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

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

WORLD

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

THE GUJARAT Anti CorruptionBureauonThursdaynabbedtwodoctors serving asmedical offi-cers at the Sola Civil Hospital inAhmedabad for accepting abribeof Rs8 lakhtoclearbill forfoodservedtoCovid-19patientsadmittedat thehospital.According toGujaratACBof-

ficials,theaccusedareDrUpendraPatel, medical officer-cum-incharge ResidentMedical Officer(Grade2), andDrShaileshKumarPatel, medical officer-cum-incharge administrative officer(Grade2), atSolaCivilHospital inAhmedabadalsoknownasGov-ernmentMedical EducationandResearchSociety (GMERS)Med-icalCollegeandHospital,Sola.Boththeaccusedmedicalof-

ficerswerecaughtinanACBtrapon Thursday on the hospitalpremisesacceptingabribeofRs8 lakh from the complainantwho had approached the antigraft sleuths after he was al-legedlyaskedtopayabribeofRs18 lakh by the accused. As pertheACB,theaccusedmedicalof-ficers had promised the com-plainant that theywould clearthebillofRs1.18croreasthecostincurred for food served toCovid-19 patients and staff ofSola Civil Hospital in the pastfourmonths.

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GUJARATACB

2 doctors held for‘taking Rs 8 lakhbribe for clearingfood bill forCovid patients’

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

“THE MAN who built thisbanyan tree calledBJP, fromtheJana Sangh.”With thesewords,ChiefMinisterVijayRupani,per-haps,bestsummedupthelifeofKeshubhai Patel (92), the BJP’sfirst chief minister in Gujarat,whodiedonThursday.While Patel had recovered

fromCovid-19lastmonth,hisson,Bharat, told The Indian Express,that “some damage had beendonetohishealth,ashealsosuf-fered fromprostate cancer”. HewastakentohospitalonThursdaymorning,wherehedied.AnRSSkaryakarta,Patelwas

amongthefoundermembersofthe Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS),andwasitspresidentfrom1972-75.Hebeganhisjourneyinelec-toralpoliticswiththeRajkotmu-nicipality, said Kirit Pathak, BJPleaderandformerdeputyregis-trarof SaurashtraUniversity.Patel foughthis first assem-

bly elections fromWankaner(theninRajkotdistrict) in1972,as a BJS candidate, but lost tothe Congress. In 1975, he wontheRajkot-1(nowRajkotWest)seat andwas appointed irriga-tionminister in theBJS-backedgovernment of the IndianNational Congress(Organisation), ledbythenchiefminister, Babubhai Patel.Among those jailed during

the Emergency, Patel waselected to the Lok Sabha fromthe Bharatiya Lok Dal, a front

formed by parties opposed tolate Prime Minister IndiraGandhi, in1977.In the BJP, Patel, popularly

knownasKeshubapa (father) inGujarat, iscreditedwithmentor-ingseveralpartyleaders.“Keshu-bhai mentored and groomedmany younger karyakartas in-cludingme.Everyonelovedhisaf-fablenature.His demise is an ir-reparable loss,” PrimeMinisterNarendraModitweeted.Patel’s own political career,

however,ismarkedwiththedis-tinction of having never com-pletedaterm-whetheritwasasstate cabinet minister in theBabubhai Patel government(1975), the Chimanbhai PatelJantaDal(G)government(1990),or his own chief ministership(1995and1998).AsaBJPcandidate,Patelwon

theAssemblyelectionsfivetimesCONTINUEDONPAGE2

BJP’s first Gujarat CM, who ‘knewgeography, topography of state’

LAXMANSINGHMUMBAI,OCTOBER29

VERY SOON, civic officials inMumbaiwill embark on a deli-catemissionthatcouldspellthedifference between life anddeathforsomeofthecity'smostfragile assets -- coral colonies atWorli andHajiAli.On Thursday, the

Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation received the greensignal from the Principal ChiefConservatorofForests(Wildlife),Nagpur, for translocating thecorals for the Rs 12,700-croreMumbaiCoastalRoadProject.

The BMC is executing the10.58-kmproject fromPrincessStreetFlyoveronMarineDrivetoWorli, where it will connect tothe Bandra-Worli Sealink. Andofficials are confident thatwiththe help of experts from theNational Institute ofOceanography,thetranslocationcanbecompletedintwodaysinNovember,sincethepresenceofcoralsatbothsitesis“miniscule”.“While granting NOC for

translocation,theWildlifeBoardtold us to follow all guidelines.They have told us to completethe translocation by Decemberbutwewillfinishbeforethat.Wewillneedtwodaysof lowtidefor

moving these corals to a newsite," saidasenior civicofficial.The colonies at Haji Ali will

betranslocatedtoMarineLines,and those atWorli at some dis-tance away from the construc-tionsite.Buttheproposedmovehasalso led toapprehension."I hope the BMC is able to

translocate the colonies of reef-building False Pillow corals ontheHajiAlishore.Thesecolonieswere almost lost to land recla-mation last month," saidShaunak Modi, a marine re-searcherwho has documentedcoralsalongMumbai'sshoreline.Corals are marine inverte-

bratesthatattachthemselvesto

rockyinter-tidalregionsandsus-tain a variety ofmarine life. Thereef-buildingcorals arecoveredunderSchedule I of theWildlifeProtection Act, 1972 for endan-geredspecies.The oceanography institute,

whichwastaskedwithtrackingmarine biodiversity along theproject area, had identified sixcoralspeciesatWorliandHajiAli-- 18 colonies spread across0.251sqminWorliandover0.11sqmatHajiAli. Thespeciesdoc-umentedarehardcoralsthatarevisibleduring lowtide.Marine biologists had op-

posed the reclamation,warningthatthemovewoulddestroythe

corals.ButtheBMCinitiallyfailedto acknowledge the coral pres-enceanddeniedthattheywouldneedwildlife permission for theproject.Latelastyear,theBombayHighCourtorderedofficialstoob-tain clearance as the projectwouldaffectspeciescoveredun-dertheWildlifeProtectionAct.Finally, on September 3, the

civic body applied for clearanceandsubmittedaproposal to theMangrove Cell of theMaharashtraForestDepartmentto translocate the colonies. OnOctober 12, following primaryinspection, theMangrove CellforwardedtheapplicationtothePCCF (Wildlife).

Coral formationatHajiAli,Mumbai. ShaunakModi

A tense two-day mission of moving corals in MumbaiPAGE1ANCHOR

KESHUBHAIPATEL

1928-2020

Familymembersandothersat formerchiefministerKeshubhaiPatel’s last rites inGandhinagaronThursday. PTI

DrShaileshKumarPatelandDrUpendraPatel

MANOJCG&SHYAMLALYADAVNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

THEGOVERNMENT is tipped toappoint former Indian ForeignService officer and InformationCommissioner YashvardhanKumar Sinha as the new ChiefInformationCommissionerandjournalistUdayMahurkar as anInformation Commissioner de-spite strong objections fromAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury, theOppositionmemberinthehigh-

powered selec-tion committeeheaded byPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.TheGovern-

mentisalsolear-nt to have final-izedthenameofDeputy Compt-roller &Auditor

GeneralSarojPunhaniforthepostof InformationCommissioner.Officials of the Department

ofPersonnelandTraining(DoPT)have informed Sinha about hisappointment.When contacted,Sinha confirmed this to TheIndianExpress.The decision to appoint

Sinha andMahurkar came de-spite objections byChowdhuryinadissentnote.

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Govt set toname CIC,two ICs,despite Oppdissent note

YSSinha

MANCARRYINGKNIFEHELD INLYON

After teacher, 3 killed in French church;Islamist terror attack, saysMacron

NotreDamechurch inNice,after theattackThursday.Reuters

Guard injured inattackatFrenchConsulate in Jeddah,onearrested

AURELIENBREEDEN&ELIANPELTIERPARIS,OCTOBER29

LESSTHANtwoweeks after thebeheading of a French school-teacher, an assailant carrying aknifeenteredthetoweringneo-Gothic basilica in the southerncity of Nice early Thursday andkilled three people, further in-flamingtensionsinacountryal-ready on edge and leading theauthorities to increase the ter-rorismthreat level.OfficialsinNicedescribedthe

attackas Islamist terrorism,andit was quickly followed by aflurry of reports of other inci-dents – including one that in-volvedaknife-wieldingassailantoutside a French consulate inSaudiArabia–thoughitwasnotimmediately clearwhether theeventswerecoordinated.“VeryclearlyitisFrancethatis

attacked,” President EmmanuelMacron said fromNice, calling

the act an “Islamist terrorist at-tack” and adding that “at thesame time, one of our consularsites in Jeddahwasattacked.”Themayor of Nice, Christian

Estrosi, toldreporters thatasus-pect, who has not been identi-fied,wasarrestedafterbeingshotandwoundedby thepolice. Thesuspect “kept repeating AllahuAkbar in frontofuseventhoughhe was sedated,” Estrosi said,addingthisleft“nodoubt”aboutthemotivationbehindtheattack.“There isawomanwhoquite

clearly was attacked with thesamemodusoperandiasSamuelPaty,” Estrosi toldBFMTV, refer-ringtotheteacherwhowaskilled,suggesting that thevictimmighthavealsobeendecapitated.PrimeMinister Jean Castex

quickly announced that the au-thoritieswereplacingFranceonitshighestterrorismthreatlevel,with heightened security atplaces of worship, andMacronsaidthatmilitarypatrolsaround

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SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

A DAY after becoming the first“non-Western country” – as aseniordiplomatputit-- tocomeout in support of FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron,NewDelhiThursdayunderlinedits solidarity with a statementfrom PrimeMinister NarendraModi himself after the secondsetofattacksinNiceandJeddah.“I strongly condemnthe re-

cent terrorist attacks inFrance,including today’s heinous at-tack in Nice inside a church.Ourdeepest andheartfelt con-dolences to the families of thevictims and the people ofFrance. India stands withFrance in the fight against ter-rorism,” the PM tweeted.

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PM underlinesIndia’s support;between lines akey message

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

INTRODUCINGAkey change inthe Air India disinvestmentprocess, the Government hastaken a call to allowprospectivebidderstheflexibilitytodecidethelevelofdebttheywishtotakeonalongwiththeloss-ladenairline.This decision marks a shift

fromtheexerciseof combiningafixedlevelofdebtwiththecarrierafter the Centre froze the long-termliabilitiestobebundledwiththesaleatRs23,286.50crorewhilelaunching its second attempt tosellitsstakeonJanuary27.TheGovernmenthasalsoex-

tendedthe lastdate for submis-sion of expressions of interestfrom October 30 to December14, thereby giving time for po-tential investors to review thenewbidconditions.On Thursday, the Centre an-

nounced that potential bidderswill be allowed to place theirbids on the basis of enterprisevalue, which accounts for bothequityaswellasdebtofthecom-pany. “The potential biddershave been showing interest for

some time so I am reasonablydonefollowingsuggestionsthathave come from all the stake-holders in the game,” CivilAviationMinisterHardeepSinghPuri saidatapressconference.“With passage of time and

due toCOVID impact, the losseshaveincreasedandhencefixingthe debt at any level could havereducedtheuniverseofbidders,”hesaid.In January, the Government

hadsetMarch17asthedeadlinetosellits100percentsharehold-ing in Air India along with Air

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Key change in AirIndia disinvestment:Bidders can decidedebt burden level

THENEWoffermeanstheGovernmentwillnot pre-determine thelevel of debt that AIwillcarry. It gives greaterflexibility to structurebids, and is amarkeddeparture fromearlierdivestment attempts.

GivesmoreflexibilityE●E

XPLAIN

ED

GARGIVERMARAIPUR,OCTOBER29

THE CHHATTISGARH govern-ment, as reported inThe IndianExpress Thursday, decided notto deduct the Rs 200-crorepenalty it had imposed on TataProjects twice for notmeeting its deadline inthe Rs 3,057-crore ruralbroadbandproject.Interestingly, in September

2019,twomonthsafterthestip-ulated 12-month deadline hadpassed, Tata Projects engaged aRaipur-based sub-vendorGalaxy Synergy Private Ltd(GSPL),amongstothersub-ven-dors, toexpeditework.While subcontracting is a

normgiventhescaleofsuchproj-

ects, and Tata Projects engagedsub-vendors as per the recom-mendationoftheChiefSecretary-led State Level ImplementationCommittee(SLIC),whathasraisedeyebrowsistheworkorderissuedbyTataProjectstoGSPL.It states that the “contractor

(GSPL)shallactivelyassistanden-sure that EOT (ExtensionOf Timeline) is granted…without any penalty/LD(LateDeduction).”

GSPL,incorporatedonMarch27,2019,wasinexistenceforjustoversixmonthswhenitbaggedthe contract from Tata ProjectsLtdonSeptember19,2019.Aprivatefirmheadquartered

in Raipur, the scope of work ofthecontractor,whowereessen-tially providingmanual skilled

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Spared by Govt,Tata Projects gotvendor assuranceon penalty too

PART-2

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

THE COVID-19 pandemic hasbroughtaboutadeepstructuralchange in the economy, leadingto a “two-speed” recovery,wheresomesectorsarebenefit-ting immensely while othersface enormous challenges andneedsupport,UdayKotak,MD&CEO,KotakMahindraBank, and

President, Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII), said onThursday.Speaking at the Express e-

Adda organised by The Indian

Express, Kotak said sectors, in-cluding consumer goods, e-commerce, IT, digital, telecom,and pharmaceuticals were do-ingmuchbetter,whileaviation,tourism, hospitality, and somegeneral services were facingchallenges.“We are seeing a two-speed

world as we go forward.Whatwehave to be clear about is theorganised sector in general is inabetter position than theunor-ganised sector,” Kotak said.Stressedsectorsandpeoplewhowerefacingchallengesshouldbeoffered financial support andsafetynets,hesaid.

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UdayKotakat theAdda

Recovery is ‘two-speed’; stressedsectors need a safety net: Kotak

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,OCTOBER29

THREE BJPmembers, includingthe district general secretary ofthe Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha (BJYM), were killed bysuspectedmilitants in KulgamdistrictonThursdayevening.Police sources saidmilitants

opened fired at Fida HussainYatoo,districtgeneralsecretaryofthe BJYM, the BJP's youthwing,and two party workers, UmarRamzanHajamandUmarRashidBeig,atYKPoravillageinKulgam,SouthKashmir.WhileYatoodiedimmediately, theother twodiedonthewaytohospital.“Today, at about 2020hours,

Kulgampolicereceivedinforma-tionaboutaterrorcrimeincidentatYKPora,where terroristshadfired upon three BJPworkers,”police said in an official state-ment. “Preliminary investiga-tionsrevealedthatterroristsfireduponthreeBJPworkersatEidgahY K Pora, due towhich they gotinjured. They were shifted tonearby hospital... where theyweredeclaredasbroughtdead,”thestatementsaid.Police said a case has been

registered. A joint team of J&KPolice, Army and paramilitaryforceshavecordonedofftheareaandstartedsearchoperations.Condemning the killings,

Lieutenant Governor ManojSinha said the “perpetrators ofviolence are the enemies of hu-manity and such cowardly actscannotbe justified”.Official sources said at least

nine BJP leaders and workersCONTINUEDONPAGE2

Three BJPworkers killedin militantattack in J&K

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

WILLDONALDTRUMPLOSE?BYASHUTOSHVARSHNEY

PAGE8

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

ASKEVADIAGEARSUPFORPM’SVISIT,TWODOZENCOPSTESTCOVIDPOSITIVEPAGE3

GUJARAT

IMRANAIDEADMITSTOPAKISTAN’SROLEINPULWAMATERRORATTACK

TYPHOONMOLAVEHITSVIETNAM,60FEAREDDEADPAGE 14

RELATEDREPORTSPAGE4

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

Keshubhai Patel- fromGondal in Rajkot district(1980),KalavadinJamnagardis-trict (1985), Tankara then inRajkot district (1990), andVisavadar in Junagadh district(1995and1998).In1995,underhisleadership,

theBJPwon121ofthe182seats.Patelbecamechiefminister,but,by the end of the year, his gov-ernment facedachallenge fromShankersinh Vaghela, who de-fectedwith about 40MLAs andwentontoformthegovernmentwiththesupportoftheCongress.Vaghela’s government was

dissolvedin1998,andfreshelec-tionswereheld.TheBJPreturnedto power with 117 seats, andPatel became chief ministeragain. But in October 2001, thepartyreplacedhimwithModi.While Patel was the BJP’s

Rajya Sabha MP from 2003-2009, he did not contest theAssembly elections on a BJPticketagain.In the run-up to the 2012

Assemblypolls,Patelallegedin-justice to Patidars, and chal-lenged theBJP by launching theGujarat Parivartan Party (GPP).The party, however, won onlytwoseats, includingPatel’s ownseatofVisavadar.Two years later, the GPP

mergedwith the BJP, and PatelresignedasMLA. In theensuingbypoll,theBJPfieldedPatel’sson,Bharat, but he lost to HarshadRibadiyaof theCongress.As chief minister, Patel is

creditedwithdevelopingthevil-lage as the central unit.JaynarayanVyas,whowasmin-isterinhiscabinet,hailedhis“ro-bustcommonsenseandunder-standing of rural issues”. HisGokulGramYojanaencouragedthe development of villagesthroughprivateparticipation.“Heneverwenttouniversity,

buthiswasanexperienceingov-ernancethatfewpoliticianshavetoday.Iwouldsayhewastheonlyleaderwhoknewthegeography,topography and culture of Guj-arat,”saidGordhanZadafia,vice-presidentof thestateBJPunit.Patel went to Alfred high

school in Rajkot, alsoMahatmaGandhi’s almamater, but couldnot complete his education.“AfterMahatmaGandhi’sassas-sination, he took out a rally toprotest against the ban on RSS,andwasjailedforsixmonths,be-causeofwhichhecouldnot ap-pearforhisSSCexam,”saidVyas.ALeuvaPatidar,hewasborn

KeshubhaiDesaiin1928.“ManyPatelsfromAmreliandJunagadhareDesais—clerkswhocollectedtaxesfromlandowners.Throughmyschoolyears,IwasKeshubhaiDesai, till our Junagadh leader,Suryakant Acharya, (former BJPMP), began to refer to me asKeshubhai Patel, and the namestuck,”PatelhadtoldTheIndianExpress inan interviewin2015.Patelisknowntohaveplayed

akeyroleinorganisingBJPleaderLKAdvani’srathyatrain1990.In1994,hewasappointedtrusteeofthe Shree SomnathTrust,whichmanagestheSomnathtemple.In2004, hewas first electedpresi-dent of the Trust, and was re-electedeveryyearafterthat.

2 doctorsAccording to officials, the

medical officershadalreadyac-cepted a bribe amount of Rs 10lakhinthepastfromtheaccusedandonThursday,theyweresup-posed to receive the remainingRs 8 lakh when they werenabbed.“Thecomplainantinthecase,

whohasbeenkeptanonymous,had approached us stating thatthe superintendent of Sola CivilHospital had given the order tothecomplainant’sbrother’scan-teentoavailwaterandfoodtoallCovid-19 patients andmedicalstaffatthehospital.ThetotalbillincurredinthepastfourmonthswasRs1.18crore.Initially,theac-cusedhaddemanded30%cuttoclearthebill.However,laterthey

agreedatRs16lakhastheircom-mission and they also receivedRs10 lakh inthepast.Thentheyfurther demanded Rs 2 lakhfrom the complainant in ex-changeofprovidingthreeyears’tender to his brother’s canteen.We have recovered the bribeamountfromthedoctorsandde-tainedthem.TheirCovid-19testhasbeenconducted.Theywillbearrestedformallyaftertheresultsare out,” saidGVPadheriya, as-sistantdirector,ACB.AsperACB,boththeaccused

officers have been serving formorethan15yearsatthehospi-tal.“Ournextstepnowwillbeto

trace the remaining Rs 10 lakhwhich the accusedhad taken inthepast,”addedPadheriya.

J&K attackhave been killed inmilitant at-tacks across Kashmir this year.Mostof theattackstookplaceinSouthKashmir.

Uday KotakThe government should use

the funds that are left out of theRs 3 lakh croreMSME lendingschemetosupportstressedsec-tors likeaviationandrealestate,Kotak said. Banks have sanc-tioned62.52per centof the tar-geted Rs 3 lakh crore under theEmergency Credit LineGuarantee Scheme for stressedMSMEsasofOctober5.“Thisisasdeepanddramatic

a changeasprobably the indus-trial revolution was. It reallychanged the way humanityworked.Itdidleadtoalotofdis-placementbutalsoledtoalotofopportunities.Atthesametime,we have to find a safety net forthepeoplewhowillbeleftoutofthis,”Kotaksaid.Manypeopleinthecountrywillrequiretraining,re-skillingandfinancialsupport,hesaid.In response to questions on

risk aversion among banks, henoted that even corporate bor-rowerswereriskaverse,prepay-ing loansandnot fullyusingex-isting credit lines. Within thefinancial sector, he said, bankswouldneedtoutilisetechnologyat a much bigger scale – withtechnologymoving frombeinganenabler of business to some-thing thatdrivesbusiness in thepost-Covidera.Kotak was in conversation

with Anant Goenka, ExecutiveDirector, The Indian Express, andP Vaidyanathan Iyer, ExecutiveEditor-National Affairs, TheIndianExpress.Toquestionson theneed for

governmentstimulusandlowerGoods and Service Tax (GST)rates, Kotak said there is a chal-lengeforthegovernmentonthefiscal side, even though India’sexternal financial balance sheetis robust and resilientwithhighforeign exchanges reserves andacurrentaccountsurplus.The Express Adda is a series

of informal interactions organ-ised by The Indian ExpressGroup, featuring those at thecentreof change.Union External AffairsMini-

sterSJaishankar,UnionMinisterfor Road Transport andHighways and MSMEs NitinGadkari, Union Minister forEducationRameshPokhriyal,AI-IMSDirectorDrRandeepGuleria,and former Chief EconomicAdvisor Arvind Subramanianhave been guests at the E-Addathis year, as these discussionsmoved online during the pan-demic.

Tata projectsworkers, included end-to-endconnectivity digging trenches,laying down the infrastructureand “testing and establishingconnectivity at GP (GramPanchayat)andBlock level.”Askedtoexplain thepenalty

clause, GSPL’s Director DheerajDubey said: “Whenwe joined,Tata was already delayed andhad been penalised. Weweretold thatwehad towork fast, or

wewouldfaceapenaltytoo.”Hesaid he did not remember theclauseaboutensuringEOTwith-outanypenalty.One of the many sub-con-

tractors, GSPL, according toDubey, was given work on 27blocksof85inChhattisgarhandtheirworkiscloseto50percentnearcompletion,hesaid.While Tata Projects received

a conditional 12-month exten-sionof timeline on June7, 2019,to be reviewed after threemonths, the SLIC confirmed itonlyatitsmeetingonOctober21,2019.Unabletocompletetheproj-

ectaftertheexpiryofthefirstex-tension on June 17, 2020,ChhattisgarhInfotechPromotionSociety (ChIPS) CEO SameerVishnoi, following a request byTataProjects,extendedthetime-line by another six months toDecember 2020. ChIPS is thestate’s nodal agency tomonitortheprogressofITprojectsinclud-ingBharatNetPhase II.As on September 25, 2020,

TataProjectscouldensurebroad-band-ready infrastructure inonly1,394grampanchayats (24percentof thetarget).When contacted, ChIPS CEO

Sameer Vishnoi told The IndianExpressthatChIPSwasnotawareofanysuchcontract.“AsChIPSisnotholdinganysuchdocumentor details of matter, so itwouldnot be possible to commentwhether it isproperorvalid.”Responding to questions, a

spokesperson for Tata Projectssaid “the promoters of the sub-contractor (which is set up as aspecialpurposevehicle)arelongestablished local contractorcompanies with considerablerelevant experience.”About theparticularclauseinitsagreementwith GSPL, Tata Projects said itrelated to “contractedwork be-ingcompleted inanacceleratedmannersoastoensurenopuni-tiveactionarises.”TataProjectsaswellasChIPS,

inaseparatestatement,alsosaidthe government hadmore thanRs 332 crore as Performance

Bank Guarantee and asAdditional Bank Guarantee,whichcouldbeusedforpenaltyat theendof theproject.In the statement, ChIPS said

the newspaper’s report onThursdaythatthepenaltyleviedearlier was ratified by a ChiefSecretary-led committee wasmisleadinganderroneous.“CEOSameerVishnoi has started for-mal procedure of imposing ofproposedpenaltyof 12per centof theprojectcostoncontractorM/s Tata Projects Ltd. The showcausenotice toTataProjects Ltdhas already been issued on29/8/2020 and further action isunderprocess,” it said.TheIndianExpresshas,how-

ever,seenthecontentsofthelet-terofChIPSunderearlierCEOKCDevasenapathiinFebruary2019and the minutes of the SLICmeetings in June 2019 andOctober 2019 chaired by thenChief Secretary, which clearlymention that the penalty wasleviedandratified.Further,thosewhoworkedonthisprojectear-liersaid,thatwhiletheperform-ance bank guarantee of Tata iswith the state, it is only 10 percentoftheactualcostasopposedto12percentpenalty.An officer requesting

anonymity said, “TPL had beenpaid 100per centmoney as ad-vance capital against theAdditional Bank Guarantee.Moreover,without informationto all parties involved a propor-tionate deduction can't bechanged into a deduction atcompletion. The ABG and PBGare standard practices whichshouldn't be confused withpenalty.”Issuing the work order to

GSPL, Tata Projects describedGSPLas“havingexpertise inde-lay analysis and assessment” inthe specific conditions of con-tract.The Raipur-based company,

with a paid-up capital of Rs 8lakh, has three directors Dubey,Dinesh Patel and KB Varsani.Varsaniownsaconstructionandcivil engineering firm that has

been inexistence since2006, inwhichDubeybecameapartnerin2020.Dubeyisoneof thefounders

ofDeeVeeProjectsLtd,aninfra-structure firm incorporated in2012 and co-owned by VivekRanjanMahto, son of late BJPleader BanshilalMahto, wherePatel isalsoaco-director.Evenbefore the first penalty

was levied on Tata Projects inNovember 2018, two out of thethree firms Tata had sub-con-tracted initially had no experi-enceandevensharedadirector,anofficialinvolvedintheprojectsaid. “Before levying the firstpenalty,wehadraised the issueabout their sub-vendors. ButsinceTataProjectshadcompletefreedom, it went ahead withthosecontractors,butdidn’tde-liverasperthetimeline,” theof-ficialsaid,requestinganonymity.Payments to Tata Projects

alsogainedmomentumin2020.Red flagswere raised internallyinChIPSaboutdiscrepancyinin-formation on the quantum ofworkcompletedbasedonwhichfundswerereleased.Forinstance,oneletterdated

June 21, 2020, statesworkwascompleted in 604 villages, andanotherone issuedonthesamedatestatesworkwascompletedin134villages.Records accessed by The

IndianExpresshowthatajuniorofficerinCHiPShadpointedthisout.Theofficersaidthatthefirstletter was for release of fundsandthesecondone“(was)notinalignmentwiththeinformationforwarded to BBNL (BharatBroadband Network Ltd).”Despite this,ChIPSCEOVishnoi,signed the note-sheet withoutanycommentsoraction.

Govt to name CICAt themeeting of the com-

mittee October 24, Chowdhuryhadcalledtheshortlisting“noth-ing but an empty formalityaimed at carrying out a hog-wash that defeats the very aimandgoaloftransparencyandac-countability that theRTIActen-

visages.”Chowdhury is learnt tohave

arguedthat theCICshouldhavemore“on-ground”domesticex-perience in the field of servicedelivery, law, science, humanrights and issues that concernsthegeneralpublic.AndanIFSof-ficerdidn’thavethatexperience.HepointedoutthatInformationCommissioner Vanaja N Sarnawasseniortohimandfitsthebill.Chowdhury is also learnt to

havesaidthatMahurkar’snamewas “skydropped” since he hadnot even applied for the post ofInformationCommissioner andhis name does not figure in thelistof 355applicants.ReferringtoMahurkar’sarti-

cles,commentsandsocialmediaprofile,Chowdhury,sourcessaid,argued that he was “an opensupporter of the ruling politicalpartyandits ideology”.Mahurkar, a senior Deputy

EditorwithIndiaToday,istheau-thor of books on theModi gov-ernmentandhis“mantraofgov-ernance.” When contacted,Mahurkar told The IndianExpress:“Yes,Ihaveacceptedtheoffer letter that Igot.”Punhani,a1984batchofficer

of Indian Audit and AccountService (IAAS)who is retiring innextfewmonths,alsoconfirmedthat she had been informed ofherappointment.It is learnt that at the first

meeting of the PM-headedCommittee held on October 7,ChowdhuryhadpointedoutthattheSearchCommitteehadfailedtoprovideitsrecommendationsin advance. The meeting wasthendeferred.The selection committee

thenmetonOctober24andcon-sidered two names for the postof CIC shortlisted by the searchcommittee: retired IAS officerand InformationCommissionerNeerajKumarGuptaandSinha.For the Information

Commissioners, the high-pow-ered committee had before itsevennames.Besides Mahurkar and

Punhani, the other shortlisted

were:formerSecretary,DefenceProduction Subhash Chandra;Deputy CAGMeenakshi Gupta;former Principal DirectorGeneral (News) All India RadioIra Joshi; former Secretary,Ministry of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises, ArunKumarPandaandformerLaboursecretaryHeeraLalSamariya.Chowdhury is learnt tohave

said in his dissent note that it is“appalling” that the SearchCommittee “failed” to give anyreasonswhytheshortlistedcan-didatesaremoresuitableamongall thosewhoapplied.Asmany as 139 people had

applied for the post of CIC and355 for thepostsof InformationCommissioners. Chowdhury islearnt to have argued that theSearch Committee ignored thedirectionsof theSupremeCourttomake public the criteria ap-plied forshortlisting.Atpresent,thereareonlyfive

InformationCommissioners(in-cludingSinha)attheCICandthefullstrengthissupposedtobe10.Earlier, their tenurewas for fiveyearsoruntil65yearsofagebutbyanamendmenttotheRTIActlastyear,theUnionGovernmentreduced the tenure to threeyears.

