c m y k c m y k SPORT | 8 India-Australia first ODI today THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA CHENNAI I FRIDAY 27 I NOVEMBER 2020 STATE | 3 Commissioner of police visits waterlogged areas in city WORLD | 5 Trump pardons Flynn, his ex-NSA who lied to FBI deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 16 No. 242 Established 1938 | 8 PAGES| `3.00 6,10,65,842 WORLD CONFIRMED CASES STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS CASES (+40,249) 93,06,946 (+ 1,464) TN: 7,76,174 DEATHS (+455) 1,35,716 11,669 14,32,995 218 DEATHS COUNTRIES, AREAS WITH CASES CORONA C UNT worldometers.info covid19india.org Estimated loss due to cyclone Nivar put at ` 400 cr: Pondy CM P u d u c h e r r y : The estimated loss to agriculture and other sectors due to cyclone Nivar has been tentatively put at Rs 400 crore and a full assessment is being made, Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said on Thursday after visiting localities affected by the cyclonic storm when it made landfall in the early hours. Paddy crops over an extent of 820 hectares besides vegetables on 200 hectares, sugarcane on 170 hectares, 55 hectares of banana crop and betel leaf cultivated on seven hectares had been severely hit by the torren- tial rains, the chief minister said. Puducherry administration would seek an interim relief of Rs 50 crores from the Centre,he told reporters. A full assessment was being made by the departments on the total quan- tum of loss in farm and other sectors although it had been estimated ten- tatively that the loss would be `400 crore, Narayanasamy said. — PTI COUNTER POINT WEATHER M a x : 30 O C M i n : 24 O C R a i n f a l l : 4 mm ASTROGUIDE Sarvari: Karthigai 12 Tithi: Dwadashi/ Thrayodashi Star:Ashwini Rahukalam: 10.30 am to 12 noon Yamagandam: 3 pm to 4.30 pm PRAYERS Fajar: 4.57 am Zohar: 12 noon Asar: 3.13 pm Maghrib: 5.39 pm Isha: 6.54 pm SUNSET TODAY 5.40 PM SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.14 AM MOONRISE TODAY 3.44 PM MOONSET TOMORROW 5.10 AM Nivar-shaken TN tries to get back on feet D C C O R R E S P O N D E N T CHENNAI, NOV. 26 Three people were killed, over 1,000 trees uprooted and low-lying areas marooned due to water-logging following heavy rains across Ta- mil Nadu till Wednes- day night. Thunder sho- wers lashed the state, as well as Puducherry, as cyclonic storm Nivar made landfall in the early hours, leading to inundation and uproot- ing of trees. Three people, includ- ing a woman, were kill- ed in rain-related inci- dents such as tree and wall collapses in Ponn- eri and Villupuram ne- ar here. In a few places, overhead electricity cables snapped as hea- vy trees fell over them. In Chennai, citizens in many parts complained of disruption in Internet services. Low- lying neighbourhoods like those in suburban Irumbuliyur, Mudichur and Urapakkam wit- nessed flooding. Reports said water entered several houses in these areas. Rescue personnel ferried cooked food to the peo- ple using inflatable boats and while some chose to shift to the homes of their rela- tives, others continued to stay put battling odds. In city areas, civic workers pumped out stagnant water from several locations. Airport operations, metro rail and bus transport resumed on Thursday. Meanwhile, the discharge from Chembarambakkam lake in the city was reduced to about 1,500 cusecs from the 5,000 cusecs on Wednesday. The quantum of dis- charge is likely to be brought further down to 500 cusecs to main- tain the water level in the lake at 22 feet as against its full level of 24 feet, officials said. Haryana cops use teargas to stop farmers’ march S A N J A Y K A W A N D B H A S K A R H A R I S H A R M A | D C NEW DELHI, NOV. 26 The Haryana police on Thursday used water can- nons and teargas in a bid to stop thousands of farm- ers from Punjab from pro- ceeding towards the national capital for their “Delhi Chalo” march against the Centre’s new farm laws. The situation got tense at the Shambu inter-state border on the national highway as protesting farmers threw police barricades off the bridge into the Ghaggar river. It was after a two-hour clash on the bridge that farmers from Congress- run Punjab managed to cross the border into BJP- ruled Haryana, which used heavy force to try and block them for mak- ing their way towards the capital in tractors and on foot on their two-day protest march against the new farm laws that they fear will reduce their earnings and give more power to large retailers. Many roads in Haryana leading to Delhi, especial- ly those in Gurgaon, were clogged with heavy traffic as barricades had been put up at different places to prevent the protesters from entering the nation’s capital. The roadblocks were especially intense in places like Kundli, near Sonipat, and on the Delhi- Gurgaon border at Sirhaul and Rajokri. However, despite the tight security measures, about 70-odd protesters, including some trade union members, managed to gather near Jantar Mantar, in the heart of Delhi, but were detained after refusing to vacate the area. Amid huge protests, Union agriculture minis- ter Narendra Singh Tomar appealed to the farmers to suspend their agitation and invited them for talks on December 3. “The gov- ernment is committed to the welfare of farmers and we are ready for talks. Whether it’s about mini- mum support price or infrastructure, we are ready for a discussion,” he said. The agitation saw Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh entering into a war of words on Twitter with Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, who urged him to “stop inciting innocent farmers”. Capt. Singh attacked the Haryana CM, saying: “Shocked at your response Manohar Lal Khattarji. It’s farmers who’ve to be convinced on MSP, not me. You should’ve tried to talk to them before their ‘Delhi Chalo’. And if you think I’m inciting farmers, why are Haryana farmers also marching to Delhi?”. The Punjab CM said: “As for endangering lives dur- ing Covid-19, have you for- gotten it was the BJP-led Central government that pushed through those farm laws amid the pan- demic, uncaring about the impact they’d have on our farmers? Why didn’t you speak out then, Manohar Lal Khattarji?” CM, OPS supervise relief operations D C C O R R E S P O N D E N T CHENNAI, NOV 26: Chief Minister Edapaddi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam visited various places affected by Cyclone Nivar that crossed the coast past Wednesday midnight. Mr Palaniswami was at Cuddalore district, which was one of the worst- affected districts, enquir- ing with the people about the damages caused by the cyclone at Reddichavadi Keelkumar- mangalam villages, among other places. He consoled the farmers who had lost their banana plantations in the gusty winds, met people housed at the Devanampettai relief camps and distrib- uted essentials. He also paid a visit to the Mudunagar harbor region in Cuddalore district where the boats of fisher- men had been kept safely to prevent them from being tossed away by the cyclone. The Chief Minister had a chat with the local fisher- men, listening to their sto- ries of woes, held discus- sions with officials and also personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force, who were stationed at the district. ■ P3 K A N I Z A G A R A R I | D C HYDERABAD, NOV. 26 A positive trend of decreas- ing new Covid-19 cases is being observed in southern states, which is indicative of well-planned activities and systematic control of cases, an analysis by Indian Medical Association (IMA) has shown. The daily rise in cases emerging from south Indian states is approxi- mately just 5,000 per day. However, onset of winter, cyclone effect, and elections are three major concerns, which can lead to increase in active cases by December end, observe experts within the IMA. The analysis made by the association shows that over- all supervision in states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala shows that surveillance, contact tracing and increased testing have been effective in these states. This has helped not only control Coronavirus cases but also bring down the number of active cases in these states. Testing has been the highest in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which has helped them trace and track the virus better. Compliance levels within people have been overall sat- isfactory. Residents of rural areas have also been able to tackle the disease better due to their better immune response and natural social distancing. The diseased population has been in the age group of 30 to 50 years. This is because elderly peo- ple have not been moving out due to which senior citi- zens remain under protec- tion. Dr. J. A. Jayalal, national vice president-elect of IMA, says, "Healthcare systems and infrastructure in south India have been able to han- dle Covid cases and treat them well. Remedesiver has been used early. ■ P4 Cyclone, winter, polls could derail win against Covid: IMA New York, Nov. 26: AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford are facing questions about their Covid-19 vaccine and whether regulators would quickly authorise its emergency use after the pharma company acknowledged an error in the vaccine dosage received by some participants and other irregulari- ties and omissions, according to a media report. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford announced this week that their inexpensive, easy-to-produce coron- avirus vaccine appeared effective, with the average efficacy of about 70 per cent. Oxford vaccine data comes under cloud Mumbai, Nov. 26: India’s aviation safe- ty regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday extended the suspension of scheduled internation- al commercial passenger flights to December 31. The restrictions, however, will not apply on international all-cargo opera- tions and flights specifically approved by the DGCA, an official circular said. International scheduled flights, howev- er, may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to- case basis, the circular by the regulator added. PTI No scheduled intl flight this year D C C O R R E S P O N D E N T NEW DELHI, NOV. 26 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched for his oft-repeat- ed concept of “One Nation, One Election”, saying it was not just a matter of debate but what the country needed. He also suggested that the Election Commission pre- pare a single voters’ list for all elections -- Lok Sabha, Assembly and pan- chayats, saying separate lists were a “waste of resources”. “One nation, one elec- tion isn’t just a matter of debate, this is the need for India. Elections are held at different places every few months. The effect it has on development work is known to all,” Mr Modi said in a virtual address at the 80th All-India Presiding Officers Conference. He said a single voters’ list was desirable. “Only one voters’ list should be used for the Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and other elections. Why are we wasting time and money on these lists?” he said. Speaking on a day that marks the 71st anniver- sary of the adoption of the Constitution on November 26, 1949, Mr Modi said: “Our Constitution has many features, but one very spe- cial feature is the impor- tance given to duties. Mahatma Gandhi was very keen on this. He saw a close link between rights and duties. He felt once we perform our duties, rights will auto- matically be safeguard- ed.” On the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the Prime Minister paid homage to the victims, and said India was fighting terror- ism with a new policy and a new process. On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Tayyaba ter- rorists from Pakistan killed 166 people, includ- ing 18 security personnel, in a 60-hour siege. “Many people died in that terror attack, and people of many nationali- ties were the victims. I pay my homage to all. I bow down to the security personnel who lost their lives in the attack,” Mr Modi said. Modi pushes for ‘one poll one list’ Y U S U F J A M E E L | D C SRINAGAR, NOV. 26 Two Army jawans were killed in a sneak attack by three car-borne mili- tants on Srinagar’s out- skirts on Thursday. The police and witnesses said the gunmen appeared at Aban Shah Chowk in Khoshipora area and opened fire on an Army quick reaction team, crit- ically injuring two sol- diers. Both succumbed to their injuries while being evacuated to a hos- pital at the nearby Shariefabad Army can- tonment, officials said. The slain soldiers were identified as Sepoy Rattan Lal of 163 Territorial Army and Sepoy Deshmukh of 101 Territorial Army. They were attached to 2nd Unit of Rashtriya Rifles, the Army’s counter- insurgency unit. One report said the assailants also decamped with the service rifle of one of the slain jawans. Soon after the attack, the Army’s 2 RR and the J&K police’s Special Operations Group launched a search opera- tion in the area, as the Army pressed a heli- copter into service to hunt the militants and the Maruti car used to carry out the attack. MILITANTS KILL 2 SOLDIERS IN SRINAGAR Mumbai, Nov 26: Stan Swamy, the 83-year-old tribal rights activist arrested for his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case, will have to wait a few more days for a straw and a sipper cup he needs as a Parkinson’s patient. Responding to Dr Swamy’s request for these items before a spe- cial court here on Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said it did not take the straw and sipper from Fr Swamy during his arrest, as claimed by the activist. Following the Central agency's response, the special court rejected Fr Swamy's application. Fr Swamy then moved a fresh application seek- ing permission to use a straw and a sipper and winter clothes inside the jail. The court sought a reply from the jail authorities and adjourned the matter till December 4. The NIA which arrest- ed Fr Swamy from his residence in Ranchi on October 8, had earlier this month sought 20 days' time to respond to his request for the straw and sipper. “I cannot hold a glass as my hands are unsteady due to Parkinson's,” Fr Swamy, who is at Taloja Central Jail hospital, had said in his initial application before the court. Parkinson's disease is a debilitating disorder of the central nervous sys- tem that can cause invol- untary tremors, or mus- cular spasms, which makes carrying out even routine actions like drinking difficult. Some patients may face prob- lems while swallowing or chewing. PTI Court to decide on priest’s plea for sipper on Dec. 4 R A J I B C H O W D H U R I | D C KOLKATA, NOV. 26 Ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamul Congress has demanded governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s removal from his post by President Ram Nath Kovind after it accused him of having “connec- tions with criminals of the BJP”. The TMC also sought Mr Dhankhar’s prose- cution by the Kolkata police on criminal charges over his alleged support on Twitter to two accused -- Govind Agarwal, a chartered accountant, and Sudipta Roy Chowdhury, a business- man -- after their arrests in two separate cases of financial offences involving sev- eral crores of rupees. ■ P4 GUV HAS LINKS WITH CRIMINALS, RECALL HIM: TMC ■ 3 killed ■ Areas marooned ■ Power restored MUMBAI ATTACK NOW IMPOSSIBLE: RAJNATH Defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that a 26/11- like terror strike in India is almost impossible as the nation- al security architecture has been significantly bolstered in the last few years, even as the country remem- bered the victims of the deadly Mumbai terror attack on its 12th anniversary. Mr Singh asserted that the country is no longer a soft target for terrorists and India has “escalated the cost for those supporting terrorism”. REMEBERING 26/11 ■ R E P O R T O N P A G E 4 Fire and rescue services personnel evacuate those marooned in Mudichur and Varadarajapuram to safer places on Thursday. — DC ● “I cannot hold a glass as my hands are unsteady due to Parkinson's,” Fr Swamy had said in his application. ● NIA said it did not take the straw and sipper from him during his arrest, as claimed by the activist. Tamil Nadu is likely to receive another spell of very heavy rainfall as a fresh low pressure area is expected to form in the Bay of Bengal from November 29, the IMD said ■ P3 Police personnel use tear gas on farmers to disperse them during 'Delhi Chalo' protest march against the new farm laws, at Shambhu border in Patiala District, Thursday. — PTI
Transcript
c m y k c m y k
SPORT | 8India-Australia first
ODI today
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIACHENNAI I FRIDAY 27 I NOVEMBER 2020
Nivar-shaken TN triesto get back on feetDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
Three people werekilled, over 1,000 treesuprooted and low-lyingareas marooned due towater-logging followingheavy rains across Ta-mil Nadu till Wednes-day night. Thunder sho-wers lashed the state, aswell as Puducherry, ascyclonic storm Nivarmade landfall in theearly hours, leading toinundation and uproot-ing of trees.
Three people, includ-ing a woman, were kill-ed in rain-related inci-dents such as tree andwall collapses in Ponn-eri and Villupuram ne-ar here. In a few places,overhead electricitycables snapped as hea-vy trees fell over them.
In Chennai, citizens inmany parts complainedof disruption inInternet services. Low-lying neighbourhoodslike those in suburbanIrumbuliyur, Mudichurand Urapakkam wit-nessed flooding.Reports said waterentered several housesin these areas. Rescuepersonnel ferriedcooked food to the peo-ple using inflatableboats and while somechose to shift to thehomes of their rela-tives, others continuedto stay put battlingodds. In city areas, civicworkers pumped outstagnant water fromseveral locations.
Airport operations,metro rail and bustransport resumed on
Thursday. Meanwhile,the discharge fromChembarambakkamlake in the city wasreduced to about 1,500cusecs from the 5,000cusecs on Wednesday.The quantum of dis-charge is likely to bebrought further downto 500 cusecs to main-tain the water level inthe lake at 22 feet asagainst its full level of24 feet, officials said.
Haryana cops use teargas to stop farmers’ march SANJAY KAW ANDBHASKAR HARI SHARMA|DCNEW DELHI, NOV. 26
The Haryana police onThursday used water can-nons and teargas in a bidto stop thousands of farm-ers from Punjab from pro-ceeding towards thenational capital for their“Delhi Chalo” marchagainst the Centre’s newfarm laws. The situationgot tense at the Shambuinter-state border on thenational highway asprotesting farmers threwpolice barricades off thebridge into the Ghaggarriver.
It was after a two-hourclash on the bridge thatfarmers from Congress-run Punjab managed tocross the border into BJP-ruled Haryana, whichused heavy force to tryand block them for mak-ing their way towards thecapital in tractors and onfoot on their two-dayprotest march against thenew farm laws that theyfear will reduce theirearnings and give morepower to large retailers.
Many roads in Haryanaleading to Delhi, especial-ly those in Gurgaon, wereclogged with heavy trafficas barricades had been putup at different places toprevent the protestersfrom entering the nation’scapital. The roadblocks
were especially intense inplaces like Kundli, nearSonipat, and on the Delhi-Gurgaon border at Sirhauland Rajokri. However,despite the tight securitymeasures, about 70-oddprotesters, including sometrade union members,managed to gather nearJantar Mantar, in theheart of Delhi, but weredetained after refusing tovacate the area.
Amid huge protests,Union agriculture minis-ter Narendra Singh Tomarappealed to the farmers tosuspend their agitationand invited them for talkson December 3. “The gov-ernment is committed tothe welfare of farmers andwe are ready for talks.Whether it’s about mini-mum support price orinfrastructure, we areready for a discussion,” hesaid.
