PNS n NALGONDA

While Covid-19 has hit every-one hard financially and men-tally, for those waiting to getmarried, the virus has hitwhere it hurts the most —emotionally.

Prospective brides andgrooms would have to wait forsome more months to tie theknot as there are no auspiciousperiod after summer.

The summer, which hasmany auspicious muhurats, ison the way out. Function hallshave remained closed for over43 days and there is no possi-bility that the administrationwould be giving permission to

them to carry on their businessas usual. Livelihoods of priests,photographers, videographersand cooks, who are dependent

on function halls for their sur-vival, are at risk.

There were many who cele-brated engagement ceremonies

in February and had decided totie the knot after Ugadi thisyear. However, the lockdownhas put paid to their hopes, andthrown their plans in disarray.Even if the lockdown is liftedin the near future, the prospec-tive grooms and brides willfind it hard to decide on theauspicious date, book thevenues and complete the wed-

ding preparations. The Teluguauspicious months of Chaitramand Vaisakham are ideal formarriages because of congenialatmosphere, not much agricul-tural activity, holidays forschools and colleges and so on.These two months have manyauspicious muhurats, but thelockdown played spoilsport.

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VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY MAY 7, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 184*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated May 6, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Paush & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Purnima: 04:14 pmNakshatram: Swati: 11:07 amTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 01:48 pm – 03:23 pmYamagandam: 05:50 am – 07:26 amVarjyam: 04:08 pm – 05:34 pmGulika: 09:01 am - 10:37 amGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 12:44 am – 02:10 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:47 am – 12:38 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Mostly sunnyTemp: 40/28Humidity: 50%Sunrise: 05:47 am Sunset: 06:38 pm

Lure of liquor revenue trumpsJagan’s poll promise

2

Maharashtra farm-ers seek Thackeray'snod to access land

5

Hiring during Aprildips by 62% due tolockdown

8

Covid-19 forces new SEC toput off local body polls in APl 6 weeks after Ramesh Kumar deferred elections, successor follows suitPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The much-anticipated elec-tions to rural and urban localbodies in Andhra Pradeshwill not happen now, much tothe disappointment of theruling YSR Congress Party.

On Wednesday, the AndhraPradesh State ElectionCommission headed byJustice V Kanagarajannounced indefinite post-ponement of local body pollsin the wake of Coronaviruspandemic situation anduncertainty in the lockdownperiod.

The local body electionswhich were supposed to beheld in the last week of Marchhad earlier been postponedfor a period of six weeks byprevious SEC NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar, who cited

Coronavirus spread as thereason, angering ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and ultimately led tothe sacking of Ramesh Kumarthrough an ordinance.

Now, the six-week periodhas come to an end and since

there is no possi-bility of conduct-ing elections to thelocal bodies in thepresent situation, thenew SEC also had nooption but to postpone theelections, until a situation

conducive for conductingelections is restored, as per theSupreme Court directions.

At the same time, the StateHigh Court also ruled that theelection notification cannotbe issued unless the stategovernment removes its partycolours from various govern-ment buildings (includinggram panchayats) within

three weeks from thedate that the lock-

down is lifted.Since the lat-

est lockdownorders from thestate govern-ment say that no

public gatheringscan be allowed in

any zone until May17, the local body elec-

tion process continues to bewithheld.

Decision on 75% reservation injobs for locals challenged in HCPNS n VIJAYAWADA

A petition was filed in theAndhra Pradesh High Court onWednesday challenging thestate government’s decision toaccord 75 per cent quota forlocals in private industrial jobs.

The petitioner, Varalaxmiargued through her counselAdinarayana Rao, senior HighCourt advocate, that the deci-sion was regressive and deniesthe Constitutional guarantee togive equal opportunities toeveryone.

Government counselSumanth Reddy argued thatonly industrialists have thejurisdiction to question thegovernment’s decision to accord75 per cent quota for locals inprivate industrial jobs and notlawyers or other individuals.

However, the High Courtadmitted the petition since itwas filed in the public interest.The court directed govern-

ment counsel to file a counteraffidavit on the Constitutionalvalidity of reserving 75 per centjobs for locals.

The High Court gave theState Government one monthto file the counter affidavit.

In 2019, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment had made itmandatory for existing andupcoming industries in thestate to reserve 75 per cent jobsfor locals. This has been donethrough the passage of a new

law called the Andhra PradeshEmployment of Local candi-dates in the Industries/Factories Bill, 2019.

In the past, AP chapter ofConfederation of IndianIndustry criticised the govern-ment’s move to accord reserva-tions only to locals saying sucha decision would be counter-productive as industrialists lookat returns on investments byhiring meritorious and skilledpeople.

Covid-19 hurts emotionally, marriage plans go awry

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onWednesday said that theAndhra PradeshGovernment would bearthe travel expenses ofmigrant labourers if theywished to return to their

native places. Addressing areview meeting on mea-sures being enforced in thestate to curb the spread ofCoronavirus, the ChiefMinister said, “We shouldbe generous towards themigrant labourers

Naidu: Govtfacilitatingsale of liquorbut not cropsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu onWednesday expressed con-cern over what he called theJaganmohan ReddyGovernment’s failure to pro-vide necessary facilities forfarmers to sell their produceat remunerative prices in themarket in this difficult timeof Coronavirus epidemic.

The marriages cannot be performed due tolockdown period. Even if the lockdown islifted, the prospective grooms and bridesare worrying about auspicious period

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Canadian singerGrimes, who announced on Tuesday the birth

of their first child together, plan to join a growingnumber of families opting for a gender-neutralparenting style. The approach has becomeincreasingly popular as more parents rejectgender stereotypes - such as dressing girls in

pink and boys in blue, instead allowing children to make such choices forthemselves."I don't want to gender them in case that's not how they feel intheir life," Grimes, 32, whose real name is Claire Boucher, told fans in aYouTube live stream in February while discussing her pregnancy.

FIRST HINDU YOUTH JOINS PAKISTAN AIR FORCE

ELON MUSK BACKS GENDER-NEUTRALPARENTING, BABY’S NAME REVEALED

Delhi Police's Cyber cell has arrested the admin of the Instagram groupwhich was being used to share obscene messages and morphed pictures

of underage girls on the social media site, officials said on Wednesday. Policesaid the 18-year-old admin of the group, known as "BoisLocker Room", appeared for his class 12 board examinationsthis year. He is a student of a school in Delhi-NCR. Fourgroup members, who all area majors, above 18 years, havejoined the probe on Wednesday, a senior police officialsaid. The juveniles, who are part of the group, are beingquizzed at their home in the presence of their parentsand members of NGOs.

The UN's leader said Wednesday the world's 1 billion people living withdisabilities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and called

for them to have equal access to prevention and treatment of COVID-19.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the pandemic is revealing theextent to which people are marginalized and is intensifyingthe inequalities that people with disabilities already face,such as poverty and higher rates of violence, neglect andabuse. His video message was released alongside a UNreport that said people with disabilities are estimated to be15 per cent of the world's population and 46 per centof the world's people who are older than 60.

In a first, a Pakistani Hindu youth has become the first person from the minoritycommunity to join the Pakistan Air Force.Rahul Dev has been recruited as a

General Duty Pilot Officer, PAF said in a tweet. Dev hails from Tharparkar districtof Sindh province.Sharing the picture of the young man, the PAF recentlytweeted, "Good news during #COVID19 tense situation. Tharrocked again...Congratulations #RahulDev who hails from veryremote village of Tharparkar has been selected as GD Pilot in #PAF."Though Dev's exact age is not known, those inducted in PAF at hislevel are often around 20.The official Radio Pakistan on Wednesdaysaid it is "for the first time in Pakistan's history" that a Hindu youth hasbeen recruited as a general duty pilot officer in PAF.

UN LEADER SAYS 1B PEOPLE WITHDISABILITIES HARD HIT BY VIRUS

ADMIN OF INSTAGRAM GROUP‘BOIS LOCKER ROOM' ARRESTED

AP’s Covid-19 recovery rateup, 140 discharged in one dayPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradeshwhich is alreadyranked first inthe country

in conduct-ing the num-ber of Covid-19 tests, hasa c h i e v e danother first byrecording the high-est recovery rate in thecountry.

In the past 14 hours, 140people have recovered fromthe dreaded disease and weredischarged from hospitals.With this, a total of 729 peo-ple have so far recovered fromcoronavirus in the state andwere sent back home.

The discharge rate in AP ishigher than the country's aver-age recovery rate. Similarly, thenumber of new cases is alsogradually decreasing in the

state. Last week, around 80cases were reported on a dailybasis.

It came down to 60cases a day this week.

For the past 24hours, the AP govern-ment conducted testson 7,782 samples outof which 60 tested

positive for the coron-avirus. A total of

1,41,272 were tested forCovid-19 in the state.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Taking a further step towardsimplementing adminis-trative reforms andensuring effectivedelivery of servicesin a "missionmode”, the AndhraPradesh govern-ment on Wednesdayrestructured the dis-trict administration, creat-ing an additional post of JointCollector of the IAS cadre.

As per the new arrange-

ment, each district will nowhave three J-Cs, two of thembeing IAS officers and the

other a state cadre officer,in charge of different

departments.So far, each district

in the state had twoJ-Cs, an IAS officerand the other a spe-

cial grade deputy col-lector rank officer.

With the latest move, 13new posts of the J-Cs in theIAS cadre have been created.

AP creates additionalpost of Joint Collector

Two deaths, 60 fresh Covid-19cases take tally to 1,777 in APThe three Coronavirus hotbeds in Andhra Pradesh continued to

register more cases while some 'outsiders' too contributed to theupward surge as 60 more tested positive for Covid-19, taking thestate tally to 1,777 on Wednesday. At the same time, two freshdeaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 36 evenas 140 patients were discharged after treatment from varioushospitals in the state, the latest health bulletin said.

District-wwise Covid-119recovered / dischargedKrishna 61Kurnool 39Chittoor 20Anantapur 10East Godavari 4Prakasam 2West Godavari 2Kadapa 1Guntur 1

AP Transco CMD Nagulapalli Srikant clarifies doubts about domestic power bills on Wednesday, while I&PR CommissionerT Vijay Kumar Reddy looks on. Report in Page 3

AP to pay migrant labourers’ fare

3 3

333

52,559CORONAcases in

INDIA 14,911 1,781DeathsRecover

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Health officials have soundeda red alert for Dandubazaar, anold slum located close to thepopular Jagadamba Centrewhere 10 positive cases, includ-ing two on Wednesday, havebeen reported during last oneweek.

Nearly 42,000 residents from11,600 households live in 20-odd colonies of Dandubazaar.

Of the Covid-19 cases thatwere reported in the district,this was the first area whereofficials observed that the virusspread to neighbours from apositive patient. In the rest ofthe cases, it was only familymembers or primary contactsthat had been infected.

“We have scanned the entirearea and today we sent 160samples of the same localitywhere all the 10 cases came out

positive and we are afraidmore positive cases could comeup,’’ said Andhra MedicalCollege principal Dr PVSudhakar.

He said survey of people wasbeing conducted repeatedlyand trying to find out who allcame here during the last 20days period so that their swabs

could also be tested.A local youth said it was due

to lack of awareness the virusinfected many people. Peopledid not wear masks or main-tained physical distance whenthe first cases were reported.

“Since the area is congested,officials should have evacuat-ed people from the area,” said

a former employee of KingGeorge Hospital.

GVMC Commissioner GSrujana has also expressedconcern over the spread of thevirus in the congested slum.

On Twitter, she sought sug-gestions from public to stop thetransmission in the denselypopulated, congested slum.

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 vijayawada 02

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment has intensifiedits war against Covid-19

by embarking on a uniquestrategy that values the lives ofthe people while ensuringnecessary measures are put inplace to protect their liveli-hoods as well.

3T strategy to protectlives:

The state government isbanking on a vigorous Trace,Test and Treat strategy whichhas been followed by SouthKorea, to impressive results.

Armed with a 2.6 lakhstrong volunteer force on theground, the state governmenthas conducted door-to-doorsurveys covering 1.43 crorehouseholds in the state. This

helped the government effec-tively trace foreign returneesand people who returned fromother states in the country.

Further, the state govern-ment procured one lakh rapidtest kits from South Korea andramped up its testing capaci-ty with the state conductingover 80,000 tests during thepast two weeks. The numberof tests conducted increasedfrom 30,733 on April 20 to1,14,937 by May 3.

During the same period,Coronavirus positive ratesdeclined by over 40 per centfrom 2.34 per cent to 1.38 percent and death rates decreasedby about 30 per cent, from2.90 per cent to 2.08 per cent.

Apart from these measures,the state government has setup a dedicated helpline ‘YSR

Telemedicine’ with a toll-freenumber 14410 to attend to theCovid-19 related and otherhealth needs of the peopleresiding in remote areas. It hasalso ramped up the publichealth infrastructure by set-ting up virology labs across thestate and designating 23 gov-ernment and 54 private hos-pitals as district Covid-19hospitals by providing state of

the art facilities in them.Besides, insurance cover

has been to the village andward volunteers under thePradhan Mantri Garib KalyanYojana.

Protecting livelihoodsof people:

Andhra Pradesh is perhaps

the only or one of the very fewstates in India where the stategovernment considers pro-tecting livelihoods of people isas important as protectingtheir lives. The state has come

up with many measures toboost livelihoods of the people.

The state's agricultural mar-keting department has pro-cured over 75,000 metrictonnes of maize besidesprocuring other crops includ-ing ragi, turmeric, and onion.Further, the government gavenod for toddy tapping, a movethat could benefit about fourlakh people.

To boost industrial activityand thereby livelihoods of theindustrial workers a 'RestartStrategy' has been unveiledwhich involves phased open-ing of industries in non-con-tainment areas. The govern-ment also gave nod to cleardues worth Rs 905 crore pend-ing to MSMEs from 2014-15which would provide benefitto about one lakh MSMEs.

A new scheme YSR ZeroInterest Loan Scheme hasbeen launched, under whichRs 1,400 crore has been cred-ited to the bank accounts of8.78 lakh self help groups(SHGs) benefitting 91 lakhwomen SHG members.

Future strategies tocontain Covid-19

The state government isgoing to invest Rs 16,000crore to revamp the hospitalsas part of its Nadu-Nedu pro-gramme while deciding con-tinuing YSR Telemedicine ona permanent basis.

It is also planning to set upone lakh beds for quarantinefacility with 10 to 15 beds inevery village secretariatbesides distributing three

masks to every member ofeach family in the state.

To boost the livelihoods offishermen and arrest theirmigration to other states, eightfishing harbours and one fishlanding facility will be set upwith an investment of Rs3,000 crore

Barring a few incidents inwhich the actions of the rul-ing party legislators caused anembarrassment to the govern-ment, the overall strategyadopted by the it to containCovid-19 has been proactive,transparent and an all-outeffort to protect the lives andpromote the welfare and liveli-hoods of the people.

Prudhvi Vegesna is anIndependent journalist. Hecan be contacted at addprud-vi@gmail.com.

PRUDHVI VEGESNA

During the press conference on May 5, KCRmade studied observations on how theCentral Government has been trying toundermine the federal spirit in the countryand how it has been planning to usurpcertain State powers.

Dandubazaar slum turnshotspot in Visakhapatnam

Of the Covid-19cases that werereported in thedistrict, this wasthe first area whereofficials observedthat the virusspread toneighbours from apositive patient

PNS n NEW DELHI

Utility vehicle maker IsuzuMotors India on Wednesdaysaid it has received approvalsfrom local authorities toresume operations at its plantin Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

The company has receivednod from the authorities ofChittoor district to recom-mence production at its plantin SriCity, Isuzu Motors Indiasaid in a statement.

Stating that it has begunpreparations to restart activi-ties at the plant, the companysaid it aims to start supply ofvehicles at the earliest.

"It will co-ordinate with allcomponent manufacturers toserve both domestic andexport customers," IsuzuMotors India added.

The government had issuedrelaxed guidelines for theextended lockdown till May 17,allowing factories in rural areasand outside municipal limits toresume operations under strictsafety and hygiene norms from

this week.Incidentally, automobile

majors, including MarutiSuzuki India, Mercedes-Benz,TVS Motor, and Royal Enfield,on Wednesday announcedresumption of or plans to

restart production at theirrespective manufacturing unitsfollowing relaxation of guide-lines by the government for thethird phase of lockdown.

The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) said it would resumeoperations at its Manesar plantfrom May 12.

The Gurugram districtadministration had allowedMSI to run Manesar facility ona single shift basis, while fix-

ing the total number ofemployees at plant at 4,696.

The company's Manesar(Haryana) plant is outside thelimits of Gurugram MunicipalCorporation, while itsGurugram plant falls withinthe city limits.

The two plants in Haryanahave an installed capacity toroll out 15.5 lakh units perannum. Operations at the facil-ities are suspended sinceMarch 22.

Hyundai Motor India, whichis yet to start rolling out vehi-cles from its Chennai plantthough it has commencedpreparations to do so, saidaround 250 company dealer-ships have resumed opera-tions across various states.

Similarly, Chennai-basedTVS Motor Company said ithas commenced operations inIndia across all factories inHosur, Mysuru and Nalagarh,while niche bike maker RoyalEnfield also said it has resumedoperations at its manufactur-ing plants.

However, Honda Cars IndiaLtd (HCIL) said lack ofrequired workforce is makingit difficult for the company toresume operations at its twomanufacturing plants, butadded that its dealerships have

started to open across thecountry. The automaker, whichsells models like City andAmaze, said that with newrelaxations from the govern-ment, it is planning to restartoperations at Tapukara plant inRajasthan sometime next week.

Similarly, tyre major MRFLtd said it has partiallyresumed operations in most ofits plants with restricted man-power, following relaxation oflockdown guidelines by thegovernment. The HomeMinistry had allowed factoriesin rural areas or those outsidemunicipal limits to resumeproduction under strict safetyand hygiene guidelines fromMonday with an aim to kick-start economic activity in thethird phase of lockdown tillMay 17.

Isuzu Motors India gets nod to resume production at AP plant The government had issued relaxedguidelines for the extended lockdown till May 17, allowing factories in rural areasand outside municipal limits to resumeoperations under strict safety and hygienenorms from this week

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

For the first time, landslide hasclaimed lives on theKotavalasa-Kirandul railwayline passing through hilly ter-rain of Eastern Ghat underWaltair Railway Division.

In an unfortunate incident,thee persons died when boul-ders fell on them while theywere restoring the line by clear-ing the boulder that had earli-er rolled down from the hills onthe railway track.

The incident occurred nearChimiddipalle near BorraCaves.

Of the three, one died at thespot on Tuesday while two oth-ers died while going treatmenton Wednesday at a Vizag hos-pital. Two of the victimsworked under a private con-tractor while one of them is arailway employee.

Five others who sustainedserious injuries were beingtreated when the last reportcame in.

Railways had employed aprivate contractor under super-vision of its own staff to clearthe track.

A railway official said thiswas first such landslide on thisline that caused casualties. Thehilly terrain KK Line mostlywitnessed landslide wheneverthere is heavy downpour.

Kirandul has iron ore minesfrom where the ore is suppliedto the local and internationalmarket. Hence, the KK line is

one of the highest freight rev-enue generating routes inIndian Railways.

Generally, there will bemovement of 12 goods trainson the route daily but due tothe lockdown there was move-ment of only three to fourtrains. Officials said that therewill be not any impact onmovement of goods train asthey will divert them viaKoraput and Rayagada if need-ed.

Sudden landslide while clearingboulders on KK line kills three

Not helmet, wearing of mask ispriority for most in Covid crisisPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

After the Central governmentannounced some relaxations oflockdown restrictions after thesecond phase allowing move-ment of vehicles, enforcementof traffic rules has taken abackseat with the cops stress-ing on wearing of face mask.

As the threat of novelCoronavirus continues to loomover the population, the gov-ernment’s have made wearingface masks mandatory to pre-vent spread of Covid-19.

