1,00,352COVID

DEATHS IN INDIA

RECOVEREDACTIVE9,45,17964,49,259

CONFIRMED CASES54,02,807

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8FINMIN ALLOWS STATES TO BORROW ADDL RS 7,106 CR

�ANALYSIS 7NO THOUGHT FOR SMALL FARMERS

SPORTS 11SRH BEAT

CSK BY 7 RUNS

VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY OCTOBER 3, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

}ANU AND NIDHHI IN RAVI TEJA’S NEXTPage 12

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 333*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 2, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Ashwin (Adhik) & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Dwitiya: Full Night

Nakshatram: Revati: 08:50 amTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 09:07 am – 10:36 am

Yamagandam: 01:33 pm – 03:02 pm

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 06:10 am - 07:38 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 03:46 am – 05:34 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:41 am – 12:28 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: HazeTemp: 34/26Humidity: 79%Sunrise: 06.06 amSunset: 06.03 pm

Covid-19 survivors now experience hair lossNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Some Covid-19 survivors arenow dealing with severe hairloss post recovery.

As part of Long Covid, sur-vivors are experiencing variousissues like fatigue, fibrosis inlungs, rashes and hair loss,which has become an increas-ingly common complaint overrecent months. V Lavanya, atechie, said, “I was infectedwith Covid-19 in Septemberfirst week. I am now experienc-ing severe hair fall and it is a

noticeable change especiallyon my forehead. However it isnot the same for others at myhome. A few of us have beenshedding hair, while othershave different post recoverysymptoms like fatigue.”

Hollywood actress AlyssaMilano was one of the firstcelebrities to talk publicly abouther experience with hair fallafter recovering from Covid-19. Another homemaker UVijaya Lakshmi said, “A baldspot has been formed on myscalp and it is clearly visible toanyone. Post-recovery, my hair

started falling out in clumps.When I sought advice from adoctor, I was told not to worryand said it even happens postrecovery of other diseases. Thedoctor said that the hair willcome back and I was advisedto avoid brushing as frequent-ly. Now, even if I want to hidethat I was infected with Covid,the bald spot on my headdoesn’t allow me to.” Doctorspoint that when the body hasgone through a stressful orshocking event, it goes intolockdown mode.

CM launcheswork for 5hospitals,med collegePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy on Fridaylaid the foundation stone forthe Paderu Medical Collegein the tribal Araku Lok Sabhasegment in Visakhapatnam.

In this virtual event, theChief Minister laid the foun-dation stone also for buildingfive new multi-specialty hos-pitals at Seetampeta (Srikak-ulam district), Parvathipuram(Vizianagaram), Dornala(Prakasam), Buttaigudem(West Godavari) andRampachodavaram (EastGodavari), all tribal areas.

He also laid the foundationfor a Tribal EngineeringCollege at Kurupam.

"The tribal areas lackedproper healthcare facilities sofar but we are now establish-ing five multi-specialty hos-pitals in the ITDA that willcater to even the remoteareas and be a boon to theinhabitants,” Jagan said.

Special Chief SecretariesSatish Chandra (HigherEducation) and K S JawaharReddy (Health) displayedmodels of the proposed engi-neering college, medical col-lege and hospital campuses.

Government starts handingover RoFR pattas to tribals n Chief Minister hails services of village/ward volunteers with applause at 7 pm

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy launched the start ofdistribution of RoFR(Recognition of Forest Rights)pattas to tribals in State virtu-ally from his camp office onFriday; the event scheduled insuch a way as to commemorateGandhi Jayanti.

Speaking on the occasion,Jagan said that it’s been a yearsince the launch of the village/ ward secretariat system, ful-filling Gandhi’s dream of Gram

Swaraj by taking the gover-nance to the village level rightto the doorstep of the people.

The Chief Minister said thatabout 3.12 lakh acres of landwas being distributed to 1.53lakh tribal families in 35 sched-uled zones and two instalmentsof Rythu Bharosa assistance(Rs 11,500) is being provided.

To ensure the real beneficia-ries got the land rights underRoFR, a database was beingcreated with photographs andclear demarcation of the landwith marking stones.

The details would be uploa-ded on the state government’swebland portal, Jagan said.

“The distribution of theland pattas will be taking placeover the entire month and toavoid land disputes, the Stategovernment has clearlymarked the boundaries, placedmarking stones, and will alsotake photographs of beneficia-ries standing in their allottedsites, and upload the details inwebland and ROFR database,”he said.

KCR expands agendafor the Apex Council

PNS/ Hyderabad

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao late onFriday demanded the Centreinclude all water disputesbetween Telangana andAndhra Pradesh on the agen-da of the Apex Council meet-ing scheduled for October 6.

The crucial meeting will beattended by the ChiefMinisters of both the TeluguStates and would be chaired byUnion Jal Shakthi MinisterGajendra Singh Shekhawat toresolve water disputes between

both Telangana and AP.In his letter to Shekhawat,

KCR demanded that Centreissue immediate directions tothe AP government to stopwork on expansion ofPothireddypadu head regula-tor and construction ofRayalaseema Lift IrrigationScheme.

In order to enforce this, theoperational control ofSrisailam reservoir should behanded over to Telanganaimmediately, he demanded.

Centre gives ‘friend’ Jaganfree hand to borrow for AP PNS n NEW DELHI

The increasing warmthbetween the YSRCP and BJP ispaying rich dividends toAndhra Pradesh government,at least financially.

This is quite evident fromthe fact that the Centre hasbeen allowing the JaganmohanReddy government to borrowleft, right and centre.

On Friday, the Centre per-mitted the State government togo for an additional borrowingof Rs 7,106 crore, to meet itsexpenditure requirementsamid falling revenues due tothe Covid-19 crisis.

On Thursday, AP wasallowed to raise additionalloans totalling Rs 2,525 crore,TS Rs 2,508 crore, KarnatakaRs 4,509 crore, Goa Rs 223 cro-re, and Tripura Rs 148 crore.

An official statement onFriday said: “The Ministry ofFinance has granted addition-al borrowing permission to twomore states, Uttar Pradesh andAndhra Pradesh, for success-fully undertaking reforms inthe public distribution systemand ease of doing business.”

This is despite the fact thatAndhra Pradesh has raised Rs

47,130 crore till August of itsannual Budget estimated bor-rowings of Rs 48,295 crore forthe 2020-21 fiscal.

This is understandable, con-sidering that the AP govern-ment has spent a whopping Rs84,521 crore till August tow-ards salaries, pensions, interestpayments and welfare schemes.

The Centre justified its deci-

sion to free up some moremoney for Andhra Pradesh,saying that it has become thefirst state in the country to suc-cessfully undertake ease ofdoing business reforms andwas thus eligible to raise anadditional amount of Rs 2,525crore through open marketborrowings.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh hadalso completed PDS reforms toenable the One Nation-OneRation Card system.

Last week, five states AndhraPradesh, Telangana, Goa,Karnataka and Tripurareceived the finance ministry'snod for additional Rs 9,913crore borrowing, after meetingthe reform condition of theimplementation of OneNation-One Ration Card sys-tem.

AP Congress gets aHarsha Kumar boost PNS n RAJAHMUNDRY

Accusing Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy of “fallingat the feet of the Centre” toavoid court cases, former MPHarsha Kumar on Fridayalleged that atrocities onwomen are taking place inAndhra Pradesh just like thesituation in Uttar Pradesh.

Harsha Kumar said that hedecided to join the Congressimpressed by how Rahul and

Priyanka Gandhi are fightingfor the cause of Dalits. “Onlythe Congress will be able to dojustice to Dalits,” the formerMP said, expressing his strongbelief in the party.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A massive protest erupted inDelhi Friday evening as anumber of civil societyactivists, students, women andpolitical leaders gathered atJantar Mantar against thealleged gangrape and death ofa young woman in Hathrasdistrict and the UP govern-ment's response to it.

Wearing masks and raisingslogans against the UP admin-istration, they demanded jus-tice for the 19-year-old victimand asked Chief Minister YogiAdityanath to resign.

The protest was to be held atIndia Gate initially but had toshifted to Jantar Mantar owingto the prohibitory orders inplace in the Rajpath area. Sev-eral political leaders, includingfrom the Aam Aadmi Partyand the Left, joined the protest.Most of them said they wereoutraged over the way UPpolice cremated the body ofthe victim, who died in Delhi'sSafdarjung Hospital, a fortni-ght after she was allegedly ra-ped by four upper caste men.

The woman's family allegedthe police forced them to con-duct the last rites in the deadof the night. But local policeofficers said the cremationwas done "as per the wishes ofthe family".

"What is happening in UP isgoondaraj," lawyer-activistPrashant Bhushan said.

"The police have surround-ed the village, are not allowingopposition leaders and medi-apersons to enter it and have

taken away the mobile phonesof the family members of thevictim."

Actor Swara Bhaskar, BhimArmy chief ChandrasekharAzad, AAP MLA SaurabhBhardwaj, Left leaders PrakashKarat and Sitaram Yechuryalso attended the protest.

Swaraj India leaderYogendra Yadav said theHathras incident "brings outthe complete breakdown ofanything called rule of law".

"It's not just that a rapehappened, or that she waskilled which is worse. There isa political patronage right fromthe beginning... The UttarPradesh administration is outthere to ensure that this newsdoesn't come out."

Yadav alleged the familywas denied even a decent cre-mation, which even criminalsare entitled to.

Calling what happened a"shutdown of democracy", he

said, "The UP government hasno basis to exist anymore".

Azad demanded that a fast-track court be set up to hearthe case daily.

