1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... prime minister pv...

12
Ending days of anxious wait, the BCCI on Sunday released the schedule for the upcoming IPL, and in keep- ing with tradition, defen- dine champions Mumbai Indians will take on run- ners-up Chennai Super Kings in the opener in Abu Dhabi on September 19. Moved out of India due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, the upcoming edition of the world's biggest T20 league will be held in the three venues of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the UAE. After the tournament- opener, Dubai will host its first game the next day when Delhi Capitals take on Kings XI Punjab followed by the third match on Monday between Sunrisers Hyderabad and R o y a l Challengers Bangalore. A meeting of the state cabinet, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, will be held on Monday at Pragathi Bhavan. The Cabinet meeting, beginning at 7.30 PM, will dis- cuss the New Revenue Act and other Bills to be introduced in the Legislature, sources said. Raising eyebrows, the Speaker, in a bulletin on Sunday, stated that there would be no question hour on the first day of the monsoon session, commencing on Monday, under rule 38 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Telangana Legislative Assembly. The House will place mourning resolutions for former President Pranab Mukherjee, Dubbaka MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy and others. Later, a Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting will be held to decide the agenda and working days of the monsoon session. According to sources, the House will discuss former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel- ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers and MLAs, Assembly staff, media persons and police mar- shals underwent corona tests over the past three days. It may be recalled that the Speaker had made it clear that all those seeking to enter the Assembly, including Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, Assembly staff and media persons, must pro- duce a corona negative report before gaining entry. Commercial taxes are the major source of revenue for the state government con- tributing three- fourth of total rev- enues to the state exchequer. However, the commercial taxes collections continue to reel under the impact of corona lockdown even after lifting of lockdown restrictions in the state. Commercial taxes collec- tions witness a sharp decline from April to August barring June, altering the budget esti- mates on commercial tax col- lections and pushing state gov- ernment into further financial crisis. The declining GST collec- tions in the state have already adversely affected the state government's finances since April. The lower commercial taxes collections from April further compounded the financial woes of the state government. The commercial taxes col- lections have recorded a 27 per cent drop from April to August this year when compared with the same period last year. The government earned Rs 19,066 crore through com- mercial taxes during April- August last fiscal 2019-20. However, this fell to Rs 13,946 crore in April-August 2020-21, a reduction of Rs 5,120 crore. The complete lockdown in April and partial lockdown in May this year has adversely affected the commercial taxes collections. In April 2019, the commer- cial taxes collections were Rs 3,728 crore, which fell to a meagre Rs 932 crore this April, a sharp decline by 75%. The wooden chariot of the famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh was gutted in a fire mishap in the wee hours of Sunday. The state govern- ment ordered an inquiry into the incident to establish the cause of the fire. We have appointed Endow ments Additional Commi ssioner Ramachandra Mohan as the inquiry officer. He has been asked to coordinate with the police and determine the cause of the fire, Endowments Minister Velampalli Srinivas said here. Telangana State Director General of Police Mahendra Reddy on Sunday wrapped up his five-day unprecedented tour of Asifabad district, especially Tiryani forest region, where forces have been on alert to check Maoist activity. During his tour, the DGP con- ducted aerial surveys of the Agency areas of the district that have indicated Maoist move- ments. On Saturday, the DGP con- fined himself to the Superintendent of Police's camp office and had discus- sions separately with District Collector Sandeep Jha, in-charge SP Satyanarayana, Officer on Special Duty Uday Kumar Reddy and Assistant Superintendent of Police Sudheendra. He issued strict guidelines to the police to rein in Maoists infiltrating into Telangana State from the neigh- bouring Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh state. He asked the police to be on their toes. He inspected the functioning of all police officials, right from SI to district SP at the field level. It is rare for an officer of the DGP rank to stay put for days together in remote areas believed to be under the influence of Maoists. Because of the tour of the DGP, the entire police machinery became alert. Extensive combing was taken up in the catchment area of Pranahita river by special forces. Search and seizure operations were taken up in areas suspected to be under the influence of Maoists. The DGP, who arrived here on September 2 by helicopter, con- ducted aerial surveys the same day. Supreme Court on Sunday was informed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that tickets booked by passengers in domestic and international carriers for air travel between March 25 to May 3, 2020, which was the first two phases of lockdown, will be "fully refunded." "Non-refund of air tickets booked during lockdown and creation of involuntary credit shell by airlines is a violation of Civil Aviation Requirements and provisions of the Aircraft Rules of 1937," DGCA told SC, according to reports. Earlier, SC had issued a notice to Centre and DGCA on a plea seeking full refund of tickets for flights cancelled due to coronavirus-induced lockdown in the country. On 12 June according to a Mint report, SC bench had asked the Centre and airlines to file a reply on the issue within three weeks. The bench had also pro- posed that airlines provide a credit shell with a two-year validity against flight bookings that were cancelled during the lockdown. The top court had directed the civil aviation ministry to schedule a meeting with air- lines and devise modalities to make refunds to passengers. Moreover, in April, Centre had asked airlines to refund full fares, without imposing cancel- lation charges, to those who booked tickets during the first lockdown from 25 March to 14 April for travel between 25 March and 3 May. The ministry has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to ensure airlines comply with its directive. Airlines had since the first week of April resumed book- ings for travel after 14 April anticipating that the nation- wide lockdown to curb the spread of covid-19 would be lifted. Once the lockdown was extended, airlines deferred the resumption of flights. Meanwhile, the Central gov- ernment on 31 August extend- ed the ban on international commercial passenger flights to and from India till September 30, barring exceptions men- tioned by the government. The Telangana State govern- ment, which 'purified' land records in 2017 and has begun implementing reforms in the Revenue Department to check land disputes and rampant cor- ruption in the wing, now wants to survey lands afresh in an effort to find a lasting solution to land problems across the state. Most of the existing land records were created after a sur- vey by the erstwhile Nizam rulers 84 years ago. Prior to the launch of the Rythu Bandhu (farm input sub- sidy scheme), Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had initiat- ed a full-scale land survey two years ago but had to abandon it because of paucity of time. In view of the current talk of land reforms, the question of land survey afresh has come to the fore again. According to a report submit- ted by revenue officials, both serving and retired, it would take at least six months to two years for surveying afresh lands in the state. To survey lands, the Differential Global Positioning System, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), Electronic Total Station and other survey methods are in vogue. Conduct of fresh survey is estimated to cost at least Rs 600 crore. Presently, transactions relat- ing to land records are being carried out in the state based on the survey done during the Nizam period. Geographical boundaries have changed since then, area of lands under culti- vation has increased, residential habitats have increased, the shapes of streams, canals, hills, hillocks and other geographical contours have undergone vast changes. Technology Business Incubator of BITS Pilani Hyderabad incu- bated startup Baiid Auto Technologies has developed an IoT-based smart facemask for a medical condition such as COVID-19 and pulmonary disorder. This Internet of Things (IoT) facemask helps in protecting an individual from being exposed to infection and also monitors their health para- meters remotely, a release from Technology Business Incubator of BITS Pilani Hyderabad said. "The smart facemask helps COVID-19 warriors to effi- ciently monitor patients through their smartphones and thereby reducing the time, they spent in the isolation ward to collect basic parame- ters, which reduces the risks of them being infected," it said. The government is mulling set- ting up at least one electric vehicle (EV) charging kiosk each at nearly 69,000 petrol pumps across the country to induce people to go for electric mobility. Besides, the govern- ment is also thinking of mak- ing it compulsory to install EV charging kiosks at all Company-Owned, Company- Operated (COCO) petrol pumps of state refiners. In a review meeting on EV charging infrastructure, Power Minister R K Singh suggested oil ministry top officials that "they may issue an order for their oil marketing companies (OMCs) under their adminis- trative control for setting up charging kiosks at all COCO petrol pumps", a source said. Other franchisee petrol pump operators may also be advised to have at least one charging kiosk at their fuel sta- tions, the source said adding this will help achieve "EV charging facility at all petrol pumps in the country". Under the new guidelines of the oil ministry, new petrol pumps must have an option of one alternative fuel. An unidentified man alleged- ly called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's personal resi- dence 'Matoshree' in Bandra here, saying that he was call- ing from Dubai on behalf of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, a police official said on Sunday. The caller rang up twice around 10.30 pm on Saturday, following which the police beefed up security at Thackeray's bungalow located in Kalanagar Colony, the offi- cial said. "Someone called up on 'Matoshree' phone number two times on Saturday night and said Dawood Ibrahim wanted to talk to CM Uddhav Thackeray. However, the tele- phone operator did not trans- fer the call to the CM," the official said. "The caller did not reveal his identity, but only said that he was calling from Dubai on behalf of Dawood Ibrahim.

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Page 1: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

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Ending days of anxiouswait, the BCCI on Sundayreleased the schedule for theupcoming IPL, and in keep-ing with tradition, defen-dine champions MumbaiIndians will take on run-ners-up Chennai SuperKings in the opener in AbuDhabi on September 19.

Moved out of India dueto a surge in COVID-19cases, the upcoming editionof the world's biggest T20league will be held in the

three venues of Dubai,Abu Dhabi and Sharjahin the UAE.

After the tournament-opener, Dubai will hostits first game the nextday when Delhi Capitalstake on Kings XIPunjab followed bythe third match onMonday betweenS u n r i s e r sHyderabad andR o y a lC h a l l e n g e r sBangalore.

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A meeting of the state cabinet,under the chairmanship ofChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, will beheld on Monday at PragathiBhavan. The Cabinet meeting,beginning at 7.30 PM, will dis-cuss the New Revenue Act andother Bills to be introduced inthe Legislature, sources said.

Raising eyebrows, theSpeaker, in a bulletin onSunday, stated that there wouldbe no question hour on the firstday of the monsoon session,commencing on Monday,under rule 38 of the Rules ofProcedure and Conduct ofBusiness in the Telangana

Legislative Assembly. TheHouse will place mourningresolutions for former PresidentPranab Mukherjee, DubbakaMLA Solipeta RamalingaReddy and others. Later, aBusiness Advisory Committee

(BAC) meeting will be held todecide the agenda and workingdays of the monsoon session.

According to sources, theHouse will discuss formerPrime Minister PV NarasimhaRao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too.

Meanwhile, several Ministersand MLAs, Assembly staff,media persons and police mar-shals underwent corona testsover the past three days.

It may be recalled that theSpeaker had made it clear thatall those seeking to enter theAssembly, including Ministers,MLAs, MLCs, Assembly staffand media persons, must pro-duce a corona negative reportbefore gaining entry.

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Commercial taxes arethe major source ofrevenue for the stategovernment con-tributing three-fourth of total rev-enues to the stateexchequer.

However, thecommercial taxescollections continueto reel under theimpact of corona lockdowneven after lifting of lockdownrestrictions in the state.

Commercial taxes collec-tions witness a sharp declinefrom April to August barringJune, altering the budget esti-mates on commercial tax col-

lections and pushing state gov-ernment into further financialcrisis.

The declining GST collec-tions in the state have alreadyadversely affected the stategovernment's finances since

April.The lower commercial taxes

collections from April furthercompounded the financialwoes of the state government.

The commercial taxes col-lections have recorded a 27 per

cent drop from April to Augustthis year when compared withthe same period last year.

The government earned Rs19,066 crore through com-mercial taxes during April-August last fiscal 2019-20.

However, this fell to Rs13,946 crore in April-August2020-21, a reduction of Rs5,120 crore.

The complete lockdown inApril and partial lockdown inMay this year has adverselyaffected the commercial taxescollections.

In April 2019, the commer-cial taxes collections were Rs3,728 crore, which fell to ameagre Rs 932 crore this April,a sharp decline by 75%.

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The wooden chariot of thefamous Lakshmi NarasimhaSwamy temple at Antarvedi inEast Godavari district ofAndhra Pradesh was gutted ina fire mishap in the wee hoursof Sunday. The state govern-ment ordered an inquiry intothe incident to establish thecause of the fire.

We have appointed Endowments Additional Commissioner Ramachandra Mohanas the inquiry officer. He hasbeen asked to coordinate withthe police and determine thecause of the fire, EndowmentsMinister Velampalli Srinivassaid here.

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Telangana State Director Generalof Police Mahendra Reddy onSunday wrapped up his five-dayunprecedented tour of Asifabaddistrict, especially Tiryani forestregion, where forces have been onalert to check Maoist activity.During his tour, the DGP con-ducted aerial surveys of theAgency areas of the district thathave indicated Maoist move-ments.

On Saturday, the DGP con-

fined himself to theSuperintendent ofPolice's camp officeand had discus-sions separatelywith DistrictCollector SandeepJha, in-charge SPSatyanarayana,Officer on SpecialDuty Uday KumarReddy and AssistantSuperintendent of PoliceSudheendra.

He issued strict guidelines to

the police to rein inMaoists infiltrating

into Telangana Statefrom the neigh-b o u r i n gMaharashtra andChhattisgarh state.He asked the

police to be on theirtoes. He inspected

the functioning of allpolice officials, right from SI

to district SP at the field level. It is rare for an officer of the

DGP rank to stay put for days

together in remote areas believedto be under the influence ofMaoists. Because of the tour ofthe DGP, the entire policemachinery became alert.Extensive combing was taken upin the catchment area of Pranahitariver by special forces. Search andseizure operations were taken upin areas suspected to be under theinfluence of Maoists.

The DGP, who arrived here onSeptember 2 by helicopter, con-ducted aerial surveys the sameday.

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Supreme Court on Sunday wasinformed by DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) that tickets booked bypassengers in domestic andinternational carriers for airtravel between March 25 toMay 3, 2020, which was thefirst two phases of lockdown,will be "fully refunded."

"Non-refund of air ticketsbooked during lockdown andcreation of involuntary creditshell by airlines is a violation ofCivil Aviation Requirementsand provisions of the AircraftRules of 1937," DGCA told SC,

according to reports.Earlier, SC had issued a

notice to Centre and DGCA ona plea seeking full refund oftickets for flights cancelleddue to coronavirus-induced

lockdown in the country. On12 June according to a Mintreport, SC bench had asked theCentre and airlines to file areply on the issue within threeweeks. The bench had also pro-

posed that airlines provide acredit shell with a two-yearvalidity against flight bookingsthat were cancelled during thelockdown.

The top court had directedthe civil aviation ministry toschedule a meeting with air-lines and devise modalities tomake refunds to passengers.

Moreover, in April, Centrehad asked airlines to refund fullfares, without imposing cancel-lation charges, to those whobooked tickets during the firstlockdown from 25 March to 14April for travel between 25March and 3 May.

The ministry has asked the

Directorate General of CivilAviation to ensure airlinescomply with its directive.Airlines had since the firstweek of April resumed book-ings for travel after 14 Aprilanticipating that the nation-wide lockdown to curb thespread of covid-19 would belifted. Once the lockdown wasextended, airlines deferred theresumption of flights.

Meanwhile, the Central gov-ernment on 31 August extend-ed the ban on internationalcommercial passenger flights toand from India till September30, barring exceptions men-tioned by the government.

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The Telangana State govern-ment, which 'purified' landrecords in 2017 and has begunimplementing reforms in theRevenue Department to checkland disputes and rampant cor-ruption in the wing, now wantsto survey lands afresh in aneffort to find a lasting solutionto land problems across thestate. Most of the existing landrecords were created after a sur-vey by the erstwhile Nizamrulers 84 years ago.

Prior to the launch of theRythu Bandhu (farm input sub-sidy scheme), Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had initiat-ed a full-scale land survey twoyears ago but had to abandon itbecause of paucity of time. In

view of the current talk of landreforms, the question of landsurvey afresh has come to thefore again.

According to a report submit-ted by revenue officials, bothserving and retired, it wouldtake at least six months to twoyears for surveying afresh lands

in the state. To survey lands, theDifferential Global PositioningSystem, LIDAR (LightDetection and Ranging),Electronic Total Station andother survey methods are invogue. Conduct of fresh surveyis estimated to cost at least Rs600 crore.

Presently, transactions relat-ing to land records are beingcarried out in the state based onthe survey done during theNizam period. Geographicalboundaries have changed sincethen, area of lands under culti-vation has increased, residentialhabitats have increased, theshapes of streams, canals, hills,hillocks and other geographicalcontours have undergone vastchanges.

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Technology Business Incubatorof BITS Pilani Hyderabad incu-bated startup Baiid AutoTechnologies has developedan IoT-based smart facemaskfor a medical condition such asCOVID-19 and pulmonarydisorder. This Internet ofThings (IoT) facemask helps inprotecting an individual frombeing exposed to infection andalso monitors their health para-meters remotely, a release fromTechnology Business Incubatorof BITS Pilani Hyderabad said.

"The smart facemask helpsCOVID-19 warriors to effi-ciently monitor patientsthrough their smartphonesand thereby reducing the time,they spent in the isolationward to collect basic parame-ters, which reduces the risks ofthem being infected," it said.

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The government is mulling set-ting up at least one electricvehicle (EV) charging kioskeach at nearly 69,000 petrolpumps across the country toinduce people to go for electricmobility. Besides, the govern-ment is also thinking of mak-ing it compulsory to install EVcharging kiosks at allCompany-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) petrolpumps of state refiners.

In a review meeting on EVcharging infrastructure, PowerMinister R K Singh suggestedoil ministry top officials that

"they may issue an order fortheir oil marketing companies(OMCs) under their adminis-trative control for setting upcharging kiosks at all COCOpetrol pumps", a source said.

Other franchisee petrolpump operators may also beadvised to have at least onecharging kiosk at their fuel sta-tions, the source said addingthis will help achieve "EVcharging facility at all petrolpumps in the country".

Under the new guidelines ofthe oil ministry, new petrolpumps must have an option ofone alternative fuel.

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An unidentified man alleged-ly called up MaharashtraChief Minister UddhavThackeray's personal resi-dence 'Matoshree' in Bandrahere, saying that he was call-ing from Dubai on behalf offugitive underworld donDawood Ibrahim, a policeofficial said on Sunday.

The caller rang up twicearound 10.30 pm on Saturday,following which the policebeefed up security at

Thackeray's bungalow locatedin Kalanagar Colony, the offi-cial said.

"Someone called up on'Matoshree' phone numbertwo times on Saturday nightand said Dawood Ibrahimwanted to talk to CM UddhavThackeray. However, the tele-phone operator did not trans-fer the call to the CM," theofficial said.

"The caller did not revealhis identity, but only said thathe was calling from Dubai onbehalf of Dawood Ibrahim.

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Page 2: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

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

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With Ladakh border issue withChina once again assumingdangerous proportions, andwith as many as 123 countriesof the world grouping againstChina for a variety of reasons,the precious metals halted theirforward march as the US dol-lar paused its northward jour-ney. Consequently, New Yorkgold declined and finally closedat US $ 1,934.60 (per ounce),while silver followed suit andclosed at $ 26.93 (per ounce).Platinum moved downwardand closed at $ 902 (per ounce)and Palladium appreciated andclosed at $ 2,185 (per ounce).

