2SC RECALLS ORDER ALLOWING SALE OF BS IV VEHICLES POST LOCKDOWN

10BuRNS, DENLy HOLD ENGLISH FORT AS WI STRIKE EARLy

6uS PRESENCE IN SOuTH CHINA SEA: IS CHINA BEING ENCIRCLED?

INDIA HAS DONE BEST TO RESPOND TO CHINESE AGGRESSION: POmPEONew York: India has done its best to respond to China’s con-frontation and the world must unite to act on Beijing’s pattern of aggressive behaviour seen in Ladakh, Bhutan and around Asia, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on wednesday.

“The Indians have done their best to respond” to China’s “incred-ibly aggressive action,” which fits a pattern, Pompeo said in washington. He said that he had spoken to external Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar several times about the Chinese ag-gression in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control last month.

ED SEIzES NIRAV mODI’S RS 329 CR ASSETS IN INDIA, uAE AND uKNew DeLHI: The enforcement Directorate (eD) has confiscated fugitive diamantaire Nirav Mo-di’s rs 329.66 crore properties in Mumbai, rajasthan, the UAe and the Uk. The movable and immovable assets were seized under the Fugitive economic of-fenders Act (FeoA) 2018, the eD said on wednesday. The assets included four flats at Samudra Mahal, the iconic building in South Mumbai’s worli, one seaside farm house and land in Alibaug, one wind mill in Jais-almer, one flat in London and some flats in the UAe, shares and bank deposits.

WHO TEAm TO VISIT BEIjING TO TRACE COVID ORIGIN: CHINABeIJING: China said on wednesday that a team of world Health organization (wHo) will visit the country to trace the origin of Covid-19. The disease, which originated in wuhan city of China, has killed over 500,000 people in the world and cases and deaths are increasing by the day. “After consultation, the Chinese government has agreed that the wHo will send a team of experts to Beijing to trace the origin of Covid-19,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

09 july 2020 | Issue 66 | new delhi

In a move that will raise the political tempera-ture, the Ministry of

Home Affairs (MHA) has announced investigation into alleged violations of in-come tax and foreign dona-tion rules against the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the Ra-jiv Gandhi Charitable Trust

and the Indira Gandhi Me-morial Trust.

The move came after the BJP led by its president J.P. Nadda raised several ques-tions about the funding of the three trusts, especially by the Chinese embassy. An inter-ministerial commit-tee has been constituted on behalf of the MHA, which will look into the funding of these foundations, and the alleged violations commit-

ted by them. This committee will be headed by the Spe-cial Director, Enforcement Directorate.

A spokesperson of the Union Home Ministry tweeted about this on Wednesday. The tweet read, “The Union Home Ministry has constituted an inter-ministerial commit-tee, which will look into the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Rajiv Gandhi Chari-

table Trust and Indira Gan-dhi Memorial Trust.”

This investigation will look into the violation of the rules of PMLA Act, Income Tax Act, FCRA Act. The com-mittee will be headed by the Special Director of ED.

The issue came into the limelight during the ongoing tension between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), when Con-gress leader Rahul Gandhi

launched a scathing attack on the Central government. The BJP hit back saying that the RGF had received fund-ing from China.

Apart from this, the BJP alleged that the UPA govern-ment also gave money to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund which was created for the coun-try. The BJP alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation

had received funds from the PMNRF till 2008 dur-ing the tenure of the UPA government. The BJP also alleged that the Foundation took huge sums of money from several corporates and in return, the government awarded several contracts. The BJP also said that in the UPA regime, pressure was allegedly put on SAIL, GAIL, SBI, etc., to give mon-ey to the Rajiv Gandhi

Foundation. The Rajiv Gandhi Founda-

tion was started on 21 June 1991 in the name of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gan-dhi to fulfil his vision and dreams. According to the Foundation’s website, from 1991 to 2009, it worked in the areas of health, educa-tion, science and technology, women and child develop-ment, disability cooperation,

HOmE mINISTRy WILL PROBE THREE TRuSTS OF GANDHI FAmILy

Monsoon mayhemA woman walks carrying an umbrella during heavy rain showers, in Mumbai

on Wednesday. The city has been witnessing heavy rainfall since Friday. ANI

ALLEGED VIOLATIONS

FARCICAL TRIAL

RISING FAST FASHION FIRSTALL’S NOT WELL

Kulbhushan coerced: India on Pak’s claim that he refused case review

India records 7.42 lakh Covid cases, Health Minister to chair GoM meet today

SWAROVSKI-STuDDED FACE mASKS A NEW RAGE IN MuMbai’s Zaveri baZaar 

Patel, Priyanka episodes raise question mark on Congress’ functioning

An inter-ministerial panel has been announced to investigate alleged violations of income tax and foreign donation rules against Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and two others.

Pakistan’s claim that Indian national Kulbhushan Yadav

— sentenced to death by its military court — has refused review of his case and wants to appeal for mercy, is proof of its “reticence” to imple-ment the order of the In-ternational Court of Justice in “letter and spirit”, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. Calling Pakistan’s move a continuation of the four-year-long “farce”, it said that Pakistan’s statement “seeks to mask its continuing reti-cence”.

Pakistan has claimed that captured Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav has re-fused to file a review petition and has decided to go ahead

with his pending mercy plea. “On June 17, 2020, Indian na-tional Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a petition for review and reconsid-eration of his sentence and conviction. Exercising his legal right he refused to file a petition for review and re-consideration of his sentence and conviction,” Pakistan Additional Attorney Gen-eral Ahmed Irfan claimed on Wednesday.“Kulbhushan Jadhav has been sentenced to execu-tion through a farcical trial. He remains under custody of Pakistan’s military. He has clearly been coerced to refuse to file a review in his case,” the MEA said. “In a brazen attempt to scuttle even the inadequate remedy under the Ordinance, Paki-stan has obviously coerced

Jadhav to forego his rights to seek an implementation of the judgment of the ICJ,” it added.As per Pakistan media re-

ports, Pakistan government has offered second consular access to Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017.

Following the develop-ment, India approached the International Court of Jus-tice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.

In July last year, the ICJ said Pakistan must review the death sentence of Kulb-hushan Jadhav, and it should remain suspended mean-while. The court also agreed

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is scheduled to chair a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the coronavirus situa-tion in the country on Thursday, as India records 7.42 lakh Co-vid-19 cases. The last high-level meeting was held on 27 June to review, monitor and evaluate the current situation.

India has so far recorded 7,42,417 cases, which includes 20,642 deaths, while 482 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat have reported the highest number of cases. Dur-

ing the last 24 hours, a total of 16,883 Covid-19 patients have been cured, taking the total tally of recovered cases to 4,56,830 so far. The rate of recovery among Covid-19 patients continues to in-crease over the days it currently stands at 61.53% percent.

In Maharashtra, a total of 6,603 new Covid-19 cases and 198 deaths were reported in the last twenty-four hours, tak-ing the total number of cases to 2,21,679 with 91,065 active cases in the state. Meanwhile, Mumbai recorded 1,147 cases, taking the tally to 87,856. The Maharashtra government has also decided to allow markets and shops to re-main open for an additional two

hours from July 9 pm, in non-containment zones. Hotels can re-open with 33% occupancy.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal has directed Delhi Health Secretary to share a detailed analysis of factors be-hind all Covid-19 deaths in the na-tional capital in the last two weeks. Delhi registered 2,033 new Cov-id-19 cases in the last twenty-four hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,04,864. With 48 deaths, the death toll reached 3,213. The tally of recovered/cured patients has reached to 78,199, currently 23,452 active cases are in Delhi. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Kejriwal in-

THIS IS THE INITIAL STEP IN THE PATH TOWARDS THE COuNTRy'S FINEST DAILy NEWSPAPER.

SHARPEST KID ON THE BLOCK

top of the day

P2 P2

The ongoing Covid-19 pan-demic has made masks man-datory for the world. An es-sential item for outside, it has taken the fashion world by storm and has re-invented itself as the “it” thing. From printed chic ones to those carrying messages of pro-tests, masks are being used to boost creative instinct in these corona times.

The latest entry into the fashion and accessory world is the gem-studded face mask that is being made in Mumbai’s posh Za-veri Bazaar. Decorated with Swarovski crystals, it gives out the perfect example of pandemic shaping fashion

sensibilities.  This special mask protects

one person in best way as Alma Care’s Virakti Kothari a fashion expert says, “We have selected this final ma-terial almost after testing and trying 214 clothes. It’s cotton hosiery material with 95.9% filter efficiency has increased Oxygen carrying capacity, its soft stretchable fabric for extra comfort and provides clarity of speech.”

This elegant and quirky mask aims to fulfill PM Nar-endra Modi’s Aatmanirbhar campaign by advocating “vo-cal for local” approach. Head of Alma Care Kaustubh Mehta says, “We are Glocal as we have an Indian prod-uct with a global approach.” 

Last week, two incidents rocked the Congress and the “First Family”, both. First, the questioning of Congress par-ty’s treasurer Ahmed Patel by Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) at his New Delhi residence and second, eviction notice to party’s general secretary and inter-im president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with regard to a government bungalow allotted to her in Lutyens Delhi.

The Congress’ official stands in both the cases raised many eyebrows about internal functioning of the party. The party neither released any official statement nor was seen standing with the main crisis manager and close con-

fidant of Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, as he was left on his own to fight both legally and politically against the ED’s action in connection with a money-laundering case involving Sterling Biotech Ltd, a company promoted by the absconding Sandesara brothers.

On the contrary, when the Urban Development Ministry served a notice to Priyanka for vacating the Lutyens’ bungalow within a month, the Con-gress official spokespersons reacted within no time and accused the Nar-endra Modi government for “trickery and treachery” for its “manipulative at-titude” in the name of “changed” threat perception. Twitter was flooded with statements and comments by almost every veteran and senior leader. All

AishvAryA jAinNew DeLHI

P2

P2

P2

urvAshi KhonAMUMBAI

Ajit MAindolANew DeLHI

our CorrEsPondEntNew DeLHI

rAKEsh KuMAr singh & suMit dubEyNew DeLHI

While Ahmed Patel is left to fight ED’s action on his own, Priyanka gets party support on eviction notice.

were vehe-mently critical of the Centre’s move in asking Priyan-

ka to vacate a government bungalow which she occu-pied about 23 years ago.

It is worth mentioning that the party’s official spokes-person reacted to the ED’s action against Ahmed Patel after a couple of days only when the media asked for it repeatedly. Rahul Gandhi chose to keep silent in this case and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took several days to respond.

The probe agency ques-tioned 70-year-old Patel for three days – 27 June, 30 June and 4July — in different ses-sions for a total of 27 hours at his residence since the latter refused to go to the ED office citing Covid-19 guidelines. At the end of the questioning by the ED, Patel himself had to face television crews waiting outside his official residence. Patel told journalists that it was a political vendetta and harassment against him and his family.

Only four senior leaders, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal and for-mer Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Singh Hooda, came to the rescue of Ahmed Patel.

On the other hand, the hue and cry made by almost ev-ery Congress leader on Pri-yanka’s bungalow issue has left several questions unan-swered. If Priyanka would

have vacated the house at the time of SPG’s withdrawal, it would add to the Congress’ old narrative of “sacrifices by Gandhis”, sources say. It is a laid-down procedure that Priyanka has lost the right to have Lutyens’ bungalow as neither has she any position in the government nor is she an elected public representa-tive, sources add.

Moreover, if all is well in the party, any Congress MP could have offered his/her official house for Priyanka in central Delhi. Now the party leaders are saying that Pri-yanka will shift to Lucknow, while her close ones say that she will handle the politics of Uttar Pradesh from Delhi itself. She will only use the Lucknow house as a base for meeting with party workers.

This “internal drama” that unfolded in the last 10 days reflected badly on the party’s official set up consist-ing mostly of Rahul Gandhi loyalists.

If a leader of the stature of Ahmed Patel is abandoned like this, party sources say, it has raised several serious questions about the Con-gress’ present and future leadership. Senior Con-gress leaders are not react-ing openly, but in private conversation, they admit that they are not happy with the internal handling of the party affairs. Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to attack Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi directly on issues of national security has not been perceived as a wise move by several senior leaders.

The Supreme Court has re-versed its 27 March order which allowed sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles after the end of lockdown. The apex court came down heavily on the Federation of Auto-mobile Dealers’ Association of India (FADA) for selling more BS-IV vehicles than allowed by the court. The court held that its order will protect only those vehicles whose details have been correctly uploaded on the e-VAHAN portal, noting that data of more than 17 thou-sand sold vehicles wasn’t available on the portal.

The top court observed that it can’t allow violation of spirit of its order by al-lowing sale even after the end of lockdown. Court also ordered that claims made by 4 states be verified if they are registered on e-VAHAN por-tal or not.

FADA contended they

sought registration of ve-hicles sold before March 31. They had submitted that on March 31, their member dealers had sold 94,000 BS-IV vehicles and non-mem-bers had sold over 1.3 lakh BS-IV vehicles, although the top court had allowed sale of only 1.09 lakh vehicles. On March 27, SC allowed sale of unsold BS-IV inven-tory for 10 days post end of lockdown, provided they get registered within 10 days of sale. The interim order was passed in view of FADA cit-ing Force Majeure.

Home ministry WiLL probe tHree trusts of GandHi famiLy

aLLeGed VioLations

farcicaL triaL

risinG fast

fasHion first missinG in action

aLL’s not WeLL

HiGH aLert in biHar

concern

Good Work

reLief setback for auto deaLers

kuLbHusHan coerced: india on pak’s cLaim tHat He refused case reVieW

2 news t h e da i ly gua r d i a n0 9 j u ly 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

In wake of the ongoing coronavi-rus situation in the national capital and to prevent death due to infec-tion, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday asked the state’s health secretary to give a detailed report on causes of deaths here in the last two weeks. Mean-while, according to a report, the number of deaths due to corona is constantly declining in Delhi.

