journalismofcourage · 2020/1/10 ·...

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

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER30

THE GUJARAT government onWednesdayannounceda25percent fee reduction in privateschoolsforthecurrentacademicyearacrossallboardsandhasdi-rected the schoolsnot to chargeanyotherfeeunderco-curricularactivitiesThedecisioncameafterase-

ries of meetings with associa-tionsofprivateschoolsandpar-

entsover theaspectof fees.Also,theschoolswillnothike

the fees for this academic ses-sion. Those who have alreadypaid the full fees will get theamount reimbursed as per thisdecision.However, the fee reliefcomeswith the condition thatparents have to pay 50 per centof the fees by October 31 in or-der toavail this relief.The decision taken in the

Cabinet meeting chaired byChief Minister Vijay RupanicamefollowingtheGujaratHigh

Court’s order on September 18where it had left it on the stategovernment to decide on theschoolfeerelaxationandreduc-tion issue amid the Covid-19pandemic and reminded that abalanced decision should betakenkeepinginmindtheintentof all stakeholders involved.“The state government had

heldmeetings with the schooladministrators and parents fol-lowingtheguidelinesandjudg-mentof theGujaratHighCourt.

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Gujarat announces 25% fee cut in pvtschools if half of it is paid by Oct 31

KAUNAINSHERIFFM&MANISHSAHUNEWDELHI, LUCKNOW,

SEPTEMBER30

A SPECIAL CBI court onWednesdayacquittedall32sur-viving accused in the BabriMasjid demolition case, citinglackof evidence.In his 2,300-page order, CBI

Special Judge Surendra KumarYadav rejected evidence fromphotos, videos, and speeches oftheaccused,raisedquestionsonthe conclusions drawn by theprosecution, andreferred to thepossible involvement ofPakistani intelligence agenciesandanti-socialelementsandter-rorists disguised as kar sevakswhohadentered thesite.The order said therewas no

evidence that the accused hadmet “inside a room” to plan therazingof themosque.Also, the judge ruled, videos

of thedemolitionwerenot sentfor forensic examination, andnegatives of the pictures takenon that daywere not produced–theycouldnot,therefore,bere-lieduponasevidence.“Allevidencepresentindoc-

umentswasanalysed.Thecrimeagainsttheaccusedcouldnotbeestablished,”Yadavsaidinhisor-der,written inHindi.Amongthoseaquittedofcon-

spiracychargeswere the leadinglights of theRam Janmabhoomimovementthat ledtothedemo-lition of the Babri Masjid inAyodhya onDecember 6, 1992:former Union ministers L KAdvani,MurliManoharJoshi,andUmaBharti,formerChiefMinisterofUttarPradeshKalyanSingh,andformerBJPMPVinayKatiyar.

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AMILBHATNAGAR&JIGNASASINHAHATHRAS,SEPTEMBER30

FROM THE time her body leftDelhi’s Safdarjung Hospital at9.30pmonTuesdaytoahurriedcremation in a Hathras village200 km away at 3.30 am onWednesday—thefinal journeyof the 19-year-oldwhowas as-saulted and allegedly gan-grapedbyfouruppercastemenwas marked by a disregard toprotocolandheavyhandednessbyapolice force thatdidnot letherfamilyperformherlastrites.The19-year-oldDalitwoman

died at 6.55 am on Tuesday atSafdarjungHospital, where shehadbeenshiftedfromAligarhonMonday night as her conditionhad deteriorated. Her post-mortemwas conducted duringtheday.What transpiredafter:9.30pm:Asthebodywasre-

leasedand left forHathras inanambulance, the family told TheIndianExpress theywerenot in-formed. Instead, accompanying

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MANRAJGREWALSHARMA&DIPANKARGHOSECHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI,

SEPTEMBER30

“IFOUNDitwasacivilconspiracy,Istillbelieveinit.Fromalltheev-idence produced beforeme, itwas clear that the BabriMasjiddemolition was meticulouslyplanned... I remember UmaBharticategoricallytookrespon-sibilityforit.Itwasnotanunseenforce that demolished themosque, human beings did it,”Justice Manmohan SinghLiberhan told The Indian ExpressonWednesday.The Liberhan Commission,

setupin1992toprobetheBabriMasjiddemolition,had,initsre-portsubmittedin2009,pointedtotheinvolvementofseniorRSSand BJP leaders, including L KAdvani,MurliManoharJoshiandUma Bharti, and connivance of

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RAVISHTIWARI&LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

THECBIcourt’sverdictinacrim-inalcasedispelsthe28-year-long

shadow thathasstalkedtheleading lightsof the SanghParivar’sRamjanma-bhoomimove-

mentwhich led to the demoli-tion of the Babri Masjid. Thatevent,whichcleavedsocietyandpolitics, and set off violenceacross the country also clearedtheway forwhat culminated inPrimeMinister NarendraModi

laying the firstbrick for theRamtemple lastmonth.Despite the Supreme Court

calling thedemolitionan“egre-gious violation of rule of law,”Wednesday’sverdictgivesanin-stitutional sheen to the templemovement.Eveningovernment,theBJPalwaysdrewadistinctionbetween being named in a cor-ruptioncase—aground for res-ignation—andbeingaccusedin

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ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

TWO ORDERS of the SupremeCourt in the last threeyears,bothrelatedtotheAyodhyadisputebutin entirely different matters,pointed to thechargeof conspir-acybehind thedemolitionof theBabriMasjidonDecember6,1992.On November 9, 2019, the

more recentof the twoorders, aConstitution Bench, whileawarding the title suit to theHindupartiesanddirecting thatthedisputedlandbehandedoverto a trust for construction of aRamtemple, called thedestruc-tionof theBabriMasjida“calcu-latedact”and“anegregiousvio-

lationof theruleof law”.In their 5-0 ruling, the then

Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, Justices S A Bobde, D YChandrachud, Ashok BhushanandSANazeersaid:“Duringthependencyof thesuits, theentirestructure of the mosque wasbroughtdowninacalculatedactof destroying a place of publicworship.TheMuslimshavebeenwrongly deprived of amosquewhich had been constructedwellover450yearsago.”Theorderalsorecorded:“On

6December1992, the structureof the mosque was broughtdown and themosquewas de-stroyed. The destruction of themosque took place in breach of

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Advani, Joshi and Umaamong all 32 cleared,court says no evidence

When SC pointed toconspiracy: calculatedact, egregious violation

ASADREHMANLUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER30

DESCRIBINGTHEspecialcourt'sverdict in the Babri demolitioncaseas“far fromjustice”, theAllIndia Muslim Personal LawBoard (AIMPLB) Wednesdayurged the CBI to challenge theruling“touphold the law”.TheBoardsaidinastatement

issued by its general secretarySyedMohammadWaliRahmanithat the verdict was “neitherbasedonevidenceandnorinac-cordancewith the law”. “Toup-holdtheruleof law,weurgetheCBI to fileanappeal,” it said.However, the AIMPLB itself

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Far from justice:Muslim lawboard asks CBIto appeal order

Meticulouslyplanned,Uma tookonus: JusticeLiberhan

For Sangh, shadow lifts incriminal case; for Opp, abind as in temple ruling

LKAdvanioutsidehisNewDelhiresidenceaftertheverdict;thecourtacquittedall32accusedofconspiringtorazetheBabriMasjidin1992.AnilSharma/File

Thefuneralpyreof theHathrasvictim,hours later. AmilBhatnagar

‘MYMOTHERBEGGED,SAIDLETMETAKEHERHOME’

UP Police out in full force to cremateHathras woman, away from familyLast ritesat3am,woman’shomebarricaded, topofficials,200-pluspoliceonspot

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Babri demolition: No one guilty

E●EXPLAIN

ED

LIZMATHEW&AVANEESHMISHRANEWDELHI, LUCKNOW,

SEPTEMBER30

ASTHEUPgovernment set up aSpecial Investigation Team (SIT)toprobetheallegedgangrapeofa 19-year-old Dalit woman byfour upper caste men in UP’sHathra,andherdeath,severalof

thestate’sDalitMPsfromtherul-ing BJP told The Indian Expressthat the incident has “dented”the administration’s image andis“politicallydamaging”.TheMPs, however, blamed

the incident on “deep-rootedcasteism and corruption in po-lice”whileexpressingtheircon-fidenceinthestategovernment.OnWednesday, following a

call from Prime Minister

NarendraModi, Chief MinisterYogiAdityanathformedathree-member SIT to investigate theincidentandaskedittosubmitareportwithinsevendays.Facing protests and wide-

spread outrage, the state alsoCONTINUEDONPAGE9

SIT set up, but BJP’s Dalit MPs say:Image dented, politically damaging

‘PHOTOS,VIDEOSNOTEVIDENCE:NONEGATIVESPRODUCED,NOFORENSICANALYSIS’

‘NOPLANTODEMOLISHMOSQUE:ACCUSEDNEVERSATINAROOMANDDISCUSSED’

‘MIGHTHAVEBEENPAKHAND: INTELONTERRORISTSATSITE IGNORED’

INSIDE

BJPSTRESSESNDAUNITY, APPOINTSFADNAVIS BIHARPOLL IN-CHARGE P 10

NEEDRS 100CR,CLEARANCES TOSAVE INSVIRAATP4

CONG, TMCSLAMVERDICT; SP, BSPSILENTFULLCOVERAGEPAGE11

THEBABRI VERDICT

JusticeLiberhanathishomeinChandigarh.Express

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

THEDEMOLITIONPAGE8

MOREREPORTSPAGE12

Ahmedabad

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No one guiltyTheCBIhadfiledchargesheets

against49people,17ofwhom,in-cludingVishwaHinduParishadleaders Ashok Singhal andAcharyaGirirajKishore,andShivSenasupremoBalThackeray,arenowdead.Thiswasthelastorderpassed

byYadav–hehadretiredlastyear,andhadbeenonextensiononthedirection of the SupremeCourt.The order came less than a yearafter a five-judge Bench of theSupremeCourt, in aunanimousdecision, gave thedisputed landinAyodhyatoatrustforthebuild-ingofaRamtemple.TheSupremeCourthadcalledtherazingoftheBabriMasjidillegal.TheCBIhadreliedheavilyon

newspaper cuttings, video clips,and speeches by the accused toestablishitscase.The judge, however, said:

“...Fromthewitnessesproducedby the CBI, the newspaper cut-tings, video cassettes, and theprintout of the speeches, it is es-tablishedthattherewasnoocca-sionwhere the accusedpersonssatinsidearoomandmadeaplantodemolishthemosque...“Noprosecutionwitnesshas

clearly namedany accusedper-sons;thewitnesseshavealsonotclearlystatedthatitwasthroughthe accused that the disputedstructurewasdemolished.”In rejecting the charges of

criminal conspiracy and rioting,thecourtmadethefollowingob-servations:“...Itiswellestablishedthat people gathered in lakhs toperformkarseva, therewasa lotof dust, and that the disputedstructurewasleast200-300me-tresawayfromRamKathaKunj;awitnesshasalsosaiditwas800metres... In these circumstances,it appears unbelievable that theaccusedusedhandgesturestodi-rect the demolition of themosque,andthatthiswasseenbyawitness...,” itsaid.The order also said: “Almost

allwitnesses have said that thekar sevakshadahandfulof sandandwater, and that theywereperformingkarseva...Thewitnesswhowaspresent at the spothasalso said that at the place of thepuja, therewasa lotofnoiseandaartiwasbeingperformedpeace-fully...Nowitnesshastestifiedthatanyoftheaccusedwereengagedinthe demolition of the disputedstructure.”Thecourtrejectedtheprosecution'scasein4aspects:

Criminal ConspiracyRejectinganycriminalconspiracyby the accused, the court raisedquestions over the governmentnot actingona local intelligencereport about the involvementofPakistaniagencies.ItsaidtheCBI'scaseoncrimi-

nal conspiracywasweakened inthelightofareportsubmittedonDecember5,1992bythelocalin-telligenceunit (LIU),which saidmembersof thePakistani intelli-genceagencycould infiltrate thevenueanddemolishthestructureonDecember6.“According toone report, ex-

plosivesoriginatingfromPakistanhavereachedAyodhyaviaDelhi...Another intelligence report saysthatabout100personsincludinganti-social/anti-national ele-ments fromtheUdhampur areaof J&Kare coming toAyodhya inthegarbofkarsevaks,” thecourtsaid,citingexcerptsof theintelli-genceinputs.“Despite receiving such im-

portantinformationnodelibera-tionwasmade,”thecourtsaid.It concluded: “Prosecution

witnesshasacceptedthatanti-so-cial elements and terrorists dis-guisedaskarsevakshadenteredthearea,duetowhichthedemo-lition of the disputed structuretook place. The same has alsobeenprovedbytheLIUreport.”

SpeechesThecourtconcludedthatno“spe-cific” recording or voice samplehadbeenproduced as evidencethatestablishesthatthespeeches

madeat the site incited themobtodemolishthemosque.“With respect to accused LK

Advani, M M Joshi, SadhviRithambara, UmaBharti, VinayKatiyar...the evidence againstthemhasbeenexamined inde-tail;onthequestionwhethertheyraise slogans, no recording or avoice sample as evidence hasbeenproduced,whichestablishesthataspecificspeechincitedreli-gioussentiments,” itsaid.“The journalists andphotog-

raphers present onDecember 6were examined in the court... aprosecutionwitnesshassaidthatUma Bharti raised slogans...However, there is no testimonythat shows that the specificspeechincitedthekarsevaks;al-mostallwitnesseshaveacceptedthattherewasnoiseandthattheycould not hear anyone. Bhajansandkirtanswerebeingplayedonloudspeakers...,”thecourtsaid.

Photos“There are variousphotographs,whichwerecapturedbythewit-nessesonDecember6,thatshowsome people climbing on theBabriMasjid,photosofleaderssit-ting andpolice officers present;therearealsophotographsofthekarsevaks.Thattheaccusedthe-mselvesaredemolishingthedis-putedstructureisnotestablishedfrom these photos; only theirpresenceatthespothasbeencon-firmed,”thecourtconcluded.Thecourtalsoraisedthetech-

nicalgroundthat theCBIhadnotproducedthenegativesofthepho-tos, orobtainedsignaturesof thephotographers toprove thepic-tureswere takenduring the inci-dent.“...Thenegatives...ofthepho-tographs(oftheincident)havenotbeen submitted...andnot all thephotos have been proved. Ho-wever, it is acommonprocedurethatonlyanegativeof aphoto issubmitted to the court,” it said.“...From the examination of thephotos it is clear that it doesnotcontainanysignatures;only“Sum-an”iswrittenorhasasealof“Vis-hnustudio”. Thereareno signa-tures...Thisevidencehasnotbeenprovedbythephotographers.”Aboutmultiplepicturespro-

ducedbyphotojournalistPraveenJain, the court said: “Thephoto-graphsproducedby thePraveenJainhavebeenenlargedfromthenegatives. Thephotos onlyhavethe seal of thenewspaper; thereareno signatures of thephotog-rapher and the negatives of thephotos have also not been pro-ducedbeforethecourt.”

VideosThe court also rejected videosproduced by the CBI on theground that they had not beensent for forensic examination toruleouttampering.“Duringtheexamination,the

prosecution witness has ac-ceptedthatall thevideosseizedby the CBI were not in sealedstate; andevenafter theseizureno video cassette/footagewassealed. Theywere also not sentfor forensic examination to es-tablishthatthesevideoshavenotbeentampered;thewitnesshasalsoadmittedthatthevideopro-duced before the court has ad-vertisements inserted in be-tween, and that it has footagefromoutsideAyodhya, too...Thewitness has admitted that theyfollowed their own proceduresand have not followed proce-dures mandated under theCrPC,” thecourtsaid.The prosecuting officer said

the judgmentwouldbe referredto the CBI headquarters inNewDelhi,wheretheagency'slawde-partmentwouldstudyitandde-cidewhethertofileanappeal.“If they ask,wewill provide

ouropinion.The49complainantsof the case,which includes twopolicemen,mayalso file appealsagainst the judgment if they areinterested,” a CBI officer said inLucknow.

Conspiracytheorderofstatusquoandanas-

surance given to this Court. Thedestruction of themosque andthe obliteration of the Islamicstructurewasanegregiousviola-tionof theruleof law.”More than two years before

this order, the bench of JusticesPinaki Chandra Ghose andRohintonFNariman,onApril19,2017,describedthedemolitionoftheBabriMasjidas“crimeswhichshake the secular fabric of theConstitutionof India”.Revivingthecriminalconspir-

acy chargewhile ordering thetransferofproceedingsfromRaeBareli to Lucknow, thebenchdi-rectedthattheadditionalchargeof criminalconspiracyunder IPCsection120BbeframedagainstLKAdvani, Murli Manohar Joshi,UmaBharti,VinayKatiyar,SadhviRithambara and Vishnu HariDalmia (he died in 2019) – twoothers,AshokSinghalandGirirajKishore,hadpassedawayin2015and2014,respectively.Itputthemonjointtrialwith

the kar sevaks in the 1992 caseundervariouscharges, includingcriminalconspiracy.Earlier, therewere twomain

proceedings, one each inLucknowandRaeBareli,basedontwoFIRs.InLucknow,theaccused,mostly the kar sevaks, facedchargesrelatingtothedemolition.In RaeBareli, Advani andotherswere accused of instigating thecrowdthroughspeeches.JusticesGhose andNariman,

whilepullinguptheCBIbutallow-ingitsappealagainstthedroppingof the conspiracy chargeagainstthe senior BJP leaders, said theSupremeCourtwasconvinced itmustuse itspowerunderArticle142 todocomplete justice in thematter. “The Latin maxim fiatjustitia ruat cælum iswhat firstcomes tomind on a reading ofArticle142 -- Let justicebedonethoughtheheavensfall,”itsaid.

Sanghthe “political,” Babri case. Nowthatpoliticalcasehasgotlegalim-primatur.Whenitcametotheti-tle suit, the political consensuswas that it should be left to theSupremeCourt. Infact,whenthecourt unanimously ruled infavour of the temple, the entireBJP leadership, from the PrimeMinisterdown,hadreactedcau-tiously highlighting the “amica-ble solution” that came through“dueprocessof law.”Thisverdictinacriminalcase,

clubbed with the SupremeCourt’s title suit ruling, gives theBJP-RSS ahandle to secure legallegitimacyfortheirmovementinthe eyes of a generation that didnotwitnessthedemolition.Considering how the RSS

struggled to de-link itself fromMahatmaGandhi’sassassination,these verdicts, coupledwith theBJP in power, provide it enoughammunition to re-frame themovement and try andairbrushaway the violence anddivides itengendered.Welcoming the court’s deci-

sion,RSS’sSureshBhaiyyaji Joshisaid: “After thedecision, all sec-tionsof the society should cometogetherwithmutual trust andharmonytofacethechallengesofthenationsuccessfullyandsteerthe nation on the path ofprogress.”Will theCBI fileanap-peal? It’s a natural course of ac-tion, said a seniorBJP leader. Buttherecord,fromtheSohrabuddinencounter toHindutva terror --caseswhichtheBJPconsiderspo-liticallymotivated--putsaques-tionmarkonthat.Immediatelyaftertheverdict,

BJPMPLalluSingh,oneoftheac-cused, told The Indian Express:“Wewereframedbythethenau-thoritiesand,that,too,three-fourdays after the incident for theirpolitical benefit. The court hassaid that itwasnotpre-planned.Theleadershadnoroleinit.”Senior BJP leader and party

general secretary BhupenderYadavtweeted:“Truthhasawayofpresentingitselfnomatterhowhard those opposed to the truthmaytry.TheBabriVerdictproves

ityetagain…Theassembly(ofkarsevaks)was never declaredun-lawful by any authority, by anymode as prescribed in law.Conspiracy theorists provedwrong.”For theOpposition, the chal-

lengepersists.Thiswasacriminalconspiracy case and slammingthe accused being let off was a“low-cost” option. Anyways, thekey accusedhave beenmargin-alisedinthecurrentpowerequa-tion and the next generation ofleadershastakenovertheprojecttobuildthetemple.Yet,exceptfortheLeftandthe

Congress–callingforanappeal--mostoftheOppositionismuted,justasitwasinthetitlesuitcase.“It is not soft Hindutva but

moreacaseoflet’smoveon,”saida senior leader fromCongress.“TheBJP’strapisalwaysopen,fortheOppositiontobebrandedpro-Muslim and we have to avoidwalkingintoit,”hesaid.“We cannot getOwaisified,”

said another senior Oppositionleaderwhenaskedwhyhispartycouldn’t be as vocal as AIMIMleaderAsaduddinOwaisi on thisissue.Callingtheverdict“obnox-ious,” Owaisi said it marked a“blackday”forthejudiciary.

Far from justicewas yet to take a call on its nextstep.While Rahmani told TheIndian Express that its decisionwould be based on the recom-mendation of itsworking com-mittee, AIMPLB secretaryZafaryab Jilani said the Boardcould legally assist thosewhowishtoappeal.Jilani,whowas amember of

theBabriActionCommittee,said:“Inthedemolitioncase,therearepeoplewhosehouseswereburntafter thedemolition... An appealwillbefiledagainsttoday’s judg-mentonbehalfofMuslims.”Meanwhile,theBoard'sstate-

menton theverdict said: “Manyof ushave seenvideos andpho-tos of the demolition.Who allwerepartof thisconspiracyisanopensecret.”“Nowweseetheverdictwith-

out fixing any accountability forthedemolition.Onthisevent,weremindourcountrymenthattheIndianMuslimpopulationstoodby theConstitution anddemoc-racywhen thenation, includingthejudiciary,failedthemonDece-mber6,1992,andIndianMuslimsdemonstratedpatiencenation-widewhen the SupremeCourtawarded theBabriMasjid land...andtodaythejudiciaryhasmain-tainedthesamestride,”itsaid.The statement said that

“Muslims,minorities,andalargeportion of Hindus are ashamedandfeelsorryforthecurrentstateof affairs”. In a separate videostatement, prominent Sunnicleric and AIMPLB memberMaulanaKhalidRasheedFirangiMahalisaidMuslimorganisationswill decidewhether the verdictwillbechallengedornot.Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in the

Ayodhya land case, said he re-spects the court's verdict. “Thiscase should have been endedwhentheSupremeCourtgaveitsjudgment (on theAyodhya landcase)... TheConstitution is forus,and to follow it is our duty. I re-spectthejudgmentthesamewayI did last year onNovember 9,”saidAnsari.HajiMehboob,oneofthepetitionersintheAyodhyati-tle suit, said that "it isnecessary"to challenge the verdict. “Theworldknowswhathappened.”

Liberhanthe thenUttar Pradesh govern-ment.“Theyeitheractivelyorpas-sivelysupportedthedemolition,”it said. TheCommission said themobilisationof “kar sevaks”wasneither “spontaneous or volun-tary” but “orchestrated andplanned”.Thereportnamedover60people– including seniorBJPleadersAdvani, Joshi, Bharti andABVajpayee,RSSandVHP lead-ers,bureaucrats–as“culpable”for“leadingthecountrytothebrinkofcommunaldiscord”.

“My findingswere correct,right, honest, and free from fearoranyotherbias,”JusticeLiberhansaid. “For posterity, it is a reportthatwillprovideanhonestacco-untofwhattookplaceandhow.Itwillbepartofhistory,”hesaid.He,however,refusedtocom-

ment on the court's decision. “Ibelieve everyone does his jobhonestly. The court has the righttodiffer, there canbenodisputeaboutitsworking,”hesaid.“Allofthem,Advani,Vajpayee,

appearedbeforeme...UmaBharticategoricallyclaimedresponsibil-ity... now, if the judge says she isnot responsible,what can I do...Fromtheevidencepresentedbe-foreme and thewitnesses, notjustme,anybodycouldhaverea-sonably concluded that itwas apremeditatedasction,”hesaid.“Somemayhavehadapious

intent, but for politicians, itwasoneofthemostimportantmeanstogeneratevotesintheirfavour,”he said. The 82-year-old formerChief Justice of Andhra PradeshandMadrashigh courts said thedemolitioncouldhavebeenpre-ventedwithadministrativeplan-ningandaction.The Liberhan report said

“cadres of the RSS, BajrangDal,VHP,BJPandShivSenaalongwiththeirleaders”werepresentatthespotatthetimeofthedemolition.“Theyeitheractivelyorpassivelysupported the demolition. Theotherprotagonists of the templeconstructionmovement includ-ingpreachers, sadhus and sants,administrativeandpoliceofficers,media andkar sevakswere alsopresent.”ThereportsaidthethenKalyan Singhgovernment inUPhad “intentionally” allowed “theprotagonists of themovementandthekarsevakstorunthead-ministration and to governAyodhyaandFaizabad”.TheCommissionsaidthiswas

notacasewherethegovernmentwas “powerless against the furyof themobs”. “Thiswas, on thecontrary,apitiableandshamefulcasewherethechiefministerandhisassociates,withinandoutsidethegovernment,withinandout-sidehisparty,withinandoutsidetheParivar,activelyhinderedandobstructed the small pockets ofsanityandcommonsensewhichmighthavepreventedthedemo-lition of the disputed structuresortheensuingriots,” itsaid.ThereportsaidtheRamJanaki

RathYatra byAdvani in the run-up toDecember 1992wasdoneto “mobilise people to constructthetempleatthedisputedsite”.On December 6, 1992, the

Commissionnoted,Advani,Joshiandotherswhowerepresent atthe spotmade “feeble requests”to the kar sevaks to comedownfrom thedisputed site. “This se-lective act of the leaders itselfspeaksofthehiddenintentionsofone and all being to accomplishthe demolition of the disputedstructure,” itsaid.TheCommissionwasalsocrit-

ical of the then central govern-ment, headedbyCongress's PVNarasimhaRao.“Prognosisoftheevidence leads to theconclusionthatthemobilisationofthekarse-vakswas neither spontaneousandvoluntary.Itwasorchestratedandplanned,”itsaid.

Hathrasbody in thevehiclewas anUttarPradesh Police constable, apartfrom thedriver. The father said,"Wehadbeenwaiting all day totakeherhome,dotherituals,thelast rites... Thepolice did not in-formusdeliberately."Authorities at Safdarjung re-

fusedtocomment.Anofficialsaidonconditionof anonymity: “Inamedico-legal case, the body ishandedovertothepolicefollow-ingthepost-mortem.Itisthenthejobofthepolicetohanditovertothefamilyfollowingaverificationprocess.That’swhatwasdoneinthiscase.”Even as the bodywas on its

way, the district authorities andpolicestartedpreparationsatthewoman's village for a late-night

funeral — logs of wood werearranged, lightsof thecremationgroundswitchedonandtheroadtothevictim'shomeheavilybar-ricaded.Roughlyhalfanhouraf-ter the ambulance left, thewo-man'sbrotherand father startedforthevillageinagovernmentve-hicle, escorted by DMPraveenKumar Laxkar and Superinten-dentofPoliceVikrantVir.TheSP claimed that after the

post-mortem,thebodywashan-ded over to the family. "The ad-ministrationonlyprovidedlogis-tical support to transport thebody. In fact, the father toldmemorethanoncethatthetimethecremationwas donewould notmatter."However,thefathersaid,therewas hardly any conversa-tion on theway to the village."Therewasjustsilence;weweresooverwhelmed."12pm-1am:Bythe timethe

ambulancereachedthevillage,atleast three layers of barricadeshad been put up between themainroadandthevictim’shome,andtheareawasswarmingwiththe police. As the ambulancestopped at a layer of barricades,around 100 metres from thewoman'shomeandanequaldis-tancefromthecremationground,herfamilyandlocalsapproachedthevehicle,askingthatitpulluptoherhousesothatherbodycouldbetakeninside.This, local residents and the

authoritiessay,wasthefirstpointof flare-up, with an official ac-knowledging on condition ofanonymity that therewere in-structionstowrapupthecrema-tionatnighttopreventa“lawandordersituation”inthemorning."The ambulance headed

straight to the cremation spot...Mymother fell on their feet, thewomenfromthefamilycriedonthebonnet,wefoldedourhands...Mymother said letmeputhaldionher, letmetakeherhomeonelast time... But nooneheardus,”saidthewoman’sbrother.ApartfromDMLaxkarandSP

Vir,theofficialspresentatthespotwere Additional SP PrakashKumar; Sadabad Circle OfficerBhramSingh; RamshabdCircleOfficer,City,SurendraRao;CircleOfficer Sikandarao; and JointMagistratePremPrakashMeena.Besides, 200 personnel of theProvincial ArmedConstabularyand forces fromall 11police sta-tions of the areaweredeployed,overtwoshifts.■1am-3.30am:Withthefamilyrefusingtocrematethebodyandthedistrictauthoritiesandpoliceofficers adamant, the conversa-tionbecameheated.Saidthevic-tim’s brother: “At onepoint, po-licepersonnelgotaggressiveandpushed, kicked some relativeswhowere trying to intervene.That’swhenwebecamesoscaredthatwelockedourselves in...Wewere afraidwewould be lath-icharged,”thebrothersaid.JointMagistrateMeena,how-

ever,blamedtheimpasseon“out-siders”. “Unfortunately, severalpersonswhodidnotbelongtothefamilycameclosetothehouseofthe victim, and therewas a gen-eral lackof consensuswithinthefamily...." Thepyrewas lit a littlebefore3am.Tocounterthefamily'sclaims

thattheywerenotinvolvedinthecremation,theUPPoliceshoweda video of threemen throwingwoodintothefire.DMLaxkartoldThe IndianExpress, "The funeralwas carried out by the familymembers... Thenewscirculatingotherwiseisbaseless."However, one of themen in

thevideo, thewoman's paternaluncle,toldTheIndianExpresshehadbeen"coerced"toattend.The40-year-old said, “Wewereout-numbered by the police... Theysaidwehavetoattend;theydid-n't give us an option.Wewerescared. If theywantedto includefamilymembers,theycouldhaveallowed the brother and father,buttheychosewhotheywanted."Askediftherewasanypaper-

workatthetimeofthecremation,a district official said the father

hadsignedonthereleasepapersforthebodyatSafdarjung,whichwere sufficient to carry out thelast rites.He said adeath certifi-catewouldbepreparedlater.Thewoman’s father saidhewasun-dertheimpressionthathisassenthad been asked for only for thepost-mortemandforthebodytobereleasedfromthehospital.Talking to the media in

Lucknow, Additional DirectorGeneral (ADG), Law andOrder,PrashantKumarsaid,"Thecrema-tionwasdone in thepresenceoffamilymembers andwith theiragreement... The bodywas de-composing and that iswhy thefamilymembersagreedthatcre-mating it late night itself wouldbe better." He added that theywere yet to receive the post-mortem report, andwill decidefurtheractionsbasedonit.■ 3.30 am: Still afraid to leavetheirhome,thegirl'sbrothertoldThe Indian Express, "It appearsmysisterhasbeencremated,thepolice aren't tellingus anything.Whyaretheydoingthis?"

UP sets up SITsaid itwould set up a fast trackcourt tohear the case. Besides, itannounced compensation of Rs25 lakh for the victim's family, agovernment job for a familymember,andahouse inHathrascity under the State UrbanDevelopmentAgency.However, at least four Dalit

MPsof theBJPdescribedthepo-liceaction, including thehurriedcremationwithout involvingthevictim'sfamily,as“condemnable”and said that “there should be aproperinvestigation”.KaushambiMPVinodKumar

Sonkar,whoheaded theBJP's SCMorcha till recently, said:“Certainly, the incident hasdentedtheimageofthestateandthe government. It's politicallydamaging tous. It's a loss of facefor us. But the state governmentis trying its best to get justice forthe family.” Sonkarblamedsuchincidentsona“policesystemandbureaucracy thathavebeenroo-tedincorruptionandcasteism.”“It'snotanissuethathasbeen

created in the last fewyears -- ithasbeen there for some time. Inthis state, the formerSPandBSPgovernments had distributedpostsinthepolicesystemandbu-reaucracyinthenameofcaste.Infact,someofuseventoldtheChiefMinisterthatthosewhostilloweallegiancetothesepartiesarede-faming theBJP and this govern-ment,”theLokSabhaMPsaid.AnotherDalitMP,whodidnot

wishtobeidentified,warnedthattheincidenthasthepotentialtohittheparty'sprospects in theBiharelectionsstartingOctober28.Kaushal Kishore, the

MohanlalganjMP, accused UPPoliceof “harassingthepoorandDalits”. “Theywill try and coverup atrocities against them. Thegovernmentshouldseethatsuchpolicemenarepunished.ButIamconfident that this governmentwill take action against the cul-prits,”Kishoresaid.BarabankiMPUpendraSingh

Rawat saidDalits in the state are“veryupset” about the incident.“Theacthastobecondemned.It'snot just because it's a Dalit girl,suchincidentsshouldnothappento anyone. I amsure thegovern-mentwillnotletanyonegofree,”he said. “When the victims areDalits or frombackward castes,justice and action get delayedsometimes, because they areweaker.Thegovernmentwillsuf-feralossof faceif theculpritsarenotpunished,”hesaid.Chief Minister Adityanath,

meanwhile, said the SIT wasformedafter thePrimeMinisterdirectedhimtoensure “strict ac-tion against those responsible”.“Theculprits in theHathras inci-dentwillnotbeletoff,”AdityanathpostedonTwitter.TheSITwillbeheaded by Home SecretaryBhagwanSwaroop,withUPPoliceDIG Chandraprakash andAgraPACCommandantPoonamastheothermembers.