Mass expression of outrage,revulsion at Jantar Mantar

‘Rape victim’ endslife, family allegescops did not act Narsinghpur (MP): A 32-year-old Dalit woman, who wasallegedly raped by three menfour days ago, committedsuicide on Friday in MadhyaPradesh's Narsinghpur district,police said. The woman'sfamily alleged that the policedid not register a complaint inthe last three days. on Friday,the police arrested threepersons, including one of thealleged rapists.

Gandhi Hospitalstaffer sacked formolesting Covidpatient PNS n HYDERABAD

An employee in the state-runGandhi Hospital here wasremoved from service and apolice complaint has beenlodged against him followingallegations that he misbe-haved with a woman Covid-19 patient. A hospital officialsaid the Class IV employeewas removed and a policecomplaint has been lodgedafter the matter came to hisnotice on Thursday.

HATHRAS HORROR

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials applaud the services of village and wardsecretariat employees at 7 pm on Friday.

2

2

2

2 2 2

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the electric car maker is finallyready to enter the India market in 2021. Musk revealed his plans to

bring Tesla cars to India in his response to a Twitter post that askedabout the progress on Tesla's planned entry into India. "Next year forsure," Musk said in response to the tweet that posted pictures of T-shirtswith "India wants Tesla" and "India loves Tesla" printedon them. "Thanks for waiting," he added. On severaloccasions earlier, Musk had revealed that he would liketo bring Tesla to India, but in a 2018 Twitter post hecited "some challenging government regulations"as a hurdle.

TESLA COMING TO INDIA NEXTYEAR, SAYS ELON MUSK

PENCE COULD BE TEMP PREZ IFTRUMP BECOMES INCAPACITATED

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, who was on his way today toUttar Pradesh's Hathras where a 20-year-old was gang raped and

tortured about two weeks ago, was pushed to the ground in aconfrontation with police when he and three otherparty leaders tried to enter the village where thevictim lived. In a 32-second video, a man in a whiteshirt and a helmet can be seen grabbing TMC MPPratima Mandal by the shoulders to prevent herfrom walking to the village. Derek O'Brien rushesto rescue her and the man then pushes himto the ground.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Friday attacked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, alleging he is running his government in an

atmosphere of "fear". On Gandhi Jayanti, she alsoinvoked the Father of the Nation, to assail thegovernment which, she claimed, swears by hisname but demolishes his ideals through its actions.The Congress leader also accused the Centre ofhaving weakened laws like MNREGA and Right toInformation (RTI) Act which her party'sgovernment had enacted to protect theinterests of common people.

ATMOSPHERE OF ‘FEAR’ UNDER MODI RULE: SONIA GANDHI

Like two U.S. presidents before him, Donald Trump could temporarilyhand over power to his vice president should he become incapacitated,for example while undergoing a medical procedure as treatment for thecoronavirus. Trump said on Friday that he had testedpositive for COVID-19 and was going intoquarantine to begin the recovery processimmediately. Under Section 3 of the U.S.Constitution's 25th Amendment, adopted in 1967following the 1963 assassination of President JohnKennedy, Trump could declare in writinghis inability to discharge his duties.

UP COPS PUSH DEREK O'BRIEN TOGROUND, MANHANDLE WOMEN MPS

8

Dept of Fertilizersranks 3rd among65 depts

5

Fresh charge-sheetagainst PNB official

2

The way forwardfor AgriculturalProduce MarketCommittees

n TS wants to include all water disputers in meeting

2

Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano shows the strands of hair she lost afterrecovering from Covid in this video grab.

2

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2020

EGG

RATES

` 52, 640 (10 gm)` 990

GOLD

` 60,700 (1kg)` 3300

VIJAYAWADA 521

HYDERABAD 521

VISAKHAPATNAM 520

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀55..2211

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `199

Without Skin `226

Broiler at Farm `137

`̀//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

AK Singhal given a warmfarewell by TTD colleaguesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Outgoing TTD ExecutiveOfficer Anil Kumar Singhal,who has been posted asPrincipal Secretary, Medical,Health and Family Welfarewas given a warm send offwith high tea at AnnamaiahBhavan, Tirumala on Friday.

The pleasant session wasorganised by the AdditionalExecutive Officer AV DharmaReddy along with other seniorofficials of TTD.

Addressing the gathering,Singhal said he was highlysatisfied and privileged toserve in the world-renownedreligious institution ofTirumala TirupatiDevasthanams for three yearsand five months and thankedall TTD employees for theirunbridled support and coop-eration.

He said he was confidentthat they would continue toserve the devotees in thesame spirit and dedication.

Earlier, Dharma Reddysummed up the series ofdevelopment activities thatwere taken up during the

tenure of Singhal as 25th EOof TTD with a PowerPointpresentation.

SVBC CEO Suresh Kumar,SE-2 Nageswar Rao, Srivaritemple Dy EO Harindranath,Dy EO Reception Balaji, Dy

EO (Revenue and Panchayat)Vijayasaradhi, EEs, DESaraswati, Health officer DrRR Reddy, GM Sesha Reddy,Garden Deputy DirectorSrinivas and others were pre-sent.

AP reports 6,555cases, 7,485 recoverPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh recorded6,555 new Covid-19 cases in24 hours ending 9 am onFriday, while 7,485patients got curedand 31 suc-cumbed, the lat-est bulletin said.

The aggregateof confirmedCovid-19 cases inAP now touched7,06,790 and recover-ies 6,43,993.

The death toll stood at5,900, leaving 56,897 activecases, the bulletin said.

East and West Godavaridistricts and Chittoor report-

ed more than 900 cases eachin 24 hours while Prakasamadded 668 anew.

Nine other districts report-ed less than 500 cases each.

In fact, Kurnool hasbeen reporting just

about 200 cases forthe past few dayswhile the north-coastal Andhradistricts of

S r i k a k u l a m ,Vizianagaram and

Visakhapatnam tooreduced their new case-

load to less than 300 daily.With a total of 99,135 pos-

itive cases so far, East Godavariis on the verge of touching theone lakh mark.

Active Covid caseload below 10L for 11th day PNS n NEW DELHI

For the 11th successive day,India's active Covid-19 casesremained less than 10 lakh,while the country continued tomaintain its global position ofhaving the maximum numberof recovered patients, theUnion Health Ministry said onFriday.

With 78,877 people havingrecuperated from Covid-19 ina span of 24 hours, India's totalrecoveries surged to 53,52,078pushing the recovery rate to83.70 per cent, according todata updated at 8 am.

"The last 10 lakh recoverieswere added in just 12 days.With this, India continues tomaintain its global position ofbeing the country with themaximum number of recov-

ered Covid patients in theworld," the ministry said.

There are 9,42,217 activecases of coronavirus infectionin the country which compris-es 14.74 per cent of the totalcaseload. Maharashtra is lead-ing the tally among states withmore than 2.5 lakh cases.Karnataka follows with morethan 1 lakh cases, the ministry

said.Fourteen states and Union

Territories, includingMeghalaya, Chhattisgarh,Puducherry, HimachalPradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,Goa and Sikkim, have lessthan 5,000 active cases ofCovid-19, the ministry high-lighted.

A total of 81,484 new con-

firmed cases have been report-ed in the last 24 hours in thecountry.

The ministry said that 78.07per cent of the 81,484 newcases reported in a span of 24hours are concentrated in 10states and UTs -- Maharashtra,Karnataka, Kerala, AndhraPradesh, Tamil Nadu, UttarPradesh, Odisha, West Bengal,Delhi and Chhattisgarh.

Maharashtra contributedmore than 16,000 new cases.Karnataka has contributedaround 10,000 cases and Keralafollows with more than 8,000.

Also, 10 States and UTs —Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, UttarPradesh, Delhi, West Bengal,Odisha, Chhattisgarh andKerala — account for 72 percent of the newly recovered

cases, the ministry said.Maharashtra has the highest

number of newly recoveredcases, followed by AndhraPradesh and Karnataka.

Further, 1,095 fatalities dueto Covid-19 have been regis-tered in the country in a spanof 24 hours, 83.37 percent ofwhich were reported from 10states and UTs —Maharashtra, Karnataka, UttarPradesh, Tamil Nadu, WestBengal, Punjab, AndhraPradesh, Delhi, Kerala,Chhattisgarh.

India's Covid-19 caseloadmounted to 63,94,068 with81,484 infections being report-ed in a day, while the death tollclimbed to 99,773 with thevirus claiming 1,095 lives in aspan of 24 hours, the dataupdated at 8 am showed.

ENDOWMENTS SECRETARY SWORN

IN AS TTD BOARD MEMBER PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Endowments Secretary M Girija Shankar was on Friday swornin as an ex-officio member of TTD board at the Srivari temple.Outgoing TTD EO Anil Kumar Singhal administered the oath of

office to Girija Shankar who was later rendered Vedasirvachanamat Ranganayakula Mandapam followed by presentation of Srivaritheertha prasadams.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Negligence by the teacher of aprivate school and villagersresulted in 14 students gettinginfected with Covid-19 in SCColony of Bhatluru village inSattenapalli mandal of Gunturdistrict.

Despite the governmentrepeatedly cautioning people totake all precautions, theteacher, who was alreadyinfected with Coronavirus,allegedly continued to takeclasses at his home, therebyspreading the infection to thestudents.

After the students were test-ed positive, health officialsconducted random tests in thevillage and found that anoth-er 25 people were infected. Thehealth officials have intensifiedtesting.

According to reports avail-able, a couple from the villagewas working as teachers in aprivate school at Narasaraopet.

The couple started takingtuition classes for lower class-es in a vacant house in the vil-lage. About two weeks ago, thecouple tested positive.

Health officials, by way ofcontact tracing, came to knowthat the couple was takingtuition classes and tested thechildren and found 14 of themto be infected.

The Coronavirus tally in

the village has now shot up to39.

Sattenapalli Tahsildar SVRamana Kumari said that theMandal Education Officer hasissued notices to the teacher asper the directions of districtCollector Anand Kumar. Theteacher was directed not to takeclasses hereafter.