With city slowly reemergingfrom lockdown after changesin the containment zones, thepeople once again sharing pub-lic spaces in the middle of pan-demic, wearing a face mask orrefusing to – has become abone of contention for themoment. The result has beendirty looks, angry words and attimes verbal spat.

Naidana Varma, a septuage-narian, appreciated the effortsof the district administration inensuring people wear a mask

for the safety of all. "It isunfortunate and distressingthat those who refuse are soself-absorbed as to not followwhat is a simple show ofrespect and kindness to others”.

Some people said they foundmasks uncomfortable, and thusa nuisance they were unwillingto tolerate. Others were scep-tical how much difference theymade outside on a sunny day."I hate it," complained SyamDomnic, 27, who said that hewas asked to exit MORE shop

in BS Layout for not wearing amask.

"It's devastatingly worrisometo me personally," saidVandana Rao, house wife,"because if they go home andinfect their grandmother ortheir grandfather who has a co-morbid condition, and theyhave a serious or unfortunateoutcome, they will feel guiltyfor the rest of our lives".

"We need to protect eachother," she went on, "at thesame time we're voicing our

discontent. Even asGovernment imposed ordersand public health experts dis-pensed their professional guid-ance, the effort to thwart thecoronavirus neverthelessamounted to a grand nationalexperiment in cooperation thathinged on the individual deci-sions of millions.

"People give you the stinkeye if you don't have a maskon," said Ram Mohan. He didnot feel comfortable in a mask,nor entirely see the need forone.

Naidana Varma, a septuagenarian,appreciated theefforts of thedistrictadministration inensuring peoplewear a mask forthe safety of all

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy onWednesday launched onlinethe ‘YSR Matsyakara Bharosa’(YSR Fishermen’s Assurance)scheme from his camp office atTadepalli.

As part of the scheme, theState government will providefinancial assistance of Rs 10,000each to 1,09,231 fishermen.The amount was directly cred-ited into their bank accounts onWednesday.

Jagan had a virtual interac-tion with fishermen afterlaunching the scheme. The fish-ermen expressed their happi-ness over the state governmentproviding financial assistanceduring this time of crisis andthanked the Chief Minister forhis support.

The State government haslaunched the YSR MatsyakaraBharosa scheme with an aim tomitigate the hardships of thefishermen during the off-sea-son. The fishermen traditional-

ly will have no livelihood dur-ing monsoon as no fishingactivity will be possible duringthe wet season.

This year, the fishermen losttheir livelihood much earlierdue to the lockdown beingenforced to containCoronavirus pandemic in thestate.

Speaking about the scheme,YS Jagan said that, as part of his

commitment, his YSRCPgovernment has enhanced thefinancial assistance to fishermento Rs 10,000. Earlier, it used to

be only Rs 4,000, he said.The Chief Minister remind-

ed that the AP government haslaunched various schemesincluding ‘YSR MatsyakaraBharosa’ last year atMummidivaram on the occa-sion of world fisheries day forimproving the lives of fisher-men. Jagan said that the YSRCPgovernment has released Rs70.53 crore in November 2019as a financial aid to the familieswho were affected by the GSPLdrilling.

The state government hasalso made efforts for the releaseof AP fishermen who wereimprisoned in Pakistan besidesgiving Rs 5 lakh to each of themafter their release, said Jagan.

The Chief Minister said,"Recently 4,500 AP fishermenwere stranded in Gujarat due tolockdown. We have spoken toGujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani and Union ministersand brought them back to thestate by spending Rs 3 crore

and gave Rs. 2,000 to eachfisherman after their return.”

Jagan launches ‘YSR MatsyakaraBharosa’ with Rs 10,000 payments

Kishan Reddy:CMs requestedPM to reopenliquor shopsPNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy onWednesday revealed thatthe Centre allowed reopen-ing of liquor shops duringthe third phase of thenationwide lockdown fol-lowing requests from ChiefMinisters of different states.He said during a videocon-ference with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, these ChiefMinisters, including of BJP-ruled states, sought reopen-ing of liquor shops, citingloss of revenue to the statessince the beginning of thelockdown in March.

The Chief Ministers toldthe Prime Minister that theirstates don't even havemoney to pay salaries totheir government employees.

TS HC seeksinfo on stepsto bring backstuck pilgrimsPNS n HYDERABAD

Expressing concern over thesafety and security of 107 pil-grims who are now strandedin Sirohi at Rajasthan due tothe ongoing nationwide lock-down, the Telangana HighCourt on Wednesday directedthe state government toinform the court about thesteps taken to bring themback to the state.

A division bench of the HCcomprising of the Chief Justiceof the state Justice RS Chauhanand Justice B Vijaysen Reddypassed this order in a taken upPublic Interest Litigation (PIL)which is based on a letteraddressed to the HC by advo-cate K Ramakanth Reddy, anative of Hyderabad.

The division later postedMatter to May 8 for furtherhearing. In his letter, Reddysaid that the 107 pilgrims hadbeen stranded at ShantivanPrajapita Brahma Kumarishwariya Vishwa Vidyalayafrom Sirohi District ofRajastha since March 23 2020.

He told the HC that pil-grims went to Rajasthan toattend a spiritual retreat. Hetold the HC that pilgrimswere under self quarantinesince the day one of the lock-down and were healthy with-out any symptoms of Covid-19. He urged the HC to issuedirections to the state govern-ment authorities to take ade-quate steps to bring back allthe 107 pilgrims fromTelangana by plying buses orby making suitable interimarrangements for their trans-portation to the state. He toldthe High Court that theBrahms Kumari organisationwas ready to bear the cost ofthe transportation of the pil-grims.

Andhra intensifies war against Covid-19

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 vijayawada 03

1,100 migrant workersreturn home from MumbaiPNS n AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh governmenthas arranged nine special trainsto bring back the Telugumigrant workers who werestranded in other states due toongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

As part of this, 1,100migrant workers who werestranded in Mumbai reachedGuntakal railway station onWednesday, through specialtrain run by AP StateGovernment.

With the initiative of StateGovernment to bring backmigrant workers, the RailwayDepartment has run a 24-bogie special train fromMumbai to Guntakal. Thetrain left to Mumbai onTuesday night and reached

Guntakal today morning.Out of the 1,100 migrant

workers, most of them belongto Uravakonda town inAnantapur district.

The AP government hasarranged train tickets, food, and

other facilities to the migrantworkers. All the passengerswill be medically screened fol-lowing the protocol, and thenthey will be sent to quarantinecentres in the state.

The migrant workers

thanked Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy for bring-ing them back safely to thestate.

The AP governmenthas arranged traintickets, food, andother facilities tothe migrantworkers. All thepassengers will bemedically screenedfollowing theprotocol, and thenthey will be sent toquarantine centresin the state

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu has writ-ten to Karnataka ChiefMinister Yeddyurapparequesting the government torescue the fishermen fromAndhra Pradesh stranded inthe state. Expressed his con-cern over AP fishermenstranded Karnataka,

Naidu urged Yeddyurappa toensure food, shelter, medical aidand essential commodities to

the fishermen from AndhraPradesh. In the past, Naiduappealed to Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister Edappadi Palanis-wamy to help rescue over 2,000Telugu fishermen and con-struction workers who arestranded in different locationsin TN since the lockdown.

He also wrote to GujaratChief Minister Vijay Rupanirequesting the government torescue the fishermen strand-ed at the Veraval fishing har-bour in Gujarat’s GirSomanath.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Energy Secretary and APTransco CMD NagulapalliSrikant on Wednesday reas-sured power consumers thatthere was no excess billing fordomestic power consumption.

He said the billing was madeon scientific basis basing on thepower consumption duringthe months of March and Aprilfor the past five years and thebills were prepared on 50:50basis to protect the interests ofpower consumers.

Giving clarification on thereports of excess billing bypower Discoms, the CMD saidthat there was drastic increasein power consumption duringApril this year due to lock-down. He said when takinginto consideration the domes-tic power consumption for the

past five years during Marchand April stands at 46 per centand 54 per cent.

Now the bills were preparedon 50:50 per cent as the meterreadings were not taken duringApril month due to Covid-19lockdown. He said the Aprilbills came under below slab as4 per cent of power consump-

tion during April was includ-ed in power bill for March.

From financial year 2021,the slab rates depends onmonthly power consumption.As a result the consumers gotlow bills than the real con-sumption during April. Hesaid there was no increase inbills as four per cent of April

power consumption includedin March bill as the slab ratesfixed on 2018-19 power con-sumption.

In addition the interestincurred on the fixed depositof the power consumer wasalso deducted from April bill tobenefit consumers.

Giving an example on thebilling system, the TranscoCMD said that if a person con-sumed 440 units for March andApril like 202.40 in Marchand 237.60 units in April thebill was prepared basing on 220units per month to benefit theconsumer.

The Transco CMD said a tollfree number 1912 was set up toredress the grievances of con-sumers on power billing.

He said a special officer wasappointed for each district toredress the billing grievances.

No excess power bills for domesticconsumers, clarifies Transco CMDPower bills prepared on scientific basis to benefit domestic power consumers, says Srikant

13 special trains leave fordifferent states from AP, TS

PNS n HYDERABAD

In continuing evacuation,around 14,000 migrant work-ers left Telangana and AndhraPradesh for different states in13 special trains, an official ofthe South Central Railwayhere said on Wednesday.

While 11 trains leftTelangana, two originated inAndhra Pradesh during theintervening night of Tuesdayand Wednesday and wereheaded to Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,Rajasthan and Maharashtra,the official said.

In Telagana, the departure ofthe trains was from six railwaystations, most of them on thecity outskirts. In the neighbour-ing state, the trains originatedfrom Kurnool and Rayanapadustations. Six of the trains left forBihar, two trains each headedto Uttar Pradesh and MadhyaPradesh. One train each left forJharkhand, Rajasthan andMaharashtra, he said.

The railways had been run-ning 'Shramik Special' trainssince May 1 for ferrying the

migrant workers at the requestof states.

Earlier, over 2,000 migrantworkers were sent to theirhome states from Telangana intwo special trains, includingthe first special to be operat-ed from Lingampalli here toHatia in Jharkhand on May 1,after the Centre eased thelockdown norms and allowedtheir movement.

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had onTuesday said the state govern-ment has paid Rs four crore asadvance for operation of thespecial trains.

Doesnt the Centre havemoney to give railwaycharges?, he had asked amidopposition parties led byCongress and others attackingthe railways for chargingmoney from the migrants.

The government has alreadystated that it would facilitatethe return of migrant workersfrom the state and hadrequested the South CentralRailway for operation of 40special trains a day for a weekfrom Tuesday for this.

Naidu asks K’taka CMto rescue AP fishermen

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian Pharmaceuticalindustry has been a worldleader in generics both glob-ally and in domestic marketscontributing significantly tothe global demand for gener-ics in terms of volume.However, the novelCoronavirus, which hasclaimed over 1,600 lives in thecountry, is taking a toll on theindustry. Telangana, which isthe largest pharmaceuticalhub in the country, con-tributes more than 35 percent of the national produc-tion and is home to aboutmore than 800 Life Sciencescompanies employing about1,20,000 people.

As the industry has started toexperience financial burden dueto reduced production capacity,shortage of labour, price pressurecaused by supply chain issues

and maintaining a large skilledworkforce on payrolls among themany other deeper issues as aresult of Covid-19, IT andIndustries Minister KT RamaRao in a letter to Union MinisterDV Sadanand Gowda request-ed the Central Government'ssupport to the Pharmaceuticalindustry. He also made some rec-ommendations to help theindustry overcome the Covid-19crisis.

The Minister, in the lettermentioned that the reforms andtargeted support will not onlyhelp stabilise the sector but willalso go a long way in further con-solidating India's leadership posi-tion by attracting newer invest-ments from around the globe.

Speaking on financial stress onthe Industry, he suggested, "Inorder to ease the financial bur-den to an extent, I urge theGovernment of India to expediteboth income tax and GST

refunds to these companies. GoIshould also consider extendinga moratorium on tax paymentsfor the next 6 months, atleast forthe MSME sector, to further easethe financial stress on compa-nies".

Prevent accumulation of inputtax credit by allowing theexporters to use this accumulat-ed un-utilised GST credittowards payment of their GSTliability on imports. He saidexpedite clearance of incentivesunder export promotionschemes and asked Governmentof India to review all pendingincentives cases and expediterelease to exporters to reduce thefinancial burden.

He suggested measuresIncentive for export promotion,reduction in capital borrowingcosts, price control relaxation foressential and non-essential med-icines, Expedite port level clear-ances to ease Logistics Issues.

KTR seeks Centre’s supportfor pharmaceutical sector

Naidu: Govt facilitating saleof liquor, not farm produce

Continued from Page 1

In a statement on Twitter, theTDP supremo deplored thatthe farmers had to abandon theirharvester vegetables on the roadat Gollapalli village in Kadapadistrict due to lack of marketingfacilities. "It was painful that thefarmers, who had toiled hard tocultivate the crop, were forced toleave the produce in the middleof the road and out of frustra-tion," Naidu said.

He termed this as an atroc-ity on the part of theGovernment as it had set asideall lockdown restrictions forselling liquor while, at thesame time, not extending sim-ilar relaxations to enable farm-ers to sell their produce.

It may be recalled that theGovernment liquor shopswere reopened in green andorange zones in AndhraPradesh after nationwide lock-down 2.0.

Continued from Page 1

Who will also be providedfood and shelter. If they wish togo for work, cooperate withthem and necessary travelarrangements should be made ifmigrant workers want to go totheir native states and all theexpenses will be borne by thestate. These migrants will also begiven Rs 500 each towards inci-dental expenses during theirtravel to their native place.”

The Chief Minister focused hisattention on the issue of migrantlabourers from Andhra Pradeshstranded in other states, andinstructed the authorities on themeasures to be taken for theirevacuation.

The officials briefed the ChiefMinister about the details of var-ious flights evacuating people of

the state from abroad.These flights would arrive in

Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and

Tirupati airports, they informed.Those arriving by these flightswill be screened medically and

then quarantined in accordancewith the guidelines before theyare allowed to be sent back totheir native places, the authori-ties said.

Jagan was also informed thatthese foreign returnees would becategorised based on the sever-ity of Coronavirus in the coun-tries they are returning from.

The Chief Minister, in thiscontext, ordered special focus bythe officials on the quality of facil-ities at the quarantine centres forall those arriving into the statefrom Gulf countries.

The officials informed Jaganthat more than 1,000 migrantlabourers, stranded in Thane ofMaharashtra, have reachedGuntakal by a special train onWednesday and all requisite testsare being conducted on them.

As many as nine check posts

are being set up across the bor-ders in the state in view of lock-down, the officials said.

Officials informed the ChiefMinister that they are followingstrict protocol in discharging theCOVID-19 patients. Those dis-charged were allowed to gohome only after they tested neg-ative in two consecutive tests.

Also in the review meeting, theChief Minister directed the offi-cials that they should be acces-sible to the farmers at all timesand respond immediately totheir problems across the state.

The meeting was attendedby Chief Secretary NilamSawhney, DGP GautamSawang, Government AdvisorSajjala Ramakrishna Reddyand Special Chief Secretary ofMedical Department KSJawahar Reddy.

Continued from Page 1

Among the 60 new casesreported in the last 24 hours, 12were Gujaratis and one aKannadiga.

The Gujaratis, according toofficial sources, were a group of29 preachers who came toAnantapur district in January.

They were all staying togeth-er and recently sent to a quaran-

tine facility. Of the 29, 14 testedpositive on Monday and 12more on Tuesday, the sourcessaid. Details of the one other per-son from Karnataka were yet tobe revealed. The 'outsiders' countwas not specifically added to anydistrict though they were shownin the state's overall tally.

The three Covid-19 hotbeds inAP Kurnool, Guntur andKrishna reported 17, 12 and 14

new cases respectively. Kurnooland Krishna districts also report-ed one Coronavirus death each,taking the states total to 36.

In all, Kurnool district regis-tered 533 Coronavirus cases, ofwhich 369 are now active follow-ing the discharge of 153 anddeath of 11 patients.

Guntur reported a total of 363cases so far, of which 226 are nowactive after 129 discharges and

eight deaths. Krishna touched thetriple century mark, but only 173were active as 117 got dischargedand 10 died. The number ofactive Covid-19 cases in APnow stood at 1,012. A govern-ment data chart said 1,41,274tests were conducted till date,including 7,782 in the last 24hours, at the rate of 2,646 per mil-lion population, which it claimedto be the highest in the country.

Two deaths, 60 fresh Covid-19cases take tally to 1,777 in AP

Continued from Page 1

The two IAS officers willbe designated as J-C (RythuBharosa and Revenue) andJC (Village and WardSecretariats andDevelopment).

The non-cadre J-C willlook after welfare pro-grammes in each district, asper an order issued by ChiefSecretary Nilam Sawhney.

"The priority of the gov-ernment is to provideresponsive and accountablegovernance in a corruption-free environment while lay-ing special focus on the wel-fare of all sections of thesociety.

To achieve these objec-tives, the government has toimplement development andwelfare programmes in amission mode, ensuringeffective last mile deliverythrough Village Secretariat/Ward Secretariats," the ChiefSecretary said in the order.

Creation of an additionalJ-C post in each district isalso aimed at providingextensive field exposure tothe IAS officers before theytake up higher responsibil-ities, according to the ChiefSecretary.

Nilam Sawhney directedthe Secretaries of govern-ment departments in thestate Secretariat, heads ofdepartments and manag-ing directors of state-runcorporations to "explore thepossibility" of delegatingmore administrative andfinancial powers to districtcollectors and joint collec-tors for ensuring effectivedelivery of services at grass-roots level.

AP createsadditionalpost of JointCollector

2 more trains with migrants leave from TSPNS n HYDERABAD

Two more special trains carry-ing over 2,000 migrant work-ers left Telangana for Bihar andJharkhand on Wednesday, offi-cials said. Both the trainsdeparted from the Bibi Nagarrailway station in YadadriBhuvangiri district nearHyderabad early onWednesday morning.

Migrant workers fromYadadri Bhuvangiri and otherdistricts were brought to therailway station by buses late onTuesday night. A team of 50personnel from the healthdepartment led by the districtmedical and health officerscreened the workers before

allowing them into the station.Officials said that all neces-

sary arrangements were madefor the smooth journey of theworkers. Yadadri BhuvangiriDistrict Collector Anitha

Ramchandran, along withsenior officials, supervised thearrangements at the station.The workers expressed theirhappiness on returning to theirhome states after a long wait.

They said they had registeredtheir names with the police sta-tions concerned and were dulyinformed about the travelarrangements made.

With this, the number of spe-cial trains operated for migrantworkers from Telangana rose tofour. The first train had left forJharkhand on May 1, while thesecond departed for Bihar onMay 5. Telangana Chief MinisterK. Chandrashekhar Rao hadsaid on Tuesday said that 11trains carrying migrant workerswere leaving for various states. Hesaid five of these trains were leav-ing for Bihar, two each for UttarPradesh and Madhya Pradeshand one each for Jharkhandand Rajasthan.

Covid-19 hurts emotionally,marriage plans go awry

Continued from Page 1

The Chaitra Masam com-menced on March 25 andended on April 23. VaisakhaMasam started on April 24and will end by May 22.Even after relaxing of thelockdown in some areas, therestrictions on marriages andother functions remain due tothe social distancing norms.

The month of Jyestha com-mences from May 23 and willlast up to June 21. During themonth there are not manyauspicious muhurats. Theperiod from May 29 to June8 is regarded as inauspiciousbecause of SukraMoudhyami.

In the month of Jyestha,the marriage of eldest sons ordaughters of a family is notperformed. The month ofAshadham, considered inaus-picious, begins on June 22and lasts till July 20, this peri-od is often described as mar-riage holiday period.

The auspicious month ofShravanam begins in the lastweek of July and lasts goodpart of August. Some mar-riages can be performed inthis season, but the farmersare busy during the period.Moreover, educational insti-tutions were commence aftervacation. Therefore, manypeople will not opt for cele-brating wedding during theperiod. The months ofBhadrapadam and Pushyamare considered unfit forsolemnising marriages.

