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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 254*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

5

‘Deal with SaudiAramco not progressed as per timelines’

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4

COVID-19 situation better inDelhi than Junesays Kejriwal

Mantra to stay relevant is to skill,re-skill and upskill,says PM Modi

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated July 15, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Ashadha & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Ekadashi: 11:44 pm

Nakshatram: Kritika: 06:53 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:59 pm – 03:36 pm

Yamagandam: 05:54 am – 07:31 am

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 09:08 am - 10:45 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 04:16 pm – 06:00 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:56 am – 12:48 pm

VIJAYAWADA

WEATHERFFoorreeccaasstt:: CloudyTemp: 28/25Humidity: 89%Sunrise: 05.50 amSunset: 06.53 pm

AP Govt sets up panel oncarving out new districts PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment on Wednesday decidedto constitute a high-level com-mittee, headed by the ChiefSecretary, to study the modal-ities for carving out new dis-tricts in the state.

The state Council ofMinisters, headed by ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy, that met here approveda proposal in this regard andasked the committee to submitits report as early as possible,Minister for Information andPublic Relations PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) said.

The new districts wereintended to ensure ease ofadministration and accessibil-ity to people, he said.

"The committee will studyvarious aspects related to theformation of new districts andreduce (establishment) expen-diture.

Optimum utilisation ofhuman resources and infra-structure will be the guidingprinciples in the formation ofnew districts," the Ministertold a press conference after theCabinet meeting.

The ruling YSR Congress,on the eve of the elections lastyear, promised to make eachLok Sabha constituency a dis-trict by dividing the existing 13districts.

According to the plan, thestate will have 25 districts oncethe reorganisation is done.

AP to set up Sand, DroughtMitigation corporationsSUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment will set up a State SandCorporation and AndhraPradesh RayalaseemaDrought Mitigation ProjectDevelopment Corporationbesides extending YSRCheyutha scheme to womenpensioners.

Briefing the media hereon Wednesday on the deci-sions taken by the StateCabinet that met here onWednesday, Information andPublic Relations Minister

Perni Venkataramaiah saidthat the Cabinet has passed aresolution to set up SandCorporation to monitor,address all issues related tosand mining, transportation,and its sale.

The Corporation will nowcome under the MiningDepartment. Earlier it waswith AP MineralDevelopment Corporation.

The Cabinet also gave itsconsent for the formation ofAndhra Pradesh RayalaseemaDrought Mitigation ProjectDevelopment Corporationwith an estimated budget of

Rs 40,000 crore. The project aims at

addressing drought condi-tions in Rayalaseema regionby taking up irrigation pro-jects.

The Cabinet also approvedYSR Cheyutha, a financialassistance initiative for BC,SC, ST and Minority womenbetween 45-60 year agegroups. Under this scheme,Rs 18,750 will be provided tothe beneficiaries every year,which is about Rs 75,000 inthe next four years.

Sand Corporation to be100% subsidiary of APMDCPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh Cabineton Wednesday approved aproposal to incorporate the APSand Corporation Limited asa 100 per cent subsidiary to theAP Mineral DevelopmentCorporation, to take up allsand operations in the state.

The proposed entity will beresponsible for the implemen-tation of the New Sand MiningPolicy-2019 that is aimed ataddressing the issues of indis-criminate mining of sand,black marketing, hoarding,illegal cross-border transporta-tion, besides ensuring supplyof the material at a reasonableprice.

A three-member committeeof ministers, headed byFinance Minister BugganaRajendranath, will oversee thefunctioning of the Sand

Corporation and effectiveimplementation of the NewSand Mining Policy, accordingto Information and PublicRelations Minister PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani).

The APMDC that has beenentrusted with the task ofmanaging the sand operations,would now be confined to its

core activities of mineral min-ing, Nani, who is also a mem-ber of the ministers' commit-tee, said.

"Increased workloadbecause of managing the sandoperations has adverselyimpacted the core activities ofAPMDC.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Rebutting the allegations ofTDP supremo N ChandrababuNaidu that Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy was med-dling with the Simhachalamtemple affairs, SanchaitaGajapati Raju said theGajapathi family’s rights ascustodians of Simhachalamand MANSAS is fully protect-ed by her appointment asChairperson.

Referring to the SupremeCourt verdict that upheld the

rights of Travancore royal fam-ily to manage the affairs of Sree

Padmanabhaswamy temple,Naidu had commented thatthe YSRCP government musttake note of this developmentand stop interfering with themanagement of Simhachalam

Board and MANSAS trust “toattain its evil goals”.

“The Gajapathi family’srights as custodians must beprotected. Jaganmohan Reddymust not meddle with God

and family-run trusts to playdirty politics. The court’s rul-ing protects the sanctity ofprior agreements and long-running traditions of royalfamilies in managing trusts,”Naidu had said.

Responding to Naidu’s com-ment on Facebook, Sanchaitasaid: “I, Sanchaita Gajapati, amthe eldest surviving legal heirof my father AnandaGajapathi, who was eldest legalheir of my grandfather PVGRaju.”

Keep off Gajapathi family matters, Sanchaita tells Naidu

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A massive jump of more than500 new cases over the previ-ous day saw Andhra Pradeshreport its highest single-daytally ever on Wednesday withan unprecedented 2,432 newcases detected in the 24 hoursending 9 am.

State health officialssaid that as few asthree districtsreported newcases in doubledigits, with theremaining ninedistricts return-ing Covid-19counts runninginto triple digits.Guntur reported thehighest tally of 468 whileKurnool followed with 403cases. Similarly, Chittoor with257 cases, East Godavari with

247 cases also ranked amongthe high incidence dis-

tricts of the state.Some of the other

districts that report-ed high numbersover the previous24 hours includeWest Godavari

with 207 cases,Srikakulam with 178

cases, Anantapur with162 cases, Visakhapatnam

with 123 cases, Kadapa with112 cases and Krishna districtwith 108 cases.

With Wednesday's addition

of new cases, Andhra Pradesh'soverall tally of Covid-19 caseshas jumped to 35,451 casesdetected till date.

The previous record for single-day tally was onMonday when 1,935 cases werereported.

On Wednesday, the statealso reported the highest everdeath toll in a single day, with44 deaths reported from 9 of the13 districts in the state. Theoverall death toll in AndhraPradesh shot up to 452, statehealth officials said.

Health dept gets boost,to recruit 9,712 staffPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The State government willappoint 9,712 personnel in theMedical and HealthDepartment, which includesdoctors, nurses, techniciansand other posts.

Of the total 9,712 posts,5,701 are posts newly formedby the YS Jaganmohan Reddygovernment, and 4,011 arevacancies in the Department.

The hiring of new staff ishighly necessary now as thehealth staff are exhausted ren-dering service to Covid-19patients. Moreover, the pan-demic situation is aggravatingwith rapid increase in thenumber of cases.

The Directorate of MedicalEducation (DME) has alsogiven nod to fill 5,701 postsunder the department of fam-ily welfare and 804 posts ofassistant professors, civil assis-tant surgeons and dental assis-

tant surgeons. The DME hadalso agreed for the recruitmentof 2,186 jobs of staff nurses,pharmacists and lab techni-cians. The State will alsorecruit 420 teaching and 178non-teaching staff on RGUKT(IIIT) institutions inSrikakulam and Ongole.

Besides these, with an esti-mated budget of Rs 9 crore, aveterinary polytechnic collegewill come up at Kommamarriof Kurnool district, with anintake of 30 students from2020-21 academic year.

Girls outshine boys as 99.44%clear CBSE Class 10 exams

Centre allows forces tospend up to Rs 300 crore

NAMRATA SRIVASTAVA n HYDERABAD

As many as 99.44 per cent ofthe 22,059 students who tookthe Class 10 exam in APcleared it, announced theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) onWednesday.

A whopping 99.71 per centof the girls who took the

examination passed it, while99.24 per cent of the boyscleared the test.

As many as 22,095 studentshad registered for the exam inAP, 22,059 took it, and 21,936passed, the CBSE said.

The pass percentage in APis higher than in neighbouringTelangana, where of the 28,362students who took the test,28,314 appeared and 28,090

passed. In Telangana, girlssecured a 99.51 pass percent-age while 98.97 of the boyscleared it. Overall, a total of91.46 per cent of studentspassed the examination.

This year too, girls haveoutscored the boys with a passpercentage of 93.31 while thepass percentage for boys is90.14 per cent over all.

Covid-19 carnage in AP, 44 deaths in single day

Phase III humantrials yield‘encouragingresponse'PNS n LONDON

Mark your calendar today as itcould turn out to be a water-shed moment in the fightagainst Covid-19. Accordingto reports, "positive news" oninitial trials of the University ofOxford’s potential Covid-19vaccine (licensed toAstraZeneca) could beannounced on Thursday.

Across the globe,researchers are working roundthe clock to find a vaccineagainst SARS-CoV-2 — thevirus behind the pandemic.More than 155 vaccines arebeing developed against thecoronavirus, of which 23 are inhuman trials. Vaccines typi-cally require years of researchand testing before it can beadministered in the clinic.

Rajasthan Cong seeksrebel MLAs'disqualificationPNS n JAIPUR

The Congress has sought thedisqualification of SachinPilot and 18 other dissidentMLAs from the Rajasthanstate Assembly even as itrepeated that the party hasnot closed its doors on him.

Rajasthan AssemblySpeaker CP Joshi confirmedthat disqualification noticeshave been sent out Tuesdayon the basis of the com-plaint made by the party.The dissidents have to replyby Friday.

Chief Minister AshokGehlot also talked tough,accusing the former deputychief minister of being direct-ly involved in the allegedhorse-trading with the oppo-sition BJP to bring down hisgovernment.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In view of the border row withChina in eastern Ladakh, theDefence Ministry onWednesday granted specialpowers to the three services forindividual capital procurementprogramme worth Rs 300 croreto meet emergent operationalrequirements, officials said.

They said there was no cap onthe number of procurementprogrammes and that eachacquisition under the emer-

gency requirement categoryshould not cost more than Rs300 crore. The decision wastaken at a meeting of theDefence Acquisition Council(DAC) headed by DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh. "TheDAC delegated the powers forprogressing urgent capital acqui-sition cases of up to Rs 300 croreto the armed forces to meet theiremergent operational require-ments," the defence ministrysaid in a statement.

Referring to the Supreme Court verdict that upheld therights of Travancore royal family to manage the affairs ofSree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Naidu had commentedthat the YSRCP government must take note of thisdevelopment and stop interfering with the managementof Simhachalam Board and MANSAS trust “to attain itsevil goals”

IIT-DELHI DEVELOPS WORLD'S CHEAPESTCOVID-19 DIAGNOSTIC KIT FOR RS 399

AIR INDIA TO SEND STAFF ON COMPULSORYLEAVE WITHOUT PAY FOR UP TO 5 YEARS

In a move meant to reduce its number of employees, the board of Air India has allowedthe airline's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) to recommend that a non-

performing staff member be compulsorily sent on leave without pay for a period of upto five years. Employees will be assessed by a board in the following categories:Suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee,instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill healthor otherwise and redundancy. Air India CMDRajiv Bansal can now send employees onleave without pay "for six months or for aperiod of two years extendable upto fiveyears," an official order said.

JIO GLASS MIXED REALITY HEADSET WITHWIRELESS AUDIO, 3D VIDEO CALLING ANNOUNCED

Jio Glass, a mixed reality headset, was announced at the annualReliance AGM 2020 on Wednesday. The headset essentially pairs with

your phone to let you conduct classes, make video calls, and hostmeetings in a 3D holographic environment. Jio Platforms' Tesseractsubsidiary has designed the Jio Glass, and it is said to be compatible with25 mixed reality apps already. The mixed reality headset has anergonomic design for comfortable use anda camera up front. It has a slew ofsensors built-in to allow users to engagein immersive content. The Jio Glass islightweight and weighs only 75 grams.

Claimed to be the world's most affordable diagnostic kit for coronavirus, a low-costtest kit developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi was

launched on Wednesday. According to IIT officials, the base price of the the RT-PCRassay developed by IIT Delhi is Rs 399. Even after addingthe RNA isolation and laboratory charges, the costper test will go upto Rs 650 and will be considerablycheaper compared to currently available kits in themarket. It can deliver results within three hours. HRDMinister Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" launched thetest kit named "Corosure" which will now be availablefor use at authorised testing labs.

Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest “red” level on Wednesday, alarmedby a recent spike in daily new cases to record highs, with Governor Yuriko Koike

describing the situation in the Japanese capital as “rather severe”. The resurgence ofthe virus in Tokyo could add to the growing pressure on policymakers to shore upthe world’s No.3 economy, which analysts say is set to shrink at itsfastest pace in decades this fiscal year due to thepandemic. The infection rate in Tokyo is at stage“red”, the highest of four levels in the metropolis’system, Koike said, citing the analysis by healthexperts who cautioned earlier in the day thatinfections were going up quite a bit and “exceeding peaks”.

TOKYO DECLARES CORONAVIRUS REDALERT, SAYS SITUATION ‘RATHER SEVERE'

The state also reported the highest ever deathtoll in a single day, with 44 deaths reportedfrom 9 of the 13 districts in the state. Theoverall death toll in Andhra Pradesh shot up to 452, state health officials said.

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Gym owners want govt to takeweight off their shouldersPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Gymnasium owners in theVizag city are feeling the heatdue to closure of their fitnesscentres following theCoronavirus induced lockdown.

Gyms are still not allowed toresume operations even as thecountry entered the ‘Unlock 2’,since neither the Central nor thestate government unveiled adate for that step, leaving the fit-ness industry without a clearplan.

The sustained closure onlydeepens the terrible impact on16 gyms in Vizag city, and thenumerous across the state. “Wewere led to believe we would beopening very soon, of coursewith some guidelines for socialdistancing when the governmenthas given permission to almostevery sector,” said Santosh,owner of a gym at Sankarmatamroad. “But the rug was pulled outfrom under us” he added.

Sampath, a fitness enthusiast

from MVP Colony says that thegovernment’s illogical andinconsistent decision makingregarding which business sec-tors are deemed ‘safe’ and whichare ‘unsafe’ has proven itself tobe farce going by the spike inCovid-19 cases.

Members of Visakha GymWelfare Association met Vizag

MP MVV Sathyanarayana andsought his help for reopening ofgyms along with financialschemes on the lines of othersectors for gym owners to mit-igate their hardships.

Forced to stay closed over thelast few months, gyms have beendoing what they can to contin-ue engaging their clients

through virtual services. “Butunfortunately, I do not think itwill be useful. “The cost of rent,the cost of equipment and otheroverheads are tough to meet.The loss of revenue will leave alasting impact on us,” said RaviRoy, a gym owner.

Like scores of restaurateurs inthe city, many gym owners hadbeen busy carefully laying outplans to resume limited opera-tions in the near future. Somegyms owners said they weregearing up to unplug majorpieces of equipment and movethem far apart to ensure safesocial distancing.

Government should find away to reopen with modifiedoperations like allowing shifts.“It’s funny. You can go get a juicydrink, but you can’t work out ata health club,” Santosh said.

“Symbolically, the messagethat is being sent is health andwellness isn’t essential. This is abad message for anyone,” headded.

Darshan inSrisailamtemplesuspended PNS n SRISAILAM

Darshan in theBhramaramba MallikarjunaSwamy temple at Srisailamremained suspended for oneweek from Wednesday astwo sanitation workers andthree security personnel ofthe temple tested positive forCoronavirus, temple execu-tive officer KS Rama Rao saidin a statement on Wednesday.

However, the daily ritualsof the deities at the templewould go on as usual, thestatement said.

Son of slain Maoist surrendersPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

A young active member ofbanned CPI (Maoists) militiawing and the son of a slainMaoist son surrendered beforethe Vizag Rural police onWednesday.

The surrendered young mili-tia member was identified asGemmeli Keshava Rao (25). Heis the son of slain Maoist leaderGemmeki Narayana Rao aliasJamri. Keshava Rao surren-dered before AssistantCommissioner of Police ( ASP)Chintapalle , V Vidhya SagarNaidu at Chintapalle in VizagAgency district on Wednesday.

It may recalled that the eliteanti-naxal force (Greyhoundcops) of Andhra Pradeshgunned down GemmeliNarayan Rao alias Jambri in anexchange of fire nearAnnavaram area under MampaPolice Station limits of Koyyurumandal in Vizag Agency inFebruary 2017. Jambri carried areward of Rs 4 lakh on his headand he had joined in the outfittwo decades ago and rose frommilitia member to DCM cadre.

Jambri had been involved in

65 cases, including 15 murders,eight exchange of fire incidents,eight land mine blasts and threefamine raids. He had played akey role in killing of 37Greyhounds personnel inBalimela in AOB region in2008.

Jambri’s family memberstried to push his son into theMaoist’s movement despite theunwillingness of Keshava Rao.

ASP Chintapalli V VidhyaSagar Naidu said that KeshavaRao is an active militia inMettaguda and Veeravaramareas of Chintapalle police sub-division limits.

He had aided Maoists in

conducting their activities. “Gemmelli Keshava Rao has

been very active till the last fewmonths. But the developmentactivities by the government andcommunity policing by Vizagrural police are the driving fac-tors behind the surrender andchange of mind,” said the ASP.

The police officer advisedKeshava Rao to lead a peacefullife with his family and not toinvolve himself in such anti-government activities in future.

The police department willbring it to the notice of relevantgovernment departments sothat he can avail governmentbenefits as per eligibility, he said.

The surrenderedyoung militiamember wasidentified asGemmeli KeshavaRao (25). He is theson of slain Maoistleader GemmekiNarayana Rao alias Jamri

Srisailam project receivesheavy inflows from upstreamPNS n SUNNIPENTA CIRCLE

On account of heavy rains inupper reaches of Srisailamproject, the project is receivingheavy inflows.

On Wednesday morning,the project received 49,895cusecs of water.

In addition, the project hasreceived 1,100 cusecs ininflows from Handri-Neevaproject.

Against the full reservoirlevel of the project of 885 feet,water level measured in theproject as 815.50 feet

Against the water storagecapacity of 215 tmc ft of theproject, the water level mea-sured as on Wednesday was37.6570 tmc ft.

Similarly, Jurala project inTelangana is also receivinginflows of 60,000 cusecs offlood water on account ofheavy rains in the upper reach-es of the project.

Water level in Jurala Projectis measured as 318.440 metersas against the full-reservoirlevel of 318.515 meters.

The total water storagecapacity of Jurala is 9.657 tmcft. The quantity of water storedin the project is 9.5000 meters.

The Government ofKarnataka lifted crest gates ofAlmatti and Narayanapur torelease water into the Jurala

project, downstream. Inflows of Krishna river are

reaching Jurala. Flood level inthe project is gradually increas-ing. As a result, the officials lift-ed five crest gates of Jurala torelease water from the project.

Inflows into the project aremeasured as 58,000 cusecs,while outflow is put at 52,750cusecs.

World population to shrink after 2050, fastest in these nations: StudyPNS n NEW DELHI

The world's population willlikely shrink after 2050, accord-ing to an analysis, a potentialthreat to the global economy asdeclining numbers of working-age people hurt productionand tax rolls.

It would be the first time inmodern history for growth inthe number of world inhabi-tants to halt, researchers said inThe Lancet journal. Access tobirth control and education forwomen will help drive fertili-ty rates below the level neededto maintain current popula-tions, the authors said.

"This study provides govern-

ments of all countries anopportunity to start rethinkingtheir policies on migration,workforces and economic

development to address thechallenges presented by demo-graphic change," said leadauthor Christopher Murray,

director of the Institute forHealth Metrics and Evaluationat the University of WashingtonSchool of Medicine, in a state-ment.

Since 1950, the global pop-ulation has increased between1% and 2% each year. Growthwill continue and likely peak in

2064 at around 9.7 billion, andthen decline to about 8.8 billionby 2100 — about 2 billionlower than previous estimates,according to the report. Asiaand central and eastern Europewill see some of the fastestreductions, according to theanalysis. Twenty-three coun-

tries will see populations shrinkby more than half, includingJapan, Thailand, Italy andSpain, the authors predicted.

The U.S. is forecast to havethe fourth-largest working-agepopulation in the world in2100, DRWE India, Nigeriaand China. Immigration islikely to sustain the country'sworkforce, with half a millionmore people estimated toimmigrate to the U.S. thanwill emigrate out that year.Sub-Saharan Africa may becomemore powerful as its popula-tion rises, according to theanalysis, and India and Chinawere also seen gaining influ-ence. The study predicted huge

shifts in global age structure,with people over 80 years oldoutnumbering children underfive years of age by two to one.

A demographic crisis couldhave major consequences forthe economy. Lower numbersof workers will result in eco-nomic decline and slowergrowth in standards of living,and place a burden on cover-ing pensions and health-care,the authors said."A very realdanger exists that, in the faceof declining population, somecountries might consider poli-cies that restrict access toreproductive health services,with potentially devastatingconsequences," said Murray.

IMA says 99 doctors succumbed to Covid-19, issues ‘red alert' for medicosPNS n NEW DELHI

As many as 99 doctors in thecountry, a majority of themgeneral practitioners, have suc-cumbed to Covid-19, theIndian Medical Association(IMA) said on Wednesday,and declared a red alert formedicos and medical admin-istrators asking them to raisetheir guard.

According to IMA NationalCovid registry data, of thetotal 1,302 doctors infectedwith Covid-19, 99 have suc-cumbed to the disease. Ofthose dead, 73 were above theage of 50 years, 19 in the age-group of 35-50 and sevenbelow 35 years, the datashowed.

"IMA declares RED ALERTto doctors and medical admin-istrators to raise their guard. IfCovid-19 mortality has to belessened, it has to start withdoctors and hospitals," thedoctors' body said in a state-

ment.he IMA strongly advocated

the leadership of doctors inadopting all scientific bestpractices.

This requires intense reviewand updating of all administra-tive set ups in the hospitals,including infection controlprotocols. Any gap in provid-ing for the safety of doctors,nurses and staff have to be

plugged, it said in the state-ment.

A feedback system from thedoctors, employees and publicneeds to be put in place.Cleaning and sanitising proto-cols should be meticulouslyadhered to, the IMA said.

