journalism of courage - sosin classes

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

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

New Delhi

2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

HAVILDAR SREEKUMAR M, SM9 MADRAS (TRAVANCORE)

All ranks of TRAVANCORE TERRORS payhomage to Havildar Sreekumar M, SM whomade the supreme sacrifice of his life on thisday while fighting terrorists in J&K in 1997.Commanding Officer and all ranks cherishthe memories of his brave deeds on the 24thAnniversary of his martyrdom. Bravesoldiers like him will always be source ofinspiration for all of us.

Commanding Officer & All Ranks9 MADRAS (TRAVANCORE)

NAIK YAMA SIVA SANKARA REDDY, SC9 MADRAS (TRAVANCORE)

All ranks of TRAVANCORE TERRORS payhomage to Naik YSS Reddy, SC who mademade the supreme sacrifice of his life on thisday while fighting terrorists in J&K in 1997.Commanding Officer and all ranks cherishthe memories of his brave deeds on the 24thAnniversary of his martyrdom. Bravesoldiers like him will always be source ofinspiration for all of us.

Commanding Officer & All Ranks9 MADRAS (TRAVANCORE)

Colonel Hoshiar Singh, Param Vir Chakra

01 May 1936-06 Dec 1998

On this day, we salute and pay homage to a

gallant officer who displayed exceptional

courage, determination, conspicuous gallantry

and motivated his men by his inspiring

leadership and true devotion to duty to rise to

the occasion despite being seriously wounded.

For his grit, determination, raw courage and

unparalleled leadership he was awarded the

Nation’s highest gallantry award - ‘PARAM

VIR CHAKRA’, in the epic Battle of Basantar

during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. We pray to

the almighty on his 23rd death

anniversary to bless the departed soul with

everlasting peace.

Lt Gen Rajeev Sirohi, UYSM, AVSM, VSM

and All Ranks of The GRENADIERS Regiment

SALUTE THE SOLDIER

Union Territory Of Jammu and KashmirOffice of the Chief Executive Officer SRINAGAR SMART CITY LTD

(A J&K Government Undertaking)Email: - [email protected] Tel. No: 0194-2455370 (CIN: U70200JK2017SGC010107)

AdvertisementSrinagar Smart City Limited is looking to empanel firms with National and Internationalrepute in the following design fields: 1. Architectural Conservation 2. Architecture3. Landscape & Urban Design

The full advertisement can be downloaded from the website of SSCL(www.srinagarsmartcity.in). List of empanelled firms shall be uploaded on thewebsite of SSCL from time-to-time. Empanelment of any firm shall be in forcefor a period of 3 years from the date of selection. Firms may seek clarificationsby writing to SSCL on [email protected].

1. Empanelment shall be for a period of 3 years from the date of empanelment of Firms. Last date of applicationof Firms in above categories shall be 6 months (including the publishing and end date and holidays) from thedate of publishing of this advertisement. Applications shall be evaluated on an on-going basis for that period.

2. For Council of Architecture Scale of Charges, the website link is: https://www.coa.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=2&sublinkid=299&lid=86

3. Joint Venture/ Consortiums are not allowed.4. Deliverables shall include complete Surveys, Conceptualizations, Preliminary estimates, Final detailed plans,

detailed (all) service layouts and their details, detailed estimates BoQs as per prevailing Schedule of Rates,DPR, tender drawings, tender documents/ RFPs, assistance in Bid process, supervision and monitoring.

5. Fee structure of projects shall include a 10% Advance Fee at the time of Signing of Contract for a project, andrest as per mutually agreed terms. 20% of Fee shall be for Supervision.

6. GST shall be reimbursed as actual.7. All invoices shall be paid within 30 days from the date of submission.8. The fee payable shall include payments to MEP, HVAC, Structural and Irrigation consultants, which shall be

paid by the empanelled firm.9. Any other consultant ifrequired for the project, shall be hired with written approval of the SSCL and the fee shall

be limited to 20% of the fee being paid to the empanelled firm, inclusive of taxes. The fee of the newly hiredconsultant shall be paid by the empanelled firm and the same shall be reimbursed by SSCL on presentationof invoices.

10. Empanelled firms shall provide a notarized undertaking that:a. Firm has not been blacklisted by any Govt/ Non-Govt/ Private entity in the last 10 years.b. Firm has not been terminated from any work due to Firm’s event of fault.c. Firm is in existence for the

11. Key Personnel of the Firm should be registered with the Council of Architecture and optionally with IUDI orISOLA or ITPI of any other similar body.

12. Firms shall be evaluated for their technical experience, financial turnover, excellence in design, quality of work,current state of their built projects, awards won (if any), expertise, readiness for delivery and skills.

13. Applications shall be sent as a single PDF file with all the details of the Firms necessary for evaluation (as per12 above) to the email address: [email protected] with the subject line: Empanelment of ArchitecturalConservation/ Architecture/ Landscape Design & Urban Design Firm (as applicable) Firmfor SSCL.

14. SSCL reserves the right to cancel or modify the Empanelment without citing any reason thereof.15. Applications received in the previous empanelment process shall be considered.

SSdd//-- CChhiieeff EExxeeccuuttiivvee OOffffiicceerrSSrriinnaaggaarr SSmmaarrtt CCiittyy LLiimmiitteedd..

No: SSCL/CEO/6144-45Dt: 04/12/2021 Dipk-nb-5607

-Sd(Er. Mukesh Parmar)

Superintending EngineerSeventh Circle,P. W.D. Gopeshwar

SI. Name of Work Amount Cost of Validity Completion Contractor’sNo. of Earnest e-tender of Period Category of

Money document tender (in Registration(Rs. Lakhs) months)

1. 4.27 5000+ 60 1518% Days monthGST

2. 4.27 5000+ 60 1518% Days monthGST

E-tender NoticeShort Term E-tender Notice

No - 7959/ 97 ;krk- Dated 04/12/2021

thSuperintending Engineer, 7 Circle, P.W.D. Gopeshwar invites bid on behalf of Hon'ble Governor ofUttarakhand by e-tendering under two bid system for the following work. Information regarding bid will be available from09.12.2021 on https://www.uktenders.gov.in.

E Mail- [email protected]

Hill Side Cutting, Muck Disposal,Construction of Scuppers, Kachha andPukka Drain work in KM 01 TO KM 05 (InKarnprayag Block) Under Declarationnumber 182 / 2021 of The Hon'ble ChiefMinister to construct Nandprayag to Ghatmarket (Block) motor road in 1.5 lane.

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERTH7 CIRCLE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT GOPESHWAR

Registered inany State Govt.Dept. Category''B'' and above

for Road works.

Hill Side Cutting, Muck Disposal,Construction of Scuppers, Kachha andPukka Drain work in KM 15 TO KM18.550(In Ghat Block) Under Declarationnumber 182 / 2021 of The Hon'ble ChiefMinister to construct Nandprayag to Ghatmarket (Block) motor road in 1.5 lane.

Registered inany State Govt.Dept. Category''B'' and above

for Road works.

Before opening of Bid upto 3.00 P.M., following documents must be submitted physically to this office or ExecutiveEngineer, PD, PWD, Karanprayag along with On-Line submission of the same1- F.D.R. of Earnest money which must be pledge in the name of Superintending Engineer, 7th Circle, PWD, Gopeshwar.2- Demand Draft of tender cost and G.S.T. Separately payble to Executive Engineer, PD. PWD, Karanprayag.3- Rs. 100.00 Non-Judicial Stamp paper duly signed and affixed Rs.1.00 Revenue ticket for Bid Validity.4- Required Category Registration Copy of contractor.Note- 1- Earnest money must be of financial Year 2021-22.

2- Bids will be evaluated under the provisions of notice no. 47/XXVII(7) 32/2007 Date 02.04.2018 of Govt. ofUttarakhand.

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AfS.Aû. Àfa£¹ff-170588 dQ³ffaI -04/12/2021

www.upgov.nic.in

OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERAGRA CIRCLE, P.W.D AGRA

Notice inviting E-TenderLetter No.: 6427/14M-A.C/2021 Date :- 20.11.2021

1. The Superintending Engineer, Agra Circle, U.P.P.W.D. on behalf ofGovernor of Uttar Pradesh invites the percentage rate bids online from theeligible and approved registered Contractors. As The work Comprises ofspecialized Road work, hence contractors bidding for the work must beregistered in Road work with UP PWD. Bidders are advised to note theminimum qualification criteria specified in Clause 4 of the Instructionsto Bidders to qualify for the award of the contract.

(Anand Kumar)SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER

AGRA CIRCLE,PWD, AGRA

(Sanasvir)Executive EngineerProvincial Division,

P.W.D., MathuraUPID NO.170506 Date: 04.12.2021

www.upgov.nic.in

Sl.No

Name of Work Esti-matedcost

(Rs. inLac)

BidSecurity(Rs. inLacs)

Cost ofDocument

(in Rs.)

Time ofComp-letion

Address ofExecutiveEngineerexecutingthe work

Address ofSuperin-tending

Engineer

Address ofChief

Engineer

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1

Construction ofMainer Bridge onBhartpur DrainSituated onGoverdhan Palsoroad in Distt.Mathura

70.00 --

Rs. 2000.00STC +

300.00 TC +36.00 GST =

2336.00

03Months

ExecutiveEngineer,ProvincialDivision,P.W.D.,Mathura

ChiefEngineer,

Agra Zone,P.W.D.,

Agra

2 New Constructionof Mainer Bridgeon Ba onGoverdhan Palsoroad in Distt.Mathura

150.00 -- Rs. 2000.00STC +

300.00 TC +36.00 GST =

2336.00

03Months

ExecutiveEngineer,ProvincialDivision,P.W.D.,Mathura

ChiefEngineer,

Agra Zone,P.W.D.,

Agra

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3. Time allowed for completion is including Rainy Season.

4. Bid document with detailed terms and conditions will be available online onwebsite http://etender.up.nic.in and Prahari (http://wms.upppwd.gov.in/Prahari) From 06.12.2021 to 13.12.2021. Bids must be submitted onlineonly at e-tendering portal of http://etender.up.nic.in and Prahari App withall documents as per GO No 14/2020/879(1)/ 23-7/2020/176(Àff0)/06 Dt25-08-2020 on or before 12:30 Hours Dt. 13.12.2021. Technical Bidreceived online will be opened on 14.12.2021 at 12:30 Hours.

5. The prospective bidders who do not posses Digital Signature Certificate(DSC) must get the same issued from approved agencies beforesubmission of bids.

6. Contractor should Quote their rates without G.S.T. which shall be paid extraas per applicable at the time of payment.

7. Labour Cess @ 1.00% will be deducted from contractors bill at the time ofpayment.

8. Original MM-11 forms proof of royalty shall have to be produced at time ofevery running bill in accordance to Principal Secretary, Directorate ofgeology & mining Utter Pradesh Letter No- 2146/86-2019-52(lk0)/2019 Dt.30.09.2019, G.O. No- 115(1)/86-2020 dated 15.01.2020 and other relevantGovernment orders, circulars for all the materials procured from thequarries.

9. The bidders are required to submit Original receipt of Internet Banking ofE-tender portal Account as per G.O. No.-742/78-2-2018-42 I.T./2017 T.C.,I.T. & Electronics Section-2 Dated- 03-12-2018 follows as :

(1) Online Tender Cost towards the cost of bid document (As per Column 6) byInternet Banking of E-tender portal Account (Non Refundable).

(2) Regarding the deposit of Performance security/Additional PerformanceSecurity/Bid security/Earnest Money from the bidder. It will bemandatory to submit an affidavit for the earnest money as per theinstructions of ENC UP PWD Lucknow L. No. 3951/MT/GeneralSection/60M.T./2020 Dated. 13/04/2021 and U.P. GovernmentLucknow GO No. 16/2020/A-1-10-Bharat Sarkar/10-2020Dated. 29-12-2020.

SEAL

C. R. NO. 13

M/S. PUDUMJEE PULP & PAPERSMILLS LIMITEDA Company Incorporated under companies Act, 1956, having itsCorporate & Sales office at Jatia Chambers, 60, Dr. V. B. GandhiMarg, Mumbai-400 001. ... PLAINTIFFS

Versus

1. SANKHA PRESS PVT. LTD.A Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956,having its Registered Office & Factory at Jugan SankhaBldg., Green Path, G. S. Road, Guwahati, Assam.

2. M/S. TREES CONSULTANCY INDIA LTD.A Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956,having its Registered Officer at 104, DDA Tower-I, DistrictCentre, Janakpuri, New-Delhi-110 058.

... DEFENDANTSTo,M/S. TREES CONSULTANCY INDIA LTD. (Defendant No. 2)THE PLAINTIFFS ABOVENAMED STATE AS UNDER :-LET ALL PARTIES CONCERNED attend before the Judge

Smt. R. K. Kshirsagar in C. R. No. 13 on 17th day of December,2021 at 11.00 O’clock in the forenoon on the hearing of anapplication on the party of the Plaintiff for the following reliefs :(a) That this Hon’ble Court be pleased to allow the Plaintiff toamend the cause title of the Plaint / and in Place and insteadof ‘‘M/s. Pudumjee Pulp & Papers Mills Limited’’ amendas ‘‘M/s. Pudumjee Paper Products Limited’’.

(b)For consequential reliefs.(c) For costs of this Chamber Summons; and(d)For such other and further reliefs as the nature andcircumstances of the case may require;Given under my hand and the seal of the Court, this

29th day of November, 2021.sd/-

Addl. Registrar,Bombay City Civil Court, At Mumbai

M/s. Maravoor Wamorkar & Co.,Advocate for the Plaintiffs,Maravoor Chambers, 30/H, Bomanji Lane,Behind Fire Brigade, Fort, Mumbai-400 001.O. S. Regn. No. 4675, Advocate Code No. I5596,Bar code : MAH/222/1994Email id : [email protected]

CHAMBER SUMMONS NO. 470 OF 2019IN

SUMMARY SUIT NO. 598 OF 2015(Under Order XXXVII Rule 2 of of the Code of Procedure Code, 1908)

IN THE BOMBAY CITY CIVIL COURT AT BOMBAY

Rameshwar Media

Public Notice

Sanjeev Dwivedi (Advocate )48, Gajanand Block,Tis Hazari Courts,ND-54

II,,RREENNUUKUMARI PURVEW/OPRAMODKUMAR,9-B.YP-BLOCKNEAR-SHIVMANDIRPITAMPURA,DELHI-34,HAVECHANGEDMYMINORDAUGHTER’SNAMEDEEPANSHI(12-YEARS)SHESHALLBEKNOWNASDEEPANSHI PURVE. 0040594586-5

II,,VinodKumarAroraR/oE-1408, Sector 49,NIT FaridabadhavechangedourminorDaughter’s name fromNushi Sana toNushiArora, Rgn.17933dated 25-11-21.

0050188309-1

II,,Sidhant S/o Inderjeet R/oS-367, 2nd Floor,Double Storey, NewRajinderNagar, NewDelhi- 110060,have changedmyname fromSidhant to SidhantMehendiratta for allfuturepurposes. 0040594529-1

II,,PradeepS/oShri Bhajan Lal R/o 11/888,StreetNo.11, SatNagar, Karol Bagh, NewDelhi 110005have changedmyname toPradeepKumar for all futurepurposes.

0040594533-1

II,,MohdShahfahedQureshi S/oMohdMushraffeenR/o 6087, SadarBazar, NawabRoad, Basti HarphoolWali Delhi-110006,have changedmyname toMohdShahfahed, for all purposes. 0040594553-1

II,, Lalit Kumar / Lalit Sharma, S/o Late ShOmPrakashSharma, R/o flat no.304/16, OrangeCounty, Ahinshakhand-1, IndirapuramGhaziabad, have changedmyname to LalitKumar Sharma for all purposes.

0040594547-1

IIMs.BhagwatiW/oShri HarishKumarR/oBF-8,JanakPuri, NearHari NagarDepotNewDelhi have changed myname toMrs.Bhavna for all futurePurposes.

0040594544-1

ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS

New Delhi

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

BHAGWANTMANN:BJPOFFEREDMONEY,CABINETBERTH P8

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

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

ANGUISHEDOVERUNFORTUNATE INCIDENT,SAYSHOMEMINISTERSHAH

GovtnamesSIT;mistakenidentityprobablecause:officials Deep regret, says Army,announces court ofinquiry and action

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI, DECEMBER5

SIX CIVILIANS, said to bework-ers inacoalmine,werekilled inanambushby security forces inan areabetweenTiru andOtingvillage in Nagaland’s Mon dis-trict while returning home in avehicleSaturdayevening.Thein-cident triggered violence in thearea Saturday night and lateSunday afternoon, in whicheight more civilians (seven onSaturday,andoneSunday)werekilled after security forces al-legedlyopened fire.A soldier succumbed to in-

juries in the violence Saturdaynight, and several others wereseverelyinjured,saidtheArmy’s

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

THEKILLINGofsixcivilianstrav-elling in a vehicle in Nagaland'sMondistrictSaturdayisbeingin-vestigated“atthehighest level”,theArmysaid,whileexpressingdeepregretandorderingaCourtof Inquiry into the incident.Officialsinthesecurityestab-

lishment said the incident wasthe result of anArmyoperationinwhich the victimsmay havebeen mistaken for insurgents

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Nagaland: 14civilianskilledby forces;soldierdiesof injuriesasviolenceerupts

Ahead of polls, newidea on the table: badbank for farm loansSUNNYVERMANEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

TO IMPROVE recovery of badloans in the agriculture sector,leadingbankshavemadeapitchfor setting up an AssetReconstructionCompanyspecif-icallytodealwithcollectionsandrecoveryof farmloans.At present, there is neither a

unifiedmechanismtotackleNon-PerformingAssets (NPAs) in thefarmsector nor a single law thatdealswithenforcementofmort-gagescreatedonagriculturalland.Agriculturebeinga state subject,the recovery laws—wherever

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,MUMBAI,NEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

MAHARASHTRA, RAJASTHANandDelhi reported cases of theOmicron variant of the novelcoronavirus on Sunday, takingthe total number of confirmedcases in thecounty to21.The first two caseswere re-

portedinKarnataka,followedbyone in Jamnagar (Gujarat) andanother inMaharashtra.In Jaipur, nine personswho

took part in a wedding onNovember 28 have tested posi-tive for the Omicron variant,

health officials said. MedicalEducation Secretary VaibhavGalriya said that of the nine,

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

RITUSARINNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

SEVERAL “SERVICE contracts”signedbetweenBritishmiddle-man Christian Michel and hismain client AgustaWestlandwere “sham contracts” to cam-ouflage alleged kickbacks fromthe Rs 3,600-crore helicopter

deal in India,accordingtodocu-mentssubmittedincourtbytheEnforcementDirectorate (ED).Initsprosecutioncomplaint,

the agency said that theseweremeant to “create a legal facadeand to route the kickbacks” un-dertheseagreements.And“cre-ate a smokescreen” betweenthesecontractsandthechopper

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

MIHIRVASAVDAROURKELA,DECEMBER5

“NEVER, NEVER even in myimagination.”It's been two years since

Rourkelawasannouncedas theco-host of the 2023 Hockey

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

GIVENHOWfarmloanwaivershavebecomeapolitical tool toalleviatefarmerdistress, bankersarenowpushing foranAssetReconstructionCompany instead todealwithbad loans in theagriculturesector.

ARCbetterthanwaiver?

Workonthe21,000-seatstadium.MihirVasavda

MIDDLEMANSPEAKS

AN EXPRESS SERIES

PART -3

Michel signed ‘sham contracts’ tohide trail of Agusta kickbacks: ED

Bodiesof the14whowerekilled, inMondistrictSunday.Sixof themwerecoalmineworkers. PTI MOREREPORTSP13

AtLNJPHospital inDelhionSunday.AmitMehra

More cases of Omicronfrom Jaipur, Pune andDelhi; 21 detected so far

Otingvillage

MONDISTRICT

NAGALAND

THEEDITORIALPAGE

TRAGEDYANDTRUSTActionbasedonfairprobe isthewaytoearntrust—andkeeppeace.PAGE10

In hockey’s conveyor beltof talent, World Cup tobring a whole new city

“Intimacy betweenthe two countriessuch... whatever

Indiawill askwill bepositively looked at”

NAORGILONISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO INDIA

PAGE14

New Delhi

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Hockey talentsWorld Cup but 2000OlympianLazarusBarlastillfindsittoughtobelieve that theworld’s 16 bestnationswillplayinthisquietsteelcity. “It’s like a dream,” he sayswhile overseeing training at thePanposhSportsHostel.A couple of kilometres from

thefabledacademy,earthmoversplowthe15-acrelandandcranesdotheheavyliftingasaworkforceofhundreds--mostof themmi-grantworkersfromUP,BiharandJharkhand--ishardatwork24x7inthreeshiftsofeighthours,sur-rounded by dust, to constructwhat will be India’s biggesthockeystadium.The 21,000-seater, saucer-

shapedarenawillbesecondonlyto Lahore’sNational Stadium intermsofsize.Adjacenttoit,asin-gle-strip aerodrome is set to beupgraded and amulti-purposebuildingonsite,whichwasusedasaCovidhospital, is likely tobeturned into a 200-room hotelwheretheteamswillbeputup.It’sanambitiousproject,given

that the organisers have justseven months to finish it. ButRourkela--dividedintotwosep-aratetownships,steelandcivil --isusingtheHockeyWorldCupasacatalysttotransformitselfcom-pletely.“Weareinthemidstofanex-

tremelygood,mineral-richregionbuttherearesomeareasthatarenotdevelopedasmuchaswede-sire,” District Collector NikhilPavanKalyansays.In November 2019, when

Odisha was selected by theInternationalHockeyFederationto host its flagship event for thesecond time in a row, itwas as-sumedthatBhubaneswarwouldbe the sole venue like itwas in2018.Butinwhatisbelievedtobea

last-minute decision, ChiefMinisterNaveenPatnaik,whoseBJDhas been trying tomake in-roads intowesternOdisha, an-nouncedthatRourkelawouldco-hosttheevent,whichwillbeheldfromJanuary13to29,2023.A littlemore than a year be-

fore the event is slated to begin,Rourkela--placed54thoutof62intheeaseoflivingindexforcitieswith a population of less than amillion, ranking low on mostcounts--isanewcityundercon-struction.The administration has

launchedprojectsworthapprox-imately Rs 650 crore, excludingthe cost of the main stadium,whichisestimatedatRs130crore.Frombuildingwiderroadstode-veloping sports and recreationcentres; from fixing the city’sdrainagesystemtomovingover-headpower lines underground;and, fromuplifting the parks tobeautifying its streets, there isworkunderwayat almost everycorner. “It’s all planned con-sciouslyinawaythatwecanusetheWorld Cup to develop thecity,”Kalyansays.RVineelKrishna,thecommis-

sioner-cum-secretaryofOdisha’sSports and Youth ServicesDepartmentandspecialsecretaryto theChiefMinister, says fundsfor theprojectshavebeenraisedthroughacombinationofsources,including the state budget, the

districtmineral funds and CSR.“Alongwithhockey,there’smas-sive infrastructure comingup intermsof roads, electricity,watersupplyandothercommunityfa-cilities,”Krishnasays.There’s something romantic

aboutinternationalhockeycom-ingtothisregion,whichhasbeenaconveyorbeltofworld-classtal-ent, including the likes of Barla,former captainDilip Tirkey andTokyoOlympiansBirendraLakra,Amit Rohidas, andDeepGraceEkka. Threeplayers in the JuniorWorld Cup squad -- SudeepChirmako, Sunil Jojo andAbhishek Lakra -- are also fromthisarea.“More than 85 players have

comefromthisdistrict.Very fewregions in Indiahavemade suchacontributiontoonesport,”Barlasays.A lotof theseplayershave, at

some point, trained at thePanposhSportsHostel. Thehos-tel schemewas started in 1985andeven today, theplace seemstobestuckintime.Therearetwoturfs: one of full size, placed onwhatwasoncearicefield,andtheotherslightlysmaller,whichBarlasayswasinstalledaround1993or1994.It’s now torn and balding,

making itdangerous toplay.Thechanging rooms are a couple ofhundredmetresaway.Thefacili-tiesareallverysimpleandbasic,farremovedfromthefactthatjusta fewkilometres away, a brandnew facility, touted to be the“mostmodern”hockey stadiuminthecountry, isbeingerected.But it is a race against time.

Thework at the stadium,whichbegan in August, is still in earlystages andwill have to be com-pletedbythemiddleofnextyeartoensurethereisenoughtimetolaytheartificial turf andconducttestevents.Therearelogisticalhurdlesas

well. There areplans toupgradetheRourkela aerodromeandAirTraffic Control Tower to handle76-seateraircraftandflightswereto be scheduled under theCentre's UDAN scheme for re-gional connectivity. But that stillhasnotmaterialised.Krishnaallayedanyfears,say-

ingheisconfidentthatthetime-lineswill be adhered to. “Whathappenswiththeseeventsisthatit's a non-negotiable timeline...everybody has to ensure thatwhateverisrequiredfortheeventisinplace,”hesays.Questions have also been

raisedover theallegeddiversionof fundsmeant formining-af-fected communities inSundergarhdistrict for the con-struction of the stadium.Environmentalistshavesaidthatinsteadofsportinginfrastructure,themoney should be used forthosewhoaredirectlyaffectedbymining.Afortnightago,theissuetook

apolitical turn after theBJP, in apress conference, accused thestategovernmentof“cheatingthecommonman”.Amidst all the concerns and

allegations,theworktocompletethe infrastructure for thebiggestsporting event to beheld in thisregionpressesahead.“Thiswill be huge for tribal

kids in the countryside. It’ll havevery high social significance,”DilipTirkey,theformerIndiacap-tain,says.“Untilnow,Rourkeladidnot even host an internationalmatch. Now, aWorld Cupwilltakeplacethere. Justimagine.”

‘Deep regret’fromtheYungAungfactionofthebannedNationalSocialistCouncilofNagaland(Khaplang).AssamRifles and theArmy’s

Dimapur-based3rdCorpssaidinidenticalstatementsSundaythat“basedoncredibleintelligenceoflikelymovementof insurgents,aspecificoperationwasplannedtobe conducted in the areaof Tiru,MonDistrict,Nagaland”.Withoutprovidingdetails,the

statementsaidthat“theincidentanditsaftermathisdeeplyregret-

ted”. “The cause of the unfortu-nate lossof lives is being investi-gatedbyaCourtof Inquiryatthehighestlevelandappropriateac-tion will be taken as per thecourseof law,”itsaid.Thestatementnotedthatthe

“securityforceshavesufferedse-vereinjuries intheoperation, in-cluding one soldier who suc-cumbedtohisinjuries”.Officials said Piyush Goyal,

AdditionalSecretary inchargeofNorth East in the UnionHomeMinistry, will hold a meetingMondayinNagalandwithall thestakeholders involved, includingsecurityforces.Securitypersonnelneedtobe

“adequately” certain about athreat,officialssaid,buttherewasnoconfirmationof anyweaponsbeingpresent in thevehicle thatwastargetedSaturday.Followingintelligenceinputs,

theArmyhadplannedanopera-tion to ambush “certain ele-ments” of theNSCN (K) factionwhowere travelling in aBolero,sourcessaid.Thesecurityperson-nel laid a cordon and spotted asimilar vehicle on the routearound5.30pm,theysaid.Itwasdarkwhen thevehicle

wasflaggeddown,andthedriversped away followingwhich theforces opened fire, said sources.Apart fromsixkilled in thevehi-cle, twomorewere injured andtaken by security personnel formedicaltreatment,theysaid.Sourcesindicatedthataslocal

villagerscametoknowabouttheincident,theysurroundedthese-curitypersonnel.Around7.30pm,theysaid,severalvillagersarmedwithmachetesattackedtheper-sonnel, andmanaged to snatchsomegunsfromthem.Theforcesinitiallyfiredintheairinwarning,which was followed by firingfromboth sides that resulted inthedeathofonesoldierandeightmore civilians, including oneSunday. At least three other sol-dierswereinjuredintheclashes,sourcessaid.

Accordingtoofficials,theTiruareaofMondistrictlieswithinthearea of responsibility of AssamRifles (North), but theoperationwas conducted by the Army.Assam Rifles is a paramilitaryforce under the administrativecontrol of theMinistry of HomeAffairs,butitsoperationalcontrollieswiththeMinistryofDefence.All itsseniorofficersarefromtheArmy.In2017,followingthedeathof

SSKhaplang,infightingbrokeoutin theNSCN (K) resulting in theformation of two factions. The

firstwas ledbyNiki Simi,whichoperatedontheIndiansideoftheIndia-Myanmar border andlargely consisted of local Nagamilitants.InDecember2020,Simiisbelieved tohavebeenbroughttoGuwahatiandthentoDelhifortalkswiththeGovernment, sub-sequent to which a ceasefireagreementwassigned.The second faction, led by

BurmeseNagaleaderYungAung,operates out ofMyanmar. TheiroperationalareaincludespartsofMon district, which bordersMyanmar, as well as parts ofArunachalPradesh.Whiledomi-nated by Burmese Nagas, theYung Aung faction also hasKonyakcadremembers.

(WITHINPUTSFROMESHAROY)

‘Sham contracts’purchasemaking ithard to trackthepayoff trail.Michel'sinterrogationreport,

accessedbyThe IndianExpress,detailshisversionof thesedeals,andhisturbulentcareergraphinIndia--fromhisfatherWolfgangMichel's support to start in1985tohowhenearly shut shopafterthe Pokhran tests of 1998; fromsigningup for theVIPhelicopterdealin2006tofinallyclinchingitin2010.The report reveals themis-

trustbetweenMichelandGuidoHaschke, theother allegedmid-dlemanforAgustaWestland,andtheadmissionthathisdealswiththe Italiancompanymadeup80per cent of hisDubai firm's rev-enue.Michel told investigatorsthattheAgustaWestlandcontro-versy grounded several of hisplans in India, including a pro-posed joint venture with theTatas.December 4, 2021,marked

threeyears sinceMichelwasex-tradited fromDubai. Other keyfindings from the interrogationreport were reported by TheIndianExpressover thepast twodays:Michel's claimsabouthowhe lobbied with the then UPAGovernmenttosalvagethechop-perdeal thatwas sealed in2010andaboutan interventionbyUSSecretaryofStateHillaryClinton.Thereportalsoshowsthaton

December 26, 2018,Michel toldinvestigators that hewas intro-duced to Haschke in theAgustaWestland boardroom inItaly. “I had heard thatHaschkewas claiming that hemanagedthereductionintheheight(whichwas one of the specifications)throughhis contacts….hestatedthat his contactswere the Tyagibrothers,”Michel said, referring

toformerIAFchiefSPTyagi,whoservedajailterminthecase,andhiscousinJulieTyagi.On his deals with

AgustaWestland, records showthatMicheladmittedtosigningapost contract service agreementfortheVIPchoppers,addingthattheMinistry of Defencewasnotinformedaboutit--atleasttillthedealwassigned.According to Michel,

AgustaWestlandwasresponsiblefor80percentturnoverofhisflag-ship company inDubai, GlobalServices FZE. But amajor stum-blingblockwasthe1991ground-ingofWG30helicoptersoperatedbyPawanHansaftertwoofthemhadcrashed.Michel told ED he signed a

contractwith AgustaWestlandthroughGuficGeneralTradingforshipping out 14 groundedheli-copters,allegedlymakinga45percentprofit.Michel describedhis visit to

the Pawan Hans hangars inMumbai, where “the aircraftwere...totallystrippedofallequip-ment”.“Theywereinquiteamessand there was absolutely nochanceof theseever flying. Theyweredistorted,”hesaid.Questioned about the Euro

18.2millionpriceforthebuybackdeal,hereplied:“Thepriceof theaircraft was a combination ofknowingwhatWestlandwouldhave paidwhen therewas notmuchreputationtoloseandwhatIthoughtthebrokersweregoingfor.Therestwasguesswork.”Balance sheets provided by

auditors have confirmed thatAgustaWestland paid MichelEuro18.2millionforthecontract.Initscomplaint,theEDstates:

“...investigationhasprovedwith-outdoubtthattheWG30helicop-terswereneverrepurchasedandshippedfromIndiatotheUKandare still lying in India. It is amplyclearthatnoservicewasrenderedunder this agreement andpay-ment of Euro 18.2millionwasmadewithoutanycorrespondingservice.”Records showMichel detail-

ing his first major project forAgustaWestland:providingcriti-cal spares,mainlygearboxes, fortheIndianNavy’sSeaKingfleetin2003.Butthiswashitbythepost-Pokhransanctions,hesaid.Accordingtotheinterrogation

records,MicheltoldtheED:“Ihadan idea how to restart the busi-nessasamajorityoftheSeaKingsweregroundedduetotheUSem-bargo. IwaspreparingastrategyforWestlandtore-enterthemar-ket,recovertheaircraftandtrans-ferallrequiredtechnologytoIndia

topreventanypossibilityof em-bargoagain. Iwaspaid3%of thetotalpriceof thespareparts soldbyWestlandHelicopters.”Inall,hesaid,threesuchspare

parts contracts were signedwhen, according to his assess-ment,70percentof thehelicop-ters' lifehadbeenunuseddue tolackof flying.“This (the Sea king recovery

deal) savedWestland fromexit-ingtheIndianmarketandcreateda newbusiness and saved Indiamillionsofpounds...AllNavybusi-ness is separate and very gen-uine...theNavywork inbetween2003-2007was among thebestwork I everdid,”Michel told theED.Michelclaimedhelostouton

projectsinIndiaduetothebriberycase, includingIndianRotorcraft,aproposedjointventurewiththeTatasformanufacturinghelicop-ters and components. He said ittook four years for theproject tobemountedin2012beforeitwas"suspended" (due to thebriberycase).Michael was confrontedwithastatementof Tataofficialswherein they denied they hadany “relationship” withAugustaWestland.

TOMORROW:Denialsdespitekeyevidence,witnesses

Omicron casesfourhadarrivedfromSouthAfricaafewdaysago.Atleast100peoplehadturned

upfortheNovember28wedding;health officials have so far col-lected samples of 34people. “Ofthese, Omicron has been con-firmed in nine cases throughgenome sequencing while 25otherstestednegativeforCovid,”saidGalriya.While the fourwho flew in

fromSouthAfricaareadmittedattheRajasthanUniversityofHealthSciences(RUHS),theothersareinhome isolation. RUHS superin-tendentDrAjeet Singh said thefouradmittedthereare“asymp-tomatic"andthefiveinhomeiso-lationtoo"aredoingfine".In Pune, six people from a

family in thePimpri-Chinchwadmunicipalarea--includinga44-year-oldwomanwho landed inMaharashtra onNovember 24fromLagos,Nigeria,withhertwodaughters,aged12and18--weredetectedwith theOmicronvari-antof thecoronavirus.Her 45-year-old brother and

twoof hisdaughters, aged7and18months old, have also testedpositive for theOmicronvariantafter a genomesequencing con-ductedattheNationalInstituteofVirology, Pune. All the three in-

fectedadultsinthefamilyarefullyvaccinated— twoof themwithCovishieldandonewithCovaxin.While the 44-year-old has

mildsymptoms,theotherfivepa-tients are asymptomatic. All thepatients are being treated atJijamata Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad and are stable, offi-cialssaid.“We traced 13 of the close

contactsofthethreeinternationalpassengers, ofwhomthreehavebeen identifiedwithOmicron,”saidMaharashtraAdditionalChiefSecretaryDrPradeepVyas.Besides six fromthe family, a

47-year-oldfromPunealsotestedpositive for theOmicronvariant.HehadvisitedFinlandforsixdaysbetweenNovember 18 and 25,andwas testedafterhe reportedmildfeveronNovember29.AfterhewasfoundtobeCovidpositive,agenomesequencingdoneattheNational Chemical Laboratoryconfirmed the presence ofOmicron.HewasfullyvaccinatedwithCovishield.TheDelhi case is of aman in

his30swhocametothecityonaflightfromTanzaniaandwasad-mitted to LokNayak Jai PrakashNarayan (LNJP)Hospital inDelhiafter testingpositive forCovidatthe IndiraGandhi InternationalAirportlastweek.“Preliminarygenome testing

reports of 12out of 17Covidpa-tientsatLNJPhavecomeandoneofthemhastestedpositivefortheOmicron variant. The other 11samplesarenegativeforthenewvariant. The patient came fromTanzania.Hisclosecontactsdur-ing the flight are also isolated atLNJP Hospital. There were 17Covid patients whowere sentfromtheairporttoLNJP(sincethenew regulations for passengersfrom 'at-risk countries'wereputin place). Their contacts – six sofar–arealsounderobservationatthehospitalandarebeingtested,”said Delhi Health MinisterSatyendarJain.According toofficials, thepa-

tientwho came fromTanzaniawas fully vaccinated. “Hehasnosymptoms,” said a senior doctoratthehospital.The 11 other patients who

havetestedpositiveforCovidbutnot theOmicronvariantwill notbedischarged fromthehospital.“Theywillremainunderobserva-tion for some days for now. Atpresent, none of themare criti-callyill,”thedoctorsaid.Passengers flying intoDelhi

from 'at-risk countries' such asSouthAfrica andUKhave to gettestedattheairportonarrivalandwait for their results. If they testpositive forcoronavirus, theyaresenttoLNJP,thebiggestDelhigov-ernmenthospital inthecity.