 The Delhi government is con-stantly taking steps so that the death toll in the capital can be mi-nimised. In the meantime, there has been a decrease in the death figures here in the last few days. According to data of 1-7 July, 397 deaths occurred due to the coro-navirus during this period. On 1 July, 61 deaths were reported from Corona. Reports of 61 deaths were also reported on 2 July. The num-bers improved further and on 3 July, 59 deaths were reported.  55

died on 4 July and 63 on 5 July. The last two days i.e. 6 and 7 July reported 48 and 50 deaths re-spectively. In the month of June, there were 125 deaths in one day in Delhi. 

According to government fig-ures, total deaths due to Corona on April 4 in Delhi were 6. The disease progressed and the death toll increased. After a month, on 4 May, the death toll reached 64. The situation worsened within a month and on 4 June, the death

tally here increased by 10 times and the numbers reached 650. Situation went beyond control in Delhi and in the month of July, 3004 died of the deadly virus. Af-ter the government raked up its efforts recently, Covid infections took 8 days to cross the next thou-sand mark which is a good sign.

 After 4 months of the coronavi-rus infections in Delhi, the total death tally in Delhi stands at 3165 (as of 7 July). The first thousand deaths were reported within three

months but the infection rate picked up soon. On 19 June, 2035 people died and within 15 days, the numbers crossed the 3,000 mark.

During the months of May and June, the Delhi government also started incorporating old cases of death in the health bulletin. These were the cases of death which were being recorded in the official figures by the government after being approved by the Death Au-dit Committee

Kejriwal seeks report on causes of Covid deaths sc recaLLs order aLLoWinG saLe of bs iV VeHicLes post LockdoWn

assistance to the physically handicapped, Panchayati Raj,

natural resource manage-ment, etc. In 2010, the foun-dation decided to focus on education.

Sonia Gandhi is the presi-dent of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Suman Dubey, Rahul Gandhi,

Shekhar Raha, Prof M.S. Swaminathan, Ashok Gan-guly, Sanjeev Goenka and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also trustees of the founda-tion.

On the issue, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the RGF has nothing to fear as the government is just trying to bring down the Opposition. He said, “Please ask any-thing you want to, we are ready to answer. Not a single question is being asked to

blue-eyed organisations like Vivekanand Foundation, India Foundation, RSS and Overseas Friends of BJP which received much higher quantum money.”

Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi also tweeted, saying: “Mr Modi believes the world is like him. He thinks everyone has a price or can be intimi-dated. He will never under-stand that those who fight for the truth have no price and cannot be intimidated.”

w i t h I n -dia’s stand that Pa k i st a n h ad violated the Vi-

enna convention by denying consular access to him after his conviction in a “farcical” closed trial.

Pakistan had alleged that Jadhav — a retired Indian Navy officer — was a senior Indian intelligence officer who entered the country illegally to carry out acts of sabotage at the time of his ar-rest. With agency inputs.

augurated a 500-bed Covid-19care centre at t h e C o m m o n-

wealth Games village in Delhi.Haryana reported 691

new Covid-19 cases and three deaths today, taking the total number of cases to 18,690 and death toll to 282. The number of active cases stands at 4,302. Bihar’s Patna will remain under lockdown from July 10 to July 16 after the state reported its high-est single-day spike of 749 Covid-19 cases. The state’s count has risen to 13,274.

Gujarat reports the high-est single-day spike with a total of 783 new coronavirus cases reported, taking the total number of cases in the state to 38,419. The death toll reached 1,995 after 16 fatali-

ties were confirmed. The tally includes 27,313 discharged/cured and 9,111 active cases.

Odisha recorded a total of 527 new coronavirus cases and 6 deaths, taking the to-tal number of cases to 10,624. The tally includes 7,006 recovered and 3,557 active cases. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh reached a tally of 16,036 cases after 409 new cases and 7 deaths were re-ported, taking the total num-ber of cases to and deaths to 629. Active cases stand at 3,420 in the state.

West Bengal reported 986 new coronavirus cases and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 24,823 and death toll to 827. Active cases stand at 7,705. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

said that her state adminis-tration has imposed a total shutdown in containment zones only for seven days. The chief minister however, said the shutdown will be extended after reviewing the situation in the zones.

Over the past 24 hours Tamil Nadu recorded as many as 3,756 persons tested positive for coronavirus in-fection, taking the total tally to 122,350. The total number of Covid-19 patients who died over the past 24-hours was 64 taking the death toll in the state to 1,700. Kerala reported a total of 301 new cases of coronavirus of this 99 from abroad, 95 from other states and 90 through contacts. The tally includes 107 recovered and 2,605 ac-tive cases.

Since past three

months Zaveri B a z a a r w a s closed with no

employment opportunities for labourers and with this new trend, the makers hope for providing employment to workers. “With respect to the Unlock 2.0 procedures initiated pan-India, this

product truly is the need of the hour for everyone look-ing for elegance at every season and occasion in the times to come. It enables one to stay protected in style. With designs ranging from unicorn to dolphins, we are seeing huge surge in demands. Out of almost 40,000 masks in produc-tion, 35,000 are sold already,

with price of Rs 2,190 rupees with GST,» add Mehta and Kothari.

This studded mask has received great customer re-views with fashion influenc-ers being the biggest target audience. As covering the face becomes a necessity, the fashion world moulds itself to suit the needs of the population.

As fear of Covid-19 infections continues to haunt Hyderabad, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has confined himself to his farmhouse for the last 10 days. Meanwhile, political activist Ch Naveen Ku-mar has filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking his whereabout. KCR was last seen in former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s anniversary celebrations.

 In the meantime, several youths protested in front of his home-cum-camp office Pragathi Bhavan and displayed placards which read «Where is KCR? He is my CM». They criticised him and said that it was not the time to take a rest in a farmhouse when there are lots of medical problems in the state. Apart from this, concerns and speculations were also raised on KCR’s health.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president and Malkajgiri MP, Re-vanth Reddy tweeted that the state govern-ment should issue a health bulletin to remove

fears of the people about the chief minister’s health.

The Opposition also took a jibe at CM’s prolonged absence from the public view and called the entire episode ‘a drama’ to gain public sympathy. Senior Congress leader G. Narayana Reddy, while addressing the press said, «CM KCR neither addressed a press conference nor held any review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan since June 29. We are also concerned about him and his health and pray to God that he stays in good health. I doubt he is hiding in his farmhouse for sympathy. Why such a drama?”

Amid this entire political drama and mud-slinging, the coronavirus situation in Telanga-na is worsening every day. Almost every third test in Hyderabad is now turning positive. The state is only testing symptomatic and critical patients and so far, has conducted around 2 lakh tests only.

Fear of coronavirus is gripping residents of Telangana and according to senior journalist Ankababu, around 25 lakh people of Hyder-abad have left the city.

Even as the threat of flood looms large across Bihar and a high alert has been sounded across several districts, Nepal has threatened to break the embank-ment over the Lal Bakiya river in Balu-wa Guwabari area of East Champaran.

Nepal has been claiming that the land from pillar number 347/5 to 347/7 be-longs to it and as such, the CDO (equiv-alent of district magistrate) of Rotahat district in Nepal, Basudev Dhimre, has asked the Indian authorities to remove the embankment as it falls in their ter-ritory or they will break it.

The Bihar government had started

flood-fighting work along the western embankment and on 30 May, the Nepali authorities forcibly stopped the work near the Baluwa Guwabari area.

The SSB jawans stationed in the area were also attacked by people from Ne-pal. Now even as most of the work has been completed by the Indian authori-ties, the Nepali government has stopped work in a stretch of 500m which has given rise to fear of floods. Several areas

in East Champaran were submerged in the swelling waters of Lal Bakiyariver in 2017 when the river had breached its embankment at almost the same place. Now the villagers are living in fear as a stretch of 500m where no work has been allowed by Nepali authorities re-mains highly vulnerable with embank-ment caving in at several places.

The Bihar government has been maintaining the embankment which was constructed during the British era. It’s only his year that Nepal has raised objections on the maintenance of the embankment. The strengthening of the entire embankment has been com-pleted but a stretch of 500m remain vulnerable.

In light of increasing Co-vid-19 cases in Bihar, the Patna administration has ordered a complete lock-down of a week starting

from 10 July to 16 July. The move comes after the state on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day spike of 749 Covid-19 cases, tak-ing the total tally to 13,274 cases. Of these 9338 people have recovered.

Gopalganj registered 61 new cases while Begusarai registered 67 new cases and Bhagalpur registered 50 new cases.

A five-day lockdown has also been imposed in Bhagal-pur from 9-13 July. 

There has been a sudden spurt in coronavirus cases in recent times. On Monday the niece of Bihar Chief min-ister Nitish Kumar tested Co-vid-19 positive and is under-going treatment at AIIMS. A BJP MLA too tested positive.

An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has been trying to help people in his own way to fight these difficult times arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Karuna Sagar, Director Modernisation, Bureau of Police Research & Develop-ment (BPR&D), Delhi, has been supporting the people of Jehanabad (Bihar) from where he belongs to, through different means, be it food items or masks or sanitizers.

“It’s like going back to my roots. Jehanabad has been my ‘karm bhoomi’. Though I have been involved in so-cial activities there for a long time, I thought I should do more during these difficult times. I got in touch with the District Magistrate (DM) and the Red Cross Society to execute relief measures,” he said while speaking to The Daily Guardian.

Besides distributing masks,

Sagar, with the help of Reli-ance Foundation, got 400 food packets, containing dry ration, distributed in Jehanabad. At his initiative, Star Health Insurance, Chen-nai, gave Rs 4.12 lakh for dis-tribution of 500 packets of food grains in Jehanbad.  

Sagar, a 1991-batch IPS of-ficer of Tamil Nadu cadre was born in Dhamaul village, un-der Dhamarua block of Pat-na district, which is on the Patna-Gaya Road and close to Jehanabad. While he was posted in Tamil Nadu, he got a temple constructed by arti-san of Madurai in the South Indian style.

He has been engaged in different social activities like distribution of clothes and blankets in winters. Dur-ing floods, he arranged two containers of relief materials which were distributed to the people through the Red Cross Society. He is also arranging kits for carpenters who have returned to Jehanabad dur-ing the lockdown.

india records 7.42 LakH coVid cases, HeaLtH minister to cHair Gom meet today

sWaroVski-studded face masks a neW raGe in ZaVeri baZaar

cm confines HimseLf to farmHouse as coVid cases rise in teLanGana

pateL, priyanka episodes raise question mark on conGress’ functioninG

Nepal wants river embankment removed, flood threats loom large

seVen-day LockdoWn in patna as city Witnesses massiVe coVid spike

IPS officer helps people fight Covid-19

Ashish sinhANEW DELHI

shiv PujAn jhAPatNa

shiv PujAn jhAPatNa

nAvtAn KumArNEW DELHI

LoKeswArA rAoHyDErabaD

Ajeet srivAstAvANEW DELHI

The Bihar govt had started flood-fighting work along the western embankment.

A “third wave of de-mocracy”, as Sam-uel J. Huntington

described it, began to sweep the world in the mid-1970s. Of the 97 democracies (2018 figures) across the globe, a vast majority (72%) have been established only since 1976. In the same year both Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), the old guards of the People’s Republic of China, passed away. Yet, the world’s most populated nation has so far defied the global sweep of democracy. The Tiananmen Square protests (June 1989), which preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall by a few months failed to have a similar dom-ino effect. The breakup of the USSR, the original inspira-tion behind Mao’s People’s Republic, in 1991 also left China underwhelmed.

Mao proclaimed the Peo-ple’s Republic on 1 October 1949, shortly after the civil war had ended on the main-land in complete victory for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), alternatively called Jiang Jieshi, fled mainland to For-mosa (Taiwan) across the Taiwan Strait, where he relo-cated the headquarters of his Guomindang (or Kuoming-

tang: the Chinese Nationalist Party). The fighting between the Guomindang and the CCP had continued since 1927. At one time, faced with the pros-pect of total annihilation, in their beleaguered heartland at Jiangxi (Kiangsi) province, the Communists had under-taken the Long March (16 October 1934 to 20 October 1935) trekking 9,000 km of dangerous countryside to Shaanxi (Shensi) province. Of the 85,000 communists fewer than 10,000 survived the perilous transit. For eight years between 1937 and 1945 the Guomindang and the CCP together resisted the Japanese invaders on China. Their uneasy alliance, however, collapsed after Japan capitu-lated during World War II in August 1945.

Mao, throughout the 1940s, had espoused a nebulous con-cept called “New Democracy”. It, according to him, broadly meant a coalition of “demo-cratic parties” and different socio-economic-cultural elements in the Chinese so-ciety under a democratic set up. Mao had tried to con-vince others that his “New Democracy” was more pro-found than liberal democracy practised in capitalist nations. However, whether adult suf-frage would be a part of it, he shrewdly chose not to reveal. The phase of “New Democ-racy”, if there was actually one ever, ended in 1954 when Mao declared “period of transition to socialism”, which implied a closer approximation of the Soviet system of the USSR.

A newly independent India, which adopted the world’s largest written Constitution on 26 November 1949, chose to trudge the path of parlia-

mentary democracy based on universal adult suffrage. Both the Asian countries were predominantly rural societies. They were the world’s two most populous nations, having a third of the global population be-tween them. Their adoption of two contrasting models of government was especially significant in the Cold War era. The “free world” as the Western democracies called themselves, did not fully ap-preciate the importance of Indian adopting democracy. When one-third of human kind had passed under com-munism after World War II, as US State Secretary John Foster Dulles rued, extending the coverage of democracy to one-third of mankind was no ordinary feat. India success-fully delivered on this consti-tutional promise in the first general elections (1951-52). The “free world” never ap-preciated this achievement enough. This was, no doubt, partly because of India’s pro-socialist foreign policy under Jawaharlal Nehru.

The “free world”, however, was dumb-founded when Mao proclaimed People’s Republic atop the Gates of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen Square) in Peking (now Bei-jing) on 1 October 1949. The US had till last backed Chiang Kai-shek, after the 1946 me-diation efforts by Gen Geroge C. Marshall failed. The US subsequently extended rec-ognition to Taiwan as the Re-public of China (ROC). They did not recognise the People’s Republic, and not before Feb-ruary 1972 did any US Presi-dent visit Peking. China had minimal presence in global affairs and commerce until Mao passed away and Deng Xiaoping assumed presiden-cy in 1978.

