DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Gehlot says must win hearts, his MLAs lash out at CLP meeting DEEPMUKHERJEE, HAMZAKHAN&MANOJCG BY UNNY Indian envoy, Nepal Foreign Secy to review projects funded by New Delhi SHUBHAJIT ROY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PILOT: MOST MLAs WERE SCARED... THOUGHT WILL BE HARASSED PAGE 6 22,68,675 RECOVERED: 15,83,489 DEATHS: 45,257 TESTS: 2,52,81,848| DOUBLING RATE: 24.73** SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING 24HOURS GROWTH* RATE** TOTAL CASES KEYSTATES TOWATCH 5,24,513 9,181 ■ Delhi 1,46,134 ■ Tamil Nadu 3,02,815 ■ Karnataka ■ Andhra Pradesh ■ Maharashtra 2.21% 32.63 707 0.77% 93.35 5,914 2.02% 35.61 1,82,354 4,267 3.89% 18.49 2,35,525 7,665 5.07% 14.20 * 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: 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 2.10 1.99 Deaths as a ratio of positive cases (in %); indicator of progress in averting deaths 8.89 8.97 53,601 47,746 DataasonAugust10,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive Lower death rate to 1%, stress on tracing: PM to worst-hit states KAUNAIN SHERIFF M NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 CONTAINMENT, CONTACT tracing,andsurveillancearethe“most effective weapons” in the battle against Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said to the chief ministers of 10 states that are currently the worst affected by the pandemic. ThePrimeMinisterurgedthe chief ministers to follow the mantra of testing and tracing all those who have come in contact with an infected individual within 72 hours. The 10 states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh – accountforalmost80percentof THE EDITORIAL PAGE DILEMMAOFCLEAN SLATE POLITICS BY VANDITA MISHRA P 10 India’s current active caseload. Modi told the chief ministers in the video conference on Tuesday that they should set themselves the target of bringingthe fatalityrateintheir states to under 1 per cent. Fatality rate is the ratio of deaths to positive cases, expressed as percentage. India’s national case fatality ratio (CFR) fellto 1.99% on Tuesday, thelowestsincethebeginningof thenational lockdown in March. If the “virus is defeated in these 10 states, the entire country will emerge victorious in the battle against Covid-19,” the Prime Minister said. He said there was an “urgent need to ramp up testing” in Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Telangana. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of The Indian Express. This page is an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contains content paid for by advertisers. This page should be read as an advertisement. Threat high, will allow 4G on trial in two J&K districts: Centre to SC ANANTHAKRISHNAN G & BASHAARAT MASOOD NEW DELHI, SRINAGAR, AUGUST 11 THE CENTRE told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that while the situationinJammu andKashmir (J&K) was still “not conducive” for fully restoringhigh-speed internet services,4G access will be provided“on atrialbasis inacal- ibrated manner in specified limitedareastoassesstheimpacton the security situation”. To begin with, the special committee — set up on the court’s orders to look into the issueof restoringinternet services in J&K— hasdecided to allow 4G access in one district each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions after August 15, Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench of Justices N V Ramana, R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai. Venugopal said the committee, which met on August 10, was“of theconsideredviewthat given the current security scenario, both in Jammu and Kashmir and in surrounding areas, the overall situation is still not conducive to lifting the limited restrictions on high speed internet through mobile devices whilst allowing broadband and 2G across the board”. SC expands rights for daughters in Hindu Undivided Family property ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 IN A significant judgment aimed at ensuring “right of equality” of a daughter in a Hindu Undivided Family, the Supreme Court Tuesday held that she will have coparcenary right, or equal right to family property by birth, irrespective of whether her father was alive or not as on September 9, 2005 — when Parliament recognised this right by amending the Hindu Succession Act of 1956. Effectively granting retrospective status to the amendment, a Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shahruled:“Theprovisionscon- E Daughter as‘karta’ ● ofHUF THE RULING is in line with judgments recognising equal rights of women. Other than inheritance rights of Hindu women, courts have recognised that daughters have equal rights to perform rituals, manage ancestral property as ‘karta’ or main legal heir of a HUF. tainedinsubstitutedSection6of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 confer status of coparcener on the daughter born before or after amendment in the same manner as son with same rights