India-Today-12th-October

OC BIHAR POLL: IT’S THE BIG BJP ARE HEALTH ID CARDS UPHILL FOR TEJASHWI RESHUFFLE GOOD FOR YOU? www.indiatoday.in OCTOBER 12, 2020 `75 RNI NO. 28587/75 REGISTERED NO. DL(ND)-11/6068/2018-20; U(C)-88/2018-20; FARIDABAD/05/2020-22 LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT WHATSAPP HOW PRIVATE? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW THE PHONE MESSAGING SERVICE CAN BE TAPPED, CLONED OR HACKED AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF W hile the nation was transfixed by the soap opera wants to tap you, it will. Privacy activists believe these agencies of the investigation into the suspicious death of have sweeping powers to track people online, read their mes- actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a collateral issue sages, intercept their phone conversations and monitor their web started playing out simultaneously. Besides the browsing histories without warrants or independent oversight. personal interrogations, most of the evidence in the case is in Electronic evidence is admissible in courts if accompanied with a the form of WhatsApp chats of persons close to Rajput and certificate that such evidence has not been modified. a chain of others on the issue of the consumption and supply A range of sophisticated digital tools makes it easier for agen- of drugs. Regrettably, the enforcement agencies chose to leak cies to harvest data from phones and storage devices. This has these conversations selectively to the media, which, in turn, often helped law agencies solve what seemed like uncrackable built a whole narrative of lawbreaking with par- cases. The NIA recently pieced together a moun- tial evidence even before the case is registered. tain of digital evidence from the partially dam- This was not an isolated incident. Last month in aged mobile phone of Pakistani national Umar Delhi, chat transcripts of 15 persons charged by Farooq, to conclude that he was the mastermind the police for organising the Delhi riots in Feb- of the suicide bombing attack in Pulwama on ruary this year were again leaked to the media. February 14, 2019. All this has got people wondering how secure Y et, the alarming rate at which law enforce- they can really feel about the privacy of their ment agencies are accessing and using phone conversations—particularly on What- sapp. Over 400 million Indians use this popular WhatsApp chats as incriminating evidence is messaging service. The country is its largest making users wary. This has raised concerns Our September 27, 2004 cover about privacy which the Supreme Court has de- clared a fundamental right of the citizen. It has once again fuelled the demand for an e�ective customer base in the world. We make up close to one-fourth of the 2 billion user base of the app, Only Books Magazineowned by social media giant Facebook. A con- venience tool, Whatsapp has been in India for and comprehensive law on data protection and over a decade, bringing people and communities privacy. India currently has no such laws to pro- closer and allowing them to share text, voice and tect individual privacy, and with multiple agen- video messages and photographs. It has become cies authorised to snoop on smartphones, we run the preferred way to speedily disseminate infor- the risk of becoming a surveillance state. A Joint mation, especially during unprecedented situa- Parliamentary Committee is examining the tions like the pandemic and the lockdown. But, proposed Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, as is the case with all technology, it has a darker set to be tabled this winter session of Parliament. side. Two years back, video rumours about child Our April 9, 2018 cover Once passed, the bill will restrict the collection lifters triggered random acts of mob violence of digital evidence by allowing law enforcement across the country in which 30 innocent persons agencies to get only specific information for were killed. Last year, there were reports of investigating crimes. several WhatsApp accounts being compromised Our cover story, written by Deputy Editor by hackers using the spyware Pegasus. Kaushik Deka, looks at the issues the leaking of Besides the state police, 10 central agencies private phone chats has thrown up and privacy are presently empowered to intercept, monitor implications. He examines the technical and and decrypt communications. They include the legal aspects and the moral and ethical issues Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Inves- of tapping private chats. Sure, you cannot cite tigation, Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics privacy as your fundamental right to hide crim- Control Bureau, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Our July 23, 2018 cover inality. Still, there needs to be a system with Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, National oversight that governs the collection of such evi- Investigation Agency, Research & Analysis dence and maintains a balance between privacy Wing, Directorate of Signal Intelligence and the concerns and the need to gather evidence. Delhi police commissioner. Under Section 5 of the Telegraph Cyberlaw expert Pavan Duggal o�ers us a useful reminder. Act, 1885, the Union home secretary and the home secretary of “The internet as a paradigm,” he says, “never sleeps, and the a state can order interception in the interests of the sovereignty internet as a phenomenon never forgets. Every activity we do and integrity of the country or for preventing incitement to online leaves behind an electronic footprint, which can be used an o�ence. In exceptional circumstances, a duly authorised against us.” So, tread carefully in the digital world. o�cer of joint secretary rank or above can also issue such an order. There are other safeguards for review but all within the bureaucracy. There is no independent review outside that. Considering how compliant the bureaucracy has become to (Aroon Purie) its political masters, the chances are that if the government O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �3

www.indiatoday.in UPFRONT LEISURE CHAIRMAN AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie LADAKH: HIGH-ALTITUDE GAMING IN INDIA IS VICE CHAIRPERSON: Kalli Purie SHADOWBOXING PG 6 LEVELLING UP PG 51 GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa HATHRAS RAPE: Q&A WITH I N S I D ETHE UNANSWERED CARRYMINATI QUESTIONS PG 10 PG 56 GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh 18 MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha EXECUTIVE EDITORS: S. Sahaya Ranjit, Sandeep Unnithan, Manisha Saroop; MUMBAI: M.G. Arun SENIOR DEPUTY EDITORS: Uday Mahurkar, HYDERABAD: Amarnath K. Menon DEPUTY EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Shwweta Punj SENIOR EDITORS: Sasi Nair, Anilesh S. 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THE GST HATHRAS RAPE: MISAPPROPRIATION THE UNANSWERED PG 9 THE POACHERS QUESTIONS PG 10 UPFRONTOFPANNA GOA’S MISSING TOURISTS PG 12 PG 14 Only Books Magazine A SHOW OF FORCE Indian Army soldiers with a T-90 ‘Bhishma’ tank in Ladakh LADAKH ANI TALKS, TANKS A s the tense military standoff between India AND HIGH-ALTITUDE and China in Ladakh entered its sixth SHADOWBOXING month, the situation on the ground showed no signs of de-escalation. The Chinese By Sandeep Unnithan People’s Liberation Army (PLA) hasn’t budged from the Finger 4 area of Pangong lake—8 km into Indian territory based on India’s perception of the LAC (Line of Actual Control)—and in the Hot Springs area. The Indian Army is heavily deployed along the LAC and atop the Kailash Range, a row of hill features south of Pangong lake, which it occupied using special forces in successive waves beginning August 29. Both sides issued a rare joint statement after the September 21 Corps Commander-level talks, where they agreed to ‘strengthen communication on the ground, avoid misunderstandings and misjudge- ments, stop sending more troops to the LAC, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ��

UPFRONT ground and avoid taking actions that THE ATAL by India, and opposes infrastructure may complicate the situation’. This is construction in disputed border areas the sixth round of talks between gener- TUNNEL, for military control purposes,” said als from the two armed forces. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson As if in a parallel universe, and fill- ROHTANG Wang Wenbin in Beijing, in response ing the time until a yet-to-be-decided to a question on India’s heightened seventh round of talks, the two nations The world’s longest construction activity. On this count, nonetheless continue to strike bel- tunnel (over 3,000 metres in early October, defence minister ligerent postures. China peppered its above sea level) will be Rajnath Singh will inaugurate 43 state-owned media with footage of the inaugurated on October 3 bridges in the border areas of Ladakh, PLA’s Tibet military command conduct- Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal ing live-fire drills, on September 24, of Work started Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and tanks and artillery and missiles. As a 2010 Jammu and Kashmir, including seven Chinese military spokesperson said, this in Ladakh built by the BRO all along was to ‘test its adaptability and firepow- Original date the LAC with China. And on October er of troops in ultra-high altitudes (over of completion 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set 18,000 ft)’, leaving no doubt where the 2015 to inaugurate the 8.8 km Atal tunnel in ‘ultra-high altitudes’ were. Rohtang, which will provide all-weath- he message was duly received, er connectivity to a section of the vital with the Indian Army reveal- route linking Manali to Leh. ing just a few days later to With the stalemate sliding into T the media its newly inducted winter and both sides digging in, Indian Army officials say they are T-90 tanks and BMP-2 infantry com- watchful for Chinese attempts to alter the status quo in Ladakh and conduct Only Books Magazinebat vehicles, deployed at areas over Tunnel breakthrough OCT 15, 2017 Completed in 2020 15,000 ft above sea level. While it was possible diversionary military actions. known that tanks had been inducted in Length China, like India, is in a heightened Ladakh—the world’s highest deploy- 8.8 km state of military readiness. It has been ment of the armoured beasts—these conducting live-fire exercises not just in were the first visuals to have come out Ladakh but also on its maritime fron- so close to the theatre of operations. What it does tier. On September 28, it conducted a On September 29, China hit back near-unprecedented series of simul- Allows year-round connectivity taneous military exercises—two in the with one of its harshest statements from Manali to Lahaul and Spiti val- South China Sea and one each in the since the standoff began. “China does ley. The tunnel will reduce the road not recognise the so-called Union ter- length of the Manali-Rohtang Pass- East China Sea and in the Bohai Sea. ritory of Ladakh, illegally established Sarchu-Leh road by 46 km These exercises, Indian analysts say, have been sparked off by fears within China of a possible military strike by NORTHERN the United States, which could help LIFELINE US President Donald Trump fighting a An interior view tough re-election campaign. of the Atal tunnel Indian analysts say they are also looking at a significant event within China that could perhaps define the trajectory of the standoff in Ladakh. The fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) begins in Beijing next month. This crucial meeting, which will decide the course of China’s economy over the next five years, will be presided over by President Xi Jinping. There is much more at stake in the standoff for all players than meets the eye. � 8 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

GST Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE A CASE OF STICKY FINGERS By Anilesh S. Mahajan A t the GST Council meet- fund of India. A senior finance min- against the estimated compensation of ing on September 20 last istry official, speaking on condition Rs 3 lakh crore. Many point out that if year, a major disagreement of anonymity, maintains that states the Centre had transferred the excess erupted over delays in pay- received the full compensation they collections in 2017-18 and 2018-19 to ment of GST compensation owed by the were entitled to in these two years— the compensation cess fund—as legally Centre to the states. A point of serious Rs 41,146 crore in 2017 and Rs 69,275 required—an additional Rs 47,272 acrimony was an allegation by a group crore in 2018. However, this defence crore would have been available for the of finance ministers from non-NDA still sidesteps the point that the GST Centre to pass on to states. “It may not (National Democratic Alliance) states— Compensation Cess Act requires the have been enough [to fully compensate Punjab’s Manpreet Badal, West Bengal’s entire cess collection to be transferred the states this year], but it would have Amit Mitra, Delhi’s Manish Sisodia, to the compensation fund, regardless played a pivotal role in building trust Chhattisgarh’s T.S. Singh Deo and of whether collections exceed com- between the Centre and the states,” says Kerala’s Thomas Isaac—that the Centre pensations due. Some analysts point a finance minister from a BJP-ruled was ‘diverting’ GST cess collections. out that as a result of this ‘creative state, requesting anonymity. Former That charge appears to have been vin- accounting’, the Centre was able to Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha dicated by the CAG (Comptroller and overestimate its revenue receipts (and agrees on that last point, saying that Auditor General) of India audit report, underestimate its fiscal deficit) for the facts established by the CAG report tabled in both houses of Parliament in these two years. “only deepen mistrust and create more its recently concluded monsoon ses- challenges for the federal structure”. sion. The CAG audit of the Centre’s This revelation has reignited the finances found that the Union min- fiery disagreement between the Centre On the point of Centre-state trust, istry of finance had violated the GST and state governments over their GST a further provocation came at the GST Compensation Cess Act, 2017, by short- dues. Even more galling for states, the Council meeting on August 27, when crediting the GST compensation cess Centre recently claimed it was unable the Centre unilaterally reduced the fund by Rs 47,272 crore over two years. to pay them the compensation they compensation it owed to the states. were due this year as a result of rev- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman In 2017, state governments gave enue shortfalls—GST cess collections argued that since GST collections up the right to levy indirect taxes, sub- are about Rs 65,000 crore this year, as had fallen due to an “act of God”—the ject to an assurance from the Centre Covid-19 pandemic—the Centre was that they would be compensated for 1.57` LAKH CRORE only liable for Rs 97,000 crore of the the loss of revenue. The Centre was GST compensation cess Rs 3 lakh crore of revenue lost to the allowed to levy a cess on certain goods collected by the Centre states this fiscal year because of the and services, with these collections to in 2017-18 and 2018-19 implementation of the GST. Even more be transferred to a compensation fund. aggravating was the Centre’s proposed The CAG report says that in 2017-18 `47,272 CRORE solution—that state governments bor- and 2018-19, these cess collections row the shortfall from the market. The were Rs 62,611 crore and Rs 95,081 GST compensation cess collec- Centre said that if states agreed to the crore, respectively. The report says that tions retained by the Centre in the ‘revised’ compensation amount, both instead of transferring the total collec- principal and interest on these debts tions to the compensation fund, the consolidated fund of India would be paid out of the compensation finance ministry retained about fund, but if they did not, only the princi- Rs 47,272 crore in the consolidated pal would be repaid. � O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �9

ANI ANI ANI RAJWANT RAWAT Only Books Magazine HATHRAS GANG-RAPE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT O n September 14, a By Ashish Misra thought village boys had thrashed her, 19-year-old Dalit girl but later it was found that she had been from Boolgadhi vil- ing for breath with her tongue cut off. gang-raped.” lage went to a farm, Doctors at Aligarh’s Jawaharlal with her mother and Boolgadhi village, located some 400 Nehru Medical College Hospital said at km from state capital Lucknow, has a a male family mem- the time of admission the same day that small Dalit population—90 of 300-odd the girl was paralysed with a severe spi- resident families. Despite the gruesome ber, to collect fodder. nal cord injury and had several broken nature of the crime, the UP police took bones. Her mother paints an even more five days to bestir itself and record the The village falls under Chandpa police horrific picture. “When I saw my daugh- girl’s statement. They visited the village ter (on the farm), she was bleeding. Her only after BSP supremo Mayawati and station in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras dis- tongue had been cut off—the police Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar are lying when they deny it. Before she condemned the incident. One youth trict. While at work, she was attacked and fainted, my daughter named one of the accused into her brother’s ears. We first gang-raped, allegedly by four upper caste men from her village. The girl’s mother found her with a deep neck injury, gasp- 10 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

UPFRONT SORROW AND OUTRAGE APPALLING violence to keep them at bay. (Clockwise from far left) Grieving relatives of APATHY Around 200 police personnel blocked the gang-raped girl after news of her death; a protest in New Delhi on Sept. 30; a Youth Sept. 14, 2020 the cremation ground during the funeral Congress agitation in the national capital; police A 19-year-old Dalit girl is and the girl’s family was reportedly not stop Congress workers from marching towards gang-raped and tortured, al- allowed to go near the pyre. “The brother CM Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow legedly by four upper caste of the victim called and told my office that men, in Boolgadhi village of he and [their] father were taken to the from the village was arrested on September cremation ground while the cremation was 19. On September 22, eight days after the Hathras district in UP on, but were not allowed to see the [girl’s] face,” tweeted National Commission for attack, the police pressed charges of gang- Sept. 14 Women chairperson Rekha Sharma. rape and attempt to murder against him The girl is admitted to the Questions are also being raised about and three more youths from the village, who Jawaharlal Nehru Medical the casual dismissal by the police of a were subsequently arrested. All four men College Hospital in Aligarh caste angle in the case. “Despite endless have also been booked under provisions of with a severely damaged announcements by the UP government, the SC/ ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. spinal cord and fractures incidents of atrocities and rapes and mur- As the girl’s condition worsened, she Sept. 19 ders of Dalits and women are not stopping. was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Police record the girl’s It is but natural to question the intentions Delhi on September 28. Her death next statement and arrest a of the state government,” said Mayawati. morning sparked countrywide outrage. On youth from her village A recent report, ‘Quest for Justice’, by social media, the tragedy has brought back Sept. 22 the National Campaign for Dalit Human Police file a case of gang- memories of similar ghastly crimes against rape and attempt to murder Rights, a coalition of Dalit activists and women, with some calling the Hathras girl against the youth and three academics, says crimes against Dalits have the ‘forgotten Nirbhaya’, a reference to the others from the village. risen alarmingly, with over 391,000 atroci- December 16, 2012 gang-rape of a young ties reported between 2009 and 2018. The medical student in New Delhi. Arrests follow over the report says close to 90 per cent of the cases next four days filed under the SC/ ST Act during this peri- Only Books Magazinerime Minister Narendra Modi od were pending action. According to the Sept. 25 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), spoke to UP chief minister Yogi The SHO of Chandpa police there has been a 7 per cent increase in crimes Adityanath on the morning of station, under which the vil- against women in India between 2018 and 2019, with Uttar Pradesh registering the P September 30, asking for strict lage falls, is transferred action against the culprits. Soon after, the state government announced Sept. 28 highest numbers. that a special investigation team (SIT), The girl’s condition worsens However, a report released in August headed by home secretary Bhagwan and she is shifted to Safdar- by the Uttar Pradesh home department Swaroop, would take up the case. Adityanath jung Hospital in New Delhi claims a drop in rape incidents in the state has announced a compensation of Rs 25 Sept. 29 in the first half of 2020—down 38.7 per lakh and a house in Hathras city for the girl’s The family is informed cent compared with 2016. UP additional family, apart from a job for one member. The about the girl’s death director general of police (law and order) case will be fast-tracked. Prashant Kumar says: “The police are tak- As political parties try to corner the UP Sept. 30 ing strict action in cases of crimes against administration over the handling of the case, The girl’s body is brought to women. Instructions have been given to several questions remain unanswered. First, her village at 12.45 am. The step up patrolling to prevent such crimes.” the response of the local police. Not only did family alleges that police The situation on the ground, however, it take pressure from national leaders for the kept them away from does not lend any credence to those sta- police to take some action, there was a long the last rites tistics and police claims. As Adesh Singh, delay in registering a case of gang-rape. It is Sept. 30 a Lakhimpur-based social activist, says: also unclear why the police forced the cre- An SIT is set up. CM Yogi “The anti-Romeo squad, formed after mation in the middle of the night soon after Adityanath orders Rs 25 Yogi Adityanath assumed power in 2017, the girl’s body had arrived at Boolgadhi vil- lakh compensation for the became inactive during the pandemic. With lage around 12.45 am on September 30. girl’s family schools, colleges and coaching institutes Amid protests by villagers, the girl’s family closed, troublemakers are now commonly had repeatedly pleaded that they be allowed spotted in markets, at road intersections, to take the body home once, but the police even hospitals, and young girls and women allegedly declined and even resorted to are routinely molested.” � O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �11

