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VIJAYAWADA, SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2021; PAGES 10+16 `5

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No.APENG/2018/764698

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CJI seeks end to poordigital connectivity in

rural, remote areas

Chief Justice of India N V Ramanahas written to Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad seeking steps to

resolve the poor digital connectivity inrural, tribal, remote and hilly areas that

is "adversely impacting the pace ofjustice delivery". The CJI referred to the

digital divide and said that "a wholegeneration of lawyers is being pushed

out of the system" due to thetechnological inequality. He was

speaking during the release of a book,‘Anomalies in Law and Justice',

authored by Justice (Rt) RV Raveen-dran in a virtual function here. Duringthe panel discussion that followed, he

informed that the matter ofconnectivity figured prominently in thetwo-day conference of chief justices of

high courts that he had held recently.

Two Indian Ayurvedicdoctors get UAE's

Golden Visa

Two Indian Ayurvedic doctors have

received the UAE'S covetedGolden Visa, according to a

media report on Saturday. Dr ShyamVishwanathan Pillai and Dr Jasna

Jamal, both from Kerala, were grantedGolden Visas by the UAE's Federal

Authority for Identity and Citizenship(ICA), Khaleej Times reported. Pillai,

CEO of Vaidyashala at the Burjeel DaySurgery Centre in Abu Dhabi, wasgranted the Golden Visa under themedical professionals and doctorscategory on June 17. “My sincere

gratitude to the rulers andpolicymakers of UAE for the kind

support to Ayurveda and Ayurvedapractitioners,” Pillai said.

3 killed, 5 seriouslyinjured in Germany

knife attack

Aman armed with a long knife killed

three people and injured severalothers, some seriously, in the

southern city of Wuerzburg Fridaybefore being shot by police and

arrested, German authorities said. It wasunclear how many people were injured

in the attack in a central part of theBavarian city. Police identified the

suspect as a 24-year-old Somali manliving in Wuerzburg. His life was not indanger from his gunshot wound, they

said. deos posted on social mediashowed pedestrians surrounding theattacker and holding him at bay with

chairs and sticks. A woman who saidshe had witnessed the incident said that

“he had a really big knife with him”and was attacking people".

In brief AP, TS boost infrastructure tobecome oxygen-independentNAVEENA GHANATEn HYDERABAD

To avoid a Delhi-like situationwhere people literally gasped forbreath at the height of the Covid-19 second wave, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and eight other states arestrengthening their oxygen supplyinfrastructure locally.

In tune with the recommenda-tions of the National Task Force,these States are also developingcomprehensive medical oxygenplans and strengthening the infra-structure for medical oxygen inboth public and private sectors.

A 163-page ‘interim report’ --part of an affidavit filed by theUnion Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare in the SupremeCourt earlier this week -- says: “10States have finalised such plans ofstrengthening medical oxygeninfrastructure till now".

These 10 States are Telangana,Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Kerala,Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradeshand Rajasthan.

Sources indicated that during thesecond wave, the demand for oxygenin Telangana was over 100 MetricTonnes (MT) more than allocated bythe Centre. The consequence led tothe Telangana government clearinga proposal to set up 132 PSA oxygengeneration plants in governmenthospitals and set up infrastructure foran additional capacity of 200 MT ofliquid medical oxygen in the state.

Sources point out that irrespectiveof the intensity of any Covid thirdwave, the Telangana governmentdoesn’t want to face a situation likein Delhi and other states due toshortage of oxygen.

Andhra Pradesh on other handlaunched the AP Industrial Gasesand Medical Oxygen Manufact-uring Policy 2021-22 recently inorder to increase the availability ofthe life-saving gas keeping in view

both the present and futurerequirements.

It may be mentioned here that afive-member panel was constitut-

ed by the Supreme Court to auditoxygen consumption in hospitals inthe national capital.

AP aims to revolutionise edu with World Bank projectPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State government has decidedto bring revolutionary changes inthe education sector in the next fiveyears with the help of SupportingAndhra’s Learning Transformation(SALT) project.

The International Bank forReconstruction and Development(IBRD) has sanctioned USD 250million for the SALT project over

a five year period.State Education Minister

Adimulapu Suresh said that thiswas the first of its kind innovativeproject under which training forteachers, state level assessment andeducation management and infor-mation system would also be estab-lished.

The Minister said that this willfocus on important key areas suchas strengthening the foundation of

learning, teacher-student interac-tions, improving the quality ofteaching, organisational capabilitiesand providing quality services bystrengthening the involvement ofsocial organisations.

Suresh said that this is a WorldBank special project and is beingimplemented for the first time inthe last ten years. The World Bankwould give the project to the stateswhich have the capacity to imple-

ment it, he said.The Minister further said that it

was a matter of pride for such aproject to be implemented in AP.The scheme is being implementedwith the integration of SamagraShiksha Abhiyan. For this, consult-ants will be selected from interna-tionally renowned consulting com-panies.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Union government onSaturday granted a three-monthextension in service to AndhraPradesh Chief Secretary AdityaNath Das.

The 1987 batch IAS officer isdue for retirement on June 30 onattaining the age of superannua-tion. The State government, how-ever, wrote to the Centre lastmonth requesting that Das servic-es be extended by three monthsfrom July 1 in view of the ongoingCovid-19 crisis.

The Department of Personneland Training issued an order todayaccepting the request and granti-ng the extension to Das.Accordingly, the Chief Secretarywould continue in office tillSeptember 30.

Official sources said the Stategovernment is seeking to bringback 1985 batch IAS officer ReddySubrahmanyam to the State cadrefrom Central deputation.Subrahmanyam is now theSecretary in the Union Ministry ofSocial Justice and Empowerment.

Indications are that Subrahm-anyam would be made the ChiefSecretary to succeed Das.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

More than 20 months after takingthe decision, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment on Saturday issued aformal order dispensing with theprocess of interviews for all futurerecruitments into government serv-ice, including the executive posts.

It was on October 17, 2019 thatChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, at a high-level meeting onrecruitments, took the decision todo away with personal interviewsfor all recruitments through the APPublic Service Commission.

Accordingly, APPSC SecretaryPSR Anjaneyulu wrote to theGeneral AdministrationDepartment on October 21, seek-ing necessary action on the issue.

A top official in the GeneralAdministration Department saidthe new initiative was a "majorreform", aimed at improving trans-

parency and reducing subjectivityin all the recruitments in govern-ment cadre.

In an order on Saturday,Principal Secretary (Services andHuman Resources Management)Shashi Bhushan Kumar said the

government decided to dispensewith the interview process "tomaintain utmost transparency andensure complete trust of the com-peting candidates in the entireselection process".

PNS n NELLORE

Film critic Kathi Mahesh wasgrievously injured when the car inwhich he was travelling collidedwith a container truck on theNational Highway atChandrasekharapuram inKodavalur mandal of Nellore dis-trict in the intervening night ofFriday and Saturday.

The car was completely crusheddue to the impact of the collision.Mahesh was shifted to a private inNellore. Initially, it was thoughtthat he had sustained minorinjuries but later the doctorstreating him found severe headinjuries. He has been put on ven-tilator support.

Kodavalur S-I Srinivas Reddysaid that over-speeding led to the

car crashing into the truck. Sliversof shattered glass from the carwindows and windshield hitMahesh in his face and hands,causing grievous injuries to him,the S-I said.

A health bulletin released by thehospital said Mahesh's healthcondition is critical.

Police said the victim was iden-tified as Kathi Mahesh based onthe information provided by hisdriver.Mahesh's friends and rela-tives reached Nellore city toenquire about his health condi-tion.

Later, they shifted him to a cor-porate hospital in Chennai in aserious condition.

S-I Srinivas Reddy said a casewas registered and investigation isunderway.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday reviewed the devel-opment plan for Ayodhya andasserted that the temple town inUttar Pradesh should manifest the"the finest of our traditions andthe best of our developmentaltransformations".

Speaking at a virtual meeting,which was also attended by UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, Modi describedAyodhya as a city that is etched inthe cultural consciousness ofevery Indian and said the humanethos of this city must be matchedby futuristic infrastructure.

A Prime Minister's Office(PMO) statement on the meetingsaid Ayodhya's development isbeing envisaged as a spiritual cen-tre, global tourism hub and a sus-tainable smart city.

At the meeting, Uttar Pradeshgovernment officials made a pres-entation which encompassed var-ious aspects of Ayodhya's devel-opment.

The prime minister wasinformed about various upcom-ing and proposed infrastructureprojects to improve connectivitywith Ayodhya and various proj-ects like airport, expansion of rail-way station, bus station, roads andhighways were discussed, thePMO said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Suspended police officer SachinWaze has told the ED that he "col-lected" Rs 4.70 crore in cash fromMumbai bar owners and "handedit over" to the personal assistant offormer Maharashtra home minis-ter Anil Deshmukh, the centralprobe agency claimed on Saturday.

It also claimed that Waze, theformer head of crime intelligenceunit (CIU) of Mumbai police,informed the bar owners and man-agers that this money "will go toNo. 1 and crime branch and socialservice branch of Mumbai Police".

He further told the agency that"he was getting direct instruc-tions from AnilDeshmukh, the thenhome minister in anumber of policeinvestigations".

The ED madethese allegations in itsremand applicationfield before a specialPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) court inMumbai seeking custody ofDeshmukh's aides, personal secre-tary Sanjeev Palande (51) and per-sonal assistant Kundan Shinde

(45), whom it had arrested early onSaturday.

The court sent them toED custody till July 1.

The ED had arrestedthem after it raidedmultiple locations inNagpur, Mumbai andAhmedabad including

the residences ofDeshmukh in a money

laundering case related to analleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to his res-ignation in April.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The AICC on Saturday namedMalkajgiri MP A Revanth Reddyas the new TPCC chief, apart fromappointing working presidents,vice-presidents, campaign commit-tee, election management commit-tee, AICC programme implemen-

tation committee. Although this ends the pro-

longed suspense and intensebehind-the-scene activity, someof the seniors who had been in therace for the top post are in a stateof shock, indicating that the newparty chief has a rough road ahead.

AICC picks Revanthto revive party in TS

AP scraps interviews torecruit for govt service

Covid third waveunlikely to be asdevastating assecond: ICMRPNS n NEW DELHI

A potential third wave ofCovid infections seemsunlikely to be as severe as thesecond wave, says a model-ling study by a team of sci-entists from the IndianCouncil Of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and theImperial College London,UK. Rapid scale-up of vac-cination efforts, says thestudy, could play an impor-tant role in mitigating thepresent and future waves ofthe disease.

India's first wave ofSARSCoV-2 infection beganin late January 2020 with apeak attained in mid-September.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing satisfaction atan increased speed of Covid-19 vaccination this week,Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said it isimportant to carry thismomentum forward andalso underlined a need toinvolve NGOs and otherorganisations in efforts toexpand the drive.

Over 3.77 crore Covidvaccine doses have beenadministered in the last sixdays, the government said ina statement after a high-levelreview meeting held byModi with top officials onthe progress of the vaccina-tion drive.

Important tocontinue vaxmomentum,says Modi

Kathi Mahesh critical

as car rams into truck

PM says Ayodhyashould manifestfinest of ourtraditions

CM keeps word, continueswith Aditya Nath Das as CS

Anil Deshmukh received overRs 4 cr from bar owners: ED

SALT OF THE EARTH

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Vijayawada gets4-star rating inSmart CitiesFrameworkPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada is among the ninecities that were awarded a 4-starrating in Climate Smart CitiesAssessment Framework 2.0 con-ducted by the Smart CitiesMission of the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs,Government of India.

The Framework was initiated inOctober, 2020.

As per the CSCAF 2.0 resultsreleased on Saturday, none of the126 cities that were assessed couldget a 5-star rating.

Municipal Commissioner V.Prasanna Venkatesh said thatonly nine cities across India got4-star rating and Vijayawada isone of these nine cities. It is alsothe only non-Smart City in Indiain this category, the municipalcommissnioner pointed out.

Venkatesh emphasised thatonly two cities from AndhraPradesh - Vijayawada andVisakhapatnam - have achieved 4-star rating. He highlighted that itis a great achievement for the cityof Vijayawada and taking theCity Performance Report (CPR)with recommendations, respec-tive departments can get insightsfrom city performance throughthe CSCAF assessment and helpthe city to scale up contextual bestenvironment practices for safeand healthy living.

2 2

Hero Cycles’ e vehicalsland in Europe

Mysterious skull fossils expand human family tree

P6

P5

P10

Will retire from politics

if no OBC quota

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VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27 , 2021 vijayawada 02

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VIJAYAWADA 515

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VISAKHAPATNAM 557

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀55..1155

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Dressed/With Skin `160

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Broiler at Farm `130

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

State reports 4,147 Covid cases;positivity rate around 5 percentPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The daily positivity rate contin-ues to hover above the five per-cent mark in Andhra Pradesheven as 4,147 fresh cases ofCovid-19 were reported onSaturday.

While 5,773 patients hadrecovered, another 38 suc-cumbed in 24 hours ending 9am on Saturday, a healthdepartment bulletin said. Thetotal positives have nowclimbed to 18,75,622, recover-ies to 18,16,930 and toll12,566.

The number of active casescame down to 46,126, thebulletin added.

East Godavari district

reported 838 fresh cases, WestGodavari 571 and Chittoor569 in 24 hours. While Gunturand Krishna reported 321 and310 new cases respectively, the

remaining eight districtsadded less than 300 each.

Though there has been asteady decline over the pastfew weeks, the infection pos-

itivity rate still remained above10 percent in East Godavariand over seven percent inWest Godavari. Governmentdata showed Prakasam andKrishna districts having a pos-itivity rate of around six per-cent.

While three districts have apositivity rate of over fivepercent, three more have overfour percent and two more,over three percent. OnlyKurnool district has a Covid-19 positivity rate of 2.2 percentnow.

In urban areas, onlyVisakhapatnam has more than1,000 and Vijayawada over400 active cases now. In 71Urban Local Bodies, there are

less than 50, in 24 ULBsbetween 50 and 100 activecoronavirus cases each. EightULBs have 200-400 activecases each and six have 100-200 each, the government datashowed. Of the over 600 ruralmandals, 100 have more than100 active cases each, while195 have 25-49 each.

In 24 hours, Chittoor andGuntur reported seven freshCovid-19 fatalities each, EastGodavari and Krishna five each,Srikakulam four, West Godavarithree, Anantapur, Kadapa andVisakhapatnam two each andVizianagaram one.

PS Nellore, Prakasam andKurnool did not report anyfresh coronavirus deaths.

Continued from Page 1

The party high command keptaside the ominous objectionsraised by several senior lead-ers and infused confidence inA Revanth Reddy, who hasbeen in Delhi for over 20days.

Noticeably, the party highcommand did not consider inparticular the names of otherfront-runners such asKomatireddy Venkat Reddy, TJeevan Reddy and D SridharBabu, among others, for theTPCC chief post, though sec-tions of the party attached tothese leaders had warned thehigh command as well asTelangana Congress affairsin-charge Manickam Tagoreagainst picking the MalkajgiriMP.

Mohammed Azharuddinretained his working presidentposition. MLAs T Jaaga Reddygot working president posi-tion and Pidem Veeraiah gotsenior vice president posi-tion.

The AICC has appointedfive working committee pres-idents: Mohammed

Azharuddin, Dr J GeethaReddy, Anjan Kumar Yadav, TJagga Reddy and MaheshKumar Goud.

Senior vice-presidents:Chandrashekar Sambani,Damodhar Reddy, Dr RaviMallu, Podem Veeraiah,Suresh Shetkar, Vem NarenderReddy, Ramesh Mudhiraj, GNiranjan, Kumar Rao T, andJaved Aamer.

Campaign Committee:Madhu Yashki Goud(chair-man), Sayyed AzmathullahHussaine

Election ManagementCommittee: C DamodharaRaja Narsimha (chairman)

AICC ProgrammeImplementation Committee:Alleti Maheshwar Reddy(chairman).

AP scrapsinterviews ..Continued from Page 1

The new system, whereinonly written examinationswould be conducted for allcategories of posts, includingGroup-1 services, would beapplicable for all recruit-ments to be notified fromnow on.

In 2011, the then undivid-ed AP government headed byN Kiran Kumar Reddy didaway with the interviewprocess for all subordinateservices as part of the reformsintroduced in APPSC recruit-ments.

The reforms were imple-mented as per the recom-mendations of a high-levelcommittee headed by thethen Special Chief SecretaryJ Satyanarayana.

Written tests and inter-views were, however, retainedfor executive posts likedeputy collector, DeputySuperintendent of Police,commercial taxes officer,regional transport officer andthe like.

Henceforth, these recruit-ments too will happenthrough written examinationonly.

Continued from Page 1

Suresh said an IAS officerand a joint director levelofficer would be appoint-ed to supervise the projectimplementation in theState. He said steps wouldbe taken to set up schoolsin a l l d i s t r ic t s acrossAndhra Pradesh on thelines of schools set up forphysically-challenged chil-dren in Kadapa district.The Minister briefed themain development objec-tives of the scheme and theaction plan.

B Rajasekar, principalsecretary school educa-t ion , VC h i n a v e e r a b a d h r u d u ,director school education,K Vet r i s e lv i d i rec torSamagra Shiksha Abhiyan,advisor A Murali , VNMastanaiah and othersparticipated in the videoconference.

Anil Deshmukh received over Rs 4 cr from...Continued from Page 1

The former cop recorded hisstatement with the ED sayinghe was "called for a meeting atthe official residence ofMaharashtra home ministerwherein he was given a list ofbar and restaurant owners."

In the meeting, Waze said,he was asked "to collect Rs 3lakh per month from each barand restaurant."

