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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

`̀ 80 per kilo

`̀ 108 per kilo

`̀ 132 per kilo

`̀ 58 per Dozen

VOCAL FOR LOCAL

Final-year university examsto be made optional: SamantEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE19

MAHARASHTRA HIGHEREducation Minister UdaySamant announced on Fridaythat final-year students for allnon-professional traditionalcourses such as BA (Bachelor ofArts), BCom (bachelors ofCommerce), BSc (Bachelors ofScience) in the 14 non-agricul-

ture state universities will nowhaveanoption to choose if theywanttositforanexaminationorbegradedontheaveragemarksreceived in thepreviousyears.According to the newdirec-

tive, students opting to bemarked based on the averagemarks received in the previousyears canwrite to their respec-tiveuniversity for obtainingde-gree certificates. Students who

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

MMRDA cancels Monorail tenderthat saw only two Chinese bidders

NEERAJTIWARIMUMBAI, JUNE19

THE MUMBAI MetropolitanRegionDevelopment Authority(MMRDA)hasannouncedthatitwas cancelling the biddingprocess for procurement of 10Monorail trains, in which twoChinese companies hademergedas thecontenders.The MMRDA has said it

would instead look at Indiantechnology partners for devel-

opmentandlong-termsupport.It hasalsodecided to initiatedi-alogue with Indian manufac-tures likeBHELandBEML.TheMumbaiMonorailoper-

ates on a 19.54-km stretch be-tween Chembur, Wadala andJacobCircle.Ithadinitiallybegunoperations on a 8-km stretch in2013 and started commercialoperations on the entire stretchonlyonMarch4, lastyear.Sincethebeginning,theproj-

ect—worthRs2,700crore—hasCONTINUEDONPAGE2

NON-PROFESSIONALTRADITIONALCOURSES

SANDIPGNEWDELHI, JUNE19

FOR THE first time in his fouryears as in-charge of the iconicEden Park in Auckland, NickSautner says he witnessed anear-stampedeat the turnstileslast Sunday. A 15-year recordcrowd of 43,000 poured in forthe Super Rugby encounter be-

tweentheBluesandHurricanes,thoughSautnersays theatmos-pherewassoelectricthathefeltitwas twice thatnumber.“Has to be one of the best

nights at this famousground...One of the most his-toric, too,”hesays.Though competitive sport

hasresumedindifferentpartsofthe world without spectatorsandwithstringentregulations—the English, German andSpanish football leagues, for in-stance—itwasbacktopre-Covid

CONTINUEDONPAGE10

PAGE1ANCHOR

Around43,000people turnedout foraSuperRugbyencounteratEdenPark inAuckland lastSunday. Express

With a record rugby crowd, New Zealandcelebrates its coronavirus-free days

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

SOURAVROYBARMAN&SHIVAMPATELNEWDELHI, JUNE19

DELHI LT Governor Anil BaijalFriday issued an ordermakingfivedaysof institutionalquaran-tine“mandatory” for “eachcaseunderhomequarantine”,whilestriking down a Delhi govern-ment contract with a privatehome healthcare company forremotemonitoring of patientsunderhomeisolation.Till late night, there was no

clarity from Baijal’s office onwhether only new individualstesting positivewill be coveredunder the order or existing pa-tients under home isolation aswell. Besides, the order said, in-steadof remotemonitoring,pa-tients under home isolationshouldbemonitoredphysically.Theshift inpolicy,clearedby

Baijalinhiscapacityasthechair-man of the Delhi DisasterManagementAuthority,wasat-tributed to “lapses” inmonitor-ing of patients under home iso-lation which, the Union HomeMinistry observed, “may be areason for increase” in cases in

theCapital, assuming a “threat-eningproportion”.TheDelhigovernmenttermed

theorder as “arbitrary”, and saiditwill “seriouslyharm”people. Itsaid the newpolicywould dis-courage people from gettingtestedandfurtherstrainthecity’salreadyoverstretchedmedicalin-frastructureandhealthworkers.“After this order, wewould

immediatelyneedthousandsofCONTINUEDONPAGE2

WITHNUMBERSsurg-ingandhealthcare facili-ties fallingshort,Delhihasbeenurginghomeisolation formildorasymptomatic cases tomanageresources. Thenewpolicybrings that

Will furtherstrainfacilities

All Covid cases to nowbe put in institutionalquarantine in Delhi

LOCKDOWNDAY

87

CONCERNDELHI:More

than 15,000 casesin last week,one-third of itsentire caseload

CAUTIONHARYANA:

Growth rate hascome down, butstill fastest amongTop 10 states

A GLIMMERBIHAR: 1,000cases in the lastone week. Growthrate slows to below

3 per cent

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Delhi■TamilNadu■Bihar■WestBengal

TOTALCASES1,20,50425,66049,97952,3347,04012,735

DOUBLINGRATE**

23.6133.0513.4416.3629.8418.64

SURGEIN24HRS3,7525122,8772,141100435

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

3.05%2.18%5.36%4.40%2.41%3.86%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:3,80,532

RECOVERED:2,04,710 |DEATHS: 12,573TESTS:64,26,627 |DOUBLINGRATE:20.13**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

ALL-PARTYMEETINGONLADAKHSITUATION

Noonehas entered Indian territory or capturedanymilitary post, PM tells leaders of all partiesRemarkscomeafterMEAsaidChinadepartedfromagreementtorespectLAC;whytheconflictthen,askCPM,AAP

MANOJCG&HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI, JUNE19

TWODAYSafterExternalAffairsMinister S Jaishankar told hisChinese counterpart thatChinese troops had sought toerect a structure in Galwan val-leyontheIndiansideof theLAC,PrimeMinister NarendraModisaid on Friday that neither hasanyoneintrudedintotheIndianterritory nor has anyone cap-turedanymilitaryposts.“Nawahankoihamariseema

mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koighusa hua hai, na hi hamari koi

post kisi doosre ke kabzemainhai. Ladakhmein hamaare 20jaanbaazshaheedhue, lekin jin-honeBharatmataki taraf aankhuthakar dekha tha unhe wosabak sikhakar gaye,” the PrimeMinistertoldtoppoliticalleadersinhis concludingaddressafteranearlythree-hour-longall-partymeetingthatdiscussedthesitu-ationonthe India-Chinaborder.According to anMEA state-

ment issued on June 17 afterJaishankar spokewith ChineseForeignMinisterWang Yi, theExternalAffairsMinisterhad“re-calledthatatthemeetingofsen-iorMilitary Commanders held

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SUSHANTSINGH&MANAMANSINGHCHHINANEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,JUNE19

TEN INDIAN Army personnel,who ended up in Chinese cus-tody after losing theirway backto base following the violentclashes inGalwanValley on thenight of June 15-16, returnedsafelyThursdayevening.A military officer told The

Indian Express that the soldiersweremissing after clashes be-tween the two sides nearPatrolling Point 14. Throughout

much of Tuesday, they tried tofind their way back to the base,theofficer said.Talks at the Major General

level between the two sideswere held in a very tense envi-ronmentwhere both sides dis-cussed the incident.Itwasfinallyascertainedlate

Tuesdaythat10soldiers, includ-ing fourofficers,werestillmiss-ing. This was raised during thetalks Wednesday and theChinese accepted that the sol-dierswere in their custody.On the same day, External

Affairs Minister S JaishankarCONTINUEDONPAGE2

Last ritesofHavildarGaneshHansda inBaharagora in JharkhandonFriday.PTI

10 soldiers lost way,returned by China aftermatter raised in talks

China claims all of Galwan;world condoles India deaths

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE19

CHINAONFridaysaidtheGalwanvalleywas“locatedontheChinesesideoftheLineofActualControl”,makinganunprecedentedformalclaimonanarea thathas alwaysbeenunderIndia’scontrol.This claim, made by the

Chinese Foreign Ministry inBeijing on Friday, had earlier

been made only by thespokesperson of theWesterntheatrecommandofthePeople'sLiberationArmy(PLA).TheChinesestatementcame

onadayseveral foreigngovern-ments — the United States, theUnited Kingdom, France,Germany, Japan, and theMaldives—expressedtheircon-dolences on the killing of 20Indiansoldiers.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Sonia asks questions,her Opp colleaguesunderline solidarityWithgovt, saysMamata;Pawar formeasures toevacuateChinese forces

MANOJCGNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THEALL-PARTYmeeting Fridayto discuss the border face-offwith China saw a combativeCongress president SoniaGandhiraiseseveraltoughques-tions and accuse the govern-ment of having lost “valuabletime” and failing to use all “av-enues” todefuse thecrisis.But she stood virtually iso-

lated asmost other Opposition

leaders--fromMaharashtraCMand Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray toWest Bengal CMand Trinamool chief MamataBanerjeeandDMK'sMKStalin-- sought to express solidaritywith thegovernment indealingwiththecrisis.TheLeftwasalsorelativelymuted in its criticism.Gandhi, while extending

support to the defence forces,saidthenationwouldhavestoodtogether “like a rock” and sup-ported thegovernment in steps

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Atthevideo-conferencebetweenPrimeMinisterNarendraModi, leadersofotherpartiesonFriday.ANI

Nepal ruling party split on meetwith China, leaders cite India rowYUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,JUNE19

ADAY after its government en-sured the enactment of a Bill toincorporatethreeterritorieswithIndia in the newmap and em-blem of the country, the rulingNepalCommunistPartywasadi-videdhouseFridaywithtoplead-ers questioningmoves to alignwith the Communist Party ofChina at a timewhen tieswithIndiaareunderstrain,andIndianandChinesetroopshaveclashedinLadakh.

Former Prime MinistersMadhavKumarNepal—healsoheads the party’s internationaldivision—andJhalanathKhanalstayed away from a four-hourvideoconference attended byseniormembers of the interna-tionaldivisionoftheCommunistParty of China, CPC TibetAutonomous Region andNepalCommunist Party’s school divi-sion headed by Deputy PrimeMinister IshwarPokharel.While NCP co-chairman

PushpaKamalDahal ‘Prachanda’andsome30centralleadersweretoldtobepresentat thepartyof-

fice inKathmandu, 70delegatesfromtheprovinceswereseatedatdesignatedplacesintheCapital.Oneof thedelegates said the

discussionwasoverissuesrelatedtogovernanceandcorruption.BishnuRizal, deputyheadof

the NCP international division,said: “We had no informationthat such a conferencewas tak-ingplace insuchahurry.”Another senior leader of the

partysaid“it ishighlyobjection-able that the party is co-hostingChinese counterparts at a timeNepal-Indiarelationsareatalow

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

WORLD

CHINASUGGESTSEUROPEANSTRAIN INBEIJINGGENEDATAPAGE14

MAHARASHTRA

114 DEATHS INMUMBAI, HIGHESTSINGLE-DAY TOLLCOVID PATIENTSDEAD INMUMBAI,BUTNAMESSTILLNOTONOFFICIALDEATH LISTPAGE4

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

Nepalovertheborderdisputeandcon-stitutional amendment.Moreover,IndiaandChinaarego-ingthroughheightenedtensionsand therehavebeen clashesbe-tweenthetwoarmies.”“GoingtothelapofChinajust

becausewehaveaproblemwiththeGovernment of India at themoment isneitherwise,norourparty’spolicy,”theleadersaid.It is leant that formerDeputy

PrimeMinister andMinister ofForeign Affairs Narayan KajiShresthahasalsoquestionedthetiming of the videoconference,theintentandsecrecyaroundit.“Just becausewehave some

differences at themomentwithIndiaover theborder issue, suchavideoconferencewithChinaonissues like governance and cor-ruption shows bankruptcy ofmindandinsensitivityonthepartoftheorganisers,”aseniorleadersaid.Soonafter ChinesePresident

Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal lastOctober,theCPCandNCPagreedtosetupinstitutionalrelationsatthe party level to educate andtrainmembers on issueswithintheframeworkof ‘Xi’svision’.

Delhibeds in quarantine centres.Wehavebeencompletelysupportiveof theCentralgovernmentinourcollectivefightagainstcorona,butthis arbitrary decisionwill seri-ouslyharmDelhi.Theyshouldre-consider,” a Delhi governmentspokespersonsaid.Baijal also struck down the

contract that theDelhi govern-ment had signed with aBangalore-based private homehealthcare firm, PorteaMedical,to remotelymonitor the healthstatus of every patient underhomeisolation.The order by the LG said,

“Mandatoryphysicalverificationofeachcaseunderhomeisolationistobecarriedoutbythesurveil-lance teams of the DistrictSurveillanceOfficersunderover-all supervision of the DistrictMagistrate.Fivedaysinstitutionalquarantine of each case underhomequarantine is to bemademandatory and thereafter theywillbesentforhomeisolationex-ceptincaseswheresymptomsre-quirefurtherhospitalisation.”As on June 19, there were

10,490 cases under home isola-tion in Delhi. Chief MinisterArvindKejriwal has repeatedlyadvocatedhomequarantine forthosewithmildornosymptoms.So far, Delhi has four cate-

goriesofpatientmanagement—hospitals, Covid health centres,Covidcarecentresandhomeiso-lation. The care centres are forthose clinically assigned as pa-tientswithverymild/mildsymp-toms; health centres for thosewithmoderate symptoms andhospitals for thosewith severesymptoms. There are currently5,974patientsatcarecentres,344at health centres and 10,961 inhospitals.There are 4,831vacan-cies in care centres and 205 athealthcentres.“In addition to the 80,000

beds being planned for seriouspatients in July,wewill have toadd thousands of quarantineroomsnow. ICMRguidelinesarestillapplicabletotherestofIndia,thenwhyare theredifferentpa-rameters for Delhi? There is al-ready a serious shortage of doc-tors and nurses to treat seriouspatients,wherewouldmedicalmanpower come for taking careofthesequarantinecentres?”theDelhigovernmentspokespersonadded.Earlier on Friday, the Centre

wrote to theDelhi governmentsayinghomeisolationforpatientswith Covid-19, especially indenselypopulatedareas,mayre-sult in the spread of the virusamong family members andneighbours.Inaletter,JointSecretaryinthe

Union Ministry of Health andFamilyAffairsLavAggarwaldrew

the state’s attention to theCentre’s guidelines for patientsunder home isolation andstressed theneed to implementthemstrictly,whileobservingthatthenormswerebeing flouted in“certainstates”.Baijalsaidinhisorderthatthe

matterhadcomeupinthecourseof reviewmeetings at theHomeMinistry. “Itwas observed thathome isolationwithoutphysicalcontact tomonitor the patientsmay be a reason for increase inspreadof Covid-19 infections inDelhi,”hissaid.AamAadmiPartyKalkajiMLA

Atishi,whoisamongthoseunderhomeisolationaftertestingposi-tiveforcoronavirus,saidthenewnormswouldbepsychologicallydetrimental. “Being in the com-fortofyourhomesurroundedbypeople you know, even thoughyoucan’tseethem,ishelpful.Thedirectivewouldscarealotofpeo-pleintonottesting,”shesaid.Shesaidthisstepwasjustified

onlywhenpeopledonothavetherequiredfacilitiestoisolatethem-selvesathome.Delhi government advisor

AbhinanditaMathur,whoisalsopositive andunder home isola-tion, said patients get constantmedical support even if theyareat home throughmessaging orphone callswith doctors. “Aftertheinitialscarewithneighbours,the stigmaassociatedwithvirusisremoved,”shesaid.TheCentrealsowrotetoother

states urging themto follow theguidelinesforeffectivehomeiso-lation of patients. “As per theGuidelines, verymild and pre-symptomaticCOVID-19patientscan opt for home isolation pro-vided the patient has a room tohimself/herselfwithtoiletfacilityandhasanadultattendant/care-giver.Also,thepatientshallagreetomonitorhis/herhealthandreg-ularlyinformthehealthstatustotheDistrictSurveillanceOfficerforfurther followupby the surveil-lanceteams,"thecentrewrote.The Centre has also under-

lined that an “important clause”of the revised guidelines is that“the treating doctor is satisfiedaboutthepatientoptingforhomeisolationbasedonmedicalassess-ment andassessment of his/herresidentialaccommodation”.

WITHENSINPUTS

Soniarequired todefendthe territorialintegrity of the country but “weare still in the dark aboutmanycrucial aspects of the crisis”."Onwhich date did Chinese

troops intrude into our territoryinLadakh?Whendidthegovern-ment find out about Chinesetransgressionsintoourterritory?Was it onMay5, as reported, orearlier?Doesthegovernmentnotreceive, on a regular basis, satel-litepicturesof thebordersofourcountry?"sheasked."Didourexternalintelligence

agenciesnot report anyunusualactivity along the LAC? DidMilitaryIntelligencenotalertthegovernment about the intrusionandthebuild-upofmassiveforcesalong the LAC, whether on theChinese side or on the Indianside?Inthegovernment’sconsid-ered view,was there a failure ofintelligence?”Gandhiasked.EvenaftertheJune6meeting

atthelevelofCorpsCommanders,“efforts shouldhavebeenmadetotalkdirectly,atthepoliticalanddiplomatic levels, to the leader-shipofChina,”shesaid.“Wefailedtouseallavenues,andtheresultisthe loss of 20 lives as well asdozensinjured.”However,most other parties

expressedconfidenceinthewaythe situation was handled,sourcessaid.While Gandhi said the all-

partymove came late,MamataBanerjeesaid themeetingsentagoodmessage, as it showed thecountrywasunitedbehinditssol-diers. She saidherpartywill notsay anything that gave awrongmessage, and called for Chinesefirms tobebarred fromthe tele-

com,railandaviationsectors.“Indiawillwin,Chinawilllose.

Speak with unity. Think withunity.Workwith unity.We aresolidlywith the government,”sources quotedBanerjee as say-ing.NCP leader and former

DefenceMinister Sharad Pawarfavouredintensificationofdiplo-matictalks.HesaidChineseforces“mustbeevacuatedfromoccupy-

inghighgroundinGalwanValleyontheIndianside”andaddedthat“if we want PLA toevacuate...compulsorymeasuresarerequired”.Pawar, incidentally, is also

learnttohavesaidthatissuessuchaswhethersoldierscarriedarmswere decided by internationalagreements,andeveryoneshouldrespectsuchsensitivematters.OnThursday,Congress leaderRahul

Gandhihadtargetedthegovern-ment, askingwhowasresponsi-ble for sending “unarmed” sol-dierstotheborder.Telangana Chief Minister K

ChandrasekharRao,sourcessaid,wascriticaloftheCongressforat-tackingthegovernmentatsuchajuncture. BSP chief Mayawatiasked the government to takestepsontradeandinvestmenttocounter China, adding that this

wasnotthetimeforpolitics.Thackeray said Indiawants

peacebut that doesn’tmean thecountryisweak.“Indiaismajboot(strong)notmajboor (helpless),”sources quoted him as saying.And BJD’s PinakiMisra said hisparty standswith the govern-ment fully andunconditionally,andsoughtstrongretaliatoryac-tion.Whilepointingoutthattherearemanyquestionsonlapsesand

intelligence failures, CPM’sSitaramYechuryis learnttohaveaskedwhether a committee, onthe lines of one set up after theKargilwar,wouldbeinstitutedto“examine lapses and suggestmeasures to modernise theArmedforces”.CPI’sDRajasaidtherecannot

beanycompromiseonthesover-eigntyor the territorial integrityof thecountry.Hesaidthestatusquo of Aprilmust be respectedand restored, and that negotia-tions at ahigher levelmust takeplace.

Soldiers returnraised thematterwith ChinesecounterpartWang Yi during aphone call. No readout, fromei-therDelhi or Beijing,made anymention of themissing Indiansoldiers.Thematterwasalsoraised in

Beijingby India’sAmbassador toChina,VikramMisri.TheChinesesideagreedtoreturnthesoldierswithoutmakinganydemand,theofficer said. Thiswas in accor-dancewithArticleVIII (1) of the1996AgreementonConfidence-BuildingMeasuresintheMilitaryField Along the Line of ActualControlintheIndia-ChinaBorderAreas.Thesoldierswerereturnedat

PP-14during the third consecu-tivemeeting ofMajor GeneralslateThursdayafternoon.Noneofthe soldiers, theofficer said,wasinjured.Afteramedicalexamina-tion, theywere shifted to Leh. Adetaileddebriefingwilltakeplaceafter they have rested for a fewdays,theofficersaid.TheArmyissuedastatement

Thursday evening confirmingthatnosoldierwasmissinginac-tion,whichmeantthatallsoldiersinvolved in theclasheshadbeenaccountedfor.A PTI report from Beijing

Friday quoted Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesmanZhao Lijiantellingreporters:“AsfarasIknow,ChinapresentlyhasnotdetainedanyIndianpersonnel.”AskedifthereareanyChinese

soldiersdetainedbyIndia,hesaid:"ChinaandIndiaareinadialogueto resolve thematter ongroundthroughdiplomatic andmilitarychannels. I don't have any infor-mationforyouatthemoment."Onthenightof June15,inthe

worstflare-upontheLACinmorethanfivedecades,20IndianArmypersonnel, including the com-mandingofficerof16Bihar,werekilled in violent clashes withChinese troops in the GalwanValleywhere disengagement oftroopsoneithersidewasunder-way. Meanwhile, large scalemovement of troops to Ladakhhasbeenorderedfromotherpartsof thecountry inthewakeof theGalwanValleyincident.Whilethebuild-up of forces had alreadytakenplacetoaconsiderableex-tentafterChineseforceshadgath-eredinstrengthalongtheLineofActual Control, theGalwan inci-dent,sourcessaid,hasledtofreshstrategicassessment.

Samantwanttowritetheexamsforgradeimprovementwouldalsohavetoinform the university andwaituntil the local district collectorsandofficialsdeemeditsafetocon-duct the testswhile adhering toprecautionarymeasures suchassocial-distancing, itstated.The decisions were taken

Thursday at the State DisasterManagementCommitteemeet-ing,whichwaspresidedbyChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray. Thestate has 7,34,516 students en-rolledinnon-professionalortra-ditional courses, whereas2,83,937are enrolled in theuni-versitiesforprofessionalcourses.Addressingstudentsthrough

awebcastFriday,Samantsaidthestatehasalsodecidedtonotcon-duct exams for professionalcourses such as engineering,pharmacy, hotelmanagement,management science, architec-ture,computerscience,law,phys-ical education and education.

However, since the courses aregoverned by respective apexcouncilsattheCentrelevel,apro-posalhasbeensenttotheminthematter,theministersaid.Asper thenorm, thesecoun-

cilswilltakethefinaldecisionre-garding conducting exams forstudentsofprofessionalcourses.Conducting an exam com-

prisesofvariousproceduressuchassettingupofquestionpaper,as-sessinganswersheets,preparingmarksheet, declaring result, fix-ingseatingarrangement,employ-ingpoliceandothermanpower,agovernmentnotificationreleasedFriday stated. It added that thiscanputteachers,students,thepo-lice andadministrationat riskofbeingexposedtothenovelcoro-navirus.For the academic year 2019-

20,non-agriculturaluniversities,autonomous colleges, self-fi-nanceduniversitiesand itsaffili-atedcollegeshavebeenaskedtodeclare the results of studentswhowishtoberelievedfromtak-ingtheexamsandwanttheirde-gree certificates. Tentativedatesfor exams for all other studentswould be takenby the local au-thorities.So far, no decision has been

maderegardingATKT(allowedtokeepterm)students. “Adecisionwill be taken after conducting ameetingwith university vice-chancellorsandrelatedofficialsintwoorthreedays,”Samantsaid.

Monorail tenderbeenplaguedwithproblemsandnot been able to garner the de-siredridership.TheMMRDAhadtakenovercontroloftheMonorailin2018fromtheMalaysia-basedSCOMI Engineering,which hadexecutedtheprojectandwasop-erating it, over its failure tomeetcontractualobligations.Sincethen,MMRDAhasbeen

pursuing international compa-nies for procurement of 10newrakesinabidtoruntheserviceef-ficiently. It was hoping that 3.6crorepeoplewouldusetheserv-ice every year.However, the rid-ershipthatitactuallymanagedtoattainwas only 41 lakh on thecompletestretch.Beforethelockdownwasim-

posed, only fiveMonorail trainspliedatonego,withatimegapof23minutesbetweentwoservicesinonedirection.In order to increase the fre-

quency,theagencywasplanningto procure 10 trains, forwhichMMRDAhadfloatedaglobalten-der.Ithadreceivedtwobids,bothfrom Chinesemanufactures –CRRCCorporationandBYD.AstatementreleasedbyMM-

RDA late Thursday said: “In thecurrent economic situationduetoCovid-19 and in linewith thevarious policies announced byGoI(Governmentof India)toen-courage the Make in Indiaschemes, it has beendecided tolook for IndianTechnologypart-ner for development and longtermsupport.”Itaddedthathasbeendecided

to cancel the current tender andstarttheretenderingprocessim-mediately.Also, toenablepartic-ipationof Indiancompanies, theeligibility criteriawould be re-vised, giving chance to thosemanufacturingfacilitiesthathadbeenworkinginIndiaforthelast10yearsonsimilarprojects.Thereleasefurtherstatedthat

the twoChinese companieshadcontinuouslybeenaskingforrevi-sionsintermsandconditionsandeligibilitycriteria."MMRDAdoesnotwantagain

to create a SCOMI-like situationwhenithastodependonforeignmanufacturers even for sparepartsofMonorail coaches. In thesituation that the two Chinesecompanies are dictating us tochange tender conditions,MM-RDAadministrationhasdecidedtosearchfortechnologypartnersinIndia.Aswedonotrequirelargequantities,itispossibleforIndiancompanies tomanufacture andsupply in lesser time,”MMRDACommissionerRARajeevsaid.

FROMPAGEONE

World condoles death of Indian soldiers

on6th June, anagreementwasreached on de-escalation anddisengagement along the LineofActualControl(LAC)”.“Groundcommanderswere

meetingregularlytoimplementthis consensus throughout thelast week. While there wassomeprogress,theChinesesidesought to erect a structure inGalwanvalleyonoursideoftheLAC.Whilethisbecameasourceofdispute,theChinesesidetookpre-meditatedandplannedac-tionthatwasdirectlyresponsi-blefortheresultingviolenceandcasualties. It reflectedan intenttochangethefactsongroundinviolationof all our agreementsto not change the status quo,”thestatementsaid.AdayearlieronJune16,MEA

spokespersonAnuragSrivastavahad said that the Chinese sidehad“departedfromtheconsen-sustorespecttheLineofActualControl (LAC) in the GalwanValley”. Indiawas “very clear”,thespokespersonsaid, “thatallits activities are alwayswithinthe Indiansideof theLAC”,and

“we expect the same of theChinese side”. Following thePrimeMinister’s remarks thatnoonehadintrudedintoIndianterritory,CPMgeneralsecretarySitaram Yechury said: “Thenthere is no conflict?Whyhaveour brave soldiers beenmar-tyred?Whythisall-partymeet-ing?”AAP leader Sanjay Singh

asked: “Has India dropped itsclaimon theGalwanValley? IfChinahasnotoccupiedourter-ritory then what are we dis-cussingwithChina?”DefenceMinister Rajnath

Singh, on the other hand,tweetedthatthePrimeMinisterhad assured all politicalpartiesthatIndiawascapableofprotecting its borders, and thatthearmedforceshadbeengiventhe freedomto takenecessarysteps.The all-partymeeting saw

an aggressive Congress presi-dent SoniaGandhi asking sev-eral questions to theGovernmentonintelligencein-puts regarding the Chinese

build-upalongtheLAC,andcre-ation of infrastructure for theborderareas.Most of the other parties,

however, expressed solidaritywiththegovernment.ThePMsaid that the entire

countryishurtandoutragedbytheChineseaction.“Iwanttoas-sureyou that our armed forcesare leavingno stoneunturnedtoprotect the county. Be it de-ployment,actionorcounterac-tion,throughland,seaorair,ourforcesaredoingwhateverneedstobedone toprotect thecoun-try,”hesaid.India,Modisaid,hastheca-

pability to ensure that “noonecan even dare look at even aninch of our soil”.While on theone hand, the Armyhad beengiven the freedom to take allnecessary steps, on the other,India's positionhadbeen con-veyed very clearly to Chinathroughdiplomaticmeans, hesaid.“India wants peace and

friendship but upholding oursovereignty is foremost to us,”

Modi said.He said the govern-ment has given primacy toramping up infrastructure ontheborder areas in the last fiveyears,andhadfocusedonmeet-ing the requirement of theforces,beitfighterjets,modernhelicopters, ormissile defencesystems.TheArmy’s capacity to pa-

trol particularly along the LAChas increased because of thenewly created infrastructure,thePMsaid.“Andbecauseofin-creased patrolling... there ismore alertness andwe get toknowtimelythedevelopmentsat LAC and consequently areable tomonitor and respondbetter... Ab tak jinko kuchpoochha nahin tha, koi rokta-tokta nahin tha, ab hamarejawan dagar-dagar par unheroktehain,unhetoktehain,”hesaid.ExternalAffairsMinisterSJaishankar gave apresentationexplainingthechronologyoftheevents leading to the violentclash between the Indian andChinese soldiers in theGalwanvalley.

InWashingtonDC, the topUS diplomat on China saidBeijing's actions that led to theclashonthenightof June15-16were “similar to activitywe’veseen in thepaston [other]bor-derdisputes”.Severalrecentstepstakenby

theChinese inplaces includingHong Kong and India “havebeen not really constructive”,the US Assistant Secretary ofState for East Asian andPacificAffairsDavidStilwellsaid.Inastatementissuedlateon

Friday evening, the ChineseForeignMinistryspokespersonZhao Lijian said: “TheGalwanValleyis locatedontheChinesesideoftheLineofActualControlinthewestsectionoftheChina-Indiaboundary.Formanyyears,theChinesebordertroopshavebeenpatrolling andonduty inthisregion.SinceAprilthisyear,the Indian border troops haveunilaterally and continuouslybuiltroads,bridgesandotherfa-cilitiesattheLACintheGalwanValley.”“China”, Zhao said, “has

lodged representations andprotests onmultiple occasionsbutIndiahasgoneevenfurtherto cross the LAC and makeprovocations. By the earlymorning ofMay 6, the Indianbordertroops,whohavecrossedtheLACbynightandtrespassedintoChina'sterritory,havebuiltfortification and barricades,which impeded the patrol ofChinesebordertroops.Theyde-liberatelymadeprovocationsinan attempt to unilaterallychangethestatusquoofcontrolandmanagement.TheChinesebordertroopshavebeenforcedto take necessarymeasures torespond to the situationon theground and strengthenman-agementandcontrolinthebor-derareas.”Earlier thisweek, the PLA's

western theatre commandspokesperson Colonel ZhangShiuli had said that “the sover-eignty over theGalwanValleyarea has always belonged toChina”.