Gujarat govt

Asaresultof thedeliberationsofthesemeetings, the school ad-ministrators and parents haveagreedwiththestategovernmentfor a 25per cent fee relief,” saidEducation MinisterBhupendrasinhChudasama.In August, the state govern-

ment,throughthesecretaryofed-ucationdepartment,hadmovedthe high court after it failed tocometoaconclusivedecisionfol-lowingnegotiationswithprivateschoolsandtheirrepresentatives.Followingthestalemate,thegov-ernmenthadmovedthecourtforadirectiontothiseffect.Thedecisionappliestoprivate

schools under all the boards—CentralBoardof SecondaryEdu-cation (CBSE), IndianCertificateSecondary Education (ICSE), ISC(Indian School Certificate),International Baccalaureate (IB),InternationalGeneral Certificateof SecondaryEducation (IGCSE),CambridgeUniversity.However, while the private

schoolshaveexpressedtheircon-sent to themove, a fewparents’associations are opposing thestate government’s 25 per centdeclineinfeesincetheywerede-mandingfora50percentfeecut.Alleging that the state gov-

ernmentgaveintothedemandsof private schools did not payheedtotheirrequests,presidentof Wali Swaraj Manch AmitPanchal, one of the petitionerssaid, “Wewill decide thecourseof action.Whether to challengeitlegallyortosubmitrepresenta-tiontothestategovernmentwillbedecided incoordinationwithparents’associationsofVadodara,SuratandRajkot.Westicktoourdemandofa50percentfeecut.”“Weareawaitingthegovern-

ment’s Government Resolution(GR)tostudyonwhichtermsandconditions the statehas ordereda25percentfeereduction. Ifourproposal has been incorporatedintheGR,wearereadytoimple-ment it,”Manan Choksi, presi-dent, Association of ProgressiveSchools(AOPS),said.“Wehadproposedtothestate

governmenttoreducethefeesby20percentprovidedthatthepar-entspaytheschoolfeesforthelasttwo quarters (i.e. from April-September2020) byOctober31,2020.Thosewhowillpaythefeesafter the aforesaid deadlinewillnotgetanyrelaxationinthefees,”headded.Whileappreciatingthescho-olsthathavevoluntarilyan-nounced 25 per cent fee relief,Chudasama said that since thestategovernmenthasannouncedthis relief, parents shouldpay50percentoftheirfeesbyOctober31.Further,thestategovernment

has instructedtheprivateschooladministratorsnottodismissanyteacherinthewakeofcomplaintsof dismissal or non-payment ofsalariesasaresultof thefeecut.Respondingtothedemandof

100percentfeewaiverbytheop-positionCongress, theeducationminister said that the Congressshould showanexample of 100per cent fee waiver in anyCongress-ruledstate.

FROMPAGEONE

THECONCERNSofparents,who are already hit by fi-nancial crisis and beenthrough uncertainty overfeefornearlyhalfof theac-ademic session, seem tohavenoend.Thestategov-ernmenthas givenadead-line for parents to depositthe fee in order to avail the25 per cent fee cut but notime framehas been givenforprivateschoolstoreturnthe fee already deposited.Mostof theprivateschoolsdemandpost-dated cheq-uesatthetimeofadmissionorbeginningofthesession.

Parents’

woes

continueE●EXPLAIN

ED

Ahmedabad

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,SEPTEMBER30

THEDETECTIONofCrimeBranch(DCB) arrested amale nurse onWednesday for allegedly steal-ingfivevialsofRemdesivirinjec-tion from the dedicated Covid-19hospitalsetuponthecampusof state government-run PanditDeendayal Upadhyay (PDU)Hospital inRajkot.The accused, Himmat

Chavda, had joined the Covidhospital in the Rajkot civil hos-pitalasamalenursethroughanoutsourcingagency.TheDCBhadarrestedDevyani

Chavda (20), a nurseworking inShanti CovidHospital onGondalRoad of the city, and her fianceVishalGohel (21) on September27after theywere found inpos-sessionoftwovialsofRemdesivirinjection,whichtheyhadofferedto sell to a decoy for Rs 10,000each. During questioning,Devyani had toldpolice that shehadprocuredtheinjectionsfrom

oneAnkit Rathodwhoworks inthe medical store of JalaramHospitalforRs15,000.Rathodhadreportedlytoldpolicethathehadpurchasedtheinjectionsfromhiscolleague Jagdish Sheth. The lat-ter, in turn, said thathehadpur-chased the injections for Rs12,000 fromHimmat Chavda,whoused towork as a nurse inJalaramHospital inthepast.“Himmat Chavda has con-

fessed that hehad stolen the in-jectionswhileservinginWing-Aonthefourthfloorofthehospital.He said that being amember ofnursing staff, hewroteproscrip-tionsformoreinjectionsthanac-tually required for patients, gotsuchprescriptions approved byadministrator of theward andthentooktheadditionalinjectionshome. In turn, he sold them toShethwithwhomhehad comeinto contact while serving inJalaram Hospital,” AssistantCommissioner of Police (Crime),DadubhaBasiyasaid.Basiya added that Himmat

hadcommittedtheallegedtheft

thrice over the past twoweeksand sold the injections, whichareusedintreatingCovid-19pa-tients, to Sheth. All the five ac-cused have been remanded inpolicecustody till Thursday.Meanwhile, Police

CommissionerManoj Agarwalsaidthathewillwritetothecivilhospital and if anyone else isfound to be involved in theracket,actionwouldbeinitiatedagainst them. “We are going towrite to the administration ofthecivilhospitaloverthis. Ifany-oneelseisinvolved,wewilltakeaction,” saidAgarwal.The DCB had also busted a

racket of bogus billing ofRemdesivirinjectionsandhadar-rested Sachin Patel, owner ofTheos Pharmacy store, andParsottamFaldu,amedial repre-sentative of Zyduc Cadila for

Saurasthra zone. Police said thatSachinallegedlyforgedbillstocre-ate false record that that hehadsold110vialsofRemdesivirinjec-tiontoVedantHospitalinthecity.However, Vedant Hospital toldpolicethat ithadnotorderedtheinjections from that pharmacy.Policeareinvestigatingsaleof96vialstoShubhamHospitalbythesame pharmacy store. The duowere also sent to police custodytillThursday.TheDCBhadonTuesday ar-

rested Dr Deepak Gadhiya, ahomeopathwho runs ShubhamClinic,forallegedlytreatingCovid-19 patients despite not havingbeenauthorisedtodosoandad-ministeringRemdesivirinjectionto patients by charging themRs7,000per injection. A local courtonWednesday sent Gadhiya topolicecustodyforaday.

RAJKOTCIVILHOSPITAL

Nurse held for ‘stealing’ Remdesivir

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER1,2020

GUJARAT


FOR KIDNAPPING MINOR IN PORBANDAR

NEPALESEMANSENTENCEDTOTHREEYEARS IN JAIL

Asessionscourt inPorbandar, lastweek,sentencedaNepalesenational,VirendraSetavala, tothreeyearsofimprisonmentandfinedhimRs2,000forkidnappingaminorgirl fromPorbandarin2002.TheminorwasrescuedafewmonthsaftertheincidentandSetavalawasarrestedfromThaneinMaharashtrain2017.

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Sd/-Additional Secretary to Govt.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,SEPTEMBER30

A 35-YEAR-OLDman undergo-ing treatment for Covid-19 atSamras centre died after al-legedly jumping off the ninthfloorof thebuilding.According to sources,

Shivdayal Leelare, a resident ofPandesaraandanativeofMadhyaPradesh,wasworkingasahelperwith a private bus company.Hetested positive for Covid-19 onSeptember28inatestingdrivebytheSuratMunicipal Corporation(SMC) health department.Asymptomatic, Shivdayal wasshiftedtotheCovidcarecentreinSamrasonSeptember28.On Wednesday morning,

Shivdayal called up his friendShivnarayan and told him thathewantedtogohomeandwas-n’tlikingtheplacewherehewaskept.Laterhewenttothewash-room, removed the windowglassesandjumpedoff theninthfloor. Thesecurityguardrushedto the spot and foundShivnarayan lying in a pool ofblood. Medical staff led by DrMahendraPatel, inchargeof thecentre,examinedandfoundhimdead. They informed the policewho, in turn, informed his em-ployerabout the incident.DrMahendraPatel said, “He

got admitted on September 28and shared the roomwith onemore patient. We don’t knowthe reason why he took thedrastic step... The doctors andnurses who were attending tohim said that he never com-plained about anything.”Umra police inspector ML

Salunke said, “After preliminaryinvestigations,wecametoknowthat he had called up his friendandinformedhimthathedidnotlike theplaceandandwanted toget out. He even tried to escapefromthecentrebutwascaughtbythesecurityguards.Atpresent, itisdifficulttosayanythingasinves-tigationison.”

Covid patientfrom MP ‘diesby suicide’ atSamras centre


GUJARAT REPORTED a seconddayof dip in thedailyCovid-19caseswith1,390people testingpositive on Wednesday. Thestate's tally now stands at over1.37 lakhcasesandanother1.17lakh patients discharged as ondate.Surat,meanwhile, crossed29,000 cases while Rajkotneared the 10,000-mark in itscumulative tally. The state hasadded nearly 41,000 cases inSeptember.Ahmedabadhasbeenseeing

a surge thisweek, addingnearly200caseseachday,althoughthefatalitieshaveremainedconstantwiththreesuccumbingtoCovid-19eachday,sinceSeptember20.Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation declared 11 resi-dentialblocksandareasasnewmicro-containment zones. TheAMC at present has 204 areasdesignated as micro-contain-ment zones.In Ahmedabad district,

which has over 4,200 activecasesatpresent,around1,800ofthese patients are admitted inthe64privatehospitalsrequisi-tioned by AMC. Almost 130 ofthese patients are admitted inICUwithaventilator.Of the over 12.50 lakh tests

conducted across Ahmedabadtill date, Ahmedabad CivilHospital laboratory,thefirstthatstartedRT-PCRtesting,hascon-

ductedonlyabout1.04 lakhRT-PCR tests till date.Ahmedabad,whichused to

conduct as many as 20,000tests each day even as of earlySeptember – over 60 per centof these being antigen tests --have now considerably re-duced itsdaily testingsamples,ranging between 12,000 and13,000 each day.Gujarat claims to have con-

ducted over 43.52 lakh tests tilldate. In a reply by Minister ofState for Health and FamilyWelfare Ashwini Choubey, to awrittenquestionposedbyRajyaSabhaMP Parimal Nathwani, itwas informed that Gujarat re-ceived 3.49 lakh RNA kits (usedfor RNA extraction for RT-PCRtests) from the Centre as ofSeptember 11 aswell as 4 lakhvirus transportmedium (VTM)and7.12lakhRT-PCRkits,thelat-teratacostofoverRs40.90crore.As per the reply, the Centre

has distributed 21.02 lakh N95masks to Gujarat as ofSeptember 18 as well as 9.78lakh PPE kits, 28.5 lakh HCQtabletsand2,500ventilators.Although Bharuch did not

officiallyreportanyCovid-19fa-tality on Tuesday as per thestate health bulletin, a state-mentbyGujaratpolicedeclaredthat an assistant sub-inspector(ASI) fromJambusarpolice sta-tion in Bharuch, ShantilalMakwana, who was Covid-19positive, succumbed to the in-fectiononTuesday.

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 35,848 1,812 197

Amreli 2,123 25 30

Anand 1,097 16 10

Aravalli 592 24 3

Banaskantha 2,075 22 37

Bharuch 2,267 15 24

Bhavnagar 4,139 67 43

Botad 743 5 6

ChhotaUdepur 516 3 5

Dahod 1,644 6 8

Dang 106 3

Devbhoomi 563 5 10

Dwarka

Gandhinagar 3,647 78 41

GirSomnath 1,392 18 14

Jamnagar 6,089 34 92

Junagadh 2,795 32 35

Kheda 1,292 15 11

Kutch 2,005 33 24

Mahisagar 1,027 10 15

Mehsana 2,665 29 41

Morbi 1,652 18 24

Narmada 924 5

Navsari 1,173 7 7

Panchmahal 2,329 20 32

Patan 1,798 39 30

Porbandar 465 4 7

Rajkot 9,953 147 151

Sabarkantha 1,098 10 16

Surat 29,189 760 298

Surendranagar 1,773 11 24

Tapi 625 4 11

Vadodara 11,879 196 133

Valsad 1,172 8 3

Other states 148 3

Newcases:

1,390

Cumulativedeaths:

3,478

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

1,17,231

Totalcases:

1,37,585

HealthworkersconductRapidAntigenTestsoutsideKochrabAshraminAhmedabadonWednesday.NirmalHarindran

STATETALLYOVER1.37LAKH

Covidcasesdip forsecondday

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM


KAMAALSAIYEDSURAT,SEPTEMBER30

FORMER BHARATIYA JanataParty (BJP) leader Prakash PatelonWednesday announced hisdecisiontocontest thebypoll toKapradaseatinSouthGujaratasan independent,pavingwayfora triangular fight in the con-stituency where BJP andCongress have already decidedoncandidates.Patel, former Valsad district

panchayatpresidentofBJP,isthe

brother-in-lawofMohanDelkar,independent MP from Dadraand Nagar Haveli, and son ofKaprada taluka panchayat BJPvice-presidentShankerlalPatel.Theby-elections to theeight

assemblyseatsarescheduledtobeheldonNovember3.Amongseats togo forbypolls areDangsand Kaprada, which fell vacantaftertheresignationofCongressMLAs Mangal Gavit and JituChaudharyrespectively,aheadoftheRajyaSabhaelectionsinJune.Chaudhary joinedtheBJP later.TheBJPhasalreadydeclared

JituChaudharyas its candidateinKaprada,while theCongresshas chosen Babubhai Wardhawho quit BJP and joined theCongressonAugust10.Vardhaisa leaderofWarli community,whichdominates theassemblyseat. He was also the formervice-president of BJP inKaprada taluka.PrakashPatelwholefttheBJP

in 2017was also the educationcommittee chairman of Valsaddistrict panchayat from2011 to2015. Talking to The IndianExpress, Patel said, "The voters

who are confused whom tochoose.Mycandidatureasanin-dependentwillhelpthemdecideas theywillgeta leaderwhocanresolve their issues. So farCongress voters and BJP voterswerecommittedtotheirrespec-tivecandidates.NowthetimehaschangedasformercongressMLAis contestingonBJP ticket,whileformerBJPleaderwillbecontest-ing on Congress ticket. Votershave understood that both can-didates are hungry for powerwhocanswitchparties,compro-misingontheir ideologies."

Patel, whowaswith the BJPfrom 2008 to 2017, added, "Idon't knowwhethermy father(Shanker Patel) ormy brother-in-law(MohanDelkar)willhelpmeinthiselectionornot.Myde-cisionwill not come under anypolitical or familypressure. TheBhartiyaTribalParty,AamAdmiPartyandShankersinhVaghela'spoliticalpartyJanVikalpMorchareached out to me to be theircandidateonKapradaseat. I justtold them to supportme.. I willnot contest under any politicalpartybanner."

TRIANGULARFIGHT INKAPRADASEAT

Patel throws his hat in the bypoll ring as independent

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,SEPTEMBER30

AFTER 101 days, former Unionminister and former CongressMP from Anand, BharatsinhSolanki,issettowalkoutofCIMSHospital in Ahmedabadwherehe has been undergoing treat-ment since June-end, after test-ing positive for Covid-19. A re-lease from the hospital claimedhisstayinhospitalduetoCovid-19was the“longest inAsia”byaCovidpatient.Solanki,who recovered from

Covid-19sometimeinAugustwasonventilator support for51daysandthereafterinrehabilitationinthehospital. The formerGujaratPradesh Congress CommitteepresidenttestedpositiveforCovid-19onJune21,twodaysaftercon-testingintheRajyaSabhapolls.OnWednesday, GPCCpresi-

dent and Solanki’s cousin, AmitChavda, shared a picture ofSolankifromhishospitalroomon

Tuesday interactingwith otherCongress leaders — Leader ofOpposition PareshDhanani andAICC’s Gujarat party inchargeRajeevSatav,whovisitedhim.Solankiwasputonventilator

supportmid-Julyandheunder-wentan intensiverehabilitationandphysiotherapysincethefirstweek of September, hisspokespersonsaid.Solanki,whowas first admitted to a privatehospitalinVadodaraaftertestingpositive was shifted to CIMS aweeklaterinJune,afterhedevel-opedcomplications.“HewasintheIntensiveCare

Unit (ICU) on ventilator andBiPAP after suffering a lung col-lapse. The doctors gradually re-ducedhisdependenceonventi-lator as he began responding totreatment,” his spokespersonLalit Patel said. While Solankiwas unavailable for commentsonWednesday,heisexpectedtosharehisexperienceinthehospi-tal on Thursday, in presence ofthedoctorswhotreatedhim.


THE GUJARAT High Court onWednesdayallowedthefamilyofoneoftheeightCovid-19patientswhodiedinafireatAhmedabad’sShreyHospital to be added as aparty in thepublic interest litiga-tion(PIL)thatseekstofixaccount-abilitywith respect to fire safetyinbuildingsinthestate.Meanwhile, theAhmedabad

Municipal Corporation (AMC)chieffireofficer,inanaffidavit,in-dicatedthatnearly40percentofhospitals and clinics inAhmedabad city limits do nothavevalidfireNOCsatpresent.Eight Covid-19 patients had

died at the ICU ward of ShreyHospitalonAugust6duetoanal-legedshort-circuit.APILwasfiledby high court advocate AmitPanchal asparty-in-person, daysafter the incident, highlightingthat the state has been “very se-lective” in complyingwith thecourt’s directions in earliermat-tersconcerningfiresafetyaswellaswiththeimplementationoftheGujarat Fire Prevention and LifeSafetyMeasuresAct,2013.Asperthepetitioner,whilethe

firepreventionActextendstothewholeof Gujarat, its application,however, “excludes all areaswithinthejurisdictional limitsof

municipalcorporations."Among the eightwhowere

killed in the fire was ArvindBhavsar,whose son, HimanshuBhavsar, hadmoved an applica-tionbeforethecourt,seekingthathebe joinedasaparty in thePIL,with an intention to apprise thecourtof “certainvitalandimpor-tantaspectsandprovisions,”asisenshrinedinexisting legalprovi-sions,withrespecttofiresafety.Itwasalsosubmittedthatasa

victim,hewouldbewellplacedtomakecorrectsubmissionsonthecircumstances and subsequentdevelopmentswithrespecttotheShreyfireincident.Heardbyadi-vision bench headed by ChiefJusticeVikramNath, theapplica-tionwas allowedand the victimfamilywaspermittedtobejoinedasapartyintheproceeding.Meanwhile,inanaffidavitfiled

bythestategovernmentthroughthedeputysecretaryofurbande-velopmentandurbanhousingde-partment,RHVasava, itwassub-mittedthatapartfromexistingfireAct and rules and regulations, asframed by the Gujarat govern-ment,32divisionalfireofficesarebeing createddetermining theirheadquartersand jurisdiction,asperanotificationofMarch2018.Vasava's affidavit alsodenied

thePIL'scontentionthatthestatehasbeen“veryselective”incom-plyingwith court's earlier direc-

tions, althoughhe clarified thatthemunicipal corporations andmunicipalities in the state “havetheirrespectiveLocalFireService”.Itwas also stated on record that“theMunicipalCorporationshaveenoughmanpower in fire serv-ices,” and added that given thatmunicipal corporations are au-tonomousbodies, if they feel ex-istingstaffstrengthinfireservicesarenotsufficient.“theyareat lib-erty to review the strengthperi-odicallyandtheycanincreasethenumberofstaff.”The affidavit stated that “the

state government has done theneedfulwithreferencetotheun-fortunate incident of ShreyHospital,”afterinformingthataninquiry report being looked intobyretiredjudgeKAPuj,isawaited,with a timeline of threemonthsgiventocompletetheprobe.Meanwhile, in another affi-

davit filed byMFDastoor, ChiefFire Officer at the AMC, it wasstatedthat“morethan1,300hos-pitals/clinics have already ob-tained the requisite NOCs,whereasincaseofremainderhos-pitals (of the total around2,200hospitals and clinics), the con-cernedmunicipalauthoritieshavealreadytakenupthetasktocoverthesaidremainderhospitals/clin-icsasearlyaspossible.”Thematterhasnowbeenkept

forfurtherhearingonOctober21.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,SEPTEMBER30

FORTHEspeedydisposaloffarm-ers’ issues related to theacquisi-tionof land for theAhmedabad-Mumbai bullet train and theAhmedabad-Mumbai express-wayprojects,theGujaratgovern-menthasformedacommitteeofthreeseniorministerstolookintothematterandmakerecommen-dations. These include GujaratEducation MinisterBhupendrasinh Chudasama,RevenueMinister Kaushik Pateland Forest and EnvironmentMinisterGanpatVasava.The committeewas formed

around aweek ago, Vasava toldmediapersons in GandhinagaronWednesday.He said, “A committee of

threeministershasbeenformedforthespeedydisposalof landis-sues related to the bullet trainand express highway…A teamhasbeenformedwhichconsistsof three senior ministers, thechief secretary and the revenuesecretary. The committee hasbeenworking in thedirectionoffarmers getting appropriatecompensationinthelandacqui-sitionprocessforbullettrainand

express highway projects inBharuch, Surat, Navsari andValsad (districts). In the comingdays, the state governmentwillcomplete the land acquisitionprocessexpeditiously.”“FarmersofSouthGujaratare

with the development of thecountry... being done by (PrimeMinister) Narendrabhai (Modi)and (Chief Minister) Vijaybhai(Rupani). Itisalsonecessarythatfarmers get appropriate and af-fordable rates (for land) andtherefore, the committee hasbeenformedtoremovediscrep-ancies in the jantri (ready reck-oner of land prices in differentparts of the state),” Vasava said.The committee will study thejantriratesandmakesuggestionsthatwillensurethatthefarmersget satisfactory rates and arehappy,headded.Vasava further said that the

committee, on Wednesday,heardrepresentativesoffarmersovertheissueandwillsubmititsreport to the state governmentsoon.The meeting was also at-

tendedbyBJPMLAs fromSouthGujarat such as Naresh Patel,Mukesh Patel and PiyushDesai,along with Navsari MP andGujaratBJPpresidentCRPaatil.

PLEAOVERFIRESAFETY

Family of Shrey Hospital firevictim added as party in PIL

Solanki set to walk outof hospital after 101 days

Solanki wasundergoingtreatmentatCIMSHospital inAhmedabadaftertestingCovid-19positive.Express

Chudasama, Patel,Vasava to look intoland acquisition

BULLETTRAIN,EXPRESSHIGHWAYPROJECTS


GUJARAT CHIEFMinister VijayRupani, on Wednesday, wel-comedthejudgmentofaspecialCBIcourtinLucknowacquittingthe32accusedinthedemolitionof Babri Masjid case, includingsenior BJP leaders LK Advani,MuraliManohar Joshi andUmaBharati, and said that the truthalways triumphs.An official statement issued

by the Chief Minister’s Office(CMO) stated that the thenCongressgovernmenthadactedwithprejudiceandfalselyimpli-catedsaintsandpoliticalleadersas well as Vishwa HinduParishad leaders in thecase.“The truth always triumphs.

The entire nationalist anddharma-premipopulationofthecountry welcomes this judge-ment,” the statement quotedRupanias saying.TheCMO’sstatementadded

that the judgement has comelate,buteventuallythetruthhasprevailedandthatallnationalistand religious leaderswhowerenot involved have been acquit-tedby thecourt.Former VHP leader and fou-

nderpresidentofAntarrashtriyaHindu Parishad Pravin Togadiaalsowelcomed the decision. “IwelcomethedecisionbytheCBIcourt. Thosewhowere accusedhavegottenjusticealongwiththe

Hinducommunity.Somanygov-ernmentshavecomeandgone...The case of CBIwas false and ifany government would havewithdrawn the case, then these(accused senior leaders)would-n’thavehadtogotocourtatsuchan old age. I would have beenhappierhadAshokSinghalbeenalive today. There was no pre-plannedconspiracy,fivelakhkar-sevaks had arrived and in a fewhours,thedisputedstructurewasgone(sic).IamconfidentthattheCBIwillnotappealthejudgementof thecourtnow,”saidTogadia.Whenaskedabouttheobser-

vationbySupremeCourtonRamTemple, that the “demolition ofBabrimosquewas an unlawfulact and theMuslimcommunitymust be provided restitution,”Togadia said, “First of all, therewasnomosque inthe firstplacebut a temple, so there is noground for compensation to theMuslim community. The CBIcourt has said that therewasnoconspiracy and the case hasendedaccordingtome.(sic).”

SEEKING JUSTICEStudents fromtheNationalStudents'Unionof India (NSUI)participate inacandlelightmarchseeking justice for theHathrasgangrapevictim,near theGujaratUniversity inAhmedabad,onWednesday.NirmalHarindran(Below) Membersof severalorganisationsobservedblackday inVadodaraonWednesday ,demandingcapitalpunishment for theaccused.BhupendraRana

VijayRupani,PravinTogadia

‘THEREWASNOPRE-PLANNEDCONSPIRACY’

Rupani, Togadiawelcome Babridemolition verdict

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,SEPTEMBER30

TOCELEBRATEbirthanniversaryofMahatmaGandhionOctober2, the Gujarat government hasorganisedauniqueprogrammeinwhicharound5 lakhwomenwillwash their hands to spreadthemessage of cleanliness andimportanceof frequentlywash-ing hands in the times ofCovid-19.Theprogramme,tobeorgan-

ised under the aegis ofWomen& Child Welfare department,was announced by seniormin-ister of thedepartment, GanpatVasava,hereWednesday.Vasava said that the pro-

grammewill be held at around3,800locationsandastate-levelfunction will be held inGandhinagar.

Handwashchallenge onGandhi Jayanti

AVINASHNAIR&MAYURAJANWALKARAHMEDABAD,MUMBAI,

SEPTEMBER30

THE SHIP-BREAKING firm fromAlang — Shree Ram Group —whichboughtINSViraatfromanauction and took it for disman-tlinglastweekhasdemandedRs100crore fromaMumbai-basedcompany that ismaking a last-ditchattempttosavethehistoricaircraftcarrierandconvertitintoamuseum.“ThecompanyfromMumbai

wants to buy the ship fromus. ItoldthemthatIamapatriot, too,andIdonothaveaproblemiftheywant tosalvage thehistoric ship.ButbecauseIboughtthisinscrap,youwillhavetoproduceanNOC(No-objection-certificate) fromtheGovernmentofIndia.Idonotwant anyone to allege in futurethat I was involved in a scam,”MukeshPatel,chairmanofShreeRam Group, told The IndianExpress.“Secondly,Idonotwanttosee

thecompany’screditworthiness.I have told themthat Iwill needRs125crore for theship,but Idonotmind giving it to themat Rs100 crore if they can refloat thevesselattheirowncostandrisk.IwillhandtheshipovertothemassoonasmybankinformsmethatRs100 crorehasbeendepositedinmyaccount,”saidPateladdingthathehassharedhisbankingac-countdetailswithEnvitechMari-neConsultantsPvtLtd,whichan-nouncedTuesdaythatitwantstoconverttheshipintoamuseum.DirectorOperations,Envitech

Marine Consultants PrivateLimited,VishnuKantSharma,toldThe Indian Express that hemetPatel in Bhavnagar about a fort-night ago and their negotiationswereunderway.Hesaidthattheyhad received a letter of willing-nessfromtheGoagovernmentonSeptember20,toberththevesselinthestate,shouldtheyacquireitfromtheShreeRamGroup, thatbagged the tender issuedby theMetal Scrap Trade CorporationLimited(MSTC)forscrappingthedecommissionedaircraftcarrier.“Wearejustdoingitoutofpa-

triotismandthereisnocommer-cialangleinthis.Wecouldnotbidfor the scrap tenderbecauseourcompanywas not registered inIndiaandwewerenotinterestedin buying the vessel under thescrap tenderbecause those con-ditionscannotbemodifiedtoturnitintoamuseum...,”Sharmasaid.He said in July, 2019, they regis-tered their company that oper-atedmainlyoutofDubai,inIndiawiththesoleobjectiveofbuying

INS Viraat to turn it into amu-seum. Envitech MarineConsultants Private Limitedhassince had a registered office inNerul,NaviMumbai.Sharmasaidthattheyhadre-

ceived a letter from the ChiefMinister of Goa, PramodSawantin response to their email ofSeptember4requestingthestategovernmenttogiveanNOCtotheMoD for berthing INS Viraat inGoaandturningitintoamuseumandatouristcentre.“After examining the pro-

posal, it is understood that theproposalrequirestobestudiedindetailconsideringthelikelyenvi-ronmentimpactitcanhave,givenits size and tonnage. However,considering its potential to be aunique attraction from tourismperspective,thestategovernmenthasnoobjectioninhavingtheair-craft carrier in itswaters subjecttothefollowing...”Theletterthenlistedfourcon-

ditions that theMoDmustagreeto the proposal made by theEnvitechMarineConsultantsPvtLimited, that all statutory andotherregulatoryclearancesmustbe obtained following dueprocess, that the state govern-mentshouldhavenofinancialob-ligation and that the revenuesharing formula should be ap-provedbythestategovernment.OnJuly30,RupaliSharma,the

directorofthefirmreceivedanac-knowledgment to their letter ofJuly 21, 2020 from PK Suresh,AdditionalPrivateSecretarytotheMinister of State for Defence. Itstated, “This is in acknowledg-menttoyourletterdated21stJuly,2020, regarding converting INSViraatintoamuseum.Youarere-quested to resubmit your pro-posalasperdiscussionhelddur-ing last meeting held at RRMoffice.”According to sources, the

Ministry of Defence (MoD)willhavetoconsideranumberof as-pects before granting the No-Objection Certificate (NOC). If

thereisachangeintheexecutionof the contract, either the ShreeRamGroup or theGoa govern-mentwill have to approach theMoD, they said. TheMoDhasal-readyconsideredvariouspropos-alstoconvertINSViraatintoamu-seumandwillhavetoreassesstheviability,sustainability,safetyandenvironmentalaspectsofexecut-ing such aproposal, the sourcesadded.INS Viraat, which weighs

more than 23,000 tonneswasbeachedonSeptember28at theAlang ship-breaking yard inBhavnagar. It is currently 3,000feetawayfromtheshoreandhasbeensecuredbytheship-breakerusingironropesthatareattachedtodieselpoweredwinches.“Thevesselcanrefloatandcan

betowedback.Ithasnotsufferedanydamage,” said Patel. The seabed at Alang consistsmostly ofsoftclayandsothechancesofthebaseoftheshipgettingdamageddue to rocks jutting out of theseabedisless.TheShreeRamGroupbought

the aircraft carrier froman auc-tion conducted byMetal ScrapTrade Corporation Limited(MSTC) for Rs 38.54 crore.However, the ship-breaker hadearlier told The Indian ExpressthatthecostincurredwouldbeRs50crorebythe timethevessel istowedtoAlangfromMumbai.The ship-breakerwas in the

process of bringing INS Viraatcloser to the shore for breaking.OnSeptember28,theShreeRamGrouporganised a formal event— Thank You Viraat — to payhomage to the aircraft carrier. ItwasattendedbyUnionshippingministerMansukhMandaviyawho said that theModi govern-mentdecidedtoscrapthevesselonlyafteracommitteeofexpertsthatstudiedtheshipopinedthatthe aircraft carrier, if convertedinto amuseum,will not survivemore than10-15yearsas itshullhadstarteddeterioratingandwaspronetoaccidents.