"Waze has also stated that hehad collected approx. Rs 4.70crore from various bar ownersbetween the months ofDecember, 2020 to February,2021 and handed over thesame to Kundan SambhajiShinde, the PA of AnilDeshmukh, the home ministeron instruction of AnilDeshmukh in two instalmentsin the month of January andFebruary 2021," the ED alleged.

The agency said it ques-tioned and recorded the state-ment of Waze twice at theTaloja jail in Navi Mumbaiwhere he is in custody in con-nection with a case of alleged

parking of an explosives ladenSUV near industrialist MukeshAmbani's residence inMumbai.

This Rs 4.70 crore was col-lected from various orchestrabar owners and managers for"smooth functioning of theirbars after restricted hours with-out the restrictions of perfor-mance artist" and interferenceby the police, the ED said.

The ED said Waze's state-ment was "further confirmed"by two police officers whowere also questioned by it.

"They categorically men-tioned that they were told byWaze about collection ofmoney from various bar own-ers and both were called byPalande, the PS of AnilDeshmukh who inquiredabout the number of bars andcollections from the variousbars," the ED claimed.

The agency claimed that apart of this alleged cash bribemoney was sent throughhawala to four "paper" or shellcompanies located in Delhithat later "diverted" about Rs

4.18 crore funds "in garb ofdonations" to a Nagpur basedcharitable trust whose chair-man is Deshmukh.

The ED said during thescrutiny of bank statements ofthe charitable trust identified asShri Sai Shikshan Sanstha "anumber of cheque entries inthe recent past amounting toRs 4.18 crore" were received byit from four Delhi-based shellcompanies.

The owners of these allegedfake companies told ED thatthey were contacted by aNagpur based person seekingtransfer/adjustment of funds ingarb of donation to the saidcharitable trust.

"Money was received inform of cash from said (Nagpurbased) person on instruction ofDeshmukh family and samewas channelised through aweb of various companies tothe said trust in garb ofloans/donations."

"A total of about Rs 4.18crore were thus diverted to thesaid trust in garb of loans ordonations," the ED said quot-

ing the statements of the pro-moters Surendra Kumar Jainand Virendra Jain.

It is apparent, the ED said,that Deshmukh "by virtue ofhis earlier position as homeminister of Maharashtra gov-ernment has received amountsto the tune of Rs 4.70 crorefrom the orchestra bars own-ers and managers for smoothfunctioning of bars and the saidbribe money was apparentlyused by him through his sonHrishikesh Deshmukh for pro-viding cash to Delhi basedpaper companies and after lay-ering the same routed to thecharitable trust in the form ofdonation," the agency alleged.

It said Shinde was "instru-mental in collecting cash fromWaze on behalf of Deshmukh."

Describing the role ofPalande, the ED alleged, he was"instrumental in passinginstructions of Deshmukh withregard to transfer, postingsand collection of monies fromorchestra bar owners and fur-ther analysing and assessingthe work of collection of taint-

ed monies through police offi-cials and assisted Deshmukh inmoney laundering."

It said both the aides ofDeshmukh have emerged as"important cogs in the wheels"of this case and they have also"received money in cash."

The ED told the court thatas an allegation of collection ofabout Rs 100 crore have beenmade in this case the entiremoney trail requires to beestablished in order to bringthe guilty to the book."Theinvolvement of foreign anglemany not be ruled out at thisstage," it said.

The ED case againstDeshmukh and others wasmade out after the CBI firstcarried out a preliminaryinquiry followed by a regularcase being filed on the ordersof the Bombay High Court.

The court had asked theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) to look into the allega-tions of bribery of Rs 100made against Deshmukh byformer Mumbai Police com-missioner Param Bir Singh.

AP aims torevolutionise...

PM says Ayodhya should manifest...Continued from Page 1

An upcoming greenfield town-ship was discussed whichincludes lodging facilities fordevotees, space for ashrams,maths, hotels, bhavans of var-ious states. A tourist facilitationcentre and a world class muse-um will also be built, it said.

"Ayodhya shouldmanifest the finest of our tra-ditions and the best of ourdevelopmental transforma-tions," the prime minister wasquoted as saying at the meet-ing by the statement.

Noting thatAyodhya is both spiritual andsublime, he said the humanethos of this city must bematched by futuristic infra-structure, which is beneficialfor everyone including touristsand pilgrims.

Modi said that the

coming generations shouldfeel the desire to visit Ayodhyaat least once in their lifetime.

The prime ministerpointed out that developmen-tal works in Ayodhya will con-tinue in the foreseeable futureand stressed that at the sametime, the momentum towardsheralding Ayodhya to this nextleap of progress must beginnow.

"It is our collectiveendeavour to celebrate theidentity of Ayodhya and keepits cultural vibrancy alivethrough innovative ways,"Modi said.

The way Lord Ramhad the ability to bring peopletogether, the developmentworks of Ayodhya should beguided by a spirit of healthypublic participation, especial-ly by the youth, Modi said.

He called for the

skills of talented youngsters tobe leveraged in this develop-ment of the city, according tothe PMO.

The PMO also saidspecial attention is beingdevoted to development ofinfrastructure around theSaryu river and its ghats.

Cruise operationson the Saryu river will also bemade a regular feature, it said.

The city will bedeveloped to ensure sustain-ability with adequate spaces forcyclists and pedestrians. Trafficmanagement will also be donein a modern manner usingSmart City infrastructure,according to the PMO.

UP Deputy ChiefMinisters Keshav PrasadMaurya and Dinesh Sharmaand several other ministers ofthe UP government were pre-sent in the meeting.

AP, TS boost infrastructure tobecome oxygen-independentContinued from Page 1

In its report, the panel said theDelhi government exaggerat-ed the consumption of oxygenduring the second wave.

Delhi had allegedly askedfor more oxygen thanrequired during peak whichled to short supply to 12states. Several states com-plained about excessive allo-cation to Delhi compared totheir caseload.

On April 15, as many as 12states were marked as highburden in the first supplyplan for oxygen. Subsequently,as the caseload was increasing,

more and more states wereadded.

Soon the demand keptincreasing even in states likeAndhra Pradesh where oxy-gen was produced and con-sumed.

With the increasingdemand, a total of 1,385 MTof oxygen was also imported,of which nearly 200 MT wassupplied to Andhra Pradesh.As per the submission to thecourt, the import of oxygenwas continuing in June andmay continue in July also.

As per the submissionmade to the Supreme Court,the national task force has

pushed for manufacturingoxygen locally for big cities.

The submission reads:“There should be a strategy tomanufacture oxygen locally orin the neighbourhood for thebig cities to fulfil at least 50percent of their LMO demand,as road transportation is vul-nerable. All 18 metro cities tobe made oxygen independent,with at least 100 MT storage inthe city itself ”.

Telangana has reportedlyopened its own 200 MT oxy-gen storage plant atPashamylaram to makeHyderabad an oxygen-inde-pendent city.

Ex-MLAdonates Rs 1cr to TTD’sTV channel

Covid third waveunlikely to be as...Continued from Page 1

This phase was relatively mildcompared to the second wavethat followed, from mid-February 2021 onwards,exhibiting a more explosivespread across the country.

A major factor driving thissecond wave is the emer-gence of more-infectious vari-ants of SARS-CoV-2, princi-pally B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant)and B.1.617.2 (Delta variant),of which the latter has playeda dominant role in recentmonths.

Third waves have emergedin other countries - like theUK and the USA - and are dri-ven by a range of factors, saysthe study.

The results suggest that athird wave, if it should occur,is unlikely to be as severe asthe second wave, given theextent of spread that hasalready taken place in India,it adds.

"Consequently, for a virusto cause a major third wave inthe face of this pre-existingimmunity, extreme scenariosfor the abrogation of thatimmunity are required, or forthat matter, for the transmis-sion fitness of any novel virus,"says the article in the IndianJournal of Medical Research.

Continued from Page 1

It was noted that 128 districtsin the country have vaccinat-ed more than 50 percent ofover 45 years of populationand 16 districts have vaccinat-ed more than 90 percent ofthis age group.

"PM was informed that3.77 crore doses have beenadministered in the last 6days which is more than theentire population of coun-tries like Malaysia, SaudiArabia and Canada," thePrime Minister's Office said.

Modi also directed officialsto work with states to ensurethat the pace of testing doesnot go down as testing remainsa very important weapon totrack and contain rising infec-tions in any region

Modi underlined the needto involve NGOs and otherorganisations in the vaccina-tion drive, with officials stat-ing that they are in touch withstate governments to exploreand implement innovativemethods to reach people forvaccination, the PMO said.

Modi was also informedabout the rising interest inCoWin platform globally, hisoffice noted, adding that hesaid that efforts should bemade to help all countries,who have expressed interest,with India's rich tech expertisein the form of CoWin plat-form.

Officials gave a detailedpresentation to Modi on theprogress of inoculation in thecountry and was briefed aboutthe age-wise vaccination cov-erage.

He was also briefed aboutthe vaccine coverage amonghealthcare workers, frontlineworkers and the general pop-ulation in various states, thePMO said.

Important tocontinue vax...

PNS n TIRUPATI

A donation of Rs 1 crore wasmade to the LordVenkateswara shrine atTirumala by a former MLAon Saturday, a temple officialsaid.

After offering worship, NSuryanarayana Reddy, theformer MLA fromKurugoduin Karnataka,handed over a DD for theamount to Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams AdditionalEO A Venkata DharmaReddy at the temple, the offi-cial told PTI.

The former MLA request-ed the TTD to use the dona-tion to further develop its TVchannel, the official added.

Revanth Reddy isnew chief...

Vijayawadagets 4-star...Continued from Page 1

U Sarada Devi Nodal Officer(CSCAF 2.0) and AdditionalCommissioner (Projects)VMC explained that CSCAF2.0 consisted five themes -Energy and Green Buildings,Urban Planning, GreenCover and Biodiversity,Mobility and Air Quality,Water Management, andWaste Management.

She emphasised that theresults were due to collabora-tive processes adopted withthe C-Cube at the NIUA,UN-Habitat, UNDP, AIILSGand city/state level stake-holders.

Imran Basha, city coordi-nator and urban plannerfrom the UN-Habitat (Nodalperson assigned from UN-Habitat and NIUA) said thatULBs can leverage CSCAFrecommendations to enhanceclimate-oriented initiatives,mechanisms and adoptroadmap in cities to imple-ment climate actions.

Venkatesh along with otherofficials released the city per-formance report on the occa-sion.

Youngsters joinhands to helpCovid-affectedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Representatives of a non-political youth organisationcalled ‘Yuva Galam’ in part-nership with the United Wayof Hyderabad have donated71 oxygen concentratorsworth Rs 55 lakh to six dis-trict government hos-pitals across AndhraPradesh.

The organisa-tion on Saturdaysaid that theywere proactiveduring theCovid pandemic,helping the needyduring the lock-down and curfew times.

Speaking about the variousCovid relief programmesorganised by them, Naga

Sravan Kilaru said that dur-ing the first and second wavesof Covid, Yuva Galam active-ly provided services such asdonating meals and footwearto migrant workers, supplyingmedicines and oxygen cylin-ders to corona patients, help-ing hundreds of people in the

process.Representativesfrom Yuva Galam

– Bandi Sairam,Ch Nikhita,G o p i n a t h ,Imran, MotoriV i n e e t

– e x p l a i n e dabout their future

roadmap whichinvolves working on

the challenges facing today’syouth like unemployment andmental health illnesses.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A national-level webinar on‘Scope for Social WorkProfession with NationalCouncil of Social WorkEducation' was organisedby department of Sociologyand Social Work, AcharyaNagar juna Univers ity,Guntur. The webinar wit-nessed a key discussion onthe draft National Council ofSocial Work Education Bill2021.

Chief Guest of the occa-sion, Prof Sanjai Bhatt, pro-fessor, Delhi School of SocialWork, University of Delhi,stated that this Bill will bethe way forward for fivelakh professionals and thereshall be rapid and sustain-

able development in thenation. He appealed forstrengthening of the cam-paign with an effective col-lective approach.

Prof Bhatt appreciated thestates which have startedthe campaign and repre-sented to the policymakersand public representatives

regarding the Bill. “Socialworkers are needed to devel-op human relations, theyare the key change agents tobr ing progress in tota lhealth, education, econom-ic conditions, social empow-erment, etc... the course isdesigned with in-house andfield work practicum,” hesaid.

Chief patrons Prof PR ajasek har, Vice-Chancel lor, Achar yaNagarjuna University, ProfSaraswati Raju Iyer, HoDSociology and Social Work,Prof P Varaprasada Murthy,Rector Acharya NagarjunaUniversity, Prof K Rosaiah,Regist rar, Achar yaNagarjuna University alsospoke on the occasion.

Experts discuss Social WorkEducation Bill virtually

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad City Policeinvoked the PreventiveDetention Act againstMalladi Gangadhar, whoallegedly cheated several per-sons after collecting lakhs ofrupees on the pretext ofarranging jobs.

K Shiva Chandra, StationHouse Officer of BanjaraHills said Gangadhar, 42, aresident of Manikonda andnative of West Godavari inAndhra Pradesh,collected sev-eral lakhsfrom joba s p i r a n t ssaying hehad contactsin the GHMCand wouldarrange jobs for them.

Two cases were registeredagainst him for cheating theyouth in Banjara hills andChatrinaka police stations.

"Due to his illegal activities,the PD Act was invokedagainst him," the StationHouse Officer said.

Police invoke PD Act against repeat offender

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27 , 2021vijayawada 03

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan on Saturday saidthat holistic developmentthrough education from theearly stage of a child’s life hasbecome more important today,especially in the midst of the cri-sis that we are facing.

Delivering the inauguraladdress as Chief Guest at the“International Education e-Conference” on the theme of‘Holistic Education forExcellence in Life’ organised byPrajapita Brahma Kumari

Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya,Harichandan said that as pre-dicted by learned thinkers andphilosophers, the world thatwould emerge from the ruins ofthe deadly Covid-19 pandemicwould be a completely differentworld, quite unlike the world wehave seen or experienced before.

Through holistic develop-ment, children will be equippedwith intellectual, mental, phys-ical, emotional, and spiritualcapabilities to face the demandsand challenges of everyday lifeand real-world education helpevery child find his or her

unique place in the world inalignment with their innate val-ues, said the Governor.

The present situationis leading to higherlevels of stress, anx-iety and uncer-tainty among thechildren as theyare living in con-strained environ-ments and the par-ents are worriedabout their future, hesaid.

Harichandan further elabo-rated that our personal, profes-

sional, and social lives will gothrough a metamorphosis, and

perhaps a new set of socialnorms will be in place

to guide and help usthrough theemerging para-digm shift.

In these timesof unprecedent-ed fear, anxiety

and uncertainty,the best way for-

ward would be to re-focus on the concept of

‘man-making’ or ‘life-giving’education and appreciate the

efforts of Brahma Kumaris forspreading divinity in the societyby teaching spiritual and moralvalues.

Anasuiya Uikey, Governorof Chhattisgarh, BrahmaKumari Rajyogini Sheilu,National Coordinator of RajaYoga Education and ResearchFoundation, Dr BKMruthyunjaya, ExecutiveSecretary, Brahma KumarisShantivan, Charles Hogg,National Coordinator, BrahmaKumaris Australia also partici-pated in the two-day conferenceheld in virtual mode.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP leader KS Jawahar onSaturday accused YSRCPMLAs, Ministers and theirfollowers of looting valuablesand deposits from all thereaches in the State underthe cover of the JPPower Group whichhas been awardedthe rights tomine sandacross AndhraPradesh.

J a w a h a rdeplored thatwhile ChiefMinister YSJaganmohan Reddy wasplundering all the naturalresources and wealth in theState at his level, his partyMLAs and Ministers werelooting the available assets intheir respective constituen-cies. “The Government hand-ed over all sand reaches to JPGroup, but the truth was thatthe ruling party MLAs were

exploiting this at the fieldlevel. The local MROs andother officials have becomejust toys in their hands,” theTDP leader said.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, he said that the

YSRCP TiruvuruMLA and his

benamis weremaking easymoney inthe ongoingsand min-i n gexploitation

there. “Theyhad dug up

and taken away200 tractor loads of

sand from the Kattalerustream in total violation of therules and guidelines.Unfortunately, the MRO andMPDO level officers werehand in glove with the MLAin all this. The general publicis objecting to this overexploitation and looting,”Jawahar alleged.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP state executive secretaryBuchi Ramprasad on Saturdaydemanded the YSRCP govern-ment and the TTD SpecifiedAuthority to explain why the 7-km long 'Garuda Varadhi' fly-over project in Tirupati templetown has been neglected forthe past two years.

Ramprasad said that 60 per-cent of the Varadhi works werecompleted during theChandrababu Naidu regime andthe required pillars were con-structed as part of the Rs 684crore project. “There has beenno movement on the projectunder the present regime tillnow. Suddenly, they have comeout with a plan to extend theVaradhi from Kapilatheerthamto Nandi Circle, without givingreasons and defying all logic,”Ramprasad said.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP leaderdemanded to know whetherthe Garuda Varadhi extension

was now proposed for thesake of commissions or tocause further delay in thecompletion of the flyover. “TheTDP regime came out with thisflyover from TiruchanurPadmavati Ammavari templeto Kapilatheertham in order tosolve the perennial problem oftraffic jams and congestion. Ifthe TTD and the YSRCP gov-ernment completed theremaining 40 percent works,the Garuda Varadhi wouldhave been open for public use

by now,” he said.Ramprasad said that the AP

Government and EndowmentsMinister Vellampalli SrinivasRao owed an explanation tothe devotees why the Varadhiextension was proposed at anadditional cost of Rs 200 crore.“TTD EO KS Jawahar Reddyshould clear doubts of thepublic on this issue. Where wasthe need to extend GarudaVaradahi in a stretch wherethere was no traffic conges-tion?” he asked.