New ideaagriculturallandisofferedascol-lateral–variesfromstatetostate.According toa seniorbanker,

the ideaof anARCfor farmloanswasdiscussedinameetingoftheIndian Banks’ Association inSeptember. The IBA committeeonagricultureandalliedactivitiesdiscussed that “as agriculturemarket is scattered in India, dif-ferentbankshavetomakeeffortsto capture and connect to thesemarkets”.Itwasfeltiftherewasasingleinstitution/ARC,thecostofrecovery can be optimised, asource present in themeetingsaid.Moremeetingswere likely,

sourcessaid.Withagovernment-backedARChavingbeenrecentlysetup todealwithbankNPAs totheindustry,thisideahasaccept-ability among banks, they said.Somemember banks of the IBAsuggestedtheneedfortheCentralgovernmenttobringalegislationon agriculture land somewhatlike the SARFAESI Act, sourcessaid.The announcement of farm

loanwaivers by states aroundelections leads to "deterioratingcredit culture", a senior bankersaid.Since2014,at least11stateshave announced farm loanwaivers.TheseincludeRajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh, Punjab,Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana,Maharashtra, PunjabandUttarPradesh.Aheadof Assembly elections

in seven states in2021, there is aconcernamongbanksthatNPAsmayriseinthefarmsector.Whilegenuine hardship could be onereason for delay in repayments,the possibility of waivers alsoleads to recovery challenges forthebanks,thebankersaid.The Uttar Pradesh govern-

ment, for instance, Friday said itwouldprovideadditional incen-tives such as subsided interestratesonfarmloans,promotionoffarm-based industries aswell asdevelopmentof farm infrastruc-ture. Under the Centre’sAgriculture Infrastructure Fund,the state has been allocated Rs12,000crore,whereinfarmenti-tiesareprovided3percentinter-est subsidy annually for 7 yearsandabank loanguaranteeof uptoRs2crore.Evenasthepercentageofagri-

culturalhouseholdsindebtedhascomedown from52per cent in2013to50.2percentin2019,theaveragedebthasjumpedbymorethan57per cent fromRs47,000in2013Rs74,121 in2019, as perdata from the financeministryand the National StatisticalOffice’s (NSO) survey report,‘Situation Assessment ofAgricultural Households andLandHoldings of Households inRural India, 2019’, released inSeptember.The NSO survey was con-

ductedduringtheperiodJanuary2019 toDecember 2019, beforetheCovid-19pandemicimpactedincomes and livelihoods acrosssectors.Thedataalsoshowsthat69.6per cent of theoutstandingloans by agriculturehouseholdswere taken from institutionalsources such as banks, coopera-tive societies, andother govern-mentagencies.“Enforcementofprovisionson

mortgagedfarmlandisgenerallydone through the RevenueRecoveryAct of states, RecoveryofDebtandBankruptcyAct,1993,amongotherstate-specificregu-lations.Theseareoftentimecon-suming and in some states rev-enuerecoverylawscoveringbankloans have not been enacted,”sourcessaid.Itwas proposedbymember

banks that states recovery lawsmay be strengthened to securebankloans. “Toaddresstheissueof recovery incaseof farmloans,discussions are required to beheldwiththeCentralgovernmenttobringinalegislationforagricul-turelandsimilartoSARFAESIAct,”sourcessaid.The SARFAESI Act, 2002

(Securitisation andReconstruction of FinancialAssets and Enforcement ofSecurityInterestAct),essentiallyempowers banks and other fi-nancial institutions to directlyauction residential or commer-cial properties that have beenpledgedwith them to recoverloansfromborrowers.BeforethisActtookeffect,bankshadtotakerecoursetocivilsuitsinthecourtstorecovertheirdues,whichwastimeconsuming.“Bankshave their hands tied

when it comes to recovery ofloans in the agriculture sector.There isalsoaproblemof antici-pated farmloanswaivers,whichmakesrecoverydifficult.Themat-tertoput inplaceaneffectivere-coverymechanism in this areahas beenunder discussion,” an-otherbankersaid.AtMarch-end 2021, banks’

grossNPAratiofortheagriculturesector was at 9.8 per cent,whereasforindustryandservicesitwasat11.3percentand7.5percent, respectively, as per the lat-estFinancialStabilityReport,June2021, released by the ReserveBankof India.Sourcessaiddiscussionsfora

farm-focussedARCgatheredpaceafter the government recentlybackedasimilarinstitutiontodealwithindustryNPAs.

FROMPAGEONENagaland: 14 civilians killed by forcesDimapur-based3rdCorps in astatement.Shatteringtherelativecalm

inNagaland,thekillingsandthesubsequentviolenceputaques-tionmark on peace talks. Thekillingofcivilianshasbeencon-demnedbylocalcivilsocietyor-ganisations, Naga outfits, na-tional political parties, and thestategovernmentitself.TheKonyakUnionKohima

and the Eastern NagalandPeople’sOrganisation(whichin-cludessixtribesfromtheregion)said theywould abstain fromfurtherparticipationat theon-goingHornbillFestival.Thegov-ernmentsaidtwominutesofsi-lence and prayer will beobservedatKisama,alllocationsoftheNagaHeritageVillage,andalleventsoftheHornbillFestivalin“remembranceandsolidarityof thedeadinMon”.?Thesituationcontinuedtobe

tense inMondistrict Sunday.AuthoritiessaidlargecrowdsofangryvillagersgatheredinMontown late afternoon andmarched to the Assam Riflescamp.“Theyengagedinvandal-ism,destruction, and set fire tosome buildings. The securityforcesopenedfire,which ledto

the death of one civilian. Onemorewasinjured,”AbhijitSinha,Principal Secretary (Home),Nagaland,toldTheIndianExpress.Thingswere calmer now,

and curfewhas been imposedin Mon town, Sinha said.Internet services remain sus-pended in the district sinceSaturday.UnionHomeMinisterAmit

Shahexpressedhiscondolencesto the victims’ families.“Anguishedoveranunfortunateincident in Nagaland’s Oting,Mon.Iexpressmydeepestcon-dolencestothefamiliesofthosewhohavelosttheirlives.Ahigh-levelSITconstitutedbytheStategovtwill thoroughlyprobethisincidenttoensurejusticetothebereaved families,” he said in atweet.Nagaland Chief Minister

Neiphiu Rio said the unfortu-nate incident leading to killingof civilians at Oting,Monwas“highly condemnable”.“Condolences to the bereavedfamilies & speedy recovery ofthoseinjured.HighlevelSITwillinvestigate&justicedeliveredasper the lawof the land.Appealfor peace fromall sections,” hesaidinatweet.

When contacted, Y Patton,Deputy Chief Minister andHomeMinister,Nagaland, toldThe Indian Express, “They aresaying it is a case ofmistakenidentity, but I cannot confirmuntil I reach the spot and findout.” Patton was en route toOtinginMondistrict.“It seems like abotched-up

ambush,” said aNagalandgov-ernment official, on the condi-tion of anonymity. SecurityforcesonSaturdaymistooktheidentityofthevictimstobethatoftheYungAungfactionofpro-scribedoutfitNSCN(K)andcar-ried out the ambush. This fac-tion is dominated by theBurmese Nagas, but also hasKonyak cadremembers. TheKonyak tribe, the last of thehead-hunters, are the largesttribe inNagaland, andnumberunder3lakh.ChiefMinisterRiowillbe in

MontownMondaymorningtoattendthefuneralofthecivilianskilled.Afterthefuneral–whichisscheduledat10amMonday–the bodieswill be brought toOtingforburial.The case, originally regis-

tered inTizit PoliceStationandbeing investigatedby theMon

District Police, was Sundaytransferred to the State CrimePoliceStation.TheinvestigationwillbetakenupbytheSITcom-prising IG-Police LimasunepJamir,DIGRoopaM,SP(Crime)Manoj Kumar, SP NagalandPolice Kilang Walling, andDeputyCommandantNagalandPoliceReloAye.The casewas transferred to

theSIT“tofacilitatefreeandfairinvestigation” and given itscomplexitieswhichmayinvolveinvestigation atmultiple juris-dictions beyond theMondis-trict, said aDecember5officialorderbyJAlam,ChiefSecretary,Nagaland. The terms of refer-enceof the SIT are to takeoverthe case immediately andvisitthe scene of crime and collectthe evidence, and to completetheprobewithinamonthof itsregistration.Governmentsourcessaidon

Saturdaynight,therewasanup-roar in the village after peoplelearnt about the ambush inci-dent. They allegedly burneddown vehicles of the securityforces.Whenthesecurityforcesopened fire, locals too werearmedwithsomeweapons in-cludingmachetes,theysaid.

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SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

SEVERALCONTRACTUALteach-ers working in Delhi govern-mentschools sat inprotestnearChiefMinisterArvindKejriwal’sresidence Sunday, once againraising the demand for a policythatoffers themjobsecurity.According to the protesting

teachers,thedecisiontore-ignitethislong-standingdemandcameafterKejriwaljoinedaprotestbyguestteachersinPunjablatelastmonthandpromisedtheywouldbe regularised if the AAP isbroughttopowerthere.Joining contractual teachers

protesting outside the PunjabState School Education Boardbuilding,Kejriwalhadsaid,“Thepeople of Punjab had put theirfaith in different parties in thepast. I nowwant to assure youthat I addressed issuesof teach-ers inDelhi, andwewill resolveissues inPunjabaswell.”Inturn,PunjabCongresschief

Navjot Singh Sidhu joinedSunday’sprotest.Onhissocialme-dia,hetaggedKejriwalandstated:“Practicewhatyoupreach.”Shoaib Rana, who has been

workingasaguestteacherinsince2011, said: “We are raising thesame demandwhich has beenthere since 2017.Wewant the2017guestteacherregularisationbill tobeimplementedandwantapolicyof ‘samework-samepay’till that isdone.Apromiseof reg-ularisationhadbeenmadetous7yearsagoandthegovernmenthasnot completed that till now, butthey’re saying that they’ll do it inPunjab.Ourmessage is that theyshouldgetitdoneherefirstbeforemaking these promises else-where.”Accordingtoestimatesbythe

All-India Guest Teachers’Association, around 22,000guest teachers are working inDelhi government schools. In2020-2021, therewerea totalof

66,938 sanctioned posts forteachers in theseschools.Many guest teachers in gov-

ernment schools have beenworkinginthatcapacityforwellover seven years now. Whileteacher recruitment has beenhappening in phases in the lastfew years, these guest teachershave been asking for direct reg-ularisationciting fewerpostad-vertisements than their num-bersandunequal competition.“9,500 new teacherswill be

recruited through DSSSB’s ex-amsearlynextyear.Thatmeans9,500 guest teachers will be-comeunemployed,”saidGovindSingh,whohasbeenworkingasaguest teacher since2012.Asked if guest teachers can-

not qualify for regular poststhrough this route, he said, “Wehave beenworking full time inthese schools for years. Ourworkload has increased in thelastcoupleofyears,whilefresh-ershaveasinglefocustopreparefor these exams. There is no ad-ditional weightage given to ourexperience.We can’t competewith the newcomers,” said the39-year-old teacher who hasalso crossed themaximumagetoappear for theseexams.He also said the number of

posts forwhich exams are con-ducted is far fewer than theirnumbers:“IamaPGTcommerceteacher and there are 328 such

teachers across schools. TheDSSSBhas advertised126postsfor recruitment.”In 2018, DSSSB had held ex-

ams against 9,556 vacancies. Ithad submitted before theDelhiHCthat77%ofcontractteachersof that time had not achievedminimum qualifyingmarks intheseexams.In2015,AAPhadmaderegu-

larisation of guest teachers oneoftheirpollpromises.In2017,theDelhi government had passedthe Regularisation of GuestTeachers and Teachers EngagedUndertheSarvaShikshaAbhiyanBill intheAssembly,butthiswasnot approved by the L-G, whosaid the government does nothavecontrolover ‘services’.In2019,contractual teachers

launched amassive protest de-manding a policy offering themsecurity.Followingthis,theDelhiCabinet, in anemergencymeet-ing,decidedtoadoptapolicyun-derwhichcurrentguestteacherswere to “continue to functionwithDoEtilltheyattainageofsu-perannuation as determined bygovernmentforitsregularteach-ers”—which is 60 inDelhi. Thisdidnotget theL-G’snodeither.Delhi government officials

did not respond to calls andmessages seeking a comment.Officials from the L-G officecould not be reached for com-ment.

Guest teachers protest nearCM home, joined by Sidhu

AttheprotestonSunday.AbhinavSaha

Police bustgang thatduped peopleof Rs 1.2 crEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

THE CRIME Branch busted anonline extortion gang and ar-rested the gang leader for al-legedly blackmailing at least 12peopleinthelastyear.Policesaidthe accused and his associatesapproached ‘rich-looking’ menonFacebookandmanagedtoal-legedly extort Rs 1.2 crore (ap-prox) fromthevictims.InNovember,policereceived

a complaint from a LIC officerwhoallegedthatagroupofpeo-ple whom hemet online werethreateninghim.HeclaimedhehadalreadypaidthemRs3lakh.Police said the investigating

team led by ACP Arvind Kumarfoundthat thegangcreated fakeprofiles, posing as women, onFacebook and sent ‘requests’ totheir targets. They spoke to thevictimsoverFacebookMessengerandWhatsApp.Theaccusedhadalso employed women whowould connectwith the victimsonvideo calls andmeet them inperson.Whenthevictimswouldcometomeetthewomen,theac-cusedwould pose as policemenand “barge” in saying they are“raiding” the place. TheywouldthenforcethevictimstopayRs3lakh-Rs10lakh.During investigation, police

foundtheaccusedworkedfromarented flat inPaschimVihar.Additional Commissioner of

Police (Crime) Dheeraj Kumarsaid, “The team spoke to thelandlordandmountedtechnicalsurveillanceonthesuspects.Thegangleader,Neeraj,wasarrestedfromRohinionFriday.Werecov-ered a phone and a SIM card,alongwithahand-writtenscriptthat was used by the gang toblackmail the targets.” PolicesaidNeerajconfessedthathisas-sociates, including twowomen,wereoperating fromDelhi.

Resident doctors at 3 Centre-run hospitalsto boycott work today, services to be hitENS&PTINEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

RESIDENT DOCTORS at threeCentre-run hospitals in the citywill boycott routine and emer-gencyservicesstartingMonday,as protests over delay in theNEET-PG2021counselling con-

tinueacross thenation.ServicesattheRMLHospital,

Safdarjung Hospital and LadyHardinge Hospital will be af-fectedbecauseof theprotests.The Federation of Resident

Doctors’ Association (FORDA)has written to Union HealthMinisterMansukhMandaviya,complaining that since no ad-

missions have taken place thisacademicsessionyet,healthcareinstitutionsarerunningshortofanadequateworkforce.“With thepossibility of a fu-

ture Covidwave looming large,the situationwill be disastrousforthehealthcaresectorwithitsbearingoncountry’spopulation.There seems to be no initiative

ormeasure taken yet for expe-diting the (NEET-PG) coun-selling.Therefore, followingdis-cussions with various RDArepresentativesofDelhi,wehavedecidedtoescalateouragitationfurther andwithdraw all serv-ices (routineandemergency) inhealthcare institutions fromMonday,” FORDA's letter said.

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

AHEADOFnextyear'sMCDelec-tions,allthreepoliticalpartiesinthe capital have kicked off thefirst leg of their campaignwithspecific focus points—AAPwillzero in on “corruption” in theMCDand the need for a changeinleadership,BJPiswooingslumdwellerswith Central schemes,while theCongress ishighlight-ing “inefficiencies” in both theBJP-ledMCDandAAP-ledDelhigovernment.TheAAPblew thepoll bugle

on Saturday with the ‘MCDBadlaav’campaign,whichseekstoreachvotersineverynookandcornerof thenational capital.AAP Minister Gopal Rai,

while launching the campaignon Saturday, said: “AAPwill goto every corner of Delhi and letpeople know that just thewaythey chose Arvind Kejriwal toeradicate corruption from theDelhi government, the timehasnowcomefor theMCD.”Thecampaignisalsodesigned

to highlight work done by theDelhigovernmentunderKejriwalin education, healthcare andothersectors,andexhortthepeo-

pletovotefortheAAPtobringthepartyat thehelmofaffairsat themunicipalcorporations.Rai also targeted the BJP on

theissueofallegedcorruptionincivicbodiesandsaidthepartyhasgiven two gifts to the people ofDelhiduringits15years—“threegarbagemountainsandextortionineverylane”of thecity.The BJP, meanwhile, is fo-

cussing onwork done by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andschemesof theCentrewhileac-cusing theAAPof failing tocon-trolpollutionandunfairlyblam-ing the Centre for the MCDs’financial crisis. Itsmain focus isonresidentsof JJcolonies,unau-thorisedcoloniesandvillages.TheBJP lastweekconcluded

its ‘Jhuggi Samman Yatra’ dur-ingwhich LPGgas connectionswere given under the PradhanMantriUjjwalaYojanaandreg-istration slipswerehandedoutunder the Sukanya SamriddhiYojana to slum dwellers. DelhiBJP spokesperson PraveenShankar Kapoor said the nextcampaign would be designedaround villages and unautho-rised colonies.Seniorpartyleaderssaidthey

kicked off the poll campaignwith jhuggis as the section hadlargely backed AAP during thepreviousAssemblypolls.Delhi has roughly 30 lakh

peoplelivingin675slumclusters.A large chunk of slumdwellerswere traditionalCongressvoters

but switched toAAP in the2013and2015Assemblypolls inlargenumbers.TheBJPwantstomakea dent in this vote bank, said asenior leader.The Congress too had

launched a one-and-a-halfmonth‘PolKholYatra’inOctoberto “expose” the Delhi govern-mentaswellasBJP-ruledMCDs.“During the yatra, the

Congress leadershiphasgonetoall 272municipal wards to ex-pose the BJP’s corruption andmismanagementinMCDslead-ing to salary delays, and theAAP-ledDelhigovernmentoverpollution, poor transport andother infrastructure issues inthe city,” Delhi Congress vice-presidentAbhishekDutt said.

MCDpolls next year, BJP,AAP, Cong on campaign trail

AAPisset tostart its ‘MCDBadlaav’ campaign;BJPwill focusonunauthorisedcoloniesnext

New Delhi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

WITH THE first case of Covidcause by the Omicron variantbeingdetected inDelhi, HealthMinisterSatyendar JainsaidtheCentreshouldstopflightscom-ing from countries where thevarianthasbeendetectedsofar.He was reiterating the de-

mand of Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, who has appealed tothe PrimeMinister on two oc-casions in the past, asking thatflight from these countries bestopped tomake sure the newvariant does not spread in thecountry.Atpresent,passengers from

Europeaswellas10othercoun-tries have been tagged as ‘atrisk’bythe Indiangovernment.These include South Africa,Brazil, Botswana, China,Mauritius, New Zealand,Singapore, and Israel.Passengers arriving from thesecountries have to mandatorilyget tested at the airport andwait for the results. If they testpositive for Covid, they aretaken to Lok Nayak Hospitalwhere they are kept under iso-lation and their samples aresent for genome testing.One more passenger, who

landedinDelhionSundayfromLondon, testedpositiveandwasadmittedatLokNayakHospital.The patient’s samples will besent for genome testing.Jain said the Centre should

now concede to the requestmadebyKejriwal.“It is very unfortunate (that

flights were not stopped ear-lier). Five new cases have beenreported in the country so far.Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalhad written a letter to theCentreandappealedthatflightscomingfromthesecountriesbestopped for some time. But thecentral government did not doso... Delhi receives the maxi-mum number of flights fromabroad, so it ismost at risk. Thecentral government should ac-cept the demand of the ChiefMinister and flights comingfrom all countries affected bythe Omicron variant should bestopped at the earliest,” Jainsaid.Officialssaidnosuchcallhas

been takenby theCentre so far.Lok Nayak Hospital has 40

isolation wards for anyone af-fected by the Omicron variant.Jain said that a facility of an-other500bedsisreadytobeset

up if need be. Delhi has twogenometesting labs,oneatLokNayakHospitalandtheotheratILBSHospital.Jain said people need to be

vigilant and follow Covid-pro-tocol strictly.“People should not panic.

Omicron is not a new diseasebutavariantof theCoronavirusitself. Its symptoms are alsosimilar to almost all the lastvariants. The protocol for itstreatment and prevention isalsothesameasbefore.Wejustneed tobecareful. Peoplewerenot following Covid-appropri-ate behaviour as cases havestarted decreasing but we allneed to be more careful now.Peoplewhohave not yet takenthe vaccine should get vacci-nated as soon as possible,” hesaid.

BALANCING ACTAtLodhiGardenonSunday.Light rainfallhadbeenpredictedforDelhionSundayeveningortowardsthenight.AmitMehra

Gurgaon multi-croretheft case: Court saysprobe allegationsagainst IPS officer

One dose of vaccinefor all by mid-Dec:Govt’s vaccine push

No RFID, lose registration:SDMC mulls measuresfor commercial vehicles

SUKHBIRSIWACH&PAVNEETSINGHCHADHACHANDIGARH,GURGAON,DECEMBER5

REFERRING TO the disclosurestatement of an accused to theHaryanaSpecialTaskForce(STF)in a multi-crore theft case, aGurgaoncourthasobservedthatitmakes itclear“hehasgivenil-legal gratification to (the thenGurgaon) DCPDheeraj Setia forhushing up the matter”. Setiawasnotavailable for comment.Stating that it will monitor

theprobe, thecourt furthersaidthat “the investigating agencyhas failed to perform its statu-tory dutywith utmost case andcaution,especiallywhenthe in-volvement of a senior police of-ficerhascomeonrecord”.Thecaseisrelatedtoamulti-

crore theft from the office of acompanyinSector82inAugust.TwoGurgaon-baseddoctorsandDelhiPoliceASIVikasGuliawereearlier arrested in connectionwith thecase.PolicesuspectgangsterVikas

Lagarpuria planned the theft.The theft was reported onAugust21,afterthecomplainantwent to collect the cash to de-posit it in the bank and noticedRs50 lakhmissing.SatheeshBalan,DIGSTF,said,

“We are not trying to save any-one. STF arrested the two ac-cuseddoctors,andthedisclosurestatements of one mentionedthenameof a seniorpoliceoffi-cer. It is an admission in policecustody,whichisnotadmissiblein the court of law.We are col-lectingcorroborativeevidencetoverifytheclaimsandallegations.A notice was served to DheerajSetia.Hewasnotavailableatthetime.Anothernoticehasbeenis-suedandhewill jointheinvesti-gation in the coming days.Weare acting as per law. One ac-cused,whoisaDelhiPoliceoffi-cialandwhohadcloselinkswithgangster Lagarpuria, got bailfrom the court. We will soonmove an application for cancel-lationof hisbail.”An IPS officer, Setia is cur-

rently posted as Commandant,3rd Battalion of IRB, Sunaria,Rohtak.A senior officer of the STF

said:“Ourinvestigationsuggestsa theft of at least Rs 14-15 crorehadtakenplace.Wehaverecov-eredIndiancurrency,USdollars,andgoldbricks.Totalvalueoftherecovery stands at Rs 3.9 crore.Asmanyas11personshavebeenarrested.”In his order on December 2,

Gurgaon Additional SessionsJudge Jasbir Singh said: “Fromthe...disclosurestatementofac-cused Dr Suchender KumarNawal, it is clearhehasgiven il-legalgratificationtoDCPDheerajSetia for hushingup thematter.He (Nawal) also disclosed tohave delivered huge amount inthe formof gold, dollars etc... toDCP for said purpose. Frompe-rusal of police file, I have notfound any concrete step takenfortakingtheinvestigationtoitslogicalconclusiononthebasisofdisclosuresmadebyaccusedDrNawal.Assuch,theinvestigatingagency has failed to perform itsstatutorydutywithutmostcare,especiallywheninvolvementofa senior police officer has comeonrecord.”Notsatisfiedwiththeprobe,

the court also decided tomon-itor the investigation. It said:“...delay in proceeding furtheragainstpoliceofficerontheba-sisofdisclosurestatementofDrNawal is nothing but to givetimetosaidpoliceofficer tode-stroyevidence...Assuch, inves-tigating agency is not conduct-ing probe in proper way. Forthat purpose, this court, in ex-ercise of its power... is herebyopting for monitoring investi-gation toensure that search fortruth is not muddied by policelapses whether innocent orblameworthy.”The provisions of the

Prevention of Corruption Act,1988, were invoked in the caseon the basis of Dr Nawal's sup-plementary disclosure state-ment,datedNovember13.IGP/IRB, Bhondsi, Hanif

Qureshi told The Indian Express:"Setia has taken charge at thecommandant headquarters inRohtak. I don’t have his contactdetails.”Setia’s reader Sunder Pal

said: “The officer (Setia) is onleave tillDecember7.Currently,he is notusing anofficial phonenumber.”


THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AFTERDELHI’S FIRSTOMICRONCASE


DELHIHASrecordedover50casesthree days in a row since Fridaywith63casesbeingaddedtothetallyonSunday.Thepositivityratewas 0.11% as over 55,000 testswereconductedinaday.The daily case count on

Sundaywas the highest in fourmonths—sinceAugust. Theac-tivecasecountat370isthehigh-est sincemid-November. Therewere54casesreportedonFridayand51onSaturday.The city, however, has not

seen any Covid deaths inDecember so far. Seven peoplediedofCovidinNovemberwhilefourdied inOctober.“Most of the Covid patients

we are seeing now have got atleastoneshotof thevaccineandvery fewof themexhibit severesymptoms.Webelievethisisoneof the reasons for the lowdeathrateamongpatientsnow,”saidadoctoratLokNayakhospital.Thereare8,969hospitalbeds

reserved for Covid patients atpresent. Of these, 163 are occu-pied. Covid Care Centres and

Health Centres have 4,011 bedsandall of themarevacant.The government has set

aside 40 isolation beds for pa-tientswhohavebeeninfectedbytheOmicronvariantandHealthMinisterSatyendarJainsaidthiscanbeincreasedto500atashortnotice if need be. CM ArvindKejriwalsaidlastweekthatDelhicould scale up to over 63,000beds if needbeatashortnotice.Of these, around 27,000wouldbesetupineachmunicipalwardbyFebruary,hehadsaid.There have been a cumula-

tive 14.41 lakh Covid cases inDelhi so far. Of these, 98% haverecovered.


WITH THEDelhi government’sfocusongettingeveryonevacci-nated before a possible thirdCovid wave hits, an average of1.10 lakh people have got vacci-nated every day for the pastweek. On Sunday, 1.6 lakh peo-ple got vaccinated,with around1 lakhgetting thesecondshot.Officials said the govern-

ment’s focus is now on gettingeveryone vaccinated with atleastoneshotbymid-December.Last week, in a meeting withDDMA officials, strategies suchaslotteries,cashprizesweredis-cussedtoencouragevaccination.Districtmagistrates are also

running ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ and‘NoOneLeftBehind’ campaignstomake sure everyone eligiblegets at least one shot. The cam-paignsincludeidentification,mo-bilisation, setting up camps andsendingmobile teams to areaswherepeopleareunvaccinated.According to official data,

Delhihasaround48lakhvaccinedoses inpossessionatpresent.“Therewasatimewhenvac-

cine availabilitywas a big prob-lem across city. However, sincemid-September, the situationhasbeencomfortableandDelhihas more than enough doses.While vaccinationnumbers areencouraging, there are certainareas that are lagging behind.We have spoken to DMs andasked them to launch specialvaccinationdrivesintheirareas.Mostpeoplewhohavenotbeenvaccinated with even a singledosesofararescaredbecauseofmisinformation. Availability isnotanissueatanycentre,”saidaseniorgovernmentofficial.InthelastDDMAmeeting,the

government also suggested thatstartingDecember15,onlythosepeoplewhohavegotat leastonedosebeallowedonpublic trans-portandinplacessuchasrestau-rants, malls, cinema halls, reli-giousplacesetc.ThenextDDMAmeeting, where a call on thesestepswill be taken, is expectedtobeheldearly thisweek.


THE SOUTHMCD is consider-ing taking steps to cancel theregistration of commercial ve-hicles entering Delhi withoutaradio frequency identification(RFID) tag or insufficientrecharge, Mayor MukeshSuryan has said.The SDMC, which is the

nodal agency for implementa-tion of the RFID system at tollplazas inDelhi,has installedthetechnologyatall124tollplazas.TheRFIDtag isputuponthe

windshieldofvehiclesandeach

time it crosses a tollplaza,money is deducted auto-matically.Suryansaidvehicleswithout

the tag or having insufficientrecharge will be denied entryintothecityasthecorporationistakingtoughmeasurestoimple-ment the RFID system at all tollplazasacrossDelhi.Enforcement teams have

been deployed at toll plazas forregular inspection.These teamshave been taking action againsterrantvehicles,headded.Aseniorofficialsaidthecivic

bodywouldwrite to the trans-port departments concerned tocancel the registration.

MemorialforCovidwarriorstocomeupatDelhi AssemblyNew Delhi: The DelhiAssemblywill constructamemorialfor'coronawar-riors' including doctors,nurses and paramedicalstaff, sanitation workersand teachers on its prem-ises to honour theirsupreme sacrifice and re-markableworkduringthepandemic, Speaker RamNiwas Goel said onSunday.Goelsaidtheme-morialwillmost likely beunveiled on January 26nextyear.

Govttoinstall8automateddrivingtesttracksNewDelhi:TheDelhi gov-ernmentwill installauto-mated driving test tracksateighteducational insti-tutionsinthecitytobringdown thewaiting periodfor applicants seekingpermanent licences."These new automateddriving test tracks willhelp reduce the waitingtimeforapplicantsseekingpermanent driving li-cences...," said a seniortransport department of-ficer.PTI

BRIEFLY

Pollution panel’s flying squads inspect 140 sitesEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

AROUND140siteshavebeenin-spected so far by ‘flying squads’constituted by the Commissionfor Air Quality Management(CAQM), to ensure compliancewith the Commission’s direc-tions tocontrol airpollution.Sources at the CAQM said

thatdatawasnotyetavailableonthe action taken against any vi-olations foundat thesesites.A communication from the

CAQM on Sunday said, “TillDecember4,morethan140siteswere inspected by the flyingsquads.Basedonthereportsfur-

nishedbythesquads,seriousvi-olationsbyvariousunitsarebe-ing identified for strict actions,

including closure. Additionally,suitable actions against othernon-conforming units are also

been initiated by theCommission.”Atotalof40inspectionteams

or‘flyingsquads’havebeencon-stituted to conduct inspectionsat various sites andsectors con-tributingtoairpollution— roaddust, transport, industries andotherdispersedsources.Twelve teams each have

been constituted for the NCT ofDelhiandNCRdistrictsofUPandHaryana. Four such teams havebeen deployed in the NCR dis-tricts of Rajasthan. The teamsconductinspectionsof industrialunits, constructionanddemoli-tion sites, and air pollutionhotspots. The teams comprisestaff from the Central Pollution

ControlBoard (CPCB).Thesquadsarethenrequired

to submit reports toCAQM’s re-centlyconstitutedEnforcementTask Force. The task force holdsdailymeetingswiththeteamstosupervise the enforcement ofthe directions issued by theCAQM.

Noida Authorityfines 2 firmsThe Noida Authority im-

posed fines to the tune of Rs 4lakhontwofirms forallegedvi-olation of pollution norms onSaturday. The two companieswere found to be causing dustpollutionwhilecarryingoutme-chanical sweeping.

Now, a website forthe public to investin student startupsEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

ANEWwebsitelaunchedtosup-port young entrepreneurs inDelhi government schools willenable the public to buy theirproductsandtoregistertoinvestinormentor them.Lastweek, theDelhigovern-

mentlaunchedaTVprogrammeas part of its ‘Business Blasters’initiativetohelptheseentrepre-neur students attract invest-ments.Under its“Entrepreneurship

Mindset Curriculum”, the gov-ernment has started“BusinessBlasters”acrossall itssenior secondary schools inSeptember by giving Rs 2,000as seed money to class 11 and12studentstodeveloptheiren-trepreneurship ideas. The TVprogrammeis intended tohelpthemattract larger investmentsby pitching to established en-trepreneurs.Thenewwebsite,www.the-

businessblasters.in, isanexpan-sion of that. According toMLA

Atishi, anyone who wants tomentorthestudentsorinvest inthemcanregisteron it.According to a government

representative,orderstobuytheproductsmade by the studentscanalsobeplacedonthesite.The second episode of the

showwas aired onDecember 5with SeemaBansal, Partner andDirector, Boston ConsultingGroupIndia,NitinSaluja,Founderof Chaayos, and Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia asjudges.Three student startups re-

ceived a cumulative amount ofRs1.5lakhasseedcapitalduringtheepisode.Three student startups re-

ceivedacumulativeamountofRs 1.5 lakh as seed capital dur-ing the episode. The startupsare Mobisite, which refur-bishes used phones and sellsthem at low prices; Home 2Creations, which creates andsells handmade accessoriesandchocolates;and InkFamily,whichcreatesandsells customprinted items suchas cups andT-shirts.

Lastweek, theDelhigovernment launchedaTVprogrammeaspartof its ‘BusinessBlasters’ initiative.DeputyCMSisodiawasamongthe judgesduringthesecondepisode.Archive

Thedailypositivity ratewas0.11%.Archive

JainsaidtheCentreshouldnowconcedetotherequestmadebyKejriwal.

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 13,518 13,322ICU BEDS 2,791 2,723

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec4 51 61 0 64,826Dec5 63 15 0 55,711Total 370* 14,15,890 25,098 3,12,20,984

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,41,358VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS

1,65,236

LokNayakHospitalhas40 isolationwards foranyoneaffectedbyOmicronvariant.AmitMehra

DELHI’S COVID SITUATION

ATLOKNAYAK

■Contactsadmitted:6; theyarebeingtestedforCovid

■Onepatienthastestedpositive forOmicronvariant

■Resultsof 6othersareawaited

VACCINATION

DELHI’SPREPARATION

18Patients fromat-riskcountriesadmittedathospital

PEOPLEWHOHAVEGOTATLEAST

1stdose 1.4cr

2nddose 91 lakh

■Ability toscaleupto63,800bedsbyFebruary■Bedsthatcanbesetupatshortnotice:36,800■ ICUbeds :10,000

■ ICUbedsunderconstruction-6,800 (readybyFebruary)

■Oxygenstoragecapacity inhospitals750MT■Extrastoragefacilities442MT■OxygenproductionfromPSAplants:121MT

1.5 crPopulationeligible forvaccination

Centre should stop flights fromaffectedcountries: Jain reiterates CM’s demand

City sees 50+ casesthree days in a row

MCDtrucksprinkleswater toreducepollution.AmitMehra

New Delhi

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

New Delhi


GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOHNSONTABENGALURU,DECEMBER5

THENOVEMBER30photographsofPrimeMinisterNarendraModileading JDS supremo H DDevegowdabyhishandbeforethetwoheld a "cordialmeeting" atParliamentHouse have put thespotlightonthetwopartiesaheadof acrucialVidhanParishadelec-tionscheduledforDecember10.TherulingBJPandtheopposi-

tion JDShave shared ablowhot,blow cold relationship inKarnataka ever since the latterpartedwayswiththeCongressinJuly 2019— after their alliancegovernment fell apart due tode-fections to theBJP.Butnow,withelections to 25 seats in the statelegislative council, the JDS hasseemingly decided to drop its

stance of equidistance from theBJPandtheCongressandtothrowinitslotwiththerulingBJP.Soon after the Devegowda-

Modi meet, Karnataka ChiefMinister Basavaraj Bommai an-nounced thatDevegowda's sonHDKumaraswamyand formerBJP CMB S Yediyurappawouldchalk out a plan for a JDS-BJP al-lianceforthecouncilelections.TheDecember10pollsarebe-

ingheldonaccountof15Congressmembers,6BJPmembersandfourJDSmembers retiring in January2022fromthe75-membercoun-cil,where theBJPcurrentlyhasastrengthof32seats, theCongress29andtheJDS12.ThisisapartfromanIndependentmemberandthecouncilchairman,whoisfromtheJDS.TheBJPiskeentowrestafewseatsfromtheCongresswhiletheCongress and JDS are keen to at

leastretaintheirnumbers.Oneofthereasonsforthepos-

sibilityofaJDS-BJPallianceforthecouncil polls is that the JDS hasfielded a candidate only in six ofthe 25district-wise constituen-

cies. A second reason is that theBJP is desperate towrest controloftheUpperHouse(whereitnowdepends on the JDS for passingBills)andiskeentoensurethattheCongresslosessignificantground.