"Analysis of data shows thatwhile senior and young doctorsare equally infected withCovid-19, mortality is higher

among elders. While this is onexpected lines, there is scopefor lessening deaths across theage spectrum. Meticulousadherence to norms and disci-pline inside hospitals will havea salutary effect," the statementsaid.

National President of IMADr Rajan Sharma said thatwhile the medical professionremains the beacon of hope forthe nation to lead the exit fromthe pandemic, Covid-19 deathamong doctors has become amatter of great concern.

"IMA strongly advocates theleadership of doctors in adopt-ing all scientific best prac-tices. Doctors need to takecharge of the situation andensure the safety of them-selves, their families, their col-leagues and staff."

Senior doctors who are deci-sion makers for the institutionshave enhanced responsibility oftaking care of their flock, theIMA national president said.

Since 1950, the global population hasincreased between 1% and 2% each year.Growth will continue and likely peak in2064 at around 9.7 billion, and then declineto about 8.8 billion by 2100 — about 2billion lower than previous estimates,according to the report

PNS n HYDER-ABAD

The TelanganaHigh Court onW e d n e s d a yextended the stayon the demolitionof existingSecretariat build-ings by anotherday. The courtasked the Central govern-ment to spell out its stand ifdemolition work requiresenvironmental clearancefrom the Ministr y ofEnvironment.

A division bench of ChiefJustice Raghvendra SinghChauhan and Justice B.Vijayasen Reddy, onWednesday resumed thehearing on the petition chal-lenging the demolition work.

Advocate General BSPrasad submitted to the courta copy of the resolutionpassed by the cabinet todemolish the existing build-

ings of the Secretariat tobuild a new complex. Thepetitioner's counsel arguedthat environmental clearancewas not taken for the demo-lition work. The government,however, contended thatthere is no need for environ-mental clearance, and that thepermission was taken fromthe Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC).The bench askedthe Central government toinform it on Thursdaywhether demolition workrequires environmental clear-ance.

Virus takes a toll on bank staffPNS n HYDERABAD

Coronavirus has been affectingthe banking operations especial-ly in the Old City of Hyderabadwith one branch or the othergetting closed as its employeesare testing positive for the virus.If any bank employee tests pos-itive for the virus, the branch isbeing closed for three days. Thebranches are getting reopenedonly after fully sanitising it.

After easing the lockdown,the number of customers visit-ing the banks registered anincrease. In Old City, one branchor the other is getting closed assome of the staff members get-ting tested positive for the virus.One of the bank officers wish-ing to remain anonymousexpressed concern over thebank employees contracting thevirus in spite of banks taking allprecautions. During lockdownperiod, only part of the bankemployees attended duty.Currently, all bank staff membersare reporting for work. In somebranches, there is no scope forobserving social distance.Customers are visiting the bank

branches on one pretext or theother in spite of the banks advis-ing them against visiting thebranches unless it is so essential.

The customers have beenadvised to use digital bankingservices, yet they are visiting thebank branches. A public sectorbank in Hyderabad has to shutsome branches to sanitise themsince 30 employees working insome of the branches contract-ed the virus. A public sectorbank in Secunderabad wasclosed for three days as a seniorofficer of the bank tested posi-tive for the virus. In Moti Nagartoo, a senior bank official test-ed positive for the virus leading

to its closure for few days. A pri-vate bank in SR Nagar had to beclosed for three days as two ofthe staff members tested posi-tive for the virus.

The employees working inbranches, particularly ruralbranches, complain that theywere not provided adequatefacilities though they were askedto work in containment zonesalso. "There are no thermalscanners in our branch nor asecurity guard to control the vis-itors. Due to lack of space, it isvery difficult to maintain phys-ical distance." laments a bankemployee, who did not want tobe quoted.

TS HC again extends stay on Secretariat demolition

‘Political pressure'irks doctors in TS PNS n HYDERABAD

As if serving in Covid-19ward wasn't enough, thedemands by the admittedpatients have been causingadditional pain todoctors. A doctorposted in Covid-19ward on conditionof anonymity said,"We treat allpatients equallyand give themrequired attention. Butoff late there are too manycalls from politicians andsome officials demanding usto give more attention to thepatient. We can't sit with thepatient all throughout theday. Some seem to be disre-spectful and rude as well".

Some patients say they knowsome TRS leader or BJP leader,others say MIM, and some saythey are kin of officials in thePolice Department. A doctorsaid, "One of the patients saidthat he is Owaisi's man, knows

some TRS leader and wasdemanding continuously. Asdoctors posted in Covid-19ward, we don't have to just treatpatients, but have to do lot of

reporting and accountabili-ty work. We already

have to deal withphysical and mentalstress, due to PPEand anxiety, nowthis recommenda-

tion stress is pilingup on us".Referring such

patients to other governmenthospitals is not working out asthey are already short staffed.The doctor added, "Someoneshould brief the politiciansabout patient care. We don'thave a magic wand to reducethe infective period of a per-son. Some take 14 days, sometake 28 days and some manytake less to be cured of theinfection". Doctors are toobusy to worry on how theserecommendations are going toimpact them.

Telanganagets sevennew EkalavyaschoolsPNS n HYDERABAD

Bringing cheers to studentsbelonging to Scheduled Tribecommunity, the Central gov-ernment has sanctionedseven new Ekalavya ModelResidential Schools toTelangana State, that wouldprovide admission to about840 students from the tribalcommunity. They are in addi-tion to the existing 16 EMRSfunctioning in the State,which have a total tribal stu-dents' strength of about 5,250.

The State government isspending Rs 1.09 lakh oneach student to provide edu-cation. The total expenditureon providing residential edu-cation to ST students is put atRs 9.15 crore. Currently, thereare 16 Ekalavya ModalResidential Schools in thestate with a total strength of5,250 students. The state gov-ernment incurs Rs 5,722.50lakh annually for education ofthe students. The total num-ber of such schools willincrease to 23 with the Centresanctioning seven more.

Of the seven schools, twowill be set up inMahbubabad, one inAdilabad district, three inKothagudem-Bhadradri dis-trict and one in Khammamdistrict. The Minister saidChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao hasbeen striving for develop-ment of the State which wascreated after decades of strug-gle and stated that due to hisintervention, the Central gov-ernment sanctioned the newresidential schools.

EGG

RATES

` 51,180 (10 gm)

10

GOLD

` 53,000 (1kg)

` 900

HYDERABAD 335

VIJAYAWADA 358

VISAKHAPATNAM 351

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `33..7755

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

BULLION RATES

`//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `191

Without Skin `218

Broiler at Farm `132

`//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020 vijayawada 03

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh may have 26districts and not 25, if theAraku Lok Sabha constituen-cy is bifurcated as suggested bya Minister in the Cabinet meet-ing chaired by Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy onWednesday.

The Chief Minister gave thegreen signal to form a commit-tee to look into reorganisationof existing 13 districts into 25.However, a proposal for thecreation of a 26th district wasalso tabled in the meeting.

Araku Parliamentary con-stituency is spread acrossSrikakulam, Vizianagaram,Visakhapatnam and EastGodavari districts of AndhraPradesh. According to the 2011census, out of the total19,26,513 population, 91.59per cent is rural and 8.41 percent is urban.

Deputy Chief Minister PPushpa Sreevani put forth a

point that Araku, aParliamentary constituencynow, has a huge geographicalarea and is spread across fourdistricts. Responding to this,

the Chief Minister directedthe authorities to study the pos-sibility of carving ArakuParliamentary constituencyinto two districts.

The committee headed bythe Chief Secretary comprisesChief Commissioner of LandAdministration (CCLA),Secretary (services) of the

General AdministrationDepartment, Secretary of thePlanning Department and anofficial from the ChiefMinister’s Office as members.Principal Secretary (finance)will be its convener.

Post the Cabinet meeting,Information and PublicRelations Perni Nani briefingthe media said the committeewill look into various issues con-cerning the reorganisation ofdistricts, including controllingthe administrative expenditure.

He said small districtswould bring in better admin-istration and governance forpeople. The districts are hugein size and populated too,Perni Nani said.

The plan is to convert eachLok Sabha constituency into adistrict thereby creating 25districts in AP which has 25 LSseats. Carving out new dis-tricts was also a pre-pollpromise of the YSRCP besidesits welfare schemes.

Split Araku LS, carve 26districts, suggests Sreevani

Araku LS is spread across Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts

2 arrested in Amaravaticapital land scamPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In connection with theAmaravati capital land scamexposed by the YSRCP gov-ernment, two persons werearrested on Wednesday.

The cops arrested SudhirBabu, Tulluru retired tehsil-dar, who is facing charges offabricating land records.Sudhir Babu was known tohave close links with someMinisters during the TDPrule.

Gummadi Suresh hailingfrom Vijayawada was arrest-ed on charges of illegally buy-ing assigned lands cultivatedby Dalits.

The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) formed by theYSRCP government to probethe irregularities in Amaravatiland scam had earlier arrest-ed deputy collector Madhurifor allegedly registering gov-ernment land in the name ofprivate persons.

Keep off Gajapathifamily matters,Sanchaita tells Naidu

Continued from Page 1

She continued: “Hope youNara Chandrababu Naidugaru believe in genderequality unlike yourcolleague PusapatiAshok GajapathiRaju who haswrongly arrogatedto himself the entireGajapathi familylegacy and misled youto believing that I do notexist! I will appreciate it if youstay out of the Gajapathi fami-ly matters and not politicise it.”

The row over MANSAS trustfounded by the VizianagaramRoyal family erupted when the

YSRCP government broughtSanchaita, a lawyer,

NGO activist and BJPwomen’s wingleader, into the pic-ture and made herthe chairperson ofthe trust.

Sanchaita is thedaughter of former

MP P Ananda GajapathiRaju, elder brother of seniorTDP leader and ex-Union min-ister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

TDP accuses YSCRP govtof looting NREGS fundPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Telugu Desam Party formerMinister Devineni UmaMaheswara Rao on Wednesdayaccused the YSRCP govern-ment of looting the NREGSfunds in rural areas without anysympathy for creating workopportunities for the poor fam-ilies.

Devineni Uma deplored thatin view of the heavy rains, manyvillages were surrounded bywater but the ruling party lead-ers were not taking any steps forrescuing the marooned resi-dents.

Addressing a press conferencehere, the TDP leader said theYSRCP leaders were committingirregularities even in employ-ment guarantee scheme imple-mentation while the poor peo-ple were suffering due to lack ofwork in view of the Coronavirus-induced crisis. It was unfortu-nate that the required financialassistance was not being given tothe poor workers, daily wagecoolies and others, he alleged.

Devineni Uma recalled howthe TDP regime had celebratedthe birthday of KL Rao everyyear. Dr KL Rao had made out-standing contributions and stood

a huge source of inspiration forthe engineers.

“The farmers would foreverremember the services provid-ed by Sir Arthur Cotton,Mokshagundam Visveswarayyaand Dr KL Rao,” he said.

At a separate press conference,TDP MLC Buddha Venkannaalleged that many suspicionswere arising going by the way thefire accidents were happeningone by one in Visakhapatnam.He said that YSRCP MPVijayasai Reddy was placing an

iron grip over the port city andhe was being responsible formany scams there.

Venkanna said that the gov-ernment was trying to cover upits failure in preventing theindustrial mishaps by levellingbaseless allegations against for-mer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu.

“The Central governmentshould intervene and take actionagainst the management ofindustries which were responsi-ble for the mishaps,” he said.

Devineni Uma recalled how the TDP regimehad celebrated the birthday of KL Raoevery year. Dr KL Rao had madeoutstanding contributions and stood a hugesource of inspiration for the engineers

AP Govt sets up panel oncarving out new districts

Continued from Page 1

However, there has beenopposition within the YSRCto the formation of new dis-tricts with a Lok Sabha con-stituency as the base.

Leaders from Srikakulam,including Assembly SpeakerTammineni Seetaram, voicedtheir opposition to the split-ting of their district as itwould lose three importantAssembly segments.

They wanted the govern-ment to work out an alterna-tive plan so that the existinggeography of Srikakulam dis-trict is not disturbed evenafter the reorganisation.

Similarly, there is opposi-tion over making Araku anew district as the existingLok Sabha constituency isspread over four districts.

There are several otherParliamentary constituenciesthat are spread over two dis-tricts, division of whichcould become a ticklish issue.

"We have discussed theseissues in the Cabinet anddecided to form a high-levelcommittee of officials to ami-

cably carry out the reorgan-isation exercise. The ChiefMinister wanted the new

plans to be ready by March31 next year," a ministersaid.

AP to set up Sand, DroughtMitigation corporations

Continued from Page 1

The Minister stated thatnearly 25 lakh women willbenefit through this scheme,and from now on all womenpensioners are covered underthe scheme.

An additional burden ofaround Rs 6,163.59 crore tothe government is estimatedwith the inclusion of womenpensioners in the scheme.

In a first of its kind deci-sion, the State government isbringing in a Fish FeedQuality Control Act, to mon-itor and check the quality offeed being manufactured andprovided in aquaculture. Anordinance to this effect will beissued. The initiative wastaken to safeguard aquacul-

ture in the State, as over 60per cent of the expenditure isspent on the feed alone.

Adding to this, over 40 feedanalysis labs are going to beestablished across the State.

The Cabinet also gave itsnod to GO MS 22 under theNadu-Nedu initiative, whichaims to revamp 44,509 gov-ernment schools with betterfacilities.

The government hadalready spent Rs 920 croretowards this scheme andanother Rs 250 crore wasreleased on Wednesday.

In addition to these, withan investment of Rs 5 crore,a cattle grazing training cen-tre was proposed in PyapiliMandal of Kurnool districtand in Anantapur district.

Phase III human trials yield ‘encouraging response'Continued from Page 1

Given the urgency of a vaccineagainst Covid-19, experts esti-mate that a fast-tracked vaccinedevelopment process could seea successful candidate in marketin about 12-18 months.

Amidst all this comes theheartening news that Oxford'spotential vaccine is already inlarge-scale Phase III human tri-als to assess whether it can pro-tect against Covid-19, though itsdevelopers have yet to reportPhase I results, which wouldshow whether it is safe andwhether or not it induces animmune response.

The developers of the vaccinesaid this month they were"encouraged by the immuneresponse" they had seen in trials

so far and were expecting to pub-lish Phase 1 data by the end ofJuly. The data are expected to bepublished by The Lancet medicaljournal.

AstraZeneca’s experimen-tal vaccine is probably theworld’s leading candidate and

most advanced in terms of devel-opment, the World HealthOrganization’s chief scientistsaid in June. The company hassigned agreements with gov-ernments around the globe tosupply the vaccine, should it becleared for use.

Although there was noimmediate comment from thecompany on reports about thepositive news due Thursday, aspokeswoman for OxfordUniversity indicated in a blogpost on Tuesday: “I amhearing there will be positivenews soon (perhaps tomorrow)on initial trials of the OxfordCOVID-19 vaccine that isbacked by AstraZeneca.�

This being so, researchers inthe United States reported onTuesday that Moderna Inc’sexperimental vaccine showedit was safe and provokedimmune responses in all 45healthy volunteers in an ongo-ing early-stage study. Modernastarted its Phase II trial in Mayand expects to start a Phase IIItrial on July 27.

Rajasthan Congress seeks rebelMLAs' disqualification

Continued from Page 1

He did not refer to Pilot byname but spoke about thedeputy chief minister and thePCC president , both postsheld by the leader before he wasstripped of them on Tuesday ashe tussled with the more seniorRajasthan leader for power.

But, amid this tough postur-ing, the Congress said the dis-sident MLAs can still return tothe Congress fold.

Avinash Pande, the AICC in-charge of Rajasthan indicatedthis in a tweet in the morningand party spokespersonRandeep Surjewala followedthat up while interacting withthe media in the afternoon.

Pilot has said he is not join-ing the BJP but has not spelledout his next move.

"The party's doors have notclosed for Pilot. May God givehim good sense and he realis-es his mistake. I pray that hecomes out of the BJP's illusorytrap," Pande tweeted in Hindi.

Senior leader Surjewala saidall grievances will be heard andsolutions found.

"Come back to your family,

sit with your family and placeyour view before the family, hesaid at Jaipur hotel where MLAsin the Gehlot camp are holedup.

He said if Pilot is not joiningthe BJP, he should not acceptthe hospitality of BJP-ruledHaryana, referring to reportsthat the MLAs close to the rebelleader are camping in twoGurgaon hotels.

The Congress has made clearthat it is going for revamp of theorganisation in the state.

On Tuesday, Avinash Pandeannounced that all cells anddepartments of the stateCongress are dissolved so thatthey can be reconstituted underthe leadership of the new PCCpresident. On Wednesday, heannounced a similar disband-ing of all district and block com-mittees of the party.

In the harshest words spokenso far by any Congress leaderagainst Pilot, Ashok Gehlot onWednesday accused his sackeddeputy of being directlyinvolved in horse-trading withthe BJP.

He claimed there is proof thatmoney was being offered.

“Our deputy chief ministerand PCC president himself wasdoing the deal and was givingstatements that no horse-trad-ing was taking place. Whatclarification are you givingwhen you yourself wereinvolved?” he asked.

Speaking good English orHindi, giving a good byte is noteverything, he said. What mat-ters, he added, is commitmentto the party's programmes andpolicies.

The Rajasthan Assembly sec-retariat sent notices to 19 MLAs,following a complaint byCongress chief whip MaheshJoshi who sought their disqual-ification from the House.

The party said the MLAs haddefied a whip and skipped theCongress Legislature Partymeetings on Monday andTuesday. It also referred totheir "hostile" media statements.

It wanted action under para-graph 2 (1) (a) of the TenthSchedule of the Constitution,which disqualifies MLAs if vol-untarily give up the member-ship of the party which theyrepresent in the House.

The Congress letter said the

Supreme Court has unequivo-cally held that the provisioncomes into effect when theconduct of an MLA leads to thisinference.

Among those sent notices areVishvendra Singh and RameshMeena, who were sacked alongwith Pilot from the state cabi-net after their rebellion againstAshok Gehlot.

Others include DeependerSingh Shekhawat, Bhanwar LalSharma and Harish ChandraMeena, who had also givenstatements to the media chal-lenging the Gehlot government.

Sachin Pilot has been upsetsince the Congress pickedGehlot for the chief minister'spost after the 2018 assemblypolls. His supporters had cred-ited him for leading theCongress to victory as the stateunit president. In the 200-member assembly, the Congresshas 107 MLAs and the BJP 72.

In the past, the ruling partyhas claimed the support of 13independents, two MLAs eachfrom the CPM and theBhartiya Tribal Party (BTP),and one from the RashtriyaLok Dal (RLD).

Covid carnage in AP, 44deaths in single day

Continued from Page 1

Wednesday's death tollbeats the previous record of43 deaths reported the pre-ceding morning. Deaths werereported from 12 of thestate's 13 districts. Anantapurand West Godavari districtsrecorded the highest numberof nine deaths each, followedby Kurnool with five deaths.On the other hand, Chittoor,East Godavari , andVisakhapatnam reported fourdeaths each, while Kadapa,Krishna and Prakasamreported two deaths each. Atthe bottom of the list wereNellore, Srikakulam, andVizianagaram distr ic tsreporting one death each.

In all, 805 persons weredischarged from hospitalsand Covid treatment centresby Wednesday.

Andhra Pradesh currentlyhas 16,621 active cases while18,378 persons have beendeclared as cured and dis-charged till date.

A significant upsurge wasreported during the previous24 hours in the number ofpositive cases detected inreturnees from other states toAndhra Pradesh.

On Wednesday, 20 newcases were detected fromreturnees to the state fromother parts of the country. Ofthese, 12 persons hadreturned from the neigh-bouring Telugu state of

Telangana, while five personswere from Tamil Nadu, andthree persons had returnedfrom Karnataka.

In all, 2,444 persons havetested positive for Covid-19among those who returnedfrom other states. The activecases tally in this category is427, while 2,017 personshave recovered till date.

Over the past 24 hours, nonew cases were reportedfrom persons with a travelhistory to foreign countries.The cumulative tally ofCovid-19 patients in thiscategory stands at 432, while329 persons have been dis-charged after getting cured.

As of Tuesday, 103 casesare receiving treatment.

Health dept getsboost, to recruit9,712 staff

Continued from Page 1

A similar facility will betaken up at Anantapur later.The State government gaveconsent to withdraw cases filedagainst the teachers and gov-ernment employees during theagitation for opposingContributory Pension Scheme(CPS) and the cases filedagainst those for attackingGuntur old police station willalso be withdrawn.

Sand Corporation

to be 100%... Continued from Page 1

Revenue augmentation fromthe existing MangampetBarytes project, commence-ment of new mining projectslike coal blocks, heavy miner-al beach sands, silica sand andother organisational improve-ment initiatives have been hin-dered," official sources said. TheAPMDC will get back to itsoriginal operations once thenew Sand Corporation comesinto place, the sources added.

Forces getspecialpowers for...

Continued from Page 1

The decision, it said, willshrink the procurement time-lines and ensure placement oforders within six monthsand commencement of deliv-eries within one year.

It said the special meetingof the DAC was convenedconsidering the prevailingsecurity environment alongthe northern borders andthe need to strengthen thearmed forces for the defenceof the country's borders.

The three services havestarted buying a range ofmilitary equipment, weaponsand platforms in the last fewweeks in the midst of thetense border row with Chinain eastern Ladakh.

Girls outshineboys as 99.44%clear CBSEClass 10 exams

Continued from Page 1

A total of 2.23 per cent ofstudents, or 41,804 young-sters, scored more than 95per cent marks in CBSEClass 10 exam this year.

Trivandrum region hasagain topped with 99.28pass percentage, followedby Chennai with 98.95 passpercentage and Bengaluruwith 98.23 pass percentage.The last among regions isGuwahati with 79.12 passpercentage.

Kendriya Vidyalayaemerged as the top per-forming schools in theexams, with a pass percent-age of 99.23.

Dubai hospital waives Rs1 crbill for TS Corona patientPNS n HYDERABAD

A 42-year-old man from Jagtialdistrict, who was admitted toDubai Hospital in Dubai, UAEdue to Coronavirus was waivedoff the bull of Rs 1.52 crore after80 days of treatment on human-itarian grounds. He was alsogiven a free ticket and Rs 10,000cash and landed in Hyderabadon Tuesday.