STALKING THE AJAY PANNA BIG CAT A Panna tiger Only Books Magazineonamorningstroll BIG CAT POACHING ALARM BELLS IN PANNA By Rahul Noronha I n mid-August, the decomposed were his head and private parts—a a resident of Brijpur in Panna, led the body of a tiger, P-123, washed sure sign of poaching. A week later, the team to more recoveries in his home- up on the banks of the Ken river Special Tiger Strike Force (STSF)—the town. Four days later, two more leopard in the Panna National Park, the state’s dedicated anti-poaching unit— and spotted deer hides were recovered. fifth tiger death in the reserve in the unearthed an organised poaching ring Meanwhile, two leopard poaching cases past eight months. The park man- feeding off the Panna park. were reported in the past few months. agement initially claimed P-123 had Tiwari’s arrest wasn’t a regulation succumbed to injuries sustained in For a park that had lost all its tigers poaching case. The STSF found that a territorial fight with another tiger, to poaching in 2008, losing a tenth Tiwari and his associates were running P-431. One of the staff had witnessed of the adult population and the pres- an organised poaching syndicate and it, they said. It was the autopsy report, ence of an organised poaching gang in were, in fact, the back-end of operations which came out a month later, that its vicinity are deeply troubling signs. that helped legitimise illegally sourced raised alarm in the state’s wildlife On September 17, the STSF arrested wildlife trophies. The STSF, however, establishment and beyond. three people in Jabalpur and recovered did not recover any of the missing tiger leopard skin and spotted deer skin. parts, of P-123 or any others. The tiger’s claws were missing, as One of the accused, Jitendra Tiwari, 12 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

UPFRONT How did the legitimisation process distinction of having to report in into how the reserve lost all its tigers. work? Well, in the early 2000s, the December 2008 that it had lost its The central committee found poaching Madhya Pradesh government had come entire tiger population. In March to be the main reason while the state out with an amnesty scheme to legal- 2009, the forest department launched theorised that the skewed sex ratio (too ise old, unregistered wildlife trophies. a tiger reintroduction programme, many males) in Panna had led to the big Under the scheme, owners of unregis- under which tigers from other cats straying out of the reserve to areas tered merchandise like old horns, skins parks such as Kanha, Pench and where protection measures were weak and antlers were to get a second chance Bandhavgarh were released in Panna and got killed. to do so. The trophies had to be present- after being radio collared. The released The peripheries of the Panna reserve ed before the forest department, which tigers were monitored 24x7 by six- are also populated with communities would tag them and issue a certificate of member dedicated teams. The added who have traditionally engaged in hunt- ownership. The government announced protection played a crucial role in ing. The Bundelkhand region, where that any ‘trophy’ found without regis- reviving the tiger numbers. Ten years the Panna tiger reserve is located, is also tration after the scheme ended would after the first tiger arrived, Panna now known for its gun culture and higher be illegal and invite action under the has more than 40 adult tigers and over incidence of crime. Naturally, wildlife Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. a dozen cubs. Tigers from Panna are crimes, too, are more common here. The STSF said the Panna gang had now also populating other reserves According to the wildlife wing intel- sourced a seal from a wildlife office in such as Satpura and Sanjay National ligence, Katni, an important railway Khajuraho and was issuing certificates Park in MP and even the forests of UP. junction in the vicinity of Panna, has and tags along with the wildlife ‘tro- What are the peculiar vulnerabilities helped smugglers transfer wildlife mer- phies’ being sold to people. of Panna? After the 2008 debacle, the chandise to various parts of the country Soon after the poaching gang’s Centre and the state government had from where it is often shipped outside arrest, chief wildlife warden Alok Kumar rushed to Panna on Only Books MagazineSeptember 23 on a damage both appointed committees to look the country. The Covid pandemic has also taken a toll on livelihoods, especially in the tourism sec- control mission. “All issues tor, which is a big employer pertaining to the deaths locally, as Khajuraho is located of tigers have been looked close by. Criminals and anti- into. Except for the last socials have seen an oppor- one, in which body parts tunity and are exploiting the of the tiger went missing, situation. all were natural deaths. “The factors that threat- But I agree that there are ened tigers more than a decade issues of management ago are still present. It’s just at the park that must be that a strong park manage- addressed,” Kumar said. ment deterred them. The What are the management moment management got lax, issues he flagged? For one, forces antithetical to the park the inexplicable delay in became active. The poaching the recovery of carcasses HIDE AND SEEK An arrested poacher cases around the reserve is a of tigers after their deaths. The park with the seized leopard and deer skins consequence of this,” says Shyamendra management has claimed that all five Singh, Panna resident and former mem- tiger deaths have been due to territo- ber of the state wildlife board. Park rial conflict—a natural consequence of 2008 authorities need to work closely with increasing tiger numbers. locals to prevent a repeat of 2008. The wildlife habitat already faces too many Even in the case of P-123, the park management claims the body parts were The year Panna had to shame- threats, from the new environmental chopped off after the tiger had died a fully declare that it had lost all laws and the persistent threat from the natural death. “Territorial fights are a its tigers to poaching Ken-Betwa river link project. If poach- natural occurrence, but the incidence ers continue to strike, Panna’s tigers of fights is lower in Panna given that 58 may not be able to bounce back. the female to male ratio is favourable,” It’s not all bad news for Panna, claims Kumar. But the theory has few though: in the last week of September, takers, mainly because of the number of No. of tigers in Panna now, park director K.S. Bhadoria released tiger deaths in such a short interval. according to park o�cials; pictures of two new cubs that were The park has the dubious 42 adults and 16 cubs born some time in June. � O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �1 3

GOA THE MISSING TOURIST With international tourists unlikely to visit this year, the state is trying to attract domestic travellers—but with restrictions still in place and fearful locals not warming to the idea, it will be a hard year By Kiran D. Tare NO DEMAND Tourist boats moored at a dock in Goa’s backwaters Only Books Magazineoa’s famous beaches look desolate. Its vibrant nightlife, sus- tained by its tourists, has disappeared. The G music has fallen silent government losing annual royalties of travellers, doing away with the require- about Rs 400 crore. Goa’s dependence ment that visitors have transit per- on tourism is anyway higher than the mits. On September 1, it revoked a rule national average—a 2019 report by requiring mandatory Covid-19 testing the World Travel and Tourism Council for domestic tourists visiting the state. estimated that tourism accounted for Now, only visitors with symptoms— and revellers are few 6.8 per cent of India’s GDP that year. coughs, fevers, etc—must be tested at and far between. The only thing that While the state had the highest per the state’s ICMR (Indian Council of appears to have retained its demand capita income in the country in 2019— Medical Research)-approved laborato- even in the midst of this pandemic is about Rs 4.7 lakh—the slump in tour- ries. It has also allowed about 10,000 alcohol, which brings its own conse- ism is likely to affect incomes this year. licensed bars to resume operations, with quences for health and safety. For Goa, The state government says seven physical distancing a compulsory norm. a hot favourite tourist destination for million tourists visited Goa between State chief minister Pramod Sawant domestic and international travellers June 2019 and March 2020. This year, admits that tourism has been badly hit alike, the loss of tourism has grave eco- it has seen practically no tourists in the by the pandemic. As of September 27, nomic consequences too. According to summer and monsoon seasons (though Goa had 5,097 active cases (with 31,557 the state’s economic survey for 2019- official figures are unavailable). So cumulative cases) and 401 deaths. 20, tourism accounted for 9-11 per cent severe is the financial crunch that the Nonetheless, he insists that precautions of the state GDP (gross domestic prod- government has had to borrow about are being taken. “We are taking all the uct). Its dependence on tourism has, Rs 900 crore to meet its commitments. necessary safety measures,” he said on in fact, grown since the ban in March It has also taken a number of steps September 25. “All [domestic tourists] 2018 on iron ore mining, which used to recently to attract domestic tourists. In are welcome in Goa.” He estimates that be the largest source of revenue for the end-August, after a five-month lock- the relaxation in lockdown rules will state. The ban has resulted in the state down, it opened the state’s borders to help the hospitality industry increase its 1 4 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

UPFRONT ANI occupancy rate by 20-25 per cent. As a economic impact of the tourism indus- result of the relaxation, Goa’s Dabolim try in Goa is estimated at 40 per cent,’ 9-11% airport has seen an improvement in says the note. It expects that the indus- passenger numbers. On September 6, try will see a revival by December if the The share of tourism in Goa’s Air India restarted flights from Mumbai Centre announces relaxations on inter- GDP in 2019. That year, the all- and Surat to Goa—these cities account national travel in October. India figure was 6.8 per cent for a significant number of traders and businessmen who regularly visit the Even so, tourists visiting Goa will ` 87,000 state on weekends. Dabolim currently have fewer entertainment options. The handles some 20 daily domestic flights, state’s continuing ban on operations of Average spend by an about three times higher than on May the 350-odd beach shacks along Goa’s international tourist in a week 25, when domestic air travel resumed. 105-km coastline means that these Authorities expect this number to rise to iconic establishments remain closed. in Goa. Domestic tourists about 30 per day in the coming weeks. Though ports minister Michael Lobo spend about Rs 31,000 Currently, the airport sees about 1,000 announced a 50 per cent concession passengers arriving each day, a sig- in the operating licence fee for shacks `900 CRORE nificant improvement from the nearly on September 13, this likely comes as empty flights in May and June. very faint cheer for owners. Similarly, Goa’s borrowing this year casinos also remain closed, which to make up for revenue loss H owever, a central component of indirectly worsens the state’s financial Goa’s winter tourism—foreign crunch—in 2019-20, the state govern- from the lockdowns travellers—will likely remain ment collected about Rs 150 crore in absent this year, as the Union govern- taxes from such establishments. ment’s strict restrictions on internation- al flights remain in force. Each year, Goa Another complicating factor is that typically sees thousands of tourists from many Goans are unhappy with the Europe arriving on chartered flights idea of tourism resuming. Many took soon after the beginning of winter in to social media to voice their protests October. In 2018, over 800 such flights at the state government’s relaxing of from Europe landed in Goa between Covid-19 rules in early September, say- October and January. Data from the ing that tourists regularly flout health state’s tourism department shows that and safety norms, from not wearing average spending by a foreign tourist masks to not maintaining physical is significantly more than his domes- distancing. A popular travel content tic counterpart—about Rs 87,000 for creator, Shenaz Treasury, with over a week’s visit, while a domestic tourist 744,000 followers on Instagram, spends about Rs 31,000 in that time. recently faced significant backlash when she posted a maskless selfie rid- Hotel managers and tour operators ing pillion on a two-wheeler at Anjuna say the restrictions on international beach. After deleting the post, she travel mean their marketing plans have uploaded a new one, which read in to remain on hold. Nilesh Shah, presi- part: ‘Don’t come to Goa. When I came dent, Travel & Tourism Association of here, things around me seemed nor- Goa (TTAG), says tour operators cannot mal, but the locals, who love their state, even entertain enquiries without the educated me that it’s not normal and Centre easing these restrictions. “As Goa I’m grateful to them for that.” is a small state, tourism cannot be sus- tained by tourists from within the state.” Many point out that the Covid Domestic tourist numbers in September spread in Goa accelerated significantly were about 20 per cent of the figure for after early May, when trains to the the same month last year. state began operating from Delhi and Mumbai. Vibhor Naik, a resident of According to a TTAG note pub- Calangute, says: “Tourists don’t follow lished in June, Goa’s tourism industry rules. If they are not stopped [from had by then lost about Rs 1,000 crore visiting Goa], the situation will get worth of business because of the lock- out of control.” Chief Minister Sawant downs. Even today, only a few hotels is yet to finalise the draft tourism pol- have reopened. ‘The direct and indirect icy, which is expected to have a road- map for the next decade. � O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �1 5

UPFRONT Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE ANI UNCLE KNOWS GLASSHOUSE BEST BEHIND Maharashtra deputy chief CLOSED DOORS minister Ajit Pawar has been in a sulk. The NCP leader Atwo-hour closed-door meeting between Maharashtra’s was recently asked by uncle and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv party chief Sharad Pawar, who Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut on September 26 continues to have the final say in set the rumour mill running. It was the first high-level contact all party-related matters, to take between the estranged parties since their split 10 months down a tweet. Ajit had tweeted ago. The two clarified that the meeting was for an interview of a tribute to BJP ideologue Deen Fadnavis to be published in Saamna, of which Raut is executive Dayal Upadhyaya on his birth editor. But speculation continues. One theory is that Raut had anniversary on September 25. The called on Fadnavis, BJP in-charge of Bihar election, to get him tweet, however, was deleted within an hour after Pawar Sr called to ease up on the attacks on the Maharashtra government in him to express his displeasure. its handling of the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Others say the Interestingly, a few years ago, Ajit meeting was a trap set by NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who used had said that one should not take Raut for the task, to fuel speculation about BJP-Sena ties and advice from anyone over the age of 50. The rule, though, clearly embarrass Fadnavis in Bihar. Wheels within wheels. doesn’t apply to him. Firebrand 2.0 Pilgrims’ Progress In 2015, Akhilesh Yadav, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had F ormer IPS o�cer Bharati ANI launched a ‘Samajwadi Shravan Yatra’ Ghosh, once a close aide scheme meant to fund the pilgrima- of West Bengal chief minister ge of senior citizens. The scheme, Mamata Banerjee, jumped ship though, was a non-starter and didn’t in 2019 to join the BJP. This year, benefit Akhilesh electorally. The Yogi the BJP seat hopeful has been Adityanath government now is campaigning against the TMC in considering a similar scheme that will East and West Midnapore. But fund the religious trips of the 150 what should really worry the CM million registered labourers in the is the moniker Ghosh has been state. There is no estimate of costs given by the people—Agnikanya yet, but it will likely be launched on (fire woman)—a name Mamata November 10, as part of the birth had earned in her younger days as centenary celebrations of RSS a Congress activist. Has Didi finally ideologue Dattopant Thengadi. met her match? —Sandeep Unnithan with Kiran D. Tare, Ashish Misra and Romita Datta