The agitation sawPunjab Chief Minister
Capt. Amarinder Singhentering into a war ofwords on Twitter withHaryana CM Manohar LalKhattar, who urged him to“stop inciting innocentfarmers”. Capt. Singhattacked the Haryana CM,saying: “Shocked at yourresponse Manohar LalKhattarji. It’s farmerswho’ve to be convinced onMSP, not me. Youshould’ve tried to talk tothem before their ‘DelhiChalo’. And if you thinkI’m inciting farmers, whyare Haryana farmers alsomarching to Delhi?”.
The Punjab CM said: “Asfor endangering lives dur-ing Covid-19, have you for-gotten it was the BJP-ledCentral government thatpushed through thosefarm laws amid the pan-demic, uncaring about theimpact they’d have on ourfarmers? Why didn’t youspeak out then, ManoharLal Khattarji?”
CM, OPS supervise relief operationsDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV 26:
Chief Minister EdapaddiK. Palaniswami andDeputy Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam visitedvarious places affected byCyclone Nivar thatcrossed the coast pastWednesday midnight.
Mr Palaniswami was atCuddalore district, whichwas one of the worst-affected districts, enquir-ing with the people aboutthe damages caused bythe cyclone atReddichavadi Keelkumar-mangalam villages,among other places.
He consoled the farmerswho had lost their banana
plantations in the gustywinds, met people housedat the Devanampettairelief camps and distrib-uted essentials. He alsopaid a visit to theMudunagar harbor regionin Cuddalore districtwhere the boats of fisher-men had been kept safelyto prevent them frombeing tossed away by thecyclone.
The Chief Minister had achat with the local fisher-men, listening to their sto-ries of woes, held discus-sions with officials andalso personnel from theNational Disaster ReliefForce, who were stationedat the district.
� P3
KANIZA GARARI |DCHYDERABAD, NOV. 26
A positive trend of decreas-ing new Covid-19 cases isbeing observed in southernstates, which is indicative ofwell-planned activities andsystematic control of cases,an analysis by IndianMedical Association (IMA)has shown. The daily rise incases emerging from southIndian states is approxi-mately just 5,000 per day.
However, onset of winter,cyclone effect, and electionsare three major concerns,which can lead to increasein active cases by Decemberend, observe experts within
the IMA.The analysis made by the
association shows that over-all supervision in states ofTelangana, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh and Keralashows that surveillance,contact tracing andincreased testing have beeneffective in these states. Thishas helped not only controlCoronavirus cases but alsobring down the number ofactive cases in these states.Testing has been the highestin Tamil Nadu and AndhraPradesh, which has helpedthem trace and track thevirus better.
Compliance levels withinpeople have been overall sat-
isfactory. Residents of ruralareas have also been able totackle the disease better dueto their better immuneresponse and natural socialdistancing. The diseasedpopulation has been in theage group of 30 to 50 years.This is because elderly peo-ple have not been movingout due to which senior citi-zens remain under protec-tion.
Dr. J. A. Jayalal, nationalvice president-elect of IMA,says, "Healthcare systemsand infrastructure in southIndia have been able to han-dle Covid cases and treatthem well. Remedesiver hasbeen used early. � P4
Cyclone, winter, polls could derail win against Covid: IMA
New York, Nov. 26: AstraZeneca Plcand the University of Oxford are facingquestions about their Covid-19 vaccineand whether regulators would quicklyauthorise its emergency use after thepharma company acknowledged anerror in the vaccine dosage received bysome participants and other irregulari-ties and omissions, according to a mediareport.
AstraZeneca and the University ofOxford announced this week that theirinexpensive, easy-to-produce coron-avirus vaccine appeared effective, withthe average efficacy of about 70 per cent.
Oxford vaccine datacomes under cloud
Mumbai, Nov. 26: India’s aviation safe-ty regulator Directorate-General of CivilAviation (DGCA) on Thursday extendedthe suspension of scheduled internation-al commercial passenger flights toDecember 31.
The restrictions, however, will notapply on international all-cargo opera-tions and flights specifically approved bythe DGCA, an official circular said.
International scheduled flights, howev-er, may be allowed on selected routes bythe competent authority on a case-to-case basis, the circular by the regulatoradded. PTI
No scheduled intlflight this year
DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, NOV. 26
Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursdaypitched for his oft-repeat-ed concept of “OneNation, One Election”,saying it was not just amatter of debate but whatthe country needed. Healso suggested that theElection Commission pre-pare a single voters’ listfor all elections -- LokSabha, Assembly and pan-chayats, saying separatelists were a “waste ofresources”.
“One nation, one elec-tion isn’t just a matter ofdebate, this is the need forIndia. Elections are heldat different places everyfew months. The effect ithas on development workis known to all,” Mr Modisaid in a virtual addressat the 80th All-IndiaPresiding OfficersConference.
He said a single voters’list was desirable. “Onlyone voters’ list should beused for the Lok Sabha,Vidhan Sabha and otherelections. Why are wewasting time and moneyon these lists?” he said.
Speaking on a day thatmarks the 71st anniver-sary of the adoption of theConstitution onNovember 26, 1949, MrModi said: “Our
Constitution has manyfeatures, but one very spe-cial feature is the impor-tance given to duties.Mahatma Gandhi wasvery keen on this. He sawa close link betweenrights and duties. He feltonce we perform ourduties, rights will auto-matically be safeguard-ed.”
On the 12th anniversaryof the 26/11 Mumbaiattacks, the PrimeMinister paid homage tothe victims, and saidIndia was fighting terror-ism with a new policy anda new process. OnNovember 26, 2008, 10Lashkar-e-Tayyaba ter-rorists from Pakistankilled 166 people, includ-ing 18 security personnel,in a 60-hour siege.
“Many people died inthat terror attack, andpeople of many nationali-ties were the victims. Ipay my homage to all. Ibow down to the securitypersonnel who lost theirlives in the attack,” MrModi said.
Modi pushes for‘one poll one list’
YUSUF JAMEEL |DCSRINAGAR, NOV. 26
Two Army jawans werekilled in a sneak attackby three car-borne mili-tants on Srinagar’s out-skirts on Thursday. Thepolice and witnesses saidthe gunmen appeared atAban Shah Chowk inKhoshipora area andopened fire on an Armyquick reaction team, crit-ically injuring two sol-diers. Both succumbed totheir injuries whilebeing evacuated to a hos-pital at the nearbyShariefabad Army can-tonment, officials said.
The slain soldiers wereidentified as SepoyRattan Lal of 163Territorial Army andSepoy Deshmukh of 101Territorial Army. Theywere attached to 2ndUnit of Rashtriya Rifles,the Army’s counter-insurgency unit. Onereport said the assailantsalso decamped with theservice rifle of one of theslain jawans.
Soon after the attack,the Army’s 2 RR and theJ&K police’s SpecialOperations Grouplaunched a search opera-tion in the area, as theArmy pressed a heli-copter into service tohunt the militants andthe Maruti car used tocarry out the attack.
MILITANTS KILL 2 SOLDIERS INSRINAGAR
Mumbai, Nov 26: StanSwamy, the 83-year-oldtribal rights activistarrested for his allegedinvolvement in the ElgarParishad case, will haveto wait a few more daysfor a straw and a sippercup he needs as aParkinson’s patient.
Responding to DrSwamy’s request forthese items before a spe-cial court here onThursday, the NationalInvestigation Agency(NIA) said it did not takethe straw and sipperfrom Fr Swamy duringhis arrest, as claimed bythe activist.
Following the Centralagency's response, thespecial court rejected FrSwamy's application. FrSwamy then moved afresh application seek-ing permission to use astraw and a sipper andwinter clothes inside thejail.
The court sought a
reply from the jailauthorities andadjourned the matter tillDecember 4.
The NIA which arrest-ed Fr Swamy from hisresidence in Ranchi onOctober 8, had earlierthis month sought 20days' time to respond tohis request for the strawand sipper.
“I cannot hold a glassas my hands areunsteady due toParkinson's,” Fr Swamy,
who is at Taloja CentralJail hospital, had said inhis initial applicationbefore the court.
Parkinson's disease is adebilitating disorder ofthe central nervous sys-tem that can cause invol-untary tremors, or mus-cular spasms, whichmakes carrying out evenroutine actions likedrinking difficult. Somepatients may face prob-lems while swallowingor chewing. PTI
Court to decide on priest’splea for sipper on Dec. 4
RAJIB CHOWDHURI|DCKOLKATA, NOV. 26
Ahead of the Assemblyelections in WestBengal, the rulingTrinamul Congress hasdemanded governorJagdeep Dhankhar’sremoval from his postby President Ram NathKovind after it accusedhim of having “connec-tions with criminals ofthe BJP”.
The TMC also soughtMr Dhankhar’s prose-cution by the Kolkatapolice on criminalcharges over his allegedsupport on Twitter totwo accused -- GovindAgarwal, a charteredaccountant, andSudipta RoyChowdhury, a business-man -- after theirarrests in two separatecases of financialoffences involving sev-eral crores of rupees.
� P4
GUV HAS LINKSWITH CRIMINALS,RECALL HIM: TMC
� 3 killed � Areas marooned � Power restored
MUMBAI ATTACK NOWIMPOSSIBLE: RAJNATH
Defence minister Rajnath Singhsaid on Thursday that a 26/11-
like terror strike in India isalmost impossible as the nation-al security architecture has beensignificantly bolstered in the lastfew years, even as the country remem-bered the victims of the deadly Mumbai
terror attack on its 12th anniversary.Mr Singh asserted that the country is no
longer a soft target for terrorists andIndia has “escalated the cost for those
supporting terrorism”.
REMEBERING 26/11
���� REPORT ON PAGE 4
Fire and rescue services personnel evacuate those marooned in Mudichur andVaradarajapuram to safer places on Thursday. — DC
���� “I cannot hold aglass as my handsare unsteady dueto Parkinson's,” FrSwamy had said inhis application.���� NIA said it didnot take the strawand sipper fromhim during hisarrest, as claimedby the activist.
Tamil Nadu is likelyto receive anotherspell of very heavyrainfall as a freshlow pressure area isexpected to form inthe Bay of Bengalfrom November 29,the IMD said � P3
Police personnel use tear gas on farmers to dispersethem during 'Delhi Chalo' protest march against the newfarm laws, at Shambhu border in Patiala District,Thursday. — PTI
CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI
DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
Emphasizing the impor-tance of establishingemission testing centres tocurb the excess pollutionlevels of Motor Vehicles,the Madras high court hasdismissed with a cost of`one lakh, a petition, chal-lenging a circular of theState Transport Comm-issioner relating to iss-uance of certificates to theemission testing centres.
Justice N.AnandVenkatesh dismissed thepetition filed byT.Ramachandran, whichsought to quash the circu-lar dated March 12, 2020and for a consequentialdirection to the StateTransport Commissionerto entertain emission test-ing machines, which arecertified in accordancewith the Motor VehiclesAct and Rules.
The judge said the peti-tioner apart from not hav-ing the locus standi tochallenge the circular, hasalso approached this courtby making false andunsustainable allegationsagainst the StateTransport Commissionerand thereby, the petitionerhas virtually stalled theauthorities from goingahead in certifying emis-sion testing centres which
is the need of the hour.This is an exercise whichrequires to be carried outin a war footing withintime lines and the peti-tioner has put spokes inthe machinery and pre-vented the authoritiesfrom carrying on withtheir statutory duties andobligations and therefore,the petitioner is liable tobe burdened with paymentof exemplary costs, thejudge added and imposed acost of Rs one lakh onhim.
According to the peti-tioner, he was in the trans-port industry and engagedin the goods carriage busi-ness. He was in theprocess of establishing atesting station for con-ducting smoke emissionlevel and carbon monox-ide level for motor vehi-cles. The testing stationmust be duly authorizedby the State Transport
Commissioner beforeoperating the testing sta-tion. His grievance wasthat the State TransportCommissioner has issuedthe impugned circular toall the registering authori-ties to the effect that theseauthorities must entertainthe emission testingmachines distributed bythe Manatec ElectronicsPvt.Ltd, Puducherry andthereby, the StateTransport Commissionerwas indirectly promotingthe equipments suppliedby the ManatecElectronics company.Aggrieved by the same, hehas filed the present peti-tion, he added.
The judge said a carefulreading of the CentralMotor Vehicles Rulesshows that the transportcommissioner has beengiven the complete respon-sibility to issue certifi-cates in order to establisha testing station and toensure that the testing sta-tion complies with all therequirements providedunder the rules. The test-ing stations will have touse only those equipmentsmanufactured by compa-nies or other undertak-ings which has theapproval under Rule 116and 126 of the CentralMotor Vehicles Rules. Anyperson who was desirous
of establishing an emis-sion testing center willhave to submit an applica-tion on line throughVahan portal to the trans-port commissioner. Theapplicant will have toenter the ‘serial number’of the emission testingequipment in the applica-tion. The transport com-missioner will not be in aposition to verify whetherthe emission testingequipment was originallymanufactured by the man-ufacturer approved by thetesting agencies. However,the transport commission-er must ensure that onlysuch approved testingequipments were used inthe testing stations. It wasunder these circum-stances, the state trans-port commissioner hasgiven intimation throughthe impugned circular toall the registering authori-ties of Tamil Nadu thatthe Manatec Electronicswas one of the manufac-turers of the emissiontesting equipments andwho has got the necessaryapproval under the Cen-tral Rules and the testingcentres can utilize the eq-uipment supplied by thecompany, the judge added.
The judge said the trans-port commissioner hasmade it clear that such listof approved manufactur-
ers will be intimated fromtime to time. It was seenfrom the counter affidavitthat apart from this com-pany, two other approvedmanufacturers have alsobeen duly authorized toutilize their equipment inthe emission testing cen-tres. This was a very effec-tive way in which thetransport commissionercan ensure that the equip-ments utilized in the emis-sion testing centres wereduly authorized/approvedby the concerned agenciesunder the Rules. Thetransport commissionerby undertaking such anexercise does not reallyempanel the list of manu-facturers of the equip-ments and he only ensuresthat the equipments uti-lized by the emission test-ing cetnres were satisfy-ing the requirements ofthe Rules. Therefore, itwas well within the powerand jurisdiction of thetransport commissionerto intimate to the register-ing authorities in TamilNadu about such approvedmanufacturers.
In view of the same, theimpugned circular issuedby the transport commis-sioner was well within hispower and jurisdictionand it does not suffer fromany illegality, the judgeadded.
Emission testing centres: Petitiondismissed with cost of `1 lakh
SHORT TAKES
TN adds 1,464 new Covid cases Chennai, Nov. 26: Tamil Nadulogged 1,464 new Covid-19 caseson Thursday, taking the overallinfection count to7,76,174, while14 more fatalities pushed the tollto 11,669. Recoveries continuedto eclipse new infections with1,797people being dischargedfrom healthcare facilities, tak-ing the overall tally to 7,53,332, aHealth department bulletinsaid. Active cases in the statestood at 11,173. The state hasbeen witnessing a decline in thenumber of new cases and sinceNovember 13, the daily counthas been below 2,000. Two dis-tricts, including the state capi-tal, logged cases in triple digitswith Chennai adding 396 freshcases and Coimbatore 158,whilethe rest were spread acrossother districts. Chennai contin-ued to top the list of cases with2,13,801 infections of the morethan 7.76 lakh in the state. Atotal of 60,964 samples were test-ed on Thursday, taking thecumulative number to1,18,02,567. — P{TI
Award for MGMGHDC CORRESPONDENTTIRUCHY, NOV. 26
The special newborn care unit ofthe Mahatma Gandhi MemorialGovernment hospital here hasbeen awarded the ‘best perform-ing’ unit in the state, said Dr KVanita, hospital dean. She toldnewsmen here on Thursday thatthis award was given based onthe number of babies successful-ly treated, and the achievementof saving babies weighing lessthan 1.5 kgs and also ventilatedbabies, by the state child healthnodal centre.
Health minister Dr CVijayabaskar handed over theaward during the national new-born week celebrations heldrecently in Chennai, she added.She said, this is the third con-secutive year that the unit wasreceiving the award. They unithad saved more than 4,500babies every year of which over1,500 were from other hospitals.Over 1,000 babies benefitted bythe ventilated treatment, 500babies born less than 1.5 kgs inweight were also saved and 150babies benefitted by surfactanttreatment, she added.
Bank officers assn seeks pay revision R. VALAYAPATHY | DCTIRUCHY, NOV. 26
The All India NationalisedBank Officers’ Associa-tion has appealed to theUnion Government to ini-tiate steps for revision ofpay scale of chief generalmanagers in accordanceto the ‘Joint Note’, at theearliest.
In his communication toUnion Finance Minister, acopy of which was made
available to the press hereon Thursday, associationgeneral secretary GV Man-imaran, said the Union fi-nance ministry had intro-duced the post of chief ge-neral manager (scale-VIII)
in public sector banks thathave a total business of `10lakh crore or higher.
This scale was introdu-ced to act as an administr-ative and functional layerbetween the existing levels
of general manager andexecutive director.
He said, the pay scale forCGM post was fixed by theMinistry of Finance at`1,03,000 — 2700/3 —`1,11,100 — 2811/1 —`1,13,900 along with otheradmissible allowances. Bythe time the post was cre-ated, wage revision negoti-ations of bank officerswere already under wayand negotiations wererestricted to the level of
general manager in scale-VII only.