C PRADEEP KUMAR

n VIJAYAWADA

Friday’s order by a division bench of theAndhra Pradesh High Court staying theorder issued by single judge bench ofJustice M Satyanarayana Murthy can-celling the ZPTC and MPTC electionshas brought relief to not only the 126ZPTC and 2,363 MPTC candidates whowere elected unanimously across thestate, but also all other contestants.However, the Opposition parties are stillhopeful that the High Court will scrapthe election and call it afresh.

State Election Commissioner NilamSawhney had on June 23 filed a petitionin the High Court, challenging the can-cellation of MPTC and ZPTC electionsby the single judge bench a month back.Soon after assuming charge as the SECon April 1, Sawhney had issued theZPTC and MPTC election notificationfor the elections to be held on April 8.

Of the 660 Zilla Parishad TerritorialConstituencies (ZPTCs) and 9,984Mandal Parishad TerritorialConstituencies (MPTCs) in AndhraPradesh, elections were held for 534ZPTCs and 7,621 MPTCs.

However, all political parties, includ-ing the main opposition TDP, demand-ed cancellation of the elections citingirregularities, in some cases obstruction,by the YSRCP leaders and supportersduring the filing of nomination papersby candidates of the other parties. TheTDP actually went a step ahead andofficially boycotted the elections.

TDP senior leader Varla Ramaiahand Jana Sena leader Ch Srinivas Raofiled separate petitions in the HighCourt demanding cancellation of theelections citing irregularities and fail-

ure to follow the guidelines of theSupreme Court. Responding to the peti-tion, Justice Satyanarayana Murthygranted stay.

Speaking to The Pioneer, VarlaRamaiah said that the SEC violated theSupreme Court guidelines to conductelections four weeks after the notifica-tion was issued. He said that the SEChas violated the election code of con-duct and that the court only gave a stayon the cancellation of elections.Ramaiah pointed out that the HighCourt has not allowed counting ofvotes. He expressed confidence that thecourt would cancel the election.“However, if the verdict of the divisionbench is against us, our party politburowould take a call on further course ofaction,” Ramaiah said.

CPM state leader Ch Babu Rao said

that political parties are violating theelection procedure and guidelinesforcing people to approach the courtof law. He said that ConstitutionalAmendments 73 and 74 should be fol-lowed and elections should be held forParishad and local bodies and givechance for local governance as per theprescribed time which was not fol-lowed. He said that the governmentwas taking decisions unilaterally andrushing matters to the extent that theyare ending up in court cases. He saidthat had the SEC followed the guide-lines, the matter would not have land-ed in court.

C Bhargavi, MPTC candidate fromAdavai Kothuru village, Nagari,expressed happiness that the court hasgiven her hope of becoming a MPTC,after a wait of more than a year. She

said that if the elections are conduct-ed afresh, it would be an additionalfinancial burden to them and the vot-ers may change their mind and votefor others. “We are now more hope-ful that the court will give the nod forcounting of votes and declaration ofresults,” she said.

MPTC candidate V LakshmiTirupatamma from G-Konduru inKrishna district expressed delightafter the division bench stayed the can-cellation of elections. She said that shewas very confident of winning theelections as her husband is V TirupatiRao, a former MPP from the sameplace who has a good reputation.Tirupatamma said for the past one anda half years, they have been eagerlywaiting for the Parishad polls to com-plete and results be declared but dueto some or the other reasons, thingsare getting delayed. She expressed con-fidence that the division bench wouldaccord permission for counting anddeclare the results soon.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for endowmentsVellampalli Srinivas Rao onSaturday said that Vijayawadawould be developed as a modelcity with Rs 600 crore funds.The minister laid foundationsfor development works worthRs 1.50 crore to be taken up inthe city.

He said that Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy waskeen to develop Vijayawada asa Model city and that was whyhe had sanctioned Rs 600crore to help change the face ofthe city.

Srinivas Rao inaugurated anewly-constructed water tankof 455 KL capacity in division48, in the presence of MLC Sk.Karimunnisa, Mayor RayanaBhagyalakshmi and VMCcommissioner PrasannaVenkatesh.

The Minister, respondingto the request of constructinga community hall at Yerrakatta,directed VMC officials to pre-

pare a proposal with estima-tions. He assured that basicamenities would be developedin all divisions of Vijayawadaunder the Model city project.

The minister distributedblue and green bins to locals indivision 42 for segregation ofdry and wet waste. He said thatsix divisions of the city havebeen selected for CleanAndhra Pradesh Project

(CLAP) and asked people tosegregate and hand over wetand dry waste to VMC sanita-tion staff in the separate bins.

Mayor Bhagyalakshmi saidthat VMC started develop-ment of roads and parks withbasic amenities development toswitch Vijayawada into amodel city. She sought coop-eration of citizens to achievethe task.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A set of twins from SRMUniversity-AP has beenoffered a package of Rs 50 lakhper annum as placement inPVP Inc., a strategic partner ofGoogle, Japan.

Rajarshi Majumdar andSaptarshi Majumdar, thetwins, are students pursuing BTech-CSE. They got the place-ment opportunity and wouldbe going to Japan to begintheir careers.

Congratulating the twinsand other merit students of thefirst batch, SRM-AP presi-dent Dr P Satyanarayanansaid that it is indeed a veryproud moment for the varsi-ty, seeing so many achievers inthe maiden batch. He statedthat the maiden graduating

students of SRM unleashingthe power and setting recordsthrough incredible place-ments, soaring higher to inter-national universities, andentrepreneurial ventures andstart-ups.

Rajarshi and Saptarshi said“The 24×7 student-run NextTech Lab, Semester Abroadand Entrepreneurship at UCBerkeley, USA and winningHackathon in Bay Area com-peting with MIT, Stanfordand Carnegie Mellon exposedus to the real world, whichwould not have been possiblewithout the continuous sup-port of our faculty and univer-sity management.”

“Now, it is time that we startour life in Japan, and we arevery much looking forward tothe new chapter,” they said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment was on Saturday urgedto scrap the newly appointedSpecified Authority andinstead constitute a full-fledged Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams Trust Boardwith a practicing Hindu Dalitas the Chairman.

CS Rangarajan, convenerof the Temples ProtectionMovement and hereditaryArchaka-cum-trustee of theChilkur Balaji temple, saidthat if a Dalit was appointedas the chairman of the Board,it will definitely send positivesignals to the marginalisedcommunities who were feel-ing excluded in the templesystem. “The chairman per-forms the role of Yajamanwho is the ‘kartha’ of thetemple rituals and has moreclout than Archakas orJeeyangars,” he said.

Rangarajan said that theaction of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy wasrequired to set aside theapprehensions of crores ofdevotees of Balaji who feelthat the Specified Authoritymay toe the line of theGovernment and turn a blindeye to any diversion of fundsof the TTD for adjusting thefiscal deficit. "We have noth-ing against the officers whoare individually capable ofadministration, but a full-fledged Trust Board will havesufficient checks and bal-ances in case of any such

eventuality,” he said.Rangarajan recalled that

the Specified Authority in2010 was under undividedAndhra Pradesh governmentfor a very short term but hadofficers from other depart-ments. “At that time, tocleanse the administrationof the TTD in the wake sev-eral allegations of irregular-ities, the then governmenthad constituted a SpecifiedAuthority with Dr J Satyan-arayana, Special Chief Sec-retary, Medical and Health, asits chairman,” he reminded.

Rangarajan said that theother two members of theauthority were TTDExecutive Officer IYRKrishna Rao and VNagireddy, ManagingDirector of AP IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(APIDC). At that time in2010, the government stood

by the Cabinet's decision toappoint a Specified Authorityin the wake of unprecedent-ed allegations of irregularitiesand misappropriation offunds in the TTD causedanguish to devotees and hurttheir sentiments. "TheSpecified Authority is consti-tuted only in extraordinarycircumstances and we asdevotees feel that there is nosuch situation at present."Rangarajan added.

Parallels cannot be drawnbetween 2010 and now, as thelast time, the SpecifiedAuthority was entrusted withthe responsibility to set rightthe TTD administration, plugloopholes to eliminate mal-practices and protect thesanctity of the Tirumala tem-ple, the abode of LordVenkateswara which drawslakhs of devotees from acrossthe globe, he stated.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Agriculture Special ChiefSecretary PoonamMalakondaiah said that theState government had takensteps to support horticulturefarmers during Covid times,ensuring they get proper pricefor their crops and ensuredtransport goods.

Speaking at a media confer-ence on Saturday, she said thathorticulture is being taken upin the State in 17.84 lakhhectares with nearly 312 lakhMT of fruit production, justi-fying the State being called‘Fruit Basket of the Country.’The entire mango harvesting isof 46 lakh MT, of which 70 per-cent of the harvesting has beendone already and special focushas been laid on mango pro-cessing by creating awareness

to the farmers right from thevillage level through RBKs.

She said that from the lastfour months, measures havebeen taken for a smooth trans-port of crops to avoid inconve-nience for the farmers and

supporting mango farmers inCovid times, crops have beentransported through 27 KisanRails.

Further, Malakondaiah saidthat the government had sup-ported farmers by providing

MSP to perishable goods likechilli, turmeric, banana andorange, and also establishedPrice Stabilisation Fund withRs 3,000 crore.

To benefit the farmer com-munity, the government has

taken a historical decision ofannouncing MSP for the 23crops significantly grown inState that were not consideredby the Centre, she said.Malakondaiah said that theState government was current-ly providing Rs 7,000 per quin-tal for chilli, Rs 6,850 perquintal for turmeric, Rs 770 foronion, Rs 2,500 for minor mil-lets, Rs 800 for banana and Rs1,400 for sweet orange. Besides,the government also intro-duced graded MSP for ground-nut and Bengal gram.

Malakondaiah said that 25fruit processing units will be setup across the State enablingfarmers to earn more profits.Asserting that RBKs at villagelevel had created a profoundsystem, she said that the Stategovernment had enabled allthese RBKs as crop purchase

centres benefiting farmers atharvest time.

Also, she announced that thefoundation stone for the con-struction of 2,000 warehouseswill be laid on July 8. Furthershe stated that the govern-ment will be using drone tech-nology soon for spraying fer-tilisers especially in horticul-ture crops and will be certify-ing the good practices throughan independent organisationfor providing better market ratefor the crops.

Drawing comparison withthe previous government, shestated that 11,22,912 MT ofcrops, excluding paddy, havebeen procured during 2014-2019 at a cost of Rs 3,921 crore.However, the current govern-ment has procured 19,30,199MT crops in the last two yearsat a cost of Rs 6,348 crore.

HC order on Parishad polls bringsrelief and hope to candidates

Garuda Varadhi extension ispart of ploy to loot, says TDP

JP Power a cover forYSRCP leaders: TDP

Minister: Rs 600 cr to makeVijayawada a Model city

Early holistic education helps children in life: Governor

Horticulture farmer never had it this good: MalakondaiahTwins from SRM-AP varsity gethighest package from PVP Inc.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Stating that classes were badlyaffected due to Covid-19, firstyear MBBS students and theirparents have requested thegovernment to promote themto the second year since.

A delegation of studentsand parents, led by TSrinivasa Viswanath metNTR University of HealthSciences Registrar Dr KSankar here on Saturday andsubmitted a memorandumhighlighting the difficulties ofthe students and seeking pro-

motion. Viswanatha and theother students said that class-es for first year MBBS studentswere not conducted properlydue to the pandemic and theresultant lockdown. They saidthat the students were barredfrom practical learning andwhen online classes were start-ed, they were found to be notas helpful as physical classes.The team said that improperclinical exposure and practicalsrestrained the students fromsubjects.

They said that many studentswere infected with Covid and

remained in quarantine and homeisolation. The delegation saidthat students are worried abouttaking exams and that the changesto the paper evaluation processunder new competency basedcurriculum was worrisome.

They said that there are chancesof students failing due to theshortage of five to ten marks in theexams due to improper classes.

The team said that theyplan to meet Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy and StateHealth Minister Alla KaliKrishna Srinivas on June 28 tosubmit their representation.

MBBS students seek promotions

CM urged to constitute TTDBoard with Dalit as chairman

Opposition partiesare still hopeful thatthe High Court willscrap the electionand call it afreshwhile candidates saythat if the electionsare conductedafresh, it would be anadditional financialburden to them.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27, 2021 vijayawada 04

Fisherman netsrare conch,earns `18,000 PNS n KAKINADA

In a big catch of sorts, a fish-erman from Hukumpeta –Ganta Jagannadham – founda rare pearl conch in his fish-ing net off the U Kothapallimandal coast on Saturday. Heimmediately stopped fishingand came ashore and held anauction for the conch. Itfetched him Rs 18,000 in theauction.

Jagdish, who was the luckybidder in the auction, said hewas told by some officials thatthe conch dates back to theyear 1786.

The image of Lord Siva issaid to have been found onthe conch. He said that hewould put it in the ‘pooja’room and worship it andthat he was not curious toknow what it contains.

Covid-19 effect: Weavers look togovt for help as looms fall silent

CS offers prayers to Goddess PadmavathiPNS n TIRUPATI

Chief Secretary of the AndhraPradesh government,Adityanath Das, who is in thecity on a two-day visit alongwith his family, offered prayersat Tiruchanur temple onSaturday. This was the maidenvisit of Adityanath to Tirumala,in his capacity as ChiefSecretary.

Adityanath Das was given awarm reception by TTD JEOSadha Bhargavi on his arrival atthe main entrance of the tem-ple. Later, he had darshan ofGoddess Padmavathi. The CS

was rendered Vedasirvachanamby vedic pandits after the dar-shan.

The JEO offered silk clothesand prasadam to the CS.

District Collector HariNarayan, Assistant CollectorAbhishek Kumar, DY EOKasturi Bai, TTD CVSOGopinath and Urban SPVenkatappa Naidu received theChief Secretary on his arrival atPadmavathi Temple.

Later, Adityanath Das,accompanied by his familymembers, went to KanipakkamTemple in Chittoor and haddarshan of the presiding deity.

PNS n TIRUPATI

MLA and Government WhipChevireddy Bhaskar Reddy hasstressed the need for bringingabout awareness among the pub-lic over the Disha app and saidthat every woman should beaware of Disha Act introduced bythe State government.

The awareness programmeassumes significance as it was heldin pursuance of directions byChief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy in the wake of sexualassault on a nurse at theSeethanagaram Pushkar Ghat inTadepalli of Guntur district lastweek.

Addressing the awareness pro-gramme on Disha Act at thePadmavathi University auditori-um here on Tuesday, Chevireddysaid that Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy initiated serioussteps to prevent sexual attacks onwomen by introducing Disha2019 Act and urged the womento inform the police through112, 181, 1098 whenever they arein danger.

He said that the volunteers invillages and ward secretariatsand women police should betrained in using the app first and

through them, a campaign shouldbe taken up to make girls andwomen aware of its usefulness inemergency circumstances.

Later, Urban SP VenkatappalaNaidu, along with other policeofficials, created awareness aboutthe Disha mobile app and

demonstrated how to use it in dis-tress through video presenta-tions and requested the women touse the app in case of distress. Healso asked them to dial phone no.100 in case they need help.

The SP further said that thepolice teams will conduct aware-ness programmes at various edu-cational institutions across thedistrict. He urged the officials toreach out to every household andsee that the app is downloaded byall girls and women from GooglePlaystore.

Padmavathi University VCJamuna, mahila police personnel,ward volunteers, university stu-dents and police officials took partin the awareness programme.

Chevireddy stresses needfor awareness on Disha app

The officials to reach out to everyhousehold and seethat the app isdownloaded by allgirls and womenfrom GooglePlaystore.

DHV SAMBASIVA RAO

n KAKINADA

Handloom workers in EastGodavari district are in adeplorable condition with theirlooms falling silent due to lackof work. Their lives haveturned more pathetic withAPCO not paying the arrearsfor garments purchased fromthem. In such a scenario, hand-loom workers say that if thegovernment does not come totheir rescue now, they willhave to starve to death.

Prior to the last elections, thethen chief minister NChandrababu used the fundsmeant for payment to hand-loom workers to disburse cashto women under the ‘PasupuKumkuma’ scheme. With this,the handloom workers had toface severe problems. Thearrears, which accumulated toseveral crores of rupees, weresettled when YSRCP headed byYS Jagan Mohan Reddy cameto power in the State. To bailthem out of their financialtroubles, the new governmentlaunched the ‘NethannaNestham’ scheme under whichweavers were entitled to Rs24,000 every year.

During the ongoing Coronacrisis, the weavers have com-pletely lost their livelihood. Asper records, there are 20,783weavers and 50 handloomcooperatives across the district.While a special insurance planwas available for them in thepast, the Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment came out withthe ‘YSR Bima’ scheme.

A handloom worker, KHanumantu, said the weaversare currently out of work. Onlypower loom owners invest andhire workers. “Weavers whoworked on their looms at homeand those who served in theworkshops of cooperative soci-eties, have lost their jobs,” hesaid. With no transportation

avenues, garments worthcrores of rupees have been con-fined to these cooperatives.They will not get money unlessthey sell the products, he said,observing that it is doubtfulwhether even the amountinvested could be salvaged.

Another worker PunnamSurbabu of Addampalli villagesaid that the Central and stategovernments would togetherpay once a year the sameamount of money saved byeach weaver working in eachhandloom society every

month. “This money has notbeen coming for three years.After Jagan Mohan Reddybecame the Chief Minister,the e-thrift savings schemewas launched to pay theamount quarterly instead ofonce in a year,” he said butadmitted payments are notbeing done.

