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VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 310*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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SUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

Rubbishing the claims of apetitioner in the State HighCourt, the Centre on Thursdaymade it clear that ‘a capital forthe state of AP” mentioned inthe AP Reorganisation Act didnot mean one single capital.The affidavit also reinforced itsstance that the Centre can cre-ate new states, but cannot inte-rfere in the state’s capital plan.

Undersecretary in the MHA,Lalita T. Hedaoo, filed a addi-tional affidavit in the AP HighCourt in the case (Writ PetitionNo. 13204 of 2020) challengingthe YS Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment’s decision to estab-lish three capitals in the statefor decentralised development.

A petitioner in a rejoinderhas claimed that the words ‘acapital for the State of AndhraPradesh’ in the AP Reorgan-isation Act meant a ‘singlecapital’ only. Terming the inter-pretation ‘totally wrong’, theMHA conveyed to the APHigh Court that as per Section13 of the General Clauses Act,1897, words in singular shallinclude the plural and vice-

versa in all Central Acts and re-gulations (unless there is any-thing repugnant in the subjector context). The Act also sta-tes that masculine gender shallbe taken to include females.

In the affidavit, the Uniongovernment made its standclear that establishment of thecapital is the prerogative of thestate government alone. Asper the AP Reorganisation Act,

the Centre had to set up anexpert panel to suggest a suit-able place for the capital.

The Centre had formed thepanel headed by retired IAS

officer KC Sivaramakrishnan tostudy alternatives for a newcapital for Andhra Pradesh.The Committee submitted itsreport on August 30, 2014 and

it was sent to the State govern-ment on September 1, 2014.

The then government, led byN Chandrababu Naidu, had ch-osen Amaravati as the capital

and had notified the same th-rough a GO on April 23, 2015.

Based on the said notifica-tion, the Survey of India incor-porated Amaravati as the cap-ital of Andhra Pradesh in thelatest political map of India(English 9th Edition 2019 andHindi 6th Edition 2020), theMHA’s affidavit mentioned.

Sections 94 (3) and (4) of theAP Reorganisation Act onlyprovides for financial assis-tance by the Centre for the cre-ation of essential facilities in thenew capital and to furtherfacilitate denotification ofdegraded forest land, if neces-sary, for the same. The Centrehas to fund the construction ofthe Secretariat, Raj Bhavan,High Court, LegislativeAssembly and Council.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy willlaunch YSR Aasara schemeon Friday with the aim ofhandholding women’s SelfHelp Groups (SHGs) byreimbursing their outstand-ing dues. As many as 88lakh women in the Statestand to benefit from thescheme.

Fulfilling one more of hiselection promises, the ChiefMinister will be releasing Rs6,792.20 crores in the firsttranche towards reimburse-ment of outstanding loans ofSHGs. The amount will bedirectly credited to the bankaccounts of 8,71,302 SHGs.

Continued on Page 3

Jagan tolaunch YSRAasara today

The AP High Court was on Thursday told that the notification of the President's Order on theconstitution of a separate High Court for Andhra Pradesh, with the principal seat at Amaravati, could

not be construed as the Central government's decision to declare Amaravati as the capital of the state.The principal seat of the High Court need not necessarily be in the capital city of the state, the Centremaintained. The Ministry of Home Affairs made this assertion in an additional affidavit filed in the stateHigh Court in the ongoing litigation against the state government's move to have three capitals for AP.

High Court need not be instate's capital city, says MHA

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Close to 20 per cent of the5.34 crore population in APhas acquired immunity toCOVID-19, a Sero preva-lence study has revealed.

The Sero survey was con-ducted in two phases lastmonth with a sample size of5,000 in each of the 13 dis-tricts, establishing that 19.7per cent of people developedantibodies for SARS-CoV-2,the infection-causing virus.

Disclosing the survey find-ings, AP Commissioner forHealth and Family WelfareKatamaneni Bhaskar said22.5 per cent population inurban areas and 18.2 per centin rural acquired immunityfor Covid-19.

Of the total surveyed, 19.9women and 19.5 per centmen developed antibodies,he told a press conference onThursday evening.

Among the high-risk pop-

ulation (40+ age group andthose with comorbidities),20.3 per cent acquiredimmunity.

Interestingly, the surveyrevealed that 90 to 100 percent of the positives wereasymptomatic -- Chittoordistrict turned out 100 percent asymptomatic,Anantapur 99.5 per cent,Krishna 99.4 per cent,Guntur and Srikakulam 98.5per cent each and Kurnool98.3 per cent.

Prakasam, which is on asteep ascent, showed 90.9 percent of the positive cases tobe asymptomatic.

"Sero surveillance pro-vides estimates of antibodylevels against infectious dis-eases and is considered a goldstandard for measuring pop-ulation immunity. We havecompleted one round of sur-veillance in all districts in twophases," Bhaskar said.

Continued on Page 3

20% of populationin AP immune toCovid, finds study

P3: Casualties continue todip, AP adds 10,175 cases

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jaganm-ohan Reddy on Thursdaydecided to entrust to theCBI the probe into thechariot burning incident atthe famous LakshmiNarasimha Swamy templeat Antarvedi in EastGodavari district.

The CMO said in arelease that Jagan hastaken the issue "seriously."

"In spite of this, and thelocal investigation whichthe AP police have takenas a challenge, some polit-ical parties and organisa-tions have been demand-ing a CBI investigation,”the statement said.

Continued on Page 3

APPCB blank onstorage violationPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The safety levels in industriesin Visakhapatnam can begauged from the fact thatright until the massive blasttriggered by the ammoniumnitrate stored in Beirut ofLebanon, the authorities con-cerned were unaware of the

dangers the chemical storageposed to the Port City.

A day after the Beirutblast killed hundreds ofpeople on August 4, ThePioneer highlighted therisks posed by the chemicalstored in godowns inVisakhapatnam.

Continued on Page 3

AP Act doesn’t set limit on capitals: Centre to HC Capital mentioned in AP Reorganisation doesn’t mean one single capital city, clarifies Union Government in its affidavit

Jagan asksCBI to probeAntarvedichariot fire

Continued on Page 3

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Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for anydamage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement beforeresponding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 vijayawada 02

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

While introducingthe draft newRevenue Act in

the form of two Bills namely,the Telangana Rights in Landand Pattadar Passbooks Bill2020 and the TelanganaAbolition of the Posts ofVillage Revenue Officers Bill2020in the state LegislativeAssembly onWednesday,Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Raosummed up the historicalimportance, significance andessentiality of these Bills inone heart-touching sentence."The happiness I am experi-encingnow is similar to theone I had experienced whenthe Telangana state wasformed". The ChiefMinistersaid the new Actwould be simple, transparentand citizen friendly.

It is highly pertinent to

recall his observations in thepast, when the StatewideHousehold Survey waslaunched and later when agigantic Land Records rectifi-cation, updating and purifica-tion programme was initiatedand later carried out success-fully. The CM observed that itwas only after 80 long yearsthat such a unique survey wasundertaken in the State to puta lid on endless, time-con-suming, criminal in natureland disputesand cumber-some land records-relatedprocedures.

TheChief Minister made areference to certain previousattempts to bring in landreforms. It started under therule of Sher Shah Suri and inEmperor Akbar's periodTodar Mal brought in theland reforms. Survey of landsbegan under Sher Shah Suri;

such a practice was not therebefore. Under the British Raj,Captain(Alexander) Read andCaptainThomas (Sir Thomas)Munro introducedtheRyotwari system, collectionof land revenue from each cul-tivator. In our Telangana con-text, Salar Jung I made sever-al significant reforms duringhis time as the Prime Minister.In the 1940s Communist par-ties have led movementsagainst Jagirdars. In 1971, PVNarasimha Rao had brought

in the Agriculture LandCeilings Act. Several attemptswere made by successive gov-ernments to reform the rev-enue administration.

Although InformationTechnology (IT) made itsentry in the early twentiethcentury, none of the earlierregimes, for reasons bestknown to them, ever botheredto integrate IT with revenuematters, the CM said. This ledto large-scale corruption,emergence of the land mafia,

enmitybetween the revenueofficials and the poor. Had therevenue administration beenintegrated with IT, theseunfortunate developmentswould not have taken place.

The CM said: "We havelaunched Revenue Recordsrectification and updatingprogram in a big way,thoughit had a lull halfway throughdue to polls only to be restart-ed after a gap. For the past 3to 4 months, I, along with theChief Secretary, LawSecretary, senior CMO offi-cials, others have done anelaborate exercise. I also haddiscussion with the revenueemployees. They were verygenerous in saying that theyhave no objection to bringinga newAct".

The CM further said:"TheTelangana State has 2.75 croreacres of landmass. Of this, thecultivable land is 1.65 croreacres. There is about 66.56lakh acres of forest land in theState. There are other cate-gories of land such as non-agriculture lands. The pro-

posed Dharani web portalwill have data on two cate-gories of land namely,agricul-ture and non-agriculturelands. With one click one canknow the category of land.The entire land transactioncan be done within five to ten-minutes; registration, muta-tion and final documents ofthe land would be ready.Details regarding the landtransaction would be availableonthe portal".

"Under the new RevenueAct, no officer at any level isgiven discretionary power.Nobody would need to runfrom pillar to post in theoffices. Under the new Act,the registration system wouldnot accept the registration ofpublic utility lands, as they allwould be locked. Once theprocess of the Act is on, wewill survey every inch of land

in the state, which was neverdone, not even in the Nizamstate. Total survey ofTelangana state would beundertaken. Along with thesurvey, coordinates for eachsurvey number with longitudeand latitudes will be fixed".

With the new Revenue Actin place, it is no exaggerationto say that CM KCR's namewould be etched in the annalsof the revenue department forbringing in such a greatre-form. He would be remem-bered forever like Sher ShahSuri, Todar Mal, CaptainReed,Captain Munroe, SalarJungand PV Narasimha Raowhenever the land reformssubject is referred, read, men-tioned, researched or thoughtabout for generations andgenerations.

(With VJM Divakar)

VANAM JWALA

NARASIMHA RAO

CHIEF PUBLIC RELATIONS

OFFICER OF CHIEF MINISTER

OF TELANGANA

Etching CM's name in the annals of revenue reformsTheChief Minister made a reference to

certain previous attempts to bring in land

reforms. It started under the rule of Sher

Shah Suri and in Emperor Akbar's period

Todar Mal brought in the land reforms.

Survey of lands began under Sher Shah

Suri; such a practice was not there before

PNS n NEW DELHI

British Airways on Thursdayannounced flights to Hyder-abad from London Heathrow,starting September 12.

As of now, the UK-basedcarrier has only been operat-ing outbound flights fromHyderabad, the capital city ofTelangana, under the bilater-al air bubble pact betweenIndia and the UK.

The airline will operate fourflights a week on the route,British Airways said in arelease.

It is already operating out-bound flights from Hyderabadto London following the open-ing up of Indian skies for spe-cial flights in August, the air-line said.

"British Airways, which isalready operating outboundflights from Hyderabad toLondon following the openingup of Indian skies for specialflights in August, will now beflying from London Heathrowto Hyderabad as well, startingSeptember 12," said therelease.

British Airways is also fly-

ing to Heathrow five times aweek each from Delhi andMumbai and four times aweek each from Chennai andBengaluru, making it a total of22 flights a week from India tothe UK, including flights fromHyderabad, the airline statedin the release.

Since scheduled interna-tional air passenger servicesare suspended since lateMarch, India has establishedair bubble pacts with the US,France, Kuwait, Qatar, theUK, Canada and Germany,which allow overseas carriersfrom the respective countriesto resume flight services.

British Airwaysflights from Londonto Hyd from Sept 12

PNS n NEW DELHI

Eminent statistician and math-ematician C R Rao, known forhis path-breaking contribu-tions to the field of statistics,turned 100 on Thursday. TheDepartment of Science andTechnology felicitated him onWednesday and the event wasvirtually attended by top scien-tists, mathematicians and sta-tisticians.

Describing him as an insti-tution builder, DST SecretaryAshutosh Sharma said Raotrained generations of scien-tists, mathematicians and sta-tisticians. "While there are dif-ferent verticals (fields) in sci-ence, statistics is a horizontalthat cuts through all theselines," he said. Sharma saiddata is the "new water" and thefuture is going to revolvearound it. Industry 4.0 andbeyond is all about creatingdata, analysing data, buildingon data and making great dis-coveries with it, he said.

"Professor C R Rao wasworking on the science of data70 years ago and was much

ahead of his times. He is notonly a scientist but also aninstitution builder. The coun-try and the world will alwaysbe indebted to Professor Raofor his pioneering contribu-tions to the field of statistics,"Sharma said.

Born on September 10, 1920in Huvinahadagali, Karnataka,Rao received his MA degree inmathematics from the AndhraUniversity and another in sta-tistics from the CalcuttaUniversity. He worked at theIndian Statistical Institute (ISI)for 40 years. Later, he moved to

the US and worked for 25 yearsat the University of Pittsburghand the Pennsylvania StateUniversity.

Rao is known for conceptslike "Cramer Rao inequality","Rao Blackwellisation" and"Rao metric". He has authoredaround 475 research papers,that have been published inprestigious journals, and 11books.

He was instrumental inestablishing the C R RaoAdvanced Institute of Math-ematics, Statistics andComputer Science (AIMSCS)

in Hyderabad. RajeevaKarandikar, Director of theChennai MathematicalInstitute, said Rao was alsoinstrumental in research andtraining programmes at the ISI.

For his contribution, he wasalso awarded the PadmaVibhushan. Principal ScientificAdviser K VijayRaghavan saidRao's work has immenselybenefitted the country. "Someof Professor CR Rao's work hashad a deep impact on geneticsand that has great influence onthe work we do now," he said.

Bimal Roy, Chairman, Na-tional Statistical Commission,recalled that Rao's understand-ing of statistics as a subject wasnot limited to that field alone,but he looked at it to find solu-tions in other disciplines aswell. Pravin Srivastava, whoretired as the Chief Statisticianof India and Secretary in theMinistry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation,said Rao tried to bring logicalreasoning to areas of uncer-tainty like quantum physics. Helaid the foundation of big data,Srivastava added..

Legendary statisticianCR Rao now a centurion

Death count dips, APadds 10,175 cases PNS n AMARAVATHI

The number of deaths due tocoronavirus in AndhraPradesh has been showing adeclining trend over the pastfew days though the positivecases continue to increase byover 10,000 daily, governmentdata revealed.

The Covid-19 tallyincreased to 5.37 lakh in APwith the addition of 10,175cases in 24 hours ending 9 amon Thursday, the latest bulletinsaid.

Also, 10,040 patients gotcured and discharged while 68succumbed in 24 hours, thebulletin said.

From over 90 a day till a fewdays ago, the state's Covid-19mortality count has been justaround 70 per day this weekand on Thursday it further fellto 68.

The overall mortality ratedipped to 0.87 per cent againstthe national average of 1.68per cent.

While the infection positiv-ity has been constantly climb-ing up, reaching 12.27 per centon Thursday, the recoveryrate too showed an improve-ment to 81.02 per cent.

Kurnool district, which was

once the major Covid-19hotspot in the state, crossedthe 50,000 gross cases markbut more than 45,000 of theinfected had already recov-ered.

Srikakulam district crossedthe 30,000 mark, having over6,600 active cases, according tothe bulletin.

In 24 hours, East Godavari,Prakasam and West Godavarireported more than 1,100fresh positive cases whileChittoor had more than 900additions.

With nine new casualties,Chittoor crossed the 500 markin overall toll, topping the statechart.

Kadapa and SPS Nelloredistricts also reported ninefresh fatalities each, Krishnaand Prakasam seven each andAnantapur six.

Jogi Ramesh refutes graft charges against YSRCP MLAsPNS n AMARAVATHI

Refuting the allegations of graftlevelledby TDP leader NLokesh, the YSRCP has daredhim to prove the charges andsaid he and his father NChandrababu Naidu have beenshirking responsibility at thetimes of pandemic.

Speaking to the media hereon Thursday, MLA JogiRameshrefutedthe allegations of graftlevelled against 40 MLAs asbaseless and challenged him toprove them. The governmentwas functioning with utmosttransparency and all 151 MLAsstood by the people even dur-ing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Opposition leaders NChandrababu Naidu and NaraLokesh were making a flyingvisit to the State only to console

TDP leader KolluRavindra,who was accused of murder,but have not time to console thefamilies, which lost theirbeloved in the fire mishap atSwarna Palace Hotel, or thosecommon people, who arestruggling in this pandemic cri-sis. The father-son duo is con-

fined to zoom and tweets onlyand they are responsible forstalling the distribution ofhouse site pattas to 30 lakhpoor and implementation of

English medium from prima-ry school. He said that Lokeshhas no stature to talk about YSRaja Reddy.

"TDP leaders have no moralright to speak on corruption, asthey were neck deep in corrup-tion during their term.Nearly,Rs 65,000 crore wasspent by Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy on the wel-fare schemes directly benefitingthe four crore population," hereminded.

Unlike in the TDP regime,the State government has main-tained transparency by deliver-ing the welfare schemes direct-ly from the Chief Minister tothe common man with noinvolvement of any middlemen,irrespective of their caste, creed,religion, or even the party theybelong to, he added..

Unlike in theTDP regime, theState govt hasmaintainedtransparency bydelivering thewelfareschemesdirectly from theCM to thecommon man

RBKs to provide multipleservices for farmersPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Ramping up the agricultureinfrastructure in a bid toimproving the lives of farmers,the government will be settingup multipurpose facilities, offer-ing 13 kinds of services, atRBKs across the State.

These integrated facilities willcontain various services depend-ing on the requirement based oncrop patterns.A team of repre-sentatives from all the depart-ments involved proposed thesetting up of a total of 5,531godowns/cold storages/collec-tion centres, 4,147 drying plat-

forms, 4,796 threshers, 7,132cleaners, 1,861 graders, 15,167dryers, 654 dal mills, 100turmeric boilers, 100 turmericpolishers , millet processingunits , 29 chillidryers and 816maize shellers.

In the meeting held at campoffice Tadepalli on Thursday,

Chief MinisterYS JaganmohanReddy said, "We have set up over10,500 RBKs across the State,which is just the first step but inorder to double the income ofthe farmers we need to ramp upinfrastructure around the RBKs,thereby increasing domesticconsumption as well as demandfor quality produce across theglobe."

He further added that "theidea of setting up godown, coldstorages, drying platformsandJanata Bazars whereverisnecessary and best efforts willbe made in order to make thelives of our farmers better".

n The State governmenthas set up over 10,500RBKs across the State,which is just the firststep but in order todouble the income ofthe farmers

Low-cost chip to detect Covid antibodies developed

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

SRM University in AP hasformed a liaison withNortheastern University,Boston, USA towards theadvancement of educationand research.

A MOU has been signedrecently in this regardbetween the two universities.This is a significant venture tocollaborate with top univer-sities such as NortheasternUniversity, which will lead theuniversity to the path ofadvanced research and edu-cational programmes.

The MoU committee of theSRM-AP is working aggres-sively to bringing top univer-sities across the globe for the

students to get the benefit andenhance their career.Northeastern University ispart of the world's top 5% ofuniversities, and this collab-oration will provide a possi-bility for our students to visit,learn, and explore from a topreputed university of theUSA.

"Our students are the pri-mary beneficiaries of thisMoU, as it provides a plat-form for them to explore astudy abroad programmethere, including getting a UGdegree from a top-rankedUS university. Other benefi-ciaries include faculty andscholars for whom jointresearch programmes couldbe enabled in the future."

SRM inks pactwith Boston varsityIANS n TOKYA

To fight against Covid-19,Japanese scientists have devel-oped a rapid, reliable and low-cost antibody test that usesportable lab-on-a-chip technol-ogy to accurately measure theconcentration of antibodies pre-sent in diluted blood plasma.

Previous studies have foundthat Covid-19 antibodies, orproteins produced by theimmune system to neutralise thevirus, are present in the laterstages of infection and can lingerin the blood after the infectionhas cleared, allowing previouslyinfected individuals to be iden-tified, the study published in thejournal Biosensors andBioelectronics said.

Antibody tests are, thus, animportant means of determiningthe full spread of the Coronavirus

- information that is crucial toguide public health policies, itsaid.

"Many existing platforms forantibody tests are accurate andreliable but they are costly andneed to be carried out in a lab bytrained operators. This meansthat it can take hours, or evendays, to obtain results," saidstudy author Riccardo Funarifrom the Okinawa Institute ofScience and TechnologyGraduate University (OIST).

The researchers avoided thistrade-off between accuracy andaccessibility by developing analternative antibody testing plat-form that combines powerfullight-sensing technology with amicrofluidic chip.

The chip provides results with-in 30 minutes and is highly sen-sitive, detecting even the lowestclinically-relevant antibody con-centration.

Each chip is cheap to manu-

facture and negates the need fora lab or trained operators,increasing the feasibility ofnation-wide testing.

And there's another distinctiveadvantage of this newly-devel-oped platform."The test doesn'tjust detect whether the antibod-ies are present or absent - it alsoprovides information about thenumber of antibodies producedby the immune system. In otherwords, it's quantitative," saidstudy author Amy Shen.