and liabilities...Since the right in coparcenary is by birth, it is not necessarythatfathercoparcener should be living as on 9.9.2005.” The decision by the threejudge Bench is significant since three separate two-judge Benches of the apex court had previously given contrasting decisions on the issue in different casesfollowingtheamendment. Writing forthe Bench,Justice Mishra stated: “If a daughter is alive on the date of enforcement of the Amendment Act, she becomes a coparcener with effect from the date of the Amendment Act, irrespective of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 “After considering the views expressed by the security agencies and the local agencies... the committee was of the consideredviewthatthethreatperception on the security front in J&K continues to be high,” he said, quotingfromanaffidavitfiledby the Centre. “However, on trial basis, and takingintoconsiderationtheoption to try out opening of FOR THE first time since the deterioration of ties over the Kalapani boundary dispute, India and Nepal are likely to meet next week to review projects funded by the Indian government. The meeting will take place in Kathmandu where Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi will lead a team of officialswhiletheIndiansidewillbe led by Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra. The meeting is likely to take place via videoconference in view of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.Whileadateisyettobe announced,sourcessaidtheyare lookingatthepossibilityof holding the meeting on August 18. India is building roads in the Terai region, helping Nepal in its post-earthquake reconstruction work, building railway lines, a police training academy, a polytechnic college, an oil pipeline andbordercheckposts.Thegovernment has allocated Rs 800 crore in this year’s budget for projects in Nepal. The meeting — of the joint oversight mechanism to review projectsestablishedin 2016,and which last met in July 2019 — assumes significance since Indian and Nepalese officials have not met to discuss the Kalapani borderdisputeduetothepandemic. New Delhi’s stand has been that a dialogue can be held after thetwogovernmentshave“successfullydealtwiththechallenge of the Covid-19 emergency”. The boundary dispute between India and Nepal came to the fore last November when India published its new map followingthebifurcationof Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territoriesandthe endof itsspecial status under Article 370. Kathmandu had proposed talks to discuss the boundary issue. It was tentatively scheduled for March, but had to be put off due to the Covid-19 outbreak. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE POET RAHAT INDORI, UNDER TREATMENT FOR COVID, DIES P 7 PRANAB MUKHERJEE'S HEALTH WORSENS P 9 THE WORLD RUSSIA CLAIMS FIRST COVID VACCINE PAGE 15 MHA’s Clause 6 panel sets 1951 as year to determine Assamese ABHISHEK SAHA GUWAHATI, AUGUST 11 A HIGH-LEVEL committee on implementation of Clause 6 of theAssamAccordconstitutedby the Ministry of Home Affairs has said that ‘Assamese people’ should be determined by taking 1951 as a cut-off year. The report of the 14-member committee, submitted to the state government in February this year, was released to the press by four of its members on Tuesday. Three of these four members — Samujjal Bhattacharya, Dipankar Nath and Lurinjyoti Gogoi — are senior All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) functionaries. The fourth member, NilayDutta,isarenownedadvocate and Advocate General of Arunachal Pradesh. The report said that the definition of ‘Assamese People’ for the purpose of implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord should include Indigenous Tribals as well as other Indigenous Communities of Assam, all other citizens of India residingintheterritoryof Assam on or before 01.01.1951 and Indigenous Assamese — and their descendants. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 To reward honest taxpayers, PM Ramesh Pokhriyal who oversaw plans new, ‘transparent’ scheme NEP is Express Adda guest today KHUSHBOO NARAYAN & AANCHAL MAGAZINE MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 AHEAD of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting with all Principal Chief Commissioners and Chief Commissioners of Income Tax on August 13 to launch a new tax programme, ‘Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest’. The invitation for the launch of the new scheme was shared by P C Mody, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), on Tuesday with senior tax officers, sources told The Indian Express. The Prime Minister is scheduled to address the officers throughawebtelecastonAugust 13 at 11 am. A programme could be announced to the public on August 15, sources said. Over the past 3-4 weeks, the Prime Minister's Office is learnt to have held several meetings with senior tax officials on faceless assessment and scrutiny of incometaxreturns.