He said that if workers save8 percent of their income, theCentral and State governmentswould deposit another 8 percent of the amount into theiraccounts, he added.

A society worker Mariammasaid that with stocks gettingaccumulated, she has been fac-ing several hardships in thesehard days of Corona crisis asAPCO is not purchasing them.

State BC Welfare MinisterSrinivasa Venugopal Krishna,who inspected societies recent-ly along with APCO ChairmanChillapally Mohana Rao inHasanbada and Addampallivillages of Ramachandrapurammandal, suggested immediatepayment of arrears in view ofthe accumulation of garmentsworth over Rs 10 crore.

The chairman was learnt tohave been shocked to see thepathetic condition of weavers.He promised to set up moreAPCO stores across the Stateand buy the stocks. He alsopromised to take steps to selluniforms, blankets and towelsto government hostels.

Weavers in the district arehoping to come out of theirdebts after the visit of theminister and the APCOChairman.

PNS n ONGOLE

Decks have been cleared for aroad to be laidYerragondapalem toHyderabad via Macherla.Commuters from Prakasamdistrict to the Telangana capi-tal can hope for a hassle-freetravel once road project projectis completed.

Education Minister Dr

Adimulapu Suresh said in astatement here on Saturdaythat the two-year efforts to con-vince the Centre about the needfor the two-lane road havepaid off.

On National Highway-565,the work on a stretch of 47 kmwill be grounded soon. "Wehave been trying for funds forthe last two years by sendingproposals for a two-lane road

between Yerragondapalem andHyderabad," the minister said.

He said that MP MaguntaSrinivasula Reddy had takenthe initiative in allocatingfunds. The Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways hadreceived a letter from Secretaryto the Government GiridharAramane sanctioning Rs403.86 crore with revised esti-mates. He said steps would also

be taken to complete the ten-der process soon and startwork. Until now, the NationalHighway has been used bycommuters travelling fromYerragondapalem of Prakasamdistrict to Hyderabad. But peo-ple say that once the NH-565road is completed, travel timewould be reduced and it wouldbe more convenient for the res-idents of the district.

Yerragondapalem-Hyderabad road to be a reality soon

PNS n GUNTUR

Members of the UdyogaSadhana Samiti staged a novelprotest with half-tonsuredheads here on Saturday inprotest against the job calen-dar released by the govern-ment.

The unemployed youthstaged a sit-in at the LodgeCentre in the city under theaegis of Lakshman, the leaderof the Udyoga SadhanaSamiti, against the govern-ment's policy.

They demanded immediaterelease of the job calendarwith 1,40,000 jobs.

They warned that theywould intensify the agitationif the government failed toconcede their demand.

The government needs tofulfil the aspirations of the

unemployed.He said the government

had cheated the unem-ployed. More than two lakhjobs were vacant, he said and

warned that they would laysiege to the residences of theministers if the new job cal-endar is not released byJune 28.

Half-tonsured jobless youthstage novel protest in Guntur

PNS n ONGOLE

Three red sanders smugglerswere arrested by the Prakasamdistrict police on Saturday. Hesaid the accused were identi-fied as Guraka Surendra, amini lorry driver, and TatturiSreenu, Tatturi Prabhakar ofArdhavidu Mandal ChinnaKandukuru

Tarlupadu SI AvulaVenkateshwarlu said that alorry was intercepted and redsanders logs being transport-ed in it were seized nearGanugapenta village inTarlupadu mandal ofPrakasam district.

The vehicle was handedover to Forest Deputy RangeOfficer Rajasekhar Babu and

Forest Beat Officer SheikhAnwar Bhasha, the SI said.

Constable Rafi, Kashinath,

VRO Srinivasa Reddy andVRI Venkataramana were pre-sent on the occasion.

3 red sanders smugglers heldTwo killed in road accidentPNS n GUNTUR

Two persons were killedwhen an unidentified vehiclehit the motorcycle on whichthey were travelling atVemuluripadu village inPirangipuram mandal of thedistrict on Saturday.

While one of the youthsdied on the spot, the otherone was pronounced dead onarrival at the GunturGovernment Hospital.

The deceased were iden-tified as Sheikh Rafi andChandu, both residents ofSunnipenta in Kurnool dis-trict. Chandu worked as aphotographer inHyderabad.

PNS n ELURU

In a case of bank fraud, anemployee of the Achantabranch of the Union Bank inWest Godavari district hassiphoned off Rs 30 lakh. Theincident came to light onSaturday.

Assistant manager Nagrajwas caught after divertingcash belonging to 40 farmersinto other accounts. Hediverted an amount of Rs 30lakh from the cheques issuedfor transfer of farmers' croploan.

According to farmers andbank officials, Nagraj divert-ed the money to threeaccounts. As he was on leavefor two days, the farmersapproached the bank manag-er for loans. The matter cameto light when farmers sought

to know when the Kharifloans would be given to them.

When the manager exam-ined the accounts of the farm-ers, the employee informedthe superiors that the amountswere deposited in three otheraccounts and used. With this,they conducted an inquiry atthe branch.

When questioned, the assis-tant manager admitted that themoney was diverted. Theauthorities subsequently sus-pended him.

The manager of the banksaid the police would conducta full investigation and file acase against Nagraj.

Bank manager Sivakrishnasaid action would be takenagainst him as per the ordersof his superiors and farmersneed not worry about theirmoney.

Union Bank official siphons off `30 lakh

PNS n KAKINADA

East Godavari DistrictCollector D Muralidhar Reddyhas directed the staff of thesecretariat to take steps toensure that everyone who hasbeen allotted land under the‘Navaratnalu- PedalandarikiIllu’ scheme in Kakinada citylimits undertakes the con-struction of houses.

Muralidhar Reddy, alongwith Kakinada MunicipalCommissioner SwapnilDinkar Pundkar, visited thesecretariats of Bhaskar Nagar4th Ward and Sitaram Nagar

9th Ward under the KakinadaMunicipal Corporation onSaturday.

The Collector enquiredabout the progress of housingand Disha app awareness pro-gramme. He said the Stategovernment had spent thou-sands of crores of rupees toprepare good layouts to pro-vide housing to the poor, hesaid.

He said house constructionshould be undertaken andgrounding of works complet-ed by every beneficiary whowas granted house sites. Thewomen in the ward secretari-

ats should motivate womenand girls in the ward to down-load the Disha app on theirmobile phones. They shouldencourage women and chil-dren, who are subjected torude behaviour, to complainthrough the Disha app.

The Collector said that theapplications coming to theward secretariat for variousservices should be looked intoand disposed of within thestipulated time.

The Collector was accom-panied by ADC ChNaganarasimha Rao, secre-tariat staff and volunteers.

Collector enquires aboutprogress of housing works

Prakasam District Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal interacting with police officials in Ongole on Saturday duringhis inspection of curfew enforcement process in the city.

TAKING NNO CCHANCES Fugitive murderaccused nabbedPNS n KAKINADA

Police have arrested the fugitiveaccused of brutally murderinghis relative.

Kakinada Rural CI AkulaMuralikrishna said VenkannaBabu (41) used to come homedrunk and beat his wife Kumariand son at their house in Karapavillage. Kumari told her brotherKashi about the harassment metedout to her by Venkannababu. OnJune 20, Venkanna Babu onceagain beat up his wife. She toldher brother Kashi, who lives inIndrapalem, about this. Kashistabbed Venkana Babu todeath while he was asleep.'Venkanna Babu was rushed toa hospital but he died under-going treatment.

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27, 2021 nation 05

Chief Justice of India N VRamana on Saturday released a

book -- ‘Anomalies in Law andJustice' -- by former SupremeCourt Judge Justice (retd) R VRaveendran explaining in simpleterms various deficiencies in thelaw which needs to be overcome.The Chief Justice of India (CJI) saidthe book was an attempt to explainto a common man that the law andthe legal system is still evolvingand it requires more critical

thinking to resolve issues that have persisted for a long time. Hepraised Justice (retd) Raveendran and said he was "an amalgam ofunwavering commitment to rule of law, strong belief in theindependence of the judiciary, a deep sense of morality andscholarship par excellence.”

CJI releases book by former SCjudge on evolving legal system

Goa-bound RajdhaniExpress from Hazrat

Nizamuddin derailedinside a tunnel in Ratnagiridistrict of Maharashtraearly on Saturday, butthere was no report ofinjury to any passenger,

an official said. The train - 02414 - was going to Madgaon in Goa whenit derailed inside Karbude tunnel, approximately 325 kms from Mumbai,around 4.15 am, a spokesperson of the Konkan Railway, whichoperates the route, said. A boulder had fallen on the tracks, which led tothe derailment, he said. "The front wheel of the locomotive of Rajdhanisuperfast train derailed in Karbude tunnel located between Ukshi andBhoke stations in Ratnagiri region of the Konkan Railway," the officialsaid. A rail maintenance vehicle (RMV) has reached the site and anaccident relief medical van (ARMV) having re-railing equipment has leftfor the site from Ratnagiri for the restoration work.

Goa-bound Rajdhani Exp derailsinside tunnel in Maharashtra

Puducherry registered 228 freshcoronavirus cases in the last 24

hours ending 10 am on Saturday,taking the total positives to 1.16lakh. The new cases were detectedat the end of examination of 8018samples. The total cases reportedtoday were spread overPuducherry 166, Karaikal 43,

Yanam 13 and Mahe 6. Two more persons succumbed to theinfection and they were aged 72 and 42 years old. Director of HealthDepartment S Mohan Kumar said the active cases stood at 2,775.While 421 patients recovered today only the overall recoveries were1,11,898. Kumar said 12,76,071 samples were tested so far, and itwas found that 10,96,058 out of them were negative. Meanwhile,37,133 health care workers and 22,866 front line workers werevaccinated so far. He said 3,43,044 people coming under thecategory of the senior citizens (60 years and above) or those above45 years with co morbidities have been inoculated so far.

Pondy logs 228 new Covid cases,overall tally touches 1,16,414

Alekhpal in this district hasbeen suspended for

allegedly making derogatoryremarks against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, an official saidon Saturday. Lekhpal (revenueofficer) Jitendra Nath Singh,posted in Odrai village ofJakhanian Tehsil, had madederogatory remarks on the

prime minister, which were found to be against the governmentservice rules, Sub-Collector (SDM) Jakhanianm, Suraj Yadav said onSaturday. An inquiry was ordered based on a complaint against theremarks. The inquiry report received on Friday evening found thelekhpal guilty of not following the government service rules, the SDMsaid, adding he was placed under suspension with immediate effect.The suspended lekhpal is a resident of Sarsena village in Maudistrict.

Lekhpal suspended over‘derogatory' remarks against PM

INDIA CORNER

PNS n NEW DELHI

The pace of vaccination of the 60-plus population has become slug-gish in the past few weeks after aninitial high, with healthcareexperts attributing it to mobilityissues and misinformation andunsubstantiated apprehensionsabout the jabs.

According to Health Ministrydata, 2.29 crore elderly peoplehave been fully vaccinated so farwhile 6.71 crore have received justone dose of COVID-19 vaccinetill now.

The 60-plus population inIndia was projected to be at 14.3crore in 2021, so that would implythat just 16 per cent of them havebeen fully vaccinated till now.

Vaccination for those over 60years of age and those of 45-pluswith co-morbidities started from

March 1 at both governmentand private centres.

On an average about 80.77 lakhvaccine doses were given to the60-plus population per weekbetween March 13 and April 2,but the weekly figure dropped toabout 32 lakh between June 5 to25, according to the data.

Healthcare experts expressedconcern over the slow place ofvaccination of the 60-plus peoplewho are more prone to have co-morbidities and remain moresusceptible to severe disease.

Dr Sujeet Ranjan, ExecutiveDirector of The Coalition forFood and Nutrition Security(CFNS), said myths, misconcep-tions and rumours aboutCOVID-19 vaccines are thebiggest hurdle to vaccinationcoverage.

"Some people think they will

never contract COVID-19, oth-ers believe that the virus itself ison the way out. Irrational mistrustof scientifically approved vaccinesis also a factor. While vaccine hes-itancy has always been a phenom-enon in our country, today ittends to accentuated by opinionson social media, where evenpeople with no subject expertise

but having wide following caninfluence people," he said.

"Some people in rural areasbelieve that COVID-19 is most-ly for urban people. Also, manypeople have heard on the socialmedia that the vaccine and itsside-effects will show up two tothree years from now. Theserumours, suspicion and fear are

making it harder to remove vac-cine hesitancy," he added.

He said it has also beenobserved that most public placesin rural areas lack senior citizen-friendly infrastructure.

Hospitals have expressed con-cern over the slow pace of vacci-nation of 60-plus people who alsosuffer from the maximum num-ber of comorbidities.

Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, FounderDirector, Ujala Cygnus Group ofHospitals, said vaccine hesitancyin the elderly population is a veryreal issue.

"Among many factors, one is afear that people with previousheart disease will have someissue because of some unfortunatevideos that were circulatingaround. Some people have donetheir CRP (c-reactive protein)tests also to see if that was raised

and then they feel that theyshould not take the vaccine,"Bajaj said. Bajaj said mobility isalso a very big issue for the 60-plus age group.

"The most important problemis mobility because they are notreally able to visit the vaccinationcentres themselves and also theyhave a fear that if they go into acrowded place, they will catchCovid. We need to ensure that weeducate them about the variousrisk factors and try to provide vac-cination to them at theirdoorstep," he said.

Dr. Piyush Goel, SeniorConsultant- Pulmonary andCritical Care, Columbia AsiaHospital, Palam Vihar,Gurugram, said for mass-scalevaccine coverage, vaccine hesi-tancy is one of the biggest hur-dles.

Vax of 60-plus population sluggish after initial high: Experts

Farooq sees ‘level of mistrust'in JK, Omar demands statehood PNS n SRINAGAR

National Conference chiefFarooq Abdullah Saturday saidthere was "a level of mistrust"in Jammu and Kashmir and itwas for the Centre to removeit, even as his son and formerchief minister Omar Abdullahdemanded restoring Jammuand Kashmir's statehoodbefore holding Assembly polls.

Speaking to reporters upontheir return from Delhi afterattending an all-party meetconvened by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Jammuand Kashmir, Farooq said hewould hold discussions withhis party leaders and PAGDconstituents before makingany further statement on themeeting.

He said the country's firstPrime Minister JawaharlalNehru promised plebiscite tothe people of J&K, but wentback on it. He also said thatbefore the 1996 elections, thethen prime minister P VNarasimha Rao had promisedautonomy from the floor of the

house. "Narasimha Raoji before

elections promised us autono-my and said sky is the limit, butnot independence. We saidwe never asked (for) indepen-dence, we have asked forautonomy. He promised usfrom the floor of the house.Where is that?" Farooq asked.

"There is a level of mis-trust....We should wait and seewhat they (the Centre) do...Whether they will remove themistrust or let it continue," he

added.The former CM said even

senior Congress leader KaranSingh has called for the restora-tion of statehood to Jammuand Kashmir before holdingelections.

He said that at the primeminister's meeting, all invitedpersons put forth their views.

"This was the first step fromtheir side that somehow the sit-uation is improved in Jammuand Kashmir and a politicalprocess is restarted," he said.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha MPdismissed suggestions that theJune 24 meeting with thePrime Minister signalled theend of People's Alliance forGupkar Declaration (PAGD) -- a Six-party amalgam of main-stream parties formed after theCentre abrogated Article 370and split Jammu and Kashmirinto two union territories inAugust 2019.

"Why should it be the end ofthe alliance?"

Omar, meanwhile, toldreporters it was made clear tothe Centre during the PM'smeeting that the statehoodshould be restored to Jammuand Kashmir before holding ofAssembly elections.

"(Ghulam Nabi) Azad sahibspoke on behalf of all of us thatwe do not accept this timeline.We do not accept delimitation,election, statehood. We wantdelimitation, statehood andthen election. If you want tohold polls, you will have torestore statehood first," he toldreporters soon after returningfrom Delhi.

Raut: Oppositionalliance incompletewithout Congress

PNS n NAGPUR

Senior BJP leader DevendraFadnavis on Saturday said hisparty will restore reservationfor OBCs in local bodies ifgiven power, and if not, he willretire from politics.

Addressing BJP workersduring a protest held at VarietySquare chowk as part of theparty's 'chakka jam' (block thetraffic) agitation for therestoration of OBC quota, theLeader of Opposition in thestate Assembly alleged theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)government was misleadingthe people by saying that it willraise this issue in Parliament.

"The fact is that this issuecan be resolved at the statelevel. The state governmentcan restore the reservation byformulating a law. There is noneed for any act of the Centralgovernment. That is why OBCreservation is prevalent inother states except inMaharashtra. You (MVA) willhave to make a law. We will notstop until we expose their lie.This protest is held to con-demn this government on theissue," he said.

The Supreme Court had inits March 4 order said thatreservation in favour of OBCsin concerned local bodies inMaharashtra cannot exceedaggregate 50 per cent of thetotal seats reserved forScheduled Castes, theScheduled Tribes and OBCstook together.

The apex court, while read-ing down section 12(2)(c) ofthe Maharashtra ZillaParishads and PanchayatSamitis Act 1961, which pro-vided 27 per cent reservationfor persons belonging to thebackward class, also quashed

the notifications issued by thestate election commission in2018 and 2020 providing reser-vation exceeding 50 per cent inlocal bodies of some districts.

Fadnavis, who representsNagpur South-West seat inthe Assembly, said OBCs arebeing purposely deprived ofthe political reservation.

