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JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

TOUCHINGTHE VOID

PAGES 14, 15, 16

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZ INE

In our last issue of 2020, alook back at how this yeartaught us to examine lives

eyeeyeNEWDELHI,LATECITY

DECEMBER27,202018PAGES,`6.00

(`8 BIHAR&RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR)

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

DAYAFTERPMDREWLINE

Farmer unions agree toreturn to table: Nextround of talks TuesdayModalities for repeal, guaranteesonMSPontheiragenda;Ugrahangroupsaysmore farmersonwayto joinprotest

AMILBHATNAGAR&RAAKHIJAGGANEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER26

A DAY after Prime MinisterNarendraModisaidthegovern-mentisreadytoholdtalkson“is-sues, logicandfacts”with farm-ers protesting against the newfarm laws, farmer unions an-nouncedresumptionof talksonDecember29.Following deliberations on

the government offer for talks,farmerunions,underthebannerof Sanyukt KisanMorcha, toldthe press at Singhu borderSaturday—theprotestatDelhi’sgates isnowamonthold—thattalkswith the governmentwillbeheldat11amTuesday.

According to theunions, themeetingagendawillbe:modal-ities to be adopted to repeal thethreecentral farmActs;mecha-nismstobeadoptedtomakere-munerativeMSP,recommendedby theNational CommissiononFarmers,alegallyguaranteeden-

titlement for all farmers and allagricultural commodities;amendments to be made andnotified in the ‘Commission forthe Air QualityManagement inNational Capital Region andAdjoining Areas Ordinance,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER26

DESCRIBINGTHEestablishmentofathree-tierPanchayatiRajsys-tem in Jammu and Kashmir(J&K)astheusheringinofanewera and new leadership, PrimeMinister Narendra ModiSaturdaysaidtherecentDistrictDevelopment Council electionshadstrengtheneddemocracy.“Inaway,theseelectionsful-

fil MahatmaGandhi’s dream of‘Gram Swaraj’… We haveworked day and night tostrengthen grassroots democ-racy and democratic institu-tions,”hesaidduringthelaunchof theAyushmanBharat YojanaSehat Scheme that providescashlesshealthcoverofuptoRs

5 lakh to every family in theUnionTerritoryof J&K.Modi also took a swipe at

Congress leader Rahul GandhiCONTINUEDONPAGE2

FAMILY TRIBUTEThewifeanddaughtersofcricketerDeanJones,whopassedawayrecently,paytributetohimonDay1ofthesecondIndia-AustraliaTest,atMelbourneSaturday.Reuters MATCHREPORTP18

PUDUCHERRY:CMVS LGPAGE6

TRUMPHOLDSBACKBILL,MILLIONSLOSEJOBLESSBENEFITSPAGE13

My ISOLATION

‘I’m at Singhu,Tikri daily, in mask,

sanitised car... I unwindto Kishore songs’

SANJAYSINGH

PAGE 10

NANDAGOPALRAJANNEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

“WE ARE not all about speed...Wedon’tsellspeed,weselltime.”This may seem surprising

coming from the co-founder ofAmericanfirmVirginHyperloop.However, Josh Giegel, now oneofthefirstpeopleintheworldtotakethetransportsysteminvolv-inglevitatingtestpodstravellingat high speeds, knowswhat heis talkingabout.

“If hyperloopwent at amil-lionkilometres anhour, buthadtostopateveryplace,oryouhadtowaittwohourstogeton,that’snotactuallythateffective,right?”explainsGiegel,whowaspartofthetestrunheldbythecompanylastmonth.“So,itisthewholeex-perience: how long is thewait,goingdirectly to thedestinationandthelike.Webringalltheben-efits of speed of an aircraftwiththe comfort of rail experience,withouthavingtowait,andatthesametimereduceenergyusage."Another passenger on the

first set of test rides held byVirginHyperloop,whichGiegelfirstenvisagedsixyearsago,was

Tanay Manjrekar. OriginallyfromPune,Manjrekarisapowerelectronics specialist who hasbeen with the company since2016. “I was going to try to getinto the pod any way I could,"Manjrekar says. "I have alwaysdreamt about creating a hyper-loop,butridingonitwasbeyonddreams.Whenthatopportunitykind of presents itself, it wouldhavebeenstupidnot to take it.”Anewformof transport cur-

rentlybeingdevelopedbyanum-berof companies,hyperloopen-visages passengers travelling athigh speeds in floating pods lo-cated inside giant low-pressuretubes, either above or below

ground.Thesystemisnotincom-mercial use anywhere in theworld, andVirginHyperloop it-self isstillrunningtestsintheUS.Last month, NITI Aayog

formed a panel to study hyper-loopindepth,includingMemberV K Saraswat, the Chairman,Railway Board, and theSecretaries of Housing andUrban Affairs, Road Transportand Highways. The panel willdraw on the expertise of DelhiMetroand IITamongothers.OnSaturday, Chairman, RailwayBoard, V K Yadav said:“Hyperloop is a technology thatisstillevolvingacrosstheworld.Thegovernmentisstudyingitas

atransporttechnology,that’sallI cansay rightnow.”AspartofthefirstleginIndia,

Virgin Hyperloop plans to con-nectPuneandMumbai,coveringthe 150-km distance at 1,200kmph speeds in about 35min-utes,atenthof thetimetakenbyroadcurrently.Giegelsaysitisjustthestart,andatleast7,000kmofhyperloopispossible inIndia.Virgin Hyperloop has also

signedanMoUtoconductafea-sibility test regarding a link be-tweentheBengalurucitycentreandKempegowdaInternationalAirport,andisworkingwiththePunjab government for a

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

Pune-originTanayManjrekarwasoneof thefirstpeopleever to travel inthe levitatingpod,ata test runlastmonth

Is it a car? Is it a plane? Is it a train? In road to hyperloop, a leap

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,DECEMBER26

MORE THANFIVEmonths afterthreeRajouriyouthswerekilledinShopianinanArmyoperationonJuly18,theJ&KPolicehasfiledachargesheet,accusinganArmyCaptainandtwociviliansfortheirallegedabductionandmurder.The 300-page chargesheet

states that a case ofmurder, ab-duction and destruction of evi-denceis“primafacie”established

against Captain BhoopendraSinghandtwocivilians—TabishNazir, a residentof Shopian, andBilalAhmadLoneofPulwama—basedonevidencecollecteddur-ingtheinvestigationbyaSpecialInvestigationTeam(SIT)setuptoprobetheallegedfakeencounter.Filed before the Principal

Sessions Judge, Shopian, thechargesheetstatesthatthethreeRajouriyouths–ImtiyazAhmad(20)andMohammadAbrar(16),residents of Dharsakri village,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ATRIMITRA&ANANTHAKRISHNANGKOLKATA,NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26

THECBIhasfiledacontemptpleaintheSaradhachitfundscambe-foretheSupremeCourt, seekingto link Chief Minister MamataBanerjee with some of the ac-cused and charging her govern-mentwith showing "constant,

deliberateandwilfulnon-coop-eration" in the probe and of "aconcerted effort to evade, avoidand escape the process of law"and"scuttle the investigation".In an application filed on

December 23, the CBI said thatexamination of one of the ac-cused in the case, former RajyaSabhaMPKunal Kumar Ghosh,by theEnforcementDirectoratehad “revealed that the Chief

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL,DECEMBER26

THEMADHYA PRADESH gov-ernmentclaimedtohavesetintomotion“themoststringent”lawin the country against ‘love ji-had’, clearing a Religion toFreedom Bill on Saturday thatplanshigherpenalties(jailtermsand fines going up to 10 yearsand Rs 1 lakh), as compared tothe lawinUttarPradesh,aswellas maintenance to thewomanconcerned and the right to fa-ther’s property for a child borntoa couplewhosemarriagehasbeendeclarednull andvoidun-der itsprovisions.Briefing the media after a

Cabinetmeeting,HomeMinisterCONTINUEDONPAGE2

OUTRAGEoverkillingshad ledArmyandPoliceto investigate the July18operation,withbothreaching thesamecon-clusion.Actionagainstaccusedwill build trustin theadministration.

MovewillbuildtrustE●EX

PLAINED

Killing of Rajouri youths: Policechargesheet Captain, 2 civilians

SanyuktKisanMorchaholdingapressconferenceatSinghuborderonSaturday.GajendraYadav CCTVsKEEPWATCHPAGE3

WORLD

DDC polls: PM invokesVajpayee, says BJP cededpower for J-K democracy

Saradha: CBI plea in SCon Mamata govt ‘links’,says it is scuttling probe

PMlaunchingAyushmanBharat for J-K,Saturday.PTI

MP ‘love jihad’Bill tougher,but limits whocan file FIR

RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

THEYAREIndia’snationalschoolboard toppers over 20 years. Soit’s no surprise that one’s a can-cer physician in New York; an-otherisaPhDfellowatMIT;oneis a Harvard professor; one ahedge fund manager inSingapore— and asmany as 11areworking forGoogle.Each is a story of individual

talentandeffort,excellenceandachievement, outliers all. Buttaken together, as an investiga-tion by The Indian Express re-veals, the arcs of their differentlives—andcareers—tell signif-icant stories of a generationcoming of age after Indiaopenedupinthe1990s.Ofhowsomeaspirationsendure, somedon’t; how some divides havecrumbled, some remain as in-tractable as ever.More than half the toppers

liveoverseastoday,theUSbeingthe destination of choice. Mostare in science and technologywithIITstheirmostfavouredun-dergraduatepit-stop;morethanhalf of them grew up outsidemetros, inTier2andTier3cities,and only one is a minority —there’s not one Dalit or tribal.And if you are a girl topper, youare much less likely to moveoverseas than if youwereaboy.These are among the key

findings of the four-month in-vestigationbyTheIndianExpressthat tracked down 86men andwomenwhostoodfirst in India,between1996and2015, intheirClass 10 and 12 exams con-ducted by the Central Board ofSecondaryEducation(CBSE)andtheCouncilfortheIndianSchoolCertificateExaminations.Amid soaring cut-offmarks

basedonClass12Boardexams,asthegovernment, intunewithits new National EducationPolicy,setsupapanel toexplorea national test to rejig the col-lege admission process, thefindings fromthe investigationare pointers to the challengesahead.

Over half the topperslive orwork abroad

Morethanhalf thetoppers—between21 and42 years of age—are in foreign countries,mostof themareemployed,aquarterof them are pursuing advanceddegrees.Threeofeveryfourwhoare abroad are in the UnitedStates.WhiletheUSremainsthepreferreddestination,othersarebased in the UK, Australia,Singapore, China, Canada,BangladeshandtheUAE.Of those employed abroad,

mostworkinthetechsector,fol-lowedbymedicineandfinance.Fouroutof10workinginthe

US are in Silicon Valley. LikeBiswanath Panda, who gradu-atedfromLittleFlowerSchoolinJamshedpur in1999and isnowseniordirectorofengineeringatGoogleinSanFrancisco. Indeed,Googleishometo11toppers,the

most inanyonecompany.Karuna Ganesh, 37, left the

country soon after topping herClass10ICSEexamin1999tojoinUnitedWorld College (UWC),USA, an international boardingschool that brings together 200students from80 countries. Sheisnowaphysician-scientistattheMemorialSloanKetteringCancerCenter inNewYork.“Myparentsweresupportive

aboutmymoving abroad sinceUWChasastrongtrackrecordofsendingstudentstotopuniversi-

tiesaroundtheworld,inadditionto the global,multicultural edu-cation it provides,” saidGanesh,whosubsequentlyearnedaBAinBiochemistry,MA inMedicine,PhDinMolecularBiologyandMDfromCambridgeUniversity.

Mostwent abroad tostudy citing betterecosystemHigher education is the pri-

maryreasonwhytoppersleftthecountry. Of those living abroad,over 70% left India to pursue ei-thertheirundergraduateorpost-graduatestudies—onlyadozenof the86wenttotakeupa job.For example, SomnathBose,

40, left India in 2008 with anMBBS from Calcutta MedicalCollege and anMD fromAIIMS,topursuetrainingincriticalcare.Today, he is an assistant profes-sor atBoston’sHarvardMedical

Schoolandstaffanesthesiologistat its teaching hospital, BethIsraelDeaconessMedicalCenter.Bose says that when he left

India, programmes in criticalcare were just starting to openup. “The US... had well-estab-lishedclinicaltrainingpathwaysinthatfield,plusaffordedoppor-tunitiestomixclinicalworkwithfocusonresearch,”hesaid.Janaki Sheth, 28, who stud-

iedataschoolinThaneandacedtheClass10 ICSEexams in2008with 98.6%, has a BTech inEngineering Physics from IITBombay. In2014, she left for theUS for a PhD in Physics at theUniversity of California, LosAngeles.Onwhyshedecided tostudyabroad,Sheth,nowapost-doctoralscholarattheUniversityof Pennsylvania, said, “Six toseven years ago, scientific re-searchwasnotverywell-fundedin India. Sowhile Ihadsome in-valuableexperiencesatIIT,itwasnotsufficientforaPhD.IntheUS,sciencegetsagreatpolicythrustwhich means there are moreplaces to do good work, andthere isconstantupgradationoftechnology,” shesaid.ForArkyaChatterjee,24,who

topped theClass 12 ISC exam in2015fromaKolkataschoolbeforegraduating from IIT-Bombay inEngineeringPhysics, themovetotheUSrevealedadifferentsidetothe teacher-student equation.“(There is)more honesty aboutcollaborations—professors en-courage students to talk to eachotherandworkonhomeworkto-gether.Thisreducestheincentiveforacademicdishonesty.Thiskindof trustwasmostlyabsent atmyundergraduate institute back inIndia,”saidChatterjee,whoisnowenrolledasaPhDstudentatMIT.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

TOMORROWTHEGENDERGAP:TOPPERSALLBUTWHYIT’SADVANTAGEMEN

20 years on, where are the Boardtoppers? Over half are abroad,

most in science and technologyGendergap;students increasinglyfromoutsidemetros;USmost favoureddestination, IITpopularroute;minorities,SC/STs invisible:86CBSE, ICSE, ISCtoppers1996-2015tell storiesof change

—andpointtochallengesasthenewNationalEducationPolicyrollsout

WHO’SWHO— ANDWHERE

TRACKINGINDIA’S TOPPERS

BIG PICTUREPAGES 8, 9

Mymoveabroadgaveme

phenomenalopportunitiestodoworld-classresearchwiththebestpeoplefromallovertheworldKARUNAGANESH,PHYSICIAN-SCIENTISTATMEMORIALSLOANKETTERINGCANCERCENTER INNEWYORK;CLASS 10 ICSE TOPPER IN 1999

DuringmyPhDatMIT,wegota lotof

hands-onexperience,somethingIhadneverexperiencedduringmyundergraduationbackhomeinIndiaRISHABHSINGH,RESEARCHSCIENTISTWITHGOOGLEX INCALIFORNIA,

CLASS 12CBSETOPPER IN2004

GOVTSTARTSWORKONCOMMONTESTFORUGADMISSIONS PAGE11

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

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DDC pollspointingout thatmunicipal andpanchayat electionshavenotyetbeen held in Congress-ruledPuducherry despite SupremeCourtorders.Withoutnaminganybody,he

said, “I want to expressmy an-guishbeforethenationthatsomepeople inDelhi keep cursingmedaily…Theygivemenewlessonsondemocracyeveryday.Iwanttoshowthemthemirror.”“Main un logo se poochna

chahtahoonkiyehJammuKashmirkodekhiyeki,itnekamsamaymeinunhoneytree-stariyapanchayatirajvyavasthako swikaar karkeykamkar diya. Lekin dusari aur vi-dambana dekhiye ki Pondicherrymein Supreme Court ke adesh kebabjood,panchayataurmunicipalelectionsnahihorahe.Aurmujhejoyahanloktantrakepaathpadarahehain,unkipartywahanrajkarrahihai (Iwant toask thesepeople…thethree-tierPanchayatiRajsys-tem has been established inJammu and Kashmir within ashortperiodofitsbecomingaUT,but panchayat and municipalelections are not being held inPondicherrywhere theirparty isinpowerdespiteSupremeCourtorders),”hesaid.The PrimeMinister said the

SupremeCourthadissuedordersfor holding local body polls inPuducherry in2018,but thegov-ernment therewasdillydallyinginthemattersinceithad“nofaithin democracy’’. Local bodypollswere last held in Puducherry in2006aftermanydecadesandtheterm of those elected ended in2011,hepointedout.This,hesaid,showed the difference in thespeedanddeedsof somepartiesand also howserious theywereaboutdemocracy.The delay in holding these

electionsinPuducherryhasbeenprimarily because the delimita-tionexercisedraggedonforyears.Thematter reached the courtswithmultiplejudgementsbytheMadras High Court and theSupreme Court. Since June lastyear,abittertusslebetweenChiefMinisterVNarayanasamyandLtGovernor Kiran Bedi over ap-pointment of an ElectionCommissioner for Puducherryhasmeantfurtherdelays.Referring to thePDP-BJPgov-

ernment in JammuandKashmirafter the2014Assemblypolls,hesaid, “Therewasatimewhenwewere part of the Jammu andKashmir government.Wehad aDeputy ChiefMinister and alsotheministers, butwepulledoutofthegovernmentontheissueofpanchayat elections.Wewantedempowerment of people in vil-lagesacrossJammuandKashmir,”hesaid.The PrimeMinister also in-

vokedAtalBehariVajpayee’sthreeprinciples of Insaaniyat,Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat,stating JammuandKashmirwasprogressingonthepathofdevel-opmentonthebasisofthesethreeprinciples.

‘Love jihad’ BillNarottamMishra described theBillas"themoststringent"against"thepracticeof lovejihad".ApartfromBJP-ruledMP andUP, theparty'sHimachalPradeshgovern-ment has also notified a similarlegislationwiththeaimof"check-ingconversions".Inasignificantdeparturefrom

theUPordinancethoughonreg-istrationofFIRsinsuchcases, theMP Bill says these can be dealtonlybypolicepersonnelnot lessthan the rank of sub-inspector,and that parents and siblings ofthe affected individual alone canfileacomplaintdirectly. Incaseaguardianoracustodianwants toregisteranoffence,theymustap-proach a Sessions Court autho-rised to dealwith thesemattersandgetacourtorder.InUP,any"aggrievedperson",

who may have no connectionwiththecoupleinvolved,canreg-isteranFIR.Inseveralcasesinthestate, right-wing organisations

have been accused of puttingpressure on families to registercomplaints.Once an FIR has been regis-

tered,inbothMPandUP,thebur-dentoproveone's innocencelieson the accused. Those identifiedasfrequentoffenderscanfacejailtermsof fiveto10years.ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh

Chouhantweeted,"Wewillnotal-lowanyonetocarryoutreligiousconversionusing force, threat orallurement inMadhya Pradesh.Forthiswehavemadeourlawof1968more effective to ensurenoneof theperpetratorsgofree."Claimingtocurbreligiouscon-

versionsusingmisrepresentation,allurement, force, threat, undueinfluence, coercion,marriage oranyother"fraudulentmeans",theMPBillstipulatesjailtermsofoneto five years, with a fine of Rs25,000,insuchcases.Thepenaltyincaseofapersonusing"misrep-resentation" or "impersonation"for religious conversionwill behigher, including a jail term ofthree-10 years and a fine of Rs50,000.Incontrast,theUPProhibition

of Unlawful Conversion ofReligionOrdinance,2020,passedlastmonth, stipulates that reli-giousconversionusinganyoftheabovemeans, includingmisrep-resentation and impersonation,wouldentail a jail termof one tofiveyearsandafineofRs15,000.The other big departure be-

tween theMPBill andUP law istheprovision formaintenancetowomenand right to property tochildren in themarriage underquestion, in the legislationplannedbytheChouhangovern-ment.ThematterofmaintenancewillbedealtasperSection125oftheCrPC.In both states, marriages

proved tohavebeenundertakenfor the sole purpose of religiousconversionorconductedwithoutappropriatenotice to thedistrictadministration can be declarednullandvoidbyfamilycourts.Return to one's original reli-

gion--thereligiononeisbornintoorthatpractisedbyone's father--will not be counted as conver-sionundertheMPBill.This isthesameasintheUPlegislation.WhileboththeUPlawandMP

Bill envisagea jail termof two to10 years in case a person beingconverted is aminor, or belongsto the Scheduled Caste orScheduledTribe, theMP legisla-tiontalksofapenaltyofRs50,000,againstRs25,000inUP.Both the legislation talk of

three-tofive-yearprisontermsforreligiousorganisationsorindivid-uals seen as carrying outmassconversions,butagainthepenaltyinMPishigher(Rs1lakh)thanUP(Rs50,000).Inbothstates,organisationsor

priests carrying out conversionshavetoinformthedistrictadmin-istrationabout60daysbeforethedateof conversion, failingwhichtheorganisationcanhaveitsreg-istrationcancelledandthepriestor facilitator face a jail term. ButtheMP Bill stipulates a higherpenalty (of Rs50,000,andthree-fiveyears'jailterm)insuchcases,comparedtoonetofiveyearsandRs25,000inUP.

Hyperloopcorridor betweenAmritsar andChandigarh.While the technologyhurdle

hasbeenmoreor lessovercome,anuphill taskisconvincingregu-latorsaboutsomethingthatisthisnew. “Weall try to relate some-thing new towhatwe alreadyknow.Andsopeoplekindof lookathyperloopand think, it’s obvi-ouslynot a car, and it’s definitelynot a plane, and it’s really not aboat,soitmustbeatrain,”Giegelspellsouthisfrustrations.But the conversations have

beenmakingprogress.“InJuly,theUSDepartmentofTransportationgaveusregulatoryguidance.Theyactually said thatwe are anoffi-cial mode of transportation,which is a big deal. India, as partof theMumbai to Pune project,

alsodeclaredusaninfrastructureproject.”InEurope,hyperloophasbeen listed as part of the SmartMobilitystrategy.Giegelthinksitisimportantto

have these conversations inpar-allel.“Ifwewaituntileverythingisperfect,itwilljusttaketoolongforcertification,”hesays,addinghowthe recent testswere a lot about"theincrementaldevelopmentoftechnology and the incrementaldevelopmentofsafety”.Theregu-lators, he says,werevery excitedwiththewaytestsweredoneandtherigourof theprocess.Thelackofsleepoverthepast

manymonthsisfinallypayingoff.“Wedidn’tthinkthatwouldhap-penthisquickly.”The tests could only achieve

172kmph,butGiegelsaysit'sbe-cause theNevada test track justwas 500metres long. “The goalwasn’t speed, it was safety,” hesays, adding thatanewcertifica-tion track being built in WestVirginia will give a glimpse ofhigherspeeds.Manjrekardoesnotseemany

challenges in hyperloop getting

whereitshouldand,ifatallthereare bumps, thinks the companyhas robust design practices andtechnology to get over them. “Interms of challenges, it's really araceforgovernmentsrightnowtogetthefirstoneup,”headds.Giegel weighs in, “We have

shown safe travel is possible onthis,bynotastronautsbutnormalpeople. I think the biggest thingforme is how fastwe can scaleup.”

WITHENSINPUTS

Farmer unions2020’toexcludefarmersfrompe-nal provisions of the ordinance;and, changes to bemade in thedraftElectricity(Amendment)Bill,2020toprotectfarmerinterests.Theunionswarned that they

willintensifytheiragitationbyin-creasingblockades onhighwaysof Delhi NCR if the talks do notleadtoatangiblesolution.Anestimated30,000people,

affiliated to the BKU (Ugrahan)and KisanMazdoor SangharshCommittee(KMSC),areheadedtoDelhi from Barnala, Ludhiana,

Sangrur,PatialaandGurdaspur.Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan,

BKU(Ugrahan)generalsecretary,saidmore than 3,000 vehicles,carrying nearly 16,000 farmersfromover100villagesof Punjab,enteredNarwanaSaturdaynoon.He said the convoywas given arousing welcome by HaryanafarmersandmadeahaltatJhanjhKalan village. Theywill head to-wardsTikriSunday.KulwantSharma,ablockpres-

ident of BKU (Ugrahan), said an-otherbatchof 15,000volunteerswill enterHaryanaviaBathinda-Dabwalihighwayandholdarallywith Haryana farmers atFatehabadbeforeheadingtoTikriMonday.Swaraj India president

YogendraYadav, speakingonbe-half of farmer unions, said: “Wewanttomakeonethingveryclear.We are not going to discusswhether thegovernmentshouldtake back these laws or not.Wewill now discuss how theseshouldbetakenback.Thegovern-mentmustdiscusstheprocedureinvolvedincallingbackalaw.This

is theonlydirection inwhichthetalkswillhead.”Farmerleaderswerecriticalof

the Prime Minister’s speechFriday.Alleging“misinformation”,Rashtriya Kisan MazdoorMahasanghpresidentShivKumarKakka said itwas for the PrimeMinister to “create an environ-mentconducivefortalks”.

Rajouri youthsandAbrarAhmad(25)of TarkasivillageofKotrankaRajouri–were“abducted” fromtheir rentedac-commodation in Shopian andthenkilled.Both the Army and the J&K

Policehadearlierclaimedthatthethree youthswere unidentifiedmilitants and had buried themdiscreetly inagraveyard innorthKashmir'sBaramulla.OnOctober3, the J&Kgovernmentexhumedthebodiesof the three labourerskilledduringthenightinthepres-ence of family members andhandedthemovertothefamilies.The Indian Express had on

FridayreportedthattheArmyhadconducted a Summary of

Evidence and foundanArmyof-ficerculpableforthekillingofthethree Rajouri youths. The nextstepintheprocessisacourtmar-tial. Earlier, onSeptember18, theArmy's Court of Inquiry con-firmedthatthethreeyouthskilledwerelabourersfromRajouri.The J&K Police chargesheet

states,“Avehicle(A-Star)usedfortheabductionandtransportationof the victimswas seized as evi-dence.” The “weaponof offence”of the Army officer has beenseized and sent to CFSL,Chandigarh.Accordingtothechargesheet,

the officer and the two civilianshavebeenchargedunderSection302 (murder), Section 364 (ab-duction),Section201(destructionof evidence), Section436, 120-B(criminal conspiracy to commitanoffencepunishablewithdeath)and Section 182 of Indian PenalCode andSection7/25 of IndianArmsAct(possessionorcarryingof prohibited arms or ammuni-tion).While the accused civilians,

Tabish and Bilal, have been ar-restedandareinjudicialcustody,theCaptain is “yet tobe arrestedfor procedures under AFSAP(Armed Forces Special PowersAct) and theArmyActwhereassanctionisalsorequiredtobeob-tained for launchingprosecutionagainsthim”.The chargesheet states that

thequestioning of the two civil-iansledtotherecoveryofaMarutiAlto car and some cell phonesfrom the “Victor Force campAwantipora”. Besides examiningallCallDetailRecords,itdetailstheplanning,abductionoftheyouth,the routes taken, and priorarrangement of illegalweaponsbytheaccused.The Army officer, the

chargesheetstated,misledhisof-ficers and colleagues. It stateshe"furnished false information tomisleadtheseniorofficersandforgetting lodgment of FIR done totailor-fit hismotive for grabbingprizemoney in furtherance ofcriminalconspiracy".One of the civilian accused,

Bilal Ahmad Lone, turned ap-prover andhis statement underSection 164 of Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC) has beenrecorded. The DNA analysis byCFSL, Chandigarh, postmortemreport and themissing report bythree Rajouri families led to theidentificationofthethreecivilianvictims,thechargesheetstated.

SaradhaMinister,West Bengal, and pro-moterofM/sSaradhaGroupShriSudipta Senhad very good rela-tionship”, and cited call datarecords to show thatGhosh andSenwereinconstanttouch.TheCBI is particularly critical

oftheroleofformerKolkataPoliceCommissioner Rajeev Kumar,whowhenpostedinBidhannagarhadsupervisedtheSITprobeintotheSaradhacase,andhassoughthis custodial interrogation. InFebruary2019,Mamatahadper-sonally sat on adharna to stop aCBI team from questioningKumar. Referring to this, the CBItold the SupremeCourt that the“facts clearly point towards con-certed institutional connivanceandacompletebreakdownofruleoflawandconstitutionalmachin-eryintheStateofWestBengal”.Thedevelopmentissettofur-

ther heat the bitter political at-mosphere in the state, whichheadstoAssemblypollsnextyear,withMamata leading thechargeagainstacombativeBJP.TheCBI applicationalso talks

of the EDquestioning of SafiqurRehman,anemployeeofSaradhaGroup, saying it had “revealedthat...(MP)Ghoshusedtodirect...(Saradha promoter) Sen to paymoney to different Durga PujaCommittees”andthat“whentheChiefMinister,WestBengal,con-tested for MLA seat... Sen wasforced to sponsor all thePujas ofBhawanipur,Kolkata".Asked about the CBI's con-

tempt plea before the Supreme

Court, which ismonitoring theSaradha probe, Trinamool MPKalyanBanerjee said the agencyhadbeen reduced to "a politicalagency". "Six years back the CBIwas given the investigation be-cause of the allegation that thestatemachinerywasnothelpingin theprobe. After six years, thisagency issayingthesame... If theCBI is fair,whydon't they arrestMukul Roy and SuvenduAdhikari?"FormerTrinamoolleadersand

co-accused in theSaradha scam,Roy andAdhikari are nowwiththeBJP. Theother accused in thecase include former Trinamoolminister Madan Mitra, lateTrinamoolMP Tapash Pal, TMCMPSudipBanerjee, andBengalifilmproducerSrikantMohta.The CBI did not respond to

queries sent by The SundayExpress.RegardingKumar, theagency

toldtheSupremeCourt,"moreev-idencehasemergedsubstantiat-ingfurthertheactiveconnivanceof... Kumar, the thenCommissioner of Police,Bidhannagar,inshieldingandpro-tectingtheinfluentialco-accusedpersonswhohadpromotedtheil-legal business activities of thegroup of Ponzi companies andwhohad... benefited fromthe il-legallycollectedfunds”.TheCBIalsotalkedaboutade-

tailed complaint sent by Sen inApril 2013,which “contains seri-ous allegations againstmany in-fluential persons such as ShriKunalKumarGhosh,ShriSrinjoyBose, Shri SantanuGhosh, SmtNaliniChidambaram,ShriMatangSinh,SmtManoranjanaSinhwhowereallegedlyassociatedwiththeaffairs of SaradhaGroupandac-cused". However, it said, the SITandBidhannagarpolice arrestedandchargesheeted"only...Ghosh...and a few employees of theSaradhaGroup”.AspertheCBI,Ghoshhadalso

written to Rajeev Kumar inNovember 2013 “against ShriArnabGhosh, the thenDeputyCommissioner of Police,Bidhannagar PoliceCommissionerate", accusing thepoliceofpressuringhimto"makestatements".TheCBI'sapplicationsaidthat

ithadfoundthatRs6.21crorewaspaidfromtheCM'sReliefFundtoTara TV, whichwas part of theSaradhaGroup, "at the rate of Rs27 lakh permonth", fromMay2013toApril2015."Inordertofur-ther look into the gravely suspi-ciouspayments toacloudedpri-vatemedia entity, a letter dated16.10.2018 was written to theChief Secretary,West Bengal, toprovide information about theconstitution and functioning ofthe ChiefMinister’s Relief Fund.Despiterepeatedefforts,thestategovernmenthaspartedwith in-complete andevasive replies," itsaid.TheCBIaccusedthestategov-

ernmentofnotsharing"alistcon-tainingnamesof certain influen-tial persons and a synopsis ofevidence against them",whichhadbeenearliersubmittedbythestatetotheSC."StatePolicedidnotprovidetheinformationonrecorddespiterepeatedrequests."Talkingaboutanauctionheld

ofMamata's paintings, in 2011-2013,theCBIsaidthatwhilethesewere bought by promoters ofother ponzi companies besidesSaradha, thesewerenot investi-gated."IthascomeonrecordthatnotonlyM/sSaradhapaidfunds...but other ponzi companies likeM/sRoseValleyGroup;M/sTowerGroup;M/s Pailan Group;M/sAngel Agro Group have alsobought paintingsworth lakhs ofrupeessteeredbycertainpersonslinkedtothehigheststateauthor-ities." The statepolicedidnot in-vestigate "any case against anyother groupof ponzi companiesasmentioned",theCBIsaid.Theagencymentionedinde-

tail the February 2019 incidentwhen Mamata had sat on adharna to stop a CBI team fromquestioningRajeevKumar.

Six of 10 topperschose engineering

More thanhalf the toppers(48 out of 86) chose engineer-ing as their undergraduatede-gree— only 12 didmedicine.Among thosewhostudieden-gineering,sixoutof10didsoatanIIT.Many, however, confessed

that an interest in engineeringwasn’t always themotivationbehindthedecision.SundareshNageswaran,32,

who topped the CBSEClass 10exam in 2004before studyingMechanical Engineeringat IIT-Roorkee, said itwasthe“socie-tal norm” for those who didwell in school to study engi-neering.“Engineering,ormorespecifically IIT,was the rule... IlaterrealisedIwasn’tinterestedin engineering andmovedouttootherfields,”hesaid.Sundresh later pursued an

MBAfromthe IndianSchoolofBusiness,Hyderabad,anduntilSeptember,was generalman-ager(businessdevelopment)atSea6 Energy, a platform thatharnesses the potential ofoceans. Inhis role there,head-mits,therewasnodirectuseforhis mechanical engineeringknow-how.Heisnowworkingonhisownventure.To be sure, few regret their

undergraduatedegree inengi-neering. However,manywishtheyhadexposuretootherpro-fessionsorcareercounsellingatthatage.LekshmiVaidyeswaran,29,

who topped the CBSEClass 10exam in2007with99%, and iscurrentlyaseniorproductman-ager at ICICI Prudential LifeInsurance in Mumbai, has aBTech degree in applied elec-tronics and instrumentationfromtheCollegeofEngineeringTrivandrum.“Myfamilywantedmetogo

forCommerce.Iinsistedonen-gineering as any other choicewas perceived as somethingopted by thosewho could notmake it to engineering,” shesaid. “Inhindsight,yes, Iwouldhave gone for Commerce andpursued CharteredAccountancy.”Subhojit Ghosh, 29, who

topped the ISC Class 12 examfromaKolkata school in 2009with 99.25%, has a BTech inMechanical Engineering fromIITKanpur.He later did anMBA from

HarvardBusinessSchoolandisworking as senior productmanageratAmazon inSeattle.

“While the IIT brandwas defi-nitely a factor, there was nofamily pressure... I likedmathandscience,andagreethatIdidnot knowmuch about othernon-IIT options at that point,probably due to lack of careeradvice at a school level. But inhindsight, a better awarenesson how your undergraduatedegreelinkstovarioustypesoffuturecareerrolesmayhaveal-teredmydecision of choosingmechanical engineering,”hesaid.

Thosewho stayedback in IndiaAmongtopperswhostayed

back or returned to India aftertheirhigherstudies,mosthavechosen a career in finance, fol-lowedby the tech sector, con-sulting,andbusiness.Thisisun-like those settled abroad,whomostlyworkedinthetechsec-tor.ForParnilSingh,27,theCBSE

Class10 topperof 2009 fromaschoolinVisakhapatnam,there

was little incentive to pursuepostgraduate studies inman-agementabroadsince,shesays,premier business schools inIndia offeredmore value formoney.While shewas at IIM-Calcutta, where she did herMBA,SinghwasofferedajobbyKearney,aglobalmanagementconsulting firm, and joinedtheminDelhiasconsultantthismonth.“WhileanMBAabroadhasitsmerits,itistooexpensive.Andtoday,Indiahaslotsofgreatjobs and opportunities in theprivatesector,”shesaid.

Tackling social,economic challengesOf the86 toppers, onlyone

belonged to the OtherBackwardClass(OBC)category.NonewasDalitor tribal.Of the76 topperswho responded tothisnewspaper’squestionnaire,just fivewere first-generationcollege-goers.MohammadIsmat,29,from

Imphal, Manipur, topped theClass 12 CBSE exam in 2012.Ismat,whosayshisteacherSMSinghpaidhisBoardexamina-tionfeesincehisfamilycouldn’tafford it,went on to study BSc(Honours)PhysicsatDelhi’sSt.Stephen’s College, fundedby acorporatehouse.A personal crisis at home

meantthatIsmathadtoputhiscareeraspirationsonholdforal-mostfouryearsafterhegradu-atedfromDelhiUniversity.Thisyear, he started preparing fortheUPSC examination. Of the74 toppers who shared theirfamily incomewith The IndianExpress,onlyonecamefromthelowest earning quartile. Thestudent,whodidn’twanttobeidentified, said his parentsearned less than Rs 1 lakh perannumwhen he topped theClass12Boardexam.Almost three-fourths said

their parents earned over Rs 5lakh annually at the time oftheirBoardexams.Theremain-ing reported annual family in-comesofbetweenRs1lakhandRs5lakh.More thanhalf the toppers

are fromTier2andTier3citiessuch as Dehradun, Dhanbad,Asansol, Jamshedpur,Trivandrum, Lucknow andMeerut—citieswhereEnglish-mediumICSEandCBSEschoolshave ridden on the ambitionand aspiration for a better fu-ture in these parts. These arealso the cities hardest hit dur-ing thepandemic, compound-ingfearsofjoblossesandschooldropouts.