SCRAPTOMUSEUM

Rs 100 cr,multipleclearances requiredto save INS Viraat

ADITIRAJAVADODARA,SEPTEMBER30

PHILOSOPHERAKEELBilgrami,inanonline lectureonWednesday,highlighted the outrage againstlate painterMFHusain to drivehomethe"generalisations"aboutcommunities as thebase for theongoing conflicts in societiesacross theworld. Bilgrami spokeof"identitypolitics"asbeingspe-cific to religion and theneed forHindusandMuslimstofind"truth

and reconciliation". Titled‘ModernityandDisenchantment’,the lecturewasorganisedby theDepartmentofPoliticalScienceofMSUniversityinVadodara.Inordertoemphasize"disen-

chantment", Bilgrami chose thecaseofMFHusainwhowasem-broiled in a long drawn contro-versy for his nude paintings ofGoddess Saraswati and BharatMata andhad several cases filedagainsthim.BilgramispokeoftheDelhi High Court judgementwhichquashedthewarrantsofar-

rest againstHusain and the sub-sequent SupremeCourt verdictupholdingtheDelhiHCorder.Bilgrami said, "Both the HC

and the SC cleared him of thecharges under IPC section 298(Hurtingreligioussentiments)be-causeonehastoestablishthe in-tent for the same. The court ab-solvedhim... and they couldnotestablishanyguilt."Although he did not agree

withtheobservationof thecourtthat art should be a "secularspace",Bilgramisaidthatlooking

into the inner life of people is anessentialpartofbuildingasocietywhereonedoesnotgetoffendedby the other simply because oftheirdifferentreligiousidentities.Hesaid, "Letus lookat the in-

nerlifeofthereligiouspeople,theHindus,whoaresaidtohavebeenoffended or hurt by Husain'spaintings -- that is how themo-bilisationagainst himbeganandhewent into exile. The adjective"secular"cannotapplytomodernart.Youcannotturntheideaofartinto a guild. The creativity of art

liesinbeingabletobesusceptibletocriticismsfromoutside..."Stating thatHusainwas tar-

geted for his "Muslimness" be-causepeople onlypresumedhisarttobean"intendedinsulttotheother religion", Bilgrami said,"What happens in identity poli-tics is thatwhen this conflict be-tween (religions), each sees theother in disenchanted terms,purely objective terms. They donotseethewaythepersonissub-jective in specific ways... His(Husain’s) objective identitywas

thatofaMuslim,sohispaintingswere seen as beingdone tohurtHindus.Youcannotdoscienceorgeneralisationswhenyougetintothesubjectivitiesofaperson,youcannot get stereotypes andproj-ect itonsomeone if youcansep-aratehimorherfromthereligiousidentitytheycarry."Bilgrami,whohasbeenanad-

vocate ofmulticulturalismoversecularisminIndia,referredtotheShaheenBaghprotestsagainsttheCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA)as"thewinterprotest".

INSViraatwasbeachedonSeptember28at theAlangship-breakingyard inBhavnagardistrict. File

‘Husain’s work was seen to be offending Hindus…secular can’t apply to modern art’AKEELBILGRAMIATMSU’SONLINELECTURE

Ahmedabad

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM


GOVERNMENT OF GUJARATFOREST DEPARTMENT

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Financial Management,Gujarat State, Gandhinagar

A/2, Aranya Bhavan, Opp. Xt. Xaviers School, Sector 10/A, GandhinagarPhone: No. 079-232-54129 / 53903, Fax No. 079-232-52929

TENDER BID No. GEM/2020/B/808685Online e-Tender is invited for improved Crematoria bed from Details

https://gem.gov.in downloaded, available on website

DATE OF ISSUE ONLINE TENDER Dt. 29/09/2020LAST DATE OF SUBMISSION OF ONLINE TENDER

Dt. 20/10/2020 (UP TO 17:OO PM.)

OPENING TENDER DATE: 20/10/2020 (At 17.30 PM.)

Member Secretary, Departmental Purchase Committee

INF/992/20-21

Ahmedabad

CALENDAR6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM


CROSSWORD4238

ACROSS

1 Excluded, though itmighthavebeenexpected(8)

5 Shesetssail,notLisa (4)9 Disciplinarypanel,perhaps(5)

10 Whereyoumaybuyduty-freewineondisplay (7)

11 Craftyprimeminister?(12)

13 Officer foundonthestaff?(6)

14 Astreet to flattenout foragentlewalk (6)

17 Only justobtained freedom?(6,6)

20 Newnames itprovides for theresidents (7)

21 Agirl someadmire,needlesstosay(5)

22 Doesn’t justdrinkblendedteas(4)

23 Supportsandawaitsinstructions(6,2)

DOWN

1 Catchsightof amanwhoendangersWesternsecurity?(4)

2 Todosomeansa lotofwalkingforonewantingaseat(7)

3 Official crossingplace (7,5)4 Glossover title in theSpanishstyle (6)

6 Current issuemaycausesuchgreat surprise (5)

7 Nevertheless, isnot tobesatisfiedwith justpart (5,3)

8 Anactormaytake itwhenataloss forwords (6,6)

12 Anaverageperiod foraninterval (8)

15 Possiblyshoreupa legendarycharacter (7)

16 Domestic service(3,3)

18 Desist frommountingwatch?(5)

19 Fresh fromthewideWyominghills (4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)You’rebecomingmorebusiness-minded. Justwatchout for losses in

family affairs orwhen there’sahigh chance that you’ll beover-charged. Youcanhopefor thebest and latchon toany signs that things aregettingbetter. Actually,optimismwill soonbreed success.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)You’re gettingmixedmessages.Neighbours orrelatives could say

one thing, familymembersanother. The trouble is thatnobodywill say exactlywhattheymean. This isn’t theirfault - it’s thatmischievousplanetMercurywhich ismaking communicationsodifficult.

GEMINI (May22- June21)There isnodoubtwhatsoever thatyouhaveaverydifficult furrowto

plough,butequallyeverypossibility thatyoucanevadeyourresponsibilities if youwish.Thecavalryshouldarriveinabout fortyeight-hours inthe formofdrasticallychangedplanetaryalignments.

CANCER(June22- July23)It isnotpossible tocontrol the factorsaroundyouascloselyasyoumight

like. It isoftenquiteexciting tositbackand let fate takeahand,andthis ishowyoumayplay itover thenext threedays.Just takecarenot to incurextracosts, though,as theymightrunoutof control.

LEO(July24-Aug23)There’sa fairamountof ambitionin thewindtoday,and I thinkyou’llbe

verypurposefulaboutgettingyourownway. Justwatchoutforanunforeseenconfrontationat thevery lastminute, andtaketheappropriateaction.Youmightwant toducktheproblemaltogether.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Your long,drawn-outstruggle totransformaspectsofyourpersonal life is

surelyabout tobear fruit.Youwillbeamplyrecompensed inavery fewdays,especially ifyouarepreparedtostrikeoutonyourown.This isonetimewhencouragecouldberewarded.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Homeandfamilylifecontinuetooccupyacentral roleinyourhoroscope.

Relationsmaywellbegettinguptotheirold tricks,butwhatismore important is thepsychologicaldimensionandtherequirement thatyoubuildyour lifeon firmemotional foundations.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Beprepared forcontroversialstatements. If youcanpossiblycome

outwithsomesharp ideasofyourown, somuchthebetter.Lifedoes looka littleargumentative, soyoushouldseekallies today, ready foratrialofwillsanytimeover thenext twoor threedays.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Yourheart isflutteringafterarecent flirtation.Even if it’s all a

fantasy,youcanallowyourselfto feelgood.Thebest thingyoucandotoday ispressonwithroutine tasksand ignoreaminorprovocation.Butdomakeapointof placatingpartnersbefore theyexplode.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Theplanet towatchnowisUranus, theeccentriccelestialbodywhichwill

soonforceyoutoreassessyourlife,particularlyyour finances.Youshouldtakenothing forgrantedandbereadymoveatthedropof ahat. It’s clear thatyouneedtopaymoreattentiontoyourmaterialresources,whateverotherpeoplesay.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)TheSunandtheMoonwill soonbecomingtogether inadramatic

alignmentwhichevennowmaybemaking itspresencefelt.Don’tbedisturbedbypotentiallyupsettingeventsorfeelings,but lookcloserandseethat there’smuchyoucan learnanddiscoveraboutyourself.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Closerelationshipsarealwaysof greatimportance,but Ifeel thatoften

there’sagapbetweenthedreamandthereality.Currentcelestial indicationssuggestthatyoushouldthrowyourselfintosocial contactsof anysortwithnopreconceptionswhatsoever.

SUDOKU4248

DifficultyLevel2s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius

SOLUTIONSUDOKU4247

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Theaverageperson’searweighswhatyou__,notwhatyou___.-FrancisQuarles(3,..,4)

SOLUTION:SHEEP,HYENA,BORDER,WEIRDOAnswer:Theaverageperson’searweighswhatyouare,notwhatyouwere.-FrancisQuarles

HPSEE BDEORR

HNYAE DEIORW

SolutionsCrossword4237:Across:1Cathedral,8Abaft,9Crystal,10Docile,11Adverb,12Asteroid,15Mistaken,18Nought,20Locale,21Aspirin,22Unite,23

Pointless.Down:2Acrid,3Hostel,4Drawback,5Lahore,6Capitol,7Attendant,11Anomalous,13Tennyson,14Psychic,16Asleep,17Burial,19Hairs.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ODISHA STATE MEDICAL

CORPORATION LTD(A Govt. of Odisha Undertaking)

Regd. Office: Odisha State Medical

Corporation Ltd.,Convent Square, Bhubaneswar - 751 007, Odisha

website: www.osmcl.nic.in,Email: [email protected]

Phone No: (0674) 2380608No.: 12386 Dtd.: 30.09.2020

Sealed tender are invited from Manufacturer / AuthorizedStockiest / Authorized Distributor for supply of “Inj.Remdesivir (100mg) and Tab Favipiravir (200mg) toCDS, OSMCL, Bhubaneswar, which can be downloadedfrom the “notification” section of OSMCL’s official websitehttp://osmcl.nic.in. The sealed tender should reach to theundersigned on or before 07th October 2020 to upto 11 AM.

It is further to notify that corrigendum/ addendum, if anyrelated to this tender shall only be uploaded in OSMCLWebsite and no publication shall be made in theNewspapers.

Sd/-Gm Operations (D & S)

OSMCL, BBSR

OIPR/10112/11/0031/2021

CAD-526

SHORT TENDER NOTICE

GUJARAT ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION& RESEARCH FOUNDATION, Indroda

Nature Park, PO Sector 7, Gandhinagar382 007, Gujarat (Ph. No. 079-23977300/311, Fax:079-23977313) invites online e-Tender from reputed bid-ders for Supply of various types of plant/species and platmaterials for ''Cactus Garden,'' Dist. Narmada at Kevadia,Hingolgadh Sanctuary, Dist. Rajkot, Indroda Nature Park,Gandhinagar & Aranya Uddhyaan, Dist. Gandhinagarunder GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Biddersare requested to download Tender Document from Date:30-09-2020 upto 13/10/2020 upto: 18:10 hrs. and Last Dateof online submission upto date: 13/10/2020 upto 18:10 hrs.Last date/time for receipt of Tenders (Physical CopySubmission, Tender Fee, EMD, Tender Document etc.) Date:15/10/2020 upto 18.10 hrs. For any query please contact ourabove mentioned office. Details & Tenders are available on:www.nprocure.comINF/994/20-21 - Dy. DIRECTOR (R&D)

TENDER NOTICE

GVK EMRI invited Tenders as per below for supply / service of following items.

Interested Bidders are requested to log on www.nprocure.com for downloading

e-Tenders from 1st Oct 2020.

Sr. No. Online Tender for

1 Fabrication of Mobile Health Units

2 Refurbishment of Mobile Health Units

Any amendments / further notice will not be published in newspaper and will

only be uploaded in website, if any.

GVK EMRI, Gujarat-108 EMC, Naroda - Kathwada Road, Ahmedabad-382330.

Tel : 079-22814896, www.emri.in Contact Person : Mr. Ashish Muley.

Contact No : 9727714818 -Supply Chain Management. No.INF/ABD/724/2020

Ahmedabad



PERSONAL

Classifieds

I Jambucha VipulkumarShantilal S/o, Shantilal

R/o 34, Sagar Park, GhoghaRoad, Bhavnagar (GUJ)

364001do hereby declarethat my wife name is

wrongly Mentioned in myservice record as

Mayuriben instead ofcorrect name Jambucha

Mayuriben Vipulkumar.

Now I am applying forcorrection, objection if anymay convey to concerned

authority.

Change of Name



364001do hereby declarethat my daughter name iswrongly Mentioned in myservice record as Dravyainstead of correct name

Jambucha Dravya

Vipulkumar.


authority.

Change of Name



364001do hereby declarethat my son name is

wrongly Mentioned in myservice record as Harshivinstead of correct name

Jambucha Harshiv

Vipulkumar.


authority.

Change of Name

I, Baraiya Kamlesh JivanS/o Jivan Soma, H.No.1844/5, Geeta Building,Gaduliwadi VanakbaraDiu Pin 362570,Changed my Name asKamlesh Jivan for allfuture purposes.

0040549895-1

Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance ofadvertising copy, it is not possible to verify itscontents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for such contents, nor for any lossor damage incurred as a result of transactions withcompanies, associations or individuals advertisingin its newspapers or Publications. We thereforerecommend that readers make necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies or entering into anyagreements with advertisers or otherwise acting onan advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

IMPORTANT

Tender Notice No. 24, Year 2020–21Panchayat (R&B) DivisionDistrict Panchayat, Valsad

In the name of Government of Gujarat State the ExecutiveEngineer, Panchayat (R&B) Division Dharampur Road Valsad,Ph. No. (02632)253694 invite Tender through E-tenderingprocess for M.M.G.S.Y. & work of for Taluka Valsad (2nd time).Total Package 6 for Estimate cost Rs. 29.04 upto Rs. 65.98 Lacs.& Taluka Valasad Total 1 package for Estimate cost Rs. 38.01Lacs For Eligible approved registered contractor in R & Bdepartment, Government of Gujarat, the details of E-tendernotice is available on http://www.nprocure.com.For further details please contact above address during officetime. It can be visible on www.statenders.com.Consider GST rules before tendering the rate.Tender online submission last date: 19/10/2020.

Sd/-Executive Engineer

Panchayat (R&B) Division, Valsad

No. INF/Valsad/361/2020

Uttar Gujarat Vij Company LimitedCIN – U40102GJ2003SGC042906

Regd. & Corporate Office - Visnagar Road,

Mehsana-384001 (North Gujarat) E&P Dept: GEB: http://guj-epd.gov.in

Phone no: 02762-222080-81 Fax no: 02762-223574

Website-www.ugvcl.com e-mail :- [email protected]

Tender Notice

Invitation for Tender Notice No. UGVCL/SP/IV/1032/Self pro-

pelled platform machine for tree cutting for each circle of

UGVCL and UGVCL/SP/III/1026 is put up for online tendering

on www.ugvcl.com & www.ugvcl.nprocure.com. Interested

Vendors are requested to locate the same from above men-

tioned Web Site.

Note: Be in touch with our web site till opening of tender.

(V. M. Shroff)

Chief Engineer (P)''UGVCL Customer Care Centre 24x7 Toll Free No.19121 or 1800 233 155 335''

"save energy for benefit of self and nation"GUJARAT STATE ELECTRICITY CORPORATION LTD.

THERMAL POWER STATION, UKAI DAM - 394680.CIN: U40100GJ1993SGC019988

Website: www.gsecl.in, e-mail: [email protected]: 02624-233231, 233244, Fax 02624-233300 (0) 233315(S)

TENDER NOTICE NO. ADV/UTPS/472:Chief Engineer (GEN), GSECL Ukai TPS invites the Tenders for Supply& Works for various materials are available on web site:www.nprocure.com. (for view, down load and on line submission)and on web site www.gsecl.com (for view and down load only).Interested Vendors may surf the above Website and may down load thesaid Tender from our website for physical submission of your Tenderbefore due date and time.Note: Be in touch with above websites till opening of Tender.

CHIEF ENGINEER (GEN)GSECL, TPS, UKAI

ONLINE TENDERING Road & Building Department

SHORT TENDER NOTICE NO. 14 OF 2020-21

Executive Engineer, (R&B) Division, Jamnagar Dist.

Jamnagar, Phone No.0288-2550362 has invited online ten-

ders from contractors registered in R&B Department, NWRWS

& K Department for 18 works. The estimated cost of the works

is between Rs. 13.35 Iakh to Rs.31.20 lakh.

Tender Documents are available for Works upto Dt.08/10/2020

on https://rnb.nprocure.com. For More details visit on given

website. For. Detailed Tender Notice visit

www.statetenders.com INF/Jam/391/2020

OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERALRISK MANAGEMENT CENTRE FOR CUSTOMS

DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF ANALYTICS AND RISK MANAGEMENTCENTRAL BOARD OF INDIRECT TAXES & CUSTOMS13, SIR VITHALDAS THACKERSEY MARG, OPP PATKAR HALL,

NEW MARINE LINES, MUMBAI- 400020Tel Nos. : 22061003, 22061006, 22195100, 22195101, FAX No. : 22061014

F. No. IV(7)/181/2019/RMCC Pt.I Dated : 25.09.2020

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

1.“eBids are invited by the Office of the Principal Additional Director General, Risk ManagementCentre for Customs, Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management, Central Board ofIndirect Taxes & Customs, 13, Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg, Opp Patkar Hall, New MarineLines, Mumbai–400020, from reputed software development and consultancy firms for thefollowing activity.”

2. The detailed scope of work and Pre-Qualification Criteria for EoI (Bidders) can be downloadedfrom the website under the head “Latest Expression of Interest” at the URLhttps://www.cbic.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/tender/1020/Scope-Webmaster.pdf. Allinterested parties are advised to read the document thoroughly.3. Aspiring Bidders are advised to submit all relevant information and supporting documents alongwith the covering letter duly signed by an authorized signatory to the Additional Director (Admin),Risk Management Centre for Customs, 13, Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg, Opp Patkar Hall, NewMarine Lines, Mumbai – 400 020, on or before 20th October 2020 by 1500 hrs or email at [email protected]. Attention is invited to all bidders towards Department of Expenditure, Ministry ofFinance OM No.F.12/17/2019-PPD dated 15.05.2020 regarding amendment in Rule 161(iv) ofGFR, 2017.Clarification, if any, may be sought by tele-faxing to the number 022-22061014Important timelines:Date of issue: 25.09.2020Date of pre-Bid Conference: 23.10.2020

Sd/- 25.09.2020Additional Director/Admn.

Risk Management Centre for CustomsCentral Board of Excise & Customs

13, Sir Vithaldas Thackersey Marg, Opp Patkar Hall,New Marine Lines, Mumbai – 400 020

Specification/Scope of the Work

Rendering of Software Services relating to Post Production Maintenance, enhancement and ProductionSupport of the Indian Customs Risk Management System (RMS) Application software and forproviding services for Refined Risk Analysis and development and maintenance of Universal WebApplication/Universal e-Seal reader (UWA/UERA). The Bidders should have experience in MachineLearning and Big Data Analysis, Data Analysis and Data Visualization. The Bidder should be capableof suggesting new technological progress and adding value to RMS applications.

GUJARAT WATER SUPPLY & SEWERAGE

BOARD, GANDHINAGAR

TENDER NOTICE NO.15 Year 2020-21

Executive Engineer, Public Health Works Division, Bhuj Kutch

through e-tendering system (Tender ID No. 425874) in work for

Providing, Lowering, Laying and Jointing PVC (Pipeline for

Ugedi HGLR To Aamara Aiyar and Karolpir Village & Ugedi

HGLR to Ugedi Missinglink Programme 2020-21. Estimated

Cost Rs. 71.94 Lacs Tender can be downloaded after

Dt.15/09/2020. Last Date of online Submission is till

Dt.03/10/2020 at 18:00 Hours. Further details are available on

the Website http://gwssb.nprocure.com

Regarding the problem of drinking water in rural areas, It is

requested to, contact the helpline no. 1916 / 1800 200 1400 of

Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerae Board, Gandinagar.(DDI-KUTCH-631-2020)

Administration of U.T. of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,

Office of the Directorate of Medical & Public Health Department.

File No. DMHS/P&T/2020-21/181 Silvassa Date: 25/09/2020

e-Tender Notice

The Director of Medical & Health Services, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu on behalf of President of

India, invites online tender on https://dnhtenders.gov.in/nicgep/app from the Reputed Manufactures/ Authorized

Dealers/ Suppliers for supply of below mentioned items.

1) e-Tender lD No. 2020_UTDNH_4896_1):- Rate Contract for purchase of Laboratory Materials & Reagents

for COVID-19 PCR Laboratory under Medical & Public Health Department, DNH. Estimated Cost: `. 49.98

Lacs. Last date of submission of Bid: 05.10.2020.

2) e-Tender ID No. 2020_UTDNH_4895_1):- Rate Contract for Purchase of Consumables for Ultrasonic

Cutting & Coagulation Machines under Medical & Public Health Department, DNH for the Year 2020-21.

Estimated Cost: `. 5.30 Lacs. Last date of submission of Bid: 15.10.2020.. Tender can be downloaded

from www.dnh.nic.in www.vbch.dnh.nic.in.

Sd/-

Director

No. IP/DNH/ADVT/2020/283 Medical & Health Services, U.T. of DNH & DD

Silvassa Date: 29/09/2020 "TeI.No.0260-2642940, 2640615" e-mail ld: [email protected]

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SOLAPUR CITY DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATION LIMITEDe-Tender Notice No. 02 Date 01/10/2020Solapur City Development Corporation Limited (SCDCL) is inviting e-Tenders from eligiblebidders through e-Tendering portal for Appointment of Contractor for Water Supply Scheme forProject affected Villages (Hotgi Station, Fatatewadi, Aherwadi) for Solapur City under SmartCity mission.

e-TENDER NOTICE

Tender release date is 10:00 am on 01/10/2020Pre-Bid Meeting is at 12:00 PM on 12/10/2020 at Solapur City Development CorporationLimited, Saat Rasta, Solapur. Bid Submission Date upto 6:00 PM of 26/10/2020.The Technical Bid Opening date is 12:00 PM of 27/10/2020.The tender can be downloaded from www.mahatenders.gov.in. The Bidder should quoteexclusive GST. All rights of acceptance and rejection of tender is reserved by SCDCL.

Sd/-- Chief Executive Officer,

Solapur City Development Corporation Limited

Name of Work Estimated Cost EMDAmount

InitialSecurityDepositAmount

Comple-tion

Period

Cost ofBlank

Tender Form

Appointment ofContractor for WaterSupply Scheme forProject affected Villages(Hotgi Station,Fatatewadi, Aherwadi)for Solapur City underSmart City Mission)

Rs. 9,70,95,633/-(Rupees NineCrore Seventy

Lakh Ninety FiveThousand SixHundred Thirty

Three only)Rs. 9.71 Cr.

Rs.4,86,000/-

Rs.19,40,000/-

12Months

Rs. 5660/-(Rupees FiveThousand SixHundred and

Sixty Onlyincluding

12% GST)

Tender Notice No. 936

Tender for Purchase of PDA (Mobile Instrument) & Bluetooth

Printer is put up on our ONLINE (e-Tender) website

https://pgvcl.nprocure.com. Interested Suppliers are request-

ed to submit the tender online. Tender documents for view and

download are also available on our website www.pgvcl.com.

Interested vendors may download the same from this website.

In future, if any amendments will be required for this tender,

same will be uploaded only on above websites.

Chief Engineer (Tech)

“Install ELCB and Protect life from electric shock”

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PASCHIM GUJARAT VIJ COMPANY LIMITEDCorp. Office, Nanamava Main Road,

Laxminagar, Rajkot-360004.www.pgvcl.com http:guj.epd.gov.in

Narmada, Water Resources, Water

Supply & Kalpsar Department

Tender Notice No. B-1/6/2020-21

In the name of Governor of Gujarat State the Executive Engineer,Salinity Control Division, 107, Multi Storied Building, Bhuj - Kachchh(Ph. 02832-221752) invite OnIine Tender from registered contractors.

Sr. Name of Work Estimated ContractorNo. Cost (Rs. in Required

Lacs) Registration

1 Extension of Dhamay Left side 26.50 "E-1 ClassDistributary of Mathal Medium & above"Irrigation Scheme. Ta. NakhatranaDist. Kachchh.

Bid documents for above works will be available up to Dt.15/10/2020on our website http//nwr.nprocure.com. Bidder are instructed to scandocuments online required in tender i.e. D.D. for Tender Fee, E.M.D. /Exemption Certificates, Registration Certificate, G.T.S. Number, PanCard as per requirement, Latest Solvency Certificate & relevant docu-ments.For further details including particulars of work please contact on ourabove mentioned address & for online submission of tender pleasevisit our website mentioned above. (DDI-KUTCH-634-2020)

Ahmedabad

8


THE DEMOLITIONCBImustappealBabriverdict.Totryandanswerquestion:Does

majorityandthemobhaverightofwayinademocracy?

THEBABRIMASJIDwasdemolishedinAyodhyaonDecember6,1992,but

therewasnodemolitionplan,noranydemolitionmenandwomen, just

an on-the-spur outburst byunknown "anti-social elements." That’s the

essenceof theverdictbythespecialcourt inLucknowinthe28-year-old

caseonWednesday,acquittingall thesurviving32accused. Itchallenges

factsanddoesnotpromiseclosure.Therazingof themasjid,afterall,wasapublicevent.

Itwasfollowedbycommunalriots inwhichliveswerelost,and,significantly, itwaspre-

ceded by a highly publicised and carefully craftedmovement which had spelt out its

goal:“Mandirwahinbanayenge”,atemplewillbeconstructedwherethemasjidstands.

TheBJP-VHPwhippedupvisiblemobilisations,LKAdvani’srathyatrashappenedinfull

public view, and fromAyodhyaonDDay, therewere eyewitness accounts, photos and

videos of the bringingdownof themasjid amid exhortations of “ek dhakka aur do…”.

More than 10 years ago, the Justice Liberhan Commission had concluded that the evi-

denceunderlinedthatthemobilisationof thekarsevakswas"neitherspontaneousand

voluntary…was orchestrated and planned”. Indeed, the gravity of the crimewas ac-

knowledgedbytheSupremeCourtevenas, inNovember lastyear, it laidthetitlesuit to

rest, handingover thedisputed2.77acres to theHindusideandpaving theway for the

constructionof theRammandirthatbeganthisyearonAugust5,thePrimeMinisterlay-

ingthefirstbrick. Inthesameverdict, theapexcourthadcalledthedemolitionan“egre-

giousviolationof the ruleof law”.

Earlier, inApril2017,theSChadreversedthejudgementsof thelowercourtstorevive

theconspiracychargesagainstLKAdvaniandothers,whileclubbingthecasessothatthe

demolition and the speechesmadeby leaders couldbe seenaspart of the sameaction.

Now,at theendof a tortuous legalprocess thathas stretchedovernearly threedecades,

as the court holds noone accountable or punishable, as it shifts the entire blame to the

faceless kar sevak, there is only oneway forward: TheCBImust appeal against the ver-

dict so that the justiceprocesscanrun its full course.

It's not just procedure. The rule of law is at stake. The Babri masjid demolition on

December6wasamomentofshameforaconstitutionaldemocracy. Italsosetinmotion

largepoliticalchanges.Manyofthosetransformations—theconsolidationofthe“Hindu”

vote, theriseof theBJP, theresettingof thecentreofpoliticaldiscourse towards thereli-

giousright —havetakenonalifeof theirown.Butunderlyingthesetransitionsandtrans-

formations, isafundamentalquestionof justice,of theruleof law,thatisstillunchanged,

threedecades later:Will themajorityandthemobhavetherightofway?This isaques-

tion that the investigativemachinery and the judiciary still need to answer in thedem-

olitioncase,within theambitof theConstitution.Howthisquestion isaddressed—and

answered—willdefineademocracy’s commitment todueprocess.

Crimeagainstayoungwoman, itsaftermath, indict those

taskedwithupholdinglaw.UPpolicemustbeheldaccountable

THEGANGRAPEANDmaimingofa19-year-oldwomanfromtheDalitcom-

munity inHathras,UttarPradesh,endedonTuesdaynightwithherdeath,

and ahasty, lonely cremation in the dead of the night. Itwas a crime that

standsoutforbeingenabledbymanyinequalitiesandinjustices.Themost

strikingisthecasteprivilegethatallowsupper-castemenentitlement,with

apparentimpunity,overthebodiesofDalits. (TheaccusedarefromaThakurfamilywitha

recordofcasteviolenceagainstthevictim’sfamily).Itisonemoreexampleoftheepidemic

of sexualviolence that regularlycrushes Indianwomenandgirls.UPpoliceofficials stand

accusedof cremating thewoman,withoutallowinga lastglimpseto thegrievingparents

andwithouttheirconsent.Tobeabletoinflictsomuchcrueltytakesinsensitivity,ofcourse,

butitisalsoafunctionofareflex,honedoveryears,tobendtoentrenchedsystemsofpower.

The Uttar Pradesh police, in the last few years, has consistently chipped away at its

facadeofbeingaprofessionalpoliceforce. Intheserviceof “atoughadministration”and

a“nationalist”machogovernment, ithascrossedseveralredlines.Extra-judicialkillings

areprojectedandcelebratedasjustice,despitereprimandsfromtheSupremeCourt—and

no police officer is held accountable. As an investigation in this paper has shown, the

National Security Act (NSA) is used recklessly in cases of cow slaughter — often a dog

whistle in heartlandpolitics against theminorities—and also to book thoseprotesting

against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The crackdown against protestors during the

anti-CAAprotests, their namingand shaming throughposters inpublic places,were all

giveawaysof apolice force ready touseaheavyhandtoserveapartisanagenda.

Inademocracy, thestate isgrantedthemonopolyofviolence,but, inturn, it isbound

to fairness, justiceanddueprocess forall—andnot just the few.But lawkeepers, unless

heldaccountable to law, remainaweapon in thehandsof thepowerful. TheHathras in-

cidentunderlinesthattheall-powerfulUPpoliceman, impatientwiththechecksofpro-

cedureandlaw,standsagainstthevulnerableandpowerless.TheUPpolicehasoftenjus-

tified its excesses in thenameofmaintaining lawandorder; itmust ask itselfwhat law

wasprotectedbyviolating thesanctityof a19-year-oldgirl’s last rites.

PASSENGERS PLEASE NOTE

JapanAirlineswillnomoresay ‘ladiesandgentlemen’.About

timeconsumersweredescribed,notcelebratedorpatronised

ITTURNSOUTthattheIndianRailwaysandDelhiMetrohavebeenwokeallalong,

perhapswithoutmeaningtobe.Onplatformsandintrains,patronsareaddressed

withoutgender-specificgreetings. InHindi, forexample,theexhortationsof the

antisepticvoiceontheloudspeakerbeginwith“yatri-gankripyadhyandein”;in

English “passengers please note”. Not so, onmost flights. Perhaps a relic from

thetimewhenairtravelwassomethingofaluxuryandarelativerarity,mostairlinesstill

insistthattheirpassengersare“ladiesandgentlemen”.Some, inanefforttobeeither in-

clusive or patronising (it's difficult to tell),will have the flight crewsay “ladies andgen-

tlemen,boysandgirls”. JapanAirlines(JAL), though,hasdecidedtobreakwiththeseries

of assumptions theseaddressescarry, andemulate the IndianRailways.

JAL'sannouncementswillnowbegender-neutralonthelinesof“attentionallpassen-

gers”.Giventheincreasingawarenessabouthowgenderedhonorificsandpronounsex-

cludetheLQBTQIcommunityandnormalisegenderasabinaryconstruct,theairline'sde-

cisioniswelcome.Infact,sincethereisagrowingdemandinJapanforthelegalrecognition

of same-sexmarriage, JAL's standcanbeseenasapoliticalone.

There is alsoanotherdimension to “ladiesandgentlemen”,onewhichalsodeserves

toberelegated to thepast. Itpromotes the illusion that consumersdeserveanhonorific

merelybecausetheycanaffordaservice. Imaginethepainof theflightstaffhavingtoad-

dress a rude, boorishpassenger as a gentleman.Or an independentwomanbeing rele-

gated tobeinga lady—atermwitharchaic connotationsaboutwhich formsofmanner

andmannerismsare “lady-like”. Sittingonaplane, just like sittingonabus, entitlesone

tobeingdescribedaccuratelyandwithout insult,nothingmore.Passengerspleasenote.