“In six constituencieswherewehavefieldedcandidates,therearecandidatesfromallthreepar-ties.WecannotaskBJPtosupport

our person. In other places,CongressandBJParefightingandJDS will decide on these con-stituencies keeping the future inmind,''saidKumaraswamy.ThedalliancebetweentheJDS

andBJPinKarnatakaisnotanewone.DevegowdaandModi havesharedacordialrelationship.Despite Devegowdamain-

tainingJDS's independentstatus,the party has in recent timeshelped theBJP tactically -- espe-ciallyinfacilitatingthepassageofBJP-backedbills.In February this year, the JDS

supported the ouster of councilchairman K PrathapchandraShetty,of theCongress,andfacil-itatedtheelectionofMKPraneshof theBJP asdeputy chairman inexchange for a JDS candidate,BasavarajHoratti,beinggiventhepostof thecouncilchairman.

InJuly,CMBommaipaidacour-tesyvisittoDevegowda'shome.Overadecadeago,in2006,the

JDS allied with the BJP andKumaraswamywasmade CM.Thealliance fell through in2007after the JDS did not transferpowertotheBJP.The support base of the JDS

and theBJP lie in twodistinct re-gionsof Karnataka— the formerhasabaseamongtheVokkaligasinsouthKarnatakawhile theBJPhas a hold over the Lingayats innorthKarnataka.The JDS andKumaraswamy

arewalkingathinlineinattempt-ingtoretainitscoresupportbase—farmersandminorities—whilebeinginthegoodbooksoftheBJPwhich is in power in KarnatakaandattheCentre.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Ahead of Dec 10 legislative council polls, JDS, BJP move closer

PMModiandJDSsupremoHDDevegowdaduringtheirmeetatParliamentonNovember30.Courtesy:Twitter/@narendramodi

LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,DECEMBER5

UTTARPRADESHChiefMinisterYogi Adityanath on Sunday re-sponded to SP chief AkhileshYadav’s jibe that thosewithoutfamilydonotcareforpeople,bysaying that the 25 crore peopleofUttarPradeshwerehisfamily.Addressing a publicmeeting

inChandaulidistrictafterlaunch-ing various projects, Adityanathsaid, “The25crorepopulationofthe state is family for me. HadAkhilesh Yadav understood thisdefinition of family, he possiblywould not have commented onmenothavingafamily.Heshouldbe aware that the people of thestate aremy family, and Iwill dowhateverneedstobedonekeep-ing them in mind. But you[Akhilesh] have a narrowmind-set,soyoucareaboutyourfamilyonly and not the state. That re-sulted in riots, anarchywasat itspeak and hisministers jeopar-disedthedignityofwomen.”The CM hit out at alliances

between Opposition parties inthepast,suchastheSP-Congresstie-up in the 2017 AssemblyelectionsandtheSP-BSPalliancein the2019LokSabhapolls.“What did the bhai-behen

duo[RahulGandhiandPriyankaGandhi Vadra of the Congress]do?What did the do ladkon ki

jodi [Akhilesh Yadav and RahulGandhi]do,andwhatdidbabuaaur bua ki jodi [Mayawati andAkhilesh]do?Theyneverdidde-velopmentbecause they lackedthoughtforthat.Theydevelopedthemselves only and for them,onlytheirownfamiliesweretheentire state,” saidAdityanath.He said the Opposition had

no issues to raise against thegovernment, and accused theAkhilesh-led SP government ofmisusing money meant for

development.“Themoneythatwasunnec-

essarily spent on the extrava-gance of leaders of the rulingpartybetween2012to2017, thesamemoneyisnowbeingspenton the restoration and beautifi-cationof placesofmythologicaland historical significance,” hesaid at the Sakaldiha Assemblyconstituency in Chandauli thatwaswon by the SP in 2017. TheBJPwontheother three seats inthedistrict.

PM to unveilfertiliser factory,AIIMS and labin Gorakhpurtomorrow

SP MLA, workers scuffle with cops

New Delhi: The Centre haswarnedassistantsectionofficersunder the Central SecretariatService (CSS) cadre of discipli-nary action in case transfer re-questsareforwardedfrommin-istersandMPs.In an order, the Department

ofPersonnelandTraining(DoPT)said it has been receiving nu-merous inter-cadre transfer re-quests on personal/medicalgrounds to attached or outsta-tionofficersofvariousministriesin thegradeofAssistantSectionOfficer (ASO) in theCSScadre.“It is informed that all such

acts will invite appropriate ac-tion, including disciplinary ac-tion, as per extant rules in allsuchcases,” theDoPTsaid. PTI

Chaturvedi citessuspension fromHouse, quitsSansad TV show

JD(U) gen secyK C Tyagi’s sonAmrish joins BJPin Lucknow

SP to conductcaste census ifvoted to powerin UP: Rajbhar

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPANAJI, DECEMBER5

AAP NATIONAL convenor andDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Sunday said that ifhis partywere to form the nextgovernment in Goa, it will giveRs 1,000 to all adult women inthe state, claiming that thiswould perhaps be the “world’sbiggest women empowermentprogramme”.Addressing a gathering at

Navelim in South Goa, Kejriwalsaid,“AssoonastheAAPgovern-ment is formed, every womanabove 18 — daughter, sister,mother, daughter-in-law,mother-in-law, and grand-mother —will get Rs 1,000 permonth in their accounts.“There are young women

whocan’tattendcollegebecausetheirfathersdonothavemoney.They can go to collegewith thismoney. If AAP comes to power,nowomaninGoawillhavetobefinanciallydependentonherfa-therorhusbandforsmallneeds.This scheme will empowerwomen financially,” he said,addingthatwomen’sempower-ment “is whenwomen remainfinancially independent”.Womenwho are financially

comfortable have the option toopt out of the programme,Kejriwal said. The AAP leaderclaimed that thedecision tode-posit Rs 1,000 in the bank ac-countofeachwomaninthestateisfinanciallysoundandwillben-

efit5.5 lakhwomen.“Goa's budget is Rs 22,000

crore.Ifweeliminate20percentcorruption charges from thebudget,which isRs4,000crore,wecanprovide300unitsof freeelectricity, unemployment al-lowance, free pilgrimage, GrihaAadhar,andmonthlyallowancetoallwomenabovetheageof18years,”Kejriwal said.Speaking of the elections,

Kejriwal said that Goa’s leaderswereeithertalkingaboutpoliti-cal alliances between parties orwere switching from one partytoanother.Hesaidthatnootherpartywas talking about jobs oreducation or other issues thatpeople inGoa faced.“We are making a plan for

Goa’s development. No otherpartyisdoingit.Theyhavenoth-ing to do with Goa. They onlywant to lootGoa,” theAAPchiefsaid.Following allegations by the

Congress that aminister in thePramodSawantgovernmentwasinvolved in a “sex scandal”, theAAP on Sunday also demandedactionagainst theminister.

THEUNDERSTANDINGbe-tween the JDS and BJP inKarnatakaisnotanewone,exceptthatthistime,fortheDecember10elections,itismore overt than earlier.Devegowdahas enjoyedacordial relationshipwithModiforlong,withthetwooftenmaking it a point togreet each other on socialmediaonspecialoccasions.

OldfriendsE●EXPLAINED

UttarPradeshCMYogiAdityanathduringthe launchof5,000newhealthsub-centres,15BSL-2 laboratoriesandMotherNewbornTrackingApp(Mantra), inLucknow,Sunday.PTI

Lucknow: Prime MinisterNarendraModi is scheduled toinaugurate projects worthRs 10,000 crore in easternUttarPradesh on Tuesday, ChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathtoldre-portersinGorakhpuronSunday.AdityanathsaidModiwould

inaugurate a fertiliser factoryworth Rs 8,603 crore, an AIIMSthat has been built at a cost ofRs 1,011 crore, and an ICMR-RMRClab inGorakhpur.“The arrival of PMModi on

December 7 in Gorakhpurwillfulfil the dreams of eastern UPthatwere neglected by the fail-ures of the previous govern-ments,”Adityanathsaid,addingthatthatthethreemegaprojectsconstitute the biggest invest-ment so far ineasternUP.“Whatwasimpossibleforthe

opposition,PMModihasmadeitpossible. Theprimeminister hasprovided these projects for thewelfareoffarmers,women,youth,childrenandfortheupliftmentoftheregion,”hesaid. ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,DECEMBER5

SAMAJWADI PARTY (SP) presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav on Sundayhit out at Uttar PradeshDeputyChief Minister Keshav PrasadMaurya for saying that “lungichhaap” goons used to roamfreely in the statebefore theBJPcame to power in 2017. At atraders’meeting inPrayagrajonFriday,Mauryaalsoalleged thatpeoplewearing“jalidartopi[net-ted caps]” used to threatentraders and encroach upontheir land.Speakingtothemediaat the

SPofficeafterflaggingoffayatraby ally Gondwana GanatantraParty, Akhilesh said as theAssemblyelectionsnearthelan-guage of BJP leaders would getdirtier as theywerescared.“The BJP leaders’ language

will change evenmore as elec-tionscomecloser. The language

will get worse and dirt will in-crease. Their decisions havemadetraders’ livesdifficult.Beitdemonetisation,orGST.Andthecorruption in the governmenthas made everyone unhappy.People from all segments areunhappy.”Headded, “As farasclothing

isconcerned,andthereareotherquestionsbeingraisedbeforetheelections. The BJP should gothrough the pages of its mani-festo and should check its pollpromises. All of their promisesturnedouttobe jumlasandthat

it’swhypeopleofUttarPradeshhavemade up their mind thatthis time, there won’t be Yogigovernment, but ‘yogya [able]’government.”In a veiled attack on the

Maurya,Akhileshsaid,“Theonewhodidnotgetachairorevenastool,hisseatcouldnotbeestab-lished, and it seemshehas seenthe CM’s clothing from veryclose,andthatiswhyheisusingsuch language. His fight is notwithpeoplefromtheOppositionbut it is internal.”Headded,“Theyareallscared

of the people and hence, theirlanguage is changing. And thenumber of leaders who willcometoLucknowwill increase...TheBJPhasincreasedthepoliticsof discrimination and hatred…They have increased the prob-lems of the farmers, they havemadethestateandcountryweakeconomicallyandtheyhavecre-ated a shaft between people ofreligionsandcommunities.”

SPchiefAkhileshYadav

DelhiCMArvindKejriwal

Kejriwal: AAP govtin Goa will giveRs 1,000 to all women

MANAMANSINGHCHHINACHANDIGARH,DECEMBER5

AAPMP and the party’s Punjabpresident BhagwantMann onSunday alleged that hewas of-feredmoneyandaUnioncabinetberthbyaseniorBJPleaderasen-ticementtojointheparty.He also alleged that the BJP

wastryingtopoachMLAsofAAPin Punjab and that similarallurementshavebeenmade tothemtoo.BJP state general secretary

Jivan Gupta dismissedMann’sallegations as a figment of hisimagination. “These allegationsarejustanattemptbyBhagwantMann to increase his own im-portance in AAP. Lately, he hasbeensidelinedinAAPandthere-forehehasresortedtosuchwildallegationsagainstBJP,”hesaid.Mann, at apress conference,

said,“IwasapproachedbyaveryseniorBJP leaderwhoaskedmewhatamountofmoney Iwouldtaketo joinBJP.Healsosaid thatsince I was the loneMP of AAP,my joining BJP will not attractanti-defection law and Iwill beoffered a cabinet berth of mychoiceattheCentre,”Mannsaid.The two-timeLokSabhaMP

from Sangrur in Punjab addedthathedeclinedtheoffersayingthat he was “on amission andnotcommission”.Hesaidhehadbrought up AAP in Punjabthrough blood and sweat andthat he will not abandon theparty.

“BJPhasnostatureinPunjab.Its leaders are not allowed toevenenterthevillagesduetothethree farm laws that it enactedandwhichresulted in thedeathof more than 700 farmers. NoonewhohasthefutureofPunjabon his mind will join a partywhich caused the death of somany people in LakhimpurKheri,”hesaid.WhenaskedtonametheBJP

leaderwhomade him the offerto join theparty,Mannsaid thathe will do so in due course oftime.“BJPhasbeendoingthis inother states such as MP,Karnataka, Goa andMeghalaya.They think they can do this inPunjab too. They claim to havebroken up Congress also. Theseare very bad signs in a democ-racy if parties are sought to bebroken throughmoneypower,”hesaid.

Was offered money,cabinet berth to joinBJP: Bhagwant Mann

Akhilesh hits out at Maurya over‘lungi chhaap goons’ remark

YogislamsAkhilesh:EntireUP ismyfamily, youonlycare foryours

Ballia (UP): SBSP chief OmPrakashRajbharonSundaysaidthe Samajwadi Party will con-ductacastecensusandgiverep-resentation toall sectionsof thesociety as per their numbers, ifvotedtopowerintheupcomingUttarPradeshAssemblypolls.Rajbhar,whosepartyentered

into an alliancewith the SP forthe polls, said Akhilesh Yadavwill be the chief minister if thealliancecomes topower.Askedtocommentonhisidea

offiveCMsand20deputyCMsonarotationalbasis,heclarifiedthathis statementwas applicable incase the Bhagidari SankalpMorchaformedthegovernment.Talking about an alliance

with AIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi, the SBSP chief saidOwaisi should firstmake uphismind. “If Owaisi demands 100seats, how can there be an al-liancewithhim?”heasked. PTI


SHIV SENA MP PriyankaChaturvedi,whowassuspendedlast week from Rajya Sabha onthe first day of the WinterSession, on Sunday steppeddown as the anchor of MeriKahaani–airedonSansadTV.InalettertoVicePresidentand

Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiahNaidu, Chaturvedi saidshe is stepping down from theshowforbeing“deniedspaceonitfordischargingparliamentarydu-tiesduetoarbitrarysuspension”.“Aftermy arbitrary suspen-

sion, thathas totallydisregardedestablishedParliamentarynorms& rules to stifle my voice, myparty’svoiceinsidethechamber,IamunwillingtocontinuetakingspaceonSansadTVwhenmypri-mary oath to the Constitution isbeingdeniedtome....Ibelievein-justice has beendonebut as it isconsideredvalidintheeyesofthechair,Imustrespectit,”shewrote.OnMeriKahaani,Chaturvedi

interviewedwomenparliamen-tariansonnon-politicalsubjects,sharing their stories.


JD(U) GENERAL secretary K CTyagi’s son Amrish Tyagi onSundayjoinedtheBJPinLucknowin thepresence of Uttar PradeshDeputy Chief Minister DineshSharmaandotherseniorleaders.Severalleadersfromdifferentpo-liticalparties,includingtheSPandtheBSP, andother social organi-sationstoojoinedtherulingpartyat itsstateheadquarters.Askedwhy did not join the

JD(U), Amrish said, “I haveexpe-rienceofelectionmanagement. Iwasplanning to joinpolitics andwork around the NationalDemocraticAlliance(NDA).Myfa-ther’spartywasapartoftheNDAforover20years.HadIjoinedtheJD(U),peoplewouldhaveaccusedusofindulgingindynasticpolitics.So IdecidedtojointheBJPthat isthe largest democratic organisa-tionintheworld.”Askedifhehadplanstocon-

test theupcomingUPelections,Tyagi said, “I want to start fromzero. Whatever responsibilityBJPwill assign tome, I will fol-lowthatasaworker.”


ANSPMLA,somepartyworkersandpolicemenwereinvolvedinascuffleatavenueinChandaulidistrict where Uttar Pradesh’sChief Minister Yogi AdityanathaddressedapublicmeetSunday.A purported video of the

scuffle of Sakaldiha MLAPrabhunarayan Yadav andDeputySuperintendentofPoliceAnirudh Singh on Sundayemergedonsocialmedia.While Chandauli police said

SPworkersandtheMLAtriedtomove towards the venue andmild forcewas used to disperse

them,Yadavallegedthatthepo-liceofficersmisbehavedwiththeSPworkersandmaleofficersas-saulted women party workerswithoutanyprovocation.ChandauliSPAnkurAggarwal

told reporters, “Therewas apro-grammeof thehonourable chiefminister here. Therewere someSamajwadi Partyworkerswhowantedtohandoveramemoran-dum.Theyhadcontactedofficialsearlier too, and we had askedthem to submit thememoran-dumpeacefully...Therewassomepushing and shoving... Theyhadnottakenpermissiontoattendtheprogramme, and they created alaw-and-ordersituation.”Aggarwal added, “When the

policeofficersaskedthemtohandovertheirmemorandum,theydidnot...Policeforcehadtobeusedtostop them…The security situa-tioninCM’sprogrammeisonhighalert…Wewill check thevideostoseewhathappened.”Yadav toldThe IndianExpress,

“We were holding a peacefulprotest...Thesepolicemenstartedtolathi-chargeuswithoutanyrea-son, andwhen I intervened, thelocalDSPmisbehavedwithme...”Varanasi(Range)IGSuvendra

KBhagat saida fair probewouldbeconducted.“Wewill lookintowho started the scuffle. All alle-gationsbeinglevelledbytheMLAwillbeprobedthoroughlyandac-tionwillbetakenaccordingly.”

BJPdismissesclaim,says ‘figmentof imagination’

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

STRATEGY MEETTRINAMOOL CONGRESS’S parliamentary party is likely tomeetinParliamentonTuesdaytochalkoutthestrategyfortheremaining part of theWinter Session of the House. TMCnationalgeneralsecretaryAbhishekBanerjee,whorepresentsDiamondHarbour constituency in Lok Sabha, is likely to flydown to Delhi for themeeting. The TMC’smoves are beingclosely watched at a time its ties with the Congress havegrown increasingly strained, raising questionmarks overOppositionunity.

THE CHALLENGEINDIA’SAMBASSADORtoRussia,PavanKapoor,hasabigtestwithin aweek of his assuming charge.Whilemuch of thegroundworkfortheRussianPresident’svisittoIndiawasdoneby his predecessor D B Venkatesh Varma, Kapoor is nowhandlingthehomestretchandwillbepartof thedelegationfor talks. The fact that Putinhasmadeonly onevisit outsideRussiaduringthepandemic—theotheronebeingtoGenevatomeetUSPresidentJoeBiden—theRussianPresident'svisitto India is being seen as the importance being attached byMoscowto its tieswithDelhi.Kapoor, consideredoneof theseasoneddiplomats in the Indian ForeignService fraternity,presented his credentials to Putin onDecember 1 at a cere-mony inAlexanderHallof theGrandKremlinPalace.

THE JOURNEYRAJIVRANJANMishra,Director-General,NationalMissionforClean Ganga (NMCG), is set to bid adieu to Namami Gangeafterahappeningtenureofmorethanfiveyears.A1987-batchTelangana cadre IAS officer, Mishra served at the NMCG invarious capacities duringhis two stints. Before his superan-nuationonDecember31,Mishraisexpectedtocomeoutwitha book on the Ganga. It is learnt that the book captures thejourneyofthegovernment’sNamamiGangeprogrammeandtheeffortsmadebypreviousgovernmentstocleantheriver.GAshokKumar,a1991-batchIASofficer fromtheTelanganacadrewill succeedMishraasNMCGD-G.

MannatapressconferenceonSunday.Express

Govt warns officersof action if transferrequests forwardedby ministers, MPs

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

Head Office: Mandvi, Baroda.Regional Office, Bhubaneswar- II, 1st floor,Bivab Gulmohar, Behera Sahi, Nayapalli,Bhubaneswar-751012, Odisha

TENDERNOTICEBank of Baroda, Regional Office, Bhubaneswar-II invites sealed tenderin two bid system for INTERIOR FURNISHING, ELECTRICAL, DATACABLING & AIR CONDITIONING WORK for its “Regional Office, at2nd floor, Chalachitra Bhawan, Buxi Bazar, Cuttack-753001, Odisha”.Tenders in sealed envelope should be addressed and submitted to "TheRegional Manager, Regional Office, Bhubaneswar-II, 1st floor, BivabGulmohar, Behera Sahi, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar-751012, Odisha"on or before 27.12.2021 upto 3.00 P.M. For details please log on tendersection of our website www.bankofbaroda.in to download the tenderdocuments. Corrigendum, if any, will be published in Bank's Websiteonly. The Bank reserves its right to accept or reject any or all tenderswithout assigning reason thereof. REGIONAL MANAGER

Shah to Gehlot: Who is toppling yourgovt, BJP will get majority in 2023HAMZAKHANJAIPUR,DECEMBER5

UNION HOME Minister AmitShah on Sunday attacked theAshokGehlot-ledRajasthangov-ernmentas“nikammiandbhrash-tachari(uselessandcorrupt)”andsaid that theBJPwill never try totoppletheCongressgovernmentbutformagovernmentwithtwo-thirdsmajorityin2023.“Hehasaconstantfearthathis

governmentwill fall.Whoistop-pling your government?Nooneistopplingyourgovernment…BJPwill never topple your govern-ment.BJPwillcomebacktopowerwithamajority mandatein2023bygoingtothepeople,”ShahsaidataconventionofBJP’spublicrep-resentativesandleadersinJaipur.During the political crisis in

mid-2020,followingarebellionof19CongressMLAsledbythethenDeputy CMSachin Pilot, GehlothadaccusedBJPof trying to top-plehisgovernment.“Youarebusyinaninternalrift

andhave changed thedefinitionof lawandorder inRajasthan…Ifyouclaim that your governmentisrunningwell,conductelectionsalongsideUPelectionsandyou’ll

immediatelyknowwhatthepeo-ple of Rajasthan want. But wewantyou to completeyour termtill 2023, but alsowork for thepeopleofRajasthan,”Shahsaid.FormerCMVasundharaRaje

too attackedGehlot and termedhisgovernmentas“invisible.”ShesaidthattheGehlotgovernmentisbusywithonlyonething:“howtosavethe(CM)chair;thereisnerv-ousnessaboutwhatwillhappenifthese fourpeople go there,whatwillhappeniffivepeoplegothere.There was a cabinet reshufflekeeping inmindhowtoprevent

someone from heading to theotherside.Onlythisworkisbeingdone.”Shahexhortedpartyworkers

andleadersto“uproottheuselessandcorruptAshokGehlotgovern-ment and throw it out.” He saidthat PrimeMinister “Modi ji re-ducedthetaxonpetrolanddieselbutRajasthan is one statewherethe treasury is dear to the ChiefMinister,butnottheproblemsofthepublic.”He then “requested”GehlottoreducetheVAT.


PHONETAPPINGCASE


INDIAWILLsoonhaveits indige-nous anti-drone technology,HomeMinisterAmitShahsaidonSunday, asserting that it is theModi government’s “commit-ment” to the country’s forces toprovide themwith the best de-fencetechnologies.“Thebesttechnologyavailable

in theworldwill be given toyoufor border security. It is govern-ment’scommitment.Tomeetthethreat of drones, theBSF (BorderSecurityForce),theNSG(NationalSecurityGuards) and theDRDO(Defence Research andDevelopmentOrganisation) aretogether working on an anti-dronedefence system. Ihave fullconfidenceonourscientists.Verysoonwewillhavean indigenousanti-dronesysteminthecountry,”ShahsaidataneventinJaisalmertomarkBSF’s57thRaisingDay.Securityfocuspivotedtoanti-

drone technology in recent

months, after drones were al-legedlyusedtodropexplosivesatanIndianAirForce(IAF)stationatthe Jammu airport in June thisyear.Twopersonnelwereinjuredin the attack, and authoritiesacrossregionshavesincesightedseveraldronesattheborderareas.The BSF was formed on

December 1, 1965, and thiswasthefirsttimethatBSFRaisingDaywas celebrated near the India-Pakistanborder.Shahappreciatedthis move and said that suchevents should be held in areaswhere jawans are setting exam-plesofbraveryeveryday.“Any country can only

progress and make its cultureprosperwhenitissecure.Andyouaretheoneswhosecurethecoun-try.Thenationisproudofyou.FortheModigovernment,themean-ingof border security is nationalsecurity.Soremember,youarenotjustsecuringthebordersbutgiv-ing thenation anopportunity tosecure its position in theworld,”Shahsaid. FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

‘India will soon have itsindigenous anti-drone tech’

UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahwithformerRajasthanCMVasundharaRajeduringthe ‘JanPratinidhiSankalpMahasammelan’, in JaipuronSunday.Rohit JainParas

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR,DECEMBER5

RAJASTHANCHIEFMinisterAshokGehlot’sOfficer onSpecial Duty(OSD), LokeshSharma, willappear beforethe DelhiPolice onMonday in connectionwith thephonetappingcase.ThiswillbeSharma’sfirstap-

pearancebeforetheDelhiPolice,whichhassentfoursummonsesto Sharma so far. The latest one,asking him to appear onDecember6, had reiterated thatnon-compliance of the sum-monsmayleadtohisarrestEarlier, Sharma was sum-

monedonJuly24,October2andNovember12thisyear.The repeated summonses to

Sharma are in connectionwithanFIRlodgedbyUnionJalShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat on March 25 thisyear. Shekhawat had accusedSharma and others of criminalconspiracy and “unlawfully in-tercepting telegraphic signals(telephonicconversation)”.

Gehlot’s OSD toappear beforeDelhi Police today

LokeshSharma

New Delhi

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TRAGEDY AND TRUSTNagalandkillingsaren’tamere‘blunder’.Exemplaryactionbasedonfairprobeisthewaytoearnpeople’strust—andkeeppeace

MORETHANAdozenpeople,includingajawan,allinnocent,werekilledinMondistrictinNagalandSaturdayinwhatsecurityforcessaywasabotched-upcounterinsurgencyoperation.TheAssamRifles,whichundertook theoperation,hasofficiallyexpressed regret andhasor-dered an inquiry. UnionHomeMinister Amit Shahhas announced

thataspecial investigationteamwillprobe.A freeandfair investigationshouldbeheld toget to the bottomof thematter and identifywhere andhow the operationwentwrong.Understandably,thereissadnessandangeracrossNagaland—andelsewhereinthecoun-try—at thiswantonact of killing. Reports of violenceas a responsearedisturbingandallgroups,politicalpartiesandcommunity leaders, and thesecurity forces, too,mustget to-gethertocalmtempers.Thegovernment’simmediatetaskistoreachouttothefamiliesofthebereavedandact fast toaddress thebreachof trustbetween the localpopulationandstateagencies.TheMonincidentcomescloseontheheelsofthekillingofacommandingofficerofAssam

Rifles,alongwithsixothers,inManipurlastmonth.Thetenuouspeaceintheregion,wheremultipleinsurgentgroupshavebeenoperatingforyears,cansnapatanytimeifthepoliticalleadership,securityforcesandthecivilsocietyceasetobevigilant.The1997ceasefireagree-mentbetweentheNSCN-IMandsecurityforceshasheldupdespiteupsanddownsonlybe-causeallactorshave invested inpeace.TalkswiththeNSCN-IMforasettlement toendtheseven-decade-oldNagainsurgencyisatanadvancedstage—aframeworkagreementwassignedin2015;thisincidentcouldderailtheprocess.TheunrestinneighbouringMyanmarhasreportedly influencedtheprioritiesofNagaandManipur insurgentgroups thathaveabaseinthatcountry. ItmayspillovertoborderdistrictsofNagalandandManipur.All thesedemandextremevigil andcaution fromsecurity forces—theAssamRifleshas stated thatSaturday’s actionwas“basedoncredible intelligenceof likelymovementof insurgents”—whichareentrustedwiththetaskofdefeatinginsurgency.Theyneedtobeextracautiousandsensitivetolocalcommunitieswhiledoingtheirjobunderextremepressure.TheNortheast,with itspatchworkof identitiesandacomplexhistoryofnation-build-

ing,hasalwaysbeenfraught,itsgeography,historyandpoliticaleconomyconduciveforin-surgentgroupstooperate.State-buildingherehastobeanextremelycautiousexerciseandnegotiatedwithmultiplestakeholders,whooftenprivilegelinguistic, regional,ethnicandclanidentity.Over-securitisationofthepoliticaldiscourseormixingupreligionwithnation-alismcanhavedireconsequencesintheregionwheremultiplefaultlineshaveenduredfordecades.Theimmediatetaskistoquell theviolence,holdtoaccountthoseresponsibleforthistragedy—avoidanymovetobrushitawayasamereblunder—andkeepthepeace.

A CODE IN PROGRESSARTBillplugs longstandingregulatorydeficit.Waysmustbe

foundtomake itmore inclusive

LASTWEEK, THE Lok Sabha passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology(ART) Regulation Bill that sets standards and codes of conduct for fertilityclinics and spermbanks in the country. The piece of legislation caters to alongstandingneed. In thepast20years, the increase in thenumberofARTclinicsinIndiahasbeenamongstthehighestintheworld.Theycatertoabur-

geoningmedicaltourismindustryandsignificantly,toagrowingsectionof thecountry’spopulationthat is turningtoARTssuchasgametedonation, intrauterinedissemination,in-vitrofertilisationandintracytoplasmicsperminjectiontohavechildren.Becauseofde-clining fertility rates, a substantial sectionof Indiansmarrying later thanthegenerationbefore them, and the increasingprovenanceof singleparenthood, theuseof such tech-nologiesisboundtogrow.Atthesametime,morethan80percentofclinicsinthecoun-try offering ART facilities are reportedly unregistered. The ethical aswell as safety-re-lated issues germane to this regulatory deficit have been apart of conversation for twodecades. The ICMRdid lay downguidelines for ART clinics in 2005. But these protocolsdidnothaveanylegislativebacking. If theARTBillbecomesalaw,itwouldbeincumbentonclinics toensure that commissioningcouples,womenandgametedonors are testedaccordingtotheestablishedprotocols. ItalsoprovidesforadatabaseofARTclinicsinthecountry. Inspiteof thebroadscopeof theBill itwouldbe,however,pertinent tosee leg-islationintheareaasaworkinprogress—itwilldemandmoresensitivityfromlawmak-ers indealingwithchangingsocial, demographicandmedical trends.TheBill does tick several rightboxes in stipulating that the clinicsprovide counselling

about thechancesof success, costs, side-effectsandrisks, includingthatofmultiplepreg-nancies. Importantly, it talksof informedconsentof donorsand legalisesARTproceduresforlive-incouplesandsinglewomen.However,asseveralmemberspointedoutinthede-bateintheLokSabha,thebilldiscriminatesagainstLGBTQandsinglemaleparents. Itgoesagainst thespiritof theSupremeCourt’s landmarkverdict inNavtej JoharvUnionof Indiaandassumesaformalisticpositionontherightsof same-sexcouplestoraiseafamily.ItseemsthattheheteronormativelineofthinkingoftheSurrogacyBillpassedbytheLok

Sabhain2019—theRajyaSabhareferredittoaselectcommittee—hasdriventheARTBillwhen it shouldhavebeentheotherwayaroundgiventhat theARTsector ismoreexpan-sive than the surrogacy sector. TheUpperHousemust take the conversation further andmakesurethatthelawkeepsupwiththeinclusivepotentialof reproductivetechnologies.

My right to breathe

AshokGulati

Centreandstatesneedto incentivise farmers toreducericecultivationto tacklepollution

WHENIWASbornintothisworld, I thoughtI hada right tobreathe fresh air, as thatwasprovided freebynature.Butbeingbornandbroughtup inDelhi, I nowfeel that freshairhas becomea luxury,which I can avail onlyfora fewdays inayear. For therest, Ihavetogasp for fresh air. My lifespan has alreadybeen cut short by almost three years by thepollutedair,asperexperts,andifbusinessasusual continues, millions in the NationalCapital Region (NCR)will be choking in the“gaschamber” thatDelhihasbecome.SupremeCourt (SC) judges have rightly

pulleduptheDelhiandcentralgovernmentsfornotdoingenoughtocorrectthisdiresit-uation. They also remarked onwhat mes-sage we are sending to the world. If onelooksatthecapitalsofG20countries,Delhi’sairquality index (AQI)duringNovember1-15, is by far the worst at 312, as perWorldAirQualityIndexProject.ComparethiswithBeijing (China) at 91, Buenos Aires(Argentina)at26,Canberra(Australia)at20,SaoPaulo (inplaceof Brasilia)at18,Ottawa(Canada)at25,andsoonwithmostof themfallingbelow50,andsomebetween50and100. India is obviously a clear outlier. ButIndia’sdistinctiongoesbeyondDelhi.AspertheWorld Air Quality Report of 2020, pre-paredbyIQAir(aSwissorganisation),of the30most polluted cities in theworld, 22 arein India. So, the problem is much deeper,raising doubts about the quality of our ur-banisation.Before a cure comes the right diagnosis.

As per the report of the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest, and Climate ChangesubmittedtotheUNFrameworkConventionon Climate Change, energy generation(largely coal-based thermal power) is thebiggestculpritwithashareof44percent ingreenhousegasemissions,followedbyman-ufacturing and construction (18 per cent),agriculture (14 per cent), transport (13 percent) industrial processes and product use(8percent) andwasteburning (3percent).To replacecoal inenergygeneration, so-

larandwind is thewaytogoat theall-Indialevel. In this regard, the PrimeMinister hasdoneacommendablejobinGlasgowtocom-mitthat50percentof India’senergywillbefromrenewablesourcesby2030.Butthecur-rentmodel in solar energy is heavily tiltedtowardscompanies.Theyaresettinguplargesolar farmsondegradedor less fertile lands.But that land is gone for the next 25 yearsonly for solar energy. Nothing else can begrown on those corporate solar farms. It isgood froman efficiency standpoint tomin-imise the cost of energy generation, whichluckily isnowevencheaper than thecostofthermalenergy. Ihavenoproblemwiththismodel.However,whatifwesupplementthatmodelbydevelopingsolarfarmsonfarmers’fields?Thiswouldrequiresolarpanels tobefixedat a10 feetheightwithdue spacing tolet enough sunlight come to the plants forphotosynthesis.These“solartrees”canthenbecome the “third crop” for the farmers,earningthemregularincomethroughouttheyear,providedthelawallowsthemtosellthispowertothenationalgrid.TheDelhigovern-ment’spilot inUjwaKVKlandontheselinesshowedthatfarmerscanearnuptoRs1lakhper acre per year from this “solar farming”.This isontopof thetwocropstheycankeepgrowing under those solar trees. This willdouble farmers’ incomewithin a year. Theinvestmentof “solartrees” infarmers’ fieldsisstilldonebycompanies.Theonlythingthatfarmershavetosignonisasortofbondthattheywill not uproot these solar trees for 25years, as that is the life cycle of such solarprojects.Doublingfarmers’incomeby2022-23 is a dreamthat PrimeMinisterModi hasaspired to, and here is a chance to turn thatdreamintoa reality.ButletmecomebacktoDelhi’spollution

asDelhiitesaregaspingforbreathrightnow.AspertheSystemofAirQualityForecastingandResearch (SAFAR), the reasons for poorAQIdifferdaytoday.Forexample,betweenNovember 9 and 13, 30 per cent of Delhi’spollution was due to stubble burning, an-

other22percentfromtransport,18percentfromexternal(otherthanstubbleburning),12percent fromindustries,4percent frombio-fuels, dust 8 per cent and the rest-local(6percent).Butthiscontributionof stubbleburningdropstojust8percentif theperiodconsideredisfromOctober30toNovember3.Onaparticularday,sayNovember7,stub-ble burning contributed 48 per cent ofDelhi’s air pollution,which fell to just 2percent onNovember 18. The fact is that evenfor a day,when theAQI is above350,whenDelhiitesarealreadygaspingforbreath, thisstubble burning can be the last proverbialstrawonthecamel’sback.TheCentreneedsto sit downwith neighbouring states andcomeupwithaplan to reduce the riceareain this belt, which is already depleting thewater table, creatingmethane and nitrousoxide, to incentivise farmers to switch toother crops through better returns than inrice cultivation.To tackle vehicular pollution, we need a

massivedrivetowardselectricvehicles(EVs),and later towards green hydrogenwhen itbecomes competitive with fossil fuels.Scaling up EVs quickly demands creatingchargingstationsonawarfooting,muchlikewe developed vaccines for Covid-19 andscaled up hospital beds during the secondwaveofthepandemic.Parkinglotsinoffices,housingsocieties,hotels,hospitals,shoppingmalls, petrol pumps, etc, need to have fastchargingpoints. This is a business opportu-nity,butlawmakerscanexpediteitbychang-ing the rules of thegameandprovidingup-front subsidies on EVs, if need be, equal tothe taxesondiesel/petrol vehicles. Thehes-itancytobuyEVsduetolackofchargingsta-tionsmustgo.Delhi also needs a good carbon sink.

