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India's GDP shrank by thesteepest ever 23.9 per cent in theApril-June period as the coro-navirus lockdowns battered analready slowing economy, offi-cial data showed on Monday.Agriculture was the only outlieras all other sectors, includingmanufacturing, constructionand services, suffered steepdeclines.

India's economy had grownby 5.2 per cent in the same quar-ter of last fiscal, as per the datareleased by the NationalStatistical Office (NSO).

The government hadimposed a nationwide lock-down from March 25, 2020 tocurb the spread of Covid-19infections which adverselyimpacted all sectors ofthe economy.

According tothe data, grossvalue added(GVA) growthin the manu-facturing sec-tor contractedby 39.3 per centin the first quarterof 2020-21, from 3per cent expansion ayear ago.

However, farm sector GVAgrew at 3.4 per cent, comparedto 3 per cent in the corre-sponding period of 2019-20.

Construction sector GVAcontracted by a whopping 50.3

per cent from 5.2per cent expansion

earlier. Mining sectoroutput declined at 23.3

per cent, as against a growthof 4.7 per cent a year ago.Electricity, gas, water supplyand other utility services seg-ment too shrank by 7 per centin the first quarter of 2020-21,against 8.8 per cent growth ayear ago. Similarly, trade, hotel,

transport, communication andservices related to broadcastingdeclined 47 per cent in the firstquarter from 3.5 per centgrowth earlier.

Financial, real estate and pro-fessional services fell by 5.3 percent in Q1 FY21 from 6 per centgrowth in same period last fis-cal. Public administration,defence and other services toosaw a decline of 10.3 per cent

during the quarter under review,from 7.7 per cent growth a yearearlier.

"GDP at Constant (2011-12)Prices in Q1 of 2020-21 is esti-mated at Rs 26.90 lakh-crore, asagainst Rs 35.35 lakh-crore inQ1 of 2019-20, showing a con-traction of 23.9 percent as com-pared to 5.2 per cent growth inQ1 2019-20," the NSO said in astatement.

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As if in one voice, leader afterleader of the ruling YSRCP onMonday strove hard to portrayTDP supremo N ChandrababuNaidu as ‘anti-Dalit’ whilepainting their party chief YSJaganmohan Reddy as a cham-pion of Dalit rights.

Their objective was clear —to take the fizz out of the polit-ical ammunition that fate haslanded in the lap of Naidu inthe form of atrocities on Dalitsthat have seen a spike in therecent past.

While the argument is thatatrocities on the suppressed

sections of societies have beenthe bane of society since timeimmemorial, therecent incidentshave been usedby the TDP topaint the rulingparty in badlight.

It was obvi-ous that theYSRCP wouldrebuff the TDPattack sooner than later,and on Monday, the partyactivists hit the streets. Protestswere staged across the state, ledby Ministers and Legislators.

‘Palabishekam’ and submis-

sion of a memorandum tostatues of Dr BR Ambedkar

were the not the onlycommon factors at all

these protests. Acrossthe 13 districts ofthe State, Naiduwas told that hehas no right tospeak about the

welfare of SCs andSTs.The YSRCP leaders

went to great lengths toremind the people that it wasNaidu who had said “whowould want to be born an SC”.Using this quote, the YSRCPleaders alleged that the former

chief minister had made fun ofSTs stating that they are notintelligent. “SC and ST com-munities hate Chandrababufor his anti-Dalit behaviour,”said Deputy Chief Minister PPushpa Sreevani.

She also hailed Jagan as astaunch supporter of Dalits,saying that the present dispen-sation had spent Rs 13,000crore on welfare schemes forSCs and STs in the 14 monthsit has been in power. “TheYSRCP Government has beentaking immediate action oncases of atrocities against SCsand STs,” Sreevani said.

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For the sixth day in a row,more than 10,000 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported, asAndhra Pradesh’s Covid-19graph continued its steep spi-ral to reach 4,34,771 onMonday.

AP also became the secondstate behind Maharashtra tohave more than one lakhactive coronavirus cases, thelatest statistics revealed.

After 3,30,526 recoveriesand 3,969 deaths, the State has1,00,276, the latest bulletinsaid.

On Sunday, AP took thesecond place in the national

Covid-19 chart, relegatingTamil Nadu to the third spot.

With more thanhalf the 13 dis-t r i c t sreportingc a s e sdaily inexcessof 800e a c h ,t h enumberof activecases hasbeen piling upthough overall more than8,500 patients are getting dis-charged from hospitals.

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While the rest of the Statehas been reeling under

the rapid spread ofCovid-19 cases,Krishna district hasmanaged to gain asemblance of controlover the infection, if

official figures are any-thing to go by. The number of people

testing positive for the infec-tion has been going down,and presently the districtstands last on the list of casesin the State.

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As many as seven non-BJP ruledstates, including Kerala andPunjab, besides Union TerritoryPuducherry on Monday reject-ed the Centre's suggestion ofstates borrowing to make up forthe GST shortfall, saying the con-stitutional liability lies with theUnion government.

At an informal meeting onMonday, six non-BJP ruledstates — Punjab, West Bengal,Kerala, Delhi, Chhattisgarh andTelangana — felt that an alter-native mechanism should beworked out to compensate the

GST revenue shortfall.Besides, Congress-ruled

Rajasthan and Puducherry toosaid they will follow suit on theissue of compensation.

Punjab Finance MinisterManpreet Singh Badal said ifstates have to borrow, then theCentre will have to amendcompensation law which saysthat the central governmentwill compensate states for loss

of revenue arising out of imple-mentation of the Goods andServices Tax (GST).

Speaking to reporters inHyderabad, Telangana FinanceMinister T Harish Rao said:"Unfortunately the Centre is try-ing to shy away from paying ...GST compensation to states inthe name of act of god and coro-navirus. It is not fair on (the)Centre's part to tell states to bor-row (for GST losses). It was loudand clear that as per the GSTAct, the Centre will compensateif the states' tax revenues growthis less than 14 per cent".

Ex-Prez Pranab Mukherjeedies after Covid treatment �(�� -��

Former President PranabMukherjee, one of India'smost cerebral and respectedpoliticians, died on Mondayevening following a 21-daybattle with multiple ailments.He was 84. Mukherjee, whowas admitted to the Army'sResearch and ReferralHospital on August 10 andwas operated for a removal ofa clot in the brain the sameday, is survived by two sonsand a daughter.

The long-time Congressleader and seven-timeParliamentarian had testedpositive for Covid-19 at thetime of his admission andwas being treated for a lunginfection. He had suffered aseptic shock on Sunday dueto it. Doctors said he died ofa cardiac arrest at 4.30 pm.

His son Abhijit Mukherjeewas the first to break the

news of the death of the vet-eran politician.

"With a Heavy Heart, thisis to inform you that myfather Shri Pranab Mukherjeehas just passed away inspiteof the best efforts of Doctorsof RR Hospital and prayers,duas and prarthanas frompeople throughout India! Ithank all of You (sic),” he saidon Twitter.

�.$�(��"��! %��,"$�The Central Government

on Monday announced aseven-day state mourningfollowing the death of formerPresident Pranab Mukherjee.In a statement, the homeministry said that as a markof respect to the departeddignitary, state mourningwill be observed for sevendays throughout India fromAugust 31 to September 6,both days inclusive. "Duringthe period of state mourning,the National Flag will fly athalf-mast on all buildingsthroughout India, where it isflown regularly, and there willbe no official entertainment,"the statement said.

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consecutive month, theoutput of eight core infra-structure sectors dropped by9.6 per cent in July due todecline mostly in produc-tion of steel, refinery productsand cement.

The production of eightcore sectors had expanded by2.6 per cent in July 2019,showed data released by theCommerce and IndustryMinistry on Monday.

Barring fertilisers, all sevensectors — coal, crude oil,

natural gas, refineryproducts, steel,

cement and elec-tricity — recordednegative growth in

July. The rate of contractionin the sectors, however, hascome down from 37.9 percent in April.

The output of steel, refin-ery products, cement, natur-

al gas, coal, crude oil and elec-tricity declined by 16.5 percent, 13.9 per cent, 13.5 percent, 10.2 per cent, 5.7 percent, 4.9 per cent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

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Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onMonday directed officials tocommence a comprehensiveland survey, including inurban areas, from January 1,2021, and complete it byAugust 2023.

Chairing a review meetinghere, the Chief Ministerinstructed officials to increasethe number of survey teamsfrom the present 4,500 and ifnecessary, use drones, rovers,marking stones and base sta-tions for a comprehensiveland survey, which will betaking off from January 1.The marking stones shouldhave special design, he said.

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Former President PranabMukherjee left his indeliblemark on undivided AndhraPradesh, playing the role oftroubleshooter effectively andsaving the Congress from manya crisis.

Every time a crisis surfaced in

the Congress, Pranab, who wasaffectionately called Dada, wascalled upon to defuse it. Andthis was ever so often, since itappeared that the Congressboat was always rocked by cri-sis after crisis.

One of the issues that Pranabdefused was statehood toTelangana region, and another

significant issue was YSJaganmohan Reddy’s bid for theCM’s post, following theuntimely death of his father.

To effectively deal with thetwo issues, the Congress wasfully dependent on Pranab, areflection on the dexterity of theveteran Congress leader in deal-ing with crises.

Troubleshooter politician wholeft his mark on Telugu states

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quintessential party loy-alist and the trustedMan Friday of three

Congress prime ministers,Pranab Mukherjee's climb upthe political ladder stopped justshort of his ambition to occu-py 7 Race Course Road, insteadsending him to the RashtrapatiBhavan as the country's firstcitizen.

Mukherjee, India's 13thpresident, Congress' trou-bleshooter through the decadesand one of the country's mostrespected politicians, died onMonday after a 21-day illnessand five decades in public life.He was 84. A people's persontill the end, Citizen Mukherjee'used Twitter to communicateto the world that he had test-ed positive for COVID-19 onAugust 10. It was his last post,and his last words to the pub-lic. Demonstrating his ability toquickly adapt to situations asthey arose, Mukherjee was atease with the new mode ofcommun-ication. Twitter wasa platform he used often, toexpress his condolences onthe death of leaders andfriends, greet people on festi-vals or wish them on theirbirthdays.

Some politicians don't fadeinto the background. And so itwas with the scholarlyMukherjee too. He remained apresence to contend with evenafter he demitted the office ofpresident, often making head-lines as he attended booklaunches and delivered lec-tures.

It was a life of many firstsand accomplishments for theWest Bengal-born politician,famed for his encyclopaedicmemory, razor sharp intellectand deep insights into issues.

In 1982, he became India'syoungest finance ministerwhen he was just 47. In theyears that followed, he servedas India's minister for ExternalAffairs, Defence, Finance andCommerce and was the firstIndian president to have doneso.

Mukherjee managed the raredistinction of serving threeprime ministers as minister —Indira Gandhi, P V NarasimhaRao and Manmohan Singhever the Congress' trusted ManFriday as it evolved over thedecades.

Mukherjee was also India'sonly non-prime minister whowas leader of the Lok Sabha foreight years. He was also leaderof the Rajya Sabha from 1980-85.

There were other land-marks in a remark-able politicalcareer, which

started in 1969 as a RajyaSabha member for the BanglaCongress which subsequentlymerged with the Congress.

When he became presidentin 2012, Mukherjee was head-ing 24 of 39 GOMs (groups ofminis-

ters). Between 2004-2012, hechaired 95 GOMs.

Mukherjee was famous inpolitical circles as a consensusbuilder. He inspired trustamong leaders across the polit-ical spectrum, an asset thatproved handy at the time of hiselection as president.

It was a many splendouredpolitical career, which ended atthe presidential palace. Butthe prime minister's post elud-ed him, even though it was aposition he openly aspired for.

In his book The CoalitionYears , Mukherjee acknowl-edged that he had hoped to getthe post in May 2004 after thenCongress president SoniaGandhi herself declined theposition.

Finally she named DrManmohan Singh as herchoice and he accepted. Theprevalent expectation was thatI would be the next choice forprime minister after SoniaGandhi declined, Mukherjeewrote, admitting that he hadinitially refused to join the cab-inet of Manmohan Singh whohad been his junior in the pastbut agreed when Sonia Gandhiinsisted.

Mukherjee remained theUPA's chief crisis managerthrough its tumultuous years,starting 2004 until he becamepresident on July 25, 2012.

Born on December 11, 1935in the small village of Mirati inWest Bengal's Birbhum district,Mukherjee received earlylessons in life from his freedomfighter parents. His father, aCongress leader, endured great

financial hardship and wassent to jail several

times for his rolein the freedomstruggle.

� ��0"!�� "��!�-�!�"!0!"� $"��!��*8��$"��Athorough gentleman , a

great statesman and aleader admired across politicalspectrum is how film person-alities, including melody queenLata Mangeshkar, actorsHrithik Roshan and MadhuriDixit remembered formerpresident Pranab Mukherjee,who passed away on Mondayat the age of 84.

Mourning the former pres-ident's demise, Mangeshkarsaid Mukherjee was a "thor-ough gentleman". "Our formerpresident, a Bharat Ratna anda thorough gentleman Weshared a very warm and cordial

relationship. Heartfelt condo-lences to the family," she tweet-ed. Extending his condolencesto the family, Devgn tweeted,"India loses a great statesmanand respected leader."Filmmaker Karan Johar wrote:"RIP SIR...Reverence, Respectand Salute to your incredibleservice to our great nation...."

Calling Mukherjee a "states-man par excellence", actorMadhuri Dixit wrote,"Myheartfelt condolences to thefriends & family grieving theloss of one of our finest lead-ers, Shri #PranabMukherjee.May he rest in peace."

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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Wisdom does notseem to havedawned upon the

Opposition parties, going bythe fact that they are notadopting to the changingtimes in India or to the changein the way the youth andsociety think. In spite of vot-ers teaching them a bitter les-son, Opposition parties arestill sticking to age-old yard-sticks to gauge society.

Political parties are still try-ing to use university campus-es for their dirty politics andfomented trouble, affectingthe careers of the youth.

Youth try to capture emerg-ing opportunities as societyprogresses. With competitioncutthroat now, people valuetime and use every minute tohone their skill so that theywill not lag behind others.

In such a scenario, they sup-port leaders who pave theirway with gold and vote themto power.

Realising that NarendraModi has the ability to fulfiltheir dreams, the youth gavea huge mandate to Modi in2014 elections. Even in 2020,there is no let up in the love

and affection the youth havefor Modi.

The reason is not far to see— the youth are able to distin-guish between corrupt policiesof previous regimes and theModi regime that encouragescompetition and promotesefficiency.

During Congress rule, pro-jects were not executed at afast pace, policies were notimplemented and imbroglioprevailed. Modi dusted offold files, increased the pace ofexecution of pending projectsand completed works as perschedule. His governmentgave priority to this. Modigave importance to youth andbid adieu to time barredthinking, not only in politicalsystem, but also in runningthe country’s administrationand in research and develop-ment. He welcomed modernthinking. The youth realisedthat Modi is not the one whowithholds decisions and post-pones projects.

Whether demonetisationor introducing GST regimewithdrawing 17 taxes or AtmaNirbhar Bharat concept tomake the country self-reliantin the post-Covid situation,youth cherish every step Modihas taken and his bold style.

There is no one who doesnot cherish the fact that Modihas taken firm decisions onissues like J&K or RamJanmabhoomi that stand astestimony to India’s existence.

This is why dissidents in theCongress, who raised a bannerof revolt in the party recent-ly, have expressed concernover that party’s high com-

mand failing to notice thepopularity of Modi.

Some opposition leadersare realising the facts, but amajority are still trying toexploit students and youth tomeet their selfish politicalends.

The Opposition partieshave tried to create trouble inUniversity of Hyderabad,Jamia Milia, Delhi University,JNU and others. Now they areout to create disturbances inthe country seeking to post-pone JEE and NEET examina-tions.

At a time the country wantsto shrug off the Coronavirus

and return to normalcy byincreasing recovery rate and ata time the country stands atthe threshold of developing avaccine, Opposition partiesare playing with the future ofstudents trying to createapprehensions that their liveswould be at risk if JEE andNEET examinations were tobe held.

JEE and NEET, for admis-sion to IITs and Medical

Colleges, are usually held inApril. Because ofCovid, theexaminationswere post-poned twice.

If put offagain, the academicyear would bepushed back to January, forc-ing the authorities to reducesyllabus, affecting the qualityof courses.

The government had a deci-sion to make — whether towaste one full academic yearbecause of Covid or conductthe examinations amidst suit-able precautions.