With the conclusion ofthe bipartite settlementand signing of the ‘Jointnote’ by the Indian BanksAssociation with the Offi-cers Organisations, thepay scale of general man-agers in scale-VII has beenrevised to `1,16,120, whichis more than the pay dra-wn by the chief generalmanager currently, headded.
Aries: Social functions seem exciting. Your lackof confidence shows, but you’ll convince othersbecause of your eloquence in speech. Yourhopes and aspirations will materialise.Taurus: You’ll be in a flirtatious mood. You’ll han-dle your affairs and complete all projects success-fully. Teamwork gets stressful around fragile egos.
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Pisces: Expect stressful situations atwork/home. A continuous uninterrupted flowof information prepares you to deal withchanges without wasting time in getting factsin order. Issues affecting a close friendshipwill be of concern.
Your day today
Bappi Lahiri is an Indian singer. He isknown for filmi soundtracks such as
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You share your b’day with
COFFEE-BREAK
Across6.Lopsided (10)
8. Flooded (5)10. Run off to wed (5)13. Builds up (11)14. Small coastline opening (5)17. First appearance (5)19. Idle (10)
Would you and yourpartner like to winmore often? Are you
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This book is a definite stepup from the authors' former"Planning the Defense."There are 10 chapters, andeach deal ends with a"Defensive Plan" for the keydefender.
In this deal, what shouldhappen in six hearts afterWest leads the spadequeen?
Four clubs was a splinterbid, promising at least four-card heart support, the val-ues for game and a singleton(or void) in clubs. Four no-trump was Roman Key CardBlackwood, North's replyshowing one key card (anace or the heart king).
Look at the problem fromdeclarer's point of view. Hehas two possible losers: one
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Copyright United Feature Syndicate
(Asia Features)
bridge
PHILLIPALDER
MOVE HIGHER UP THERESULT LADDER
jumble
C A L V I N A N D H O B B E S | B i l l W a t t e r s o n
B L O N D I E | D e a n Y o u n g a n d J o h n M a r s h a l l
A N D Y C A P P | R e g S m y t h e
T A R Z A N | E d g a r R i c e B u r r o u g h s
T H E W I Z A R D O F I D | P a r k e r a n d H a r t s d
A R C H I E | B i l l H e n r y S c a r p e l l i & c r a i g b o l d m a n
How many words of four ormore letters can you make from
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Sagittarius: Love life intensifies; if you sort things out. You’ll need space and will prioritise spending quiet time awayfrom domestic and other commitments.Capricorn: You’ll prefer taking the initiative toimplement projects. If you face opposition,find another way to get your ideas across;you’ll accomplish more with other’s help.Aquarius: When discussing issues with lovedones, avoid going off on a tangent as it willconfuse them. Those with interests abroadcan expect some positive developments.
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Libra: Strategising your plans lets you allocateresources, as needed. Micromanaging andfocusing on every small detail could causedelays and add to your workload.
Trade unions extend support to nationwide strikeChennai, Nov. 26: Mem-bers of various tradeunions in Tamil Nadu onThursday took part in thenationwide strike to pro-test against the centralgovernment's new farmand labour laws, amongother workers-relatedissues and policies.
The trade union mem-bers staged demonstra-tions, holding rallies inall districts barring 13,including Chennai whichfaced the wrath ofcyclone Nivar, unionsources said. The stategovernment had alsodeclareda holiday for the13 districts in viewof'Nivar' which crossedthe eastern coast in theearly hours of Thursday.
According to trade uni-on leaders, they decidedto go ahead with the str-ike in places which werenot affected by the cycl-one. Those employees en-gaged in relief and reha-bilitation work were exe-mpted from the stir,theysaid. "Our strike is aga-inst the anti-labour gov-ernment policies and notagainst the people," tradeunion sources said. Theactivists held placardsand raised slogans andtermed the centre's poli-cies as "anti-people, anti-worker, anti-farmer." Theunions claimed that asmany as 50,000 workerstook part in the strike
from Tamil Nadu. Emplo-yees of Salem Steel Plant,BHEL Tiruchirappalliand 20 per cent of empl-oyees of Navratna com-pany NLC India extendedsupport to the stir by abs-taining from work, unionleaders claimed.
Factories of major co-mpanies including MRFand Ashok Leyland, loca-ted on the outskirts ofthe city, remained closedas employees resorted tostrike, CITU State secre-tary Soundararajan said.He said employees of va-rious textile firms in Tir-upur and those engagedin the firecracker indus-try in Sivakasi, consider-ed the country's crackerhub, also took part. TheForum for IT Employees-Tamil Nadu unit, repre-senting the employees ofinformation technology(IT), also extended theirsupport to the strike callby the various trade uni-ons, sources said. Employees, who were wo-rking from home, took pi-ctures of themselves ho-lding the poster of FITEas part of expressing soli-darity to the agitatingworkers, FITE sourcessaid. All India Bank Em-ployees' Association gen-eral secretary CH Venka-tachalam said bank em-ployees also took part inthe strike and termed it a'good success'. — PTI
Why flower imports onlythrough Chennai airport?New Delhi, Nov. 26: A pl-ea has been moved in theDelhi High Court challen-ging a central governme-nt notification which pre-vents import of fresh flo-wers from all airports inthe country except Chen-nai.
The petition by an asso-ciation representing tra-ders of fresh fruits, flow-ers and vegetables has ch-
allenged that the July 9notification issued by theDirectorate General ofForeign Trade (DGFT) pe-rmitting import of flow-ers from Chennai airportonly. The association hascontended that the deci-sion is arbitrary. The mat-ter was listed before a be-nch of Chief Justice D NPatel and Justice PrateekJalan on Thursday. — PTI
The Union finance ministry had introduced the post of chief generalmanager (scale-VIII) in public sectorbanks that have a total business of `10 lakh crore or higher
NIVAR pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI
SHORT TAKES
TN likely to receiveheavy rains againnext week: IMDNew Delhi, Nov. 26: Slammedby the severe cyclonic stormNivar early Thursday, TamilNadu is likely to receive anotherspell of very heavy rainfall as afresh low pressure area isexpected to form in the Bay ofBengal from November 29, theIMD said.
Chennai may haverains for two daysDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 27
The Regional MeteorologicalCentre said Tamil Nadu willcontinue to receive scatteredheavy to very heavy rainfallwith isolated extremely heavyrain in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur,Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Che-nnai, Kanchipuram, Chengalp-attu, Mayiladuthurai, Ariyalur,Perambalur, Kalakurchi, Villu-puram, Tiruvannamalai dis-tricts of Tamil Nadu, Puduche-rry and Karaikal. Heavy rain isalso likely to occur at a fewplaces over Vellore, Ranipet,Tiruvallur, Tirupattur,Krishnagiri, Tiruchy, Salem andDharmapuri districts, a releasefrom RMC said. Chennai willreceive rains for two more daystill Friday. The skies are likelyto be overcast with heavy toextremely heavy rain likely tooccur at certain places onThursday.
Suburban train services resume in ChennaiDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
The workmen/suburban trainservices in Chennai, suspendedin view of Nivar cyclone,resumed operations onThursday. There will be oneEMU special train every onehour (up and down) fromChennai Moore Market com-plex – and Arakkonam.Similarly, one EMU specialtrain will run every one hour(up and down) from ChennaiMoore Market complex andGummudipoondi. There will beone EMU special train for everyone hour (up and down) fromChennai Beach andChengalpattu.
The Southern Railway hasresumed operation of ChennaiEgmore – Sengottai specialtrain on Thursday. The ChennaiEgmore – Kollam special trainis scheduled to leave onThursday.
A one-way special train will beoperated from Rameswaram toManduadih from Thursday.
DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
Following cyclone Nivar,the restoration work ledby the Greater ChennaiCorporation (GCC) andcity police teams is in fullswing in the city. The tea-ms of rapid action forcearmed with equipment hitthe streets early morningitself to clear the damagescaused by Nivar.
According to the GCC, asmany as 288 lamp posts co-llapsed in the heavy windsthat lashed the city. As ma-ny as 246 posts were repl-aced. Meanwhile, 12 res-cue teams led by policecommissioner MaheshKumar Agarwal cleared102 uprooted trees in 80 po-lice station boundaries wi-th the support of GCC st-aff. Seven cars and two au-tos damaged after fallingof trees were disposed.
The teams cleared waterstagnation in Vadapalani,Virugambakkam, Kodam-bakkam, Ashok Nagar, Pe-ravallur, Egmore, Abiram-apuram, Yanagavuni, Ko-dungaiyur, Korukkupettai,Valasaravakkam, Korattur,Nungambakkam, Kilpakk-am, Choolaimedu, My-lapore, Vepery, Arumba-
kkam Sand, Kodamba-kkam, Rayapettai, Puhal,Madhavaram, Tiruvallike-ni, Denampet, Annasatuk-kam, Aminthakarai, andNandambakkam. A tempo-rary control room continu-es to be operational. Peoplecan contact on 94981-81239.
The parks department ofGCC said that as many as
267 tree uprooting caseswere reported from 8am onWednesday till Thursday 8am. All of them were clear-ed by noon with the suppo-rt of local people. Kodam-bakkom (Zone X) reportedhighest number of tree fa-lling cases, 60, followed byAdyar (Zone XIII) (59) andRoyapuram (Zone V) (31).
As per the talukwise ra-infall data published byGCC, the city received1497.60 mm rainfall. Myla-pore topped with 263.60mm rainfall while Sholin-ganallur came second wi-th 220mm followed by Am-bathur (159), Guindy (139),Mambalam (135.50) andAlandur (132.70 ).
Corpn, police teams leadrestoration work in city
No internet connectivity for hours in the cityDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
After cyclone Nivar madea landfall in the earlyhours of Thursday leav-ing a trail of destructionin various parts ofChennai, the internetconnectivity went downfor many hours leavingusers in a spot.
In Ramapuram, thetechnicians with ACTFibernet service providerwere working since earlymorning to repair thedamages caused by Nivar.Many residents in thearea struggled withoutnet connectivity forhours.
Senthil Kumar, an ACTnet user, said that he lostconnectivity onWednesday evening andwas complaining with
the service providerthroughout the day.
Another user of ACTnet at Thiruvanmiyursaid she also lost connec-tivity on Wednesday ev-ening, and was strugglingthroughout Thursday.
Narayan Kumar, a Jiouser, said that he lost con-nectivity for seven hourson Thursday and later itwas reconnected.Karthik, a technicianwith ACT, said theircables were cut byTangedco workmen aspart of their operations.“’As a result, we had toreplace the cables withnew ones. An army ofworkmen had been work-ing throughout the day.Many areas have beencleared. All issues will becleared by Friday,” hesays.
Chennai airport,metro servicesresumeDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
The flights which weresuspended as a precau-tionary measure inview of cyclone Nivarresumed at Chennaiairport on Thursday.Chennai metro servicesalso resumed onThursday.
According to airportsources, operations atthe Chennai airportresumed at around 9: 30am.
The airport wasscheduled to start oper-ations at 7 am, but dueto adverse weather con-ditions, two flightswere diverted toBengaluru and oneflight was delayed for atleast an hour and madea landing. As many as79 flights were can-celled on Thursday.
The Chennai metroalso resumed its servic-es on Thursday.
“In connection withNivar cyclone, Metrotrain services will startby today (26.11.2020)12.00 pm, will run withholiday train servicestime table with theheadway of 10 mins,”the official handle ofthe Chennai Metro Railsaid on Twitter.
OPS holds meeting with officials on providing relief
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami consoles an old woman at Cuddalore Nivarcamp on Thursday. — DC
Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam visiting a cyclone affected area in Chennaion Thursday. — DC
From P1
Mr Pannerselvam on hispart visited some locali-ties in Chennai in Vela-chery, Taramani and Peri-yar Nagar, meeting peopleat relief camps and slumclearance board teneme-nts. He held a meeting, thr-ough video conference, wi-th officers and engineersof the Tamil Nadu SlumClearance Board and gaveinstructions on providingrelief to the urban poor.
He urged the officials toclear all the water logging,remove the piled upgarbage, sanitise the habi-
tations, provide drinkingwater and continue thework till the rains stoppedcompletely and normalcyreturned.
Electricity minister P.Thangamani told themedia that the precau-tions taken by the depart-ment in disconnectingpower at places prone towater logging preventedloss of life during therains. Power had beenrestored in most of theplaces and work was on inrestoring it in the otherplaces, where water log-ging was still on, he said.
All fishermen in the
State were safe, saidRevenue Minister R.B.Udhayakumar, who spoketo the media at the roundthe clock control room setup at the Ezhilagam officecomplex to monitor themovement of the cycloneand coordinate relief andrescue operations.
He said 2,27,317 campswere set up in all the affec-ted districts and that nor-malcy was returning tomany places affected bythe cyclone. There wasindications on the formati-on of another cyclone andthe government was keen-ly watching it to respond
appropriately, he added.Cyclone Nivar brought 23
cm of rainfall to Chennaiin 36 hours benefitting 210water bodies and increas-ing the ground water tablebut the instances of waterlogging was less than in2015 because theCorporation had set upand cleared storm waterdrains running to about1000 km, Commissioner G.Prakash told the media atRipon Building.
During the time of thefloods, 302 complaintswere received, most onwater stagnation, he said,adding that 135 complaints
were addressed immedi-ately, while the rest werebeing looked into. He saidall subways other than theone in Vyasarpadi did notsee inundation becausethe water was pumped outregularly.
The flooding ofVyasarpadi subway wasdue to the water from theOtteri nullah overflowingdue to the incessant rainsand entering the areas onboth sides and thus fillingup the subway. Of the 387trees that Nivar felled, 350had been removed fromthe roads and the rest werebeing taken away, he said.
The Corporation hadopened 200 relief campsbut only 68 of themattracted displaced people.While 3738 people came tothe camps, most of themhad returned home after ashort stay, Prakash said.Besides medical camps,Coronavirus testing wasalso done at the camps.
In the entire relief opera-tions undertaken by theCorporation all over thecity, 23,000 personnel atvarious levels wereinvolved in providing suc-cor to the people affectedby the cyclone, the rainsand the floods, he said.
People being rescued from Pattalam area in Chennai on Thursday. — DC
DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
Several political partiesurged the government toexpedite relief to the vic-tims of cyclone Nivar,pointing out the ravagesof the cyclone, rains andfloods in various placesacross the state, includ-ing Chennai.
Regretting that theAIADMK governmenthad not learnt any les-sons despite the reportof the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG)on the 2015 floods point-ing to a lot of mistakesby the administration,Stalin wanted the gov-ernment to pay a com-pensation of `5000 toeach of the families affe-cted by the devastationbrought about by Nivar.
He said that he had vis-ited several Assemblyconstituencies inChennai in the past twodays and distributedfood packets and otheressentials to the peopledisplaced from theirhomes and living incamps.
The people affected bythe cyclone feel that theAIADMK governmenthad not learnt anythingin the past 10 years andnot done anything to pr-event waterlogging, Sta-lin said adding that ifthe storm water drainshad been cleared proper-ly, water logging on Che-nnai roads could havebeen avoided.
He recalled that theCAG report given in 2016on the floods of 2015 wasnot tabled in the Assem-bly for two years andwas brought out onlyafter he had put pressu-re on the government.None of suggestions, re-commendations and ad-vice given in the reporthad been taken into con-sideration by the gov-ernment, he alleged.
Commissioner of police visits waterlogged areasDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
Cyclone Nivar wreaked havoc inChennai and its suburbs with heavyrain and gusty winds damagingpower and communication poles,destroying houses and leaving thou-sands in relief shelters.
City police commissioner MaheshKumar Aggarwal visited the water-logged areas in Mudichur, Tambaramand distributed relief materials tothe people living in relief camps.
Due to the downpour, several streetsin Guduvanchery, Maraimalai Nagar,Tambaram, Mudichur, Varadharaja-puram were flooded. Chennai- Trichynational highway was completely wa-terlogged, disrupting traffic. Policeand fire service personnel pitched inwith relief work in coordination withother departments in several parts ofthe city and suburbs, which wereaffected due to incessant rain.
Cops save man stuck in crumbling houseDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, NOV. 26
The city police on Wednes-day night saved the life of aman who was stuck inside acrumbling house in Chenn-ai’s Otteri.
According to police sour-ces, at 11:30 pm on Wednes-day, police personnel fromthe Secretariat colony policestation, who were on patrolduty near Swamy Dasarapu-
ram in Otteri, led by headconstable Jalaja and consta-ble Elango, found the frontportion of an old house hadcollapsed due to rain.
The team tried to find out ifanyone was present insidethe dilapidated house. thepolice officers shouted, butthere was no response.However, they informed thestation Inspector about thecondition of the house andreportedly entered through a
small opening in the col-lapsed portion.
The police team saw a mansitting inside the housedrunk. The man identified asGanesh, 33, a painter, had apet cat and didn’t want toleave without it. The policeteam, amidst the downpour,started to search for the catalong with Ganesh and foundit after some time.
With the help of some vol-unteers, the cops managed to
bring Ganesh out of thehouse. Within a short while,the thatched roof of thehouse collapsed, police said.
Police took Ganesh to arelief camp. Police said hehad lost his job due to thepandemic lockdown andlived with his elderly mother,who became sick recentlyand was admitted to a government hospital in thecity.