Odnala Rajesh (42) ofVenugumatla village in Gollapallimandal of Jagtial district wasadmitted to 'Dubai Hospital' inDubai, UAE on April 23 due toillness and was tested positive forCoronavirus.

Rajesh who recovered after 80days of treatment, was dis-charged by the hospital andhanded over a bill of 7,62,555

Dirhams (Rs 1 crore 52 lakh) tohim.

Gundelli Narasimha, presi-dent of the Gulf WorkersProtection Society in Dubai,who took the worker to the hos-pital from the beginning and vis-ited him regularly, brought thematter to the attention of

Sumanth Reddy an IndianConsulate volunteer in Dubai.

Volunteer Sumanth Reddyand Ashok Kotecha of BAPSSwaminarayan Trust requestedHarjeet Singh, Consul (Labour)of Indian Consulate in Dubai tohelp the poor worker. ConsulateOfficer Harjeet Singh wrote a let-ter to Dubai Hospital manage-ment asking them to waive thebill on humanitarian groundsand they responded positivelyand waived the bill and dis-charged the patient.

Ashok Kotecha provided freeflight tickets to the patientOdnala Rajesh and his escortDyavara Kankaiah and paidRs10,000 for pocket expenses.Patient and escort was sent byAir India flight from Dubai toHyderabad on Tuesday.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020 nation 04

SHORT READS

UP farmer's son scores98% in Class 12, tojoin top US univarsityLAKHIMPUR KHERI (UP): Theson of a farmer in a remoteUttar Pradesh village has scored98.2 per cent in his Class 12examinations which has pavedthe way for his admission to aprestigious Ivy LeagueUniversity in the US on fullscholarship. Anurag Tiwari, whobelongs to Sarasan village inLakhimpur district, said he hasgot selected to CornellUniversity where he would bepursuing higher studies inEconomics. The 18-year-oldhumanities student scored 95marks in Mathematics, 97 inEnglish, 99 in Political Science,and a full 100 both in Historyand Economics, as per the examresults announced by the CBSEon Monday. The outstandingClass 12 results just paved theway for the “Cornell Dream” ofthe boy, who scored 1,370marks in his ScholasticAssessment Test (SAT), widelyused for admissions to majorcolleges in the US, in December2019. “Congratulations! Theadmission selection committeein the College of Arts andSciences has approved yourearly decision application toCornell University for the fall of2020. I am honoured to sharethis wonderful news with youand to welcome you to theCornell community,” statedJonathan R Burdick, ViceProvost for Enrollment, in aletter to Anurag in December.

House collapses inDehradun, three killed

Maha: Costumedesigner commitssuicide in Mira RoadTHANE: A 28-year-old costumedesigner allegedly committedsuicide at his home in MiraRoad in Maharashtra's Thanedistrict, police said onWednesday. Shaikh Salim Khanwas found hanging from aceiling fan in his ninth-floorapartment in a high-rise on theMonday night, assistant policeinspector Pankaj Ghatkar ofKashimira police station said. Asuicide note was recoveredfrom the scene, in which thedeceased had stated that hewas fed up with life and no oneshould be held responsible forhis death, the official said. Khanworked as a costume designerat various film studios inMumbai and his mother lived ina different apartment in thesame high-rise, he said. A caseof accidental death has beenregistered in this regard andfurther probe was underway, headded.

DEHRADUN: Three people,including an eight-year-old girl,were killed in their sleep andtwo others injured when theirhouse in Chukkhuwala areahere collapsed in the earlyhours of Wednesday, policesaid. The house collapsedfollowing heavy rain at around1.30 am. Search and rescueteams have pulled two bodiesout of the rubble of the houseso far and rescued alive twoothers who have beenhospitalised, they said. Twowomen were killed in theaccident and one of them issaid to have been pregnant.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Girls outshone boys yet again inthe class 10 exam, results ofwhich were announced by theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) onWednesday, recording a passpercentage of 91.46. There hasbeen a marginal increase of0.36 per cent in the pass percent-age as against last year. Theboard did not announce anymerit list this year in view of theexceptional circumstances amidthe COVID-19 pandemic.

While girls have achieved apass percentage of 93.31, passpercentage of boys and transgen-

ders is 90.14 and 78.95 respec-tively. Over 1.84 lakh studentsscored above 90 per cent andmore than 41,000 studentsscored above 95 per cent marks.Over 18 lakh students hadappeared for the exam this year.

Trivandrum region recordedhighest pass percentage of 99.28,while the pass percentage ofGuwahati region was lowest at79.12. While the class 12 examswere rescheduled to be held inJuly in all parts of the country,class 10 exams were rescheduledonly in Delhi which was affect-ed by riots in March. However,later all exams were cancelled fol-lowing spike in Covid-19 cases.

CBSE class 10 resultsdeclared, 91.46% pass

MARATHA RESERVATION:

SC to conduct day to dayhearing from July 27 via VCPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court said onWednesday that from July 27 itwould commence day to dayhearing through video confer-encing on a batch of pleas chal-lenging Maharashtra law grant-ing reservation to Marathas ineducation and jobs.

The top court, whichrefused to pass any interim stayorder on the quota, saidchances of physical court seemremote due to the persistingCOVID-19 pandemic.

A bench of Justices L N Rao,Hemant Gupta and S RavindraBhatt asked the parties said thatall parties should sit togetherand decide on modalities ofhearing like who will take howmuch time and no one shallrepeat the arguments.

During the hearing, senioradvocate Shyam Divan appear-ing for some of the petitioners,said that this type of a case needsto be heard in a physical court.

“If we are constrained, thengive us the earliest possibledate. There is tremendousurgency in the matter. We mayalso need to revisit the conceptof interlocutory relief,” he said,adding that there is a wholegroup of post graduate studentswho have their careers at risk.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibalsaid that there is also an issue of10 per cent reservation forEconomically Weaker Sectionwhich too needs to be heard.

The bench said that if itneeds to be heard, then it

would consider it. Divan point-ed out that there is a hugechunk of 12 to 13 per centreservation which has beentaken away. He said that HighCourt is bound by the orders ofthe Supreme Court and nine-judge bench of the top courthad already said that quotashould not exceed 50 per cent.

The bench said it is listing thematter on July 27. AdvocateShivaji M Jadhav told the benchthat virtual hearing is not pos-sible looking at compilation of1,000 of pages.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra on Wednesdayslammed the Yogi Adityanathgovernment over the deteriorat-ing law and order situation inUttar Pradesh, citing a kidnap-ping case in Kanpur. In aFacebook post, she said a youngman was kidnapped by miscre-ants in Kanpur and his family wasasked for a ransom for his release.

"The family collected Rs 30lakh by selling their house andwedding jewellery. At the behestof the police, the family hand-ed over the bag full of money tothe kidnappers and the policecould neither catch the miscre-ants, nor their son could befreed," Priyanka Gandhi said.

The family members of thekidnapped man are distraught,the Congress general secretaryin-charge UP East added.

"This is a case from Kanpurwhere such a big incident hadtaken place a few days ago. Nowyou can imagine the state of law

and order in UP from this,"Priyanka Gandhi said, referringto the Vikas Dubey episode.

Dubey, a wanted criminal,was shot dead on Friday last bypolice, who claimed he wastrying to flee after the car carry-ing him from Ujjain overturnedon an isolated stretch of thehighway on the outskirts of thecity. Dubey was wanted in con-nection with the ambush inKanpur's Bikru village past mid-night on July 2, killing eightpolicemen who had come toarrest him.

Priyanka hits out atUP govt over law andorder situation in state

Mantra to stay relevant is to skill,re-skill and upskill, says PM ModiPNS n NEW DELHI

The mantra to stay relevant inthe rapidly changing businessenvironment and market condi-tions is to "skill, re-skill andupskill", Prime MinisterNarendra Modi told the youthon Wednesday, noting that theneed for it has become moreimportant in times of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing a virtual event tomark five years of the SkillIndia mission, he said skill istimeless and it keeps getting bet-ter with time and it makes youdifferent from others.

He also said that in today'srapidly changing world, millionsof skilled people are needed andthere is a huge potential, espe-cially in the health services.

The prime minister said mer-chant navy is another avenuewhich has a huge potential. Hesaid if we work on increasing theskill in this field, then we cangive lakhs of expert sailors to the

world, and can also strengthenthe coastal economy of thecountry.

The coronavirus crisis haschanged the nature of jobs aswell as the world culture. Theever-changing new technologyhas also influenced it, he noted.

Keeping in mind the newwork culture and the new natureof jobs, the country's youth areincreasingly adopting new skills,

Modi said in his video address."Several people ask me that in

today's time, business and mar-kets change so fast that they donot understand how to remainrelevant. In this time of corona(virus), this question hasbecome even more important.

"I have only one answer. Themantra to stay relevant is — skill,re-skill and upskill," the primeminister said.

Modi was of the view that skillis something which we gift toourselves, which grows withexperience.

"Skill is timeless, it keeps get-ting better with time. Skill isunique, it makes you differentfrom others. Skill is a treasurethat nobody can take away.And, skill is self-reliance, it notonly makes one employable butalso self-employable," he noted.

He observed that the SkillIndia Mission launched fiveyears back on this day has led tocreation of a vast infrastructurefor skilling, reskilling andupskilling and enhancingopportunities to access employ-ment both locally and globally.

It has led to hundreds of PMKaushal Kendras being set upacross the country and increasein the capacity of the ITIecosystem.

Due to these concertedefforts, more than five croreyouth have been skilled in thelast five years.

Referring to the portallaunched recently for mappingskilled employees and employ-ers, he stated that this wouldhelp skilled workers, includingmigrant workers who havereturned to their homes duringthe coronavirus-induced lock-down to access jobs easily andthe employers to contact skilledemployees at the click of amouse.

ADB appoints EC AshokLavasa as new V-PPNS n NEW DELHI

Multilateral funding agencyAsian Development Bank(ADB) on Wednesday said ithas appointed ElectionCommissioner Ashok Lavasaas vice-president for privatesector operations and public-private partnerships.

"He is currently one of theElection Commissioners ofIndia and previously served ina range of senior posts includ-ing as Union Finance Secretaryof India; Union Secretary for theMinistry of Environment,Forests, and Climate Change;and Union Secretary for theMinistry of Civil Aviation,"ADB said in a statement.

Lavasa will succeed DiwakarGupta, whose term will end onAugust 31. He has extensiveexperience in public-privatepartnerships and infrastructuredevelopment at the state and fed-eral levels, with deep knowledgeon public policy and the role ofprivate sector, it said. The agencyfurther said that Lavasa led theIndian delegation in the climate

change negotiations for the ParisAgreement and was instrumen-tal in finalising India's national-ly determined contributions,which included a major role ofthe private sector.

"At both policy and projectlevels, he made significant con-tributions to the inclusion of theprivate sector in many develop-ment programs in India fordifferent sectors such as energy,agriculture, finance, and infra-structure. As Joint Secretary inthe Department of EconomicAffairs, he worked closely withmany ADB projects that had pri-vate sector components," it said.

PNS n BENGALURU

Senior Congress leader MVeerappa Moily indicated onWednesday party general secre-taries put in charge of States arenot doing their job and called forrevamp at the AICC level tostrengthen the Sonia Gandhi-ledoutfit. Asked to comment on thepolitical crisis in Rajasthan, theformer Union Minister appearedto back Chief Minister AshokGehlot and also hinted thatrebel leader Sachin Pilot shouldhave patiently waited for his turn.

The Congress yesterdaysacked Pilot as the Deputy ChiefMinister as well as PradeshCongress Committee (PCC)President. "These days many ofthe youngsters are encouraged inthe Congress party. But at thesame time there is a need forwell-tested leadership becauseyou cant just neglect the veter-ans also," Moily said.

Speaking in general terms, theformer Karnataka Chief Ministersaid many of today's aspiringyouth don't have patience at alland they need to have persever-ance. Pilot may deserve ChiefMinistership but he should havewaited for his turn, workingwithin the party, he said notingthat the 42-year-old leader wasmade Lok Sabha member, UnionMinister, Deputy Chief Ministerand PCC President by the party

early in his political career. At thesame time, Moily said many atime, AICC general secretaries incharge of States are not "vigilant"and don't understand the prob-lems faced by local party units.

"It (the Rajasthan-type crisis)can be prevented. Some of the(partys) disasters could be pre-vented. Many of the times, they(general secretaries) don't bringit to the notice of the central lead-ership, and don't keep theminformed about developmentsand take immediate correctiveactions," he said.

"These days we are not doingthis kind of exercise whether it'snortheastern states, or MadhyaPradesh or Karnataka, or any ofthese states. Many a time, vigi-lance on the part of high-com-mand is also lacking. As a resultwhen everything happens (prob-lem comes to a head) only thenthey become panicky, thats notthe way," Moily said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

As many as 122 alleged criminalswere killed in over 6,000 encoun-ters in Uttar Pradesh in the pastthree years, while 13 policemenalso lost their lives during thisperiod, a senior police officialsaid. He also said over 2,000criminals were injured in policeaction, while over 13,000 ofthem have been arrested.

"Thirteen policemen havebeen killed in action in asmany as 6,126 encounters (inUP), while as many as 122criminals have been gunneddown," Additional DirectorGeneral of Police (Law andOrder) Prashant Kumar toldPTI while sharing details ofpolice encounters from March20, 2017, to July 10, 2020.

“As many as 13,361 criminalshave been arrested, while 2,296

criminals were injured in policeencounters,” he said, adding 909policemen were also injured inthese incidents.

Referring to the Kanpurambush in which eight police-men were killed, Kumar said, "Ofthe 21 named accused in theincident, six have been killed andfour arrested so far. A hunt is onto nab the 11 other accused."

Eight police personnel, includ-ing a DSP, were gunned down bythe henchmen of gangster VikasDubey in Bikru village of Kanpuron July 3.

Seven others, including acivilian, were injured in theattack after the police teamentered the village past July 2midnight to arrest the gangster.

Dubey was later killed in anencounter on July 10 after policeclaimed that he tried to escapefrom the spot in the Bhauti area

where the vehicle carrying himfrom Ujjain to Kanpur met withan accident. Kumar said overallthere has been a decline in thecrime rate in the state this yearcompared to the last year.

"A total of 579 instances ofloot took place in the state fromJanuary 1, 2020, to June 15, 2020.This is 44.17 per cent less com-pared to the crimes committedin the same period in 2019,” theADG (Law and Order) said.

He said 33 incidents ofdacoity have been reported inthe state this year so far. “It is37.74 per cent less compared tothe crimes committed in thesame period in 2019”.

Similarly, 2,604 instances ofburglary have taken this year sofar and is 30.97 per cent less com-pared to the crimes committedin the same period last year,Kumar added.

122 ‘criminals' killed in 6,126encounters in UP; 13 cops lost lives

Sonu Sood turns author with a book onhis work with migrants during Covid-19PNS n NEW DELHI

Actor Sonu Sood, who catapult-ed to the national spotlight for hiswork in helping migrants reachtheir homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will pen a bookabout his experience. His debutbook, as-of-yet untitled, willreveal the emotional and oftenchallenging journeys the actorundertook along with the peo-ple he helped. It will be releasedlater this year, announced pub-lishing house Penguin RandomHouse India on Wednesday.

"... I want to thank God formaking me a catalyst in helpingthe migrants. While my heartbeats in Mumbai, after thismovement I feel a part of me livesin the villages of UP, Bihar,Jharkhand, Assam, Uttarakhandand various other states where Ihave now found new friends and

made deep connections. "I havedecided to put these experi-ences, stories that are embeddedin my soul forever, in a book ...I'm excited, nervous and over-whelmed, and I can't wait to con-nect with you through my book.I look forward to your support—and love you all," Sood said.

The 46-year-old actorlaunched an initiative to helpreunite migrant workers whowere stranded in Mumbai withtheir families in distant cornersof the country. Sood and his teamrolled out a toll-free number anda WhatsApp helpline to connectwith the workers and then

arrange transportation for thosedesperate to reach their homes.Later, he arranged for food,buses, trains and even charteredflights for stranded migrants,some of whom were walkinghome after the lockdown wasimposed earlier in March and leftthem jobless.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Not all pregnant women arerequired to undergo COVID-19tests when they go to a hospitalfor obstetrical care (child birth),the AAP government told theDelhi High Court onWednesday. The submission wasmade before a bench of ChiefJustice D N Patel and JusticePrateek Jalan by the Delhi gov-ernment on affidavit which stat-ed that only suspected cases ofCOVID-19 are tested for theviral infection.

However, obstetrical carecannot be delayed for want oftesting, the Delhi governmentsaid, adding that not all symp-tomatic pregnant womenwould be tested.

Only those coming fromhotspots or those who have hadcontact with someone who test-ed positive for COVID-19 aretested for the viral infection, the

government has said.Taking note of the affidavit,

the court said it was not going tofurther monitor the case as aclear set of guidelines have beenput in place by the government.

"Enough and adequate havebeen taken to expedite testingand in certain cases testing is alsonot required," the bench said.

It further asked the Delhi gov-ernment to ensure that time

taken from when a healthcareprovider decides to go forCOVID-19 testing of a pregnantwoman, the sample collectionand the declaration of results, alltogether ought not to take morethan 24 hours.

It also asked the governmentto disseminate the latest guide-lines on testing of pregnantwomen to all of its and privatehospitals in the national capital.

Stand-upcomedians postapology after oldvideos resurfacePNS n MUMBAI

Stand-up comedians AadarMalik, Sahil Shah and AzeemBanatwalla are the latestnames to apologise for theiryears old and "out-of-context"videos and social media poststhat have resurfaced online.

The comedians said theywere sorry if they had offend-ed or hurt anyone's religioussentiments and also request-ed that their families bespared of online vitriol.

The development camedays after several comicssuch as Vir Das, Rohan Joshiand Kaneez Surka allegedthat their personal contactinformation and addresseswere leaked online, which ledto vicious trolling.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress dissolved its alldistrict and block committeesin Rajasthan in a bid to revampthe state unit of the party. Ann-ouncing the decision, AICCgeneral secretary in-charge forthe Rajasthan Congress AvinashPande said new committees willbe formed soon. Sources saidthe decision has come in thewake of Sachin Pilot's sackingas the deputy chief minister andthe state Congress chief. Themove is considered a step for-ward in removing all Pilot's menholding party positions at thegrassroots level. "The AICC hasdecided to dissolve all DistrictCongress Committees andBlock Congress Committees ofRajasthan Pradesh with imme-diate effect. The process of for-mation of new committees willbegin soon," Pande said onTwitter.

Cong dissolvesdistrict, blockcommittees in Raj

"I have decided to putthese experiences,stories that areembedded in my soulforever, in a book... I'mexcited, nervous andoverwhelmed, and Ican't wait to connectwith you through mybook. I look forward toyour support — andlove you all," Sood said

AICC leaders in-charge of Statesnot doing their job: Veerappa Moily

Not all pregnant women need to undergoCovid-19 test, AAP govt tells HC

"Skill is timeless, it

keeps getting better

with time. Skill isunique, it makes you

different from others.

Skill is a treasure that

nobody can take

away. And, skill is self-reliance, it not only

makes one employ-

able but also self-

employable," he noted

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

NSTI extension centreto come up in Ladakh:LG MathurLEH: Ladakh Lt Governor R KMathur on Wednesday said aNational Skill Training Instituteextension centre is set to comeup here. Making the announce-ment on World Youth Skills Day,Mathur said the NSTI extensioncentre would impart qualitytraining to the youths of Ladakh,thus empowering and equippingthem with industry relevantskills to earn their livelihood. Aninitiative of the DirectorateGeneral of Training, Ministry ofSkill Development andEntrepreneurship, the extensioncentre aims at capacity-buildingof the polytechnics andindustrial training institutes byproviding training to thetrainers, an official spokes-person said. The NSTI centrewould also introduce program-mes such as refresher training,re-skilling or up skilling courses,craftsmen training schemes,instructor training schemes,apprenticeship training schemesand national skills qualificationframeworks, he said.

Bengal MLA's death:Mamata tells prez it'ssuicide not murder

All Punjab ministers toundergo Covid-19 testCHANDIGARH: Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh hasadvised his cabinet colleaguesto undergo test for coronavirusafter one of the ministers testedpositive for the infection. “Allthe cabinet ministers will givetheir samples for testing(coronavirus) today. Theirresults will come by todayevening or tomorrow,” HealthMinister Balbir Singh Sidhutold reporters here onWednesday. Officials said thechief minister has advised hisministers to get themselvestested as a precautionarymeasure. Punjab RuralDevelopment and PanchayatsMinister Tript Rajinder SinghBajwa on Tuesday had testedpositive for the novelcoronavirus. He is the firstminister in the state to contractthe infection.

KOLKATA: A day after a BJPdelegation met President RamNath Kovind seeking dismissalof the Mamata Banerjeegovernment over the "poiticalmurder" of a party MLA, theWest Bengal chief ministerwrote a latter to him claimingthe saffron party might havepresented "distorted facts". Shesaid the case has been handedover to the CID for properinvestigation. A TrinamoolCongress delegation led byRajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brienalso called on the president atRashtrapati Bhavan andapprised him of the details ofthe case. In the letter, Banerjeecited the preliminary probe bythe state police and thepostmortem report to claimDebendra Nath Roy's death "isa case of suspected suicide anddoes not appear to be apolitical case as being projectedby the BJP".

RAJASTHAN POLITICAL CRISIS

Sachin Pilot says not joining BJPPNS n NEW DELHI

"I am not joining the BJP,"Congress leader Sachin Pilotsaid on Wednesday, assertingthat the speculation about hisswitching sides was being fuelledby certain leaders in Rajasthanto tarnish his image

Pilot's remarks come a dayafter the Congress sacked him asRajasthan's deputy chief minis-ter and the party's state unit pres-ident. Two loyalists of Pilot werealso dropped from the stateCabinet.

"I have worked very hard tobring the Congress party back inthe government and defeat theBJP," he said.

In an apparent reference toChief Minister Ashok Gehlot'scamp, Pilot said some leaders inRajasthan were trying to fuelspeculation that he is joining theBJP and that he would like to cat-egorically state that he was notdoing so.