Ramana Kumari said thatdisinfection measures were

conducted in the village and atesting camp was also held.“Samples of about 200 vil-lagers were taken and weexpect the results to come in aday or two,” the Tahsildar said.She said that infected childrenand elders were shifted to NRIand Sri Chaitanya Sai Sadhanquarantine centres.

Guntur district collector ISamuel Anand Kumar saidthat cases would be registeredunder Disaster ManagementAct if any private institutionsallow gathering of studentsfor conducting tuitions.

He said that there was nopermission to conduct privatetuitions and notice was issuedto the teacher in Bhatlur.

Anand Kuamr directedRDOs, tahsildars, commis-sioners and other Mandal levelofficials to conduct massivecampaigns on containmentstrategy and direct the privateinstitutions to follow Covidprotocols.

Teacher takes tuitions, 14kids; 25 villagers infected

Covid-19 survivors now experience hair lossContinued from Page 1

In such a condition, it focus-es on essential functions andhair growth is not as vital.Doctors term this phenome-non of hair loss as ‘telogen effl-uvium’ and say that this is aform of temporary hair loss th-at usually happens after stress,a shock, or a traumatic event.

This condition beginsmonths after a stressful expe-rience and usually occurs on

the top of the scalp.Hyderabad-based dermatol-

ogist K Pratyusha said, “Thereis no direct documentary evi-dence yet that hair loss is relat-ed to Covid-19; but there areincreasing complaints frompatients. Telogen effluvium istemporary hair loss and inmost cases, the hair growsback when its growth cyclenormalises. But this can takesome time. On average, on anygiven day, a person sheds about

100 hairs a day. However, hairloss is a highly emotive issue fora lot of patients. They must restassured that the hair will growback slowly and eventually.”

Before treating a patient,doctors typically go throughthe case history on what hap-pened in their life over the pastfew months to narrow downthe stress a patient has experi-enced recently.

Meanwhile, health officialstoo have confirmed that there

has been a rise in post Covid-19 complications.

A senior official from thehealth department said, “It isnot just in Telangana but thesepost Covid-19 complicationsare being seen across the world.A majority of the populationdoesn’t have, but in certaingroups of long-haulers, thereare some infections. Of these,the most common are fatigue,reduced concentration levels,infections to other organs. We

are advising recovered patientsto take care and do not ignoreany symptoms”.

In early September, theMinistry of Health and Familywelfare had said that as perpost-Covid-19 managementprotocol, the first follow-upvisit (physical/telephonic) for arecovered patient should bewithin seven days after dis-charge, preferably at the hospi-tal where he/she underwenttreatment.

Government starts...Continued from Page 1

The State government hastaken this initiative to bringnew light into the lives of trib-als, who are almost six percentof the entire population.

“As the first of its kind ini-tiative, my father Dr YSRajasekhar Reddy had takenup the initiative of providingrights to tribals on the landsthey cultivate in forests in2008. Almost after a decade,now we have got the opportu-nity to take forward the sameinitiative by providing 3.12lakh acres of land to 1.53 lakhtribal families in the State. Theaim is to turn the tribals asfarmers and support them byall means,” he said. Recalling

the promise made to the trib-als during his 3,648 km paday-atra, the Chief Minister saidthat the previous governmentabandoned the welfare of trib-als, and all the promises madeby them were confined to theparty’s manifesto.

“Unlike the previous gov-ernment, the YSRC govern-ment considers every word inthe manifesto as the BhagavadGita, the Bible, and the Quranand fulfils every promise madeto the public. All the necessarysteps to increase the income ofthe tribals will be taken up bythe State government and pro-vide financial assistancethrough Rythu Bharosa, alongwith the previous installmentsof Rs 11,500,” said Jagan.

Centre gives ‘friend’Jagan free hand ...

Continued from Page 1

view of the Covid-19 pan-demic, the Central govern-ment in May 2020 allowed anadditional borrowing limit ofup to 2 percent of gross statedomestic product (GSDP) tothe states for the year 2020-21.This made an amount up to Rs4,27,302 crore available to thestates.

One percent of this is sub-ject to the implementation offour specific state-levelreforms, where the weightageof each reform is 0.25 per centof GSDP. These reformsinclude implementation of theOne Nation-One Ration Cardsystem, ease of doing businessreform, urban local body orutility reforms, and powersector reforms.

Mass expression of...Continued from Page 1

"The culprits should bepunished as soon as possibleso that others get scared beforecommitting such crimes. Wewill go to Hathras and till thetime the matter doesn't cometo Delhi, there is no chance of

getting justice," he said.Bhaskar said people from

different groups have gatheredat Jantar Mantar, which showshow enraged people are. "It istime we start fighting againstthe rape epidemic. Today, weare standing against it here andwe have to win," she added.

KCR expandsagenda ...

Continued from Page 1

KCR made it clear that hewants to raise issues pertai-ning to both Krishna and Go-davari rivers in the meeting.

KCR said he intends toraise instances of injusticemeted out to Telanganaregion in sharing of Krishnawater in undivided AndhraPradesh; right of Telanganastate to know about its shareand efforts made by hisGovernment in this regard;the ‘illegal’ PothireddypaduHead Regulator project andits unauthorised expansion byAP which he said will irre-versibly compromise theinterests and rights ofTelangana, the ineffectivesupervision of KRMB andissues related to Section 89 ofthe AP Reorganisation Act.

Regarding the Godavaririver, KCR said he wants toraise objections made by APto the ongoing projects byTelangana state, utilisationof the river waters, demandsof Telangana, and instancesof injustice meted out to TS.

Gandhi Hospitalstaffer sacked formolesting Covidpatient

Continued from Page 1

Police said the alleged inci-dent happened on September27 and a case on charges ofsexual harassment has beenregistered against the man.

Gandhi Hospital is thepremier Covid-19 care centrein the state.

AP Congressgets a...

Continued from Page 1

Further, he said that theCongress was the only alter-native to the BJP at theCentre.

“The Centre has failedmiserably in reining inCorona virus. The State andCentral governments are notdisclosing facts regarding thepandemic even though manyhave succumbed,” he said.

‘Rape victim’ ends life, family....Continued from Page 1

The shocking incident,which comes in the wake ofHathras rape-and-murdercase, took place in Gadarwaraarea of the district.

On Friday, assistant sub-inspector Mishrilal Kodapa ofGotitoriya police outpost wassuspended for laxity in duty,said Gadarwara Sub Divisional

Officer of Police SR Yadav."We registered a case today

against Arvind and ParsuChoudhary, who belong tothe same community as thevictim, and another accusedAnil Rai for gang-rape," Yadavinformed.

"Arvind Choudhary hasbeen arrested and a hunt hasbeen launched for the othertwo," he added.

The trio allegedly raped thewoman on Monday when shewas out in a field to cut grassfor the cattle.

The SDOP, however, said thewoman's two nieces who sawthe incident stated that theaccused caught hold of her andteased her, but did not confirmthat she was raped. Whenthey raised alarm, the accusedfled, the two girls told police.

Prior to the advent of theBritish, many cities andtowns flourished all over India.These urban centres hadgrown over centuries and wereorganically connected to set-tlements in the hinterlands.This balanced system of rural-urban settlements (and mar-kets) was disrupted with theadvent of British rule.

The method was to developvertical trade and ignore hor-izontal trade. Vertical tradewas promoted by focusing onexpanding the output of afew specialised commoditiesfor export. Thus, investmentswere made in mines, planta-tions and tea gardens, and fortheir movement to the portcities. In turn, facilities for pay-ments were made for reverseflow from the port cities to thelocal areas.

While vertical trade wasgiven a fillip, horizontal tradestagnated. Horizontal tradeincludes buying provisions inthe rural markets for the urbanmiddle class and selling indus-

trial or other city goods tothem. Any development ofhorizontal trade was more aby-product of the verticaltrade.

In order to promote verticaltrade, the British created con-trived (also called regulated)markets. One such regulatedmarket was the AgriculturalMarketing Committees(AMC).

For example, the objectiveof the Cotton and GrainMarkets Act of HyderabadAssigned Districts (1897) wasto induce farmers to producecotton and provide insuranceby ensuring a fair, fixed price.

Later, such contrived mar-kets were developed inBombay (1927), Hyderabadproper (1930), CentralProvinces (1932), Madras(1933), Punjab and Mysore(1939).

In an AMC, market com-mittees supervise the sale andpurchase of certain designat-ed (notified commodities).These committees are respon-sible for orderly and fair mar-keting procedures. The juris-diction of a committee extendsthroughout a 'notified area'and it is this control over a realmarketing area that makes itpossible to influence spatialeconomic development andcreate stronger rural-urbanlinkages.

Thus, each AMC serves anarea, called the trade area. In

this area the farmers areexpected to sell their produceto the AMC. The most desir-able distribution of AMCs inspace occurs when the tradearea of each AMC takes theshape of a hexagon. If thesehexagons (trade areas) arestacked side-by-side we get ahoneycomb pattern. The rea-son is that the hexagon leadsto optimum rural-urban links,balanced pattern of rural-urban links and rapid eco-nomic development.

As the markets in Indiawere created by administrative

decisions the trade areas arecircular, not hexagonal.Circular trade areas do notlead to optimum outcomes.

The reason is that when weplace a number of circles inclose proximity, the fit is notperfect and some spacesremain between the circles.These interstitial spaces are

holes between trade areas andlead to sub-optimal develop-ment outcomes. It is notewor-thy that when we stack hexag-onal trade areas side-by-sideareas no interstitial holes areobserved.