Timely action, concerted effortshelp Tamil Nadu weather Nivar
Even while Chennaiand other districtsbreathed a sigh of
relief on Thursday aftercyclone Nivar made alandfall on Wednesdaynight near Puducherry,thousands had lost theirsleep after their areaswere flooded. Also, therewere others, especially inapartments, haunted by2015 floods, who were wor-ried that water mightenter their ground floorhouses due to incessantrains.
Inundated streets, peo-
ple wading in knee-deepwater and being rescuedin boats were among theseveral frightening sceneswitnessed in Chennai asheavy rains lashed thecity. Besides, severalareas faced a power cutwith Tangedco cuttingpower supply as a precau-tion in the wake of thecyclone.
However, the state gov-ernment must be com-mended for taking thelead, drawing up a disas-ter management actionplan, spurring variousdepartments, especiallythe civic body and thepolice, to action andlaunching precautionarymeasures. Timely actionand concerted efforts miti-gated the destructiveimpact of cyclone Nivaron the capital city.
This time, the sluices ofC h e m b a r a m b a k k a mreservoir were opened intime to let out the excessinflow of water as a pre-cautionary measure.Delayed opening of thereservoir was said to bethe trigger for the devas-tating 2015 Chennai floods.Flood warnings were alsoissued to people living onthe banks of Adyar andvillages in Chengalpetand Kanchipuram dis-tricts due to the opening ofC h e m b a r a m b a k k a mreservoir. The ChiefMinister also kept a closetrack of emergency meas-ures taken for the last twodays.
State ministers campedin districts to overseerelief operations. Inplaces like Varadhara-japuram, Mudichur and
Ram Nagar in Velacherywhere water enteredhomes, people were evacu-ated and lodged in reliefcamps. Arterial roads andthe airport remainedclosed for several hours.
By Thursday evening,power was restored inalmost all areas and hun-dreds of uprooted treesremoved from roads andparks. No major lakes orwater bodies, which werebrimming, sufferedbreaches. While waterlog-ging in several areas wascleared, some locationsremained marooned. Amajority of the subwayswere unaffected. Probably,Chennai will be free ofwaterlogging only afterthe completion of a com-prehensive and pragmaticstormwater drain network.
B. Vijayalakshmi
Viewpoint
Political leaderswant govt toexpedite relief
>>>>Minister for AnimalHusbandry Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan andTiruppur District CollectorK. Vijayakarthikeyan flagoff 5 new 108 ambulancesfor Udumalaipettai govern-ment hospital. — DC
People being rescued in a baotin Vellore on Thursday.
—K. Senthil Nathan
NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020
SHORT TAKES
Members of various farmers organisations try to cross Shambu Border in Patiala district on Thursday during the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march by farmers against the new farmlaws. Farmers faced water cannons and broke police barriers at the state’s border with Haryana and by late evening, a large group of them had reached the road toll plaza atPanipat, about 100 km from Delhi. — PTI
PAWAN BALI |DCNEW DELHI, NOV. 25
Defence minister RajnathSingh said on Thursdaythat a 26/11-like terrorstrike in India is almostimpossible as the nation-al security architecturehas been significantlybolstered in the last fewyears, even as the countryremembered the victimsof the deadly Mumbaiterror attack on its 12thanniversary.
Mr Singh asserted thatthe country is no longer asoft target for terroristsand India has “escalatedthe cost for those support-ing terrorism”.
Without taking thename of China, Mr Singhsaid that like Pakistanthere is another neigh-boring country whichkeeps on creating troubleregarding the borderissue. “Our governmenthas given full freedom tothe army to oppose anyattempt to change the lineof actual control (LAC).”He said that in theGalwan Valley, Indian sol-diers forced the Chinesetroops to go back. MrSingh said India wants toresolve the issues withChina through dialogue.“But I want to assureeveryone that underPrime Minister NarendraModi's administration,there will be no compro-mise on India's self-respect, sovereignty andterritorial integrity," hesaid.
Referring to theMumbai terror attack inwhich 166 people includ-ing 28 foreigners from 10nations were killed, MrSingh said that it forcedthe country to think topermanently change its‘national security strate-gy’. “We can assure allthe countrymen that nowIndia has strengthenedits internal and externalsecurity cycle so muchthat it is now almostimpossible to executeanother 26/11 attack onIndian soil," he said.
DC CORRESPONDENTwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, NOV. 26
With 44,489 new confirmedcases in the last 24 hours,India’s Covid-19 caseloadcrossed 92 lakh, while thenumber of recoveriessurged to 86.42 lakh.
The number of totalCoronavirus cases rose to92,22,216, while the deathtoll due to the diseaseclimbed to 1,34,699 with481 new fatalities.
Phase three trial ofIndia-made Coronavirusvaccine Covaxin, mean-while, began at AIIMS inNew Delhi on Thursdaywith Dr M.V. PadmaSrivastava, the chief ofNeurosciences Centre atthe premier institute, andthree other volunteersreceiving the first dose.
Dr Srivastava was thefirst one to receive theshot, which would begiven to around 15,000 vol-unteers at the medicalinstitute over the next fewdays.
The first dose of 0.5 mlCovaxin intramuscularinjection was given to fourvolunteers. They wereunder observation for twohours and will be moni-tored for the next few days.
Dr Srivastava said,“Covaxin is the firstindigenously-developedanti-coronavirus vaccineand on top of that, myinstitute is participatingin the trial. I am honouredto be the first volunteer toreceive the shot. I amhappy to be a part of sucha great cause. I am perfect-ly fine and I’m working.”
As part of the trial appli-cation, a dose of 0.5 mlwould be given on day 0and on day 28.
The phase three ran-domised double-blindplacebo-controlled multi-centre trial would coveraround 28,500 subjectsaged 18 years and above.
It would be conducted inaround 25 sites across 10states. The trial has alre-ady started at a few sites.
Bharat Biotech has been
given the permission forconducting phase 3 humanclinical trials of theCovaxin from the DrugsController General ofIndia.
According to the Unionhealth ministry, the activecaseload shot up to4,44,746, an increase of6,079 cases from Tuesday,even though it remainedbelow five lakh for the 15thconsecutive day, account-ing for 4.82 per cent of thetotal cases.
The number of peoplewho have recovered fromthe disease surged to86,42,771, pushing thenational recovery rate to93.72 per cent, while theCovid-19 case fatality ratestands at 1.46 per cent.
Of the 1,34,699 deathsreported in the country sofar due to the disease,Maharashtra accounts for46,683, followed byKarnataka (11,695), TamilNadu (11,639), Delhi(8,621), West Bengal(8,121), Uttar Pradesh(7,615), Andhra Pradesh
(6,956), Punjab (4,653) andGujarat (3,892).
The Union health min-istry on Thursday said60.72 per cent of the 44,489fresh cases registered in aspan of 24 hours have beencontributed by six statesand UTs, with Kerala lead-ing the tally followed byMaharashtra, Delhi, WestBengal, Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh.
It said 60.50 per cent ofthe 524 latest fatalities areconcentrated in six statesand Union territories —Delhi, Maharashtra, WestBengal, Haryana, Punjaband Uttar Pradesh.
Kerala leads the tallywith 6,491 new Covid-19cases registered in a spanof 24 hours, whileMaharashtra has reported6,159 new cases followedby Delhi with 5,246 newcases.
Delhi with 99 deathsreported the maximumnew fatalities.Maharashtra saw a fatali-ty count of 65 followed byWest Bengal with 51
deaths, the ministry said.According to the min-
istry, 65 per cent of theactive cases are in eightstates and UTs which havecontributed to the maxi-mum daily new cases anddeaths.
It said 61 per cent of thetotal deaths are concen-trated in these eightstates/UTs.
The case fatality rates ofPunjab (3.16 per cent),Maharashtra (2.60 percent), West Bengal (1.75per cent) and Delhi (1.60per cent) are higher thanthe national average of1.46 per cent, the ministrysaid.
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Rajasthan and Kerala havea case fatality rate of 1.43per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.87per cent and 0.37 per cent,respectively.
Delhi has 29,169 Covid-19cases per million followedby Kerala with 16,201cases, Maharashtra with14,584 and Haryana with7,959 cases per millionpopulation.
From page 1
On Thursday,Sreerampore TMC MPKalyan Banerjee claimedat Trinamul Bhavan:"The governor, as a publicservant, is creatingobstruction to the ongo-ing investigation againstthe two accused. He is try-ing to indulge criminalsof the BJP with whom hehas connections. The wayMr Dhankhar is givingthreats to the Kolkatapolice and theBidhannagar policethrough his tweets, he isliable for prosecutionunder Sections 186 and189 of the Indian PenalCode. The police must ini-
tiate a criminal caseagainst him. No sanctionis required for this."
He added: "ThePresident must intervenein the matter to see if thetwo IPC sections wereviolated by the governoror not. If so, MrDhankhar should beremoved by the Presidentas governor with immedi-ate effect. He is not enti-tled to remain as gover-nor. According to myreading of the statute,since the governor hasviolated two IPC sections,the President should notallow him to continue inhis chair further afterconsidering all aspects."
Asked if the TMC has
planned to present anymemorandum toPresident Kovind for MrDhankhar's removal asgovernor, Mr Banerjeesaid: "It will be decidedlater."
Countering the TMC'sdemand, Mr Dhankhar,who is now in NorthBengal, said: "My atten-tion has been drawn topress release and a pressconference by a rulingparty leader. To theextent the governor's roleor actions are concerned,the reflections are wideoff the mark, betrayingignorance of elementaryconstitutional and legalaspects and factuallyuntenable.”
Farmers are up in arms
ANOTHER 26/11ATTACK IS NEARIMPOSSIBLE,SAYS RAJNATH
Phase III trial of India-made‘Covaxin’ begins at AIIMSAround 15,000 volunteers will receive the shot over the next few days
A complaint case hasbeen registered againstRJD Chief Lalu Yadav atthe vigilance police sta-tion in Patna.
BJP MLA LalanPaswan who hadaccused Lalu Yadav ofmaking strategies to top-ple the newly electedNDA government inBihar filed the com-plaint on Thursdayunder the prevention ofcorruption act.
On Wednesday, BJPleader and former dep-uty CM Sushil KumarModi had released anaudio clip in which LaluYadav was heard talkingto Lalan Paswan andasking him to abstainfrom the voting duringthe speaker’s election.
Sources said that theJharkhand administra-tion has also asked theofficials to ascertain theveracity of the audioclip which was releasedby the BJP onWednesday.
Amid the political tur-moil in Bihar andJharkhand over theissue, Lalu Yadav who isserving his jail termafter being sentenced inseveral fodder scamcases has been sent backto the paying ward ofRajendra Institute ofMedical Sciences,Ranchi.
He was shifted to thedirector’s bungalow lastmonth due toCoronavirus.
“This is an attempt tostop the opposition RJDfrom raising questionsagainst the NDA. Theallegation against LaluYadav is baseless andthe NDA leaders cannotprove anything. Theopposition parties inBihar would continue toexpose the failures ofthe NDA government inBihar”, RJD spokesper-son Chitranjan Gagantold this newspaper.
Sources, however, saidthat the RJD is con-cerned as Lalu Yadav’sbail hearing in the fod-der scam case is alsoscheduled on Friday.
INDIA, NEPAL TO ADVANCEMUTUAL COOPERATION Kathmandu, Nov. 26:India and Nepal onThursday agreed to stepup efforts to advancemutual cooperation dur-ing a “productive” meet-ing between ForeignSecretary HarshVardhan Shringla andhis Nepalese counter-part Bharat Raj Paudyal.
Shringla began histwo-day official visit toNepal on Thursday.
He was accorded awarm welcome on hismaiden visit to Nepalwhich is happening atthe invitation of NepalForeign Secretary Paud-yal, amid a strain inbilateral ties following abitter border row bet-ween the two countries.
“FS @harshvshringlahad a productive meet-ing with @PaudyalBRduring which they tookstock of bilateral coop-eration and discussedissues of mutual inter-est,” the Indian embassyin Kathmandu said in atweet.
“Both sides appreciat-ed the progress made onthe numerous bilateralinitiatives and projects.It was agreed to take fur-ther steps to advancemutual cooperation,” itsaid in another tweet.
Shringla arrived atTribhuvan Inter-nation-al in Kathmandu onThursday morning.
While interacting withlocal journalists, hesaid, “I have wanted tocome here earlier also,but because of Covid-19,I couldn’t do so. I amvery happy to be here. Iwas here in Kathmanduearlier too, though thisis my first visit to Nepalas a Foreign Secretary.We have very strongrelationship. Ourendeavour will be to seehow we can take thatrelationship forward”.
Shringla’s visit will bea continuation of the re-gular exchange of high-level visits between thetwo friendly neighbour.
The survey was conducted between June 17 and July 17 in India TI | FINDINGS
India has highest bribery rate in Asia: ReportNew Delhi, Nov. 26: Indiahas the highest briberyrate in Asia and the mostnumber of people who usepersonal connections toaccess public services, ac-cording to a new report bycorruption watchdog Tra-nsparency International.
The Global CorruptionBarometer (GCB) Asia,found that nearly 50 percent of those who paidbribes were asked to,while 32 per cent of thosewho used personal connec-tions said they would notreceive the service other-wise.
The report is based uponthe survey which was con-ducted between June 17and July 17 in India with asample size of 2,000.
“With the highestbribery rate (39 per cent)in the region, India alsohas the highest rate ofpeople using personal con-nections to access publicservices (46 per cent),” thereport said.
Bribery in public servic-es continues to plagueIndia. Slow and complicat-ed bureaucratic process,unnecessary red tape andunclear regulatory frame-
works force citizens toseek out alternate solu-tions to access basic serv-ices through networks offamiliarity and petty cor-ruption, the report said.
“Both national and stategovernments need tostreamline administrativeprocesses for public serv-ices, implement preventa-tive measures to combatbribery and nepotism, andinvest in user-friendlyonline platforms to deliveressential public servicesquickly and effectively,”the report said.
Although reporting
cases of corruption is crit-ical to curbing the spread,a majority of citizens inIndia (63 per cent) thinkthat if they report corrup-tion, they will suffer retal-iation, it said.
In several countriesincluding India, Malaysia,Thailand, Sri Lanka andIndonesia, sexual extor-tion rates are also highand more must be done toprevent sextortion andaddress specific genderedforms of corruption, thereport said.
Sextortion is extortingmoney or sexual favours
from someone by threaten-ing to reveal evidence oftheir sexual activitythrough means like mor-phed images.
In India, 89 per centthink government corrup-tion is a big problem, 18per cent offered bribes inexchange for votes and 11per cent experienced sex-tortion or know someonewho has.
About 63 per cent of sur-veyed people think thegovernment is doing wellin tackling corruptionwhile 73 per cent said theiranti-corruption agency is
doing well in the fightagainst corruption, it said.
Based on fieldwork con-ducted in 17 countries, theGCB surveyed nearly20,000 citizens in total.
The report said theresults showed that nearlythree out of four peoplethink corruption is a bigproblem in their countryand the survey also foundthat nearly one in five peo-ple who accessed publicservices, such as healthcare and education, paid abribe in the precedingyear.
— PTI
‘CYCLONE, POLLSMAY AFFECT WAR
ON COVID’
GROOM ARRESTEDFOR LINK IN
IIFL LOOT CASE
Turn from Page 1
This has had a good outcomein many patients. The secondwave will depend on behav-iour of people and followingof protocols."
Owing to economic andpolitical activities, there hasbeen movement of people indifferent parts of the countryand the world. This is a mat-ter of concern as followingprotocols of rest and quaran-tine are not as earlier. For thisreason, there is worry thatthere can be a spike inCoronavirus cases in themonths of December andJanuary.
Dr. Prabhu Kumar C., seniorgeneral physician says, "Weare seeing increasing numberof cases in north India, par-ticularly Delhi. This is anindication that there will be arise in Covid-19 cases if peo-ple do not follow safety proto-cols. SARS Cov 2 virus isaround and it is virulent.Preventive measures mustnot be given up at any cost,"the doctor underlined.
Immunity is higher amongpeople of south India owing totheir food, culture and lesspolluted environment.
AKSHAYA KUMAR SAHOO | DCBHUBANESWAR, NOV. 26
A 30-year-old youth serving asmanager in a private gold loanfirm was on Thursday arrest-ed in the middle of his mar-riage rituals by the CrimeBranch in connection withdacoity at the IIFL FinanceLtd branch office in Cuttackcity.
The arrested youth was iden-tified as Pitambar Sahoo ofNischintakoili, Cuttack.
Following Pitambar’s arrest,the police seized a large quan-tity of stolen gold and investi-gation is underway to ferretout more information on theIIFL Finance loot case, saidPrateek Singh, deputy com-missioner of police, Cuttack.
Following the manager’sarrest, the bride and her fami-ly who were waiting at a hotelhad to pack up and cancel theevent.
According to reports, thepolice had obtained the custo-dial remand of five accusedpersons in the loot case. Theirpreliminary questioningrevealed that more than 10employees of IIFL Companyhad direct links with the crimethat took place on November19. According to sources, theinterrogation of other sus-pects was on and many moreare likely to be arrested.
On the other hand, peoplewho had deposited gold in IIFLCompany Ltd with the hope toget more returns have becomeskeptical whether they wouldget their deposits back in viewof scam and police action.