The antibody testing plat-form consists of a microfluidicchip which is integrated with afibre optic light probe. The chipitself is made from a gold-coveredglass slide with an embeddedmicrofluidic channel.

Using an electric voltage, theteam fabricated tens of thousandsof tiny spiky gold structures, eachone smaller than the wavelength

of light, on a glass slide.The researchers then modified

these gold nano spikes by attach-ing a fragment of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This protein iscrucial for helping the coron-avirus infect cells and causes astrong reaction from an infect-ed person's immune system.

In this proof-of-concept study,the scientists demonstrated theprinciple behind how the testdetects antibodies by using arti-ficial human plasma samplespiked with Covid-19 antibodiesthat are specific to the spike pro-tein.

Using a syringe pump, thesample is drawn through thechip. As the plasma flows past theprotein-coated gold nano spikes,the antibodies bind to the spikeprotein fragments. This bindingevent is then detected by the fibreoptic light probe.

"The test doesn't just detect whetherthe antibodies are present or absent -it also provides information about thenumber of antibodies produced by theimmune system. In other words, it'squantitative," said author Amy Shen.

Govt taking thepoor for aride: TDPPNS n AMARAVATI

TDP senior leader AlapatiRajendra Prasad on Thursdayadvised the YSRCP govern-ment to stop making baselessallegations and start distrib-uting the house sites that werenot stuck in any sort of liti-gation in the courts as of now.

He said that the courtsissued stay on only 4,000 outof the total 40,000 acres whilethe remaining 36,000 acreswere free for house sites dis-tribution to the poor families.The government shouldexplain to the people why itwas deliberately causingneedless delay, the seniorTDP leader said at a pressconference here.

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 vijayawada 03

BJP leaders protest, seek probeinto Antarvedi fire incidentPNS n RAJAHMUNDRY

The AP BJP stepped up itsefforts to corner the YSRCPgovernment over the Antarvedichariot fire on Thursday withthe party’s state unit presidentSomu Veerraju leading ademonstration demanding acomprehensive probe into theincident.

"A comprehensive inquirymust be conducted on theAntarvedi temple issue," a plac-ard held by Veerraju at theparty office said.

The BJP party organised aone-hour protest sit-in from 10am to 11 am, under the jointbanner of the party and its localally Jana Sena.

Veerraju was accompaniedby party leaders and members.

Considering the coronaviruspandemic, BJP gave a call forits supporters to conduct a sit-in protest right in their homes.

"Even in the light of

Antarvedi case and similarincidents on Hindu templesand their assets, the govern-ment is exhibiting a negligentattitude in dealing with them,"alleged a party official.

Lending support to AP BJPleaders, a few party seniorleaders replicated a sit-indemonstration in Delhi.

"Sat on a protest against aseries of unabated attacks onHindu temples and chariots inAndhra Pradesh along withSunil Deodhar and GVLNarasimha Rao," said BJPnational secretary Y. SatyaKumar. Another party nation-al secretary and co-incharge ofthe party's AP affairs, SunilDeodhar, asked for the imme-diate release of arrested leadersin East Godavari district.

However, a police officialhad confirmed on Wednesdaynight that no leader was arrest-ed, but only prevented fromcoming out of their homes, sothat the law and order situation

did not slip out of control.On Tuesday evening, police

arrested 43 protesters whodescended on Antarvedi villageto demonstrate against thechariot blaze and also peltedstones at a local church anddestroyed its compound walland window panes.

Of the 43 arrests made, 38were men while five werewomen. Five of the accusedreceived notice from the policewhile a local court remanded

the rest to judicial custody tillSeptember 22.

Only one the arrested peo-ple was a local while theremaining were non-localsfrom nearby villages and evenplaces as far away as Guntur,Kakinada, Rajahmundry andothers. One TumuluriLakshmi, 33, wife of Prasad,came all the way from Shaikpetin Hyderabad of Telanganastate, 474 km away. Meanwhile,a group of local youth associ-ated with the temple releaseda video message condemningthe church attack. "Some peo-ple who came to protest havepelted stones on a nearbychurch which does not haveanything to do with the temple

issue. On behalf of Sri LakshmiNarasimha Swamy templeyouth, we condemn this act,"said a local youth associatedwith the temple. Byra Nagaraju,another temple youth appealedto the troublemakers not tocreate any rift among the localpeople who peacefully coexist.

Another BJP party officialalleged that the YSRCP govern-ment ignored attacks on 15temples. Likewise, he accusedthe Chandrababu Naidu-ledprevious Telugu Desam Party(TDP) government of demol-ishing 17 temples inVijayawada. He claimed thatNaidu said temples were use-less and roads were moreimportant.

Tata Institute praises Stategovt for reining in diseasesPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The prestigious Tata Instituteof Genetics and Sciences basedin Bengaluru is all praise overthe results obtained by theAndhra Pradesh government'spilot sanitation drive, ' ManamMana Parisubhratha'. Monthsof hard work resulted in a dras-tic decline in the number ofcases pertaining to vector-borne diseases like malaria,typhoid and dengue whencompared to last year for thesame period (June to August).

The official handle of theTata Institute of Genetics andSciences tweeted, 'It's no meanfeat to achieve a drop in thenumber of cases of vector-borne diseases like dengue &malaria by 97.4% and 50.4%respectively. Kudos!'

Speaking about the initia-tive, the Commissioner,Panchayat Raj and RuralDevelopment, Girija Shankar,said, “We picked villages fromall 13 districts. Our first stepwas to create awareness andmake sure that people learn tosegregate wet and dry wastewithin their homes. We con-

ducted meetings, spoke topeople and successfully made5.5 lakh households followthis rule. The next step was toallot one ‘green ambassador’,who was a sanitation workerand a local from the village topick up waste from the hous-es and dispose of them at thewaste processing units.”

All these villages have solidwaste processing centres —where waste is processed tomake manure and then sold tofarmers in that area. The localsin these villages were asked todonate for the sanitation drive,on a voluntary basis. It start-ed from as low as Rs 2 and raninto thousands. A total of Rs1.4 crore was collected in threemonths, a part of which wenttowards paying salaries to thesanitation workers”

The State government isconcentrating on seasonal dis-eases despite the increasedworkload due to the pandem-ic and the results it has shownhas been appreciated by peo-ple across industries.Therefore, the plans to expandthis initiative to the entirestate are on.

Number of cases in 2019Vs 2020 ( June to August)TYPHOIDJune to August 2019 - 8988casesJune to August, 2020: 355casesDECREASE OF 96.05 %MALARIAJune to August 2019: 1203cases.June to August 2020 : 601cases.DECREASE OF 50.04%DENGUEJune to August 2019: 944casesJune to August 2020: 24DECREASE OF 97.4 %ACUTE DIARRHEAJune to August 2019:1,11,685June to August 2020:20,355Fall of 81.77 %

l "Sat on a protest against a series of unabated attackson Hindu temples and chariots in Andhra Pradesh along withSunil Deodhar and GVL Narasimha Rao," said BJP nation-al secretary Y. Satya Kumar.

l Another party national secretary and co-incharge ofthe party's AP affairs, Sunil Deodhar, asked for the imme-diate release of arrested leaders in East Godavari district.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The representatives of SringeriSarada Peetham called on theChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy at his camp officeregarding the inauguration ofKumara Swamy temple project.The delegation met the ChiefMinister here on Thursdayand gave a PowerPoint presen-tation of Kumara Swamy tem-ple project being built underKumara Viharam in thefamous Shaivite shrineSrisailam.

The project coming up in anextent of 16 acres is aimed atbeing completed by December2022. The project is being takenup with the blessings and direc-tions of Sringeri SaradadeviPeethadhipathi Bharathi

Teertha Swami. Speaking on theoccasion, the Chief Ministersaid that spiritual and devotion-al feelings would help in lead-ing a peaceful life.

Minister Balineni Srinivs

Reddy, MPs V Vijaysai Reddy,V Prabhakar Reddy, SringeriSarada Peetham representa-tives and a team of VBTechnocrats were among thosepresent on the occasion.

Caption A representative from Sringeri Sarada Peetham felicitates Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy at his camp office in Amaravati on Thursday

Sringeri Sarada Peetham team calls on CM

APPCB blank onstorage violation

Continued from Page 1

On Thursday, a major firebroke out at the Beirut air-port, bringing back memoriesof the incident and the senseof fear to the people.

Following the report, theAPPCB wrote to the ChiefController of Explosives,Nagpur seeking informationabout the safety conditionsprovided at the godowns inVizag.

It was only after this news-paper report that the Vizagdistrict administration andAP Control Board officialsvisited the godowns owned bySravan Shipping ServicesPrivate Limited. Even after theinspection, the district admin-istration declared that thestorage was safe. However,later, it was found that theofficers concerned are unfa-miliar with the safety normsrequired for storage.

The APPCB found that theShipping service firm did notpossess Fire Safety clearancetoo.

On August 17, APPCB onobserving the violation ofconditions stipulated in theConsents issued by it, direct-ed the Sravan ShippingServices Private Limited toimmediately stop furtheroperations of stevedoring

activity associated with stor-ing and handling ofAmmonium Nitrate until fur-ther orders.

Since Sravan Shippingfailed to take appropriatemeasures with regards to safe-ty conditions, APPCB alsodirected the port authoritiesnot to use the private player’sservice.

The Zonal office of APPCB(Visakhapatnam) has request-ed the Deputy Controller ofExplosives, to inform the ade-quacy of safety for storage of20,000 tonnes of ammoniumnitrate in the godowns of theSravan Shipping. Later, it alsosought the information aboutthe safety measures providedat the godown from the ChiefController of Explosives,Nagpur.

In 2008, the MoEF hadgiven Environment Clearanceto Sravan Shipping Servicesfor storing of the explosivematerial, it is learnt.

Officials with the stateFactories Department say thestorage of the material is at awarehouse and not at a facto-ry thus it’s the task of theChief Controller of Explosivesto oversee how it is stored byprivate players. The StateDisaster Response and FireService Department stays outof the loop.

2 killed while learning drivingPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Two siblings were killed on thespot and the driving instruc-tor sustained serious injurieswhen the car in which theywere travelling rammed a treenear Natavaram, about 60 kmfrom Visakhapatnam.

The rural police said AsapuSrinvias (28) and his youngerbrother Hanuman Sai startedfrom their village Natavaram inthe early hours and reached

Tandava Junction as a part oftheir training in light vehicle dri-ving. While returning one ofthem lost control over the vehi-cle and hit a cashew tree. Boththe brothers died on the spotwhile the driving instructorAnkamreddy Vamsi sustainedserious head injuries. He wasrushed to King George Hospitalwhere his condition was said tobe serious. The bodies wereshifted to Narsipatnam areahospital for post-mortem.

Miraculous escape for 3as bus falls into riverbedPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Three persons had a miracu-lous escape with minorinjuries when a bus fell intothe Varaha riverbed nearPenugollu village under SRayavaram mandal inVisakhapatnam district.

The incident took place lateWednesday night. The localpolice said the bus was pass-ing over a bridge on theNational Highway-16 whenthe driver lost the control andknocked off the railing of the

bridge and fell into theriverbed.

There were only three peo-ple on the bus, including thedriver. A few hours later, localpeople retrieved the injuredpersons from the overturnedbus and shifted them toNakkapalle Area Hospital.

The police said the driverfell asleep while driving thebus as he was tired of longhours of work. All the threesustained minor injuriesthough the bus fell from aheight of 10 feet.

Continued from Page 1

SPS Nellore had the lowestlevels of Sero prevalence at8.2 per cent, West Godavari12.3 per cent, Prakasam 17.6per cent.

These three districts havebeen witnessing a steep risein coronavirus cases over thepast few days.

East Godavari, the statetopper with over 72,000 casesand one of the highest infect-ed in the country, had a Seroprevalence of 14.4 per cent.

The district has beenadding cases in excess of1,000 per day for the past fewweeks.

Vizianagaram, which wasthe last district in the state toreport a Covid-19 case, hadthe highest 30.6 per centSero prevalence, according tothe survey report.

Kurnool, once the majorhotbed in the state, showed aprevalence of 28.1 per cent.

“We hope the spread ofinfection will now be lower inthese districts where the pop-ulation showed a highergrowth of antibodies. Thesurvey will help us under-stand the spread of infectionand plan the management,including targeting of tests toyield better results,” Bhaskarsaid.

20% ofpopulation inAP immuneto Covid...

Continued from Page 1

The HC is currently hearing abatch of writ petitions filed byvarious stakeholders seekingthat the AP Decentralisationand Inclusive Developmentof All Regions Act, 2020, bedeclared as ultra vires to theConstitution of India. TheHC, while ordering status quoon the implementation of theAct and also the AP CapitalRegion DevelopmentAuthority (Repeal) Act, 2020,posted the case for furtherhearing to September 21. TheUnion Ministry of HomeAffairs had already filed acounter-affidavit last monthstating that the AP govern-ment vide an order on April23, 2015, notified that thecapital city be namedAmaravati. "It may be furthermentioned that the capitalcity of the state is decided bythe respective state govern-ment. The Central govern-ment has no role in it," theCentre said in its counter-affi-davit.

"Section 94 (3) and (4) of theAP Reorganisation Act, 2014,only provides for financialassistance by the Central gov-ernment to the state of Andhra

Pradesh for creation of essen-tial facilities in their new cap-ital and to further facilitate de-notification of degraded forestland, if necessary, for the same.The provision only talks aboutproviding financial assistanceby the Central Government forthe new capital as chosen by thestate and not for deciding acapital by the Central govern-ment," the MHA averred.

"The Government ofAndhra Pradesh had earlierchosen Amaravati as the cap-ital of the state and had noti-fied the same vide theirGovernment Order dated April23, 2015. Based on the saidnotification, Survey of Indiaincorporated Amaravati as cap-ital of Andhra Pradesh in thelatest political map of India(English 9th Edition 2019 andHindi 6th Edition 2020)," theMHA added.The Centre said,"In pursuance of Article 214 ofthe Constitution and in exer-cise of powers conferred underprovisions of the APReorganisation Act, 2014, thePresident, vide an order datedDecember 26, 2018, constitut-ed a separate High Court forthe state of Andhra Pradeshfrom January 1, 2019 with theprincipal seat at Amaravati."

High Court need notbe in state's capital...

Jagan tolaunch YSRAasara today

Continued from Page 1

During his 3,648 km padaya-tra, Jagan had promisedDWCRA women’s groups,which were cheated by the pre-vious government that wentback on its promise to waive alltheir bank loans and left themin default, to reimburse theoutstanding loan amount overa period of four years. The gov-ernment had earlier launchedYSR Cheyutha which gives anannual financial assistance ofRs 18,750 to women in the agegroup of 45 to 60 years belong-ing to SC, ST,BC andMinorities aggregating to Rs75,000 in four years.

The social and economicempowerment of women getsan impetus with these twoschemes as the State has tied upwith top business houses whichwill support the women andopen up medium, small andpetty business opportunitiesand provide a stable livelihood.

Meanwhile, MunicipalAdministration Minister BotsaSatyanaryana said that theJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment has given a welfare cal-endar and has been strictly fol-lowing it by direct transfer ofmoney to the beneficiaries.

Minister evinces interestto partner with ITDCPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Minister for Industry, ITand Skill developmentMekapati GouthamReddy has evincedinterest in partner-ing with IndiaT o u r i s mD e v e l o p m e n tCorporation (ITDC).

In a meeting in NewDelhi with G KamalaVardhana Rao, Chairman andManaging Director, ITDC, theminister sought active assis-tance and support of ITDC inactualising their plans forbuilding skill ecosystem in‘Hospitality and Tourism’, both

thrust areas of the govern-ment.

The Andhra Pradeshgovernment propos-

es to enter into anMoU with ITDCin the areas ofcomprehensivetraining to front-

line workers, aswell as towards set-

ting up of a Centre ofExcellence for Tourism and

Travel curriculum.The ITDC proposes joining

hands towards implementingsome entrepreneurship mod-els in the sectors to benefit thequalified young hospitalityprofessionals.

L VENKAT RAM REDDY

n HYDERABAD

Though TRS supremo andTelangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao recentlystated that he had no plans toenter national politics orlaunch a new national politicalparty of is own at this stage, thebuzz surrounding the KCR'snational politics entry refusesto die down within TRS andalso in political circles.

KCR made this statementafter rumours were floatedthat he is all set to launch hisown national party in the nameof "Naya Bharat".

TRS sources see no possibil-ity of KCR launching a nation-al party of his own. Instead,they opine he would take theinitiative of forming a Front ofpolitical parties like the one hehad mooted prior to 2019 LokSabha polls in the name ofFederal Front.

The reasons TRS sources citeis launching a national partyand getting national partyrecognition from ElectionCommission is a herculean

task.For this, KCR has to register

his national party in four ormore states and in order to getthe EC recognition, it has towin at least six per cent of votesin these states.

It means, KCR's nationalparty has to contest the elec-tions in at least four states andsecure the required vote per-centage before next generalelections in 2024.

TRS sources feel that thetime will not be sufficientbefore 2024 Lok Sabha elec-tions to achieve all these tasks

to launch a national party andget EC's recognition.

With corona pandemicacross the country, the chancesof launching any political activ-ity in the country look remoteat least till March/April 2021,when Covid vaccine is expect-ed to hit the country andexpected to ease the situation.In that case, KCR will be hard-ly left with three years time tolaunch national party and facegeneral elections.

According to the ElectionCommission of India rules, aregistered party is recognised

as a National Party only if it ful-fils any one of the followingthree conditions:

The party wins at least twoper cent of the seats in the LokSabha (11 seats) from at leastthree different States; or

At a General Election to LokSabha or Legislative Assembly,the party polls 6 per cent ofvotes in four States and in addi-tion, it wins four Lok Sabhaseats from any state or states;or A party gets recognition asState Party in four or moreStates.

As of now, TRS is confinedto only Telangana State. IfKCR wants to set up a nation-al party, he has to extend hisbase to three more States andsecure required percentage ofvotes. But the pertinent ques-tion being raised is which arethe three States where KCR cancontest elections and securerequired percentage of votes.TRS opponents say, leave threeStates, KCR can't even secureeven deposits even in neigh-bouring Telugu State AndhraPradesh and under these cir-cumstances will KCR dare to

launch a national party of hisown.

KCR could not succeed ingiving a shape to his FederalFront even after touring vari-ous States and meeting leadersand CMs of various regionalparties a year before 2019 LSpolls.

For these reasons, TRSsources say KCR will neverattempt to float a nationalparty but will try to pursue hisFederal Front by bringingregional parties together like hetried to do earlier before 2019Lok Sabha polls.

That too, it all depends onthe outcome of Bihar and WestBengal Assembly polls sched-uled to be held in the next sixmonths.

If regional parties win thesepolls, KCR would take a plungeinto national politics but if BJPor Congress wins, it wouldbecome a stumbling block inthe future moves of KCR innational politics.

Jagan asks CBI to probeAntarvedi chariot fire

Continued from Page 1

As a full transparent govern-ment, the Chief Minister hasdirected the DGP to handover the investigation to theCBI, the CMO release said.

Accordingly, the DGP wrotea letter to the Union Ministryof Home Affairs, it added.

The 60-year-old woodenchariot of the Antarvedi tem-ple was gutted in a mysteriousfire in the wee hours of Sunday.The 40-feet high chariot madeof teakwood was parked in ashed on the temple premises.The chariot is normally usedonly during the Radhotsavamat the Lord's celestial weddingfestivities.

The state government placedthe temple executive officerunder suspension over the

incident and constituted aninquiry committee headed bythe Endowments AdditionalCommissioner.

Opposition parties BJP, TDPand Jana Sena blamed thestate government for the char-iot burning incident and it alsoacquired religious hues with

some groups alleging the lack-adaisical attitude of the JaganMohan Reddy government insafeguarding Hindu temples.

State Endowments MinisterVelampalli Srinivasa Raoalleged that the chariot burn-ing could be a conspiracy bythe opposition parties to tar-

Why doesn’t KCR prefer a national party of his own?

Volunteers of Covaxin trials stablePNS n HYDERABAD

Amid the raising concernsover vaccine trails, fortunate-ly the volunteers who partici-pated in Covaxin trails atNIMS have not reportedadverse reactions. Sources inthe hospital said that the sub-jects do not have any compli-cations reported. “They are

constantly monitored and evenif there is slight change in theirhealth including a rash or anysymptom, it gets reported. Sofar the condition of the sub-jects has been stable”. Theindigenous vaccine developedby Bharat Biotech was admin-istered to volunteers at NIMSin two phases.

Sources said that the sub-

jects who were picked wherevery healthy without any priorhealth issues or co-morbidconditions. After administer-ing the vaccine the subjects areunder observation until thetrails conclude. In case ofAstraZenca, the patient report-ed neurological disorder whichis not reported in any of thepatients so far.

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 telangana 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Thursday saidthat the state government hadsanctioned 5,000 jobs duringthe Covid-19 pandemic. TheMedical & Health Ministertold the Assembly that a deci-sion on the recruitment of11,000 staff would be takenafter the end of the Coronaperiod. Eatala stated that in thepast, 4,000 people were recruit-ed while 10,000 jobs were noti-fied. The rest of the vacanciescame to a halt due to courtcases. "Barriers to staff recruit-ment are also being removed",he said.