AI divestmentIndia’s100percentholdinginAirIndia Express and 50 per centshare in Air India-SATS, a jointventurewith Singapore AirportTerminal Services. However, onaccount of the pandemic, thedeadlinewasextendedmultipletimes.The significant level of debt

was one of the key concernsraised by industry participantsduringAir India’s firstdisinvest-ment attempt in 2017,whennobidswere placed. The Govern-mentsubsequentlyreducedthebundled amount in the secondattempt.“It is a very uncertain envi-

ronmentand to fixa certaincri-teriawill raise a counter-ques-tionthatthiscriteria isnotvalid.Soratherthanputtingourselvesinshacklesinanuncertainenvi-ronment, we are unshackling.But this doesn’t mean that thevaluation in anyway is going tobeaffected.Thevaluewillbedis-covered by themarket throughthebiddingprocess,” saidTuhinKanta Pandey, secretary,Departmentof InvestmentsandPublic AssetManagement (DI-PAM).Another changebeingmade

is that thewinning bidderwillhave to deposit at least 15 percent of the bid amount in cashwith the Government ahead ofthe share transfer. “The 15 percentclauseisnecessarybecauseit is necessary (for bidders) toshow their skin in the game,”Puri said.However, thisclausewillnot

be a parameter for bidding,whichwillbedecidedontheba-sisof enterprisevaluequoted.Duringmeetings of the Air

India Special AlternateMechanism—agroupofminis-ters headed by HomeMinisterAmitShahtodecideonthedisin-vestment—anumberofoptionswere discussed, including onethat allows bidders to submit aquote without any pre-fixedlevelofdebt.Theothersincludedthe Government continuing torun the operationswithout pri-vatisation for a “fewmonths/years till the situationstabilises” andwinding up thebusinessoperationsofAir India.IntheUnionBudgetfor2020-

21,theGovernmenthadsetitselfa disinvestment target of Rs 2.1lakh crore. It expects to raise Rs90,000 crore through stake saleinLifeInsuranceCorporationandIDBI Bank, and another Rs 1.2lakh crore through other disin-vestments including BPCL,Container Corporation of India,Shipping Corporation of IndiaandAir India.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

After teacher, 3 killed in French church

PM underlines support; between lines a key message

thecountry–acommonsightover the past few years –would bemore than doubledfrom3,000 troops to7,000.Officialsacrossthepolitical

spectrum condemned the at-tack,asdidFrenchMuslimrep-resentatives.ThekillingsinNicecomeat

anextremelyfraughtmomentforFrance,whichisstillshakenby the beheading of theteacher,andisabouttoenteramonth-longlockdowntoslowthespreadof thecoronavirus.Since Paty’s killing by a

youngMuslimman offendedthat the teacher had showncartoons of the Prophet in a

class on free speech, the au-thorities have undertaken abroad crackdown againstMuslim extremists in France,conducting dozens of raids,temporarily closing a majormosque and disbanding aMuslimaidgroup that theau-thorities have accused of “ad-vocating radical Islam” andhatespeech.Those measures have

foundwidespreadsupportinanation still traumatised byIslamicState-inspiredterroristattacks in recent years – in-cluding two that killed a totalofmore than200people.“If we are attacked once

moreitisbecauseofthevaluesthatareours,”Macronsaid, in-cluding freedom of worshipand freedom of expression.“Wewillnotyieldanything.”“Enough is enough,” said

Estrosi,theNicemayor.“Itisnowtime forFrance toexempt itselffrompeacetimelawstoperma-nentlyannihilateIslamofascismfromourterritory.”Several leaders of Muslim

countries, led by PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan ofTurkey, have denouncedFrance’s staunch defence ofsecularismand freespeech.On Thursday, French offi-

cials were particularly out-

raged by commentsmade af-ter the attack on Twitter byMahathirMohamad, a formerMalaysian prime minister,whoarguedthatMuslimshada right to “kill millions ofFrench people for the mas-sacresof thepast.” TheFrenchgovernment quickly askedTwittertosuspendMahathir’saccountforincitinghatredandviolence.Thepostwaslaterre-moved.At the French consulate in

theSaudicityof Jeddah,asus-pectwasquicklyarrestedaftera separate knife attack thatwounded a security guard,whowashospitalised. NYT

Indianofficialswereassess-ing the threat perceptionwithsecurityofficialsfromtheFrenchembassy Thursday eveningalongwiththefourFrenchcon-sulates inMumbai, Bangalore,Kolkata and Pondicherry.Securityforthesemissionsandstaffwillbebeefedupafterthisassessment, sources said,adding that the French foreignministryhasissuedanadvisorycallingFrenchcitizensabroadtobe vigilant amid an increasedriskof terroristattacks.Intheshadowoftheattacks,

Foreign Secretary HarshVardhanShringlareachedParisThursday on a scheduled visitandmetMacron’s diplomaticadvisorEmmanuelBonne.Speaking at the Institut

Français des RelationsInternationales (IFRI) in Paris,Shringlasaid:“IndiaandFrancefacesimilarnon-traditionalse-

curitythreatsintheformofrad-icalism and terrorism…Thefighttodayisnotagainstspecificcommunitiesorindividualsbutagainst a radical politico-reli-giousideologythatattemptstonegate the progressmade bysecular democracies, particu-larlywhenitinvolvestheequal-ity of all citizens, regardless ofreligion or ethnicity, and therights ofwomen…Such forcesseek todestabilizepluralist so-cieties,”hesaid.“It was horrifying to hear

aboutthetworecentterroristin-cidentsinFrance,oneofwhich,asisveryoftenthecase,haditsori-gins inourwesternneighbour-hood–Pakistan. The civilisedworldneedstoact togetherandactwithfirmnesstoaddressthisthreat toour cherisheddemo-craticvaluesystems,”hesaid.So far, according to French

officials, onlyEUcountriesand

CanadahadsupportedMacron,evenasTurkeyandPakistanledthe attack against Macron.Diplomats point out that eventheUS,theUKorAustraliahavenotspokenoutinMacron’ssup-portsofar. Inthiscontext,Parissaw New Delhi’s reaction as“verymeaningful.”IndiahadWednesdaycome

out in support of Macron,whom Pakistan and Turkeyhave targeted for insulting theIslamicfaithinthenameofde-fending the French people'srighttofreedomofexpression.OnOctober 16, an 18-year-

old Chechen refugee in Francebeheaded 47-year-old school-teacherSamuelPatydaysafterPaty had shown caricatures oftheProphettoinaclassroom.South Block sources said

therewas a lot of deliberationbeforethestatementwhichhadfourkeyelements.

First,wasthecondemnationof the attack againstMacron.“We strongly deplore the per-sonal attacks in unacceptablelanguageonPresident...Macronin violation of themost basicstandards of international dis-course,”MEAhadsaid.The second element was

the condemnation of the ter-rorist attack which echoedwhat Paris has done afterPulwama, Uri, Pathankot at-tacks in recentyears, andafter26/11 inthepast.The third elementwas the

India’suniversalpositiononter-rorism—“There isno justifica-tionforterrorismforanyreasonorunderanycircumstance.”Thefourthelement,anoffi-

cial said, iswhat has not beensaid – the statement does notcondone the cartoons andmakes no reference to theFrenchfree-speechstand.

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AnyIndiancannowbuy land in J&K,butwhatdoes itmeanfortheregion?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

Wediscuss theamendmentsmadebytheCentre to J&K’s landlaws.

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, OCTOBER29

LONG BEFORE UnionMinisterNitinGadkariexpressedhisdis-pleasure on the matter, theNationalHighwaysAuthorityofIndia (NHAI) hadbeendrawingflakforthedelayedprojectof itsownofficebuilding inDelhi.In November 2019, the

Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG), in its report toParliament, flagged that NHAIhadblockedfundsof aroundRs43.60croreandpaid“avoidablerent” of Rs 11.79 crore in pastthree years due to the delay inthe construction of its officebuilding inDwarka. The reportthen said the project was fiveyears behind the scheduleddate of completion and over adecadesincethereleaseof landfor the project.Speakingattheinauguration

of the eight-floor buildingMonday, theUnionMinister forRoad Transport and Highwayssaid, “The project was decidedin2008.Twelveyears, twogov-ernments and eight NHAIchairmen came and went be-forethisbuildingcouldbecom-pleted. Iamashamed.”Gadkari,whowas addressing the eventvirtually, said photographs ofofficials overseeing theprojectinNHAI should behungon thewalls of the building to markthedelay.“The delay by NHAI should

be studied. Let there be a re-searchpaperonthis.WeneedtoreformNHAI,” he said.Sources in NHAI told The

Indian Express that the projectwas delayed because the con-tractor took the matter to liti-gation and it went to theNational Company LawTribunal. Gadkari has been ap-prised of reasons for the delayin the past, sources said.Gadkarisaid,“Iknowthat if I

seek a report (on the delay), itwillbesaidinthereportthatthedelaywasonaccountof thecon-tractor going to the NCLT. Buttherearepeople inNHAIwithaderangedmentality, who don’ttake decisions and who createhurdles indecision-making.”“Whoever comes as chair-

man in NHAI, they use thesepeople. Eventodaysuchpeoplearebeingusedas theguideandphilosopher from top to bot-tom,” he said, adding that thepracticeofgettingprojectsover-seen byChief GeneralManagerand General Manager was thereasonbehind thedelay.Whileministrysourcessaid

that inseveral reviewmeetingswithNHAI,Gadkarihasverballydirectedthatsomebureaucratswho causedelays bepunished,NHAIsourcessaidthere issofarnoproposal fordisciplinaryac-tion against anyofficial.

NitinGadkari

Before Gadkari,CAG flaggedconstructiondelay of NHAIoffice building

NHAIhadblocked

fundsofaround

Rs43.60croreandpaid

“avoidablerent”of

Rs11.79crore inpast3

yearsduetothedelay

Ahmedabad

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

GUJARAT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD

RRULAUNCHES 2-WEEKONLINEEVENT

RashtriyaRakshaUniversity’sSchoolofForeignAffairs,LanguagesandPoliticalEconomylaunchedanonlinetwo-weekprogrammeon‘IndiaanditsNeighbourhood’.ThefirstsessionwasaddressedbyTilakDevasher, NSABmemberandGautamBambawale, formerambassadortoPakistan,China.

Admission Committee for Professional Undergradute Medical

Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC)

Government of Gujarat

Office : GMERS Medical Collage, Gandhinagar

Schedule for online application (Registration) and Document verification for the admis-

sion to above Courses in Government, Grant in aid and Self-financed Medical, Dental,

Ayurvedic and Homeopathy Collages after Qualifying Examination of 12th Standard

(Science Stream with B / AB Group) Passed from school situated in Gujarat from the

Gujarat Board, Central Board, Council of India School Certificate Examination

Cambridge University and National Institute of Open Schooling after qualify as per All

India Rank in NEET-UG 2020 and eligible as per Admission Rules of Health and Family

Welfare Department, Govt. of Gujarat and respective council rules for the academic year

2020-21 will be held as follows.

No Details Date and Time

From To

1 Online PIN purchase from website of the Admission 02/11/2020, 09/11/2020,

committee 11:00 am 04:00 pm

2 For Online Registration 02/11/2020, 09/11/2020,

11:00 am 08:00 pm

3 Document verification and Submission of self-attested 02/11/2020, 10/11/2020,

photocopies of Documents at help centre 11:00 am 04:00 pm

• PIN for online registration can be purchased through online payment of Rs. 200/- from

the website www.medadmgujarat.org

• After online RegIstration, candidate has to take prior appointment for the Documents

Verification and Submission of self-attested photocopies of Documents at Help

Center Candidates, themselves can select the Date and Help Center for Documents

vertfication at the time of printing the Registration Slip. Documents verification at Help

center will remain closed on public holidays and Sundays.

• For Local Quota: Candidate who want to apply in Local Quota of Smt. NHL

Municipal Medical Collage, Ahmedabad or Surat Municipal Institute of Medical

Education & Research (SMIMER), Surat. Candidate in addition to online registration,

must obtain Certificate that he/she is local student of Ahmedabad/Surat city from

Dean of respective institute, for this candidate has to contact respective college.

• For NRI Candidates only: After online application they have to submit Demand draft

of Rs. 10,000/- in favor of ''ACPUGMEC, payable at Gandhinagar'' as a process fee

at the office of ACPUGMEC, GMERS Medical Collage, Gandhinagar Only.

• For any guidance about registration or for further process mentioned in registration

slip (If applicable) candidate has to visit help centre. List of help centre is mentioned

on the website of admission committee www.medadmgujarat.org

• Detail information about admission process is available on website

www.medadmgujarat.org. Please visit this website frequently for updated informa-

tion by the admission committee.

IMPORTANT: All information regarding admission process will be published only

on the website of Admission Committee (www.medadmgujarat.org), now onwards.

INF/1186/20-21 CHAIRMAN

ADVERTISEMENT FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION

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ACADEMIC YEARS 2020-21

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NOTICE is hereby given that, pursuant to Reg. 29 read with

Reg. 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure

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07th November, 2020 at Shah Alloys Corporate House, Sola -

Kalol Road, Santej to consider and take on record the

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ended on 30th September, 2020 and to transact other busi-

nesses. The said notice is also available on the website of the

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Place: Ahmedabad Company Secretary & Compliance Officer

NOTICE

Ahmedabad: TwopersonswerearrestedfromGhatlodiaandVatvaareasofAhmedabadforallegedlyplacingonlinebetsduringtheon-goingIPL,policesaidThursday.TheAhmedabadDetectionof

CrimeBranchraidedaflatatSatyaFlatshousingsocietyatGhatlodiaWednesday and arrested oneKunalThakkarforplacingbetsonan ongoing cricketmatch. “Wehave seized a laptop and cell-phone used by the accused toplace the bets. The accused hasnamedoneMunnaThakkarfromRajkot, who has also beenbooked,”anofficer said. Inasep-arate case, one Haseeb AhmadAnsariwas held fromVatva forbettingonIPLmatches.Fiveotheraccused,however,managedtogetaway,policesaid. ENS

2 held for bettingon IPL matches

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

AHEAD OF Prime MinisterNarendraModi’svisittoGujarat,the Ahmedabad Police has an-nounceda‘no-droneflyzone’ inthecityonSaturday.On Thursday, a notification

issuedbyAhmedabadcityPoliceCommissionerSanjaySrivastavasaid the city will remain a ‘no-drone zone’ between 9 am and5 pmon Saturday. The notifica-tion, issued under Code ofCriminalProceduresection144,bars operation of any drone,quadcopter, powered aircraft,microlight aircraft, hangglider/paraglider, para motorandhotairballoons.ThePMisexpectedtolandat

Kevadiya onFriday and inaugu-rate the seaplane service be-tween Kevadiya andAhmedabadthenextday.“...the possibility of anti-na-

tionalandterroristelementsus-ing remote or human-operatedaircraft to impactthesecurityofpublicanddisruptlawandordercannot be overruled... Anyonefoundviolatingtheorderwillbebooked under IPC section 188(sic),” thenotificationread.

Ahmedabad‘no-drone zone’on October 31:Police chief

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

THE CORONAVIRUS count inGujaratreached1,71,321with987freshcasesreportedThursday,thestatehealthdepartmentsaid.Fourmorefatalitieswerealsoreportedon the day taking the totaltollto987.Suratreported213cases—162

fromurban areas and 51 othersfromruralparts.Amongthe fourdeaths, twowere reported fromSurat and one each fromAhmedabadandGandhinagar.OnThursday,Ahmedabadre-

ported 171 cases. So far, a total41,155 infection cases and1,898deathshavebeen reported fromAhmedabad.Afterabrief lull, thecivic corporation earmarkedsevenmore areas asmicro con-tainment zones in Ahmedabadcity.Theresidentialareasfallinthesouth, north, northwest andsouthwestzones,officialssaid.Vadodara,meanwhile,added

117newcasesThursdaytakingitstotalcountto15,388.Atotalof220deathshavebeen reported fromVadodara so far.Ninety-six freshcases—57frommunicipaland39district areas —were reportedfromRajkot.With this, a total of13,310casesand167deathshavebeenrecordedfromthedistrict.Other districts in Saurashtra,

including Junagadh, Jamnagarand Bhavnagar, reported 23, 28and18freshcases,respectively,onThursday.

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 41,155 1,898 171

Amreli 2,784 26 15

Anand 1,429 16 9

Aravalli 732 24 11

Banaskantha 2,721 30 28

Bharuch 2,888 16 7

Bhavnagar 4,812 69 18

Botad 836 5 2

ChhotaUdepur 660 4 4

Dahod 1,909 6 3

Dang 120

Devbhoomi 759 5 6

Dwarka

Gandhinagar 4,827 93 34

GirSomnath 1,770 21 15

Jamnagar 8,215 35 28

Junagadh 3,635 32 23

Kheda 1,580 15 12

Kutch 2,647 33 21

Mahisagar 1,244 13 2

Mehsana 3,792 31 33

Morbi 2,125 18 12

Narmada 1,315 1 27

Navsari 1,343 7 3

Panchmahal 2,865 22 13

Patan 2,493 43 21

Porbandar 920 4 2

Rajkot 13,310 167 96

Sabarkantha 1,650 11 17

Surat 36,492 836 213

Surendranagar 2,349 13 18

Tapi 794 6 3

Vadodara 15,388 220 117

Valsad 1,246 8

Other states 148 3

Newcases:987

Cumulativedeaths:

3,733

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

1,54,078

Totalcases:1,71,321

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER29

ADAY ahead of PrimeMinisterNarendraModi’stwo-dayvisittoKevadia Colony in Narmada,wherehewill inaugurateseveralprojects around the Statue ofUnity, preparations are on in fullswing alongwithCovid-19pre-cautionarymeasures.OnThursday,asmanyastwo

dozen police personnel testedpositive for coronavirus in themandatory tests conducted andwerequarantined.Modi,whowillarrive inKevadiaonFridayafter-noon,isscheduledtomakeanighthalt at the circuit house beforeparticipatingintheRashtriyaEktaDivascelebrationsonOctober31tomark the145thbirthanniver-sary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel.The Ekta Parade onOctober 31will see representation fromasmanyas12policecommissioner-atesfromacrossthecountry.Oneofthemajorhighlightsof

Modi’svisit toKevadia—his fifthafter being elected as PrimeMinister—will be the inaugura-tionof the seaplaneproject thatwillconnectStatueofUnitytotheSabarmati Riverfront inAhmedabad via a 45-minuteflight.Modiwill also inauguratethejettyservice for touristsvisit-ing the Statue of Unity to cruisealong the six-kilometre stretchdownstream fromthe statue to-wardstheGarudeshwarweir.Thecruise, which ismeant for 200passengersinasingleridewillop-

erateathalfitsstrengthduetotheongoingCovid-19pandemic.A release from the state gov-

ernment on Thursday said thatModiwill inaugurate17projects,includingtheGarudeshwarWeir,anadministrativebuildingfortheStatueofUnityAreaDevelopmentand Tourism GovernanceAuthority,NavigationchannelandNewGora bridge that has beenconstructedtofacilitatethemove-ment of the jetty by breakingdown the old bridge to create achannel.ThePMwillalsolaythefoun-

dation stone for anAdarshGamproject, proposed by the SardarSarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd(SSNNL)torelocatearound1,000beneficiaries from six villagesaround the Statue of Unity,whohave been agitating against the1961 acquisition of their lands,whichtheSSNNLtookpossessioninMaythisyear.

Thereleasealsostatedthattheplanned tourismprojects are settobenefit thetribalareasaroundStatueofunitywithRs9,000crorebetween2020and2022.Aseniorofficialofthegovern-

mentsaidthatModiwillbeginhisKevadia visit after arrival fromAhmedabad via a helicopter,whichhas been theusualmodeofVVIPtransportuntilnow.“ThePrimeMinister is stayingoveratKevadia towitness themillion-light showat night. Hewill alsoinaugurate the Unity GlowGardennear theStatueofUnity,Children’s Nutrition Park,Kevadia Zoological Park andJungle Safari—promotedas theworld’s fastestmadesafaripark,Cactus Garden, Zarwani eco-tourismwaterfallsiteandtwobusterminals,alongwithamobileap-plicationonKevadia.Aspartoftheseaplaneproject

inauguration, the PMwill travel

from the Statue of Unity to theShreshth Bharat Bhavan, andthen return to Ahmedabad viathe seaplane. All inaugurationswill take place on October 31,”theofficial said.Modiislikelytoperformyoga

on Saturday morning in theAryogyaVanthatcreatednearthestatue. An official added that aspecialagencyhasbeenropedinto film the Prime Minister’sovernightstayinKevadiato“con-vey themessage” thatKevadia isaninternationaltouristhub.In view of the events, the

StatueofUnityhasbeenclosedfortourists till November 1.Modi isalso scheduled to address thetrainee officers of Lal BahadurShastri Academy ofAdministration (LBSNAA) fromtheexhibitionhalloftheStatueofUnityvialivevideo-conferencing.The Vadodara Municipal

Corporation(VMC)hasalsobeenroped in for assistance inprepa-rationfortheevent.VMCDeputyMunicipalCommissionerSKPateltold The IndianExpress that thecivic body, in coordinationwiththeIndianAirForce,willlookafterthe flower showeron the Statueof Unity, while PrimeMinisterNarendraModivisitsthestatue.“We have been asked to

arrangetheflowersforthesameandair forceplaneswillshowerthe petals on the statue. Wehave also sent 48 sanitationworkers to assist the teams forsanitisingtheareaasperthere-quest of the Narmada districtcollector,” Patel said.

PolicepersonnelundergoCovid-19testonThursday. Express

AsKevadiagearsup forPM’svisit,twodozencops test positive forCovid

987 fresh Covidcases take state’stotal coronaviruscount to 1.71 lakh

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,OCTOBER29

FORMER CHIEF minister ofGujaratKeshubhaiPatelbroughtinaseachangeinthetempleandpilgrim facilities duringhis two-decade-longassociationwiththeShreeSomnathTrust(SKT),whichmaintains the Somnath templededicated to Lord Shiva and 64other shrines in Prabhas PatannearVeraval inGir Somnathdis-trictofSaurashtra, insiderssay.Keshubhaiwas appointed a

trusteeof theSKT inMarch1999.Five years later andafter hehadbeenreplacedbyNarendraModiasGujarat’sCM,PatelwaselectedchairmanoftheboardoftrusteesofSKT in2004. From2004onward,the trustees of the SKT kept onelectinghimtheirchairmaneveryyearandthetrendcontinuedevenafter Modi and Union HomeMinister Amit Shah joined theboardof trustees.Hewaselectedchairmanforthe18thconsecutivetimeat thevirtualmeetingof theboardheldonSeptember30 thisyear,SKTofficerssay.“Keshubhai Patel, over the

past 15 yearswhile at the helmof Shree Somnath Trust, trans-formedPrabhas Patan as oneofthebesttirthakshetras(placesofworship) in the countrywherepilgrims get accommodation ata reasonable price, wholesomefoodandeasyaccesstodarshan.Efforts that Keshubhaimade indevelopingthefirstjyotirlingaofthecountrywillberememberedby devotees for a long time,”Pravin Laheri, retired chief sec-retaryofGujaratwhoisnowsec-retaryof theSKT,toldTheIndianExpress.SKTboardhaseight trustees,

including the chairman. TheGujarat government and theCentral government can nomi-

natefourtrusteeseachontheSKTboard.Appointmentontheboardof trustees is for lifetimebutonemayresignvoluntarily.Theboardcan also remove a trustee for‘breach of trust.’ As of Thursday,Keshubhai, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, veteranBJPleaderLKAdvani,PKLaheri,JivanParmar, a retired professor ofSanskrit and businessmanHarshavardhanNeotiaofAmbujaNeotia Group, were trustees ofthe SKT. One seat on the boardhad fallenvacantafterbusiness-manRajen Kilachand of DodsalGroupresignedafewyearsago.It was from Somnath that

Advani had embarked on hisRamRathYatra in1990.“It was during Keshbhai’s

stewardship that guest houseslike Sagar Darshan Atithigruh,LilavatiAtithigruh,MaheshwariSamaj Atitigruh have come up.HealsooversawconstructionofaRamtemple,developmentandbeautification of the Somnathtemple surroundings, develop-mentofTriveniSangamandren-ovationofafewotherimportanttemples including Bhalka Tirthtemple. In all, today, the guesthouses of SKT have 400 rooms.He used to also remain con-

cernedaboutcommonpilgrimsandthereforegota350-beddor-mitory, where one can stay forRs99only. Itwasalsohis ideatobegin the tradition of servingprasadofbundi-ganthiyatopil-grims,” Vijaysinh Chavda, gen-eral manager of SKT told TheIndian Express, adding, “whileheatthehelmofaffairs,thetem-ple has received around 120 kgof gold indonation.”Chavda said that Keshubhai

himselfwasabigdevoteeofLordShiva. “Since the lockdown be-ganinthewakeofCovid-19out-breakinMarchthisyear,hewasnotabletovisitSomnathtempleto have darshan of Lord Shiva.Therefore,helaunchedtheserv-ice for devotees to offer poojathrough video calls. He himselfperformed pooja through thisfacilityonhisbirthdayinJulythisyear,”Chavdaadded.Laherialsoreminiscedabout

Keshubhai’s contribution inde-velopment,especiallyofruralar-eas, during his tenure as chiefminister. “Keshubhai was aleaderwhospentmore than65yearsinpubliclifeinGujarat.Hewasknownforhispragmatism...Hewas instrumental in usher-ing in somanyschemes in ruraldevelopment...”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER29

ADAY after addressing a publicrally in Sadhli area of KarjanAssembly Constituency inVadodara to campaign forCongress candidate KiritsinhJadeja,party’sworkingpresidentHardikPatelonThursdayheldaroad show in the constituencywithseveral supporters in tow.Withnoprecautionarymeas-

uresforCovid-19inplace,thepartyleaderswereseenhuddlingastheymetpeopleenrouteandsome,in-cludingJadeja,evenparticipatedinthe road showwithoutwearingmasks. The rallywhichbeganattheAtmiyaYuva junction,passedthrough JunaBazaar,OldCottonBridge, Municipality area,MainBazaarandJalaramNagarar-easofKarjantown.Hardik,whoac-companied Jadeja, urged thepeople to“riseabovecasteordersand vote against the BJP’s arro-

ganceandcorruption”.The rally saw locals turning

outcuriouslyasthepartyleadersintroduced Jadeja,whose candi-dature has been facedwith in-fightingwithin the party. Lastmonth,thelocalCongressleadershadwritten letters of protest tothe executive body of theCongress in the state seeking achangeofcandidate,basedonthecontentionthatJadejawasanout-siderandunknowntopeople.Karjan is going to bypolls on

November3. The seat fell vacantafter the resignation of MLAAkshayPatel,whohad resignedfromthepost andquit thepartyinJunethisyearaheadoftheRajyaSabhapolls.AkshayjoinedtheBJPandiscontestingthebypollstore-tainhisseatasaBJPcandidate.Vadodara district police did

not confirm if the Congress hadsought permission for the roadshow.VadodaraCongressleaderstoodidnotcommentwhenaskedabouttheCovidruleviolations.

CAMPAIGNINGFORCONGCANDIDATE INKARJAN

Supporters throngHardik’s road show,Covid rules violated

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD.OCTOBER29

THEAHMEDABADDetectionofCrime Branch (DCB) hasbooked six persons, includingan alleged bookie from Rajkot,for duping an Ahmedabad-based chemical trader ofRs3.55croreon thepromiseofdelivering gold and subse-quentlyharassinghimforsign-ing fake bills.Accordingtoofficials, anFIR

was lodged at DCB police sta-tion Wednesday againstRakesh Rajdev, Vijay Tanti,FarooqDalvani,AbhishekAdhiaand Munna, all residents ofRajkot, and Ahmedabad-resi-dentMithul Jethva forallegedlyduping Shaival Parikh (30),owner of a chemical tradingcompany, Comet Enterprises.According to theFIR, Parikh

had in January transferred Rs3.55 crore online to Rajdev, analleged bookie, after the latterpromised to deliver gold at acheaper rate.“Three years ago, I hadmet

Rakesh Rajdev during a visit toDubai. He asked if I was inter-ested in gold trading andclaimedhecouldgetmegoldatmuch cheaper rate,” the com-plainant said. Parikh was laterintroducedwithMithul Jethvaathisoffice inAhmedabadandinformedtheyhaveacompany,Universal Meticom, whichdeals in gold trading.“In January this year, I got a

call from Jethvawho askedmeto invest money in gold as thisis the right time. After I trans-ferredRs 3.55 crore toRajdev, Ididn’tgetanygoldeventhoughheassuredmethat itwillbede-livered. In the followingweek, Ireceivedanemailwithamemofor5kggoldand307kgsilver. Iinformed Rajdev that I neverordered silver. In June, Rajdevcame tomy office with four tofivepersonsandthreatenedmeto sign on a delivery paper forpurchase of gold and silverwithout providing me theproduct,” thecomplainant saidin the FIR.A senior official of

Ahmedabad DCB said, “All ac-cusedhavebeenbookedunderIPC sections 406 (criminalbreach of trust), 409 (criminalbreach of trust by merchant),420 (fraud), 465 (forgery), 467(forgery of valuable security),468 (forgery for purpose ofcheating),471(fraudulentlyus-ing forged item), and 506(criminal intimidation).The in-vestigationof thecasehasbeengiven to Inspector JNChavdaofAhmedabadDCB.”