FaizanMustafa andAymenMohammad

Acquittals inBabridemolitioncaseareablotonCBI, itmustbe liberated frompolitical influence

ONE IS YET again reminded of the Hindimovie, No One Killed Jessica. Ordering thequickcompletionof thecriminaltrial inthedemolition of Babri Masjid and curing thetechnical defect of “consultation” with thehighcourt, invoking itsextraordinarypow-ers under Article 142, the Supreme Courthad said in 2017 that “let justice be donethoughheavens fall”. Itwent on to observethat “in the present case, crimes whichshake the secular fabric of theConstitutionof India have allegedly been committed al-most 25 years ago”. In the historic Babrijudgment last year, theSupremeCourthadheld the demolition as an “egregiouswrong”.OnWednesday,noneof the32sur-vivingaccusedoutof49wasfoundguiltyofsucha serious crime.The accusedwere chargedwith various

sectionsof theIndianPenalCodepertainingtoincitementtoviolence(Sections153Aand153B),conspiracytocommitacrime(Section120B),andunlawfulassembly(Section149).Theoverarchingimportof thesechargeswasthattherewasajointagreementonthepartof theaccusedtodemolish theBabriMasjidonDecember6, 1992. For criminal conspir-acy, mere agreement is punishable and forunlawfulassembly,merepresenceisenoughtomakeoneliable.Therecanbenotwoopin-ionsonwhetherLKAdvaniandothersweremembersof anunlawfulassembly.The CBI was required to demonstrate

that the accused had acted together in fur-therance of a common intention and acommon object. For an assembly to betreatedasunlawfulundertheIPC, thecourtinfers whether there was a “common ob-ject” that was guiding the actions of thecrowd. This inference is drawnusing infor-mation suchas theuseof tools orweapons(in this case, the use of demolition tools,shovel, ropeswasawell-recorded fact)andthebehaviourof theaccusedpriorto,duringandafter the incident (itwas recorded that

some of the accused were distributingsweets after the demolition while otherswereencouragingthekarsevaks).Similarly,statements by Murli Manohar Joshi andAdvaniintherun-uptothedemolitionwerekeypiecesof evidence.The chargesheet had also recorded a

meeting on December 5, 1992, at VinayKatiyar’shousewhereAdvaniwasalsopres-ent and the decision to allegedly demolishthemosquewas taken. Kalyan Singh is al-leged to have told awitness “rok construc-tionpar lagihai, destructionparnahi”. Foraconspiracy to be proven, all one requires toprove is that there was an agreement be-tween two or more persons to commit acrime. There is no need to separately provethat the accused committed an overt act infurtherance of it. Conspiracies are alwaysprovedbycircumstantial evidence.True,onehastohavefaith inthejudicial

system of the country, yet at times, courtsthemselvesareontrialwhenthestakesarehigh, aswas noted by the apex court. True,theprinciple that theaccusedmustbepre-sumed to be innocent is the golden threadwhich runs through the fabric of the crim-inal justice system. True, no rule of crimi-nal law ismore important than thatwhichrequires the prosecution to prove the ac-cused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.True, the benefit of even a little doubt ac-crues to the accused in a criminal trial. Yet,theCBIcouldnotpresentcredibleevidencein the case, particularly on the charges ofcriminal conspiracy. The judgment is con-troversial as the court has acquitted all theaccused and held the demolition as spon-taneous, forwhichnooneexceptunknownanti-social elements must have been re-sponsible.Thecourtdidnotaccept theover100videotapesof the incidentas theaudiowas not clear, but thenmost criminal trialconvictions are made on the basis of oralanddocumentaryevidence.Asmanyas351

witnesseshad testifiedandmore than800documents were produced. Yet, the CBIfailed to convince the judge.TheBabri litigationhasbeenuniqueand

unprecedentedboth incivil suits aswell ascriminal trials. The civil suitwas strange inthe sense that the high court acted as thecourt of first instance and the SupremeCourtactedascourtof firstand lastappeal,differingstatusquoorders,additionofpar-ties, demands of differential burden ofproof, ASI excavation etc. Just like the civildispute, the criminal case is also mired inprocedural lapses,patentillegalitiesandpo-litical interference by different govern-ments. Innoother criminal case,were twoFIRs filed, probably within 10 minutes,about the same incidentwith different of-fences—thesecondFIRdidnotmentionthecrimeof conspiracyandthetrialbifurcatedto two courts, one at Rai Bareilly and an-other at Lucknow after the joint trial hadoriginally started at Lucknow.Admittedly, criminal law is an island of

technicalityinaseaofdiscretionandtheac-cusedgotthebenefitof itstechnicalities.Thepolicehavediscretioninarrestandinvestiga-tion, the government in giving sanctions ofprosecution,theprosecutionastowhethertoprosecute and if so, for what crimes, thejudge has discretion, discharge, convictionandsentence.The acquittal of all the accused is a set-

back to the CBI’s reputation. The SupremeCourtitselfhascalledita“cagedparrot”. It ishightimethatitisliberatedfrompoliticalin-fluence. India’s criminal justice systemcan-notimproveifprosecutionandinvestigationfunctions are not bifurcated. The CriminalLawReformsCommitteemustmakeastrongrecommendationonthis.

Mustafa isanexpertonconstitutional lawandMohammadisadoctoral studentatNALSARUniversityof Law,Hyderabad

The judgment iscontroversial as the courthas acquitted all the accusedand held the demolition asspontaneous for which noone except unknown anti-social elements must havebeen responsible. The courtdid not accept the over 100videotapes of the incident asaudio was not clear, but thenmost criminal trialconvictions are made on thebasis of oral anddocumentary evidence. Asmany 351 witnesses hadtestified and more than 800documents were produced.Yet, the CBI failed toconvince the judge.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER1,2020WORDLYWISE

I'mnotagainst the police; I'm just

afraidof them.

— ALFRED HITCHCOCKTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Rajni Bakshi

GANDHI IN 2020Hiswasacreativeresistancethatacknowledgesandalsotranscendspasthurts

IN 2020, MORE than usual, it is vital tocultivate freedom from resentment. This iswhatmadeMahatmaGandhi’snonviolencepossible.Wenowlive inatimewhenawidevari-

ety of political mobilisations are driven bythe need to allay historical wrongs and re-lated hurt. Consequently, much of the con-flictbetweencompetinggroups tends tobemired in minute historical detail. For in-stance, thosewho have learnt to denigrateGandhiemphasise specific “wrong”actionsin his prolific political life — not his funda-mental insights.Thisisastrueforthosewhodenounce Gandhi for being anti-Hindu asthosewhoareconvincedthathewasaracist.Forall suchcritics, itmaybeworthwhile

torevisitGandhi’s famous life-definingmo-ment on that train journey in 1893 fromDurban to Pretoria. Gandhi was forciblyevictedfromthefirst-classcompartmentbe-cause hewas a “coloured”man. The bittercoldnightthatGandhispentonalonelyrail-way station ina strangecountry couldhavebecome a life-long trauma. As he shiveredthrough the night in the station’s waitingroom, Gandhi did consider running backhome toRajkot. But eventually, he began tothinkofhisduty.Therealculprit,Gandhire-alised,wasnotthatparticularmanwhohadhimthrownoff thetrain.Thatman’sbehav-iourwasmerely“asymptomofthedeepdis-easeof colourprejudice”.Therefore, resent-ment towards his offender was awaste oftimeandenergy.Bycontrast,trying“…ifpos-sible,torootoutthediseaseandsufferhard-ships in the process” seemed truly worth-while.Gandhi,later,describedtheincidentat

therailwaystationasa“creativeexperience”that changed the course of his life. He said:“My active nonviolence began from thatdate.” This sequence of action and reactionillustratespowerful anduniversal truths.As individuals and as members of an

identity group most people have someexperience of hurt, humiliation or unfair-ness. This common experience leads to afork in the journeyof life. Does aperson, orgroup, choose the path of resentment or ofcreative resistance?It is commonly argued that resentment

must be nurtured, as a form of energy forrightingoldwrongs. Theopposite of this, itis fearfully assumed, must be apathy orindifference. Gandhi’s life has epochalimplications precisely because he showedthis tobea falseassumption—morally andempirically.Resentment latches onto, and indefi-

nitelyexpands,theexperienceofhurt.Alife,or indeed a politics, based on resentmentmust keep finding new reasons to feelbelittled. Even when it is dressed up inrevolutionary fervour, resentment remainsrooted inmemories of powerlessness. Thisiswhyitfeedsadesireforvengeance,forset-tling scores.By contrast, creative resistance of the

Gandhi kind arises from the ability to de-personalisethehurtandinsult.Thisreleasescreative energies which are exponentiallyempowering and enable renewal. It is onlyon this track that one can seek to right oldwrongs through restorative justice — aprocesswhichhealsthewoundsofbothvic-timsandperpetrators.

Acknowledging this truth is relativelyeasy. The difficulty lies in accepting that itappliestoallofusregardlessofourpoliticalpreferences. This is what makes GandhiJayanti in2020particularlypoignant.This is the year when the Ram

Janmabhoomi movement was officiallygranted its moment of triumph. ThismovementwasbasedonHinduresentmentaboutdestructionof temples in thepast. Itsfar-reaching success lies in persuadingenough Hindus to ignore the violence andpolitics of vengeance, which led up to theconstructionofanewtemple.Freedomfromresentment could be the counter-magnetthat persuades them otherwise, attractsthemtoadifferent space.However, theonusforthis lieswithallof

us who opposed the Ayodhyamovement.Just now it is advocates of “sarva dharmasambhav”, equal respect for all faiths, whoare experiencing a “thrown-off-the-train”moment.Wecanrespondwithresentmentand deepen the cycle of conflict. Orwe candemonstratecreativeresistance,whichbothacknowledgesand transcendspasthurts.How is this to be done? There are as

many answers to this question as there areindividuals engaged in exploring it. Wecould,eachoneofus,experimentintheverynextargumentinthefamilyontheseissues.Regardlessof thespecific issueordispute—freedomfromresentmentpromises tobeawinner and leveller.

Thewriter is theauthorofBapuKutiandcuratorof “AhimsaConversations”, a

Youtube channel

It is commonly argued thatresentment must benurtured, as a form ofenergy for righting oldwrongs. The opposite ofthis, it is fearfully assumed,must be apathy orindifference. Gandhi’s lifehas epochal implicationsprecisely because he showedthis to be a false assumption— morally and empirically.

INDIRA AND CPMNOTWITHSTANDING,THEPRIMEMinister’sblast at the CPM during her brief visit toCalcutta,MrsGandhi's address to Congress Iworkerswasunderscoredbyadesireforcoop-erationwiththeMarxists.ShewonderedwhyshouldtheCPMbeagainstherall thetime. ItseemsthattheMarxiststooarekeentomendrelationswithMrsGandhiwhilemaintainingapublicpostureofdislikingherpolicies.ChiefMinisterJyotiBasuhasgoneonrecordsayingthatWest Bengalmayban theRSS. Also sig-nificantistherevelationthatMorarjiDesai,asamemberofhercabinet,hadsuggestedthatthe CPM be banned while Indira Gandhiwanted to take on theMarxists politically.

What is also notable is Jyoti BasupersonallywenttotheairporttoreceiveIndiraGandhi.

IRAN SETS TERMSTHESPEAKEROF IranianparliamentsaidhiscountrywouldnotacceptaceasefirewithIraqin their week-old border conflict, untilBaghdadwithdrew all its forces from Iran.Meanwhile,Iraq’spresidentSaddamHusseinhassaidhiscountryisreadyfortalkswithIran.

NEW ANDHRA CMTHECONGRESSIHighCommandfavourstheelectionofanewleaderofAndhraPradeshinaboutaweek.Duringthediscussions,thecon-sensuswasforoneof theministersofstate—

TAnjiah(labour)orPVenkatasubbiah(homeaffairs)—asthenewCM.

HOOCH TRAGEDYINDELHI’SSECONDliquortragedyinaweek,two residents of Mongolpuri died afterconsuminghooch. A third resident becameviolently ill but recovered. Kiran Bedi, DCPWest, said that the post-mortem had notbeenabletoestablishthecauseofthedeaths,and hinted that it could also be a case offoodpoisoning.

TheIndianExpresswasnotpublishedonOctober1,1980.Thesenewsclipsarefromthe

editiondatedSeptember30,1980

OCTOBER 1, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Not justice

IMPUNITY IN HATHRAS

Ahmedabad


WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

It appears that with the easing of restrictions and resumption of educationaland business activities, people are under the impression that the pandemic isnow a thing of the past, when in fact the global death toll from Covid-19 hascrossed the million mark. — DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE


The recent reform issubstantial but must befollowed by civil service,banking, compliance,decentralisation, and urbanreform. Over the nextdecade, they will combine toraise manufacturingemployment from 11 per centto 18 per cent of workers,reduce farmers from 45 percent to 15 per cent ofworkers, raise women’slabour force participationfrom 25 per cent to 50 percent, and raise India’s percapita income from $2,500to $10,000.

About three reforms Celebrate, don’tmourn, SPB

THEUNTIMELYdeathoflegendarymusicianS P Balasubrahmanyam (SPB)makesmereminiscemyjourneyoflisteningtohissongsfromwhenIwasaprimaryschoolkid.WhileSPB sang over 40,000 songs across 16 lan-guages, hewill live inme through half-a-dozen songs that he sang for one Telugumovie.Thesesongshighlight tometheun-paralleledpowermusicpossessestogermi-natepathsofdiscovery.Formanyof us fromSouth India, SPB is

synonymous with the Telugu movieShankarabharanamu. Though Tamil ismymother tongue, the incrediblymelodioussongs sungby SPB in thismovie left an in-deliblemark onme.At a young age,whenCarnaticmusiccanseemlikeGreekandLatinto someonewhodidnot learn it, the songsinthemoviegotdeeplyrootedinmypsyche.When I nowwonderwhy these songshadsuchaprofoundimpactonmyyoungmind,itbecomesclearthatthesongsandthemovie—complementary to eachother as a lampanditswick—upliftandinspireinawaythatIhavefoundnonpareil.ThebeautyofShankarabharanamuisthat

the initial feature thatdrawsone to it isbutthefirststepofanincrediblejourneyofdis-covery.ThesongssungbySPBwerethefirst,but themost important, step thatdrewmeinto this journey. Over the years, I havewatchedthemovieoveradozentimes.Theexperiencehasbeenakintoreadingasemi-nalbooklikeResnickandHallidayagainandagain.Eachtime,IdiscoveredsomethingnewthatIwonderedwhyIdidnotfindinthepre-viousviewingorreading.Oneachoccasion,Ihavebeendrawninto

watchingthemovieafter I felt like listeningtooneof its eternal songs. Every time, aftermarvelling at the bhakti that the songs in-duce,Ihavefeltinspiredtocomprehendthemeaningof the lyrics. Listening to the songandthenunderstandingitslyricsonlywhet-tedmyappetiteasIhaveinvariablywatchedthemovie tounderstand thecontextof thesong in themovie. This process, from themelodyof thesongtomeaningandthentothecontext in themovie,hasbeenadeeplyenrichingpersonal journeyas ithashelpedmeunderstandthedeepspiritualethosthatweinheritasIndians.Astanzafromthelastsonginthemovie,

“ragalanantaluneeveyiroopalubhavaroga-timiralapokarchudeepalu”, capturesbeau-tifully the essence of this spiritual ethos.PraisingtheDivineandtheinfinitenumberofpathstoreachthesame,thestanzadescribesthat“yourthousandsofformsarelikethein-finitenumberof ragas thatdispel thedark-nessofworldlybondage”.ThattheDivinecanbe attained through divinemusic (NadaBramhan),thefieldofselflessaction(Karma

Yoga), thepursuitof thehighestknowledge(JnanaYoga)orthesincerestdevotion(BhaktiYoga)isacredothatcarriesinitsembryotheTruththattheDivinecanbeattainedthroughunshakeablefaithinanyreligion.Inthiscontext,Ihaverealisedpersonally

howsecularismintheIndianethosisdiffer-entfromthewesternconceptionofthesame.The subtle, but crucial, difference is akin tothedifferencebetweenthenumbers0and1.Thoughadjacent to eachother,metaphysi-callythenumberscaptureopposites—zeroconveysnothingwhileonecapturestheen-tirety.Thewesternconceptionofsecularismresembles thenumberzero, i.e. no religion,while the Indian concept of secularism re-sembles thenumber one, i.e. taking in theentiretyofallreligions,paths, faithsandbe-liefs. Bybeing all inclusive, the Indian con-ceptionmakesnodistinctionamongthem.The title songof themovie captures the

manynuancesofourspiritualethosandtherole ofmusic in enhancingone’s virtues. Akeystanzainthesongdescribesmusicasthelifeortheessence(“sangeetamepranamu”)as well as the staircase/path (“ganamesopanamu”) for one, “advaita siddhiki”, i.e.toattain thestateof advaitaornon-duality,wheretheworshipperandtheworshippedmergeintoeachother;two,“amaratvalabd-hiki”, i.e. to gain immortality; three, “satvasadhanaku”, i.e. undertaking sadhana orpenance to achieve the sattva guna,whichrepresents a state of virtuous harmonywithinoneselfandtherebywiththeuniverseandall itsbeings; four, “satyashodhanaku”,i.e.pursuitof theeternaltruth.SPB’ssongsinthismovieupliftinsomany

ways. Take bhakti captured by the song“Shankara, naadasharirapara.” Every time Ilistentothesong,Iammovednotonlybythebhakti embedded in it but alsoby thepro-found impact that pure bhakti is shown tohaveontheDivine.Afterfindingsocietydis-criminatingamonghumansbasedontheircasteorsocialstrata,SPBpleadsagainstsuchdiscrimination:“Shankara!Owonderfulem-bodiedformoftheunmanifestcosmicvibra-tion,Om!”As SPBentreatswith incrediblyhighpitchednotes that fewcanmatch, thecloudsburstaffirmingtheDivinedisapprovalof social discrimination. The context of thesongalsogoadsonetopursueone’sconvic-tions irrespectiveof thesocialcriticismthatinevitably comesone’sway in anoblepur-suit.Afterall,oneisfinallyanswerableonlytoone’sownconscienceandtheAlmighty.SPB’s lastsong inthemovie isbyfar the

best as it embodies the highest virtue ofniswartha seva or selfless service:“Dorakuna itu vanti seva?” Can I ever beblessedwith this kind of privilege to serveYou?Thesongoffersthegreatestmeaningtoall of us public servants as theDivine per-meates every living being on this planet.Therefore,servingthepeopleselflesslyistheultimateservicetotheLord.For offering the inseparable comple-

mentaritybetweenthedivinesongsandtheinspiringmovie, SPB you have lived yourownwords“amaratvalabdhiki”,gainedim-mortality.Suchlivesmustonlybecelebratedandnotmourned.

Thewriter isChiefEconomicAdvisor to theGovernmentof India

Education,labourandagriculturereformsareconnected.Together,theywillusherinindividualfreedom,benefitingyouth,workers,farmersandMSMEs

IT’SUNFAIR TO simultaneously regret anddefend the status quo in education, agri-culture and labour markets. Change is aformof hope.India’sagriculturelawswereneitherpro-

farmer nor pro-consumer but pro-middle-man. India’s labour lawswere neither pro-labour nor pro-employer but pro-labourinspectors. India’s education lawswere notpro-student or pro-employability but pro-UGC,AICTEandblockeducationofficers.Yet,whydidn’twechange themfordecades?AwonderfulnewbiographyofDadabhai

NaorojibyDinyarPatelhasthree lessons forreforming dysfunctional regimes. First, anychangeneedsevidence:Naoroji’sdrainthe-ory used government data to prove India’sexploitation. Second, any changemust bebalanced:Naorojiwas toomoderate for theradicals and too radical for themoderates.Finally, any change requires openness be-cause you can’t simultaneously regret anddefendthestatusquo:Naorojibecamemoreradicalwell intohiseightiesbecauseheem-braced new ideas instead of retreating intothesafetyof hisoldconvictions.I make the case that our labourmarket

statusquoistschosevestedinterestsoverin-dividualfreedom,oureducation, labourandagriculture reforms are deeply connected,andchange isa formofhope.Deliveringtheequalityandjusticedream

of our Constitution needs individual eco-nomic freedom. But vested interests createaminorityruleinagriculture(only6percentof farmerbenefit fromMSPand45per centofourlabourforceonlyproduces15percentof our GDP), minority rule in employment(only 22,500 of 6.3 crore enterprises have apaid-upcapitalofmorethanRs10croreandonly 10 per cent of ourworkers have socialsecurity) and minority rule in education(only15per centof ourkidswhostartClass1 finish Class 12 and only 10 per cent ofIndianshaveacollegedegree).Policychangeis difficult because effectiveness needs theright balanceof convictionwith listening. Ifyou don’t listen, seek out hearing aids andsurround yourself with cognitive diversity,you make avoidable mistakes. But if youdon’t have convictions, you become a per-fectly oiledweather vanewho doesn’t getanything done. The great sentinel Tagore’sadvice toGandhiji—“Ekla cholo re”orwalkalone—was hardly anti-listening but sug-gested courage on the difficult path of thegreatest good for the greatest number. Itwould be unfair to deny that 10 per cent ofIndia’s farmers, workers and educatorswouldbeadverselyaffectedbytherecentre-forms. But it would be insane to allow thisorganised vocal minority — economistMancur Olson called them distributionalcoalitions—tocontinuetheirpunishmentof90 per cent of India’s farmers, workers andyouth. A vote cannot be a veto because no-bodycuts the tree theyaresittingon.The three reforms in education, agricul-

tureandlabourlawsarerelatedbecauseem-ployedpovertyisabiggerchallengethanun-employment,farmersarenotself-employedbutself-exploiting,ouremployersaremostlydwarfsnotbabies,ourlabourishandicappedwithout capital, our capital is handicappedwithout labour, unemployability is a bigger

problemthanunemployment,helpingfarm-ersinvolveshavinglessof them,ourgovern-ment school teachershaveno fear of fallingor hope of rising, and our universities areover-regulatedandunder-supervised. Indiais still poor because the Avadi resolution of1955sabotagedindividualfreedominentre-preneurshipandfactormarkets.PurityistheenemyofprogressandindividuallyNEP,fourlabourcodes,andthreefarmbillsbalanceex-tremepositionswhilecreatinganewchancefor India’s land, labour and capital toworktogetherandraise“totalfactorproductivity”(sadlyIndialostmagnificenteconomistIsherAhluwalia last weekwhose early work ontheSolowresidual thoughthardaboutpro-ductivity).The big gainers from these individual

freedomreformswillbetheyouth,factories,farmers,MSMEs,andwages:Youthbecausean employment contract that is marriagewithoutdivorcedoesn’t lead to fewermar-riages, but fewer registeredmarriages; fac-tories because nobody could comply with100per cent of our labour lawswithout vi-olating 10 per cent of them. The criminali-sation of politics andpoliticisation of tradeunions is a poisonous combination andChina factory refugees hesitate with lawsthatmake themATMmachines for labourinspectors.Farmerswillgeta largershareofretailpricesandthefarmtonon-farmlabourtransitioniseasiertofactoriesthanservices.MSMEsdon’thavethemarginstomanufac-ture their own employees and labour lawsare inimical to scale. Finally, the only sus-tainable and scalableminimumwage pro-grammeishigherhumancapitalandformalnon-farm jobcreation.Changeisaformofhopeespeciallyasthe

COVID-19 pandemic destroys fiscal space.The Indianwelfare state doesn’t lack ambi-

tion but resources. Historian RamachandraGuha remindsus that Indiahas remarkablycreatedtheworld’slargestdemocracyontheinfertilesoilof theworld’smosthierarchicalsociety. A new national goal should be ourgrandchildren living in theworld’s largesteconomy— Chinese and American demo-graphicssuggestwegetthereat$15,000percapita income. Indiahasauniquechance tocreatemass prosperity because structuralopportunities (anewworldofwork, organ-isations and education), global opportuni-ties (capital glut that overvalues growth,China fatigue, toxic politics in ageing coun-tries) and domestic opportunities (youngpopulation, productivity frontier distance,and lower corruption) combine to create apotentpolicywindow.Ourchoicesmustre-flectourhopes rather thanour fears.The recent reform is substantial but

must be followed by civil service, banking,compliance,decentralisation,andurbanre-form.Over thenextdecade, theywill com-bine to raise manufacturing employmentfrom11per cent to 18 per cent of workers,reduce farmers from 45 per cent to 15 percentofworkers, raisewomen’s labourforceparticipation from 25 per cent to 50 percent, and raise India’s per capita incomefrom$2,500 to $10,000.India’soldeconomicpathoftencitedJohn

Maynard Keynes’ 1923 comment, “In thelongrun,wearealldead”,allowedvestedin-terests to control our land and labourmar-kets, andblunted individualeconomic free-dom. Our new path involves changing ourminds, taking risks that expand individualchoice forourworkersandfarmers,andcit-ingKeynes’1942commentthat,“Inthelongrun, almostanything ispossible”.

Thewriter isChairman,TeamleaseServices

Manish Sabharwal

SHAMEFUL SILENCE

THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘HathrasDalit victimdies, protests in Delhi, UP’(IE,September30).ThegirlfromHathraswasavictimofgenerationalcasteistvi-olence.Whenwe talk about feminismin India, the MeToo movement andother such pillars become secondarysincetheyarebasedonwesternidealsoffeminism. To understand female op-pressioninIndia,onemustconsidervar-iousinstitutionslikecaste,class,religion,tonameafew.Theinitial responsethatthevictimandherfamilyreceivedfromthepolicetellsastoryofprejudiceinitsown. TheUPCM's silence on thismat-ter isbeyondshameful.

Saundarya Jain,Meerut

ALLIES LIKE THESE

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, 'Endof apact '(IESeptember29).TheSAD’spart-nershipwiththeBJPwasanallianceofmerepoliticalconvenience.Therewasno ideological common ground be-tweenthetwoexcepttheiroppositionand aversion to the Congress. SAD'sperformance in Punjab a few yearsback was poor and its governmentwas known for corruption.Whateverbe itscontributiontotheNDAgovern-ment in the past, that pales into in-significance at this crucial juncturewhenfar fromsupportingthegovern-ment on the issue of bringing billsfor thewelfareof the farmers, it chosetoquit.

RaviMathur,Noida

ETHICAL OFFICERS

THIS REFERS TO the report, 'IPS officerrelievedofdutiesaftervideoofhimbeat-ingwife goes viral' (IE, September 29).ThevideoofanADGinMadhyaPradeshbeatinghiswifeisafreshexampleofun-ethicalbehaviourbyacivilservant.ItalsoshowsthedisrespectofwomenandtheviolationoflawatthehandsofanIPSof-ficer. It iswell knownthat civil servantsareassessedforethicsinvariousstagesofselectionandtraining.Butonlyrareonesapplythoseethicaltheoriesandconceptspracticallyintheirlife,personallyorpro-fessionally. Bureaucrats frequently in-dulgeinunethicalpracticeslikecorrup-tion in office. They need to be givenregularrefreshercoursesortrainingses-sionsonethicalbehaviour.

DimpyBhatia,NewDelhi

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

BYLASTyear,JaswantSingh(Jassu)andIwerethelasttwoleftoutoftheintrepidgangoffourof theJSW/NDA11thcoursebatch.Hehadanelectricmemory—compared tomine gonerustydue to “OldMonk”—andwould regalemewith stories of our youthful encounterswith the enemywhilewewere graduatingfrombeingrawcadetstogentlemenones.Wenearly did notmake it. Just days before thePassingOutParade,the“enemy”—oneMajorHariSingh“The”Sandhu(nicknamedHun)—ambushed the gangmounted on a bicycle,singing“Daisy…GiveMeanAnswer...Do”wellpast lights out anddressed somewhat casu-ally.All“The”Sandhusaidwas:“TheArmyis-suebicycleismeantforoneperson.”Thenextday,allfourweremarcheduptoCommandantGeneralHabibullah,whodressedusdownbutletusgotobecomegentlemen.Jaswantwould recall howonce, lost on a

longmarchontheoutreachesofSinhgadFort,itrained,weranoutoffoodandthenonhisor-ders,criedoutloudlysothatanotherlostpatrolmight trace us. No luck. The highest rankJaswant reached at the Academy wasDivisional Cadet Captain and Imade it to alowlysergeant.WewerebothinFoxSquadronatKhadakwasla,whichIrevisitedlastyear,suc-cessfullylocatingourrooms.Exceptforthege-ography,most things had changed. Jaswant

joined the elite Central IndiaHorse, saw theChinawarandchuckedupafternineyearssay-ing,“Therewastoomuchyessir”.Still,forMajorJaswant Singh,with two generations in theCavalryhavingfoughtcolonialwars,theArmywasacall tohonourandbondinginanerahecalled the Golden Age of CantonmentSoldiering. As apoorer cousin fromthe foot-slogging5thGorkhas,Ihadwithhimanostal-gic reunion at Jammu, days after his sonManvendrawasborn, cheeringhis arrival tilldawnwithdistinguishedbeverages. Iwasre-turningfromthe1965warinKashmirenroutetobecominganinstructorattheIndianMilitaryAcademyand Jaswantwas exiting the armyforapoliticalcareer.Jaswant rose to become a nine-term

Memberof Parliament andwasat the timetheonlypersontohavesimultaneouslyheldtheportfoliosof theministerorexternalaf-fairsanddefenceinadditiontohavingbeenfinanceminister. He toldme, “Atalji calledme and said, like a commanding officer toone of his company Commanders: ‘You’vedonewell intheforeignministry.Whydon’tyou take charge of finance (whichwas notdoingsowell)?’” Jaswantsaid,“Idid,butdidnot like it”.Whenheheld both thedefenceandforeignministries,herecountedhowasadefenceminister, as recommended, “I re-

jectedtheextensionof thetermofanofficerpostedinLaosbutasforeignminister, Isanc-tioned his extension”. China-baiter GeorgeFernandes,whohadsteppedasidefromde-fencewhile corruption charges against hisministry were being investigated, becamevery close to Jaswant andwould pass on tohimvintagebrews,presentedtoateetotaler.In those heady days,when Jaswantwas

considered the crown jewel of theVajpayeecabinet,hequietlybegan intellectualisinghislegacy.Hewouldjoke:“Iammovingcloserto7RaceCourseRoad.”Hewas referring tohisshiftingabodes–from14to15to16TeenMurtiLane— the last bungalow in a cul de sac. Adrain, concertina barbedwire and a rovingsniperseparated16TeenMurtiLanefromthePrimeMinister’s stronghold. Sonear andyettoo far—abookhewrote on JinnahbecamethecatalystforhissackingfromtheBJP.Itwastheparty’sbetrayalofafounder-memberandoneofitsgiantthinkers.Ofthe11bookshehaswritten in English (14 others in Dingal andHindi),thefamousthreeareDefendingIndia,ACalltoHonourand IndiaatRisk.Together,theyencapsulatedthecongenitalapathyforsecur-ingthecountry.Adaybeforehepassed away, I reopened

India At Risk (2013) for his touchstone refer-encetoTibet inthechapter, ‘TheRootsofOur

Problems’. He quotes Lt Gen Francis Tuker(1946-47) of theEasternCommand: “India’sprime interest is topreventmilitary occupa-tionbyChina(of thevitalarea)of theTibetanplateau.” Thepresent standoff along the LACstems from ignoring Tuker's warning.Althoughnotmentionedinthebook,Jaswantconfided that as a foreignminister, itwashewhodissuadedthehawksinthecabinetfromattackingPakistanin2002,astheIndianArmywasnotpreparedforawar.ItwasJaswantwhopavedthepathfortheIndia-USstrategicpart-nershipasnaturalalliesthoughthegoingwasnoteasyafterthenucleartests.Tomany, he appeared arrogant, intimi-

dating and the impatient Major sahab buthewas actuallymellowwith a great senseof humour and warmth. Jaswant becamehors de combat in August 2014 after hetrippedoutsidethekitchenofhisTeenMurtiLanehome,lookingforhisJackRusselpuppyandwasadmittedunconscioustotheArmyResearchandReferralHospital.Heremainedcomatoseandwasbroughtbacktothehos-pital in June,where he breathed his last onSunday. The 1954-56 NDA Gang of Four isdownto the lastman.