There was no official re-sponse from the Ministry ofExternal Affairs to theChineseForeignMinistry’sstatementonFriday.Earlier,inresponsetothePLAspokesperson's statement,theMEAspokespersonhadsaidthatmaking “exaggerated anduntenable”claimswascontrarytotheunderstandingreachedintalksbetweenthemilitarycom-manders of the two sides onJune6.The GalwanValley has al-

waysbeenunderIndia’scontrol,and has not figured in China’smapssince1962.Zhao insisted that the re-

sponsibilityfortheborderclashlay “entirely”with the Indianside.“Iwant to reiterate that the

rightsandwrongsoftheseveresituation in theGalwanValleyareveryclearandtheresponsi-bility rests entirely with theIndianside.Thetwosidesareincommunication on easing thesituation through diplomaticandmilitarychannels.Chinaat-taches importance to China-India relations andhopes thatIndiawill workwith China tojointlymaintain the larger pic-tureof the long-termdevelop-ment of bilateral relations,” hesaid.Zhaoclaimedthatfollowing

a “strong demand” from theChinese side, India had agreed“to withdraw the personnelwho crossed the LAC and de-molishthefacilities,andsotheydid”. At the June6meeting, hesaid, “the Indiansidepromisedthattheywouldnotcrossthees-tuaryof theGalwanrivertopa-trolandbuildfacilities”andthatthetwosideswoulddiscussthephasedwithdrawalof troops.But“shockingly”,Zhaosaid,

“on the evening of June 15,India'sfront-linetroops,inviola-tion of the agreement... onceagaincrossedtheLineofActualControl for deliberateprovoca-tion... and even violently at-tackedtheChineseofficersandsoldierswhowentthereforne-gotiation, thus triggering fierce

physical conflicts and causingcasualties. “The adventurousactsoftheIndianarmyhavese-riouslyundermined the stabil-ity of the border areas, threat-ened the lives of Chinesepersonnel, violated the agree-mentsreachedbetweenthetwocountries on the border issue,andbreached the basic normsgoverning international rela-tions.Chinahas lodgedsolemnrepresentations and strongproteststotheIndianside.”EarlieronFriday,theForeign

Ministers andAmbassadors ofseveralcountriespostedcondo-lencestoIndiaonTwitterfortheloss of Indian lives. Also onFriday, it became clear thatDefenceMinisterRajnathSinghwouldbetravellingtoRussiatoattend the June24VictoryDaycelebrations.US Secretary of State

Michael R Pompeo tweeted,“Weextendourdeepestcondo-lencestothepeopleof Indiafortheliveslostasaresultofthere-cent confrontationwithChina.Wewillrememberthesoldiers'families, lovedones, and com-munitiesastheygrieve.”Assistant Secretary of State

Stilwell,whilebriefingreporterson Pompeo’s meeting withChinese State Councillor YangJiechi, said: “The actions thatwe’ve seen out of the PRC oflate... havebeennot really con-structiveaswelookatIndia,theSouthChinaSea,HongKongis-sues, and just go around theperimeter.“...We’reobviouslywatching

the India-Chinaborderdisputevery closely,” Stilwell said. “It –thisactivityissimilartoactivitywe’veseeninthepastonborderdisputes with the PRC, andagain,Iwouldpointyoutothose– I think it was 2015whenXiJinpingtravelledtoIndiathefirsttime.ThePLAinvadedthiscon-tested area deeper and longer,withmorepeople,thaneverbe-forehistorically.Again,whetherthatwas anegotiating tactic ora – just a punch in the nose todemonstratetheirsuperiority, I

don’tknow.ButthenwesawtheDoklam issue down nearBhutan,wherewe sawsimilarconcerns...Again,wedon’thavea lot of visibility andwedon’thavealotofopendialoguewithour Chinese counterparts, andhonestly I’d like to seemoreofthatifwecan.”On Twitter, the US

Ambassador to New Delhi,Kenneth Juster, who quote-tweetedPompeo,said,“TheU.S.Mission in India sends ourheartfelt condolences to thefamilies of the soldiers whowerelostatGalwan.Theirbrav-eryandcouragewillnotbefor-gotten.#USIndia”France's Ambassador

EmmanuelLenainandGermanAmbassadorWalter J Lindnerboth posted “heartfelt condo-lences”, and theBritishActingHigh Commissioner JanThompson said “Our thoughtsgoouttothefamiliesandfriendsoftheIndiansoldierslostandin-jured”.Japan’sambassadorSatoshi

Suzuki andMaldives ForeignMinister Abdulla Shahid bothtweeted “deepest condolencestothepeopleofIndia”andtothefamiliesofthesoldierswhohadlosttheirlives.Eachof these countries has

deepandcomplexbilateral re-lationshipswithChina. The in-ternational community hadbeenquick to express supportforIndiaafterPulwama,sinceitwasaterroristattack.But,incaseof a border clash, countries aremorecareful inpickingaside.SeveralofficialsinNewDelhi

saidthestatementsfromtheUSandothercountriescouldpushBeijingtodeclarePLAcasualties,since the international condo-lences suggest that theworldsees Indiaandthe IndianArmyasvictimsofapremeditatedanddisproportionate attackby theChinese.Amongallthestatementsis-

sued on Friday, only the onefrom Japan spelt out that theclashes“mayhaveanimpactonregionalstability”.

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OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,JUNE19

THE SUPREME Court on Fridayasked the lawyer representingtheMaharashtragovernmentbe-fore it toadvise thestate to issueanappropriate orderpermittingthehandingoverofCovid-19testreportsdirectlytothepatientsortheir familymembers.The directive comes in the

backdropof theBMCon June13issuing a circular barring privatelaboratoriesfromsharingtestre-sultswithCovid-19patients.Thecourt,whichwashearing

a suomotupleapertaining to is-sues related to the treatment ofCovid-19 patients andmanage-mentofbodies,saidthatithadnodoubtthatthestatesshallsupplyacopyofthereporttothepatient

ortherelativesandthehospital.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta, appearing for theUniongovernment, conceded that thereportshallbehandedovertothepatientorhisorherrelatives.AfterMaharashtra govern-

mentlawyerSachinPatilsaidthathewould take instructions re-garding this, the SCdirected thelawyertoadvisethestatetoissueanappropriate orderpermittinghandingoftestreportstopatientsortheirrelativesandthehospital.According to BMC's June 13

order, private labs should firstshare the reportof apositivepa-tientwith BMCandonly if a pa-tienttestsnegative,canthereportbe shared directly with him orher. Even the results of the testsconductedinhospitalsbyprivatelabswill have to be sharedwithBMCfirst,thecircularhadadded.

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, JUNE19

ATAtimewhengovernmentandprivate hospitals are offeringhigher salaries to retainmedicalprofessionals during the Covid-19pandemic,residentdoctorsatDr Babasaheb AmbedkarMemorial Central RailwayHospital claimed their stipendshadbeenreducedsinceFebruary.Thehospitaladministration,doc-tors said, had not notified themaboutthe20-30percentpaycut.Theover200-beddedhospi-

tal, managed by the CentralRailway,hasaround30residentdoctors who are paidmonthly

stipends.On Friday, a junior resident

doctor at the gynaecology de-partment said the pay cuts hadbegun from February itself.“Anything between Rs 20,000andRs30,000isbeingdeductedfrom the stipend of differentdoctors. This pay cut is only forresidentdoctors,notothers.Wehavereachedouttothemedicaldirector,buthavereceivednore-sponseso far,” shesaid.The Byculla-based hospital

has been treating suspectedCovid-19 patients and subse-quently shifting anyone testingpositiveforthevirustoJagjivramhospital. Resident doctors saidtheyhaveoperateduponseveralCovid-19 positive patients and

were on call 24 hours in case ofemergencies.“All suspected Covid-19 pa-

tientsaremanagedbyus.Weareworkingoverthescheduleddutyhours,” theresidentdoctorsaid.Anotherresidentdoctor,also

from the gynaecology depart-ment,said,“Wearenotevende-manding a hike in salary eventhoughseveralhospitalsarepay-ingtheirdoctorsmore.Allwearedemanding is to paid the salarywehavebeenpromised.”Residentdoctorsat thehos-

pital are under a three-yearcontract, and their stipendrange between Rs 70,000 andRs80,000. SinceFebruary, theyhave been facingmonthly cutsby20-30per cent.

Adoctorwhosestipendwascut by 28.5 per cent said theywere not issued any notice be-fore thedeductionswere intro-duced.“Therehavebeendiscus-sions in the Central Railwayovera reduction instipend.Butwewerenever informedof anydecision,” shesaid. Shehascol-lected her salary slips and sentit to hospital authority but gotno response.Central Railway spokesper-

son Shivaji Sutar said they havebeen notified about thematter“throughasocialmediapost”.“They should first reach out

to the head of department andhospital authority with theirgrievance.We are also lookinginto thematter,” Sutar said.

Resident doctors at CR hospitalface 20-30%cut in stipends

‘WEWERENOT INFORMED’

SUPREMECOURTTOSTATEGOVT

‘Hand over Covid test reportsdirectly to patients or relatives’


THEOUTBREAK MAHARASHTRA


EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE19

CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackeray on Friday asked eachdistrictadministrationtosetupataskforceofexpertdoctors,onthelinesof thetaskforceinMumbai,totacklerisingcasesofCovid-19.Maintaining that there

shouldnotbeanynegligence intracinghigh-riskcontactsofpa-tients, Uddhav said: “The taskforce set up in Mumbai hashelpedalot.Now,thereisaneedto set up task forces in eachdis-trictordivisionduetotheriseinthe number of cases. The taskforceshouldhaveseniorandex-perienceddoctors in it and theyshould keep in touchwith thedoctors inMumbai.”The CMwas reviewing the

Covid-19situationthroughvideoconferencewithdivisionalcom-missioners,districtcollectorsandmunicipalcommissioners.“Thoughwehaveloweredthe

doublingrateofthecases,thein-creaseinthemortalityrateisnotgood.Thenumberofcasesarein-creasinginsomedistrictsafterwegranted some relaxations fromthe lockdown. The onlyway todealwith this is finding the pa-tient and tracing the high-riskcontacts.Thereshouldnotbeany

negligence,”saidUddhav.Hefurthersaidthatseniordoc-

tors,whoarenot treatingCovid-19 patients in some districts,should guide junior doctors. “Ifseniordoctorsdon’twanttotreatthepatientsdirectly, they shouldbe present in the hospital andguidejuniordoctorsontreatment.Theycanalsoguidethroughcom-putersandsmartphonesbykeep-ingthemselvessafe.”Chief Secretary AjoyMehta

asked the districts to properlymaintain records of patients.“Whereverlessthan10contactsofapatienthadbeentraced, thenumberof caseshadgoneup. Ifa patient is found in a flat in abuilding,aclosewatchshouldbekept on the residents of thebuilding,”headded.

TABASSUMBARNGARWALAMUMBAI, JUNE19

ONJUNE16,BMCadmittedthatithadnotreported862Covid-19deaths in Mumbai, and addedthefiguretotheofficial toll.Thistook the city’s fatality rate from3.7to5.2percent—almostdou-ble thenational average.The Indian Express has now

accessed medical records of afewmoredeceasedCovid-19pa-tientsorthosesuspectedtohavebeen infected, which are yet tobe reportedbyBMCofficially asCovid-19 deaths, an indicationthat there could bemanymorelikethem.Thenamesofsuchpa-tients were not included in theofficialtoll listtillFridayevening,bywhenMumbai had reported3,311deaths.Senior BMCofficials said the

reconciliation process to knowthe status of each patient is un-derway.Whilehospitalshavere-portedallpendingdeathsduetoCovid-19 toBMC, the localwardoffices are yet to report deathsthathappenedoutsideahospitalorathome.AdditionalMunicipalCommissioner Suresh Kakanisaid,“Itwilltakeafewdaystorec-

oncileall cases. Less than12,000caseshavetobeupdated.”Someofthesedeathshadoc-

curred as early asMay. In somecases,thefamilyof thedeceasedsaidthatthedeathcertificatesis-sued by the hospital made nomentionthat itwasasuspectedCovid-19 death, though the fu-neralwasconductedasperpro-tocolmeant for thosesuccumb-ing to the virus. In a few cases,the cause of deathwasmarkedas “naturaldeath”.

Vincent Crasto (69)DEATH:MAY 13STATUS:POSITIVEVincentCrastodied in anau-

torickshawinBandraWest,ashiswifesatholdinghisurinarybagbyhisside.Hesufferedfrombreath-lessness onMay12and thenextday,HolyFamilyhospitaladvisedhimtoundergoCovid-19testbutdid not admit him. He also re-quiredurgentdialysis.OnMay13,hewaited for three hours for aswab test in the hospital com-pound,after testhewasaskedtoreturnhome.Hediedonhisway.“Hekeptgulpingforair.When

hedied,theurinarybagwasfilledwithblood,”hiswifeMontiCrastosaid.HewasdeclareddeadattheHoly Family hospital the same

evening.OnMay15,hisswabre-porttestedpositive.BMC officials visited their

chawlhomewithinaday,disin-fected the house and hung a“containment zone’ banner inthe chawl. They also noted thatthe “index case” (Crasto) haddied, the relatives said.The family of fivewere kept

inquarantineforover20days,asopposedtothestandard14days.“Twice,wegotcalls fromBMC–the number was 1075 – to askabout Vincent’s health. Bothtimes, I said he had died,”Crasto’s neighbour said. Hisnameisstillmissingfromtheof-ficial list. It isalsonotamongthe862deathsaddedbyBMC.

Selvaraj Pillai (62)DEATH:MAY 10STATUS:POSITIVE

TheDharavi resident firstun-derwent private treatment for

fever. For twodays, he remainedonsalinesupport.Aphysicianrec-ommendedCovid-19 testwhenhis health did not improve. OnMay9,aprivatelaboratorytestedhim.Thesameday,hedevelopedbreathing difficulties. His son,Nithyaganesh Selvaraj, rushedhim to sevenpublic andprivatehospitals – all refused to admithim since hewas a “suspected”Covid-19 patient and claimedtheydidnothavevacantbeds.Early May 10, Pillai was

broughttoSionhospitalanddiedwithin an hour. Though his testresultswereawaited,theon-dutydoctorwrote the cause of deathas “respiratory failure” andmarkeditas“naturaldeath”.ThebodywassealedandcrematedasperCovid-19protocol.Pillai’stestreportcamepositiveonMay11.Sevenmembersofhisfamily

were quarantined and four ofthem tested positive, includingNithyaganesh.“Evenforquaran-tine, we ourselves approachedtheBMCwardoffice...Wealsoin-formed the localward officers,”he said. The family got the finaldeath certificate from BMC onFriday. The certificatementionsdeathcausedbyrespiratoryfail-ure, and lists diabetes as theun-derlining cause, but makes no

mentionofCovid-19anywhere.When contacted, BMC

Commissioner Iqbal SinghChahalsaid:“ThepatientwasinourlinelistandadmittedtoSionhospital.Hediedthere.Thecon-tention that thepatientwasnotonBMCrecordsisnotatalltrue.”A “line list” is a detailed recordmaintainedof thepatient.

Mathai Varghese (57)DEATH:MAY 25STATUS:POSITIVEMathai Varghese com-

plained of breathlessness onMay 23. His wife, EaliyammaMathai, tookhim to SevenHillshospital immediately.“Thedoc-tors said theywereonly admit-ting Covid-19 positive patients.Wehadnoambulanceandthusreturnedhomeaftergettinghimtested,” said Ealiyamma, a resi-dentof Kandivali East.Herhus-band felt better onMay 24, butby night, he became breathlessagain. On May 25 morning,Ealiyammaarrangedforanam-bulance. Before it could arrive,he passed away. Instead of be-ing buried, the body was cre-mated. Just before cremation,the swab tested positive forCovid-19.Ealiyammaalsowenton to testpositive later on.

Pravina Shah (68)DEATH: JUNE 11STATUS:POSITIVE

TheMaladresidentwasdiag-nosedwith Covid-19 on June 1.She remained in intensive careforthreedaysatYashasvihospi-tal. On June 6, the hospital dis-charged her, saying she has re-covered.“Shecouldhardlywalk,was weak, and could not eatproperly.Wethoughtthehospi-talwas just following somedis-charge protocol and didn’t ar-gue,”granddaughterDharaShahsaid.OnJune9,Pravina’soxygensaturationlevelsdroppeddownto 32. The next day, she wasrushedtoTridenthospital.Asthehospital had no ventilator, shewaskeptonoxygensupport.Forone-and-a-half day, the familylooked for vacant ventilators inseveral hospitals, called BMChelpline (1916), but found no

help.PravinadiedonJune11dueto respiratory failure.Her husband and son also

tested positive On June 8, andthen again on June 15, the BMCwrote to all hospitals to reportCovid-19 deaths within 48hours. It is unclear whetherPravina’s name is in the recov-ered list, as she had been previ-ously discharged by Yashasvihospital. Until Friday, her namewasnotontheofficialdeathlist.

Ansari Tufail Ahmed(44)

DEATH:MAY 4STATUS:SUSPECTED

When Ansari Tufail Ahmeddied at Nair hospital onMay 4morning, he suffered frombreathlessness,anX-rayhad in-dicatedpneumonia inhis lungs,

andwasindireneedofaventila-tor. The family had first gone toGlobal hospital, then KEMhos-pital, from where he was re-ferredasa“suspected”Covid-19paient toNairhospital.Thehos-pital took an oral swab for test,andwithinanhour,Ahmeddiedin thewaitingarea.Forty-fivedayson,thefamily

has still not received his Covid-19 report. “Wewent to thehos-pitalmultiple times.Eventually,I gaveup. Ihave lostmybrother.The report will only confirmwhat we know... he had allCovid-19 symptoms,” saidbrotherSohailAhmed.The southMumbai resident

wasunwell for 15days.OnMay3,his coughandbreathingdiffi-culty aggravated. The next day,he died. His cause of death says“Type 1 respiratory failure”, butdoes notmention that hewas asuspectedCovid-19patient.Ahmed was buried and his

bodyhandled like thatof asus-pectedpatientof Covid-19. “Noone came to disinfect or ask usany questions,” Sohail said.When contacted, Nair hospitaldean Dr Mohan Joshi said thefamilywill have to come to thehospital and the report will belooked into.

LAXMANSINGHMUMBAI, JUNE19

OFTHEtotalBMCemployeesin-fectedwith Covid-19, nearly 80percentarefrontlineclassCandD staffers. As per data recordedbythecivicbody,whichhasbeenaccessed by The Indian Express,while 1,808 BMC staffers havetested positive for the virus, 71of themhavedied.The number could rise as

many civic departments are yetto submit numbers of their in-fected staff and deaths. Amongthese 71, BMC is yet to issuedeathcertificatesto59Covid-19positiveemployees,mentioningthecauseof death.Thedatahighlights thatwith

20deaths, the solidwasteman-agement department has lostmostemployees,followedbypub-lichealthdepartment(17).Twelvedeathshavebeenreportedinotherdepartmentsandwards.MumbaiFire Brigade andBMC’s securitydepartmenthaverecordedsixandsevendeaths,respectively.Of 71 deceased, 64 patients

were class D (sweeper, labour,mukadam, ward boys and pe-ons) employees and six from

class C (junior engineers andjuniorclerks) staffers.Inall, 1,484classC(416)and

D (1,068) have contracted the

virus, which is about 82 percent of total infected BMC em-ployees. Among the 1,484, 816have recovered, said officials.

Overall, 1,053 BMC employeeshave recovered.“Class C and D staffers are

more exposed to the infection,

as they are working on thegroundand inCovid-19care fa-cilities.Wehaveaskedallheadsof thedepartments tomaintain

dataof infectedcivicstaffersandsubmit death certificate men-tioningthat it isCovid-19death.Wehaveappointedanofficerforspeedyclearanceof compensa-tion claims from employee’skin,” said Milind Sawant, JointMunicipal Commissioner ofgeneral administration depart-ment (GAD).According to the data, 295

classBemployees(assistanten-gineers andheadclerks) and29classAstaffers(assistantmunic-ipal commissioner, deputymu-nicipal commissioner and chiefengineers)have testedpositive.RamakantBaneofthemunic-

ipal union said that the lower-rankofficersaremorevulnerableto infection, as they live in smallhouses and chawls. “Also, theytravel inpublic transport so theyareexposedtomanypeople.”

Covid patients dead, names still not on official death list


FORTHEfirsttimesinceregister-ing its first death onMarch 17,MumbaionFridayreportedover100 Covid-19 deaths. The high-est-singledaytollof114hassur-passed 97 deaths that wererecorded on both June 10 andJune11by theBMC.Withthis,3,425peoplehave

succumbed to Covid-19 in thecity,whichhasadeathrateof5.3per cent now. The figure for thestate’s is4.74percent.Meanwhile,with3,827fresh

Covid-19 cases on Friday,Maharashtra broke itsThursday’srecordofhighestsin-gle-daycasecount.Thestatehas1.24lakhcasesnow,with64,139in Mumbai alone. The cityrecorded 1,264 new cases onFriday. Also, at least 142 peopledied across the state, taking theoverall toll to5,893.BMC officials said of the 114

deaths in Mumbai, 55 peoplediedbetweenJune16toJune18,and59deathswererecordedbe-tweenMarch (when the pan-demic started) and June15. The59deathswerereportedlatedueto delay in the hospitals report-ing the same to BMC. The civicbodymaintainedit receivedthedocuments of these patients inthe last48hours.Of the 142 peoplewho died

across the state on Friday, eightwere from Aurangabad, threeeachfromRaigad,Nashik,Dhule

and Jalgaon, two each fromThane and Vasai-Virar, and onefrom Solapur. Comorbidity andold age continue to remain thedriving factors in case of fatali-ties. Of the 142, 74 peoplewereagedabove60years.OnFriday,BMCstartedanew

200-bedCovid-19healthcentreinDharavi’sMaharashtraNaturePark.Civicofficials said thecen-tre—constructedovera2,200sqft area— iswaterproof and hasoxygen-supported beds. It willadmitmoderately ill patients inneedofoxygensupport.Around10doctorsand15nursesarego-ing tohandle the facility.Across Mumbai, there are

11,862 beds formoderately andseverely ill Covid-19 patients atpresent. This includes 1,278 in-tensivecareunitsand7,212oxy-gen-equippedbeds.

114 deaths in Mumbai,highest single-day toll

3,827NEWCASESACROSSSTATE

Numberofdeaths 5,893

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 62,773

Numberofpeopletested7.35 lakh

Totalnumberquarantined25,697

Numberofnewcases 3,827

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

1,24,331

FOR CORONA WARRIORSAgraffiti artonawalloutsideMahimstation inMumbaipays tributetoworkers involved inessential services. NirmalHarindran

71 OF THEM HAVE DIED

Of 1,808 infected in BMC, 80% lower-rank staffers

WiththenumberofCovid-19casesrising inBhiwandi, thecityhasbeenplacedunder15-day lockdown. Deepak Joshi

Thenumbercouldriseasmanycivicdepartmentsareyet tosubmitnumbersoftheir infectedstaffanddeaths

UddhavThackeraysaidthatseniordoctors,whoarenottreatingCovid-19patients insomedistricts, shouldguidejuniordoctors.

Set up Covid task forcein each district: Uddhav

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

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our brilliant entrepreneurs. In short, we didn’ttrust ourselves. In the early years since indepen-dence, we entrusted public sector units to overseemany of our development works in various fields,but when that failed, we took to globalisation in1991. Globalisation opened us to foreign directinvestments (FDI), MNCs and foreigners, in turnleading to a capital-based growth system whichwas jobless, faceless and ruthless.Thereafter, weallowed the imports of subsidised Chinese goodsthereby inviting job losses and economic in-equalities within our country.This put several in-dustries out of business as the Chinese importsreduced the demand for indigenous products.This made people subsist on government dolesrather than being valuable contributors to thecountry.

Our long dependence on imports, even for ba-sic necessities, has cast a shadow on our com-mitment towards local industries.Why to importat all when we can produce and manufacture onour own? Don’t we trust our capabilities and ex-pertise? Don’t we have the resources to make atleast the necessary products on our own? Thelesser the imports, the lesser is our dependenceon a country like China, which cannot be trustedanymore. Think of the possibilities that this atti-tude towards going ‘swadeshi’ might open forus — not just increased job opportunities but ourassertion on being self-reliant will also generatea lot of confidence among our local industries.

The world is currently faced with the existentialthreat from COVID-19 as economies continuetumbling down. In such a scenario, it is very es-sential to spread awareness regarding the bene-fits of going ‘swadeshi’ or self-reliant. Seeing theplight of our industries and emerging businessopportunities due to COVID-19, the Prime Minis-ter announced last month to go ‘Vocal for Local’,

signalling a strong push for self-reliance to re-vive those local industries that were taken forgranted. On May 12, announcing the Rs 20 lakhcrore Atmanirbhar package in an address to thenation, Prime Minister Modi said that the coronacrisis has also explained to us the importance oflocal manufacturing, local market andlocal supply chain. In times of crisis, this local hasfulfilled our demand, this local has saved us.Local is not just the need, it is our responsibilityalso.

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MAHARASHTRA



LAWYER SURENDRA Gadlingand poet-publisher SudhirDhawale, arrested in the ElgaarParishad case, approached theBombayHighCourtonThursdaychallenging the transfer of thecasetotheNationalInvestigationAgency.The petition, which also

names former chief ministerDevendraFadnavisandHindutvaleaders Milind Ekbote andSambhaji Bhide, stated that thetwoHindutva leaders received“state shelter” despite beingnamed in FIRs linked to the as-saultonDalitsvisitingtheBhimaKoregaonmemorial on January1,2018.“The police administration

under the control and supervi-sion of then chief ministerDevendraFadnavisconvenientlyignored the serious offencescommitted by Sambhaji BhideandMilindEkbote,” itadded.Gadling andDhawale, along

withsevenothers,havebeenbe-hindbars since 2018 after beingarrested by Pune Police in con-nectionwiththeElgaarParishadevent organised in Pune onDecember29,2017.Based on a complaint re-

ceivedeightdaysaftertheevent,the Pune Police had filed an FIRlinking“inflammatoryspeeches”given at the event to the BhimaKoregaon violence that tookplaceonJanuary1,2018.Thecasewas transferred to the NIA inJanuarythisyear.ThePunePolicehad claimed that the event hadbeen part of a criminal conspir-acy linked to banned organisa-tionCPI (Maoist).The petition, filed through

lawyerSatishTalekar,statedthattherewerenocompellingreasonforthetransferofthecasetoNIA,andthatnoprovisionempowerstheUniongovernment to trans-fer the probe after it has beencompletedandtrialissettocom-mence.Itaddedthatthecasewastransferred“duetomalafidesandpolitical expediency”when theMaha Vikas Aghadi coalition inthe state proposed to constituteanSITtoprobethematter.

Such amove disturbed theBJP-led government, who notonly feared being exposed forfalseimplicationandarrestofpe-titioners, but itwould also havecausedagreatdealofembarrass-ment, the plea said. “This fearprompted the BJP-led govern-mentattheCentretotransferthecase...,” itadded.Itpleastatedthatpriortothat

the state government had itselftold the Supreme Court that itwas satisfied with the PunePolice investigation.Further,onthechronologyof

eventsleadinguptotheviolence,the petition stated that whileonlyDhawalewasnamedintheinitialFIRfiledbythePunePolice,theeightothersarrestedin2018as well as academician AnandTeltumbde and activist Gautam

Navlakha(botharrestedinApril,thisyear),werenotnamedintheFIR.“Thecaseof theprosecutionis that the Elgar Parishadwas aprecursor to incite people andthereby, create communal vio-lence. If there is any truth in it, itwas necessary to arrest all suchpersons (who organised theevent), including Justice P BSawant, JusticeBGKolsePatil...,”itadded.The plea claimed that those

whohadbeencriticising theac-tivities of the ruling partyweretargeted. All 11 accused in thecase – Dhawale, Gadling,Teltumbde, Navlakha, VaravaraRao, Mahesh Raut, VernonGonsalves, RonaWilson, ArunFerreira, Shoma Sen and SudhaBharadwaj–are currently jailedinMumbai.


AT THE forefront of boycottChinese goods campaign, theConfederationofAllIndiaTraders(CAIT) Friday expressed disap-pointmentwiththeMaharashtragovernment for signingmemo-randa of understanding (MoUs)with three Chinese companieswortharoundRs5,000croreun-der theMagneticMaharashtra2.0 programme. In a letter toChief Minister UddhavThackeray,theconfederationhasurged the state government tocancel theseMoUs.Theconfederation,represent-

ing seven crore traders and40,000tradeassociations,soughta boycott of Chinese productsand promotion of indigenousproducts after India and Chinaengaged in a fierce clash at theGalwanValleyearlier thisweek.CAIT secretary general,

PraveenKhandelwal,said,“Suchan act of theMaharashtra gov-ernmentat a timewhentheen-tirecountryisagainstChinaisto-tally uncalled for and muchagainst the vision of BalasahebThackeray,a truepatriot”Khandelwal also questioned

the “double standards” of theCongress,oneoftheconstituentsof tripartiteMahaVikas Aghadigovernment,forquestioningtheCentre. “On one hand, RahulGandhi is questioning PrimeMinister NarendraModi at theCentre, on the other hand, theCongress is hand in glovewiththe Shiv Sena endorsing dealswithChinesecompanies.”As per the recent MoUs,

signed by the state governmentall the threeChinese companies— Hengli Engineering, PMIElectro Mobility Solutions JVwith Photon and Great WallMotors—will investatTalegaoninPunedistrict.In the letter, CAIT noted that

thewholenationwasfilledwithextreme anger to give a strongbefitting response to China notonlymilitarily,butalsoeconom-ically.“We truly believe that the

Maharashtragovernment,ledbyyouwill follow the footsteps ofthe great nationalist BalasahebThackeray,whoalwaysbelievedin swadeshi and stood firmlyagainst India’s perpetrators.Wehopeyouwilltakeanimmediatedecision to cancel the MoUswith the three Chinese compa-nies,” it said.