The IndianExpressobtainednamesof86toppersofClass10and12examsconductedbytheCouncilofIndianSchoolCertificateExaminations (CISCE)andtheCentralBoardof SecondaryEducation(CBSE).Of the86names,62graduatedbetween1996and2015fromschoolsaffiliatedtotheCISCEBoard,and24werenationalCBSEtoppers from2004to2015.Someyears,theBoardshadthreeorevenfour jointnationaltoppers.ForCBSEClass10, therewasnotopper from2010to2015sincetheBoardhadswitchedfrommarkstogrades.Totrackdownthetoppers,over fourmonths,The

IndianExpresscheckednewspaperarchives, socialmediasites, contactedschoolprincipals, teachersandalumniassociations. Inonecase,helpcamefromabankunioninUP,whichtappeditsnetworkto locatearetiredemployee,whois thefatherof anICSEnationaltopper.Adetailedqualitativequestionnairewassent to

eachof the86toppers.Tendidnotrespond,but theirstoriesarepartof thisseries.Of the86,74wereSciencestudents inClass12,12

didCommerce.NotopperwasfromtheArts/Humanitiesstream.Year2015waschosenasthecut-offyeartoensurethatall studentsfeaturedhad,by2020,completedorwereclosetocompletingtheir firstundergraduatedegree.

THE INVEST IGAT ION , THE METHOD

Istayedback in IndiasinceIgotthroughagoodcollege(BITS-Pilani).Beyondthat, itwasa

personaldecisiontostayclosetofamilyandparentsSANKALPABHATTACHARJYA,PARTNERATPWC INDIA, GURGAON; TOPPEDCLASS 12, ISC, 1996

BhattacharjyawithwifeCharuSethi,whoworkswithaUNagency,andchildrenAhaanandAmeha

Over half the toppers from Tier 2, 3cities; no Dalit or tribal in list of 86

FROMPAGEONE

New Delhi

ANANYATIWARINEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

THE NEW Indira GandhiNational Centre for the Arts(IGNCA) is expected to be com-pleted by 2023, with a designthatwill havemodern facilitieswhile retaining elements ofIndian architectural and designheritage based on its founda-tionalprinciples,officialsatHCP,responsible for its design, havetoldThe IndianExpress.ThenewIGNCAwillcomeup

at Jamnagar plot on C-Hexagonor the IndiaGate circle. It is cur-rently located at Janpath roadoveraplotof 10.10hectares, anditsconstructionisincompleteduetolackof fundingfordecades.Forthetimebeing,itisready-

ing itself for a shift to JanpathHotel,which is currently under-goingrenovationsandisexpectedto be completed by February-March2021. Director (admin) LtCol(Retd)RARangnekartoldTheIndian Express, “We are in theprocess ofmaking an inventoryof everything, and our target tomoveout isDecember31.”The Janpath Hotel will have

anauditorium,anoutdoorexhi-bitioncentre,amediaroom,lec-ture andexhibitionhalls for thecentre,headded.

The old and newTheHCPsaidthedesignofthe

new IGNCA is at a concept stage,though itwill followthe founda-tional principles envisioned forthecurrentIGNCA.AsperHCP,thenewfacility“willbeamodern,for-ward-lookingIndianbuilding,re-tainingelementsof India’s archi-tecturalanddesignheritage”.The new building will be

ground plus four floors, spreadacross different blocks. TheHCPsaid:“Atitsinception,theIGNCAwasbasedondeepphilosophicalattitudes to nurturing, researchandsharingofallformsofIndia’sindigenous arts and crafts... andtheseconcepts shall continue todrive the inspiration anddesignof itsnewincarnation.”The IGNCA’s plot, as per the

plans, will house three CentralSecretariatofficebuildingsreach-ing up to 39metres in height,lower than the India Gate at 42metres. The plans for it includetwobasements,agroundandsixfloors, tohouseover14,000em-ployees and over 2,400 vehiclesin its underground parking. Thecost of the three buildings is ex-pectedtobeRs2,990crore.Before the IGNCA came up,

the plot was envisaged as aCultural Plaza by Lutyens in re-lation to the National Archives

across the Janpath road and theNational Museum across theVista. That did notmaterialise,anditwasoccupiedbyanIndianAirForceOfficers’MessaccessedfromJanpathroadandtwogov-ernment bungalows accessedfromDrRajendraPrasadRoad.ThefoundationforIGNCAwas

laidbyformerPMRajivGandhionNovember19, 1985, on thebirthanniversary of formerPM IndiraGandhi, and an InternationalArchitectural Competitionwasannouncedforitsdesign.Thejurycomprised 7 architects and thelateDrKapilaVatsyayan,thethensecretary to the department ofarts, and foundingmember ofIGNCA’strust.The architectswereOlufemiMakekodunmi(Nigeria),Geoffrey Bawa (Sri Lanka),FumihikoMaki (Japan), JamesStirling (UK), Habib Rahman(India), AP Kanvinde (India), BVDoshi (chairperson of the Jury,

India).TheawardwasannouncedbyGandhionNovember19,1986.ThefirstprizewinnerwasProf

Ralph Lerner (USA), the secondwasGautamBhatia (India), andthe third was shared betweenFrancoise Helene Jourda andPerraudin(France),DavidJeremyDixon (UK) and AlexandrosTombazos(Greece).ThefirstprizewinnerwasawardedRs10 lakh,the second 5 lakh and the thirdprizewinnersRs3lakheach.AsperIGNCA’sintroductionto

itsfoundationaldesignprinciplesfromthattime,“thefivedivisionsof theCentre are envisioned in amannerwhichemphasisesthein-terdependenceoftheconceptual,ideational,theoretical,textual,his-toricalandthepractical, thecon-temporaryandthecreative”.The five components of the

designweretheKalaNidhi(ana-tional information system/databank,library),theKalaKosha(forresearchstudiesleadingtopubli-cation),theJanapada(researchdi-vision focusedonoral, tribal andfolklore traditions, its documen-tation and display, along withecology), theKalaDarshana (fo-cusedonvenuesfortheatres,per-formances), and the Sutradhara(administrativeoffices).DrRalphLerner’sdesignhad

fivemajor courts – each repre-senting one of the Centre’s ob-jectives. Due to various reasonsrelated to lack of funding, onlyone building emerged. The plotcurrently has a colonial stylebungalowwith halls and semi-nar rooms.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

A 45-YEAR-OLD security guarddied in a fire that broke out at amaskmanufacturing factory inWest Delhi’s Mayapuri onSaturday.Fireofficialssaiditwascausedbyashort circuit.Delhi Fire Services director

AtulGarg said the firebrokeouton the third floor, where ma-chines and rawmaterial werekept. Threemen— the victim,JugalKishor,andworkersAmanAnsari(18)andFirozAnsari(24)— were sleeping inside at thetime.Police have registered a case

againstthefactorymanagementunderIPCsections304A(causingdeath by negligence) and 285(negligentconductwithfire).Fireofficials said the factory doesn’thaveanNOCandisn'tauthorisedto run operations, adding thatLPGcylinderswerefoundinside.Garg said, “We had to break

thedoors...Werescuedthethreemen; one of themwas uncon-scious andwas rushed to DDUhospital.We completed rescueoperations in less than an hourandtheblazewasdousedbeforeitcouldspreadtootherfloors.”Kabir (28),whoworks at the

factory, toldThe IndianExpress,“Iwas nearbywhen the incidenttook place and I saw smoke bil-lowing from the building. Ithardlyhasanywindows.Only4-5 of us work there. Before thepandemic, we made khadi t-shirts and shirts at the factory.Now,wemakekhadimasks.”Workers said Kishor lived in

thefactoryandwasalsoin-chargeofdutiesonthefloor.HiswifeandchildrenliveinKanpur.

The Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.(A Govt .of India undertaking)

Kapas Bhawan, Plot No. 3A, Sector 10, CBD Belapur,Navi Mumbai-400614, Phone Number : 022-27579217,

Fax Number: 022-27576030,27579219

Appeal to Cotton FarmersTHE Cotton Corporation of India Ltd (CCI) is a nominated nodal agency ofGovernment of India for undertaking procurement of Cotton under MinimumSupport Price (MSP).In Cotton season 2020-21, CCI has opened 440 MSP procurement centers at 140districts in 11 cotton growing states under 15 branch offices.So far CCI has procured 352 Iakh quintals of kapas in a period of three months asagainst 130 lakh quintals in the corresponding period of last year. Current MSPprocurement is around 300 % more than last year.Due to unregulated heavy kapas arrivals in Market yards, the farmers are facinghardship and compelled to wait in long queues for days together in selling theirproduce and processing capacities are also under tremendous pressure.Therefore CCI has requested district administration and APMCs to regulate kapasarrivals in market yards in such a way that FAQ kapas brought by farmers can besold, weighed and billed on the same day so that farmers need not stand in longqueues and do not face any difficulties in selling their produce.CCI management makes an appeal to all cotton farmers to bring their produce tomarket yards in phased manner as per advice of respective APMCs.CCI assures that it will remain present in market yards till 30th September 2021 andshall procure entire FAQ grade kapas from farmers.CCI is committed to all cottonfarmers to save them from any distress sale. Therefore they need not sell their FAQproduce in hurry.

S. K. Panigrahi L. K. Gupta Pradeep Kumar AgarwalCGM(Marketing) Director(Finance) Chairman cum Managing Director022-27579215 022-27560143 022-27576044

ADMISSION INVITATION FOR PGDM (2021-23)AICTE Approved 2-year full time residential

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“Excellence and Innovation in Management”• Member of AMDISA• All the previous PGDM batches were placed successfully

Last date of online application :Sunday, 31st Januar y 2021 (5 PM)

For more information and online application,please visit www.mdim.ac.in

Helpline : 8348021165 • Email : [email protected]

GOVT. OF BIHAR

BIHAR COMBINED ENTRANCE COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION BOARDI.A.S. Association Building, Near Patna Airport, Patna-14.

UNDER GRADUATE MEDICAL ADMISSION COUNSELLING(UGMAC)-2020 for MBBS / BDS / B.V.Sc. & A.H. in Govt. Medical / Dental / Bihar

Veterinaty Colleges and Private Medical / Dental Colleges of Bihar

Adv. No.- BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/14 Dated 26.12.2020

f}rh; dkWmUlsfyax ls lEcfU/r vko';d lwpukfoKkiu l[a ;k& BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/12 fnukda 23.12.2020 ds Øe esa UGMAC-2020 ls

lEcfU/r lHkh vH;fFkZ;ksa @ laLFkkuksa @ loZlk/kj.k dks lwfpr fd;k tkrk gS fd f}rh; pØ (2nd round) lhV vkoaVumijkar Document verification @ ukekadu dh frfFk tks iwoZ esa fnukad 23-12-2020 ls 26-12-2020 rd fu/kZfjr dhx;h Fkh] dks fuEuor~ foLrkfjr fd;k tkrk gS_Ø- dk;ZØe iwoZ fu/kZfjr frfFk foLrkfjr frfFki. Document Verification and Admission : 23.12.2020 to 26.12.2020 23.12.2020 to 29.12.2020(2) iwoZ izdkf'kr foKkiu la[;k&BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/09 fnukad 20.12.2020 ,oa 2020/12 fnukad23.12.2020 dh vU; 'kÙksaZ ;Fkkor~ jgsaxhA

ijh{kk fu;a=kd

GOVT. OF BIHAR

BIHAR COMBINED ENTRANCE COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION BOARDI.A.S. Association Building, Near Patna Airport, Patna-14.

UNDER GRADUATE MEDICAL ADMISSION COUNSELLING(UGMAC)-2020 for MBBS / BDS / B.V.Sc. & A.H. in Govt. Medical / Dental / Bihar

Veterinaty Colleges and Private Medical / Dental Colleges of Bihar

Adv. No.- BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/15 Dated 26.12.2020

MOP-UPdkWmUlsfyax ls lEcfU/r vko';d lwpukfoKkiu la[;k& BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/10 ] 2020/11 fnukad 22.12.2020 ,oa 2020/13 fnukad

24.12.2020 ds Øe esa UGMAC-2020 ls lEcfU/r lHkh vH;fFkZ;ksa @ laLFkkuksa @ loZlk/kj.k dks lwfpr fd;k tkrkgS fd UGMAC-2020 ds vk/kj ij f}rh; pØ (2nd round) lhV vkoaVu mijkar Document verification /ukekadu dh frfFk 29-12-2020 rd foLrkfjr gksus ds dkj.k] vk;ksftr dh tkus okyh Mop-up dkWmUlsfyax ls lacaf/rRegistration ,oa vkoanu i=k Hkjus dh frfFk dks fuEuor~ foLrkfjr fd;k tkrk gS_Ø- dk;ZØe iwoZ fu/kZfjr frfFk foLrkfjr frfFki. Online Registration and filling up of Application

Form starting date : 23.12.2020 --ii. Online Registration closing date : 25.12.2020 (10:00 p.m) 29.12.2020 (10.00 (p.m.)iii. Last date of payment through Net Banking/ Debit Card/

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(2) es/klwph izdk'ku ,oa vU; lEcfU/r dk;ZØe dh lwpuk ;Fkkle; ns nh tk;sxh A(3) iwoZ izdkf'kr foKkiu la[;k&BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/10 fnukda 22.12.2020 dh vU; 'kÙksaZ ;Fkkor~ jgsaxhA

ijh{kk fu;a=kd

3THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AMILBHATNAGARNEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

ONNOVEMBER 26, more than3,000 farmers arrived at theSinghu border between DelhiandHaryanaontheirtractortrol-leys to set up base for a protestagainst the new farm bills.Within two days, a cardboardbase on the side of a truckwasturned intoasmall stage,wherespeechesweremade through aportablemicandspeaker.Exactlyamonthon,themain

proteststageisnowatwo-storeypandal — a nearly 30 feet wideplatformwithbarricadedseatingfor hundreds of people. As thescaleof theprotestgrowsbiggerby theday, sohas theparapher-nalia around it, with farmerunionseveninstallingeightCCTVcamerastomonitor thecrowd.Theoft-repeatedstatementby

farmleadersandprotesters—thatthey’re here for the longhaul—appears to ringmore true todaythanamonthago.Theinitialrowof tractor trolleys that spreadacross3-4kmismorethan10kmlongnow.Andowing to supportfromnearbyareas,dailyfootfallattheprotesthasremainedinthou-sands every day.Which iswhy,farmerunionssay,aneedwasfelttomonitorthecrowdtomaintainthe sanctity of the protest andkeepanti-socialelementsaway.“These cameras give us a

bird’s eye view of the protestsince there are somany people

coming in now. We come toknowof incidentswherepeoplewithulteriormotives try to cre-ate problems. This way, we cankeeparecordofwhatishappen-ingandcounteranynarrativetoblame us for any anti-social ac-tivity,” said Gurdeep Singh of

Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, whomanagestheCCTVdepartment.Some cameras have been

placed near steel poles of thestage, while another camerapanstowardsthelangars.These-curity teamdid not reveal posi-tions of other cameras. “Our fo-

cusistokeeparecordofallthoseplaceswherealargecrowdgath-ers,sincethepossibilityofsome-onecreatingaprobleminagath-ering ishigh,” saidGurdeep.Behindthemainstage,atrol-

leywithawoodendoorhasbeenplaced next to the entry barri-cades. At the further end of thetrolley, two 32-inch TVs havebeenplaced,whichdisplays thefeed from the eight cameras. Atleasttwopeoplemonitoritatalltimes.Thereare15volunteersinthe entire CCTV teamwho taketurnsduring theday.Farmers say the equipment

has been brought from Delhithrough funds pooled in byfarmersaswell asdonations.The CCTV team is just one

exampleof howtheprotesthasbecome more organised overthe past month. A stage man-agement committee decideswhoaddressesthecrowd,dona-tion teams keep track of funds,an ‘IT Cell’ handles what infor-mationhas to beput out on so-cial media, while volunteers atthesitecleanroadsanddisposeof garbage.

ATSINGHUAvoidsettingupbarricadesduringpeakhours:Policechief’sorderNew Delhi: PoliceCommissioner S NShrivastava issuedanor-derFriday,instructingpo-lice personnel to not putnon-permanent policepickets with barricadesduringpeakhoursasitre-sults in traffic jams. Theorder states that thebar-ricades“cause inconven-ience to commuters andhampers movement ofemergency vehicles”.To help the public, theCommissionerhasaskedpersonnel to avoidputtingbarricadesduringpeak hours, unlesssenior officers have in-structed themtodoso.

WomanfallstodeathfromthirdfloorofbuildingNewDelhi:A32-year-oldwomanfellfromthethirdfloorof aDDAbuildingatJanakpuri district centreinWest Delhi, Saturdayafternoon.Policesaidthewoman, Snehdeep Kaur,worked as a teacher at aprivate school in TilakNagar. DCP (West)Deepak Purohit said:“Thewoman’s bodywasfound on the terrace ofthefirstfloor.Atwo-pageresumewas found nearher. Thewoman is a resi-dentofVirenderNagarinJanakpuri. It appearsshe fell from the thirdfloor.”

Argumenttakesfatalturn,1deadNewDelhi:Anargumentbetween two neigh-bours in East Delhi’sTrilokpuri Saturdaynight took an fatal turnwhen two people suf-feredbullet injuries.Oneof them, Shahid, suc-cumbed to his injuries,said DCP (East) JasmeetSingh. “The argumentwasoveranemployeeofashopbeingbeatenup,”he said.ENS

BRIEFLY

Securityguard killedin factory fire

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

THECOVID-19pandemichasse-verelyhitDelhiMetro’sfinances,with its revenuedeficit crossingRs 1,900 crore in the last eightmonths,forcingthepublictrans-porter to transfer funds from itsprojectswing to the operationsdivisionanddirect itsofficialstoonly allow bare minimum ex-penditure to runtrains.The Sunday Express has ac-

cessed a December 21 notesigned by Delhi MetroRail Corporation Director(Operations)AKGargsayingthat“in the last8months,DMRChasearnedonlyRs247.65crorewhileexpenditure was Rs 2,208.24crore (approx) including JICA(JapanInternationalCooperationAgency)loanandinterestrepay-mentdueduringthisperiod”.Gargattributedthestateof fi-

nances in the corporation to thepandemic-induced shutdownofMetro services and low footfalleven after reopening of thenet-work,whichspans390-kmacrossDelhi-NCR.He said tomeet theshortfall between earnings andexpenditure,thecorporationhassanctioned Rs 1,910 crore to betransferredfromtheprojectdivi-siontotheoperationsandmain-tenance (O&M)division.The projects division is re-

sponsible forconstructionactivi-tieswhileO&Misentrustedwithdailyoperationandmaintenance.“Withtheonsetofpandemic,thegovernment imposed lockdownonDMRC train operationswiththe result that for a period from22.03.2020to06.09.2020,wehadalmost nil income from trafficearningaswell aspropertybusi-ness andparking revenues. Evenafter reopeningofMetrosystem,duetoseveralrestrictionsandfearinthepublic,ridershipisverylowand consequently the propertybusiness and parking revenuesarealsoverylow,”Gargwrote.“Tomeetthisgap,thecompe-

tentauthorityhas sanctionedRs1,910 crore for transfer of fundsfrom consultancy fundsmain-tained by the project division.Now, the balance fund availableinconsultancyfundisonlyRs260crore. All HODs of O&M areherebydirectedtocurtailexpen-diture incurred by their depart-mentsjudiciously.Onlythoseex-penditures which are veryessential for running the trains

aretobeincurred...,”hesaid.Gargpointedout that till last

year,theO&Mwinghadanoper-ationalratioof80.55%,“whichin-dicatedthatO&Mwasself-relianttomeet day-to-day expenditureandabalancewaslefttomeetJICAloanandinterestrepayment”.The consultancy funds in the

projectsdivisionpertaintofundsthatMetromaintains to use incaseofconsultancyservicesitpro-videsforotherMetrorailprojectsacrossthecountry.DMRC’sannualreportsshow

thatthecompany’stotalrevenuegenerationwasRs5,387crore,Rs6,211crore andRs6,461crore in2016-17,2017-18and2018-19re-spectively.Outof the total, earn-ings,excludingexpenditure,fromsaleof ticketsduring theseyearswasRs2,179crore,Rs3,027croreandRs3,582crorerespectively.When contacted, DMRC

Executive Director (CorporateCommunications) Anuj Dayalsaid: “The fundsmentioned arefrom the revenue earned byDMRC independently from itsConsultancy assignmentswhichare only earned andmaintainedby the project unit. These fundsare,therefore,nottobemixedupor confusedwith funds receivedforconstructionoftheMetroproj-ect. It isclarifiedthatProjectcon-structionfundsareseparate.”Undercurrentarrangements,

alternate seats are left empty intrains. Standing passengers areadvisedtomaintain1-metregap.

Metro revenuedeficit Rs 1,900 cr,officials told tolimit expenditure

ServicesresumedonSep6

InsidetheCCTVmonitoringroomatSinghu; (left) theprotest sitenowincludesabiggerstage,more langars

New Delhi: PoliceCommissioner S NShrivastava visited theSinghu border Saturdayandmetpersonnel andof-ficersfromDelhiPoliceandCRPF who have been de-ployedat thesite foroveramonth.Hetweeted: “They(Delhi police and centralforce) aredoingagood jobregarding farmers’ agita-tion. Suitable arrange-mentsare inplacefortheirfoodandprotectionagainstcold and Covid”. Policehave been guardingSinghu,TikriandGhazipurborders since the time theprotest started.ENS

Police chiefvisits Singhu

Month on, as protest grows, farmersinstall CCTVs to keep eye on crowd

GajendraYadav

AbhinavSaha

New IGNCA to be ‘forward-lookingbut retain traditional elements’

It iscurrently locatedat Janpathroad.Express

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 18,774 16,210VENTILATORS 1,525 940

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec25 758 1,370 30 85,749Dec26 655 988 23 67,115Total 6,911* 6,04,746 10,437 82,75,838

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

6,22,094

DMRChadearlierwrittentotheCentrerequestingitto defer payment of itsloan installment for theyear2020-21.ItowesJICA,which has so far grantedRs 35,198 crore loan toDMRC,Rs1,242.83croreinthecurrentfinancialyear.

Loanwoes

New Delhi

4THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI, DECEMBER26

THECOUNTER IntelligenceUnitof Delhi Police’s Special Cell haslodged an FIR against lawyerMehmoodPrachaafterheandhisassociates allegedly abused andintimidatedthepoliceteamdur-ing searches at his NizamuddinEastofficetwodaysago.TheFIRwasregisteredunder

IPCsections353(assaultorcrim-inalforcetodeterpublicservantfromdischarge of his duty) and186 (obstructing public servantindischargeofpublicfunctions)afteracomplaintwasfiledbyaninvestigating officer (IO) of theSpecialCell onThursday.Pracha’sfirmLegalAxisisde-

fendingseveralpersonsaccusedin different cases related to the

Delhiriots.Manyinthelegalfra-ternity described the policesearch as an attack against theattorney-clientprivilegeandonthe fundamental right to legalrepresentation.Police said the Special Cell

hadgone tohisoffice to investi-gateanFIRregistered inAugust,whichallegedfalseevidenceandforgednotarystampswereusedto secure bail of an accused ar-rested in a riots case. Police al-leged the complaint letter usedto get bail in the case was sentfromPracha’sofficecomputer.ADelhi court had issued a searchwarrantonDecember22tolookfor the incriminating docu-ments.Pracha refused to comment

on the mail pertaining to thecomplaint letter. On Friday, hehadmoved court seeking clari-

fication on the search warrantorder issuedby the Special Cell,alleging hewas directed by thepersonneltoprovideincriminat-ingmaterial againsthimself.Prachahad said: “I unlocked

allcomputersandtheofficewasgiven to the police to conducttheirsearch.However,thepolicepersonnel,whowasnoteventheIOasperthewarrant,directedustoshowthatmaterialourselves,

and if not, they threatened totakeawayourcomputers.”“The search ended at 3 am

andtheycouldnotfindanything.Even though police are allegingmisconduct on our behalf, theyrecorded everything on videoand that videowill show to theworldwhathappened,”hesaid.In the FIR, the IO said he left

his office with staff, videogra-phers andpublicwitnesses andreached Pracha’s office at 11.45amonThursday.“On reaching the spot, we

started videography… andshowed the search warrant toPracha. We requested him inwriting to cooperate in locatingthe computer wherein the in-criminatingdocumentsmaybefound so as to avoid the generalsearchofall thesystems.Prachainformed us that he was en-

gaged in a video call and askedus towait.Wewaited patientlyfor two hours. Thereafter, hestarted harassing us over onepretext or another and, gradu-ally, started getting aggressiveandabusive…,” reads theFIR.Police said Pracha later

agreedtocooperateandshowedthe team the computer systemfromwhich themail was sent.“Afteralotofpatientpersuasion,heledustoacomputeronhisof-fice table… and said the emailthat we are looking formay belocatedinthemailoutbox,”saidthe IO in theFIR.A senior police officer

claimedthat“thecomplaintlet-ter, containing fabrications,which was drafted in his(Pracha’s) office, pertaining tothecomplainant…waslocated”.PoliceclaimedtheyaskedPracha

to help them look for other in-criminating documents but herefused.The IO then found another

computer system at his officeand typed keywords into thesystemto look for similardocu-ments.Hesaid inhiscomplaint,“A suspicious extension/path-waywasnoticedand, therefore,I decided to seize the hard diskof the said computer to collectnecessary evidence. Pracha andhis associates started raisingtheirvoiceandattemptedtore-move thecomputer systems.”The police team then gave a

writtenrequesttoPrachaandhisassociates for theharddisk.Police claimed on receiving

therequest,Pracha“becamever-bally aggressive and started cre-atingaruckuswithaclear intenttoprecipitatethingsandprovokesomekindofviolent/forceful/un-professionalresponsefromus”.The FIR alsomentions that

Prachacalledseveralassociatesto “intimidate” the IO and histeam.

MehmoodPracha

Police register FIR against Pracha, claim heabused and intimidated teamduring search

Avoid drinking, saysIMD in cold warning

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARVeryPoor

0 500

378AQIPM:2.5

PUNJABIBAGHVeryPoor

0 500

SHADIPURPoor

0 500 500

51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe

DWARKA- SECTOR8Very Poor

0

348AQIPM:2.5

282AQIPM:10

358AQIPM:2.5

FORECAST: Dec27Partlycloudysky.Shallowtomoderatefog inthemorning

S K Y WA T C H

MAX:232.5°Cabovenormal

MIN:61°Cbelownormal


COLDWAVEconditionsarefore-cast in Delhi and north IndiaMonday onwards, which hasprompted the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) to advise people againstdrinkingalcohol.In a forecast on Friday, the

IMD said minimum tempera-tureswould rise in the plains ofnorth India — including inPunjab, Haryana, Delhi, UttarPradesh and north Rajasthan—until Sunday, before falling by3to5degreesCelsius.Maximum temperature is

also forecast to fall by 3 to 5 de-greesCelsiusafterDecember28.Inan impactbasedadvisory,

the IMD said, “Moisturise yourskin regularlywithoil or cream.Eat fruits & vegetables rich inVitamin C and drink sufficientfluids,preferablywarmfluidstomaintain adequate immunity.Don'tdrinkalcohol—it reducesyourbody temperature.”Rainfall andsnowfall is fore-

cast in Jammu and Kashmir,

Himachal Pradesh andUttarakhandundertheinfluenceof a Western Disturbance be-tweenSundayandMonday.Afterpassingof thisWestern

Disturbance,coldnorthwesterlywindsblowingfromthewesternHimalayanregionwouldleadtocold or severe coldwave condi-tions in parts of Delhi, Punjab,Haryana and ChandigarhMonday onwards, as per theIMD.Coldwaveiswhenthemini-

mumtemperaturedipsto10de-greesCelsiusor less and thede-parture from normaltemperature is 4.5 degreesCelsius or lower. In severe coldwave, departure from normaltemperature is 6.5 degrees orlower. Delhi has recorded fivecoldwavedayssofarthismonth.The IMD’sSafdarjungobser-

vatory, which is representativeof Delhi, recorded aminimumtemperature of 4.4 degreesCelsius on Saturday andmaxi-mumof21.9degreesCelsius.By December 31, minimum

temperature is forecast to fall to3degreesCelsiusandmaximumto19degreesCelsius.

GOVERNMENT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

SHER-l-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOURAOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,

MECHANICAL, SKIMS SOURA, MC & H, BEMINA, SRINAGARTel.: 0194-2402617, Ext.: 2159, E-mail: [email protected]

RE-01NOTICE INVITING E-TENDERS

Gist of E-NIT No. 55 of 2020-21 Dated. 24.12.2020For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Executive Engineer, Mechanical, SKIMS,Soura, Srinagar, invites online e-bids in two (02) cover system from Original Lift Manufacturers ortheir Authorized Dealers/Representatives/Registered Firms having experience in Installation,Testing and Commissioning of Lifts in Govt. Institutions/Departments, detailed in the tender documentfor the following works:

The complete tender document is available at website http://jktenders.gov.in. lnterested Bidders/Tenderersmay view, download the e-bid document, seek clarifications and submit their bids online upto the date and timementioned in the table below. Tender Document contains qualifying criteria for bidders. Specifications, Bills ofQuantities & Terms and conditions of the contract and other relevant details.

i) Date and Time of Downloading/Sale of Tender Documents 26.12.2020 from 11.00 Hour(Starting Date)

ii) Date & Time of Bidding Queries/Clarification/Pre-bid meet 31.12.2020 at 11.00 Hours

iii) Last Date & Time of Bid Uploading 09.01.2021 upto 16.00 Hour

iv) Date of Submission of Hard Copies (only Original EMD/DD for 11.01.2021 upto 14.00 HourDocument Fee)

v) Date & Time of Commercial/Technical Bid (Cover-I) Opening 12.01.2021, 11.00 Hours (ornext convenient day)

vi) Date & Time of Financial Bid (Cover-lInd) Opening of Shall be intimated separatelyQualifying Bidders

vii) Cost of e-Bid Document Rs. 1500/- (Rupees One Thousand &One Hundred only)

viii) Amount of Earnest Money Deposit (CDR/FDR) Rs. 68000/- (Rupees Sixty EightThousand only)

ix) Completion Time Six (06) Months from the Date of issueof LOI or Allotment Order

x) Budget Head Ongoing works for the Year 2020-21

Sr. Name of the Work Estimated CostNo. (in Lacs)1. 34.00 Lacs

Sd/-Executive Engineer,Mechanical, SKIMS

No. SIMS 139 EX.520/20-3346-55-5856-5859Dated: 24.12.2020SIMS-5858

Design, Supply, Installation, Testing, Inspecting and Commissioning of Goods Lift (01 No.)in new Drug & Pharmacy Block with CMC for 03 Years at SKIMS, Srinagar.


SHER-l-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOURAOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,

MECHANICAL, SKIMS SOURA, MC & H, BEMINA, SRINAGARTel.: 0194-2402617, Ext.: 2159, E-mail: [email protected]


Gist of e-NIT No. 57 of 2020-21 Dated. 24.12.2020For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Executive Engineer, Mechanical, SKIMS, Soura,Srinagar, invites online e-bids in two (02) cover system from Original Lift Manufacturers or their AuthorizedDealers/Representatives/Registered Firms having experience in Installation, Testing and Commissioningof Lifts in Govt. Institutions/Departments, detailed in the tender document for the following works:








vii) Cost of e-Bid Document Rs. 1100/- (Rupees One Thousand &One Hundred only)

viii) Amount of Earnest Money Deposit (CDR/FDR) Rs. 44000/- (Rupees Forty FourThousand only)



Sr. Name of the Work Estimated CostNo. (in Lacs)

1. 22.00 Lacs


No. SIMS 139 EX.522/20-3367-76-5848-51Dated: 24.12.2020SIMS-5850

Design, Supply, Installation, Testing, Inspecting and Commissioning of 10Passengers Service Elevator at “Engineering Block, SKIMS,” Srinagar.

Office of the Chairman, NEET UG Medical & Dental Admission/ Counseling Board- 2020 and Principal, Government Dental

College (RUHS College of Dental Sciences),Subhash Nagar, Behind T.B. Hospital, Jaipur | Phone: 0141-2280090

Websites: www.education.rajasthan.gov.in/medicaleducation| www.rajugmedical2020.com

No. State UG Counseling Board/2020/ Dated: 24.12.2020

NOTIFICATION (Mop-up round, Off-line)NEET UG (MEDICAL / DENTAL) COUNSELLING 2020

(MBBS, BDS) (STATE OF RAJASTHAN)In continuation to earlier notification dated 18.12.2020, all concernedcandidates are informed that mop-up round allotments will be done on26-27 December 2020 for both Medical as well as Dental seats. Allconcerned candidates are required to visit the websitewww.rajugmedical2020.com and are required to be present at thevenue GDC, Jaipur for seat allotments, as per this revised schedule.

Sd/- ChairmanNEET UG Medical & Dental Admission/

Counseling Board-2020DIPR/C/9978/2020

vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk la[;k%& 87@2020&21@fo0fo0ea0@esjB]fo|qr forj.k [k.M prqFkZ] esjB ds vUrxZr mi[k.M izFke]esfMdy ds v/khuLFk 33@11 dsoh fo|qr midsUnzks ij LFkkfir11 dsoh oh0lh0ch0 dh vksojgkfyax ,oa ejEer dk dk;Z djusgsrq vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk vkeaf=r dh x;h gS ftlshttp://etender.up.nic.in ij izdkf”kr fd;k x;k gSA dk;Z dksiw.kZ djus dh vof/k 30 fnu gSA lUnfHkZr fufonk gsrq /kjksgj jkf”k#i;s 2000-00 gSA vkWuykbZu fufonk Hkjus dh vafre frfFk fnu-akd 11-01-2021 ¼12%00 cts rd½ gSA vYidkyhu bZ&fufonkla[;k%& 88@2020&21@fo0fo0ea0@esjB] fo|qr forj.k [k.MprqFkZ] esjB ds vUrxZr mi[k.M f}rh;] fdBkSj ds v/khuLFk33@11 dsoh fo|qr midsUnzks ij LFkkfir 11 dsoh oh0lh0ch0dh vksojgkfyax ,oa ejEer dk dk;Z djus gsrq vYidkyhubZ&fufonk vkeaf=r dh x;h gS ftls http://etender.up.nic.inij izdkf”kr fd;k x;k gSA dk;Z dks iw.kZ djus dh vof/k 30 fnugSA lUnfHkZr fufonk gsrq /kjksgj jkf”k #i;s 2000-00 gSA vkWuykbZufufonk Hkjus dh vafre frfFk fnuakd 11-01-2021 ¼12%00 cts rd½gSA vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk la[;k%& 89@2020&21@fo0fo0ea0@esjB] fo|qr forj.k [k.M prqFkZ] esjB ds vUrxZr mi[k.M r`rh;][kj[kkSnk ds v/khuLFk 33@11 dsoh fo|qr midsUnzks ij LFkkfir11 dsoh oh0lh0ch0 dh vksojgkfyax ,oa ejEer dk dk;Z djusgsrq vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk vkeaf=r dh x;h gS ftlshttp://etender.up.nic.in ij izdkf”kr fd;k x;k gSA dk;Z dksiw.kZ djus dh vof/k 30 fnu gSA lUnfHkZr fufonk gsrq /kjksgj jkf”k#i;s 2000-00 gSA vkWuykbZu fufonk Hkjus dh vafre frfFk fnu-akd 11-01-2021 ¼12%00 cts rd½ gSA vYidkyhu bZ&fufonkla[;k%& 90@2020&21@fo0fo0ea0@esjB] fo|qr forj.k [k.MprqFkZ] esjB ds vUrxZr 33@11 dsoh midsUnzks ,oa ykbZuks ijLFkkfir 11 dsoh ,oa 33 dsoh {kfrxzLr ghV flaxzdsfcy TokbfVaxfdV dks cnyus gsrq vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk vkeaf=r dh x;h gSftls http://etender.up.nic.in ij izdkf”kr fd;k x;k gSA dk;Zdks iw.kZ djus dh vof/k 30 fnu gSA lUnfHkZr fufonk gsrq /kjksgjjkf”k #i;s 2000-00 gSA vkWuykbZu fufonk Hkjus dh vafre frfFkfnuakd 11-01-2021 ¼12%00 cts rd½ gSA dk;Z dh ewy ek=k]fufonk fof”k’Vhdj.k o vU; fu;e ,oa “krsZ bZ&fufonk iksVZy ijmiyC/k gSA v/kksgLrk{kjh dks fcuk dkj.k crk;s vYidkyhubZ&fufonk fujLr djus dk vf/kdkj gksxkA fu/kkZfjr frfFk dsfoLrkj rFkk “kqf) i= ls lEcfU/kr lwpuk ;fn dksbZ gksxh] dsoyosclkbZV ij Mkyh tk;sxhA vr% Loa; dks viMsV j[kus ds fy,mijksDr osclkbZV dks fu;fer ns[ksA ^̂jjkk""VV~~ ffggrr eess ffccttyyhh ccppkk;;ss**vv//kkhh{{kk..kk vvffHHkk;;UUrrkk ffoo||qqrr ppkkssjjhh ddhh llwwppuukk 11880000&&118800&&33000022 iijjnn ss aaAA ffoo|| qqrr ffoorrjj..kk ee..MMyy&&ee ssjjBBAA IIkk== ll aa[[;;kk&&44114433]]ffoo00ffoo00eeaa00@@eessjjBB]] ffnnuukkaadd %% 2266--1122--22002200

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Office of the Additional Chief Engineer, PWD Zone-II Udaipur,HQ Banswara Rajasthan

Email: [email protected] Inviting BidNIT No.- 04/2020-21

RFP Code-PWD2021RFP0003No.- D-472 Dated - 16.12.2020RFP for Balance Work for Construction of High Level Bridge across river Anas including approaches Near BheravjiMandir on Nahali - Bhattar- Bheravji- Peechhawara - Naharpura road (MDR-125) District Banswara in the State ofRajasthan on EPC Basis.The Rajasthan Public Works Department is engaged in the development of Highways & Bridges and as part of this endeavour,it has been decided to undertake Balance Work for Construction of High Level Bridge across river Anas including approachesNear Bheravji Mandir on Nahall - Bhattar Bheravji- Peechhawara- Naharpura road (MDR-125) District Banswara in the Stateof Rajasthan through an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract.The Rajasthan PWD, now invites bids from eligible contractors for the following project:

“The complete BID document can be viewed / downloaded from official e-procurement portal of Rajasthan Governmenthttp://www.eproc.rajasthan.gov.in or http://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in from 18.12.2020 to 07.01.2021 (upto 18.00 Hrs. IST),Bid must be submitted online only at http://www.eproc.rajasthan.gov.in on or before 07.01.2021 (upto18.00 hours IST). Bidsreceived online shall be opened on 11.01.2021(at 13.00 Hours IST).Bid through any other mode shall not be entertained. However, Copy of Single Online Challan generated throughegras.raj.nic.in in favour of "Executive Engineer PWD Division , Garhi (DDO code -14254) Containing to Amount of BidSecurity, Bid Processing Fee, Bidding Document Fee, Power of Attorney and Joint Bidding Agreement, GST registration andcontractor registration etc. shall be submitted physically by the Bidder on or before 08.01.2021 (up to 13.00 Hrs. IST), Pleasenote that the Authority/ reserves the right to accept or reject all or any of the BIDs without assigning any reason whatsoever.