Chemicaltraderduped ofRs 3.55 cr,six booked

RITUSHARMALIMBDI (SURENDRANAGAR),

OCTOBER29

WITHLESSthanaweektogofortheby-elections toeightassem-bly constituencies in the state,twoyearsbeforethepresentgov-ernment’s tenureends,boththeBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) andtheCongresshavebeendefend-ing and justifying the electionsamidtheCovid-19pandemic.However, in Limbdi con-

stituencyof Surendranagardis-trict that is going for a by-elec-tion for the second time in thepast two terms, voters seemedto be content with what theyhave. The seat with a recordnumberof14contendersinfrayalso has the highest number ofindependent candidates con-testingamong theeightassem-blyseatsgoing topoll.“The state governmentdoes

not conduct elections; theElection Commission of India(ECI)does.Electionsarenot justbeing held in Gujarat but UttarPradesh and the entire Biharstate. Countries like the UnitedStatesandNewZealandarealsohavingelectionsamidtheCovidpandemic. Election campaignandmeeting people is a part ofdemocracy and we have to becareful,” Gujarat Chief MinisterVijayRupanitoldahugegather-ingduringacampaigninLimbdionWednesday.The BJP has fielded veteran

leader and former ministerKiritsinh Rana from the seat,whiletheCongresshaschosenalocal face after 30 years —ChetanKhachar, 42.

Rana is contesting from theseat for the eighth time. Hefought andwon from Limdi in1995, 1998, 2007 and 2013 butlost in 2002, 2012 and 2017.Kiritsinh’s father Jitubha wonthis seatonaBJP ticket in1990.Thebypollwasnecessitated

afterCongressMLASomaGandaPatel resigned from the seat inMarch this year ahead of RajyaSabhaelection.Further justifying the by-

elections, Rupani added, “It isonly because eight CongressMLAs resigned that these by-elections are being conducted.TheseeightCongressMLAsmetmeandexpressedtheirdesiretohelptheNarendraModigovern-ment in theRajyaSabhaas theywere tired of their leaderlessparty that lacks ideology....”Ontheotherhand,Congress

candidateChetanKhacharwhoaddressed a gathering inGhanshyampur, nearly 20 kilo-metresfromLimbdi,blamedtheBJP for thesame.“It is only due to BJP that

these elections are being con-ducted...Hugemoneyisspentonan election... the taxpayers’moneyisspentonelectionafterelection. During the time ofCovidwheremoney should bespent on strengthening healthinfrastructure,BJPdoesnothavemoneytospendforhospitalsbutit has enough money to payMLAs in crores,” said Khachar,who is contesting an assemblyelection for the first time.Khachar has won district pan-chayat elections from Sayla in2005,2010and2015.However, Both theCongress

and theBJPclaimed that the re-

sult of this by-electionwill notimpact them. “Therewill be noimpact of these by-elections aswe will continue to be in thegovernment,”Rupani said.Khachar claimed, “Neither

theCongressnor theBJPwill beaffectedwith the by-elections.ButonethingiscertainthatwithBJP inpower, there is a threat todemocracy.Also,rememberthatthiselectionis foratermofonlytwoyears.”Speaking to The Indian

Express,Khacharsaid,“Thereisnodemocracybutonlydictatorshipunder BJP rule... the grampan-chayats are not allowed toworkindependentlybutforcedtoactasastamptosignondecisionstakeninanundemocraticmanner.”Limbdi isdominatedbyvot-

ers of Koli community — thelargest OBC group in the state.“Intermsofdevelopment,thereiseverythinginourvillage— beit school, healthcare facilities,roads, underground sewage ordrinkingwater.We do not seekanything from the candidates,”saidMafatbhai Jograna, one ofthe panchayat members ofRanagadhvillage.Chandravijaysinh Rana, a

farmerwitha20-acrelandhold-ing in Balgamda village, the na-tive of BJP candidate Kiritsinh,said, “Wewantedday timeelec-tricitysupplyforfarmersbutthat,too,hasbeenrecentlyassured.”Onelectedrepresentativesre-

signing leading to by-elections,Bhahilbha Gohil, formersarpanch of Ghanshayampur,said,“Theyaresupposedtoworkfor the peoplewho have votedthem...Buttheirleavingonepartyorseat isbeyondourcontrol.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER29

THE VADODARA police hasbookedanadvocateforallegedlystabbinghisdaughterinherarmwhile shewas filmingadomes-tic fightbetweenherparents.In a complaint filed at the

Navapura police station, thecomplainantsaidherfatherwashaving a fight with hermotherand brother at home andstabbedher inafitof ragewhenshe tried to film the incident onWednesday.Navapura police has

launched a hunt to track downtheadvocatewhoissaidtohavegone into hiding after the inci-dent. According to the com-plaint, the advocate was in-volved in an argumentwith hiswife and asked his mother torecordavideomessage, “sayingbadthings” thathiswifedoes.“WhenItriedtofilmhimput-

tingpressureonmygrandmother

to speak ill of mymother on avideo,helosthiscool, rushedto-wardsme andpulledmebymyhair.Hethenthrewmedownandaskedmehowdare I record thevideo.HethrewmyphonetothegroundandwhenItriedtogetit,hestabbedmeinmyarmtopre-vent me from reaching thephone.Whentheneighboursar-rived hearingme screaming inpain, he threw the knife and es-caped.Heisill-temperedandhasbeen picking up fightswithmymotherandbrotheroverpettyis-sues. I have previously com-plainedtothepoliceabouthisbe-haviourbutnothinghascomeoutof it,” the complainant,who is astudentofPolytechnicCollegeatMSUniversity in Vadodara, hassaidinhercomplaint.The police have booked the

advocateundervarioussectionsoftheIndianPenalCode(IPC)forattempt to culpable homicideunder (308), assault (323) andintentionally insulting or pro-vokingbreachof peace (504).

Advocate booked for‘stabbing’ daughter

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,OCTOBER29

THEANTI-CORRUPTIONBureau(ACB) has detained a GujaratPollution Control Board (GPCB)officialWednesdayandseizedRs2.27 lakh found on himafter heallegedly failed to provide satis-factoryansweraboutthemoney.Theaccused,PrakashSheth,a

deputy engineer at GPCB’sAnkleshwar office,was nabbednear Muland toll place on

NationalHighway48inBharuchfollowing a tip-off. ACB officialsstoppedhiscarandfoundRs2.27lakhworthcash.WhenShethwasquestioned

about the cash, officials said, hecould not give satisfactory an-swers. The ACB officials seizedthemoneyandtookhimtotheirBharuchoffice for furtherques-tioning.Hewas laterdetained.InspectorSRPatelofBharuch

ACBsaid,“...Wehavelodgedcom-plaint against him under CrPCsection102andstartedaprobe.”

Pollution control board officialdetained with Rs 2.27 lakh

Familymembersandothersat formerchiefministerKeshubhaiPatel’s funeralprocession inGandhinagaronThursday. PTI; (Right)ChiefMinisterVijayRupaniandother leadersatPatel’s residence inAhmedabad.Express

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,RAJKOT,SURAT,

GANDHINAGAR,OCTOBER29

THE STATE governmentThursday announced a day'smourning and suspended allofficial functions and electioncampaigns following thedeathof former chief minister andMP Keshubhai Patel. The stateCabinet,whichmeton theday,also passed a resolution con-doling the loss.Patel, 92, passed away

Thursday following a pro-longed illness. He had recov-ered from the coronavirus in-fection recently and wasrushed to a hospital inAhmedabadinthemorningfol-lowing health complications.His body, wrapped in theTricolour, was brought back toGandhinagar, where his finalriteswereperformedatacivic-runcrematoriumaround5pm.He was also given a Guard ofHonour.ChiefMinisterVijayRupani

cut short a campaign atGadhada in Bhavnagar andrushedtoGandhinagar tomeetPatel's family.Deputy chiefministerNitin

Patel, among the first to arriveafter Keshubhai’s body wasbrought to Gandhinagararound1pm,said, “His (Patel's)tenurewasmarkedbydevelop-ment inGujarat.”Prime Minister Narendra

Modi,who is scheduled tovisitthestate to inaugurate thesea-plane service Friday, is also ex-pected to visit Patel's family to

pay condolences.In a video message on

Thursday, Modi saidKeshubhai's death was a “likelosing a father figure”.“I kept in touch with him

evenafterbecoming theprimeminister and would go to takehis blessings and meet himwheneverpossible...He lookedhappywhenwelast spokedur-ing the virtual meeting of theSomnath temple trust... It wasa intimate relationship of 45years... Several incidents areflashing before me... everykaryakarta (partyworker), likeme, are sad today,” he said.UnionHomeMinister Amit

Shah tweeted, “While in theBJP,he (Patel)playedan impor-tant role to strengthen the or-ganisation.”Patel'sone-timecabinetcol-

leagueandKarnatakaGovernorVajubhai Vala said, “Since thefoundationof the JanSangh,he(Patel)wasaveryactiveworker

in Rajkot. He began his careerasacouncilorof theRajkotmu-nicipality and served the peo-ple as anactive leaderof oppo-sition in the civic body. In theJanSanghdays,Keshubhaiwasthe only worker whowasmo-bilising farmers.Hewasamongthe threeprominent JanSanghworkers in Saurashtra, besidesChiman Shukla and SuryakantAcharya.Keshubhaiwaspopu-lar among farmers and ruralmasses,” Vala said in an audiomessage.Senior BJP leader and state

Education MinisterBhupendrasinh Chudasama,whohadworkedwithPatel foralmost five decades, describedhimaseveryone's “go-toman”.“Before 1995, when the party(BJP) was in opposition,Keshubhai was sure that theBJP would come to power in1995... During these years, thestate was reeling under waterscarcity (and) Keshubhai tookateamof senior leaders, includ-ingAshokBhatt, SureshMehtaand me to Israel to study howthe country had tackled the is-sueand if it couldbereplicatedhere,” he said.The first BJP chief minister

in Gujarat, state BJP presidentCRPaatil said,Patilhadworkedhard for the party even beforeit came into the power inthe state.“He worked hard and this

led the BJP to gain power inGujarat. Hewas also a farmers'leader and issues related tofarmerswerehis firstpriority.”Former mayor of Surat and

BJP leader Fakirbhai Chauhan

(82) said, “Due to the internalconflicts intheparty,weleft theBJP in 2012 and formed theGujarat Parivartan Party. Weworked closely but as there isno acceptance of a third partyin Gujarat, our party had notmade anymajor success in theassembly elections. Later, timecame and we were again in-vited back to the BJP... Beforejoining the BJP, we took thepermission from KeshubhaiPatel,buthedidneverreturnedto BJP and instead retired frompolitics.”Gujarat Congress working

president Hardik Patel, whovisited Patel’s residence inGandhinagar, said Keshubhaiencouraged him during thePatidar agitation.“The6.5 crorepeople of the

state who has seen progressunderhis leadershipwill all besad today. Under Keshubhai’sleadership, Gujarat’s villageswere takencareof...During theandolan, when we used tomeet him, Patel would alwayssay it is good work,” theCongress leader said.Governor Acharya Devvrat,

Union Agriculture MinisterPurushottam Rupala, UnionMinister forShippingMansukhMandaviya,andformerGujaratchief minister Suresh Mehtawere among the leaders whoarrived at Keshubhai’s resi-dence.Amongbusinessmen,Adani

GroupchairmanGautamAdaniandBanasDairy chairman andBJP leader Shanker Chaudharypaid homage to the departedleader.

‘He brought sea change inSomnath temple, facilities’

KeshubhaiPatelwaselectedchairmanof theboardoftrusteesof ShreeSomnathTrust in2004. File

ASSEMBLYBYPOLLCAMPAIGN: LIMBDI

Rupani justifies bypolls during Covid; Congblames BJP for spending taxpayers’ money

CongresscandidateChetanKhacharcampaigns inLimbdiconstituencyonThursday. Express

SupportersatCongressworkingpresidentHardikPatel’sroadshowinKarjanonThursday. Express

He lookedhappywhenwe last spoke

during the virtualmeeting of theSomnathtemple trust... Itwas aintimate relationship of45years... Severalincidents are flashingbeforeme... everykaryakarta (partyworker), likeme, are sadtoday”

—NARENDRAMODI

PRIMEMINISTER

POLITICIANS,BUSINESSMENPAYLASTRESPECTS

It is like losing a father figure:Modi onKeshubhai’s death

Ahmedabad

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DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

UTTAR GUJARAT VIJ COMPANY LIMITED

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The Gujarat Technological University (GTU) invites e-tender for procurement of follow-

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Quotation Invited

Prospective bidders are invited to download e-tender document from: 02/11/2020 04.00

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will be issued.

Place: Ahmedabad Sd/-

Date : 28/10/2020 No.INF/ABD/892/2020 Registrar

GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

(Established Under Gujarat Act No.: 20 of 2007)

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E-Tender Notice

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No.

1

Name of Item

Quotation in sealed are invited to Outsourcing Professional video

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Estimated

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Rs.1.00 Lacs

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Rs.9.60 Lacs

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Name of Item

Procurement of Instrument(s)/Equipment(s) / Machine(s) –

Part ll

Procurement of Instrument(s)/Equipment(s) / Machine(s) –

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Procurement of Service for Re-Design and Re-Development

of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) Website.

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No.

08/2020-

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Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board.

Tender Notice 16 (2nd Attempt) Of 2020-2021

Tender ID: 432217

Tenders are invited through Two bid E-Tendering by the

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Tender, documents can be seen, down-loaded and submit-

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2 years for jurisdiction of 2 Districts with 4 groups. (1) Surat

Group-1, (2) Surat Group-2, (3) Narmada Group - 1, (4)

Narmada Group - 2 with total estimated cost of Rs.251.09

lacs from those who are registered in appropriate class and

having work experience. The interested contractors shall

have to pay required tender fee/EMD in prescribed manner.

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downloading/ uploading is dated 20.11.2020 up to 18.00 hrs.

For Drinking Water in Rural Area contact help line No. 1916No.:INF-Surat/780/2020

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Sealed Tender is invited for procurement of Interlocking Tilesand Rubble Masonry Work at NIFT Kangra Campus fromContractors empanelled/Registered with PWD/CPWD. Lastdate and time for submission of tenders as mentioned in thetender documents is as under.

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Garden, Nanpura, Surat Ph. No. 2471097 is as under.

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on web site www.nprocure.com up to 18.00 hrs. on Dated

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LAST CHILD MATTERSASERreport flagsburdenofdigital inequalityonchildren,

andopportunity forgovernmentschools

THEDIGITALPIVOTinIndia’sschoolingsystemriskspushingit intodeeper

inequality, sevenmonths after schools shut down across the country to

tacklethepandemic.Amajorityofchildrenwithoutaccesstointernethas

beenthrownintodistress—ahandfultothepointofself-harm,asseveral

reports in this newspaper attest—by an exclusionarymode of learning.

WhatreportagehasindicatedsofarisconfirmedbytheAnnualStatusofEducationReport

(ASER)2020,aphonesurveyof60,000-oddstudentsacrossrural India.Onlyaboutone-

thirdof thesurveyedchildrenhadaccess toonline learning;only11percenthadaccess

to live online classes. That the burden of digital inequality has fallen on children shows

upinthedata.Asmanyas24.3percentofthechildrensaidtheyhadnotreceivedanylearn-

ingmaterialfromtheschoolintheweekthesurveywasheldbecausetheyhadnosmart-

phone—almost75percentof interactionwithschoolswasoverWhatsApp.

Parents also appear to be acutely aware that the smartphone is the new English-

mediumeducationinthewayitoverlaysanddeepensage-oldhierarchies.Thesurveyre-

ports that 11per cent of parentsbought aphoneduring the lockdown toprevent an in-

terruption in their child’s learning. A surge in the use of smartphones (as compared to

2018)hasnot beenaccompaniedbygreater access,which itself shows that technologi-

cal solutions on their own cannot be enough to address this unforeseen crisis.What

schools—bothprivateandpublic—havedonewell inisinreachingtextbooksandwork-

sheetsto80percentofstudents.TheASERreportoffersasnapshotof thechurnintheed-

ucationsystem,andalsohowinheriteddisadvantagescontinuetoaffectqualityof learn-

ing.Forinstance,childrenwithparentseducatedtillClassXhadamarkedlybetteraccess

tolearninginthesemonthsthanthechildrenofparentswithfeweryearsspentinschool.

The reportmapsacrisis, but alsoholdsoutpossibilities. For theprivate schools, it is

aprodtorethinkanonline-onlymodeof learning.Forgovernmentschools, thegrowth

in footfall is anopportunity to improve thequality of teaching and retain students— it

ispossible, ashasbeenshownbygovernment schools inKarnatakaandKerala, among

others, during lockdown.Theexperienceof southern states in thepastdecadesproves

that investment in a public school systemmultiplies opportunitiesmanifold. TheAAP

government inDelhihas shownthat itmakes forgoodpolitics. Till avaccine is found, a

resumptionof classes is still a farwayoff. In the interim, all stakeholdershave to come

together tominimiseboth lossof learningand theemotional turmoil that comes from

being left behind.

A PUBLICAN’S IRE

AYorkshirepubhasbarredConservativeMPswhovotedagainst

mealsforchildren.Themoveisunderstandable

WHATISAYorkshirepublicantodowhenpoliticsdoesn’tstopat

thewater’s edge?Herefuses to serve theoffendingpoliticians

apint.Earlierthismonth,UKChancellorRishiSunakandtwoof

his Conservative colleagues in parliamentwere among those

who voted against extending a programme that would have

providedschoolmealstochildrenfromlow-incomehouseholdsevenduringschoolhol-

idays. The proprietors of theMill pub and IlMulino restaurant, which is attached to it,

took exception to their vote in theHouse. The pub is located in Sunak’s constituency—

Richmond(Yorks).

“Thegovernmentvotedagainstextendingfreeschoolmeals.Thisisdisgusting...What’s

worseMattVickersMP,SimonClarkeMP&JacobYoungMP,RishiSunakallvotedagainst

the scheme.DISGUSTING!All 4arenowbarred fromTheMill& IlMulino for life. I don’t

want their business,”wroteAlexCook, owner of the establishment, in a Facebookpost.

ThegoodpeopleatMill’spubarealsodonatingmealstolocal foodbanks,tryingtomake

up insomesmallmeasure for thewaytheirMPshavevoted.

Cook’soutburstandthebangosomewhatagainstthestereotypical imageof thepub

andthosewhorunit.Thefriendlybarmanis,afterall, seeninpopularcultureastheman

wholendsanear toall comersandthepubitself is thespace forpoliticaldebate.Yet, the

frustration at theMill pub is understandable. And their logic is pretty tight, too. A pub

andrestaurant feedsandwaterspeople. If thegovernment, inapandemic thathasdev-

astatedfamilies, refusestodothesameforchildren, thesmallestconsequence itsmem-

bers can face is to be refused service. There is, of course,much that is debatable about

thisnotion. It shouldbediscussedoveradrink.

A long November night

AshutoshVarshney

Unless JoeBidenwinsbig,Americastaresataconstitutionalcrisis

HAVING LIVED IN the US for long, I havewatched all US presidential elections since1988.Idon’trecallanyelectionbeingviewedas more important than this one, though2008mustsurelybecountedasmatchinginsignificance, when America elected BarackObama as the nation’s first Black president.Indeed,2020canbeviewedas2008’spossi-bleother.If 2008 showed that America could live

up to its political creed of equality, we nowhavegravethreatstothatfoundationalprin-ciple. GivenDonaldTrump’sbarelydisguisedracism, his victory will be viewed asAmerica’sregressintoWhiteprimacy,anun-fortunate historical reality which began toloseitsstingafterthemid-1960s.Andhisde-feat will bewelcomed by thosewhowantBlacksandotherracialminoritiestoreclaimthe push for equality. The results will beviewedthrougharacial lensevenifTrump’shandling of the pandemic, rather than histreatmentofracerelations,causeshisdefeat.Theinternationalsignificanceofthiselec-

tion is also unmistakable. If Joe Bidenwins,the US will return to its international al-liances, dictators will be embraced less ar-dently, and human rightswill play a role inAmerican foreignpolicy.Trumpwill lose the popular vote, as he

didin2016,andasthreeotherpresidentsdidin1876,1888and2000.Butweknowthat itis theelectoralcollege,notthepopularvote,which determines the outcome. The elec-toralcollegehas538state-basedvotes(plusWashingtonDC).Toemergevictorious,acan-didatehas towin270electoral votes.The electoral college is simultaneously

mystifying and simple. A state’s electoralvotes depend on its representation in thetwohousesofUSCongress, foundedontwodifferent principles. The House ofRepresentativesisbasedonpopulationsize,but each state, regardless of its populationsize,alsohastwomembersintheUSSenate.Thus, the electoral votes of a state are itsseats in the House, plus two. The smallestseven states have three votes each (oneHouse seat plus two senators). And follow-ingthesameprinciple, thelargeststatesareCalifornia (55 votes), Texas (38), New York(29), Florida (29), Illinois (20) andPennsylvania (20). Other states have less

than 20 votes each. In 2016, one electoralvote inWyoming, a tiny state, represented190,000 people, whereas California, thelargest state, had one electoral vote per680,000citizens.The gapbetweenpopular and electoral

votes isahistoricallychargedmatter. Itwillsuffice to note that American states arepowerful. In awell-knownconceptual for-mulation, Alfred Stepan called the US a“coming together federation”, as distinctfrom a “holding together federation,” likeIndia. Compared to the former, states areweaker in the latter. Unlike most federa-tions, 13 former British colonies, as states,came together to form theUS in the1780s,keeping considerable powers as a basis forjoining theunion.So,howwillTrumpandBidenfare inthe

electoral college? This customary questionnowhasanewtwist:Howwill earlyvoting,expanded in most states due to the pan-demic, influencethefinalcount?Asofwrit-ing this, 72million votes have already beencast, ahistorical record.BeforeElectionDay,November3,thisnumbercouldtouch85-90million.Thatwouldbemorethanhalfof thetotal votes, expected to be somewhere be-tween150-160million.Early votes are of two types: In person

and mailed in. Howmany thus far fall inwhichcategoryisnotobvious.Buttwothingsareclear.First,earlyvotesareexpectedtobedisproportionatelyDemocratic,whereasvot-ersonelectiondaywillbedisproportionatelyRepublican. Second, some states acceptmailed-in ballots only till election day, butotherscanwaituntildaysaftersolongastheballotshaveanelectiondaypostmark.Manystateswon’thavetheir final tallyof votesonthenightofNovember3.Trump has been denouncingmailed-in

votes as fraudulent formonths, though nosystematic evidence supporting this claimexists.However,hiscastigationofpostalbal-lots, likelytobeintensofmillions,doeshaveserious implications.Consider three scenarios: 1) Trump

aheadonelectionnight,butlosingdayslaterwhenmailed ballots are fully counted; 2)BidenslightlyaheadonNovember3,hisleadbecoming decisive as mailed ballots arecounted; and 3) Trump routed on election

night, making postal ballots irrelevant totheoutcome.Unlikesomanycountries,theUSdoesnot

haveanindependentnationalelectioncom-mission.Stateshavetheresponsibilitytoan-nounce results, and,basedonthem, it is leftto the presidential candidates to claim vic-toryandconcededefeat.Withoutasenseofpoliticalethics,suchvoluntaryexpectationscangoawry.NobodyassociatesTrumpwithethical conduct.If Trumpisaheadonelectionnight,he is

likely to claim victory and also legally chal-lengethevalidityofmailedballots intheUSSupremeCourt,whichhasanewjudgenom-inatedby Trump, giving the court a conser-vativemajority.Electionresultscanthusgetmired in legal battles forweeks. And if thehighestcourt,agreeingwithTrump’sclaimoffraudulence,nullifiesmailedballots,whereasstates certify their election results after thefullcount,theUSwillhaveafull-blowncon-stitutional crisison itshands.ThisoutcomecanberuledoutifTrumpis

decisivelydefeatedonNovember3.Hewon306electoral college votes in 2016, 36morethanrequired,comingprimarilyfromhisvic-toryinthreetraditionallyDemocraticstates:Pennsylvania (20), Michigan (16) andWisconsin(10).MostpollsshowBidenaheadin all three. In addition, some of the statesTrumpwon in 2016— Florida (29), NorthCarolina(15),Arizona(11) andIowa(6)—arelookinguncertain forhim.Anycombinationof thesestateswillgenerateaBidenvictory.But the polls may bewrong. Moreover,

theyarepredictionsabout the total votes ina state, both votes cast onNovember 3 andearlier.Wedon’tknowwhatwillhappenonthenightofNovember3,whenmanystateswillnothavecountedtheirmailedballots. IfTrumpisaheadonNovember3,legalandpo-liticalmanoeuvresarequitepossible.OnlyaBidenvictorythatnight,notoneafterthefullcount, canpreemptsuchpossibilities.The world will carefully watch the

night of November 3. There is no doubtthatAmerica’s foundationalprinciplesareat stake.

Thewriter is SolGoldmanprofessorof

international studiesandprofessorof

political scienceatBrownUniversity

If Trump is ahead on electionnight, he is likely to claimvictory and also legallychallenge the validity ofmailed ballots in the USSupreme Court, which has anew judge nominated byTrump, giving the court aconservative majority.Election results can thus getmired in legal battles forweeks. And if the highestcourt, agreeing with Trump’sclaim of fraudulence,nullifies mailed ballots,whereas states certify theirelection results after the fullcount, the US will have afull-blown constitutionalcrisis on its hands.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020WORDLYWISE

Three blokes go into a pub. Something happens.

The outcomewas hilarious!

— BILL BAILEYTHEEDITORIALPAGE

MilindMurugkar

THE WRONG LINKFarmbill advocates shouldnotask farmers tochoosebetweenMSPandmarket

THERECENTLYENACTEDfarmbillshavetrig-gered debate on the desirability of theMSPregime. It is a strange outcome. The bills donot facilitate a policy to do away withMinimumSupportPrices (MSPs).All itdoesisallowfreeentry toagentswhowishtosetupmarkets—whether theybeprivate indi-viduals,producercollectivesorcooperatives.This means that the Food Corporation ofIndia(FCI)andotherassociatedagenciescanprocureinthetraditionalmandis,orinanewmarket established under this law— or intheirownbackyard.So, theargumentthat ifthemandis cease to exist, the procurementwill also cease is, in fact, flawed. But thestaunch defenders of the bills, instead ofmaking this point and stopping at that, arequestioning the MSP regime in the samebreath. (For instance, Ashok Gulati, ‘MSP intheageof surplus’ IE,October12).Elsewhere, supporters of the bills have

quotedtheShantaKumarcommittee’sfigurestoargue thatMSPsareanyway irrelevant formostof the farmers inthecountry.This link-ageofthefarmbillswiththeMSPonlyaddstotheapprehensionthatfarmershaveaboutthebills. Insteadofallayingtheir fears, if theyareaskedtochoosebetweentheMSPsystemandthemarket,thedebateonfarmbillsbecomesunnecessarily ideological.It is true that the procurement has re-

mainedconfined toonly a fewcrops. But as

an analysis in this paper (IE, October 6)shows, the benefits to the farmers evenbe-yond Punjab andHaryana are certainly notnegligible. It istruethatonlyasmall fractionbenefitsdirectly fromtheprocurement.Butonecannotignoretheindirectbenefitof thisto all foodgrain producers in the country.Procurementofwheatandriceisfromafrac-tionofthegrainproducers,butitisaround35per cent of the total grain production in thecountry.Astheprocurementsignificantlyex-ceeds thePDS requirement, this creates ad-ditional demand in the foodgrainmarket,pushingup theprices. Thishasbeenagreathelp for all thegrainproducers in the coun-try,especiallywhentheinternationalpriceshaveremained lowfora long timenow.TheRBI'sannualreportof2017-18analy-

ses the impact of MSP-based procurementonthefoodprices. ItconclusivelyshowsthatMSPisaleadingfactorinfluencingtheoutputpricesofthefarmproduceintheentirecoun-try. Gulati is offering an either-or choice tothefarmers.Theyshouldeitherembracethe“inefficient”and“costly”MSPsystemoroptforopenmarkets. This isproblematic.Duringathree-yearperiodofUPAII, the

Commission for Agricultural Costs andPrices (CACP) — headed incidentally byGulati— recommended a steep increase inMSPs. Infact, thecommissionwascriticisedby some for its inflation-inducing policy.

What has changed somuch between thenandnowfor theMSPs tobecome irrelevantfor thewelfareof the farmers?Whyshouldthe farmers believe that the enactment ofthe farmbillswill offer themremunerativeprices, makingMSPs redundant? After all,the process of emergence of a newmarkethas just begun.Theperiodfrom2004to2012wasthepe-

riodofhighcommodityprices,highgovern-ment procurement and rapid reduction inrural poverty. Can we deny the probablecausal linkbetween thehighprices andde-crease inpoverty?The issue ofMSP is all themore impor-

tant for rain-fed agriculturists. Being de-prived of irrigation, they don’t derive ben-efit from subsidies on electricity andfertiliser as their use is limited. So, at themoment, theonlystatesupportthesefarm-ers (primarily cotton andpulseproducers)have is that of MSPs. This, though far fromadequate, is crucial.Aboveall, thedebateonwhomandhow

the state should support is an issue thatshould be addressed independent of thefarmacts.Presentingtheseactsasanalterna-tive toMSPswillnotpersuade farmers.Andtheycannotbeblamedfor that.

Thewriter isapolicyanalyst

withPragatiAbhiyan

The issue of MSP is all themore important for rain-fedagriculturists. Beingdeprived of irrigation, theydon’t derive benefit fromsubsidies on electricity andfertiliser as their use islimited. So, at the moment,the only state-support thesefarmers (primarily cottonand pulse producers) have isthat of MSPs. This, thoughfar from adequate, is crucial.

ASSAM MLAS GHERAOSEVEN LEGISLATORS UNDER gherao byAssam agitators over the foreigners’ issuewere freed after they gave written state-ments supporting themovement’s objec-tives,accordingtosources.SevenotherMLAswereundergherao fortheseconddayindif-ferentpartsof thestate,resistingpressurebyAASU and AAGSP volunteers to accept theagitators’ line on the foreigners’ issue. TheAASU and AAGSP said in a joint statementthattheyhavedecidedtoexemptlegislatorsfrom the indefinite gherao programme, ifthey resigned from their respective parties.However, the governor’s adviser, KRamamurthy,toldjournaliststhatthepolice

hadbrokengheraosattheresidencesofsomelegislatorswhohadsought their assistance.