Other economic parametersremained strong. Brent closed

at US$ 42.66 (per barrel), whilecrude MCX oil was quoted atRs.2,903 (per barrel). WhileGold MCX stood atRs.50,678 (per 10 gms),MCX Silver appreciatedand closed at Rs.67,266(per kg). CopperMCX closed atRs.526.65 (per kg).Sensex andNifty 50 closedat 38357.18and 11333.85points, respec-tively. Leading foreign curren-cies' exchange rates were, US $:Rs.73.25, British Pound:Rs.97.34, Euro: Rs.86.71,

Singapore $: Rs.53.67, SwissFranc: Rs.80.24, Australian $:

Rs.53.36, Saudi Riyal:Rs.19.53, New Zealand

Dollar: Rs.49.13, KuwaitiDinar: Rs.239.30,

Omani Rial:Rs.190.24 and UAE

Dirham: Rs.19.94,Japanese Yen:

R s . 0 . 6 9 ,Hong KongD o l l a r :

Rs.9.45.In local markets, standard

gold (24 carats) declined byRs.430 and closed at Rs.53,300(per 10 gms). Ornamental gold

too followed suit and was quot-ed in the range of Rs.48,770 -48,870 on the closing day. Silver(0.999) appreciated by Rs.750and closed at Rs.67,050 (per kg).

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in principal

wholesale commodity marketsin the twin cities continued toremain strong. Rythu Bazarsand the various commoditymarkets located in BegumBazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, Risala Abdullah,Mir AlamMandi, Dilsukhnagar,Kukatpally, BowenpallyandGeneral Bazar witnessed brisk

activity. During the week, com-mon pulses such as tuar dal,masoor dal, moong dal andurad dal and commodities likechillies and garlic firmed upmarginally, while staple food-grains and common edible oilsremained unchanged.

Although the time limit forimport of urad and masoor dalat concessional tariff expired onAugust 31, there has been noannouncementso far about theextension of this concession. So,the price graph of commonpulses is expected to take thenorthern route in the near term.

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Most of the babus are known as head weightpeople precisely because they are expect-

ed to, and often do, know more than the netasthey serve. Cutting across states, classes andregions, every Indian thinks that civil servantsare highly educated and intelligent. Still, the Modigovernment has other ideas and plans, call it far-reaching or whatever. Towards the end of 2018,suddenly it was decided that, in order to tone upadministration, the Centre should hire expertsfrom the private sector and allow lateral entry intocentral services. In a first, nine professionals wereselected as joint secretaries in April 2019 for fill-ing posts in over a dozen departments. Thosenavaratnas were selected from among 6,077 appli-cants. Further rounds were considered. Nobodyknows whether the private sector brains lost theirsheen after entering the government sector orthey simply could not measure up to the expec-tations of the Modi government. The Centre,adding insult to injury, recently announced the'Karmayogi’ programme. It has sent karmicshockwaves in administrative circles acrossIndia. Apparently Modiji thinks that IAS, IPSand other civil servants need to learn a lot morethan what they parade as their gyan. More impor-tantly, (read not intelligently), they should workaccording to their roles. This explains the raisondetre for the neo ‘adult literacy’ programme forbabus. Who says it is insulting since they are allhighly intelligent and have common sense?

Insiders say Karmayogi is designed to bustthe myth that babus know everything. For now,babus do not even know how the Centre willtake forward the adult literacy programmemeant for them. Will it be online classes? Howabout timings: during, before or after hours?Who will conduct examinations (OK, grantedit is going to be 'performance appraisal') forthem? How and how often? What happens tothose who do not make the grade (read followdiktats to the letter with unthinking obedience)?Simply put, what happens to those who fail to‘learn’ their new roles? For those who came late,the actual adult literacy programme, which waspart of India’s great educational policy, standsabandoned after 2014 (one might say that it iswith the advent of the NDA govt, but not yourstruly). There was no funding, no supervisionand no implementation of the adult literacycampaign and the programme died of infantileneglect. The childish question that babus askeach other in the corridors of power today is:Will the new avatar of adult literacy scheme lastlong enough to ‘brighten’ sarkari babus?

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It is not that all babus are deemed imbeciles.Some are too bright to be disturbed from their

position. Others cling to their posts with sur-prising tenacity. Whichever way you look at it,Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary NeelamSawhney has created a record of sorts by get-ting extensions twice from the Centre at a timewhen PM Modi looks askance at proposals forgiving extensions to officers. It is not clearwhether due to sheer performance or simply forbeing at the right job at the right time, the sec-ond extension was announced three monthsbefore time, much to the astonishment of fel-low babus. Amidst all this, one rumour that isspreading like wildfire in the corridors of power

is that one officer in CMO is making all-outefforts to stop a senior officer from becomingthe next Chief Secretary, and, in the process, ispromoting two other officers for the top post.The officer is hell-bent upon opposing the seniorofficer and his Plan B (in case the CM does notapprove one of the two names): another threemonths' extension to Neelam Sawhney beyondDecember 31, citing health emergency-like sit-uation in the state due to rampant Covid-19spread. Whether and how it will happen are mil-lion-dollar questions. Concerted efforts are onto stop the senior officer by hook or crook.

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When there are too many advisors, it is dif-ficult to get the bit of advice that really

works. Business people, media mughals and oth-ers are always eager to find out who is the mostpowerful person in Andhra Pradesh stateadministration, of course after the ChiefMinister. First, going by the trappings of power,they thought it was Ajeya Kallam who was madeincharge of CMO and also chief of all advisorsin the initial days. After he was relegated to a postthat is reckoned as that of a normal advisor, lob-byists beheld in Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy theirnew route to power centre. That aura also fadedupon the arrival of Praveen Prakash, who hassince taken over the CMO duties. Biz tycoonsvery soon realized that as far as release of fundsis concerned, he has no great say and it is stillnot in his vicinity, leave alone control. They arepatiently trying to figure who is the person whocan deliver what they want. After the divisionof the Finance Department into revenue andexpenditure wings, they have become muchmore eager to zero in on the person with ‘realauthority’ so that they can plug into the powerpoints. Yours truly is also trying to pinpoint thatperson. Await an update.

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Those who do not speak out when they arein power, let their imagination run riot upon

superannuation or retirement. In hindsight, peo-ple then think that all these days the perils ofpower cramped their creativity. Retired IAS offi-cer Ajay Mishra is now writing beautiful poet-ry on his Facebook wall. Many of his friends andwell-wishers are enjoying insightful lines in versefrom this senior officer. In his writings, he hasraised questions about ‘Raj neeti (political dhar-ma), prosperity of contractors while governmentexchequer is emptied, expensive elections etc.He has also suggested that civilized society existsonly in definition. His memories about child-hood and examinations have also been well-received by his pals. The babu, who was left outin the race for the coveted Chief Secretary postin Telangana State, retired as senior mostbureaucrat in July. During his long stint, hehelmed important portfolios, including powerand general administration. His peers, includ-ing those who now admire his creative streak,are wondering why he did not raise any objec-tion to any of the government policies or try tomodify or change programmes finalized by thegovernment when he was in power. They arenot sure whether he is repenting or giving newgyan. If it is gyan, babus in power should wakeup before the farewell party at their retirement.

—Yours truly

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The monsoon session of theTelangana State Assembly, com-mencing on Monday undervery special circumstances inview of the untamed Covid-19pandemic, is expected to wit-ness clashes of opinionsbetween the ruling and oppo-sition parties over a host ofissues. The Congress and theBharatiya Janata Party are readyto corner the governmentmainly with regard to its han-dling of the Covid pandemicand the Pothireddypadu issues.They are also ready to questionthe government on the devel-opment front in Hyderabad,keeping in view the municipalelections to be held in GreaterHyderabad, Khammam andWarangal cities.

The Congress would skewerthe government on issues relat-ed to agriculture, unemploy-ment, government’sapproach towards coronapatients, flaws in governmenthospitals, Srisailam power plant

fire mishap, problems ofminorities and dalits, doublebedroom houses, new RevenueAct, burden on poor people dueto LRS, corruption in irrigationprojects, state of roads inHyderabad city, among others.Congress Legislature Partyleader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarkahad a meeting with TPCC offi-cial spokespersons at GandhiBhavan on Sunday and askedthem to have thorough infor-mation on burning issues so asto help party members raiseissues properly in the Assembly.

The Congress will raise theproblems faced by the poor due

to loss of employment onaccount of the pandemic anddemand the government toextend support to the indigent.The party has six members inhand and is getting ready toexpose the failures of the gov-ernment.

The Bharatiya Janata Partytoo is ready to question the gov-ernment in the House. The loneBJP member Raja Singh statedon Sunday that the governmentwas not extending help to farm-ers affected by heavy rains.Raja Singh made it clear that hewould expose the government'sfailure with regard to controlling

the corona virus in the state. Hesaid that the government hadfailed totally in controlling thecoronavirus. He would questionthe government’s silence onthe looting by private hospitalsin the name of corona treat-ment. He said that he wouldhighlight the TRS government'sfailure to develop Hyderabadcity. He alleged that the TRSleaders were daydreaming inregard to GHMC elections,though there was no statementon elections. He said that hecould speak on 15 issues, shouldthe government give him time.

Although Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao hadoffered to conduct the Housesession for "any number ofdays", he often gave two orthree minutes' time for mem-bers to speak on key publicissues, he said and added thatpeople were fed up with theTRS government's style of func-tioning. The BJP would cornerthe government on the stepstaken to contain corona in TSby comparing it with the situ-ation in BJP-ruled states and the

Centre’s help to the state inview of the pandemic. TheBJP would seek details of theexpenditure towards coronacontrol, he said.

The ruling TRS party too isreadying to face the oppositiononslaught effectively in themonsoon session. The govern-ment may ridicule the opposi-tion parties by citing figures ofrecovery cases among TSCovid-19 patients and compar-ing them with those of the sit-uation in other states.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao hasalready directed the Ministersconcerned to keep all answersready. According to sources,the ruling party may use theservices of two MLAs to extendhelp to Health Minister EatalaRajender in countering theopposition parties’ criti-cism. The ruling party is alsoready to counter the oppositionmembers with regard toPothireddypadu issue too. Thepink party wants to silence thesaffron party by raising theGST and quota issues.

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In May 2019, the commer-cial taxes collections were Rs3,234 crore, which came downto Rs 1,567 crore this May, adrop by 51 per cent.

However, June was anexception which witnessedincrease in collections over lastyear. Official cite lifting of totallockdown in June and taxpay-ers coming forward to paytaxes in June after two monthsof lockdown in April and May.

Last year, the June commer-cial taxes collections were Rs

3,420 crore, which increased toRs 3,776 crore this June, a riseby 10 per cent. This broughtrespite to state government.

However, the joy was short-lived as the commercial taxesonce again started nosedivingfrom July. In July 2019, thecommercial taxes collectionswere Rs 4,387 crore, which fellto Rs 3,746 crore this July, adecline of 15 per cent.

In August 2019, the com-mercial taxes collections wereRs 4,287 crore, which camedown to Rs 3,925 crore, a dropby 8 per cent.

Continued from Page 1

The IoT device attached tothe mask processes and screensthe body's essential factorssuch as temperature and bloodoxygen levels etc, and monitorsthe humidity levels that devel-op inside the mask layers overa period.

The feature called OBVattached along with the smartmask, which helps the user to

expel the heat and removesmoisture from the mask so itcan be worn continuouslywithout causing any discom-fort and also reduces the prob-ability of infection caused dueto constantly wearing a mask,according to the release.

The system can be activat-ed remotely using IoT Mobileapplications and controlledthrough easy touch and play, itsaid, adding another feature for

specially designed cotton fab-ric is the green and eco-friend-ly filters i.e. three layer filterswhich can be replaced easilyand wash the cotton fabrics.

The app developed forAndroid and IOS is cloud-based remote patient monitor-ing and health assessment toolthat tracks vital parameters likefever, blood oxygen levels, andmigraine due to the pressuredifferences in altitudes, it said.

BITS Hyd startup ...

Continued from Page 1

The 40-feet high chariotmade of teak wood was parkedin a shed on the templepremises. The chariot is nor-mally used only during the'Radhotsavam' at the Lordscelestial wedding festivities.

Police said they were inves-tigating whether an electrical

short circuit caused the mishapor if any arson was involved.

There was a similar incidentin SPS Nellore district a fewmonths ago, where it turnedout that a mentally ill personset a temple chariot on fire. Weare probing all such angles inthis case as well, a seniorpolice official said over phonefrom Kakinada.

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The action will then shiftto Sharjah on September 22when Rajasthan Royals willhost Chennai Super Kings.

There will be 10 doubleheaders, with the first matchstarting at 3:30pm IST andthe second 7:30pm, accordingto BCCI release.

In all, 24 matches will beheld in Dubai, 20 in AbuDhabi and 12 in Sharjah.

Continued from Page 1

The DGP also paid a surprisevisit to Tiryani Mandal PoliceStation at night and inspected it.During the rest of the day, hestayed put at the district head-quarters Asifabad, where hereviewed and supervised anti-Maoist operations. It may berecalled that Mancheryal areasecretary Mylarapu Adellu aliasBhaskar Dalam has becomeactive in Asifabad Agency areasof the district. The objective ofthe dalam is to rebuild the divi-sional level and area committees,and recruit Adivasi youth intoMaoist action teams.

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Although the AThe historicjudgment of theSupreme Court in the

contempt case relating toPrashant Bhushan, a senioradvocate of the apex court,hasraised a country-wide debateon several important issuesconcerning the Rule of Law,majesty of courts, and honourof the presiding officers.

It is unfortunate that onthese important issues involv-ing nation's prestige and rep-utation of judiciary, instead ofsolidly backing the apex court,some vested interests havechosen to indulge in futiledebates thereby belittling thejudiciary.

It is one thing to oppose thepolicies of an elected govern-ment in order to providehealthy opposition in publiclife and quite another when itcomes to opposing and disre-specting the judiciary andjudges at which the commonman looks with awe and rev-

erence. The courts are called,in common parlance, theTemples of Justice, and thejudges, the demi-gods. True,nobody in this world, includ-ing the judges, is infallible.However, in the interest ofgood governance and jus-tice delivery system, wemust trust and abide bysomebody at somestage. If this is not done,the entire structure ofpublic administra-tion, includingjustice deliverymechanism, willface assaults byvested interests inthe name of free-dom of expression.

Take the pre- andpost-verdict behaviour of thenow convicted PrashantBhushan. His arrogance, crassdefiance, and least concernfor the health of judiciary,

smacks of deep conspiracy totarnish the image of judiciaryin particular and the countryas a democracy in general.

Now that Bhushan, aboutwhom it was boasted by hisblind supporters like Yogendra

Yadav and Ashutosh Guptathat "he would not budgeeven an inch from his pub-licly taken stand even if

somebody puts a gunon his head",hasaccepted to payrupee one fine

imposed as penalty onhim by the court, the

supremacy of court hasnot only been firmlyestablished but also prop-er reflection of the peo-ple's aspirations has found

its place properly. However,Bhushan has shown noremorse or repentance in hisongoing tirade against the jus-tice delivery system and has

advocated scrapping of theContempt Law. This showshis retrograde thinkingbecause without a stringent lawon the contempt, it is highlyimpossible to control undisci-plined elements in society,including the lawyers of theBhushan creed. Seen in thiscontext, the Bar Council ofIndia's move to initiate disci-plinary proceeding againstPrashant Bhushan and possi-bly against other lawyers,including K.K.Venugopal, theAttorney General of India,Dushyant Daveand others, is

welcome. Further, there is anurgent need to take a holisticview of the Contempt Law anddevise similar mechanisms toprotect the dignity and honourof other public bodies, includ-ing Parliament andLegislatures.

Lawyers prefer virtualmode

According to an opinionpoll conducted by theSingapore InternationalArbitration Centre(SIAC), dur-ing a global webinar held onSeptember 2, 54% of the mem-

bers of the legal fraternity pre-ferred the working of thecourts throughout the world inthe current virtual mode, while46% favored the re-opening ofcourts and wanted to resumeworking in physical mode asbefore the outbreak ofCOVID-19 pandemic. Theopinion poll result reflects themood of the lawyers who, likeother citizens,are yet to comeout of the fear of COVID-19.

The only lawyer whopleads in Sanskrit

It may appear strange, but itis true. Acharya ShyamUpadhyay is perhaps the onlyadvocate who has been doing allcourt-related work like drafting,pleading and arguing the casesin Sanskrit. Upadhyay, who hailsfrom Varanasi, has been assid-uously following the practice ofusing Sanskrit in the courtssince 1978. He was encouraged

by his father, who was nothappy with the court languagesbeing Hindi, English and Urdu.Initially, some judges were baf-fled at his written and oral pre-sentations in Sanskrit, but laterthey found a way by engagingtranslators.

It is significant to note that ofthe total 22 languages listedunder Schedule VIII of theConstitution of India, Sanskrit isthe least spoken language of thecountry, despite it being calledthe language of Gods.

Madras HC on the conceptof merger of orders

The Madras High Court onWednesday expressed the viewthat once the order of the singlejudge has merged with the orderpassed by the division bench inthe writ appeal, if it is felt that theorder has been violated or dis-obeyed, a contempt petition canbe maintained only before the

division bench and not beforethe single judge.The order waspassed by Justice N.AnandVenkatesh, in the contempt peti-tion filed by the All India UnionBank Officers Association v.Brajesh Sharma, The ChiefGeneral Manager(HR) UnionBank of India.

SC clarifies on admissibility of evidence

The Supreme Court of Indiahas interpreted the applicabilityof Sec. 195(1)(b)(i) and195(1)(b)(ii) Cr.P.C when theoffences complained about areu/s 191 and 192 of IPC(Fabrication and false evidence).The apex court observed thatwhen the forgery or fabricationhas been made to the documentsbefore they are approved by thecourt concerned as evidence ina case, it cannot attract Sec.195(1)(b)(i) of Cr.P.C and there-by 195(1)(b)(ii) is attracted.

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"Most of the new petrol pumpsare opting for electric vehiclecharging facility under alterna-tive fuel option. But it willmake huge difference when theexisting petrol pumps wouldalso install EV charging kiosks,"the source said.

According to the industryestimates, there are around69,000 petrol pumps in thecountry. The EV charging facil-

ity at all petrol pumps couldboost e-mobility in a big way aslack of such infrastructure dis-courages people from buyingEVs. The power ministry hasalso chalked out a plan to focuson Delhi National CapitalRegion, Kolkata, Chennai,Hyderabad, Bengaluru,Vadodara and Bhopal for creat-ing EV charging infrastructurein cities as well as on highwaysto encourage people to switchover to electric mobility.

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In fact, at several places, landoriginally identified as being"close to the hill" is practical-ly unidentifiable now becauseof the disappearance of the hill.Moreover, ownership of theland has changed hands due tosale and resale of the land andthrough inheritance. Sub-sur-vey numbers have thereforeappeared in land records. Thearea of the land found in theland records is less comparedto the area of the land availablephysically.

In fact, the area of landlocked in ambiguity, controver-sies and lack of clear title wasfound to be 17.89 lakh acres.These lands have been includ-

ed in Part-B of the landscleansed. In fact, these landsare responsible for the delay indistribution of pattadar pass-books among many farmers.

The state government hasdecided to merge VillageRevenue Officers' wing withother government depart-ments. However, some seniorbureaucrats still say that theservices of VROs are necessaryto conduct land survey as theyare better informed on the con-tours of land in the villages.

As for cleansing of landrecords, the exercise was con-ducted in over 10,800 villages.Land records were inspectedand it was found that therecords were in order inrespect of 2.38 crore acres.