Sd/-(Ramhet Meena)

Additional Chief Engineer,DIPR/C/9987/2020 PWD Zone-II, Udaipur (HQ Banswara), Rajasthan

State Section Name of work EstimatedProject Cost

Completionperiod

Maintenanceperiod

Rajasthan Nahali- Bhattar-Bheravji- Peechhawara- Naharpura road(MDR-125) Distt.Banswara

Balance Work for Construction of High Level Bridgeacross river Anas including approaches Near BheravjiMandir on Nahall - Bhattar Bheravji- Peechhawara-Naharpura road (MDR-125) District Banswara in theState of Rajasthan

Rs. 18.48 Cr. 18 Months 10 years /120 Months

GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHANDEPARTMENT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY

Email: [email protected]

NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT)In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 10B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, its subsequentamendments and in accordance with the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 as amended from time to time notified thereunder, theGovernment of Rajasthan has notified the following mineral blocks for the purpose of grant of Mining Lease for mineral limestone andhereby invites bids in digital format only from eligible bidders through electronic auction.The details of mineral blocks and last date of submission of bid is as summarized below:-

All the blocks mentioned above are being put up for second attempt of auction. The interested and eligible bidders, upon registration onMSTC website <https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mlcl/index.jsp> will obtain login ID and Password. After successfulregistration, the eligible bidder can purchase the Tender Document online on payment of the tender fee of Rs. 2,00,000/- + GST (freshbidder) and can participate in the e-auction process. However, if a bidder already had purchased the tender document of abovementioned blocks in first attempt of auction, then this time the tender document is made available for download to that particular bidderonly subsequent to a payment of non-refundable tender fees of INR 25,000/- + GST (Indian Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Only).The GST at the rate of 18% is applicable on the purchase of tender document. The GST applicable is to be submitted by the prospectivebidder itself and the copy of receipt is to be attached with the technical bid. The prospective bidder shall be solely responsible forremitting the GST as per applicable law and statutory liability in this regard will be responsibility of prospective bidder and no liabilitywhatsoever shall be borne by the DMGR/MSTC.Detailed terms and conditions, deadlines etc. for participation in the electronic auction are provided in the Tender Document. The ModelTender Document and Mineral Blocks Summaries are available free of cost in electronic form and can be downloaded from the websiteof MSTC Ltd, < https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mlcl/index.jsp>; and Department of Mines & Geology<www.mines.rajasthan.gov.in > for the purpose of information only. Timelines, notifications, updates and other details for the e auctionprocess are available on the website of <https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mlcl/index.jsp >.Any revision, clarifications, addendum, corrigendum, time extensions, etc. to the above tender documents will be hosted on websites< https://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/mlcl/index.jsp>; and <www.mines.rajasthan.gov.in> only and no separatenotifications shall be issued in the press.

Sd/-Director

Department of Mines & GeologyDIPR/C/9943/2020 Rajasthan, Udaipur

Date of NIT: 23-12-2020

SNo

Block Lease Start Date of Sale ofTender Document on

MSTC website

Last Date of Sale ofTender Document on

MSTC website

Bid Due date and time

1 Khinya - II A (KH-II A) Block Tehsil ShriMohangarh & District jaisalmer

MiningLease

23.12.2020 07.01.2021 upto 1700 Hrs(IST)

27.01.2021 upto 1300 Hrs(IST)

2 4G IIa Block Tehsil Khimsar & District Nagaur MiningLease

23.12.2020 07.01.2021 upto 1700 Hrs(IST)

27.01.2021 upto 1400 Hrs(IST)


SHER-l-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOURAEXECUTIVE ENGINEER, MECHANICAL, SKIMS MC & H,

BEMINA & SKIMS, SOURA, SRINAGARTel.: 0194-2402617, Ext.: 2159, E-mail: [email protected]


Gist of NIT No. 56 of 2020-21 Dated. 24.12.2020For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Executive Engineer, Mechanical, SKIMS, SouraMC&H Bemina Srinagar, invites online e-bids in two (02) cover system from original Lift Manufacturers or theirAuthorized Dealers/ Authorized Representatives/Registered and Repurted Firms having experience inInstallation of lifts in Govt. Institutions/Departments, detailed in the tender document for the following works:








vii) Cost of e-Bid Document Rs. 8700/- (Rupees Eight Thousand &Seven Hundred only)

viii) Amount of Earnest Money Deposit (CDR/FDR) Rs. 350000/- (Rupees Three Lacs &Fifty Thousand only)



Sr. Name of the Work Estimated CostNo. (in Lacs)

1. 175.00


No. SIMS 139 EX/MECH/2020-21/512/20-3356-66-5852-55Dated: 24.12.2020SIMS-5854

Design, Supply, Installation, Testing, Inspecting and Commissioning of varioustypes Lifts along with CMC for 03 Years at New Maternity Hospital, SKIMS.

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New Delhi

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

New Delhi

6THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,DECEMBER26

LAUNCHINGTHEPM-JanArogyaYojna SEHAT scheme, whichpromiseshealth insurance covertoall1.30crorepeopleof Jammuand Kashmir, Prime MinisterNarendraModi onSaturday saidthat they can get free treatmentuptoRs5lakhinanyofthe24,000hospitals across the country, butforWestBengal.“Your free treatment under

the Ayushman Bharat SEHATschemewill not be confined toonlygovernmentandprivatehos-pitals in J&Kbut in24,000hospi-talsacrossthecountry,’’Modisaidinanonlineaddress. “Incaseyouhave gone toMumbai and sud-denlycomeacrosssomeproblem,theSEHATcardwillhelpyouasacompanion there. In case ofKerala, too, hospitals therewillgiveyoufreetreatment,’’hesaid.In an indirect attack on the

MamataBanerjee-ledTrinamoolCongress government inWestBengal,Modi said, “If you go toKolkata [and need help of thescheme], then there will be aproblem,asthegovernmentthere

isnotassociatedwithAyushmanBharat Scheme.Kuchh log hoteyhein…kyakarein.”

New Delhi: Dates for the 2021CBSEboardexaminationswillbedeclared on the evening ofDecember 31, Union EducationMinister Ramesh Pokhriyal an-nounced on social media onSaturday.The central board earlier

made two major announce-mentsaboutthe2021boardex-aminations—that theywill notbegininJanuaryorFebruary,andthat they will be conducted asphysicalwritten exams andnotasonlineexaminations.

ENS

Kolkata: After PMNarendraModi said thatpeople of other statescannotgetbenefitsof theCentre's AyushmanBharat health insurancescheme inWest Bengal,the state’s HealthMinister, ChandrimaBhattacharya, hit back,saying that the state hasalready introduced the‘SasthyaSathiScheme’forpeopleofWestBengal.“Ourhealthschemeis

better... Our scheme cov-ers the beneficiary andher/his extended family...TheCentralgovernment’sschemedoesnothavethatprovision. Why do weneedtotakesuchschemesforwhichwehave togiveashare?” ENS

Bengal schemebetter: Minister

PM launches health coverscheme in J&K: Benefiteverywhere but in Kolkata

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI,DECEMBER26

HOME MINISTER Amit ShahSaturdaysetthetonefortheBJP's2021Assamelection campaignwith a swipe against newly-formed political parties, thelaunch of a raft of educationalprojects, and outreach to theVaishnavitecommunity.Promising employment and

industries, Shah said "andolan"(protests)hadbroughtnothingtoAssam—a likely reference to theanti-CAAagitationinthestate.“They[newparties]cannever

formgovernment. Theywant toruin BJP’s votes and help theCongresswin,” he saidat a foun-dation stone-laying ceremony inKamrupdistrict'sAmingaon.Shahwas seenas referring to

the Assam Jatiya Parishad—formedundertheaegisof theAll

AssamStudents’UnionandAsomJatiyatabadiYubaChatraParishad—and the Raijor Dal, formed bypeasant rights organisationKrishakMukti SangramSamiitiand ledbythe jailedAkhilGogoi.Bothnewpartiesowetheirgene-sistotheanti-CAAagitation.

“Tell me, thosewho do an-dolan or the Congress party,which fires bullets on youths ofAssam,cantheyeverbringinvest-ment and industry to Assam,”Shahsaid.Focusing on Assam’s

Vaishnaviteheritage,Shahlaidthefoundation stone for a Rs 188-croreprojecttodevelopandbeau-tifyBardowaThan,thebirthplaceof the revered Vaishnavite re-formerSrimantaSankardev.Heceremoniallydistributedfi-

nancial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakheach to 8,000 namghars(Vaishnavite prayer halls) undertheAsomDarshanscheme.Shahlaidthefoundationstone

forasuper-specialitymedicalcol-legebeingsetupatacostofRs755crore inGuwahati. He also cere-monially launched theconstruc-tionworkofninelawcolleges.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR,DECEMBER26

THERASHTRIYALoktantrikParty(RLP) on Saturday announcedthat itwas breaking away fromtheNationalDemocraticAlliance(NDA)inprotestagainstthethreefarmlawsbroughtbytheCentre.The announcement was

made by RLP chief and NagaurMPHanumanBeniwal at a rallyat Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan'sAlwardistrict.“Am I stuck to NDA with

Fevicol?TodayIannouncethatinprotestagainstthefarmlaws,andafter seeing problems that thefarmers are facing, I am leavingNDA,”hesaid.Beniwal, apromi-nentJatleader,saidifthegovern-ment is ready towithdraw thelaws, then talks on the questionof thealliancewill remainopen.“WhenthesethreeBillswere

brought inLokSabha,Hanuman

Beniwalwas not in theHouse. IwaskeptoutofLokSabhaonthepretextofafalseCovid-19report.Had I been there and these Billswere introduced, I would havetornandthrownthem,”hesaid.RLP contested 2019General

Election in alliance with BJP,Beniwal being its loneMP. ThepartyhasthreeMLAs.

Ex-PunjabMPquits BJPMeanwhile, former Punjab

MP Harinder Singh Khalsa hasquit theBJP,accusing its leader-shipofanindifferentattitudeto-wardsprotesting farmers.

WITHPTIINPUTSFROMPUNJAB

MANOJCGNEWDELHI,DECEMBER26

ADAY after Rahul Gandhi saidthere is no democracy in India,PrimeMinister NarendraModionSaturdayhitback.ReferringtoCongress-ruledPuducherry,saidthat local bodyelections arenotbeing conducted in the UnionTerritory despite a SupremeCourtorder.The Supreme Court order

Modi apparently referred tocame inMay 2018. Elections topanchayatandmunicipalbodieshadnotbeenheldinPuducherrysince2011.Thedelayisprimarilybecause

the delimitation exercise hasdraggedon for years. Thematter

hadreachedcourtsandtherehavebeen multiple judgments byMadrasHighCourtandSupremeCourtovertheyears.Butinthelasttwoyears,abittertusslebetweenChiefMinister VNarayanasamyandLtGovernorKiranBedi overappointment of a State ElectionCommissioner (SEC)hasopenedupanewdimension.The Sunday Express spoke to

bothNarayanasamyandBedi.The CM said AINRC was in

powerwhencourtsfirstdirectedPuducherry to hold the polls in2012.HesaidAINRCwaswiththeNDA and supported the Centralgovernmentfortwoyearswhenitwasinofficeafter2014,but“didnot take any action (on holdingelections).”InMay2018, the SCdirected

Puducherry to complete thede-limitationprocess andholdpan-chayatandmunicipalpollswith-outdelay.TheordercameonaSLPfiledbyPuducherrygovernmentagainstaMadrasHCordertoholdthepollsbyJune2015.

Andthenthetusslebegan.InMay2019,Narayanasamy

sentafiletoBedirecommendingappointment of former bureau-cratTMBalakrishnanasSEC.TheL-G returned the file in July, say-inghe couldnot be accepted forappointment.“The Lt Governorwanted to

appointanelectioncommissionerwithout the government. Underthe Village and CommunePanchayats Act, and alsoMunicipalities Act, power isvestedwiththeminister.TheL-Gisonlyforclearance,”hesaid.Bedisaiddespiteherrepeated

interventions, the Puducherrygovernmenthas been “draggingits feet” andnot “publishing thedelimitedwards” before comingupwithanameforthepostofSEC.

The L-G, she said, is the com-petent authority to appoint theSEC. “They (government) justpickedup somebody and sent afileforapproval.Itwasnotbydueprocess,”shesaid.After returning the file, theL-

G’sofficeinJulylastyearissuedanopenadvertisementforappoint-ment of SEC. Later thatmonth,PuducherryAssemblySpeakerVPSivakozhunthuannulled the ad-vertisement.Adaylater, thegov-ernmentappointedBalakrishnanasSEC.OnDecember 20, 2019, Bedi

issued an order declaringBalakrishnan's appointment as"void ab initio". In January thisyear,Narayanasamyissuedanor-der annulling theL-G’sorderde-claringit ‘illegal’.

InOctober,Bediissuedanor-der appointing former forest of-ficer Roy P Thomas as the SEC.“Heisaforestofficer.Hisappoint-ment was illegal. That is beingchallenged by another personand is before the court,”Narayanasamysaid.Bedi said the government is

dragging its feet to see that theelections are held afterAssemblypolls.Narayanasamysaid, “It is un-

fortunatethatthehonourablePM,withoutgoingintodetailsofwhathadhappened,whowasrespon-siblefordelay,isputtingtheblameontheelectedgovernmentwith-out correcting the L-G,whowasappointedbytheCentre...”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Bengaluru: Cautioning aboutIndia’s image globally taking ahitbecauseoftheongoingfarm-ers’ protest and urging PrimeMinister NarendraModi to endthe stalemate, JD(S) leader H DKumaraswamyonSaturdaysaidhefeelsthatfarmersshouldhavean openmind towards experi-mentingwith thenewlaws.“Theremarksof seniorUnion

Minister Rajnath Singhwith re-specttothenewlegislationshaveinstilled anewhope.Hehas ap-pealed to farmers toallowanex-perimental implementation,”Kumaraswamysaid, adding thatthere has been a strong publicopinion that Indian agriculturalsector is caught inaviciouscircle.“Hence,Ipersonallyfeelthatfarm-ersshouldhaveanopenmindto-wards experimentingwith thenewlegislations.But therehas tobepropercoordination.” PTI

NewDelhi:TheBJP is set tohold25 seminars over the comingweeks to discuss ‘One Nation,One Election’ as it aims to rallysupportontheissue,partylead-ers said on Saturday. Accordingto them, seniorpartymembers,academics and representativesof the legal communitywill bepartof theexercise.The idea has often been

pushed by the BJP, with PMNarendraModiarguingthatitwillleadtoadecreaseinexpenditure,andthatfrequentelectionsunder-minedevelopment. ENS

Shah in poll-bound Assam: Stategained nothing from ‘andolan’

AmitShahwithAssamCMSarbanandaSonowalandFinanceMinisterHimantaBiswaSarmainAmingaon.DasarathDeka

CBSE exam dates onDec 31: Pokhriyal

BJP webinars on ‘onenation, one election’

Farmers shouldhave open mindtowards new laws:Kumaraswamy

HanumanBeniwal

Beniwal announces splitfrom NDA over farm laws

PMNarendraModi PTI

PM’s Puducherry pointer sparks CM-Bedi tusslePMBLAMINGWITHOUTGOINGINTODETAILS,SAYSCM;UTGOVT ‘DRAGGINGFEET’OVERPOLLS ,SAYSL-G

New Delhi

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

New Delhi

Medicine, University of Pennsylvania;BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT-Bombay,PhDinPhysicsfromUniversityofCalifornia,LA.LIVESIN:Philadelphia,USA

42. SHRUTI SINGHSt. Joseph’s Convent School, VaranasiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2008■PursuingaPhD inPhysics atUniversityof California, San Diego. BTech inEngineeringPhysicsfromIITBombayandMSinPhysicsfromUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego.LIVESIN:SanDiego,USA

43. VIGNESHVENKATACHALAMKendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, ChennaiTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2008■DeferredMSinComputationalAnalysis&Public Policy atUniversity of Chicago toFall2021duetopandemic.Nowaresearchand documentation intern at RashtramSchoolofPublicLeadership,Sonipat.BTechfromVNITNagpur. LIVESIN:Thane, India

44. GAURAV SOODThe Doon School, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2008■ Running Strategy& Special Projects atZego,afintechfirm.Bachelor’sinEconomicsfromSt Stephen’s College andMBA fromUniversityofOxford. LIVESIN:London

45. SOHINICHAPARALASri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School,PuttaparthiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2008■ ResearchManager at Innovations forPoverty Action, a non-profit. GraduatedwithMSc (Integrated) Economics fromIIT-Kanpur. LIVESIN:Dhaka,Bangladesh

46. RISHIRAJIVMEHTAJamnabaiNarseeSchool, Juhu,MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2009■SoftwareengineerworkingonGoogle’ssearch ranking algorithms; BTech andMTechinCSfromIITKharagpur. LIVESIN:SanFranciscoBayArea,USA

47. PARNIL SINGHKV No. 1, Sri Vijaynagar, VizagTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2009■ Joined Kearney, a globalmanagementconsulting firm, as a consultant thismonth. Integrated BTech andMTech inChemical Engineering fromIITDelhi andMBAfromIIMCalcutta. LIVES IN:Delhi

48. SUBHOJITGHOSHSt. Joseph’s College, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2009■ Senior product manager at Amazonhelpingcreatepersonalisedshoppingex-periences for customers. BTech inME atIIT Kanpur and MBA from HarvardBusinessSchool.LIVES IN:Seattle,USA

49. TANNVIAGGARWALApeejay School, FaridabadTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2009■SeniorManageratoneof thelargestre-tail groups in theMiddle East and India.BCom from SRCC (Delhi University) andpostgraduate diploma inmanagementfromIIM-Bangalore.LIVES IN:Dubai

50.MRITTIKA SENRajhans Vidyalaya, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2009■ Pursuing a fellowship in Ophthalmicand Facial Plastic Surgery and Ocular

Oncology at Centre for SightSuperspecialty EyeHospital, Hyderabad.MBBS from Seth G S Medical College,Mumbai,MDOphthalmologyfromAIIMS.LIVES IN:Hyderabad

51. JANVIVIPULTHOSANISmt. Lilavatibai Podar School, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2010■ Analyst with JP Morgan working onmanaging banks’ liquidity and interestraterisk.BComfromMumbaiUniversity,MBAfromIIM-Ahmedabadandisaqual-ifiedCA.LIVES IN:Mumbai

52. SWATIPRUSTYDAVGirlsSeniorSecondarySchool,ChennaiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2010■ Strategy Consultant at L&T Infotech.BTech in Electrical and ElectronicsEngineering fromBITS-Pilani,MBA fromIIMBangalore. LIVES IN:Mumbai

53. SHREYADAGAMahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2010■Manager inthetaxdepartmentofPwCIndia. B.Com(Hons)atStXavier’sCollege,Kolkata, and isaqualifiedCA.LIVES IN:Kolkata

54. SUMEDHARAISt. Anthony’s Junior College, AgraTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2010■ Studying MS in Data Science at NewYork University. BA (Hons) Economicsfrom St. Stephen’s College and MScFinance fromUniversity ofWarwick.LIVES IN:NewYork

55. AVISHEKDESt. Xavier’s Institution, PanihatiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2011■AssociateatGoldmanSachsworkingonplatforms that calculatemarket risk forthe firm’s daily trades. BTech in EE fromIIT-Roorkee.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

56. SPRIHABISWASRajendra Vidyalaya, JamshedpurTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2011■ChiefProductOfficeratScribetech,head-ingdevelopmentofamedicalspeechrecog-nition software.Metallurgy EngineeringfromIIT-Bombay.LIVESIN:Mumbai

57. ETIAGARWALLa Martiniere Girls’ College, LucknowTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2011■ TaxManager at EY. BCom (Honours)fromSRCC,DelhiUniversity. Isalsoaqual-ifiedCAandCompanySecretary.LIVES IN:Bahadurgarh,Haryana

58. DRAVYANSH SHARMADelhi Public School, GhaziabadTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2011■ PursuingPhDintheComputerScienceDepartment at Carnegie MellonUniversity, Pittsburgh.Wasearlier seniorsoftware engineer with Google. BTechfromIIT-Delhi.LIVES IN:Pittsburgh,USA

59.MADHAVI SINGHCarmel School, DhanbadTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2012■ Lawyer with Shardul AmarchandMangaldasworking on competition lawcases. BA LLB (Hons) at National LawSchoolof IndiaUniversity,Bangalore,andBachelor’s in Civil Law at University ofOxford.LIVES IN:Delhi, India

60. SHALAKAABHAYKULKARNISmt Sulochanadevi Singhania School,ThaneTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2012■CurrentlypursingMBAfromYaleSchoolof Management. BTech in EE from IIT-Bombay.LIVES IN: Connecticut,USA

61.MOHAMMAD ISMATZenith Academy Sangaiprou, ImphalTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2012■Preparingforcivilservicesexam.Physics

Bachelor’s from St. Stephen’s College,Delhi.LIVES IN: Imphal

62. ANIKAAGRAWALSt. Mary’s School, PuneTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013■PursuingMSMarineBiologyfromTexasA&M University; BS in EnvironmentalToxicologyat sameuniversity.LIVES IN:Galveston,Texas,USA

63.MANASIARORAChatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School,MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013■Workingasananalyst inaglobal finan-cial services firm. BComfromHRCollegeof Commerce and Economics and is alsoaqualifiedCA.LIVES IN:Mumbai

64. SIMRANKHANUJASt. Mary’s School, PuneTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013■ Predoc Researcher at Google ResearchIndiaworkingondevelopingtechnologiesfor low-resource languages. BE inCSandMSc in Economics fromBITS-Pilani, Goa.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

65. SOPANKHOSLADelhi Public School, Mandla Road,JabalpurTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2013■StudyingMaster’s inMachineLearningand Natural Language Processing atCarnegie Mellon University. Earlierworked at Adobe Research Bangalore.BTech inCS fromIITRoorkee.LIVES IN:Pittsburgh,USA

66. PARAS SHARMALancer Convent School, Rohini, DelhiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2013■ Is a Master’s student in InternationalRelationsatUniversityofQueensland.BA(Honours) Economics at SRCC, DelhiUniversity. LIVES IN: Queensland,Australia

67. BHUVANYAAVIJAYSt. Joseph’s Academy, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2013

■ Self-employed as a freelance researchassistant in international environmentallaw. BA LLB (Hons) from National LawSchool of India University, Bangalore.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

68. SHREYAS SUDHAMANSri Kumaran Public School, BangaloreTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014■PursuingPhDinChemicalEngineeringfromCockrell School of Engg, Universityof Texas. Bachelor’s in ChemicalEngineering fromOhio State University.LIVES IN:Austin, Texas,USA

69. SIDDHARTHA SHANKARKAHALILittle Flower School, JamshedpurTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014■ Analyst at Goldman Sachs. BTech inMathematics and Computing from IIT-Delhi.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

70. APOORVANARAYANASWAMYSt. Paul’s English School, BangaloreTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014■Attendingmedical school atBangaloreMedical College and Research Institute.LIVES IN:Bengaluru, India

71. TEZANTAPAN SAHUSt. Mary’s ICSE School, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015■ Now a 4th-year BTech student at IITBombay.LIVES IN:Mumbai

72. AYUSHBANERJEELoyola School, JamshedpurTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2014■ Investment Analyst at Accel; BTech inChemicalEngineeringfromIITKharagpur.LIVES IN:Bengaluru, India

73. SARTHAKAGRAWALDPS Vasant Kunj, DelhiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2014■TIllrecently,hewasworkingasanecon-omist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies inLondon. Returned toDelhi toworkonaninitiative thatwill help governments usebigdataandAI forbettergovernance;BAinEconomicsfromSRCC,Delhi,andMPhilfromOxfordUniversity.LIVES IN:Delhi

74. ANANYAPATWARDHANChatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School,MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015■ Now a 4th-year student of BA LLB(Hons) programme at the National LawSchool of India University, Bangalore.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

75. SOUGATOCHOWDHURYSt. Xavier’s Collegiate School, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015■Fourth-yearstudentenrolledinthefive-year integrated BS-MS program at IISERPune.LIVES IN:Pune, India

76. ARKYACHATTERJEEVivekananda Mission School, Joka,KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2015■Nowasecond-yearPhDstudentatMIT.BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT-Bombay.LIVES IN:Massachusetts,USA

8 9THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

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1. SANKALPABHATTACHARJYAFrankAnthonyPublicSchool,BangaloreTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1996

■ Partner at PwC India. BE (Hons) in EEfromBITS-PilaniandMBAfromFacultyofManagement Studies, Delhi University.LIVES IN:Gurgaon

2. ROHITCHARLES FERNANDESDon Bosco School, Park Circus, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1996■ Senior Software EngineerwithGoogleIndia, working on improving GoogleMaps. BTech in Computer Science fromIIT-Madras andMaster’s and PhD fromCornellUniversity.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

3. RISHIRAJ SINGHCambrian Hall, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1997■Assistant Vice President at Genpact, inchargeofdigitaltransformationinitiatives.BTech at IIIT Allahabad andMBA at XLRIJamshedpur.LIVES IN:Noida

4. SHALINIPRASADDe Nobili School, Mugma, DhanbadTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1997■ Vice President (Finance) at BritishPetroleum looking after electric vehiclecharging and customer offers. BCom(Honours) fromSRCCand isnowaquali-fiedCA. LIVES IN:London

5. CHAITRACHANDRASEKHARSophia High School, BengaluruTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1998■ Partner at consulting firm OliverWyman. Has two Bachelor’s degrees inManagementandComputerScienceandEngineering; and a Master’s degree inElectrical Engineering and ComputerScience fromMIT.LIVES IN:NewYork

6. KIRANGOPINATHSarvodaya Vidyalaya,ThiruvananthapuramTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998■CardiologistatNIMSMedicity.MBBSandMD from CMC, Vellore, and DM fromGovernmentMedicalCollegeTrivandrum.LIVESIN:Thiruvananthapuram

7. SOMNATHBOSESt. Patrick’s Higher Secondary School,AsansolTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998■AssistantProfessoratHarvardMedicalSchool (HMS) and staff anesthesiologistat HMS’s Beth Israel DeaconessMedicalCenter.MBBSatMedicalCollegeKolkata,MDatAIIMSandResidencyinanesthesi-ology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.LIVES IN:Boston,USA

8. PREMKARTHIK SVikaasa School, MaduraiTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998■ Principal at Daugherty BusinessSolutionshelpingFortune500companiesdeliver IT transformation initiatives. BEdegree in Computer Science fromThiagarajarCollegeofEngineeringandMSin Software Systems from BITS-Pilani.LIVES IN:GreaterChicagoArea,USA

9. VARTIKABHANDARISt. Mary’s Convent Inter College,AllahabadTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998■ Senior Staff Software Engineer atGoogle.BTechinComputerSciencefromIITKanpurandPhDinComputerSciencefrom University Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. LIVES IN: SanFranciscoBayArea,USA

10. PUSHPRAJ SHUKLAMethodist High School, KanpurTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999

■ Partner Director of Machine LearningatMicrosoft. BTech from IITKanpur andMSComputerSciencefromUniversityofTexas,Austin.LIVESIN:SanFranciscoBayArea, USA

11. KARUNAGANESHManeckji Cooper Educational TrustSchool, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999■ Physician-scientist at the MemorialSloan Kettering Cancer Center. BA inBiochemistry, MA in Medicine, PhD inMolecularBiology&MDfromCambridgeUniversity.LIVES IN:NewYork,USA

12. ANOOPMENONHari Sri Vidya Nidhi School, ThrissurTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2000■ Recently quit as Assistant Professor ofStrategyatWhartonSchool,UniversityofPennsylvania, to co-found a stealth AIstartupinNewYorkCity.BAinEconomicsandPsychologyfromAmherstCollegeandPhD in Strategy fromHarvard BusinessSchool.LIVES IN:NewYork,USA

13. BIKAS SAHASt. James’ School, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2000■Platformarchitect at Adobe. Bachelor’sandMaster’s in Computer Science andEngineeringfromIITKharagpur.LIVESIN:MountainView,California,USA

14. YASHODHANKANORIACampion School, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2001■ Sidney Taurel Associate Professor ofBusiness Decision, Risk and OperationsDivision at Graduate School of Business,ColumbiaUniversity.BTechinEEfromIIT-Bombay, PhD from Stanford University.LIVES IN:NewYork,USA

15. SMAHAVIRAGARWALIspat English Medium School, RourkelaTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2002■AssistantProfessor in theDepartmentof Psychiatry at the University ofToronto, Staff Psychiatrist andClinician-Scientist in the Schizophrenia Divisionat Centre for Addiction and MentalHealth, Toronto. MBBS from JIPMER,Puducherry, and MD and PhD inPsychiatry from NIMHANS, Bangalore.LIVES IN: Toronto, Canada

16. VIBHOR JAINBoys’ High School & College, AllahabadTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2002■ PrincipalMember of Technical Staff atGlobalFoundries,wherehisroleisinR&Dof semiconductor technologies. BTech-MTechDualDegreeinEEfromIITKanpur,PhD fromUniversity of California SantaBarbara.LIVES IN:Vermont,USA

17. RAHUL SHARMABrightlands School, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2003■ Product Manager at Google. BE(Honours) in Electronics andInstrumentationfromBITS-Pilani,PGDMfromIIMBangalore.LIVESIN:Seattle,USA

18. VINEETKUMARCity Montessori School, LucknowTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2003■StrategyManageratGoogle.Bachelor’sin Computer Science and Engineeringfrom BITS-Pilani and PGDM from IIMLucknow.LIVES IN:NewYork,USA

19.MEGHA SINGHLa Martiniere for Girls, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12ISC,2003■Owns aTanishq showroomandaven-turecalled‘CreativeCircus’thatdoespop-upevents.BScManagementSciencefromUniversityofWarick.LIVES IN:Kolkata

20. KSHITIJGARGSt. Joseph’s Academy, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2004■ Equity Research Analyst at GoldmanSachs. Bachelor’s in Computing fromNational University of Singapore, andEconomics fromDelhi University, PGDMfromIIM-Rohtak.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

21. RISHABH SINGHKendriya Vidyalaya, ONGC, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2004■ResearchScientistwithGoogleX.BTechin CS from IIT-Kharagpur, MS and PhDfromMIT.LIVES IN:San Jose,California

22. ADITYAGALGOTIAThe Modern High School, DubaiTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2004■ Facilities Engineer at Imperial OilResources.BEinMechanicalEngineering

from McGill University, Montreal.LIVES IN:Calgary,Canada

23. RAHUL LAKHMANISeth MR Jaipuria School, LucknowTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2004■Working in family business. BE in CSfrom BITS-Pilani, PGDM from IIM-Ahmedabad. LIVES IN:Lucknow

24. KAUSTAVMAJUMDERThe Blue Bells School, GurgaonTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2005■GeneralSurgeryResidentatUniversityof Minnesota.MBBS at AIIMS. LIVES IN:Minneapolis-StPaul,Minnesota,USA

25. SAGARRAKSHITLaurels School International, IndoreTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2005■Insecondyearofhispostdocfellowshipin Hematology/Oncology atMayo ClinicinUSA.MBBS fromAIIMSandResidencyin InternalMedicine at Cleveland Clinic.LIVES IN:Cleveland,USA

26. ANANDVENKATRAMANPS Senior Secondary School, ChennaiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2005■ In neuroendovascular training atUniversity of South Carolina.MBBS fromAIIMS, Neurology Residency fromUniversityofAlabamaandaNeurocriticalcarefellowshipatHarvardMedicalSchool.LIVES IN:SouthCarolina,USA

27. SUBHANKARMOHAPATRADAVSchool,Chandrasekharpur,OdishaTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2006■ IASofficer(2018batch)ofOdishacadre,postedasSub-Collector,SDM,Kandhamal,Odisha. MBBS at SCB Medical College,Cuttack.LIVES IN:Kandhamal,Odisha

28. VIPULGUPTADAV Public School, Thermal Colony,PanipatTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2006■ Preparing for civil services and doingMAEconomics from IGNOU. BTech in EEfromDelhi College of Engineering, andwas a Young India Fellow at AshokaUniversity.LIVES IN:Zirakpur, Punjab

29. ABHISHEKKARStewart School, BhubaneswarTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2006■ Senior Research Scientist at Googleworking on algorithms to help comput-ers see the world as we do. BTech in CSfrom IIT-Kanpur, PhD fromUC Berkeley.LIVES IN:California,USA

30. SATYAM SAXENASt. Peter’s College, AgraTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006■ Vice President, Group Finance at DBS,Singapore.BE(Hons)inComputerSciencefrom BITS-Pilani, PGDM from IIMAhmedabad.LIVES IN:Singapore

31. GEETAKGUPTASt. Mary’s Academy, Meerut CanttTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006■ Research scientist at Transphorm, asemiconductor company. B.Tech in EEfrom IIT-Kanpur andMS and PhD fromUniversity of California Santa Barbara.LIVES IN:SantaBarbara,USA

32. RAJHANSARAMASUBBASRIDHARASmtSulochanadeviSinghaniaSchool,Thane

TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006■ Project Leader at Boston Consulting

Group. Dual degree (BTech &MTech) inAerospaceEngineeringfromIIT-Bombay,MS in Management Science andEngineeringfromStanford,MBAfromTheWhartonSchool.LIVESIN: SanFrancisco

33. PALLAVICHANDRAWelham Girls’ School, DehradunTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006■ Co-founder & Director of VidyanjaliMontessori Preschool and SymphonyEvents,aneventmanagementcompany.BA(Hons)inEconomicsatSt.Stephen’sCollege,MSc(Finance&Economics)atUniversityofWarwick and a diploma in Early YearsEducation from Modern MontessoriInstituteLondon.LIVESIN:Karnal

34. JERENEMATHEWSKendriya Vidyalaya, KottayamTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2006■ Paediatric dermatologist at BelieversChurchMedical College Hospital. MBBSfrom Government Medical College,Kottayam,MD (Dermatology) and post-doc fellowship fromJIPMER.LIVES IN:Thiruvalla,Kerala

35. GAURAVMISHRAS.C.B. Medical Public School, CuttackTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2007■ Senior Software Engineer at GooglebuildingAI systems. BTech in EE from IITDelhi.LIVESIN:MountainView,California

36. PARULGARGArya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2007■ Senior Associate at Nexia Advisors, aboutiqueinvestmentbankingfirm.BCom(Honours)fromNarseeMonjeeCollegeofCommerceandEconomicsandisaquali-fied CA and Chartered Financial Analyst.LIVES IN:Mumbai

37. JAHNVIDHARBrahmPrakashDAVSchool,HyderabadTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007■ Senior Resident in third year of DMGastroenterologyatPGIMER,Chandigarh.MBBS, MD fromMaulana AzadMedicalCollege,Delhi.LIVES IN:Chandigarh

38. LEKSHMIVAIDYESWARANBhartiya Vidya Bhawan SeniorSecondary School, TrivandrumTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007■ Senior Product Manager at ICICIPrudentialLifeInsurance.BTechinAppliedElectronics&InstrumentationfromCollegeof Engineering Trivandrum, PGDM fromIIMKozhikode.LIVESIN:Mumbai

39. APARNAMURALIDHARKendriya Vidyalaya, ASC, BangaloreTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007■PathologistatChandrammaDayanandaSagar Institute ofMedical Education andResearch. MBBS from KempegowdaInstitute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore,andpostgraduationinPathologyfromthesamecollege.LIVES IN:Bengaluru

40. ANTARIKSHBOTHALEDelhi Public School, JodhpurTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2007■ Senior Software Engineer at Googleworking onGoogle Assistant. BTech andMTech in ME from IIT-Bombay, MS inComputationalLinguisticsfromUniversityofWashington.LIVESIN:California,USA

41. JANAKIKIRIT SHETHSmtSulochanadeviSinghaniaSchool,Thane

TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2008■ Postdoc scholar at Perelman School of

Who’s who—and whereFromtheco-founderofastealthAI start-upinNewYorktoahedgefundmanager inSingapore, fromacompetitionlawspecialist inDelhi toaHarvardprofessor—RITIKACHOPRAtrackeddown86menandwomenwhotoppednational

schoolboardsbetween1996and2015, to findindividualstoriesof talentandeffort

TRACKINGINDIA’S TOPPERS

ANEXPRESSSERIES

W H E R E T H E T O P P E R S A R EC I T Y O F S C H O O L I N G

H I G H E R S T U D I E S

F I R S T U G D E G R E E

56%HAD ENGINEERING ASTHEIR FIRSTDEGREE

30studied their firstdegreeatan IIT (63%of thosewhostudiedengineeringas their firstdegree studiedatan IIT)

ENGINEERING 48ENGINEERING 48MBBS 12B.Com 11B.Com 11SOCIAL SCIENCE 8LAW 3 LAW 3PURE SCIENCE 3OTHERS 1OTHERS 1

24STUDYINGORHAVEUGDEGREE

38STUDYINGORHAVEPGDEGREE

24STUDYINGORHAVEPHD

TIER 1 CITIES 39TIER 1 CITIES 39TIER 2 CITIES 41TIER 3 CITIES 4TIER 3 CITIES 4

52% COME FROMTIER 2ANDTIER 3CITIES

(Twotoppers fromCISCE-affiliatedschools inDubai)

40INDIA

34UNITED STATES(46/86 toppers liveabroad—34 in theUS)

3CANADA

3SINGAPORE

1CHINA1

UAE

1AUSTRALIA

2UNITED KINGDOM

1BANGLADESH

CURRENTLY EMPLOYED STUDYING OTHERS*

60 21 5W O R K S T A T U S

1 EACH IN CIVIL SERVICES, LEGAL, CORPORATE

11OR 13%OF TOPPERSWORKWITHGOOGLE

19IT, techor

software industry

7Consulting

6Medicine

12Finance

6Entrepreneurorbusiness

3Industry

4Researchoracademics

T O T A L T O P P E R S

86S T R E A M

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44

45 46 47 48

49 50 51 52

53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64

65 66 67 68

69 70 71 72

73 74 75 76

OVERALL,

86%TOPPERSDIDSCIENCEINCLASS12

SCIENCE

7449 BOYS GIRLS 25

COMMERCE

122 BOYS GIRLS 10

71%OFGIRLSWHOTOPPEDSTUDIEDSCIENCE INCLASSES 11& 12

96%OF THEBOYSWHOTOPPEDSTUDIEDSCIENCE INCLASSES 11& 12

51BOYS

35GIRLS

GRISHMANPACHCHIGARVilla Theresa High School, MumbaiTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999

■Nofull-timejob.DegreeinmanagementstudiesfromHRCollegeofCommerceandEconomics,Mumbai,MMS from JamnalalBajaj Institute of Management Studies.LIVESIN:HongKong

BISWANATHPANDALittle Flower School, JamshedpurTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1999■SeniorDirectorofEngineeringatGoogle.BTech in Computer Science from IITKharagpur, MS and PhD from Cornell.