MORADABAD TENSEUTTAR PRADESH CHIEFMinister VP Singhdirected theMoradabad administration totake“firm”actionagainstelementsdisturb-ing peace. He told newsmen that the “civilpolice”was being reinforced inMoradabadand said that the government at this stagewas not considering steps like the imposi-tionofthecurfeworcallingoutthearmy.PTI,UNI report:Tensiongrippedthetownagainwiththreemoredeathsreportedinfreshin-cidents in the last 48 hours. The Civil Linespolice sent one headless body for post-

mortem. The bodywas found in the com-poundof the local collectorate.

BAGHDAD BOMBEDIRANIANPLANESBOMBED Iraq’s biggest oilrefineries inBaghdadand thesouthernportcity of Basra as ground forces held desper-atelytoakeybridgethatblockedanIraqitankassault on the oil refining centre of Abadan,Iransaid. Iraqsaid fighting taperedoff alongits 300-mile invasion front with only 15IranianandeightIraqisoldierskilledincom-bat.AnIraniancommuniquesaidtheplanesraidedtheDourarefineryonthesouth-east-ern edge of Baghdad and the Shuaiba refin-erynearBasra,causingheavydamagetoboth.

OCTOBER 30, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

TRUST IN DATA

WithCOVID-19testingcapacityatanall-timehigh,onusison

authoritiestoensureaccuracy, integrityof information

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS during the pandemic, epidemiologists,

publichealthexpertsandacademicshaveraisedconcernsaboutIndia’s

COVID-19data. A lot of these problems could be ascribed to the enor-

mouspublic health challenge. In the earlymonths, theCentre and the

WestBengalgovernmentbickeredoverthestate’sdeathcount, thetoll

at the national capital’s hospitals was farmore than that claimed by the Delhi govern-

ment and, for weeks, themortality data released by the government of the country’s

worst-affected state,Maharashtra, did notmatch the ICMR figures. To their credit, the

erring agencies identified the glitches and, by September, it seemed that they had put

theirhouse inorder.Now,with thepandemic showingearly signsof abating, questions

overdatahavebeenraisedagain.Thecharge,thistime,isfarmoreseriousthanthatofad-

ministrativeineptitude.Themanagingdirectorofoneof thecountry’stopdiagnosticlab-

oratories has told this paper that authorities in somedistricts are trying to control test-

ing processes in order to show a “better scorecard”. The Centre and state governments

must investigate theuseof suchdevious tacticsand takecorrectiveaction.

OnThursday, theUnionHealthMinistry informedthatonanaverage,nearly11 lakh

testswereconducteddaily in thepast sixweeks.According to theministry, thecountry

nowhastheresourcestoconductmorethan15lakhdaily tests.Thesteadyexpansionof

testing is one of the recent successes in the country’s battle against the coronavirus. As

PrimeMinisterNarendraModiurged inhis address to thenation lastweek, “weshould

improveupon the situation, not allow it to deteriorate”. An accurate picture of the case

countiscrucialtocontainmentstrategiessuchasdrawinguphotspotsandkeepingmed-

ical infrastructure in a state of readiness.Withmost containmentwork being increas-

inglydevolvedtostateanddistrict-levelofficials, theonusof credible informationgath-

ering is alsoon theseauthorities.With thecountry’s testingcapacityat anall-timehigh

—andconsistentlyon theuptick—dataaccuracy shouldbe themantraof agencies and

officials atall levels.

Barely a week after PMModi’s warning, there has been a spurt in infections in

Maharashtra,Delhi,WestBengalandKarnataka.Therecent surgeof thevirus inEurope

alsoshowsthatthevirusremainsanunpredictableadversary.However,weknowmuch

moreaboutitcomparedto10monthsago.Doctoringdata,hidingthetruepicture,would

bedoingdisservice to thecountry’s achievementsand learnings in thisperiod.

Ahmedabad

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“The authorities in Myanmar cannot claim to be transitioning to democracy whileconflict continues to escalate, minorities continue to be disenfranchised anddissent continues to be silenced within its borders”

—DAILYSTAR,BANGLADESHTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

We have a huge vocabularyfor ideas, religious or secular.But we have so few words toutter the body. The body thateats and touches, laughs andweeps, hears and sees,believes and doubts. Thebody that is different fromother bodies in its looks andattire and hopes and fears —and hence needs full freedomto be what it is. The bodythat shares mortality withother bodies. The body thatcan be beheaded, or shot.The body that can bemanipulated by ideas tomake itself vulnerable.That precarious body.

Lost in Paris Jacinda’s way

INOURgeneration, the lateArunaAsaf Alionce toldme, even emancipatedwomenweresecretlyconformist.Theytookacertainrighteouspleasureinsayingtheywereinthepoliticalmovement for freedomtosupporttheir father,brotherorhusband.Suchindif-ference to the power differential betweenmales and femaleswithin their familiesmeant, she said, thatwomencontinued toacceptmale-defined hierarchies inmain-streampoliticsafterIndependence.Onenowrealisestheywerenottheonlyones.Upuntil the newmillennium, globally,

democraticpolitics sawmen inheriting thetopposteitherthroughapolitically-power-ful family or theparty. In 2020, a collectivedreamofwomenof several generations—leadingwiththeirownagendafromthefront—hasbeguntotakeshape. It ismostclearlyvisibleintheriseofaleaderlikeJacindaKateLaurellArdern,votedinforasecondtermasthePrimeMinister of NewZealand,with alandslide64-seatvictoryforherLabourParty.Mentoringmatters a great deal in poli-

tics.Theearlier itbegins, thebetter.Today’syoungwomenneednotwait in thewingsfor their turn.Ardernbeganearly.Aspresi-dent of the InternationalUnionof SocialistYouth,shegatheredpoliticalwisdom,trav-ellingextensively,meetingotheryouthlead-ers from theUS, Jordan, Israel, China andAlgeria. Shewasmentored by two strongwomen.In2008,shewasintroducedtohercountry’smainstreampolitics byher aunt,Marie Ardern, a long-timemember of theLabourParty. Shebeganasa researcher forPMHelen Clark. Arderndescribes Clark asher“politicalhero”.Andshedescribesher-selfasasocialdemocrat,progressive,repub-licanandfeminist.Women in Indian politics havemostly

adhered to unwritten rules. Even the fieryones, like IndiraGandhi,with her coveredheadandlong-sleevedblouses,andSushmaSwaraj, with her vermilion-streaked hairtied inabun. In thisway,bothwereable todefendthemselvesagainstthetwinbogey-menofpromiscuityand/orutterdomestic-ityunleashedagainstfemalepoliticiansdur-ingelections.Ardern’scareerhascreatedamorerobust

templatefortheNewPoliticalWomaninthe21st century. She has unflinchingly facedchallenges thatmalepoliticians seldomdobut all youngwomenencounter:Howwillmarital partnership andparenthoodmeshwithpoliticalwork?Ardernchosepartner-ship outside of traditionalmatrimony forherselfandistoday,afterBenazirBhutto,thesecondheadofstatetohavehadababyinof-fice.Inherpoliticaldecision-making,shehasespousedcausesthatacknowledgeherowntrajectories. The empathy she thus gainedhashelpedher take allwomenalong,withallpro-women,pro-democracyandprogres-sivemenaroundher.Herlandslidevictoryisproofthatin2020,therearemanyinhertinynationwho,likeher(orevenusIndians),haveinheritedcomplex,mixedracialhistoriesand

multiplefamilynarratives,andseekahealthysynthesisbetweendisparatethings.It is important for us to seeArdern as a

representative of a post-racial, developedworld.Sheconfirmsthatevenforadevelop-ingdemocracy likeours, theold-styleblindcasteistarithmetichasbeenrelegatedtothebackground.Whatyoungleadersandvotersmustfocusonisthecoldfactsontheground-- rozgar, shiksha anduniversal healthcare.Another lesson is aqualitywomenpossessmuchmore thanmen—tolerance and thecapacity to be inclusive. After her election,PMArdernextendedahandoffriendshiptotheoppositionGreenParty.Shedidnotneedtheirnumbers.Butsherecognisedthattheywerevaluableallies inthefightforenviron-mentalprotection.Ouryoungleaderscouldtakealeafoutofherbookforcreatingfutureallianceswithpro-democracy, liberal femi-nists across genders and repudiate themisogynist,casteistandcommunalrhetoricof theiropponents.Ardern’s success proves that democra-

cies todayneedpoliticians,maleor female,whocanrepresentahostofraces,castesandtribes that live togetherasanation. Evenasthe incumbentPMfacingelections, Ardernwasabletokeephernationunitedinthefightagainst COVID-19.Unlike theDelhiDurbar,whichquietlywatched theDelhi riots afterthe rabble-rousing rhetoric of young BJPleaders,Ardern rushed to the spot after theanti-Islamic Christchurch shootings.Withherappealsforpeaceandswiftpunishmentsfortheaccused,shewasabletonotjustdousethefiresbutalsounitethenation.The Oedipal violence behind rape

threatstofemalerelativesofoutspokencrit-icsof theHindutvadoctrine, ofminorities,evencricketersplayingbadlyinaseason,isnot just indicativeof a clashbetweengen-erations. It goes deeper— it is a clash be-tween promoters of national integrationand the isolationistswhonowcome in allages. And in politics, they fear andhate allwhoareliberalandgender-neutral intheirpoliticalagendas.Ardernshowsthat it ispossible tocon-

test andwin electionswithout “Howdys”and “Abki-baars”. Demanding environ-mental protection is to her “my genera-tion’s nuclear-free moment”. She quipsbluntly,“Idonottendtohavecommunica-tionswith Donald Trump.” Her landslidevictory is proof of her large support base.Encouraged by that, she has since beenfrankly speaking truth to power, support-ingminorityrightseverywherefromIsrael-Palestine, to China’s Uyghurs and has of-fered to mediate and help Myanmarresolve theRohingyaproblem.Today,inIndia,wealllookforideological

heroismsuchasthis,evenwhilewearebe-ing taught to seepragmaticwomenpoliti-ciansdemandingcompassion,inclusionandbalance asweak and foolish, or removedfromthegrassroots.Memorably,Arderncar-riedherbabytotheultra-sedateUNGeneralAssembly Session, so she could feed it ontime. A brilliant gesture that put all poten-tial critics of breastfeeding for infants andmothers’humanrightsimmediatelyonthedefensive.Withthis, sheturnedanage-oldnegative intopositiveandshedidnotneedtousea jumla like“aapdaseavasar (oppor-tunity inadversity)”.Whataapda?Yougetthedrift.

Thewriterisaseniorjournalistandformer

chairperson,PrasarBharati

JacindaArdern’scareerhascreatedamorerobust template for theNewPoliticalWoman

inthe21stcentury

Donot fight for this ideaor that idea, if it isat thecostof thebody.Standbythebody.Let itbe free to live, andnotsuffer

YOUCANNOTKILLanideawithanotheridea.Butyoucanalwayskill ahumanbeingwithan idea.Let us talk of two ideas that often come

toblowswithoneanother:The ideaof free-domofexpressionandtheideaofthesacred-ness of your religious symbol. Someonemakescartoonsof thisreligioussymbol—inthiscase, theprophetof Islam,Mohammad.AdedicatedteacherinParisshowsthesecar-toons to his students in good faith. He be-lieves it is necessary for the sake of the firstidea,thatof freedomofexpression.Ihavenoproblem with that. Neither do all theMuslims Iknow.But there are someMuslims, some cus-

todians of the religious symbol in France,who get outraged. They post intemperatethingsonsocialmedia.Theylaterclaimthatit was simply protest and criticism, not aprovocation toviolence.But theydoendupprovoking an angry, confused youngman,whobeheadstheteacherthathadshownthecartoonstohisstudents,andisdutifullyshotdownbypoliceofficers.Twobodies.Twodeaths.Death isaphys-

icalmatter.Soissuffering:Evenmentalafflic-tionshavephysical consequences.All pain isfeltinthebody.Thebodythatisnotimmortal.The two ideas do not die. Their conflict

doesnotdie.Theyhavenobodythatcanbebeheaded or shot. They cannot be threat-ened, imprisoned, abused, tortured, killed.All this can only happen to the bodies thatespouse either, and more, of the ideas. Itdoesnotmatterwhethertheideasaregoodor bad, or, as is often the case, both good-bad.Whatmatters is that ideasdonothaveabody.Hence, these twoideascontinuetobeat

loggerheads. France believes constitution-allyinsecularismandfreedomofexpressionand inevitably feels the need to buttressthese ideas. Its president makes a strongspeechreiteratingsuchvalues.The fact thatelectionsarejustayearawayaddsurgencytothe speech. Some French towns project thecartoons on buildings. SomeMuslim coun-tries,wheretherulersusetheideaofsacred-ness rather than freedom of expression torule, decide to boycott French goods. Thesearecountrieswhoseautocraticgovernmentsdo not trust freedom of expression in anyfield. The linesaredrawn.I am told that, in retaliation, the French

government is considering asking school-teachers to show the cartoons in class.Schools are closed right now. But theywillopen soon.Will they be instructed to showthe cartoons to all their students?What doteachers thinkof thisproposal?IcallacoupleofteachersIknowinFrance.

They are French-French. This means thatthey areWhite andCatholic. But they teachinschoolswheremanystudentsarefromim-migrant and Muslim backgrounds. Boththeseteachersbelieveinfreedomofexpres-sion. JustasstronglyasIdo.Butbothsaythatthis proposal, and all such proposals, leavethemfeelinguneasy.“Why?” I ask them.

They cannot pinpoint the reasons fortheir unease. Then one says: “Howdo I getacrosstostudentswhofeel that Iamjust in-sulting their culture? I am sure theywon’tsayanythingtome,butImightlosethemfor-ever.Theywill justbracketawayeverythingI could teach them. Iwill fail asa teacher.”Then the other one says: “And what

happens if they listen tomeandgooutandget into the wrong crowd, or into fights?Whathappens if they, or I, becomevulner-able toviolencebyextremistson their sideormy side?”I can hear what they are trying to ex-

press. I knowwhy they cannot express it.Because we have a huge vocabulary forideas, religious or secular, in all languages.Butwehavesofewwordstoutter thebody.Thebody that eats and touches, laughsandweeps,hearsandsees,believesanddoubts.Thebodythat isalwaysdifferentfromotherbodiesinitslooksandattireandmovementsandhopesandfears—and,hence,needsfullfreedom to be what it is. The body thatshares mortality with other bodies. Thebody that can be beheaded, or shot. Thebodythatcanbemanipulatedbyideas—re-ligiousorsecular—tomakeitselfvulnerable.

Thatprecariousbody.EvenasIwriteallthisdown,Ihearmore:

Arabs beaten up, people knifed in a churchinNice.Bodies.Howdoesoneensure that thisbody, the

body that suffers anddies, has the freedomto liveas itwants?Afterall, that iswhypeo-plelikemebelieveinfreedomofexpression.It is not the idea thatmatters, but its neces-sityforthebodytolive.Thebodyneedstobeabletoexpressitselfwithoutretribution.But,saythosewhoobjecttoabsolutefreedomofexpression, what if the body expresses ha-tredforothers,hatredthatcaninducesomeangry, confusedman, on the other side thistime,totakeagunandshootdownMuslims?Yes, that danger is always there. It exists

onall sides. Thereare laws toprevent it. Butnote: It is a danger to the body. Finally, thisidea or that can be used to threaten, im-prison, abuse, torture, kill the body. Do notfight for this idea or that idea, if it is at thecost of thebody. Standby thebody. Let it befree to live, andnot suffer.

Khair isan Indian-Englishauthorand

associateprofessor in theDepartmentof

English,UniversityofAarhus,Denmark

TabishKhair

Mrinal Pande

CONSULT PEOPLE

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘J&K re-alty’ (IE, October 29). One wonderswhether the Centre’s unilateral actioninnotifyingnewlandlaws,withouttak-ingKashmirisintoconfidence,hasbeenawell-thought-outone.Therearelikelytobemorehurdles for thetrouble-tornarea to cross before it can experiencepeace, progress andprosperity. For thesuccessful implementationof anygov-ernmentinitiative,itisquiteessentialtoensurethecooperationof thepeople.

SSPaul,Nadia

KEEP AUTONOMY

THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Proceedwithcaution’ (IE, October 29). India and theUSrecentlyconcludedthemodalitiesforsigning the last of the key foundationalagreementsthatwouldpavethewayforcloserdefenceandstrategiccooperation.India’s geopolitical aspirations are nolongerlimitedbyitsgeography.Asapro-ponent of the rules-basedworld order,India needs to engagewithmultiplepowers. It shouldn’tcompromiseonitsstrategic autonomywhileentering intoanysuchpartnership.

SudipKumarDey,Kolkata

THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Proceedwithcaution’(IE,October29).Apartfromthetiming of 2+2 session between thebiggest armsexporter and importer ontheeveofUSpresidentialelection,Indiacan’t afford towholly join anymilitary

or economic camp. Disregarding thetime-tested convention of avoidingagreementsforfulldefenceengagement(read “dependence”) should not provethebiggestblunderof2020,andbeyond.

VarinDhir,Ahmedabad

KEEP TESTING

THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Somedis-tricts trying to control the testing forCovid: toppvt lab’ (IE,October29). It isdisturbing that restrictions have beenimposedincertaindistrictsforcollectingsamplesforCOVID-19tests.Testingandtracing are the only availablemeans tocontainthespreadofthediseaseuntilavaccine isdeveloped.

RetheeshBalakrishnan,Delhi

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

TAMIL FILMSTAR Vijay Sethupathi’s deci-sion to opt out of a biopic on legendary SriLankan Tamil cricketer MuttiahMuralitharan is another tragedy to befallTamil Nadu’s love-hate relations with theisland nation. Tamil nationalists, sectionsof Tamil Nadu politicians, and personali-ties from the Tamil film world can claimvictory, but it isdoubtful if theaxingof themovie (fornow)willdoanygoodtoTamilsin Sri Lanka.On the contrary, this movie, about a

Tamilwhoarguablyhasmore fans today inTamil Nadu than LTTE leader VelupillaiPrabhakaran ever did, will be certainlymade one day. It may be made byBollywood if not in Kodambakkam, and aFarhanAkhtarmight star in it, if not aVijaySethupati. The loss would be of Tamil cin-ema— an opportunity lost to tell a uniqueTamil tale.Muralitharan, oneof the finest bowlers

ever (800wickets inTestsand534inODIs),has a compellingpersonal story. If identityis so crucial to Tamils, they should be cele-brating his storied life. Here’s a Tamil withacontributiontocricketthat is inspirational.He earned his spurs in what was a land-scape of bloodshed and violence in SriLanka, particularly for the Tamil commu-nity in the island.The charge againstMuralitharan is that

he supported then defence secretary andnow President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who

presided over the military destruction oftheLTTEin2009.Thecricketerhasbeenac-cusedofdescribing2009asthebestyear inhis life, which was read as supporting thekilling of themany innocent Tamils in thewar.Muralitharan’srefutationthatheneversupported the killings hasmade no differ-ence tohis critics.Will Sri Lankan Tamil political aspira-

tions and post-war reconciliation advancenow that themovie has been axed? If any-thing, itwasLTTE’sobduracy,nolessthanofthe Sinhalese leadership, Prabhakaran’sdogged refusal to think politically and hisdetermination to turn the LTTE into an all-outwarmachine and fight to the end, thattook down the Sri Lankan Tamil commu-nity. After a quarter of a century of blood-bath, what did the LTTE achieve for theTamils? Even Sri Lankan Tamils, includingformerTigers,areaskingthisquestion.Oneex-LTTE fighterwho left Sri Lankaafter thewartoldme:“In1983,wedidn’thavemuchbut we stood on our legs. Today, we havelost whatever little we had and are onour knees.”Muralitharan, in any case, does not be-

longtotheNorthorEastof SriLanka,whichformedthegeographical territoryofEelam.He belongs to the Hill Tamil community(alsoknownasIndian-originTamils)whichalsosufferedatthehandsofSinhalesechau-vinists even though it had no role in theEelamcampaign.Muralitharanhasspoken

about how his father was attacked in the1977 anti-Tamil riots. In any case, Eelamchampions had little interest in the priva-tions of this community, which mostlyworks in the tea plantations of the centralhills inconditionsthatweresubhumanun-til a fewyears ago.TheTamilnationalists inTamilNadure-

main in thrall of the LTTE, even though SriLankan Tamils have had mixed feelingsabout them. There is only one Sri LankanTamilheroforthem.Thedanger, intheeyesofTamilnationalists, is this:Thebiopic,800,would have shown up a different Tamilhero. Is thiswhy he had to be called a trai-tor? The same Muralitharan was a starwhen he played for the IPL franchiseChennai SuperKings (CSK). Byhis ownad-mission, he loved being in a Tamil crowdwhile in India. No one asked him thenwhich side of thewarhewas on.Tamil Nadu has not painted itself in

glory on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. Thestate’s political leaders encouraged SriLankan Tamil “boys” to wage war in SriLanka. Backing violent nationalism in an-other country was easier, especially as itreaped political rewards at home, until, ofcourse, theboysgrewupandstartedbitingback. By then,most of the samepoliticianswere either toomuch inwith them, or tooscared to defy them. By 2005, LTTE litera-turehadstarteddescribingPrabhakaranasthe “leader of world Tamils”, the honorific

that always belonged to DMK leader,MKarunanidhi.It is arguable if TamilNadu’s influential

politicianscouldhavescriptedalessbloodyendingtothewar.Compromiseisnotadirtyword; it only means taking a careful mid-dle road after balancing the interests of ri-valsides. It is temptingtothinkthat30yearsago, Tamil Nadu politicians could have be-come a bridge between Colombo and theTamilmilitants,andeven,perhaps,betweenDelhi andColombo.Before the war ended, Mahinda

Rajapaksa, who was then the president,urged Tamil Nadu politicians to visit SriLanka.Theinvitationwasspurned.Afterthewar ended, when agriculture scientist MSSwaminathan was to visit Colombo, pres-surewas brought onhimnot to go.Hadheshared better farm technology with SriLanka,woulditnothavehelpedTamil farm-ers too?There is still time for Tamil nationalists

torethinktheirpositiononSriLankanTamilnationalism. The more they shout fromChennai, the less it is going to help theTamils in Sri Lanka. What Tamils want to-day from the Sri Lankan government is ac-countability, justice, equality. Nixing amovie on a Tamil cricketer is not going toget themthat.

Thewriter, ahistorianof theLTTE,

reported fromSri Lanka formanyyears

Stalling filmonMuralitharanwillnothelpTamils inSri Lanka

Caught out by spin

MRNarayan Swamy

IDEAS

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NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANMUMBAI,OCTOBER29

INWHATmight turn out to be the TrumpAdministration's last week in office, USSecretary of State Mike Pompeo swungthrough three IndianOcean countries afterthe 2+2US-India talks inNewDelhi earlierthis week, bringing the China-US spat toIndia'sdoorstep.FromNewDelhi,whereheandDefenceSecretaryMarkEsperheldtalkswith External AffairsMinister S JaishankarandDefenceMinisterRajnathSingh,Pompeopeeledoffonanopenlyanti-ChinatouroftheIndianOcean,nowgeographicallypartofthelargerIndo-Pacificregion.

Why Indo-PacificmattersIt is avast areawhere theUSandChina

havecompetedfor influence foryears, andwhere,more recently, Indian and Chineseinterestshavecomeupagainst eachother,specifically inSri LankaandMaldives.Afteryearsof tryingtoregainaslipping

foothold in these countries by itself with-outtakingsidesinthelargergeopoliticalri-valry,at timesevenpushingbackonUSat-

tempts toexpandits footprint in its imme-diate Indian Ocean neighbourhood, NewDelhinowappearsnottomindtheplayingout of the superpower rivalry close home,hoping itwillhelptoreduceChinese influ-ence in theregion.WithitsmilitaryeyeballingChinesesol-

diersattheLineofActualControl, IndiahasembracedacloserrelationshipwiththeUS,aswellassteppedupUSengagementintheregion. At the recentmeeting of the Quadforeign ministers, Jaishankar, like theAustralian and Japanese foreignministers,wascarefulnottojointheanti-Chinatiradethat Pompeo unleashed. But the US-IndiajointstatementtookseveralshotsatChina,besidesPakistan,instressinga“rules-basedinternational order” and a “free, open, in-clusive,peaceful” Indo-Pacific.All threecountriesPompeovisited–Sri

Lanka,MaldivesandIndonesia–arestrate-gicallyvitaltoChinesePresidentXiJinping'sBelt and Road Initiative. China’s appearsstrongest inSri Lanka,where ithas controlof theHambantotaport, ismakingatermi-nal at the Colomboport and anewcity offthe Colombo seafront, and is involved in aslewof other infrastructureprojects.

3 visits, 1 themeInallthreecountries,Pompeo'smessage

wasthatChinaandtheChineseCommunistPartyare“lawless”,donot respect interna-

tional rules, ensnare small countries intodebt traps, andmake irredentist claimsonterritory that fallwithin the boundaries ofothernations,andthattheTrumpadminis-trationwas there toprevent that.SRI LANKA: In Colombo, he said the

ChineseCommunistPartywasa“predator”while “theUS comes in a differentway,wecomeasa friend, asapartner”. TheChineseEmbassy hit back with a tweet: “SorrySecretary@SecPompeo,we'rebuyspromot-ing#China-#SriLAnkafriendshipandco-op-eration, not interested in yourAlienvsPredatorgameatyourinvitation.TheUScanplaytworolesatthesametimeasal-ways”. Even before Pompeo's arrival, theChineseembassysaidinastatementthattheUSwastryingtointerfereinChina-SriLankarelationsand“coerceandbully”Colombo.SriLankanPresidentGotabayaRajapaksa

also refuted Pompeo's assertion that SriLankawas caught in a debt trapwith theChinese.Inastatement,PresidentGotabaya'sofficesaidBeijinghadprovidedcrucialassis-tance toColombo in the last10years,whilewelcoming “more American investment”.Rajapaksa toldPompeothatSri Lanka's for-eignpolicywasnotalignedtoanypower.

MALDIVES: In the Maldives, whichsigneda “frameworkdefence and securityagreement” with the US in September,Pompeo repeated that the “ChineseCommunistPartycontinuesitslawlessandthreateningbehaviour”andannouncedtheopeningofanembassyinMale.Earlier, theUSAmbassadortoSriLankahadconcurrentcharge of Maldives. India, which had pre-ventedaUS-Maldivesdefencetreatybackin2013, welcomed the new agreement say-ing itwas in linewith India's interests andregional stability.Since2018,whenIbrahimSolihbecame

President,thecountryhasscrappedanear-liertilttowardBeijing,andrecastitsforeignpolicytoreflectotherlong-standingties, in-cludingwith India.There have been some voices in the

Maldivesagainststrikingtoocloseafriend-shipwith theUS, and India. In recentdays,afterrumoursthatIndiansoldierswouldbestationedintheMaldives,alocalnewsout-let had wanted information under theMaldives' Right to Information Act aboutthenumberof Indiandefencepersonnel inthe country, but the Maldives NationalDefenceForcesaiditcouldnotdisclosethis

information for reasons of security. OnTuesday, the Maldivian InformationCommissionerruledinfavouroftheMNDF.DuringPompeo'svisit,formerMaldivian

ForeignMinister DunyaMaumoon, whobacks the Solih government, struck a cau-tionarynote:“WeallwantapeacefulIndianOcean, I urge the US to respect the inde-pendence of Maldives. Please respect therightofMaldivestokeepitsfriendshipwithallcountriesthatbenefitourdevelopment.Wedonotwant to engage inpower strug-gles&rivalries in the Indo-Pacific.”INDONESIA: In Jakarta, which is also

the headquarters of ASEAN, some ofwhose members are faced with Chineseclaims on their territory, Pompeo laudedbothIndonesiaandASEANforstandinguptoChina.“Ourlaw-abidingnationsrejecttheun-

lawfulclaimsbyChineseCommunistPartyin the South China Sea as is clear fromIndonesia’s courageous leadership on thissubject within ASEAN and at the UnitedNations,”hesaid.Hewasscheduledtomeetthe Indonesian President JokoWidodo onThursday before flying out to Vietnam onthe last legof thisunusual trip.

MALLICAJOSHINEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

WITH THE President signing theCommissionforAirQualityManagementinNationalCapitalRegionandAdjoiningAreasOrdinance,2020onWednesday,astatutoryauthority to track and combat air pollutionin and around the National Capital Regionhascome intoexistence.TheCommission,theOrdinancesays,will

supersede bodies such as the central andstate pollution control boards of Delhi,Punjab,Haryana,UPandRajasthanandwillhave thepowers to issuedirections to thesestategovernmentsonissuespertainingtoairpollution.

Whatdoes itchangeontheground?Theonebodywithpowerssimilar tothe

new Commission’s was the EnvironmentPollution(PreventionandControl)Authority(EPCA), experts say. It was not a statutorybodybutdrewlegitimacyfromtheSupremeCourt,whichhasbeenlookingatcasesofairpollution as part of the judgment inM CMehtavsUnionof India (1988).

The EPCAwas not, however, supportedby a legal framework in the formof a law. Itdidhavetheauthoritytoissuefinesordirec-tions and guidelines to the governments inother states. It hadno state representatives,just two permanent members. TheCommission, on the other hand, will haverepresentation fromthestate.

What is theroleof theCommissionvis-à-visstates?Theordinancemakesitclearthatstateas

wellascentralbodieswillnothave jurisdic-tionovermattersrelatedtoairpollution:“Nootherindividual,orbody,orauthority,consti-tuted either under the law enacted byParliamentorbystategovernmentornom-inated in terms of judicial order shall actupon or have jurisdiction in relation to thematters coveredbythisordinance.”TheordinancesaystheCommissionwill

look at coordination between states, plan-ning and execution of policy and interven-tions,operationsof industry, inspections,re-search into the causes of pollution etc.Experts say the ordinancemeans that thepower to issue finesmay also lie with thenewCommission.