"Such a speculation is beingfuelled to tarnish my image," hesaid. After being sacked, Pilothad tweeted in Hindi onTuesday, "Truth can be rattled,not defeated."

Gehlot has accused his formerdeputy of playing into the hands

of the BJP Pilot had kept awayfrom two CLP meetings held onMonday and Tuesday afterwhich the action against him wastaken.

Pilot has been upset sincethe Congress picked Gehlot asthe chief minister after the2018 assembly polls, while hisown supporters insisted thathe deserved credit for theparty's victory as its state unitpresident.

The current crisis eruptedlast Friday when the Rajasthan

Police sent a notice to Pilot, ask-ing him to record his statementover the alleged bid to bringdown the government.

The same notice was sent tothe chief minister and someother MLAs, but Pilot's support-ers claimed that it was onlymeant to humiliate him.

The Special Operation Group(SOG) had sent out the noticesafter tapping a phone conversa-tion between two men, who wereallegedly discussing the fall of theGehlot government.

PNS n JAIPUR

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on Wednesdayaccused rebel Congress leaderSachin Pilot of involvement inhorse trading with the BJP.

Pilot was removed fromthe posts of the Rajasthandeputy chief minister and thestate Congress president onTuesday amid a power tusslewith Gehlot.

In an interaction withreporters here, the chief min-ister, however, did not mentionPilot by his name but said the"former Pradesh CongressCommittee president" washimself “doing the deal”.

Gehlot said he has the proofthat horse trading was beingcommitted to topple his gov-ernment.

“Those who are giving clar-ifications were themselvesinvolved in horse trading,”Gehlot told reporters.

The CM said he (Pilot)would have performed quitegood had he "struggled in hisyouth". Gehlot also hit out atthe national media saying it issupporting those who are“involved in murderingdemocracy".

Pilot involved in horsetrading, says Gehlot

TMC expels party leaders; BJP, CPM talk toughCYCLONE AID SCAM

PNS n KOLKATA

As protests continued in partsof West Bengal over allegedmisappropriation of monetarycompensation to the peopleaffected by cyclone 'Amphan',the ruling TMC cracked awhip against corruption andexpelled several party leadersand workers, while the BJP andCPI(M) said that they won'tstand by those who have beenproven guilty.

Although TrinamoolCongress (TMC), which con-trols nearly 80 per cent of thestate's panchayats, has been atthe receiving end of the pub-lic ire, the opposition BJP andthe CPI(M) have also facedprotests in some areas overallegations of fraud related tothe 'Amphan' aid delivery.

The protests have been tak-ing place in various parts ofEast Midnapore, South and

North 24 Parganas, the worst-affected districts by the cyclone'Amphan' which hit WestBengal on May 20, killing 96people and leaving behind atrail of destruction.

"Whenever any complaintwas received, we took actionagainst the accused leadersand party workers. We haveeither suspended or askedthem to return money. Wehave zero- tolerance towardscorruption," a senior TMC

leader said.Several local level TMC

leaders were recently expelledfrom the party for their allegedinvolvement in corruption andnepotism, he said.

West Bengal Chief Ministerand TMC president MamataBanerjee recently said that hergovernment was rectifying the"lapses" which might haveoccurred in its effort to pay thecompensation to the cyclone-hit victims quickly.

PNS n GUWAHATI

The Assam government's deci-sion to upgrade the DehingPatkai Wildlife Sanctuary into anational park has enthused envi-ronmental conservationists andactivists but with this the long-standing demand to encompassthe entire 500 sq km of the con-tiguous rainforests, known asAmazon of the East, within itsambit has gathered momentum.

Conservationists have beendemanding that the govern-ment include the adjoiningreserved forests connected withthe existing wildlife sanctuarylike Joypore reserved forests,Upper Dehing East Block andthe Upper Dehing West Block tothe proposed national park.

Prominent personalities ofthe state like actor Adil Hussain,singer Papon, musician JoiBarua, former Axom Xahitya

Xabha chief ParmanandaRajbongshi, author and journal-ist Anuradha Sarma Pujari andartist Dadul Chaliha have alsobeen appealing to the govern-ment to include the reserveforests within the proposed park.

Ethnic communities of the vil-lages surrounding the reserveforests has also extended theirunstinted support to this entiremovement.

Last week, Assam Chief

Minister Sarbananda Sonowalissued a directive to upgrade thesanctuary into a national park.

The sanctuary encompassesonly 111.11 sq km but the stretchof rainforests include 500 sq kmof the Joypur, Upper Dehing andDirok reserved forests, spreadover the two districts of Tinsukiaand Dibrugarh, saidSoumyadeep Dutta, director ofenvironmental organisationNature's Beckon.

Record number of samples testedfor Covid-19: ICMR officialsPNS n NEW DELHI

More than 3.2 lakh sampleswere tested for COVID-19 onTuesday, the highest so far on aday, taking the cumulative num-ber of tests conducted in thecountry till July 14 to1,24,12,664, Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) offi-cials said.

According to the UnionHealth Ministry, the testingper million for India is consis-tently rising and has touched8994.7 on Wednesday.

"A cumulative total of1,24,12,664 samples have beentested up to July 14. A total of3,20,161 samples were testedon Tuesday, the highest so farconducted in a day," Scientistand media coordinator at theICMR, Dr Lokesh Sharma, said.

The per day testing capacity,which was around 1.5 lakh onMay 25, is nearly four lakh perday now, Sharma informed.

India registered a record sin-

gle day jump of 29,429 COVID-19 cases pushing its tally to9,36,181 on Wednesday, whilethe death toll climbed to 24,309with 582 new fatalities, accord-ing to Health Ministry data.

The WHO in its GuidanceNote on “Public Health Criteriato Adjust Public Health andSocial Measures in the Contextof COVID-19” has advised com-prehensive surveillance and test-ing for suspected cases.

While explaining the concept

of comprehensive surveillanceand testing of suspect cases, theWHO advised that a countryneeds to conduct 140 tests perday per million population, theministry said.

As many as 22 states aredoing more than 140 COVID-19tests per day per million in linewith comprehensive testingguidance note by the WHO, saidthe Health Ministry, while advis-ing the remaining states and UTsto increase testing to match the

WHO advised levels, the min-istry said. One of the factorsstrongly aiding the increasingnumbers of COVID-19 tests inthe country is the steadily grow-ing network of labs for testing ofCOVID-19. With 865 labs in thegovernment sector and 358 pri-vate labs, the total number of test-ing labs is 1223, as on date.

In addition to the gold stan-dard for test, RT PCR, TrueNatand CBNAAT are also used toaugment this facility, it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday reviewedthe ongoing developmentwork at Kedarnath Dham inUttarakhand with a focus onfacilities for travellers, hisoffice said.

Last month also the primeminister had reviewed theprogress of the developmentwork at the shrine.

The discussions centredaround furthering the divini-

ty of Kedarnath temple andJagadguru AdiShankaracharya's 'samadhisthal', maintaining cleanlinessand ensuring extensive devel-opment, the Prime Minister'sOffice said in a statement.

The review also focussed onensuring that travellers get allfacilities on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath route and arrange-ments be made to showcasethe historical and cultural sig-nificance of the pilgrimageusing technology, it added.

PM reviews developmentwork at Kedarnath Dham

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian military conveyed a"very clear" message to theChinese army during a nearly 15-hour-long talks that status quoante must be restored in easternLadakh and it will have to followall mutually agreed protocols forborder management to bringback peace and tranquillity alongthe Line of Actual Control, gov-ernment sources said onWednesday. During the course ofthe intense and complex nego-tiations between senior com-manders of the two armies thatended at 2 am on Wednesday, theIndian delegation also apprisedthe Chinese PLA about the "redlines" and conveyed that the onuswas largely on China to improvethe overall situation in the region,the sources said.

The two sides agreed on cer-tain modalities for rolling out thenext phase of disengagement andare expected to get in touch witheach other after discussing agreedpoints with the higher authori-

ties of both sides, the sources said.The fourth round of Lt

General-level talks began around11 AM on Tuesday at a designat-ed meeting point in Chushul onthe Indian side of the LAC, theysaid. There was no official wordon the outcome of the talks.

The Indian delegation was ledby Lt Gen Harinder Singh, theCommander of the Leh-based 14Corps, while the Chinese sidewas headed by Major GeneralLiu Lin, Commander of theSouth Xinjiang military region.

Army Chief Gen MMNaravane was apprised about thedetails of the negotiations follow-ing which he held discussionswith senior military officers. Heis scheduled to hold anothermeeting with a number of seniormilitary officers later in the day.

Tuesday's discussions werethe longest negotiations betweenthe two armies after the tensestandoff that began on May 5.The third round of Lt General-level talks on June 30 lasted 12hours. During this round, both

sides agreed on an "expeditious,phased and step wise" de-esca-lation as a "priority" to end thestandoff. The sources said themain focus of the latest roundwas on finalising a framework fora "time-bound and verifiable"disengagement process from allthe friction points like PangongTso and Depsang and pullingback large numbers of troops andweapons from rear bases alongthe LAC as part of modalities forfurther de-esalation.

INDIA'S CLEAR MESSAGE TO CHINA

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Congress will moveAllahabad High Court to chal-lenge Uttar Pradesh assemblySpeaker Hriday NarayanDikshit's decision rejecting itsplea to disqualify the party'stwo “rebel” MLAs, Aditi Singhand Rakesh Singh.

“The legal cell of the partyin Delhi is preparing the peti-tion for moving the highcourt,” Congress LegislatureParty leader Aradhana Misratold PTI on Wednesday.

On Speaker's ruling thatthe Congress' plea seeking dis-qualification of its two MLAs“lacked substance and suffi-cient evidence”, Misra said,“There is sufficient groundfor the disqualification of thesetwo MLAs and the party hadpresented it before theSpeaker.”

“The acts and conduct ofthese two MLAs show thatthey want to willingly give upthe membership of the House.Their actions are tantamount

to voluntarily giving up theirmembership (of the Assembly)under the 10th Schedule of theConstitution,” Misra said,adding they have been contin-uously indulging in anti-partyactivities.

Giving an example, she saidAditi Singh participated in thespecial Vidhan Sabha sessionon October 2 last year defyingthe party whip against it.

“She said she did not get thewhip. Even so, when shereached the Vidhan Sabha she

was fully aware that the entireopposition had boycotted thesession. She did not just takepart in the proceedings for fourhours but also spoke in thehouse praising the govern-ment,” Misra said.

Aditi Singh later tweetedremarks which amounted tocriticising the party, the CLPleader said.

About Harchandpur MLARakesh Singh, the CLP leadersaid he publically criticised theparty on several occasions.

Cong to move HC against Speaker'sruling rejecting to disqualify two MLAs

Complaint incourt againstEkta Kapoorover web showPNS n MUMBAI

A criminal complaint has beenfiled against film and televisionproducer Ekta Kapoor beforea magistrate's court here forallegedly disrespecting IndianArmy's uniform in one of herweb series. The complaint wasfiled by former 'Bigg Boss'contestant Vikas Pathak, alsoknown as Hindustani Bhau,before a magistrate's court insuburban Bandra on Tuesday.

The matter has been postedfor hearing on August 24,Pathak's advocate Kashif Khansaid. "My client had filed acomplaint against Ekta Kapoorand others at a local police sta-tion, but no action has beentaken till date, hence we moveda criminal complaint before thecourt," Khan said.

Besides Ekta Kapoor, thecomplaint also names herOTT platform ALTBalaji,Shobha Kapoor andJeetendra Kapoor, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A group of ministers, headedby Home Minister Amit Shah,on Wednesday recommend-ed increasing the minimumselling price (MSP) of sugarby Rs 2 to 33 per kg to ensuremills clear the pending canearrears of around Rs 20,000crore at the earliest, sourcessaid. Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, FoodMinister Ram Vilas Paswan,Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar andCommerce Minister PiyushGoyal were present in themeeting. Sources said theGoM took stock of the pend-ing sugarcane dues to be paidby sugar mills which stand ataround Rs 20,000 crore so farin the current 2019-20 season(October-September) andways to ensure mills clear thisat the earliest.

GoM recommendshike in sugarMSP to Rs 33/kg

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalon Wednesday said the currentCOVID-19 situation in thenational capital is better thanwhat it was in June, but the waragainst the disease has not beenwon yet. He said had the Delhigovernment fought the virusalone, it would have "failed" andtherefore his dispensation soughtcooperation from the BJP-ledCentre, NGOs, and other organ-isations. "Our first principle wasthat this fight cannot be wonalone," Kejriwal said.

The chief minister said theAAP government will continueits preparations to deal with anyspike in COVID-19 cases.

Addressing an online mediabriefing, the chief minister saidaccording to the Centre's formu-

la, Delhi was expected to have2.25 lakh cases by July 15, but atpresent, there are only 1.15 lakhcases. As the COVID-19 caseshad started rising in the firstweek of June, it was expected thatthere would be 1.34 lakh activecases by July 15, but till date,there are only 18,600 activecases in the city.

"We are in better situationtoday, as compared to June, butit does not mean we have wonthe war (against COVID-19). Wehave yet to go a long way. "Theremay be a spike again in COVID-19 cases. We don't have to becomplacent. We will not sit idle.We will have to be fully pre-pared," Kejriwal said.

COVID-19 situation better inDelhi than June says Kejriwal

"There may be aspike again inCOVID-19 cases.We don't have tobe complacent. Wewill not sit idle. Wewill have to be fullyprepared," Kejriwalsaid

Dehing-Patkai national park shouldinclude Amazon of the East: activists

The two sides agreedon certain modalitiesfor rolling out thenext phase ofdisengagement andare expected to getin touch with eachother after discussingagreed points withthe higher authoritiesof both sides, thesources said

India registered a

record single day jump

of 29,429 Covid-19

cases pushing its tally

to 9,36,181 on

Wednesday, while the

death toll climbed to

24,309 with 582 new

fatalities, according to

Health Ministry data

Follow all agreed protocolsfor border management

"I have worked very hard to bring theCongress party back in the govern-ment and defeat the BJP," he said

Prime Minister Narendra Modihad invoked a “special relation-ship”, based on shared culture, lan-guage and religion, with Nepalduring his first official visit to

Kathmandu in 2014. He had said, “This isthe land of Sita and Janak; Nepal-India rela-tions are as old as the Himalayas and theGanga.” Given his proclivity for abbrevia-tions, Modi had coined HIT (Highways, I-Ways and Transways) as the transformation-al formula to strengthen age-old tiesbetween the two nations. Much water hasflown down the rivers Kosi, Gandaki andKarnali (the three big rivers that flow fromNepal to India) and Nepal has instead vest-ed its trust in the Chinese Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) to usher in the much-need-ed transformation.

Nepalese Prime Minister KP SharmaOli’s speech in New Delhi in 2018 was lessflowery and presciently loaded. Repeatedly,he stressed on a “balanced outlook” in exter-nal relations, an unmistakable euphemismto “correct” the pro-India tilt. Nepal had justemerged from the perceived wounds ofIndia’s braggadocio during the 2015 earth-quake relief operations and the supposedinterferences in the framing of a newConstitution. Agitation over this issue hadled to a crippling “blockade.” In an age ofsocial media, the hurt felt by a proud nation,which has never been ruled by outsiders,was palpable. Murmurs of India’s “bigbrotherly” attitude being unacceptablegained credence in the streets of Nepal.

Oli had alluded to that overarching trustdeficit and sinking sentiment. “Good neigh-bourliness demands harmonious co-exis-tence forever. And trust is the key cement-ing factor. It derives its strength from theobservance of such fundamental principlesas equality, justice, mutual respect and ben-efit as well as non-interference,” said Oli. Headded that for impact, “it is natural to expectsimilar assurance from India.” Clearly, thehealing process never kicked off and today,ties between India and Nepal have reachedan unprecedented low due to border vio-lence, cartographical disputes and trusteroding measures like Nepal’s decision toban the Indian media.

Undoubtedly, there are layered com-plexities of missteps that were taken by bothsides in equal measure. Both nations weredriven by their own domestic political con-siderations, short-termism and geo-politi-cal churns that widened the faultlines, whichalways existed but never flared up to thisextent. The crests and troughs of bilateralrelations were always handled politically,without any unnecessary attribution to thesocietal-ethnicity of the people involved.Today, that venerated “Gurkha” stands to bedangerously demonised as collateral dam-age. The delinking of “politics” and “peo-ple” has not been the strength of the cur-rent dispensation. Deliberate contextuali-sation and binarisation of circumstances

may still yield electoral gratifi-cation but this will come at thecost of alienating almost allneighbouring countries, wellbeyond Pakistan and China.

The intermingling andintermeshing of the Indo-Nepalese people are not just his-torical, cultural, spiritual, reli-gious or even transactional; it isunparalleled in terms of thefaith, trust and reverence that isafforded on the “Gurkha” in theIndian consciousness. Nearly 40dedicated Gurkha Regimentbattalions with approximately40,000 Indian and NepaliGurkha soldiers defend India’ssovereignty. Another one lakhveterans reside in Nepal and theannals of Indian Army’s valourtestify to the raw gallantry of thelikes of Lt Col Dhan SinghThapa, Param Vir Chakra(PVC), among others, whoironically fought the Chinese inthe same area around thePangong Lake.

His citation read, “MajorThapa got out of his trench andkilled several enemies in hand-to-hand fighting before he wasfinally overpowered by Chinesesoldiers.” The proud Gurkhahad stared death in the eye andreturned. Indeed, he was bornin Dharamshala as many otherGurkhas in the region ofDarjeeling Hills or Dehradunbut he was as synonymously aGurkha and an Indian asMahavir Chakra (MVC)awardees like Tika Bahadur

Thapa, Pati Ram Gurung or aPrem Bahadur Gurung.

This unparalleled traditionand saga of sacrifice for India isreciprocated in a similar spiritby all those who chose to iden-tify themselves as Gurkhas. Ina deeply moving sight, a 11-year-old girl shouted theGurkha war-cry on her father’scremation “Tiger 9 GR Ko! HoKi Hoina?” (Col MN Rai, theTiger of 9 Gurkha Regiment, hewas or wasn’t he?) and it wasresponded by a resounding “HoHo Ho” (he was, he was, hewas). The daughter and thenation mourned his loss and yetanother name got etched to thelist of the illustrious Gurkha glo-ries. The inexplicable bond ofthe Indo-Nepalese realityunderwrote that sacred spirit.

The “Gurkha” cannot andshould not be sacrificed at thealtar of partisan politics or thesmallness of spirit that besetsthe times that be. Sadly, the oversimplistic narrative of the daycan easily affix the slant of “anti-national” on anyone owing totheir ethnicities or religion asthe basest instincts are easilyaroused, tolerated and stoked bythe powers-that-be.

Equally, the Nepalese dis-pensation cannot forget histo-ry and independent India’s con-tributions or the essential impli-cations that are imminent inchoosing a China over India asits “bargaining tool.” The peo-ple-to-people connect with

some other neighbouring coun-tries has already been rupturedand irreversibly damaged withthe context of politico-religios-ity. This has done an extremedisservice to some of our own,who axiomatically got associat-ed as “anti-nationals” owing totheir co-religiosity. Ironically,such an ethnic pejoration ontothe identity of the “Gurkha”would be a unique failure. Thisdespite the supposed common-alities of the two realms.

Field Marshal SamManekshaw identified himselfas a proud Gurkha as does thecurrent Chief of Defence Staffor the Chief of Indian ArmyStaff prior to him. In a recipro-cal dignity, the chiefs of botharmies also bestow Honorary“Generalship” of their Armies,mutually. The national leader-ship has to make a concertedeffort to ensure that no unto-ward or over-excitable taint isimplied on the loyalty, fidelityand character of the people ofNepal. Governmental or ideo-logical differences have to behandled separately without gal-vanising societal emotions as itdid with other neighbouringcountries. India must alwaysprotect its sovereign interestsfirmly. It must also recognise thedignity of the “other”, especial-ly one who has bled for Indiaunflinchingly.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

India’s traditional relationship with Iran is final-ly being stretched by our strategic closenessto the US and is pushing that nation direct-

ly into the arms of China. And this might costus a project that we had heavily invested in,the Chabahar port. For now, the IranianGovernment has decided to drop India as apartner for the construction of a rail line fromChabahar port to Zahedan, along the borderwith Afghanistan, and go on its own. It will useits own engineers and not consult Indian exper-tise either. This, it claims, is because of India’s

tardy initiative and not moving any funds although an agreement was signed fouryears ago. India has been stalling under the shadow of US sanctions, which seekto penalise countries doing business with Iran. According to reports, Iran, whichwants to complete the line by March 2022, will use $400 million from the IranianNational Development Fund. And despite a pandemic-hit economy, it is going infor massive spends simply because China has signed a 25-year economic andsecurity partnership with it worth $400 billion. This entails Chinese entry in bank-ing, telecommunications, ports, railways and other infrastructure projects. It ful-fils China’s neo-imperialist desires, colonising another economy in the process,and keeps its domestic industries running with cheaper Iranian oil for the next25 years. India, by comparison, has stopped importing Iranian crude oil underUS pressure. The agreement also proposes military cooperation, which couldmake China a key player in regional geopolitics and counter the US.

India has been completely caught off guard by this deal even as it tried var-ious rounds of negotiations with the US to spare it from sanctions for conduct-ing certain businesses with Iran. Though India got exemption for the Chabaharport and the rail link, equipment suppliers feared a hitback and slowed downprogress. Besides, Iran was upset by India’s decision to completely stop ener-gy imports, quite a big basket of its earnings. Now China has assured it of itsoil market, picking up supplies for 25 long years, taking away Iran’s worries.Bilateral ties with Iran nosedived further with the naked display of majoritarianpolitics during the Delhi riots in February with its Foreign Minister Javad Zarif strong-ly condemning them. Now there is talk of a greater Chinese stake, the deal mere-ly an access card to Chabahar’s duty free zone, an oil refinery and the port itself.In fact, though Iran has denied it, there is speculation that it could lease out theentire port to its new benefactor. That would be a big blow to India, which hadhoped to build an alternate trade route from Chabahar to Afghanistan and CentralAsia, bypassing Pakistan. But now with the Chinese reclaiming the vacuum, itwill strengthen the China-Pakistan axis around the coast. The China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) and the Gwadar port will strengthen that conduit. Iransays it has not abandoned India, but clearly it has decided to go with the biggestAsian power and the US’ arch enemy on a need-based formula. We may thinkthat we forced China’s hand by retaliating in Galwan but all it did was ensurestrategic calm when world opinion would have isolated it further had it escalat-ed its aggression. As the only country whose growth projections are not nega-tive post-pandemic, it can afford to buy out vulnerable nations. It has alreadyinvested in banks in Brazil. India may be its economic bulwark but China is quick-ly encircling it by winning over our old allies and neighbours. It is no less bel-ligerent, just that it has now launched an economic warfare with India.