OBITUARY JASWANT SINGH 1938-2020 The Artful Diplomat By Yashwant Sinha I was greatly saddened to hear of the demise of carried out the nuclear tests in Pokhran. I was also taken into Jaswant Singh. He was a valued colleague, both confidence by Vajpayee, but I was not aware of the exact date in government and the party to which we both of the tests. One day, I got a call from Jaswant Singh asking if I belonged and of which he was a founding member. could come to 5, Race Course Road for an important meeting. A thorough gentleman and an upright army o�cer, “Has it happened?” I blurted out. He didn’t respond. It was a Jaswant Singh was also an astute diplomat and a top-secret operation and one was not supposed to utter a word superb administrator. He was a great parliamentarian who about it. We met. The note Vajpayee read out to the media acquitted himself with great distinction. and the letter sent to then US President Bill Clinton were both When I joined public life, he was already in politics, but drafted at this meeting. we were in two di�erent parties. Our names were phonetically Most of the powerful nations of the world, including the similar, which often created confusion and comic situations. US, did not take kindly to this development. They imposed In fact, on the day of his demise, a journalist from a news economic sanctions, and politically India was considered a channel called me and said that “Jaswant Sinha” had expired pariah. The task of making the world understand our case and wanted me to record a message of condolence. There was entrusted to Jaswant Singh. His engagement with Strobe were others who thought I had passed away. I remember, Talbott, then US deputy secretary of state, is now history. It cre- once Ramakrishna Hegde, who was ated the foundation for a constructive Karnataka chief minister at the time, dialogue with the US on nuclear and convened a meeting of leaders from other issues and marked the beginning opposition parties and I also received a of a new phase in our relationship. message to attend the meeting, though In 2000, when President Clinton we both belonged to the Janata Party. visited India, it was the culmination I reached Karnataka Bhawan, only to of the extensive work Jaswant Singh realise that there had been a mix-up had done on presenting India’s case to when Hegde, very politely, enquired SUMEET INDER SINGH the global community. His expertise about Jaswant Singh. in strategic a�airs, security issues and We became close colleagues when foreign policy was utilised when he I entered Rajya Sabha in 1988. Once drafted India’s nuclear doctrine. Even when the Janata Party and BJP decided when we were in opposition, he deter- to form an alliance in Rajasthan for an mined the BJP’s position on the nuclear assembly election, we worked closely, He channelled his expertise deal and the civil liability law. and accommodatively, to finalise a seat- in security issues and foreign In 2014, during the last session sharing formula in record time. He was of the Lok Sabha, while having co�ee an honest negotiator. In Rajya Sabha, policy while drafting India’s with him and Murli Manohar Joshi in we newcomers would carefully observe nuclear doctrine the Central Hall of Parliament, I said how persuasively he articulated his I wouldn’t contest another election to views. His command over both Hindi return to the ‘Golghar’. Jaswant Singh, and English was superb, though many people thought him a on the other hand, said the people of Barmer wanted him to ‘pucca brown saheb’. He also had a unique sense of humour. contest one last time, but he was denied a ticket. This hurt him Commenting on an inconsequential tax proposal, during a dis- deeply. In 2009, after his book on Jinnah, he was expelled from cussion on the finance bill, he once said: “This is not even good the party in the most unceremonious fashion. After a year or so, enough to buy me a bottle of whiskey”. he expressed his desire to return. I conveyed this to Advaniji, When I joined the BJP, I realised Jaswant Singh was an who met him and cleared the way; I was happy about my bit important leader in the party. During meetings, he used to role. But the denial of a party ticket in 2014 and the pain of share the dais with Vajpayee, Advani and Rajmata Scindia of becoming inconsequential in a party where he was once pivotal Gwalior. He would generally be entrusted with the responsibil- made him extremely unhappy. ity to draft the political resolution while I handled the economic The country should not forget the stellar contribution resolution. We often exchanged notes. In May 1998, when Jaswant Singh made to build a new India. ■ he was deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, India —As told to Anilesh S. Mahajan O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY �1 7

COVER STORY HOW PRIVATE ARE YOUR WHATSAPP CHATS? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW YOUR MESSAGES CAN BE TAPPED, CLONED OR HACKED AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF BY KAUSHIK DEKA Illustration by NILANJAN DAS A s a private chat forum, WhatsApp to-end encrypted. No one outside of this chat, not even has no equal—not in India, not in WhatsApp, can read or listen to them”. the world. Globally, the American freeware, cross-platform messag- This reputation of confidentiality that the messaging ing service, owned by Facebook, service enjoyed has now come under a cloud in India. Seri- boasts 2 billion users across 180 ous concerns are being raised about WhatsApp’s ability to protect a person’s privacy apart from preventing content countries. With an estimated 65 from being transmitted and stored on its service from unauthorised access and misuse. Ironically, the erosion of billion messages being transmitted daily apart from 2 trust began with a series of unrelated recent incidents. It started when Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput died billion minutes of voice and video calls being made every in Mumbai on June 14 under mysterious circumstances. Agencies investigating Sushant’s death began to selec- day in 2018, it is undoubtedly the world’s most popular tively leak WhatsApp conversations to media initially to debunk claims by suspects, including Sushant’s ex-girl- messaging service. In India, its user base of 400 million friend Rhea Chakraborty. In one instance, Chakraborty’s conversations with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt were used makes the country WhatsApp’s largest market. Besides being free, WhatsApp is simple to use, allows one to send text, audio and video messages and documents. But, most of all, it promises privacy and secrecy of communication, assuring every user that “messages and calls are end- NO. OF WHATSAPP USERS IN INDIA 400 MILLION

IS WHATSAPP VULNERABLE? � WhatsApp messages, get overwritten and to cloud storage or both sent and received, deleted, and if the external hard drives are stored in the phone phone is physically is also fairly easy. memory. Even if a destroyed, the data For instance, chat specific chat is deleted cannot be accessed. backups stored in in the app, messages However, messages decrypted form on could still be retrieved might still be Google Drive or iCloud by hackers who accessible on the can be accessed by have either remote phone of whoever simply using a copy or physical access to you have been of the original SIM your phone. There communicating with card while installing are some caveats—if � Accessing the WhatsApp on a new the phone memory is chat backups saved phone full, older messages SENDER’S/ WHATSAPP’S RECEIVER’S SERVERS PHONE � WhatsApp � Sent and received does not store messages are stored private messages in a decrypted form on on its servers the phone and can be once they have retrieved by anyone been delivered who has access to it � If a message � WhatsApp’s is not delivered auto-backup feature immediately, it stores data on Google remains on the Drive or iCloud in an server (in an unencrypted format. encrypted form) Manual backups for a maximum to cloud storage/ of 30 days hard drives are also � Metadata— unencrypted. Anyone which includes with access to these call and message files can read these logs, IP addresses, messages geo-locations, etc—are stored on WhatsApp servers, and can be accessed by law enforcement via a legal order TRANSMISSION Graphic by � Messages are encrypted before being TANMOY CHAKRABORTY transmitted; they are decrypted on the recipient’s phone. WhatsApp says that even if messages are intercepted in transit, they cannot be read by anyone, not even its own technicians WHATSAPP’S MONTHLY USER BASE 2 BILLION

COVER STORY to show that she left Rajput and not he claim that when you send a WhatsApp also the largest market of its parent body who asked her to leave. message to someone, the particular Facebook with around 350 million users message, whether audio, video, image and nearly Rs 900 crore business annu- Later, the Narcotics Control Bureau or text, cannot be intercepted by any- ally. In December 2018, the Ministry of (NCB), which began investigating a one during the time it first travels to the Electronics and Information Technolo- drug angle in the death, used her alleged WhatsApp server and from there to the gy proposed changes to Section 79 of the chat with a drug peddler to arrest her. recipient’s phone. Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 As the NCB expanded its investigation making it mandatory for such platforms scope, WhatsApp conversations of top WhatsApp has repeatedly claimed to enable tracing out of originators of actors such as Deepika Padukone were that end-to-end encryption ensures information when demanded by legally released in the public realm, feeding the only the sender and recipient and no- authorised government agencies. impression that drug abuse is rampant body in between, not even WhatsApp, in the Mumbai film industry. Earlier, can read what’s sent. Is it true? “Mes- While traceability is beyond law on September 16, the Delhi Police filed sages sent on WhatsApp are secured now, what these message services are a charge-sheet in a special court against with locks, and only the recipient and silent on are the areas your chats are 15 people alleging that they created sender have the special keys needed to vulnerable in. All electronic messages WhatsApp groups in December 2019 unlock and read your messages. All of transmitted from one phone to another to organise the riots that broke out in this happens automatically, and there are stored in four places from where the national Capital in February. Once is no need to turn on settings or set up data can be retrieved later—the phone again, chat transcripts of these groups special secret chats to secure your end- memory of the sender as well as of were selectively leaked to the media. to-end encrypted messages,” claims a the receiver, the server of the service WhatsApp spokesperson. provider, be it WhatsApp, Telegram, T he alarming rate at which Signal or iMessage, and on the cloud, law enforcement agencies Most cyber experts agree that the in- should the user have allowed it in his are accessing and using terception of these encrypted messages settings. Besides, messages are not en- WhatsApp chats as incrimi- during transmission is near-impossible. crypted in storage, which means any- nating evidence is increasingly making “It is not easy to decrypt encrypted one with access to the sender/ receiver’s users wary of the security and privacy messages. What enforcement agencies phones can read those messages. apparatus of this most widely-used are passing o� as decrypting messages messenger platform in the world. The is more a case of recovering the backup Hackers and even government impunity with which media houses on the user’s phone, and accessing the agencies are alleged to be using spy- publicly air these chats, infringing on messages,” says Jaijit Bhattacharya, ware to spy on targeted phones where privacy that the Supreme Court has president, Centre for Digital Economy decrypted messages can be read live declared a fundamental right, has once Policy Research. In fact, this end-to-end or even retrieved. Several WhatsApp again fuelled demand for the immedi- encryption is why WhatsApp has often accounts were hacked worldwide by the ate passage of an e�ective and compre- expressed helplessness to law enforce- Pegasus remote surveillance software hensive law dealing with data protec- ment agencies about fake news and hate made by Israel-based cyber tech firm, tion and privacy. The question is: Just messages transmitted via the app, as NSO. The most famous instance was how private and secure are your chats it has no way of knowing what is being in 2018, when Je� Bezos, CEO of on messaging forums like WhatsApp? sent or received. Indian government Amazon, had his mobile phone hacked has been pressing for traceability of after receiving a WhatsApp message HOW SAFE IS YOUR CHAT? WhatsApp messages to check the spread purportedly sent from the personal of fake news but the chat platform has account of the crown prince of Saudi Data security experts assert that declined to comply with such requests Arabia. “Once a hacker accesses a WhatsApp is not the only messenger till now saying that it undermines the phone, either through physical pos- platform susceptible to breach. Other privacy of the people. Many observers session or through hacking, he or she popular apps like Telegram, Signal and fear that traceability of the source of a can virtually collect all the data inside iMessage are as vulnerable. Messages message could be misused for snooping the phone,” says cybersecurity expert sent across these platforms, including for political purposes and it could be a Subimal Bhattacharjee. WhatsApp, are end-to-end encrypted matter of time before WhatsApp starts and cannot be intercepted during cooperating with government agencies, It’s equally easy to hack into the transmission. In other words, they at least uno�cially, given that India is cloud backup of such messages. In the case of WhatsApp, if the user activates GLOBAL MONTHLY USERS OF FB MESSENGER 1.3 BILLION

COVER STORY COULD YOU BE WHATS-TAPPED? the backup option, the message is still undelivered after 30 days, U nder Sec- gets stored in Google Drive or it is deleted,” explains a What- tion 5 of the interception must con- iCloud. One then only has to un- sApp spokesperson. Telegraph tain a justification for instal and re-instal WhatsApp Act, 1885, A doing so, and a copy of on the same phone or another In this respect, WhatsApp the order must be sent using the same SIM card to and Signal score over Telegram, Union homse secrtary to the review com- retrieve the back-up on Google which doesn’t have end-to-end or a home secretary of mittee within seven Drive or iCloud. encryption as its default setting. a state can order the working days. The re- Only if the user exercises the “Se- interception of phone view committee at the M ost chat platforms cret Chat” option are messages conversations to pro- central level comprises claim they don’t transmitted through end-to-end tect the sovereignty the cabinet secretary, store private mes- encryption in Telegram. Even and integrity of India, the law secretary and sages of users on so, the choice is not available for the security of the the telecom secretary. their servers. “WhatsApp does group chat. When Secret Chat is state, friendly relations At the state level, the not store private messages on its not activated, the messages travel with foreign states chief secretary, law servers once they’re delivered. If encrypted from the sender’s or public order, or to secretary and any a message cannot be delivered device but get decrypted on prevent incitement to secretary other than immediately (say, if a person is Telegram’s server, which means the commission of an the home secretary are o�ine), it may be kept on What- messages can be read. Again, the offence. In exceptional members of this com- sApp servers for up to 30 days as messages are encrypted on the situations, an officer mittee. All requests for it tries to deliver it. If a message server and sent to the recipient’s (not below the rank of phone taps must come device, where they are finally joint secretary), who from an officer not be- has been authorised low the rank of super- to do so by the Union intendent of police (or home secretary or a equivalent), through ANI state home secretary, the proper channels. can also issue such an The officer authorised order. Interceptions to intercept communi- cannot last longer cations must maintain than 180 days. proper records of the The order for an exercise, including the IN ED’S SIGHTS Rhea decrypted. So, if someone succeeds in hacking into and brother Showik Telegram’s server, they can access users’ private Chakraborty at the messages. In theory, law enforcement agencies can also access data stored on Telegram servers with an ED o�ce o�cial request, though the Dubai-based platform is known for not being cooperative with authorities. Even platforms that don’t store messages on their servers can help in di�erent ways. “It’s not just the conversation,” says a scientist in the Cyber Laws Group of the IT and electronics ministry. “These platforms can help probe agencies with other information such as metadata, which can be crucial in finding leads and busting crimes.” Metadata refers to the log of chats and phone calls between di�erent users, timestamps on messages, IP addresses, geolocation, details of contacts, etc. While metadata does not allow anyone to read the messages, it gives information on whom and when a user messaged or called and how long. Platforms INSTANT MESSAGING ACCOUNTS IN 2018 7 BILLION

Illustration by RAJ VERMA any computer resource. However, since chats functioning and mainte- This power can only be and phone calls through nance of the device, or a details of those to whom exercised under similar platforms like WhatsApp forensic examiner who the intercepted communi- circumstances to those are encrypted, these can- has conducted an analysis cation has been disclosed. mentioned in the Tele- not be intercepted during of it. If electronic evidence A formal request must be graph Act for phone tap- transmission. is procured through illegal placed with the service ping. The safeguards and means, that itself becomes provider for phone tapping. review mechanism for this The police can none- an offence under Section This surveillance, howev- are prescribed in Rule 419A theless legally access 66 of the IT Act, 2000—‘un- er, is limited to phone calls. of the Indian Telegraph data stored on a phone or officially obtained’ elec- Rules and the Information a computer. Section 76 tronic evidence cannot be For surveillance of Technology (Procedure of the IT Act provides law used in a court of law. electronic communica- and Safeguards for Inter- enforcement agencies tion—emails, SMSes, ception, Monitoring and the power to confiscate If a person suspects chats, etc—Section 69 of Decryption of Information) any computer resource or they are under unauthor- the Information Technol- Rules, 2009, and the stan- communication device. ised phone or digital com- ogy Act, 2000, allows the dard operating procedure Private chats can be used munication surveillance, government to order the issued for the purpose. as electronic evidence they can file a complaint interception, monitor- under the Indian Evidence with the National Hu- ing and decryption of Act, 1872. However, elec- man Rights Commission any information through tronic evidence is admis- or have an FIR filed at the sible in court only if the nearest police station. conditions in Section 65 (B) They can also move the of the Indian Evidence Act, courts against unauthor- 1872, are strictly followed. ised tapping. A Delhi High When such evidence is Court ruling in December produced in court, it must 2018 said citizens can be accompanied with a find out from the Telecom certificate stating that Regulatory Authority there has been no addition of India if their phones to, alteration of or manipu- are being tapped, under lation of the evidence. The the Right to Information certificate can be issued Act. Officially, phones of by the owner of the device, elected representatives the person in charge of the cannot be tapped. such as Signal store minimal metadata regular phone and internet calls (see installed on the phone was a missed and are becoming popular among Could You be Whats-tapped?). However, call to the target through Whatsapp. It people concerned about their privacy since chats and calls through Whatsapp could then steal passwords, contacts, or committed to it on principle. and other messenger platforms remain text messages and even voice calls encrypted end-to-end, these cannot be made through messaging apps—in this CAN THE POLICE TAP YOUR intercepted during transmission, unlike case, Whatsapp. It allowed the hacker WHATSAPP? regular phone conversations. access to the phone’s camera, micro- phone and GPS to track live locations. So, if messages are not stored on a chat H owever, that doesn’t prevent “Law enforcement agencies or even platform’s server, can they be accessed enforcement agencies or professional hackers may instal mal- or retrieved even if the user has deleted hackers from reading your ware in the device and carry on surveil- them? More importantly, can the police messages or listening to lance. Israeli spyware, widely available spy on Whatsapp chats or phone calls? your conversations by using spyware to in the Indian security apparatus, can breach your handset, as with Pegasus. snoop into any phone and collect data The answer is yes, and no. It The spyware targeted a vulnerability with geolocation,” says Bhattacharjee. depends on your handset’s security in Whatsapp’s VoIP stack, which is breaches and vulnerability and not used to make audio and video calls. All Besides snooping, digital security so much on the chat service provider. that was needed for the spyware to be experts say there are multiple ways Under the Telegraph Act and IT Act, enforcement agencies or hackers can enforcement agencies can monitor your PROJECTED RISE IN SUCH ACCOUNTS BY 2022 8.9 BILLION