Why did India and China grow along two different trajectories — democracy and one-party rule respec-tively? One has to look at the conditioning effect of modern history. In India, the quest for representative govern-

ment goes back to the 19th century. Demand for elec-tions actually antedated the demand for independence. The Government of India Act, 1919 allowed for direct elections to legislature on lim-ited franchise. That was ten years before Indian National Congress actually passed the Purna Swaraj resolution in Lahore in 1929.

Though the revolutionary networks in India antedated the rise of Gandhian mass movement, there is not a single example of any revo-lutionary having physically targeted any Congressman on account of antipodal ideology. Rather, one sees examples to the contrary. Bhagat Singh, a revolution-ary with communist bent of mind, avenged himself upon a British police personnel for fatal lathi-charge upon Lala Lajpat Rai, a Congressman with Hindu Mahasabha leaning in 1928 (whom the revolutionary had once de-scribed as “Lost Leader”). When on 4 July 1943 Rash Behari Bose handed over the charge of Indian Inde-pendence League to Subhas Chandra Bose at Cathay The-atre, Singapore, the swelling crowd not only cheered the two Boses but also Gandhi, Nehru and Azad. Netaji Bose had named some regiments in his Azad Hind Fauz after Gandhi, Nehru and Maulana Azad. What catholicity!

The Indian democracy gave space even to communism notwithstanding the latter’s doctrinal hatred towards democracy. When the Com-munist Party of India (CPI) won the elections to the Ker-ala Assembly in 1957, it was for the first time, anywhere in the world, that a commu-nist party came to power by the dint of ballot rather than bullets. The West had to wait for its Kerala moment until 3 November 1970 when Salva-dor G. Allende became the President of Chile, the first Marxist politician to head a liberal democracy.

China, by contrast, failed to

institutionalise the culture of political pluralism and com-petition. A phase of com-petitive politics had begun in China following the abdi-cation of its last emperor in 1911. During December 1912 and January 1913 elections were held for the Senate and House of Representa-tives. The presidential and vice-presidential elections were held in October 1913. However, due to political circumstances that developed like the rise of communism, campaign against warlords, etc, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek fully consolidated one-party rule of Guomin-dong in 1928. He sought to liquidate the communists, leading to the Agrarian Rev-olutionary War (1927-1937). In an irony of fate, 20 years later, the CPP drove Chiang’s government out from main-land China. While meeting US President Richard Nixon in Peking in February 1972, Mao had sardonically stated that his “friendship” with Chiang Kai-shek was longer than America’s.

An understated factor in the rise of multi-party democ-racy in India and its failure in China is the role of free institutions. The British had bequeathed to independent India apolitical armed forces, non-partisan bureaucracy, independent judiciary, and a free press. They also built a rule of law, through an elabo-rate web of legislations. These are absolutely necessary to support the superstructure of democracy. Otherwise, the constitutional mandate of a democratic legislature would have remained a dead letter. An independent India instituted a constitutionally-guaranteed independent Elec-tion Commission, a model for the rest of Commonwealth and new democracies.

In China, by contrast, in-stitutions are not free and non-partisan. The CCP and government are tied like the Siamese twins. This is histori-cally because during the civil war and war with Japan, the

CCP had to perform the role of a state (like the Church in early medieval Europe after the destruction of Western Roman Empire by barbarian attacks). Today, a third of bu-reaucrats are CCP members. At higher levels the distinc-tion between party and the state blurs. At the local level the distinction is sharper, though the party can have more power than the local government. In some coun-ties/prefectures, both party and government offices can be housed in the same building. Even the judiciary and armed forces are influenced by party command.

It is this intertwining of the party and state that prevents growth of democracy. On 11 March 2018 National People’s Congress — the CCP’s rubber stamp legislature — approved changes in China’s constitu-tion by 2,958 to 2 votes to abol-ish term limits for Chairman Xi Jinping. Was it the actual reflection of Chinese people’s will? Even Mao would have been envious of such a man-date. He had to terminate the “Hundred Flowers Bloom” campaign (1956-57) when he realised to his dismay the ac-tual extent of CCP’s standing in the people.

If Xi is as popular as the vot-ing numbers suggest, why are curbs on journalists, lawyers and human rights activists on the increase? Is the Chinese regime afraid of criticism, and want to do with proxy ‘self-criticism’? The existence of one-party rule actually pro-motes more infighting, purges and corruption. It prevents the true growth of Chinese genius. A competitive poli-tics will give legitimate space to different shades of opinion, programme, and models of growth that people can choose from. The CPP can exist even then but as one of the politi-cal parties. This great wall against democracy must go in China. The writer is an author and inde-pendent researcher based in New Delhi. The ideas expressed herein are his personal.

Great Wall against democracy must go One-party rule has become anachronistic. China no longer has a justification to firewall democracy, 70 years after the People’s Republic was founded.

Covid-19 impaCt

CHiNESE RiddLE

Now that the disengagement process of Indian and Chi-nese “frontline” soldiers in certain areas of Ladakh has started, the question that arises is if India should rest on its “laurels”. Especially when experts are raising several questions about what India achieved in actual terms in the icy terrain of Galwan Valley and the adjoin-ing areas. In this context, the two statements issued by the two sides, India’s Ministry of External Affairs and China’s foreign ministry on the disengagement, make for interesting reading. Apart from the mutual assertion that “differences should not become disputes“, the tone and tenor of the statements couldn’t be more different. India talks about the need to maintain status quo and insists on “restoration of peace and tranquillity”. While the Chinese statement couldn’t be clearer about who the offender is: “The right and wrong of what recently happened at the Galwan Valley in the western sector of the China-India boundary is very clear. China will continue firmly safeguarding our territorial sovereignty as well as peace and tranquility in the border areas.” But of course, in spite of the bluster, the answer to the question, “did the Chinese blink?” is “yes”. Else there would not be a disengagement. But there is a contrar-ian view that the Chinese blinked not so much out of their wish to ensure that “differences do not become disputes”, but because they knew they would be unable to hold ground because the Galwan river was in spate as the monsoons had arrived. As for the question, if the disengagement means restoration of status quo ante—the way things were in April this year—there is no clear answer to it as yet. Questions are also being raised about the creation of a temporary buffer zone—on the Indian side of the LAC—between the two frontline troops. As this essentially means that Indian soldiers, for the next few weeks, will not be able to patrol the areas they were patrolling all these years, and that there is a possibility that China will make this the “new normal” and push its claim line deep inside Indian territory.

In short, it’s not yet time to uncork the champagne bottle. In 1962, it was three months after the disengage-ment at the Galwan valley that the India-China war started. Even without drawing lessons from history, it can be safely assumed that at the most this disengage-ment is a pause, a blip in China’s grand imperial plan to resurrect the Middle Kingdom. Lack of war does not mean peace, definitely not when the enemy is China. A border mechanism was put in place so that India and China could sort out their “differences” at the level of the commanders posted along the LAC, but this time that mechanism failed spectacularly and intervention was needed at the level of the NSA and Foreign Minister to agree on a mere 1-2 km pullback. This proves that China is more than eager to ratchet up the tension and will not climb down easily—in fact not at all—from its stated positions. So this is the time to not only be vigilant but also to keep hurting Chinese business interests. The app ban should not be revoked. India should not hand on a platter its metadata to China by allowing Huawei to roll out 5G. This is also the time to clearly speak out against China’s overreach in Hong Kong, Xinjian, Tibet. Now that India has shown some spine in taking on China, that spine should not get buried, as India once again tries to manage its differences with China and keep it happy. We may admit it or may not, but the differences between the two countries have long been disputes.Joyeeta Basu

perspectiveINDIA-CHINA

diffERENCES HavE bEComE diSputES

Education is one of the sectors which has been severely im-pacted by Covid-19. Perhaps the only silver lining in this crisis was online teaching, which some affluent schools and universities took re-course to using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Team, Google Classroom, etc, along with YouTube and

WhatsApp.Online teaching is now be-

ing seen and recommended in some quarters as the key to all the problems our edu-cation system is facing. Are these virtual classrooms a solution to all the educational needs of the country? Are they an adequate replacement for classroom instruction? Also, importantly, is online teach-ing compatible with the In-dian milieu? To answer these questions, it would be useful to understand what the objec-tives of education are.

According to the Indian thought tradition, education has three major objectives: personality and/or charac-ter building, social welfare, and creation and progress of knowledge. It is germane to

know to what extent online education achieves these goals.

In the traditional face-to-face classroom setting, apart from exchange of knowl-edge, an indirect process of personality building goes on simultaneously. Students inculcate values of mutual co-existence and cooperation, sharing and caring as well as a healthy tolerance for different viewpoints. Along with this, a good teacher often serves as a mentor to his students which can have a profound life-changing effect on them. Then, on a college campus the interactions among students of diverse socio-economic and subject backgrounds play a huge role in creating well-rounded individuals. Co-curricular activities, an essential part of any school and college experience, grind and polish one’s personality further towards perfection.

In the online method, such ‘personality education’ is simply impossible. Students may attain knowledge here, but psychologically they will be more close to a robot. In

this current age, where vir-tual world and social media is already isolating children and youth from society, on-line education will be a further obstacle rather than a con-tributor in the development of social skills or an equitable temperament. Personality and/or character building, the first goal of education, thus, will remain unfulfilled.

Welfare of society — the second purpose of educa-tion — is closely linked to the first. Individuals are the building blocks of society. If the bricks are messy, rough and ill-formed, the predica-ment of the building can only be imagined. In other words, if virtues like tolerance, col-lectivity and mutual co-exis-tence, vital for societal life and welfare, don’t evolve properly among people, even if a society prospers materialistically, it will have several anomalies giving rise to terrible social problems.

The third objective of educa-tion — creation and progress of knowledge — can also only be partially realised in the on-line method. Borrowing from

Kabirdas, the famous Hindi poet, in online learning, only “Kagad Lekhi”, that is, book-ish or theoretical knowledge, is possible, depriving students of “Aankhan Dekhi”, that is, practical and applied knowl-edge. Teaching of disciplines such as the sciences, technol-ogy and medicine without practical training can prove disastrous. The supposed virtual labs can’t be a proper substitute of the real ones, thus depriving the students of in-depth knowledge. Besides, there is the issue of duration and degree of attention in on-line mode, adversely affecting the learning and knowledge attainment.

In modern times, another goal of education is employ-ment. A pure online degree will not prove to be very effec-tive here either. In the current era of multi-tasking, social skills and practical compe-tence are valued higher than purely theoretical knowledge. An online education system will only reinforce social inequalities privileging the influential in the job market. Moreover, in India, getting

a proper online education in itself is problematic with weak Internet connectivity, computer in-accessibility or power disruptions, etc.

Further, assessing students’ knowledge online can be a tricky business. Online ex-aminations generally follow objective formats, where a comprehensive evaluation of students’ cognitive com-petence and their analytical and synthesising abilities is not possible. The ‘Open Book exams’, supposed to be a de-scriptive and conceptual one, to be conducted by University of Delhi has been mired in controversies.

Despite these limitations, if online education is being pro-moted as a panacea, it is due either to a half-baked under-standing, or a profit-making mindset that views education as business. It is not without reason that the biggest advo-cates of online education are private institutions, coaching institutes and some others with vested interests.

The academic world has largely been lukewarm and cautious in its response. In

fact, even in the US and Eu-rope, where digital literacy and reach is substantially higher and quality online learning platforms of pres-tigious universities like Harvard, MIT, Stanford like “edex”, “courser” or “udacity” exist, the common student dreams of getting a regular classroom education, despite the very expensive costs of higher education.

Should online education be rejected in toto, then? Not at all! In fact, online education is very beneficial for working professionals, self-employed or business people who have constraints in attending regu-lar courses. Online programs would help them in promo-tion or fetching newer jobs. For regular students too, pursuing traditional educa-tion, various online courses from around the world, as ‘add-on’ courses will fur-ther add and diversify their knowledge and skills. Ad-ditionally, for students from poor or remote backgrounds, not exposed to good teachers or rich libraries, online study material prepared by the best

institutions will be a boon. E-learning platforms designed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development from school to university level like “Swayam, Diksha, E-Basta, Shodhganga, Vidwan, e-PG Pathshala” are very useful.

Besides, online education will help reduce the demand and supply gap of higher education, catering for a substantial number of people who want to have a moder-ately good quality of higher education, just to gratify their socio-psychological needs. This eventually will enhance India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), which is currently less than 30%, in a cost-effective way.

During the ongoing pan-demic and lockdown, online teaching is undoubtedly a necessity. In normal circum-stances, however, it will prove to be most useful mainly as a supporting tool to traditional classroom education and not as an alternative.Niranjan Kumar is a Professor in the Department of Hindi, Univer-sity of Delhi. He has taught earlier in various US universities.

Why online education is not a viable option for students

3comment & analysisthe daily guardian09 july 2 020

new delhi

opinionPRIYADARSHI DUTTA

opinionNIRANjAN KUmAR

The much awaited Panchayati Raj elections in Andhra Pradesh are to be delayed further, at least by another five months. Amidst the pandemic, there are some legal tangles that are the polls. The Supreme Court said that it is going to hear in a couple of weeks a batch of pleas, including the one filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, challenging the High Court order which struck down an Ordinance curtailing the tenure of the State Election Com-missioner (SEC) from five to three years.

By reducing the tenure, Nimmagadda Ra-mesh Kumar was sacked; however, he was reinstated by the High Court.

On 29 May, the HC had struck down the Ordi-nance that was issued on 10 April. The HC has quashed the appointment of the retired judge of Madras High court V. Kanagaraj as the state election commissioner. However, the Andhra

government refused to restore Kumar as SEC again by saying he is a biased person.

Andhra BJP leader Lanka Dinakar told The Daily Guardian, “The Supreme Court has re-jected the argument of the Andhra govern-ment. CM Jaganmohan Reddy’s behaviour has exposed his mala fide intentions against the SEC for the last 6 months.”

On the issue, TDP spokesman Pattabhi said, “SC has refused to stay the order of the High Court and this implies Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to continue as the State Election Com-missioner. The government should further facilitate him to take the charge otherwise it tantamount to the contempt of court.”