Page 3: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

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Ever since the pandemic start-ed, India's economy has onlygone downhill. Several com-panies across sectors have takento job cuts, along with salaryreductions and leave withoutpay. There have been severalmass lay-offs throwing lakhs ofpeople in financial crisis.

All this situation, whileaffecting the nation's economy,is also taking a toll on workingprofessionals mental health.Several people, between the agegroup of 25-45, have been bat-tling with anxiety and ner-vousness due to the same.

Jahnavi Rao, an IT profes-sional working in the city,shares that she is nervousabout the current economicissues. "I have been seeing somany people losing their jobs.While my company assured usthat they won't cut any salaries,the way things are going you

never know if they might takethat decisions. Me and myhusband have loans to take careof, and scares me to think whatwill happen if the salaries arecut. Worst thing is gettingstuck inside the house for solong. I get anxious about it," sheshares.

However, salary cuts aren'tthe only issue people are deal-ing with. VaishnaviRamanadham, who workedwith an even management

company, shares that she does-n't think her job will go backto normal if the pandemicwas to end today. "The pre-Covid time had a lot of scopein my field, especially in theentertainment sector. Wewould get many assignmentsand projects. However, sincethe past five months, I workedon only one assignment, forjust one day. It has taken a tollon me financially. I had tomove back to Hyderabad from

Mumbai. However, my biggerproblem is that I do not thinkthings will go back to normal.We won't see a lot of liveshows, and even if we do theywon't be very grand. So, myincome will certainly be affect-ed." The mental health expertsshare that for some time theytoo have observed an increasein the number of working pro-fessionals seeking their help. DrBaijesh Ramesh, ClinicalPsychologist shares, "There isdefinitely more anxiousnessin people since the economy isfallen. They aren't sure abouttheir future, and that caninduce nervousness and fear.We have seen an increase inpeople approaching us for helpas well. We try to calm themdown, however, these problemare very realistic."

Professional space is not theonly worry of people as well."The stress people are facingprofessionally, is also affectingthe personal relationships.”

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Several rural students havebeen facing many troubles totake lessons online. Whilemany do not have any accessto TV or smart phones, somedespite having the electronicdevices have trouble with thenetwork.

Many students, thus, arefinding innovative ways toreach places where they canget the network for their class-es. One such student is SafaZareen. Safa is studying in aTelangana MinoritiesResidential EducationalInstitutions Society (TMREIS)and belongs to a small villagenear Rajura where the networkis not stable.

With her passion of learn-ing, makes her walk two kilo-meters to her field, where thenetwork is better.

"I love to study," sharesSafa, adding, "My father is afarmer and mother is a house-

wife - we don't have much ofa financial standing. But theysupport my education."

The 12-year-old girl, furtheradds, "I am in VII standardnow and want to become adoctor. My village is verypoor, we don't have muchmedical facilities. So, when Ibecome a doctor, I will makesure that every one gets thebest medical facilities at avery nominal cost."

To make sure there is nodisturbance, Safa climbs up themachan and logs into the ses-sions and attends all the onlineclasses from field, taking notesand finishes the homeworkallotted.

The TMRS authorities feelthat this is really an impressivemodel of utmost commitmentand shows a winner's zeal.Even at this young age Safa isfocused on her work andgoals. She's in its real sense atrue spirit representingTMRElS.

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After more than five months,the Hyderabad Metro Rail is setto resume its operations in aphased manner from Monday,putting in place all Covid-19guidelines and protocols.

These include checking ofbody temperatures of passen-gers, sanitisation and social dis-tancing through markings atstations and alternate seatingarrangements in trains.

No person showing Covid-like symptoms will be allowedto enter the Metro stations orboard trains. It will be manda-tory for all passengers to wearface masks.

On Monday, Metro serviceswill resume only on Miyapur toLB Nagar corridor. Trains willbe operated from 7 am to 12

noon and from 4 pm to 9 pm.Nagole to Raidurg stretch

will be made operational fromTuesday with the same timings.

From September 9, JubileeBus Station (JBS) to theMahatma Gandhi Bus Station(MGBS) corridor will also re-

open, with services availablefrom 7 am to 9 pm.

Gandhi Hospital, BharatNagar, Moosapet,Musheerabad and Yusufguda,the five stations which fall incontainment zones, will remainclosed.

Security personnel deployedat the entry points to the Metrostations will check the bodytemperatures of all entrantswith hand-held thermal guns.In case a visitor has high tem-perature or shows any othermedical symptom, he will be

taken to the isolation room atthe station and provided med-ical assistance, said HMRLofficials.

HMRL Managing DirectorNVS Reddy appealed to thepeople with Covid-like symp-toms like fever, cold, and coughto avoid travel on the Metro.

Authorities have also madeelaborate arrangements forsanitisation, putting pedal-operated sanitiser dispensers atentry points. Sanitisationpoints have also been createdfor luggage before it passesthrough the x-ray machines.

Passengers have also beenadvised to carry sanitiser bot-tles/dispensers with them.Those entering the stationswill also be advised to down-load the Aarogya Setu app.

Coins will not be accepted

for sale of tickets. The author-ities will encourage use ofsmart cards and mobile QRtickets with online transac-tions.

Waiting time for trains at theMetro stations has beenincreased from 20 seconds to30 seconds to ensure passen-gers don't come in contactwhile boarding or de-boarding.

Following the Unlock 4.0guidelines issued by the Centreand the permission accordedby the state government, theHMRL decided to resume ser-vices in a phased manner.

The Hyderabad Metro sus-pended its commercial opera-tions from March 22.

It was operating 55 trainsthat ferried about 4.5 lakh pas-sengers every day before thelockdown.

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A school was fined Rs 1 lakhby the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) for erecting a banneron a footpath in the city, in vio-lation of the rules.

The fine came after activistVijay Gopal took to Twitterand attached two photos show-ing the encroachment onto thefootpath.

"Take care of this encroach-ment, please. Heard it hasbeen penalised in the past.Footpath encroached with theadvertisement. Please levypenalty and do the needful," hetweeted, adding that the schoolwas located in Karmanghat.

In response to the tweet, theCentral Enforcement Cell(CEC) of the Directorate OfEnforcement Vigilance andDisaster Management(EVDM) under the GHMCissued a challan, fining theeducational institution Rs 1lakh for "erecting unauthorisedadvertisement element above15 feet in height from groundlevel".

"It is found that without thewritten permission of the com-

petent authority, you haveerected an advertisement,which is an offence committedunder sections of the GHMCAct. Therefore, exercising thepowers, the offence is com-pounded with an amount of Rs1 lakh," the challan states.

The CEC is an online e-chal-lan system started by EVDMwing Director ViswajitKampati and his team, whichhad also come up with a web-site to make the entire processmore transparent and account-able.

Any citizen can take a photoof a poster, banner or a stick-er that is defacing the city and

notify the cell's Twitter handle.Based on the photo, a challanis generated, with a pre-exist-ing fine proportionate to theoffence.

In February this year, severalcitizens took photographs offlexi and posters put up bypolitical parties, which, inturn, led to penalties beinglevied. Following this, politi-cians had demanded that theCEC be dismantled. Civicactivists in the city had react-ed strongly and argued that theCEC should stay, as it was pro-tecting the city from issues likeencroachments and keeping acheck on violation of rules.

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A fire broke out in a grocerystore at LB Nagar on Sundayafternoon. No casualties werereported but groceries andother furniture were dam-aged in the fire. A short cir-cuit is suspected to have ledto the mishap, police said.

Local residents noticed thefire and thick smoke ema-nating from the premises,which is surrounded by res-idential colonies. They alert-ed the fire department andpolice immediately. A fireengine rushed to the spot andput the fire out, a process thattook about an hour. Officialssaid the value of the proper-ty damaged was yet to be esti-mated. The LB Nagar policeare investigating.

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An auto driver fromAsifnagar hanged himself todeath at his house early onSunday.

According to the police,the victim identified as SyedAladuddin, a resident of NewKishan Nagar in Asifnagarwas found hanging in thekitchen in the house ataround 7 am by his wife.

"The family membersmaintained that the deceaseddid not have any problemsthat could have forced him toend his life," said MohdRustam Khan, Sub InspectorAsifnagar police station.Police officials booked a caseand are investigating.

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The Chief Justice of TelanganaHigh Court JusticeRaghvendra S Chauhan, Boardof Governors of TelanganaState Judicial Academy RekhaChauhan, Justice A RajashekerReddy and other judiciaryparticipated in plantation pro-gramme in the new judicialacademy site in Shamirpet onSunday.

The CJ requested ForestDepartment to plant floweringtrees in the Judicial Academyso that there will be floweringblossoms in every season.

Accordingly Forest depart-ment initiated steps to plan-tation in the site.

Later, CJ and other digni-taries visited Kadlakoya oxy-gen park. They appreciated theYadadri model plantation,canopy walk, aviary and entiresylvan surroundings.

Special CS Forests, SantiKumari, explained about 95Urban Parks taken up in theState to serve as green lungs tothe Cities and towns.

Principal Chief Conservatorof Forests R Sobha explainedthe initiatives taken by ForestDepartment to the CJ.

PCCFs RM Dobriyal,Lokesh jaiswal, HyderabadAPCCF Chandra ShekarReddy, Medchal DFOSudhakar Reddy and othersparticipated.

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The city police launchedefforts to trace two girls whowent missing from two dif-ferent police stations limits inthe city on Saturday.

A 15-year-old girl S AGensis Maria, a student anda resident of Lab Quarters,DRDO Township in Kancha-nbagh went missing onSaturday. The teenager hadgone out from the house say-ing she was going to meet afriend and did not returnhome. The family memberslodged a complaint with theKanchanbagh police. Thepolice registered a case andstarted efforts to trace the girl.

In the other case, a 14-year-old girl from ChatrinakaK Gayathri went missingafter going out for somework. The youngster steppedout of the house for somework and did not return tillevening. The police are mak-ing efforts to trace bothteenagers.

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With just a week left for theclosure of One Time Scheme(OTS), both GHMC andHMWSSB are intensifyingefforts to increase the collec-tions under the scheme. Thegovernment had announcedthe OTS effective from August1 to September 15.

Under the OTS, propertytaxpayers should clear theprinciple amount of propertytax dues till 2019-20 alongwith 10 per cent interestagainst accumulated arrears inone go. Thus, they can avail awaiver of 90 per cent of accu-mulated arrears of interestcomponent in property taxdues till date.

In GHMC alone, there areabout 5.44 lakh property taxassessments with the accu-mulation of property taxarrears amounting to Rs 1,545

crore over the last 15 to 20years. Till Saturday, the munic-ipal corporation had collectednearly Rs 79 crore from over39,000 properties. Among thesix zones, Khairatabad zonehas collected nearly Rs 29crore, while the Charminarzone has collected the leastamount of Rs 9 crore.

Officials said that accumu-lation of dues was due to sev-eral reasons like disputes aboutimproper tax assessment,vacant premises, dilapidatedstructures, and disputebetween family members etc.The GHMC commissioner,Lokesh Kumar said that effortswere on to intensify the col-lections. Bill collectors areserving demand notices underOTS and ground-level staff iscreating awareness amongbuilding owners to utilise theopportunity provided by thegovernment.

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Three persons ended theirlives in separate cases in thecity due to various reasons.

In the first case, M ShivaShankar, 40, of Laxminagar,Langer Houz who worked asa delivery boy for a food jointhanged himself to death at hishouse. The mother of ShivaShankar had died in Maywhile his wife had divorcedhim four years ago. OnSaturday the man hangedhimself to death in his houseand on Sunday neighboursnoticed the hanging body,said S Balaswamy, SubInspector Langer Houz. Acase is registered by police.

Dasari Ramesh, a 21-year-old cab driver Musheerabad,hanged himself to death at hishouse early on Sunday. OnSaturday around 10 pm, hewent inside the room in hishouse to sleep after havingdinner. On Sunday when hedid not come out his familymembers checked and foundhim hanging to the ceiling fanin the house. A case is regis-tered by the police.

K Raghunath, 26, a resi-dent of Malakpet, hangedhimself to death at his houseon Saturday. "Raghunath wasin friendship with a womanfor the last few years. Howe-ver, the woman was avoidinghim over some issuesbetween them and since theman slipped into depression.He might have ended his lifeover it," the police said.

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The West Zone Task Forceteam raided three places inthe city and seized tobaccoproducts worth Rs 10.70 lakh.The officials have also takenthree persons into custody.

The arrested persons wereidentified as Mohd FazalAhmed, 42, B Anjaneyulu, 52and Md Aslam, 30.

Few days ago the accusedFazal Ahmed purchasedgutka packets worth Rs 10lakhs and dumped in hisshop at Borabanda,

Acting on a tip-off, taskforce team conducted a raidand nabbed the accused FazalAhmed and seized gutka andtobacco materials. "The triowas selling tobacco productsto retailers and customersafter sourcing it from variousplaces. On information, theestablishments were raidedand the property seized," saidTask Force DCP.

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Unlike states like Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Goa, the drivinglicense in the Telangana statelack the most basic and impor-tant information, the bloodgroup.

The blood group informa-tion on the licence can savenot only time but also lifeespecially in emergency situ-ations, where an accident vic-tim is in an unconscious state,away from the family. Theoption of blood group wasincluded in the Motor VehicleAct, 1988 with an intentionthat it would be useful in sit-uations like accident. Manyrepresentations to make blood

group details mandatory in thedriving licence have beenmade even in the past, but noaction has been taken.

Various stakeholders sharethe importance of the issuehere. Former Governor alsosuggested officials to makeblood group details mandato-ry in driving licence in June2016 on his visit to RTAKhairatabad, but no moveshave been taken up by author-ities.

However, authorities saythat, no action is being takenup by the state because thisinformation can be collectedonly as an "optional" andpower to make it mandatorylies with the Centre.

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As citizens confine themselvesto home food during the currentCovid times, the food wastagehas come down from 40 to 18per cent, according to surveys.

The surveys attribute it to thechanged financial position, peo-ple thinking before spendingmoney, curtailing feasts andother entertainment and givingprior to safeguarding theirhealth.

People are consuming millets,milk, eggs, chicken, brown riceand others and decreased oil usein their cuisines. The food

wastage which was 23 per centearlier in households has comedown to 15 per cent.

The food wastage is urbanareas would be of 50 to 55 percent, compared to 30-35 percent in villages because ofthrowing away surplus dinneritems of last night and due topeople fetching food from out-side.

The Coronavirus has affect-ed salaries of employees, tradersby at least 40 per cent of upperclasses and middle classes intowns. Increase in the prices ofvegetables by 30-35 per cent andessential commodities by 20-25

per cent, has dampened the spir-it of the people. Therefore, thepeople prefer home cookedfood to outside food. In fact, 67per cent of the food is likely togo waste if several items of cui-sine are prepared for an event.Currently, it has come down.

The number of celebrationsof marriages, birthdays andother mass events has comedown. The wastage of foodduring marriages would bebetween 40 to 45 per cent. Thenational surveys indicate thatthe wastage has come down to25 per cent as the number ofguests has come down and

preparing many dishes is dis-pensed with.

If the guests are more thefood wastage would be 74 percent. The food wastage inhotels, restaurants, clubs wouldbe around 40 per cent. In fact,75 per cent of the hotels andrestaurants in the cityremained shut. Many restau-rants have decreased the menu.Only few items which are inhigh demand have been madeavailable to people. Severalsurveys indicated that thenational food wastage hascome down to 18 per cent fromearlier 40 per cent.

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Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) PresidentN Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the public resentmenttowards TRS Government wason the rise and people werenow looking at the Congressparty as saviour. Therefore, heasked the party cadre tostrengthen the party at grassroot level and focus on publicissues.

Addressing DCC Presidentsat Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday,Uttam Kumar Reddy said thatthe Congress party was verystrong in rural areas due to theefforts of the DCC Presidents.He said the party's foundationwas intact at the grass root leveland it needs to be strengthenedfurther by ensuring a properorganisation. He said therewere several factors responsi-ble for Congress party's defeatin 2014 and 2018 elections andthey should be kept in mindwhile preparing for next elec-tions.

Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat people were not happywith the performance of TRSGovernment. He said corrup-tion was at its peak in alldepartments and commonpeople were being subjected tohuge inconvenience due tolack of accountability amongleaders of the ruling party. Healleged that the TRS leaderswere accumulating illegalwealth through corruptionand using a part of ill-gottenmoney to fight elections.

He said that the state gov-ernment, led by Chief MinisterK Chandrashekhar Rao, has

lost its direction with absolute-ly no control over administra-tion. He said except for KCRfamily, no other minister, rul-ing party MLA or even seniorofficials have direct access toPragathi Bhavan which hasbeen turned as the epicenter ofall official activities.

He said the functioning ofState government has becomesymbolic and all departments,except for those involving hugetenders, have lost their rele-vance. Common people haveno easy access to the Ministersor Heads of various depart-ments in the absence of aSecretariat. Therefore, peopleare witnessing a new kind ofdictatorial regime where theyhave no right to even expresstheir grievances, he said.

The TPCC Chief stronglyobjected to the behaviour ofsome police officials towardsthe Congress. He said somepolice officials, at the instanceof TRS leaders, were harassingthe Congress workers andimplicating them in false cases.

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With 2,574 new Covid-19cases registered during thelast 24 hours, Telangana's tallycrossed 1.4 lakh on Sunday.

The new infections pushedthe cumulative numbers to1,40,969. Nine more peopledied during the period takingthe toll to 886.

According to a mediarelease, the fatality rate in thestate was at 0.62 per centagainst the national average of1.7 per cent. Of the fatalities,53.87 per cent had co-morbidi-ties.

The state recorded morerecoveries than new cases dur-ing the last 24 hours ending 8pm on Saturday. As many as2,927 people recovered fromthe disease taking the numberof recoveries till now to1,07,530.

The state's recovery rateimproved further to 76.2 percent while the national averagewas 77.29 per cent.

The number of active cases

in the state stands at 32,553,including 25,449 inhome/institutional isolation.

Of the new cases registeredduring the last 24 hours,GHMC accounted for 325, upfrom 305 on Saturday.

The number of cases alsoincreased in the state capital'sneighbouring Rangareddy dis-

trict from 184 to 197 andMedchal Malkajgiri districtfrom 134 to 185. Sangareddy,another district bordering thestate capital recorded 82 casesagainst 70 on Saturday.

Outside Hyderabad and sur-rounding districts, Nalgondarecorded the highest single-dayjump of 158 while the numbers

went up by 144 in Karimnagarand 128 in Khammam district.Warangal Urban saw 117 newcases and Suryapet 102.

The authorities conducted62,736 more tests taking thenumber to 17,30,389. Officialssaid 28,231 primary and 8,783secondary contacts were test-ed during the last 24 hours.

Results of 3,129 samples wereawaited.

The samples tested per mil-lion population rose further to46,608. This is much higherthan the daily testing target of5,600 as per the World HealthOrganization (WHO) bench-mark of 140 per million perday, the officials added.

Age-wise Covid positivedetails show that 65.3 per centof those who tested positivewere between 21 and 50 years.Officials said 24.71 per centwere above 51 years. Nearly 10per cent were below 20 years.

64.41 per cent of those test-ing positive were male whilethe remaining 35.59 per centwere female, the officialsadded.