Thus, the regulated Indianagricultural market systemhas not evolved organically. Itwas established on a givenscale at a particular place andhas holes in trade areas ofAMCs. The simplest way tobridge the holes is to relocatethe AMCs in order to create ahexagonal trade area aroundeach AMC. However, an AMCis a physical structure 'locked'to a local place. DemolishingAMCs in order to create a newpattern of AMCs is not apractical proposition. Therecently enacted law holdsmuch promise to fill the holesand restore the rural-urban

continuum. The first step has already

been taken and farmers havebeen allowed the freedom tosell wherever they get the bestprices for their produce. Thenext step is to create a virtualplatform at the national levelin order to create the balancebetween vertical and hori-zontal trade.

The digital marketplacewould directly connect thefarmers to the retail/bulk con-sumers, intermediaries, andothers. The successfulGovernment e-marketplace(GeM) is an exemplar forsuch a platform, and the exist-ing Multi CommodityExchange of India Limited(MCX) could perform thisrole. Importantly, the FoodCorporation of India couldalso operate on this platformand be the buyer of the last

resort in case the price fallsbelow the MSP.

The freeing of farmers tosell their produce anywhere,anytime, and to anyone islikely to lead to a rapidincrease in their incomes.Alongside the change in laws,digital technology has thepotential to reinstate verticaland horizontal trade andrestore the rural-urban contin-uum lost nearly a centuryago. Most importantly, itwould bring about a paradigmshift by moving away from thecommunity developmentmodel, in practice since the1950s, to a model that relies onintegration of settlements.

(Author has a PhD fromthe USA and a DLitt from

Kanchi University. The articleis based on his research

and practice and views arepersonal)

DR. SAMEER SHARMA

The way forward for Agricultural Produce Market CommitteesWhile vertical trade was given a fillip,horizontal trade stagnated. Horizontal tradeincludes buying provisions in the ruralmarkets for the urban middle class andselling industrial or other city goods to them

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2020

PNS n ONGOLE

Amid rising security challengesin the country, intensifyingradicalisation and communalsentiments, Prakasam districtpolice Special Weapons andTactics (SWAT) team, one ofthe first in the country, has car-ried out an anti-terror exerciseto enhance it preparedness.

"With the rising communalsentiments and radicalisationof youth, police should have thecapacity to undertake high riskanti-terror operations to serveand protect the citizens," saidPrakasam districtSuperintendent of PoliceSiddharth Kaushal.

He said the district policeshould not wait for SpecialForces to arrive from farawayhubs in crucial scenarios suchas urban warfare and high-riskoperations. Raised anddeployed in the district byKaushal, the SWAT team hascompleted a year, aimed atundertaking high risk opera-tions, which the normal districtpolice cannot do.

As part of their training, the

SWAT team has been regular-ly conducting reconnaissanceoperations, recces and real lifefiring even during theCoronavirus pandemic. Theurban warfare specialist teamfinds even more relevance at atime when communal politicsare finding their way into thestate, which has been immuneto such religious politics untilnow, being a beacon of com-munal harmony.

"Our SWAT team has gonearound important places inthe district, like theBhairavakona temple and Ravi

Priya mall. We have done recceand studied all the entry andexit points. Every week ourteam goes and conducts recon-naissance of all these potentialtargets," he said.

The SP said it is importantfor the district police to havesome capacity to respond to sit-uations, rather than complete-ly depending on experts toarrive. He cited the example of2008 terrorist attacks inMumbai when the policedepartment was brought to itsknees for lack of urban warfareexperts like a SWAT team.

PNS n SECUNDERABAD

The South Central Railway(SCR) zone will operate twomore special trains betweenKadapa and Anantapur andKurnool and Anantapur tohelp Civil Services examinationcandidates appear for theexam.

"Train No 07245, Kadapa-Anantapur UPSC special willdepart Kadapa at 3:30 pm andarrive at Anantapur at 7:30 pmon the same day," said a railwayofficial. The return train bear-ing the No 07246 will departAnantapur at 6.30 pm onSunday and arrive at Kadapa at10.30 pm on the same day. Enroute, the UPSC special willhalt at Yerraguntla, Tadipatri,Gooty and Kalluru stations.

The second train is betweenKurnool and Anantapur."Train No 07243, Kurnoolcity-Anantapur UPSC special,will depart Kurnool at 4 pm onSaturday and arrive atAnantapur at 8 pm on thesame day," he said.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan called upon thepeople to take a pledge torededicate themselves to theprinciples of truth and non-violence on the occasion ofGandhi Jayanti on Friday.

"Gandhiji's supreme sacrificefor the nation, his immortalspirit and imperishable teach-ings will always guide us as anation and his teachings havealways been an inspiration tothe world leaders," saidHarichandan.

He paid glowing tributes tothe Father of the Nation on his151st birth anniversary, andalso to former Prime MinisterLal Bahadur Shastri, whosebirthday also falls on the sameday. The Governor paid floraltributes to the portrait ofMahatma Gandhi.

"Mahatma Gandhi demand-ed the British to quit India andgave the call to the people ofthe country to join the non-cooperation movement. In

response to the call given bythe Mahatma, thousands ofpeople came on to the streetsand revolted against the Britishrule," he reminded.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy also paidhis respects to Gandhi on hisjayanti. "Remembering thegreat leader, who liberated andshaped the nation by pro-pounding his ideals of satya(truth) and ahimsa (non-vio-lence)," he said.

He said Gandhiji may not bewith us today but his teachingsand noble thoughts have stoodthe test of time, continuing toguide millions of people. InNew Delhi, the ResidentCommissioners of both theTelugu states, Andhra andTelangana, celebrated GandhiJayanti at Andhra Bhavan andTelangana Bhavan.

Andhra resident commis-sioner Bhavana Saxena andTelangana resident commis-sioner Gaurav Uppal paid flo-ral tributes to Gandhiji.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM· With the experiment on appleplantations at few areas inVizag Agency of Eastern Ghatsyielding positive results, theITDA-Paderu decided toincrease the apple cultivation inthe Agency. The good qualitysaplings will be procured fromHimachal Pradesh andUttarakhand.

While earlier it was spreadover 60 acre, now it will beextended to 200 more acres inChintapalli, GK Veedhi, Paderuand Araku Valley mandals inVizag Agency. The apple treesat Madem village inDhamanapalli panchayat ofGK Veedhi mandal in VizagAgency have borne anywherebetween 30 and 34 fruits pertree. Locals and a few officialshave tasted the apples grown inthe village.

G Prabhakar Rao,

Horticulture Officer, ITDA-Paderu, said that in between2016 and 2017, around 90farmers of three to four man-dals in Vizag Agency with thesupport of ITDA-Paderu haveplanted low chilling varieties ofapples Anna and DorsettGolden.

Farmers witnessed a bettercrop this year as each fruitweighs in between 300 to 400gms and the farmers are like-ly to harvest the fruits in cou-ple of weeks, he added.

Apples normally grow inthe Himalayan belt because ofcold weather conditions. AsChintapalle, GK Veedhi,Paderu and Araku Valley man-dals in Vizag Agency havebeen witnessing cold temper-ature, officials have promotedthe low chilling varieties ofapple saplings such as Annaand Dorsett Golden in Vizag.

Project Officer of ITDA Dr

Venkateswar said he tasted theapples grown in Vizag Agency.The apples, which cultivated inVizag Agency, were found to begood in taste with juicy and lit-tle sour.

“We have decided to increasethe area under apple cultivationin Vizag Agency by another 200

acres by 2020 with the cost ofaround Rs 3 crore. So fararound 90 to 100 farmers wereinvolved. We wish to includeanother cluster with over 400more farmers in the apple cul-tivation. We will procure Annaand Dorsett Golden varieties ofapple saplings from Himachal

Pradesh and Uttarakhand andwill distribute to selected farm-

ers in the coming months,” saidG Prabhakar Rao.

The soil testing has beendone in some villages of threeto four mandals in VizagAgency marked for cultivationand noted that they were alsoconducting training camps forthe farmers, who will beinducted.

As many called Chintapalleregion in Vizag Agency asAndhra Kashmir for register-ing lowest temperatures, theRegional Agricultural ResearchStation (RARS) in associationwith Hyderabad-based Centrefor Cellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB) has plantedsome apple saplings of threevarieties Anna, Michael andSelection shipped in fromHimachal Pradesh on theRARS premises to study thefeasibility of growing the othervarieties of the delicious applesin the Vizag region.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Based on a request from the dis-trict administration, the IndianNavy is partnering with theGreater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation(GVMC) in undertaking aeri-al seeding in Visakhapatnam.The initiative of GVMC, whichis aimed at enhancing the greencover in and aroundVisakhapatnam was flagged offby Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaya SaiReddy and Vice- Admiral AtulKumar Jain, Commanding-in-Chief ENC in the presence ofa few others on Friday.

Two UH3H helicopters with

two tonnes of seed balls under-took the aerial seeding onFriday. Naval helicopters will beairdropping a total of 50,000seed balls weighing approxi-mately 6.25 tonnes in five loca-tions identified by the GVMC.

These locations includeareas around Pedagantyada,Aganampudi, Naidu Thota,Chinamushidiwada andPavuralakonda in Bheemiliwhere af forestation isplanned covering an area ofnearly 200 acres and are inac-cessible by road and thereforeaerial seeding is being under-taken with the assistance ofENC.