COVER STORY HOW SAFE ARE WHATSAPP, TELEGRAM MESSAGING AND SIGNAL PRIVACY SERVICES? � No messaging WHATSAPP TELEGRAM SIGNAL service is 100 per PROS PROS cent secure PROS � Chat � Chats and meta- � �e most vulnerable encryption � Telegram’s data are encrypted point is the phone itself. If is enabled ‘secret chat’ option by default. The someone gains access to your by default— prevents backups ‘sealed sender’ handset—either by hacking it messages in being stored on setting prevents or by physically stealing it— transit cannot the phone or on anyone—even Sig- be read by third cloud storage/ nal—from identify- all the data stored on it parties hard drives ing a sender can be accessed � Messages � Can be set up so � No contact data are not stored that messages are is saved on the app. � A phone infected with on WhatsApp automatically de- Can be set up to spyware can even be servers leted after a speci- auto-delete mes- monitored by hackers in fied period of time sages after a speci- real time. �ough software CONS fied period of time vulnerabilities are frequently CONS patched, spyware is also � Backups, CONS constantly evolving whether on cloud � Encryption is not storage or hard enabled by default. � As with other � Even if chats are drives, are not Only ‘secret chats’ messaging apps, deleted from an app, encrypted are encrypted hackers can access � Metadata � Can access ‘non- unencrypted chats they can still be (sender and secret’ chats stored in the phone retrieved from the receiver IDs, call � Group chats do memory or backups phone’s memory. �e timestamps, etc) not support end- in cloud storage/ on only way to prevent is not encrypted to-end encryption hard drives this happening is to physically destroy the phone � Messages are stored in multiple locations— the sender’s and receiver’s phones, on cloud storage systems (if data is backed up), etc. Even if one’s phone is destroyed, the other locations remain points of vulnerability � Messaging service providers such as WhatsApp and Signal don’t store delivered messages on their servers and can’t access encrypted messages. While WhatsApp can provide law enforcement agencies with users’ chat logs and call logs, Signal doesn’t even keep that data Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY TOTAL MONTHLY USERS OF IMESSAGE 1.3 BILLION

STAYING SECURE ON retrieve your private chats even gets stored in the cloud even if it MESSAGING SERVICES if they are deleted. The simplest is generated on our computers way is to pull them out of phone and mobiles,” he says. � Don’t use � When install- memory, where messages messaging ing an app, note remain stored even if deleted by Security experts also claim services to the permissions the chat platform’s user. “Unless that not just the OS but other communicate it asks for—access the phone memory is full and apps installed on the phone that information that to contacts, the these messages get overwritten, can also access such messages could get you in camera and mic, anyone with basic technical can be later exploited to retrieve trouble/ leave etc—and deny all expertise can retrieve deleted deleted messages. “The user you vulnerable permissions that messages from a handset,” says should carefully read the terms � Turn off auto- are unessential Bhattacharjee. and conditions and check the backups unless � Regularly update permission settings when he or you really need apps and your To access WhatsApp data she instals an app on the phone. them. Avoid saving phone’s operating stored on a phone, security and So when authorities or hackers backups on storage system—updates investigating agencies can also get access to the phone, there services that you do often patch newly “clone” it on another device, are many places in the phone not directly control discovered secu- obtaining a mirror image of the where they can look for private (like cloud storage) rity vulnerabilities original. With forensic exper- data,” says the scientist at the IT tise, they can retrieve all kinds and electronics ministry. � Be careful when � Use unique pass- of data such as phone call re- downloading files words for each app cords, messages, images, What- The only way to prevent such onto your phone, and activate two- sApp chats, data on the phone’s retrieval is to destroy the phone even from known factor authentication cloud service and data stored in and avoid backup in the cloud or contacts—their (which adds a second various apps. This is how Rhea’s any external drive. The failure to phones may be layer of security). WhatsApp chats were accessed, destroy his cellphone completely compromised without �is might decrease according to media reports. led the National Investigation them being aware of it ease of use, but sig- Agency to Jaish-e-Mohammed nificantly improves When asked, WhatsApp commander Umar Farooq, security o�cials shrug o� their responsi- the mastermind behind the � Don’t leave your bility for messages stored in de- February 2019 terror attack in phone unattended, vice memory in decrypted form, Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF especially if there which most security experts troopers were killed. Farooq is sensitive infor- say is the biggest flaw of the had been instructed by his mation on it. Make chat platform. “Any questions handlers in Pakistan to destroy sure to use a strong relating to a phone device can his mobile phone soon after the passcode be answered by phone manu- terror attack. An overconfident facturers and operating system Farooq ignored the instruc- (OS) developers. The operating tion. A month later, when he systems of devices dictate how was killed by security forces various apps store information,” in an encounter, his partially says a WhatsApp spokesperson. damaged mobile phone was re- In other words, unless these covered. Forensic experts helped messages are not further en- NIA piece together a mountain crypted for storage, WhatsApp of digital evidence that helped cannot provide absolute security them unearth the conspiracy. to its users. N. Vijayashankar, chairman of the Foundation of However, even destroying a Data Protection Professionals in phone or not having its physical India, agrees that data storage possession does not guarantee is beyond the control of chat chats’ secrecy. With access to platforms. “Today, Microsoft, metadata, authorities can trace Apple and Google have auto- every person with whom a mated many of their services in phone owner has communicat- such a manner that data always ed. So the user’s chat transcripts can also be retrieved by access- Illustration by RAJ VERMA ...AND OF TELEGRAM 400 MILLION; SIGNAL 10 MILLION

ing or taking possession of the recipients’ AFP There have been multiple instances handsets. In Deepika Padukone’s case, in the past when the lack of specific the agencies did not recover her chats COLLATERAL DAMAGE guidelines in the IT Act on collecting, from her phone but from the phone of Deepika Padukone saving, retaining and producing relevant her manager Karishma Prakash, with arrives at NCB and incriminating electronic evidence whom the actor allegedly was having headquarters in a court of law has led to either misuse a conversation soliciting illicit drugs. of this provision or legal collapse of That’s why, experts assert, there is submitted in court as evidence,” says cases. “What we are seeing on TV now no foolproof way to keep digital data Bhisham Singh, DCP Crime (Cyber), is a di�erent ball game altogether,” says protected from surveillance, retrieval Delhi Police. Electronic evidence pro- Duggal. “That has no connection with or unauthorised access. “We need to duced in court must be accompanied how electronic evidence is produced in remember that if we use any electronic with a certificate saying there has been courts. Such drama explains why India device, it is almost impossible to protect no addition, alteration or manipulation has a conviction rate of less than one per our information from being retrieved,” of any kind to the electronic evidence. cent in cases of cybercrime.” says Vijayshankar. The Khotkar case judgment has made obtaining this certificate absolutely HOW TO PREVENT MISUSE ARE CHATS ADMISSIBLE essential unless original documents are OF YOUR CHATS AS EVIDENCE IN COURT? produced in courts. The device owner or the person in charge of its function- In fact, instead of using digital evidence The practical impossibility of securing ing and maintenance if an organisation for busting crimes, enforcement agen- one’s digital footprint in the cyber world owns the device can give the certifi- cies in India have often been accused makes it imperative to have a robust cate. “Rhea or Deepika may decline to of using it for political motives. In the legal framework to ensure data is not issue a certificate as the police cannot absence of any specific privacy law, misused, and privacy is not violated. coerce someone to give evidence against selected leaks have often been used to Unfortunately, India still does not have themselves,” says cyber law expert Pavan set the media narrative. The regular leak a specific law on data protection, privacy Duggal. However, he adds, once the law of WhatsApp conversations during CBI’s and cybersecurity. No provision in the enforcement agencies legitimately take probe into Rajput’s death and NCB’s IT Act, 2000, expressly and directly, the device under Section 76 of the IT inquiry into the alleged drug racket in protects the privacy of conversations Act, 2000, which provides for confisca- Bollywood has sowed distinct divisions that take place on online messenger tion of devices, and send it for forensic in political circles and inside Bollywood. platforms. Under the Indian Evidence analysis, the forensic examiner—either On the one side, the BJP and JD(U), Act, 1872, even deleted chats retrieved from the government or a private lab— with an eye on the election in Rajput’s through forensic analysis can be used can also give a certificate. home state Bihar, have used the con- as electronic evidence. However, in July versations to allege a conspiracy in the this year, the Supreme Court’s constitu- Even if the NCB manages to submit tion bench redefined electronic evidence the certificate, the suspects and accused norms in a landmark judgment in the may claim they did not have the phone Arjun Panditrao Khotkar case. It cat- when those chats were received in their egorically said the police have to strictly defence in the court. Rhea has already follow the provisions under Section claimed it was Sushant who asked her 65(B) of the Evidence Act concerning to send those messages from her phone. the digital output produced and owner- ship of the device if they want to produce and prove electronic evidence in the court of law. So, when evidence related to Rhea Chakraborty, Deepika Padukone or the Delhi riots is presented in court, the police will have to prove the electronic evidence has been collected through legal means. “At times, ethical hacking is used to gather the information that can provide us a crucial lead in investigat- ing a serious crime. But this cannot be MOBILE MESSAGES SENT IN AN ONLINE MINUTE 2019 41 MN

actor’s death while the ruling coalition use limitation, and leans towards treat- nal acts. “The Indian Constitution of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in Ma- ing personal data as personal property. does not guarantee privacy to enable harashtra projects it as suicide. Among criminals to hide from crimes,” says Bollywood actors, Kangana Ranaut Instead, many fear that the ambigu- Vijayshankar. “This includes those who has demanded a detailed probe into the ity in laws related to interception and are reasonably suspected of having “drug cartel” in the film industry, but decryption of private data has been committed a crime, and an investigat- others have alleged political vendetta. pushing India towards becoming a ing agency is required to collect neces- police state where enforcement agen- sary evidence.” Besides, more than Legal luminaries claim this politi- cies, with technological capabilities, laws, the emphasis should always be on cal shadow-fighting over WhatsApp snoop on individuals and groups at the honest implementation of existing conversations has been possible because the behest of their political masters. “If regulations guiding privacy and data of the absence of dedicated privacy laws. that situation is allowed to continue security. “While there are ample provi- A joint parliamentary committee is cur- untrammelled, I too feel that we will be sions both in the existing regulations rently examining the proposed Personal and the proposed PDP Bill to create Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, which PRIVATE a balance between privacy concerns was supposed to be tabled in Parlia- BECOMES and the need for probing agencies ment during the monsoon session. to access data to detect crimes, the However, the JPC sought an extension PUBLIC proper implementation of the said until the second week of the winter ses- measures needs to be looked into. For sion to present the report. �e regular leaking of example, Sections 43A and 72A of the private WhatsApp mes- IT Act penalise improper disclosure of Once the bill is passed, personal information. However, such the modus operandi of sages recovered from provisions are seldom enforced,” says procuring digital evidence various phones during Salman Waris, a partner in legal firm will undergo a structural the CBI’s probe into actor TechLegis, which has o�ces in Delhi change. Instead of collecting all data Sushant Singh Rajput’s and Noida. The Information Technol- stored on a computer or mobile phone, death and the NCB’s in- ogy (Reasonable Security Practices the police will be able to access only quiry into an alleged drug and Procedures and Sensitive Personal relevant and case-specific information. angle—which led to actor Data or Information) Rules, 2011, “The data protection bill allowing law Deepika Padukone being notified under Section 43A, explicitly enforcement agencies to get specific in- questioned—has brought define “sensitive personal information”, formation is necessary for the purposes into question the legality which includes financial informa- of an investigation into a crime,” says of such practices. While tion such as bank account or credit constitutional and digital law expert there has been no official card or debit card or other payment Arghya Sengupta, who was one of the admission either from the instrument details of the users. In members of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna- police or the media about Chakraborty’s case, all these things led committee on the data protection the source of these leaked have been made public. Legally speak- framework for India, which became the messages, affected indi- ing, therefore, Rhea and Deepika can basis of the PDP Bill. “It should not hap- viduals, including Rhea drag the police and media houses to pen the way it is in the current investi- Chakraborty and Padu- court for publicising their private data. gation into the alleged drug racket in kone, can take the police Bollywood where full access to the cell and media houses to court With the invisible footprint of our phone of certain individuals appears in accordance with Sec- personal data being as large as it is, to have been asked for. The police are tions 43A and 72A of the IT and data privacy laws being as lax as not supposed to gather all the informa- Act for compensation. they currently are, privacy in the digital tion stored on the phone and share it ecosystem is almost a myth. “The inter- with whoever they want.” Some privacy reduced to an Orwellian state with Big net as a paradigm never sleeps and the advocates claim that even the PDP Bill, Brother snooping on us all the time,” internet as a phenomenon never forgets. after revisions, fails to grant adequate says Justice Srikrishna, the architect of Every activity we do online leaves be- privacy safeguards and lacks the teeth the PDP Bill. hind an electronic footprint, which can and general orientation of other laws be used against us,” says Duggal. The such as the General Data Protection However, while strongly decrying only uncertain protection in the virtual Regulation (GDPR) of the European state surveillance, experts are unani- world, then, is to try to be on the right Union, which emphasises user consent, mous that privacy as a fundamental side of the law. � right cannot be used to hide crimi-

VIKRAM SHARMA THE THE BIG FIVE BIG STORY (Front row, from left) Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda, PM Modi, Amit BJP Shah and B.L. Santhosh at a BJP READY FOR parliamentary party meet TAKE-OFF? 2019 polls, holding daily meetings with THE NEW ‘TEAM BJP’ HAS QUITE A opinion-makers, columnists and other CHALLENGE ON ITS HANDS influential sections of society, and how things began faltering when he handed By Uday Mahurkar things over to another leader briefly. W ith the announcement of is the absence of a guiding force like the The lack of a full-time ‘guiding force’ a new team for the party late Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj or was most acutely felt in Jharkhand, organisation, BJP presi- vice-president Venkaiah Naidu. With where the BJP lost the election late last dent J.P. Nadda has laid Covid, China and the crisis in the econ- year. The party, which had an alliance the party’s blueprint for the next three omy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sudesh Mahto’s All Jharkhand years. It’s an important period, as has his hands full. His No. 2, Amit Shah, Students’ Union in the Lok Sabha elec- these are the years which will see seven who led the party from the front (2014- tion, rejected his demand for more seats major elections, starting with Bihar this 19), also won’t be available full-time con- in the assembly polls and discontinued month-end; West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, sidering his preoccupations as the Union the alliance. The result: the BJP won just Assam and Kerala in 2021; and then home minister and health issues. 25 of 80 seats and lost over a dozen with Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in 2022. Is margins of less than 2,000 votes. These the party up for the challenges now that NEEDED: A GUIDING FORCE were mostly constituencies where AJSU it has a fairly balanced team in place? candidates secured substantial votes. So, BJP observers recall how the ailing Jaitley had they stayed together, the alliance The answer is not so clear. The reason guided the party till the last days of the would have won nearly 40 seats and had a good chance of forming the govern- ment. The party think-tank sees this as a clear case of how a lack of guidance can impact things at the ground level. A FINE BALANCE The BJP’s new team is more representa- tive—having members from the south, the northeast and women. Two senior leaders, Om Mathur and Ram Madhav, have been dropped despite being very O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �2 9

THE SAFFRON OLD/ NEW PUBLIC FACES SOLDIERS LIKELY TO EMERGE IN A NEW LIGHT SUDHANSHU TRIVEDI Spokesperson, will play a more prominent role TEJASVI SAMBIT PATRA DUSHYANT APARAJITA SURYA Spokesperson. GAUTAM SARANGI Yuva Morcha TV staple president takes on more Dalit Morcha Will be one of responsibilities president from UP the party voices JAY PANDA Vice-president. on policy and economic issues To be party’s voice on policy, RAJEEV NALIN KOHLI CHANDRASEKHAR Spokesperson. economy Expected to play a Spokesperson. more active role Industrialist, media mogul and defence analyst SANJU RAJYAVARDHAN VERMA RATHORE Spokesperson. Is an economist Spokesperson. Olympic medal winner and ex-minister THE LEADERS WHO WILL HELP DRIVE THE PARTY INTO THE FUTURE BHUPENDRA VINOD TAWDE KAILASH YADAV Secretary. VIJAYVARGIYA The national general National general Former Maha- secretary. Will rashtra minister secretary has shaken up Bengal play a more prominent role C.T. RAVI DILIP SAIKIA General General secretary. A secretary from four-time MLA Assam from Karnataka MUKUL ROY HARISH DWIVEDI SAMIR ORAON RAJ KUMAR V-P. The man Secretary. The MP President, ST Morcha. CHAHAR who pulls the Is the third tribal face strings in West from Basti in UP from Jharkhand after President, Kisan is the party’s Babulal Marandi and Morcha. A Jat, he will Bengal Brahmin face fight the BJP’s case in Arjun Munda the row over the new AMIT MALVIYA farm laws Head of IT and social media cell, recognised New faces for his good work 3 0 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