After discussions withexperts and heads of variousinstitutions, the Centre hasdecided to conduct the examsin September. The SupremeCourt quashed a writ petitionfiled by 11 students whoargued that the conduct ofexams would put lives of stu-dents at risk. The apex courtcommented that the life can-

not come to a standstill, itshould march on adopt-

ing suitable precau-tions.

The NationalTesting Agency has

made all arrangementsto conduct the tests safely.

All educational institutionsacross the country have agreedto conduct JEE and NEET. Infact, 99 per cent of the stu-dents have exercised theirexam centre option.

The students are preparingfor the examinations, irre-spective of the controversybeing raked up byOpposition. A majority ofthe states have come forwardto provide free transport forstudents.

For the JEE exams to beheld from September 1 to 6,arrangements have beenmade for social distance,sanitisers, thermal screen-ing etc. More number ofcentres have been identifiedfor benefit of students.

Union Education MinisterRamesh Pokhrial has reiter-ated that safety of the stu-dents is of utmost impor-tance.

The Opposition partiesfeel pained which theNational Testing Agency orUnion Education Ministeror students who wants toprogress their career.

CMs of six non-BJP stateshave filed a review petition inthe SC to stall the examina-tions. Interim Congress pres-ident Sonia Gandhi, failedpresident Rahul Gandhi, hissister Priyanka Vadra havebeen issuing tweets aftertweets demanding postpone-ment of examinations.

West Bengal CM MamataBanerjee has been trying tocreate problems for studentsto divert public attentionfrom her anarchic rule.

While people, students andyouth progress welcomingModi’s leadership in tunewith the changing times, theCongress and otherOpposition parties are withtheir time barred agitationmethods are blowing a conchbefore the deaf.

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Around 43 per cent of thetotal coronavirus cases inIndia have been recordedfrom just three states ,Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh and Karnataka, theUnion health ministry saidon Monday.

It asserted that the Centreis regularly engaging withthe states and UnionTerritories that are reportinga spurt in cases and thosewith a higher fatality rate.

Such states and UnionTerritories have been advisedto undertake aggressive mea-sures to ensure higher testing,effective clinical managementto lower fatality and savelives along with efficientmonitoring at various levels,

the health ministry said."India has registered 78,512cases in the last 24 hours(August 30). Hence thereport by certain media enti-ties of about 80,000 cases inthe last 24 hours is withoutany basis," it said.

The ministry also said thatseven states have contributedto 70 per cent of these newcases in the last 24 hours. Ofthese, Maharashtra has con-tributed the maximum case-load amounting to almost21 per cent, followed by

Andhra Pradesh 13.5 percent, Karnataka 11.27 percent and Tamil Nadu with8.27 per cent.

Of the total number ofcases, around 43 per centwere recorded in just threestates of Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka, it said.

Maharashtra, AndhraPradesh and Karnataka alsoaccount for about 50 percent of the deaths added inthe last 24 hours due to

COVID-19, withMaharashtra leading with30.48 per cent, the ministrysaid. The coronavirus tally inIndia crossed 36 lakh onMonday with 78,512 newcases, while the number ofrecover ies surged to27,74,801, pushing the recov-ery rate to 76.62 per cent,according to the HealthMinistry data. The death tollclimbed to 64,469 with 971more people succumbing tothe infection in 24 hours.

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The Andhra Pradesh CongressCommittee (APCC) onMonday advised Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy to exertpressure on the Centre to getback the GST dues from it.APCC president SakeSailajanath in a statement hereon Monday flayed the Centralgovernment for offeringarrangement of loans instead ofpaying the GST dues to theStates and repay the loanamount from the compensationcess collections.

He lambasted the Centralgovernment for behaving like adictator and going against thespirit of federalism. He suggest-ed to the State government notto agree to the terms set by theCentre and to insist on releaseof the GST dues to the State. Healleged that the Centre wasimposing heavy GST on luxu-ry imports lining its pocket.

Recalling the statement ofFinance Minister NirmalaSeetharaman that the revenueof Rs 2.35 lakh crore would belost due to Coronavirus thisyear and only Rs 65,000 crorewould be materialised, he

assailed the Finance Ministerfor stating that the Centre wasnot in a position to pay GSTcompensation.

He said that when the GSTwas introduced in 2017, theCentre has agreed to compen-sate the loss to the States for thefirst five years. Now the, theCentre is going back on its wordby stating that it was not in aposition to pay compensation.Since the Central governmenthas announced that therewould be no fresh taxes thisyear, there is no possibility ofimprovement of the revenuethis year. He exhorted all thenon-BJP States to unite on thisfront to exert pressure on theCentre to get compensation.

He further stated that exceptfor the lone AP Congress, allother political parties, includ-ing the ruling YSRCP and theopposition TDP are tight-lipped on the GST dues, whichthe State has to get from theCentral government. Despitethe State being in neck deepfinancial crisis, the YSRCP gov-ernment was reportedly is notfocusing to put pressure on theBJP led NDA government onthe GST dues for its own rea-sons, it is learnt.

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The TDP has failed as theOpposition and is takingrefuge on social media and cre-ating hurdles to the develop-ment process of the govern-ment, alleged party officialspokesperson AmbatiRambabu. Speaking to themedia here on Monday, he saidthat TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu and hisson Lokesh were confined toZoom and Twitter withoutstepping out of their cozyhome in Hyderabad whileTDP friendly media is tryinghard to make believe that theOpposition is active in theState contrary to reality.

He slammed Naidu for notbeing in the State during thepandemic and criticising thegovernment initiatives overZoom conferences. He saidthat the Opposition can beseen only in its friendly mediabut in reality it's completelyabsent in the State. Though theState government saved Rs4,000 crore with ReverseTendering and Judicial

Preview, such stories remainunnoticed in their section ofthe media, he pointed out.

Rambabu said that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy is committed to the wel-fare of public and has directlycredited Rs 60,000 crore intothe accounts of 4.5 crore ben-eficiaries, without any middle-men. The Chief Minister isstriving for the all-round devel-opment of SCs, STs, BCs andMinorities and stands by Dalitcommunity.

Naidu has no right to speakfor Dalits as many atrocitieswere committed against them

during his term and he hadnever bothered to take actionagainst those accused. UnlikeNaidu, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy had takenquick action against thoseattacking Dalits.

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People belonging to all walksof life were affected due toCorona. Though the workersin unorganised sector wereworst-hit but other sectors,including teaching profes-sion, too, hit by the pandem-ic. The Covid-19 renderedmany jobless while teachers,who revered and honoured,were left in the lurch. It maybe recalled that a few inci-dents where teachers turninginto vendors were reported ina section of the media recent-ly. Many moved over theirplight while the governmentand good Samaritans came totheir rescue. Yet another inci-dent where a teacher was sell-ing footwear was highlightedin a section of the media.

On learning about the inci-dent, District Collector A Md

Imtiaz met Mathematicsteacher T Venkateshwara Rao,who was selling footwear onthe BRTS Road inVijayawada..

It may be recalled thatVenkateshwara Rao, who usedto teach Mathematics to ClassX students in three differentschools, lost his job due to the

pandemic.Vekateswara Rao said that

the pandemic played havocwith the lives of many peoplelike him and it appears that itwould take much time tobring back the situation tonormalcy. Since, he did nothave any other alternatesource of income, he tried

many ways to feed his wifeand three children. He alsotried to work for a couriercompany and other worksbut nobody gave employmentto him. He used to distributenewspapers and do other parttime jobs when he was young.But he found it convenient tosell footwear now.

When the Collector askedhim why he chose footwearsales, he said that everybodyneeds footwear and it wouldgive him a chance to feed hisfamily. He was earning aboutRs 300 per day, he said.

The Collector offered hima job on an outsourcing basis,or loan for starting somebusiness for whichVenkateshwar Rao said thathe would start some business,if he was granted loan. Hethanked the Collector forcoming to his help.

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Governor BiswaB u s h a nHa r i c h a n d a n ,Chief Minister Y SJagan Mohan Reddy,Telugu Desam Partypresident N ChandrababuNaidu, Congress president SSailajanath and other leadersmourned the death of formerPresident Pranab Mukherjeeon Monday.

Harichandan recalled theservices of Pranab Mukherjee as13th President and said the lat-ter rendered over five decades ofexemplary service to the nationin government as well asParliament.

The Governor saidMukherjee held the rare distinc-tion of having served at differ-ent times as Foreign, Defence,Commerce and FinanceMinister and was instrumentalin spearheading important leg-islations such as Right toInformation, Right toEmployment, Food Security,setting up of UIDAI and MetroRail.

"Pranab Mukherjee was apowerful orator, scholar, intellec-tual and a leader with enormouspolitical prowess and wasacclaimed for his role as a con-sensus builder on difficultnational issues through his abil-ity to forge unity amongst thediverse political parties thatform part of country’s vibrantmulti-party democracy,"Harichandan noted.

The Governor conveyed hiscondolences to members of thebereaved family. In a statement,the Chief Minister said the

"unfortunatedemise" ofstatesmanP r a n a bMukherjee

was a tragicloss to the

nation."His invaluable contributions

to the nation’s progress in overfive decades of exemplary ser-vices will always be rememberedwith great pride," Jagan said."Pranab da," in his long politi-cal innings, had shown maturi-ty in dealing with complexissues and had passed throughtesting times, the Chief Ministeradded and conveyed his sympa-thies to the bereaved family.

In Pranab Mukherjeesdemise, the nation lost a multi-faceted talent and a politicalstatesman, TDP presidentChandrababu said. "In his six-decade-long political career,Pranab Mukherjee remainednon-controversial and hadrather been a trouble-shooter.

His simplicity and integrityshould act as a guiding spirit forfuture generations,"Chandrababu said in a state-ment. BJP vice-presidentVishnuvardhan Reddy, stateCongress president S Sailajanath,Jana Sena president K PawanKalyan and other senior leadersalso expressed sorrow over thedeath of the former president.

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Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan extended heartycongratulations to theIndian team for win-ning the first OnlineFIDE ChessOlympiad Co-championship joint-ly with Russia. TheGovernor greeted theIndian team that com-prised Vishwanathan Anand,Koneru Humpy, DronavilliHarika, Harkishna, Divya ,Nihal and Vidit for winningthe prestigious Fide OnlineOlympiad Co-Championshipby making the right movesand sharing the honours in thefinals. The Governor said the

Indian team has won laurelsfor the country by theirremarkable achievement andwished the team many more

successes in the future.Leader of the

Opposition NChandrababu Naiduhas congratulated theIndian team afterthey were crowned

with the joint goldmedal in the finals of

Fide Online Chess Olympiad.India won this victory alongwith Russia.

In a statement here onMonday , Naidu wished formany more such victories forthe Indian team in future.This success would motivateother chess players

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TDP leader and former min-ister KS Jawahar alleged thatChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy is an anti-dalit. Addressing the mediapersons here onMonday, he allegedthat attacks onDalits are on therise in the Stateduring theYSRCP’s regime.He said that bygiving ministriesto a few Dalits theChief Minister cannotclaims himself to be a Dalit-friendly, he pointed out. Hesaid that TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu was theonly leader, who promotedsocial justice to Dalits, so thatthey could be in the forefrontand economically empoweredin all walks of life. He point-ed out that in 15 months ofYSRCP rule, Dalits were sub-jected to attacks and all kindof humiliations across the

State. He recalled the recentdeath of a Dalit youth inMinister for Panchayat RajPeddireddy RamachandraReddy’s constituency, tonsur-ing of Dalit youth in East

Godavari district, andpointed out that no

action has beentaken againstthose who wereinvolved in it.He alleged thatdespite five Dalitministers in the

YSRCP Cabinetnone of them dared

to talk on the attackson Dalits as they are happy

getting the ministry and cam-paigning for Jagan as Dalit-friendly.

He said that the culpritsshould be arrested as wasdone in the VisakhapatnamDalit tonsuring case. He fur-ther stated that during theTDP ruling, Dalits lived withdignity while in the presentgovernment there is no secu-rity to them, he added.

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The CM Dashboard of AndhraPradesh reflects day-to-daydevelopment of most of thecrucial departments making itan indicator. However, the ‘APInnovation’ slab of the dash-board has not been updated fora long time and showing theold data.

In the absence of the new ITPolicy followed by the Covid-19 pandemic has totally put abrake on the development inthe IT sector. Hence, the inno-vation wing of IT is also lyingdormant since the YSRCP ledgovernment came to power.

AP Innovation Society wastasked with creating anecosystem for innovation bymentoring startups and alsoexposing them to theinvestors. The aim was to cre-ate a world class technologystart-up ecosystem by foster-ing entrepreneurship and aculture of innovation, whichcontributes to increased

knowledge, wealth andemployment in the State.

There were about eight incu-bators in AP mentoring thestartups. However, the innova-tion mentoring body of theState is dysfunctional now.Most of the incubators havestopped rendering their serviceafter their contract was over.The Sunrise Incubation Towerin Madhurwada IT SEZ is alsoseeing no activity.

However, the AP InnovationSlab available on the CMDashboard is still showing theold data giving an impressionas if the incubators are stillfunctioning. There are noactivities, events, or boot campsconducted from 2019.

The representatives of ITAssociation of Andhra Pradeshare also keenly waiting for theIT policy to be released. The ITcompanies are playing a wait

and watch strategy and plan-ning to take decisions only afterseeing the policy of the Stategovernment.

When asked about the futureof AP Innovation Society andstart-up incubators, ITMinister Mekapati GouthamReddy had spoken about theplans of the AP government toset up an incubator on the linesof T-Hub pooling the IT firmstogether. But, the plan is yet totake any shape so far.

The startups in AndhraPradesh are also looking up tothe CORE (CM Office Real-time Executive Dashboard) aninitiative of Government ofAndhra Pradesh is a visual dis-

play of the department’s infor-mation, which needs to achieveone or more objectives; consol-idated and arranged in a singleframe so that the informationcan be monitored effectively bythe Chief Minister at a glance.

In all, 33 State governmentdepartments are integratedinto the CORE Dashboard.Various key statistics (50 slabs)of departments concerned arepublished in the COREDashboard, which may providekey insights of Departmentactivities.

It also displays the depart-ment’s key performance indi-cators that can be analysed fornecessary action.

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Anticipating possible land grab-bing incidents and surge inother crimes involving rowdy-sheeters in the projectedExecutive Capital, Vizag, citypolice, along with their ruralcounterparts, have initiatedground work to invokePreventive Detention (PD) Acton active rowdy-sheeters andsome ganja smugglers.

The police department ismulling to take many other suchinitiatives for the maintenanceof law and order in the city andalso the Vizag region.

Vizag city has around 400rowdy-sheeters and around 80to 100 rowdy-sheeters are activeand they have been indulging inillegal activities. Despite thepolice’s counseling sessions,some rowdy-sheeters continueto indulge in illegal activities andcrimes.

The police are suspectingthat some people used to hirethe rowdy-sheeters for landgrabbing and other illegal activ-ities. The ganja trade, suparikillings, land deals, and extor-tion are the major source ofincome for the rowdy-sheetersin the city.

To cut the crime and actagainst the habitual offenders,Deputy Commissioner of Police(North Zone) Aishwarya

Rastogi said plans are on toinvoke PD Act on active rowdy-sheeters, who had offencesagainst them in the past fewmonths in the city to maintainthe peace and to improve polic-ing in the city. Apart from area-wise observation on the activerowdy-sheeters, person-wisefocus will be their plan of action,he added.

Around a year ago, Vizag citypolice invoked PreventiveDetention (PD) Act on a rowdy-sheeter D Sriramakrishna, res-ident of Maharanipeta in Vizagcity. Sriramakrishna wasinvolved in over 10 cases undervarious police stations limits inthe city.

The Vizag rural police are alsochalking out plans to invoke PDAct on some ganja smugglers asa deterrent. The police said thatsome people in a few villageshave been involving in the ganjasmuggling and also acting asmediators between inter-state

ganja smugglers and ganja grow-ers in Vizag Agency. The policehave started to filter out the listof the repeated offenders in theillegal ganja business to slap PDAct against them to take themunder preventive arrest. So far,rowdy-sheeters booked casesagainst the offenders under theNDPS Act and if they invokethe PD Act, it will act as a deter-rent, the police added.

“Vizag is known for the cityof peace and tranquility, how-ever, some anti-social elementsare tarnishing the image of thecity. We are appealing to thepolice to banish the rowdy-sheeters from the city to main-tain law and order and peace asthe city may witness land grab-bing and other activities as it istipped to the Executive Capitaltag,” said K Lokanadham, anactivist.

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Call it desperation for money, orsimply addiction to break-ins!But four burglars did not thinkabout possible injuries to them-selves when they stole a safe (Iron Safe) weighing nearly 200kg from a Asian Paints shop,took it to a nearby field and thenhammered it for hours to stealthe gold ornaments, silver jew-ellery and cash from it.