CAPSULE

8 minor bondedlabourers freedVIJAYAWADA: The Gunturpolice freed eight minor girls,who are working as bondedlabourers, and arrested threepersons for human trafficking.Addressing a press conferencein Guntur on Friday, GunturUrban Superintendent of PoliceRN Ammi Reddy said that thegang of three persons wasproviding girls from Srikakulamarea for maid works in Guntur.He said that one girl escapedfrom work and lodged acomplaint with police, whofreed the girl, and further freedanother seven girls frombonded work.Ammi Reddy saidthat police arrested KarnapuAsiraiah alias Chiranjeevi,Vempada Padalu andKhampadu Ramu of ChillapetaRajam village in Ranastalammandal of Srikakulam districtbased on a complaint lodged byCWC chairperson BSugunarani.The gang of was providingminor girls from Srikakulamdistrict to Guntur city as per thenecessity of workers in thehouses to work as maids andfor other works. The accusedused to collect thousands ofrupees from the owners, whoare keeping the minor girls asmaid servants illegally.SP Ammi Reddy appreciatedsub-inspector S Nagakumari,Anti- Human Trafficking unit in-charge G Baby, and others whoarrested the gang. Ammi Reddysaid that it is an offence to keepthe minor girls for house maidservices. He warned that thepolice would take stern actionagainst the house owners ifthey keep minor girls for housemaid services.

n Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddyalso paid his respectsto Gandhi on hisjayanti. "Rememberingthe great leader, wholiberated and shapedthe nation bypropounding his idealsof satya (truth) andahimsa (non-violence),"he said

Gandhi’s teachings stillrelevant in society: CM

n "Gandhiji's supreme sacrifice for the nation, hisimmortal spirit and imperishable teachings will alwaysguide us as a nation and his teachings have alwaysbeen an inspiration to the world leaders," saidHarichandan

Prakasam police SWATteam carries out mock drill

SCR zonearranges twomore Civilsspecials

FRUITFUL RESEARCH

Apple cultivation area to be expanded in Vizag Agency‘Corona cases willbe under control’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

During the past few weeks,less number of Covid-19 pos-itive cases is being reported inthe State, which is a positivesign, despite conducting ahuge number of tests.

In all, 5,000 positive caseswere reported during the pastfew weeks, which is less whencompared to the past, whenmore than 10,000 positivecases were reported per day,disclosed Covid CommandControl Special Officer Dr CPrabhakara Reddy.

He said that though thenumber of cases is on thewane one should take precau-tionary measures to containthe spread of virus, like wear-ing masks, washing handsand maintaining social dis-tance as they have not

attained herd immunity in theState. The number of cases arecoming down as they havebeen increased the testingand contact tracing, he point-ed out.

He said that earlier a fewdistricts like Krishna Kurnool,Guntur and others reportedmore number of positivecases, however, during thecurrent time except East andWest Godavari districts otherdistricts are reporting lessthan 500 positive cases.

He said that if this trendcontinues for some more daysby the October month end,the situation will be undercontrol. It can be recalled thatthe deaths are also fallendown drastically by 50 percent as less than 50 deaths perday are being reported atpresent, he said.

Applesnormally grow inthe Himalayanbelt due to coldweather. AsChintapalle, GKVeedhi, Paderuand ArakuValley mandalshave beenwitnessing coldtemperature,officials havepromoted thelow chillingvarieties

Govt strives to achieveGrama Swaraj: SajjalaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The government was movingahead in achieving GramaSwaraj, thanks to vision ofChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, who brought in theVillage Secretariat system,which has been delivering thewelfare schemes to thedoorstep of people, disclosedAdvisor to Government(Public Affairs) SajjalaRamakrishna Reddy.

Speaking to the media hereon Friday, he said that a sectionof the media has been deliber-ately trying to create a wedgebetween the constitutionalbodies and has been promi-nently publishing and telecast-ing news and views with malafide intentions. The observa-tions made in the courts arebeing highlighted to give a falseimpression among people.

“We do not know whether,

or not the court has made suchcomments but the media inquestion has prominently pub-lished stories with headlinesattributing to courts in thename of comments and obser-vations. We raised such issueson earlier occasions and soughtthe intervention of courts tostop such a practice. The obser-vations published pertaining totwo different cases, one is

about the social media, ofwhich we have no control andother one is about an isolatedincident.

“Constitutional bodiesshould observe self-restraintand it is not fair for one systemto comment on the other as allare the equal and they shouldrespect each other. It is not fairto pass comments on others inthe shield of immunity,” he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Commissioner of TaxesPiyush Kumar instructed offi-cials of the Commercial Taxdepartment here on Friday toprepare the plans to exceed thetarget of collecting Rs 986crore taxes, including arrears,in the next quarter fromOctober to December.

He said in a statement herethat necessary guidelineswould be issued to officialsevery day division-wise andcircle-wise to reach targets.

He also instructed officialsto focus on bogus dealers andtraders and bogus bills. Hewarned of action against bogusdealers and traders if theyissue bogus bills. However,traders, who pay taxes honest-ly, would not be caused incon-venience. He said that officialswere given clear instructions inthis regard. He said that thejoint commissioners and otherofficials were given directionsthrough video conference toachieve the target of collectingtaxes of Rs 986 crore.

Govt sets target ofRs 986 cr taxes for next quarter

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP leader Nara Lokeshaccused the YSRCP govern-ment of trying to cover up thesuspicious death of anotherDalit youth Ajay while in theexcise police custody inVijayawada. He said that theefforts were on to give illhealth as the cause behind thedeath of Ajay. The governmentwas exerting pressure on par-ents and family members notto raise suspicion, he alleged.

In a statement here onFriday, Lokesh said that theDalit youth was called forinterrogation and was badlybeaten up that led to his death.The death happened whileAjay was in the custody of theSpecial Enforcement Bureau.

Expressing concern overthe rising atrocities, the TDPMLC deplored that theJaganmohan Reddy regimegave one type of treatment toDurga Temple Board mem-

ber's son and another type oftreatment to Dalit youththough they faced samecharges. Dalits were beingpersecuted now. Just for notwearing a mask, Dalit youthKiran Kumar was beaten todeath. For asking for masks,Dalit doctor Dr Sudhakar wasbeaten and branded as insane.

“Just for protesting againstillegal sand transportation,Dalit youth Vara Prasad wascalled and tonsured at thepolice station. Dalits will teacha fitting lesson to the YSRCPat the right time,” he said.

Lokesh decriesDalit’s deathPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy will launch the presti-gious programme JaganannaVidya Kanuka at Kankipadu inKrishna district on October 5,said Minister for EducationAdimulapu Suresh. He visitedthe Zilla Parishad High Schooland Model Primary School atKankipadu on Friday, alongwith government programmescoordinator TalasilaRaghuram, principal secretaryB Rajasekhar, PenamaluruMLA Kolusu Partha Sarathi,Collector A MD Imtiaz, jointcollectors K Madhavi Lathaand L Siva Sankar.

The minister addressing themedia at Kankipadu said thatthe Chief Minister wouldobserve the Naadu-Neduworks at Kankipadu onOctober 5. Later, he would for-mally launch the Vidya Kanukaprogramme in which the stu-dents would be given a kitcomprising three pairs of

school uniforms, belts, tie,socks, and shoes.

The minister said that underthe Naadu-nedu programme,infrastructure was developedfor each and every governmentschool across the State in threephases. Likewise, the infra-structure for junior collegesand degree colleges would alsobe developed in a phased man-ner. All government schoolswould compete with the pri-vate and corporate schools, hesaid.

Admitting that Naadu-Neduprogramme was delayed due toCorona pandemic, he said thatthe target would be covered byexpediting the works.The min-ister announced that the YSRpre-primary school pro-gramme would be implement-ed from the next academic yearafter developing 1,000 Ang-anwadi centres as pre-prima-ry schools. District educationofficer Rajyalakshmi and SarvaShiksha Abhiyan project offi-cer Ravindra were also present.

CM to launch Vidya Kanuka on Oct 5

Online classes forMBBS studentsvalid: NMC PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The online theory classes forthe MBBS students will con-tinue as per the NationalMedical Commission's circu-lar, clarified that the NationalMedical Commission, whichstated that in view of Covid-19, online classes are validand are approved for teach-ing during the current pan-demic situation.

The National MedicalCommission in a commu-niqué to the dean and theprincipals of all medical col-leges/institutions stated:"Attention of NationalMedical Commission hasbeen drawn to some mediareports that online classes forteaching of MBBS curricu-lum were not approved by theerstwhile the MedicalCouncil of India. In thisregard, it is clarified that inview of pandemic Covid-19,the medical colleges/institu-tions in the country are con-ducting online theory class-es for MBBS students. Onlineclasses are valid and wereapproved for teaching duringthe current pandemic Covid-19 only. Such online theoryclasses are required to be sup-plemented by practical andclinical training as per thecurrent curriculum in allMBBS subjects in the col-leges/institutions and affiliat-ed hospitals as and when col-leges reopen."

Prakasam district police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team carries outout an anti-terror exercise to enhance it preparedness in Ongole on Friday

Navy choppers carryout aerial seeding

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu on Friday predictedsimultaneous elections in 2022.Addressing Amalapuram partyleaders online, he exhorted theparty cadre to be prepared towork for the victory of TD withthe support of public.

He called upon the peoplefrom all walks of life in theState to continue their strug-gle till the oppressive regimeof Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy comes toan end. Naidu said that theState has never seen a gov-ernment like the present onerun by Jagan, which wasstopping all developmentprojects and bringing alldevelopment to a halt. Herecalled his experiences withhis companions on the occa-

sion of the completion ofeight years of 'VastunnaMeekosam' padayatra. Hepointed out that this paday-atra provided inspiration forstarting various irrigationand development projectslater in the State.

Naidu asserted that only inarchaic regime like theYSRCP's that projects havinghuge potential and futuregrowth would be halted anddestroyed. "Jagan shouldrealise that the antagonist ofdevelopment would go downas a betrayer in history.People would condemn suchanti-development forces for-ever," he said.

He said that the growthand prosperity of societywas a never-ending, ceaselessprocess for which visionaryideas were a must.

TDP chief predictssimultaneous polls

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2020 telangana 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday visited RajBhavan to personally congrat-ulate Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan's husband andrenowned Nephrologist Dr PSoundararajan, who wasrecently selected for theDronacharya Award inNephrology.

