PNS n HYDERABAD

TSHRC on Tuesday sought areport from state health officialson a media report over thedeath of a woman and her newborn baby, after she had to goto six hospitals for consultationamidst the ongoing COVID-19lockdown.

The Commission on its owntook cognisance of a newsreport published in a Telugudaily over the matter and calledfor reports from Special ChiefSecretary Department of Health,Medical and Family Welfare,District Medical and HealthOfficer of Mahabubnagar andfrom Superintendent ofGovernment General Hospitalin Mahabubnagar andSuperintendent, GovernmentMaternity Hospital at Koti here.

PNS n SURAT

Hundreds of migrant work-ers came out on roads andvandalised the office of anunder- construction buildingand some vehicles in an areaof Gujarat's Surat district onTuesday while demandingthat they be sent back to theirnative places, police said.

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The Chief Ministers of TeluguStates, who had pinned theirhopes on Centre's specialfinancial package to states fortiding over the grave lock-down-induced fiscal crisis, arenow sore at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for not yetmaking any announcementregarding the much-neededstimulus despite holding threevideo conferences with CMs.

Both Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao

and his AP counterpart YS JaganMohan Reddy have repeatedlyraised the issue of financial cri-

sisduring their interactions withthe PM but tono avail.Whatbeats the Chief Ministers is that

Modi touched all issues, butskirted financial package forstates. The CMs of non-Telugustates, barring those ruled by BJP,too strongly pitched for financialpackage to states. Still, the PMmaintained agonizing silence,without making any commit-ment whatsoever.

The financial condition ofthe Telugu states is in dol-drums due tolockdown andthings have come to such apass that they are not in a posi-tion to pay evenhalf salaries toemployees.

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HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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2A worker employed in the upkeep of the hanging plants on the Khairatabad Flyover is seen tending the plants on a flyover thatwore a deserted look.

NO OONE TTO EENJOY!

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated April 28, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

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HYDERABADWEATHERForecast: Clear with periodic cloudsTemp: 36/24Humidity: 82%Sunrise: 05:51 amSunset: 06:35 pm

Adityanathdirects officialsto encourageuse of plasmatherapy

A tale of two regionalparties thatchangedpolitics forever

E-learninggainstraction withlockdown of edu sector

IT firms to suspendhiringthis year:Mohandas Pai

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PNS n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI)Outstanding loans amountingto Rs 68,607 crore of top 50wilful bank loan defaulters inthe country including firms ofMehul Choksi and Vijay Mallyahave been technically writtenoff till September 30, 2019, theReserve Bank of India said ina RTI reply.

Absconding dimantaireChoksi's company GitanjaliGems tops the list of thesedefaulters with a whoppingamount of Rs 5,492 crore,according to the list. This is fol-lowed by REI Agro with Rs4,314 crore and WinsomeDiamonds with Rs 4,076 crore.

Rotomac Global PrivateLimited has funded advancesof Rs 2,850 crore which havebeen technically written off andKudos Chemie Ltd with Rs2,326 crore, Ruchi SoyaIndustries Limited, now ownedby Ramdev's Patanjali, with Rs2,212 crore and Zoom

Developers Pvt Ltd with Rs2,012 crore being the othercompanies.

Mallya's Kingfisher Airlinesfigures in the list at number 9,with outstanding of Rs 1943crore which have been techni-cally written off by the banks.

Forever Precious Jewelleryand Diamonds Private Limitedhas loans of Rs 1,962 crorewritten off while DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited

have Rs 1915 crore written offloans. Choksi's other firmsGili India and NakshatraBrands also have loans of Rs1,447 and Rs 1109 crore respec-tively written off.

REI Agro of Jhunjhunwalabrothers is already under thescanner of ED. The CBI andED are also probing allegedfraud by the owners ofWinsome Diamonds.

Vikram Kothari's Rotomac is

the fourth in the list. He and hisson Rahul Kothari were arrest-ed by the CBI for bank loandefault.

