

FEWERDAYSofpractice,sociallydistancedseatsfortheaudience,and a new set of protocol forboth audience and artists: ARamlila of a different kindopened against the backdropofan illuminated Red Fort earlierthisweekonTuesday.It was only after the recent

Delhi Disaster ManagementAuthority guidelines relaxedprohibitiononsocialgatheringsfor the festive season that theproducers,directors,andartistesknew that they would be per-forming in the LalQila like theyused tobefore.Organised by the Lav Kush

Ramlila Committee, which hasbeen holding the event at theRed Fort for years, the pro-grammewill take place from 6pm to 12 pm every evening tillOctober 16. Earlier, therewouldbe three Ramlilas and a ‘mela’withthousandsofvisitorsonthegrounds. On Tuesday evening,however,around300artiststookthe stage and fewer seats wereoccupied.Amit Ghanshyam, an actor

who plays NaradMuni amongother roles, said, “Nothing haschangedbesides thesizeof theevent.”Pointing to thestage,hesaid planningwas done in justaweek.Naveen Chella, director of

theRamlila, said,“Weweresurewe would be performing onlyearlier this week.”While therewas little time to prepare, headded that no compromisesweremadewith regard to cos-tumes, sequences, lighting etc.On Covid measures that

have been put in place, organ-isers said there are 200 seatsfromhundreds set up in previ-ous years. Viewers undergothermal checks, and all artists

need to have taken at least onedoseof theCovidvaccine. Evenbefore practice, the actors un-dergothermalchecksandsani-tise their hands. While allartistes have taken at least onevaccine dose, organisers saidbothdoses arepreferred.Behind the stage, the dress-

ing rooms have been set upwhereSamikshaBhatnagar,aTVandtheatreactress, got readytoportray Sita for the first time.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpressonTuesday, she said, “We have allfaced a lot of trouble in the lastyear. In the last fewmonths,wewere emotionally recoveringfromthepandemic.” Regardingthelast-minutepreparation,she

said, “Wehad the script, butwelearnt that itwastakingplace intheRedFortonlytwodaysago.”Sharad Ghore, who plays

Hanuman, said the nature oftheir work has changed im-mensely and this was his firstlive performance in two years:“Eversincethepandemicbegan,Istarteddoingvoicemodulationpractice, reading andother act-ing exercises at home. Evenmost auditions take place overvideo. It is nice to be on a stageafter so long.”For thosewho play smaller

roles, too, the pandemic has notbeeneasy.VinayBhagat(41),whoconsiders this his ‘passion’ andworks in thehotel industry, said,“I havenotperformed in the lasttwo years. At home, I practicelineswithmy daughters who-keep askingme to recite a fewlinesfromtheRamlila.”Settingupinashorttimewas

a task for the labourers too.Tapan (40), a labourer, saidpreparationswouldusuallytakeat least 30 days. “This time, wesetupeverythinginthelastfourdays...wehavebeenworkingallday. But it’s good becausemostofushavebeenunemployedforthe last twoyears,”hesaid.

Fewer seats, strict protocol: Sociallydistanced Ramlila opens at Red Fort

Akbar Road signboard vandalised

L&T finedRs 5 lakh forviolating dustcontrol norms,says Gopal Rai

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

THE DELHI governmentThursday imposeda fineof Rs5lakh on Larsen & Toubro (L&T),the contractor for the PragatiMaidan underpass project, forviolatingdust controlnorms.“During an inspection, we

foundlotsofdustatthesite.Thegreen net installed to controldustpollutionistorn.Thereisnowaterinthetankof itsanti-smoggun.Wehave imposed a fine ofRs 5 lakh on L&T,” EnvironmentMinisterGopalRai said.A notice has also been is-

sued to the construction com-pany, asking it to comply withthe guidelines or pay Rs 5 lakhper day as penalty till it meetstheguidelines. If it fails todosoin two days, a fine of Rs 5 lakhper day will be imposed on it,he said.The environment depart-

ment has constituted 31 teamsto visit construction sites andmonitor thesituation.Inwinters,dustisamongthe

primary causes of pollution inthecity.“We have prepared a robust

plan for running the anti-dustcampaign inanorganisedman-ner throughout Delhi. For thispurpose, all the governmentagenciesofDelhiwhich takeupconstructionworkwere calledfor ameeting on September 14.Privateagencieswerecalledforameeting on September 17 aswell. We had discussed a 14-point agenda with them. Postwhich,onSeptember21and22,public notices were publishedinforming the guidelines. Wehavebeenrunninganawarenesscampaign for 15days now. OnOctober2,everyonewasgivenareminder.Wehavedecidedthatnow is the time for on-groundaction,”Rai said.Earlier in the day, Rai also

launched the Dust PollutionControl Self Assessment Portal,whichwillhelpthegovernmentandconstruction firmsmonitortheir sites closely.

TheHinduSenaclaimeditwasbehindtheact.Policehave filedanFIR

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

FORM NO. CAA 2[Pursuant to Section 230(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rules 6 and 7 of the Companies

(Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016]BEFORE THE NATIONAL COMPANY LAW TRIBUNAL

CHENNAI BENCHCA(CAA)/39 & 22/CHE/2021

In the matter of Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013And

In the matter of Scheme of Amalgamation amongst Sri Cheran Synthetics India Private Limited withPallava Textiles Private Limited and their respective Shareholders and Creditors.

Pallava Textiles Private Limited,CIN:U17111TZ1995PTC005909Having its Registered Office atNo-27C, Sankari Bye Pass Road,Pallipalayam, Erode,Tamil Nadu - 638 006. …Applicant/Transferee Company

Advertisement of Notice of Meeting of the Unsecured Creditors ofPallava Textiles Private Limited

Notice is hereby given that by an Order dated 22 September 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal,Chennai Bench has directed a Meeting to be held of the Unsecured Creditors of Pallava Textiles PrivateLimited (“the Company”) for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving with or withoutmodification, the Scheme of Amalgamation amongst Sri Cheran Synthetics India Private Limited andPallava Textiles Private Limited and their respective shareholders and creditors (“Scheme”).In pursuance of the said order and as directed therein, further notice is hereby given that a meeting ofthe Unsecured Creditors of Pallava Textiles Private Limited, the Company, will be held on Saturday, 13thNovember, 2021 at 12 NOON at the registered office of the Company at No. 27C, Sankari Bye PassRoad, Pallipalayam, Erode, Tamil Nadu – 638 006, at which time and place; the Unsecured Creditorsare requested to attend.Copies of the said Scheme of Amalgamation, and of the statement under section 230 can be obtainedfree of charge at the registered office of the Company. Persons entitled to attend and vote at themeeting, may vote in person or by proxy, provided that all proxies in the prescribed form aredeposited at the registered office of the Company at No. 27C, Sankari Bye Pass Road, Pallipalayam, Erode,Tamil Nadu – 638 006, not later than 48 hours before the meeting.Forms of proxy can be had at the registered office of the Company.The Tribunal has appointed Mr.V. Nallasenapathy as the Chairperson and Mr.M. Damodaran, PCS asa Scrutinizer of the said meeting. The above mentioned Scheme, if approved at the meeting, will besubject to the subsequent approval of the Tribunal.

Sd/Mr.V. Nallasenapathy

Chairman Appointed for the Meeting

Dated this the 8th October 2021

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

MAKING A POINTLOK SABHA Speaker OmBirla, who is currently leading anIndian parliamentary delegation to theG-20 ParliamentarySpeakers’ Summit in Rome, had a strongmessage to conveyduringhisbilateralmeetingwithSirLindsayHoyle,theSpeakerof theHouseofCommons.BirlatoldHoylethateverycountryhas its sovereignty and others should learn to respect it. “Nocountry should raise internal affairs of other countries in itsParliament unless thosematters affect the interests of thatcountry,”hesaid. This camea fewweeksafter IndiaobjectedtothelanguageusedbyparliamentariansintheUKduringanall-partydebateonthe issueofhumanrights inKashmir.

MORE POWERMORETHANadecadeaftertheBJPamendeditsconstitutiontoreserve33percentpartypostsforwomen,therulingpartyhas included14womenamong the80newnational execu-tivemembers.Withthenationalexecutive includingspecialinvitees, permanent invitees aswell asnational office-bear-ers and spokespersons, it has Union ministers NirmalaSitharaman,SmritiIrani,MeenakshiLekhiandNiranjanaJyotiasitsmembersamongothers.Of the10womenmembersinthespecialinviteescategory,fourareactor-turnedpoliticiansHemaMalini (Lok SabhaMP), Rupa Ganguly (Rajya SabhaMP),KhushbuandVijayashanti.

NUTRITION CAMPAIGNTHEMINISTRYforWomenandChildDevelopmenthascon-cludeditsmonth-longPoshan-Mah,whichitconductseveryyear focusing on nutrition programmes. Theministry hasnoted that 17 crore activities related to nutrition took placeduringthecampaignacrossthecountrythisSeptember.EverystateconductsactivitiesanduploadstheseeventsontheJanAndolandashboard,whichtheministrytracks.Activitieshaveincludedsettingupofnutritionvatikas,awarenessdrivesforfortification of food, awareness drives for prevention andmanagementofmalnutrition, identifyingseverelymalnutri-tionedchildren,yogacampsamongothers.

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

THEBJPonThursdayconstitutedanewnational executivecommit-teewith80members,droppingatleast two prominent leaders –partyMPVarunGandhi and for-merUnionminister ChaudharyBirenderSingh,bothofwhomhavebeencriticalofthenewfarmlaws.Apart fromthe topbrass that

includesPrimeMinisterNarendraModi, DefenceMinister RajnathSinghandUnionHomeMinisterAmitShah,thenationalexecutivehaspartyveteransLKAdvaniandMurliManoharJoshiasmembers.WhileBirenderSinghhadex-

tendedhissupporttotheagitatingfarmers,VarunGandhihadwrittentoChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathseekingtheregistrationof amur-dercaseagainst those involvedinthedeathof four farmers in theLakhimpurKheriincident.Gandhi’smotherandformerUnionministerManekaGandhiwasalsodroppedfromthenewcommittee.On Thursday, Gandhi, party

MP from Pilibhit, posted onTwitterthevideofromLakhimpurKheri—of threeSUVsploughingintoagroupofprotestingfarmers—and called for “accountabilityfortheinnocentbloodoffarmers”.

“The video is crystal clear.Protestors cannot be silencedthroughmurder. Therehas tobeaccountability for the innocentblood of farmers that has beenspilledand justicemustbedeliv-eredbeforeamessageofarroganceand cruelty enters theminds ofeveryfarmer,”Gandhitweeted.Gandhi, who had earlier

sought reliefmeasures for farm-ers protesting against the threenew laws, had also objected tosomeBJPleaderslinkingthepro-testerstoKhalistanis.

Besides80regularmembers,theexecutivewillhave50specialin-viteesand179permanentinvitees.The179permanentinviteesincludeBJPchiefministers,stateunitpresi-dentsandgeneralsecretaries,andothernationalofficebearers.Incidentally,37ofthe80com-

mittee members are UnionMinisters, besides a number ofministers fromBJP-ruled states.This leaves less space formem-berswithout any executive posttobecomepartofthedeliberativemechanismoftheBJP.Thefirstmeetingofthenewna-

tionalexecutivewillbeheldinNewDelhionNovember7,duringwhichstrategies for theupcomingelec-tions in states, including inUttarPradesh, are expected tobedis-cussed.OnOctober18,partychiefJPNaddawillpresideoverameet-ingofnationalofficebearersofthepartyandheadsofallmorchas.Accordingtothepartyconsti-

tution,thenationalexecutiveandthestateexecutiveshavetomeetonce in every three months.However, itsmeetingshavebeendisruptedbytheCovidpandemic.At a timewhen the party is

gearingup for theUttar PradeshAssemblyelections,thenewteamdoes not have Sidharth NathSingh, a minister in the YogiAdityanath government, formerMPVinayKatiyar andpartyMPRajveerSingh,sonof lateveteranKalyan Singh,who belonged toLodhicommunitythatconstitutesa crucial sectionof theBJP’sOBCsupport base in the state.However, Union Minister B LVerma,anotherLodhi leader,hasbeeninductedasaspecialinvitee.Among the 80members in thenational executive, 12 are fromUttar Pradesh. There are six spe-cial inviteesfromthestate.RajyaSabhaMPSubramanian

Swamyhasalsohasbeendroppedfrom the new executivewhilenewlyappointedUnionMinistersAshwini Vaishnaw andJyotiraditya Scindia find spots inthe team. Among other promi-nent faces who have beendroppedareformerUnionminis-tersSureshPrabhu,VijayGoelandSSAhluwalia, andparty veteranV K Malhotra. Union MinisterPrahladPatel isnotonthelist.

80 INNATIONALEXECUTIVE,MANEKAAMONGTHOSEDROPPED

THENATIONALexecutiveisakeydeliberativebodythat shapes thepartyor-ganisation's agenda.While thepandemicdis-ruptedmeetingsof thenational executive—thelastonewasheld inJanuary2019—thepartywouldwant toput themechanismbackontrackaheadof crucialAssemblyelections, es-pecially inUP.

IntimeforelectionsE●EX

PLAINED

Surat/Mumbai: Kalaben Delkar,wife of late Independent LokSabha MP from Dadra NagarHaveli, Mohan Delkar, has de-cidedtocontestthebypoll intheUnion Territory on a ShivSena ticket.The bypoll, scheduled to be

onOctober30,wasnecessitatedafter seven-time MP MohanDelkarallegedlydiedbysuicideinaMumbaihotel inFebruary.Meanwhile, the Bharatiya

JanataParty (BJP)hasfieldedfor-mer police sub-inspector ofIndian Reserve Battalion,MaheshGavit (44), for theseat.

ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

RULINGTHATthe“NationalGreenTribunal(NGT)isvestedwithsuomotu power in discharge of itsfunctionsundertheNGTAct”,theSupremeCourtonThursdaysaidthe Tribunal, “with the distinctroleenvisagedforit,canhardlyaf-ford to remain amute spectatorwhennooneknocksonitsdoor”.Decidingabatchofappealson

suomotujurisdictionof theNGT,a bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar,HrishikeshRoyandCTRavikumarpointedoutthattheSC had ruled that the right to ahealthyenvironmentispartoftherighttolifeunderArticle21oftheConstitutionof India and recog-nisedthatNGTissetupundertheConstitutionalmandatetoenforceArticle21withrespect to theen-vironment.The court rejected the argu-

mentthatNGTisaTribunalandacreature of statute and as such,cannot act on its ownmotion or

exercise thepowerof judicial re-vieworactsuomotuindischargeof itsfunctions.JusticeHrishikeshRoy,writing

forthebench,saidthis“dutytosafe-guardArticle21rightscannotstandonanarrowcompassof interpre-tation”and“proceduralprovisionsmustbeallowedtofallinstepwiththesubstantiverights thatare in-voked in theenvironmental do-main,inlargerpublicinterest”.“Tobeeffective in itsdomain,

weneed to ascribe to theNGT apublicresponsibilitytoinitiateac-tionwhenrequired,toprotectthesubstantive right of a cleanenvi-ronmentand theprocedural lawshouldnotbeobstructiveinitsap-plication,”saidtheSC.TheNGT, said the judgment,

was conceived as a complimen-tary specialised forum to dealwithallenvironmentalmulti-dis-ciplinary issues hitherto dealtwith by theHighCourts and SC,“anditwouldbeappropriatethusto assume that similar power toinitiate suomotu proceedingsshouldalsobeavailablewith”it.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

AFTERALLOWINGwomencandi-dates to take this year’sNationalDefenceAcademy(NDA)entranceexams, the Supreme Court onThursday directed that they bepermittedtositfortheDecember2021 exams for entry into theRashtriya IndianMilitaryCollege(RIMC)aswell.Pursuant to thecourt’snudge

onapublic interest litigation, theArmyTrainingCommandhadtoldthecourtthatadmissionstoRIMCaredonethroughcompetitiveex-amsheldtwiceeveryyear,inJuneandDecember.ItsaidpreparatoryworkfortheDecemberexamsbe-ingalreadyover, “girlswill be al-lowed to take theRIMCentranceexamination scheduled in June2022 for entry intoRIMC for thetermstartinginJanuary2023”.AbenchheadedbyJusticeSK

Kaul,however,didnotagree.

The bench, also comprisingJusticeMMSundresh, directedthatnecessary changesbemadeso that they can take the examsscheduled this year itself, onDecember18.Itdirectedthat“thenecessarymodified advertise-ment be issuedwithin twodayswithoutchangingtheschedule”.“Youare effectively postpon-

ingeverything.Whydoyouwantto postpone for a year,” JusticeKaul asked Additional SolicitorGeneral Aishwarya Bhati, whourged thebench todefer the en-trytillnextyear.TheASGsaidOctober30isthe

lastdateforsubmissionofappli-cations.“Examprocesstodayisatanadvancedstage, therearedif-ficulties,”shesubmitted.Butthecourtdidnotgrantthe

prayer.Thedirections cameon aPIL

filedbyAdvocateKailasUdhavraoMore and another plea byNGOCentreforReforms,DevelopmentandJustice.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

ONE-AND-A-HALF years afterIndia suspended tourist visas inthewake of the Covid-19 pan-demic, the Centre on Thursdayannounced itwill begin issuingvisas fromOctober 15, althoughtouristswillbeallowedentryintoIndiaonlyincharteredflightsforamonth.ThosewhowanttovisitIndia

on "bubble flights" or scheduledcommercialflightswouldhavetowaituntilNovember15,thegov-ernmentsaid.“Afterconsideringvariousin-

puts,theMHA(MinistryofHomeAffairs) has decided to begingrantingof fresh tourist visas forforeigners coming to Indiathroughcharteredflightswithef-fect fromOctober 15, 2021,” theMHAsaidinastatement.It stated that foreign tourists

entering India by flights otherthancharteredaircraftwouldbeabletodosoonlyfromNovember15onfreshtouristvisas.

Theministry stated that “alldueprotocolsandnormsrelatingtoCovid-19”shouldbeadheredto.The decision, it is learnt,was

under deliberation for over amonthandtheTourismMinistryhadbeenpushingforopeningupoftouristvisas,asthetourismandhotelsectorhadsufferedthemostduringthepandemic.“TheCovidpressurehaseased

up considerably, so the govern-menthasdecidedtoopenuptheeconomy further. However, weare taking one step at a time, aswe do not want an influx oftourists suddenly,” anMHAoffi-cial said. “So initially charteredflightsarebeingallowed.Touristscan together themselves, orthrougha travel company,hire achartered flight to visit India.Regular tourist operationswillbegin only fromNovember 15,but firstonbubble flights.Asop-erations build up, commercialflightswill be opened,” the offi-cialsaid.As onOctober 6, therewere

22,431newcasesofcoronavirusinfectionsinthecountry.

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

VISITINGUSDeputySecretaryofState Wendy Sherman onThursday said shewas going toPakistan for a “very specific andnarrowpurpose” in the contextof Afghanistan, and in a bid tomakesurethattheyhavetheca-pabilities toensureeverybody’ssecurity, including India’s andtheUS.

“It's for avery specificand narrowpurpose, wedon’t see our-selvesbuildinga broad rela-tionship withPakistan. Andwehavenoin-terest in re-turning to thedays of hy-

phenated India, Pakistan. That’snot where we are. That’s notwhere we’re going to be,” shesaid while speaking at theAnanta Aspen Centre inMumbai.“But we all need to know

what’s going on inAfghanistan.Weallneedtobeofonemindintheapproach to theTaliban.Weall need to make sure that wehave the capabilities that weneed to ensure everybody’s se-curity, including India’s and theUS of course. And so, I’m gonnahavesomeveryspecificconver-sations,” shesaid.ShealsosaidthatAUKUSand

Quad “do not compete” and“theyareallpiecesofapuzzle,toensure that we have an open,free, interconnected and inclu-sive IndoPacific”.

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

LAUNCHINGINTOatiradeagainstBihar CM Nitish Kumar, LokJanshakti Party (RamVilas) chiefChirag Paswan Thursday raisedquestions on the future of theJD(U)-BJPgovernmentinthestate,asserting that the coalitionwillunravelduetodisagreementsbe-tweenthecoalitionpartners,forc-ingmid-termpolls.Addressingapressconference

inDelhi,Chiragclaimedtherewas“mass discontent” against thegovernment led byKumar,whotookofficeinNovember2020,due

to“risingrateofcrimeandcorrup-tion”.ChiragalsoaccusedKumarof “shielding the corrupt”, refer-ringtotheirregularitiesintheHarGhar Nal Kal Jal scheme un-earthedbyTheIndianExpress.

BirenderSingh,VarunGandhi

BJPpanel rejig: Birender, Varunoutafter criticising farm laws

Can’t afford to be a mutespectator: SC upholdssuo motu power for NGT

Covid cases down,India to issue touristvisas from October 15

Chirag slams Nitish with‘mid-term elections’ jibe

ChiragPaswanholdsalofthisparty’spoll symbol inDelhionThursday.Anil Sharma

LALMANIVERMADEHRADUN,OCTOBER7

ATAtimetheOpposition is criti-cisingBJP for changing twochiefministers in thehill statewithinmonthsandalleging“instability”in leadership, Prime MinisterNarendraModiThursdaypraisedthePushkarSinghDhamigovern-ment and said that the “doubleengine”ofdevelopmentwilltakeUttarakhandtonewheights.Thestateisscheduledtogoto

Assemblypollsearlynextyear.Addressingagathering atAI-

IMS,Rishikesh,afterinaugurating35PSAoxygenplants, set upun-derthePM-CARESscheme,Modisaid theCentre is giving full sup-port to the “new team” inUttarakhandand joint effortsbytheCentreandthestategovern-ment are laying the foundationforfulfilmentofpeople’dreams.

Modi recalledthatAtalBihariVajpayee had fulfilled people'sdream by carving outUttarakhandasaseparatestateasthelatePMbelievedconnectivityisdirectlyrelatedtodevelopment.He said the Kedarnath shrine is

beingimprovedbydevelopingfa-cilitiesforpilgrims,andworkisinprogress to build an all-weatherroad that connects Char DhamshrinesaswellasareasofGarhwalandKumaonregionsthataredif-ficulttoaccess.

PrimeMinisterNarendraModivisitsanoxygenplantatAIIMSRishikesh inUttarakhandonThursday.PTI

PM praises Dhami govt, saysdouble-engine growth will help

Allow women to takeRIMC entrance examfrom this year, says SC

Pak visit forspecific, narrowpurpose: US DySecy of State

WendySherman

Delkar’s wife tocontest bypollon Sena ticket

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, PUNE,OCTOBER7

THE INCOME Tax (I-T) depart-ment on Thursday searchedpremises linked to the son andthree sisters of MaharashtraDeputyChiefMinisterAjitPawar,anddirectors of sugarmillswhoarereportedlylinkedtohim.Thetaxagencysearchedafirm

wherePawar’s son, Parth Pawar,isadirector;afewfirmsownedbyPawar's sisters; two real estatefirms linkedtoPawar;anddirec-torsof foursugarmillsacrossthestateindirectlylinkedtothePawarfamily. The searcheswere con-ductedinPune,Goa,MumbaiandSatara.Pawarsaidhehasnoprob-lemwiththesearchesagainsthimbutwasupsetthathissistershadbeen dragged into it. “We paytaxeseveryyear.SinceIamthefi-nanceminister, Iamawareof thefiscaldiscipline.Allentitieslinkedtomehavepaidtaxes,”hesaid.“Iamupsetbecause(premises

of)mysisters,whogotmarried35to40yearsago,havebeenraided.IftheywereraidedasAjitPawar’srelatives, thenpeoplemustthinkaboutit...thewaytheagenciesarebeingused,”hesaid.Sources said the tax depart-

ment searched the directors ofJarandeshwar sugar mill,Pushpadanteshwar SahakariSakharKarkhanaLimited,DaundSugar Private Limited andAmbalikaSugarPrivateLimited.A fewof thesesugarmills are

alreadyunder the scannerof theEnforcementDirectorate (ED) inconnectionwith amoney laun-deringcaselodgedintotheallegedRs 25,000-crore MaharashtraState Cooperative (MSC) Bankfraud. In July, the EDhad provi-sionallyattachedland,machineryand buildings of JarandeshwarSahkari Sugar Karkhana(Jarandeshwar SSK) at Satara,worthRs 65.75 crore, under thePreventionofMoneyLaunderingActinacaserelatedtotheallegedfraudatMSCBank.In September 2019, amonth

beforetheMaharashtraAssemblypolls, the ED had registered amoney laundering case againstNCP chief Sharad Pawar andhisnephewAjitPawarinconnectionwiththeallegedscam.According to the ED probe,

MSCBanksoldJarandeshwarSSKin 2010 through an auction at alowerprice than fairvalue,with-out following any rules. At thattime,AjitPawarwasontheboardof thebank.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,OCTOBER7

THEINCOMETax(I-T)departmentonThursday said it has busted asyndicateof “businessmen/mid-dlemenandpeopleholdingpublicoffices” inMaharashtra andun-earthedunaccountedtransactionsofRs1,050crore. It indicatedthatthesemiddlemenrun real estateandconstructionbusinesses.Sourcessaidthefindingsofthe

taxdepartmentpertaintobuildersandsomeotherpeopleallegedlylinkedtoaseniorCongressleader.The tax agency said it has beenworking on the case for over sixmonths.“In all, 25 residential and 15

officepremiseswerecoveredun-der thesearch,while fourofficeswere covered under the survey.Some suites in Oberoi Hotel inMumbai,permanentlyrentedbytwoof themiddlemenandusedformeeting their clients, were

alsosubjectedtosearch.Thesyn-dicate, consisting of business-men/middlemen/associatesandpersons holding public offices,usedvariouscodenamesintheirrecordsandinonecasehadback-datedrecordsby10years.Theto-tal transactions detected duringthis search are to the tune of Rs1,050crore,” itsaid.The tax department has al-

leged that themiddlemenpro-vided“end-to-endservicestocor-porates andentrepreneurs, fromlandallotmenttoobtainingallgov-ernmental clearances”. The I-Tteamswereabletorecovercriticaldigitalevidence .Theagencysaid“angadiyas” (couriers)wereusedtotransfercash,andaboutRs1.50crorewasseizedfromoneofthem.TheI-Tdepartmenthasalleged

thattheunaccountedmoneywasgeneratedthroughbribespaidbybureaucrats for gettingkeypost-ingsandcashpaidbycontractorsfor getting payments releasedfromthestategovernment.

I-T: Busted syndicateof middlemen, peopleholding public office

I-T searches premiseslinked to Ajit Pawar’skin, sugar mill directors

New Delhi

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

PANDORA PAPERS 2021

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JAYMAZOOMDAARNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

CYPRUS IS the latest dot on themap of off-shore entities linked to Bhanu Choudhrie,the eldest son of India-born British armsagent Sudhir Choudhrie who faced probesin India and the UK on charges of allegedfraudandfinancial irregularities, records inthe Pandora Papers investigated by TheIndianExpress show.Records of Demetrios A Demetriades &

Co(Dadlaw),alawfirmthatprovidescorpo-rateservices,showthat itreceiveddirect in-structions fromBhanu Choudhrie onman-aging Lifedream Trading Ltd which wasincorporated inCyprus in2001.They show a company registered in the

BritishVirginIslands,KimbaVenturesLtd,asthebeneficiaryof theCyprusentity.InJune2008,Choudhrieapprovedthefi-

nancialstatementsof LifedreamTradingfor2002,2003and2004,authorisedthenomi-needirectors to sign thepapers, andunder-took topay the tax liabilities, if any.In 2010, Dadlaw billed C&C Sons Ltd

(now C&C Alpha Group), which is a familyholding company set up in the UK byChoudhriein2002, for itsservicesrenderedtoLifedreamTrading.On paper, Dadlaw’s Demetrios A

Demetriades and Harris D Demetriadesserved as directors in Lifedream Trading,while Dadlaw Nominees Ltd and DadlawSecretarial Ltd were the nomineeshareholders.

In August 2003, Lifedream Trading re-questedtheBankofCyprusto“urgentlyallo-cate a USDollars two days notice account”.In September 2003, the company issued aPower of Attorney to Ravinder KumarBhambri, an Indian na-tional with a London ad-dress. Lifedream Tradingwasdissolved in2014.Cyprus-based Dadlaw,

C&CSons(UK)andBhanuChoudhriedidnotrespondtoqueries fromThe IndianExpress.As reported by The Indian Express in the

Panama Papers (2016) and FinCen Files(2020)investigations,BhanuChoudhriewasdirector of two BVI companies — BelineaServices Ltd and Anterna Ltd — thatmade

over 200 transactions worth at least $118millionbetween2009and2014.Thesetrans-actionswereflaggedbyBankofChina,BankofNewYorkMellonandJPMorganChaseforsuspected“moneylaundering/structuring”.

Belinea Services wasamong the Choudhrie“familygroup”entitiesthatreceived over $100millionfromRussianarmscompa-

niesduring2007-08,accordingtoa2008re-port by a riskmanagement team linked toCredit Suisse.In 2014, Choudhrie and his father were

arrested as part of a Serious Fraud OfficeprobeinLondonforallegedlyhelpingRolls-RoycepaybribestosecurecontractsinChina

and Indonesia but the case was subse-quentlydropped.After Choudhrie set up C&C Sons in

2002,heandhis fatherbecameUKcitizens.Choudhrie's father, Sudhir, shifted basefromDelhi to London in 2006 after hewasnamed in CBI probes into the DefenceMinistry’scontractwith Israeli firmSoltamto upgrade 130-mm field guns and theBarakmissile deal.In 2011, after the CBI gave a “clean chit”

to Sudhir in the Rs 208-crore Soltam deal,the Enforcement Directorate commenceda probe into financial transactions of thedeal,butdidnot findanyevidenceof viola-tion.TheBarakmissiledealcasewasclosedin 2013.

PVAIDYANATHANIYERNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

INDIA-BORN Arvind Tiku, 51, ranked byForbes in 2021 as the 18th richest inSingaporewith a networth of $2.2 billion,hasestablishedTheSaiCharan InvestmentHolding Trust in Singapore, of whichAuctus Investments Ltd, a British VirginIslands company, is the prime investmentholdingvehiclewithas-sets of $199.4 million,showrecordsof TridentTrust, aglobalcorporateservices companyheadquartered in BVI.Tiku is not just another businessman.

His business associates include LNMittal,chairman of the world’s largest steel andmetal company, ArcelorMittal, and TimurKulibaev, son-in-law of former Presidentof KazakhstanNursultanNazarbayev.While verifying credentials using the

World-Check service offered by ThomsonReuters,TridentTrusthadred-flaggedTiku,given his association with Kulibaev andMittal (both Politically Exposed Persons),and sought an enhanced due diligencecheck on him. He was shown as a benefi-cial owner of KazStroyServiceGlobal BV, acompany controlled by Tiku, LN Mittal,TimurKulibaev andGoldman Sachs.The Indian Express independently cor-

roborated it. The2013AnnualReportofUKenergy company Nostrum Oil and GashighlightsKSSGlobalasanentity indirectlycontrolled by the four, and as the benefi-cial holder of 26.6 per cent of theUK company.

Profiling himamongthe50richest inSingapore, Forbes saidTiku left Indiawhenhe

was18tostudymechanical engineering inRussiaandworkedasacommodities traderbefore venturing into oil and gas inKazakhstan.Today, he is the Founder and Group

ChairmanofATCapitalPteLtd,aSingaporeprivate equity company, with $2.5 billionin assets spreadacross sectors suchas realestate,hospitality,naturalresources, engineering,and construction.Responding to ques-

tions from The IndianExpress, Hywel Phillip,General Counsel, ATCapital Pte Ltd, said: “Mr.Tiku has been a Non-Resident Indian since1998. The AT Capitalgroup is not an owner ofKSSGlobal.TheATCapitalgroup sold its interest inKSS in 2018 at the sametime as other sharehold-

ers includingGoldman Sachs.”Tiku set up The Sai Charan Trust in

Channel Islands,Guernsey, inAugust2011.The trusteeof Sai CharanTrust is StandardChartered Trust (Guernsey) Limited. It’s adiscretionary trust set up for estate plan-ning of Tiku, who is also the ‘Settlor’ and‘Ultimate Beneficial Owner’. In simplewords, he owns all assets assigned to theTrust. His wife Niharika Tiku is the‘Protector’ of the trust, according to thedocuments. Auctus Investments is the ac-

countholder for the trust.While a ‘Settlor’ is a

person who sets up thetrust, a ‘Protector’ gener-ally supervises thetrustee. The trustee, inthis case, StandardChartered Trust(Guernsey) Ltd, adminis-ters all the affairs of thetrustbasedonthe instruc-tions of the ‘Settlor’ –Arvind Tiku.Phillip said the AT

Capital group is held bytwo irrevocable discre-

tionary trusts, of which The Sai CharanInvestmentHoldingTrust isone. “Theben-eficiaries of the trusts settled by Mr Tikuinclude only himself and his immediatefamily members and no other persons,”he said.Toaquestion if all assetsweredeclared,

Phillipsaid, “All relevantassets/ incomere-quired to be disclosed to the Income-Taxdepartment in India, Singaporeand/oranyother tax jurisdictionshavebeendeclaredandpaid.”Auctus Investments, the BVI company,

incorporated in February 2013, owns theinvestment portfolio kept with StandardChartered Bank’s branches in Hong KongandSingapore.This includescashaccounts,bonds, equities, andmutual funds, valuedat$199.7million.The trustee toSaiCharanTrust – Standard Chartered Trust(Guernsey)Ltd–providednomineeshare-holders, directors, and secretaries forAuctus Investments, all for a fee. ArvindTiku and the trustee are named the ‘bene-ficial owners’ of this investmentcompany.Auctus Investments is the sole share-

holder inseveral companies, includingtwoBVIcompanies, StarletGroupHoldings Incand Swift Ventures Assets Ltd.ThesetwoBVIcompanieshavebeenset

up primarily to own real estate assets andbankaccounts in theUnitedKingdom,andthe ‘beneficial owner’ for both is The SaiCharanTrust. Starlet, thedocumentsshow,owns a $34.7 million property in London,and Swift a $1.9 million property, againin London.Besides these two,Auctus Investments

andArvind Tiku, are also named the ‘ben-eficial owners’ of AT Investments Ltd,whichholdsassetswithanestimatedvalueof $26 million. Tiku is also the beneficialowner of Darley Central Asia Ltd, whosenamewaschangedtoPainiteHoldingsLtd,effective April 2017, since its investmentwas not in Asia.

Cyprus via British Virgin Islands:Arms agent familywidens empireSudhirChoudhrie’ssonBhanuinstructedlawfirmtomanageCypruscompany;BVI firmwasbeneficiary

Records identifyDineshandMinalVazirani (top)asdirectorsof SaffronartManagementCorporation(BVI)

Man who brought Hyatt to India settles inheritance assets in tax haven

SHYAMLALYADAVNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

RADHESHYAMSaraf,whoownsagroupofcompaniesrunningachainofHyatthotelsinthecountry,hassettledhisproperties intaxhavenBelize through two trusts, accordingtothePandoraPapers.Thesealsoshow his links and transactionsin offshore destinations such asthe British Virgin Islands andLiechtenstein.AccordingtodocumentsofPanamanian

law firm Alcogal, Saraf and his wife RatnaaresettlorsofTheDevitaTrust,Belize,whichwas createdonApril 4, 2006. The sole ben-eficiaryof thetrust istheirsonUmeshSaraf.A spreadsheet dated February 5, 2018,names Girish Sunder Jhunjhunwala as the

trustprotector.Thetrust isoneof theshare-holders of the Saraf Investments Limited,Mauritius.An Alcogal note states that the total as-

sets of theSaraf Investments Limited stoodatUSD29.377million as ofMarch31, 2010.Apart fromTheDevitaTrust,TheVarunishaTrust too was created in Belize on April 4,

2006. A certificate datedFebruary 10, 2015, states: "Weare aware of the identity of thesettlors and beneficiary of theTrustandthatthereisnoanony-

mous principal." Later, it was registered asan "International Trust" onMarch 5, 2014,inBelize.The beneficiary of The Varunisha Trust

isArunSaraf,alsosonofRadheShyamSaraf.Its protector isDelhi-based lawyerGautamKhaitan, now an accused in the

AgustaWestlandVVIP chopperdeal.Records show that the International

FinancialServicesCommission(IFSC),Belize,soughtdetailsonTheVarunishaTrust fromAlcogal.OnApril24,2018,Alcogalwrotethat

Arun Kumar Saraf is "beneficial owner" ofTheVarunishaTrustwhereasRadheShyamSaraf and Ratna Saraf are "settlors". It said"tothebestofourknowledge, thisTrusthasa property related to an agreement with

'Saraf Hotels Limited' whose registered of-fice address is at IFS Court, Twenty-Eight,Cybercity, Ebene,Mauritius".InthePandoraPapers,Saraf'sHongKong

address is mentioned but documents re-latedtohistrustsrefertohimandhiswifeasIndian nationals and record their passportnumbers.A declaration by Alcogal on offshore

trusts lists "Source of Funds" of TheVarunisha Trust as "Personal wealth of thesettlor".Andthepurposeof thetrustis listedas "protectionof the inheritance's assets".A "supplement deed of assignment"

datedMarch18,2013,byAlcogal(trusteeofTheVarunishaTrust),Saraf coupleandSarafHotels Limited states that Radhe ShyamSaraf andRatna Sarafwere shareholders ofthe Saraf Hotels Limited, but they trans-ferredtheirsharestoAlcogalonJanuary10,2007.The inheritance chain is detailed in the

deedsof thetwotrusts, listingnomineesand

explainingwhowill getwhat if abeneficialownerpassesaway.AlcogalhascategorisedRadheShyamSaraf,RatnaSaraf,ArunSaraf,Umesh Saraf as "PEP" (politically exposedpersons).There's more in the documents on the

offshore assets of the Saraf family. TheTridentTrust's 'thirdparty introducercom-pany update form', dated September 12,2016, aboutonePignoloLimited,BVI,men-tionsEllenboroughGlobalSA,BVI(incorpo-rated onMarch10, 2005, and re-registeredon January 1, 2007) as shareholder andRadheShyamSaraf ofHongKongas"bene-ficial owner".Responding to queries from The Indian

Express, Radhe ShyamSaraf, in an email re-ply, said: "I would like to inform you that Iam92yearsoldandaresidentofHongKong.Ihavebeenanon-residentformorethanfivedecades. I would appreciate your under-standing that planningmywealth is a per-sonal andprivatematter."

Beneficiaryof TheVarunishaTrust isArunSaraf, sonofRadheShyamSaraf

‘Planningmywealthisapersonalandprivatematter’

India-born Singapore billionaire withties to powerful takes offshore route

Documentthat listsArvindTikuasabeneficialowner

‘All relevantassets/incomehavebeendeclaredandpaid’

Art auction majorlinked to clutch ofoffshore companiesAll legalandtaxdisclosures requiredunder Indianregulationhavebeen made, saysDineshVazirani

RITUSARINNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

SAFFRONART,ONEof thelargestartauctionhousesinthecountry, figuresinthePandoraPapers over a clutch of offshore companiesincorporated by its founders Minal andDineshVazirani.The auctionhouse, foundedby the cou-

ple in 2000, declared an annual revenue of$4.39million for2018.RecordsofPanamanianlawfirmAlcogal

showthat in2006, theVaziranisregistered a set of companies inthe British Virgin Islands (BVI)and somewere “in good stand-ing” at leastuntil January2017.The flagship entities regis-

tered were Saffronart ManagementCorporation; Brush Strokes InvestmentsCorporation; and Blue Cube InvestmentsLimited.Data shows that therewere cross-holdingsbetweentheseentitieswithahighvalueof shares issuedover theyears.Records of Beneficiary Owners show

Dinesh Vazirani as the BO of Brush StrokesandMinal Vazirani of BlueCube.Other off-shore entities linked to Saffronart areMatchstick Investments Corporation (reg-

istered in 2006 in the BVI) andMauritiuscompany Planet Saffron ManagementCompany LLC -- the latter was subsumedandmerged into Saffronart ManagementCorporation in 2012 after a boardmeetinginMauritius.PlanetSaffronManagementCompany’s

net assets, records show, are declared as$1.68 million. The “service address” forSaffronart Management Corporation isgivenasNeuchatel, a town inSwitzerland.In 2007, the Vaziranis, records show,

wereamongthefirstdirectorsof SaffronartManagement Corporation.Among its shareholders wereDeepak Shahdadpuri (197shares) and Dinesh Moorjani(861 shares). Both are boardmembers of Saffronart’s Indian

companywith DineshMoorjani also listedas its co-founder.In anemail toThe IndianExpress, Dinesh

Vaziranisaid:“Saffronartasagrouphasbusi-nessinterestsinvariouscountriesacrosstheworld. All the companieswithin the grouphavebeensetupwithstrictadherencetothelaws of their operational jurisdiction.Furthermore,allthelegalandtaxdisclosuresrequiredunder Indianregulationhavebeenmadewith respect to thesecompanies.”

SANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

VIVEK BHARAT Ram, grandson of DCMGroup spearhead Lala Shri Ram, and hiswifeSukanyaBharatRamwere sharehold-ers in an offshore firm that operated forsevenyearsandheldasharecapitalof $1.95millionatonepoint, records inthePandoraPapers investigated by The Indian Expressshow.The offshore firm, Socina Ventures

Limited, was set up by Trident TrustCompany in the British Virgin Islands inFebruary 2008 and existed at least tillFebruary2015.Recordsshow that shares ofSocina Ventures wereissued to Vivek andSukanya betweenMarch2008andDecember 2011.Vivek is identified as "Master Client" in

email exchanges between employees ofTrident Trust. He held 6.01 lakh shares ofSocina Ventures issued at par value of $1,while Sukanyaheld 60,000 shares.AnotherBVI-registeredcompany,Harris

Worldwide Ltd,was issued1,000 shares inMarch2008.Records showthat theautho-rised share capital of theoffshore firmwas

raised from $50,000to $1.95 million inNovember 2008. A Cyprus address hasbeen listed for all the directors of SocinaVentures.

Records in thePandora Papers do notshowthecurrentstatusof Socina Ventures butstate that all the board

directors resignedon February 15, 2015.Vivek Bharat Ram is a director in DCM

Services, DCM Anubhavi Marketing,Shriram Infomedia, Shriram GlobalEnterprises, Shriram Skill and EducationLimited, and Shriram Educorp Ltd. Hewasa director in Ranbaxy Laboratories fromSeptember 1992 toDecember 2008.TheIndianExpressemailedqueriestothe

family but therewasno response.

RecordsshowVivekBharatRam’sholdinginSocinaVenturesLimited(BVI)

DCM scion, his wife heldshares in BVI company

INVEST INJOURNALISMYOU CANTRUST

TO SUBSCRIBE CALL/WHATSAPP AT

+91 7400084637

In2010,DadlawbilledChoudhrie’sC&CAlphaGroup(thenC&CSonsLtd)foritsservicesrenderedtoLifedreamTrading(Cyprus)

ANEXPRESSINVESTIGATION

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

Letter No 6096/141 Yata-12/2021-22 Dated 07/10/2021

Notice Inviting TenderSuperintending Engineer, 12th Circle, Public Works Department Pauri on behalf of Hon’bleGovernor of Uttarakhand, invites item rate e-tender (two bid system) of the following works. Forfurther details please log in to http://www.uktenders.gov.in from 12.10.2021.

SI.No.

Name of work Earnestmoney (inRs Lakh)

Costof

Tender

Validityof tenderin Days

Time ofcompletionIn month

Contractor’scategory ofRegistration

1 2 3 4 5 6 71. Road Safety work under

CRIF on Pauri-Devprayag-Gaja- ja ja lM.R. from Km. 1 to 49 inPauri District as perrecommendations of RSA.(SH-31). (P.D. Pauri)

11.08 5000+ 18%G.S.T

120 06 Category A orhigher with forRoad work inCentral / State

Govt. or any PSUunder Central /

State Govt.2. Damrikaran of Vadda-

Chamna- Buransi (SCVillage) in PauriAssembley Constituency,Block Kot of District Pauriunder CRIF. (P.D. Pauri)

12.70 5000+ 18%G.S.T

120 18 --do--

3. Construction of scuppers,damaged walls and defectcutting on Dhumakot PipliM/R (Km 1 to 10) underCRIF (P.D. Lansdowne)

3.40 5000+ 18%G.S.T

120 09 Category B orhigher with forRoad work inCentral / State

Govt. or any PSUunder Central /

State Govt.

Office of the Superintending Engineer12th Circle P.W.D. Pauri

Office of The Superintending Engineer, 12th Circle, P.W.D. PauriFax & Phone No. 01368-222322 E-mail:-sepwdpauricircle@gmail.com

STEM WATER DISTRIBUTION &INFRASTRUCTURE CO. PVT. LTD.

Vardan Commercial Complex, 9th Floor, MIDC, Road No. 16, Wagale Industrial Estate,Thane (W)-400 604.

stemwater.tenderwork@gmail.comE-Tender Notice No. 8 (2nd Call) for 2021-22

STEM Water Dist. & Infra. Co. Pvt. Ltd., Thane are invited E-Tender in the form ofB-1 Tender for following work. Name of Work : Providing, lowering & laying 300mm dia M.S. pipe from Mamta to Metro Hotel & from Nadi Naka to Talawali Naka,Bhiwandi for Katai & Kambe villages. Estimated Cost Rs. 3,27,48,852/-. E-Tenderdocuments will be available for view/ downloading on authorised web sitehttps://stem.abcprocure.com from Dt. 08.10.2021 to Dt. 18.10.2021. Last dateof online submission of tenders with e-payment of cost of blank tender form & EMDis Dt. 18.10.2021 up to hrs. 15.00. Received tenders will be opened on dtd.20.10.2021 at hrs. 15.00. Right to reject any or all tenders without assigning anyreason there of is reserved by the STEM Water Distri. & Infra. Co. Pvt. Ltd., Thane.

Sd/-Managing Director

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

SSIITTUUAATTIIOONNVVAACCAANNTT

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

CCOOUURRTTNNOOTTIICCEE

IItt is for general-informationthat I,DharmenderKumar S/o-DasharathKaharR/o-27,Gali-No.1,Bawana-Road, Prem-Colony,Narela,Delhi-110040declare-that nameofmine,my-wife has-beenwrongly-writtenasDharmenderKumarSinghar,ManjuDevi inmy-minor daughter’s-RiyaKumariaged-14years School-Recordsand thenameofmine,my-wife,myminor-daughter has-beenwrongly-writtenasDharmeder,ManjuDevi,ShwetaKumari inmy-minordaughter’s-Shwetaaged-12years School-Records. Theactual-nameofmine,my-wife,myminor-daughter areDharmenderKumar, GuddiDevi, Shweta respectively,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly. 0040587303-10

IItt is for general-informationthat I JalaluddinAnsari S/o-Israyal Ansari residingH.No.J-2/32, 2nd Floor, J.J.Colony,Wazirpur, Delhi-110052declarethat name-ofminehas-beenwrongly-writtenMohammadJalaluddinAnsari inmy-minordaughter’s-VarishaAnsari age-13years School-Record.Theactual nameofmine isJalaluddinAnsari respectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly. 0040587284-1

IItt is for general information thatI,KishuSharma,S/oSurenderPal Sharma,R/oS-3/14,Street.No.-5,SwarnPark,Mundka,Delhi-110041,declarethat nameofminehasbeenwrongly-writtenasKinshukSharmaandmy father namehasbeenwrongly-writtenasSurinder Pal Sharma inmyLICrecords.Theactual-nameofmine isKishuSharmaandmyfather name is Surender PalSharma respectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0040587289-6

IItt is for general information thatI SalimAhmedS/o lateAbdulWahid residingat Type II/75,SecB, President Estate, NewDelhi-110004. declare thatnameofminehasbeenwronglywrittenasSaleemAhmed inhismyall documentstheactual nameofmineSalimAhmed respectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0040587277-1

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasAmita,D/oHarishChandra,W/oAshokKumarVerma,residingat,House.No.-171,Sector-14,Vasundhara,Ghaziabad,UttarPradesh-201012,have changedmynameandshall hereafterbe knownasAmitaVerma.

0040587289-5

II,,VVIIJJAAYYSINGHLAKRA/VIJAYMUMARS/ONARENDERSINGHLAKRAR/OHNO.81,MUNDKA,DELHI-110081.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOVIJAYKUMAR.

0040587297-9

II,,UUDDAAYYBHANU S/o-AVUALLSINGHPAWAR,R/o-C1/304, 3RD-FLOORSPRING-MEADOWSGREATER-NOIDA-WESTSURAJPURGAUTAMBUDHA-NAGAR,UP-201306,changedmyname toUDAYBHANUPAWAR.

0040587303-8

II,,TTeeeennaaD/OVinodkumar,R/OE-72Patel dhammansmargchanakyapuri,newdelhi-110021,have changedmynameto teenaverma.

0040587297-2

II,,SSoommttiiW/o-Sh.SiyaRamR/o-JhuggiNo.160,MalaiMandirCamp, R.K.Puram, Sec-7, Delhi-110022havechangedmynametoSarojini for all Purposes.

0040587242-1

II,,SShhiisshhuuPal Singh,S/OMaujiRam,R/O163B,Pkt-MSarita-Vihar,NewDelhi,declare thatYashikaand YashikaSinghareoneand the sameperson i.emyminor daughter. 0040587303-2

II,,SShhaammiinnaatthh soni/Babli soni,sonof,Shri ramratan soni R/o-146/A,savitri-nagar new-delhi-110017,mycorrect-name isBablu soniwhich ismentionedinmyBank-account,pan-card,aadhar-card ect.

0040587307-8

II,,SSaannddeeeepp Singh,S/oShiv RajSingh,R/oC-25,HarkeshNagar,NewDelhi-110020,declare thatmynamehasbeenwrongly-mentionedasSandeepRathore in School-Recordsofmyminor son Jitenaged-14-years.Theactual-nameofmine is SandeepSingh. 0040587307-9

II,,SSUURREESSHHAGGARWALS/OHARISHANKARAGGARWALR/OE-8,FIRST-FLOOR,PRASHANT-VIHAR,DELHI-110085.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOSURESHKUMARAGGARWAL.

0040587303-6

II,,SSUUDDHHIIRRKUMARRAJPUTS/oKeshavSharan,R/oB2-002,Classic Residency, Block-J,Rajnagar-ExtensionGhaziabad, UP,have changedmyname toSUDHIRKUMAR.

0040587295-5

II,,SSHHAAHHBBUUDDDDIINNS/O JUMMAKHAN,R/oH.No.406,Village-Pasonda, Sahibabad,Ghaziabad,UP,have changedmyname toSHAHBUDDINKHAN. 0040587295-1

II,,KKaammlleesshhVerma, SpouseofVeteran 238721BMWOShankerLal Varma, Resident of R-267,Sector-21, NoidaU.P-201301,have changedmyname fromKamleshVerma toKamleshVarma, vide affidavit dated 06-10-2021 atNoida, U.P.

0040587271-1

II,,SSAAVVIITTAAW/ORAVINDERGARGR/OHNO.644/15,KRISHNACOLONY,SAFFIDON-ROAD,JIND-126102.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOSAVITAGARGFORALLPURPOSES. 0040587297-10

II,,RRuuqqyyiiaahh Fatima,D/o-AhmadShahwar,R/o-D-155, 4th-Floor,Abul Fazal Enclave, Part-I,JamiaNagar,Delhi-110025,inform thatmycorrect date-of-birth is 25/02/2000 insteadof25/02/2002.

0040587303-1

II,,RRaajjiivv Girdhar,S/o ShyamLalGirdharR/o.H.No.5286,KohlapurHouseSabjiMandi,Malkaganj,Delhi-110007,have changedmynametoRajeevGirdhar,for futurepurposes. 0040587307-11

II,,RRAAVVIINNDDEERR//RRAAVVIINNDDEERRKUMAR/RAVINDERKUMARGARGS/O JAI BHAGWANR/OHNO.644/15,KRISHNACOLONY,SAFFIDON-ROAD,JIND-126102.CHANGEDMYNAMETORAVINDERGARG.

0040587303-4

II,,RRAAVVIINNDDEERRSINGH JASSS/OPARGATSINGHR/OF-97,NARAINAVIHAR,DELHI-110028.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETORAVINDERSINGH JAS.

0040587297-8

II,,RRoonnaakk S/OShailenderSingh,R/OC-81, Suraj ParkSiraspurDelhi-110042,havechangedmyname toRonakSingh. 0040587307-7

II,,PPAANNKKAAJJ DHINGRA,S/OLAXMANDASSDHINGRA,R/oD-91, First Floor, ChanderNagar,Ghaziabad,UP-201011,have changedmyname toPANKAJKUMARDHINGRA.

0040587295-4

II,,PPAALLAAKKGOYALW/o IndrapalSinghYadav,R/oA-4, Pocket-5,KendriyaVihar-2, Sector-82,Noida,GautamBudhNagar,UP,have changedmyname toPALAKYADAV. 0040587295-3

II,,NNEEHHAABABBERW/ORAJUBABBERR/O2719/203,TRINAGAR,GANESHPURA,NEARPNBATM,DELHI-110035.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETONEHABABBAR. 0040587303-5

II,,NNAAVVEEEENNKUMARS/OKRISHANKUMAR,R/O226POCKET-DMAYURVIHARPhase-2,DELHI-110091, HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETONAVEENKUMARARORA. 0040587295-7

II,,MMeeeennaaKumariW/o4571158NHAVSajjanSinghR/oVillage-JayanaPo.Kakkar Teh.SujanpurDistt. Hamirpur (H.P)-177028changedmyname toMeenaDevi.

0040587330-9

II,,MMaahhiirraaW/O-MohammadKazimMalik R/O-House.No-1519,Street Kotana, Suiwalan,DaryaGanj,NewDelhi-110002,HaveChangedMyNameToMaheraMalik ForAll,FuturePurposes. 0040587307-6

II,,MMDD JunaidAlamS/oMDHabibAnsari R/o-E-291,Wazirpur,J.J.ColonyAshokViharDelhi-110052,have changedmynametoMD JunaidAnsari.

0040587295-8

II,,KKrriisshhnnaaDeviW/o,Lt. SarupiSinghNo.3954919 LNK,H/no.297,Kh.No. 547,Block-P,Gali no.19,NewRoshanpura,Najafgarh,Delhi -43,havechangedmyname toKrishanaDevi. 0040587303-9

II,,KKaajjaall,,DD//oo--PPaarrddeeeeppR/o-H.No.170A,RanaPana,Qutab-Garh, Delhi-110039,thatmyfather name,hasmistakenlywritten,inmy12th-classcertificate&marksheet asPradeep,insteadof Pardeep.

0040587307-3

II,,KKAAVVIITTAAw/oGoldyTaneja,R/oC-51, SF, SudershanPark,Delhi-15.have changedmyname toKAVITATANEJApermanently.

0040587297-5

II,,KK.. AGGARWAL,S/oRaghunathR/o FlatNo.117,Vishram-Chowk, Pocket-B6, Sector-4,Rohini,Delhi-110085,havechangedmyname toKEWALKRISHAN. 0040587295-2

II,,JJaassmmiinnee Lijo,D/OMichael,R/OHouseNameKuzhinjalilArakulamArea Idukki Kerala-685591.have changedmyNamejasmineMichael,for all futurepurposes.

0040587297-6

II,,HHAARRKKIIRRAATT SINGHBHAGIRATH.S/OHARCHARANSINGH.ADDRESS-179GAGANVIHARDELHI-110051,changedmyname toHARKIRATSINGH.Permanantly. 0040587307-4

II,,GGuurrlleeeennKaur,D/O-BhajanSinghBajaj,R/O-260,KohatEnclave,PitamPura,Delhi-110034,have changedmynametoGurleenKaurBajaj.

0040587307-1

II,,GGuurrddeeeepp S/o-Vijender Singh,R/o IVORY70, IInd-Floor,EmeraldHills, Sector-65,Gurgaon(Haryana)-122001,HaveChangedMyName toGurdeepDagar.

0040587307-5

II,,AAddrraasshhMehtaD/ODayaRamYadavR/O2271,C-2,VasantKunj,New-Delhi-110070HaveChangedmyName toAdarshYadav. 0040587303-7

II,,GGOOLLDDYY s/oNandLal Taneja r/oC-51, SF,SudershanPark,Delhi-15.have changedmyname toGOLDYTANEJApermanently.

0040587297-4

II,, Vinni DhamijaaW/oSumitDhamija R/o 301, Raision,AhinsaKhand-II, Indirapuram,Ghaziabadhavechangedmyminor daughter’s name (born9.11,2006) fromKkayeshaDhamija toKayishaDhamijaafor all purposes.

0040587312-1

II,,DDEEVVEESSHHSINGHAL S/o-GIRISHKUMARSINGHAL,R/o-557,RAVIKUNJKANCHANNAGARHATHRAS,UP-204101,changedmyname toDEVESHKUMARSINGHAL. 0040587319-1

II,,BBaabbuuRamS/oLate.Shri IlamSingh/BabuRamadopted sonof Late.Shri RamSinghAddress-Village-Vazidpur(Baraut)District-Baghpat-250611Uttar Pradesh theabove(BabuRam)is the samepersonandmyAadharCardNumber& PAN-Card is also thesame.Kindly accept theabovementioned inmybankaccountrelated to sugarcanemillsociety&property records,etc.

0040587330-8

II,,AAnnjjuummw/oMehtabKhan,R/o8A/8,3rd Floor, Gandhi Park,HauzRani,NewDelhi-110017,have changedmyname toAnjumKhan. 0040587297-1

II,,AAnniittaaDeviW/o-RamKaramBhardwaj R/o-523,Sector-8,Karnal,Haryana,have changedmyname toAnitaBhardwaj,forall futurepurpose.

0040587295-6

II,,AAnniittaaDavi,W/OVinodkumar,R/OE-72Patel dhammansmarg chanakyapuri,newdelhi-110021,have changedmynametoAnita verma.

0040587297-3

II,,AAnniill Kaur,W/O-BhajanSinghBajaj,R/O-260,Kohat Enclave,PitamPura,Delhi-110034,havechangedmyname toAnil KaurBajaj. 0040587307-2

II,,AAbbdduullllaahh,, S/o-AhmadShahwar, R/o-D-155, 4th-Floor,Abul Fazal Enclave,Part-I,Jamia-Nagar,Delhi-110025,inform thatmycorrect date-of-birth is 12/06/2001 insteadof12/06/2003.

0040587303-3

II,,AANNMMOOLLCHAUHANS/OSHAILENDRAKUMARCHAUHANR/O.H-102,SAGAR-SADANAPARTMENTS, PLOTNO.113,PATPARGANJ,DELHI-110092.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOANMOLKUMARCHAUHAN. 0040587297-7

II,, Veer SinghS/o Lt. ShivcharanR/o x-9/2764Gali No-17A,KailashNagar, GandhiNagarDelhi-31 havechangedmyson’s name fromShubhamVerma s/oVir Singh toShubham s/oVeer Singh for allpuspose.

0040587256-1

II,, UpenderDas s/oYugal Das r/oWZ-283/163, First Floor, Galino.-6,MadhiWali Gali, VishnuGarden, Delhi-110018havechangedmyname toUPENDRAKUMARpermanently.

0040587262-2

II,, Thakur SinghKarir r/oWZ-E-5,Rampura,Hari Nagar, Delhi-110064 have changedmyson’sname fromJaskaranSingh toJASKARANSINGHKARIR.

0040587261-1

II,, Sunitaw/oUpendraKumar r/oWZ-283/163, First Floor, Galino.-6,MadhiWali Gali, VishnuGarden, Delhi-110018havechangedmyname toSUNITADASSpermanently.