Rejuvenating the Ridge area with denseforestsanddeveloping thick forestsonbothsidesof theYamunamayhelp.

Gulati is InfosysChairProfessor forAgricultureat ICRIER

On a particular day, sayNovember 7, stubble burningcontributed 48 per cent ofDelhi’s air pollution, whichfell to just 2 per cent onNovember 18. The fact is thateven for a day, when the AQIis above 350, when Delhiitesare already gasping forbreath, this stubble burningcan be the last proverbialstraw on the camel’s back.The Centre needs to sitdown with neighbouringstates and come up with aplan to reduce the rice area inthis belt, which is alreadydepleting the water table,creating methane andnitrous oxide, to incentivisefarmers to switch to othercrops through better returnsthan in rice cultivation.

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,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021WORDLYWISE

Youcan’thaveoccupationandhumanrights.

— CHRISTOPHER HITCHENSTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Freeze Frame E P Unny

Deepika Saraswat

TEHRAN’S WHITE FLAGIranwants theVienna talks to succeed, endsanctionsagainst it

IRAN’S NEW DELEGATION joined theseventh roundof talks inViennaon the re-vival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction (JCPOA). Insharpcontrast to theap-prehension that having delayed the talksfor four months since the inauguration ofthenewadministration, thehardlinerteamwill lead to a deadlock in negotiations,Deputy Foreignminister and leadnegotia-tor Ali Bagheri told reporters at the end ofthe first day of talks, that all the issues re-mainingfromtheprevioussixroundscouldbenegotiated.Thenewteam,however,bringsthepolit-

ical sensibilities of the incumbent conser-vative administration into its approach tonegotiations. Bagheri hasmaintained thatnegotiations should not be called nuclearnegotiations, as thekeyobjective is the lift-ing of sanctions. In line with this goal, theIraniandelegationiscomposedof legalandbanking/financial officials, with most ofthemhavingservedasrepresentativestoin-ternational organisations, including IAEA.Upon Iran’s insistence, a meeting of theJCPOA Joint Commission’s working groupon lifting sanctionswasheld onNovember29, theworking grouponnuclear commit-mentsmet thenextday.During the four-month hiatus, Iran ex-

pandeditsstockpileof60percentenricheduranium and denied IAEAmonitoring ac-cess to the Karaj centrifugemanufacturingworkshopafter itcameunderasabotageat-tack in June2021, forwhich TehranblamesIsrael. As the European Union coordinatorof the Joint Commission of the JCPOAreached out to Tehran, raising “urgency” toresume talks, the new administration de-

clared that “Iran’s actionswill be commen-suratewith the level of actions of the otherparties”. Analysts argue that by enrichingnearly weapon-grade uranium, Iran isdemonstratingitscapabilitytoswiftlyretal-iate ifWashingtonwas todoanothervolte-face on the agreement. Further, unlike thepreviousadministration, theRaisiadminis-tration is delinking Iran’s economy fromJCPOA negotiations, prioritising economicdiplomacy with Asia so that any renegingonadeal byWashington in futuredoesnotcause a shock to Iranian economy. In anut-shell, Iran’sapproachistobuildleverageandnot compromise on key issues of lifting allsanctions, including those imposed after2018, and guarantee against future viola-tionsof theagreement.Another indication that Iran is serious

about the revival of JCPOA is the continua-tion of intensive diplomatic outreachwithits Gulf neighbours under the Raisi admin-istration, raising hopes that the agreementreachedinViennawillhaveacceptancefromIran’s neighbours whowere critical of theJCPOA. Tehran has traditionally refused tolinkthenucleartalkstodiscussionsonIran’sregional policy and ballistic missiles pro-gramme bymaintaining they are separateissuesandregional issueswillbediscussedwithregionalstatesalone. InOctober,whenIran’sForeignMinisterHosseinAbdollahiancalledontheUSpresidenttore-enterJCPOAthroughanexecutiveorder,healsosoughttoreassureIran’sGulfneighboursthatthenu-clear deal “will not be against the region orour neighbours” and that Iranian “negotia-torsshouldappraiseneighboursandkeyre-gionalplayersof nuclear talks.”

AbdollahianhascalledhisUAEcounter-part SheikhAbdullah bin ZayedAl-Nahyantwice in November and emphasised theneed for “continuous consultations” be-tweenthetwocountries. Justafewdaysbe-fore the resumption of negotiations,Tehran’s chief negotiator Bagheri travelledtoDubai andmet senior officials, includingAnwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to theUAE President. Similarly, Raisi administra-tion’swillingness to have a fourth roundoftalkswithRiyadhinBaghdadthisyearbodeswell for restoring peace and stability in theregion and Riyadh’s support for the agree-ment reached inVienna. TheBidenadmin-istration, on its part, has been engaging itsregionalalliesandpartners fromthebegin-ning of the negotiations, and is supportingits allies’ engagement with Iran. RobertMalley,USSpecial Envoy for Iran, argued inthe recently organisedManama Dialoguethatmanyof theregion’sdysfunctionshaveroots inIran’sexclusionintheregion’ssecu-rity architecture.Notwithstanding Iran’s seriousness to-

wards negotiations, the role of another re-gional player, Israel, will also influence fu-tureprogress inVienna. Fornow,TelAviv ispressing its allies, the US and the UK, for ahardline approach to get a “longer andstronger”agreement.Butif thenegotiationsprolong and Iran’s stockpile of highly en-richeduraniumgrows,anysabotageattackson Iran’s nuclear facilities will likely sabo-tage the talks atVienna.

Thewriter is associate fellow,ManoharParrikar Institute forDefense Studies and

Analysis

Another indication that Iranis serious about the revival ofJCPOA is the continuationof intensive diplomaticoutreach with its Gulfneighbours under the Raisiadministration, raisinghopes that the agreementreached in Vienna will haveacceptance from Iran’sneighbours who were criticalof the JCPOA.

QUTUB TRAGEDYWHAT HAPPENED AT the Qutub onDecember4beggarsdescription.Thetragicdeaths, of children in particular, have beenmourned by the nation. Forty-five people,most of themchildren, hadbeenkilled in astampede of panic stricken people when apowerfailureturnedthehistoricmonumentintoatowerof fear.Evenasaone-mancom-mitteevisitedQutubMinaronDecember5,an element of mystery was added to thetragedy with the Delhi MunicipalCorporation claiming that there was nopower breakdown in the area during thetime of the tragedy. Amunicipal corpora-tionpressreleasedidadmitthatatruckcol-

lidedwithanelectricpoleleadingtoapowerbreakdown in the Katwaria Sarai area. Butit said this happened two hours before thetragedy.Someof thevisitorsdidsaythatthelightshadbeendeliberatelyswitchedoffbyhoodlums.

GRIEF IN PALITHEREWASNOTasinglesmilingfaceinPalivillage in Haryana’s Faridabad district. Thewomen sat crying in sympathywith thosewhowere in bereavement. Themen sat instony silence. The streetsweredeserted. Atthevillage crematoriumtherewere26 tinysmouldering heaps — of childrenwho had

been takenby their school for anexcursionto Delhi. A visit to the Qutub Minar, BirlaMandir and the zoo. It turned out to be adeath trap.

WHEAT IMPORTSINDIA IS IMPORTING onemillion tonnes ofwheat fromAustralia in addition to the 1.5million tonnes from the US. The consign-ment ofwheat from theUShas already be-gun to arrive. Thedecision to importwheatfrom the two countrieswas taken simulta-neously. But no quantitywas fixed becausethegovernmentwanted toverify thequan-tityofwheat reserves in thecountry.

DECEMBER 6, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

New Delhi

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“It may or may not have been done to appease the world powers — which haveyet to accept the new Afghan government — but it is a welcome move on the partof the Taliban to take a notable step concerning the rights of Afghan women.”

—EXPRESSTRIBUNE,PAKISTANTHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Russia is acutely conscious ofthe huge imbalance in itsgreat power relations.Persistent conflict with theUS, Europe, and Japan havemoved Moscow ever closer toBeijing. But Moscow knowsthe dangers of relying solelyon a neighbour which hasrisen to greatness — theChinese economy at nearly$15 trillion today is nearly 10times larger than that ofRussia. While resettingRussia’s relations with theWest is hard, sustaining thetraditional partnership withDelhi is of some politicalvalue to Moscow. Delhihopes that Washingtonappreciates its assessmentthat Russian neutrality, if notsupport, is critical inbalancing China in the east.

IDIDNOTintendtowriteaboutCOP26.Muchhas alreadybeenwritten about the subjectand I amno climate change expert. But Ichanged my mind after reading AshleeVance’s biography of ElonMusk. The booktriggered the reflection that thecurrentgapbetween the ambitious rhetoric of climatechange summitry (“blah blah” in GretaThunberg’swords) and action can only bebridgedbyshifting the loci of responsibilityandauthorityforclimatechangegovernancefromthosefixatedontheshort-termand,inthe larger schemeofmatters, inconsequen-tial details like the next elections, to thosewhohave a track record of bringing aboutradicalchangeinthefaceofadversity.Iknowthis reflection goes against the structure ofthepresent internationalorderandIwillbecritiqued for engaging in an academic par-lourgame.ButIbelieve,onoccasion,thereismerit in arguing the counterfactual. That iswhyIsharemythoughts.After26meetings,itisclearCOPsummitry

canmake incremental progress. Theworldhas,however, runoutof time. Itmustaccel-erate the implementationof theactionplantowardsnetzero.Forthat,itmustredesignthenatureofclimatechangegovernance.COP26wasnotall“blahblah”.Ninetyper

centof theworldcommittedtoanetcarbonzero target; 23 countries agreed to stop fi-nancing fossil fuels by theendof 2022; 100countries committed to enddeforestation;the accounting systems for calculating car-bonemissionswerefinalisedandnotably,thephasedownof coaland inefficient fuel sub-sidieswasaccepted.Onthesubstantiveissueofclimatefinance,however,itwasstill“blahblah”. The earlier pledge by thedevelopedworld tochannel$100billionto the lessde-velopedwas notmet; they committed alowly$346milliontotheclimateadaptationfund.PMModi’scallthat$1trillionberaisedforclimatemitigationandadaptationwasnottakenupseriously.The NGO, Climate Action Tracker, has

analysed the consequences of COP incre-mentalism. They calculate thatwere thereno climate change policy, global tempera-tureswouldrisebybetween4.1and4.8de-grees C above pre-industrial levels. Thiswould be existentially catastrophic.Were,however,everycountryto implementtheirnon-binding nationally determined com-mitments for 2030, the temperature risewouldbe2.4degreesCand,ifoverandabovethat, theymet their binding commitmentsincludingnetzerotargets,theincreasewouldrange between 1.8 and 2.1degrees C. Theirmessageis:Theincreasecanbekeptwithina“sustainable”rangebut furtherprevarica-tionintheimplementationoftheactionplantowards net zero carbonwill push the in-crease above an acceptable thresholdwithdevastatingconsequences.Thereisbroadconsensusonwhatmust

bedonetogettonetzero.Manypeoplehavewrittenon the subject but JohnDoerr’s re-centlypublishedbook,SpeedandScale—AGlobal Action Plan for Solving our ClimateCrisis Now provides a particularly com-pelling account. Doerr lays out a six-pointaction plan for bringing carbon emissionsdown from the current annual amount of59GTtozeroby2050.Isummarisetheplanbelow. (The number/comment withinbrackets is the carbon reduction from theaction/thekeyfactors forsuccess).Electrificationoftransport(6GT;battery

technology);decarbonisationofthegrid(21GT;50per cent of electricity fromsolar andwind;nonewoil andgasplants after2021;retirementofthermalpower);fixfood(7GT;no nitrogen-based fertilisers; containmethane/nitrousoxide emissions fromricefarming);protectnature(7GT;netzerodefor-estationandeliminationof deep sea trawl-ing);cleanupindustry(8GT;reducecarbonintensity in cement/steel/aluminum); re-movecarbon(10GT;nature-basedandengi-neeringsolutions).Doerr isnotbreakingnewground.Most

countrieshavealreadycommencedthejour-ney. But noone country can singly addressthesystemicchallengeofglobalwarming. Itrequirescollectiveaction.And,thereinliestherub. The current institutions of governancehavecreatedaforumforcollaborativeeffortbuttherulesofengagementreinforcesepa-rateness.Thisisthereasoninstitutionsneedtoberedesigned.ThisiswhyIamengaginginthis“Muskian”parlourgame.WhyMusk?Heishardlyalikeablecharacter.Certainlyhisbi-ographer doesnot sketchhimout to be so.But the answer is this game is not aboutMusk. It is about the qualities required tobreakwithincrementalism.Itisabouttheim-perativeofmakingthingshappen.Musk is today amongst the richest per-

sons in theworld. Hiswealth comes fromthree companies renowned for their engi-neering, technical, operational andhumanresource excellence.Musk created thesecompaniesinthefaceofextremeodds.Thereweremanywhothoughthis visionwasbe-tween“daft”and“bat s**t crazy”. This isnotsurprising.Howcanonetakeseriouslysome-onewhose lifemission is to create analter-nativehabitablecolonyonMarsbecauseourplanet isatrisk?ButMuskwasnotdeterredandheprovedhiscriticswrong.Thereasonsforhis success aremanifoldbut inmyviewthemostimportantarehisuncompromisingcommitmenttohisvision,his“allornothing”approachandhis determination to achievethe“impossibleuponthe impossible”. (Oneexample: He had his people build a spaceavionicssystemfor$10,000whenthecheap-estexternalquotewas$10million).Musk’scareerstoryandqualitiesarethe

pegsonwhichIhangmylargerpointthatcli-mate change governanceneeds leadershipthatcanpullteethfromstone.TheremustbemanylikeMusk.Theyneedtocometogether.The leadershipof COP27 shouldbehandedover to such people: A collective of tech-nocrats, environmentalists, financiers, sec-toralexpertsunshackledbysovereigntyandpoliticsandcapableofdrivingtechnologicalchange, catalysing green investment andforgingglobalcollaboration.

Thewriterischairmananddistinguishedfellow,CentreforSocialand

EconomicProgress

ASPRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi and thevisitingRussianpresident,VladimirPutin,tryto reset their relationship today amidst a se-riesofrecentdifferencesrangingfromAf-Pakto the Indo-Pacific, two factorswill continueto limit thepossibilities for thebilateralpart-nership. One is the continuing conflict be-tweentheKremlinandtheWest.Theotheristheabsenceofathrivingcommercialrelation-shipbetweenIndiaandRussia.TherecentstoryofIndia-Russiarelationsis

about keeping an old romance alive asDelhiandMoscowalignwithmoreattractivepart-ners.IfDelhi’sloveaffairwithWashingtonhasneverbeenasintenseas it is today,Moscow’sembraceofBeijingistighterthanever.ThattheUSandChinaarenowateachother’s throatsmakes the great power dynamic a lotmorecomplicatedfor IndiaandRussia.ThiswouldnothavematteredifRussiahad

a sensible relationship with America andIndia’s tieswithChinawerepeacefulandsta-ble. That Delhi andMoscowhave problemswith the best friend of the otherwouldhavebeenmoremanageable if business ties be-tweenIndiaandRussiaweresolid.Intensifyingthestrategicsideoftherelationship—asModiandPutinareexpectedtodothisweek—isnotenoughto lift thebilateral relationshipoutofthestasis it findsitself in.Monday’s summitwill see the institution

of a new “two plus two”mechanism thatbringstheforeignanddefenceministersfrombothsidesintoasingleforum.Thereisspecu-lation about a new10-year defence pact be-tweenthetwocountries.Thetwoleadersarealsoexpectedtopresideoverthesigningofanagreement onmutual logistical support foreach other’s armed forces. India has suchagreements onlywith a select fewpartnersliketheUSandFrance.RussiaispleasedthattheS-400missilesale

has gone through despite strongUS opposi-tion.For it signalsDelhi’scommitmentnot toletWashingtonrollbackIndia’s longstandingdefencetieswithRussia.Fornow,DelhihascertainlydodgedtheUS

sanctions on the purchase of S-400missiles.ButIndia’sdeepeningdefencetieswithRussiawill continue to raise political eyebrows inWashingtonandBeijing.Delhi remainswaryof thegrowingmilitarypartnershipbetweenRussiaandChinaandtheirsharedoppositiontotheIndo-Pacific framework.The structural constraints posed by the

greatpowerdynamicandvastlydifferentap-preciation of the regional security environ-mentcouldbereducedifmattersimprovebe-tweenWashington andMoscow. But fewinternationalobserversofUS-Russiarelationsarewillingtobetonthatprospect.Butagainstthe grain of conventional wisdom,WashingtonandMoscoware looking toeasesomeofthesetensionsandfindthebasisforasustainableengagement.InWashington,theBidenadministration

recognisestheimportanceofendingthisper-manent crisis in US-Russian relations.Presidents George W Bush and BarackObamamaderepeatedattemptsatresettingbilateral relations only to see them getting

worse. President Donald Trump sought tobreak the paradigm of the Russia relation-ship, but found himself confronting the en-tire political and security establishment.GiventheDemocraticParty’sconvictionthatRussiastoletheelectionfromHillaryClintonto install Trump in theWhite House, therewas little chanceof a reset.PresidentBiden,however,hasbegunanew

efforttoimprovetieswithRussia.HeoptedforanearlymeetingwithPutin—attheendofhistrip to Europe in June. After four years of in-tense hostility from the Democratic Party,BidenofferedrespectforRussia,andsignalledhiswillingnesstotreat itasagreatpower.HisDemocraticpredecessor,Obama,usedtodis-missRussiaasadecliningpower.TheBidenadministration,whichisfocused

onwinningtheintensifyingstrategiccompe-titionwithChina,valuesastable relationshipwithRussia.Forall itsdenunciationof theUS,Moscowhasalwaysbeeneagerforpoliticalac-commodationwithWashington. NothingpleasesMoscowmore than the imageof be-ingWashington’sequalontheglobalstage.ForMoscow, the American problemwas neverabout an ideological principle, but the termsofaccommodation.If theGenevasummitbetweenBidenand

Putin laidoutabroadframeworkforengage-mentonarangeof issues, thetwoleadersareexpectedtohaveavirtualsummitonTuesdayto reviewbilateral ties andprevent the esca-lationofthecurrentmilitarycrisisonRussia’sborderwithUkraine.A less conflictual relationship between

WashingtonandMoscowwillbeahugereliefforIndia;butDelhican’tnudgethemclosertoeachother.Moscowtoowouldlovetoseebet-ter relationsbetweenDelhiandBeijingbut isinnopositiontoengineerthatoutcome.WhereIndiaandRussiahavegreaterfree-

domisintheeconomicdomain,buttheirfail-uretoboostthecommercialrelationshiphasbeenstark.During the last20summitswithPutin,thetwosideshaverepeatedlyaffirmedthe importance of enhancing trade and in-vestmentties;butprogresshasbeenhardtocomeby.

India-Russiaannualtradeingoodsisstuckatabout$10billion.Incontrast,Moscow’san-nualcommercewithChinaisalittlemorethan$100 billion. India’s goods tradewith theUSandChinaisatthelevelof$100billion.Despite political tensions, India’s China

trade continues to grow,while Delhi’s com-mercialtieswithMoscowarestagnantdespitegoodpolitical relations. The problemclearlycan’tbefixedatthelevelofgovernments.TheRussianbusinesselitesgravitatetoEuropeandChina.TheIndiancorporationsarefocusedonAmericaandChina.Russiaisacutelyconsciousofthehugeim-

balanceinitsgreatpowerrelations.Persistentconflictwith theUS, Europe, and JapanhavemovedMoscow ever closer to Beijing. ButMoscowknows thedangers of relying solelyon aneighbourwhichhas risen to greatness— theChinese economyatnearly $15 trilliontoday is nearly 10 times larger than that ofRussia.WhileresettingRussia’srelationswiththeWest is hard, sustaining the traditionalpartnershipwith Delhi is of some politicalvalue to Moscow. Delhi hopes thatWashington appreciates its assessment thatRussianneutrality, if not support, is critical inbalancingChinaintheeast.RussiaknowsIndia’sstrategiccooperation

withtheUShasacquiredanunstoppablemo-mentum;andDelhiknowsithasnovetooverthe Sino-Russian strategic partnership.MoscowandDelhiarelearningtolivewiththisuncomfortableunrealityandstabilisingtheirpolitical tieswithinthatcontext.ButDelhiandMoscowhavenoreasonto

besatisfiedwiththepoorstateof theircom-mercial ties. The success of Monday’s sum-mit lies not in squeezingmore out of bilat-eral defence ties, but in laying a clear pathfor expansive economic cooperation, andgenerating a better understanding of eachother’s imperatives onAfghanistan and theIndo-Pacific.

Thewriter isdirector, InstituteofSouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandacontributingeditoroninternational

affairs forTheIndianExpress

CENSORING HISTORYTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Badedu-cation’ (IE, December 3). The CentralBoardofSecondaryEducation’s(CBSE)decision to take strict action againstthoseresponsibleforaskingwhichpo-litical party was in power in Gujaratduring the2002anti-Muslimviolenceinthestate inaquestionpaper isanat-tempt to push into oblivion one of theworst massacres witnessed in post-Independence India. The CBSE’sterming the question as “inappropri-ate” is beyond comprehension as itsown sociology textbook for Class 12mentions the anti-Muslim violence.Thus, by theCBSE’s logic, the textbookbecomes inappropriate, to beginwith.One wonders how asking a questionabout this violent episode harms thesentiments of people. If it does, theCBSEismoreconcernedaboutthesen-timents of those who butcheredMuslims inGujarat in2002thanthosewhowereatthereceivingendofthevi-olence. The editorial correctly asks ifsomeone in the CBSE felt its politicalmastersmay not be pleasedwith thequestion. Those who seek to perma-nently erase the 2002 anti-Muslimvi-olencefrompublicmemorydonotshyaway fromhighlighting the 1984 anti-Sikhviolence for theirnarrowpoliticalgains. Both hate-driven carnages tar-geted against minorities are a part ofourhistoryandmustbe taught.

SamiulHassanQuadri,Bikaner

MSP VIABILITYTHIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Fertile

ground’(IE, December 3). Celebrationsbyfarmerunions’overtheacceptanceoftheir demandby theNDAgovernmentfor therepealof thethree farmlawsarenatural. But now they should avoid in-sisting on the approval of aMinimumSupportPrice,thattoowithalegalguar-antee, for practically every crop. This isbecausethegovernmentwillfinditnei-ther fiscally possible to grantMSP forsundry crops, nor is it physically possi-bletostoresuchhugestocks.

TarsemSingh,Mahilpur

IMPRACTICAL COURTTHIS REFERS TO the report, ‘SCwarnsDelhi govt on pollution:Will appointsomeone to administer’ (IE, December3).Therecurrentannualadministrative,politicalandjudicialinterventionstoad-dresstheprotractedproblemofairpol-lution in Delhi during the wintermonths has become a ritual theatre ofthe absurd. InNovember 2019, the an-guishedSupremeCourtwhile admon-ishing the Centre, Delhi, Punjab,Haryana, andUttar Pradesh for air pol-lutioninDelhi-NCRhadlamented,“Thishasbeengoingonsincelong. Is thisnotworsethaninternalwar?Whyarepeo-pleinthisgaschamber?”In2021,theSCisratherupsetwiththeCentreandDelhigovernmentagain.However,givingonly24hoursforaconcreteactionplantosetright the systemic failure is high onrighteousness but lacking in practical-ity. A systemic problem can only besolvedthroughasystemicapproachandnot throughemergencydiktats.

LRMurmu,Delhi

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

HASMUKH SHAH (1934-2021) wasmanythings:Heheldmanyofficialpositionsundervariousadministrations,butwasnotabureau-crat; hewas a senior public sectormanager,butwasnot a professionalmanager; heheldpolitically sensitive appointments andwas aconfidantofmanypoliticians and industrial-ists,butwashimselfneither;hesponsorednu-merousartistsandwriters,buthewasneither.So, I fall backon the title of Robert Bolt’s playabout Sir ThomasMore,muchused, but sel-domrightly, to describe this great friend andmentorwhopassedawayonDecember3.Hasmukhbhai,ashewasuniversallycalled,

grewupinasmallprincelystateinSaurashtraandAhmedabad,enjoyinganunhurriededu-cation.He thoughthemightpursueaPhD inanthropology,becausepeopleintheNortheastfascinatedhim(thisinterestinfarawayplacesandpeople stayedwith him), but joined theeditorial teamof Gandhiji’s collectedworks,whichtookhimtoDelhi intheearly1960s.VadilalDagli, therenownedGujaratibusi-

ness journalist, suggested that hemight seeMorarjiDesai,whowaslookingforapersonalsecretary. He stayed in that position untilDesai’s sacking as deputy primeminister in1969.HecamebacktoserveintheDesaisecre-tariatwhentheformerbecameprimeministerin1977andremaineduntilIndiraGandhi’ssec-ondterm.Sensingthediscomfitureofthenewpoliticalset-upwithhim,hereturnedtoIndianPetrochemical Corporation (IPCL),whichhe

hadjoinedintheearly1970s.Heeventuallybe-cameitschairmanandsuccessfullymanagedits privatisation into theReliance fold. In hisownverymodestwords,inhisGujaratimem-oirsDithuMai (As I see it), “I first became ateacher,researcherandeditor.Thereafter,Iso-journedthroughpoliticsandpublic life. I laterbecamealinkinfinancialandpolicyrealms.”His years with Desai were a walk on

eggshells. The ever-principledDesai, seen asbeing cantankerous, neededHasmukhbhai’stact andmanifest people skills to getmostthings done. He describesmost sensitivelyDesai’s troubled elevation as primeministerandhis evenmore troubled eventual depar-tureinbriefchaptersofhismemoirs.Itriedtopersuade him towrite a full-length book onhisyearswiththeramrod-straightdisciplinar-ian.Hefollowedtheideabrieflybutthenaban-doneditbecausehecouldnotdoatell-allbook.His narration of his years with IPCL is

equallyself-effacing.Hislastingcontributionwasnotjustinprofitablyexpandingthepub-lic sector giant, but also imbuing it with asenseofwhatwenowcallcorporatesocialre-sponsibility. Someexamples:Hewas topro-curelandforexpansionatDahej,thenaback-waters barren area adjoining the Gulf ofKhambhat, some 70 km south of Vadodara.The salinity-affected land fetched as little asRs 6,000 an acre. Gujarat IndustrialDevelopment Corporation thought it couldget 2,000 acres at Rs 18,000 an acre.

Hasmukhbhaiheldameetingwithlandown-ers, keeping the brokers out. The farmers’angerwas palpable. He encouraged them toask for a higher price, but theywent no fur-therthanRs50,000anacre.Hefinallysettledthe deal at Rs 56,000 an acre for 2,000 acresand created great goodwill among farmers.Hesaidthatevenatthisprice,landaccountedfor less than 2 per cent of the project cost,while itmadeahugedifference to the farm-ers,whosetotalcapital itwas.Later, during theManmohan Singh gov-

ernment, therewas considerable thoughtabout land acquisition andpricing.Hewroteofferingtosharehisthoughtsandexperiences.That letterwasnotevenacknowledged.Hasmukhbhaiorganisedartists’campson

thesprawlingIPCLgroundseverywinter.Thiswasperhapsthefirst instanceofapublicsec-tor company turning a patron of the arts.Vadodaraalreadyhadaconsiderable reputa-tion as an arts centre. IPCL’s initiative helpedcementit further.HissuccessfuleffortatprivatisingIPCLat-

tracted theattentionofNarendraModi, thenthe chief minister of Gujarat. Modi taskedHasmukhbhaiwithworkingoutplansfordis-investmentinfourleadingstatepublicsectorenterprises.Hasmukhbhaiwentattheassign-mentwithhisusualzeal, only tomeetasolidwallofresistancefromadministrativeservicememberswhonormallywerethechiefexec-utives of such companies.Modi abandoned

the plan, but not before countingHasmukhbhaiamonghisclosestadvisors.HeandhiswifeNilawere inveterate trav-

ellers. Everywinter, theywent to far cornersof theworld. Theywereeasily themost trav-elled people I have ever known. He hadplanned onwriting someday about theselandsandtheirpeople,thuspartlyfulfillinghisambitionofcollegedays.Hewasthemovingspiritbehindcountless

cultural,artistic,ecologicalandheritageinitia-tives, especially Darshak Itihas Nidhi, inVadodara,which has perhaps farmore suchbodiesthananyothercityofitssize.Hisnameoften sufficed as a fund-raiser.His last publicappearancesixweeksagowasatthereleaseofabookontheecologyofcoastalGujaratunderthe aegis of Gujarat Ecology Society.Hasmukhbhaihadtoldmetwoyearsagothatheconsideredthisworktobethecapstoneofallhisefforts.SitanshuYashaschandra, thewell-known

Gujarati litterateur, says in his afterword toDithuMai, “I amafraidthat [thetrendof suchengrossing books]may endwith this book.”That fear is nowapplicable to all the variousactivitiesthismultifacetedmantookonasanactive participant, generous mentor andbenevolentpatron.

Thewritertaughtat IIM,Ahmedabadandwasthefounder-directorof theInstituteofRural

Management,Anand

HasmukhShahleftamarkonpolicyandfinance,aswellasarts,heritage,ecology

Aman for all seasons

Resetting Putin’s red carpet

CRSasikumar

Leaders for COP27Scaleofglobalwarmingchallengerequiresleadersunshackledbyincrementalism.NextCOPshouldbeledbycollectiveexperts

Shreekant Sambrani

Greatpowerpolitics—conflictsbetweenRussia,ChinaandtheWest—putslimitsonthebilateralrelationship.ButDelhiandMoscowhavenoreasontobesatisfiedwiththepoorstateoftheircommercialties

RAJA MANDALA

ByCRajaMohan

OVER THE BARREL

ByVikram SinghMehta

New Delhi


EXPRESSNETWORK

IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,DECEMBER5

JUST 11 years after the first ele-phant sightingwas recorded inMadhyaPradesh, a seven-mem-bercommitteeofwildlifeexpertswill hold a two-daymeeting inBandhavgarhTigerReservestart-ingMondaytolookforwaystoad-dresswhatofficialssayisagrow-ingproblemof human-elephantconflict.Thestaterecordedanewhighof nearly 110elephants thisyear.AfterChhattisgarhwascarved

out over two decades ago,MadhyaPradeshhadonly sevenelephantsby2017,accordingtoof-ficial estimates. In2018, thestatebecamehometoaherdof40ele-phantsthatsettledinthetigerre-serve -- theherd's count today is42. This year, another herdof 40elephants was sighted inAnuppur,apartfrom14elephantsinMandlaand12inSidhi.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,

Alok Kumar, Principal Chief

Conservator of Forests (PCCF),said:“InMadhyaPradesh,recordsof the first sighting of elephantsbegan in2010. Back then, hardlyoneor twoelephantswere spot-ted.Butovertheyears,especiallysince 2017, their numbers havegoneupsignificantly.”AccordingtoKumar,therisein

elephantnumbershas led to theneed to findways to avoid hu-man-elephantconflict,leadingtothe formationof the committee.Knownasatigerstate,theincreas-ingnumberofelephantshasalsoled to the first census of the ani-malbeingconductedinthestate.Indiaishometonearly60per

centof theworld’s populationof50,000Asianelephants.Apart fromAlokKumar,MP’s

committeeof experts includesDSukumar, an elephantmanage-mentexpert fromBengaluru;BSAnnigeri, the field director ofBandhavgarh reserve; AbhilashKhandekarfromthestatewildlifeboard, and representatives ofWildlife Institute of India (WII)and Indian Institute of Forest

Management (IIFM). The com-mitteewas set up on a recom-mendationfromKhandekarafterseveral instances of forest fireswerereportedinthetigerreservelast year. Forest officials suspectthat some of these fires weresparked by villagers toward offanimals, includingelephants.“Elephants are tracing their

geneticmemory and looking fora safe habitat through their oldcorridors.Insituationswhentheirhabitat is threatened, they re-es-tablishtheiroldcorridors,whichiswhy they are travelling longdis-tances in searchof food andwa-ter,”saidAnandShinde,anexpert.Shindehasbeenstudyingthe

movement of elephants in

Maharashtra’sGadchiroliwheretheyhavebeenspottedafter300years-- theyarebelievedtohavetravelled 350 km fromChhattisgarh’sRajnandgaon.InMP,officialssaid,themove-

ment of elephants fromChhattisgarhtotheborderingdis-tricts of Sidhi, Singrauli, Shahdol,Anuppur,Mandla, Dindori andBalaghat for breeding has in-creasedoverthepastfouryears.“It was like a scene from

Discovery channel,” saidMakkhanlal Choudhary, a resi-dentofPhulwariTolavillage,7kmfromtheChhattisgarhborder, inKotmatehsilofMP’sAnuppurdis-trict.Hewasdescribingthesight-ing of a herd of 40 elephants onSeptember27.“Spotting elephants has be-

comeroutineover thepast threeyears. But thiswas the first timethat we saw such a large herdtramplingourfieldsfornearlytwomonthsinsearchoffood,”hesaid.Nearly 700 farmers of 15 vil-

lages inKotma tehsil had to facethebruntofelephantmovement

thisyear.Inall,theadministrationpaidthemoverRs40lakhincom-pensationforthedamagecausedto crops andnearly 20houses --thehighest suchpackageever inthedistrict.Sofar,atleastninedeathshave

beenreported in thestatedue tohuman-elephant conflict. “Ourcommunitieshavebeenhere forthree generations and elephantsightingswereunheardof in thepast.Butnow,notonlyhavetheybecomemore frequent, theherdsizes are getting larger. TheherdthatcameinSeptemberstayedfor54days,”Choudharysaid.Officialssaiditwasthesecond

herdtocometoAnuppurthisyearfrom the neighbouringManendragarh district ofChhattisgarh. InAugust,aherdof18 elephants killed threepeopleinAnuppur--afour-year-oldboyandhisgrandparents--beforere-turning to Chhattisgarh. TwootherincidentshadbeenreportedinApril2020aswell.Abdul Ansari, Anuppur’s

DistrictForestOfficerwhotracked

the herd of 40, said elephantscover ahuge forage area as eachrequires 150 kg of food andaround200 litres ofwater everyday. “Elephants are now beingpushedtoforcefulmigrationwithdisturbanceintheirnaturalhabi-tat. It isonlytheestablishmentoftheir old corridorswithout hu-man intervention thatwillworkasapermanentsolution,”hesaid.According to officials, forest

cover has shrunk afterChhattisgarhwas carved out tomakeway forhighways, railwaylines, transmission lines and in-creased human intervention.Theyhavenowbegunawarenesscampaigns, including the use oftorches and smoke to keep ele-phants away without causingharm. PushpendraNathDiwedi,a conservationistwithWildlifeTrustofIndiawhohasbeenwork-ingwithvillagersinBandhavgarhtigerreserve,said:“Unlesstheoldelephant corridors are restoredandpreserved,measurestakentoavoidconflictwillonlyworktem-porarily.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,DECEMBER5

ACTOR JACQUELINE Fernandezwas on Sunday stopped fromleavingthecountrybyimmigra-tionofficials at the internationalairport inMumbai as therewasaLookOutCircular (LOC) issuedby the EnforcementDirectorateagainst her. The LOCwas issuedin connectionwith the SukeshChandrashekhar extortion andmoneylaunderingcase.The actor wanted to go to

Dubai for a showwhen shewasstopped at theMumbai airport.

ED sourcessaid shewouldnowbe taken toDelhi forquestion-ing. The EDhad re-centlyfiledachargesheetagainstSukesh and

othersinconnectionwiththeRs200-crore money launderingcase. The allegation was thatSukesh,whilehewasinTiharjail,had extortedmoney from thewifeof abusinessman.

The ED had earlier allegedthat they hadunearthedmone-tary transactions betweenSukesh and Fernandez. The EDhadfurtherallegedthatshewasalsogivengifts bySukesh.ApartfromFernandez, theagencyhadalso called actor Nora Fatehi tojointheprobe.Anofficialsaidtheinvestiga-

tioninthecaseisstillonandtheywillbequestioningFernandezinconnectionwiththecase.Tillthetime the probe was on, theagency did notwant Fernandezto leave the country followingwhichanLOChadbeenissuedbythem.