DC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, NOV. 26
The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Thursday made itclear before the Bombay HighCourt that it will not auction aluxurious penthouse —Samudra Mahal belonging toNirav Modi — beforeDecember 14.
The HC was hearing a peti-tion filed by Modi’s son Rohinchallenging ED’ s move to con-fiscate Samudra Mahal prop-erty. In his petition, Rohininformed the court that hisfather is nowhere concernedwith the said property and itbelonged to a trust set up byhim.
Few months back, the EDhad filed an application beforethe special Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA) court. The agency hadbrought to the notice of thecourt that as per provisionunder Fugitive EconomicOffenders (FEO) Act 2018, itcan confiscate immovable andmovable properties belongingto Nirav Modi. According tothe ED, Modi has propertiesworth `1,396 crore in India,England and UAE.
Subsequently, in June 2020PMLA court had passed orderto confiscate Modi’s proper-ties. Petitioner Rohin’s coun-sel Amit Sibal argued thatproperty belongs to RohinTrust and not any individual.He also argued that as per FEOAct, a notice must have beenissued to Rohin if ED wants toauction the property and hemust be heard before the auc-tion, but no notice was issue toRohin.
‘NO AUCTION OFNIRAV PENTHOUSE
BEFORE DEC. 14’From page 1However, AstraZeneca hasacknowledged a key mis-take in the vaccine dosagereceived by some studyparticipants, the New YorkTimes said in a report.This admission has addedto questions aboutwhether the "vaccine'sapparently spectacularefficacy will hold up underadditional testing".
Along with the error, sci-entists and industryexperts said a series ofother irregularities andomissions in the mannerin which AstraZeneca ini-tially disclosed the datahave also eroded confi-dence in the reliability of
their results. As it came tolight that the vaccine'smost promising results didnot reflect data from olderpeople, it appears difficultthat regulators in the USand elsewhere will quicklyauthorise the emergencyuse of the vaccine.
The NYT quoted MicheleMeixell, a spokeswomanfor AstraZeneca, as sayingthat the trials "were con-ducted to the highest stan-dards."
"I think that they havereally damaged confi-dence in their wholedevelopment program,"an analyst for the invest-ment bank SVB LeerinkGeoffrey Porges said. PTI
Oxford vaccine datacomes under cloud
WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020
IN BRIEF Trump reiterates voter fraudallegations amid transition Calls into Pennsylvania Republican event to probe chargesWashington, Nov. 26: USPresident Donald Trumphas baselessly claimedanew that he had won theelection and utteredrepeated falsehoods as hecalled into an event heldby Pennsylvania Repu-blicans to investigateunproven allegations ofvoter fraud. “This was anelection that we won easi-ly. We won it by a lot,”Trump declared to thegroup gathered at a hotelin Gettysburg onWednesday.
Trump, in fact, lost toPresident-elect Joe Bidenby about 1,50,000 votes inthe state, and Pennsy-lvania certified Biden asthe winner on Tuesday.The Pennsylvania eventwas the latest attempt byTrump and his lawyerRudy Giuliani, a formerNew York City mayor, totry to cast doubt on theresults of the democraticelection, even as the for-mal transition process hasbegun and a growing num-ber of Republicans arerecognising Biden as pres-ident-elect.
Similar events have beenscheduled in Arizona andMichigan. State electionofficials across the coun-try and international obs-ervers have said there isno evidence of widespreadvoter fraud, and Trump’slegal team has lost repeat-edly in court, in additionto making numerous ele-mentary errors.
Wednesday’s event,organised by localRepublicans, includingPennsylvania state Sen.Doug Mastriano, an out-spoken Trump supporter,came with trappings of anofficial hearing — flags, agavel, and “witnesses”who“testified” in person andby phone. Among themwas a special guest — thepresident — who at onepoint had been expected toattend in person, but didnot after another memberof his legal team anno-unced that he had testedpositive for the Coro-navirus on Wednesdaymorning. — AP
Two women pray on their knees as they gather with other supporters of PresidentDonald Trump, most without masks, outside of the Wyndham Gettysburg hotel priorto a Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee public hearing to discuss 2020election issues and irregularities with President Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani inGettysburg, Pennsylvania. — AFP
FACEBOOK FIGHTSWITH ELECTIONDISINFORMATION
Trump pardons Flynn, hisex-NSA who lied to FBIWashington, Nov. 26: USPresident Donald Trumphas signed an executiveorder granting pardon tohis former national securi-ty adviser Michael Flynn,who had been chargedwith making false state-ments to the FBI over pos-sible collusion betweenthe Trump campaign andRussia during the 2016presidential polls. Trumpsigned the executive orderon Wednesday.
“It is my Great Honor toannounce that GeneralMichael T. Flynn has beengranted a Full Pardon.Congratulations to GenFlynn and his wonderfulfamily, I know you willnow have a truly fantasticThanksgiving!” Trumpsaid in a tweet.
White House PressSecretary Kayleigh McEn-any said, “The Presidenthas pardoned GeneralFlynn because he shouldnever have been prosecut-
ed. An independent reviewof General Flynn’s case bythe Department of Justice— conducted by respectedcareer professionals —supports this conclusion.”
In fact, the Department ofJustice has firmly conclud-ed that the charges againstFlynn should be dropped,she said. “This Full Pardonachieves that objective,finally bringing to an endthe relentless, partisanpursuit of an innocentman,” she said.
“General Flynn shouldnot require a pardon. He is
an innocent man. Even theFBI agents who inter-viewed General Flynn didnot think he was lying.“Multiple investigationshave produced evidenceestablishing that GeneralFlynn was the victim ofpartisan government offi-cials engaged in a coordi-nated attempt to subvertthe election of 2016,”McEnany said. These indi-viduals sought to preventTrump from being elected,to block him from assum-ing that office on his elec-tion, remove him fromoffice after his inaugura-tion, and undermine hisadministration at everyturn, she said. HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi in astatement said Trump’spardon of Michael Flynn,who twice pleaded guilty tolying to the FBI about hisdealings with a foreignadversary, is an act ofgrave corruption andabuse of power. — PTI
San Francisco, Nov. 26:The US presidential elec-tion is finished: votes cast,the transition — thoughdelayed — begun.
But on Facebook, thefight against election mis-information continues,thanks to “super spread-ers” — accounts that dis-seminate rumours andfabrications, falsely spre-ading the idea that the2020 election was beset byorganised, extensive fraudby the Democratic Party.
The US non-profit Avaazhas identified 25 pages inparticular, includingthose of Donald Trump Jrand Eric Trump — thepresident’s sons — WhiteHouse press secretaryKayleigh McEnany andcombative conservativecommentators DanBongino, Lou Dobbs andRush Limbaugh, alongwith pro-Trump organiza-tions such as TurningPoint USA.
These are sowing doubtabout the President-electJoe Biden's White Housewin earlier this month —taking their lead from thebuilding’s current resi-dent, who has also takento social media to tweetthat he will not “concede”and to outline his so-farunfounded claims that theelection was “stolen.”Unproven allegations offraud from these accountshave been “liked,” com-mented on and sharedmore than 77 milliontimes since November 3,according to a study fromAvaaz.
And that doesn’t takeinto account the Facebookaccounts of the “super-spreader” in chief, DonaldTrump himself, nor that ofhis former adviser SteveBannon, which wasrecently removed by thenetwork.
— AFP
‘Infodemic’ risksjeopardisingCovid vaccines
Russia oil giantdeclares Arcticproject open
Iran swaps Australian for 3 Iranians
Turkish coup accused get life termsAnkara, Nov. 26: ATurkish court jailed morethan 300 former pilots andother suspects for life in amass trial stemming froma bloody 2016 coup attemptagainst President RecepTayyip Erdogan.
Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim preacherwho was once an Erdoganally, is accused of orderingthe failed putsch. Hismovement has been pro-scribed as a terroristgroup by Ankara, but the79-year-old denies all
charges.A total of 251 people died
and more than 2,000 wereinjured in what hasturned into the definingmoment of Erdogan's ruleand contemporaryTurkish politics.
The chaotic attempt was
swiftly followed by a fiercegovernment crackdownspanning years and result-ing in tens of thousands ofarrests.
Turkey’s largest court-room was packed withdozens of security person-nel and the presidingjudge ordered one protest-ing defendant to “Sitdown!” several timesbefore reading the verdict.
He issued multiple lifesentences to 27 disgrun-tled air force pilots whobombed the capital
Ankara and civilians whoorchestrated the coupattempt from inside theAkinci military base nearthe capital.
Court documents subse-quently obtained by AFPshowed 337 defendantshanded life sentences formurder, violating the con-stitutional order andattempting to assassinateErdogan.
Sixty suspects weregiven jail sentences of var-ious lengths while 75 wereacquitted. — AFP
Tehran, Nov. 26: Iran hasfreed a British-Australianacademic who had beendetained in the countryfor over two years inexchange for threeIranians held abroad,state TV announced.
The television report onWednesday was scant ondetail, saying only that thethree Iranians freed in theswap had been imprisonedfor trying to bypass sanc-tions on Iran. KylieMoore-Gilbert, 33, was aMelbourne University lec-
turer on Middle Easternstudies when she waspicked up at the Tehranairport as she tried toleave the country afterattending an academicconference in 2018.
She was sent to Tehran’sEvin prison, convicted ofspying and sentenced to 10years behind bars. Moore-Gilbert had vehementlydenied the charges andmaintained her inno-cence. Australian ForeignMinister Marise Payneconfirmed the release on
Thursday, saying Moore-Gilbert would soon bereunited with her family.
“Dr. Moore-Gilbert’srelease has been anabsolute priority for thegovernment since herdetention,” Payne said ina statement. “The Aus-tralian government hasconsistently rejected thegrounds on which theIranian government arr-ested, detained and con-victed Dr. Moore-Gilbert.We continue to do so.”
Payne said the release
was achieved through“diplomatic engagement”with the Iranian govern-ment and was done in con-sultation with Moore-Gilbert’s family. Moore-Gilbert was one of severalWesterners held in Iranon widely criticised espi-onage charges thatactivists and UN investi-gators believe is a system-atic effort to leverage theirimprisonments for moneyor influence in negotia-tions with the West, whichTehran denies. — AP
Moscow, Nov. 26:Russian oil giant Rosnefton Wednesday announcedthe start of operations forits giant Vostok oil projectin the Arctic, part of thecountry’s strategic energyplan which has been criti-cised by environmental-ists.
“It is with great pleasurethat I inform you of thestart of the practicalimplementation of theproject,” Rosneft chiefexecutive Igor Sechin toldPresident Vladimir Putinat a meeting in Moscow.
He thanked Putin, withwhom he has close rela-tions, for the adoption of alaw facilitating Russianinvestments in the Arctic.
“The prospecting andexploration work are nowunderway, in accordancewith our timetable,”Sechin said, adding thatthe design work for a 770-kilometrer (480-mile) oilpipeline and a port had
been completed. Thestrategic plan for Russia’smineral resources stret-ches to 2035 and is bank-ing on growing globaldemand, though it doespredict that natural gaswill partially replace oiland coal.
“Mineral resources willremain a competitiveadvantage of Russia’seconomy, and will deter-mine the place and role ofthe country in the world,”it says.
Environmentalists ur-ged the Russian govern-ment last year to stopgranting licenses to ex-ploit several Arctic de-posits. The Vostok project,the cornerstone of Ru-ssia’s Arctic ambitions,brings together severalRosneft activities in theRussian Far North, nearthe northern sea routethat the company intendsto exploit to deliver toEurope and Asia. — AFP
Paris, Nov. 26: As earlyas February, with the glob-al pandemic spreadingfast, the World HealthOrganisation issued awarning about an “info-demic”, a wave of fakenews and misinformationabout the deadly new dis-ease on social media.
Now with hopes hangingon Covid-19 vaccines, theWHO and experts are wa-rning those same phenom-ena may jeopardise roll-out of immunisation pro-grammes meant to bringan end to the suffering.“The Coronavirus diseaseis the first pandemic inhistory in which technolo-gy and social media arebeing used on a massivescale to keep people safe,informed, productive andconnected,” the WHOsaid.
“At the same time, thetechnology we rely on tokeep connected and infor-med is enabling and am-plifying an infodemic thatcontinues to underminethe global response andjeopardises measures tocontrol the pandemic.”More than 1.4 million peo-ple have died since the pa-ndemic emerged in Chinalate last year, but threedevelopers are alreadyapplying for approval fortheir vaccines to be usedas early as December.
Beyond logistics, thou-gh, governments mustalso contend with scepti-cism over vaccines devel-oped with record speed ata time when social mediahas been both a tool forinformation and false-hood about the virus. TheWHO defined an infodem-ic as an overabundance ofinformation, both onlineand offline, including“deliberate attempts todisseminate wrong infor-mation”. Last month, astudy from CornellUniversity in the UnitedStates found that USPresident Donald Trumphas been the world’sbiggest driver of Covid-19misinformation duringthe pandemic.
In April, Trump musedon the possibility of using
disinfectants inside thebody to cure the virus andalso promoted unproventreatments. SinceJanuary, AFP has pub-lished more than 2,000fact-checking articles dis-mantling false claimsabout the Coronavirus.
“Without the appropri-ate trust and correct infor-mation, diagnostic testsgo unused, immunisationcampaigns (or campaignsto promote effective vac-cines) will not meet theirtargets, and the virus willcontinue to thrive,” theWHO said. — AFP
PANDEMIC OR NOT,PEOPLE MUST STAYACTIVE, SAYS WHOGeneva, Nov. 25: TheCoronavirus pandemic isno excuse for not gettingenough exercise, theWorld Health Organi-sation said on Wednesday,warning that even beforethe crisis many were get-ting too little physicalactivity.
In an update of its phys-ical activity guidelines,the UN health agencystressed that exercise wasvital to physical and men-tal health, while seden-tary behaviour can haveserious repercussions.
“WHO urges everyone tocontinue to stay activethrough the Covid-19 pan-demic,” the agency's headof health promotion Rue-diger Krech toldreporters. “If we do notremain active, we run therisk of creating anotherpandemic of ill-health asa result of sedentarybehaviour.”There are stillno clear statistics on whatimpact the pandemic hashad on physical activity,but lockdowns, movementrestrictions, gym closuresand other measures haveclearly forced many peo-ple to stay home and havedisrupted regular activi-ties and exercise rou-tines.’ — AFP
Berlin, Nov. 26: Germanmedia giant Bertelsmannsaid on Wednesday that itsPenguin Random Housedivision is buying rivalSimon & Schuster in amegadeal that wouldreshape the US publishingindustry.
Penguin Random House,already the largestAmerican publisher, willbuy the New York-basedSimon & Schuster, whoseauthors include StephenKing, Hillary Clinton andJohn Irving, from TV andfilm company ViacomCBSfor $2.17 billion in cash.
and (particularly) in theUS, its second-largest mar-ket,” the Guetersloh,Germany-based companysaid in a statement.
The purchase of Simon& Schuster would reducethe so-called Big Five ofAmerican publishing —which also includesHarperCollins, HachetteBook Group andMacmillan — to four.
The companies said thedeal is expected to close in2021, subject to regulatoryapproval.
No US publisher in mod-ern times would approachthe power of the new com-pany. ViacomCBS saidBertelsmann will pay a
termination fee if the dealfails due to regulatory rea-sons.
Agents and authors oftenworry that a concentra-tion of power in publish-ing could mean less com-
petition for book deals,and lower advances.
The Authors Guild, awriters’ organisation, saidWednesday that it opposedthe sale because it wouldhurt competition, makingit more difficult forauthors and agents tonegotiate with publishers.It said the U.S. Departmentof Justice should chal-lenge it.
The department did notimmediately return arequest for comment.
“As an organisation ofwriters it’s important tous that the publishingindustry (thrives), andthat there be multiple,robust outlets to bring the
widest variety of books toaudiences,” said SuzanneNossel, the CEO of PENAmerica. “To the extentthat efficiencies are gar-nered through consolida-tion, it is our hope thatthey are a catalyst toenable greater investmentin authors, books, and out-reach to readers.”
Bertelsmann’s rivalNews Corp., which ownsHarperCollins, alsoslammed the deal.“Bertelsmann is not justbuying a book publisher,but buying market domi-nance as a book behe-moth,” said News CorpChief Executive RobertThomson said in a state-
ment. “This literaryleviathan would have 70%of the U.S. literary andgeneral fiction market."
Penguin Random HouseChief Executive MarkusDohle said on Wednesdaythat Simon & Schusterwould retain its editorialindependence and thatindividual imprints with-in Penguin Random Houseand Simon & Schustercould continue to competewith each other for bookdeals.
Simon & Schuster’s cur-rent president and chiefexecutive, Jonathan Karp,will continue to lead thepublishing house,Bertelsmann said. — AP
Penguin to buy Simon & Schuster for $2bnBertelsmann’s rival News Corp., which owns HarperCollins, slammed the dealPUBLISHING | GIANT
BRITAIN FUNDSANTI-TERRORESTABLISMENT
Greek oil tanker hitby blast at Saudi
Riyadh: An explosion rockeda Greek-operated oil tanker
docked at Saudi Arabia’sport of Shuqaiq on
Wednesday, Greek officialssaid, in an attack that a
Riyadh-led military coalitionblamed on Yemeni rebels.The blast on the Maltese-
flagged Agrari tanker followsa string of attacks by the
Iran-linked rebels on Saudioil infrastructure, highlighting
the growing perils of a five-year military campaign ledby the kingdom in Yemen.