LIVESIN:SanFranciscoBayArea

MINALBATHWALDon Bosco School, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2000■ PortfolioManageratBrevanHoward.BA(Honours)EconomicsatSt.Stephen’sCollege,PGdiplomainbusinessmanagement fromIIMCalcutta. LIVESIN:Singapore

NSUNDRESHDAV Boys Senior Secondary, ChennaiTOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2004■Tostarthisownventure. BTechfromIITRoorkee, PGP inManagement from ISB,

Hyderabad. LIVES IN:Bengaluru

PIYUSH SRIVASTAVABoys’HighSchool&College,AllahabadTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2005■ Reader at TIFR. BTech in CS from IITKanpur, PhD fromUCBerkeley andpost-doc fromCaltech. LIVES IN:Mumbai

PRIYADARSHINIBANERJEEModern High School for Girls, KolkataTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2007■PrincipalatBCapitalGroup,aventurecap-italfirm.Bachelor’sinComputerEngineeringatNationalUniversityofSingaporeandMBA

fromWharton.LIVESIN:Singapore

GAYATHRIRAVICHANDRANDAV Girls Senior Secondary, ChennaiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2010■ Studying MS in Electronics &Communications Engineering fromUC,SanDiego.BTech fromNITTrichy.LIVES IN:SanDiego,USA

ROHAN SAMPATHDubai Modern High School, DubaiTOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2012■CEOof Copilot, a startup. Bachelor’s inEconomics, Master’s in Management

ScienceandEngineering,andMaster’s inCS, all fromStanford.LIVES IN:Toronto

RISHABHRAJSt. Paul’s School, RourkelaTOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014■ Software Engineer at Microsoft,Hyderabad. B.Tech in CS at IIT Bombay.LIVES IN:Hyderabad

MGAYATRINew Greenfield School, Saket, DelhiTOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2015■PreparingforCAfinalexam.BComfromSRCC.LIVES IN:Delhi

*Self-employed, preparing for exams

The followingeitherwereunavailable fora responseordidn’t give their consent foruseof theirphotos.All photosonpageprovidedbysubjects themselves

New Delhi

B.Com

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

B.Com

10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020OPINION

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

MERCIFULLY,THEyear2020iscomingtoanend.Everycountryisbruised,somearebattered.Covid-19hasnotgoneaway,butitislessthreatening,andthevaccinesthatarebeingdistributedgiveushope.As farasIndiaisconcerned,oureconomyisbat-tered and the lives ofmillions of people(especially themigrants and thosewholosttheirregularjobs)havebeenseverelybruised.Further,thedivisiveandpolaris-ingutterancesof,amongothers,MrAmitShahandMrAdityanathhavetorntheso-cial fabricasunder.Theabidinglessonof2020isthatana-

tionwillsufferifthereisadeclineinthreemeasures—work,wealth andwelfare. Iwish to devote this year-end column toreflectonthis lesson.Work:Ultimately, it iswork that dis-

tinguishes one human from another.There aremany thousandswho do nothavetowork,yettheydo,becauseworkispleasurable, enhances esteem, earns re-wards and determines one’s standingamongpeersand in thesociety-at-large.At the other end, there aremillionswhoneedtowork,butcannotfindwork;theyaretheunemployed.Bylastcount,theun-employmentrateinIndiawas8.7percent(CMIE, December 22, 2020). In between,therearepeoplewhodonotwishto jointheworkforceandtherearepeoplewhoare homeworkerswho are not countedaspartof theworkforce.Unemploymentisalwaysahugechal-

lenge in a developing country like India.Therapiddeclineingrowthrates(2018-19and2019-20)triggeredtheriseinunem-ployment, the pandemicmade itworseand the unplanned lockdowns exacer-bated the situation. At its peak, 130mil-lionpersonslosttheir jobsorlivelihoods.Jobshavecomebackslowly,butsomejobshave disappearedpermanently. The fig-uresspeakforthemselves(seeTable).Wealth:Themosteasilyunderstood

measureofanation’swealthistheGrossDomestic Product. If the GDP grows,wealth is enhanced, and the averageshareofacitizeninthepie(percapitain-come)is larger. Ihavetakenthesimplestmeasure:GDPinconstantprices.Lookatthe slowgrowth rates after2017-18andlookatthedestructionofwealthin2020-21(seeTable).Notatallencouragingforadeveloping country that hasmanymil-lionswhoarepoor. Is it anywonder thatamong the people there is pessimismaboutthefuture?Welfare:Acombinationofunemploy-

mentandslow(ornegative)growthwillimpactwelfare.My concern is not eco-nomicwelfarealone.Food,healthcareandsocial securityare indeed important,butwelfaregoesbeyondmaterial andtangi-blegoodsandservices.Askyourselfsomequestions:Dopeoplethinktheyareafreepeople?Dotheyhaveaheightenedsenseof fear?Arepeopleafraidthatpresumablyindependent agencies like the CBI, ED,Income Tax Department, NCB andNIAwillhoundandpersecutethem?Arepeo-pleconfidentthatthecourtsoflawareac-cessibleandwill renderswift justice?Cantwo young people be friends, go out to-gether,fallinloveandmarry?Canone,ac-cording to her choice, eat, wear clothes,speak,writeandassociatewithotherpeo-ple? ‘Welfare’ is the sumof these things.SomeindicatorswhereIndiastands,inrel-ativeterms,aretheHumanDevelopmentIndex, Index of Freedom, Press Freedometc(seeTable).Overall, thereisadecline.ThreeAbiding Images: In a democ-

racy,goodorbad,thecausebeingexternal

factorsorinternaldevelopments,thegov-ernmentmust bear responsibility. Thegovernmentmaybewell-intentioned,getthe best available advice ormay havecommitted unintended errors, but thebuckstopswiththegovernment.Goodorbad,governmentsmustbechanged.Thatiswhy, inmanycountries, therearetermlimitsonPresidentsandPrimeMinisters.Asenseofpermanenceisthecauseofthebeginningofadownfall.Asweendtheyear, the threeabiding

imagesof2020are:1. Themillions of migrants — tired,

hungryandsick—trudginghundredsofkilometres along highways and railwaytrackswith theirmeagre belongings toreachwhattheybelievedwashome.2. The long and peaceful protests —

firstatShaheenBaghandnowonthebor-dersofDelhi—demandingthat thegov-ernmenthearthemandheedtheirappealsfor justice.3.TheresoundingvoteintheKashmir

Valleycomprehensivelyrejectingtheun-constitutionalcoupstagedbythegovern-mentonAugust5,2019.Insum,Work,WealthandWelfaresuf-

feredin2020,makingitaforgettableyear.Iurgeyou,however,paraphrasingGeorgeSantayana,nevertoforget2020sothatwemayneverrepeat2020.Instead,beproud,fearless and freedom-loving Indians. Iwish you a happy, healthy andprosper-ous2021.

Work, wealth andwelfare

Unemployment is always ahuge challenge in a

developing country like India.The rapid decline in growthrates (2018-19 and 2019-20)

triggered the rise inunemployment, the

pandemic made it worse andthe unplanned lockdowns

exacerbated the situation. Atits peak, 130 million personslost their jobs or livelihoods.Jobs have come back slowly,

but some jobs havedisappeared permanently

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

WESEEcasteasaproblem,notasananalyt-icalcategory. It is theobjectof analysisbutneveritssubject.ScholarshiponIndia’shis-tory includes caste as one element,withclassandcommunitycomprisingothercat-egories.Whatwould the history of Indialooklikeif seenthroughthelensofcaste?Ambedkarmadethisargumentforan-

cient India, seeing the struggle betweenBrahminism and Buddhism, interruptedbyMuslim invasions that destroyed thelatter and included the formerwithin aneworder. Hinduismemerged from thisconquest by adopting Buddhist practicesofvegetarianism,temples,floralofferingsandnon-violence.Buddhists,meanwhile,converted to Islamfromthe lowcastes towhichtheyhadbeenreduced.Whateveritsaccuracy,Ambedkar’shis-

tory repudiated the dualistic narrative ofHindu-Muslimconflict by including castewithinit.Ambedkarclaimedthatbylaun-chingthemovementforPakistan,theMus-limLeagueabandoned its history of allia-ncesbetweencasteandreligiousminorities.It came instead to anagreementwith theCongressasonehigh-castepartywithan-othertodividethespoilsof Independence.Iwanttoofferaparallelaccountofhow

caste permits us to understandmodernIndian history. Consider how the Baniatellsusadifferentstoryaboutthispast.Thefirst time this caste transformedmodernIndia was in the 18th Century, whentraderssupportedtheEastIndiaCompanytomakecolonialismpossible.Theydidsoby switching allegiance fromKshatriyarulers,whetherHinduorMuslim.ThesecondtimeBaniaschangedIndia’s

modernhistorywaswiththedevelopmentof theCongressasamassorganisationun-derGandhi.TheKshatriyasdisplacedbyco-lonialismhadbythenbeenreplacedinpol-iticsbyBrahminlawyersandadministrators.The first Bania to take power from theBrahminswhodominatedtheparty,Gandhigainedforitthesupportof India’straders.Thenationalandreligiousculturepro-

motedbyGandhiwasalsoBaniaincharac-ter, definedbybhakti,ahimsa andpopularVaishnavism.His rival Jinnahperformedasimilar feat in theMuslimLeague,whichhad been run by an administrative classequivalenttotheBrahmins,alongsiderem-nantsof theoldKshatriyaelite.Jinnahwas from the Khoja caste of

traders and, likeGandhi, the first Bania togain control of his partywhile bringingMuslimcapitalists to support it. Khoja aremostly converts of Hindu Lohana caste.JinnahboastedofhisabilitytotalktoGandhiasaKhojawouldtoaBania.

If Gandhi’s rise topower signalled theemergence of a newnational culture forHindus,Jinnah’sriseaccomplishedthesameforMuslims.Thecultureoflearningandho-nour that had characterised the League’sBrahminandKshatriyaelitewas replacedbyaBaniafocusoncontractualpolitics.With Independence, Banias in both

countrieshad to takeaback seat. In IndiatheywererestrictedbyaBrahminbureau-cracy and in Pakistan excluded by a newKshatriyaelite.WithBrahminsdisempow-ered by the loss of their bases in northIndia,powersooncametobeexerciseddi-rectlybyKshatriyas throughthemilitary.Themultiplicity of power centres in

post-colonialIndialedtoavarietyofallian-ces, inwhichthenumericaldominanceofShudrashasbeendivided,joinedormediat-edbyothercastes.PakistanwasdominatedbyaKshatriya-ShudragroupinginthewestandaShudra-Dalit-Adivasioneintheeast,with Brahmin administrators and Baniacapitalistsof littleaccountineitherwing.InIndia,Baniasplayedamajorrolefora

third timeduring the country’s economicliberalisationintheearly1990s,whichfreedthem to adopt a newpolitical identity inHindutva’sBrahmin-Baniacombine.TheirreligiosityisnottheausterekindvaluedbyBrahminideologueslikeSavarkar,however,butcontinuestobefocusedonbhakti.InPakistan,meanwhile, theKshatriya-

Shudragroupingbecameanabsolutema-joritywith the separation of Bangladesh.Even a traders’ party like that of NawazSharifmustadoptKshatriyaidealstosurvi-ve. As for Brahmins, their declining statushasallowedthemtoemergeasideologicalbrokersforgroupsmakingclaimstopowerinthenameof Islam.Religionhascometodefinenationalcul-

ture in both countries, allowingdifferentcastestoidentifywitheachotherbyexclud-ingminorities.WhileHinduismprovidesahomeformanysectariancultures inIndia,IslaminPakistanisexclusive.WhydoesIslamasanationalideology

havetofinditsenemieswithintheMuslimcommunity in Pakistan,whether amongAhmadisorShias,DeobandisorBarelvis?Because the emergence of BangladesheliminatedHindusasasubstantialminor-ity, with Christians, Sikhs and Parsis alsotoo insignificant.While Christians andHindus are dis-

criminated against and even persecutedin Pakistan, as Muslims and Christianssometimesare in India, theyarenot seento represent any serious threat to Islam.ThismeansthatIslamcomestodominatepolitics in such away as to obscure bothcasteandreligiousdifference.If the suspect religious minority in

Pakistan is tobe foundwithin Islam,non-Muslimgroupscometorepresentnotreli-giousbutcastedifference.AMuslimcom-munity dominated by Kshatriyas andShudras thus attacksChristians in Punjabas Dalits, while discriminating againstHindusinSindasDalits,BaniasandAdivasis.Christians and Hindus also serve as

repositories for the caste identities ofMuslims,whoescape their status bydis-placingitontothem.Whilecastedifferen-cesinIndiaarealsodisplacedontoareligio-usminority, inPakistan thisdisplacementlocates theminoritywithinandcasteout-sideIslam.Castereallydoesallowustoseehistoryanew.FaisalDevji isProfessorof IndianHistory

attheUniversityofOxfordSurajYengde, authorofCasteMatters,

curates the fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column

TILL THE farmers brought their trolleys,tractorsandtheirprotesttothebordersofDelhi,NarendraModihadtheimageofbe-ing themost powerful PrimeMinister ofIndia ever. This has changed. For the firsttimeinsevenyears,heisbeginningtolookweak.Notjustbecausethefarmersopenlyattack himpersonally on national televi-sion but because he seems no longer toknowwhattodo.So,hisattemptstoreachouttotheprotestingfarmersareconfusedandconfusing.Onedayhegoesoff to ad-dress farmers in Kutch and explains tothemthevirtuesofthenewfarmlaws.Thenextdayit issomeothergroupof farmersinMadhya Pradesh that he talks to butneverdirectlytothosewhohavebeensit-ting onDelhi’s northern borders now formore than amonth. Then therewas thatvisit toRakabGanj Sahibgurudwara thatwas so transparent an attempt toplacateprotesting Sikh farmers that theywouldhaveseenit forexactlywhat itwas.All of this came afterweeks inwhich

he allowed his ministers and partyspokesmentousetelevisiondebatesandsocial media platforms to malign theprotesting farmers as Khalistanis andNaxalites. When the Prime Ministerchangedtrackandbeganhiseffortsatpla-cation even the most abusive of thesespokesmenstartedtotempertheirabuseby praising the farmers as ‘equal to Godbecause they feedmankind’. On thepartof the government the softening has in-cludedassurancesthateverychangethatthe farmers want will be made in thethreenewfarmlaws.Thismustmeanthatthereareserious flaws in the laws.Unfortunately forModi his concilia-

tory gestures have come too late. It is nolongerjustaboutthefarmlaws,it isaboutother things. For a start there is the arro-gancewithwhich theywere brought. Inthewordsofoneoftheprotestingfarmers,“You tell us that thesewill be beneficialfor us but why are you trying to give usbenefits thatwe do notwant?” Somanyfarmerssaidthisorsomethingsimilarthatfamous TV anchorswho usually exhibittheir loyalty to the government in everyshow,begantotellBJPspokesmenthatin-stead of trying to convince them of thebenefits of these laws they should con-vince theprotesting farmers.It is also about unfulfilled promises.

Farmers point out that whenModi be-camePrimeMinister,hepromisedtodou-bletheirincomeby2022.Notonlyhasthisnot happened but easier promises havenot been kept either like the promise toensure that sugarcane farmers were fi-nallypaidtheirduesbythemillstheyselltheir cane to. And the promise that olddebtswouldbeforgiventhosewhocouldnotpaythembecauseoftheterriblehard-shiptheyhaveenduredinthisyearofdis-ease,disruptionanddeath.Otherthingshavenowbecomepartof

theprotest.Suddenly,thethingsthathavebeen autocratically imposed inModi’s‘newIndia’areattractingmorenoticethanthey have before. Dissent has beencrushed ruthlessly in this new India, andfor the sake of winning elections therehave been unashamed attempts to sowhatred between Hindus andMuslims.Thesethingshavenotgoneunnoticedbyfarmerswhothegovernmentbelievesaretoostupidtoknowthatthenewlawsben-efit them. It astonished me to hear awhite-bearded farmer tell a TV reporterthat, “Theywant us to fight among our-selvesbutnowwehaveallcometogether,Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians.We are all together now.” In the echochamber inwhichModi has functioned,especially since his second term began,thesearenotwords thathewouldhear.Thereismoreconfusion.Hisministers

may now be speaking in conciliatoryvoices,butBJPTwitterwarriorscontinuetousesocialmediaplatformstospewha-tred against the protesting farmers.EspeciallySikhfarmers.Theyranthyster-icallyabout‘internationalconspiraciestodefameIndia’.Theysaythatthesamepeo-ple who made trouble over theCitizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) arenow using farmers tomake trouble be-causetheir lastattempttodisruptanddi-vide India failed.The truth is that thosewhoprotested

against theCAAwere genuinelyworriedabout theweaponisation of citizenship.Thetruthisthatthefarmersaregenuinelyworriedabout thenewlaws. The truth isthat thishasbeenaterribleyear for Indiain everyway and the pain caused by theeconomyhitting rock bottom is nowbe-ginningtohurtbadly.If thePrimeMinisterhadconcentratedondealingwiththelossof jobs and income by putting togetherschemes that would directly transfermoney into the bank accounts of thosewhoarehurtingthemost,thissuddenre-voltagainsthisgovernmentmaynothavehappened.Instead, he has chosen to follow the

pattern that has become the leitmotif ofhis second term,which is to contemptu-ously ordain for the peoplewhat he be-lieves is good for them. This happenedfirst with the changes in the citizenshipAct, thenwith Article 370 and nowwiththe farm laws. The farmers have shownhim that this kind of contempt for thepeople is not something that even themost powerful political leaders can getawaywith.Modi has been forced finallyto step out of his echo chamber into therealworld.

Confrontingreality

DalitalityFAISALDEVJI

IN ONE episode of The Fabulous Lives ofBollywood Wives on Netflix, MaheepKapoor’sdaughterispreparingtodebutatLeBal, Paris. For theuninitiated, ‘LeBaldeDebutantes’isaharkbacktopastEuropeangrandeurwhere,foronefairytaleevening,quaint traditions like thewaltz andwhiteglovesareresurrectedandwealthyyoungwomen are “presented” (to vetted com-pany).Throughoutthe18thand19thcen-turies, thecoming-of-ageballwasamile-stone foryoungaristocrats, awaytomeetpotentialmatesandannouncetheirplacein ‘polite society’. Point to note: wouldElizabethBennetteverhavemetMrDarcyinJaneAusten’sPrideandPrejudiceifitwas-

n’tforaball?Inrecentyears,Indianpartic-ipantsatthehighlysoughtafterLeBalhaveincludedpoliticianJyotiradityaScindiaandindustrialistYashBirla’sdaughters.www.imdb.comhasgivenTheFabulous

Lives... adismal two stars anda3.8/10 rat-ing. Audience reviewshaven’t been verycharitable either. Glimpses of ShanayaKapoor among a glittering assembly ofdebutantes in a French palace provokedsneeringreactionstothisfrivolityingowns.“A revoltingpatriarchal ceremony,”wentone opinion on Twitter. I, for one, thor-oughly enjoyedwatching the antiquatedritualofladieswaltzingthenightaway,firstledbytheirfathersandthen,chevaliers.Forthose scoffing at this pretentiousness, ofcourse everyone knows a debutante ballservesnopurposeother than showcasingfine jewelleryand, inDarcy’swords, a fine

figure. It’sanelaboratecharade,but in thisgodforsakenyear,pardonmeif Ichoosetoseeoldworldsymbolismsasacomfortinganddistinguishingcharacteristicofthehu-manspecies.Indeed,theageofdebutantesmayhave passed but let us not deny thenostalgiatheyevoke.In fact, it’s the very outmodedness of

thesecustomsandcurtsiesthataddtotheirromantic allure—especially on screen. ItexplainsthesuccessofshowslikeDowntonAbbeyandtheir timelessappeal.Wewishtomisrememberthepastascharmingandelegant,basicallyeverythingthepresentisnot.AtthebeginningofthelockdownIsawContagion on Amazon Prime, directorStevenSoderbergh’sremarkablyprescient2011filmonthehorrorsunleashedbyater-rifyingvirus.Anaptwatch, it incentivisedme to furiously keepwashingmyhands.

Life has gottenmuchmore precarioussince,andtostaveawaysubliminalstress,it’s crucial to steer clear of calamity con-tent.My leisure viewing these days is re-servedsolely for richpeopledrama.Bringon the scones andhigh tea!At this point,livingvicariously throughcharacterscon-sumedby appearances feels like the ulti-mateinluxury.World over, people are gravitating to

entertainmentthattakesthemawayfromthe agonyof uncertainty. Streamingplat-formshavenotedaspikeininterestincom-edy shows and reruns of old hits. It’s notdifficulttogaugewhy.They’repredictableandhavehappyendings.Sociallyisolated,we’recravingtimewithfriends—perhapsfamiliar TV faces stand in as proxies. Oneofthegreatcriticismsaimedatgenreslikescience fiction and reality TV like The

Fabulous Lives... is that they are “escapist”innature.Thereispressuretoadheretoan(unspoken)intellectualstandardthatfolkson Twitter care about because thenotionprevailsthattheimpulsetoescapeisater-riblecharacterflaw.Intruth,whatcouldbemorenatural?2020wasnottheyeartore-visitSchindler’sListbuttodowhatevergetsyouthroughtheday.It’speoplewhocanswitchofffromtheir

everydayproblemsviasimplepleasureslikecomics,music, exercise or other hobbieswhoarebestabletohandleadversity.Don’tknock thedebutantes bowing in ice bluedressesor theBollywoodWives’ prattle. IfthereisanythingthisCovidyearhasproved,it’swehavetofindourownmethodsofsal-vationtoguardagainstreality.

Thewriter isdirector,HutkayFilms

Whatever gets you through the dayOn [email protected]

AWEEKLYWINDOW INTOTHELIVESOF INDIA’SNEWSMAKERSANDTHE IMPACTOFTHEPANDEMICONTHEM

My ISOLATION

Whatprecautionsareyoutaking?Itrytofollowallthebasicguidelines,of

washingmyhands frequently,wearing amask at all times and using a sanitiserwhenever I amout ormeeting someone.Besides, I don’t socialise and try to avoidgatherings asmuchaspossible. Thepointis tohaveminimalcontact. Ialsotakevita-minsregularlytoboostmyimmunity.

Haveyougotyourself testedforCovid-19?Notyet.Fortunately,Ihavehadnosymp-

tomssofar.

Whatisyourdailyroutinelike?Ihavebeenregularlyexercisingathome

andpractisingyoga.Mostof ourmeetingswithseniorsareheldthroughvideoconfer-encing. Butwhenever there is a law-and-order situation and I have to goout in thefield,Iensurethatmymaskisalwaysonanda sanitiser handy for personal safety. Cur-rently,as the farmers’agitation isgoingonat the SinghuandTikri borderswhich fallinmyzone,Ihavetobeongroundandmon-itor theday-to-day situation closely. I alsohave the additional charge of Special CP(TransportZone).So,whenflightandtrainoperationsresumedduringthelockdown,IhadtoinspectairportsandrailwaystationsinDelhitoensureallarrangementswereinplace. IdidthesameforDelhiMetrotoo.

Whatkindofmaskdoyouuse?Ibuytheplainones,nottheoneswithair

filters,andhavebeenusingthemsincethebeginningof thepandemic.

Howdoyoustaysafeatwork?Imaintain social distancing insidemy

office.Whenevertherearein-personmeet-ings,seatingarrangementsaremadekeep-ingadequatedistance.Iensurethatmystaffwearmasksatalltimes. Ialsogetmyworkspacesanitisedatregularintervals.

Doyoutakeanyspecificprecautionswhenyoutravel?Everyday,beforeIheadout,Iensuremy

vehicleiscleanedandsanitised.

Howmuchtimedoyouspendinfrontofascreen?Itisn’thealthyandonemusttryandre-

duce their screen time. But because theworldtodayisoperatingvirtually, Ihavetoconstantly beonmycomputer and checkmy mobile phone. That would easilyamounttomorethansixhoursaday.

Howdoyoukeepyourmindoffthepandemic?Dailymonitoring of crime andmain-

taininglawandorderinmyzoneisusuallyenoughtokeepmeoccupied.Inthelimitedfree time, I listen to old songs, especiallyKishoreKumartorelaxandunwind.

WhatisthefirstthingyouwanttodoinaCovid-freeworld?Iwanttogoonavacationwithmyfam-

ily.Wehave been in the house since thelockdownandhavenotgoneoutanywhere,exceptforwork.

Both the Tikri and Singhuborders of Delhi where farmersare amassed protesting against

the new agriculture laws fallunder SANJAY SINGH, SpecialCP, Western Zone. This means

the officer finds himself in ahot spot yet again, after handling

reopening of trains, flightsfollowing the lockdown

INTERVIEW BY

MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL

Illustration: Suvajit Dey

‘I’m at Singhu, Tikri daily,in mask, sanitised car... I

unwind to Kishore songs’

EndofYear WorkForce Rateof GDP(Constant) HDIRank HumanFreedom WorldPressFreedom(inmillion) Unemployment inRsCr (outof189) Index (outof162) Index(outof180)

2004-05 438 2.3 32,42,209 120

2013-14 472 - 105,27,673 130 140

2017-18 484 4.7 131,75,160 131 102 136

2018-19 487 6.3 139,81,425 130 110 138

2019-20 494 8.5 145,65,951 129 140 140

2020-21Q1 18.9 26,89,556

2020-21Q2 500 7.3 33,14,166 131 142 142

GettingreadyforAmbedkar Jayanti inGulbarga,Karnataka.Archive

Seeing India, Pak historythrough the lens of caste

New Delhi

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DECEMBER26

A 27-YEAR-OLD man washackedtodeathallegedlybyhiswife’s father and uncle inKerala’s Palakkad district onFridaynight in a suspected caseof“honourkilling”.Bothofthemhavebeenarrested,police said.The victimAneesh,who be-

longed to the OBC blacksmithcommunity, had marriedHaritha,21,afterseveralyearsoffriendship, which began fromtheir schooldays.Haritha belonged to Vellar

Pillai(acommunityofTamilori-gin). Besides, she hailed from awell-to-dofamilywhileAneeshwasadailywager.Theyhadmar-ried some three months back,and since then have been al-legedly facing threat.According to police, Aneesh

was hacked to death on Fridaynightwhilehewasridingatwo-wheelerwith his brother Arun.While Aneesh stopped the bikenear a shoponhisway tohomeat Thenkurussi village inPalakkad, his father-in-lawPrabhuKumaranduncleSureshKumar, who had followed thebrothers,attackedAneesh.Ase-riously injured Aneesh diedwhilehewasbeing taken to thehospital.Palakkaddistrictpolicesuper-

intendent SujithDas said policehavearrestedthewoman'sfatherand uncle. “As the couple be-longed to different castes, weprimafacieassumethatitisacaseof ‘honour killing’. A detailedprobe is on and statements arebeing recorded. Themurder hashappened after a series of inci-dentsoverthelastthreemonths.After themarriage, both partieswere summoned to the policestation. The girl’s family hadagreednot to trouble thenewly-wed couple. Even after that, herunclereactedemotionallyagainstthemarriage.Hewantedthegirlto come out of the relationship.OnFridayalso,theunclehadatiffwiththeyouth,whichlaterinthedayledtothemurder,’’hesaid.The victim’s father

Arumughansaidhissonhadbeenfacingthreatssincethemarriage.“Haritha’s uncle Suresh had

threatenedAneesh.He(Suresh)toldmysonthathewouldbefin-ished off before the marriagecompletethreemonths.Wehadlodgeda complaintwith the lo-cal police, but they failed to acttimely,”healleged.However, the SP said there

wasnolapsetheir inaddressingthe complaint. “They lodged acomplaint on December 8, twodays before the local body elec-tions. Our entire force was de-ployed in election duty. Yet, weactedtimelyandtoldbothsidestosettle the issue,”hesaid.

299DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:1,01,69,118TESTS: 16,71,59,289 | RECOVERIES: 97,40,108

ACTIVE CASES:2,81,667DEATHS: 1,47,343

DEC25CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS22,273 251 22,274 8,53,527

STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASESACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK

Kerala 64,096 5,161Bihar 5,348 294Odisha 2,922 255

STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLININGACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK

West Bengal 14,749 4,316Delhi 7,267 4,152Maharashtra 56,823 3,529

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASESONDEC25 TOTAL

Kerala 5,398 7,32,085Maharashtra 3,431 19,13,382West Bengal 1,541 5,44,755

STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHSONDEC25 TOTAL

Maharashtra 72 50,261West Bengal 31 9,536Delhi 30 10,414DataasonDecember25,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedicalResearchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays

aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive

SUANSHUKHURANANEWDELHI,DECEMBER26

ORGANISERS OF the TansenSamaroh, a four-day classicalconcert series that takes placenear the tomb of 16th-centurymusician Tansen in Behaat inMadhya Pradesh’s Gwalior dis-trict, have dropped a perform-ance by pakhawaj playerAkhileshGundecha.Since October, an Internal

ComplaintsCommitteehasbeeninvestigating allegations of sex-ualharassmentagainstAkhileshGundecha and RamakantGundecha, two of the threeGundechabrotherswhoruntheDhrupad Sansthan in Bhopal.After the allegations surfaced,

Akhileshhadvoluntarilyrecusedhimself fromall the activities ofDhrupadSansthan.TansenSamarohisorganised

jointly by the Ustad AlauddinKhan Kala Evam SangeetAcademy and the MadhyaPradeshDepartmentOfCulture.Students of Dhrupad Sansthan

are scheduled to perform onDecember28.The decision to drop

Akhilesh’s performance comesin thewake of discomfort fromMadhuBhattTailang,theJaipur-based dhrupad singer withwhomAkhileshwastoperform,and socialmedia backlash frompast and present students ofDhrupad Sansthan and artistessuch as Carnatic classical vocal-ist TMKrishnadue to theongo-ingprobe.“#MeToo accused Akhilesh

Gundecha who has seriouscharges againsthimwas topar-ticipate at the Tansen Samarohin Gwalior hosted by UstadAlauddin Khan Kala EvamSangeet Academy and theCulture department, MP Govt

what are you going to do aboutit?” tweetedKrishna.Tailang told The Sunday

Expressthatshewasn’tawareofthe sexual harassment investi-gationwhenshechoseAkhileshas her accompanying artiste.Tailang, a professor of music atRajasthan University and an AGrade artiste at All India Radio,has performedwithhimbeforea number of times. “I have al-wayssharedagoodrelationshipwithAkhileshji.Besidesbeingagood pakhawaj player, he hasbeen very respectful. I wasn’taware of the allegations since Iwas dealingwithmy father’s illhealth. I am awoman and be-cause this particular investiga-tionison,itdoesnotgiveouttheright message that I perform

withhim. Ihavealreadyrecom-mended pakhawaj player AnkitParikh’snameto theAcademy. Iwant to have the freedom ofmind while giving a perform-ance,” saidTailang.Sheo Shekhar Shukla,

Principal Secretary of theDepartment of Culture, TrusteeSecretaryatBharatBhawanandSecretary of the MP CultureCouncil, refusedtocommentonthematter.Naeem Khan, the pro-

gramme manager of TansenSamaroh,whohasbeenintouchwithTailangregardingthelistingand dropping of Akhilesh, alsodeniedcommentonthe issue.RahulRastogi,directorof the

Sangeet Academy, could not bereached forcomment.

‘HONOURKILLING’SUSPECTED;2HELD

Manhacked todeath bywife’sfamily in Kerala

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAITANAGAR,DECEMBER26

THEBJPonSaturdaywrestedthePasighat Municipal Council(PMC) from the Congress bywinning sixof theeight seats ofthe civic body in ArunachalPradesh, while the JD(U), in itsmaiden contest in the ItanagarMunicipal Corporation polls,baggedninewards.The BJP, the ruling party in

thestate,won10seats,oneshortof themajoritymark, in the 20-member Itanagar MunicipalCorporation (IMC) and the NPPbagged one. Among the 10wards won by the BJP in theItanagar civic body polls, fivecandidateswere elected unop-posed, aStateECofficial said.The Congress, which had

wonsevenseatsinthe2013PMCelections, secured only twowards this time, and the partyfailed to open its account in theIMCpolls. TheperformanceoftheJanataDalUnitedinthecivicpollsassumessignificanceastheparty received a major jolt inArunachal on Friday,with six ofits sevenMLAsdefecting toBJP.The JD(U), ledbyBiharChief

Minister Nitish Kumar, wonsevenofthe15seatsitcontestedinthe2019Arunachalassemblyelections and emerged as thesecond-largest party after theBJP,whichhadbagged41seats.ThePMChad12seats,while

the IMChad30during the2013civicpolls.However,thenumberof seats of both the urban localbodieswasreducedafterdelim-itationofwards.

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,DECEMBER26

ADAYaftersixofthesevenJD(U)MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh de-fected to the BJP, BJP MLC andformer Unionminister SanjayPaswan on Saturdaymountedmore pressure on Bihar CMNitish Kumar by asking him tohandoverthehomedepartmenttosomeoneelse.TheBiharCMholdschargeof

home, general administration,vigilance and general adminis-trationdepartments.Paswan said, “Nitish Kumar

is burdenedwith toomany as-signments. Hemust give awayhome department to someoneelse. I am not saying he shouldhandovertheministrytoBJP.Letsome other JD(U) leader takeover.”Askedifhisdemandisduetoalawandorderissue,Paswansaid, “Yes. Lawandorderdeteri-orationhas to be addressed in amoreeffectivemanner.”

In the last twoweeks, morethan two dozen people havebeenkilled in thestate.Reacting to the defection of

six JD(U) MLAs to BJP, Paswansaid, “We do not have anythingtosayon it.”However, JD(U) leaders re-

frained from commenting onPaswan’s remarks.“Ourtopleadersaremeeting

today. There is ameeting of ournational executive on Sunday.Wearelikelytodiscusseveryis-sue, right from ArunachalOradeshtoourresolvetocontestforthcoming Assembly polls inWestBengal,”aJD(U)leadersaid.


IN WHAT marks the first at-tempt, after the introduction ofthe new National EducationPolicy,atmovingawayfromun-realisticcut-offmarksforadmis-sionstouniversities,thegovern-ment is exploring the feasibilityof holding a common entrancetest for undergraduate admis-sionsacrossall centraluniversi-tiesfromthenextacademicyear.TheUGCsetupaseven-mem-

bercommitteeonDecember23,headed by Vice-Chancellor ofCentral University of Punjab R PTiwari,"toconsidertheissue(of)holdingcommonentrancetestatundergraduate level only fromthenextacademicyearincentral

universities to provide a singleplatformforadmission".ThenewNEP,releasedinJuly

thisyear,advocatesreducingthenumber of entrance tests to"eliminate the need for taking

coaching for theseexams".Thereare40-oddcentraluni-

versities run by theMinistry ofEducation(MoE)and,collectively,all of themhave about 1 to 1.25lakh seats across different disci-plinesattheundergraduatelevel,said aministry officer. Of these,currentlyabout16centraluniver-sities, all set upunder theUPA-IIgovernment,haveacommonen-trancetest forBachelor'sstudy.If the NEP suggestion is im-

plemented,theNationalTestingAgencywillbetaskedtoconducta common aptitude test aswellas specialised common examsfor different disciplines at leasttwice a year, for admission tobachelor'sincentraluniversities."Conducting a common en-

trance test seems simple butthere are several intricacies. For

instance,giventherangeofsub-jects offered across central uni-versities, this committee willhave to identify the disciplinesforwhich separate tests will beneeded.We expect a report byJanuaryandhopetotakeadeci-sionbyMarch2021.Theattemptis to have a common entrancetest for thenext sessionstartingin August," said HigherEducationSecretaryAmitKhare.Principal of DAV Public

School, Pushpanjali Enclave,RashmiBiswalsaidwhileajointentrance testwas a good idea, asensitiveareawouldbestream-lining the exam curriculum forall students. Director of Ahlcongroup of schools Ashok Pandeysaidmoving towards a joint en-trance exammight encouragemoremulticulturalism.