According to the mediarelease, of 20,396 beds undergovernment hospitals, 17,703beds were vacant, including1,603 ICU beds.

The 196 private hospitalstreating Covid patients have10,284 beds, of which 5,873were vacant.

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Telangana State PlanningBoard Vice-Chairman BVinod Kumar has laid empha-sis on saving the teaching tal-ent like teachers working inprivate schools, lecturers, assis-tant professors and profes-sors working in private col-leges and non-teaching staffservices by paying themsalaries promptly on timeevery month.

Vinod was addressing rep-resentatives of lecturers oftechnical colleges, assistantprofessors and professors'associations who called onhim at his official quartershere on Sunday and submit-ted him a memorandumhighlighting their problems.

He said that it was painfulto note that the managementsof private colleges have notbeen paying them salariesevery month and the manage-ments fail to gauze the loss the

migration of the highly-skilled private teachers andlecturers, who have beengrooming students intoexperts in various fields,would migrate to other sec-tors.

The private managementshave responsibility to retainthe services of teachers bypaying them salaries everymonth, he said cautioning themanagements that it is theirresponsibility.

He hinted at recommend-ing passing amendments tothe Telangana Education Act,1982 if necessary so that theteachers would get theirsalaries on time.

Further, he said that hewould recommend to thestate government to effectchanges to the Education Actto the effect that the manage-ments should first pay salariesto the teaching and non-teaching staff out of thetuition fees collected by them.

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The Transport Operators ofTelangana State on Sundayexpressed satisfaction over theassurance given to them by thetop officials on resolving theissues pertaining to payment ofMotor Vehicle Tax for thelockdown period due to Covid.

Telangana State Cabs & BusOperators Association(TSCBOA) President SyedNizamuddin informed that thetransport operators hadplanned a massive protest onSaturday and wanted to parkover a hundred buses at theRTA office in Khairtabad topress for the demand for waiv-er of MV Tax for the lockdownperiod. However, AssistantCommissioner of PoliceTirupataiah immediately inter-vened and prevented the oper-ators from taking up any agi-tation that could cause anyinconvenience to people.

"A delegation of 5 to 6 trans-port operators met RTACommissioner MM Rao andexplained the situation. Wetold him that the operators didno business during the lock-down period and they had nomoney to pay MV Tax for thatperiod. Further, we pointed out

that the authorities haveimposed heavy penalties fornon-payment or delay in pay-ment of advance MV Tax. Wesubmitted that we were beingpenalised for non-submissionof documents for placing thevehicles under 'Non-Use'.During the entire lockdown

period, all our vehicles wereparked in the garages or otherparking lots," the TSCBOAChief said.

Nizamuddin said that theRTA Commissioner patientlyheard the grievances of trans-port operators and directedthem to meet PrincipalSecretary Sunil Sharma.

"We immediately rushed toSunil Sharma's office and theRTA Commissioner hadalready briefed him about ourissue. He assured that relevantorders would be issued in next2 to 3 days to provide relief tothe transport operators in theState," he said.

The TSCBOA Presidentthanked all the top officials fortheir support in resolving theproblems being faced by thetransport operators. He saidthat the Transport Industry inTelangana, which employsnearly six lakh people, was onthe verge of a total collapse.

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Hyderabad City CongressMinorities DepartmentChairman Sameer Waliullahexpressed serious doubts overChief Minister K Chandrash-ekhar Rao honouring thepromise of re-constructingthe two mosques in theSecretariat at the same placewhere they stood beforedemolition.

Sameer Waliullah, in amedia statement on Sunday,said that KCR did not fulfill asingle promise which he madewith the people, especially theMuslim community, in the lastsix-and-a-half years.

"People who still trust CMKCR should look at TRS man-ifesto for 2014 Assembly elec-tions or browse old speechesto check what was promised

and what has been delivered sofar. KCR had promised toshift Chanchalguda Jail andHyderabad Race Club fromthe Old City and use thoseproperties for educationalinstitutions. Instead, the TRSgovernment has shut downover 1,000 governmentschools and Madarsas in thelast six years," SameerWaliullah alleged.

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Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader BhattiVikramarka has directedTPCC spokespersons tostudy the promises andfailures of the state govern-ment in detail so that thoseissues can be raised duringthe monsoon session ofthe State Legislature. TheCLP leader met with thespokespersons at GandhiBhavan here on Sunday.

The CLP leader said thatissues such as Srisailamhydel power plant mishap,issues related with minori-ties and Dalits, two bedroom houses, the new rev-enue bill, irrigation projectsand the over-burdenedinfrastructure must bestudied in depth and mate-rial kept ready to assist leg-islators in questioning thegovernment. Meanwhile,AICC member and TPCCofficial spokesperson GNiranjan sought a judicialinquiry into the circum-stances that led to thedemolition of the religiousstructures in the Secretariatpremises.

"Construction of templeand mosques at the samelocation is not sufficient,Chief Minister cannot shirkaway his responsibility andhe should order a judicialinquiry into the circum-stances that led to demoli-tion and to identify theguilty," he said.

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Village Revenue Officers(VROs) have demanded thestate government to continuethem in the RevenueDepartment. They bemoanedthat it is painful brandingthem as corrupt employeeswithout recognising their hardwork.

They asked the governmentto bring a new Revenue Actafter taking the opinion of allsections of the people. Theydemanded the government totake action against the corruptemployees and not to sendthem to other departments bybranding them corruptemployees.

The government has tobring a new Revenue Act byconducting a study from vil-lage level, they said urging thegovernment to take VROsadvice too before introducing

the Act in the Assembly.Questioning the ChiefMinister to tell whether thereis any corrupt-less depart-ment in the state, VROs saidthat it is not correct on the partof the government to punishall though there were few cor-rupt employees.

After the VROs meetingon Sunday, Telangana VROsAssociation president

Golconda Sathish demandedthe government to reveal therole of VROs in the comingnew Revenue Act. Severalnews stories have been comingin the media for the last fewdays, he said, reminding thatthe Chief Minister had alsospoke on VROs in theAssembly earlier. However,there is no clarity on VROsrole in the new Act. He saidthat the VROs are welcomingthe new Revenue Act, howev-er, the government has toclear the role of VROs in it.

Sathish said that VROs didmany good things but nobodyknows whether their jobwould be there are not after theintroduction of the new Act."We do primary enquiry whena problem comes to us inregard to Revenue. We areleading our lives with meresalaries. We are in tension onthe coming new Act.”

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Medak MP Kotha PrabhakarReddy said that Telanganawould emerge as a fisheriesexporting State as the govern-ment has been releasing fish-lings into all the water bodiesbesides filling minor irrigationtanks with Godavari water.Prabhakar Reddy said thatTelangana would become ahub for fisheries industriessoon since the water bodieswould remain filled round theyear.

Addressing the newsreporters after releasing fish-lings into Peddacheruvu, thebiggest lake in Chegunta man-dal in Kondapur on Sunday,the Medak MP said that theprevious government thatruled the State had complete-ly ignored the well-being offishermen community. He fur-ther said that they had evenfailed to identify the potentialof raising fishlings in waterbodies.

Hailing Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, who

conceived the idea, Reddy saidthat the Chief Minister's deci-sion had completely changedthe lives of the fishermen inTelangana. In addition to

releasing fishlings into thewater bodies, Reddy said thatthey had initiated several pro-grammes such as distributionof vehicles to fishermen atsubsidy rate. He suggestedChegunta MPP Srinivas, ZPTCmember B Srinivas, other lead-ers and Fisheries Departmentofficials to release the fishlingsinto all the water bodies to ben-efit the fishermen. He said thatnot only fishermen, but alsothe entire State would becomeprosperous with KaleshwaramLift Irrigation Scheme.

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Congress MLA fromSangareddy T Jagga Reddyhas termed the ruling TRSMLAs as 'dummies'.

The ruling party MLAs arenot in a position to do anywork even to their constituen-cy without the permissionfrom the Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao, JaggaReddy said adding that theSangareddy district TRS

MLAs failed to stop shifting ofSinguru and Manjeera watersto other areas.

Jagga Reddy demanded thestate government to set up aMedical College in Sangareddysimilar to Siddipet. He ques-tioned the TRS governmentabout unemploymentallowances and pensions. Hesaid that he would sit on five-day Deeksha if the ChiefMinister failed to respond tohis demands.

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Page 5: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

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Several Bollywood personali-ties, including actors TaapseePannu, Swara Bhasker, andfilmmaker Anubhav Sinha,criticised media's mobbing ofactor Rhea Chakraborty, flout-ing all standard protocols amidCOVID-19 pandemic, as shereached Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) office onSunday.

Rhea Chakraborty, who isaccused of abetting SushantSingh Rajput's suicide by hisfamily, appeared before theNCB for questioning in thedrugs case linked to the deathof the actor and her live-inpartner.

According to viral visualsfrom several channels on socialmedia, the 28-year-old actorwas seen being heckled andpushed by the media as shemade her way to the NCBoffice, escorted by MumbaiPolice.

Media's behaviour was crit-icised by Twitter users, includ-ing celebrities from the frater-nity who called it "disgusting".

Pannu took to Twitter andlamented over the treatmentbeing meted out to RheaChakraborty in the case.

"In the name of justice thesepeople have lynched a human

being off her right to live evenbefore proven guilty. I sin-cerely pray karma finds theaddress of each and everyhuman being part of this low-est low of mankind we are wit-ness to," the actor wrote.

This was the "lowest" thecountry had stooped to, saidBhasker.

"India... witness our lowest!Shameful witch hunt!

Disgusting," she wrote.Mirza said the behaviour by

the media present on groundwas "reprehensible".

"The law must and will takeit's course. This behaviour rep-rehensible in every way.Enough! Why can't Rhea begiven space and the right tophysical distancing? Why arethe media behaving like vul-tures? Please please give her

space. Stop attacking/dehu-manising her & her family," theactor wrote.

The NCB, over the last twodays, has arrested RheaChakraborty's younger broth-er Showik Chakraborty (24),Rajput's house managerSamuel Miranda (33) andDipesh Sawant, a member ofthe actor's personal staff, in thiscase.

Sinha said the video of RheaChakraborty's entry into theNCB office was representativeof the "power of media over lawand order in Mumbai".

"And yes, this is much worsethan being called names. Anynames," he added.

Filmmaker AlankritaShrivastava said it's sad how theentire country's focus was onRhea Chakraborty.

"No thoughts about theeconomy, the pandemic oranything else of consequence.Indians are only interested inburning Rhea at the stake.That is what makes our peo-ple happy and fulfilled andvalidated. No amount of hateand venom is enough. We aresick. Very very sick," shetweeted.

Various angles surroundingthe death of Rajput, 34, arebeing probed by three federalagencies, including theEnforcement Directorate (ED)and the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI).

The NCB initiated a drugangle probe in this case afterthe ED shared with it a reportfollowing the cloning of twomobile phones of RheaChakraborty.

Rajput was found dead at hisflat in suburban Bandra area onJune 14.

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Immense self-discipline andcaution were exercised at placesof worship in India during thecoronavirus pandemic, settingan example for the entireworld, Minority AffairsMinister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvisaid on Sunday.

He said followers of almostall religions of the world residein India and various festivalsand other auspicious occa-sions were observed during thecoronavirus crisis.

"The people of the countrydisplayed restraint, caution,sensibility, and celebrated allthe festivals taking all precau-tions and followed the guide-lines of social distancing to helpto curb the coronavirus infec-tion," Naqvi said after payingobeisance at the Hazrat

Nizamuddin Dargah where heprayed for the health and well-being of the people of thecountry.

The dargah in south Delhiopened on Sunday after over

five months, but there will beno Qawwali evenings at theshrine due to the COVID-19pandemic.

The minister said all reli-gious and social organisations

displayed immense self-restraint, self-discipline andcaution during the pandemic.Also, self-restraint, self-disci-pline and caution were exer-cised at places of worship in

India which has set an exam-ple for the world, he said.

While several places of wor-ship have reopened, somestates are yet to allow thereopening of religious places.

Naqvi said the great Sufisaint Hazrat Nizamuddin'steaching and message of peace,humanity, harmony, unity, andbrotherhood break the barriersof religion, region and country.

"We should carry forwardhis message of welfare ofmankind with all honesty andsincerity. Teaching and princi-ples of Sufi saints have playedan important role in fulfillingthe dream of 'Ek Bharat,Shrestha Bharat'," he said.

Naqvi said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi ledIndia's response to the coron-avirus crisis from the front andhis effective efforts have helped

in mitigating the challengesposed by COVID-19 to a largeextent.

The steps taken by the Modigovernment in the healthcaresector have ensured that despitethe huge population, India hasbeen successful in containingthe effects of the pandemic toa great extent which is evidentfrom the higher recovery rateof coronavirus patients in thecountry, the minister said.

India has not only becomeself-reliant in the health sector,but it has also helped othernations, he said, claiming Indiahas turned a crisis into anopportunity.

"We need to take precautionsand not panic in this situation.We have to move forward witha commitment to restraint, pre-caution, sensibility to ensure'Jaan Bhi, Jahan Bhi'," Naqvi said.

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A 13-year-old girl was rapedallegedly by seven men - twoemployees of a leading televi-sion channel, a policeman andfour others - here, and thepolice have launched a man-hunt for the accused.

The two television channelemployees are colleagues ofthe victim's mother, policesaid on Sunday.

The incident occurred dur-ing the lockdown period inMarch-April but no com-plaint was filed at that time asthese two men had threat-ened the victim and hermother of killing the girl ifthe matter was reported tothe police.

However, the woman inlate August lodged a com-plaint with the police accus-ing the two colleagues, twoprivate security personnel, apoliceman and his two asso-ciates of raping her daughterin her rented accommodationwhen she was in office.

The woman and herdaughter used to stay in thehouse in Bhubaneswar whileother members of the familylive in Kendrapara district.The two had initially fled toKendrapara after beingthreatened but later returnedto the state capital in August.

A medical examination ofthe girl was conducted onFriday. The police have alsorecorded her statement.

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Music company T-Series hasissued notices to many socialvideo platforms, includingBolo Indya, Mitron, MXPlayer's Takatak, Triller andJosh, for copyright violationsand warned them againstusing the work of the compa-ny on their platforms in anyform.

The Super CassettesIndustries Private Limited,which operates under thebrand name T-Series, hasasked each of these short-video platforms to pay aroundRs 3.5 crore in damage and"render accounts of all rev-enues illegally earned" by theplatforms from the copyright-ed content, as per an infringe-ment notice.

The company has alsoserved notice to Chinese appSnack Video which is opera-tional in India and filed a law-suit against short-video appRoposo.

When contacted, T-Series-appointed Ira Law firm con-firmed the issuance of noticesto these platforms.

Geetanjali Visvanathan,Partner at Ira Law, said legalnotice to the named videoapps have been served and alawsuit against Roposo hasbeen filed but did not makeany further comments.

Bolo Indya in response toan e-mail query sent by PTIsaid it does not offer audio andvideo library as a feature tousers as of date and thus thereis no base for any breach ofmusic rights.

"We are a UGC (user gen-erated content) platform anddue to the ban of Chineseapplications, a lot of content

creators started to uploadthose videos which they cre-ated on those apps. Thesevideos weren't created on ourplatform and any such videoreported from time to time,where any possible breach ofIPR is there, is immediatelyremoved from the platform,"Bolo Indya founder VarunSaxena said.

He said that his firm alwaysrequests music companies towork collaboratively with itlike they do with YouTube andreport any copyrighted content.

"When in future we willlaunch audio library as a func-tion, we will work in a very col-laborative manner with all theleading music companies as werespect their rights and arecommitted to build a cohesiveand strongly synergetic envi-ronment of all Indian compa-nies growing together," Saxenasaid. Triller declined to com-ment on the matter and othercompanies did not revert to thequery sent to them in thisregard.

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The Uttar Pradesh unit ofCongress has decided to ropein young voters as its follow-ers through a quiz competitionon former prime ministerRajiv Gandhi, a partyspokesperson said on Sunday.

The quiz competition onGandhi's personality andachievements will be heldonline on September 13 and14, he said.

"The preparation for thequiz competition will enableparticipants to know moreabout the personality andachievements of former primeminister Rajiv Gandhi. Thecompetition is meant foryoungsters in the age group of16-22 years, and till now over5 lakh aspirants have regis-

tered themselves for the com-petition," UP Congressspokesperson Ashok Singhtold PTI.

He added that all the frontalorganisations of the party havebeen given responsibility forthis.

"We are expecting morethan 20 lakh youths to partic-ipate in the competition," hesaid. Singh said after the quizcompetition, the party willestablish communication withthem.

When asked to explain therationale behind the quiz com-petition, Singh said, "Partyleadership is of the view thatyouths should come forward.Thanks to the bad policies ofthe BJP government, the youthsare envisaging a dark future inthe current circumstances."

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Women participation in equi-ty markets has surged duringCOVID-19 pandemic andexperts believe the growingneed to share householdexpenses with rampant paycuts and lay-offs has broughtthem to trading, market par-ticipants said.

Additionally, women arelooking for alternatives tothe decreasing bank's fixeddeposit (FD) rates, theyadded.

Interestingly, most of suchwomen are first time investorsand a large number of themare housewives.

"As retail participation hasgrown during the lockdown,this has been true for womenas well. In line with the over-all investors population,

women are looking for alter-natives to decreasing FDrates," said Shankar Vailaya -Director, Sharekhan by BNPParibas.

"Lockdown has just beenan accelerator al lowingwomen to deepen their capi-tal market knowledge via dig-ital solutions," Vailaya added.

Online brokerage houseUpstox said it has witnessed agrowth of 32 per cent inaccount opening by womenfrom April to June 2020, com-pared to the preceding threemonths.

Of these, 70 per cent ofwomen are first time investors.Additionally, more than 35per cent of the brokeragehouse's women customers arehousewives.

Ravi Kumar, co-founderand CEO, Upstox said, "theincreased need for sharinghousehold expenses withrampant pay cuts and lay-offsis what seems to have broughtmore women into trading".

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Sunday said he hada "very fruitful" meeting withhis Iranian counterpartBrigadier General AmirHatami and discussed ways tobolster bilateral cooperationand exchanged views onregional security issues,including the situation inAfghanistan.

Singh reached Tehran fromMoscow on Saturday on atransit halt after concludinghis three-day visit to Russiawhere he attended a meetingof the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) defenceministers. He also held bilat-eral talks with his counter-parts from Russia, China andthe Central Asian countries.

"Had a very fruitful meet-ing with Iranian defence min-

ister Brigadier General AmirHatami in Tehran. We dis-cussed regional security issuesincluding Afghanistan andthe issues of bilateral cooper-ation," Singh said in a tweet.

"Both the DefenceMinisters discussed ways totake forward bilateral cooper-ation and exchanged views on

regional security issues,including peace and stabilityin Afghanistan," Singh's officesaid in a separate tweet on themeeting held at the request ofthe Iranian defence minister.

The meeting between thetwo ministers took place in a"cordial and warm atmos-phere," it said, adding that theleaders emphasised upon theage-old cultural, linguisticand civilisational ties betweenIndia and Iran.

Iranian Defence MinisterHatami and his Indian coun-terpart Singh held talks inTehran on international,regional and bilateral issues,Iran's official Irna newsagency reported on Sunday.