Thewriter isa retiredMajorGeneralof the IndianArmy

Underneaththeintimidatingfacadewasamellowmanwithagreatsenseofhumour

My friend, Jaswant

AshokKMehta

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SPBalasubrahmanyam’ssongsin‘Shankarabharanamu’wereuplifting—andthetriggerforanenrichingpersonaljourney

Ahmedabad

IN MEMORY OF GANDHIAworkercleansthefurnitureat theSatyagrahaGandhiAshramatPaldi inAhmedabadaheadofGandhi Jayanti.TheSatyagrahaAshramortheKochrabAshramwasthefirstashramsetupbyMahatmaGandhion25May,1915. NirmalHarindran


THEAHMEDABADCyberCrimeCell arrested four persons in-cluding two Vadodara-basedcoaching centre owners andbusted a pan-India network offraudsters producing fake de-greesandmarksheetsandhack-ing into the website of theGujarat Pharmacy Council toplacefakedocumentsforonlineregistrationpurposes.Theaccusedhavebeeniden-

tified as Jaimin Pandya (34),owner of Global Academy tu-ition classes in Vadodara; ViralJaiswal (42), owner of KAPLONEducation Private Limited inVadodara; Manoj alias PinkuChauhan (30), a loan commis-sion agent in Vadodara andMrigank Chaturvedi fromGhaziabad inUttarPradesh.According to police, the four

accusedwererunningaracketofhacking into thewebsite of theGujarat Pharmacy Council andplacingfakemarksheets,degreesandduplicatecertificatesof stu-

dents insidethewebsite for fakeonlineregistrationof students.According to officials of

CyberCrimeCell, theregistrarofthe Gujarat Pharmacy Council,Jashubhai Chaudhary, had sub-mittedacomplaintthatfakede-greesandmarksheetsanddupli-cate registration certificates, byaregisteredpharmacistwiththeGPC,havebeenuploadedonthewebsiteof theGPCby thenameof oneNimeshKumarShah."Usingtechnicalsurveillance,

we held the four accused fromdifferentlocations.Theprimeac-

cused in this racket isMrigankChaturvedi from Ghaziabadwho revealed that he has beeninvolved in several such scamswhereheproducedfakedegreesand certificates and uploadedtheircopiesintowebsitesofuni-versitiesacrossIndiaforfakeon-lineregistrationofstudents.Themodus operandi of this gangwas that coaching centre run-ners Jaimin Pandya and ViralJaiswalusedtogetcontractsandManojChauhanusedtoprocurefakecertificatesanddegreesandthenChaturvediusedtoupload

them on thewebsites by hack-ingintothem,"saidAmitVasava,deputycommissionerofpolice,AhmedabadCyberCrimeCell.All four accused have been

held under Indian penal codesections 406 (Criminal breachof trust), 420 (Fraud), 465(Forgery), 466 (Forgery of pub-lic registar), 467 (Forgery ofvaluablesecurity),468(Forgeryfor purpose of cheating), 469(Forgery for harming reputa-tion) alongwith sectionsof theInformation TechnologyAmendmentAct.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,SEPTEMBER30

STATE DIRECTOR General ofPolice Ashish Bhatia handedover the suicidal death case ofco-operative society leaderDurlabhPatel,whichwasbeinginvestigated by the Surat RuralPolice, to Surat city CrimeBranch,onTuesday.The order was signed by

DGP, law and order, NarsimhaKomar. The order stated thatthe Surat police commissionershould send the status reportof the case after taking overthe investigation from SuratRural Police.The development in the in-

vestigation shouldbe reportedto the DGP’s office after every15 days, the order said.Surat Rural Police had

formed a special investigationteam headed by DeputySuperintendent of Police R NSolankitoprobeintothesuicidaldeath incident.DurlabhPatelhadendedhis

life at his Jalaram stone quarryat Kinjoroli village in MandvitalukaonSeptember7. Thede-ceasedhadleftapurportedsui-cidenotementioningnamesoften accused including PoliceInspector of Rander police sta-tionLPBodana, threeotherpo-licemen, a journalist, and sev-eralbuilderscumbrokers,whowereallegedlyharassinghimtosign the documents regardinga land deal.Apoliceofficeroncondition

of anonymity said, “The inves-tigation is being handed overto the Surat city Crime Branchbecause all the accused andthe complainant are residentsof Surat city and the disputedland also lies in the Surat citypolice limit.”Mandvi police had regis-

tered offence under IPC sec-tions 306 (abetment of sui-cide), 506 (2) ( criminalintimidation) and 114, againstthe ten accused and others.Police had till date arrested

suspended Police InspectorLPBodana, threepoliceconsta-bles Ajay Bopala, KiransinhParmar andVijay Shinde, jour-nalist Mukesh Kulkarni,builders-cum-brokers RajuBharwad and Bhavesh Sawani,while three other accused arestill absconding.

Surat citypolice to probe‘suicide’ byco-operativesociety leader

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

ADAYafterBeijinghardened itspositionandsaidthatitdoesnotrecognise theUnionTerritoryofLadakh and is opposed to theconstruction of Indian infra-structure there, Indian andChinesediplomatsmetthroughvirtualmodeandNewDelhisaidthatthetwosidesshould“avoidmisunderstandings andmain-tainstabilityon theground”.As theWorkingMechanism

for Consultation andCoordination on India-ChinaBorder Affairs (WMCC)met forthe fifth time since the borderstandoffbeganinMay,theysaidthatthenextroundof themeet-ing of Senior Commanders“should beheld at an early dateso that both sides canwork to-wardsearlyandcompletedisen-gagementofthetroopsalongtheLAC in accordancewith the ex-isting bilateral agreement andprotocols,andfullyrestorepeaceandtranquility”.After the WMCC meeting,

theMinistry of External Affairssaidthatthetwosides“reviewed

the current situation along theLine of Actual Control (LAC) intheIndia-Chinaborderareasandhad frank and detailed discus-sionsonthedevelopmentssincethelastmeetingoftheWMCCon20August, 2020”.“The two sides attached im-

portance to the meetings be-tween the two DefenceMinisters and the two ForeignMinisters held earlier thismonth.Theyalsonotedthat theagreement between the twoForeignMinistersshouldbesin-cerely implemented to ensuredisengagementatallthefrictionpointsalong theLAC,” it said.In this regard, it said that the

two sides “positively evaluatedthe outcome of the 6th SeniorCommanders meeting on 21September. They emphasizedtheneedtoimplementthestepsoutlinedinthejointpressreleaseissued after the lastmeeting ofthe senior commanders soas toavoidmisunderstandingsandtomaintainstabilityontheground.In this context, the need tostrengthencommunication, es-pecially between the groundcommanders, was emphasizedbybothsides.”

TheMEAstatementalsosaidthat both sides agreed to con-tinue tomaintain close consul-tations at the diplomatic andmilitary level. In this regard,“theyagreed that thenext (7th)round of themeeting of SeniorCommanders should be held atan early date so that both sidescan work towards early andcompletedisengagementof thetroops along the LAC in accor-dancewiththeexistingbilateralagreement and protocols, and

fullyrestorepeaceandtranquil-ity,” thestatement said.At the 19th meeting of the

WMCC on Wednesday, theIndian delegation was led byJoint Secretary (East Asia) fromtheMinistry of External Affairs.The Director General of theBoundary and OceanicDepartment of the ChineseMinistry of Foreign Affairs ledtheChinesedelegation.Joint Secretary in the MEA

Naveen Srivastava, who led theIndian delegation, was part ofthe last Corps Commandersmeeting inMoldo lastweek.Pushing its old claim line in

Ladakh and hardening its posi-tion on the situation there,Beijing had on Tuesday said itdoes not recognise the UnionTerritory of Ladakh and is op-posed to the construction ofIndian infrastructure there.New Delhi had reacted

sharply, saying it has “neveraccepted the so-called unilat-erally defined 1959 Line ofActual Control”, and that it is“untenable”.Thisexchangecomesaweek

aftertheirmilitarycommandersmet at Moldo following the

Moscow agreement betweenthe foreign ministers to dialdowntensionsalong theLAC.Beijing’s commentsnoware

contrary to thespiritof thecon-versation between ExternalAffairsMinisterSJaishankarandChinese ForeignMinisterWangYi on September 10. China’shardening of positionwas alsoreflectedinastatementinwhichitsaidthatitabidesbytheLACasproposedbyPremierZhouEnlaito Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru in a letter datedNovember7,1959.In New Delhi, the MEA re-

spondedtothisstatement.“Indiahasneveracceptedtheso-calledunilaterallydefined1959LineofActual Control (LAC). This posi-tionhasbeenconsistentandwellknown,includingtotheChineseside,”MEAspokespersonAnuragSrivastavasaidonTuesday.TheIndianresponse,sharpin

tone and tenor, after the sixthround of Corps Commander-level talks, which was also at-tendedbyasenior Indiandiplo-mat who leads the WMCC,signals that the two sides havehardened their positions diplo-maticallyaswell.

212DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATES

TOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Andhra

■TamilNadu

■UttarPradesh

■Delhi

7 DAYS EARLIER:

1.59NOW:

1.57

7 DAYS EARLIER:

8.52NOW:

8.39

DETECTED TODAY

80,472RECOVERED TODAY:

86,428

TOTAL

CASES

13,66,129

6,87,351

5,91,943

3,94,856

2,76,325

DOUBLING

TIME**

52.90

69.19

73.06

62.74

56.98

SURGEIN

24HOURS

14,976

6,190

5,546

3,981

3,227

7-DAYAVG

GROWTH*

1.36%

1.04%

0.99%

1.15%

1.26%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:62,25,763TESTS: 7,41,96,729| DOUBLING RATE: 51.20**

RECOVERED:51,87,825DEATHS:97,497

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

DataasonSeptember29, releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers

includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch, trendsbasedondailynumbersare indicative,notdefinitive

CASE FATALITY RATIO

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

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

INDIANANDChinesediplomatssatdownonWednesdayandheldtalks.While there isnoheadwayintheborderstandoff, thesituationonthegroundhasnotesca-latedyet.Keywillbetocontinuewiththenon-escalationandthenmovetowardsde-escalation.

Noheadway,

butno

escalationE●EXPLAIN

ED

India-China diplomaticmeet: Focusonmaintaining stability on ground

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

Atatimewhenthefinancial im-pact of the Covid-19 pandemichasforcedthegovernmenttocutcosts on multiple fronts, a Rs500-crore plan by the IndianRailwaystorefurbishitscoacheswithmoderninteriorshasraisedinternal red flags.Asper aSeptember18order

oftheRailwayBoardseenbyTheIndian Express, work was dis-tributed among seven zonalRailway divisions and theModern Coach Factory,Raebareli, to refurbish 1,000Linke Hoffmann Busch coacheswith “modern interior furnish-ing items” comparable withHumsafar and Tejas ExpresscoachesatacostofRs50lakhpercoach.Similarly,anorderwasis-suedonSeptember20for“anti-graffiti” painting inside 10,000coaches,thecostofwhichcomestoRs33,000percoach.The Railways, according to

sources, isfacinganinternalrev-enuebudget shortfall of aroundRs 60,000 crore on account ofthepandemicby theendof thisfiscal.Withindaysof thefirstor-derbeingissued,atleasttwode-partmentsof theRailwayBoard,raisedredflagsabouttheprojecton account of its timing aswellas cost, it is learnt.

FULLREPORTON



EXPRESSNETWORK


Rlys plannedRs 500 crspend on‘modernfurnishing’

Ghaziabad man, 3 others held in ‘fake degrees racket’

Cinemas to open,states can take callon schools: moreunlockdown

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

FORMER MAHARASHTRA CMDevendraFadnavishasbeenmadeelection in-charge for theBJP inBihar.Fadnavisandgeneralsecre-tary in-chargeBhupenderYadavwill lead theBJP’s electioneeringprocess in the state aheadof theOctober-Novemberelections.Announcing Fadnavis’s ap-

pointment, Yadav said thepartywill soon take a call on seat divi-sion, which has become a con-tentious issue with Ram VilasPaswan’sLokJanshaktiPartyput-ting pressure on the BJP over itsshareof seats. “Wewill soon talk

totheLJPandJD(U),”hesaid.Yadav and Fadnavis had

workedtogetherfortheMaharas-htra elections, andparty leaderssaid the leadershipwanted theduo towork together. Fadnavis,whoreportedlyenjoystheconfi-denceofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi,was roped in by thepartyforBihar after theBJPdecided tomake the Sushant SinghRajputdeath case an issue in the stateelections. Fadnavis has attended

the Bihar BJP core committeemeetings inwhich thepoll strat-egywasdiscussed.Over the past few weeks,

Fadnavishasbeenparticipatingintheparty’s internalmeetings onBihar polls and even visited thestateafewtimes.Hispositionwasmade official on Wednesdayevening after BJP chief J PNaddaheld talks with leaders of theparty’sBiharunit.AfterameetingofBJPleaders,

including Nadda and HomeMinisterAmitShahbesideslead-ers from Bihar, Yadav told re-porters that talkswith allies onseat-sharingwillbecompletedinacoupleofdays.“A lot of developmentwork

has happened in Bihar and theNDAwill fight the polls on thebasis of this under the leader-ship of Chief Minister NitishKumar. The BJP, JD(U) and theLJP will fight the polls stronglyalong with Jitan RamManjhi,who has joined hands withJD(U), and will form govern-ment againwith a three/fourthmajority,” he said.LJP’sChiragPaswanhasbeen

demanding 30-plus seats inBihar, and is under pressurefromhispartytogoitaloneandcontest 143 seats in the 243-member Assembly. Sourcessaid the BJP wants to fight thesame number of seats as theJD(U), and the party has sug-gestedthat itwouldfieldcandi-dates inat least110constituen-cies. However, the JD(U), thebiggerpartner inthealliancesofar, reportedlywants tocontestat least one seatmore than theBJP to retain its supremacy inthe coalition.

DECISION2020BIHAR

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,SEPTEMBER30

WHILETHEBJP is tryinghard toretaintheLJPintheNDAforitspo-tential to consolidate ScheduledCaste votes,with the support offormer CM Jitan RamManjhi’sHindustani Awam Morcha(Secular), other political partiesarealsotakingseveralstepswithaneyeonDalitvotes.After the JD(U) appointed SC

leader Ashok Choudhary as theparty’sworkingstatepresidentasstatepresidentBashisthaNarayanSinghwas unwell, the RJDwasprompt towelcome RLSP statepresident BhudeoChoudhary toits foldandmakehimtheparty’sstatevicepresident.WhenformerministersShyamRajakandRamaiRam and former AssemblySpeaker Uday NarayanChoudhary left the JD(U) forRJD,theformertriedtocompensatebygettingManjhiintheNDAfold.Twoallianceshave alsobeen

stitched togetherwith aneyeonDalit votes. RLSP chief UpendraKushwaha,whorecentlysevered

ties with the Grand Alliance,Tuesday forged an alliancewithBSP that has influence inGopalganj, Rohtas and KaimurborderingUttar Pradesh—BSPhad won six seats in the 2005FebruaryAssemblypolls.The JanAdhikar Party of for-

mer Madhepura MP RajeshRanjan(PappuYadav)announcedits tie-upwith Chandrashekhar

Azad’sAzadSamajParty.TheBJP is also trying aggres-

sively to play its Dalit card. ThepartymadeformerGopalganjMPJanakChamaritsstategeneralsec-retary, a position given to aDalitleaderafter20years.Thepartylastweek included Guru Prakashamongits23nationalspokesper-sons.Prakash,anassistantprofes-sor at Patna University with astrongABVPandRSSbackground,isthesonof formerUnionminis-terandMLCSanjayPaswan.SCsform16percentofBihar’s

population with Ravidas andPaswan being the major con-stituents.EventhoughBiharCMNitish Kumar has tried hard tocultivate the SC constituencybyannouncingthenomenclatureofMahadalits and starting overone-and-a-half dozenwelfareprogrammes, no single politicalparty can claim themaximumchunk of Dalit votes. WhileRavidasvoteshaveremaineddi-vided between Congress, NDA,RJDandBSP,mostofthePaswanskept shifting preferences as perthe alliance choice of their na-tional leaderRamVilasPaswan.

In Bihar, alliances try to outdo eachother for larger share of Dalit votes

BJP stresses NDA unity; call on seats soon

Vadodara: A day after threeworkerswerekilledinacollapseof an underconstruction build-ing in Bawamanpura area ofVadodara, the city police onWednesday detained the con-tractorhiredbytheowneroftheproperty for further probe. Thefamily of the three workers —whowererelated—hasclaimedthat the contractor used sub-standard quality constructionmaterial, leadingtothecollapse.Whilethefamilyacceptedthe

bodiesofthethreedeceasedafter24hours, theprimaryprobehasindicatedthattheownerhadnotsoughtpermissionfromtheVMCfor the reconstruction. The con-tractor,MohammadMahirMiya,has beenbooked for negligenceand culpable homicide notamountingtomurder.Apolice official said, "Weare

lookingintotheclaimsofthefam-ily. The contractorhas, so far, notbeenabletoprovideanylettersofpermissionor clearances for thisconstruction.Wewillformallyar-resthimaftertheprobe." ENS

Contractorof collapsedbuilding held

Chief ElectionCommissionerSunilAroraaheadofameetingwithpoliticalpartiesontheBiharelections,Wednesday. PTI

ECREMOVES EXCISECOMMISSIONER

Patna:Theofficeof theChiefElectoral Officer in Bihar onWednesdayremovedtheex-cisecommissioner.Inastate-ment, Chief ElectoralOfficerH R Srinivasa said, “ElectionCommissionhas removedBKartikey Dhanji, IAS, frompostofexcisecommissionerwith immediate effect fornon-presentationofeffectiveaction plan for preventivemeasuresandgrosslyinade-quatepreparedness…” ENS

DIPANKARGHOSENEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER30

STATESANDUnionTerritoriescantake a decision on whether toopen schools fromOctober 15;cinemasandmultiplexeswill beallowedtoopenwith50percentcapacityfromthesamedate;lim-its on outdoor gatherings havebeen removed while indoorsgatheringswill be allowedwith50per cent capacity— there areamong the new unlockdownguidelinesissuedbytheMinistryof HomeAffairs onWednesdayevening.The guidelines,which are to

comeintoeffectfromOctober15,also say PhDandpost-graduatestudents of science and technol-ogystreams—thosethatmayre-quirelaboratorywork—canopen,while a decision to open all col-leges “may be taken” by theDepartmentofHigherEducationin consultationwith theHomeMinistry.TheMHAhasrelaxedlimitson

gatherings,bothoutdoorand in-door. “Now State/UTGovernments have been giventheflexibilitytopermitsuchgath-erings beyond the limit of 100persons outside ContainmentZones, after 15thOctober 2020”,theMHAsaid.Thecaveat,however,isthatfor

indoorspaces,thegatheringcan'texceed50percentof thehall ca-pacityor200people.Foroutdoorevents,theguidelinessaythatthesizeofthegroundmustbekeptinmind, though theMHAhas notmandatedaceiling.Inbothcases,the guidelines prescribemasks,

socialdistancingandotherCovidprotocol.Thenewunlockdownnorms

meanthattheonlythingthatre-mainscompletelybarred(outsidecontainment zones) are interna-tional flights, except "whenper-mittedbytheMHA".Indiaalreadyhasairbubblearrangementswith13countries.Business to business exhibi-

tionsareallowed,too,andswim-ming pools "being used forsportspersons"arealsopermittedto open, as are entertainmentparks.Allof thesewillhaveSOPsissued by their governingmin-istries andwill be permitted toopenfromOctober15.Onthere-openingofschools,

the MHA said "State/ UTGovernments have been giventheflexibilitytotakeadecisionaf-ter15thOctober2020,inagradedmanner."Thedecisionwill be taken in

consultationwith the respectiveschool/institutionmanagement,basedontheirassessmentof thesituation.However, theministrysaidonlinelearningshallcontinueto be the "preferred" mode ofteaching and shall be "encour-aged."Whereschoolsareconduct-

ingonlineclasses, andsomestu-dents prefer to attend onlineclasses rather thanphysically at-tendschool,theymaybepermit-tedtodoso.Studentsmayattendschools/institutionsonlywiththewritten consent of parents.Attendancemustnotbeenforced,and must depend entirely onparentalconsent...,"theMHAsaid.

FULLREPORTON


VADODARA

Ahmedabad


THEBABRIVERDICTCBISpecialCourt


EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER30

CHIEF MINISTER Yogi Adityanath onWednesdaywelcomedthe judgment in theBabridemolitioncaseandsaid itwasa“vic-toryof truth”.Allegingthataconspiracywashatched by the then Congress governmentto defame sants, and office-bearers of BJP,VHPandotherorganisations,Adityanathalsodemanded that those responsible shouldnowapologise to thepublic.“Satyamev Jayate, keanuroopsatyaki jeet

hui hai,” said Adityanath in a statement. Hesaid that the verdict hasmade it clear thatthethenCongressgovernmenthad“framedand defamed” respected sants, BJP leaders

and office-bearers ofthe Vishwa HinduParishadinfalsecasesdue to its (the thengovernment’s) “polit-icalprejudiceandvotebankpolitics”.“Is shadyantra ke

liye jimmedar desh kijanta se maafi mange(Thoseresponsibleforthisconspiracyshouldapologise to the pub-lic of the country)”saidAdityanath.

After the verdict, Adityanath also spoketo senior BJP leaders L K Advani andMurliManohar Joshiover thephone.Adityanath’ssentimentswereechoedby

ChiefMinistersof otherBJP-ruledstates, in-cluding Gujarat counterpart Vijay RupaniandKarnatakaCMBSYediyurappa.“The court’s observation that the inci-

dent was not pre-planned is a victory oftruth,” Yediyurappa told reporters inBengaluru.“All of themhave been acquitted by the

court. Iwelcomethisjudgement.Ultimately,truth emerged victorious,” Rupani said in astatement.

Congress mustapologise for itsconspiracy now,says Adityanath

UPCMhailedverdictas‘victoryof truth’

Answer to all accusations: CBI ex-chief whodropped conspiracy charge against AdvaniPRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER30

FORMER CBI director P C Sharma onWednesdaysaidtheacquittalofall32accusedintheBabrimasjiddemolitioncasewasavin-dicationofhisdecisiontodropcriminalcon-spiracychargeagainstthethendeputyprimeministerLKAdvani.“The verdict of the court has brought to

lightwhat I had opined nearly twodecadesback that therewasnocriminal conspiracy,”SharmatoldPTIhereafteraspecialCBIcourtinLucknowannounceditsverdict.Hesaidthatduringhistenure—firstasan

officiatingdirectoroftheCBIandlaterduringhis two-year stint as its chief — he wentthrougheverydetail of thecaseandreached

aconclusionthatnocriminalconspiracycasewasmadeagainstAdvani.“Pursuingthis,anapplicationwasmoved

beforetheRaeBarelicourtinformingitoftheCBI decision in 2003but all hell broke looseandtheagencywasquestionedandevenac-cusedofsidingwiththepoliticalgovernmentof theday,” the formerdirector,who is inhisearly80s,said.A 1966-batch IPS officer of Assamcadre,

Sharma,whohasthedistinctionofbeingthefirstCBIchieftobeelectedasvice-presidentofInterpol, said, “I believe today’s verdict is ananswer to all those accusations and the casehasreachedits finality.”Sharmawas the first CBI director to get

an assured stint of two years following aSupremeCourtrulingonfixingtenureof theagency’s chief.It was only after his appointment for a

fixedtenurethatthegovernmentin2004ini-tiatedtheprocessof fixingatwo-yeartenureforhomesecretary,foreignsecretary,directorof IntelligenceBureauandRAWchief.Delivering the verdict in the 28-year-old

caseearlierintheday,CBIjudgeSKYadavheldthattherewasnoconclusiveproofagainsttheaccused, includingBJPveteransAdvani,MMJoshi,UmaBhartiandKalyanSingh.

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

HAILINGTHEcourt'sdecision,BJPleaderLKAdvani, whowas among the 32 acquitted,said it “vindicated” his and the BJP's “beliefand commitment toward the RamJanmabhoomimovement”.SeniorpartyleaderMurliManoharJoshi,

alsoamongthoseacquitted,saidthisprovedthat “no conspiracy was hatched beforeDecember6,1992 inAyodhya”.“Itisaveryimportantdecisionandamat-

ter of happiness for us.Whenweheard thenewsofthecourt'sorder,wewelcomeditbychanting 'Jai Shri Ram',” Advani said in avideomessage.“I wholeheartedly welcome the judg-

mentbythespecialcourtintheBabriMasjiddemolition case. The judgment vindicatesmy personal and the BJP's belief and com-mitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomimovement,” he said in awritten statementlater.“Ialsofeelblessedthatthisjudgmenthas

come in the footsteps of another landmarkverdict of the Supreme Court given inNovember 2019, which paved theway formy long cherisheddreamof seeing a grandShriRamMandiratAyodhya,”hesaid.

“It's ahistoricdecisionby thecourt. Thisprovesthatnoconspiracywashatched...Ourprogrammeandrallieswerenotpartof anyconspiracy.Weare happy, everyone shouldnowbeexcitedabouttheconstructionoftheRamMandir,” said Joshi.Joshithankedhislegalteam,partywork-

ersand“allthose,whothroughtheirselflessinvolvementandsacrificesgavemestrengthand support during the Ayodhya move-

ment.”Hesaidhenowlookedforwardtothecompletionof theRamMandiratAyodhya.Welcoming the court's decision, RSS

leaderSureshBhaiyyaji Joshi said ina state-ment:“After thisdecision,all sectionsof so-ciety should come together with mutualtrust andharmony to face the challenges ofthenationsuccessfully,andsteer thenationonthepathof progress.”“Wewereframedbythethenauthorities,

three-fourdaysafter the incident.Thecourthas said that it was not pre-planned. Therewere hundreds of angry volunteers inAyodhya that day. They had somuch fire inthemthattheywentaheadandpulleddownthe domes,” Lallu Singh, BJP MP fromFaizabad and among those acquitted, toldThe IndianExpress.“The leaders, including Ashok Singhalji,

were trying to stop them. But they had fireinsidethem.Theleadershadnoroleinit.Butthe authorities, for their political purpose,framedthecharges. Thecourthasgiven theright verdict, which has re-confirmed thepeople's faith in the judiciary,” Singhsaid.Asked about the Liberhan Commission

report that held several BJP leaders respon-sibleforthedemolitionofthemosque,Singhsaid:“Thatreporthadmalafideintentions.Itwas influencedby the thenpolitical leader-ship.”

Congress, TMC, Left slam order;some Opposition parties silentEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,KOLKATA,MUMBAI,SEPTEMBER30

SEVERALOPPOSITIONparties including theCongress, TMC and Left slammedWednesday’sverdictacquittingall32accusedintheBabriMasjiddemolitionconspiracycase,and called for appeal. However, someOppositionparties, especially fromtheHindibelt,maintainedsilenceonthematter.“Thedecisionofthespecialcourttoacquit

alltheaccusedintheBabriMasjiddemolitioncaserunscountertoSupremeCourtjudgmentas also theConstitutional spirit. The SC in itsjudgment dated November 9, 2019 pro-nouncedbyfivejudgesclearlyhelddemolitionof BabriMasjid as a clear illegality and ‘egre-giousviolationof theruleof law’.Butthespe-cialcourtexoneratedalltheaccused,”Congresscommunication department in chargeRandeepSurjewalasaid.While senior Congress leaders Rahul

Gandhi and PriyankaGandhi Vadra did notcomment,Surjewalasaidthe“entirecountry(had)witnessedadeep-rootedpolitical con-spiracy byBJP-RSS and its leaders todestroythe country’s communal amity andbrother-hoodforusurpingpoweratanycost”.“Every Indian,whohas innate faith in the

Constitutionasalsointhespiritofcommunalamityandbrotherhood,expectsandurgesthecentralandstategovernmentstofileanappealagainstthedecisionof thespecialcourt…”TheTMCtermedtheverdictdisappointing.

“Amasjid is themarkof thecountry’s secularfabric. Itwas demolished in thepresence ofthousandsofpeople...Thecourtsaiditwasnotpre-planned,” TMCMPSougataRoysaid. “Allverdicts inthecourtof lawaregoinginfavourof theBJP-ledcentralgovernment... IhopetheMuslimpersonalboardappeals.”TheCPMandCPIsaidtheverdictamounts

to a “travesty of justice”.While theCPMsaidthejudgmentwill“blemishtheimageofIndiaasasecular-democraticcountrygovernedby

theConstitution”andaskedtheCBItoappealagainstit,CPIgeneralsecretaryDRajasaidtheverdict isan“assaultonthe functioningof anindependentinstitutionastheSupremeCourthasearlier inaverdicttermedthedemolitionasanillegalandcriminalact”.Calling it “obnoxious”, AIMIM chief

AsaduddinOwaisi said the judgment “satis-fies the collective consciousness of Hindutvaanditsfollowers”.TheIUMLtermeditas“un-fortunate”, andDMKchiefMKStalin allegedtheCBIfailedtoactfairly.WhiletheNCPsaidtheverdictwasonex-

pected lines, Shiv Sena lauded it. “The entirecountry and allHinduswerehoping for thisverdict,”saidSenaMPSanjayRaut.MaharashtraNCPministerNawabMalik

said,“Therewerephotostakenandvideoscap-tured.ThereiscontentavailableonYouTube.Butthecourthasgivenitsverdictandwerespectit.”OtherOppositionparties,especiallythose

fromtheHindiheartland,maintainedsilence.SP’sAkhileshYadav,BSP’sMayawatiandRJD’sTejashwiYadav took to Twitter to attack theUPgovernmentovertheHathrasincidentbutdidnotcommentontheBabriverdict.Tejashwi’ssilenceismoreintriguinggiven

thefactthatitwashisfatherLaluPrasadwho,asBiharCM,had stoppedAdvani’s rathyatrainOctober1990andorderedhisarrest.

WITHINPUTSFROMPTI

Vindicated, say accused; Opp toned down

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER30

SPECIAL JUDGE Surendra Kumar Yadav,who pronounced the verdict in the BabriMasjiddemolitioncaseonWednesday,hasbeen presiding over the trial since August25, 2015, four months after being trans-ferred to Lucknow fromGorakhpur.He also held the charge of district and

sessions judge of Lucknow in 2018 whilehearing theBabri demolition case.In the light of a SupremeCourt order of

April 19, 2017, that there shall be no trans-fer of the judge conducting a trial until theentire trial concludes, Judge SurendraKumar Yadav presided over the Babri trialafterhis retirementdateonSeptember30,2019.Thestategovernmentgavehimthree

extensionsofninemonths, twomonthsandonemonth.ThethirdextensionwillendonSeptember 30.Hailing from UP’s Jaunpur district,

SurendraKumar joined judicial services in1990 as Additional Munsif in Faizabad. Hejoined higher judicial services in 2008. Hewas posted in various places includingHardoi,Sultanpur,Etawah,Faizabad,Unnao,Gorakhpur and Lucknow.

SurendraKumarYadav

Special judge presided over trialsince 2015, got 3 extensions

FormerCBIdirectorPCSharma

AsaduddinOwaisi: satisfiescollectiveconscienceofHindutvaanditsfollowers;DRaja:assaultonfunctioningof independent institution

BJPFaizabadMPLalluSinghoutsidethecourt inLucknow.Vishal Srivastav

(Clockwise fromabove)SadhviRitambhara, formerBJPMPRamVilasVedantionwaytothecourt inLucknow;MurliManohar Joshiathisresidence inNewDelhi;VinayKatiyarleaves thecourtpremises

Advani underlines ‘BJP belief’;proves no conspiracy, says Joshi

PTI

ANI

Vishal Srivastav

Vishal Srivastav

T R A C K I N G T H E D I S P U T E

1528:BabriMasjidbuiltbyMirBaqi,commanderofMughalemperorBabur.1885:MahantRaghubirDas filespleainFaizabaddistrictcourtseekingpermissiontobuildacanopyoutsidethedisputedstructure.Court rejectstheplea.1949: IdolsofRamLallaplacedundercentraldomeoutsidethedisputedstructure.1950:GopalSimlaVisharadfilessuitinFaizabaddistrictcourt forright toworshipthe idolsofRamLalla.ParamahansaRamachandraDas filessuit forcontinuationofworshipandkeepingthe idols.1959:NirmohiAkhara filessuitseekingpossessionof thesite.1961:UPSunniCentralWaqfBoardfilessuit forpossessionof thesite.FEB1986:Localcourtorders thegovernmenttoopenthesite toHinduworshippers.AUG1989:AllahabadHCordersstatusquoinrespectofdisputedstructure.

DEC6,1992:BabriMasjiddemolished.DEC1992:TwoFIRs filed inthecase.Oneagainstunknownkarsevaks fordemolitionof themosque.Theother

namesBJP leadersLKAdvani,MMJoshiandothers forallegedlygivingcommunalspeechesbeforethedemolition.OCT1993:CBI filescompositecharge

sheetaccusingAdvaniandothersofconspiracy.MAY2001:SpecialCBIcourtdropsproceedingsagainstAdvani, Joshi,UmaBharti,BalThackerayandothers.NOV2004:CBIchallengesbeforetheLucknowbenchofAllahabadHighCourt thedroppingofproceedingsagainstBJP leadersontechnicalgrounds.Court issuesnotices.MAY2010:Highcourtdismissesplea.Saysnomerit inCBI’srevisionpetition.SEP2010: Ina2:1majority,HCrulesthree-waydivisionofdisputedareabetweenSunniWaqfBoard,NirmohiAkharaandRamLalla.MAY2011:SCstaysHCverdictonAyodhya landdispute.FEB2011:CBImovesSupremeCourtagainsthighcourtorder inthemosquedemolitioncase.MAR2017:SC indicates itmayconsiderrevivingconspiracychargeagainst theBJP leaders inBabriMasjiddemolitioncase.