THEGOVERNMENT’Smove tosetupapanel toexplore thepossibilityofanational test is ex-pected toease thepres-sureof soaringcut-offmarksbasedonClass12Boardexams foradmis-sions touniversities.

Toeasecut-offstressE●EX

PLAINED

Centre sets up panel to work outcommon entrance test for varsities

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,DECEMBER26

DAYSAFTERa27-year-oldvideojournalist succumbed to his in-juries in Jaipur after being as-saultedbythreemen,hisfriend,whoisalsoanemployeeofapri-vate news channel and was awitness to the attack, said thatnobodyhelpedthematthetimeof theincidentinfrontofaroad-sideeatery.According to the police,

AbhishekSoni,27,diedatahos-pital in Jaipur on December 23,afortnightaftertheattackwhichtook place on the night ofDecember8.The 29-year-old private

channel employee said she re-ceivedseveralstitchesasshewasalso injured in theattack.“My friend Abhishek Soni

worked with a private newschannelasavideojournalistandhe would also shoot for wed-dings.OnDecember8,wewerereturning from such an eventand since hewas usingmymo-bile for the shoot, I had accom-panied him. After 10 pm, wewere sitting inside our car at aroadside eatery near NarayanViharwherewehadstoppedfordinner. Threemenwho had ar-rivedonamotorcyclewerealsothere andwe noticed that theywerestaringatme,”thewomantold The Sunday Express. ShesaidAbhishek got out of the cartoconfront themen.“Abhishekwent to themand

askedwhy theywere staring atme.Themenleftbutashortwhile

later came back and started as-saulting himwith an iron rod.WhenIcaughtoneof them,theybeatmetoowiththerodandIlostconsciousness.Therewereotherpeople too at the eatery andaround us but nobody came tohelp us. It was all overwithin amatter of minutes. Later, whenwe regained consciousness,Abhishekdrovetowardsthehos-pitalbutonourwaytoowedidn’tfind any police outposts or offi-cials,”saidthewoman.A case has been filed under

IPC sections 302 (murder), 323(voluntarily causing hurt), 341(wrongful restraint) and 354A(sexual harassment) on the ba-sisof hercomplaint, police said.“After the twoof themwent

tothehospital,thepolicecametoknowabouttheincidentthroughthe control room... After investi-gationweidentifiedthethreeac-cusedandoneof them,19-year-oldShankarChoudhary,hasbeenarrested. Twoother accused, in-cluding a juvenile, are abscond-ingandeffortsarebeingmadetonabthem,”saidDilipKumarSoni,SHOofMansarovarpolicestation.Sonisaidtheaccusedarestu-

dents and the arrested personhasclaimedthatitwasAbhishekwhohadassaulted themwith arod from the car and they actedin self-defence. Askedwhy theeatery was open during thenightcurfewimposedinwakeofthepandemic,Sonisaidthattheeaterywas closed from outsideandhadcurtainsdrawn.FamilymembersofAbhishek

said they are not satisfiedwiththepoliceactionso far.

Nobody helped, saysfriend of journalistwho died in assault


NEARLY 150 Army personnelwhoareinDelhifortheRepublicDayparadehave testedpositiveforCovid-19.Officialsourcessaidall those who tested positivewereina“safebubble”.Sevenofthemweresymptomatic.More than 2000 Army per-

sonnel have come to Delhi forRepublic Day. All those whocamein fromoutsidehadtoun-dergo Covid-19 test. The “safebubbles”,sourcessaid,arewithinthecantonmentarea inDelhi.

150 troops inDelhi for R-Daytest positive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,DECEMBER26

THEBLUEPRINToftheproposedmosque in Ayodhya has comeunder criticism fromformer lit-igant in the Ayodhya land dis-pute case, Iqbal Ansari.AccordingtoAnsari,notasinglepoint in the proposedmosquerepresented Islamic culture oretiquetteofareligiousstructure.The blueprint of the pro-

posed mosque, which will bebuilt on the five-acre land allot-tedbythestategovernment,wasunveiledonDecember19.“The Supreme Court has

given 5 acres of land for themosque and the structureshould resemble themosquesbuilt inIndia.Themaptheyhaveshowcased has no structure. Amosque or a temple has an eti-quette, and if there is a templewithout a shivala, it won’t beconsideredatemple.Everythingshouldbe asper religious tradi-tions. They need to understandthat it is a place to offer namaz

and not enjoying a picnic,”Ansari toldTheSundayExpress.Ansari also questioned the

authenticity of the Trust andsaid: “Five litigants fought thecasefor70years inall thecourtsand no suggestion was takenfromus.”TrustsecretaryAtharHusain

said replicating a structurewasnot architecture, and their con-cept is to promote the idea of asyncretic culture. “Under thatplanwehavedecided tobuild ahospital to provide bettermed-ical facilities to the people ofAyodhya,”hesaid.

ENS&PTIKOLKATA,DECEMBER26

Responding to the controversyovermedia reports that Visva-Bharati University has namedhim among those “occupyingadditional illegal plot”, NobellaureateandeconomistAmartyaSen said that the land is regis-teredinrecordsandisonalong-termlease.Referring to reports that

Visva-Bharati University Vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabartywas arranging the eviction ofunauthorised occupation ofleased land on the campus andthat he has also been named inthe list of occupants, Sen saidthat the central university hasnever complained about any ir-regularity of landholding eithertohimorhis family.The Nobel laureate asserted

that the Visva-Bharati land onwhichhishouseissituatedisen-tirely on a long-term lease,whichisnowherenearitsexpiry."Additional landwasbought bymyfatheras freeholdandregis-tered in land records undermoujaSurul,"hesaid"I could comment on the big

gapbetweenSantiniketancultureand that of theV.C., empowered

as he is by the Central govern-ment in Delhiwith its growingcontroloverBengal,"Senadded.Referringtorecentreportson

theV-C'sclaimtothefacultythatSen had called him up againsteviction of hawkers before hisPratichi residence, Sensaid, "Hewouldbesparedthenecessityofinventing completely imaginedconversations withme, begin-ning impossiblywithme intro-ducingmyself as Bharat Ratnasomething that noonehas everheardmedo".Meanwhile, the BJP on

SaturdayhitoutattheNobellau-reate,sayingthathe“shouldnotwork on the advice of a failedchiefminister”.A day after Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjeewrote to SenandslammedtheBJPfor“baselessallegations”againsthim,stateBJPchief Dilip Ghosh said: “We re-specthim(Sen).Butheshouldnotbe seenas the spokespersonof agroup. Ifheworksontheadviceofafailedchiefminister,peoplewillthinkotherwise.”


THEHIGH-LEVEL task force forCovid-19Saturdaysaid thatasapart of its strategy todetect andcontain themutant variant, asmany five per cent of positivecases from all states will betested for Whole GenomeSequencing (WGS).On Saturday, the Health

Ministrysaidmorethan50sam-ples of UK returnees are cur-rently under sequencing at thedesignated laboratories.Themeeting of theNational

Task Force on Covid-19was at-tended by Dr Vinod Paul,Member, Niti Aayog, AIIMSDirectorDrRandeepGuleriaandindependent subject experts.“NTF concluded that there is noneed to change the existingtreatment protocol in view ofmutations...,” theMinistry said.During themeeting, theNTF

discussed the UK variant. “NTFrecommended that in additionto the existing surveillancestrategies, it iscriticaltoconductenhanced genomic surveillanceforSARS-CoV-2,especially in in-comingpassengersfromtheUK.”

5% of positivesamples to go forwhole genomesequencing:Covid task force

NobellaureateAmartyaSen

RAJASTHAN

SEXUALHARASSMENTPROBE

Arunachal: BJPwins Pasighat,JD(U) secures 9seats in Itanagarcivic body

Akhilesh Gundecha dropped from MP’s Tansen Samaroh

Akhilesh Gundecha andRamakant Gundecha

ALLFORDIDI:TMC workersprotestatBJP’sKolkataofficeagainst formerministerSuvenduAdhikariandMPSunilMondal.TheTMCmenallegedlyvandalisedMondal’svehiclewhilehewasenteringtheoffice, triedtoblockAdhikari’scarwhenhewasleaving,andclashedwithBJPworkers.Express

11

Ex-litigant unhappy withAyodhya mosque design

An artist’s impression of themosque complex

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI/PUNE,DECEMBER26

DISMISSING SPECULATIONSthattheShivSenabacksmakingNCP chief Sharad Pawar as UPAchairperson, the party's RajyaSabha MP and spokespersonSanjay Raut on Saturday calledfor expanding the scope of theUPA.Raut saidmorepartiesneed

to be brought under its fold tostrengthen the Opposition totakeonthe"dictatorialattitude"of theBJP-governedCentre.“As of today, the leadership

of Prime Minister NarendraModi is strong, and in front of itthe UPA has to be united andtransform itself into apowerfulforce,” he said. “There are vari-ouspoliticalpartiesacrossstateswhich have fought the BJP tocome topowerbut theyarenot

part of UPA.We need to talk tothem and invite them to be apart of theUPA.”Formed in 2004, the UPA at

presentincludes11politicalpar-ties.Overtheyears,ninepromi-nentpartieshave left its fold.OnspeculationthattheSena

favours Pawar as theUPA chief,which arose after the partymouthpiece, 'Saamana' onSaturdaypublishedaneditorialhighlighting the need forstrengthening the UPA, Rauttold The Sunday Express, “Wehave not said Sharad Pawarshould bemade the UPA chair-person.”

He emphasised that the ed-itorial nowhere says the NCPchiefshouldbemadeUPAchair-person, and said it “doesmen-tionthatPawaristheonlyleaderwho isbeing takenseriouslybyBJP as well as by other opposi-tionparties”.Raut said, "Even Prime

Minister Narendra Modi takeshimseriously.WestBengalChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeeissettomeetPawartotakehisadvicefor fighting BJP in the WestBengal elections. Pawar seemstobethemostcapable leaderatthis juncturewithwideaccept-ability.”Raut also said the Congress

doesnotevenhavetherequirednumbersinLokSabhatogettheoppositionleader'spost. “RahulGandhi is putting up a goodfight, his efforts are praisewor-thy,butsomewhere,somethingis lacking..." headded.

Shiv Sena’sSanjay Raut

NitishKumar

After JD(U)’s jolt in Arunachal, Bihar BJPleader says Nitish must leave home dept

Raut calls for expanding UPA,denies backing Pawar to head it

Don’tactonadviceof failedCM:BJP

Sen: Santiniketanland registered onlong-term lease

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

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0040558539-1

PPEERRSSOONNAALL

ClassifiedsII,,AASSAAFFAAQQUUEEALAM,S/OABDULWHAB, R/O:E-53, BLOCK-E,ABUL FAZALENCLAVEPART-2, SHAHEENBAGH,OKHLA,DELHI-110025,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOASHFAQUEALAM, FORALLPURPOSES. 0040558777-2

II,,AABBHHIISSHHEEKKRANJANBHARTIS/ORAMCHANDRABHARTI,R/o 1/989, VasundhraS.O. Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh,201012, have changed thenameofmyminorDaughterAAVYABHARTI agedabout 5years andShe shall hereafterbe knownas JAISHREEBHARTI.

0070725283-1

II,, SharafatAli S/oKadir AhmadR/oEidGah, Teliwala, Doiwala,DehradunUttarakhand-248140, have changedmyname toAarishMalik

0070725259-1

II,, SaloniMeenaD/oChandraPrakashMeenaR/oB-31, NewThermalColony, Kota,Rajasthan -324008, havechangedmyname toSaloniKhokar 0070725255-1

II,, SURESHKUMARBAIDS/O-SOHANLALBAIDR/O-E-7/19,VASANT-VIHAR-1DELHI-110057,changedmyname toSURESHBAID. 0040558768-5

II,, PuranChand,S/oNarayan,have changedmyAddressH.N.02,SunderNagar,NewDelhi to 430A,Gali.No.082nd-FloorWestVinod-NagarDelhi-92. 0040558782-4

II,, PramodKunwar S/ORamBahadurKunwar, R/oH.No.3,StreetNo-9/2, Shakit ViharMeethapur Jait Pur, Jaitpur,SouthDelhi-110044,declarethatMineandMywife namehasbeenwronglywrittenasParmodKunwarandSaralaKunwar inmyminor son’saged 15 years namely “KUNALKUNWAR”SCHOOLTRANSFERCERTIFICATENO-999.Theactual nameofMineandMywife arePramodKunwarandSarla Kunwar,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0070725303-1

II,,MohdAnusSalmani S/oMohdRafi R/o 11/454, Topiya Saray,Saharanpur, UP-247001, havechangedmyname toKabirMalik 0070725260-1

II,, PRIYAANKALBHASINALIASPRIYANKABHASIN,W/O JITTENVEERBHASIN,R/o E-3/18,DLFPHASE-1,SIKANDERPURGHOSI(68),GURGAON,HARYANA-122002,have changedmynameandshall hereafter beKnownasPRIYANKALUTHER.

0070725301-1

II,, NASRABANO/SHEHNAZ,W/O.WAZIRAHMAD,H.NO.187,H6/2 JEEVAN-NAGARASHRAM,SOUTH-EASTDELHI-110014, changedmyname toSHEHNAZHUSSAIN,permanently. 0040558768-3

II,,MohammadHaris,S/oMohammad Ismail,R/o-E-I-339,Madangir Dr.Ambedkar-Nagar,NewDelhi-110062,inform thatMohammadHaris SiddiquiandMohammadHaris Bothare sameoneperson.

0040558768-1

II,,MILANKUMARS/OMANOHARVISHWAKARMA,R/oVasantVihar, HirakRingRoad,Kalakusuma,Dhanbad,Jharkhand-826005, havechangedmynameandshallhereafter beKnownasMILANKUMARSHARMA.

0070725300-1

II,, Kishwar Jahan,W/oMohammad Ismail R/o-E-I-339,Madangir,Dr.AmbedkarNagar,NewDelhi-110062,inform that KishwarandKishwar JahanBotharesameoneperson.

0040558768-2

II,, KM. CHANDRAMATID/OPREMSINGH,W/ORakeshchauhan.R/o st. no. 113/1 Santnagar,Near kushal chowkBurari-110084, have changedmynameandshall hereafter beKnownasPriyankachauhan.

0070725287-1

II,, JaganNathS/oGurdaRamR/oC-143, TagoreGardenExtension, TagoreGarden,Delhi-110027, have changedmyname toDharamVir Singh

0070725256-1

II,, JITTENVEERBHASINALIASJITTENBHASINS/OHEMANTBHASIN,R/o E-3/18DLFPHASE-1,GURGAON-122002,HARYANA,INDIA, have changedmynameandshall hereafter beKnownas JITTENVIRBHASIN.

0070725307-1

II,, AJIT SINGHS/O-AGYASINGHR/O.V- 243, 1ST-FLOOR,RAJOURI-GARDENDELHI-110027,changedmyname toAJIT SINGHKHURANA.

0040558768-4

II RameshChandGoyal r/oD-67Sec-122Noidahave changedmyname toRameshChandGoel, for All Futurepurposes

0050173493-1

IIManishGoel r/oD-67 Sec-122Noidahave changedmynametoManishKumarGoel, for AllFuturepurposes

0050173491-1

II SantoshGoyal r/oD-67 Sec-122Noidahave changedmynametoSantoshGoel, forAll Futurepurposes

0050173495-1

II,, NikitaGupta,D/oNiranjan lalGupta,R/o C-35 tigri-extension, newDelhi-80,havelostmyoriginalcertificate/marksheetClass-12th year-2020, Rollno-14622750CBSE-DELHI.

0040558777-9

II SudhaD/o Late Sh. Amir ChandMadanR/oH.No.99, StreetNo.3, Near SinghSabhaGurudwara, Gopal Park, Delhi-110051 have lost PhotocopyofWill executedon 30.10.1996executedbyShyamLal infavour of Kamal KishoreofPropertyNo.A-31, IndraPark,ChanderNagar, Delhi-110051.Findersmaycontact at aboveaddress.

0040558739-4

II GurmukhSinghS/oSh.CharanSinghR/o 11/20, OldGobindPura Extn., Delhi-110051havelostOriginal GPA,ATS,PaymentReceipts alongwithotherspapers executedon22.05.1974&21.12.1979byRamNath, HakumatRai andothersin favour ofMohdHanif, GuruSharanandParveenKumarofPropertyNo.24, RashidMarketExtn., Delhi-110051. Findersmaycontact at aboveaddress.

0040558739-5

II,, JITENDERBEDI,S/ODIDARSINGHBEDI, R/o-FLAT.NO.09091,TOWER-9, ATSADVANTAGE,AHINSAKHAND-1,INDIRAPURAM,GHAZIABAD,U.P201014, changedmynameto JITENDERKUMAR.

0040558782-3

II,, HrishikeshDileepraoSuryawanshi S/ODileepraoSuryawanshi, R/oA-601Goodwill Paradise, Plot 24,NearDMart, Sector-15,Kharghar, Raigarh,Maharashtra-410210, havechangedmynameandshallhereafter beKnownasRishirajDilipraoSuryawanshi.

0070725294-1

II,, EramAlvi,w/oTayyabUrfiAlvi,R/o-1705Pahari BhojlaJama-Masjid,Delhi-110006,Have changedmyname toEramAlavi,for allpurposes. 0040558777-4

II,, DeepakKumarChoudhary S/oJayRamChoudhary, residingat BusStandRawatbhata,Tehsil Rawatbhata, PostRawatbhata, Distt-Chittorgarh, Rajasthan-323305, haveembraced ISLAMand renouncedHINDUISMwitheffect from17.10.2020 andalsohave changedmyname fromDeepakKumarChoudhary toRiyazHussain 0070725258-1

II,, Bala Sud,W/OKamleshKumarSud, R/oHouseno 5770 Sector38WestChandigarh,Sector14,Chandigarh-160014,havechangedmynameandshallhereafter beKnownasVir BalaSud. 0070725292-1

II KavitaRani D/oSh. DhanSinghR/o 7518, Gali No.4, RaghubarPuraNo.2, GandhiNagar,Delhi-110031havechangedmyname toKavita Singh for allpurposes. 0040558739-2

II,, AmandeepBhatti D/ODesRajBhatti,W/OHarmeekYuvrajChahal. R/oA-703 IrconCGHSLTDPlotNo-14 Sector-18-A,Dwarka,Delhi Pin-110078,have changedmynameandshall hereafter beKnownasAmandeepChahal.

0070725302-1

II SubhraBaruaalias ShubhraBaruaPavagadhi alias SubhraBPavagadhi alias SubhraBaruaPavagadhi D/o LateSh.JinanandaBaruaW/oSh.Kartik Pavagadhi R/o J-1835, ChittranjanPark, NewDelhi-110019havechangedmyname toSubhraBaruaPavagadhi for all purposes.

0040558739-1

II RameshChandraGoel r/oD-67Sec-122Noidahave changedmyname toRameshChandGoel,forAll Futurepurposes

0050173485-1

II RameshChand r/oD-67 Sec-122Noidahave changedmyname toRameshChandGoel,forAll Futurepurposes

0050173487-1

II PriyankaMunish JainD/oSh.Swaraj SinghThakurW/oSh.Munish JainR/o 1441,Sector-B, Pocket-1, NearGreenValley School, VasantKunj,NewDelhi-110070havechangedmyname toPriyankaThakur for all purposes.

0040558739-3

II,,VVEEDDPRAKASHS/OTARACHANDBHARDWAJR/OHNO.313,NEARPAKKICHOUPAL,ALIPUR,DELHI-110036.CHANGEDMYNAMETOVEDPRAKASHBHARDWAJ.

0040558777-5

II,,SSUURRJJIITT SINGH,S/O JASBEERSINGHR/O21-24 Savitri NagarNearMalviyaNagarNewDelhi-110017,HaveChangedMyName toSurjeetSingh,permanently.

0040558777-1

II,,SSHHOOBBHHAADEVI,SPOUSEOF655803NEX JWOSHIVAKANTTRIPATHI,RESIDENTOF,D-160,GALI.NO-2, BHARAT-VIHARKAKROLA,SOUTHWEST/DELHI,DELHI-110078,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMEFROMSHOBHADEVI TOSHOBHATRIPATHIASPERAFFIDAVIT,DATE-26/12/2020.

0040558782-7

II,,SSAAYYAADDAASUHIRAFARUQUI,D/OShariq sagri,R/o-C-172,st.no-20,SubhashmohallaNorth-ghondaDelhi.Have changedmyname,fromSayadasuhirato Sayada suhira Faruqui.Bothare sameperson.For allthe,futurepurposes.

0040558777-6

II,,SSAANNTTOOSSHHKUMARSINGHS/ORAMNATHSINGH,R/o FLATNO.-P 103, TOWERPCITYAPARTMENTS,NH24,OPPOSITECOLOMBIAASIAHOSPITALNH24, ADITYAWORLDCITY, GHAZIABAD,UTTARPRADESH-201002,havechanged thenameofmyminorDaughter YASHVIVANDANASINGHagedabout 1YEARandShe shall hereafterbe knownasSHRIMEDHASINGH. 0070725305-1

II,,SSAAHHIILL BATRAS/OSATISHKUMARBATRA,R/oH.NO-750,1ST Floor, ,Sector-52,Gurgaon,HARYANA-122001,have changed thenameofmyminorDaughterAMAAYAagedabout 3Years andShe shallhereafter be knownasSAAZBATRA . 0070725291-1

II,,PPoooonnaamm,,DD//oo Lt. ShriM.L.SrivastavaR/o-Village-GejhaBehindSK-II,VDSMarket,Sector-93,Noida,G.B.Nagar, U.P.,havechangedmyname,fromPoonamRani toPoonam, forall purposes. 0040558782-1

II,,PPaannkkaajj Kumar s/oBir PratapSingh,R/o-C-87, 3rd-Floor,GaneshNagar,Pandav-NagarComplex,Delhi-110092,havechangedmyname toPankajKumar Singh,permanently

0040558777-7

II,,MMaanniittaaW/o-ManishKumarGargR/o-H.No.2, G.F., Block10,Spring Field-Colony, Sector31,Faridabadhave changedmyname toAnjali Gargafter-marriage. 0040558768-8

II,,PPaarrvveeeennKumar S/oHarbansLal, R/o-557, Sector 29,Faridabad,have changedmyname toParveenBhardwaj.

0040558768-9

II,,MMaanniisshhVermaS/ORajeshVerma, R/oB-44,MohanParkNaveenShahdara, North EastDelhi-110032, have changedmynameandshall hereafterbeKnownasManishKhatri.

0070725299-1

II,,MMEEGGHHAA,,WW//OO--SSAANNJJEEEEVVARORA,R/O-FLAT.NO-110,PATRAKARPARISAR,GH-2,SEC- 5,VASUNDHARA,GHAZIABAD,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMEAFTERMARRIAGETOMEGHAARORAFORALLFUTUREPURPOSE.

0040558782-2

II,,JJAAYYEESSHHS/oKRISHANBAHLR/o-C-905 EXPRESSGREENAPPARTMENTSECTOR-1VAISHALI, GHAZIABAD201010U.P.,HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETO JAYESHBAHL. 0040558768-6

II,,DDeeeeppaaChandaran, D/oChandranGovindan,R/o 11542,Gali no.354,SanjayColony,Sector-23, Faridabad,havechangedmyname toDeepaChandran. 0040558768-7

II,,CChhaammppaaW/oBirenderSingh,R/o.H.No.A-205,Gali.No.10, SouthGamriExtension,NewDelhi,havechangedmyname toChitraMehraafter-marriage.

0040558768-10

II,,AAhhmmeeddTahaAlvi,s/oTayyabUrfi Alvi,R/o-1705,Pahari-Bhojla, Jama-Masjid,Delhi-110006,Have changedmyname toAhmadTahaAlavi,forall purposes. 0040558777-3

II,,AAbbhhiinnaavvKumar S/OAshokKumar Jha,R/oAmritapuramColony, SarovarNagarDeviMandapRoadRanchi-834005,have changed thenameofmyminor SonAdvik Jhaagedabout 2Years andHeshallhereafter be knownasKiaanJha 0070725285-1

II,, KM JULYGOYALD/OMukashKumarGoyal,W/OVipulAgarwal. R/o 33/17A/29JaswantKi Chhatri ,Balkeshwar , Agra, UttarPradesh-282005havechangedmynameandshall hereafterbeKnownas Juhi Agarwal.

0070725296-1

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PUBLIC NOTICEMY CLIENTS SH. KHAJAN SINGHS/O SH. BHEEM SINGH AND HISWIFE SMT. KANTA DEVI BOTH R/OB-439, CHANDAN VIHAR, NIHALVIHAR, NANGLOI, DELHI-110041, DOHEREBY DISOWN/ DEBAR THEIRSON NEERAJ KUMAR AND HISWIFE DEEPA FROM THEIR ALLMOVABLE/ IMMOVABLEPROPERTIES AND SEVER THEIRRELATIONS FROM THEM DUE TOTHEIR MISCONDUCT. MY CLIENTSWILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FORTHEIR ANY ACTS.

Sd/- (SURENDER SINGH)Advocate

Ch. No. 922, 9TH FLOOR,L.C. BLOCK, ROHINI COURTS,

DELHI-85

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client HARDEVI W/O LATE AMARSINGH R/O A-227, MADIPUR JJCOLONY, DELHI-110063, hasdebarred her son DHARMENDER & hiswife SANDHIYA and their childrenSANEHA, YASH, AMAN & SHIV fromher all movable-immovable propertiesand severe all her relations due to theirmisbehave and bad behaviour.Anybody dealing with them shall bear athis own cost & risk.

Sd/-GEETA BHANDARI

ADVOCATEROOM NO. 16, ROHINI COURTS,

DELHI-85MOB. NO. 8826979033

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it know to all concerned That myclients (1) SHIV PRAKASH S/O SHRIDESH RAJ SINGH AND (2) KISHORELATA W/O SHIV PRAKASH BOTH R/O12/10, DAKSHINPURI EXTN., NEWDELHI-110062, have severed allrelations and disowned their son VIPIN,his wife SONAM and his son NISHANTfrom their all movable- immovableproperties due to their disobedienceand bad behavior. My clients & theirother family members shall not beresponsible and liable for their acts.

Sd/- TUSHAR SINHAAdvocate

En. No. D-192/2011Ch. No. 466, Lawyers Block,Saket Court Complex, Saket,

New Delhi-110017

Public NoticeThat House No. 11,

2nd Floor, Anand ViharPitamPura,Delhi-110034is currently underdispute, Any thirdParty involvement shallbe at the risk and perilof party thus involved.

-Sd.-/, Jagdish Arora,Advocate.

Enl. No. D-2290/14.

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

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client Ramroop S/o Sh. Paras NathR/O H.No. C-3/2087, Gali no. 17, PremNagar, Patel Nagar, Delhi-110008, hassevered all kinds of relations with hiswife Smt. Malti Devi, two son's JitenderChoudhry along-with his wife Smt.Sindhu & Rajat Choudhary, twodaughters Mrs. Renu & Reema, due totheir misbehaviour and has debarred &disowned them from all of hisproperties (moveable and immoveable)and relations with immediate effect.Anybody dealing with them in anymanner will be doing so at his/her/theirown risk and responsibility. My clientshall not be held responsible for anyacts, deeds and things done by them.

Sd/- Y. MISHRA (ADVOCATE)ENRL. NO. D/6023/2017

OFFICE AT: - C-4/13, ST. NO. 3SADATPUR EXT, DELHI-10094.

MOB. NO. 8527785813.

PUBLIC NOTICETHE PUBLIC IN LARGE IT IS INFORMTHAT MY CLIENT MR. KARTAR SINGHCHAWLA, S/O LATE SH. KHUSHI RAMSINGH, R/O HOUSE NO. 474,PARMANAND COLONY WEST, DELHI-110009, HAS DISOWNED, DEBARREDAND DISINHERITED HIS/HER DAUGHTERNAMELY Mrs. AMITA KAUR BHATIA W/OMR. GURSHARAN SINGH BHATIA R/OD-49, VIVEK VIHAR PHASE-1, DELHI,FROM ALL HIS MOVABLE & IMMOVABLEPROPERTIES AND HAVE SEVERED ALLRELATIONS FROM THEM AS THEY ARENO MORE IN TOUCH WITH ME AND HAVENEVER VISITED ME FROM 4TH MAY, 2017AND ALSO WHEN I HAD CORONA IN THEMONTH OF OCTOBER, 2020 SHE NEVERCARED TO COME AND SEE ME, I HAVENEVER GIVEN MY WILL FOR THEPARTICULAR PROPERTY HOUSE NO.474, PARMANAND COLONY WEST, INFAVOUR OF MY SON IE. MR. UTTAM JITSINGH CHAWLA.

Sd/- SAKSHI BUDHIRAJAADVOCATE

Ch. No. 463, Western Wing,Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-54

PUBLIC NOTICEI for and on behalf of my client Sh. DheerajKapoor S/o Late Sh. Suresh ChandKapoor R/o B-3615/75, Gali No. 98, SantNagar, Burari, Delhi-110084 do herebyinform the public at large that on account ofillegal acts and immoral behavior my clienthas disowned his wife Smt. Yogita Kapoord/o Late Sh. Rajinder Kumar Saini and hehas severed his relations with her and hehas debarred her from all his movable andimmovable assets forever. My client hasalso cancelled the General Power ofAttorney dated 25th March, 2013 in favourof Smt. Yogita Kapoor in respect of his builtup property measuring 50 sq.yds. situatedin Khasra No. 117/24, Village Burari, Delhicolony known as B-Block, Sant Nagar,Burari, Delhi-110084 which he hadexecuted in her favour out of love andaffection and without any considerationand further my client will not be responsiblefor any action of Smt. Yogita Kapoor infuture in any manner and anyone dealingwith her shall be doing so at their own riskand consequences and my client shall notbe responsible for the same.

Sd/- SHAILENDER DAHIYA(ADVOCATE)

ENRL. NO. D349/88

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all through this PublicNotice that my clients Sh. Rajendra KumarS/o Sh. Jai Pal Singh and Smt. KamleshW/o Sh. Rajendra Kumar both R/oH-99/D, Street No. 6, Ganga Vihar, Delhi -110094 have severed all kind of theirrelationship and disowned & disinheritedtheir son namely Sh. Sumit Kumar & theirdaughter in law namely Smt. Anju RaniW/o Sh. Sumit Kumar, from their allmovable and immovable properties &published Public Notices in Daily NewsPapers ‘Indian Express’ & ‘Jansatta’both dated 12.01.2020, in this regard.Now my clients Sh. Rajendra Kumar andSmt. Kamlesh have partially withdrawn thesaid Public Notices in so far as the samepertain to their son namely Sh. SumitKumar. In so far as, the same related totheir daughter in law namely Smt. AnjuRani W/o Sh. Sumit Kumar, the saidPublic Notices shall remain operative &binding in all respect.

Sd/- UMESH GUPTA (ADVOCATE)Ch. No. 660, Western Wing

Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054

CX.´fi. ´ff½fSX MXÑfaÀfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSmXVf³f d»f. BÊX-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa. 56-BÊÀfeMXeÀfe/¸fbSXf./2020-21 BÊ-M`¯OS, ¨ffS ¸ffW I e ½f`ô°ff WZ°fb, Qû ·ff¦fûÔ¸fZÔ, ·ff¦f-1 ½f ·ff¦f-2 A²fûd»fdJ°f d½f½fS¯f IZA³fbÀffS Af¸fadÂf°f dI ¹ff ªff°ff W`Ü d³fd½fQf ´fif´°fWû³fZ/Jû»fZ ªff³fZ I f dQ³ffaI ½f Àf¸f¹f Ii ¸fVf:01.02.2021, 14.00 ¶fªfZ E½fa 02.02.202114.00 ¶fªfZ W`Ü IiY¸ffaIY 1. IYf¹fÊ IYf ³ff¸f 220IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi ¸fÓfû»ff I f»fû³fe, ¸fbSfQf¶ffQ I f½ffd¿fÊI A³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 2. IYf¹fÊ IYf³ff¸f 220 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi ¸fÓfû»ff I f»fû³fe,¸fbSfQf¶ffQ ´fS ½ffMS Àf´»ffBÊ E½fa ÀffR -ÀfR fBÊ WZ°fb½ffd¿fÊI A³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 3. IYf¹fÊ IYf³ff¸f 220 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi ¸fÓfû»ff I f»fû³fe,¸fbSfQf¶ffQ ´fS BSm¢MS WfgÀM»f, ´ffIÊ ´»ff³fMZVf³f,Af´fSmVf³f MÐ¹fc¶f½f`»f ¸fûMS E½fa C³fI f ½ffd¿fÊIA³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 4. IYf¹fÊ IYf ³ff¸f 220IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi ³fWMüS, 132 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi,³fªfe¶ff¶ffQ AüS 132 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi, d¶fªf³füS´fS ½ffd¿fÊI A³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 5. IYf¹fÊ IYf³ff¸f 132 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi Sf¸f´fbS ´fS ½ffd¿fÊIA³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 6. IYf¹fÊ IYf ³ff¸f 132IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi ¦fªfSü»ff E½fa 220 IZ .½fe.C´fIZ ³ýi ¦fªfSü»ff I f ½ffd¿fÊI A³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜIiY¸ffaIY 7. IYf¹fÊ IYf ³ff¸f 132 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi¨f³QüÀfe E½fa 132 IZ .½fe. C´fIZ ³ýi Àf¸·f»f I f½ffd¿fÊI A³fbSÃf¯f I f¹fÊÜ IiY¸ffaIY 8. IYf¹fÊ IYf³ff¸f A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff, d½fôb°f ªff³f´fQ ´ffSm¿f¯f

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corrigendumPlease refer to our Sale Noticepublished on 12.12.2020 in the indianexpress. Property area was not print bymistake for Property at Sr. No.14 (M/s JaiMata Dee enterprises), which will be asArea 1 Katha. Rest all the contents shallremain same.

ZonalOffice,BudhMarg,Patna-800001

Authorized Officer

Purvanchal Vidyut VitranNigam Limited, VidyutNagar, P.O.- DLWVaranasi-221004 E-

Tender Notice E-tenders areinvited for the following materials.The tenderer will be accepted up toat 15.00 hrs. Please visit websitewww.etender.up.nic.in for details/download and for any othercorrections/ amendments/modifications/ extensions till thedate of submission of bids. SI. No.:1., Tender Specification No.:EAV-26/2020-21, Name ofMaterial: Different type of 11 KVCable Jointing Kit. Qty.: 3200 Nos.Name of Material: Different typeof 33 KV Cable Jointing Kit. Qty.:1740 Nos. Earnest Money (Rs.):6,05,000.00 Tender Fee (Rs.):5,000.00 + GST @ 18%, Lastdate & Time for onlinesubmission of tender document:28.01.2021 15.00 Hrs., Date &Time for online opening oftender part-I: 29.01.2021 15.00Hrs. Sd/- SUPERINTENDINGENGINEER (MM-I) “SAVEELECTRICITY IN THE INTERESTOF THE NATION” ´fÂffaI 3787/´fc.d½f.d½f.d³f.d»f.(½ff.)/Àff.´fi.-I/AA-I/d½fÄff´f³fdQ³ffaI 26.12.2020

PPUUBBLLIICCNNOOTTIICCEE

Threat mail to judge: Policesay accused killed 8 yrs ago

Militant killedin encounter atJ&K’s Shopian

Bihar nod tonew civicbodies in 5districts


NEARLY10daysafterBareillypo-licereceivedacomplaintofanal-legedthreatlettersenttoanaddi-tionaldistrictandsessionsjudge,the investigationhas found thatthe accused died in a police en-counterinMoradabadin2012.Bareilly police came toknow

about it when they visited theMoradabad residence of the ac-cused — Mohammad FahimPakistani.AcasewasfiledagainstFahim for allegedly threateningthe judge if he failed tograntbailtooneChunni Lal,whohasbeenarrestedinconnectionwithacor-ruptioncase.“Whenwe collected details

about Fahim,we came to knowthathewaskilled in apolice en-counter in 2012 inMoradabad.Later, wequestionedChunniLal.HesaidthathedidnotknowanypersonnamedFahimPakistani,”Station House Officer (BareillyPoliceStation)GiteshKapilsaid.

According to the SHO, an FIRwas registered onDecember 17onacomplaintbyadditionaldis-trict and session judgeMohammadAhmadKhan. Inhiscomplaint, the judgesaid thathehad received the letter onDecember14inwhichthesenderthreatened him and his familywithdire consequences if hedidnotgrantbailtoChunniLal.“The sender had identified

himself as Chunni Lal’s friendMohammad FahimPakistani, aresidentofMoradabad,” said theSHO, adding that Lal is in jail foraroundsevenmonths.The FIRwas lodged against

Fahim under IPC section 506(criminalintimidation).During the investigation, po-

licevisitedtheMoradabadpostof-ficefromwheretheletterwassenttothejudge.“We checked the CCTV

footageof thepost office but didnot find anything.We collecteddetails about Chunni Lal andfoundnoevidencesuggestingthatheknewFahim,"saidKapil.