Visit of Singh is the firsttravel of a top Indian officialto Iran since the outbreak ofthe coronavirus pandemic inDecember 2019, it noted.

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Around 60 per cent of respon-dents favoured availing ‘DigitalHealth ID' to be created underthe Centre's National DigitalHealth Mission, but do notwant to share sensitive person-al data beyond health andmedical records, a recent sur-vey said.

The survey was conductedby LocalCircles, a communitysocial media platform.

According to the survey, 59per cent of respondents saidthey want to avail‘DigitalHealth ID' under the DigitalHealth Mission programme,but do not want to share sen-sitive personal data beyondhealth and medical records.

It said 23 per cent respon-dents supported creating thehealth ID, saying it could helpin faster access to healthcare.While 18 per cent said itshould not be created as it

could lead to personal sensitivedata getting compromised.

Around 9,000 peopleresponded to the question onwhether Digital Health IDshould be created under theNational Digital HealthMission (NDHM), it said.

The social media platform

received around 34,000responses on four questionsrelated to the draft NationalHealth Data ManagementPolicy, which proposes to cre-ate Digital Health IDs for allIndians.

When asked about makingaggregate or anonymised data

of people available for thepurpose of research or promo-tion of diagnostic solutions, toexternal agencies, 48 per centrespondents said they do notapprove of it, while 45 per centsaid they were ‘okay' with itand 6 per cent were unsure.

Akshay Gupta, GeneralManager, LocalCircles saidthe survey results will be sub-mitted to key stakeholdersassociated with the DigitalHealth ID initiative, so thatcitizen inputs can be kept atthe forefront as the govern-ment lays out the blueprint ofthe initiative.

To safeguard confidentialhealth data collected frompeople under NDHM, thegovernment has proposed aframework and a set of min-imum standards for data pri-vacy protection to be fol-lowed across the board incompliance with applicablelaws and regulations.

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Three persons, includingtwoowing allegiance to BJP,have been arrested in the cityfor allegedly secretly video-graphing senior TrinamoolCongress leader MadanMitra without his permis-sion, police said on Saturday.

Mitra, when contacted,said that the three accusedrequested for an appoint-ment for a meeting onFriday after identifyingthemselves to be fromBelghoria area of the city andseeking his help to joinTMC.

The three had secretlyvideographed Mitra, the for-mer transport minister,whom they met at the officeof the 'AutomobileAssociation of Eastern India'in the city on Friday, theTMC leader said.

"My security guardscaught them videographing.Initially they denied havingdone so, but when somevideos were found they saidthey will delete everything.On checking their phones wefound several photographswhere they were with seniorBJP leaders as well as withthat party's state president(Dilip gHosh).

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The South Western Railwayshas said it will run 40 pairs ofspecial train services fromSeptember 12 on specificroutes.

According to a statementissued by the SWR onSaturday, these services shallbe in addition to the Shramikspecials and the special trains,which are already in opera-tion.

These trains will be restrict-ed stoppages in view of thesuggestions of the state gov-ernment, the railways said.

This besides, services ofseven pairs of trains of South

Western Railway shall alsostart with effect fromSeptember 12.

These trains will operatebetween Bengaluru-Mysuru,Bengaluru Cantonment-Guwahati, YesvantpurBikaner, Mysuru Jaipur,M y s u r u S o l a p u r ,GorakhpurYesvantpur andKSR BengaluruNew Delhi.

The Railways said all theprecautionary measures willbe in place such as social dis-tancing, thermal screeningand wearing of face masks bypassengers will be strictly fol-lowed. The SWR said onlyreserved passengers will beallowed.

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Page 6: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

By denying the payment ofGST compensation to Statesand instead asking them toborrow, the Centre may

have been legally correct but it mustnot be forgotten that the States hadmade a huge sacrifice in surrender-ing their taxing powers while agree-ing to implement the GST regime.They had bought into the idea of aunified market based on what waspromised to be a “Good and SimpleTax.” That promise remains to be ful-filled yet. Multiple rates, technicalglitches in the GSTN and difficul-ties faced by the taxpayers in gettingtimely refunds, that have bedevilledit since launch, still remain unad-dressed. The latest decision of theGST Council may have driven awedge between the Centre and theStates, which have so far wonderful-ly cooperated in the panel that has,barring a single occasion, votedunanimously on all contentiousissues.

This is not to undermine thepositive benefits the GST has alreadybrought. It was supposed to be atransformational tax, and in manyways it has been so. It not only elim-inated multiplicity of taxes andcesses but also brought down therate of effective tax and its incidenceon most items. The ominousInspector Raj and long queues oftrucks at the state entry barriers arethings of the past. Even in a coun-try with a highly fractious politicalculture, the GST Council has set ashining example of cooperative fed-eralism. However, the future maynot be as smooth.

Even before the pandemic hadstruck, GST revenues were falling.Now the pandemic has wroughthavoc and collections are nowherenear last year’s levels. As per the GSTCompensation Act, the Centre issupposed to compensate the Statesat bimonthly intervals for five yearstill FY-22, in case the revenue loss-es of the States exceeded 14 per centgrowth calculated on the base-year2015-16 collections. It was supposedto draw from the GSTCompensation Fund financed by theCompensation Cess levied on lux-ury and sin goods like cars, tobac-co products and soft drinks. GSTpayments to States for the currentfiscal have been pending since April2020. For 2019-20, the total com-pensation paid was �1.65 lakh croreagainst the compensation fund col-lections of just �95,444 crore, and theCentre had to tap the balance of cessfrom the previous years as well as

�33,412 crore from theConsolidated Fund of India onaccount of IGST to meet theStates’ dues. Thus the inability topay States’ GST dues was not justdue to the economic morass trig-gered by the pandemic. Theactual collections under the fundnow cover only half the month-ly requirement of �14,000 crore.

The reduction in GST ratesfor many items had resulted in aninverted duty structure where theduty on the final product was lessthan the duty on the inputs,requiring higher refunds. Theoptions before the GST Councilwere either to (1) rework the slabsor increase rates to correct theinverted duty structure; (2)increase the rates of compensa-tion cess and expand the itembase, or (3) allow the States toborrow more and repay the bor-rowing using future collections,that is, by extending the compen-sation cess beyond 2021-22.Given the mayhem caused by thepandemic and the severe contrac-tion of the GDP driving the econ-omy into a comatose state, theCentre was rightly wary of rais-ing or expanding the scope of thecess that might cause further joblosses. The Centre thus had onlytwo options: either allow theStates to borrow or meet theshortfall from its own resources,which must come from its ownborrowings, with correspondingfiscal and monetary implica-tions. Yields of government secu-rities (G-Secs) will harden,putting pressure on interest ratesacross the economy; credit ratingagencies also may view this neg-atively. Besides, with the fiscaldeficit already having exceededthe full year target of �7.96 lakhcrore, it was really a Hobson’s

choice for the Centre.The Act does not deal with

this unprecedented shortfall ofcompensation cess, the reason forwhich is partly the inefficiency ofthe GSTN to fix the technicalglitches, especially its inability tomatch the buyers’ and suppliers’invoices. The Centre had earlierapproached the Solicitor-General,who argued that it was not legal-ly obliged to pay full compensa-tion to the States. Armed withthis, in the GST Council meetingof August 27, the Centre offeredthe States two options, the logicof which is questionable. It hascited the unprecedented eco-nomic contraction and conse-quent revenue shortfall due to thepandemic as an “Act of God”,which is not covered by the GSTstatute that has no force majeureclause, to renege on its promise topay the States compensation outof its own funds. There is also nodenying that the Chinese actionon the LAC has necessitatedhigher security expenditure.

The estimated compensa-tion shortfall of �2.35 lakh crorein the current fiscal was dividedinto two segments though someaccounting jugglery: �97,000crore on account of GST imple-mentation and the rest due to rev-enue loss attributable to COVID-19. Accordingly, the Centreoffered two options to the states:Option-I for additional borrow-ing of �97,000 crore under a spe-cial borrowing window of the RBIat G-Sec-linked interest rates, tobe repaid in full, including inter-est from the compensation cessfund, without being counted asStates’ debt. The rest �1.38 lakhcrore will be reckoned as States’debt. Option-II was allowingthem to borrow the entire

amount of �2.35 lakh crore fromthe market, of which only theprincipal will be paid from thecompensation cess while theinterest burden will lie on theStates’ shoulders. However, itappears that the Centre mightallow the interest also to be paidfrom the cess without creating anyburden on the exchequer. Thecompensation cess will continueto be levied beyond FY22 till theStates’ debts get liquidated.

Earlier, under the Centre’sstimulus package, States weregiven additional borrowing spaceby raising their borrowing lim-its from 3 to 5 per cent of GSDP,but save 0.5 per cent, the rest wasavailable only on their implemen-tation of various reform mea-sures, like the One Nation, OneRation Card, Ease of DoingBusiness, power distribution andaugmentation of municipalityrevenues. Even the 0.5 per centwas conditional upon achieve-ment of the milestones pre-scribed in respect of the reforms.Now Option-I allowed the Statesto carry forward any unutilisedborrowing space up to 1 per centof GSDP unconditionally to thenext fiscal. The Centre wouldcoordinate the borrowing andalso bear the extra interest costabove the G-Sec yield through asubsidy. However, no such extraborrowing space would be avail-able for Option-II; the entire bor-rowing exceeding ��97,000 crorewill count as the States’ liability.The interest would be decided bythe market and not linked to G-Sec yields.

States are understandablyfurious at what they see as“betrayal” of the Centre, espe-cially the non-BJP ruled oneslike Punjab, Delhi, Puducherry,

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.They feel the distinction in theshortfall on account of GSTimplementation and the pan-demic is “unconstitutional.” Inany case, they want the entireborrowing to be accommodat-ed by increasing the borrowinglimit. They are apprehensivethat the borrowing would trans-late into “mortgaging of thefuture.” States have a legitimategrouse not only because thedelay in compensation pay-ment has pushed their alreadyprecarious finances to the brink,but also because they get noshare from the various cessesand surcharges levied by theCentre on items like petrol,diesel, education, health orsocial welfare.

Understandably it was notan easy decision for the Centre,and it militates against the spir-it of cooperative federalism sofar demonstrated convincinglyby the GST Council. As regardsborrowing by the States, theremay not be much difficulty. Themarket is awash with liquiditywith little demand for credit asevidenced by the FCI being ableto raise loans of �75,000 croreat only 4.6 percent. Banks areflush with funds from the stim-ulus package, which are beingparked at the RBI at the reverserepo rate. But the Centre stillcan regain the States’ trust byincreasing their borrowing lim-its further to accommodate theentire �2.35 lakh crore. In fed-eral relations, trust is as impor-tant as legality.

(The author is a formerDirector General, Office of theComptroller & Auditor Generalof India and an academic.)

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Sir — The collapse of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) tominus 23.9 per cent has pushedthe country’s growth behind by50 years. Now, in order toachieve the goal of a $5 trillioneconomy and nine per centGDP growth, it will take aminimum of 10 to 12 years,which in the current situationlooks impossible. With nomoney or purchasing poweramong the people due to theCoronavirus-induced lock-down, closure of industries andjoblessness, there will be chaosin the days to come. There willbe bankruptcy, price rise andpoor performance in every sec-tor as far as production is con-cerned. We are looking atstagflation.

The whole country is suf-fering due to the economicinefficiency and incompetenceof the present regime whichwants to blame the pandemicfor its missteps. Does theGovernment want us to forgetthat the economy was in ashambles even before the out-break of the Coronavirus?

While its votaries have beenfocussing on mandir-masjid

politics and people have beenlynched by cow vigilantes, theeconomy of the nation hasdipped to a level never seenbefore. Yet, the BJP continues to

blame the Congress for all itswoes. At least it didn’t drive usdown to this extent.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

��� ��������Sir — Bollywood actor KanganaRanaut’s controversial tweet, inwhich she compared Mumbai toPakistan-occupied Kashmir,

should not be tolerated byMumbaikars. It is good that theleaders of the ruling alliance inMaharashtra lashed out at her forinsulting the people of the State.Maharashtra Home Minister AnilDeshmukh made a statementthat “those who feel unsafe in thecity have no right to live here.”

Why should anyone insult aState that has welcomed peoplefrom all over the country withopen arms? Other people, whohave made Mumbai their home,don’t agree with Ranaut’s state-ment and she should not givelessons to Mumbaikars on how tobehave as she herself is very abu-sive and offensive.

She, too, is playing by thesame book that she accuses hercontemporaries of. She is going toany length for publicity and hastaken a Right-wing political posi-tion to be heard, knowing full wellthat she will find support onlineand on news media. Ranaut ishand in glove with some power -hungry politicians to malign theSena-NCP-Congress Governmentand the Mumbai Police. Shameon her!

Ashmit AaronNoida

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With the dragon becoming increasinglyaggressive and the two-front threat becom-ing a certainty, India needs to shed its his-

toric “continentalist” mindset and transform froma military force to a military power. In order to dothat, India, apart from strengthening its maritimepower, has also to develop non-kinetic warfare capa-bilities in the space, cyber and electronic warfare(EW) domains. India has the technology but is keenon using it for civilian rather than military purpos-es. A minor policy change will enable us to devel-op systems purely for military use. There is an urgentneed to develop threat-specific responses to wardoff any danger to our national security from belliger-ent China and Pakistan.

Our strategy so far relies on the offensive capa-bilities of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to counter themenace posed by our adversaries. But China hasdeployed an array of Surface to Air Missiles(SAMs) in both Xinjiang and Tibet regions and isalso providing military assistance, including prolif-eration of banned technology to Pakistan, toupgrade its Integrated Air Defence System (IADS).At the same time China and Pakistan have collud-ed to ensure that we remain fixated towards our landborders and have to spend so heavily to keep themsecure that the much-wanted expansion of the IndianNavy gets scuttled.

This will be a big drawback in our attempts toward off any maritime threat and counter China’sgrowing interest in the Indian Ocean. The two-frontintimidation is certainly a measure taken by theChinese to keep India focussed to the threat fromits land borders and remain distracted from its mar-itime ambitions, which were exhibited in therecently-enhanced budget of the Navy and itsimpressive acquisition list, including aircraft carri-ers, destroyers, frigates, amphibious transport ships,submarines and surveillance aircraft.

China is very sensitive to the vulnerabilities ofits Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOCs) whichcater to 80 per cent of its trade and movement ofoil and goods from the Middle East to the Chineseports. To keep the Chinese supply chain going, safeSLOCs are critical. Nevertheless, it is taking stepsto mitigate its “Malacca dilemma” by building upits surface naval forces and undersea fleet, financ-ing deep-water commercial ports in littoral andisland nations and making diplomatic inroads withkey actors across the Indian Ocean basin.

As part of its string of pearls policy to encircleIndia, it is negotiating with our neighbours, name-ly Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In the future,these efforts could give China the ability to sustainforward-deployed forces in greater numbers andmight tilt in its favour the maritime military balancein the region. The development of Gwadar port, theKarakoram highway and the use of Iranian portsafter signing the strategic treaty with Iran will, to agreat extent, mitigate Chinese problems at sea. Yet,in the quest for becoming a global power, the People’sLiberation Army Navy (PLAN) will still continueto struggle for dominance of the Indian Ocean andpose a threat to India’s claim of the most powerfulresident power in the region.

While Russia pioneered the Anti-Access AreaDenial (A2/AD) capability to check the NorthAtlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces and pri-marily the US during the Cold War, China in themodern days has made considerable progress inmastering the technology and development of sys-tems to keep the US Navy away from the SouthChina Sea (SCS) and the disputed maritime claimsof the nine-dash line. It did not hesitate to fire itsdeadly hypersonic “Fleet Killer” missile in the dis-puted Spratly Islands when the US was busy con-ducting the ten-nation RIMPAC naval exercise offthe Hawaiian Coast in the Pacific Ocean. Incidentally,

an Indian naval ship was also deployed inthe SCS at that time. The DF 21 KillerMissile has the capability of destroying amoving carrier at sea. With this China dis-played its A2/AD capabilities and sent astern warning to both the US and India.

India, too, needs to develop A2/ADcapabilities to prevent any future build-upof Chinese forces in the Tibet region andneutralise any threat from Islamabad bygrounding the Pakistan Air Force beforeit becomes airborne as far as our land fron-tiers are concerned. Along the maritimeborders, the A2/AD capability will enableus to prevent access to the PLAN andrestrict the freedom of movement of thePakistan Navy. Inherent in it would be thedevelopment of countermeasures neededto ensure freedom of movement and oper-ation of our air and naval forces across theland and maritime frontiers.

To develop the A2/AD capability, itis necessary to understand its philosophy.Action intended to slow deployment offriendly forces into a theatre or cause suchforces to operate from distances fartherfrom the locus of conflict than they wouldotherwise prefer is called as Anti-Access(A2). It affects the movement of adversaryforces into a theatre. Action intended toimpede friendly operations within areaswhere it is difficult to prevent access ofinimical forces is termed Area Denial(AD). AD affects manoeuvre within a the-atre. The two are not mutually exclusive.A2/AD capabilities are overlapping andspread across multi-domains to includeboth kinetic and non-kinetic systems withthe sole purpose of degrading the adver-saries’ war-fighting capabilities at land, sea,air, cyber, space and EW. Emerging tech-nologies representing military revolutionin Artificial Intelligence (AI), QuantumTechnology, Swarm Technology andhypersonic weapons form the backboneof these capabilities.

A potent A2/AD capability will posea serious threat to the ability of both ouradversaries to deploy and employ forcesacross our land and maritime boundaries.India needs to develop A2/AD capabili-ties not only as countermeasures to the

combined threat posed by both China andPakistan but also to pose a similar threatto them, both at land and sea.

A2/AD capabilities have to be an inte-gration of terrestrial, air and space-basedsensors which can defeat stealth technol-ogy, an array of long range deep penetrat-ing cruise, surface-to-air and air-to-sur-face missiles, space weapons, satellites,hypersonic weapons and aerial platforms,both manned and unmanned. India hasan arsenal of formidable missile systemsand aerial platforms; it has invested in theRussian S-400 Air Defence System,Phalcon AWACS, armed drones andother air defence systems.

But it still needs more to develop a for-midable A2/AD capability, particularly todominate the Indian Ocean and keepPLAN at bay. For the purposes of com-mand and control, the existing StrategicForces Command (SFC) should be nom-inated. India needs to invest more inboosting aerospace capabilities and cyberwarfare capabilities. The need for an aero-space and a cyber command has becomemore pressing now.

As countermeasures to the adver-saries’ A2/AD capability in Tibet regionand against our western neighbour, weneed to invest heavily in the developmentof stealth, stand-off precision strike,Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUT),Swarming technologies and developmentof a robust Command, Control,Communications, Computers,Intelligence, Surveillance andReconnaissance (C4ISR ) and EW poten-tial. Meanwhile, the IAF will have to beboosted with the next-generation stand-off strike capability in the form of missilesand unmanned platforms.

As far as the Indian Ocean is con-cerned, India will always be constrainedby resources to invest heavily in powerprojection naval platforms. Due to thenature of the threat to India’s security, theIndian Army and the IAF will remain themain focus centres as far as defence expen-diture is concerned. But at the same timein order to score over China, India willneed to cash upon the Chinese “Malacca

dilemma.” The best option for India insuch an eventuality is to spend on A2/ADcapability rather than investing in mar-itime power-projecting forces with moreconcentration on anti-access capabilitiesbecause India enjoys the advantage ofhome turf viz a viz PLAN.