On the day Reliance Industries held its firstvirtual annual general meeting, India’slargest and most valuable private enter-

prise announced that search giant Google hasinvested $4.5 billion into Reliance’s Jio plat-forms, the conglomerate’s digital arm. This rais-es the amount that India’s richest man, MukeshAmbani, has raised for Reliance Jio to closeto $20 billion, an impressive feat in the bestof times. But given that the world is sufferinga healthcare meltdown, thanks to theCoronavirus pandemic, this is an extraordinary

feat. In all, Google plans to pump $10 billion over the next five to seven years inthe Indian market to help accelerate the adoption of digital technologies. A flur-ry of deals made in recent times has given the much-needed financial backingto Ambani’s ambition to morph Reliance from an energy company to an e-com-merce giant. Almost all the funds have been raised by American technology firmsand financial institutions. Both Google and Facebook are part of the firm, muchlike its parent Reliance Industries. Jio is trying to become completely verticallyintegrated. It is doing it all — from creating 5G infrastructure at home to man-ufacturing smartphones for users, the creation of software services like Jio Meetas well as expanding Reliance’s huge media play by owning a host of entertain-ment and news channels. The biggest single positive here is that Mukesh Ambani,like his father Dhirubhai Ambani before him, is a believer in India and the capa-bilities of this nation. He plans to build capacity within the country rather thanimport it. This was something made vitally important to every single Indian afterthe fire-breathing Chinese Dragon singed us last month. We can argue ad nau-seam about how China might have lost the Indian market for a couple of gen-erations but nothing speaks like action. While he might not look like it, MukeshAmbani is a man of action. And for all this, he must be applauded.

However, and there’s always a however, the way Reliance has garnered itsfunds and the fact that it is on the verge of becoming a monopolistic venture intelecommunications and technology services with only a couple of rivals — oneof which is almost bankrupt — it does raise some concern. It remains to beseen how Ambani will deploy the funds raised in the Indian market. Will he buyout rivals in the e-commerce and groceries space? Or will every Indian have tomove from one Reliance store to the next, albeit in the guise of other brands,thanks to Reliance retail owning the rights of several multinational brands in India?Or is there another way of looking at it? Should India nurture and raise nationalchampions like Reliance Industries? The old guard of Indian companies couldnot scale enough or be scaled in different areas. As for Reliance, the pivot towardsJio and telecom has been a long time coming. The family feud meant that MukeshAmbani had to wait for a decade and for his brother to mess up to get back intothis space. He is not wasting any time now and his ambitions have scaled upfrom the time he launched Reliance Infocomm. With a clear roadmap for thefuture, his execution capabilities and striking a string of deals, Mukesh Ambanihas proved just how an extremely competitive industry like telecom can yieldstriking returns. He is also securing the future for the Ambani clan for anotherhalf a century and possibly doing more to secure India’s digital future away fromthe Chinese than any other individual.

Digital reliance

Rediscover agri economy

Sir — It should not have taken apandemic for this nation to redis-cover that we are essentially anagrarian economy. Decades of adhoc and knee-jerk policies on agroproduction, storage capacity, dis-tribution and exports were trans-lating into excess grain reservessince 1995. The pity of it all,grains were wasted in shoddywarehouse facilities. Further, anunimaginative distribution andpricing set-up denied their reachto the deserving poor.

On April 1, 2020, stocks in thecentral pool stood at 73.85 MT, thehighest ever, against a reserverequirement of just 21.04 MT. Thisshould help feed the common manfor months now. Pulled up byCOVID-19, we are sure to sustaina new-found respect for this foun-dational sector of our economy.Reserve levels will be scaled up.More modern and efficient stor-age capacities and attendant infra-structure and employment-centricinitiatives will be on the cards.Significantly, procurement duringthis harvest season was promptand harvesting was imaginativelydone by States despite the non-availability of labour. Bureaucracy

must ensure that this singular effi-ciency in decision-making and inowning up to a problem becomesthe new norm to give a fillip torural stakeholders.

Once the thrust reverts to theagro sector, the economy mustshift to the rural epicentre, but-tressed by auxiliary industriessuch as food processing. Post thepandemic, reverse migration of a

huge number of non-residentIndians is imminent and anexpanded rural economy alonecan accommodate the surge. Thepandemic has given us a sharpcue for the dispersal of wealth andconsumption into rural heart-lands as an enduring policy ofinclusive development.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

Absurd claim

Sir — Nepal Prime Minister KPOli has thrown yet anotherbouncer by claiming that “realAyodhya” is in Nepal and not inIndia. He also claimed that Indiahad created a “fake Ayodhya.”

Of late, Oli has been in thenews for all the wrong reasons.

He issued a “new” map of Nepal,claiming Kalapani, Lipulekh andLimpiyadhura as its territory.Oli’s communist Government inNepal is also playing into thehands of China, which has report-edly taken away 33 hectares ofland from it. But all of this has notbothered Oli, who is also facinggrowing discontent back homefor “junking India” and “joiningChina.” One just hopes that tem-porary developments and flash-points do not hamper the uniquerelations both nations share.

KV Seetharamaiah Hassan

Mutual benefit

Sir — The Google initiative topump `75,000 crore for digitalIndia initiative will benefit Indiain the long-term. For Google,too, this is an effort to tap thehuge opportunity in a countrywhose mass market has only justbegun to go online. This step willalso fill the void created by thebanning of Chinese applications.

SudhirVia email

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020

06

Save the common spirit

BHOPINDER SINGH

The Gurkhas cannot and should not be sacrificed at the altar of partisan politics or the

smallness of spirit that besets present times because of Indo-Nepalese differences

India’s global strategy is intatters. We are losingpower and respect everywhere and theGovernment of India hasno idea what to do.

Congress leader—Rahul Gandhi

Covid is not going away any-time soon, so it’s imperativethat we adjust our expecta-tions of what’s considered‘normal’ to include these basicbut crucial precautions.

Actor—Anil Kapoor

I’m not interested right nowin talking to China. We madea great trade deal. But assoon as the deal was done,the ink wasn’t even dry andthey hit us with the plague.

US President—Donald Trump

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Pilot’s revolt should pave way for Congress 2.0

This refers to the editorial, “Pilot sacked” (July 15).The revolt of Sachin Pilot, who was dismissed fromevery office he held in Rajasthan, is a golden oppor-

tunity for the rejuvenation of a secular front against theruling BJP. This should include immediate holding of longoverdue internal elections for a new Congress presidentoutside the Gandhi fold, followed by a radical overhaulof the party. Alternatively, he could float a regional party,which along with other breakaway factions of theCongress, namely, the Trinamool Congress, theNationalist Congress Party and YRS Congress couldmerge into a Congress 2.0. This grouping, covering athird of the country’s electorate, would embolden morecapable Congressmen to join the ranks and render theGandhi-led Congress 1.0 version obsolete.

Thankfully, Pilot has chosen not to follow the foot-steps of Jyotiraditya Scindia to join the BJP. Had thisbeen the case, it would have earned Congress leaderRahul Gandhi more sympathy and would have come toboost his image as a champion of the secular ideology

that he certainly does not deserve. Moreover, even fromPilot’s personal standpoint, the grass is not greener onthe other side. Rajasthan is a BJP bastion and he musthave realised that there are a host of well-entrenchedleaders already ahead of him in the queue.

SB BhaleraoMumbai

THE NATIONALLEADERSHIP HAS

TO MAKE ACONCERTED

EFFORT TOENSURE THAT NO

UNTOWARD OROVER-EXCITABLETAINT IS IMPLIEDON THE LOYALTY,

FIDELITY ANDCHARACTER OFTHE PEOPLE OF

NEPAL.GOVERNMENTALOR IDEOLOGICAL

DIFFERENCESHAVE TO BE

HANDLEDSEPARATELY

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Trouble in Chabahar

My favourite batting partneris Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) butit’s rare that I get a chance tobat with him. If he’s (Dhoni)out there batting with you,things remain sorted.

Cricketer—Rishabh Pant

Raising funds in the midst of a pandemic is no joke. MukeshAmbani should be applauded but is his nervousness justified?

Iran drops India from Chabahar port rail project as Chinaseals a new economic and security deal worth $400 billion

Beware of an injured Xi

TILL NOW WE HAVE REMAINED UNDER THE BELIEF THAT

RAM, THE MAN SITA MARRIED, WAS AN INDIAN... HE

WAS NOT, HE WAS A NEPALI.

—NEPAL PRIME MINISTER

KP SHARMA OLI

EVEN IN INDIA LEFT PARTIES PLAYED WITH PEOPLE'S

FAITH. THE COMMUNISTS IN NEPAL WILL BE REJECTED

BY THE MASSES LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN HERE.

—BJP NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON

BIZAY SONKAR SHASTRI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

President Xi Jinping’s ambition to make Chinaan undisputed global superpower has changedthe entire geo-political dynamics. The phe-

nomenal rise of Xi has made China more aggres-sive. He has emerged as the most powerful leaderof China after Mao Zedong. Born in a politically-influential family in 1953, he witnessed the Mao eraclosely and saw the ruthless face of Zedong whenhis father was purged and jailed during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Though his father was reha-bilitated after the death of Mao, these events left along-lasting impression on his mind which got fur-ther hardened during Xi’s initial struggle within theCommunist Party which he joined in 1974. He spentdecades working his way up the party andGovernment ranks but his consolidation of powersince becoming General Secretary, the head of theparty, in 2012 has been unprecedented. In 2013, healso became the President of the Peoples’ Republicof China (PRC), thus assuming charge of all thethree most-coveted posts in the party andGovernment. He represents the new generation ofChinese because he is the first General Secretaryborn after the establishment of the PRC. Xi todayis the President of PRC without term limits.Incidentally, he now has 12 posts that give him con-trol and oversight over most areas of Government,the economy and military. Xi, therefore, is the mostauthoritarian world leader today, who is ruthlesswith any form of opposition to him at home andvisualises himself as a potential supreme leader ofthe world.

It goes to the credit of Xi that during his tenureChina has grown economically and militarily. Chinasurpassed Japan to become the second-largest econ-omy in the world and global manufacturing hub.He effected a large-scale purge in the military brassto end corruption in the People’s Liberation Army(PLA). This was followed by structural reforms tomake PLA a lean and modern fighting force withemphasis on mastering the three domains ofcyber world, space and information.

Xi proved to be a leader who can rise to chal-lenges. But his bitter experience during the CulturalRevolution has made him an authoritarian man whodoes not trust anyone. He abhors challenge to hisauthority or to his “Chinese Dream” of national reju-venation. Thus, he has crushed dissent in HongKong, Xinjiang and Tibet. In pursuance of hisMiddle Kingdom ambition, he has refused to acceptinternational laws and treaties and persisted withexpansionist designs in the South China Sea(SCS), East China Sea (ECS) while continuing withsalami-slicing in the neighbourhood to includeIndia, Nepal and Bhutan. His ambition to be a glob-al leader has led to a no holds barred conflict withthe sole superpower, the US. Xi is convinced thatthe main rival of China is the US and all others aremere pushovers and that has determined hisbehaviour and actions as far as the disputes in theSCS, the Sino-India border and disputes with SouthKorea, Japan and Taiwan are concerned.

All was going well for Xi till the outbreak of theCoronavirus. The ongoing trade war with the USwas also tilted in his favour till the pandemic spreadacross the world with its roots in China. All of a sud-den Xi was being attacked globally as well as domes-tically. The strong Chinese economy began to showsigns of crumbling. The demand for closing facto-ries in China and relocating them grew louder bythe day. India was being considered a probable alter-native. The US seized the opportunity and led theglobal offensive against China, accusing Xi of delib-erately delaying the information regarding the out-break. The global economy was in the doldrumswith nations resorting to prolonged lockdowns andmost countries blaming China for the contagion.

Xi’s dream of the 21st century belonging toChina began to crumble gradually. His plan of end-

ing poverty in China by 2020 suffered thebiggest setback and it emerged as histoughest year. Xi’s unchallenged status athome came under threat and in order todivert attention he began to pursue anaggressive policy to portray Chinesesupremacy. He let loose his “wolf warrior”diplomats to counter the global diplomat-ic and political onslaught. Simultaneously,he began to flex muscles in the SCS andECS. He started the process of gainingcomplete control over Hong Kong,denouncing the “One Nation TwoSystems” promise. The regime change inTaiwan, too, annoyed Xi. He began tobehave like a medieval king eager toextend frontiers and win glory.

Challenging India in the trans-Himalayan icy battlefield was meant toteach New Delhi a lesson for challengingthe Chinese ownership of Aksai Chin.China was convinced that New Delhiwould not challenge its occupation ofAksai Chin till the Indian Home Ministerroared in the Parliament that his referenceto Ladakh included Gilgit-Baltistan andAksai Chin. It rattled Beijing more thanPakistan because it could afford to loseneither of the two.

Despite China’s denial, the worldcommunity noted with concern the sink-ing of Vietnamese fishing boats in the SCS,the unilateral decision to name newChinese districts in the area, sanctionsagainst Australia, browbeating of Japan inthe ECS, unilateral actions in HongKong, Ladakh incursions, manipulationof Nepal, claims on the Sakteng WildlifeSanctuary in Eastern Bhutan and on theSiberian town of Vladivostok.

Buoyed by the passive response ofother nations, Xi ventured to provokeIndia at Galwan Heights expecting meeksubmission. But the brawl at those icyheights on the night of June 15 not onlytook the Chinese by surprise but also putthe fear of God in its soldiers about thefighting prowess of Indian soldiers. TheChinese plan to teach India a lesson notonly backfired but the Galwan face-offproved to be a turning point, which maywell turn out to be a reason for renewedvengeance. The global communityacknowledged India standing up to thebully and paying him back in the samecoin. India followed it up with an econom-

ic offensive as well. The changed scenariohad a ripple effect. China’s victims realisedthat the dragon could be held off.

ASEAN nations for the first timespoke in unison, asking China to followinternational laws on maritime bound-aries. Japan reacted offensively by deploy-ing near the disputed islands, Bhutanvehemently asserted its claim over SaktengWildlife Sanctuary and refused to becowed down, Russia agreed to fast trackarms supplies to India, the US movedthree aircraft carriers in the SCS, Australiarefused to take Chinese students andbroke trade ties with it.

The Chinese economy, too, suffereda big blow, putting greater pressure on Xi.Following the Indian ban of 59 Chineseapps, cancellation of contracts signed withChinese companies in the telecom, con-struction and MSME sectors and thegrowing demand for boycott of Chinesegoods, other nations, too, began to banChinese technology firms. Chinese giantHuawei has been the biggest sufferer.Similarly, the dream project of Xi, the BeltRoad Initiative (BRI), has come undersevere strain with many countries eitherabandoning various projects or demand-ing a review of their loan agreements.

The list of Xi’s woes is growing by theday. China had become an economicsuperpower by the time Xi took power buthis critics now blame him for leading thecountry to ruin due to his aggressive,expansionist policies and ambition.

After aggressive posturing followingthe Galwan face-off, China has nowagreed to a negotiated settlement on theborder so that he doesn’t lose the waragainst the international community aswell. India and China agreed that differ-ences should not become disputes after atelephonic discussion between the IndianNational Security Advisor and the ChineseForeign Minister.

Though China has agreed to a phaseddisengagement and de-escalation, there isa big trust deficit between the two armiesnow. The overwhelming opinion in Indiais that disengagement is not enough inorder to end tensions on the Line of ActualControl (LAC). They advocate no de-esca-lation until full return of status quo. WhileXi would fight his own battle for survival,we have to ensure that it is not yet anoth-

er Chinese trap.History tells us that China is untrust-

worthy. Be it 1962, Sumdrong Chu,Depsang or Doklam. This time, too, weare not yet sure if the Chinese move is atactical retreat in order to achieve its big-ger strategic aim. Hence, India should notbe lulled into complacence. History tellsus that our political leadership has failedto understand the insurance provided toa nation’s growth economically and diplo-matically by strong security forces. Hence,payment of annual premium to ensurethat the insurance does not lapse ismandatory. The nation has to be preparedto ward off physical threats to its bordersand also those in the cyber world, spaceand the information highways.

India must not let its guard down onthe borders along the Line of Control(LoC) and the LAC. At the same time allactions taken to supplement the armouryof the three services should not be halt-ed but put on fast track to ensure that ifthe dragon dares to threaten us again, itis taught a lesson forever. If needed, weshould be prepared to stay put even dur-ing the harsh winters, for which logisticsand catering preparations have to beginforthwith.

Economic strangulation of Chinashould continue while at the same timeencouraging friendly nations to do thesame. On the diplomatic front, apart fromconsolidating Chinese isolation due to thepandemic, India should also considerdenouncing Beijing’s One Nation Policyand leverage numerous fault lines in Chinaby exposing its high-handedness in grab-bing the territories in its periphery. FreeTibet movement should be given an impe-tus in India. The democratic movementsin Hong Kong and Taiwan need strongerIndian support.

If Xi is able to overcome the domes-tic challenges he faces now, he wouldemerge a dictator. India, therefore, has tobe prepared for a probability of reoccur-rence of Chinese aggression on its borders.We have to emerge as China’s equal.Beijing will try its level best to lull us intocomplacency, it would be suicidal if we fallinto China’s trap again.

(The author is a Jammu-based veter-an, political commentator and security ana-lyst)

If Jinping is able to overcome the domestic challenges he faces now, he would emerge a dictator.India, therefore, has to be prepared for a probability of re-occurrence of aggression on its borders

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

KOTA SRIRAJ

ECONOMICSTRANGULATION OF

CHINA SHOULDCONTINUE WHILE AT

THE SAME TIMEENCOURAGING

FRIENDLY NATIONSTO DO THE SAME.

ON THE DIPLOMATICFRONT, APART FROM

CONSOLIDATINGCHINESE ISOLATION

DUE TO THEPANDEMIC, INDIA

SHOULD ALSOCONSIDER

DENOUNCINGBEIJING’S

ONE NATION POLICYAND LEVERAGE

NUMEROUS FAULTLINES IN CHINA BY

EXPOSING ITS HIGH-HANDEDNESS

IN GRABBING THETERRITORIES IN ITS

PERIPHERY. FREETIBET MOVEMENTSHOULD BE GIVEN

AN IMPETUS ININDIA. THE

DEMOCRATICMOVEMENTS IN

HONG KONG ANDTAIWAN NEED

STRONGER INDIANSUPPORT

The Coronavirus pandemic has not only killed lakhs of peopleworldwide, it has sickened the global economy, too, as nationshave been forced to shut down their industries and business-

es in order to stem the spread of the contagion. India, with its9,39,192 Coronavirus cases and 24,327 casualties is no excep-tion to this need to hunker down. And the country, which had begunto open up in a phased manner after an extended, hard lockdown,is being forced to impose brief shutdowns again. Naturally, this COVID-19 chokehold over the economy has put developmental projects,industry, trade and business in a coma and impacted thousandsof lives and livelihoods.

The worst affected of the lot have been the migrant workersof the nation, who are rightly considered the silent contributors todevelopment. The labour community, who at the best of times isneither appreciated enough nor remunerated fairly, continued to suf-fer even more badly during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was trag-ically epitomised by the horrid accident in Aurangabad where unem-ployed, exhausted and broke labourers walking back home weremowed down by a train after they went off to sleep on the tracks.The incident had sparked off a nationwide outrage and sense ofgrief for the sufferings of the workers in the informal economy.

Now, with the country slowly opening up, despite the Coronaviruscases skyrocketing, the very same labourers are being coaxed tocome back from their villages and get the wheels of the economymoving again. That brings us to the fact that no matter what hap-pens, even during a pandemic, an economy cannot be stopped inits tracks, it has to keep ticking. The economy is given precedenceover everything, and this includes the environment, which is theproverbial poor cousin.

But in this bid to restart the economy, India is probably com-mitting the same mistake all over again by making trade, businessand industry a priority and putting the environment and ecologicalconcerns on the back-burner. Unfortunately, this lopsided agendaof promoting economic development at the cost of the environmenthas heightened the risk of more pandemics such as the COVID-19occurring frequently in future. In a stark but positive contrast, thisaspect has been understood by the western world whose nationsare quickly scrambling to cover their ecological deficiencies andenvironmental weak spots by ensuring that their economic devel-opment projects have a robust environmental compassion built in.

So, given these circumstances, it is natural to expect the Ministryof Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to get intoan overdrive and release a slew of measures that would herald thesafeguarding of the environment in the current, COVID- 19-stressedconditions. But this is not the case. Curiously, the Minister in chargefor MoEFCC also happens to be in charge of the portfolio for HeavyIndustries and Public Enterprises. In any other environmentally-con-scious nation, this would have been perceived as a conflict of inter-est. But not in India. This anomaly notwithstanding, the MoEFCCrecently went on a project clearance spree in 11 States.

These rapid clearances of projects in order to promote indus-tries are proving to be a death knell for the environment. The MoEFCC,for instance, cleared a railway line in Telangana that cuts through168 hectares of a prime forest, which also happens to be a tigerreserve. In this case, the Government could have considered anelevated track to spare the trees but this was obviously not done.The Etalin Hydropower project in Arunanchal Pradesh’s Dibang Valleyis yet another example of sheer indifference towards the environ-ment. The project entails the diversion of 1,150 hectares of forestland that will cause the felling of a whopping 2,70,000 trees.

This kind of ruin of nature cannot be justified at all, no matterwhat the gains are. Numerous representations from environmen-tal activists and scientists have been able to stall the final approvalof the project, but it is surprising how the project was conceivedin the first place, given the scale of environmental destruction. Inthe midst of baffling examples such as these is yet another instanceof environmental neglect. This is the proposed hydel project inUttarakhand that involves compromising 768 acres of forest land.