This basically means that

prospect ive brides andgrooms should have to waittill Kartika and Margasiramonths, which coincide withNovember and December.Till then, there is no possibil-ity for celebrating weddings.

In undivided Nalgondadistrict, there are over 400function halls, including 50in Nalgonda , 40 inMir yalguda and 30 inSuryapet. Small towns likeNakrekal, Chityal, Halia havefive function halls each.

To build each functionhall, the owners have pumpedin at least Rs 3 crore to Rs 7crore, if it is more spacious.This is in addition to site cost.

During summer each func-tion hall earns at least Rs 10lakh. They have remainedclosed for 43 days because ofCorona threat. Those whobooked the function hallsprior to the lockdown gotback their advances. Yet thefunction halls will have to paywages of employees at the rateof Rs 10,000 per head and paypower bill of at least Rs10,000 and also would haveto pay property tax up to Rs10,000.

The lockdown restrictionshave limited number of per-sons attending the weddingsto 20 or less. Therefore, manypeople will keep the celebra-tions simple and performweddings at their homes. Themarriage season helps func-tion hall owners, workers,cooks, tent houses, priests,printing presses, potters, bar-bers, washermen, music par-

ties, tailors earn money. Theycan lead a comfortable lifewith the earnings in the mar-riage season. Because of theCorona threat, they have losttheir l ivel ihood t i l lNovember.

Gangula Narsireddy ofSitarampuram said that themarriage of his youngest sonwas fixed on April 19 but hadto be postponed because oflockdown.

According to KondagadapaPrasad Sarma, priest ofAddagudur, the UgadiPanchanga Sravanam,Srirama Navami, HanumanJayanti celebrations were can-celled because of the virusthreat. This year the numberof wedding muhurats is veryless. Moreover, the marriagescould not be celebrated dur-ing the auspicious periods.He said that he was at a lossof comprehension how heshould take good care of thefamily, meet expenses of chil-dren’s education and meetother expenses.

According to a functionhall owner, the peak seasonhas been a loss and now,function hall owners wouldhave to wait for almost oneyear to make up for the loss-es.

“Meanwhile, we have topay salaries of the employeesand pay electricity bills andmunicipal bills. If the govern-ment exempts us from thepayment of taxes and powerbills, we would be able tomanage to keep our headabove water,” he said.

AP to pay migrant labourers’ fare

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 nation 04SHORT READS

Mumbai: Byculla Zooto have its ownYouTube channelMUMBAI: The Veer Mata JijabaiBhosale Udyan, popularlyknown as Byculla Zoo here,plans to start its own YouTubechannel for animal lovers andwildlife enthusiasts, an officialsaid on Wednesday. The zoo,which usually witnesses aheavy footfall of visitors duringsummer holidays, now wears adeserted look because of thelockdown that has beenimposed to contain the spreadof coronavirus. "The plan is totake the zoo to people's homesso that animal lovers andwildlife enthusiasts can enjoyglimpses of nature and animalsthrough these videos," zoodirector Dr Sanjay Tripathi said.

Darul Uloom Deobandcancels annual exams

Fire breaks out atTikri-Kalan PVCmarket

Chhattisgarh: Man heldfor beating elderlymother to death

NEW DELHI: A major fire brokeout at the Tikri-Kalan PVCmarket on the Delhi-Haryanaborder in the early hours ofWednesday, the fire departmentsaid. The call about the blazewas received at 2.50 am and 36fire-tenders were rushed to thespot, a fire department officialsaid. No casualties werereported, he said, adding thatscrap material, which was keptin the open, caught fire. Theblaze was doused at around 12noon and eight fire tenderswere working on the coolingprocess, they said.

KORBA: A man allegedlythrashed his 60- year-oldmother to death in aninebriated state in Janjgir-Champa district ofChhattisgarh, police said onWednesday. The police onTuesday arrested Amrit LalGadhewal (41), following theincident that took place atPutpura village under Kotwalipolice station in Janjgir-Champa district, 150 km fromcapital Raipur, an official said.As per preliminary probe,Gadhewal had reached homein an inebriated state andpicked a quarrel with his wife,who subsequently left homewith their child, he said. Whenthe accused's mother SukhinBai, who suffered fromparalysis, intervened, hebrutally beat her up with astick, the official said.

MUZAFFARNAGAR (UP):Islamic seminary Darul UloomDeoband has cancelled itsannual examination due to thecoronavirus lockdown, its vicechancellor said on Wednesday.Students will be promoted onthe basis of their half-yearlyexams, Maulana Mufti AbulQasim Nomani said. The largestseminary in Asia has alsocancelled its entranceexamination held in the lastweek of May.

Most of COVID-19 deceasedwere gas tragedy victims: NGOPNS n BHOPAL

The Madhya Pradesh govern-ment has decided to screen thevulnerable section among the1984 gas tragedy survivorswho showed primary symp-toms so that they can be isolat-ed in view of the deaths of 17people due to COVID-19 inBhopal so far, a senior officialsaid on Wednesday.

While an NGO has claimedthat 15 of the 17 COVID-19deceased were the survivors ofthe gas tragedy, the govern-ment said it was not in a posi-tion to confirm this claim atthis stage.

"We have compiled the dataof 15 out of the 17 deaths in thestate capital due to COVID-19and found that 15 were 1984gas tragedy victims as per theirhealth records," Bhopal Groupfor Information and Action(BGIA) convener Rachna

Dhingra said.The BGIA, which works for

rehabilitation of the gas vic-tims, has shared a list of the 15deceased and the health com-plications among them due toinhalation of toxic plumes ofMethyl Isocyanate that leakedfrom a plant on the interven-ing night of December 2 and 3,1984, killing thousands.

"As the gas victims are

already affected, they are morevulnerable to COVID-19 andhence needed extra care andattention which the authoritiesfailed to gauge while convert-ing the dedicated BhopalMemorial Hospital andResearch Centre (BMHRC)into a state-level COVID-19facility, and later reversed thatstatus following the deaths ofthe gas affected persons,"

Dhingra claimed.Meanwhile, the state govern-

ment has decided to screen thevulnerable section among thesurvivors of the world's worstindustrial disaster so that theycan be isolated at a dedicatedcentre in the event of showingany primary symptoms ofcoronavirus infection.

"We cannot say at this stagethat out of 17 how many weregas tragedy victims, but wehave decided to start screeningthose persons who are morevulnerable and have devel-oped initial symptoms ofCOVID-19, so that they can beisolated and quarantined,"newly-appointed Bhopal GasRelief department's directorVed Prakash told PTI.

Once identified, they wouldbe isolated at Rasool AhmedPulmonary Medicine Centre, afacility of the Gas Relief depart-ment, he said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Megastar Amitabh Bachchanon Wednesday said he shot for"social messaging" videos aswell as promos for his show"Kaun Banega Crorepati" afterensuring that necessary pre-cautions were in place.

In a post on his officialblog, the 77-year-old veteransaid all the video clips wereshot in just one day.

"So yes I worked. Got aproblem with that, keep it toyourself then. Damned if youpour it out here in this lockedin condition. Sufficient precau-tion, as much that could betaken, was taken. "And whathad been scheduled for twodays, was completed in one day.Starting 6 pm, ending a shortwhile now," Bachchan wrote.

The actor said the "socialmessaging" video from author-ities were made to acknowledgethe healthcare workers, whomhe referred to as "angels inwhite", leading the fight against

the coronavirus pandemic. "Giving credence to them

that deliver, them that workassiduously so you and I cansleep in peace. Personal grati-fications to the many that ask.

"And then the 'KBC' pile ofseveral. In all about 10 to 12videos and then hours of audio

recordings also for the same,"he added.

The twelfth season of thepopular game show, hosted byBachchan, has made its selectionprocess completely digital amidthe coronavirus pandemic.

He also addressed the spec-ulations as to how the team will

conduct the show in the timesof coronavirus pandemic."There have been no definiteanswers for that. But theauthority hopes well and long,so," the actor added.

For the season's registra-tion promo, Bachchan hadshot the video from his home,remotely directed by "Dangal"helmer Nitesh Tiwari.

‘Sufficient precautions were taken’AMITABH BACHCHAN ON SHOOTING VIDEOS FOR KBC, AUTHORITIES

Aarogya Setu robust app in termsof privacy protection, security: MinPNS n NEW DELHI

Rejecting charges by the oppo-sition that the Aarogya Setuapplication breaches privacy,Union IT Minister RaviShankar Prasad has assertedthat the platform is "absolute-ly robust, safe and secure" interms of privacy protectionand data security.

"This is a technologicalinvention of India -- Ministryof Electronics and InformationTechnology, our scientists,NIC, Niti Aayog and some pri-vate (entities) -- whereby it isa perfectly accountable plat-form to help in the fightagainst COVID-19," Prasadtold PTI.

Congress leader RahulGandhi has alleged that theAarogya Setu app is a "sophis-ticated surveillance system,outsourced to a private oper-ator, with no institutional over-sight".

He also said it raises seriousdata security and privacy con-

cerns. "Technology can helpkeep us safe; but fear must notbe leveraged to track citizenswithout their consent," Gandhihad said.

Countering the claim,Prasad said, "It is safe andsecure. The data is in anencrypted form. Most impor-tant, it is for safety of Indiansin public interest because itcautions you in the event thereis a COVID-infected person inyour vicinity."

The minister said the mobile

application also helps tracingcontacts in the event a personis infected.

"It is a very robust inventionof technology and many othercountries are using similarapplications to fight COVID-19. And the second mostimportant point is that the datais limited. Routine dataremains for 30 days and in theevent you are infected, then(for) 45 to 60 days. Then auto-matically it will vanish," heexplained.

PNS n CHENNAI

Notwithstanding a sharp dip inroom occupancy and the rev-enue corroded by the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels in TamilNadu have been reaching outto the stranded guests, whoalso include those on a visit tothe metro on medical purpos-es.

Ever since the national lock-down was initiated on March25 to prevent spread of thecoronavirus, all forms of trans-port, including air, have beensuspended while many busi-nesses have been closed.

The lockdown has totallyaltered the hospitality sectorlandscape making the hotelsfocus on their social commit-ment rather than wooingguests.

With the usual buzz missing,the pandemic has made thehotel staff wear masks, usesanitiser and request the gueststo frequently wash their hands

and remain safe in their rooms."We are using thermal scan-

ners to check our guests.Pilotsfrom the cargo flights are alsochecked for temperature andrequested to take all precau-tions," sources at the LeMeridien Hotel, close to thecity airport, said.

The Ascott's accommodatesexpats based in India, thosewho are in the city for medicaltreatment and guests affected

by closure of borders due to thelockdown.

They had to celebrate Easterand Tamil New Years daywithout the usual fanfare.

Ascott Somerset Greenwaysand Citadines OMR offered ahome away from home expe-rience to the guests, with themanagement rolling out vari-ous initiatives to keep themorale of guests and staff highduring this tough phase.

COVID-19: Star hotels reach outto guests as well as the needy

PNS n BENGALURU

The Karnataka governmenton Wednesday announced a Rs1,610 crore relief package forthe benefit of those in distressdue to the COVID-19-inducedlockdown.

The measures announcedby the Chief Minister B SYediyurappa would bring reliefto farmers, flower-growers,washermen, auto rickshaw andtaxi drivers, MSMEs, largeindustries, weavers, buildingworkers and barbers.

While the government willreach out to about 7.75 lakhauto and taxi drivers by provid-ing a one time compensationof Rs 5,000 each, a similarassistance will also be extend-ed to barbers and washermen(dhobis), who are also facingthe heat of joblessness due to

the lockdown.Around 2.30 lakh barbers

and 60,000 washermen fromboth urban and rural areas willbenefit from the governmentlargesse.

The government alsoannounced a 11 per cent exciseduty hike, which is in additionto the six per cent announced

in the budget.People from all sections of

society are facing financial dif-ficulties due to lockdown ofmore than one and a halfmonths, the Chief Ministernoted.

Flower growers havedestroyed their flowers fol-lowing lack of demand for

their produce due to the lock-down.

It is estimated that farmerscultivated flowers in about11,687 hectares. Realising theproblems facing flower grow-ers, the governmentannounced a compensation ofRs 25,000 per hectare limitedto a maximum extent of onehectare for the crop loss.

Farmers who have grownvegetables and fruits were notable to market their produce,and the government has decid-ed to announce a relief pack-age for them.

MSMEs have also sufferedhuge production losses due tothe lockdown. It takes sometime for them to revive,Yediyurappa said.

The monthly fixed chargesof electricity bills of MSMEswill be waived for two months.

Lockdown distress: Karnataka govtannounces Rs 1,610 cr package

In Aurangabad,odd-even formulafor shopsPNS n AURANGABAD

In a bid to check the spread ofcoronavirus and avoid crowd-ing of markets, police haveimplemented the alternate-dayformula for functioning of theshops selling essential items tillMay 17 in Maharashtra'sAurangabad, a senior policeofficer said on Wednesday.

The extended coronavirus-induced lockdown is scheduledto remain in force till May 17.

As per the arrangement, fairprice shops will now remainopen on odd dates and theshops selling grocery and otheressential items will function oneven dates, he said. Aurangabad,the biggest city in Marathwadaregion, has reported about 350virus positive cases so far. "Thetiming during which the shopsare allowed to remain open hasbeen extended by two hours till1 pm from the previous timingof 7 am to 11 am every alternateday," said Assistant Commissio-ner of Police Nagnath Kode ina release.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Odisha reported its secondCOVID-19 fatality after a 77-year-old man died in Bhubane-swar, the Health and FamilyWelfare Department officialssaid on Wednesday. He breathedhis last at the KIMS COVID-19Hospital here on Tuesday night,they said. The man had under-lying co-morbidities of hyperten-sion, diabetes and kidney ail-ments, the officials said.

The man, a resident of theMadhusudan Nagar area of thecity, was a close relative of anoth-er COVID-19 patient. Thoughhis sample tested negative onApril 9, he later developed symp-toms. He was tested again andfound to be positive for COVID-19 on April 28, officials said.

He was at a government quar-antine centre from April 11 to 20and home quarantine from April

21 to 27. He was admitted to thehospital on April 28 after beingtested positive.

On April 6, a 72-year-oldman from Bhubaneswar'sJharpada had died due to the dis-ease at the AIIMS here.Meanwhile, three more peopletested positive for COVID-19 inthe state, taking the total num-ber of coronavirus cases to 179,an official of the department said.

An 18-year-old man, whorecently returned from Surat inGujarat, tested positive forCOVID-19 in Ganjam. A 48-year-old man tested positive in

Balasore, while a 65-year-oldman was detected with coron-avirus infection in Jajpur district.Both of them returned from WestBengal recently, the official said.

All of them were in quaran-tine centres due to their travelhistory, he said.

Till Wednesday afternoon,there were 117 active cases in thestate, while 60 people had recov-ered from the disease, he said.

Jajpur district has reported themaximum number of cases at 54,followed by Bhubaneswar inKhurda district at 47, Balasore at25, Bhadrak at 21 andSundergarh at 12. Four positivecases have been reported fromGanjam district, while two caseseach have been detected inCuttack, Jharsuguda, Kendra-para, Bolangir, Keonjhar andKalahandi, and one each in Puri,Dhenkanal, Deogarh andKoraput districts.

Odisha reports second COVID-19death; total cases at 179

SANITISATION TO THERMAL SCREENING:

J'khand wedding inthe time of COVID-19PNS n MEDININAGAR(JHARKHAND)

The marriage of a 25-year-oldman and a 19-year-old womanwas solemnised in Jharkhand'sPalamau district amid a smallgathering and overseen by theadministration, officials saidon Wednesday.

Only eight persons four eachfrom bridegroom PawanKumar and bride KhushbuKumari families -- were allowedto attend the programme thattook place at Chianki village onTuesday evening under thesupervision of a doctor and twohealth personnel from thePalamau Medical College, asenior official said.

The venue was sanitised andall the attendees were ther-mally screened before beingallowed to attend the event,Deputy CommissionerShantanu Kumar Agrahari said.

"The ritual of exchanginggarlands was done away withand the priest chanted thehymns from a distance oftwo metres from the bride andthe bridegroom. The eightattendees also stood at a dis-tance of two metres fromeach other. Everyone hadworn masks," he said.

"We are happy that the mar-riage was solemnised. Theceremony was scheduled afew weeks ago and had to bepostponed due to the lock-down," the bridegroom'sfather, Sudheswar Ram said.

COVID-19 infects 548 docs,nurses, paramedics across IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Coronavirus has infectedaround 548 doctors, nursesand paramedics across thecountry so far, according todata maintained by the Centre,official sources said onWednesday.

The figure does not includefield workers, ward boys, san-itation workers, securityguards, lab attendants, peons,laundry and kitchen staffamong others.

According to an officialsource, it has not been ascer-tained from where these doc-tors, nurses and paramedicstaff have acquired the infec-tion. The figure includes doc-tors, nurses and paramedicsfrom Centre-run and state gov-ernment-run facilities acrossstates and union territories.

"No epidemiological inves-tigation of the cases were done.So there is no clear segregationon how many contracted the

disease at workplace and howmany got it from the commu-nity," the official source said.

The official said that 69doctors in the national capitalhave so far contracted the dis-ease. COVID-19 has claimed1,694 lives and infected 49,391people nationwide tillWednesday morning.

Besides, 274 nurses andparamedics have so far beeninfected by the virus.

As many as 13 healthcare

personnel, including sevenresident doctors and a profes-sor, have tested positive forcoronavirus over the past twomonths at the Centre-runSafdarjung Hospital, thesources said.

Around 10 healthcare work-ers, including a resident doc-tor and five nurses, have con-tracted the disease so far at theAIIMS. Besides, some securi-ty guards have also been infect-ed in the premier hospital.

93k Ujjwala beneficiaries inU'khand get money in theiraccounts for free LPG refillsPNS n DEHRADUN

Bharat Petroleum CorporationLtd has transferred moneydirectly to the accounts of 93,000PMUY beneficiaries in Uttara-khand to help them get three freerefills of LPG under the PradhanMantri Gharib Kalyan package.PMUY beneficiaries are to begiven three free LPG refillsbetween April-June under thepackage announced by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi afterthe outbreak of the COVID-19pandemic. Money was trans-ferred directly to the accounts of93,000 out of a total of 98,759active PMUY customers inUttarakhand during the monthof April, BPCL state head VineetSingh said on Wednesday.

Free LPG refills have alsobeen provided to 79.5 per centof these customers already andthe process to reach out to therest is on, he said.

The corporation had to battlea number of odds to achieve thetarget including doing night deli-very of LPG in high altitude ruralareas as the beneficiaries hap-pened to be in their fields duringday-time, Singh said. He gave thecredit for it to the BPCL's contrac-tual workers like delivery boysand drivers of utility vehiclesengaged in distribution of LPGcylinders, who took their job insuch critical times in missionmode. Despite the threat of thepandemic, they never shied awayfrom going to the remotest cor-ners of the state to reach PMUYcustomers, he said.

The actor said the"social messag-ing" video fromauthorities weremade to acknow-ledge the health-care workers,whom he referredto as "angels inwhite", leadingthe fight againstthe coronaviruspandemic

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

DCW issues notice topolice over jailedJamia studentNEW DELHI: The DelhiCommission For Women hasissued notice to Delhi Policeover trolls "slandering" JamiaMillia Islamia student SafooraZargar, who is pregnant andlodged in Tihar Jail for allegedviolence during anti-CAAprotests here. Zargar, themedia coordinator of JamiaCoordination Committee, wasarrested last month inconnection with the protestsin northeast Delhi's Jaffrabadin February. Later, she wasbooked under the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act in acase related to the communalviolence over the Citizenship(Amendment) Act in northeastdistrict and sent to Tihar Jail.Zargar is being trolled onsocial media on the paternityof her child. "On receipt ofcomplaints, DCW issuednotice to Delhi Police CyberCrime Cell against shamefulslandering by trolls ofpregnant Safoora Zargar," thepanel said. DCW chief SwatiMaliwal said the court willdecide whether Zargar isguilty or not "but no one hasthe right to outrage hermodesty and vilify hercharacter".