The panchayat elections in Andhra were sup-posed to be held in March, But citing Covid-19, SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh has postponed the polls for six weeks. The government afterward removed him by the Ordinance, saying that he did not consult the government before making the decision.

AndhrA locAl body polls stuck in A legAl limbo, mAy not hAppen before novLokeswara raoHyDERABAD

Seven lakh children, brought illegally in the US by their fami-

lies before their 16th birth-days. Seven lakh children, looking for a better future or an escape from their previous living condi-tions. Seven lakh children, trapped in a ravaging cycle of restrictions. Restriction from colleges; restriction from jobs; restriction from housing. Restriction from the one thing they came chasing after: the Ameri-can Dream. If given the proper resources, these children could become assets, not only to them-selves and their fami-lies, but also to the entire American society. For this to happen, these children needed a little nudge. And like a dream come true, this nudge came in the form of an immigration policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Ar-rivals (DACA).

DACA protects these youth from deportation and provides them with a work permit for two years. DACA recipients are commonly referred to as Dreamers, which stems from the inspiration be-hind the DACA policy, the DREAM Act of 2001. President Barack Obama, being an avid supporter of the DREAM Act, con-verted it into an executive

order named DACA. Out of these 700,000 Dream-ers, almost 7,000 of them come from South Asian countries. In fact, almost 17,000 Indians in the US could apply for DACA, which puts India in the top ten countries for DACA eligibility. While DACA is stereotypically seen as a policy for Hispanic/La-tino individuals, East and South Asians also benefit tremendously from this nudge.

The eligibility for this programme is decided by a thorough screening to check if the recipient meets certain requirements. These include age, dura-tion of stay in the US, edu-cation, and behavioural requirements. To become a Dreamer, you need to have come to the US prior to your 16th birthday, you need to be in some type of schooling, and you cannot have been convicted of a felony or more than three misdemeanours. As Presi-dent Donald Trump once called them, the “hard-ened criminals” don’t have a single felony. Almost 90% of them don’t even have a single arrest. a HeLping HandSince its inauguration on 15 June 2012, over 900,000 immigrants have at one time fallen under DACA. It has allowed pre-viously undocumented

youth to get driving licenc-es, open bank accounts, and get jobs that provided financial stability. A study by a multitude of universi-ties and NGOs found that more than 72% of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies employ DACA recipients. A Forbes report found that these companies account for $2.8 trillion in annual revenue. The same study found that 5% of Dream-ers open businesses. For US residents who don’t fall under DACA, only 3.1% of them open businesses. With an almost 2% gap, Dreamers are more likely to start a new business than a non-Dreamer. Fur-thermore, the average an-nual median income of a US resident is $31,000 and the average annual median income of a Dreamer is $32,000. Being above av-erage in all aspects of life despite incredibly diffi-cult circumstances, these Dreamers are helping our economy and our job mar-ket. In fact, over the next decade, the Dreamers are projected to contribute $460.3 billion to the US gross domestic product. THe sTruggLeDespite all of these out-comes, the new presi-dential administration decided to take action in an attempt to remove the DACA policy. On 5 Sep-tember 2017, under Presi-

dent Trump’s guidance, the Department of Home-land Security (DHS) re-leased an official memo to rescind the DACA policy. But this decision was met with constant scrutiny. Between January 2018 and June 2020, three fed-eral district courts ruled against President Trump to partially sustain DACA, first in Regents of the Uni-versity of California, et al. v. Dept. of Homeland Se-curity, and later in Wolf v. Vidal and NAACP v. Trump. The district courts decided that the USCIS must continue accepting petitions from previous re-cipients. a dream Come TrueThese decisions were chal-lenged at higher courts on appeal, and finally, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Re-gents of the University of California, et al. v. Dept. of Homeland Security on 12 November 2019, and is-sued its decision in a 5-4 opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, on 18 June 2020. Their opinion de-clared that the DHS had improperly terminated DACA and the original memo was withdrawn. The court provided their reasoning by citing the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which states the rules of federal regu-lations. The decision to

rescind DACA was both arbitrary and capricious under the APA.

The court resolved that the DHS had not properly distinguished between re-voking the work permits, while still providing pro-tection from deportation. It also pointed out that the DHS had not taken reli-ance interests into consid-eration. Reliance interests included all the business-es, property, and jobs that belonged to the Dreamers. A report provided by 143 businesses found that hir-ing and training replace-ments for the Dreamers would cost employers over $6.3 billion. Ultimately, the court reaffirmed the decision made in NAACP v. Trump and upheld the DACA policy, a victory for all of America.

Throughout history, the US Supreme Court has made many monumental decisions, which impact different parts of all of our lives. This DACA case joins many others in shaping the integrity of our nation and its future. With this decision, those 700,000 Dreamers can continue benefiting our nation. The Dreamers have seen their dreams, touched their dreams, and now, they can live their dreams. Aparna Dave is US Immi-gration Attorney. Om Desai is a High School Intern at The Law Office of Aparna Dave.

dAcA: A dreAmer’s nudgeelection delAyedneW opportunities

aparna dave & om desai

news plus the daily guardian09 july 2020new delhi4

Seven lakh children, brought illegally in the US, can now pursue their American Dream, thanks to a new immigration policy.

Court ProCess & Industry

legally speakingthe daily guardian09 july 2020

new delhi 5

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Investors however, while conversant, are not neces-sarily consummate, in their knowledge of the law. They therefore seek to attain an understanding of their as-sets and whether the rule of law of a country will help them preserve those assets and aid them in pursuit of a claim. They prioritise the expenditure of time and money involved in order to realise the claim. Perhaps most importantly, investors seek to understand whether there exists a clear and con-sistent application of the law in said country. This being a somewhat herculean task, investors would prefer re-sorting to the assessment of a trusted authority, notably the World Bank Group and their Doing Business study, which attempts to show the areas in which developing economies are catching up in the ease of doing busi-ness.

It is in this regard and with the intent to priori-tise economic reform and to improve the image of the country as a preferable destination for investment, that the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Di-vision of High Courts Act, 2015 was passed. The act placed within its jurisdic-tion, a wide variety of dis-putes, including ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financers and trad-ers, to exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves and electromagnetic spectrums. These matters were brought under the umbrella of what constitutes a ‘Commercial Dispute’.

The essential features of the Act contemplated the es-tablishment of Commercial Courts at the District level and in states where the High Courts have Original Juris-diction, the establishment of a Commercial Division at the High Court. To entertain appeals, the Act sought the establishment of the Com-mercial Appellate Division in High Courts. The pecuni-ary jurisdiction of commer-cial courts and commercial divisions was set at Rs. 1 Crore. The aim appeared to be the disposal of high value commercial disputes in an expeditious manner.

The Act further directed that commercial disputes be heard in a summary manner wherein the court may pass judgement on the claim (or part of the claim), dismiss the appli-cation or dismiss the claim (or part of the claim). If such summary procedure was unsuccessful, the Act contemplated a system of Case Management Hear-ing- setting a fixed timeline for every subsequent stage of the matter, from filing of affidavits to presentation of final arguments. The intent being time bound proceed-ings with limited extensions granted in the event of delay. The Act also created a novel provision for collection and disclosure of statistical data pertaining to the number of suits filed, stages of penden-cy and rate of disposal, to be provided monthly.

Thereafter, in 2018, the Government, in an attempt to improve any perceived lacunae in the Act of 2015, sought a series of amend-ments, the most pertinent of which stated the reduc-tion of pecuniary jurisdic-tion from Rs. 1 Crore to Rs 3 Lacs. It also included the creation of Commercial Ap-pellate Courts at the District level. In areas where the High Courts have Original Jurisdiction, the state Gov-ernment, in consultation with the High Courts, may specify the jurisdiction of the commercial Courts, pro-vided it not be below Rs. 3 Lacs. The amendment also mandated Pre- Institution Mediation and Settlement Talks, and of changing the name to the more easily di-

gestible, Commercial Courts Act.

The Minister of Law and Justice, in 2018, while speaking on the proposed amendments before Parlia-ment, once again placed re-liance on the Ease of Doing Business ranking criteria of the World Bank stating, with not undeserved enthu-siasm, that since the time this Government had been in power, India’s ranking had jumped from 142nd in the list of 190 countries to 100th.

In 2020, it may be pro-claimed with some satis-faction that India stands at the 63rd position in the aforementioned ranking. While this achievement is not insignificant, it is de-batable as to whether it can be attributed to the perfor-mance and/or the impact of the Commercial Courts Act. Even a cursory glance at the Word Bank Group’s Doing Business Index reveals that India’s ranking is attribut-able to reforms in Starting Businesses, Dealing with con-struction Permits, Trading Across Borders and Resolving Insolvency, all of which fall within the purview of other executive, judicial and qua-si-judicial jurisdictions. It is to be noted however, that there is a conspicuous ab-sence of reforms in ‘enforcing contracts’, a fact which has been observed by the World Bank Group. The expedi-tious enforcement of com-mercial contracts, the very bedrock of the Commercial Courts Act, has been seen to be absent.

The number of Judges, infrastructure, man power, pending cases, all must be taken into consideration before moving enactments touting the introduction of time bound and expeditious trials. Effective implementa-tion necessitates consulta-tion and planning with the Judiciary.

A study published in the Bloomberg Quint, by Vaidehi Misra and Ameen Jauhar, in 2019 revealed that, despite the mandate on High Courts to publish monthly statistical data on their respective websites, it was only the High Court of Delhi which appeared to be maintaining data and mak-ing regular disclosures. It was further observed in the study that the capacity is-sue remains unaddressed

as, when the pecuniary re-quirement was above Rs. 1 Crore, the monthly influx of new commercial disputes in Delhi and Bombay aver-aged between 252 and 206 cases, while disposal rates remained sub-par, thereby theorising that either ju-dicial performance and or shortage of judges might be the cause.

While the Act makes men-tion of constituting com-mercial Courts, in practice it seems to mean the mere des-ignation of existing Courts as commercial Courts. It does not seek the creation of new Courts with new Judg-es, but rather to enhance the already considerable bur-den placed on the able and determined shoulders of the Judiciary. It seeks to further place upon it, the obligation to give commercial disputes priority, without consider-ation for the other matters present and pending before the Courts, many of which have been languishing for decades. The hearing of commercial disputes are mere additions to the exist-ing rosters of Judges, noth-ing more.

To allow the enactment to bring about a constructive change, the strength of the Bench must be increased in order to allow the Judiciary to deal effectively with the increased workload. Only then will the Courts be able to give cases and counsel the most of their time and, more importantly, their attention. Courts deal with anywhere between 50 to 150 matters a day and cannot provide future dates within a short

period, let alone guarantee an effective hearing. Every Judge hears an average of 70 matters a day, after which another 70 briefs must be read for the next morning. This is in addition to the judgments they are expect-ed to find the time to write.

While the enactment can indeed be seen as a well-intentioned legislation vis-à-vis economic reform, if it has any real intention of succeeding, it must first address the pressing issue of allocation of resources, both monetary and human, to enable the creation of ad-ditional and well equipped Courts. Enacting legisla-tion without consideration of its impact on Judicial resources and without cre-ating proportionate Judi-cial infrastructure is what ultimately results in the clogging of the Judicial ma-chine. This leads to delays, which hampers efficiency. This in turn, leads to addi-tional expense on the part of the litigant, which leads to criticism and external pres-sure. These are a few factors which lead, in some cases, to hasty and imperfectly rea-soned decisions, lending an unflattering colour to the Judicial system in the eyes of the layman. All of this culminates in the investor being terrified of entering the Indian market. The most frequent traumatism expe-rienced by a new litigant in India, is the revelation of how long a matter can go on before it reaches its conclu-sion. As a result, address-ing and preparing a client with regard to the stamina

required, both emotionally and financially, to wage an effective litigation, has be-come common practice for advocates.

In addition to infrastruc-ture, the Courts require trained manpower to effec-tively assist Judges. Stenog-raphers must be present in all Courts along with staff trained in short hand, so that submissions and argu-ments may be recorded in real time, thereby limiting the need for counsel to re-iterate previously extended submissions and eliminat-ing the likelihood of com-plex and intricate submis-sions being mis-interpreted or missed out completely. Further, this has the poten-tial to greatly increase the speed of recording evidence as it can eliminate the cur-rent 4 step method, where the advocate asks the wit-ness a question, the Court dictates the question to the typist, the witness answers and the Court dictates the answer to the typist, that is, unless there is an objection which leads to an entire new set of difficulties.

Regarding the methodol-ogy in place for the record-ing of evidence, Dr. Abhi-nav Chandrachud, in his Bloomberg Quint Opinion, astutely pointed out the improbability of adhering to the timelines set out in the Act, which direct oral evidence to be recorded on a day to day basis and final arguments to be heard no later than six months from the first Case Management Hearing. He places reliance on the statistics published

by the Supreme Court in 2017, which reveal a pen-dency of 5,358 original civil suits before the High Court of Bombay with only 2 to 3 Judges assigned to such cas-es. No amount of resource-fulness can overcome a lack of resources such as they are, in the Indian Judiciary.

The methods of conduct-ing admission and denial of documents is no less ardu-ous, as Dr. Chandrachud has also pointed out, by go-ing into detail on the mark-ing of exhibits, testimony of a witness regarding the con-tents on an electronic device and so on, stating that in commercial matters, which may involve hundreds of documents, many hours are spent on marking the docu-ments, while their probative value still remains open for the Court to determine.

Further, roster allocation ought to be decided based upon the experience of the concerned Judge in that area of law, in order to create a system whereby the Court does not have to spend time familiarising itself with an area of law alien to it. This has the potential to enhance the speed at which the Court can hear the cases before it and is also likely to discour-age misleading submissions where an obligation to the client circumvents the obli-gation to the Court.

Another potential factor for greater efficiency, may be the long overdue decision of increasing the retirement age of Judges by at least 10 years. Such a measure, along with the aforemen-tioned improvements, aids

in compelling highly expe-rienced counsel, who might have been reticent to do so at a younger age, to join the Judiciary. Such counsel have made their bones and earned their riches. Their acumen has earned the re-gard of their peers and su-periors and they are at this stage, beholden to no one.