VISHWASWAGHMODEMUMBAI, JUNE 19

CHIEFMINISTERandShiv Senachief Uddhav Thackeray onFridaysaidhewouldbehappyifaShivSainikbecomesthePrimeMinister one day. Thackeraywas addressing party leadersandofficebearersviavideocon-ferencing to mark Sena's 54thfoundationday, thefirstafterhebecame the chiefminister.“I will be happy if a Shiv

Sainik becomes the PrimeMinisteroneday,”hesaid inre-sponse to party MP SanjayRaut’s statement thatThackeray should lead the na-tion.“You(Thackeray)areleading

the state strongly as the chiefminister. Now, you should leadthe nation,” Raut said in hisspeechbefore Thackeray.Sources in the Sena said the

party is now intending to ex-pand its base to outsideMaharashtra. “Thepartychief’sremarks are clear indicationsthatweshouldnowworkonin-creasing our base outside thestate,” said a SenaMP.Meanwhile, in an indirect

digat formerallyBJP,Thackeraysaid his party has not changedits ideology.“Ibecamethechiefminister

because of the politics beingplayed. Keeping a trust (onsomeone) is not our weaknessbut it is inourculture.Pran jayepar vachan na jaye is our cul-ture,” said Thackeray.

He added, “I took the soilfrom Shivneri and went toAyodhya. The verdict came infavourof thetempleandwegotthe Chief Minister’s post also.This is themagicof thesoil fromShivneri.”Yuva Sena chief and state's

Environment Minister AadityaThackeray said the work ofopening a Shiv Sena shakha ineachvillageof thestateneededtobe takenup.“Not just in Maharashtra,

buttheShivSenashakhashouldbe there in all states across thecountry. And our attemptshould be tomake the voice ofshakhas stronger,” the YuvaSena chief said.Sena observed the 54th

foundation day celebrations inlow-keymanner on account oftheCovid-19pandemicandtherestrictions against gatheringsstill in place.The party's saffron flag was

hoisted at Shiv Senaheadquar-ters in Dadar and all othershakhas in the morning withfewpeople in attendance.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,JUNE19

THEMUMBAI Police on FridayregisteredanFIRagainstanIRSof-ficerforallegedlysexuallyassault-ingawomanandalsohavingun-naturalsexwithheronthepretextofmarriage.Asperallegations,theaccused,adeputycommissionerrank officer, had told the victimthathewasdivorcedeventhoughhewasallegedlymarriedthen.Senior Inspector of Oshiwara

police Dayanand Banger said,“Based on the allegations of thecomplainant,wehave registeredanFIRundersections376and377of the Indian Penal code againsttheaccused.Weareinvestigatingthematter.”The complainant had ap-

proached the state government,followingwhich theHomede-partment directed the zonaldeputycommissionertolookintotheallegations.The complainant told The

Indian Express that shemet theaccused at a social gatheringnearly two years agowhen hetookhermobilenumber. “Overaperiod,hekeptcallingme.Hetoldmethathehaddivorcedhiswifeand was residing alone inKharghar.Wegot intoa relation-ship.However, earlier this year, Icametoknowthathewas,infact,livingwithhiswife and childrenatKharghar andhad lied tome,”thecomplainantalleged.“June 12was the last daywe

were together. After that,when-everItriedcallinghim,hisphonewas switched off. Eventually onMonday,whenIwenttohisofficeat Kharghar, he toldme that thedivorceproceedingswouldtakealongtime,”shesaid.She added, “He toldme that

hehadbeencheatingherandof-feredmemoney.ThatinfuriatedmeandIdecidedtoapproachthepolice.”Shefurthersaid,“Overthepast

twoyears, themanhasharassedmea lot and it took a toll onmyhealth. Iwasdiagnosedwith tu-berculosis. I hope thepolice takeproperactionagainsthim.”


THE SUPREME Court has dis-missed a plea filed by NGOVanashakti challenging aNational Green Tribunal (NGT)order upholding exclusion ofAarey Colony in suburbanMumbai from the eco-sensitivezone(ESZ)of theSanjayGandhiNationalPark.A bench of Justices Arun

Mishra and Abdul NazeerTuesday passed the order, thusremovingthelasthurdleforvar-ious infrastructure projects in

the over 400-acre area. Otherthanthe25-hectareMetro-3carshed project, the state govern-menthasearmarked90acresofland inAareyColony to rehabil-itate slum-dwellers and tribalsfrom the hamlets of Sanjay

Gandhi National Park (SGNP), azoospreadover190acres,andaMetroBhavan.NGO Vanashakti had chal-

lengedintheNGTaDecember5,2016notificationof theMinistryof Environment and Forests(MoEF) that declared a mini-mumofupto100mandamax-imum of up to 4 km area fromtheboundaryoftheSGNPasESZ,while excluding 165 hectares(around407acres)ofAareyMilkColony, which is located on theSGNPborder.OnJanuary24,theprincipal bench of the tribunaldisposedoftheapplication,stat-ing the law had been followed

whiledemarcating theESZ. TheNGOhadthenchallengedtheor-der in the SC, whichwas heardon June16.AnESZservesasa“shockab-

sorber” for protected areas andseeks to regulate certain activi-ties around national parks andwildlifesanctuariestominimisethenegative impactonthefrag-ileecosystemaround.Declaringan area ESZ puts restrictions onmining,quarrying,settingupin-dustries, andconstruction.Vanashakti through Senior

AdvocateAnithaShenoyandad-vocates Srishti Agnihotri andZamanAli stated before the top

court that NGT had “failed toconsider that the excluded areawas heavily forested and in-cludestreesbelongingtoindige-nous forest species having var-ied flora and fauna”, andthereforeallowingconstructioninsidesuchanareawouldcauseirreparableharmtothesensitiveecology.Disposing of the appeal, the

SupremeCourtbenchsaid, “Wefound no ground to interferewiththe January24orderof theNGT. The appeal is accordinglydismissed.”Vanashaktisaidtheywill file

areviewpetitioninthetopcourt.


ACTOR SUSHANT Singh Rajput,whowasfounddeadathisBandraapartmentJune14,wasupsetoverthenature of his contractwith aleadingfilmproductionhouse,hisfriendandactorRheaChakrabortytoldMumbaiPoliceThursday.Chakrabortywasquestioned

forovereighthoursatBandrapo-lice station on Thursday. In herstatement,sheisreportedtohavetoldpolicethatRajputhadathree-filmcontractwiththeproductionhousewhen in 2012 hewas of-fered a film by another leadingfilmmaker. “But theproductionhousedidnotallowhimtoworkwith the filmmaker citing stipu-lationswritten in the contract,”saidaseniorpoliceofficial.What upset Rajput, claimed

Chakraborty in her statement,was that another actor,whoalsohadacontractwiththesamepro-ductionhouse,wasallowedtore-placehimintheotherfilmthatre-leasedin2013andbecameaboxofficehit.A“hurt”Rajputhadthendecidedtonottoworkinthethirdfilm in his contract, which re-leasedin2013withanotheractorintheleadrole,policesaid.Chakrabortyalso told thepo-

lice that Rajputwas keen to endhis contractwith theproductionhouseandalsourgedhertodothesame, the official said. “Wewillhavetoverifytheclaims(madebytheactor)madeinthestatement,”said the official. The police arelikelytosendasummonstoexec-utivesattheproductionhouseinorder to verify the claims. OnFriday, three other personswhomanagedworkforRajputatvari-ouspoints inhis career recordedtheirstatements.

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI, JUNE 19

THE BOMBAY High Court onFriday directed the disastermanagementauthorityandthestate government to take cog-nizance of the representationsmadebythefishingcommunitytotheMaharashtrachiefminis-ter regarding the losses theyhad suffered when CycloneNisarga ravaged the coastlineon June3.It directed the authorities to

assess the loss anddamage suf-fered by the fishermenwithinthreeweeks.A division bench of Chief

Justice Dipankar Datta andJustice KK Tatedwas hearing apleabyDamodarTandel, chair-

manofafishermenassociation,stating that as theywere yet to

be compensated for the lossesthey had suffered duringthe earlier cyclone, the courtshould ensure that their con-cerns are addressed in an ur-gentmanner.The plea, filed through ad-

vocate Rakesh Bhatkar, soughtdirectiontothestatetoconducta proper survey to assess thedamage.Itaddedthat if apropersur-

vey was not undertaken, itwould not be possible to esti-mate the extent of losses.Theplea,whileseekingthat

a report be filed on the surveyundertaken,saidthatrepresen-tationshavealreadybeenmadeonbehalfof thefishingcommu-nity to Chief Minister Uddhav

Thackeray on June 13, whichneed tobe addressed.Advocates Priyabhushan P

Kakade and Bhupesh Samant,appearingforthestate,saidthatit would be ensured that thegrievances of the fishing com-munitywere addressed.After hearing the submis-

sions, the bench directed thestatedisastermanagement au-thority to look intothepleaandto ameliorate grievances to theextent possible, upon due as-sessment of loss and damagecaused to the community.It further directed authori-

ties to complete the exercise asexpeditiously as possible,preferably within three weeksanddisposed theplea.


CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackerayonFridaysaidthattheMaharashtragovernmentfirmlystands with Prime MinisterNarendraModi and the armedforcesontheIndia-Chinaborderconflict inLadakh.“During such a crisis, the

Maharashtragovernmentfirmlystands with you and with ourarmed forces on theborder. Butwe should give a message toChina thatweare ‘majboot’ andnot ‘majboor’,” Uddhav toldPrimeMinister NarendraModi,as per a statement released bytheChiefMinister’sOffice.Uddhavwas speaking at the

all-partymeeting called by thePM to discuss the India-Chinaborderconflict.ThankingthePMfor dialogue on such issues, hesaidsuchexchangesshouldcon-tinue. “Wewill give youall pos-sible cooperation,”headded.TheCMfurthersaidthatmis-

informationisbeingspreadthatIndiaisweakerthanChina.“Thisis an old thing. Thoughwe arecompletelyequipped,wearenotdesperate toattackanyone.Ourfocushasalwaysbeenondiplo-

macy and dialogue. But if any-bodyistakingdisadvantageof it,we need to showour strength,”headded.Uddhav said that China is

playing a game of pressure tac-tics,takingadvantageofthepre-vailing Covid-19 situation.“Whenthereisaviewacrosstheglobe that China is responsiblefor the coronavirus infection, itisdeliberatelycreating issues togiveaboosttoitsconfidence.Weneedtodismiss itspressuretac-tics,”headded.

ELGAARPARISHADCASE

14 MPs write to CM, seek urgentmedical attention for Varavara Rao

Gadling, DhawalemoveHCchallengingtransfer of case toNIA


FOURTEEN LOK Sabha andRajyaSabhaMPswrotetoChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayonFriday seekingurgentmedicalattention for 81-year-old poetVaravaraRao,who is lodgedatTaloja jail in NaviMumbai, inconnection to the ElgaarParishadcase.TheMPssaidtheyarewrit-

ing to register grave concernaboutRao'shealthamidreportsof Covid-19 cases spreading injails. They are Lok SabhaMPsKanimozhi Karunanidhi andSumathyThamizhachiofDMK;Komati Reddy, UttamReddyand A Revanth Reddy ofCongress; P RNatrajan and SVenkatesanofCPI(Marxist);MSelvaraj and K Subbarayan ofCPI andDRavikumarandTholValavavan of ViduthalaiChuruthaigalKatchi. TheRajyaSabhaMPs areManoj Jha andKKRagesh (CPIM) andTiruchiSiva(DMK).“Ithasalsocometoourno-

tice through the familymem-bers of Varavara Rao that the

aged poet isvomiting sev-eral timesdailyandisnotkeep-ing well. Hisfamily men-tioned that hisvoice was ex-tremely feeblewhenhe could

speaktothemonacallmadetothemafteramonth,” the letterstated.Raowasrushedtostate-runJJHospital lastmonthafterhefellunconsciousinthejail.TheMPs said that the re-

ports from JJHospital indicatethatRaowassuffering fromanelectrolyte disturbance thatcouldprovedetrimental, as heis already a cardiac patient. Itaddedthathis intestinalulcersneed urgent investigationcolonoscopy,asdirectedbydoc-torswhilehewasinaPunejail,andthatheisyettoundergotheprocedure even six monthslater.“The current level of care

providedinthejailisnotaccept-able.Werequestyoutogivehimthenecessaryandurgentmed-icalattentionbymovinghimtoahospital,”theMPssaid.

Rao,81, islodgedatTaloja jail

ALL-PARTYMEETCALLEDBYPM

Should give messageto China that weare majboot, notmajboor: Uddhav

Ourfocushasalwaysbeenondiplomacy

anddialogue.But ifanybodyistakingdisa-dvantageof it,weneedtoshowourstrength”—UDDHAVTHACKERAY,CM

Not just inMaharashtra,butthe

ShivSenashakhashouldbethere inallstatesacrossthecountry.Andourattemptshouldbetomakethevoiceofshakhasstronger”—AADITYATHACKERAY,STATEENVIRONMENTMINISTER

MAGNETICMAHARASHTRA2.0

Traders’ body urgesCM to cancel threeMoUs inked withChinese companies

Sushant wasupset overcontract withproductionhouse: actorRhea to police

CYCLONENISARGA

Assess losses suffered by fishing communitywithin three weeks: Bombay HC to state

AtcoastalBordivillage inPalghardistrict thatwashitbytheCycloneNisarga.File

SC dismisses plea against exclusion of Aarey Colonyfrom ESZ of SGNP, clears way for infra projects

A25-hectareMetro-3carshedproject,azoospreadover190acres,andaMetroBhavanisset tocomeupintheAareyColony

SHIVSENA'S54THFOUNDATIONDAY

Will be happy if aShiv Sainik becomesPM one day: Uddhav

RPImembersprotestagainstChinafollowingborderclashes, inMumbaionFriday.GaneshShirsekar

Womansexuallyassaulted,FIR againstIRS officer


MAHARASHTRA


OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI, JUNE 19

THEMAHARASHTRA govern-ment on Friday informed theBombay High Court that all in-mates in state prisons will un-dergo thermal screening everyday. Italsotoldthecourt that36temporaryprisonsacross27dis-trictswill beusedasquarantinefacilities and Covid care centresand necessary arrangementswill bemade for thesame.The government said sepa-

ratearrangementswillbemadefor inmates above 60 years ofage,whoaremorevulnerabletocoronavirus infection, so thattheydonotcomeincontactwith

other inmates. Theywill alsobechecked for comorbid condi-tions, the government told thecourt.OnFriday, AdvocateGeneral

AshutoshKumbhakonialsosub-mitted a draft of modificationsinmeasurestobeundertakeninprisonsinviewofCovid-19pan-demic.“Ithasbecomenecessarytomodifyandconsolidatethein-structions/guidelinesissuedear-lier, for theeffectivehandlingofthe spread of coronavirus casesin prisons across the state,” thedraft stated.Thecourtwasalso informed

that collectors of 27 districtshave declared 36 locations astemporary prisons and stepswerebeingtakentodeclaresim-

ilar places as temporary jails inotherdistrictstobeusedasquar-antine centres and Covid carecentres.The government also in-

formedthecourtthatatpresent28,950 inmateswere lodged in60 jails acrossMaharashtra, in-cluding 22,588 undertrials(21,525male and 1,063 female)and 6,362 convicts (6,116maleand246 female).The division bench of Chief

Justice Dipankar Datta andJusticeKKTated thenasked thepetitioners, People’s Union forCivil Liberties, to submit bySaturday their recommenda-tions on the state’s draft andposted the matter for furtherhearingon June23.


THE STATE Tribal Developmentdepartment, through a govern-ment notification issued Friday,has directed teaching and non-teachingstaff atashramshalas—residential schools for tribal stu-dents — to start reporting forwork starting June 15. Whilestaffers fromNashik and Thanedivisions had been asked to re-join work from June 15, theircounterparts in Amravati andNagpur divisions would beginworkfromJune26.Accordingtothenotification,

ashramshalasstaffwouldhavetovisit localities within five toseven-kilometre radius fromtheir school and impress uponstudentstheneedtoreturnhome

every day rather than stay atthese residential schools to en-sure social-distancing, essentialtoflattentheCovid-19curve,canbemaintained in these schools.Dates for the reopening ofashramshalas, it said, would beannouncedinthenextfewdays.To ensure that thepandemic

didnothamper theeducationoftribal students, the departmenthas also directed teaching andnon-teachingstafftoensuresub-

ject-wisetextbooksforthe2010-21academicyearreachstudentsthroughhomedistribution.Untilevery student starts attendingschools, the department hasaskedschoolmanagementcom-mittees,localrepresentatives,de-partment officials andNGOs tokeep in touchwith the studentsandhelp them in academic andhealthmatters.Allstaffmembershavealsobeen told to fill the va-cantseatsaswellascompletetheadmissionforthenewacademicyear through coordinationwiththeaffiliatedgrampanchayats.Sincestudentsof classes IXto

XIhavebeenpromotedinviewofthepandemic,thenewacademicsyllabuswould be precise andstricttohelpthemovercomechal-lengeslater,thenotificationsaid.Itaddedthatallteacherswouldalsohavetoundergoamedicalcheck-

upbeforeschoolsbegin.Meanwhile, schoolmanage-

mentcommitteeshavealsobeendirected towork onusing class-rooms amongothers rooms in aschoolbuildingforthepurposeofturningthemintodormitoriesforstudents since additional spacemightberequiredinthewakeofsocial-distancing norms. Theywould have to ensure that stu-dents wash hands every hour,andafter each sports activity, oncomingtoandleavingthehostels,thenotificationsaid.Theashramshalas,whichare

currentlybeingusedasisolationcentres, would be sanitised bythe district administration andhealth department, it said. Thedepartmentisalsosettoreleasenewguidelinesdisallowingvis-itingparents toenter theschoolpremises.

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR, JUNE19

THEFORESTdepartmenthasini-tiated an operation to reunite arescuedtigercubwithitsmotherafter kinship was establishedthroughaDNAmatchearlierthismonth.The cubwas rescued from a

ditchat a farm inChichpalli for-est rangeof ChandrapurdistrictonApril 24.Thenabout twomonthsold,

the female cub’s blood samplewasmatchedwith scats of twotigresses moving with cubs inthearea.The cubwas found to be an

offspring of T2. This is the firsttime that a tiger cub is beingsought to be reunited with itsmother throughaDNAmatch.“Webegan the operationon

Thursday evening after the ti-gresswaslocalisedataspotnearakill.Thecubwastakenthereinacageandwewaitedthewholenight for the tigress to make amove.She,however,didn’tcomeclosetothecage,”saidDivisionalForestOfficerAshokSonkusare,who is supervising the opera-tion.“We will be attempting it

againonFriday,”hesaid,addingthat the operation was con-ducted fromdusk todawn.Sonkusare said, “Nearly two

monthshavepassed, it couldbeawhilebeforethetigressacceptsthecub.Wearewaiting.”

Mankilled intiger attack

Amanwaskilledinatigerat-tack near Tukum village atNagbhidtehsilinBhrahapurifor-est division of Chandrapur dis-trictonThursday.His body was found on

Friday. The deceased, RajendraGanvir, 50, hadgone tohis farmonThursday but did not return.“His bodywas found on Friday;heisbelievedtohavebeenkilledby a tiger,” said ChiefConservatorofForestRamaRao.Withthis,thenumberofper-

sons killed in tiger attacks inVidarbha this year has gone upto 21, of which 15 of themwereinChandrapurdistrict.

Inmates to undergo daily thermalscreening in state prisons: govt to HC

FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND

Forest deptattempts toreunite strayedcub with tigressafter DNA match

32-yr-old softwareengineer founddead in Pimpri

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE, JUNE 18

A32-YEAR-OLDsoftwareengi-neer, working with a promi-nent company in Hinjewadi,wasfounddeadathis residencein Wakad area of Pimpri-Chinchwad on Thursday after-noon. Police suspect that it is acase of suicide.Policeidentifiedthedeceased

asPrashantNarendra Seth,whois from Indore. According to po-lice,hewaslivinginPuneforthepast fewyears. Senior InspectorVivekMuglikarsaidSethhadlefta note. Police said Seth’s wifewas at homewhen the incidenttookplace.

SLOWSTART:Tuberosesells forRs5perkgat theflowermarketatGultekdi inPuneonFriday.Althoughthemarkethasreopenedafteranearly three-monthshutdown,demandhasbeenlowbecauseall the important temples inPunecityarestill closed. PavanKhengre

State directs teachers, staff atashramshalas to report to work

Teachers, staffershavebeendirectedtoensuresubject-wisetextbooksaredistributedamongstudentsbeforetheschoolsreopen

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,JUNE19

NEARLY1,600 strandedmigrantworkers, who were hoping toboard a train to their homes inJharkhand, West Bengal andOdisha on Friday evening,wereleft stranded after the trainwascancelledbythePunedistrictad-ministration, citing theneed formore “verification” of thework-ersbytheLabourdepartment.OfficialsoftheLabourdepart-

ment said their jobwas to “con-firmandmakesurethatthework-ersreallywantedtogo”.Whilethedistrictadministrationsaidthede-cisionwas in accordancewith agovernment directive issued onJune 16, someworkers allegedthat this “double verification”processwas part of attempts tokeeptheminPunedistrict,whereindustrial units have started re-opening.As reported by The Indian

Express earlier, over 1.22 lakhstrandedworkershave left PunedistrictviaShramikSpecialtrainssince May 8, but hundreds ofworkersarestillstrandedhereandaredesperatetogohome.Agroupoflabourunions,activistsandcit-izens' groupshadprepared a listof about1,600 strandedworkersin Talegaon, Kondhwa,

Balajinagar, Chandannagar,Hinjewadi aswell as Kolhapur,whowanted to go back to theirhomesinJharkhand,WestBengaland Odisha. These groups hadcitedtheSupremeCourtorderofJune9,whichdirected stategov-ernmentstomakearrangementsfor the safe return of migrantworkerstotheirhomes.The district administration

had agreed to ply a ShramikSpecial train toHowrah inWestBengal at 3pmon June19.A let-terregardingthiswasissuedtotheactivists by Deputy CollectorSubhashBhagade,who is co-or-dinating the return of strandedmigrantsfromthedistrict.“Wespent the last threedays

contactingmigrantworkers andinformingthemaboutthesched-uled train. But suddenly, onThursday,wereceivedacallfromDeputyCollectorBhagadeaboutthetrainbeingcancelled,pendingverification of lists by theCommissioner of Labour, Pune,”said Poornima Chikarmane ofKagad Kach Patra KashtakariPanchayat (KKPKP), who isamong the groupof activists in-volvedintheeffort.The last-minute cancellation

left many labourers stranded,withnowheretogo.“Manyof themhadinformed

their employers that theywere

leaving. A fewhad even left forPuneandwereontheirwaytothestation,whenwecalledthemupto tell themabout the cancella-tion...inonecase,40personswhoworked inNigdi had to leave thepremises because they had al-ready quit thework. Theywerelateraccommodated inashelter.The decision by the district ad-ministration causedmajor trou-ble to theworkers,” said JohannaLokhandeof National Centre forAdvocacyStudies.Dilip Tirki, a labourer who

worked at a construction site inMagarpatta,saidheandeightoth-ers had an argumentwith theiremployers to get permission toexitthesite.“Afterwegot thepermission,

wereceivedacallsayingthetrainhasbeencancelled.Wearestuckhere and feel that theemployersaswell as thegovernmentdoes-n'twant us to gohome, becausetherewillbenoonetodotheworkhere,”saidTirki.Bhagade, however, said the

trainhasbeen“postponed”toen-surethatthelabourerswere“ver-ified”by theLabourdepartment.“Theyhavepreparedaquestion-nairethateachofthelabourersinthe list givenbyuswill beasked.Once that’s done, thosewhoarewillingto gowillbesenthomeinafewdays,”hesaid.

Train for migrants cancelled atlast minute, activists say ‘tacticto keep workers in Pune’

EXPRESSNETWORK8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University(Established by Government of Maharashtra and Governed by

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Maharashtra Act No. XXIX of 2014)www.dbatu.ac.in

e-Tender Notice - No. DBATU/Establish/Security/2020-21/01

ONLINE e-Tenders for Providing Security Services at Dr. BATU maincampus at Lonere are invited by the Registrar, Dr. BabasahebAmbedkar Technological University, Lonere from Security Serviceproviders.

All the service providers have to enroll on portalhttp://www.mahatender.gov.in to download the tender document. Thee-Tender documents and other information will be available on portalfrom 22.06.2020 to 13.07.2020 up to 1400 hours. Extension for tender,retender, corrigendum or change in schedule will be published only athttp://www.mahatender.gov.in web site. Right to reject any or allTenders without assigning any reason there of is reserved by theUniversity.

Sd/-Date : 17.06.2020 Registrar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIADIRECTORATE GENERAL OF

TRAININGMinistry of Skill Development

&Entrepreneurship

ADMISSION NOTICEADMISSION to courses under Craft Instructor Training Scheme (CITS)at NSTIs and ITOTs will be made through All India Common EntranceTest which is scheduled to be held on 19th and 20th July, 2020.Applications are invited for Computer Based Test (online) onwww.nimionlineadmission.in from the eligible candidates w.e.f. from15.06.2020 to 27.06.2020 to appear in the entrance test at variouscenters across the country. The candidate has to give the name of fiveInstitutes for admission as per his/her preference. All the detailsregarding entrance exam will be available on the websitewww.nimi.gov.in

davp 63101/11/0001/2021

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMinistry of Skill Development &

Entrepreneurship

KKEEYYOONN Publicity- Officialadvertising agency allnewspapers, Loksattaaccepts all kinds ofadvertising.Reasonable rates.WhatsApp/ Email-9653683498/9920992393/0222825307.

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''IMPORTANT''

SALUTE THE SOLDIERMartyrs of CISF on 20thJune

CISF proudly remembers thesupreme sacrifice of these brave-hearts. On this day, they laid downtheir lives at the altar of duty whilefighting with the militants. Theircourage and bravery would remainan abiding source of inspiration forthe force. The force will remaineternally indebted to them for theirnoblest deeds.

CT/GD NARENRAJBANSHIOIL DULIAJAN20-06-2003

HC/GD SALAGU MALAIOIL DULIAJAN20-06-2003

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPURNo. NIT/2020-21/3129-37 Date: 19.06.2020BÊ-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 061/20-21d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ IZ d»fE IZ ³ýi/Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS IZ Ad·f¹ffadÂfI e d½f·ff¦fûÔ õfSf ´faªfeIÈ °f E½fa A³fb·f½fe Àfa½fZQI ûÔ ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS¸fZ³M´fidIi ¹ff WZ°fb Afg³f»ffB³f d³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`Ô:

d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f d½f½fS¯f E½fa ÀfaVfû²f³f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in °f±ffhttp://roads.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊMhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W`Ü

¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY

IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f AfSXdÃf°f SXfdVf (÷Y.)

Misc. Work at Rajasthan Bhawan, Phase-II, Navi Mumbai.UBN No.: RRC2021WSOB00082

51.78 Lac

Afg³f»ffBÊ³f d³fd½fQf ´fi´fÂf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e A½fd²f dQ³ffaI 19.06.2020 ´fif°f: 09.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZ 29.06.2020 Àff¹fa 06.00 ¶fªfZ °fI

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,

JEYPORE (R&B) CIRCLE, JEYPOREINVITATIONS FOR BIDS (IFB)

Bid Identification No. S.E.J.C. (R&B)-06/2020-21No. 2419 Date. 18.06.2020

B-93

1. Name of the work : BUILDING WORKS

2. Total No. of Works : 01 (One) No.

3. Estimated cost : Rs. 490.40 lakhs

4. Period of completion : 11 (Eleven) Months

5. Bid Cost : Rs. 10,000/- (Each)

6. Class of Contractor : “A” & “Special” Class

7. Date & time of availability ofbid document in the portal

: From 10.00 hours of 25.06.2020to 17.00 hours of 08.07.2020

8. Last date / Time for receiptof bids in the Portal

: 17.00 hours of 08.07.2020

9. Opening date of Bid : 10.00 hours of 09.07.202010 Name and address of the

Officer Inviting Bid: Superintending Engineer

Jeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

Further details can be seen from the e-procurement portalhttps://tendersodisha.gov.in. Any addendum/ corrigendum/ cancellation of tendercan also be seen in the said website only.

Superintending EngineerJeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

OIPR-34108/11/0004/2021

EMPANELMENT OF LOCAL MEDICAL STORES/CHEMISTS FOR PROCUREMENTOF NON AVAILABLE DRUG/CONSUMABLE BY ECHS POLYCLINICS UNDERJURISDICTION OF ECHS CELLSTATION HQ AHMEDNAGAR1. Online quotations through Defence e Procurement Portal are invited fromMedical Stores / Chemists desirous of getting empanelled with ECHS Polyclinicsfor supply of Expendable / Non Expendable / Disposal Surgical Medical Stores andDental items on required basis for the period of two years. The medical stores /chemists should be located in close proximity to the respective ECHS Polyclinic i.eAhmednagar, Solapur, Latur, Osmanabad and Beed.2. All desirable applicants / chemists have to be registered with Defencee Procurement Portal and must have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) asper direction of Government of India.3. All CGHS authorised chemists in Ahmednagar, Solapur, Latur, Osmanabad andBeed will be considered as deemed empanelled i.e need not participate in theTechnical Evaluation if the rates planned to be quoted are same as given forCGHS. They will give their contract discount documents for CGHS to the board,but will sign the contract with Station Commander, Ahmednagar provided fordiscount offered by them to CGHS is not less than that offered by L-1 vendor of theTender Enquiry. They have option to participate in the empanelment process andoffer fresh discounts at the Tender Enquiry stage. The terms and conditions ofcontract will be based on CGHS formats.4. Minimum Eligibility Criteria - Minimum 15% discount on every drug andconsumable.5. Last date for online receipt of bid is 18 Jul 2020 at 1000 AM. Websitehttps://defproc.gov.in/nicgep/app and Tender ID No 2020_ARMY_353747_1Contact details Tel No 0241-2321233 and e-mail ID [email protected]. Appointing authority reserve the right to reject / cancel / reschedule theboard / advertisement.