Since 2014, Telangana gov-ernment added additional 946MBBS and 365 PG seats. Whilethere were only 700 MBBS seats in 2014, now there are 1,640seats. Likewise in 2014, therewere 563 PG seats and 108super speciality seats, but nowin 2020, there are 928 PG and146 super speciality sea ts.Even the medical faculty hasincreas ed from 1,101 in 2014to 2,206 in 2020.

"Before the formation of thestate of Telangana, there we remany complaints that medicalcolleges should be set up in thestate. We are trying to set up amedical college for the district.We are bringing about radicalchanges in the medical field,"the Minister said. "The ChiefMinister has already promisedto set up a medical college in the erstwhile Medak districtbut the state is waiting forCenter approval," he furtheradded. After formation of state,six medical colleges have been setup in Mahbubnagar, Siddipet,Nalgonda, Suryapet, ESI- Sanathnagar and AIIMS Bibinagar.These have led to inc rease inmedical college seats and are ab leto provide better health care facil-ities to people.

Health Dept sanctioned 5,000posts during pandemic: Eatala

PNS n HYDERABAD

Keeping in view of the demand foredible oils and increasing importsfrom abroad, the Stategovernment will be focusing onpromoting oil palm cultivation ona large scale in the State. Indiahad spent approximately Rs79,000 crore of its foreignexchange last year to importedible oils from abroad of whichover Rs 40,000 crore were spentfor importing oil palm alone from

countries like Malaysia andIndonesia. Responding toquestions raised on oil palmcultivation during the QuestionHour in the Assembly onThursday, Agriculture Minister SNiranjan Reddy emphasised theneed for crop rotation andcultivation of alternate crops likeoil palm to increase yield and alsocater to the market demand. Hepointed out that oil palm was theonly crop in the country with abuy back guarantee from the oilcompanies.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal AdministrationMinister KT Rama Rao andCongress MLA KomatireddyRajagopal Reddy engaged inverbal spat on the fourth day ofthe monsoon session of theAssembly on Thursday. It allhappened when the CongressMLA charged the stategovernment with failing toprovide basic amenities inMunugode and Chundurumunicipalities. Raising the issueduring the Zero Hour, theCongress MLA took a jibe at thestate government stating thatthere are many municipalitiesand municipal corporations inthe state apart from Siddipet andSircilla. Therefore, he insistedthat the government should giveonly those assurances whichcould be implemented. Headvised it against givingassurances which are far from

being implemented. He exhorted the stategovernment to develop themunicipalities located inCongress MLAs' constituenciestoo. Responding to the issue, KTRama Rao warned theOpposition against spreadingrumours. Ever since the TRS wasvoted to power for the secondtime, it regularly released Rs 148crore every month tomunicipalities promptly withoutfail. "How can the TRS romphome winning 122 municipalitiesout of 130 in the state during therecently concluded municipalelections? It would be better forthe Opposition to stop spreadinglies and people wouldappreciation it if Congress MLAsspeak truth," he advisedRajagopal Reddy. Takingadvantage of Speaker givingmike to the Congress duringZero Hour, MLAs resorting toherogiri is not advisable, KTRfelt.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) TreasurerGudur Narayana Reddy onThursday demanded that theState Government issue a WhitePaper on the amount it had spentto combat Coronavirus. Allegingthat Chief Minister was still indeep slumber like 'Kumbhakarna',he demanded that KCR wake upimmediately to prevent furtherdamage. Narayana Reddy, in astatement, alleged that ChiefMinister K Chandrashekhar Rao

gave no clarity in his statementissued in the Legislative Assemblyon Wednesday. "Despite Covid-19cases touching 1.5 lakh mark anddeath toll touching almost 1,000,KCR is giving immaturestatements. Instead of giving aclear status on what measureswere taken to combat Covid-19and how his government plans toprevent further damage, CM isgiving vague statements," he said.

The Congress leader said thatthe Chief Minister has claimedthat nearly Rs 4,500 crore havebeen earmarked to deal with theCovid-19 situation.

KTR, Komatireddyengage in verbal spat

TS GOVT TO PROMOTE OIL PALM CULTIVATION

Release White Paper onCovid spending, says Cong

All-party meeting demandsdiscussion on Revenue BillPNS n HYDERABAD

All-Party virtual meeting onThursday alleged that the stategovernment concentrated moreon easing the land transactionsrather than providing rights onlands to the farmers. The draft ofthe new Revenue Bill shows thatno effort had been put to legalisethe land rights of the farmers. Thegovernment removed a fewissues from court limits. Thefarmers will be meted out withinjustice if the bill becomes an

Act. The meeting opined thatthere is a need for thecomprehensive discussion on theBill. The meeting urged thegovernment to send the Bill to theSelect Committee. The meetingalso urged the government toallow people, peoples unions andpolitical parties to participate inthe debate on the new RevenueAct to take their views to includein the New Revenue Act. Themeeting was held under theleadership of TJS chief Prof MKodandaram and CPI statesecretary Chada Venkat Reddy.

2BHK scheme will be arole model, says PocharamPNS n HYDERABAD

Legislative Assembly SpeakerPocharam Srinivas Reddyaccompanied by MA&UDMinister, KT Rama Rao andHousing Minister, VemulaPrashanth Reddy inspectedthe 2BHK dignity housingproject site at Kollur here onThursday.

The Speaker and Ministersreviewed the various amenitiesavailable at the high-risemodel township and also helda meeting with officials andcontract agencies.

The MA&UD Minister said1 lakh double bedroom digni-ty houses were being con-structed by the governmentout of which about 85 thou-sand dignity houses will behanded over to the beneficia-ries in GHMC limits by theend of December 2020.

Speaking after the inspec-tion, Pocharam Srinivas

Reddy said that for the firsttime ever, a State governmenthas taken up construction ofsuch a major township whichwill provide housing to thou-sands of poor. "This projectwill become a role modelwhen we talk about housingprojects in the country," heremarked.

Prashanth Reddy expressedsatisfaction over the fastprogress of double bedroomdignity houses constructionworks in Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation limitsand said complete supportwill be provided fromHousing Ministry in futureassignments.

Cong leaderwarns RGV PNS n HYDERABAD

Former MLA and AICC sec-retary SA Sampath Kumar onThursday warned filmmakerRam Gopal Varma of seriousconsequences if he makesinsulting remarks againstCongress party. "I respectRam Gopal Varma as a cre-ative film director but the wayhe insulted our nation andthe Congress party proves hisarrogance and egocentric atti-tude. Mr RGV, beware of theconsequences and bettermind your words," he said onhis Twitter handle.

It may be recalled that RamGopal Varma, on his Twitteraccount criticized India, ShivSena, Congress party andArnab Goswami by saying"No vaccine for Corona infect-ed India and no vaccine forKangana infected Shiv Sena".

HC notice to TSon plea over pay PNS n HYDERABAD

A single Judge bench ofTelangana High Court head-ed by Justice Abhinand KumarShavili issued notices to thestate government and asked itto respond to a petition filedby 73 outsourcing workinspectors of MissionBhagiratha programme. Theoutsourced work inspectorsurged the HC to issue direc-tions to the state governmentfor payment of their pendingsalaries since January 2020.

The government has disen-gaged the services of the workinspectors from June 30 of thisyear. The judge later adjournedthe hearing of the case for twoweeks. The petition was filed

by one Jatothu Venkanna and72 other now removed workinspectors. In their petition, they urged the HC to declare the action of the state government to not pay their increased sal-aries, their work period salariessince January this year andtheir subsequent disengage-ment from service by the stategovernment without servingany prior notice on them asillegal and unconstitutional.

Liquid oxygen tanks across State soonPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister Eatala Rajenderon Thursday conducted areview meeting with the offi-cials concerned over oxygensupply to Covid-19 patients.The decision to set up liquidoxygen tanks at 22 places in thestate has already been takenand the progress of their workshas been discussed.

"Liquid oxygen tanks arealready fully operational atOsmania, Gandhi, KakatiyaMedical College, Nims,Adilabad Rims andNizamabad GovernmentHospitals. Oxygen tankarrangements have been com-pleted at King Koti, TIMS

Hospital and MahbubnagarHospital. Oxygen supply toSiddipet, KarimnagarGovernment Hospital will becompleted in another weekand full LOTs will be madeavailable in other places inanother three months," offi-cials told the Minister.

The Minister said a reportshould be prepared on medical

devices across the state in thewake of complaints that med-ical equipment was not work-ing in most hospitals. He askedto hire the necessary staff to dothe equipment maintenance.The Minister further said thatif one lakh cases were regis-tered, 15,000 people wouldneed admission, of which10,000 would be treated ingovernment hospitals and5,000 in private hospitals.

He directed the authoritiesto set up government isolationcentres for those who are lesslikely to be at home isolationand to ensure that all facilitiesare available in them as thenumber of people infectedwith the corona virus in the vil-lages is increasing day by day.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Ministry of SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship (MSDE)on Thursday organised a dig-ital conclave for the secondedition of KaushalacharyaSamadar 2020.

The trainers across differ-ent sectors were felicitated fortheir exceptional contributionin building country's skillingecosystem and preparing afuture-ready workforce.

Telangana bagged 4 awardsfor their exceptional contri-bution under the appren-ticeship and long-term train-ing categories. Under thestate government & statepublic sector understanding,TSRTC was qualified as sec-ond best establishment with3,400 apprentices' engage-ment. P Srinivas was award-ed in state-non-engineeringfollowed by V V Sailaja instate-engineering and PSrinivas in national sub-cat-egories respectively. PM con-gratulated all the awardees. TheSkill Ministry's'Kaushalacharya Samadar', anannual event embraces andrecognizes the contributionmade by skill trainers in thevocational training ecosystem.By 2022 it is estimated Indiawill need about 2.5 lakh train-ers across the skilling ecosys-tem. Under its flagship pro-gramme PMKVY has beenworking relentlessly to ensurehigh standards of skilling fortrainers and on their capacitybuilding, so they are able tomeet the demands of nearfuture.

Four from TSawarded atKaushalacharya2020

Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy flagging off the ambulances donated by Ministers S Niranjan Reddy, Eatala Rajender,Vemula Prashanth Reddy and others under "Gift a Smile' campaign, in Hyderabad on Thursday

NOBLE CCAUSE LAWCET andPGLCET onOctober 9PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State LawCommon Entrance Test (TSLAWCET) 2020 (both 3YDC& 5 YDC) and TS PGLCETwill be conducted on October9. These examinations wereearlier scheduled to take placeon October 4. The authoritieshad recently declared that thelast date for online registra-tion and submission of appli-cations for LAWCET andPGLCET has been extendedwith a late fee of Rs 4,000 upto September 20.

Rains make a comeback in statePNS n HYDERABAD

The city, which has been wit-nessing summer like weatherconditions over the last oneweek, heaved a sigh of relief onThursday with rains making amoderate comeback. Moreimportantly, the rains are like-ly to continue, not just inHyderabad but acrossTelangana, with the IMDhereissuing a weather warning,stating that thunderstorms andlightning were 'very likely'across the State till September14.

During the last one week,the day temperatures werehovering around 35 degreeCelsius, which was five degreesabove normal. Apart frommaximum temperatures, the

nights too had turned slightlywarmer with the minimumtemperatures touching 25degree Celsius.

However, the skies openedon Thursday and several partsreceived rains, ranging fromlight to moderate rainfall, with

Rajendranagar receiving thehighest rainfall of 47 mm till 4pm, followed by Kachiguda(42.8 mm), Attapur (40.5) andBahadurpura (40.3 mm),according to the TelanganaState Development PlanningSociety (TSDPS).

Yadadri temple closed for devotees amid Covid scarePNS n ALAIR

The Yadadri temple wore adeserted look as the templeauthorities' suspended darshanof Lord Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy till Friday as the num-bers of positive cases are on therise in the district. OnWednesday, the temple priestsconducted a special puja at theBalalayam. Many devotees whoreached the ghat road wereturned away by the police stat-ing that the darshan of the pre-siding deity has been suspend-ed till Friday.

Besides the special pujas, thetemple priests performedSudarsana Narasimha Homam.A procession of the deity washeld and Sayanotsavam washeld towards the night onWednesday.

Later, Yadagirigutta munic-ipal chairman Yerukala SudhaHemender Goud said that avoluntary lockdown would beobserved in the municipalitytill September 25 as the Coronapositive cases are on the rise inthe temple town. She, howev-er, said that shops selling essen-

tial commodities would remainopen from 6 am to 12 noon.

As part of giving facelift to

the historic Yadagirigutta tem-ple, Sri ParvatavardhiniRamalingeswara Swamy tem-

ple works are going on at abrisk pace. Pillars have beenbuilt for the 'Kalyana Mantap'of the temple. The slab workswould be through in two days.

Meanwhile, the YTDA vice-chairman Kishan Rao asked theengineers and contractors tospeed up the execution ofYadagirigutta temple works. Heinspected the temple works onWednesday along with the tem-ple executive officer Gita Reddy.He inspected the stone flooringworks in the Brahmotsava man-tap near East Rajagopuram.

Ensure safety ofadvocate, DGP toldPNS n HYDERABAD

Taking a serious view at thealleged threatening of the peti-tioner advocate and her hus-band by the state police in con-nection with alleged custodi-al death of Sheelam Rangaiahin Manthani police stationfrom Peddapalle district, adivision bench of theTelangana High Court onThursday directed the DGP ofthe state to ensure that neitherthe advocate nor her husbandwere threatened by any policeofficer and called to any policestation as long as the case filedby her was sub judice beforethe court.

The division bench of the HC

comprising the Chief Justice ofthe state Justice RS Chauhan andJustice B Vijaysen Reddy passedthese orders after PV Nagamani,whose letter regarding the cus-todial death had been convert-ed into a taken up PIl by the HC,told the HC that she and her hus-band Gattu Vaman Rao, who isalso a practising advocate hadbeen constantly harassed by thepolice. She said that the harass-ment of the police began after theorder of the HC to her to file acounter against the confidentialreport submitted by theHyderabad PoliceCommissioner Anjani Kumar.Kumar was directed to inquireinto the alleged custodial deathand submit his report by the HC.

Karminagar trafficjns to get makeover PNS n HYDERABAD

Karimnagar MunicipalCorporation Mayor Y SunilRao on Thursday said all thetraffic junctions in the townwill get a facelift as part ofKarimnagar Smart City pro-gramme.

The Mayor along with offi-cials on Thursday inspectedongoing works at Gandhijunction which has been mod-

ernised at a cost of Rs 40 lakh.

“The court, bus stand andMancherial junctions havealready been developed andremaining junctions wouldalso be modernised by devel-oping greenery and installingwater fountains,” he said,adding that besides developingtraffic islands, traffic signalswould also be set up in alljunctions.

Legislative Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy accompanied by MA&UDMinister KT Rama Rao and Housing Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy inspectsthe 2BHK dignity housing project site at Kollur on Thursday.

BRAOU extendslast date foradmissionsPNS n HYDERABAD

Dr BR Ambedkar OpenUniversity (BRAOU) onThursday extended the lastdate for online direct admis-sions for undergraduate(BA/BCom/BSc), postgradu-ate (MA, MCom, MSc,BLISc, MLISc), PG diplo-mas and certificate pro-grammes for the academicyear 2020-21 up toSeptember 24. For furtherdetails, candidates can visituniversity portalwww.braouonline.in or con-tact helpdesk numbers:7382929570/580/590/600 orinformation centres 040-23680333/555.

Officials told toexpedite workson 2BHK unitsPNS n WARANGAL URBAN

District Collector RajivGandhi Hanumanthu direct-ed the officials of Roads andBuildings Department tospeed up construction worksof double bedroom houses atDupakunta here onThursday. He along with R& B SE A Nagenderinspected the ongoing worksat Dupakunta. Speaking tothe officials, he said that atleast 400 2BHKs should becompleted by Dasara.

The remaining housesshould also be completed onwar-footing as 1,000 2BHKshad been completed at theslab level.

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

Manoj to be jointoppn candidate forRS dy chairman pollNew Delhi: Various oppositionparties on Thursday decided tofield RJD leader Manoj Jha astheir joint candidate for theSeptember 14 election of theRajya Sabha deputy chairman,sources said.He will file his nominationpapers Friday in presence ofleaders of various oppositionparties. Jha will contest againstNDA's nominee Harivansh ofthe JD-U. Harivansh was theRS deputy chairman till hisprevious term was over. He hassince been re-elected fromBihar. RJD and JDU are arch-rivals in Bihar where assemblyelections will be held verysoon. Sources said a numberof opposition leaders, includingLeader of Opposition in RajyaSabha Ghulam Nabi Azad,Congress Deputy Leader AnandSharma, Congress's chief whipin RS Jairam Ramesh andothers from TMC, left parties,DMK, AAP and other parties.

Pak Army shellsforward areas in J&K's Poonch

Monsoon to staylonger in Delhi,withdrawal in Oct

Don't take Covidlightly; people needto wear masks: PMNew Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Thursdayurged people not to takecoronavirus lightly and followthe rule of wearing face masksand maintaining socialdistancing till scientists developa vaccine. "I have certainexpectations from you. That isto follow the rule of wearing amask and Do Gaj ki Doori (adistance of two yards)."Be safe and remain healthy.Take care of senior citizens inthe family. These things areimportant. Do not takecoronavirus lightly," Modi said.Modi also said, till scientistsdevelop a vaccine for COVID-19, "this social vaccine is thebest way to save ourselvesfrom coronavirus.

New Delhi: Monsoon is likelyto stay longer in the nationalcapital and start withdrawingonly in the "initial days ofOctober", an IndiaMeteorological Departmentofficial said on Thursday.The wind system had reachedDelhi on June 25, two daysearlier than normal."According to the extendedrange forecast, monsoon rainswill continue until Septemberend. The withdrawal is likely tohappen in the initial days ofOctober," said KuldeepSrivastava, the head of theIMD's regional forecastingcentre.

Jammu: The Pakistan Armyopened fire and shelled forwardareas along the LoC in threesectors of Jammu andKashmir's Poonch district onThursday, officials said.The Indian Army retaliatedbefittingly, a defencespokesman said. "At about0530, 1145 and 1215 hourstoday, Pakistan Army initiatedunprovoked ceasefire violationby firing with small arms andintense shelling with mortarsalong LoC in Mankote, Degwarand Mendhar sectors", thespokesman said. On September2, a JCO was killed in ceasefireviolation by the Pakistan Armyalong the LoC in Keri sector.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi will address a conclaveon "School Education in 21stCentury" under the NationalEducation Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) on Friday throughvideo-conference.

The Ministry of Educationis organising the two-dayconclave, which started onThursday, as a part of the"Shiksha Parv", the PrimeMinister's Office (PMO) saidin a statement.

The "Shiksha Parv" (educa-tion festival) is being celebrat-ed from September 8-25 tofelicitate teachers and take theNew Education Policy for-ward.

Various webinars, virtualconferences and conclaveson several aspects of the NEPare being organised across thecountry, the PMO said.

PM to addressconclave onschool educationunder NEP-2020

Rafale gives India edge overentire region: French MinisterPNS n AMBALA

French Defence ministerFlorence Parly on Thursdaysaid India will have an edgeover the entire region indefending its people with theinduction of Rafale fighter jets.

Speaking at the induction offive Rafale aircraft into theIndian Air Force, she saidIndia and France are writing anew chapter in defence ties.

She said the programme todeliver the 36 aircraft to Indiameant a lot.

“In military terms, it meansthat India will acquire a worldclass capability, truly amongthe best in the world thatwould give your air force anincredible sovereign tool,” shesaid.

“In strategic terms, it meansIndia will have an edge over theentire region to defend itselfand protect its people,” Parlyadded.

Five Rafale fighter jets wereformally inducted into theIndian Air Force at a ceremo-ny at the Ambala airbase.

Parly said `Rafale' literallymeans a “gust of wind” or a“burst of fire”. “Both meaningsexpress an incredible strength,”she said, adding, “It is also asymbol of the strong tiesbetween two countries.”

She expressed French sup-port for Delhi's Make in Indiaplan.

“We are fully committed tothe Make in India initiative as

well as to the further integra-tion of Indian manufacturesinto our global supply chains,”she said.

She added that Make inIndia has been a reality for theFrench industry for severalyears, particularly for defenceequipment like submarines.

“Many French companiesand design offices are nowestablished in India and now Ihope that others will come tooffer their support and ser-vices,” she said.

Earlier, a traditional 'sarvadharma puja' was performed.

A ceremonial water cannonsalute to the new France-madejets and an aerial display by theaircraft also marked theirinduction into the 17 Squadronof the IAF.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh, Chief of Defence StaffGen Bipin Rawat, Air ChiefMarshal R K S Bhadauria,Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar,and Haryana Home MinisterAnil Vij were also present.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Start-ups incubated by theDepartment of Science andTechnology (DST) generated65,864 jobs as cumulativedirect employment and creat-ed wealth of Rs 27,262 croresfrom 2014-19, according to areport launched by the DSTthis week.

The report on the journey ofthe National Science andTechnology EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Board (NST-EDB) in catalysing innovation,entrepreneurship, and incuba-tion was launched by DST sec-retary Ashutosh Sharma at anonline programme earlier thisweek, a statement by the DSTsaid. The NSTEDB, an instituteunder the DST, aims to pro-mote knowledge-driven andtechnology-intensive enter-prises, it said.