For this, India’s island territories,namely the Lakshadweep Islands and theAndaman and Nicobar Islands, will playa crucial role. These territories, whichoverlook critical Indian Ocean lanes,give India a toehold in the Arabian Sea andthe Bay of Bengal. India has already takensteps to bolster its military presence onthese strategically-positioned islands dur-ing the ongoing stand-off with China.These could be developed as epicentres ofour A2/AD capabilities to guard our mar-itime frontiers.

India’s joint warfare doctrine will needto focus on countering the adversaries’A2/AD capabilities to ensure operationalfreedom of friendly forces with minimumdowngradation of our fighting capabilityand also to include the potential of ourA2/AD capabilities to cause maximumattrition to the adversaries’ war fightingpotential and their exploitation.

With the Himalayan defences becom-ing impregnable, only a foolhardy enemywill attempt a major/decisive battle there.While mind games and provocations willcontinue along the LAC, a decisive blow to the Chinese can only be deliveredat sea.

In order to counter China’s growingexpansionism and belligerence, Indiashould seriously explore the option of con-verting the QUAD from a mere securitydialogue to a security alliance followed byQUAD +. The combined GDP of QUADis double that of China thus neutralisingthe growing economic muscle of the drag-on. The move will benefit India as far asthe Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission is con-cerned. The availability of high-end tech-nology will become easier, giving a boostto domestic production and also ensuresafety of supply chain lines.

(The author is a veteran political com-mentator, security and strategic analyst)

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The combined vote share of reli-gio-political parties in the 2018elections in Pakistan was 9.58

per cent, slightly lower than what it wasin the 2013 polls and much lower thanthe 11 per cent they bagged in 2002.The 2002 tally was the highest theIslamist parties have ever received inpolls. In 2018, the performance of reli-gio-political parties was weak becausethere were a lot more Islamist partiescompeting. Apart from the establishedones, two new religio-political outfitsemerged: The Milli Muslim League

(MML) and Tehreek-i-LabbaikPakistan (TLP). Their entry into elec-toral politics was encouraged by theestablishment to usurp the “religiousvote” of the Centre-Right PML-N sothat Imran Khan’s Centre-Right PTIcould benefit. None of the new religio-political parties could win many seats,but that was never the “plan.”

Whereas the MML could notperform in the manner in whichsome expected it to, the radical BarelviTLP not only succeeded in usurpingPML-N’s Barelvi vote, but also gobbledup the secular MQM’s lower-middle-class Barelvi votes in Karachi. This cer-tainly aided PTI in challenging thePML-N in Punjab and the MQM inKarachi. Historically, Islamist outfits inSouth Asia are not built as electoralparties. They emerge as evangelicalgroups or residues of movements. Andeven when they do convert into elec-toral outfits, they struggle to do well

in polls because the non-religion-basedmainstream parties pragmatically co-opt their causes and rhetoric.

Plus, the religio-political partiesare closely associated with one Islamicsect/sub-sect or the other. This limitstheir appeal to voters from otherdenominations. Some are even under-stood to have developed a sect of theirown, as the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) wasonce accused of doing. Islamist groupsin South Asia developing politicalinterests is a 20th century phenome-non rooted in the Khilafat Movementof 1919-1924. When the European the-ory of the State began to attractCentrist and Leftist groups in SouthAsia in the early 20th century, Islamistgroups, too, began to be attracted byit and started to theorise the possibil-ity of creating an “Islamic state.” Butmost of them could not find the meansor the need to devise any electoral toolsto achieve such a State. They often saw

electoral politics as contrary to theirIslamist dispositions. That’s why thedemand for a Muslim-majority StatePakistan arose from a Centrist andquasi-secular All India Muslim League(AIML). What’s more, almost allmajor Islamist parties opposed thisdemand on one pretext or the other.But they could not neutralise AIML’splans because, by the 1940s, it had notonly become an experienced electoralentity, but it was able to juxtapose its“modernist” Muslim nationalism withrhetoric from their Islamist opponents.These opponents had no plan to stallthe League through electoral means.

The Islamist parties remained inan electoral limbo during the first 20years of Pakistan but they did retaintheir evangelical and agitational dispo-sition, in an attempt to influence theideological character of the new coun-try. But even during the years of indi-rect elections (1957-58) and hybrid

democracy (1962-69), they could notdevise any effective electoral tools andsend members to the first two con-stituent Assemblies, and the twoAssemblies that came into being dur-ing the Ayub Khan dictatorship.

Yet, just before the country’s firstdirect elections in 1970, parties suchas JI were claiming that they wouldsweep the polls. But the opposite hap-pened. From 1947 till 1972, Islamistparties operated from outside theAssemblies and had no significantinfluence on policymaking, otherthan through the threat of agitations.Though 18 members from three reli-gio-political parties managed to enterthe 1972 Parliament, they were nomatch for the mainstream electoralparties. That’s why, in 1974 and thenagain in 1977, Islamist parties onceagain banked on their penchant foragitational politics to undermine aregime. With the sidelining of some

major parties during 1977, the religio-political parties were given space todevelop their electoral skills andexpand constituencies. Separate elec-torates were introduced to favourthem. But the idea, on the part of themilitary regime, was to manoeuvrethem in a manner that would help theZia dictatorship ward off challengesposed by the Opposition parties.

Most of them became tools of theestablishment, without whose backingthey believed they could not becomeeffective electoral entities. In the1990s, the PML-N continued to co-optreligious rhetoric of the Islamist par-ties. However, the self-proclaimed“enlightened moderate” Musharrafdecided to aggressively sideline thePML-N and the PPP during the 2002polls, by creating the conditionsrequired for the religio-political par-ties to win in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.This was when these parties bagged 11

per cent of the vote but this could nothalt the return of the PPP and thePML-N after the 2008 elections.

In the eyes of the establishment,the mutable utility of the old religio-political parties has been exhausted.With growing mistrust between thePML-N/PPP and the establishment,the latter “allowed” the growth of newreligion-based groups like the TLP andthe MML. In an environment wherethe State was at war with religious mil-itancy and with the sword of theFinancial Action Task Force (FATF)still hanging over the country’s head,the idea was to quietly nurture newreligious groups, not to help them win,but to aid the pro-establishment PTIby way of scattering PML-N’s religiousvotebank. The fate of the religio-political parties in politics is thus like-ly to continue being dependent ontheir utility to the establishment.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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IT services will remain a signif-icant part of the job environ-ment in India as the demandfor talent and services contin-ues to grow in the country,according to Tata ConsultancyServices CEO and MD RajeshGopinathan.

He also emphasised on theneed for experienced IT pro-fessionals to embrace automa-tion and other new technolo-gies to remain competitiveeven as youngsters, who couldbe native to these new tools,enter the workforce.

"...in absolute terms, IndianIT's employment potential willcontinue to be quite strong andwill relatively keep growing inpace with where we see theopportunity. The relative ratioof IT to other industries is afactor of what happens in thelarger economic scenario...inthe foreseeable future, IT ser-vices will remain very attractiveand a significant part of the jobenvironment in India,"Gopinathan said in a recentwebinar on LinkedIn.

He added that this is onaccount of the demand for tal-ent and services, which is "only

going to explode given the rolethat technology is playingtoday and in future".

There have been concerns oflayoffs in the IT sector - whichhires thousands of graduatesevery year - as automationincreases. With COVID-19pandemic impacting business-es globally, there were concernsabout hiring and job opportu-nities in the sector as compa-nies froze and even laid offemployees.

Gopinathan, who heads theUSD 22-billion firm, wasrecently named as a LinkedInInfluencer, joining the list ofeminent personalities like Satya

Nadella, Vani Kola, PunitRenjen and Kiran MazumdarShaw. Tata ConsultancyServices is the country's largestIT services firm and employsover 4.4 lakh people.

Gopinathan said the young-sters coming into workforce arenative to many of the technolo-gies that are leading the disrup-tion and learn about the tools"by default" because that is theenvironment they are cominginto.

"My bigger message is to theones who have got more expe-rience, the ones with 10-15years' experience. They alsoneed to embrace it rather than

being worried about it. Andthey need to invest in theirknowledge, in their contextu-al knowledge and upgradetheir skills in terms of the toolusage," he said. He added thatwhile the tools used today willbe different from 15 years ago,but the context that the peoplehave built up and the knowl-edge they have amassed is"invaluable", which positionsthe individual in a very uniqueposition compared to any newperson entering the workforce.

Gopinathan said theCOVID-19 pandemic hasallowed people to use tech-nologies that already existedmore effectively by reducingthe threshold of acceptability.

"So video conferencing didnot get invented six monthsback. But our acceptability ofleveraging it and the opennesswith which we are leveragingit has significantly gone up 10-folds, 50-folds...a lot of thework content could be donethrough remote collaborationlike we are currently doing andthe acceptability of thatincreasing -- both inside enter-prises and between enterpris-es — will be a huge booster," headded.

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The Customs Department willroll out pan-India facelessassessment for all importedgoods by October 31, theCentral Board of Indirect Taxesand Customs (CBIC) has said.

While faceless assessmentfor import of certain goods wasalready rolled out in Bengaluruand Chennai ports on June 8,it was extended to Delhi andMumbai Customs on August 3.

This will now be extended inphases to all ports across thecountry by December 31.

"Board has decided to rollout the Faceless Assessment atan all India level in all ports of

import and for all importedgoods by October 31, 2020,"the CBIC said in a circular.

Faceless assessment enablesan assessing officer, who is

physically located in a partic-ular jurisdiction, to assess a Billof Entry pertaining to importsmade at a different Customsstation, whenever such a Bill of

Entry has been assigned to himthrough an automated system.

The CBIC has constituted 11National Assessment Centres(NACs), consisting of thePrincipal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs.

"...The NACs need to workin a coordinated manner toensure that all assessments arecarried out in a timely mannerand there is no delay or hold upof the Bills of Entry.

The NACs would also exam-ine the assessment practices ofimported goods acrossCustoms stations to bringabout uniformity andenhanced quality of assess-ments," the CBIC said.

The NAC would have tocoordinate with Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence (DRI)and Directorate General ofGST Intelligence (DGGI),Directorate General ofAnalytics and RiskManagement (DGARM) andother Directorates to enhancerisk assessment.

"To ensure smooth imple-mentation of FacelessAssessment & to sensitize boththe departmental officers andthe trade, Directorate Generalof Taxpayer Services (DGTS)in coordination with CustomsPolicy Wing shall organizeextensive outreaches via onlinewebinars/promotional videos

etc," the CBIC said.The CBIC said the key ele-

ments of the 'Turant Customs'programme are faceless, con-tactless and paperless Customsclearance processes.

This includes faceless oranonymised assessment, self-registration of goods byimporters, automated clear-ances of bills of entry, digiti-sation of Customs documents,among others.

The objectives sought to beachieved are exponentiallyfaster clearance of goods,reduced interface betweentrade and Customs officersand enhanced ease of doingbusiness.

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Eight of the 10most valued com-panies witnessed atotal loss of Rs1,11,799.05 crorein their marketvaluation lastweek, with ICICIBank and RelianceIndustries Limitedemerging as leading losers.

Tata Consultancy Servicesand HDFC Bank were theonly gainers among the 10most valued listed firms.

Last week, the BSE Sensexplummeted 1,110.13 points or2.81 per cent amid a global sell-off and weak economic data.

The market capitalisation ofICICI Bank tumbled Rs25,476.75 crore to Rs2,57,073.30 crore. The valua-tion of Reliance IndustriesLimited (RIL) tanked Rs24,216.53 crore to Rs13,16,947.89 crore.

HDFC's market capdropped by Rs 20,150.82 croreto Rs 3,17,321.63 crore and thatof Kotak Mahindra Bank by Rs17,642.8 crore to Rs2,72,815.29 crore.

The market valuation ofITC declined by Rs 10,951.21crore to Rs 2,29,667.79 croreand of Infosys by Rs 6,643.75crore to Rs 3,91,544.91 crore.Hindustan Unilever's marketcap dipped by Rs 6,471.69crore to Rs 4,99,186.72 crore.

Bharti Airtel's valuationdeclined by Rs 245.5 crore toRs 2,85,380.21 crore.

In contrast, TCS added Rs19,756.31 crore to its valuationat Rs 8,59,202.29 crore. Thevaluation of HDFC Bank roseby Rs 2,641.5 crore to Rs6,16,240.17 crore. In top 10 listof the most-valued firm, RILtopped the chart followed byTCS, HDFC Bank, HUL,Infosys, HDFC, Bharti Airtel,Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICIBank and ITC in that order.

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Tata Steel's production levelhas now recovered to 100 percent as the company sees arevival in domestic demandin the current quarter led bya good monsoon and ruraleconomy, its CEO andManaging Director T VNarendran has said.

The company is now lessdependent on exports com-pared to the first quarter, headded. The COVID-19 out-break in India, followed bythe national lockdown,impacted the steel industryseverely. It disrupted the sup-ply chain and impacted thedemand as well as produc-tion.

Due to the market condi-tions, steel makers like TataSteel were forced to cut downtheir operations by up to 50per cent in April. The playersalso had to turn to exports tofind markets for their pro-duce. However, with therelaxation of lockdownnorms, the company rampedup its production in a phasedmanner. "Production is run-ning at 100 per cent and weare now less dependent onexports than we were in Q1," Narendran said.

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Mining companyT h r i v e n iEarthmovers hasbagged a contractworth Rs 31,428crore from NTPCto develop andoperate Talaipallicoal mine inC h h a t t i s g a r halloted to the state-ownedpower giant.

"Thriveni Earthmovers... aCoimbatore-based miningcompany, has bagged anothermine development and oper-ation contract from NTPCon August 26, with a contractvalue of Rs 31,428 crore," anofficial on the condition ofanonymity said.

Earlier, NTPC had termi-nated the contracts it hadawarded to BGR Mining &Infra for development of itscoal mines in Jharkhand andChhattisgarh over allegationsof corruption against seniorofficials of the private miningcompany.

NTPC had terminated thecontracts for development andoperation of Chatti-Bariatucoal mine in Jharkhand andTalaipalli coal mine in

Chhattisgarh, according totwo separate letters dated July4, 2019 by NTPC.

NTPC had awarded minedevelopment and operationcontract of the Chatti-Bariatumine to BGR in November2017. In the same month, ithad awarded a similar contractfor the Talaipalli mine to aconsortium of NCC and BGRMining. Talaipalli coal minehas a production capacity of 18million tonne of coal perannum. The block was reallo-cated by the coal ministry toNTPC in 2015.

Thriveni Earthmovers spe-cialises in mining naturalresource commodities likeiron ore, copper, coal, bauxite,among others. The companyclaims to be one of the lead-ing Mine Developer andOperator (MDO) globally.

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State-owned Oiland Natural GasCorp (ONGC)has managed tosave its golf cours-es in Ahmedabadand Vadodaraafter the depart-ment of disinvestmentdropped a proposal to divestthe company of the 'non-core'assets, sources said.

The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM), erst-while called the department ofdisinvestment, had in May2019 decreed golf courses andsports clubs owned by centralpublic sector enterprises as

non-core assets and wantedthem to monetise them.

It listed ONGC's two golfcourses in Ahmedabad andVadodara as non-core assetsthat needed to be sold to pri-vate developers to raise moneyfor the government.

But the Ahmedabad golfcourse was in the middle of anoilfield and had oil wells.

Sources privy to the devel-

opment said DIPAM droppedthe two golf courses from itslist a few weeks back afterONGC made a case of howselling them would mean alsohanding over producing oilwells to a private developer.

Also, ONGC stated that thegolf courses were on land thatit does not own. The land is ona long lease from the localmunicipal corporations andland that the company doesnot own cannot be sold, theysaid.

The 9-hole Ahmedabad golfcourse sits in the middle ofONGC-operated 15.69 squarekilometre Motera oilfield. Twoof the five wells on Motera oil-field are housed in the golfcourse.

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Telecom regulatorTrai has grantedadditional time,till September 8,to Vodafone Ideato reply to itsshow-cause noticeon priority plan,after the companysought more time to respond.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) lastmonth had slapped a show-cause notice on Vodafone IdeaLtd (VIL) over its pay-more-for-priority treatment mobileplan, saying the tariff offer"lacks transparency" and is"misleading" and not in com-pliance with the regulatoryframework.

The regulator had initiallygiven time till August 31 toVIL to respond, but laterextended the deadline toSeptember 4 following compa-ny's request.

A source privy to the devel-opment told PTI that VILagain wrote to the regulatorstating at least 15 days areneeded to respond to the elab-orate 17-page show-causenotice that was issued onAugust 25.

So, Trai has now agreed toextend the deadline toSeptember 8 and communicat-ed the same to telco, the sourcesaid.

A mail sent to VodafoneIdea did not elicit a response.

The regulator — which hadbeen probing VIL's priorityplan -- had issued a show-cause notice asking the com-pany "why appropriate actionshould not be initiated againstit for violating the extant reg-ulatory framework by its RedXtariff plan..."

In its show-cause notice toVIL, the regulator had said:"The RedX Tariff offer lackstransparency and is misleadingand not in compliance withregulatory principles of tariffassessment contained underTelecom Tariff Order, 1999 asamended from time to time."

The sector regulator had

also said it is of the view thatthe "claim of VIL for provid-ing 'Priority 4G Network withfaster data speeds' is not incompliance with the extantregulatory framework..."

It had said that the RedXtariff offer is in contraventionof specific clauses of theTelecom Tariff Order relatingto protection of interests of theconsumers.

VIL's RedX tariff offer "vio-lates the terms of license agree-ment" and is not consistentwith stipulated technical spec-ifications, Trai had said addingthat it also did not comply withthe service quality norms.

Trai had been examiningVodafone Idea's priority planRedX and Bharti AirtelPlatinum Offering to see if net-work preference to specificcustomers leads to deteriora-tion of services for other non-premium subscribers or vio-lates any norms.

Bharti Airtel, however, wasnot issued a show-cause noticefor its platinum plan. Airteloffered to abide by Trai's viewsand also voluntarily modifiedits platinum offering suitably,and hence Trai is not proceed-ing with further investigationon that.

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Ceramic productsmaker AsianGranito India Ltdaims to clock Rs2,000 crore rev-enue in the nexttwo to three years,helped by expan-sion of sales network in thedomestic market and exports,according to a top companyofficial.

Though the company isanticipating "temporary hic-cups due to COVID-19 in theshort term", it is confident ofbouncing back on its growthpath in the long term with itsfocused growth strategy.

AGIL expects that demandfrom real estate sector could

take a little longer to recoverbut growth in the current fis-cal could be driven by demandfrom the retail sector, especial-ly from rural, tier-II and semi-urban areas, and exports.

"For FY 2019-20, the com-pany reported revenues of Rs1,224 crore with a net profit atRs 41.9 crore. In the next twoto three years, the companyhas set a target to increase itstouchpoints to over 10,000.

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A long-term regu-latory roadmap isrequired for theautomobile indus-try to grow andincrease its contri-bution to GDP to12 per cent from the current 7per cent, according to a reportby Nomura Research InstituteConsulting and Solutions India(NRI India). While the govern-ment plans to bring Indianautomotive industry at par withdeveloped nations in safetyand emission regulations, thereport said there is a need tostudy regulations in Indiancontext as conditions in thecountry are different fromdeveloped nations in manyaspects.