0040587262-1

II,, SoniaW/oAmit KumarR/oH-410, Oxy-Homez, Loni-Road,Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, U.P.-201005 have changedmynametoSonia Tomar.

0040587289-4

II,, Sakshi ChauhanW/oRandeepKumarR/o 103Tower-2, GrandForte Society Sector-Sigma-4,GreaterNoidaU.P. havechangedmyname toSakshiKanwar for all futurepurposes.

0070756589-1

II,, RichaSuriW/oSumit Suri R/o-E-168, Sector-41,Noida, U.P.-201303 have changedmynametoRichaKukreja for allpurposes. 0040587289-3

II,, SHARANJITW/O-MALKIATSINGH,ADDRESS-C/A307B-C5ABLOCKMIGFLAT JANAKPURIDELHI-110058,changedmyname to SHARANJEETKAURPermanantly. 0040587330-2

II,, PoonamArora W/O Shri OMPrakashArora and D/O Shri.Ramji Lal Ahuja R/O1/6507,AzadStreetNo.2, East RohtashNagar, Shahadara, Delhi-110032 have changedmynamefromMamtaAhuja toPoonamArora since 6thOctober 2021for all futurepurposes.

0040587275-1

II,, PRACHI BUBNAD/O-PAWANAGGARWAL.ADDRESS-16BANARSIDASSESTATETIMARPURNORTHDELHI-110054.Changedmyname toPRACHIAGGARWAL.Permanantly. 0040587330-1

II,, PERMVINDERSINGH/PERVINDERSINGH,S/O JAGIRSINGH,H.NO.59, SHAHIB JI,NAGAR-COLONY, SAHARANPUR,U.P-2470001, changedmyname toPARVINDERSINGH.

0040587319-3

II,,MonikaRani (MonaBansal),Wife of Sh. Kamal Bansal,R/o.16/47, SecondFloor, GeetaColony, Delhi-110031 herebydeclarebothnamesareoneandof the samepersonand thesame identity for all futurepurpose.

0040587309-1

II ShaheenBegum,W/o lateShaukatHussainKhanD/oAshfaqueKhanR/oHouseNo.89 2nd Floor, StreetNo.22,Zakir Nagar, Okhla, NewDelhi-110025 herebydeclare thatmyfather name is LateAshfaqueKhanandmyhusbandname islate ShaukatHussanKhanandin mypassport husbandnameand father name ismentionedwrongly.

0040587238-5

II,, LakshmiKanthanVenkatesh,S/oV.S. LakshmiKanthan, R/oC-1106, Prateek Laurel, Sec-120,Noida, U.P., have changedmyname fromLakshmiKanthanVenkatesh to LakshmiVenkatesh for all futurepurposes. 0040587291-1

II,, KmPriyankaPalW/oDeepakKumarPal R/o-E-37,Street,No.1,West,VinodNagar I.PExtensionDelhi-110092changedmyname toPriyankaPal. 0040587295-9

II,, KirneshModgilyaR/oE-2/83,Sector-16, Rohini, Delhi-110089have changed thenameofmyminor child aged 14 yrs fromRishabhSharma toRishabhModgilya 0070756598-1

II,, Jatinder SinghKalsi R/o-175,U/G/F,Mukherjee-Park, Tilak-Nagar,West-Delhi-110018 havechangedmyminor son’s nameKabir Singh toKabir SinghKalsi. 0040587289-2

II,, JATINDERKUMARBHATIAR/O242, KAILASHHILLS, NEWDELHIHAVECHANGEDNAMEOFMYDAUGHTERFROMVANSHIKABHATIATOMEERABHATIA.

0040587294-1

II,, HemantKumar S/o Late ShriTekChandR/oRZ-A1/121, A-Block, Vijay Enclave, NearNavgyanDeepPublic School,PalamVillage, NewDelhi-110045, I have changedmyminordaughter’s name fromAditi toAditi Kumar

0040587305-1

II,, Brij NandanS/oSri KhushiRamChauhanR/oA-579, NearAster Public School, Sector 3,GreaterNoida,WestGautamBuddhaNagar, Uttar Pradesh-201306 have changedmynamefromBrij Nandan toBrijNandanChauhan for all futurepurposes. 0040587263-1

II,, Baljit Kumar SinghS/oRajeshwarPrasadSinghResidence-96 B, 1st floor,ShramikKunj, Sector-122,Noida, GautamBudhNagar-201316 have changedmysonnamePriyanshuSinghpermartoPriyanshuSinghParmar forall futurepurpose. PriyanshuSinghPermar and PriyanshuSinghParmarBothare sameperson. 0070756601-1

II,, BHUPENDRASINGH,R/oFLAT.NO.E-4,MILAN-VIHARPHASE-2, ABHAY-KHAND-3,INDIRAPURAM,GHAZIABAD,U.P-201014,changedmyminorSonnameHRIDYANSHUMAJILA toHRIDYANSHMAJILA.

0040587319-2

II,, Anjuw/oShri SanjaySingh r/oG-12, GopalpurVillage, Dr.Mukherji Nagar, Delhi-110009have changedmyname fromAnju toAnjila for all purposes.

0040587244-1

II,, Anguri DeviW/o Jai ChandR/o-E-68, KunwarSinghNagar,Nangloi, NewDelhi-41 havechangedmyname toAngooriDevi. 0040587289-1

II,, Amit Kapoor S/oSatpal Singh,R/oA-1412, 3rd-Floor, JahangirPuri, Delhi-110033, havechangedmyname toTaranjeetSingh,for all purposes.

0040587307-10

II hitherto knownasVIJAYKUMARVERMAS/OPARASNATHR/OA-161,MAZARSTREET, CHRISTIANCOLONY,NEARPATELCHEST, DELHIUNIVERSITY, NORTHDELHI,DELHI-110007have changedmynameandshall hereafter beknownasVIJAYVERMA.

0050185161-1

II hitherto knownasMOHAMMADJUBERaliasMOHAMMADZIBRIL aliasMOHAMMADJEEBRIL S/OABDULREHMANresidingatA-156, ChristianColony, DelhiUniversity, NorthDelhi, Delhi -110007 have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasMOHAMMAD JEEBRIL

0050185166-1

II Zaki AhmadSiddiqui S/o LateZulfiqarAhmadSiddiqui R/o E-32, Top Floor, ShaheenBagh,Abul Fazal Enclave-2, PuliaNo.6, JamiaNagarOkhla, NewDelhi, SouthDelhi, Delhi-110025have changedmyname toZakiAhmad for all purposes.

0040587238-4

II Vinit SikkaS/oSh.Manohar LalSikkaR/o 1760, Sector-28, NearDynasty International School,Faridabad,Haryana-121008have changed thenameofmyminordaughter fromKuhooSikka toKainaSikka for allfuturepurposes.

0040587238-3

II Nikunj LalW/oDarshan Lal R/oHouseNo-601, Sector-9A,Gurgaon,Haryana-122001,have changedmyname toNikunj Varshney for allpurposes 0070756583-1

IIMudit Kumar S/oSantoshKumarAgrawal R/oH-17,SanjayGandhiNagar, NatiImali, CottonMill Compound,Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh-221001, have changedmynametoMudit KumarAgrawal

0070756574-1

II FarzanabegumW/oNafeeshhAhmedR/oB-291-92, DakshinPuri, Virat Cinema, PushpaBhawan, S.O. Delhi - 110062have changedmyname toFarzanaAhmed

0040587324-1

II DeepikaW/O,GirishKumarDuaR/oE-152, Karampura, NewDelhi-110015have changedmyname toDipikaGulati for allpurposes.

0040587322-1

II BabyD/oSeetaRamR/oHouseNo-46, KrishnaBlock, JainNagar, Karala, Delhi-110081,have changedmyname toJenika 0070756581-1

II AshokKumar S/ORishi PalSinghR/OHouseNo.206, StreetNo.15, Chanchal Park, NewDelhi-110041 have changedmyMinor sonname fromAkshitKumar toAkshit Tondak for allfuturepurpose 0040587234-1

I, Jagdish Sardana, spouseofKulyashRai SardanaR/oR-317Sector-21NoidaUPhavechangedmyname fromJagdishSardana toAdarshKumari videAffidavit dated07.10.2021 atGBNagar

0040587258-1

I have lost my Allotment Cumallocation letter Allotment No.BHS0979192 date: 25/06/2008 ofplot C 149, Sector XU 2, GreaterNoida, UP. Raman Sood A39Parijat APPT, West Enclave,Pitampura Delhi 0070756592-1

I have lost my Allotment Cumallocation letter, Allotment No.BHS0979192 date: 25/06/2008 ofplot C-149, Sector XU-2, GreaterNoida, UP. Kartik Kumar & ShivaniKumari. 315, Konrer DeegBharatpur Rajasthan, 321202

0070756594-1

recruitment@visionias.in

''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

“It is to inform to the public at large thatMrs. Sonia acquired Property HouseNo. 9/5741, Plot No. 11-B, Old No.596/A-A/9-Q/1, measuring 50 sq. yds.,Khasra No. 602/130/2, Seelampur,Subhash Mohalla-2, Gandhi Nagar, VivekVihar, Shahdara, Delhi, vide Reg. GPA,ATS & Will dated 07.05.2002 executedby Mr. Pankaj Bhandari in favour of Mrs.Sonia in respect of the said property, NowMrs. Sonia is the undisputed owner ofabove said property. Any person / firm /institution / company having any claim orright in respect of the said Property by wayof inheritance, share, sale, agreement,lease, license, gift, possession, legal heirs,partners or encumbrance howsoever orotherwise is hereby required to intimate inwriting to the undersigned within 07 daysfrom the date of publication of this notice ofhis/her/their share or claim, if any, with allsupporting documents at belowmentionedaddress. After expiration of notice period,the claims, if any, of such person shall betreated null and void and also treated aswaived and not binding on our client.

Ajay Kumar Giri, Advocate“H.No. 26/161, Basement, Vikram Vihar,

Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024”

PUBLIC NOTICE

“It is to inform to the public at large thatMrs. Soniya acquired Property Plot areameasuring 0 Kanal 11 Marla out of Khewat/Khatoni No. 687/694, Mustatil No. 31 KillaNo. 28/8/1 (0-11) situated in waka maujaNakanpur, Punhana Distt. Nuh, Haryanavide Sale Deed dt. 22-11-2019 executed byMrs.Anita and original Sale Deed dt. 23-10-2018 executed by Mrs. Fatma in favour ofMrs. Anita in respect of the said property islost and Now Mrs. Soniya is the undisputedowner of above said property. Any person /firm / institution / company having any claimor right in respect of the said Property byway of inheritance, share, sale, agreement,lease, license, gift, possession, legal heirs,partners or encumbrance howsoever orotherwise is hereby required to intimate inwriting to the undersigned within 07 daysfrom the date of publication of this notice ofhis/her/their share or claim, if any, with allsupporting documents at below mentionedaddress. After expiration of notice period,the claims, if any, of such person shall betreated null and void and also treated aswaived and not binding on our client.

Ajay Kumar Giri, Advocate“H.No. 26/161, Basement, Vikram Vihar,

Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024”

PUBLIC NOTICE

My Client, Ramesh ChandSinghal S/o Late Sh. MangeRam Singhal & Smt. SumanSinghal W/o Sh. RameshChand Singhal R/o. 1891/139,Ganesh Pura, Tri Nagar, Delhi-110035, have disowned to theirson Mr. Deepanshu Singhal,and his wife Smt. NehaSinghal, from their movableand immovable property.Myclient shall not be responsiblein any manner whatsoever.The declarat ion made byRamesh Chand Singhal andSmt. Suman Singhal are alsoenclosed here with in thisregard.

POONAM (Advocate)

D/1189/2015

Mob.:9654249759

PUBLIC NOTICE

“It is to inform to the public at large thatMrs. Sudha Rani acquired PropertyBearing No. B-157, measuring 36 sq.yds., Khasra No. 726-486-85, VillageMoujpur in the abadi of Arjun MohallaMoujpur, Illaqa Shahdara, Delhi vide GPA,ATS & Will dt. 22.10.1997 executed byMr. Ramesh Chand Jain and Now Mrs.Sudha Rani is the undisputed owner ofabove said property and there no litigationpending in any court of INDIA regardingthe above said property. Any person / firm/ institution / company having any claim orright in respect of the said Property by wayof inheritance, share, sale, agreement,lease, license, gift, possession, legal heirs,partners or encumbrance howsoever orotherwise is hereby required to intimate inwriting to the undersigned within 07 daysfrom the date of publication of this notice ofhis/her/their share or claim, if any, with allsupporting documents at belowmentionedaddress. After expiration of notice period,the claims, if any, of such person shall betreated null and void and also treated aswaived and not binding on our client.

Ajay Kumar Giri, Advocate“H.No. 26/161, Basement, Vikram Vihar,

Lajpat Nagar 4, New Delhi 110024”

PUBLIC NOTICE

Pune: Themalaria vaccine, rec-ommended by the WHO forwidespreaduseamongchildreninsub-SaharanAfrica, isunlikelyto be introduced in India anytimesoon, saidexperts.RTS,S, known by the brand

nameMosquirix, has been rec-ommendedbyWHO.National Vector Borne

DiseaseControlProgrammedatasayswhile India reported 1,018deathsduetomalaria in2010, itsaw93suchdeaths in2020.

Therehasalsobeenadeclinein the overall endemicity ofmalariainthecountry,healthof-ficials said. Dr Rajni Kant, direc-tor of ICMR-Regional MedicalResearchCentre,Gorakhpur,saidwhile the government will de-cideifandwhentointroducethevaccines, it has not been ap-provedforuseinIndia.“Itwillbehelpful formalaria control andinpreventinginfection,butthereis not much of an impact rightnow,” saidDrRajniKant.Dr V S Chauhan, who is

known for his role in the devel-opment of a recombinant vac-cineformalaria,saidthevaccinehas gone through all the trialsbut itsefficacywas low. ENS

‘India unlikely to get malaria jabs soon’

New Delhi

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AT THIS RATINGChange in India’s ratingoutlooksignals that risks togrowtharereceding.Butuncertaintyovermedium-termgrowthpersists

ONTUESDAY,MOODY’SInvestorsServicechangeditsoutlookonIndia’ssov-ereign ratings fromnegative to stable. This change is based on the ratingagency’sviewthatthe“risksfromnegativefeedbackbetweentherealecon-omyandthefinancialsystemarereceding”.Moody’salsonotedthat“with

higher capital cushionsandgreater liquidity, banksandnon-bank financial institutionsposedmuch lesser risk to the sovereign thanMoody’shadpreviouslyanticipated.” Thisimplies that not only are the concerns over the financial sector slowly dissipating, butthat the economic recovery that is underway is gettingmore deep-seated. The ratingagency,though,hasretainedIndia’srating. InJunelastyear, ithaddowngradedthecoun-try’s sovereign rating toBaa3— the lowest investment grade. It hadkept the outlook atnegativeowingtotheuncertaintysurroundingtheeconomicfalloutof theCovid-19pan-demic.Of thethreebigratingagencies,bothS&PandMoody’shavekepttheratingsout-lookat stable,whileFitchcontinues tomaintainanegativeview.Theratingagencyhasreviseditsgrowthforecastto9.3percentfortheongoingfiscal

year, and7.9percent theyear thereafter. Thoughthe threatof a thirdwaveof infectionscontinues to loom, theseverityof theeconomicdisruptionstemming fromit is likely tobe lower.Over themediumterm,Moody’sexpects thegrowthtotrendlower,averagingaround6per cent. This, however, translates toanominalGDPgrowthof 10-11per cent,whichwill“allowforagradualfiscalconsolidationandstabilisationof thegovernment’sdebtburden”. India’sgeneralgovernmentdebthasrisensharplytoaround89percentofGDPin2020,upfrom74percentin2019.AgradualreductioninthedebttoGDPratiowasalsoprojectedby the15thFinanceCommission. Though its assessmentwascarriedoutpriortothesecondwaveofthepandemicwhichwouldhaveaffectedgrowthprojections,thecommissionhadexpectedtotal liabilitiesof theCentreandthestatestodeclinefrom89.8percentof theGDP in2020-21 to85.7percent in2025-26.Anupgradeintheratingsoutlook,whilepositive,shouldnotbringcomplacency.Two

yearshavebeen lost. At theendof 2021-22, the Indianeconomywill beonlymarginallystrongerthanitspre-pandemiclevelof2019-20.Moreover,partsoftheeconomy,especiallythe informalsector, areunlikely tohaverecovered fullybythen.Of thedriversof growth,both private consumption and investment are likely to remain subdued,while govern-mentspendingwill continuetobeconstrainedbyhighdebt levels.Exports, though,pro-videa rayof hope.Muchdependsonhowtheeconomyexits thisphase. If growthdisap-points in themediumterm, itwouldworsenthedebtdynamics,which,asMoody’ssays,“couldweakenthesovereign’sfiscalstrengthfurtherandleadtoanegativeratingaction”.

SHOT OF HOPEMalariavaccinecouldbea lifesaver for thousands.Globalhealthcommunityshould facilitateearly rollout

ONWEDNESDAY,MEDICALsciencetookasignificantsteptowardsconquer-ingascourge thathas tormentedhumankind formillennia. TheWHOhasapprovedthefirstvaccinethatcanhelppreventmalaria.DevelopedbytheBritishdrugmaker,GlaxoSmithKline,thevaccine,Mosquirix,hasbeentried

out onmore than8 lakh children inGhana, KenyaandMalawi. Thesepilot studies indi-cated that inoculation led to a 30 per cent reduction in severemalaria. This seeminglymodestsuccessrateactuallysignalsabigbreakthroughinmalariaresearch,afielddoggedby decades of failure of vaccine candidates in clinical trials. Modelling estimates showthatMosquirix is cost-effective inareasofmoderate tohigh transmissionof thedisease—an importantpluspointbecausemalaria is at itsmost virulent in lowandmiddle-in-comecountries.ThevaccineisalsoasignificantinterventiongiventhattheWHOestimatesthat climatechangecouldaggravate thechallengesposedby thedisease.Theearlysuccessstoriesinvaccinationinvolvedviraldiseasessuchassmallpoxandpo-

lio. Teaching the immune system to fight a parasite is harder. Themalaria parasite hasfoundways toevade thedefencesof humans. Thepathogenhasmore than5,000genes,making itadeptatdisablingthe immunesysteminanumberofways—thecoronavirus,incontrast,hasjust12genes,anditsspikeproteinwasarelativelyeasiertargetforvaccinescientists.Theparasitecanstrikethesamepersonseveraltimes—studiesinsub-SaharanAfricashowthatalargenumberofchildrengetmalariamorethanonceayear.Evenwhenthediseaseisnotfatal,repeatedmalariaattacksweakenimmunityandleaveavictimvul-nerabletootherdiseases.Useofinsecticide-treatedbedsandimprovementsintreatingpro-tocolshavebroughtdownthemalariadeathratebyhalf inthepasttwodecades.However,thediseasestillkillsmorethan4,00,000peopleeveryyear,mostof theminsub-SaharanAfrica.Evenapartiallyeffectivevaccinecould, therefore,bea lifesaver for thousands.There is still a longway to go beforeMosquirix finds a place in the inoculation pro-

grammesofmalaria-affectedcountries.WithCovidbeingthegreatestpriorityforvaccineproducers, experts reckonthat it couldbeat leastayearbefore theanti-malariavaccineis rolledout.Muchwill alsohingeon fundingdecisionsof theGlobalVaccineAlliance—itsmodestsuccessratecoulddeterinvestmentsinthevaccine.Butthepandemichasalsotaughttheglobalhealthcommunityvaluablelessonsinpublichealthmanagement.Theseshouldbeused to facilitateanearly rolloutofMosquirix.

HELLO, HALLYUWiththeadditionof 26newKoreanwords,OxfordEnglishDictionaryacknowledges theAsiancultural juggernaut

TWENTY-SIXNEWWORDS of Korean origin have been added thismonth tothatvenerableinstitution,theOxfordEnglishDictionary,alongwithrevisionsto11existingentries,andthere’ssimplynodenyingitnow:Thewholeworldhas been swept by Hallyu (the Koreanwave). K-pop sensations BTS and

Blackpink are on every playlist from Seoul to Santiago, while the Korean thriller SquidGame,releasedonlytwoweeksago,isabouttobecomeNetflix’smostwatchedshowever.Since1987,when it tookademocratic turn after decadesof authoritarianism, South

Koreahasmadecultureoneof its twoclaimsto international recognition(technology istheother).Foratinynation,scarredbywarandinvasions,andsandwichedbetweenmoregeopoliticallypowerfulstatessuchasChina,RussiaandJapan,perhapstherewasnootherway.Whatever thereason,SouthKoreanowpacksasoftpowerpunchthathas fewpar-allels,especiallyforanon-Westernnation.ConsiderhowefficientlytheglobalK-popfan-domhasleveragedsocialmediaforpoliticalends,includingdrummingupsupportfortheBlackLivesMattermovementanddisruptingaDonaldTrumprallylastyear.SouthKorea’spop cultural influencehas allegedly even led toofficial condemnationof “sissymen” (areference tomanymaleK-popartists’ useofmakeupand jewellery) inChina.While it’s beenover adecade since SouthKorea’sAsianneighbours (includingparts

of India) succumbed to thebreezy charmsof K-dramas, thehiphop-influenced energyof K-popand thepromisesheldout by thewildly successful K-beauty industry, the restof theworldtooksometimetocatchon.WithParasitesweepingtheOscars lastyear, theKorean cultural invasion officially entered its global phase and it was only amatter oftimebeforetheOEDbowedbeforethejuggernaut.AsK-everythingfansaroundtheworldwouldexclaim,daebak (fantastic)!

Sanjib Baruah

CUday Bhaskar

InAssam,whileofficialspresentencroachmentsinlanguageof law,it isanintenselypoliticalsubject

REWIRING THE FORCEManychallengesconfrontnewAirChief, includingdepletion inair force’sassets

ENCROACHMENTOF LAND designated as“governmentlands”,“reserveforests”or“graz-ing lands” and the eviction of “encroachers”have long been a staple of politics inAssam.TherecentevictionsinSipajharareinlinewiththishistory,buttheyalsostandstrikinglyapartinsignificantways.Encroachments and evictions are not

uniquetoAssam.Buttheyaremorecommonandwidespread—andtheyspantheurban-ruraldivide—becauseofcertainpeculiaritiesof the region’sphysical landscapeandpoliti-calanddemographichistory.Assam regularly loses large swathes of

land to riverbank erosion. Unlike the annualfloodsthatattractsignificantmediaattention—thoughyieldinglittlebywayofalong-termfloodhazardmanagement strategy— river-bank erosion is less dramatic, and it barelymakes news. Significant numbers of peopleare regularly displaced anddispossessed byriverbankerosion.AnarticlebyanIASofficer,AranyakSaikia, thatdrawsonhisexperienceas assistant commissioner of a flood-pronedistrict in Assam is quite telling (‘Not justfloods, Assamneeds an urgent, long-termstrategyonerosion’, IE,September12,2021).Riverbankerosionuprootspeople fromtheirland— theirmost important asset— forcingthem to relocate. Some of the displaced, heobserves, seek refuge in government lands,protected forests, or wildlife sanctuaries.“Whileundocumentedmigrationhasbeenahistorical problem inAssam,”writes Saikia,“todaya large fractionof theencroachmentsarealsobyfamilies,uprootedbyerosion”.For more than a century Assam and

NortheastIndiahavebeenasettlementfron-tierattractingmassiveimmigrationfromtherestof thesubcontinent.While thecolonialgovernmentthatpicturedAssamasawaste-land initially encouraged immigration andsettlementbypeasantsfromdeltaiceasternBengal to raise revenue, it also introducedthe line system demarcating areas whereimmigrants could settle. But the colonialstate found it difficult to defend the no-oc-cupation areas against the pressure of im-migration andmany forest reserves, graz-ing reserves and tribal belts had to bede-reserved.Thestate, ineffect,acceptedits

failuretopreventsettlementinthosespaces.This process has continued in old and newformssincedecolonisation.Inrecentdecades,internalfactorssuchas

riverbankerosionanddevelopment-induceddisplacement — not immigration — havebeen the primary sources of demographicpressure on public lands. For example,Assam’s present capital complex in Dispurwasbuilt inthe1970safterthe“de-tribalisa-tion” of land belonging to a tribal belt. Likethose displaced by riverbank erosion, thosedisplacedbydevelopmenttoofindtheirwayinto government lands and reserve forests,turningthese land-usedesignations into lit-tlemorethanlegal fictions.It is hardly surprising thatwhile officials

liketopresenttheevictionofencroachmentsintheapparentlyneutrallanguageofthelaw,ithasbeenanintenselypoliticalsubject.Evictionsbecameanexplosivepoliticalis-

sue in the 1980s. One of the demands of theAssammovement(1979-85)wastheevictionof non-tribals from the tribal belts. The AllAssam Students Union (AASU) and the AllBodoStudentsUnion(ABSU)werebehindthisdemand. One of the clauses of the AssamAccordstipulatedthepreventionofencroach-ment and the eviction of unauthorised en-croachers frompublic lands and tribal beltsand blocks. Butwhen the first AsomGanaParishad (AGP) government tried to imple-ment this clause, it quickly learned that the“unauthorised encroachers” are amotleygroup of people that includedmany Bodosandothertribalsaswell.ItwasacostlypoliticalmistakefortheAGP.

Itwas the singlemajor factor that alienatedtheBodosfromtheethnicAssamesepoliticalsocietyandradicalised theBodomovement.Fromamovement focused onBodo cultureand the deprivation of educational and em-ploymentopportunities,thefocusoftheBodomovementchangedtothedemandforasep-arate state, captured by the slogan, “DivideAssam50-50”.Assamhas come a longway since then.

ThecurrentstategovernmentofAssamdoesnot take any political chances. Evictable en-croachedareasarecarefullyidentifiedandtar-getedfordevelopmentprojects,whichappar-

ently involves foreknowledge of the allegedencroacherstobeevicted.Theirreligiousandethnicaffiliationsappeartofeatureinthede-signof theproject. Thedevelopmentprojectis fast-tracked to start immediately after thephysical eviction is completed by thepolice,bulldozers,andelephants.InherbudgetspeechtothestateAssembly

inJuly,FinanceMinisterAjantaNeogspokeofan“experiment”to“removeencroachersfrommore than 77,420 bighas of land” in theGarukhuti area of Sipajhar. A committee oflegislatorswas formed “to lead the agricul-tural initiatives for development of agricul-ture and allied activities”. The project’s goal,sheclaimed,wastoprovidelivelihoodoppor-tunitiestothearea’s“indigenousyouth”.Theso-calledexperimentwasfast-tracked

inanunparalleledmanner.Thestategovern-menthadalreadyidentifiedagroupof farm-erstoformpartofaMultipurposeAgriculturalProducerOrganisation. Therewas no expla-nationforwhynoneof theallegedencroach-erscouldbeincludedamongtheproject’spo-tentialbeneficiaries.Thegovernment,shesaid,hadalreadyde-

ployedanadvancepartyoftheIndianArmy’s134battalionoftheEcologicalTaskForce(ETF)toundertake“massiveafforestationactivities”in the evicted area; and a veterinary expertteam fromGujarat was already in place tooverseeapilotproject for the introductionoftheGircowtothearea.Thelocalmediareportedthatthecommit-

tee of legislators overseeing the project had“campedintheGorukhutiareatomonitortheevictiondrive”.Onthedayoftheeviction,thecommittee chairman said it hadengaged22tractorstotill theland.Developmenthasbeenaptlycalled“acon-

cept ofmonumental emptiness” since it canmean just about anything. Therefore criticalscholars of development have long arguedthat it is crucial to ask, “what developmentdoes,whodoesit,andwhomitactuallyben-efits”. It is hard to think of a better case to il-lustratethisargumentthanAssam’snew“ex-periment”withevictionfordevelopment.

Thewriter isProfessorofPoliticalStudiesatBardCollege,NewYork

AIR CHIEFMARSHALVivek RamChaudhariassumed office as Chief of Air Staff onSeptember30andhitthegroundrunninginhismaidenmedia interaction, ahead of the89thanniversaryof theAirForceonOctober8.Withawomanofficeraccusingamalecol-leagueofrapeattheAirForceAdministrativeCollege in Coimbatore, ACMChaudhari as-suredthemediathattheIndianAirForce(IAF)willnotshowany“latitudeforsuchmiscon-duct.” Rape cannot be condoned anywhere,much less in the Indianmilitary,whichwillbegin inductingwomenintotheprestigiousNationalDefenceAcademy,Khadakwasla.TheIAFhasplayedastellarroleindefend-

ingIndia,beginningwiththe1947-48warforKashmir. The exploits of Air CommodoreMeharSingharelegendaryfortheinnovativeuseofairpowerinthemostchallengingoper-ationalenvironment.Whilethecombatpowerof the IAFwasnot deployed in the1962warwithChina for reasons that havemore todowith the reticence and ineptitudeof those attheapexofIndia’shigherdefence,theAirForcehas risen to the occasionwhen called upon.Thisincludesthe1965and1971wars;thedar-ing strategic liftwherein a transport aircraftlandedonadistantislandintheIndianOcean(theMaldives)without somuchas a reliablemap,letaloneasaferunway;theSiachengla-cier helicopter landingswith rudimentaryequipment;thelaunchingofprecision-guidedmunitionsinthe1999Kargilwar—andregu-larhumanitarianassistanceanddisasterreliefsupportduringnaturalcalamities.