■SCsuggests freshattempts toresolveAyodhyadispute.■Apr:SCfavours time-boundcompletionof trial in thecaseandreservesorderonCBI’splea.■SCrestorescriminalconspiracychargeagainst leaders includingAdvani, JoshiandUmaBhartiandclubsthetrials inthematterspendingagainstVIPsandkarsevaks.NOV2019:SCgrantsentiredisputedlandinAyodhyatodeityRamLalla,directsgovt toallotanalternativefive-acreplot toMuslimstobuildmosque.AUG2020:PMNarendraModiconducts ‘bhoomipujan’ inAyodhya,launchesconstructionofRamtemple.■SupremeCourtextendsbyamonththedeadlineforcompletionof trial intheBabriMasjiddemolitioncase.SEP30:Special JudgeSKYadavdelivers judgment inthemosquedemolitioncase,all accusedacquitted. ENS

VHPleaderAshokSinghalwithBJPleadersUmaBharti,LKAdvani,MurliManoharJoshiandVinayKatiyaraftertheirarrival inDelhi.ExpressArchive/RKDayal

Ahmedabad


EXPRESSNETWORK


JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

EVERYTIMEhegoes to the localstore, the 50-year-old says, theshopkeepertellshimtostandata distance and chuckswhat hehas purchased. Upper castesabusingthemissocommonthatthey no longer feel the sting, headds.The silence of the Dalits has

another reason. In the village inHathras district, where a 19-year-old Dalit womanwas bat-tered and allegedly gangrapedbyfouruppercastemen,leadingto her death, Valmiki familiesnumberjustabout15.Outof the600-oddfamilies,nearlyhalfareThakur, and Brahmins another100-odd.Thecremationgroundsfor them are separate, they arenot allowed into the local tem-ple, and the officials startingfrom the local school are uppercastes, theDalits say.And, while the teenager’s

brutal assault has become na-

tional news, the families, all ofwhom The Indian Express spoketo,don'texpectthingstochange.Instead, they fear a backlashonce the media attention hasmoved away. Only a few ownland, andmost of themwork aslabourers in the farms of uppercastes.The 19-year-old’s mother

says that none of their neigh-bours,mostofthemThakursandBrahmins, hadpaid avisit to of-fercondolences.“Wecollectfod-der from their farms. Wethought they would come atleastonce."One of the teeanger’s aunts

said they were shocked at theway shewas cremated. "I havedaughterstoo...Thepolicewouldnever have done this if thewomanwasaThakur.”A 25-year-old woman re-

calledhowonherweddingday,herpalanquinwasn'tallowedtotake themain road. “My familyhad to take the long route. Iwantedtocry,butmyfamilysaidthiswas normal andwe should

learn tocompromise.”In death too, they face dis-

crimination, said anotherwoman.Whenhermotherdied,they wanted to keep the bodyoutsideforsometime.“Wehaveasmallhouse.Buttheydidn't letus.Mysistercalmedmedown,”she said, adding, “They don’teven look at us; they don’t careifwedieorget raped.”The incident with the

teenager has also renewed thefear of the families that nothingmight change for their children.“I have two sons aged 10 and 5.TheygotoagovernmentschoolinHathras.Theyoftencomplainthattheirclassmatesdon’tspeakto them becausewe are Dalits,‘untouchables’. I want them tostudy, leave this village. Theyshouldn’t be forced to do thesameworkastheirparents,theydeservebetter.Butwhatcanwedo?Theteachers,police,admin-istration—everyone is either aBrahmin or a Thakur,” said afarmer.Theschoolofficialsrefusedto

commentontheallegations.Awoman said they can't go

to the local panchayat either.“How do you expect to resolveourissuesifyoudon’tevenallowusintomeetings?Theytellustogohomeifwetry toattend.”The village pradhan, how-

ever, denied any caste tension.Saying those who alleged sowere“lying”,heclaimedthatthepanchayatwasfor“everyone”.“Ican’t speak for all but I haven’twitnessedanysuchacts. I speakto people irrespective of theircaste and listen to their com-plaints...Thisisapeacefulplace.”Aboutwhathadhappenedto

the 19-year-old, the pradhansaid,“Themencanalsobeinno-cent. I understand that the fam-ily is hurt, but they shouldwaitfortheinvestigationstobecom-pletebeforemakingallegations.”At the woman’s home

though,hopeisdying,muchliketheembersonherpyre.Hersis-ter-in-law,whom shewas clos-est to,wails, “WeareDalits, andthat isour sin.”

AVANEESHMISHRA&MANOJCGLUCKNOW,NEWDELHI,

SEPTEMBER30

AMIDWIDESPREADoutrageoverthedeathofthe19-year-oldDalitwoman,whowasallegedly gan-grapedby four upper castemeninUP’sHathras, Oppositionpar-ties held protests in the stateagainst the lawandorder situa-tion anddemanded the resigna-tion of Chief Minister YogiAdityanath for the “delay” in re-spondingtotheincident.The Opposition parties, in-

cludingtheCongress,SP,BSPandAAP,alsotargetedthegovernmentforthealleged“forcedcremation”of thevictim.Inavideostatement,Congress

chiefSoniaGandhisaidthere“wasanattempt tohushup theentirecase”. Party general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra ques-tioned theChiefMinister's delayinrespondingtotheincidentanddemanded his resignation. Theparty’sstatechief,AjayLallu,saidprotestswereheld inseveraldis-tricts, including Lucknow,Shahjahanpur,Muzaffarnagar,Shamli, Bahraich, Pratapgarh,GorakhpurandPrayagraj.SP spokesperson Rajendra

Chaudhary said his party heldprotests in different parts of thestate demanding justice for thevictim,andthatadelegationwillvisit her village Thursday. BSPchief Mayawati slammed UPPolicefornothandingoverthevic-tim’sbodytothefamily.“Isitacrimetobeagirl?What

was the Uttar Pradesh govern-mentdoing?Forweeks,itdidnothearthecriesforjusticeof theaf-fected family. Therewas an at-tempttohushuptheentirecase.Thegirldidnotgettimelymedicaltreatment and today adaughterhas left us… the braveheart ofHathrasdidnotdie.Shewaskilledbecauseof negligencebya ruth-less Uttar Pradesh governmentanditsadministration,”saidSonia.“Whenshewasalive, shedidnotgetjustice,shewasnotprotected.After her death... she was nothandedovertoherfamily.Adev-astatedmotherwasnot allowedtoseeherdaughteronelasttime...whatkindofjusticeisthis?Whatkindofgovernmentisthis?”

“The incident took place onSeptember14,todayisSeptember30,andtheCMhasspokenontheincidentforthefirsttime.Thegirlfaced a barbaric attack... it wassuchabig incidentand it took15days for him to speak. Andwhatdoeshesayinhisstatement—thatthePMhascalledhimandhehassetupanSIT,”Vadrasaid.“Were you waiting for the

PrimeMinister’sphonecall?Whydidn’t you do anything for 15days?Thegirl...wasnottakentoagoodhospital.ShewasbroughttoDelhi the day before yesterdaynight. Andwhatwas the treat-mentmeted out to her family?Theywerenotallowedtotakeherbody to her home for one lasttime.Herfathercouldnotlightherfuneralpyre.Theywerelockedupinaroom.Yourgovernment issoinhumane,”shesaid.Vadrasaidthat“insteadofpro-

tectingthevictimandherfamily,your government became com-plicitindeprivingherofeverysin-gle human right, even in death.Youhavenomoral right to con-tinueasChiefMinister”.Congresswomen’swingchief

SushmitaDevdemanded an in-quiryintothe“grossandcriminalnegligence”oftheChiefMinister.Lallu claimed hewas detainedalong with around 150 partymembers as theyweremovingtowardstheCM’sresidencetode-mandhisresignation.BSP chiefMayawati tweeted

Wednesday: “The latenight cre-mation... sparks suspicion andanger among people. The BSPcondemns the standof police inthismatter. Itwould be better ifthe Supreme Court takes suomotu cognizance of thematterandtakesproperaction.”AAP'sRajyaSabhaMPandUP

in-charge, Sanjay Singh, ques-tionedUPPoliceoverapurportedvideo of a policeman telling thevictim’s family that there hadbeen somemistakes from theirside,too.“Wearedisgustedbythisgovernment. You forcefully cre-mated that girlwithout theper-mission of her family... You cre-matedherwithoutHindurituals,”Singhsaidinavideostatement.Singh also questioned

Mayawati,whohaddescribedthedeathas“saddening”,andallegedthat she was unable to “speakfreelyagainstthisgovernment”.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

A 70-YEAR-OLD retired BSFdeputyinspectorgeneraldiedinthe upper reaches of HimachalPradeshwhile leadingateamto“explore the shortest route toChina border”, officials said onWednesday.The retired officer, S C Negi,

had commanded a BorderSecurityForce (BSF)battalion inKargil during the 1999war be-tween India and Pakistan, andhadretiredin2010afterputtingin33yearsof service.“Hetookhislastbreathinthe

mountainforthecauseofthena-tionwhenhewaswillinglylead-ingarecce(reconnaissance)and

surveyteamofasecurityforcetoexploreashortestroutetoChinaborderinHimachalPradesh,”theBSFsaid inastatement. “Hewasadvisedbyhisfamilyagainstthetripashebeing70-years-old,buthesaid itwillbehis last trip.”BSFdidnotidentifytheteam

that theofficerwas leading.However, sources in the

Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP)saidtheretiredofficerwasrescued by a patrol party of theforce on Tuesday from the re-mote Nishangaon area ofKinnaurdistrictalongtheLineofActualControl(LAC)withChina.Theofficerwasseenlyingin-

jured by the ITBP patrol and hehad sufferedmultiple fractures.Hediedwhilehewasbeingcar-riedby ITBP troops, theysaid.

‘WeareDalits, that’s our sin...Wewantour children to leave’


AROUND 130 people were de-tained from outside the UttarPradeshBhavanonWednesdayduring two separate protestsagainstthedeathof the19-year-old fromHathras. Two separateFIRswereregisteredagainst theprotesters at Chanakyapuri po-lice station.Whileoneprotestwasorgan-

isedbyLeftwomenandstudentorganisations, the Indian YouthCongress and Delhi MahilaCongressheldtheotherprotest.“Today around 11.30 am,

members of different parties

(Left) tried to reach UP Bhavan,SPMarg, to stage a protest de-mandingharshpunishment foraccusedpersonsinHathrasgan-grapecase.A totalof 80personswere detained and removedfrom the spot,” said DCP, NewDelhi, EishSinghal.“As the protestors have vio-

latedOrderu/s144CrPCinforceandother lawsregardingCovid-19,FIRu/s188IPC,3EpidemicAct

& 51(b) Disaster ManagementAct has been registered againsttheprotesters,”hesaid.Singhalsaidtheotherprotest

was led by Delhi MahilaCongress president AmritaDhawan and IYC presidentSrinivasBV.Fiftypeoplewerede-tained,hesaid.Several protesters from or-

ganisations like the All IndiaDemocratic Women’sAssociation,NationalFederationof Indian Women, All IndiaStudents’Association,Students’Federationof IndiaandAll IndiaDemocratic Students’Organisation were detainedevenbeforetheycouldreachtheprotestvenue.

Oppn protests,says CM mustquit over ‘delay’

HATHRASWOMAN’SDEATH

Policemenat thevictim’svillage,adayafterhercremation.GajendraYadav

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER30

THE MUMBAI Police issued asummons to filmmakerAnuragKashyap to bepresent for ques-tioning on Thursday in connec-tionwitharapecasefiledagainsthim by an actor. Officials fromVersovapolicestationissuedthesummonstoKashyap,wholivesinYariRoad,Andheri (West), onWednesday. The developmentcomes days after the actor ac-cused the police of showing alack of urgency in investigatinghercomplaint.InanFIRregisteredlastweek,

the actor had accused Kashyapof committing rape, outragingher modesty and wrongfullyconfining her. She told policethatthesexualassaulttookplacein2013.The actor also alleged that

Kashyap hadmisbehavedwiththreeotheractors,eachofwhomhave denied her allegations.Kashyaphadissuedastatementa day later denying the charge.While National Commission ofWomen Chairperson RekhaSharma asked the actor to sub-mit a complaint, Kashyap re-ceived support from his col-leagues in the film industry.On September 27, the actor

and her lawyer visited theVersova police station to de-mandaprobeonprioritybasis.

Awomanprotestingagainst theHathras incident isdraggedawaybypoliceat IndiaGate inNewDelhionWednesday.AmitMehra

LALMANIVERMAHARIDWAR,SEPTEMBER30

WITHUTTARAKHAND reopen-ing its borders for tourists andmigrant workers, hundreds oflabourersarebusygivingthesiteof the Kumbh Mela a much-needed facelift.TheKumbhMelaistobeheld

in Haridwar in 2021 after 11years and will begin with theShahi Snan on March 12.However, the Covid-19 pan-demic has thrown a spanner intheworks, and the administra-tion is yet to take a call on thescale of the religious gathering.InApril14,2010,whentheshahisnanof thelastKumbhwasheldinUttarakhand, a staggering1.5

crore people had descended onthesiteof theMela.Uttarakhand Chief Minister

TrivendraSinghRawat recentlyindicated the possibility of nu-merically restricting the num-ber of pilgrims in during themela by issuing passes so thatsocial distancing can bemain-tained.An official said: “During the

char dham yatra, around ninelakhpilgrims remainpresent inHaridwar on any given day. Butthis year, there are only a fewhundredduring theyatra in thecity these days because of theCovid-19 pandemic. A similartrend is expected during theKumbhMela if the virus infec-tioncontinues.”The site of the KumbhMela

is spread over 156 sq kmacrossthe districts of Haridwar,Dehradun and Pauri Garhwaland a total of 51 constructionprojects of a permanent naturearestill on.The lockdown had brought

the construction to a halt, butworkresumedwiththefirstun-lock.Mela Officer Deepak Rawat

said that development workworth Rs 320 crore was sanc-tioned, with 70 per cent com-pleted and December 15 as thedeadline.Among the projects are the

construction of seven bridges,various new roads, an “asthapath”, theupgradationof policebarracks, fire stations and busstation and the renovation of

variousghats,hesaid.Rawat said the planning of

temporary structureswas to bedone earlier this year but willnow be done now in February,accordingtothepandemicsitu-ation, andmorebudgetswill bedemandedaccordingly.After inaugurating several

projects related to the NamamiGangemission in Uttarakhandvia video conferencing onTuesday, Prime MinisterNarendraModihadsaidthatthevisitors to theHaridwarKumbhwould experience a “clean andpure”Ganga.Modi also referred to the

beautificationofthehundredsofghats at Ganges and the devel-opment of amodern riverfrontatHaridwar.

Kumbh venue gets facelift, but uncertainty over scaleLAST KUMBH MELA ‘SNAN’ IN UTTARAKHAND SAW 1.5 CRORE PEOPLE

Renovationworkat theKumbhMelasite inHaridwar.AsumofRs320crorehasbeensanctionedforseveral suchprojectsat thesite. Express

SeveralLeftprotesters

weredetainedeven

beforetheycouldreach

theprotestvenue

Congress, Left groups holdprotests in Delhi, 130 detained

Kashyap getssummons forquestioningin rape case

FilmmakerAnuragKashyap

On trek to find shortestroute to LAC, retd BSFDIG dies in Himachal

AVANEESHMISHRALUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER30

A 22-YEAR-OLD Dalit womandiedafter allegedlybeing rapedby twomen in Uttar Pradesh’sBalrampur, an incident thatcomes just adayafter thedeathof theHathrasvictim.Police said the two men,

ShahidandSahil,hadinvitedherto their home before assaultingher.Bothhavebeenarrested.According to the police, the

familyof thevictim,whoworksin a private firm, said she camehomelate in thenightonarick-shaw “in a bad condition withglucose drips attached to herarms. Shewas soon rushed to ahospitalbutdiedontheway”.“The family has alleged that

two youth raped the girl andtook her to some doctor.Whenher condition deteriorated, in-stead of taking her to a hospitalthey brought her back to herhome,” said Balrampur SP DevRanjan Verma. There were re-ports of themen torturing herwhich thepolicehavedenied.

Another Dalitwoman diesafter ‘gangrape’ in UP


THE SUPREME Court onWednesday rejected a plea topostpone the Union PublicServiceCommission(UPSC)CivilServices (Preliminary) Exam,scheduledforOctober4, inviewof Covid-19 and floods in somepartsof thecountry.A bench of Justices A M

Khanwilkar, B R Gavai andKrishnaMurari,however, askedthe authorities “to explore thepossibility of providing onemore attempt” to candidateswhomay not be able to appearfortheexamintheirlastattemptdue to thepandemic.“In the recent past, various

public examinations havebeensuccessfully conducted by dif-ferentauthorities.Thatisatesti-mony of the fact that if properstandard operating proceduresare observed by all concerned,as defined by the Ministry ofHome Affairs, it is possible toconduct such examinations,”the court said.TheBenchwashearingaplea

seeking postponement of theexambyafewmonths.Thepeti-tioner said lack of transport fa-cilitieswouldmakethesituationdifficult for candidates.Rejecting this, the Bench

said:“Thisisageneralstatementwithoutanyspecificdetails”,andpointed out that the “UPSC, onaffidavit,hasproducedcommu-nicationissuedbytheconcernedauthorities to ensure propertransport arrangements for thecandidateswhointendtoappearin theexamination”.It also noted that the UPSC

had permitted candidates tochange their centres, and over60,000 candidates had availedthis option. The court also re-fused to accept the contentionthat most institutions and li-brarieshadremainedclosedduetoCovid-19,andthishadcreateddifficulties for candidates.

SC refusesto postponeUPSC CivilServices exam

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,

SEPTEMBER30

AS ITS Covid-19 cases surge,Kerala has now climbed to thethirdpositionamongstateswiththe highest number of activecases.With a record daily case-load of 8,830 reported onWednesday, the active cases inthestatewentupto67,061.OnlyMaharashtra and Karnatakahave more active cases, with2,60,363 and 1, 07,737, respec-tively (asonSeptember29).While the all-India figure for

proportionofactivecasesis15.42per cent, Kerala's is 33 per cent.Thoughthenationalaveragewasalso33percentonAugust1,thenthe graph of active cases sincethen has been on a decline, incontrast to Kerala's northboundgraph.Theaveragepositivityrateinthestatehashoveredataround12percentforthelastoneweek.On Tuesday, an all-party

meetinghaddecidedtosuspendall political agitations andotherevents where social distancingnormscouldnotbemaintained.

Kerala now has3rd-most activeCovid-19 cases

Ahmedabad

C VID-19VACCINETRACKER

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

RESEARCHERSHAVEre-portedawayofeliminat-ing airborne particlesfromairwaysusingnasalcalcium-rich salts. Theirfindings appear in theMolecular FrontiersJournal, published byWorld ScientificPublishing. The lead au-thors are Dr DavidEdwards (HarvardUniversity) and DrRobert Langer (MIT).FEND, a drug-free calcium-en-

richednasalsalt, iscreatedbySensoryCloud,aBoston-basedstartup.Inthreeseparatestudies,92participantswereobserved toshowcaseuseof FENDindifferent situations. The resultsshowedareductionofexhaledaerosolparticlesof up to99%,withanoverallreductionof78%inthelargestcohort.

In the first study, 76Covid-negative volun-teerswererecruited.Theexhaled aerosol wasmeasured prior to thenasal intervention.Afterthey received FEND, theinterventionsuppressed78% of exhaled aerosolsin thisgroup.The second study

covered a family of fourin quarantine with one

Covid-positivemother. After the in-tervention,herlevelsdecreasedtoav-eragebaselinelevelsforaCovid-neg-ativepatient, for severalhours.The third study compared use of

FEND to surgicalmask use in 12 par-ticipants. Themasks reduced overallexhaledparticlesbyaround34%,whileFENDreducedoverall themby46%.

Source:WorldScientific Publishing

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

ONE OF the richest persons in theworld, and the man behind cele-brated innovative enterprises likeTeslaandSpaceX,ElonMuskhassaidhe and his family would not take acoronavirusvaccineevenif itbecameimmediatelyavailable.“I am not at risk, neither aremy

kids,”MusksaidintheNewYorkTimespodcast ‘Sway’.Muskhaslongbeencrit-

icalof lockdown-kindof re-sponses to the epidemic,suggestingthesewereover-reactions. He said work atSpaceX had not been inter-ruptedevenforadayduringthe pandemic. “We had national se-curityclearancebecauseweweredo-ing national security work.We sentastronauts to the space station andback,”hesaid.$12BNFINANCING: TheWorld

Bankhassaiditwashopingtocomeup

witha$12billionfinancingplantohelppooreranddevelopingcountriestoac-cess coronavirus vaccineswhen theybecomeavailable,Reutershasreported.“Our goal is to alter the course of

thepandemicforthelowandmiddleincomedeveloping countries. This isamarketsignaltothemanufacturersthat therewill be financing available

forthedevelopingcountriesand therewill be demand,”WorldBankpresidentDavidMalpass said an interviewwithReuters.Some countries like the

US and the UK have spentbillions of dollars to pre-

booksuppliesofmultiplecoronavirusvaccinesthatareunderdevelopmentright now. However, aWHO-led ini-tiativetoensurethateveryonegetseq-uitable access to the vaccinewhen itbecomesavailableisstrugglingtotakeoff in theabsenceof adequate funds.

Elon Musk won’t take vaccineeven when one is available

Calcium-rich nasal salts shownto reduce exhaled aerosol

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

THEDEFENCEMinistrycameupwithitslat-est Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020(DAP 2020) onMonday, which comes intoeffectfromFriday,October1.Changinga15-yearoldpolicy,thegovernmenthasdecidedtoremovetheclause foroffsets if theequip-ment is being bought either through dealsor agreements between two countries, orthroughanab initio single-vendordeal.

Whataredefenceoffsets?Insimplest terms, theoffset isanobliga-

tion by an international player to boostIndia’s domestic defence industry if India isbuyingdefenceequipmentfromit.Sincede-fence contracts are costly, the governmentwants part of thatmoney either to benefittheIndianindustry,ortoallowthecountrytogain in termsof technology.The Comptroller and Auditor General

(CAG), in a report submitted on September23,definedoffsetsasa“mechanismgenerallyestablishedwith the triple objectivesof: (a)partiallycompensatingforasignificantout-flowofabuyercountry’sresourcesinalargepurchaseof foreigngoods(b) facilitating in-ductionof technologyand(c)addingcapac-itiesandcapabilitiesof domestic industry”.Anoffsetprovisioninacontractmakesit

obligatoryonthesupplier toeither“reversepurchase, executeexportordersor invest inlocal industry or in research and develop-ment” in the buyer’s domestic industry, ac-cording toCAG.

Whenwasthepolicy introduced?Amit Cowshish, a former Financial

AdvisortotheDefenceMinistry,whoretiredin 2012 and continues to be part of theManohar Parrikar Institute for DefenceStudies and Analysis, said the policy wasadopted on the recommendations of theVijayKelkarCommittee in2005.“The ideawas that since we have been

buyingalotofdefenceequipmentfromfor-eign countries, so thatwe can leverage ourbuyingpowerbymakingthemdischargeoff-set obligations, which is the normworldover,” Cowshish said. “The first policy saidthatalldefenceprocurementsexceedingRs300 crore, estimated cost, will entail offsetobligations of at least 30%, which could beincreasedordecreasedbytheDAC(DefenceAcquisitionCouncil),”Cowshishsaid.

The Sixth Standing Committee onDefence (2005-06) had recommended inDecember 2005 in its report on DefenceProcurement Policy and Procedure thatmodalitiesforimplementationofoffsetcon-tracts shouldbeworkedout.Thefirstoffsetcontractwassignedin2007.Thegovernmentstatedthe“objectivefor

defenceoffsets” for the first timeonAugust1, 2012: “The key objective of the DefenceOffset Policy is to leverage capital acquisi-tions todevelop Indiandefence industryby(i) fosteringdevelopmentof internationallycompetitiveenterprises,(ii)augmentingca-pacity for Research, Design andDevelopment related to defence productsand services and (iii) encouraging develop-ment of synergistic sectors like civil aero-space, and internal security”.

Howcanaforeignvendorfulfil itsoffsetobligations?Therearemultipleroutes.Until2016,the

vendor had to declare around the time ofsigningthecontractthedetailsabouthowitwillgoaboutit. InApril2016,thenewpolicyamendedittoallowittoprovideit“eitheratthetimeofseekingoffsetcreditsoroneyearprior todischargeof offsetobligations”.The August 2012DefenceMinistry note

mentionedtheseavenues■Directpurchaseof,orexecutingexport

orders for, eligible productsmanufacturedby,orservicesprovidedbyIndianenterprises

■ForeignDirectInvestmentinjointven-tureswithIndianenterprises(equityinvest-ment) foreligibleproductsandservices

■Investmentin‘kind’intermsoftransferof technology (TOT) to Indian enterprises,through joint ventures or through the non-

equityrouteforeligibleproductsandservices■Investmentin‘kind’inIndianenterprises

in terms of provision of equipment throughthenon-equityrouteformanufactureand/ormaintenanceofproductsandservices

■Provisionof equipment and/or TOT togovernmentinstitutionsandestablishmentsengagedinthemanufactureand/ormainte-nance of eligible products, and provision ofeligibleservices, includingDRDO(asdistinctfromIndianenterprises).

■TechnologyacquisitionbyDRDOinar-easof high technology.Cowshish said the 2012 note also intro-

duced offset banking and multipliers.“Bankingmeans that in anticipation of get-ting a contract from theDefenceMinistry, avendor coulddischarge offsets and earn thecreditwhichcouldbebanked.Lateron,ifyougot the contract, you could use the bankedcredits,subjecttocertainconditions.”Hesaid.Formultipliers,Cowshishsaid,“ifyoudis-

chargeoffset obligationby takinganMSMEunit as an IOP (IndianOffset Partner for theforeignvendor),yougetthemultiplierof1.5,which is tosay if youdischargeanoffsetob-ligation of Rs 100, but your IOP is anMSMEunit, youwill getanoffset creditof Rs150”.TheDAP2020hasgiven transferof criti-

cal technology to DRDO the highestmulti-plierof 4.

Willnodefencecontractshaveoffsetclausesnow?Onlygovernment-to-governmentagree-

ments (G2G), ab initio single vendor con-tracts or inter-governmental agreements(IGA)will not have offset clauses anymore.Forexample,thedealtobuy36Rafalefighterjets, signed between the Indian and French

governments in2016,wasan IGA.“Ab initio singlevendormeans thatwhen

you start theprocess youhaveonlyoneven-dor…Therecanbeasituationwhenyoustartwith twoor threevendorsand issueRequestforProposals(RFP)tothem,andareleftwithasinglevendor,whichiscalledaresultantsinglevendorsituation,”Cowshishsaid.TheDefenceMinistryissuestheRFPtoonlyonevendor.IGAisanagreementbetweentwocoun-

tries,andcouldbeanumbrellacontract,un-derwhich you can go on signing individualcontracts,Cowshishsaid.G2Gistransactionspecific,oranacquisitionspecificagreement,hesaid.AccordingtoDAP2020,allotherinterna-

tional deals that are competitive, and havemultiple vendors vying for it, will continuetohavea30%offset clause.

Whywastheclauseremoved?Apurva Chandra, Director General of

Acquisitions,saidMondaythatvendorswould“load”extracostinthecontracttobalancethecosts, and doing awaywith the offsets canbringdownthecosts insuchcontracts.Sourcesexplainedthatthereare“admin-

istrative costs” involved in discharging off-setobligations,which thevendorspay.ChandrahadalsomentionedrecentCAG

criticism.

WhathastheCAGsaid?The CAG has been critical of the entire

policy.Fromthefirstcontractsignedin2007until March 2018, CAG said, 46 offset con-tracts have been signed for Rs 66,427 crore.“On the whole, from 2007 till December2018.Rs19,223croreworthofoffsetsshouldhavebeendischarged.However,theclaimeddischargeof theoffsetobligationbytheven-dorstillDecember2018wasRs11,396crore.Thiswasonly59percentoftheoffsetswhichwereduebyDecember2018.”Itsaidtherelevantauthorityhadaccepted

claims of only Rs 5,457 crore out of the Rs11,396croreandrestareeitherpendingorre-jected. “The remaining offset obligation ofaboutRs55,000croreisduetobecompletedby2024”. TheCAG isnotveryhopefulof theobligationsbeingmetby2024.Itsaidtheau-dit“foundthattheforeignvendorsmadevar-ious offset commitments to qualify for themain supply contract but later, were notearnestaboutfulfillingthesecommitments”.The CAG had not found “a single case

where the foreign vendor had transferredhigh technology to the Indian industry”.


TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER30

THECORONAVIRUSSARS-CoV-2isconstantlymutating,butonemutationinparticularhascaught the eye of researchers for its abun-dance.NamedD614G,thismutationhasbeenfoundmoretransmissiblethanmostothers.

WhatisD614Gmutation?Allvirusesmutatetoadapttothebarriers

that humans put up. RNA viruses such asSARS-CoV-2mutateslowlyastheyrequireahost(humancell) inordertoreplicate.Until now, 12,000mutationshavebeen

documentedinover3.2crorecasesglobally.Onemutationhasbeenfoundthemostwide-spread. It was first noticed in China andGermany, but gained attention when itcroppedup in several cases across Europe,and eventually in theUS, Canada, Australiaand India. In thismutation, glycine (G) re-

placesasparticacid(D)inthe614thpositionintheaminoacid.Hencethemutationcametobereferredas‘D614G’.

Whatmakesthismutationunlikeothers?Tounderstandthis,wemustunderstand

howSARS-CoV-2 enters a human cell. Theamino acidswheremutationoccurs are lo-cated in the spike protein of the virus. ThespikeproteinsbindswiththeACE2receptoronthehumancellandgainsentry.Dr Rajesh Pandey, scientist in CSIR-

InstituteofGenomicsandIntegrativeBiology,explained,“Itisthepeptidesinthespikepro-tein that lockwith the ACE2 receptor. InD614Gmutation, twoof the threepeptidesopenup,making chances of entry into hu-mancell higher. Imagine ahandwith threefingers.Ifonlyonefingeropens,ithaslimitedaccess to pick upobjects, but if two fingersopen,theycanpickupmoreobjects.Thetwopeptidesincreasechancesofthevirusenter-

ingahumancell.”Becauseitsnatureallowsabetterchance

of entering a host cell than othermutatedstrains,D614Ghasahigherrateof transmis-sion.GISAID,aglobalvirusdatabasethathasdocumentedall circulating strains of SARS-CoV2,showsthat themutatedstraingainedprominencefromMarchonwardsinEurope.

Whataretheimplicationsofthis?Avirusmutateseverytimeitreplicatesin

thehumancelltoadaptandsurvive.Thismu-tationishelpingthevirusdoexactlythat.UntilearlyMarch,thismutationwasrarebutgain-ingdominanceinEurope,GISAIDdatashows.Apaper inCellobserved:“PriortoMarch

1, 2020, it (D614G)was found in10%of 997global sequences; betweenMarch 1 andMarch31,2020,itrepresented67%of14,951sequences;andbetweenApril1andMay18,2020itrepresented78%of12,194sequences.”A pre-print paper inMedrxiv found pa-

tients infectedwiththismutation“hadsig-

nificantlyhighervirusloadinthenasophar-ynx on initial diagnosis”. The study se-quenced genomes of 5,085 SARS-CoV-2strains inHouston.Thestrainhasgrown,transmittedfastbe-

cause of the easewithwhich it gains entryintothecell. “Thatiswhatgaveithype,”saidmicrobiologist Dr Jayanthi Shastri, from

Kasturba Laboratory,Mumbai. Shastri saidinitial studies showedD614Gcould lead tomore transmission and severe symptoms.“Initiallywedidseesevere infectivity,butastimewentbyithasbeenseeninoursamplesthatinfectivitycannotbedirectlylinkedwithmutation,otherco-morbidfactorsalsoplayarole,”shesaid.Sofar,therearen’tenoughlon-gitudinalstudiestodrawadirectlinkbetweenD614Gandincreasedmortality.“Forthatweneedtodogenomesequencingforseveralse-verepatientstocheckifthismutationispres-ent,”Shastrisaid.

IsitprevalentinIndia?TheLancetpublishedapre-printofCovid-

19 reinfection in four health workers inMumbai. The study byKasturbaHospital,InternationalCentreforGeneticEngineeringand Biotechnology, and CSIR- Institute ofGenomics and Integrative Biology foundD614Gmutation in three of them. “In onedoctorwhogot reinfected the second time,

D614Gmutationwaspresent.Hedevelopedseveresymptomsandrequiredplasmather-apy. Butwe cannot be sure to directly linkD614Gwithseverityofinfection,”Shastrisaid.Inanotherdoctor,D614Gwaspresent in

thefirstinfectionbutitdidnotleadtoseveresymptoms.Whether themutation can causedeath,

or can be tackled by vaccines is not fullyknown.Somestudieshave indicated itdoesnotleadtosevereinfectioninthelungs.

Isitavaccinationtarget?Itsabundanceoffersresearchersachance

to study and target itsmechanism. Pfizer isworkingonavaccinecandidateinwhichan-tibodieswill block the receptor-bindingdo-maininthevirus.Thevaccine’sGermantrialhas shown promising results against theD614Gstrain.Apre-printpaperinBiorxivonSeptember

2wasoptimistic that themutationmaynotreduceavaccine’seffectivenessagainstit.

What are defence offsets?SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Effectivetoday, thenewDefenceAcquisitionProcedureremovestheclauseforoffsets forcertainkindsofdefencecontracts.Howdoestheoffsetpolicywork,andwhyhasthisstepbeentaken?