THE BIG STORY BJP good negotiators, due to differences with of the party. Tejasvi Surya, the young the TMC-turned-BJP leader and new the party leadership. That said, some of MP from Bengaluru South, seems a national vice-president is the party’s local the dropped leaders could still find a likely candidate, considering his debat- face. New general secretaries C.T. Ravi place in the coming cabinet reshuffle. ing skills on ideological issues and could from Karnataka and Dilip Saikia from be groomed to be a vote-catcher for the Assam are expected to be crucial for the The new team is also more youth- BJP among the 18-30 age group. Dalit party’s growth in their respective regions. ful, with the average age around 45, and Morcha chief Dushyant Gautam is the Three other secretaries are expected to symbolised by Tejasvi Surya, 29, who new backward community face of the lead the party’s growth—Arvind Menon, has been elevated as the head of the BJP BJP after Union minister Thawar Chand the party in-charge for Bengal, Vinod Yuva Morcha. Fourteen women find a Gehlot. The fact that he is a Jatav, a com- Tawde and Pankaja Munde. A fourth place in the 70-member team, again munity which the BJP has all along secretary who will play an important role the highest the party has accommoda- ignored in the belief that they are BSP is the MP from Basti in Uttar Pradesh, ted. Except for Kailash Vijayvargiya, leader Mayawati’s core constituency, Harish Dwivedi. He will be the Brahmin the seniormost general secretaries now, only strengthens his case. face of the party in the Hindi heartland. Bhupendra Yadav and Arun Singh, are both under 55. The party has weighed its options A JAT FOR KISAN MORCHA on policy and economic issues For the first time, the party also has where it has a serious fight on its Two important appointments that a general secretary from the Northeast hands in the face of the opposition chal- could be crucial in the coming days are in Assam Lok Sabha MP Dilip Saikia, lenge. Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is expected Rajya Sabha MP Samir Oraon, who and representation from states like to be the new public face on economic heads the party’s ST Morcha (and will Nagaland (M. Chuba Ao and M. Kikon), issues. The other new candidates are be the party’s fourth big face in Jhar- part of the BJP’s agenda of mainstream- khand after Raghubar Das, Babulal ing the Northeast. To dispel the allega- THERE IS WIDER Marandi and Arjun Munda), and Raj tions of being a ‘north Indian party’, the GENDER AND Kumar Chahar, a Jat leader who heads south now gets two general secretar- REGIONAL the BJP’s Kisan Morcha. ies, C.T. Ravi from Karnataka and D. Purandeshwari from Telangana, daugh- REPRESENTATION Chahar is important because he is ter of NTR. And for a Hindu right-wing THIS TIME, WITH the first Jat after many years to head party, even Muslims get fair representa- WOMEN AND LEADERS the Kisan Morcha, and also because tion—ex-CPI(M) MP A.P. Abdullakutty FROM THE SOUTH the BJP faces a challenge from the from Kerala is among the 12 new nation- AND NORTHEAST IN opposition now on the new farm laws. al vice-presidents while the three others ENOUGH NUMBERS Jats form the core of the farming com- are Shahnawaz Hussain, Syed Zafar munity in many northern states like Islam and Jamal Siddiqui. industrialist Rajeev Chandrasekhar, UP, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi Chahar is also a popular leader, who Former Maharashtra ministers and economist Sanju Verma. Former defeated Raj Babbar by over 500,000 Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde (who minister Rajyavardhan Rathore joins votes from Fatehpur Sikri in the 2019 didn’t get along with ex-CM Devendra the list of party spokespersons while the Lok Sabha election. Fadnavis) have been accommodated veteran lot of Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sambit as secretaries. The other entrant from Patra and Nalin Kohli will become more Much will also depend on general Maharashtra is Mahila Morcha president prominent public faces now. secretary B.L. Santhosh, who is now in the outgoing team, Vijaya Rahatkar, the party’s new pivot after Nadda. His who has been appointed secretary. THE ORGANISATION MEN grassroots-level experience and abil- ity to deliver have impressed Modi and Significantly, Amit Malviya, head National general secretary Bhupendra Shah in the past. Santhosh is known of the IT and social media cell, has been Yadav is of course the most important to be tough and efficient. His integrity, retained for his good work in enhancing leader. Then comes Kailash Vijayvargiya, working style and vision have earned the party’s digital reach. “We have tried to who has played a vital, if polarising, him respect in the parent body, the RSS, address every section of society as well as role in West Bengal. With elections from where he has come to the BJP. A region. There is a generational shift and coming up in the state, Mukul Roy, man of simple tastes, he used to travel by talent has been recognised. This is a most ordinary public transport in his parent balanced team,” says Nadda. state Karnataka till a few years ago. But it will take more than normal efficiency THE PUBLIC FACES and vision on his part if the party is to succeed in the future. � All eyes now are on who among the new entrants will emerge as the public faces O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �31

ANI ASSEMBLY POLL O n September 25, the Election Commission announced a three- TEJASHWI’S phase assembly election for Bihar CROSS TO starting October 28. The same BEAR day, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also met the press where he reiter- The RJD scion is trying to set a new political narrative ated that the NDA’s poll strategy for his party and the state, but the JD(U)-BJP alliance rested on 15 years of his rule against the 15 will not let him live down memories of Lalu raj preceding years when Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were By Amitabh Srivastava in power. “Hamara pandrah saal ka kaam dekh lijiye (see our work of the last 15 years). The new generation has not seen the miseries of the past (read: the RJD’s tenure). Shaam hone ke baad koi ghar se bahar nahin nikal sakta tha (You couldn’t step out of your house after evening),” said the chief minister. From the thriving kidnapping industry to the bad roads and electricity supply to the dominance of a single caste, the Nitish-led NDA has been going on about the ‘failures’ of the RJD government. The idea, of course, is not just to discredit the opposition but also to

POLL RIDE the restrictions placed by the pandem- one side, with the LJP still undecided. RJD leader ic, including fewer phases to minimise On the other hand, the RJD-led alli- Tejashwi the risk to election officials and the ance has the Congress and will possibly Yadav drives security forces, the state comes with its include the three Left parties. a tractor own set of unique problems—with over during a 72.9 million voters across 243 con- THE CHALLENGER’S STRATEGY protest in stituencies, it has a history of elections Patna against where personalities overshadow issues. He has already apologised for the bhool the new (mistake) during the 15-year Lalu-Rabri farm laws This assembly election, too, is regime, from 1990 to 2005, but their essentially a direct fight between the younger son Tejashwi is also trying sev- bolster Bihar’s very own TINA (there is Nitish-led NDA (National Democratic eral other things that are quite new to no alternative) narrative. Alliance) and the Grand Alliance led by the RJD this election. To begin with, Lalu’s son, Tejashwi Yadav. But with less there is the ‘Nayee Soch, Naya Bihar’ But how true are sushasan babu’s (a than a month to go, there is still plenty posters with only Tejashwi’s face. Even popular moniker appended to Nitish in of uncertainty about the status of NDA a few weeks ago, any RJD poster with- the state) claims on his own 15 years in ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), led by out Lalu or Rabri Devi would have been office? Well, the state is still rock bottom the Paswans. Estranged Grand Alliance unthinkable. But if this was driven by a as far as industry and jobs are concer- constituent Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP necessity to distance the RJD from the ned, but the crime rate has dropped. (Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) has party’s inglorious past, the strategy to This year’s budget statement says the ended speculation that he was joining keep away siblings Tej Pratap Yadav and state’s per capita income is up from the NDA and tied up with the BSP. Misa Bharti was perhaps to dilute the Rs 30,617 in 2018-19 to Rs 43,000 in nepotism allegations. 2019-20. But, it is still less than half the There are other smaller players national average. As for crime, Nitish too, such as Pappu Yadav’s Janadhikar The target audience here is the himself picked out data from the NCRB Party and Asaduddin Owaisi’s almost 24 per cent of Bihar’s registered (National Crime Records Bureau) AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul electorate who are below 29 years of report for 2018 earlier this month to Muslimeen), who may influence the age—the segment that perhaps has no claim that with “a crime rate of 222 per results in a few seats. lasting memories of the last time the lakh population, Bihar ranks 23rd in the RJD was in power and for whom issues country in incidents of crime”. WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE 2015 like jungle raj and nepotism would be massive turn-offs. The new narrative THE GAME ON THE GROUND The 2020 assembly election will be is also about projecting Tejashwi as a completely different from the last one youth icon (he’s just 30) and pushing Bihar will be the first state to go to polls in 2015. Then, Nitish was in alliance the unemployment issue to the fore- after Covid-19 hit the country. Besides with Lalu’s RJD and the Congress and front to gain traction among the youth. they had put the breakers on the Modi- Bihar’s unemployment rate, at 46.6 per Shah-led BJP juggernaut. The BJP cent, is the third highest in the country, had then contested 157 seats but won and hence Tejashwi’s promise of creat- only 53, though it had a vote share of ing 1 million jobs at his first cabinet 24.4 per cent. It lost miserably because meeting, if voted to power. its three alliance partners then—Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, Kushwaha’s RLSP This is also the first time Tejashwi and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani and the RJD are not talking about Awam Morcha (Secular) or HAM(S)— their core issues, such as empowerment could manage just five seats from the of the backward classes or aggressive 86 the BJP had left for them. social justice. Prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the RJD leader had Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) or been vociferous in his demand for an JD(U) had won 71 seats (vote share: increase in OBC reservation after the 16.8 per cent), and with the RJD (80 Centre allowed 10 per cent reservation seats) and Congress (27 seats), the so- for the economically backward among called mahagathbandhan won Bihar. the upper castes. Now, in 2020, it’s all Nitish broke away in July 2017 to join about projecting the RJD as a party of the NDA. In 2019, the BJP-JD(U), “A to Z” (read all castes and classes). along with ally LJP, won 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. Nitish is now The 2020 assembly election is per- eyeing a fourth term as chief minister. haps the first time the RJD is break- ing free of its traditional moorings, In the run-up to the forthcoming making a serious attempt at an image polls, Nitish, BJP and Manjhi are on O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �3 3

ASSEMBLY POLL ANI makeover. “It is perhaps an oversim- plification on our part to hope that sections inimical to us would vote for the RJD, but the strategy essentially is to attract fence-sitters and those disill- usioned with the NDA,” says an RJD leader who didn’t want to be named. ADVANTAGE, DISADVANTAGE POLL POSITION Lalu Prasad still remains a huge advan- Assembly seats 243 2 tage for Tejashwi. “Like a first innings score for a team following on”, Lalu’s 115 43 71 27 committed voters—the Muslims and Yadavs—are a support base Tejashwi 91 16% 22 53 80 can take for granted. His father’s name gives him a cushion of a minimum 18 27% 8 Seats 29% 24% 10 per cent of the vote. But that is also Votes his biggest irony. For, many sections 2010 23% 2015 of Bihar society are unlikely to vote for 17% Tejashwi just for the same reason— Seats 19% 7% 8% 18% 5% 7% because he is Lalu’s son. Votes Underplaying Lalu to minimise BJP JD(U) INC LJP RJD Others polarisation and attract new voters while simultaneously hoping that the Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY committed voters stay with the party looks like a smart idea for the RJD. But Mahadalit leader Manjhi to switch sides delayed realisation on his part that it it can be a double-edged sword; less and join the NDA. Kushwaha’s RLSP, is difficult to merge the votes of the focus on the caste identity can put off too, has left the RJD camp and created Yadavs and the Kushwaha community. fence-sitters among the core voters. a new front, raising a question mark The two caste groups are rarely on over Tejashwi’s ability to carry the alli- the same page in Bihar’s rural society. The biggest challenge for the RJD is ance along. Many of those who have When Nitish was in alliance with the that the more Tejashwi tries to distance worked with the RJD scion in the past RJD, the Kushwahas had voted for the himself from the party’s past, the more have no kind words for him. RJD’s Yadav candidates, because they the BJP and JD(U) put the focus back thought it was to elect Nitish as the on the misrule during the Lalu-Rabri Kushwaha’s departure is also a Devi regime. The story being pushed is that if the Lalu-Rabri reign was disas- trous for certain sections of society, how will it be different under Tejashwi? A MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB Tejashwi has been leading the party since December 2017 when Lalu was taken into judicial custody. Since then, Lalu has been behind bars, barring six weeks of provisional bail in May 2018. The RJD leader led the party to its worst electoral showing in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when the party drew a blank for the first time since its inception in 1997. Though Tejashwi has been more assertive with alliance part- ners, his less than tactful handling of the Grand Alliance has already forced 3 4 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

ANI ALLIED FORCES (Left) Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi; former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey joins the JD(U) in the presence of Nitish Kumar in Patna This election is perhaps the �rst time the RJD is breaking free of its traditional moorings and attempting an image makeover chief minister. When the alliance broke the CPI(M-L) has three MLAs in the Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. The in 2017, Kushwaha tried to achieve in outgoing House. The RJD expects the events till now seem to suggest that the 2019 Lok Sabha poll what Nitish three Left parties to transfer 3.5 per cent Nitish is in the driver’s seat. His newest had in 2015. He failed, which reveals of the vote (which they polled in 2015) recruit is former state DGP Gupteshwar a bigger challenge for Tejashwi. With to the RJD and Congress. Pandey who, five days after taking vol- Kushwaha gone from the Grand untary retirement, joined the JD(U) Alliance, the 6 per cent Kushwaha vot- Meanwhile, the BJP is doing a after his notice period was waived. ers may not back the RJD. tightrope walk of its own. If they allow Pandey has been a loyal officer of the LJP chief Chirag Paswan to continue chief minister, but is also prone to the- Living up to Lalu’s legend has also within the NDA and field candidates atrics, be it jumping in a river to look for not been easy. Critics blame Tejashwi’s against the JD(U), it will create a mas- evidence and then putting the video out “lack of connect” with senior leaders sive trust deficit between the two larger on YouTube, projecting himself as the for the desertions in the run-up to the parties. If the BJP forces the party’s Robinhood of Bihar in a video song, or poll—12 MLAs and five MLCs have left exit, it may lose the committed LJP creating a hullabaloo over the Sushant the RJD for the JD(U). The resignation voters, who constitute some 4.5 per Singh Rajput case. of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Lalu’s cent of the vote. closest confidant, just three days before Meanwhile, the NDA’s challenge is his death on September 13, has also Chirag, it seems, is ready to walk not just to neutralise the anti-incum- dented Tejashwi’s credibility. the middle path, but it is clear the bency after 15 years of uninterrupted JD(U) has no love lost for Ram Vilas JD(U) rule; this election is also a test COALITION BLUES Paswan’s son; the latter had threatened of its welfare efforts in the wake of the to put up 143 candidates, basically pandemic. An NDAwin will also be With Manjhi and Kushwaha gone, wherever the JD(U) contests. In 2015, to some extent an endorsement of the things are not looking good for the the LJP was in alliance with the BJP. It Centre’s policies and programmes. The Grand Alliance. The RJD’s third part- contested 42 seats, won only two. And alliance clearly draws strength from ner, Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Chirag wants to contest the same num- Nitish’s stature in Bihar. From October Party (VIP), is still with the alliance, and ber of seats this time too. 2005 to 2019, Bihar has witnessed three it is likely to be bolstered by the three assembly and three Lok Sabha polls. Left parties, the CPI(M-L), CPI and HIGH STAKES FOR THE NDA And in each of these elections—barring CPI(M) joining the camp. A formal seat- the 2014 Lok Sabha—the winner always sharing deal, however, is still to mate- The Bihar assembly election will had Nitish Kumar on his side. ■ rialise. Of the three communist parties, be a massive test for the National Democratic Alliance and its two icons, O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �3 5

DEFENCE | ORDNANCE FACTORIES CORPORATE CONUNDRUM THE CENTRE SAYS THE ORDNANCE FACTORY BOARD’S 41 FACTORIES ARE DENS OF INEFFICIENCY AND NEED TO BE CORPORATISED. BUT THE REMEDY COULD PROVE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE BY SANDEEP UNNITHAN HOMEMADE HOWITZER The Dhanush towed artillery gun ANIL TIWARI (indigenised Bofors FH-77), developed by the OFB