Officials in the Delhi EnvironmentDepartment said the Commissionwill, in away, erase the relevance of start pollutioncontrol bodies since they do not have thepowers tomakeanyautonomousdecisionsanymore.“TheOrdinanceseemstohavetakenthe

powerawayfromuswhenitcomestoissuesof air pollution.We still have a role to playwhenitcomestowaterandsoundpollution,butoverthe last fewyearsmostofourworkhasbeenconcentratedonairpollution.Whatrolewecanplayalongside theCommissionwillbedecidedbythebodyonceconstituted.It seems our roles have beenmade redun-dant,” said a senior EnvironmentDepartmentofficial.Incasethedirectionsissuedbyastateand

the Commission clash, the decision of theCommissionwill be implemented.

Howdoes ithelp?Experts say themovedoesn’t automati-

cally guarantee action on the ground.EnvironmentactivistVimlenduJhasaidthatby forming a newcommission, the govern-menthastakentheissueofairpollutionoutof thepurviewof the judiciary.

“The central government has got itselfout of the clutch of Supreme Court andcloseddownSC-appointedEPCA,butisitjuststrategy to self-empower and stay relevantortrulyaddressthecrisis?Newlawisneededwhen the old one fails. They have not eventried implementingold laws,” Jhasaid.As per theOrdinance, onlyNGT, andnot

civilcourts, isauthorisedtohearcaseswherethecommission is involved.

Whatarethechallenges?AccordingtotheOrdinance,thecommit-

teehasbeenformedtodoawaywith“ad-hocmeasures” and to replace them to “stream-lineparticipation” fromstatesandexperts.The Commission has a large number of

members from the central government,which has not gone down well with thestates. “It is full of officials from the centralgovernment. Howwill states get a saywithjustonemembereach?Takingawayanysayfromthestategovernment isnot thewaytogofurther.Also,politicaldifferenceswillalsonow play a part in the functioning of theCommission because states are not happywiththeoverarchingpowersbeingvestedinit,” aDelhigovernmentofficial said.

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

A NUMBER of studies so far havelookedintotheefficacyofmasksmadeofvariousmaterialsinkeepingoutair-borne particles thatmay be carryingthe novel coronavirus.Most of them,however, have only looked at a smallselection of fabrics — andwhen thewearer is breathing normally, whenparticlesareexpelledat lowerspeed.Now,anewstudyhasnowtested

awider range ofmaterials— fromT-shirtsandsocksto jeansandvacuumbags — and looked attheir effectiveness in fil-tering out virus-sizedparticles (0.02-0.1 mi-crometres) at highspeeds, comparable tocoughing or heavybreathing. It also testedN95andsurgicalmasks.The study, by re-

searchers from theUniversityof Cambridgeand NorthwesternUniversity, is publishedinBMJOpen.Thebroadfinding:mostofthefab-

rics commonly used for non-clinicalmasks are effective at filtering ultra-fineparticles.N95maskswerehighlyeffective.AreusableHEPA(high-effi-ciencyparticulateair)vacuumbag,infact, exceeded the N95 performanceinsomerespects.Homemademasksaremoreeffec-

tivewhenmadeofmultiple layers offabric.When they incorporated inter-facing(normallyusedtostiffencollars),their performance improved signifi-cantly,butthisimprovementalsomadethemmoredifficulttobreathethrough.The researchers also studied the

performanceofdifferentfabricswhen

damp, and after they had gonethrough awashing and drying cycle.The fabricsworkedwellwhile dampand worked sufficiently after onelaundry cycle. But previous studieshave shown that repeatedwashingdegrades the fabrics, and the newstudycautionsthatmasksshouldnotbereused indefinitely.EugeniaO’Kelly,fromCambridge’s

Department of Engineering, and hercolleagues built an apparatuswith a

fabricsampleinthemid-dle.Aerosolisedparticleswere generated at oneendoftheapparatus,andmadetopassthroughthefabric sample at a speedsimilartocoughing.Theirlevelsweremeasuredbe-foreandafter.

“A mask whichblocks particles reallywell but restricts yourbreathing isn’t an effec-tive mask. Denim, for

example, was quite effective atblockingparticles,but it’sdifficult tobreathethrough, so it’sprobablynotagoodideatomakeamaskoutof anold pair of jeans. N95 masks aremucheasiertobreathethroughthanany fabric combinations with simi-lar levels of filtration,” O’Reilly saidin a statement.Theresearchersacknowledgesev-

eral limitations: they did not look attherolewhichfitplaysinfilteringpar-ticles. In addition, many viruses arecarriedondroplets larger than thoselooked at in the current study.However,O’Kellysaidtheresultsmaybeuseful formaskmakers.

Source:UniversityofCambridge

PompeoinColombowithSriLankaPresidentGotabayaRajapaksa.AP

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

ONWEDNESDAY,thenumberofnewCovid-19casesaroundtheworldcrossed5lakhinadayforthefirsttime.Thefreshspikeincasesand deaths and growing uncertainty aboutcontrollingCovid-19hasnotonlybroughteq-uitiesbackunderpressurebutalsoreinforcedthe case for investment in gold. If hopesof avaccinehavenowspilledover to the secondhalfof2021,thereisalsoanxietyoverthetimeitmaytaketovaccinatetheentireworldpop-ulation.While this is ample cause toworryinvestors, low interest rates and high infla-tion are other factors thatwould keep goldprices firmuntilavaccine is insight.WiththeDiwalifestiveseasonroundthe

corner,manyfeel thehighpricesshouldnotcome in theway of gold purchase, and oneshould continuewith periodic gold invest-mentaspartof assetallocation.

Howhavegoldpricesmoved?As the Covid numbers surged sharply

over the last week and several Europeancountriesannouncedfreshlockdownmeas-ures, gold prices, which had retreated fromover $2,050anounce inAugust to $1880anounce inOctober,maywitnessa freshspikegoing forward.In India, prices are down from levels of

over Rs 56,000 per 10 grams in August toaround Rs 51,000. On Thursday, gold pricesclosedatRs50,630per10grams inDelhi. Inthemeantime,therisingCovidnumbersandcontinuinguncertaintyhave led tovolatilityandafallinthestockmarkets.TheBSESensexclosedat39,749.85onThursday,downfromtheindexvalueof40,707onOctober21.Gold prices started their upwardmarch

sinceMay2019andhavejumpedover50%ina little over a year, from $1,225 an ounce toaround $1,880 now. They peaked around$2,080 an ounce on August 7, while the

IndianpriceinmarkettouchedRs58,000per10grams.

Aretheyexpectedtorise further?IfnewsaboutaRussianvaccineinAugust

ledtoadecline ingoldpricesafter theyhitahigh, prices are expected to firm up on thebackof rising cases, fresh lockdownrestric-tions in several countries and uncertaintyaroundeconomic recoveryandgeopoliticaldevelopments.Historically,arise inuncertaintyandfear

isthesinglebiggestfactorthatleadstoajumpinpricesofgoldascentralbanksincreasethepaceoftheirgoldpurchase.AndtheUS-Chinatrade tensions and the India-China borderstand-off only add to the uncertainties. TheUS Federal Reserve signalling that interestrateswillbekeptnearzerountil2023,too, isexpected to keep thedollar indexweak andmay,inturn,resultinkeepinggoldpricesfirm.

So, shouldyouinvest ingold?Investorsshouldlooktoinvestingoldkeep-

inginmindthatitisalong-termgenerationalasset,which shouldnot bebought for short-termgains.GoldatRs50,000per10gramsmayseemexpensive todaybutmayprove tobe aworthwhiledecision twodecades later.Overthe last 15 years, it has risen from levels ofaroundRs 7,000per 10 grams.While futuregainsmaynotbequitewhatwehaveseen in

thepast, investorsmust invest anywherebe-tween5-10%of theirportfolioingold.So, irrespective of Diwali, investors

shouldcontinueaccumulatinggoldonape-riodic basis —monthly or quarterly. Onemust, however, avoidmaking a lump-suminvestment ingold.

Shouldyoubuycoinsorbonds?Unlessgoldisbeingboughtforjewellery

consumption, the investment must bethrough sovereign gold bonds.While theyoffer capital appreciation in linewith goldpricemovement, theyalsooffera fixed2.5%couponperyear.Sincetheyareissuedinthenameoftheinvestorinapaperform,ittakescareofsafetyconcerns.Thebondshaveama-turity period of eight years, and investorshave theoption toexit after the fifthyear.Asfortaxation,whiletheinterestearned

onthesegoldbonds isaddedtotheholders’incomeandtaxedatamarginaltaxrate,anycapital gains on these bonds atmaturity istax-free,making thema farmore attractiveoption thanowningphysical gold.Another option is gold exchange traded

funds (ETFs) floated bymutual funds. GoldETFshavegivengoodreturnstoinvestorsthisyear. The total assets under gold ETFs nowamounttoRs13,589crore,asperAMFIdata.In caseof coins,making charges canvary

between8%and15%.While the price of 24-

carat10-gramgoldtodayisaroundRs51,500,theMMTC-PAMP24 carat 10-gramgoldbarwaspricedatRs56,400(almost8.8%higher).

Whydidgolddemandfall intheSeptemberquarter?Demand for gold in India for thequarter

ended September 2020was at 86.6 tonnes,down30% compared to 123.9 tonnes in thesameperiod last year, The value of the golddemandforthequarterwasRs39,510crore,down4%fromRs41,300croreayearago.Total jewellery demand in India for the

Septemberquarterdecreasedby48%to52.8tonnesfrom101.6tonneslastyear.However,totalinvestmentdemandat33.8tonnesroseby52%from22.3tonnesinSeptember2019.SomasundaramPR,ManagingDirector,

WorldGoldCouncil,said:“India’sSeptemberquarter gold demand fell by 30% to 86.6tonnes on the back of Covid-related disrup-tions, bleak consumer sentiment and highpricesaccompaniedbyvolatility.Thisis,how-ever, higher than in Q2which at 64 tonneswasa70%dropandthesecondlowest inourquarterly series. This has been partially dueto easing of lockdown and some lowpricesin August that provided a small windowofbuyingopportunities for thediscerning.”

Shouldn’tRBI’s investment ingoldboostconsumerconfidence?TheReserveBankof IndiaAct, 1934pro-

videsthelegalframeworkfordeploymentofreservesinforeigncurrencyassetsandgold.As at end-March 2020, the RBI held 653.01tonnes of gold — 360.71 tonnes overseaswith the Bank of England and the Bank forInternational Settlements, and the remain-ing gold domestically. In value terms (dol-lars), theshareofgoldinthetotalforeignex-changereservesincreasedfromabout6.14%at end-September 2019 to about 6.40% atend-March 2020. The actual value of theRBI’sgoldholdingshasincreasedto$36.685billion as of October 16, 2020 from$30.578billion, a riseof over$6billion in7months.The RBI has deployed the foreign ex-

changereservesinvariousavenueslikegold,fixed deposits andUS treasury bills tomin-imisecapitalrisk. Infact,mostcentralbanksaroundtheworldholdhugegoldreservesasa strategy towiden their investmentbasketandminimise risk.

Should you buy gold this Diwali?EXPLAINED YOURMONEY

Sandeep Singh &GeorgeMathew

Unlessgold isbeingbought for jewelleryconsumption, thenvestmentshouldbethroughsovereigngoldbonds,expertsadvise. PavanKhengre

In Pompeo’s Indo-Pacific tour, a message toChina, takeaways for India

Panel for Delhi air: role, powers, what’s new

AfreshspikeinglobalCovidnumbersandcontinuinguncertaintyreinforcethecaseforinvestingingold,whosepricesareexpectedtofirmup.Theinvestmentshouldbeingoldbonds,periodically

INDIAACTIVECASES 603,687

WORLDTOTALCASES

44,684,011

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,

updatedat11pmonOct29

INDIATOTALCASES

8,040,203

Source:MinistryofHealth&Family

Welfare,updatedat11pmonOct29

Note: TheOct28 figure in this graph isbasedon thegovernmentupdateonOct29

Oct19 Oct28LAST 10 DAYS

750,000

650,000

550,000

603,687

748,538

How masks made of T-shirts,jeans and other fabrics blockparticles at coughing speed

Ahmedabad

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

ANANDPOLICEonThursday ar-restedamanfromNewDelhi forallegedly issuing fake visastamps and work permits forCanada. Police also seized 44Indian passports, a flash stampsystemmachine and a printerfromtheaccused.According to officials of

Anand Police, the accused hasbeen identified as Vijay Kumar,a resident of Khirki village inSouthDelhi.“We got information that a

resident of Anand identified asJayeshbhai Mangalbhai hadcommitted a passport fraud byaffixing fakework VISA permitof Canadaandhadalso sent thepassport to Delhi-basedCanadian Embassy for verifica-

tion. The accusedwas arrestedand a first information report(FIR)was lodgedatAnandtownpolicestationunderIndianPenalCodesections465(forgery),467(forgery of valuable security)and 468 (forgery for purpose ofcheating),” said a senior officerofAnandPolice.“After theFIRwas lodged, an

investigationwas launched andonWednesday, a special opera-tionsgroup(SOG)teamofAnandPolicearrestedVijayKumarfromKhirki village inDelhiwhowasrunning the fakeVISAscam.Theaccusedwas earlier arrested byDelhi Police Crime Branch in acaseof fraudin2019.Apart froma flash stamp systemmachine,laptop andprinter,wehave alsoseized30fakeVISAstampsofdif-ferentcountriesandseveralplas-ticlabelsofimmigrationfromac-cused,” theofficeradded.

Fake visa and workpermit scam: Delhiman held in Gujarat

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER29

POLICEARRESTEDthreepersonsonWednesday for allegedlyab-ductingandkillingaman,whosebodywasfoundfourdaysagoatVadnagar inMehsana.Thebodyof Ambalal Patel, a

resident of Valsana village inVadnagar, was found nearDharoi canalonOctober24.Patelwaskilledwithasharp

weapon and a case of murderwas lodged at Vadnagar policestation. The accused havebeen identified as SandeepPatel, Yogesh Raval and SanjayRaval, all residentsofMehsana,police said.

“We had received an inputthat a Swift car with three per-sons would be reaching nearPalvasna Circle where the ac-cused, involved in murder ofPatel, might be present,” said aseniorpoliceofficialinMehsana.The official added the three

accusedtoldpoliceduringinter-rogation that they used the cartoofferpeople liftsandlaterrobthem. The accused had used asimilar modus operandi toabduct Ambalal on October 23night. Themen later killed himand dumped his body near acanal, police said. “Among thethreeaccused,SandeepPatelhasearlier been involved in amur-der case and was out on bail,”saidaseniorpoliceofficial.

Mehsana: 3 held forabducting, killing man

EXPRESSNETWORK 11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INDOREKhandwa Road, Simrol, Indore - 453552

E-TENDER NOTICEE-Tenders are invited by IIT Indore for the following items :

SI. Name of Items Bid No/Tender ID1 DSLR/Compact/Video Handheld GEM/2020/B/832504

Camcorders or Video Cameras2 Video Conferencing Camera & GEM/2020/B/832498

other multiple item's3 Server & Wireless Access Point GEM/2020/B/8326284 Switcher & other multiple item's GEM/2020/B/8325785 Supply and Installation of Customized 2020_IITI_591459_1

High Quality Furniture on CPPP

For details visit IIT Indore Website https://www.iiti.ac.in/tender,GeM Portal https://bidplus.gem.gov.in/bidlists &CPPP -https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app Registrar

Telephone :0731-6603100, Ext. 3551, 3592, 3591Email : mms@iiti.ac.in

ANDHRA PRADESH MEDICAL SERVICES &INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

APMSIDC invites tenders through e-procurement platform forEquipment Wing: 1.Selection of service provider to execute the repairsfor 336 old ambulances in Andhra Pradesh (108 & 104) (Short Tender)2. Request for identification of vendors for printing and supply of IECmaterial for NHM program under Rate Contract for 1year (Short Tender)3. Procure and supply of Equipment, consumables and furniture in HWCs4. Procure and supply of medical equipment to Dhone under NHM funds5. Procure and supply of Medical Equipment and other activities underNHM Funds.Civil Wing : 1. 1) Establishment of Super Speciality Block in the existingGovernment Medical CoIlege Campus in Kadapa. YSR Kadapa District.2) Establishement of Dr.YSR Cancer Care Centre with 100 Beds in theexisting Government Medical College Campus in Kadapa, YSR KadapaDistrict. 3) Establishment of 100 bedded Institute of Mental Health atKadapa District in a single package. 2. Construction of third floor forestablishment of SNCU, geriatric Ward, Eye Ward at District Hospital,Atmakur in SPSR Nellore District

2nd Floor, Plot No.9, Survey No.49, IT Park, Mangalagiri-522503email : aphmhidc@gmail.com & ed.apmsidc16@gmail.comTender Notice No.13/APMSIDC/2020-21, Dated: 29.10.2020

APMSIDC will reserve the right to cancel the tenders at any time withoutassigning any reasons. Sd/- Managing DirectorDIPR No.415PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2020-21, Dt: 29/10/2020

APMSIDC will reserve the right to cancel the tenders at any time withoutassigning any reasons. Sd/- Managing DirectorAPMSIDC will reserve the right to cancel the tenders at any time withoutassigning any reasons Sd/ Managing Director

NOTICE INVITING REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)For selection of agency for development and supply of

digital contents (visual Learning Solutions & VirtualLab Solutions) as per latest curriculum for Diploma

Courses offered by SCTE&VT, Odisha, Bhubaneswarfor Govt. Polytechnics of Odisha.

No. SPIU-PRO/15/2020/12535, Date: 29.10.2020The Directorate of Technical Education and Training, Odishaintends to invite proposals from agencies for developmentand supply of digital contents (Visual Learning Solutions &Virtual Lab Solutions) as per latest curriculum for DiplomaCourses offered by SCTE&VT, Odisha for Govt.Polytechnics of Odisha. The details of scope of work,eligibility criteria and submission of RFP can be downloadedfrom our website http://www.dtetorissa.gov.in from 3rdNovember’ 2020. Any addendum/corrigendum (if required)will be uploaded at website of DTE&T(http://www.dtetorissa.gov.in) in future.

Sd/-DTE&T, Odisha, Cuttack

OIPR-140004/11/0024/2021

Government of OdishaSkill Development and Technical

Education Department Directorate ofTechnical Education & Training, Odisha

At- Killamaidan, PO-Buxibazar, Cuttack-753001Phone No- 0671-2301061, email: dtetorissa@gmail.com

KK-37

SHAH ALLOYS LTD.CIN: L27100GJ1990PLC014698

Regd Office : 5/1, Shreeji House, B/h. M.J. Library,Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-380 006.

Phone: 02764-661100 | Website: www.shahalloys.comE-mail: sal.investor@shahalloys.com

NOTICE is hereby given that, pursuant to Reg. 29 read withReg. 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and DisclosureRequirements) Regulations, 2015 a Meeting of Board ofDirectors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Saturday,07th November, 2020 at Corporate Office of the Company toconsider and take on record the Unaudited Financial Resultsfor the quarter and half year ended on 30th September, 2020and to transact other businesses. The said notice is also avail-able on the website of the Company at www.shahalloys.comand on the website of the Stock Exchanges viz.www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com.

For Shah Alloys LimitedSd/-

Date: 29.10.2020 Vinay Kumar MishraPlace: Ahmedabad Company Secretary & Compliance Officer

NOTICE

Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance ofadvertising copy, it is not possible toverify its contents. The Indian Express (P)Limited cannot be held responsible forsuch contents, nor for any loss or damageincurred as a result of transactions withcompanies, associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapers orPublications. We therefore recommendthat readers make necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies or enteringinto any agreements with advertisers orotherwise acting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

IMPORTANT

PERSONAL

BUSINESS

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I, Chaudhari DalibenW/o Patel Nathabhai

my Old Name isDaliben in my

husband's servicebook, I am known asChaudhari Daliben

W/o Patel NathabhaiADDRESS

At. Village - Alhabad,Ta. - Radhanpur,

Dist. - Patan Pin-385340

Change of Name

MMaannnneedd Office avail-able in TaichungTaiwan onmonthly/Deal To Dealbasis. InterestedCompanies to contact+91 7696280269.ibmpl@aol.in

0020412518-3

NOTICE OF 25th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND E-VOTING PROCEDURE

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAHYDERABAD,OCTOBER29

THE TELANGANA governmentwillverysoonundertakeasurveyto allot geographical coordinates-- longitudes and latitudes -- tolandtomakethemtamperproof,ChiefMinister KChandrashekarRaosaidonThursday.Rao, after launchingDharani

portal, an integrated land recordmanagement systematMooduChintalapally village in neigh-bouringMedchal-Malkajgiri dis-trict, said Telangana is the firststate in the countrywhich hasbeen using InformationTechnology in amassiveway todigitiselandrecords.“Very soon the state govern-

ment is going to issue orders sothat every inch of land inTelanganawillbemeasureddigi-tally.Total surveyof landswillbedone andGeographical coordi-nates--longitudesandlatitudes--allottedtothem.Oncethecoor-dinates are assigned, the landrecords will become tamperproof,”hesaid,addressingapub-licmeeting atMooduChintala-pally.Hesaidallpublicrepresen-tatives need to coordinatewith

officialsconcernedtoensurethatthe survey is done flawlessly intheirrespectiveareas.On the Dharani portal, Rao

said records of about 1.46 croreacresoflandhavebeenuploadedandpeople can access themanytimewithjustaclick.According tohim, formerPM

PVNarasimhaRaowas the firstreformerof landwhenheservedas chiefminister of (undivided)

Andhra Pradesh in the 1970s.Later, N T Rama Rao abolishedPatel/Patwari (land records offi-cers in villages) system in the1980s,hesaid.“Afterthatnochiefminister undertookany revenuereformsinthestate,”Raosaid.With thehelpof theDharani

portal, registrations andmuta-tionscanbedoneatthesametimewithminimumhumaninterface,hesaid.

Telangana to assign geographical coordinates to land

SHAJUPHILIP&JOHNSONTATHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,BENGALURU,OCTOBER29

THEARRESTofBineeshKodiyeri,son of CPI(M) state secretaryKodiyeriBalakrishnan, inadrug-relatedmoney laundering casehasservedadoublewhammytotherulingpartyandtheLDFgov-ernmentasitcameadayafterthearrest of Kerala CM PinarayiVijayan’s formerprincipal secre-tary, M Sivasankar, in the goldsmugglingcase—aheadof thelo-calbodyandAssemblypolls.Bineesh was Thursday ar-

rested by the ED in connectionwith alleged financial transac-tions—tothetuneofRs50lakh—withamanfromKeralawhowasarrestedbytheNCBinAugustforallegedly selling drugs on theparty circuit in Bengaluru. TheNCB probe foundMohammedAnoop was given funds byBineeshtohelphimstartahotel,andtheformerwasinvolvedinor-ganisingravepartiesinBengaluru.

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI,OCTOBER29

ACANDIDATEwhohadgot99.8percentile in the JEE (Main) ex-amination held lastmonth hasbeen arrested byAssamPolice,alongwith his father and threeothers involved in conductingthe examination, for allegedly

using a proxy candidate to taketheexam,policesaid Thursday.GuwahatiCommissionerof

Police Munna Prasad Guptasaid, “The candidate, NeelNakshatra Das, his father DrJyotirmoy Das, two personswhoareemployedwiththeTCSwhich was conducting theexam—HemendraNathSarmaand Pranjal Kalita – and

HirukamalPathak,whowasin-vigilator of the centre, havebeenarrested (Wednesday).”AssamPolicehaswritten to

the National Testing Agency(NTA), which conducts theexam, seeking CCTV footagefromtheexaminationcentreinBorjhar, Guwahati, for analysisandinvestigation.Thepolicearelookingfortheproxycandidate.

Proxy candidate took exam, Assam boy who‘scored’ 99.8 in JEE (Main) and father held: cops

241DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Karnataka■Andhra■TamilNadu■Kerala

7 DAYS EARLIER:

1.51NOW:

1.50

7 DAYS EARLIER:

7.81NOW:

7.54

DETECTED TODAY

49,881RECOVERED TODAY:

56,480

TOTALCASES

1,660,7668,12,7848,14,7747,16,7514,11,464

DOUBLINGTIME**191.28133.60188.33181.0938.86

SURGEIN24HOURS6,7383,1462,9492,5168,790

7-DAYAVGGROWTH*0.38%0.54%0.38%0.40%1.85%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:80,40,203TESTS: 10,65,63,440 | DOUBLING RATE: 118.70**

RECOVERED: 73,15,989DEATHS: 1,20,527

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

DataasonOctober28, releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbersincludedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch, trendsbasedondailynumbersare indicative,notdefinitive

CASE FATALITY RATIO

Deaths as a ratio ofpositive cases (in %);indicator of progressin averting deaths

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

Kerala CPMsecy’s son held indrugs PMLA case

Ahmedabad

ASIAN GRANITO INDIA LIMITEDRegd. Office: 202, Dev Arc, Opp. Iskcon Temple,

S.G.Highway, Ahmedabad-380015CIN: L17110GJ1995PLC027025

E-mail: info@aglasiangranito.com Website: www.aglasiangranito.com

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE 25TH Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of themembers of Asian Granito India Limited will be held on Friday, 20th November, 2020 at11.00 A.M through Video Conferencing ("VC")/ Other Audio Visual Means ("OAVM") totransact the Ordinary and Special businesses mentioned in the Notice as contained inthe Annual Report of the Company for the Financial Year 2019-20.

The Annual Report for the financial year 2019-20 including Notice convening the meet-ing has been sent to the Members through e-mail on 29th October, 2020 and aredisplayed and available on the web-site of the Company www.aglasiangranito.com web-site of the stock exchanges i.e. BSE Limited and National stock Exchange of IndiaLimited at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com respectively and on the website ofNSDL at www.evoting.nsdl.com.

Further, in compliance with the provisions of Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013read with Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 ("theAct") as amended and Regulation 44 of SEBI (Listing Obligations & DisclosureRequirements) Regulations 2015, the Members are provided with the facility to cast theirvotes on all resolutions as set forth in the Notice convening the AGM using electronicvoting system (e-voting) provided by National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Thevoting rights of Members shall be in proportion to the equity shares held by them in thepaid-up equity share capital of the Company as on Tuesday, 10th November, 2020("cut-off date").

The remote e-voting period commences at 09:00 a.m. IST on Tuesday, 17th

November, 2020 and ends on 5:00 p.m. IST Thursday, 19th November, 2020. Duringthis period, the members may cast their vote electronically. The voting through remotee-voting shall not be allowed beyond 05:00 p.m. IST on Thursday, 19th November, 2020.Those Members, who shall be present in the AGM through the VC/OAVM facility and hadnot cast their votes on the Resolution through remote e-voting and are otherwise notbarred from doing so, shall be eligible to vote through e-voting system during the AGM.

The Members who have cast their votes by remote e-voting prior to the AGM may alsoattend/participate in the AGM through the VC/OAVM but shall not be entitled to casttheir votes again.

Members of the Company holding shares as on the cut-off date may cast their votes.

Any person who becomes a member of the Company after dispatch of the Notice of theAGM and holding shares as on the cut-off date may cast their votes by following theinstruction and process of e-voting as provided in the Notice of the AGM.

In case Member(s) have not registered their e-mail addresses, they may follow the fol-lowing instructions:

a. Members holding shares in physical mode are requested to send an email toahmedabad@linkintime.co.in along with necessary details like folio number Nameof Member(s) and self attested scanned copy of PAN Card or Adhar Card forregistering their email addresses.

b. Members holding shares in Demat mode are requested to contact their respectiveDepository Participant for registering the email addresses.

For the details relating to e-voting /remote e-voting. Please refer to the Notice of theAGM. In case of any queries, you may refer the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) forShareholders and e-voting user manual for Shareholders available at the downloadsection of www.evoting.nsdl.com or call on toll free no.: 1800-222-990 or send a requestto (Nipul Shah) at evoting@nsdl.co.in

For Asian Granito India LimitedSd/-

Date : 29.10.2020 Renuka A. UpadhyayPlace: Ahmedabad DGM (Legal) & Company secretary

NOTICE OF 25th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND E-VOTING PROCEDURE

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

THECENTREThursdayapproveda Rs 10,211-crore project—to befunded mostly via externalsources—to strengthen around700 dams across the countryoveraperiodof tenyears.The decisionwas taken at a

meeting of the CabinetCommitteeonEconomicAffairschaired by Prime MinisterNarendraModi.After themeeting, Union Jal

ShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat told the media:“Almost 80 per cent of thesedamsareover25yearsof age... ascientificapproachisneededforthemaintenance and operationof thesedamsatpresent.”Themajorchunkoffinancing

fortheprojectwillcomefromex-ternalagenciessuchastheWorldBank and Asian InfrastructureInvestmentBank.“The share of external fund-

ing is Rs 7,000 crore of the totalprojectcost,andbalanceRs3,211crore is to be borne by the con-cerned Implementing Agencies(IAs).ThecontributionofCentral

Government is Rs 1,024 crore asloan liabilityandRs285croreascounterpart funding for CentralComponent,”saidthestatement.The“comprehensiverehabil-

itation of 736 existing dams”acrossthecountrywillbecarriedoutunder twophases.“The project will be imple-

mentedoveraperiodof10yearsduration in twophases, each ofsix years duration with twoyears overlapping from April,2021 to March, 2031,” said astatement on the DamRehabilitation andImprovement Project (DRIP)Phase II and Phase III. The firstphase of the programme wasstarted in2012;223damswerecoveredunderthisphase.

Ethanol prices hikedTheUnionCabinet Thursday

alsoraisedethanolprocurementprices for state-owned oilmar-keting companies by 4.4%-6.1%depending on the rawmaterialtheyuse forethanolproduction.Ethanolisblendedwithpetroltoreducecarbonemissionsandim-portdependence.The CCEA raised prices of

ethanolfromsugarfromRs59.48

per litre to Rs 62.25/litre. Theprice of ethanol derived from‘C’ heavy molasses was in-creased by Rs 1.94 to Rs 45.69and that of ‘B’ heavy molasseswasraisedbyRs3.34/litre toRs57.61/litre.Theserevisedpriceswillap-

ply to the supply of ethanol topublic sector oil marketingcompanies for2020-21EthanolSupply Year from Dec 2020 -Nov 2021.“Thismovewillbenefitfarm-

ers and sugar mills” saidJavadekar.Higherethanolpriceswillhelpfarmersgettheirarrearsfromsugarmills sooner,hesaid.