“Theaddress to income tax officers is likely to focusonfacelessassessmentand transparencyboostingmeasures forthetaxpayerswithspecialfocus on reducing hassles for individual taxpayers,” a senior income tax official said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Friday said faceless assessment and charter of rights for taxpayers were being worked upon as part of an overall simplified tax regime. She also said scrutiny of returns had reduced with only big anomalies being flagged so that individualtaxpayersdo nothave CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 AS INDIA gets a new National Education Policy (NEP) after 34 years, sweeping changes are set to be introduced in both school and higher education. The third major revamp of the framework of education in IndiasinceIndependence,itskey proposals include opening up of higher education to foreign universities,dismantlingof theUGC and the AICTE, introduction of four-year multidisciplinary un- Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pohkriyal dergraduate programmes with exit options and in school education, an overhaul of the cur- riculum with a thrust on experimental learning and critical CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 As parents help, Bengal madrasas complete second term SANTANU CHOWDHURY KHOSDELPUR (NORTH 24 PARGANAS), AUGUST 11 TIME TO REBUILD Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s office tweeted this photo of a meeting with J&K L-G Manoj Sinha in New Delhi Tuesday E X P L A I NE D 162 CASES: NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande among others. Sources said State Youth TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE DAYS SINCE PANDEMIC BEGAN First thaw in freeze: India and Nepal will meet next week BUSINESS AS USUAL JAIPUR, NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 A DAY after Sachin Pilot called off his rebellion against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, the stage has been sent for a possible meeting of the two factions of the state Congress unit on Wednesday, but party sources said the bitterness and trust deficit that marked the month-long acrimony is far from over. Sources said many of the 100-odd MLAs in the Gehlot camp are not happy with the way the leadership has welcomed Pilot back. Some of them are learnt to have spoken out at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaisalmer on Tuesday, which was attended by Gehlot, state party president Govind Singh Dotasra and central leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ajay Maken, MEETING IN KATHMANDU CARRYING SHEETS of paper, 28year-old Tuhina Bibi stands in a queue outside a classroom in Khosdelpur High Madrasah School in North 24 Parganas district with fellow parents, who who keep space between each other for social distancing. Tuhina is here to meet the schoolteacherandhandoveranswer scripts filled by her two sons, who study at the school. Once she has done that, Tuhina will move to a second LOCKDOWN LESSONS CHANGING CLASSROOMS AN EXPRESS SERIES queue, to collect the foodgrains meant for students as part of the mid-day meal scheme. On Monday, the school organised distribution of foodgrains for August. In a bid to reach out to students who have no access to the Internet or smartphones during the Covid-19 pandemic, the West Bengal Madrasah Board has asked its affiliate schools to prepare printed assignments every month, which the parents take home when they visit the schools to collect the mid-day meal benefits. To avoid crowding, students are not being called. "The idea is to provide continuitytotheir education.Inevery class, subject-wise question papers were set. This has not been done to mark them based on their answers, but to allow students to complete the syllabus. Sofar,theresponsefromparents has been most satisfying," said Abdur Rouf Dafadar, the head- Schools send work home, parents bring back answer sheets. A teacher checking them, at Khosdelpur Madrasah. Partha Paul master of the Khosdelpur High MadrasahSchoolsinceFebruary 2010. Set up in 1932, the school from classes 1 to 12 has 600 students, both boys and girls, including a small percentage who are non-Muslims. Yakub Mollah, who teaches mathematics at the school, said they first created WhatsApp groups to share study materials with students. "Later we found thatnoteverystudenthasaccess to theInternet as a large number come from challenging economic backgrounds. The school authorities then asked us to preparequestion papersintheform of assignments to be distributed amongparents.Wehavedistributed assignments thrice so far." Sangeeta Majumdar, who is a physical science teacher at the school, said when the schools shut due to the lockdown imposed in late March, only the first-termsyllabus(fromJanuary to March) had been completed. "So we divided the second-term syllabus(ApriltoJune)intothree setsandpreparedthreeseparate questionpapers.Thiswillensure that students can study the second-term syllabus at home," Majumdar said. While Tuhina's elder son CONTINUEDONPAGE2