ThenewAirChiefhasawidespectrumofchallengestoaddress, includingtherewiringof India’s military into new theatre com-mands,thereservationsexpressedbytheIAFaboutits“support”roleandthevisibledeple-tion in operational air assets due to obsoles-cence and lack of newplatforms. This is un-foldingat a timewhen thecountry is copingwith the Covid pandemic and its conse-quencesontheexchequer,asalsothegeopo-litical flux that includes theUSwithdrawalfromAfghanistanandthesetback inGalwanaproposChinawhichcontinuestofester.Thedeclineinplatformsisstarkandfroma

strengthof42combatsquadronsin2002,theIAFnowoperates barely30.ACMChaudharinotedthatthisshortfall innumberswouldre-mainthroughthisdecade.Thepurchaseof83TejasLightCombatAircraft(LCA)willbeafillipevenasthesturdyMIGsarefinallyphasedout.Amore optimistic scenario is envisaged

forthenextdecade,whentheIAFhopestoin-duct the indigenous fifth-generationAdvancedMediumCombatAircraft (AMCA)andtheMulti-RoleFighterAircraft(MRFA)—anewplatform thatwould be built in Indiawithaforeignentity,the“originalequipmentmanufacturer” (OEM), and therebymoveupto35squadrons.While this is a highly desirablewish list

withambitioustimelines,therealityisbleaker.TheAMCAis“underdesign”andIndia’strackrecord in the design andmanufacture of in-digenousfighteraircraft iscost-andtime-in-tensive.As regards theMRFA, therequest for

information for114 jetshas justbeen issued.TheRafaleexperienceandthelongdelaysas-sociatedwithitwouldsuggestthatspeedyse-lectionofanOEMwillbeelusive.Evenasthereareplanstocreatenewthe-

atre commands and allocate existing air as-sets to the new formations, the depletion innumbersmerits urgent review. Former AirOfficer Commanding-in-Chief, AirMarshalRaghunathNambiar,hasbeenmoreforthrightandhas cautioned that basedon theaccept-anceofnecessityaccordedbytheMinistryofDefence, the combat strength of the IAFwilldeclineto27squadrons infiveyearsandwillcomedownto19in10years.Air power is becoming technologically

morerefinedwithunmannedplatforms,cy-ber-space linkages andAI advances. The in-herenttrans-bordernatureofthismilitaryca-pabilityneedsastuteprofessionalandpoliticalhusbanding.Chinahasdemonstratedthede-greeofsuasionandintimidationthatairpowercanbringtobear inrelationtoTaiwan.Acquiringcredibleaerospacepowerwith

ameaningful degree of indigenisationwillneedagreaterdegreeofnationalresolve,pro-fessional integrity and resource allocationthanisthecasenow.Arealitycheckaboutthequantityandqualityof India’s airpowerandthe roles it canundertake shouldprecede itsdisaggregation to theatre commands in therun-uptoIndia@75.

Thewriter isdirector,SocietyforPolicyStudies,NewDelhi

Development has been aptlycalled ‘a concept ofmonumental emptiness’since it can mean just aboutanything. Therefore criticalscholars of developmenthave long argued that it iscrucial to ask, ‘whatdevelopment does, who doesit, and whom it actuallybenefits’. It is hard to thinkof a better case to illustratethis argument than Assam’snew ‘experiment’ witheviction for development.

Even as there are plans tocreate new theatrecommands and allocateexisting air assets to the newformations, the depletion innumbers merits urgentreview. Former Air OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, AirMarshal RaghunathNambiar, has been moreforthright and has cautionedthat based on the acceptanceof necessity accorded by theMinistry of Defence, thecombat strength of the IAFwill decline to 27 squadronsin five years and will comedown to 19 in 10 years.

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,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021WORDLYWISE

With tears and toiling breath, I find thycunning seeds, Omillion-murdering death.

—RonaldRossTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Eviction and development

END INTERFERENCETHECOMMONWEALTHLEADERScalledforan end to external interference inAfghanistan,Kampuchea,PolandandAngolaandrevivalof thestalledglobalroundofne-gotiationsoninternationaleconomicissues.Their consensus on how to deal with thegravepoliticalandeconomicillsof theworldwasstatedinthecommuniqueissuedattheend of an eight-day summit. AustralianPrimeministerMalcolmFraser,whochairedtheconferenceofheadsofgovernmentof41nationsrepresentingaquarterof theworld’spopulation, described it as “an extremelysuccessfulmeeting in termsof theclearob-

jectiveswesetbeforeourselves”.

PUNJAB EXPLOSIONSTHE COMPARATIVE CALM that had de-scendedonPunjabaftertheviolentincidentsof lastmonthendedonWednesdayasexplo-siveswerehurledatgovernmentbuildingsatanumberofplacesinthestate.Pro-Khalistanposters were also strewn at these places.Extremists from the Dal Khalsa were sus-pected to be behind the incidents reportedfromAmritsar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur andMoga.Nineexplosions,mainlyfrom“cracker-typebombs”,cametolight.Themaintargetsof themiscreants, according to the police,

were buildings and houses of field officerslikesubdivisionalmagistrates.

MUBARAK NOMINATEDTHEEGYPTIANPARLIAMENThasnominatedVice-President Hosni Mubarak to succeedassassinated President Anwar Sadat.Mubarak iscertaintobeelected inanation-widereferendumnextMonday.Twenty-sixgovernorsofEgypt’s28provinceshavebeenaskedtoremaininofficeuntil thenewpres-ident selects his cabinet andgovernors. In aradioandtelevisionbroadcast,MubaraksaidthepoliciesofSadatandthesearchforpeaceinWestAsiawouldcontinue.

OCTOBER 8, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

New Delhi

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

‘’Big tech companies like Facebook have massive control over politics, politicalmovements, and people’s lives and income. It is inconceivable that companieswith this huge amount of influence are allowed to operate, unchecked andunaccounted for.’’ —THENATIONTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Sections 330 and 332 of theConstitution providereservation criteria forSCs/STs in the Lok Sabhaand state legislativeassemblies in proportion totheir population. Thus, thereexists a constitutionalmandate for enumeratingSC/STs. But there is noconstitutional provisionrequiring the same for otherbackward castes/classes.

NOVAKDJOKOVIC’Smagnificent quest fortheholygrailof tennis, thecalendarGrandSlam, came to a grinding halt at the re-cently-concludedUSOpenwhenhe lost aheartbreakertoDaniilMedvedev,andintheprocessalsobroketheheartsofmillionsofdie-hard Djokovic fans around theworld.Buthis lossbrought relief toRogerFedererand Rafael Nadal supporters, who wereequally paranoid about their idols’ tally of20GrandSlamtitlesapiecebeingovertakenbyDjokovic.IfDjokovic,whoalsohas20GrandSlam

titles under his belt, hadwon the 2021USOpen,hewouldhavenotonlyovertakenhistwogreat rivals in numbers, but also pock-eted thehaloedGrandSlam—winning theAustralianOpen,FrenchOpen,WimbledonChampionshipsandtheUSOpeninacalen-daryear.Thelatterfeatwouldhaveunques-tionably cementedhisGreatest of All Time(GOAT) status. Bymissing out on the USOpen, theGOATdebatecontinues,not leastin our tennis-crazy family,withmy son (aformer professional tennis player) being adie-hardDjokovic supporter andmyself aloyalFedereracolyte.Mywifeanddaughter(alsoaformerprofessionaltennisplayer)areneutral inthisragingdebate.Federer, Nadal andDjokovic— tennis’s

Big Three — have dominated the men’sgameinanunprecedentedmanneroverthelast18years.Betweenthem,from2003un-til 2021, they have won 60 of the last 71Grand Slam titles (Wimbledonwas can-celled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pan-demic). Each has dominated a separateGrandSlamtournament:Inadditiontowin-ning 13 FrenchOpen titles, Nadal has alsowon anOlympic goldmedal in themen’ssingles, while Federer has won eightWimbledon titles and Djokovic has nineAustralianOpentitles tohisname.Djokovic fansargue thathe is thegreat-

estsincehehasawinningrecordagainsthistworivalsandistheonlyoneof thethreetohavewon each of the four Grand Slams atleast twice. Federer’s fansargue thathehasthelongestrunatbeingNo.1intheworld—237 straightweeks. Djokovic,while havingheldtheNo.1rankingformoreweeksover-all (334)wasrankedNo.1consecutivelyforonly122weeks.NadalwasrankedNo.1con-secutivelyforonly56weeks.In theFederervsDjokovicdebate, some

commentators use the “peak value” argu-ment.AccordingtoJohnBronsteenwritinginThe Slate, the question is “how great thegreatestwereattheapexoftheirtalentsanddominance”. He argues that from2004 to

2007,Federerwon11GrandSlamtitlesanddominated tennis in amannerwhich hasneverbeendonebyanyothertennisplayer,maleorfemale.Djokovicalsohadthreedom-inant, though disconnected, years—2011,2015and2021—whenhewonthreeof thefour Grand Slams. Bronsteen feels thatFederer, by dominating in an unbrokenstretch of four years,wins the “peak value”argument.IfDjokovichadwontheUSOpenlastmonth,andtherebythecalendarGrandSlam, itwould have been impossible to ar-gueagainsthisGOATstatus.As it is, thede-bategoeson.Rivalriesatthehighestechelonsofsport

arewhat keepbothplayers and fans going.Federer,at theripeoldageof40,andrecov-eringfromkneesurgery,hasnotyetcalleditaday.Nadal,fiveyearsyounger,butstill“old”intennisterms,isalsobattlingonwithafootinjury. Djokovic, thoughno spring chickenat 34, is the only onewho is still almost inprimephysicalconditionanddeterminedtowinmore Grand Slam titles. Slowly butsurely, however, this golden generation oftennisiscomingtoanend.Afewchallengersfromtheyounger generation—Medvedev,Tsitsipas,Zverev—areloomingonthehori-zon, thoughstill faraway.Women’s tennis, on the contrary, has

been very different. Unlike the dominanceof the Big Three inmen’s tennis, theGrandSlamwins in thewomen’s game over thepastfiveyearshavebeenveryevenlyspreadamongmultiple players. The five-year pe-riodof 2017-2021 saw15differentwomenwinningGrandSlamtitles,thelatestwinnerbeing theBritish teenage sensation, EmmaRaducanu,whowontheUSOpenlastmonthattheageof18.Coming back tomen’s tennis and the

GOAT debate, I have a sneaking suspicionthat the discussionmay come to an end in2022. I hate to say this, but Federer, even ifhe recovers fromhis surgeryandcompetesagain,ishighlyunlikelytowinanotherGrandSlam title. Nadal, while always inwith achancetowintheFrenchOpen,theeventhehas dominated over thepast 15 years,mayfind it difficult to take on the dominantDjokovic or even one of the young chal-lengersin2022athisbelovedRolandGarros.Djokovicisstilltheodds-onfavouritetowintheAustralianOpeninJanuary2022,takinghis tally to 21Grand Slams, onemore thaneachofhistworivals.Ultimately, it isdifficult to fightagainst

numbers. IfDjokovicmakesitto21andtheFederer-Nadal-Djokovic Grand Slam titletie of 20-20-20 is broken, I may have toconcede the GOAT argument to my son.While this will be sad news for all of usFedererfans,therewillbeonepositiveout-come — the GOAT debate finally settled,peaceandharmonywillprevailontheten-nis front athome.

Thewriter isa former secretary to theGovernmentof Indiaandcoach tohis

professional tennisplayingchildren.Viewsarepersonal

THE INDIANCENSUS is apageantry of statis-tics.Everydecade, it rallies the largestadmin-istrative capacity in theworld’s second-mostpopulouscountry.Theupcomingcensuswouldbecritical togaugethecountry’s latestdemo-graphicdynamicsbutasthedatedrawscloser,thepopulardemandforcasteenumerationhasrecurred.Eversincethereservationquotasforbackward casteswere implemented in1992,aspertheMandalCommissionreport,thede-mandforacastecensusbypoliticalpartieshasarisenbeforeeverycensus.Everycensusuntil1931collectedcastedata,

butstartingfrom1951to2011,ineverycensusin independent India, but for SC/STs, no castedatawere collected.OnMay7, 2011, the thenHomeMinisterPChidambaramhadstated inthe Lok Sabha that India after independencedecidedasamatterofpolicynottoenumeratecaste-wisepopulationotherthanSCsandSTs.Sections 330 and332of theConstitution

provide reservation criteria for SCs/STs in theLok Sabha and state legislative assemblies inproportiontotheirpopulation.Thus,thereex-istsaconstitutionalmandateforenumeratingSC/STs.Butthereisnoconstitutionalprovisionrequiring the same for other backwardcastes/classes.Thedemand for caste enumerationalong

withthepopulationcensus,2021,failstorecog-nise thecomplex issues related to thematter,and, as a consequence, the stanceof the gov-ernment.Asquotedduringaparliamentaryde-bateoncastecensus,theOfficeoftheRegistrarGeneralheld thatdoingsocan jeopardise thewholeexerciseofcensusitself.Thereareahostoftechnical,logisticalandoperationaldifficul-ties associatedwithenumerating caste alongwiththemaincensus,renderingit infeasible.Hence,theUPAgovernmenthadrejected

theoriginalpleaofconductingacastecensusalongwiththe2011censusbutduetopoliti-calpressure,concededandconductedasep-arate Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC)withoutduepreparationsandexpendedoverRs5,000crore.Theimmediateglaringissuewas“misclas-

sifications”.Peopleusetheirclan(gotra),casteandsubcaste interchangeably; therearepho-netic similarities incastenamesanddifferentspellingvariants, thusbloating theenumera-tionandreturninga tallyof castes farexceed-ingtheactualnumber.While the central list has 2,479OBCs, the

stateandUTslistshave3,150OBCs—includingsubcastes.Thedatayielded46lakhcastenamesandhasbeenbeyondthescopeofpropercat-egorisation.Tolendperspective,the1931castecensusinIndiahadreportedonly4,147castes.TheSECC2011dataforMaharashtraalone

reflectsthemagnitudeofinaccuracies,whereinthenumberofcastescameto4,28,667,buttheofficialstate’sbackwardcastelisthasonly494.Moreover, 99per cent of the castes enumer-ated had a population of less than 100, thusmakingthisapoormetrictoapportionreserva-tions.Overall,intheSECC2011data,therewereover1.18croreerrors.Duetosuchirregularitiesand inconsistencies, the caste data from theSECC2011wasn’tmadepublic.

TherulingmajorityattheCentrehasneverbeenopposed to a comprehensive caste cen-sus.In2010,BJPparliamentarianslikeGopinathMunde, HukumdevYadav hadpassionatelysoughtacastecensus.Theparty’sstanceseemsclearfromthefactthattheBJPjoinedthecom-prehensive proposal from legislative assem-bliesofBiharandOdishatopursuethepossibil-ityofconductingacaste-basedcensus.Besides,seniorBJP leaderswereevenpresent atBiharandJharkhand’sall-partydelegationtothePMandHomeMinister.TheGovernmentofIndia,inareplyaffidavit

to a SupremeCourt petition, stated the chal-lengesandissueswithSECC2011andassertedthatpreparationsforthecensusbegin3-4yearsbefore theactual data collection. The trainingmanuals for surveyors, guidelines andotherrelevantmaterials havebeenprepared in16-18languages.Forthe2021census,forthepur-pose of house listing, the series of questionshavealreadybeenfinalisedafterpilotingthemthroughfieldtrialsinAugust-September2019.Besides, thegovernmenthadalreadynotifiedonJanuary7,2020,the31questionstobeaskedfromall persons. Thus, the inclusionof addi-tionalquestionsisnotfeasibleatthisstage.Itismistakenlyassertedthatthequestion-

nairejustneedsanadditionalcolumnforcaste.Theupcoming censuswill bedoneondigitaldevices,andhenceadrop-downmenu,codify-ingeveryoptionavailablefortheresponse,hastobeadded.Whiletheexerciseofaddingacol-umncanbedoneeasilyforSCs/STsasthereex-ists adefinite list for them, thecaseofOBCs isdifferent. Itwill be impractical to amend somanypreparatorymaterials, retrain the enu-merators, re-run trials for theupcoming cen-sus,thislateintheday.In India, theOBC list is not unique to the

centralgovernment:Thus,thereexisttwosep-aratelistsforthesameandtherearevariationsacrossstates.Therearefivestateswhichdonothavea listof theirown,whilesomestates fol-lowdifferent interpretations of who can becounted amongOBCs -- some include “poor

anddestitute children” asOBCs, some countScheduled Castes who have converted toChristianityinthiscategory.It isarguedthatacastecensusalongwith

theofficial census shall enable governmentstomap thepopulationwithbetter granular-ity.While the rationale is apt, the path isn’t.There is awidevariation in castehierarchiesacrossIndiaandthepathshouldbethatstatesthatwanttocangoaboutenumeratingcasteat their level.Certainstateshavealreadygoneaheadand

conductedtheirowncastecensus.In2015,thethenCongress government of Karnataka ex-pendedRs147crorefortheexercise,but find-ingthetotalofsomeprominentcastestobebe-lowexpectations,didn’tpublishtheresults.TheOdisha government’s endeavour for a castecensushasbeendisruptedbythepandemic.In2014, the Telangana government did the“SamagraKutumbaSurvey”whereinbackwardcasteswere foundtoconstitute51percentofthepopulation. Even theKerala governmenthas decided to conduct its socio-economicSurveytoidentifytheeconomicallybackwardsamonguppercastes.Thus, if stateswish to goabout their own

castecensus,theyarefreetodoso.NoapprovalsfromeithertheCentreoranycourtareneces-sary.Here,itiscriticaltorealisethattheissueisnotwith“castecensus”perse—afterall,reser-vationsarecaste-based.TheonlyissueiswiththeUniongovernment’s inabilitytodoso.Currently, theMaharashtragovernment’s

petitionrelatedtothecastecensus ispendingwith the Supreme Court. Previously, theMadrasHighCourt’sdecisiontoconductacastecensuswasoverturnedbytheSupremeCourt.Even in the PattaliMakkal Katchi Vs Union ofIndia,onthesameissue,theapexcourthaddis-carded thepetition in2009.While states cancertainlyposit their views, the final adjudica-tionbytheapexjudicialbodymustbeawaited.

ThewriterisformerdeputychiefministerofBiharandaBJPMP,RajyaSabha

Sushil KumarModi

Parameswaran Iyer

Centralgovernmentisnotopposedtoacastecensus.Butatthis juncture,casteenumerationalongwiththepopulationcensuswillrunintologisticalandtechnicalchallenges.States,however,arefreetogoahead

The difficulty in counting caste Grit togreatness

WhyIsuspecttheGOATdebateinmen’stennismaycometoanendin2022

CR Sasikumar

TARGET THE BIG GUYSTHISREFERSTOthereport, ‘Bhanushalisays informed NCB about passengerswith drugs on cruise ship’ (IE, October7). The arrest and custodial interroga-tion of celebrities attending a cruiseparty has reopened the debate overcriminalisationofcannabis. Indiacrim-inalised it underAmericanpressure in1985throughtheNDPSAct.Thiswasamisguidedstepatvariancewithgroundrealities.NDPSmustevolveathree-tiergrading offenceswhere, first,cannabisshould be decriminalised. Those in-volved inmanufacture, trafficking andsupplyofharddrugs likemeth,heroin,cocainemust face thestrictestpunish-ment. And those consuming thesebannedsubstancesshouldbetriedun-dercivil law,notcriminal law.Thiswillallow NCB to concentrate on supplychains that feed the Indian under-groundnarcoticsmarketandthemainplayers in thatmarket.

Vandana,Chandigarh

BIG BROTHERTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Robocop’(IE,October7).Rankedoneofthesafestcountries in theworld, Singapore hasbeen testinganewweapon in thebat-tle against incivility in recentweeks –mobilerobotsthatcandetect“undesir-ablesocialbehaviour”.Forsome,thero-botsareausefulcrime-fightingtool,butfor others they are the latest sign of agrowingsurveillancestate.

SSPaul,Nadia

A STEP TO PARITYTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘TheNDA’sinclusion test’ (IE, October 7). Amajorstep has been taken towards ensuringthatwomen get equal opportunity, as

laid down by the Constitution, whenthe NDA opened its doors for womencadets after the SC passed an interimorderallowingwomentoappearfortheNDAentranceexaminAugust.Lastyearthe SC asked the government to abidebyitsownpolicyandgrantpermanentcommission to women in the ShortService Commission and give themcommandpostingsinallservicesotherthan combat. The bigger question ofwomen in direct combat roles still re-mains tobeaddressed.

SanjayChopra,Mohali

CODIFY GENEROSITYTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Thecasefora refugee law’, (IE,October6). Indiahaswitnessed refugee inflows for long.Refugees fleeing political persecutiondeserve protection on humanitariangrounds.Thegovernmentandthepeo-ple have been sympathetic towardspeople inneedbutmuchof ithasbeendone inanad-hoc fashion.Theexistinglegal frameworktreatsbothillegaleco-nomicimmigrantsandasylum-seekersasillegal. Indianeedsanationalrefugeeprotection framework to safeguard itsterritoryand itspeople .

SudipKumarDey,Barasat

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●● THEVALUEOFPERSEVERANCE:AKHILESHMISHRA

www.indianexpress.com

Dharampal was a scholar, archivist andGandhianthinker,whomadeaseminalcon-tributiontohighlightingthestrengthsof in-digenousknowledgesystemsinprecolonial,pre-modernIndia. IfDharampal’scentenarycelebrations,nowunderway,aretobetruth-fulandfuturistic,thentheimplicationsofhispositiononthe1992demolitioninAyodhyamust be acknowledged andaddressed. ThekeyissuehereisnotHindu-Muslimrelationsbut the increasinglybitterHinduismversusHindutvadivideandthedangersofanypol-iticsthatisanchoredinanunresolvablesenseof victimhood.Manyofhisadmirers inGandhiancircles

were shockedwhenDharampal supportedthe demolition of the Babri Masjid inDecember 1992. By then, Dharampal wasknownas a venerable scholarwhoseworks,includingIndianScienceandTechnologyintheEighteenthCentury(1971),hadinfluencedsev-eral generations of activists. In early 1993, ImetDharampalandaskedwhyhewelcomedthedemolitioninAyodhya.Itisthewillofthepeople,heanswered.Thiswas longoverdue,he added, and it is part of the necessaryprocess of bringing down colonial symbols.HedidnotseetheeventinAyodhyaasspecif-icallyanti-Muslim.WemetagaininDecember1993atthefirst

conferenceonIndia’sTraditionalSciencesandTechnologies, hosted by the Patriotic andPeople-oriented Science and Technology(PPST)groupat IITMumbai.There, Iwaswit-nesstoaconversationbetweenthescientistC

V Seshadri, whowas then the president ofPPST,andDharampal,whowasthefounding-mentorofPPST.SeshadripleadedwithDharampalto“see”

the destructive logic of not just his stand onAyodhyabuthissupportoftheprotagonistsofthatcampaign.Seshadri’svoicetrembledwithgrief andanxietyashebeggedDharampal torealise that thepathhewasonwould tearusapart,asasocietyandasanation.Seshadri knew that once apolitics of ha-

tred,anchoredinvictimhood,takesroot,itwillnotlimititselftoHindu-Muslimlines.Twenty-eightyearslater,Seshadri’sunderstandingandhis assessment stand fully validated. Today,acrosscasteandreligion lines, anassortmentof identity-based groupings appears to bereadyandwillingtodobattletoeitheravengetheirfeelingsofvictimhoodorassertdomina-tionoversome“other”.Seshadrisawthedemolitionasamoment

fortriggeringourconscience,Dharampalsawitasanecessarybalmtotheaccumulatedpainofvictimhood.Therewasabitterandtragicironyinthis.

Dharampal’sworkenabledsomanyofustoknowourownsociety’sprecolonialrootsandstrengths in nuanced detail. Yet in the reallife of the present, Dharampal seemed un-abletoseethatwhathispositiononAyodhyadidwastoendangersabhyasamaj,acivilandopensociety.As ahistorical event, both thedemolition

andDharampal’spositiononitcouldpossiblybesetaside.Butthepsychologicalpainofvic-

timhood is a livingbreathingbeast amongstusstill.It requires hardwork and effort to free

yourself fromavictim identity and focus onwhatactuallymatterstoday.Onlythencanwefindcluesinpre-modernknowledgesystemsthatcouldenableustobuildabetterlifeforallIndiansinthe21stcentury.Therearethreemajorareasofpotentialop-

portunity.One, India’s indigenous sciences and

technologieswere possible only becauseof an overlappingmutuality across casteand religious lines. Today, there is a needto acknowledge perceived injustices ofthe past and present, attempt to addressthe inequities fromaposition of inherentdignity rather than unresolvable victim-hood, and accept or at least explore themany ways in which India’s freedommovement acted as an enriching processthat enabled diverse segments of India’ssamaj to sublimate the pain of the pastand renew itself.Two,ananti-coloniser focus isaneasyde-

faultresponse.Butitisananti-colonisationfo-cus thatwill spurcreativity, fostering fairandjustsystemstoservecurrentandfutureneeds.Therefore,areactiveandanti-coloniserdis-

coursehasnofuturebecauseitdoesn’thelpustochallengethedominantdefinitionsofeither“development”or“growth”.Three,people’sknowledge,or lokvidya,

cannot be celebrated in the abstract whilesectionsof itspractitioners, andthosewho

defyor challenge theHindutvaproject, arethreatened.Whatisatstakenowisthefutureof India as anopenandcivil society, a sabhyasamaj—one inwhich inherent or importedflawsand inequities canbe tirelesslyworkedupon.Thisinturnrequiresustointerrogatethedefinitionof“patriotic”.Patriotismcanbe limited togeographical

orgenealogicalloyaltyoritcanbeexpansivelydefinedonthebasisoffoundationalmoralval-ues.Thelatterrecognisesthepainofhistoricaleventsandrelatedinjusticesbutisnotshapedbyoranchoredinthatpast. Instead, thefocusisonthequestforagoodsociety,asamajwhosestructuresandprocessesareaimedatfacilitat-ingwell-beingof all—withunqualified andequaldignityforall.Beingpatrioticinthissenseisastrugglefor

swa-raj, self-rule, as in a true commandoverone’sself,one’spassions—inwaysthatfreeusfromourinsecuritiesandanxieties.Thismoredemandingeffortbuildsstrengththroughthepracticeofcompassion,cooperationandthusfraternity — reaching far beyond identityboundaries. These positive energies free usfromthe fearandsuspicionof thosewhoarenot“us”.Thenanylingeringburdensofvictimhood

mightfalloff,liketheyellowingleafthatfloatsdown froma tree,withan implicit senseof acompletedlife-cycleandrenewal.

Thewriter isa journalist, authorand founderof theonlineplatform ‘Ahimsa

Conversations’

Rajni Bakshi

The bitter fruit of victimhoodScholarDharampal’slegacywarnsagainstpoliticsgroundedinsenseof injury

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

MANISHSAHULUCKNOW,OCTOBER7

ONMONDAY,adayafteravehi-cle owned by himwas amongthree that mowed down fourfarm protesters in UP'sLakhimpur Kheri, AjayMishradeclared that therewasno casependingagainsthim.What the Lakhimpur Kheri

MPchosetoomitwasthis:Thereis a revisionpetitionpending intheAllahabadHighCourtagainsthis acquittal in a murder casefrom2000.Members of the family that

filed the petition say they nowliveinconstantfear.“Wearetak-ingallprecautionssince theop-posite party is now the UnionMinisterofStateforHome,”saysRajeevGupta (45).Gupta'selderbrother,Prabhat

Gupta,wasgunneddownonJuly8,2000.Mishraandthreeothers— Subhash aliasMama, ShashiBhushan and Rakesh alias Dalu—werebooked in the casewithPrabhat's family alleging themurderwasafalloutof“politicalrivalry”.In 2004, a local court in

Lakhimpur Kheri acquitted thefour, including Mishra, afterwhichthestategovernmentap-proached the High Court whilethe victim’s family filed a revi-sionpetition.AccordingtoaPTI report, the

pleas were heard and theLucknowbenchoftheAllahabadHighCourtreserveditsjudgmentonMarch12,2018.However,be-fore the verdict could be pro-nouncedby thebenchof JusticeDevendraKumarUpadhyayandJustice Dinesh Kumar Singh, itwas relisted, the report said, re-quiringa furtherhearing.The Allahabad High Court

websiteshowsthatthecasewaslasttakenuponFebruary5,2019.“Sincethedaywefiledthere-

vision petition, we have beenkept under constant watch byAjayMishra's people. To buildpressure onme, so that I don'tpursue the case, four false caseswere lodged against me. Thecourthasacquittedmeinallfourcases,” saidRajeevGupta.WhileAjayMishracouldnot

be reached for comment, threeofhislawyersdismissedthealle-gations and pointed out that

Sanjeev Gupta, the brother ofPrabatandRajeev,hadbeencon-victedby a local court for open-ing fire atMishrawhile hewasonhiswaytocourt.Rajeev Gupta confirmed the

incident, and said that it hap-pened after Prabhat was shot.“My brother Sanjeev is nowoutofjail.ButMishrahadalsolodgedfalse cases against my familymembers toharassus,”hesaid.Mishra'slawyers,SalilKumar

Srivastava andGajendra Pratap,said theywere not aware of thestatus of the revision petition.“Ajay Mishra and others wereacquitted in themurdercaseonmerit,” Srivastavasaid.Mishra has been associated

withtheBJPforlongandin2012,he contested successfully on aBJP ticket in the Assembly elec-tions fromNighasan. He is theLakhimpurKheriMPsince2014.AccordingtoMishra'saffidavit

for the 2012polls, hewas facingthreecases,includingoneofmur-der.Theaffidavitstatedthathehasbeen acquitted in all cases.AvadeshSingh,anotherlawyerforMishra,said:“Nocaseispresentlypending against AjayMishra atpresent.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Sack minister forfair probe, arrestaccused son: Opp

InMoSdistrict, a pendingplea, a fearful familyLAKHIMPURKHERIDEATHS

BJPmandalmantri forSingahiareaShyamSundarNishad’smotherPhoolmationThursday.Vishal Srivastav

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

MINISTER OF State for HomeAjayKumarMishra,whosesonisfacingarrestafterbeingaccusedof killing four farmers in UttarPradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, onThursday said that jail inmatesmustbeprovidedasafeenviron-ment for their reintegrationintothemainstream of society. Healso said that inmatesmust beprovided training through skilldevelopmentprogrammes.Mishra made the remarks

while delivering the inauguraladdressof the7thConferenceofHeadsofPrisonsofallStatesandUnion Territories, organised byBureau of Police Research andDevelopment (BPR&D) at itsheadquarters inNewDelhiAMinistry of Home Affairs

statementquotedhimassaying,“Themain challenge for reinte-grating inmates into themain-stream of society is providing a

safe environment to them. Jailsystemsmust have provisionsfor providing training and skilldevelopment for people livinginsideprisonsandaftercarepro-grammes.”The statement said themin-

isteralsounderlinedtheimpor-tanceofe-prisons,whichhesaidsaves time and makes theprocesseasierforfurtherassoci-atingwith the courts. “Anotherimportantaspectof e-prisons ise-mulakaat,whichhasmadetheprocesseasyfor inmatestocon-tact their families,” it said.