People booked forspreading rumours aboutU'khand CM's death

Man beaten to deathin Uttar PradeshBAGHPAT (UP): A 42-year-oldman was beaten to death afterhe reportedly stabbed anotherperson on Binauli road inBadaut area here, police saidon Wednesday. The incidenttook place on Tuesday nightwhen Shyambir attackedanother man, Jainis, with aknife after they had anargument over some issue.Later, the family members ofJainis hit Shyambir with sticks,they said. Shyambir wasrushed to the hospital, wherehe was declared brought dead,police said.Jainis is stated to beout of danger, they said, addingthe matter is being probed.

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhandpolice on Wednesdayregistered a case against somepeople who spread a rumourabout the death of ChiefMinister Trivendra Singh Rawaton social media, officials said."An unfortunate and shamefulrumour has been spread aboutthe Chief Minister on socialmedia. Dehradun SSP has beenasked to register a case againstthe culprits and arrest them,"DG (Law and Order) AshokKumar said. Those spreadingrumours on social media willnot be spared under anycircumstances and stringentaction will be taken againstthem, he said. "They havecrossed all limits in this case.Stern action will be takenagainst those who spread therumour and also those involvedin the conspiracy," Kumar said.

Maha to ramp up ICU beds,seeks Central facilitiesPNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra, which is battlingsurge in COVID-19 cases, hasrequested the hospitals underthe Railways, the Army andother Central undertakings tomake their facilities in the stateavailable to the governmentwhich is planning to ramp upthe number of ICU beds.

A statement issued by theChief Minister's Office (CMO)on Wednesday said CM UddhavThackeray was personally talk-ing to the higher authoritiesconcerned for getting more ICUbeds for the treatment of theCOVID-19 patients.

"As a part of planning, theState Government has request-ed hospitals, institutions & build-ings under the management ofthe Railways, Mumbai PortTrust, Indian Army, Navy and

other Central Gov. undertakingsto make their facilities availableacross Maharashtra," it said.

The government stated that ithad been fighting a war againstcoronavirus for the past fewmonths, and so far has managedto contain its spread through var-ious measures.

It further said that the num-

ber of tests is being significant-ly increased, and hence, thepatient count is rising. "Thenumbers of patients being curedand discharged has alsoincreased," the statement said.

A total of 2,819 patients weredischarged from various hospi-tals in the state after recovery, astate government official had said

on Tuesday."Since the Centre has project-

ed rise in the number of coron-avirus positive cases in May, thestate government has created iso-lation and ICU facilities inMumbai and Pune," it said.

Mumbai, its metropolitanregion, and areas under themunicipal corporations of Puneand Pimri-Chinchwad accountfor the maximum number of thetotal 15,525 COVID-19 casesreported till May 5.

"In Mumbai, such (quaran-tine) facilities have been set upin Mahalaxmi Racecourse,Nehru Science Center, NehruPlanetarium, GoregaonExhibition Centre, BKC,Richardson Krudas factory landnear JJ hospital. Private hospitalshave also earmarked some oftheir facilities for ICU (beds)," thestatement said.

Over 700 patientsdischarged in Mahain two days: TopePNS n MUMBAI

Over 700 COVID-19 patientswere discharged from hospitalsin Maharashtra in the last twodays, including 354 on Tuesdaywhich was the highest in oneday, Public Health MinisterRajesh Tope said on Wednesday.

The total number of coron-avirus cases that have come tolight in the state so far is 15,525,he said in a statement here.

"But we have discharged 2,819patients after recovery till today.The discharged people have tospend 14 days in mandatoryhome quarantine from the dateof discharge," he said. "The stateon Monday and Tuesday dis-charged 350 and 354 people,respectively, after recovery fromCOVID-19. This (Tuesday's fig-ure) is the highest number ofdischarged people in a single day

in the state so far," Tope said.Maharashtra reported its first

case of coronavirus infection onMarch 9, while the first patientswalked out of hospital uponrecovery on March 25.

"The government's efforts ofconcentrated medication andutmost care of patients andtheir relatives helped in increas-ing the figure of dischargedpeople," the minister added.

PNS n PANAJI

At least 4,000 Goans from 65countries have registered them-selves on the Goa NRI commis-sion's portal to come back to thecountry amid the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, state NRICommissioner NarendraSawaikar said on Wednesday.

The state NRI commission hasshared the data with the Ministryof External Affairs (MEA),Sawaikar told PTI.

Nearly 4,000 people have reg-istered themselves on the GoaNRI portal launched by thecommission. They are spreadacross 65 countries, mostly in theMiddle East and the UK, the BJPleader said.

The Goa NRI Commissionhas urged the MEA to facilitateimmediate repatriation of Goanswho are stranded abroad.

Sawaikar said Goa doesnot figure in the first phaseof the MEA's repatriationinitiative, but its natives arelikely to be brought back in

the second phase.The 4,000 people who have

registered on the portal includea sizable number of students,some who have lost their jobsand some NRIs' parents who arestranded abroad as they had trav-elled prior to the lockdown.

Sawaikar said the MEAwill give preference to thosewho have requested to comeback under compelling cir-cumstances", the criteria ofwhich will be decided as per

their guidelines.Air India will operate 64 repa-

triation flights for a week fromMay 7 while the Navy deployedtwo ships as India rolled out amassive evacuation plan onTuesday to bring back thousandsof its nationals stranded abroaddue to the coronavirus-triggeredlockdown.

From the Gulf countries toMalaysia and the UK to the US,the multi-agency operation chris-tened 'Vande Bharat Mission' will

see the state-owned airline oper-ate the non- scheduled commer-cial flights till May 13 to ferryaround 15,000 Indian nationalsfrom 12 countries.

Those availing the repatriationflights will be charged, CivilAviation Minister Hardeep SinghPuri said on Tuesday in NewDelhi, adding that private Indianairlines may join the repatriationeffort after May 13.

Lockdown: 4,000 Goans from 65countries seek to return home

PNS n WARDHA

Farmers from the border areas ofMaharashtra's Amravati districtsought Chief Minister UddhavThackeray's permission to pre-pare their land for the upcomingKharif season, as the currentCOVID-19 lockdown has pre-vented them from accessing theirfarms in Wardha.

The authorities at Wardha,Chandrapur, Amravati andYavatmal districts have sealedtheir borders to contain thespread of coronavirus, as a resultof which, farmers in the borderareas have not been able toaccess their lands.

Farmers of Haturna village inAmravati district's Varud tehsilwrote to the Chief Minister seek-ing permission to access their

farms in Wardha district's Salora,Wadhegaon, Jamgaon, Dhadi,Borgaon and Drugwada areas.

The local authorities haddenied them permission to accesstheir farms, which is why theywere forced to write to the ChiefMinister, said Baburao Meshram,one of the 55 famers who signedthe letter to Thackeray.

Maharashtra farmersseek Thackeray'snod to access land

Marathi youth can takeadvantage of migrants'return: Rohit PawarPNS n MUMBAI

The return of migrant work-ers to their native states couldlead to difficulties in resump-tion of industrial activities inMaharashtra and the Marathiyouth can take advantage ofthe opportunity, NCP MLARohit Pawar said onWednesday.

The Marathi youth shouldnot underestimate work ofany kind during the presentcrisis, Rohit Pawar, who is thegrandnephew of NCP patri-arch Sharad Pawar, said onTwitter.

Several workers/labourersare returning to their home asthe lockdown is beingrelaxed.There could be difficulty inresuming industries-businessactivities due to the absence of

the workers from other states,"he said.

But the Marathi youth cantake advantage of the oppor-tunity created after the returnof workers and not underesti-mate any work during thepresent crisis, the MLA fromKarjat-Jamkhed constituencytweeted.

29 BSF jawans testpositive in JodhpurPNS n JODHPUR

Twenty-nine BSF jawans,forming part of a companydeployed earlier in the WalledCity area in Delhi on internalsecurity duty, tested positivefor Covid-19 here onWednesday, an official of theborder guarding force said.

All these jawans had beenshifted to the SubsidiaryTraining Center (STC) of BSFon Monday from Delhi forquarantine.

“Their samples were takenon Tuesday after their arrivalat Jodhpur and had been sentto AIIMS for examination.The report was released byAIIMS on Wednesday morn-ing, in which they were test-ed positive,” the BSF officialsaid.

All of them have now beenadmitted in the AIIMS fortreatment, he added.

According to the official, allthese jawans were the part ofa BSF company, which hadbeen sent to Delhi from Jaipur

for internal security purposeand had been put up at theJama Masjid.

Some of the jawans, onduty there, had tested corona-positive, after which the entirecompany was air-lifted toJodhpur and was quarantinedat the STC considering ade-quate accommodation fortheir quarantine.

The official said the quaran-tine centre at the STC here iswell-equipped for the pur-pose and the administrationhere has been taking propercare of all the jawans.

‘Economically anti-national’: Congon raising petrol, diesel pricesPNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Wednesdaysaid it is "economically anti-national" to fleece Indians of Rs1.4 lakh crore by raising taxeson petrol and diesel, and urgedthe Centre to share 75 per centof this revenue with states sothat people are not burdened.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidwhen the entire country isfighting the COVID-19 pan-demic and its poor, includingmigrants, shopkeepers andsmall businessmen, were virtu-ally penniless, the governmentof India was "fleecing" 130crore Indians by insurmount-ably raising prices of petrol anddiesel.

"To fleece people of India inthis fashion is economicallyanti-national," he told reportersat a press conference throughvideo conferencing.

Surjewala alleged that themanner in which "illegally andforcibly" this recovery is beingmade is "inhumane, cruel andinsensitive".

"The government shouldtransfer 75 per cent of thismoney so collected throughraise in taxes to states. This willensure there is no further bur-den on people of India, by way

of more taxes on petroleumproducts by states," he said.

He said the issue was dis-cussed at a meeting of the chiefministers of Congress-ruledstates with party presidentSonia Gandhi, where everyonebesides former prime ministerManmohan Singh andCongress leader Rahul Gandhiexpressed deep concerns.

85 more BSFpersonnel testCOVID-19positivePNS n NEW DELHI

Eighty-five more personnel ofthe Border Security Force(BSF)have tested positive forcoronavirus, taking the total to154, a force official said onWednesday.

These include over 60troops, who were deployed forlaw and order duties in theJamia and Chandni Mahalarea of the national capital, andsix from the escort team of theinter-ministerial central team(IMCT) that toured WestBengal to check COVID-19containment measures in thestate. At least 37 infected per-sonnel are from the Tripurafrontier of the force.

A total of 85 new cases havebeen detected. The troops wereperforming essential and oper-ational duties, a forcespokesperson said. There were69 cases of BSF personnel test-ing positive till Tuesday andhence the total stands at 154.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A plea was filed in the DelhiHigh Court on Wednesday forearly hearing on a petition seek-ing setting up of a judicial com-mission to inquire into theDecember 2019 violence ofJamia Millia Islamia Universityprotests against the CAA.

The application for early hear-ing is listed on May 8.

Earlier the high court hadfixed for July, the hearing on themain petition, in which noticeswere issued to the Centre, AAPGovernment and Delhi Police.

The fresh application wasfiled in the pending petition byadvocate and petitioner NabilaHasan in which she has soughtaction against the police forbrutally attacking the petitioners,students and residents of JamiaMillia Islamia. The petition hashighlighted the alleged ruth-lessness, and excessive use of for-ce and aggression unleashed bypolice and paramilitary forces onstudents within the university.

The plea, filed through advo-cates Sneha Mukherjee andSiddharth Seem, said the govern-ment imposed complete lock-down across the country onMarch 24 due to the spread ofcoronavirus during which move-ment of people is restricted butseveral students from the univer-sity have been called to thepolice station and crime branch.

It said students are made to sitthere for hours in the name ofinvestigation by the police and“the harassment of the studentsat the hand of the Delhi Police

has not stopped even with thecurrent situations in the country”.

Besides the present petition inwhich an application has beenfiled for early hearing, variousother petitions were also filed,including by lawyers, students ofJMI, residents of Okhla wherethe university is located and theImam of Jama Masjid mosqueopposite Parliament House, andthey sought action includingmedical treatment and com-pensation for the students andregistration of FIRs against theerring police officers.

Plea in HC for early hearing onpetition relating to violence at Jamia PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

As India begins its biggestevacuation excercise to bringback its citizens stranded in theGulf and various countriesdue to the COVID-19 lock-down, the three airports inKerala are all set to receivearound 2,700 expatriatesin thefirst five days, beginningThursday.

Three naval ships, which-have also joined in the evacu-ation process, left for Maldivesand UAE on Tuesdayto bringback Indian citizens.

The first of the three flightsfrom the Gulf will take off fromAbu Dhabi on Thursdaywith200 passengers and touch downat the Kochi International air-port at 9.45 pm.

Jishnu, a passegerfrom AbuDhabi, who got his ticket, waselated that he would be able toreturn to his home state.

"I am very happy to have gotthe ticket. I was informed yes-terday that I could travel", hetold a television channel.

The Kochi-Doha flight of

Thursday has been re-scheduledto Saturday, CIAL sources said.

Two flights with 200 passen-gers each are scheduled toland atKozhikode airport fromDubai and Riyadh onThursday.

Another two flights areexpected at Thiruvanantha-puram on May9 and 10 fromDoha in Qatar with 200 pas-sengers each, Thiruvanantha-puram Airport DirectorC VRaveedranath said.

Arrangements are in place atKochi, Kozhikode and

Thiruvananthapuram airportsin Kerala to receive the NRKs.

For those arriving atThiruvananthapuram, quar-antine facilities have beenarrangedin six taluks to acco-modateover 11,200 people andthe government will bear theexpenses.

Hotel rooms have beenarranged for another 6400people for which they willhave to pay, a governmentpress release said.

These people will have tocomplete their observationas

per the government'sCOVID-19 protocol. Various hostels,hotels, auditoriums have beentaken for quarantine facili-tiesof the NRKs.

The Cochin InternationalAirport and Cochin Port havealso made all arrangements toreceive expatriates returningfrom the countries, ErnakulamDistrict administration said.

Thermal scanners have beenset up at the airport for thescreening of the passengers andfor quarantine facilities, while4,000 houses with water, elec-tricity and bath attached facil-ities have been arranged inErnakulam district.

From May 7 to May 13, 64flights are expected to be oper-ated from various countries toIndia to bring back expats fromthe Gulf countries, Singapore,US and UK, among others.

While all arrangements havebeen made by the state govern-ment to receive the NRKs,there is some confusion aboutthe number of days passengerswill have to undergo quaran-tine onarrival.

PNS n MATHURA

A lab is being set up at theDeen Dayal VeterinaryUniversity here for COVID-19 testing, an Uttar Pradeshminister said.

"With the opening of the labat the varsity, the time taken forgetting reports of COVID-19samples sent to J N MedicalCollege, Aligarh MuslimUniversity, would be less,"Minister for AnimalHusbandry, Fisheries andDairying Chaudhary LaxmiNarayan said. Initially, 50 sam-ples will be tested in a day.However, it will graduallyincrease to 100 or more, he said.

Chaudhary said the gov-ernment has so far estab-lished 19 COVID-19 testinglabs in the state. Dr S K Gargsaid the work in the lab willbegin after the supply ofchemicals and testing kitswill be received fromBengaluru-based firms,which is expected shortly.

Kerala airports get ready to receive expats from Gulf

COVID-19 testinglab being set upat Deen DayalUniversity

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasannounced summer vacation inschools run and aided by thegovernment from May 11 toJune 30, officials said onWednesday. The governmenthas also clarified that studentswill not be called to schools forany vacation-related activity inview of the COVID-19 situation.

"Due to ongoing COVID-19pandemic, the teaching andlearning activities in the schoolshave been suspended sinceMarch 23. The lockdown hasfurther extended upto May 1."The summer vacations in gov-ernment and government aidedschools shall be observed fromMay 11 to June 30. However,keeping in view the COVID-19pandemic, students shall not becalled to schools for any teach-ing learning activity duringsummer vacation," DoE said.

Delhi announcessummer vacationfrom May 11 toJune 30

Air India will operate64 repatriation flightsfor a week from May7 while the Navydeployed two shipsas India rolled out amassive evacuationplan on Tuesday tobring back thousandsof its nationalsstranded abroad dueto the coronavirus-triggered lockdown

The Government’s directive to allpublic and private sector employ-ees to install the Aarogya Setu appin their mobile phones has raisedeyebrows in some quarters. But the

fact is that a post-COVID world is going tobe equated with a digital society. It will be thenew normal, where the use of diverse and con-verged digital technologies will help peoplemaintain social distancing and facilitatesecured living in an age of pandemic.

The Aarogya Setu app is designed tokeep the people informed about the risk ofthem being infected with Coronavirus.Self-assessment begins with a request forinformation such as gender, full name, age,countries travelled to in the last 30 days andprofessional details. The app, which makesthe use of GPS to get the user’s location, dis-covers other available applications nearhis/her device using bluetooth. By cross-ref-erencing the location details with that ofIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR)’s database and by collecting recordsof nearby users, it does a risk assessment andreturns with a colour-coded message. Itappears that the app continuously collects theuser’s data and uploads them to aGovernment server along with a DiD,which is a unique digital id. Data in the serv-er is anonymised in such a manner that per-sonalised features are suppressed withoutaffecting the statistical features of the dataensembles.

The fact that devices exchange informa-tion, continuously collect location data ofregistered users and maintain a record of theplaces where they may have come in con-tact with other people has given rise to asense of distrust among the people. Hence,the controversy. Arguments can be drawninto two fields: One of data privacy and theother on surveillance. While debate aroundthe Aarogya Setu app is unsubstantiated andunfounded, questions related to data priva-cy will very much be a talking point in a post-COVID society.

Data is now widely being treated as thenew “oil”, “gold” and is a valuable resourcefrom the perspective of society, economy,polity, privacy and human progress. For asociety to make progress from an informa-tion age to a knowledgeable, digital world(data-driven society), the effective use of dataand information, while qualifying with pri-vacy parameters, will be a cornerstone ofpublic discourse. Privacy is as old asmankind and has a close connection withhuman dignity, freedom and independenceof an individual. Maintaining privacy will bemore challenging in an age of informed soci-ety. Data privacy is a necessity so as to pre-serve and protect personal informationthat is collected by organisations. The fearof it being used by a third party is alwaysthere.

Data privacy assumes significance aspeople live with the app economy for theentire day, every day and every hour. Digital

citizens, while accessing variousapps, give in to the consentclause and in reciprocation for-feit intimate details to data com-panies by accepting the fine printof services that they receivethrough the app. Further, sever-al devices often track our move-ments, preferences and anyinformation they can mine fromour digital existence. This with-out the consent of the user.

Let us be clear at this stagethat collecting data, however pri-vate it may be, with the user’sconsent, implicit or explicit, forany purpose and using it for dataanalytics in anonymised form isnot a breach of privacy. Ofcourse, unless the data is person-alised and shared with otherplatforms or a third party. Thisseemingly is not the case withthe Aarogya Setu app at present.

The nation has just seen thatall efforts to curb the rapidspread of the Corona pandem-ic can be seriously affected dueto contact tracing. This can beminimised with the help ofdata-driven technology that col-lects contact history of individ-uals. Undoubtedly, contact his-tory is private but is used for apublic cause. Aarogya Setuensures just that and is a proofthat India is growing to be a dig-itally matured State.

Post the COVID pandem-ic, India will witness a rise inapp-driven socio-economicactivities. Every aspect of thedigital society — spanning from

e-commerce, digital marketingand learning, digital art and cul-ture, digital banking and trans-actions, social networking andsocial media, to digitalGovernment interventions —will spread ominously.

Collection of data, private orotherwise, is inevitable andunavoidable in a data-intensiveand algorithmically governedsociety. At the same time, the useof data responsibly while alsopreserving privacy should be theorder of the day.

This brings us to an impor-tant question: Is India preparedto regulate data laws in thecyberspace? Further, are the cit-izens digitally educated tounderstand the trade-offbetween “comfort” and “luxury”while using digital technologiesor when they share their data fora purpose? Are they aware of theprivacy concerns arising there-of? These questions need to beaddressed by digital communi-ties of a post-COVID society.