In the last Parliament ses-sion, Rahul Gandhi had askedthe government to provide alist of top 50 bank loansdefaulters in the country, lead-ing to sharp exchanges anduproar in the Lok Sabha.

"The information on top 50wilful defaulters and their sum

of funded amount outstandingand amount technically/pru-dentially written off as onSeptember 30, 2019 reported inCRILC by banks, is provided,"the RBI said in its writtenresponse dated April 24.

In his application, RTIactivist Saket Gokhale hadsought the list of defaulters ason February 16, but the RBIsaid the requested informationis not available.

Rs 68,600 cr loans of Choksi,Mallya and others written off: RBI n RBI in a RTI reply said loans of top 50 wilful bank loan defaulters have been technically written offn Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited’s loans worth Rs 1915 crore also written off

vWILFUL DEFAULTERS’ LOANS

Govt staff to get only 28-40% salary withdeductions, recoveries K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Telangana State governmentemployees will receive lesserpay in May, ranging between28% and 40% of their grosssalary in April, in view ofdeductions and recoveries likeGPF/CPS and TSGLI to bemade from the salaries ofemployees, it is learnt.

In March,the state govern-ment had paid only 50 percentof the employees' gross salary.

According to highly placedsources, the state governmenthas taken another decisionnow due to which the salariesof even newly appointedemployees, such as juniorassistants and office assis-tants,will be cut heavily.

Almost all the employeeswill get 28-40% of their grosssalary depending on deduc-tions and recoveries madethis month. For example, ahigh-level official will getRs.33,000 salary out of his fullsalary Rs.1,17,000 thismonth,after deductions andrecoveries. This amount is about28 percent of his full salary.

One of the secretariatemployees said that the newdecision would affect employ-

ees, particularly low-incomestaff severely.

Another employee, on con-dition of anonymity, said thathis full salary is Rs.28,000and at half his salary (atRs.14,000) he would get aboutRs.12,000 after deductionstowards GPF/CPS and TSGLIthis month. "How would I runmy family with this meagersalary at this pandemic junc-ture?"

WITH 90% OF STUDENTS FROM RURAL AREAS…

Online exams a tall orderfor Telangana universitiesPNS n HYDERABAD

Even as universities are awaitingan advisory from the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC)based on its road map for high-er education in the country postlockdown, a close look at someof the recommendations madeby two UGC-appointed expertcommittees raises several ques-tions, especially with regard toonline assessment in TelanganaState. Conducting online exam-ination seems to be fraught withseveral bottlenecks. Over sever-al decades, universities havebeen conducting examinations

in pen and paper mode andthere was never an occasion oran attempt to conduct onlineexaminations. Only commonentrance exams, with mostlyobjective type questions, have

been in vogue in universities.Caught in an exigency due

to Covid-19, the Universities'lack of preparedness has sud-denly come to the fore.

KCR, Jagan sore over PM ’s silence on ‘money’

DAVE BENNETT SILVERY n HYDERABAD

The Cybercrime Police ofHyderabad have booked acase against unknown personsafter a woman lodged a com-plaint that she had been dupedof Rs 9.4 lakh by those who shebelieved were her Facebookfriends.

According to the police,the woman, a resident ofTrimulgherry, had befriendeda Facebook user who claimedto be a UK national and intro-duced himself as Jimmy Joy.

Joy told the victim that theywould meet when he comes toIndia. He told her that he hadwith him huge sums of money,which he would be bringing toIndia. In February, Joy calledthe victim and told her that hehad landed in Delhi but washeld by airport authorities. Hetold her she would have toarrange Rs 1.8 lakh for hisrelease and that he would returnit once he was out of the airport.

The unsuspecting womantransferred Rs 1.8 lakh intofour different bank accounts

provided by Joy, after which hecalled her and said he was free.However, he told her that theauthorities had not given himthe foreign currency he wascarrying.