"I want to appeal to all theOBC ministers in the MVAgovernment. There is no enmi-ty between us and them. If youare honest towards the cause ofthe OBCs then regardless ofparty lines we are ready tostand with you. I want to tellyou with full confidence thatwithin the next three to fourmonths we can bring back theOBC reservation. If you give uspower...I want to tell you withconfidence that if I fail tobring back the political reser-vation for OBCs, I will retirefrom politics," the former chiefminister said.

Earlier in the day, theMaharashtra unit of the BJPheld 'chakka jam' protest acrossthe state. The party had earli-er announced that it wouldhold agitation at 1,000 loca-tions across the state.

‘Will retire from politics if BJPfails to restore OBC quota’

Corona will win if stakeholdersfight one another: Kejriwal PNS n NEW DELHI

Seeking to move on from thecontroversy over a SupremeCourt appointed panel reporton Delhi's oxygen demand,Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalon Saturday called for everyoneto work together to ensurethere is no shortage of oxygenin the next Covid wave.

The virus will win if there isa fight among stakeholders,Kejriwal tweeted, a day after hisAam Aadmi Party and the BJPhit out at each each other overthe report that said Delhi's oxy-gen needs were “exaggerated”four times over during the sec-ond Covid wave.

"May we work now if yourfight over oxygen is finished?Let us together make a system

so no one faces shortage of oxy-gen in third wave,” Kejriwal saidin his tweet in Hindi.

“There was an acute shortageof oxygen in the second wave.It should not be so in the thirdwave. Corona will win if wefight with each other. Thenation will win if we fighttogether," he added.

While AAP leaders accusedthe BJP of "cooking up" thereport from the Supreme Courtappointed committee, the saf-fron party charged the Delhigovernment with "criminal neg-ligence". Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia alleged that the"bogus" and "misleading" reportwas "cooked up" at BJP's officeand submitted by the Centre inthe apex court.

The sub-group constituted bythe Supreme Court to audit oxy-gen consumption in hospitals inthe national capital during thesecond wave said the Delhigovernment "exaggerated" theconsumption of oxygen andmade a claim of 1,140 MT, fourtimes higher than the formulafor bed capacity requirement of289 MT.

Top BJP leadersdiscuss preparationsfor Assembly polls in 5 states in 2022

PNS n NEW DELHI

Preparation for the assemblypolls in five states early next yearwas the main agenda of a meet-ing of senior BJP leaders, includ-ing several Union ministers,on Saturday as they deliberatedon political and governanceissues linked to these states.

Party president J P Naddaand Union ministers Amit Shah,Rajnath Singh, NirmalaSitharaman, Narendra SinghTomar, Smriti Irani, and KirenRijiju were among those whoattended the meeting, partyleaders said.

"Preparation for the assem-bly polls in five states were themain agenda of the meeting,"a party leader said after themeeting.

Centre asks Karnataka to take up immediatecontainment measures

DELTA PLUS VARIANT

PNS n BENGALURU

The Centre has urged Karnatakato take up immediate contain-ment measures, including pre-venting crowds, conductingwidespread testing as well asincreasing vaccine coverage on apriority basis in districtswhere the Delta Plusvariant of COVID-19 has beendetected.

Union HealthSecretary RajeshBhushan has writ-ten to KarnatakaChief Secretary PRavi Kumar in thisregard.

Pointing out that this varianthas been found in Mysuru dis-trict, the letter dated June 25 said,"the Public Health Response, inthis case while broadly remain-ing the same, has to becomemore focused and stringent."

"Thus, you are requested totake up immediate containment

measures in these districts andclusters including preventingcrowds and intermingling ofpeople, widespread testing,prompt tracing as well as vaccinecoverage on a priority basis," itsaid.

The letter also asks the state toensure that adequate sam-

ples of positive personsare sent to the desig-

nated laboratoriesof INSACOGpromptly so thatthe clinical epi-demiological cor-

relations can beestablished.

Similar measures havebeen suggested to seven statesother than Karnataka. Accordingto INSACOG, the Delta Plusvariant which is currently aVariant of Concern (VOC) hascharacteristics like, increasedtransmissibility, stronger bindingto receptors of lung cells, andpotential reduction in mono-clonal antibody response.

PNS n CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu has registered itsfirst death due to the Delta Plusvariant of COVID-19 with aperson from Maduraisuccumbing to it, according tothe state health department.Minister for Medical and FamilyWelfare Ma Subramanian saidthree positive cases of the new‘Delta Plus' variant wereidentified of which two haverecovered. Those testedpositive for the Delta Plusvariant include a 32 year oldnurse from Chennai and anotherindividual from Kancheepuramdistrict. “After the death of theMadurai patient, the sampleswere collected, which confirmedthat it was ‘Delta Plus' variant,”he said.

TN reports first‘Delta Plus'variant fatality

PNS n BHOPAL

At least eight persons have beenfound infected with the DeltaPlus variant of coronavirus inMadhya Pradesh so far, stateMedical Education MinisterVishwas Sarang said onSaturday, adding none of thecontacts of these patients wasfound to be infected with thisstrain. According to officials,two persons who died in Maythis year were found to beinfected with the Delta Plusvariant. Speaking to reporters,Sarang said the patients infectedwith the Delta Plus variant arebeing tested as per protocol andthe National Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC) has beenregularly sharing informationwith the state in this regard.

8 cases ofDelta Plusvariant in MP

PNS n KOLKATA

Three more associates of fakeIAS officer Debanjan Deb werearrested on Saturday morning inconnection with the dubiousCOVID vaccination camps inKolkata, a senior police officersaid.

Two of the associates were sig-natories of the bank account thatwas created in the name of

Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC) by the accused, the offi-cer said.

The third person, who was onthe payroll of Deb, had activelytaken part in the camps whereseveral people were "inoculated"by spurious vaccines, he said.

"One of them is a resident ofSalt Lake, while another is fromBarasat. Both were called forquestioning before they were

arrested," the officer said.The third person, a resident of

Taltala, was arrested after policefound him to be "very active" inhelping organising the camps, hesaid.

Meanwhile, three more caseswere registered against Deb at theKasba police station, the policeofficer said.

"A private firm which claimedto have given him about Rs 1.2

lakh to get around 72 employ-ees inoculated lodged a com-plaint at the Kasba police station.Another complaint was lodgedby a contractor who claimed tohave paid him Rs 90 lakh to getthe tender for the constructionof a stadium," he said.

"The third complaint was filedby a pharma company that paidhim Rs 4 lakh to get a tender," headded.

Three more arrested in dubious vax case

Covid positiveprisoner escapes PNS n DIPHU

A prisoner, undergoing treat-ment for COVID-19 at theDiphu Medical College andHospital in Assam's KarbiAnglong district, escaped,police said on Saturday.

The prisoner was admitted tothe COVID ward of the hospi-tal on Thursday afternoon afterhe tested positive, they said. Heescaped from the hospital onFriday night, they added. Hewas arrested on June 12 fromMatipung in the Diphu policestation area after huge quantitiesof drugs were seized from him.

Dharamsala BJP MLA accusedof mental, physical torture by wifePNS n SHIMLA

Dharamsala BJP MLA VishalNehriya has been accused by hisHPAS officer wife of physicaland mental torture.

In an 11-minute video thathas gone viral on social media,the 2020-batch HimachalPradesh Administrative Services(HPAS) officer Oshin Sharmaalleged that the BJP legislatorslapped her thrice on Thursday.

Sharma, posted as the blockdevelopment officer at NagrotaSuriyan in Kangra district rural

development agency (DRDA),claimed that Nehriya had phys-ically and mentally tortured herseveral times. Nehriya andSharma were married twomonths ago on April 26.

Sharma said she has nowreturned to her maternal house.

The HPAS officer claimedthat Nehriya had also beaten herin February this year at aChandigarh hotel.

The BJP MLA neitheranswered calls nor replied tomessages sent to get his version.

Nehriya (32) was elected as

MLA from Dharamshala in a by-election on October 24, 2019.

Sharma also alleged that herhusband had expelled her fromhis house on the fourth day oftheir marriage when she testedpositive for COVID-19. Shesaid she had agreed to returnthen as he threatened to harmhimself.

The HPAS officer also statedthat she knew Nehariya sincetheir college days. She said shehad ended her relationship withhim then as he used to beat hereven during those days.

PNS n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena leader SanjayRaut on Saturday said thatwork is on to bring allopposition parties togetherat the national level, andthis alliance will be incom-plete without the Congress.

He said that the Congresswill play an important rolein the alliance that aims toprovide a strong alternativeto the present dispensa-tion.

Raut's statements comefour days after leaders ofeight opposition parties,including TMC, SP, AAP,RLD and the Left, assem-bled at NCP chief SharadPawar's residence in NewDelhi and discussed variousissues facing the country.

Talking to reportershere, Raut said, "There is noneed of the third front orany other front. SharadPawar has already made itclear. Similarly, Shiv Senathrough (party mouth-piece) ‘Saamana ' hasvoiced similar sentiments.And I have also read thatthe Congress has endorsedthis view.”

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27 , 2021money 06

PNS n WASHINGTON

India is an "incredibly impor-tant" partner to the US in theregion and globally, the WhiteHouse has said, underliningthat America is working withthe country on wide-rangingissues like economic, strategicand security.

White House Press SecretaryJen Psaki on Friday said thatthe US took a range of steps tohelp India to deal with theCOVID-19 pandemic.

“India is an incredibly impor-tant partner to the United Statesin the region and globally. Wework with India on a range ofissues, as you well know -- eco-nomic, strategic, security,”White House Press SecretaryJen Psaki told reporters at herdaily news conference.

“The United States certainlytook a range of steps, as India wasat the early stages of dealing witha rise in the pandemic, to helpprovide a range of assistance, andwe will continue to do that mov-

ing forward,” Psaki said inresponse to a question.

In April and May, India strug-gled with the second wave of theCovid-19 pandemic with morethan 3,00,000 daily new cases.Hospitals were reeling under ashortage of medical oxygen andbeds. In mid-May, new coron-avirus cases in India hit a recorddaily high with 4,12,262 newinfections. In May, President JoeBiden announced USD 100 mil-

lion worth of COVID-19 assis-tance to India.

The US-India Chambers ofCommerce Foundation hasraised more than USD 1.2 mil-lion for coronavirus-relatedefforts in India.

With a record-breakingfundraising, US-IndiaChambers of CommerceFoundation has shipped or enroute nearly 120 ventilatorsand over 1,000 oxygen concen-

trators, a release said on June 3.Also, India will be a signif-

icant recipient of the US vac-cines after Biden announceddetails of his administration'sdecision to send 25 millionCOVID-19 shots to countriesacross the globe.

India has been included inboth the identified categories -direct supply to neighboursand partner countries, andunder the COVAX initiative.

India is ‘incredibly important’partner to US: White House

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's Hero Motors Company(HMC) Group has said thatHero Cycles has successfullydelivered its first batch of“Made in India” e-bikes toEurope.

The shipment, under theHNF brand of HeroInternational (HIT), marksthe start of the Indian bicyclemajor's plan to become aleader in the European Union(EU) market, the companysaid this week.

The first batch of around200 units has been delivered toGermany, with further unitsplanned for the EU in future.

“The shipment marks a stepforward to establish HMC asthe largest fully integrated e-bike company in Europe, witha well-oiled manufacturingcapability in India and bright-ens the prospect of India as areliable supplier to the marketother than China,” HMC saidin a statement.

Hero International – theEuropean bike and e-bike arm

of HMC – said the company'saim is to achieve an organicrevenue of up to EURO 300million by 2025, while addingEURO 200 million from inor-ganic growth.

“The first HNF brandedbike built in India has landedon European shores. This is abig moment for the companyand will demonstrate its abil-ity to disrupt the market inEurope,” said Jeff Weiss, theLondon-based CEO of Hero

International.“Clearly, a major part of the

future is e-bikes with e-bikesales expected to reach around15 million units in Europe by2030. We are confident thatHero is poised to become amarket leader in this segment,making high-quality e-bikesfusing HNF's engineering anddesign expertise with Hero'smanufacturing capability, espe-cially with the 100-acre CycleValley in Ludhiana,” he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ajay Prakash Sawhney,Secretary, Ministry ofElectronics & InformationTechnology, Government ofIndia, said on Friday thatIndian IT industry showcased

its best potential and offeredhighly innovative solutions toensure the continuation of gov-ernance with utmost efficiencyduring these highly unprece-dented times.

Addressing a webinar orga-nized by the Public Affairs

Forum of India (PAFI), Mr.Sawhney said, “Indian ITIndustry has rapidly adjusted tothe new environment and addedthat the AarogyaSetu has rein-vented itself as Vaccine Passportand has the possibility to lever-age wide reach to bring more

health services and to become acitizen-facing front-end asNational Digital Health Missiondevelops.”

Mr. Sawhney said there wasa pressing need to step up man-ufacturing of both software andhardware products in order toreduce dependence on importsfrom different countries.“Entrepreneurs and companiesneed to move aggressively in thisarea. The National Policy onSoftware Products has triggeredsignificant growth and we expectthe software potential to be amajor area of growth in the next5-10 years,” he added.

On electronics manufacturingMr. Sawhney said, “The pan-demic has slowed us down, butour ambition today is to growmore than 25% YoY over the

coming five years or more. WithPLI Scheme, many eminentbrands have set up their units inrecent times. We are committedto provide incentives to compo-nents manufacturing as thesecomponents make their wayinto a large array of products.”

He also talked about buildingDigital Products and said,“Digital technologies must beintegrated into traditional sec-tors like energy, transportationmanufacturing, healthcare andso on. The advent of digital tech-nologies into each of these tra-ditional sectors will help make10-15% of growth a distinct pos-sibility.”

Talking about E-governance hementioned that the governmentis working on national scale andwith National Public Digital

Platforms. This will spread toEducation, Healthcare, SmartCities, Urban Governance, andother sectors.

On 5G, Mr. Sawhney said,“While we move from 4G to 5G,we have to strengthen and workon related devices like IOTs. Ourdigital infrastructure needs to bestrengthened with Digital IndiaInfoway creating a robust networkin Research and Developmentinstitutions.”

On IT laws, Mr. Sawhney saidthat, “While we have to focus onData Privacy Bill, there is also arequirement to refresh the exist-ing IT act, that was last amendedin 2008, as the issues that we dealwith IT sector have changed sig-nificantly - the companies that wedeal with have brought immense-ly in terms of innovation.

n Imperative for India tomanufacture its ownsoftware and hardwareproducts

n Software potential ofIndia a significant areaof growth in the comingyears

n Connected devices willenable India tocapitalize on 5G

Amidst Covid, tech ensured uninterrupted governance

MONEY MATTERS

Petrol price soared pastRs 100-a-litre mark inTamil Nadu after fuel

prices were hiked again onSaturday. Petrol and dieselprices were hiked by 35 paiseper litre each - the steepest inrecent times, according to aprice notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took rates across the coun-try to fresh highs with Tamil Nadu becoming the latest stateto see petrol cross Rs 100-a- litre mark. In Delhi, petrol hit anall-time high of Rs 98.11 a litre, while diesel is now priced atRs 88.65 per litre. Fuel prices differ from state to state depend-ing on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT)and freight charges. While petrol had crossed Rs 100-a-litremark in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha,and Ladakh, several towns in Tamil Nadu including Salem,Vellore and Cuddalore saw that level after the steep price hike.

Shree Renuka Sugarswill invest Rs 450 croreto expand its ethanol

capacity, the company saidon Saturday. In a regulato-ry filing, the companyinformed that its board hasapproved expanding pro-duction capacity by 430-kilolitre per day to 1,400-kilolitre per day. In February, the board had approved a capac-ity expansion of ethanol from 720-kilo litre per day to 970-kilo litre per day. "Considering the huge untapped demandfor ethanol due to the policies of Government of India onethanol blending, the Board of Directors of the companyapproved further capacity expansion for ethanol productionfrom 970-kilo litre per day to 1,400-kilo litre per day," thefiling said. The investment required for this capacity expan-sion is Rs 450 crore, it said. The capacity addition wouldbe completed by October 2022.

Renuka Sugars will be investingRs 450cr to raise ethanol capacity

Energy EfficiencyServices Limited(EESL) on Saturday

said its subsidiary CESL hasresumed distribution of LEDbulbs in villages of UttarPradesh and Bihar, as part ofits Gram Ujala Scheme.Underthe Gram Ujala programme,rural consumers are given a 7 watt and a 12-watt LED bulb witha three-year warranty against submission of working incandes-cent bulbs at an affordable cost of Rs 10 per bulb. The schemewas launched by Union Power Minister R K Singh in Marchthis year, EESL said in a statement.So far, CESL has distributed2,52,069 LED bulbs in Arrah and Buxar districts of Bihar, where-as in UP, nearly 1,08,470 LED bulbs have been sold in Varanasi,Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, and Bhadohi.Any consumerfrom a rural household with a valid electricity connection froma DISCOM can avail LED bulbs under the initiative.

CESL resumes distribution of LED bulbs in UP, Bihar

Future Consumer Ltd(FCL) on Saturdayreported a lower net

loss of Rs 155.12 crore forthe quarter ended on March31, 2021, compared to thatof Rs 175.46 crore in theyear-ago quarter. Revenuefrom operations of FCL,which is the FMCG arm of the Future group, declined by59.2 per cent to Rs 386.26 crore during January-March 2021compared to Rs 947.07 crore in January-March 2020, accord-ing to a regulatory filing by the company.Total expenses wereat Rs 500.06 crore, down 52.5 per cent in the last quarter of2020-21 against Rs 1,051.87 crore in the year-ago period.Forthe full fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2021, FCLreported a consolidated net loss of Rs 483.30 crore againsta net loss of Rs 216.50 crore in the previous year. Revenuefrom operations was at Rs 1,184.51 crore in FY 2020-21, down70.7 per cent compared to Rs 4,040.33 crore in FY2019-20.