India’s legal system, too,can be construed as half pre-pared to deal with concerns aris-ing out of data privacy violationin the app economy and highlyintegrated digital age, eventhough the InformationTechnology Act (2008, amend-ed in 2011) provides the neces-sary legal regime for cybersecu-rity and protecting privacy con-cerns thereof.

With changing transnation-al contours of the app economy,

where the jurisdictional function-ality of service providers is ques-tionable and operates in clouds,India needs to consolidate andstrengthen data laws on priority.

The Personal DataProtection Bill, 2019, which isstill stuck in Parliament, intendsto regulate the processing of per-sonal data of individuals (dataprincipals) by the Governmentand private entities (data fiducia-ries). The Bill must providelegal teeth to data protectionauthorities to prosecute the datafiduciaries with penal actions.Such regulation, even if passed,cannot be effectively compliantin the context of lacking digitalcitizenship practices and eti-quette.

A post-COVID society anddemocracy in India will be dig-itally driven and will be con-verged around data privacy andsecurity that should not bedevalued due to the currentpolitical bickering on the instal-lation of the Aarogya Setu app.The app has only a limited pur-pose to contain the spread of theCorona infection. At the sametime, developers of the appmust take care to ensure that thedata collected for the purpose isnot intruded, de-anonymised orexploited by any other party.

(The writer is former Deanof the School of Computer andInformation Sciences at theUniversity of Hyderabad andcurrently the Vice Chancellor ofCentral University of Rajasthan)Filmmaker and author Satyajit Ray creat-

ed the sharp-witted, well-read, analyticaland intellectual sleuth Feluda as a home-

grown counterpart to the great detectives inworld literature. Feluda wasn’t superhuman ora geek, wasn’t blessed with great tools of gim-mickry but was a simpleton with a deductivemind, one which we could relate to. He wasthe original Bengali, who simply because ofhis rootedness became a pan-Indian favourite,too. And now he seems to have inspired a test-ing kit tool in our fight against COVID-19. TwoBengal scientists at the Council for Scientific

and Industrial Research (CSIR) have developed a rapid testing strip named afterhim, which is paper-based, affordable and reliable for early detection. In con-junction with Tata Sons, CSIR is gearing up for commercial production for it tobe ready for use by the end of this month. Making the best use of the new CRISPRtechnology for mapping the genomic sequence of the novel Coronavirus andpaper strip chemistry, the testing kit can read a visible signal that can be rapid-ly assessed to establish the presence of viral infection in a sample. Unlike theantibody-based rapid test currently being used by the Government for surveil-lance in hotspots and containment zones, the IGIB diagnostic kit relies on DNA-protein interaction for successful diagnosis. The strip basically will change colour,just like a pregnancy strip does. What’s more, the results will be available in min-utes. Besides, there’s no need for any specialisation, the test can be carried outin a simple pathological lab. While the now extant RT-PCR test kits are priced at`4,500, the Feluda test strip would cost only `500 per test. Compared to theRT-PCR test for COVID-19, which takes more than a day to yield results, Feludaresults will be out in an hour, out of which 45 minutes would be just for the test-ing preparations. This will facilitate large-scale sampling, which undoubtedly ismuch needed. Currently, India is testing less than one person per 1,000 people(0.76 to be precise). The scientists prefer saliva over blood because it is easyto collect even from an elderly patient.

With nations across the world caught in a race against time to develop avaccine for the deadly Coronavirus, India, too, has been scurrying to build itsown arsenal to fight it. From laboratories coming up with promising ideas to fast-tracking the development of a vaccine and the development of rapid testing kitsby a lab in Pune, the Corona crisis may well change science for good. What ismost required though is developing a respect for scientific temperament, hold-ing talent and funding research in the country. If a virus assault of three monthscould prod home-grown scientists to find their own solutions, imagine what sus-tained encouragement and funding of R&D could do? We should keep our bestscientific minds home in a post-COVID world to build our own sufficiencies. Andbegin to collect our own patents rather than in collaboration with others.

Asurvey by an independent economicthink-tank, the Centre for MonitoringIndian Economy (CMIE), for the week

ended May 3 has estimated that unemploy-ment rate in India surged to a staggering 27.11,up from just 8.7 per cent in early March.Unemployment has always been a slow-burncrisis in India but what’s worrying is an urbanflare-up ever since the lockdown. Accordingto the latest CMIE data, unemployment ratewas the highest in urban areas, whichinclude a majority of the red zones. As against26.16 per cent for rural areas, it stood at 29.22per cent in urban India. In the previous week

ended April 26, the urban unemployment rate had stood at 21.45 per cent andthe rural unemployment rate at 20.88 per cent. The impact of the shutdown onsmall businesses and manufacturing facilities has been brutal. Several previous-ly viable, even profitable businesses have been laid low due to the COVID-19shutdown. And with it, all hopes and dreams of not just thousands of entrepre-neurs but also accountants, clerks, secretaries and more have been shattered.Companies have had to slash wage bills significantly in order to ride out the stormand “orders” to pay salaries cannot possibly be met. We understand that sev-eral unions have approached the courts, asking them to order companies to payup. Firms, too, have retaliated saying that they cannot possibly pay and that thereneeds to be a sense of rationality here. It is true that some companies have usedthe pandemic as an excuse to shut down parts of their business or to get rid ofrecalcitrant employees and are just shrugging their shoulders. That said, unionsshould also realise that several firms have seen their cash flows drop to zeroand normal salary payouts to all employees will be impossible. Instead of fight-ing fruitless cases, which will only succeed in shutting down companies, unionsneed to rally the troops and raise money from their employed members to sup-port those who are jobless. Of course, only good ones do that and in India, unionshave been in a political morass for decades.

It must be agreed that we had no other option than go for a complete shut-down in a bid to contain the disease. But this does not absolve the Government.When the scale of disruption has been such that unemployment is becomingthe norm, it calls upon the Government to intervene and respond with all theresources it has at hand to alleviate distress. Statements by the Chief EconomicAdvisor KV Subramanian, saying that there will be “no free lunch” for a stimu-lus, are extremely unhelpful and insensitive. Further, the situation conveys thatthis Government is not getting the correct advice. Maybe these words were madein response to Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee’s comments ona call with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, where he had argued for a massivestimulus. But prima facie, it is impossible to see what choice the Governmenthas if the economy is to revive. It will be expensive and will mean the suspen-sion of some big-ticket projects and investments. Possibly even a pay cut forthe Government itself. But if revenues are to rise again, the Government has tospend instead of doing public relations exercises around “Make in India.” Theneed is to sustain incomes and that calls upon the Government to save the weak-ened parts of the economy. The need for a fiscal package cannot be denied.This is the start of the seventh year of the Narendra Modi Government and theCOVID pandemic cannot be blamed on prior actions. India has a once in a life-time opportunity to attract investors and make some truly dramatic reforms. Weare letting that opportunity as well as any job of preserving jobs slip through ourfingers. We cannot allow that to happen. If for nothing else, at least for the sakeof the millions who are now unemployed.

Creation to preservation

Prevent overcrowding

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “All for a drink” (May 5). Asthe fight against COVID-19entered its third phase with theGovernment providing consider-able relaxation in lockdown curbsas part of a phase-wise exit plan,hundreds of people have been lin-ing up before Government-runliquor shops, jostling and push-ing in complete defiance of socialdistancing norms. At most places,many buyers were not even wear-ing masks. The over one-month-long nationwide lockdown toprevent the spread of the viruswill become ineffective if theGovernment does not controlsuch crowding around the liquorshops.

MN QasmiKolkata

Save the labourers

Sir — The extended lockdownhas exposed the plight of themigrant workers. India of the1960s had dignified the ruraleconomy. Rural infrastructuresupport, that would have sus-tained income levels in agro-slack

seasons, was soft-pedalled, result-ing in migration.

Now, as restless migrantstried to set off for their villages,employers leveraged the lock-down to block the exodus toensure continuity to their farmand factory outputs. This 140 mil-lion strong migrant labour isvital to our economy, yet shock-

ingly, their status remains unde-fined. China has 300 millionworkers but it provides themwith more congenial work envi-ronment. It would be a pity if wenow fail to incorporate theexploited labour in the newscheme of things.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

Sheer injustice

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Reality, not criticism” (May 5).The homecoming of migrantworkers on special trains is wel-come. But it is also the moralresponsibility of the Governmentto bear the cost of their train jour-

ney considering their tragedyand distress. It’s ironical that theGovernment could fly backstranded tourists back home forfree to display its efficiency to therest of the world.

Though after facing pressurefrom Opposition, the Centreclarified that the railways will pay85 per cent of the train fares andthe remaining 15 per cent will bepaid by the State Governments,the onus has been put on respec-tive States who are already reel-ing under tough conditions. Notto forget, there’s no accountabil-ity of the money being collectedin the name of the crisis in thePM Cares fund.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

India must retaliate

Sir — The loss of three soldiersin Jammu and Kashmir is tragic.India must retaliate with fullmight. Only immediate forcefulaction will calm the people ofIndia.

JayantVia email

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

06

Corona’s privacy concerns

ARUN K PUJARI

With changing transnational contours of the app economy, where the jurisdictional functionalityof service providers is questionable and operates in clouds, India needs to strengthen data laws

The Centre is ready to help inevery way possible — be it man-power increase, capacity build-ing, technical assistance or anykind of handholding that isrequired to manage the situation.

Union Minister—Harsh Vardhan

What would life be?Without a song or adance, what are we? So Isay thank you for themusic. For giving it tome... #music.

Actor—Deepika Padukone

Pakistanis may soon recog-nise that China seeks not apartner but a colonial vassal, the deaths of whose citizens it sees as wholly irrelevant.

Former Pentagon official—Michael Rubin

S O U N D B I T E

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

The pharma industry deserves appreciation

Governments across the world are engaged in anintense battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.Only a vaccine can be a definite and conclusive solu-

tion to help mankind return to normal life. Whoever firstdevelops a COVID vaccine will gain a huge competitiveadvantage. India, too, has the potential to develop anantidote to COVID-19. We should be proud of our biotechcompanies. Six Indian companies are in the race to makea vaccine for Coronavirus. Over 30 Indian vaccines arein different stages of development, with a few going onto the trial stages. One of them, the Serum Institute ofIndia (SII), is the world's largest vaccine manufacturerby the number of doses produced and sold globally —more than 1.5 billion so far. It is great to know that avaccine candidate, developed by the SII in partnershipwith American biotechnology firm Codagenix, has pro-gressed to the pre-clinical test phase (the animal trialphase) and is estimated to be ready by early 2022. Muchof the optimism over the vaccine stems from its report-ed success on rhesus monkeys.

The Government should empower our pharmaceu-

tical scientists and doctors, provide them with more infra-structure. We should also enhance our bio-defence mech-anism. Hospitals should be equipped well to treat patientsaffected with special pathogens in the future. In this cri-sis, pharma industries and pharmacists also deserveappreciation. They have been working tirelessly.

Ravi Teja Kathuripalli Hyderabad

COLLECTION OFDATA, PRIVATE OR

OTHERWISE, ISINEVITABLE AND

UNAVOIDABLE IN ADATA-INTENSIVE

ANDALGORITHMICALLY

GOVERNEDSOCIETY. AT THESAME TIME, THE

USE OF DATARESPONSIBLY

WHILE ALSOPRESERVING

PRIVACY SHOULDBE THE ORDER

OF THE DAY

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Feluda to the rescue

We need to know what willhappen after lockdown 3.0?The CMs need to deliberate andask as to what is the strategyof the Government to get thenation out of the lockdown?

Former Prime Minister—Manmohan Singh

Millions of Indians are out of work. We must not let themget out of hope as well. It’s time for some big-bang reforms

CSIR has developed a testing strip, named after SatyajitRay's famous sleuth, to detect COVID-19 in minutes

Cure this malaise

WE DEMAND THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE FUEL HIKE ASIT WILL MAKE FOODGRAIN, VEGETABLES AND OTHER

ITEMS OF DAILY USE COSTLIER.—DELHI BJP PRESIDENT

MANOJ TIWARI

LIFE ISN’T ALL ABOUT RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE.TOUGH TIMES NEED TOUGH SOLUTIONS. THIS HASBEEN MY LEARNING AS FINANCE MINISTER.—DELHI DEPUTY CM AND FM MANISH SISODIA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Adoctor contracted COVID-19 from a patientand succumbed to the virus on April 19 inChennai. The funeral of the doctor was

stopped by residents who assembled in large num-bers to oppose it. The Madras High Court, takingsuo moto cognisance of the despicable incident, saidthat Article 21 of the Constitution, which protectsthe life and personal liberty of all persons, includeswithin its ambit the right to a decent burial. The courtsaid that this doctor was deprived of his right to havea decent burial.

In another incident in Meghalaya, the local gov-erning bodies known as Durbar Shnong preventedthe cremation of a COVID-19 infected doctor.Consequently, the Meghalaya Bar Association fileda Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court,against the State and local bodies. The court notedthat the State authorities handled the matter in aninept way and the obstructive conduct of the DurbarShnong would shock the conscience of every right-thinking individual.

The contemptible action of various groups toobstruct the dignified interment of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals has outraged the medicalfraternity and all citizens with a conscience. On April20, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said thatobjections to proper funerals of doctors and otherhealth workers, dying in the line of pandemic duty,is the last straw. The IMA demanded a specialCentral law to take stringent action against those whoindulge in violence against healthcare professionalsand hospitals. The IMA called for a “white alert”on April 22 and sought to declare April 23 as a “blackday” if its demands to protect the serving medicalfraternity were not met.

Soon after, the Union Cabinet passed theEpidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020which was then signed by the President. TheMinistry of Health and Family Welfare intended theOrdinance to ensure “zero tolerance” to any formof violence against healthcare professionals and dam-age to property. Significantly, in 2019 the HealthcareServices Personnel and Clinical Establishments(Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property)Bill, drafted by the Health Ministry to contain vio-lence against doctors, was rejected by the HomeMinistry, saying that there cannot be a separate leg-islation to protect the members of a particular pro-fession.

Hopefully, this Ordinance will make up for thepast errors and infuse confidence in the healthcarecommunity, that is on the frontline in our war againstthe pandemic. Though the passing of the Ordinanceitself is a positive decision by the Government, themoot question is whether the new law is adequateto protect doctors and other healthcare workers?

According to the Ordinance, an “act of violence”includes any of the following acts committedagainst healthcare personnel: Harassment impact-ing living or working conditions; harm, injury ordanger to life; obstruction in the discharge of dutiesand loss or damage to the property or documentsof the healthcare personnel.

Property is defined to include: Clinical estab-lishment; quarantine facility; mobile medical unit,and other property in which a healthcare worker hasa direct interest. Further, “healthcare personnel” arepeople, who while carrying out their duties in rela-tion to countering the epidemic, may come in directcontact with affected patients and thereby are at therisk of being impacted by such disease and includeany public and clinical healthcare providers such as

doctors, nurses, paramedical staff andcommunity health workers. The Ministryclaimed that while the citizens fully coop-erated with healthcare personnel most ofthe time, there were sporadic incidents ofviolence that demoralised the medical fra-ternity fighting the contagion. Therefore,it was felt that separate and stringent pro-visions for emergent times were neededto act as effective deterrents to any suchincidents of violence.

Though the Ministry makes tallclaims of zero tolerance, with very highaspirations of pacifying a demoralised andshaken medical fraternity, the Ordinancedoes not address the issue of attacks onhealthcare workers in normal circum-stances, after the pandemic is over.Assaults on them existed globally, longbefore COVID-19 reared its ugly head.Numerous pleas to protect medical staffhave fallen on deaf ears. According to theIMA, over 75 per cent of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals have faced vio-lence at work.

In 2012, a pregnant woman withobstetric complications died in Tuticorin.In retaliation, the attending doctor waskilled by the enraged husband. This trig-gered a call for a strike by the Tamil NaduGovernment Doctors’ Association. TheIMA has demanded that hospitals bedeclared as “protected zones” and calledfor strict implementation of laws in casesof violence against health professionals.

In 2014, angry relatives of a 14-year-old boy, who was declared “broughtdead” at a private hospital in Bathinda,Punjab, went on a rampage. They dam-aged the nursing home and burnt downthe doctor’s house. The Punjab StateChapter of the IMA demanded strictaction against those responsible for dam-aging the nursing home and the house ofthe doctor. Angry relatives of patients arenot the only ones who oppress medicalprofessionals, the Government set-up is

also equally guilty. Dr Indranil Khan, anoncologist, faced harassment after he post-ed images of doctors wearing raincoats ina COVID-19 ward of a Government hos-pital on social media. Police detained DrKhan, charged him with causing commu-nal disharmony and criminal intimidationand confiscated his phone.

A writ petition against his harassmentby the police was filed before the CalcuttaHigh Court. Justice Prasanna Mukherji ofthe Calcutta High Court said that freedomof speech and expression, which is grant-ed under Article 19 of the Constitution,has to be scrupulously upheld by the State.The court said that if an expression ofopinion brings the Government into dis-repute, it cannot defend the allegation byintimidation of the person expressing theopinion by subjecting him to prolongedinterrogation, threatening arrest, seizinghis mobile phone and SIM card.

In another incident, Dr PiyushPushkar Singh, who complained about theshortage of equipment and protectivemasks, was terminated by the Hindu RaoHospital for bringing disrepute to the insti-tution on April 15. Clearly, the EpidemicDiseases Ordinance, 2020, which is stat-ed to ensure the safety of healthcare pro-fessionals is not designed to protect DrKhan and Dr Singh.

Sadly, the COVID-19 outbreak led toa rash of attacks against doctors and otherhealth workers. Healthcare personneldeployed in rural areas were beaten andstopped from entering the villages and for“violating” the lockdown while going towork. The hurried promulgation of theOrdinance appears to be a knee-jerk reac-tion by the Government. First, theMinistry’s claim that the citizens fullycooperated with the healthcare workers isbelied by its own statement that incidentsof violence have occurred which demor-alised the medical fraternity. Second, theOrdinance only “protects” healthcare

personnel in an epidemic and not in gen-eral conditions. Therefore, this Ordinancedoes not afford any protection to the med-ical fraternity in a non-epidemic situation.

According to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), health workersmust be provided with training on infec-tion prevention, given Personal ProtectionEquipment and technical updates. Theymust have a blame-free environment toreport on incidents such as exposure toblood or bodily fluids or violence.

The right to health i.e. the right to livein a hygienic and safe environment,flows from Article 21. According toArticle 47 the improvement of publichealth is the primary duty of the State.Justice Chandrachud said under Article21, the right to life is meaningless unlessaccompanied by the guarantee of certainconcomitant rights including, but not lim-ited to, the right to health. The right tohealth is understood to be indispensableto a life of dignity, well-being and includes,for instance, the right to emergencymedical care and the right to maintenanceand improvement of public health. In thecurrent situation, with the need to have aconducive and safe environment formedical professionals and the responsibil-ity of the State to provide for public health,the Government will be well-advised totake all steps to protect the medical fra-ternity from any form of lawlessness. TheCentre must consider enacting a stand-alone law that will enable hospitals andmedical personnel to work in a safe envi-ronment at all times, so as to attain theConstitutional aspiration of right tohealth for all citizens. While social distanc-ing is being advocated, medical profession-als do not have the privilege of workingremotely. The best form of applause to givethe doctors and medical personnel is togive them a safe working environment.

(The writer is Advocate Partner in alaw firm)

The contemptible action of people to obstruct the dignified interment of doctors and violenceagainst health workers battling the pandemic has outraged the medical fraternity and most citizens

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

A very riskyproposition

KOTA SRIRAJ

The concept of ‘immunity passports’ comeswith practical difficulties and a lack of

sufficient scientific backing

ROBIN R DAVID

THOUGH THEMINISTRY MAKES

TALL CLAIMS OFZERO TOLERANCE,

WITH VERY HIGHASPIRATIONS OF

PACIFYING ADEMORALISED AND

SHAKEN MEDICALFRATERNITY, THE2020 ORDINANCE

DOES NOT ADDRESSTHE ISSUE OF

ATTACKS ON HEALTHWORKERS IN

NORMALCIRCUMSTANCES

AFTER THEPANDEMIC IS OVER.ASSAULTS ON THEMEXISTED GLOBALLY,

LONG BEFORECOVID-19 REARED

ITS UGLY HEAD.NUMEROUS PLEAS

TO PROTECTMEDICAL STAFF

HAVE FALLEN ONDEAF EARS.