AphototweetedbyBPRDofMoSMishraat themeeting.

PunjabCMChiranjitSinghChanniandCongressleaderNavjotSinghSidhuinMohali.CongressworkersheadedtowardsLakhimpurKheriThursdayweredetainedatapolicestationinSaharanpurbutwerelaterallowedtoproceed.Twitter

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,OCTOBER7

DAYSAFTERtheconvoyofaUnionminister's sonallegedly ranoverfarmagitatorsinUP'sLakhimpurKheri,membersofBKU(Chaduni)onThursdayclaimedthatacarina BJPMP's cavalcade hit one oftheir members protesting thefarm laws inHaryana's Ambala

Thursdayandlefthiminjured.Thefarmer,BawanPreet,was

part of a group of protesters atNaraingarh, showingblack flagstoKurukshetraMP,NayabSinghSaini, and state SportsministerSandeepSingh.Saini denied the allegation

that anyone was injured. Heclaimed that the protesters at-tackedhiscar.“Wehavelodgedapolicecomplaint.Ourcommunity

(Sainis)isupsetwiththisincidentandwill take a call on this sepa-rately,”hesaid.In a police complaint, BKU

(Chaduni) members said anInnovacar intheMP'sconvoyhitBawanPreet,leavinghiminjured.The union has alleged Saini

hadarole intheincidentandde-mandedthatacaseofattempttomurderberegisteredagainst theBJPleaderandtheInnovadriver.

SADAFMODAKMUMBAI,OCTOBER7

A MAGISTRATE court onThursdayrejectedtheNarcoticsControlBureau(NCB)pleaseek-ing further custody of AryanKhan, Bollywood actor ShahRukhKhan'sson,andsevenoth-ers, saying simply doing thiswouldbe“violationof theirfun-damental rights”.Additional Metropolitan

MagistrateRMNerlikarsenttheeight to 14-day judicial custodyinstead.Theirinterimbailappli-cationswill beheardFriday.TheNCBhadarrestedAryan

and two others following an al-legeddrugbustonacruise linerSaturday.

Since then 15 more havebeen arrested, including twomore passengers on board thecruiselinerCordelia,andallegeddrugpeddlers.DenyingtheNCBthecustody

ofthefirsteightarrested,includ-ing Aryan, the court said it hadconsidered the submissionsmade by Additional SolicitorGeneral Anil Singh, who is theNCB's counsel and the Centre’ssenior-most officer in the state,as well as the remand reports,and case diary. The progress ofthe investigation was not re-flectedintheremandreport,thecourt said.“Nodoubtitistherightofthe

NCBtoclaimcustody... forinves-tigation of an offence. But sim-ply remanding the accused topolicecustodywouldamounttoviolation of fundamental rightsguaranteedbytheConstitution,”thecourt said.Magistrate Nerlikar added

thatthegistof theNCB'sremandreportwasthatitwantedtocon-front the eight accused withthosearrested later— includingAryanwithAachitKumar.The NCB has claimed that

KumarisAryan'sfriendandwasarrestedonhisstatement,basedontheir chats.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

AryanbeingtakentocourtbyNCBonThursday.

GaneshShirsekar

E-auction ofPM’s mementos:Chopra’s javelinreceives highestbid of Rs 1.5 cr

Aryan, 7 others sent to 14-day judicial custody

ASADREHMANLAKHIMPURKHERI,OCTOBER7

PHOOLMATISAYSshewillneverforget thevideo. "There arepeo-plesurroundingmysonandques-tioninghimashebleedsandbegsthemformercy,” the47-year-oldsays,breakingdown,aspoliceper-sonneldeployedattheirhouseinJaipravillageof LakhimpurKheridistrictkeepawatch.Her son Shyam Sunder

Nishad,30,was theBJP 'mandalmantri' for Singahi area of thedistrict.Inthevideo,purportedlymade soon after a convoy ofUnionMinisterofStateforHomeAjay Mishra's son plougedthrough protesting farmers inTikunia on Sunday, an angrygroupisinterrogatingNishadonwhether Teni (Mishra) had senthim. They also ask repeatedly ifhewas sent to "do an accident"deliberately, even as he pleadsthatwasnot thecase.Nishadwas among the four

people believed to have beenkilled in the violence that fol-lowed the Tikunia incident, inwhich four farmers werecrushed.Phoolmati says the video

reached them before the newsofNishad'sdeath. “Hehadgoneforpartywork.Hewasanactiveworker and had gone for thedangal event in the MP’s(Mishra's) village. "Nishad'sfatherBalakRam(52)

worriesforhistwodaughters,one3andtheotheraninfantofsevenmonths. "The government hasgivenachequeforRs45lakh.Butwewantjustice.Thosewhokilledhimmust face action,whoevertheyare,”BalakRamsays.Of the three others killed al-

legedly by angry farmers wasMishra'sdriverHariOmMishra,27, of Parsehra village. The fam-ily says he had been employedwith Mishra's son Ashish foraround fiveyears.Hari Om is survived by two

younger siblings, his motherNisha and his father RadheShyam, who is mentally andphysicallydisabled.SisterMaheshwari, 24, says

HariOmhadlefttwo-threedaysearlierforwork."OnMonday,hisbody came home, and we justcollapsed.Wehadnoideasome-thing had happened to him. Hewaskilledby the farmers."Nisha, 65, says she couldn't

bear look at the body. "Whathappenedtohimwasbrutalandinhuman.Hewaskilledbymon-sters."With Radhye Shyamun-able to work, the family de-pended onHari Om's earnings.Theyownasmallbitof land.

DIVYAANEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

THETHIRDroundofe-auctionofgifts andmementos presentedto Prime Minister NarendraModi concluded on Thursdayeveningwith Olympian NeerajChopra’s javelin being the topfavourite intermsof thehighestbidvalueatRs1.5crorefollowedby the theautographed fenceofBhavaniDeviatRs1.25crore.The1,348mementos put up

for e-auction included sportsmemorabiliaof theparticipantsof the Tokyo 2020 ParalympicGames and the Tokyo 2020Olympic Games; models ofAyodhya Ram Mandir; andVaranasi’sRudrakshauditorium.More than 8,600 bids were re-ceivedfortheitems,saysastate-mentbytheMinistryofCulture.The auction started on

September17on thewebportalwww.pmmementos.gov.in. Theproceeds go to the NamamiGangeMission.Thefinale-auctionamount is expected to bemuchhigher than the last two rounds.At the last such auction held inSeptember2019,asmanyas2,770objectswentunderthehammer.Three such auctions have

been organised by theMinistryof Culture sinceModi becamePrimeMinister in2014.

MoS Mishra: Jail inmatesmust be provided safeenvironment, skill training

We want justice,action againstwhoever had ahand: BJPworker’s family

Lucknow: The OppositionThursday demanded the resig-nationofMoSAjayMishratoen-surea freeandfair investigationand the immediate arrest of hisson, Ashish Mishra, who hasbeen booked for themurder offourprotesting farmers.Congress general secretary

PriyankaGandhiVadrafurtherde-mandedaprobebyasittingjudgeofSupremeCourtoraHCintotheLakhimpurKheriviolence.SP chiefAkhileshYadavsaid,

“Do you think farmers can getjustice tillhe (fatherof accused)isMoS?”BSP chiefMayawati accused

theBJP of having a “biased” atti-tudetowardstheincident.Later in the day, a Congress

delegation sat on a dharna out-side theRajBhavan inLucknow,sayingtheywerenotallowedtoGovernor Anandiben Patel andhand over a memorandum, inwhich the party has sought ac-tion against police officerswhoallegedlymanhandledPriyankalateSunday. ENS

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

FACEDWITH reciprocal meas-ures from India against Britishnationalsover the last fewdays,theUKgovernmenthasliftedre-strictionson Indian travellers totheUK.FromOctober 11, there will

benoquarantineforIndiantrav-ellers who are fully vaccinatedwith Covishield or another UK-approvedvaccine.Announcing this on

Thursday night, British HighCommissioner Alex Ellis said,“From Monday the 11th ofOctober, a traveler fromIndia tothe UK, double jabbed withCOVIDshield[Covishield]oran-othervaccinerecognizedbytheUKregulatordoesnothavetobequarantined.So, itwill beeasierandcheapertoentertheUK.Thisisgreatnews.”Ellis thankedtheIndiangov-

ernment for close cooperationover lastmonth.While there was no official

word fromthegovernment, it isexpected that New Delhi willalsolifttherestrictionsonBritishnationalstravellingfromtheUKto India.Earlier in the day, India had

said it was hopeful of finding asolution to thecontentiousvac-cine certification rowwith theUK through talks, even as it in-sistedthatBritain’stravelrestric-

tions on Indian nationals were“clearlydiscriminatory”.Lastweek,Indiahaddecided

that UK nationals arriving herefrom that country will have toundergo mandatory 10-dayquarantine from October 4(Sundaymidnight),weeks aftertheUK imposed similar restric-tionson Indian travellers.The British travel rules had

alsokicked in fromOctober4.India hadmade changes in

theCovid-19vaccinationcertifi-cates by including the date ofbirth,butBritishauthoritieshadtaken time to go through its in-ternal processes before liftingtherestrictions.A British High Commission

spokespersonsaidonThursday,“The UK has further opened upinternational travel and willrecogniseIndia’svaccinecertifi-cation system from11October.The decision was taken afterclose technical cooperation be-tweenourMinistriestakingpub-lichealth factors intoaccount.”Pitching for lifting of restric-

tions from the Indian side andopening up travel, the BritishHighCommissionsaid,“Wehavebeen actually open for Indiantravellersformonths,we’vebeenissuing1000sofvisastostudents,tobusiness travellers to tourists,and it’s the product of excellentdiscussionswith the Indian au-thorities...let’s now go further.Let’s open upmore flights be-tweenthetwocountries...”

Explain basis of fixing Rs 8 lakh limit todetermine EWS category for NEET: SCEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

SUPREMECOURT on Thursdayasked the Centre to explain themethoditfollowedtoarriveatRs8 lakh annual income criteria toidentify EconomicallyWeakerSections(EWS),whowillbeeligi-bleforreservationinmedicalseatsunder the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - All IndiaQuota(NEET-AIQ).Abenchheadedby JusticeD

YChandrachudposedtheques-tion to Additional Solicitor

GeneralKMNatarajasthelattersaiditwasamatterofpolicyandbased on the cost of living, andthat the income limitwas sameastheannualincomecriteriafordetermining the creamy layeramongOBCs.Justice Chandrachud asked:

“What is the basis for fixing thefigureforEWS?Whatexercisehasbeendonebythegovernment toarriveatthis?”Hearingabatchofpleaschal-

lenging the Centre andMedicalCounselling Committee July 29notice providing 27 per centquotatoOBCsand10percentto

EWS in NEET-AIQ, the bench,alsocomprisingJusticesVikramNathandBVNagarathna,won-dered if the government had“lifted... mechanically” the in-come criteria of creamy layerand applied it to EWS andwhether it had considered onlyincome or both income and as-setswhile fixing theeligibility.Thecourtsaidtheincomecri-

teria for deciding creamy layercannot be applied to EWSas so-cial backwardness is not a factorinthelatter.

FULLREPORTwww.indianexpress.com

NewDelhi:ThegovernmentsaidThursdaythatthehealthcarein-frastructure had been aug-mented to handle a surge of upto five lakhCovid-19casesadaybutstressedthatthelevelofpre-paredness does not mean an-other rise incaseswill be seen.Covid-19 task force head Dr

VKPaul said: “The dynamics ofthe virus after vaccination andinfectioncanleadtoherdimmu-nity...we do not have a straight-forwardformulaforthat.Asonecansee,despite theadministra-tionof vaccines, cases are beingreported andwe are still learn-ing. The preparation will be ofthe level tomakeussafe.” ENS

585DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

TRACKING THE SECOND SURGE

NEWCASES: 20,798ACTIVE CASES:2,41,003TOTAL VACCINATION:92,63,68,608

DAILY DEATHS279

TOTALDEATHS4,50,135

WEEKLY CFR0.84%

OVERALL CFR1.34%

TESTS TODAY: 14,78,542 | TOTAL TESTS: 58,01,36,026

WEEKLY POSITIVITY: 1.54% | OVERALL POSITIVITY: 5.85%

STATESREPORTINGMOSTCASES

STATE NEW ACTIVE WEEKLY TOTALCASES CASES POSITIVITY VACCINATION

■Kerala 12,288 1,19,256 12.60% 3,62,98,631

■Maharashtra 2,681 33,397 1.91% 8,51,98,784

■TamilNadu 1,390 16,513 1.00% 4,97,02,064

■Mizoram 1,302 15,566 17.11% 11,57,570

■WestBengal 771 7,593 1.96% 6,07,49,512

STATESREPORTINGMOSTDEATHS

STATE TODAY’S TOTAL WEEKLY OVERALLDEATHS DEATHS CFR CFR

■Kerala 141 26,031 0.65% 0.57%

■Maharashtra 52 1,43,000 1.55% 2.19%

■TamilNadu 27 35,734 1.33% 1.35%

■WestBengal 13 18,876 1.82% 1.21%

■AndhraPradesh 8 14,236 0.71% 0.70%

Note:DataasonOct7;vaccinationnumbersasofOct6.Deathsincludethosefrompreviousdays.

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

BETWEEN40% and70% school-children in seven large states—Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,Gujarat, Jharkhand, MadhyaPradesh andUttarakhand—donothaveaccesstodigitaldevices,according to an EducationMinistry report that documentstheresponsetochallengesthrownupbythepandemic.The report, Initiatives by the

SchoolEducationSectorin2020-21,shows that thedigital dividehashitsomestatesdisproportionatelyhard,whileafewmayhavecopedwell due to adequate availability

of smartphonesandTVsets. Thepicture,however,remainsincom-plete in theabsenceof data fromstates such asUttar Pradesh andWestBengal,andamidquestion-ableclaimslikethatofRajasthan,which says it does not have stu-dentswithoutdigitalaccess.The report, made public

Wednesday, is based on datashared by 22 of 28 states, andsevenof eightUnionTerritories.The state-wise interventions tobridge thedivide also reflect thesamedisparity –with some likeTamilNaduclaimingtohavedis-tributed5.15lakhlaptopsamongstudents, as against 42mobilephonesbytheBihargovernment.In absolute numbers, pre-

pared on the basis of surveys ofvarioussamplesizesbythestatesand UTs in 2020 and 2021, 29crore students, including 14.33crore inBihar,were foundwith-outaccesstodigitaldevices.“The‘new normal’ may also have ahugeimpactonthelearninglevelsfor almost all children; learninglossmaybearealityformanychil-dren,”thereportsays.Among the states tohave re-

sponded, those having a highshareof studentswithoutdigitalaccess includeMadhya Pradesh(70%), Bihar (58.09%), AndhraPradesh (57%), Assam (44.24%),Jharkhand(43.42%),Uttarakhand(41.17%)andGujarat(40%).Somefindingsof thereport:

ASSAM: The state reported3,10,6255 studentswithnodigi-taldevice.Assamdidnotdistrib-ute devices but organisedhomevisitsbyteachers,andlaunchedatoll-freehelplineforstudents.

ANDHRAPRADESH:State sur-veyed29.34 lakhout of the total81.36 lakh students inMay2021andfound2.01lakhstudentshaveno cellphone access. Parents of10.22lakhhavephones—onlyforcalls.Ithassofardistributed2,850laptops and 18,270 tabs, and isplanningatoll-freenumber.

BIHAR:Thestate,whichhas2.46crorestudents,reportedthat1.43crore childrenhaveno access to

digital devices. In termsof inter-ventions, itgavecellphonesto42students, and plans to providetabletsto250schools.

GUJARAT:AUNICEF survey of12,000 schools found40%of thestudents did not have access tosmartphones and Internet. Tobridge the gap, the state distrib-utedblended learningmodules,andlaunchedanIVRShelpline.

MADHYAPRADESH:Aneduca-tiondepartmentsurveyof98lakhof the 1.57 crore students found70%ofthemdonothaveaccesstosmartphones. Among the inter-ventionslistedaremohallaclassesandaradioschoolprogramme.

THEEDUCATIONMinistry reportonceagainspotlights thegrimrealityof differential ac-cess toeducation,madestarkerby thepandemic-induceddisruptionandtheconsequentialdigitaldivide. Theofficial figuresalsovalidates thecon-cernsexpressedbynon-profitsworking in theed-ucationsector.

DrivinghomeapointE●EX

PLAINED

At least 40% students in 7 states lack access to digital devicesEDUCATIONMINISTRYREPORTREVEALSLEARNINGGAPHealth infra can

handle 5L dailyCovid cases: govt

From Oct 11, no UKquarantine for thosewith 2 Covishield jabs

Vehicle in VIP convoy hit Haryanafarmer, say protesters; BJP MP denies

New Delhi

THERECENT spike in global crude oil pricesabovethe$80-per-barrelmarkledtoadipinkey indices in the stockmarket as concernsroseovertheimpactoninflation,currencyandinput cost for companies across sectors.However, aspriceseased, indices in India re-coveredThursdayinlinewithglobalmarkets.

Whyareoilpricesrising?Sincehittingalowof$16perbarrelonApril

22 last year, the price of Brent crude oil hasbeenrisingsteadily.Sincethebeginningoftheyear, it has risennearly58% fromabout$51.8

perbarreltoabout$81atcloseonWednesday.Therisehasbeensharpoverthelastsixweeks,from$65perbarrelonAugust20. Accordingtoanalysts,pricesarenearingtheirintermediatetoplevelof$86perbarrel,aroundwhichsomecooling off is expected even though thebroadertrendremainsrising.Crudepriceshaverisensharplyin2021on

thebackofarecoveryinglobaldemandastheworldeconomyrecoversfromthepandemic.SupplyrestrictionsmaintainedbytheOPEC+grouping,too,havekeptinternationaloilpriceshigh. So far, these oil-producing economieshavesignalledonlyslowproductionincreases,which is leadingtoarise ingaspricesaswell.A shortage of gas in Europe and Asia hasboosteddemandforoilforpowergeneration.Theriseincrudepriceshascontributedto

petrolanddieselpriceshittingall-timehighsinIndia.PricesofpetrolanddieselinIndiaarepegged to a 15-day rolling average of the in-ternationalpricesofthesefuels.Hightaxesbythe central and state governments too havecontributedtoretailpricesbeingfarhigher.

Howwillthisimpactstocksandbonds?

While a sharp surge in oil prices can cre-ate short-termpanic in the equitymarkets,historical precedents show that equitymar-ketsoftenbottomoutalongsideabottomingoutofoilprices.Whenoilfuturesturnedneg-ative last year at the peak of the pandemic,stockmarkets bottomedout, but since thentheyhavebeenona rising spree in linewithsurgingoil prices. Analysts point out that in-creasingoilpricesreflectgrowingdemandintheeconomy,andequitiesoftendelivermorethantheexpected inflation that theoil surgemay lead to. In linewith oil, prices of othercommodities including coal has been risingsharply. The BSE BasicMaterials Index hasrisenmore than three times from a low of1,761onApril3,2020to5,725atWednesday’sclose.This reflects thegeneralviewthateco-nomicrecoverywillstrengthengoingforward.As for bonds, the situation canget tricky:

Anyhintofsustainedhighinflationcanresultinrisingyieldsandfallingbondprices.So,debtinvestorsneedtobewatchfulwhetherthein-terestratecycleismovingupwardsincasethecentralbanktries tocontain inflation. If infla-tionremainstransitoryandrisingoilpricesdo

not lead to a broad-based increase in prices,themonetarypolicyisexpectedtoremainac-commodative, keeping in check the surge inyields.Forbonds,centralbankpolicieswillplayafargreaterrolethanthedirect impactof ris-ingoilprices.Asforequity investors, theycanincrease theirexposure toupstreamoil com-panies,whichbenefitfromrisingprices.Insec-torswhereoilisamajorcostcomponent,aneg-ativereactiononreturnscanbeexpected.

Howdoesitimpactcurrencyandtheeconomy?Risingcrudepricestendtodepresstheru-

pee, as India being amajor importer of oilneedsmoredollars tobuy thesameamountof crude.Winter tends to put pressure onpricesinnormaltimestoo.Of late,thepowershortage in some geographies, especiallyChina,hasbeencausedbysupplychainissuesregardingcoal.This inturnhas increasedthedemandforoil,aggravatingthesituation.CARE Ratings Chief Economist Madan

Sabnavis said surging priceswill lead to ex-pansion in the import bill and a downwardpressureontherupee.“Itisexpectednowthat

Brent crude can test the $ 90/barrelmark…Intuitively $10/barrelwillmean an increaseinthe importbillby$8.2-$9.1billionfor thisperiod (October-March). In FY20 the oil billwas$130billionandinFY21$82.4billion. Inthefirst6monthsofFY22,oil importswere$70.5 billion, and hence, assuming a similarquantumwould be imported in the secondquarter,therewouldbeanincreaseinthehalf-yearly bill by11.6% to12.9%. Thiswill tend toimpactthetradedeficit too,”hesaid.Therupeehasalreadystartedslippingand

ismoving towards the $ 75per dollarmark.“At this stage thismaybe awelcomedevel-opment as itwould aid exports, though im-portedgoodswilltendtobemoreexpensive.IntheshortrunarangeofRs75-75.5perdol-larmaybe expected before clarity descendsonOPEC+action,”Sabnavissaid.

Howcanithurtinflation,governmentfinances,andthemarkets?Crude import accounts for nearly 20% of

India’simportbill.Thefuelimportbilljumpedfrom$8.5 billion for the quarter ended June2020 to $24.7 billion for the quarter ended

June2021.Ariseinpricescouldleadtoasurgein inflation, forcing theRBI togo for liquiditytighteningmeasures followedby rate hikes.Besidesitsuseasafuelandakeycommodityforthetransportationsector,oilisanecessaryrawmaterialforseveralindustries.Anincreaseincrudepricesmeansan increase in thecostof producing and transporting goods. It thusaddsto inflation;economistssayanincreaseof$10/barrelincrudeoilpricescouldraisein-flationby10basispoints.A surge in crude prices tends to increase

India’sexpenditureandadverselyaffects thefiscaldeficit.Ontheotherhand,ariseimpactsthe current account deficit — ameasure ofvalueofimportedgoodsandservicesexceed-ingthevalueofthoseexported,andindicateshowmuchIndiaowesinforeigncurrency.Investorswithanexposuretoequitymar-

ketswillhavetocarefullywatchthecrudepricemovement. Sectors including refining, lubri-cants, aviation and tyres are sensitive to oilpricemovement. As a rise in crudeoil pricesimpacttheirinputrawmaterialcost,theirprof-itabilitycomesunderpressure, therebyhurt-ingtheirshareprices.

EXPLAINED YOURMONEY

SunnyVerma &Sandeep Singh

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

TOTALVACCINATED IN INDIA (at least one dose)

66,95,49,280

DOSESONOCT6 46,03,203OCT5:62,99,579 (1STDOSE: 34,39,091; 2ND: 28,60,488)

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

COVISHIELD88.3%

COVAXIN11.6%

TOTALDOSES92,63,68,608(SputnikV's dosesnotrepresented inpie)

Note:TheOctober6 figures in thesegraphsarebasedonthegovernmentupdatesonOctober7.Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare,updatedat11pmonOctober7.

Sept27 Oct6

80,00000

40,00,000

0LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

41,51,249

23,02,801

23,00,402

63,98,376

ANURADHAMASCARENHAS&AMITABHSINHAPUNE,OCTOBER7

THEWORLDHealthOrganization(WHO)onWednesdayallowed"widespreaduse"oftheworld's first vaccine againstmalaria, a com-monmosquito-borne disease that claimsmore than four lakh lives every year.DevelopedbyGlaxoSmithKline(GSK),thevac-cine, knownasRTS,S/AS01,hasalreadybeenadministered to nearly 8 lakh children inGhana, Kenya andMalawi as part of a pilotprogrammesince2019.TheWHOendorsementpavesthewayfor

itsuseoutside thepilotprogramme, inall ar-easwheremalaria iswidely prevalent. ButRTS,S/AS01, known by its brand nameMosquirix,isconsideredonlythefirststepto-wards effective immunisation of the globalpopulation. RTS,S/AS01 is able toprevent se-vere cases in only30%of cases; thequest formoreeffectivevaccinesisstillunderway.

Whyisavaccineagainstmalariaimportant?Malaria isoneof thedeadliestdiseases in

human history, having claimedmillions oflives. Even today, it kills over four lakh everyyear,accordingtoWHO.Thisisstillahugeim-provement from20yearsago,whenclose totwicethisnumberweredyingof thedisease.Malaria ismost endemic in Africa, with

Nigeria,Congo,Tanzania,Mozambique,NigerandBurkinaFasotogetheraccountingforoverhalf theyearlydeaths.In the last fewyears, significant progress

hasbeenmade in reducing its impact. A fewcountries have also been able to eliminatemalaria,mainlythroughsprayof insecticidestokillmosquitoes,andcleaningupareaswheremosquitoesbreed.Inthelast20years,11coun-trieshavebeendeclaredbyWHOasmalaria-free, after zero caseswere recorded in thesecountries for three consecutive years. TheseincludetheUnitedArabEmirates,Morocco,SriLankaandArgentina.In2019,27countriesre-ported less than100cases. Twodecadesago,onlysixcountrieshadlessthan100.Indiaisoneofthecountriesbadlyaffected

bythedisease.Althoughdeathsduetomalariahavecomedownsharplyinthelastfewyears

—officiallytheseareonlyinhundredsnow—infectionscontinuetobeinmillions.

Whatisthevaccinethathasbeenclearedforwidespreaduse?RTS,S/AS01 is the result of a partnership

betweenGlaxoSmithKlineandtheglobalnon-profitPATH'sMalariaVaccine Initiative,withgrant funds from the Bill &Melinda GatesFoundation. It is a recombinant protein vac-cine,whichmeansitincludesDNAfrommorethanonesource.Ittargetsaproteincalledcir-cumsporozoite in Plasmodium falciparum—thedeadliestmalariaparasitegloballyandthemostprevalentoneinAfrica. Itoffersnopro-tection against P vivaxmalaria, which pre-dominatesinmanycountriesoutsideofAfrica.The vaccine is formulatedwith an adju-

vantcalledAS01. It isdesignedtopreventtheparasite frominfectingthe liver,where itcanmature,multiply, and infect red blood cells,whichcanleadtodiseasesymptoms.The vaccine, which requires four injec-

tions,isforchildrenundertheageoffive.Itsef-ficacy ismodest, asdemonstrated inphase3trialsfrom2009to2014,on15,000youngchil-dren and infants in 7African countries. Fourdosesprevented39%cases ofmalaria over 4years of follow-up and 29% cases of severe

malaria,withsignificantreductionsalsoseeninoverallhospitaladmissions.

Whyhasittakensolongtodevelopavaccineagainstmalaria?Although therehavebeendecades of re-

search, andover 20 candidateshave enteredclinicaltrialsinthelastfewyears,thebestpre-ventionofmalariaremainstheuseofmosquitonets—whichdonothingtoeradicatemalaria.Mosquirix itself is the resultofmore than30yearsof researchanddevelopment.“The difficulty in developing effective

malariavaccinesstemslargelyfromthecom-plexity of themalaria-causing parasites’ lifecycle, which includesmosquitoes, humanliver,andhumanbloodstages,andsubsequentantigenicvariationsoftheparasite.Thesepar-asitesarealsoabletohideinsidehumancellstoavoidbeingrecognisedbytheimmunesys-tem, creating further challenges,” a groupofAustralian andChinese researcherswrote inanopen-access journal lastyear.They cited another challenge: “Themost

commonmousemodels ofmalaria employtherodent-specificparasitespeciesP.berghei,P.yoelii, andP.chabaudi…Whiletheyarestillemployedtomodelvariousmanifestationsofhumandisease, the immune response pat-

terns observed in thesemodels are not fullytransferabletohumans.Navneet Arora, Lokhesh Anbalagan and

AshokPannufromthePostgraduateInstituteofMedicalEducationandResearch(PGIMER)inChandigarhpointtothelackoffundingandinterest in developing amalaria vaccine.“Becausemalaria disproportionately affectsLMIC(lowandmiddleincomecountries)lack-ing the robusthealth infrastructure, thevac-cinemanufacturers have little incentive formalariavaccinesandcontinuedtargetingvac-cines for industrializedworldmarkets,” theywroteinapaper lastyear.Otherscientistshavealsomentionedthat

researchforamalariavaccineneverreceivedthesamekindofattentionas,say,HIV/AIDS.

WhenisRTS,ScomingtoIndia?InJanuarythisyear,GSK,PATHandBharat

Biotechsignedaproducttransferagreementto help ensure the long-term supply of theRTS,S vaccine. However, experts The IndianExpress spoke to feel there is no immediate“rush” to introduce it in India. Althoughmalaria is a concern in India, theburdenhasreduced through interventions such as anti-malarialdrugs,mosquitonetsandinsecticide:from1,018deathsin2010to93in2020.Besides, the vaccine’s efficacy ismodest.

Officialswith theNationalMalaria ControlProgrammesaidthatavaccinehastogivepro-tectionofoverat least65%.