The Government must realise that the environment cannot bepawned off for industrial gains. Repeated announcements of pro-jects that threaten the environment will keep inviting representationsfrom the environmental and scientific community to roll back theseprojects. Parallely, the nation will slowly but surely understand theapathy of the Government towards the environment and this willbe the end of the trust people have in the Government. This kindof knee-jerk conception and approval of projects with utter disre-gard for the environment is detrimental to national interests and can-not be allowed to proliferate.

As a first step to stem this, the Government must ensure thatthe environment and heavy industries ministries are not represent-ed by the same person. This will ensure that there is no conflict ofinterest and decisions taken in one Ministry will not result in col-lateral damage for the other. The current trying times are a greatopportunity for India to reaffirm its commitment towards the envi-ronment and this must be shown through actions rather than words.This can be done only by effectively balancing the ecology with theeconomy.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

The nation has been in lockdownmode for more than fourmonths now and has only just

started opening up. Hospitals, researchand development (R&D) institutionsare trying their best to bring out a vac-cine for the Coronavirus. In fact,human trials for the vaccine havebegun in India. We have seen manyreports that have said that there hasbeen a decline in the number of peo-ple opting for surgeries, especially low

and medium-risk patients. A lot of patients, who had surg-

eries scheduled, have postponed themand are avoiding hospital visits forroutine checkups as they fear beingexposed to the Coronavirus. Therehave been reports of people losingtheir lives due to a heart attack orstroke. Even though they had priorsymptoms of heart disease, they didnot venture out due to the fear ofCOVID-19.

It is extremely important for car-diac patients and people with heartconditions to take care of their healthin such testing times, especially asthere are a lot of restrictions on accessto various facilities.

Exercising, maintaining a prop-er diet and taking the prescribed car-diac medication or anti-diabetes med-icine are all very important for

patients, since these are the co-mor-bid conditions which make theCOVID-19 infection serious as thecardiac/diabetes patients are alreadyimmuno-compromised. With thatsaid, it is also impossible for high-riskpatients with severe heart conditionsto not opt for surgeries. When it isabsolutely essential depending onthe conditions, patients might have toundergo surgery.

The need to safeguard themselvesand their patients has prompted mostsurgeons to develop their own proto-cols to tide over the pandemic situa-tion. The decision for surgical careshould be based on the doctor’s ownsurgical and clinical judgment andassessment of resource availability.Patients should get the surgical carebased on practice of evidence-basedmedicine. A non-operative line of

management is advised when it is clin-ically appropriate for patients, special-ly looking at risk and benefits ofsurgery.

Heart surgeries are arduous andlong procedures that take a toll onpatients physically and mentally.Open-heart surgeries are back break-ingly expensive and procedures last fordays. Since the surgical team has to becareful not to get infection, all the pre-cautionary measures that are beingpractised are also the most rigorousfor the surgical team. Apart from that,in the COVID-19 era, there is a direneed for minimum contact which isonly possible through minimally-invasive surgical techniques.Minimally invasive surgery improvesshort-term outcomes in patients andit is associated with a faster recoveryin comparison with the traditional

approach. If a patient needs valvereplacement, then a trans catheter aor-tic valve replacement is an alternative,but the long-lasting results of thesevalves are still questionable. There isa certain amount of industry drive tomake these procedures popular with-out really knowing the long- termresults. I am sure that there are car-diologists who will object to this con-tention. But this remark is onlybecause of the fact that I am one of thefew surgeons in this country who hasbeen replacing valves (single, doubleor treble since 1975) and hence I haveexperienced the long-term results ofconventional valve replacement.

Currently these valves are high-ly expensive in India, going up to`22.5 lakh, owing to which this tech-nology is not available for commonIndians. Even the cost of convention-

al valve replacement, that is between`2.5 to `3 lakh, is not affordable forthe common man. The solution forthis dilemma is indigenisation. Somehospitals in the country have been inthe forefront of bringing about indi-genisation in Transcatheter AorticValve Implantation (TAVI) alongwith the National AeronauticalLaboratory and Council of Scientificand Industrial Research, using Nitinolstents. The valve material used isbovine jugular veins which is after alla waste. This could be a classic exam-ple of “waste to wealth, but unfortu-nately, there has been no support fromany Central Government agenciessuch as the Department ofBiotechnology, the Department ofScience and Technology or any reg-ulatory bodies.

Children with congenital heart

disease or structural heart diseaseundergo multiple heart surgeries intheir lifetime. Of course, closing a holein the heart through the Transcatheterroute is available. Most of thesepatients who have these “corrections”can go home within 24 hours.

This reduces their risk of catch-ing infection, which is vital in theCOVID-19 era. This also means morebeds will be available for electivepatients who need such therapy,which does not need long-term hos-pitalisation. It is not the technologyalone but the logistics, the patient’scomfort and affordability of the pro-cedure that are also important.

(The writer is a Padma Sriawardee and cardiothoracic surgeoncredited with India’s first bypass. He isChairman and CEO of Frontier LifelineHospital)

Minimally invasive surgery best in Corona eraSuch procedures improve short-term outcomes in heart patients and are associated with a faster recovery in comparison with the traditional approach

KM CHERIAN

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

ANIL GUPTA

Balance ecologyand economy

The rapid clearances of projects in order topromote industries are proving to be a

death knell for the environment

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Bandhan profit falls31.6 pc to Rs 550crin April-JuneKOLKATA: Bandhan Bank onWednesday reported a 31.6-percent on-year decline in netprofit to Rs 550 crore duringthe April-June quarter. Thelender's bottomline in thecorresponding period ayear ago was Rs 804 crore. ABandhan Bank statement said ithas taken acceleratedadditional provision onstandard assets amounting toRs 750 crore, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Operatingprofit during the quarter grewby 16.8 per cent to Rs 1,584crore as against Rs 1,356 crorea year ago. The lender'sdeposits grew by 6.18 per centquarter-on-quarter, thestatement added.

Rupee jumps 27paise to close at75.15 against USDMUMBAI: The rupeeappreciated 27 paise to settle at75.15 (provisional) against theUS dollar on Wednesdaytracking weakness in thegreenback and gains in thedomestic equity market. Forextraders said investor sentimentstrengthened after the humanclinical trials for COVID-19vaccine were initiated in India.The rupee opened at 75.35against the US dollar, thengained further ground andfinally settled at 75.15 againstthe US dollar, up 27 paise overits previous close. It had settledat 75.42 against the greenbackon Tuesday. During the four-hour trading session, thedomestic unit witnessed anintra-day high of 75.14 and alow of 75.36 against the USdollar.

Arisaig Fund trimsstake in FutureConsumer by 2 pc

Titan expectsbusinesses to be hit‘very substantially'NEW DELHI: Watch andjewellery maker TitanCompany is expecting itsbusinesses to be hit "verysubstantially" in the currentfinancial year due todisruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The companysaid its focus during 2020-21will be on cash flows andoptimising spends to ensureliquidity. "The lockdownnecessitated by the COVID-19pandemic is expected to hitthe company's businessesvery substantially in thefinancial year 2020-21.

NEW DELHI: Arisaig IndiaFund Ltd has cut its stake inFuture Consumer by 2 percent by selling 3.84 croreshares in the open market.According to a BSE filing,Arisaig India Fund offloaded3.84 crore shares, or 2 percent stake, on July 13. Basedon the weighted average priceof the stock at Rs 11.63 perscrip on July 13, Arisaig IndiaFund's stake sale would be foran estimated value of Rs44.65 crore. Arisaig India Funddecreased its shareholding inthe company from 5.16 percent to 3.16 per cent. Lastweek, Future Consumer Ltdreported a consolidated netloss of Rs 175.46 crore for thequarter ended March 2020.

IDBI Bank plans to raise Rs 11,000 cr equity capitalPNS n NEW DELHI

Private lender IDBI Bank willraise up to Rs 11,000 croreequity capital through variousmodes, including a qualifiedinstitutional placement (QIP),in about a year to strengthenits capital base, the bank saidon Wednesday.

The lender will seekapproval from sharehold-ers for the proposal inthe upcoming annu-al general meeting(AGM) on August17, 2020, the banksaid in a regulatoryfiling.

IDBI Bank isrequired to maintainits Tier I capital in accor-dance with the relevant regu-latory guidelines issued fromtime to time. In view of ongo-ing implementation of Basel IIInorms and consequential cap-ital charge, there is a need toincrease the capital to furtherstrengthen the CapitalAdequacy Ratio, it said.

IDBI Bank said it will seekconsent of shareholders in theAGM to offer, issue and allotsuch number of equity sharesof the face value of Rs 10 eachand aggregating up to Rs11,000 crore, in one or moretranches.

The issuance of shares willbe including but not limited toone or more of the existings h are h o l d e r s / m e mb e r s ,employees of the bank, QIBsby way of public issue, rights

issue or private placement, itadded.

The AGM will be heldthrough audio/video meansin view of the pandemic, thebank said.

‘Deal with Saudi Aramco notprogressed as per timelines’PNS n MUMBAI

Asia's richest man MukeshAmbani on Wednesday saidhis group's planned stake salein oil-to-chemical business toSaudi Aramco for an asking ofUSD 15 billion has not pro-gressed as per original time-lines due to COVID-19.

"We value our two-decaderelationship with Aramco andare committed to a long-termpartnership," Ambani said atReliance Industries' annualgeneral meeting.

He, however, did not say ifthe deal was on track or give anew timeline for its comple-tion.

"Deal with Saudi Aramcohasn't progressed per originaltimeline due to unforeseensituation in the energy marketand COVID-19 situation," hesaid.

Reliance will be spinning offthe oil-to-chemical (O2C)business into a separate sub-sidiary "to facilitate multiplepartnership opportunities," hesaid.

"We expect to complete thisprocess by early 2021," he said.

Ambani in August last yearhad announced talks for sale of20 per cent stake in the O2Cbusiness, which comprises ofRIL's twin oil refineries atJamnagar in Gujarat and petro-chemical assets, to the world'slargest oil exporter, SaudiAramco.

"Reliance is working to com-plete the contours of a strate-gic partnership with SaudiAramco," Ambani said.

The partnership withAramco would give Jamnagarrefineries "access to a wideportfolio of value-accretivecrude grades and enhancedfeedstock security for higheroil-to-chemicals conversion,"he had said in the annualreport. With a stake, Aramcowould not just have a share inone of the world's best refiner-ies and the largest integratedpetrochemical complex butalso access to one of the fastest-growing markets — a ready-made market for 5 lakh barrelsper day of its Arabian crudeand offering a potentially big-ger downstream role in future.

‘Group receivedstrong interestfrom strategicinvestors’

Richest Indian MukeshAmbani on Wednesday

said his group's retail venturehas received strong interestfrom strategic and financialinvestors.

"We will induct global part-ners and investors in RelianceRetail in the next few quar-ters," he said at RelianceIndustries annual generalmeeting.

Reliance Retail has alreadystarted pilots of its ecom-merce venture. "We have suc-cessfully piloted JioMart gro-cery model with kirana part-ners. The beta version ofJioMart grocery platform isbeing piloted in 200 cities.Daily orders have crossed 2.5lakh, and the number is grow-ing each day," Ambani said.

Connecting farmers anddelivering their fresh producedirectly to homes is a key partof the firm's grocery strategy."This will signif icantlyimprove farmer income andincentivise higher productiv-ity," he said.

More than two-thirds ofReliance Retails' nearly 12,000stores are operated in Tier II,Tier III and Tier IV towns. "Itsources over 80 per cent offruits and vegetable directlyfrom farmers," he said.

Jio developing homegrown5G telecom solution Richest Indian Mukesh

Ambani on Wednesdayannounced his group's digi-tal arm Jio developing ahomegrown 5G telecom solu-tion.

"Jio has designed anddeveloped a complete 5Gsolution from scratch. It willbe ready for trials as soon as5G spectrum is available andcan be ready for field deploy-ment next year," Ambani saidat Reliance Industries' annu-al general meeting.

Jio's global-scale 4G andfibre network is powered byseveral core software tech-nologies and components."It is this capability and know-how that positions Jio on thecutting edge of another excit-ing frontier – 5G," he said.

Jio Platforms, with over 20startup partners, has builtworld-class capabilities intechnologies such as 4G, 5G,Cloud computing, Devicesand OS, Big Data, AI, AR/VR,Blockchain, he said.

"Using these technologies,we can create compellingsolutions across multipleindustry verticals like media,financial services, new com-merce, education, healthcare,agri, smart cities & smartmobility," he said, adding JioPlatforms is conceived withvision of developing original,captive intellectual property,using which we can demon-strate transformative power oftechnology across multipleecosystems – first in India,and then rest of world.

Richest Indian MukeshAmbani on Wednesday

said India's first cloud-basedvideo conferencing appJioMeet has seen 5 milliondownloads within days of itslaunch.

Reliance Industries earlierthis week launched JioMeetvideo conferencing app withunlimited free calling, which isbeing seen as rate war on rivalZoom. JioMeet video confer-encing app is available across

Android, iOS, Windows,macOS and web.

Addressing the company's43rd annual general meeting,Ambani said JioMeet has seen5 million downloads by users

within days of its launch.According to the company

website, JioMeet supports HDaudio and video call qualitywith up to 100 participants andoffers features like screen shar-ing, and meeting schedule fea-ture, among others.

But unlike Zoom, it does notimpose a 40-minute time limit.Calls can go on as long as 24hours, and all meetings areencrypted and password-pro-tected, the company said.

Top CEOs discuss ways to boost investment opportunitiesPNS n NEW DELHI

Top CEOs of India and the USon Tuesday discussed ways toboost bilateral investments insectors such as healthcare,aerospace, defence, infrastruc-ture, ICT, and financial ser-vices, according to a com-merce ministry statement.

The discussion took placeduring the the India-US CEOForum through a telephonicconference. The forum wasco-chaired by Tata SonsChairman N Chandrasekaranand James Taiclet, Presidentand Chief Executive Officer,

Lockheed Martin.Chandrasekaran highlighted

the need for a "free trade agree-ment" as a natural progression

and urged the US governmentto recognize the contribution ofIndia's human capital to the USeconomy, and the need forunhindered cross-bordermobility of such talent, it saidon Wednesday.

Last month, US PresidentDonald Trump issued a presi-

dential proclamation to blockthe entry of foreign workers forthe rest of the year on H-1Bvisas for skilled employees,and L visas for managers andspecialized workers beingtransferred within a company.

On the other hand, Taiclethighlighted the areas of unre-

stricted foreign ownership incertain sectors, policy stability,predictability, timely disputeresolution, protection of intel-lectual property and continu-ing investment in infrastruc-ture as some of the key focusareas. He also hoped that thecooperation between the twocountries during the COVID-19 pandemic would continuein areas of building infrastruc-ture, increasing bilateral invest-ments, and generating jobs.

This is the fifth time theforum has been convened sinceits reconstitution in December2014 by India and the US.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A group of ministers,headed by HomeMinister Amit Shah, onWednesday recom-mended increasing theminimum selling price(MSP) of sugar by Rs 2 to33 per kg to ensure mills clearthe pending cane arrears ofaround Rs 20,000 crore at theearliest, sources said.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Food MinisterRam Vilas Paswan, AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar and CommerceMinister Piyush Goyal werepresent in the meeting.

Sources said the GoM tookstock of the pending sugarcanedues to be paid by sugar mills

which stand at around Rs20,000 crore so far in the cur-rent 2019-20 season (October-September) and ways to ensuremills clear this at the earliest.

One of the proposals dis-cussed was to increase theminimum selling price (MSP)of sugar.

The GoM directed the FoodMinistry to move a Cabinetnote with a proposal to hikethe MSP of sugar as recom-mended by the Niti Aayog, the

sources said. The government will

consider other options ifan increase in MSP ofsugar does not help inreducing substantialcane arrears to farmers,the sources added.

A task force constitut-ed by Niti Aayog on sug-

arcane and sugar industry hadalso recommended a one-timeincrease of Rs 2 per kg in MSPof sugar.

Last year, the governmenthad increased the price atwhich mills sell sugar to bulkbuyers by Rs 2/kg to Rs 31/kg.

The minimum selling priceof sugar is fixed taking intoaccount the components ofFRP and minimum conver-sion cost of the most efficientmills.

Google has agreed to investRs 33,737 crore to buy a

7.7 per cent stake in RelianceIndustries' technology ven-ture, adding to a slew of invest-ments since April that hascrossed Rs 1.52 lakh crore.

California-based AlphabetInc joins Facebook Inc, whichopened the investment cycle inJio Platforms by picking 9.99

per cent stake for Rs43,573.62 crore, aswell as chipmakerIntel Corp andQualcomm Inc.

"We aredelighted to wel-come Google as astrategic investor inJio Platforms. We havesigned a binding partnership

and an investment agree-ment under whichGoogle will invest Rs33,737 crores for a 7.7per cent stake in JioPlatforms," RILChairman Mukesh

Ambani said at thecompany's annual gener-

al meeting.With Google coming on

board, Reliance has completedits target of capital raising forJio Platforms, he said.

With this deal, Reliance hassold 32.84 per cent stake in JioPlatforms Ltd - the unit thathouses India's youngest butlargest telecom firm JioInfocomm and apps. In total,Jio has raised Rs 1,52,055.45crore.

Google picks 7.7 pc stake in Jio for Rs 33,373 cr

JioMeet sees 5 million downloads

ADB appointsEC AshokLavasa as newvice-presidentPNS n NEW DELHI

Multilateral funding agencyAsian Development Bank(ADB) on Wednesday said ithas appointed ElectionCommissioner Ashok Lavasaas vice-president for privatesector operations and public-private partnerships.

"He is currently one of theElection Commissioners ofIndia and previously servedin a range of senior postsincluding as Union FinanceSecretary of India; UnionSecretary for the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests, andClimate Change; and UnionSecretary for the Ministry ofCivil Aviation," ADB said ina statement. Lavasa will suc-ceed Diwakar Gupta, whoseterm will end on August 31.

IDBI Bank would endeav-our to come out of the

RBI's restrictive PromptCorrective Action

(PCA) frame-work as early

as possibleduring thecurrent fis-cal byimprovingits financial

health, a topbank official has

said.The Reserve Bank in

May 2017 had placed theIDBI Bank in the PCAframework because of thedeterioration in the financialhealth of the bank.

The PCA frameworkimposes various operationalrestrictions on a bank to

ensure that the lenderremains solvent.

One of the thrust areas ofthe bank's strategic endeav-ours has been to expedi-tiously exit the PromptCorrective Action (PCA)framework, imposed on itsince May 2017, by dint of itsperformance, IDBI Bankmanaging director and CEORakesh Sharma said in a let-ter to the shareholders.

"Your Bank is cautiouslyoptimistic of an early exitfrom the PCA framework inFY2020-21 as it builds onthe gains made in FY2019-20 so that your Bank canoptimise stakeholder valueby undertaking the entiregamut of banking activi-ties," he said in the letter, asper the bank's annual report.

IDBI strives to come out ofRBI PCA framework: MD

PNS n NEW DELHI

Japanese auto majorHonda on Wednesdaylaunched the new ver-sion of its mid-sizedsedan City in Indiapriced between Rs10.9 lakh-Rs 14.65lakh (ex-showroom).

The fifth generation versionof the popular model, which inits current form is longer andwider than the fourth gener-ation City, comes with BS-VIcompliant petrol and dieselpowertrains.

The 1.5-litre petrol versionswith manual transmission arepriced at Rs 10.9 lakh, Rs 12.26lakh, and Rs 13.15 lakh, whilethe 1.5-litre diesel trims aretagged at Rs 12.40, Rs 13.76lakh, and Rs 14.65 lakh. The1.5-litre petrol automatic trimson the other hand are pricedat Rs 12.20 lakh, Rs 13.56 lakhand, Rs 14.45 lakh.

The model, which will com-pete with the likes of HyundaiVerna, Maruti Suzuki Ciazand Skoda Rapid, now features

smart devices ecosystemincluding Alexa remote capa-bility and 32 connected fea-tures as standard feature acrossall variants with a five-year freesubscription.

The company said it willalso continue to sell the BS-VIcompliant fourth generationCity along with the new ver-sion. "City is synonymouswith Honda brand in India. Itis the most important modelfor us," Honda Motor IndiaLtd (HCIL) President andCEO Gaku Nakanishi said.

Being a pillar of the compa-ny's business for the last 22years, the company expectsthe new City to bring in morevolumes as compared to thelast versions, he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Bangalore, July 15, 2020:HyperVerge announces theadoption of its AI assistedVideo-KYC system by thecountry's only listed pureplay credit card company -SBI Card. Customers canapply for an SBI Credit Cardfrom their homes using theirmobile phone or laptop andcomplete the KYC process viaan end to end encryptedsecure video call.

Earlier this year, RBI per-mitted regulated entities (RE)- banks, credit card compa-nies, NBFCs and wallets - touse Video-KYC as a replace-ment for in-person-verifica-tion. The per-KYC cost comesdown for the financial insti-tution, and the experience forthe customer is much betterthan earlier.

Further, the COVID-19 sit-uation has made social dis-tancing the norm. Customersare hesitant for both agentdriven in-person-verificationand branch-based verifica-tion. In this context, Video-KYC is now critical to contin-ue business momentum in a100% safe contact-less, pres-ence-less, paper-less way.

During the HyperVerge

Video KYC process, the SBICard agent captures the cus-tomer's location, asks for arandom verification code andtakes a picture of the cus-tomer's PAN and customer'sface. The process is so simplethat it can take as less as 2minutes and an agent cancomplete upto 200 videoKYCs.

HyperVerge AI, which isthe X-factor in HyperVergeVideo KYC solution, doesmany intelligent steps in real-time to assist the companyofficer performing the VideoKYC. It digitises the data onthe PAN card on the go andverifies it with PAN datafrom NSDL.

Then, it matches the face ofthe customer to the face onthe PAN Card and Aadhaarprovided by the customer tothe system.

NID studentscan apply forwork permits inGermany nowPNS n NEW DELHI

Students of NationalInstitutes of Design (NID)will be able to apply easily forwork permits in Germanynow as its centres have beenincluded in the Europeancountry's Anabin database,the commerce and industryministry said on Wednesday.