Joy then convinced her tosend him more money to pay'taxes' to get the foreign cur-rency released and the victimpaid a total of Rs 9.5 lakh.Soon, the victim realised thatshe was being cheated andapproached the police.

Based on her complaint,the police have registered acase and are investigating.

Woman duped of Rs9.4 lakh by FB friend

TSHRC seeks reportson death of woman,her new born baby

EI Agro- Rs 4,314 cr

Winsome Diamonds- Rs 4,076 cr

Rotomac Global -Rs 2,850 cr

Kudos Chemie Ltd - Rs 2,326 cr

Ruchi Soya Industries Limited,now owned by Ramdev's

Patanjali- Rs 2,212 cr

Kingfisher Airlines - Rs 1943 cr

Forever Precious Jewelleryand Diamonds PrivateLimited - Rs 1,962 crore

Deccan Chronicle HoldingsLimited - Rs 1915 crore

Gili India - Rs 1,447 cr

Nakshatra - Rs 1109 crore

Almost all theemployees will get28-40% of theirgross salarydepending ondeductions andrecoveries madethis month.

Over several decades,universities have beenconducting examinationsin pen and paper modeand there was never anoccasion or an attempt toconduct onlineexaminations.

6 new cases of Coronavirus in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana on Tuesday recorded6 new coronavirus cases -- all inGHMC limits. With this, thetotal number of cases mountedto 1,009, of which 610 are active.In all, 42 patients were dis-charged on Tuesday.

Minister EtelaRajender said,"Lockdown cannot be compro-mised till May 7 as Telangana's

curve is flattening. Over the pastsix days, the numbers of caseshave been low. The Center is sat-isfied with measures taken bythe state."

No deaths were recorded onTuesday. Minister Etela pointedthat some of the deaths report-ed earlier were due to comor-bidities and not solely fromCovid-19.

852

Coronacases inIndia

7,615977

Recovered

DeathsMigrants vandalisedemanding to besent home

Plasma therapyno treatment forCovid-19: GovtPNS n NEW DELHI

Terming that the plasmatherapy is at an experimen-tal stage, the Union Ministryof Health and FamilyWelfare, here on Tuesday,said considering it as treat-ment of Covid-19 waswrong, illegal and might cre-ate "life threatening" compli-cations. Addressing themedia, Lav Agarwal, JointSecretary in the HealthMinistry, said, "The IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) has stated clearlythat there is no approvedtherapy for Covid-19, includ-ing the plasma therapy. Infact, there is no approvedtherapy for Covid-19 any-where in the world."

Till the ICMR concludedits study of the plasma ther-apy for Covid-19, it would beunethical and illegal to call ita treatment for the coron-avirus infection, he said.

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HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020 hyderabad 02

March 29, 1982 andApril 27, 2001 are for-ever etched in the his-

tory of the land we now knowas undivided Andhra Pradesh,for it was on these twodates that two regionalparties were formed andwhose existence literallyturned the fate of theregion.

Telugu Desam Partyand Telangana RashtraSamiti, which have the dis-tinction of obliterating theCongress, celebrate their foun-dation days within a span ofone month.

While TDP came into beingwith the goal of salvagingTelugu pride, and unitingTelugu people across castelines, the TRS was foundedpurely on the basis of bifurcat-ing the state.

Probably because of thecharismatic personality of NTRama Rao, its founder, theTDP was the first choice of thevarious backward castes in theundivided state. While NTRwas at its helm, the idea of sep-arate Telangana was unthoughtof, at least on the publicdomain.

People of undivided AP

accepted NTR andhe enjoyed the sup-

port and patronage of allthe three regions.Because of this, NTRcould successfully con-

test from the threeregions (Gudivada,

Nalgonda and HindupurAssembly seats) in 1985. Thiswas unprecedented in AP’shistory.