Whatothervaccinesareindevelopment?Several are being tested, and at least one

hasshownpromise.CalledR21/MatrixM,thiscandidatevaccineshowedanefficacyof 77%inphase2 trials inMaythisyear.R21/MatrixMisamodifiedversionofMosquirix,andhasbeen developed by researchers at theUniversityofOxford. Lead researcherAdrianHill,directorof JennerInstituteandprofessorof vaccinologyatOxfordUniversity, hadsaidhebelievedthisvaccinewasthefirsttoreachWHO'sgoalofat least75%efficacy.DrVSChauhan, formerdirectorofDelhi-

based International Centre for GeneticEngineering andBiology, and known for hiseffortstodeveloparecombinantmalariavac-cine,saidR21/MatrixMheldalotofpromise.“Thisvaccineisdefinitelyabighope,butitstillhastoundergophase3trials,”hesaid.

13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PAROMITACHAKRABARTINEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

AHEAD OF the declaration of this year’sNobelPrize forLiteratureaward, thepresti-gious prizewas called out for its lack of in-clusivityandrecognitionofwomenwritersand writers of colour. On Thursday,Abdulrazak Gurnah, 72, whowas born inZanzibar and now lives in theUK, becamethefifthAfricanwriter towintheLiteraturePrize, after NigerianWole Soyinka (1986),EgyptianNaguibMahfouz(1988),andSouthAfricansNadineGordimer (1991) and JohnMCoetzee (2003). The Nobel Committeelauded Gurnah’s “uncompromising andcompassionatepenetrationof theeffectsofcolonialismandthefateoftherefugeeinthegulfbetweenculturesandcontinents”.

Gurnah’sworkTheauthorof10novelsandseveralshort

stories and essays, includingMemory ofDeparture (1987),Paradise (1994),By theSea(2001),GravelHeart(2017)and,mostrecently,

Afterlives(2020),Gurnahwithhiswritingex-plores the immigrant experience andhowexile and loss shape identities and cultures.Most of his books featureAfricanArabpro-tagonists. In Paradise, shortlisted for theBooker Prize, for instance, its protagonistYusuf comesof ageatatimeofviolentcolo-nial expansion inEastAfrica in the late19thcentury.InBytheSea,alsonominatedfortheBookerPrize,heexplorestherefugee’sstrug-gletobothrememberandtoforget.“It isdif-ficulttoknowwithprecisionhowthingsbe-cameastheyhave,tobeabletosaywithsomeassurancethatfirstitwasthisanditthenledto that and theother, andnowhereweare.Themomentsslipthroughmyfingers,”saysone of the narrators, Saleh, aMuslim fromTanzaniawhoseeksasylumintheUKwithaforgedvisainthenameofhisenemy.Inatwistoffate,thepersondelegatedtohelphimset-tledowninthenewcountryisthatman’sson,and in their bitter quarrels, the tensionbe-tweentheoldworldandthenewtakesshape.

BackgroundGurnah was born in Zanzibar in

December 1948,when itwas ruled by theBritish.In1963,asthearchipelagogainedin-dependence, itwould enter into a phase ofstrifebetween itsArabminority thatwas inpowerandtheAfricanmajority. In1964, theZanzibarRevolutionwouldseetheoverthrowoftheconstitutionalmonarch,SultanJamshidBinAbdullah, andhis predominantly ArabfunctionariesbyAfricanLeft-leaningrevolu-tionaries. As Zanzibar became theUnitedRepublicofTanzania,Arabsandotherminori-tieswerepersecuted,with someestimatesputtingthedeathtollatabout20,000.Gurnah left Zanzibar in 1968 at age 18

andmovedtoBritain.Hewouldbeunabletoreturn home until 1984, when hewouldmeethisfathershortlybeforethelatterdied.Although Swahili is hismother tongue,

whenhebeganwriting at 21, he gravitatedtowardsEnglish.HeearnedhisPhDfromtheUniversityofKent,wherehewasprofessorofEnglishandPostcolonialLiteratureuntilhisrecent retirement. His academicwork fo-cusedonpost-colonial anddiasporic litera-ture,withparticularemphasis,mentionstheNobelwebsite, onwriters such as Soyinka,

NgugiwaThiong’oandSalmanRushdie.Gurnahhaswrittenandspokenatlength

about having drawn inspiration from theZanzibarofhischildhood,whereamultitudeof languages, religions and cultures thrivedside by side, and which find expressionthrough the smattering of Swahili, Arabic,HindiandGermanthatappearinhiswork.

InspirationIn his 2004 essay ‘Writing and Place’,

Gurnahwrites, “…at18,all Iwantedwastoleave and find safety and fulfilment some-where else. I could not have beenmore re-mote from the idea of writing. Starting tothinkdifferentlyaboutwriting inEnglandafewyears laterwas to dowith being older,thinkingandworryingaboutthingsthathadseemeduncomplicatedbefore,butinalargerpartitwastodowiththeoverwhelmingfeel-ing of strangeness and difference I feltthere…Intime,Ibegantowonderwhatthethingwasthat Iwasdoing,soIhadtopauseanddeliberate.ThenIrealisedIwaswritingfrommemory, and how vivid and over-whelming thatmemorywas, how far from

thestrangelyweightlessexistenceofmyfirstyears in England. That strangeness intensi-fied the senseof a life left behind, of peoplecasually and thoughtlessly abandoned, aplaceandawayofbeing lost tomeforever,as it seemed at the time.When I began towrite, that lost lifewaswhat Iwrote about,thelostplaceandwhatIrememberedof it.”

Importance todayAmid a global refugee crisis, Gurnah’s

workdrawsattentiontohowracismandprej-udiceagainst targetedcommunitiesandre-ligionsperpetuateculturesofoppression. Inhis bio-bibliographical note, AndersOlsson,chairmanof theNobel Committee,writes,“Hisnovelsrecoilfromstereotypicaldescrip-tionsandopenourgazetoaculturallydiver-sifiedEastAfricaunfamiliartomanyinotherparts of theworld. InGurnah’s literaryuni-verse, everything is shifting –memories,names, identities. This is probably becausehis project cannot reach completion in anydefinitivesense.”

Longerversiononwww.indianexpress.com

SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021 @ieExplained

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

Malaria and the vaccine hunt

TOMORROW : PEACE

NOBELPRIZE INLITERATURE

Sept27 Oct6LAST 10 DAYS

3,00,000

1,50,000

0

2,92,206 2,44,534

INDIAACTIVECOVIDCASES 2,44,534JeywellanOchieng,2, receives thevaccine inGem,KenyaonThursday.Reuters

ABDULRAZAKGURNAH,“forhisuncompromisingandcompassionatepenetrationof theeffectsof colonialismandthefateof therefugee inthegulf betweenculturesandcontinents”

InNobelwinner’s literature, exileand lossshape identities

WHOhasallowedwidespreaduseof theworld’s firstmalariavaccine,whichhasreduceddiseaseaspartof apilotproject inpartsofAfrica.But itsefficacy ismodest, andthehunt fornewervaccinescontinues.

What spike in crude prices means for economy, markets

TOTALCASES 3,38,94,312

New Delhi

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GERMANY

EX-NAZIGUARD, 100, GOESONTRIALA 100-year-old man went on trial in Germany Thursday, accused of being anaccessory to murder for serving as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausenconcentration camp near Berlin during World War II. The suspect, identifiedonly as Josef S, was charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder.

USA

IMFchief:WasmisledbylawfirmonWorldBankprobeINTERNATIONALMonetaryFund chief KristalinaGeorgieva onWednesdaysaid the law firmWilmerHale mischarac-terised her actions whileservingasCEOoftheWorldBank, andassuredher thatherparticipationinitsinves-tigationwasconfidential.Inadetailed statement to theIMF executive board,Georgieva rejectedWilmerHale’s conclusion that sheandotherseniorWorldBankofficialspressuredstafftoal-terdatatobenefitChinaandsaid shehadbeen told shewasnot a subject of the in-vestigation.ShedeniedthatshepressuredWorldBankstaff to take any actions tochange China’s ranking intheDoingBusiness2018re-port, and rejected any linkbetween the rankingandaproposedWorldBankcapi-talincrease. REUTERS

KristalinaGeorgieva

TOPOFTHEWORLD

THENETHERLANDS

‘WatchdogfindsAppleappstorepaymentrulesanti-competitive’THEDUTCH antitrust au-thority has found thatApple’s rules requiringsoftwaredeveloperstouseitsin-apppaymentsystemare anti-competitive andordered it to makechanges, four people fa-miliar with the mattersaid, in the latest regula-torysetbackfortheiPhonemaker. Apple’s app-storepayment policies, in par-ticular its requirementthatappdevelopersexclu-sivelyuseitspaymentsys-temwhere commissionsrange between 15% and30%, have long drawncomplaints fromdevelopers. REUTERS

SOUTHKOREA

PosthumouscourtvictoryfortranssoldierA SOUTHKorean soldierwho committed suicideearlierthisyearafterbeingdismissedbythearmyfol-lowing gender reassign-ment surgery won aposthumous victory onThursday,asacourttoldthearmy to recogniseher as awomanandannulherdis-missal.StaffSergeantByunHui-suhadwantedatrans-fer to themilitary’s femalecorpsafterundergoingsur-gery, butwasdismissed inJan2020ongrounds thatgender reassignment ren-deredher “disabled” andunfitforservice. AP

SAMYAKULLAB,MSTYSLAVCHERNOV&FELIPEDANAKABUL,OCTOBER7

NOWTHEuncontestedrulersofAfghanistan,theTalibanhavesettheirsightsonstampingoutthescourge of narcotics addiction,even if by force.At nightfall, thebattle-hard-

enedfighters-turned-policemenscourthecapital’sdrug-ravagedunderworld. Below Kabul’sbustling citybridges, amidpilesof garbage and streamsof filthywater, hundreds of homelessmen addicted to heroin andmethamphetamines are

roundedup,beatenandforciblytaken to treatment centers. TheAssociatedPressgainedrareac-cess toonesuchraid lastweek.Thesceneprovidedawindow

intotheneworderunderTalibangovernance: Themen—manywithmental illness,accordingtodoctors—satagainststonewallswiththeirhandstied.Theyweretoldtosoberuporfacebeatings.Theheavy-handedmethods

are welcomed by some healthworkers, who have had nochoice but to adapt to Talibanrule.“Wearenotinademocracyanymore, this is a dictatorship.And the use of force is the onlyway to treat these people,” saidDr. FazalrabiMayar, working in

a treatment facility. Hewas re-ferring specifically to Afghansaddicted toheroinandmeth.Soon after the Taliban took

power on Aug. 15, the TalibanHealthMinistryissuedanorderto

thesefacilities,underscoringtheirintention to strictly control theproblemofaddiction,doctorssaid.Bleary-eyedandskeletal, the

detainedencompassaspectrumof Afghan lives hollowedout by

thecountry’stumultuouspastofwar, invasion and hunger. Theywerepoets,soldiers,merchants,farmers. Afghanistan’s vastpoppyfieldsarethesourceofthemajority of theworld’s heroin,andthecountryhasemergedasa significant meth producer.Bothhavefueledmassiveaddic-tionaroundthecountry.Old or young, poor or once

well-off, theTalibanviewthead-dicts thesame:Astainontheso-cietytheyhopetocreate.Druguseis against their interpretation ofIslamicdoctrine.Addictsarealsostigmatizedby thewider, largelyconservativeAfghancommunity.But the Taliban’s war on

drugs is complicated as the

country faces the prospect ofeconomic collapse and immi-nenthumanitariancatastrophe.Sanctions and lack of recog-

nition havemade Afghanistan,longanaid-dependent country,ineligible for the financial sup-port from international organi-zations that accounted for 75%of state spending. An appallinghuman rights record, especiallywithrespecttowomen,hasren-dered the Taliban unpopularamong international develop-mentorganizations.A liquidity crisis has set in.

Publicwagesaremonthsinarrearsanddroughthasexacerbatedfoodshortages anddisease.Winter isweeks away. Without foreign

funds, government revenues relyoncustomsandtaxation.The illicit opium trade is in-

tertwined with Afghanistan’seconomyandits turmoil.Poppygrowersarepartofanimportantrural constituency for theTaliban, and most rely on theharvest tomakeendsmeet.During the insurgencyyears,

theTalibanprofitedfromthetradebytaxingtraffickers,apracticeap-pliedonawidevariety of indus-triesintheareasundertheircon-trol.ResearchbyDavidMansfield,an expert on the Afghan drugtrade, suggests the groupmade$20million in2020, a small frac-tioncomparedtoothersourcesofrevenuefromtaxcollection. AP

ADDICTS ROUNDED UP, BEATEN AND FORCIBLY TAKEN TO TREATMENT CENTRES

Now in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworld

DrugusersdetainedduringaTalibanraidwalk in lineontheirwaytoatreatmentcentre inKabul lastweek.AP

Afamily intheirhouseafteranearthquake inHarnai,100kmeastofQuetta,onThursday.AP

KATHYGANNON&ABDULSATTARQUETTA,OCTOBER7

A POWERFUL earthquake col-lapsedatleastonecoalmineanddozensofmudhouses insouth-west Pakistan early Thursday,killing at least 23 people as thedeath toll continued to creephigher.Atleastanother200peo-plewereinjured,anofficialsaid.Thedeathtallywasexpected

to rise even further as crewssearched in the remotemoun-tainous area, said Suhail AnwarShaheen, the local deputy com-missioner.At least four people were

killed when the coal mine inwhich they were working col-lapsed,saidShaheen,citingcoalminers in the area. Asmany as100homesalsocollapsed,bury-ingsleeping residents inside.In one case, a mother died

alongwith her two young sonswhentheirhomecollapsed,saidWali Muhammad, a relative.Nearby,thebodyofan8-yearoldgirlwas foundbeneath the rub-bleof herhome.Theepicentreofthe5.9magni-

tudequakewasabout15kilome-tresnorth-northeastofHarnai inBaluchistanprovince,accordingtotheUSGeologicalSurvey.Theini-tialmeasurementof thequake’sstrengthwas 5.7magnitude. It

struck about 9 km below theEarth’ssurface;shallowerquakestendtocausemoredamage.The area, about 100 km

from Quetta, the provincialcapital, is dotted with coalmines, which has Shaheenworried the death toll couldrise. It struck in theearlymorn-ingwhilescoresofminerswerealready atwork, he said.Pakistan’s military was de-

ployedto theearthquakearea toairlift dozens of injured frommountain peaks. At least ninecritically injured people weretakentotheprovincialhospitalinQuetta.Searchandrescueteamshavearrivedinthemountains,anarmystatementsaid. AP

JOHNREVILL&STEVEHOLLANDZURICH,WASHINGTON,OCT7

THE UNITED States and Chinahave agreed in principle fortheir presidents to hold a vir-tualmeetingbeforeyear’s end,a senior US administration of-ficial said onWednesday, afterhigh-level talks meant to im-provecommunicationbetweenthe twobig powers.Theclosed-doormeetingat

an airport hotel in the Swisscity of Zurich between US na-tional security adviser JakeSullivan and China’s top diplo-mat, Yang Jiechi,was their firstface-to-faceencountersinceanunusually public and acrid air-ing of grievances in Alaska inMarch.Both sides had described

the meeting as a follow-onfromPresident JoeBiden’searlySeptember call with ChinesePresident Xi Jinping, prior towhich the world’s top twoeconomies appeared to havebeen locked in a stalemate.The White House said

Sullivan raised concerns aboutcontentious issues such asChinese actions in the SouthChinaSea, aswell asonhumanrights and Beijing’s stances onHong Kong, Xinjiang andTaiwan.At the end of the day, how-

ever, both Beijing and

Washington said the talks,which lasted six hours, wereconstructive and candid. TheUS side said the tone was verydifferent from Alaska. “We dohave out of today’s conversa-tion an agreement in principletoholdavirtualbilateral (sum-mit)meeting before the endoftheyear,” theUSofficial toldre-porters. REUTERS

NOMAANMERCHANTWASHINGTON,OCTOBER7

THECIAsaidThursdayitwillcre-ateatop-levelworkinggrouponChinaaspart of abroadUSgov-ernmenteffortfocusedoncoun-teringBeijing’s influence.Thegroupwillbecomeoneof

fewer thanadozenmissioncen-tres operated by the CIA, withweeklydirector-levelmeetingsin-tendedtodrivetheagency’sstrat-egytowardChina.TheCIAalsoan-nounced that itwould rampupeffortstorecruitChinesespeakersand create anothermission cen-ter focusing on emerging tech-nologiesandglobalissuessuchasclimatechangeandglobalhealth.President JoeBiden’s admin-

istration has called outwhat itsees as Chinese aggression on arangeofsecurityandeconomicis-sueswhilealsoseekingcommonground on issues like climatechange and a nuclear-armedNorthKorea. Topadministrationofficialshaverepeatedlysignaledashiftof resourcestoward“greatpower” competitionwithChinawhile maintaining a focus oncounterterrorism.Chinaisanespeciallydifficult

challengefortheUSintelligencecommunitygiventhe insularityof its Communist Party leader-ship, its largemilitaryandsecu-rityservicesanditsdevelopmentin advanced technologies thatcancounter spying. AP

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAWASHINGTON,OCTOBER7

AUS federal judge has declaredit unlawful for the StateDepartmenttousetravelbansis-sued to prevent the spread ofCovid-19asareasontostoppro-cessingvisasforotherwiseeligi-ble travellers that include tech-nologyprofessionalsfromIndia,according toamedia report.The ruling came in response

to a lawsuit filed by a group ofprivate individuals and a coali-tion of immigration law firmswithsupportfromtheAmericanImmigration LawyersAssociation(AILA),overtheStateDepartment's refusal to issuevisas during the pandemic,Northjersey.comreported.They argued that a “travel

ban”doesnot amount toa “visaban”, tweeted one of the attor-neyswhofiled thesuit.The ruling on Tuesday de-

clares it unlawful for the StateDepartment to use travel bans,whichwereissuedtopreventthespread of Covid-19 by formerpresidentsDonaldTrumpandhissuccessor Joe Biden, as a reasontostopprocessingvisas for trav-ellerswhoareotherwiseeligible.Federal judge James E.

Boasberg on Tuesday put a halttotheStateDepartmentpracticeof not issuing visas to travellersfrom other countries whentravelbansare inplace.Travel bans are issued by a

presidential proclamation andhavebeenused topreventnon-citizenswhoarenotpermanentresidents fromentering theUS.Several bans, including on

visitors fromChina, Iran, India,Brazil,SouthAfrica,theSchengenArea,theUKandIreland,remainineffect.

YOSHITASINGHUNITEDNATIONS,OCTOBER7

FIVEOUTofsixmultidimension-allypoorpeopleinIndiaarefromlower tribes or castes, accordingtoanewanalysisonglobalmulti-dimensionalpovertyreleasedbytheUnitedNationsonThursday.TheglobalMultidimensional

PovertyIndex(MPI)producedbytheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) and theOxford Poverty and HumanDevelopment Initiative said thisinits latestreportonpoverty.“InIndia,fiveoutofsixmulti-

dimensionally poor people arefrom lower tribes or castes. TheScheduled Tribe group accountsfor9.4percentof thepopulationand is the poorest, with 65mil-lionofthe129millionpeopleliv-inginmultidimensionalpoverty.Theyaccountforaboutone-sixth

ofallpeoplelivinginmultidimen-sionalpovertyinIndia,” itsaid.FollowingtheScheduledTribe

group is the Scheduled Castegroupwith33.3percent—94mil-lionof283millionpeople—livinginmultidimensionalpoverty.The report further said that

27.2 per cent of the OtherBackwardClassgroup—160mil-lionof588millionpeople—livesin multidimensional poverty,“showing a lower incidence buta similar intensity comparedwiththeScheduledCastegroup.”“Overall, five out of sixmul-

tidimensionally poor people inIndia live in householdswhoseheadisfromaScheduledTribe,aScheduled Caste or OtherBackwardClass,” it said.Amongthe1.3billionmultidi-

mensionallypoorpeoplestudiedglobally,two-thirdsliveinhouse-holdswherenowomanhascom-pletedsixyearsofschooling. PTI

BYRONKAYESYDNEY,OCTOBER7

AUSTRALIA’S PRIMEministerlambasted social media onThursdayas“acoward’spalace”,saying platforms should betreated as publishers whendefamatory comments byunidentified people are posted,pouring fuel on a raging debateover thecountry’s libel laws.Prime Minister Scott

Morrison’s comments suggesthewouldfavourmakingcompa-nies like Facebook liable fordefamation with regards tosome content posted by thirdparties,apositionthatcouldfur-ther cement Australia’s outlierstatuson thesubject.The country’s highest court

ruled last month that publish-ers canbeheld liable forpubliccomments on online forums, ajudgement that has pittedFacebook and news organisa-tions against each other andspreadalarmamongall sectorsthatengagewith thepublicviasocialmedia.That in turnhas lentnewur-

gency to an ongoing review ofAustralia’sdefamationlaws,withthe federal attorneygeneral thisweekwriting to state counter-partsstressingtheimportanceoftacklingthe issue. REUTERS

REUTERSBRUSSELS, FRANKFURT,WASHINGTON,OCTOBER7

ASDESPERATEAfghansresorttoselling their belongings to buyfood, international officials arepreparing to fly in cash for theneedywhile avoiding financingtheTalibangovernment,accord-ing to people familiar with theconfidentialplans.Planning for the cash airlifts

isgoingaheadagainst theback-ground of a rapidly collapsingeconomywheremoneyisshort,

although diplomats are still de-batingwhetherWesternpowerscan demand that the Talibanmake concessions in return, ac-

cording to internal policy docu-ments seenbyReuters.The emergency funding,

aimedatavertingahumanitariancrisisinthefaceofdroughtandpo-liticalupheaval, couldseeUSdol-larbillsflownintoKabulfordistri-butionviabanks inpayments oflessthan$200directlytothepoor—with theTaliban’sblessingbutwithouttheirinvolvement.As well as flying in cash,

donorcountrieswanttosetupa“humanitarian-plus” trust fundthatwouldpaysalariesandkeepschoolsandhospitalsopen, twoseniorofficials said. REUTERS

Strong earthquake inPak kills at least 23Coalmine,housescollapseincountry’ssouthwestprovince

CIA createsworking groupon China amidrising threats

US can’t stopissuing visasduring travelbans, federaljudge rules

InanoldneighbourhoodofKabulonTuesday.Reuters

UN report: In India, 5 out of 6multidimensionally poor arefrom lower castes or tribes

SABRINATAVERNISE&KATIEBENNERWASHINGTON,OCTOBER7

AFEDERALjudgeonWednesdaygrantedtheJusticeDepartment’srequest to halt enforcement ofthe recently passed Texas lawthat bansnearly all abortions inthe state while the legal battleover the statutemakes its waythroughthe federal courts.Inhis113-page ruling, Robert

L.Pitman,aFederalDistrictCourtjudge in Austin, sidedwith theBidenadministration,whichhadsuedtohaltalawthathaschangedthelandscapeoftheabortionfightandfurtherfueledthenationalde-bateoverwhetherabortionwillre-mainlegalacrossthecountry.JudgePitmanusedsharplan-

guagetocriticizethelaw,knownasSenateBill8,whichwasdraftedtomakeitdifficulttochallengein

courtbydelegatingenforcementto private individuals, who cansue anyonewhoperformsabor-tionsor“aidsandabets”them.“From the moment S.B. 8

went into effect, women havebeenunlawfullypreventedfromexercising control over theirown lives inways that are pro-tected by the Constitution,” hewrote inhis opinion.“This courtwill not sanction

onemore day of this offensivedeprivationofsuchanimportantright,”headded.

It is not yet clearwhat effecthisdecisiontopauseenforcementofthelawwillhaveonwomeninTexas,whohavescrambledtofindabortionproviderselsewhere.The law’s novel legal ap-

proachextendstowhathappensif it is temporarily suspended:Clinicscanbesuedretroactivelyfor any abortions they providewhile it is blocked. Thatmeanspenalties could be imposedwhenthesuspensionisliftedforabortions that happenedwhileitwas inplace. NYT

US federal judge pauses Texaslaw banning most abortions

AnabortionrightsrallyattheTexasCapitol inAustin lastweek.NYT

AustraliaPrimeMinisterScottMorrison

‘Coward’s palace’:Morrison slamssocial media amiddefamation lawcontroversy

US-CHINAtieshavebeeninsteadydeclineforseveralmonths,andtheareasof theirdisagreementhaveonlybeenexpanding.Evenveryrecentactions,suchastheChineseairforce’s incursionsintoTaiwan,aswellastheUS’newAsia-Pacificsecuritypacthavefurtherstrainedrelations.However,therehavealsobeenattemptsbybothsidestoeasetensions.TherecentBiden-Xiphonecall, themeetingbetweenSullivanandYang,andtheproposedsummitbetweenthetwopresidentsareevidenceoftheseattempts.Whileexpertsdon’texpecttheseeffortstosignificantlyimproveties,theyareexpectedtokeepten-sionsfromgettingworse.

TakingsmallstepstoeasetensionsE●EX

PLAINED

Cash airlifts planned to bypassTaliban, help Afghans: officials

Biden, Xi plan virtualsummit beforeyear’s end, US says

Report detailsTrump’s all-outbid to undoelection results

NSO ends Pegasus contract withUAE over Dubai leader’s hackingMICHAELHOLDENLONDON,OCTOBER7

THE ISRAELI-BASEDNSOGroupendeditscontractwiththeUnitedArabEmiratestouseitspowerful“Pegasus” state spyware tool be-causeDubai’srulerwasusingittohack the phones of his ex-wifeandsomeclosetoher,herlawyerstoldEngland’sHighCourt.Sheikh Mohammed bin

Rashid al-Maktoum, vice presi-dent and primeminister of theUAE,instructedthehackingofsixphones belonging to PrincessHayabintal-Hussein,herlawyersandsecurityteam,England’sHighCourtruledinajudgmentwhichwasmadepubliconWednesday.The hacking took place last

yearduring thecouple’s ongoingcustodybattleinLondonovertheirtwochildren.Duringthehearings,thecourt

heard thatNSOhadcancelled itscontractwiththeUAEforbreach-ingitsrulesonusingPegasus,aso-phisticated“wiretap”systemusedto harvest data from themobiledevicesofspecificsuspectedma-jorcriminalsorterrorists.“Whenever a suspicion of a

misusearises,NSOinvestigates,NSO alerts, NSO terminates,”NSO said in a statement afterthe rulingswerepublished.

REUTERS

ASSOCIATEDPRESSWASHINGTON,OCTOBER7

DONALDTRUMP’Sextraordinaryefforttooverturnhis2020electiondefeat brought the US JusticeDepartmenttothebrinkofchaos,andprompted topofficials thereand at the White House tothreaten to resign, a SenateJudiciaryCommitteereportfound.ThereportreleasedThursday

by theDemocratic-runcommit-tee offers new insight into howtheRepublican incumbent triedtoundothevoteandexerthiswillon the department. It said heasked Justice Department lead-ers to declare the election “cor-rupt”anddisparaged its topoffi-cial for not doing anything tooverturntheresults.Trump’sac-tions led to a near-revolt at de-partment headquarters that re-ceded only after senior officialswarned of amass resignation,withoneWhiteHouselawyerde-scribingefforts toundotheelec-tionasa“murder-suicidepact.”“InattemptingtoenlistDOJfor

personal, politicalpurposes inaneffort tomaintainhisholdontheWhite House, Trump grosslyabused the power of the presi-dency”andviolated lawsagainstasking federalemployeesengageinpoliticalactivity,thereportsays.

New Delhi

15SENSEX: 59,677.83 ▲ 488.10 (0.82%) NIFTY: 17,790.35 ▲ 144.35 (0.82%) NIKKEI: 27,678.21 ▲ 149.34 HANG SENG: 24,701.73 ▲ 735.24 FTSE: 7,065.08 ▲ 69.21 DAX: 15,174.56 ▲ 201.23

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`46,012

RUPEE`74.79

OIL$80.75

SILVER`60,172

Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket,goldper10g,silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofOctober6

Internationalmarketdata till1900IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,OCTOBER7

A10-YEAR-OLDregulatory juris-diction issue regarding powermarketshasnowbeenfullyclari-fiedandresolved,pavingthewayfor introductionof variousdeliv-ery-based contractswith longerdurationonpowerexchanges.Thelong-pendingdisputebe-

tweentheSecuritiesandExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) and theCentral Electricity RegulatoryCommission (CERC) has finallybeen resolvedwith theSupremeCourt favourablydisposingof thematter as per the terms of theagreement reacheduponby thetwoparties.SebiandCERChavecometoan

agreementthatthelatterwillreg-

ulate all the physical delivery-basedforwardcontractswhereasthe financial derivativeswill beregulatedbythemarketregulator.According to the Power

Ministry, the resolution hasopened thegate for introductionoflongerdurationdelivery-basedcontractsinthepowerexchangeswhich has been currently re-strictedtoonly11daysduetothe

pendencyofthecase.“Thiswillen-able thediscomsandother largeconsumers to plan their short-termpowerprocurementmoreefficiently,” theMinistry said inastatement.Similarly, the commodityex-

changes,includingMCX,cannowintroduce financial products likeelectricity futureswhichwill en-able thediscomsandother largeconsumers to effectively hedgetheirrisksofpowerprocurement.“...Thiswillbringnewerproductsin the power/commodity ex-changesandattractincreasedpar-ticipation fromgenco, discoms,large consumers etc,whichwilleventuallydeepenthepowermar-ket,”itsaid.All ReadyDeliveryContracts

and Non-Transferable SpecificDelivery (NTSD) entered intoby

membersofthepowerexchangeswillberegulatedbyCERC.Thecon-tractsaresettledonlybyphysicaldeliverywithoutnettingand therights and liabilities of parties tothecontractsarenottransferable.Commodityderivativesinelectric-ity other thanNonTransferableSpecificDelivery(NTSD)contractsasdefined inSCRAwill fallundertheregulatorypurviewoftheSebi.“... Distribution companies

and other large consumerswouldbeabletoutilisesuchcon-tractstobetterplantheirportfo-lio requirements in amore effi-cient and transparentmanner.Such contracts effected throughthe power exchangewould en-sure payment timeliness andguarantees,” said PrabhajitKumarSarkar,MD&CEO,PowerExchange IndiaLimited.

