DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FIRST STEPS TOWARDS DISENGAGEMENT After Galwan Valley, troops on both sides start pulling back in Hot Springs sector Neithersidewillpatrolbufferzonesfor now;BROstepsupborderroadswork BCCI’s plea in SC, nominee of CAG raises red flag on Jay Shah’s presence in top meeting DEVENDRA PANDEY MUMBAI, JULY 7 POINTING TO the cooling-off clause in the BCCI's constitution, the nominee of the Comptroller andAuditorGeneral(CAG)inthe cricketboardhasraisedaredflag over the presence of secretary JayShahata meeting of theapex council scheduled for July 17. CAG nominee Alka Rehani Bharadwajflaggedtheissueafter Shah,asBCCIsecretary,circulated the agenda of the meeting to membersof thecouncilonJuly3. In her letter, Bharadwaj, who is the first CAG nominee in the BCCIafterimplementationof the Justice R M Lodha reforms, said for the meeting, the joint secretary “would be presumably officiating as secretary after vacation of secretary BCCI post”. Vacation in legal parlance means the period between the end of one term and the beginning of another. Although Shah has completed his term as secretary, a BCCI petition seeking extension of the terms of office bearers is pending before the Supreme Court. BCCI has asked for the cooling-off clausetobeannulled. If the amendment is allowed, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WORLD BRAZIL PRESIDENT BOLSONARO TESTS POSITIVE TIKTOK TO LEAVE HONG KONG PAGE 15 DepsangPlains Ladakh Daulat Hot BegOldie Springs Galwan J&K Leh Darbuk Srinagar BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Beijing proposed talks between Wang, Doval SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JULY 7 limits on patrolling, sources said, will not be permanent. The pullback of troops is in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SPECIAL Representativelevel talks Sunday, following which troops on both sides stepped back in the Galwan Valley, was proposed by Beijing after the June 15 incident in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in clashes with THE EDITORIAL PAGE LINEOFACTUAL DECONTROL BY P VAIDYANATHAN IYER PAGE 12 Chinese troops. The Indian Express has learnt thattheChineseproposedtheSR- level talks, along with the activation of other channels, to resolve thetensesituationinthewakeof the Galwan Valley incident. The Indian side maintained that diplomatic and military channels, includingtheWorking MechanismforConsultationand Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), were “appropriate” to de-escalate the situation. But Beijing insisted on SRleveltalkstomakeanymeaningful forward movement. It was then that a meeting between Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was scheduled. Following the talks Sunday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said both sides had CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After NHRC, HC prod, work begins to bring meals to kids ASADISTRICT UNLOCKS AN EXPRESS SERIES DIPANKAR GHOSE BADBILLA (BHAGALPUR), JULY 7 IN THE STAFF room of the Primary School in Shahabad, PrincipalDevendraKumarSingh and teacher Juhi Kumari squinted into the smartphone to read the latest state government orderonmid-daymeals.Parents of at least three children from The Indian Express report on July 6 Some parents with the principal and staff of the primary school in Shahabad. Dipankar Ghose Badbilla who study in the school were waiting outside for details with news in the air that stu- US tells foreign students with online classes to go, univs look at options KARISHMA MEHROTRA NEW DELHI, JULY 7 IN A SHOCK to international students studying in the US, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has come out with a directive saying they won't be allowed to stay in the country if their Fall classes are movingentirelyonline. Any person entering the US or staying there in violation of this can potentially be deported. While the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted academic calendars, students had been hopeful as the ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Program had earlier allowed foreign students to stay to finish their spring and summer courses online. The ICE directive, issued Monday US time, applies to the F-1non-immigrantvisasforacademicworkandM-1non-immigrantvisasforvocationalcoursework. It requires school officials PAGE 1 ANCHOR E dents will be provided ration in lieu of mid-day meals. “We have been instructed to make a roster, and do things systematically. So, it will take a few days.Parentswillbecalledtothe school; your children will not havetocome.Themoneywillbe sent straight to children’s accounts, while you will get the TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE 127 CASES: DAYS SINCE PANDEMIC BEGAN RECOVERED: 4,39,947 DEATHS: 20,160 7,19,664 TESTS: 1,02,11,092 | DOUBLING RATE: 20.76** In line with Trump’s ● politics THE MOVE is being seen as part of US President Trump's politics pushing for America to open up post-pandemic, with international students being made a pawn to force the hand of universities. With universities allowed some leeway, all eyes are on them to see how they respond. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Industrywantsexportchannelstobe openedbutexpertssaywaitandwatch RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, JULY 7 FOUR MONTHS into the pandemic, Indian medicalmanufacturers catering to the swelling Covid industry are facing a unique dilemma over the use of a life-saving device at the heart of every ICU: ventilators. In March, ventilators were considered vital to treat serious Covid cases, and with the countrywide inventory at an estimated 47,000, manufacturers raced to ramp up production. But now, with health experts pointing to a shift in treatment to non-invasive oxygenation, these manufacturers are staring at excess stocks and hoping for export channels to be opened. That's not all. Many smaller manufacturers, who tied up with majors like Bharat ElectronicsLimited(BEL),Bharat HeavyElectricalsLimited(BHEL) andMarutiSuzukiIndiainanticipation of asurgeindemand, say they are facing a crunch. Says Dr V K Paul, the NITI Aayog member who heads the Centre's Covid task force: “The CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DELHI RIOTS CHARGESHEET In murder of 85-yr-old, key accused caught on eight videos: police KAUNAIN SHERIFF M NEW DELHI, JULY 7 KEYSTATES TOWATCH SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING 24HOURS GROWTH* RATE** TOTAL CASES ■ Maharashtra 2,11,987 5,368 3.21% 22.40 ■ Tamil Nadu 1,14,978 3,827 4.20% 17.16 ■ Delhi 29.50 1,00,823 1,379 2.44% ■ Telangana 25,733 1,831 7.62% 9.45 ■ Haryana 17,504 499 3.02% 23.82 * Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days ** Calculated over 7-day growth CASE FATALITY RATIO POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILY OUT 7 DAYS EARLIER: toissuenewvisaformsbyAugust 4andtosubmitoperationalplans by July 15 if they are online-only, and August 1 otherwise. Schools such as Harvard, Princeton,andGeorgetownhave already announced mostly remote-learning semesters. Now, rice from here,” Principal Singh told the parents. On Monday, The Indian Express had reported how children of the Musahari tola in Badbilla village were pushed to rag-picking, leaving them starved after schools — which served them mid-day meals — had to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 115 lakh children in the state avail of the mid-day meal scheme. Hours after the report, the Bihar government issued a statewide order stipulating that ration as well as money through As Covid curve rises, surge in ventilators causes glut 7 DAYS EARLIER: DETECTED TODAY NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: Positives against number tested (in %); indicator of the spread of disease Becoming sick vs recovering; more recoveries for 14 days may signal the peak 2.98 2.80 Deaths as a ratio of positive cases (in %); indicator of progress in averting deaths 6.58 7.05 22,252 15,515 BasedondailydatafromUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbersincludedata frompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive AS MANY as eight videos identifying the murder accused at the scene of the crime have been placed on record by the Delhi Police in its chargesheet related to the murder of 85-year-old Akbari Begum who died of suffocation and burn injuries during the Delhi riots. These videos were recorded by eyewitnesses and capture, in chilling detail, according to police transcripts, the sequence of events: how Akbari Begum’s family was trapped on the rooftop of the house in Bhajanpura — the elderly victim couldn’t reach there — and how the accused walked out of the house after setting it ablaze. The six accused are: Arun Kumar (26), Varun Kumar (22), VishalSingh(29),RaviKumar(24), Akbari Begum died of suffocation, burn injuries Prakash Chand (36) and Suraj Singh (28). All are in judicial custody.Thechargesheetwasfiledin the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Karkardooma. Calling the videos “direct/electronicevidence,”that identifiedalltheaccused,thepolice have also placed on record disclosurestatements of fouraccused who were shown these CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 6 THE COVID BUSINESS VENTILATORS TO TESTING KITS, OXYGEN SUPPLIES TO PPE AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-1 ALL STOCKED UP Current annual capacity of leading ventilator makers: ■Skanray Technologies, Bengaluru: 1,20,000 units ■ AgVa Healthcare, New Delhi: 60,000 units ■ Allied Medical Ltd, Gurgaon: 42,000 units Source: Association of Indian Medical Device Industry Gold smuggling racket: Kerala principal secy to CM removed SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 7 A DAY after an employee in the state Information Technology department emerged as a key figure in a gold smuggling racket, the government on Tuesday removed M Sivasankar M Sivasankar as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and appointed IAS officer Mir Mohammed in his place. Sivasankar, a senior IAS officer,hasbeenaskedtogoonleave for a year and also removed as IT Secretary, with K Mohammed Y Safirulla, a2010batchIASofficer, replacing him. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Test cricket returns today: sanitisation breaks, empty stadium SHAMIK CHAKRABARTY KOLKATA, JULY 7 INTERNATIONAL HIGH ROLLERS Satellite images of the Galwan Valley on June 28 (left) and July 6. Recent constructions on both sides appear to have been dismantled. Maxar Technologies via AP E X P L A I NE D A DAY after they moved back from Patrolling Point 14 (PP14) in Galwan Valley, Chinese and Indian troops have started stepping back at PP15 and PP17A (Gogra) in the Hot Springs sector of Ladakh as part of efforts to reduce tensions along the Line of Actual Control. Senior sources in the Army said China is dismantling its structures and moving back troops at these two locations. Indian troops, the sources said, are also stepping back to create space between the forces. This reduces chances of a clash, ashappenedinGalwanValleyon June 15, during the disengagement process. Both sides, sources said, have movedbacktroopsbymorethan 1 km at each of these locations andneithersidewillpatrolthede facto buffer zones as long as the currenttensionscontinue.These PAKISTAN NEW DELHI, JULY 7 CHINA KRISHN KAUSHIK Once seen as key in Covid fight, experts now say need for ventilators exaggerated. Express RESERVE PLAYERS doing the job of ball boys, cleaning breaks to sanitise stumps and bails, reporters and photographers covering matches in personal protective equipment (PPE) — an unusual Test series between England and the West Indies starts on Wednesday. In the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic, international cricket will resume at the AgeasBowlinSouthampton.The Test — and the two that will follow in Manchester later this month — will be played without spectators in a bio-secure environment. The England and WalesCricketBoard(ECB)hasissued a list of do's and don’ts in a 74-page booklet that it has sent to Southampton. Only the two captains, Ben Stokes and Jason Holder, and matchrefereeChrisBroadwillgo out for the toss, says the booklet. There will be no cameras at the toss, and no handshakes after. Umpires Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough will carry their own bails, and will stopplayforcleaningbreaksand to sanitise the stumps. Players can't share gloves, West Indies captain Jason Holder during a nets session at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton, ahead of the Test series. AP shirts, water bottles, bags, or sweaters. There will be no ball boys, and ground staff won't go within 20 metres of the players on the field. Off it, the social distancing rule of two square metres will have to be adhered to. Team sheets will be digital. Scorers will not share pens and pencils. Accredited personnel will be tracked through a chipenabled Covid tracker card. The International Cricket Council(ICC)hasalreadybanned use of saliva on the ball — after twowarnings,afive-runpenalty will be imposed. “Iftheballgoesintothestands forsixthensquadplayerswearing gloves will throw it back. Nobody else is allowed to touch it,” The DailyTelegraphquotedECBevents directorSteveElworthyassaying. “The Test match is going to feel very different for them, but they havebeenlivingthisforawhilealready,”hesaid. The United Kingdom has the world'sseventhhighestcaseload of Covid-19, but the countries that are worse off are all much bigger. As of Tuesday evening, the UK had reported 2.87 lakh confirmed infections and over 44,300 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University global coronavirus dashboard. The ECB hasstilldecidedtohosttheWest Indies and Pakistan because without any cricket, it was reportedly staring at a £380 million black hole. “Staging these matches will help to protect vital revenue streams for our game from broadcastdealsandwillalsogive a morale boost to cricket fans everywhere, and I’m delighted that we have found a way of doing this in an environment that will be safe and secure for all involved,”AgeasBowlchief executive David Mann is quoted as saying on the ground's website. The Daily Telegraph reported, quoting Elworthy, that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2