Chief Minister went to theresidence of the Governor inRaj Bhavan premises and felic-itated Soundararajan with ashawl and bouquet and con-veyed his greetings and wish-es. The Chief Minister said thatentire Telangana is proud ofthe achievements ofSoundararajan and appreciat-

ed his illustrious career span-ning more than 35 years in thefield of Nephrology and hisresearch contribution in thefield of Nephrology and hisservice to the patients.

Soundararajan was one ofthe pioneers in the transplantof kidney collected from a

brain dead snakebite victimand he has also organisedmore than 1,200 kidney trans-plants including 200 diseasedonor transplants. TheGovernor and DrSoundararajan thanked theChief Minister for the person-al visit.

KCR felicitates Dr Soundararajan

PNS n HYDERABAD

Soon after assuming charge asthe Congress party's new incharge for Telangana,Manickam Tagore urged theparty leaders in the state towork together for victory in theensuing by-elections toLegislative Assembly andLegislative Council.

Even at a meeting inSangareddy on Friday,Manickam asked the cadre towork together to defeat ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao in next Assembly elec-tions. However, the Congressleaders showed Congresstrademark politics at Jangaoneven the in-charge is in thestate. The differences amongthe leaders came to the foreduring farmers' signature cam-

paign programme.Jostling and verbal war took

place between the followers offormer Minister and formerPCC Chief Ponnala Laxmaiahand Janagaon DistrictCongress Committee presi-dent Janga Raghava Reddy.Ponnala Laxmaiah's followersentered into an argument withRaghava Reddy's followersalleging that the latter isencouraging 'rowdism'. The

argument escalated leading tojostling among the followers ofboth the leaders. However, theissue subdued when Dasojuand other leaders intervened.

Differences between the fol-lowers of Ponnala Laxmaiah andJanga Raghava Reddy are notnew to the party. During munic-ipal elections too, Ponnala fol-lowers argued with RaghavaReddy followers alleging that nota single seat had been allocatedto them and was not given B-Form to Ponnala, who workedas PCC Chief and Minister.These sorts of incidents are notnew in the Congress and simi-lar incidents took place inGandhi Bhavan itself. One hasto wait and see how ManickamTagore will solve these problemsand set right the leaders tomove forward unitedly.

Tagore's ‘unity mantra' falls flat

TS logs 10 Covid-19deaths, 2,009 new casesPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana on Friday reportedhigher number of recoveriesfrom Covid-19 than the newcases during the last 24 hours.The state added 2,009 cases but2,437 recovered from the virus.While the tally of positivecases rose to 1,95,609, therecoveries also jumped to1,65,844.

The state's recovery rateimproved further to 84.78 percent against the national aver-age of 83.5 per cent. The 24-hour period ending 8 p.m.Thursday saw 10 more deaths,taking the death toll to 1,145.The fatality rate in the statestands at 0.58 per cent againstthe national average of 1.6 percent. Officials said the percent-age of death due to Covid-19was 44.96 while the remaining55.04 had comorbidities.

The state now has 28,620active cases including 23,732who are in home/institution-

al isolation. Of the fresh cases,293 were recorded in GreaterHyderabad. MedchalMalkajgiri district recordedsecond highest number ofcases at 173 followed byRangareddy (171), Karimnagar(114), Nalgonda (109),Khammam (104), Suryapet(77) and Warangal Urban (72).

During the last 24 hours,54,098 tests were conducted.With this the cumulative num-bers have gone up to 31,04,542.The state authorities allowedone more private laboratory to

conduct the tests. With this, 17government-run laboratories,44 private laboratories and1,076 Rapid Antigen test cen-tres are conducting 50 thetests.

According to a media bul-letin from the office of thedirector of public health andfamily welfare, out of 54,098samples tested during last 24hours, 23,803 were primaryand 6,492 were secondary.

PNS n KAMAREDDY

Former Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Fridayalleged that the BJP govern-ment at the Centre was misus-ing its strength in theParliament to help a few cor-porate by ruining the lives ofcrores of farmers.

Shabbir Ali was addressinga gathering in Kamareddy aspart of Congress party'snationwide 'Kishan MazdoorBachao Diwas' agitation on theoccasion of Gandhi Jayanthion Friday. Shabbir Ali, alongwith former MLA GangaramJanardhan Reddy, KailasaSrinivas Rao, Madan

Mohan Rao, V SubhashReddy, Congress ZPTCs,MPTCs, Sarpanches and otherleaders paid floral tributes toMahatma Gandhi at his stat-ue at Gandhi Ganj inKamareddy.

Shabbir Ali said that thenew agricultural laws of theCentral Government were

aimed at benefiting the corpo-rator sector. He said that thefarmers would not get MSP fortheir produce and the priceswould be dictated by a fewcorporate companies. Healleged that the Modi govern-ment has removed the protec-tive shield of farmers provid-ed by the Constitution.Shabbir Ali said that the Modigovernment appears so com-mitted to the corporate sectorthat it got the Bills passed inRajya Sabha while violating allrules and set precedents. It didnot bother that one of its old-est allies Akali Dal has quit thegovernment in protest againstthe laws.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Deputy Chief MinisterDamodara Raja Narsimha onFriday alleged that 'contracts','commissions' and 'conspira-cies' have become commonfeatures in Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao's rule. "Inever saw a lying ChiefMinister like K ChandrasekharRao across the nation. Thereis a need for the people to pro-tect Telangana from KCR'sfamily".

While participating in'Kisan and Mazdoor BachaoDiwas' meeting held at Ganj

Maidan in Sangareddy townon Friday, the former DeputyChief Minister predicted thatthe Chief Minister will not rulethe state for more than fouryears as elections will come in2022. He called upon the peo-ple to teach a fitting lesson toPrime Minister NarendraModi and KCR.

Sangareddy MLA T JaggaReddy said that there is a needfor the people to give a befit-ting reply to the Chief Ministerin next Assembly elections."Congress has to win 10 seatsin the erstwhile Medak districtin the next elections," he said.The Jeedimetla Traffic Police installed a new three-way traffic signal at the Qutbullapur junction to

streamline the flow of vehicles, on Friday

MAKING IIT EEASY Cong alleges graftunder KCR's rule

Centre ruining ryots’lives, alleges Cong

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Saifabad Police on Fridayarrested Congress partyleader Feroz Khan on chargesof assaulting a journalist.Following an argumentwhich broke out betweenFeroz Khan and a journalistfrom ANI during a candlelight rally organised by theCongress to protest Hathrasrape on Thursday night,Khan and his supportersallegedly assaulted thereporter. Feroz Khan wastaken into custody on Fridayand underwent a Covid-19test at the District Hospital inKing Koti before being pro-duced before a judge. Hewas later granted bail.

Cong leaderheld for attackon scribe

PNS n HYDERABAD

Protesting against the Centre'sFarm laws, Congress leaderson Friday conducted farmers'signature campaign 'Kisan -Mazdoor bachao diwas' acrossthe state. Responding to thecall given by the party highcommand, the Congress lead-ers conducted signature cam-paign programmes at districtheadquarters. Bhongir MPKomatireddy Venkat Reddyparticipated in the programmeat Yadadri Bhongir district.Speaking on the occasion,Komatireddy said, "Onceagain the BJP governmentproved itself that it is anti-farmer. The Congress willlaunch a movement againstthese laws. The party willhold power in the state and atthe Centre in the next elec-tions. There is no use withChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao's loanwaiver scheme as it will not

even clear loan's interest," healleged.While participating inthe programme at Khammam,CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka alleged that thenation is under the rule ofWest India. "The Centre'sFarm laws will help only cor-porates. The BJP led Centralgovernment is trying to handover the agriculture sector toAdani, Ambani, Amazon andother companies," he alleged.

Malkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy participated in thefarmers' signatures campaignat Shapur.

PNS n HYDERABAD

All India Congress Committee(AICC) in charge for TelanganaManickam Tagore on Fridaylaunched a scathing attack onChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao. On hissecond visit to Telangana in lessthan a week after beingappointed as AICC inchargefor the state, Tagore led a hugerally in Sangareddy town alongwith party's state unit chief NUttam Kumar Reddy.

Targeting the ruling TRSgovernment, Manickam Tagorealleged that KCR's family hasbecome the richest family. "Innext five years he will competewith Mukesh Ambani," he said. "Mukhesh Ambani is earningmoney by doing business, how-ever, KCR is earning money bytaking commissions," healleged. Terming KCR as'Commission Chandrasekhar',the AICC in charge forTelangana urged the partyworkers to work unitedly todefeat TRS in upcoming elec-tions. Participating in farmers'signature campaign in GanjMaidan in Sangareddy town,Manickam Tagore said,"Former Prime Minister IndiraGandhi filed her nominationsfrom Sangareddy constituencyand hence I decided to launchmy activities across the statefrom Sangareddy as an in-charge of Telangana Congress

Affairs." Targeting Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Tagorealleged that PM had pushedfarmers into trouble by intro-ducing farm laws. "TRS is Bteam of BJP. KCR can't defeatNarendra Modi and AmitShah. He is the B team of BJP.Only Rahul Gandhi can defeatthem," he said.Praising Sangareddy MLA TJagga Reddy, who organisedthe programme, Tagore saidthat the party will giveMinister post to Jagga in2023. Speaking on the occa-sion, TPCC chief N UttamKumar Reddy said thatevery Congress activist has

to str ive hard to bringC ong ress to p ower.Referring to new farm legis-lation, he said the Centralgovernment decided to han-dover farmers to Adani andAmbani. He alleged thatthey will decide the prices ofagricultural produce grownby farmers with their hardwork in the field. Uttamalleged that both PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand Chie f Minis ter KC handras ek har R aobetrayed farmers. He said ifTRS was sincere in opposingnew farm legis lat ion itshould pass a resolution inthe Assembly that this legis-

lation will not be imple-mented in the state. Reddysaid both the Central andstate government had madethe life of farmers miserableand the suicides by farmershave gone up. It may berecalled that the Congresshad launched a nationwideagitation against the farmBills passed by Parliamentand also initiate a campaignfor collecting two crore sig-natures of farmers and thepoor against these proposedlegislations.