Take a callon Ankit Das’smedical plea asper jail manual,orders court

JacquelineFernandez

Case againstDeshmukh: EDrecords ParamBir’s statement

Two held forattempt to throwblack powder atLoksatta Editor

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

WITHTHEsecuritysituationem-anating out of Taliban-ruledAfghanistan a “shared concern”,PrimeMinister NarendraModiandRussian President VladimirPutinonMondaywillfocusonter-rorism as a common threat tobothcountriesandtheregion.PutinwillarriveinNewDelhi

onMonday,whileRussianForeignMinister Sergey Lavrov andDefenceMinister Sergey Shoyguwere scheduled to arrive onSundaynight.Topgovernment sources told

TheIndianExpressonSundaythatthe twosideshaveworked“veryclosely”on the issueof threatsofterrorism,terrorist financingandthe flowof arms, and the drugstrade,andthattheseissuesareex-pectedtobereflectedinthejointstatementafterPutinmeetsModi.The government source

pointed out thatNewDelhi andMoscowhaveworkedtogetheronat least threemajormultilateralgroupings—Russia-India-China(RIC), BRICS and SCO (ShanghaiCooperationOrganisation)—andthe conversationwill be carriedforwardatthebilateralmeetingsaswell. In fact, to strengthen thebilateralmechanism—anewfor-mat, the2+2ministerialmeetingbetweentheForeignandDefenceministers of both sideswill alsotake place onMonday, ahead ofthePutin-Modibilateral summitintheevening.Sofar,Indiahas2+2ministerialformatswithonlytheQuad countries—US, Japan andAustralia.Officialssaidthatattherecent

RICmeeting,Indiahadnegotiatedhard on including references tothe Financial Action Task Force(FATF).Whilethereisnomentionof any terrorist entities— fromIndia-focusedgroupslikeLashkar-

e-Taiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed,oranyothergroup,including the ETIM (EastTurkestan IslamicMovement)—atopgovernmentsourcetoldTheIndian Express, “In the last 10-15years of RIC statements, terroristentitieshavenotbeenmentionedintheRICjointdocument.”AheadofPutin’svisit,Indiahas

clearedthelong-pendingAK-203Kalashnikov rifles deal worthnearlyRs5,000croreforthepro-duction of over 5 lakh rifles at

Korwa in Amethi by an Indo-Russian joint venture. The twosidesarealsonegotiatingtowrapupthefinalphaseofnegotiationsforalogisticssupportagreement,whichislikelytobesignedeitherduringthe2+2talksoratthesum-mit.IndiaandRussiaarealsosetto

renew for the next decade aframeworkformilitary-technicalcooperation,besidesannouncingajointcommissionontechnologyandscience.Thetwosidesarealsolikely to finalise anumberof de-fenceprocurementproposals,be-sides deliberating on the long-pending project for jointproduction of 200 twin-engineKamov-226TlighthelicoptersfortheIndianarmedforces.Oncooperationinareasofde-

fence, sources said the twosidesareset to focusonco-productionand co-development ofmilitaryequipment and platforms.Referringtoinvestmentties,theysaid the target of $30billionhasalreadybeenmetin2018andnowthefocusisonraisingitto$50bil-lionby2025.SourcessaidIndiaisalsokeenonboosting trade rela-tionswiththeRussianFarEastand11governorsfromtheregionhavebeen invited for the upcomingVibrantGujaratconclave.The day will begin with

DefenceMinisterRajnathSingh’stalkswithhisRussiancounterpartShoyguunder the frameworkofthe India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission onMilitary-Technical Cooperation.Separately, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankarwill holdtalkswithhisRussiancounterpartLavrov. Then theministerswillholdthe2+2dialogueat11:30am.PMModiandPresidentPutin

will hold a one-on-meeting at5:30 pm, and a dinner will behosted for theRussianPresidentbeforehedepartsfromNewDelhiat9:30pm.

RUSSIANPRESIDENTARRIVESTODAY

VladimirPutin

Modi, Putin to focusonterror ascommon threat

FROMTHERICtobilateralconversations, Indiahaspushedforreferencestoconcernsonterrorismtobereflectedinthejointdocuments. Infact,afterthefallofKabul,PutinandModispokeandRussianNSANikolaiPatrushevwassenttoNewDelhitocarryforwardtheconver-sation.Whilebothsideshavesharedconcernsandobjectives,theirwaystoachievethosegoalsaresomewhatdifferent.Thatisreflectedintheiren-gagementswiththeTalibanandPakistan.

India’skeyconcernE●EX

PLAINED

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER5

ASMANY as 69 people, includ-ing 59 students of a school inKarnataka's ChikkamagalurudistricttestedpositiveforCovid-19 infection as the active case-loadintheclusterrosefurtheronSunday, officials of the healthand familywelfare departmentconfirmed.Thenewcluster of cases has

been identified at the JawaharNavodaya School at Seegodunear Balehonnur after samplesof418people,includingstudentsandstaffmembers,weretested.The testswere carried out afterthree students and four staffmemberswere diagnosedwithCovid-19 on Friday. Another 36people in the cluster were de-tectedwith the viral illness onSaturday.District Health Officer S N

Umeshsaidanother26samplesreturnedwith a positive resulton Sunday. “With this, the total

number of active cases in theclusterhasrisento69, including59 students,withmost of thembeing asymptomatic. Theirhealth parameters are beingmonitoredcontinuouslyandtheschool has been sealed for thenext fortnight. All infected peo-plehavebeenquarantinedindif-ferentblockswithinthecampusitself,”hesaid.Incidentally,thiscomesaday

after Chief Minister BasavarajBommaiannouncedthegovern-ment’s decision that any areawith three or more cases ofCovid-19will be classified as acluster,citingmeasurestakentocontain the spread of theOmicronvariant in thestate.Earlier, Bruhat Bengaluru

Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)haddefined clusters to be with atleast tenactiveCovid-19cases.AsonSunday,thehealthbul-

letinstatedthatChikkamaglurudistricthad314cases. Thesamehad shot up by nearly seventimesastheactivecaseloadwas45adaybefore.

69, mostly students,test positive for Covidin Karnataka school

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, DECEMBER5

TWO PEOPLE tried to throw“bukka” (a black powder) atLoksatta Editor Girish Kuber ashearrivedattheAkhilBharatiyaMarathi Sahitya Sammelan inNashik on Sunday. Policemendeployed for Kuber's securitycaughtthetwoaccusedandtookthemintocustody.IdentifiedasSatishKale (46)

andRajendraGund(42),botharefromPuneandSambhajiBrigadeworkers,accordingtothepolice.At 1pm, as Kuber's vehicle

was entering, the two emergedfrom the crowd and tried tothrow the black powder onKuber. The two were arrestedunderSection151ofCrPC(arrestto prevent commission of cog-nisableoffence), police said.Kuber's book Renaissance

State: The Unwritten Story of theMakingofMaharashtrahasbeencriticised by the SambhajiBrigade.

Jacqueline Fernandez stopped fromleaving country at Mumbai airport


NCPPRESIDENTSharadPawaronSunday said VinayakDamodarSavarkarheldascientificapproachtoHinduismandwas oneof theearliest topromote templeentryreformsforDalits.“It was Savarkarwho advo-

catedtheutilityof cowmeatandmilkforhumanconsumption.Hewasa rationalist.Heapproachedtheissuescientifically,whichcan-not beundermined,” Pawar saidinhis address on the concludingdayoftheAkhilBharatiyaMarathiSahityaSammelaninNashik.His remarks cameadayafter

Opposition leader DevendraFadnavis said the BJPwould nothaveanythingtodowiththesam-melanastherewasnomentionofSavarkarintheprogramme.“Theorganisers of the SahityaSammelan have deliberatelyskipped including his name.Where Savarkar is insulted,whyshouldwego?”hesaid.Savarkar had presided over

theliterarymeetin1938.NoonefromtheBJPattended

theevent. Fadnavishadnotbeen

invitedforthemeet,hisofficetoldTheIndianExpress.Pawar,who said the BJP had

createdan“unnecessary”contro-versy, spokeabouthowSavarkarhad built a small temple inRatnagiriandappointedaDalittoconduct the rituals. “This wasdonetoconveythemessageofso-cial equality. Those days Dalitswere not even allowed to entertemples. Handing over templechargewas unthinkable. Now,these are some aspects whichshow that Savarkar had a scien-tifictemperament,”Pawarsaid.PawaralsosaidSavarkar’scon-

tribution to the freedommove-ment could not be overlooked.“He is revered by everybody inMaharashtra and Marathimanoos,” theNCPleadersaid.

SharadPawar

Savarkar had scientifictemperament: Pawar

WINTER’S PASSAGEA traffic jaminGulmarg,apopular touristdestination,after freshsnowfall inBaramulladistrictof JammuandKashmirovertheweekend. ShuaibMasoodi


ALOCALcourtinLakhimpurKheridistrict has directed the districtprisontolookintoapetitionfiledbyAnkitDas,whoisamongthe13menaccusedofkillingfourfarm-ersandajournalist inLakhimpurKheri onOctober3, for the treat-mentofamedicalcondition.Thecourt on Saturday directed theprisonadministrationtotakeade-cisionasperthejailmanual.Ankit,who is the nephewof

formerUnionministerAkhileshDas,saidinhisapplicationhehasbeen undergoing treatment forlumbar disc prolapse at aLucknowhospital.Heurgedthecourt to allow him to go for acheck-upandgetthejailauthor-ities to provide himwith a sur-gical chair.District government counsel

SPYadav saidDas requested thecourt to direct jail authorities tosendhimto thehospital.Healsoofferedtobeartheexpenditureforthe surgical chair. “On the letter,thecourtdirectedthejailauthor-ities to look into thematter anddecide on it according to the jailmanual,”Yadavadded.On October 3, a convoy of

threeSUVs,includingaMahindraThar owned byUnionMinisterAjayMishra, ran over a groupoffarmersprotestingattheTikoniacrossing.Fourfarmersandajour-nalistwere among those killed.Soon after, two BJP leaders andthe driver of the Thar were al-legedlylynched.The Uttar Pradesh Police’s

Special Investigation Team (SIT)has arrested thirteenpeople, in-cludingAjayMishra’ssonAshishMishrawhowasallegedly in theTharwhen the farmers and thejournalistweremoweddown.Four others have been ar-

restedinconnectionwiththeal-legedlynching.

MadhyaPradeshrecordednearly110elephants thisyear,andarise inhuman-elephantconflicts. Express

In MP, experts meet today on surge in human-elephant conflict

Cyclone Jawad:Rain lashesOdisha, Bengal;more likely innext two days

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIABHUBANESWAR,KOLKATA,DECEMBER5

HEAVYRAINpoundedthesouth-ernpart ofWest Bengal and thecoastalregionofOdishaonSundayaffecting normal life, as cycloneJawadweakened into a depres-sion,theMetdepartmentsaid.Thecyclonicstormislikelyto

further weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area dur-ing next 12 hours, as a result ofwhich several districts of southBengal may receive heavy raintill Tuesdaymorning.Heavyrainaffectedthefunc-

tioningofParadipportinOdishawhile reports of crop loss werereceived fromdifferent parts ofthestate, anofficial said.TheWestBengalgovernment

stopped ferry services on theHooghly river, evacuatedpeoplefrom coastal areas and urgedtouristsnottovisitseasideresorts.A trawler sank during an-

choring in coastal South 24Parganasbutnocasualtywasre-ported, anofficial said.Fishermen have been asked

not toventure into thewestcen-tralandnorthwestBayofBengal,and along and off AndhraPradesh,OdishaandWestBengalcoastsduringthenext24hours.The India Meteorological

Department said thedistrictsofNorth 24 Parganas, Nadia andMurshidabad are likely to wit-ness heavy rain till Tuesday.Squallywindwith speed reach-ing 40-50 kmph is also likelyalong and off theWest Bengalcoast tillMondayafternoon.


THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate(ED)has recorded the statementofnowsuspendedMumbaiPoliceCommissionerParamBirSinghinconnectionwith itsmoney laun-dering case against formerMaharashtraHomeMinisterAnilDeshmukh.Singhwasquestionedforover

fivehoursunderthePreventionofMoneyLaunderingAct at theEDoffice in South Mumbai onDecember 3by anofficial of thedeputy director rank of theagency. Singh’s statement formsthe core of the case againstDeshmukh, and itwas crucial toquestionhim,saidasource.OnDecember2,thestategov-

ernment suspended Singh andDCPParagManere.AstringofFIRswas registered against both ofthemonchargesofextortion.Singh, who alleged that

Deshmukh collected protectionmoney from bars in Mumbai,wentonleaveinMay. Deshmukhiscurrentlyinjudicialcustody.

RAJASTHAN

WomanjumpsintowellwithfivedaughtersKota:Upset over regularfightswithherhusband,a40-year-old woman al-legedlyjumpedintoawellwith her five minordaughters, all of whomdied,when theman hadgonetoattendthecondo-lencemeetingofarelative,police said on Sunday.They said the villagersspotted the six bodiesSundaymorning and in-formed the police whorushed thebodies to a lo-cal hospital. They wereresidents of Kaliyahedivillage. PTI

BRIEFLY

UTTARPRADESH

Manheldfor‘spitting’onrotis:PoliceMeerut: TheMeerut po-lice have arrested amanfor allegedly spitting onrotis while preparingthem at an engagementceremony function hereon December 1, it islearnt. The accused,Naushad, a resident ofKaithwadi village inMeerut has been sent tojail and the caterer,Baleshwar,wastakenintocustody but releasedlater, police said. ENS

MADHYAPRADESH

Teendrugged,raped;diesofbleedingAnuppur: A 17-year-oldgirl dieddue toexcessivebleedingaftershewasal-legedly raped by a manwhogaveheraphrodisiaccapsules inAnuppurdis-trict, police said Sunday.The incident took placeon the intervening nightof Friday and Saturday,they said. The accusedwas booked under sec-tions 376 (Punishmentfor rape), 363, 366 (ab-duction) and304 (culpa-ble homicide notamountingtomurder)ofthe IPC along with thePOCSOAct. PTI

LAKHIMPURKHERICASE

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

DEEPTIMANTIWARY&ESHAROYNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

THE INCIDENTatOtingvillage inNagaland’sMondistrictmayhaveanimpactontheNagapeacetalks,with sources saying that thegroups negotiating with theCentremaybeunderpressuretoholdback to reflect public angeroverthekilling.“This isnot aNagalandPolice

operation,where the state gov-ernment elected by the peoplecan be held responsible andwhere local police personnelwould be involved. This is anIndianArmyoperationgonehor-riblywrong. Itwill give credenceto the longstanding narrative ofIndia versusNagapeople. It goesontostrengthenthehandsof in-surgentgroups,eveniftemporar-ily. Itwill requireratherdefthan-dling fromtheCentre, beginningwith quick and visible actionagainstthoseresponsible,”asen-iorsecurityestablishmentofficertoldTheIndianExpress.While the Centre has been

wooing various factions of theNSCNfor long,overthepastcou-ple of years the governmenthasmanaged to bring quite a fewgroupsopposedtotalkstothene-gotiating table. These includegroupsledbyKhangoKonyakandNikiSumi,whichwerebothoncepart of the anti-talks faction ofNSCN, theNSCN-K. Sumiwas infact themilitary commander ofNSCN-K, which is said to haveconsiderableinfluenceinthedis-tricts of Nagaland borderingMyanmar.Sources said the incidentwill

forceevenpro-Indiagroupstoar-ticulate public sentiments overthe issue. “Until now, only theNSCN-IMhasbeenthestumblingblock to theNaga Peace Accordfrom being finalised. All other

Naga groups, part of NagaNationalPoliticalGroups(NNPG)or otherwise, want the deal tohappen as quickly as possible.However, the incident nownotonly givesNSCN-IMahandle topushbackagainstIndiainthene-gotiationsbut alsoputspressureon other groups to raise theirvoice,”asourcefromtheNagalandadministrationsaid.A central government source

said, “If deftly handled, itwon'thavemuchof an impact. In con-flict zones, such violence, eventhough it has not happened formanyyears inNagaland, is not amatter of great shock. Yes, somenoises will bemade. Butmostgroupsknowwhattheywantandnegotiationswillhappenonthat.”To add, sources said, the inci-

dent is likely tobe a reminder oftimespeoplehavetriedtoforget.In a statement, theNSCN-IM

calledita“blackday”forallNagasand termed the incident “un-precedentedinrecenthistory”.“TheIndiansecurityforceswill

never be able towash its handsoff... Notwithstanding the ongo-ing Indo-Nagapolitical dialoguethathas seenmuch fruitiondur-ing the period... the violenceagainst theNagas continuesun-abated,”itsaid.In a strong statement, the

NNPG,which comprises sevenNagaland-basedinsurgentgroupswho has so far supported thepeace talks process, rescindingmanyof itsearlierdemandssuchasseparate flag,blamedthecon-tinued implementation of theArmedForcesSpecialPowersAct,1956forsuchincidents.“The Indo-Naga peace talks

areover.Nowthe Indiangovern-mentneeds topush through thepeace process... If the peaceprocesswas in place, the CentrewouldhavetorepealAFSPAfromNagaland...” saidNNPGworkingcommitteememberGZhimomi.

FAMILYMEMBERSDEMANDANSWERS

Babri demolitionanniversary:Security beefedup in Mathura

AssamRiflespersonnelatacampof the forceonSundaywhichwassetonfire intheviolenceoverSaturday’skillings. PTI


THEOPPOSITIONonSundayhitoutatthecentralgovernmentaf-ter14civiliansandasoldierwerekilled in abotchedArmyopera-tion in Nagaland'sMon districtneartheIndia-Myanmarborder.It asked the government to en-sure“anhonestandopen”probeintotheincidenttobringoutthetruthandensureaccountability.With Parliament in session,

the Opposition asked the gov-ernmenttomakeastatementintheHouseonwhatwentwrong.“Thisisheartwrenching.GOI

must give a real reply.What ex-actlyisthehomeministrydoingwhenneitherciviliansnorsecu-rity personnel are safe in ourown land?” senior CongressleaderRahulGandhi said.LeaderofOppositioninRajya

SabhaMallikarjun Kharge saidHomeMinisterAmitShah“can’tget away by just expressing an-guish”.“UnderModi Government’s

rule, the North-East has wit-nessed an increase in turmoil.Government must ensure thevictimsget justice,”hesaid.

Calling for an honest andopen inquiry, Congress deputyleader in Rajya Sabha AnandSharma said the governmentmust make a statement inParliament.“It ismost tragic and deeply

regrettable. Itshouldhaveneverhappened. It is unacceptable ina rule governed democracy.Withmuch difficulty we havehadpeacerestoredintheregion.Ihopethehigh-levelprobeasas-sured by the Army brings thetruthoutandensuresaccounta-

bility,” Sharma toldThe IndianExpress.Trinamool Congress chief

andWest Bengal ChiefMinisterMamata Banerjee said the gov-ernmentmust “ensure a thor-oughprobeintotheincidentandensure that all victimsget justice”.Strongly condemning the

cold blooded killing of 13 civil-ians,theCPI(M)demandedcom-pensation and justice forthevictims.The CPI said HomeMinister

Amit Shah owes an answer tothenation.“It is very painful to see that

ourciviliansarebeingkilled.Onesecurity personnel was alsokilled.What is the intelligenceagencies doing?What was theintelligence input? Nobodyknows. The Home Ministerdoesn’t speak on such issues.AndHomeMinister Amit Shahmakes tall claims about secu-rity,”CPIgeneralsecretaryDRajasaid. “Even in Jammu andKashmirwe saw civilians beingkilledinencounters.InNagalandnowcivilians arekilled.What ishappening to our security as-sessment...whatarethesecurityforces doing to protect the livesof our civilians. The HomeMinister owes an answer to thenation.”While arguing that theincident was highly con-demnable, senior RJD leaderManojKumarJhatoldTheIndianExpress, “We cannot ignore thefact that things are really not ingood shape in theNortheasternpartof ourcountry.”“Iurge thegovernmentboth

at Centre and the state tomovebeyond rhetoric andmake surethat the accountability is fixedsoon,”hesaid.

NagalandministerPPaiwangKonyakwithadministrationandsecurityofficialsat thesiteof theviolence.ANI

Move beyond rhetoric, ensure fair probeto fix accountability, says Opp to Centre

Konyak tribenumbers makethem crucial topeace talks


AT THE centre of the violencewhichfollowedthekillingof sixcivilians inOting village ofMondistrict inNagalandonSaturdayevening, and which led to thekillingofeightmorecivilians,aretheKonyaks–amongthelargesttribes in thestate.Withapopulationofroughly

3lakh, thearea inhabitedbytheKonyaksextendsintoArunachalPradesh,withasizeablepopula-tion inMyanmaraswell.Known to be one of the

fiercest warrior tribes inNagaland,theKonyakswerethelast to give up the practice ofhead-hunting – severing headsof enemies after attacking rivaltribes– as lateas the1980s.

Mon is the only district inNagaland where separatistgroup NSCN (IM) has not beenabletosetupbasecamps,largelydue to resistance from theKonyaks.Duetotheirnumbersandthe

tribe’s anti-NSCN (IM) position,theKonyaksformsthebackboneof theNNPG–7Naga insurgentgroups indigenous to Nagaland– unlike the IM,which is domi-nated by the Manipur-originTangkhul tribe.The Konyaks therefore, are

imperative for a smooth resolu-tionof thepeacetalks,aswellasthe post-talk peace process inthestate.Senior leaders in the

Nagaland government fear thatunless the Konyak people aremollified,thisincidentcoulddis-rupt thepeaceprocess.Over the years, eastern dis-

tricts in Nagaland, includingMon, have been demanding aseparateFrontierNagalandstatelargely because of the “biased”developmental expenditure,with little development workcarried out in theseremotedistricts.

E●EXPLAINED

MAYURAJANWALKARPANAJI, DECEMBER5

OVER72HOURSaftertheMVShriKrishna 8 barge disappeared atsea amid inclementweather onDecember 2, four of its crewmembers remain untraced.Neither thebarge, nor its debris,has been sighted at sea even asCoast guard search operationsthat continued through Sundayare expected to continue onMonday.“Oursurfaceandaerialsearch

operations have been going on

throughout the day.Weusuallyclose search operations after 72hoursbutwehavedecided togobeyondinthiscase,”saidArunabhBose, Deputy InspectorGeneral,IndianCoastGuard.OnDecember2,thebargecar-

ryingironoresetsailforGoafromthe Jaigarh Port inMaharashtrawas met with heavy rain andstrongseacurrents atabout2am.AccordingtoCoastGuardofficials,afterencounteringroughweatheratnight,thebargeissuspectedtohavecapsized.Ofthetencrewmembers,the

CoastGuardhadfoundonedead

andrescuedtwowhilethreeoth-erswere rescuedby three sepa-rate fishingboats. Over 24hours

after the survivorswere rescued,fourothersaremissing.WhileofficialsofShriKrishna

StevedoresPvtLtdinMumbaididnotshareanyinformation,anex-ecutive of the shipping agent inGoa who did not want to benamedsaidtheyhadengagedtwoprofessional divers and four pri-vatesearchvesselswereatsea.HesaidthatthedivershadmadeoneattemptatanunderwatersearchonSundaywithnoluck.Meanwhile, familymembers

of two of the fourmissing crewmembers arrived inGoaandarewaitingforanswers.

ShahnawazAlam,arelativeofmissingcrewmemberMosharrofAlam, met survivors NiteshVishwakarma andMohammedAnsariatGoaMedicalCollegeandHospital onSaturday. “Our fam-ilymember ismissing.Weneedanswers butmore importantly,weneedhimback,”saidAlam.“Our patience is running out

andhopeisdwindling,”saidAbuMohsin Mulla, a friend of AliMahammadSK,anothermissingcrew member. “He is the solebreadwinnerofhisfamily.Hispar-entsareold...Weneedourfamilymemberback,”saidMulla.

AMILBHATNAGARNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

THEMATHURA administrationhasscaledupsecurity,with3,000personneldeployedinthedistrictahead of the anniversary of theBabri Masjid demolition onMondayandanow-revoked calltoperformaHinduritualinsideamosquethere.Lastmonth, someright-wing

groups called on people to per-formaHinduceremonyinsidetheShahi Idgah in Mathura onMonday.They said thiswas to reclaim

theoriginal“birthplace”ofHindudeity,LordKrishna.Officials and the groups later

said the appealwaswithdrawn,but police are preparing for anypotentiallawandordersituation.“Wehavebeefedupsecurity

tonearly3,000securityperson-nelwhich includes several divi-sions.We are carrying out flagmarches, drills to ensurewearepreparedforalloutcomes.Inourconversationswith outfits thathadcalled for theceremony,wehavebeenensuredtherewillbenoprotest.Butwewillbesecur-ing the area to be ready for anyeventuality,”saidGauravGrover,SSP,Mathura.Accordingtoofficials,localpo-

lice, Rapid Action Force andProvincial ArmedConstabularyhave been deployed in heavynumbers.Itisthree-timesthenor-mallevelofdeploymentofpoliceofficials, theysaid.The Akhil Bharat Hindu

Mahasabha, SrikrishnaJanmabhumi Nirman Nyas,Narayani Sena, SrikrishnaMuktiDalwere among theoutfits thathad called forMonday’s congre-gation. They later said theyhaverevokedthecall.

Ablackflagbeinghoistedat thevenueofHornbill festivalonSunday insolidaritywithcivilianskilled inMondistrict. PTI

Goa: 72 hrs on, barge crew still missing, rescue ops on

Relativesof amissingcrewmember.Mayura Janwalkar

Insurgentgroupscondemnaction,call it ‘blackday’ forNagas

Nagalandkillingputsquestionmarkonpeace talks

Thiruvananthapuram: TheCPI(M)andtheBharatiya JanataParty (BJP) on Sunday tradedbarbsoverpoliticallinksofafive-member gang that allegedlystabbedtodeathalocalleaderofthe CPI(M) in Pathanamthittadistrictof Kerala lastThursday.Leaders of both the CPI(M)

and the BJP blamed each otherfor alleged linkswith the gang,andsaidthekillingwasoverpo-litical rivalry.P B Sandeep Kumar, CPI(M)

localsecretaryatPeringarainthedistrict, was allegedly killed bythegangwhilehewasreturninghome. Police arrested the fivesuspectsovernight.Policeinitiallysaiditappeared

to be a case of personal rivalry.LateronFridaynight,police,whilesubmitting the remandreport oftheaccusedincourt,expandedthemotivetosayitwasacaseof“per-sonalandpoliticalrivalry”.OnSunday, CPI(M) state sec-

retaryKodiyeriBalakrishnanvis-itedthefamilyofthevictim.“Thismurderwas executedunder theleadership of a BJPworker,whobroughttogethertheaccomplices.There is a high-level conspiracybehindit,”hesaid.BJP state president K

SurendranhitbackattheCPI(M)onSundayanddemandedahigh-level probe into themurder. “Ofthefiveaccused,fourhaveCPI(M)relation...,”hesaid. ENS

AMILBHATNAGAR&MANISHSAHUNEWDELHI, LUCKNOW,DEC5

THE CONVOY of former BSPleader Haji Yunuswas attackedinBulandshahronSunday,adayafterhejoinedtheRashtriyaLokDal.Onepersonwaskilledintheattack while four others havebeenhospitalised,police said.According to police, Yunus’s

convoyhadleftaweddingfunc-tion forMirzapur villagewhenmultiplegunmenopenedfireatanAudiSUVinwhichhisassoci-ateswereseated.Yunusescapedthe attack unscathed but fiveothers received bullet woundsand were rushed to hospital,where one of the injured, iden-tifiedasKhalid, succumbed.Bulandshahr SSP Santosh

Kumar Singh said, “As their ve-hicles were crossing a bridge,unidentified assailants beganshootingattherowofvehicles...The victims’ side believe thattheir nephewhad a role to playin the incident. Further investi-gation ispending.”Confirming the death,

Additional Superintendent ofPolice (City) S K Tiwari said po-liceareyettoreceiveacomplainttogetanFIR lodged.

BULANDSHAHR

Convoy of BSPex-leader firedupon, one killed

Kerala: Parties trade blameover CPM leader’s murder

RAVIKBHATTACHARYADEOCHAPACHAMI (BIRBHUM),DECEMBER5

ASTHEWestBengalgovernmentreachesoutwith a rehabilitationandcompensationpackagetothe16villagessituatedonwhatises-timated tobe the second largestcoalblock in theworld, there is amixofexpectationandapprehen-sion intheregionthat ishometo3,010 families, including 1,013from tribal communities— andseveralquestionsaboutlivelihoodandnewhomes.The Indian Express criss-

crossed the region to track thefirstkeystepsinthelandacquisi-tion process for the DeochaPachami project that ChiefMinisterMamata Banerjee hasestimatedwillsupplycoalforthenext100years.It found that while there is

support for theproject, there aresome concerns as well. It alsofound an undercurrent of statepoliticswith theBJP andCPI(M)raising questions even as a keygroupoflocalprotestersfromthe

tribal community joined the rul-ingTMClastmonth.On November 20, the state

government organised a “directmeeting” between the local ad-ministration, led by DistrictMagistrate Bidhan Ray, and arangeof stakeholders, includingthe chiefs of panchayats, villagesandtribalbodies,membersof lo-cal clubs, and representatives ofthe 20 stone quarries and 300crusherunitsinthearea.“We have given them hard

copies of the compensation andrelocationpackageinBengaliandSanthali.Wehave stressed thatthepackage alsohas aprovisionforagovernment job (asa juniorconstable)forthosewholosetheirland,”Raysaid.Accordingtoofficials,thepro-

posedprojectareacoversaround3,400 acres, with an estimatedyield of 2,102million tonnes ofcoal. And according to the Rs10,000-crore compensation andrehabilitationpackageannouncedby theChiefMinister in the stateassembly onNovember 9, Rs 10lakh-13lakhwillbepaidforeverybighaacquiredapartfromhomes

inresettlementcolonies.Apart from thepolice job for

eachfamilythat losesland, itwillget a 600 sq ft home and Rs 1.2Lakh for relocation.Workers instone crusherunitswill get one-timecompensationof Rs50,000andRs10,000everymonth for ayear.AgriculturalworkerswillgetRs50,000inaone-timepaymentand500daysworkunderNREGS.Theownersof stonequarries

andcrushingunitswillgetthepriceof land and compensation forhomes.Besides,thestonecrushingunitswillberelocatedtotheBasalt

IndustrialParkneartheprojectareaandget10 trucksof stoneseverydayforfreeforsixmonths.Atthevillages insidetheproj-

ectzone,however,questionsper-sist. “Many of the people don'thaveproperlandrecords,howwilltheygetcompensation?...ButIamhappy that the government hasstarted adialogue...,” said RobinSoren, secretary of BirbhumAdivasiGaonta,acollectiverepre-sentingtribalcommunities.BuddhinathHembram,who

liveswithhiswife,motherandtwochildren inHarinsingha village,

said:“Ihavesixbighasoflandandahome. Iworkinastonequarry...WhatwillhappenifIlosemyjob?Theofficials shouldcometoeachvillageandanswerourquestions.”InAlinagar, about2kmaway,

SheikhAbbasuddin,60,isworriedabouthisstonecrushingunitandspace for his family. “This area’seconomy runs on quarries andcrushingunits...Itisnotpossibletostopwithoutaproperalternative,”Abbasuddinsaid.“Also,Ihaveabigfamily... Howwillwemove to a600sqftquarters?”heasked.According to District

Magistrate Ray, officials are as-suringlocalresidentsthat“reha-bilitation colonies will be nearthe project area”. “We have togive people time to realise thebenefits,”hesaid.Then,there'sthepolitics.OnNovember20,theBJPsent

adelegationledbyRajuBanerjee,theparty’sstatevicepresident,tovisit the villages in the projectzone.Theyhelddiscussionswithresidents inonevillagebutwereshownblackflagsinanother.Four days later, local tribal

leaderSunilSoren,whowaslead-

ing protests against the project,joinedtheTMCwithhisfollowers.AccordingtoBJPdistrictpres-

ident ShyamapadaMondol, hisparty is “notagainst theproject”.“But the tribals are always de-prived. This time, they are de-mandingproperhousesandlandbeforetheprojectstarts...,”hesaid.TheCPI(M)isconcernedabout

theenvironmentalandsocialim-pact, and is planning to soonlaunchanagitation.“Therewillbeahuge impact of theproject, di-rectly and indirectly, on 70 percentofBirbhumdistrict.Waterre-sourceswill be affected, forestlandwill be destroyed...,” saidRamchandraDom,acentralcom-mitteememberandformerMP.TMC MLA from Birbhum’s

Labpur, Abhijit Sinha, claims thisis“thebestcompensationandre-habilitationpackageinthecoun-try”. “Each sectionhasbeencov-ered,beitfarmers,tribals,landlesslabourers, crusherunitsandoth-ers. I appeal to everyone to leavetheir narrow interests andmakethisprojectsuccessful,”hesaid.


TriballeaderRobinSorenwithresidentsofHarinsinghavillage,insidetheprojectareaofDeochaPachamicoalblock.ParthaPaul

As Bengal moves on mega coal block, chorus onthe ground: ‘Come to our villages, talk to us’

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER5

POINTINGOUT that Bharat fromtimeimmemorialhadbeenaspir-itual country, Jammu, Kashmirand Ladakh High Court ChiefJusticePankajMithalSundaysaidthe addition of “socialist” and“secular” to the already men-tioned“sovereign,democratic,re-public” in the Preamble of theConstitutionin1976narrowedthevastnessof itsspiritual image.Deliveringkeynotelectureon

‘Dharmaand theConstitutionofIndia:TheInterplay’atafunctionorganised here by AdhivaktaParishad of J&K and Ladakh, hesaidIndiaiscapableoftakingcareof all its citizens and the socialistnature was inherent in it.Pandavas toMauryas, Guptas,Mughals andBritishers ruled it,butIndiawasneverdefinedonthebasis of religion as a Muslim,Christian or Hindu nation, be-

causeitwasacceptedasaspiritualcountry, he said. “By adding theword‘secular’,wehavenarrowedownvastnessofspiritualappear-ance...,’’ he said, adding that “thiscanbesaidanarrow-mindedap-proach”.Otherwise, Bharat fromtimeimmemorialhadbeenaspir-itualcountryanditsnameshouldhavebeen “Spiritual Republic ofIndia”,headded.Referringtotheamendments,

hesaid it isgoodtohaveamend-mentsastheseprovehelpful,butthosenot innational interest areof nouse. “Sometimes,webringamendments due to ouradamancy,” he said. In this con-text, he referred to two amend-ments brought into theConstitutionin1976–oneaddingFundamentalDutiesinChapter14andalongwith it, adding ‘social-ist’ and ‘secular’ to thePreamble.“Verygoodwords,butwehavetoseewhether these amendmentswereneeded,orthesehavebeenaddedattherightplace,”hesaid.

J&K CJ: Adding ‘secular’in Preamble narrowedIndia’s spiritual image

New Delhi


IDEAEXCHANGE Newsmakers in theNewsroom

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ShubhajitRoy:Thisyear,wemark13yearsof26/11terroristattacks inMumbai.WhatchangedintherelationshipbetweenIsraelandIndiapost26/11?I wasn’t here towitness the changes

but since the attack, the cooperation be-tweenthenationsontheissueofcounter-terrorism has been intimate. Be it themethods of work or technology, the twocountriesareworkingclosely.

ShubhajitRoy:What if todayasimilarattackhappened,doyouthinkanIsraelioperationispossiblehere?The intimacybetween the twocoun-

tries is such thatwhatever Indiawill askwillbeseriouslyandpositively lookedat.We also worked together during theCOVID pandemic. When most of theworld stopped the export of shieldingequipment formedical staff and people,Indiadecided toexport to Israel at a verysensitivetime.Whenthesecondwavehithere (India), Israel also sent oxygen andotherthings.Welookateachotherasveryclose friends and help inwhatever waywecan.

ShubhajitRoy: Israel sufferedthepandemicearlyonbut itwasalsoonethefastestmoverswhenitcametovaccination.What lessonsdidyoulearn?Israelwasoneof the first countries to

close the country because, initially, wedidn’t know what was happening.Because of a lack of information, you’renervous. Once Pfizer had the vaccines,Israelwasable to convince themthatwecan be a real test bed because Israel is averysmallcountry—9millionpeople.Wehavebeen living inasenseof emergencyfromDay 1, sowe arewell-organised inexecutingthings.WetoldPfizerthateveryIsraeli is underoneof fourhealth serviceproviders. All of them are non-profit or-ganisations.Wearealsoverydigitised,wehaveagooddatabase. Therefore,we toldPfizer that if you allow vaccination inIsrael,we’ll be able to providemicrodataonside-effects,problemsandagegroups.Most of the initial information that wasreleased by Pfizer was based on Israelidatabase.Wewere the first to vaccinate.One of the problemswas that we are ayoungcountry.Thirtypercentofourpop-ulationisunder16(yearsofage).Themostwecoulddowasvaccinate70percentofthepopulation,andwevaccinated90percentof this70percent.Wealsohavealotof anti-vaxxers.Wewent for thefirstandsecondvaccinationandwewerethe firstones,unfortunately,torealisethatthesec-ond dose’s effect faded after sixmonths.Sowewent for theboosterdosebefore itwas approved by the FDA (Food DrugAdministration), becausewehad theex-perience.Westartedvaccinatingchildrenfromtheageof five lastweek.