The tanker was “attacked byan unknown source” while it
was preparing to depart fromthe Red Sea port of Shuqaiq,
its Greece-based operatorTMS Tankers said, adding
that no injuries were report-ed. “The Agrari was struck
about one meter above thewaterline and has suffered abreach,” TMS Tankers said in
a statement. “It has beenconfirmed that the crew aresafe and there have been no
injuries. No pollution hasbeen reported.”An investiga-
tion was underway afterSaudi authorities, including
the coast guard, boarded thestricken vessel, it added.
PALESTINIAN WHOWAGED 103-DAY
FAST FREED Nablus, Palestinian Territ-ries, Nov. 26: Israel on Thu-rsday released a Palestinianwho waged a 103-day hungerstrike to protest Israeli rulesallowing his detention withoutcharge, the PalestinianPrisoner’s Club said.
Maher al-Akhras, arrestedover alleged membership of amilitia group, was transferredfrom a Tel Aviv hospital toNablus’s Al-Najah UniversityHospital in the occupied WestBank, the prisoners' rightsgroup said in a statement. Adecision on releasing him toreturn home will follow “amedical assessment of his con-dition”, Al-Najah hospital med-ical director Abdul-Karim Al-Barqawi said.
Akhras, 49, was arrested nearNablus in July and put inadministrative detention, apolicy that Israel uses to holdsuspected militants withoutcharge. He is suspected oflinks to the armed Palestiniangroup Islamic Jihad, labelled aterrorist group by Israel, theUnited States and theEuropean Union. The father ofsix launched his fast to protesta four-month detention order,which had been due to end onNovember 26.
Akhras, who been arrested byIsrael several times previously,ended his hunger strike afterIsraeli authorities committedto not extending his detentionbeyond that date. Israel’s admi-nistrative detention policy, in-herited from the British man-date of Palestine, allows theinternment of prisoners with-out charge for renewable peri-ods of up to six months eachtime. Israel says the procedureallows authorities to hold sus-pects and prevent attacks whilecontinuing to gather evidence,but critics and rights groupssay the system is abused.
Flydubai lands 1stscheduled flight
Tel Aviv: A flight operated bybudget airline flydubai land-
ed in Tel Aviv on Thursday,the first scheduled commer-cial service between the twocities following the normali-
sation of ties between theUAE and Israel. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,on hand for the arrival of theinaugural flight after its near-
ly four-hour trip, called it “amoment of history.””As-sal-
aam alaikum (Peace be uponyou),” he said to arriving
passengers. “Come again andagain and again.” The UnitedArab Emirates in September
signed a landmark US-bro-kered deal to formalise rela-
tions with Israel, the firstsuch agreement by an Arab
state in the Gulf.
40 miners stuck atZimbabwe mishapHarare: At least 40 informal
miners in Zimbabwe havebeen trapped underground
after a shaft in a disusedgold mine collapsed, the
country’s miners’ federationsaid on Thursday. The inci-
dent occurred lateWednesday in the town of
Bindura, around 70 kilome-tres (43 miles) north of the
capital Harare, saidWellington Takavarasha,
head of the ZimbabweMiners Federation.
Takavarasha said the minerswere working inside the dis-used Ran Gold Mine when a
shaft caved in.Six miners have since beenpulled from the rubble and
taken to hospital.
�� PENGUIN RANDOMHouse Chief ExecutiveMarkus Dohle said onWednesday that Simon &Schuster would retain itseditorial independenceand that individualimprints within PenguinRandom House and Simon& Schuster could continueto compete with eachother for book deals.
�� THE CHAOTIC attemptwas swiftly followed by afierce government crack-down spanning years andresulting in tens of thou-sands of arrests.
Michael Flynn
London, Nov. 26: UK Chan-cellor Rishi Sunak has anno-unced to set aside millions ofpounds to establish a “world-leading” Counter TerrorismOperations Centre (CTOC)based in London. As part of aSpending Review for the nextyear’s budgetary plans tabledin Parliament on Wednesday,the finance minister said hewould allocate an additional400 mn pound to help recruit20K more police officers by 23.
EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE| FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI
Although he had been down with Covid, the unexpected and prematuredeath of Ahmed Patel on Wednesday leaves the Congress Party ill-pre-pared to take on the key challenge that upcoming Assembly polls in fivestates are likely to pose. Before that the party faces a major internal
challenge — the holding of an election for the Congress president, for which theparty’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi has already set up a central election authori-ty after 23 prominent Congress figures wrote to Mrs Gandhi in early August ask-ing for proper party elections, and in particular, the election of a new presidentto direct functioning on a structured basis since Rahul Gandhi had resigned aschief after the Lok Sabha election defeat in May 2019.
These events may be expected to pose a particular challenge principally onaccount of the fact that the Congress had become more or less wholly reliant onthe organisational resources and skills that the late Mr Patel brought to the table.The rest of the party structure does exist in a nominal sense, but it is based onnominations and lacks substance. Ahmed Patel, too, was a nominated member ofthe Congress Working Committee but he used to win CWC elections until thesestopped being held. Besides, he had vast experience.
He knew his own party inside out and had viable contacts across parties, espe-cially in the non-BJP universe. He had entered Lok Sabha as far back as 1977 andserved as parliamentary secretary to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Later, hewas made political aide to Sonia Gandhi when she became party chief more thantwo decades ago and served in that capacity even after Rahul Gandhi formallytook over as Congress president in late 2017. Mr Patel was also made the party’streasurer in 2018, a position he had held earlier.
Without exception, the late Mr Patel was the only Congress stalwart who couldphone any senior non-Congress leader in any state to discuss poll alliances andadjustments or any political matter. He derived this special authority by virtueof holding — on account of his abilities and conciliator personality — the trust ofMrs Gandhi who herself commands great personal regard and political respectacross parties since it was under her leadership that the Congress was able toconstitute and head two consecutive coalition governments at the Centre.
Mrs Gandhi is in frail health and there is no Ahmed Patel now. It will be inter-esting to see how much real weight the central election authority can bring tobear on the internal party poll, which ought to be completed by February. RahulGandhi may be well-advised to steer clear of the process guiding the party’s inter-nal elections — lest that be misunderstood — even if he is not going to be a can-didate. In the absence of Mrs Gandhi playing an effective role day-to-day, andwith Mr Patel gone, only a duly elected Congress president can carry weight withother parties when it comes to holding viable political and electoral consulta-tions in the context of Assembly polls in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu,Puducherry and Kerala in the coming months. This is more the reason why theupcoming election of the Congress chief must be a clean and fair process inwhich the whole party is invested.
Ahmed’s passing leavescrisis-hit Cong in trouble
Once again con-tempt of courtis in the news.In September,the human
rights lawyer PrashantBhushan was tried andfound guilty on thiscount. Now the stand-upcomedian Kunal Kamrafaces a similar charge,this time endorsed by theattorney general. Whilethe Supreme Court willno doubt focus on what’sbeen said about itsjudges, many others willask whether judges needto accept satire and criti-cism with good gracerather than seek the pro-tection of the law of con-tempt and use it to punishtheir attackers.
Let’s start with the caseagainst Kumal Kamra.The attorney general hasfound his tweets and two-finger gesture contemp-tuous. “This is a grossinsinuation against theentirety of the SupremeCourt of India that … (it)is not an independent andimpartial institution …(but) is a court of the rul-ing party, the BJP, exist-ing only for the BJP’sbenefit. All this in myopinion constitutes crim-inal contempt of court”,Mr Venugopal declared.
If true, the attorney gen-eral’s finding is indeedgrave. But do the twoKamra tweets that MrVenugopal cites amountto this? The first says:“Honour has left thebuilding (i.e. theSupreme Court) longback”. The second says:“The Supreme Court ofthis country is the mostsupreme joke of thiscountry”. Frankly, theattorney general hasinvested more meaningin these tweets thanexists in them.
The tweets are anattempt at satiricalhumour and, admittedly,
not a particularly wittyone. They are not meantto be kind or polite. Theintention is to lampoonor, even, lacerate. But isthis “gross insinuation”?Do they suggest that theSupreme Court “is acourt of the ruling party,the BJP, existing only forthe BJP’s benefit”?Actually, to ask the ques-tion is to answer it. Andit’s “NO”.
The two-finger gestureis more tricky. It’s bothmore clever and ques-tionable. At one level, theraised index and middlefinger of Kamra’s lefthand is a V signal.However, the accompa-nying message — “one ofthese two fingers is forCJI Arvind Bobde … oklet me not confuse you it’sthe middle one” — couldconvert this into a rudegesture. Actually, crudemight be a better word.It’s telling the SupremeCourt where to get off.But is that contempt?Even if it is, it’s too imma-ture to take seriously.Judges —and not justbecause of their age —should rise above it.
This brings me to amore important andwider question about thelaw of contempt. Has itoutlived its utility? Andhow should we handlecases that could amountto contempt today? Let’sgo back to its origin tounderstand its purpose.
The concept of con-tempt is centuries-oldBritish law which wasabolished by Britain in2013. At the time thecountry’s LawCommission said the pur-pose was not just “pre-venting the public fromgetting the wrong idea ofjudges … but where thereare shortcomings it’sequally important to pre-vent the pubic from get-ting the right idea”. In
other words, one inten-tion was to hide judicialcorruption. The concept,therefore, ab initio,clashed with the need fortransparency and, ofcourse, freedom ofspeech.
So no wonder enlight-ened British judges haveignored it. As far back as1968, Lord Denning,Britain’s former Masterof the Rolls, had this tosay of the law of con-tempt: “Let me say atonce that we will neveruse this jurisdiction as ameans to uphold our owndignity … nor will we useit to suppress those whospeak against us. We donot fear criticism, nor dowe resent it. For there issomething far moreimportant at stake. It isno less than freedom ofspeech itself. It’s the rightof every man, inParliament or out of it, inthe press or over thebroadcast, to make faircomment, even outspo-ken comment, on mattersof public interest … wemust rely on our ownconduct itself to be itsown vindication.”
In 1987, after the Spy-catcher judgment, whenthe Daily Mirror calledBritain’s Law Lords “YouOld Fools” or, in 2016,after the Brexit ruling,when the Daily Mailcalled three judges “En-emies of the People”, theBritish judiciary con-sciously and sensibly ig-nored the headlines anddid not consider contemptprosecution. In fact, LordTempleton’s comment onthe Spycatcher headline isworth recalling: “I cannot
deny that I am old; it’s thetruth. Whether I am a foolor not is a matter of per-ception of someone else …there is no need to invokethe powers of contempt.”
Some of our own judgeshave shown similar wis-dom. In a 2008 lecture,Justice Markandey Katjuhad this to say: “If a per-son calls me a fool,whether inside court oroutside it, I for one wouldnot take action as it doesnot prevent me fromfunctioning, and I wouldsimply ignore the com-ment or else say thateveryone is entitled to hisopinion. After all, wordsbreak no bones”.
More important,Justice Katju was crystalclear about when con-tempt could apply andwhen it would not. “Thetest to determine whetheran act amounts to con-tempt of court or not isthis: does it make thefunctioning of judgesimpossible or extremelydifficult? If it does not,then it does not amountto contempt of court evenif it’s harsh criticism …the only situation where Iwould have to take someaction was if my function-ing as a judge was madeimpossible … after all, Ihave to function if I wishto justify my salary.”
I think that answers thequestions I began with.While justice is impor-tant, judges must not takethemselves too seriously.Even if their amour pro-pre is offended it does notmean the institution hasbeen questioned or jus-tice brought into disre-pute. Judges deliver jus-tice, they do not embodyit. They should never for-get that their court issupreme because it’sfinal, not because it’sinfallible. When theylapse, they can be criti-cised or satirised. And itdoes not have to be politeor, even, fair.
I hope the SupremeCourt will bear this inmind when it pronounceson Mr Kamra’s case.
The writer is a television commentator
and anchor
In 1987, after theSpycatcher judg-ment, when theDaily Mirror calledBritain’s Law Lords‘You Old Fools’ or,in 2016, after theBrexit ruling, whenthe Daily Mailcalled three judges‘Enemies of thePeople’, the Britishjudiciary ignoredthe headlines
‘Contempt of court’: Arelook may be needed
Diego Armando Maradona was the “Golden Kid” who never really grew up.From the streets of Latin America to soccer riches is not too unusual astory except that Maradona was arguably one of the greatest players of all
time with a talent so natural as to be defined as a divine gift. It was, however,coincidental that he became associated with the “Hand of God” for the contro-versial goal he scored with the “head of Diego and the hand of God” as he imp-ishly put it. However, it would be unfair to define him only by that accidentalgoal. Such is the duality of Maradona that only minutes later he produced one ofthe finest field goals ever seen at a World Cup.
The brilliance of Maradona which came through in that coruscating run of 1986from the Argentine half, twice feinting past pairs of defenders and beating onemore before curling the football in past the England goal-keeper will remainetched in memory forever as the most aesthetic exhibition of the art of football.Even the memory of his virtually single-handed triumph for Argentina in thatWorld Cup final (against West Germany) might fade when compared to the pris-tine beauty of the movement of the 5 foot 5 inch, low centre of gravity genius, themagical ball at his magnetic feet.
To say he was the most human of sport’s immortals would be an understate-ment. His flawed genius illustrated how the loss of moral compass can affectman. Success went on to ravage him, his addictions to cocaine and liquor andwomen — he sired five children from four women — proving a pervasive cock-tail. Judging others might seem incongruous as there is no such thing as a per-fect human being. But, as a sporting icon whose millions of fans worshipped thevery ground he walked on, Maradona had a responsibility to fulfil, which his bac-chanalian lifestyle and attitude precluded. Comparisons can be odious but onemust be done with Pele to illustrate what Maradona would have been if only…
Farewell, Diego
The quest for a liberalMuslim was always a con-tradiction in terms. But asearch for a liberal Hindu,
dalit, Christian or Sikh leaderwould also be a bogus one. As RSSchief Mohan Bhagwat and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, in theirHindutva chariot, hurtle towardsHindu Rashtra say, by 2025, theRSS’ centenary, the very notion of aliberal Muslim in public life seemsout of place. What would be theacceptable contours of a Muslimleader who is neither mute norabrasive?
The enigma of Asaduddin Owaisiacquires new salience after his suc-cess in Bihar. Speculation centreson how he might fare in WestBengal, with a 30 per cent Muslimpopulation, which is the backboneof Mamata Banerjee’s support. Asthey are Mr Owaisi’s huntingground too, will the Muslim voterbe confused? If Amit Shah hadn’tmade it his life’s mission to oust orsubstantially diminish “Didi” andher TMC, Muslims may well haverisked a breach in their absolutesupport for her. But now, any bid byMr Owaisi to fish for a small catch,just to open an account in Bengal,will expose him to the slur that he’sa “vote katua”, a vote divider which
is what parties, particularly theCongress, cast him as. This allega-tion of communalism against MrOwaisi helps the Congress sustainthe delusion it’s still with the secu-lar lineup. The Congress doesn’tlike the refrain: Congress and BJP,tweedledum and tweedledee. Itmust be admitted, of course, thatthere are differences between thetwo corporate-supported parties.Former Madhya Pradesh CMDigvijay Singh may, admittedly,drink a litre’s cow urine daily, buthis drinking habits don’t come into conflict with the secularism ahandful of Congressmen swore byearlier.
To fast forward the narrative,there were no cow vigilantes, nolynchings in the name of the cow,no “love jihad” bar. The Congresscan’t be blamed for such trends. Thecharge against them is different:extreme cowardice. When theseshameful events happen, theCongress, instead of going for theiropponents’ jugular, just shuts up —in case taking sides leads to a loss ofHindu votes. No wonder the tag of“BJP’s B team” has stuck on theCongress.
Take Amit Shah’s latest fusilladedirected at the “Gupkar gang” for“international conspiracy”.
Randeep Surjewala’s tepid responsesays nothing. Why doesn’t theCongress make its stand clear onArticle 370?
Sheikh bhi khush rahey /Shaitaan bhi naraaz na ho (Keepthe agents of God and Satan equallyhappy).
How can the Congress point fin-gers at Mr Owaisi’s “pro-BJPstand” when it reduced seniorleader Ghulam Nabi Azad to tearsduring the 2019 election: “Even dis-trict committees don’t invite me toaddress rallies”. Ahmed Patel,whose death we mourn today, waskept away from the campaign inGujarat.
This is the pincer in which MrOwaisi holds the Congress. Hetaunts the Muslims: “Congress hasbrought you down to the leveldescribed in the 2005 SacharCommittee report.”
The thrust of Mr Owaisi’s argu-ment is that Muslims have beentricked into supporting “pseudo-secular” parties like the Congress,and caste parties in UP, Bihar, etc.
Muslims have been frightenedinto supporting these parties. Theogre that frightened them is obvi-ously the RSS-BJP. Mr Owaisi’sargument is that these so-called sec-ular parties seek Muslim support
not to defeat the BJP (of which theyare incapable), but to enlarge theirpower base, a delusion at best, andend up doing nothing for Muslims.