The incident happened atRavikamatham area in Vizagdistrict on the intervening nightof Sunday and Monday. TheRavikamatham police andlocals were also perplexed withthe theft. Four persons are sus-

pected to be involved. The bur-glars lifted the shutter of theAsian Paints store and straightwent to the owner’s cabin locat-ed in the store inside. Knowingthat it was impossible to lift theheavy safe, they tried to break itbut they thought it would makea loud noise while breaking theiron safe. The burglars managedto lift the iron safe and placed ontheir vehicle. After a few hours,the safe broke and they stole 200gms of gold, four kgs of silverand Rs 10,000 cash kept inside,said Ravikamatham police

On Monday morning, whenthe owner of the store camethere, he realised that burglarshad struck.

Continued from Page 1

"FMs of Punjab, Delhi, WBengal, Chhattisgarh, Telanganaand Kerala agreed to reject theCentre's options on GST com-pensation. Our option: CentralGovernment to borrow the entirecompensation due regardless ofacts of gods, humans or nature,to be paid back by extending theperiod of cess," Kerala FinanceMinister Thomas Isaac said.

In a letter to Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,Badal demanded full clarity onthe options given by the Centreand sought an urgent meeting ofthe GST Council on the issue.

"Punjab is prepared to coop-erate in a spirit of finding a solu-tion to this vexed problem but isunable to persuade itself to eitherof the options presented at thisstage," Badal said, adding that themethod of calculating losses bythe Centre is arbitrary, one-sided and devoid of any legal jus-tification.

In a tweet, Isaac said the statehas no choice other than to rejectthe options "lock, stock and bar-rel".

"Enough is enough. No moresurrender of states rights. GSTCompensation is our constitu-tional right," Isaac tweeted.

The Centre and Opposition-ruled states are at loggerheadsover the financing of the Rs 2.35lakh-crore GST shortfall in thecurrent fiscal. Of this, as perCentre's calculation, about Rs

97,000 crore is on account of GSTimplementation and rest Rs 1.38lakh-crore is the impact ofCovid-19 on states' revenues.

The Centre last week gave twooptions to the states to borroweither from a special windowfacilitated by the Reserve Bank ofIndia or from the market and hasalso proposed extending thecompensation cess levied onluxury, demerit and sin goodsbeyond 2022.

"We all got it wrong regarding

the Centre's proposal on GSTdeadlock. This itself is sad com-mentary on proceedings ofCouncil. We discuss for 5 hoursand then the Chair comes upwith proposals which are total-ly disconnected with discus-sions and no time left for anyclarification," Isaac tweeted.

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel also wrote toSitaraman saying the Centreshould not pressurise states totake loans. The money to com-pensate them for the loss of taxrevenues should be arranged bythe Central government.

"While the GST compensationwas to be paid bi-monthly, thestate government has notreceived Rs 2,828 crore compen-sation for the four months of cur-rent 2020-21 fiscal," he wrote.

He said the constitutionalobligation for making good anyloss of revenues due to imple-mentation of GST lies with theCentre.

"GST compensation cess is

collected by the Centre andusing that to pay for loan takenby state governments is a com-plex and uncertain process," hewrote. "The Centre shouldarrange for the compensationfrom its resources or loan."

Badal in his letter also sug-gested that the GST councilshould invite views on resolv-ing the possible dispute underthe mechanism provided inArticle 279A(11) of theConstitution.

Article 279A(11) of theConstitution provides that theGST Council creates a mecha-nism to resolve disputes betweenthe Centre and states, amongothers.

"We ... take both the optionswith great regret as a clear breachof the solemn and constitution-al assurance by the CentralGovernment. We believe this asa betrayal of the spirit of coop-erative federalism that formedthe backbone of GST-journey sofar," Badal said.

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As per the health bulletinreleased on Monday, Krishnadistrict reported 159 of the10,004 positive cases recordedacross Andhra Pradesh in thelast 24 hours.

A total of 16,284 positivecases have been reported in thedistrict since the pandemic tookroot and as on date, Krishna dis-trict has 2,281 active cases andas many as 13,725 patients havemade a complete recovery fromthe virus. Two people suc-cumbed to the virus during thelast 24 hours, taking the toll to278.

District collector A Md.Imtiaz credited the peopleof people of the districtin general and ofVijayawada in partic-ular for the turningof the tide, vis-a-visthe success in thefight against the virus.He said that the districtadministration had takenwell thought of steps to con-tain the spread of virus, especial-ly in the densely-populated cap-ital region Vijayawada.

“When the first positive casewas identified in the last week ofMarch, there was not muchawareness among the people inthe State about the deadly virus.During the early lockdown days,people found it very difficult tostay at home. In fact, some peo-ple found every excuse to comeout on the roads, despite thepolice and the authorities cau-tioning them repeatedly to stayat home and prevent the spread

of the virus,” Imtiaz reminded.He said that during the initial

lockdown days, the spread of thevirus was rapid, despite variouscontainment measures beingtaken by the authorities.

From then on, the authoritiesturned their focus on creatingawareness and educating thepeople about the consequencesif infected from the virus.Awareness was created in theresidential areas and slums inVijayawada where more numberof cases were reported with thehelp of Public Address Systems.

This strategy was a successand it showed in the number ofcases drastically coming down in

the district, particularly inVijayawada city.

People inVijayawada andother townsbegan followingthe concept ofSMS —

Sensit isat ion,wearing Mask and

maintaining Socialdistance —, the district col-

lector said.“Now, people come out of

their homes only if it’s necessaryand are adopting precautionarymeasures like wearing a mask,social distance and using sani-tiser,” Imtiaz said.

He said that the authoritieshave carried out serosurveillance— a scientific study on how peo-ple have developed antibodiesand immunity to fight againstthe Virus. “An estimated 40 percent in Vijayawada city wereinfected and recovered, accord-ing to the study,” he said.

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As condolences poured infor India's 13th President,who served as the country'sfirst citizen from 2012 to2017, President Ram NathKovind describedMukherjee's demise as thepassing of an era.

“A colossus in public life, heserved Mother India with thespirit of a sage. The nationmourns losing one of its wor-thiest sons. Condolences tohis family, friends & all citi-zens,” Kovind said on Twitter.

Endowed with perspicaci-ty and wisdom, Bharat RatnaMukherjee combined tradi-tion and modernity, Kovindsaid.

Expressing his condo-lences, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi describedhim as a scholar par excel-lence and a towering states-man who was admired acrossthe political spectrum.

"India grieves the passingaway of Bharat Ratna ShriPranab Mukherjee. He has leftan indelible mark on thedevelopment trajectory of ournation. A scholar par excel-lence, a towering statesman,he was admired across thepolitical spectrum and by allsections of society," Moditweeted.

Congress leader RahulGandhi said, "With great sad-ness, the nation receives thenews of the unfortunatedemise of our formerPresident Shri PranabMukherjee."


In addition to these, the ChiefMinister also directed officials toprovide land registration ser-vices of Sub Registrar office in allvillage secretariats across theState for quick redressal andupdating of records.

Mobile tribunals should bepressed into service for quick dis-posal of disputes on the spot. Allthe equipment for the survey shallbe made available at the villagesecretariats and the surveyorsshould be trained in the latesttechnology, the officials weretold. The Chief Minister said thatthe survey should begin simulta-neously in all mandals whileemphasising on creating aware-ness on the comprehensive land

survey among the people throughgram sabhas and village secretari-ats, as it is the first land surveybeing done after 1930.

Hoardings should be placed tothis effect for public view, theChief Minister said.

The officials informed theChief Minister that AndhraPradesh will emerge as the firstState in the country to take up acomprehensive land survey withthe latest technology. With regardto the comprehensive survey, allthe staff will be undergoing train-ing including the technical ses-sions. All the survey details willbe updated online on a regularbasis directly from the rover.

The pilot survey project con-ducted at Takkellapadu inJaggaiahpeta mandal of Krishna

district revealed that the count ofsurvey numbers was more thanthe landholdings. The number oflandholdings has gone up from182 to 631 while the count of sur-vey numbers went up to 829, theofficials said.

The officials said that necessarysteps were being taken to solve thepending land disputes. While52,866 disputes are pending inrevenue courts, a drive has beentaken up to rectify 79, 405 issuespertaining to wetland, the officialssaid. Deputy Chief MinisterDharmana Krishna Das, ChiefSecretary Nilam Sawhney, CCLASpecial Chief Secretary NeerabhPrasad, Commissioner of Stampsand Registration Siddarth Jain,and other officials took part in thereview meeting.

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"With a view to containspread of the Covid-19 pan-demic, restrictions wereimposed on the economicactivities not deemed essential,as also on the movement ofpeople from 25 March, 2020.

"Though the restrictionshave been gradually lifted,there has been an impact on

the economic activities as wellas on the data collection mech-anisms," it added.

It also said the timelines forfiling statutory returns wereextended by most regulatorybodies.

"In these circumstances, theusual data sources were substi-tuted by alternatives like GST,interactions with professionalbodies etc. and which were

clearly limited," it said.The Centre began easing the

lockdown for certain econom-ic activities from April 20onwards. Most rating agencieshad projected contraction inIndia's GDP for the first quar-ter of 2020-21.

China's economy grew by3.2 per cent in April-June afterrecording a decline of 6.8 percent in January-March 2020.

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In 24 hours ending 9 am onMonday, East Godavari, WestGodavari, SPS Nellore andSrikakulam reported more than1,000 cases each and the staterecorded 10,004 fresh infections.Anantapur, Chittoor addedmore than 900 each whileKurnool and Visakhapatnamregistered 600-plus each. Thebulletin said 85 Covid-19patients succumbed in the statein 24 hours, with SPS Nelloreaccounting for 12, Chittoor andPrakasam nine each.

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The YSR SampoornaPoshana and YSRSampoorna Poshana Plus,which were supposed to belaunched on September 1,was postponed to September7 due to the seven-day Statemourning announced by theCentral government withthe demise of formerPresident Pranab Mukherjee.

The two schemes aimed atproviding nutritious food

for pregnant women andlactating mothers, along withchildren.

While YSR SampoornaPoshana Plus is intended tosupply nutritious food exclu-sively in 77 Tribal areas cov-ering eight ITDAs in theState, 52 ICDS projects and8,320 Anganwadi centres,all the remaining urban andrural areas lying in plainlands will be covered underthe YSR SampoornaPoshana.

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After 1994, the Congress wasalmost routed in undivided AP.For about a decade, it was outof power. During the period, itbrought to the fore the issue ofstatehood to Telangana.

The then strongman ofCongress, YS RajasekharReddy, did not cherish the ideaof statehood to Telangana.However, he remained silentunable to go against the wish-es of the party high com-mand.

The Congress which gavethe slogan of statehood toTelangana forged an alliancewith the TRS and contested theelections jointly in 2004. Inforging of the alliance, Pranabplayed a crucial role. Thoughthe idea did not appeal to YSR,Pranab held discussions withformer president of the PCC DSrinivas and TRS president KChandrasekhar Rao.

He fully backed the thenCongress president SoniaGandhi on the issue and gaveher his valuable advice andacted strategically, according toseveral Congress leaders.

Pranab played a crucial rolein inclusion of Congress con-sidering formation ofTelangana state duly honour-ing the recommendations ofthe first States’ ReorganisationCommittee in the party’s 2004election manifesto.

Consequently, the Congressreturned to power both at theCentre and with a landslide inthe state.

Upon becoming the ChiefMinister, Dr YS RajasekharReddy openly opposed state-hood to Telangana. As theopposition to Telangana trig-gered anger among the region’sleaders, Sonia Gandhi againroped in services of Pranab todefuse the situation.

The UPA-I, headed by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh,constituted a committee head-ed by Pranab to submit thegovernment a report onTelangana.

Since YSR, the CM, wasopposed to formation ofTelangana, and the Congressdependent on his charismawith the voters, the Pranabcommittee adopted dilly-dally-ing tactics in the name ofstudying the Telangana issue.

During 2009 elections too,pressure was exerted on partyhigh command from Congressleaders of Telangana origin.YSR also worked with an eyeon electoral success, the Pranabcommittee submitted its reportat the time of polls that theCongress would have no objec-tion in creating Telangana state.

In 2009 elections, KCR,Chandrababu Naidu and theLeft parties worked together,yet the Congress returnedpower.


Elsewhere, Women and ChildWelfare Minister Taneti Vanithaaccused Naidu of neglectingthe Dalit community while hewas in power and said that now,the former chief minister isshedding crocodile tears.

“It’s YS Jaganmohan Reddywho gave prominence to Dalitsby allotting five portfolios in hisCabinet. Dalits will teach a les-son to Naidu again,” Vanithaaverred.

Tourism minister AvantiSrinivas reminded that the pre-sent government has takenaction immediately and arrest-ed people in connection with thetonsure of a Dalit youth inVizag. He said that in the YSRCPgovernment, BCs, SCs, STs, andminorities have received promi-nent representation in gover-nance.

YSRCP senior AmbatiRambabu too spoke in the samevein, telling Naidu that he has noright to speak for the Dalits as

many atrocities were committedagainst them during his term.“Unlike Naidu, Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy hastaken quick action against thoseattacking Dalits,” Rambabu said.

MLA Meruga Nagarjuna alsoaccused Naidu of neglectingDalit welfare during his rule andalso of launching ‘anti-Dalit’initiatives thereby suppressingthe community. “Naidu hadpocketed the SC-ST Sub-Planfunds and is creating hurdles byfiling petitions in Court over thedistribution of house pattas andimplementation of Englishmedium education,” the MLAalleged.

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The setting was rustic,romantic: a lakefront innin rural Maine at the

height of summer. Inside, thebride smiled in a lace-coveredV-neck dress.

There was a three-tier cake,a flower garland strung up bythe entry and a crowd of about65 family and friends gatheredto celebrate Aug. 7 just outsidethe rural town of Millinocket.Itwas not until the next day thatone of them reported havingsymptoms of the coronavirus.Soon others did, too. By theend of August, officials withthe Maine Center for DiseaseControl and Prevention hadlinked at least 87 cases to thewedding - including outbreaksat a jail and a nursing home inYork County, more than 200miles away. And the outbreakturned deadly.

Like a biotech conference inBoston, a college bar inMichigan and a choir practicein Washington state, the wed-ding became what's known asa "superspreading event" -probably sparked by a single,highly infectious individual

who showed no signs of illnessand unwittingly shared anenclosed space with many oth-ers. The phenomenon occurswhen one infection spawns adisproportionate number ofothers. Maine CDC DirectorNirav Shah described it as "aseries of concentric rings thatget built out, all emanatingfrom this one Aug. 7 event."

The wedding outbreak isespecially resonant inAmerica's rural communities,where gatherings are a lifelineand where, some public healthexperts fear, the lack of signif-icant virus transmission may

have lulled residents into a falsesense of complacency. Thepresence of fewer health-careresources means that an out-break can be especially devas-tating.

"All the things that makerural America more vulnerableto any kind of disturbance ofthe equilibrium are magnifiedtenfold when you're thinkingabout covid-19," Shah said,referring to the illness causedby the novel coronavirus."People tend to congregate insmall groups in rural areaswhere they know each other,and that's one of the things that

makes rural areas great. Butwhen it comes to covid, itmeans that it can rip througha rural area like wildfire."

That has proved true inMillinocket, a close-knit townof about 4,500 once known forits thriving paper mill. Even 12years after the mill closed,taking jobs and tax dollars withit, most people in town havesome connection to it. Thepopulation has fallen by half,but with Maine's highest peakas a backdrop, Millinocket'snatural beauty is a powerfuldraw for tourists and residentswho remain.

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An estimated 6.8 million fewerfemale births will be recordedacross India by 2030 due tosex-selective abortions, accord-ing to a study that projects thehighest deficits in the birth ofgirls will occur in UttarPradesh.

Researchers from KingAbdullah University of Scienceand Technology (KAUST),Saudi Arabia, and Universite deParis, France, noted that therehas been a reported imbalancein India in the sex ratio at birth(SRB) since the 1970s due tothe emergence of prenatal sexselection and the cultural pref-erence for male babies.

Unlike other countriesaffected by such imbalances,India is unique in its regionaldiversity of sex ratio imbalance,they said.

Previous projections of sexratio at birth in India have beenconstructed at the national

level or were based primarilyon expert opinion rather thanreproducible modelling.

In the latest study, publishedin the journal PLOS ONE,researchers projected the SRBin the largest 29 Indian Statesand Union Territories (UTs),which covered 98.4 per cent ofthe total population of India asof the year 2011.

Among the 21 Indian

States or UTs with high qual-ity birth data, 17 showed apositive effective of son pref-erence on the SRB, with thehighest SRBs concentratedin the most northwesternStates or UTs, the resaercherssaid.