It’s a different matter alto-gether that he lost the electionin Kalwakurthy in Telanganaregion in 1989.

NTR faced a coup in 1984and successfully returned topower within a month.However, the second coup,coming as it from within hisfamily, saw his exit.

The fact that his entire fam-ily backed N ChandrababuNaidu in the coup is consid-ered crucial as it was not pos-sible for such a charismaticpolitical figure like NTR to bedefeated by “outsiders”, as whathad happened in the first coup.The fact that his own sons anddaughters left his side is

believed to have broken NTRthe politician, as well as NTRthe father.

While the rise of NTR wasdecided by the people whoelected him thrice in 1983,1985 and1994, his fall wasdecided by his family.

Naturally any regional partythat finds itself in the hands ofone family and in such mono-chromatic political system willend up doing the bidding of the“domestic” forces and not thedemocratic forces. This is whathappened to the TDP.

The issue of change of guardin ruling parties then and nowis entirely different.

NTR, out of the blue,declared while addressing apublic meeting at Madanapalleof Chittoor district in 1988 thatNandamuri Balakrishna, hissuccessor in films, would alsosucceed him politics.

This statement sent shock-waves in an invisible groupwithin the TDP led by NChandrababu Naidu.

Naidu successfully con-vinced NTR to rethink, sayingthat that such declarationswon't work in politics andpeople would not like it as itwas “undemocratic”.

NTR was convinced withthis argument, and from here

on, the tide changed in favourof Naidu.

After getting the post of theTDP general-secretary, Naiduneatly laid a politically prosper-ous road for him to reach thepinnacle. The TDP losingpower to Congress in 1989 alsocame handy for Naidu. He hadto take the reins of the TDP asthe party president was reluc-tant to play an active role in theopposition. Soon enough,every TDP functionary had toconsult Naidu even for routine

matters of the party. Though the second coup

against NTR, led by Naiduappeared to meet democraticnorms, even after 38 longyears, the TDP has failed toconvince both its cadres andthe people that there is inter-nal democracy in the party.

Similarly, the TRS is roughlyin the same boat vis-a-vis inter-nal democracy. The TRS wasfounded by K. ChandrasekharRao with the single point goalof justice to the region thatremained 'underprivileged'under Andhra leaders.

Whatever their reasons, thetwo principal political playersof the country — Congressand the BJP — conceded to thedemand for bifurcation despitetheir initial aversion.

It may be recalled here thatCongress had crushed the agi-tation for separate state in1969 and firmly rejected sucha demand on the floor ofParliament. This was official-ly by the then Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi on December21, 1972.

BJP cast aside its unanimousresolution favouring division ofAP adopted at Kakinada onJuly 13, 1997 only to get sup-port of 29 TDP Lok SabhaMembers for NDA-1 in 1999.

These two major partiesthat had conveniently “over-looked” the issue for politicalbenefit, suddenly becamechampions of separate state.

Nobody finds fault with TRSmovement for separate state-hood as it is the right of all cit-izens to protest in any part ofthis country. But irrespective oftheir strength and the supportthey enjoy, such movement getthe backing of national partiesonly due to political reasons.

Nobody can question theCongress why it had rejectedthe Telangana statehooddemand first and conceded itlater. The same is applicable tothe BJP.

KCR often claims that hehad achieved Telangana withonly two MPs. However, thesituation would have been dif-ferent if the Congress and theBJP had stuck to their earlier

stand on bifurcation. NTR formed the TDP to

unite Telugu people in thename of language and his dis-ciple KCR advocated divisionof the same Telugu statedescribing the same languageas a stumbling block to the veryexistence of Telangana region.

Unlike NTR, KCR over-came the challenge to his polit-ical existence, particularly dur-ing the rule of YS RajasekharaReddy who left no opportuni-ty slide to destabilise TRS.

The developments in theCongress following YSR’s deathenabled KCR to regroup andnow the TRS is in a position toassure a bright future for itscadres.