ShubhajitRoy:Agriculture isoneoftheareasof cooperationwhichhasemergedbetweenthetwocountries.Thereare29centresof excellence in12statesacross thecountry.Tellusalittleaboutthisareaof cooperation.WestartedourcooperationwithIndia

25 years ago. For these centres of excel-lence,Israelbroughtthetechnology,Indiabroughtthe land,manpowerandthe ini-tialinvestment.Israeliscamein,without-sourcedcompanies,andtheyputuptheirgreenhouses. I went to two places inHaryana— onewas for horticulture andone forbees.Wealsodidwatermanage-ment, which is a strong part of Israel.Haryana iswell-organisedand they tookall this technologyanddid it in layers.AllthejobsaredonebyIndians,Israeliscomefromtimetotimetoseeif thetechnologyisup-to-dateortofixsomething.Now,totake it to thenext level, there’s an agree-ment between our two governments toincreasethecentresofexcellencetoabout50,and,inthreeyears,have1,500villagesof excellence.

ShubhajitRoy:Totakeyoubacktotheregion... especially theAbrahamAccordsandlastmonthwhenforeignministerS JaishankarvisitedtherewasthisnewQuadofWestAsia—theUAE, IsraelandIndiaandtheUStakingplace.Yousaidearlier thatyouare inaveryhostileregion.So,whataretheseshifts?There’s a very significant shift in the

Middle East. Many Gulf and Arab coun-tries foryearsused Israelas thereasontoexplaintotheirpublicwhytheywereun-derprivileged;youalwaysneedanenemy.Foryears, theyhavebeenpoisoningtheirown populationwith the Palestinian is-sue. Butmanyof them,outof fearof Iranandthechanges in theMiddleEast,werecooperatingwithIsraelforyears.Becauseof the Abraham accords, their coopera-

tionwithIsraelwentfromunderthetabletoaboveit.TheUAEisthestrongestadvo-cate of this line. Bahrain, Morocco andSudan are there. Some countries are re-luctant to take it to theopenbut theyarestill there.Thisisahugeshift.Fortheydidwhatleadershipsshoulddo;theyputtheinterests of their citizens first. And Indiadid it before them, this de-hyphenation.When Indian Foreign Minister SJaishankar visited Israel, wewent to thisfighter-jet trainingBlue Flag in the southofIsrael.ItwasforthefirsttimethatIndianjets joined this training.We areworkingtogetherinmanyfields.Thisgroupof fouris not intended formilitary things. It’s agroupof like-mindedcountries fromdif-ferent regions. Theworld is divided be-tween pragmatists and extremists. Thepragmatistsarecomingforwardandsay-ingthatwearetryingtomakethelivesofourpeoplebetter. IsraelandIndiabelongto thisgroup.

KaunainSheriffM:There’sevidencethatweneedtovaccinatetheentireworldsothatwedon’thaveanewvariant.What is theglobalstrategyonvaccinationbecausetillnow,only50percentof theglobehasreceived justthefirstdose?Thisargumentisnotnew,and,yes,the

worldisaglobalvillage.Themanufactur-ing power of vaccines is becoming suffi-cient for theworldtodaybut I’mnotsureif all the governments are able to vacci-nate efficiently their population. Israelwas quick on its feet and reached anagreement(withPfizer).Maybesomewillsee it as selfishness butwe also did it fortheworld, so thatwe can share the datawiththeworld.Europe,now,willstartthebooster dose earlier than expected be-causeof Israeliresults.Manycountriesarelaggingbehind invaccinationand Idon’tthink it’s aboutmoney; vaccines are get-ting cheaper and themanufacturing ca-pacity is increasing. So, themore globalwego (with the vaccinations), thebetteritwill be forall of us.

MonojitMajumdar:Thenewvariant(Omicron) is inyourcountry...Wewill, unfortunately, have to take

measuresagainbutwearenowmorere-laxed andunderstanding. It’s badbut it’sdoable;wecanlivewithit;wecanfindanequilibrium that will enable us tomin-imise theharm.

ShubhajitRoy:NSO, the Israelitechnologycompany,createdPegasusforsecurityreasons. Italsohasbeenusedoncivil society—politicians,journalistsandactivists.Twoofour

colleagueswereonthelistofpotential targets.Asafellowdemocracy,youfeelconcernedthatatechnologyaspotentasthishasbeenusedagainst itsowncitizens?NSO is a private Israeli company,

whichdevelopedatoolforcounteringter-rorism and probably saved lives.Understanding the gravity of the tool,Israelputexportcontrolmeasuresonthetool.So,theyarelimitedintheirexporttoonlygovernmentplayersandonlycertaingovernment players. About all the ru-mours or claims around it, I have noknowledge about it. When it comes toIndia, it’san internalpolitical fight. I amadiplomat and the newambassador, I amnot allowed to go into internal debateshere. Iwill leave it at that.

ShubhajitRoy:DoestheIsraeligovernmenthave informationthatNSOhassuppliedorexportedthetechnologytoothergovernments?AsIsaid,exportofNSO,aprivatecom-

pany, is under supervision. They are notallowed to export, they don’t have a li-cence toexport.

ShubhajitRoy:TheIsraeligovernmentwillhaveaccess tonamesofcountries,agenciesandactors towhomNSOmighthaveprovidedthespyware?Theygetanexport licence.

ShubhajitRoy:Wouldyoubecomfortablesharingthat informationtosomecourt ifitasked?If it’shypothetical, Iwill notgo into it.

RajKamal Jha:So, the Israeligovernmentwouldknowif theNSOsoldthesoftwaretothe

Indiangovernment?Everyexportof thisprivatecompany’s

technologyhastogounderlicence.Ihopethey stand by the commitment becauseit’s a legal issuehere.

RajKamal Jha:Wouldthegovernmenthaveaviewonhowthesoftwarehasbeenusedordoes itkeepanarm’s length?Whenyousell a tool to someone, you

don’t know how they will use it ingeneral.Yousellsomeonesomethingbutyou’re not controlling what they dowith it.

ShubhajitRoy:There’snoend-userverification?There is end-user verification.Why

not?Export licence is toanenduser.

RajKamal Jha:HowseriouslydoyoutakeNSObeingputontheUSCommerceDepartmententities list?Iwillnotgointoanythingbeyondthat.

I cannot. I can tell you the same thing insevendifferentwaysbutitwillstillbethesamething.

RitikaChopra:Yousaidyouarenotsurewhetherthesoftwarewasmisusedornotbecausethegovernmentmaintainsanarm’slength.Butthefact is, thatwhetherIsrael isnotsureabouttheenduseofthatproduct, thereisanotherdemocraticcountryandoneof Israel’sstrongestallies,whichhasimposedsanctions.So,whentheUSaccusestheNSOgroupofactingagainst itsownnational interest,doesthat,bywayofassociation,notworryIsraelatall?I saidwhat I wanted to say. I think I

haveansweredthesamequestioninadif-ferentway.

RajKamalJha: Istherealessonfromthecontroversy... theneedforstrongerregulation, firewalls?I thinkwe are part of the technology

revolution andwe are losing our privacy.It’s already a dead game. Now the ques-tionis,whoislisteningtous?Thequestionis,dowewantonlythebadguysfromhav-ingit?Becauseyoucannotrestrictthebadguys.So, thequestioniswhetheryoualsowanttostopthegoodguysfromhavingit.ThisisagoodquestionthatIdon’thaveananswerto. Idon’tknowif Israel is limitingornotlimiting.ButIthinktheworldisbe-yond that point of no return. People feelthat they are already overexposed, I feelthat I’m overexposed as a human being.But that’s life.I’m speaking beyond the issue of

Pegasus,inawidercontext.Yes,Ithinkweshouldregulateingeneral—likewetoler-ate many things in life, like drugs andcrimes to a certain level, and, from thatlevelon, it isunacceptable.But it’snotgo-ing to be bulletproof becausewe are al-readythere. It’s really terrifyingtounder-stand how much information can begathered on uswithout evenmeeting usor seeing us or knowing anything aboutus.Wehavetolimititlikewehavetolimiteverythingthathasabadinfluence.

RakeshSinha:HowdoyouviewIndia’sde-hyphenationof relationswithIranandIsrael?Everycountryhasitsowninterests,its

own fears, its own concerns. I’mnot surethatIlikeeverythingIndiadoesandIdon’tthinkthatIndialikeseverythingwedo.Butit’s a friendship, it’s likeamarriedcouple.ComingbacktoIran, Idon’t thinkthatthedifference is sobigbetween India. Forus,Iran is a concern and I’ll tell you why.Because if you lookat theMiddleEast, allthe placeswhere you see problems, youseeanIranianfootprint.

RakeshSinha:ThiscooperationbetweenIsrael, theUAE,theUSandIndia,doyouseeitasacounterpact,whichwenowseeafterthewithdrawalof theUSforcesfromAfghanistan,whereyouhaveChina,Iran,PakistanandTurkey?Thispact isnotagainstanyone; it’s for

themoderates and the pragmaticswhowanttomaketheir livesbetter. I thinkweare coming together to do good for ourpeople and for the region, to stabilise, todobusiness, tobuild infrastructure.

AakashJoshi:Therewasthisreport inTheWallStreet JournalabouttheKhalifaport.TheChinesehavebuiltasurreptitiousbase.Howdoyouseethe

ChineseexpansionintheMiddleEastbecausethereisacommercial interestthatmanycountrieswillhavedealingswithChina?Wearenotagainstanyone;weare for

ourselvesandforourpeoples.Wearenotsaying that we are against Iran, China,Pakistanoranyone.At theendof theday,wearetryingtostabiliseWestAsiatobuildprosperity...Wedon’t seeChinaasamili-tary threat to Israel. On the contrary, wearecooperatingwithChinaeconomically;we’redoingthingstogether.Youareneigh-bours, you have your own issues withChina.Wedon’tseeChinaasadirectthreattoIsraelinanyway—notmilitary,nototh-erwise.

ShubhajitRoy:WhataboutthedefencerelationshipbetweenChinaandIsrael?Is itasrobustasIndia’srelationshipwithIsrael?Israel’s relationshipwith India on the

defence side ismuchmore robust thanthatwith China. Lot of our technology isAmerican andwe need to get Americanpermission toexport them.Asyouknow,the Americans are restricting export toChina and hardly restricting export toIndia.

AashishAryan:ManycompaniessuchasWhatsApp,ApplearesuingtheNSO.WhatdoesitreflectonotherstartupsinIsrael?Israelis companies have beenmost

traded onNasdaq. So, things (NSO beingsued)arenotconnectedinanyway.Doyouthink if one Indian company does some-thing, itwill influence other Indian com-paniesaroundtheworld?

SandeepSingh: Israelrecognisedcryptocurrenciesasactualcurrenciesin2018.Whathastheexperiencebeensofarbecausetherehavebeenalotofconcernsofcryptocurrenciesbeingusedforterror-funding,drugtrafficking?Idon’tknow. I’mnotanexperton

this. Idon’t thinkIsrael isa leaderwhenitcomestoregulatingcryptocurrencies. Ireallydon’thaveenoughknowledgeabout it.

KrishnKaushik:DoyouthinktheATHOSartillerydealhasbeensacrificedforIndia’s indigenisationpush?Weare trying to adjust ourselves, like

everyoneelse,totherulesofMakeInIndia.I don’t knowwhatwill happenwith thisspecificdeal.Wearereadytosharethecostof development and the experiencewehave.

WHY NAOR GILON

An Israeli diplomat who hasbeen foreign affairs advisorto three Israeli PrimeMinisters, Naor Gilon tookcharge as his country’sambassador to India twomonths ago. He has served inthe US and was ambassadorin Italy and The Netherlands,before he came to Delhi. Asstrategic partners, therelationship between the two

countries has grown in thepast few years in areas asdiverse as defence andagriculture, counter-terrorismand sophisticated technology.As the two countriescelebrate 30 years ofdiplomatic ties in 2022,Ambassador Gilon’s role inelevating the strategicpartnership to the next levelwill be key in the coming years

We are not againstanyone; we are forourselves and for ourpeople. We are notsaying that we areagainst Iran, China,Pakistan or anyone. Atthe end of the day, we aretrying to stabilise WestAsia to build prosperity

NSO is a private Israelicompany, whichdeveloped a tool forcountering terrorismand probably saved lives.Understanding thegravity of the tool,Israel put exportcontrol measures onthe tool

‘Intimacybetweenthetwocountriessuch...whateverIndiawillaskwillbepositively lookedat’NaorGilontalksabout Indiaand Israel comingcloserpost26/11, Israel’svaccinationdriveand lessons it learnt fromthepandemic,thePegasusspywareand lossof privacy.This sessionwasmoderatedbyShubhajitRoy,DeputyChief ofNationalBureau

ShubhajitRoy,DeputyChief ofNationalBureau,The IndianExpress,with IsraeliambassadorNaorGilon.GajendraYadav

I think that we are part ofthis technologyrevolution and we arelosing our privacy.It’s already a dead game.Now the question iswho is listening to us?How much is thisinto us?

New Delhi

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

INDIATOTALDOSES 127,61,83,065(1st DOSE:79,90,71,752; 2nd:47,71,11,313)

DOSESONDECEMBER4,BYSTATE

DOSESONDECEMBER41,08,38,090DEC3: 78,39,461 (1st DOSE: 23,70,010; 2nd: 54,69,451)

Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare;Dec4 figuresupdatedonDec5

*Excludingstates smaller thanDelhibypopulation(2011)

Nov25 Dec4

80,00,000

40,00,000

0LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

28,22,641

60,36,277 77,76,641

30,61,449

TOP5

Bihar 15,81,194TamilNadu 15,71,643Rajasthan 11,30,826UttarPradesh 11,26,080Maharashtra 10,21,093

BOTTOM5*

Punjab 1,11,389Jharkhand 1,36,740Haryana 1,39,395Delhi 1,65,311Odisha 1,70,205

ACTIVECASES99,155

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

819fromDec3

15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SIMPLYPUT

AANCHALMAGAZINE&ANILSASINEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

AHACKERonFridaypostedatweetfromtheofficial handle of the Pakistani embassy inBelgrade,claiminggovernmentofficialshadnotbeenpaidforthreemonthsamidgallop-ing inflation, andmockingly asked PrimeMinister Imran Khan if this was “NayaPakistan” he had promised. The ForeignOffice in Islamabad said the claim in thetweetwas“baselessandunfactual”.Pakistan’s GDP growth is projected to

touch a 4-year high of 5% in the fiscal yearendingJune2022—atthesametime,height-enedinflationaryrisksandanimminentbal-ance-of-paymentscrisishasthecountrytee-tering on the brink, dependent on externaldebtbailouts inorder tostayafloat.

Forex and currency crisesPakistanhasrepeatedlyrunintomacro-

economiccrises:runawayinflation,currentaccount and trade deficits, depleting for-eignreserves,andcurrencydevaluations. Itis facedwith a combination of these prob-lems again.The two immediate threats to the coun-

try’s $263-billion economy come from thebuild-upof inflationarypressures,andapay-ments crisis that stems fromacombinationof global and domestic factors — problemsthat thepandemichasexacerbated.Thesit-uation is similar to, andworse than, the cri-sisof2018,whenPakistan'sforeignexchangereservesplummeted tomulti-year low.AsofNovember19,Pakistan'sentire liq-

uidforeignreservesstoodat$22.773billion,accordingtotheStateBankofPakistan(SBP),the country's central bank. Of this, $16.254billionwas held by the SBP; the remainderwaswith commercial banks. The SBP's re-serves declined by $691million during theweekendedNovember19, primarilyonac-countofexternaldebtrepayments,GeoNewsreported.Pakistan's annual economic growth in

calendaryear2018was5.8%,butfellto0.99%ayear later,andfurtherto0.53%in2020,ac-cording to theWorldBank. This has led to abuilding-upofdeficitonthecurrentaccount—which captures the difference between acountry’s import and export of goods andservices, and includes net transfers such asforeignaid, overadesignatedperiod.Apersistentlyhighdeficitcanpotentially

lead to an excess supply of a country’s cur-rency in its foreignexchangemarket,whicheventually negatively impacts the value ofthe currency — this is a reason why thePakistani rupeehasbeen ina tailspin.

The IMFbailoutAs growth fell and debt services obliga-

tions mounted, the country, like severaltimes in thepast, hasbeen facedwithapo-tential balance-of-payments crisis. A BoPcrisis is triggeredwhena country is unableto finance its import bills or service its ex-ternaldebt. Pakistan importsmost itemsofdomesticconsumption,makingitmorevul-nerable to these pressures; the increasingdebtservicingobligationshaveaddedtothepressure.In2019,Pakistansoughtarescue lifeline

fromtheIMF,likeithas13timesoverthelastfour decades. In exchange for a $6 billionfundingpackage,Pakistanhadtocommittostructuralreformsandreducingpublicdebt.But the fundingplanstalledearlier thisyearoverissuesrelatedtoreformcommitments,andanagreementcouldbereachedonlyonNovember22.“The Pakistani authorities and IMF staff

havereachedastaff-levelagreementonpoli-cies and reforms needed to complete thesixthreview,”theIMFsaidinastatementthatday. Once the review is complete, 750mil-lioninIMFspecialdrawingrights(around$1billion)will be available to Pakistan, takingtotaldisbursements toabout$3billion.That same day, Shaukat Tarin, who is

equivalent to Pakistan's financeminister,pledged to undertake four other actions:withdrawaloftaxexemptionsandsubsidies,anincreaseinlevyonpetroproducts,higherpower tariffs, and an audit of some$1.4 bil-lion in“extra funds” lent toPakistan inApril2020 inviewof thepandemic.Pakistan’sgovernmentbondsreactedthe

daythedealwasfinalised,jumpingbetween1.3 and 2.8 cents on the US$, their best dayinoverayear, according toReutersdata.

The Saudi dealOnNovember 27, Pakistan is reported to

have clinched a $3 billion loan from SaudiArabiaas its cabinetapprovedanagreementto keep the amount in the central bank, ac-cording to localmedia reports. InNovember2018,Pakistanhadinkeda$3billionloan,fromwhich about $1 billionwas reported as hav-ingbeendisbursed.Under the newarrangement, the $3 bil-

lion from the Saudi governmentwould re-main in the SBP's deposit account for a year,Geo News reported. It quotedMuzammilAslam, Spokesperson for the PrimeMinisterFinance Advisor, as saying Pakistanwas ex-pecting to get $7 billion from three sourcesover thenext 60days, including $3billion indepositsfromSaudiArabia,a$1.2billionSaudiOil Facilitywith deferred payments, a $800millionIslamicDevelopmentBankoilfacility.All of these dollar inflows, he said,would besufficient to alleviate pressure on the coun-try’simportbills.ButtheloandealwithSaudiArabiacomeswithextremelystringentcondi-tions, including record high interest rates ofnearly 4%, default clauses that are near dra-conian,andrestrictionsonthelegalrecoursePakistanwillhaveagainstanySaudiclaim.

Inflation surgePakistan’s record inflation is pushing up

the price of daily staples amidmountingthreatsofunrest,accordingtomediareports.Headlineinflationreached11.5%inNovember,upfrom9.2%inOctober.Annual food inflationhasbeen indouble

digitsinmostmonthssincemid-2019,surgingto as high as 23.6% in January 2020, 17.8% inJuly2020, and15.9% inApril 2021, accordingto the State Bank of Pakistan quoted by aNovember 17World Bankpaper. November

markedareturntodoubledigits.According to the Chairperson of the

Consumer Association of Pakistan, KaukabIqbal: “The rising prices of food items, par-ticularly fresh fruits, milk, and chicken arehavingamajorimpactonthelivelihoodsandnutrition levels of all families. Butmuch oftheburdenof this fallsonthepoorashigherpricesputproteinandvitamin-richfoodsoutof their reach.”While inflation is also driven by global

commodityprices, regressivedomesticpoli-cies have not helpedmatters either, withIslamabadhaving “systematically penalisedtheproductionofhigh-valueproductsby fo-cusingsupportonwheatandsugarcane”,ac-cordingtotheWorldBankpaperauthoredbyDaud Khan, Namash Nazar and WillemJanssen.As a result, Pakistan remains an im-porter of horticultural products, dairy prod-uctsdespitehavingamassivenumberof an-imalsproducingbelowpotential, andcottonto feed thedomestic textile industry, theau-thorsnoted.As far as balance of payments is con-

cerned,Pakistan’scurrentaccountdeficitsinSeptember and October have been waylarger than anticipated, reflecting both ris-ingoilandcommoditypricesandimprovingdomestic demand. The burden of adjustingto these external pressures, as the SBP’sMonetary Policy Statement in Novembernoted, has largely fallen on the rupee. Thebalance of risks has shifted away fromgrowth and towards inflation and the cur-rentaccount faster thanexpected.

Looking aheadPakistan is expected to growabout 5% in

fiscal year 2021-22 (July-June annual cycle),SPB governor told CNBC Reza Baqir onNovember24.“Thisisafour-yearhighandthisgrowth is reflected in robust and brisk de-mand of even non-energy imports inPakistan,”hesaid.In September, Fitch Solutions had pro-

jectedgrowthof 4.2% in theyearending July22,muchlowerthanBaqir’sestimate.Hisas-sertionsarealsomoreoptimisticthanthegov-ernment’s targetof4.8%.OnNovember24,theSBPraiseditspolicy

rateby150basispoints to8.75%, stating that“risks related to inflation and the balance ofpayments have increasedwhile the outlookfor growth continued to improve{. Thebankalso lifted the cash reserve requirement forcommercial banks by onepercentage point,thefirstsuchmoveinoveradecade.ButBaqirhasassertedthegovernmenthas

todomoretobringdowninflation,includingactionstoensure“there’snohoardingorpricespeculationforbasiccommodities”.

KHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,DECEMBER5

PROMINENTBUSINESSfamiliesthatrunem-piressuchastheRelianceIndustriesGroupandtheShriramGrouphavebeeninthenewsre-centlyfortheirplanstosetuptruststoensuresmoothtransitionofassetsandcontrolof thebusinesstotheirheirs.Thisisprimarilytoavoidthemessy legal battles and litigation seenamongbusinessgroupsinthepast.AccordingtotheKnightFrankAttitudesSurvey2021,theCovid-19pandemichas influenced84%oful-tra-wealthy Indians to reassess their attitudetowardsuccessionplanning.

What issuccessionplanninginfamilybusinesses,andhowhas itchangedovertheyears?Succession planning for a large or small

familybusinessentailstransitionoftheman-

agement, the ownership and control of thebusiness to the next generation of leaders,mostoften fromwithin the family.Over theyears,thisprocesshaschangedfromwritingawill to setting up amanagement trust tomanagetheassetsof thebusinessandtoen-sure systematic decision-making and exe-cution, helping the business become awealth creator even after the demise of itsfounders.Atrustisafiduciaryrelationshipinwhich

oneparty,calledatrustor,transfersanasset/property, to another party, called a trustee.The trustee thenmanages this asset for thebenefitof a thirdparty, calledabeneficiary.

Whyarebigfamilybusinessesoptingforthetrustrouteforsuccessionplanning?According to experts, most successful

family businesses want a succession planthatmaintains the integrity of the businessandalsomeets the aspirationsof each fam-

ilymember, especiallywhen the familyhasmorethanonechild,differentlyabledmem-bers,ancestralproperties,andinternationalassets.Traditionally, what the general law pro-

videsisthewillsystem.However,awillisnota permanent instrument. Even if it is regis-tered when the person is living, it can bechanged until the last minute. Apart fromthis, a will cannot be functional while theperson isalive."Awilltakeseffectonlyafterthedemiseof

someone.Thewillhasnovaluetillthetimethepersonisalive,sothepersonwhohascreatedtheassethas littlewayof seeingwhat ishap-pening after the ownership changes. This isoneofthekeyreasonswhypeoplelookforsuc-cessionplanningusingatruststructure.Atruststructurecanbegiveneffectwhileyouareliv-ingandyouhaveacontroloverhowcircum-stancespanout,"saidVishwasPanjiar,PartneratNangiaAndersonLLP.

Also, unlike a will, which is frequentlychallengedincourts,trustsareeffectivetoolstoavoidlegalbattlesbetweenheirsandben-eficiaries,sayexperts.Trustscanalsobeusedto initiate theheirs into the family businessastheycanbeusedtocontrolthetimingandproportionof assetsdistribution.Moreover,once a trust is created, the trustor has littletonodirectcontroloveritsassets.Asaresultof this, theassetsareprotectedfromanyac-tiontakenbycreditorsorbanksintheeventof adefaultby thebusiness.

Whatarethetaximplications?Trustsaretax-efficient."Whilethereason

forestateplanningisnottoreducetaxbutob-viously the structurehas tobeefficient. Verybroadly,thetransferofassetstoatrustinwhichyourfamilymembersarethebeneficiariesarenottaxableateitherend.Itmeansneitherthetransferornor thebeneficiarywill be taxed,"saidPanjiarofNangiaAnderson.

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to [email protected] EXPLAINED

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

Big business families and succession via trusts

PAROMITACHAKRABARTINEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

FOUR DECADES ago, a miscarriage hadlanded a Blackman in jail for a crime hehadn’t committed. This came to light lastweekwhenSebold’spublishersannouncedtheywere pulling her 1999memoir Luckyfromtheshelves.Anthony Broadwater, who had been

convicted of raping and assaultingAmericanwriter Alice Sebold in 1981,wasexonerated in November by a New YorkSupreme Court justice for grave lapses intheconvictionprocedure.

Crime and convictionSebold, now 58, became a household

nameafter thepublicationof hermemoir,Lucky, in1999. Init, sherevisitsatraumaticepisode from her life — on May 8, 1981,whenSebold, thenafreshmanatSyracuseUniversity, was walking home through atunnel to an amphitheatre near campus,shewasassaultedand raped.

Even though she reported the crimeafterwards, her assailant could not betraced. The title of the memoir, whichwentontoselloveramillioncopies,drawsfromherconversationwithapoliceofficer,who told her shewas “lucky” to be alive,unlike another woman who had beenrapedandmurderedatthesamelocation.Sebold suffered from post-traumaticstressdisorderaftertheassault, takingre-course toalcohol anddrugs, beforeeven-tually gettingher lifebackon track.Fivemonths later, Sebold came across

aBlackmannear thecampus,whoshebe-lieved was her assailant. The man,Broadwater, was arrested in 1982 andserved16yearsinprison.Broadwater,whomaintainedhisinnocencethroughout,wasdeniedparoleseveraltimesandputonNewYork’ssexoffenderregistryafterhisreleasein1999.

The exonerationThepossibility of a filmadaptation led

toareinvestigationandeventualexonera-tionofBroadwater. In2019,whenproducer

TimothyMucciante came on board for ascreen adaptation of Lucky by directorKarenMoncrieff,henoticeddiscrepanciesabout thetrial thatstruckhimas irregular.In a recent interview to the BBC’s Todayprogramme, Mucciante said, “Certainthings leapt out atmeas beingunusual inthe American criminal justice system—specifically, the line-up procedure, where

Alice picked the wrong person as her as-sailant…but they triedhimanyway.”Mucciante left the project soon after,

but his concerns led him to hire a privateinvestigator to reassess theevidence.In November, a New York Supreme

Court justice officially exoneratedBroadwater,pointingout serious lapses inthe original convictionprocedure, includ-

ingoverwhelming relianceonanuntrust-worthyforensictechniqueandonSebold’stestimony. Broadwater, now 61, brokedownafter theverdictwasdelivered.Over a week after Broadwater’s exon-

eration, Sebold tendered an apology in apost on Medium. “First, I want to saythat I am truly sorry to AnthonyBroadwater and I deeply regret what youhave been through. I am sorrymost of allfor the fact that the life you couldhaveledwasunjustlyrobbedfromyou,andI know that no apology can change whathappened to you and never will… I amgrateful that Mr Broadwater has finallybeenvindicated, but the fact remains that40 years ago, he became another youngBlackman brutalised by our flawed legalsystem.Iwill foreverbesorryforwhatwasdone tohim.”

Publishers’ moveIn a statement, Sebold’s publisher

Scribner announced that it would bepullingLucky fromtheshelves. “Followingthe recent exoneration of Anthony

Broadwater, and in consultationwith theauthor,ScribnerandSimon&Schusterwillcease distribution… while Sebold andScribner together consider how theworkmight be revised,” it said. PanMacmillan,Sebold’sUKpublisher, too,will followsuit.According to reports, the film adapta-

tion, too, stands cancelled after it lostfunding.

Sebold’s other worksIn2002, Sebold’sbest-knownwork till

date,TheLovelyBones,waspublished—thestory of a young girl whowas raped andmurdered at 14. The bookwent on to sellover10millioncopiesglobally. Itwas lateradapted into a film by director PeterJackson, featuring Saoirse Ronan, SusanSarandon, Stanley Tucci, MarkWahlberg,and Rachel Weisz in 2009. The film wasnominated for theOscars.In 2007, Sebold’s second novel, The

Almost Moon, was released to mixed re-views. The story of adysfunctional family,it explores themurder of awomanbyherdaughter, amodel for art-classes.

State of Pakistan’s economyTweetingfromaPakistanembassyhandle,ahackerrecentlyflaggedrisinginflationinthecountry.Alookat

Pakistan’scurrentandimpendingeconomiccrises,andwhatithasbeendoingtotidethemover.

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022*DevelopingAsia 2.5 2.9 2.8 2.2 2.7SouthAsia 3.7 5.0 6.5 5.8 5.1Afghanistan 0.6 2.3 5.6 5.0 4.0Bangladesh 5.8 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.8Bhutan 3.6 2.8 3.0 8.2 6.2India 3.4 4.8 6.2 5.5 4.8Maldives -0.1 0.2 -1.4 2.5 2.0Nepal 4.2 4.6 6.2 3.6 5.2Pakistan 4.7 6.8 10.7 8.9 7.5SriLanka 4.3 4.3 4.6 5.1 5.3Source:AsianDevelopmentOutlook,ADB *Projected

INFLATION INDEVELOPINGASIA (%PERYEAR)

(Fromleft)AnthonyBroadwaterreactsafterhisexoneration;Sebold,whohasapologisedtohim;andhermemoir,nowbeingpulled.Broadwater&Seboldphotos:AP

Antarctica’s 2 minutes of darkness,and why that’s unusual in summer

PEOPLEWATCHSATURDAY’S totalsolareclipse fromthePolarUnionGlacierCampinAntarctica.FOR2MINUTES, theeclipsebroughtdarkness toAntarctica—somethingthatotherwiseneverhappens inAntarcticaduringthesummer.Antarcticahassixmonthsofcontinuousdaylight inthesummer(thecurrentseasoninthesouthernhemisphere)andsixmonthsofcontinuousdarkness inthewinter.THIS ISBECAUSEofAntarctica’slocationontheSouthPole,andthe

waythetiltof theEarth(thealignmentof itsaxis inrelationto itsorbitaroundtheSun)places thecontinentduringthesetwophases. It is thetilt thatgivesus theseasons,whicharedifferent inthetwohemispheres.DURINGTHEWINTER,Antarctica isonthesideofEarthtiltedawayfromthesun.Thiscausessixmonthsofdarkness.Duringthesummer, it isonthesidetiltedtowardsthesun.Thisgives it constantsunlight—Saturday’stwo-minutebreakwasanexception.Photograph:FelipeTrueba, ImagenChileviaAP

Awrong conviction, the exoneration, andAlice Sebold’s pulledmemoir

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GREECE

POPEMEETSMIGRANTSONLESBOS ISLANDPopeFrancisreturnedSundaytotheGreekislandofLesbostooffercomforttomigrantsatarefugeecampandblastwhathesaidwastheindifferenceandself-interestshownbyEurope“thatcondemnstodeaththoseonthefringes”.“Please, letusstopthisshipwreckofcivilisation!”FrancissaidattheMavrovounicamp,aclusterofwhiteUNcontainersontheedgeofthesealinedbybarbedwirefencinganddrapedwithlaundryhangingfromlines.

USA

LongtimeGOPleaderBobDolediesat98BOBDOLE,whoovercamedisablingwarwounds tobecome a sharp-tonguedSenate leader fromKansas,aRepublicanpres-idential candidate andthen a symbol and cele-brant of his dwindlinggeneration ofWorldWarII veterans, has died. Hewas98.Hiswife,ElizabethDole, posted the an-nouncement Sunday onTwitter. Dole announcedinFebruary2021thathe’dbeendiagnosedwithstage4 lung cancer. During his36-year career on CapitolHill, Dole became one ofthemost influential legis-latorsandpartyleadersinthe Senate, combining atalent for compromisewith a causticwit, whichheoftenturnedonhimselfbutdidn’t hesitate to turnonothers, too. AP

BobDolewasaformerleaderoftheSenate

TOPOFTHEWORLD

RUSSIA

AirlinerhadtoloseheighttoavoidNATOspyplane:MoscowARUSSIANAeroflotairlinerflying from Tel Aviv toMoscow was forced tochange altitude over theBlack Seabecause aNATOCL-600 reconnaissanceplane crossed its desig-nated flight path, Russia’sstate aviation authoritysaidonSaturday.Thestateairline said flight SU501carrying 142 passengershadhadtodrop2,000feeton Friday after air trafficcontroltolditthatanotheraircraft had crossed itspath. Theaviationauthor-ity said an increase inflights byNATOaircraft inthe region was creatingrisksforcivilianplanesandthatMoscowplanned tolodge a diplomatic com-plaintoverthem.REUTERS

AUSTRIA

Avalanchekills3skiers, injures2THREE SKIERS have beenkilledandtwoinjuredinanavalanche in centralAustria, authorities saidSunday. The victimswerepartofagroupof11skiers,eightofwhomwerehitbya roughly 655-footwideslab of snow as they as-cendedaslopeduringaskitour on Saturday in theTweng area, in Salzburgprovince. Three of theskierswere buried by theavalanche,while anothertwowerepartlyburiedandabletofreethemselves,re-gionalpolicesaid. AP

BENHUBBARD&HWAIDASAADBEIRUT,DECEMBER5

BUILT ON the ashes of 10 yearsofwarinSyria,anillegaldrugin-dustry run by powerful associ-ates and relatives of PresidentBasharal-Assadhasgrownintoamulti-billion-dollar operation,eclipsing Syria’s legal exportsandturningthecountryintotheworld’snewestnarcostate.Its flagshipproduct is capta-

gon,anillegal,addictiveamphet-amine popular in Saudi ArabiaandotherArabstates. Its opera-tionsstretchacrossSyria, includ-ingworkshopsthatmanufacture

the pills, packing plants wherethey are concealed for export,and smuggling networks tospirit themtomarketsabroad.An investigation by TheNew

York Times found that much oftheproductionanddistributionis overseen by the FourthArmored Division of the Syrianarmy, an elite unit commandedby Maher al-Assad, the presi-dent’s younger brother andoneof Syria’smostpowerfulmen.Major players also include

businessmenwithclosetiestothegovernment, the Lebanesemili-tant groupHezbollah, andothermembers of the president’s ex-tended family,whose last nameensures protection for illegal ac-

tivities,accordingtoTheTimesin-vestigation,whichisbasedonin-formationfromlawenforcementofficials in 10 countries anddozensof interviewswith inter-national and regional drug ex-perts,Syrianswithknowledgeofthe drug trade and current andformerUnitedStatesofficials.The drug trade emerged in

the ruins of a decade of war,which shattered Syria’s econ-omy,reducedmostof itspeopleto poverty and leftmembers ofSyria’s military, political andbusiness elite looking for newways toearnhardcurrencyandcircumventAmericaneconomicsanctions.Illicit speed is nowthe coun-

try’smostvaluableexport,farsur-passingitslegalproducts,accord-ingtoadatabasecompiledbyTheTimesofglobalcaptagonbusts.