It said Germany hasopened a Central Office forForeign Education. As part oftheir service, they maintain adatabase called Anabin thatlists foreign degrees and high-er education qualifications inrelation to German diplomasand degrees.

Recognition of foreign uni-versity-level qualifications inGermany is often an essentialprerequisite for securing aGerman Work Visa, JobSeekers Visa or German BlueCard. It said often the successof visa application is depen-dent on the proof that theuniversity-level qualificationacquired outside Germany isconsidered on par withequivalent German qualifica-tion.

JLR unveils MY 21 RangeRover, Sport modelsPNS n MUMBAI

Tata Motors' luxury car sub-sidiary Jaguar Land Rover(JLR) on Wednesday said ithas unveiled its MY (ModelYear) 21 Range Rover andRange Rover Sport models,including cars with new mildhybrid electric vehicle engine.

The 2021 MY offering alsoincludes 50th-anniversary spe-cial editions and India-specif-ic cars. For India, MY 21Range Rover will be available

in standard wheel base (SWB),long wheel base (LWB) andspecial editions; and will beoffered with a choice of eithera 3-litre MHEV petrol or 3-litre new mild hybrid electricvehicle (MHEV) diesel engine,the company said in a release.

The MY 21 Range RoverSport will be available in sixderivatives and will be offeredwith 2-litre petrol and 5-litresupercharged petrol as well as3-litre diesel engine options, itsaid.

Last month, US Prez issued a proclamation to

block the entry of foreign workers for the rest of

the year on H-1B visas for skilled employees,

and L visas for managers and specialized

workers being transferred within a company

Honda drives in allnew City in Indiapriced at Rs 10.9 lakh

GoM recommends hike in sugar MSP to Rs 33 per kg

HyperVerge enters V-KYC with SBI Card as marquee customer

ith uncertaintywreaking havocin the lives ofseveral peo-ple acrossthe globe,

medical and mone-tary needs havebecome tough tomeet. Severalorganisations, peo-ple, and volunteershave come forwardto commit them-selves to selfless ser-vice to whoever theycan be of any help.

One such group ofpeople happen to be musi-cians and singers who havecome together to hold onlineconcerts to raise awarenessabout organ donations. Ittakes lives to save lives, theysay. Timely help with organdonations can save millions oflives every year. Broughttogether on one platform byMOHAN Foundation (MultiOrgan Harvesting AidNetwork), talented and popu-lar singers and musicians willbe lending their handstowards the cause of creatingawareness and mobilising aidfor organ donation.

MOHAN works to create anecosystem to enable anincrease in organ donations.'Mission to Reach Millions,'their new initiative, aims tocreate awareness about theimportance of donatingorgans by reach millions ofpeople with the cause of organ

donation.

“Organ donation truly is acelebration of life — a celebra-tion for those who are wait-ing for a second chance atlife through transplan-tation but mostimportantly, a cele-bration of the spiritof giving. Our cam-paign is an initia-tive to celebratethis very spirit ofgiving,” says LalithaRaghuram, CountryDirector, MOHANFoundation.

They’ve alreadyhosted three onlineconcerts — ‘Singing forHope’ with S. Aishwaryaand S. Soundarya, ‘Singing forJoy’ with popular yesteryearplayback singer Usha Uthup,and ‘Baithak to Bollywood’ bythe faculty of ShankarMahadevan Academy (SMA)in the months of May andJune. Their next live concert‘Singing for Positivity’, will be

held on July 18 by AishwaryaSrinivas, where the songstresswill deliver a tribute to the

doyennes of Carnatic music— M.S.Subbulakshmi, DK

Pattammal, and MLVasanthakumari.

“The concerts aim tobring joy into people’slives in these difficultCOVID times whileencouraging them tothink about organdonation. This resonates

with our cause as everyorgan donation brings joy

into the lives of those await-ing life-saving transplants andtheir families. Organ Donorsand their families turn theirsorrow into someone’s joy and

their

despair into someone’s hopeby giving the greatest gift ofall — the gift of life,” LalithaRaghuram tells us.

Apart from online concerts,MOHAN Foundation is alsocrowdfunding using an online

campaign with Milaap.org toraise funds and awarenessregarding organ donation,where they have alreadymobilised Rs 7.8 lakh with thehelp of over 400 donors fromaround the world.

While MOHAN aims atraising awareness about organdonations, another group ofmusicians from the city cametogether to stand shoulder toshoulder with those who havebeen struggling to make endsmeet due to the COVID crisis.“Music doesn’t pay much, andconditions are worse for bud-ding musicians who lost outon gigs due to the lockdown.That’s when my friend-band-mate Pranati Khanna, and Idecided to help such artisteswho found it hard to pay fortheir essential needs, rent,bills, etc.,” informs Edward

Jonathan, guitarist with theHyderabad-based rock

band Spell Check.The duo sent out

messages to other musi-cians across the coun-try, their friends andfamily via social mediaplatforms likeInstagram and

Facebook, and ended uphelping musicians in not

just Hyderabad but alsoBangalore, Chennai, and

Kolkata.“We told people if they’re a

budding musician who needshelp, are living alone and haveno source of income or knowof anybody who is, they couldcontact us. We then put outinformation about these peo-ple and asked for donationsand raised funds. Each ofthem needed help for over themonths of May and June, ofover 6,000-8,000 rupees, tocover expenses. After a while,most beneficiaries found away to sustain themselvesafter June, as situations haveimproved since May,” explainsJonathan.

Music sure does more thanjust bring joy to the soul asthese musicians have provedto be able to go beyond touch-ing souls by touched lives too.

W

MUSICIANS TOUCHINGLIVES BEYOND SOUL

While we're at a stagein the history where

mankind has realisedit's only them that'sthere for each other,

we have people fromthe Music

community joininghands to promote

donations, raiseawareness on various

issues, and more. The

Pioneer's RACHELDAMMALA talks to

people from thecommunity to learn

more

Music doesn’t pay much, and conditions are worse forbudding musicians who lost out on gigs due to thelockdown. That’s when my friend-bandmate Pranati

Khanna, and I decided to help such artistes who found it hard to pay for their essential

needs, rent, bills, etc.,

EDWARD JONATHAN, GUITARIST

The Coronavirus is rapidlyspreading across the globe

and researchers and scientistsare looking for more and

more ways to fight thepandemic. Earlier vaccine for

COVID-19 seemed like theonly escape. Doctors have

now explored somethingcalled “plasma therapy” as a

preventive measure anddeemed it helpful. So COVID-

19 patients can now donatetheir plasma 14 days aftertheir recovery that has the

potential to save another life.Wondering what it is and how

it works? Here's Dr. BhaskarRao from the Telangana Super

Speciality Hospitals (TSHA)speaking to The Pioneer's

SHIKHA DUGGAL on variousquestions related to plasma

donation and its benefits

All you need to know about plasma therapyecovery in this ther-apy is more rapidthan any drug orventilator. I wouldrequest patientswho’ve conquered

COVID-19 to come forwardand donate their plasmas forthe needy. Since vital drugs likeRemidesivir and Tocilizumaren’t available in the market,this therapy, if given in time,brings effective results, informsDr Bhaskar Rao, TSHA.

SO WHAT IS PLASMA

THERAPY?

The therapy aims at usingantibodies from the blood of arecovered COVID-19 patient totreat those critically infected bythe virus. Plasma is a bloodcomponent that contains virus-fighting antibodies. It is likeblood donation but the sameplasma gets separated from theblood and the remaining bloodwill be transferred back to yourbody resulting in zero bloodloss. The procedure is com-pletely harmless and the donordoes not experience any pain. Anewly explored therapy will notcost you more than 20,000rs incomparison to COVID medi-cines that cost one approxi-mately Rs 2 lakh.

WHEN WAS PLASMA

THERAPY FIRST

INDUCED?

Dr Sarath Chandra Mouli,Rheumatologist from KIMSstates that this therapy has beenused since the 1800s. The firsttrial was done in 1892 for treat-ing Diphtheria. In the 1920s, it

was used to treat Scarlet fever.During the Spanish influenzapandemic of 1918, plasmadonation was used as a poten-tial therapy with mixed results.

WHAT IS THE IMPOR-

TANCE OF PLASMA

DONATION?

It contributes to saving thelives of those depending on life-saving therapies derived fromhuman plasma to treat thevirus. It’s a new and an experi-mental therapy but it’s provingto be a powerful weapon in pre-venting the virus’ attack. Whena patient recovers from thecoronavirus infection, antibod-ies help another patient fightthe Corona infection wheninfused into their body. Plasmacan be donated only by apatient who has recovered fromCOVID-19. For patients whoseswab test for COVID-19 is not

done, the history of at leastmild symptoms and a history ofcontact with swab positive casesis important. Before acceptinga person for plasma donation,the hospital checks the fitnessand suitability of every prospec-tive donor.

WHAT'S THE EFFECTIVE

RATE OF THIS THERAPY?

The efficiency of plasmatherapy is that the antibodiesfrom convalescent plasmamight suppress viremia.Patients treated with plasmahave a shorter hospital stay andlower mortality than those whowere not treated with convales-cent plasma. “As per IMCRguidelines, we have to use corticosteroids, anti-cytokine, and convalescentplasma to avoid later damagesto the body if any,” tells DrSarath of TSHA tells us.

WHAT ARE THE ADVAN-

TAGES OF CONVALES-

CENT PLASMA THERAPY?

Uses your own blood, workswith natural healing, and norequired downtime.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO

DONATE PLASMA?

People who have fully recov-ered from COVID-19 for atleast two weeks are encouragedto consider donating plasma.Individuals must have had aprior diagnosis of COVID-19documented by a laboratorytest and meet other donor crite-ria.

HOW CAN I DONATE

PLASMA?

Paramedics are sent home totest whether you are an eligibledonor or not. A technician willprepare your arm with antisep-tic, insert the needle, and beginthe donation process. Blood

will be drawn, the plasma willbe separated from your blood,and red blood cells will bereturned to your body througha process called plasmapheresis.Your first donation will takeapproximately 2 hours.

HOW TERRIBLE CAN THE

CORONAVIRUS GET?

Coronavirus cases in Indiaappear to be low now butIndia’s population densityincreases the risk of local trans-mission. Selective testing andreports of patients escapingmedical facilities are causes forconcern. The Telangana gov-ernment is taking appropriatesteps to encourage social dis-tancing by shutting downschools, theatres, and by pre-venting mass gatherings. TheGHMC recently distributedhome isolation kits to peoplewho are in the home-quaran-tine process. Nearly 180patients from KIMS hospital

have recovered from homequarantine. Individuals above60 years with comorbid condi-tions need to maintain extraprecaution.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN

PRECAUTIONS TO MAIN-

TAIN TO KEEP THE

VIRUS AT BAY?

Clean your hands often,maintain a safe distance, wear amask, don’t touch your face,and stay home if you feelunwell.

SHOULD YOU BUY A

COVID-9 HEALTH PLAN?

The rising cost ofCoronavirus treatment in pri-vate hospitals is becoming exor-bitant. IRDA released newguidelines that allow both lifeand health insurers to offershort-term special plans forCOVID-19 coverage. Thishealth plan is expected to pro-vide you with much-neededsupport. These policies addressthe high cost of PPEs becausePPE kits and other consum-ables are not covered undermost health insurance products.These are short-term plans withterms ranging from threemonths to 11 months whichwill not offer renewability.There are two types of COVID-19 special plans, one is basedon indemnity that pays theactual amount spent on the dis-ease and another is a benefit-based plan that will pay theentire lump sum amount on thediagnosis of COVID-19 andsubsequent requirement of hos-pitalisation.

R

DR BOLLINENI BHASKAR RAO(Managing Director of KIMS &

president of TSHA)DR SARATH CHANDRA MOULI,

Rheumatologist, KIMS

ThursdayJuly 16, 2020

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

10

Vijayawada Thursday July 16 2020

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

ctress Raveena Tandonrecently did some workfrom home. She shot for anadvertisement at her resi-dence here.

The shoot happened withall the necessary precautions and mini-mum crew members. There were justtwo crew members present at herhouse amid theongoingCovidpan-

demic.“The working scenario has changed

but as we say, change is the only con-stant. With the new normal and limit-ed crew members, it took us lessertime to complete. Only two memberswere allowed in the house, one beingthe cameraman and the other was thesound recordist. They wore PPE kitsand all their equipment was disinfectedbefore they entered the house. I fol-lowed the social distancing norm withthe crew members and I feel after thisshoot, I am ready for the new normal,”

Raveena shared her experience ofshooting post lockdown.

On the big screen, Raveena willbe soon seen in KGF: Chapter 2.The movie is a follow-up of theKannada blockbuster KGF:Chapter 1, starring Kannadasuperstar Yash.

Raveena shoots at home

amid Covid-19 pandemic

A ctor Sonu Soodis now all set tocome up with abook recountinghis experience ofhelping migrant

workers reach their home-towns during the Covidlockdown.

“The past three and ahalf months have been akind of a life-changingexperience for me, livingwith the migrants for 16 to18 hours a day and sharingtheir pain. When I go to seethem off as they begin their

journey back home, myheart is filled with joy andrelief. Seeing the smiles ontheir faces, the tears of hap-piness in their eyes hasbeen the most special expe-rience of my life, and Ipledged that I’ll keep onworking to send them backto their homes until the lastmigrant reaches his village,to his loved ones,” Sonudeclared.

“I believe I came to thiscity for this — it was mypurpose. I want to thankgod for making me a cata-

lyst in helping the migrants.While my heart beats inMumbai, after this move-ment I feel a part of melives in the villages of UP,Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam,Uttarakhand and variousother states, where I havenow found new friends andmade deep connections. Ihave decided to put theseexperiences, stories that areembedded in my soul for-ever, in a book,” her said,about the book that is to bepublished by PenguinRandom House India.

SONU SOOD TO WRITE BOOKON EXPERIENCE OF HELPING

MIGRANT WORKERS

what’s brewing?

A

‘Hanna' creator David Farr: Womenbring difference to politics of the set

ritish writer-pro-ducer David Farr isnarrating the storyof Hanna through afemale gaze, andsays women leading

the show behind the cameranot just influences the narra-tive, but bring a big differenceto the politics of the set aswell.

The web series Hanna spinsa new world from the story ofJoe Wright’s acclaimed 2011film of the same name. Farr,who co-wrote the original fea-ture film, is driving the narra-tive of the show.

“Although the film wasabout Hanna, and she was thecentral character, that (maleperspective) was still a verystrong thing. It does feel like amale view, and the film wasdirected by a man,” Farr toldIANS when asked aboutembracing the female grace.

He continued, “We havemade a big choice all throughthe seasons to have femaledirectors for large numbers ofthe episodes. It’s definitelymore than half and I think itmakes a big difference. Itmakes a big difference to thepolitics of the set. And it wasthe single easiest and clearestdecision we made. We didn’tchoose people just because

they were women but we madea conscious choice that theyare really good, amazing tal-ents. It does bring a differenteye and a different voice. It justbecomes a creative thing andfun. It’s not that you don’t haveto be earnest about it, it’s justthat you release different voic-es. And that’s my simple thingthat you just got to releasevoices of diverse kinds at ahigh-level. Because if you dothat, everything changes. AndI think we are a part of thatprocess, which I’m proud of.”

Farr, also known for addinghis creative vision to seriesThe Night Manager, noted thatworking with talented womenhas been an eye-opening andlearning experience for him.

“In the first season (ofHanna), I wrote almost everyepisode myself except one. Inthe second season, I gave overhalf the episodes to four otherwriters and three of them werewomen. And they sketchedout the story about Hanna,and this extraordinary groupof young women that shemeets who are all destined tobecome assassins. What theybrought was such a kind ofmore personal take on, youknow, what it is to be a womanin the world,” said the writer.

“I can’t feel that. I’ve got two

daughters, who are now 20and 18. So I guess I’ve experi-enced that secondhandthrough that. But they felt it ina visceral sense. The waychoices are somehow made foryou, the way conversations aresomehow taken over by menput bluntly, or power struc-

tures. And so that was some-thing that they brought to it ina way that was very specific.And I felt I learned a greatdeal from them as writers. So,they’re bringing a lot to thetable and I felt there was a lotto learn from them.”

With a cast led by Esme,

Mireille Enos, and JoelKinnaman, the first season ofAmazon Prime Video showHanna narrated the story of ayoung girl named Hanna, whohas lived in a forest and hasgained extraordinary physicalabilities. It is about her experi-ence with modern reality. Itexplored the dynamics of afather-daughter bond, emo-tional issues of a family whilehighlighting the dilemma ofhow teenagers grow in themodern world and do theyever fit in. The eight-episodesecond season follows thejourney of Hanna as sheevades the pursuit of a “sinis-ter government agency”, andembarks on a journey of self-discovery.

Reflecting back on thethought behind creating theshow, Farr said: “The reason Ifirst came up with Hanna ideawas I had two daughters, whowere very young when I waswriting the film. And all theywere allowed to watch wasMary Poppins and Sound ofMusic. And meanwhile, ifyou’re a boy, you seem to beable to watch westerns andyou could watch gangsters.You could see boys doingeverything. And you could seeit didn’t seem it was availableto young women.

B

AFP n LONDON

Frank Lampard admittedChelsea are struggling withnerves as they chase a place

in the Champions League nextseason after Olivier Giroudscored the only goal in a 1-0 winover already relegated Norwichat Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Victory opens up a four-point lead for third-placedChelsea over Leicester andManchester United, who bothhave a game in hand later thisweek.

But Lampard knows there isstill plenty of work to do with atrip to champions Liverpooland sixth-placed Wolves visitingStamford Bridge on the last dayof the season to come in Chelsea’sfinal two league games of the sea-

son.“I want more but that can

wait. Where we are at as a teamand our position in the table,three points is everything,” saidLampard.

“If we want to really moveon then it can be better. It’s not

easy, there is a nervy feeling therefor understandable reasons.”

Lampard made five changesfrom the battering at BramallLane with Giroud among thoserestored to the starting line-up.

Chelsea have already signif-icantly bolstered their frontline

for next season with the signingsof Timo Werner and HakimZiyech.

But Giroud has more thanjustified the decision to alsoextend his contract by a year dur-ing football’s shutdown asChelsea’s most potent strikersince the restart.

“He’s a big character for usand scoring important goals,”added Lampard.

Giroud saw a number ofchances come and go in the firsthalf as an attempted lob over TimKrul fell gently into the Dutch‘keeper’s arms before he slicedwell over the bar whenunmarked inside the area.

Christian Pulisic forced Krulinto his best save of the first-halfwith a powerful drive that wasjust too close to the formerNewcastle stopper.

Just as Norwich looked setto hold out until the breakGiroud shrugged off TimmKlose to connect with Pulisic’scross for his fifth goal in eightgames. “I missed some I don’tmiss usually,” said Giroud. “I losta bit of confidence but my desireto score was bigger, so I just tried

to stay focused and on the crossof Christian I anticipated thisheader.” Norwich’s long-awaitedfate of a return to the

Championship was confirmed ina 4-0 thrashing at the hands ofWest Ham on Saturday.

11VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2020

AP n MADRID

The Spanish league trophywill be sitting by the field at

the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadiumon Thursday, with Real Madrida win away from lifting it for thefirst time in three years.

Madrid will have its firstchance to clinch the title whenit hosts Villarreal at home fol-lowing a long season that was injeopardy because of the coron-avirus pandemic.

It enters the sec-ond-to-last round witha four-point lead overBarcelona, which facesOsasuna at the CampNou at the same time.

Madrid needs twopoints from its last twomatches to secure its34th league title — and firstsince 2017. It can also lift thetrophy with a loss if Barcelonafails to defeat Osasuna.

It would be Madrid’s firstleague title since CristianoRonaldo left to join Juventustwo seasons ago, and the firstsince coach Zinedine Zidanereturned from a short break.

Barcelona won the last twoleague titles and was at the topthis season when the coron-avirus pandemic struck, but

Madrid has been perfect sincethe break, winning nine straight.

“When we returned fromthe confinement after beingstuck at home for almost threemonths, I could see that theplayers wanted to achieve some-thing big,” Zidane said onWednesday.

“I could see it during thetraining sessions, I could see itin how they were practising.”

Madrid had lost three of itslast four matchesbefore the league washalted in March.

Barcelona seemedin control but enduredan up-and-down runafter the break, draw-ing three matches andlosing its advantage atthe top.

Coach Quique Setién,under pressure because of theteam’s results and lacklusterperformances, knows his clubfaces a tough task trying to over-come Madrid’s advantage.

Barcelona has won eight ofthe last 11 league titles, withMadrid lifting the trophy in2017 and 2012.

Madrid will face a Villarrealteam that is sitting fifth in thestandings and fighting for aEuropa League berth.

NEW DELHI: The Indian cricketteam’s six-match limited-overshome series against England sched-uled in September is all set to bepostponed along with NewZealand A’s visit of the country nextmonth due to the Covid-19 pan-demic.

The BCCI is yet to make anyformal announcement in thisregard but it is expected that it willhappen soon.

“England were supposed toplay six games (three ODIs andthree T20Is) during late September.Obviously in the current circum-stances England won’t be travellingto India,” a senior BCCI officialsaid.

India’s Future Tours andProgram (FTP) calendar will beamong the main topics of discus-sion during the BCCI ApexCouncil meeting on Friday.

“But I guess a formalannouncement will happen oncethe FTP issue is discussed as it’s partof the agenda during Friday’s ApexCouncil meeting. New Zealand Ahad a tour of India scheduled inAugust and even that’s also unlike-ly to go ahead,” the official said.

According to reports in theBritish media, the white ball tourmay now happen in September,next year. PTI

MELBOURNE: The 10th season of theBig Bash League (BBL) will coin-cide with the much-anticipatedIndia’s tour of Australia, the hostboard announced on Wednesdayunveiling a 61-match schedule forthe country’s premier T20 event.

According to the schedulereleased by Cricket Australia (CA),the BBL will begin on December 3with a clash between Strikers andRenegades at the Adelaide Oval,shortly after the end of day one ofthe opening Test between India andAustralia in Brisbane. The final has

been set for February 6 next year.The 59-game Women’s BBL

will be played from October 17

until November 29.“While the Covid-19 pandem-

ic may yet force alterations to thesummer of cricket, today’s

announcement confirms thecommitment to a full 61-game schedule, including thereturn of the five-team finalsformat,” the CA said.