Als o, ap ar t f romTelangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC), AndhraPradesh C ong ress

Committee (APCC) has alsolaunched a signature collec-tion campaign on GandhiJayanti against the threerecently enacted farm laws.Vice President of AndhraPradesh Congress GGangadhar and other leaderspaid tributes to MahatmaGandhi and Lal BahadurShastri at the market centre inVijayawada on their birthanniversaries.

After that, they started a sig-nature drive to collect signa-tures from farmers and alsoagainst the decision of theYSRCP government in thestate to fix meters to electricpump sets in the fields.

‘KCR will become richer than Ambani’ManickamTagore targetedruling TRS andtermed it as Bteam of BJP.ChandrasekharRao can’t defeatNarendra Modiand Amit Shah.He is the B teamof BJP. OnlyRahul Gandhican defeat them,he said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment KT Rama Raoon Friday informed that thestate government was workingwith a target to turn all 142municipalities as OpenDefecation Free (ODF) ++urban local bodies in the state.Bhongir will undergo seachange once the Yadadri tem-ple renovation works arethrough, the Minister saidand added that MMTS servicewill be extended up toBhongir.

Participating in a string ofdevelopment works in thetown, the Minister said thatwidening of roads should betaken up in the town. Thenumber of Swachh Autosshould be doubled to 35. "Thetown should have foot-paths.Each and every town is beingdeveloped as per the master

plan," he said predicting lakhsof devotees would visit Yadadritemple.

"Improving sanitationshould get priority. More andmore toilets should be built inthe town. The state govern-ment has been releasing fundsto municipalities and pan-chayats without any hiccups.The state is the front runner inthe implementation ofSwachch Bharat programmes.It won three awards in a rowin implementation of sanita-tion," he further said.

Earlier, the Minister alongwith Minister for Energy GJagadish Reddy took part in astring of development worksin the town. They laid founda-tion stone for a human wasteprocessing plant built at thedumping yard here. Theystarted shops built for streetvendors at a cost of Rs 11.50lakh. They distributed chequesof loans sanctioned to them.

Top priority forsanitation: KTR

Cong leaders up theante against Centre

Will developmore lungspaces: PuvvadaPNS n KHAMMAM

Priority was being given todevelop urban lung spaces atall the water bodies inKhammam city, statedTransport Minister PuvvadaAjay Kumar. He inaugurateda walking track named,“Walkers’ Paradise” at mini-Lakaram tank bund here onFriday. Speaking on the occa-sion he said a tank bund, parkand recreational area havebeen developed aroundLakaram tank, which nowhas become a centre of attrac-tion in Khammam. Similarly,walking track, yoga centre,open gym and panchatantrapark were developed at mini-Lakaram tank bund spendingaround Rs 2 crore to encour-age the citizens to maintainphysical fitness besidesspending their leisure time,he said.

District Collector RVKarnan have taken specialcare in developing the Walkers’Paradise in a speedy manner,Kumar said adding that mem-bers of walkers associationsshould enroll their names andsteps should be taken to set upan advisory committee tomaintain the walking track. Bypaying a nominal fee the fit-ness enthusiasts could makeuse of the walking track atWalkers’ Paradise and opengym, the Minister said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

After pubs and parks, thestate government decided tounlock city’s tourism sites,playgrounds, sports facilitiesand swimming pools. As partof unlock 5.0, all touristattractions — including his-toric sites, forts, museumsand stadiums under thedepartment of tourism andarchaeology — are thrownopen to the public. Even aboat ride on the iconicHussainsagar Lake is now offthe barred list.

As per the guidelines ofstate and central governments,places of tourist interest in thecity as well as the state, sportsstadia and other sportingfacilities, archaeological muse-ums and structures, places ofhistorical interest were thrown

open to the public fromThursday onwards.

As they have been openedafter a gap of six months,people were seen gatheringat these places on the firstday. The Silparamam on thecity outskirts became oper-ational from Friday. Thermalscanners, sanitisers havebeen installed at all thesefacilities. Those who haveworn masks were allowedinside. Minister for TourismSrinivas Goud said that alltourist facilities will be fullythrown open to the public ina day or two. The boatingfacility at Durgam Cheruvuand al l other amenitieswould commence, he said.

The boating facility inNagar juna Sagar com-menced on Friday. Thetourism development cor-

poration is operating plea-sure boating trips fromlaunch station at the Hill

Colony to Nagarjuna Kondain River Krishna with thehelp of two launches .

However, the corporationhas acquired another launchwith Rs 50 lakh.

In districts, tourist desti-nations and hotels run by theTelangana State TourismDevelopment Corporation(T STD C) in ers twhi leWarangal district, includingB ogatha water fa l l s ,L aknavaram L ake andHaritha hotels, have openedtheir gates for tourists as perState government’s instruc-tions. However, with thenumber of Covid-19 casesrising rapidly across theState, people are not showingany interest in visiting thesetour is t des t inat ions inMulugu and Bhupalpally dis-tricts though the TourismDepartment authorities saythey have taken safety mea-sures and precautions.

Telangana’srecovery rateimproved furtherto 84.78 percent against thenational averageof 83.5 per cent.The state nowhas 28,620active cases

Tourist sites in Telangana see surges in footfall

VIJAYAWADA| SATURDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2020 nation 05

IN BRIEFIN BRIEF

Two persons, including a woman,have been lynched, beheaded andset on fire by an angry mob over

suspicion of practising witchcraft inAssam's Karbi Anglong district, asenior police officer said on Friday.The mob had accused the duo ofperforming 'black magic', causing thedeath of a teenaged girl in Rohimapurvillage in Dokmoka police station area, he said. The incident came tolight on Thursday after some locals reported it to the law enforcers,following which nine persons have been arrested, district SP DebajitDeuri said.

The Krishak Mukti SangramSamiti (KMSS) alongwith 70 indigenous groups

and a regi onal party on Fridayfloated a political outfit to fightthe Assam assembly electionsdue next year, outgoingpresident of the peasant bodyBhasco De Saikia said. Thenew party, named 'Raijor Dal'

(People's Party) was launched on Gan dhi Jayanti and the birthday ofjailed KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi at a press conference here. The 70indigenous groups and the regional party, the 'Sanjukta Anchalik Dal,Asom', were together during the anti Citizenship Act agitation.

The Centre has declared threedistricts and four policestations in three other

districts in Arunachal Pradesh as"disturbed area" under the AFSPAfor six more months after reviewof insurgent activities and the lawand order situation there. TheUnion Home Ministry said in aotification that the order comesinto effect from October 1. "...Tirap, Changlang and Longdingdistricts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within thejurisdiction of the following four police stations in other districts ofArunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam, are declared as'disturbed area' under Section 3 of the Armed Forces Act.

Inspired by the teachings of MahatmaGandhi on his 151st birthanniversary, Google Arts & Culture

launched "Be the Voices of Change viaPostcards" online exhibition on Friday.Organised in association with Kochi-based non-profit LetterFarms, the online

exhibition aims to inspire people to be the change through messageswritten or painted on handcra fted postcards. The postcards featuredin this exhibition bear “ideas of change” by ordinary citizens, andwere handpicked from the nationwide CHANGE150 community artproject by LetterFarms. The exhibition comprises a cluster of 10exhibits each categorised on themes of national relevance.

2 lynched, beheaded, set onfire over witchcraft suspicion

KMSS floats political party on Gandhi Jayanti

Govt extends ‘disturbed area'tag for 3 districts in Arunachal

Seema Kushwaha, lawyer of the2012 Delhi rape victim, known asNirbhaya, will now fight the case of

the Hathras victim. Seema tried to meetthe victim's family on Thursday, but wasprevented from meeting them by thepolice. "I will not leave Hathras withoutmeeting the family. They have requestedme to stand as their legal counsel butthe admini stration is not allowing me to meet them," she toldreporters. She said that she was in touch with the victim's brother.Kushwaha was the family lawyer of the 23-year-old paramedicalstudent who was gang-raped on a moving bus on the night ofDecember 16, 2012, by six people, including a juvenile in Delhi.The woman died at a Singapore hospital later.

If you're taking coffee before breakfast,read this carefully. Researchers havefound that drinking coffee first thing

can have a negative effect on bloodsugar control -- a risk factor for diabetesand heart disease. For the study,published in the journal British Journal ofNutrition, the research team looked at theeffect of broken sleep and morning

coffee across a range of different metabolic markers. "The resultsshow that whilst one night of poor sleep has limited impact on ourmetabolism, drinking coffee as a way to perk you up from a slumbercan have a negative effect on blood glucose (sugar) control," saidstudy authors from the University of Bath in the UK.

Congress leader Priyanka GandhiVadra on Friday attended a prayermeet at Delhi's Valmiki Temple

organised amid nationwide outrage overthe alleged rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit woman in UP’s Hathras. "We willensure justice for our sister. We won't sitquietly till she does not get justice," shesaid, addressing a crowd of Congress supporters anddemonstrators."The government did not help at all. Her family isfeeling helpless. We will put pressure on the government. She wasn'teven given a cremation following Hindu customs," Vadra said.

Nirbhayas;lawyer to fightcase of Hathras’victim

Drinking coffee beforebreakfast may up diabetes

Will ensure justice for ‘sister’,says Priyanka at prayer

PNS n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauton Friday condemned thetreatment meted out by UttarPradesh police to Congressleader Rahul Gandhi when hewas on his way to meet Hathrasvictim's family, and termed itas "gang-rape of democracy".