"The Indian automotiveindustry has kept pace withthese changes and in recentyears has undergone a numberof changes in the domain ofpassenger safety, emission con-trol and connected technology.

"One such highlight isleapfrogging from BS-IV toBS-VI emission norms and

hence achieving parity withEuro emission norms," thereport said. In addition to thepositives these changes havebrought to the Indian market,they have also brought Indianautomotive industry at par withthe developed regions likeEurope, Japan and the USA.

Further, the much neededamendments to the MotorVehicle Act (MVA) have beencommendable steps by the gov-ernment of India, it said.

"However, there have beenmany instances where regula-tions are enforced without ade-quate lead-time and delibera-tions. It may be important tostudy the regulation formuationprocess adopted by global agen-cies and take learnings fordeciding timeline and lead-time for regulation implemen-tations," it said.

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Former Union finance minis-ter P Chidambaram onSunday suggested the gov-ernment to borrow more tohelp stimulate demand andrevive the country's economy.

The senior Congress leaderalso suggested some measuresto raise money which includerelaxing FRBM norms, accel-erating disinvestment and bor-rowing money from globalbanks.

As part of his measures torevive the economy, he soughttransferring cash to the poor-est 50 per cent of families,offering them foodgrains andincreasing spending on infra-

structure, besides payingarrears of GST compensationto states. "Here are some con-crete steps to stimulatedemand/consumption andrevive the economy: Transfersome cash to the poorest 50percent of families. Offer foodgrain to all families, thosewho need will take it. Increasespending on infrastructureprojects. Use food grain stockto pay wages in kind and startmassive public works.Recapitalize banks to enablethem to lend and Pay thearrears of GST compensationto the States," he said onTwitter."All of the above willneed money. Borrow. Don'thesitate," he suggested.

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Overseas investors pulled outRs 900 crore on net basisfrom Indian markets in thefirst four trading sessions ofthis month as weak econom-ic data and India-China bor-der tensions hit market senti-ment. Depositories datashowed that foreign portfolioinvestors (FPI) pulled out Rs675 crore from equities and Rs225 crore from the debt seg-ment on net basis betweenSeptember 1-4.

Prior to this, FPIs were netbuyers for three consecutive

months. They invested Rs46,532 crore in August, Rs3,301 crore in July.

"FPIs turned cautious atthe start of the week ahead ofthe release of the GDP data.Amidst the coronavirus pan-demic, India's GDP for thequarter-ended June 2020 con-tracted by huge 23 per cent,which dented sentiments,"said Srivastava, associate direc-tor Morningstar India.

They also stayed on side-lines on the back of weak glob-al cues and rising border ten-sion between India and China,he added.

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Page 9: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

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MondaySeptember 7, 2020

ere you con-fused aboutthe kind oftattoo youwanted sometime back?

Did you scroll throughhundreds of pictures todecide what to finally getinked and where? Well,you perhaps got a littlelate in deciding things asthe pandemic has turnedeverything upside down.

The nature of this pro-fession is highly personalas getting inked cannotbe a contactless activity.Considering safety andsocial distancing as theneed of the hour, most ofthe people are now hesi-tating to get tattooed.Also, now that peopleonly step out for theessentials, they believetattooing can wait for awhile! However, this haslanded the industry insome major troubles.

The impact has beensuch that it seems tohave pierced a hole inthe industry. Several tat-too artists and studiosare struggling to meeteven their basic expens-es. Unlike other profes-sions, these artistes can-not join another compa-ny after a job loss astheir job is not based onqualification but skills.And work from homedefinitely can't be anoption here.

Veteran and celebritytattoo artist VikasMalani, founder,BodyCanvas Tattoos,says, “We are artists andneed clients to run ourbusinesses and showcaseour skills. Since tattoo-ing is a person-to-personjob, the loss is high inthis industry. Earlier,around 20 customersused to visit our studioevery day on an averagebut now the footfallshave reduced to two orthree. Even the ones whovisit are our regular cus-tomers, there are no newones. With such lessclients, the inflow of

money seems to bescary.”

He further adds thatthey require at least oneor two hours to ink,unlike other placeswhere people go into astore, purchase and leavewithin a few minutes. Sothe chances of contract-ing the virus is high aspeople are in constantcontact with the studioartists who meet a lot ofother customersthroughout the day.

Now, after a series oflockdowns and relax-ations, the industry isslowly restarting andpeople have been con-stantly thinking aboutnewer and safe ways torun their tattoo studios.They are following fre-quent sanitisation, useface shields, gloves andmasks. It is also advisedto provide a safety kit tothe artists and peoplevisiting the studio.

“Even before this pan-demic, we used to wearsafety gloves and masks.However, now it hasbecome more significantas it can be one of themost common or easyways for the transmis-sion of virus,” saysVikas.

Though it becomeschallenging to run thebusiness with limitedresources, necessary pre-cautions are essential forsafety. Vikas lists some ofthe safety measures toconsider before getting atattoo.

��2+*4�+��&-+�2%-�*&')%/-+�� Sanitise your hands

and wear a fresh pairof protective glovesfor each client.

� Check the body tem-perature of all thestaff members,including the artists,every day beforethey enter the studio.

� It is advisable toallow only one clientat a time inside thestudio.

� Ensure that the stu-dio, including furni-ture and worksta-tion, is properly ster-ilised.

� Sterilise non-dispos-able equipment,instruments andsupplies.

� Don’t miss sanitisingfrequently used areassuch as drawers,handles, sinks andtables.

��2+*4�+��&-+�2%-/,)+�*�� Make sure that you

approach a standardand reputed tattooparlour that operateswith experiencedprofessionals andfollows the correctsafety guidelines.

� Do all the consulta-tion through phonecalls and book anappointment beforeentering the studio.

� Discuss the details,design and position-ing over a call toreduce physical con-tact. Ask your artistif they can digitallyrepresent the tattoodesign to get a clearidea.

� Try to visit the stu-dio directly fromyour home to avoidtransmission from athird party.

� Only the person tobe inked shouldenter the studio tomaintain social dis-tancing.

� Be cautious aboutthe common spotslike doorknobs,chairs, tabletops thatare touched fre-quently by severalpeople. Wash yourhands after touchingany common areaand use hand sanitis-er.

� Avoid carrying sev-eral things inside thestudio. Some studiosalso provide lockersfor clients to keeptheir belongings toavoid possible risks.

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+��+��������%%�������������+��unny, as peoplefondly call her athome and on socialmedia, was barely 16years old when shewas first approached

for a film. Though she didn’ttake up the project, the offerand the idea of acting for theTelugu film industry somedayprobably lingered around in hermind. Thanks to her extremelysupportive grandmother andmother, she signed a meaning-ful film, Madhu Madasu’sVidyarthi, alongside ChethanCheenu. The poster and teaserof the film were released recent-ly by VV Vinayak, SaiKorrapati, Surrender Reddy, KLDamodar Prasad, HarishShankar, and the likes.

The story of her debut filmrevolves around a face-offbetween two families over casteand a love match, where asmall-town girl (Varshinnie),who is polite and brave, falls inlove with her classmate(Chetan), which leads to troublein her family. The protagonist’sfather later plans to takerevenge. The film highlights thesocial discrimination prevalent

in the backdrop of a village.“My family has always been

supportive of me, my ideas, mycreativity, and talent,” says the18-year-old who’s currently pur-suing her Bachelor of Arts inMusic. The actress, known forher expressions, emotions, andquirky smiles, not only acts butsings, plays the guitar, keyboard,and the drums too. To mostartists her age, there is both loveand hate coming their way, butshe stands out. “My fans havealways been positive and loving,I barely get hate online, I’mgrateful for that,” saysVarshinne, who has around 88Instagram fan pages, over 322thousand followers on herwidely popular Instagram pro-file, and more than 2.1 millionfans on Tik-Tok. If you’re won-dering what’s with her name‘Bunnyvox’ it’s a combination ofher nickname and her love formusic.

Speaking of music, the youngmulti-talented star says shehopes to be releasing videos ofher covers soon on her YouTubechannel. Does she plan to go bigwith a band? She replies in thenegative. She sees her love for

music more as a passion than asa means for monetary gain.Asked what her long term goalis, you’d be surprised to know ithas little to do with cinema —she says she wants to makemore music for and by herselfmore. Apart from being anactress and a musician,Varshinne is an animal lovertoo. Her love for her pet dog,Zoey, is evident on her socialmedia handles, she hopes tobuild homes for street dogssoon.

On what she loves best aboutthe Telugu film industry,Varshinne says, “The peoplehere are so warm and welcom-ing. They’ve never treated melike a newcomer and treatartists with respect. This is adream for any fresher.” Asked ifshe, who can converse inEnglish, Telugu, and Hindi,would be willing to take up aproject from other film indus-tries across the country, shesays, “Why not, but let’s see.”

For a girl who says actingcomes naturally to her, she isn’ta movie buff and pursuing cin-ema was never part of herdreams, not until very recently

— an offer came up and shetook it up. “Also, my grand-mother and mother havealways pushed me to take partin cultural activities always,”she adds. Being a newcomerwho has been offered a role ina film like Vidhyarti, a filmabout the evil that the castesystem is, in India, Varshinnecounts herself blessed. “I’mgrateful for a role like this, itcomes with a huge responsibili-ty and I hope to get roles likethese in the future,” she tells us.The actress says she cares littleabout the length of her role asopposed to the weight of thecharacter she plays.

So how different is her lifenow? “Not very, I have onlyreceived more love and respectthan I did before, the film is yetto hit the screens. I definitelywill continue posting videos onsocial media, maybe less thanbefore, but I won’t stop,”Varshinne assures, even as shefinds making a 2-minute TikTok video more painstakingthan a film because here she’sthe one who’s got to do all thework, including lip-syncing andediting!

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ctress RheaChakraborty is readyfor arrest, her lawyerSatish Maneshinde saidin a statement issuedon Sunday.

“Rhea Chakraborty is ready forarrest as this is a Witch Hunt andif loving someone is a crime shewill face the consequences of herlove,” Satish Maneshinde said inhis statement.

“Being innocent, she has notapproached any court forAnticipatory Bail in all the cases

foisted by Bihar Police now withCBI, ED and NCB,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rhea left her resi-dence for the NCB office onSunday morning. She was sum-moned by the Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) to join the investi-gation of actor Sushant SinghRajput death case.

Over the last two days, the NCBhas arrested her younger brotherShowik Chakraborty, Rajput'shouse manager Samuel Mirandaand Dipesh Sawant, a member ofthe actor's personal staff.

Sushant was found dead in hisapartment in Mumbai on June14. His father KK Singh hadfiled a case with the BiharPolice against Rhea, her fatherIndrajit, mother Sandhya,brother Showik, Shruti Modi,house manager SamuelMiranda, friend SiddharthPithani and unknown oth-ers. The case is currentlybeing handled by the CBI,with Enforcement Directorate(ED) and NCB also joiningthe probe.

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Hyderabad Monday September 7 2020 ���������� ��

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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Yesterday’s solution

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ctor Arjun Kapooron Sundayrevealed he hastested positive forCovid-19, and iscurrently under

home quarantine.“It is my duty to inform all

of you that I have tested posi-tive for coronavirus. I amfeeling ok and I am asympto-matic. I have isolated myselfat home under the advice ofdoctors and authorities andwill be under home quaran-tine,” Arjun wrote onInstagram.

He thanked everyone inadvance for wishes and sup-port.

“I thank you all in advancefor your support and I willkeep you updated aboutmy health in the days tocome. These are extra-ordinary and unprece-dented times and Ihave faith that all ofhumanity willovercome thisvirus,” Arjunadded.

Reacting to the post,Arjun’s cousin, actorHarshvarrdhan Kapoor, com-mented, “Feel better brother,warrior.”

Lisa Haydon wished himgood health, “Unprecedented.Health to you bro.”

“Speediest recovery andsuper responsible and coolthat you have put this outthere. Be well soon,” NimratKaur conveyed her best wish-es to Arjun.

Arjun recently stepped outof his home and startedshooting for a yet-to-be-titled

rom-com co-starringRakul Preet

Singh.

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apper Yo YoHoney Singh,known for afiercely loyalfan base, hasopened up

about the fake socialmedia followers scam,saying when he started hiscareer many people hadmade many accusationsagainst him.

Honey Singh’s musicalrival, rapper Badshah’sname recently cropped upin a sensational socialmedia racket linked tocreating fake ‘followersand likes’, after MumbaiPolice investigated at least20 prominent personali-

ties including the latter.Badshah had subse-

quently admitted tospending Rs 72 lakh togarner 7.2 crore views forhis song Paagal, in anattempt to create a worldrecord.

Without naming any-one, Honey Singh toldIANS, “I have heard a lotof rumours about rapperswho have bought fakeviews for their songs. Iwant to say that when Istarted my career and Iwas getting popular peo-ple had made many accu-sations.”

He said these are justallegations and nothing

has been proved, for us tojump to a conclusion.

“This is a mark ofprogress, and artistes youare talking about havesuch allegations on them.It's a congratulation frommy side to them becausethey are progressing andthese are just allegations,so I can’t say anymore onit,” he added.

Speaking about hiswork, Honey Singhrecently came out with hisnew track Billo tu agg.The song is the latest inthe non-film circuit thatHoney Singh has workedon with Singhsta, afterMakhna.

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Page 11: 1˚˚! 8˜˝ˇ˝=8!8ˇ˜ $˜:; %#ˇ! · 9/6/2020  · 2 *ˆ /6 ˆ˘ ˆ˘$ ... Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's birth centenary birth cel-ebrations too. Meanwhile, several Ministers

ven as Nani-starrer big-budgeted action-thriller, V,took the steamer route, filmmaker PrasanthVarma is certain about releasing his next, ZombieReddy, in cinema halls. Featuring Teja Sajja, HarshVardhan and Priya among others, the film, whichrevolves around COVID-19, is a hilarious enter-

tainer. “I’m optimistic about a theatrical rollout for thefilm. Coronavirus too has been kind to me all this while.It helped me to take the script to the next level. As andwhen my first copy is ready, I’m sensing theatres willreopen. And I believe the film will have a long runin the halls,” Prasanth said with an air of confidence.

He clarified that Zombie Reddy is not a small film.“It’s relatively a big film. We are spending big bucks

on the technicalities and sound. Also, the film is bet-ter suited for theatres. You can enjoy it more with peo-

ple next to you in a closed environment than at your home,”he pointed out, while adding that the audience too is desper-

ate to watch movies on the big screen. He is looking to releasethe film after Sankranti. Produced by Raj Shekar Varma, the film

has music by Mark K Robin. — NG

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Hyderabad Monday September 7 2020���������

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he teaser of Tanish-starrer Mahaprasthanam, acrime drama laced with romance, was unveiledby Sai Tej in Hyderabad on Sunday. Speaking later,Sai said the film has been shot in a single-shot pat-tern, with the reel and real-time being the same.

"It's a new experiment for Tollywood. This is our film andwe all need to encourage it. My best wishes for the team,"he said.

Extending his thanks to Tej for launching the teaser,director Jaani noted the film's story transpires in twohours, so is the run-time. "The whole film unfolds fromthe camera's point of view. We didn't even use slow-motionshots. 20 days of Tanish's call sheets were used forrehearsals alone. In fact, he prepped in action for a monthbefore joining the sets," he said.

Tanish said he is proud to be a part of Mahaprasthanam."It's a difficult film to execute. Once the director saysaction, actors should reel out their dialogues to precision;else we should go for one more shot. The director con-ceived the story based on a burning issue in the societyrather following the regular trope of hero and villain. Theaudience will feel they are also part of the story whilewatching. We are in talks with different OTT platformsfor a direct digital release," Tanish said.

The likes of Bhanu Sree Mehra, Raja Ravindra, KabirDuhan Singh, Gagan Vihari and Kancharapalem Raju areplaying supporting roles in the film, produced byOmkareswara Creations.

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ara Rohith, who has been on a sabbatical from acting after VeeraBhoga Vasantha Rayalu (2018) crash-landed at the box-office,is set for his comeback. While admirers of the actor wouldexpect him to stage a comeback with a solo hero film, it turnsout that he has hopped on board Sukumar’s Pushpa for a sig-nificant supporting role. Multiple sources close to the devel-

opment tell us that he has replaced Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi in thefilm, an action-drama.

One source adds, “After Sethupathi expressed his unavailability to jointhe project over date issues, Sukumar thought of Rohith in the same role.Allu Arjun too endorsed the idea. The director gave Rohith an idea ofhis character and the story over phone during the lockdown and the actorwas impressed. The actor later met the director in person and impressedwith the way his character was etched, he agreed to come on board. Therewere no apprehensions as such in accepting a supporting role. This devel-opment has transpired nearly two months ago and it remains to be seenwhether the equations will remain the same, as Rohith is looking to starta solo project of his in November.”

Another source points out, “Rohith has a natural flair for picking updifferent Telugu accents and his films in the past proved it. With Pushpa,he is in a home territory as he needs to speak in Chittoor accent. Theactor’s family comes from Chittoor.”

Set in the backdrop of Seshachalam forests, Pushpa deals with redsanders smuggling and will see Bunny in the role of a truck driver. Thelikes of Jagapathi Babu, Dhananjay, Raj Deepak Shetty, Brahmaji andKannada Kishore are already on board to essay supporting roles, whileRashmika Mandanna is the leading lady. The film’s new schedule will rollin November.

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3�.�.fter the release of Vinaya Vidheya Rama, her sophomore Telugu film, Kiara Advani choseto focus on Hindi cinema. While directors likeBommarillu Baskar and Kiran Korrapati tried to rope her in their respective films with Akhil

Akkineni and Varun Tej, she couldn’t accept them due toher commitments in Hindi. Now, as Telugu fans contin-ued to ask her to make a comeback on her social mediapages, Kiara seems to have given in.

During an interactive session with her Instagram fol-lowers recently, when a fan requested her to act in moresouth films, she stated, “And you will get it. Thanks forall the love (sic).”

Kiara’s name has been attached to play Sita in Prabhas-starrer Adipurush, which will be a Telugu-Hindi bilingual.She is also rumoured to be the frontrunner to pair oppo-site Ram Charan in Koratala Siva’s Acharya.

In Hindi, she is right now looking forward to the releas-es of Laxmmi Bomb and Indoo Ki Jawani.

yderabad’s very ownAditi Rao Hydari,who was discoveredby Malayalam,Hindi, Tamil, andMarathi filmmakers

earlier than Tollywood,played an impressive charac-ter in her recent Telugu film— V. The film was directed byher debut director IndragantiMohanakrishna, and featuresSudheer Babu playing a cop,who also happens to be herlove interest in her debutfilm, Sammohanam.

In a recent interaction withthe media, the actress saidthat she has received appre-ciation for her character‘Saheba’ in V that was releasedon Amazon Prime onSeptember 5. “Dhanushcalled me up and congratulat-ed me on my performance.Rashi Khanna too left a mes-sage praising the movie andmy role,” Aditi said.