The report also indicates afive-fold increase in invest-ments raised by the seed sup-ported start-ups as fundingfrom angels, venture capitals,and other stakeholders withsignificant valuation gains.

Overall, the NSTEDB's

approach has leveraged thetechnological strength of high-er learning institutes to thebenefit of start-ups through anetwork of academic incuba-tors seeded and supported byit. It has led to an effectiveincubation support system thatled to success of these fledglingstart-ups, the statement said.

Programmes like theNational Initiative forDeveloping and HarnessingInnovation (NIDHI) initiatedby NSTEDB, aligning its activ-ities with the national initiativeof Start-up India and Stand-upIndia have played a significantrole in energising the incuba-tor-led innovation value chain,it said. This activation processincluded a range of measureslike establishment of a networkof technology business incuba-tors, scouting innovations,

supporting ideas to proto-types, enabling transition frombeing innovators to start-ups,provision of timely seed fund-ing to the incubated start-ups,and support to scale up thestart-ups through focusedmentorship, partnerships, andnetworks. It played a crucialrole in strengthening the aca-demic-led innovation andstart-up ecosystem in thecountry in the last five years.

The collective strength andpower of NIDHI program, theDST's incubator network andits start-ups was tested success-fully during the COVID-19pandemic through the Centrefor Augmenting WAR withCOVID-19 Health Crisis(CAWACH) program by sup-porting various solutions toresolve the crisis, it added.

“These efforts have beendistributed across all geograph-ical regions of the nation.Besides, the nurturing of 3,681start-ups under incubationthrough the network of 153incubators created by DST,generation of 1,992 intellectu-al property (rights) has beenreported.

Start-ups incubated by DST generated 65,864 jobs

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Home Minister AmitShah on Thursday said the thegovernment's decision to allowthe Golden Temple inAmritsar to receive foreignfunds is a pathbreakingmove and it will onceagain showcase theoutstanding spirit ofservice of the Sikhcommunity.

On Wednesday, theHome Ministryapproved registration ofSri Harmandir Sahibunder the ForeignContribution (Regulation) Act,2010, allowing it to receive for-eign funding.

"The decision on FCRA atthe Sri Harmandir Sahib is apathbreaking one which willonce again showcase the out-standing spirit of service of our

Sikh sisters and brothers,"Shah tweeted.

"Sri Darbar Sahib's divinitygives strength to us. Fordecades, the Sangat world-

wide was unable to serve there.Modi Government's decisionto allow FCRA to the SriHarmandir Sahib deepens theconnect of Seva between theSangat globally and the SriDarbar Sahib. A blessed

moment!" he said.The FCRA registration has

been given in the name of the'Sachkhand Sri HarmandirSaheb Sri Darbar Saheb PunjabAssociation', a body set up in1925.

Union Food ProcessingMinister and Akali Dalleader Harsimrat KaurBadal thanked Shah forgranting the FCRA reg-istration to the Goldentemple.

"Happy to share thatMHA has granted

approval under FCRA toSri Harmandir Sahib. This willenable the shrine to receive'sewa' from all over the world& go a long way in propagat-ing Gurusahab's philosophy of'sarbat da bhala'. I'm grateful to@AmitShah Ji for making thispossible," she tweeted onWednesday.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chemical levels in cigaretteand beedi butts are lower thanthe government-prescribedlimits and “not toxic tohumans and environment”,according to a recent study byLucknow-based IndianInstitute of ToxicologyResearch (IITR).

Cigarette butts are the mostcommon type of litter on earth,with an estimated 4.5 trillionof them discarded annuallyaround the globe.

Most of the cigarette buttsare discarded in dustbins,roadside, beaches or otherpublic places, posing a major

threat to living organisms andecosystem health. Some stud-ies suggest cigarette butts aretoxic to microbes, insects, andfish etc.

In April last year, theNational Green Tribunal(NGT) directed the Ministryof Environment and Forests(MoEF) to get a study con-ducted as to whether cigarette

and beedi butts fall within thecategory of “toxic waste”.

A Memorandum ofUnderstanding was signedin October last year betweenthe Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB) and CSIR-Indian Institute of ToxicologyResearch to analyse chemicaland elemental composition ofvarious brands of cigarettesand beedi butts (both burntand unburnt) and to see ifthey meet the required para-meters.

Burnt and unburnt butts of10 cigarette brands and beedibrands were used in thestudy, according to CSIR-IITR.

K'taka govt ropes in data entryoperators to fight CoronavirusPNS n BENGALURU

The Karnataka governmenthas given instructions to localadministrations to rope indataentry operators at grampanchayats to Primary andCommunity HealthcareCentres, whose smoothfunctioning hasbeen affected dueto shortage ofstaff, to assist infight against thepandemic. Thecircular signed byChief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskardated Wednesday, hasgiven certain instructions inthis regard that need to be fol-lowed until the health depart-ment makes arrangements forstaff at these centres.

"At Taluk Primary HealthCentres and at CommunityHealth Centres, there is short-age of staff and is affectingnor-mal functioning. There is a

shortage of staff for COVID-19control work and to registerpatients under various pro-grammesof the HealthDepartment, so it is essential toprovide data entry operators,"the circular said. According toit, data entry operators work-

ing at the gram panchay-ats can be utilised one

hour daily for thework at the prima-ry and communityhealth centre thatcome under the

panchayat limits.The operators' work

at the panchayat will beshortened by an hour for

this purpose, it said adding, incase there are no panchayatshere health centres are locat-ed, data entry operators fromneighbouring panchayats canbe hired for the work. AskingZilla Panchayat CEOs to issueorders assigning duties, thecircular said taluk health offi-cers will train these addition-

UP CM orders vigilance probe intoproperties of suspended IPS officersPNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Thursdayordered a vigilance probe intoproperties of IPS officersAbhishek Dixit and Mani LalPatidar, suspended on variouscharges, including corruption.

He has directed the UPDGP to investigate role ofother policemen in these cases.

"The CM has directed a vig-

ilance probe into properties ofthe two officers," according toa statement from the HomeDepartment. A day after thesuspension of Allahabad SSPAbhishek Dixit for failing tocontrol crime and corruption,and maintain law and order,Mahoba SP Mani Lal Patidarwas on Wednesday suspend-ed with immediate effect bythe state government on cor-ruption charges.

Farmers block NH in Haryanaagainst farmordinancesPNS n KURUKSHETRA

The Bhartiya Kisan Unionand other farmer organisa-tions on Thursday blockedthe national highway at Pipliin Kurukshetra district ofHaryana to protest theCentre's three farm ordi-nances, which they claimedwere “anti-farmers”.

The Bhartiya Kisan Union(BKU) claimed that the policeresorted to lathicharge todisperse the agitators.

K u r u k s h e t r aSuperintendent of PoliceAstha Modi said agitatorsblocked the national highway.

“Hundreds of farmersmanaged to reach PipliChowk and pelted stones onthe police personnel manningthe barriers,” a police officersaid.

The police resorted to lath-icharge to disperse the crowd,the officer said.

Later, the protesters sat ona dharna on the NationalHighway 22 to block the traf-fic. Reports of traffic blockedby the farmers at variousother roads aroundKurukshetra have reachedhere.

Earlier, despite strictarrangements made by thedistrict administration to pre-vent any farmer from reach-ing Pipli grain market toparticipate in the 'KissanBachao, Mandi Bachao' rally,many farmers managed toreach near the destination.

Experts push for early breastfeeding initiation to fight malnutritionPNS n NEW DELHI

As the country celebrates thenational nutrition month,experts have recommendedearly initiation of breastfeeding,spreading awareness on impor-tance of nutrition at the pan-chayat level and promotinguse of locally available, afford-able and safe nutrient-richfoods as some of the measuresto fight malnutrition.

Every year September is cel-ebrated as 'Poshan Maah' tomark the country's fight againstmalnutrition.

Identification of severelyacute malnourished childrenand their management and

plantation of nutri gardens, arebeing undertaken as focusactivities during the Poshan

Maah, the Women and ChildDevelopment Ministry hassaid.

Experts say in addition tothese measures the focus mustalso be on early initiation ofbreastfeeding, spreading aware-ness on importance of nutritionat the panchayat level and pro-moting use of locally available,affordable and safe nutrientrich foods.

Rachna Sujay, senior techni-cal advisor at NGO Alive andThrive, said to improve thehealth and nutrition status of agram panchayat, the sarpanchor mukhiya is the first respon-der to a large grassroots pop-ulation. "By adopting followingfour steps, they can improvethe situation of the gram pan-chayat and make them

'suposhit' (well-nourished).The first is to review the healthand nutrition services beingprovided by all departmentsespecially to pregnant womenand infants and young childrenand provide necessary sup-port and corrective action," shesaid."The second is communi-ty awareness campaign by pan-chayat leaders on right mes-sages on health and nutritionpractices," Sujay said.

Third, according to Sujay, ison-site visits to community-based service delivery points bythe leader of the panchayat toensure everything is in place,and to boost community's faithinto these services and fourth

is how to prioritize, plan andbudget health and nutritionactivities in the annual GramPanchayat Development Plans.

The first is breastfeeding,early initiation of breastfeedingand exclusive breastfeeding upto six months, second is com-plementary feeding after sixmonths, third is dietary diver-sity for pregnant woman andlactating mother to reinforcethat she has to consume, fourthis promoting kitchen gardenwith green leafy vegetables,Vitamin A-rich vegetables andfruits and fifth is handwashingpractices and now duringCOVID practicing social dis-tancing.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Thursday dialledOdisha's Naveen Patnaik, seek-ing his party's support forNDA nominee HarivanshNarayan Singh for the post ofthe Rajya Sabha deputy chair-man, sources said. Harivansh,a Janata Dal (United) MP,filed the nomination for thepost on Wednesday.

JD(U) chief Nitish Kumarrequested Patnaik to extendtheBJD's support to HarivanshNarayan Singh for the post, a

source at the Chief Minister'sresidence, 'Naveen Niwas',said.

Patnaik's BJD had support-ed Harivansh in the last elec-tion as well, he said.

Further word from the BJD

president has not been receivedso far, the source said. Themonsoon session of Parliamentis scheduled from September14 to October 1. The electionfor the deputy chairman is like-ly to be held on the first day ofthe session.

The nomination filingprocess began on September 7and will conclude onSeptember 11. The election forthe post was necessitated as theincumbent Harivansh com-pleted his term as a member ofthe Rajya Sabha earlier thisyear.

FCRA registration to Goldentemple pathbreaking move: Shah

JEE-Mains: 74% candidates appear for Sept examPNS n NEW DELHI

At least 74 per cent candi-dates who had registered forJEE-Mains appeared for theexam last week amid strictprecautions in view ofCOVID-19 even as the atten-dance figures dipped from94.32 per cent in the Januarysession.

The Joint Entrance Exam(JEE)-Main for admission toengineering colleges across thecountry, is conducted twice a

year.According to statistics avail-

able with the Ministry ofEducation, out of 8.58 lakhapplicants, 6.35 lakh appearedfor the engineering test fromSeptember 1 to 6. The examwas conducted after beingdeferred twice in view of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

"JEE-Main is held twice ayear. The previous one washeld in January this year.Several students who did notappear for the exam in

September may have done wellin the January exam and hencedid not feel the need to sit forthe exam this time. We areascertaining those numbers,"said Education MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' ina tweet.

Last year, the attendance inthe January and April editionof the exam was 94.11 per centand 94.15 per cent respective-ly.

The crucial exam has beenmired in controversy due to

demand from a section of stu-dents and opposition parties topostpone the exam in view ofrising coronavirus cases.

"Any further delay of theexams would not have been inthe interest of our hardwork-ing students and their plans forcollege admissions. Our gov-ernment has always beenunwavering regarding studentwelfare & student safety. Wewill always work for the inter-ests of our youth," Pokhriyalsaid.

‘Chemical levels in cigarette,beedi butts not toxic to humans’

No completelockdown,says MamataPNS n KOLKATA

The state-wide completelockdown on September 12has been withdrawn in theinterest of the studentsappearing for NEET, WestBengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee announcedon Thursday. The decisionwas taken to help ease theirtravel to the centres forappearing in the all-Indiaexam, which is scheduled onSeptember 13, shesaid.However, the completelockdown will be imposed onFriday as announced earlier,Banerjee said.

Nitish speaks to Naveen, seeks support forRajya Sabha deputy chairman post

States need cash,govt's letter of comfortPNS n NEW DELHI

Senior Congressleader PChidambaram onThursday said theCentre's reported pro-posal of giving "letter of com-fort" to states to borrow moneyto bridge the GST compensa-tion gap were "just words ofcomfort" on a piece of paperthat has "no value".

He asserted that the statesneed "hard cash" and if theyare forced to borrow, the axewill inevitably fall on capitalexpenditure by the states.

"Government says it will

give a ‘Letter ofComfort' to the statesto borrow money tobridge the GSTCompensation gap."What states need ishard cash. Only the

central government has mul-tiple options and the flexibil-ity to raise the resources andpay the shortfall in GST com-pensation to the states," theformer finance minister said.

If the states are forced toborrow, the axe will inevitablyfall on capital expenditure bythe states which have alreadysuffered a cut, he said.

Chidambaram has been

In 1958, Peter Yarrow wrote asong called “Puff the MagicDragon” before he formed the

popular band, Peter, Paul andMary. The song gained wide-spread notoriety even years afterits release because it wasrumoured to be about celebratingdrugs, particularly marijuana.Singapore and Hong Kong evenwent so far as to ban the song,fearing that it would promote drugabuse. In reality, the song (whichis a classic), was included by theband in its album, Moving, as itthought it would be a good ideato include a children’s song. Thatassumption came easy as the songwas written in 1958, when Yarrowdidn’t even know what “pot” was.The lyrics are about the loss ofchildhood innocence and areactually inspired by an OgdenNash poem that has nothing to dowith marijuana.

On a completely unrelatednote, in this past week, RheaChakraborty has been arrested bythe Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) apparently on the allega-tion that she procured marijuanafor Sushant Singh Rajput andmight have even consumed itherself. The arrest came after MsChakraborty was being grilled forclose to eight hours for three daysstraight and without any contra-band actually being recovered. Theinspiration behind the arrestsappears to be the WhatsApp mes-sages that allegedly referred to theprocurement and consumption ofmarijuana. Before the arrest, cer-tain “news” channels had alreadydeclared her guilty with hashtagslike #ArrestRhea, were displayingWhatsApp conversations andextrapolating conspiracy theorieson national television from morn-ing till late night as “political ana-lysts” gave their non-expert com-mentary. After seeing the steep fallin standards of TV journalismover the past few years, it may benaïve for us to expect such chan-nels to follow rigorous (or evenlax) journalistic standards but itwas amusing and a bit surprisingto see viewers tuning in and evensupporting such on-air antics. I saysurprising because if RheaChakraborty can be arrested in themanner she has been, parentsshould be seriously worried abouttheir college-going children andeven themselves and should pon-der on when the State and itsinformal agents may turn their

glance on them. The chargesagainst Rhea Chakraborty seemto (on the face of it) lack anyweight and will be rightlyexamined by a court of law butthe trial in all respects hasalready been played out on ourtelevision screens. The onlyreal consequence, I suspect, willbe that officials will now be ableto scare individuals by justtalking about this entire episodeand extracting a larger bribe.

You, dear reader, mightsay you have nothing to fearand will, therefore, welcomescrutiny of my WhatsApp mes-sages or that of your children.Maybe you have nothing toworry about when it comes tomarijuana but are you sure thatthe State and these news chan-nels cannot find somethingelse to pin you on? Again on acompletely separate note, let ustalk about pornography. Thereis technically a ban on pornog-raphy in India. However, as perstatistics, India is a world leaderin the consumption of porno-graphic material with close to89 per cent consuming it ontheir phones. If you enjoyedwatching another person’s inti-mate texts displayed all overnational television, I wonder ifyou would feel the same aboutyour internet search history.What is especially interestingabout the instances highlight-ed above is that rarely are therulers governed by the samerules as the ruled.

Just look at the example ofthe Laxman Savadi and CCPatil, BJP Ministers who werecaught watching porn inside

the State Assembly.In the case of drugs too, it

is hardly ever the powerfulwho are punished. Most drugarrests are on charges of con-sumption of marijuana bywatchmen, students and hard-ly ever well-connected politi-cians or media moguls. In astudy by the think tank Vidhi,data from Mumbai revealedthat though cannabis constitut-ed just `6.2 crore of the `60.6crore worth of drugs seized inMaharashtra in 2016, itaccounted for 87 per cent ofarrests and convictions. Thismeans that more serious drugconsumption, like that of hero-in, opium and so on, easily slipsthrough the cracks while minormarijuana charges are pickedup to show better statistics. Thenexus of politicians with dan-gerous drugs like heroin is welldocumented and this is withrespect to not merely con-sumption but of widespreadsale. However, all our attentionhas been on this 28-year-oldwoman for allegedly smokingpot, while a Bill to regulate theuse of cannabis is pending inParliament.

Even assuming the best ofintent, that the Government isserious about drug consump-tion, it would do well to notethat one of the primary reasonsyoung people are pushed todrug consumption is unem-ployment. Statistics on employ-ment generation are abysmalwith the Mint reporting thatIndia is witnessing its weakesthiring sentiment in 15 years.The media would do a great

service reporting on this rootcause rather than spendingmost of its time on what canonly be called voyeuristic enter-tainment.

At its core, all of theseepisodes show that we asIndians have slowly but surelydescended to a state wherepolitical agenda trumps rule oflaw. This cuts both ways. Forexample, though KanganaRanaut’s statements on Mumbaibeing Pakistan-occupiedKashmir are ridiculous andwould lead to sedition andNSA charges in a State likeUttar Pradesh (going by howKafeel Khan was treated), sheis seen as a “nationalist.”However, the demolition of apart of her office by theBombay MunicipalCorporation “smacks of malafide” as noted by the HighCourt of Bombay and is anoth-er instance of how the rule oflaw has been treated as aninconvenience. The only wayforward, in my humble opin-ion, is to course-correct and tocall out all instances where therule of law is being compro-mised to suit an agenda. Sadlythough with the state of TVnews as it is today, there is a lotof damage to be undone andthis goal may be a long timecoming. So till then, pleasemake sure that you are not lis-tening to “Puff the MagicDragon” in your car stereo orin public. Who knows whatmay follow?

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and cur-rently a member of AAP)

The Living Planet Report 2020 has set off warningbells about the state of the global environment, onethat may impact our lives more severely than the

pandemic. It seems that the price of our burgeoning pop-ulation, unplanned and unthinking expansion, selfish con-sumerism, senseless overconsumption of naturalresources and greed is being paid by different speciesthat we are supposed to share the planet with. However,as compared to forest or marine species, it is the fresh-water species that are at the highest risk because a gar-gantuan 85 per cent of the Earth’s wetlands are alreadylost. So fish, birds, amphibians and mammals have

declined by a whopping 84 per cent globally since 1970, threatening one in three fresh-water species with extinction. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the ZoologicalSociety of London track the abundance of 20,811 populations representing 4,392 speciesbased on a number of data sets available globally. But this edition has got to be their redalert finding. The report on India is pretty damning as the size of our wetlands has shrunkto 0.03 per cent of our total geographic area. Despite all the talk about protecting our waterresources and raising awareness, nothing seems to have worked as the number of pol-luted river stretches went up to 351 in 2018 from 302 in 2016. As a result, there has beena decline in the population of endangered species such as the Gangetic dolphin.

Worryingly, there is a 94 per cent fall in the species survivability index in Latin Americaand the Caribbean, which, like us, are facing fragmentation by hydropower projects andabstraction of water. There has been a 45 per cent species decline in Asia and Australia.It is high time we begin taking our responsibility towards the environment seriously, if notfor the sake of the creatures we are supposed to share it with but for our own selfish selves.Because we may force the hapless species that inhabit this Earth into a corner becauseof our careless actions but in the end we will have to pay with our lives too. Water, essen-tial for life, will become scarcer if we continue to destroy our riverine systems, wetlandsand oceans. As it is we have become a water-stressed world. As more species becomeextinct, we will face scarcity of food from animal sources and zoonotic diseases like thepresent Coronavirus and pandemics will become more frequent, killing millions of us eachyear while destroying the world economy. So it is up to us to decide if we want to con-tinue on this path of self-destruction.