The team found that, inparticular, the effect of sonpreference is statistically signif-icant in nine States or UTs.

"We project that the highestdeficits in female births willoccur in Uttar Pradesh, with acumulative number of missingfemale births of 2 million from2017 to 2030," the researcherssaid.

"For the whole of India,summing up the 29 state-levelprojections, the cumulativenumber of missing femalebirths during 2017 to 2030 isprojected to be 6.8," they wrotein the study.

The average annual numberof missing female birthsbetween 2017 and 2025 is pro-

jected to be 469,000 per yearand is projected to increase to519,000 per year for the timeperiod 2026 to 2030, accordingto the researchers.

The projects represent anessential input for populationprojection models in India,especially at the sub-nationallevel, they added.

In India, sex-selective abor-tions and prenatal sex dis-cernment tests were banned in1994 under the Pre-conceptionand Prenatal DiagnosticTechniques (Prohibition of SexSelection) Act.

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Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan on Mondaysaid an All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS) forKarnataka is under the activeconsideration of theGovernment of India.

"I know that- AIIMS inKarnataka is under the activeconsideration of the FinanceDepartment of theGovernment of India and thatday will also soon come whenwe shall have an AIIMS inKarnataka also," Vardhan said.

Speaking at the virtual inau-guration of a super specialtytrauma block at VijayanagaraInstitute of Medical Sciences inBallari, he spoke about formerUnion Minister SushmaSwaraj's "instrumental role" inexpanding the health infra-structure in the country as thethen health minister in the AtalBihari Vajpayee government.

"The journey that startedthen on August 15, 2003, fromone AIIMS it became a journeyof seven AIIMS, then in theprevious government one morewas added at Rae Bareli, and

then we again saw a big boostto this activity from 2014onwards under Prime MinisterModi with a journey of 22AIIMS," he added.

Chief Minister B SYediyurappa, who was alsopresent at the virtual event,pointed out to the union min-ister that he has written a let-ter to him to consider takingover and upgrading the ESIhospital and medical college atKalaburagi to an AIIMS likeinstitution. He said Kalaburagiwas a backward district andupgrading this ESI there as anAIIMS like institution, willhelp people of the region.

Noting that in the last sixyears the country has seenactive development in terms ofmedical colleges, increase inthe number of MBBS and postgraduation seats, Vardhan saidin the phase three expansion ofmedical colleges that began lastyear, permission has been givenfor creating 75 more medicalcolleges, with centre's help.

New medical colleges aregoing to be set up in Karnatakaat Chikkamagaluru, Haveri,Yadgir and Chikkaballapur, hesaid, adding, "so many reformsare happening in the healthsector, historic developmentshave taken place."

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Four postal officials have beenaccused of involvement in a drugracket and a few foreign nation-als arrested in this connection,Karnataka Home MinisterBasavaraj Bommai has said.

The arrested include aCanadian and Nigerians, hetold reporters in Hubballi, over400 kms from here, on Sunday.Drugs are coming throughpostal service with the con-nivance of the postal departmentpersonnel, the Minister said.

Once the consignmentarrives, no receives it for amonth or so and it is deliveredto the person supposed to get it,he said. "We have initiated actionagainst the four," Bommai said.

The drug menace is not new,it has been on for many years andmostly the rich fall into its trap,

he said. However, the appre-hended consumers are arrestedand they come out on bail in aweek or 10 days, Bommai said."Now, we are exposing the inter-state and international networkof drug menace," he said.Speaking about the dark net, aninternational racket of thoseinvolved in illegal businesses,Bommai said the police havemanaged to bust one or two suchdark nets, which operate throughthe internet.

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The Delhi High CourtMonday sought Delhi HealthMinister Satyendra Jain's replyon a plea by BJP leader S CVats challenging the AAPleader's election to theLegislative Assembly forallegedly indulging in “corruptpractices”.

Vats lost to Jain in the 2020Delhi Assembly elections fromShakur Basti constituencyhere.

Justice Mukta Gupta issuednotices to Jain, ReturningOfficer, Chief Election Officerand three other candidateswho had contested for thesame constituency and askedthem to file their responseswithin four weeks.

The judge listed the matterfor completion of service ofnotice and pleading beforethe Joint Registrar on October1 and for hearing before thecourt on December 15.

Advocate Manoj Goel,

appearing for the BJP leader,sought that the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) leader's electionbe declared as null and voidand a re-election be done onthe seat.

The petition, filed throughSahil Ahuja, alleged that Jain"bribed" voters of his con-stituency with "gifts", like cam-eras, benches, air-conditionersand computers, to some soci-eties there and therefore, pre-vented them from exercisingtheir right to vote in a free andfair manner.

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The prison authorities onMonday told the Delhi HighCourt that a common roomwould be built inside Tihar Jailhere to provide television facil-ity to inmates of high risk wardsby end of September this year.

The submission by theDirector General (DG) Prisonswas made before a bench ofChief Justice D N Patel andJustice Prateek Jalan which saidit expects the authority to stickto the timeline stated in court.

The high court also said thatin view of the statement made onbehalf of DG Prisons represent-ed by Delhi government addi-tional standing counsel GautamNarayan, it saw no reason to fur-ther monitor the matter.

With the observation, thebench disposed of an applica-

tion claiming that inmates ofhigh risk wards are kept in iso-lation and in prevailing situationof COVID-19 pandemic theyhave no contact with anyonefrom outside world, leavingthem depressed.

The Delhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee(DSGMC), in its application, had

contended that in present sce-nario, recreational facilities liketelevision are necessary for suchinmates to survive. The applica-tion for recreational facilitiesfor the high risk prisoners,including terrorists, had beenfiled in a pending PIL filed by theDSGMC in 2018, highlightingthe plight of the such inmates.

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Nearly 5,000 people were shift-ed to safer places in Gujarat'sBharuch and Vadodara districtsafter flooding in several villagesthere due to rise in level of theNarmada river as heavy rainscontinued in various parts of thestate, officials said on Monday.

Due to continuous inflow ofwater from upstream in theSardar Sarovar Dam over theNarmada near Kevadia village,9.86 lakh cusec (cubic foot persecond) water is being releasedin the river by opening 23 out ofits 30 radial gates, an officialrelease said.

The water level of the dam hasreached 132.63 metres as againstits full reservoir level of 138.68metres, it said. As aresult, the level of the Narmada

river has risen significantly in thelast few days and water has nowstarted entering the low-lying vil-lages situated on its banks inVadodara and Bharuch, reliefcommissioner Harshad Pateltold reporters in Gandhinagar.

"Nearly 5,000 people living inthese villages and in low-lyingareas of Bharuch town havebeen shifted to safer places. We

urge people not to go near anyriver. District authorities and theNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) have been alert-ed across the state," Patel said.

A road leading to Chandodvillage near the Narmada inVadodara's Dabhoi taluka hasbeen shut for traffic to stop peo-ple from going near the river,local police said.

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The Punjab government hasrevised fees for several medicalservices in the government hos-pitals in the state with effectfrom September 1, drawingsharp reaction from theOpposition.

Among services, the chargefor ambulance has been raisedfrom 5 per km to 15 per kmwhile the fee for ECG has beenincreased from Rs 60 to Rs 75.

Similarly, the OPD registra-tion charge has been increasedfrom Rs 5 to Rs 10 and theadmission charges for generalward has been hiked from Rs 25to Rs 40.

The operation charges forminor surgery have been revisedupward to Rs 250 from Rs 100earlier and for major surgery, the

fee has been increased from Rs750 to Rs 1,200, as per the order.

The fee for private AC roomhas been increased from Rs 500to RS 1,000 per day and bedcharges in general ward has beenincreased from Rs 30 to 40.

However, the state healthofficials said these charges are

meant for the maintenance ofhospital buildings and otherinfrastructure.

They further clarified thatcoronavirus patients would con-tinue to get free treatment at allgovernment hospitals in thestate.

Meanwhile, opposition par-

ties Shiromani Akali Dal andAam Aadmi Party haveslammed the Congress-led dis-pensation in the state for raisingthe charges for medical services.

The SAD accused the stategovernment of “profiteering”during a time of COVID-19pandemic by increasing rates ofhealth services.

SAD leader and former min-ister Daljit Singh Cheemadescribed this move as an"unfortunate development" andsaid that instead of makinghealth services more affordableduring a time of pandemic andensuring free treatment to thepoor, the government had raisedrates of all services. “It seemedthat the Congress governmentwanted to profiteer from theplight of the people,” Cheemasaid in a statement here.

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The Delhi High Court Mondayasked the AAP government totreat as representation a PILseeking a lasting solution towaterlogging problem whichplagues the national capitalduring the monsoon.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice PrateekJalan said the plea, by a trust,"is seeking a permanent solu-tion to the problem of water-logging in the city".

The court directed the Delhigovernment to treat the petitionas a representation and take adecision in accordance withlaw, rules, regulations and gov-ernment policy applicable tothe facts of the case. With thedirection, the bench disposedof the plea by Anti CorruptionCouncil of India Trust.

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Restrictions on outdoormovement of people duringweekends will continue inNoida and Greater Noida tillSeptember 30 due to theCOVID-19 outbreak in UttarPradesh's Gautam BuddhNagar district, an order stat-ed on Monday.

All social, cultural, acade-mic, sports, entertainment,religious and political gather-ings shall remain prohibitedtill September 20 and can bestarted after that but with amaximum 100 people inattendance, the order issuedby the district police underCrPC Section 144 stated.

It prohibits outdoor move-ment of people, except forthose engaged in essentialservices and those facingemergency, from 10 pm onFridays till 5 am on Mondays.

The order comes in thewake of the Centre and thestate government announcingguidelines for "Unlock 4" —the phased re-opening ofactivities that had beenbarred in March to containthe spread of COVID-19.

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Normal life was affected acrossWest Bengal on Monday, thelast day of the month, withmost people preferring toremain indoors and vehiclesstaying off the roads, as a totallockdown was enforced acrossthe state. Violation of the shut-down norms was, however, wit-nessed in some districts, wherethe police took the offenders totask. In Cooch Behar, theoffenders, once caught, had toundergo rapid antigen test.Streets in the city and elsewheremostly wore a deserted look,with police personnel keepinga strict watch on all major thor-oughfares, and traffic intersec-tions. Those who stepped outwere asked to provide proof tojustify their need for leavinghome amid the shutdown.

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A Facebook executive at the cen-tre of allegations that the socialnetworking site did not applyhate speech rules on members ofthe ruling BJP has been namedin a second Wall Street Journalreport on internal messages thatallegedly show political bias.

According to the Wall StreetJournal report, Ankhi Das, headof public policy in FacebookIndia, "made internal postingsover several years" detailing hersupport for the ruling BJP anddisparaging its main rival, behav-iour some staff saw as conflict-ing with the company's pledge toremain neutral in electionsaround the world.

Ankhi Das, the report claims,posted the day before PrimeMinister Narendra Modi sweptto victory in the 2014 nationalelection: "We lit a fire to his socialmedia campaign and the rest isof course history."

In a separate post on theCongress defeat, Ms Das praised

PM Modi and wrote: "It's takenthirty years of grassroots work torid India of state socialism final-ly."

Ms Das called Facebook's topglobal elections official, KatieHarbath, her "longest fellowtraveller" in the company's workwith his campaign. In a photo,Ms Das stood, smiling, betweenMr Modi and Ms Harbath.

WSJ says the posts cover theyears 2012 to 2014 and weremade to a Facebook groupdesigned for employees in India,

which included several hundredemployees, though it was opento anyone in the company glob-ally who wanted to join.

In an earlier report, the Journalhad reported that Facebookoverlooked incendiary contentfrom members of the BJP andthe rightwing. It also said anexecutive said punishing viola-tions by BJP workers "woulddamage (its) business prospects".

Facebook India has beenasked to appear before a parlia-mentary standing committee on

Information Technology - whichis chaired by Congress MPShashi Tharoor - on September2, to answer questions raised bythe article.

Facebook said last Tuesdaythat the posts by Ms Das don'tshow inappropriate bias."These posts are taken out ofcontext and don't represent thefull scope of Facebook's effortsto support the use of our plat-form by parties across theIndian political spectrum,"spokesman Andy Stone said.

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Expressing grief over formerpresident Pranab Mukherjee'sdemise, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Mondaydescribed him as a scholar parexcellence and a towering states-man who was admired across thepolitical spectrum.

Modi said Mukherjee has leftan indelible mark on the nation'sdevelopment trajectory.

Mukherjee, 84, died onMonday in an army hospitalhere, his son Abhijit Mukherjeesaid. He was admitted to the hos-pital on August 10.

In a series of tweets, theprime minister said Mukherjeein his decades-long politicaljourney made long-lasting con-tributions in key economicand strategic ministries andthat he was an outstanding par-liamentarian, always well-pre-pared, extremely articulate aswell as witty.

The prime minister recalledthat Mukherjee, as the thenPresident when he became primeminister for the first time, alwayssupported and guided him.

"I was new to Delhi in 2014.From Day 1, I was blessed to havethe guidance, support and bless-

ings of Shri Pranab Mukherjee.I will always cherish my interac-tions with him. Condolences tohis family, friends, admirers andsupporters across India. OmShanti," Modi said.

In his tweets, Modi also post-ed his pictures with Mukherjee,including one in which he is seentouching the then president's feet.

As India's President,Mukherjee made RashtrapatiBhavan even more accessible tocommon citizens, Modi noted,adding that he made thePresident's House "a centre oflearning, innovation, culture,science and literature".

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Lawyer-activist PrashantBhushan, held guilty of contemptfor his tweets criticising ChiefJustice of India SA Bobde and theSupreme Court, has been finedRe 1 by the top court. If he does-n't pay the fine by September 15,he can face jail for three monthsand a ban from practising forthree years.

"Freedom of speech cannot becurtailed," said the SupremeCourt while handing down thesentence, referring to "saneadvice" from Attorney GeneralKK Venugopal to the court andto Prashant Bhushan.

Prashant Bhushan, pho-tographed holding up a Re 1coin, told reporters he wouldreveal later today whether hewould pay the fine or confrontthe other options.

"My lawyer and senior col-league Rajiv Dhavan contributed

1 Re immediately after the con-tempt judgement today which Igratefully accepted," the 63-year-old tweeted.

My lawyer & senior colleagueRajiv Dhavan contributed 1 Reimmediately after the contemptjudgement today which I grate-fully acceptedpic.twitter.com/vVXmzPe4ss

— Prashant Bhushan(@pbhushan1) August 31, 2020

The Supreme Court, which

had asked for an unconditionalapology from the lawyer, noted,"We gave several opportunitiesand encouragement to (PrashantBhushan) to express regret. Henot only gave wide publicity tothe second statement but alsogave various interviews to press."

The court was apparentlyreferring to Prashant Bhushan'sstatement refusing to retract hiscomments or apologise, sayinghe considered it the discharge of

his "highest duty" and apologis-ing would be contempt of hisconscience and the court. MrBhushan had also said thatopen criticism was necessary to"safeguard the democracy andits values." The statement "wasto influence independentJudicial function," the SupremeCourt said, adding that whilefreedom of expression wasimportant, rights of othersshould also be respected.

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The Supreme Court on Mondaypunishing activist-lawyerPrashant Bhushan was unwar-ranted, former Union LawMinister M Veerapa Moily saidand felt that the case against himcould have been referred to theBar Council of India.

The senior Congress leadersaid that Attorney General K KVenugopal and many jurists andlawyers had urged the SupremeCourt not to punish him.

Moily expressed the view thatjudges should not take uponthemselves to punish a personwho makes allegations againstthem. "It looks as if it was notwarranted," he said on theSupreme Court imposing atoken fine of one rupee againstBhushan as punishment in the

contempt case against him. "It'snot in keeping with the questionof natural justice.It's not in keep-ing with the high standards ofjudiciary," he said.

Bhushan, who has been con-victed for two tweets against thejudiciary, has to deposit the finewith the Supreme Court registryby September 15, said a benchheaded by Justice Arun Mishra.

Failure to comply would entaila three-month jail term anddebarment from law practice forthree years, it said.

Politicians, judges or any-body should "bear this kind ofcriticism" and not take uponthemselves to punish a personwho makes allegations againstthem, said Moily, a formerKarnataka Chief Minister.

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The Congress on Mondayattacked the government overthe Chinese aggression at theborder and asked when willPrime Minister Narendra Modishow his "red eyes" to China.

"Another brazen attempt ataggression by China inPangong Tso Lake. Everydaythere is a Chineseintrusion...Pangong Tso Lakearea, Gogra and Galwan valley,Depsang plains, Lipu Lake,Doka La and Naku La pass.