Srinagar: An unidentifiedmili-tant was killed in an overnightencounter with security forcesinShopiandistrictof JammuandKashmir, takingthedeathtollofultras in the operation to two,police saidonSaturday.“Onemoremilitanthasbeen

killed in fresh exchange of firewith security forces in Shopiantoday. The number of terroristskilled in the operation nowstands at two,” a police officialsaid.Securityforceshadlaunched

acordonandsearchoperationinKanigamarea on Friday follow-ing informationabout thepres-enceofmilitants inthearea, theofficialsaid.Hesaidastheforceswere conducting the searches,militants fireduponthem.The forces retaliated, result-

inganencounter,theofficialsaid.In the exchange of fire, one

militant was killed last night(Friday night), he said, addingtwosoldierswerealsoinjuredinthegunbattle. PTI

Patna:Aheadofthe Panchayatandcivicbodies'elections linedup for 2021, theBihar CabinetonSaturdayap-proved the in-clusion of 237grampanchay-ats into civicbodies as nagarpanchayatsandnagar parishad.Besides, 194grampanchay-ats lost someareas to the na-gar panchayats.Most of exer-cise took placeinEastandWestChamparan,Madhubani,SamastipurandRohtas. ENS


ASTHECongressalleged “disap-pearance” of its state unit chiefAjay Kumar Lallu after he wastakenintocustodybyLalitpurpo-liceduringhis ‘GaiBachao,KisanBachao yatra’ on Saturday, thedistrict police on late Saturdaynight said the Congress leaderwassentbacktoLucknowunderpoliceprotection.“Today, the Congress had or-

ganisedayatrainLalitpurdistrict,andAjayKumarLalluwastakingpart in it. As the administrationhad not given him any permis-sion,hewasarrested.Laterintheevening, hewas let go on a per-sonalbond.AshehadcomefromLucknow and had no onewithhim—he also did not have hisphonewithhim—hewassenttoLucknowwithanofficerwithpo-liceprotection.Asperhislocation,he is about to reach Lucknow,”Superintendent of Police(Lalitpur)PramodKumarsaidinavideostatement.Lalitpurdistrictis more than 400 km fromLucknowandtakesclosetoeighthourstoreachbyroad.

Sources in theCongress latersaid Lallu had reached Lucknowbymidnight.Earlier,theCongressallegedthatUPPolicewasnotdis-closing the locationof Lalluafterhe was taken into custody.“Adityanath’s police had left forLucknowwithUPCongresschiefAjayLalluintheevening,butevenafterseveralhourshis locationisunidentified,” the UP Congresstweetedaround9.30pm.In an earlier tweet, the party

questioned the behaviour of theUPPolice.“Whentheglassof BJPchief(JPNadda)'scarisbrokeninBengal thentheBJPsaysdemoc-racyisindanger...Policehaveab-ductedourstatechief forthelastseveral hours in UP to stop aprotest.Democracy?”Lalluandover50partywork-

erswerearrestedinLalitpurafterthey tried to takeout themarch.District Congress presidentBalwantSinghRajputsaidabouttwo dozen partyworkerswereinjuredasthepoliceusedforce.TheCongresshadannounced

itwill take out themarch in dif-ferentdistrictsofBundelkhandtohighlighttheallegedmismanage-mentincowshelters.

(WITHPTIINPUTS)

Cong says its UP chiefmissing after arrest, copssay sent to Lucknow

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

‘Unprecedented’mailvolumedelaysChristmasgiftsSOMEWHOmailedholidaypresents weeks early thisyear found they didn’t actearly enough as Christmasarrivedwiththeirgiftsstuckin transit. The US PostalService said on itswebsitethatitwas“experiencingun-precedented volume in-creases and limited em-ployeeavailabilityduetotheimpactsofCovid-19.”AustinRace of Grand Rapids,Michigan, placed an onlineorderNov.30foracollector’smodeldie-castofaNASCARracing car. It hadn’t reachedhis father after the PostalService passed through hisneighbourhood Thursdaynight, even though hewasnotified Dec. 8 that it wasshippedbytwo-dayprioritymail. “I do understand thesituation,butit’sstillkindoffrustrating,”hesaid.AP

ApostalworkerdeliverspackageslastweekinChicago.AP

TOPOFTHEWORLD

USA

JudgedelaysexecutionofonlywomanonfederaldeathrowAFEDERALjudgesaidtheUSJusticeDepartment unlaw-fully rescheduled theexecu-tion of the onlywoman onfederaldeathrow,potentiallysettinguptheTrumpadmin-istrationtoscheduletheexe-cution after President-electJoe Biden takes office. USDistrictCourtJudgeRandolphMoss also vacated anorderfrom the director of theBureauofPrisonsthathadsetLisaMontgomery’sexecutiondateforJan12.Montgomeryhadpreviouslybeen sched-uled to be put to death at aFederalCorrectionalComplexinIndianathismonth.AP

IRAN

Heavysnowfallkills8climbers,severalmissingATLEASTeightclimbershavedied and several more aremissing inmountainsnorthof Iran’s capital Tehranafterheavysnowfallandablizzard,state television reportedonSaturday.Severalclimbersre-mainunaccounted for sinceFridaywhentwodeathswerereported,while thenumberreported asmissinghas in-creasedasconcernedfamiliescontact the authorities, thebroadcaster said. News re-portssaidthenumberofpeo-pleunaccountedforcouldbeashigh as 12. Search effortswerehaltedforthenightandwouldresumeonSunday,thereportadded.REUTERS

THE MI6 AGENT WAS UNMASKED AS A SOVIET SPY IN 1961 AND SENTENCED TO PRISON BEFORE HE ESCAPED TO RUSSIA

George Blake, last in line of Cold War spies who betrayed UK, diesTIMOTHYHERITAGE&POLINAIVANOVALONDON,MOSCOW,DEC26

GEORGE BLAKE, who died inRussia on Saturday at the ageof98,wasthelastinalineofBritishspieswhose secretwork for theSovietUnionhumiliated the in-telligence establishmentwhenitwasdiscoveredattheheightoftheColdWar.Britain says he exposed the

identities of hundreds ofWestern agents across EasternEurope in the 1950s, some ofwhomwereexecutedasaresultof his treason.Hiscasewasamongthemost

notoriousoftheColdWar,along-

side those of a separate ring ofBritish double agents known astheCambridgeFive.Unmasked as a Soviet spy in

1961,Blakewassentencedto42years in London’sWormwoodScrubsprison. In a classic cloak-and-dagger story, heescaped in1966with the help of other in-mates and two peace activists,andwassmuggledoutofBritainin a camper van. He made itthroughWesternEuropeundis-covered and crossed the IronCurtain intoEastBerlin.Hespent therestofhis life in

theSovietUnionandthenRussia,wherehewas fetedasahero.Reflectingonhis life inanin-

terviewwithReutersinMoscowin 1991, Blake said he had be-

lieved theworldwason theeveof Communism.“It was an ideal which, if it

couldhavebeenachieved,would

havebeenwellworthit,”hesaid.“Ithoughtitcouldbe,andIdid

whatIcouldtohelpit,tobuildsuchasociety. It hasnotprovedpossi-

ble.ButIthinkitisanobleideaandIthinkhumanitywillreturntoit.”Inacondolencemessagepub-

lished by the Kremlin, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin saidBlakewasaprofessionalofpartic-ular vitality and courage whomadean invaluable contributiontoglobalstrategicparityandpeace.“The memory of this leg-

endarypersonwillbepreservedforever inourhearts,”hewrote.BlakewasborninRotterdam

in the Netherlands on Nov 11,1922, to aDutchmother and anEgyptianJewishfatherwhowasanaturalisedBriton.He escaped from the

Netherlands inWorldWar TwoafterjoiningtheDutchresistanceas a courier and reachedBritain

inJanuary1943.AfterjoiningtheBritishNavy,hestartedworkingfortheBritishSecretIntelligenceService,MI6, in1944.After the war, Blake served

briefly in the German city ofHamburgandstudiedRussianatCambridgeUniversitybeforebe-ingsentin1948toSeoulwherehegathered intelligence onCommunist North Korea,CommunistChinaandtheSovietFarEast.Hewascapturedandim-prisoned when North KoreantroopstookSeoulaftertheKoreanWarbegan in1950. Itwasduringhis timeinaNorthKoreanprisonthat he became a committedCommunist,readingtheworksofKarlMarx and feelingoutrageatheavyUSbombingofNorthKorea.

After his release in 1953, hereturned to Britain and in 1955wassentbyMI6toBerlin,wherehe collected information onSoviet spies but also passed se-crets to Moscow about BritishandUSoperations.Blake was eventually ex-

posed by a Polish defector andbroughthometoBritain,wherehewassentencedand jailed.When he escaped from

WormwoodScrubs,heleftbehindhiswife, Gillian, and three chil-dren. AfterGilliandivorcedhim,Blakemarried a Sovietwoman,Ida, with whom he had a son,Misha.Heworkedataforeignaf-fairsinstitutebeforeretiringwithher toadacha, or countryhouse,outsideMoscow.REUTERS

‘Thememoryof this legendarypersonwillbepreservedforever inourhearts,’ PutinsaidafterBlake’sdeath

STEVEHOLLAND&RICHARDCOWANPALMBEACH,WASHINGTON,DECEMBER26

MILLIONS OF Americans sawtheir jobless benefits expire onSaturday after US PresidentDonald Trump refused to signintolawa$2.3trillionpandemicaid and spending package,protesting that it did not doenoughtohelpeverydaypeople.TrumpstunnedRepublicans

and Democrats alike when hesaid thisweek hewas unhappywiththemassiveBill,whichpro-vides $892 billion in badlyneeded coronavirus relief, in-cludingextendingspecialunem-ployment benefits expiring onDec26, and$1.4 trillion fornor-malgovernment spending.Without Trump’s signature,

about14millionpeoplecouldlosethoseextrabenefits,accordingtoLabourDepartment data. Apar-tial government shutdownwillbeginonTuesdayunlessCongresscanagreeastop-gapgovernmentfundingBillbeforethen.Aftermonths of wrangling,

Republicans and Democratsagreed to thepackage lastweek-end,withthesupportoftheWhiteHouse. Trump, didnot object totermsofthedealbeforeCongressvoteditthroughonMondaynight.But since then, he has com-

plainedthattheBillgivestoomuchmoneytospecialinterests,culturalprojectsand foreignaid,while itsone-time$600stimuluscheckstomillionsof strugglingAmericansweretoosmall.Hehasdemandedthatberaisedto$2,000.“Whywouldpoliticiansnot

want to give people $2,000,rather than only $600?...Giveourpeople themoney!” thebil-lionaire President tweeted onChristmasDay,much of whichhe spent golfing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach,Florida.REUTERS

Soldierscarry thefirst shipmentofPfizer-BioNTechCovid-19vaccines inBudapest,Hungary,onSaturday.Reuters

REUTERSDECEMBER26

EUROPE LAUNCHES a cross-bordervaccinationprogrammeof unprecedented scale onSundayaspart of efforts to enda Covid-19 pandemic that hascrippled economies andclaimedmore than 1.7 millionlives around theworld.The region of 450 million

people has secured contractswitharangeofsuppliersforovertwo billion vaccine doses andhas set a goal for all adults to beinoculatedduring2021.The sheer scale of the effort

means that some countries arecallingonretiredmedicstohelpoutwhile others have loosenedrules forwho is allowed to give

the injections.Withsurveyspointingtohigh

levels of hesitancy towards thevaccine in countries fromFrancetoPoland,leadersofthe27-coun-tryEuropeanUnionarepromot-ingitasthebestchanceofgettingbacktosomethinglikenormallifenextyear.“Wearestartingtoturnthepageonadifficultyear,”Ursulavon der Leyen, EuropeanCommissionpresident, said in atweet. “Vaccination is the lastingwayoutof thepandemic.”After Europeangovernments

werecriticised for failing toworktogether tocounter the spreadofthevirusinearly2020,thegoalthistimeistoensurethatthereisequalaccess to thevaccines across theentireregion.CountriesincludingFrance, Germany, Italy, Austria,PortugalandSpainareplanningtobeginmassvaccinations, startingwithhealthworkersonSunday.

VIVIANWANGDECEMBER26

IN ONE video, during the lock-downinWuhan,China,shefilmeda hospital hallway lined withrollingbeds, thepatientshookedup to blue oxygen tanks. In an-other,shepannedoveracommu-nity health centre, noting that aman said hewas charged for aCovidtest, eventhoughresidentsbelievedthetestswouldbefree.Atthetime,ZhangZhan,a37-

year-old former lawyer turnedcitizen journalist, embodied theChinese people’s hunger for un-filtered information about theepidemic. Now, shehas becomeasymbolofthegovernment’sef-forts to deny its early failings inthe crisis andpromote a victori-ousnarrativeinstead.Zhangabruptlystoppedpost-

ing inMay, after severalmonthsof dispatches. Police later re-vealedthatshehadbeenarrested,accused of spreading lies. OnMonday, shewill go to court, inthe first known trial of a chroni-clerofChina’scoronaviruscrisis.Zhanghas continued to chal-

lenge the authorities from jail.Soonafterherarrest,Zhangbeganahungerstrike, according to herlawyers. She has become gauntanddrainedbuthasrefusedtoeat,thelawyerssaid,maintainingthather strike is her formof protestagainstherunjustdetention.Zhang’sprosecution ispartof

the Chinese Communist Party’scontinuing campaign to recastChina’shandlingof theoutbreakas a succession of wise, tri-umphantmoves by the govern-ment.Criticswhohavepointedtoearlymisstepshavebeenarrested,censoredorthreatened.NYT

CHRISGALLAGHER&SAMNUSSEYTOKYO,DECEMBER26

JAPANONSaturdaysaiditwouldtemporarily ban non-residentforeign nationals from enteringthecountryasittightensitsbor-dersfollowingthedetectionofanew,highlyinfectiousvariantofthecoronavirus.Thebanwill takeeffect from

December 28 and will runthroughJanuary,thegovernmentsaid inanemailedstatement.Japanesecitizensandforeign

residentswillbeallowedtoenterbutmust showproof of a nega-tive coronavirus test 72 hoursbefore departing for Japan andmust quarantine for twoweeksafterarrival, thestatement said.Japan on Friday reported its

first cases of a fast-spreadingvariant in passengers arrivingfrom Britain. The new varianthasalsobeendetected inamanwhovisited theUKanda familymember— the first cases of in-fectedpeoplefoundoutsideair-port checks — Nippon TV re-portedonSaturday.The newstrain adds towor-

ries about a surge in cases asTokyo reported another recordriseonSaturday.Infections of the virus that

causesCovid-19hitarecord949inthecapital justasJapanheadsintoNewYearholidaysthatnor-mally see people stream from

thecapital into theprovinces.Serious cases were un-

changedfromadayearlierat81.Tokyo transport hubs were

subdued, localmediasaid,adayafter PrimeMinister YoshihideSuga, under pressure as casescontinuetoclimb,urgedthena-tion to stay home and avoid so-cialmixing.WithNewYear celebrations

centred around family gather-ings andmass visits to templesand shrines, experts havewarned public restraint will beessential to prevent infectionrates from rising further amidconcernsof pandemic fatigue.Suga’s initial political hon-

eymoonafter takinghispost inSeptemberhasended,withhispopularity sliding after criti-cismhewasslowtoreact toris-ing infections in Tokyo and forattendingagroupsteakdinnerin defiance of his own calls forcaution.REUTERS

KIMBERLEEKRUESI,MICHAELBALSAMO&ERICTUCKERNASHVILLE,DECEMBER26

ARECREATIONALvehicleparkedin thedeserted streets of down-townNashville exploded earlyChristmasmorning,causingwide-spreadcommunicationsoutagesthattookdownpoliceemergencysystems and grounded holidaytravelatthecity’sairport.

Policewere responding to areportofshotsfiredFridaywhentheyencounteredtheRVblaring

a recordedwarning that abombwould detonate in 15minutes,MetroNashvillePoliceChiefJohnDrake said. Police evacuatednearbybuildingsandcalledinthebomb squad. The RV explodedshortlyafterward,Drakesaid.Mayor John Cooper has is-

suedacurfewin thearea.Policebelievetheblastwasin-

tentional but don’t yet know amotiveortarget,andDrakenotedthatofficialshadnotreceivedanythreatsbeforetheexplosion.

Thechiefsaidinvestigatorsatthescene“havefoundtissuethatwebelievecouldberemains,butwe’llhavethatexaminedandletyou know at that time.” Policecould not say whether it camefromsomeone inside theRV.Surveillance videopublished

on Twitter that appeared to beacross the street from the blastcaptured the warning issuingfromtheRV,“...ifyoucanhearthismessage,evacuatenow,”secondsbeforetheexplosion.AP

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,DECEMBER26

AVICEMINISTERof theChineseCommunist Partywill arrive inKathmanduonSundayinanap-parent emergency visit to try torestore the unity of the rulingNepalCommunistParty.ThevisitofGuoYezhou,vice

minister of the International

Departmentof theCommunistParty of China, takes place inthe wake of a split in the NCP,something that Beijing hasbeen trying to avoid.There has been no official

wordfromeithertheChinesesideor the government of Nepal, butsources in both factions of theNCP said Guowill be meetingPrimeMinisterKPSharmaOlionSunday,andPushpaKamalDahal

‘Prachanda’ andMadhavKumarNepal,bothleadersoftheanti-Olifaction,onMonday.“I guess China is still trying

forapatchup,whichIdon’tthinkispossible,”aseniorleaderofthePrachanda-factionsaid.Chinese Ambassador to

Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has in recentdaysmetmanytopleadersfrombothsidesandisbelievedtohaveadvisedthemtostilltryforunity.

Millions in US lose jobless benefitsas Trump refuses to clear Covid aidGovtshutdownfromTuesdayunlessCongresscanagreestop-gapspendingBill She chronicled

China’s crisis, butis now accusedof spreading lies

Japan bans foreignersfrom entering after UKvirus variant detected

Thenumberof coronaviruscaseshitarecord949 inTokyojustas Japanheads intoNewYearholidays thatnormallyseepeoplestreamfromthecapital intotheprovinces.AP

POLICESTILLTRYINGTODETERMINETARGETOFLARGE ‘INTENTIONAL’ EXPLOSION

Nashville blast knocks out communication lines

Senior Chinese official to visit Nepalamid political crisis in the country

Attheblast siteFriday.AP

Multiple blastsin Kabul, at leastfour people dead

RAHIMFAIEZKABUL,DECEMBER26

A SERIES of explosions hit theAfghan capital on Saturdaymorning, killing at least fourpeople including two police of-ficers, officials said.Thedeathswerecausedbya

stickybombattachedtoapolicevehicle detonated in westernKabul, police spokesmanFerdaws Faramarz said. The ex-plosionwoundedtwocivilians.Two other police officers

werewoundedwhenabombat-tachedtotheircarexplodedear-lier Saturday in southernKabul,Faramarzsaid.Maooma Jafari, deputy

spokeswoman for the healthministry, said that four corpsesand fourwoundedpeopleweretaken to hospital following thetwoexplosions.A third sticky bomb deto-

nated in eastern Kabul butcausednocasualties,hesaid.Therewerereportsofatleast

two other blasts elsewhere inthecitybutpolicehadnoimme-diatedetails.In a separate report form

northernBalkhprovince, a sen-iorarmyofficerwaskilledwhenhis vehicle hit a roadside bomb,police said. Mohammad Tareq,the garrison commander of thearmy brigade in Balkhwas theapparent targetwhowas killedin theattack.AP

Japanesecitizensandforeignresidentswillbeallowedtoenterbutmustshowproofof anegativecoronavirustest72hoursbeforedepartingfor Japanandmustquarantinefortwoweeksafterarrival

THEARRIVALofthevaccineinEuropebroughthopetoare-gionthathasseensomeoftheearliestandworst-hitCovidhotspotsintheworld.Italsobroughtasenseofunitytoapost-BrexitEUwhichhaditsfundamentalprincipleof freemovementquestionedduringaperiodofclosedborders.EUleaderscelebratedthecollec-tiveefforttogetthevaccineas“atouchingmomentofunity”.

Bringingsenseofhope,unityE●EX

PLAINED

Europe to begin vaccination asdoses shipped across continent

ANCIENT ‘STREET FOOD SHOP’ UNCOVEREDFrescoesonanancientcounterdiscoveredduringexcavations inPompeii, Italy.Reuters

■Archaeologists inPompeii,thecityburied inavolcaniceruption in79AD,havemadetheextraordinary findof afrescoedhot foodanddrinksshopthatserveduptheancientequivalentof streetfoodtoRomanpassersby.

■Knownasatermopolium,Latin forhotdrinkscounter,theshopwasdiscovered intheRegioVsite,which isnotyetopenthepublic.Tracesofnearly2,000-year-old foodwerefoundinsomeof thedeepterracotta jars.

■Thefrontof thecounterwasdecoratedwithbrightlycolouredfrescoes, somedepictinganimals thatwerepartof the ingredients inthefoodsold, suchasachickenandtwoduckshangingupsidedown.

New Delhi

T H E S U N D A Y E X P R E S S M A G A Z I N EDECEMBER 27, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 14

MAKE THINGSTOPSY-TURVY

Now thatseparateness is the

norm, we realise howmuch of a significantsocial contract touch

is in our lives

eye

Vatsala Mamgain

FORAyear that left us speechless, 2020hasbeen full of words. A few have expectedly,been dangerous to health. Aword like “un-precedented”, for instance, has single-hand-edlyconvertedusintoanationwithverypoorliverhealth. Ithasbeenrigorouslyprovenbyanunscientificstudythatifapersontookasipof a drink every time they read or heard theword “unprecedented” this year, their liverwouldbeshottohellbynow.Backin2016,PresidentDonaldTrumphad

famously boasted, “I knowwords. I have thebestwords.”Butsadly,inthis,asinotherthings,2020hadhimbeat.So,asapublicservicetofu-turehistorians,hereisthedictionaryof2020—all thewords of the year, defined as they arereallyused, inonepithy, inaccuratevolume:

2020 (VERB):When you bugger things upbeyondbelief.E.g.LegalanalystJeffreyToobin2020’dhiscareerafterheaccidentallyexposedhimselfonaZoomworkcall.(PS:Thisisatruestory. 2020 is a fabulous year for stories of2020-ing)

CORONACOASTER (NOUN): The ups anddowns of yourmoodduring the pandemic.E.g. If you’re loving lockdownoneminute—baking bread andhappy as a bug—and thenextminute,youaremissingtheofficecoffee,

drinkingvodkaatnoonandweepywithanx-iety,you’reonanemotionalcoronacoaster

CORONIALS(N):Babiesproducedafterayearoflockdown.E.g:Coronialsaretheproductofthefactthatwhilesocialdistancingwasman-datedoutside,theimpactinthebedroomwasquitetheopposite

COVIDIOT(N):ApersonwiththeirbrainsintheirbumwhenitcomestoCOVID-19safety.E.g.Medical tests have proven that sadly fortherestofus,nocovidiot isasymptomatic

FITNESS/WORKOUT(N):Thirtyminutesofgetting your heart rate up followed by 23.5hoursspentinthesameposition.E.g.It’sbeenimportanttokeepupwithone’sroutinedur-ing quarantine. So, right through the year, Icontinuedtonotworkout, just likebefore

HANDWASHING(V):TheNo.1gap-yearac-tivity inmostCVsin2020.E.g.Futuregenera-tionswillbeshockedtolearnthatthe“Happybirthday” song used to actually be sung atbirthdaysandnotjusttotimehandwashing

LOCKDOWN(N):Aperiod of complete re-strictionswhen everyone’s true hair colourwas revealed. E.g. Lockdownwaswhatwasneeded for awholebunchof people to learnthat“sufficienttimehomealone”wasnottheonlythingneededtowriteagreatnovel

LOCKTAILHOUR(PHRASE):Beero’clockinthelockdownera.E.g.Isitjustmeorhaslock-tail hour started creeping earlierwith eachpassingweek?

MID-MORNINGCOFFEE (N): (also knownasmid-afternoon coffee) An amazing drinkexceptwith tequila, lime juice, triple secandnocoffee.E.g.Letmegetmymid-morningcof-

fee, the ideaswill reallybegin to flowwhen Ihavethat inmysystem

MORONAVIRUS (N): What covidiotstest positive for. E.g. Donald Trump, RudyGiuliani,etc

NEWNORMAL(PHRASE):Whatstinksforeveryone.E.g.Thenewnormalforthisyearis

to continually get used to a newbutmuchworsenormal

SOCIALDISTANCING (PHRASE): (also re-ferredtoasanti-socialdistancing)Usinglock-downastheperfectreasontoavoideveryoneyoudon’tlike.E.g.Introvertsaredesperateforsocial-distancing rules to be lifted so every-onetheylivewithwill leavethehouse

THECOVID-19 (PHRASE):Refers to the 19poundsanaveragepersonputonduringthispandemicfromstress-eating.E.g.Rememberwheneveryoneused to say thekey to losingweight was eatingmore of yourmeals athome?TheCovid19hadn’tstruckthen!

THEELEPHANTINTHEZOOM(PHRASE):Theglaringissueduringavideoconferencingcall that everybody feels unable tomention.E.g.Ididthisafternoon’smeetinginatowelasnothingfitsmeanymore.ButIreliedonitbe-ingtheelephant intheZoom

TODDLERS(N):Thefruitof yourownloinswith whom you played hide and seek allthroughthelockdown,evenif theydidn’tre-aliseit.E.g.Sendhelptotheparents,rumourhas it the toddlersarewinninghandsdown

VACCINE(N):Hopeinasyringe.E.g.Thevac-cineshouldfirstbetestedonpoliticians.Iftheyareokay,thevaccineissafe,but if theyaren’t,

thecountryissafe

WORK FROMHOME (WFH) (PHRASE):Wearing pyjamas to snack, clean, cook,snack,answeremails,attendcalls,snack,etc.E.g.Formostright-thinkingpeople,workin-terfereswith the full enjoymentofWFH

YOU’REONMUTE! (PHRASE): Themostusedwordsin2020.E.g.YOU’REONMUTE!

ZOOM(N): Theappyouusetoprovetoyourboss that you’vemanaged toget out of bed.E.g. Has anyone else forgotten they are on aZoommeetingwith the video on and inad-vertently started plucking lint out of theirbellybutton? If not, thenmeneither

THEEND(PHRASE):Notherebyanymeansbut hopefully close. E.g. It’s the endof 2020!Thingscan’tpossiblygetanyworsenextyear,sotheycanonlygetbetter!This unprecedented dictionary for un-

precedented times is available on order in aclassy leatherite bound volume. You can in-vest in this for the coronials in your life.Meanwhile, Happy 2021. Stay safe, stayhealthy and remember — keep the mid-morningcoffeecloseathand.YouneverknowwhattheNewYearhasinstore!

VatsalaMamgainisaglutton,cook,runner,treelover,shopperandreader

A Glossary of 2020 WordsAll the words that this year threw up in one pithy account

Annie Zaidi

TOUCH, LIKE love, reveals itself more fullyonceit is inretreat.Ninemonths of not touching anyone ex-

ceptmymother, and Iamdownamineshaftofmemoriesabouttouch:whatwaspermis-sible forwhom, the shock of implied touchwhere none existed, sanguine touch, andtouchthat invertsallpresumption.During the longmonths of self-isolating,

mychildhoodsteppedoutofitsshadows,be-musedatthesocial-mediahoo-haaboutnotbeingabletohugfriends.Despitegrowingupina familywherehugswere thenormandaculturethatemphasisedembracingasaformof greeting, I grew up not hugging friends.Where Iwas growingup inRajasthan in the1980s and early ’90s, I never sawothers hugin public. Classmates shook hands formallyoccasionally, say,when you firstmet some-one,orwhenyouwantedtosay“Congrats”or“HappyBirthday”.Violenttouchwasadiffer-entmatter.Irecallplentyofbeatingsandotherkindsofassaultsonstudents inschool.Kidstouchedeachother,ofcourse,during

sportsorstageperformances.Wedancedso-cially a couple of times a year, but even thatwas somethingmymother initiated at thebirthdaypartiesshehosted.Grown-upsgath-ered at dinners, pujas, club fetes, orchestra-partynights; Ididn’tseethemhugging.Itwasn’t until I joined a girls’ hostel that

huggingbecameamoreconstantdemonstra-tionof friendship.OnceImovedtometropo-liseslikeMumbai,Iobservednewsocialrules.Friends, colleagues, even acquaintancesreachedoutforhugs.Inthenewmillennium,Isawnewkindsofinformaltouch:air-kissing,fist-bumps,high-fives.Byearly2020, theca-sualhalf-hughadlittleemotionalsignificance.Itremained,however,asignificantsocialcon-tract. Hugs assured participants of a certainpeerdomfor,always, therewereothers,peo-plebrickedoff fromyouraffection.Youcouldalwaystellwhichsocialclassyoubelongedtobased onwho gave you a hugwhile leavingthe room,whowouldmerely nod, andwhodidn’tfeeltheneedtoacknowledgeyouatall.Now that separateness is the norm, now

thatwehesitateatthresholds,constantlyalertto each body’s proximity, I see clearlywhatwas always there, but not easy to acknowl-edge.Casual socialhugginghadbecomeoneofthosetoolsthataffirmedclassdistinctions.Indiansarenotnewtosocialandphysical

distancing. Long before thepandemic, therewereseparateliftsandstaircasesfor“service”staff.Privategardensrestrictedaccessto“non-

residents”.Itisnosecretthatmostupper-castehouseholdskeepseparatecupsandplatesfordomesticworkers.Thereareapartmentcom-plexeswhereMuslims orDalitsmaynot re-side even if they can afford to. Public parkscharge entrance fees, effectively barring thepoorandthehomeless.Kidsareroutinelyseg-regatedviafoodwithcertainschoolsinsistingonvegetariantiffin,andmanystatesrefusingtoalloweggsormeat inschool lunches.Manywork organisations have separate

eating areas for different classes of employ-ees.OneoftheofficesIworkedatwouldservethebossesfancierlunchesonnicertrays.Theydid not come to the canteen to eat the sub-sidised,vegetarianmealstherestofusate. Inpassing, I hadglancedat those top-manage-ment trays: china and cutlery, bowls filledwith neatly cubed fruit, served discreetly inconferenceroomsortheiropaqueoffices.I used towonderwhy this separateness

was necessary.Why could bosses not sharetableswithclerksandsecretaries?Itwasn’tasifhealthyorexpensivefoodswereforbidden

in thecanteen.Now, I amstarting towonderif itwasn’tbecauseeventhefanciestlunchre-quires that suits turn intomen. Men andwomen, with hands that are ageing andmouths thatmakechewingsoundsandbel-lies that have to be filled. Eating at the sametablewouldexposethemashuman,nomoreandnolessthantheguywhosweptthefloorsor thewomanwho sat uphalf the night fix-ing other people’s grammar forwages thatdidn’tallowhertoretire.Itishardertoyellat,bullyorrenderjobless

thepeopleyoueatwith.Proximitytoanotherhuman body allows you to look beyondclothes, designations and clan affiliations. Itforcesyoutoacknowledgethatvastprivilegeis rarely earned. This is, naturally, a terrifyingpropositionforthosewhohaveunearnedpriv-ilege,and,so,theymustholdthemselvessep-arate,pretendingtheyaresuperiorormorede-servingofcalmer,prettierenvironments.More thanonce over these ninemonths

wehavewokenup to brute reminders thattouch is constantly policed.One recent story

was about aDalit youthbeaten todeathbe-causehehadtouchedthe foodthathadbeenservedatafeast.Thevictimhadbeencalledtothevenueto“cleanup”.Twoupper-castemensaw that hehad servedhimself someof thefoodandreactedbybeatinghimsenseless.Inanattempttoverifythereport,IGoogled

“Dalitbeatentodeath”.Anunconscionablelistunfurled.InMay2019,a21-year-oldDalitmanwasbeatentodeathatawedding.Hehadof-fendedhisupper-casteassailantsbecausehe’doccupied a chair. One story fromNovemberthis yearmentioned aDalit farmworker inGuna,Madhya Pradesh,whowas beaten todeathforrefusingtohandoveramatchbox.InSeptember,twoDalitchildren—a12-year-oldgirl and a 10-year-old boy—were beaten todeathinMadhyaPradesh,apparentlyfordefe-cating in the open. Another story from JunewasaboutaDalitcollegestudentinPunewhohadfalleninlovewithanupper-castewoman.Chairs. Food.Utensils. Loveandsex.Of all

things, this last touchis fearedthemost for iterodes, and eventually, erases hierarchies

writteninblood.Touchsignalsacceptance,re-spect, solidarity.While themixing of blood-lines is its ultimate frontier, living inmixedneighbourhoodsandeatingatthesametableis theverybrickworkof a functional,healthysociety.Thetransformativepowerof touchisgreatlydiminishedifyourefusetosharespace.Various degrees of segregation, on the otherhand, ensure thatwe are not forced to con-fronteachotherasequalcitizens.Thetrueop-positeof untouchability is, thus, not a legallydefensible touchability but de-segregation,whichisresistedfiercely inourcountry.Itwasn’tsurprisingthat,intheearlyweeks

of theCOVID-19pandemic,webegantohearafewexcusesforthepractiseofuntouchabil-ity— the fear of infection. Stringent social-physical distancing rules have not cut bothways though. Could people higher up in thecasteandclasshierarchybeaskedtotaketurnstododangerousand“polluting”work,andbesubject to theancient “untouchable” rules inthebargain, includingbeingdeniedaccesstocommonwaterresourcesandbeingforcedtolive on the fringes of all villages and towns?Couldtheupperandmiddleclasses,evennow,just be asked to dealwith their ownwaste,making sure to dispose it of onlywithin thenarrow periphery of their own apartmentcomplex, and not create pollution in otherpartsof thecity,wherethepoorlive?Our relentless segregation, so ferociously

guarded, is it treatable? I don’t know, but Iplacemy hope in education and empathy,whichareakindofspiritualtouch. Inliberat-ingourselves from ignorance and falsehood,wemay find that exclusions via touch onlyhandicapoursociety.Wegainnothingexceptabloated senseof self andamindless fearoflosingwhatwehave.Throughscienceandhis-torywemaylearnthatallthesegregationsintheworldcannotpreventchangestoourwayof lifeandtoourDNA.We can expend our strength clinging to

thehandsof the clock, straining toprevent amixof foodhabits, blood, faith.Wewill slowdownthewheeloftimeforaminute,nomore.Or,wecouldreachoutthewaypoetMangleshDabral,snatchedfromourmidstbythecoro-navirus this year, hadwritten: “Touch youmust even though it makes things topsyturvy”.Wecould reject those “Donot touch”injunctions, andmarvel at what we havegained:thegreatpeaceofnothavingtoworryaboutwhoandwhatisdeniedto us.Theend-lessrelief!

AnnieZaidi isawriterandshort-filmmaker.She’sthewinnerofthe2020TataLiteratureLiveBookof

theYear(Fiction)AwardforherPreludetoaRiot

TOUCHING THE VOIDIn our last issue of 2020, a look back at this strange, disruptive year and how it taught us to examine our lives anew.