On acting alongside Nani,the actress said, “The scriptcame to me just when I want-ed to work with Nani myself.I loved the script the minuteit was narrated to me.Indraganti garu introducedme to the Telugu audiencewith the movie

Sammohanam, I know hisworking style, so I did-

n’t have to think twicebefore okaying the

film. I don’t caremuch about the

length of myrole, but onlythe weight ofit. My character

stays connectedthroughout the

film, it wasn i c e l y

designed. Iwas a big

fan ofN a n i

before working with him,now I’m an even bigger fan.”

Aditi spoke about workingwith Indraganti and called itchallenging. “A good director,with an actor, can easily faceany big challenges. The mostchallenging part for me in themovie was the climax scene— which was shot on the veryfirst day! The scene has meshowing my love towardsNani while asking him tofight injustice as I try to pro-tect a girl. Until then I had notmet Nani but have to showmy love for him in that scene.I had to carry the wholescene myself, it seemed chal-lenging. I wonder how I didit. I was relieved after I sawthe audience’s reaction,” shesaid. On how she preparedherself for the role, Aditi saidthat she didn’t have to domuch. “I play a salesgirl in astore. I imitated the people Isaw as a kid when I went tostores with my grandmother.”

Aditi said she still can’t con-verse in fluent Telugu, despiteher family being able to do so.“I have been taking Teluguand Tamil classes during thelockdown but gave it up aftera while, because of all the con-fusion it had been causingme. Whenever I shoot mynext Telugu film, I shall hirea tutor,” she said. Talkingfurther on how the lock-

down had been for her, theactress said that she hadgrown to be more patient,kind, positive, and learnt toprioritise the right things.

The actress wished shewatched the film in theatressitting amid the audiencesand laments not being able to.“The film was shot to bereleased on the big screen, butthe COVID crisis stood as anobstacle, so it was released onPrime — I’m sure the makersmade the right decision,” shesaid. Among the films sheacted in, V is the second filmto have released on Amazon,after Sufiyum Sujatayum thisyear. Another film of hers isset to release on an OTT plat-form soon.

On what’s in the pipeline,Aditi said that she recentlywrapped up shooting withBollywood actor JohnAbraham in Mumbai. “Thecast and crew took the utmostcare to shoot amid the pan-demic. We were able to com-plete the shoot earlier thanexpected,” she said. Aditi alsoclarified that she is not actingin Ponnian Selvan, contrary tomost reports. “I am current-ly working for two Tamilfilms, 3 Hindi films, and oneTelugu film,” said the actresswho loves love stories butwants to work in all kinds offilms and roles.

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In danger of her earliest exit at the U.S.Open since her debut 22 years ago, SerenaWilliams turned things around and took

over against Sloane Stephens.Williams emerged from the third-round

matchup between two Americans who are pastchampions at Flushing Meadows - she’s won

six of her 23 Grand Slam singles titlesat the place - with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

victory over 2017 titlistStephens on Saturday.

Afterward, Williams’ 3-year-old daughter,Olympia, wore a maskand waved at Mom whilesitting on her father's lapin a front-row seat. On herway to the locker room,Williams waved back.

“I hope,” Williamssaid, “that she saw hermama fighting.” Williamsdid it, as she so oftendoes, with her best-in-the-game serve, hitting12 aces at up to 122mph as it got reallydialed in midwaythrough the second set,and an ability to re-cal-ibrate her ground-strokes that were soawry early and sosuperb down thestretch. “She served a

lot better,” said Stephens,now 1-6 against Williams,

although they hadn't playedeach other since 2015.

“Obviously she has oneof the greatest serves in thegame. It’s really difficult to

read.”Williams collect-

ed 10 of the last 12games by lifting her

level, to be sure. But it helpedthat Stephens went from playing

nearly perfectly to missing moreand more.

Following mistakes, Stephenswould look over at her coach,

Kamau Murray, or smackher right thigh with herpalm so loudly that itechoed through a nearlyempty Arthur AsheStadium.

“In that first set, I don’t think shemade any errors, honestly. She wasplaying so clean. I said, ‘I don’t wantto lose in straight sets,” saidWilliams, whose only career U.S.Open loss before the fourth roundcame in the third against IrinaSpirlea in 1998 at age 16.

Williams, who turns 39 in threeweeks, said she told herself Saturday:“OK, Serena, just get a game. Get agame.” There were, of course, nofans - banned because of the coro-navirus pandemic - and so thewhole thing was flush with the feelof a practice session, rather than ahigh-stakes contest on a GrandSlam stage.

There were some other playerson hand to watch, including 15th-

seeded Maria Sakkari, whosipped orange juice and atelunch while on her playersuite's balcony. Sakkari hada vested interest: She faces

Williams for a berth in the quarter-finals. Other women into the fourthround: No. 16 Elise Mertens, No. 20Karolina Muchova and TsvetanaPironkova, who defeated No. 18Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-1.

In men’s action, 2019 runner-upDaniil Medvedev and another semi-finalist from a year ago, No. 6Matteo Berrettini moved on, as didNo. 10 Andrey Rublev, No. 15 FelixAuger-Aliassime, No. 21 Alex deMinaur and Vasek Pospisil, who'sbeen in the news lately because heteamed up with Novak Djokovic toset up a new association to representplayers.

Pospisil eliminated No. 8Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 2-6, 4-6,6-3, 6-2, and next faced another five-set winner, de Minaur, who defeat-

ed No. 11 Karen Khachanov 6-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Williams vs. Sakkariis a rematch of their meeting wonlast month by Sakkari at the Western & Southern Open, a hard-court tournament played at the U.S.Open site instead of its usual homein Ohio because of the pandemic.

"You know, Serena is Serena,"Sakkari said after advancing earlierSaturday by beating 19-year-oldAmerican Amanda Anisimova 6-3,6-1. "You have to come up with somegreat tennis. Otherwise there is nochance against her." Stephens didthat very thing in the early stagesSaturday.

She was playing patient, wait-for-the-right-moment tennis, creat-ing lengthy, complicated points thatmore often than not ended withWilliams blinking first.

The end of the first set was metby total silence - not even the awk-ward, manufactured soundtrackpiped in during other matches tosimulate ambient noise.

From 2-all in the second,Williams finally made inroads. Shesaved a break point, then broke forthe first time when Stephens misseda forehand, part of a stretch in whichWilliams grabbed 12 of 15 points.

She was on her way. And nowshe is four wins from adding to herGrand Slam trophy count, which hasbeen at 23 since she won the 2017Australian Open while pregnant.

Asked Saturday what the posi-tives are about still being active ontour as a parent, Williams said: “Oneday, your daughter can say she wasthere. Whether she remembers ornot, we can always have pictures. Butother than that, it’s just (a) minus,like: I'm not with her, I’m notaround her. It's hard.” Williams hasreached the finals at four of the pastseven major tournaments, losingeach time. “We all hope she gets toit,” Stephens said. “If she is feelingpressure, I hope she releases it andgets to 24.”

��'�� ���������

Basu Shanker, the manresponsible for the fitness

transformation of the nation-al team, feels India and RCBskipper Virat Kohli hasreturned from the long breakan even fitter athlete afterworking on “specific physicalpointers” that needed atten-tion.

Kohli was stuck inMumbai for five months dueto the coronavirus-enforcedlockdown and had his firstproper hit in the nets onlyafter his arrival in the UAEfor the Indian PremierLeague, beginning

September 19.However, he ensured

during the break that hissupreme fitness level wasnot impacted and, in fact, ithelped him skill-wise on hisreturn to action even thoughhe was “scared" to hit thenets.

“He (Kohli) has comeback in much bettershape. He is at his best

weight at the moment andhis movement patterns arepretty much in sync with hisbest self in the past,” formerIndia trainer Basu, who isnow the strength and condi-tioning coach of RoyalChallengers Bangalore, toldPTI from Dubai.

“He has taken this breakas an opportunity to work onall the pointers which need-ed attention from a physicalpoint. I guess his motto to lifeis ‘Bear the cross and wearthe crown’,” said the man whoworked with the Indian team

between 2015 to 2019.He has worked exten-

sively with Kohli, both atRCB and during his timewith the Indian team.

Basu said Kohli was ableto work on things which aninternational cricketer findsit difficult to do in a packedcalendar.

“He had the time to bevery specific with his mealplans and running intervalsat home. He did not havemuch of a choice during thelockdown and he invested ona treadmill and worked onhis endurance which is oth-erwise not possible during apacked calendar.

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En g l a n d ’ sb o w l e r s

showed disciplineand skill to restrictAustralia to 157/7in 20 overs in thesecond T20I hereon Sunday.

P a c e m a nChris Jordan wasthe pick of thebowlers for thehosts, returningfigures of 2/40 butit was a team effortreally as JofraArcher (1/31) andMark Wood(1/25) bowledsuperbly to neverlet the Aussies getthe better of them.

For the visitors, skipper Aaron Finch top-scored with a 33-ball 40, with his inningslaced with four fours and two sixes.

Marcus Stoinis also looked good for his35 and Glenn Maxwell made 25 but all threebatsmen were removed just when theylooked to get going.

David Warner was the first to go as he wascaught behind by Jos Buttler off Archer.

Alex Cary, promoted up the order, wasout in similar fashion to Wood as Steve Smithalso failed with the bat, managing just 10 ashe was run out by England captain EoinMorgan.

The Aussies were 89/5 at one stagebefore the likes of Stoinis, Maxwell andAshton Agar (23) steadied the ship with PatCummins (13 not out) also chipping in.

��'�� �����

Out of reckoning for Test cricket for thepast two years, opening batsman Shikhar

Dhawan on Sunday said he has not given upon making a comeback to the Indian teamand is looking at the upcoming opportuni-ties to plot his return.

The 34-year-old Dhawan last played aTest against England at The Oval inSeptember 2018.

“I am not a part of the Test teambut that does not mean I have givenup all hopes of a comeback,”Dhawan told TV channels dur-ing an interaction.

“Whenever I got anopportunity... Like in theRanji Trophy last year Iscored a century,then I made a come-back into the one-day team, if I get anopportunity then why not, ofcourse.”

Dhawan stroked his way tothe fastest Test century by adebutant, against Australia in2013, but has often struggledfor consistency in the five-day game.

In Rohit Sharma, KLRahul, Mayank Agarwaland Prithvi Shaw, the Testteam has a number of optionsat its disposal for opener's role,making Dhawan's case even moredifficult.

The left-handed batsman,though, remains optimistic.

“I will keep trying mybest. The T20 World Cup isthere next year, so I need tokeep performing, keep myselffit, make runs consistently.

“If I keep doing these, other things willautomatically fall into place.”

Dhawan has so far played 34 Tests andscored 2,315 runs with seven centuriesunder his belt at an average of 40.61.

He remains in the scheme of things inODIs and T20Is and is gearing up for IPL2020, to be held in UAE from September 19.

The experiencedDhawan will turn out forDelhi Capitals and spoke

about the challenges beingfaced by the players while

staying in a bio-bubbleamid the COVID-19 pan-demic.

"There are challengesof being in the bubble,

you do not meet new peo-ple, can't go to restaurants,

we can only go to the desig-nated areas.

“But our franchise haslooked after us, we are living

like a family, it depends on theperson how he sees the situation,”

Dhawan said in a press conference.When asked about Delhi

Capitals’ chances this IPL, Dhawansounded optimistic.

“It’s important we bond togetherand create that energy. We have a verybalanced side and confident we willtake the cup.”

He said Shreyas Iyer has been lead-ing the team very well. He also said theinclusion of experienced India players

Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin willstrengthen the outfit.

“Shreyas led the team pretty well lastyear, this time Ajinkya has come in,Ashwin has come in, they are quite expe-

rienced players and I am sure theyare going to share their insights.”

���� �����

AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gaslyclaimed an unlikely victory at the

Italian Grand Prix after a thrilling racewhich saw world champion LewisHamilton given a 10-second penaltyand both Ferraris fail to finish at theirhome circuit on Sunday.

It was Gasly's first-ever win inFormula One. The 24-year-oldFrenchman finished 0.415 secondsahead of McLaren driver Carlos Sainzand 3.358 ahead of Racing Point's LanceStroll on a surreal-looking podium. Allthree drivers had never won a race andeach had only one top-three finish totheir name.

Hamilton appeared on course for

a comfortable victory from pole posi-tion but he was given the stop-go penal-ty for entering the pit lane whenclosed.

The Mercedes driver finished sev-enth, 17.245 behind Gasly.

Ferrari's abysmal weekend contin-ued as Sebastian Vettel had a brake fail-ure on Lap 7 and he limped into the pitswith his right-rear brake disc in flames.It was the four-time champion's firstDNF at Monza in his 14th start.

His teammate Charles Leclerc hadmade it into fourth but lost the rear ofthe car under acceleration throughParabolica on Lap 25 and crashed intothe barriers, causing the race to be redflagged.

By that time Hamilton’s penalty hadbeen announced. Hamilton had pittedimmediately after the safety car hadbeen deployed after Kevin Magnussenbroke down but was unaware the pitlane was closed as the marshals recov-ered Magnussen’s Haas.

���� �������

Kylian Mbappé scored the winning goal as Franceearned a scrappy 1-0 win at Sweden in the Nations

League on Saturday.The Paris Saint-Germain striker’s 14th internation-

al goal came in the 41st minute but it could have beenmore comfortable for France, only for AntoineGriezmann to fluff a penalty right at the end. It wasGriezmann’s third straight penalty miss for France.

Mbappé cut in from the left and, after initially beingtackled, he got the ball back off Kristoffer Olsson, feint-ed, and then curled the ball inside the post.

“It was a tough match and we fought hard. It was-n’t easy ... it could be better in the future,” Mbappé said.“The most important thing is the result.”

It was an accomplished finish from Mbappé, follow-ing his glaring missed chance in the 1-0 defeat to BayernMunich in the Champions League final on Aug. 23.

France coach Didier Deschamps handed a debut to21-year-old Leipzig center half Dayot Upamecano andrecalled Adrien Rabiot to midfield, after a long spell outof the side following his refusal to be on the reserve listfor the 2018 World Cup.

Chances were scarce in the first half but veteranSweden striker Marcus Berg almost broke through lateon, only for France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to deny himby rushing off his line. Moments later, Sweden 'keep-er Robin Olsen was picking the ball out of the net.

“It was difficult for us, but for them as well,”Deschamps said. “We could have done a bit better goingforward.”

Still, France was in control of the second half, withMbappé and Barcelona’s Griezmann wasting goodchances before Lloris punched away a late effort fromthe lively Emil Forsberg.

Griezmann then blazed a poor penalty over the barafter substitute Anthony Martial was fouled.

France hosts Croatia at Stade de France onTuesday in a repeat of the World Cup final two yearsago, which France won 4-2 with Mbappé among thescorers.

In the group’s other game, Croatia lost 4-1 at defend-ing Nations League champion Portugal.

��'�� ���������

Kolkata Knight Riders,who have a new think

tank in place headed bycoach Brendon McCullum,are exploring the options ofpromoting their explosiveall-rounder Andre Russell atnumber three, team mentor

David Hussey said onSunday.

The star Jamaican, whowas adjudged the MostValuable Player last season,had blamed some “bad deci-sions” for the two-time for-

mer champions missing outon the playoffs.

Hussey said they arethinking of different combi-nations this season, whichincludes promoting Russellat three.

“If it benefits the teamand helps us win games ofcricket, why not? If thatmeans Andre Russell comesin at three and bats 60 balls,he might actually make adouble hundred. Anything

can happen with Dre Russ,”Hussey said in a news con-ference here.

Russell scored 510 runsfrom 13 innings, averaging56.66 and also picked up 11wickets.

Terming Russell as theheartbeat of the team, theformer Australia cricketer

said: “A fantastic player, heis probably almost theheartbeat of the team aswell.

“We’ve actually got real-ly a well-balanced team...Anyone can bat in any dif-ferent position. But if itbenefits the team, why not,why can’t he bat up the list.”

��'�� �����

Ending days of anxious wait, theBCCI on Sunday released the

schedule for the upcoming IPL, andin keeping with tradition, defendingchampions Mumbai Indians willtake on runners-up Chennai SuperKings in the opener in Abu Dhabion September 19.

Moved out of India due to asurge in COVID-19 cases, theupcoming edition of the world’sbiggest T20 league will be held in thethree venues of Dubai, Abu Dhabiand Sharjah in the UAE.

After the tournament-opener inthe capital city, Dubai will host itsfirst game the next day when DelhiCapitals take on Kings XI Punjabfollowed by the third match on

Monday between SunrisersHyderabad and Royal ChallengersBangalore. The action will then shiftto Sharjah on September 22 whenRajasthan Royals will host ChennaiSuper Kings. There will be 10 dou-ble headers, with the first matchstarting at 3:30pm IST and the sec-ond 7:30pm, according to a BCCIrelease.

In all, 24 matches will be heldin Dubai, 20 in Abu Dhabi and 12in Sharjah.

Venues for the playoffs and theIPL 2020 final will be announcedlater. The final is slated for

November 10.The upcoming 53-day edition is

by far the longest in the history ofthe league.

The schedule was expected to beout in the last week of August butthe announcement was delayedafter 13 personnel of the ChennaiSuper Kings (CSK) camp tested pos-itive for the dreaded virus.

Also, due to different quarantinerules in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, IPL’soperations team took time to finalisethe schedule.

As per IPL rules, the defendingchampions and the last year’s run-

ner-up face off in the tournamentopener. The same is going to hap-pen this year after concerns overChennai Super Kings’ readinesswere erased with their first practicesession in Dubai on Friday.

CSK were the last franchise tohit the nets after clearing finalrounds of COVID-19 testing.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoniand all other CSK players, except forthe COVID-19 afflicted duo ofDeepak Chahar and RuturajGaikwad, started training on Friday.With Deepak and Ruturaj testingpositive last week along with 11

members of the CSK contingent, theteam was forced to delay its train-ing plan after completing the six-dayquarantine, including three tests,upon arrival on August 21.

The virus free players had toundergo three additional tests beforebeginning their training on Friday.The infected players are in 14-dayquarantine. This year’s IPL wasoriginally scheduled to be heldfrom March 29 to May 24 but waspostponed barely two weeks beforethe start of the tournament due tothe coronavirus outbreak.

Then, as the number of casesincreased, the league was indefinite-ly postponed but the postponementof the T20 World Cup cleared thedecks for the league to take place inthe September-November window.

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Break allowed Kohli to become even better athlete

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India veteran Rohan Bopannaand his Canadian partner

Denis Shapovalov stunned sixthseeds Kevin Krawietz andAndreas Mies in a hard-foughtthree-setter to advance to thequarterfinals of the US Openmen’s doubles event here.

The unseeded Indo-Canadian pair on Saturday over-came a set deficit to beat theGerman duo 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in asecond round encounter thatlasted one hour and 47 minutes.

Bopanna and Shapovalov willtake on Dutch-Romanian combi-nation of Jeal-Julien Rojer andHoria Tecau in the quarterfinals.

Bopanna is the lone surviv-ing Indian in the tournamentafter the exit of Sumit Nagal and

Divij Sharan.While Sumit Nagal bowed

out in the second round after los-ing in straight sets to world no. 3and second seed Dominic Thiemof Austria, Sharan and his Serbianpartner Nikola Cacic wereknocked out in the openinground of the men’s doubles eventby eighth seeds Nikola Mekticand Wesley Koolhof.

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