"Our armed forces arestanding fearlessly to protectMother India. But, when willModi ji show his red eyes,"Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said in atweet in Hindi.

Another Congressspokesperson Jaiveer Shergill

said China remains consis-tent and persistent in indulgingin LAC misadventures alteringstatus quo, but alleged that "theBJP Government remains hes-itant in even admitting thereality".

"Aatmanirbhar, Toys andLove for Indian Dogs candivert attention but shouldnot be confused with strategy

and scheme to evict China," hesaid in a series of tweets.

In a fresh incident in easternLadakh, the Chinese PLA car-ried out "provocative militarymovements" to "unilaterally"change the status quo on thesouthern bank of Pangong Tsolake but the attempt wasthwarted by the Indian troops,the Army said here.

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The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Monday questioned aGoa-based hotelier, GauravArya, in connection with amoney laundering probelinked to the death of actorSushant Singh Rajput, offi-cials said.

Arya arrived at the centralprobe agency's office here inBallard Estate area around10:30 AM accompanied byhis legal team.

The ED had summonedArya last week to join theprobe after it recovered somemobile phone messages report-edly sent by actor and Rajput'slive-in partner RheaChakraborty to him in 2017and they purportedly indicat-ed discussion of certainbanned narcotics, officials hadsaid.

The agency will record hisstatement under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), theysaid.

Arya, who runs two hotelsin Goa, had earlier told newschannels that he has neverdealt in narcotics and his lastinteraction with Rhea wasabout three years ago, addinghe will "comply" with all legalprocedures.

He had also said that henever met Rajput, 34, who wasallegedly found hanging at hisduplex flat in the Bandra areaof Mumbai on June 14.

The agency is looking at themoney laundering angle inthis case and hence all conver-sations and entities that are

linked to the matter arerequired to be questioned toestablish facts and to find outif any criminality is involved,a senior ED official had said.

The ED has also recentlyintimated the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) aboutthese purported drugs-linkedchats which it recovered after'cloning' two mobile phones ofRhea.

It has already recordedRhea's version, under thePMLA, about these chats thatpurportedly indicate procure-ment of banned drugs.

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Landslides and mudslides trig-gered by heavy rains blockedthe 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway atseveral places in Rambandistrict on Monday, officialssaid.

Over 300 vehicles werestranded at several places onthe highway, the only all-weather road connectingKashmir valley with the rest ofthe country.

The men and machines ofthe National HighwayAuthority of India (NHAI)and Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) havestarted clearance of the land-slides to restore the traffic onthe highway, they said.

However, the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road, which con-nects UTs of J-K and Ladakh,

is open for traffic.The Mughal road, connect-

ing Shopian district ofKashmir valley with Poonchdistrict of Jammu region, isthrough for vehicles carryingessentials, mostly trucks andoil tankers, they said.

The traffic on inter-districtKishtwar-Paddar road hasbeen restored on Monday afterclearance of landslides, whichblocked the road 3 days ago,they said.

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West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Mondaysaid almost 10 crore people inthe state are covered under the'Khadya Sathi' scheme. Thechief minister said that freeration will be provided to thepeople till June 2021.

"Remembering the martyrs of1959 Khadya Andolan. InBengal, we provide food securi-ty to almost 10 crore people ofthe state, through the KhadyaSathi scheme, during this timeof the pandemic. Free ration willbe provided to the people tillJune 2021," Banerjee tweeted.

The CM had earlier on June30 this year announced thedecision to provide free ration topeople till June 2021. WB wit-

nessed a mass movement in thelate 1958 by the then undivid-ed CPI and other left groupsprotesting against the food cri-sis. The movement for food(Khadya Andolon) reached itspeak in August 1959. On thisday the same year, severaldemonstrators, including farm-ers and women, were killed inbaton charge during a protestrally on the issue.

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Three MLAs in Rajasthantested positive for coronaviruson Monday. Congress MLARamesh Meena and two BJPMLAs Hameer Singh Bhayaland Chandrabhan SinghAakya have contracted thevirus.

Chief Minister AshokGehlot wished them a speedyrecovery. "I have come toknow Congress MLA RameshMeena ji, BJP MLAs HameerSingh Bhayal ji andChandrabhan Singh Aakya jihave tested positive for#Covid_19... I wish them aspeedy recovery," Gehlottweeted. On Sunday, stateTransport Minister PratapSingh Khachariyawas had test-ed positive for the virus. Thestate also recorded five morefatalities due to the novelcoronavirus on Monday, tak-ing the COVID-19 death tollto 1048, according to a healthdepartment official.

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Asplit in the Congress party seemsinevitable. Despite formal genuflec-tions before the Rae Bareli MP,

Sonia Gandhi is now only an interim pres-ident and neither offspring is acceptable asfuture president. Indeed, the CongressWorking Committee (CWC) meeting ofAugust 24, 2020, called to address an explo-sive letter by 23 top leaders, could not quashthe dissent. The shareholders announcedthat the Congress will not be allowed to runlike a family firm.

Far from urging the Wayanad MP toreturn to the helm, the seven-hour debatedeclared temporary status quo over inter-im president. The Gandhi family exposedits reluctance to relinquish control of theparty but could not deflect the charge thatis has lost appeal with voters. The processof electing a non-Gandhi president maytrigger a split as the Gandhis will not workwith, or under, a non-protégé.

The situation is vastly different fromMay 1999 when Sharad Pawar, PA Sangmaand Tariq Anwar questioned Sonia Gandhi’sforeign origins and her plan to stake claimto the Prime Minister’s office without dis-cussion within the party. Although the trioquit, their contention that a foreignerwould not be able to head a coalition wasvindicated when Gandhi selectedManmohan Singh in 2004. For a decade, shewielded enormous power over theGovernment via her unelected NationalAdvisory Council, but Narendra Modi’s vic-tory in 2014 and 2019 convinced even die-hard loyalists that the present leadership isa political liability. Rahul Gandhi’s flight toWayanad, Kerala, and Priyanka Gandhi’sfailure to make a dent in Uttar Pradeshexposed the futility of banking on non-charismatic heirs. Even Rahul Gandhi’s re-election from Wayanad seems difficult in2024.

Having spoken up because of theCongress’s descent to electoral irrelevance,the veterans will not tolerate the impositionof effete leaders (read Manmohan Singh orAK Antony). They are demanding electionsto the CWC and the party’s parliamentaryboard. There is anger that the party is runby a tiny coterie comprising the Gandhifamily, general secretary KC Venugopal andnational spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.The unilateral appointments of AdhirRanjan Chowdhury (leader, Lok Sabha),Ajay Maken (general secretary, Rajasthanin-charge), Rajya Sabha nomination forMallikarjun Kharge and Hardik Patel asworking president of the Gujarat unitshocked the rank and file.

Former spokesperson Sanjay Jha, whoseanalyses of the rot in the party brought thecrisis into the open, tweeted that under Art18 (H) of the party constitution, “only afreshly elected AICC can elect the nextCongress President. The CWC has alreadydischarged its responsibilities by appoint-ing an Interim Congress President last year.”

As the veterans reiteratedtheir concerns in the media,Sonia Gandhi opted for con-frontation. On August 27, for-mer Union Minister JairamRamesh was appointed chiefwhip (Rajya Sabha), GauravGogoi deputy leader andRavneet Singh Bittu whip (LokSabha), sidelining seniors likeShashi Tharoor and ManishTewari. The inclusion ofAhmad Patel and KCVenugopal in the 10-membercommittee appointed to decidethe party’s stand on key issuesin Parliament was a snub to vet-erans like Ghulam Nabi Azadand Anand Sharma. Now thebattle is joined and there is nogoing back for either side.

Sonia Gandhi must havebeen enraged by the demandfor unity with Opposition par-ties headed by those who hadleft the Congress in the past.This obviously alludes to a cer-tain strongman whom somebelieve has choreographed thecurrent revolt. If true, this sug-gests that the epistle wasplanned with leaders outsideCongress, with the aim of dis-lodging the once unchallenge-able Gandhis.

At the CWC, the Gandhisiblings antagonised the seniorsinstead of discussing the issuesraised by them. The WayanadMP said the letter was sent toSonia Gandhi at a time whenshe was unwell and the “partyis fighting the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) in Madhya Pradeshand Rajasthan”. This false emo-tionalism reflected lack of polit-

ical gravitas. Moreover, the BJPhad seized Madhya Pradesh inMarch itself and Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot had saved hisgovernment by August 7, whenthe letter was written.

Worse, Rahul Gandhiaccused the seniors of penningthe missive in collusion with theruling BJP. Taken aback,Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader ofOpposition, Rajya Sabha,offered to resign his post if hewas “in any manner doing thisto help the BJP or doing it at itsbehest”, only to be rebuked byPriyanka Vadra. “What youare saying is opposite of whatyou have written,” she coun-tered. Later, former Union min-ister and senior advocate KapilSibal said he had defended theparty in the Rajasthan HighCourt and helped it bring downthe BJP government inManipur, and yet “we are col-luding with the BJP.” The sharpand articulate Sibal has becomethe face of the dissidents.

Currently, the strongestsupport for Gandhi leadershipcomes from Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh(who needs them against rivalPartap Singh Bajwa), formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh (who has never fought anelection in his life), and formerUnion minister AK Antony(who cannot bring Kerala backto the Congress kitty). MadhyaPradesh stalwart Kamal Nathhas been silent; he could emergeas the rebels’ choice of leader.

It is undeniable that all thedissidents owe their political

ascent to Gandhi family patron-age: former Union ministersGhulam Nabi Azad, AnandSharma, Kapil Sibal, ManishTewari, Shashi Tharoor, MukulWasnik, Renuka Chaudhary,Milind Deora and Jitin Prasada;former Chief MinistersBhupinder Singh Hooda(Haryana), Rajender KaurBhattal (Punjab), M VeerappaMoily (Karnataka), andPrithviraj Chavan(Maharashtra); PJ Kurian (for-mer deputy chairman, RajyaSabha), MP Vivek Tankha; for-mer PCC chiefs Raj Babbar(UP), Arvinder Singh Lovely(Delhi) and Kaul Singh Thakur(Himachal); current Bihar cam-paign chief Akhilesh PrasadSingh, former Haryana SpeakerKuldeep Sharma; former DelhiSpeaker Yoganand Shastri andformer MP Sandeep Dixit.

Few of them have anassured electoral base. But theissues they have raised are apolitical audit of the leadershipand suggest wider consultationswithin and outside theCongress. The high commandis being held responsible for theparty’s downfall in State afterState. The demand for collectiveleadership is an indictment ofthe opaque micro-managementthat has distanced the leader-ship from the party and publicopinion on a range of issues.The quest for an “effective”leader suggests the compulso-ry retirement of the reigningdynasty – a bloodless coup.

(The author is a senior jour-nalist. Views are personal.)

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Sir — The spike in COVID-19cases has not only shrunk thespace for non-COVID patientsbut also forced many people topostpone their elective and semi-emergency operations. Doctorshave said that elective surgerieslike hernia, asymptomatic kidneystones, appendicitis, gall bladderand prostate can be postponedby up to three months whilesemi-emergency cases cannotbe postponed and patients wouldbe deferring them at their ownperil. However, hundreds ofoperations have been postponedas patients are scared of under-going surgeries or taking treat-ments in any hospital whereCoronavirus patients are housed.This has resulted in severe healthcomplications for many of them.Giving an example of how dan-gerous deferring a much-need-ed operation can be, Dr JagadishHiremath, CEO, Ace SuhasHospital, revealed that a patientwho had postponed a gall blad-der surgery had to undergo anemergency procedure for sepsisafter the gall bladder ruptured. An elective surgery in this par-ticular case turned into a com-

plicated emergency procedure tosave the patient. Hence, there isa major need to address the con-cerns of patients as they areafraid of undergoing

surgery/treatments. TheGovernment needs to provide orcreate more COVID-19 patient-free hospitals or set up dedicat-ed wings in existing ones so that

other patients can take treatmentand undergo surgeries and notput their lives at risk.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan, Karnataka

�� !Sir — The shocking statementmade by Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman that God isresponsible for the Coronavirusand the collapse of the Indianeconomy is most irresponsible.It is a great insult to the intelli-gence of the entire country. Thepeople, through their hard workand contribution towards theprogress and development ofthe country, made India a $2 tril-lion economy during the UPArule from 2005 to 2014, underthe leadership of Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

The economic problems thatthe country is facing now are dueto the inefficiency and incompe-tence of the CentralGovernment. Growth was sput-tering even before the pandem-ic broke out and there has beenno big bang reform so to speak.It is high time the FinanceMinister stops trying to cover herGovernment’s failures in all sec-tors, including COVID-19 man-agement.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recom-mended to the Centre a reduction in share-holding of the latter in six top Public Sector

Banks (PSBs), namely the State Bank of India (SBI),Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda(BOB), Canara Bank, Union Bank of India (UBI)and Bank of India (BOI) to 51 per cent in the next12-18 months. At a recent meeting with theMinistry of Finance (MOF), the RBI had argued forreduction in stake to 26 per cent. But, observing thatthis might not be possible in the near term for now,it has settled for lowering the Government’s share-holding to 51 per cent. Given its precarious finan-cial position and looking for all possible avenues forincreasing revenue, the Narendra Modi Governmenthas promptly latched on to the idea. It is aiming togarner about �25,000 crore by shedding its stake inthe six banks which could even go up to �43,000crore (according to an estimate).

The PSBs in question have already started gear-ing up for this as they have decided not to take anylumpy credit exposure and are taking steps to reducetheir non-performing assets (NPAs) by one-third bythe end of the current financial year March 31, 2021— all aimed at improving their valuation and get-ting a good price from the sale. The Centre(besides, the RBI) is closely monitoring the situa-tion. At the end of the day, it may re-fill its denud-ed coffers somewhat. But the larger question stillremains unanswered.

Is the Modi Government really serious aboutbringing down its stake in PSBs to as low as 26 percent? Is it committed to their privatisation? Does ithave anything credible to show? The idea was firstmooted by the NDA dispensation under the thenPrime Minister AB Vajpayee (1999-2004). It had pro-posed reduction in the Government’s shareholdingin PSBs to less than 50 per cent initially and even-tually to 33 per cent. That remained on paper.

In 2015, a RBI committee headed by P Nayakmade sweeping recommendations to bring aboutstructural reforms of PSBs in sync with the require-ments of an economy on an accelerated growth tra-jectory and to make it globally competitive. It rec-ommended (i) setting up of an autonomous BankBoards Bureau (BBB) with a mandate to select thetop management; (ii) setting up of a bank invest-ment company (BIC) where all Government sharesin PSBs will be vested and (iii) divestment of its share-holding in all PSBs to below 50 per cent.

The committee had contemplated the Board asan interim arrangement — to serve as a precursorto the BIC. In 2016, the Government approved theconstitution of the BBB as a body of eminent pro-fessionals and officials to make recommendationsfor appointment of whole-time directors and non-executive chairpersons of PSBs and State-ownedfinancial institutions (FIs). The BBB was also man-dated to engage with the board of directors of all PSBsto formulate appropriate strategies for their growthand development besides, encouraging them torestructure their business strategy and suggest waysfor their consolidation and merger with other banksbased on requirement. Initially headed by Vinod Rai,former Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) tillApril 2018, the BBB has been under a part-timechairman (a retired bureaucrat) and other part-timemembers. Recently, the term of the BBB was extend-ed for a period of two years beyond April 11 or untilfurther orders, whichever is earlier. How muchimportance does the Government give to the BBB?

Being headed by a part-time chairmanand part-time members, this by itself con-veys a lot. On the other two recommen-dations, while (ii) is not even on the radar,as regards (iii), the only action seen thusfar is the Government’s decision to divestits majority stake in IDBI Bank.

But things didn’t work out as plannedand during 2018-19, the Life InsuranceCorporation (LIC) was roped in toacquire 51 per cent controlling stake inIDBI Bank. The acquisition was complet-ed on January 21, 2019 with LIC being re-classified as promoter of the bank withmanagement control and the Centrecontinuing to be the co-promoter with-out management control. While it is nor-mal to see LIC in the role of a financialinvestor, for it to be owning and runninga business enterprise is anomalous.

Meanwhile, most of the ills that gowith majority ownership of theGovernment continue to afflict PSBs. Thepolitical brass appoints the CMD/MD anddeputes bureaucrats as its nominee on thebank board. For appointment of directors,until last year, the nomination and remu-neration committee (NRC) included theCentre’s nominee. In August, 2019, theRBI tightened the fit-and-proper criteriato exclude him/her. But, this is only cos-metic with CMD and MOF nominee —both handpicked by the Government —calling the shots when it comes to takingpolicy decisions or even in its day-to-dayrunning.