ACCORDING TO THEIMA, OVER

75 PER CENT OFDOCTORS AND

OTHER HEALTHCAREPROFESSIONALS

HAVE FACEDVIOLENCE AT WORK

With May 17 just ten days away, 1.3 billion people are wait-ing with bated breath to see if the Government is able tousher in a graded relaxation of the 53-day-long lockdown

that India is currently under. The Government, on its part, is mullinghow to gradually open up the nation and the economy without result-ing in a fresh outbreak of Coronavirus cases.

As of now, the number of cases in the country is inching towardsthe 50,000 mark as States registered 2,958 fresh Coronavirus casesin the last 24 hours. There have been 1,694 casualties till now asthe toll zoomed to 126 in one day across the country.

Amid this spike, the Centre’s dilemma is made worse by theassessments made by British brokerage firm Barclays, which peggedlosses to the Indian economy at $120 billion or four per cent of theGross Domestic Product (GDP), putting more pressure on theGovernment to ease the lockdown, at least on commerce, at theearliest.

If the recent surge in cases is anything to go by, India still hasa long way to go before it can claim to have a grip on COVID-19,unlike New Zealand which has successfully eliminated the virus.According to Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, NewZealand, this feat was achieved through rapid preventive measures,widespread testing and scientific research-based methodologies.

India needs to script its own success story in controlling thevirus on one hand and revivifying the economy on the other hand.This naturally needs an immediate restoration of business and com-mercial activities but this is fraught with unimaginable risks to pub-lic health. As it is, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have con-tinued to report a high number of COVID-19 cases while Delhi’sCoronavirus count reached 5,000 after a deadly spike on May 4.But despite the doom and gloom scenario, the economy has to beopened up anyhow. These exasperating conditions have led somecountries to explore the option of giving “immunity passports” or“risk-free certificates” to those who were infected with COVID-19but recovered from it.

These passports or certificates issued by the Government arebeing visualised as a way to help people go to work and, in theprocess, get the economy moving again. In order to have an immu-nity passport, one would have to be reliably tested for antibodiesand specific proteins that could help stall and stop the growth ofthe COVID-19 infection. This concept quickly caught the imagina-tion of many nations stuck in various levels of the lockdown as itpresented a plausible exit strategy from the existing limbo. But theconcept of immunity passports has its own share of practical dif-ficulties and lack of sufficient scientific backing, all of which makeit a major hit or miss initiative.

The foremost challenge for the immunity passport strategy isthat the antibody testing procedures across the world are in theirformative stages. Even the home-testing kits for the same are notup to the mark in terms of quality and require strict following ofinstructions as per the kit.

Then there is also the issue of people who have fought off thedisease initially having got infected again, whereupon their immu-nity failed. This also undermines the concept of immunity pass-ports, as once the person is granted an immunity certificate, thereis no guaranteeing that s/he will not get infected again, thereby pos-ing a threat of community transmission.

The issuance of an immunity passport will also cause socio-logical issues as it demarcates “healthy” people from “sick” peo-ple who have no option but to wait for vaccines or drugs to be devel-oped.

The novel Coronavirus is a “new” strain and has no precedent’nobody knows how and when it ends and the level of immunityneeded to tackle it. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict how andwhen an infected person can be pronounced safe. Basing immu-nity-related conclusions on still-developing antibody testingprocesses for a disease that has evolved out of a new strain is noth-ing but speculation, which is not advisable. The lockdown of theglobal economy has dealt a major blow to incomes. However, panic-led initiatives to open the economy can lead to a major loss of lives,which are more precious than monetary gains.

India must follow the trio of best practices adopted by NewZealand, wherein rapid isolation measures for hotspots, widest pos-sible population testing using the latest scientific methodology iscombined with a calibrated easing of activities for green and orangezones. It must also ensure that the identified hotspots or red zonesstay fully quarantined. India must also encourage the scientificresearch community to identify measures to enhance and bolstercell-level immunity in human bodies as that alone provides the firstline of defence against the COVID-19 virus.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

The Indian subcontinent hasalways been extremely proneto natural disasters like floods,

earthquakes, landslides, avalanchesand storms. Statistics published inmedia reports suggest that post-Independence, till 2017, India haswitnessed 529 natural disasters,leaving aside those caused bydroughts, epidemics and extremetemperature. These disasters haveresulted in nearly 2,00,000 deathsand left hundreds of millions affect-ed in the country.

In all of these incidents, our

armed forces have been employedfor conduct of HumanitarianAssistance and Disaster Relief(HADR) missions, more often thannot, as the key nodal agency.

It, therefore, comes as a majorsurprise to all, especially the mili-tary leadership, when they findthemselves and the military on thefringes in this ongoing war againstthe pandemic, tasked with provid-ing only limited assistance on theperiphery.

That apparently appears to havebecome a source of immense anxi-ety and insecurity among theService Chiefs, forcing them to calla press conference to announce aseries of displays by elements of thethree Services and the Coast Guardto honour our “Corona warriors.”

If, on the other hand, these werethe directions of the Governmentthat they were complying with —which is also a major possibility —it shows them up as weak, only aim-ing to please their political bosses in

hopes of future rewards.To my mind, there appears to be

no other reasonable explanation forthis bizarre exercise, which obvious-ly appears to have, at least outward-ly, paid them some dividends, if thePrime Minister’s tweet means any-thing.

Let us not get it wrong. Thereis indeed much to be appreciative of,inasmuch as such displays gotowards building the morale of the“Corona warriors.” But did it reallyrequire the Chief of Defence Staffand the three Service Chiefs to makethe announcement? Is that whatthey have been reduced to? For thatmatter, was the scale that thismorale-boosting exercise wasundertaken at really necessary?

In such troubled times, sub-stance over showmanship wouldhave been better appreciated. Muchof that time, money and effort, couldand should, have been better utilisedin providing assistance to the vastnumbers of our citizenry who have

been rendered utterly destitute,hungry, without shelter and unableto reach their homes because of anill-planned and poorly-executednationwide lockdown.

Feeding the hungry, providingtented shelters for the homeless ortransport for the weary are not mat-ters that require approval from thehighest levels, just a humane bent ofmind at the local level. That in itselfwould have garnered enough good-will among the populace, withoutthis grasping for publicity that wewitnessed on television.

It should be seen as a positivestep that our military has not beencalled out in this disaster, except ofcourse for providing medical assis-tance where necessary. This suggeststhat our civil administration isfinally maturing and waking up toits duties, however poor its perfor-mance might have been this timearound.

In all fairness, this particulardisaster has been on an unprece-

dented scale. We neither anticipat-ed it nor were we prepared ortrained for it and errors were to beexpected.

It has been the bane of the mil-itary in the past that whenever a dis-aster occurred, it invariably led tothe civil administration and itsagencies all but abdicating theirresponsibilities, leaving it to the mil-itary to take over the process, coor-dinate and provide the requiredassistance. Examples are too numer-ous to quote but the floods that dev-astated Uttarakhand and Kashmir,in the past, best illustrate this phe-nomenon.

Clearly, as we look at and assessthe security environment in ourregion, there can be little doubt thatour military must take all necessaryprecautions to keep its units out ofharm’s way so that they can meettheir constitutional obligations andsuccessfully protect our sovereign-ty at a moment’s notice. Static unitsand those uncommitted opera-

tionally, spread out all over thecountry could have been utilised ina number of ways to provide suc-cour to our hard-pressed brethren.As a matter of fact, it was the bound-en duty of our Service Chiefs to haveinterceded with the Prime Ministerand have convinced him of the enor-mous range of assistance that ourforces were capable of providing.

Obviously the lack of PersonalProtection Equipment (PPE) with-in the forces may well have been animportant consideration for thehierarchy in whatever suggestionsthey may have made. In any case, the“Corona warriors” would have beenmore appreciative if they had beenprovided with PPE and protectionfrom rampaging mobs instead.

In fact, within the veteran com-munity, leaving aside a few, thesetheatrics have been seen as contraryto service norms and ethics, as theformer Naval chief, AdmiralLaxminarayan Ramdas’, article inone of our dailies makes it amply

clear.Instead of copying what the US

Air Force Aerobatics Teams did atNew York, we could have looked atthe more innovative ways theSpanish military was used to man-ufacture PPE. It may come as a sur-prise but various Ordnance Corpsestablishments within the Armyare authorised tailors and equipmentrepairers, who could have beengainfully employed to producemasks and other equipment.

Given the massive deficiency inPPE suits, even the OrdnanceParachute Factory at Kanpur couldhave been modified quickly tomass-produce them. An opportuni-ty to do good was truly squandered,leaving behind only a bitter taste inthe mouth that is unlikely to disap-pear any time soon.

(The author, a military veteranis a Consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation and a SeniorVisiting Fellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai)

Substance over showmanship neededThe ‘Corona warriors’ would have been much more appreciative if they had been provided with PPE and protection

from rampaging mobs by the military. Our Ordnance factories could have been used to mass-produce such gear

DEEPAK SINHA

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS nMUMBAI

The nationwide lockdown dueto the spread of COVID-19pandemic has resulted in 62per cent decline in hiringactivities in April compared tothe same month last year,according to a report. Hiringactivities dropped to 951 lastmonth from 2,477 in April2019, according to the NaukriJobSpeak Index.

The April 2020 decline inhiring is led by sectors likehotel/restaurant/travel/airlines(-91 per cent), auto/ancillary (-82 per cent), retail (-77 percent) and accounting/finance(-70 per cent). The NaukriJobSpeak is a monthly Indexwhich calculates and recordshiring activity based on joblistings on Naukri.com website.

New jobs for professionals inthe ticketing/travel/airlines,hotel/restaurants andHR/administration sectors wit-nessed a dip of 95 per cent, 89per cent and 78 per cent,respectively. Functional roles inpurchase/supply chain (-70 per

cent), marketing/advertising (-69 per cent), sales/businessdevelopment (-69 per cent)and accounts/finance (-68 percent) also witnessed a steepdecline. However, new jobs forprofessionals in the IT-soft-ware (-51 per cent),BPO/ITES/KPO (-54 per cent)pharma/biotech/ healthcare (-57 per cent) and teaching/edu-cation (-56 per cent) sectorswere less impacted as comparedto other sectors in April 2020.

The job market across citiesregistered a double-digit dip inhiring mainly led by metroswhere Delhi dipped by 70 percent followed by Chennai (-62per cent), Kolkata (-60 per cent)and Mumbai (-60 per cent).

There was an across the

board decline in hiring at var-ied experience levels with theentry-level experience bands (0to 3 years) witnessing thesharpest decline of 67 percent. “The disruption causedby the COVID-19 pandemiccontinues to impact the hiringactivities leading to a 62 percent decline in April' 2020.

While hotel/restaurant/trav-el/airlines have been signifi-cantly impacted, industrieslike IT-software/software ser-vices, pharma/biotech/clinicalresearch and insurance havebeen less impacted,”Naukri.com Chief BusinessOfficer Pawan Goyal added.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Adani EnterprisesQ4 net profitdeclines 64 pc toRs 96.93 cr

New Delhi: Honda Cars IndiaLtd (HCIL) on Wednesday saidlack of required workforce ismaking it difficult for thecompany to resumeoperations at its twomanufacturing plants, butadded that its dealerships havestarted to open across thecountry. The automaker, whichsells models like City andAmaze, said that with newrelaxations rolled out by thegovernment, it is planning torestart operations at Tapukaraplant in Rajasthan sometimenext week. "However, in orderto resume production even atlower level and in single shift,we require manpower which isliving in the neighbourhoodand also from nearby areas ofDharuhera, Rewari etc.," HCILSenior Vice President andDirector, (Marketing and Sales)Rajesh Goel told.

Lack of manpowerhampering plans torestart plants: Honda

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union government willgain close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore inadditional revenues this fiscalfrom a record hike in excise dutyon petrol and diesel that haspushed total incidence of taxa-tion on auto fuels to 70 per centof the price. Late on Tuesdayevening, the government hikedexcise duty on petrol by Rs 10 perlitre and that on diesel by Rs 13a litre to mop up gains arisingfrom international oil pricesfalling to a two-decade low.

Petrol price remainedunchanged at Rs 71.26 a litre anddiesel at Rs 69.39 as state-ownedoil firms set off the excise dutyhike against gains they accruedfrom fall in international oilrates.

This is the second hike inexcise duty in less than twomonths and will help the govern-ment garner over Rs 1.7 lakhcrore in additional revenuesannually at 2019-20 level of con-sumption, industry officials said.

Considering the slump in con-sumption due to travel restric-tions imposed by coronaviruslockdown, the gains in theremaining 11 months of thecurrent fiscal year (April 2020 to

March 2021) will be close to Rs1.6 lakh crore, they said.

Together with Rs 39,000 crorein annual revenues gained fromthe March 14 excise duty hike ofRs 3 per litre each on petrol and

diesel, the government stands togain as much as Rs 2 lakh crore.After the excise duty hike, taxes- both central excise and stateVAT) - make up for 70 per centof the price of petrol and diesel.A litre of petrol costs only Rs18.28 per litre in Delhi but afterincluding excise duty (Rs 32.98),dealer commission (Rs 3.56)and VAT (Rs 16.44) the price forconsumer comes to Rs 71.26 alitre.

Similarly, a litre of diesel costsonly Rs 18.78 but after includingexcise duty (Rs 31.83), dealercommission (Rs 2.52) and VAT(Rs 16.26), it is priced at Rs 69.39for consumers. State-owned fuelretailing companies, Indian OilCorp (IOC), Bharat PetroleumCorp Ltd (BPCL) and HindustanPetroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) hadfrozen petrol and diesel pricessince March 16, anticipating thegovernment move and will nowset off gains they accrued fromthe continuing drop in interna-tional oil prices against the exciseduty hike.

Maruti reopens 600 dealerships, with new norms PNS n NEW DELHI

The country's largest carmak-er Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)on Wednesday said it has re-opened 600 dealerships whichwere closed due to coron-avirus-led lockdown, and haseven started deliveries of thevehicles.

The auto major said it hasput in place a comprehensivestandard operating procedure(SoP) across its sales outletsand reinforced digital infra-structure for vehicle purchaseamid COVID-19 pandemic.

"Over the last few days wehave been able to make 600-odd dealerships operationalacross the country," MSIExecutive Director, Marketingand Sales Shashank Srivastava

told PTI.He said that dealers have

applied for permissions toopen up in states where suchclearances are mandatory.

The company, which hasaround 3,080 dealershipsacross 1,960 cities and towns in

the country, has managed toopen 474 Arena outlets, 80Nexa dealerships and 45 com-mercial vehicle sales outlets.

The company has also start-ed deliveries of cars with 55units having already been dis-patched over the last few days,

Srivastava said.When asked about the time-

frame of commencing opera-tions across the company'sentire sales network, he said, "Itwill depend on how soon weget approvals from respectivestate governments."

The company has enoughstock with dealers to take careof the deliveries at the moment,he added.

Operations at the firm'smanufacturing plants remainssuspended as of now.

Further, MSI ManagingDirector and CEO KenichiAyukawa said, "All our dealer-ships have put in place steps toensure complete safety, hygieneand sanitisation of all touch-points". The steps are aimed atremoving hesitancy on thepart of buyers to visit theshowrooms to take delivery oftheir vehicles.

The COVID-19 SoPdesigned by the companyencapsulates all the facets ofcustomer interactions.

The auto major said it has put in place acomprehensive standard operatingprocedure (SoP) across its sales outletsand reinforced digital infrastructure forvehicle purchase amid COVID-19 pandemic

PNS n FRANKFURT

Automaker BMW saw netprofit fall slightly in the firstquarter from a year earlier,when the company had a largeone-time expense. The compa-ny said it expected earnings todeteriorate during the firsthalf of this year due to thecoronavirus lockdowns andpredicted the entire autoindustry would be held back bythe outbreak “for quite sometime to come.” The companysaid that it remained financial-ly solid with 19 billion euros($21 billion) in cash at the endof the first quarter.

Net profit fell 2.4% to 574million euros ($620 million) inthe first three months of theyear, down from 588 millioneuros in the first quarter of2019, the company saidWednesday. The year-earlierfigure was lowered by a 1.4-bil-lion euro charge stemmingfrom a European Union anti-

trust case. Car sales fell 21% inthe quarter as first China andthen Europe and the UnitedStates saw dealerships closedduring the outbreak.

Earnings were supportedby a favourable product mix inwhich vehicles with higherprofit margins predominated.

It said sales this year wouldbe substantially below lastyear's and that a quick recov-ery “is unlikely” as the situa-tion would only begin to sta-bilize in the third quarter.

The company said it expect-ed profit margins of 0%-3% forthe full year, cut from an ear-lier outlook of 2%-4%.

New Delhi: Adani Enterpriseson Wednesday reported a63.57 per cent decline inconsolidated profit to Rs96.93 crore for the fourthquarter ended March 31. TheGautam Adani-led companyhad clocked a consolidatedprofit of Rs 266.09 crore forthe corresponding quarter ayear-ago, the company said ina BSE filing. Its consolidatedtotal income income for thequarter increased by 2 percent to Rs 13,698 crores asagainst Rs 13,473 croreduring the year-ago period.The total expenses of thecompany rose to Rs13,711.98 crore during thequarter under review asagainst Rs 12,975.30 crore inthe same period previousfiscal. The company in astatement said: "The PATattributable to owners forQ4FY 20 was Rs 61 crores vsRs 283 crores in Q4 FY 19"."Adani Enterprises Limited hasalways strived towards nationbuilding through its businessendeavours which focuses oncreating excellentinfrastructure capabilities toaccelerate the growth.

Petrol price remained unchanged at Rs71.26 a litre and diesel at Rs 69.39 as state-owned oil firms set off the excise duty hikeagainst gains they accrued from fall ininternational oil rates

PNS n NEW DELHI

Capital markets regulator Sebihas directed eight entities tomake an open offer to share-holders of KanchanInternational Ltd.

The market regulator alsodirected the entities to pay 10per cent interest along with theoffer price to shareholders whowere holding shares at thetime when the company violat-ed the Sebi norms.

The entities have been askedto make the open offer within45 days from the date whenthe coronavirus-induced lock-down would be lifted.

The order would come intoforce on May 18, 2020 or atthe end of the lockdown peri-od, if the lockdown is furtherextended beyond May 17,2020, Sebi said.

The eight entities that havebeen asked to make the openoffer are - Kanchan KitchenAid Pvt Ltd, Dinesh C.Khimavat, Usha D. Khimavat,

Kanchan C. Khimavat, BharatPipalia, Mahendra DKhimawat, Chetan Khimavatand Marlex Products Ltd. Also,the restraint imposed uponthe entities earlier, from access-ing the securities market, shallstand relaxed only for the pur-pose of making a publicannouncement to acquire

shares of the company.Sebi noted that there was a

change in the shareholding ofthe promoter and promotergroup entities due to sale ofshares or off market transfer ofshares by these entities and theshare capital of the companyalso changed due to conversionof warrants into equity share.

India Sotheby's Realty namesVineet Nanda as director PNS n NEW DELHI

India Sotheby's InternationalRealty on Wednesday said ithas appointed Vineet Nandaas director - new projects.Nanda is an industry veteranwith more than three decadesof experience.Earlier he was with Omaxe,

Central Park and M3M. Hehas also worked with UshaInternational at a nationalhead position.

India Sotheby'sInternational Realty CEOAmit Goyal said, "Vineetcomes with extensive experi-ence in selling residentialinventory in the NCR and

will assist with our KeystoneProgram for new develop-ments.