Interestingly, none of thosewho accompanied KCR at thetime he launched the newparty 19 years ago at'Jaladrushyam' at Hussainsagarin Hyderabad have found aplace in the present Cabinetexcept T. Harish Rao.

This columnist is amongthose journalists who coveredthe inaugural event on that day.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

Nobody finds fault with TRSmovement for separate statehood asit is the right of all citizens to protestin any part of this country. Butirrespective of their strength and thesupport they enjoy, such movementget the backing of national partiesonly due to political reasons

A tale of two regional parties that changed politics forever

PINPOINT

Midday meals to be providedeven during summer vacationPNS n NEW DELHI

Midday meals will be provid-ed to students even during thesummer vacation in schools inview of the lockdown imposedto fight Covid-19, Union HRDMinister Ramesh Pokhriyal'Nishank' said on Tuesday.

The minister also directedthe states to start evaluating theanswer sheets of the boardexams of Classes 10 and 12,and facilitate the CBSE.

The HRD minister made thecomments at a meeting heldthrough video-conferencingwith state education ministers.

"During lockdown, ration isbeing provided under mid-daymeal scheme for the childrento get adequate and nutritiousfood. Approval is being givenfor providing mid-day mealduring summer holidays ofschools, on which an addition-al expenditure of about Rs1,600 crore will be made. Inaddition, under the mid-day

meal scheme, an ad-hoc grantof Rs 2,500 crore is beingissued for the first quarter,"Nishank said.

"In wake of COVID-19,the annual central allocationof cooking cost (or procure-ment of pulses, vegetables, oil,spices and fuel) under themid-day meal scheme is

enhanced to Rs 8,100 crorefrom Rs 7,300 crore, an incre-ment of 10.99 per cent," headded.

Asking the states to beginthe evaluation process ofboard exam papers, the min-ister said, "The evaluationprocess must begin and statesmust facilitate CBSE to eval-

uate answer sheets of the stu-dents in their respectivestates. States where KendriyaVidyalaya and NavodayaVidyalaya are approved butcould not be started due tolack of land or running onless capacity are requested totransfer the land quickly sothat the children of the statecan get benefit from it."

The ministeralso directedthe states tostart evaluatingthe answersheets of theboard exams ofClasses 10 and12, andfacilitate theCBSE.

PNS n MULUG

Minister for Women and ChildWelfare Satyavathi Rathod hassaid she is praying the deitiesof Goddess Sammakka andSaralamma to save the peopleof Mulug from contractingthe Coronavirus.

In a meeting to review theofficials on Tuesday, theMinister said that the districthas only two cases and thepatients were completely curedand tested negative. She appre-ciated the good work beingdone by officials to rein in thevirus.

The Minister said that themigrant labourers were beingprovided with food and shel-ter. Besides, essential com-modities were distributedand financial assistance of Rs500 per head to migrantworkers.

Earlier, she inaugurated apaddy procurement centre atPalsal in Mulug district.

District Collector KrishnaAditya, ZP chairman KusumaJagadish, MP Maloth Kavita,MLA sitakka and local leaderstook part in the meeting.

Satyavathi inaugurates paddyprocurement centre in Mulug

The Minister said that the migrantlabourers were being provided withfood and shelter. Besides, essentialcommodities were distributed andfinancial assistance of Rs 500 per headto migrant workers.

Online exams can be a tall order for Telangana universitiesContinued from page 1

For example, newer aspectslike working out the modalities,testing tools and putting inplace infrastructure to conductonline testswill add to the tasksto be executed by a depletedstaff in mostuniversities.Certain subjects with practicals,projects and assignments to beevaluated pose additional prob-lems.