Move to boost jutedemandTheCCEAdecided that 100%

of foodgrains and 20% of sugarproducedinthecountrymustbepackedindiversified jutebags.Information and

BroadcastingMinister PrakashJavadekarsaid:“Thisisabigdeci-siontoboost thedemandof juteinyearstocome...withthisguar-antee of the government andwith rising importdutieson theimported jute, the farmerswillbenefit.”

Centre nod to Rs 10,000-crproject to strengthen dams

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA,OCTOBER29

ON A day the ElectionCommissionof India shiftedoutMungerDistrictMagistrateRajeshMeena and Superintendent ofPoliceLipiSinghovertheOctober26violence inwhichonepersonwas killed andover three dozenpeople were injured during aDurgaprocession, freshprotestsbroke out in the town onThursday.Manavjit Singh Dhillon has

beennamedthenewMungerSPandRachnaPatilthenewDM.The crowd, shouting slogans

againstSingh,torchedtwopolicevehicles and ransacked theMufassilpolicestationintown.Apolicemanwasinjuredwhiletry-ingtocontrolthemob.ProhibitoryordershavebeenimposedunderSection144of theCrPC.Meanwhile, the EC has or-

deredaprobeintotheMungerin-cidents by MagadhCommissionerAsangbaChubaAoand askedhim to submit his re-port inaweek.Sourcesinthead-

ministrationsaidthenewDMandSPare likely toposted inMungerinadayortwo.Police said that around10.30

amonThursdaysome50peoplegathered at Bata Chowk inMunger town to carry out aprotestagainstthelocaladminis-tration.AstheprotestorsleftBataChowkandmarchedtowardstheDMOfficeandkotwali,morepeo-ple joined, with some of themdamagingvehiclesparkedbytheroadside.Munger Police said extra

forces have been deployed and

therehavebeennofurtherreportsofuntowardincidents.The incidenthas takenpoliti-

cal overtones with RJD leaderTejashwi Prasad Yadav and LJPpresidentChiragPaswanlikeningtheMunger administration to“General Dyer”. Tejashwi said,“Wewant toknowwhoorderedpolicetoopenfireatpeople.”TheCongressonThursdayde-

manded the dismissal of ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar and hisdeputySushilKumarModitoen-sure the truth comes out andthereisnocoverup.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,OCTOBER29

ADAYafteragroupofBSPMLAsrebelledagainsttheparty’scan-didate for the Rajya Sabha elec-tion andmet Samajwadi Party(SP) leadership, BSP chiefMayawationThursdayhitoutatAkhilesh Yadav andMulayamSinghYadav, saying the2019al-liancewiththeSPandthewith-drawalof the June2,1995guesthouse case,whenanallegedat-temptwasmadeonher life,hadbeen“abigmistake”.She also said that her party

would back anyone, includingtheBJP,toensurethedefeatofSPcandidatesintheupcomingMLCelections in thestate.“Our partywould like to an-

nounce in advance that whenelections for choosingMLCs areheld, thenwewill give a tit-for-tat response to yesterday’s inci-dent. Our party will use all itsstrength to defeat the secondMLC candidate of the SP. To de-feat the SP, BSPMLAswill votefor BJP or any other Oppositionparty likelytodefeat thesecondSPcandidate,”Mayawati said.The BSP, meanwhile, sus-

pended seven MLAs from theparty’s membership for re-bellingagainsttheparty’scandi-dateforRajyaSabhaelectionandsaidthatitwillseekcancellationof themembershipof thesevenMLAs fromtheAssemblyunderthe anti-defection law if andwhenthey joinanotherparty.The sevenMLAs are Choud-

haryAslamAli(DhaulanainHap-ur),HargovindBhargawa(Sidhaulireserved seat), MohdMujtabaSiddiqui (Pratappur, Prayagraj),HakimLalBind (Handiya, Praya-graj),MohdAslamRaini (BhinainShravasti), SushmaPatel (MugraBadshahpur,Jaunpur)andVandanaSingh(SagdiinAzamgarh).

Mayawatisuspends 7rebels, sayswill even backBJP to defeat SP

Twopolicevehiclesweretorched. PTI

EC shunts out Munger SP, DM;protests continue over death

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,OCTOBER29

CONTINUING ITS search opera-tions in Kashmir for the secondconsecutive day, the NIA onThursday conducted raids atseven locations inKashmir, andtwoinNewDelhi.According to the agency, the

search operationswere carriedout in connectionwith a case offundsbeingraisedfrom“Indiaandabroad in thenameof charitableactivities” andallegedlyused for“secessionistandseparatistactiv-itiesinJ&K”.OnWednesday,NIAhadraided

atleast10locations,includingres-idencesof humanrightsactivists,journalistsandofficesofNGOs.“Incontinuationofyesterday's

searchoperations,NIAconductedsearchesat7locationsinSrinagar,Baramulla, Anantnag&Kulgam(J&K) and2 locations inDelhi inconnectionwiththecasepertain-ing to certain NGOs and Trustsraisingfundsinthenameofchar-itable activities and then usingthosefundsforcarryingoutseces-sionistandseparatistactivities inJ&K,” NIA said in a release. Thecase, it stated,was registeredonOctober 8 this year underdiffer-entSectionsofIPCandSection40ofUAPA“asperdirectionsofMHAonreceiptofcredibleinformationthat certainNGOsandTrusts arecollectingfundsdomesticallyandabroad through donations andbusinesscontributionsetc, inthename of variouswelfare activi-ties...”TheorganisationsraidedonThursday include the Falah-e-AamTrust (FAT). Set up in 1972,FAT is the largest private educa-tionalsocietyinJ&Kandruns350

middle and high schools in theUnionTerritory–300inKashmirValleyand50inJammuregion.SrinagarandKulgamofficesof

J&K YateemFoundation, one ofthe largest charity organisationsintheValley,wasalsoraided.TheNIAsearchedAnantnagandNewDelhi offices of HumanWelfareFoundation (HFW) – a Delhi-basedNGOworkinginthehealth-care sector, sanitation, and reliefandrehabilitation.TheNIA stated that theoffice

of CharityAlliance, runbyZafar-ul-Islam,wasraidedinDelhi.Theoffice of Voice of Victims–ahu-man rights defender group – inBaramullaandresidenceofsepa-ratistleaderZafarAkbarBhat,whoheads J&KSalvationMovement,werealsosearched.Zafar-ul-Islam, formerDelhi

MinoritiesCommissionchairper-son, tweeted: “Myhomeandof-fices were raided by NIA thismorning.... They tookmanypa-pers, all laptops, harddisks of alldesktops,cashfoundetc.…”HWFsaid: “(They) tookaway

some files, documents, and lap-tops/computers of account de-partment....”

NIAofficialsofficials leaveafteraraidatthepremisesofHumanWelfareFoundationinJamiaNagar.PTI

J&K ‘FUNDSDIVERSION’CASE

NIA raids on forsecondday;9placessearched

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,OCTOBER29

FormerprincipalsecretarytotheKerala Chief Minister, MSivasankar, had allegedly inter-

venedtogetadiplomaticcargore-leased from the Customs at thebehestofSwapnaSuresh,akeyac-cusedinthegoldsmugglingcase,the EDonThursday stated in itspetition seeking custody of thesuspendedIASofficer.The agencyWednesday ar-

restedSivasankaronchargesofal-legedmoney laundering in thesmugglingcase.On Thursday, the Principal

Sessions Court inKochi allowedthe ED four-day custody ofSivasankar,whohasbeenlistedasthe fifth accused in the alleged

money laundering case theagrency is probing in the goldsmugglingscam.AccordingtoED,Sivasankar helped Swapnaparkproceedsfromthesmugglingdealin a bank locker. He was sus-pendedafterthesmugglingscan-dalwasexposedinJulythisyear.

Former CM secytried to get cargoreleased: ED

KERALAGOLDSMUGGLINGCASE

Ahmedabad

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

13DECISION2020BIHAR

TOTALASSETS

` 5.24 CRORE (WITH SPOUSE)

219% rise from2015 (`1.6 crore)

MOVABLE ASSETS

` 57.04 LAKH

AAsssseettss 22001155 22002200

Cashinhand 60,000 7lakh

Bankbalance 4.51lakh 6.69lakh

Stocks&bonds NIL NIL

Otherinvestment 3.56lakh 6.35lakh

Jewellery 14.05lakh 23lakh

Vehicle 10lakh 14lakh

Other NIL NIL

Total 32.73lakh 57.04lakh

IMMOVABLEASSETS

` 4.67 CRORE

AAsssseettss 22001155 22002200

Agri land 58lakh 70lakh

Non-agri land 16lakh 52lakh

Commercial 7.50lakh 45lakh

Residential 50lakh 3crore

Other NIL NIL

Total 1.31crore 4.67crore

LIABILITIES

`9.48LAKH (BANKLOANS)

CRIMINALCASESThreepending, includingunderSections228A(barondisclosureof identityof thevictim)and120B(punishment forcriminalconspiracy)of the IndianPenalCode

I Hereby Declare

HARISHDAMODARANKHAGARIA,BEGUSARAI,OCTOBER29

MAKKA HAI das rupiah aur bhusa chaudah

(maize is selling for Rs 10 andwheat strawforRs14),”saysChandrasekharKumar,a15-bighafarmerfromSapahavillageinKhagariadistrict,summingupthesituationofBihar’smostprofitable, if not thebiggest, crop.Kumar growsmaize on 10,wheat on 3,

mustardon1,andfoddersorghamandbarleyontheremaining1bigha forhis10buffaloes.The 45-year-old harvested 480 quintals ofmaizeinMay-June,morethanlastyear’s400.But thepricehegot fromselling toa “vyapari(village-levelaggregator)”wasjustRs950-Rs1,000/quintal,asagainstRs1,700in2019.Kumariseveryinchaprogressivefarmer,as

good ashis counterparts in Punjab.His cornyield,at48quintalsperbighaor55/acre,iseven

higherthan50quintals/acrelevelsof farmersin Iowa, Illinois and Indiana in the US. HemainlyplantshybridsofBayerCropScience—includingonewithbetter plant strengthandmore uniform cobs— and also uses theGermanmultinational’s‘Gaucho’(aseedtreat-ment chemical) and ‘Laudis’ (a herbicide). Inwheat,hesowsDCMShriramLtd’s‘Super303’thatgivesupto23quintals/acre,comparedtothe16-17quintalsfromnormalvarieties.“What’sthepointif thepriceisn’tgood?”

asksKumar.Thatisasentimentvoicedbyeverymaize

farmer in Bihar. The feed grain is cultivatedacrossmuchofthestatenorthoftheGanga—theKosi belt (Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Saharsa,Madhepura,Supaul,Araria,Kishanganj,PurneaandKatihar),andwestwardsfromBegusarai,Samastipur andDarbhanga toMuzaffarpur,Vaishali, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, East andWest Champaran. All these areas vote in the

secondandthirdphasesoftheAssemblyelec-tions,onNovember3and7.Bihar has an estimated 14,000-15,000-

tonnemarket for hybridmaize seedsduringthe rabi season, with sowing from mid-October to December and harvestingmid-ApriltoJune.Atabout8kgseedsperacreandtheaveragerabimaizeyieldof36quintal/acre,thattranslatesinto17.5-18.5lakhacresand6.5milliontonnes(mt),respectively.Thevalueofthis produce, at normal farmgateprice of Rs1,200/quintal, iswelloverRs7,500crore.Butfarmersnowaren’tgettingeventhat,

forgetMSP of Rs 1,760/quintal declared byModigovernment for the2019-20crop.“LastMay,mycropfetchedRs1,800/quin-

tal.ThisMay, theyruledatRs1,000andIsoldonly 11 out ofmy92quintals, thinking thatpriceswillimprove.Instead,theyfelltoRs900-950inJune-July,whenIsoldanother40quin-tals.ThebalanceIdisposedofearlythismonth

atRs1,050/quintal,”saysRamashankarYadav(65)ofRariaunavillageinBegusarai.Evenworseoff isAnilKumarYadav,55,of

Tulsitolinthedistrict.Heharvested15tractor-trolley loadsofmaize cobs, each40quintals,inApril-May.HesoldthethreshedgrainfromfiveoftheseloadsinMayatRs1,200/quintal.“Iwaitedinvainforpricestorise,andstillhave10unsoldloads,whichwon’tfetchmorethanRs1,050duetokeeda,”hesays.ForBihar,whichproducesnearlyaquarter

of India’smaizeand three-fourthsof the rabiseasoncrop,cornhasbeennothingshortof arevolution. Itwastriggeredbymultinationalsled by Cargill and Pioneer (which becameDuPontPioneerandthenCortevaAgriscience).Theyintroducedsingle-crosshybridcorncul-tivationtoIndia, includingBihar, in1992-93.Bihar’s farmerswere the oneswho took

naturally to growingmaize –particularly inrabi,whenmildtemperatureswithclearskies,

absenceoffloodingandlowpest/diseaseinci-dence enabled yields twice that of thepost-monsoonkharifseason.InKosibelt,withbig-ger landholdings, rabimaize is a commercialcrop.FarmersspendoverRs20,000peracre.Thereturnsfromtheseinvestments,how-

ever,diminishedpost lockdown.Almost50%ofmaizedemand is forpoultry feed.Chickenand egg consumption is yet to recover, asrestaurantshaven’tfullyresumedoperations.“Givenmyyield(50quintals/acre),I’mnot

losingmoney even at Rs 1,000/quintal. Butthosewith loweryieldswill switch towheat,whosecultivationcostisRs11,000-12,000peracre,”explainsChandrasekharKumar.Hisde-mand:Whycan’t thegovernment ensure anMSPofatleastRs1,500/quintal?Fornow,nobody’spromisinganything.The

BJP’s Bihar pollmanifesto has assuredMSP-basedprocurementinpulses,butnotinmaize.TheRJD’sdocumentbarelymentionsthegrain.

UnionMinisterandBJPMPfromPatnaSahibRAVI SHANKAR PRASAD speaks toSANTOSH SINGH about why he believesNitishKumar-ledNDAwill return to power,assertstheBJPisclearonChirag,andsaystheRJDandCongresswill falloutafter thepolls:

WhatmakesyouconfidentthattheNitish-ledNDAwillwinagain?Oneistheperformanceofthestategovern-

ment, and the commitment of the PrimeMinistertothestate—withoutdevelopmentofBihar,Indiacannotgrow...FromArariatoSupaul,thereisabsenceoffear...Iaskonequestionduringmycampaign.Couldpeoplehavemoved freelywith their smart-phonesduringLalu’s rule?Mostpeople say that their phoneswouldgetsnatched.

Butdoesanti-incumbencymaketheNDAnervous?Nottheleast.Iamreadytoac-

knowledgethatthereissomefa-tiguefactor.Butwhilecampaign-ing,Iseepeopleconnectingverywellwithus.

TejashwiYadavappearstobebankingmoreondevelopmentpoliticsthanhisfather’splankofsocialjustice....Withpopulist posturing canyoudisown

yourlegacy?WhydoRJDpostersnotcarrypic-tures of his (Tejashwi’s) father andmother,whoruledBiharfor15years.Heisapprehen-sive that if heputsup their pictures, all thosefears...wouldreturntopeople’smemory.

WhatdoyoumakeofTejashwi’spromiseof10lakhjobsforresidentsofBihar?During 15 years of Lalu-Rabri rule, only

95,000 jobswere given.NitishKumar’s gov-ernmentgavejobstosixlakhpeopleandalsoappointed three lakh teachers.Wehave 1.5croreJeevikaworkers,andweareplanningtoaddanothercrore.Asweare layingoptical fi-bresacrossthestate,itwouldcreatemorejobs.

ButTejashwi’srallieshavebeendrawinglargecrowds.Thereweresimilarcrowds(for theGrand

Alliance) in the2019LokSabhapolls aswell.

Whathappened?Theygot onlyoneseat.

WhydoyouthinkNitishKumarisfacingpublicanger?If some 10-15 people in a

crowdof 25,000 create ruckus...it looks like it ispartof somede-sign. If 99%peoplehavecometolistentotheCMandsomearecre-atingproblems,andTVchannelsarefocusingonit...Itcouldbepartofsomegameplan.

Whydon’tyoucleartheairontheLJP?TheLJPhasbeenknockedoutoftheNDAin

Bihar.NitishKumarisourCMcandidateandithasbeenmadeclearbyour top leaders, rightfromthePMtotheUnionHomeMinister.

Willangeroverpoormanagementduringearlydaysofthepandemicaffectresults?The Centre distributed foodgrains to 80

crore Indiansduring the lockdown.Covid-19is a once-in-a-hundred-years challenge. Still,we tried tomeasureup.OurCovid-19 recov-eryrateisverygood,especiallyinBihar.

DoyouseetheJD(U),RJDandCongresscomingtogetherincaseofahungHouse?No. The RJD does not suit Nitish Kumar

temperamentally.OnehasseenhowhefelloutwithLaluinlessthan18months...ButtheRJDandCongresscanfalloutafterthepolls.

WilltheBJPandRJDeverjoinhands?(Laughs) ...Somany strange things have

happenedinpoliticssince1990buttheBJPandRJDcannevercometogether.

‘Big crowds at GrandAlliance rallies in 2019 LSpolls too. What happened?’

GUEST APPEARANCEBJPGorakhpurMPandBollywoodandBhojpuri cinema actorRaviKishangreetscrowdbeforecampaigning inMadhubaniandSamastipuronThursday.ANI

P O L I T I C SH A S H T A G

@aimim_national tweeted a posterpointing out how AIMIM representa-tives in Hyderabad had ensured flood re-lief for residents through the state gov-ernment, while “lakhs of crops, life andproperty gets destroyed in Seemanchal,and yet the representative governmentextends no help.”895Likes, 175Retweets in5Hours

●AIMIM’s Hyderabad

vs Bihar poster

‘THIRDFRONT’

The 10%Inafightthatincreasinglyseemstighter,Kushwaha-frontedGDSFofsix

disparateparties, fromAIMIMtoBSPandsmallerUPfronts,couldprovecrucial

●WHO’SWHERETODAY

BJPPRESIDENTJPNADDA

inBegusaraiandSiwan

AIMIMCHIEFASADUDDINOWAISIinBhagalpur,Benipur,CheriaBariarpur

THECASTECOLOURS:WHATIS‘BHURABAL’?

FORMORELOGONTO

INDIANEXPRESS.COM/ELECTIONS

●POLLPITCH

NITISHKUMAR'SPATNASPEECH;TEJASHWIYADAV’SHAJIPUR

ADDRESS

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

WITH

RAVI SHANKAR

PRASAD

UNIONMINISTEROFLAW;

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEW

SANTOSHSINGH&WALIAHMADPATNA,KISHANGANJ,OCTOBER29

AT60,timecouldberunningoutforUpendraKushwaha. Once seen as Nitish Kumar’sblue-eyedman, the Rashtriya Lok SamataParty (RLSP) chief is now being called a“spoiler”forfrontingaplatformofsixrejectswho could not find place in the twomainBihar alliances andwhomay in theprocesscut into theOppositionvote.However,asthefirstphaseoftheAssembly

pollsends,withthetwolegswhereitschancesare brighter beginningnow, theKushwaha-ledandambitiouslynamedGrandDemocraticSecular Front (GDSF) is giving it its best shot.Ofthe71seatsthatvotedinthefirstphase,thesixpartiesthatmakeuptheFront—theRLSP,AIMIM, BSP, SuhaldevBharatiya Samaj Party(SBSP), former RJDMP Devendra Yadav’sSamajwadi Janata Dal Democratic andJanatantrikParty(Socialist)ofUttarPradesh—betweenthemcampaignedin62.Thesixpartiesarebelievedtohavethepo-

tentialtowinaround10%ofthevotestogetherandmayprovekingmakerifthecontestistight.In the2015Assemblypolls, theRLSPhadgotover3.6%ofthevotes,winningtwoseats,andtheBSPalittleover2%,withoutwinningany.WhiletheRLSPiscontestingon104ofthe

243seats,theBSPisfighting80andtheAIMIM20. The RLSP’s pockets of influence areAurangabad,Kaimur,Rohtas,EastChamparan,Buxar, Shekhpura, Jamui andMunger. TheAIMIMcouldwina fewseats inSeemanchal,where it is the strongest, andenduphurtingnot just the RJD and Congress but also theJD(U).TheBSP,thathasagoodpresenceinoverhalf-a-dozen seats in Rohtas, Kaimur andGopalganjborderingUP,mightdothesame.BSP chiefMayawati andKushwahahave

held two rallies in the BSP strongholds ofKarahgarandBhabhua.KushwahaandOwaisihaveheld18jointelectionmeetings.RLSPstatepresident(campaign)JitendraNathsaid:“Thecrowdconnecthasbeenverygood.Weareask-

ingwhytheRJDandNDAgovernmentsdidnotprovidethejobstheyarepromisingnow.”SaidRLSPnationalgeneralsecretaryRahul

Kumar,“Inatleast40-45seats,wewillgetover5,000to35,000votes.”Headdedthattheyare“definitelytargetingtheJD(U)”,withfocusonseatswithsizeableKoeri-Kurmi-Dhanukpop-ulation.CMNitishKumarisaKurmi.TheAIMIM, that has been long trying to

carve out space in theMuslim-dominatedSeemanchal area comprising Kishanganj,Purnea,Araria andKatihardistricts, has got afreshwindduetoOwaisi’spopularity.Lastyear,it hadmade its electoral debut inBiharwin-ningthebypollstoKishanganjAssemblyseat.AIMIMBiharchiefAkhrat-ul Imaniscon-

testingfromAmour.Thepartyalsofancies itschancesinKochadhamanandBahadurganj.Owaisihasbeenpromisingan“alternative

platform”toBihar,saying,“TheRJD-CongressalliancehasfailedindefeatingJD(U)andBJP.”HissupporterssayheistheonlyleadertalkingonMuslimissues, includingtheNRC.

Addressing a rally inAmouronThursdaybeforeasizeablecrowd,Owaisi saidhe isnotruffledby charges that he splits votes, to thebenefitoftheBJP.Heaskedifheshouldn’ttalkoftheCAA,andthecrowdrepliedwitha“no”.Thatcharge,however,issettogrowlouder

with the BSPdeclaring on Thursday that itsleaders could vote for any candidate, includ-ingtheBJP, intheUPLegislativeCouncilpolls,to defeat the Samajwadi Party. Asked aboutthis,Owaisi toldTheIndianExpress, that“last Ichecked,theyhadnotdecidedyet”.TheBSPhas been apresence inBihar for

some time. In the February 2005Assemblypolls, it hadwon six seats. In 2015, it fieldedcandidatesin228seatsbutgotnone.The Janatantrik Party (Socialist)’s Sanjay

SinghChouhanisalsoessentiallyaUPleader,with influence inGhosi area. He fought the2012and2017Assemblypolls aswell as the2014LokSabhapollsinUPinalliancewiththeBJP. In the2019polls,Chouhancontestedun-successfully as a Samajwadi Party nomineefromChandauliinUP.InBihar,thepartycadreisactiveinBagaha,ValmikiNagarandKaimur.TheSBSPof OmprakashRajbhar, another

UPleader,hasheldralliesinRohtasandKaimurwheretherearesizeableSCRajbharvotes.DevendraYadavof theSamajwadi Janata

DalDemocratic, the ex-JhanjharpurRJDMP,hasavotebaseinMadhubaniandDarbhanga.But the leaderwith themost at stake re-

mainsKushwaha, a lesser knownproduct oftheJayaprakashNarayanandKarpooriThakurmovementswhofirstmetNitishin1985,whenhewasayouthleaderof theLokDal.Thesen-iorleader’s“methodpolitics”,meticulousfile-workandevendresssensearesaidtohaveim-pressedUpendra deeply. It was onNitish’ssuggestion that he added Kushwaha to hisname,thecasteidentityhelpingbolsterhispo-liticalstanding.KushwahasorKoeriscompriseabout 7% of the state population. Hewas aUnionministerinthefirstModigovernment.This time, theRJDkept himhanging, the

BJPofferedhimnomorethansixseats,whileseveralaideshavelefthim.

■Candidateswithcriminalcases

■Candidateswithseriouscriminalcases

UNDERTHESCANNER

RACETOTHETOP

CONTENDERS

94Constituencies

84 (89%)

RedAlertConstituencies

(Where3ormore

contestingcandidates

havedeclared

criminal cases)

1,463Candidates

502 (34%)

Candidateswith

criminalcases

389 (27%)

Candidates with

seriouscriminalcases

49 32 143

Crimeagainstwomen

(4: relatedtorape)

Murder Attempt

tomurder

PHASE II CRIMEPATROL

Source:Association forDemocraticReforms

Party Candidatesanalysed

RJD 5636 (64%) 28(50%)

BJP 4629 (63%) 20(44%)

INC 2414(58%) 10(42%)

LJP 5228(54%) 24(46%)

BSP 3316(49%) 14(42%)

JD(U) 4320(47%) 15(35%)

BSPsupremoMayawatiwithRLSPchiefUpendraKushwahaatanOct23rally inRohtas,wherethe latterholds influence. PTI

BRAJESHKUMARINDIAN

NATIONAL

CONGRESS,

Govindganj

(Purvi

Champaran)

AnilKumarsayshisunsoldmaizecobswon’t fetchmorethanRs1,050perquintalduetokeeda.HarishDamodaran

1.Aurangabad

2.Kaimur

3.Rohtas

4.East

Champaran

5.Buxar

6.Sheikhpura

7. Jamui

8.Munger

9.Kishanganj

10.Gopalganj

11.Kargahar

12.Bhabhua

13.Ghosi

14.Bagaha

15.ValmikiNagar

16.Madhubani

17.Darbhanga

POCKETSOFINFLUENCE

111 12 13

41415

678

1617

910

2 3

UttarPradesh

5

When makka cheaper than bhusa: Lockdown effect on state’s biggest crop

Ahmedabad

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PAKISTAN

Courtacquits

Imranin2014

Parliament

attackcaseIslamabad:PakistanPrimeMinisterImranKhanwasaquitted by an anti-ter-rorismcourtonThursdayinthe2014Parliamentat-tackcasebutotherseniorministers, includingForeign Minister ShahMahmoodQureshi,weresummoned onNovember 12 for the in-dictment. Anti-TerrorismCourt Judge Raja JawadAbbas Hassan, however,halted proceedingsagainstPresidentArifAlviduetothepresidentialim-munity granted to him,The Express Tribune re-ported. On August 31,2014,workersof thenowruling PTI and PakistanAwami Tehreek (PAT)tried to enter ParliamentandgotowardsthePrimeMinister's House andclashed with police.Police had invoked sec-tions of the Anti-Terrorism Act againstKhan andother PTI lead-ers, according to theDawnnewspaper. PTI

ImranKhan

TOPOFTHEWORLD

SOUTHKOREA

Courtupholds

17-yearjailterm

toex-leaderSeoul: SouthKorea’s topcourtuphelda17-yearsen-tence imposedon formerPresident LeeMyung-bakfor a range of corruptioncrimes in a final rulingThursday that will sendhimbacktoprison.Leehasbeen convicted of takingbribesworthmillions ofdollarsfrombigcompaniesincluding Samsung, em-bezzlingcorporatefundsofacompanythatheownedandmisusingofficialfundsof South Korea’s spyagency. REUTERS

THEPHILIPPINES

Roosterkillspolice

officerinCovid-19

lockdownraidManila: Apoliceofficer inthePhilippineswaskilledthisweek after a fightingrooster slashed himdur-ing a raid on an illegalcockfighting den to stopthe spread of the coron-avirus. The officer, Lt.Christian Bolok, 38, waspart of a team that de-scendedonanarenaintheprovince of NorthernSamaronMonday,afteritwas suspecting of violat-ing lockdown rulesagainstmass gatherings.“Hewaswounded in hisfemoral artery on the leftlegandlostalotofblood,”provincialpolicechief,Col.ArnelApud, said. “Withinminutes, hedied. Itwas afreakaccident.” NYT

AFGHANISTAN

8inmatesdead

afterprisonriot

inHeratKabul:RiotingataprisoninwesternAfghanistan hasleft at least eight inmatesdead, provincial officialssaid Thursday. The vio-lenceeruptedWednesdayat theprison in the city ofHerat, thecapital ofHeratprovince, according toMohammadRafiqShirzai,a spokesman for theprovincial health depart-ment.Hesaid12others—eight inmates and fourprison guards — werewounded in theoutbreakatthefacility,whichholdsabout2,000prisoners.AP

THENEWYROKTIMESWASHINGTON,OCTOBER29

INApair of decisionswelcomedbyDemocrats,theSupremeCourtonWednesday let election offi-cials in two key battlegroundstates, Pennsylvania andNorthCarolina,acceptabsenteeballotsforseveraldaysafterElectionDay.InthePennsylvaniacase, the

court refused a plea fromRepublicans in the state that itdecide before Election Daywhether election officials cancontinuereceivingabsenteebal-lots for threedaysafterNov.3.IntheNorthCarolinacase,the

courtletstandlowercourtrulingsthat allowed the state’s board ofelections to extend thedeadlinetoninedaysafterElectionDay,upfromthe threedays called forbythestate legislature.Thecourt’sbriefordersinthe

two cases were unsigned. ThePennsylvaniaorderappearedtobe unanimous,while theNorthCarolina one was issued overthreenoteddissents.Justice Amy Coney Barrett,

who joined the court onTuesday, did not take part in ei-ther case.ThePennsylvania andNorth

Carolinacaseswerethelatestex-amplesofthecomplicationsthatCovid-19 has presented to offi-cials preparing for next week’selectionandfacingarecord-set-ting number of absentee andmail-inballotscastbyvotersea-gertoavoidvotinginpersondur-ingapandemic.Democrats have consistently

pushed formore lenient ruleswhen it comes tomail-in ballotsand how and when they arecounted.Republicanshave resis-ted suchchanges,withmanyar-guingtherelaxedrulescouldopentheprocesstoabuseandfraud.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAISLAMABAD,OCTOBER29

IN A sensational admission, asenior Pakistani minister onThursdayadmittedthatPakistanwas responsible for the deadlyPulwama terrorist attack inJammuandKashmirin2019thatbroughtthetwocountriestothebrinkof awar.“HumneHindustankoghuske

maara (We hit India in theirhome).OursuccessinPulwama,is a success of this nationunderthe leadership of Imran Khan.You and us are all part of that

success," Science & TechnologyMinisterFawadChaudhrysaidintheNational Assembly during adebate.When some of his fellow

lawmakersobjectedtohismen-tionof“successinPulwama”,theminister said that “after thePulwama incident, the wayPakistanwent inside the Indianterritory to target it, the entiremedia in Indiawas ashamed ofit.”However,hedidn'tretracthisstatement about “success inPulwama”underPrimeMinisterKhan's leadership.Chaudhry, a close aide of

Prime Minister Imran Khan,

made the remarks a day afterOpposition PML(N) leader AyazSadiq said that ForeignMinister

ShahMahmood Qureshi in animportantmeetingpleadedtore-lease Indian Air Force Wing

Commander AbhinandanVarthaman,whowascapturedbythe Pakistani Armyon February27,2019afterhisMiG-21BisonjetwasshotdowninadogfightwithPakistani jets.IntheearlyhoursofFebruary

26,2019,theIAFjetsbombedtheJaish-e-Mohammad(JeM)terrorcamps in Balakot in KhyberPakhtunkhwa of Pakistan andavenged the Pulwama terroristattack that claimed the lives of40CRPFpersonnel.In a speech in the National

Assembly Wednesday, Sadiqsaid that PrimeMinister ImranKhan skipped the high-level

meeting,whichwasattendedbytop leadership, including Armychief Gen Bajwa and ForeignMinisterQureshi.“Legswereshakingandfore-

headperspiring,andtheforeignminister (Qureshi) told us, ‘ForGod'ssake, lethim(Varthaman)gobacknowbecauseIndia isat-tacking Pakistan at 9 PM in thenight’,”Sadiqsaid.“Indiawasnotplanning to attack...They justwantedtokneelbeforeIndiaandsendbackAbhinandan."Itwasnotveryclearwhether

Sadiq was referring to Gen.Bajwa or foreign ministerQureshi whose legswere shak-

ingand foreheadperspiring.He also did notmention the

date of the meeting, but indi-catedthat itwasheldbeforethereleaseofVarthaman.Chaudhry, whowas the in-

formation and broadcastingminister at the time of thePulwama attack, criticisedSadiq's remarks and termedthemas"inappropriate".He said Sadiq liedwith a lot

of confidence regarding hisstatements and asserted thateveryone has the right to dis-agreewith the government butthestateshouldnotbesubjectedtocriticism.