In the past, meddling in the affairs ofthe PSBs took the form of what came tobe known as the cult of “crony capitalism.”The businessmen patronised by the rul-ing establishment managed loans onconsiderations other than merit and gotthem ever-greened (taking a new loan topay back the earlier one). Neither thebanks insisted on repayment, nor the

defaulters had any sense of fear as thosewho were expected to take action chosenot to act. The political brass also rides pig-gyback on PSBs for absorbing liabilitiescreated by populist policies such as sup-plying power to farmers and householdsat subsidised rates (or even free in someStates).

Be it a spate of bailout packages givento power distribution companies (fourbailouts have been granted so far) or loanwaiver given to farmers and now mora-torium on loan repayment extended to alland sundry, all have inflicted heavy loss-es on PSBs.

No wonder the country is grapplingwith high NPAs. In March 2018, grossNPAs (GNPAs) had reached a high 11.5per cent (14.5 per cent for PSBs). Thesedeclined to 8.5 per cent as of March; cour-tesy a number of measures, including res-olution of accounts under the Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code (IBC). But the ratiomay worsen to 12.5 per cent by March2021 under the optimistic baseline sce-nario (14.7 per cent under a severely-stressed one). For PSBs, it would be muchhigher at 15.2 per cent (16.3 per cent underseverely-stressed).

The Government has put investiga-tion and prosecution agencies in top gearto nab fraudsters and the Prime Ministeris allegedly against “crony capitalism.” Butthese exhortations and central agenciesseen in action mode do not seem to beyielding the desired result. The proof ofthe pudding is in eating. To get a sense,we only need to look at the value of bankfrauds in recent years. During 2014-15 and2015-16, the value of bank frauds was�17,000 crore each. During 2016-17 and2017-18, this went up to �20,500 crore and�22,500 crore respectively. Thereafter, thevalue galloped to �64,000 crore during2018-19 and further to �110,000 crore

during the first six months of 2019-20. The message is loud and clear. The ail-

ments afflicting PSBs won’t go away solong as majority ownership and controlremain with the Government. There is adire need to unshackle them and grantautonomy to the management. The RBI’srecommendation that the Government’sstake in six PSBs be reduced to 51 per centwon’t achieve the desired objective. To getthe intended results, the NayakCommittee’s prescription should be adopt-ed in totality.

The Government should set up a BICwith eminent professionals as members.While the position of chairman should goto a professional, the member-secretarycan be drawn from the bureaucracy. Allof the shareholding of the Centre in allPSBs should be transferred to the BIC.

The company should be given neces-sary authority to take all decisions onbehalf of the sovereign Government andallowed to work with full autonomy — atarm’s length from the latter.

The BIC should guide the manage-ment of individual banks to improve theirworking, prepare the roadmap for divest-ment of majority ownership and controland see through its execution. It shoulddetermine the timing of sale so as to realisemaximum value. The shares should be sodistributed as to avoid concentration in afew hands and ensure greater accountabil-ity to the public.

It is also crucial for the RBI tostrengthen its “supervision” over banks toguard against irregularities and misman-agement to prevent the fiasco of the kindwe have seen in the case of Yes Bank —a private bank. It should maintain strictvigil over the auditors to ensure that theydo their job diligently.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based pol-icy analyst)

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India is a democracy with a federalstructure. There are elaborate pro-visions in the Constitution for the

Centre and States with regard to theirrespective financial, administrative andlegislative powers. The legislative pow-ers are distributed through ScheduleVII of the Constitution, which providesthree lists. While List I contains mat-ters on which the Union Governmentcan exclusively legislate, List II enumer-ates matters on which StateGovernments can legislate and List III,which is called the Concurrent List,contains matters on which both, theUnion and State Governments may leg-islate.

Agriculture, with all its associat-ed ancillary and subsidiary enterpris-es, including education and research,livestock, fisheries, irrigation and so on

is a State subject. Markets and fairs arealso a State subject as per Entry 28 ofthe State list.

In its characteristic “shock and awe”style, the Centre has promulgatedthree Ordinances viz. The Farmer’sProduce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation)Ordinance, The Farmer’s(Empowerment and Protection)Agreement on Price Assurance andFarm Services Ordinance and TheEssential Commodities (Amendment)Ordinance.

Prima facie the first two ordinancesdo not seem to come under the domainof the Union Government. It is Entrynumber 33 of the Concurrent Listwhich is presumably put to use by theUnion Government for promulgatingthem. Entry 33 is being reproducedbelow for better understanding of theissue: “Trade and commerce in, and theproduction, supply and distribution ofthe products of any industry where thecontrol of such industry by the Unionis declared by Parliament by law to beexpedient in the public interest, andimported goods of the same kind assuch products; foodstuffs, includingedible oil seeds and oils; cattle fodder,including oilcakes and other concen-

trates; raw cotton whether ginned orunginned, and cotton seeds; and rawjute.”

The sub-entries on foodstuff rightup till raw jute were introduced by wayof a third amendment to theConstitution in 1955. There is a histo-ry and background to the third amend-ment by which the scope of Entry 33of List III was enlarged. Trade and com-merce within the State and production,supply and distribution of goods werethe matters enumerated in the provin-cial list as per the Government of IndiaAct, 1935. Even now these matters arein the State list under Entry 26 and 27.Therefore, it is needless to say that theyare essentially State subjects.

However, due to the World War-II, emergency was declared and theCentral legislature acquired the powerto legislate on these matters. When theemergency was lifted, the power to leg-islate on these matters was sought to beretained by the Dominion Governmentdue to the prevailing circumstances andscarcity of essential items. TheDominion Government also enactedThe Essential Supplies (Temporary)Powers Act, 1946 (hereinafter referredto as Act of 1946) to handle the situa-tion. The Constituent Assembly, with

a view to carry on with the arrange-ment, inserted Article 369 as a tempo-rary provision in the Constitution fora period of five years from the date ofcommencement of the Constitution.Article 369 and the Act of 1946 wereto expire on January 26, 1955.

However, the situation of food arti-cles and other essential supplies in thecountry was still precarious and themenace of hoarding and black market-ing was still there. So, with a view tocontinue the arrangement allowingthe Centre to legislate on trade, com-merce and production, supply and dis-tribution of essential commodities,four sub-entries were introduced inEntry 33 by way of the third amend-ment to the Constitution.

Alongside, The EssentialCommodities Act, 1955 was also enact-ed. Therefore, it was the space cededby Article 369 of the Constitution andAct of 1946, which in fact came to beoccupied by the amended Entry 33 inList III and The Essential CommoditiesAct, 1955 (ECA). The amended Entry33 and ECA principally equipped theUnion Government to tackle the scarci-ty of essential articles, hoarding, black-marketing, irrational price rise and suchsituations in the country and were never

meant to be used generally. With theFarmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Ordinance, the UnionGovernment has taken control of theentire intra-State sale and purchase ofall the agricultural produce and hasactually trampled upon the matterswhich are State subjects.

So far as the Farmers(Empowerment and Protection)Agreement on Price Assurance andFarm Services Ordinance is concerned,which basically provides legal structurefor contract farming, the same ineffect directly deals with the productionin the agriculture sector which, in everyrespect, is a State subject. The interpre-tation, which the Centre has given tosub-entries of Entry 33 of List III, isnovel. The Union has tried to use Entry33 as a standalone provision and it con-veniently ignored the context, objectand background of the sub-entries forthe reasons which are other than unin-tended. The Ordinance route makes theintentions of the Centre only more sus-pect.

An observation made by theSupreme Court in the case of SRBommai Vs Centre is a compellingreminder for respecting the federal

structure of the Constitution andwhich reads as thus: “The fact thatunder the scheme of our Constitution,great power is conferred upon theCentre vis-à-vis the States does notmean that States are mere appendagesof the Centre. With the sphere allottedto them, States are supreme. TheCentre cannot tamper with their pow-ers. More particularly, the courts shouldnot adopt an approach, an interpreta-tion, which has the effect of or tends tohave the effect of whittling down thepowers reserved to the States.”

Consequently, the first two of thethree Ordinances mentioned abovehave certainly encroached upon theState subjects and it is a colourable exer-cise of jurisdiction by the UnionGovernment.

It is not a case where a Central leg-islation incidentally trenched upon asubject in the State list but a case wherethe Centre has blatantly usurped sub-jects which are essentially State matters.The action by the Union Governmentis surely not in the spirit of federalism,which has been held to be one of thebasic features of the Constitution by theSupreme Court.

(The writer is a practising advocatein Punjab and Haryana High Court)

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Reliance Jio on Mondayannounced new plans forJioFiber broadband starting atmonthly price of Rs 399 withno limit on data usage.

As per the new plans, enter-tainment app Netflix is addedto the bouquet of bundled

apps for customerssubscribing mid-range plans. Theplans will berolled out from

September 1onwards, Reliance

Jio said in a statement."We want to take Fiber to

each and every home andempower every member ofthe family. After making Indiathe largest and the fastestgrowing country in mobileconnectivity with Jio, JioFiberwill propel India into globalbroadband leadership, there-by providing broadband toover 1,600 cities and towns,"Jio Director Akash Ambanisaid.

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Vedanta Ltd on Monday saidit has tied up with State Bankof India for a long-term syn-dicated loan facility worth Rs10,000 crore.

A syndicated loan isoffered by a group of lenderswho work together to providecredit to a large borrower.

"Vedanta Ltd has tied up along-term syndicated loanfacility for Rs 10,000 crorewith State Bank of India asfacility agent and SBICAPTrustee Company Ltd as thesecurity trustee with door todoor tenor of seven years,"Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiaryof Vedanta, said in a filing tothe BSE.

State Bank of India hasgiven a commitment of Rs5,000 crore as a lender, it said.

The facility end use stipu-lates refinancing of near-term debt maturities ofVedanta and for capitalexpenditure of the metalsand mining giant, it said.

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The Retailers Association ofIndia (RAI) on Monday saidthe Centre's directive to statesand union territories not toimpose lockdown outside con-tainment zones withoutapproval, comes as a silver lin-ing to the Indian retail indus-try that has been battlinglocalised restrictions.

Earlier, weekend and partiallockdowns were being imple-mented at the local levelsdespite Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) orders to keepretail open on all days, whichsuggested a gap in coordina-tion between centre and states,Retailers Association of IndiaRAI said in a statement.

"Livelihood is importantand we believe that any shut-downs should be very careful-ly calibrated to ensure a bal-ance between lives and liveli-hood. A central focus as com-pared to just local decisions isthe need of the hour," RAICEO Kumar Rajagopalan said.

He further said, RAI appre-ciates the efforts of MHA andDPIIT (Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade) for taking stepsto get the economy going.

RAI said retailers are major-ly depending on the upcomingfestive season for the recoveryof the business. Boost to theretail industry will in turnbenefit the entire value chain,which involves manufacturing,entertainment, artisans andother micro-enterprises.

"Removing roadblocks atthe local level will not only helpretailers to plan better for theseason, but will also help themmake decisions on hiring," itadded. Such a move, RAI said,will also benefit taxes collect-ed by the state governmentslike Goods and Service Tax(GST), among others which isimportant to help revive the

economy."Most importantly, it will be

in the interest of consumers asit will bring convenience tothem," it added.

RAI said for retailers, near-ly 60-70 per cent of costs arefixed with rents and salaries toemployees making up a largepart.

"In times like these, whenthe demand is inelastic, it iscrucial to keep stores open onall days and for extendedhours. Only this will helpretailers crawl back from thefinancial distress they havebeen facing and encouragesocial distancing," it added.

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Kerala will reject "lock, stockand barrel" the Centre's pro-posal of borrowing by states tomeet GST revenue shortfall,state finance minister ThomasIsaac said on Monday.

The Centre and opposition-ruled states like Punjab, Kerala,Delhi and West Bengal, are atloggerheads over the financingof the Rs 2.35 lakh crore GSTshortfall in the current fiscal.Of this, about Rs 97,000 croreis on account of GST imple-mentation and rest Rs 1.38lakh crore is the impact ofCOVID on states' revenues.

The Centre last week gavetwo options to the states toborrow either from a specialwindow facilitated by the RBIor from market and has alsoproposed extending the com-pensation cess levied on luxu-ry, demerit and sin goodsbeyond 2022.

"Now that we fully under-stand Centre's intentions onGST Compensation we haveno choice other than to reject

them lock, stock and barrel. Nostate with Aatmanirbhar canaccept them. Enough isenough. No more surrender ofstates rights. GSTCompensation is our constitu-tional right," Isaac tweeted.

At the GST Council meetingon August 27 on compensa-tion, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had said thatCOVID-19 is an 'Act of God'and it was necessary to differ-entiate between GST shortfalland the pandemic-relatedshortfall. "We all got it wrongregarding Centre's proposalon GST deadlock. This itself issad commentary on proceed-

ings of Council. We discuss for5 hours and then the Chaircomes up with proposalswhich are totally disconnect-ed with discussions and notime left for any clarification,"Isaac tweeted.

While the Centre has rea-soned its proposal on premisethat it is already saddled witha large borrowing requirementgiven the slowdown in revenuecollections due to a slump inthe economy, non-BJP ruledstates such as Punjab, Kerala,Delhi and West Bengal havealready stated that raising debtis not an option for alreadystretched state finances.

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Most companies that availedloan moratoriums have sub-investment grade ratings andwere facing challenges beforethe onset of the pandemicitself due to slowing econom-ic growth, domestic ratingsagency Crisil said on Monday.

In a report released on thelast day of the moratorium, theagency said it analysed 2,300non-financial sector companieswhich have taken recourse tonon-payment of loans, andfound that three-fourths ofentities are sub-investment

grade.The RBI introduced the loan

moratorium from March tohelp businesses and individu-

als impacted by the pandemic.Interest on the loans will keepgetting accrued, but a bor-rower will not be tagged as adefaulter for non-payment.

It can be noted that theIndian economy has been grap-pling with a slowdown in eco-nomic growth for multiplequarters and GDP came downto 3.1 per cent in January-March quarter.

"Three out of four entitiesthat availed of moratorium arerated in the sub-investmentgrade. Most of them were grap-pling with a slowing economybefore the pandemic began,"

the note from Crisil said.It said the moratorium has

provided much-needed liquid-ity support to mid-sized sub-investment grade companiesrated 'BB+' or lower and hasalso prevented a sharp weaken-ing in their credit profiles.

Only one out of four compa-nies that availed the moratori-um is rated in the investmentgrade, the agency said, explain-ing that they took recourse tothe dispensation to build a liq-uidity cushion for exigencies inthe near term.

"While every sector has beenaffected by the dislocations

stemming from the pandemic,the majority of those withlower resilience have availed ofthe moratorium," its seniordirector Subodh Rai said.

Heavily impacted sectorssuch as gems and jewellery,hotel, auto components, auto-mobile dealers, power (powerutilities, independent powerproducers and energy traders),packaging, and capital goodsand components, have seen afifth of the companies availingmoratoriums whereas its onlyone in ten for less-impactedsectors such as pharmaceuti-cals, chemicals, FMCG.

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Billionaire Gautam Adani'sconglomerate on Monday saidit will take controlling stake inMumbai airport through dealsin which it will acquire the debtof current promoter GVK andbuy out minority shareholders.

Adani Group will acquireGVK Airport Developers Ltd's50.50 per cent stake as well asbuyout 23.5 per cent stake ofAirports Company of SouthAfrica (ACSA) and BidvestGroup (for which it hasobtained CompetitionCommission of Indiaapproval), it said in a regulato-ry filing. A controlling 74 percent stake in MumbaiInternational Airport Ltd(MIAL), together with the sixnon-metro airports it baggedin a government tender, willmake Adani Group the largestprivate operator of airports inIndia.

Adani Airport Holdings willacquire the debt of GVKAirport Developers, the hold-

ing company of GVKPower andInfrastructure, thefiling said.

The debt will beconverted intoequity at mutually-agreed terms, GVKsaid in a separate filing.

This conversion wouldlead to Adani Group getting allof 50.5 per cent stake of GVKGroup.

The two firms did not givedetails of the deal including the

debt that Adani istaking over and theterms of conver-sion.

After seaports,Adani Group is

betting big on theairport sector and

has won the bids torun six AAI-built non-

metro airports in Lucknow,Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad,Thiruvanantha puram, andMangalore. It has now enteredthe country's second busiest

airport. The move comes at atime when the COVID-19pandemic has hit brakes on theaviation sector.

"The aviation industry hasbeen severely impacted byCOVID-19, setting it back bymany years and has impactedthe financials of MIAL," GVKChairman GVK Reddy said ina statement. "It was thereforeimportant that we bring in afinancially strong investor inthe shortest possible time."