Pointing out specific prob-lems, a faculty member of anengineering college, Prof. SKrishna questions: How canone incorporate drawings, dia-grams, tables etc. in an onlinemode? It would be an uphilltask; so, there should be acoordinated effort in plan-ning the nature of testing,questions, mode of adminis-

tration, etc.There is uncertainty about

universities going for testingonline if the governmentextends the lockdown period.A professor from OsmaniaUniversity, on condition ofanonymity, said that theUniversity is yet to developappropriate software to con-duct online examinations."Such a switch may run intoproblems even if theUniversity develops softwareby roping in the services ofedu tech firms as 90 percentof the students of the univer-sity hail from rural areas withlow and poor connectivity",he observed.

Experts in JNTU too are infavour of having exams in thephysical mode only after lock-down, as many students have to

appear also for practicals. Oneof the officials from JNTU, oncondition of anonymity, saidthat conducting online exam-ination for technical students ishighly impossible. The Indianeducation system does notsupport online examination, headded.

Mobile and internet con-nectivity in rural areas willprove to be a major hurdle.For instance, a survey by theSchool of Communication,University of Hyderabad,found rural students havingproblems of connectivity,apart from low attention spanand preference for face-to-faceinteraction. "If students of anelite institution like HCU haveissues with connectivity, onecan imagine the plight of stu-dents in Telangana universi-

ties---OU, Kakatiya, MG,Sathavahana, PalamuruUniversity etc., where stu-dents' profile is largely rural."

The university teachers aresending study material in theform of PDFs, video lessons,power points to students tocomplete the remaining syl-labus.

According to OsmaniaUniversity Registrar Ch. GopalReddy, undergraduate (UG)colleges have completed 80percent of the syllabus, while inPG courses 60 to 70 percentsyllabus has been coveredunder Osmania University lim-its. However, the university iscompleting the remaining syl-labus online in view of advicefrom UGC and directives fromChancellor of the UniversityGovernor Tamilisai Soundara-

rajan.The universities have to con-

duct final examinations forthe academic year2019-20 forUG and PG courses. GopalReddy said that conductingexaminations online is not allthat easy. It is not possible asstudents have to write descrip-tive answers to the questionsand attend practical examina-tion as well. As practical exam-inations are not possible online,the universities are facing apeculiar problem for the firsttime.

However, the StateEducation Council has to takea decision in this regard, hesaid. "The UGC will releaseadvisory to the universitieswithin one week's time; then,we will think of it".

It may be recalled that two

committees appointed byUGC had recommended con-ducting online exams wherev-er possible from the next aca-demic session. If a universityhas the facilities and infra-structure to conduct onlineexams, it should go ahead.Those without facilities shouldwait for the end of lockdownand then conduct pen andpaper exams, according to therecommendations.

These committees were con-stituted by UGC to look intoissues such as academic lossand scope for online educationpost lockdown. The panelsconsidered holding of exams,online classes, and the new aca-demic session.

UGC secretary Rajnish Jainstated recently that the univer-sities would be given more flex-

ibility in terms of decidingwhen and how they can con-duct the exams and when theycan start the academic session.Everything will depend onlocal conditions, whether thearea has a large number of(Covid-19) infections or fewerinfections. Jain also said thatthe UGC would issue guide-lines for universities onWednesday after a discussionwith the members.

Haryana University Vice-Chancellor RC Kuhad headsthe committee to explore waysof conducting exams in univer-sities amid the lockdown, whileIndira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) Vice-Chancellor Nageshwar Raoheads the committee to suggestmeasures to improve onlineeducation.+

KCR, Jagan sore...Continued from page 1KCR in particular is angry at theCentre for imposing cuts in thecentral taxdevolution in thesedifficult times.He is upset that,instead of aiding cash-starvedstates, the Centre is imposingcuts even inallocations thatstates genuinely deserve.

TS ought to get Rs 1,195crore per month towards itsshare in centraldevolution oftaxes.But on April 20, TS got ashocker, as it was allocated onlyRs 982crore -- a shortfall of Rs212 cr, amounting to 17.81 percent. Andhra Pradesh, howev-er, got Rs 1,892 crore.