First up, long before social distancing brought home to us the transformative power of touch, a relentless, invisiblesegregation had ensured that we did not meet each other as equals

EXPRESSARCHIVE

ILLUSTRATION:SUVAJITDEY

THEYEARTHATWAS

Our Broken,Hopeful LivesOur pick of the best tales of human upliftmenton OTT platforms

THEYEARTHATWAS

Don’t Blame theSci-fi Writer

2020 has had more than sufficient drama for areality-show season finale

New Delhi

LIFE LESSONSA taleof two cities —

New York Cityand Hebron

GREENANDSERENE

(Top) The gardens ofthe RashtrapatiBhavan were

planned in theformal Mughal style

while alsoincorporating

elements of Britishgardens; Governor-

General CRajagopalachari

ploughing a sectionof the gardens togrow foodgrainsduring the 1950food shortage

T H E Y E A R T H A T W A S 15EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 27, 2020

ASTHEpandemicgoeson,itshowsnomercy.Deathandsicknessstalkus.Lifeasweknewit10monthsagoiseroding.Strippedof theve-neers of civility anddevelopment, 2020hasshownhow littlewehave progressed sincetheendoftheWorldWarII,evenaswespeakof theworldasaglobalvillage.Disparity has always been the despair of

humanity. Inrecentdecades,wehaveseenitrevealtherotinourmidst,onethatwehavetoacceptasbeingofourownmaking.For27years,IlivedbetweenNewYorkCity

andafarmsteadinavillagecalledHebron,nes-tled between the Adirondackmountains ofNew York and the picturesque GreenMountainsofVermont.Whileinthecity,Ien-joyed the high of theNewYorkminute andthe thrillwould intensify each time I arrivedfromthefarm.The70acresofluxuriantgreenlivingandanorganiclifestylenevermademefeelascomfortableandsafeasthecity.Atleastnotoutsideofourfarm’sboundariesandthoseofdearfriends.My lifepartner and Iworkedhard to cre-

ate a homeon the farm thatwelcomedoneand all andwas connected to nature. Hivescarefullytendedbyatrainedapiaristbroughtmillionsofbeesbuzzingaroundwildandcul-tivated flowers. Four dozen alpacas roamedourpastures,drinkingfromastate-designatedtroutstream,and50ducksandgeeserangedfree onour property and found a safe havenin our pond. Twohundred chickens of overthreedozenvarieties—allendangered,rare,orthreatened— lived in a coop thatMichaelBatterberry, the latepublisherof suchmaga-zines as Food andWine and Food Arts, calledthe“PalazzodePollo”,thepalaceforchickens.Theyhadscreenedwindowswithshuttersforthe blisterywinter; ceiling rafters and sky-lightskepttheirhomelightandbrightanden-suredthattheybreathedfreshairfreeofam-monia. These chickens defied all previously

understoodnormsaboutchickenhusbandryand livedhappilydespite theirdifferences insizesandforms.Eventheroostersinourflockdidn’tgetaggressive.ThentherewasAntonioBanderas,ourmajestic,charming,andalmost-human llama— a gift from the neighbourwhose alpacaswe rescuedwhen she could-n’taffordkeepingthem.Ourfields,ourcare,andourfoodandhous-

ing kept these animals frommoney-hungryandinhumanebreeders.Wehadahugefam-ilyofotherwiseshyblueherons,wildturkeysandgeese,too,aswellasdeerandrabbits.Butthe prizewas the family of fivemountain li-ons,who,whenspotted,scaredusbutwhosepresencemade us proud of howweweremaintainingourparcelonthisplanet.Youcouldcallour farmUtopia—alabour

ofmadanddeeplove.Ourfarmhousewasoursafehaven,ourcomfortableplacetohostandentertain.We opened it to neighbours andstrangers, alike.Wemade friends, changedlives,andwerealsoatthereceivingendofthisenriching exchange.We savoured the slowpace of life and being connected toMotherEarth.Wecherishedlivingasonewiththesea-sonsandbravedtheirchallengesashappilyasweenjoyedtheir resplendency.Butwewerelucky tonothavehada revolutionbeginduetotheglaringdisparitybetweenourfairy-talelifeandthemisfortunesofmanyofourneigh-bours—adversities thatwerenot their fault,but their lot because theywere born into agenerational lack of opportunity and access.Wedidourbesttoberesponsibleneighbours,

extending our creature comforts to othersaround,andweknewothersdoingthesame.Butweweretheminority.Living inthis ruraloutpost just a fewhours north of NewYorkCity,Isawgreatdisparityinthewealthiestandmostpowerfulnationof theworld.Myfather,visitingusfromIndia,wouldsay

thatwe lived in the fourthworld inHebron.Hewas heartbroken by the poverty in ruralAmerica. Hewould say that the developingworld knows its challenges and faces them,

buttheUSworkshardtohideitsbrokenreal-ity: families living in theTundrawinterwithnoheating;anotherfamilysobrokenthattheygassedthemselves todeathwhentheywereunable to pay their creditors; childrenwhowouldcometoschoolhungryonMonday,nothavingeatenameal since they left forhomeonFriday; childrenandadultswasting awaybecauseahospitalvisitwouldbankruptthem;youngsters being homeschooled byparentswhocouldn’teducatethembutthoughtitbet-ter to not expose their lives to uncaring andjudgementalneighbours;familieseatingfoodthatwas neitherwhole nor fresh—and thiswhileworkingasfarmers.Whyshouldanyonehave toworryabout

takingalovedonetoadoctorandgettingtheirillnesstreated?Whyshouldahospitalvisitbethereasonsomeonebecomeshomelessandjobless?Howcanaruraloutpostevertrulybepartofaglobalvillagewhenthereisnoafford-ablehigh-speedinternetaccess?Thisyearhasshownwhatafflictsusacross

all borders and on every side of the politicalaisle.TheDonaldTrumpsofthisworlddonotcomefromavacuum.Theyaretheresultofasystem that has failed. For every leader likeTrump,therearemillionsofpeoplebrokenbysociety.Whencomfortandadvantagefortheluckycomewiththemarginalisationofotherpeople,allofussuffer.Humans have always treated each other

unfairly;greedisasoldashumanity.Theinter-net and socialmedia have brought inequityfrontandcentreandhavealsoheighteneditsrepercussions. The coronaviruswill die likeweall do; lifewill go on,with orwithout us.Riches fly as easily as they comeand fame istemporary.Toleavealastinglegacy,wemustrise above the easy traps of material gains.COVID-19 is a clarion call to reflect uponouractionsandchoices, tobekindandunselfishandtoremember that, in theend,whatgoesaround,comesaround.

Bridge Over Troubled WatersThe pandemic has exposed the deep divides in our world.

Can we find a way to cross them?

SuvirSaranSuvir Saran isachef, author, educator

andworld traveller

SLICEOFLIFE

Pawan Kumar Sain

ONNOVEMBER13, 2019, PrinceCharles, the longest-servingheir apparent to the Britishthrone, walked down pathsquitefamiliartoBritisharistoc-

racy.HewastakentotheHerbalGardenintheRashtrapati Bhavan, where he planted achampa sapling. Accompanied by PresidentRamNathKovind,thePrinceofWalesnotonlyexudedcharmbutalsoexhibitedchildlikecu-riosity when experts from theMinistry ofAYUSHbriefedhimonthemedicinalproper-ties of various plants in the garden. Hewastoldaboutthecollaborationbetween the All IndiaInstitute of Ayurveda andtheCollegeofMedicine,UK.The Herbal Garden is

oneamonganarrayofgar-densthatimpartatouchofmystiquetotheRashtrapatiBhavan. They hark back tomythology — the way toparadise or firdaus passesthrough gardens. Or, con-sider the Garden of Eden,the paradise on earth. Thelush landscape surround-ingtheRashtrapatiBhavan,designedtodisplaycolonialpowerandstyle,wasonceasecludedoasisfortheprivateenjoymentoftheviceroy.Thiswasreorientedtoservethesovereigndemocraticrepublicafter Independence.If the Rashtrapati Bhavan is an architec-

turalmarvel,the15-acreMughalGardensareits soul. On thewest side, behind the central

wing of theRashtrapati Bhavan, are the ele-gant gardens, planned in the formalMughalstylewhilealsoincorporatingsomeelementsof British gardens. They follow the exquisitesymmetry of the Persian-inspired charbagh(quadrilateral)tradition.Intheirthreesections,architecturalandarborealfeaturesareequallyemphasised.RobertGrantIrving,inhisacclaimedstudy,

Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker, and ImperialDelhi (1981, YaleUniversity Press), describesthe ambience thus: “Themassive, nobly se-verewallswhichenclose thegarden literallygrowoutof the lowerbasement, resemblinganimposingfortress.Channelsofwaterinter-sect in a grid pattern,with the intersections

marked by impressivesandstone fountains con-structed in a petal designbased on the hexagram.Sandstone-paved pathscontinue the grid pattern,setamidstaformalplanta-tion of trees, grass andflowerbeds.”Though the layout of

thegardenwas inplaceby1917, the planting wastaken up only in 1928-29.Director of horticultureWilliam Mustoe, whoplantedthegarden,wases-pecially skilled at growing

rosesandissaidtohaveintroducedmorethan250 different varieties of hybrid roses gath-ered from every corner of theworld. LadyBeatrix Stanley, a prominent horticulturist,noted in 1931 that she had not seen betterroses in England. Later, more variety wasadded,especiallyduringthepresidencyofDr

ZakirHusain.The gardeners of theRashtrapati Bhavan

havekeptalive thetraditionofnurturing thedefining feature of the gardens— themulti-tude of rose varieties. They include Adora,Mrinalini, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower,Scentimental, Oklahoma (also called BlackRose), Black Lady, BlueMoon and Lady X.There are also roses named after personali-ties:MotherTeresa,RajaRamMohanRoy,MrLincoln, Jawahar, andQueenElizabeth—notto forgetArjunandBhim.The ingeniousgar-deners also introducednew, exotic varietiesof flowers like birds of paradise, tulips andheliconia in1998.The Long Garden, a part of theMughal

Gardens, is knownfor its varietiesof roses. Itliesafewstepsbelowthehighest levelof theMughalGardens.Itisenclosedby12-feethighwallswithpergolacreepersrunningthroughthe passage. The LongGarden leads down-ward into a circular sunken garden, whichconsistsofalargepoolsurroundedbytiersofplants. In thewords of Irving, “The tranquil-lityofacircularpoolclimaxesthemainurbanaxisandfaintlyechoedtheWarMemorialro-tary,morethantwomilesdistant.”AfterIndependence,theIndianoccupants

of theplaceaddedpragmatismtoaesthetics

andpromotednewkindsof gardens.Duringthefoodshortageof1950,Governor-GeneralC Rajagopalacharimade a powerful gesturewhenhe rolleduphis sleeves andplougheda part of the premises to grow food grains.Today,theNutritionGarden,popularlyknownasDalikhana,standsthere.Perennialandsea-sonal vegetables and fruitswith high nutri-tionalvaluearegrownorganicallythere.WhenRVenkataramanwasthePresident,

acactusgardenwasadded.Alargenumberofnewtypesofcacti,developedviaintergenerichybridisationandgrowthmanipulationattheRegional Plant Resource Centre atBhubaneswar,wereaddedinearly2005.During the presidency of Dr APJ Abdul

Kalam,manytheme-basedgardenscameupon the premises. Among them, theMusicalGardenoffersaspectacularshowwhenscin-tillatinglights,inperfectsynchronisationwiththetunesofveenaandshehnai,falloncascad-ingjetsofwater.Twoherbalgardenswerecre-atedtopromotenaturalandgentlerremediesfor thewell-being of the commonpeople. ASpiritual Garden cameupwith plant selec-tionsbasedoninformationgatheredfromthesacred books of different religions. Based onthethemeof “sense”, theTactileGardenwasintroducedforthevisuallychallengedsothattheycanalsoenjoythebeautyofnature.Themostimportantaspectof theseglori-

ousgardens,ofcourse,isthedemocraticspiritof the presidents of India: The RashtrapatiBhavan gardens, particularly theMughalGardens,arethrownopentothepublicduringthe bloom season, and this Udyanotsav at-tractsmillionsofvisitors.Thankstothecornucopiaofnurseries,the

President’s Estate remains filledwith colour,fragrance and tranquillity, through the year.NatureloversvisitingtheEstatearerichlyre-wardedwiththeexperienceofthebeautyandinsights intothewebof life.

PawanKumarSainisdirector,President’sSecretariat

The Rashtrapati Bhavan’s serene, verdantestate is rich with blooms and history

Living HistoryAn Indian Express

collaboration with theRashtrapati Bhavan

First Gardens of the Republic

SUVIRSARAN

PHOTOSCOURTESYRASHTRAPATIBHAVAN

EYE SPYEVERYFORTNIGHT,WEPICK,YOUWATCH

Shubhra Gupta

STORIESTHATcantakeyououtofyourself,evenmomentarily,areworthpayingattentionto: justhowdidtheyshiftyouraxis?Inanyotheryear, Iwouldgolookingfortheunusual,veeringto-

wardsstuff thatwasalittleoff-kilter.Butasthesemonthsworeon,duringwhichwehunkeredinside, fearfulofavirusthathasnocure(yet), Icaughtmyself actively lean-ingtowardstalesofhumanupliftment.So,yes, IdidsuccumbtothequirkycharmsofLyra

Silvertongueandherdaemon,Pan, inthesecondseasonofHisDarkMaterials (Disney+Hotstar).Theseries isbasedonPhilipPullman’sclassictrilogyfeaturingparalleluni-verses,ahostof fantasticalcreatures,a fascinatingfightpittinggoodandevil,andendless adventures.IalsotookadeepdiveintoPerryMason’soriginstory,

whichrevivedourfadingmemoriesofErleStanleyGardner’s indomitable lawyerwhocrackedalmosteverycasehetookon.PerryMason (Disney+Hotstar)startswithhimasaweatheredwarveteran-turned-privateinvesti-gator lookingforpayinggigs in1931-32LosAngeles.What lifts thismurder-kidnapwhodunit is thestartlingdepthondisplay:notonlydoesMason,playedwonder-fullybyMatthewRhys,solvethecase,hefindspurpose.Butmytopfourshowswouldhavetobethosewhich

placedpeoplelikeyouandme,andtheirstruggles, frontandcentre.Unorthodox (Netflix)trackstheflightofayoungwomanfromaHasidic JewishcommunityinWilliamsburg,NewYorkCity, toBerlin.Nineteen-year-oldEsty,playedbythedelicateShiraHaas, is imprisonedbythetightcoilsof traditionandcommunity.Herjourneyisspecific toherroots,butweknowhertroubles:youcanbeanywhereintheworld,butasawoman,youhavetofighttobeyourownperson.NormalPeople (Hulu),basedonSallyRooney’sbookof

thesamename,refreshestheteenageromancetropequitebeautifully.Thefresh-facedMarianneandConnellplayouttheircomplicated,off-onrelationshipinSligo,Ireland,butwhodoesn’tremembertheflushof first love?Fromanadult,done-and-dustedperspective, it takesyoubacktoyourowntimewhenyouthstretchedendlessly,andnottalkingtosomeonewhomatteredthemostcouldbeasillychoiceofyourownmaking.AnyaTaylor-Joydoesn’tmakeasinglefalsemovein

TheQueen’sGambit (Netflix), inherplayingofchessprodigyBethHarmonwhofightsthetwindemonsofdrugandalcoholdependencyonherwaytobecomingaworldchampion.Asanorphanin ’50sAmerica,Bethneedstofindherwaytoachessboard,andtounlikelysupportivepartners, includingavulnerableolderwoman,whoprovidesbothsuccourandwisdom.Thisone’spurejoy,evenifyoudon’tunderstandchess.AndMichaelaCoelhasmyheartwithherbrilliant I

MayDestroyYou (Disney+Hotstar),adisturbingtaleofrapeandresponsibility.CoelplaysArabella,aLondon-basedTwitterstar-turned-author,whorelivesthetraumaofadarknightthroughflashes,andahardpathof self-re-alisation. It’sadifficultparttopulloff,andCoeltakesnoprisoners, layingherselfoutcompletely,offeringnoex-cuses.Sohardtowatch,andsorewarding.

During this difficult year, a fewshows thrilled, entertained andcomforted us

THE RIGHT MOVESAnya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit

A Little Solace

New Delhi

security agencies releasedUFO footage, andmysteriousradiowavesreachedourplanetinburstsfromunknownsources,soit’spossiblealiensexist,andtheyhaveapodcast,andnoneof this even holds our attention. The yearwhereacelebrityreleasedapersonalisedgen-italia-odour candle into themarket;whereoneoftheworld’stopfootballclubsmayhavehired trolls to attack its ownplayers;whereBritish restraint involved tearing down 5Gtowersbecauseof rumours;whereeven theworld’s richestmen aremore interested inspacecolonisationthanmattersterrestrial.InStanford,theycreatedasmarttoiletthat

can identify you by your anal print. InCalifornia,theseasturnedfluorescent.Onthemoon,waterwas found. Therewere locustswarmsandmurderhornets. In India, aRheawasattackedfornoreasonbypro-governmentmobs. InBrazil, a rhea (an emu-like bird) at-tackedtheheadofgovernmentandbecameafolk hero. In Thailand, inflatable duckswereused for protest. In Texas, K-pop fanshelpeddefeat police surveillancewith fan-cams.Tomorrow,if there’sanalieninvasion,Idoubt

if anyonewill beparticularlyworried. In fact,there’severychancewewon’tevennotice.Whenyou’re surroundedby cultural, in-

stitutional, social, political, financial and en-vironmentalcollapse,evenforthoseofuswhoarepresently safeandhave the luxuryof be-ingable toobserveandspeak, it isdifficult tofindeithermeaningorreaction.But ifwearetomakeourwayoutoftheseyears,itbecomesimperativetofindthestrengthtorallyandre-build.Weweretoldthatthechallengeof thisdecadewouldbereskilling,but thetruth is itisreallyaboutsurvival.Aswelurchfromcrisistocrisis,itbecomes

crucialthatwefindwithinourselvestheabil-itytodomorethanjustsurvive—manyhavealreadygivenintoeitherdespairorthecom-fort of submission, andhave themselves be-come regressive, violent reality-deniers.Finding reserves of courage, conviction, em-pathyandfortitudeisnoeasytask,butit’stheonlywaywe are going to find the hopeweneed,tobelievethatbrighterdayswillcome.Afewyearsago,ataleadingTVproducer’s

office,Ideliveredafewpitchesforshowideas,whichwere promptly and predictably re-jected for not beingReal India enough. Iwasasked if I had any ideas for ScriptedReality. Iwas unaware until that point that realityshows as a category were called ScriptedRealitybyproducers,thatnoneofthemwerecuratedshowcasesofspontaneousbehaviour.Theworldmightlookverysci-finowtothosewhodon’treadsci-fi,andthat’sjustbecauseofall the shiny technology.But the truth is, thiswas notmyyear in a sci-fiworld, nor yours,andnobandofheroesisonitswaytosaveus.Weareinsideaverypoorly-designedScriptedReality show: the cameras in place, the pre-decidedwinnersareswaggeringaboutevery-where, and the ad breaks are relentless. Butallrealityshows,likeallempires,endeventu-ally.Wedon’thavetheoptionofignoringthisone, butwe’ll find away to defeat the pro-gramming.2020hashadmorethansufficientdramaforaseasonfinale: I canonlyhope it’snot toomany years beforewe find away tocollectivelychangethechannel.

SamitBasuisaDelhi-basedwriter,mostrecentlyofChosenSpirits

Bhaskar Hazarika

I STEPPED out ofthe lift on the 37thfloor and headedtowards the pent-house apartmentofrisingBollywoodstarRishiSangwan.I rang the bell andwaitedforthedoorto open, listeningto the babble of

voicesandambientpartymusicfrominsidetheapartment. I glancedatmysmartphoneto check the time. It was 10.43 pm onDecember 31 — the last day of this mostwretchedyear2020AD.Iwasherenotjusttoring in the new year and bid a relievedfarewell to this one, but also for myfirst — and I hoped not the last — mask-burningparty.Ever since the vaccine for COVID-19 got

deployed around theworld, groups of thevaccinated have been throwing boisterousmask-burning parties. They tended to fea-turewildmerriment, feasting,andfornicat-ing— likepre-COVIDpartiesonhyperdrive.But themain attraction at these parties, asthenamesuggests—isthecollectiveburningof facemasks.The bulk of the guests at these parties

feature the vaccinated, but many of themasked,too,turnup,secureinthebelief thatthe vaccinated cannot transmit the virusanymore.That’swhyIwashere.Rishiwasafriend from when we were both cub re-porters for a news chan-nel,andhadjustgottenhissecond dose along withthe usual clutch of privi-leged folk like ministers’sons and judges’ daugh-ters. I accepted his invitenot (just) because of theaforementioned feastingandfornication,butalsotodocument a mask-burn-ingparty for a small newswebsite I sometimeswrote for.Anhourlater,Iwatchedaspeopledanced

around a drum of fire in the large balcony,tossingmasks in the flamesas theywhirledaroundit.Themoodwasecstatic,anditwasdifficult for the dozen-oddmasked guestslikemyself not toget carriedawayand flingourownmasks inthe fire, too.Somedidex-actly that, andmaybe I would have joined

thembut for a piercing scream. I turned tolook at the source, andwas stunned to seemyfriendRishitearingintotheneckofastar-let—withhisteeth.Morescreamsdistractedme from this hideous sight, and I saw thatthe vaccinatedwere attacking themasked,rippingthemapartwiththeirteethinarabidfrenzy. I turned to lookatRishi, andhis eyes—orwhatusedtobehiseyesbutwerenowputridorbsfilledwithpus—lockedontome.

Hecharged, snarling likeawolf. I ranandshutmyselfinside a bathroom.Panicked, I turned onmysmartphone to figure outwhatthehellwasgoingon.A few minutes on

Twitter told me the barefacts.Thevaccinatedwereturningintozombies,gov-ernmentswereparalysed,and no one knew how tostop it. Just then, I heard adistant church ringing in

thenewyearwithbells. The ringingwaftedthrough the openwindow,mixedwith thesound of fireworks and screams of terror. Ilooked in themirror and said tomyself —“Happynewyear.”

BhaskarHazarika isaNationalAward-winningAssamesefilmmakerofKothanodiandAamis

Vasan Bala

SAIBALIVESonabeautiful island.Oneday,asshesitsonthecliffoverseeingthesea,sheseesa pod crash into thewater, it drowns but athing isejectedoutof it. Saibadives in tosee.As she swims closer, she realises it’s a robotandbringsitashore.Therobothasamessage encrypted in it. Saibaseesitasaholographicvision. It’sto find amissingWarrior of theResistancetosavetheworldoftheEvil... anEvilEmpire.Saiba takes on the plots of

WonderWoman,Moanaand StarWars and navigates her waythroughanincredibleadventure,inwhichshemakesnewfriends,meetsherheroeswhodisappointinaworld that is losinghope, andanEmpirethat is ready towipeout allmagic andwon-dermentfromtheworld.Saiba gets on a flying dog, blends The

NeverEndingStoryplot,andtriestosave“imag-ination”aspeoplearelosingfaithinit.Withoutimagination, there’snoworld.Thevoyageshifts fromtheFlyingDog to

theMillenniumFalcon toTheMilano,whereshe meets Groot. They land in a desertedjungle and have dinner at Yoda’s cottage,the sevendwarfs play somemusic and thehobbits sing.After that Captain Kirk beams Saiba into

hisUSSEnterprise.SheplayschesswithSpockwhenadistresssignalfromFireballXL5makes

her leave the game unfinishedandgomeetDoctorVenus,who’streatingElsa’ssister,Anna.Elsaac-cidentallyfrozeAnna’sheart.OnlySaiba’shealingtouchcansaveher.Saiba uses all her power and re-unites the sisters, bringingChristmas and joy back toArendelle.ButSaibacan’tstayfortoolong.Abitofimaginationmayhave been restored, but the EvilEmpire is still strong.Todefeat it,

Saiba needs to find theWarrior she’ll joinforceswith. Armedwith amap, some food,somewater, and loads of imagination, Saibasets off fromArendelle tomeet theDragonWarrior...theKungFuPanda!

VasanBalaisawriter,anddirectorofMardKoDardNahiHota

SEASON’SGREETINGS

Fiction tothe rescue

DEEP BLUE SEAIn California, the

seas turnedfluorescent this year,among other strangehappenings around

the world

T H E Y E A R T H A T W A S16EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 27, 2020

I’m OnlySleepingIf only the hibernators were turnedto before declaring the lockdown

RanjitLalRanjit Lal isanauthor,environmentalistandbirdwatcher

DOWNINJUNGLELAND

TOSLEEPthroughbone-chillingwinters is,alas,theluckof severalanimalspeciesandinsects, forhundredsofyears.Toqualifyfortruehiberna-tion, thebodytemperatureandtheheartrate

mustdropastheanimalgoesintoadeep,deepsleep.Bythisyardstick, it isarguedthatpolarbearsdonottechni-callyhibernatebutgointoastateof torporforthewintermonthsafterstuffingtheir facesandputtingonthicklay-ersofpurefatbeforesnugglingdownunderthesnow.Butpolar-bearmomsalsogivebirthtotheircubsatthistime—andallbabiesneedwarmthandmilk,whichthemamabearhasstockedupon.Rodents—fromthegreatclanofgroundsquirrels—

andother insectivoresalsohibernate.Whilehidingnutsandacornsgaloreincachesallovertheir territory, theyareextrawatchful.Keepinganeyeoutforpotential thieves—othersquirrelsandbirds—theypretendtoburythenutsinaparticularplace,whilekeepingthemstuffedintheircheeksandhidingthemelsewherewhenthecoast isclear.Aspeciesofwoodpecker, too,ramsinhundredsofacornsandnuts intree’sboles, tofeastoninwinter.Therationalebehindhibernationissimple:winters inthenorthernhemisphereareferociouslyfrigidandallsourcesof foodvanish. If youareunabletoescapetowarmerclimes—bymigratingonfootorbyair(whichiswhatalotofbirdsdo)orsea,yousimplyfindadenandgotosleep:formonths, ifnecessary.Apart fromthefat-taileddwarf lemurofMadagascar,noprimatehibernates:nocreaturelivinginthetropicsneedsto.Some, likefrogsandtoads,dohowever“aestivate”,disappearingdeepunder-groundduringtheparcheddrysummers,becausesix-feetunder, it isstillcoolandmoist,whichiswhattheyneedsoastoavoiddeathbydesiccation.Imagine,asthedaysgetcolder,darkeranddepressing

(causingSAD—seasonalaffectivedisorder inpeople inthefrigidnorth),youfirstspendtheautumnmonthspig-gingitoutat“eatallyoucan”buffets:helpingyourself toeverysinful fat-oozingdelicacy.Thenyoufurnishyourbedwithpilesofquiltsandblankets,get intoyourpyja-mas,wriggle intobedandsinkintoadeep,peacefulsleep

—forthenextseveralmonths.Yourmetabolismslowsdown,andno,youdon’thavetogetupthriceeverynighttopee. Intheprocess,youactually losemuchof thehor-rendousflabyouhadputonasyourbodyburnsupall thestoredfatandyoueventuallyemergelookingtrimandfit!(Polar-bearmomscanloseuptoone-thirdtheirbodyweightoverwinter.)This isoneget-slimregimethatcouldbecomearageifmarketedright—justsleepsoftly,love!Forthenextseveralmonths,you’venocaresorwor-riesorbills topay, justhopefullysweetdreamstorevel in.Andthen,whenyoufinallyyawnandstretchandawake,thesunisoutandthefirst flowershavebeguntobloom.Surprise,youmayevenhavealovelybrand-newbabybyyourside!Nodoubtyou’reravenous,so,offyougotothesupermarketandtheworldisawonderfulplaceagain!Asusualthedenizensof theanimalkingdomthought

of this first.Anditwouldbesuchaperfectsolutionforsomanyofourproblemstoo. Imagine, if thepopulationsoftheentirenorthernhemispherewenttosleepbetweenNovemberandApril, thekindof savingswewouldmake—pollutionwoulddropdrastically, there’dbenoneedtoravagetheearthof itspreciousresources, fossil fuelswouldlastanother100years, there’dbenomurders,hate-speechesorweddingsthatkilljoyscanlynchat.Yes,maybesomemorebabies,buttheneveryonelovesba-bies!And,maybe, thoselivinginthesweatytropicalsouthcoulddothesameinsummer,gotosleepbetweenMayandOctober(though,of course, they’ddemandair-conditioningsothatcouldbeanissue!)Actually in2020,wedidtakeashotathibernating,

thoughasusualwewentabout it inatotallyham-fistedmanner.Giving1.3billionpeopleafour-hournoticetore-tirefromsocialactivityforanindeterminateperiodoftimeisnotthewaytoassurethemofagoodrest.Businessesandlivelihoodscollapsed,educational institu-tions,sports, travelandentertainmentshutdown,andthemantrabecame“workfromhome”.We,of course, tookadvantageof thisCOVID-comasyndrome—amarvellousexcusetoshirkworkandgetridofvastnumbersofpeoplewhoneededtowork.“Wecan’tdeliversincewe’rework-ingwithonly10percentofourstaff,becausetherestaretrampingalongexpressways,backtotheboondocks.”Ourgreat leadersshouldhavetakenthecuefrompo-

larbearsandgivenpeopleenoughtimetofattenupbe-foretheybatteneddownthehatchesontheirheads.Moredeviously, theypushedthroughrapaciouslegislationwithoutduediligence,becausewe—thedulydiligent—werehibernatingontheirorders.

WINTER IS COMINGArctic ground squirrel hoards up to sustain hibernation

WIKIPEDIA

GETTYIMAGES

GETTYIMAGES

Samit Basu

THERE’SAbadhabit that news/culture com-mentators oftenhave:whenever somethingreallybizarreandillogicalhappenstheycom-pareittosci-fiorfantasy.Theaim,probably,istounderlineweirdness,but thishabitalwaysmakes actualwriters of speculative fiction(suchasmyself)chafe—fiction,evenphysics-exceedingimaginativefiction,iscompelledtoobeyinternallogicandnarrativeconsequence.Reality,andthenews,arenot.Thereisnobet-terexampleof thisthanallthenewsof2020.We began the year with protests, civil

strife,politicalviolenceandtheincrediblede-clineofseveraldemocraticinstitutions.Itlookslikewe’reendingitwithallofthese,too,withapandemicthatrefusestobesandwichedinbetween. Butwhile early 2020was rich indystopianstoryinspiration,therestoftheyearhadmoreinstore,awholemeteorshoweroflogic-defying news. As protests turned intolockdowns, breakdowns,meltdowns, take-downsandcountdowns,everyday,headlinesthatwouldhavebeenworld-changinginpre-viouseraswerejustcasualdaily-digestmate-rial in thisone.We learned thatwewere liv-ing inapost-truthworldafewyearsago,but2020hasbeenpost-reality.Hoaxes,miraclesandall-roundabsurdityhavebeenappropri-ated by the news cycle. Loyalty tests haveeaten facts. Most of my imagination is ex-haustedjustthinkingofpeacefultimes.Thishasbeenayearofdrasticremindersof

everyprivilegewehave—tohaveahouse tolive inandworkoutof, tohaveworktodo, tohave familyandfriendswhoarehealthyandsafe, and for a fast-diminishing number ofpeople, tohavesomeremainingsenseof be-inginsidesomesystemsthatstillfunction.Thenext fewyears (at least) are going to be veryroughforusall,andIhope2021doesn’tmakeusimmediately lookbackfondlyatthisyear.I spent the last threeyearswritingaspec-

ulativefictionnear-futurenovel,basedalmostentirelyonnon-fictionandthenews.Tryingtocarvesomesortofhopefulnarrativeoutofpilesof notes aboutmultiple-choice impendingapocalypsestookeverybitofcreativityIhave.Myworkmostlyinvolvessittingathomeand

typingforaliving,anddespitethesevereodd-nessof releasinganovelduringapandemic, Ihadagreatyearprofessionally—thishasneverbeforebeenguilt-inducing.So,Ithink,Icande-clarethisofficially:2020istheyearwherere-ality completely overtook thehumancapac-ity for imagination, and soonmost sci-fi isgoingtolookastameandrelaxingasyourav-eragemundane-life novel: comfort reading,becausehoweverstrangethestory,thelawsofinternal logicstillapply.Onthedayofwritingthis, dead minks infected with mutatedCOVID-19 have risen from their graves inDenmarkafteramassculling.Nobody’simag-inationdid this: speaking for speculative-fic-tionstorytellers,werefusetotaketheblame.Ithinkzombieminkswinthe2020newsaward,buttherearemanyothercontenders.Thiswas the year that featured several

people’s representatives denying the coron-avirusthreatevenaftergettinginfectedthem-selves.Where themostpowerfulman in theworldmaystillhavetobedraggedkickingandscreaming out of his official residence afterlosinganelection.TheyearwhereAmerican

Don’t Blame the Sci-fi WriterThis is the year where reality completely overtook the human capacity for imagination — and not always in a good way

Stranger ThingsFantasy helps to escape reality. But what if it becomes the reality?

Two filmmakers, two takes — on how the year 2020 comes to an end

● ● ●

Ever since thevaccine, groupsof

thevaccinatedhavebeenthrowingmask-

burningparties● ● ●

WONDERGIRL

FROMTHEFRYING PAN

New Delhi


ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchIRAQTOBOOSTCRUDEEXPORTCAPACITYDubai: Iraq aims to increase crude oil export capacity from itssouthern ports to 6 million barrels per day from the current3.5 million barrels a day capacity, Karim Hattab, deputy oilminister for distribution affairs, said in a statement. REUTERS

MININGPROFITSBRIEFLYFinMinallowsRajasthantoborrowmoreNew Delhi: The FinanceMinistryonSaturdaysaidithaspermittedRajasthan toborrow an additionalRs2,731croreafterthestatesuccessfullyundertookeaseof doing business reforms.Rajasthan has now joinedthefiveotherstatesnamely,AndhraPradesh,Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh, TamilNaduandTelangana,whichhavecompleted the reformfacilitating ease of doingbusinesstobeeligibleforad-ditional borrowing. Thesesixstateshavebeengrantedadditional borrowing per-missionofRs19,459crore.

Entitiesunder1%cashpaymentofGSTliabilityNewDelhi:Themandatoryrequirement of 1 per centcashpaymentofGST liabil-itywitheffect fromJanuary1 would be applicable toabout 45,000 taxpayers,whichisonly0.37percentofthe total businesses regis-tered in the Goods andServices Tax system,Revenue DepartmentsourcessaidonSaturday.PTI

‘USholidayretailsalesrise3%’Bengaluru: US retail salesrose 3 per cent during thisyear’s expanded holidayshopping season fromOct.11toDecember24,a reportbyMastercardsaidSaturday,powered by a pandemic-driven shift toward onlineshopping.US ecommercesales jumped49percent inthisyear’sholidayshoppingseason,aspera Mastercardreport.REUTERS

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,DECEMBER26

STATE-OWNED IRONoremajorNMDC is set to resume operat-ing the Donimalai mines inKarnataka after a two-year hia-tus due to litigation with thestate government. Its miningleasewasextendedasaninterimmeasure while a governmentpaneldecidedroyaltyduetothestateexchequer.Undertheinterimagreement,

NMDC is required to pay a totalroyaltyof37.5percentonsalesofiron ore, including an additional22.5per cent royalty to the stategovernmentoverthe15percentroyaltythecompanywaspayingpriortothesuspensionofopera-tions in2018.The interimagree-mentisapplicabletilltherecom-mendations of the governmentpanelareexecutedorNovember2022,whichever isearlier.Accordingtosourcesawareof

developments, NMDC,which iscurrentlyinnegotiationstolowerthe royalty rate to be paid to thestate government, expects thatthe royalty decided by the gov-ernment panel for extension ofmining leases for governmentcompanieswill not change verysignificantlyfromtheinterimroy-altyset fortheDonimalaimines.“The number is not going to

change drastically from the onearrived at throughdiscussion inthis interim agreement,” said asource,addingthedropfromtheearlier demandof the state gov-ernment for an 80per cent pre-miumonironoresaleswasabet-ter reflection of a viable levy forNMDC.Thesourcealsonotedthatthecompanywaspreparingtore-sumeoperationsatthemines.TheKarnataka government,

in2018,extendedNMDC’smin-ing lease for Donimalai minesfor20years,butaskedthecom-pany to pay 80 per cent of theaverage sale valueof ironore tothe state government - leadingto NMDC suspending opera-tionsat themines.TheKarnatakaHighCourtset

aside the requirement thatNMDCpay80percentroyaltytothestategovernment, leading toKarnatakawithdrawing the ex-tensionaward.TheDonimalaimineshavean

estimatedresourcereserveof149milliontonnesandanannualpro-duction capacity of 7 milliontonnes. The royalty to bepaid tothestategovernment,decidedbythe high-levelcommittee,willbeapplicableretroactivelytoallpro-duction at theDonimalaiminesunder the interimagreement. Incasetheamountislowerthanthe22.5percentagreedtoundertheinterim agreement, NMDCwillnotbepermittedtoseekrefundsforpaymentsmadeduringthein-terimtimeperiod.Thedecisionofthehigh-level

panel on the royalty payable to

state governments by govern-ment companies under theMining by GovernmentCompanyRules,2015willalsoaf-fect NMDC iron ore mines inChhattisgarh,which account foramajorityoftheironoreproduc-tionbythecompany.NMDC’sKirandulandBacheli

complexes in Chhattisgarh con-tributearound24milliontonnesofironore,orabout75percentofNMDC’sannual ironoreoutput.According to experts, state

governments are likely to seekgreater premiums from publicsectormining companies uponrenewalofminingleases,orseekto auction off mining rights forhigherrevenuesundertheMinesandMinerals (Regulation andDevelopment)Act.“The recent hike in the price

of ironoreannouncedbyNMDCismoreorlessgoodenoughtoac-count for the increase in royalty.Underthecurrentdemand-sup-plyscenario,NMDChasthepric-ingpowertobeabletoabsorbtheincrease in levies but once thereis greater supply frommerchantminers, in the next few years,their ability to pass through theimpact of the levies and prof-itabilitywillbeaffected,”saidJigarMistry,partneratportfolioman-agementfirmBouyantCapital.Mistry added state govern-

mentswerelookingtogetalargerproportionofrevenuesfrommin-ingintheirstatesbystate-ownedcompanies. “State governmentsare seeking to get a greater pro-portionofprofitsofminingPSUswhichwould otherwise flow tothe centre as eitherdividendsorthroughreinvestmenttobuildca-pacity replacing investment bythecentralgovernment.”NMDC did not respond to

emailedrequests forcomment.

VOTEBEGINSTOWINDUP6SCHEMESWITH`26,000CROREOF INVESTORMONEYSTUCK

CEBR: India tobecome 3rd largesteconomy by 2030ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,DECEMBER26

INDIA,WHICH appears to havebeen pushed back to being theworld’ssixthbiggesteconomyin2020,will againovertake theUKtobecomethefifthlargestin2025andracetothethirdspotby2030,the Centre for Economics andBusinessResearch (CEBR) said inanannualreportonSaturday.IndiahadovertakentheUKin

2019 to become the fifth largesteconomy in theworld but hasbeenrelegatedto6thspotin2020.“India has been knocked off

course somewhat through theimpact of thepandemic. As a re-sult, after overtaking the UK in2019,theUKovertakesIndiaagainin this year’s forecasts and staysaheadtill2024beforeIndiatakesoveragain,”saidthereport.