S EEN PURELY THROUGH the lens of national security, the 80,000+ employ- ees of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) couldn’t have chosen a worse time to announce a strike. The Indian Army, the OFB’s main customer, is currently deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. A strike means the army will have trouble getting urgently-needed equipment, like snow-proof tents, boots, high-altitude clothing and ammunition. This is the very reason the OFB’s 41 factories were set up over the past two centuries—to provide the force with urgently needed materiel in times of conflict, or in this case, a mas- sive stando� with China that looks set to continue as the winter sets in. The OFB’s unions have announced an indefinite strike beginning October 12 because the Centre is adamant about corporatising the 219-year-old organisa- tion. On May 16, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government would be doing so to improve the “autonomy, accountability and e�ciency [of] ordnance suppliers”. The government plans to break up the monolithic OFB from a single department attached to the defence ministry into several corporations, like the nine existing defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). On this, matters have proceeded at a breakneck pace over the past four months, with the government appointing a consulting agency, KPMG, to oversee the corporatisation. On September 11, it announced that an empowered group of ministers, headed by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, would oversee the process. The buzz is that the government plans to announce a decision on the corporatisation before the end of the current financial year. In the past, OFB unions have often successfully used year, has over 80,000 employees and holds over 60,000 strikes to keep corporatisation at bay. In August last year, three unions representing over 80 per cent of OFB acres of land. More than 80 per cent of the OFB’s current workers had launched an indefinite strike. A month later, union leaders met with the secretary of defence Rs 58,165 crore worth of orders have been placed by the production, who convinced them to call o� the strike, with corporatisation seemingly put on the backburner. army, though its factories meet barely 50 per cent of the That was before the pandemic. OFB o�cials say that the new announcement by finance minister Sitharaman in defence force’s requirements. The last major reform was May seems to have come from the Prime Minister’s Of- fice—this time around, they worry that corporatisation in 1979, when the disparate ordnance factories were will go ahead regardless of protests. brought under a board headquartered in Calcutta. The AN UNCONQUERED PEAK Many government-appointed committees have sug- board is headed by a chairman and has nine members, gested reforming the OFB over the past two decades. “Corporatising the OFB is an unconquered peak,” says with five in charge of one cluster of factories making var- Colonel D.P.K. Pillay (retired), a research scholar at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and ious defence items. The chairman, selected from among Analyses. “There is unionisation and vested interests— their order books are full and their overtime registers are the seniormost board members, has an extremely short also full, but deliveries to the army are delayed.” tenure, of a year or less. The last three chairmen had The OFB’s first ordnance factory was the gun and shell factory set up by the East India Company in Cossi- tenures of six months, 12 months and nine months each. pore, near Calcutta, in 1801. Its 41st factory is an ordnance factory in Amethi, where a joint venture to produce over The factories function as attached o�ces of the de- 600,000 AK-203 rifles with Russia’s Kalashnikov Con- cern is being negotiated. Today, the OFB is given about partment of defence production (DoDP), itself part of Rs 1,443 crore of support from the defence budget every the Union ministry of defence (MoD). Over the years, a deep dissatisfaction has grown within the army over OFB products, an issue In the past, central agencies have also highlight- OFB unions ed. A 2015 report have often by the Comptroller successfully and Auditor Gener- used strikes al noted that 74 per cent of the 170 types to prevent of ammunition corporatisation produced by OFB factories failed to meet the ‘minimum O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �3 7

DEFENCE | ORDNANCE FACTORIES acceptable risk level’, and only 10 per cent met the ‘war wast- issues of low productivity, further compounded by the fact age requirements’. Another audit, for 2017-18, presented in Parliament in December 2019, noted that ‘the factories that there is no penalty for delayed delivery to customers. had achieved their production targets for only 49 per cent of items. A significant quantity of the army’s demand for some Lt General P. Ravi Shankar, former Director General principal ammunition items remained outstanding as on March 31, 2018, thus adversely a�ecting their operational Artillery, narrates a story of how faulty mechanical fuses preparedness.’ The report also noted that OFB exports de- creased by 39 per cent in 2017-18 over 2016-17. produced by the OFB were resulting in artillery barrels “The OFB has a monopoly over several products bursting. The issue was identified as one resulting from required by the armed forces,” says Lt General Sanjay Kulkarni, former Director General Infantry and a former faulty fuses through an elaborate process lasting several member of the Lt General Shekatkar committee (which was set up to recommend reforms in the armed forces). years, he says. The army could potentially have lost 800 “[It undertakes] minimal innovation, has no incentive to improve quality and cost-e�ciency and has no account- guns—nearly a third of its artillery. “The issue of ammu- ability for its products. Corporatisation will put the OFB on par with other DPSUs, managed by its own board of nition accidents is a matter of record. Such cases are not directors with broad guidelines from the government.” limited to one kind of ammunition—it extends to all kinds of OFB ammo—air defence, tank and artillery. We have not had as many losses due to enemy action as we have had due to negligence and poor quality of OFB products,” says Lt General Shankar. An internal army report to the MoD, excerpts of which have been accessed by ����� �����, cal- culates a loss of Rs 960 crore to the exchequer due to poor quality OFB ammunition. This figure, the report notes, could have bought 100 155-medium artillery guns. What O is alarming, though, are the 403 accidents related to faulty VER THE PAST 20 YEARS, four government ammunition since 2014. committees have made the same recommen- dation—that the OFB be corporatised to make The OFB’s monopoly Worryingly, the report its factories more e�cient. This would mean on supplying notes that 27 troops and equipment to the others have been killed converting the Ordnance Factory Board into armed forces means in faulty ammunition ac- there is no incentive cidents since 2014, with something akin to an Ordnance Factory Corporation, as 159 su�ering serious in- suggested by the T.K.A. Nair committee in 2000. In 2006, the Vijay Kelkar committee recommended the same, sug- for it to improve juries, including perma- gesting the corporation be accorded the status of a Nav quality, develop nent disabilities and loss technolo�y or of limbs. Responding to Ratna, along the lines of BSNL. In 2015, the Vice Admiral operate e�ciently the report, a senior OFB o�cial termed accidents Raman Puri committee also recommended corporatising the OFB, as well as splitting it into segments specialising in distinct areas, like weapons, ammunition and combat ve- a ‘complex phenomenon’ hicles. In 2016, these recommendations were reiterated by involving gun drills and the Lt General Shekatkar committee. design changes, not only ammunition. “There have been The trouble, MoD o�cials say, is a result of the peculiar more than 100 accidents between 2011 and 2018 involving organisational structure of the OFB. First, since these facto- ammunition that is not ours,” he said. ries function as attached o�ces of the DoDP, every decision However, there is reason to believe that the cure may be relating to them—from modernising plant and machinery worse than the disease. Government-owned corporations to entering into joint ventures with other companies—is have historically not had good operational records. “The subject to government regulations and instructions. This government’s history of corporatisation is bleak and in fact reduces their leverage and flexibility. Second, being govern- has only made matters worse,” says Rahul Chaudhry, chair ment departments, they cannot retain profits and, therefore, of the FICCI Homeland Security Committee. He uses the have no incentive operate cost-e�ectively. Third, in its pres- example of BSNL, which was spun out of the department of ent form, the OFB lacks technical and managerial flexibility telecommunications as a public sector undertaking, and is and hence is incapable of competing with the private sector. currently saddled with losses of over Rs 39,000 crore. How- The MoD also says that the OFB monopoly—where it ever, in sharp contrast are two major success stories—the supplies products to a captive customer, the armed forces— Atomic Energy Commission and ISRO—both commissions brings its own set of problems. The main consequence of that are wholly run by the government, and hence closer in this monopoly is that there is no incentive for the OFB to character to a government department like the OFB. improve quality. This also results in high overhead charges OFB o�cials blame the structure of their organisation being loaded onto OFB products, with minimal innovation for the ine�ciency. They say the factories were created only and technology development taking place. There are also to execute production orders given to them by the MoD on 3 8 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

THE CORPORATISATION MANTRA THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE PLANS TO SPLIT THE ORDNANCE FACTORY BOARD INTO MULTIPLE CORPORATIONS, GIVING THE 41 FACTORIES UNDER IT FAR GREATER AUTONOMY CURRENT AFTER Order book as of STRUCTURE CORPORATISATION December 31, 2019 DEFENCE MINISTER DEFENCE MINISTER ` 58,165 CRORE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE for supply of PRODUCTION PRODUCTION ammunition, Head: Secretary, Head: Secretary, weapons, troop- Defence Production Defence Production comfort items and armoured vehicles The apex-level administrative head of the Will have less control over the organisation that takes major decisions with Ordnance Factory Corporations Expenditure on The Ordnance Factory Board will be modernisation regard to ordnance factories—vendor dissolved, factories divested under development, product improvement, (2014-19) development and commercial interests various corporations** ` `2,100 ORDNANCE FACTORY BOARD CORPORATION 1 CORPORATION 2 CRORE (OFB), KOLKATA Ammunition and Weapons, vehicles Employees Head: Director General explosives and equipment (chairman) OFB corporation corporation 80,524 11 factories 11 factories Land-holding Ammunition Weapons, Materials and CORPORATION 3 and explosives vehicles and components 66,000 equipment Materials and ACRES 11 factories 9 factories components 11 factories corporation Budget 9 factories ` 1,443* Armoured Ordnance CORPORATION 4 CORPORATION 5 CRORE Vehicles equipment group Armoured Ordnance Share of defence 5 factories of factories vehicles equipment group budget corporation 5 factories 5 factories of factories 0.3% corporation 5 factories Sources: ‘The Functioning of the Ordnance Factory Board’ by Col D.P.K. Pillay; MoD statement on * Gross allocation, including revenue and capital corporatisation on Sept 11; Eighth report of the standing committee on defence, March 13 **The MoD is yet to decide if the OFB will be converted into a single or multiple corporations a ‘nomination basis’—that is, without any competition. The tence is ‘surge capacity’, wherein idle factories can ramp up organisation also incurs a huge salary bill of Rs 7,000 crore production to cater for emergency requirements, whether in each year to pay over 80,000 employees. “A government ammunition or clothing. OFB o�cials o�er the example of department can survive on low margins, but a corporate the Covid-19 crisis, where 19 factories worked through the cannot. Even if we get the freedom to hire and fire, we will lockdown to produce PPE kits and sanitiser liquid. still have to deal with unions and we will still be under the MoD”, says the general manager of one of the ordnance fac- “The OFB is a war reserve and not a commercial enter- tories. The challenge, OFB o�cials say, is to first make the prise,” says C. Srikumar, general secretary of the All India ordnance factories ‘budget neutral’ (self-su�cient) before Defence Employees’ Federation, one of the three employees’ they are corporatised. “Otherwise the corporation will be federations planning to go on strike. “If we are turned into bankrupt on day one,” says a former OFB chairperson who a corporation, we will become a sick enterprise like BSNL did not want to be named. and will be put up for sale.” With the government squarely focused on breaking up the giant that is OFB and increas- While the government debates the commercial consid- ing the number of state-owned PSUs, that seems to be a erations, one of the compelling reasons for the OFB’s exis- business risk it is willing to take. ■ O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �3 9

SPECIAL REPORT HEALTH CARD RFOERCOTRHDE A national health ID, with portable patient data, seems a big milestone in public healthcare, but challenges such as full integration, the lack of privacy safeguards and the risk of data misuse remain BY AMARNATH K. MENON AND SONALI ACHARJEE O n August 15, Prime Minister Narendra When the NDHM is in place, it Modi unveiled the ambitious Nation- will improve health services delivery, al Digital Health Mission (NDHM), lend itself to swifter medical respon- under which every Indian will be ses, especially in tracking epidemics entitled to a national health identity and seasonal illnesses and their spread, card to access medical services. “This clinical research, economic research on will work as a health account for ev- costs and improved insurance cover. It ery Indian. It will bring a revolution will potentially reduce the challenges in in India’s health sector and it will help medical treatment across the country reduce problems in getting treatment with the help by leveraging IT platforms to digitally of technology,” he declared. The health account will connect every citizen with a�ordable contain details of every test, disease, doctor visits, and accessible medical care. medicines prescribed and diagnosis. In the long term, all health-related data, including medical records of The genesis of NDHM lies in a every individual, will be stored in a digital reservoir paper drafted by the NITI Aayog last that can be accessed when a person checks in for treat- year. Titled ‘National Health Stack: ment. Doctors will have the patient’s medical history Strategy and Approach’, it lays the on record to take the best possible decision. foundation for merging a digital 4 0 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE national health registry with the personal health records the services of the National Health Mission. It will enable of all citizens. “The National Health Policy, 2017, envis- the patient and the healthcare provider to check previous ages the creation of a digital health technology ecosystem history and also go for fresh prognosis of health issues. which is future-ready. With the benefits of technology, For a start, it is being rolled out in six Union territories. the National Health Stack will take it forward, help make public health management more e�cient,” explains The mission proposes national health electronic reg- NITI Aayog member Dr V.K. Paul. He adds that through istries “to create a single source of health information and Ayushman Bharat, public health under the current manage the master health data of the nation” and person- government is more holistic and cost-e�ective, not simply al health records to allow “consent-based flow of citizens’ illness-focused. “A digital health card will ensure all health records to stakeholders who require this data to your records are in one place and easy to access and will deliver value-added services to the user”. A 14-digit serial support the national electronic health registry, insurance number will be generated for each individual. The card claims, national health analytics and promote public well- will store details of immunisation, surgeries, laboratory ness,” Dr Paul elaborates. tests, hospit visits, pharmacies and medical purchases, among other things. It will also help provide digital con- Initially, NDHM is intended to serve as an IT plat- sultations to patients. form that integrates government health schemes, notably Ayushman Bharat, for secondary and tertiary care and A card, akin to the Aadhaar, to avail health services is a paradigm shift, and the medical community has received it O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �4 1

SPECIAL REPORT HEALTH CARD well. “World-class technology is the integral backbone for a A LONG HAUL strong public health system. Having a strong digital infra- Software integration, digital illiteracy, a healthcare resource crunch—some hurdles that await NDHM structure for basic consultations and wellness advice will make healthcare much more accessible,” says Dr Naresh Trehan, director of Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. The focus on telemedicine and digital health services comes amid a coronavirus pandemic that has infected 6.1 million people, with 96,318 deaths (as on September 29) in the country. “Digital consultations have become more popular this year after Covid. What has also become more obvious is that healthcare cannot be taken for granted; it has to be systematically nurtured and grown,” says Dr V.K Bahl, head of the department of cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. A digital health card will have the added advantage of improving healthcare a�ordability as costs and claims will be easier to manage for patients. It would also potentially place India at the forefront of global medical research if Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY the health records of 1.32 billion people are made avail- able in one central system. “We are one-sixth of the global population and in this big a database lies huge A huge challenge untapped potential; Digital health records are burnout in the United will be to link the we can utilise this data only a small fraction of a States. US doctors have HIS systems of for the benefit of better larger digital stack--usually to spend as much time on hospitals, which health outcomes in called Hospital Information data entry as they do with now use various the world,” says Sunil Management Systems. For their patients. “Though technologies, Khurana, CEO, BPL the past 20 years, pub- EHRs have been widely Medical Technologies, lic and private hospitals implemented over the past Bengaluru. Some areas across the country have two decades and more been implementing dispa- so in the past decade at to port patient of application are clinical rate digitisation solutions. a huge cost, it has not records smoothly research for the pharma Most of these have been resulted in the desired industry and big data failures for various rea- e�ect. Multiple vendors sons. It takes a long time to have developed products analytics to understand train sta� in a new hospital that do not necessarily information system and integrate with each other, disease pattern by there is a steep learning and data portability is a curve for doctors to adopt big challenge. They are demography and geography. The latter could be critical in a new electronic health not all necessarily linked record (EHR). together due to propri- situations like the current pandemic where state-level data etary software issues,” Electronic medical says Dr Nalini M. Guda, analyses spread of disease. But all this is still a long way o�. record (EMR) fatigue is the professor of medicine at leading cause of physician Meanwhile, there are many challenges/ complications in implementing a digital health card scheme. “The major challenge is to link the hospital information system (HIS) of hospitals across India so that when a patient goes from one hospital to another, the data can be ported easily,” says Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy, chairman, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad. For this to be e�ective, he suggests integrating health records with the Aadhaar card. “The Aadhaar number can double as a unique health ID. It already has biometrics and other parameters and enhancing its role with a digital health key with access to electronic medical records (EMR) for doctors and person- al health records (PHR) for patients instead of having two 4 2 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