Post COVID-19 we feelthat most mid-sized develop-ers will outsource their salesand marketing piece to pro-fessionals like us, as is thecase in most developed mar-kets globally. We havealready been approached byseveral reputed developersto initiate the discussions".

India Sotheby'sInternational Realty, anexclusive master franchisee ofUS-based Sotheby'sInternational Realty, is intoadvisory services for luxuryproperties.

SBI scouts for PRagency to devise brandbuilding strategiesPNS n NEW DELHI

As part of the brand buildingexercise, the State Bank ofIndia (SBI) is looking for apublic relations agency to helpit become the preferred choiceof customers for theirbanking needs.

The country'slargest lender, SBIhas a network ofmore than 22,000branches spreadacross India. It isalso present in over30 countries.

"SBI is looking toengage with a pub-lic relations agency forproviding public relation ser-vices (conceptualisation andimplementation/execution ofpublic relations campaigns)," itsaid in a request for proposal(RFP).

In its RFP document for

selection of a PR agency, thebank said it aspires to give animpetus to its marketing effortsto develop a highly favourablebrand perception from what itis today, and at the same time,the lender endeavours to

become the preferredchoice of cus-tomers.

The selectedagency will beresponsible fordeveloping andimplementing pub-lic relation activi-ties to be organisedby the bank.

The agency mayalso be required to

engage with any specialist ser-vice providers such as film pro-duction house, event venues,travel agents, or other relevantservice providers to deliverholistic solutions, the docu-ment said.

The order would come into force on May18, 2020 or at the end of the lockdownperiod, if the lockdown is further extendedbeyond May 17, 2020, Sebi said

Sebi asks 8 entities to make open offerto Kanchan International shareholders

Naspers-backed Dot sets Dec-endtarget to digitise 5 L tradersPNS n NEW DELHI

South African internet firmNaspers-backed Dot plans todigitize around 5 lakh mer-chants and facilitate 10 lakhtransactions per day by theend of this year, a seniorcompany official said onWednesday. The companyhas raised around Rs 60 crorein a round led by Naspers firmPayu Fintech Investments fordeveloping QR code-basedcontactless commerce tech-nology and digitise merchantsacross the country, Dotfounder Shailaz Nag told PTI.

Naspers has invested inseveral Indian firms, includ-ing Swiggy, Byju's, OLX andMakeMyTrip.

Nag said Dot has developedcontactless commerce tech-nology which does away withthe need for people to queueup at any eatery or whileshopping.

"The entire catalogue of amerchant can be accessed bya QR code scanning andtransaction can be made on

that digital catalogue. There isalso no need for customers todownload separate apps forQR code scanning. Around2,500 large format retailershave started using it and weplan to take it to around 5 lakhmerchants by year end," Nagsaid.

The company starteddeployment of the technolo-gy at food outlets l ikeHaldiram's, Social, Chili's,Cafe Delhi Heights, Fab Cafeas well as retail brands, and isnow planning to reach out toother merchants for their digi-tisation.

"Our focus is also veryclear. We aren't giving any appor website to offline retailersto start running to becomedigital. Our goal is to provide

a digital commerce platformto offline merchants and usechannels like WhatsApp,Google, UPI, net banking etcfor post transaction engage-ments with the end user,"Nag said.

Compainesadivsed extradillegence inCovid-19 relief PNSnMUMBAI

With an increasing numberof corporates mobilisingresources to support the gov-ernment address theCOVID-19 threat, there is agreater need for due diligenceby companies on the partnersthey choose to work with toimplement the relief mea-sures, consultancy firm EYsaid on Wednesday.

Engagement with anunknown third party canexpose corporates to bothfinancial and reputationalrisks, EY warned in a reportfollowing a survey onCorporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) trends.

"In the current pandemicstage, wherein corporates aremobilising resources to sup-port the Government addressthe immediate threat, theneed of diligence cannot beoveremphasised," the reportsaid.

Mercedes-BenzIndia restartsproduction atplant in PunePNS n NEW DELHI

Mercedes-Benz India onWednesday said it hasresumed production at itsmanufacturing facility inChakan, Pune.

The production has com-menced in a graded mannerfollowing directives from thegovernment of Maharashtrato reopen and resume oper-ations, the company said in astatement. The company willplan a gradual ramp-up incoming weeks dependingcompletely on the evolvingcurrent situation, which isbeing monitored closely bythe leadership team,Mercedes-Benz India added.

"The production has begunwith only the essential staff atthe production facility, adher-ing to all the required socialdistancing protocols, andmandated safety and sanitiza-tion measures implement-ed," it said.

BMW: Outbreak will slow autoindustry 'for quite some time'

UP hikes petrolprice by Rs 2/L,diesel by Rs 1/LPNSn LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment on Wednesdayapproved a hike in the pricesof petrol and diesel, a stateminister said. Briefingreporters after the state cab-inet meeting here, UttarPradesh Finance ministerSuresh Khanna said, "TheUP government hasincreased the price of petrolby Rs 2 per litre, and that ofdiesel by Rs 1 per litre."

He added, "Petrol will nowcost Rs 73.91 per litre in UP,while diesel will be availableat Rs 63.86 per litre.

Centre to get Rs 1.6 L-cr fromrecord excise duty hike on fuel

Sensex rises 232 points ofback of bank, auto stocksPNSnMUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexended 232 points higher after asee-saw session on Wednesday,led by gains in banking, financeand auto stocks despite risingconcerns over the country'seconomic outlook as COVID-19 cases spike. After swingingover 800 points during the day,the 30-share index closed 232.24points or 0.74 per cent higher at31,685.75.

On similar lines, the NSENifty rose 65.30 points, or 0.71per cent, to finish at 9,270.90.

M&M was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, rallying over 5per cent, followed by BajajFinance, HDFC Bank, ICICIBank, Bharti Airtel and HeroMotoCorp. On the other hand,ITC cracked over 5 per cent.HUL, TCS, Titan and Infosystoo ended in the red.

According to traders, eco-nomic uncertainty due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, mutedcorporate earnings and weak

macroeconomic data are keep-ing investors wary.

In India, the death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 1,694 and thenumber of cases climbed to49,391, according to the healthministry. Globally, the numberof cases linked to the disease hascrossed 36.63 lakh and the deathtoll has topped 2.57 lakh.

Meanwhile, bourses inShanghai, Hong Kong and Seoulsettled with significant gains,while those in Tokyo were closedfor a holiday.

"The entire catalo-gue of a merchantcan be accessed bya QR code scanningand transaction canbe made on thatdigital catalogue.There is also noneed for customersto download sepa-rate apps for QRcode scanning.Around 2,500 largeformat retailers havestarted using it andwe plan to take it toaround 5 lakhmerchants by yearend," Nag said

Hiring during April dipsby 62% due to lockdown

The NaukriJobSpeak is amonthly Index whichcalculates andrecords hiringactivity based on joblistings onNaukri.com website

M&M was the topgainer in theSensex pack,rallying over 5per cent,followed by BajajFinance, HDFCBank, ICICI Bank,Bharti Airtel andHero MotoCorp

stablished in1989, theDoctors Colonyin Saroornagarwas declaredone of the best

colonies in East Zone by theGreater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation.With over three decades, thecolony is inspiring manyother welfare associations invarious ways. The colony is

spread across more thanfive acres and has around40 families of doctors liv-

ing here. Not only doctors,but the colony also has peo-ple of various other profes-sions including engineers,staying here.

Speaking to The Pioneer,

Dr D Ramulu, President ofDoctors Colony says, “Ourcolony was established in1989 by Andhra PradeshMedical Officers HousingSociety. Around 40 familiesof doctors are living here.Our colony is known for itscleanliness and greeneryand was appreciated by theGreater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation forour efforts to make ourcolony beautiful. To get ridof the garbage, we alwaysseparate waste into dry andwet and are working withthe GHMC. We teach ourcolony members about theimportance of putting dryand wet waste into separatebins. Our residents are very

active and always followcleanliness measures.”

The colony has a separatecommunity hall to conductvarious activities. He adds,“We have established a sepa-rate community hall in ourcolony to conduct variousactivities. Every year, all ofour residents participate inIndependence Day andRepublic Day and othernational events. We alsoconduct some games duringthese days to indulge ourmembers in various activi-ties.”

“We celebrate festivals likeSrirama Navami, Udagi, andothers with oneness.Celebrating our festivalswith people gives us utmost

happiness,” he says. The colony has a separate

park for residents to spendquality time. He shares,“Our park is filled withgreenery and it is the bestplace for us to hangout.People feel relaxed whenthey visit our colony park.We spend time here withour colony members aboutdiscussing various nationalissues and other topics.”

He said that the colonyalways gives priority tosenior citizens and estab-lished a separate buildingfor them. He adds, “Seniorcitizens guide us in variousdifficult situations. It is ourduty to respect them andgive them separate space.

We set up senior citizensassociation in our colonyand also established a sepa-rate building for them. Theycan indulge in various activ-ities in this building.”

The colony also encour-ages various cultural activi-ties. He shares, “We have aseparate community hall toconduct various culturalactivities. We conduct classi-cal dance and other eventsto engage our people in var-ious activities. We are also

conducting health campsregularly at our premises.”

He added that they willconduct executive commit-tee meetings every month todiscuss about the develop-ment activities.

He shares, “We’re current-ly facing Corona crisis. Wehave to be careful and mustfollow cleanliness to get ridof it. Our colony membersare following varioushygiene methods and help-ing officials in this issue.”

Residents ofthe Doctors

Colony inSaroornagar

are indulgingin various

cleanlinessactivities,

celebratingall festivals

together andproving unity

in diversity,finds

V SATEESHREDDY

A clean and green colony

SETTING EXAMPLEE

A SENIOR CITIZENSASSOCIATION WASSET UP IN THECOLONY ANDESTABLISHED ASEPARATE BUILDINGFOR THEM SO THEYCAN INDULGE INVARIOUSACTIVITIES IN THISBUILDING. IT ALSOHAS A SEPARATEPARK FOR ITSRESIDENTS

Get out of quarantinewith A NEW SKILL

Running out ofactivities

to do amidquarantine? The

Pioneer'sSHIKHA DUGGALbrings you someof the fun yet free

things to keepyou busy

during the lockdown 3.0

usion - Thread& Art

Nisha Negi, abudding fashiondesigner has comeup with a bewilder-

ing fusion of thread work andart. She’s embellishing minia-tures of human portraits withthe help of sugar beads,colourful threads and wastematerials. You can use thesedecorative pieces of work ashome decor as well. Isn’t it a

fabulous idea of ‘best out ofwaste?’

Display of IllustrationsJust like everyone else,

Justin Abhishek, an artist isalso confined to the four wallsof his house yet he’s makingthe best out of it by sketchingand painting his most-loved public figures. Hefeels this is a chance foreveryone to celebrate theheroes of entertainmentindustry. It’s his way ofexpressing love to them.

Mandala Craft onBottles

A talentedbaker, Agrima,who is knownfor hermouth-wateringcakes tries

her hand out on mandalaknack on ceramic glass bot-tles. From baking at home toexperimenting in kitchen,she’s learning something neweveryday. Using the lockdownextension very productively,she's pleased with the out-come.

Spreading happinessthrough cooking

As Prakya Shetty, foodinfluencer enters lockdown3.0, she has begun contem-plating life. She thinks life isteaching us effortless art ofbeing patient and allowing usto explore the creative virtu-oso. And in that attempt, shedecided to make her familyhappy by rustling up palatabledishes at home. “Stay safe andlet’s continue to cook up hap-piness through food,” sheadds.

Skill of Natural Dyes andEco Prints

When the whole country isbusy colouring the zones intored, orange and green, we atPioneer, have Mani BhavanaAla, who is obsessed over cre-ating swatches and shadecards with different paintmediums (gouache, water-colours, acrylic) on varioustypes of papers(watercoloursheets, handmade paper, blackslate paper). Apart from this,she has been experimentingwith natural dyes and ecoprints during quarantine.Dyes include flowers like rose,marigold, chrysanthemum.“It’s a never ending explo-ration now, every-daytherearenew

results and it feels like medita-tion for me,” adds Prakya.

Literary World Janani Rao, a renowned

poetess whose work wasrecently published in Aatish 2,an anthology of poem, isattending online poetry ses-sions amid lockdown. And asa result, loves penning downsoulful poems. Giving mean-ing to any moment she findsworth capturing, she shows ushow this lockdown is kind ofan equalise through her poet-ry. The soothing lines havebeen able to calm down manyof the nerves.

The lockdown faceThe shutdown seems like a

good opportunity forShantanu Baithoque to putmakeup on and send a mes-sage to the society to be cre-ative wherever you are regard-less of gender. The lockdownhas taught this androgynouspersonality how beauty can bean essential part of our livestoo. “Wearing makeup andtrying diverse trends with ithas boosted my productivityroutine,” adds Shantanu.

Portraits In SelfIsolation

Creativity is benefittingBhargava Ram, a professionalphotographer, in isolationtimes by making use of thatphoto button on his cameraand experimenting with selfportraits. He’s into creatinggood lighting at home, some-times natural sunlight, editing

snaps on light roomand uploading it onsocial media.Overwhelmedwith the numberof possibilities heis seeing, Ramis embracingevery

moment ofthis quar-

antine.

F

ThursdayMay 7, 2020

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

arineeti Chopra will go on a virtual coffee date withfive lucky winners to raise funds for daily wage work-ers hit by the coronavirus pandemic. She has part-nered with Anshula Kapoor’s online fundraisingplatform Fankind and non-profit organisation GiveIndia for this initiative.

In a post shared on Instagram, Parineeti wrote, “You saycoffee, I say WITH ME! @fankindofficial @give_india andI have come together for your chance to go on a virtual cof-fee date with me! All you have to do is log ontofankind.org/parineeti and help provide ration kits withessential food supplies for daily wage labourers whoare struggling to feed their families.”

“5 lucky winners will get a chance to go on a superfun virtual coffee date with me! No one should go tosleep hungry, so let’s come together to feed the lessprivileged. And to make our impact even bigger,A.T. E Chandra foundation will be adding 25% ofthe total donation we raise as a matching amount,thereby multiplying our impact. YOU, ME andLatte fun! So donate now!” she added.

Last month, Arjun Kapoor went on a virtualdate with five winners and raised enough money tofeed the families of 300 daily wage workers for a month.“Coronavirus has thrown us all into unchartered territory.I’m grateful to all my fans that my 30-minute virtual datewith five lucky winners for Anshula’s Fankind has raisedenough funds to feed many families. Along with thefunds raised during the chat, I have alsoextended some additional support to GiveIndia and this collective fund will supportthe families of these daily wage earnersfor a month,” he had said in a state-ment.

Arjun and Parineeti will be seenas two people on the run inDibakar Banerjee’s thrillerSandeep Aur Pinky Faraar,which marks their onscreenreunion after the 2018 filmNamaste England. Thefilm was scheduled torelease on March 20but has been indefi-nitely postponedin the wake ofthe coron-avirus out-break.

10

Vijayawada Thursday May 7, 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

Parineeti Chopra to go on virtual coffeedate to raise funds for daily wage workers

BIG B DEFENSIVE

ABOUT SHOOTING FOR

KBC AMID LOCKDOWN

mitabh Bachchan has startedshooting for the upcoming seasonof the popular quiz show KaunBanega Crorepati (KBC) amid theCOVID-19 lockdown, and from hislatest blog post it seems like the

actor is apprehensive about being judged forbreaking social distancing rules. He seemsdefensive in the post, insisting that the shootwas done with essential precautionary mea-sures.

“So yes I worked .. got a problem with that.. keep it to yourself then .. damned if youpour it out here in this locked in condition ..sufficient precaution as much that could betaken was taken .. and what had been sched-uled for 2 days , was completed in one day ..starting 6pm .. ending a short while NOW …!!” wrote Amitabh Bachchan in his blog.

Viewers are wondering how the quiz showwould be shot this year owing to the currentrestrictions including social distancing andthe lockdown. Talking about the same, Big Bmentioned in his blog: “Personal gratificationsto the many that ask .. and then the KBC pileof several.. in all about 10 to 12 videos andthen hours of audio recordings .. also for thesame , KBC .. and the speculation as to howthey shall conduct it .. there have been no def-inite answers for that .. but the authorityhopes well and long .. so ..”

The 77-year-old actor has also been suffer-ing from a Hamstring pain. “Just back fromwork .. hamstring be damned .. social messag-ing videos .. acknowledging the ‘angels’ videos.. giving commendation to them that work sowe exist .. and the invitations to the new sea-son of KBC .. The show goes on ..heavy inheart , to all,” Big B tweeted early onWednesday.

Like everyone else, he is also concernedabout the after-effects of the COVID-19 pan-demic. “Of one there is little doubt .. thedebate on the outcome of this pandemic ..hesitation .. apprehension .. fear or recurrence.. strain of the conducting of the time ofrelease .. and so much more ..”

“.. how long then shall it hold the barrel ..what shall be the outcome when the barrel isheld .. what alternatives shall prevail and whatin God’s name shall the future hold for us all..”

“.. the World is all ‘shook up’ .. as Elviswould say .. and would never be the same inthe respects of community and reaction,” hewrote.

A

Judi Dench becomesoldest personality to grace

British Vogue covereteran star Judi Dench saysthere is nothing likeable aboutgetting older. The actor, who isthe oldest celebrity to appearon the cover of British Vogue,

said she disagrees with the oft-quotedadage that age is an “attitude”.

Asked by the magazine what she likesmost about being 85, Dench said,“Nothing.” “I don’t like it at all. I don’tthink about it. I don’t want to thinkabout it. They say age is an attitude... It’shorrible,” she added.

The Skyfall star said she shares senti-

ments with colleague Maggie Smith, also85, whom she claims is beginning toworry about losing her driving license.

“I saw Mags — Maggie Smith — theother day, and she said, ‘My God, I thinkthey’re going to stop me driving my car’,”she recalled.

Dench, who was forced to give up dri-ving in 2017 when her sight began todeteriorate, said she missed gettingbehind the wheel of a car.

“It’s the most terrible shock to yoursystem. Ghastly. It’s terrible to be sodependent on people,” she said.

V

P

PTI n NEW DELHI

Virat Kohli’s Indianteam still has a long

way to go before it is spo-ken of in the same breathas Australia of 2000s, feelsformer India pacer AshishNehra.

Under Kohli’s leader-ship, India earned itsmaiden series victory inAustralia in 2018-19,achieving the feat aftertrying for seven decades.

However, it can’t bediscounted that absence ofSteve Smith and David

Warner due to ball tam-pering ban turned out tobe an important factor.

“This Indian team hasto still cover a lot of dis-tance in order to match upwith that Australia team(led by Steve Waugh andthen Ricky Ponting),”Nehra said during aninteraction with ex-playerAakash Chopra on hisshow ‘Aakash Vani’.

“You are talking aboutan Australian team whichwon three consecutiveWorld Cups and beforethat reached the final in

1996, won 18-19 Testmatches in home andaway conditions,” Nehraadded.

He also did not appre-ciate the fact that everynow and then team com-bination is being tinkeredwith.

“It’s not like thisIndian team can not reachthere but I believe thecore group is very impor-tant. A person gets con-fused after watching manydishes on the table and soit’s important to havefewer but better dishes,”

Nehra made his displea-sure clear.

He the went on to citehow team managementhad handled RishabhPant's career so far.

“KL Rahul is playingon the fifth position andPant, the person you werepreparing to succeed M.S.Dhoni, is serving drinks,”the left-arm fast bowler,known for his straight for-ward views, said.

Thanks to his incon-sistency, Pant had lost hisplace in the Indian team inwhite-ball cricket to

Rahul.“I know he (Pant) has

missed his chances andthere is no doubt about itbut then you have kepthim in the team becauseyou saw the potential inhim at 22-23 years,” Nehrasaid.

“There are a lot of tal-ented players but theyshould be backed for alonger duration. Todayalso when we talk aboutthe number five and sixslots in Indian ODI side,then we are not sure aboutit," Nehra said.