The CEBR forecasts that theIndianeconomywillexpandby9percentin2021andby7percentin 2022. “Growthwill naturallyslowasIndiabecomesmoreeco-nomicallydeveloped,withthean-nualGDPgrowthexpectedtosinkto5.8per cent in2035.” TheUK-based think tank forecast Chinawillin2028overtaketheUStobe-come the biggest economy, fiveyearsearlierthanpreviouslyesti-matedduetocontrastingrecover-iesofthetwonationsfromCovid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,DECEMBER26

THE SECURITIES and ExchangeBoardof India(Sebi)onSaturdayappointed formerChief ElectionCommissionerTSKrishnamurthy‘observer’ine-votingofunithold-ers of six schemes of FranklinTempletonMutualFund.The voting process for

unitholders to decide the fateof the six debt schemes ofFranklin Templeton MutualFund will take place betweenDecember26and28.The outcome of the voting

will determine if the schemeswithRs26,000croreofunithold-ers’moneymust close downor

not and how soon unitholderswillgettheirmoneyback.Sebi has also constituted a

technicalassistanceteamcom-prisingBNSahoo, chief general

manager, Sebi; NayanaOvalekar,chiefoperatingofficerof CDSL; K Sriram, practisingcompanysecretary;andscruti-niser M Krishna and E SaiPrasad, assistant directors ofCentral Forensic ScienceLaboratory,Hyderabad, toassistKrishnamurthy.“The SupremeCourt of India

videitsorderdatedDecember09,2020hasdirectedSebitoappointanObserverregardingthee-vot-ingofunitholdersofsixschemesof Franklin TempletonMutualFund which is scheduled be-tween 26th December to 29thDecember, 2020. Further theSupremeCourthasalsodirectedthat the result of the e-votingwould not be announced and

would be produced before theSupremeCourt in a sealed coveralong with the report of theObserver appointed by the Sebi.Accordingly, Sebi has appointedTS Krishnamurthy as the“Observer” on December 18,2020,” themarket regulator saidinanofficialstatement.The SC, on December 9,

asked Sebi to appoint an ob-server foroverseeing thee-vot-ingprocess.ThesixschemesareFranklin India Low DurationFund, Franklin IndiaUltraShortBondFund,Franklin IndiaShortTerm Income Plan, FranklinIndia Credit Risk Fund, FranklinIndiaDynamicAccrualFundandFranklin India IncomeOpportunities Fund.

■Under the interimagreement,NMDC isrequired topaya totalroyalty of 37.5per centon sales of ironore,including anadditional 22.5percent royalty to thestate governmentoverthe15per cent royaltythe companywaspayingprior to thesuspensionofoperations in2018.

INTERIMAGREEMENT

NMDC-KarnatakatiffcouldspillovertoCentrevsstaterevenueclaims

THEOUTCOMEof thevotingwilldetermine iftheschemeswithRs26,000croreofunitholders’moneymustclosedownornotandhowsoonunitholderswillget theirmoneyback.

FuturehangsinbalanceE●EX

PLAINED

Sebi appoints TS Krishnamurthyobserver for Franklin MF e-voting

TheUK-basedthinktankforecast thatChinawill, in2028,overtaketheUStobecometheworld’sbiggesteconomy

Sunday December27Prepare your long-range goals but spare athought for short-termpressures. Thereseemstobeagreatdealtobesaidforsortingoutafinancialmess.

Monday December28As thedays pass, passionwill be replacedbyalaid-backfeeling.Youdotakelifealittletooseriously.Youcannowreaptherewardsof initiativesyoustarted.

Tuesday December29The Sun is hitting some of its strongestalignments over. This is positive, favourshardworkandoffershopeifyouarewillingtoputintheextraeffortrequiredtoachieveyourgoals.

Wednesday December30Life has been confusing lately. One reasonmightbethatclosepartnersneedtocomecleanaboutwhat they’re reallyupto-andyouneed to bemore aware of your long-termambitions.

Thursday December31You’llbetakingyourpleasuresseriouslyandif you can mix self-improvement withsimple fun, you’ll make the most of aprofoundly productive period. I doubt ifyou’llhaveamomenttoyourself.

Friday January1You cannowafford toput your foot downathome.TheMoongivesyoutheadvantage,and thisweek only a close friend can callyourbluff.Colleaguesandpartnersshouldfinallyadmitthatyouareright.

Saturday January2It’s a fine time to put in extra effort. Youmight be working quite hard at themoment. Inastrangesense,you’llgainthegreatest pleasure frommature behaviourandsoberactivities.

If it’s yourBirthday

SUDOKU4335

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4334

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.I love______morethananywomanI’veeverknown-WaltDisney(6,5)

SOLUTION:OBESE,SUSHI,COMMIT,STICKYAnswer:IloveMickeyMousemorethananywomanI’veeverknown-WaltDisney

BSEEO IOTCMM

HSISU CISTKY

JUMBLEDWORDS

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Thisweek,theemphasis isonlong-termplanning.Makesurethatall legal

problemsareclearedupandthatforeignandoverseasconnectionsareall infineform.Don’texpecttofinalisedecisionsbeforeThursday, incidentally,astherestillseemstobeanumberofchangesincircumstancesontheway.

TAURUSApr.21-May21Familymembersandpeopleathomeareinanimpatientmood,andthere’llbe

momentswhenyou’reforcedintoacorner.Peopleatworkmayhaverejectedyouradvice.Don’tworry,though,asbeforetheweekisoutcolleaguesshouldhaverealisedtheerroroftheirways.

GEMINIMay22-June21Theweekisfullofpromise,eventhoughtheremaybemanycrisestodeal

with. Infact, it’syourbusinessaffairswhicharecomingunderscrutiny.Thebrightestdaysoftheweekforresolvingall legalissuesandarranginglong-distancetravelareWednesdayandThursday.

CANCERJune22-July23TheMoonbeginstheweekbychallengingyoursign,soyoumaybepre-occupiedby

partnershipmatters, inparticularbytheneedtopersuadeafriendorcolleaguetoagreewithyourplans.Asithappens,this isanexcellentweektogetproposalsfordomesticchangebackoncourse.

LEOJuly24-Aug.23TheSunisbusysheddinglightonideasandagreementswhich

havebeenneglectedforsometime.AfterMercurymakessomesignificantalignmentsinthemiddleof theweek,you’llhaveall theopportunityyou’vebeenwaitingfortoarrangeappointments,seekinterviewsandholdimportantdiscussions.

VIRGOAug.24-Sept.23Althoughbusinessdealsandexpenditureplanshavebeensubjectto

variousdelaysinrecentweeks,Mercury, theplanetresponsibleforplacinghurdlesinyourpathisabouttoformanotherseriesofalignments.Youshouldbepreparedforafloodofcommunicationsaroundtheendof theweek.

LIBRASept.24-Oct.23Financial andpropertymattersloom large, so it’stime to get your

affairs in order. There havebeenunavoidable delaysrecently, and you’re not totallyto blame for the slowpace ofdevelopments. However,friends and lovedones arewaiting for you to takedecisive action.

SCORPIOOct.24-Nov.22Oftenitworkswellifyoukeepcertaininformationtoyourself,though

familymembersmaybechallengingyoursecretivetendencies, inspiringyoutocomeclean.But,areyoureallyreadytorevealall?Itmaybebesttokeepfriendsandpartnersfullyinformedofyourplansandactivities.

SAGITTARIUSNov.23-Dec.22Theweek’stopplanetsareMarsandUranus,acombinationwhich

isboundtomakeyouthinkafreshaboutyourindependence-andaboutwhatyouneedtodotorecoveryourfreedom.Whatistakingplaceatthemomentinvolvesallthatismostprofoundandfundamentaltoyourexistence.

CAPRICORNDec.23-Jan.20Youmaybefeelingalittlemoreemotionalthanusual,butthisisnaturalnowthat

Neptuneismakingitspresencefeltinfreshregionsofyourchart.However,don’tgettoocarriedaway,otherwiseyou’llmissoutonveryexcitingprofessionaldevelopments.

AQUARIUSJan.21-Feb.19Lifeisalwayscomplicated,nevereasy!There’llbeagreatdealgoingon

behindthescenesatthebeginningoftheweek,butdon’tfall intothetrapof imaginingthatotherpeopleareouttogetyou.Youshouldignorerumoursanddiscountsuperstitionsunlessyouhavehardconcreteevidencethatthey’retrue.

PISCESFeb.20-Mar20TheMoon flirtswith your sign atthe endof theweek,an indication that,

whatever happens over thenext fewdays, events shouldbe running in your favour byFriday. Youmay takeadvantage of the fact that, foronce, your practical skillsseem tobe growing stronger.

YOURWEEKAHEADBRIDGE

SouthbidconservativelyatfirstbutwhenNorthmadeacompetitive4DbidSouthwenttogame. It isagoodgame,dependingonguessingthespades.Westledthejackofhearts,whichSouthwon.Howwouldyougoaboutplay-ingthehandtohelpyouguessthespadesuit?

NORTH♠ KJ3❤QJ109♦ A8♣K1097SOUTH♠ Q1062❤K83♦ Q73♣A63

NORTH♠ K10764❤ 53♦ Q874♣53

SOUTH♠ J3❤A♦ AKJ932♣ A982

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHPass 1S 2H 3D3H 4D Pass 5DPass Pass Pass

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2301QUICKCLUESACROSS1. Urbane(8)5. CapitalofMacedonia (6)10. Capitalof Israel (3,4)11. Beseech(7)12. Metallic sound(5)13. Likechampagne(9)14. Theyhavetobe followed!(6,6)18. SamManekshaw’s rank?(5,7)21. Typeof calendar,of chant (9)23. AnancientCeltic tribeof EasternEngland(5)

24. Jenniferof Friends fame(7)25. Altitudes (7)26. Settle (6)27. Inscription(8)DOWN1. Sense (6)2. Simplesong(6)3. Directedacourse(9)

4. Probes (14)6. Stuffing forpillows(5)

7. Oathsorpledges (8)8. Invigorate (8)9. Cooperationbetweencompetingpolitical†parties (14)

15. Accomplishing(9)16. Caught_____ :caughtunpreparedorunawares?(3,5)

17. Varietyof celery (8)19. ___AurShera : loversof Indianfolklore? (6)

20. Sentimentalart (6)22. Chose(5)CRYPTICCLUESACROSS1. Violetcanine?(8)5. Happentobeautumn(6)

10. Quiet reasontoexercisecharacter(7)

11.Oneordersungaboutself-centredprayers (7)

12. Runawayto joinup,perhaps (5)13. Breakingupcanbeverypainful(9)

14. Vehicles fordriving instructors(5,7)

18. Neverout -butnot invariably(12)

21. Africanhaswarmdrinkabout ten(9)

23. Asian leader turnedchickenbeforegame(5)

24. Heartpossibly retainsenergywitholdculinaryherb(7)

25. Coalpitworkedoutasyoucan

see(7)26. Point toa flower fora festival(6)

27. Onehavingdaylightcastoncoincollection inParaguay’scapital(8)

DOWN1. Birdat the fair?(6)

2. LeaveReginatogonorth?Monster! (6)

3. Howyoumaylive if single-minded?(2,4,3)

4. Gamesheldbypeople followingrevolutionaryartmovement(14)

6. So,with time, it causesgrain tospoil (5)

7. Quitesatisfactory, so there’snoneleft (3,5)

8. An injuredstag in theAlpsmovedroundwhenat thepointof death(4,4)

9. Continualhail’sgivingmeweirdvisions! (14)

15. Burialplaceof aKennedygirl,notanAskew(9)

16. Desirablestiffenerprovidedbythemerry thought?(4-4)

17. Sends indifferentdirections (8)19. Fashionablegreeting,butover-affected(6)

20. Colonel lushlyretireda littleoutofsorts (6)

22. Makesureslip isn’t showing(5)

QUICKCLUESAcross: 1Eraser,4Dominant,9Forged,10Scissors,12Rick,13Reciprocal,15Extravagance,18Freewheeling,21Applicable,22Tito,24Hardcopy,25Nepali,26Transfer,27Pantry.Down:1Enforced,2Atrocity,3Even,5Onceinawhile,6Instructed,7Avouch,8Tussle,11Setanexample,14Hairpieces,16Vigilant,17Ignominy,19Sachet,20Sparta,23Meta.CrypticClues:Across:1Bubble,4Abortive,9Nerves,10Reaffirm,12Mobs,13Instalment,15Attache-cases,18Friday’schild,21Mace-bearer,22Team,24Thematic,25Begone,26Semidome,27Gaggle.Down:1Bonemeal,2Birdbath,3Lief,5Breathalyser,6Refulgence,7Ibidem,8Enmity,11Incendiarism,14Scoreboard,16Live-long,17AdamBede,19Smites,20Scream,23Leda

Solutionsto2300

SouthmadeaNegativeDoubleof2D,hopingtofindaspadecontract. Hefol-lowedwith2NTtoshowaninvitationalhandofaroundelevenpoints.Westledthekingofdiamonds,hispartner’ssuit.

HowshouldSouthplantheplay? Bespecific.

TheWestHand:S-9874H-A7652D-K2C-54TheEastHand:S-A5H-4D-J109654C-QJ82

WhatSouthdidwaswintheace,thinkingthattheleadhadgivenhimatrick.He decided, randomly, to lead hearts next. Westwon the first round andcontinueddiamonds,which set upEast’s suit. In timeSouth had to leadspadesandEasttookhisaceandset3NTwiththeremainderofhisdiamondsuit.“Iwasunlucky,”saidSouth. “If Iguessto leadspadesfirst Imake3NT.”“That’s true,” notedNorth, but leaving somethingunsaid that hung in theair. WhatdidNorthmeanbyhisunfinishedstatement?WhatNorthmeantwasthatSouthshouldhavemade3NT.YousawwhatSouthdiddoand it is agreed thatSouthwasunlucky to leadheartsbeforespades. Hadheledspadesfirst,thatwouldhaveremovedEast’sentry.HowcouldSouthhavemade3NTwithoutguessingtoplayspadesfirst?

SouthshouldhaverealizedthatEastprobablyhadoneofthemajorsuitaces.IfEasthadbothof themitwouldbe inconsistentwiththebidding,butoneacewaspossible.Southshouldhaveletthekingofdiamondswintrickone.Westwould leadhisseconddiamondbutnowSouthcould leadeitherma-jorandsucceedbecauseWestwouldnotbeableto leaddiamondsagain.

Dealer:South,Vulnerable:NorthSouth

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHIC 2D dblPass 2H Pass PassPass

Dealer:North,Vulnerable:NorthSouth

COVID IMPACT

‘CFO Optimism Index atall-time low for Dec qtr’

Key issues: Businesses are still foreseeingfinancial risk on their balance sheet and this canbe attributed to various factors including highinflationary pressures and supply side risksMethodology: Based on the survey ofover 350 respondents

Source:DunandBradstreet/

PTI

8.4%DECLINEINTHEDUN&BRADSTREETCOMPOSITECFOOPTIMISMINDEX(Y-O-Y)TO98.1DURINGQ42020,ARECORDLOW

32.1% INCREASE(Q-O-Q)BASISANDRISKPERCEPTIONSTILLREMAINSHIGHAMONGRESPONDENTS

18%OFCFOsSURVEYEDEXPECTANINCREASE INTHERISKAPPETITE INTHECURRENTSCENARIO

58%OFCFORESPONDENTSSEECASHFLOWMANAGEMENTASTHETOPMOSTPRIORITY

63% INDICATEDTHEYWILLUSEEFFECTIVERECOVERYSYSTEMASARISKMANAGEMENTTOOL

Theconfidence levelofchief financialofficersover financialandmacroeconomicconditions inthecountryreachedarecordlowfortheDecemberquarter, saidaDunandBradstreetreport

New Delhi

Vol.XIXNo.37 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05 R.N.I. No. DELENG/2002/10884. Printed and Published by R.C.Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited,Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah ZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002. Editorial office: The Indian Express (P) Limited,Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah ZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500. Advertising office: The Indian Express(P) Limited, B1/B, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301. Phone: 0120-6651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Delhi): Rakesh Sinha ** **Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act. Copyright: The Indian Express (P)

Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner, electronic or otherwise, inwhole or in part, without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020

18 SPORT

NewZealand222-3atstumpson1stdayMountMaunganui:KaneWilliamsonmade an unbeaten 94 and shared a120-runpartnershipwithRossTaylorwhichliftedNewZealandintoastrongposition at stumps Saturday on thefirstdayofthefirstcrickettestagainstPakistan. Taylor made 70 andWilliamson added a further 89withHenryNichollswhowas42notoutatstumpswhenNewZealandwas222-3. Williamson came to the creasewhen only three balls had beenbowledandremainedforthenext86.3overs, reshapingtheNewZealand in-nings and changing the course of thefirstday.Pakistanhadbeenontopaf-ter winning the toss, bowling on agreen pitch and after Shaheen AfridiremovedNewZealand openers TomLatham for 4 and TomBlundell for 5withonly13runsontheboard.BRIEF SCORES:NewZealand222/3(Williamson94*,Nicholls42*, Taylor70,Afridi3/55)vsPakistan

EastBengalholdChennaiyin2-2Bambolim: GermanmidfielderMattiSteinmann emerged as the unlikelysource of goals for SC East Bengal asthe Kolkata side rallied to draw 2-2withChennaiyinFCintheHeroIndianSuper League at the Tilak Maidan.Chennaiyin took the lead twice,through Lallianzuala Chhangte (13')andRahimAli(64').However,abracefromMatti Steinmann (59', 68') sawRobbie Fowler's side split honours inan exciting encounter. On Sunday,Kerala Blasters will take onHyderabadFC.Bothsideshaveplayedsix matches so far with seventh-placedHyderabadFCsitting just twoplaces above Kerala Blasters on thetable, but with a difference of sixpoints. While Kerala have sufferedthree defeats, the Nizams saw theirunbeatenstreakendintheirpreviousgameagainstMumbaiCity.

IrvingstarsasNetsbeatCelticsBoston:Kyrie Irvingscored37points,KevinDurantadded29,andthevisit-ingBrooklynNetsenjoyedasuccess-fulreturntotheNBA'sChristmasDayschedule by pulling away in the sec-ondhalf fora123-95victoryovertheBoston Celtics on Friday. In his firstregular-season game inBoston sincejoiningtheNets, Irvingmade13of21shots, hit seven 3-pointers, andhandedouteightassists. Irvingscored17byhalftime,buttheNetstrailedbythreebeforeoutscoringBoston72-41in the second half in their firstChristmas Day game since facingChicago in2013.

AGENCIES

BRIEFLY

Impressivedebutants,unrelentingbowlers&ashrewdcaptainhelpvisitorsmoveonfromAdelaidedebaclewithanall-roundshow

SANDIPGDECEMBER26

ANENSEMBLEcastcomprisingtwodebutants,twohighly-skilledbowlersatthepeakoftheirprowess,andaninspiredcaptaincombinedtoproduceablockbusterfirstdayforIndiaintheBoxing Day Test. It was a bright day inMelbournewhenAjinkyaRahane’sleadershipfelt like a breath of fresh air, Jasprit Bumrahbowled like the wind in the morning,MohammedSirajwhippedup a storm, andRavichandranAshwinblew likeacalmafter-noon breeze. And at the fag end, cameShubmanGill,likearippleofeveningthunder.Australia reeledunder theweather,mus-

teringonly195 runsonaplacid surface afterchoosingtobat,before Indiaendedthedayat36/1. The score at stumpswas the only re-minderof thatafternoon inAdelaide, as Indiademonstratedthattheyhavetheskillsaswellasthewilltoturnadversityaround.IfthescarsofAdelaideremained,theydidwelltoconcealthem.Rather,theywereatransformedbunch,bustlingwithenergyandpurposeandbound-ingwithrelishandresolve.Rahaneseizedthemomentsandensuredthattheteamkepttheirpoiseandcomposure.Aclassic exampleof hisnon-plussedcap-

taincywaswhen Travis Head andMarnusLabuschagnewereengineeringacomebackaf-terfindingthemselvesineachother’scompanyat38/3.Weathering the initial storm, the twowere looking to accelerate, when RahanerecommissionedBumrah.A reactive captainwouldhavesoughtdefensivemeasures,likein-troducingRavindraJadejaorsettingrun-stop-ping fields. Here, Rahane counterattackedAustralia’s counter.HeadstruckBumrah forabraceofboundariesofffullerdeliveries,whichin theendseemed like anelaborate scheme.Thepacerthenpushedtheleft-handerontothebackfootwithamixtureofshortandshort-of-lengthdeliveries, beforehebowledone fullerandseamingaway fromHead,whoproddedinstinctivelyattheballwithhisfeetcrease-tied.Anedgewasallbutunavoidable.Thefinalwallofresistancewasbreached,

andAustraliafellapart,notinaheapbutbrickbyother.CentraltothatwasIndia’splanningandthesupremeexecutionoftheirplans.Thedismissals of Steve Smith and his protegeLabuschagnestoodout,forboththeenormityofthewicketsaswellastherationalebehindthe tactics. Both are leg-side virtuosos. Somostcaptainsandbowlerslooktoblocktheirleg-side run-scoring avenues andovercom-pensate by bowling outside the off-stump.But sometimes, batsmen aremost vulnera-bleplayingtheinstinctivestrokes.BothSmithandLabuschagnecouldnotresisttheleg-sideglide, and the fielders were perfectly sta-tioned to gobble up the ensuing catches.Smith was caught at leg-gully andLabuschagneatbackwardsquare-leg.Smith seemedhypnotised by the curve

Ashwinconjuredthroughoutwhatwouldar-guablybehisbestdayinAustralia.Itwasaspelloutof theoff-spinner’sdreams,whenevery-thingwascomingoutperfectlyfromhisfingers- fromtheamountofdrift, dip,paceandspin.Theballwasobedienttotheordersof itsmas-

ter.Somewouldspinandbounce,somewouldjustbounce,somewouldjustspin.Theuncer-taintywasharrowingforAustralia’sbatsmen.AswasSiraj,whose skillsRahanemaster-

fullyharnessed. In the lead-up to tea, hewasbowlingintenselybutwithoutluck.Eachtimehe beat the edge or an edge fell short, Sirajwould throwhishands in theair. ButRahanewouldwalkup tohimand reassurehim.Heevenobligedhimwithareferralthatlookedfarfromstraightforward(andoncepolitelyrefusedanotherrequestfromSiraj).Mostimportantly,theskipperkepthisfaithinthedebutant.Andjustbeforetea,hedismissedLabuschangne.Buoyed, Siraj increasedhispaceandpur-

chased reverse swing,notmassive like in thesubcontinent but just enough to trouble thebatsmen.Eventually, CameronGreenmissedoneandwaspinnedinfrontofthewicket,end-ing another brief period of resistance. Hereagain,Rahanewouldhavebeentemptedtore-placeSirajwithUmeshYadavorBumrahtopol-ishoff Australia’s lowerorder, but thatwouldhavebeencrueltoSirajwhowasbowlinghos-tilelyaswellastirelessly.ButafterTimPainedeparted,Bumrahwas

reintroduced.Hedidtheneedfulwiththewick-etsofMitchell Starc andNathanLyon, beforeJadeja denied hima five-for by packing PatCummins. But India’s goodworkwouldhavebeen largelynegatedhadthey lostmorethanthewicketofMayankAgarwal. For this, theyhavetothankthefree-strokingGill,whoinhis28notoutof 38balls oozedample signs thathe’sequippedtodealwiththebestofseamersintheworld.ThepullstrokesoffStarcwerebru-tal;imperiouswashewhenhesteppedoutanddroveLyonagainst the turn throughmid-off.Thoughhewasoncegrassed,Gillshowedexcel-lentdefensive technique toensure that Indiadidn’tsufferfurtherdamage.

New-look India

SRIRAMVEERADECEMBER26

RAVICHANDRANASHWINdoesn’tquite ripan off-break around off-stump, with loopand dip, and let the batsman copewith it.LikeMuttiahMuralitharan,especiallywhenyounger,usedtodo.OrasNathonLyondoesonoccasions.TheartofAshwinliesinentan-gling the batsmen intomeanderings fromwhich they are unable to disengage them-selves in time. Like Steve Smith onDay 1 ofthisBoxingDayTest.The ball that took out Smith opened up

its trickery under the gaze of the batsman,ratherthanrevealitsperfectionfromthemo-ment it was released. It’s a familiar themewithAshwin.Hisdeliveriesareconstructedfor what a batsmanmight do, tailored toprobe theanticipated response, asopposedtoapre-fabricated lineof thought.Hedoes-n’tdo thosepre-designeddreamballs.Someone like ShaneWarne candispense

with reality andmake thebatsmendance tohismachinations.Hisgeniusandtheartofleg-spin allowed him to do that. BarringMuralitharan, off-spinners don’t have suchwizardryintheDNAoftheirart.Buteverynowandthen,Ashwinmanagestocreateaprivaterealitywithin thebatsmen’sworldwherehemakesthemworkagainstthemselves.The surprise in Smith’s dismissalwasn’t

howitendedbuthowsoonitended.Justtwoballs. Ashwin targeted the intended shot orratherthehands,thatSmithclaimedtohavefound during the limited-overs leg of thetour.ThefirstballspunsharplydownlegbutSmith didn’t handcuff his hands. The nextdroppedonalengtharoundmiddle-and-leg,forcingSmith to lunge.For aminute, scrub out the two players,

photoshop in Ricky Ponting andHarbhajanSingh–andyouwouldn’thavenoticedadif-ference. The seam of the ball towards leg-gully, the ripping side-spin and the door-knobturnofthewristatreleasethattooktheball in the air froma shade outside off to itseventualdestination.Perhapsitwasthelureof the trajectory, but Smith’s hands tres-passedintoareasfromwhichhecouldn’tex-tricate themin time.Marnus Labuschagne toodid the same,

almost. Unlike Smith, he seemedmore in-tent toplayoff thebackfoot. Ashwin’s planwas ready: to get him caught at backwardshort-leg, wristing the turning bouncingball off hiship. If thebatsmantries toblockstraight down the pitch, the bounce andturnwouldhopefully be enough to get theball ricochet off the inner edge to forwardshort-leg.Theballsailedpastthetwoshort-legs a few times and then Labuschagnemadehismove.He started tomovesideways. Side-step-

pingtoleg,hestartedtocutandpunchtothe

off. It was an interestingmove; he had at-tempted one in Ashwin’s first over butwasbeaten, nevertheless he revived that ap-proach now.When the ball was fuller, hewouldpushitaway,withoutabigstride, let-ting his dextrous hands take care of the de-viation. For the rest, hewould shuffle side-ways to ping the large gap at covers, leftdeliberately open. For most of the day,Ashwinbowledwithjusttwoontheoff-side.Ashwin’sart isn’t static. It keepschang-

ing colours according to the perceivedthreat. Soon, he shifted to around thestumps, and over-spun one on leg-and-middle on a length. Labuschagne almostcombusted,goingforanill-executedsweepon an urge, and was saved by the DRS onthe lbwappeal.Though themoisture evaporated from

the track in the second session, Ashwin re-turnedaroundthestumpsbutwiselyaban-doned that line of attack after sensing thelack of pre-lunch biting turn and bounce.Fromoverthestumps,hequietlytriedpush-ing Labuschagne back and getting him towrist the turning ball to waiting hands.Though hewasn’t successful, a similar lineof attackworked forMohammedSiraj.Ashwin has already shown in the first

Tests of the last tours to England andAustralia that his art isn’t parochial. It isn’tpinneddowntoIndia’ssoil.Butuntimelyin-juries meant he couldn’t finish what hestarted on those tours. Now, it seems, he isonacelebratory run.

How Ashwin remained a stepahead of Smith & Labuschagne

SCORECARD

AUSTRALIA 195ALLOUTJBurnscPantbBumrah 0(10b)MWadecJadejabAshwin 30(39b,3x4)MLabuschagnecGillbSiraj 48(132b,4x4)SSmithcPujarabAshwin 0(8b)THeadcRahanebBumrah 38(92b,4x4)CGreen lbwSiraj 12(60b)TPainecViharibAshwin 13(38b,2x4)PCumminscSirajbJadeja 9(33b,1x4)MStarccSirajbBumrah 7(8b,1x4)NLyon lbwBumrah 20(17b,2x4,1x6)JHazlewoodnotout 4(1b,1x4)■Extras (nb3,w1,b10) 14■FoW: 1-10(Burns,4.2),2-35(Wade,12.5),3-38(Smith,14.3),4-124(Head,41.5),5-134(Labuschagne,49.3),6-155(Green,61.4),7-155(Paine,62.6),8-164(Starc,67.1),9-191(Lyon,71.5),10-195(Cummins,72.3)■Bowling:JBumrah16-4-56-4,UYadav12-2-39-0,RAshwin24-7-34-3,RJadeja5.3-1-15-1,MSiraj15-4-40-2

INDIA 36/1MAgarwal lbwStarc 0(6b)SGillbatting 28(38b,5x4)CPujarabatting 7(23b,1x4)■Extras (nb1) 1■FoW:1-0(Agarwal,0.6)■Bowling:MStarc4-2-14-1,PCummins4-1-14-0,JHazlewood2-0-2-0,NLyon1-0-6-0

DAY2,LIVEONSONYSPORTSNETWORK,5AM

AUSTRALIA VS INDIAMELBOURNE CRICKET GROUNDToss: Australia, chose to bat

RAshwinpickedcrucialwicketsofWade,SmithandPaine.AP

VISHALMENONDECEMBER26

MOHAMMEDISMAILgathershimself,clearshis throat, and tries his best to control hisemotions,beforeutteringthebarelyaudible:“Iwishabba(lateMohammedGhouse)wasalive today.”Ismail—elderbrotherof TeamIndia’s lat-

estpacesensationMohammedSiraj—sayshe’sabitgroggyafterbeinggluedtothetelevisionsetintheweehoursonSaturdaytowatchSirajmakeasensationalTestdebutattheMelbourneCricket Ground. “Afterwhatwehave gonethroughoverthelastmonth,thisisaproudmo-mentforus.IwanttothankAllah.AbbaalwayswantedSiraj toplayTest cricket for India.Hewouldalwayssay,‘Deshkanaamroshankaro,”IsmailtellsTheIndianExpressoverthephonefromhisTowliChowkiresidenceinHyderabad.

On November 20, little more than amonth before Siraj’s Test debut, his fatherGhousepassedaway.Thestringentquaran-tine restrictions meant the 26-year-oldcouldn’t return to India for his father’s finalrites. “Stay strong for your father’s dream”;thosewordsfromcaptainViratKohlihelpedSiraj stay back in Australia. However, Ismailremembershisbrotherbreakingdownovera call, days after their father's demise. “HecalledmefromAustraliaanddidn’tsayany-thing. All I couldhearwas the soundof himsobbing inconsolably,” Ismail recollects.ItwasGhouse, anauto-rickshawdriver’s,

unflinchingsupport thatgaveSiraj theconfi-dencetobunkclassesandsneakpastdiscipli-narianmother Shabana Begum toplay ten-nis-ballcricketinhismohallanearMasabtank.Formaltrainingbeganat18,whenafriendin-troducedSiraj to 'Mabboobsir', agenialmid-dle-agedman,who runs anHCA-affiliated

coaching centre called Charminar CricketClub.“IwasimpressedbywhatIsaw.Hewasrawbuthadtheability toextractgoodpace,"Mabboobnotes. "OnhisdebutagainstaclubcalledBalajiCC,hepickedfivewickets."

AnincidentfromSiraj'sHyderabadU-23daysstill ranklesMabboob.“HCA had organised a fitness camp for

fast bowlers of the U-23 squad atSecunderabadGymkhanaground.Everyoneassembledthatmorning,butSirajwasmiss-ing.WhenIlaterinquired,hesaid, ‘Sir, Idon’thave the money to travel to and fro fromHyderabad and Secunderabad. Howmuchwill I trouble my father for money.’ I toldhim, 'Never hesitate to askme for any sortof financial help'.”Siraj's fieryspellatanU-23gamecaught

theeyeof JyothiPrasad,thenchairmanofse-lectors, who picked the pacer for the RanjiTrophy. According toPrasad, Siraj benefitedenormouslyinhisfirstseasonasafirst-classcricketer,becausetheHyderabadcoachwasBharat Arun, current bowling coach of theIndianteam.“Bharatplayedakeyrole inhisevolutionasa fastbowler.Hefine-tunedhis

skills and it was because of him that helandedanIPLcontracttwoyearslater,in2017for theSunrisersHyderabad,”Prasadsays.MSK Prasad, the former national chair-

man of selectors, says it’s because of theabundance of fast bowlers that Siraj had towait so long tomake his Test debut. “Siraj’sstoryissimilartothatofT.Natarajan’sasbothhave made it from humble beginnings.There’s never been any doubt inmymindabout his credentials as a red-ball bowler.Becausewehaveanabundanceoffast-bowl-ing talents thatSirajhad to take the routeofIPL and T20s beforemaking it in long-formcricket. Lookathis first-classnumbers, theyare really impressive,”heavers.In 38 first-class games, Siraj has ac-

counted for 152 scalps, averaging a shadeover23,withfourfive-wickethauls. In2016,hepicked41wickets,galvanisingHyderabadto the Ranji Trophy knock-outs for the first

timeinfiveseasons.Sincethen,hehasbeena regular at India A tours, all of which havebeeninstrumental inhisseamlesstransitionfrom a raw pacer to a bowler with astutecricketingnous.Thesuccessesonthecricketfield,however,

have not changed Siraj’s outlook or de-meanour. Last year, the family shifted fromtheirmodestrentedapartmentinMasabtanktoamorelavishsettingatTowliChowki,nearMehdipatnam. Back in Hyderabad, he isknowntohave fundedweddingceremoniesof friendsandrelatives. “Allahhasbeenkindtous.So,Siraj ismakingitapointtogivebacktosociety.Heisreallylarge-heartedandneverstops evenoncewhen it comes to going outofhiswaytohelpothers,” Ismailsays.Ready to forego anywee-hour tranquil-

lity for the next four days, Ismail hopesMelbourne Test Day 1 is just the first day ofSiraj's longand fruitful international career.

MohdSiraj’s fatherpasseddaysafterTeamIndiareachedAustralia. Instagram

ROBIN JACKMAN NO MOREFormer England cricketer Robin Jackman,who played four Tests and 15 one-dayinternationals, has died. He was 75. Jackmantook 1,402 wickets in a 399-game first-classcareer between 1966 and 1982. AP

SA players raise fists before first Test vs LankaPRESSTRUSTOFINDIACENTURION,DECEMBER26

SOUTHAFRICAN players raised a fist to ac-knowledge the country's struggle againstapartheidbutrefrainedfromtakingthekneeassociatedwiththeglobalBlackLivesMatterMovement just before the start of the firstTestagainstSri Lanka,hereonSaturday.The players, led by Quinton de Kock,

raised their firsts after singing the SouthAfrican national anthembefore the start ofthe opening day at the Super Sport Park.Pressurehasbeenmountingon theProteasto show their support to the global BLMMovementbytakingaknee,but theplayersinastatementsaid that the raised fistshavemorehistoricalcontexttotheSouthAfricans."Theraisedfistisapowerfulgestureinour

ownhistory,asexpressedintheiconicimagesofNelsonandWinnieMandelaonMandela'sreleasefromprisonin1990,"theplayerssaid

inastatement. "In this context itwasapow-erfulgestureoftriumph,anacknowledgmentof thestruggleagainstapartheid,andacom-mitment to continuing to fight for equality,justiceandfreedom,whilealsohonouringthereligiousandculturalresponsibilitiesofeverymemberofourteam."Theplayers said the teamhad,onmulti-

ple occasions, declared its "unmistakable"support to theBLMcampaignandcommit-ted tocontinuedoing thesametogether."We recognize that our actions will

most likely result in criticism from somecommunity, oneway or another, but ... wehave taken the decision through aprocessof deep democracy to raise our fists. Werecognize the historical and political con-notations of the raised fist as a gesture ofongoing solidarity in the fight for racialjustice and anti-racismwork.”

MohammedSiraj tooktwowicketsandasmanycatchesonhisTestdebut.Reuters

SouthAfrica'sLungiNgidicelebratesafter takingawicket.AP

Wish abba was alive: Brother says Siraj has fulfiled late father’s dream

TheartofAshwin lies inentangling thebatsmenintomeanderings fromwhichtheyareunable todisengagethemselves in time.LikeSteveSmithonDay1of thisBoxingDayTest

Late Leicester equaliser ends ManUnited’s away winning streakREUTERSLEICESTER,DECEMBER26

LEICESTER CITY came back twice to endManchesterUnited'sawaywinningstreakinthe Premier Leaguewith a 2-2 draw at theKing Power stadium on Saturday. A JamieVardy shot which deflected off United de-fenderAxelTuanzebe,fiveminutesfromtheend,securedapointforBrendanRodgers'sideafter Bruno Fernandes appeared tohave se-curedanothervictoryontheroadforUnited.OleGunnarSolskjaer'sside,whohadwon

their last ten away games in the PremierLeague, stay third on 27 points, a point be-hind second-placed Leicester. Liverpool aretopof thestandingson31pointsandhaveachance to extend their leadwhen they face

WestBromwichAlbiononSunday.MarcusRashfordhadmissedawide-open

header but put United ahead in the 23rdminutewithacool finishafterbeingslippedin by Fernandes before Harvey Barnesequalisedeightminuteslaterwithafineshotfromtheedgeofthebox.RashfordhadagreatchancetoputUnitedbackinfrontonthehourbuthispowerfuldrivewaswellsavedbytherighthandofKasperSchmeichel.TwominuteslaterAnthonyMartialhadan

effortdisallowedforoffsidebutFernandesre-storedUnited'sleadinthe79thminute,drillinginto thebottomcorner after being found in-side the area by substitute Edinson Cavani.Again though, the leadwas short-lived asVardy's firsttimeshotonthehalf-turnfromalow cross from Ayoze Perez, went in offTuanzebeandearnedapointfortheFoxes.

Pretoria: Dinesh Chandimal andDhananjayadeSilvascoredfluenthalf-centuriesasSriLankatookadvantageofsomelacklustreSouthAfricabowl-ing to post 340 for six at the close ofday one of the first test at CenturionParkonSaturday. REUTERSBRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka 340/6(Chandimal 85, de Silva 79, Mulder3/68)vsSouthAfrica

Sri Lanka takecontrol after Day 1

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