IMPASSERESOLVED;MINISTRY:TOEVENTUALLYDEEPENMARKET

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

ASHARPuptick inpowerde-mand and supply shortagesfromthermalplantshasledtothe spot power price risingnearly three times, comparedto amonth ago, on the IndiaEnergy Exchange (IEX) - thecountry’s largest power ex-change. Thepriceof oneunit(kilowatt-hour) of power ontheDayAheadMarket(DAM)hit amaximumof Rs 20 perand,with the average pricesurging toRs13.3perunit onOctober 7 as compared to amaximumprice of Rs 7 perunitandanaveragepriceofRs3.4perunit amonthbackonSeptember7.Asourcesaidthepricerise

wasafunctionofmuchhigherdemand from discoms as anumber of thermal powerplantsare facingashortage incoal supplies. The total pur-chasebidsforpowerontheIEXDAMonOctober 7were for4,43,023 Megawatt-hours(MWh),comparedtosellbidsof only 2,69,206MWh. TotalpurchasebidsamonthagoonSeptember7werefarlowerat

2,65,189MWhwhile sell bidswere3,65,204MWh.The short-term power

marketaccountedforabout10per cent of the power pro-curedinIndiainFY20,with90per cent being procured bypowerdistributioncompaniesthrough long-termcontractsorthroughbilateraldealswithenergytraders.“There is a significant in-

creaseindemandfromGujaratin the west, Haryana andPunjab in thenorthaswell asAndhra Pradesh and TamilNadu in the south,” said asource, adding theprecariouscoal situation meant thatpowersupplyhadnotrisentomatchthedemand.Thermalpowerplantscur-

rentlyhaveanaverageof fourdaysof coal stockagainst therecommendedlevelof14days.Thesourcesaidthesupplywaslargely frommerchantpowerproducers or independentgenerators,withveryfewstateutilities sellingpower onex-changes.“Even(thesupplyof)windpower is reducing as itusuallyfallsinSeptemberandOctober.ThedemandinNorthIndiawill likelydipinanother10days,”thepersonsaid.

SECTORWATCHELECTRICITY

Supply-demandchurn pushes upspot power price

Centre releases`40,000 cr to statesfor GST shortfall

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

THEGOVERNMENTonThursdayreleasedcybersecurityguidelinesfor thepower sector,whichwillapply toall “responsibleentities”includingpowergenerationutili-ties,distributionutilities,transmis-sioncompaniesandloaddispatchcentresamongothers.Theguide-linesareaprecursortocybersecu-rity regulations that theCentralElectricityAuthorityisworkingon.OnOctober12,2020,Mumbai

facedmajorpoweroutages that

broughtkeyservicestoahalt.AUScybersecurity firm, RecordedFuture,hadsaidthefailurewasdueto a cyberattack by Red Echo, ahackergroupallegedly affiliatedwiththeChinesegovernment.PowerMinisterRKSinghhas,

however, said therewasnoproofthatthefailurewasaresultofacy-berattack. Theminister has alsosaidfourofIndia’sfiveregionalloaddispatchcentreshavefacedcyber-attacks. Someof thekey require-mentsincludetheappointmentofa Chief Information SecurityOfficer(CISO)ateach“responsibleentity”aswellasthesettingupof

an InformationSecurityDivisionheadedby theCISO. Theentitieswillalsoberequiredtoincorporateaprocedureforidentifyingandre-portingof anydisturbances sus-pectedorconfirmedtobecausedbysabotageandsubmitthereportto the sectoral ComputerEmergency Response Team(CERT)andtheIndianCERTwithin24hours.Theguidelinesarealsoappli-

cabletosystemintegrators,equip-mentmakers, vendors, serviceproviders, IThardware and soft-ware OEMs engaged in powersupplysystem.

SXfþÀ±ff³f ÀfSXIYfSXIYf¹ffÊ»f¹f d¨fdIY°Àff A²feÃfIY, ÀfUfBÊ ¸ff³fdÀfÔWX d¨fdIY°Àff»f¹f, þ¹f´fbS(ÀfUfBÊ ¸ff³fdÀfÔWX dÀfÔWX SXûOX, MXûÔIY SXûOX, þ¹f´fbSX SXfþÀ±ff³f-302004)

(RYû³f ³f¸¶fSX 0141-2518308, 2518268)(Email - ms.smshospital@gmail.com, cms.smshospital@gmail.com)IiY¸ffaIY/ Àf¸ffd¨f/ ÀMXûSX/ 3281 dQ³ffÔIY 5.10.2021

¶fû»fe Af¸fÔÂf¯f Àfc¨f³ff (NIB)B¨LbI d¶fOÀfÊ ÀfZ ¸fb£¹f¸fÔÂfe d³f:Vfb»I QUf ¹fûþ³ff A³°f¦fÊ°f OѦf E¯O ¸fZdOdÀf³f IZ C´ff´f³f WZ°fb QûU¿fÊ I e QS ÀfÔdUQf IZ d»fE dQ³ffÔI 8.11.21 Àff¹fÔ 5.00 ¶fªfZ °fI d¶fOÐÀf Af¸fÔdÂf°f I e þf°fe W`Üd¶fO I e A³¹f Vf°fZÊ EUÔ dUÀ°fÈ°f þf³fI fS e S fª¹f ÀfSI fS IZ C´ff´f³f ´fûM Ê»fhttp://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in EUÔ http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fif~ I e þfÀfI °fe W`ܹfc.¶fe.E³f. ³fÔ. MCJ2122GLRC00126

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“STOP CORONA, WEAR FACE MASK, FOLLOW PHYSICAL DISTANCING, MAINTAIN HAND HYGIENE”

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WB)-IDELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI

ROOM NO. 31, B-BUILDING, JHANDEWALAN, NEW DELHI-110005Phone: 09558007601, E-mail Id:- djbwaterbody@gmail.com

PRESS NIT No. 06/WB-I/2021-22

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

Sl.No

Name of Work Estimated ContractValue (ECV)/ Amount

put to tender

EarnestMoney(EMD)

TenderFee

Date of Release oftender in E- ProcurementSolution & Tender ID No.

Last Date/ Time ofreceipt of tender E-

Procurement Solution01 Rejuvenation of Satpulla

lake opposite District CourtSaket on DBO Basis underEE (WB)-I (Re-Invited)

DBO Basis NIL `̀

1500/-06.10.2021

2021_DJB_209282_112.11.2021

At03:00 PM

Sd/-EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WB)-I

ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)Advt. No. J.S.V. 468 (2021-22)

OFFICE OF ADDITIONALCHIEF ENGINEER

PHED, JAIPUR REGION- I, JAIPURJyoti Nagar, Sahakar Marg, Jaipur- 302005

Phone: 0141-2740170(o)e-mail: ace1.jpr.phed@rajasthan.gov.in

No: F. ()/ACE/PHED/Ar. Neemkathana/NIT-110 to 118/2021-22/9345-65Date: 29.09.2021

(e-NIT No. 110 to 118/2021-22)On behalf of the Governor of Rajasthan NIT NO. 110 to 118/2021-22 onine tender is hereby invited from eligible bidders for“Augmentation of various RWSS to provide FHTC including oneyear DLP of SVS under JJM of Div. Neemkathana District Sikar”as per criteria mentioned in the detailed NIT/tender documentavailable on websites: https://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in &https://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in as per prescribed schedule.

Sd/-(Arun Srivastava)

Addl. Chief EngineerDIPR/C/10138/2021 PHED, Jaipur Region-I, Jaipur

NIT No. ParticularEstimatedCost (Rs.in Crore)

UBN No.Closing

Date

110/2021-22

Sub Division Ajeetgarh, Div.Neemkathana, Distt. Sikar

4.24 PHE2122WSOBO8003 27.10.2021

111/2021-22

Sub Division Shrimadhopur,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

4.17 PHE2122WSOBO8004 27.10.2021

112/2021-22

Sub Division Ajeetgarh, Div.Neemkathana, Distt. Sikar

1.53 PHE2122WSOBO8005 27.10.2021

113/2021-22

Sub Division Neemkathana,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

2.26 PHE2122WSOBO8006 27.10.2021

114/2021-22

Sub Division Shrimadhopur,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

4.30 PHE2122WSOBO8018 01.11.2021

115/2021-22

Sub Division Shrimadhopur,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

4.02 PHE2122WSOBO8009 01.11.2021

116/2021-22

Sub Division Shrimadhopur,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

3.93 PHE2122WSOBO8010 01.11.2021

117/2021-22

Sub Division Shrimadhopur,Div. Neemkathana, Distt.Sikar

3.91 PHE2122WSOBO8011 01.11.2021

118/2021-22

Sub Division Ajeetgarh, Div.Neemkathana, Distt. Sikar

6.51 PHE2122WSOBO8012 01.11.2021

CERC-Sebiresolution:Longertermpowerderivativesallowed

PowerstationinPanchkula.File

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

EMPLOYERSHAVEshownan in-tent to hire at 41per cent in theOctober-Decemberquarter,anin-creaseof3percentagepointsfromthepreviousquarter,withthe in-formation technology sectorshowingthehighestintenttoem-ploy workers, a survey byTeamLeasehasshown.Asmany as 15 of the 21 re-

viewedsectorshaveindicatedpos-itive hiring sentiment and theleading sectors are informationtechnology (69per cent), educa-tional services (64per cent), andhealthcare andpharmaceuticals(51percent).The‘IntenttoHire’statisticsfor

October-December2021are onthebasisofthesurveyandanalysis

carriedoutduringJulyandAugust2021,which covered650 small,medium and large companiesacrossthe21sectorsacrossIndia.AccordingtotheEmployment

OutlookReportreleasedbythehu-manresourcecompany,outofthereviewed21 sectors, sales is themostsought-afterroleinfoursec-tors forOctober-December2021.Theother sought after functionsare Information Technology (43

per cent of the employers)mar-keting(40percentoftheemploy-ers)andengineering(37percentoftheemployers).Thenear-10percentgrowthin

GDPinthecurrentfiscal,coupledwith fewer supply disruptions,opening up of the pent-up de-mandboth in the traditional andcontact-intensiveservicesaswellasthebuoyancyintheglobalecon-omyarehavingapositive impactonhiring,thereportadded.Marketing and advertising,

BPO/ITeS, retail (non-essential)and Consulting are the sectorswhich are not reflectingmuchmovementintermsofhiringwithadropinhiringsentimentrangingfrom2-4percentagepoints.Thehiringintenthasrecorded

a7percentgrowthinmetrosandtier-Icitiesfromthepreviousquar-ter. Among cities, Bengaluru is

leadingwith67percentoftheem-ployershavingexpressedintenttohire,itsaid.Comparedtopreviousquarter,

Delhi has shown thehighest in-creaseintheintenttohirewithaneightpercentagepointgrowth.Fromahierarchyperspective,

entry-level continues to bepre-ferred,witha34per cent intent-to-hireatentrylevel.“Robust GST & e-way bill

generation,recoveryoftheman-ufacturing PMI, increasing inbusiness activities, improve-ment in the industrial andserv-icesectoractivity,riseindemandacross sectors and the rampingupinoculationarenotonlypos-itively impacting the economybut also the job scenario...,”TeamLease Services co-founderand executive vice presidentRituparnaChakraborty said.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

THE CENTRE on Thursday re-leased Rs 40,000 crore to statesandUTs to compensate for theshortfall inGST revenues, takingthetotalamountreleasedasback-to-backloanstoRs1.15lakhcroresofarintheongoingfinancialyear.“TheMinistryofFinancetoday

releasedanamountofRs40,000croretostatesandUTswithlegis-lature under the back-to-backloan facility tomeet the shortfallinGSTCompensation. Earlier onJuly 15, 2021, an amount of Rs75,000 crore was released tostates&UTswithlegislature.With

the current release, the totalamountreleasedinthecurrentfi-nancialyearasback-to-backloanin-lieuof GST compensationhasreached Rs 1.15 lakh crore,” theMinistrysaid.The Centre has frontloaded

thereleaseofassistanceundertheback-to-back loan facilitywithmorethan72percentofthetotalestimated shortfall for the entireyearofRs1.59lakhcrorebeingre-leased so far and the balanceamountwill be released in duecourse, itsaid.For FY22, the gap between

protected revenue and theactual revenue after release ofcompensationwouldbe aroundRs1.59lakhcrore.

INTENT TOHIREIT 69%

Educational 64%services

Healthcareand 51%pharmaSource:TeamLease survey

‘Hiring intent rises in current quarter’

CMD: ECGCunderwritingcapacity to riseup to `88K crMumbai:Thegovernment’sdeci-sion to infuse Rs 4,400 crore instate-owned credit insuranceprovider ECGCLtd and its listingviaIPOarelikelytoraisethecom-pany’sunderwritingcapacity.Theapprovedamountwillbe

infusedininstalments,therebyin-creasing the capacity to under-write risksup toRs88,000 croreandthiswillenableECGCtoissuecoversthatcansupportadditionalexportsofRs5.28lakhcroreoverthe five-year period, ECGCChairmanandManagingDirectorMSenthilnathansaid. ENS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,OCTOBER7

THE NATIONAL Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) onThursdaysetasideanorderbytheNCLTthataskedZeeEntertainm-entEnterprisesLimited(ZEEL) tofile a replywithin twodays on aplea by Invesco DevelopingMarketFundstoholdanEGM.TheNCLATaskedtheNational

CompanyLawTribunal(NCLT)toprovide“reasonableandsufficientopportunity”toZEELtoreplytoapleabyInvescoseekingameetingof thecompany’sshareholders.ItsaidtheNCLTcommittedan

“error”bynotgrantingreasonabletimetoZEEL to reply to Invesco’splea.Atwo-memberbenchoftheappellatetribunalsaidthatitwasacompleteviolationofNCLTrulesandprinciples of natural justiceanddirected theMumbai benchoftheNCLTtoproceedfurtheraf-terhearingbothparties. “Weareoftheopinionthatreasonableandsufficient opportunity shouldbegiventotheappellantsforfilingareply,”theNCLATordersaid.ZEEL had on Wednesday

movedtheNCLATseeking“moretime”tofileitsreplyregardingthepetition filed by its shareholderInvescoforconveningtheextraor-dinarygeneralmeeting(EGM).OnWednesday,ZeeChairman

EmeritusSubhashChandraaskedInvescotomakeanopenofferandtakeoverthecompanyifitwants.“Don’t be adamant on callingEGM,”hehadsaid.Callingitanil-legalstepbyInvesco,hesaid,“Thisisinsidertrading,andatakeover.”On September 13, Invesco

DevelopingMarketsFundanditsarmOFIGlobalChinaFundLLC—togetherholding17.88percentinZEEL—calledanEGMofthecom-panytoremovePunitGoenka,MDofZEEL,andtwoindependentdi-rectorsfromtheboard.Invesco and OFI Global, the

largestshareholdersofZEEL,havealsoproposedappointmentofsixof itsownnomineesonthecom-pany’sboard.Theproposeddirec-tors are Surendra Singh Sirohi,Naina Krishna Murthy, RohanDhamija,ArunaSharma,SrinivasaRaoAddepalliandGauravMehta.However, on September 22,

paving theway for creation of amediagiant,SonyPicturesNetw-orks India andZEEL inkedanex-clusiveandnon-bindingagreem-enttomergethetwocompanies.

‘India Inc to post up to 20%revenue growth in Q2FY22’India Inc is set to post an18-20% revenue growth forJuly-September over a year ago, a Crisil Ratings report said

RecoveryfortheQ2wasseenacrosssectors, ledbyhighervolumesandcommodityprices.Volumegainsareattributable toa lowbaseofQ2of fiscal2021

Of the40sectorsrepresented by the sample setof 300companies (excludingfinancial services and oil), 24are expected to have grownby

over 20% inQ2FY2022

Excludingcommodity-linkedsectors like steel products and

aluminium, overall growth islikely to have been 15-17%

Source:CrisilRatings/PTI

7-Eleven deal: How RIL’s retail portfolio may widenPRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

TWODAYSafterFutureRetailand7-Eleven Inc terminated theiragreement to open 7-Elevenstores in India, the Irving, Texas-basedretailchainannouncedatieupwith Reliance Retail to openconvenience stores in IndiawiththefirstlaunchslatedforSaturday.

Wherewill7-ElevenstoresopeninIndia?Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd

(RRVL), inastatement,said ithasenteredintoamasteragreementwith7-ElevenIncforlaunchof7-Eleven convenience stores inIndia.Thefirst7-Elevenstoreisset

to open Saturday, October 9 atAndheri East,Mumbai. Thiswillbe followed by a rollout in keyneighbourhoodsandcommercialareas,acrosstheGreaterMumbai cluster to startwith.Whileakeyaspectofthisformatofconven-ience stores is that theyremain open till latehours, it is unclearwhether RRVL plans to operateround-the-clockshops.Currently,notwithstanding the Covid-19regulations, stateshavedifferentrules for round-the-clockopera-tionsof retailestablishments.

Whatare7-Elevenstoresandwhowilltheycompetewith?7-Elevenbrandedstoresoper-

ateasmodernconveniencestores.InIndia,GodfreyPhillips’24Sevenchainofconveniencestoresoper-ate in this format in Delhi-NCR

andChandigarh.Unlike othermajor

economies,Indiahasnotseen the big box storeconcept extensively,given that Indian rulesprohibit foreign funding

inmulti-brandretail.However, going ahead, 7-

Elevenstoresmayalsofacecom-petitionfromonlinedeliveryserv-ices likeDunzo, Swiggy,Grofers,etc investing in settingupdeliv-ery infrastructure having theirownwarehouses and storagesmovingawayfromthehyperlocalmodeltheyoperatedtillnow.

WhatitmeansforReliance?For RRVL, the retail arm of

RelianceIndustries(RIL),thisdealwouldadd to its portfolio of gro-ceryandFMCGretailofferings.

WhydidFutureRetailterminateitscontractwith7-Eleven?FutureRetailhadenteredinto

amaster franchise agreementwith 7-Eleven back in February2019. InastockexchangefilingonTuesday, Future Retail had said:“The terminationhas beenwithmutual consent as the Future-7wasnotabletomeetthetargetofopening stores and payment offranchiseefees...”.

Fullreportonwww.indianexpress.com

BRIEFLYGrowthforecastNewDelhi: FICCI said FY22GDPwill growat9.1%. Fitchcutitsforecastto8.7%. PTI

IrelandontaxdealDublin: Irelanddropped itsoppositiontoanoverhaulofglobal corporate tax rules,agreeingtogiveupitsprized12.5%taxrateforlargemulti-nationalsinamajorboosttoeffortstoimposeaminimumrateworldwide. REUTERS

GIDCstatementNewDelhi:GIDC(GoaIndus-trialDevelopmentCorporat-ion)saidstatusquoisn’tope-rativeasagainstareaalreadyrepossessedafterrefundingamountsasperSCorder,northere are impediments toauctionplotsI-1toI-31. ENS

NCLAT asks NCLTto give ‘sufficient’time to ZEEL onInvesco demand

TheappellatetribunalsaidNCLTcommittedan“error”bynotgrantingreasonabletimetoZEELtoreplytoInvesco’splea

POWERSECTOR

Cybersecurity norms: CISOat each ‘responsible entity’

New Delhi

ROURKELA SMART CITY LIMITED,Rourkela

Udit Nagar, Rourkela-769012,Email: rourkelascl@gmail.com

BID ID:- RSCL/4020/2021 DATE: 07.10.2021

NOTICE INVITING TENDER NATIONALCOMPETITIVE BIDDING

The Chief Executive Officer, RSCL invites bids from eligible contractorsfor the following projects:

Tender Fees is Rs. 11,200/- each. The complete BID documents can beviewed/downloaded from official portal of Rourkela MunicipalCorporation (https://www.rmc.nic.in or e-procurement portal of Odishahttps://tendersodisha.gov.in from 08.10.2021 to 25.10.2021 (up to17:00 Hrs. IST). Pre-Bid Meeting will be held on 16.10.2021 at 12.00Noon in the Conference Hall of RSCL. For queries, intending biddermay contact General Manager (E&T) vide Phone No. 8249833105 andEmail Id: rourkelascl@gmail.com.

Sd/-Chief Executive Officer

Rourkela Smart City LimitedOIPR-13080/11/0013/2122

C-1088

SLNo

Name of the Projects

1 Supply, Installation, Operation and Maintenance of VariableMessage Signboard at identified locations of Rourkela City(Odisha) on PPP mode “Design Built Finance Operate andTransfer (DBFOT)”

OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL DIRECTORGENERAL OF POLICE, CID,

ASSAM, ULUBARI, GUWAHATINotice Inviting Tender

The office of the Additional Director General of Police (CID), Assam, Guwahati invitesopen tender through e-Tendering process for Supply, Design, Installation andCommissioning of CCTNS Data Center Components at Assam State Data Center,Janata Bhawan Complex, Dispur.To participate in the tender process through the e-procurement portal, the biddershould have a valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) of Class-Il (minimum) and willhave to register in the portal https://assamtenders.gov.in themselves.The bidder who have downloaded the tender schedules containing the tenderdetails, terms and conditions. from the portal shall submit their tender online on theportal https://assamtenders.gov.in with proof of payment of the non-refundabletender fee of Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) onIy through Net Banking only.The tender should be submitted online, as per the date and time of submissionprescribed in the schedule.The time frame for bidding activities are as follows:

Special Superintendent of Police, CID, Assam,Janasanyog No. C/6405/21 Ulubari, Guwahati

Tender Reference Number NIT No. E/VII/171-21/CID/1449 dtd. 01/10/2021

Published date 06-10-2021

Bid Document Download Start Date 06-10-2021

Clarification Start Date 06-10-2021through email ssp-cid@assampolice.gov.in

Clarification End Date 21-10-2021 (1700 hrs)

Bid Submission Start Date 29-10-2021

Bid Submission End Date 12-11-2021 (12:00 hrs)

Bid Opening Date 12-11-2021 (15:00 hrs)

GOVT. OF ODISHADEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEERDRAINAGE CIRCLE, UNIT-8 BHUBANESWAR-751012

E-PROCUREMENT NOTICE NO. SEDC-BBSR-04/2021-22email Id :- sedrainagebbsr12@gmail.com

Further details can be seen from the Govt. web site www.tendersorissa.gov.in.Addendum / Corrigendum/ Cancellation if any required will be published only in Govt. web site www.tendersorissa.gov.in

Sd/- Additional Chief EngineerDrainage Circle, Bhubaneswar

OIPR- 32375/11/0001/2122

A-503

1. Name of Works : 1. Improvement to Kusumi nalla from RD 11760 m to 33180m under DIP (New RD 69540m to 48120m asper approved LS) .

2. Improvement to Storm water drainage system of link drains of Debottar nalla and Balangi Drainagechannel in Nayagarh town under Nayagarh Constituency.

3. Improvement to Barpa Nalla along with link drains of Kuanria system in Daspalla Constituency.

2. Total number of Packages : 3nos. individual packages.3. Estimated Cost : 1. Rs.2,62,32,279/- 2. Rs.4,94,03,538/- 3. Rs.1,83,31,601/-4. Bid Identification No. : 1) SEDC-BBSR/DD-KHR-05/2021-22

2) SEDC-BBSR/DD-KHR-06/2021-22.3) SEDC-BBSR/DD-KHR-07/2021-22

5. Period of completion : 11(Eleven) Calendar months.6. Availability of Tender On - Line. : 11.10.2021, 14.00 Hours to 01.11.2021, 17.00 Hours.7. Date of Opening of Technical Bid. : 02.11.2021 at 11.00 hours in the O/o the Additional Chief Engineer, Drainage Circle, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar.8. Date of Opening of Financial Bid. : 06.11.2021 at 11.00 hours in the O/o the Additional Chief Engineer, Drainage Circle, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar.9. Date of Lottery( If Required) : 10.11.2021 at 11.30 hours in the O/o the Additional Chief Engineer, Drainage Circle, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar.10. Bid Security : Bid Security Declaration11. Cost of Tender paper : Rs.10,000/-12. Procurement Officer : Additional Chief Engineer, Drainage Circle, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar-751012.

Government of AssamDIRECTORATE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE :: ASSAM

Kahilipara :: Guwahati - 781 019CORRIGENDUM

Corrigendum cum revised tender against Item No. 7 only of Tender No. DFS. 2084/2021-22/6 dated01.10.2021 (Janasanyog/C/6195/21) of the Directorate of Forensic Science, Assam floated on02.10.2021A partial modification in respect of Notice Inviting Tender of Directorate of Forensic Science, Assamhas been done. Intending bidders are requested to consider this specification against Item No. 7 only.The details of the modified tender specification and necessary tender documents may be downloadedfrom the Website https://forensic.assam.gov.inThe firms which are going to participate in the tender process have to send their relevant documents,EMD in sealed envelope to the Director, Directorate of Forensic Science, Assam, Kahilipara,Guwahati - 781019 on or before 27.10.2021.The delivery of materials will be at Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Silchar.

Sd/-Director

Directorate of Forensic Science, AssamJanasanyog No. C/6412/21 Kahilipara, Guwahati - 19

16 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8,2021

New Delhi

SPORT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER8, 2021

CROSSWORD4555

ACROSS1 Nothing isasconfusingas itsmirage (5)

4 Demonstratinghowtomakemusicoutside (7)

8 Creatureboastingnosting(3)

9 Sortof breadthatmakesadinnercomplete? (9)

10 Vaguelyrelatedtopartof alathe (7)

11 CountryandWesterndrinks(5)

13 Gotupsmartly (6)15 Hemayproducestupor - inhisreaders? (6)

18 What’smore,aone-timespecial skill returns (5)

19 Notsomuchretiredashappy(7)

21 Runwehear tobeat thestorm(9)

23 Bitof publicity that leads tonothingbut trouble (3)

24 Feeling fed-up?(7)25 Breaks thebackof bridges (5)

Down1 Journeyedroundtheworldperhaps (7)

2 What thebankhas tosayofyouraccount? (9)

3 Joined inaChineseweddingceremony(5)

4 Was inclinedtoseekwork inwinter transport(6)

5 Writer inarowinvolved inoutrightconflict(4,3)

6 Coldcomfort fromanunjustmagistrate (3)

7 The largerswallows(5)

12 Crudeoil inaUSAstate (9)14 Kindof resortwheredisease istreated(7)

16 It isveryboringand isduetobealtered(7)

17 Burningamarkonahorse (6)18 Number three iswrong(5)20 Sevendifferent levels (5)22 Strikeablowformusic (3)

ARIES (Mar21 -Apr20)Youmay tend toexaggerate or over-dramatise both yoursuccesses and the

difficulties you face, but this isall par for the course for theArienpersonality. Tryandbe a littlemore realistic,though. The simple reason isthat, if you’re not, you’ll runinto a series ofmisunderstandings.

TAURUS (Apr21 -May21)Important changesreally are afoot,there’s nodoubtabout that.

However, partners andotherpeople towhomyouare close,will demandproof ofyour intentions togetherwith suitable guaranteesthat you are genuinelycapable of fulfillingyour commitments.

GEMINI (May22 - June21)Someoneyou truststill seemsprone tolettingyoudown, ortrying toduckoutof

a commitment.Don’tworry.It’s all due toMercury’swonderfulmotion, onedayclearingupall yourdoubts, thenext sowing confusion inyourpersonal and intimate affairs.

CANCER (June22 - July23)Youmaysometimeswonderwhyyoutake such trouble tokeeppeople

informedof yourplans andintentionswhen they reactwith such indifferenceoringratitude. Still, they are thelosers, not you.And,with thatinmind,workoutwhat youcandonext.

LEO (July24 -Aug23)Perhaps it’s becausethe Sun is yourplanetary ruler thatyou take other

people’s support and loyaltyfor granted. Yet eventsof the past fewdaysmayhavetaught you that youhavenoright to expect to getsomething for nothing.That’s a necessary lesson,I’mafraid.

VIRGO(Aug24 - Sep23)All formsof travelandcommunicationare to the forenow,and it seems

verymuchas if youwill begetting away forpurely socialreasons. Youcannowexpect tohear from lovedoneswhoare far away, and the resultmaybea family gatheringor celebration.

LIBRA (Sep24 -Oct23)Never forget howimportant it is topay creditwherecredit is due,

otherwiseyouwill not be ableto rely onpartners’ sympathyandencouragement in future.You reallydohaveagreat dealtobe thankful for. For onething, next year is going tobringunprecedented successinoneof your treasuredambitions.

SCORPIO (Oct24 -Nov23)Financial decisionsare looming, as youknowonly toowell.Some timewithin

thenext twoor threeweeksyoumustdecideonewayortheother, however attractivedifferent alternativesmayseem.You’redefinitely lookingfor awayout, butwhichway isit tobe?That is thequestion.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Mercurymaintainsits helpfulalignmentwithyour sign today,

goodenough reason to arrangeinterviews, attend importantmeetings andholdvitaldiscussions. For thenext fewweeksyouwill be at yourmostpersuasive, andyourwordswill bebackedby rareemotional force.

CAPRICORN(Dec23 - Jan20)Sinceyouhavealready copedwithagooddeal ofadversity in your

life, you shouldbeextremelywell placed to copewith aproblematicplanetarypicturewhich is nowemerging.Otherpeoplemay soonbe coming toyou for advice. You’ll have torespond toeach case in turn.

AQUARIUS (Jan21-Feb19)It’stimetoshatterafewpreconceivedideasandprovejusthowwellyoucanget

onwithoutotherpeopleif theneedarises.Whattranspiresoverthenextfewdayswillsurelyreinforceyourconfidence.And,onceitdoesso,youwillbereadytofacetheworldagain.

PISCES (Feb20 -Mar20)Events that aretakingplacenowareperhapsinsufficient to

restore your confidenceorraise yourmorale.Only youcando this. In addition towhich, you canonlydo it bytakingagood, long lookat yoursuccesses andachievements sofar, aswell as your failures.