Future Consumer Q4 loss atRs 155.12 cr, revenue slides

Petrol crosses Rs 100 in TNafter steep hike in fuel rates

PNS n NEW DELHI

Federal Bank on Saturday saidit has provided 400-odd part-time jobs with a monthlysalary of Rs 18,000 at itsbranches in Kerala so far, in abid to help those who lost theiremployment due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Designated as 'CovidWardens', these people werehired to manage crowds, pro-vide masks and sanitiser to thepublic visiting the branches inthe state, it said.

The livelihood enhancementproject was started as part of itscorporate social responsibility(CSR) initiative in August 2020and is continuing even now.

Speaking to PTI, Federal BankChief Human Resource OfficerAjith Kumar K K said: "This is a part-time job given to tide over the situ-ation, not a full-time employment."

The bank hired these peopleat a monthly salary of Rs 18,000per month. About Rs 6 crore hasbeen spent towards salary in thelast 10 months, he said.

Since many had lost jobs due

to the pandemic in the statethere were requests for creatingpart-time jobs from several agen-cies and organisations.

"We thought of finding a wayto provide livelihood to peoplewho lost jobs due to the pandem-ic and help them tide over the eco-nomic hardship. That's why wedecided to hire such people," headded.

Kumar further said crowdmanagement at branches hadbecome a big issue during thepandemic as the Kerala govern-ment has restricted entry of notmore than five people at a partic-ular time.

"Therefore, we thought hiring

part-time 'Covid Wardens' will behelpful to both. We provided jobsto about 400-odd people inKerala," he said.

Hiring was done in Keralabecause the state was havingmany positive cases at that timeand moreover the footfall inbranches were also high.

Whereas in other states, 'CovidWardens' were not hired as therewere security guards managingthe crowd at bank branches,Kumar added.

Asked if the initiative will con-tinue, Kumar said the bank willdiscontinue if the Covid-19 pos-itivity rate falls below five per centin a particular locality.

Unemployment: Federal Bank gives 400-odd part-time jobs

EAM discussesregional, globalissues with hisGreek counterpartn ATHENS

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar held a produc-tive informal discussionon regional and globalissues with his Greekcounterpart NikosDendias as he arrived inGreece for the first visit byan Indian foreign ministersince 2003.

Jaishankar is on a two-nation visit to Greece andItaly. He met Dendias onFriday. "Thank FM@NikosDendias for a warmwelcome to Greece. A pro-ductive discussion on region-al and global issues. Greece isan important partner in ourbroader EU engagement.Look forward to our formaltalks tomorrow," Jaishankartweeted on Friday. TheMinistry of External Affairs(MEA) in New Delhi onThursday said that Jaishankarwill embark on a two-nationvisit to Greece and to Italy.

Phase 1 of Ola e-scooter factorynearing completion, says CEOPNS n NEW DELHI

The first phase of Ola's electricscooter factory is nearingcompletion and the companyexpects to start rolling outvehicles soon, Ola Group CEOBhavish Aggarwal said onSaturday.

Last year, Ola had announceda Rs 2,400-crore investment forsetting up its first electric scoot-er factory in Tamil Nadu.

"In just four months, thisplace has transformed fromacres of empty rock land to theworld's largest 2W factory. TheOla Futurefactory phase 1 isnearing completion! The scoot-ers are coming soon! Greatwork by team @OlaElectric,"Aggarwal tweeted.

He also shared a picture of

him from the factory site. Uponcompletion, the factory will cre-ate nearly 10,000 jobs and isexpected to be the world's largestscooter manufacturing facilitythat will initially have an annu-al production capacity of 2 mil-lion units.

While the company is yet todisclose the pricing and specifi-cations of its e-scooter, Ola hasstated that it is working on set-ting up a 'HyperchargerNetwork' to include one lakhcharging points across 400 cities.

Aggarwal had earlier saidthat the e-scooter was likely tobe launched in India in July thisyear, and that Ola Electric wouldlook at taking the vehicle tointernational markets, includingcountries like France, Italy andGermany, in this fiscal as well.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Digital advertising firm Affleclaims to have won the initiallegal battle in a case filedagainst it by Walmart-ownedPhonePe in a Singaporecourt in the Indus OS stakesale matter.

PhonePe had placed a bid toacquire 92 per cent stake inIndus OS at a valuation of aroundUSD 60 million. However, thebiggest shareholder in the com-pany, Affle Global Pte Ltd(AGPL), has opposed the deal.

AGPL estimates that the val-uation of OSLabs, known asIndus OS, is around USD 90 mil-lion and has refused to sell its 25per cent stake at a lower valuation.

The company operates appstore 'Indus App Bazaar', whichcomprises over four lakh appsaccessible in English and 12Indian languages -- Hindi,Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu,Urdu, Odia, Punjabi, Malayalam,

Bengali, Assamese and Kannada.AGPL had filed an injunction

suit against the resolution passedby Indus OS approving stake saleto PhonePe which has been chal-lenged by the fintech firm in aSingapore court.

Both AGPL and Indus OS areregistered in Singapore.

"AGPL has attended 7+ courthearings held in Singapore HighCourt from 19th May 2020 till18th June 2021. As of 18th June

2021, PhonePe has clearly lost thecorporate legal battle inSingapore," AGPL told PTI.

However, Fintech firmPhonePe and OSLabs have refut-ed the claims made by AGPL thatit has won the legal battle.

AGPL told PTI that as per thelast hearing in Singapore HighCourt on June 18 , PhonePe haslost its existing voting rights inOSLabs' general meeting in viewof the orders made by the court.

Affle claims victory in Indus OS stakesale lawsuit; PhonePe, OSLabs refute

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned power producerSJVN Ltd on Saturday posteda 55 per cent jump in its con-solidated profit after tax (PAT)at Rs 619.92 crore during thequarter ended March 31, 2021.

The company's net profitafter tax from continuing oper-ations was at Rs 399.21 crorein the January-March quarterof the financial year 2019-20,SJVN said in a BSE filing.

During the quarter underreview, its total income jumped

to Rs 1,084.96 crore, from Rs703.72 crore a year ago.

The company's totalexpenses reduced to Rs 348.74crore compared to Rs 439.07crore in the same period of thepreceding fiscal. SJVN furtherinformed that its board hasrecommended a final divi-dend of 40 paise per share ofRs 10 each for the FY 2020-21.

Shimla-headquarteredSJVN Ltd is a joint venture ofthe Government of India andthe Government of HimachalPradesh.

SJVN Q4 profit grows55 pc to Rs 620 crore

HC tells U'khand todecide on salaryissues of roadwaysemployees soonPNS n NAINITAL

The Uttarakhand HighCourt on Saturday asked thestate government to con-vene a meeting of the cabi-net to take a decision onroadways employees whohave not received theirsalaries for the last fivemonths.

Hearing a PIL by RoadwaysEmployees United Counciland Roadways EmployeesUnion, a division bench com-prising Chief Justice RSChauhan and Justice AlokKumar Verma asked ChiefMinister Tirath Singh Rawat toconvene a meeting of the statecabinet on Monday to take acall on the issue and informthe court on Tuesday. Non-payment of salary is against theconstitutional rights of theemployees, the Chief Justicesaid.

Scientists developtechnique that cangenerate electricityfrom vibrations PNS n NEW DELHI

Scientists have fabricated asimple, cost-effective, bio-compatible, transparentnanogenerator that can gen-erate electricity from vibra-tions all around for use inoptoelectronics, self-pow-ered devices and other bio-medical applications, thegovernment said onSaturday.

The Science andTechnology Ministry, in astatement, said searchingfor renewable energ yresources with reduced car-bon emissions is one of themost urgent challenges dueto the increasing threat ofglobal warming and energycrisis.

“Some of the unconven-tional methods to generateelectricity include piezo-electric, thermoelectric, andelectrostatic techniquesused in devices like touchscreens, electronic displays,and so forth," the statementsaid.

Hero Cycles delivers first batch ofMade in India e-vehicles to Europe

sundaymagazine

books 7THE READING OF ALL GOOD

BOOKS IS LIKE A CONVERSATIONWITH THE FINEST MINDS OF

PAST CENTURIES— RENE DESCARTES VIJAYAWADA, June 27, 2021

NEWARRIVALS

Kabir: weaver of words and wisdom,mystic and rebel, a freethinker claimed byconservatives and liberals, the religiousand the agnostic alike.

Who was this fifteenth-century poet ofVaranasi whose words still speak to us?

Was he a man of god?

Did he establish a new faith or escheworganised religion altogether?

Was his modernity an exception or areflection of the time he lived in?

Could Kabir’s life and poetry tell us aboutour nation’s past and present?

In this rare appraisal of the poet-philosopher, based on a lifelong study ofhis work, Purushottam Agrawal presentsKabir as he himself may have wished to beunderstood: in the context of his own timeand its preoccupations.

In today’s world, polarised along the linesof religion, caste and race, Agrawal teasesout the possibilities for balance andharmony that Kabir’s imagination presentsus with.

KABIR, KABIR

Purushottam Agrawal

With an introduction &

illustrations by Devdutt

Pattanaik

Westland, `599

Chitralekha: Friend, be at ease. Thedemon who defied the gods has beendefeated.

Urvashi (opening her eyes): Was it bythe power shown by the great god Indra?

Chitralekha: Not by the great Indra!But by this saintly king whose prowess isno less!

Urvashi (to herself, after seeing theking): The demon has done me a favour.

King (to himself, after seeing Urvashiback to normal): I now understand why allthe nymphs who were sent to seduce thesage Narayana, were embarrassed on see-ing what emerged from his thigh. But howcould a sage create her?

Indeed the moon, all creatures’ lord,must have given her this glow,or Madana, the god of love,whose special rasa is erotic,or the season that brings flowers:for how could an ancient sage,his person with scriptures rigid,and interest in pleasures gone,create such an enchantress?And thus begins the passionate

exchange between King Pururavas andUrvashi, celestial nymph extraordinaire...

While we kicked off thisreview with a shortexcerpt from the book,we have to confess thatwe were hooked right off

the bat. Beginning with the introduction,penned by the translator, Aditya NarayanDhairyasheel Haksar, himself for his ren-dition of Kalidasa’s Vikramorvashiyam,you would lose yourself to a world wherecelestial beings traverse the earthly plane.And we believe you would be eager tofinish reading this translation of the playin one sitting, just like we did. Thoseinterested in the scholarly considerationand critical understanding of plays willfind a friend in Haksar, who has provideda copious amount of notes through thebook.

Inspired by a hymn from the RigVeda, the oldest known Vedic Sanskrittext, Vikramorvashiyam underwent modi-fications with every retelling in Puranicliterature. Down the line, it is understand-able that Kalidasa made some changesand additions of his own, for dramaticeffect, to his version.

While there are several prominentschools of thought on what the titleimplies, the most widely accepted transla-tion of Vikramorvashiyam is ‘Urvashi wonby valour’. The five-act play revolvesaround the romantic tale of Urvashi, anapsara from Indra’s court, and Pururavas,mortal ruler of Pratishthana.

After Pururavas rescues Urvashifrom the clutches of a demon thatabducted her, they are besotted witheach other. However, this poses seriousproblems. To the uninitiated, celestialnymphs like Urvashi are expected to besubservient at Indra’s court. When sheaccidentally utters her newfound lover’sname during a drama staged by SageBharata at the court of the King ofGods, the celestial sage curses her in a

fit of rage and banishes her from heav-en. Matters are coming to a head onthe earthly plane where QueenAushinari, chief wife of Pururavas, dis-covers that her king now fancies some-one else and expresses her displeasurewith the same. However, she latermakes peace with Pururavas by con-veying that she accepts the situation forwhat it is and cedes ground by consent-ing to his union with Urvashi.

Just when it looks like the pair are infor a happy ending on Earth, they fallprey to another curse and what follows isa pure poetic delight. While the tale hasits ups and downs, in a sense everythingturns out for the best.

The book completes PenguinClassics’ special series on Kalidasa, con-

sidered to be among ancient India’s great-est poets and playwrights. Although verylittle is known about his life, Kalidasa’spopularity has endured for centuriesthrough three plays, two epic poems andtwo lyric poems.

The first English translation ofVikramorvashiyam, by an Oxford profes-sor of Sanskrit, appeared in 1849. Thiswas followed by numerous translationsover the years and the play’s most recentEnglish translation appeared in 1984,courtesy of Columbia University acade-mic, David Gitomer. Haksar’s transla-tion is based on H D Velankar’s versionof the play, authorised and published bythe Sahitya Akademy in 1961, while alsoconsulting a well-known text that wasedited and translated the original play

with a Sanskrit commentary by M RKale in 1889.

Getting back to our take on the book,Haksar has brought forth a contemporarytouch to a direct translation of the widerange of emotions, scenes and moodsemployed by Kalidasa while preserving itspoetic nobility.

The most prominent instance,according to us, among them being thegod-like qualities of total forgiveness andmoral high handedness being displayedby a mere human such as Pururavas’ wife.How many of us can measure up to her,disregarding our own feelings just so thatthe person we love may attain what theyseek?

Urvashi’s origins, too, are charac-terised by such traits. The Bhagavata

Purana tells how once sages Nara-Narayana were meditating and their aus-tere penance alarmed the gods so muchthat Indra sent apsaras to distract them.The sage Narayana took a flower andplaced it on his thigh and from it sprungUrvashi whose charms far excelled thoseof the apsaras sent by Indra. Theyreturned to heaven, filled with shame andvexation at this embarrassment.Surprisingly, Narayana sent Urvashi toIndra along with the other apsaras andcontinued to meditate.

On a contrary note, celestial beingshave been shown to throw tantrums andindulge in somewhat passive behaviour,not unlike what a human who has beenscorned is prone to. Quoting Haksar fromhis introduction, even when Urvashitakes her time to warm up to Pururavas,on account of the trials and tribulationsthat came her way due to a curse, she isdepicted as ‘a person with human com-passion rather than divine disdain.’

Drawing on nuances such as these,ace translator of Sanskrit-classics, Haksarhas retained the essence of Kalidasa’soriginal work while reworking it for themodern reader.

Bengali cuisine includes awide variety of vegetariandishes that have evolved

over the years. Food historiansare of the opinion that the wid-ows of Bengal have greatly con-tributed to the evolution of itsvegetarian cooking. They onceled very repressive lives andwere compelled to stick to avegetarian diet though socialprogress has ensured that manyof these restrictions are nolonger observed or imposed.Their difficult lives included alot of dietary restrictions. Theywere prohibited from eatinghigh protein foods like meat,fish, eggs and even musur dalbecause these were believed tohave libidinous effects. Garlicand onion were also banned fortheir alleged impassioning prop-erties.

In the chapter ‘BanglaRanna’ from their book, TheCalcutta Cookbook: A Treasuryof Recipes from Pavement toPalace (1995), the authorsdescribe the plight of a Bengaliwidow, ‘In a secluded corner ofthe cookhouse, a widowed rela-tive sits over her own stove. Shehas added delicate nuances tothe rich vegetarian cornucopiaof Bangla ranna. Her role in thekitchen warrants an explanationof her situation. Up to the turnof the century, a ten- or twelve-year-old girl was sometimeswidowed and lived for the restof her life dressed in white withher hair cropped, eating a radi-cally vegetarian diet’ (pp. 35-36).

But, naturally, Bengali wid-ows craved tasty food.Gradually, they decided to makethe best of the bad bargain andbegan using their innovative-ness to add colour to their fare.They started experimentingwith the limited ingredients that

went into their dishes in orderto add more taste to them.

One of the things that theydid was to think of differentways of making use of the wast-ed parts of vegetables instead ofthrowing them away. For exam-ple, they used the leftover peelsand scrapings of vegetables tomake simple but deliciouspreparations-something whichis unique to Bengali cooking.Lauer khosha bhaja (fried peelsof bottle gourd) is a preparationin which the thinly sliced peelsof the vegetable are fried in hotmustard oil with a phoron of

black mustard seeds and driedred chillies. Some salt andturmeric are added to the cook-ing. In alur khosha bhaja (friedpeels of potato), the leftoverpotato peels are thoroughlywashed, chopped and fried inhot mustard oil with a phoronof kalo jeera and dried red chill-ies. A pinch of salt and a smallquantity of posto are added tothe cooking. Both preparationsare eaten with steamed rice.

Even the stalks of cauli-flower and leafy green vegeta-bles were not thrown away.Instead, chachchari preparations

were made out of them.Chachchari usually implies alightly spiced dry vegetable dishmade with one or more varietiesof vegetables. Often, the prepa-ration is flavoured with mustardor poppy seeds paste.Sometimes, the stalks of cauli-flower and leafy green vegeta-bles, and even drumsticks, arecooked with vegetables to makethis dish. Such chachcharipreparations are known asdanta chachchari (‘danta’ means‘a succulent stalk’). Thus, in thisland of plenty, the widows madethrift an integral part of Bengali

cooking.The widows even experi-

mented with the bori (‘vadi’ inHindi) or sun-dried lentil blob,which took on a more impor-tant role in their kitchens. Sinceit is made of lentil, they wel-comed it as an optional sourceof protein. Most importantly, itadded some variety to their fru-gal dishes. The boris were friedand added, in either whole orcrumbled forms, to many oftheir dishes. Some of their shaak(leafy green vegetables) prepara-tions like palong shaak and lalshaak (red spinach), and veg-etable preparations like shukto(a bitter and mild mixed vegeta-bles stew), alu begooner jhol (alightly spiced curry of potatoesand aubergines), and ghanto,made with either lau (bottlegourd) or chaalkumro (ashgourd), featured boris.