No.: EE 3/SWM/TEND/01/2020-21 Date: 18.06.2020

‘‘Pay Development Charges, Help to Develop Bengaluru’’Sd/- Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste Management, BBMP

BRUHAT BENGALURU MAHANAGARA PALIKEOffice of the Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste

Management, 2nd Floor, Dasappa Hospital Premises,N.R. Road, Bengaluru-560002

The Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste Management, invitestenders from eligible bidders for outsourcing manpowerservice - SOLID WASTE INSPECTORS for Solid WasteManagement Activities. The agency shall supply qualifiedmanpower to the BBMP. Two Cover Bid procedure as perRule 28 of KTPP Act shall be followed.

TENDER NOTIFICATION(Through e-Procurement Portal)

Sl.No. Name of the Work No. of

ManpowerEMD

(Rs. in Lakhs)

1

Providing the services ofSolid Waste Inspectorsto Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike.

172

11.50 (Rs. 1.00 Lakhthrough e procurementportal & remaining10.50 Lakh throughBank Guarantee)

Tender Period : 12 Months.Calenderofevents : (1)Tenderdocumentsmaybedownloadedfrom Government of Karnataka e-Procurement websitehttps://eproc.karnataka.gov.in (2) Last date for uploadingqueries on: 06.07.2020 upto 4:00 p.m. (3) Pre-Bid Meeting on08.07.2020 at 4:00 p.m. at office of the Special Commissioner(SWM), BBMP Head Offfice Premises, Room No. 201,2nd Floor,Annexe Building-3, N.R. Square, Bengaluru-560002.(4) Last date for receipt of tenders on: 17.07.2020 upto4:00 p.m. (5) Date of opening of Technical bids are on20.07.2020 by 4:00 p.m. or next working day. (6) Opening offinancial bids will be intimated to technically qualified bidders.Further details may be obtained from the above office duringoffice hours or website https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in

CBSE may clear Class 12 students without examRITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE CENTRAL Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)may allowClass 12 students tograduate early under a specialmarking scheme, but offerthem the option to take theBoard exams at a later date toimprove their performance.In other words, CBSE may

not hold the Board exams inJulyand, instead, comeupwithanalternatemethodof evalua-tion. Students who are dissat-isfiedwith their results canoptfor thepen-and-paperexamtobeconductedbytheBoard laterin the year.According to government

sources, given the current loadof Covid-positive cases in thecountry, it may not be feasibleto conduct the CBSE examsfrom July1 to July15.However,anyfurtherdelaymayputCBSEstudentsatadisadvantageasfaras admission to higher educa-tion institutions is concerned.Currently, about 19 states

and union territories have fin-ished conducting their Boardexams for Class 12 students.These includeBihar,Telangana,Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh,Kerala, Jharkhand, Tamil NaduandKarnataka.“States which have

wrapped up (their exams)willstart their admission process(for colleges and universities)soon.CBSEstudentswill be left

behind if their examsarepost-poned beyond July 15,” said agovernmentofficial.Manyuni-versities in Bihar are likely tostart their admission processsoon, the official said.CBSE is learnt to have dis-

cussed the plan with theHRDMinistry in twomeetingsthisweek.The Board is currently

working on the alternate eval-uationmethodbywhich itwilldeclare results forClass12 stu-dents, including for the paperswhichwillnotbeheld in July.Aformal announcement is ex-pected nextweek.TheBoardwas forced tode-

cide on the feasibility of hold-ing exams in July after parentsapproachedtheSupremeCourt

pleading for the Board to scrapthe exams. CBSE has time tillTuesday to respondto theplea.ThependingexamsforClass

12 include 12 core subjects --Business Studies, Geography,Hindi (Core), Hindi (Elective),Home Science, Sociology,Computer Science (Old),Computer Science (New),Information Practice (Old),Information Practice (New),Information Technology andBio-Technology.The government, sources

added, is unlikely to scrap thenational entrance tests such asJEE (Main), JEE (Advanced)andNEET. “Thesecanbepostponedfurther but will not bescrapped,” the official quotedabove said.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, JUNE19

ALMOST 18 months after hisfractious and early exit asReserveBankof IndiaGovernor,UrjitPatelwasFridayappointedchairman of the NationalInstitute of Public Finance andPolicy (NIPFP), India’s premiereconomic think tank.Patelreplacesformerbureau-

crat Vijay Kelkar, who chairedNIPFP for almost six years. He isscheduledtojoinJune22andwillhave a four-year tenure, NIPFPsaid inastatement.NIPFP is an autonomous

body set up jointly by theMinistry of Finance, the erst-while Planning Commission,and several state governments.Itmaintainsanindependent

non-government character andpursues research in public pol-icy,advisingtheCentralgovern-mentaswell as states.TheGoverningCouncil’s de-

cisiontoappointPatel isasignalthat the Centre may wish todraw upon his experience as itnavigates policy in the increas-ingly turbulentCovid times.NIPFP’s Governing Council,

which includes the RevenueSecretary, Economic Affairs

Secretary and the ChiefEconomic Advisor from theUnionFinanceMinistry,besidesrepresentativesfromNitiAayog,RBIandthreestategovernments,metonThursdayandsupportedKelkar’sinvitationtoPateltojoinasChairman.Rathin Roy quit as Director,

NIPFP, andsodidSumitBose, asViceChairman,NIPFP.TheGoverningCouncil is ex-

pectedtoappointasearchandse-lection committee to appoint anewDirector.WhileRoydidnotrespondtomessages,Bose,formerFinanceSecretary,said,“IhavequitbecauseIhaveshiftedtoKolkata.”Patel had, in anApril 6 piece

inTheIndianExpress,saidthatthewelfaresupport—encompassingboth food and money — an-nounced by the government onMarch 26, had combined com-passionandprudence.Whilethefiscalsupport,lessthan1percentof GDP,was seen as inadequate,hewrote, “For India to replicatewhat developed countries have

doneisnotpossibleaswilly-nillywehavetoconfronttherealityoflimitedfinancialspace,”hesaid.In the same piece, he sug-

gestedbanksmayretainprofitstoenhancecapital buffer to remainstrong.Withinafortnight,theRBIaskedbanksnottomakedividendpayoutsfromprofitsfor2019-20,andinsteadconservecapital.In another article in The

Indian Express amonth ago, co-authoredwith Amartya Lahiri,the duomade a strong case forubiquitoustestingandestimatedtheoutlayforsuchatestingplanat2.5percentofGDP.“Thecostofhavingacomatoseeconomyduetolimitedtestingwillpossiblybehigher thanthis,” theysaid.Patelhadtakenchargeasthe

24thGovernor onSeptember5,2016,andwaschosenbytheBJP-ledgovernmentafterhisprede-cessorRaghuramRajanwasde-nied a second term.Under him,relations between RBI and thegovernmentremainedfractious.Citing “personal reasons”,

Patel had quit as the RBIGovernor on December 10,2018, almost 10months aheadof his term. The RBI and thegovernmentdifferedonanum-ber of policy-related mattersincluding surplus transfer tothe exchequer.

Brought in18monthsafterexitfromRBI

Urjit Patel is back—as chief of keyeconomic think tank

Editors Guildopposes FIRagainst ScrolljournalistNewDelhi: The Editors Guild ofIndia Friday expressed concernover the FIR against newsportalScroll’s Executive Editor SupriyaSharmaanditsChiefEditoroverareportpublishedfromVaranasi’sDomarivillage,callingitan“over-reaction” that “will seriouslyun-derminefreedomofthemedia”.TheGuildstatedthattheuse

of the sections of IPC and theSC/ST Act, and “criminal provi-sionsof the lawagainst journal-ists has now become an un-healthy and despicable trendthat has no place in any vibrantdemocracy”. ENS

RajasthanCMAshokGehlotcastshisvote in Jaipur.ANI


EXPRESSNETWORK


ESHAROYNEWDELHI, JUNE 19

MANIPUR SPEAKER YKhemchand on Friday disquali-fiedthreeCongressMLAsandthestate’s lone TMCMLA ahead oftheRajyaSabhaelection.With the disqualifications,

erstwhile royal LeisembaSanajaoba, the BJP’s Rajya Sabhacandidate, was electedwith 28votes. TheCongress—whichear-lier had the numbers to send itscandidate to theUpperHouse—secured24votes.TheManipurHighCourthad,

inanorderonJune8,disallowingsevenCongressMLAsfromenter-ing theAssembly premises “un-lessanduntil”thepetitionsseek-ing their disqualificationweredecidedbytheSpeaker.“TheHon’ble Speaker... is di-

rected to ensure compliance ofthis order by all concerned,”JusticeKHNobinSinghsaid.TheHChadfollowedtheMarch18de-cision in which it removedManipurminister ThounaojamShyamkumar Singh, againstwhom similar disqualificationpetitionswerependingbeforetheSpeakersince2017,fromthecab-inetandrestrainedhim“fromen-tering the Legislative Assemblytill furtherorders”.Since then, Khemchand had

brought forward thematter ofdisqualifications,whichhadbeenscheduledfor June22, toFriday.After CongressMLAPaonam

Brojen Singh—one of the sevenfacing disqualification—ap-proached the HC on Thursdayagainst Khemchand’s conduct,theHCinstructedtheSpeaker toannounce the disqualificationsonlyafter June19, that is thedayof RS election. Despite theHC’sinstructions, Khemchand dis-qualified three CongressMLAsandoneTMCMLAonFriday."Because he had filed a peti-

tion, Brojen Singh received pro-tection from theHC andwas al-

lowed to vote today.He voted infavour of the Congress,” said aCongress leader, adding that thefourMLAswhoweredisqualifiedweresettovotefortheCongress.The three other Congress

MLAs allowed to vote went infavourofBJP.The Congress complained to

theECthatoneof itsMLAsvotedfor the BJP, and sought cancella-tion of that vote. The EC said,“…no interference from theCommission iswarranted in thematter…”Ontheannouncementofdis-

qualifications ahead of RS elec-tions, sources in the EC said thatthe Commission “cannot inter-fere or interject as far as theSpeaker'spowerundertheTenthSchedule of theConstitution areconcerned”.“This was blatantmisuse of

theSpeaker’soffice,”saidcentralCongress observer AjayMaken,whois inImphalcity.Manipur has been tense

aheadofRSelections,withthreeBJP MLAs resigning from theAssemblyandpartyandcrossingover to the Congress. Also, fourministers inNBirenSingh’sgov-ernment, all MLAs of NPP,switchedcamps to lend supporttotheCongress.With threeBJPMLAs leaving

their party, and support of theNPPMLAsandTMCMLAandanindependentMLA, theCongresshad26votesfortheRSelections.Former Congress CMOkram

IbobiSinghapproachedthegov-ernorseekingaspecialsessiontofloorano-confidencemotion.The 60-member Assembly

hasacurrentstrengthof59MLAs.TheBJPnowhas19MLAs,andthesupport of an LJPMLA and fourNPFMLAs.“BJP cannot claim today’s re-

sultsasavictoryorsignofstabil-ity for the Biren Singh govern-ment. This governmentcontinues toexist inaminority,”said central observer GauravGogoi.

Manipur Speakerdisqualifies 4 MLAs, BJPwins Upper House seat

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,JUNE19

THECENTREon Friday asked allstates to replicate the best prac-ticesimplementedbyKarnataka—includingcomprehensivecon-tacttracingofCovid-19casesandhouseholdsurveycoveringmorethan 1.5 crore households— forcontainmentof thepandemic.TheUnionHealthMinistry,is-

suing direction to other states,lauded the two initiatives takenby Karnataka that were devel-opedaspartofthe‘wholeofgov-ernment’ approachwith the in-volvement of multi-sectoralagenciesandsupportedbytech-nology-basedsolutionsandinter-ventions. They effectively traceandtrackeachcase,therebysuc-cessfullycontainingthespreadoftheepidemic, theministrysaid.“The Centre has asked the

other states to adapt these bestpracticestotheirlocalcontextandreplicatethemforbettermanage-mentoftheCovid-19pandemic,”theministrysaidinastatement.The Centre also highlighted

Karnataka’swideningof thedef-initionof‘contact’toincludebothhigh-riskandlow-riskcontactsasdefined by the Government ofIndia. “The number of primaryand secondary contacts in

Karnataka were meticulouslytracedandputunderstrictquar-antine,” itsaid.TheCentre said the state has

beenabletocurtail thespreadofinfectioninslumsofbigcorpora-tion areas through compulsoryinstitutional quarantine of con-tacts residing inslumsorsimilarareas. “It has also been mademandatoryforallreturnees/trav-elerscomingtoKarnatakatoreg-ister on ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal,whichenablestheStatetofollowthemforthenextfewdayswhenthey are in home / institutionalquarantine. The ‘QuarantineWatchApp’ is used to assist thefield workers in enforcing thequarantine,” itsaid.

TheCentrealsounderlinedtheoutreach campaign throughApthamitra tele-consultationhelpline, beingused to reachoutto households at risk throughInteractive Voice ResponseSystem(IVRS)andoutboundcalls.“Thehouseholds reporting any-onewithCovid-19-likesymptomsaretriagedbyatelemedicinedoc-torandfurtheradvised,” itsaid.“The state has also formed

Mobile Squads for enforcementof thehomequarantine throughcommunityparticipation.Incaseinformation is received fromtheneighbor or public about viola-tionofquarantinebyanyperson,that person ismoved to institu-tionalquarantine,” itsaid.

JOHNSONTABENGALURU, JUNE19

WITH CORONAVIRUS cases in-creasingandmajorgovernmenthospitals designated for Covid-19patientsunabletoaccommo-date fresh cases, the Karnatakagovernment has introduced anew two-layer hospitalisationsystem. This includes shiftingasymptomatic patients to spe-cialcarecentresinsteadofhospi-tals,andinvolvingprivatehospi-tals to care for patients withmoderate risk at prices fixed bythestate.The health and family wel-

fare department issued a circu-lar on Friday outlining the newSOP for treating Covid-19 pa-tients on the basis of their clas-sificationintotwocategoriesde-pending on symptoms, age andcomorbidity.Those above the age of 60

who test positive, show symp-toms and have comorbiditieswill only be eligible for admis-siontodesignatedCovid-19hos-pitals; theelderly and thosebe-low 60with no symptoms but

having only comorbidities willbe moved to dedicated statehealth centres or private hospi-tals, and if further diagnosed aslow riskwill bemoved toCovidcarecentres.TheCovidcarecentreswillbe

set up outside of healthcare fa-cilities by using public grounds,stadia and other infrastructure,according to the stateMedicalEducation Minister Dr KSudhakar.The government's Covid-19

ministerialtaskforcehasarrivedat a price structure for privatehospitalsandafinaldecisionwillbe takenby thecabinet, sourcesindicated.Untilnow,allCovid-19cases

— symptomatic and asympto-matic — were being providedcare free of cost in designatedgovernment hospitals inKarnataka. The newmeasurescomeinthewakeof thecases incities like Bengaluru surpassingthenumber of available beds attwomaingovernmenthospitalsdesignated for Covid-19 treat-ment in thepastweek.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

NewDelhi:heSupremeCourtonFridaywelcomed the reductionin rates for Covid-19 testing inDelhi and asked the Centre toconsiderissuinguniformratestoallstatesandUnionTerritoriesforavailingCovidtreatmentfacilities.The direction came from a

benchofJusticesAshokBhushan,SKKaulandMRShah,whichpe-rused an affidavit filed by theCentre.ThebenchhadonJune12takensuomotucognizanceofthe“grim” situation in thewake ofthepandemicinthenationalcap-ital and some other states andasked them to file affidavits ex-plainingwhatwasbeingdonetoremedythesituation.The Centre’s affidavit said it

hadsetupaCommitteecompris-ingVKPaul,Member,NITIAayog,representative of theAIIMS andrepresentativeoftheNCTgovern-mentandthatbasedonitsreport,“hasalready takenadecision forreducingtheamountoftestintheNCTDelhi”. ENS

ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, JUNE 19

THE SUPREME Court on Fridaydisagreedwith a finding of theMadurai benchofMadrasHighCourt that the lockdown inwake of the pandemic “is akinto the proclamation of emer-gency” andwoulddisentitle anaccused from default bail. The

court reminded the ADM,Jabalpur, rulingof the topcourtin 1976, which took a similarview, no longer held forte.The court said “the sting” of

the ADM Jabalpur judgment“and retrograde steps taken inrespectof rightprotectedunderArticle 21 was... immediatelyremediedby theParliamentbyway of the Forty-fourthConstitutionalAmendmentAct,

1978”.Theamendmentsaidfunda-

mentalrightsguaranteedunderArticles 20 and 21 cannot besuspended during the procla-mationof Emergency.“The view of the learned

Single Judge that the restric-tions... imposed during periodof lockdown by theGovernmentof Indiashouldnotgive right to an accused topray

for grant of default bail eventhough charge sheet has notbeen filedwithin the timepre-scribed... is clearly erroneousand not in accordance withlaw,” the SC ruled.The court was hearing an

appealbyoneSKasiagainst theHigh Court order on theMay11.Arrested in a case of theft

andtrespassonFebruary21,he

hadmovedfordefaultbailafterremaining in jail for 73days.The High Court rejected his

plea, sayingtheSupremeCourtbywayof a March23orderex-tended theperiodof limitationinvariousmatters inviewof theCovid situation and hence hewill not be entitled to defaultbail.


Issue uniformrates for Covidcare, SC to Centre

Karnataka begins 2-layeredhospitalisation system

Amediccollectssamples forCovid-19swabtestsata testingcentre inNewDelhionFriday.AmitMehra

APEXCOURTDISAGREESWITHMADRASHC

SC: Lockdown won’t disentitle accused from default bail

OTHERTOP STORIES

Replicate Karnataka’s initiatives tocontain corona: Centre to states

Covid-negativecertificate forNRIs: SC declinesto interfere withKerala orderNewDelhi:TheSupremeCourtonFridaydeclinedtointerferewithaKerala government direction re-quiringNRIsreturningtothestateviaprivatecharteredflightsfromWest Asian countries to carry aCovid-negativecertificate.Apleaby petitioner K S RMenon con-tendedthatthestategovernmentorder had created two classes ofcitizens,asthosereturningviatheVande Bharatmissionwere notrequiredtocarryanysuchcertifi-cate. A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, SKKaul andMRShahwondered how the court couldinterferewiththepolicydecisionofthestate.ItaskedthepetitionertoapproachthestategovernmentandMinistryofExternalAffairs.ENS

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, JUNE19

ENDINGAsagaofresortpolitics,defectionsandresignations, theRajya Sabha elections on Fridayleft the ruling BJP with an in-creasedtallyintheUpperHousebutstillshortofamajorityonitsown,andaddedpoliticalheavy-weightstotheOppositionranks.In elections to 19 seats in 10

states,BJPwoneightandCongressfour. With this, the currentstrengthofRajyaSabhawillgoupto244,ofwhichBJPhas86mem-bers—increasingitstallyfrom75—andtheNDA'stallyisexpectedtocross100.TheCongresshas41whileothershave27.Against the 61 vacancies in

20 states, 42 were alreadyelectedunopposed.TheBJPhadsevenMPselectedunopposedinMarch and three in the last twodays; one from ArunachalPradesh and two fromKarnataka,whileCongresswonfiveunopposedFifteenmembers of the BJP

and17membersoftheCongresswereamong the61whoretiredfromtheUpperHouse.WithFriday's results, theBJP

has cemented its lead in theRajya Sabha, where it had ini-tially struggled to get its pre-ferredBillspassedsince2014.While theBJPwillnowhave

Jyotiraditya Scindia with it inthe treasury benches, theOpposition side will havethe experienced H D DeveGowda, Mallikarjun Kharge,Digvijaya Singh and ShibuSoren coming in.BJP leaders said the bal-

ance of power, which had al-ready been tilted towards theruling coalition side, has be-come clear now.“Wewelcome the election

results andwith the support ofthe council of states, we willstrengthenthedemocraticrootsofthecountry,”seniorBJPleaderandRajyaSabhaMPBhupenderYadavtoldTheIndianExpress.Hesaid that all major policy deci-sions like GSTwere takenwithconsensus, but more numberswouldmean “a stronger demo-craticparticipation”.From the opposition

benches,TMCretainedtheirfourseats, NCP its two seats, RJD gottwoandShivSenaone.In states like Gujarat and

Madhya Pradesh, the BJP fur-ther consolidated its position.InMadhya Pradesh, where thedefectionof ScindiawithotherMLAs into theBJP led to the fallof theCongress government inMarch, theBJPmanagedtowintwo seats, including Scindia's.Congress veteran Digvijayawon from the state with thehighest number of first prefer-ential votes.In Gujarat, since the Rajya

Sabhapollswereannounced,theCongresssawtheexitofeightofitsMLAs.ItcosttheCongressoneRajyaSabhaseat.TheBJP,whichhad adequate numbers to wintwoseats,managedtowinthreeof the four seats forwhich elec-tionswereheld.InCongress-ruledRajasthan,

the Congress retained its twoseats and the BJP one. InJharkhandtheBJPandJMMwonone seat each. The BJP wonManipur’sloneRajyaSabhaseat.

GujaratChiefMinisterVijayRupaniatapollingcentre inGandhinagaronFriday. ANI

MILINDGHATWAIBHOPAL, JUNE19

BJP CANDIDATES JyotiradityaScindia and Sumer SinghSolanki, and veteran Congressleader Digvijaya Singh, werevotedintotheRajyaSabhafromMadhyaPradeshonFriday.Scindia'sentryintotheUpper

House came nearly threemonthsafterheprecipitatedthecollapse of the Kamal Nath-ledCongressgovernment.BeforeScindia’srebellion,the

thenrulingCongresswaspoisedto win two seats. The resigna-tionsof22CongressMLAs,mostof them Scindia loyalists, re-ducedtheparty'snumbersto92,enabling the BJP to not only re-turn to power after 15monthsbut also increase its tally in theupperhouse.The second BJP candidate to

get elected on Friday, Solanki, isanRSSactivistandformerassis-

tantprofessor.Digvijaya Singh and Phool

Singh Baraiya, the otherCongresscandidate,got93votes,onemorethantheparty’stally—one BJP member cross-voted.TheformerChiefMinistergot57first preference votes whileScindia and Solanki got 56 and55voteseach.At111firstprefer-encevotes,theBJPsaiditgotfourmore votes than its tally of 107.Onevotewas rejected.Scindiawho recently tested

positive for the coronavirus,wasinDelhi andcouldnotmake it toBhopal. In a videomessage, hethankedBJPMLAsanditstoplead-ershipforfacilitatinghisentryintothe Rajya Sabha fromhis homestate.“BecauseIamCovid-positiveI couldnotbewithyou,”' he said,promisingtovisitBhopalsoon.Congress MLA Kunal

Chaudhary,who testedpositivea fewdaysago, turnedup to theAssembly to vote in a personalprotectivekit.

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABADJUNE19

THE RULING YSRCPwon all thefour Rajya Sabha seats fromAndhraPradeshthatwenttothepolls on Friday and the infight-ing in theOppositionTDPcametothefore,withtwoMLAsstay-ing away and fourmakingmis-takesthatlefttheirvotesinvalid.With 151 MLAs, the ruling

party comfortablywon the fourseats. The YSRCP had fieldedDeputy Chief Minister PilliSubash Chandra Bose, FisheriesMinister MopideviVenkataramana, real estate de-veloper and former founder ofRamky Infrastructure AyodhyaRamiReddyandRelianceGroupvice-presidentParimalNathwani.The TDP had fielded senior

leader and Politburo memberVarla Ramaiah. A minimum of36 votes were needed by eachcandidate to win. The TDP has23MLAs.TworebelMLAsof theparty,KarnamBalaramKrishnaMurthy and VallabhaneniVamsi, did not turn up for vot-ing. And during the counting,four votes were found invalid.Sources in the AP LegislativeSecretariat said that the invalidvotes were of TDP MLAs dis-gruntledwiththeparty leader-ship. TDP candidate VarlaRamaiah got 17votes.“They did not defy the party

whiptovotebutmademistakeswhich rendered the votes in-valid. TwoMLAs wrote on theballot paper that TDP was in-dulginginwrongcastepolitics,”anofficial said.Lone MLA of Jana Sena, R

VaraPrasad,declaredhissupporttotheYSRCP.Thestrengthof theYSRCP in Rajya Sabha goes upfrom2to6after today’s results.

Ranchi: JharkhandBJPpresidentDeepak Prakash and JharkhandMuktiMorchachiefShibuSorenwereelected to theRajya Sabhafrom Jharkhand on Friday.Prakash got 30 votes whileSoren, a former chief minister,received31.TheCongress,whichis in alliancewith JMM, put upits own candidate—ShahzadaAnwargot18votes.A total of 79 legislators cast

their ballot during the electionsthatwereheldwith in linewithsocialdistancingnorms.Apost-graduate in political science,Prakash has earlier been theparty's state secretary and statevice-president, besides holdingotherkeyposts.Meanwhile,theBJPcriticised

Congressforfieldingacandidateof its own despite being in al-liance.TheBJPhadputupitsleg-islators in a hostel before theelections.ENS

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR, JUNE19

THE CONGRESSwon twoRajyaSabhaseatsfromRajasthanintheelection held Fridaywhile BJPtookhomeoneseat,officialssaid.The resultswereonexpected

lines,withCongresscandidatesKCVenugopalandNeerajDangibothmanagingacomfortablevictory,whileBJPhadawinnerinRajendraGehlot. Theonly losingcandidatewasBJP’sOnkarSinghLakhawat.With their election, theCongressnow has three Rajya SabhaMembers,whiletheBJPhasseven.With 200 seats in the

RajasthanAssembly, eachRajyaSabhacandidaterequired51votestobeelected. TheCongresshasa

collective strengthof 125votes–107of its ownMLAs, all 13 inde-pendentMLAs, 2MLAs each ofBhartiyaTribal PartyandCPI(M),andoneof RLD.However, SocialJustice andEmpowermentmin-ister BhanwarlalMeghwal andDungargarh CPI(M) MLAGirdharilal couldnot vote onac-countof theirhealth.CongressMLAWajibAli,who

returned from Australia onThursday,casthisvoteonFridayfor the Rajya Sabha elections atthe state Assembly wearing aPPE suit following complaintsfromtheBJP thathe inviolationof Covid-19advisories.Later on Friday, a complaint

against Ali was lodged by a BJPleader at the Jyoti Nagar policestation.

RAJYASABHAELECTIONS: 19SEATS IN 10STATES

BJP cements leadwith 8more seats, Congwins4

BJP’s Scindia and Solanki,Cong’s Digvijaya win in MP

Jharkhand: JMMsupremo Soren,BJP state chiefPrakash win Congress bags two seats

in Rajasthan, BJP gets one

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,VADODARA,JUNE19

ELECTIONS TO the four RajyaSabhaseatsinGujaratconcludedFridaywiththerulingBharatiyaJanataParty(BJP)winningthreeseats and Opposition Congressemergingvictoriousononeseat.Thewinning candidates are

Abhay Bhardwaj, RamilabenBaraandNarhariAminoftheBJPand Shaktisinh Gohil of theCongress. The other Congresscandidate, Bharatsinh Solanki,failed to get the minimum 35votes required towin.Deputy Chief Minister Nitin

Patel saidBhardwajandBaragot36votes eachof first preference,while Amin got 32 votes of firstpreferenceand35.98votesofsec-ondpreference,aspertherulesofRajyaSabhaelections.HealsosaidthatBharatsinhSolankicouldget

30 votes of first preference and31.98votesofsecondpreference.CongressinchargeforGujarat,

RajeevSatav,said,"...wewononeRajya Sabha seat despite BJP us-ingmoneypowerandevery ille-gal gimmick. It is sad to lose oneseat but our struggle and effortswillcontinue."Around 9.30 am, BJP MLA

from Matar constituency,KesrisinhSolanki,cameinanam-bulance, accompanied by BJPleader Shankar Chaudhary.Chaudharycastthevoteonbehalfof Solanki as his “companion”.Later,ChiefMinisterVijayRupanisaid Solanki had undergoneemergencysurgeryThursday.Counting of votes could not

begin till late evening,with theCongress raising objections tovotescastbySolankiCabinetmin-isterBhupendrasinhChudasama,with thematter reported to theElection Commission of India(ECI)forresolution.

In Gujarat, BJP clinchesthree seats, Cong gets one

YSRCP wins4 seats, TDPinfightingcomes to fore


EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

days in Auckland, andDunedinthedaybefore.Itlookslikethisweekendwill

be no different, either, as NewZealandcelebrates itsCovid-freestatuswithout a single case forclose to three weeks and therugbymoves to Hamilton andWellington.“It’stheeffortof5millionpeo-

plewhomanaged to defeat thepandemic. It’stimetocelebrate,”saysSautner.Celebratetheydid lastweek-

end -- ticketswere discounted,freepublictransportwasNew Zealand celebrates its

coronavirus-free days with arecord rugby crowd: ‘It’s life-af-firming’arranged, childrenwereadmittedfreeandfansallowedtoenterthefieldafterthegame.The

standswerepackedmuchbeforethematchbegan,andfansforgotrivalries and shook handswithanyonetheysaw.“Thematchwas competitive

but it had a friendly vibe. Itwaslike it didn’tmatterwhowonorlost. Some of the players wererusty, too. But it just felt good tobe out there at a rugby gameagain.Wewereallthrilled,watch-ingamatchinthestadiumforthefirst time,” says Ronald Jones, amember of theBlues' fan group,as his team prevailed overHurricanes30-20.“Allaroundthestadium,there

was a celebratorymood, sort oflife-affirming,likesomeoneshak-ingmeawake in themiddle of anightmare.It'sagreatstorytotellyourmates that youwere at the

first rugby game after NewZealanderswonthefightagainstCovid-19,”hesays.After thematch,muchof the

crowdfloodedintotheturf,click-ingselfiesandsigningautographsfrom the players, and chattingwithsomeof them. “Therewerenobouncers smacking our faceswhenwetriedtojumpthefence.We were picking autographsfromeveryone,”saysJones.But Sautner stresses that all

thestandardhygienemeasureswere in place. “Around 50hand-sanitiserstationswerein-stalled. Every fiveminutes, fre-quentlyused surfaces likedoorhandles, lift buttons andhandrails were cleaned. Fanswere encouraged to purchaseticketsonline topreventdelays

at the box office, and even in-structed to sneeze on their el-bows,” he says.Similarly,staffandcontractors

hadtocompleteCovid-screening48hours prior to the game, andagain upon entry to the venue.“Weputeverystepinplacetoen-sure that we don’t get anotherwaveof infection,”hesays.New Zealand had been

preparing to resume the leaguewithacappedcrowdof5,000,be-fore the countrymoved to alertlevel 1,meaning restrictionsandmassgatheringswerelifted.Butthedaysleadinguptothat

Sunday -- when the league re-sumed after 90 days -- werechaotic.“Wehadlessthanaweektoprepare. So itwas likea stormcoming announced, though I

would say we were not com-pletely unprepared, and weworked our heart out,” saysSautner.“We were working with a

skeletal staff, andwehad to gettheparkbackafterthreemonthsinhibernation,makingsuretherewas food and beverage, andeverything was in order andworkingcondition,"hesays."Even the turf was far from

being in perfect shape,” saysSautner.ButasturfmanagerBlairChristiansenjokes:“Itfinallyhadtimetobreathe.”Today, Sautner and

Christiansenarehappythatallthehardwork has paid off. And thetalkisallaboutrugbyweekends-- or, as Saunter says, “Covid-freedays.”