SUSHANTKULKARNI&TORAAGARWALAPUNE,GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER30

A FAST Patrol Vessel (FPV) named ICGSKanaklata Baruawas commissioned in theIndian Coast Guard on Wednesday, inKolkata. It isnamedafterateenagefreedomfighterwhowas shotdead inAssamduringtheQuit IndiaMovement.

What is theship?ItisthefifthandlastinaseriesofFPVsbuilt

byGardenReachShipbuildersandEngineers(GRSE) Ltd. The other four are ICGSPriyadarshini(namedafterIndiraGandhi),ICGSAnnieBesant, ICGSKamalaDevi (afterKamalaDeviChattopadhyay),and ICGSAmritKaur.TheseFPVsareupgradedversionsof the

inshorepatrolvesselswithamodified formof the hull and can achieve a speed of 34knots.Suchvesselshavealsobeendeliveredto IndianNavy byGRSE. In the Coast GuardtheseFPVsandtheirearlierversionsbelongto the Rajashree class of patrol vessels. Theprevious versions were named ICGS

Rajashree, Rajtanag, Rajkiran, Rajkamal,Rajdoot, Rajveer etc; themodified versionsarenamedafter freedomfighters.Officials said these are suited for pa-

trolling,maritime surveillance, anti-smug-gling, anti-poachingoperationsandalso forfishery protection, and rescue and searchmissions.TheseFPVsaremedium-rangesur-face vessels with a length of around 50m,andadisplacementof over300tonnes.

WhowasKanaklataBarua,afterwhomit isnamed?Oneof the youngestmartyrs of theQuit

IndiaMovement, KanaklataBaruahas iconicstatus inAssam.Barua, then17, ledtheMukti

Bahini,aprocessionoffreedomfighterstoun-furl theTricolour atGohpurpolice stationonSeptember20,1942. Whenpolicedidnot letthemmoveforward,analtercationledtofiring,killingBaruaattheheadof theprocession.“ShehadjoinedtheMrityuBahini[akind

of a suicide squad] just twodays before theincident,” saidSheilaBora, retiredprofessorof Dibrugarh University, who has authoredamonograph on Barua. “The squad strictlyadmittedmembers aged 18 and above butKanaklatawas an exception. Shewanted tolead theprocessionandaftermuchpersua-sionshewasallowedto.”EvenasBaruafelltobullets,shedidnotlet

gooftheflag.“Shedidnotwantittotouchthe

ground. Anotherwoman volunteer behindher—MukundaKakoty—cameandheldtheflag,andshe, too,wasshot,”saidBora.

Howimportant isher legacy?“Thefactthatshewasayounggirl—that

captured the national imagination of thetime,” said Avinibesh Sharma, who runsVintageAssam,awebsiteonAssam’shistory.“…Itwasalsoa timewhereyousawa lotofwomen coming to the fore, leading proces-sions,patrioticfervourwasatitspeak—andKanaklatawasaproductof this time.”“Today,thereareschoolsnamedafterher,

there are two statues, there is a ship.Whileweseeherasan iconnow,people inhervil-lage hated her then— shewas a rebel,whoquestionedpatriarchy.”The Coast Guard had named an earlier

ship after her. The previous ICGS KanaklataBaruawas commissioned in 1997 and de-commissioned in 2017. During its 20-yearservice, it participated inmany search andrescuemissions, seizure of foreign fishingvessels venturing into Indian waters andevacuationmissions. The shipwasdisman-tled in2018andsoldas scrap.

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

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

explained, pleasewrite to [email protected] EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER1,2020

INDIAACTIVECASES 940,441

WORLDTOTALCASES33,743,035

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,

updatedat11pmonSept30

INDIATOTALCASES6,225,763

Source:MinistryofHealth&family

Welfare,updatedat11pmonSept30

Note: TheSept29 figure in this graph isbasedon thegovernmentupdateonSept30

1100,000

1000,000

900,000Sept20 Sept29

LAST 10 DAYS

940,441

1,003,299

ARafale jetat the inductionceremonyatAmbalaAirForcebase. TashiTobgyal/File

FEND, thesalt,canbeadministeredtothenose,eitheruncontrolledorbycontainingthecloudinaglass.

Edwards, Langeretal/MolecularFrontiers Journal

ICGSKanaklataBaruainKolkata.IndianCoast

Guardvia

Twitter

ICGS Kanaklata Barua: legacy of a freedom fighter

Understanding an abundant, highly transmissible coronavirusmutation

D614 G614

SARS-CoV-2Spike

MAGNITUDEOF INFECTION

IND614G,G(glycin)replacesD(asparticacid)in614thposition.Korberetal/Cell

Ahmedabad


THEWORLD


USA

SINGERHELENREDDYDIESAT 78

HelenReddy,whoshottostardominthe1970swithherGrammy-winningfeministan-them'IAmWoman'andastringofotherhits,hasdied.Shewas78.TheAustralian-bornsingerenjoyedaprolificcareer,appearingin ‘Airport1975’asasingingnunandscoringsev-eralhits, including‘IDon’tKnowHowToLoveHim’from‘JesusChristSuperstar’.

FRANCE

Sonicboom

fromfighter jet

shakesParisAFRENCHfighterjetbrokethe sound barrier as itscrambled to join a com-mercial jet that had lostcontactwithairtrafficcon-trol onWednesday, caus-ing a sonic boom that re-verberated throughParisand its suburbs, the de-fenceministry said. Thesonic boom rattledwin-dows in the capital, scat-tered startled birds andprompted a surge inphone calls to police. “ARafale based at Saint-Dizier,interveningtoassistan airlinewhich had lostcontact, was allowed tobreakthesoundbarriertojointheairplaneintrouble.It broke the soundbarriereastofParis,”saidanarmystatement.Itwasnotclearif the problemwith thecommercial jet had beenresolved.REUTERS

ARafalejetbrokethesoundbarriernearParisWednesday.File

TOPOFTHEWORLD

CHINA

Teachergets

deathsentence

forpoisoning

25studentsACOURT in central Chinahas sentenced a kinder-gartenteachertodeathforpoisoning two dozenpupilsandkillingoneafteradisputewithacolleague.The teacher, Wang Yun,addednitrite to porridgethatwas fed to the otherinstructor’sclassforbreak-fastonMarch27,2019,ac-cording to a ruling issuedonMondaybytheJiaozuoIntermediate People’sCourt inHenanProvince.Theteachershadadisputeover “student manage-ment”, thecourt said, andWanghad sought to poi-sonherrival’sclass.Of the25poisoned,onediedand23fell ill.NYT

BRITAIN

Greyparrots

separatedat

zooforswearingABRITISH zoohas had toseparate five foul-mouthed parrots whokeepers saywereencour-agingeachothertoswear.Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade andElsie joined LincolnshireWildlifeCentre’scolonyof200greyparrotsinAugust,and soon revealed apen-chant for blue language.“Wearequiteusedtopar-rots swearing, butwe’veneverhadfiveatthesametime,” said the zoo’s chiefexecutive, SteveNichols.“Mostparrotsclamupout-side, but for some reasonthesefiverelishit.”AP

THOMASERDBRINKSTOCKHOLM,SEPTEMBER30

THE SCENE at Norrsken HouseStockholm, a coworking space,oozed with radical normalcy:Young, turtleneck-wearing hip-sters schmoozed in the coffeecorner. Others chatted freely, attimesquitenearoneanother, incozy conference rooms. Facemaskswerenowheretobeseen.ItseemedlikeJanuary,before

the spreadof thecoronavirus inEurope, but it was actually lastweek,asmanyEuropeannationswere tightening restrictionsamid a surge of new cases. InSweden, new infections, if tip-

ping upward slightly, still re-mainedsurprisingly low.“I have potentially hundreds

of tiny interactionswhenwork-ing here,” said Thom Feeney, aBriton who manages thecoworkingspace.“Ourworklivesshouldnotbereducedtojustthescreen in front of us. Ultimately,wearesocialanimals.”Normalcy has never been

more contentious than now inSweden. Almost alone in theWesternworld, the Swedes re-fused to impose a coronaviruslockdown in the spring, as thecountry’s leadinghealthofficialsargued that limited restrictionsweresufficientandwouldbetterprotectagainsteconomiccollapse.

Itwasanapproachthattrans-formedSweden into anunlikelyideological lightning rod.Manyscientists blamed it for a spike indeaths,evenasmanylibertarianscritical of lockdowns portrayedSwedenasamodel.Fortheirpart, theSwedesad-

mit tomaking somemistakes,particularly in nursing homes,wherethedeathtollwasstagger-ing.Indeed,comparativeanalysesshowthatSweden’sdeathrateattheheightofthepandemicinthespring far surpassed the rates inneighbouring countries andwasmoreprotracted.Now, though, the question is

whether the country’s currentlow caseload, compared with

sharpincreaseselsewhere,showsthatithasfoundasustainablebal-ance,somethingthatallWesterncountries are seeking eightmonths into the pandemic—or

whethertherecentnumbersarejustatemporaryaberration.“Itlookspositive,”saidAnders

Tegnell, Sweden’s stateepidemi-ologist,whogainedglobal fame

and notoriety for having keptSwedenoutoflockdowninMarch.Withapopulationof10.1mil-

lion, Sweden averaged a littlemorethan200newcasesadayforseveralweeks,althoughinrecentdays thatnumberhas jumpedtoabout 380. Theper capita rate isfarlowerthannearbyDenmarkortheNetherlands (if higher thanthenegligibleratesinNorwayandFinland).Swedenisalsodoingfarbetter, for the moment, thanSpain, with 10,000 cases a day,andFrance,with12,000.In early September, 1.2% of

tests in Swedenwere positive,compared with about 7% cur-rently in Northwest England,Britain’shardest-hit area.

Inresponsetotherecentout-breaks, many European coun-tries are imposing new restric-tions. But political leaders,anxious toavoidunpopularandeconomically disastrous lock-downs,arerelyingmostlyonso-cial-distancingmeasures,whiletrying to preserve a degree ofnormalcy, with schools, shops,restaurantsandevenbarsopen.Inessence,someexpertssay,

they are quietly adopting theSwedishapproach.“Today, all of the European

countries are more or less fol-lowingtheSwedishmodel,com-binedwith the testing, tracingand quarantine procedures theGermans have introduced, but

nonewilladmitit,”saidAntoineFlahault,directorof theInstituteofGlobalHealth, inGeneva.Backinthespring,whenother

nations were clamping down,Swedenwasoftenvilifiedforhav-inggone its ownway. Itsbordersstayedopen, as didbars, restau-rants and schools. Hairdressers,yogastudios,gymsandevensomecinemas remained open, as didpublictransportationandparks.Gatherings ofmore than 50

peoplewere banned,museumsclosed and sporting events can-celled. But thatwas theextentofthemeasures,with officials say-ing theywould trust in the goodsenseofSwedestokeeptheirdis-tanceandwashtheirhands.NYT

THE COUNTRY NOW HAS ONE OF EUROPE’S LOWEST RATES OF DAILY NEW CASES

Vilified early for not locking down, Sweden now has Covid under control

JONATHANMARTIN&ALEXANDERBURNSWASHINGTON,SEPTEMBER30

THEFIRSTpresidentialdebatebe-tween US President DonaldTrumpand JoeBidenunravelledintoarhetoricalmeleeTuesday,asTrumphectoredandinterruptedBidennearlyeverytimehespokeandtheformervicepresidentde-nounced the president as a“clown”andtoldhimto“shutup”.Inachaotic,90-minuteback-

and-forth, the twomajor partynominees expressed a level ofacridcontemptforeachotherun-heard-of inmodernUSpolitics.Trump,trailinginthepollsand

urgentlyhopingtorevivehiscam-paign,wasplainly attempting tobe the aggressor. But he inter-rupted so insistently that Bidencould scarcely answer the ques-tions posed to him, forcing themoderator, ChrisWallace of FoxNews,torepeatedlyurgethepres-identtolethisopponentspeak.“Will you shut up, man?”

Biden demanded of Trump atone point in obvious exaspera-tion. “This is sounpresidential.”YetBidenalsolobbedaseries

of bitingly personal attacks ofhisown. “You’retheworstpres-ident America has ever had,”Bidensaidof Trump.“In47monthsI’vedonemore

than you have in 47 years,”Trumpshotback,referringtohisrival’s career inWashington.Andevenashewentontheof-

fensive against Bidenonmattersof lawandorder,Trumpdeclinedto condemnwhite supremacyandright-wingextremistgroupswhenpromptedbyWallace andBiden.WhenWallaceaskedhimifhe would be willing to do so,Trumpreplied,“Sure,”andaskedthetwomentonameagrouptheywouldlikehimtodenounce.But when Biden named the

Proud Boys, a far-right group,

Trump did not do so and evensuggested theybeat the ready.“ProudBoys?Standbackand

stand by,” he said, adding,“Somebody’s got to do some-thingaboutantifaandthe left.”Trumppepperedhisremarks

withmisleadingclaimsandout-right lies,predictingthatacoro-navirus vaccinewas imminentwhen his own chief health ad-visers say otherwise, claimingthat his rollback of fuel-effi-ciency standardswould not in-crease pollution and insistingthatapoliticaladviser,KellyanneConway,hadnotdescribedriotsas useful to Trump’s campaign,whenshedidsoonTV.NYT

PHILIPPULLELLAROME,SEPTEMBER30

THEVATICANsaidWednesdayithaddenieda request fromMikePompeo for an audience withPope Francis, and accused theSecretaryofStateoftryingtodragthe Catholic Church into theUSpresidential election by de-nouncingitsrelationswithChina.The extraordinary remarks

fromtopdiplomaticofficialsattheVatican came after Pompeo ac-cused the Church of putting its“moral authority” at risk by re-newinganagreementwithChinaovertheappointmentofbishops.TheVatican’s two topdiplo-

mats, Secretaryof StateCardinalPietroParolinandForeignMinisterArchbishopPaulGallagher, saidFrancis had declined a requestfromPompeo foranaudience, asthe pope avoidsmeeting politi-ciansaheadofelections.The Vatican’s two-year-old

agreementwithBeijinggivesthepopesomesayovertheappoint-mentof Chinesebishops.Asked if he believed that

Pompeo’scriticismsoftheVaticandealwereintendedforpoliticaluseintheUS,Parolinsaid:“Somehaveinterpreted it thisway... that thecommentswereaboveall fordo-mesticpoliticaluse.”TheVatican-China deal “is amatter that hasnothingtodowithUSpolitics.ThisisamatterbetweenChurchesandshouldnotbeusedforthistypeofends,”Parolinsaid.REUTERS

MARINESTRAUSS&PHILIPBLENKINSOPBRUSSELS,SEPTEMBER30

BELGIUMFORMEDanewgov-ernment on Wednesday, 16months on from an inconclu-sive election, with caretakerFinanceMinisterAlexanderDeCroo named as the new PrimeMinister.After weeks of talks, seven

parties spanning the French-Dutchlanguagedivideagreedtoform a coalition to replace thecaretaker administration ofSophieWilmes, whichwas ap-pointedatthestartof thecoron-aviruspandemic inMarch.Belgium has not had a fully

fledged government sinceDecember 2018, when a four-party coalition collapsed. Thetwo largest parties, the French-speaking Socialists and Flemishseparatist N-VA, have struggledto overcome their differences,

leaving the unwieldy, seven-party “Vivaldi” coalition acrossfour political groups as the onlyviableoption.De Croo’s government will

officiallystartworkonThursdaywhen he and fellowministersare sworn inbyKingPhilippe.“We have done what ap-

peared impossible for long, too

long,inourcountry...namelytheformation of a federal govern-ment,” De Croo said in a shortstatement to reporters at thevenue for the talks.De Croo, 44, comes from a

family deeply involved in poli-tics and has written a book onhow feminism also liberatesmen.REUTERS

KATEKELLANDLONDON,SEPTEMBER30

TIMOTHY RAY Brown, the firstpersonknowntobecuredofHIVwhen he had a unique type ofbone marrow transplant, hasdiedinCaliforniaafterrelapsingwithcancer,hispartner said.“It iswithgreatsadness that I

announce that Timothy passedaway...thisafternoonsurroundedbymyself and friends, after a 5monthbattlewithleukaemia,”hispartner, TimHoeffgen, said in apostonFacebook.Brown, born on March 11,

1966, became known as the“BerlinPatient” afterhisHIVwasclearedbytreatmenttherein2007.TheAmerican’scasefascinated

and inspiredagenerationofdoc-torsandpatientsinfectedwithHIV,offering a glimmer of hope thatonedayacurewill be found thatendstheAIDSpandemic.Brownwas diagnosedwith

HIV in 1995while living in theGermancapital, and in2006wasalso diagnosed with a type ofblood cancer known as acutemyeloidleukaemia.WhileBrownremained clear of HIV formorethanadecadeafterbeingtreated,he had suffered a relapse of thecancerinthepastyear.REUTERS

Dubai:Kuwait’sSheikhNawafAlAhmad Al Sabahwas sworn inWednesdayastherulingemirofthe tiny oil-rich country, pro-pelled to power by the death ofhis half-brother after a long ca-reer in thesecurity services.Atage83,SheikhNawaf isnot

expected to deviate from thediplomatic path charted by hispredecessor,thelateSheikhSabahAlAhmadAlSabah.Buthisacces-siontouchedoffspeculationaboutwhowillbecomethenextCrownPrinceinthecountryknownforitselectedParliamentandrelativein-dependence in the neighbour-hoodofGulfArabmonarchies.AP

‘STANDBACKANDSTANDBY’: KEY TAKEAWAYS FROMDEBATE

INTERRUPTIONSTrumpcommandeeredthedebate,tryingtotripupBidenbyinterruptingandinsultinghim.Intheprocess,Trumpmadethedebatemoreabouthimself.WhileTrumpplayedintohisreputationasabully,itmayhavebeeneffectiveatbreakinguptheworstofBiden’sattacks—simplybytalkingoverthem.

DIRECTLYTOVOTERAsTrumpcontinuedtointerrupt,BidenhadsomeofhisstrongestmomentswhenheturnedawayfromhisopponenttofacethecamerasandaddresstheAmericanpeopledirectly.“Thisisnotaboutmyfamilyorhisfamily,”saidBidenatonepoint,afterTrumptriedtobaithimwithanattackon

hissonHunter.“It’saboutyourfamily.TheAmericanpeople.Hedoesn’twanttotalkaboutwhatyouneed.”

ONRACIALUNRESTBidendidn’tcapitalisewhenTrumprefusedtocondemnarmedmilitiasandinsisted,

againsttheguidanceofhisownFBIdirector:“This isnotaright-wingproblem.This isa left-wingproblem.”Onafar-rightgroupwithahistoryofviolence,Trumpsaid,“ProudBoys,standbackandstandby... I’ll tellyouwhat,somebody’sgottodosomethingaboutantifaandtheleft.”

REJECTINGLEFTISTLABELTrump’smostconsistentlinesof attackhasbeenthatBidenisactuallya leftistmasqueradingasacentrist.ButBidenconstantlydistancedhimself fromtheleftwingofhisparty.Hesaidhedidnotsupport theGreenNewDealordefundingthepolice. “Theparty isme, rightnow,"Bidensaid. “IamtheDemocraticParty.”

Thedebate’smoderator,ChrisWallace,oftenhadtroublestoppingTrumpfrominterruptingBiden

Chaotic clash in Cleveland: Tauntsoverpower policy talk in first debate

RACE FOR

THEWHITE

HOUSE

Trump,Bidenrepeatedlylobpersonalattacksateachother;USPresidentrefusestocondemnwhitesupremacy

WITHPOLLSshowingthatmostpeoplehavealreadymadeuptheirmindsaboutwhotovotefor,andBidenen-joyingasteadylead,thede-batepresentedTrumpwithanopportunitytoappealtothesmallpercentageofunde-cidedvoters.However,ana-lystssayhishighlyconfronta-tionalapproach,whilecheeredonbyhisloyalbase,isunlikelytowinoveranynewvoters.ThismeansBidenisholdingontohisleadfornow,buttwomoredebatesremain.

Biden

holdsonE●EXPLAIN

ED

TrumpandBidenduringthedebate inClevelandonTuesday.Reuters

Trump questionscredibility ofIndia’s Covid data

Washington:During Tuesday’spresidentialdebate,USPresidentDonald Trump raised questionsover the credibility of India’sCovid-19 tally, claiming it wasamong thecountries thatdonotaccuratelydisclosethenumberofdeathsduetothepandemic.Defendinghisresponsetothe

pandemic,whichhaskilledmorethan200,000peopleintheUS,hesaid, “When you talk about thenumbers, you don’t knowhowmanypeople died inChina. Youdon’t know howmany peopledied in Russia. You don’t knowhowmanypeople died in India.Theydon’texactlygiveyouarightnumber.”On theUSwithdrawalfromtheParisclimatepact,TrumpsaidRussia,ChinaandIndiadon’t“takecareof theirair”butexpecttheUStodoso.Hesaidthewith-drawalwaspart of his “AmericaFirst”approach.PTI

Pompeo deniedaudience withPope, warnedagainst playingpolitics on China

TimothyRayBrown

World’s firstpatient cured ofHIV dies aftercancer returns

Belgium forms new govt after16-month political deadlock

CaretakerFinanceMinisterAlexanderDeCroo(right)withSocialistPartyleaderPaulMagnetteinBrusselsonWednesday.DeCroohasbeennamedthenewPrimeMinister.Reuters

SheikhNawaf

Kuwait: SheikhNawaf sworn inas ruling emir

Atapark inStockholm, thismonth.Lifewentonmoreor lessasnormal inthecountryduringpandemic.NYT

Pakistan govt to pushfor Nawaz Sharif’sdeportation from UK

SAJJADHUSSAINISLAMABAD,SEPTEMBER30

PAKISTANPRIMEMinisterImranKhanhasaskedrelevantauthor-ities to take steps to bring backPML-N supremoNawaz ShariffromLondon and to ensure thathe faces the corruption casespendingagainsthiminthecourts,accordingtoareportWednesday.The decisionwas taken at a

Cabinet meeting on Tuesday,Dawnnewspaperreported,quot-ing a Cabinet member whoseidentitywas not revealed. Khanasked authorities to pursue themattervigorously,thepapersaid.According to the Cabinet

member,thegovernmenthadear-liersentarequesttotheUKforthePakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz(PML-N) leader’s repatriation. Itwillnowsendafreshapplication.

Pakistanwill alsomakea for-malrequestforhisextradition.On Wednesday, the

Islamabad High Court said itneeded to be determined if 70-year-old Sharif was evadingcourtproceedingsonpurpose.Sharif’sexitfromPakistanisa

“mockery of the system”, thecourt said.Theformerprimeministerof

Pakistan was allowed to go toLondonformedicaltreatmentinNovember lastyear.PTI

NawazSharif

Ahmedabad

15SENSEX: 38,067.93 ▲ 94.71 NIFTY: 11,247.55 ▲ 25.15 NIKKEI: 23,185.12 ▼ 353.98 HANG SENG: 23,459.05 ▲ 183.52 FTSE: 5,884.89 ▼ 12.61 DAX: 12,748.41 ▼ 77.41


ECONOMY


GOLD

`51,372

RUPEE

`73.76

OIL

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SILVER

`62,241Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket;goldper10g,silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof1800IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

TAMIL NADU GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION CORPORATION LTD.

Sl. No Tender Inviing Authority Speciicaion No. Total

1 CE/Hydro HE 2388 Due Date Extension 1

For details of works/Procurement/Due date of submission/opening, viewing

and downloading of e-tenders, please visit websites: www.tangedco.gov.in,

www.tenders.tn.gov.in , htps://tntenders.gov.in/nicgep/app

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS (E-TENDERING PROCESS)

DIPR/3663/Tender/2020

BRIEFLY

DhanlaxmiBank

MD-CEOoustedNewDelhi: Shareholders ofDhanlaxmiBankonWedne-sday oustedMD and CEOSunilGurbaxani. PTI

USGDPfalls,

UKfigurerevisedNewDelhi:TheUSComme-rceDepartmentsaidWedn-esday that theGDP fell at arate of 31.4 per cent in theApril-Junequarter.Meanw-hile,theUK’sOfficeforNati-onal Statistics revised theApril-JuneGDPcontractionfigure to19.8per cent from20.4percentearlier. AP

Coalblockbids:

BignamesinfrayNewDelhi:Forthecommer-cial coalmining auctions,Aditya BirlaGroup compa-nies have placed bids fornineblocks,whileAdaniGr-oupfirmsbidforeight. FE

BRICSloansfor

2infraprojectsNewDelhi:TheNewDevelo-pment Bank of BRICS nati-ons cleared $500 millionloan for Delhi-Ghaziabad-MeerutRegionalRapidTra-nsitSystemand$241millionloanforMumbaiMetro. PTI

General Atlanticto buy 0.84% inReliance Retailfor `3,675 crore

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER30

GLOBAL GROWTH equity firmGeneralAtlantichasproposed toinvest Rs 3,675 crore inRelianceRetailVenturesLtd(RRVL),asub-sidiaryofRelianceIndustries(RIL).The investment pegs RelianceRetailatapre-moneyequityvalueofRs4.285lakhcrore.Meanwhile,asperaPTIreport,

SilverLakePartnerswillinvestanadditionalRs1,875croreinRRVL,RIL said in a statement onWednesday.Thisbringstheaggre-gateinvestmentbySilverLakeanditsco-investorsinRRVLtoRs9,375crore,whichwill translate into a2.13percentequitystakeinRRVL.Earlier thismonth, theUS-basedSilver Lake said it will investRs7,500croreinRRVL.GeneralAtlantic’sinvestment

will translate intoa0.84per centequitystakeinRRVLonafullydi-lutedbasis.ThismarksthesecondinvestmentbyGeneralAtlanticinasubsidiaryofRIL, followingaRs6,598.38 crore investment in JioPlatformsannouncedthisMay.Reliance Retail Ltd, a sub-

sidiary of RRVL, operates India’slargest retail business servingcloseto640millionfootfallsacrossits12,000storesnationwide.“GeneralAtlantichastremen-

dousknowledgeintheretailspacedevelopedbyworkingwithlead-ing consumer and retail compa-nies globally over the years andwehope to benefit from that aswe progress on our journey,”said Isha Ambani, director,RelianceRetail.WITHPTI

Sellers need to collect TCS from Oct 1 onlyif turnover crosses `10 cr in previous fiscalENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER30

A SELLERwould be required tocollect tax collected at source(TCS) fromOctober 1 only if histurnover exceeds Rs 10 crore inthe previous fiscal, the CentralBoardofDirectTaxes(CBDT)saidinaclarificationonWednesday.The Finance Act, 2020 has

amended provisions relating toTCSwith effect fromOctober 1,2020 to provide that a seller ofgoodsshall collect taxat therateof0.1percent(0.075percentuptoMarch 31, 2021) if the receiptofsaleconsiderationfromabuyerexceeds Rs 50 lakh in the finan-cial year. “... this TCS shall be ap-plicable only on the amount re-ceived on or after 1st October,2020,”theCBDTsaid.Inastatement,theCBDTclar-

ified that TCS shall be applicableonly on the amount received on

or after October 1, 2020 and asellerwouldberequiredtocollect

TCS only if his turnover exceedsRs 10 crore in the last financialyear.It added thatexportof goods

hasbeenexemptedfromtheap-plicabilityoftheprovisionsofTCS.TheCBDT said there are only

around 3.5 lakh persons whohavedisclosedbusinessturnoverof overRs10crore inFY2018-19whereasactivedeductors/collec-torsasondatestandatmorethan18 lakh.Therefore, thecollectionunder these new provisionswouldberequiredtobemadebyveryfewpersonswhoinmostofthecaseswouldalreadybecom-plyingwith the existing provi-sions of tax deducted at source(TDS)/TCS.TheCBDTsaidduetothehigh

thresholdforcollectorandexcep-tionally low rate of TCS, this TCSwould neither result in newcompliance burden on thecollectornorcauseanydifficultyforthecollector.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER30

AFTEROBTAININGdueclearancesfromtheElectionCommissioninviewof theModelCodeofCond-uct,thegovernmentonWednes-dayextendedthedeadlineforfil-ingGST annual return andauditreport for financial year 2018-19byamonthtillOctober31.Through a separate notifica-

tion, the government also ex-tended thedeadline for filing in-come tax returns for 2018-19bytwomonthstillNovember30cit-ingdifficultiesbeingfacedbytax-payersduetoCovid-19pandemic.The due date for furnishing

Annual Return in GSTR-9 andGSTR9Cfor2018-19hasbeenex-tended from 30.09.2020 to31.10.2020, the Central Board of

IndirectTaxesandCustoms(CBIC)tweeted. InMay, the Centre hadextendedthelastdateforfilingan-nualGST returns for 2018-19bythreemonthstillSeptember2020.The Central Board of Direct

Taxes(CBDT),inanorder,saidthatinviewofthegenuinedifficultiesbeingfacedbythetaxpayersdueto theoutbreakof Covid-19pan-demic,thedateforfurnishingthebelated and revised return forAssessmentYear2019-20isbeingfurtherextendedtoNovember30,2020,fromSeptember30,2020.This is the fourth extension

givenbythegovernmentfortax-payerstofilebothoriginalandre-vised ITRs for 2018-19 fiscal. InMarch,theduedatewasextendedfromMarch31toJune30.LaterinJune, itwas again extendedby amonthtillJuly31.InJuly,itwasex-tendedtillSeptember30.

Extended deadlines for FY19returns: October 31 for GST,November 30 for income tax

Pricing power critical fortelecom sector: VodafoneIdea chairman at AGM

BPCL privatisation:Last date to submitbids extended toNovember 16


THEFINANCEMinistryonThurs-day extended the deadline forsubmissionofexpressionofinter-est (EoI) for the privatisation ofstate-runoilrefinerBharatPetrol-eumCorporation Ltd (BPCL) forthefourthtimetoNovember16.Thepreviousdeadlineforsub-

missionofEoIswasSeptember30.“In view of the further re-

quests received from the inter-estedbidders and theprevailingsituationarisingoutof Covid-19,thelastdateandtimeforsubmis-sionof EoIs is extendedup to 16November,” theDepartment ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement(DIPAM)statedinacorrigendum issued onWednesday.

Mumbai:VodafoneIdea,whichearliergotanin-prin-ciplenodfromitsboardtoraisearoundofRs25,000croreviasharesaleanddebttopayitsadjustedgrossrevenue(AGR)dues,saidWednesdaythatrevivalofpricingiscriticalforthetelecomsector’shealth,un-derliningthatwhiletariffscontinuetobethelowestinIndia,dataconsumptionisthehighestintheworld.Addressingshareholdersatthecompany’s25th

annual generalmeeting (AGM), chairmanKumarMangalamBirlasaidAGRdueshaveaddedtothesec-tor’sfinancialwoesbuteffortsarebeingmadetore-solvetheburdenthroughstaggeredpayments. FE

$300.7million:Artificialintelligence(AI)spendinginIndiain

2019,asperIDC’sWorldwide

ArtificialIntelligenceSpending

GuideForecast

REASONSFORENTERPRISESTORELYONAI■Maintainbusinesscontinuity

■Transformhowbusinesses

operate

■Gaincompetitiveadvantage

~20%Shareofenterprisesthat

arestilldevisingAIstrategiesto

explorenewbusinessesand

ventures,asperIDC’s2019

CognitiveAIAdoptionSurvey

>60%ShareofAIapplications

thatcouldbemigratedtothecloud

by2024,withfastadoptionofcloud

technologiesinIndia

WHYTHISISIMPORTANTBusinessesareconsidering

investmentsinintelligentsolutions

totackleissuesassociatedwith

businesscontinuity,labourshortage,

andworkspacemonitoring.

Organisationsarenowrealisingthat

theirbusinessplansmustbeclosely

alignedwiththeirAIstrategies

Source: IDC/PTI

India’s AI spending is expected to growat a CAGR(compound annual growth rate) of 30.8% to touch $880.5million (around`6,490.6 cr) in 2023, research firm IDC said

‘AI spending to grow at 30.8%CAGR to $880.5mn in 2023’

NewDelhi: The IncomeTaxDepartmentonWednesdaysaid it has issued refundsworthoverRs1.18lakhcroretoover33 lakh taxpayers in6months till September29,the Central Board of DirectTaxestweetedWednesday.Thisincludepersonalin-

come tax (PIT) refundsamounting to Rs 32,230croreissuedto31.75lakhtax-payers,andcorporatetaxre-funds amounting toRs86,094 crore toover 1.78lakh taxpayers during thisperiod. PTI

`1.18 lakh-cr I-Trefunds issuedtill Sept 29

CBDT ISSUESCLARIFICATIONONTCS/TDSAPPLICABILITY

NITI Aayog, Dutch embassy tocollaborate on clean energy useNew Delhi: The NITI Aayog onThursday signed a Statement ofIntent (SoI)with theEmbassyoftheNetherlandsondecarbonsia-tionandIndia’senergytransitionagendatoincorporategreateruseofcleanenergyintheeconomy.Thetwowillcollaborateonre-

searchprojects,andstudiesinar-easincludingloweringthenetcar-bon footprint of industry andtransportsectors,realisingthepo-tential of natural gas and adopt-ing clean air technology accord-ingtoapressreleaseissuesbytheEmbassyoftheNetherlands. ENS

SIXTHCONSECUTIVEMONTHOFDECLINE:8.5%FALL INAUGUSTOVER8%INJULY


CONTRACTING FOR the sixthstraightmonthinAugust,corein-dustries’ outputdeclined8.5percent, compared to a0.2per centdeclineinyear-agoperiod,accord-ingtodatasharedbytheMinistryof Commerce and Industry onWednesday.However,thepaceofcontractionpickedup, as againstthe last threemonths.This rate ismarginallysharperthanthe8percentdeclinerecordedinJuly.Except for coal and fertilisers,

production continued todeclineinmostcoresectorsinAugust,ac-cordingtothedata.The drop inAugust is due to

factors like lowdemand,unavail-abilityofequipmentforsettingup

newer production platforms aswellasseasonalandlockdownre-strictions.“Onamonth-on-monthbasis, thedeteriorationcanbeas-cribedtolocalisedlockdownsan-nounced in some states,whichweighed on output partially,”statedCARERatings in a release.