Bonhomie visuals are always good but how muchof that means anything at all? Will Russia, in theend, be able to make the Chinese see reason, the

risks of alienating India over its border imperialism andthe threats to a bipolar world order as it pushes morenations towards the US? At least it has nudged the twofor another round of talks after Defence Minister RajnathSingh’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart hardlytranslated to any action on the ground. Instead it fur-ther aggravated the situation in Ladakh where India andChina are at daggers drawn. Has External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar, given the depth of his understanding of

and experience with China as a career bureaucrat, convinced Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi about the cost of Siachenisation at the icy heights? Of course, he is very hope-ful of diplomacy winning at the end of the day on the sidelines of the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) meeting. He is betting big on linking the perceptional differences ofthe Line of Actual Control (LAC) and sorting them out as central to bilateral relations, pri-marily the economic one. He is hoping to drive home the point that China had emergedas one of India’s biggest trade partners and had deeply penetrated Indian markets onlybecause there had been peace and quiet on the LAC for over 30 years. Disturbing it wouldmean hurting Chinese expansionism in business, a fact that has already been demon-strated with the Government banning the highest revenue-yielding Chinese apps. But asmultiple rounds of talks at both the political and military level, including that of Singh’s,have failed so far, and the Chinese are adamant about not going back to their earlier posi-tions in April, one wonders what will they extract for a breakthrough and what will Indiahave to yield without both sides looking bad to their domestic audience. Besides, Chinawon’t easily give up its newly-acquired spurs in the Pangong Tso region simply becauseit doesn’t want India to have a strategic edge in monitoring its designs in the Karakoram,by way of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Aksai Chin. And it knowsthat Indian troop capabilities and ramped up border infrastructure are a big deterrence forits covert incursions into and usurpation of our land. Besides, there is a history of trustdeficit, where the Chinese have changed the rules of disengagement almost overnight.For example, the Chinese commander at Chushul had spoken to his Indian counterpartabout following established protocol and ceasing movements at night. Yet, that very night,People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops stealthily moved towards our posts. And with PLAdirectly taking orders from Chinese President Xi Jinping, nothing could have higher offi-cial sanction. So, there is a possibility that China would settle for pin-pricks, just under theescalatory threshold, and activate new flashpoints along our shared Himalayan border tostretch us out militarily. That it doesn’t want war stems from the understanding that it hadsought a meeting with Singh in Moscow. But then given its current goodwill deficit andIndia’s acknowledged compliance with the “rule of law” globally, it perhaps wants to showthat it is faultless about diplomatic behaviour, attempting negotiations but blaming Indiafor failure. Or it could continue to hold positions but cease provocations for the time being.

Significantly, Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov before his meet-ings with the Chinese side. And though officially Russia has described the Ladakh stand-off as a matter of bilateral concern, it is trying to bring some sort of an alignment withinthe framework of the SCO. The Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral axis can hold off the USand the West and maintain some sort of multi-polarity but Ladakh has jeopardised suchprospects. Particularly for Russia, its failure would rob it of its counterweight potential inworld politics. While India has used the RIC to emphasise the need for respecting eachother’s sovereignty, China is pressuring Russia to scale down its defence supplies to Indiain view of the border escalation. Caught in the middle, Russia is delicately trying to assuageboth without upsetting the autonomous bilateral relationship each nation has harbouredwith it. Besides, it also needs India to counterbalance itself against Chinese heft and itsmega ambitions. Already, it is in China’s economic trap with Beijing investing heavily inRussian infrastructure and gas lines, the latter already funded for a 30-year supply. Chinais also working with Russia on a mutually beneficial East-West transport corridor to Europeand opening up the Arctic Circle route. So its hands are somewhat tied. Of course, it acknowl-edges India’s $5.4 billion S-400 deal but beyond defence and given India’s pro-US tilt,there has not been much growth in our non-defence trade. While we are aiming to scaleup trade to $30 billion by 2025, bilateral trade between Russia and China is already at$110 billion. India has recently stepped up investment in the Russian far-east to strength-en its economic footprint. The maritime corridor between Chennai and Vladivostok shouldsignificantly boost bilateral trade and keep Russia invested in taking up our advocacy incurrent geo-strategic contexts. The challenge for India will be to not upset the US, whichkeeps on extending a mediatory hand. If Russia, with its intent compromised beyond apoint, isn’t able to convince China to simmer down, then we would still need the US tofight our wanton neighbour.

Optics or business?

Well-prepared plan

Sir —The resolution frameworkfor Coronavirus-related stressaccounts of the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) has been well-pre-pared to cover as many as 26industries. The prescribed ratiosare realistic and suitable for thesedifficult times. The umbrella is sowide that it will cover majority ofborrowers in stressed sectors.The sanction and implementationof restructuring will take time andtill then the moratorium has to beextended.

Further, the success of the res-olution plan depends on timelyimplementation and banks haveto frame their own restructuringpolicy within the ambit of theRBI’s guidelines to take care ofworking capital requirements andcurrent losses. The banks shouldmake use of this opportunity toobtain personal guarantees ofpromoters even if they were nottaken previously.

M RaghuramanMumbai

Drugs Act loopholesSir — Many youngsters aretrapped in the vicious cycle ofdrug abuse, addiction, crime

and the mafia. The NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB), whileinvestigating the death of actorSushant Singh Rajput, revealed adangerous nexus of drug ped-

dling, involving the high rollers.In Karnataka, a filmmaker-cum-scribe caused a huge sensation byimplicating prominent film per-sonalities, who include a musi-

cian, many actors, businessmenand sons of politicians in a drugscam.

Drugs like MDMA, Ecstasy,hash, weed and LSD are quite

commonly used in high-endparties. The police-peddlernexus, watered by politicians,makes for a flourishing drugtrade.

Slack laws aided by ineffec-tive border vigil encourage theunscrupulous to strike it big.Sadly, the youth fall prey to thediabolical ways of the drug syn-dicate. It is unfortunate that thesocial media and films depict andbreed drug consumption activ-ities. Drug rings push youngstersinto crimes when the latter runout of money.

Paucity in vigil over poppyproduction areas and its deriva-tive heroin is an age-old issue. Ofcourse, quick police cover-upswhen celebrities are caught red-handed with drugs make sure themafia thrives well. A commongrouse against the police is thatthey don’t act on complaints.India has not lagged behind inthe fight against drugs. However,plugging every loophole in theNarcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances Act should be theGovernment’s aim. Beginningwith the definition of addiction.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

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

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionVIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

06

Smoke without fireWe must call out all instances where the rule of law is being compromised to

suit an agenda. Given the state of TV news, there’s a lot of damage to be undone

This induction (of Rafalejets) is important considering the kind ofatmosphere at our bordersor the kind of atmospherecreated at our borders.

Defence Minister—Rajnath Singh

With the final inductionceremony, the world's best combat proven 4.5 generation fighter plane (Rafale) gets the world'sbest fighter pilots.

Former India captain—MS Dhoni

I've completed my 87th year and stepped into my 88th but I feel 40! Like me, I hope you all feelpositive about life.

Bollywood singer —Asha Bhonsle

S O U N D B I T E

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

‘Broomonomics' won't fix the economy

It was commendable that Prime Minister Narendra Modifound the time to interact via video-conferencing withstreet vendors who got loans under the PM Street

Vendors Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme totide over the financial hardships due to the pandemicand the associated lockdowns. The one-time loan amountwas pegged at `10,000, by all means a big amount forpeople living in penury. It is no small service at a timewhen the ruling elite wish to project India as a land ofaffluence. Modi’s pledge to ease the problems of thepoor must be translated into action. Time alone will revealwhat his promise to provide a new digital platform forstreet vendors holds out for them on the ground. Givenhis fondness for digital technology, Modi's advocacy ofdigital transactions by street vendors is perfectly under-standable. But a lot more is needed to improve their eco-nomic condition and quality of life. The “turnover” in their“business” is too meagre to make the transition fromcash payment to digital payment worthwhile.

Street vendors have few material resources at theirdisposal and subsist on very small incomes. They haveto climb up many rungs to be put on a par with restau-rant owners which Modi did. What Modi meant by “streetvendors have access to easy capital” needs elaboration.Normally capital is not a term associated with people whoeke out a living by manual labour. Modi was right in say-ing that the poor bear the brunt of any crisis. But his

claim that his Government is focussed on easing theirproblems is belied by the absence of any concrete mea-sure towards this end. Modi's suggestion to a broom-making couple to recycle the “pipe” is unlikely to makea big difference in their means of livelihood; still it couldbe done for what it's worth.

On being told that the “pipe” too gets spoilt, thePrime Minister put the onus of keeping it unspoilt andreturning it on the customers. The Indian economy isnot amenable to a simple-minded approach.“Broomonomics” falls far short of what is needed to bedone to boost the economy and battle the scourge ofpoverty.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The animals are gone If we had known earlier, (that the virus was airborne)we would have shut the statemeaningfully earlier. Wewould have gone to a manda-tory masking policy.

New Jersey Governor —Phil Murphy

Jaishankar meets Wang Yi, insists on peaceful solution. China maynot want a war but will continue its pinpricks

A species checklist shows that fish, birds, amphibians andmammals have declined by 84 per cent since 1970

AJOY KUMAR

DATA FROMMUMBAI REVEALED

THAT THOUGHCANNABIS

CONSTITUTED JUST`6.2 CRORE OF THE

`60.6 CROREWORTH OF DRUGSSEIZED IN 2016, IT

ACCOUNTED FOR 87PER CENT OF

ARRESTS ANDCONVICTIONS. THISMEANS THAT MORE

SERIOUS DRUGCONSUMPTION,

LIKE THAT OFHEROIN, OPIUM

AND SO ON, EASILYSLIPS THROUGH

THE CRACKS WHILEMINOR MARIJUANA

CHARGES AREPICKED UP

Unite to survive

WOULD ANYONE, WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE LOVED

SOMEONE, ALLOW THE OTHER PERSON TO CONSUME

DRUGS CLAIMING TO KNOW HIS MENTAL STATE?

—ACTOR

ANKITA LOKHANDE

THIS PRINCESS OF PATRIARCHY, WHO NEVER DEALT

WITH HER OWN RELATIONSHIP ISSUES WITH SUSHANT,

CLEARLY WANTS HER TWO SECONDS OF FAME.

—ACTOR AND VJ

SHIBANI DANDEKAR

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The finance ministries and monetary author-ities of some of the heavyweight nations,members of G20, were still battling the con-

sequences of the 2008 economic downturn andother financial emergencies caused by its after-shocks — like the Euro financial crisis of 2010-2012— when the Coronavirus pandemic hit the world.They were absorbing the lessons, assessing andunderstanding the impacts and side-effects, try-ing to redevelop strategies and policies to createa resilient financial sector but then their coordi-nates changed. Due to the unprecedented world-wide spread of the virus, all these designs havestopped dead in their tracks. Consequently, thefocus of the G-20 countries has shifted from cre-ating strong and buoyant but routine financial poli-cies and mechanisms to firefight and embraceexceptional and extraordinary actions to fight thedamage unleashed by this contagion.

Since no country is in this pandemic alone,and almost all of humanity is hit, it is essential forthe world to act in coordination and cooperation,with the G-20 playing a major role here. Theseunusual and unexpected times require exception-al management and a strategy to create policies,interdependent monetary, fiscal and prudentstrategies to sail through and be ever-ready for anyfuture uncertainties.

The economic aftermath will far outlive thehealth consequences, forcing governments todevelop a strong anti-COVID long-term strategy,which should be more permanent in nature thanjust a knee-jerk reaction to the present situation,knowing that most of the world’s economies havebeen pushed back by more than a decade.

Nonetheless, some of the lessons of the last fewdecades can come in handy while creating newstrategies, getting around earlier oversights, reduc-ing the risk of financial uncertainties and enablinga steady transition into the “new normal” afterascertaining the damages caused by COVID-19.Therefore, taking into consideration the experi-ences of major countries, and the requirements ofhandling these enormous jolts, monetary policystrategies should be narrowed down. The G20should step up and help develop these conceptu-al points and implement them as practical mea-sures.

A monetary policy, conventionally, has beenused by governments around the world to controlthe money supply in the economy, which, in turnis used for adjusting inflation and stabilising prices.During an economic slowdown or recession, thereis a substantial decline in consumer spending. Theproduction levels dip due to general fall indemand and low capital expenditure by compa-nies, unemployment increases as firms lay off theexisting workforce to save costs and stop any freshrecruitments, and foreign investments dry up. So,there is an overall downturn in the economy interms of new investments and consumption.Governments have to respond to this situationthrough policy changes that have the responsibil-ity to reverse the prevalent situation.

So, a monetary policy, which is essentiallycounter-cyclical and expansionary in nature,helps in increasing the money supply and boost-ing the demand for products, building confidenceand credibility and ensuring overall stability.However, for a monetary policy to work effective-ly, the central bank has to be independent of theelected Government. In addition, to the monetarypolicy, the fiscal policy — public expenditure andtaxation — is another tool for governments to tryand come out of an economic crisis.

Immediate actions to face the shock: In the

first stage, the interplay between demandand supply and any imbalance betweenthem can lead to major concerns. Supplyshocks, caused globally during this pan-demic, due to production delays causedby major lockdowns worldwide andinterruptions in supply chain and logis-tics, have a domino effect and initiatedemand shocks, in turn leading to dis-ruptions to cash flow and the entire pay-ment cycle. Some companies unable toface this short-term disruption will facefinancial distress and as result, rise inunemployment is expected.

To help firms and people tide overthis period, the central banks shouldinfuse liquidity into the economy by cre-ating policies to drive commercial banksto provide loans to businesses andhouseholds alike. Liquidity is needed forthe securities market, too, which isfeeling the heat due to the turn of eventsduring the outbreak. Additional supportby a slew of supplementary measures,like decline in interest rates and an exten-sive credit support for SMEs, should beprovided by governments.

The monetary policies should bewell-supported by fiscal and prudentialpolicies. Bad loans is one such area andgovernments should make provisions forsuch requirements in their budgets. Toescape any financial meltdown, centralbanks should also step in to buy bondsand commercial paper. Since this pan-demic is unprecedented and the extentof it is still unclear, international coop-eration and the role of the G20 are verycrucial here in providing liquidity toglobal economies. This could be achievedthrough swap arrangements under theauspices of the International MonetaryFund (IMF) as a dedicated alternativefinancing arrangement for COVID-19emergency, especially for EmergingMarket Economies (EMEs) and LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs). An actionthat is lacking or is wrong could sparka financial crisis that could have rami-

fications that are graver than the reper-cussions of the global financial crisis.

Long-term strategy for healing:The impact of the shocks faced by theglobal economies is expected to linger,both in the financial and other sectorsof economies. There will be dampnessin investment, consumption and growthdue to still existing uncertainties, dispar-ity in resource allocation due to unem-ployment and firm closures. Therefore,this second stage should focus on help-ing individuals, companies and countriesresume normalcy in their operations andany hope for growth. This stage will belonger than the first stage.

Here, fiscal policies take the leadfrom monetary policies and would takecharge but with sustained support frommonetary policies. Several measureslike public expenditure, transfers, taxreliefs will play a major role in this stage.The monetary policy must play a sup-porting role at this stage by keeping aclose watch on liquidity and keeping theinterest rates low.

Sole reliance on monetary policiescan be untenable, unproductive and veryserious, with one of the grave problemsbeing excessive inflation. In addition,political frictions and trade barriers cancreate disruptions. One of the key rolesof the G20 is to help resumption of eco-nomic integration among various coun-tries. The G20 can help by overseeing thecoordination by central banks of differ-ent countries, leading to stable exchangerates and reducing any potential curren-cy wars.

The new normal: This third stagewill be post the Covid crisis and arevamp of the regular policies followedfor decades would require a hard rethink.All the policies of a country — mone-tary, fiscal and prudential — will haveto work in full coordination.

The role of the monetary policyshould be two-pronged and shouldinclude macro-financial stability and not

just price stability. The final step is to gradually de-

leverage the global economy by reduc-ing the debts and increasing the inter-est rates in a phased manner. This willbe, by far, the most difficult step for anycountry. It should be an important andcoordinated effort to increase the inter-est rates but at the same time ensuringthat the liquidity does not dry up.Prudential policies, at the same time,should focus on capital and leverageratios. Clear fiscal measures shouldslowly reduce public debt and reverse anyexcessive tax incentives. All these mea-sures should be implemented, keeping adefinite finger on the pulse of thenation’s economic condition.

Therefore, it can be inferred that forthe global economies as a single unit, thefollowing strategies can be crucial to helpthem revive economically from theCOVID-19 pandemic.

First, the monetary, fiscal and pru-dential policies must work in a coordi-nated manner with the aim to achievefinancial stability. Second, at the globallevel, the indebtedness, which wasalready at the higher side before the com-mencement of the pandemic, would havefurther increased during stage two. So,financial instabilities will be here to stayfor a long term and governments haveto be very careful in reducing leveragesin future, in stage three.

For global economies to get back upon their feet after this pandemic, inter-nationally coordinated monetary policiesbecome very crucial. Trade barriers, geo-political rivalries and hostilities must bedone away with. Although economicinstability appears similar around theworld, it is, in reality, dissimilar, in naturedue to different structural aspects of eachnation. Therefore, the role of internation-al bodies like the G20 becomes veryimportant here.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida)

For world economies to get back up on their feet after this crisis, globally coordinated monetarypolicies become very crucial. Trade barriers and geo-political rivalries must be done away with

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

A necessaryevolution

GWYNNE DYER

The vicious legacy of the Civil War, whichended slavery but not ‘White Privilege’, isfinally being dragged out into the open

HIMA BINDU KOTA

SINCE THISPANDEMIC IS

UNPRECEDENTEDAND THE

EXTENT OF IT ISSTILL UNCLEAR,INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION AND THE ROLE OF

THE G20 ARE VERYCRUCIAL HEREIN PROVIDINGLIQUIDITY TO

GLOBALECONOMIES. THIS COULD

BE ACHIEVEDTHROUGH SWAPARRANGEMENTS

UNDER THEAUSPICES

OF THEINTERNATIONAL

MONETARY FUNDAS A DEDICATED

ALTERNATIVEFINANCING

ARRANGEMENT FOR COVID-19EMERGENCY,

ESPECIALLY FOREMERGING

MARKETECONOMIES AND LEAST

DEVELOPEDCOUNTRIES

To lose one parent...may be regarded as a misfortune; tolose both looks like carelessness,” wrote Oscar Wilde inhis play, The Importance of Being Earnest, in 1895.

In somewhat the same spirit, British journalist Robert Fiskwrote last week: “At some point in the next two months, we aregoing to have to decide whether we absolve the American peo-ple if they re-elect Donald Trump.” Losing one election to Trumpis unlucky; losing two in a row may be saying something aboutthe national character.

Fisk has been the Middle East correspondent of variousBritish newspapers since 1976, so he was not on familiar groundwhen he wrote that about the US in The Independent recently.On the other hand, he was expressing a mostly unspoken butwidespread attitude among all Europeans except the extremeRight. Let me quote some more: “Like all snobs, we’ve takenthe view that Trump did not really represent American values— any more than the Arab dictators reflect the views of theirpeople. We’ve hoped and prayed and fooled ourselves into believ-ing this was only a temporary autocracy, a deviation, an old andreliable friend suffering from a serious but ultimately curable men-tal disease. Yet...I wonder how we are going to react to Americansif the Trump years become the Trump era; or if his dreadful,ambitious family transform themselves into the TrumpCaliphate....if the America we felt we could always ultimatelyrely on — once they’ve straightened out their little Trump mis-adventure — turns into the nation we can never trust?”

I grew up in Canada, and Canadians, like Mexicans, whilefond enough of individual Americans, are by nature mistrust-ful of the American State. “It’s like sleeping with an elephant,”as Pierre Elliott Trudeau put it. If it just rolls over or wakes upcranky, you can get badly hurt.

Europeans have a different perspective. Fisk grew up in theUK, which, like France, remembers (most of the time) that itwould have lost both World War-I and II without American help.Even if the US was years late to both world wars, it showed upboth times in time to save the day. And US troops stayed inWestern Europe to protect it from Soviet power throughout theCold War. Most Eastern Europeans see the US as the instru-ment of their liberation from the Soviet Union, even though itdid not in the end involve a hot war.

So there is still a deep well of respect and trust for the USin Europe. Fisk is probably right that a second Trump electionvictory would finally poison that well, which would be a pity.Another four years would also see him complete the destruc-tion of the existing international order (without giving a singlethought to a replacement). Trump is, as Michael Moore notedin 2016, “A wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown andfull-time sociopath.”

But would two terms of Trump mean the end of Americandemocracy? Not necessarily. Not even likely. What Trump hastriggered — and somebody was bound to trigger it around now,because every political niche, like every evolutionary niche, isalways filled — is a final reckoning on the “race problem”, about150 years after the American Civil War.

At the time of the Civil War (1861-65), Black Americansaccounted for around 12 per cent of the total population andfour-fifths of them were slaves. Whites accounted for almostall the rest; only a quarter-million were Native Americans. African-Americans still account for the same 12 per cent share of thepopulation today, and many of them are still victims of the sameWhite fear, exclusion and official violence that their ancestorsexperienced (mainly because they were slaves) 150 years ago.But since US immigration law changed in 1965, allowing peo-ple from the entire world to immigrate, the non-Hispanic Whiteshare of the population has dropped to only 60 per cent.

That share will to drop to 50 per cent by 2044, accordingto forecasts based on current birth rates and immigration trends.This has triggered a huge panic among the working-class WhiteAmericans, who often compete for the same jobs and used todepend on their whiteness as a competitive advantage. Trumpis personally a racist, if his remarks and behaviour are any guide,but he is a cynical populist and would be exploiting White fearsright now even if he really loved non-White Americans.

That is why the vicious legacy of the Civil War, which endedslavery but not “White Privilege”, is finally being dragged outinto the open. Having been so exposed, it will probably finallybe extinguished — but not necessarily in time to thwart Trump’sre-election. This is not the end of the US, nor the advent of anew Hitler either. It is a necessary evolution of American his-tory, for which some people living elsewhere may also pay asubstantial price.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘Growing Pains: The Futureof Democracy and Work.’)