Talking to reporters, Rautsaid that Gandhi was a leaderof a prominent political partyand nobody would support theway he was "manhandled" bythe police. "We may have dif-ferences with the Congressparty. He (Rahul Gandhi) canbe stopped from going toHathras citing imposition of

section 144, but the way policebehaved with him holding hiscollar...the way he was pushedand then thrown on theground was highly con-

demnable," he said."This is gangrape of democ-

racy and the incident should beprobed. Is this the way oppo-sition leaders should be treat-

ed so that nobody asks ques-tions? You can ridicule himpolitically as is always beingdone. But the way police man-handled him is an act nobodywill support," he said. Raut alsoquestioned the silence of thosewho targeted the Maharashtragovernment.

PNS n PATNA

The seat-sharing for "Mahagathbandhan" has been finalisedahead of the Bihar Assemblyelections, sources said onFriday adding that Congresswill be contesting nearly 70seats whereas the Left partieswill field candidates on around30 seats.

Lalu Yadav’s RJD will give70 seats to Congress but willnot let them have a seat oftheir choice. Senior NDA lead-ers also held a meeting inPatna on Thursday regardingthe finalisation of seats for theAssembly polls and are likelyto announce the seat-sharingformula before October 4 inDelhi.

The first phase of the nom-ination has already begun inBihar for 71 seats and theElection Commission of Indiais busy in the preparation ofstate election monitoring allpoll-related matters with offi-

cials. According to anannouncement by CEC ofIndia, Sunil Arora, the Biharassembly election 2020 will beheld in three phases beginningfrom October 28 amid strictCOVID-19 protocols andresults for all seats will beannounced on November 10.

PNS n KOLKATA

Describing farmers as the"backbone" of India, WestBengal Chief Minister andTMC boss Mamata Banerjeeon Friday said she and herparty members would "standby them till last breath", comewhat may. Banerjee, afterpaying tribute to formerprime minister Lal BahadurShastri on his birth anniver-sary, remembered that hehad raised the slogan 'JaiJawan, Jai Kisan' 55 years agoto enthuse and motivate thecountrys soldiers and farm-ers. "Remembering formerPrime Minister Lal BahadurShastri on his birth anniver-sary. 55 years ago, he gave usthe inspirational slogan of 'JaiJawan, Jai Kisan' for ourproud farmer brothers & sis-ters. Come what may, we willalways firmly stand by themtill our last breath," Banerjeetweeted.

PNS n CHENNAI

Chief Minister K Palaniswamiand Deputy Chief Minister OPanneerselvam together tookpart in public events here onFriday for the first time days afterthey crossed swords over whoshould be the ruling AIADMK'schief ministerial candidate for2021 assembly elections.

The twin events of GandhiJayanathi and the deathanniversary of former TamilNadu chief minister K Kamarajbrought the two leaderstogether as they took part inthe official functions payingtributes to the late leaders.

It assumed significance sincePanneerselvam, the AIADMKcoordinator, had kept himselfaway from some official eventschaired by Palainiswami amidreports of a rift between themon the leadership issue.

Panneerselvam did not takepart in a COVID-19 reviewmeeting of District collectorson Tuesday while he was notinvited to a project launch

event here on September 30,both presided over by thechief minister. Also, thedeputy CM did not attend the"One Nation, One RationCard" scheme launch byPalaniswami at the Secretariaton Thursday and in theevening he visited temples innearby Tiruvallur district.

Panneerselvam had alsobeen holding discussions withhis loyalists besides other lead-ers. On September 28, bothPanneerselvam andPalaniswami had a heateddebate at the AIADMKExecutive Committee meetinghere on the issue of chief min-isterial candidate for the next

PNS n NEW DELHI

Compromised immunity alongwith withdrawal of certainmedications pose an increasedrisk to diabetic patients whocontract coronavirus, expertssaid on Friday.

According to the serologi-cal surveillance report sub-mitted by the Delhi govern-ment in the High Court onWednesday, it was stated thatdiabetes mellitus was observedto be a risk factor for subclin-ical infection. Dr Vimal Gupta,Senior Consultant, Endocrinology, Fortis Hospital VasantKunj said the coronavirus,besid es affecting the lungs, alsoaffects the pancreas.

"It has been observed that it

causes pancreatitis in somepatients. Pancreas secretesinsulin but the virus decreas-es secretion of insulin whichregulates glucose levels, thusincreasing sugar levels inpatients. Many patients becomediabetic for the first time afterbeing infected," he added.

Gupta said most of the dia-betic patients in India are hav-ing obesity and other co-mor-bid conditions.

"SGLT2 inhibitors and someother drugs, which reduce theweight and regulate sugar lev-els, cannot be given if a patienthas coronavirus. When wewithdraw the drugs, diabeteslevel is increased," he said.

Sodium-glucose co-trans-porter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors

are a group of medicationsused for treating type 2 dia-betes. Dr B L Sherwal, MedicalDirector of Rajiv Gandhi SuperSpeciality Hospital, said sugarlevels are bound to increase dueto stress in a disease like CO

VID-19. "Immuno-compro-mised patients are at a greaterrisk due to the virus. The mor-tality in such patients will bemore because their immunityis low and additional care is tobe taken," he added."Extra

efforts have to be taken for thetreatment of such patients. Ifwe look at the data of thepatients who die, majority ofthose are having uncontrolleddiabetes," Dr Sherwal furthersaid.

Rahul is a leader of aprominent politicalparty and nobodywould support the wayhe was manhandledby police, said Raut

‘UP cops treatment to Rahul gang-rape of democracy’

Diabetics at higher risk if they contract CoronavirusSodium-glucose

co-transporter-2(SGLT2) inhibitorsare a group ofmedications usedfor treating type 2diabetes

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Ministry of Jal Shakti onFriday launched a 100-daycampaign to ensure potablewater supply in all schools andanganwadi centers across thecountry.

Union Jal Shakti MinisterGajendra Singh Shekhawatrequested the states and Unionterritories to make it a 'JanAndolan'. He said he has writ-ten to chief ministers and lieu-tenant governors, requesting

them to lead the campaign intheir respective regions.

The minister said the initia-tive will be a fitting tribute toMahatma Gandhi on his 151st

birth anniversary on Friday.“Prime Minister NarendraModi, while launching thelogo of JJM on September 29,called for ensuring drinkingwater supply in all schools andanganwadi centres in the coun-try. "In this backdrop, we arelaunching a 100-day campaignto ensure the same. We are ask-ing all the state governments toensure piped drinking water inall schools and anganwadicentres in next 100 days,”Shekhawat said.

Mission to ensure potable water supply in schools

‘Mahagathbandhan’ finalisesseat-sharing for Bihar polls

‘Would standby farmers tilllast breath’

TN CM, Dy CM attendevents together after stand-off

PNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI has filed a freshcharge sheet against GokulnathShetty, the Punjab NationalBank Deputy Manager whoallegedly helped Nirav Modiand Mehul Choksi perpetrateRs 13000-crore fraud, and hiswife for amassing dispropor-tionate assets worth Rs 2.63crore, officials said Friday.

The agency has chargedShetty and his wife Asha LathaShetty, a clerk in Indian Bank,under corruption charges foramassing assets worth over Rs

4.28 crore during the period2011-17 when the scam wasbeing perpetrated at the BradyHouse branch of PNB inMumbai where he was posted,they said.

Of the total assets, the CBIalleged they could not providesatisfactory explanation forassets worth Rs 2.63 crore,which were 2.38 times dispro-portionate to their knownsources of income.

The CBI looked into therelationship between Shettyand Modi-Choksi duringwhich it dug into the assets

amassed by the retired deputymanager, they said.

The agency has registered aseparate FIR in November,2018 against Shetty and hiswife to look into their assets.

It emerged that against a

genuine income of Rs 72.52lakh during a six-year period,Shetty couple had assets intheir as well as family mem-bers' names primarily in theform of flats in Mumbai, theCBI alleged.

In its charge sheet filedbefore a Mumbai special courtrecently, the agency has saidthat they had purchased a flatworth Rs 46.62 lakh inGoregaon while paid advancebooking amount for threemore flats in various localitiesof Mumbai and neighbouringareas.

PNS n BALRAMPUR

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment will provide a residentialplot and job to a family mem-ber of the 22-year-oldBalrampur woman who diedafter she was allegedly rapedby two men, according tolocal BJP MLA Palturam.

The state government willalso give Rs 2 lakh more asfinancial assistance, theBalrampur MLA who met thevictim's family said on Friday.

"Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has taken note ofthe incident. The governmentwill provide a residential plotand job to a member of thefamily," he said, adding that

those involved in the act willbe given strict punishment."The family has been given afinancial assistance of Rs6,18,750. They will be given Rs2 lakh more," he added. TheDalit woman had died onTuesday after she was alleged-ly raped by two men here.

Job, plot for kin ofrape victim: UP MLA

Fresh charge-sheet against PNB official

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress has prepared adraft model law that will belegislated by party-ruled statesin order to annul the centralfarm laws.

Sources said on Friday thatthe model law has been draft-ed and will soon be sent toCongress-ruled states to repli-cate it in their state assemblies.

The move comes days afterCongress chief Sonia Gandhi

asked states under party's ruleto enact legislations to bypassCentre's three farm-relatedlaws that have triggeredprotests by farmers.

The move also comes aheadof the tractor rallies to be takenout by the Congress in Punjaband Haryana from October 4,in which party leader RahulGandhi will participate. Therallies are part of Congress agi-tations against the farm legis-lations.

Cong preparesdraft model law

Google launches onlineexhibition of postcards

BJP leaderAnupam Hazratests Covid +vePNS n KOLKATA