The cumulative growthof thesesectors during FY20was0.3percent—lowestineightyears.ThesteepestdeclineinAugust

wasobservedinrefineryproducts,whichdropped19.1percent.Thiswas followedby cement,whichsawa14.6percentdeclineinout-put, natural gas,whichdeclined9.5percentandsteelandcrudeoilproduction — both of whichdropped6.3percent.Refinery products, at 28 per

cent,accountsforthehighestpro-portion of the index. Electricityproduction, which makes uparound19.9percentof theindex,dropped2.7 per cent inAugust,whilecoalproductiongrew3.6percent. Fertiliserproduction,whichaccountsforapproximately2.6percentoftheindex,grew7.3percentinAugust.

NewDelhi: The government onWednesday further cut thepriceofdomesticallyproducednaturalgas by 25 per cent to $1.79 permmBtu (millionBritish thermalunits) for the six-month periodstartingOctober1.The Centre had also cut the

price of domestic gas sharply to$2.39permmBtuinthepreviouspricerevisionwhichledtocallsbydomestic gas producers ONGCandOilIndiaLtdtosuspendpricerevisions. ENS

Domestic naturalgas price cut 25%


IN AN effort to protect con-sumers from “bill shocks”, theTelecomRegulatoryAuthorityofIndia (Trai) on Wednesdayamended regulations askingtelecomoperatorstoensurethatthe international roaming serv-ices are by default inactive andmaybeactivatedonly if thecus-tomer specifically requests for

thesame.Such service once activated,

must be immediately deacti-vatedifthecustomersorequestsagain, theTrai said.“Providedthatincaseofexist-

ingconsumers, specific choiceofeveryconsumertocontinuewithortodiscontinuetheactivatedin-ternationalmobileroamingserv-ice,ifapplicable,maybeobtainedthroughSMS,emailormobileap-plication,” the regulator said in areleasenotifyingthenewrules.

Keep international roaminginactive by default: Trai to telcos

Centre to borrow `4.34L cr in 2nd half of fiscal: 62% more than H2FY20

‘Micro enterprises biggest beneficiary of ECLGS,funds used mostly for immediate liquidity support’


MICROENTERPRISEShavebeenthebiggestbeneficiaryofthegov-ernment-backed EmergencyCredit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS), but it has been usedmostly for immediate liquiditysupport, rather than businessgrowth,accordingtoasurveypub-lishedbytheNational InstituteofBankManagement(NIBM),Pune.The survey highlighted variousconcerns that need to be ad-dressed—disbursementpatternsbeingunequal as a largepropor-tionofborrowershavereceivedasmall shareof the total loan; lowutilizationrateforthesmallestbor-rowersandmanufacturingfirms.The survey— conducted by

theNIBMonbehalfoftheNationalCredit Guarantee TrusteeCorporation(NCGTC)whichisop-eratingthisschemeforMSMEs—obtained1722 responses fromastratified sample, through tele-

phonic surveys. It showed that86.53per cent of total loansdis-bursedbypublicsectorbankshavebeengiventomicrobusinessesincomparisonto5.38percentloanstosmallbusinesses,0.73percenttomediumenterprises and7.35percenttootherbusinesses.A similar pattern is visible in

loansgivenbyprivatebanksandNBFCs.Microunitsreceived87.31percentofprivatebanks’loansfol-lowedbyonly8.77per cent, 0.72percentand3.20percentgoingtosmall,mediumand other busi-nesses. 65.41 per cent share inNBFC loanswere tomicro-busi-nesses. Clearly, “mediumenter-prises appear to have been by-passed,”thesurveynoted.“ThereisclearevidencethatGECLiseasytoobtainandpreferredasaliquid-itysupportratherthanasasourceof funds for business growth.However,theunequaldistributionof disbursementmaydefeat thepurposeoftheECLGS,”itsaid.“StudyontheimpactofECLGS

by theNational Instituteof Bank

Management shows thatmicroenterprisesarethebiggestbenefi-ciaries of the scheme,” FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamansaidinatweetWednesday.TheNIBMstudysaysthatthattheECLGShasreduced borrowing costs for allfirmsbutit isperceivedprimarilyas a tool for immediate liquiditysupport, up to three months,rather thanbusinessgrowth.Theworst affected zones feel that aloanwouldbenefitthemmore.“Mostrespondentsobservethe

amountdisbursed is inadequate.Asaresult,manyborrowershavenot utilised GECL (Guaranteedemergencycreditline).Thesmall-est of borrowersmaybegivenahigherlimitthan20%oftheirout-standingcredit, to reverse the in-equality indistributionandmaketheschememoreeffective.Forin-stance,Microenterprisesmaybegivenalimitof50%whilemediumenterprisesmaycontinuetoattract20%,”saidthereport.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com


THERESERVEBankof India(RBI)onWednesday announced a 62per cent increase in the centralgovernment’s second half(October-March 2021) borrow-ing programme of Rs 4,34,000crore,asagainstRs2,68,000croreinthesameperiodof lastyear.The hike in borrowings has

come at a timewhen the lock-down and the resultant restric-tionson the conductof businessandcommercialactivityoverthelastsixmonthshaveledtoasharpdecline intherevenues,pressur-ingthegovernment’s finances.

The second half borrowingprogrammeof the governmentis expected to be completed byJanuary 2021 to help generatesufficient space tomanage theborrowing programme of thestate governments smoothly,the RBI said. The RBI said thequantum of total market bor-rowings by the state govern-mentsandUnionTerritories forthe quarter October-December2020 is expected to be Rs2,02,242crore.Thisworksouttoanincreaseof18.5percentfromRs1,70,663.76croreinthesameperiodof last year.AccordingtotheRBI, thebor-

rowingcalendarwillenableinsti-tutional and retail investors to

plantheirinvestmentsefficientlyandprovidetransparencyandsta-bility to the government securi-tiesmarket. TheRBI has alreadyassured that itwill facilitate theborrowingwithout any disrup-tion in themarket. “TheRBI hadrejected bids in the recent auc-

tions as investors soughtmorecoupon rate thanwhat the RBIwaswilling to allow. The centralbankwon’t allowcoupon rate torise,”saidamoneymarketofficial.Thegovernment,inconsulta-

tionwiththeRBI,willcontinuetohavetheflexibilitytobringaboutmodificationsintheabovecalen-dar in termsof notified amount,issuance period,maturities andto issuedifferent typesof instru-ments, including instrumentshaving non-standardmaturityandfloatingratebonds(FRBs),in-cluding CPI-linked inflationlinked bonds, depending uponthe requirement of the govern-ment,evolvingmarketconditionsand other relevant factors, after

giving duenotice to themarket,theRBIsaid.Thegovernmentalsoreserves the right toexercise thegreen-shoeoptiontoretainaddi-tionalsubscriptionuptoRs2,000croreeachagainstoneormorese-curityindicatedintheauctionno-tification, theRBIsaid.Meanwhile, the RBI also fi-

nalised theweekly schedule ofauctions to be held during thequarter.Inthefirsthalfof thecurrent

fiscalyear,27statesandtwoUTshavecumulativelyraisedRs3.53lakh crore via market borrow-ings, which is a 57 per cent in-crease from the borrowings inthe firsthalf of 2019-20(Rs2.25lakhcrore).


DESPITEAN8.7percentfall inre-mittancesandoutflowof foreigndirect investment, India’s currentaccountbalance(CAB)recordedasurplus of $19.8 billion (3.9 percentofGDP)intheApril-Junepe-riod (Q1) of 2020-21on topof asurplusof$0.6billion(0.1percentof GDP) in theprecedingquarter—January-March(Q4)—of2019-20. Current account showed adeficitof$15.0billion(2.1percentofGDP)ayearago(Q1of2019-20),according to theReserveBankofIndia(RBI).

Thesurplus in thecurrentac-countinQ1of2020-21wasonac-countofasharpcontractioninthetradedeficit to $10billiondue tosteeper decline inmerchandiseimports relative to exports on ayear-on-yearbasis,theRBIsaid.

THEDROPinAugustisduetofactorslikelowdemand,unavailabilityofequip-mentforsettingupnewerproductionplatformsaswellasseasonalandlock-downrestrictions.

LockdowncurbsstillhurtingE●E

XPLAIN

ED

Coresectoroutputcontractionpicksuppace inAugAt $19.8 billion, current account balance

records surplus for 2nd straight qtr in Q1AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

THE NATIONAL Company LawAppellateTribunal (NCLAT) re-iterated that a resolution planonceapprovedby thecommit-teeof creditors (CoC)of a com-pany could not be withdrawnas it “frustrates theentireexer-cise of corporate insolvencyresolution process”.“A resolution applicant

whose resolution plan standsapproved by committee ofcreditors cannot be permittedtoalterhispositiontothedetri-ment of various stake holdersafter pushing out all potentialrivals during the biddingprocess. This is fraught withdisastrous consequences forthe corporate debtor whichmay be pushed into liquida-tion,” the NCLAT said in itsjudgment.Inanearlier judgment inthe

matter of Educomp Solutions,the NCLAT had overturned adecision by the NationalCompany Law Tribunal (NCLT)andruledthataresolutionplanonce approved by the CoCcouldnotbewithdrawnby theresolution applicant on anygrounds.In its judgment on

Wednesdayaswell, theNCLATrejected a plea moved byKundan Care Products whichwanted towithdrawits resolu-tion plan for Astonfield Solar(Gujarat) Private on groundsthat itwas“unfit for implemen-

tation”.Thecompany,KundanCare,

also wanted that its perform-ance bank guarantee, be re-turnedto itnowthat itwasun-willing to go through with theprocess as the plan had been“rendered commercially unvi-ableonaccountofdelay incon-clusion” of the insolvencyprocess.The pleamoved by Kundan

Care had already been rejectedby a special bench-II of theNationalCompanyLawTribunal(NCLT)atDelhi,whichhadruledthat itwouldnotbeappropriatefor it to deal with an issue thatwas already sub-judice beforetheSupremeCourt.The adjudicating authority

had also said that therewasnoprovision in the InsolvencyandBankruptcy Code (IBC), whichallowed the adjudicating au-thority to allowwithdrawal ofa resolutionplanafterapprovalby the CoC.

New Delhi: The Centre’sBudgetary spending inAugustdeclined15percenton year, against 6 per centgrowthinJuly.April-Augustfiscal deficit was 109.3 percentof FY21target. FE

Fiscal deficit touches

109.3% of full-year target

Mumbai:TheRBI, in consul-tationwiththegovernment,has fixed the limit forWaysandMeansAdvances(WMA)forthesecondhalfofFY21atRs1,25,000crore. ENS

Central bank fixes

govt’s WMA limit

■ In its judgmentonWednesday, theNCLATrejectedapleamovedbyKundanCareProductswhichwanted towithdrawits resolutionplan forAstonfieldSolar(Gujarat)Privateongrounds that itwas“unfit forimplementation”.

PLEA REJECTED

‘Resolution plan withdrawalafter approval from CoCfrustrates CIRP exercise’

NCLATON INSOLVENCYPROCESS

Ahmedabad


SPORT


Shami’s short ball success and his big Rohit Sharma testSANDIPGNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER30

JUST AROUND 16 per cent of MohammedShami’sdeliveries in IPL-13havebeenshortballs,yettheyhaveaccountedfor42percentof his wickets in three games. Despite theone-bouncer-an-overrestriction,Shamihasgot 3 of his 7 scalpswith theballs that haveclimbedontothebatsmen.It'sthisaspectofShami'sbowlingthathasaddedaspicysub-layertotheMumbaiIndians-KingsXIPunjabfixture. On Thursday, facing the Kings XIpacerwill beRohit Sharma,oneof themostdestructiveexecutionersof thepull.WhileSharma'srangeofpullshots isex-

tensive,Shamitoohasavarietyofshortballs.In thepast,Shamihasbeeneithertooreluc-tant or too eager to bowl short but nowheseems to have cracked the bouncer-code.Here's lookingatafewdismissalsthatshowtheeffectivenessof Shami's lethalbouncer .

AgainstDelhi (Dhawan)Beatenforpace, spaceandmovementNot among themost proficient hookers

of theball,Dhawanwasawkwardlylateintothestroke. Itwasnotthepacealonethatde-ceivedhim.What foxed himwas the inwardmove-

ment of the rising ball. After landing on theleg-stump,theballcutbackintotheleft-han-der. Dhawanhadno time toweave awayorduckandendedupglovingtowicket-keeperKLRahul.LuckilyforDhawan,Rahulcouldn'tcatch theball.The one advantage that Shami has over

otherbowlers ishisuseof crease.Since he bowls relatively closer to the

stumps, it isverydifficult forthebatsmentoread the trajectory of his bouncers and itlands theminall sortsof trouble.

Against Delhi (Shaw)Bouncerholds its lineSomeof Shami’s shortballshangabit in

theair.PrithviShawgotouttoonesuchvari-ation. The opener read the length early andwindedupfortheshort-armpullandendedupmiscuing it.Pitchedoutsidetheoff-stump,Shawwas

expecting the ball to seam into him, but itheld its line after pitching. Shami deliveredthe ball with the index andmiddle fingermorespreadoutthanusual,whichexplainswhy theball bounced lower thanShawhadanticipated.

Against Rajasthan (Samson)LateseamforSamsonIt requiredanexceptionaldelivery tonail

SanjuSamsoninrampagingform.LikeShaw,hereadthelengthandshapedupfortherampshot,but failedtoaccount for the late inwardmovement.Themore Samson arched tomake room

forthedeftbrushstroke,themoreittailedintohimbeforecatchinghisglove.Theabilitytoseamabouncerisaremark-

able gift. As if normal bouncers are not diffi-

cultenough,subtlemovementcanmakeitin-crediblydifficult forbatsmentonegotiate.

Against Rajasthan (Tewatia)Theonethatdidn’t skidRahulTewatia carveda shortball at full-

pelt behind point, but Shami didn’t relentamidoneofthemostastonishingonslaughtsin IPLhistory.Thenextball landedonasim-ilar length, but it neither reared nor rushedontohim.Asaconsequence,hecouldnotgetthere-

quiredpowertoclearthemidwicketbound-ary. The damage was already done, butShamiexudedexemplarycomposure.

Shami’s USPsLikegreatbatsmenwhohavemorethan

one stroke for a particular delivery, Shamihasmorethanonevariationofthesameball.Hecanmakethebouncerholdthe lineafterpitching. He can also swing it in and awayfrom the batsmen. And from the samelength, he can target the chest, throat andheadof thebatsman.Shamidoesn’tusethebouncerasanintimidationtool,butaproperwicket-taking tool.

Shami canmakethebouncerholdthelineafterpitching.Hecanalsoswing itinandawayfromthebatsmen. BCCI

Knights overthrow RoyalsKKR’s fast-and-furiousapproachhandsRajasthan firstdefeatof campaign

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYSEPTEMBER30

ONTHEFaceof it, a victory target of 175waswellwithinRajasthanRoyals’ reach. Inthe lastgame,theyhadchaseddown223againstKingsXI Punjab, though on a ‘postage stamp’ sizeground in Sharjah. TheDubai pitchwasn’t agreen-top.KolkataKnightRiders,though,boastof arguably themost lethal paceattack in thetournament. PatCummins, ShivamMavi andKamleshNagarkoti blewaway theRoyals topavethewayfora37-runvictory.

KKR pacers on songCumminsmadeevenabatsmanof Steve

Smith’sclassunsure.Fastandstraight,andmak-ing theball rearoff a lengthwashis template.Smith’s attempt tocounter thatwasungainly.Hefellpreytoanuncharacteristichoick.Cummins bowled three overs in the

PowerplayandsuckedthefightoutoftheRoyalstoporder.He took1/13 inhis first threeoversbut thepressurehecreatedallowedMavi andNagarkotitoreaptherewardsattheotherend.Thetwoyoungsterspickedtwowicketsapiece.Nagarkoti’sblinderinthedeeptodismissJofraArcherwasthecherryontop.When the in-formSanjuSamsonand the

dangerous JosButtlerdepartedearlyon in thechase,thewritingwasonthewall.RahulTewatia,theheroof thelastgame,didn’tdomucheitherandRobinUthappaseemsashadowoftheplayerhewasinhisprime.TomCurran’sunbeaten54off36ballsonlyhelpedinpreventingmuchmoredamagetothenetrunrate.

Gill oozes classArcher opened thebowling forRajasthan

Royals andhurledhis first deliveryat147kph.Shubman Gill went on the front foot andshowed thebatmaker’s name.Archer’s thirdballcameat150kph.Gill,onceagainonthefrontfoot, pushed it firmly tomid-off. Aggression isnotonlyabouthitting90-metresixes.Gill’sap-proachagainstArcher’s thunderboltswasag-gressionpersonified.KKR’sopeningpartnershiphasanartistand

anartisan.SunilNarinewasagricultural,whileGillwaseasyontheeye.ThelattertreatedAnkitRajpoot,adomesticcricket thoroughbredwith

enoughexperienceintheIPL,likeadibbly-dob-blymediumpacer.Hejuststoodandwallopeda full delivery fromRajpootover the straightboundary.SpinnerscameandGillstartedtoy-ingwiththem.LeggieShreyasGopalmadeoneskidoffthesurface.Gillwasalreadyonthefrontfootbutas theballkepta little low,he impro-visedandplayedashort-armpull to thedeepsquare-legboundary. The21-year-oldofferssimilarities to Gundappa Viswanath andMohammadAzharuddininthewayhehandlestweakers.ThewayGillwasplayingonWednesday,

somethinglessordinarywasneededtodismisshim.Archerhadbeen takenoutof theattackafterthefirstoverasRoyalscaptainSmithheldhimback for thebig-hitters,AndreRussell tobe precise. But when the fast bowler wasbroughtbackforhissecondspell,Gillwasdom-inatingproceedings. Aleg-cutterdeceivedthebatsman,whoclosedthefaceofthebatalittletoo soon. Gill apart, KKR’sbattingwasaboutEoinMorgan’squality and intelligenceat thebackendoftheinnings.BRIEFSCORES:KKR174for6(ShubmanGill47,EoinMorgan34; JofraArcher2/18)btRR137 for 9 (Tom Curran 54, Jos Buttler 21;KamleshNagarkoti2/13,ShivamMahi2/20)by37runs

ShubmanGillmade47off 34while opening forKKR. BCCI

SYNOPSIS

KKRpacersblowawayRoyalsafterGilloozesclass

BRIEFLY

Highpraisefor

LeBronashereadies

for10thFinals

Miami: MiamiHeat head coach ErikSpoelstra on Tuesday paid tribute tohis former player LeBron James,whowillmake a 10thNBA Finals appear-ancethisweekbutinadifferentjerseythanwhen the duowere celebratingtitlestogether.TheLosAngelesLakers'James spent four seasons underSpoelstra inMiamiwherehereachedtheNBAFinalseachyearandwontwochampionshipsbeforegoingontowinanotherwith Cleveland. James nowfinds his formerHeat team standingbetween him and a fourth title.Spoelstra, speaking tomedia on theeveof theNBAFinals,wasaskedhowJamesisdifferenttowhenhelastworea Heat uniform in 2014."He's seeneverything," said Spoelstra, whoseHeat teamareunderdogs against theLakers in the best-of-seven series."Atthis point in his career, it's just aboutwinning.Andhisabilitytodowhathedoes at his age is incredibly uncom-mon.Butthere'salotofworkthatgoeson behind the scenes to be able tomaintainthat."Byreachingthecham-pionshipround,the35-year-oldJamesjoins Bill Russell (12), Sam Jones (11)andKareemAbdul-Jabbar (10) as theonly players with 10 or more NBAFinalsappearances. REUTERS

‘Clarityonhandball

ruleneeded’London: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saysmanagers needmore clarity on thePremierLeague'shandballrulefollow-ingaseriesofcontroversialdecisionsinthe opening weeks of theseason.TottenhamHotspurwere de-nied a victory on Sunday afterNewcastle United were awarded apenalty in stoppage time forhandballbyEricDier,whowasfacing intheop-posite direction to the ball when hejumped.ManchesterUniteddefenderVictorLindelofwasalsoonthereceivingendofaharshpenaltydecisionduringtheir3-1defeatbyCrystalPalaceintheirseason-opener."I think football haschanged,"Solskjaersaid."Therearenofans, it's a different game. Pre-seasonwewere at different stages, the newhandballrule…youneverknowwhat'sgoing tohappen. You candiscuss it allday longbutweneed someclarity onwhat'safoulandwhat'sapenalty.Nowit looks like you can chip the ball intosomeone's hand, likewhathappenedto us against Palace, andVictor got apenaltyagainsthim." REUTERS

InauguralSriLanka

leaguepostponedColombo: The inauguraleditionof theLanka Premier League (LPL)was onWednesdaypostponed toNovember21bythecountry'scricketboard(SLC)inabidtoensurethattheplayerscom-petingattheeventhaveadequatetimetomeet the Sri Lankan government'squarantinerequirements.TheT20tour-nament, originally scheduled to startonNovember14,hasnowbeen"read-justed" to November 21. The playerdraft, which was to take place onOctober 1, has now been shifted toOctober 9. "Since the IPL (IndianPremier League)will gountil the10thofNovember,wethoughttokeepsomespacefor theplayers takingpart intheIPL,andwhowishtomakeittotheLPLto takepart in the tournament," LPL'sTournament Director RavinWickramaratnesaidinastatement. PTI

IPL players, teams to paydearly for bubble breachDEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER30

THEPLAYERSwhobreachthebio-bubble inthe IndianPremierLeague (IPL)will have topayaheavyprice,quite literally.Thefirstof-fencewouldpromptasix-dayre-quarantinewithoutpay, thesecondwill result inaone-match suspension after quarantine, whilethethirdinstancewill leadtotheplayer’sre-moval from the tournament without histeamgettingareplacement.Theseruleshavebeendetailed inanotification sent toall IPLteamsbythe Indiancricketboard.Therearefouractsofomissionandcom-

missionthatwillbeconsideredasbreachingthe bio-bubble: Unauthorised departurefromthebio-securebubble,notcompletingthedailyhealthreport,notwearingRestratafob (GPSwristband), andmissing a sched-uledCovid-19Test.Thenotification,accessedbyThe IndianExpress,also subjects the fam-ilymembersoftheplayersandstaff involvedintheadministrationoftheIPLtotheserules.“The first offence – 6-day re-quarantine

(without pay for the number of matchesmissed). Second offence –One-match sus-pension(withoutpay)totakeeffectafterthecompletionofthe6-dayre-quarantine(with-out pay). Third offence - removal from theregistered squad for the rest of the season -no replacement allowed,” the notificationreads. The players and teamofficials travel-lingwiththeirspousesandchildrenalsoneedtoensurethattheirfamilydoesn’tbreachthebio-bubble for thenext twomonths.Ifanyfamilymemberofaplayer,teamof-

ficial ormatch official does breach the bio-bubble,theywillalsohavetofacetheconse-quences. “First offence – six-dayre-quarantine for the familymember, six-day re-quarantine for the relevant player,teamofficial ormatch official (without payfor thenumberofmatchesmissed). Secondoffence-permanentremovalof thefriendorfamilymember from the bubble for rest ofthe season; six-day re-quarantine for theconcernedplayer, teamofficialormatchof-ficial (without pay for the number ofmatchesmissed),” thenotificationadded.

Thosewho are part of the operations ofthe IPL get just two strikes. The first offencewill lead to a six-day re-quarantine, whilethe secondwill trigger permanent removalfrom the tournament. Individuals who donot complete their daily health reportswillbe issued a warning after the first miss.However, subsequent offenceswill invite afineofRs60,000(aboutUSD820). “Inall in-stances-noteligibleforentryintoastadiumor training facility until theHealth Passportis completed,” thecircular further reads.Similarly, those who don’t wear the

Restratafob(aGPStracker)willbeletoffwithawarning after the first offence, but subse-quentoffenceswill incurafineofRs60,000.And the board hasmandated similar finesformissingascheduledCovid-19Test.

Mumbai:ChennaiSuperKingsplayerKMAsifbecamethefirstplayerfoundtohavebreachedthebio-bubbleandhadtoundergoasix-dayquarantine.TheincidenttookplaceafterAsifmis-placedhis roomkeyand,without in-forminganyone,wenttothehotelre-ception to get a replacement. As perguidelines, the reception doesn’tcomeunderthe‘designatedarea’andAsif,amediumpacerfromKerala,wasfoundtobeoutsidehisbubble.“Itwasan unintentional mistake but ruleshadtobefollowed.Heunderwentsixdays of quarantine and has now re-sumed practice with the team,” asource in the IPL informed. ENS

CSK player is thefirst offender

If anyfamilymemberofa

player, teamofficialormatch

officialdoesbreachthebio-

bubble, theywillalsohaveto

facetheconsequences.

SHAHIDJUDGEMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER30

THE SIX hour, fiveminute-long first roundFrenchOpenmatchbetweenItaly’sLorenzoGiustino and Frenchman CorentinMoutethas once again triggered the debate aboutlong court battles undermining tennis’growth.WiththeFrenchOpenbeingtheonlytennismajor thatdoesn’thavea last-set tie-breaker, Giustino’s 0-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 3-6,18-16win pushed the day’s schedule pastmidnight. It meant a long and frustratingwait for thosewanting towatch three-timeGrand Slam champion Angelique Kerber,whowas to take court after the Giustino-Moutet tie.Broadcastersingeneraldreadtheselong

first roundmatches between lesser knownplayerssincetheyspoilprogramming,ofteneating into the timeslotted for theday’s bigticket featurematches involvingstars.

HowlongwastheGiustino-Moutetmatchcomparedtoothers?The Giustino-Moutetmatch is now the

secondlongesteverattheFrenchOpen,end-

ing28minutesshortofFabriceSantoro’ssixhour, 33minutewin over Arnaud Clementin the 2004 edition. It is also the fourthlongestmatchinGrandSlamhistoryintermsof time. The 34 games in the final set —which alone lasted over three hours— lev-elledtherecordformostgamesplayedinthedecidingsetat theFrenchOpen.

Do long matches affect theschedule?Yes, especially in the early

rounds—whichwas thecaseonMonday—whentherewerealotof matches scheduled to takeplace on specific courts. The or-derofplay,publishedanightbe-fore,essentiallylines-upmatchesto take place one after the otheron a specific court. If onematch goes on forlong, thesubsequentonehas tobedelayed.After the Giustino-Moutet game, three-

time Grand Slam champion AngeliqueKerberwasdue toplayonCourt14,buthadto be delayed. Meanwhile, the last matchscheduled on that court, between ArantxaRus and Clara Burel eventually had to beshifted toCourt7.

Before ruleswereput inplace to restrictthe duration of the deciding set atWimbledon, the 2018Wimbledonmen’ssinglessemi-finalsbetweenKevinAndersonandIsnerwentonforsixhoursand36min-utes. It was the first game on Centre Courtand pushed back what was the marqueeclashon thatday—theRafaelNadal-NovakDjokovic semi-final.

Whatare therules for thede-ciding set in different GrandSlams?AttheAustralianOpen,at6-

6, aSuperTiebreak—first to10pointswith a difference of twodetermines a winner. AtWimbledon,aregulartie-break(first tosevenpointswithadif-

ference of two) is played after 12-12 in thedecidingset.Both theseGrandSlams intro-duced their respective rules from the 2019season. TheUSOpen,meanwhile, enforcesa tie-breakat6-6 in thedeciding set.

Howdolongmatchesaffectplayers?The physical exertion takes its toll. The

winnerofalongmatchhashistoricallystrug-

gled to recover in time for the next round.From2000tillthe2018season,28men’ssin-glesmatches atWimbledon had gone be-yond 20 games in the fifth set, and on onlyone occasion did thewinner of amarathoncontestwinhis subsequent round.

Have authorities tried experiments toshorten matches and make the gamemoreviewer friendly?Yes.Oneprominent,andoftencontrover-

sial,additionhasbeentheshotclock.Playersare tostart anewpoint25secondsafter theprevious one, and to enforce this, venueshave added a countdown clock. Once timeruns out, the offending player is issued awarning. IndoublesontheATPTour,thereisa no ad-rule.Whichmeanswhen the scorereaches deuce, the next point decideswhowinsthegame—therewillbeno‘advantage’.This rule, however, is not implemented inGrand Slams.When time is called after thewarm-up, players have aminute to get intoposition, failing which a ‘Start of MatchViolation’ (warning) is issued.One of the biggest changes made was

when the final of each ATP 1000Masterseventwerecutdownfromfivetothreesets.

Why tennis has a problem with marathon matches Serena’s quest for No.24 onhold after injury withdrawalASSOCIATEDPRESSPARIS,SEPTEMBER30

SAYINGSHE is “struggling towalk,” SerenaWilliams ended her latest bid for a 24thGrand Slam title and withdrew from theFrench Open before her second-roundmatchWednesday because of an injuredAchillesheel.Williamshurtherself duringher semifi-

nal loss at the U.S. Open three weeks ago,whichshecalled“badtiming”and“badluck,”andwenttolengthstomakeclearshedidn’tthink thiswasanysortof sign that shecan’tcontinue to pursue trophies in the future.More simply,Williams said, she hasn’t had“enough time to properly heal” and needs“four tosixweeksof sitting,doingnothing.”The sudden announcement came

roughly an hour before the 39-year-oldAmericanwas supposed to head out ontoCourt Philippe Chatrier to face TsvetanaPironkova.Williamssaid it is “morethanlikely”she

will not play another tournament in 2020.

Shesaidshetriedwarmingupforthematchbutknewshewasn’t able tocompete.

Nadal cruisesIt was business as usual as Rafa Nadal

continued his quest for a record-extending13th French Open title with a 6-1 6-0 6-3crushingofAmericanMackenzieMcDonaldonWednesdaytoreachthethirdround.TheSpanish second seed, also looking to equalRoger Federer's record of 20men's singlesGrand Slam titles, was never troubled oncourtPhilippeChatrier.Theclaycourtmasterplayeddeep,using

his forehandtodevastatingeffect tosetupameeting with Japanese Kei Nishikori orItalianStefanoTravaglia.Afterworldnumber236McDonaldwonthesecondgame,Nadalbagged11games in a row tomove two setsupanddespitesomeresistancefromhisop-ponentearlyinthethirdset,hehadnotrou-ble improvinghiswin-loss recordatRolandGarros to95-2."Myobjective is toplayaswellas Ican. It

was a goodmatch for me today. I'm veryhappy,"Nadal said.

Can MI pace attack

quell openers’ threat?PREVIEW:MUMBAIVSPUNJABWin/Loss (MI: LWL;KXIP: LWL)Openers KL Rahul and MayankAgarwalhavedonemostof the scor-ingforKingsXI.TheircontestwiththeMI pace battery of Jasprit Bumrah,TrentBoultandJamesPattinsonmaydetermine the outcome of the con-test. IfBoultgetsthenewballtoswinginto the right-handers, hemay havesomejoy.Butthecontestbetweentheopeners and Bumrahwill be one towatchout for. The latteroftencomeson to bowl as first-change, and ifRahul and Agarwal are still at thecrease then, hewill have his task cutout. Also if the pacers don’t getAgarwal, Rohit Sharma can bring onleggieRahulChahar.Agarwaldoesn’tseemtopickthegooglyfromthehandandwasbowledbyYuzvendraChahalagainstBangalore.

7:30pm,StarSportsnetwork

Fromthesamelength,Shami

cantarget thechest, throatand

headof thebatsman.Shami

doesn’tusethebouncerasan

intimidationtool,butaproper

wicket-takingtool.

WOMEN’ST20DATES OUT

TheChallenger series, popularly known aswomen's mini IPL, will be held in the UnitedArab Emirates from November 4 to 9, a seniorIPL official confirmed the development onWednesday..

Ahmedabad

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