ANJALIMARAR&ESHAROYPUNE, NEWDELHI, JUNE 19

INDIAWILLexperiencewarmerdays andnights alongwith fre-quent spells of heavy rainfallleading to floods till the end ofthe21st century, agovernmentreport titled, Assessment ofClimateChangeover the IndianRegion, has indicated.The reporthasnot specified

regionsorstatesthatwouldsuf-fer due to these extremeweather conditions.Thestudywasspearheaded

mainly by climate experts atIndia MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD), IndianInstitute of Tropical

Meteorology (IITM) alongwithscientists from other institutesunder the Ministry of EarthSciences.This isthefirstgovern-ment report on climate changein the country.Thestudyhasconsideredat-

mospheric and ocean data forthe 1951-2015 period. It haschapters on temperature, rain-fall and climatemodelling.According to the report, the

annual all-India rainfall duringthisperiodshowcasedadeclin-ing trend. Reduced rainfall ac-tivitywasparticularlyobservedalong the Indo-Gangetic plainsand Western ghats.Importantly, both these beltsareknowntohousesomeof thewettest locations in the coun-try.

India being an agrariancountry,cultivationalongthesebelts could takeahit due to thereducedrainfall conditions, thereportwarns.“An increase in anthro-

pogenic activities over thenorthern hemisphere couldhave played some role for thisdeclining rainfall,” the reportsuggested.The report also mentions

thatIndiahaswitnessedariseinsea levels andan increase in theintensityofseverecyclonesdur-ing this period.May (pre-mon-soon) and November (post-monsoon) aremost favourableforthedevelopmentofcycloneswhichhit the Indiancoasts.


India to see warmer days, heavy rainleading to floods this century: ReportNew Zealand celebrates its coronavirus-free days

FROMPAGEONE

MANRAJGREWALSHARMACHANDIGARH,JUNE19

HOURS AFTER he received atChandigarhairport thebodies ofthree of the 20Armypersonnelkilled in clashes with ChinesetroopsinLadakh’sGalwanValley,PunjabChiefMinisterAmarinderSingh on Friday said Indiamusttell theChinese to vacate the re-gionorfaceconsequences.SinghtoldTheIndianExpress,

“Of course therewill be conse-quences for us as well but wecan’t let this happen all thetime…I am a hardliner. Therecanbetalkswithasensiblepartybut these people are not. Theywait for an opportune time andthenstrike.”Dismissing talks of Chinese

belligerencebeing fuelledby theAugust5movetoabrogateArticle370 of the Constitution, and thebifurcationof theerstwhile stateof JammuandKashmir into theUnion Territories of J&K andLadakh,Singhsaid,“Whathasab-rogation got to do with theChinese?Theyhavebeen claim-ing Aksai Chin since 1962,ShaksgamValleyalittleafterthat.”The Chinese intrusion at

GalwanValley,accordingtoSingh,waspre-planned. “First, thedis-putewasalong thePangongTso,therewasan8kmareapatrolledbybothofus,thentheybuiltonitand cut the road so that Indianscouldn’t patrol. After that theywent to Patrol Point 14 and an-nounced that the entireGalwanValleyistheirs.”Askedabouthisviewsonadi-

aloguewith China, Singh said,“We have been talking since1962, where have we got?Gradually, they have been en-croaching on our territory. They(Pakistan) donated area in PoK(Pakistan occupied Kashmir) toChina. They (China) occupiedAksaiChin in1962, and theyareclaiming territory in Arunachal.Everyyeartheyclaimanewarea.Nowtheysay theentireGalwanis theirs. This is absurd. I call ittheirsalami-slicingtactic.”Whenaskedaboutapprehen-

sionsthatChinahadamuchlargerandbetter-equippedarmedforce,

Singh said, “They are a biggerArmy,notabetterArmy.It’sapeo-ple’s Army, not a regular Army...most of their soldiers are onconscription.”SinghsaidChinabacksdown

inthefaceofanaggressivestance,recountingthatin1967,LtGeneralSagatSinghpersonallywenttotheNathuLapassandsupervisedar-tilleryactionagainsttheChinese.“Theykilleda thousandChinese,eventually theywent away andfor years afterwardswehad noproblemthere,”hesaid.ThePunjabChiefMinistersaid

hewasagainst “thispolicyof ap-peasement. Indiamustmaintainitsintegrityof territory”.When askedwhether an ag-

gressivestancecouldleadtoanes-calation in hostilities, he said, “Idon’tknowwhatthegovernmentisplanningbut20menneedare-sponse. I justwent to receive thebodiesofthreeofthem,theywereyoung boys... Somebody is re-sponsiblefortheirdeaths.“Ask the officerswhowere

present therewhy they did notopen fire evenwhen their com-manding officerwas killed, andtheywilladmitthattheywerenotarmed,”headded.Recounting his days in the

Army,Singhsaid,“Wewouldhavetroopscoveralltheareaarounduswhenwewenttomeetsomepeo-ple…How can youmeet theseguyswithoutweaponsandwith-outtroopscoveringyoufromthehilltops around so that they canopen fire in case of anemergency?”Singhblamedthepolicyofnot

carrying firearmsduringpatrolsfor the deaths, adding, “I spentthree years at NDA, one at IMA,then at the college of combat,never saw any danda or stone-throwing. Army ismeant as thelast resort; deploypara-militaryfordandas.”Hestatedthatonecannothave

an agreement with a hostileneighbourandaskedwhythepol-icyof beingunarmedwas appli-cable only to Indian troops.“Anythinginhandisaweapon…Had I been there, I would haveaskedmymen to open fire. Youcan’tletyourcommandingofficerbekilled. It’s an insult to theunit,totheIndianArmy.”

Onecannothaveanagreementwithahostileneighbour, saysPunjabCM

PunjabCMAmarinderSinghpays lastrespectstosoldierskilledintheGalwanValleyclash,atChandigarhonFriday. Source:DPR

Build global pressure on China,keep talks going: ex-diplomatsMANRAJGREWALSHARMACHANDIGARH, JUNE19

INDIAMUST build up interna-tionalpressureonChina,bothpo-litically and economically,whileworking towards a resolutionoftheGalwan valley standoff, for-merdiplomatshavesaid.Callingthestandoffoneofthe

biggest challenges faced by theNDAgovernment,KCSingh,afor-mer diplomat, said it calls for acompleterethinkof India’sChinapolicy. G Parthasarthy, a formerdiplomatandstrategyexpert,saidChina’soccupationoftheGalwanvalley has geopolitical conse-quences andweare in for a longhaul.Bothcalledforputtinginter-national pressure on China tomakeitrelent.

SinghsaidthatChinahasbeenplanningthisincursionforawhile,but India seems to have beencaughtbysurprise.ParthasarthysaidtheChinese

werenervousaboutIndiagettingnear Aksai Chin through infra-structure development. CallingChina’s claimonGalwan valleydisingenuous, he said itwaspartofBritishIndiaandthenIndia.SinghsaidPresidentXiJinping

may havemultiplemotives be-hindthismove,includingthede-siretodistract fromdomesticso-cio-economic distress. He alsosaidChinaisupsetwithIndia’sde-siretoacquiretacticalandstrate-gicadvantagebyupgradingitsin-frastructure. "China is wary ofIndia’s emerging allianceswithothernationsaswell,”headded.Pointing out that abrogation

ofArticle370gaveChinaachance

toconsolidateforcesagainstIndia,Singhsaidthereisalinkbetweendomestic politics and interna-tionalrelations.Onthewayforward,Parthas-

arthy said, “We are in for a longhaul.”Singhsaidthegovernmentmustavoidanemotionalreaction.Bothdiplomats underscored

theneedtobuilddomesticandin-ternational consensus on the is-sue. Parthasarthy said, “Wehavetoexpressourdispleasuretotheminternationally.”Advocatingputtingeconomic

pressure on China, Singh said,“Chinamay relent if businessesmove away,markets abroad areaffected, and they are unable tokeeptheirgrowthratehigh.”Asbothdiplomatsputit,“Keep

thetalksgoing.”FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE19

WITHNEPALpassingalawtoen-dorse its newmap that includesIndian territories, the governm-entsinNewDelhiandKathmanduhaveafreshproblemtodealwith—thatofdiplomaticnotes.Nepal’smap ispartof its em-

blemandisusedonallofficialsta-tionary by that country, just likethe Indian government’s letter-heads have the Lion Capital ofAshoka. However, with Nepalpassing a newmap, which in-cludesareasofKalapani,Lipulekhand Limpiyadhura inUttarakhand, the country’s em-blemtoohasbeenupdated.Now, there isadebatewithin

the South Block as towhetherIndia should receive and acceptdiplomaticandofficialcommuni-cationwith thenew letterheadsfromtheNepalesegovernment.Accepting the diplomatic

noteswith the new letterheadmaybe interpreted as acceptingthenewmapwith the territorialclaims, sources said, adding thatthisissuecouldbecomeanirritantand the topechelons of the gov-ernmentwillhavetotakeacall.“While it appears a small is-

sue, itmeans that all diplomaticcorrespondencewithNepalwillbestalledifthegovernmentdoes-

n’tacceptthenewletterheads,”asourcetoldTheIndianExpress.However, if no diplomatic

notes can be exchanged, anydiplomaticcommunication—in-cluding themuch-anticipatedForeignSecretary-level talkswillbehardtoschedule.TheemblemofNepalcontains

the flagofNepal,MountEverest,greenhillssymbolisingthehillyre-gionsofNepal andyellowcoloursymbolisingthefertileTerairegion,maleandfemalehandsjoiningtosymbolisegenderequality, andagarlandofrhododendron(thena-tionalflower).AtopthisflowerisawhitesilhouettemapintheshapeofNepal.Atthebaseofthedesigna red scroll carries the nationalmottoinSanskrit,whichtranslatesas “Mother andMotherland aregreaterthanheaven”.Nepal set itself on a collision

coursewith IndiaThursdayafterits Upper House unanimouslyclearedaconstitutionamendmentBill, endorsing thecountry’snewmapthatincludesterritorieswithIndia. Nepal’s President BidhyaDeviBhandari gaveherassent totheBillwithinhoursofitspassageinRastriyaSabha.Thisdeepenstheboundary rowwith India,whichhasalreadyrejectedNepal’sclaimto theareas inUttarakhand, say-ingitis“violativeofourcurrentun-derstanding tohold talksonout-standingboundaryissues”.

Nepal’s new map could stalldiplomatic communicationbetween Delhi, Kathmandu

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THEKILLINGof20Indiansoldiersby the Chinese PLA in easternLadakhthisweekhasledtoaseri-oustrustdeficitbetweenthetwocountries at the political, diplo-matic andmilitary level, Lt Gen(retd) SyedAtaHasnain told TheIndianExpressonFriday.Indianowneeds to ensure itsmilitary pre-paredness is of thehighest orderevenifimmediatemilitaryactiontorestorestatusquoantemaynotnecessarilybeanoption,hesaid.LtGenHasnain,whoretiredin

2013,hascommandedtheArmy’s15Corps in JammuandKashmir.He is currently amember of the

National DisasterManagementAuthority.“Nowthereisacompletetrust

deficit at thepolitical, diplomaticormilitary level as far asChina isconcerned.Wehave tobemind-fulof thefactthattheChinesearelookingformuchmore,somekindofpermanentposturingineasternLadakh,tocreateatacticaladvan-tageatplaces.Wehave toensurethatourmilitarypreparedness isofthehighestorder.Thatisalreadyhappening. Our Air Force is on

alert.OurreserveformationsoftheArmyhave alreadymovedor intheprocessofmoving.Itdoesnotmean we are going to war butwhentrustissolowwecannotaf-fordtotakechances,”hesaid.Asked about the road ahead

andifmilitaryactionisanoptionfor restoring status quo ante,Hasnainsaid,“Onethingiscertain,if we takeunilateralmilitary ac-tion now thenweopen a Pand-ora’sboxofexpandedmilitaryac-tivity all along the Himalayanfront.Soonehastoassesswheth-eroneisreadytotakethatrisk,es-peciallyunderthecircumstancesofaneconomicdownturn.”Batting for amore calibrated

approach,hesaid,“Iwouldsayatthis time examine all options.

Keepthedoorfordiplomaticpar-leysopen,continuewithmilitary-level talks andpossibly raise it atthe level of political leadership ifnecessary.Internationallynooneis comfortablewithwhat ishap-pening.Therewillbealotofpres-sure on China. So have a strongmilitary posture, examine otheroptions,garnerinternationalsup-portanddon’truleoutanything.”According tohim,China’s ac-

tionsareinformedbothbyits“wishtocreateopportunities for strate-gicdominationinthePostCovid19period”and its tacticalpursuit ofchanging thestatusquowhere itfeelsIndia’sclaimsonLACaredis-advantageoustoitoperationally.


LACSHOWDOWN

‘I don’t knowwhatgovt is planningbut20menneeda response... it is an insult to IndianArmy’

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

YOGA BOOSTWHILEPMNarendraModihasdeclaredthisYogaDaytheme—'Yogaathomeandyogawithfamily, ‘InternationalYogaDay2020’wasinauguratedatNITIAayog.Anumberofemployeesparticipated in the event, whichwas attended byNITI Vice-ChairmanRajivKumarandCEOAmitabhKant.Kumarshareda video of himperforming SuryaNamaskar at home. “I startmy daywith Surya Namaskars - Salutations to the Sun, theeternal sourceof lightandenergy…”he tweeted.

FAKE ID ROWTHEARRESTofaKeraliteinthenationalcapitalwithafakeiden-titycardofDRDOseemstobecreatingripplesintheKeralaBJP.Since thearrestof ArunPRaveendran,whoallegedlycheatedpeoplewithhisfakeidentityasadefencescientist,differentfac-tionalleadersinKeralaBJPhavebeenprovidinginformationtotheparty’scentral leadership.Asectionof leadersallegedthatRaveendran,whowas apparently a regular visitor at BJP andRSScircles inDelhi,wasintouchwithsomeseniorparty lead-ersinKeralaandnowtheyweretryingtoprotecthim.Althoughthecentralleadershipdoesnotseemconvinced,theyouthwingofLJDinKeralahasdemandedadetailedprobeintoit.

SHORT BREAKTHE SUPREME Court announced it would take a short two-week summer break starting nextweek. In the firstweek ofvacation, only a couple of division benches (two-judgebenches) alongwith an in-chambers benchanda registrar'scourtwillhearurgentcases. Inthesecondweek,twobencheswill sit on June 30 and July 3 to conduct hearings throughvideo-conferencing. The court said this arrangement wasmadetomeetthedemandsof justiceandhearmattersofur-gentnatureduring the rescheduledsummervacation.

LtGen(retd)SyedAtaHasnain

‘Military action will open Pandora’s box,but highest level of preparedness required’

Delete 52 apps,from phones, UPSTF personnel told

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh SpecialTaskForce(STF)InspectorGeneral(IG) AmitabhYash Friday issuedanorder, directing all personnelattached to the agency to delete52 apps from their phones andalso fromphones of their familymembers,pointingout that “im-portantdatainthephonesmightbestolenthroughtheseapps.”EvenasYashconfirmedtothe

IndianExpressthathepassedsuchanorderfortheSTFteam,UPADG(Law&Order) Prashant Kumarsaiditwasmeantforthe“STFonlyasdirectedbytheIGonhis(Yash)owninitiative.”The list of 52 applications at-

tachedwith the order includesTikTok,Vigo,WeChat,SHAREit,MiStore,Kwai,UCbrowser,etc. ENS

Panaji:UnionMinisterofStateforDefence Shripad YessoNaik onFridaysaidthegovernmentisfirmon itspositionandwill not allowChinatotrespassevenaninchovertheLineofActualControl(LAC).Offering condolences to the

familiesofthe20Armymenkilledin theGalwanValley clash,Naiktoldthemedia,“Thehand-to-handfight,thestone-pelting... inwhichwelostoneofourcolonelrankof-ficer and soldiers, and inwhichChinese soldierswere killed aswell,was a big incident.We arefirminourpositionandwewillnotallowChinatocrossevenoneinchovertheLACandourborder.”“We are confident Indiawill

giveabefittingreply...China’sag-gressioniswithoutreason.” ENS

Govt firm, won’tlet China trespasseven an inch: Naik

KCR announcesRs 5 cr, land, jobfor Colonel wife

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABADJUNE19

TELANGANA CHIEF MinisterK Chandrashekar Rao on Fridayannounced Rs 5 crore as com-pensation to the family of Col-onel B Santosh Babu, whowaskilledintheGalwanValleyclash.The Chief Minister also an-

nounced a residential plot andGroup1JobfortheArmyofficer’swife. TheChiefMinisteralsosaidthe Telangana governmentwouldgiveRs10lakhtothefam-ilies of each of the other 19 sol-diers killed in the clash throughtheUnionDefenceMinistry.“The entire country should

stand by themilitary personnelguarding our borders.We havetosupportthosemartyredinthelineofdutyandhelptheirfamilymembers,”hesaid.

380,532India

238,159Italy303,281

United Kingdom

225,103Chile

245,268Spain

2,196,998US

978,142Brazil

244,388Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED:8,546,919 DEATHCOUNT:456,726Source: Johns Hopkins University, updated at 11 pm on June 19 . JHU’s India tally and

Health Ministry’s tally (below) may sometimes not match.

THEWORLD568,292Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 3,80,532 (12,573 deaths)

1,20,504Maharashtra

52,334Tamil Nadu

7,944Karnataka

13,857Rajasthan

9,218Haryana

11,426MP

15,181 UP

49,979 Delhi

25,601Gujarat

12,735West Bengal

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to [email protected]

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 44AndhraPradesh 7518ArunachalPradesh 103Assam 4777Bihar 7025Chandigarh 374Chhattisgarh 1946DadraandNagarHaveliandDamanandDiu 58Goa 705HimachalPradesh 595JammuandKashmir 5555Jharkhand 1920Kerala 2794Ladakh 687Manipur 606Meghalaya 44Mizoram 130Nagaland 193Odisha 4512Puducherry 271Punjab 3615Sikkim 70Telangana 6027Tripura 1155Uttarakhand 2102

200,262Iran

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,June19.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.2,04,711PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN35STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

COVID-19patientswithveryhighlev-elsofcortisol—ahormoneassociatedwithstress— in theirbloodaremorelikely to deteriorate quickly and die,researchers have re-ported in The LancetDiabetes &Endocrinology.Cortisolisproduced

by the body in re-sponsetostress,butex-cessive levels (and lowlevels) are associatedwith various condi-tions.Thedrugdexam-ethasone,whichrecentresearch has shown toreduce death rates inCovidpatients, acts by imitating cor-tisol and reducing the production ofcortisol. In healthy people, cortisollevels are 100-200 nm/Lwhen rest-

ing, andnearlyzerowhenwesleep.ThenewstudywasledbyImperial

College London. The observationalstudycovered535patients, including

403 Covid cases.Cortisol levels inCovidpatients were signifi-cantly higher (up to3,241). Among Covidpatients, those with abaseline cortisol levelof 744 or less survivedonaverage for36days.Patients with levelsover 744 had an aver-agesurvivalof 15days.Over the study pe-

riod, just under 27 percent of the Covid group died, com-pared to just under 7 per cent of thenon-Covidgroup.

Source: ImperialCollege London

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

Study connects higher levels ofstress hormone to Covid deaths

UDITMISRANEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE INDIAN government has tried to re-spond to the border disputewith China bytraining its gunson trade. The idea resonat-inginIndianstreetsisthatIndianshouldboy-cottChinesegoodsto“teachChinaalesson”.Unionminister Ramdas Athawale has

evendemandedabanonrestaurantssellingChinese food even though thesewould beIndian restaurants, employing Indian chefsandusinglargelyIndianagriculturalproducetoservesuchChinesedishes.While Indians understandably feel out-

raged when they hear about the brutaldeaths of their soldiers, turning a border ordefencedispute intoa tradeone isan ill-ad-visedmove.Thereareseveral reasons.

Trade deficits are notnecessarily bad

1 One of themain reasons why calls forbanning trade have been the first reac-tion is the notion that having a trade

deficit is somehowa“bad” thing. The fact isaltogetherdifferent.Tradedeficits/surplusesare just accounting exercises and having atradedeficitagainstacountrydoesn’tmakethedomesticeconomyweakerorworseoff.For instance, if one looks at the top 25

countries withwhom India trades, it has atrade surplus with the US, the UK and theNetherlands. But that doesn’t mean theIndianeconomyisstrongerorbetteroff thananyof these three.Similarly, it has a trade deficit with the

other 22 of them — including China,Germany,Nigeria,SouthAfrica,SouthKorea,Indonesiaamongothers.Yet, a trade deficit doesn’t necessarily

mean that the Indian economy isworse offthanSouthAfrica’s.A trade deficit with China only means

thatIndiansbuymoreChineseproductsthanwhatChinesebuyfromIndia.Butperse thatisnotabad thing.Why?Because it shows that Indiancon-

sumers —whomade these purchase deci-sionsindividuallyandvoluntarily—arenowbetter off than theywould have been hadtheyboughteither,say,aJapaneseorFrenchorevenan Indianalternative.Essentially, it shows that Indian con-

sumers, as well as the Chinese producers,gainedthroughtrading.Itisthisveryprocessthat generates the gains from trade. Bothsidesarebetteroff.Of course, running persistent trade

deficits across all countries raises twomainissues.One,doesacountryhave the foreignexchange reserves to “buy” the imports?Today, India hasmore than $500 billion offorex—goodenoughtocoverimportsfor12months. Two, it also shows that India is notcapable of producing for its own people inthemostefficientmanner.At one level, no country is self-sufficient

andthatiswhytradeissuchafantastic idea.Itallowscountriestospecialiseinwhattheycandomostefficientlyandexportthatprod-uct while importingwhatever some other

countrydoesmoreefficiently.Sowhileapersistent tradedeficitmerits

agovernmenttoputinplacepoliciesandin-frastructure that raises competitiveness, itshouldnot“force”oreven“nudge”peopletomoveawayfromtradebecausedoingsowillundermine efficiency and come at the costof theconsumer’sbenefits.

The poor in Indiawill behurt themost

2More often than not, the poorest con-sumersaretheworsthit inatradebanof this kindbecause theyare themost

price-sensitive. So if Chinesepens/fridges/TVs/ACswere banned, poorerIndian households, who could have other-wise afforded these, would either have toforgo buying one because the other foreignalternative is too costly or suffer (as a con-sumer)bybuyingalessefficient Indianone.It is also important to understand that

ChineseproductsthatareinIndiaarealreadypaid for. By banning their sale or avoidingtheir purchase, Indianswill be hurting fel-lowIndianretailers.Again, thishitwouldbeproportionatelymoreon thepoorest retail-ers — say the roadside seller — because oftheir relative inability to copewith the un-expected losses.

A trade banwill punish Indianproducers/exporters

3 Some may argue that trading withChina hurts many Indian producers.This is true but it is also true that trad-

ing hurts only the less efficient Indian pro-ducerswhilehelpingthemoreefficientones.

Contrarytopopularbelief,alargepropor-tionof India’s imports fromChinaarenot inthe formof final consumergoodsbut in theformofintermediategoodssuchaselectricalmachinery, nuclear reactors, and fertilisersetc (see Chart 2). Such imports are used toproduce final goodswhich are then eithersold in Indiaorexported.A blanket ban on tradewill hurt all do-

mesticproductivity.

A trade banwill barelyhurt China

4 Still,somemayarguethatIndiashouldsingleoutChinaandpunishitthroughtrade. But, that presumes India can

hurtChinabystopping trade.The truth is the exact opposite. A trade

banwillhurt Indiaand Indians farmore.As Chart 3 shows, India is a relatively in-

significant entity inChina’s global trade. Theoutrage in India over the $60 billion tradedeficitwithChinaneedstobeseeninperspec-tive.Inthatyear,Chinaexportedgoodsworth$2,495billionandimported$2,134billion.Moreover, if one takes the notion of not

lettingChinaprofitfromtheIndianpurchas-ing power strictly, then Indians should alsoavoid buying all products that use Chinesegoodsandlabour.Thiswouldmeanforgoingmanynon-Chineseforeignproductssuchasthe iPhoneetc.Data also suggests that it ismuch easier

forChinatoreplaceIndiathanforIndiatore-placeChina.Whatwould happen if China decides to

equally abruptly ban all trade and forbid allprivate investmentviaanyroute into India?

Ofcourse, Indiawouldsurvive,butatahugecost to common Indians while deprivingmany Indianbusinesses (the start-upswithbillion-dollarvaluations)ofChinesefunding.Why? Because in the short tomedium

terms, it would be both difficult and costlyto replace Chinese products. If we simplychoose another country’s product, such ashiftwill increaseIndia’stotaltradedeficit—acounter-productiveresultsincethedebatestartedwithreducingtradedeficit. If,ontheother hand, we decide to use Indian prod-ucts, that toowould cost usmore — albeitjustinternallyattheconsumerlevel;itwouldeat into incomesandsavings.

Indiawill lose policy credibilitybefore foreign investors

5 Similarly, India should avoid renegingonexistingcontractswithChina.Whileintheshorttermthismayassuagehurt

sentiments, itwoulddeterall foreigninvest-ments in India.Why?Oneof the first things an investor

— especially foreign — tracks is the policycredibility and certainty. If policies can bechanged overnight, if taxes can be slappedwith retrospective effect, or if the govern-mentitself renegesoncontracts,noinvestorwill invest. Or, if they do, theywill demandhigher returns for the increasedrisk.

Raising tariffs ismutuallyassured destruction

6 It has also been argued that Indiashould just slap higher import dutieson Chinese goods. Others have sug-

gested that India can allowprimary and in-termediate goods from China at zero dutybut apply prohibitive tariffs on final goods.Even leaving aside the rules of theWorldTradeOrganizationthat Indiawouldbevio-lating, this is a poor strategy since others—not justChina—canandmost likelywill re-ciprocate in thesameway.Whatwill also go against Indiahere is its

relativelyinsignificantpresenceinglobaltradeandvaluechains.Inotherwords,itisrelativelyeasy for theworld to bypass India and carryontradingif Indiadoesn’tplaybytherules.

The upshotThefirstthingtounderstandisthatturn-

ing a border dispute into a tradewar is un-likely to solve the border dispute.Worse, itwill hurt India farmore thanChina. Thirdly,suchashockwillbemostpoorlytimedsincetheIndianeconomyisalreadyatitsweakestpointever—facingasharpGDPcontraction—andcandowithout amove that raises itscosts, erodes its competitiveness.In the past, India has tried—andmiser-

ably failed—makingmantras like “self-re-liance”,“import-substitution”and“protect-ing infant (domestic) industries”work.Trade helps countries grow fast, boost

incomes, reduce poverty, and improvehealthcare.If Indiaturnsprotectionist—likerefusing

to join Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) Free Trade Agreement(FTA)—muchsmallercountrieslikeVietnam(which has just signed an FTAwith the EU)will furthereat into India’s share.


Why China trade ban is bad ideaSIMPLYPUT

Theoutrageoverthekillingof Indiansoldiershas ledtocalls forbanningtradewithChina.However,IndiawouldstandtolosemorethanChinaif tradeweretobebanned.Herearesixreasonswhy

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THEPOLITICALslugfestonTwitterbetweenCongress MP Rahul Gandhi and ForeignMinisterSJaishankaraboutthedeathof20soldiersinaviolentfaceoffwiththeChinesein Ladakh brought home the fact that theIndiantroopswerearmed,butdidnotopenfire. Theminister said that “all troops onborder duty always carry arms, especiallywhen leaving post. Those atGalwanon15Junedid so. Long-standingpractice (asper1996 & 2005 agreements) not to usefirearmsduring faceoffs”.

■ ■ ■

TheprotocolsJaishankarreferredtoarefromagreementssignedbetweenIndiaandChina in 1996 and 2005. The 1996 agree-ment is onConfidence-BuildingMeasuresintheMilitaryFieldAlongtheLineofActualControl in the India-ChinaBorderAreas.“With a view topreventing dangerous

military activities along the line of actualcontrol in the India-China border areas…Neither side shall open fire, cause bio-degradation,usehazardouschemicals,con-duct blast operationsorhuntwithgunsorexplosiveswithintwokilometres fromthelineofactualcontrol.Thisprohibitionshallnotapplytoroutinefiringactivitiesinsmallarmsfiringranges,”saysArticleVI(1)of the1996agreement.However, it is Article VI(4) that ismore

applicable in the current instance: “If theborderpersonnel of the twosides come ina face-to-face situation due to differenceson the alignment of the line of actual con-

trolof anyother reason, theyshall exerciseself-restraintandtakeallnecessarystepstoavoid an escalation of the situation. Bothsides shall also enter into immediate con-sultationsthroughdiplomaticand/orotheravailable channels to review the situationandpreventanyescalationof tension.”But the 1996 agreement comeswith a

proviso inArticle X(1) that “the full imple-mentationof someof theprovisions of thepresentAgreementwill dependon the twosidesarrivingatacommonunderstandingofthealignmentof the lineof actualcontrol inthe India-Chinaborder areas, the two sidesagreetospeeduptheprocessclarificationandconfirmationof thelineofactualcontrol”.InArticle 1of the2005agreement, “the

twosideswillresolvetheboundaryquestionthroughpeacefulandfriendlyconsultations.Neithersideshalluseorthreatentouseforceagainst the other by anymeans”. The 2013agreementonBorderDefenceCooperationalsostatedthatneithersideshalluseitsmil-itarycapabilityagainsttheother.Noneofthesearticlespertainsdirectlyto

thesituationthatemergedonMondaywheresoldierswerebrutally assaulted todeathbythe Chinese side inGalwanValley area. AsJaishankarexplained,itwasasperlongstand-ing practice in the area flowing from theseagreementsthatthesoldiersdidnotopenfire.