the School of Medicine and introduced a Gold Care numbers needs a relook,” says Dr Karthik Ananthara- Public Health, University Health Card in much the man, director, e-Pharmacy, at Medlife.com, Bengaluru. of Wisconsin. Pointing out same way as the government “The volume of data EMR and PHR can hold and the that developing an inte- wants in India. Something clinical insights, sequential medical records and trends grated system can be very similar will have to be done can give doctors to make data-driven clinical decisions expensive for a country by treating one to five million is immense.” Going forward, artificial intelligence (AI)- like India, she says that people as a module, perhaps and machine learning (ML)-led, data-backed clinical “where they have cards, by making a district rather decision-making shall be of great assistance to doctors, it is usually a nationalised than a state as a unit, for reducing medical errors and improving clinical out- healthcare system and a digital platform to work.” comes across therapeutic areas. “The NDHM will create nowhere has it worked Moreover, he explains, going an open digital ecosystem similar to what UPI created flawlessly”. by the Thailand model, it will in financial services. It will serve as a backbone for be meaningful if the district integrated digital health infrastructure and provide a “NDHM needs to under- HQ is the final point of care. platform for private innovations,” says Apollo Hospitals stand the limitations that joint managing director Sangita Reddy. exist in the healthcare For this, tertiary services landscape—lack of doctors will have to be made avail- B ut there is also scepticism about the utilisation and nurses, digital illitera- able at the district headquar- of collated data even though NDHM, imple- cy—and slowly evolve tools ters itself so that the patient mented scrupulously, can deliver tremendous that take into practical travels to the state HQ benefits. Digital health records of many consideration the ground only in case of rare issues. reality of doctors treating Currently, di�erent health patients enrolled in health insurance schemes patients in a resource- ministry departments over- poor setting,” says Viren see primary healthcare and run by state and central governments and private Shetty, COO, Narayana secondary and tertiary care. Hospitals, Bengaluru. “The All three should be on the dig- insurance companies already exist. Leading hospitals true purpose of NDHM is ital platform within a district to improve the state of so that case load and other and diagnostic chains store them, too. But they all work healthcare delivery in this issues can be assessed. country, not to force for- in silos and lack inter-operability. The government and eign software on Indian In both Thailand and hospitals.” A truly useful Japan, which has had a industry already have health-related data in four large software would reduce digital platform for some 50 the time taken for patient years now, there is seamless systems: Aarogyasri health cover, the flag-bearer for interaction, and that integration with the private means embedding Clinical health services system. Both Ayushman Bharat in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; Decision Support Systems have a co-payment model (CDSS) within the EMR so that ensures those who can the ECHS (Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme), that doctors don’t waste a�ord it go to a private facil- time typing redundant ity while others turn to public ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation) and data. Unfortunately, an health services. “To be of accurate and reliable CDSS meaningful use, the health CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) for the hasn’t been invented yet. card should have real-time authentication and operate armed forces’ personnel, industrial workers and central “The Thai and Japanese in a module of not more than experience are object less- five million people to deliver government employees and pensioners, respectively, and ons for our country,” says dependable, e�cient servic- Dr Suresh Munuswamy, es. Also, remember nothing the huge sets of data in the mission mode programmes for Public Health Foundation happens overnight in health- of India. “Thailand has care,” says Munuswamy. maternal and child health, tuberculosis control, malaria eradication, blindness control and the cancer registry. “Though pervasive, each is regimented in approach and in the absence of synergy or intelligence in any of these systems, they have been reduced to mere payment platforms,” says R. Guru Moorthy, an HIS consultant, and co-founder, Immertive Private Limited, an aug- mented reality company working in healthcare skills. He points out that other than understanding the spread of a communicable disease (to a limited extent), little can be deduced from each of these systems. Deducing actuarial information is impossible and, to an individual, it is worthless for either preventive or post-episodic care. PRIVACY ISSUES An underlying reason for the reluctance and low utilisa- tion of available health-related data is the apprehension O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �43

SPECIAL REPORT HEALTH CARD THREAT OF DATA MISUSE of it being misused (see Threat of Data Misuse). The issue of privacy and potential misuse of data is perhaps the biggest It can play out in three ways—theft, unlawful block in making NDHM work. “Data confidentiality and data sharing and tracking gap between data security is the single most important driving factor that paper-based and digital systems shall increase adoption of the NDHM initiative by citizens and the medical fraternity,” says Dr Anantharaman. The ���Data theft occurs A blockchain-enabled absence of a law that grants citizens explicit ownership of when records are sto- transaction ledger, their personal data can compromise privacy and lexploita- len and sold unlawfully. where every step of the tion. Even if safeguards are put in place, it would still leave To safeguard against transaction is document- personal histories of ailments available to the state. data theft, data must be ed and missing gaps can stored in parts across be precisely identified, T o pre-empt the privacy challenge, the NDHM di�erent locations and is one way of preventing blueprint hopes to ensure patient confidentiality brought together as and it. But blockchains work as well as give patients the ability to control when necessary. This better in a digital-only access to their records through a combination of a ensures no data is lost environment. A rogue and any data breach can employee selling data few building blocks like Consent Manager, be contained. The hack- to a pharma or health ing could be at the behest research company is one Anonymiser and a Privacy Operations Centre. Despite of a competing service such dreadful prospect provider or country or of illegal data-sharing these checks and balances, questions of privacy and data sundry unscrupulous malicious agents ���A third challenge is leakages remain, which can only be answered once more when physical records ���Unlawful data-sharing and digital systems details of the privacy safeguards included in the digital occurs when people interact. This creates a who have access misuse ‘tracking gap’, which again health mission are made available. But it may still be it. This is hard to trace. could lead to data misuse inadequate. To overcome this, Dr Suresh Munuswamy, head, Health Informatics and Technology Innovations at the Public Health Foundation of India, suggests the �� creation of a distributed and decentralised architecture. � “Absolute data security is a myth. Keeping data secure is � � best done by storing data in parts across di�erent locations and bringing them together as and when necessary. With this decentralised approach, any data breach can be �� � quickly contained,” he says, wondering whether the government will provide such autonomy. Another institutional challenge is integrating to a com- mon IT platform. Considering that joining the NDHM is voluntary, it is anybody’s guess how many private hospitals will be eager to go fully digital and integrate with the com- mon platform. Further, if outpatient care is not within the ambit of the NDHM (about 80 per cent of all outpatient care ency and harmonisation between processes,” says Bhushan. He says NDHM will provide the much-needed impetus is at private hospitals), getting them on board on a voluntary to scale up Ayushman Bharat to cover a larger section of society. In the long run, this would lead to greater health basis will be di�cult. Similarly, given an option, pharmacies insurance penetration and reduced premiums. and diagnostic labs are unlikely to join the NDHM network A health ID, under the NDHM framework, will essen- tially ensure much more transparency in terms of insurance unless there are business opportunities. coverage—what health insurance policies cover—and reduce out-of-pocket expenses. As the entire process will be online As of now, the health card is only for availing Ayush- and insurance companies will be able to access the necessary health records of clients through their digital health IDs, man Bharat insurance claims, admits Dr Indu Bhushan, disbursement of claims will also be quicker. CEO, Ayushman Bharat and National Health Author- But unless the digital push can find answers to the challenges posed in portability of medical records, privacy ity. For those who go to private insurers/ hospitals, it has and other issues, the larger goal of advancing medicine and healthcare for all will remain elusive. � very few benefits in its current form because many private hospitals already keep patient health records. “To ensure that the health insurance ecosystem takes a leap towards achieving Universal Health Coverage, it is important that insurance claims cover not only in-patient but also out- patient treatment. This will remain a distant dream until there is far more digitisation to ensure e�ciency, transpar- 4 4 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

SMART MONEY HOME LOANS T here are few things AN OFFER YOU duces the overall repayment more pleasing to a CAN’T REFUSE amount. The EMI (equated borrower than low in- monthly instalments) bur- terest rates. This is especially Home loans never looked den gets less over the years. true for those who have taken more attractive [This is especially beneficial home loans—for a major- as the] interest rate may rise ity of such borrowers, this Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE later due to policy/ regula- is the largest liability they tion changes.” In short, if will take on in their lives, whether rates are low).” ADVANTAGE one takes a home loan when and any fall in interest rates interest rates are low, there brings substantial savings. LOW INITIAL RATES �HOME LOAN is a chance of paying off a Owing to the pandemic and Borrowers pay the largest Interest rates are at a good chunk of the principal subsequent economic restric- chunk of the interest on historic low—banks are amount by the time the rate tions, the interest rate in home loans in the first 4-5 rises once more. India has touched a historic years, when the outstanding � o�ering loans at 6.7% low. The Reserve Bank of principal is at its highest. With tax savings, the BANKS OR NBFCs? India’s (RBI’s) repo rate—the Therefore, a low interest rate e�ective rate could fall Most borrowers prefer tak- benchmark used to fix other early on can be quite benefi- below 5% for those in ing a ‘floating rate’ home interest rates—touched 4 per cial. “A low interest rate at loan. These loans see interest cent in May 2020, the lowest the beginning of the home � higher tax brackets rates changing over time, level since 2001. This has led loan helps borrowers make The best rates are of- based on market conditions. to home loan rates falling as aggressive prepayments. fered to those with the The RBI has instructed well, with the lowest rates on This is also often when they highest credit scores— banks to link their floating offer at around 6.7 per cent. are in the prime of their lives check your score before rate loans to an external and careers, when they have taking a loan to make benchmark, so that borrow- Besides helping in creat- more disposable income,” ers can get an idea of what ing an appreciating asset at says Ankur Maheshwari, � sure you get a good deal their interest rates will be by a lower cost, home loans also chief financial officer at Businessmen with high keeping tabs on the change offer tax savings. For a per- MoneyTap. “In addition to fund turnover benefit in the benchmark. Those son in the 30 per cent income the lower interest burden due who take home loans from tax bracket, the effective to accelerated prepayment � from smart saver loans banks, therefore, get the ben- interest rate on a loan could in the early years, this also re- Existing borrowers efit of this transparency. fall below 5 per cent when tax could transfer their benefits are factored in. loans to a new lender if This doesn’t always mean that those taking home loans The recent slump in the � paying high interest from NBFCs (non-banking residential property market If you need a personal financial companies) or has brought prices within loan for home improve- HFCs (housing finance com- the reach of many who were ment, get a home loan panies) are at a disadvantage. earlier unable to afford top-up instead—this “Currently, home loan inter- their dream homes. How- o�ers a cheaper rate est rates offered by HFCs ever, given how long-term a are linked to their PLR commitment a home loan (prime lending rate), which is, and the size of the debt, is an internal benchmark,” it is important to be care- explains Ratan Chaudhary, ful. “Buying a house is a head of home loans at Pai- very specific need and also sabazaar.com. “HFC loans the most important and are not linked to external expensive financial decision benchmarks like the repo that one makes,” says Aarti rate, T-bill (treasury bill), etc. Khanna, founder and CEO However, market competi- of AskCred. “I would say the tion leads well-established best time to take a home loan HFCs to offer competitive is when one can comfort- interest rates to fresh home ably afford it (irrespective of 4 6 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

loan borrowers as well.” term loans, so only those employers’ profile and other EXISTING LOANS When one compares the borrowers who see a regular loan eligibility criteria.” Those with existing churning of large balances in home loans should not be best bank and HFC rates their bank account can make Another point to note complacent—there is a for home loans, there is not the best of it. This is most is that the interest rate one chance that they are paying much of a difference. “The useful for businessmen, as it gets depends on one’s credit a higher interest rate than home loan interest rates facilitates funding at lowest score—the best interest rates what their lenders are offered by some of the big rate whenever needed, with are given to those with the offering new borrowers. HFCs like HDFC and LIC the surplus in the account highest credit scores. There- “If the loan has been taken Housing Finance are among reducing the interest outflow. fore, it also makes sense for from a bank, the [interest the lowest in the industry, borrowers to check their rate] is based on the bank’s beating the home loan inter- POINTS TO NOTE credit scores before applying MCLR (marginal cost of est rates offered by many for a home loan, as that will funds-based lending rate). banks,” says Chaudhary. The interest rates, charges put one in a better position to It is possible that the bank and eligibility conditions bargain when making a deal may be willing to offer a rate The small difference that of home loans vary across with a lender. reduction with a decrease in a borrower pays is mostly lenders, so it makes sense for EMI option or a reduction compensated by customer would-be borrowers to take Shorter loan tenures help in tenure. One should assess service. “NBFC/ HFC bor- time over picking the best minimise interest costs, but this and negotiate with their rowers have the benefit of option for them. “Applicants they also mean higher EMIs bank,” says Khanna. getting quick approvals for should compare the home and can also lower total loan their home loans, even if their loans offered by as many eligibility. It is necessary Borrowers should com- credit score is not very high,” lenders as possible for the to strike a good balance. pare the interest rate they are says Maheshwari. “Minimal best deal,” says Chaudhary. “Choosing an aggressive paying with the current mar- documentation is an added “The best way to do so is to repayment schedule to make ket rates—if it is higher, then advantage. In addition, a visit online financial market- faster repayments may leave it makes sense to ask your borrower with a high credit places, which allow custom- very little financial room for lender to reduce the rate. If score can negotiate to get a ers to compare various loan borrowers to invest in other the lender does not allow this higher amount sanctioned offers available to them on financial goals, and may or does not offer a good rate, at a lower rate of interest as the basis of their credit score, thereby adversely impact borrowers might be well ad- per the lender’s discretion. Or monthly income, job profile, their long-term financial vised to transfer their loan to they can opt to transfer their health,” says Chaudhary. a new lender. However, this existing home loan to banks decision should be carefully at a lower interest rate later.” CURRENT HOME LOAN INTEREST thought through. “Ideally, RATES WITH TOP LENDERS one should get their home THE SMART SAVER loan transferred only if they LENDER INTEREST RATES (% p.a.) are in the initial 4-5 years of Smart saver home loans the loan, when the interest are basically home loans in Union Bank of India 6.7-7.65 rate or outstanding principal overdraft form, from which Bank of India 6.85-7.75 is high,” advises Maheshwari. borrowers can withdraw 6.85-7.3 funds as needed. “When cal- Central Bank of India 6.9-8.05 Finally, for existing home culating the interest charges, LIC Housing 6.9-7.25 loan borrowers, if you need banks compute the figure money for home upgradation by deducting the balance in Punjab & Sind Bank or renovation, then rather the current account from the than going for personal loan, outstanding principal,” says Canara Bank 6.9-8.9 they could consider a top-up Khanna. “The money thus loan at the lowest rate with left in the home loan account ICICI Bank 6.9-8.05 tax benefit. Top-up loans are reduces the total interest HDFC Ltd. 6.9-8.7* also available for other uses, outflow on the loan and gives Bank of Baroda though the interest rate is the borrower the flexibility to Indian Overseas Bank 7-8.6 generally higher and without maintain liquidity.” Punjab National Bank 7.05-7.3 any tax advantage. However, 7.1-7.9 it will still be cheaper than a The interest rate of smart personal loan. ■ saver options are slightly Rates as on Sept. 30, 2020; *E�ective till Sept. 30, 2020 higher than those in typical Source: Paisabazaar.com —Naveen Kumar O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �47

SMART MONEY HOME INSURANCE SECURING YOUR HOME A home insurance policy will prove to be a blessing if your house suffers damage in a natural disaster or you lose precious belongings to theft Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE LESSER-KNOWN COVERS Natural calamities are as belongings—for a low (fixed). If there is any seepage in on the rise. This year premium. One can even take Section 5: Breakdown of the roof or walls due to has witnessed floods insurance cover just for the domestic appliances. heavy rains and hailstorm in Bihar, torrential rains in structure or belongings in Section 6: Television sets (all or damage due to winds Maharashtra, Gujarat and the house. For example, ten- risks) cover. or storms, one can claim Karnataka and Cyclone Am- ants may only want insur- Section 7: Pedal cycle (all the repair cost from the phan sweeping West Bengal ance for their valuables. risks) cover. insurance company. “Home and parts of Odisha. Delhi, Section 8: Baggage. insurance policies also cover which falls in earthquake SCOPE OF Section 9: Personal accident pet veterinary costs. The seismic zone 4, has experi- COVERAGE insurance. terms and conditions of the enced a series of tremors. A typical householder policy Section 10: Public liability same vary among companies. The devastation from such consists of 10 sections, cov- and workman compensation Many households have calamities may not only be ering various risks: risks. expensive appliances in terms of loss of lives but Section 1: Fire and allied and gadgets. With home damage to one’s home and perils, for house building As per norms, it is man- insurance plans, one can belongings. While life insur- and household contents. datory to include at least get all of these insured. ance will protect a family in Section 2: Burglary and three to four sections in the Portable equipment, such case of a member’s demise, housebreak, including policy, with the Section 1 as a laptop and audio-visual what about your home and larceny or theft (belongings (fire and allied perils) cover systems, are also protected,” its precious belongings? Not only). against household belong- says Naval Goel, CEO and many people know that they Section 3: All risk against ings compulsory. The more founder of PolicyX.com. can insure their homes—the valuable items. the sections chosen, the Jewellery kept in the bank physical structure as well Section 4: Plate glass cover more comprehensive the locker or at home or even insurance cover becomes. when worn is covered under home insurance. One can buy add-ons as well, such as including escalation of property value, act of terrorism, third-party liability and loss of rent. “The escalation clause allows an automatic regular increase in the sum insured throughout the policy period,” says Sanjay Singh Chauhan, business head, SME, and home insurance, PolicyBazaar. com. He elaborates: “If the sum insured for a building is Rs 1 crore and a client opts for 10 per cent escalation cover, the escalation sum insured comes to be Rs 10 lakh. This will increase 48 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