‘Ghus ke maara’: Minister admits Pak role in Pulwama terror

PakistanFederalMinisterFawadChaudhry andoppositionleaderAyazSadiq

THENEWYORKTIMES,NEWYORK,OCTOBER29

ATYPHOON that slammed intocentralVietnamhassetoff a se-riesof landslidesthatburiedvil-lages and towns, leftmore than60 people dead ormissing andcompounded the misery of acountryalreadystrugglingwithcatastrophic floods.TyphoonMolavewas oneof

the biggest storms to hit thecountry in two decades, bring-ing a second round of deadlylandslides there this month.Torrentialrainsandfloodingun-leashed amudslide on October18thatleveledsoldiers'barracksin Huong Phung Commune, inthe central coastal province ofQuangTri.Officials said the deaths

could be the country's largestmilitary loss inpeacetime.The typhoon, packing 85-

mile-per-hourwinds,cutpowertomillions of people and dam-aged 56,000 houses, theVietnamesegovernmentsaid.By Thursday afternoon, 19

bodieshadbeenpulledfromtherubble,accordingtolocalmediaand the Red Cross, citing infor-

mation from officials on theground.The storm set off landslides

in two districts in Quang NamProvince onWednesday after-noon, the state-runnewsoutletVnExpress reported. At least 11households were buried by

rocks,includingthatofagovern-ment official, and 53 peoplewere feared dead or missing.Twelve peoplewere treated forinjuries.By Thursday afternoon, re-

portsemergedthatathirdland-slide hadoccurred thepreviousafternoon in a nearby district,buryinganadditional11people.About 200workers at a hydro-electricityplantweretrappedbythe landslides, and the authori-tieswereattemptingtogetsup-plies to them.Two fishing boats sank in

BinhDinh Province on Tuesdaynightwhile trying to seek shel-terfromthestorm,and26fisher-men remainmissing. Twonavyvesselsmobilized to find them,Reuters reported.Before it moved west to

Vietnam, the typhoon killed 16people in the Philippines overtheweekend, according to localnewsreports.

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,OCTOBER29

THEUNITEDStatesisembroiledin a bitter presidential race andasurgeincoronavirusinfections.Europeislockingdownagain. InBeijing, bycontrast,Xi Jinping isexuding confidence thatheandChinacanemergefromthepan-demicstrongerandunbowed.ACommunist Party conclave

concludedThursdaywitharous-ingstatementlaudingMr.Xiastheparty's helmsman, affirminghisbroadmandateastheleaderwhowill steerChinathroughperilouswaters for years to come. The

meeting of the CentralCommittee,acouncilofseniorof-ficials,laidoutambitionsforChinatomature as an economic,mili-tary and cultural power despiterisinguncertaintyabroad.WithMr.Xias"thecorenav-

igator and helmsman," an offi-cial summaryfromthemeetingread, "wewill certainly be ableto conquer the range of hard-shipsanddangersthatlieonthepath forward."Mr.Xihasusedthemeetingto

show that he remains unchal-lengedandresurgentninemonthsafter the coronavirus plungedChina into its worst crisis indecades.Withoutmentioningthe

misstepsthatmarredChina's ini-tialresponsetothevirusoutbreak,thecommittee's200or sovoting

members praised the country's"major strategic achievement" inlargelystiflingtheoutbreak.

The party elite's show ofunity behindMr. Xi shored uphispoliticaldominanceandwillhelp him as he pushes for tech-nological, social and economicadvances tomake China and itsruling partymore resilient in apost-pandemicworld.China,theparty officials said, faces "newtensions and challenges engen-deredbyintricatelycomplicatedinternational conditions.""He is trying to convince the

partythatonlyhe,XiJinping,hasthepoliticalresources,theexpe-rienceandthedeterminationtopull China through," saidWillyWo-LapLam,anadjunctprofes-sor at the Chinese University of

Hong Kongwho has long stud-iedChinesepolitics.Asother leadersandnations

turninward,consumedbycrises,Mr.Xi appearskeentopress themessagethat theparty'sgriponpowerissecureandthecountrycan play a greater role interna-tionally. Party propaganda hasasserted that China's success inextinguishing Covid-19 infec-tions shows its overall "institu-tional superiority," and Beijinghas promised to share a poten-tial vaccine for thecoronavirus.Even so, Mr. Xi must tackle

some of themost serious eco-nomicandgeopoliticalchallengesChinahasfacedinmanyyears.

"China has done a prettygood job by itself in putting to-getheraloose,globalanti-Chinacoalition,"saidBilahariKausikan,a former diplomat fromSingapore."Icannotthinkofanyserious country - with a bigeconomy or even some withsmalleconomies- thatdoesnothavesomeconcernsaboutChinaandChinesebehaviour."WithMr.Xi'spositionsecure,

adramaticshiftinChinesepolicyseemsunlikely.Heisexpectedtopush for another five-year termastheCommunistParty'sleader,beginning in 2022,meaning hishighly personalized rule couldlastanotherdecadeormore.

Xi Jinpingat theGreatHallof thePeople inBeijing.AP

As West stumbles, ‘Helmsman’ Xi pushes an ambitious plan for China

Soldiersandvillagersdig throughmudaftera landslideswampsavillage inPhuocLocdistrict.VNAviaAP

Typhoon slams into Vietnam, 60 killed

US Supreme Court allows absenteeballot extensions in 2 key states

KARISHMAMEHROTRAPHILADELPHIA,OCTOBER29

PEACEFULDAYdemonstrationsturnedviolentWednesdaynightinahistoricalBlackbusinesscor-ridorinPhiladelphia,twodaysaf-ter police killed a Blackman inthe largest city in the state ofPennsylvania.Scatteredamongstsignsurgingpeopletovote,vari-ouspostersexpressedsupportei-therforAfricanAmericansorforthe police as police helicopterscircledtheskies."LastnightPhiladelphiawas

torn up by Biden-supportingradicals ...Bidenstandswiththerioters. And I standwith thehe-roes of law enforcement,"PresidentDonaldTrumpsaidata rally inWisconsin.Democratic nominee Joe

Biden, however, was quick tocondemnthe looting. "I think tobeable toprotest is totally legit-imate, totally reasonable. Butthere'snoexcuseforthelooting,"hesaid inDelaware.Pennsylvania ismost likely to

the tipping factor for the presi-

dent: "By the way, we winPennsylvania,wewin thewholething. Big deal, right," he said inAllentown, Pennsylvania onMonday.Inkeenawarenessofthestate'simportance,theDemocratshave inundated Pennsylvaniawith key speakers and themosttelevisionadspendingpervoter.Evenmoreimportantly,cam-

paignsarelookingatturningoutnewvoters in their strongholds.More than 3.5 million eligiblevoters in Pennsylvania didn'tsendina2016ballot,andTrumpwonthestateby44,292votes.The death of a Blackman in

Philadelphia -- the latest in astring of similar incidents thisyear--comesasPennsylvaniansreturn a recordnumberof earlyballots: twomillionof the threemillion ballots sent to them.With less than aweek to go tillElection Day, US citizens havesubmittedmorethanhalfof thetotalballots in2016-74million.

"Thisisnotgoingtobeanor-mal election in anyway, shape,or form. We're letting votersknowwe are in this together,"said Pennsylvania DemocraticParty's executive director JasonHenry.Addingtothedisruptions,since the pandemic,Pennsylvania has had the high-estnumberofcountiesinthetop20 per cent nationally for in-creased unemployment ratesandCovid-19deaths per capita,a Wall Street Journal analysisfound. This week, nationalCovid-19 case counts havereached an average of 70,000daily,thehighestonrecordsofar.Withunprecedentedmail-in

ballots, many anticipate apushed back release of the re-sults. Many pivotal states, likePennsylvania, will begin pro-cessing these tensofmillionsofballotsonlyonTuesday.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Morethan3.5millioneligiblevoters inPennsylvaniadidn'tsendina2016ballot, andTrumpwonthestate.Reuters/File

RACE FOR

THEWHITE

HOUSE

EXPRESS INTHEUS

BENJAMINMUELLERLONDON,OCTOBER29

BRITAIN’S MAIN oppositionparty,Labour,suspendeditsfor-mer leader Jeremy Corbyn onThursdayafterhetriedtodeflectblamefortheparty’shandlingofanti-Semitismallegations.Mr. Corbynmade his com-

ments after a human rightswatchdog in Britain said in thefindingsofaformalinvestigationthat the party bore responsibil-ity for “unlawful acts of harass-ment and discrimination”against Jewishmembers, rein-forcing complaints that longcloudedMr. Corbyn’s tenure asparty leader from2015to2020.AfewhoursafterMr.Corbyn

postedastatementonFacebookblaming “opponents inside andoutside the party” and theme-dia for overstating Labour’s fail-uresonanti-Semitism,thepartysaid that Mr. Corbyn had beensuspended.Before the suspension was

announced, Keir Starmer, Mr.Corbyn’s successor as leader of

the party, responded to thewatchdogreportbyapologizing.“I found this report hard to

read and it is a day of shame fortheLabourParty,”hesaid, stand-ing behind a lectern bearing theslogan “ANewLeadership”—anunsubtlesignalofhisefforttoturnthepartyawayfromthehard-leftpolicies and the sometimesdivi-siveleadershipofMr.Corbyn.“WehavefailedtheJewishpeople,ourmembers,oursupportersandtheBritishpublic.”Thewatchdog, theEqualities

andHumanRights Commission— an independent official bodywhose recommendations arelegally enforceable— said it hadinvestigated complaints of anti-SemitismandfoundthatLabour’spoliticalleadershiphadinterferedintheparty’sowninvestigationsofanti-Semitic incidents.

Mr. Starmer said that thepartyhadalreadytakenstepstocombat anti-Semitism, includ-ing changes in how complaintswerehandled. NYT

JeremyCorbynresignedasLabourchiefinApril

TheEqualitiesandHumanRightsCommission’s reportdescribed theLabourPartyashavingcreatedaculturethat could, at times,beseenas tolerantof anti-Semitism.Complaintsof anti-

Semitismpromptedanexo-dusof Jewish lawmakersandmembers fromthepartyduring JeremyCorbyn’s lead-ershipandcontributedtopublicdiscontent thatculmi-nated inLabour’sdevastat-ing loss inthe2019Decembergeneralelection.

‘Culturetolerantofanti-Semitism’

UK’s Labour Party suspendsCorbyn in anti-Semitism row

AGENCIESKUALALUMPUR ,OCTOBER29

MALAYSIA’S FORMER premierMahathir Mohamad said onThursdayMuslims have a rightto“killmillionsofFrenchpeopleforthemassacresofthepast”buthedidnotapproveof thekillingof a French teacher over his useof cartoonsof theProphet.In a blogpostMahathir, 95, a

respected leader in theMuslimworld,saidhebelievedinfreedomof expression but that it shouldnotbeusedtoinsultothers.“Muslims have a right to be

angry and to kill millions ofFrenchpeopleforthemassacresof the past. But by and large theMuslims have not applied the‘eye for an eye’ law. Muslimsdon’t. The French shouldn’t,”Mahathir said in a blog post,whichhealsopostedonTwitter.Mahathir, who served as

Malaysian premier twice for atotalof24years,saidthatFrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronwas "not showing that he iscivilised", adding hewas "veryprimitive".“Since you have blamed all

Muslims and theMuslims’ reli-gion for whatwas done by oneangryperson,theMuslimshave

aright topunish theFrench,”hesaid.Twitter said themessage vi-

olated its rules about glorifyingviolence, but it determined thatitmaybe in thepublic’s interestfor thepost to remain.Several Muslim-majority

countries have denounced re-marksbyFrenchofficials,includ-ing President EmmanuelMacron, defending the use ofcartoons of the ProphetMohammad in a French schoolclassroom. The caricatures areseen as blasphemous by

Muslims.The dispute flared after a

French teacherwhoshowedhispupils satirical cartoons of theProphet during a civics lessonwaslaterbeheadedinthestreetbyanattackerofChechenorigin.French officials said the

killingwasanattackonthecoreFrench value of freedom of ex-pressionanddefendedtherighttopublish thecartoons.Macronhasalsosaidhewouldredoubleefforts to stop conservativeIslamicbeliefssubvertingFrenchvalues.

OTHER WORLD LEADERS ON FRANCE ATTACKS

RadicalIslamismkillsandhasnoplace inoursociety.

HEIKOMAAS,GERMANFOREIGNMINISTER

TheUKstandssteadfastlywithFranceagainst terror&intolerance.

BORISJOHNSON,UKPRIMEMINISTER

TheseRadicalIslamicterro-ristattacksmuststopimmediately.

DONALDTRUMP,US PRESIDENT

...terroristsarecompletelydevoidofhumanmorals.

VLADIMIRPUTIN,RUSSIAPRESIDENT

Muslims have a ‘rightto punish’ French:Malaysia’sMahathir

Pennsylvania likely to be tippingpoint in presidential race

Ahmedabad

15SENSEX: 39,749.85 ▼ 172.61 NIFTY: 11,670.80 ▼ 58.80 NIKKEI: 23,331.94 ▼ 86.57 HANG SENG: 24,586.60 ▼ 122.20 FTSE: 5,551.27 ▼ 31.53 DAX: 11,489.80 ▼ 70.71

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD

`50,630

RUPEE

`74.10

OIL

$37.77

SILVER

`60,098Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket;goldper10g,silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof0000IST

Internationalmarketdata till1900IST

GOVT. OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER

NORTH EASTERN RURAL WORKS CIRCLE, KEONJHAR“e” Procurement Notice for Road Works

Identification No. Road Online NCB No. 279NO. 1906 / Date: 20.10.2020

1. Name of the Work :- Improvement of Road Works under DMF & Inter District Inter Block Connectivity.

2. Total no. of work :- 02 (Two) Nos.

3. Estimated Cost :- As per Annexure

4. Class of Contractor :- As per Annexure

5. Period of Completion :- As per Annexure

6. Other details :-

Further details can be seen from the website: www.tendersorissa.gov.in

O-486

Procurement Officer Bid IdentificationNo.

Availability of tender On-line for bidding Last Date & Time of seekingTender Clarification

Date & Time of Opening of Tender in O/O S.E. N.E.R.W. Circle, Keonjhar

From To Technical Bid Financial Bid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Superintending Engineer, North Eastern

Rural Works, Circle, Keonjhar.

Road Online

NCB No. 279

Dt. 05.11.20 at

11.00 A.M.

Dt. 19.11.20

up to 3.00 P.M.

Dt. 18.11.20

up to 3.00 P.M.

Dt. 20.11.20 at

11.00 A.M.

Will be intimated later

Sd/- P.K. MisraSuperintending Engineer, N.E.R.W. Circle, Keonjhar

OIPR-25048/11/0006/2021

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Jhalawar District Jhalawar I f¹fÊ I e d³fdUQf Af¸fd³{°f I e ¦fBÊ ±fe EUa d´fi-d¶fO d¸fdMa¦f dQ³ffaI02.06.2020 I û Af¹fûdþ°f I e ¦fBÊ ±fe dþÀf¸fZa C´fdÀ±f°f R ¸fûË ³fZ d¶fO IZ Àf¸¶f³²f ¸fZa ÀfUfÕ/ÀfbÓffU/À´fáeI S¯f ´fiÀ°fb°f dI ¹fZ ±fZ, dþ³fI f A³fb¸fûQ³f ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹f³°ff, EÀf.O¶»¹fc.AfS.´fe.Oe OeEÀfAû EaO ³fûOÕAd²fI fSe, dOÑ´f II, þ¹f´fbS ÀfZ ´fif~ Wû ¦f¹ff W`Ü A³fb¸fûQ³f A³fbÀffS BÀf I f¹fÊ IZ M`¯OS Ofg¢¹fc¸f`³M ¸fZaAfUV¹fI ÀfaVfû²f³f dI ¹fZ þfI S dQ. 28.10.2020 I û sppp.rajasthan.gov.in E½faeproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS A´fÕûO I S dQ¹fZ W`, BÀfIZ Àff±f We ´fi±f¸f ÀfaVfû²f³f ÀfZ 9UZa °fI IZ Àf·feÀfaVfû²f³f B³f ÀffBMÐÀf ´fS A´fÕûO dI ¹fZ þf ¨fbIZ W`, dþ³WZa dUÀ°fÈ°f ø ´f ÀfZ þf³f³fZ/ Àf¸fÓf³fZ/QZJ³fZ WZ°fb C¢°fUd¯fÊ°f U`¶fÀffBMÐÀf ´fS þfI S AUÕûI ³f/A²¹f¹f³f dI ¹ff þf ÀfI °ff W`Ü A°f: BÀf d³fdUQf ¸fZa ·ff¦f ÕZ³fZ UfÕZÀf¸fÀ°f ÀfaUZQI B³f Àf·fe ÀfaVfû²f³fûa I û, þû dI Ad³°f¸f E½fa ´fi·ffUe W`, ·fÕe·ffad°f AUÕûI ³f I S We d³fdUQf¸fZa ·ff¦f ÕZUZaÜ VfZ¿f A³¹f Vf°fÊZ ¹f±ffU°fÐ SWZ¦feÜ

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DIPR/C/8653/2020

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

UNEMPLOYMENTRATEinurbanareascontinuedtoeaseto7.9percent inOctober-December 2019from8.4percentinJuly-Septem-ber2019,8.9percentinApril-June2019and9.9percentinOctober-December 2018, the quarterlyPeriodic Labour Force Survey(PLFS)releasedbytheMinistryofStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation(MoSPI)showed.Urbanunemployment in the

age group 15-29 yearswas 19.2

per cent in October-December2019,below20.6percentinJuly-September and 23.7 per cent inthesameperiodthepreviousyear.Female unemployment rate

marginally inched up to 9.8 per

cent inOctober-December 2019from9.7percentinJuly-Septem-berthesameyear,butlowerthan11.3 per cent in April-June 2019and 12.3 per cent in October-December2018.Unemployment

rate formalesmoderated to 7.3percentinOctober-Decemberlastyear from 8.0 per cent in July-September,asagainst8.3percentinthepreviousquarterand9.2percentinOctober-December2018.Labourforceparticipationrate

rose to 37.2 per cent inOctober-December 2019 from 36.8 percent in thepreviousquarter and36.3per cent in the sameperiodthe previous year, the data sho-wed.State-wisebreakupshowedthat urban unemployment ratewashigherthanthenationalaver-ageinUttarPradesh,Uttarakhand,Telangana, Kerala, Madhya

Pradesh,Jammu&Kashmir,DelhiandAndhraPradesh.Unemployment data for ur-

ban areas is released quarterly.This dataset differs from theAnnualReportofPeriodicLabourForce Survey,which covers bothruralandurbanareasandgiveses-timates of employment andun-employmentinbothusualstatus(ps+ss)andCWS.Thesamplesizefor this surveywas lower cover-ing 1.79 lakhpeople and45,555householdsinOctober-December20919 as against 44,471 house-holdsinJuly-September2019cov-ering1.79lakhpeople.

NITI releases draft Act, rules for states on land titling

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

THENITIAayogonThursdayre-leased the draft model Act andrules for states for regulationonconclusivelandtitling,providingfor a state government to orderestablishment of title registra-tionforalloranytypeof immov-ableproperties.Themove towards a land ti-

tling framework is aimed at re-ducing land-related litigationsand improved land acquisitionfor infrastructureprojects.

Inaconclusivetitlingsystem,the government provides guar-anteed titles for the land, andcompensation in case of anyownershipdisputes.ThedraftAct—asreleasedby

the government think tank —provides that any person ag-grievedbyanentryintheRecordof Titles may file an objectionbefore the Title RegistrationOfficer within three years fromthedateofsuchnotification,fol-lowing which the TitleRegistrationOfficermakeanen-tryinRegisterofTitlesandintheRegisterofDisputesandreferthe

case to the Land DisputeResolutionOfficer.Apartyaggrievedwithanor-

der of Land Dispute ResolutionOfficermayfileanappealbeforethe Land Titling AppellateTribunalwithin30daysofpass-ing of such an order, accordingthedraftbyNITIAayog.A special bench of the high

courtshallbedesignatedtodealwith appeals against the orderspassed by the Land TitlingAppellateTribunal,withtheActproviding for a 30-daywindowtoappealbefore theHighCourt,thedraft .

SHAREOFAGRICULTUREIN

THEGVAOFECONOMY:Likely

tobe17.3%inFY21;overtheyears

14.6%to17.8%duringFY13-FY20

14.6%inFY20

SHAREOFAGRICULTURE

TOGVAGROWTH:Likelytobe

14.4%inFY21;overtheyears

4.8%to11.2%duringFY13-FY20

8.6% inFY20

06States,whichaccounted

for32.7%torealGVAin

FY20,thatwouldseeaspurtin

overalldemandthisfiscal,namely

AndhraPradesh,MadhyaPradesh,

Rajasthan,UttarPradesh,Punjab

andWestBengal

Source:IndiaRatings/PTI

‘Growth in agri GVAunlikely tooffset urban demand plunge’The expected incremental growth in agricultural gross value

added (GVA) to 17.3 per cent of the economy this fiscal and

the resultant spike in rural demandmaynot compensate for

themassive plunge inurbandemand, India Ratings said

BRIEFLY

CaponairfaresNewDelhi:TheCivilAviationMinistryhasextendedlimitsondomesticairfarestillFeb-ruary24,2021,fromthelastsunsetofNovember24. ENS

LatestPLInormsNewDelhi:TheDepartmentof Pharmaceuticals revisednormsofProductionLinkedIncentive (PLI) schemes fordrugsandmedicaldevices.

DealforSputnikNewDelhi:DrReddy’sLabo-ratoriesLtdsaidThursdayitwillpartnerwithBiotechno-logyIndustryResearchAssi-stanceCouncil,Departmentof Biotechnology, for advi-sory support on clinical tri-alsofSputnikV. PTI

NewDelhi: The NITI AayogonThursday floatedadraftpaper seeking commentsfrom experts on a nationalpolicy for online disputeresolution mechanism,while arguing that a dedi-catedlegislationformedia-tion could effectively ad-dressrelatedconcerns. ENS

Online disputeresolution: Viewssought on policy

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

GLOBAL E-COMMERCE giantAmazon’sIndianarmhaswrittento the Securities and ExchangeBoardof India(Sebi), theBSEandthe National Stock Exchange(NSE),askingthemnottoapprovethe FutureRetail-RelianceRetailVenturesdeal,threepeopleawareof the development told TheIndianExpress.Initslettertothemarketsreg-

ulator and the two benchmarkstock exchanges, Amazon Indiahassaidthattheymusttakecogni-sanceof theinterimorderpassedbyanemergencyarbitratoroftheSingapore International Arbitr-ationCentre(SIAC),barringFutureRetailanditspromotersfromexe-cutingitsdealwithRelianceRetail.The letter alsomentions that theinterimorderpassedbyanemer-

gency arbitrator of the SIAChad,apart fromasking FutureGroupcompaniesnottoexecutethedealannouncedonAugust29,alsosaidthat thesecompanies shouldnotmove any tribunal or courts inIndiaoranywhereelse,oneofthepersonssaid.“The letter has also said that

Sebi,BSEandNSEshouldbeawareoftheinternationalrepercussionsthatIndianbusinessesmayfaceifanorderpassedbyatribunalsuchas SIAC is not followed in India,”another person said. A detailedquestionnaire sent to AmazonIndiaandtheFutureGroupdidnotelicitanyresponse.OnOctober25,anemergency

arbitratorof theSIAChadpassedaninterimorderrestrainingFutureGroup and Reliance IndustriesLimitedfromproceedingwiththeRs 24,713-crore deal signed inAugust for FutureRetail to sell itsretail, wholesale, logistics andwarehousing units to RelianceRetailandFashionstyle,untilaper-manent arbitration tribunalwasconstituted90dayslater.While the order was wel-

comedbyAmazon India, FutureRetailandRelianceRetailVenturessaid they intended to go aheadwiththedealasplanned.

FUTURERETAIL-RELIANCERETAILVENTURESAGREEMENTINCOME-TAXEXEMPTIONSUNDERLEAVETRAVELCONCESSIONVOUCHERSCHEME

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

TWOWEEKSafter it announcedtheLeaveTravelConcession(LTC)voucherschemeaspartofitscon-sumption-boostingmeasures,thegovernment on Thursday ex-tended the income-tax exemp-tionavailableunder theLTCcashvoucher scheme to non-centralgovernmentemployeeswhichin-cludeemployeesofstategovern-ments, state-owned enterprisesandtheprivatesector.The income tax exemption

shall not be applicable for thoseopting for the concessional in-come tax regime introduced lastyear andemployeeswill have torefund the unspent LTC fare re-ceivedfromtheemployer.The payment of cash al-

lowance,subject tomaximumofRs36,000perpersonasdeemedLTC fareperperson (RoundTrip)

to non-central government em-ployeeswill be allowed income-tax exemption subject to fulfil-ment of conditions, the CentralBoardofDirectTaxes(CBDT)saidinastatement.“Inordertoprovidethebene-

fits to other employees (i.e. non-CentralGovernmentemployees)... it has beendecided toprovidesimilarincome-taxexemptionforthepaymentofcashequivalentofLTC fare to the non-CentralGovernmentemployeesalso,”theCBDTsaid.Taxexemptionunder theLTC

cashvoucherschemerequirestheemployees tospendasumequalto three timesof thevalueof thedeemedLTC fare onpurchase ofgoods/servicescarryingaGSTrateof 12per cent ormore fromGSTregistered vendors/serviceproviders throughdigitalmodebetween October 12, 2020 toMarch 31, 2021 and obtain avoucherindicatingtheGSTnum-

ber and theamount of GSTpaid.TheemployeeshavetoexerciseanoptionforthedeemedLTCfareinlieu of the applicable LTC in theBlockyear2018-21.Also, an employee who

spendslessthanthreetimesofthedeemedLTC fareunder the cashvoucher schemeshall not be en-titled to receive full amount ofdeemedLTC fare and the relatedincome-tax exemption and theamountof both shall be reducedproportionately, itsaid.To stimulate growth in the

economy,thegovernmenthadonOctober12announcedatwinsetofmeasures to boost consump-tion demand: LTC voucherschemeandafestivaladvanceforgovernment employees. Theschemehadprovided that sincethecashallowanceofLTCfareisinlieu of deemedactual travel, thesameshallbeeligibleforincome-taxexemptiononthe linesof ex-isting income-tax exemptionavailableforLTCfare.CBDT said that since this ex-

emption is in lieu of the exemp-tionprovidedforLTCfare,anem-ployee who has exercised anoption to pay income tax under

concessionaltaxregimeshallnotbe entitled for this exemption. Alegislativeamendmenttoprovidefor the changes shall be broughtinduecourse, itsaid.Explaining further the CBDT

said if thedeemedLTCFare isRs20,000x4=Rs80,000, then theamount to be spent under thescheme is Rs 80,000 x 3 = Rs2,40,000. Thus, if an employeespends Rs 2,40,000 or above onspecifiedexpenditure,heshallbeentitled for fulldeemedLTC fareand the related income-tax ex-emption. However, if the em-ployee spendsRs. 1,80,000only,then he shall be entitled for 75per cent (i.e. Rs. 60,000) ofdeemedLTCfareandtherelatedincome-tax exemption. In casethe employee already receivedRs.80,000fromtheemployer inadvance, he has to refund Rs.20,000 to the employer as hecould spend only 75 per cent oftherequiredamount.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,OCTOBER29

THE SHAPOORJI Pallonji (SP)Grouphassoughtaproratastakedivisionof all assetsof TataSons,including adirect 13.22per centshareholdingof TCSvaluedatRs1,35,000croreatthecurrentmar-ket capitalisationof IT company.Further,initsfilingintheSupremeCourt onThursday, theSPGroupsaidthevalueof its18.37percentstakeinTataSonsismorethanRs1,75,000crore.While formally seeking sepa-

rationfromTataintheapexcourt,SPGroup saidTata Sons is effec-tivelyatwo-groupcompany,withthe Tata group comprising TataTrusts, Tata familymembers andTata companiesholding81.6percent stake in the share capital ontheonesideandtheMistryfamily

owningthebalance18.37percentontheotherside.TataSonsisacoreinvestment

companyandistheholdingcom-pany for the Tata group, and itsvaluearisesfromitsstakeinlistedequities, non-listed equities, thebrand,cashbalancesandimmov-ableassets,SPGroupsaid.The SPGroup disputes over

valuationcanbeeliminatedbydo-ingapro-ratasplitof listedassets(sharepricevalue is known)andpro-ratashareofthebrand(brandvaluationalreadydonebyTataandpublished).Aneutral third-partyvaluationcanbedonefor theun-

listedassetsadjustedfornetdebt(i.e.debtlesscash),itsaid.AccordingtotheMistrygroup,

as a non-cash settlement, SPGroup should be givenpro-ratasharesinlistedentitiesoftheTatagroupwhereTataSonscurrentlyownsastake.“Forexample,72percentof TataConsultancyServices(TCS) is ownedby Tata Sons. SPGroup’s ownership of 18.37 percent translates to 13.22per centshareholdingofTCS(valuedatRs135,000 crore at presentmarketcapitalisationofTCS).”