A ghanto generally means asemi-dry vegetable dish madewith either one or a few comple-menting vegetables, which are

cooked with phoron, groundspices and a little bit of sugar.Boris often feature in ghantopreparations. A mixed veg-etable ghanto, in whichchopped potatoes, aubergines,hyacinth beans and radish arecooked in oil with a phoron ofkalo jeera and dried red chill-ies, the pastes of turmeric,coriander and cumin, salt,sugar and fried boris, and sea-soned with ghee, is commonlyeaten with rice. Palong shaak,in traditional Bengali cuisine,is popularly cooked into aghanto dish with vegetableslike potatoes, pumpkin,aubergines and hyacinth beans.Boris are often used in thisdish. Kochu shaak (stalks ofcolocasia leaves), a very popu-lar leafy green vegetable in theculinary culture of East Bengal,

is also used to make a ghantodish. This ghanto preparation,which originally hails fromOpar Bangla, is made with theboiled and mashed stalks ofcolocasia leaves, and featuresblack chickpeas and coconutmeat.

Fried boris were not onlyadded to vegetarian prepara-tions but they were also eatenplain. The widows even devisedcurry dishes made only withthese blobs like borir jhal andbori posto. ‘Jhal’, literally mean-ing ‘hot’, is generally a prepara-tion of fish, shrimp or crabcooked in mustard paste or withthe paste of dried red chillies.Borir jhal can also be made ineither of the two ways. Friedboris are also cooked in a pasteof poppy seeds, lending the dishthe name, bori posto.

Excerpted with permissionfrom A Taste of Time: A Food

History of Calcutta by MohonaKanjilal. Published by Speaking

Tiger, 2021

The contribution of widowsA Taste of Time: A Food History of Calcutta by Mohona Kanjilal is a well researched historical andcultural account of Calcutta’s rich gastronomical affair spanning centuries. An edited excerpt:

A TASTE OF TIME: A FOOD

HISTORY OF CALCUTTA

Mohona Kanjilal

Speaking Tiger, `899

Winner of the Desmond ElliotPrize, the Betty Trask Prizeand the Crossword BookAward, Anjali Joseph returnswith a finely observed tale about love.Keteki is charming but allergic tocommitment; Ved is smitten but somethingof a toxic bachelor. As they begin the intricate andtransformative dance of a long-distancerelationship, they also navigate changes intheir lives. Set in Assam and London, Keeping inTouch is edgy, funny, anduncompromisingly modern.

KEEPING IN TOUCHAnjali JosephContext, `599

VIKRAMORVASHIYAM: QUESTFOR URVASHI

Author: KalidasaTranslated by: A N D Haksar

Penguin, ` 499

Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar’s translation of Kalidasa’s masterpiece Vikramorvashiyamlends a contemporary touch for the modern reader, writes CHRISTY VARGHESE

URVASHI’S QUEST FOR LOVE

Indra and apsaras in heaven — part of Ajanta art series by Vijay Kulkarni. Picture used for representational purposes

Picture used for representational purposes

sundaymagazine

97Urvashi’s quest for love

VIJAYAWADA, June 27, 2021

We are living in difficult times.Each of us has experiencedsome loss due to Covid-19.We are all grieving the prema-ture loss of our near and dear

ones to this pandemic. In times such as these,we seek to cope in different ways.

THE FIRST WAY

The first way to cope is at the psychologi-cal level. We try to fill the void in our liveswith religion, spirituality, or divine entities.But, we also question the meaning of religion,spirituality, or divine entities when their faithor devotion could not save their loved ones.We kindle our faith in the ancient wisdom thatoffers healing techniques such as yoga andAyurveda. But we also double up our faith inmodern science and the need to advance sci-ence further to help protect everyone fromfuture pandemics. At the same time, we blamemodern scientific experiments for the presentpandemic.

THE SECOND WAYA second way is at a more subtle psychic

level. Psychically, we notice subtle changes inour moods, emotions, thoughts, feelings, inter-ests, preferences, expressions, interactions, val-ues, and behaviours. We question the meaningof material wealth that can’t save even thewealthy from the pandemic. We become disil-lusioned about our busy lives and seek time forour physical and human well-being. Webecome depressed, helpless at the plight ofthose with limited resources, starving and sad,barely surviving. We get angry with anybodywe believe is not concerned with our social,ecological, economic, national, and psycholog-ical well-being. Why do we not have a socialdiscipline of taking care to avoid infections?Why nobody took care of pollution and eco-logical degradation that has made breathingshallow even in regular times? Why have wenot economically developed like China andother East Asian nations after so many years ofour independence to have the resources to dealwith the problems proactively? Why do we nothave a cohesive national action plan even dur-ing the pandemic? Why do we have to sufferpsychologically and physically for the failingsof others and no fault of ours?

THE THIRD WAYA third way is to let time bring us in terms

with our new consciousness. This process is adeeply emotional one. We all have experienceswhere just openly crying and shouting is thebest healing method, not science or spirituali-ty. The silence and calm after our emotionaloutburst is our healed state.

Let me share the experience of my cousin,Captain Prachi Jain, a helicopter pilot, in herown words:

“Covid got hold of all three of us at thesame time, my beloved 37-year old youngerbrother, his wife, and I. While we all struggledto recover in the separate hospital rooms, he leftbehind his wife and a five-year-old son. Afterour recovery, my younger sister broke the news,‘Hum bhai ko bacha nahi paye, He is no more’in one breath. To date, my shrieks and non-stopchanting of his name from that day echo backin my ears. I feel a part of me has been sliced offthat I did not realise exists. Alongside all theemotions of sufferings, the ‘Gita Saar’ nowkeeps me going. All that shouts in the silencewithin me is his name. I call his name to thankhim for being my brother and loving me as longas he was in his physical body. I know he residespeacefully in his new home.”

THE FOURTH WAYA fourth way is to give ourselves space by

doing something that calms our minds. Wepick new hobbies, make new friends, getengaged in supporting those in need, reachout to those who could support us emotional-ly, if not financially. Opening up about grief isnot easy. We fear others judging us, fuelingour emotions, or not empathising with ourstate of mind. Deep inside, we perceive griefto be too personal for it to be shared or dis-solve.

Indeed, managing grief is a theme fewBollywood films have dared to handle. And,makers have added their personal experienceswhen telling a storyline involving grief.Consider the 2004 Tamil movie, 7G RainbowColony, and its 2019 Hindi-remake, Malaal.

In both versions, the protagonist fightsagainst all odds seeking a life of togethernesswith his beloved. However, the universe playsthe antagonist and negates the due fruits of hisefforts. His beloved dies in a road accident. Hesurvives. In the original version, the protago-nist gravitates toward the option of running

away from reality, choosing a life of mentalhallucination. He lives in a dream world,dreaming that he is always with the beloved’sspirit. The remake’s protagonist chooses thepath of self-development his beloved laid fortogetherness and finds her consciousnessalways with him, prodding him on. He leads afulfilling, successful life in the finance indus-try.

Note that the beloved is not the spirit(Ruh) nor the consciousness that forms thesoul (Atma).

The soul is one’s consciousness, followinganother like a shadow. The shadow feels likepushing us gently forward on a linear pathand guiding us not to distract from the goalwithin that consciousness. The consciousnessis immortal because it is not something thatanybody creates or destroys. Consciousness isa part of our essential nature that self-perpet-uates as a unique local point personifying aperson who projects that unique part of theessential nature as a personal force. Ouressential nature is everyone’s essential nature(Svabhav).

The spirit is one’s belief system about aperson. It is the spirit with which we makesense of someone, with or without a body. Thespirit comprises the essence fusing another’sforward-facing and our backward-facingessential nature and the consciousness of thatessence.

To help make this easy to understand, let’suse some numbers. Let’s say the consciousnessof the one departed is four. In that case, essen-tial nature is eight. Eight is the horizontal faceof essential nature, in identity with MotherNature (Kudrat). Four is the ascending face; itmakes the person a unique local point abovethe universal global horizon. One who hasdeparted is the forward face, gently pushing uswith his forward-facing essential nature like aconfident masculine. One who is alive is thebackward face, turning the face around tryingto look for the one who has departed and can’tbe found ahead like in the past. She is radiat-ing her backward-facing essential nature withlove for the one who has departed.

Therefore, the essence (Rab) that includesboth the forward-and the backward-facing

essential nature is sixteen. The spirit (Ruh)includes the essence and the descending-faceof consciousness of the one alive. Like theascending-face of consciousness of the onedeparted, the descending-face also is four.When the one alive seeks peace and together-ness within the consciousness of the onedeparted, she exchanges her warm “maternalconsciousness “(Chaithanya) with the cold“paternal consciousness” (Pitra) of the onedeparted. Spirit’s numerical value is twenty.

THE FIFTH WAYThe fifth way is to behave like a child and

decide to isolate oneself from the world untilsomeone brings back the loved one, like a toyor a baby that the child may love forever.Childish is how the protagonist behaves in the2013 Hollywood blockbuster, Gravity. Afterher young daughter died from a fall whileplaying, the protagonist decides she will never

touch the ground that took in her daughter.She knew life in space is impossible. So,that’s what she chooses in her quest torun away from the ground reality. Todefy the gravity, grave, grief, andground, she decides to float aboveeverything. However, she finds herselffacing another tragedy while in spacewhen the spacecraft malfunctions andher co-astronaut floats into the deepspace without oxygen. At that

moment, she decides to fight it for thesake of everything she taught her daugh-

ter and returns safely to the ground beat-ing all odds.

THE SIXTH WAYThe sixth way is how one behaves

when faced with challenges. One useswisdom when neither science nor

spirituality is there to offer a solu-tion. When there is no guru to

lend us a helping hand, we makeour wisdom the guru. We takethe spirit of each of the five pre-ceding ways to make “wisdom”(Chitta) a 100 unit solution.

Therefore, without the spirit, weextend our age (Brahmani) by

eighty units. Wisdom spontaneously becomes our

guiding force when we have a goal insight. When we have a goal, we becomea goalkeeper. In the moment of crisis,our goal is to let us as the unit personbe the enjoyer of the consciousness ofthe challenge we overcame and ofthe solution we applied. Therefore,the goal is of the nine units. Weknow it as Maha Shiva. Theenjoyer is also of nine units. Weknow her as Maha Saraswati.The goalkeeper is the goalwithout the unit person con-ceiving the challenge and theone perceiving the solution.The goalkeeper is of sevenunits. We know him asShiva.

The challenge’s con-sciousness is the descend-ing face, fading frommemory like a distant

nightmare for the enjoyer,enjoying the goal after realiz-

ing it. The descending face isthe “child consciousness”

(Putatma) that childishly con-ceived something solvable with wis-

dom into a challenge. The solution’s consciousness is the

ascending face, playing like an intense cli-max scene in our mind as if we just woke uplike a “hero” (the protagonist) after fightinghard and destroying all the “discordant ener-gy” (Asura shakti). The ascending face is the“wisened grandmother consciousness”(Jyotistava) that embodies wisdom.

When we multiply the descending and theascending faces of the challenge and the solu-tion, we get the sixteen units of “essence”(Rab). Similarly, when the seven-unit goal-keeper realizes the goal of his incarnation as aparam deity, he reverts to the “essence” (Rab)living like an inanimate entity, Maha Durga,also of sixteen units.

THE SEVENTH WAYThe seventh way is to develop self-aware-

ness of the purpose for our birth as a uniqueentity. In Bhagwad Gita, Shri Krishna illumi-nates all of us that he is the essence of every-thing. He is the sixteen-dimensional “ChildPrimordial Greeter” (Madhusudan), giftingthe wisdom to everybody for living a joyfullife, filled with a unique purpose to be ever-alert about the well-being of our physicalbody. Only then we have the limitless energyand vitality to use wisdom to resolve all thechallenges we face today.

The writer is a professor of managementand a co-director of the Center for Global

Management at the Jack H. Brown College ofBusiness and Public Administration, California

State University, San Bernardino. He explainsmany ways to live the seventh way in the 2021

12-book namesake project, Vastly IntegratedProcesses Inside Nature (VIPIN)

A N D Haksar’s translation of Kalidasa’sVikramorvashiyam lends a contemporary

touch for the modern reader

You can always go backto the place where youwere comfortable, the

place where you're from—Ana de Armas

F R O M T H E I N S I D E

COVID SHIELDCOVID-19 has led to many innovations.SHALINI SAKSENA chats up such innovatorswho are doing their bit to fight the pandemic

Opening up about grief is not easy. Deep inside,

we perceive grief to be too personal for it to be

shared or dissolve, writes VIPIN GUPTA, as he

suggests ways to cope

WE ALL HAVEEXPERIENCES WHEREJUST OPENLY CRYING

AND SHOUTING IS THEBEST HEALING

METHOD, NOT SCIENCEOR SPIRITUALITY. THE

SILENCE AND CALMAFTER OUR

EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTIS OUR HEALED STATE

GRIEF MANAGING

special 09VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27, 2021

COVID-19 has led to many innovations. SHALINI SAKSENA chats up such innovators who are doing their bit to fight the pandemic

The second wave of COVID-19 shookthe nation. The numbers had juststarted to go down when news head-

lines once again started talking about thethird wave, a wave that is far more lethal thanthe second ever was. Maintaining COVID-19 protocol has never been more importantas it is today. Since the mutated variant ofDelta Virus is more powerful single clothmasks and ordinary masks may not give suf-ficient protection.

Another problem is that most masks donot fit around the nose causing people toeither wear it below their nose or to keepadjusting them. To solve this problem, WorldUniversity of Design has come up with a newdesign that provides utmost safety along withease of functionality.

Professor Umair Khanalong with hisstudents and staff members have come upwith a face mask that not just covers thenose, mouth and chin but envelopes themsnugly. The mask has a specially designedextension. In fact, this is the USP of themask. It follows the contours around the face

and the nose and covers it completely. Thisensures that any open space around the noseis blocked offering extra protection prevent-ing the air from outside to slip in.

This is not all. The design does not allowvapours from the breath to be expelled outand fog up the spectacles thereby makingit extremely functional for persons wearingglasses. Third, the design is such that onecan wear the mask for long hours withoutany discomfort.

Dr Sanjay Gupellor, vice-chancellor,Word University of Design tells you thatonce the idea came up, it took the team aweek to come up with the final design of themask. “Before we came up with this design,we examined many masks that were avail-able in the market. Mostly, these mask wereall about the material used rather than howthe mask has been made. Most of the maskhave space around the nose from where theair can pass. This is a problem for those whowear spectacles — it fogs the lens. This maskhas been designed to cover, to create a flex-ible extension around the nose so that there

is no gap left and the air has to go throughthe material and not from anywhere else.The idea behind the mask was to addressthe issue of fogging of the lens but when thesecond wave hit us and the virus became airborne, anything that is inhaled or exhaledhas to be controlled and this mask did thisbrilliantly,” Gupta explains.

Made with two layers of simple cottonfabric, the mask took a week’s time to reachits final version after trials and feedback fromvolunteers.

Cotton fabric was used to make thisinnovative mask. However, there is no hardand fast rule that only cotton needs to beused. One can use two-layer that uses cot-ton-silk mix or the three-ply light weightnon-woven material used for surgicalmasks.

But Gupta recommends that one usescotton as an inner layer. The design has beendeveloped mindfully to fit any averageIndian face size which can also be extend-ed in case of larger/broader face structures.The good part is that this mask when madedoesn’t cost more than `15-`20 per piece.

He tells you that the idea here is not tomake money but to serve the country. “Lastyear, we had designed a PPE kit and sharedit on Insta. Anybody could pick it up andmanufacture it, free of cost. The same is truefor this mask. We already shared the designon social media. People can take the designfrom there and make their own mask. Unlikethe normal mask this one goes around thenose in a bais form in a single piece,” Guptasays.

Mallika Gupta, one of the volunteerswho was roped in to try the mask tells youthat the design team gave her a few designsto try on. “I wear specs and yes, fogging isa big issue when one wears a mask. The teamtested a lot of shapes and sizes. In fact, every-one in the campus has been weaning thismask and it can be Do It Yourself project.Since this pattern has been made public,there are a few players in the market whoare making this mask. Also, the pattern issimple enough for a local tailor to replicateit. The good part of this mask is that it hasbeen made keeping in mind the contouringaround the nose,” Mallika says.

Like lakhs of students whowent back home when col-leges shut during summer

vacation in 2020, Nihaal SinghAdarsh who is pursuing elec-tronics engineering from KJSomaiya College of Engineering,Mumbai also headed home inPune. His college has a incuba-tor Research InnovationIncubation Design Laboratory(Riidl) that held an open designcompetition challenge in whichinvited application for any kindof COVID-related problemsolutions. That is when the ideaof Cov-tech Ventilation Systemtook root.

The Riidl is supported bythe National Science &Technology EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Board,Department of Science &Technology, BiotechnologyIndustry Research AssistanceCouncil, Department ofBiotechnology and MaharashtraState Innovation Society.

His start-up received theNIDHI PRAYAS grant of `10lakh from the Department ofScience and Technology for hisprototype development andproduct innovation.

Adarsh who is the founderof Watt Technovations and is thechief innovator of Cov-techVentilation System tells you thathis mother, Dr Poonam KaurAdarsh, is the reason how hecame up with this system.

“I asked my mother whatwere some of the problems thatdoctors were facing. That iswhen she told me the problemthat arises due to wearing PPEkits for long hours — the heatand the sweat that builds up. Shetold me that there was little ven-tilation and that meant thatdoctors who be sweating pro-fusely leading to accumulation

of bacteria. This is when I got theidea of developing a gadget thatcan help ventilate the kit itself,”Adarsh tells you.