The amount was released toall the states as part of the first

instalment in April for2020-21 financial yeartowardsdevolution ofcentraltaxes and duties. All the statesfaced 17.81 per cent cut.

The TS government lostnearly Rs 15,000 crore revenue

since March 25lockdown,while AP lost about Rs 10,000crore. What the Telugu Statesgot in return from the Centrewas meagre. On April 3, theCentre released Rs 224 croreto TS and Rs 559 crore to AP.Besides, AP got another Rs491 crore to fill its revenuedeficitgap as per the recom-mendations of 15th FinanceCommission.

It may be recalled that the15th Finance Commissionreduced theCentral share oftaxes for States from 42 percent to 41 per cent.Besides,Telangana's share in taxes inthe Central divisible pool has-fallen from 2.437 per cent to2.133 per cent. This has result-ed in adecrease of Rs 2,381crore in Central tax poolmoney to the State. Asper theFFC recommendation, theState is estimated to get Rs16,726crore in 2020-21.

Govt staff to get only28-40% salary with...Continued from page 1

The Telangana state govern-ment issued orders on (March30 and again on April 7, 2020)for deferred payment ofsalaries/wages, including allallowances, perks, pensions,and remuneration to all pub-lic representatives, AIS offi-cers, employees and personnelof the state government, keep-ing in view the fiscal condi-tions arising from the lock-down imposed to contain thespread of virus until furtherorders. A government memoissued on March 31 stated thatthe deferment shall be calcu-lated on the gross emolumntsor remuneration payable forthe month of March,2020without effecting the applica-ble deductions and recoveries.

The Government, aftercareful consideration of therelevant factors in this regard,has since decided that thedeductions and recoveries tobe made from the salaries,wages, remuneration for themonth of March,2020 "may benow drawn and remitted tothe relevant heads/accounts".

In cases, if any, where suchapplicable deductions andrecoveries to be now madeexceed the deferred portion ofgross emoluments for March,2020, the supplementary billtowards deductions and recov-eries shall be restricted to theamount deferred and the bal-ance amount of deductionsand recoveries shall be adjust-ed in a lump sum from futurepay and allowances by theconcerned DDOs.

Woman duped of Rs 9.4L...Continued from page 1

Frauds dupe two persons Inanother incident, two personswere duped by fraudsters onthe pretext of selling twowheelers on a popular website.

According to the police,the duo came across a classi-fied ad in the 'two-wheeler salesection'. The advertisersclaimed that they were person-nel working with the paramil-itary forces in Rajasthan andthat they were keen on selling

their vehicles.Thinking the deal to be

genuine, the duo first trans-ferred Rs 40,000 and then Rs64,000 to the bank accountsprovided by the fraudsterswho asked for money on thepretext of vehicle registration,transport charges and othertaxes.

Based on a complaint fromthe victims, the Cybercrimepolice booked a case and areinvestigating.

TSHRC seeksreports on...Continued from page 1

The Commission posted thematter to June 16.

The media report claimedthat the 20-year-old pregnantwoman, who belonged toGadwal district, accompa-nied by her husband, had togo to six state-run hospitalsfor the purpose of deliveryand other medical problems.

The report saidthe womanfirst consulted a district hos-pital at Gadwal for deliveryon April 24.

She, was, however, advisedto go to a big hospital in viewof her health condition. Shewas shifted to MahabubnagarGeneral Hospitalin a vehicleby the authorities.

The doctors there said hercondition was critical andreferred her to a hospital inHyderabad, according to themedia report.

As Gadwal is a COVID-19prevalent district, the doctorsat the hospital sent her toanother state-run hospital inHyderabad for testing for thevirus infection.

Plasma therapyno treatment ...Continued from page 1

"The plasma therapy isone of the therapies beingexperimented with forCovid-19. But there is no evi-dence to support this thera-py as a treatment of this dis-ease. It's still at the experi-mental stage," Agarwal said.