GMR Infrastructure is theother big private airport oper-ator in the country. GMR,which operates the internation-al airport in New Delhi, is alsoselling a 49 per cent stake in theairport business to a consor-tium led by Tata Group, a unitof Singapore's sovereign wealthfund GIC and SSG CapitalManagement. In October lastyear, debt-laden GVK Grouphad entered into an agree-ment to sell 79 per cent of itsstake in GVK Airport Holdingsfor Rs 7,614 crore to threeinvestors to help retire debt.

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HomeLane, a home interiorscompany, on Monday said ithas raised Rs 60 crore (USD 8million) in a bridge fundinground from Stride Venturesand existing investors.

Bridge funding is a form ofintermediate funding intendedto cover a business' short-termexpenses until long-term fund-ing is secured.

Stride Ventures led thisround, participating throughdebt funding of Rs 20 crore inthe company, a statement said.

Existing investors AccelPartners, Sequoia Capital,

Evolvence India and JSWVentures also participated,infusing another Rs 40crore in equity, itadded.

With thisr o u n d ,HomeLane's totalfund-raising hascrossed Rs 370crore (USD 54million) in the lastsix years.

"Our mission is tomake home interiors easy forthe world, and this hasn'tchanged during the pandemic.Virtual meetings, powered byour 3D design and collabora-

tion platform SpaceCraft, haveenabled us to meet customers

and deliver superiordesign experience to

them while practis-ing social distanc-i n g , "HomeLane.comCEO andfounder Srikanth

Iyer said.He added that

the company believesthat there's still a sizable

gap in the market thatHomeLane can address.

HomeLane will deploy thenew funds to enter new mar-kets with a greater focus on

non-metro expansion whilestrengthening the brand's pres-ence across existing markets,the statement said.

Part of the funds will also bedeployed to enhanceHomeLane's technology offer-ing to give consumers a betterinterior service experience byfocusing on its proprietary 3Ddesign platform, Spacecraft, itadded.

HomeLane recorded Rs230.4 crore operating revenuesfor the year ended March 31,2020, registering a growth of130 per cent over its revenuesof Rs 99.95 crore during theprevious fiscal.

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Retail inflation forindustrial workerseased marginallyto 5.33 per cent inJuly compared to5.98 per cent inthe same monthlast year, mainlydue to lower pricesof certain food items.

"Year-on-year inflationbased on all-items stood at5.33 per cent for July 2020 ascompared to 5.06 per cent forthe previous month (June2020) and 5.98 per cent dur-ing the corresponding month(July 2019) of the previousyear," a labour ministry state-ment said.

The food inflation stood at6.38 per cent in July, comparedto 5.49 per cent in the previ-ous month and 4.78 per centduring the same period a yearago, it added.

The All-India CPI-IW (con-sumer price index for indus-trial workers) for July 2020increased by 4 points to 336.On one-month percentage

change, it increased by 1.20per cent between June and July2020 compared to 0.95 percent rise in the same periodthe previous year.

The data showed that themaximum upward movementin the current index camefrom housing group, con-tributing (+) 2.28 percentagepoints to the total change.

The food index furtheraccentuated the overall indexby (+) 1.77 percentage points.

At item level, wheat atta,mustard oil, milk (Buffalo),green chillies, brinjal, gourd,palak, parval, potato, tomato,snack saltish, cooking gas,firewood, bus fare, petrol, tai-loring charges, etc are respon-sible for the increase in index.

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The country's largest carmakerMaruti Suzuki India (MSI) onMonday said its Arena sales net-work has completed three years.

The company sells modelslike Alto, S-PRESSO, WagonR,Celerio, CelerioX, Swift, Dzire,Vitara Brezza and Ertiga, fromthe Arena sales outlets.

Rest of the models like, Ciaz,Baleno, Ignis, XL6 and S-Crossare sold from the company'sNexa sales network. "MarutiSuzuki ARENA was launchedafter listening to and meetingthe expectations of a modern,dynamic and young audience,"MSI Executive Director(Marketing & Sales) ShashankSrivastava said in a statement.

Celebrating its third anniversaryfills the company with greatpride, he added. Till date, thecompany has been able to con-vert around 745 of its 2,390standard dealerships into theArena sales outlets. It also has375 Nexa outlets, 321 dealer-ships for commercial vehicles(Super Carry LCV) and 571outlets for used cars business.

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As many as five companieshave raised Rs 882 crorethrough retail issuance of non-convertible debentures(NCDs) in the first fourmonths of the ongoing fiscal tostrengthen their balance sheets.

In comparison, companieshad collected Rs 4,177 crorethrough this route in the April-July period of 2019-20, datawith markets regulator

Securities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) showed.

The funds have beenmopped up to strengthen bal-ance sheets, which might havebeen impacted due to thecoronavirus pandemic, retireexisting debt and to supportworking capital requirements,market experts believe.

According to the data, asmany as five firms --Muthoottu Mini Financiersand Muthoot Fincorp,

Kosamattam Finance, KLMAxiva Finvest and SakthiFinance -- have mopped-upfunds totalling Rs 882 crorethrough retail issuance ofNCDs in the current fiscal tillJuly 13. NCDs are loan-linkedbonds that cannot be convert-ed into stocks and usuallyoffer higher interest rates thandebentures. Individually,Kosamattam Finance raisedRs 297 crore as against a tar-get of Rs 150 crore.

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Chemicals firmSRF on Mondaysaid its board hasapproved plans toraise up to Rs 1,000crore through acombination ofissuance of equityshares and nonconvertible debentures(NCDs). In a regulatory filing,SRF Ltd said its board hasapproved raising of funds "foran aggregate amount notexceeding Rs 750 crorethrough issue of equity sharesby way of qualified institutionsplacement, in accordance withthe relevant provisions ofapplicable law and subject toapproval of the company'sshareholders and receipt ofapplicable regulatoryapprovals".

The company's board alsoapproved raising "an aggregateamount not exceeding Rs 250crore through issue of listedredeemable secured non-con-vertible debentures by way ofprivate placement".

The company, however, did

not elaborate on end use offunds. Last month, SRF Ltdhad said its board okayed set-ting up an additionalchloromethane facility atDahej in Gujarat at a cost of Rs315 crore.

The company had said itsexisting capacity ofchloromethane, which is at95,000 tonnes per annum, isfully utilised. The proposal isto add an extra 1,00,000tonnes per annum capacity byJanuary 2022. The Rs 315crore investment required forthe project will be raisedthrough a mix of debt andinternal accruals for the pro-ject, it had said.

Shares of SRF Ltd weretrading 4.41 per cent lower atRs 4,036.50 apiece on the BSE.

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The rupee pared its early gainsand settled 21 paise down at73.60 (provisional) against theUS dollar on Monday, track-ing muted domestic equitiesand a rebound in theAmerican currency.

Forex traders said bordertensions between India and

China dampened investor sen-timent.

At the interbank forex mar-ket the domestic unit wit-nessed highly volatile trade. Itopened on a strong note at73.26, but lost ground duringthe day and finally ended at73.60 against the greenback,down 21 paise over its previ-ous close of 73.39.

ow often does onetruly make a livingfrom their pas-sion? Arun Thakuris one such personwho followed his

passion for riding, travelling,and photography and is nowone of the prominent namesin the motorcycling networkin India. A biking enthusiastfor the past 18 years, Arunhas not only opened up anindependent service stationfor Royal Enfield motorcycles

but hasalso brought together a

community of riding afi-cionados. Highway Players isa Delhi-based exclusive RoyalEnfield Bullet club and thiscommunity travels on a Bulletand explores all of India’s hid-den gems.

Back in 2013, whilst Arunwas on a trip to Ladakh whenat an altitude of 4,290m inSarchu, one of the Bulletsencountered a technical issue.With no service center insight, Arun took the lead andmanaged to get the motorcy-

cle up andrunning, and ever since that,the thought of opening up aservice station has always lin-gered on. Earlier this year,Arun let go of his full-timejob as a photojournalist and isnow focusing his time andefforts in the service station,along with his brother,Praveen.

Arun who is addicted tothe concept of motor ridingand has started riding at theage of 20 has witnessed manychanges in the field of motor-biking India. He tells us, “Thebiking scenario has changed a

lot over theyears. Ten years ago, the con-cept of breakfast ride orweekend rides was not there,it has picked up recently.These days people are buyingmotorcycles based on theirriding style, earlier the majorcriteria to select a motorcyclewas its mileage and themajority of people would justuse it for commuting. Now,the concept of motorcyclinghas changed completely. Forinstance, the Himalayanmotorcycle, it is for a specificset of riders who are adven-ture seekers. I’m not sayingthat the motorcycle can’t be

used to commutebut it is best suited for ruggedterrains.”

Arun who established theHighway Players communityinitially had only male riders.“About 15 years ago, motorcy-cling was associated with onegender in society. Womenhave been conditioned tothink that only men can ridemotorcycles. I founded theHighway Players. When weformed the club, we only hadmen riders, but today I havewomen riders in my club whoare equally passionate as menriders and a couple of themare better than a lot of us.Women are already breaking

thesestereotypes and we all mustsupport and encourage themto do so.”

Taking us through his jour-ney on how he converted hispassion into profession, Arunexplains, “I started ridingwhen I was 20. I’m addictedto the concept of riding. Thispassion of mine has grown somuch on me that now I’veconverted my passion intoprofession. I’m a trained pho-tographer by profession andI’ve worked for close to 10years as a photojournalistwith various media outlets.My brother and I had a ridingclub known as HighwayPlayers only for Royal Enfieldriders and then in 2018 we

opened amotorcycle workshop inFaridabad with the samename, Highway Players againonly for Royal Enfield. We donot service or restore anyother brand motorcycles.Early this year in January, Iquit my full-time job andCommitted myself to thegarage. I’ve ridden all thepossible motorcycles availablein our country for the sake oftaking experience and afterriding all of them I’ve realisedthat I’m a Royal EnfieldLover. Highway Player is aconcept that was born out ofmy love for Royal Enfield andmy love for riding. I sincerelywish I should be able to con-tinue with my passion whichhas now become my profes-

sion as well.”What is this motor enthu-

siast’s most memorable trip?He tells us, “The most mem-orable ride for me is my rideto Ladakh. I visited Ladakhon my bulletin in 2013. Sixof our friends rode togetherand it was quite an eventfulride. I often call that ride alife-changing experience forme. One of our motorcycleshad a breakdown and itneeded immediate attention.We were near Sarchu andunfortunately, there was noservice support available. Irolled up my sleeves and didsome stop-gap arrangementand ensured that the motor-cycle was up and running. Itwas on this trip that the ideaof my workshop HighwayPlayers came up.”

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I have played charac-ters in films, televi-

sion, and commercials. I fol-lowed my scripts thoroughlywith a sole vision to just createmore and more visual enter-tainment for my audiences forthem to enjoy. I dream of mak-ing myself exceptionally big inthis industry someday, a fighterwho’s never going to give up onhis dreams of delving intodiverse characters. Many ofthem have criticised me say-ing ‘You still haven’t left ahuge mark’ but that neverholds me back from pro-gressing. I will continue togive stellar performancesand engage my fansbecause I am in the gameof underdogs who’sgoing to chase the long-

distance race and win it soon! Idon’t think I have ever failed asan actor on screen.

4/��1+�11+��==0�Raj Virat’s humour along

with other actors’ sprightlinessand vanity will be visible to theaudiences who are going tocome to watch us. I haveworked extremely hard to caterto my audiences as if they arewatching a first-day matineeshow despite COVID restric-tions. For all the theatre loversout there, I promise to providethem with the same experien-tial experience as a moviegoer.The craziness is as such, theaudience would want to watchit again!

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There’s a certain aura aroundthe character of ‘Vaani’ playedby actress Rashmi Gautam,

both of us are different humansbeings with different approach-es yet we maintained a cordialprofessional relationship on set.It’s a quintessential role with aninsane characterisation. All inall, there’s a blend of authentici-ty and warmth in that characterhence apart from mine I likeher character as well.

/��AB !�80��The films that are moving to

OTT were actually made fortheatre viewing, I like to followBruce Lee’s mantra — Be likewater, my pals, be formless andshapeless. Put water into a jarand it takes that shape, I like togo with the flow! I am notgoing to wait, if theatres opentomorrow, I will immediatelyrelease my movie there as well,to get the complete impact ofsounds, VFX, and story. Bothof them guarantee a wideraudience, the only difference is

one is at the comfort of yourfingertips. People across thestate are still cautious and theymust be, along with embracingall the digital modes for enter-tainment. The entertainmentindustry certainly must keep

going.

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Nepotism can’t beat your tal-ent, hard work, and passion.Star kid needs to have a poten-tial of their own, only real tal-ent survives. There’s so muchwork for everyone out thereand great writers are comingtogether to create extraordinarycontent. The journey of anactor is a struggle in itself, I ama product of nepotism too! Doyou know how? Consider mybackground as social media, ithelped me become a successfulactor who’s known in everyhome now and I am supergrateful for it. On the samesocial media platform there aresuperstars like Raviteja, VijayDeverakonda, Nikhil, VishwakSen, Karthikeya and you cansoon add my name too, in thislist, if you know what I mean!

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His exit from the IPLattributed to personalreasons this season, all-

rounder Suresh Raina’s stintwith Chennai Super Kingsseems in jeopardy even next yearas the franchise might part wayswith him before the 2021 edi-tion.

The CSK camp based inDubai reported 13 Covid-19cases, including two main squadmembers Deepak Chahar andRuturaj Gaikwad, a developmentwhich an IPL source said, playeda role in the recently-retiredIndia player’s exit from theevent starting September 19.

However, it has nowemerged that the team manage-ment was not particularly happywith the 32-year-old’s “conduct”during the quarantine time,something which infuriatedCSK owner and former BCCIpresident N Srinivasan.

“In CSK, the norm is thatthe coach, captain and the man-ager get suites. However, Rainaalso gets a suite in any hotel thatthe franchise stays. It’s just thathis room didn’t have a balcony,”an IPL source said.

“It was an issue but I don’tthink big enough to warrant acomeback (to India). Therecould be something more thanjust the scare of rising Covid-caseload in Chennai,” the sourceadded, alluding to a speculatedbreach of the bio-bubble byRaina.

He said given the situation,

Raina could well be gone forgood now not only this seasonbut also the next IPL scheduledin April, 2021. Chennai’sfavourite Chinna Thala maynot wear the Canary yellowagain.

Is there a possibility ofRaina coming back this season,thereby changing the circum-stances?

“He is unavailable this sea-son and that is clear from theofficial statement issued by theCSK. Now there are certainthings that have not gone down

too well with the top people,” thesource said.

“It looks highly improbablethat someone who has retiredand likely won’t play any crick-et will come back for CSK.Maybe, he will be back in auc-tion and someone else mightpick him.”

CSK is punting heavily onyoung Ruturaj, expecting that hewill come good once he com-pletes the quarantine and rejoinsthe training session after twonegative tests.

“CSK has not yet asked for

an official replacement forRaina...They are undecided,”the IPL source added.

On the speculated bio-bub-ble breach, the source said anapology from Raina will have lit-tle impact given that the team islooking ahead.

“I don’t know about theapology part but CSK will nowbe eyeing to prepare Ruturajlooking at the future and Dhoniand Fleming will rejig theirstrategy accordingly,” the sourceadded.

Raina is CSK’s highest run-getter with 4527 runs from 164IPL games. The left-hander isalso the second highest scorer inIPL history with 5368 runs,second only to Indian skipperVirat Kohli’s 5412 runs.

�� 3��

Australian pacer JoshHazlewood on Monday

admitted that he is “concerned”about the Covid-19 outbreak inhis IPL side Chennai SuperKings, but said he is currentlyfocussing on the limited overstour of England.

The IPL, which is beginningin the UAE on September 19,has reported 13 Covid-19 pos-itive cases from the CSK contin-gent, including two players.

“We have a groupWhatsApp with all the informa-tion that comes through, it’sobviously a little bit of a con-cern,” Hazlewood, who is herefor national duty, told reporters.

Those who have tested pos-itive have been isolated in a sep-arate hotel.

According to the BCCI’sStandard OperatingProcedure (SOP), allthose who test positiveare mandated to gothrough an additional14-day quarantine.They can enter thebio-secure bub-ble only afterreturning nega-tive in tests to beconducted afterthe extendedisolation.

“Ideally you’dhave no cases, theyare in quarantinenow and I think thatfinishes up in nextfew days. All my

focus is on this tour at themoment and when the IPLcomes closer we’ll think aboutthat,” Hazlewood said.

Hazlewood is part of theAustralian squad that has trav-elled to England for the white-ball tour. The two sides will playthree T20Is in Southamptonand as many ODIs inManchester between Sept 4-16.