Inaugurating and laying foundationstones for road projects and bridgesis a routine activity for politicians.

However, when Union Minister NitinGadkari inaugurated and laid founda-tion stones for various road projects inGadchiroli district recently, it had a spe-cial significance.

Located in the eastern-most cor-ner of Maharashtra, Gadchiroli has seenlittle development even after 73 yearsof Independence. Over 90 per cent ofthe district is a designated forest areaand almost 40 per cent of the popula-tion is tribal. Inaccessible terrain andinfrastructure deficiencies have hin-dered Government welfare pro-grammes for the masses. Decades on,

Naxalism has flourished because ittouches the emotional chord of socio-political and economic wrongs. It’s iron-ical that in the name of revolution,Naxals are collecting money and block-ing development and Governmentfunds meant for tribal and rural devel-opment remain unspent or fall into thewrong hands.

The lack of connectivity within theState and with other States has turnedGadchiroli into a hotbed of Naxal activ-ities. Along with it, the adjoining dis-tricts of Chandrapur, Gondia, Yavatmal,Bhandara and Nanded have alsobecome prone to Naxalism. These dis-tricts are situated in the Left WingExtremism (LWE)-affected belt,stretching across Telangana,Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh.

Gadchiroli is one of the leastdeveloped districts where people liveamid extreme violence and abjectpoverty. Dense forests and large peren-nial rivers criss-crossing the districthave posed a major challenge to con-

nectivity. This, in turn, affects literacy,healthcare and mobility of the people.But things have begun to change now.

In the last six years, the Ministryof Road Transport and Highways(MoRTH) has put development of roadnetworks and enhancement of connec-tivity in Naxal, tribal and backwardareas on the fast track. With the visionof connecting every district withNational Highways (NHs) and specialemphasis on Naxalism-hit areas, theMoRTH has launched a special pro-gramme for LWE affected districts.

In Maharashtra, a LWE schemeconnectivity programme of 495 kmlength was announced with an invest-ment of over `920 crore. This pro-gramme comprises development ofroad networks and bridges on Pranhita,Indravati and Godavari, the majorrivers of Gadchiroli. For the first time,the district is seeing infrastructure pro-jects of high magnitude being taken upand completed within a span of fiveyears. Till recently, the NH-63, with atotal length of 56 km passing through

Sironcha, was the only NH in the dis-trict. The network has since beenenhanced to 647 km after declarationof four new NHs of 591 km length. Inall, MoRTH has approved 44 road pro-jects of 541 km with an outlay of ̀ 1,740crore for Gadchiroli district. The majorinfrastructure initiatives in Gadchiroliinclude a 855-metre major bridgeacross the Pranahita River on theNizamabad-Jagdalpur Road (NH 63)at a cost of `168 crore. Then there isthe 630-metre, high-level bridge acrossthe Indravati River near Patagudam onthe Nizamabad-Jagdalpur Road (NH63) at a cost of `248 crore; a 30-metrebridge near Lankachen on theBejurpalli-Aheri Road; the improve-ment of Bejurpalli-Aheri Road (SH275) between Watra and Moyabinpetaand the improvement of the Garanji-Pustola Road.

These projects were inauguratedon September 6. The bridges across thePranahita River at the Maharashtra-Telangana border and at Sironcha andthe Indravati River at the Maharashtra-

Chhattisgarh border near Patagudamensure seamless inter-State connectiv-ity to the neighbouring States. The NH-930 connects Gadchiroli to Chandrapurdistrict and the work of improving 81km of this road to two lanes with pavedshoulder (2L+PS) standards is inprogress at a cost of `646 crore.

Improvement of the 39.76 km-longstretch of the Nagbhid-Armori sectionof the NH-353D has been completedat cost of `269 crore. This road nowconnects Gadchiroli district with thecity of Nagpur. The NH-353C, connect-ing Sakoli, Wadsa, Gadchiroli,Chamorshi, Alapalli and Sironcha,links the remotest part of Gadchirolidistrict with the old NH-6 and in turnprovides connectivity with the rest ofthe country. The Gadchiroli-Asthi sec-tion of this road is being improved to2L+PS standards at a cost of ̀ 577 crore.Strengthening other sections of thisroad has also been taken up. The trib-al areas of Alapalli, Hemalkasa,Bhamragarh are now connectedthrough NH-130D. Improvement of

this road section has been taken up.Construction of major bridges acrossPerimelli, Bandia and Paralkota, too,has been taken up at cost of ̀ 194 crore.The Wainganga river, which dividesGadchiroli and Chandrapur districts,is one of the important rivers inMaharashtra. Due to the current nar-row, low-level bridge, commuters facemany difficulties, especially duringthe monsoon season. To eliminate thehardships of the people, a new 825-metre bridge will be constructed at acost of `99 crore near Asthi.

Four new major bridges on thePerimilli, Bandiya, Pearikota andWaingagana Rivers and 14 minorbridges will ensure seamless transporta-tion in otherwise inaccessible areas ofGadchiroli. This remarkable progressof infrastructure development is nota small achievement. We must compli-ment the engineers and contractorswho are working hard despite the con-stant fear of Naxal attacks. In fact, thebridge across River Indravati was com-pleted under very trying and war-like

conditions. A police station had to beset up in order to help construct thebridge. It was an excellent manifesta-tion of commitment, political desireand coordination between variousGovernment agencies and the securi-ty forces.

With a major push to infrastruc-ture, the vision of development of back-ward areas like LWE-hit Gadchiroli canbecome a reality. With an abundanceof natural resources like bamboo in thedistrict, Gadchiroli can become a hubfor sticks used by incense manufactur-ers as the import of agarbattis has beenbanned. More than 100 such units canbe set up, which would give employ-ment to the local people. With these ini-tiatives, job creation in Gadchiroliwill get a fillip as the Government hasa target of providing employment tomore than 10,000 youth within the nextfive years. This would be a fitting trib-ute of an aspirational district to the con-cept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

(The writer is Advisor, NHAI,under MoRTH, New Delhi)

Bridge the gap between infrastructure and growthWith a major push to road networks, the vision of development of backward areas like LWE-hit Gadchiroli can become a reality

VAIBHAV DANGE

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

ICICI Bank launchesdedicated offeringfor start-upsMumbai: With an eye on thegrowing number of start-ups,India's second-largest privatesector lender ICICI Bank onThursday launched a newoffering, iStartup 2.0, for thesegment with improvedfeatures. Under theprogramme, ICICI Bank'scustomers will get a currentaccount in three variants thatwill offer additional services,including premium savingsaccounts for the promoters,salary accounts for employeesand a dedicated relationshipmanager, the bank said.The bank has tied up withvendors to offer a "concierge-like" service, wherein the start-ups can access variousservices like companyregistration, taxation,compliance, logistics, facilitymanagement, staffing anddigital marketing.

RIL jump 8.5 pc;market valuationtouches nearly $200 billion New Delhi:Continuing its rally,shares of Reliance IndustriesLtd on Thursday zoomed 8.5per cent and the company'smarket valuation rose to Rs14,66,589.53 crore (USD199.64 billion) in lateafternoon trade. OnWednesday, it was announcedthat US private equity firmSilver Lake Partners wouldbuy 1.75 per cent stake inRIL's retail arm for Rs 7,500crore. The market heavyweightstock jumped 8.45 per cent toa record high of Rs 2,343.90on the BSE. On the NSE, itgained 8.49 per cent to alifetime high of Rs 2,344.95.In the previous session too, ithad closed with nearly 3 percent gain. RIL's marketvaluation rose to Rs14,66,589.53 crore (USD199.64 billion) in lateafternoon trade on the BSE.

Rupee settles 9paise higher at73.46 against USDMumbai: The rupeestrengthened by 9 paise andsettled at 73.46 (provisional)against the US dollar onThursday supported by weakAmerican currency andpositive domestic equities.At the interbank forex market,the domestic unit opened at73.42 against the US dollar,and finally closed at 73.46against the American currency,registering a rise of 9 paiseover its previous close.During the session, thedomestic unit witnessed anintra-day high of 73.16 and alow of 73.50 against thegreenback. The rupee hadsettled at 73.55 against the USdollar. Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, fell 0.86per cent to $ 40.44 per barrel.

Sensex soars646 pts as RILhits fresh highPNS n MUMBAI

Domestic equity bench-mark Sensex soared 646points on Thursday, boost-ed by a rally in index heavy-weight Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE indexended 646.40 points or 1.69per cent higher at 38,840.32.The NSE Nifty rallied171.25 points or 1.52 percent to 11,449.25.

Reliance Industries wasthe top gainer in the Sensexpack as it zoomed over 7per cent. The company'smarket valuation rose to Rs14,66,589.53 crore (USD199.64 billion) in late after-noon trade.

On Wednesday, the com-pany had announced thatUS private equity firmSilver Lake Partners wouldbuy 1.75 per cent stake in itsretail arm for Rs 7,500crore. RIL stock jumped8.45 per cent to a recordhigh of Rs 2,343.90 on theBSE during the day. On theNSE, it gained 8.49 percent to a lifetime high of Rs2,344.95.

TAJ-GVK Hotelsappoints Cherianas addl directorPNS n NEW DELHI

TAJGVK Hotels and Resortson Thursday said its boardhas approved the appoint-ment of Dilip Cherian asadditional director of thecompany.

Cherian has been appoint-ed as non-executive inde-pendent director with effectfrom September 10, 2020, fora period of five years,TAJGVK Hotels and Resortssaid in a filing to BSE. He isthe founding partner andgroup chairman of PerfectRelations.

Time for industry to embrace newtech, improve quality: GadkariPNS n NEW DELHI

Union minister Nitin Gadkarion Thursday said industryplayers should adopt innova-tive methods and new tech-nologies to improve cost effi-ciency and construction qual-ity of infrastructure projects.

The road transport ministeralso warned cement playersagainst cartelisation, black-marketing and profiteering.

"You need to reduce con-struction cost and improvequality. Cost reduction shouldbe made without any compro-mise on quality," he said whileaddressing an event on 'BITU-CON 2020: BITUmen andRoad CONstruction Industry',organised by FICCI.

Gadkari, who also holds theMSME portfolio, said theindustry can play a significantrole in boosting India's infra-structure through the aid ofinnovation and technology.

Industry players should looktowards innovative methods ofusing waste like iron slag

besides other material for usein infrastructure projects, theminister said. Plans are afoot toreduce bridge constructioncost through innovative tech-nologies like promoting steelfibre in construction on thepattern of Malaysia and if suc-cessful that alone could save Rs25,000 crore annually in bridge,Gadkari said.

Similarly, Niti Aayog hasgiven green signal to Buldhanapattern of projects that havechanged the face of some partsof Maharashtra, which entailexcavation or dredging ofponds in drought-prone areas

to ensure rain water harvestingand recharge of ground water,the minister said.

The dredging is done by thehighways ministry free of costin lieu of sand, deposits andaggregates to be used for high-ways construction, therebyreducing cost.

Gadkari said likewise tech-nical parameters were beingreduced to promote domesticplayers in infrastructure cre-ation and cited example ofZojila tunnel, saying the gov-ernment through change spec-ifications has been able toreduce the cost of the project

significantly at a time when itwas demanded to enhance theoriginal cost by about Rs 7,500crore to Rs 11,000 crore.

"A meeting was convened todeliberate on the specifica-tions which was attended byabout 150 developers, consul-tants and other stakeholders. Ihad asked officials to reducethe technical qualification cri-teria besides financial qualifi-cations without any compro-mise on quality," he said addingthat over Rs 4,000 crore wassaved due to it and the tenderhas been awarded.

Gadkari said the project forwhich tenders were floated forthree times earlier was ulti-mately won by MeghaEngineering & InfrastructureLtd (MEIL). Among the threebidders in the race includingLarsen & Toubro and IrconInternational JV, theHyderabad-headquarteredcompany had quoted the low-est Rs 4,509.5 crore for the tun-nel project, stuck for over sixyears now.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday launchedRs 20,050 crore-PradhanMantri Matsya SampadaYojana (PMMSY) to boostproduction and exports inthe fisheries sector as part ofthe government's aim todouble farmers' income.

Through video conference,the Prime Minister alsolaunched several other initia-tives in the fisheries and ani-mal husbandry sectors inBihar, a state which is headingfor the assembly polls inOctober-November.

Modi launched a mobileapp e-Gopala that will providesolutions to farmers on live-

stock related issues and inau-gurated Semen Station withstate-of-the-art facilities inPurnea with an investment ofRs 84.27 crore on 75 acres ofland made available by theBihar government.

After the launch, the PrimeMinister interacted with farm-ers focusing on the livestock

and fisheries sector. The PMMSY is a flagship

scheme for focused and sus-tainable development of fish-eries sector in the countrywith an estimated investmentof Rs 20,050 crore for itsimplementation during 2020-21 to 2024-25 as part ofAatmanirbhar Bharat pack-age. The investment of Rs20,050 crore under PMMSY isthe highest ever in the fisheriessector, the PMO said onWednesday. Out of this, aninvestment of about Rs 12,340crore is proposed for beneficia-ry-oriented activities inmarine, inland fisheries andaquaculture and about Rs7,710 crore investment forfisheries infrastructure.

PM Modi launches Rs 20,050-crscheme for fisheries sector

China auto sales up 6% in Aug,down 15.4% year-to-date

PNS n BEIJING

China's car sales rose 6% inAugust over a year earlier asthe industry's biggest marketrecovered from the coron-avirus pandemic, but pur-chases for the year to date wereoff more than 15%, an indus-try group reported Thursday.

Sales of sedans, SUVs andminivans rose to 1.7 million,according to the ChinaAssociation of AutomobileManufacturers. Total vehiclesales, including trucks andbuses, rose 11.6% to 2.2 mil-lion.

Auto sales for the first eightmonths of the year were down15.4% at 11.3 million, animprovement from the first

half 's 22.4% contraction. Totalvehicle sales were down 9.7%at 14.6 million.

Auto demand already wassuffering before China shutdown factories and dealershipsin February to fight the coro-navirus. Consumers areuneasy about a slowing econ-omy and a tariff war withWashington.

Last year's sales fell 9.6%,the second straight annualdecline. That has hurt globalautomakers that are looking toChina to propel sales growth.It also squeezes cash flow at atime when global and Chinesebrands are spending billions ofdollars to develop electricvehicles under pressure tomeet government sales quotas.

Green signalfor Munger-Bhagalpur NHproj in BiharPNS n NEW DELHI

The government onThursday said it has approveda Rs 971 crore highway pro-ject in Bihar. "The MoRTHhas approved a proposal toconstruct 120 km Munger-B h a g a l p u r - T i r p e t y -Kahalgaon concrete road onnational highway 80 in Bihar,"MoRTH said in a statement.

Munger-Bhagalpur high-way project will be a 2-laneroad, which will also be 4-lane wide at certain stretch-es, MoRTH added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The commerce ministry willrelease the second edition ofranking of states and unionterritories (UTs) based ontheir startup ecosystemtomorrow, an official state-ment said on Thursday.

The rankings are based onthe initiatives taken to devel-op the startup ecosystem forpromoting budding entrepre-neurs.

"The DPIIT conducted thesecond edition of the states'startup ranking exercise withthe key objective to fostercompetitiveness and propelstates and Union Territories towork proactively towardsuplifting the startup ecosys-tem," the Ministry of

Commerce and Industry saidin the statement.

The ranking framework2019, it said, has 7 broadreform areas consisting of 30action points ranging frominstitutional support, easingcompliances, relaxation inpublic procurement norms,incubation centres, seed fund-ing, venture funding, andawareness and outreach.

"To establish uniformity andensure standardisation in theranking process, States and

UTs have been divided intotwo groups. While UTs exceptDelhi, and all States in NorthEast India, except Assam are inone group, all other states areplaced in the other group," theministry added.

The statement said that anevaluation committee com-posed of independent expertsfrom the startup ecosystem,carried out a detailed assess-ment of responses across var-ious parameters. Many para-meters involved getting feed-back from beneficiaries, whichwas gathered through morethan 60,000 calls made in 11different languages to empa-thetically connect with bene-ficiaries to ascertain the realpulse at the implementationlevels, it added.

States' startup ecosystem ranking to be released on Friday

SIP inflow continuesto drop in AugustPNS n NEW DELHI

Investment in mutual fundsthrough systematic invest-ment plans (SIPs) droppedfor the fifth consecutivemonth to Rs 7,791crore in August,amid challeng-ing economicenvironmentdue to theCOVID-19pandemic.

Besides, equitymutual funds, which mainlydepend on SIP for flows, sawa withdrawal of Rs 4,000 crorein August, much higher thanRs 2,480 crore witnessed in theprevious month, data from theAssociation of Mutual Fundsin India (Amfi) showed.

"SIP flows are reducing aswell, it is clear that the retailinvestor is impacted due to thecurrent economic environentbrought on by COVID-19,"

said Jean-ChristopheGougeon, director

, Sharekhan byBNP Paribas.

He addedthat in such ach a l l e ng i ng

economic envi-ronment, retail

investors tend toreduce their SIP investmentsand reduce risk on their port-folios by selling equity MFs.

As per the data, the indus-try raised Rs 7,791.6 crorethrough SIP route last month,lower than Rs 7,831 crore gar-nered in July.

Saregama inks dealwith ShareChat, MojPNS n NEW DELHI

Music label Saregama onThursday said it has signed aglobal licensing deal withhomegrown social media plat-form ShareChat to license itsmusic catalogue.

As part of the deal,Saregama will license its cat-alogue to ShareChat and Moj,allowing over 180 millionactive users of the two plat-forms to create their ownshort video content using theSaregama library, a statementsaid.

The robust music libraryoffers thousands of songs indiverse Indian languages likeHindi, Bengali, Tamil,Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam,

Kannada, Punjabi, Gujarati,and Bhojpuri among others, itadded. No financial details ofthe partnership were disclosed.

ShareChat has previouslyformed a similar alliance withT-Series. Saregama is India'soldest music label and its cat-alogue spans across genreslike film/non-film songs,devotional music, ghazals andIndipop in more than 18 lan-guages.

With this partnership, userswould be able to use songs oflegends like Lata Mangeshkar,Kishore Kumar, MohammedRafi, Asha Bhosle, Gulzar,Jagjit Singh, RD Burman,Kalyanji Anandji, Geeta Duttand Laxmikant Pyarelal andothers.

PNS n MUMBAI

The COVID-19 pandemichas impacted sharing of data inthe insurance ecosystem andthere is a need to have a cen-tral repository, say industryplayers. “One of the importantfallouts of the pandemic is theability to share the data. If youhave to say one thing that wedefinitely need is a centralisedrepository. We need a lot moredata sharing,” IndiaFirst LifeInsurance managing director

and CEO R M Vishakha saidduring a virtual panel discus-sion organised byETBFSI.com. At present, thereis no centralised KYC system

in the country; and betweeninsurance companies if some-body wants to take a secondpolicy, a fresh KYC has to bedone, she said.

UA plans non-stop flights to IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

United Airlines on Thursdaysaid it will operate daily flightson the Delhi-Chicago routefrom December this year andthe Bengaluru-San Franciscoroute from spring next year.

"Together with the airline'sexisting services from NewDelhi and Mumbai to NewYork/Newark and New Delhito San Francisco, United will

offer more nonstop servicesfrom India than any other U.Scarrier," the airline said in apress release.

United said it will operate

flights on the Delhi-Chicagoroute and the Bengaluru-SanFrancisco route using itsBoeing 787-9 Dreamliner air-craft.

Triumph Motorcycles launchesthe all-new Rocket 3 GTPNS n NEW DELHI

British premium motorcyclebrand Triumph Motorcycleson Thursday launched itstourer model, the all-newRocket 3 GT in India priced atRs 18.40 lakh (ex-showroom)as it looks to create 'excite-ment' in the market which hasbeen reeling under the impactof the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rocket 3 GT is thetouring variant of the Rocket3R which was launched inDecember 2019 and is pow-ered by an all-new 2,500 ccengine, which the companyclaims is "the world's biggestproduction motorcycle

engine"."We are focussing greatly on

how to continue to createexcitement in this industry.The focus from our side is tocontinuously give reason forcustomers to come to ourshowroom and buy our prod-ucts," Triumph MotorcyclesIndia Business Head said.

Working women feeling increased stress due to CovidPNS n BENGALURU

Nearly 50 per cent of India'sworking women are feelingincreased stress due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, claimeda survey conducted by onlineprfessional network LinkedIn.

It revealed that the pan-demic is taking a toll on theemotional well-being of India'sworking women as 47 per centreport they are experiencingmore stress or anxiety due tothe

pandemic, LinkedIn said. For men, this number stood at38 per cent, pointing towardsa disproportionate impact onwomen in these testing times,it said. LinkedIn on Thursdayannounced the findings of thetenth edition of the LinkedIn

Workforce Confidence Index,a fortnightly pulse on the con-fidence of India's workforce.

Based on the surveyresponses of 2,254 profession-als in India, findings from theweeks of July 27 - August 23reveal the pandemic's impacton India's working mothersand wor ing women, and thecautious optimism of free-lancers towards personalfinances and career prospects,it said.