If the considerations prevalent in the creation of an enactment are divorced from the practical realities of a situation, it results in the stifling of effective im-plementation and cannot therefore bring about any worthy improvement. An enactment which claims to exist for the purposes of projecting to the world, or more specifically, investors, a competent and effective legal/judicial system has little to no value in and of itself, especially if it results in overburdening an already scarce and over encumbered resource. It is then less an Act of Parliament and more an Act of appeasement and might result in more harm than good, unless more fundamental and systemic problems are addressed.

While political intent may be spelt out by the leader-ship at the highest level, it is the responsibility of the executive to translate it into effective and meaningful ac-tion on the ground, by incor-porating the necessary leg-islative and administrative changes required. This is best achieved by an exami-nation of the problems in the existing state of affairs. Any attempt at mere lip service through the attempted ap-peasement of a target audi-ence, is often manifested in a palpable lack of progress or extremely limited gains, as in the present case. It has been the opinion of many in this profession that we are yet to see the real influx of commercial disputes, and the ability of our institutions to effectively address them, as many more shall arise due to the current state of the world. The complete re-opening of the Courts might well be seen as floodgates drowning an institution already struggling to keep itself afloat in spite of its heavy burden. Time will tell.Adv. Meghna Mishra is Part-ner, Karanjawala & Co., Adv. Yogendra Misra practises Civil Commercial litigation at Delhi High Court.

The Commercial Courts Act: A brief review and opinionWhile the Act makes mention of constituting commercial courts, in practice it seems to mean the mere designation of existing courts as commercial courts. It does not seek the creation of new courts with new judges, but rather to enhance the already considerable burden placed on the able and determined shoulders of the judiciary.

opinionMeghna Mishra & Yogendra Misra

The Sino-Indian mili-tary pause is part of a geostrategic continu-

um. Some experts opine that India is cornered. They are as myopic as the PRC plan-ners. Bottom line: It has been China’s choice to come in un-invited. It is India’s choice to let it go back. As per Yun Sun, a Chinese

scholar in Stimson Centre, “If a strategic friendship with India is untenable, it frees up room for tactical gains.” It explains the Chinese ag-gression. It is a politically-motivated, expansionist tactical land grab, adopting a strategy of “Belligerent War Avoidance”. It needs a matching political response. Surprisingly, some feel that if we cannot evict the Chi-nese militarily from Finger 4 and restore status quo ante, we have lost it. The issues are larger. We will just see who is in a corner.

Two-FronT SiTuaTionIndia has thwarted China twice. Unchecked incur-sion at Naku La and Galwan could have resulted in our troops in the Giagong Pla-teau or the DSDBO road being cut off, respectively. If any of these attempts were successful it would have been a disaster. If the am-bush at Galwan had been successful and had the Chi-nese suffered less casualties, China would have declared victory all the way back to the Middle Kingdom and would have painted the town red of having taught India a lesson. Finito. Full credit to our boys for giving China a bloody nose. China has been able to come up to Finger 4 in the Pangong Tso area and

firm in due to a relatively better approach to the Fin-gers Area. The core issue is how to get China to restore the status quo ante. For that talks are on at appropriate levels and some disengage-ment has commenced. Be-sides this, both armies have mobilised and are battle ready. Notwithstanding, af-ter their Galwan debacle, big talk and threats have disap-peared from that comic strip called Global Times. En-hanced posturing has gravi-tated forces towards the Chinese rear door. If India fixes considerable Chinese resources here, they will not be available elsewhere. In the South China Sea, China is carrying out a major naval exercise which portends an island grab. The US is also carrying out an exercise in the area with two car-rier strike forces to foreclose that option. Mutatis mutan-dis poses a direct threat to Chinese mainland also. Ad-ditionally, the US has rede-ployed forces from Europe into this area. The PLA’s force gravitation would have taken place towards the East Coast also. If anything goes wrong. The PLA could be short on ground forces. As per Yun Sun, “China has always been careful to avoid a two-front confrontation with America in the east and India in the west.” Not this time. Careless or myopic? Overall PLA is stretched in a tinder box situation. If a shooting match starts at ei-ther end, China is in a bigger pickle.

GeoSTraTeGic iSSueSGeopolitical Isolation: China has opened too many geopolitical fronts -- mili-tary aggression, Hong Kong, virus, etc. Our Prime Min-ister’s visit to Ladakh con-veyed unprecedented stra-tegic resolve. The message to China: India will not back down. The message to the world: China can be stood up to. In Ladakh, the Indian armed forces hold a clear edge for multiple reasons.

China will get a rude shock if it attempts to force the is-sue. India is not in a state of adverse asymmetry with China. Read the Harvard Belfer Centre report. The current India-US posturing emboldens smaller nations to face China squarely. The UK is upset over the Hong Kong security law and seeks more hands to handle China. Taiwan has been actively cocking a snook at China. Australia has increased its defence budget by 40% for the next 10 years. France has pledged steadfast support to India. Germany and the US have blocked Chinese anti-India moves at UNSC. A dis-sipating five eyes Intelligence is back together. The Quad is taking better shape. Viet-nam and the Philippines are protesting Chinese activity in the South China Sea. Bal-ance of ASEAN, Japan and South Korea are also push-ing back. Even Cambodia, one of China’s major ben-eficiaries, is not toeing the line. Lo and behold! Its iron brother seems to be rusting. A recent view in Dawn is curious. “It would be naive to think that Islamabad and Beijing are not exchanging notes on what’s unfolding in Eastern Ladakh. Yet, it would be equally simplistic to think that there is about to be a pincer movement by the two against India. China has its own reasons for do-ing what it has embarked upon, and that policy does not include any free lunches or simplistic scenarios”. Chi-na is isolated and the world is uniting against its bully-ing as per New York Post. I agree with it. Digital Strike: The fallout of India banning 59 Chinese apps citing security and sov-ereignty issues is going to be widespread. It circumvents WTO and GATT regulations. China talks of legally pro-tecting its interests. Whom will it appeal to? Internation-al Court of Justice? Ah ha! Laughable. In addition, Hua-wei and ZTE will be even-tually squeezed out from

India, US, and UK. Chinese military aggression legally empowers other countries to follow India’s lead. Tik Tok alone represents a $6 billion loss. That will widen irreversibly. Chinese firms are being excluded from contracts in Telecom and Infrastructure sectors in In-dia. Many Chinese firms are being delisted from US stock markets. Market reputations count and valuations will be hit severely. Incidentally, the balance of trade used to be around $60bn in China’s fa-vour. I read a report that it is down to $44 billion. If India picks up the slack on offer in the digital world China’s pole position is under threat. It is an Indian opportunity to exploit. It also opens a case to firewall China out of the digital world on a reciprocal basis. The cost of the land grab in Pangong Tso will keep increasing as time goes by. The digital isolation is severe and is beyond normal understanding. Economic Slide: Examine any Chinese economic in-dex. It is going southwards. Imports are down. Exports are down. Consumption is weak. BRI is in deep trou-ble. Military expenditure on two fronts will spike. Jobs are scarce. If bloggers and gamers are considered as ‘employed’ in China, the situation is bad. The digital strike has wider economic ramifications. The Virus is

dampening the economy and will not allow revival beyond a point. The theory that “while we are weak, others are weaker” will hold up to a point. As the current situation and the virus per-sist, decoupling will move faster. There is an opinion that disengaging from the noxious elements of the Chi-nese economy isn’t a divorce, it’s a de-worming. The law of diminishing returns will set in soon. The famed and flaunted comprehensive national power of China is eroding. An aging China will hasten the erosion.Lebensraum & Nazism: Communist China, first usurped East Turkestan, Tibet, and Aksai Chin mili-tarily and made a deal il-legally with Pakistan for the Shaksgam Valley. Later they coerced Central Asian Republics into parting with territory when settling bor-ders. Now they are again looking at Indian territory from a convoluted perspec-tive. It is a precursor to slic-ing territory off Nepal, Bhu-tan, and Russia. The claim on Vladivostok has clearly rattled Russian neutrality. China claims sovereignty over the entire South China Sea and disputes with all maritime neighbours. Debt trap diplomacy supports expansionism through BRI and CPEC. Hambantota in the pocket, Pakistan is the next target. Hitler’s leben-

sraum pales in comparison. Examine the sociological pairings. Middle kingdom and Aryan supremacy. Cen-tury of Humiliation and Versailles Treaty. Nazi and Uighur concentration camps. In some ways the Galwan Valley intrusion is akin to the Ardennes Offensive. Xi Jinping and Hitler. Desire to create the greatest military on earth and orchestrate operations. Public exhorta-tion to prepare for war un-der garb of “peaceful rise”. If China is not checked now, a scourge will rule. India has provided a bridgehead to stem it. Will the world lead-ers heed the message and act? Or. Will they be Cham-berlains at Potsdam to allow the reincarnation of Hitler? Century of Self-Humili-ation: Much is made that Chinese seek revenge on the

“Century of Humiliation”. However what is hidden is the post imperial “Century of Communist Engineered Self Humiliation”. It encompass-es two man-made famines, Civil War (the Long March), the failed Great Leap, Ex-pansionism, the Purges and disastrous wars with Japan, Russia and Vietnam. Do not forget the disastrous “one child policy” which will hasten an aging China into decline. The Communist Party has distorted history and peddled it. We believed it. Chinese strategic thinking is insidious. We fell for it.

STraTeGic MyopiaThe Chinese are strategically myopic. It is now clear that too many tactical objectives were attempted through miscalculation without thinking through strategic ramifications or having a fall back option. PLA has failed in Ladakh in achieving its primary objectives. Indian infrastructure is intact, and its development is going to be trebled. All their enforce-ment actions are having op-posite effects. India by itself has a bouquet of options to handle China. These are unfolding. The disastrous Galwan ambush and its handling have made India the underdog and everyone is rooting for it. World opin-ion, trust, and image matters to China. That is on India’s side. Any military confron-tation with India runs the risk of driving the Indo US relationship closer. That has happened. Beyond that In-dia and the US have discov-ered a strategic partnership paradigm where China can be forced into an adverse two front worst case option. Very importantly, China has managed to shred the One China Policy. Where are my bifocals? The Chinese are now caught in a situation. After Galwan, they cannot risk another setback. They cannot declare victory and go back after the hidden loss-es. After the PM’s talk, the area between Finger 4 and 8 is a mirage. Till they contin-ue to sit there it will continue to fuel Indian and interna-tional antagonism to check the Chinese. If they continue to sit there past August, the elements will get them. Very importantly, this genera-tion of Indians will always consider China as its enemy. They are not prepared for all this by any stretch of imagi-nation. China might soon re-alize that Nations do not run on conflict and nationalism alone. Either democracy or economic prosperity must go with it. If one goes out, the other comes in. Need to get my long-term vision

checked. Any Chinese oph-thalmologist around?

STraTeGic GainS Where does it leave India? Having stood up to China, international opinion has gravitated to our side de-spite some Chinese acolytes and disbelievers. The armed forces will stand resolute. That confidence and mes-sage is quite clear. Has China miscalculated the rise of In-dia? That is what South China Morning Post thinks! Are we seeing the emergence of In-dia as a new global power? That is what Dawn thinks! This event has probably paved the way for a seat on the UN high table. However we still need to focus on see-ing the Chinese off properly. A process is underway. Let us have the strategic pa-tience to go through the long haul. Till then do not trust the Chinese. Shoot first and talk later. In the mean-while we must capitalise on the strategic opportunities which have opened. “Aat-manirbharta“, Decoupling and Distancing from China, Strategic Independence and Digital Leadership need to be converted into practical programmes and outcomes. That is also a long haul. That will be our victory.

From little acorns grow mighty oaks.

Let us thank our boys at Gal-wan who stood fast and resolute in the face of odds,

They have made it possible for India to hold its head high

In the pantheon of things theirs might be a small tactical action

It is that little acorn from which a mighty India will grow.

Lt Gen P.R. Shankar was In-dia’s DG Artillery. He is highly decorated and qualified with vast operational experience. He contributed significantly to the modernisation and indigeni-sation of Artillery. He is now a Professor in the Aerospace Dept of IIT Madras and is involved in applied research for defence technology. His other articles can be read on his blog www.gunnersshot.com.

USS Nimitz and USS Ron-ald Reagan have sailed for the South China Sea (SCS), definitely a muscle-flexing manoeuvre by the United States. The Chinese, on their part, have not really been the silent bystander, conducting their own military exercises in the same area. The situ-ation in SCS is ‘eyeball to eyeball’ between two major powers, with the smaller na-tion breathing relief at some long sought support against China.

why iS The area So iMporTanT?SCS has traditionally been the point of contention between China and other countries who surround it. The main reason being rich mineral deposits which the controlling country would be exploiting. The area is said to have large reserves of oil and natural gas, two of the most sought after de-posits in the world. Other than the deposits, the SCS has maritime trade routes which serve territorial countries around it. China for ages has laid claim to the sea and has even been seen to have usurping small islands and aggressively de-veloping them, militarily. It is rumoured that China has also been able to build its first artificial island in the region. Given the fact that 80% of the Chinese energy

imports pass through the SCS and so does 37% of its total global trade the area definitely assumes strategic importance for China. whaT doeS The uS preSence Mean?China has been long eyeing the position of the second pole in a bipolar world. It has not hidden its desire to transform from “another oriental country” to a world economic superpower. The presence of the US navy in the region, that too with for-midable firepower to cause some serious damage to the Dragon’s desire would not at all go down well with China. Nobody likes ‘Big Brother’ sitting right on your trade routes with potential to cause some serious dam-age. Predictably the Chinese military has started flexing their muscles and showing

off their might. The PLAN has countered the two Car-rier Battle Groups (CBG) of the US with two of their own. Their Chinese media, state controlled albeit, has gone onto an overdrive of a badly controlled Information War-fare campaign, something which it started post the Galwan fiasco with India. Tall claims of the Dragon’s might with questionable in-formation and staged man-aged videos have been seen to surface on social media recently. coMpariSon: who winS?The US presence is in the form of its “Supercarri-ers” the Nimitz and Ronald Reagan and its associated groups of ships and sub-marines. The Nimitz is part of the US seventh fleet and houses about 60 to 80 aero-

planes – of the F 22 Raptor and F/A 18 Super Hornet class, the Reagan is simi-larly capable. Both the Car-riers have their own flotilla known as the Carrier Battle Group (CBG) and the entire package offers some serious firepower, not to forget the eleven more of these that the US Navy can push in, if required. In comparison the PLAAN has two Car-riers, the “Liaoning” ca-pable of carrying a total of 36 airplanes including the J15 class of fighters and the

“Shandong”, whose sea tri-als have just about finished. The Shandong would be fit to carry a complement of J15 fighters and helicopters, nothing more, not at present.