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

He has flattered to deceive onumpteen occasions but highly-

rated wicketkeeper-batsman SanjuSamson says he has learnt to accepthis failures in pursuit of the calmdemeanour that former India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala hasalways been talked about by the likesof Rahul Dravid and GautamGambhir but it hasn’t translated intointernational success with only fourT20 Internationals in his kitty in thelast five years.

“I have learnt to understand andfocus more on my strengths and (bemore) accepting (of) the failures. I tryto contribute to the team’s cause andtry to take the team over the line. I amlearning to focus and control my emo-tions while batting like MS Dhoni,”Samson said during a podcast organ-ised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback inIndia’s T20 side and it was a worthyexperience for him.

“It was great to be a part of theIndian team again. To be a part of oneof the best teams in the world, sur-rounded by players like Virat bhai andRohit bhai, it was a fantastic experi-ence,” Samson said.

In one of the games in NewZealand, Samson was sent to bat in theSuper Over, something which madehim feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

“It was a great feeling to be trust-ed by the players such as Virat bhaiand Rohit bhai to go out there and batin the crucial moments. It’s a greatfeeling when the team and the play-

ers consider you to be a match win-ner.” On a lighter note, Samsonrevealed that he refers to Steve Smithas “chachu” (uncle) after Brad Hodgeonce started calling him by thatname.

“I share a very good relationshipwith ‘Chachu’ Steve Smith. He is oneof the best brains in world cricket andwe all enjoy a lot playing under him.”

While Dhoni is his idol, he alsoloves watching Jos Buttler in Royalsand makes notes on how the starEnglishman prepares for games.

“I observe Jos especially given hetoo is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He’salways working on his skills and hisgame and never sits idle.

“He’s either working on his keep-ing, batting in the nets or runningaround the park. I love to observe andknow how he thinks and prepares asa keeper before a game.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

They have similar impact ontheir teams but Virat Kohli isdriven by sheer passion to

subdue the rivals while Steve Smithjust enjoys batting, says Australiaopener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and topAustralian batsman Smith arearguably the top two cricketers of thecurrent era. They achieve new mile-stones consistently, invoking debates,who is better between them.

“Virat’s passion and drive toscore runs is different to what Steve’swould be,” Warner said while speak-ing to Harsha Bhogle on ‘Cricbuzz inConversation’.

“Steve is going out there for a hitin the middle, that’s how he seesthings. He’s hitting them out in themiddle, he’s having fun, he's enjoy-ing himself, just does not want to getout.”

Warner feels, while Kohli is bat-ting he is aware that if he sticksaround the middle his team will beon top of the proceedings.

“Virat obviously doesn’t want toget out but he knows if he spends acertain amount of time out there, he’sgoing to score plenty of runs at arapid rate. He’s going to get on top ofyou. That allows the guys coming in,especially in the Indian team you’vegot a lot of players who can be flam-boyant as well.”

The Australian opener addedthat both men are mentally strongand a good knock by them boosts themorale of the entire team.

“When it comes to cricket, theyboth have got the mental strength, themental capacity to score runs. Theyboth love spending time in the mid-dle.

“They stabilise, they boostmorale - if they score runs, every-one else’s moral is up. If they are outcheaply you almost sense that on thefield that everyone is (down onmorale and thinking) ‘now we allhave to step up’. It’s a very bizarre sit-uation,” he added.

Asked about the similaritiesbetween himself and Kohli, who are

both live wires on the field, Warnersaid the passion to do better than theopponent keeps him going.

“I can’t speak for Virat, obvious-ly, but it’s almost like we got this thingin us when we go (out to the middle)we need to prove people wrong,prove someone wrong.”

“If you’re in that contest, and ifI’m going at him for example, you’re

thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to scoremore runs than him, I’m going totake a quick single on him’. You aretrying to better that person in thatgame. That’s where the passioncomes from.”

Warner also explained how hebreaks down a match into smallercompetitions.

“Obviously you want to win the

game but you almost break it downto: If I can score more runs than Virat,or if Pujara scores more runs thanSteve Smith, you have these little con-tests and that's how you try to nar-row the game in the sense that if wedo these little things, we can be aheadof the game or we can be behind thegame.

“The passion is driven by...Iknow my sense - one, the will to winand two, wanting to do better thanthat person in the opposition,” saidWarner.

PTI n BENGALURU

Defender Gurinder Singhfeels India has been play-

ing an aggressive brand ofhockey under chief coachGraham Reid, and it hashelped the team in creatingmore goal scoring opportuni-ties.

India displayed an attack-ing brand of play in the FIHHockey Pro League earlierthis year and reaped richrewards for it, beatingAustralia and world champi-ons Belgium.

“It’s been over a yearsince chief coach Reid hasjoined us and I am sure onecan see the difference he hasbrought to the side sinceApril last year. We havebecome much more aggres-sive in our approach andtherefore we are creatingmany more goal-scoringopportunities,” Gurinder said.

Gurinder said since hisarrival Reid has been workingclosely with every player,besides emphasising on teamtactics.

“It was amazing to see

him shift focus from workingon team tactics to the devel-opment of each and everyplayer during the senior mennational coaching camp inNovember last year," he said.

“Since there was a lot oftime to prepare for the nexttournament after theOlympic Qualifiers, chiefcoach Reid spent time with allplayers and ensured that weimproved on certain aspectsduring the camp,” he added.

Gurinder, who has beenin and out of the team, saidhis immediate goal is to book

a place in the Olympic-boundteam.

“I am working extreme-ly hard to book a place in theIndian team for the Olympicsat the moment. Keepingmyself fit is my number onepriority during the lockdownperiod and I am carrying outsome stickwork drills as well.”

“Playing for India at theOlympics has been a dreamsince childhood and hopeful-ly, I will make it to the squadand contribute to India win-ning a medal at the quadren-nial event,” he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s Test vice-captain AjinkyaRahane on Wednesday said crick-

eters will need at least a month oftraining before resumption of com-petitive games, which should happenonly after a vaccine for the dreadedCOVID-19 is discovered.

Rahane also said that in a coro-navirus-scarred world, the lifestyleof cricketers will undergo a changeas far as pre and post-match routinesare concerned.

“...We would be needing three tofour weeks of proper practice beforeplaying any kind of competitivegame (domestic or international),”Rahane, who was named brandambassador of ELSA (EnglishLanguage Speech Assistant) app,said during an online press confer-ence.

“...I am missing my batting. Butobviously, cricket should only startwhen we get a vaccine to fight thevirus,” he asserted.

While the sports ministry isplanning a phased resumption ofnational camps in Olympic disci-plines, the BCCI is yet to spell outits plans on cricket. Rahane said heis focussing on his fitness amid thelockdown.

“I am following the chart givenby our trainer. I am also doing ‘freeweights’ at home apart from medi-tation,” he said.

He agreed that in future, play-ers will be wary of wild celebrationsand group hugs which they are soused to at the fall of wickets.

“I think we might go back to thegood old days when fielders would

still stand in their designated posi-tions after the fall of a wicket andclap. May be handshakes will bereplaced by a 'Namaste',” the elegantMumbai right-hander predicted.

“But once sport resumes, youcan’t take anything for granted. Thesafety of the fans will be of utmostimportance. There will be changesin lifestyle while travelling.Especially before and after thematch,” Rahane said

However he was non-committalon whether there should be a ban onthe use of saliva to shine the ball, atopic of debate right now.

“I would like to wait and watch.You will only get a fair idea aboutrevised rules once play resumes.”

PTI n LONDON

The Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) on Wednesday

announced that it would recom-mend a second term for its PresidentKumar Sangakkara owing to theglobal disruption caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper-batsman became the firstnon-British President of the clubwhen he assumed office on October1 last year.

“The disruption to the globalcricketing landscape caused by theoutbreak of Covid-19 has led theCommittee to recommend thatSangakkara, who began his term ofoffice on 1 October 2019, be invit-ed to serve as President of the Clubuntil 30 September 2021,” the clubsaid in a statement.

The recommendation forSangakarra’s extension will be sentfor approval to the club's membersat the Annual General Meeting,which has been scheduled for June24. The club also added that this wasnot the first time a president will

serve beyond his oneyear tenure.

“ W h i l s tPresidents ofMCC only nor-

mally serve for atwe lve-mont hperiod, it is notunprecedented forlonger terms to be

introduced torespond to extra-

o r d i n a r yc i rc u m -stances.”

IANS n LAHORE

Former Australia all-rounder TomMoody believes Pakistan bats-

man Babar Azam has grown byleaps and bounds in recent timesand will “definitely” be among thetop five batsmen of the decade inTest cricket in the near future.

“He (Babar) has emerged overthe last year or so into somethingthat is going to be so special. Wetalked about how Virat Kohli is sogood on the eye as a batsman. If youthink Virat Kohli is good to watch,have a look at Babar Azam bat. Mygosh, he is something special,”Moody said in The Pitch SideExperts Podcast as quoted by crick-etpakistan.com.pk.

“I think in the next five to tenyears, he will definitely be in yourtop five (batsmen of the decade)without a question,” he added.

The former SunrisersHyderabad coach, however, admit-ted considering Azam’s statistics at

the moment, it is very difficult to puthim in the top five current batsmen.

“I think, in the next 5-10 years,he will be on your top five position.Even though he has played 26matches but in half of those match-es he was not considered even partof the main batting line-up forPakistan. He was the after-thoughtdown the order,” he said.

“I think at the moment, it is veryhard to justify him at that positiongiven his statistics. Away fromhome he is only averaging 37 and athome he is averaging 67. But wehave to consider that he has hardlyplayed away from home and a lot ofthose games away were during theearly part of his career,” Moodyadded.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The National Anti-DopingAgency's Director General

Navin Agarwal on Wednesdaysaid the body will conduct itsdisciplinary hearings onlinefrom Friday despite the manylogistical challenges to ensurecases don’t pile up due to thenational lockdown.

NADA hearings have notbeen taking place due to thelockdown to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s right, we will bestarting with our online hear-ings from May 8. Both Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel(ADDP) and Anti-DopingAppeals Panel (ADAP) hear-ings will be conducted for thecases which are pending,”Agarwal told PTI in an inter-view.

“Last year, they (ADDPand ADAP) did a remarkablejob and disposed off so manycases which hasn't happenedearlier in the history of NADA.Our panels disposed off 180cases which is a record for theagency,” he asserted.

Agarwal acknowledgedthat the unprecedented stepwould have its share of opera-

tional hassles.Listing inconsistent or

unavailable internet as one ofthem, Agarwal said athleteswill be allowed to participate viaaudio calls to ensure that thingscan be managed smoothly.

“We understand that theathlete needs to have the (inter-net) facility at his home for thehearings. I know there are lim-itations. We are working on thatand made arrangements at ourlevel.

“It will only be done on theavailability of an athlete througheither audio or video. I know inrural areas, internet bandwidthcan be an issue or network, weare game with even an audiorecording or a conference call,”he explained.

“We are requesting theministry as the campuses inNIS Patiala and Spots Authorityof India (SAI) Bengaluru areclosed and have barred entry orexit of any outsiders as per gov-ernment guidelines.

“So we are taking this upwith ministry and would like toknow whether our DopeControl Officers (DCOs) willbe allowed inside the campus-es for testing subject to allclearances,” he said.

AP nMADRID

If given the option, Rafael Nadal said he wouldscrap this season entirely so tennis could resume

normally in 2021.The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years

old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hopedto resume playing this year but doubted it couldhappen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would sign up right now just to being readyfor 2021,” Nadal said in interviews with El País andother Spanish newspapers published Tuesday.

“I’m more concerned with the Australian Openthan with what happens later this year. I think 2020has been practically lost. I'm hopeful of being ableto start next year.”

Nadal said the logistical difficulties of havingto move people from country to country for tour-naments make it hard for tennis to resume safelyamid the pandemic.

“Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feelingis that we are losing a year of our lives,” Nadal said.

“And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuablethan at 20, when you have more time ahead of you.”Nadal recently said he was concerned with the riskof new injuries when players return to action aftera long time without proper training. The Spaniardhas had to deal with a series of injuries through-out his career and expects his body to struggle againwhen competitions finally resume.

Nadal also complained about “confusing”information regarding the return to practice of ten-nis players in Spain. He said he went to train on aprivate court because it wasn’t clear to him

whether he could practice normally after the gov-ernment eased some of the lockdown measures thathave been in place in the country since mid-March.

Professional and high-performance athleteshave been allowed to resume practicing at any timethis week, but sports facilities and training centersare to remain closed, with some exceptions for soc-cer clubs and a few other sports.

Drive to succeed different for Kohli and Smith: Warner Will need at least onemonth of training: Rahane

“When it comesto cricket, they bothhave got the mentalstrength, the mental

capacity to scoreruns. They bothlove spending

time in the middle.They stabilise,

they boost morale -if they score runs,

everyone else’smoral is up. If theyare out cheaply youalmost sense thaton the field that

everyone is (downon morale and

thinking) ‘now weall have to step up’.It’s a very bizarre

situation,”

I have learnt to acceptmy failures: Samson

‘We have become moreaggressive under Reid’

Indian hockey coach Graham Reid in action Hockey India/Twitter

Nadal pessimistic about returnof competitive tennis in 2020

Rafael Nadal plays a return shot Rafael Nadal/Twitter

Anti-doping hearings to beconducted online: Agarwal

MCC to offer PresidentSangakkara second term

‘Current Ind team can’t be compared to Aus teams of 90s and 2000s’

If you think Virat is good to watch,have a look at Babar bat: Moody

“I THINK IN THENEXT FIVE TO TENYEARS, HE WILL

DEFINITELY BE IN YOURTOP FIVE (BATSMEN OFTHE DECADE) WITHOUT

A QUESTION,”

he Pioneer has previously reportedthat Jr NTR has agreed to feature in

KGF director Prashanth Neel’snext, an action-drama to be

mounted on a lavish scale. MythriMovie Makers tapped the director

for NTR to this end. Now, we’ve learnt thatthis project will be co-produced by Tarak’s

older brother Kalyanram under his NTR Arts.This is the new drift in Tollywood as most A-listers are ensuring that their own productionhouses are attached to the films they are star-

ring in a joint capacity-to minimise the riskfactor and maximise profits. Over here, it willbe a second project in row for NTR Arts with

NTR, as they are also jointly producing theactor’s immediate next with Trivikram Srinivas

(for Haarika & Hassine Creations) after hewraps up RRR. Tarak-Neel film will mostly be

going to floors in the second half of 2021 orearly 2022. The film, sources insist, will be a

pan-India affair and it will consolidate on theactor’s star power across India after RRR. Neelwill shift attention to the script after he wrapsup the promotional activities of KGF: Chapter

2 later this year.

Vijayawada Thursday May 7, 2020

12

tollywood

he fact that it wasSS Rajamouli’s sonKarthikeya’s firstproduction ven-ture meantAakashavani

grabbed immediate attentionwhen it was first announcedin November of 2018. Butnow, we hear that he is nolonger attached to the projectas a producer. Wonder why?Reliable sources indicate ithad something to do withcreative differences betweenthe director AshwinGangaraju and Karthikeyaover the film’s output. A well-placed source close to thedevelopment tells us,“Karthikeya felt the final out-put was different to what heand the director envisionedwhen they took it to floorsambitiously early last year.The director, though, washappy with the way it shapedup overall. With it being hismaiden film as a producer,Karthikeya wanted a productthat he was completely con-vinced but as Aakashavani

didn’t turn out to be that,he decided to handover

the production to someoneelse. It was an amicable part-ing between the young cre-ative minds. An announce-ment to this end is aroundthe corner.”

The source further addsthat Karthikeya’s production

house funded the projectuntil now and a producerwho wants to take it up willbe required to pay theamount that he invested sofar. The film is 95 per centover and the team was geared

up to commence the lastschedule when the lockdownwas announced. The finalschedule with Vinay Varma,who plays an antagonist willbe wrapped up inRajahmundry once theindustry decides on a date forfilm shootings to resume.

Shot primarily in Araku,Paderu and surroundingareas of Visakhapatnam,Aakashavani, a pure dramaabout a bunch of peopleresiding in a forest withradio playing a central role,features 90-95 per cent newactors. Tamil actor-film-maker P Samuthirakani anda couple of actors fromJabardasth (Shaking Seshubeing one) and VinayVarma are the only note-worthy names. The film isbeing planned to be dubbedinto Tamil as well. Themakers will kick-off thefirst round of promotionsafter the lockdown is lifted.Kaala Bhairava is the film’scomposer and the sourceexudes confidence that histhree songs will top thecharts.

T

ained with theway sanitationworkers aretoiling hard inthe summer,filmmaker

Sekhar Kammula hasdecided to offer refresh-ments to them. “Areas inand around Gandhi hos-pital seem like war-zonesand sanitation workers areour foot soldiers.Hundreds of them arerelentlessly working in thered zone areas, hotspotsand hospitals, riskingtheir lives. We really can’tthank them enough,” saidSekhar who lives in

Padmaraonagar,Secunderabad.

He added, “Wearranged butter milk andbadam milk from VijayaDairy for 1,000 sanitationworkers in this area for aperiod of one month forthem to beat the heat. TheDairy agreed to offer theproducts for a subsidisedprice. The GHMC NorthZone supervisors took upthe challenge of distribut-ing the drinks to each oneof their workers at theirrespective work areas by11 am every morning. It’sbeen a week that we start-ed this program and it's

working really well.” Hefurther noted that he isextending the same ser-vice to Kurnool MunicipalCorporation as well.

Likewise, Mohan Babu,who last month distrib-uted vegetables in AP vil-lages like Rangampeta,Pullaiahgaripalli andRamireddy Pally panchay-ats, is dispatching foodpackets to 200 policemenin Pahadi Shareef andShamshabad regularly forthe past many days. Plus,he recently adopted anorphanage home inSecunderabad and takingcare of its food needs.

Mohan Babu, Kammulacontinue their aid

P

ctress Shruti Haasan has appealed toher followers on the importance of stay-ing at home in these times, saying thatwe are battling it out against an enemywe haven’t neither seen nor understood.“I do miss working with people and the

energy of a movie set and the lovely vibe of a jamroom but isolating is something we HAVE TO DO

and when the lock down eases it doesn’t mean yougo out and throw a party and squish each other.

PLEASE STAY HOME as much as you can. We are upagainst something unseen and it’s something we haven’tunderstood yet. So we must not behave as Though weare invincible or can somehow negotiate with a virus!!(Sic),” the actress wrote on her Instagram page.

She added the “time can be used to talk with yourselfand ask yourself the questions you’ve been avoidingand maybe find a way to find some new answers!”“ALSO a time to have gratitude for what you do have,your food your friends your family and your comforts(sic),” she posted further.

On the work front, the actress will be next seenopposite Ravi Teja in Gopichand Malineni’s Krack —three years after her last release Katamarayudu.

Shruti underlinesthe importance of

staying at home

enior actor and for-mer MAA presidentSivaji Raja wasadmitted to a privatehospital inHyderabad on

Tuesday evening after he feltuneasiness in his chest. Theactor, who has featured inmore than 300 films — play-ing supporting roles mainly— is right now stable. Hisfamily and a team of doctors

are attending to him.Suresh Kondeti, producer

and Raja’s friend when

contacted, said, “He is doing wellnow. His blood pressure has dippeddrastically on Tuesday, followingwhich he complained of chest pain.He was immediately rushed to anearby hospital and was put inobservation. The doctors advisedhim to get a heart stent and theprocedure will be performed onThursday morning. He will mostlybe discharged the same evening oron Friday. Some of his friends fromthe industry wanted to meet himbut due to Covid-19 outbreak, hos-pitals are not allowing manyguests.”

Reliablesources

indicate it hadsomething to

do withcreative

differencesbetween the

directorAshwin

Gangaraju andKarthikeya

over the film'soutput, finds

Nagaraj Goud

S

A

TKalyanram gets two in a row

A PRODUCERWHO WANTS TO TAKE IT UPWILL BEREQUIRED TOPAY THEAMOUNT THATKARTHIKEYAINVESTED SOFAR.

SS KARTHIKEYA disassociates with AAKASHAVANI

Sivaja Raja hospitalised