■ ■ ■

TheIndianExpressspoketoArmyofficers,who confirmed thatmost of the soldiers inthat groupwhich clashedwith theChinesesoldiers were carrying their personalweapons, andhad ammunition onperson.Thisisasperprevalentpractice,borneoutbyvideos andpictures of certain patrols com-

ingface-to-faceintherecentpastthatshowsoldierscarryingweapons,butwiththebar-relspointingdownwards.Thatispartofalo-caldrill followedtoavoidanyaccidental fir-ingormisunderstandingbecauseoftheriflebarrelpointingtowardseachother.Even though not strictly coded in any

rules, officers said these practices haveevolvedoveraperiodof timeandhavebeen

firmedaspartofaroutineontheLAC.Sincenoroundhasbeen firedon theSino-Indiabor-der in Ladakhafter1962andwithaviewtopreventinganyescalation, these routinesofnotfiringhavebeendrilledintothesoldiers.In such an environment, every other

weaponshortof firinghasbecomeaccept-able touse for the soldiers,whohaveusedthemduringpreviousclashes.Eventhough

people have been injured in such clashes,no one has died due to use of rocks andsticks. However, the ferocity of the use ofthese weapons has been increasing overtime, as observed during the clash atPangong Tso onMay 5/6which left morethan70 Indiansoldiers injured.Asper somereports, eventheArmyre-

centlyorderedfullbodyprotectorsandanti-

riotgearforitssoldiersdeployedthere, fur-ther lending credence to the notion thatopeningof firewasstrict tabooontheLAC.The incident onMonday happened underthese circumstances, even though theArmy’s rulesof engagementallowsoldiersfromopeningfireif livesof theiruniformedbrethren is threatened.Questionshavebeenraisedinmanyquar-

ters, including by Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinderSingh,aboutthefactthatnooffi-cerinthechainofcommandthoughtit fit toopen fire in a clash that lasted a fewhours.Somemilitaryveteranshaveevenarguedthatevencallingforartilleryfirewouldhavebeenfullyjustifiedasperrulesinsuchascenario.Armyofficers,however,arguethatthere

isanothersidetothestory.Inthemeleedur-ingtheclash,whereIndianandChinesesol-diers were grapplingwith each other in ahand-to-handcombat, itwasverydifficultto open fire without hitting one of yourmen.That,theysay,wasthereasonsoldiersdid not open fire even when theirCommanding Officer and 19 other menwerekilled, and10others takencaptive.

■ ■ ■

Arriving at judgments about complexmilitarysituations is fraught,especially forthosenotpresentontheground.Decisionsaretakenonthespurofthemoment,whichchangethecourseofevents,andtheircon-sequences have to be borne by posterity.Whateverbethereasonfor Indiansoldiersnot opening fire, their decision preventedthesituationfromescalating.Thatsaid,thekillings have put a questionmark on theterms of engagement between the twoarmiesgoing forward.

Chart-3: Indiaplaysafairly insignificantrole inChina’sglobal trade

India’sexports toChinaasapercentageof its totalexports 5%

India’s imports fromChinaasapercentageof its total imports 14%

China’sexports to Indiaasapercentageof its totalexports 3%

India'sexports toNetherlandsasapercentageof its total imports 2.7%

China’s imports fromIndiaasapercentageofChina's total imports 0.9%

India's imports fromAngolaasapercentageof its total imports 0.8%Chart-3 figures for2018-19 Source forall data:MinistryofCommerce&Industry

BILATERAL TRADE: THEBROADTRENDS

10.31%Tradewith

China

Export

$16,752.20mnImport$70,319.64mn

India's total trade$844,156.51mnTotal tradewithChina$87,071.84mnChart2:Mostof India’s imports fromChinaare intermediategoods

Goodstype Importsbyvalue Share intotal imports

Electricalmachineryandparts $18bn 29%Nuclearreactors,boilers $13bn 21%Organicchemicals $7.5bn 12%Fertilisers $2bn 3%Ironandsteel $1bn 1.5%

TOTALIMPORTSFROMCHINA: $62BILLION(2019-20)

Chart1:10%of India’s trade iswithChina(2018-19)

If soldiers on LACwere carrying arms,why did they not open fire?

Themortal remainsofRajeshOrang,oneof thesoldierskilled inGalwan, laid torestatBelgoria,BirbhumonFriday, PTI

11

12WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BEIJING SHOULD NOTEImperial Japan,NaziGermanybelievedtheywereunstoppabletoo.Chinaisnotthefirstpowertobeoverwhelmedbyhubris

INPUSHINGINDIAtoa tippingpoint,China isclose to losing thehard-wontrustoftheworld’ssecondmostpopulousnationandalargeneighbour.If the1962warsaw the freezingof bilateral relations for thenext quarter of a century, the cur-rent crisis could lead to a chill that lasts longer. Keeping India’s trust, however,might look likea trivialmatter to thecurrentChineseCommunistParty leader-

ship.Indiamightbetheworld’sfifthlargesteconomy,butit isone-fifththesizeofChina’s.Beijingisacutelysensitivetopowerdifferentials,andseesanIndiathatisstrugglingtofindaneffectiveresponsetotheChinesemanoeuvreinLadakh.Ofcourse,CommunistChina’sdisdain is not exclusively for India. Beijing, which once benchmarked itself againstWashington,isnowcontemptuousoftheUSandmorebroadlyoftheWestthathasfoundit hard to copewith theCOVID crisis and seemsat oddswith itself. TheCCP is telling it-self that “Xi JinpingThought” is theessenceof “twenty-first centuryMarxism”and that“socialismwithChinesecharacteristics”has triumphedoverWesterncapitalism.By all accounts, Beijing feels confident that it can confront all themajor powers si-

multaneously. Itbetsthateconomicinterdependenceandpolitical influenceoperationscaneasilybreakupanypotentialhostilecoalitionthatmightemergewithinandamongthem.Coming to theAsianneighbours, theCCPbelieves that it owesnoexplanation fortaking territories andwaters that it claims as its own. It is convinced that China’s “his-toricrights”takeprecedenceoverinternationallawandgoodneighbourliness—whetherit is intheSouthChinaSeaorintheHimalayas.Thesensitivitiesof itsneighbours—fromJapantoIndonesiaandPhilippinestoIndia—hardlymakeanimpressionontheChinesesenseof entitlement today.Appealing to China’s better angels at this juncture, then,might be futile. Yet, theCCP

shouldknowthatChinaisnotthefirstpowertobeoverwhelmedbynarcissismandhubris.Imperial JapanandNaziGermanybelievedtheywereunstoppable inAsiaandEurope inthe run-up to the SecondWorldWar. Soviet Russia, too, believed in the late 1970s thatAmericawas in irreversibledeclineafter itshumiliatingdefeat inVietnamandastringofsocialistrevolutions,fromCambodiatoNamibiaandfromAfghanistantoMozambique.Butthe tide eventually turned against all the three great powers that ended up in history’sdustbin. Just as India struggles to understand the power impulses that drive China, theCCPcouldnever fathomIndia’spolitical culture. Ithasbeeneasy forBeijing tounderesti-mate India’s strategic resiliencethatproducesunityamidstcrises.TheCCPmightalsobeunder-estimatingIndia’straditionof “non-cooperation”. IfBeijingdoesnotstepbackandrestorethestatusquoantethatexistedpriortothecrisisthatbeganinMay, itwillcompelDelhi to embark on a radical reorientation of its China policy. The CCP ought to have nodoubt that the Indianpeoplecanandwill stepuptosucharecalibration.

DON’T GRUDGE A NURSENursesabandoningtheirpostsarecontributing to thehealth

crisis, but theymustbetreatedwithcompassion

ASDELHIHEADSforacase loadofhalf a lakhand80percentof ICUbedsarefilled,thehealthcrisisisbeingintensifiedwithnursesinthecapital’sprivatehospitalsreportedlyresigningorrefusingtowork.Insomecases,nursinghomeownersaredoublingupas janitors,whileothers arego-ing to the police to complain that nurses are abandoning patients.

However, theplight of nurses,whohavebeenworking at the front in thebattle againstCOVID-19,mustbeappreciated.Theircomplaintsarewell-known,havebeenrepeatedlyarticulatedandremainlargelyignored.Personalprotectionequipmenthasbeeninchron-ically short supply in thecapital, andhasput the livesof bothdoctorsandnursesat risk.Shiftsarepunishinglylong,nursesinPPEscannottakebreakseventogotothetoilet,andtheybearthecicatriceoftheequipmentforhoursaftertheygooffduty.TheUnitedNursesAssociationhadwrittentothechiefministeraboutsubstandardequipment,butdidnotgetareply.Manynurseswhowerenotabletogotoworkwhenpublictransportwassus-pendedhadtheirpaydocked.Besides, nurses cannot be seen in isolation. Theyhave families, too.Most of themare

fromoutoftown,andrelativesbackhomeworryfortheirwell-beingbecausethepandemichasbeenpresentedasa“mahamari”—agreatkiller.NurseslivingaloneinDelhiarethemse-lvesinsecurebecausetheydonothavesocialsecurityorfamilynetworksthattheycanfallbackoninhardtimes.Thosewhohavefamilyinthecapitalareconcernedbecausetheyaregenerallynotabletoquarantinethemselvesintheworkplace,andcouldcarrytheinfectionhome.Tooffset themultiple risks that theyare facing, somenursesaredemandingbetterfinancialterms,onthelinesofthe“hardshipallowance”whichiscommonlyofferedtoser-vicemenatdifficultpostings.Othersaresimplydroppingouttoseekbetterqualifications.Abandoningpatientsduringapandemicmaybea crimebutnurses feel abandoned

themselves.Thesolutionistoseethattheyarephysicallysecureandfeeladequatelycom-pensated for the high-risk job that they are performing. If private organisations cannotbear the full burden, the state should remember that it has commandeered their facili-tiesbecauseof the failureof itsownhealthsystem,andcommit tobearpartof it.

GOBI MANCHURIANChinese food in India isamongst themarvelsofmodern

cuisine, inextricablyChineseand Indian

IN THE 1970S, a young chef of Chinese ancestry at a Bombay restaurant coatedpieces of diced chickenwith cornflour and deep fried them. He then tossed thechicken cubes into a brown gravy that combined vinegar, soy sauce and corn-starchwith onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies.Word spread. People lovedthismarriage of Indian and Chinese culinary sensibilities. In less than a decade,

ChickenManchurianbecamesynonymouswith Indian-Chinesecuisine. Itmattered lit-tlethatManchurianwasneveraculinarystyleinthecountryof itscreator’sancestors.Verysoon thewordwas suffixed to gobi (cauliflower florets) and paneer. Tomatoes, corian-derandevengarammasalasaddedtheir flavourstotheManchuriansauce.ButaGooglesearch onManchurian today throws up an unappetisingword— “ban”. In thewake oftensionsbetweenIndiaandChina,amongothers,UnionMinisterofStateforSocialJusticeandEmpowerment,RamdasAthawale,hascalled forabanonChinese food.TheIndianChinesecommunitynumberslessthan5,000people.But“Chinese”isasec-

tioninmenusofeateriesasdiverseasstreetfoodjointsandroadsidedhabas,Udupirestau-rantsandoutfitsthatservegourmetfare.Themash-upof IndianspicesandChinesecook-ing techniques is amongst themarvels of contemporary culinary history. And likemostitemsinculinaryhistory, fixingorigins tomostdishes thatcomprise thisdelectable fare isdifficult. The bland chicken curry that the first-generation Chinese immigrants got fromtheirhomecountry,forexample,issaidtohavebeentransformedintothehighlyaddictivechilly chicken. But another school believes that someenterprising chef took elements ofthespicyIndianchickencurry,infusedthemwithChineseelements,suchasthesoyasauce.TheKungPaopotatoattheroadsideeaterybearsacloserresemblancetothezeeraaloo

thanthedishmadeinChina’sSichuanprovince.ThentherearetheChineseBhelandChineseChaat.Letthetroublesbetweenthetwonationsnotcloudsuchculinaryimagination.

Vikram Patel

This isahistoricopportunity to invest inandtransformIndia’smentalhealthcaresystem

of peoplewho are absolutely impoverishedanda fragmentedmentalhealthcare systemwhich, even before the pandemic, failed toreachmorethan10percentofthepopulation.Thismakesforaperfectstorm.Mental health problemswere already a

major contributor to the burdenof illness inIndiabefore thepandemic,witha thirdof allfemaleandaquarterofallmalesuicidedeathsintheworldoccurringinthiscountry.Mostofthis illness and death goes unnoticed.Celebritysuicidesandtestimoniesattractourattention tomental health because it is theonly explanationwe can invoke for peoplewhoaresoprivileged.Ofcourse,itisthepoor,dispossessedandmarginalisedwhobearthegreatest burden ofmental health problems,butwehavehistoricallydismissedtheirsuffer-ing as a natural extension of their social andeconomic conditions. And it is this vast sec-tion of our populationwhichwill be dispro-portionately affected by the economicrecession.So,what’s the solution?While there has

beenaflourishingofinitiativestoaddresstherising tide ofmental health problems,mostnotablythroughtelemedicineplatforms,theyrely heavily on mental health specialistproviderswhoareveryscarceinnumberandoften unaffordable. This is compounded bythedigitaldivide:Digitalliteracyandadequateinternet connectivity remains a distant goalforlargeswathesofourpeople.Still,theseini-tiativesarewelcomefortheirdemonstrationof the feasibility of remote delivery and thevalueofpsychological therapies,whichhavehistorically played a poor cousin tomedication.Butwhatholdsthegreatestpromisefora

country of our size, diversity and resources,are the frugal innovationswhich Indian sci-entistsandpractitionershaveingeniouslypi-oneered, at thevanguardofwhich is thede-ploymentofcommunityhealthworkerswho,withappropriatetrainingandsupervision,ef-fectively deliver psychosocial interventionsfor conditions ranging fromautismandde-pressiontodrinkingproblemsandpsychoses.A brief psychological treatment for depres-siondevelopedbySangath,oneoftheleadinginnovatorsinthecountry,hastheuniquedis-tinction of now being implemented inwealthy nations like the US and Canada.

Sangath is forging partnershipswith severalstate governments to scale up its psychoso-cialinterventionsthroughcommunityhealthworkers and, in doing so, reimagining howmental health care can be delivered even inthemostunder-resourcedcommunitiesofthecountry.For readerswho arewondering how to

managetheirownmentalhealth, there isnoone-size-fits-allprescription forexperienceswhich are intimately intertwinedwith ourunique, personal life stories. Yet, there aresomegeneralprinciplesImightsuggest.First,be aware of and acknowledge yourmentalhealth,asmuchasyoudoyourphysicalhealth.Feelingirritablefornoreasonshouldbeasim-portant to you as feeling pain in your chest.Second, this should leadyoutotalk tosome-one,anyoneyoufeelcomfortablewith,for“It’sOktoTalk”,aslogancoinedbySangathtopro-mote the idea that sharingone’s story aboutmental health is not only a powerfulway tofeelbetter,butisalsothemosteffectivestrat-egytoreducestigma.Third,dosomethingforothers,forscience

has shown that care-giving and communityservicenotonlymakesyourlifemorereward-ing, but also longer. Fourth, remind yourselfthat all of humanity is being buffeted by thesameroughseasand,evenifsomeofustravelin yachts, the overwhelmingmajority of uswillsafelyreachtheshore.Thisepochaleventwill pass, as every pandemic has in history.Finally, if yourdistress ispersistentandcom-inginthewayofgettingthingsdone,seekhelpfromaprofessional.Inclosing,apleaforthosewhofinanceand

provide health care: This is a historic oppor-tunitytoinvestinandtransformIndia’smen-tal health care system.Whilewe certainlyneedmoremoney,we also need to spend itwisely, guided by the best science.Mentalhealthcaremustembracethediversityofex-periencesandstrategieswhichwork,wellbe-yond thenarrowconfines of traditional bio-medicine with its emphasis on “doctors,diagnosesanddrugs”.Icannotimagineamorevaluable investment in response to themostseriouscrisis facing thecountrysinceour in-dependence.

Thewriter is thePershingSquareProfessorofGlobalHealthatHarvardMedicalSchool

Mental health problemswere already a majorcontributor to the burden ofillness in India before thepandemic, with a third of allfemale and a quarter of allmale suicide deaths in theworld occurring in thiscountry. Most of this illnessand death goes unnoticed.Celebrity suicides andtestimonies attract ourattention to mental healthbecause it is the onlyexplanation we can invokefor people who are soprivileged. Of course, it is thepoor, dispossessed andmarginalised who bear thegreatest burden of mentalhealth problems, but we havehistorically dismissed theirsuffering as a naturalextension of their social andeconomic conditions. And itis this vast section of ourpopulation which will bedisproportionately affectedby the economic recession.

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,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020 WORDLYWISEGoverningagreatnation is like cookingasmall fish—toomuchhandlingwill spoil it.

— Lao-tzuTHEEDITORIALPAGE

KhaledAhmed

RELIGION VS REASONNewcoerciveorder spreadingoverMuslimsociety isnotpolitical, but intellectual

PROFESSORPERVEZAMIRALIHoodbhoy,whoteachesphysicsandmathatLahore’sFormanChristian University, has been told that hiscontractwill not be renewed in 2021. In thesameweek,thePunjabgovernorannouncedthatalluniversitiesof theprovincewouldberequiredtoteachtheHolyQuranasacompul-sorysubject.HoodbhoyholdsaPhDinnuclearphysics

and he objects to acts of state and societyagainst reason. His book, Islam and Science:Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle forRationality, explains thesourceofhis troublewiththeideologicalstateofPakistan. It isnotthat he hates religion—heobjects to acts ofirrationality in thenameof religion. The twoscientistshemostadmires,SRamanujanandAbdusSalam,weredeeplyreligious.He protested, however, when the

GovernorofPunjabSalmaanTaseerwasmur-deredbyhispoliceguardwhenhedefendeda Christianwoman accused of insulting theHoly Prophet under Pakistan’s Anti-Blasphemy law. Living underGeneral Zia-ulHaq’s Islamicmartial law, he got put off by a1987 conference on “scientificmiracles” inwhichMuslimscientistsmixedreligiousmir-aclewithscientificdiscovery.Pakistaniscien-tists, encouraged by a funding of Rs 66 lakh(halfofwhichwasprovidedbySaudiArabia),talkedrubbishabout scienceanddemeanedthedivinewritof theQuran.The chief scientist of Pakistan, Salim

Mehmud, tried to give himself a leg-up by

making a hash of the theory of relativity bylinkingitwiththe“mairaj”(ascension)of theHolyProphet(PBUH).Anotherscientist,lucr-ativelyemployedatTheHolyQuranResearchFoundation,proposedthatallenergy-relatedproblems could be solved by taming the“jinns”becausetheyweremadeof fire.Hoodbhoyhasexaminedtherootsofthese

ridiculousattitudesamongMuslimscientistsandhascomeupwithawell-researchedbookaboutthemaltreatmentofthescientificprin-ciple inMuslim societies. He got theNobelPrize laureateAbdus Salam towrite its pref-acebecausetheprofessorhadalreadymadeaplaintiveappealtotheMuslimworldtospendmoneyonscientific advancement insteadof“conquering”sciencethroughdogma.Hoodbhoy tellsus that scientific facts are

contingent. They are empirically provenbutsubject to changeupon further discovery. Inhisview,itiswrongtolinktheeternaltruthofIslam to this evolving understanding of thephenomena.Scienceisobservationandlogicwhose predictability is not destroyedby thenewunderstandingofquantumphysics.Forabeliever, it is important to separate divineknowledge fromempirical fact, but this sep-aration shouldnot impinge on the ferociousIslamicpolemicagainstsecularism.ScienceinIslamwasdestroyedbecauseit

neverbecameappliedenoughto involve thecommonman. Scientistswere employedbythe kings, but these scientistswere at timeskilledafterthedeathofthepatron.Theauthor

quotes Syed Ameer Ali on Islamic thinkerswho thought the scientific method anti-Islamic:Al-Ashari,IbnHanbal,Al-GhazaliandIbnTaymiyya.HeexaminesthecasemadebytheleadingAshariteImamGhazaliagainstthestudy of logic andmathematics and thinksthatthiswastobecomethegreatest intellec-tualhurdleagainstthelearningofscience.Hecriticises contemporary Islamic scholarHusseinNasrforblamingthesciencesforthemisdirectionoftheMuslimmind.HiscritiqueofZiauddinSardarforintroducingthepolemicof secularismintothesciencesis fair.Hoodbhoy stepsbeyond thepaleof anti-

scientismwhenhe gives statistics about thepoverty of science-learning in theMuslimworld. One has to helplessly concede thatwhereMuslimscontroltheirsocieties,theonebranchofknowledgethatbecomesneglectedisthesciences.HoodbhoyhasdiagnosedwhatishappeningtotheMuslimmind.Thismindisnotonlyproducingstrangereactionstothesciences;itisalsotryingtotacklethequestionof governancewithout separating the statefromreligiousbelief.ThenewcoerciveorderspreadingoverMuslimsocietyisnotpolitical,butintellectual.Thetragicfact,however,isthatthisexperimentistoolateinthedayandquiteredundant in light ofwhat the institution ofthestatehasgonethroughinIslam'sownhis-toryandothercivilisations.

Thewriter isconsultingeditor,NewsweekPakistan

Hoodbhoy has diagnosedwhat is happening to theMuslim mind. This mind isnot only producing strangereactions to the sciences; it isalso trying to tackle thequestion of governancewithout separating the statefrom religious belief. Thenew coercive order spreadingover Muslim society is notpolitical, but intellectual.

THE BUDGET EFFECTPROBABLYFORTHE first time, financemin-istryofficialsattheircustomarypost-budgetpress conference refused to hazard a guessonthepossibleimpactofthebudgetpropos-als on prices. But theymaintained that thebudget was definitely aimed at having a“moderatingeffect”onthe inflationaryten-denciesnowevidentintheeconomy.Thefi-nance secretary, G Ramachandran, and thesecretary, economic affairs, R NMalhotra,hadahardtimeexplaining“away”(toquoteRamachandranhimself)someof theanom-alies pointed out by correspondents in theexplanatorymemorandumtothebudget.Allthat they would say was that these were

“mattersof accountingdetails”.

TRIPURA VIOLENCETWO PERSONSWERE killed and seven in-juredinanarmedraidbyTripuritribalterror-ists at Bathaipari, near Khowai, in TripuraWest district, about 80 km from Agartalaearlythismorning.About50extremistswithfirearmsswoopedonthevillageat2amandfired indiscriminately. Two persons werekilled on the spot while seven others sus-tained bullet injuries. The injured wererushedtoKhowaihospitalwherethecondi-tionof twoofthemwasstated"critical” .Theterroristslootedaboutadozenshopsandre-treated into the jungle/

CARTER APPROVALPRESIDENTJIMMYCARTERhassignedanex-ecutive order approving the pending ship-ments of 38 tonnes of lightly enriched ura-nium for the Tarapur nuclear power plant.Theorderwill have togo toCongresswhichwillhave60daysunder thestatute to rejectorratifyit.ThePresident’sdecisionauthoris-ingtheshipmentswasformallyconveyedtothe senate foreign relations committeeear-lierbythedeputysecretaryof state,WarrenChristopher.ChristophersaidthatCarterde-cided to overrule the Nuclear RegulatoryCommissiondespitefearsthatitmightdam-ageAmerica’s attempt tocurb the spreadofnuclearweapons.

JUNE 20, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

THE SUICIDE OF the actor Sushant SinghRajput,daysafter thatof hismanager,whichin turn precipitated a public acknowledge-mentbyMilindDeora,aprominentpolitician,of his own trystwith depression, has oncemorethrustmentalhealthintothespotlight.Theopenandthoughtfulmannerwithwhichthissubject,usuallyinvisibleeventhoughitisat the core of our personhood, is being dis-cussed,isverywelcome.Theimperativenowis tounderstand thenatureofmentalhealthdistressandwhatwemustdotoaddressit inthesetroubledtimes.Ithinkofthementalhealthconsequences

of the pandemic as playing out in twoover-lapping acts. The first act, which began inMarch, is characterised by a “pandemic offear”,largelyasaconsequenceoftheprofounduncertaintieswhich have overwhelmed allourlives.Ifoneconsidersthesheerbreadthoftheseuncertainties,fromourpersonalrisktobeinfected,towhythecountryisfacingasurg-ingepidemicdespitethemoststringentlock-downintheworld,orwhenlifewillreturntoa semblance of what it used to be, orwhatnewswe shouldbelieve in, towhat our eco-nomicprospectsmightlooklike,itisnotatallsurprising that experiences of anxiety, fear-fulness,sleepproblems,irritabilityandhope-lessnesshavebecomewidespread.Thesearemostlyrationalresponsesofourmindstotheextraordinaryrealitieswearefacing.Thatsaid,for thosewhowere already facingmentalhealthdifficultiesbeforethepandemic,theseexperiencesmight be the straw that breaksthecamel’sback.Butit isthesecondactwhichthreatensto

morph into amore sinister pandemic in themonths ahead. “Deaths of despair”, a termcoinedbytheNobelprizewinningeconomist,AngusDeaton,havebeendocumentedasthereasonforthereductioninthelifeexpectancyofworking-ageAmericansfollowingtheeco-nomic recession in 2008. Suicide and sub-stance use relatedmortality accounted formost of these deaths, driven by growing in-equality, theweakening position of labour,deep polarisation of society and the lack ofprospects for the future. By all accounts, theeconomic recession facing Indiawill be in-comparably greater. India not only sharesmanyoftheillsofAmericansociety,buthasto,additionally, contendwithcolossalnumbers

A perfect storm


WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“While schools, teachers and families have undoubtedly done their best indifficult circumstances, the pandemic has thrown a harsh light on the Englishsystem’s weakness.” —THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE


It is time for politicians,diplomats, and the militaryto come together to discusswhether stationing threelakh troops over 3,000 km ofhigh altitude border fornearly 70 years constitutes aviable national strategy. Thearmy has coped valiantly,but by 2060, we would havebeen defending theHimalayan border for acentury, only, because theruling party, whichever partyit may be, is too cautious toforge a national consensuson demarcating anddemilitarising the Sino-Indian border.

What the migrantworker needs

Economic,humanitariancrisisfacedbymigrantworkersisurgent,demandsacomprehensiveresponsethatincludesrelief,structuralchanges

THEISSUEOFmigrantworkershasevokedwidespreaddebateinthedevelopmentdis-courseinIndia.Ihaveadeepandabidingin-terestinthisissuebecauseUttarPradeshandBiharaccountforthehighestoutflowofmi-gration. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odishaand Rajasthan are the other importantsource states ofmigrants,who aremainlyemployedinconstruction,factories,domes-ticwork, textiles,brick-kilns, transportandagriculture. Further, Rajasthan, nowmykarmabhoomi, hasahugemigrantpopula-tion,whichdependsontourism,manufac-turing andmining industries and agricul-turefor livelihood.Migration is neitheruniquenornewto

India.TheGermanChancellorAngelaMerkelpredictedthattherefugeecrisiswouldbethedefiningfeatureof thedecadebackin2015.InIndia’scase,theFive-YearPlandocumentsbringoutthatmigrationwasnotadequatelyfactored indevelopmentplans. This is sur-prisingbecausemigrationimpactscompet-itiveness, productivity and jobs. This issuehas, however, acquiredheightened signifi-canceduringtheCOVID-19pandemic.The exodus ofmigrant labour is visible

and their suffering is palpable.Weneed toprovideundividedattentiontotheworkingconditions ofmigrantworkers. Out of thetotal labour force of 465millionworkers,around 91per cent (422million)were in-formalworkers in 2017-18. The EconomicSurvey (2017) estimated 139million sea-sonalorcircularmigrants.Circularurbanmi-grantsperformessentiallabourandprovideservicesthatmanypeoplewantbutareun-willing to provide themselves. Hence, thisissuehas implications for livelihoods, agri-culture, foodsecurity, andsafetynetpolicyaswellasprogrammeresponses.Migrantlabourers,whoaremostlyfrom

ruralareasbutlivemostof theyearincitiesforwork, lack regular salaries or incomes.Manyhavenosavingsandliveinfactorydor-mitories,whichwereclosedduringthelock-down.Thereisnocentralregistryofmigrantworkers,despitetheexistenceofTheInter-State MigrantWorkmen (Regulation ofEmploymentandConditionsofService)Actof1979.TheOccupationalSafety,HealthandWorkingConditionsCodeof2019hasbeenintroduced in Parliament to promote thewelfare ofmigrantworkers and legal pro-tection for their rights. The proposed codeseekstomerge13labourlaws,includingtheInter-stateMigrantWorkmenAct,1979intoasingle law.TheCOVID-19lockdownhitagriculture,

supply chains, food andnutrition securityand livelihoods, and adversely impactedharvesting of crops across states. Majoragrarianstatesarefacinganacuteshortageof labourers.TheCOVID-19urbanhotspots

will face a labour shortage of seasonalmi-grants,affectingtheconstructionandman-ufacturingsectors.Thecostofmovingpeo-pleisroughlydoublethatforgoodsinIndia.Theworkerswouldbenefit froma“one

nationonerationcard”,whichaddressestheproblemofration-cardportability.Themovewouldbenefitnearly670millionpeopleandwillbecompletedbyMarch2021.The current situation canbrooknode-

lay. The government has taken cognisanceof the issue and announcedmeasures tocontaintheimpactonthemigrantworkers.Thefinanceminister’ssecondpressconfer-enceonMay14focusedonmigrantworkers,small farmers, street vendors. She an-nounced a provision of Rs 30,000 crorethroughNABARD,inadditiontothealreadyexisting Rs 90,000 crore allocation, for therabi harvest andpost-harvest rabi-relatedwork for small and marginal farmers.Further,Rs2 lakhcroreconcessional creditwillbeprovidedtotwocrorefarmersacrossthecountry.AboutRs11,000crorewasallo-catedfortheurbanpoor,whichincludesthemigrantworkers,forbuildingshelterhomesforthehomeless.Several government-funded housing

projectsinmajorcitieswouldbedevelopedintoaffordablerentalhousingcomplexesonaPPPmode.Further,theCentrewilltransfer8 lakhmetric tonnes of grain and 50,000metrictonnesofchanatostategovernmentstoprovide5kgof grain (wheat or rice) perlabourer and 1kg of chana per family permonthfortwomonthsfree.Thisisexpectedtobenefituptoeightcroremigrantworkers.Theissueofmigrantworkersneedstobe

considered in its entirety to formulate aspeedyandeffectiveresponse.Formanymi-grants, staying home is not an option.Wemustdeviseaprogrammeforsurvivalandamedium-term blueprint for growth andstructuraltransformation.Thisisatallorderandrequiresareviewofnationallegal,regu-latoryandinstitutionalconcernsinresettle-ment and rehabilitationofmigrant labour-ers.Thereisaneedtoadoptahumanrightsapproachtoaddressthesocio-legalissues.Theresolutionofcontradictionsintrade,

fiscal,monetaryandotherpolicies—forex-ample,theimplementationof thereportofthe task force onmigration (2017), expan-sionof theoutreachof the IntegratedChildDevelopment Services–Anganwadi (ICDS-AW)andauxiliarynursemidwives(ANMs)toincludemigrantwomenandchildrenandinclusionofmigrantchildren intheannualwork plans of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan —wouldalsobehelpful.Given the overarching environment of

uncertain livelihoods,wage lossesand lay-offs, it is necessary to strengthen the re-silience of the financial system and skillworkers.The issues and challenges of migrant

workersrequireleveraginginformationandcommunication technologies and the JAMtrinity. The debilitating physical effects ofthecoronavirusnecessitatecoordinatedandconcertedeffortsbyallstakeholderstomeetthechallengesofthepresentandtheexpec-tationsof thefuture.Weshallovercome.