In recent years, the authori-ties inGreece, Italy,SaudiArabiaandelsewherehaveseizedhun-dredsofmillionsofpills,mostof

themoriginating fromone gov-ernment-controlledportinSyria,someinhaulswhosestreetvaluecould exceed $1 billion, accord-ingto lawenforcementofficials.Officials in Italy found 84

millionpillshiddeninhugerollsof paper and metal gears lastyear.Malaysianofficialsdiscov-eredmore than 94million pillssealed inside rubber trolleywheels inMarch.These seizures likely repre-

sent only a fractionof thedrugsshipped, drug experts say. Buttheyprovide awindow into thescope of the trade, suggestingthat the industry has explodedin recentyears.More than 250million cap-

tagon pills have been seizedacross the globe so far this year,more than18times theamountcaptured just fouryearsago.Evenmoreconcerningtogov-

ernmentsintheregion,theSyriannetworkbuilt to smuggle capta-gonhasbeguntomovemoredan-gerousdrugs,likecrystalmeth,re-gionalsecurityofficialssay.Thebiggestobstacle incom-

bating the trade,officials said, isthat it has the backing of a statethathaslittlereasontohelpshutitdown.“The idea of going to the

Syriangovernmenttoaskaboutcooperation is justabsurd,” saidJoel Rayburn, theUS special en-voy for Syria during the Trump

administration.“It is literallytheSyrian government that is ex-porting the drugs. It is not likethey are looking the other waywhiledrugcartelsdotheirthing.Theyare thedrugcartel.”Captagonwasoriginallyman-

ufacturedbyaGermanpharma-ceuticalcompanyasastimulanttotreatattentiondeficitdisorderandnarcolepsy. In the1980s, users inSaudiArabiaandotherGulfstatesstarted taking it recreationally toget an energyboost, banish fearandstayawaketostudyforexams,work,partyordrivelongdistances.Itswhitepillswerestampedwithtwocrescents,givingittheArabicnickname “abuhilalain,” or “theonewithtwomoons”. NYT

POWERFUL ASSOCIATES OF PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD ARE MAKING AND SELLING CAPTAGON, AN ILLEGAL AMPHETAMINE

World’s newest narcostate: On Syria’s ruins, a drug empire flourishes

Adestroyedshoppingmall inHoms,Syria, in2014.NYT

AP&NYTDECEMBER5

NEW YORK announced threemore cases of theOmicronvari-ant of the coronavirus Saturday,bringingthenumberofstatecaseslinkedtothenewvarianttoeight.“TheOmicronvariantishere,

andasanticipatedweareseeingthe beginning of communityspread,” state HealthCommissionerMaryBassettsaidinanewsrelease.ThenumberofUSstatesfind-

ingthevariantisgrowingaswell,withMassachusetts,ConnecticutandWashington state announc-ingtheirfirstcasesSaturday,adayafter New Jersey, Georgia,Pennsylvania andMaryland re-portedtheirfirstconfirmedcases.Missouri reported its first pre-sumed case Friday. The variantalso has been detected inNebraska,Minnesota, California,Hawaii,ColoradoandUtah.In New York, seven of the

cases have been found in NewYork City, once a global epicen-ter of the pandemic, and theother inSuffolkCounty.ThearrivalofOmicroncomes

ashospitalsinseveralstatescon-tinue to strain under a surge incoronavirus cases, most tracedto the Delta variant, alongwithstaffingshortages.Thenumberofpeopletesting

positiveeachdayforthevirushasdoubledinthelast30days.One of the knownOmicron

casesinNewYorkinvolvedamanfromMinnesotawhowasamong50,000 peoplewho attended athree-day anime festival inNewYork in November. Authoritieshaveurgedanyonewhoattendedthe conference to get tested forCovid-19. Theman, identified asPeterMcGinn, testedpositive forthevirusonNovember23, adaybeforereportsaboutthenewvari-antbecamepublic.Thishasraisedfears thatOmicronmayhaveal-readybeenspreadingintheUS.

MoreOmicron casesfound inUSashospitalsstrain underDelta surge

ANTI-LOCKDOWNPROTESTINVIENNA:Protesters inVienna,Austria,onSaturday.Tensof thousandsofpeopletooktothestreetsofViennaover theAustriangovernment’sdecisionto imposeatoughnewlockdownandplanasweepingnationwidevaccinemandate inthe fightagainstasharpsurge incoronaviruscasesandrisingdeaths.Reuters

NYT& REUTERSDECEMBER5

THE NUMBER of confirmedcases of the Omicron coron-avirus variant rose to 246 inBritain,afterauthoritiesreported86 new cases on Sunday. OnSaturday, the British govern-ment announced further tight-ening of travel restrictions tocombatthespreadofthevariant.BeginningTuesday, travellers

will be required to take a coron-avirustestwithin48hoursoftrav-ellingtoBritainregardlessoftheirvaccinationstatus.Britainwillalsoimpose restrictionson travellersfromNigeria,thecountry’shealthsecretary said in a statement.Nigeria announced onWednesday that it haddetectedthevariantinthreetravelerswhoarrived from South Africa inNovember,accordingtoDrIfedayoAdetifa,thedirectorgeneralofthe

NigeriaCentreforDiseaseControl.Thetwoadditionalmeasures

beingimposedbyBritainarethelatest to come after a week ofheightenedconcernledtothein-troductionofanumberofrestric-tionsintendedtoslowtheincur-sionof theOmicronvariant.Atthemoment,travellersare

required to self-isolate and takeacoronavirustestonthesecondday after arriving. If that test isnegative, theycanendtheir iso-lation. If not, they are expectedto remain in self-isolation untiltheydogetanegative result.Britain is considereda leader

ingenomic sequencingand test-ing,withawell-runnationalpro-grammetotrackcoronavirusmu-tations, so it has anadvantage intrackingthevariant’sspread.SajidJavid,thecountry’shealth

secretary,saidonSaturdaythattheBritish public should continuewith life asusualwhile adheringtocoronavirusguidelines.

INDONESIA VOLCANO TOLL RISES TO 14Trucksandbuildingscoveredbyvolcanicash inSumberWuluhVillage,East Javaprovince, Indonesia,onSunday.Theeruptionof Indonesia’sSemeruvolcanohaskilledat least14peopleandinjureddozens, thedisastermitigationagencysaidonSunday,assearchteamslookedforvictims ina landscapecovered indeeplayersof ash.Semeru, thetallestmountainonJava island, threwuptowersof ashandhotcloudsonSaturdaythatblanketednearbyvillages inEast Javaprovinceandsentpeople fleeing inpanic.Reuters

REUTERSDECEMBER5

FIVE PEOPLEwere killed and atleast15arrestedafterMyanmarsecurity forces in a car rammedinto an anti-coup protest onSundaymorning in Yangon, lo-cal news portalMyanmar Nowreported.Witnesses on the scene told

Reuters dozens had been in-jured. Photos and videos on so-cial media show a vehicle thatcrashed through the protestersandbodies lyingontheroad.Another protest was held in

Yangonintheafternoondespitethemorningviolence.Anti-military protests are

continuingdespite thekillingofmore than 1,300 people sincetheFebruary1coup.

The opposition’s shadowgovernment said it was heart-broken to see peaceful protest-

ers crashedandshot todeath.“Wewillstronglyrespondto

the terrorist military who bru-tally, inhumanly killed the un-armedpeaceful protesters,” theNational Unity Government'sdefenceministrysaid inastate-ment on social media afterSunday’s attack.In the incident, a “flashmob”

protest in Yangon,Myanmar’slargestcity,wasrammedminutesafteritstarted,witnessessaid.“Igothitandfelldowninfront

of a truck.AsoldierbeatmewithhisriflebutIdefendedandpushedhimback. Thenhe immediatelyshot atmeas I ranaway ina zig-zag pattern. Fortunately, I es-caped,”aprotesterwhoaskednottobeidentified,saidbyphone.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIACOLOMBO,DECEMBER5

PAKISTANPRIMEMinisterImranKhan has assured Sri Lanka’sPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksathat the mob that lynched SriLankan national PriyanthaKumara Diyawadana over alle-gations of blasphemywill facejustice, the President’s officeheresaidonSunday.Khan telephoned Rajapaksa

andsaidthat113peoplewerear-restedso far, it said.“Allthevideosandinformation

related to the incidenthavebeenobtainedbythePakistanisecurityforces,” a statement fromtheSriLankanPresident’sofficesaid.Khan informed Rajapaksa

that Diyawadana, who hadserved in Pakistan for a longtime, had shown a high level ofprofessionalismasamanager.OnFriday, angrysupporters

of the hardline Islamist partyTehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan(TLP) attacked a garment fac-tory and lynched its generalmanager Diyawadana, whowas in his 40s, before settinghisbodyonfireoverallegationsof blasphemy.Aspressuremountedonthe

Pakistani government to bringthe guilty to justice, over 800peoplehavebeenbookedunderterrorism charges while 13prime suspects are among 118arrested so far in the horrificlynching of the Sri Lankan na-tional inPunjabprovince.

JENNIFERSTEINHAUER&JULIANEBARNESSIMIVALLEY (CALIFORNIA),DECEMBER5

US DEFENCE Secretary Lloyd J.Austin III said on Saturday thattheBidenadministrationwouldpushbothalliesinthePacificandUSbusinesses to step up effortsto counter the increasingly ur-gentthreatofChina,andthatthePentagonwas prepared to helpUkraine better defend itselfagainst Russia as tensions flarebetweenthe twocountries.“America is aPacificpower,”

Austindeclaredduringaspeechat the annual Reagan NationalDefenseForum, the first in-per-sonmeeting of defense officialsandexpertssincethestartof thecoronavirus pandemic. “We’renot asking countries to choosebetween the United States andChina. Instead,we’reworkingtoadvanceaninternationalsystemthatisfreeandstableandopen.”Inoneofhismostprominent

speeches since theUnitedStatespulledtroopsoutofAfghanistan,bringing a chaotic end toAmerica’s longest war, Austinmade littlemention of the pasttwodecadesofUSmilitaryeffortsintheMiddleEast,turningthefo-cusinsteadalmostexclusivelyonBeijing,whosenuclear,cyberandeconomicgainshaveincreasinglyrattled American officials overthreeadministrations.Heoffered thebroadoutlines

of his strategy for dealingwithChina,somethinghecalled“inte-grateddeterrence,”whichreliesonbothstrengtheningworkwithal-liesandpartnersintheregionandpushingUSindustrytokeepaheadofChineseinnovations. NYT

DAVIDBAUDER&MICHELLEL.PRICENEWYORK,DECEMBER5

CNNFIREDanchorChrisCuomoonSaturdaylessthanaweekaf-ter new information emergedabout how he assisted hisbrother, former New York Gov.AndrewCuomo,asthepoliticianfacedsexualharassmentallega-

tionsearlier thisyear.Thenetworkhad suspended

itsprime-timehostonTuesdaytoinvestigatehisconduct,afterNewYork’s attorney general releaseddetails showinghewasmore in-

volvedthanpreviouslyknowninhelping to strategize and reachout to other journalists as hisbrotherfoughttokeephis job.CNNhireda lawfirm for that

review,which itwouldnot iden-tify. The lawyers recommendedChris Cuomo’s termination andCNNchiefJeffZuckerinformedtheanchorofthedecisiononSaturday.“It goeswithout saying that

thesedecisionsarenoteasy,and

therearealotofcomplexfactorsinvolved,” Zucker said in anemail toCNNstaff onSaturday.Thenetworksaidthat“while

intheprocessof thatreview,ad-ditionalinformationhascometolight.” CNNwould not discussthatinformation,orcharacterisewhether it had anything to dowithhisbrother.Cuomoissuedastatement calling the decisiondisappointing. AP

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,DECEMBER5

AFTERHISdefeat in therace forthepostofRastriya JanataPartychief following an uninter-rupted 15 years at the helm,former Nepal deputy primeminister Kamal Thapa onSundayaccused ‘NirmalNiwas’— the residence of former kingGyanendra Shah — of conspir-ing against him. Thapa an-nounced that he would nolonger back the return of themonarchy inNepal.Thapa was defeated by

Rajendra Lingden, the onlymember of Parliament of theparty.Groomedbythepalaceright

fromhisdays instudentpoliticsin the early 1970s, Thapa hasheld keyministerial berths. Hehad remained committed toconstitutional monarchy evenafterNepalbecameasecularre-publicafter2006.

UK Omicron cases riseto 246; curbs tightened

Pak PM dials Lanka President, assures justiceLYNCHINGOFSRI LANKANMAN INPAKISTAN

ImranKhanandGotabayaRajapaksa

To counter China, Austinvows to boost allianceswith others in the region

USDefenceSecyLloydAustin

Pro-monarchy partychief who lost bid toretain post says willno longer backNepal king’s return

ChrisCuomo

CNN fires Chris Cuomo for role in brother’s scandal

Protesters change tacticsTHEDAYSaftertheFeb1coupinMyanmarsawmassiveprotestsforwhichtensofthousandsturnedout.Themilitarycrackeddownheavilyontheprotests,andanestimated1,300peoplehavebeenkilledduringdemonstrations,accord-ingtoreports.Protestleaderswerearrested,andthemassprotestsdieddown.Butthey

havenowbeenreplacedbyflashmobproteststhatseemtosponta-neouslybreakoutindif-ferentpartsofthecoun-

try.Theseprotestsarecarriedoutbyhundredsofpeople,in-steadofthousands,andhad,untilSunday,notfacedtheworstofthemilitary’sviolentcrackdownthatearlierprotestsweresubjectedto.

Five dead after Myanmar security forcesram car into Yangon protesters: report

New Delhi


ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Market WatchM-CAPOF 7MOSTVALUEDCOS JUMPSNew Delhi: Seven of the top 10 valued companies together addedRs 1,29,047.61 crore in market valuation last week, with TataConsultancy Services emerging as the biggest gainer. During the lastweek, the BSE benchmark gained 589.31 points or 1.03 per cent.PTI

INTERVIEWWITHCHAIRMAN,EDELWEISSGROUP

RASHESH SHAH, chairman ofEdelweiss group, says the stockmarketsareinthemidstofastruc-turalgrowthstoryandIPOmarketiswitnessing anewera of valuecreation through evolvedtechnologies. Shah spoke toGEORGEMATHEWonvariousis-suesrelatingtothemarketsandfi-nancialsector.Editedexcerpts:

DoyouthinkIndianstockmarketswereovervalued?Doyouexpectmorecorrectioninthenearfuture?Atanygiven time, stockmar-

kets are priced in for the futureratherthanthestatusquo.Thecur-rentvaluationof the Indianmar-ketisareflectionofthestrongbe-liefinthegrowthinIndiaoverthenext decade or so.While theremaybeareaswhichareoverval-ued today, there are alsomanypartswhichareundervaluedandprovidegood investmentoppor-tunities for long term.Weare inthemidst of a structural growthstory andanynear-termcorrec-tions shouldbe seenasopportu-nitiesforthelongterm.

What’syourviewonthevaluationsofunicornsenteringtheIPOmarket?Aretheyovervaluedconsideringthefactthatmostofthemarelossmaking?Likemost othermarkets, the

startupmarketalsogoesthroughupcyclesanddowncycles.Wearecurrentlyinwhatisclearlyanup-cycle.However,wemustlookbe-yondvaluationsandfocusontherealandtangiblechangethatthesestartupsarebringingabouttotheecosystem, not just in India butglobally. Clearly,many of thesebusinessmodels are re-definingand transforming thewaywedobusinessandtheymustbelookedat andevaluated in that context.Wearecertainlyseeinganeweraofvaluecreationthroughevolvedtechnologiesandwhilevaluationsmaybecomeoverheated at anypointoftime,theiroverallimpactinourlivescannotbeunderscored.

TheUSFedislikelytotightenthemonetarypolicysoontocheckinflation.DoyouthinkFPIswillpulloutmorefundsfromIndia?Therearetwobigfactorsplay-

ingoutinthemarkettoday—oneisthetsunamiofdomesticinvest-mentwehave seenover the lastyearorso.EventhoughFPIinvest-mentsinthelastfewmonthshavebeen subdued, domestic invest-mentshavemore thanmadeupfor this shortfall. This is a trend

whichwillcontinuegoingforwardasalargersegmentofthecountrygets acquaintedwith the long-termbenefitsofhavingequityex-posureintheirportfolio.Secondly,the structural growthstoryplay-ingoutinIndiahasbeenanaturalattractionforFPIs,especiallywiththe challenges in other growtheconomies.Hence,atighteninginthemonetarypolicymightleadtosomeshort-termknee-jerk reac-tionbuttheoveralltrendwillcon-tinuetobefavourable.

DoyouexpectinterestratestoriseinIndiasoon?WhendoyouexpecttheRBItonormalisethepolicy?Weare somedistance away

fromthe rise in interest rates. Asthe economy continues to seestrongrecovery, itwouldbegoodto let the animal spirits expandwidebeforethinkingaboutaratecut.Therearestillpocketsofindus-trieswhichareyettoseetangiblerecoverytopre-covidlevelsanditwouldbeprudenttoconsiderratecutsonlysomewaydowntheline.

BadloansofNBFCsareexpectedtorisefollowingtherecentchangesinNPAnormsbytheRBI.Howisthesectortakingtheregulatorychanges?Whiletherewillbesomenear-

termimpact, I thinkmanyNBFCswill be proactivelyworking to-wardsadheringtothenewguide-lineswhilemaintainingassetqual-ity. Hence, themonitoring andfollow-upswouldbecomemoreintenseandgetinitiatedwellinad-vance.However,thismightcreateshort-livedchallengesfortheendconsumer in the short term.However, as the industryevolvesto anewnorm,newregulationsshouldbecomeparforthecourse.

What’syourassessmentontheeconomicrecovery?WilltheemergenceofnewCovidvariantsdelaytherecovery?

Indiahasbeenonanunprece-dented vaccination spree. It hasbeen ahumongous exercise butoneexecutedwithrelentlessandunerring focus.Theeconomicre-covery has comeon the back ofthisdriveandiswellandtrulyun-derway.Whileitisdifficulttocom-mentonnewvariants,initialesti-mates seem to indicate that thenew variants seem to be lessharmful, even if they could bemoreviral.Hopefully,thiswillleadto faster immunity and coupledwiththevaccinationdrive,preventanyoutbreaksimilartoWave2.

Corporateearningsarelookinghealthy.Doyouthinktheslowdownofprofitsisbehindus?We sawwhatwould be the

bottomingoutof corporateprof-itslastyearandwearenowatthebeginningofadecadalgrowthcy-cle.Wearedefinitelylookingatim-provingcorporateprofitability inbothshorttermandlongterm.ForEdelweiss,theprofitimprovementisnotonlydrivenbythereturnofprofitability in credit but alsostronggrowth inour assetman-agement andwealthmanage-mentbusinesses.Ourmutualfundand alternatives business haveseenbreakoutquarters andbothour insurance businesses havedoneconsistentlywell, being thefastestgrowingintheirrespectivesectors. Despite theuncertaintydue to Covid, we have addedaround2millioncustomersinthelast oneyear itself and currentlywe serve 5 million customersacrossourbusinesses.This isalsothe beginning of another long-term journey for us, andweareonlyatthecuspof it.

What’syourplan/strategygoingforwardasfintechcompaniesarechangingthewaythefinancialsectorisfunctioning?Weseethefintechwaveevolv-

ing two-folds.One, therewill beopportunitiesforpartnershipsbe-tweenbanks andNBFCs ononesideandthefintechsontheother.Manyofourbusinessesaretodayworkingcloselywiththesefintechcompanies to enable thesepart-nerships,beitourretailcreditbusi-nesses, our insurancebusinessesor ourMFbusinesses. Secondly,thereisalsoanopportunityforusto learn fromthese fintechbusi-nesses,whichiswhatwearealsofocusedon,asweevolveintotech-abledplaysinsomebusinesseslikeretail creditwhile being fintechplayers ourselves in someof ourbusinesseslikegeneralinsurance.

MPCSETTOUNVEILBIMONTHLYPOLICYONWEDNESDAY

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER5

DESPITETHEthreatposedbythenewCovidvariant—Omicron—theReserveBankof India (RBI) islikelytocontinuewithitsplanongradualexitfromtheultra-accom-modativemonetary policy set-tings,expertssaid.Thenear-termretail inflation

islikelytoremainwithintheMPCtargetbandof4to6percent.This,inturn,shouldgivetheMonetaryPolicyCommittee time toassessthemedium-termimplicationsofOmicronbycontinuing tomain-tainanaccommodativepause inpolicyratesinDecember.TheMPCis scheduled to unveil the bi-monthlypolicyonDecember8.“Whileon-trackrecoveryand

above-targetinflationmakeacaseforpolicynormalisation,authori-tiesarelikelytobewatchfulofthenew risk on the horizon — theOmicronvariant.Notwithstandingthecaution,westillexpectagrad-ual exit from the ultra-accom-modativepolicy settings to con-tinue,” said RadhikaRao, senioreconomist,DBSgroup.“Webelieve the talks of a re-

verse repo rate hike in theMPCmeetingmaybeprematureastheRBI hasbeen largely able tonar-rowthecorridorwithoutthenoiseof ratehikesandensuingmarketcacophony,” said SoumyaKantiGhosh,groupchief economicad-viser,StateBankof India.“WeexpecttheRBItocontinue

normalizinghighbankingsystemliquidity by further adjustingquantumand tenor of existing

VRRR operations. Interest ratemarkets have re-aligned to thisnew reality and expected to re-

mainrangeboundaroundcurrentlevels in the absence of a policysurprise,”saidChurchilBhatt,EVPdebt investments, KotakMahin-draLifeInsuranceCompany.Indications of theUS Fed re-

movingpolicy support at a fasterpace,tokeepinflationundercheck,arevisible. This is aimedat com-pletingthetaperatanearlierdatewithapossibleriseininterestratessooner. This can impact futurestrategiesof central banks. Covidis also making a comeback inEuropeandthenewvariantfromSouthAfricadoesnotportendwellfor theworldeconomywithpos-sibilitiesof lockdowns,thusagainforcingareversalofpolicies.On the growth front, while

most economic indicators havesurpassedpre-Covid levels, thereisstillalotofslackintheeconomy.

Hence,RBImaydecidetowaitandwatchtillthenextMPCmeetinginFebruary2022.TheRBIwillbecon-cernedaboutinflationarypressurebuildingintheeconomy.Currentlytheupwardpressureoninflationisbecauseofhighcommoditypricesandsupplybottlenecks.“However,witheconomicgrowthgatheringmomentum,thereisthreatoffur-therdemandsidepressureon in-flation.Wecanexpect theRBI tostarthiking rates from2022. TheRBIwill alsonarrowthecorridorbetween repo and reverse reporate,withsharperhike in reversereporate.Thequantumofratehikewill be dependent on how theCovid scenario pans out and itssubsequent impactoneconomicgrowthin2022,”saidRajaniSinha,chief economist andnationaldi-rector-research,KnightFrankIndia.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

OVER3 crore income tax re-turnshavebeenfiledsofaronthenewe-filingportal for as-sessmentyear2021-22(finan-cialyear2020-21).TheIncomeTaxDepartmentinastatementissuedonSundayurged tax-payerswhoareyettofiletheirincome tax returns for AY2021-22attheearliest.Toputthenumbersinper-

spective, the total number ofincometaxreturns filed infi-nancial year 2020-21were7.38crore,aspergovernmentdata.In2019-20,6.78crorein-come tax returnswere filedincluding revised returns,while in 2018-19, 6.74 croreITRswerefiled.AsofDecember3,ITRfiling

hasincreasedto3.03croreITRsfor AY 2021-22. Over 52% ofthese ITRs are filedusing theonline ITR formontheportal,thetaxdepartmentsaid.Asmanyas2.69 crore re-

turnshavebeene-verified, ofwhichmore than 2.28 croreare throughAadhaar basedOTP.InNovember,48percentof the verified ITRs1, 2 and4have beenprocessed on thesameday.Of theverified ITRsmorethan2.11croreITRshavebeenprocessedandover82.80lakh refunds for AY22 havebeenissued.The Income TaxDepart-

menthasurgedall taxpayersto view their Form26ASandAnnualInformationStatement(AIS)throughthee-filingpor-taltoverifytheaccuracyoftheTDS and tax payments. “It isimportant for taxpayers tocrosscheckthedataintheAISstatement with their Bankpassbook, interest certificate,Form 16 and Capital gains

statementfrombrokeragesincaseofpurchaseandsaleofeq-uity/Mutualfundsetc,”itsaid.The government has ex-

tended theduedate for filingITRs for 2020-21 fiscal twice.Theduedate for ITRs for indi-vidualswhose accounts arenot to be audited was ex-tended toDecember31 fromSeptember30,while that forcompanieswas extended toFebruary 15, 2022 from theearlier extendeddeadline ofNovember30.Thenewincometaxportal,

www.incometax.gov.in,whichwas launched on June 7, hasfacedglitchessinceits launch.The FinanceMinistryhadonAugust 23 “summoned”InfosysCEOSalilParekhtoex-plaintheissuesresultingindis-ruptionoftheportaldevelopedby the softwaremajor. In themeeting with Parekh onAugust 23, FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharamanhadex-pressed “deep disappoint-ment”overpersistingglitchesformorethantwomonthsaf-terportallaunchandwasgivenadeadlineofSeptember15toInfosystoresolvetheissues.InOctober, the income tax de-partment had stated that anumberof technical issues inthe new income tax portalhave been resolved and theperformanceof theportalhassubstantiallystabilised.

TAXATIONWATCHINCOMETAX

Over 3 cr ITRs filedso far on new portal:almost half of totalfrom last fiscal year

LIC improves asset quality aheadof IPO, lowers net NPA to 0.05%ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

AHEADOF its proposed initialpublic offering (IPO), LIChas im-proved itsassetquality for the fi-nancialyearendedMarch2021.The non-performing assets

(NPAs)asofMarch31,2021,areRs35,129.89croreoutofatotalport-folio of Rs 4,51,303.30 crore, ac-cording to the latest AnnualReport of Life InsuranceCorporationof India(LIC).Thesub-standardassetsareRs

254.37crorewhereasthedoubt-ful assets are Rs 20,369.17 croreand loss assets are Rs 14,506.35crore.AnamountofRs34,934.97crore is provided as per IRDAIguidelines in the books of ac-counts towardsnon-performingassets, it said. The percentage ofgrossNPA is 7.78per centwhilethenetNPAis0.05percentattheendofMarch2021. This is lowerthangrossNPAof8.17percent (asapercentageof itsdebtportfolio)andnetNPAof0.79percentinthepreviousyear.In absolute terms, the NPA

wasRs 36,694.20 crore out of atotal debt of Rs 4,49,364.87crore in2019-20.Stress thresh-old for banks is different fromthat for insurers. LIC usuallymakesfullprovisionsforallNPAin thedebt book.The corporation has made

provisions to the tune of Rs37,341.6 crore, of which Rs34,934.97croreistowardsdoubt-ful,sub-standard,andlossassets.The government earlier this

yearamendedtheLife InsuranceCorporationAct,1956,tofacilitatethelistingofLIC.WITHPTI

REUTERSBEIJING,DECEMBER5

SOMEOFChina’smajorpropertydevelopers areplanning to issueasset-backedsecuritiesinthenearterm,afurthersignthatregulatorsaremarginallybroadeningfinan-cialchannelsfordevelopersamidEvergrande’sdebtcrisis.China Evergrande,wrestling

withdebtsofmorethan$300bil-lion,saidonFridaythattherewas“no guarantee” it would haveenough funds tomeet debt re-payments,prompting thecoun-try’s top financial regulators tocalmthemarket.Theregulatorssaidanyfallout

wascontrollable, and thatdevel-opers’ normal funding needswouldbemet,butthesectorisfac-inganother yearof tight fundingconditions and refinancing risks,

Moody’ssaidinanotelastweek.Country Garden, the coun-

try’s top property developer,said on Sunday that the com-panyisconsideringapplyingforthe issuanceof supplychainas-set-basedsecurities(ABS)inthenear term.“As an innovative financing

tool, supply chain ABS productscansupportupstreamsuppliers’financingandeasefinancingdif-ficulties for small andmediumfirms,” the company said in astatementon itsofficialWeChataccount.It also pledged to control

company’s risksviaprudentop-erations, according to the state-ment.Four other developers, in-

cluding Huafa Industrial andGreentownChina,havereceivedregulatory feedback on theirplanstoissueABStotallingnearly

16billionyuan($2.51billion),theShanghai Stock Exchange dis-closedonDecember3.

TheSecuritiesTimesreportedthatChinaVankeisalsoplanningto issue supplychainABSworth

777millionyuaninthenearrun.“Restrictionsondomesticreal

estatebondfinancinghaveeased,andtheamountofbondissuancein November is about 3 timesthat of October,” analysts withCICCwroteinanote,addingthatbond financing is recovering inanorderlymanner.China’s property market,

which accounts for a quarter ofgrossdomesticproductbysomemetrics,hasbeencoolingsharplysince May with sentimentshaken by intensifying liquiditystress thathasengulfedsomeofthecountry’smost indebtedde-velopers.Analysts do not believe

Beijingwill ease upmuch on itscampaign to rein in developerswith high leverage levels, butthey do expect some policytweaks to ensure home pricesandsalesdon’t fall tooquickly.

Regulatorssaidtheywillsup-port private firms, especiallythoseaffectedby recentdebt is-sues, to raisemoney “properly”,XinhuanewsagencyreportedonSunday,citinganofficialfromthesecurities regulator.The China Banking and

Insurance Regulatory Comm-ission (CBIRC) said theEvergrande issuewould not af-fecttheindustry’snormalopera-tionsand itwould increase sup-port for guaranteed rentalhousing.It added that it believed do-

mestic and overseas regulatorswoulddealwithEvergrande-re-latedissuesfairly,whiletheChinaSecurities Regulatory Commi-ssion (CSRC) said any fallout forthecapitalmarketwas“control-lable”anditwouldmaintainsup-port for property developers’fundingneeds.

‘Salesmenthreaten supplydisruptionsin protestagainst RIL’

REUTERSNEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

HOUSEHOLDGOODS salesmenhave threatened todisrupt sup-plies tomom-and-pop stores ifconsumer companies provideproducts at lower prices toRelianceIndustries,accordingtoaletterseenbyReuters.Reuters reported lastmonth

Indian salesmen representingcompanies such as ReckittBenckiser ,UnileverandColgate-Palmolive said their sales haddropped20-25percentinthelastyearasmom-and-popstoreswereincreasinglypartneringReliance.Citing the story, the All IndiaConsumerProductsDistributorsFederation,whichhas 4,00,000members, has written to con-sumer companies demanding alevel playing field, saying theymustgetproductsat samepriceslikeotherbig corporatedistribu-torssuchasReliance.Ifthepricing-parity demand is not met, thegroupsaidinitsletter,itssalesmenwill stopdistributionof productstomom-and-popstores,andwillalso not supplynewly launchedconsumergoods if suchpartner-shipscontinuebeyondJanuary1.The group’s president,

DhairyashilPatil,saidtheletterwassenttoReckitt,HindustanUnilever,Colgate and20other consumergoods companies.Noneof the3companies,aswellasReliance,re-spondedtorequestsforcomment.

Maruti: Long wait perioddue to chip shortage cannegatively impact demandENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, DECEMBER5

LONGERWAITINGperiodswithsemiconductor shortage affect-ingproductioncanhaveanega-tive impact on car demand, al-thoughthesupplyconstraintsofchips have gradually improvedoverthelastfewmonths,accord-ingtoaseniorofficialofcarmar-ket leaderMarutiSuzuki India.The company currently has

a pending order of around 2.5

lakh units with demand in themarket continuing to be buoy-ant, while its production wasover 80 per cent of normal inNovember.“Thebookingsshowthatthe

demand continues to be quiterobust, both in terms of in-quiries and the bookings, butnowavailability is an issue andwaitingperiods have goneup,”Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL)Senior Executive Director(Marketing & Sales) ShashankSrivastava.WITHPTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER5

ITMINISTERAshwiniVaishnawonSundayexhorted thebanking in-dustrytocreateaninnovativedig-italplatform—aspowerful,seam-less and robust as UPI — forprovidingquickandeasycredittoMSME, small businessmen, andthoseatthebottomofpyramid.Thebuildingblocksrequiredto

createsuchaplatformarealreadyavailable,giventhestrongecosys-temof Aadhaar,mobile phones,UPI (UnifiedPayments Interface)

platformanddigilocker, he saidasking the banking industry tocomeupwithinnovativeideaand

solutionsinthreemonths.Vaishnaw was speaking at

‘DigitalpaymentUtsav’whichwaspart of aweeklong showcase ofIndia’s achievements in digitalspace titled ‘Azadi ka DigitalMahotsav’inthecapital.Throwinga“challenge”atthe

bankerspresentintheaudience,theMinister said: “Canwe cre-ate a platform as powerful,seamless, good, as digital asUPIplatform for providing veryquick and easy credit to theMSME, small industries, smallbusinessmen...people really atbottomofpyramid.”WITHPTI

‘For startup IPOs, must lookbeyond valuations, focus ontangible change to ecosystem’

RasheshShah

THENEAR-TERMretail in-flation is likely to remainwithintheMPCtargetbandof 4 to 6 per cent. This, inturn, should give theMonetary Policy Commi-ttee time to assess themedium-termimplicationsof Omicronby continuingto maintain an accom-modative pause in policyratesinDecember.

EyeonOmicronE●EX

PLAINED

RBI likelytosticktogradualexitfromultra-accommodativestance:Experts

AsofDecember3,ITRfilinghasincreasedto3.03croreITRsforAY2021-22.Over52%oftheseITRsarefiledusingtheonlineITRformontheportal,thetaxdepartmentsaid

‘Global equity funds see biggestoutflow in over 7months’

60000

40000

20000

0

-20000 Oct13 Oct20 Oct27 Nov3 Nov10 Nov17 Nov24 Dec1Source:Refinitiv Lipperdata/Reuters

FUND FLOWS INTOGLOBAL EQUITIES, BONDSANDMONEYMARKETS (IN $MN)

Global equity funds facedoutflows in theweekendedDecember1onworries about theOmicronvariant,while theFed’s hawkish tilt onunwindingadded to investor concerns

■Bond ■Equity ■Mixedassets■Moneymarket ■Others

NET$15.56BNglobal equity funds sold byinvestors,whichmarked thebiggest outflow since theweek endedApril 28, RefinitivLipper data showed

‘Create robust, digital platform foreasy credit availability to small biz’

ASHWINI VAISHNAWIT Minister File

Amid Evergrande crisis, more Chinese developers to issue ABS

Evergrandeproject inBeijing.Reuters file

BRIEFLYSBINPAsaleNewDelhi: SBI has invitedbids fromasset reconstruc-tioncompanies,andotherfi-nancialinstitutionstosellanNPAaccountKSKMahanadiPowerCompany,without-standing against the com-panyoverRs4,100crore.PTI

BahraincurrencyDubai: TheCentral Bank ofBahrainplanstoofferadig-ital dinar through a digitalpayments platform, SkyNews Arabia reportedSunday. The central bankaimstoraise theshareof fi-nancing for small- andmedium-sized enterprisesto 20 per cent of financialportfolios of local banks bytheendof2025.REUTERS

New Delhi

SPORT/CALENDAR18 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

Varyingpace,denyingherrhythm,Koreanteenagerpullsa fastoneonthe Indian

SHIVANINAIKMUMBAI, DECEMBER5

AT THE outset, An Seyoung robbed PVSindhuof abustlingconfrontation, thewaythe Indian likes them. Sindhu thrives onspeedy exchanges and a thwack on theshuttle that can be redirected using thesamepaceandpower.TheKoreanteenagerdeprived her of that hectic hum to scuttleSindhu's shy at theWorld Tour Finals title.Towardstheendof the21-16,21-12loss

inflicted on the Indian, Anwas again play-ing with pace but not by slowing it down.Sheoutright faked itwith suchcleverdou-ble-action pushes that even if the Indianwantedtohassleherbyaddingamenacinggear toherhand-speed, theshuttlewasar-riving two seconds too late to shape it intoawinner. To sum it up, the Korean dispos-sessedSindhuof her big game, todenyheryet another title.It is no secret that Sindhu canoutlast in

long rallies. That slow shuttles don't fazeher simply because her strong shoulderscan generate their own power when shelets it rip. But An wasn't drawing her intothe long titanic rally battles—the likes thatOkuharaandYamaguchigetbusyin,notal-ways troubling the Indianwhowill ekeoutherwinners.The Korean, instead, opened up a new

wound - varying pace within a rally, play-ing tricks in between two shots to notmerely deny Sindhu the shuttle-kills, butmaking her aware that she was being di-vestedof control.Here'showtheIndiangotoutplayedand

outmanoeuvred.TheKoreanfromGwangjulooks up to Thai shuttler RatchanokIntanon, who won her first WorldChampionshipat17,butcontinuedtochisela game that is classically balletic: smoothmovementsandwondrouswrist-work.Anwasnothing likethat.Koreansruna lot,de-fend blithely owing to their doubles profi-ciency and are camels for stamina. Theyoungster,comingontheheelsof thegrace-ful Sung JiHyun, rather raised in away shefilledthegapsinSung'sgame,wasmouldedto embrace attack.