SMART MONEY HOME INSURANCE on a per day basis. So, in maid or driver, is not covered lakh, that is, Rs 3.24 lakh. offer agreed value basis case of a claim after, say, as such individuals would be There are three ways to cover,” says Adarsh Agarwal, six months, the escalation having access to the house. appointed actuary at Digit sum insured would be “Under the Indian Penal calculate the value of the General Insurance. calculated as Rs 493,151 Code, burglary, theft and structure of the house: (180/ 365*10,00,000). The larceny are defined sepa- Bajaj Allianz does have final sum insured under the rately. Larceny is when the 1) Market value: The the agreed value option. policy at the time of claim person who has committed it insurer will pay the amount “Usually insurers pay the (six months) will be Rs has permission to enter your the policyholder would have construction cost after the 10,493,151.” house otherwise. So you can received on selling the house house has been built. How- include it in your policy as an at that point in time. It fac- ever, in agreed value basis, we Since the cost of the add-on,” says Ramalingam. tors in depreciation. pay the full amount upfront structure may rise as the after you have handed over years go by, the escalation HOW MUCH 2) Reinstatement value: the property papers, so that clause protects against INSURANCE TO BUY The house will be valued on we become the owner of that underinsurance at the time the basis of the total cost property,” says Ramalingam. of claim. On third-party Although the policy tenure required to reconstruct it. liability, Chauhan says: for most home insurance The land value of the house HOW TO BUY A HOME “It covers the amount the policies is one year, you is not included. INSURANCE POLICY insured becomes legally can buy a long-term plan liable to pay, including to cover the structure. It is 3) Agreed value: A Buying a home insur- litigation expenses. Any critical to calculate an ad- few insurance companies ance policy is complex as loss or damage due to equate sum insured to avoid provide cover on the basis people get confused with terrorism will be covered underinsurance at the time of agreed value. It factors in the calculations of assets only as an add-on.” One of claim. For example, if the both the land value and cost and contents of their homes. can also buy ‘loss of rent’ value of your house is Rs of construction. In the event But now, one can buy the cover, under which the 10 lakh and you have taken of a loss, the insurer pays policy online since valua- insurance company pays an insurance of Rs 6 lakh, the ‘agreed value’ and takes tion is not a prerequisite. “At rent for the policyholder which is 60 per cent of the ownership of the house. Digit Insurance, we ask the to live elsewhere while the actual cost, the insurer will customer only two primary damaged house is being pay you 60 per cent of Rs 6 “A policy on reinstate- questions—total square area reconstructed. ment value basis would of the house and location. provide better compensa- Based on this, we suggest EXCLUSIONS tion than one on market a sum insured. This eases value. Not all companies confusion for the customer,” The most important says Agarwal. exclusion is natural wear A COVER AGAINST CALAMITIES and tear. “All household At Bajaj Allianz, if the appliances and furniture Premium rates for home insurance policies (in Rs) aggregate amount for losses come with limited life. For to belongings crosses Rs example, your old AC will Insurer Structure Content Structure & Content 5 lakh, one will not need eventually stop working, and to provide any individual you cannot make a claim HDFC ERGO 2,374 13,423 15,905 break-up of items. However, for it because it has lived its ( Home Shield ) at the time of filing a claim, life,” says T.A. Ramalingam, Bajaj Allianz 4,484 24,780 29,264 the insurer will conduct an chief technical officer, Bajaj Bharti AXA 2,650 5,000 11,000 evaluation and ask for all Allianz General Insurance. Digit Insurance* 3,283 5,200 8,223 relevant documents. ICICI Lombard 3,128 11,800 20,600 Deliberate damage to TATA AIG 6,195 8,186 11,961 Insurance penetration is insured belongings is also low in India and home insur- not covered. “Identifying a Oriental* 3,000 10,000 15,340 ance is hardly on anyone’s genuine claim in this case Reliance 3,127 N/A N/A agenda. While a home insur- would be hard, but a smart *electronic items ance policy cannot prevent surveyor will ask all the not covered unwarranted damage to right questions to figure it your house or its belongings, out,” says Ramalingam. One-year policy from top eight insurers, o�ering home cover it will certainly protect your of ~ Rs 1 crore for ‘Structure’ and Rs 25 lakh for ‘Content’. pocket if that happens. ■ Theft/ burglary by regu- Source: PolicyBazaar.com lars to the house, such as a —Aprajita Sharma 50 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

LEISURE Ludo King (top) emerged as one of the most popular mobile games in India during the lockdown; a screenshot of Raji—An Ancient Epic bringing Indian stories and aesthet- ics to the world through the univer- sal medium of gaming, and its recep- tion took the small team at Nodding Heads by surprise. “We had Indian gamers telling us how much they enjoyed playing Raji with their par- ents. We had Indians in the US tell- ing us how this game reminded them of India. The western media also highlighted the importance of rep- resenting Indian themes and brown protagonists in games,” says Avichal Singh, founder and game designer at Nodding Heads, which had almost shut shop during the development of the game after struggling to land funding and a publisher. Larger gaming companies are also looking at Indian development talent more seriously. The Indian studios of French game developer- F or all the talk around how the gaming industry publisher Ubisoft had, until now, has been booming in India as others crumbled been resigned to support work for during the Covid pandemic, some of the biggest the company’s other games. Now, however, it is leading developments in the Indian gaming industry ac- the development of a game for the first time —the lat- tually occurred in August, just as the lockdown est release from the iconic Prince of Persia franchise. began to ease. The biggest of these was no doubt While Raji’s success was mostly overseas, the do- mestic gaming market has also grown by leaps and bounds, particularly since the lockdown confined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s the entire country to their homes. public endorsement of game development Bigger gaming While Raji has been developed for in India. Even though it came as part of a companies are PC and game consoles, it is mobile larger focus on growing India’s toy indus- games that see the most traction in try, it was the first time that gaming had beginning to India thanks to lower device and become part of the national conversation. looking at Indian data cost. Few success stories can Then there was the news that sent shock- match that of Ludo King. Devel- waves through India’s f ledgling gaming development oped by Mumbai-based Game- scene—the banning of PUBG Mobile as part talent more tion, the interactive board game seriously of a large wave of bans a�ecting Chinese- became an overnight sensation developed games and apps. in India, drawing casual gam- But amid these headline-grabbing ers, families and celebrities. events was another significant bit of news that slipped Games like Ludo King have also drawn under the mainstream media radar. Nodding Heads more women to the gaming scene, which, Games, a small Pune-based indie studio, became the like the gaming industry, remains an first-ever Indian game studio to launch a game on a Nin- overwhelmingly male preserve. A recent tendo platform. Its significance lies not only in the fact FICCI report states that, on average, that Nintendo is a revered gaming institution and home women now spend as much time on to some of gaming’s most iconic franchises, but also in that gaming apps as men do. With 50 mil- the game itself—Raji: An Ancient Epic—is deeply rooted lion daily active users, Ludo King con- in Indian mythology, a theme rarely explored in games. sistently ranks among the top games Raji was widely praised in the international press for on the Android and iOS app stores. 5 4 �INDIA TODAY O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0

What Ludo King did for casual gaming in India, PUBG Akshay Kumar. All this, even though, by the developer’s Mobile did for the country’s competitive gaming scene. The own admission, Fau-G, a single-player game, bears little popular PC ‘battle royale’ game was brought to mobile by similarity to PUBG. The ban of PUBG Mobile has laid bare Chinese gaming powerhouse Tencent. The game’s ability to the shortcomings of relying on one game to sustain the deliver engaging online multiplayer action on even the most country’s esports and gaming influencer businesses. basic smartphone made it an instant success, amassing a 50 million player base. It also managed to spawn an entire PUBG Mobile’s loss, however, has been a big gain for ecosystem around it. India now has numerous YouTubers India’s emerging real-money gaming segment, with big with over a million subscribers each, all built around PUBG players like MPL, Winzo and Dream 11 drawing mil- content. Similarly, global esports organisations like Fnatic, lions of players with the lure of winning real money TSM and Vitality have also set up shop in India alongside through playing games. The segment has come under homegrown companies with their own PUBG teams. All scrutiny lately, with the Paytm app being removed this came to a screeching halt with the ban. from Google’s Play Store for including gambling elements through its Paytm First Games titles. PUBG Corp, owner of the franchise, has begun to dis- Companies within this space position their games tance itself from the mobile game’s Chinese roots, and is as games of skill or as esports titles to distance actively looking for Indian partners to relaunch the game, themselves from gambling or games of chance. but the game’s absence has left a gaping hole in the Indian It’s a grey area and has introduced an element gaming industry. Rivals Free Fire and Call of Duty Mobile of confusion in a space that is often misunder- o�er alternatives, and Bengaluru-based nCore was quick to stood. But there’s no question that gaming is announce Fau-G soon after the ban on PUBG Mobile, riding going to keep on growing. ■ the wave of nationalism with a celebrity endorsement from —Sameer Desai Aploabscorgitokgtuaimfndtmregipoocianmtshong,nigeeemoavnslaometaergnikrrnyeegtthe GAMING � Sony and Microsoft are launch- the reliance on expensive hard- ing new gaming consoles—the ware. Much like OTT platforms, THE PS5 and Xbox Series X respec- Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud FUTURE tively—in India later this year and Amazon Luna all promise IS HERE � Graphics technology pioneers high-end gaming on any display, Nvidia and AMD are both bringing from PCs to smartphones The year 2020 marks their latest PC gaming technolo- � Microsoft has taken the lead in a generational shift gies to the market, giving gamers moving game consumption from in gaming. Here is a glimpse into the future of gam- buying to subscribing. Its Xbox what gamers can look ing graphics Game Pass o�ers hundreds of forward to � The world’s biggest technol- games across PC and Xbox con- ogy companies are looking to soles for a fixed monthly cost that jump into gaming through game is less than the cost of a single streaming services that remove new game. O C T OBE R 1 2 , 2 02 0 �INDIA TODAY �5 5

STREAMING Oh! �ose Turks Ertugrul is a shock to the modern, liberal Hollywood- and Bollywood- acclimatised viewer L Lockdown has been good to courageous—is the third son problems. Their epic romance up mountains, hide in the TV, especially mythological of Suleyman Shah, chief of propels the rustic Kayis into bushes, and sneak up on shows. India is neck-deep in the preeminent Kayi tribe in palace intrigues, politics and each other in the forest. It’s Ramayana and Mahabharata. 13th century Anatolia. The wars that lay the foundation wildly refreshing. But it is I had read of Dirilis: Ertugrul tribe migrates constantly to for the Ottoman empire. also an utterly patriarchal (Resurrection on Netflix) as a fresh pasturelands, fighting and violent world dominated wildly popular ‘Muslim Game o� Mongols and dreaming of A cast of striking charac- by male honour, in which of Thrones’ and was only idly a permanent homeland. Ertu- ters, reasonable-to-hammy survival depends on physical curious, but the evening I grul is a rocker of boats and acting, and a nail-biting plot prowess, sword skills, wits, clicked on season 1, episode prefers hunting to politics, helped by lots of deus ex and pack mentality. 1, life as I knew it ended. I but he is his father’s natural machina moments make for surfaced a few months later, heir, destined to lead the gripping viewing. The good This world springs en- feeling like a pigeon that got Oghuz tribes to greatness. On guys almost always come tirely from the word of God. It away from the snake. a hunt unexpectedly turned up trumps; the villains are is Muslims against Templars rescue mission, Ertugrul super villain-y. There is an and Byzantines, and the Mon- The show is ludicrously, brings home the beautiful eye-popping array of spies, gols versus everyone else. bewitchingly long. On Netflix, Seljuk princess Halime—and snitches, traitors, evil viziers, Into beheadings, kafir-hunt- it racks up 448 episodes over with her, a host of very large no information, too much ing, and the kind of bloodlet- five seasons, a huge middle information, misinformation, ting that makes Tarantino look finger to modern busy-ness. and betrayal. It’s a delicious like a little old peacenik, is If you edited out all the gra- potboiler, though peak sex baked unremitting religious tuitous slow-motion shots, is a passionate peck on the orthodoxy and nationalism. the round robin of welcome forehead. (Clumsy subtitles home hugs, and every time also make for highly enjoyable There’s the rub. Every Er- someone says ‘Inshallah’ or sub-viewing, eg: “You look tugrul viewer is an individual ‘Amin’, you would probably like a rotor, fell in a bougie” lab sample for the perils of end up with three 10-episode and “Young people these seductive myth-making. seasons, but it would also be days are all airheads”.) That far-right Turkish leader no fun. Fast forward, and you Recep Erdogan visited the set risk missing some crucial, Ertugrul is a shock to the of Ertugrul more than once plot-turning sentences. modern, liberal Hollywood- tells you all you need to know and Bollywood-acclimatised about its political underpin- Ertugrul (pronounced viewer. It is almost entirely nings. Almost 250 million Air-thu-rool)—handsome, set in nature. People trek Pakistanis watched Ertugrul (Top) Engin Altan Düzyatan as Ertugrul (centre); and a scene from the series showing saint Ibn Al Arabi standing over Ertugrul

UN-REALITY TV Umbrella Cargo Tales from the Academy 2 Loop Netflix Netflix Amazon Prime Cargo, which debuted on In 1989, 43 women across Netflix on September 9, An eight-part collection the globe spontaneously is an Indian indie-drama of interwoven short sto- give birth despite not about dying in the modern ries, this is a slow look at being pregnant. The chil- era. Vikrant Massey plays one of the central sci-fi dren all have superpow- a rakshas (demon) named tropes—that technology ers—time travelling, super Prahastha serving as an always means a better strength, ability to talk to “immigration o�cer in life. The ‘Loop’ is a scien- the dead—and seven wind outer space”, preparing tific facility built under- up being adopted by ‘eccen- the souls of the recently neath fictional Ohio that tric billionaire’ Reginald departed for reincarnation churns out one wonder Hargreeves, who sets up aboard the Pushpak 634A, after another—anti-grav- a superhero school—the a spacecraft orbiting the ity tractors and walking Umbrella Academy—where Earth. Made on a tight robots, robotic arms and all but one are trained to budget, the film is sweet distortions in space-time become crime-fighters. At in parts and cringey in included. At its heart, the beginning of season one, others, a mashup of feel- though, the show isn’t Hargreeves has been dead good storytelling with a about science—it’s about for some days and his seven tight skim of sci-fi to hold the people who make it. wards find themselves bat- it all together. tling to save the world In Ertugrul’s The Mandalorian The Expanse world, it is Muslims versus Disney+Hotstar Amazon Prime Templars and Byzantines, and Season one of the Centuries in the future, the Mongols Mandalorian set a pretty humanity has spread versus all else high bar with excellent visu- into the solar system, als and a baby Yoda. Season having colonised the Ghazi on PTV (dubbed two releases on October 30 Moon and Mars, as well in Urdu, you can watch and Mando is now search- as some of the moons of it on YouTube); Lahoris ing for a way to “unite [baby Jupiter and Saturn. The have erected statues of Yoda] with his own kind”, universe is, nonethe- Ertugrul; a recent Kash- which involves first finding less, very familiar, with miri newborn was named the Jedi. Lots of lasers, jet- a cold war between Ertugrul. That’s a tribute to packs, interplanetary travel the Earth and Mars the power of well-crafted and fighting, some lore and threatening to break mythology: come for the myth also included. into outright battle. sexy cool warriors, stay Amid all this, a detective for the fanatical religious- searching for a missing nationalist project. Hook woman stumbles onto people’s emotions into a a conspiracy that could rattling good yarn about lead to war. Four sea- hot, charismatic charac- sons are out, with a fifth ters, and they won’t notice greenlighted in late July. that they’re rooting for a religious fanatic with —Aditya Wig control issues. ■ —Mitali Saran

QA ‘Expletives are not my trademark’ CarryMinati on trolls, being the most subscribed YouTuber in Asia and his thoughts on giving acting a shot Q. There were rumours that you would be on Bigg Boss, which invited a lot of trolling. Were you considering it? No, not right now. I don’t follow the show regularly, but do binge-watch it if I have to make a video on it. Also, let’s be honest, everyone is a self-proclaimed troll today and everyone seems to have an opinion. Q. As the most subscribed individual YouTuber in Asia, is there pressure to deliver? It’s a huge accomplishment and sometimes it hurts when people are critical without knowing my back story. And while what I do appears to be the most fun job on the planet, there are a lot of shortcomings. It’s not enough to simply generate great content. The audience expects consistency if you want to stand out in a crowd. Without it, it’s incredibly easy to slip o� the radar. Q. Any plans to cut down on the expletives? Or is that now a CarryMinati trademark? Expletives are not my trademark; they are part of my content and the character I play. They are contextual to the narrative. Disruptive content is the king of online media today and the algorithm loves you the most when the content riles the audience up. Aren’t expletives used by many in their daily lives? Then why do we get so critical when it’s used on a public platform? Q. A few YouTubers have taken to acting. Is that something that interests you? I was interested in it two years ago and I do still get many o�ers. I won’t say that I’ll never do it but right now my priorities are clear. I would probably consider a one-o� cameo, but to be a full-fledged actor, you need experience and skill. I’m not the half-hearted kind, I like to dedicate enough time and energy to what I do and excel at it. —with Suhani Singh 56 �Volume XLV Number 41; For the week October 6-12, 2020, published on every Friday Total number of pages 58 (including cover pages)