As per the schedule, theBBL will run for eight nights beforetaking a five-day break forAustralia’s day-night Test withIndia to be held from Dec 11-15 atAdeialde Oval. PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI

The national camps for Indianmen’s and women’s hockey

teams will not resume as plannedon July 19 at Bengaluru SAI Centrewith the rising Covid-19 case countforcing the city into a completeseven-day lockdown.

The grave situation in thesouthern metropolis has left theSports Authority of India (SAI) withno choice but to defer its plans.

Enjoying a break at theirrespective native places after beingconfined to their rooms at the SAICentre for two months due to thenationwide lockdown, the players

had been expected to return to baseby July 19.

A SAI source in Bengaluru,however, confirmed to PTI thatthere is no way the national campscan resume on the earlier ear-marked date under the current cir-cumstances.

“We didn’t get any such instruc-tion till now about resumption ofhockey camps. On June 18, we werejust being asked to allow the play-ers to leave for their homes but nointimation has been given to us onresumption of camps,” the sourcesaid.

“Frankly speaking, it is impos-sible to resume camps now because

Bengaluru is under complete lock-down till July 22. The cases areincreasing everyday and there is apossibility that the lockdown wouldbe extended till the end of thismonth.”

Although the SAI headquartershere is yet to take a formal decisionon the matter, Hockey India’s de-recognition by the Sports Ministry,along with 53 other National SportsFederations (NSFs), as per theDelhi High Court’s order, has madethe situation complex.

“We can’t make any commenton national camps or anything aswe are de-recognised by the min-istry now,” a HI official said.

BENFICA KEEP SLIM TITLE HOPES ALIVE Lisbon: Benfica kept their slim hopes of winning thePortuguese title alive as a first-half goal from midfielderChiquinho and a late second from Haris Seferovic gavethem a hard-fought 2-0 home win over Vitoria deGuimaraes. The victory leaves Benfica on 71 points after32 games, five behind leaders Porto. Having beatenBenfica twice this season, Porto will secure 29th leaguetitle if they can manage at least a draw with Sporting.

MORTAZA RECOVERS FROM COVID-119 Dhaka: Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortazahas recovered from Covid-19 after treatment at home forthe dreaded virus since June 20. Mortaza announced thenegative result of his test on his Facebook page. His wifeSumona Haque is yet to recover from the disease. Twoother players — Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Islam — havealso recovered after undergoing treatment at home.

TAMIM, MAHMUDULLAH TURN DOWN CPL OFFERS Dhaka: Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal and T20Iskipper Mahmudullah Riyad on Wednesday confirmedthey have opted against taking part in this year's CPL.Citing concerns related to coronavirus pandemic,Mahmudullah turned down the offer to feature in theleague. While Tamim declined the offer to remain availablefor Dhaka Premier League, in case it resumes in August.

AKINFENWA INVITED TO LIVERPOOL TITLE PARADE Liverpool: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said he hasinvited Adebayo Akinfenwa to their Premier League titleparade shortly after sending the forward a congratulatorymessage for sealing promotion to the Championship. AfterWanderers beat Oxford United in the League One playofffinal to secure their place in the English second-tier for thefirst time, Akinfenwa had joked that Klopp could “hit me upon WhatsApp”. The German manager had responded witha video message and said that Akinfenwa would also bepart of their title celebration when it happens.

DAKAR YOUTH OLYMPICS POSTPONED TO 2026 Lausanne: The International Olympic Committee haspostponed the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympics for four yearsdue to the coronavirus pandemic. IOC President ThomasBach said the delay was discussed two days ago in atelephone conversation with Senegal President MackySall. The Youth Summer Games would be the firstOlympics organized in Africa.

6 PEOPLE RETURNED COVID-119 POSITIVE: CSAJohannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) onWednesday said six people have returned positive for thedreaded coronavirus but none of them are cricketersfollowing approximately 50 tests conducted ahead of the3TeamCricket match on Saturday. CSA however did notreveal who were the six positive people from among thosetested for the dreaded disease.

PCB LOOK TO START DOMESTIC SEASON IN OCTKarachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board is planning to startits delayed domestic cricket season from early October atselect venues across the country. "The idea is to have areduced domestic season at less venues to limit the traveland moving about off players, coaches and officials," asource said. He said a final decision on the domesticcricket schedule would be taken in early September sothere is time for preparations.

HUMPY, HARIKA ADVANCE TO LAST EIGHTChennai: India's Koneru Humpy and D Harika advancedto the quarterfinals of the fourth and final leg of WomenSpeed Chess Championships on Wednesday. Agencies

SINGLES

AP n MANCHESTER

Fresh from becoming a fatherof two, Joe Root will be

reinstalled as England captainon Thursday with his team invery familiar territory.

With Root absent so hecould be with his wife for thebirth of their second child,England lost the first Testagainst the West Indies lastweek in what was the firstinternational cricket matchsince the sport’s shutdown.

With the series against theWest Indies being only threeTests, England has to bounceback immediately and Root’sreturn is clearly a positive.

The captain will take theplace of Joe Denly, who made 18and 29 in his two innings at theRose Bowl and was fighting

with Zak Crawley to keep hisspot for the second Test at OldTrafford.

Crawley had England’shighest single score with 76 inthe second innings.

There is likely to be achange in the bowling attack,too, with Stuart Broadpushing for a recall afterbeing dropped for thefirst Test — and thenspeaking publiclyabout his disappoint-ment during thematch.

Root said anydecision would betaken after he took alook at the Old Traffordpitch again laterWednesday.

There has been rainin Manchester and Root

described the wicket as havinga “nice brownish colour.”

Continuity has been key forEngland when it comes toselection in recent years, whichmay prove a blessing for Jos

Buttler. The wicketkeeper-batsman — a limited-overs specialist — has aTest average of 23.22since the start of 2019,and only one centuryin 75 innings, but is setto keep his place.

The West Indiesare holders of theWisden Trophy afterbeating England in a

home series last year,

so will retain it with a draw inthe first of back-to-back Tests inManchester.

And they are looking to seala first Test series victory inEngland in 32 years. Not since1992-93 — when the likes ofBrian Lara, Courtney Walsh andCurtly Ambrose were in theirpomp — have the Windies wonan overseas Test series consist-ing of more than two matchesagainst major opposition.

“I haven’t mentioned any-thing about history to the guys,”West Indies captain JasonHolder said.

“It’s hard for us to get caughtup in the peripheral stuff.

“Winning the first Testmatch is just one piece of thepuzzle. We’ve got two othergames to play and we don’t getahead of ourselves.”

MANCHESTER: Windies coach PhilSimmons believes that the extendedpreparations after early arrival due toCovid-19 protocols have actually playeda key part in his side’s four-wicket winin the first Test. West Indies, whoarrived in England on June 9 andtrained in a bio-secure environmentafter that, beat the home side by fourwickets on the final day of the first Test.

“I think that has been the biggestinfluence on the performance. The factthat we’ve been here for that period oftime, we’ve had quality bowling in thenets because we’ve had nearly 11 seam-ers here, you can’t put a price on that,”he said on the eve of the second Test.

“I don’t like to go back into my(playing) days, but we would come toEngland and play something like threeor four proper warm-up games beforethe first Test, and we would also have

three-day or four-day games in betweenthe Test matches. So I think that peri-od of training goes a long way to howwe performed in that first Test.”

While praising the resolve of hisplayers in the first Test, he warned theWest Indies cricketers to guard againstcomplacency.

“For me it was a great win becauseI think that it signified a lot of hard workbeing done by the players over the lastfour or five weeks. It was a top-class Testmatch, with good cricket played by bothteams, and even coming down to thelast hour, it could have gone either way.

“But you guard against complacen-cy by just trying to do the same thingsyou did before the first Test. Right nowthat Test match is history. We’ve got tobe thinking about what we do fromThursday to Monday,” the 57-year-oldformer all-rounder said. PTI

England vvss WindiesLive from 3:30pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

ADVANTAGE

CHELSEAGiroud helps

Frank's side edgeout Norwich &inch closer totop-four finish

Chelsea's Olivier Giroud celebrates after scoring goal Chelsea/Twitter

LONDON: Premier League clubshave agreed a 10-week sum-mer transfer window, whichwill open on July 27.

Subject to the approval offootball’s world governingbody FIFA, the window willopen the day after the 2019/20league season finishes andend on October 5, the dateUEFA had recommended forthe closure of registration peri-ods across Europe.

The Premier League saidthat following consultationwith the English Football

League, a domestic-only win-dow will also be added fromOctober 5 and close onOctober 16.

Transfers between PremierLeague clubs will not be ableto occur during this period,but top-flight sides can tradewith EFL clubs and loan orsign players permanently.

The EFL confirmed itswindow would open on thesame day as the PremierLeague’s but clubs would havean extra two weeks for domes-tic-only business. AFP

PL transfer windowto run for 10 weeks

5 subs rule extended by 1 yearZURICH: An interim rule allow-ing football teams to use fivesubstitutes per match duringthe schedule congestioncaused by the coronaviruspandemic was extended onWednesday through next sea-son.

Football’s law-makingpanel, said the option of usingtwo extra replacements wouldcontinue in the 2020-21 seasonand for national team compe-titions into next August, whenthe Tokyo Olympic tourna-ments end. AP

“The game was OK butresults are critical. We couldhave won by more, wecould have been a bit betterwith our quality”

— FRANK LAMPARD

India's homeseries vs Eng setto be postponed

No July 19 resumption of hockey campsas Bengaluru goes into lockdown

Big Bash to start amid India tour

Root returns for Old Trafford Test Extended preparations playedkey part in win: Simmons

Madrid get chanceto clinch league title

Duleshwar Tandi aka Rapper Dule Rocker is making waveson social media with searing lockdown raps. The lyrics

talk about the plight of migrant workers during Covid-19crisis. The 27-year-old is a Dalit migrant worker fromOdisha's Kalahandi district. He became a rapper to narratethe ordeal of migrants walking home during the lockdown.With no musical instrument, no background score or anydecorated stage behind him, Duleshwar sings in his muddyhut and records it on his mobile phone.His rap songs are creating a hugeimpact. The lines depict the bittertruth of lockdown times. Duleshwarhad shifted to Raipur in 2013 as amigrant worker after completing hisBSc degree (Chemistry) from agovernment college in Kalahandi. Healso worked as a waiter in RaipurHotel. On some occasions, he washedplates and cleaned tables. Duleshwar returned to his village,Borda, on March 23, one day before the national lockdownThe next day, Odisha government announced lockdownacross 70 per cent of the state. "As I saw news reports ofthe novel coronavirus cases growing in China, US andEuropean countries, I sensed, situation may get worse here.After the state government announced the lockdown inmajor districts, I made up my mind and decided to comeback," he told India Today over phone.

Photographer savesman presumed dead

Andean condor can fly for100 miles without flappingA

study sheds light on just how efficiently the world's largestsoaring bird rides air currents to stay aloft for hours without

flapping its wings. The Andean condor has a 3-metre (10ft)wingspan and weighs up to 15kg (33lbs), making it the world'sheaviest soaring bird. For the first time, a team of scientistsstrapped recording equipment they called "daily diaries" to eightcondors in Patagonia torecord each wingbeatover more than 250hours of flight time.Incredibly, the birds spentjust 1% of their time aloftflapping their wings,mostly during takeoff.One bird flew more thanfive hours, covering morethan 100 miles (160km),without flapping its wings."Condors are expert pilots but we just had not expected theywould be quite so expert," said Prof Emily Shepard, a study co-author and biologist at Swansea University in Wales. "The findingthat they basically almost never beat their wings and just soar ismind-blowing," said David Lentink, an expert in bird flight atStanford University, who was not involved in the research. Tobirds, the sky is not empty but a landscape of invisible features:wind gusts, currents of warm rising air and streams of air pushedupward by ground features such as mountains.

In a bizarre incident, a Kerala photographer ended up saving aman's life who was presumed to be dead, when he went to

click the pictures of the corpse's body. The incident happenedon Sunday when Tomy Thomas, an Ernakulam-basedphotographer, was called by cops to click images of adeceased person as part of preparing the inquest report. AlsoRead - Kashmir Photographer Masrat Zahra Wins IWMF's'Courage In Photojournalism Award'. However, somethingstrange happened when Tomy was about to take photographs.He heard a low sound emanating from the body and realisedthat he is not dead after all. Shocked and startled, he instantlyinformed the police who inspected the body. "Since the light inthe room was not adequate to click photos, I leaned over theman to turn on the light switch which was on thewall right next to where he was lying. It was thenthat I heard a feeble voice," Tomy said. "A shiverran down my spine as it hit me that the manwas actually alive," he added. Once the copsfound that the man is alive andbreathing, he was sent to the intensivecare unit of a hospital where he iscurrently receiving treatment.Notably, the man named Sivadasanhad hit his head and fallen to thefloor, following which onlookersfound him in an unconscious stateand thought that he is dead.

Railways creates post-Covid coach

Odisha migrant workerturns rapper

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he railways is preparing to provide better hygiene and sanitationstandards in train coaches as it plans to install foot-operated

soap dispensers, copper-coated handrails, fixtures with titaniumdioxide (TiO2) coating that kills viruses and plasma air equipmentinside air conditioning (AC) ducts to steralise and make theinteriors particulate matter-resistant. The national carrier'sproduction unit, RailCoach Factory inKapurthala, has builtthe first prototype. Therailways plans toretrofit all its existingcoaches with theseamenities, officialsaware of the mattersaid. "Post Covid Coach will have hands-free amenities like footoperated water tap and soap dispenser, foot operated lavatory door(outside), foot operated flush valve, foot operated latches inlavatory door, outside washbasin with foot operated water tap and

soap dispenser and forearm operated handle on compartmentdoors," the railway ministry said in its design note for thecoaches. The first two coaches built at the unit have fixturescoated with TiO2 and the provision for plasma air equipmentin AC ducts to sterilise interiors using ionised air. "Thisplasma air equipment will sterilize the air and surfaces insidethe AC coach using ionised air to make the coach Covid-19

and particulate matter resistant.

AFP n BERGAMO

Mario Pasalic scored a hat-trick as Atalanta brushed

aside struggling local rivalsBrescia 6-2 to move second inSerie A on Tuesday.

Gian Piero Gasperini’sside extended their unbeatenleague run to 13 games tomove six points behind lead-ers Juventus who visit eighth-placed Sassuolo onWednesday.

Inter Milan and Lazio aretwo points behind Atalantabefore they play against SPAL

and Udinese respectively laterthis week.

Gasperini’s side havescored 93 league goals so farthis season — 26 more thaneight-time reigning champi-ons Juventus.

“We don’t do it to humil-iate the opponent, but we tryto play our game,” saidGasperini.

“Already last year we were the best attack in theleague, this year we have sur-passed ourselves, scoringmany goals with many differ-ent players.

Atalanta's Mario Pasalic celebrates after scoring a goal against Brescia AP

Great entertainersPasalic nets hat-trick as free-scoringAtalanta thump Brescia to go second

ilmmaker SSRajamouli onTuesday appealedto the curedCOVID-19patients to step

forward and donate theirplasma to treat those infectedwith the coronavirus.

“If you have recoveredfrom #COVID_19, come for-ward to help someone inneed! There is no shame ingetting #COVID. Please don'tlet social stigma prevent youfrom saving lives! You canregister as a donor here:http://givered.in ((sic),” theBaahubali filmmaker tweetedalong with a link.

Plasma therapy is consid-ered effective for peoplestruggling to cope with coro-navirus. It involves injectionof blood-component plasmaextracted from a curedpatient to a positive coron-avirus case. The plasmaextracted from a curedpatient is considered to behaving virus fighting anti-bodies. It strengthens theimmunity of the person get-ting the plasma.

Likewise, Rajamouli’s col-league Koratala Siva hasrequested coronavirus positivepatients to be responsible incautioning their closed ones.“It’s my earnest request to all

those infected, let’s actresponsible and informour close ones and allthose who’ve metrecently so they canget tested too. Needof the hour. Time tobe more civilised.More than thevirus, it’s the factthat a few infectedindividuals arekeeping it a secretthat makes thisan even morescarier experi-ence (sic),” thedirector postedin a series oftweets.

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Vijayawada Thursday July 16 2020tollywood

he Pioneer hasalreadyinformed you(May 26) thatproducer DilRaju, who dis-

tributed HIT in Telugu,was planning to remake itin Hindi. The project wasmade official onWednesday, with versatileHindi actor RajkummarRao attached to star andoriginal director Dr SaileshKolanu sitting in the direc-tor’s saddle. Raju will beproducing it along withKuldeep Rathore. It willflag-off next year.

Excited to have joinedthe project, RajkummarRao said, “When I sawHIT, I instantly connectedto it. It’s an engaging story,relevant in today’s environ-ment. As an actor I amalways on the lookout toplay characters I haven’texplored and role in HITgives me a chance to do that.I’m looking forward to taking

this journey with Sailesh andMr Dil Raju.”

Speaking to The Pioneer

exclusively, Sailesh saidRajkummar Rao was a unan-imous choice for the leadrole. “After I was signed onfor the remake, Raju sir and Iwere discussing who wouldbe the best bet to spearheadit. One of the first names thatcame for discussion was Raobecause of his previous richbody of work. Raju sir laterasked Rao to watch the film,which he did. The actor rangme subsequently and therewere questions about per-ceptions and what he likedthe most. He also learnedhow I would be taking it for-ward as a franchise,” thedirector said.

He noted that he is glad tohave an actor of Rajkummar’spedigree on board. “I reallylove his acting and I’ve beenfollowing his work since

Shaitan. As a storyteller Icouldn’t have asked for a bet-ter actor than him. Thebiggest greed for any story-teller is not money but get-ting to work with amazingactors and seeing their workreach a large number of peo-ple. That is precisely why Isigned up for the remake,” he stated.

The remake will tell thestory of a cop who — whilebattling with his own trau-matic past — is to solve amissing case. According toSailesh, the Hindi script workhas commenced. “As we willbe reaching a wider audiencewith the remake, I’m tweak-ing the script here and there.I will write the preliminaryversion and then take it to adialogue writer. I haven’tdecided on where to set the

story because of the existingconditions due to COVID-19outbreak. I have time becauseI first need to wrap up HIT 2in Telugu before I embark onremaking HIT in Hindi. Iwill travel to north India nextyear and decide on the set-ting,” he pointed out andsmilingly added that as hehas roamed across the streetsof Ameerpet, SR Nagar andOld City during college,Hindi isn’t much of a prob-lem.

HIT was produced by Naniand Prashanti Tipirneni inTelugu. Talking about Nani’sreaction to the remake,Sailesh shared, “He alwayswanted good things to hap-pen to me. The film is hisproduct at the end of the dayand he is proud of itgoing to Hindi.”

Nani is proudof HIT goingto B'wood:Director Sailesh

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As a storyteller I couldn't have asked fora better actor than Rajkummar Rao tospearhead this film, the director tellsNAGARAJ GOUD

rominent Tamilactor SarathKumar is the latestbig name fromSouth to havetaken the OTT

plunge. On his birthdayTuesday, his wifeRadikaa Sarath Kumartook to Twitter toannounce his digitaldebut. He will featurein the upcoming screenadaptation of ArchanaSarat’s novel Birds ofPrey — The HuntBegins. “Sarath Kumarsir was not only kind

and humble enough tolaunch the book of adebut author but he hasalso taken it to thescreen,” Archana post-ed following theannouncement. Whilewe still don’t whether itis being made as aseries or a film, we didlearn from multiplesources that Telugustreamer aha will beproducing it and it willbe shot in Telugu.Goutham VasudevMenon’s former associ-ate Pradeep Nayyar will

direct it. The projectwill be a psychologicalcrime thriller that dealswith the theme of childabuse and how itaffects the children,with Sarath playing apowerful role.

Sarath, who is a bigname in Tamil, alsoacted a good numberof films in Telugu.Prominent of whichinclude Bunny, JayaJanaki Nayaka and NaaPeru Surya-Naa IlluIndia.

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Sarath Kumar to makehis OTT debut for aha

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OTT have starteda healthy trend interms of contentand cinema:NITHYA MENON

outh-HindiactressNithyaMenen, whomade herdigital debut

with the web seriesBreathe: Into TheShadows, believesthat OTT plat-forms will notreplace theatricalexperience.

“I don’t thinkanything canreplace the wholeexperience ofgoing to a theatreand seeing a movieon a big

screen. That is adifferent experi-ence. But the OTTplatforms that areopening up nowhave started ahealthy trend interms of contentand cinema.”

“Sometimes,there is a certainstagnancy, every-body walks on thesame path, and alot of thingsbecome cliches.OTT is opening upnew opportunitiesfor everybody. As

an actor, I amvery

hope-ful.

(It is a medium)Even for writersand directors whowant to explorediverse content.”

She feels thateveryone shouldmake niche con-tent so that there issomething foreverybody towatch.

“There should besomething foreveryone, so that iswhat OTT is doing.I feel that’s a veryhealthy environ-ment,” she said.

She has a hugeplan that involveswriting a script,too. “I had alwayswanted to sit andwrite a script.Otherwise I don’tget the energy todo it. I gave it astart, but I didn’tput any deadline,so it was like if Ifelt like writing,I would write,if I didn’t, Iwouldn’t. Ididn’t finishthe wholething. I thinkI have a fewmore

months,” shesaid.

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COVID-19 relatedappeals by Rajamouliand Koratala Siva

roduction houseUV Creations,which strikes afine balancebetween big andsmall-budgeted

cinema, has roped inSantosh Sobhan andSanjay Rao, Brahmaji’sson, for a new film. Theirin-house directorMerlapaka Gandhi haspenned the film’s script,while one of his long-timeassociates will be makinghis directorial debut withit. With the film being anadult comedy, we hear UVwill cease from taking theproduction credits. It isbelieved they’ve alreadybooked a beach-sideresort in the outskirts ofVisakhapatnam to shoot it.Being made as a web film,it will most likely drop onaha, as UV and GeethaArts have collaborated formultiple production ven-tures in the past.

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SANTOSH SOBHAN

AND SANJAY RAO

IN MERLAPAKA

GANDHI'S STORY