SUDOKU4618

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4617

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ababyisbornwitha_________-andneveroutgrowsit.-FrankA.Clark(4,2,2,5)

SOLUTION:EERIE,OZONE,DENTAL,ADVERBAnswer:Ababyisbornwithaneedtobeloved-andneveroutgrowsit.-FrankA.Clark

IREEE AEDLNT

NZEOO BRAVED

SolutionsCrossword4554:Across: 1Golfcourse,8Titan,9Amnesty,10Braving,11Ocean,12Resume,14Unrest,17Among,19Ordeals,21Languid,22Rites,23Reportsick. Down:2Outlaws,3Fungi,4Orange,5Rundown,6Ensue,7Hypnotists,8Tabernacle,13Mugwump,15Elastic,16Border,18Owner,20Darts.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

MIHIRVASAVDANEWDELHI,OCTOBER7

HERE’S A #ThrowbackThursday trivia: onOctober 8, 2010, India rolled over Vietnam3-1 in an international friendly played inPune,withSunilChhetri–whoelse–scoringahat-trick.Eleven Octobers later, that match is a

goodreferencepoint tounderstandhowfarbehind the Indian football teamhas fallen.The95th-rankedVietnamarenowcloser

than ever to aWorld Cup spot. And India,placed 107th, are unable to beat even theirSouthAsianrivals inatournamentreservedfor the laggardsofworld football.India’sstrugglesweremagnifiedagainst

ateamranked98placesbelowtheminFIFArankings, Sri Lanka, on Thursday after theywereheldtoagoallessdraw.Thisembarrass-mentwasprecededbya1-1drawagainst a10-men Bangladesh, ranked 189th, in theiropeningmatchof theSAFFCuponMonday.Theblame,asexpected,fellontheshoul-

ders of coach Igor Stimac and it seems in-creasingly likely that the Croatian will beshown the door if India do not win thischampionship. It’s convenient, however, tomake theCroatian thescapegoat.In 2011, the then India coach Bob

Houghton had said: “You can remove thecoach and you can bring Guus Hiddink orJoseMourinho tomorrow and youwill stillbe (where you are).” Houghton, whowassackedunceremoniouslyandcontroversiallysoonafter,couldnothavebeenmorespoton.The draws against Sri Lanka and

Bangladesh,whichcamecloseontheheelsofIndia’s failure to beat Nepal, should ratherserveasanotherreminderof all that’sailingIndian football, and the list is a longone.Moreso,becausetheseresultsaren’tone-

off disappointments.The draw against Bangladesh was the

second time in three matches that Indiacouldnotbeat their neighbours. At the clublevel, too, the signs seem ominous. Lastmonth, ATKMohunBagan suffered a drub-bingatthehandsofUzbekistan’sNasafFCinthe AFC Cup. Before that, Bengaluru FC ex-itedinthegroupstageof thesamecompeti-tion, having failed to beat Bangladesh’sBashundharaKings.ForATKMohunBaganandBengaluru,the

Asiancompetitions–whichshouldbeatoppriority – turned out to be a virtual warm-uptournament,giventhattheywentintothegameswithoutanycompetitivematchesfornearlyhalf-a-yearbecauseof India’s flaweddomestic calendar.“When FC Goa played in the Asian

Champions League, they already had 20

games under their belt. The players wereproperly conditioned and that reflected intheir performance,” says Indian footballcoachPradhyumReddy.“The players last played a competitive

match inMarch. So it’s tough to expect theplayerstobesharpwhentheyplayaftersuchalongbreak.Atthesametime,wehavetoberealistic aboutwherewe stand andnot feelentitled about beating Bangladesh or otherteams like them. It’s not likewe are consis-tently and comprehensively beatingBangladeshiorMaldivianteamsinclubcom-petitionsorat junior levels.”

Lack ofmatchesOneofthebiggestcrisesthatIndianfoot-

ball is facing is the lackof gametime fordo-

mestic players. The ISL is among the short-est competitions in the world. It ends at astagewhen inmost other leagues, it’s just amid-way point of the season. The 11-teamtournamentlastsforjustfourmonths,whichis less than even the Bangladesh PremierLeague–their2021seasonhad13teamsandlastedninemonths.Other countries in the region, too, have

leagues thatare longer than India’spremierleague. In Oman, each club gets to play 26games over a span of ninemonths. Top-di-vision clubs in Qatar, the hosts of the 2022World Cup, play 22matches each in theirSuperLeagueovereightmonths. Inadditionto the league, theyalsoplayaCupcompeti-tion.Forcommercialreasons,Indiahasnotin-

creased the lengthof its top leagueandthatis proving to be detrimental for the overallgrowthof thegame. Even in a short season,the match time that Indian players get ishardly enough asmanagers, for whom re-sults are the ultimate priority, tend to em-ploytheirbestforeignsigningsincentralar-easof thepitchandgoal-scoringpositions.Remember Komal Thatal, the scrawny

winger who dazzledwith his quick, mazyruns in theUnder-17WorldCup in2017?He played just 67minutes in thewhole

ofthe2020-21seasonforATKMohunBagan,managing just 33 touches and 22 passes inthe fiveappearances.Thatal isn’t anexception.Iranian star SardarAzmoun, nicknamed

the AsianMessi, had alreadymademorethan a dozen appearances for Rubin Kazanbythetimeheturned20andclockedalmost4,500minuteswith thenational teamfromtheunder-17 level to thesenior side.Indianplayers,beit theestablishedones

inthenationalteamortheyoungpromisingstars,struggletogetevenhalf theamountofplayingtimeandinmanycases,playershavegoneanentireyearwithoutashotatgoal, letalonescoringone.Consequently, when they play interna-

tional games, they are often like a deercaught in headlights. More so, when theyhaveplayedlessthanhalfadozenmeaning-fulmatches inalmost sixmonths.The All India Football Federation (AIFF)

has said that fromnext year onwards, theywill increase thematches and reduce thenumber of foreigners in the Indian SuperLeague(ISL) togive Indianplayersmoreop-portunities.Whethertheyactuallyfulfill thepromise

isanybody’sguess.

Lessons fromVietnamThesituationgetsbleakerwithage-group

teams, where the number of matches getsfewer and fewer. This iswhere the compar-isonsbetween India andVietnamget inter-estingand inevitable.Around 2014, both India and Vietnam

werestrugglingtogettheirpremier leaguesany tractionand topclubs inbothcountrieswerestruggling tosurvive.

India adopted a top-down approach –hostingbigeventsandlookedforshort-termfixes in the leaguewithout properly focus-ingondeveloping thegrassroots.India’syouthteams,fromunder-16toun-

der-23havenotdoneanythingremarkableatthe Asian level. So, to suddenly expect thesame, under-developed players to produceresultswhileplaying for theseniornationalteamseemsabit irrational.Vietnam, on the other hand, did not do

anythingmiraculous. Instead, theymadegood use of FIFA grants, invested in theiryouthteamsandremainedpatient.Theirfo-cussed, long-term approach gave rise to agolden generation of players that reachedthe finals of the Asian U-23 Championshipandnowformthecoreof thenationalteam,which has reached the final round of the2022WorldCupqualifiers.

6 years, 66 debutantsAn impatient search to findplayerswho

canmakeadifferencehasledtoanunprece-dented66playersmakingtheirinternationaldebuts since2015.Stimac’s predecessor, Stephen

Constantinewaspragmatic inhis approachwhen he took charge seven years ago. Heoversaw the transition of an aging team,stucktoastylethatwasn’tprettybutwasef-fective, which helped India to climb up therankingsladder–from171stpositionin2015toclose to top-100now–andloga feweye-poppingperformances.Stimac,ontheotherhand,hasoftencome

acrossasamanstabbing in thedark.Hehaschanged his starting 11 in each of the 19matches India have played under him. Hehashandeddebutsto21playerssincehisap-pointmentin2019andtheteamhaswonjustthrice. Stimac ispartially guiltyof the insta-bilitywithin theplayinggroup.But the bigger failure of those in charge

of Indianfootball istheirinabilitytodeveloptop-qualityplayers, thusforcingthemtofallbackonChhetri timeandagain.Chhetriwas26whenhe scored thehat-

trick against Vietnam in 2010 and led Indiatoa3-1win.In the 11 years that have followed, India

has pumped in hundreds of crores, estab-lished a new league, formed brand-newteams and tried 66newplayers in six yearsbutChhetri,now37, isstillvirtually theonlyman scoring goals that are sparing the na-tional team, the coaches and the AIFFblushes.His goals have papered over the cracks

for years. On the other hand, Vietnam,whohavezoomedpast Indiaon thebackof theirgolden generation, have the World Cupwithin their sights.

The paper TigersInabilityof themen’snational football teamtobeatevenSouthAsianrivals is symptomaticofhowmuchthesporthas regressed

17STUCK INREVERSEGEAR

The Indianteam’sstartingXI,whichwasheldtoagoallessdrawagainstSriLankaat theSAAFCuponThursday.This followsa1-1resultagainstBangladesh.

Male: Indiaproducedyetanotherdis-appointingperformanceastheywereheld to a goalless draw by 205thrankedSri Lankadespite adominantdisplay in their second SAFFChampionships match. The seven-timechampionspaidthepriceofnotcreatingenoughchancesandwastingthose they got against a Sri Lankanside98placesbelowthemintheFIFArankings. Though they have a lion'sshare of the ball possession, the107th-ranked Indianswere ineffec-tivefromtheset-piecesanddiddonotmuchinopenplayeitheragainsttheiropponents,whoonlyhavefivecoun-tries ranked below them in a 210-teamtable.IgorStimac'sfull-strengthteamisstillsearchingforawinintwomatches.Theyhaddrawnagainst10-manBangladesh1-1intheiropeningmatchonMonday.PTI

India still winless

Theblame,asexpected, fellontheshouldersofcoachIgorStimacanditseemsincreasingly likely that theCroatianwillbeshownthedoorif Indiadonotwinthischampionship. It’sconvenient,however, tomaketheCroatianthescapegoat.

MARTYNHERMANLONDON,OCTOBER7

ASAUDI-ARABIANbackedconsortiumcom-pleted its purchase of Premier League clubNewcastleUnitedonThursdayasalong-run-ning takeover saga finally reached the con-clusionthemajorityof theclub'ssupportersdesired. Fourteen months after SaudiArabia's Public InvestmentFund (PIF)with-drewa305millionpounds($415.07million)bid to buy the north-east club from ownerMikeAshleyfollowingthePremierLeague'sfailuretogiveregulatoryapproval,adealwasannounced after a day of mounting excite-mentonTyneside.After the Premier League confirmed the

struggling club had been sold to a consor-tium consisting of PIF, PCP Capital Partnersand RB Sports &Mediawith immediate ef-fect, fans began celebrating outside the StJames'Parkstadium.A statement from Yasir Al-Rumayyan,

governorofPIFwhowillbecomenon-exec-utivechairmanofNewcastleUnited,saidthedeal wouldmean long-term investment to"harnesstheclub'spotentialandbuilduponthe club's legacy. "We are extremely proudto become the new owners of NewcastleUnited, one of the most famous clubs inEnglish football. We thank the Newcastlefans for their tremendously loyal supportovertheyearsandweareexcitedtoworkto-getherwith them,"hesaid.The takeover, fronted by PCP Capital

Partners' chief executive Amanda Staveley,ends an unhappy era at St James' Park andmeansNewcastlewill beoneof theworld'srichest clubs.Staveley will have a seat onNewcastle's board of directors alongwithJamieReubenofRBSports&Media."Thisisalong-terminvestment,"Staveley

saidinastatement."Ourambitionisalignedwith the fans - to create a consistently suc-cessful team that's regularly competing formajor trophies and generates pride acrosstheglobe."Arapidsequenceof events reignited the

deal after Qatar-based broadcaster beINSports, a Premier League rights holder, saidonWednesdaythatSaudiArabiawouldliftabanon itandalsoshutdownillegal stream-ing services, removing amajor obstacle be-hind thecollapsed takeover.Another stum-blingblockwasovercomeafter thePremierLeague, who came under pressure to blockthedeal last year, received "legallybinding"assurances that therewas clear separationbetweenPIF and the Saudi Arabia state, de-spite PIF being chaired by the Saudi CrownPrinceMohammedbinSalman.REUTERS

Newcastletakeover bySaudi-backedconsortiumcompleted

New Delhi

VolLXXXIXNo.284Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.MalhotraonbehalfofTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedandPrintedatTheIndianExpress(P)LimitedPress,A-8,Sector-7,Noida-201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt,ShivylyaRoad,PostKhagaul,Shahpur,Patna(Bihar)andPublishedatTheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi110002.Editorialoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,MezzanineFloor,ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice:TheIndianExpress(P)Limited,B1/B,Sector-10,Noida-201301.Phone:01206651291.ChairmanoftheBoard:ViveckGoenka,ChiefEditor:RajKamalJha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker,Editor(Delhi):Rakesh

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SPORT18PLAYINGTODAYIndian Premier LeagueSRH vs MI, 7:30 pm,RCB vs DC, 7:30pm,Live on Star Sports Network

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,OCTOBER7

ASANSHUMaliklayonthematdisconsolate,holdingher left elbowandshoulderafter theloss by fall against Helen Maroulis in thewomen’s 57 kg final in theworldwrestlingchampionships atOslo, herAmericanoppo-nent commiserated her, patting her back.Though the 20-year-old Indian had lost thebout—missing out onbecoming India's firstwomanworldwrestling champion, and thesecondfromhercountryafterSushilKumar—shehadalreadymadehistory.No Indianwomanhad ever reached the

summit clash of a World WrestlingChampionship, noonehas even comeclose;eveninthemen’scategory, justfivehavepro-gressed this far into theWorlds. The journey,theheartbreaksandsetbacks sheendured toreachwhere shedid, is aheartwarmingnar-rativeinitself.The mental agony of defeat in the

repechage in Tokyo lingered. She enduredphysical pain too. According to father

DharamveerMalik, shehadcarriedanelbowinjury,whichshehadsustainedinTokyo,intothe tournament, besides injuringherknee inthequarterfinals.Hence,hesays,“Thissilverislikeagoldmedalforus.”“Anshu fought bravely. Despite suffering

anelbowinjuryinTokyoOlympics,shetrainedat the village followedby training in thena-tionalcamp.Wehopeherelbowinjuryhasnotworsened,”headds.HermotherManju,whowatchedthefinal

without batting an eyelid, concurswith herhusband: “Silver bhi goldke jaisahai.” In thenext fewdays, shewould bebust preparingherfavouritesweet, ‘gondkeladoo'.“It’sgoodformusclesrecoveryandshecanhaveasmanyshelikes,”shesays.

Confident startHeropponent in the final,Haroulis,wasa

bigfish—championinRioandabronzemedal-list in Tokyo. The youngster,whohas neverfaced the seasoned American in her shortInternationalcareer,beganwithconfidencebythwartingtheAmerican’sattemptstograbherneck.Shesurvivedacloselegattacktoointhe

openingexchanges.Anshu tried to tire her adversary,which

workedastheHaroulisreceivedapassiveplaywarning.ShefailedtoscoreandAnshugotherfirstpointofthefinal.ThefirsthalfendedwithAnshuleading1-0.

ButtheAmericanchangedherstrategyinthe second. She attemptedgrippingAnshu’sinjured left elbowand succeeded, notchingtwo points within 45 seconds. She thensnatchedAnshu’sshoulder,scoringtwomorepoints. Then came the sucker punch, as she

pulledhershoulderfullytothemat,resultinginHaroulis’swinbyfall.Coach Jagdeesh Sheoran,whohad initi-

atedAnsu intowrestling at theCBSMSportsSchoolatNidani in2012,hadexpectedhertobe quicker in the second half. “I expectedAnshutobeabitquickerinthesecondhalfbuttheAmericanwasquick to attackher left el-bowandonceshegotholdofit,itwastoughforAnshu tomakea comeback. If not for the in-jury, shecouldhavewriggledoutof thatgripandsurvivedthefall,”heexplained.But the silver reflects the rapid, anddeci-

sive, stridesshehadmade inhersport. Itwasnot just a one-off performance. The last yearhasseenAnshuscoringwinsoverthelikestheofworldchampionshipbronzemedallistandeventual TokyoOlympics bronzemedallistEvelina Nikolova of Bulgaria in theMattioPelliconeRankingSeries inRomeapart frombeatingtwo-timeEuropeanbronzemedallistAlyonaKolesnikof Azerbaijan andEuropeanbronzemedallistVeronikaChumikova.The confidence of the youngster from

Nidani, Sheoran believes,will skyrocket. “Inthe last 20months, she has scored sixwins

with amarginof tenpoints and theway shescoredwins over LindaMorris and GraceBullenearlyinhercareergaveheralotofcon-fidence. During the 11-6win over EvelinaNikolovaatRomepriortoTokyo,Anshumadehertireandthenwentforlegandsideattacks.Wins against suchwrestlersmakehermoreconfident in trying themoves she hasmas-teredinpractice.ThecomingmonthswillseeadifferentAnshu,”addsSheoran.

Bronze formoreOn the sidelines, 25-year-old Haryana

wrestler Sarita Mor won bronze in thewomen’s59kgcategorywithan8-2winoverSweden’s JohannaLindborg andbecame thesixthIndianfemalewrestlertowinamedalattheworldchampionships.“Themore ourwrestlerswinmedals at

worldchampionships, thehungrier theywillbeforfurthersuccess.SeeingAnshucreatehis-toryhereandSaritawinningthebronzemeansourwrestlersarenotlesseropponents.Wewillworktoironouttheflaws.Weneedmoretrain-ing and thesemedalswill add to our confi-dencealot,”saidnationalcoachKuldeepMalik.

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYOCTOBER7

ONCE KOLKATA Knight Riders had postedthe highest total, 171/4, by any team atSharjahinthisyear’sIndianPremierLeague,thegamewasover.RajasthanRoyals,devoidof inspiration, fight and proper planning,never looked to be good enough to chasedown172.So,itwasaboutKKR’svictorymar-gin to consolidate their Playoffs chances.Royals were all out for 85 in 16.1 overs andafter an 86-run victory, KKR are all butthroughtothelastfour.Royalsfizzledquickerthanexpected.

Organised KKRUnder Eoin Morgan’s leadership this

term,KKRhaveputahugeemphasisonplan-ning, with team analyst Nathan Leamon atits forefront.Theyhadtowinthisgame,elseMumbai

Indians’ equationwouldhavebeen straightforward–beatSunrisersHyderabadandgoto theknockouts.Only a coupleof daysago,MI had bundled out Royals for 90 at thisvenue and whenMorgan lost the toss onThursdayandwasaskedtobatfirst, itfeltlikea tricky task. But the team’s organisationshone through.The brief was clear for the two openers,

SubhumanGill and Venkatesh Iyer – not tolose earlywickets, nevermind around six-plusrun-ratetostartwith.Theduoremainedunseparated until the 11th over, putting on79runs for theopeningwicket.Gill and Iyertargeted loose balls to hit fours and sixes.Occasionally,goodballs tooweretakencareof, in a risk-freeway.When JaydevUnadkatbowledacross-seamerandpitcheditontherequiredsix-metreSharjahlength,Iyerstoodtall and hit it over the sightscreen. Playingstraight on this pitchwas the key and Iyer’supright stancehelpedhimgeneratepower.Onadifficultsurface,Gillwastimingthe

ball well. Impatience had affected his shotselection this season. But today the openershowed excellent application. After gettingbeaten against Jaydev Unadkat in the veryfirstballof thematch,Gill respondedwithadriveovermid-off forafour.LikeIyer,healsoinitially targetedthe ‘V’ forhis runs.Theballwasn’tcomingontothebat,sothetwoopen-ers came out of the crease tomeet the ball.Theway Gill used his feet and converted agooddelivery fromChetan Sakariya to hit asixwasexcellent.Iyeruppedtheanteinthe10thoverwith

acoupleofsixesagainstUnadkat.Everythingwas going to plan. Andwhen the batsmangotout inthenextover,poordecision-mak-ing fromRoyals captain Sanju Samson con-tributed toKKR’s furtheracceleration.Gill departed for awell-compiled 56 off

44 balls. By then his team had taken thegameaway fromtheir opponents. Between10and16overs,KKRscored66runsandflat-tenedtheRoyals.

Clinical bowlingGood length, cross-seam and straight –

theSharjahpitchhadaskedforthistemplate.The KKR bowlerswere right on themoney.ShakibAlHasanbreachedYashasviJaiswal’sdefenceinthefirstover,asthelatterwentfora reverse sweep. ShivamMavi dismissedSamsoninhisfirstball,rollinghisfingersovertheseam,hittingtherightlengthandbring-ing it into thebatsman.Lockie Ferguson came and broke the

backboneof Royals’ battingwith twowick-etsinsidethreedeliveries.Ashort,risingballaccounted for LiamLivingstone,whileAnujRawatwastrappedleg-beforewithastraightone. Livingstone, Jos Buttler’s replacement

andtheheroofTheHundred,wasbeatenforpace, asalsoRawat.Mavi came back andmade one zip past

theoutsideedgeofGlennPhillips’ bat tohittop of off-stump. The young fast bowler re-turned with his career-best IPL figures of4/21. Fergusonbagged3/18.

Tame sign offRoyalsmissed their cricketing royalty –

BenStokes, JofraArcher andButtler – in thesecondphaseof thetournamentandhardlyshowed the stomach for a fight. They alsomissedEvinLewis,outwithaniggle,againstKKRandthemajorityof theirbatsmenfailedto learn from their mistakes against MI.Jaiswaltriedtoreverse-sweepShakibdespitethefactthatasimilarshothadbroughtaboutIyer’s dismissal during KKR’s innings.Samson tried toplay squareof thewicket, alow-percentage shot on this surface. Theirbowlerswere inconsistent aswell, offeringwidthandhittableballseverynowandthen.Samson using Phillips’ off-spin against

NitishRanawaspoordecision-making.Ranadevours slow bowling and although he gotout to Phillips, 17 runswere scored in thatover.TheRoyalsskipperalsodroppedRahulTripathi offMustafizur Rahmanon five andtowards theback-endofKKR’s innings con-ceded four byes when the bowler, ChrisMorris, deservedabettereffort.

BRIEFSCORES:KolkataKnightRiders171for4(Gill56,Sakariya1-23)beatRajasthanRoyals85(Tewatia44,Mavi4-21,Ferguson3-18)by86runs

A night to remember for KKRKolkataallbutsealthefourthplayoffspotwith86-runwinoverRajasthan

SRIRAMVEERAOCTOBER7

WHATWAS the pitch KL Rahulwas battingon?Obviously,nottheonetherestofthebats-men fromboth teams did. He also showedwhythereisnoplaceforthein-formShikharDhawan in the Indian teamwithhis blister-ingstrokeplay.Helapped,swatted,lofted,carved,pulled,

andwrung Chennai Super Kings bowlersthroughthewasher.

Rahul thebossItwas the fifth timeKLRahul reachedhis

fiftyin25orfewerdeliveries. Itwasalsoper-haps the first time that JoshHazlewoodhaslookedsopedestriandespitehittinghisusualareas. He had bled runs against RajasthanRoyalsbuthehadbowledfartooshortthen.Inthis game, he got the length right but Rahulwasgunningforhim.Especiallyaftercoppingablowon thehelmet that left anuglybruiseonhisforeheadinthesecondoverofthechasefromHazlewood.That was the only moment that

Hazlewoodwon. In his next over, the fourthofthechase,Rahulcrash-landedtoeithersideof the straight boundary. And then for somevariety, hemurdered a short ball overmid-wicket boundary. Another one flew to thelong-offboundaryinHazlewood’snextover.He didn’t show any partiality to any

bowler, though. Before he had stubbed outHazlewood, he had been severe onDeepakChahar,pullingandloftingovercovers.DhonilookedtoShardulThakur,whohad

taken twoquickwickets, for some relief. No

luck.Awristywhipsentasixoversquare-legand a dreamy back-foot punch had the ballthuddingintothecover-pointboundary.Chaharcamebackhoping forbetter luck.

Instead, Rahul moved towards off stump,crouched, and lapped it over the fine-legboundary. At the end of that ninth over,Punjabwere80for3.Onemore six off Chahar forcedDhoni to

bring onBravo. The 12th over delivered twomore sixes and the first had Bravo hunchedon his knees at the ridiculousness of it all.Rahul shuffled to theoff andswat-flickedanattemptedyorkeroverbackwardsquare-leg.In thenextover,hebangeda fourandpulledasixoffThakurtowrapupastunningwin.FafduPlessishadshownwhatwaspossi-

ble on thepitch in the final three overs after

anotherwiselaboriouseffortfromthebattingunitasawhole.Thirty-eightrunscameinthefinal threeasduPlessisdroveandpulled thebowlerstodisarray.ItwastoolateforChennaibut Rahulmust have seen enough to knowwhattodowhenhisturncame.Therewas one final lovelymoment be-

tweenRahul andHazlewood. As thematchendedandRahulwaswalkingoff,Hazlewoodcaughtupwithhimforachat.Clearly,hewasaskingabout thepitchasRahulgestured thenature of the skiddy bounce off the track.Hazlewoodwas foldinghis bluehand-toweland nodding in agreement. In amovie, thecolourofthetowelwouldhavebeenthesym-bolicwhite.

Chennai falterInthelastthreegames,CSKhavelosttheir

way for sure. Some questionable decisionshave contributed to it as well. AgainstRajasthan, after piling up 189, the bowlerswereshockinglyshortwiththenewballandweremurderedbyYashasviJaiswalandEvenLewis.Thematchwasallbutoverinthepowerplay itself, especially as Dhoni didn’t useRavindraJadejamuchatall.Intheirlastgame,Dhoni promoted himself ahead of in-formJadejaandlabouredalongtowardsasub-partotal. He added to the troubles by not usingBravo on a tacky pitch thatwas suitable forhim, until the very endwhen Bravo nearlypulledoff aminormiracle.And in this game, too, Dhoni promoted

himself aheadwithoutmuch success. AndusedJadejaforjustoneoverinsharpcontrasttoPunjabwhousedeight tightoversof spin.It’stimeforastrategicoverhaulattheChennaicampwhilePunjabwilltwiddletheirthumbswaitingforotherteamstotripup.

BRIEFSCORES:BRIEF:ChennaiSuperKings134for6(duPlessis76,Jordan2-20,Arshdeep2-35) lost to PunjabKings 139 for 4 (Rahul98*,Thakur3-28)bysixwickets.

KKRpacerShivamMavicelebratesafterpickingupRoyals’ skipperSanjuSamson’swicket iplt20.com

ItwasthefifthtimeRahulreachedhisfifty in25or fewerdeliveries. iplt20.com

POINTS TABLEM W L NRR Pts

DC 13 10 3 +0.526 20CSK 14 9 5 +0.045 18RCB 13 8 5 -0.059 16KKR 14 7 7 +0.587 14PBKS 14 6 8 -0.001 12MI 13 6 7 -0.048 12RR 14 5 9 -0.993 10SRH 13 3 10 -0.422 6

Anshu, the firstwomanfromthecountry towinawrestlingWorlds silvermedal,withnational coachKuldeepMalik.

SYNOPSIS: Rahul bosses it around tokeepPunjab’sslimhopesaliveafterCSKfalter strategically

SYNOPSIS:Organised batting, clinicalbowlingputKKRonthecuspofPlayoffs.Royals signoff tamely

Despite her defeat to Tokyo medallist in Worlds finals, Anshu’s feat is pathbreaking

Rahul smashes an unbeaten 98 in chase tounderline form going into World Cup

Indiawinsgoldinwomen’s25mpistolteameventLima: The Indian women's team ofManuBhaker, RhythmSangwanandNaamya Kapoor clinched a goldmedalinthe25mpistoleventtocon-tinuethecountry'sdominationattheongoingInternationalShootingSportFederation (ISSF) Junior WorldChampionship.TheIndianteambeatUSA16-4 in thegoldmedalmatch.This was Bhaker's fourth gold of thecompetition to gowith one bronze,whileitwasthe14-year-oldKapoor'ssecondgoldofthechampionship.Shehad become the newly-crownedworldjuniorchampionintheindivid-ual25mpistolevent.Indiaalsopickedup a silvermedal in themen's 25mrapid fire pistol event when AdarshSingh lost to USA's Henry TurnerLeverett in the six-man final. At theendofdayeightof thechampionshipon Wednesday, India topped themedal tallywithninegold, sevensil-ver and three bronze. USAwere sec-ondwith five gold and a total of 16medals. The troikaofManu,RhythmandNaamya, facedlittlecompetitionthroughoutastheytookacommand-ing leadof10-4beforethebeginningof theeighthseriesof rapid-fireshotsandthenclosedoutat16-4.

ICCtoreplace‘batsman’with‘batter’Dubai: The International CricketCouncil on Thursday decided to re-place 'batsman'with gender-neutralterm 'batter' in all its playing condi-tionsstartingwiththismonth'smen'sT20WorldCup, describing themoveas a "natural andoverdueevolution"in the sport. Last month, theMaryleboneCricketClubannounceditwouldbereplacing theword 'bats-man' with 'batter' in the Laws ofCricket. That changewill now be re-flected across all ICC playing condi-tionsgoingforward.TheICCsaidoverthe past four years it has beenmov-ing away from the word 'batsman',with 'batter' implemented regularlyincommentaryandacrosstheorgan-isation's channels.

18ex-NBAplayerschargedinhealthcarefraudschemeNew York: Eighteen former NationalBasketball Association playerswerecharged on Thursdaywith defraud-ing the league's health andwelfarebenefit plan out of $3.9 million byseeking reimbursement formedicalanddentalwork thatwasneverper-formed. According to an indictmentfiled with the U.S. District Court inManhattan,playersreceived$2.5mil-lion in fraudulent proceeds, with 10paying the alleged ringleader,TerrenceWilliams, at least $230,000in kickbacks. Prosecutors saidWilliamsoffered false invoices inex-change for the kickbacks andhelpedobtain bogus "letters of medical ne-cessity"forthreeplayers."Thedefen-dants' playbook involved fraud anddeception," U.S. Attorney inManhattan Audrey Strauss said at apress conference. Among the defen-dantsareTonyAllen,asix-timemem-ber of the NBA All-Defensive Team,andGlenDavis,bothofwhomwonachampionshipwiththeBostonCelticsin2008.

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