Denying paceSo, An retrieved reliably (she dives and

bouncesoff fornextreturn likeYamaguchi)and she can turn blisteringwith an attack,though her smash depends on placementmore thanpower.What she has borrowed from

Ratchanok'sgameis thosesubtlepacevari-ations to unsettle opponents. It startedpretty straightforward: don't give Sindhuany pace. The early 4-0 lead in the first set,andthesubsequentclosingout, camefromnot allowing Sindhu todominate.

One suspects Sindhu had gotten it intoher head that an early lead was her bestsafety-net to negotiate any later dramaagainst a player she's never beaten.Whenthat didn'twork out, the Indian droveher-self into one right funk.Both attacked the other's backhand,

Sindhu striking the shuttle at a very highpoint together first fewpoints.Anwasex-ploiting theoldSindhuweakness - lowde-fenceonherbackhandforecourtcorner, theone that the Japanese and Tai Tzu revel inpeppering the Indian with. Making herbend, tiringher out, committingher to thenet, so she can't spreadherwings fromthebackcourt.Sindhu wasn't missing those shuttle

picks. But she was definitely stretchedwhen yo-yoed to the diagonal back corneronher forehand.

From4-5, she fell back to 12-20, beforelaunching her resistance to go upto 16-21,saving four set points.

Playing alongWhat Sindhuwasn't perhaps prepared

forwasthatwhenshereturnedfor thesec-ond, all gung-ho and intent to force thepace,Anwouldplayalong.Andstill throttlethe pace mid-rally. Just to drill the pointhome, An was also smashing on Sindhu'sbody. On a confident day, Sindhu sendsthemacross—likeSrikantheven— forwin-ners. Not onSunday,whenAnmerely trig-gered her anxieties about awkward bodydefence.But itwasafter11-6 that theKorean re-

allystarteddrivingtheknife in.Armedwiththe lead, shebroughtoutthedouble-actionreturns.What essentially happens is the

Korean's forearm shapes to play a return,shethendropsthewristatadandsnapstheshuttle an agonising instant later to delayanddigresswherethebird isheaded. It canthoroughlyconfoundanopponent.Sindhu,0-2downincareerhead-to-heads,asetbe-hindandfailingtowrestcontrolof thepace,wasevenmoreboggled.Doubtsweresownnot only about where the shuttle wouldhead,butwhenandatwhatspeeditwouldscurry there.This wasn't the traditional stealing of

pace, and spoiling the rhythm. It was likegoing lookingforsomeBTSemotionalglug,but out comesWoosung's raspy trill fromTheRose.Not jarring, just jostledon court.

REUTERS/ENSMANCHESTER,DECEMBER5

BRAZILIAN MIDFIELDER Fred curled in a77th-minutewinnerasRalfRangnickmadeawinning start asManchester United's in-terimmanager with a 1-0 Premier Leaguewin over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford onSunday.United had struggled to create clear

chancesagainstPatrickVieira'swell-drilledsidebuttheoft-criticisedFredbeatVincenteGuaitawithawonderfulstrikefromtheedgeof the box after being set up by substituteMasonGreenwood.Palaceshouldhavegoneahead minutes earlier but Jordan Ayewmissed frompoint-blank range at the backpostafter JamesTomkinshadheadeddownacorner.With thewin,Unitedmovedup to sixth

place inthetableon24points, threebehindfourth-placedWest Ham United. Palaceslippedto12thon16points.GermanRangnickwasleadingUnitedfor

thefirsttimeaftertakingoverfromcaretakermanager Michael Carrick on Friday andmade a low-key entrance to his newhomeground,withnoannouncementofhispres-ence.TheformerRBLeipzigcoachhasprom-isedtoturnUnitedinto"pressingmonsters"in themanner of Juergen Klopp's Liverpoolbutsaysthatthatapproachwill taketimetoinstil in theplayers.

NewapproachThere were clear signs, though, of that

shift inemphasisintheopening25minutesasUnited'sforwardplayerscloseddownthePalacedefendersandlimitedtheirability toplayout fromtheback.Rangnick opted for a formation with

Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo inattack, with Jadon Sancho and BrunoFernandesoperatingbehind them.Portuguesemidfielder Fernandes had a

chancetoopenthescoringafteranexcellentheader back into his path from compatriotRonaldo but hismis-hit shot was saved byGuaita.Later,DiogoDalot,againpreferredtoAaronWan-Bissakaatrightback,workedanopening just before the break, but fired hisleft-foot shothighandwide.Unitedstruggledtobuildonthepromis-

ingstart,however, losingtheirwayafterthebreakwith sloppypassing and adropoff intheirmovementandpressure.But Rangnick will be pleased his team

limited Palace's effectiveness on the breakwithdangerouswingerWilfriedZahamak-ing little impact.United left back Alex Telles clipped the

barwithadipping freekick fromatightan-gle before Ayewwasted his golden chancetobeatDavidDeGea.ThencameFred'smomentof inspiration

andthedefensivemidfielder,whoselimita-

tionshavedrawnplentyof criticismduringUnited's poor start to the season, wasmobbedbyhis teammates incelebration."Fred has thesemoments, one shot per

year.Everyoneishappyforhimbecausehe'ssuch a nice guy. Heworks a lot and peopledon'ttalkabouthim.Hedeservesthepraise,"saidFernandes.

City tops the tableReigning champions Manchester City

claimed top spot in the Premier League forthe first time this season as Bernardo Silvascoredtwice ina3-1victoryatWatford lateonSaturday.City opened the scoring in the fourth

minutewhenRaheemSterlingheadedhomePhil Foden’s cross. Silvamade it 3-0 to PepGuardiola’s team before CuchoHernandezpulledoneback forWatford.The push to the top of the table came

courtesyWestHam’s3-2winoverChelsea,astheHammerscamefrombehindtwicetopipthereigningChampionsLeaguewinners.

TheWorldNo3couldnotcopeupwiththeyoungsterandfell short inherbidtowinhersecondyear-ender title. AP

TheGermanhasalreadybrought inanewapproachtoUnited’splay.Reuters

RESULTS

WestHam 3 2 Chelsea

Wolves 0 1 Liverpool

Watford 1 3 ManCity

Leeds 2 2 Brentford

ManUtd 1 0 CrystalPalace

Tottenham 3 0 NorwichCity

Not An-other day for Sindhu Rangnick starts ManUtd term with 1-0 win

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEDECEMBER5

AFTER A quick draw to end Game 7 of theWorld Chess Championship, IanNepomniachtchiwas asked by a reporter inthepostmatchpresserwhenhewould starttofinallyattackMagnusCarlsen.Afterhavinglost the longestworld championshipmatchinthehistoryofchess,Nepomniachtchiwasatsome point expected to come out all gunsblazing.Yesterday though, none of the guns fired

andNepomniachtchidughimselfintoaprettyimpressivehole.HehasnowlosttwicetothecurrentWorldChampioninthespaceofthreedays, the latest loss coming on Sunday inGame8 of theWorld Chess Championship.Both losses have come inharrowing fashionwhere Nepomniachtchi has played intoCarlsen’shandsbylettingtheNorwegiandic-tatethepaceofthegame.Game8thoughwasvastlydifferentfromGame6.Nepomniachtchiconcededin45movesandmadevariousinex-plicableblundersthroughoutthegametogivetheWorldNo1theadvantage.Most of the blunders came because the

Russianwaseagertokeepthegamedynamicand hope for an opening or amistake fromCarlsen. Therewere at least two occasionswhere Nepomniachtchi could have tradedqueenswithCarlsenandplayedsafe.“It was pretty cagey at the start (of the

match),” Carlsen said. “Obviously a winchanges the dynamic of thematch. I don’tthink Iwouldhavewon this game if I hadn’twonthe firstone,” addedthe31-year-oldaf-ter taking a 5-3 lead in the 14-gameworldchampionshipseries.

TheNepoblunderBut the biggest mistake came when

Nepomniachtchiinitiatedasacrificeofpawnsforbothplayersbutthenforreasonsunknownpushedanotheroneofhispawnsforwardon21...B5.“It becomes trulyunpleasant and frankly

speakingit’shardtodefendaftersuchablun-der,”hesaidafterthegame.Bothplayershaveadmittedinonewayor

the other that fatigue has played its part inthese World Championships. ButNepomniachtchi has seemed to be particu-larly affected by the speed at which thesegameshavecome."Idon’tthinkit’sveryeasyforblacktoforce

a draw. And as long as you cannot force thedrawthen it’salways tobea littlebitof pres-sure that you have to neutralize. Then ofcourse,B5...Ithoughtthatwasablunder.Bothofusarereallytiredatthatpointbutitalwayshelpstohavetheinitiative,"saidCarlsen.Bothplayerswill get amuchneeded rest

day, post which Game 9 of the WorldChampionshipswill take place at theDubaiExpocentreonTuesday.

Fatigued Nepoblunder givesCarlsen 5-3 lead

AnSeyoungoutright fakeditwithsuchcleverdouble-actionpushesthatevenif theIndianwantedtohassleherbyaddingamenacinggeartoherhand-speed, theshuttlewasarrivingtwosecondstoolatetoshapeitintoawinner.Tosumitup, theKoreandispossessedSindhuofherbiggame, todenyheryetanothertitle.

CROSSWORD4604

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GEMINI (May22- June21)Someof youarehoping forahassle-freeweek.Onethingtoremember,

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CANCER(June22- July23)You’restill onthewarpath.Andwhynot?Whyshouldyoualwaysallow

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CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Theredoesn’t seemtobeany let-up frompressuresatworkorfromtheburdenof

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SUDOKU4676

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TIONSUDOKU4675

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ittakesvisionandcourageto___-ittakesfaithandcourageto___.-OwenD.Young(6,.,5)

SOLUTION:LEVEE,ARRAY,STUCCO,PURVEYAnswer:Ittakesvisionandcouragetocreate-ittakesfaithandcouragetoprove.-OwenD.Young

LVEEE CSUCOT

AYARR ERUYPV

SolutionsCrossword4603:Across:1 Delft,4Captain,8Uri,9Springlet,10Leg-rest,11Class,13Should,15Relief,18Tenon,19Chapter,21Lifeboats,23Ice,24Sprawls,25Poker.Down: 1Doubles,2Lyingdown,3Taste,4Curate,5Panache,6All,7Notes,12Abitthick,14Longbow,16Forbear,17Scraps,18Tells,20Aesop,22Fur.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

New Delhi

Too little, too lateNewZealandbatters showresilienceonasurface thathas lost itsbite,buthostshurtling towardsvictory

ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI, DECEMBER5

For more than an hour on Sunday after-noon at the Wankhede Stadium, NewZealand did not lose a singlewicket, cour-tesy a 73-run fourth-wicket partnershipbetween Daryl Mitchell and HenryNicholls. Considering that their entire firstinnings had folded for 62 in about twohours on Saturday, it was a massive im-provement already, albeit fromthe lowestof bases.The lull in the wicket procession was

enough for the vocal upper tier of the DilipVengsarkarStand,theerstwhileNorthStand,to start chanting, ‘Monday office jaana hai,outkaro,outkaro.[WehavetogotoworkonMonday, soget themout].’Itwasasampleof themonstrousexpec-

tation India face at home, where a Testmatchwin -- and even awinwith days tospare – is taken for granted. But it wasn’tas easy as it had been on Day Two, whenNewZealandhad lastedamere28.1overs.The bite and zip that had delivered the

historicperfect ten forAjazPatel, and thenproduced the lowest total ever againstIndia in a blink-and-missNewZealand re-ply, had gradually dissipated. It wasmilesaway from the slow and lowKanpur trackof course; it was more of slow turn andslow bounce. The mois-ture from all the rain inthe lead-up to thematchhad diminished by thethird morning, and bat-ters were no longer get-ting rushed.“Two days back, due

to the underlying mois-ture, theballhad fast turnand as time is progress-ing, the track is slowingdownabit. So today,evenwhen therewas turn, thebatter had enough timetogoontheback footandnegotiate it,” said AxarPatel.They had to make

mistakes. “Only if thebat-ter is making mistakes,then it is abit difficult forhim. We have been inumpteensituations liketheseandweknowwhat needs to be done in these circum-stances. It won't always be the case thatbatterswill getoutquickly sooneneeds tohave patience.”

Patience gamePatience was what India had to work

with.Mitchell, especially,wasbattingwithcontrolledaggression,havingseenMayankAgarwal taketheattacktotheNewZealandspinners in both his knocks.Mitchell batted on the leg stump, try-

ing to stay leg side of the ball and playstraighter towards theoff-side.Hewasalsousinghis feet constantly to get to thepitchof the ball andwork it around.He chargedthespinnersoftenand lofted themcleanlyto thestraightboundary. “Set the templatefrom Mayank's batting, the way he putpressureonourspinners. It's justabout try-ing to put pressure back on the bowlers,”Mitchell later said.“That's the beauty of Test cricket. They

(bowlers) are constantly throwing thingsat you and you're trying to counter that.You have to keep trying to win the smallbattles.” It remains essentially a one-ballgame for batters though, and Mitchellwould succumb in a mini-battle against

Axar on60.He’d just steppedout tohit hisninth boundary, a straight six to the left-arm spinner. Axar gave the next ball someair too, but this onewasa touchwider andthe length had been pulled back a tad.Mitchell found himself nowhere near thepitch, stillwent throughwithhisbigswing,and mishit to the lone man sweeping onthe off-side rope.Two overs later, Tom Blundell pushed

Axar straight to mid-off and set off for anon-existent singleonly tobe runout foraduck. After that brief revival from 55/3,NewZealandhad slipped to 129/5.Mohammed Siraj could not produce a

wicket burstwith the newball like he hadon Day Two. But R Ashwin spun out theopeners Tom Latham and Will Young aswell as Ross Taylorwith the newSG in thefirst hour.The veteran Taylor’s horror tour ended

with11,2,1and6.He’dtrieddefendingwith-out success; inmost likely his final Test in-nings in India, he tried hitting out, and top-edgedaslogtodepartoffhiseighthdelivery.Itwasafter Indiahadbattedfor49overs

topileupagargantuan leadof 539. The topfour of Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara,Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli made 62, 47,47and36,noneof themgoingontoconverttheir starts.All of themfell tovaryingkindsof softdismissals, beforeAxarheralded thedeclarationon276/7in70overswithanun-

beaten 41 off 26. Ten-forman Ajaz registeredmatch figures of 14/225,thebest everhaul againstIndia.Axar was asked why

India had batted for solong despite their leadhaving already grown somuch. He said the planhadbeen to bat as if theywere chasing a target ona turner.“I won't call it a delay

as there is so much timeleft in the game. The ideawas to bat as long as pos-sible in thiskindof a situ-ation, youdon’t get everyday, so the plan was tomakethemostof it,”Axarsaid. “Wewere trying toexploreoptionsandcheck

outwhat ifwehave to chaseon this kindofatrackonthelastday, tryingtoexpressour-selves in a different situation.” That Indiaweretreatingtheirsecondinningsasasim-ulation chase tells you everything abouthowmuch they have bossed thismatch sofar. Another home serieswin is amatter offive strikes onDay Four,withNewZealandtechnicallyneedinganother400 runs.

SCOREBOARDIndia 1st innings: 325NewZealand1st innings: 62India 2nd innings: 276/7 (Decl)NewZealand2nd Innings:TomLatham lbwbAshwin 6Will Young c (SK Yadav) sub b Ashwin 20DarylMitchell c J Yadav b Patel 60Ross Taylor c Pujara b Ashwin 6HenryNicholls batting 36TomBlundell run out 0Rachin Ravindra batting 2Extras: (B-8 LB-1NB-1) 10Total: (For 5wickets in 45 overs)140Fall ofwickets: 1/13 2/45 3/55 4/128 5/129Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 5-2-13-0,RavichandranAshwin17-7-27-3, Axar Patel10-2-42-1, Jayant Yadav 8-2-30-0, UmeshYadav 5-1-19-0.

DEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI, DECEMBER5

INTHEbackdropof someassociationsstat-ing that they have built infrastructure butnot getting international games,whichcanhelp them tomaintain their stadium, theIndian cricket board (BCCI) is exploring thepossibility of two IPL gamesper team tobeplayedonneutral venues fromnext seasononwards.Thesuggestionwasmadebyafewstateassociationsduringtheboard’sAnnualGeneralMeetinginKolkataonSaturday,andthe associationswant the board to requestIPLteamstoplayat leasttwogameseachondifferent venues.Thetopiccametothe foreafter theBCCI

told the state associations todevelop infra-structure, for which the boardwould helpthem financially. Some associations, then,pointedout that theyhave the requisite in-frastructure but are not getting games.Presently, each association gets to host atleast one international game in a span ofthree years, as part of the board’s rotationpolicy. But given the largenumberof inter-national stadiums in the country, 24 in thelatest count,manyvenuesgetmatches fewand farbetween.Often smaller associations bear the

brunt. “A small association hosts interna-

tionalgameseverythreeorsometimesfouryears,”pointedoutaBCCIofficial, intermsofanonymity.“The BCCI wants each association to

buildtheirownstadiumandinfrastructure.A few state associations argued that theyhavebuilt stadiumsandarenotgettinganycompetitive games. It will be better if theBCCI decides to have IPL games in thesesmallervenuestoosothattheycangetsomerevenueat the same timegenerate interest[among the locals],” he said.

Past incidentsInthepast,someIPLfranchiseshadallo-

catedgamestosmallervenues.PunjabKingsused to play their games in Dharamshalaand Indore. Delhi Capitals have played inRaipur and Chennai Super Kings shiftedgames to Ranchi, hometown of their talis-man,MSDhoni.With two new IPL teams to play in the

IPLfromnextseason,someassociationsfeelthat theBCCIshouldmakeitmandatoryfor

IPL teams to play in neutral venues. "Therewill be 10 IPL teams from next season. Ifthese ten teams decide to play two gameseach then 20 matches can be played in aneutralvenue. Itwillhelpstatestogeneraterevenueandatthesametime,helpstateas-sociations too. The Indian board has in-formed us that they will look into it andspeak to the IPL franchise," a state associa-tionmember said.

Retired judge committee headTheboardhasapproachedaretiredChief

Justiceto lookintoCVCCapitalPartners’ac-quisitionof theAhmedabadfranchise,oneofthe twonewteams fromthenextedition, acoupleofweeksago.CVC Capital allegedly has links with a

bettingcompany,whichthe boardcametoknowonly after the teamhad acquired thefranchise. CVCCapital Partners’ has, appar-ently, ties with Tipico, a sports betting andonlinegamingcompany,andSisal,abettinggaming and payments, consumer/retailcompany.The board hasn't given a letter of intent

toCVCand the franchise’s fate hangs in thehandsof theretiredjudge.TheIndianboardhadissuedatenderprocess, invitingbidsforits two new franchises. While SanjivGoenka's companywon the Lucknow one,CVCwon thebid forAhmedabad.

RAshwinspunoutopenersTomLathamandWillYoungaswellasRossTaylor inthe firsthour. PTI

Neutral venues could get IPL games

VolXCNo.22 Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedatThe IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress,A-8, Sector-7,Noida -201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt, ShivylyaRoad,Post

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SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

19DJOKOVIC STILLCOYABOUTOZ OPENWorld No. 1 Novak Djokovic isn't ready to say whether he will defend hisAustralian Open title next month in Melbourne. The issue: Tournamentparticipants are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, andDjokovic has refused to say whether he has been. He previously has statedhis opposition to vaccination mandates for players. REUTERS

Junior World Cup: Second loss against France exposes India’s deficienciesMIHIRVASAVDABHUBANESWAR,DECEMBER5

INDIA’S JUNIORWorldCupcampaignendedjustthewayitbegan:headsintheirhands,ontheirkneesandjubilantFrenchplayersdanc-ingandcelebratingaroundthem.WhenFrancedefeatedIndiaintheopen-

ing group-stagematch, it was seen as thebiggest upset of the competition. But aftertheywonthethird-placeplayoffonSunday3-1, it seemed like themost obvious result.Whatwasn’t soobviouswastheoutcomeofthe final. It was stunning, the manner inwhich Argentina outwitted six-time JuniorWorld Cupwinners Germany 4-2 in a finalfor theages.Bothresultsholda lotof signifi-cancegoingforward,givingaglimpseintotheteams that could challenge thoseon the topof thepile.After their senior side won the Rio

Olympics gold medal, Argentine hockeyseemed tohave lost itswaya little in the lastfewyears. But the currentbunchof players–coachedbyLucasRey,theirRioOlympicsherowho is nowbecoming theirmessiah –havesparkedhopes of a revival, theway the2016juniortitlebecameaspringboardforIndiago-ingforward.Compared to the final, the consolation

third-placematchatWorldCupsismuch-ma-ligned,oftenconsideredasecond-classevent.At times, however, it can alsodefine tourna-

ments.AndSunday’sgamebetweenIndiaandFrancefelt likethat.

Colt fromLesBleusFrancesymboliseall things thataregoing

rightininternationalhockey,whichatthemo-mentseemssocompetitivethatanyofthetop-eight sides canbeat the other on their day –and the JuniorWorld Cuphas shown that itwillremainthatwayforaforeseeabletime.In 2013,when Les Bleus – to borrow the

moniker associatedwith their football team,finishedas the runners-upbehindGermany,it heraldedanewera for them.A lot of thoseplayerswentontoformthecoreof theseniorteam,whichmadewaves at the2018WorldCup.ThemoneypumpedintoFrenchhockey,in lieuof theParisOlympics,meantthattheirperformancethreeyearsagowasn’taone-off.Francehave continued topunch above theirweight inEuropeandrecentlysecuredquali-ficationforthe2023WorldCup,makingitrareback-to-backappearancesfortheminwhatisthebiggesteventonthehockeycalendaraftertheOlympics.The performance of their under-21 side

will give themhope that their risewill con-tinueunabated.Francewereeasily themoredominantof

thetwoteamsinthethird-placematch.Theybossedthemidfield,slicedthroughtheIndiandefencewithutmosteaseandcleverness,andshowedalotofenergyrightfromthetimetheanthemswere played. It helped their cause

that the defending champions never turnedupforthegame.TimotheeClement–rememberthename

–scoredahat-trickfrompenaltycorners,tak-inghis tally to14 in the tournament, fourbe-hind the top-scorerMiles Bukkens of theNetherlands. A lot of France’s plan revolvesaroundgettingClementintothegamebyrush-ingforwardandwinningpenaltycorners.Andwhentheyearnedthem–morethanadozenon Sunday –Clement is always threateningwithhispowerandplacement.France’sthird-placefinishalsopointsatthe

depth in Europeanhockey.While the usual

suspectshavebeenwinningalltheimportanttournaments,teamslikeWales–whoscriptedaremarkabletaletoqualifyforthe2023WorldCupanda slightly-stagnating Irelandunder-linesEurope’sstrength.

SouthAmericanchallengeWiththisinmind,Argentina’striumphbe-

comessignificant.Victories at junior level don’t necessarily

translateintoseniorsuccessbutSunday’swincomesas a timelybooster shot forArgentinehockey. Los Leones, as they are called, havebeenonadownwardspiralofsortssincewin-

ninggoldattheRioOlympics.One of the reasons for that, according to

their former senior captain andU-21 teamcoach Lucas Rey,was the internal problemsatafederationlevel.Itledtoaconstantchop-ping and changing of coaches, and some oftheir key players, including star drag-flickerGonzaloPeillat,felloutoffavour.Thisshowedin theirperformances,with the teamfinish-ing a poor seventh at both, the 2018WorldCupand2020Olympics.Rey, an Argentine legend, has taken it

uponhimselftorevitalisetheirhockey.Underhim,theteamwassurprisinglygood,playingwithanequalmeasureofcreativityandcun-ningness. Argentina will try to ensure asmooth transition of these players into theseniorfold,withthehopetomakethemaforceonceagain.Argentina’spresenceatthetopwillbecru-

cialforworldhockey,giventhatAustraliaandIndia are the only two countries apart fromthem to constantly challenge the Europeandominanceonthefield.

Ominous signs forAsiaThisbringsustoAsia,wheretheteamsare

fallingbehindtherestofthehockeyworldatanalarmingrate.OnethingthattheJuniorWorldCupproved

– if any further proofwasneeded–was thedownfall of SouthKoreaandPakistan,onceacontinental force but nowapale shadowoftheir past.While Pakistan,who still showed

someskillsbut lackedseverely in fitness,willpin their hopes on the new foreign coach,Siegfried Aikman, things look ominous forSouthKorea,wherehockeyhasbeen rapidlydecliningintheprioritylist.Malaysia continue to punch above their

weight, as they showedwith a spiriteddrawagainstBelgiuminthegroupstage.Butthegapbetween India and the rest of Asia, evenat ajuniorlevel,seemswidening.This,despitethefact that thiswasoneof themostunder-pre-paredIndianteamsofrecenttimes.India’sin-experienceshowedthroughoutthecompeti-tion, starting and ending with the gamesagainst France. On Sunday, theplayerswereguiltyofmakingsomebasicblunders,includ-ingmissedtrapping,theinabilitytograspthefive-yardruleforaerialballsandgoingforsoloefforts insteadofplayingsmarthockey,espe-ciallyinsideFrance’s ‘D’.In all their knockoutmatches – against

Belgiumin thequarterfinals,Germany in thesemis andFrance in theplayoff – India couldnot take advantage of their biggest asset,penalty corners. Figure this: in these threegames,Indiacouldearnonlyfivepenaltycor-ners from58 circle penetrationswhile theiropponentsgot21corners from76entries in-sidethe‘D’.Penaltycorners–both,defensiveandof-

fensive–were theirundoingeventuallyonSunday, just like it was in the openingmatch. India’s campaign ended the sameway it began.

DarylMitchell scoredafightingknockof60from92balls. AP

Franceplayerscelebrateagoalagainst IndiaonSunday. HI

Thetopiccametotheforeafter theBCCI toldthestateassociationstodevelopinfrastructure, forwhichtheboardwouldhelpthem.

Fivecitiestohost16-teamDavisCupFinalsnextyearMadrid: Buoyedbythesuccessof themulti-city format of this year's DavisCup Finals, the 2022 edition of themen's teamcompetitionwill be heldacross five cities, the InternationalTennisFederation(ITF)saidonSunday.Thisyear's18-nationcompetitionwasstaged across three cities --Madrid,TurinandInnsbruck--andtheRussianTennis Federation and Croatia willmeetinthefinalintheSpanishcapitallater on Sunday.The 2022 Finalswillsee 16 nations competing in fourgroups across four citieswith the topeight teams advancing to the knock-out stages in a neutral fifth host city,the ITF and event owners KosmosTennis said. "For the group stagesweenvisionall fourof thosebeingteamsthat are competing in the competi-tion," ITF chief David Haggerty toldReuters, adding that the governingbody expects tomake a decision onthehostcities inMarch. REUTERS

RainplaysspoilsportinPakvsBanglaTestDhaka:Themajority of play on daytwoofthesecondcrickettestbetweenBangladeshandPakistanwaswashedoutdue topersistent rainonSunday.Just6.2oversfromapossible98werepossibleasPakistanresumedthedayon 161-2 and reached 188-2 beforethe umpires called it a day. SkipperBabar Azamwas batting on 71withAzhar Ali on 52 at stumps. Rain andbad light also interrupted the gameondayone,allowingjusttwosessions.As the game started after the lunchsession on Sunday, Babar resumedwithaboundary through fine legoffpacerKhaledAhmed,showinghisin-tention to score quick runs. AzharalsohitaboundaryinthesecondballhefacedoffpacerEbadotHossain.Hethenstruck twoconsecutive fours inEbadot's next over to reach his 34thtest fiftyoff 126balls justbefore rainforced the postponement. Left-armspinnerTaijul Islam,whodidn'tbowlon day two, remains Bangladesh'sbiggest threat withmatch figures of2-49. AP

BRIEF SCORES: Stumps Pakistan188for2(Babar71*,Azhar52,Taijul2-49)vsBangladesh

Germanybowoutwith‘deadrubber’winMadrid: Germany bowed out of theDavis Cupwith awin in the doublesrubber of their semi-final inMadridagainst Russia. Kevin Krawietz andTim Puetz fought back to beat AslanKaratsev and Karen Khachanov 4-6,6-3,6-4,but itwasscantconsolationassinglesvictoriesforAndreyRublevand Daniil Medvedev had earliergivenRussiaanunassailable2-0leadinthebest-of-threetie. CroatiaawaitRussia in Sunday's showpiece afterthey eliminated Novak Djokovic'sSerbiaonFriday. BothfinalistswillbeaimingforathirdDavisCuptitle.TheRussianteamisofficiallybeingcalledRTF (Russian Tennis Federation) inthecompetitionbecauseof theongo-ing doping suspension in interna-tional sport. AP

BRIEFLY

New Delhi

HANUKKAH (which means “dedica-tion” in Hebrew) is being cele-brated this year from November

28 to December 6. This Jewish festival,also known as the festival of lights, hasmany similarities with Diwali. Both com-memorate the victory of good over evil,light over darkness and knowledge overignorance. Hanukkah is celebrated bylighting candles and Diwali is celebratedby lighting earthen lamps (diyas). Prepa-ration of traditional dishes and sweets, aswell as distribution of gifts among familiesand friends, are an integral part of boththe festivals.

Hanukkah commemorates both the164 BCE re-dedication of the SecondTemple in Jerusalem – after its desecra-tion by the ruling Seleucid (Syrian Greek)kingdom under Antiochus IV – and there-establishment of religious freedom forthe Jewish people after a period of harshrepression.

The success of the popular revolt led byJudah Maccabee and his brothers has,ever since, symbolised the Jewish peo-ple’s fight for, and achievement of, its lib-erty and freedom as a nation againstoverwhelming odds.

The main element of Hanukkah obser-vance is the lighting of the eight-branched menorah (or hanukkiah) atsunset.

On the first night, one candle (or oillamp) is lit, with another one being addedon each successive night until the eighthnight when all eight candles (or oil lamps)are lit. One extra light (the shamash)stands apart from the others and is usedto light them. Special blessings are in-

voked when lighting the menorah, whichis traditionally placed in a window ordoorway where it will be visible from theoutside.This is meant to publicise the mir-acle of the oil. It is customary to eat foodsfried in oil – typically jelly doughnuts orpotato pancakes – during this festival.

Hanukkah is marked by special prayersand scriptural readings in synagogues, aswell as by a special addition to the regularblessing after meals.

On the occasion of this Jewish festivalof lights, the Embassy of Israel in India or-ganised different activities, official visitsand cultural events to mark the festivalthroughout the months of November andDecember.

* ADVERTORIAL

IT was the morning ofSeptember 24 this yearwhen I arrived in India

for the first time, during theJewish High Holy Days,which mark the beginningof the Jewish year. For me,this was an exciting newbeginning. From the mo-ment I arrived here, I foundthat Israel has manyfriends in India. There is

much love, admiration and strong friendship between thepeople of Israel and India. I am honoured to have beengiven this opportunity to represent Israel in India. It is aprivilege to be in Delhi and stand alongside my colleagueswho work to enhance the cooperation between ou coun-tries in different fields.

On the last day of Hanukkah, our own festival of lights,I am happy to look back at the growing partnership be-tween Israel and India and the strong friendship betweenour peoples. In recent years, our bilateral relations andcooperation have grown in every possible field --- agricul-ture, water, health, innovation, technology, economy, ed-ucation, culture, tourism, and security.

Our relations have developed into a strategic partner-ship, and since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic,the two countries have collaborated on a number of jointventures despite the obstacles.

Next month – January 2022 – will mark 30 years ofdiplomatic relations between our two countries.At this time in 1991, our leaders and diplomats wereforming our relations, debating and considering the differ-ent elements which would be a part of the first stages ofour diplomatic ties.

Although formal relations are only 30 years old, therehas always been a special affinity between our ancientcivilisations.The real strength of our relations lies in thesestrong ties between our peoples, which are rooted in his-tory and have evolved and grown as we have grown.

India and Israel of the modern era have shared values,interests and challenges, which we face together to findshared solutions.The Indo-Israeli relations have been suc-cessful thanks to the strong woven cooperation betweenour ecosystems of government, business and academia.The strength of our relationship and growing partnershipcan only grow further.

Hanukkah signifies the victory of light over darkness.We continue remembering our history and our roots withjoyous occasions like these, filled with stories, traditionsand delicious food.To mark the occasion, the Embassy ofIsrael has organised a variety of events, visits and culturalactivities throughout the months of November andDecember.

One of the important activities that the embassy un-dertook on the occasion of Hanukkah was a photo exhibi-tion, titled Transcending Jerusalem. This exhibition is anopportunity to share the beauty of the 3,000-year-oldcapital of Israel, a city that means so many things to somany people around the world, through the eyes of In-dian photographers.Another interesting exhibition that iscurrently happening is titled In Another Green. It givesviewers a glimpse into the complexity of Israeli societyand the various voices within it.

I invite everyone to come to these exhibitions. I hope itwill inspire visitors to travel to Israel and discover what itmeans to them.

As Hanukkah ends and we await the New Year, I canconfidently say that the foundations of our bilateralrelations are strong and will continue to flourish.

Live window to Israeli art & culture

Like Diwali, Hanukkahcommemorates thevictory of good overevil, light overdarkness andknowledge overignorance

H.E. Mr Naor GilonAmbassador of Israel to India

Our ties arerooted and

still evolving

Bundelkhand water project: An official delegation of the UttarPradesh Government was part of a study visit on the India-Israel Bun-delkhand water project. It was organised by Mashav to get a first-hand experience of Israel’s holistic approach to water policy, in-tegrated management and irrigation efficiency for thedevelopment of the rural and agricultural sectors. The visit tookplace between November 21 and November 26.

Mashav activities:Ambassador Naor Gilon visited Indo-Israeli Centresof Excellence in Gharaunda and Ramnagar, where he interacted with localfarmers. At these centres, Indian farmers are trained in Israel’s most ad-vanced, innovative and cutting-edge agro-technologies, which increaseyields and productivity while diversifying local crops. Farmers are able tochoose the technology that suits them best,with the intent of doubling theirincome.

IN ANOTHER GREENThe Israeli Embassy has organised another exhibition in collaboration withAllianceFrancaise de Delhi.Called“InAnother Green,” it gives viewers a glimpse into the com-plexity of Israeli society and the various voices within it.The exhibition presents theworks of two artists, Joseph Dadoune and Leor Gready. Joseph was born in France,grew up in Israel and now lives in Paris. Leor was born in Israel to immigrants fromYemen. Both presented how different backgrounds influence the dominant culturalperception in Israel. The exhibition, curated by Achia Anzi, is open to the public tillDecember 23 at Galerie Romain Rolland,Alliance Francaise de Delhi.

Ambassador Naor Gilon exploring the exhibition in Gurugram From the Exhibition in Alliance Francaise de Delhi

Israel’s growing strategic partnership with India in health, agriculture and water

Hanukkah - the Jewish festival of lights

TRANSCENDING JERUSALEM- PHOTO EXHIBITIONJerusalem means various things to various people. Three Indian photographers --- PrabirPurkayastha,Parthiv Shah andAdityaArya --- have captured the images of the Holy City fromtheir perspective, narrating the cultural history of Israel’s ancient capital through their lens.What we see is a vibrant,multi-layered identity of Jerusalem,and commonalities with our so-ciety. The Israeli Embassy has organised this photo exhibition, titled “TranscendingJerusalem” and curated by Dr Alka Pande, at the Museo Camera Centre for the Photo-graphicArts, Gurugram. It is open to the public till December 16.

Each of these esteemed photographers has chosen to present the images of Jerusalemwhich speak most to them.So you get a flavour of different sights and sounds. Religiouspilgrims will see the holy sites of the old city, students will see the world-renowned campusesof Jerusalem, young visitors will see the vibrant markets and festivals, entrepreneurs will seethe technological park, culture seekers will see the theatres and museums and culinary en-thusiasts will explore the unique and diverse food scene.

Free health clinics for under-privileged women: The Embassyof Israel, in partnership with theNGO KHUSHII and Rajiv GandhiCancer Institute, organised awomen’s health clinic in urban slumsof South Delhi and North Delhi be-tween November 15 and 19.This ini-tiative was aimed to increase aware-ness of women’s health issues, including cancerprevention and early detection.The health clin-ics were organised for five days at SangamVihar,South Delhi, and Mukandpur, North Delhi. Emi-nent doctors from Israel and India participated.An Israeli medical delegation from Tel-AvivSourasky Medical Centre, led by Dr Ronit

Almog, a senior obstetric and gynaecolo-gist, came to India especially to take part inthis clinic. This delegation included four se-nior physicians who are specialists in thefield of women’s health --- an obstetrician, agynaecologist, a woman oncologist and abreast surgeon.

The clinics provided free services as doctorschecked blood pressure, blood sugar and gy-naecological issues, distributed medicines andconducted pap smear tests.They referred thosewho needed further tests and attention to spe-cialist doctors for free diagnosis and treatmentat the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute.

20 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER6,2021

New Delhi

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