The survey also underscoredthe challenges of childcareduring the pandemic, accord-ing to a LinkedIn statement.

The survey showed thatIndia's overall confidence isgrowing steadily.

Remote working has laidout a tougher road for India's

working mothers as the surveyshowed that around one inthree (31 per cent) workingmothers are currently provid-ing childcare full-time, whencompared to nearly one in

five (17 per cent) workingfathers, the statement said."Worryingly, more than two infive (44 per cent) workingmoms are working outsidetheir business hours to provide

childcare, nearly twice as manymen (25 per cent)", it said.

The survey showed that onlyone in five (20 per cent) work-ing mothers rely on a familymember or friend to take careof their children, when com-pared to 32 per cent men.

More than 46 per cent work-ing mothers reported workingtill late to make up for work,and 42 per cent are unable tofocus on work with their chil-dren at home, it said.

Findings show that aboutone in four freelancers antici-pate an increase in their earnedincome (25 per cent) and per-sonal savings (27 per cent),while close to one in three (31per cent) expect their numberof investments to increase inthe next six months.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India will soon launch a bidround to give out licences forretailing gas in cities to helpextend the coverage of envi-ronment-friendly fuel to about500 cities, Oil MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said onThursday.

During 2018 and 2019, sec-tor regulator PNGRB gave outlicences to retail CNG to auto-mobiles and piped cooking gasto household kitchens in 136geographical areas or GAs.This extended coverage of thecity gas network to 406 dis-tricts and around 70 per centof the country's population.

"The 11th city gas distribu-tion (CGD) authorisation

round will be launched verysoon. PNGRB is preparing forit," he said at a virtual eventorganised to commission 56CNG stations in 13 states andone UT. "50-100 districts, par-ticularly in Chhattisgarh,Madhya Pradesh, andVidharba, will join the city gasnetwork after the 11th round."

The push for city gas expan-sion is part of the governmentplan for raising the share ofnatural gas in the country'senergy basket to 15 per cent by2030 from the current 6.3 percent.

Pradhan said gas is cheaper,convenient, and environmentfriendly and its greater use willhelp cut dependence on oilimports.

The 11th bid round is beingplanned around a new pipelinebeing constructed from Angulin Odisha to Mumbai inMaharashtra to ferry naturalgas between the east and westcoast. State-owned gas utilityGAIL has started work on theAngul-Mumbai pipeline, hesaid.

Amway Indiaeyes five foldgrowth PNS n NEW DELHI

Direct selling major AmwayIndia on Thursday said it islooking to scale up home deliv-ery orders by five times thisyear and will invest Rs 30crore for strengthening its sup-ply chain and automation. Thecompany, which started inte-grating O2O earlier this year,said it has witnessed a signifi-cant shift to online sales from33.6 per cent in February 2020to over 70 per cent at present.

Insurance industry seeks centralrepository for data sharing

India to launch 11th city gaslicensing round soon: Pradhan

DECODING‘POST COVID SYNDROME'

he effect of theongoing pandemichas rippledthrough the wholehealthcare ecosys-tem; and health-

care workers continue to bat-tle on the frontlines to treatas many patients as possible.Many patients with Covid-19needed intensive care, andwith great support andimpeccable clinical acumen,patients have emerged victo-

rious. However, those whohave been critically ill, andthose who were treated forprolonged periods in inten-sive care units may need afew more months to recoverfully, despite completingtreatment for Covid-19.

There is significant evi-dence that some people withrelatively mild symptoms,who were treated at home,may also have a prolongedsickness, even after beating

the infection, says Dr RahulPandit, Director-CriticalCare, Fortis Hospital,Mulund.

“It is observed that thevirus not only affects thelungs but also has an impacton one’s heart, brain, thedigestive system, and kidneysamongst other organs. Thisnew phenomenon that hasemerged is termed as thePost Covid-19 syndrome,” he says.

T

HOW SOON, AND WHY DO THESE SYMPTOMSSHOW UP?

The symptoms, especiallyfatigue, may be a continuation ofthe recovery process and somesymptoms may be only noticedafter the patient is discharged. Inalmost 80 per cent of patients,fatigue post illness stays for severalweeks and gradually resolves. Poorexercise tolerance, disturbance insleep wake cycles are noticed usu-ally when the patient returns toconfines of his home. The mostdifficult are the neuropsychiatricand depressive symptoms; it needsspecialised training like that of a

Clinical Psychologist to diagnose it.

HOW SOON CAN A PERSONSTART SEEKING POSTCOVID CARE?

It is important to seek postCOVID19 care right from the 1stfollow up post discharge, or usual-ly around 2 weeks post discharge.Then as per requirements, clinicalsupport, physical rehabilitationand psychological support can beoffered.

REHABILITATION PROGRAMTO TACKLE POST COVIDSYNDROME:

The post-Covid-19 Syndromemust be tackled through clinicalassessment, psychological inter-vention and comprehensive reha-bilitative care. An expert panel ofdoctors, at a dedicated post Covid-19 OPD must help clinically assessthe patient. This is the first steptowards helping the patient tacklethe residual impact of the infec-tion. Physical rehabilitation willplay a crucial role in assessing theimpact on mobility, decreased/increased exercise tolerance andmuscle weakness. Also, psycholog-ical evaluation plays a big role inaddressing Post Traumatic StressDisorder (PTSD) amongst thosewho have battled severe COVID19

and had a prolonged stay in thehospital. These areas of focus willhelp diagnose and treat the longand short term complicationsamongst Covid-19 survivors.

HAVE PRE-EXISTING CONDI-TIONS? HERE'S HOW COVIDIMPACTS YOU:

Those with pre-existing condi-tions such as Diabetes,Hypertension, Obesity, etc. mustbe evaluated to gauge the serious-ness of the disease before, andafter contracting Covid-19. It isnoticed that due to the impact onACE 2 receptors during Covid-19, the blood glucose levels are

usually high. This is compoundedby steroids, which patientreceives. Especially in diabetics,patients may need a short courseof Insulin before returning totablets; dosage may also needalterations. Similarly,Hypertensive patients may needaltering of their medicationregime, post Covid-19Tachycardia (a condition thatmakes your heart beat more than100 times per minute) may needbetablockers to be added to theroutine medication. Similarly,patients with Chronic LungDisease or Asthmatics may needadditional evaluation of thePulmonary Function Test.

o Abnormal heart rate

o Chronic fatigue

o Persistent diarrhea

o Rapid weight lossand digestive issues

o Mild to severeinflammation in thebrain

o Nausea

o Loss of appetite,

taste and smell

o Reduced exercisetolerance

o Disturbed sleeppatterns

o Muscle weakness

o Neuropsychiatricimplications likeDepression,Insomnia, etc.

HE POINTS OUT THAT PATIENTS WHO HAVE

RECOVERED FROM COVID MIGHT EXPERIENCE:

Caring for our furry friends

WBP trust is citizen-based group functionsindependently with asole vision of providingcautious drinking waterfor the androgynous

creatures round the clock through-out the year. An international civilsociety of numerous volunteersplaced at diverse branches acrossthe country, they believe in toilingfor community purposes instead ofturning out to be commercial.

“If you ask me, why animals, myanswer to that is the drastic suffer-ing of animals that caught my atten-tion. I believe they aren’t ours toexperiment on, eat, wear, use forentertainment, or abuse. Thisnotion was also a primary reasonfor me to turn vegan as well. Whenit comes to the feeling of beingthirsty, an animal is no less than ahuman being moving around tryingto quench its thirst, sometimesresorting to sewage treatment water— that’s the horrifying condition ofthese animals, which needs to bebrought to the public eye. Peoplebelieve animals are of no use so whypay any attention to them or carefor them — an I attitude I con-demn. I am here for a purpose — Idon’t regret leaving the envelope ofsoftware development sectorbecause the welfare of animals is mydead end in life,” shares the founder.

At AWBP trust, they distributewater bowls for animals to severallocalities, as a small gesture ofimproving their living conditions,

and providing them with bettertreatment, something that theydeserve. So how can you ensure theanimals in your areas get waterbowls? Well, all you have to do iscontact them via the details avail-able on their website, visit them,and collect the water bowls free ofcost to quench the thirst of the ani-mals in your area. “We are trying toaccomplish a major milestone and

we require people’s support for this.Animals can’t talk/reason so we tryto extend that empathy, compas-sion, and kindness towards themthrough our various educationalprograms. It’s not just the killing ofan animal tInstilluses suffering butalso their living conditions too.Instill greater love and respect foranimals in every way possible,”urges Lakshman.

Lakshman Molleti, founder ofthe AWBP trust, believespertinently that giving water isusually termed as ‘Sadaqah' inour beautiful country becauseanimals need fresh water fortheir bodies to function. He talksto SHIKHA DUGGAL on theimportance of caring for andfeeding animals around us, tomake the world a better place tolive in, not just for humans, butanimals too.

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A compellingtake on ‘pride'

hursday saw thefirst-ever digitalcollaborationbetween BlendersPride FashionTour and design-

er extraordinaire TarunTahiliani to celebrate his 25years in the industry. Foryears, Blenders PrideFashion Tour set the bench-mark for the fashion indus-try in India, collaboratingwith the Indian designercommunity, promoting theIndian design aesthetic. Thetour has evolved over theyears from conventionalrunway shows to festivals offashion and today, in theseunique times, the digital leg,in collaboration with TarunTahiliani, celebrated a storyof ‘My Identity, My Pride’.

The evening showcasedelements of Pride in his craftand heritage, being modernand having a ‘Stream ofConsciousness’ as an entity.The striking experienceuncovered the idea of‘Infinite’ possibilities in one’slives by setting an examplefor the world to follow. Theone-of-a-kind hybrid fash-ion experience encapsulatedall the glamour and glitzwith an impactful storythrough an on-ground set-up brought alive through adigital premiere.

Weaving a seamless storyaround Identity and Pride,Tarun Tahiliani said, “Thereis nothing more importantthan one’s identity, anexpression that defines youas being distinct from theworld. This collaboration isa celebration of my journeyand the myriad and variedinfluences that have inspiredits course over the years. Itake immense pride inexpressing who I am andwhere I stand today, and inmy association withBlenders Pride Fashion Tour2020, because it gives me theopportunity to celebrate myidentity with pride.”

Through a theatrical rep-resentation of fashion, 25muses donned 25 stunninglooks, both menswear andwomenswear, in a larger-than-life custom set

designed by Tarun Tahiliani,showcasing his 25-year jour-ney. The storytelling was asalute to the wheel of life,the designer’s inspirations,the studio’s past and its evo-lution into the future — atrue representation of thebrand. The evening was animmersive experience show-casing a compelling take on‘pride’ with modern Indianpieces of clothing that werefully accessorised with mod-ern-day versions of chotis,bindis and much more toadd historical opulence to amore contemporary whim.

T

FridaySeptember 11, 2020

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alman Khan isset to shoot theBigg Boss 14premiereepisode onOctober 1 and

then resume the finalschedule of his filmRadhe: Your Most WantedBhai reportedly. Theactor is said to havereturned to his Bandraresidence after spendingseveral months at hisPanvel farmhouse.

A Mumbai Mirrorreport has quoted a source

as saying, “Bigg Boss is setto go on air from Sunday,

October 4. Usually, thepremiere episode is

shot a day inadvance so that

the identity ofthe contes-tants can bekept underwraps.However,these areunprece-

dented timesand hence

they will beshooting three

days in advance.”

Earlier, a picture of Salmanmopping the floor on sets ofBigg Boss 14 had surfacedonline. Colors had said in astatement, “Salman says eve-ryone is bored of shuttlingbetween home and work. Butnot to phikar not as life isabout to change with BiggBoss’s power-packed enter-tainment coming for their res-cue.”

Salman will then resumethe final schedule of Radhe:Your Most Wanted Bhai,which was supposed to hittheatres around Eid this yearbut missed the release datedue to coronavirus pandemic.“It’s a short schedule of 10-12days at Mehboob Studio inMumbai. The shot alsoincludes a song featuringSalman and his leading lady,Disha Patani. The antagonist,Randeep Hooda along withJackie Shroff, who has astrong supporting role, willalso be a part of this sched-ule,” the source added.

Radhe... is said to be theremake of South Korean filmVeteran. It will be directed byPrabhudheva who is expectedto return to Mumbai forresuming the shoot.

sha Bhosle is 88, but she saysshe feels like 40. The playbacklegend says she feels almosthalf her age because, shebelieves in speed and efficien-cy above anything else.

“I think it is my speed and efficiency.I want to do my best and do it withspeed. For example, I cook really fast.Others exit the kitchen as they cannotmatch up with my speed (laughs). Ok,on a serious note, (I owe my) honestyto my music. Honesty is an integralpart of me. It has brought me pain too,

but in

my 87 years I have always been honestin what I do, both at work and in life,”said the singer.

“I’ve completed my 87th and steppedinto my 88th but I feel 40! Like me, Ihope you all feel positive about life,” sheposted on social media after her birth-day this year.

Her birthday was a quiet affair withclose family this year, owing to theglobal pandemic. “Under this Covid-19situation, I have shot videos turninghairstylist, makeup woman and design-er beside performer. I have enjoyed it to

the hilt. I have cooked many dish-es. I also spent my birthday withmy grandchildren Zanai andRanjai and my son Anand anddaughter-in-law Anuja. I simplyloved it.”

She added, “It feels beautiful to be sur-rounded by family. Normally everyoneis busy in their own life. But now, weare all together. Zanai ordered myfavourite food. Every moment today isa gift from God. I am so grateful. Iwant to be hale and hearty for years tocome as well.”

The iconic singer has started an ini-tiative titled Asha Ki Asha where shewill provide opportunities to new tal-ent. She said she wants to broaden thespace from only promoting singers tolyricists and others.

“I have listened to so many talentsacross the country that it will be toughto choose the best. I am so happy andoverwhelmed at all the faith and lovethey have shown me. I will now broad-en my search and give the opportunityto composers and lyricists as well.There are so many talented youngsters

waiting in the wings,” signed offthe singer.

he Brihan-mum-bai MunicipalCorporation(BMC) hasissued a show-cause notice to

designer Manish Malhotrafor ‘unauthorised construc-tion’ at his residentialpremises. “Under Section351(1) of the MumbaiMunicipal Corporation Act,1888 and as per theNotification dated April 4,2013, it has been notifiedthat Manish Malhotra haserected/commenced erectionof a building/executed/com-menced executions of certainwork or changed the existinguser at premises without per-mission from the competentauthority,” the BMC said inthe notice, a copy of whichwas accessed by ANI.

The BMC has givenManish seven days torespond to the notice toshow sufficient cause as towhy the said building orwork should not be pulleddown. The changes pointedout by BMC in the buildinginclude the following: unau-thorised change of user fromresidential to commercialoffice on the first floor,

unauthorised addi-tion and alterationby way of erectingpartitions/cabinson the firstfloor, unautho-rised con-struction oftwo struc-tures witha brickma-sonrywalland ACsheetroofonsec-ond-floor terraceadmeasuring4.80m X 3.70m X2.50m and 3.80m X 3.50m X2.50m approximately, unau-thorised construction ofshed with MS angles and ACsheet roof on second-floorterrace admeasuring 8.35mX 3.50m X 2.50m approxi-mately.

Earlier yesterday, theBombay High Court stayedthe demolition drive beingundertaken by the BMC atthe property of actorKangana Ranaut.

ver since herBollywood debutin 2015, BhumiPednekar hasmanaged to giveseveral credible

performances. The actresssays she is more thanhappy that her hard workhas impressed the audi-ence.

Bhumi made her debutin the 2015 film DumLaga Ke Haisha. Over thepast five years, some ofher best roles have been inShubh Mangal Saavdhan,Saand Ki Aankh, Bala andToilet : Ek Prem Katha.

“I’m grateful to theaudience for showering so

much love on my filmsand me. An actor

always wants to beappreciated for hisor her work andtheir love is ahuge validationthat I’m choos-

ing the

right films and picking theright roles. Every actorwants their films to dowell and I'm glad that myfilms have worked,”Bhumi said.

She is hopeful that hernext Dolly Kitty Aur WohChamakte Sitaare, co-star-ring Konkona Sensharma,will also be well receivedby the audience.

“I hope Dolly Kitty AurWoh Chamakte Sitaarereceives a lot of love fromthe audience, too!” shekeeps her fingers crossed.

Bhumi feels her charac-ter, Kitty, in AlankritaSrivastava’s film is a truerepresentation of an aver-age girl in today’s newIndia.

She said, “Till now, withthe line-up of releases thatI had, these girls (charac-ters played by Bhumi) stillfit the moral boundariesthat were set up.But Dolly

and Kitty just break allsocial conditioning. Ijust felt like this girl istruly a part of new India.This is exactly what newIndia is.”

About her character,she added, “We are vocal,we speak up for what wewant, we are ambitioussurvivors, we are go get-ters. But at the same time,we are still connectedwith our roots, we arestill connected with ourvalues and our cultureand this characterexactly signifies that.”

10

Vijayawada Friday September 11 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ET

BHUMI PEDNEKAR:Audience appreciationvalidates my choice of films and roles

After Kangana, show-cause notice issued toManish Malhotra for‘unauthorisedconstruction’

ASHA BHOSLE AT 88: MY SPEED ANDEFFICIENCY MAKE ME FEEL I'M 40

A

S

Salman Khan to shootfor Bigg Boss 14,

Radhe... in October

PNS n NEW DELHI

World Champion P VSindhu and former World

No 1 Kidambi Srikanth will leada 20-member Indian squad fornext month’s Thomas and UberCup Finals, the BadmintonAssociation of India (BAI) saidon Thursday.

With WorldChampionships Bronze medal-list B Sai Praneeth pulling out ofthe event due to knee injury,Srikanth alongwith 2014Commonwealth Games cham-pion Parupalli Kashyap and thein-form Lakshya Sen will takethe onus of the singles events.

For the two doubles events,men’s pairing of Manu Attri andB Sumeeth Reddy and DhruvKapila and MR Arjun have

been selected in the team alongwith Krishna Prasad Garaga.

The women’s teamfor Uber Cup will be ledby Sindhu, who made her-self available for the tourna-ment after initially decid-ing to give it a miss.

The squad will befurther bolstered bythe presence of formerworld No 1 SainaNehwal andCommonwealthGames Bronzem e d a l l i s t sA s h w i n iPonnappa andN Sikki Reddy,who will behelming the

doubles. Youngsters AakarshiKashyap and Malvika Bansod

were also included inthe 10-membersquad.

Sindhu, Saina,Srikanth, Laskhya

and women’s doublespair of Ashwini andSikki will also partic-ipate in the two Super

750 events — DenmarkOpen (Oct 13-18) and

Denmark Masters (Oct 20-25) which will he heldafter the Thomas and

Uber Cup Finals.With September 18 being

the cut-off date for sendingentries for the prestigiousbiennial tournament, the

six-member selection commit-tee was earlier supposed to pickthe team on September 17.

The Sports Authority ofIndia had proposed a prepara-tory camp in Hyderabad whichwas originally scheduled to starton September 7 and conclude onSeptember 27 for the event setfor October 3 to 11 in Aarhus,Denmark.

However, the camp wascancelled on Thursday after itbecame clear that players wouldnot get any relaxation on theseven-day mandatory quaran-tine period and BAI then decid-ed to announce the team.

With the camp cancelled,the governing body asked theselected players to keep trainingon their own and submit fitnesscertificate by September 17.

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

2020 EEDITION OOF AAFC CCUP CCANCELLED Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation'sExecutive Committee decides to cancel the 2020 editionof the AFC Cup. The decision will be a blow to ChennaiCity FC, who were set to make their first-ever appearancein the competition having won the 2018-19 I-League.The AFC Champions League, however, will take placewith the East zone & West zone matches scheduled totake place in November & December respectively.

RRHHOODDEESS TTOO TTAAKKEE OOVVEERR AASS SSWWEEDDEENN''SS CCOOAACCHH Stockholm: Former South Africa international JontyRhodes will be moving to Sweden after the IPL to takecharge as head coach of the country's national team.Rhodes said he is excited about the fresh challenge hewill face in a country not known for its cricket. “I amreally excited to relocate to Sweden with my family andwork together with the Swedish Cricket community. Thisopportunity has come at a perfect time and I am gratefulto be able to invest my energies in a completely newenvironment. I can't wait to get started,” said Rhodes.

‘LIVERPOOL FFOCUSED OON IIMPROVING SSQUAD’Liverpool: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has saidthe Premier League champions do not need to sign toomany players like other clubs and are different in theirown way. Klopp told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We always wantto improve the squad but there are different ways — oneway is to sign new players and the other way is to worktogether, improve the things you were good in and try tonullify the things you are not good in,” he said.

NEIL IIS SSA HHIGH PPERFORMANCE BBATTING CCOACHJohannesburg: Former batsman Neil McKenzie hasbeen roped in as South Africa's high performancebatting head coach, CSA announced on Thursday. The44-year-old McKenzie, who had stepped down from hisposition as Bangladesh's batting coach last month, isone of the seven appointees announced by Cricket SouthAfrica as part of its High-Performance managementteam which will work in alignment with the nationalmen's and women's coaching staff.