With a population of 200 million,or 14 per cent of the total, there are27 Muslims in a 543-strong LokSabha. The ratio in stateAssemblies is even more embar-rassing. Mr Owaisi’s argument issimple: seven seats in Telangana,two in Maharashtra and now five inBihar is 14 seats. SupposingMuslims pick up an average of evenone seat in 28 states and eight Unionterritories, the figure 36 will notlook so negligible.
The electoral weakness of India’sMuslims is precisely this: thoughsubstantial in an overall sense, theyare scattered all over. IronicallyCovid-19, by linking schools, col-leges, businesses and internationalconferences, the magic of virtualreality will come into play.Members of Assemblies can be ininstantaneous contact.
The danger, of course, is that thegrowth of a Muslim entity mighthelp accelerate Hindu consolida-tion. How does one obviate thatemergency? By allowing theMuslim vote to habitually occupyfrayed mattresses in parties like theCongress which are in fatal decline?
The durability of Mr Owaisi inpublic life denotes the failure of allparties to paint him in lurid, com-munal colours, much as they tried.Such a moment did come in 2013when his younger, more firebrandbrother, Akbaruddin Owaisi, madea provocative reference to policesupport for violence againstMuslims. “Remove the police for 15minutes and let’s see.” The speechsmacked of a sort of Muslim macho,causing the media to go into convulsions.
Since then, Akbaruddin was clear-ly restrained. Asaduddin, a barris-ter, a restrained and skilful speak-er, once a medium pacer for theSouth Zone cricket team, and onewho anchors his political stanceunerringly to the Constitution, isan uncommon phenomenon in pub-lic life. For the right, left and centre,Asaduddin is the exasperatingopponent who doesn’t deviate fromgood manners, logic, theConstitution and, woe of woes, is aMuslim. If he does have such quali-ties of heart and mind, why will sen-sible non-Muslims not turn to himsome day?
The writer is a senior journalistand commentator based in
New Delhi
Saeed Naqvi
Does a ‘liberal’Muslim leader
have a future inIndia’s politics?
Subhani
Karan Thapar
As I See It
Wide Angle
LETTERSNEED WATER PANELReference to the report, NGT:Form agency to protectwater bodies. Emphasisingthe need to protect waterbodies so as to ensure avail-ability of water for the pre-sent and future generations,the National Green Tribunal(NGT) has issued directivesto the states and UnionTerritories to appoint a nodalagency to monitor and takesuitable steps. But backhome in Chennai, CMDA con-tinues to encourage re-classi-fication of water bodies toother zones such as residen-tial, commercial, institutions,etc with the result that ourprecious water sources getcompletely depleted. It ishigh time, the NGT takes suomoto notice of this andissues directions to the state.
V.S. Jayaraman,Chennai
CONVERSION MATTERSApropos report, HC upholds right tochoose partner, faults earlier verdict.Art. 25(1) is emphatic that ‘it gives eachmember of every religion to the right tospread or disseminate the tenets of hisreligion but it would not include the rightto convert another because each man orwoman has the same freedom of con-science guaranteed by the same provi-sion in the above Art.25(1). In otherwords, one can hold any faith of hischoice but not to be converted intoanother religion either by force or allure-ment or fraud. The moot question is howit could be morally, legally tenable if aHindu boy seduces or induces oneMuslim girl who has attained marriage-able age? Will not the cited Art.21, whichguarantees personal liberty, contravenethe very Art. 25(1), which calls such con-version by seduction or inducement apenal offence? It is time that such con-tradictory verdicts are not pronouncedby the same court on the same issue atdifferent times confusing the public.
A. Seshagiri Rao, Chennai
MARADONA NO MOREThe demise of the football legendDiego Armando Maradona has sad-dened not only his large fans but alsoother personalities from other sportstoo. The BCCI President and formerIndian Cricketer Sourav Ganguly hasendorsed that Maradona was his herowhom he cherished as a spectator. Forall his gifts he received from thealmighty as a fabulous player, hishealth got a setback after his personallife was on the rocks due to the usageof drugs which affected his larger thanthe game image. Though many weredisappointed by the other side of hislife, a legend has missed his goal of liv-ing long for the sake of his fans and thegame.
A.P. Thiruvadi, Chennai
27 NOVEMBER 2020
DECCAN CHRONICLE
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher
Foxconn is moving someiPad and MacBook assem-bly to Vietnam from Chinaat the request of AppleInc, said a person withknowledge of the plan, asthe US firm diversifiesproduction to minimisethe impact of a Sino-UStrade war.
The development comesas the outgoing adminis-tration of US PresidentDonald Trump encouragesUS firms to shift produc-tion out of China. DuringTrump’s tenure, theUnited States has targetedmade-in-China electronicsfor higher import tariffs,and restricted supplies ofcomponents produced
using US technology toChinese firms it deems anational security risk.
Taiwanese manufactur-ers, wary of being caughtup in the tit-for-tat trade
war, have moved or areconsidering moving someproduction from China to
countries such as Viet-nam, Mexico and India.
Foxconn is buildingassembly lines for Apple’siPad tablet and MacBooklaptop at its plant inVietnam’s northeasternBac Giang province, tocome online in the firsthalf of 2021, the personsaid. The lines will alsotake some productionfrom China, the personsaid. “The move wasrequested by Apple,” theperson said. “It wants todiversify production fol-lowing the trade war.”
Foxconn said, “As a mat-ter of company policy, andfor reasons of commercialsensitivity, we do not com-ment on any aspect of ourwork for any customer ortheir products.” — Reuters
pg 7FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI
SUBHADIP SIRCARNOV. 26
A glut of cash chasingassets in India has causedshort-term rates to plunge.
A three-month treasurybill was sold at a recordlow yield on Wednesday,while the market repoclocked a trade at 0.01 percent. Key borrowing costslike the weighted inter-bank call rate and collater-alised money-market ratesare way below the ReserveBank of India's bench-mark in recent days, indi-cating investors such asmutual funds are accept-ing returns lower thanwhat RBI's deposit windowwould offer banks.
Governor ShaktikantaDas has pledged to stayaccommodative well into2021 as he tries to dig theeconomy out of anunprecedented technicalrecession. But a liquiditybloat is coming from thecentral bank's interven-tion in the foreign curren-cy market, as it seeks torein in the rupee and keepexports competitive.
"The RBI's dollar buyingto prevent the rupee fromappreciating has drivenliquidity to a large excess,"said Arvind Chari, head of
fixed income and alterna-tives at QuantumAdvisors. "The RBI mayhave to act to suck out liq-uidity to maintain thesanctity of the reverserepo rate."
Banks have parked Rs 6.1lakh crore ($82.5 billion) ofexcess cash with the cen-tral bank at the reverserepo rate of 3.35 per cent,according to theBloomberg Banking Liqui-dity Index. Mutual fundsand other such investorsdon't have access to thiswindow, and ICICISecurities PrimaryDealership suggests theRBI should considerincluding them if it's wor-ried about the depressionof overnight yields.
"A weekly or fortnightlyliquidity absorption win-dow with wider participa-tion could address the
skew in excess liquidityand reinforce the reverserepo rate as the floor,"ICICI Securities econo-mists including A.Prasanna wrote in a note."A stronger option wouldbe to introduce theStanding Deposit Facilityat a rate slightly abovereverse repo—say 3.5 percent—so that money mar-ket rates reset."
The so-called SDF is atool that would enable thecentral bank to take inmoney without offeringcollateral.
The State Bank of India,the nation's largest lender,warned that a sustainedcash surplus may eventu-ally push loan rates belowsimilar-rated bonds, intro-ducing policy unpre-dictability.
"Such type of irrationalpricing, because of abun-dant liquidity, can impactbanking sector profits andinitiate asset liability mis-match, if the spread ismore prevalent for lower-rated borrowers," accord-ing to Soumya KantiGhosh, group chief eco-nomic adviser at thelender. "A sure recipe forfinancial instability in thefuture."
— Bloomberg
RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, NOV. 26
The Pension Fund Regu-latory and DevelopmentAuthority (PFRDA) hasintroduced a separate pen-sion model for employersviz. corporate entities,PSUs, etc. to adopt theNational Pension System(NPS) as a retirement ben-efit scheme for its employ-ees. This is known as theNPS-Corporate SectorModel.
Besides other employerbenefits the NPS-CSMprovides tax benefits,since employers can claimtax relief on the amount
contributed towards NPSon behalf of employees.
“The employer canclaim up to 10 per cent ofthe salary (basic and dear-ness allowance) con-tributed towards employ-ees’ NPS account as‘Business Expense’ underSection 36(i)(iv)(a) of theIncome Tax Act, 1961,” thePFRDA said in a release.
It is cost-effective too, asemployers extending NPSas a retirement benefitscheme to its employeesneed not establish andmaintain a Trust, managethe funds or undertakerecordkeeping activities,according to the PFRDA.
Also, it is not mandatoryfor the employer to con-tribute to employees’ NPSaccount. Contributions toNPS depend on theemployer’s policy on com-pensation and retiral ben-efits extended to itsemployees. The NPS con-tribution can be either (i)equal contributions byboth employer andemployee (say, 10 per centeach) or (ii) unequal byemployer and employee(say, 10 per cent byemployee and 14 per centby employer) or (iii) con-tribution by only employ-er or only employee, saysthe regulator.
Short-term rates crash withfunds overflowing with cash
SHWETHA SUNILNOV. 26
Thermax Ltd. is seeingmost of its businessesbounce back to year-agolevels and is now focusedon options for growth.
The maker of electrici-ty-generation and pollu-tion-control equipmentwill consider mergers andacquisitions, technologi-cal arrangements andgeographic partnershipsthat are "small and easy todigest," chief executiveofficer Ashish Bhandarisaid in an interview onThursday.
The company had Rs1,703 crore ($231 million)in cash, cash equivalentsand short-term invest-ments as of September 30,according to data com-piled by Bloomberg. Itsshares have recoveredabout 20 per cent from asix-year low in March.
Thermax is betting ontechnology to providesolutions to problemsarising from urbanisa-tion, such as air andwater pollution. The com-pany sees coal continuingto be used as a fuel insome countries and isoffering solutions toreduce its environmentalharm. — Bloomberg
Companies can classify NPScontribution as ‘biz expense’
THERMAX PLANSACQUISITIONSTO EXPAND BIZ
It’s a process than an event: RBI Guv
Full capital accountconvertibility far off BIJOU GEORGE &
LUCA CASIRAGHINOV. 26
Vedanta Resources Ltdhas begun sounding outdebt holders about thepossibility of extendingmaturities on some of itsdollar bonds to reducerefinancing pressures.
The mining giant start-ed approaching theinvestors to discuss pos-sible debt extensionsafter the company'sfailed attempt to delist itsIndia unit, Vedanta Ltd,people familiar with thematter said.
The company's bondsdue in June next year,which are among notesunder discussion with
holders, slumped asmuch as 7.7 cents afterthe news. That's set forthe sharpest drop inmore than six weeks,according to prices com-piled by Bloomberg.
London-based VedantaResources must repay$670 million in outstand-
ing principal on thosesecurities.
Pressures are mountingafter the delistingflopped, given it wouldhave helped the holdingcompany more easilyaccess cash at the unit.That's triggered warn-ings from credit ratingfirms about VedantaResources' debt pile.
Holding companies,including VedantaResources, which arecontrolled by energy-to-mining tycoon AnilAgarwal, face their high-est debt repayments inyears.
A spokesman for theVedanta group declinedto comment.
— Bloomberg
Vedanta Resources sounds outbondholders on debt extension
Foxconn to shift some Apple production to Vietnam from China
FALAKNAAZ SYEDMUMBAI, NOV. 26
India will continue toapproach capital accountconvertibility as “aprocess rather an event”,Reserve Bank of India(RBI) governor Shakti-kanta Das said onThursday.
“Capital account convert-ibility will continue to beapproached as a processrather than an event, tak-ing cognizance of preva-lent macroeconomic condi-tions. A long-term visionwith short- and medium-term goals is the wayahead,” Das said at anevent of the ForeignExchange Dealers’ Asso-ciation of India.
Though tremendous cap-ital account liberalisationmeasures have been takensince the launch of eco-nomic reforms in the early1990s, introduction of fullcapital account convert-ibility is yet to be imple-mented in India. There ispartial capital accountconvertibility (CAC) inIndia. CAC refers to thefreedom of foreigninvestors to purchaseIndian financial assetssuch as shares, bonds, andthat of the domestic citi-zens to purchase foreignfinancial assets. It pro-vides rights for firms andresidents to freely buy intooverseas assets such asequity, bonds, propertyand acquire ownership ofoverseas firms besides freerepatriation of proceedsby foreign investors.
“Over the last threedecades, India has under-
gone a transformationfrom being a virtuallyclosed economy to one thatis globally connected andopen to a much larger vol-ume of internationaltransactions and capitalflows than before. Today,the capital account is con-vertible to a great extent.Inward Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) isallowed in most sectorsand outbound FDI byIndian incorporated enti-ties is allowed as a multi-ple of their net worth. Theexternal commercial bor-rowing framework hasalso been significantly lib-eralised to include moreeligible borrowers, even asmaturity requirementshave been reduced andend-use restrictions havebeen relaxed,” Das said.
Referring to economicgrowth, Das raised con-cerns over demand sus-tainability with the closeof the festive season andrise in Covid-19 infectionsin India which pose down-side risks to growth.
“Even as the growth out-look has improved, down-side risks to growth con-
tinue due to recent surgein infections in advancedeconomies and parts ofIndia. We need to be watch-ful about the sustainabili-ty of demand after festi-vals and a possiblereassessment of marketexpectations surroundingthe vaccine. The monetarypolicy guidance in Octoberemphasised the need to seethrough temporary infla-tion pressures and alsomaintain the accommoda-tive stance at least duringthe current financial yearand into the next financialyear,” added Das.
"After witnessing a sharpcontraction in GDP by 23.9per cent in Q1:2020-21 and amulti-speed normalisationof activity in Q2, theIndian economy has exhib-ited stronger than expectedpick up in momentum ofrecovery. The global econo-my has also witnessed astronger than expectedrebound in activity in Q3.The IMF has accordinglyrevised its assessment forglobal growth in 2020 to aless severe contractionthan what was assessed inJune 2020.”
New Delhi, Nov. 26:Premium paid forinsurance policies pur-chased between Octo-ber 12, 2020 and March31, 2021 by central gov-ernment employees willbe eligible for reim-bursement under theLTC cash voucherscheme.
Issuing the third set ofFAQ, the Department ofExpenditure under thefinance ministry, alsoclarified that for pur-chases of goods likecars, employees cansubmit self-attestedphotocopy of billsinstead of original billsas proof for availing thebenefit under thescheme.
On October 12, thegovernment announcedthe leave travel conces-sion cash voucherscheme under whichemployees can pur-chase any goods or serv-ices with a GST rate of12 per cent or above toavail of the benefit.
The expendituredepartment said pay-ment of premium forexisting insurance poli-cies would not be cov-ered under the LTCcash voucher scheme.
"However, payment ofpremium for insurancepolicies purchased dur-ing the period betweenOctober 12, 2020, andMarch 31, 2021, is eligi-ble for reimbursementunder the scheme," itsaid. Vouchers/ bills foravailing of the benefitunder the scheme has tobe submitted on orbefore March 31. — PTI
LTC scheme:Insurance premium
also eligible
New Delhi, Nov. 26:Chennai-based Murug-appa Group on Thursdaytook over scam-hit CGPower and IndustrialSolutions, infusing Rs 700crore into the companyand appointing directorson its board.
CG Power in a stockexchange filing said thecompany board at its meet-ing on Thursday issued64.25 crore shares of Rs 2at a price of Rs 8.56 pershare aggregating to Rs550 crore to Tube Invest-ments of India Ltd (TII).
TII, a Murugappa Groupfirm, have been issued 1.52crore warrants, each car-rying a right exercisable
within 18 months, for anaggregate consideration ofRs 150 crore.
"Post the allotment ofsecurities, TII has acqui-red a controlling interestin the company and holds50.62 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital ofthe company," it said.
TII will eventually hold a56.61 per cent stake onceall warrants are convertedinto equity.
In a separate filing, TIIsaid, effective Thursday,TII has been classified as
the 'promoter' of the CGPower and the board ofdirectors of CG Power hasbeen reconstituted.
CG Power said its entireboard, including non-exec-utive chairman AshishGuha and whole-time exec-utive director SudhirMathur, have resigned.
Murugappa Group hasappointed six members onthe CG Power board, withVellayan Subbiah, whocurrently is the managingdirector of TII, as its chair-man. Natarajan Srini-vasan, a director onMurugappa corporateboard, has also beenappointed as the new man-aging director. —PTI
Company building assembly lines for iPad and MacBook CUTTING | RISKS
MEGAN DURISINNOV. 26
Roughly 40 per cent of theworld's people live in farm-ing areas facing largewater shortages, andscarce supplies pose anincreasing risk to foodsecurity, the UnitedNations said.
About 3.2 billion peoplelive in agricultural areaswith "high to very high"water shortages and com-petition over resources isrising, the UN's Food &Agriculture Organizationsaid in a report. Manyfarms that depend on rainare at risk as severedroughts become morecommon, and bigger globalincomes are spurringdemand for water-inten-
sive foods like meat anddairy.