The recent claims by the state owned Chinese media about the DF 21 D and DF 26 aircraft carrier killers are yet to be proven. Both

are ballistic missiles and are rumoured to have a range of 1,700-2,400 km, at these ranges the first problem the Chinese would face is pick up and pinpointing the tar-get. It either has to be done from space or with a “over the horizon backscatter radar (OTH-B)”, the latter would be required to update the missile in its terminal stages, not a very accurate or feasible option. The PLAN is rumoured to have deployed a self-developed OTH-B ra-dar for the SCS but the suc-cess of it is yet to be verified. The US CBGs would be a little bothered with these claims if true but still would hold their edge. Every CBG of the US has their own Base Missile Defence (BMD), a concept wherein the enemy ballistic missiles are shot before re-entry, either post launch or in space. The BMD

is a proven umbrella and is worth every penny that was spent on its development. whaT doeS iT Mean For india?With most of the world’s developed nations changing and voicing their dissent to the present Chinese antics, CoviD, Hong Kong, Galwan and SCS all inclusive, the scene for India couldn’t have been better. The Dragon is now being encircled and may be forced to relax its posture with India so as to focus on more emergent fronts. For the past few days India has been gaining positive vibes from most of the developed nations of the world. That speaks a lot about the gov-ernments’ maintenance of relations with these coun-tries. The diplomatic elation, coupled with the squeeze on China from all sides, may

actually deter China from exercising, uncalled for, ag-gression towards India. This gives us the much needed time to tighten our belts and be ready for the next round of antics by the PLA. China can ill afford to spark off an incident and go into a war, be it with the US or with In-dia, war at this time would signal the death knell of the Chinese dream of economic supremacy and surely the Red Dragon wouldn’t want it.

Amit Ranjan Giri is a veteran of the IAF who retired as a Wing Commander. An erstwhile fight-er pilot who has flown the MiG 27 and MiG 21 aircraft, Giri has served the IAF for 24 years. He has also been a Ministry of De-fence PRO before retirement. At present, the Wing Commander flies for a commercial airline and writes on defence-related matters in his spare time.

Lt Gen P.R. ShankaR (Retd.)

WinG Co a.R. GiRi (Retd.)

AnAlysis

AnAlysis

6 defence t h e da i ly gua r d i a n0 9 j u ly 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

Dragon’s strategic myopia

Us presence in soUth chinA seA: is chinA being encircled?

China has opened too many geopolitical fronts—military aggression, Hong Kong, coronavirus, etc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ladakh conveyed unprecedented strategic resolve. The message to China: India will not back down. The message to the world: China can be stood up to.

Prime Minister narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In today’s tech savvy world artificial intel-ligence (AI) is gaining

substantial amount of rec-ognition and prevalence. Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a digital computer or computer controlled ro-bots to perform tasks com-monly associated with in-telligent beings. AI systems are capable of handling complex tasks with mini-mal or no human interven-tion.

“Stephen Hawkin articulated that there is no deep difference between what can be achieved by a biological brain and what can be achieved by a com-puter.” It therefore, follows that computers can, in the-ory, emulate human intelli-gence and exceed it. Hence, AI systems are creative, autonomous, and capable of learning and they can mimic human perception and cognitive abilities. Also, they can take in data, pro-cess that data, learn from it and make decisions on the basis of the learnings. This system is capable of creating layers of knowledge that did not exist before.

Furthermore, World In-tellectual Property Organ-isation has defined intellec-tual property rights (IPR) as referring to the unique value creations of human intellect that result from human resourcefulness, creativity and inventive-ness. Intellectual Prop-erty is basically a property which is the creation of human intellect. In simple words Intellectual Proper-ty Rights are specific legal rights which are aimed to protect the creations of the intellect.

Artificial intelligence encounters Intellectual Property Rights in several forms or ways. Firstly AI can assist intellectual prop-erty rights with its manage-ment. Secondly Intellectual property rights being a le-gal system can protect AI. It is pertinent to note that the fundamental goal of IP systems have always been to encourage creative inno-vations and new technolo-gies, therefore Intellectual Property laws can be used to reward AI generated innovations. As also, the deployment and use of AI technologies will have im-plications both for intel-lectual property law and policy and the administra-tion of IP systems around the world.

AI AND COPYRIGHTCopyright is an exclusive right granted to creators for their creative works such as literary work, artistic work etc. The conflict which aris-es between AI and copy-right is that if the creative work produced by the ma-chines are not brought un-der the ambit of copyright or are not allowed to attain copyright, the copyright system will be perceived as a system which encour-ages human creativity over machine creativity whereas if copyright protection will be accorded to the AI gener-ated machines, it would be tend to be seen as a system which places equal value on human creativity and machine creativity. Corre-spondingly, it is observed that since 1970s computer generated art works have attracted a lot of attention. The vast majority of these computer produced art-works are depended vigor-ously on the programmer who gives the contribution to production of the work. Notwithstanding, with in-novative progression, AI has developed to the degree that it is fit for understand-ing and creating outputs without any human inter-ference. Earlier ownership of copyright for computer generated work was not in picture because computer was just a tool to assist the creative process but with the latest AI systems, ma-chines or computers are not just a tool of assistance rather are capable of taking many decisions involved in creative process without human intervention. This problem is being dealt in most of the countries by at-tributing the authorship or ownership of such works to the creator of such ma-chines. Laws of most of the countries provide copyright to work created only by a human being. The US court in Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Company [499 U.S. 340 1991] held that the copyright law only pro-tects the fruits of intellectu-al labour that are founded in the creative powers of the mind.

In an another case before US circuit court, Naruto v Slater No. 16-15469 [9th Cir. 2018], the Ninth Circuit af-firmed the district court’s dismissal of copyright in-fringement claims brought by a monkey over selfies he took on a wildlife photogra-

pher’s unattended camera. Naruto, a crested macaque, took several photos of him-self on the camera, and the photographer and Wildlife Personalities subsequently published the Monkey Selfies in a book. PETA filed suit as next friend to Naruto, alleging copyright infringement. Naruto was the author and owner of the photographs and had suf-fered concrete and particu-larized economic harms but the panel held that Naruto lacked statutory standing because the Copyright Act did not expressly authorize animals to file copyright in-fringement suits.

In US Court in Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing [188 U.S. 239], described the uniqueness of human per-sonality and specified the same to be a prerequisite to grant a copyright whereas in Alfred Bell & Co. v. Catalda Fine Arts [191 F. 2d 99 (2d Cir. 1951), the Court lowered the standard for originality and held that it must not be cop-ied from any other artistic work of similar character in order for it to be original. This judgment came out to be favourable for claiming copyrights for AI generated works, since such works were obviously not copied, but derived through pro-gramming and algorithms. However, the lack of a definitive perspective on these matters continues to affect the prospective right holders.

In an Australian case, Acohs Pty Ltd v Ucorp Pty Ltd [2012] FCAFC 16], court declared that a work gener-ated with the intervention of a computer could not be protected by copyright be-cause it was not produced by a human. Similarly in Europe the Court of Jus-tice of the European Union (CJEU) has also declared on various occasions, par-ticularly in its landmark Infopaq decision (C-5/08 Infopaq International A/S v Danske Dagbaldes Forening), that copyright only applies to original works, and that originality must reflect the “author’s own intellectual creation.” This is usually understood as meaning that an original work must reflect the author’s person-ality, which clearly means that a human author is nec-essary for a copyright work to exist.

In the English case of Nova Productions v Mazooma Games[2007] EWCA Civ 219, the Court of Appeal had to decide on the authorship of a computer game, and de-clared that a player’s input “is not artistic in nature and he has contributed no skill or labour of an artistic kind”. So considering user action case

by case could be one possi-ble solution to the problem. Therefore, UK has taken a pragmatic position, it has expanded its copyright laws to recognize computer generated works and they have assigned authorship of computer generated works to the individuals by whom the arrangement necessary for the creation of work was undertaken.

AI AND PATENTPatents are the exclusive rights granted over inven-tions-product or process, that provides a new way of doing something and which is not obvious and unique in nature. The relation be-tween AI and patent arises from the fact that inventions today can be autonomously generated by AI. It must be kept in mind that patents in-vention that have to do with AI have been claimed by the humans increasingly and is now becoming a question of morality whether it should be continued to allow that to happen, should humans claim these inventions and be able to exploit them. Consequently, computer-assisted inventions and their treatment under pat-ent laws has been the sub-ject of lengthy discussions in many countries around the world.

The UK Court seeks to follow decisions of the European Patent Office’s Boards of Appeal. The EPO has of late included spe-cific guidance on AI to its Guidelines. As in other key jurisdictions (e.g. China, Ja-pan, Korea and the USA), algorithms fundamentally face impressive difficulties to patentability. The EPO adopts the strategy that AI computational models and algorithms are avoided from patentability, unless they amount to a computer program having a “further technical effect” going past the “normal” physical in-teractions between the pro-gram and the computer on

which it is run. For the time being, both the EPO and the UK Intellectual Property Office, in practice, require human inventors to be named as part of the patent application process, yet this necessity isn’t upheld up by penalties for bogus or false proclamations (unlike in the US system), and there is no obligation to disclose the role of any inventive AI en-gaged in the creation of an invention.

The US Patent and Trade-mark Office (USPTO) has decided that AI frame-works can’t be credited as a creator or inventor in a pat-ent. Among the USPTO’s contentions is the fact that US patent law more than once alludes to innovators utilizing humanlike terms, for example, “whoever” and pronouns like “himself ” and “herself. The group be-hind the applications had contended that the law’s references to a creator as an “individual” could be applied to a machine; how-ever the USPTO said this translation was excessively wide. “Under current law, only natural persons may be named as an inventor in a patent application”.

The Supreme Court of United States in Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175 (1981) held that patent claims that are directed to abstract ideas (e.g. a mathematical algorithm), natural phe-nomena or laws of nature are not eligible for patent protection, the court further explained that “they are the basic tools of scientific and technological work,” and that granting monopolies on those tools through pat-ent rights might impede innovation. The Supreme Court, in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Inter-national [134 S. Ct. 2347], recently made it more chal-lenging for applicants to obtain patents on software or “computer-implemented inventions”

Many have argued that

patents provide incentives for innovation, investment and invention and that awarding patent rights to software can encourage investment in software-related research and fur-ther promote innovation. Some have also suggested that patents should not be awarded to any software.

AI AND TRADEMARKA trademark is a sign ca-pable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trade-marks are protected by in-tellectual property rights. Till date, there is only one proper case regarding the interaction between AI and trademarks. In the case of Cosmetic Warriors and Lush v Amazon.co.uk and Amazon EU ([2014] EWHC 181 (Ch), the court has reprimanded the Amazon for infringing upon the Lush trademarks. Amazon brought the key-word Lush from the Google through bidding process. And when the word “Lush” is searched on the Google search engine, Google re-directs the link of the Ama-zon website based on the key word. Even if the Lush word is searched on the Amazon’s website, the AI of the website is suggest-ing the similar products rather the Lush products. Though there is no sale of Lush products on the web-site but AI product system is suggesting the similar prod-ucts based on the keyword search on the website which is a clear indication of in-fringement. And court held that Amazon is liable for the infringement. Such litiga-tions are bound to rise once AI becomes a consumer.

AI is likely to pose enor-mous number of challenges but the foundation of trade-mark is strong and cannot be shake easily as long as there exists an emotional connect between brands and the consumers.

IPR AND AI IN INDIAArtificial intelligence is such a technology that has gained traction in India in recent times — it has evolved in ways that far exceed its original concep-tion. From start-ups to the Indian government, AI has been used to a great extent, making lives of Indians bet-ter. Now, even the Central Board of Secondary Educa-tion (CBSE) has approved the implementation of AI as a subject for students of

classes 8th, 9th, and 10th.In June 2018, the Indian

government defined a na-tional policy on AI in a working paper titled, “Na-tional Strategy for Artificial Intelligence #AIforAll.” The NITI Aayog paper identifies five focus areas where AI development could enable both growth and greater inclusion: healthcare, agri-culture, education, urban-/smart-city infrastructure, and transportation and mobility.

The existing Indian copy-right law is not exhaustive to give rights to AI for creation of work. India has focused on requirement of human interference for a copyright protection. Moreover creat-ing AI as a separate identity still seems sceptical in India. If we rely on Section 13 of Indian Copyright Act,1957 which clearly defines that for a work to be eligible for literary, dramatic, musi-cal and artistic work, the said work must be an origi-nal work. For AI to attain copyright over any such work, it must pass the test of originality. The problem arises because the question whether AI can create orig-inal work is debatable. It is perceived that AI produces the compilation of already existing information. Also another problem which is faced is that if AI will be ac-cepted as an owner of the work then who will be held liable for any infringement. Since AI lacks any legal sta-tus, this will become dread-fully challenging unless proper acts can be estab-lished for AI.

FUTURE OF AI There can come a time in the near future when computers will have about the same ca-pacity as humans and may perhaps even exceeded it. We have already started to see snippets of it and un-doubtedly it will emerge at a great pace.

Karl Marx, in his ‘The Frag-ment on Machines’, predicted a scenario where AI would take over the production process leaving people with increasingly more free time to engage in artistic and sci-entific activities and thus, making wealth creation relatively independent of labour time spent.