The system, he says isextremely economical and com-pact which is an add-on compo-nent that is to be worn aroundthe waist over the PPE kit.

“We all know that PPE kitshave poor ventilation; it is almostlike being inside a plastic bag foreight hours. What this systemdoes is take the air from outsideand filters it through apolypropylene fibre with effi-ciency of 99 per cent. It has lithi-um-ion battery that lasts for sixto eight hours and runs onpulse width modulation technol-ogy. This filter pumps air insidethe suit which then escapesthrough space around the neckand the hands.So there is a con-stant flow of air inside the PPEkit helping the doctors be morecomfortable,” Adarsh explains.

In other words the system is

an external device that is con-nected to the PPE kit. In orderto connect this device with thesuit a small hole has to be cre-ated in the PPE. The ventilationsystem comes with a stencil thathelps to cut the precise hole inthe kit with the scissors. Thedevice has been designed in sucha way that once it is attached tothe kit it is a tight fit and thereis no leakage.

“The stencil that has beenprovided ensures that the rightsize hole is cut. Even if it is nota precise round, the device hasbeen made in such a mannerthat it will fit snugly. Since thefinal product was made, mymother and a few doctors havebeen wearing the kit and theresults have been satisfactory.While my mother doesn’t needto wear the device since it hasstarted raining in Pune, there aretwo hospitals — LotusMultispeciality Hospital and SaiSneha Hospitals in Pune. A fewunits have also been sent to hos-pitals pan India and are beingused by NGOs and private prac-titioners,” Adarsh says. He hassold 20 units and because of theresults, there are many queriesfrom other hospitals. For themanufacturing, SanjayTechnoplast. The device ispriced at `5,499 per unit and isa one time buy.

For now, Adarsh is busyexpanding his business andfocus on perfecting the device.After his graduation, he plans togo abroad for his masters withmasters in technology and aminor in entreprenuership.

“The aim is to continue toinnovate more products. Myventure in India will continueeven if am not here. But I haveanother two years to go; it is along way to go,” Adarsh says.

It was only last week that theresearchers at the IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT)Gandhinagar has found thepresence of Coronavirus in

water. Whether the genes foundwere alive or dead is still a matterof investigation, but the fact in itselfis enough to give red flags.

These findings may highlightthe need for a device that can tracethe presence of Coronavirus inwater. While it may sound a distantdream, scientists from theUniversity of Strathclyde and theIndian Institute of Technology (IIT)Bombay have demonstrated a low-cost sensor that can detect frag-ments of the virus responsible forCOVID-19 within wastewater.

Dr Andy Ward, Chancellor’sFellow in the Department of Civil& Environmental Engineering,

University of Strathclyde, tells youthat the design relies on the use ofa well established PCR approach,which can detect the presence ofgenetic material at very low concen-trations.

“We take advantage of thecheapest form of PCR — called end-point PCR — which does notdepend upon expensive laboratoryequipment or infrastructure. ThePCR allows small quantities of thegenetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to be amplifiedfrom wastewater. This is thenplaced upon an electrochemicalsensor that we pioneered in order toidentify whether or not the virus ispresent,” explains Ward.

He adds that monitoring waste-water like this provides a way todetect the presence of coronavirusquickly, without relying upon peo-

ple to come forward for tests or haveaccess to tests.

“By detecting Coronavirus inwastewater, we can target humandiagnostic testing of the disease to

make each test count more, andtherefore stop new outbreaks atsource. This is critical to stoppinghospitals becoming overwhelmedand also helps prevent economical-

ly costly lockdowns as a last resortto stop the spread of the virus,” saysWard.

Dr Siddharth Tallur, AssociateProfessor in the Department ofElectrical Engineering, IIT Bombay,tells you that the sensor is like a car-tridge based instrument and each ofthem costs not more than `40 percartridge.

“This price is for the 200 car-tridges that we got as of now. If weincrease the production, we caneven bring down the cost to as lowas `10 per cartridge,” says Tallur.

The team started working onthe sensor, which still in the finaldevelopment stage, in May of 2020.

“We want to give the sensor afew touch-ups like we want tointroduce the quantity factor. As ofnow, the sensor can only find out thetraces of the virus in wastewater, but

can’t tell its quantity. This is some-thing we are working on and hope-fully should be able to achieve in afew months,” Tallur tells you.

Coming up with something asunique as this one may give manypeople hiccups, but for Ward andTallur, their expertise came to theirrescue and they were able to sailthrough without having to face toomany setbacks.

“However, the biggest challengewas the timescales and the availabil-ity of reagents to support the workbeing carried out. At the start of thepandemic, these were particularlyhard to come by, so we had to beinnovative in the way that we madethe sensor. This actually workedquite well and resulted in a designthat can be made using resourcesavailable in India,” says Ward.

As to why such technologies

when launched by big brands makeheadlines, but not when not-so-famous people do such big things,Tallur says, is because of lack ofproper marketing.

“For scientists, to communicatetheir work is important, but notmany of us know to do it well-enough. We expect that we sitaround and the world takes noticeand come to our doors to talk to us,it is not something that will happen.We need to make more consciousefforts to reach out to the public. Todo marketing, you need peopleand resources, and as aGovernment-funded institute we arenot perhaps doing it as aggressive-ly as other private institutes. If thatchanges, it will be well and good,because at the work front, there isa lot happening and it can beutilised better.”

T E S T T H E W A T E R S

Mask-up the right way This is the coolest one

WE ALL KNOW THATPPE KITS HAVE POORVENTILATION; IT ISALMOST LIKE BEINGINSIDE A PLASTICBAG FOR EIGHTHOURS. WHAT THISSYSTEM DOES ISTAKE THE AIR FROMOUTSIDE ANDFILTERS IT THROUGHA POLYPROPYLENEFIBRE WITHEFFICIENCY OF 99 PER CENT

MUSBA HASHMI speaks with DR ANDY WARD and DR SIDDHARTH TALLUR about the low-cost sensor that they have developed to trace COVID-19 in wastewater

COVID SHIELDCOVID SHIELD

Many people who’vebeen infected withthe coronavirus

might be able to safely skipthe second jab of any two-dose vaccine regimen, agrowing number of studiessuggest. These results couldhelp to stretch scarce vaccinesupplies and are alreadyinfluencing vaccination poli-cies in some countries. Butquestions remain aboutwhether the findings holdfor all individuals and allvaccines — and thereforehow policymakers shouldrespond to the findings.

Studies show that peoplewith previous exposure toSARS-CoV-2 tend to mountpowerful immune responsesto single shots, and gain littleadded benefit from anotherinjection1,2,3. What’s more,for people with immunitygained through infection,one dose typically boostsantibody numbers to levels

that are equal to, oroften

greater than, those found inindividuals who have notbeen infected and havereceived double doses4.

France, Germany and Italy,among other countries, nowadvise only one dose of vac-cine for people with a healthyimmune system and a con-firmed previous diagnosis.Many scientists who havestudied immune responses tovaccination say such policiesare a sensible way to makethe most of limited suppliesin countries that are racing toinoculate their populations.

“To follow the currenttwo-dose vaccination sched-ule in previously infectedindividuals, when there aremillions of people waiting fortheir first dose, simply doesnot make sense,” says JordiOchando, an immunologistat the Icahn School of

Medicine at Mount Sinai inNew York City, who hasadvised the Spanish govern-ment on vaccination guide-lines. But scientists still don’tknow whether one-jab pro-grammes for the previouslyinfected could leave someindividuals with suboptimalprotection. Nor is it clear thatsuch programmes would beeffective for all types of vac-cine.

“If you have been infectedbefore, then probably onedose is sufficient,” saysGiuliana Magri, an immu-nologist at the Hospital delMar Research Institute inBarcelona, Spain. But puttingthat knowledge into prac-tice? “It’s complicated,” sheconcedes.

There’s ample laboratory-based evidence that peoplewho’ve been infected bySARS-CoV-2 benefit fromvaccination, prompting theWorld Health Organizationand other public-healthagencies to recommend thatsuch individuals still get vac-cinated. There’s less clarity,however, on whether theyneed to roll up their sleeves

twice.

scopekaleidVIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | JUNE 27, 2021

backpage

Traces of age-old arms race withcoronaviruses written in our DNA

Acoronavirus mayhave swept acrossEast Asia more than

20,000 years ago, leavingtraces in the DNA of peo-ple in modern China,Japan and Vietnam.Research, published inCurrent Biology, foundevidence of genetic adapta-tion to the coronavirus

family of viruses in 42genes in modern popula-tions in these regions.

The COVID-19 pan-demic, caused by the coro-navirus SARS-CoV-2, is sofar responsible for morethan 3.8 million deathsand billions of dollars ineconomic losses world-wide. The coronavirus

family also includes therelated MERS and SARSviruses, both of which havecaused significant deadlyoutbreaks in the past 20years.

The results show howthe hunt for genetic tracesof historical viral outbreaksmay help us treat the out-breaks of the future.

Pandemics may be as old as human history

Humans have had pandemicsbefore. In the 20th centuryalone, three variants of theinfluenza virus each resulted inwide-ranging outbreaks thatkilled millions: the Spanish Fluof 1918-20, the Asian Flu of1957-58, and the Hong Kong Fluof 1968-69.

Historical records of outbreakscaused by viruses and otherpathogens stretch back thou-sands of years. It seems plausiblethat these interactions go backeven further, to the earliest peri-ods of human prehistory.

The ancient migrations thatsaw our ancestors spread out fromAfrica across the world wouldhave introduced them to newpathogens. Like many other envi-ronmental challenges, theseancient viral encounters may havetriggered adaptions that helpedour ancestors survive. Theseadaptations may have includedphysiological or immunologicalchanges that improved resistanceto infection or reduced the healthimpacts of the disease.

The marks of ancient coronavirusResearch applied cutting-edge computational

analyses to the genomes of more than 2,500 peoplefrom 26 populations around the world. We foundsignatures of adaptation in 42 different human genesthat encode VIPs.

These VIP signals were present in only five popu-lations, all of them from East Asia the likely ances-tral homeland of the coronavirus family. This sug-gests the ancestors of modern East Asians were ini-tially exposed to coronaviruses around 25,000 yearsago. Further testing revealed that the 42 VIPs areprimarily expressed in the lungs, which is the tissuemost affected by COVID-19 symptoms. We alsoconfirmed these VIPs interact directly with theSARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the current pan-demic.

Other independent studies have also shown thatmutations in VIP genes may mediate SARS-CoV-2susceptibility and the severity of COVID-19 symp-toms. In addition, several VIP genes are either cur-rently being used as drug targets for COVID-19treatments or are part of clinical trials for this pur-pose. Several of the adaptive VIPs identified in thestudy are also drug targets for other types of viruses,such as Zika virus and hepatitis C. Several of thesedrugs have been successfully repurposed, and sug-gests that others could potentially be repurposed forCOVID-19 treatment.

By uncovering the genes impacted by historicalviral outbreaks, our study points to the promise ofevolutionary genetic analyses as a new tool for fight-ing future outbreaks.

Adaptation to disease can leave genetic traces

Over the past few decades, geneticists have devisedpowerful statistical tools to uncover genetic traces ofhistorical adaptation events that remain present with-in the genomes of people living today. These toolshave allowed scientists to discover genes that markadaptations for high-altitude living and the adultconsumption of milk, among other things.

Our team was curious to see whether historicalencounters with ancient coronaviruses have left anysuch trace in today's human populations. Besidesrevealing historical coronavirus outbreaks, this infor-mation may hold new insights in the genetic basis ofcoronavirus infection and how these viruses causedisease in modern humans.

Viruses are simple creatures with one objective: tomake more copies of themselves. But their simplebiological structure means they cannot reproduceindependently.

Instead, they must invade the cells of other organ-isms and hijack their molecular machinery. Viralinvasions involve attaching and interacting with spe-cific proteins produced by the host cell, which thestudy call viral interacting proteins (VIPs).

Fossils found in China andIsrael dating from around140,000 years ago are adding

to the ranks of hominins that mixedand mingled with early modernhumans.

The fossils from Israel hint that apreviously unknown group ofhominins, proposed to be the directancestors of Neanderthals, mighthave dominated life in the Levantand lived alongside Homo sapiens.Meanwhile, researchersstudying an extremelywell-preservedancient humanskull found inChina in the1930s havecontroversial-

ly classified it as a new species —dubbed Dragon Man — which mightbe an even closer relative to modernhumans than are Neanderthals.

But both findings have sparkeddebate among scientists. The studiesare based on analyses of the size,shape and structure of fossilizedbones — methods that are subject toindividual judgement and interpreta-tion. As is often the case for fossilfinds, there is no DNA evidence.

Separating earlyhominin specimens

into uniquespecies,

workingout ifandhow

they interacted with others, and trac-ing their evolution are all difficultand contentious: “It’s very messy,”says Jeffrey Schwartz, an anthropolo-gist and evolutionary biologist at theUniversity of Pittsburgh inPennsylvania. Since 2000, the view ofhuman evolution during the past halfa million years has become ever-more complicated as researchers haveadded to the list of species in thegenus Homo that lived in the Middleand Late Pleistocene. The family treenow includes the IndonesianH. floresiensis, discov-ered in 2003;SiberianDenisovans,identified in2010; SouthAfricanH. naledi,

described in 2015; and Filipino H.luzonensis, detailed in 2019.

These species overlapped in timewith modern humans, which arethought to have emerged from Africaand spread into Israel and otherregions some 200,000 years ago, andNeanderthals (H. neanderthalis),which had a stronghold in Europe300,000 years ago and were outcom-peted by, or subsumed into, modernhumans by around 40,000 years ago.

Mysterious skull fossils expand human family tree

Is one vax dose enough if you’vehad Covid? What the science says

There is growing evidence that our normal resident gut microorganisms,termed commensal microbes, can affect human health. Promotingbeneficial commensal microbes through a type of nutritional

supplement called a prebiotic is an area of intensive scientific andmedical research. However, trying to harness a diet with thedesired effect is challenging because the gut microbialcommunity (also known as the microbiome) is highly complex,and because dietary responses are modulated by multiplehereditary and non-hereditary factors. Writing in Nature,Delannoy-Bruno et al fill an essential gap in our mechanisticunderstanding of diet–microbiome interactions by focusingon dietary fibre, a family of substances of pronouncedphysiological virtues that are predominantly metabolized bycommensal microbes. This provides a sequel to the team’sprevious work on the development of microbiome-targetingfoods. To characterize the effect of dietary-fibresupplementation in overweight individuals, Delannoy-Bruno andcolleagues used germ-free mice — animals raised andmaintained in a sterile environment that are therefore devoid of theusual resident microbes of any sort. The team colonized the gut ofeach of nine mouse groups with the microbiome of one of nine womenclassed as obese. The mice were continuously fed a low-fibre, high-fat diet,coupled with periodic fibre supplementation.

White House vs Delta variant Top Biden administration health officials trying to slow thespread of the Covid-19 Delta variant have largely given up onthe possibility of reinstating mask and social-distancing rules

in favor of a grassroots vaccine education campaign. The Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health andHuman Services and the White House Covid-19 Task Force havediscussed whether to press mayors and governors in theMidwest and South, where the highly transmissible Delta variantis spreading quickly, to once again require mask mandates,according to three senior Biden health officials. But theadministration ultimately concluded that many people who arenot vaccinated are also those who have resisted wearing masks.Instead, the federal government will try to convince hesitantAmericans to get vaccinated by working with state officials andtrusted community members to communicate the benefits of theshots, the three senior officials said. The president’s team is notconfident that the new campaign will change hearts and minds,the two officials said, but it is falling back on old messaging inpart because top administration officials are unsure what othertactics will work. Only about 46 percent of the U.S. population isvaccinated, and the number of doses administered has fallen byalmost 300,000 per day since June 7, according to the Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention.

Monkey militia mount vigil Farmers from the Japanese village of Kiso inNagano Prefecture have formed a “monkeymilitia” to deal with the primate pests that

keep raiding their crops.Located in the KaidaHighlands at the foot of Mount Ontake, Kiso hasan ideal climate for farming. Crops thrive,especially sweet corn, but this also makes them aparticularly attractive target for monkeys.In thepast, people have tried scaring off the monkeyswith shouts and bottle rockets, but these provedineffective. Now, a group of roughly 30 farmersand other workers have formed the “monkeychaser” squad and will be more proactive infighting off the simian invasion.The town spent850,000 yen ($80,000) on 30 air guns and asupply of pellets.[2] Earlier this month, the“monkey fighters” underwent training in order tolearn how to use their new weapons. From nowon, they will patrol their crops regularly. Shouldthey spot monkeys munching on their corn, theywill alert the rest via group-messaging app. Theentire squad will gather and fire warning shots toscare off the animals.

Scuba Diver finds messagein a bottle from 1926I

magine finding a message some-one wrote for you nearly a centu-ry ago. Fascinating, right? And

this isn't a movie we are talking about.What's even more fascinating is theplace where this message was found—deep into a river, inside a green-coloured glass bottle. Jennifer Dowker,a scuba diver who owns a boat tourcompany, found the green bottle withthe message written in 1926. “Will theperson who finds this bottle returnthis paper to George MorrowCheboygan, Michigan and tell where itwas found?” read the note on a piece

of paper inside the bottle.Ms Dowker, who owns tour compa-

ny Nautical North Family Adventures,returned to the deck and took a fewpictures of the treasure she had foundin the deep waters of the Michiganriver. Posting the pictures on the offi-cial Facebook handle of NauticalNorth Family Adventures, she wrote,“So, look what I found when I waswashing windows (and cruising alongwith the fish)... any Morrows out thereknow a George Morrow that would'vewritten this circa 1926? COOLESTnight diving EVER.”

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