Thewriter is thegovernorofRajasthan

THENEWSTRICKLING in from theGalwanvalley isdeeplyupsettinganddepressing foranyIndianmilitaryprofessional,servingorre-tired, infantry or general service. It appearsthatformanyyears,militarypatrolsfromtheIndianArmyandChina’s People’s LiberationArmy (PLA) have been encountering eachother, and standard operating procedures(SOPs) have beendrawnup to preclude anyfiringfrominfantryweaponstopreventesca-lation, for the process of de-escalation, andforbidding the “tailing” of rival patrols.Commandingofficersofbattalionspostedtothe Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC)arepresumablyfamiliarwiththeagreedpro-cedureswhen their patrols comeacrossPLApatrols. It is alsounderstoodthatcommand-ingofficershaveadequatelybriefedtheirmenonwhatSOPshavebeenagreedto.Inthis instance, theencounter inGalwan

Valley has resulted in a bloody shambles,which, fromallaccounts, the16Biharbattal-ionwasmentallyandphysicallyunpreparedfor. This is despite the fact that even in thegrapevine inDelhi, it hasbeen rumoured forsome time, that PLA patrols are beingmet,whiletheyarearmedwithbatonsorbamboostickswrappedinbundlesofbarbedwirekeptinplacebylongironnails.Ifthepatrolsarenottocarrytheirrifles,accordingtotheSOP,whatistheruleregardingbayonets?Orotherhand-

heldweapons?Photographs circulating in the newspa-

persandsocialmediahave, interestingly, re-vealedtwofactsover theyears. First, thePLApatrolsseemtotakesometroubletomeettheIndianpatrolsonhigherground,andsecond,allphotographsofphysicalencountersshowthattheChineseoutnumbertheIndiansatthepointofcontact.Thiswouldseemtoindicatethat senior officers on the PLA have givensomethoughttothetacticsofanunarmeden-counter.Havewe?If individualcommandingofficershavenotworkedouttacticsforapla-toon-to-platoon encounter, has the DG in-fantry or the infantry school simulated en-counters,toevolvetactics?What,forinstance,wouldhavebeenthereactioniftheIndianpa-trolhadconsistedofGurkhas,orKumaonisorGarhwalis?Would theyhave beenwieldingtheirkhukris?Ifnot,whynot?Because, reading between the lines, it

seems the PLApatrol came, notwith the in-tention of some good-natured pushing andshovingbut,sadly,toteachusalesson.Inthatsense,wasthis1962alloveragain?Thecom-manding officer of 16 Biharwas obviouslyleading fromthe front, andthis is somethingthatCOswilldo.Butinapushandshovesitu-ationwhywas he unescorted, to the extentthathewaskilledbymade-upweapons?It is good that both sideshave takenpre-

cautionstoavoidescalation.Nuclearweaponpowersshouldnotgetintoashootingwar,likewedowithPakistan,which is ratherbizarre.ButthatisbecausePakistanisanirresponsiblenuclear power. In this case, the PLA patrolclearly violated the spirit of the SOPs andhence,wewerestrategicallyambushed.Evennow it is not too late to take remedialmeas-ures,whichamatureandheroicarmyliketheIndian Armywill put into place. Ideally, itwould be visionary to settle the Sino-Indianborder, probably by a swap of territories as

suggestedbyZhouEnlaiin1960,forwhichthebasisof theswapwillhavetobediscussedinParliament,or,withtheOpposition.Meanwhile,wemust be preparednot to

be strategically ambushed by an aggressiveanddishonourablePLA.Butthisiseasiersaidthan done over half a century. It is time forpoliticians, diplomats, and themilitary tocometogethertodiscusswhetherstationingthree lakh troopsover3,000kmof highalti-tudeborder for nearly 70years constitutes aviablenational strategy.Thearmyhascopedvaliantly, but by 2060,wewould have beendefendingtheHimalayanborderforacentury,only, because the ruling party, whicheverparty itmaybe, is too cautious to forgeana-tionalconsensusondemarcatinganddemil-itarisingtheSino-Indianborder.China isgal-loping forward economically and itmakesgoodsensenottogetintoashootingwarwithBeijingeithernoworinthefuture.Butthat isno excuse for political lethargy andpermit-ting the Sino-Indianborder to becomeado-mesticpolitical issue.Itisrightthatthearmyshoulddefendthe

border,butshouldthearmybe“happy”toac-ceptdefendingtheborderfor100yearsisan-otherquestion.Perhaps,thepoliticiansareun-dertheimpressionthatthearmywillwillingly“defend” a 3,000-kmborder for a century,happily,withoutescalation.Perhaps,thearmyis theonethatshouldmake itspositionclearontheissue.Thereisnoneedtogetparanoidabout theoverall Sino-Indian relationshipasa result of this incident. This is not part of agreater Chinese strategy to curb India.Weshould treat this as a learning incident andtrain our infantry to dominate the PLA in anunarmed encounter, while simultaneouslyworkingontheboundaryissue.

Thewriter isa formerrearadmiralof theIndianNavy

NOT AS EASY

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘EasierSaid’(IE, June19). India’s imports fromChinain 2019-2020 stood at $65 billion, andeven for capital goods India is depend-ent on China. Even during this time ofpandemic, critical medical supplieswhich Indiahasbeen importing forourfrontlinehealthcareworkerscomefromChina.Wecan’topttogodowntheroadof totaleconomicnationalism.

ShubhamChoubey,Gurugram

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘EasierSaid’(IE, June 19). The growing clamour ofboycottofChineseproducts isanaturalprogressionofpublicoutragefollowingthebrutalconfrontationinGalwanValle.But,wemustrememberthatowingitisour sheer nonchalance over the yearsthat has led to a situationwhere Chinahasmade deep inroads into our eco-nomic spheres: Itwould be difficult towriggleoutof thissituationnow.Giventhe circumstances, any knee-jerk reac-tion against Chinese goods shall becounter-productive.

RaviMathur,Noida

UNKINDEST CUTThis refers to the article, ‘Mess inManipur’ (IE, June 19). The first-past-the-postsystemhasbroughttotheforeglaring loopholes in electoral politicsinIndia.Lawmakershavebecomeakinto merchandise. Any expectation ofideological commitment from thepoliticians is looked at with scorn by

them. The saddest part is that the citi-zens don't seem to have any qualmsabout all this. This loss of the demo-cratic instinctamongcommonpeopleis undoubtedly the unkindest cut onthe soul of Indiandemocracy.

MAbdullahGhazali,Patna

MOMENT OF UNITYTHIS REFERS TO the article ‘A time forempathy’ (IE, June 19). The messageholdsgoodinthesetimes.Theeconomyis indoldrums, society isplaguedwithprejudice and the most vulnerablegroups of people have been left inlimbo. It ishightimethatall compatri-ots across thepolitical spectrumstandfirmly together for the tenets of secu-larismandequity.

VarunDas,Zirakpur

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

COVID-19 HAS induced a domino effect inthe global job market. A few days ago, astrangemessage landed inmy LinkedIn in-box: Desperation waswritten all over thepoignantpleaforajobopening.JoblesssinceMarch,withanagedCOVIDpositivemothertosupport,thishighlyqualifiedprofessionalis now part of the gig economy. Theword“gig”, associated till not too long agowith agroup of travellingmusicians, subsumes inits current parlance all freelancers, discon-nected from theworkplace. The drivers ofUber, the delivery boys of Zomato, theplumbers and electricians of Urban Clapmake up the gig world. Mobility connectsthem;mobileempowersthem.Thegigecon-omyisnotconfinedtolow-skilledjobs.Free-spiritedmavericksfindsolaceinit,asdocre-ativegeniuses.Thepre-COVID-19phasehadseenanex-

plosionofopportunitiesinthesharedecon-omy,ridingondigitalplatformtechnologies.AGallupstudyof2018estimatedthat36percentofAmericanworkershadagigworkingarrangement in some capacity. This was amarkerofthegrowingglobaltrend.Thepan-demicisnowreshapingthatgiguniverse. InthewordsofRaghuramRajan“thegigecon-omy, which looked so wonderful whenthingswere going swimmingly, is going tolook a lotmore precarious”. The classic giganchors, including pioneers of the shared

economy, Uber and AirBnB, have laid offthousands of people. In contrast to this,highly skilled professionals — handed pinkslips by employers — are joining the gigbandwagon. Aviation, hospitality, automo-bile entertainment and retail are the hard-est hit sectors. Even journalism is underthreat.Unaccustomedwiththenavigationaltoolsof thegigarena,theseprofessionalsarefacing a new anxiety. Job demandwill faroutstrip supply, at least in the short-term.Downsizingwill becomemorepervasiveascost-cutting becomes inescapable. Whatdoes the future hold for the swelling num-berofpeoplearoundtheworld,hurtlingintothenebulousgig space?ADeloitte report fromApril — Future of

workaccelerated—notes that Indianorgan-isationsareconsideringtoexpandtheshareof gigworkers, as dependence on full-timeworkers reduces.With shrinking full-timejobs, assignment-based hiringwill becomethe norm. For instance, a graphic designerworking from home could be in demandwithamediahouse.Acompany likeNetflixwould seek AI experts, paid by the hour, topersonalisestreamingexperiences.Amatch-makerisneededtoconnectfirmswithqual-ified candidates. Job portals have, hitherto,beengearedtowardsfull-timeemploymentandblue-collaredworkers.Themissinglinkin the talentmarketplace is anationaldata-

base of job seekers and job creators. Aprospectiveemployeewouldneedaccesstoajobdatabase,sortedbyskill,geography,du-rationandemoluments.Companies shouldbeabletodipintothedatapoolof talent,ex-perience,location,qualificationandexpecta-tion.Currently,bothdatasetsarefragmentedand stored in silos. The government couldplay the role of a facilitator, in partnershipwith the private sector, to create a unifieddatabasetoprovideefficienthiringsolutions.Peopleworkingfromhome,outof choiceorcompulsion, would get a crediblemediumto find thebest fit for their skills.Apost-COVIDworldwouldneedtorede-

finetherulesofoffice.Technologyoffersad-equate solutions for distributed, collabora-tiveworkplaces.Insomecases,thisflexibilityeveninfusesgreaterproductivity.Atthesametime, joiningthegigeconomyincreasesem-ployeevulnerability.Hence, this segmentoftheeconomy,sofaroutsidetheambitofreg-ulatorylabourpolicies,nowmeritsattention.The current crisis should force a discussionon the levels of social protection whichshouldbeavailable togigworkers includingwage protection, health benefits and safetyassurance.TheKarnatakagovernment,infact,hasreportedlycommenceddeliberationsforintroducinganewlabourlegislationfocusedonthegigeconomy.Thecompassofhighereducationhasal-

wayspointedinthedirectionofwhitecollarjobs—thiscallsforarecalibration.Theplace-mentcellsofcollegesanduniversitieswouldneedto reorientandfocusonpreparingstu-dents for freelancing opportunities, apartfromregularcampusplacements.Thiswar-rantsareorientationofexpectationsfortak-ingasoloplungeintotheworldofwork.Forthe educated youth, this could be the firststep towards entrepreneurship. Gender isanother crucial dimension of the digitallabourmarkets. The low enrolment of girlsforhighereducation in science, technology,engineeringandmathwouldconstricttheiruniverse of opportunity in the gig world.Goingahead,thiswouldneedgreaterpolicyattention toensuregenderparity.Itmaybe impertinent to hazard a guess

onhowmuch the current contagionwouldalter traditional jobs.Thoseat thethresholdofemployment,aswellasthoseonthebrinkof unemployment, are equally perplexed.Newtoolsandskillsarerequiredtosurviveinthegig economy.Great opportunity cohab-its with great risk in the new economy.Therefore, the government and the privatesectorwouldneedtocollaboratealongwithacademiatobuildadequatesafeguardsintheunfoldingeco-system.

Theauthor isan IASofficer.Viewsarepersonal

Contoursofpost-Covideconomysuggestanewframeworkofemployment

A reworked landscapeAshishKundra

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●WHOISAHISTORIAN?:

NAVNEETSHARMA

●●ANAYURVEDARENAISSANCE:ARVINDCHOPRA

www.indianexpress.com

RajaMenon

KalrajMishra

CR Sasikumar

Weshouldtreat itasa learning incidentandtrainour infantry todominate thePLAinanunarmedencounter,whilesimultaneouslyworkingontheboundary issue

The face-off inGalwan Valley


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BRITAIN

MALALACELEBRATESOXFORDDEGREEShe is known the world over for her campaign for girls’ education. Now Nobel PeacePrize winner Malala Yousafzai has finished her degree at Oxford University. “Hardto express my joy and gratitude right now... I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, itwill be Netflix, reading and sleep,” she said on her Twitter and Instagram feeds.

BELARUS

PresidentsaysfoiledforeignplotafterrivalarrestedMinsk: PresidentAlexander LukashenkosaidonFridayBelarushadfoiled a foreign plot todestabilise the countryaheadof thepresidentialelection in August, a dayafter the arrest of hismain political rivalsparked protests. Therehad been a large-scaleplan to foment a revolu-tion akin to theMaidanstreetprotestsinUkrainein2014,Lukashenkosaid.He said political forcesfrom“bothfromtheWestand from the East” hadconcentrated their inter-ests in Belarus, and that“certain forces” had in-tensifiedtheirefforts,ac-cording to the officialBelTAnewsagency.

BelarusianPresidentAlexanderLukashenko

TOPOFTHEWORLD

UNITEDNATIONS

Emergencyaiddeliverymayendnextmonth:UNJohannesburg: A globalemergencydelivery serv-ice that has kept tons ofhumanitarianaid flowingdespitecoronavirustravelrestrictions could shutdownnextmonthif fund-ingcan’tbe foundtokeepitrunning,theWorldFoodProgramwarned Friday.The shortfall comes “justasdemandforthisserviceis reaching itspeak,”WFPsaid.Ofthe$965milliontokeep the service goingthrough the end of theyear,$178millionhasbeenconfirmed.Whilenationsthat are traditionally theworld’s top donorsweredistractedby thegrowingpandemic, theWFP, theUN’s logistics leader,heavedtheemergencyop-erationintoplacewithun-precedentedreach.

NEWZEALAND

CopshotdeadduringroutinetrafficstopANEWZealandpoliceof-ficer was killed and an-otherseriouslyinjuredonFriday after they wereshotduringaroutinetraf-ficstop, thecountry’spo-licecommissionersaid,asofficials urgently huntedfor the suspect. Schoolsanddaycarecentresnearthe scene of the incidentinAucklandwereonlock-down as police searchedfor the shooter, who alsoinjured amember of thepublic when fleeing bycar.Thetwoofficerswereunarmed,which is usualprocedure in NewZealand.

REUTERSBEIJING,GENEVA, JUNE19

CHINAHASreleasedgenomese-quencing data for the coron-avirus responsible for a recentoutbreakinBeijing,withofficialssaying on Friday it identified aEuropean strain based on pre-liminarystudies.China,whichhadbeenunder

pressuretomakethedatapublicsooner rather than later asCovid-19 cases mount in thecountry’scapital,saidithadalsosubmittedthedatatotheWorldHealthOrganization.TheUShasblamedChina for

nothandling the initial outbreakin central China properly andmovingtooslowlytocontaintheepidemic, leading tomountingcasesanddeathsintheUSChinahasrejectedthataccu-

sation, saying itwastedno timein releasing information aboutthe epidemic including thegenome sequence of the initialcoronavirusoutbreakinWuhan.InthelatestBeijingoutbreak,

theWHO said on Sunday it hadbeeninformedbytheChineseofongoing investigations into thesource of the cluster and the ex-tentoftheinfections.Itrequestedthe genetic sequences to be re-leasedassoonaspossible.

Details publishedonChina’sNationalMicrobiologyDataCenterwebsite revealed the BeijinggenomedatawasbasedonthreesamplescollectedonJune11.That was the same day the

Chinesecapital reported its firstnew local Covid-19 infection inmonths. In the eight days since,Beijinghasreportedatotalof183cases, linked to the sprawlingwholesalefoodcentreofXinfadiin thecity’s southwest.“Accordingtopreliminaryge-

nomicandepidemiologicalstudyresults, the virus is fromEurope,but it is different from the viruscurrently spreading in Europe,”ChineseCentreforDiseaseControland Prevention official ZhangYongwascitedassayinginanar-ticle published on Friday by theCentralCommissionforDisciplineInspectiononitswebsite.Meanwhile, theWHO said

the coronavirus pandemicwasaccelerating, with Thursday’s150,000 new cases the highestinasingledayandnearlyhalf ofthemin theAmericas.“The world is in a new and

dangerous phase,” DirectorGeneral Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesustoldavirtualbrief-ing fromWHOheadquarters inGeneva.“Thevirusisstillspread-ingfast, it isstilldeadly,andmostpeoplearestill susceptible.”

REUTERSJUNE19

FACEBOOKSAIDonThursdaythatittookdownpostsandadsrunbythe re-election campaign of USPresidentDonaldTrump for vio-latingitspolicyagainstorganisedhate. On the same day, Twitteraddeda ‘manipulatedmedia’ la-belonavideopostedonTrump’sTwitter feed that showedadoc-torednewsclipwithamis-spelledbanner flashing “Terrified todlerrunsfromracistbaby”.The ads taken down by

Facebook showeda red invertedtriangle,asymbol theNazisusedtoidentifypoliticalprisoners,withtextaskingFacebookuserstosignapetitionagainstantifa,a looselyorganisedanti-fascistmovement.“Ourpolicyprohibits using a

bannedhate group’s symbol toidentifypolitical prisonerswith-outthecontextthatcondemnsordiscusses the symbol,” said aFacebookcompanyspokesperson.OnTwitter,Trumphadposted

aneditedversionofavideo,whichwentviralonsocialmediain2019,showing a black toddler and awhite toddler running towardseach other and hugging. It waspublishedherewiththeheadline“Thesetwotoddlersareshowinguswhatreal-lifebestieslooklike”on CNN'swebsite last year. TheclipsharedinTrump'stweet firstshowsthepartwhereoneofthosetoddlersisseenrunningaheadoftheother.Atonepointthebannerreads: "Racist baby probably aTrumpvoter".Thetweetedvideothengoes

on to show the original videoand concludes : “America is nottheproblem.Fakenews is.”

US MARKS JUNETEENTH — WITH PROTESTSAJuneteenthAwarenessWalk inBoston,Massachusetts.Reuters

HYONHEESHIN&JOSHSMITHSEOUL, JUNE19

SOUTH KOREAN PresidentMoonJae-inonFridayacceptedthe resignation of theministerresponsible for relations withNorth Korea, as tensions withPyongyang rise over the activi-tiesofdefectorsintheSouthandstalleddiplomacy.South Korean Unification

Minister Kim Yeon-chul, whooversees engagement withNorth Korea, offered onWednesdaytostepdown,mak-ing himself accountable for theworsening ties.After seeing a boost in

favourability over his govern-ment’s handling of the coron-avirusoutbreak,Moon’sapprovalratingfellto55%,thelowestlevelinaboutthreemonths,drivenbyworries over North Korea, ac-cordingtoaGallupKoreapollre-leasedonFriday.North Korea has snubbed

Seoul’s calls for engagement asefforts to restart inter-KoreaneconomicprojectsstalledduetointernationalsanctionsdesignedtoreinintheNorth’snuclearandmissileprogrammes.REUTERS

JAVIERCHERNÁNDEZJUNE19

CHINESEOFFICIALSsaidonFridaytheyhadindictedtwoCanadiansonchargesof espionage, escalat-ing Beijing’s punitive campaignagainstCanadaoverthearrestofatopexecutiveoftheChinesetech-nologygiantHuawei.Thetwomen,MichaelKovrig,

a former diplomat, andMichael

Spavor, a business consultant,were detained in 2018 as rela-tionsbetweenChinaandCanadasouredwhen Canada arrestedthe chief financial officer ofHuawei at the request of theUnited States. They are now atthe center of a heated interna-tional dispute that has pittedChina against Canada and theUnitedStates,atatimewhenre-lationshavedeterioratedtotheirlowestpoint indecades.

InbriefstatementsonFriday,Chinese court officials said thatKovrig had been indicted inBeijing on charges of espionageand“gatheringstatesecretsandintelligence for foreign coun-tries.” Spavor was indicted inDandong,anortheasterncity,onthesimilarchargesofespionageand“illegallyprovidingstatese-crets for foreigncountries.”TheChinese government on

Friday defended the indict-

ments. “The criminal facts areclearandtheevidenceisverifiedandsufficient,”aspokesmanforthe Chinese Foreign Ministry,Zhao Lijian, said at a news con-ference inBeijing.When a reporter asked how

China viewed “hostage diplo-macy”, Zhaobristled. “Youaskaquestion brimming withmal-ice,” he said. “Youbetter ask theCanadian government whathostagediplomacy is.”NYT

WHOsaysvirusaccelerating,Thursdaymarksnewhighformostcasesinaday

COVID-19PANDEMIC

China releasesBeijing virus genomedata, officials say strain European

SINGAPORECURBSRELAXED:TablesinstalledwithplexiglassdividersatafoodcourtinSingapore.Singaporeanscannoweatatrestaurants,workoutatthegymandsocialisewithfivepeopleorless,asthecity-stateremovedmostof itslockdownrestrictionsonFriday.Reuters

Sewage study suggests Covid-19 wasin Italy as far back as December 2019REUTERSMILAN, LONDON,JUNE19

SCIENTISTS IN Italy have foundtraces of thenewcoronavirus inwastewatercollectedfromMilanand Turin in December 2019—suggestingCovid-19wasalreadycirculating inNorthern Italy be-foreChinareportedthefirstcases.

The ItalianNational Instituteof Health looked at 40 sewagesamples collected fromwaste-water treatmentplants innorth-ern Italy betweenOctober 2019andFebruary2020.Ananalysisre-leasedlateonThursdaysaidsam-ples taken inMilanandTurinonDec 18 showed the presence oftheSARS-Cov-2virus.“Thisresearchmayhelpusun-

derstand the beginning of viruscirculationinItaly,”GiuseppinaLaRosa,whoco-ledthestudy,said.Small studies conducted in

Europe and Australia havefound signs the virus thatcauses Covid-19 can be de-tected in sewage, and manycountries are beginning to usewastewater sampling to trackthe spread of the disease.

MUJIBMASHALKABUL, JUNE19

THEUNITEDStateshasreducedthe number of troops it has inAfghanistan to 8,600 in accor-dancewithapreliminarypeacedeal with the Taliban, a topAmerican general said onThursday, even as other aspectsof the plan to end thewar havefacedsetbacksanddelays.Atthepeakofthenearlytwo-

decade war, there were morethan 100,000 US troops inAfghanistan, alongwith tens ofthousandsfromabout40nationsintheUS-ledNATOcoalition.Thatnumber has dropped in recentyears, as all sides admitted thewar could not bewonmilitarily.The United States shifted to astrategyofseekingapoliticalset-tlement,whichhasproved tobehaltingandcomplicated.The signing of the dealwith

theTalibaninFebruaryinitiateda phasedwithdrawal of the USmilitary personnel who werestill in the country. The agree-ment also included a prisonerexchange and direct negotia-tions between the Taliban andAfghanistan’s government overthecountry’spolitical future.American officials said they

alsohadanunderstandingwiththe Taliban that violence levelswouldbereducedby80percent,though that wasn’t spelled outin thedeal.“Wehavemetourpartof the

agreement,” saidGeneral FrankMcKenzie,who leadsUSCentralCommand. “We’ve agreed to gotomid-8,000 rangewithin 135days.We’reatthatnumbernow.”McKenzie,whowasspeaking

in a video conference organisedbytheAspenStrategyGroup,sug-gested that completing a fullwithdrawal in14months, as thedeal calls for, would depend ontheTaliban.NYT

■ Inanyotheryear,Juneteenth,whichmarksthedayin1865thatthoseenslavedintheUSlearnedtheyweresetfree,wouldbemarkedbyblackfamilieswithacookout,aparadeandacommunityfestival.

■Butin2020,asthecoronavirusravishesblackAmericadisproportionately,andaspolicebrutalitycontinuestodevastateblackfamilies, Juneteenthhasbecomeadayofprotest.

■Friday’scelebrationsweremarkedfromcoasttocoastwithdemonstrationsof civildisobedience,alongwithexpressionsofblackjoyinspiteofanespeciallytraumatictimeforthenation. AP

China indicts 2 Canadians, escalating dispute

Amid tensionswith North,South Korea’sUnificationMinister resigns

SKorea’sUnificationMinisterKimYeon-chul

FB takes down Trumpads, Twitter labels histweet ‘manipulated’

Trumpatameeting intheWhiteHouseonThursday.

Reuters

REUTERSMADRID, JUNE19

SPANISHNOVELIST Carlos RuizZafon, whose book The Shadowof theWind sold more than 15million copies, has died of can-cer aged 55 in Los Angeles, hispublishinghousesaidonFriday.Zafon beganhis career in ju-

venile literature before publish-ing thework,whichbecamethemost read Spanish novel afterMigueldeCervantes’ classicDonQuixote,EditorialPlanetasaid.Thenovel—thefirstofafour-

partseries,whichwastranslatedinto over 40 languages world-wide—was in 2014 selected byBritish publisher PenguinClassics as one of 26 “classics ofuniversal literature”.

Zafon’seditorspaidhomagetotheauthorbyquotingfromoneofits passages: “Every book, everyvolumeyou see, has a soul. Thesoulof theonewhowrote it, andthesoulof thosewhoread it andlived and dreamed with it,”EditorialPlanetapostedonTwitter.Barcelona-born but living in

Los Angeles, California, Zafonwas one of the Spanish lan-guage’smostsuccessfulwriters,withcriticsoftencomparinghimtoCharlesDickensforhisdense,Gothicstyle, fast-pacedintrigueandcolourful characters.Zafon’s enduring fascination

withhisnativecitywasevidentinhisworks,wherethemysteriesofabygoneBarcelonaloomassignif-icantlyasanyhumancharacter.SpanishPrimeMinisterPedro

Sanchez tweeted: “One of themost read and admired Spanishauthorsworldwide has left us.Carlos Ruiz Zafon, a contempo-rary novelist of reference, leavesanimportantmarkinmodernlit-erature. Thank you for letting ustravel throughyourstories.”A message on Zafon’s own

Twitter account said: “We’llcontinue dreamingwith everyword hewrote.”

Bestselling Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon,author of The Shadow of the Wind, dies at 55

ASSOCIATEDPRESSLONDON, JUNE19

IANHOLM,anacclaimedBritishactor whose long career in-cluded roles in Chariots of FireandTheLordoftheRingshasdied.Hewas88.Holmdiedpeacefully Friday

morning in a hospital, sur-roundedbyhisfamilyandcarer,his agent, Alex Irwin, said in astatement. His illness wasParkinson’s related.A star of stage and screen,

Holm won a Tony Award for

best featured actor as Lenny inHarold Pinter’s play TheHomecoming in 1967.An established figure in the

Royal ShakespeareCompany, hewonaLaurenceOlivierAwardfor

bestactor forhisperformance inthetitleroleofKingLear in1998.He won a British Academy

Film Award and gained a sup-porting-actorOscarnominationforportrayingpioneeringathlet-

ics coach SamMussabini in thehit1982 filmChariots of Fire.Healsoappeared inTheFifth

Element, Alien, The SweetHereafter, Time Bandits, TheEmperor’s New Clothes and TheMadnessofKingGeorge.’Morere-cently, he portrayed BilboBaggins in The Hobbit and TheLordof theRings trilogies.Holmwas knighted in 1998

forhis services todrama.“His sparklingwit always ac-

companiedamischievous twin-kle in his eye,” Irwin said.“Charming, kindand ferociouslytalented,wewillmisshimhugely.”