Full report on

www.indianexpress.com

■ “The letter has alsosaid that Sebi, BSE andNSE should be awareof the internationalrepercussions thatIndianbusinessesmay face if an orderpassed by a tribunalsuch as SIAC is notfollowed in India,”another person said.

‘INTERNATIONALREPERCUSSIONS’

Amazon India writes to Sebi,bourses, asks not to okay deal

SP Group files separation plan from Tata in SC

TheShapoorjiPallonji

Groupsaidthevalueof

its18.37percentstakein

TataSonsismorethan

`1,75,000crore

THEAIMof theschemeistostimulategrowthintheeconomy.Thepaymentofcashallowance,subjecttomaximumofRs36,000perpersonasdeemedLTCfareperperson(RoundTrip)tonon-centralgov-ernmentemployeeswillbeallowedincome-taxexemptionsubjecttoful-filmentof conditions.

AimistoboostgrowthE●E

XPLAIN

ED

Stategovt,pvtsectorstaffbenefittoo

■AsperthequarterlyPeriodicLabourForceSurvey,urbanjoblessnessinthe15-29agegroup was19.2%inOctober-December,below20.6%inJuly-September2019

■Thisdatasetdiffers fromtheAnnualReportofPeriodicLabourForceSurvey,releasedbyMoSPI,whichcoversbothruralandurbanareas

UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS IN 15-29AGEGROUP

Oct-Dec ’19: Urban joblessness eases, labour activity rises

US GDPgrows at33.1% in Q3

ATANNUALISEDRATE

Washington/New York: The USeconomygrewatarecord33.1percent annual rate in the July-Septemberquarter.Growthwaspoweredbyarecord40.7percentannual increase in consumerspending.Itfellatarateof31.4percentintheJunequarter.TheCommerceDepartment’s

estimate on Thursday of third-quarter growth showed that thenation has regained only abouttwo-thirdsoftheoutputthatwaslostearlythisyearwhentheerup-tionofthevirusclosedbusinesses.US crude fell 3 per cent to

$36.27perbarrelandBrentwasat$37.77, down3.45per cent as of2:19p.mEDT. AP&REUTERS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

CONTRACTINGFOR the seventhconsecutivemonth,theoutputofeight core infrastructure sectorsdeclined by 0.8 per cent inSeptember, primarily due to fallinproductionof crudeoil, natu-ralgas,refineryproductsandce-ment.In September 2019, the pro-

ductionofeightcoresectorshadshrunk5.1percent,datareleasedby the Commerce and IndustryMinistryshowedonThursday.The decline in output last

monthwas lowestsinceMarch.Barring coal, electricity and

steel, all sectors—crudeoil,nat-uralgas,refineryproducts,fertil-

izerandcement—recordedneg-ativegrowthinSeptember2020.DuringApril-September, the

sectors’ output dropped by 14.9per cent, as compared to agrowth of 1.3 per cent in thesameperiodofthepreviousyear.Meanwhile, the govern-

ment’sfiscaldeficitrosetoRs9.14lakh crore, about 114.8 per centof the annual budget estimate(BE),inthefirstsixmonthsofthecurrentfiscal,mainlyonaccountofpoorrevenuerealisation.The revenue realisation in

FY21 suffered on account of thelockdown imposed by the gov-ernment.In absolute terms, thedeficit

wasRs9,13,993crore, asper thedata released by the ControllerGeneralofAccounts (CGA).

Fiscaldeficitat114.8%ofBEasofSept-end

Core industries’ outputshrinks for 7th month

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

MARUTI SUZUKI chairman RCBhargavasaidThursdaydemandforcarsisreasonablyrobustonthebackofpent-upappetiteandgoodpurchasingpower in rural India.Consequently,hebelievesthereisno need for a cut in Goods andServicesTaxratesjustyet.BhargavawasquotedbyPTIas

saying: "... if Iwas in the govern-mentatthistimewhenthereisnolackofdemand,givingreliefatthisstagewould be quite unneces-sary." In casedemand falls and ifit lookslikethatit isnotatempo-rarythingbutsustaineddipinde-mand that iswhen the govern-ment will need to step in, headded.

"I amselling everything I amproducing. If theGSTwentdownanddemandincreasedbyanother30 per cent Iwon't have cars tosell,"hesaid,asperPTI.Theautomaker'sruralsalesin

Q2FY21were strong in thewakeof a good rabi crop andnowac-countsfor41percentoftotalsalesfrom38.6percentayearback.Forthe September quarter,Marutiposted a net profit of Rs 1,372crore,up1percentyear-on-year.Netsalesrose10.4percenty-o-ytoRs18,744.5crore. FE&PTI

“If theGSTwentdownanddemand increasedbyanother30per cent Iwon't have cars to sell”

RCBHARGAVAMARUTI SUZUKI CHAIRMAN

No immediate need forGST rate cut: Maruti

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

THE SUPREMECourt on Fridaytransferredtoitselfallthepetitionschallenging the Insolvency andBankruptcyCode(IBC)provisionsrelatingtoinitiationofinsolvencyproceedings against personalguarantors.ABench ledby JusticeLNRao

whiletransferringthecasespend-ingbeforethehighcourtsofDelhi,MadhyaPradesh andTelenganaalsorestrainedallHCsfromenter-tainingfreshcasesontheissue.Lastmonth,theapexcourthad

dismissedSBI’sappealseekingva-cationof the staygrantedby the

DelhiHighCourtonpersonalbank-ruptcy proceedings initiatedagainstReliancegroupchairmanAnilAmbani.TheHCwhilestayingtheorderoftheNCLT,Mumbai,hadallowed theproceedingsagainstcorporatedebtorstocontinue.“The IBC is at anascent stage

anditisbetterthattheinterpreta-tionoftheprovisionsoftheCodeistakenupbythiscourttoavoidanyconfusion, and toauthoritativelysettlethelaw.Consideringtheim-portanceoftheissuesraisedinthewritpetitionswhichneedfinalityof judicial determination at theearliest, it is just andproper thatthepetitionsaretransferredfromtheHCs to this court,” the apexcourtsaid.FE

SC transfers to self all caseschallenging IBC proceedingsagainst personal guarantors

Ahmedabad

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,OCTOBER30,2020

SPORT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

FANS’RETURNTOBUNDESLIGACUTSHORTThe Bundesliga will have to play without fans again after the tentative return of spectatorswas cut short due to rising coronavirus infections in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkeland governors of the country's 16 states passed new restrictions on Wednesday in a bid tocontain the virus, meaning professional soccer matches will have to be played without spec-tators starting Monday and for the rest of November. AP

BRIEFLY

Greenmakes it toAustraliasquadfor IndiaseriesMelbourne: Australia on Thursdayincluded young all-rounderCameronGreen in theirT20andODIsquad for the limited-overs seriesagainst India while MoisesHenriques returned tonational foldafter three years following his ex-ploits in the Big Bash League.“Cameron'sdomestic formhasbeenoutstanding and he has carried itthrough for Western Australia thissummer.Asapotentialplayerof thefuture this is anopportunity forhimto be part of the squad and build onhis experience,” national selectorTrevor Hohnswas quoted as sayingby Cricket Australia.HenriqueshadledSydneySixersto

theKFCBig Bash last summerwith astrikerateofjustunder150."Moisesisatremendouscricketerwithloadsofex-perienceand is agreatperson tohavearound the group. His formwas ex-tremelyimpressiveinleadingtheSixerstotheBBLtitlelastsummerandhehasplayedwell at the startof this season,"Hohnssaid.AustraliaODI&T20squad:AaronFinch(C),SeanAbbott,AshtonAgar,AlexCarey,PatCummins(vc),CameronGreen,JoshHazlewood,MoisesHenriques,MarnusLabuschagne,GlennMaxwell, DanielSams,KaneRichardson, StevenSmith,MitchellStarc,MarcusStoinis,MatthewWade,DavidWarnerandAdamZampa.

Barcelonaeasepast

Juventusin

Champions LeagueTurin:Barcelona played some of itsbest football in awhile towin 2-0 atJuventus in a Champions Leaguematch that offered plenty of enter-tainmenteventhoughtheabsenceofCristianoRonaldopreventedahighlyanticipatedduelagainstLionelMessi.Ronaldo was out for the game,

more than two weeks after theJuventusforwardinitiallytestedpos-itive for the coronavirus. ?lvaroMorata, who scored twice againstDynamo last week, again replacedRonaldo but frustratingly had threegoalsruledoutforoffside.Messicon-vertedalatepenaltyforBarcelonaaf-terOusmaneDembelehadgiven thevisitorstheleadinthe14thminutetosend Barcelona on its way to its firstvictoryover Juventus inTurin.

Coutinho,Fabinho

outofBrazil’sWC

qualifyingsquadSao Paulo: Barcelona midfielderPhilippeCoutinhoandLiverpoolmid-fielder Fabinhowere dropped fromBrazil's squad for a pair ofWorldCupqualifyingmatches inNovember be-cause of injury. The Brazilian footballconfederation saidWednesday thatCoutinhowillbereplacedbyLyonfor-ward Lucas Paquet, while Everton'sAllanwascalledupinplaceofFabinhoformatchesagainstVenezuelaonNov.13 and Uruguay four days later.Neymar is also in doubt for the twogames. The Paris Saint-Germainstriker left his team's 2-0 ChampionsLeaguewinatIstanbulBasaksehirdueagroinproblem. AGENCIES

Inspired by Klopp, EB’s Fowler adds set-piece coachMIHIRVASAVDANEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

AFTER BEING in a rut for decades, EastBengal, one of India's oldest football clubs,is innovating.Andat thehelm is amanagerwhofoundinspirationinLiverpool’sPremierLeague-winning campaign last season.As the Reds’ juggernaut rolled on,what

caughtRobbieFowler'sattentionwasasub-tlebehind-the-sceneschangeathis formerclub. Jurgen Klopp, he noticed, had hired acoachonly for throw-ins.“Someoneprimarilywhowill lookafter

throw-ins,” Fowler repeats, in awe ofKlopp’sattentiontodetail.Soimmense,andimmediate, was the impact of this thatFowler, a Liverpool legend who was themanagerofBrisbaneRoarat thetime,won-dered why no one else followed suit. So,when East Bengal appointed him as themanagerearlier thismonthfor their IndianSuperLeague (ISL)debut, Fowlerpromptlybrought on board a specialist, TerenceMcPhillips, not just for throw-ins but alsofree kicks and corners.McPhillipswill beEastBengal’s ‘set-piece

coach’, a newbreedof specialistswho focusprimarily onpreparingplayers for dead-ballsituations,whichareincreasinglybecomingaway to score goals. “Weknowset pieces areimportant…youlookat thestatsof goals forandgoalsagainst.Weneedtotryandusethatto our advantage. So the set-piece coachwill

lookatthrow-ins,cornersandfreekicksbothfor and against,” Fowler, 45, tells The IndianExpress.

This is the first time an Indian clubwillemploy a set-piece coach, which is still anevolving role globally.Manchester City andArsenal are among the few top teams inEurope, who have a dead-ball specialist intheir coaching staff. It isn’t surprising to seetwo Premier League sideswarm-up to thisconcept, given that set-pieces have largelybeen seen as an English approach to thegame.Andbyextension, anEnglishman intro-

ducing the idea in the Indian league,which

has an overwhelming Spanish influence, isunderstandable. But Fowler insists EastBengal will not be a team that ‘will prima-

rily look for set pieces’. Hewants his teamtoplaypossessionfootball,withquick,shortpasses andcreate intricate triangles.To enhance his ideas, the former

Liverpool striker, who was twice namedmanagerof themonth in theA-League thisyear,spentalotof timeduringthelockdownwatchingadifferent sport –hockey.Football has a long history of looking at

hockey for tactical inspiration. Fowler sayshe sawa lotof international games, includ-ing the FIH Pro League matches in TheNetherlands, and was amazed at howswiftly the players interchanged positions,passed theball andcreated spaces.“Thespeedatwhich theymovetheball,

I know it’s a different ball…we can take alittlebitof inspiration. If youaremovingtheball quicker, then it takes the opposition alittle bit out of their comfort zone, createpocketsof spaceandyoucancapitalizethatway,” Fowler says. “Fromadefensivepointof view, youget a lot of bodies trying tonotconcede a goal. You look at the fitness andwork ethic of these teams, it is really, reallygood. This iswhatwewant todo.”Whether Fowler has the time and re-

sources – in termsof quality of players – toexecutehis vision is adifferentquestion.Maybe this is where his team of spe-

cialistswill have to step-up,with focusonMcPhillips’s ratherunconventional role asthe set-piece coach. “Maybe, in terms ofdoing it in India, I am a bit of a pioneer,”Fowler says.

Help at hand for shuttlersquarantined in GermanySHIVANINAIKMUMBAI,OCTOBER29

ADAYoffranticcallsacrossIndiaandGermanywiththeSportsAuthorityofIndia,theministryandtheIndianconsulateatFrankfurtswinginginto action, has ensured that shuttlers AjayJayramandSubhankarDeywillserveouttheirquarantineinSaarbruckenandreturnhome—latestbyNovember10.Theduoweresentintoisolation after having come in contactwithcoachDKSen,whotestedpositive.Whiletheirhotel,wheretheyareinquaran-

tine,wasbookedtillOctober30,helphasarrivedfrom SAI. The situation is tricky becauseGermany isheading into somesortof a lock-downfromMondaywiththesecondwaveun-derway. “Weare relieved theywill lookafterfoodandaccommodation,” Jayramsaidafterthetournamentorganiserssaidtheywerehelp-less.Aseriesoflaxactionsall-roundturnedtheEuropean sojournmid-pandemic into onenightmare for the independent, non-fundedshuttlers evenas theperils of smaller circuiteventsnotenforcingeveryrulestrictlywereex-posed.Isolatedintheirhotelrooms,theduowillwonderhowitallwentwrong,despite themfollowingeveryprotocol.TraininginViennaaftertheDenmarkOpen,

theduohadundergonethemandatoryCovid-19test48hourspriortothestartofthetourna-mentandtestednegative. “Whenwereached

wefoundoutthatLakshya&teamhadn’tgottentheirtestsdone.Weallwenttomainhallwherenobodycheckedeither,”Deyrecallsof thedaybeforethestartoftheSuper100SaarloluxOpen.Senhadinfact landedattheGermantown

expectingatestingfacilityatthevenuebutwaspackedoff toFrankfurt airport, 200kmawaythenextday.HisfatherandcoachDKSentestedpositive.Theeventwill remainontheedgeas40otherstookthesamebusasSenadaybeforehetookthetest.“Wealltrainedwithoutmasksobviously in thehall.Nextdayafter theman-ager’smeeting,Sen,hisphysioandcoachweresent for testing. In theafternoon, Lakshya in-formedushiscoachhadtestedpositivethoughhewasnegative,”Deysays.It’swhenthetournamentorganiserswith-

drewall theIndiansfromthemeet. “Theysaid‘youwerealltogether.’Wedidhavelunchtogether(kebabs)for15minutes(w/omasks),”headds.ThedecisiontosingleouttheIndiansiscu-

riousthough,sincetheduowereinadifferenthotel.Dey feels harddoneby since theyhadtakeneveryprecaution. “Wespent our ownmoneytogettestedinAustriaandwaitedtwohours.Wedideverysinglething,”hesays.ASAI spokespersonsaid thiswasdoneon

humanitariangroundsandatdiscretionof theminister.“TheDG(SandeepPradhan)tooktheinitiativeafterweheardtheywerewithdrawn,butthisisrareandwasdoneonlyinthissitua-tionsothatIndianplayersarenotlefttoothers’mercy.Weareintouchwiththem,”shesaid.

Speed has a new nameLightning-fastNortje,markedasspecialwhenhetroubledAmla in thenets, ismakingwaves in IPL

UnderRobbieFowler, this is thefirsttimethatanIndianclubwillhaveaset-piececoach. Reuters

VISHALMENONNEWDELHI,OCTOBER29

IT’S 2018 and Prasanna Agoram, SouthAfrica’sperformanceanalyst, iscloselymon-itoring Hashim Amla’s triggermovementsat the nets. Moments later, a relatively un-knownnetbowlercatcheshiseye.Robustlybuilt, with blonde hair and debonair goodlooks, hewasgenerating rawpaceandget-ting disconcerting bounce,much toAmla’sdiscomfiture. “Whowas that bowler whowas troubling you at the nets today?Prasanna would later ask Amla. “That’sAnrichNortje,”was the reply.Prasannahadheard that namebefore, a

youngfastbowlerfromtheEasternCapewhowasblowingawaybatsmenwithpaceatfirst-class level. But thiswas the first timehehadseenNortjebowl.“Thisguyisnonetbowler.HeisgoodenoughtoplayforSouthAfrica,”hetoldhimself. Prasannawould immediately call upLindaZondi, thethenchairmanofselectorstotell:“WehavefoundDaleSteyn’sreplacement.Thisguyhasthepotentialtobreakthe100-mphmark.Pleasegethimintheteam.”Prasanna tells The Indian Expresswhat

impressed himback then. “ThewayNortjewas troublingAmla that day, hurrying himupwith pace and hitting his ribcage, I re-alisedhispotential.”The following year in theMzansi Super

League, SouthAfrica’s domestic T20 tourna-ment,Nortjeannouncedhimself totheworldwhen he hustled up AB de Villiers. Facingspeedsconsistentlyinthelate140kmphrange,thetalismanbatsmandidn’tventureontothefrontfoot.“AnrichNortjewasaperipheralnamewhooperatedinfirst-classcricket.Hisreputa-tionenhancedafterthatspelltoAB,”notesCapeTown-basedjournalistKhalidMohidin.After troubling Amla and de Villiers,

Nortje is now busy terrorising batsmen intheIPL.Herecentlyclockedthequickestde-liveryinthehistoryof theIPL,a156.2kmphscreamer to Jos Buttler. Already with 15scalps from 11 games, Prasanna is not sur-prised to seeNortje succeed in the IPL.“He has all the ingredients to become a

world-classfastbowler.Hehasasmoothactionand lovely load-up to the crease. It’s bad luckthat hemissed the 2019World Cupwith athumbinjurybecausehewouldhaverelishedbowlinginEngland.”

Early influenceNortjegrewupinUitenhage-anindustrial

town40kmnorthof Port Elizabeth. Fromanearlyage,hewasconsumedbysport,particu-larlycricketandrugby.BrandwagHighSchool,fromwherehegraduated, is known forpro-ducinginternationalrugbyplayersbutwatch-

ingacertainDaleSteynontelevisionstrength-enedNortje’sresolvetobecomeafastbowler.WhenheplayedfortheEasternProvince

U-18 team,hemet Piet Botha, a former fastbowler-turned-coach,whowasinstrumen-tal in honing his skills and polishing theroughedges.“The thing that struck me about him

was the pace he could generate. He reallystood out amongst others. He was alsoverycompetitiveon the field.However, hehad a stress fracture thatmademe realisethat there are a few issues that needed tobe sorted. There are certainbiomechanicsthat you have to follow if you want toachieveyour fullpotential asa fastbowler,”Botha explains.Theentireworktookthreeyearsandhelped

Nortjegofromfast toexpressspeedsandaddotherskillsthathelpedhimdevelopasabowler.“First,his feetalignmentat thetimeofde-

liverywasnotproper,whichwascausinghisaction to collapse.Weworked on getting abracedfrontlegbecausethatpowersyourhipsandshouldersandgives thedesiredmomen-tumandtheabilitytoincreasethepace.Second,hisupperbodyneededtobemoreuprightandforward,”Bothaadds.TheworkdonewithBothaturnedNortje

into a bowler who could hit the 150kmphmarkwitheasebutfrustratingly,hewasalsolabelledascattergun.Lastyear’sTestseriesinIndiawasanexam-

pleofhisprofligateways.“Thattourwastoughbecausethemarginsaresosmall.ThankGodImademyTestdebutinIndiaandnotinEngland,because I learnt a lot by bowling on thosepitches,”Nortje says onMohidin’s YouTubechannel‘CricketFanatics’.

Eye fordetail“He keeps picking my brains,”

Prasanna says about Nortje. “As an ana-lyst, I prepare documents about teamstrategies, and it’s Nortje who is the firstto get his hands on them. He would bereading them on the bus as well.”Ravichandran Ashwinnarratesan inter-

estinganecdote fromthis IPL.“He (Nortje) is a simpleton anddifferent

fromalotof otherSouthAfricans that Ihaveinteractedwith. After one particular game,guys were talking about Louis Vuitton,Burberryandotherbrands.Anrich,whowasholdingadrink,gotupandsaid, ‘this isnotatablethatIneedtobeapartofbecauseIknownothing about it,’” Ashwin said on hisYouTubechannel.Later in that show, when Ashwin asks

howmuchof asimpletonhereally is,Nortjecomes upwith this loaded response: “Verysimple.AnythingIdo,withcricketaswell,thebestball is topofoff.”

With15scalpsfrom11games,AnrichNortjehasbeenarevelationinthisIPL. DELHICAPITALS

BCCI assuresplayers thatfamilies willbe allowedfor Oz tourDEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI,OCTOBER29

WIVES AND children can accompany theIndiancricketersonthetwo-and-a-half-monthtourofAustralia,BCCIhasverballyassuredtheplayers. Theboardwasearlier reluctant toal-low familiesdue to toughquarantine restric-tions inAustralia but reconsidered after re-questsfromafewseniorplayers.SomeonelikeRavindra Jadejawouldhave

beenwithouthis familyforsixmonthsbytheendof the seriesDownUnder hadBCCI notmanaged to convince itsAustralian counter-parttoallowajumbotouringgroupof60mem-bers.“AfewIndianplayershadrequestedustoallow families because someof themdidn’tbringtheirwivestotheUAE(forIPL).Wehaveinformallyinformedplayersthattheycantaketheirfamilies.Their passportdetailshavebeentaken,”aBCCIofficialtoldTheIndianExpress.SportingeventsaretakingplaceinAustralia

with50percentcrowdsatmoststadiumsandCricketAustraliawasindiscussionswithlocalhealthauthoritieswhowerestrictonthelogis-ticsofstayinginabubbleandthelimitednum-berofpeopleinthetouringparty.The Indian team is scheduled to leave for

Australiaviaa chartered flight fromDubai af-tertheIPL.Theplayerswillbeundergoinga14-dayquarantineinSydney.However,likeintheUAE,theywillbeallowedtotrainanduseprac-ticefacilitiesaftersevendays.Theplayershavealsobeengivenachoiceiftheywanttheirfam-ilies to return to India after the limited-overslegoraftertheTestseries.“Theboardhasarrangedacharteredflight

forthoseplayerswhowillnotbepartoftheTestsquad.TheywillflybacktoIndiaafterthelim-ited-oversseries.It’suptoplayerswhethertheywanttosendtheirfamiliesafterone-dayersoraftertheTestseriesgetsover,”officialadded.ThoughtheIndianplayerswillbeallowed

tousepractice andgymareas, theywant anarrangementfortheirfamiliessimilartohowitwasintheUAEfortheIPL.Manyfranchisesal-lowedplayerstobringwivesandgirlfriendstotheUAE. With adesignated area inplace tomeetandgreet,playersandfamiliesdidn’thavemuchproblem.Indiawillplay threeODIs, threeT20Isand

four Tests against Australia starting fromNovember27. Itwill be the first series for theIndianteamduringthepandemic.

UNTILTHREEyearsago,AnrichNortjebowled with a bent front leg at thelanding crease, which dissipated hisenergy.Whenhis front leg landed inthebowlingcreaseimmediatelyafterthe jump and just before release, hisknee would bend a lot. Coach PietBotha made a crucial change andNortje began bowlingwith a braced(straight) front leg. Abracedfront legtransfers the momentum from therunup to thebowlingaction. It helpsalign the body just before release sothat it’s perfectly balanced to let riptheball. In technical jargon, the reac-tionarygroundforceskickinafterthebraced leg, and these forces transferfrom legs tohips, fromhips to shoul-der and from shoulder to the frontarm to the ball. The bent front leglanding doesn’t necessarily alwayshinder pace but itwould need everyother element in the action to workperfectly to compensate.

HowdidNortjegofromfasttoexpress?

APPOINTING SET-PIECE coaches is agrowing trend in football. The fewclubs that have employed people insuch roles, in England and parts ofScandinavia,havewitnessedamassiveimprovement.ManCity, for instance,were the13thmost prolific side fromsetpieces in the2018-19EPL. The fol-lowingseason,oncetheyappointedaset-piece coach, they hadmaximumgoals, 23, fromdeadball situations asper The Telegraph. East Bengal are noCitybutif theirexperimentissuccess-ful andother clubs in the country fol-lowthem,itwill,inthelongterm,ben-efit Indian players and help themimprovetheir technicalabilities.

Numbersbackappointment

Super Kings play party-poopers as Knights’ playoff hopes take a hit

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYOCTOBER29

TWENTY-THREErunswererequiredoffeightballs,whenLockieFergusonbowledafulltossabovewaist height and conceded a no-ball.From that point onwards, Ravindra Jadejatookover.Hehitasixoff thefreehitfollowedby a four. And in the final over bowled byKamleshNagarkoti, when the equation hadcome down to seven runs off two balls, the

left-hander smashed back-to-back sixes tosecure a six-wicketwin for Chennai SuperKings.Bysuccessfullychasing173forvictory,they threw a spanner in Kolkata KnightRiders’playoffhopes.

Gaikwad& Jadeja save the dayVarunChakravarthy’sfinespell,2/20,had

putKKRintheascendency.SunilNarineablysupportedhim.StillCSKwereinthehuntbe-causeyoungRuturajGaikwadshowedsparkand took the game deep. After 65 not outagainst Royal Challengers Bangalore in thelastgame,the23-year-oldscoreda53-ball72onThursday,but the jobwasn’tdoneyet.WhenMSDhoniwascastledbyVarunin

the15thover,CSKwereunderthepump.SamCurranwasstruggling to timetheball and it

putGaikwadunder evenmorepressure.Hegot out, trying to play an uncharacteristicramp.OvertoJadejaandhis11-ball31notoutwon the match for his team. TogetherGaikwad and Jadeja offset CSK’s bowlingprofligacy.

CSK’s bowling profligacyBit by bit, Chennai Super Kings bowlers

were letting it slip. Nitish Rana was thebiggestbeneficiaryof theirprofligacy.Theinconsistencyoftheirbowlersisarea-

sonforCSK’sunderwhelmingcampaignthisterm. Against a Kolkata Knight Riders sideloadedwith four left-handers in the top or-der,CSKdidn’thaveaspinnertotaketheballaway fromthem. Instead, theyhad two left-armspinners in Jadeja andMitchell Santner

and a leggie, Karn Sharma. The pitch washolding up a little and yet again, HarbhajanSingh’s absencewas felt. Almost every timepressurewas building on KKR batters, CSK

bowlers provided boundary balls to allowbreathingspace.Rana’s knockwas a case in point. For its

initial part, he was going at a-run-a-ball,openingtheinnings.Then,Santnergavehimthelengthtoswingandsweepandconsecu-tive fours ensued.When Ranawas on 50,Sharmabeathimintheairbuttheskierfellinnoman’s land. Sharmamissed his lengththreetimesinarowinhisnextoverandRanagleefullyhitthreesuccessivesixes.Eventually,whenhedepartedfora61-ball87,KKRwerewellsettopostachallengingtotal.Withabitof bowling discipline, CSK could have re-strictedtheiropponents toaround160.BRIEFSCORES:KKR172/5 (NitishRana87,LungiNigidi2/34)losttoCSK178/4(R.Gaikwad72,V.Chakrabarty2/20)by6wickets.

POINTS TABLETeam Matches Won Lost NR Points

MI 12 8 4 0 16

RCB 12 7 5 0 14

DC 12 7 5 0 14

KXIP 12 6 6 0 12

KKR 13 6 7 0 12

SRH 12 5 7 0 10

RR 12 5 7 0 10

CSK 13 5 8 0 10

SYNOPSIS

GaikwadandJadejaoffsetCSK’sbowlingprofligacy.

Ahmedabad

Vol. LIII No. 231 RNI No. 15048/1968. Printed and Published by Hareshkumar K Bhagdev on behalf of The Indian Express Private Limited. Published at : 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 015. Phone (Board) : 26872481- 82- 83, Fax No. 26873950. Printed at : Bhaskar Print Planet, Survey No. 148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor : (Gujarat) Leena Misra *

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