The 29-year-old, who alongwith the likes of David Warner,Steve Smith, Pat Cummins andAaron Finch is scheduled totravel to the UAE after the tourof England, said there will be dis-cussions with the CricketAustralia (CA) if the number ofpositive cases in the IPL increas-es.

“We haven’t spoken toomuch about it yet, it’s a fewweeks away until we get there. Iassume those things will come

up if cases are still happen-ing closer to the date, thenwe’ll touch base with CricketAustralia (CA) and have achat.”

CA has been extracautious in it’s

approach to counterthe Covid-19 pan-demic. The boardhas restricted itsplayers fromusing sweatfrom the head,face and neck to

shine the ballduring the tour of

England to reduce therisk of transmissionof the virus.

��6 The sticky wicket was a “great challenge”but South African star AB de Villiers left theground after his first net session in ages a sat-isfied man, having got what he had wantedahead of the IPL. The 36-year-old, who turns out for RoyalChallengers Bangalore in the T20 league,resumed training after a five-months and saidthe first sessions were pretty good as he stuckto the basics.

“It was very good, enjoyable to be out there,the wicket was a bit sticky so it was a great chal-lenge, actually if I could have it my way, I wouldhave wanted my first net session to go like thisonly after a long time,” De Villiers said in a

��

It’s been seven years since achess player got the Arjuna

award and the iconicViswanathan Anand is hopingthat India’s triumphant cam-paign at the online ChessOlympiad will change thiswhen the national sportinghonours are announced nextyear. In an interview afterIndia won the top honoursjointly with Russia on Sunday,Anand, a recipient of both theArjuna and the Khel Ratna,said award recognition is duefor the sport’s practitioners inIndia. “I hope this will lead toall sorts of positive thingsincluding the reconsiderationin the Sports Ministry of theArjuna award and theDronacharya awards for chess.It has been a long time,” saidthe country’s first Khel Ratna

awardee. The last time a chessplayer received the Arjuna wasin 2013 when Abhijeet Guptawas bestowed the honour,while a chess coach has beengiven the Dronacharya justtwice — Raghunandan VasantGokhale (1986) and KoneruAshok (2006).

“Sometimes you need toshow that we are still there andI hope this results in positive

impetus for many things,”Anand said. He said in the lastfew years, there has been “a dropoff in the attitude of the SportsMinistry towards chess players”regarding Government awards.

“I don’t mean at a personallevel obviously. Just that institu-tionally, we no longer get awardsfor international competitions,”Anand said later in an onlinemedia interaction.

��

Kings XI Punjab’s fielding coachJonty Rhodes feels it’s important

for the team’s senior players such asMohammed Shami to set an examplefor the juniors to follow in the upcom-ing IPL.

“From an energy perspective, Ialways look to the senior players to leadbecause there are some talented youngplayers like Mayank Agarwal, KarunNair, Deepak Hooda, some great field-ers,” Rhodes said in a video posted onthe official Twitter handle of Kings XIPunjab.

“But it’s guys like Shami who, forme, are so important to this outfitbecause they are often looked up toand respected in very high regard,especially in Indian cricketing circles.

“If they are setting high stan-dards, then young players, it’s easier for

them to follow. So it’s great to seeShami speed to the ball, great tech-nique and just showing the youngerguys that he’s still got something leftin the tank.”

This will be Rhodes’ first stint withthe Kings XI Punjab. He is making areturn to the IPL after having spent twoseasons away post his stint with theMumbai Indians.

��

Former Pakistan skipperInzamam-ul-Haq has

slammed coach-cum-selectorMisbah-ul-Haq for his negativebody language duringPakistan’s defeat in the secondT20I against England onSunday.

England chased down astiff 196-run target losing onlyfive wickets.

With England going strongat 65 for no loss, Misbah wasseen sitting with his handsover his face and holding hishead in disappointment.

Inzamam said such reac-tions sends a negative messageto the team which was still bat-tling in the middle.

“During the fifth over ofEngland innings, whenPakistan were bowling theirPowerplay overs and had con-

ceded 40-45 runs, the camerakept showing Misbah and hehad his hands on his head,which suggested that some-thing really bad had happened,”Inzamam said in his YouTubechannel.

“There were still 155-160runs to go, the match couldhave gone in anyone’s favour,

but you are sending a messagethat suggests that you havedone something wrong.

“You can have a proper dis-cussion after the game, but ifyou respond like this during thematch, then this will have a badeffect on the team.”

The former skipper said itis important to send “positive

vibes” irrespective of the matchsituation.

“No matter what happensduring the match, only positivevibes should go out from thedressing room. It’s very impor-tant. We are T20 champions. Ifwe’re losing in that (format), it’sa cause of worry.”

The 50-year-old Inzamamalso drew a comparisonbetween Misbah and formercoach Mickey Arthur, who wasshown the door followingPakistan’s disappointing WorldCup campaign last year.

“Mickey Arthur used torespond in the same way,” saidInzamam, who was the chiefselector when Arthur served asthe chief coach.

“Whenever I used to go towatch series and talk to play-ers, they used to complain a lotthat Arthur’s similar anticsaffected them negatively.”

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England on Monday recalledseveral World Cup winners

for their upcoming white-ballseries against Australia but Testcaptain Joe Root has again beenomitted from the T20 squad.

Fifty-over world championsEngland have been fielding sep-arate red and white ball squadsin a season hit by the coron-avirus pandemic.

But with all six Tests span-ning two series wins against theWest Indies and Pakistan nowcompleted, England haverecalled some of their multi-for-mat players for next month’s lim-ited-overs matches againstAustralia.

Root was the third-highestrun-scorer at the 2016 T20World Cup but the Yorkshirebatsman has not played a T20Isfor over a year, despite stillwanting to feature in the format.

Meanwhile fellow WorldCup winners Jofra Archer, JosButtler, and Mark Wood all

return for both the T20 and ODIseries, while Chris Woakes isback in the 50-over squad.

Both England white-ball

sides are again captained by EoinMorgan, whose dashing 66helped put the hosts 1-0 up in aT20 series against Pakistan inManchester on Sunday ahead ofTuesday’s finale.

Jason Roy, another memberof England’s World Cup winningside, has been ruled out of theT20s with the same side strainthat has sidelined him for allthree Pakistan T20s.

But England hope theSurrey opener will be fit for theone-dayers.

Meanwhile Ben Stokes, whohas not played for Englandsince this month’s first Testagainst Pakistan, was again omit-ted with the all-rounder stillspending time in New Zealandwith his father, who has beendiagnosed with brain cancer.

There was no place in eithersquad for all-rounder DavidWilley, despite the left-arm pace-man being England’s man of theseries in their 2-1 one-day inter-national campaign win overIreland earlier this month.

( ��,�*6 Andy Murray sayshis true self will be on show ata Grand Slam for the first timein three years this week at the USOpen after battling back from acareer-threatening hip injury.

The former world No 1said the last time he felt thispain-free going into a tennismajor was at Roland Garros in2017. “It has been a long jour-ney to get back to this point,” the33-year-old told reporters.

“I’m actually hopefullygoing to compete at a Slamwhere I’m not worried abouthow I’m going to be and how myhip is going to feel. The last timethat would have been was in the2017 French Open.

“It’s a long time ago and Iknow I’ve played a couple ofslams since then but that wasn’treally me on the court,” headded.

Murray had career-savinghip surgery in 2019, his secondhip operation, before sufferinganother setback with a pelvicinjury at the Davis Cup last

November. That, combined withthe coronavirus pandemic shut-down, kept him out of compe-tition until the ATP Western andSouthern Open this past week,where he reached the last 16.

The 2012 US Open cham-pion said he is “pumped” to beback at Flushing Meadows forthe first time since 2018.

“Physically right now I feelpretty good. So I’m really happyabout that because it’s allowingme to practice, and prepareproperly and enjoy my time onthe court,” he said.

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Mahendra Singh Dhonishould be batting at num-

ber three for Chennai SuperKings now that Suresh Rainahas pulled out of the IPL, feelsformer India opener GautamGambhir.

Gambhir thinks that Dhoni,who has been away from thegame for over a year, should tryand play as many balls possible.

“It will be a good opportu-nity for MS Dhoni to come andbat at No 3,” Gambhir said onStar Sports’ show CricketConnected.

“And he has been away

from the game for the last oneyear, so he would end up gettinga lot more balls to face and thenhe can actually play the anchorinnings as well which he hasbeen doing for India for thelast couple of years,” thetwo-time IPL-winningskipper said.

Gambhir said thatDhoni can come atone down as thereare batsmen whocan play the fin-ishing game.

“So, MSDhoni at No 3and then theyhave got depth

with Kedar Jadhav, DwayneBravo, Sam Curran, all thoseguys they can come in.

“So, I think it is going to bea great opportunity for some-

one like MS Dhoni and Iam sure he is

going to rel-ish that. Also,Suresh Rainanot beingthere, youwant to havesome experi-

enced playerbatting at No 3,

so it could beMS Dhoni

now,” he added.

'�� -� ��1� -��/ ��51)�� ) /� �1�6 �� 4�1� Seasoned batsman Suresh

Raina will realise what he ismissing out on by skipping theIndian Premier League and hisabsence won’t have an impacton the Chennai Super Kings,team owner N Srinivasan hassaid.

In an interview withOutlook magazine, Srinivasanshared his views on Raina’ssudden decision to leave theCSK team and head back toIndia.

The 75-year-old said thatCSK were confident of their

chances in the 13th edition ofthe IPL despite the departureof their highest run-getter.

“The season has not begunyet and Raina will certainlyrealise what he is missing andcertainly all the money he isgoing to lose,” Srinivasan, a for-mer BCCI and InternationalCricket Council chief, wasquoted as saying.

CSK CEO KasiViswanathan had confirmedon Saturday that Raina had leftthe team and flown back toIndia due to “personal reasons”.

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ooks likeTollywood isslowly gettingback on its feet.With coron-avirus showing

no signs of slowdown, thefilmmakers seem to havedecided to resume work—albeit by taking all safetymeasures. After superstarNagarjuna recently hintedthat he’d be resuming workon Wild Dog on Monday,Sai Tej too joined the sets ofhis next, Solo Brathuke SoBetter (SBSB), in RamojiFilm City on Monday.

The film’s talkie por-tions have beenwrapped up beforelockdown and theyneed to wrap uptwo and half songsin this schedule of10-12 days, withwhich the entireshoot part will becompleted. As film’sproducer BVSNstruck a deal with anOTT player last monthfor an October drop,the team hasdecided tocom-pletethe

leftover portions quickly sothat they can devote moretime for post-production.On Monday, the shoot pro-ceeded with the unit follow-ing all safety protocols. “Itfeels so good to be back onsets !!! We are excited andwe are taking utmost care tomake sure everybody stayssafe (sic),” Sai Tej posted onTwitter.

In the fun-filled enter-tainer, Sai plays a studentwho is averse to the idea ofbeing in a relationship,leading him to form a clubcalled SBSB. Nabha Natesh,

on the otherhand, plays aspunky younggirl who chal-lenges Sai’ssteely resolveto stay single.The film,which is aThamanmusical,

marks thedirectorialdebut of Subbu.

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aunched in thetemple town ofTirupati earlierthis March, thefilming ofKarthikeya 2

couldn’t proceed as envisageddue to the lockdown trig-gered by the pandemic. Evenas other films like Prabhas-starrer Radhe Shyam areresuming in the unlockphase, Karthikeya 2 may takesome more time, film’s direc-tor Chandoo Mondetiobserves. “The locations I’vechosen for the film —Gujarat and Cambodia —don’t support feature film-making now. We are waitingfor the present crisis to slowdown. In fact, I’ve undertak-en a recce of locations inGujarat and everything wasset for the shoot but coron-avirus played spoilsport,” the

director sighs.As an after-thought, he

adds, “The biggest questionmark right now is when theconditions turn conducivefor feature filmmaking. Wethought of taking the film tofloors when the cases dip ear-lier this summer but it wasn’tmeant to be.”

He believes the situationmight improve by December-January, post which he wantsto get the sequel off theground. In the meanwhilethough, if situations permit,he is toying with the idea ofmaking his digital debut witha web film. “I’ve been think-ing of making my digitaldebut for a long time. I havetwo-three stories which arebetter off narrating on thedigital medium. Whatever Ido, I have to bear in mindthe prevailing circumstances.

I should plan the shoot withminimum crew while adher-ing to all the safety protocols.And it should be wrapped upin a quick time as well,” heinforms.

Prodded a bit, he admitsto be penning a comedydrama for the web debut. Itis for the first time thatChandoo, whose talent iswidely spoken across thefilm circles, will be trying hishand at a full-fledged come-dy. He intends to man thedirector’s chair as well. “It’s asituational comedy and thehumour emanates from thecharacteristics of the roles.I’ve been developing it forthe past 45 days and it’s inthe final stages. The castingwill be finalised in the nextcouple of weeks,” he pointsout, adding that by the timehe wraps up this film, he is

hoping for the present crisisto end so that he can get onwith Karthikeya 2. “Writingthe web film aside, I’m alsodiscussing the VFX ofKarthikeya 2 right now.”

The director will also bejoining forces with GA2Pictures sometime next year.He has narrated a couple ofstories to producer BunnyVas and both have beenapproved. But thiscollaboration willhappen onlyafter he wraps upKarthikeya2.

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riter-filmmakerAnand Ravi hasbeen tapped bynew productionhouse BhadraProductions for

his next assignmentafter Napoleon, which hewrote, directed andstarred in. The new film,titled Korraminu, ispresently in pre-produc-tion, with Anandintending to start inOctober. “It is a thrillerwhich unfolds in a har-bour-dock area. Thedirector and his teamwill be visitingMachilipatnam andKakinada shortly on arecce to finalise the set-ting for the story. The

casting process too hasbeen initiated. Ravi willnot headline the film asan actor,” said a sourceclose to the project.

The source furtheradded that Ravi, whowrote the story of NaraRohith-starrerPrathinidhi, will be com-pleting Korraminu inless than 45 days. “Themakers are planning torelease the film on thesilver screen-even ifthere is a slight delay.They feel the coron-avirus crisis will end bythe end of this year andtheatres will reopenearly next year,”informed the source.

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n a first for HarishShankar, the directorhas not just pennedthe story for Sunil’snext gig as a mainlead, but will also

serve as the production part-ner. Titled VedanthamRaghavaiah, the film, a pro-duction venture of 14 ReelsPlus, was announced onMonday. While the produc-tion chose not to divulge further details about the pro-ject, word has it the film is asignature Harish popcornentertainer with which Sunilis poised to reinvent hislead actor image onceagain. Chances of one of

Harish’s long-time associatesdirecting the project are notruled out.

Film’s producer RamAchanta wrote on Twitter,“We are Happy & Thrilled toannounce our next projecttitled#VedanthamRaghavaiahStarring everyone’s favouriteactor @Mee_Sunil & muchmore happier to be associatedagain with our Dynamic@harish2you as he not onlypresents but also penned anexciting story!! (Sic).”

Sunil, in a Twitter post,said he “needs all your loveand blessings for#VedanthamRaghavaiah .”

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ctress LakshmiManchu demand-ed restrain fromthe media in thecoverage of lateBollywood actor

Sushant Singh RajputSushant Singh Rajput case,while simultaneously slam-ming the media trails of RheaChakraborty, who has beenaccused of abetment to sui-cide in the death of Sushant.

Sharing a post seeking jus-tice for both Sushant andRhea on Twitter on Sunday,Lakshmi said that she wouldwant her colleagues to standup for her if she ever facedthe situation that Rhea wascurrently going through. “Ifsomething like this happenedto me I would want my col-leagues to stand up for me atleast the ones that know meto say back off hang on leaveher alone and I ask all of you

to do the same back off hangon leave her alone until theentire truth is officiallyreleased,” she wrote.

She added, “I see so manypeople so silent because themedia has made a monsterout of a girl. I don’t know thetruth and I want to know thetruth and I hope the truth willcome out in the most honestway. I have complete trust inthe judiciary system and allthe agencies that are involvedin bringing justice to Sushant.”

She continued, “But untilthen can we restrain our-selves from being evil andcruel and lynching of personand her entire family withoutknowing the facts. I can onlyimagine the pain the entirefamily is going through withthese so-called media trials.”

Reacting to Lakshmi’s post,Taapsee wrote, “I didn’t knowSushant on a personal level

nor do I know Rhea butwhat I know is, it onlytakes to be a human tounderstand how wrong itis to overtake judiciaryto convict someone whoisn’t proven guilty. Trustthe law of the land foryour sanity and thedeceased’s sanctity.”

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