British actor Ian Holm, who starred as BilboBaggins in Lord of the Rings, dies aged 88

AnestablishedfigureintheRoyalShakespeareCompany,hewonaLaurenceOlivierAwardforbestactorfortheroleofKingLear in1998

Washington:US PresidentDonald Trump threatenedunspecified action againstanyprotesters at hisweek-endTulsa, Oklahoma, elec-tionrally.“Anyprotesters,an-archists, agitators, lootersorlowlifes who are going toOklahoma please under-stand,youwillnotbetreatedlike you have been inNewYork,Seattle,orMinneapolis.It will be amuch differentscene!”Trumptweeted.

Atlanta:Atlanta police offi-cerscalledoutsicktoprotestthe filingofmurderchargesagainstanofficerwhoshotamanintheback.Prosecutorsbrought felonymurder andotherchargesagainstGarrettRolfe, an officer who shotRayshard Brooks after hegrabbed a Taser during astruggleandran.

Trump warnsprotesters

Atlanta officersprotest charges

THE WITHDRAWAL of UStroops from Afghanistancomes after WashingtonsignedadealwiththeTalibanin February. The dealman-datesthattheUSshouldgrad-uallypullitstroopsout,inre-turn forTalibannegotiationswiththeAfghangovernmentand a reduction of violence.TheUS troopwithdrawal isunderway,buttheTalibanareyettoholdtalkswiththegov-ernment. They have alsosteppedupthefighting,witha number of attacks acrossAfghanistan killing severalcivilians. The deal had alsocalled on the Taliban to en-sureAfghanistanwasn’tusedto launchattacksagainst theUSoritsallies.However,aUNmonitoring group had re-cently reported that theTalibanstillhadclosetieswithAl-Qaeda. This adds to fearsthatwith theUSwithdraw-ing, Afghanistan could beheaded for further chaos,especially inter-Afghantalksfail.

Peacedeal onabumpy road

US reduces troops inAfghanistan to 8,600

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ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE GOVERNMENT onFridayinvitedbidsfromtransac-tion advisors including consult-ing firms, investment bankers,and financial institutions for theproposed initial public offering(IPO) of Life InsuranceCorporation(LIC).The Centre has proposed to

engageup to twopre-IPOtrans-action advisors for assisting theDepartment of Investment andPublic AssetManagement (DI-PAM) in the preparatory proce-sses leadingtothe IPOof LIC.“Biddersshouldhaveadvised,

handled,andcompletedatleastonetransactionof IPOofasizeofRs5,000croreormorebetweenApril12017toMarch31,2020orshould havemanaged a capitalmarket transactionof Rs 15,000croreormoreduringtheperiod,”accordingtotherequest forpro-posal (RFP)document issuedbythe government. The advisorscan submit their bids beginningFriday, till July 13, 2020, which

willbeopenedonJuly14.The share sale of LIC, which

wassetupin1956,isexpectedtobe thebiggest in the Indiancap-italmarkets,giventhesizeoftheCorporation and its dominantposition in the life insurancemarket.The insurer’s total assetshad

touched an all-time high of Rs31.11lakhcrorein2018-19,anin-creaseof9.4percent.

MOVEMAYBECOUNTER-PRODUCTIVE,SAYSOMECOMPANIES

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,JUNE19

INDIA’S TOP drug regulatorFridaygrantedemergencyuseapprovaltoGlenmarkPharm-aceuticals for its antiviralFabiFlu (favipiravir), a drugwhoseeffectivenessinCOVID-19treatmentisbeingtestedbythefirmhere,TheIndianExpre-sshaslearnt.Theoralmedicineis to be administered only inmild tomoderate COVID-19patientsandmaycostaroundRs100per200mgtablet.Central Drugs Standard

ControlOrganisation(CDSCO)chief Dr VGSomani allowedrestricted emergency use ofthe antiviral for amaximumcourse of 14 days, a seniorHealthMinistry official toldThe Indian Express on condi-tion of anonymity. This in-cludes a dosage of 3,600mgon the first day followedbyadosageof1,600mgdaily.However,thisapprovalhas

beengrantedontheconditionthatthedrugbeadministeredonlywith informed consent,andthatGlenmarksubmitac-tive postmarketing surveil-lance data for the first 1,000patients as soonas it receivesthesame.“Thedrugisalreadyapproved inRussia. The trialshere have shownpromisingresults,” said theofficial,whoaddedthatdata submitted toCDSCO shows that patientshavebeenshowingimprove-mentwithinfourdaysoftreat-mentwiththedrug.Glenmark confirmed the

approval, but did not com-mentonpricinganddetailsre-lated to its trials,whichwereconducted in10hospitals. Atleast150patientsacrossstateslikeGujarat,MaharashtraandDelhiwereapartof thetrials.“This approval has been

grantedbasedon evaluationof data and in consultationwiththeSubjectExpertCom-mittee, as part of an acceler-atedapprovalprocess,consid-eringtheemergencysituationand unmetmedical need oftheCOVID-19outbreak,” thefirmtoldBSElateonFriday.“ItisforrestrictedemergencyuseinIndia.Restricteduseentailsresponsiblemedication usewhere every patient musthavesignedinformedconsentbeforetreatmentinitiation.”Unlikeinremdesivir’scase,

favipiravir is not restricted tohospitalsandinstitutionalset-tings, The Indian Expresshaslearnt. “However, it has to begivenwith informedconsentofthepatient,”saidtheofficialcitedabove.Glenmarkhasap-proachedtheNationalPharm-aceutical PricingAuthority tofixtheretailpriceofitsFabiFluandproposedapriceofarou-ndRs100atablet,saidasourceonconditionofanonymity.

COVIDWATCHPHARMACEUTICALS

Glenmark’s antiviralFabiFlu gets CDSCOemergency useapproval, with riders

PRANAVMUKUL,PRABHARAGHAVAN&ANUJBHATIANEWDELHI,JUNE19

ATA timewhen a sentiment infavour of boycotting Chinesegoodsisgatheringsteam,compa-nies across import-dependentsectorssuchasautomobile,phar-maceuticals,electronics,telecom-munications, etc have said thatanymove in this direction couldbecounter-productiveandimpacttheoverallcompetitivenessoftheIndianmanufacturingsector.Theyattribute twomain rea-

sonsforthis:One,automobileandpharmacompanieshaveinvesteddeeplyinbuildingasupplychainthat traces back toChina signifi-cantlyanddisruptingthatsupplychaincouldadverselyaffecttheircompetitive situation in the ex-port segments. Two, for compa-nies inthetelecomandelectron-icssegments,thedisruptioncouldcome from the lack of domesticmanufacturing capabilities andsignificantlyhigherinputcosts.Chinaaccounts foraround14

per cent of India’s imports,withmajor itemsintheimportbasketbeing components for smart-phonesandautomobile,telecomequipment, plastic andmetallicgoods,APIs,andotherchemicals.In telecom, the Department of

Telecommunications(DoT)hasal-readyasked state-ownedopera-tors BSNL and MTNL to keepChinesevendorsoutof thescopefortheirtenders.AdvicetoprivatecompaniestonotuseChina-madeequipment in their networks isalsobeingconsiderednow.“Clearly,thisisnotsomething

thatwewouldprefer to happenbutwehave to seewhat is in thenational interest.Huaweimakes$122 billion globally, and theymake just over $1 billion fromIndia. It’s not that if you go aftertelecom, you’llmakeabigdent,”saidRajanMathews,directorgen-eral, CellularOperators Associa-tionofIndia(COAI).“Whatourop-erators do when they want to

purchaseanypieceofequipmentfortheirnetwork,iscreatealistofall items that are necessary. Nocompanyruns100percentonjustonevendor,itisanaggregationofmultiplevendors,”headded.Further, despitehaving a laid

down plan for the electronicsmanufacturing segment since2015,muchof India’s electronicgoodsareonlyassembled locallywithhighdependenceonimportof parts fromChina.Micromax,whichwas once the topmobilephonemaker in India, lost out toChinese smartphone companieswhich camewith budget offer-ings,andnowhaslinedupseveralnewlaunches.OtherIndiancom-panieslikeIntexandLava,too,metthe same fate, though the latterstillhasagripinsmallertowns.AccordingtotheInternetand

Mobile Association of India (IA-MAI),Indiasuffersfrommanycostdisadvantages compared to na-tions like China, Vietnam, SouthKoreaandTaiwan.Suchdisadvan-tages emanate from challengeslikelogistics,highcostofdebt,lackofutilitieslikehighqualitypowerandwater.ChinaandVietnam,forinstancegiveincentivestoindus-try tomakedomesticmanufac-turingcompetitive,asperIAMAI.Similarly, for the automobile

sector, relations developedwithcomponent suppliers in Chinaoverdecadeshavegivenashotin

thearmtoIndianvehiclemakers.AnexecutiveataPune-based

automotive company said therewasaneedforacoherentstrategyon nations and suppliers. “Thatour company has spent yearsbuildinga supplierbase inChinaand that theyare contributors toour competitiveness, especiallyexternalmarkets likeAfrica andSouthAmericaiskeytoourbusi-ness. Even ifwe import a certainquantity fromChina,ourexportsare15timesthat,”thepersonsaid.While it is unclearwhether

Indiawillimplementabanonim-portsofingredientsusedtomakecrucialmedicines,someindustryexecutives fear rising tensionswithChinamay indirectly createshortages. “Themajor problemwearegoingto face is in importsof intermediates,whichweneedinhugequantitiestoconverttoac-tive pharmaceutical ingredients(APIs).ManyAPIsalsocomefromChina. Therearemanyexamplesof medicines like paracetamol,cephalosporin andpenicillin, forwhichwedonot currently pro-duce intermediates,” said RCJuneja, chairmanof Delhi-head-quarteredMankindPharma.Another fear is that, even if

Indiadoesn’timposeaban,Chinamay increaseprices of the inter-mediatesandAPIsinretaliation.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THE GOVERNMENT is closelymonitoring transmissionof reporatecutbybankstocustomers intermsoflowerinterestrates,alongwith closelywatchingdisburse-mentofloansundertheannoun-ced scheme toprovideRs3 lakhcrore collateral free automaticloans for businesses, FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamansaidinavideointeractionwithmemb-ers of PHDChamberof Comme-rceandIndustry(PHDCCI)Friday.“We are closelymonitoring

thesituationinconsultationwithbankssothatreliefmeasuresan-nouncedby theGovernmentareeffectively percolated at groundlevelsespeciallythetransmissionof reporatecuts toconsumers intermsofreducedinterestrates,”aFinanceMinistry releasequoted

theFMassaying.“Hon’ble @FinMinIndia

@nsitharaman assured that shewill personally ensure that#banks transfer benefits of the#ratecutstoendconsumersattheearliest,”PHDCCIsaidinatweet.

‘Closely monitoring situationso that relief measures arepercolated at ground levels’

Theapprovalhasbeengrantedontheconditionthatthedrugbeadministeredonlywithinformedconsent

■ManycompanieshavesaidthatboycottingChinesegoodscouldimpactcompetitiveness

■Chinaaccountsforaround14%ofIndia’simports, includingcomponentsforsmartphones,auto,telecomequipment,APIs&otherchemicals

14%OFIMPORTSFROMCHINA

StoppingChina importsmayhurt India’sedge,exports: telcos,pharmacompanies

All pleas relatedto FranklinTempleton to betransferred toKarnataka HCKHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,JUNE19

THE SUPREMECourt Friday di-rected transferof allpetitions re-latedtoFranklinTempletonIndiashutting down six of its debtschemesfromvarioushighcourtsin the country to theKarnatakaHighCourtwithintwoweeks.Inanoralorder,theSCalsodi-

rected theKarnatakaHC tohearthesecaseswithinthreemonths.Itsaidtillthematterisdecidedbythehighcourt,theinterimstayonthee-votingprocess forwindinguptheschemeswillcontinue.Further,theDelhiandMadras

highcourtshavesoughtresponsefromthe fundhouseandSebionpetitions againstwinding up oftheschemes.Thecompanyisyettofileareplyinanyofthesecases.

NewDelhi:Amidst growingtension between India andChina, the FinanceMinistryFridayproposedrestrictionson foreign investment inpension funds from any ofIndia’s bordering countries.A draft notification read, “Agovernmentapprovalwouldberequiredfortheinvestingentityorindividualfromanyoftheborderingcountriesin-cludingChina.”PTI

Curbs on pensionfunds from China

THECENTREexpectstoraiseRs90,000crorethroughstakesaleinLICandIDBIBank,andan-otherRs1.2lakhcroreviaotherdisinvestment.LICisalsoamajorityshare-holderinIDBIBank

Hopesto raise`90,000cr

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

THENATIONALCompanyLawtri-bunal (NCLT) Friday gave somemore time toStateBankof India(SBI) to file its rejoinder toareplysubmitted by industrialist AnilAmbani,inconnectionwithacasewherethelenderhasmovedtore-coverRs1,200crorefromAmbaniunder the personal guaranteeclauseofthebankruptcylaw.The Mumbai Bench of the

NCLT,presidedoverbythejudicialmemberMohammedAjmalandatechnical member RavikumarDuraisamy, posted the case for

hearingonJune30.SBI has filed applicationsun-

derSection95(1)oftheInsolvencyand Bankruptcy Code (IBC) tonominatearesolutionprofessionalfor the resolutionprocess of thepersonalguarantor. InMarch, theboardofSBIhadapprovedareso-lution plan for RelianceCommunications(RCom)thaten-visagedlendersrecoveringaroundRs23,000crore.RComowesaboutRs5,000croretoSBI.

NCLT gives more timeto SBI for filing rejoinderto Anil Ambani reply

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THECORPORATEAffairsMinistryon Friday invited comments onproposalsto decriminaliseprovi-sions of the Limited LiabilityPartnership(LLP)Act2008toim-prove easeof doingbusiness forlaw-abidingLLPsandtodeclogthecriminaljusticesystem.“Ithasbeendecidedtoreview

thepenalprovisionsof theAct todecriminalise compoundableof-fencesinvolvingminor,proceduralor technical violationsof theAct,oroffenceswhichmaynotinvolveanyharmtopublic interest,” theMinistrysaidinanotice.

Centre plans todecriminalisevarious provisionsof LLP Act

BRIEFLY‘Paneltodevelopjobplatform’NewDelhi:NITI Aayog hasformedapanelincludingtopofficials of tech companieslikeGoogle,Microsoft andTechMahindratodevelopajob platform for migrantlabourers,aspersources.

Petrol,dieselpricesraisedNewDelhi:Petrol pricewashiked by 56 paise per litreanddieselby63paisealitre.

Bankcreditgrows6.24%Mumbai:Bankcreditandde-positsgrew6.24percentand11.28per cent toRs102.54lakhcroreandRs139.55lakhcrore,respectively,infortnightendedJune5,asperRBIdata.

ICICIBankdivestsstakeNew Delhi: ICICI Bank onFriday said it has divested3.96per cent stake in ICICILombardGeneralInsuranceCompanyforRs2,250crore.

PMCBankcurbsextendedMumbai: The RBI has en-hancedthewithdrawallimitatPMCBanktoRs1lakhbutextendedregulatoryrestric-tionstillDecember22.PTI

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THE NATIONAL Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) hasheld that the liquidationprocessof a company under theInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC)holdsprecedenceoverout-comeof an arbitrationproceed-ing, andthereforeprocessunderIBCshallnotbestopped.Initsjudgment,athree-mem-

ber Bench of NCLAT held thatBharatHeavyElectricalsLimited’s(BHEL) objections to liquidationof Tamil Nadu-based SuranaPowerwerenotvalidasmajorityof secured creditors had giventheirconsenttoliquidation.“Itwouldbeprejudicialtostall

the liquidationprocessat the in-stanceofasinglecreditorhavingonly 26.24 per cent share (invalue), in thesecuredassets. Therespondent(BHEL)doesnotholdasuperiorchargefromtherestof

thesecuredfinancialcreditorsinthesecuredassets,” itsaid.SuranaPower,whichwasad-

mittedintoinsolvencyinJanuary2019,didnotreceiveanyvalidres-olutionplans, andwas thereforeordered to be liquidated by theChennai Bench of NationalCompanyLawTribunal(NCLT).During the liquidation pro-

ceedings,state-runBHELwonanex-parte arbitration awardagainstSuranaPower,whichgaveitlienoveralltheequipmentandgoods lyingat the latter’sunit, aswell as its partially or fully con-structedbuildings.Following the award, BHEL,

which is also one of the securedcreditors, refused togive its con-sent for liquidation as it wouldhave resulted in it getting lessershareaccordingtoIBC’swaterfallmechanism. BHEL’s refusalwaschallengedbytheliquidatorattheChennaibenchofNCLT.The adjudicating authority

hadthenruled in favourofBHELand said the state-run companyhadfullrightstorealisethesecu-rityinterestsithadwonaspartofthearbitration.TheNCLAThowever,setaside

NCLT’s rulingandsaid that sinceBHELdidnothavetheminimum60per cent value in secured in-terest, it could not be allowed tostall theIBCproceedings.

‘US mulling over restoringIndia’s status under GSP’LALITKJHAWASHINGTON,JUNE19

THEUS ismullingover restoringIndia’s beneficiary status underits trade preference programmeGSP on receiving a counterbal-ancingproposalfromNewDelhi,US Trade Representative RobertLighthizerhastoldlawmakers.US President Donald Trump

in June last year terminated

India’sdesignationasabenefici-arydevelopingnationunder thekeyGSP trade programmeafterdetermining that it has not as-sured theUS that itwill provide“equitableandreasonableaccess”to itsmarkets.The Generalized System of

Preference (GSP) is designed topromoteeconomicdevelopmentby allowing duty-free entry forthousandsofproductsfromdes-ignatedbeneficiarycountries. PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Limited(RIL)onFridaysaidithasbecomefree of net debt ahead ofMarch2021 target after raising Rs1,68,818crorefromstakesalesandarightsissuein58days.Sharesof RIL surged6.23per

cent toRs1,759.50on theBSEonFriday,with amarket capitalisa-tionofRs11.15lakhcrore.RIL’snet-debtwas Rs 1,61,035 crore as ofMarch 2020. RIL chairman-MD

MukeshAmbani said, “Wehavefulfilledourpromisetotheshare-holders bymakingReliance netdebt-freemuchbeforeourorigi-nalscheduleofMarch31,2021.”

With over `1.69L cr raisedin 58 days, RIL debt-freebefore March ’21 target

Sensex gainsanother 524 ptson RIL rallyENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

LEDBYReliance Industries (RIL)shares,stockmarketsonFridayral-lied another1.5per cent on firmglobalcues,capitalinflowsanddo-mestic investor support.DespiteIndia-Chinaborder tensions andrisingCOVIDinfections,theSensexgained another 524 points to34,731.73andtheNSENiftyIndexrose153pointsto10,244.40.The gains were led by RIL,

whichcontributedhalfofthegainsforNifty.Therupeeclosed6paiselowerat76.20againsttheUSdollar.

■ SuranaPower,whichwas admittedinto insolvency inJanuary2019, didnotreceive anyvalidresolutionplans, andwas therefore orderedtobe liquidatedby theChennai BenchofNational CompanyLawTribunal (NCLT)

NOVALIDPLANSFORSURANAPOWER

NCLAT overrules BHEL objections,gives nod to Surana Power liquidation

RILchairmanandMDMukeshAmbani. File

AnilAmbani’sRelianceCommunicationsowesabout`5,000croretoSBI

LIC stake sale: Govtinvites bids for pre-IPOtransaction advisors

Vol. LXIVNo.145Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208,TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&AdministrativeOffices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)

Additional air surchargeof `1 .00 -Goa.Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Ltd.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®


SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

16‘HOMESICK’PLAYERSLEAVECAMPConfined to the SAI Centre in Bengaluru for more than two monthsbecause of the COVID-19 lockdown, "homesick" Indian hockey playerswere on Friday allowed to leave the facility after being granted amonth's break. They will reassemble in Bengaluru for the next phaseof the national camp on July 19.

CROSSWORD4149

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profoundly creative regionofyour chart could getyour juices flowing.With anyluck you’ll soonbe brimmingwith fresh and lively ideas. Youmay consider newpropositions—andputold ones onhold.

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LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)It’sanambitiousday,andmanyof youcouldbeconcernedwithprofessional

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AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)It’sa relativelybusyday,andevenromanticrelationshipsmust

tobeworkedat.Domesticpartnershipsareevenmore inneedof a little tinkeringaroundtheedges, just tomakesure thatothersarehappyandcontented. If lovedones feelgoodthensoshouldyou. It’ssimple, really.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Yourchart isacomplexsystemofdifferentqualitiesandcharacteristics,

andtoday’sabundanceofplanetarypressuresprovidesexactly therightcombinationofingredients tomaketodayapotentiallycreativeandpleasurable feast.Hopefullyyoucan invest thetime—youwon’tregret it.

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DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4144

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Regarditasjustasdesirabletobuilda______astobuildacathedral.-FrankLloydWright(7,5)

SOLUTION:ELOPE,BISON,CHURCH,HOOKAHAnswer:Regarditasjustasdesirabletobuildachickenhouseastobuildacathedral.-FrankLloydWright

LPEEO HHRCCU

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SolutionsCrossword4148:Across: 1Excel,4Leeward,8Pie,9Armycorps,10Unready,11Aphis,13Deduce,15Amoral,18Capri,19Algebra,21Momentous,23Aid,24Capsize,25Order.Down:1Expound,2Clearedup,3Llama,4Limeys,5Exclaim,6Air,7Discs,12Hardboard,14Chianti,16Leander,17Parole,18Comic,20Gusto,22Map.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

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Anti social-distancingNapolifanspourintostreetstocelebrateItalianCupwin;fearsof ‘GamesZero’return

ENS &AGENCIESJUNE 19

THOUSANDS OF Napoli football fans whopoured into the streets to celebrate theirteam’sItalianCuptitlewithoutsocialdistanc-ingamidthecoronaviruspandemicwerecrit-icisedbyhealthofficialsasbeing“reckless.”WorldHealthOrganizationassistantdirec-

torgeneralRanieriGuerrasaid thescenes re-mindedhimofAtalanta’sChampionsLeaguegamewithValencia in February. Thatmatch,whichhasbeenlabeled“GameZero”bylocalmedia, isbelievedtohavebeenakeyfactorinwhythevirushasbeensodeadlyinthenorth-ern city of Bergamo. “Reckless,” Guerra said.“Rightnowwecan’tpermitthesethings.”Deputy HealthMinister Sandra Zampa

addedthatitamountedto“dangerousbehav-ior.” Shortly afterNapoli beat Juventus in anemptystadiuminRomeonWednesdaynight,supportersinNaplesfloodedintocentralpiaz-zas and set off fireworks as they celebratedinto the early hours of Thursdaymorning.Hardlyanyofthemwereseenwearingmasks.

'Criticismhypocritical'Whilenearly 35,000peoplehavedied in

Italy fromthe coronavirus, theCampania re-gion that includesNaples has accounted for431deaths.NaplesMayor LuigiDeMagistriscalled thecriticism“hypocritical.” “Either thegames shouldn’t have been played untilSeptemberorinsomewaywhathappenedtheothernightwasinevitable,”DeMagistrissaid.DeMagistris —whowas lambasted by

Napoli presidentAurelioDeLaurentiiswhenthelattertookoutafull-pageadvertisementinnewspaperscriticisingthemayorforadminis-trativedisastersand lackof investment—be-lievesthecelebrationonstreetswasinevitable.ItwastheNapoli'sfirsttitlewininsixyears,andit came against the club's former coachMaurizioSarriandstarstrikerGonzaloHiguain.“Onlypeoplewhodon’tknowNaplescould

think that after avictoryover the Juventusof(Maurizio) Sarri and (Gonzalo)Higuain thatNeapolitanswould remain at home to cele-brate,” themayor added. “But that doesn’tmeanpeople in the city are taking the viruslightly, because since about the start of JunethecontagionlevelinNapleshasbeenzero.”

DeMagistrisaddedthathisonlycriticismfor fanswas for jumping into historic foun-tains. Napoli supporters also crowded intothecity’smainrail stationovernight towel-comeback the team— forcing the squad togetoff at a secondarystation.

Game zeroThescenesbroughtbackrealfearsassoci-

atedwithAtalanta'sChampionsLeaguegameon February 19 thatwas believed to be thereason COVID-19 became so deadly inBergamo. In theirmaidenappearance in theknockout stage of the Champions League,Bergamo-based Atalanta beat Spain'sValencia 4-1 at Milan’s famous San SiroStadium. Each of their four goalswas cele-bratedwithlittleconcernforsocialdistancingby the 45,792 spectators.Within amonth,Bergamo’scemeterywasoverwhelmedandmilitary truckswere transporting bodies toneighbouringregions,promptingmedicalex-perts tocall thematcha 'biologicalbomb'.Theoutbreakledtoathree-monthbreak

for Italian football. As conditions eased up,foreign players returned to the country lastmonth, including Portuguese superstarCristiano Ronaldo, who spent almost twomonthsinhisnativeMadeira.Italianfootballwas given the go-ahead by the government

torestartlastweekwiththeItalianCupsemi-finals.SerieAisset toresumeSaturday.

Fans to return?Adaybefore theNapoli celebrations, the

ItalianHealthMinistry easedquarantine re-strictions for teams in case of a positive test.HealthMinister Roberto Speranza gaveper-missionforteamstogothroughasoftquaran-tineincaseofapositivetestmeaningthatonlytheinfectedpersonneedstobeisolatedifsuchasituationarises.Italianfootballchiefhaileditasamajorstep,adding:"I''mhappybutthereis still onepiecemissing,which is thepartici-pationof the fans and I hope they can returnveryquickly. IhopeitwillbethebeginningofJuly--thefirstweekormid-Julyatthelatest."Whilegamesarescheduledtobeplayed

in empty stadiums, NaplesMayor Luigi DeMagistris joined football officials in callingfor some fans to be allowed inwith appro-priate socialdistancing.But Franco Locatelli, a pediatric oncolo-

gist atBambinoGesuhospital inRomewhois one of themore prominentmembers ofthe scientific-technical committeeadvisingtheItaliangovernmentaboutCOVID-19con-tainmentmeasures, said thisweekthat “it’stoo soon (to say) it’s safe tobring fans” backto thestadiums.

Napoli fanscelebrate their team’swinover Juventus intheCupfinal.AP

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYKOLKATA, JUNE19

ADAY after saying that the BCCI would beopen to reviewing the Indian PremierLeague’s (IPL) title sponsorship, the cricketboard has called an IPL Governing Councilmeeting next week to review the league’ssponsorshipdeals.“Takingnoteof theborder skirmish that

resulted in the martyrdom of our bravejawans, the IPL Governing Council has con-vened ameeting nextweek to review IPL’svarious sponsorshipdeals,” the IPL tweetedfromitsofficialhandleonFriday.Vivo, a Chinese smartphonemanufac-

turer, acquired the IPL title sponsorship forRs2,199crorein2018inafive-yeardeal.TheIPL, in fact, has multiple Chinese links interms of commercial partnerships. Paytm,the IPL’s official umpire partner, has invest-ment from Chinese company Alibaba.Chinese internet giant Tencent has putmoneyinDream11andSwiggy,theIPL’son-line fantasy league partner and associatesponsor respectively. Tencent has alsobackedByju’s, theIndiancricketteam’soffi-cial sponsor.BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, on

Thursday,hadalreadymadeitclearthattheywouldn’thesitatetoterminateitif theIndiangovernment asks them to do so. “We standby our government if it decides to banChineseproductsandcompanies.There’snotwoways about it. In case the governmentdecides to ban Chinese products and com-panies, we (BCCI) will be happy to followthat,”Dhumal told thispaperonThursday.He had pointed out that by having a

Chinese company as the IPL’s title sponsor,Indian cricket and the national exchequerhavebeenbenefittingandnottheotherwayround. “In this case (Vivo as the IPL’s titlesponsor), we are taking money from aChinesecompany. It’snot thatwearegivingmoneytoaChinesecompany,”Dhumalhadsaid,adding:“Money,42percentofthatgoesto theGovernment of India as taxes. So in away, we are helping the Indian cause.Wehave created cricket infrastructure worth

thousandsof croresacross thecountry. So ifVivo is sponsoring cricket or the IPL,we arenot letting themhelp theChinesecause.”ButDhumal said that theBCCIwouldn’t

awardcontracts toanyChinesecompany inthe future to build stadiums or infrastruc-ture.TherehavebeencallstoboycottChineseproductsandcompaniesintheaftermathofthe flare-up on the Line of Actual Control

(LAC) at Galwan valley that saw 20 IndianArmymenlosetheirlivesfightingagainsttheChinesetroops.Off-spinnerHarbhajanSinghwasoneoftheprominentvoicestoadvocatenot buying any items coming from India’snorthernneighbour.

SL launches probe into fixingclaims in 2011World Cup finalColombo: Sri Lanka's sportsministry on

Friday ordered an investigation into formersportsministerMahindanandaAluthgamage'sallegationthatthenationalcricketteam'slosstoIndiainthe2011WorldCupfinalwasfixedby"certainparties".ThesportsministerDullasAlahapperumahasorderedthe investigationandaskedforareportonitsprogresseverytwoweeks,theministrysaidinastatement.Thesportssecretary,KADSRuwanchandra,

onAlahapperuma'sdirective,hadcomplainedtotheministry'sinvestigationunitonSaturday.Aluthgamage has alleged that his country"sold" the game to India, a claim thatwasridiculed by former captains KumarSangakkaraandMahelaJayawardenewhode-mandedevidencefromhim.Aluthgamagesaidthe finalwas fixed. Set a target of 275, IndiaclaimedthetrophythankstoGautamGambhir(97)andMSDhoni(91). PTI

IPL’s title sponsor isChinesesmartphonemanufacturerVivo.

Border dispute: IPL to reviewdealswith Chinese sponsors

■Vivo,aChinesesmartphonemanufacturer, is IPL's titlesponsor.

■Paytm,apaymentscompanyandIPL'sofficialumpirepartner,has investment fromChineseentityAlibaba.

■Dream11, IPL'sonlinefantasyleaguepartner,andSwiggy, theleague'sassociatesponsor,areattachedtoChinese internetgiantTencent.

The Chineseconnection

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