By providing economic reward for innovation and creativity IP encourages the innovators and creators to continue to expand the fields of technology and creativity in future. AI is the

best possible technological advancement and innova-tions which can be backed by intellectual property laws and help them evolve more in the future, the future of AI is bright.

For example- if a person builds a house, he is the owner of the house, he has all the rights on that house, he can determine who can enter in his house, who can stay in his house, the point here is that when a person finds a product out of his in-tellect, the law allows him to control what happens to his product and enable him to create economic value out of it. At the heart of technology the developments we have seen in the past years have been owed to a significant extent to intellectual prop-erty laws. The reason behind this is that knowledge is such that once it becomes acces-sible to people it’s difficult to stop them from using it, and if there will be no way of protecting this knowledge, there will also be absolutely no way of rewarding the per-son who invested all his en-ergy, knowledge, resources to build that technology, this is where intellectual proper-ty law come in and provide exclusivity to the person’s product, technology or his innovation.

One major challenge which all the countries are facing is that who will be held re-sponsible for AI inventions. These inventions require a lot of time, mental energy, re-sources and efforts for their creation. However these AI machines once created can carry out a lot of functions on their own without human intervention, now who is to be given credit for those tasks or functions. The main ques-tion which arises is whether work done or produced by AI is capable of affording special status under IPR like any other work produced by a human being.

CONCLUSIONThe current scenario of AI and IPR is challenging and discomfited, technology is moving incredibly fast whereas creating legisla-tions is pretty deliberate. AI developers are victims of their own success. AI and IPR together do pose some challenges; things will most likely become more complex as artificial intelligence be-comes more widespread. With the increase in AI machines, they will also get better gradually at produc-ing creative works, further blurring the distinction be-tween work that is done by a machine and that done by a human.

AI’s productivity and cre-ativity have gone beyond the reach of traditional laws. They are not able to cope with it anymore. The law-makers need to revisit the laws as regards the latest de-velopments in AI technology. Uniformity must be brought across jurisdictions because the world has become small-er and IP alongside AI has a global impact. Adv. Ramit Rana is founding partner at Next Step Legal, he practices at the Delhi High Court. Co-Author Apurva Bhu-tani pursuing internship at Next Step Legal.

Artifical Intelligence: Policy, IPR and law in India and other countries worldwide The conflict which arises between AI and copyright is that if the creative work produced by the machine is not brought under the ambit of copyright or is not allowed to attain copyright, the copyright system will be perceived as a system which encourages human creativity over machine creativity.

AI And HumAns

opinionRamit Rana & apuRva Bhutani

policy & politicsthe daily guardian09 july 2020

new delhi 7

The existing Indian copyright law is not exhaustive to give rights to AI for creation of work. India has focused on requirement of human interference for a copyright protection. Moreover, creating AI as a separate identity still seems sceptical in India. If we rely on Section 13 of Indian Copyright Act,1957 which clearly defines that for a work to be eligible for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, the said work must be an original work.

Five years ago, Bentley made a big statement before its rivals like

Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce by launching Bentayga, which ultimately paved its way into the ultra-luxury Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) segment. Made by 53 people within 130 hours, Bentayga remains the com-pany’s bestselling model both in style and substance and by launching its upgraded ver-sion in 2020, the company has surely raised its bars in this segment.

Over the years, Bentley has been at the receiving end of constant criticism for its reluctance to renovate the luxury SUV. But this year, the company has put all criticism to end and has come with a new Bentley Bentayga. And if we believe the makers, then it is completely a new luxury SUV. Every panel at the front and the rear of the car has been changed and a sheer look at it suggests that they are not off the mark. It has a completely new and refreshed exterior which is an upgraded and a

better version.The car features a new

matrix grille, which is larger and more vertical than the previous version. There are new MED matrix headlamps and a more mus-cular front bumper. Add to this, the newly-designed 22-inch alloys give a strong, sporty look to the car. Even the tailgate and tail-lamps are totally renovated from the old version. The oval-shaped split sport tailpipes are larger and grander than before. There’s also a fresh roof spoiler. From the more vertical front grille, to the elongated, redesigned rear spoiler, the new Bentley Bentayga looks beefy than its predecessor.

The SUV’s infotainment system was often criticised for not being up there, compared to, say, Audi and Porsche. Likewise, the car, which has been around since 2016, had seen no sig-nificant styling or technol-ogy upgrades. The new car doesn’t disappoint on this front too. The renovation in substance almost matches the style. It has a fully digi-tal information panel on the lines of Continental GT and

Flying Spur. There’s also a new steering wheel. And the renovated centre console has a new 10.9 inches touch-screen infotainment system. Though the mechanical changes in the car are lim-ited, it still makes a strong statement.

The following are the 5 major upgrades which make Ben-tayga a game changer:

Larger touchscreenWith rivals like Mercedes and Cadillac already of-fering much larger touch-screen, it was high time for Bentley to improve on its 8-inch touchscreen. With the new Bentayga, the car gets a state-of-the-art 10.9-inch touchscreen with new Android Auto capability.

advanced navigationThe luxury SUV now has an advanced navigation system featuring three-dimensional building dis-plays as well as satellite maps. The head-up display can now show traffic data, street names, and distances onto the windshield.

comfy seatsThe new SUV has comfort-able seats, with more sculpt-ing around the shoulder area. In a bid to appeal to a wider clientele, the car mak-ers have introduced two new seating layouts for the new Bentayga- a four-seat and a seven-seat layout, replacing the sole five-seat configura-tion sold previously. The ad-dition of a seven-seat option reinforces the SUV’s status as “the world’s most versatile luxury vehicle”.

Better audioNew Bentayga has ditched the standard 10-speaker au-dio system, with a 12-speaker Signature Audio system. A 20-speaker Naim sound sys-tem is optional. This makes the driving and journey an altogether different experi-ence.

more tech-savvyThe new car has an embed-ded SIM, so you don’t need your phone to set up a data connection. Bentley says it has improved its remote ser-vices through the MyBent-ley app, including features like “find my car” and “lock my car”.

Bentley makes a big statement with new, upgraded Bentayga

GAME-CHANGER

Raising its bar in power, speed, comfort and luxury, the British carmaker impresses with its much improved luxury SUV Bentayga. We bring you five major upgrades in the car.

A new study finds that smartphones don’t have any negative impact on the relationship of parents with their children.

correspondentnew delhi

correspondentnew delhi

auto & tech the daily guardian09 july 2020new delhi8

Parents these days are often worried that spending time on their smartphones has a negative impact on their re-lationships with their chil-dren. But a new study has found that this is unlikely to be the case.

“The challenge with much of the technology-family literature is that has mainly stemmed from an assump-tion of risk and problems. As a result, small and uneven findings can become the fo-cus of media, policymakers, and parents,” said study lead author Kathryn Modecki from the Griffith University in Australia.

In the analysis of data from 3,659 parent-based surveys, the authors tested

84 different possibilities to assess whether smartphone use was associated with par-enting, and they found little evidence.

For the study, published in the Journal of Child Psy-chology and Psychiatry, the research team explored whether the effect of phone use on parenting depended on whether it displaced time

with family and was associ-ated with family conflict.

At low levels of displac-ing time with family, more smartphone use was associ-ated with better (not worse) parenting.

The authors noted that es-pecially considering diverse family environments, smart-phones play multiple roles in family life, and when not

heavily impacting on family time, may have a positive role in parenting.

“This is an issue because it can cloud our insight as we focus on ways to mean-ingfully assist parents and families to enhance positive outcomes,” said Modecki.

Thus, the research team used a transparent approach that mapped a myriad of ways that smartphones could link to family wellbe-ing.

“We found very little evi-dence of problems and hope these data help move us to-wards more constructive and nuanced conversations around families’ diverse experiences with technol-ogy, actual risks associated with parenting, and where we can best support,” Mo-decki said.

MG (Morris Garages) Motor India is gearing up to launch the new Hector Plus on 13 July. The bookings for the MG hector Plus have already started and one can book it through the com-pany’s official website on payment of Rs 50,000. After MG Hector and MG ZS EV, the new MG Hector Plus will be the manufacturer’s car in India.

With the lates offering, MG Hector Plus will compete with Toyota Innova Crysta, Maruti Suzuki XL6, Mahindra Marazzo, Mahindra XUV500, and the soon-to-be-launched Tata Gravitas.

MG Hector Plus is being introduced with the same three-engine options that one gets in MG Hector -- 1.5-litre turbo-petrol (143PS and 250Nm torque), 1.5-litre turbo-petrol hy-brid (143PS and 250Nm torque), and 2.0-litre tur-bo-diesel (170PS

and 350Nm of torque). MG Hector Plus turbo-petrol is available in two variants -- Sharp and Smart. MG Hector Plus turbo-petrol hybrid comes in a single Sharp variant, while MG Hector Plus turbo-diesel has three variants -- Sharp, Smart and Super. As many as six colour choices are on offer with the vehicle -- Starry Black, Starry Sky Blue, Aurora Silver, Candy White, Burgundy Red and Glaze Red.

The car is expected to be priced be-tween Rs 14 lakh and Rs 19 lakh (ex-showroom).

The new Honda city is all set to be launched in India on 15 July. The 2020 Honda City will be sold in the country alongside the 2019 Honda City. The new City sports a com-pletely redesigned front look, with a new grille and full LED headlamps. The Z-shaped 3D wrap-around LED tail lamps look nice, uber makeover. The dual-tone beige and black layout gives the cabin a classic look. The centre console houses a new 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system that is compatible with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Weblink. The instrument panel looks updated with a 7-inch HD full-colour TFT MID.

The new City will compete against the 2020 Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the newly-launched 2020 Skoda Rapid and Volkswa-gen Vento.

The car is expected to be priced between Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom) and Rs 15 lakh (ex-showroom).

NEW RESEARCH

Hot WHEElS

SAMSuNG CRyStAl uHD, uNbox MAGiC 3.0 SMARt tV SERiES NoW iN iNDiA Samsung on Wednesday launched its 2020 Smart TV line-up with the new Crystal 4K UHD and Unbox Magic 3.0 series in India. Crystal 4K UHD TV range is priced at Rs 44,400 for the 43-inch version, Ra 60,900 for the 50-inch version, Rs 67,900 for the 55-inch version, Rs 1,32,900 for the 65-inch version, and Rs 2,37,900 for the 75-inch model, available across Samsung retail partner stores. The new Smart TV line up builds on the content consumption trend, offering consumers the option to choose from a wide range of OTT platforms for an uninterrupted experience. “We are con-fident the new line of Crystal 4K UHD TVs will further strengthen our market leadership in this segment,” Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India said in a statement. Unbox Magic 3.0 range will be available at a starting price of Rs 20,900 and go up to Rs 41,900. It will be available in two screen sizes -- 32-inch and 43-inch. Consumers can also avail ‘My Samsung My EMI’ offer, with EMIs starting at Rs 990 for the 32-inch Smart TVs, Rs 1,190 for the 43-inch Smart TVs and Rs 1,990 for the 49-inch and above Smart TVs models.

DEll lAuNCHES pREMiuM xpS CoNSuMER lAptopS iN iNDiADell Technologies on Wednesday launched new XPS 13 and XPS 15 premium consumer laptops in India, at a starting price of Rs 1,44,807. The XPS 13 is all about its design, which is ex-quisite from every imaginable angle. It houses a 13.4-inch display in an 11-inch form factor. “For discerning us-ers who appreciate the perfect balance of conscious design and performance in their computer, the new XPS range is your go-to devices to choose from,” Raj Kumar Rishi, Vice President & Managing Director for Consumer and Small Businesses, Dell Technologies India said in a statement. The new range offers a 4K UHD+ panel with VESA certified DisplayHDR 400 for over 16 million colors and 500 nits of brightness. It is powered by 10th generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor coupled with Intel Iris Plus graphics. There is 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The XPS 13 de-

livers up to 18 hours 49 minutes of runtime on an FHD+ configuration when using productivity applications like Word or Excel.

ZooM ViDEo lAuNCHES NEW HARDWARE AS A SERViCEZoom Video Communications has launched a new hard-ware-as-a-service (HaaS) offering to help its enterprise customers scale video conference rooms and phones with budget-friendly hardware options and simple technolo-gy upgrades at an affordable, fixed monthly price. The new offering which will run on the ServiceNow platform will h e l p e nt e r -prises deploy Zoom solutions with the hardware they need without the large initial investment, saving budget for other IT proj-ects. Customers can choose from a variety of solutions from leading hardware manufacturers DTEN, Neat, Poly, and Yealink, Zoom said, adding that the service is cur-rently available in the US. “Amazing hardware partner-ships are a key part of Zoom’s ecosystem,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom.

tiktok RiVAl MitRoN HitS oVER 25 MillioN DoWNloADS fRoM GooGlE plAy Homegrown short-form video app Mi-tron on Tuesday said it has achieved over 25 million downloads from Google Play Store and more and more content creators are making a beeline to join the app. Mi-tron emerged as an homegrown alterna-tive to TikTok as anti-China sentiment rose in the country amid border tensions in Ladakh. The app, however, was briefly removed from Google Play Store ap-parently for “technical policy violations”. After it fixed the issues raised by Google, the app reappeared on Google Play. With India deciding to ban TikTok late last month over national security concerns, the popularity of Mitron further increased. The Bengaluru-based app on Tuesday claimed that about 40 million videos are viewed on the platform per hour while nearly one million new videos are created per day.

‘Smartphones not a barrier to good parenting’

MG HECtoR pluS lAuNCH oN 13 July 2020 HoNDA City lAuNCH oN 15 July

New arrivals

Pooja Bhatt has had enough of critics coming after the Bhatt family with nepotism charg-

es and now she is in no mood to stay silent. The death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has fuelled the debate on nepotism like never before and the Bhatts have found themselves at the centre of it.

From conspiracy theories to mas-sive drop in follower count on social media, the well-known faces of the Bhatt family, especially Alia and Ma-hesh Bhatt, have been forced to go into silence. So much so that social

media users have already rejected their upcoming film Sadak 2 and ranked it 98% on Nepometer, an app that tells the audiences how nepotis-tic a Bollywood film is.