'SUNFEAST IINDIA RRUN AAS OONE' RRAISES OOVER `1 CCRNew Delhi: The ‘Sunfeast India Run As One' movement,which was initiated by Procam International on August15, has entered its last mile achieving significantsuccess. Since its launch, the initiative has raised awhopping amount of `1.18 crore in support of familiesimpacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic andcontinues to gain momentum. Envisioned by ProcamInternational, championed by ITC Foods SunfeastBiscuits, powered by GiveIndia and strengthened by FitIndia, the initiative aims to break new grounds and finishon a record high as registrations and fundraisingcontinue up till September. Agencies

SINGLES

AP n NEW YORK

They were just two particularpoints from SerenaWilliams’ latest three-set

comeback at the US Open, yet theywere pivotal and consisted of thesorts of lengthy exchanges filledwith athleticism and brilliancethat in any other, non-pandemicyear would be marked by thou-sands of folks rising to their feetfor delirious roars and raucousapplause.

She needed both of thesepoints, one of which included ashot she hit left-handed, to reverse

a deficit that reached the scale ofa set and a break after 45 minutesof her quarterfinal againstTsvetana Pironkova on a cloudyWednesday in empty Arthur AsheStadium.

Williams needed both of thesepoints during a five-game,match-altering run —along with 20 aces, hermost in a match in eightyears — to end up on theright side of a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 score after more than two hoursto get to the semifinals at FlushingMeadows for an 11th consecutiveappearance.

“It’s not how you start, it’s howyou finish, right?” Williams said.Two more victories would allowher to claim a record-tying 24thGrand Slam singles title.

“In the beginning, I was a lit-tle fatigued, for whatever reason,”Williams said.

“Obviously, I can’t do that if Iwant to keep winning, so I need tofigure that out.”

How big an upset would thishave been if Pironkova had heldon? Not only is she not seeded atFlushing Meadows, she doesn’teven appear in the WTA rankingsat all — this was her first tourna-ment of any sort in more thanthree years, because she left thetour to become a mother.

“It’s unbelievable,” Williamssaid about Pironkova’s impres-sive return to competition.

“Wow. I couldn’t even dothat.”

When the players stepped outonto the court,the stadiumannouncer —announcing forwhom, exactly,

was something of a mystery —referred to Pironkova, a 32-year-old from Bulgaria, as “Alexander’smom” and then to Williams as“Olympia’s mom” during the pre-match introductions.

“It just shows me how toughmoms are,” Williams said after-ward.

“You play a match and you gohome and you’re still chang-ing diapers,” said Williams,whose daughter turned 3 onSept 1 and is a little older thanPironkova’s son.

“It’s like a double life. It’sreally surreal.”

The American, who turns 39in less than three weeks, has wonsix US Open championships; she

was the runner-up the past twoyears.

Williams last lost before thesemifinals in New York in 2007,when Justine Henin eliminated herin the quarterfinals.

On Thursday, Williams willface Victoria Azarenka, whoreturned to the US Open semifi-nals for the first time since 2013by overwhelming Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-0 on Wednesday night.Williams leads her head-to-headseries against Azarenka 18-4,including beating her in the 2012and 2013 finals in New York.

The other women’s semifinalon Thursday will be 2018 cham-pion Naomi Osaka vs No 28 seedJennifer Brady.

AFP n MANCHESTER

Aaron Finch said Australia isstill searching for their

“best formula” in one-day inter-national as they prepare to pittheir wits against world cham-pions England.

The two teams will lockhorns in a three-match ODIseries starting in Manchester onFriday, following a T20 series inSouthampton, which Englandwon 2-1.

The match at Old Traffordwill be the first 50-over contestbetween the sides since Englandwon last year’s World Cupsemi-final on their way to lift-ing the trophy.

Finch, Australia’s white-ball captain, said his team hadmade progress in ODI cricketin recent years but there is stillroom for improvement.

“Over the last couple of

years we’re still searching forour best formula and our best11 players day in, day out in theone-day format,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s beenany secret to that. There’s beengreat opportunity that we prob-ably haven’t nailed in this for-mat. We’ve played some reallygood cricket in patches and

some indifferentcricket in otherpatches.”

The skipper told reporterson Thursday that it was impor-tant that Australia got their“processes really rolling in one-day cricket” as they look aheadto the 2023 World Cup inIndia.

“I think it’s just finding aconsistent selection formula,” hesaid. “We did a lot of work onhow we think we can structureour one-day cricket and where

we think we need to get to forthat 2023 World Cup.

“It’s about getting as muchinformation all the time togive us the best chance of win-ning consistently. One-daycricket is a hard game, especial-ly away from home.”

The hard-hitting openingbatsman said his side’s victoryin the third and final T20match in Southampton hadbeen important, even thoughthey lost the series.

But he warned England,ranked number one in ODIs,had enviable firepower with batand ball.

“They keep coming at you,”he said. “There’s no part in a 20-over game or a 50-over gamethat you can take your foot offthe gas because there will besomeone there to take theopportunity away from you.”

“I think their form inwhite-ball cricket has beenexceptional in both formatsover the last few years,” headded. “Obviously their one-day game has probably been thebenchmark since probably 2016so it’s going to be a great chal-lenge.”

AP n LONDON

Four-time Formula One championSebastian Vettel will drive for Racing Point

starting next season.The team, which will be renamed Aston

Martin, announced the move on Thursday, aday after driver Sergio Perez said he was onhis way out. The team said Vettel has signedfor the 2021 season “and beyond” but did notreveal the length of the contract.

“The signing of Sebastian is a clear state-ment of the team’s ambition to establish itselfas one of the most competitive names in thesport,” the team said in a statement.

“As a four-time world champion,Sebastian brings a fresh mindset to theteam.”

One of the most successful drivers in F1,Vettel is leaving Ferrari at the end of this sea-son after he was not offered a new contract.He will be replaced by McLaren driverCarlos Sainz at Ferrari next year.

Vettel has won 53 grand prix races, a tallyonly surpassed by Michael Schumacher andLewis Hamilton. He won four consecutivetitles with Red Bull from 2010-13 and joinedFerrari in 2015 with the aim to win another.

But he never had a car really capable ofchallenging Mercedes during his stint with theScuderia, where he lost his No 1 status as team-mate Charles Leclerc came to prominence.

“It’s a new adventure for me with a trulylegendary car company,” Vettel said.

“I have been impressed with the resultsthe team has achieved this year and I believethe future looks even brighter. I still have somuch love for Formula 1 and my only moti-vation is to race at the front of the grid.”

Karachi: Former Pakistan pacerShoaib Akhtar on Thursday con-firmed that he is in discussionswith PCB for a post in country’scricket set-up which is believedto be chairman of selector’s postreplacing Misbah ul Haq.

The PCB has plans to removehead coach Misbah from chiefselector’s position and Akhtar isbeing considered for the role.

“I will not deny it. Yes, I havehad some discussions with theboard and I am interested in play-ing a major role in Pakistancricket. But nothing is decided asyet,” Akhtar said on Thursdayduring a YouTube show CricketBaaz.

Akhtar’s name has beendoing rounds as the board is seri-ously considering relieving headcoach Misbah off his dual respon-sibility and also because of its newcode of ethics policy.

Akhtar however refused todivulge details of his discussions

with PCB top bosses.“Yes there has been some dis-

cussions. I can reveal only thismuch but nothing concrete as yet.But talks are still on. I have notsaid “yes” neither have they(PCB) said “yes”,” one of the mostcontroversial fast bowler of histime said.

For Akhatr the motivation isto build a pool of world class play-ers who will serve Pakistan crick-

et for long time.“I am ready to get in the line

of fire. I will do it because I wantto play a role in creating a poolof players from the new genera-tion who play with an aggressivemindset and without fear of fail-ure.”

Akhtar said that if he isentrusted with the job, he wantsto create match winners likeWasim Akram and JavedMiandad, who would becomebrands on their own.

“We need to start havingplayers who have same mindsetthat our greats like JavedMiandad, Wasim Akram orMushtaq Mohammad had.

“The fast bowlers shouldnot have muscular gym-tonedbodies but ones that is cricket spe-cific. I want to have 15 playerswho are brands and stars and thiscan only be possible if they feelsecure and can win matcheswith their performances.” PTI

Laussane: Amid uncertainty aboutplanning the Tokyo Olympics, IOC pres-ident Thomas Bach said that progresswith vaccines and rapid testing forCovid-19 would not be the completeanswer for staging the rescheduledgames.

“They will not be the silver bulletbut they can greatly facilitate the orga-nization of the games,” Bach said at anews conference after an InternationalOlympic Committee board meeting.

While the Japanese public has beenskeptical about the July 23-Aug 8 gamesgoing ahead, Olympic Minister SeikoHashimoto said this week “I feel we haveto hold them no matter what.”

Bach declined on Wednesday tospeculate on the Tokyo Olympics being

held without fans in the venues as hasbecome the global reality for sports in2020.

“We don’t know how the worldlooks like tomorrow,” Bach said.

“So how can you expect from us toknow how the world looks in 320 daysfrom today?”

He asked athletes to accept anydemands made of them in traveling toand staying in Japan next year.

“Nobody can just look at him orherself and say ‘I do not want this’ or ‘Idon’t think this is fair.’ You have to showsolidarity there in order to fight thevirus,” Bach said. “If you need a quar-antine to ensure a safe environment forall the participants of the games, thenyou need to go to quarantine.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

At a time when his India team-mates are gearing up for the

glitzy IPL more than 2500 milesaway from Hyderabad, HanumaVihari has his eyes trained onsomething more challenging — themarquee tour of Australia.

Vihari is one of the two central-ly contracted India players (theother being Cheteshwar Pujara)not part of the Indian PremierLeague this year after being over-looked by the eight franchises.

“It would have been great if Ihad been a part of IPL but I can’tthink about it,” Vihari, who has 552runs from 9 Tests, said.

With the Covid-19 relatedrestrictions preventing full-fledgedtraining, Vihari is doing his own netsessions with the help of noneother than Indian team’s fieldingcoach, R Sridhar, in their hometown.

“Yes, Sridhar sir is helping mein my training and due to lockdown,

you don’t have grounds open. I ambatting on matting wicket during netsession,” the reticent Vihari said.

The primary aim is to getadjusted to the extra bounce onAustralian tracks and playing onmatting wickets helps as the deliv-eries have a tendency to rear upawkwardly.

“The grounds are all closed andthis is the resource available. Thebounce is different and its a chal-lenge,” said the 26-year-old, who hasan average of 58 plus in first-classcricket in 85 games.

It is learnt that fielding coachSridhar, who has watched Viharifrom his junior days, is monitoringhis training sessions and also giv-ing him throwdowns.

Sridhar’s presence will alsohelp the Indian coaching team,headed by Ravi Shastri, who willhave an idea about the progress ofthe non-IPL players and how theyare shaping up ahead of the bigtour.

Down but NEVER outSerena rallies to win second and third sets in convincing fashion over Pironkova

Serena Williams in action against Tsvetana Pironkova US Open/Twitter

Serena vvss AzarenkaLive from 6:00am ISTSTAR SPORTS SELECT 1 & 2

Dominance personifiedMedvedev enters semis without dropping set AP n NEW YORK

Not only had 2019 runner-upDaniil Medvedev not

dropped a set in this US Openentering his all-Russian quarter-final against long-time pal AndreyRublev, but Medvedev hadn’tallowed more than four games inany set.

So when Rublev grabbed a siz-able lead in the opening-settiebreaker on Wednesday andthree times was a single pointfrom closing it, the moment feltmomentous.

Turned out it was. The No 3-seeded Medvedev fought off thattrio of chances for No 10 Rublevin the tiebreaker by reeling off fivepoints in a row, and was on hisway to a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (5) vic-tory to return to the semifinals at

Flushing Meadows. The only concern for

Medvedev in the latter stages waswhether his body would hold up— he was dealing with cramps andneeded his right shoulder mas-saged by a trainer in the third set— but he did, indeed, hold on. “It

was tough at the end,” Medvedevsaid.

It’s been 60 years since a manwon this Grand Slam tourna-ment without ceding a set; NealeFraser did so in 1960 at the eventthen known as the USChampionships. A year after los-ing to Rafael Nadal in a five-setfinal that lasted nearly five hours,Medvedev heads to his secondcareer major semifinal.

He will now face No 2 seedDominic Thiem for the title show-down place, who bulldozed 21stseed Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in just 2 hours 4 minutes.

The other semifinal on Fridaywill be No 5 Alexander Zverev vsNo 20 Pablo Carreño Busta, whowon quarterfinals on Tuesday.None of the remaining men haswon a Grand Slam title.

Aus Open chief hopes for25-50% crowds in 2021Melbourne: Australian Open chiefsare hoping to see Melbourne Park’sstadiums up to half full at the open-ing Grand Slam of 2021 inJanuary.

The fate of the tourna-ment remains up in the airwith Victoria state battling asecond wave of Covid-19.

Australian Open chief CraigTiley remains optimistic that theGrand Slam will go ahead, with atleast some fans to cheer on the play-ers, in contrast to the US Open

which is spectator free. “Underwhat we expect the restrictive con-ditions to be, 25% crowds would be

the bottom end and 50%would be the top end,” hetold the Melbourne Age onThursday.

“But a lot’s going todepend on the condition of theenvironment at that time.

“I would be jumping up anddown if that was the result,” Tileyadded. “That’s our aspiration. (But)anything is possible.” AFP

Vettel signs for

Racing Point

Srikanth, Sindhu are Thomas, Uber leadsBAI cancels preparatory camp

Aus still searching for best ODI formula: Finch

Venue P AW EW T/N/R

In Aus 71 45 25 -/1

In Eng 70 31 35 2/2

In India 3 2 1 -/-

In SA 2 2 - -/-

In UAE 2 1 1 -/-

In WI 1 1 - -/-

Total 149 82 62 2/3

D/N 70 43 25 -/2

Last 5 5 1 4 -/-

FFaaiisseell FFeeaattuurreess

AAUUSSTTRRAALLIIAA-EENNGGLLAANNDD IINN OODDIIss

Australian batsmen Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in nets AP/File Picture

‘Oz need to find ideal No 3’Melbourne: Former Australiacaptain Ricky Ponting feelsthat the national team man-agement needs to find anideal “No 3” in ODIs, some-one who will own that slot inyears to come.

The next ODI World Cupis scheduled to be held inIndia in 2023 and Pontingbelieves Australia have “workto do” on their one-day crick-

et ahead of the quadrennialevent.

“They need to find some-one that’s going to bat at No3 for them for a long time. It’ssuch a pivotal role, they needto find someone who’s goingto be a long-term playerthere,” Ponting said whiletalking to cricket.Com.Au.

It could either be MarnusLabuschagne or Steve Smith,

according to the two-timeWorld Cup winning skipper.

“Whether that’s Marnus(Labuschagne) there (at No 3)and Smith at four, or whetherit’s the other way round, whoknows what it’s going to be.”

“We’ll see how the Aussieboys go, but they’ve still gotsome work to do on theirone-day cricket, I think,”Ponting said. PTI

England vs AustraliaLive from 5:30pm IST

SONY TEN 3 & SIX

Vaccines won’t be ‘silver

bullet’ for staging Olympics

Hanuma trains for Down UnderAkhtar in talks with PCB for chief selector’s post

ctress KeerthySuresh, who haswrapped up thepatch workshooting of hernext, Good Luck

Sakhi with acclaimed film-maker Nagesh Kukunoor,said that her role in the filmwill be a part of her forever.“And that’s a WRAP! Thankyou so much to this lovelyteam! It’s been a pleasureworking with all of you.Sakhi, now and forever apart of me!#GoodLuckSakhi(sic),” the nation-al-

award winner, who is play-ing a shooter in thewoman-centric feel-gooddrama, wrote on her Twitter page.

Presently in post-produc-tion, the film will beKeerthy’s second film onthe trot-after Penguin-to geta direct digital release.Film’s co-producer andKeerthy’s bestie ShravyaVarma had told us lastmonth, “The film being my

maiden one, I’m emo-tionally attached

to it, so isthe teamand we

wanted athe-

atrical release. That said Ican’t hang on to the film. Asa producer, my goal is tosee it reach a maximumnumber of people and ifOTT is the way to go, thenI’m willing to evolve,” shepointed out and added thatshe is excited about the dig-ital route as it is the newfuture.

Devi Sri Prasad hasscored the music for GoodLuck Sakhi, which is a pro-duction venture of SudheerChandra Padiri. The likes ofJagapathi Babu, AadiPinishetty, RahulRamakrishna andRamaprabha have playedsupporting roles.

Unlike his earlierassociations, thefilmmaker hasrestricted himself topenning the story,screenplay anddialogues of the film

12

Vijayawada Friday September 11 2020tollywood

n his bid to inte-grate RamanaiduFilm School’s (RFS)alumni into main-stream filmmaking,producer Suresh

Babu on Thursday announcedtwo new projects with theschool’s former students. Ofthe two, one project, a crimethriller based on a small-timecrook, will be helmed by adebutant Satish Tripura, whilethe other will be directed byAshwin Gangaraju, who isalready making his debut as afeature filmmaker withAakashavani, which is fivedays away from a wrap-up.Ashwin’s project is a murdermystery based around a techentrepreneur.

Interestingly, both the filmswill see RFS students repre-senting various technicaldepartments. Both SureshBabu and his son Rana wereinstrumental in setting up theprojects.

NAGARAJ GOUD

nown for hisseminal works likeAithe andAnukokunda OkaRoju, filmmakerChandrasekhar

Yeleti is collaborating with Loser writer-directorAbhilash Reddy for hisdigital foray. Yeleti will be producing the seriesfrom a script of Abhilash,who won plaudits from the audience and criticsalike for the way he wentabout ZEE5 show Loser,The Pioneer has exclusivelylearnt. A source close tothe development confirms, “The series is a thriller peppered with family emotions. Italso covers a crime angle. Yeleti was impressedwith Abhilash’s idea and as

the latter continued to flesh it out further, he feltit can make for acaptivating watch. Thesenior director, ascreenplay expert, is also chipping in with hisinputs. As of now, the ideais to write a 10-episodeseries, with each episoderunning into 30 minutes.The story has been locked, while Abhilash and his team are givingfinal touches to thescreenplay.” The sourcefurther adds that nostreamer is attached to theproject as things standnow. “Once the screenplayis finished, Yeleti isplanning to start pitching it to different OTTplatforms and then take itfrom there. The directorand the streamer’s namewill be finalized by nextmonth.”

Chandrasekhar Yeleti

K

I

Chandrasekhar Yeleti Abhilash Reddy

Sakhi will be a part ofme forever: Keerthy

A

ilmmaker Maruthi,who hasn’t announced

his next after thehumongous success of

Prathiroju Pandage,will be associating

with a small film up next.According to a source, the

director has come up with aconcept-driven humorous

drama set in a realistic spaceand instead of directing it; heis keen on finding a directorwho would do justice to the

script. He would also presentthe film. The source adds,

“Having burned his fingers inthe past by associating with

some films as a co-producerand a writer, Maruthi is careful

now. He is taking the effort offinding a director who would

take his written material to thenext level. He would share

the profits with the producerwho decides to invest money

on it.”

Sampath's next inspired by a true incidentannada actorVasishta Simha,who played thesupporting role ofKamal in Yash-starrer box-office

smash KGF: Chapter One, ismaking his Telugu debut as alead with Sampath Nandi’scrime thriller Odela RailwayStation. The film is a produc-tion venture of KKRadhamohan with whomSampath made films likeBengal Tiger and Emaindi EeVela earlier. However, unlikehis earlier associations, thefilmmaker has restrictedhimself to penning the story,screenplay and dialogues ofthe film this time around,while his long-time associateAshok Teja is making hisdirectorial debut.

Inspired by a real incidentwhich transpired in Odelavillage, Peddapalli district of

Telangana, Ashok is givingthe film a complete realistictouch. From avoiding the useof songs, which are a regularfixture in Telugu cinema, hehas asked his cast to shootsans make-up. It is beingfilmed on a non-stop sched-ule. Besides familiar faceslike Hebah Patel, Sai Ronakand Pujita Ponnada, the filmalso features Mahesh(Rangasthalam fame),Bhupal, Sri Gagan, DivyaCyrus and Priya Hegde insupporting roles.

K

Maruthi toassociate witha small film

Suresh Babuannounces

projects withRamanaidu FilmSchool students

F

eteran actorParesh Rawalwas Thursdayappointedchairperson ofthe National

School of Drama (NSD),India’s premier theatreinstitute.

The post had beenvacant since 2017.

“Renowned artisteParesh Rawal has beenappointed as Chairman ofNational School of Dramaby Rashtrapati Bhavan. I amglad that students andartistes will be able to takeadvantage of his talent. I

con-gratulate

him,” Union CultureMinister Prahlad Patel said on Twitter.

Rawal, 65, who comeswith years of experience inboth cinema and theatre,told PTI he is looking for-ward to the assignment.

It will be challengingbut fun. I will do my bestbecause this is a field Iknow very well, he said.

Rawal, a former BJPMP, has been appointed for

a period of four years, saidNitin Tripathi, advisor,media, Ministry of Culture.

The actor is known forhis role in films such asHera Pheri , Atithi TumKab Jaoge and OMG-OhMy God .

V

Actor Paresh Rawalappointed new chief ofNational School of Drama

TEAMS UP WITHLOSER DIRECTOR