Of the total, 1.2 billionpeople—a sixth of the glob-al population—are in areaswith severely constrainedwater supplies, and theamount of freshwateravailable per person hasdropped 20 per cent in thepast two decades. Swathesof Asia and North Africahave been most affected,while small numbers ofpeople in Europe and theAmericas have seenextreme restrictions.
Agriculture accounts for70 per cent of the world'sfreshwater withdrawals,and the UN called for bet-ter management to keepresources in check andboost agricultural yields.
— Bloomberg
MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, NOV. 26
BMW, India’s secondbiggest luxury carmaker,on Thursday launched itsall-new BMW X5 MCompetition SUV in Indiapriced at Rs 1.95 crore toboost sales in Asia’s thirdlargest economy.
The BMW X5 M is being
imported by the Germanfirm as a completely built-up unit (CBU) and com-petes with the likes of the
Audi RS Q8 and PorscheCayenne Turbo.
“BMW M is driven by asingle-minded passion forcreating authentic motor-sport functionality witheveryday usability. The all-new BMW X5 MCompetition inherits thisDNA,” Vikram Pawah,president at BMW GroupIndia, said.
Vields on treasurybills have plungeddue to a liquidity glut
Jan 29
20202019
Oct 28
3.3949
3.25992.9292
New Delhi, Nov. 26: India has the poten-tial to surpass even China in low-costmanufacturing if the government andindustry work in a cohesive manner,Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) chairmanR.C. Bhargava said on Thursday.
"India has the capability to become alower cost country than China if theindustry and the government worktogether," Bhargava said, sharing hisviews at an online event.
He said the only objective of govern-ment policies should be to increase thecompetitiveness of Indian industry sothat it can make things at the lowest costalong with the best quality in the world.
"The more the indus-try can sell, the morejobs will be created inthe economy," he noted.
Bhargava pointed outthat creating jobs acrosssectors was importantfor the overall growth ofthe economy. He, howev-er, criticised states
which have reserved jobs in manufactur-ing for locals. "It is an anti-competitivestep.” He also said MSMEs have to be asglobally competitive as the large compa-nies because the supply chain deter-mines the overall competitiveness.—PTI
‘India can beat China in low-cost mfg’
3 bn people live inwater-scarce areas
Murugappa Group takes overCG Power, restructures board
Import duty oncrude palm oilslashed to 27.5%The government cut the basiccustoms duty on crude palm oilto 27.5 per cent. The duty cutwould help cool off rising edi-ble oil prices. The CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) in a notifica-tion said the basic customsduty rate on crude palm oil hasbeen revised to 27.5 per centwith effect from Nov. 27 from37.5 per cent currently. Palm oilconstitutes over 40 per cent ofIndia's edible oil consumption.
Bombay HCrefuses to stayLVB-DBS merger
The Bombay High Courtrefused to stay Lakshmi VilasBank's (LVB) merger with DBSBank India Ltd. A divisionbench of Justices Nitin Jamdarand Milind Jadhav was hearingpetitions filed by a group ofpromoters of LVB and India-bulls Housing Finance Ltd, ashareholder, challenging themerger. "We are refusing theinterim relief... The petitionsshall be placed for hearing onDec. 14,” the court said.
Infotech sectorvisionary F.C. Kohli deadFaqir Chand C.Kohli, consideredthe father of the ITindustry, passedaway on Thursday.Kohli, the foundingCEO of TCS, was96. TCS said it wasJRD Tata's insistence that hadgot Kohli to join the Tata Groupin 1969. “He pivoted first intomanagement consultancy, andthen over the next two decades,into software development.”
Google India FY20revenue rises35% to `5,600 crTech giant Google saw its Indiarevenues grow 34.8 per cent toabout Rs 5,593.8 crore in 2019-20 over the previous financialyear against Rs 4,147 crore inthe previous fiscal, accordingto Registrar of Companies fil-ing shared by market intelli-gence firm Tofler. The net prof-it was higher by about 23.9 percent at Rs 586.2 crore in FY20.Google India's total expensesrose 30.4 per cent to Rs 4,455.5 crore in FY20.
Anil Agarwal
R.C.Bhargava
Shaktikanta Das
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GAMES pg 8
Buenos Aires (Argentina), Nov. 26:Impatient fans were confronting police asthousands lined up to say goodbye to DiegoMaradona on Thursday at the Argentinepresidential mansion staging the funeral ofone of football’s greatest stars.
Fans threw bottles and metal fences atpolice near the Casa Rosada in the heart ofBuenos Aires.
Open visitation started at 6.15 am localtime after a few hours of privacy for familyand close friends.
Maradona’s wooden casket was in themain lobby of the presidential office, cov-ered in an Argentine flag and a No.10 shirtof the national team. Dozens of other shirtsof different football teams were thrown inby visitors who passed by in tears.
Maradona died on Wednesday of a heartattack in a house outside Buenos Aireswhere he recovered from a brain operationon November 3.
The first to bid farewell were his daugh-ters and close family members. Then cameformer teammates of the 1986 World Cup-winning squad including Oscar Ruggeri.Other Argentine footballers, such as CarlosTevez of Boca Juniors showed up too.
The lines started outside the Casa Rosadaonly hours after Maradona’s death was con-firmed. Among those present were therenowned barrabravas fans of BocaJuniors, one of his former clubs.
The first fan to visit was Nahuel de Lima,using crutches to move because of a dis-ability. At the same time, a wave of peopletried to get ahead and confronted police,who used tear gas to contain them.
Bodyguards were stopping fans from tak-ing pictures and controlling access to thebuilding. Many fans were breaking down assoon as they left.
Fans who walked past the casket blewkisses into the air, struck their chests withclosed fists, and shouted ‘Let’s go Diego.’Most, but not all, wore masks due to theCovid-19 pandemic. A giant black screen infront of the Casa Rosada was showing his-toric photos of Maradona as fans go.
Fans also gathered outside the humblehome where Maradona was born and raisedin the Villa Fiorito neighbourhood. Theywent to the stadium of Argentinos Juniors,where he started as a professional foot-baller in 1976. They stood at the historic LaBombonera stadium of his beloved BocaJuniors. More were at the headquarters ofGimnasia La Plata, the team he was coach-ing. — AP
“It is a very sad day for allArgentines and football. Heleaves us but he does not gobecause he is eternal. I amleft with many of the nicemoments we shared and I
want to send my condolencesto all his family and friends.”
Naples (Italy), Nov. 26: The mayor ofNaples proposed that the Stadio San Paolobe renamed in honour of the city’sbeloved footballer, Diego Maradona. “Let’sname the San Paolo Stadium for DiegoArmando Maradona!!!” Mayor Luigi deMagistris wrote on Twitter.
The stadium on Wednesday was illumi-nated in honour of the former Napoliplayer who died of a heart attack at age 60,as fans gathered outside to mourn.
Maradona led Napoli to their only twoleague titles in 1987 and 1990, becoming alegend in the working-class city, wherefans on Wednesday poured into the streetsafter hearing of his death. — AFP
STADIUM IN NAPLESAFTER MARADONA
WE’VE LOST A GENIUSIN MARADONA: KOHLISydney, Nov. 26: “We have lost a geniusand his void can never be filled,” Indiacricket team captain Virat Kohli said onThursday, paying rich tributes to thedeparted Argentine football legend DiegoMaradona.
Maradona died at the age of 60 onWednesday at his residence in BuenosAires after suffering a cardiac arrest, twoweeks after being released from a hospitalfollowing a brain surgery. “It’s obviously avery sad day for football, it’s very sad forsports in general because we have lost agenius,” Kohli said in a message posted byBCCI. — PTI
Kolkata, Nov. 26: His promise to bring“big-time” football to India remainedunfulfilled as Diego Maradona died aftercheating death more than once, leaving acricket-mad nation devastated in anappropriate reflection of his immortalstatus.
A lot many in the ‘City of Joy’ will recallhow a little bulky version of Maradonahuffed and puffed during a charity foot-ball game here three years ago.
The Argentine legend, who was 57 whenhe came here, had managed to dribble,
show glimpses of his deft left foot andeven crooned Spanish songs, as he sweat-ed it out with a bunch of school childrenand bid them adieu with a promise to“bring football” to India.
In December 2017, he turned up inshorts, enjoyed every bit of the madden-ing attention even though the gruellingsession literally drained him as he wasseen drenched in sweat, pouring water onhis head. But he had no complaints andwas eloquent in his three-minute Spanishspeech. — PTI
WHEN MARADONA GRIPPED KOLKATA
Panaji, Nov. 26: The Goa governmentwill install the life-size statue of lateArgentine football legend DiegoMaradona in the coastal belt of Northdistrict by early next year, a senior min-ister said.
Maradona’s statue is already undermaking with a Maharashtra-basedartist working on the mould, CalanguteMLA and state Ports Minister MichaelLobo said.
Lobo had announced installation ofthe statue of Maradona in 2018. “Thestatue would be installed somewhere atCandolim or Calangute to inspire thefootball playing youth,” he said.
Lobo said the mould of the statue isready. “It is an actual-size statue as tallas late Maradona,” the minister said,adding that the 350-kg statue is part ofthe state government’s initiative toencourage football culture.
Lobo said a statue of another footballlegend Cristiano Ronaldo is also beingprepared which will be installed inNorth district of the state. — PTI
GOA SET TO INSTALLMARADONA STATUE
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 26: A dayafter Diego Maradona died of heartattack in Buenos Aires, the Kerala gov-ernment on Thursday announced atwo-day mourning in the state’s sportssector and appealed to everyone in thefraternity to join as a mark of tribute.
Considered the greatest footballer ofall time alongside Brazil's Pele, theArgentine player had a great fan follow-ing in the football crazy southern state.
Announcing the mourning, statesports minister E. P. Jayarajan said thedemise of Maradona has saddened foot-ball fans around the world. “In Keralaalso, lakhs of fans could not believe hisdeparture,” he said.
“There is no cancellation of any eventor anything like that as part of themourning announced in the sports sec-tor. It is just an appeal to the generalpublic, sports buffs and those in thesports fraternity to mourn the death ofthe legendary footballer," a staff in theminister's office said.
However, no sporting events arescheduled due to Covid-19, he added.
— PTI
KERALA DECLARES2-DAY MOURNING
Country mourns death of favourite son Maradona
In this photo released by ArgentinasPresidency, the coffin with the remainsof Diego Maradona lies in state insidethe presidential palace as mourners filepast in Buenos Aires, Argentina, onThursday. — AP
People react as they leave the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after pay-ing tribute to football legend Diego Maradona’s coffin. — AFP
DIEGOMARADONA
DATE OF BIRTH:
October 30, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
DATE OF DEATH:
November 25, 2020
PLACE OF DEATH:
Tigre, Argentina
HEIGHT: 1.65m
PLAYING CAREER
� Argentinos Juniors (1976-81)
� Boca Juniors (1981-82)
� Barcelona (ESP/1982-84)
� Napoli (ITA/1984-91)
� Sevilla (ESP/1992-93)
� Newell’s Old Boys (1993)
� Boca Juniors (1995-97)
IINNTTLLCCAAPPSS:: 91
IINNTTLLGGOOAALLSS:: 34
(1977-94)
Position: attackingmidfielder/playmaker
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | FRIDAY | 27 NOVEMBER 2020
Honours� FIFA World Cup winner (1986)
� FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (1986)
� UEFA Cup winner (1989)
� Italian champion (1987, 1990)
� Argentine champion (1981)
� Spanish Super Cup (1983)
� Spanish Cup (1983)
� Italian Cup (1987)
� Italian Super Cup (1990)
� Top scorer in Italy (1988),Argentina (1979, 1980)
� FIFA Player of the Century (2000)
Coaching career� Textil Mandiyu (1994)
� Racing Club (1995)� Argentina (2008-2010)
� Al Wasl (UAE/2011-12)� Al-Fujairah (UAE/2017-18)
� Dorados (MEX/2018-19)� Gimnasia Esgrima La Plata (2019-20)
A LIFE IN 10KEY DATES
From his birth in1960 to Argentina’sWorld Cup triumph
in 1986 and his positivedrug test at the 1994finals — here are 10 keydates in the colourful lifeof Diego Maradona.
OCTOBER 30, 1960:Maradona is born inLanus, to the south ofBuenos Aires. The son ofDiego Maradona andDelma Franco, he wasone of seven children.
OCTOBER 20, 1976:Makes his debut inArgentina’s top flight forBuenos Aires sideArgentinos Juniors, justbefore his 16th birthday.He went on to win hisfirst cap for Argentina inFebruary 1977, selectedby coach Cesar LuisMenotti for a 5-1 winagainst Hungary. His firstgoal for Argentina camein a 3-1 win over Scotlandin Glasgow in 1979.
SEPTEMBER 7, 1979:Wins the World YouthChampionship, scoringthe third goal asArgentina beat the SovietUnion 3-1 in the final inTokyo.
JUNE 13, 1982:Maradona takes part in aWorld Cup match for thefirst time as the holderslose 1-0 to Belgium in theopening game at the tour-nament in Spain.
JUNE 22, 1986:Scores his two legendarygoals against England inthe World Cup quarter-final in Mexico, the“Hand of God” and thenhis stunning high-speedslalom that was laternamed “Goal of theCentury” by FIFA.Argentina went on to winthe trophy, beating WestGermany 3-2 in the final.
JULY 8, 1990:Captains Argentina to a1-0 defeat against WestGermany in the WorldCup final in Rome.
JUNE 25, 1994:Skippers Argentina to a2-1 win over Nigeria atthe World Cup in theUnited States. After thematch he tests positivefor ephedrine and is sus-pended for 15 months. Hehad already been sus-pended for 15 months forcocaine use in his Napolidays. Maradona retiredfrom playing in 1997.
NOVEMBER 4, 2008:Becomes coach ofArgentina, leading themto the 2010 World Cup inSouth Africa. Eliminatedin the quarterfinals byGermany.
NOVEMBER 3, 2020:Four days after his 60thbirthday, Maradonaundergoes brain surgeryon a blood clot.
NOVEMBER 25, 2020:Dies of a heart attack athome in the BuenosAires.
— AFP
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Sydney, Nov. 26: India arepromising to play “hard,aggressive” cricket whenthey emerge from coron-avirus quarantine to faceAustralia in a blockbusterlimited-over series begin-ning in Sydney on Friday.
The first of three ODIs,followed by threeTwenty20s next week,comes after the visitorshad to endure wranglingover quarantine require-ments and an outbreak ofthe virus in Melbourne,which delayed confirma-tion of the tour until justweeks ago.
Virat Kohli’s squad havebeen in isolation sincetheir arrival a fortnightago, although they havebeen allowed to train with-
in a bio-secure bubble.It has been an equally odd
build-up for Aaron Finch’sAustralia, with the likes ofDavid Warner, Steve Smithand Pat Cummins, whoplayed in the IndianPremier League, alsoundergoing the mandatory14 days of quarantine,which ended Thursday.
The lack of internationalcricket this year makes ithard to determine form,although Australia headinto the white-ball serieson the back of beating 50-over world championsEngland in September.
India haven’t playedtogether since a tour ofNew Zealand in February,when they clinched theTwenty20 series but were
whitewashed 3-0 in theODIs.
But they can take solacefrom winning their lastTest and ODI series inAustralia two summers
ago, although Smith andWarner were banned forball-tampering.
India have separatesquads for the one-dayersand T20s, both led by Kohli,but without Rishabh Pant,an explosive batsman whobecame a viral sensationon India’s 2018-19 tour withhis banter behind thestumps.
Injured star opener RohitSharma and fast-bowlerIshant Sharma are alsomissing.
Shikhar Dhawan is likelyto open the innings, poten-tially alongside MayankAgarwal with wicketkeep-er Rahul pushed down theorder.
The potent combinationof Mohammed Shami and
Jasprit Bumrah will spear-head a dangerous paceattack on expected livelypitches, with all six white-ball games either at theSydney Cricket Ground orthe Manuka Oval inCanberra.
Langer may pick highly-rated young in-form all-rounder Cameron Green,who was a surprise inclu-sion, but will largely stickwith the side that beatEngland in September,minus the injured MitchMarsh and with Smithreturning after missing theseries with concussion.
All-rounders GlennMaxwell and MarcusStoinis will complementthe four frontline bowlers.
— AFP
Six Pak players testpositive for Covid
India take on Oz in top ODI clashWellington, Nov. 26: Sixof Pakistan’s squad testedpositive for Covid-19, hostsNew Zealand Cricket saidon Thursday, throwingpreparations for their five-match tour into turmoiland causing a scare in acountry that has largelyeradicated the virus.
The squad’s “exemptionto train while in managedisolation has been put onhold until investigationshave been completed,” thegoverning body said,adding that the six positiveplayers would be movedinto strict quarantine.
New Zealand’s ministryof health said 53 teammembers passed a symp-
tom check before leavingLahore and were tested onarrival in Christchurch onNovember 24.
— PTI
���� The first of threeODIs, followed bythree Twenty20snext week, comesafter the visitors hadto endure wranglingover quarantinerequirements and anoutbreak of the virusin Melbourne, whichdelayed confirmationof the tour until justweeks ago.
Uncontrollable Argentina cries
In this photo taken on December 6, 2008, Diego Maradona gestures as he attends a felic-itation programme at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. — AFP
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