But, no More! On Monday, Pooja penned a hard-hitting note against critics and claimed that she hails from a family that has launched more new talents — actors, musi-cians and technicians than the entire film industry combined. She wrote, “There was a time when the Bhatt’s were accused of having something against established actors and made to feel inferior for only working with/launching newcomers and not chasing stars.”

In her note, Pooja also hit out at Kangana Ranaut, a strong voice against nepotism in Bollywood, claiming that it was the Bhatts who launched her. “She is a great talent, if not she wouldn’t have been launched by Vishesh films in Gangster. Yes, Anurag Basu discovered her, but Vishesh Films backed his vision and invested in the film. No small feat.”

As for Sadak 2 and nepotism charges, Pooja clarified that Sadak 2 gives birth to a new music talent in the form of Sunil Jeet, a music teacher from Chandigarh who walked into their office with no prior appointment and composed a song called ‘Ishq Kamaal’.

9entertainment t h e da i ly gua r d i a n0 9 j u ly 2 0 2 0

n ew d e l h i

Tiger Shroff has delivered some of the best kicks, punches and jumps that are nothing less than a treat to sore eyes. Ear-lier this year, the actor had announced his plans to make Heropanti 2, which is a sequel to his debut film. This news had created a huge buzz amongst his fans.

Tiger has been constantly working in the time of the lockdown and has kept him-self busy by having online meetings with his team and much more for his upcom-ing projects. The actor is eagerly looking forward to start the shoot-

ing of the film once things are back to normal and it’s safe for everyone. Tiger has been doing various physical activities at home and has even shared his routines on social media. We are learning efforts are on for Heropanti 2 to surpass the Baaghi fame.

The actor, on his social media also, shared snippets of his

at-home training sessions which were proof on how Tiger is working extremely

hard for his projects and not taking any breaks.

The youngest action su-perstar is all set to once again

entertain his fans with some unseen and unheard

action sequences in his upcoming

films Hero-panti 2 and Rambo.

There’s no slowing down for Tiger as he gears up for ‘heropanTi 2’

Pooja Bhatt joins nepotism debate, says her family launched Kangana Ranaut

Uday PrataP SinghNew Delhi

Priyanka SharmaNew Delhi

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana has been vocal about the fact that life has to slowly become okay and we will all have to adjust to the new normal post COVID-19. And he walked the talk as he shot for an advertisement in Chandigarh with full safety precautions in place.

“It was just great to be back on the sets and shoot again after so many months. We all have been at home and we all have been

waiting to get back to what we were doing. Things will have to limp back to normal and with all the necessary safety precautions, we will all go out and work,” says the star.

He adds, “I set foot on a set for the first time since we went into lockdown and I saw how people have prepared themselves for the new normal. I was completely put at ease and I had a great shoot in Chandigarh.“

Ayushmann has gone to Chandigarh with his family to spend time with his parents. Chandigarh is returning to normalcy and has a bur-geoning film and music industry with all amenities in place, which is helpful for shooting to resume. With all safety measures in place, Ayushmann wrapped up shooting and thanked the entire crew for being extremely helpful. Uday Pratap Singh

greaT To shooT again afTer so many monThs: ayushmann

Jacqueline admits dealing

with ‘anxiety’ latelyMumbai: Actress Jacqueline Fernandez has ad-

mitted that she has been “dealing with some major anxiety” lately. Even though, the actress did not

disclose the reason, she did confess that regularly performing yoga has helped her combat the stress. “I have been dealing with some major anxiety these

past few weeks.. however being consistent with yoga has taught me the valuable lesson of being in

the moment and what’s even more important... gratitude... for life and being alive.. have a great day everyone!” Jacqueline shared on Instagram on Wednesday. She also

shared a video where she can be seen performing a few asanas.

actress kangana ranaut.

As international cricket re-sumes after almost a three-month-long Covid-19 halt, the International Cricket Council (ICC) explains in detail the Covid-19 rules on replacements, ban on applying saliva to the ball, additional DRS reviews and the procedure of Code of Conduct sanctions, among other things. The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) earlier approved recommendations of Anil Kumble-led cricket com-mittee which was aimed at mitigating the risks posed by the coronavirus and protecting the players and match officials when cricket resumes. The ICC has released all informa-tion on rules and changes in the game during Covid-19. Here’s everything you need to know:

What are the key changes?1. Covid-19 replacements: During a Test match, a team will be allowed to replace a player tested positive for Covid-19, displayed symp-toms, or forced to isolate because of contact tracing. In line with concussion replacements, the match referee would approve the nearest like-for-like replacement.2. Ban on applying saliva to the ball: Players will not be permitted to use saliva to shine the ball. If a player does apply saliva to the ball, the umpires will manage the situation with some leniency during the initial period of adjustment for the players, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning. A team can be issued up to two warnings per innings but repeated use of saliva on the ball will result in a 5-run penalty to the bat-ting side. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences.3. Non-neutral umpires: The requirement to appoint neutral match officials will be temporarily removed from the playing conditions of all international formats. ICC will be able to appoint local match officials from the ‘Emirates ICC Elite Pan-

el of Match Officials’ and the ‘Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Officials’.4. Additional DRS Reviews: Teams will get an additional DRS review in each innings, increasing the number of unsuccessful appeals per innings for each team to three for tests and two for the white-ball formats.5. Code of Conduct: The ICC cricket operations team will support match referees when processing Code of Conduct breaches and a neutral Emirates ICC Elite Panel Match Referee will conduct any hearings remotely via video link.6. Additional logo allowed: A logo, not exceeding 32 square inches in size, may be placed on the chest of the Test match shirt and sweater in addition to the three other logos allowed as per regulations.

This will apply through to the end of the 2020-21 season.When will these interim changes be reviewed?The changes will be re-viewed every three months.Saliva is banned but not sweat. Why?

The ICC Medical Advi-sory Committee (MAC) has recommended that saliva is not used on the match ball because of the elevated risk of transmission of the virus through saliva and as such, the use of saliva to polish the ball is prohibited. The MAC advised, that it was highly unlikely that the virus can be transmitted through sweat and saw no need to prohibit the use of sweat to polish the ball, whilst recommending that

enhanced hygiene mea-sures are implemented on and around the playing field.

Why are there Covid-19 replacements in Tests but not in ODIs and T20Is?

Players will go through pre-match medical screen-ing each day, and it is less likely that any of the criteria that would trigger a Covid-19 replacement could present during a one-day match.

Who decides that a player needs to stand down?

The team medical rep-resentatives will decide whether a player needs to be withdrawn from a match.

Does this work like a con-cussion replacement?

Yes. The replacement will be for the entire duration of the match and the match referee will sanction any like-for-like replacements.

What about hygiene mea-sures?

There will be enhanced hygiene measures around the field of play and the host Board will be responsible for providing the facilities at venues. Member boards will be responsible for educat-ing their players. On the field, umpires will keep the ball clean with an appropri-ate cloth each time a player uses saliva on the ball.

What happens if a player tests positive during the England-West Indies series? The ECB has worked closely with public health authorities in the UK and will have a dedicated Covid-19 Medical Officer throughout the series. If a player or match official becomes unwell, they will be isolated immediately.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday confirmed that this year’s Asia Cup has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Asia Cup has been cancelled,” Ganguly said during an Instagram chat.

“It’s difficult to say which will be India’s first interna-tional series. We’ve done our preparations but we can’t do much till we know the gov-ernment rules. We are not in a hurry because the health

of players is of utmost im-portance. We are monitor-ing things monthly,” added the former Team India captain, who turned 48 on Wednesday.

IANS had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had made it clear that the window which suits the PCB doesn’t suit the Indian board.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Wa-sim Khan had said that the Asia Cup will be held either in September or October.

A BCCI functionary in

the know of developments had told IANS that the PCB could also look at postpon-ing the Pakistan Super League (PSL) next season and host the multi-nation event in that window. The BCCI can then look at ad-justing the calendar accord-ingly and playing in the Asia Cup.

The Asia Cup was set to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Septem-ber this year before the PCB agreed to let the Sri Lankan cricket board host the tour-nament.

Ganguly also reiterated that the IPL can happen af-ter a decision is announced

by the ICC on the fate of the World T20.

EvErything you nEEd to know about iCC’s nEw Covid rulEs

Asia Cup has been cancelled, says BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly

Ra i n de layed t h e start of the first Test between Eng-

land and the West Indies on Wednesday, the first international match since March. England are 35/1 at the end of the second session of what has been a rain-hit Day 1 of their first Test against the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Opener Rory Burns and Joe Denly held fort for the hosts af-ter they lost Dom Sibley for a duck in the second over of the innings. Only 17.4 overs could be bowled in this session with rain forcing a brief break in between.

The first session of the day was washed off and the toss took place after Lunch. England’s stand-in skipper Ben Stokes chose to bat first and teams took a knee before the start of the proceedings to hon-our the Black Lives Matter movement.

Kemar Roach started

the attack with Shannon Gabriel and the latter dismissed Sibley off the fourth ball of his first over as the 24-year-old left a ball that swung in and hit his stumps. The umpires led the players back to the dressing rooms after the next over before they came

back 20 minutes later.The return however

didn’t last long as rain re-turned after seven balls and the players ran back into the pavilion. The ac-tion resumed almost 50 minutes later and this time, Burns and Denly saw out the spells of Roach and

Gabriel.West Indies captain Ja-

son Holder and Alzarri Joseph replaced them and after the fourth ball of the 18th over bowled by the latter, umpires halted play and led the players off the pitch once again. Tea was called for soon after.

Burns has made 20 runs off 55 balls while Denly is on 14 off 48. Both batsmen have hit three fours each. Gabriel remains the only wicket taker and gave 19 runs in his five overs while Roach bowled six and gave away just two.With agency inputs.

Q: Can disaffiliation of sports associations cause hurdles for Indian sportspersons’ par-ticipation in the international sports events?A: As per my knowledge and experience, it will not affect any game. Interest-ingly, our Chess Asso-ciation is not a member of Indian Olympic Associa-tion. Moreover, there is no chess game championship taking place in any part of the world. The prestigious Chess Olympiad which was planned to be organ-ised in Russia this year has been postponed due to the Corona pandemic. As on today, lots of chess activi-ties are not taking place, so I don’t think it will hamper any game. This is a tempo-rary phase. This postpon-ing is not only happening for chess but also for entire games. Last month, we

along with 15 sports fed-erations, met Union Sports Minister Kiran Rijiju on this court issue of disaffili-ation. I hope this is a politi-cal issue which will be re-solved within a month. So, there’s nothing to worry about the participation of Indian sportspersons inter-nationally.Q: What is the future of online concepts in indoor and out-door sports?A: Technology will play an important role in future. Yes, there will be some challenges in all the games to handle. Some Asian, European championships have already planned to conduct online concepts in

sports. To continue life in sports, we have to adjust ourselves accordingly to outdoor games like cricket, hockey, football, etc. Now, with the innovation, inven-tion and introduction of online championship, the spectators can view from home itself. We have al-

ready planned for an online national championship in India. It will benefit the lo-cal talents to initiate from block, district, state and reach up to national level. We are even searching some computer labs state-wise (under the supervi-sion of arbitrators) where

we can establish 2-3 chess centres in big states and one centre in a small state respectively. We have a big team, now we are waiting for the green signal from the Indian government, af-ter that we’ll execute and conduct online National Chess Championship,

Q: How do you acknowledge contributions of chess legends like Viswanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy and Parimar-jan Negi towards the game?A: Viswanathan Anand is the iconic figure of Indian chess and his contribution is invaluable. Those who are not following the game also know the name of this leg-end which itself vouch for his status in India. It’s com-mendable to place on record that, in a cricket crazy na-tion, Anand was the first re-cipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the highest sports honour in the coun-try. If I come to Humpy, she is the flag bearer of women chess in the country. If you are looking at an inspira-tional story in the world of chess, it is definitely Koneru Humpy. After two years of break from competitive chess, she is back where she belongs- world No. 2 with three huge titles before the pandemic. It all began with

Skolkovo Women’s Grand Prix, followed by the World Rapid Championship title and Cairns Cup 2020. What more we ask from Humpy. If I come to the younger generation, Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi showed the world that India started producing young talents and now youngsters like Nihal Sarin, Praggnan-nandha, Gukesh etc, fol-lowing the suit to make In-dia superpower in chess. It is pertinent to mention that just two days back India got its 66th Grandmaster in G. Akash. Q: As chess sports administra-tor, how do you contribute in promoting, creating opportuni-ties for talented chess players?A: My association with the game is of more than four decades. I started chess as a player and now an admin-istrator. I put my whole hearted efforts for develop-ment of the game, which is due to the passion I have

towards the game. As an administrator, it has been through many relentless ef-forts of the All India Chess Federation that chess today is looked upon as a career sport in the minds of the parents, the opinion leaders of bright young children. We have 66 Grandmasters in the country and most of them have achieved this title in recent years. Five-time world champion Viswana-than Anand is the flag bear-er of Indian chess and there are many more youngsters who are vying to take top positions in world rankings. Overall, as the administra-tors, lovers and promoters of chess, it’s been a satisfy-ing journey for us and we are now working to make India the number one chess playing nation in the world.The interviewer is the Bureau Chief of ‘Himalini’, founder of Creative World Media Acad-emy and has written two books on media education.

Burns, Denly hold English fort as WI strike early

CriCkEt

Covid iMPaCt

intErviEw

First tEst

Rain, bad light force stumps on Day 1 of the first Test with England at 35/1; Ben Stokes’ side loses the wicket of opener Dom Sibley.

Bharat Singh Chauhan, secretary of All India Chess Federation, talks to The Daily Guardian about Indian chess in the time of coronavirus.

Our aim is to make India No. 1 chess-playing nation: Chauhan

England’s Ben Stokes and head coach Chris Silverwood meet with West Indies’ head coach Phil Simmons and Jason Holder and the umpires on the pitch during First Test. REUTERS

Bharat Singh Chauhan.

Cricketer Faf du Plesis shining the ball with saliva.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

our correspondentSOUTHAMPTON

s.s. dograNEW DElHI

our correspondentKOlKATA

sports the daily guardian09 july 2020new delhi10

aIsHVarYa JaInNEW DElHI