The ICMR had initiated anationwide study to check itsefficacy. Until robust scientif-ic proofs were available, hesaid, "We should use thistherapy only for trial andstudy purposes. In fact, if theplasma therapy is not used asper the prescribed guidelinesit could cause life-threateningcomplications." Under thistherapy, plasma of a recov-ered person, in this caseCovid, is taken and infused inthe patient. But till date nocountry has okayed this ther-apy for treatment.

Six newcases ofCoronavirusin TelanganaContinued from page 1

He said, "Two cases of deathsbelong to Gulbarga(Karnataka), but theTelangana government hastaken account of these cases.Some cases are already hav-ing complicated health issues.Deaths below 50-years areless".

Eighteen out of the 25patients who died inTelangana had hypertensionor diabetes as a co-morbidi-ty. All the other patients hadsome form of acute co-mor-bidity, for example cancer,cerebral palsy, or Sever AcuteRespiratory Infection. Theage group of the deceasedvary from an infant to74years old. Two childrenwho succumbed to coronaalso had comorbid condition.The less than 2-month-oldbaby boy had cerebral palsy,while the one-year-old boy'scase was that of Infant mor-tality. In all, 17 out of25deaths were those of malesin Telangana.

In Telangana, more than50% cases were reported inGHMC limits, followed byVikarabad, Suryapet andGadwal.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Employee diesunder suspiciouscircumstances

A36-year-old woman workingas a labour in a seeds

company, died under suspiciouscircumstances on Tuesday inMedchal. The victim wasidentified as Peguda Latha, anemployee of Sunshine AgroSeeds Company at Lingapur ofMedchal. According to PegudaSanjeeva, her husband, on April14, Latha went to attend dutiesat the company. Around 2 pmafter lunch, while Latha wasstanding, cotton seed bags fellon her and other co-workers byaccident. Immediately thecompany management shiftedthem to Leela Hospital, Medchalfor treatment. On the same day,Latha was shifted to MallareddyHospital, Suraram for bettertreatment due to the severeinjuries to her leg. The doctorsexamined her and told her thather right leg ankle was fractured.On April 17, she was operatedon for the injury and wasdischarged from the hospitalafter recovery on April 21. Sincethe company managementagreed to pay the hospitalexpenditure, Sanjeeva didn'tlodge a complaint with thepolice. However, on Tuesday,after Latha had breakfast andtook tablets, she suddenlycomplained of stomach pain andbreathlessness.

Home guardsuspended forattacking youth

Ahome guard from GolcondaPolice was placed under

suspension by Hyderabad citypolice commissioner, AnjaniKumar on Tuesday. The official,some guard Hanumanthu, hadattacked a youth distributing foodto people at Tolichowki Shaikpetcheck post in Golconda, causinghim to get 12 stitches on his face.The youth, Junaid, 19, along withhis friends, has been distributingfood since a month to around 800people a day, sources said. "Wewere approached by constablesfrom Golconda police today whospoke to us very rudely. One ofthem attacked my brother andcaused a severe cut on his faceright under his eye. We rushedhim to hospital and he had to get12 stitches" said his brother in acomplaint. Taking a promptaction, the police commissionerissued orders to place the homeguard under suspension andasked the Golconda policeinspector was given a chargememo for not properly briefinghis subordinates in discharge ofduties.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The demand for water tankersis less this summer comparedto previous year. AmidstCoronavirus lockdown, watersupply to commercial cus-tomers have completely shut-down. This allows theHyderabad Metropolitan WaterSupply and Sewerage Board(HMWSSB) to facilitate suffi-cient supply for domestic cus-tomers.

Moreover, the water levels inreservoirs is also better thanprevious years. During the pre-vious year, the water level inNagarjuna Sagar reservoirwhich is major source of sup-ply for city was at 511.4 feetwhile it stands as 542.6 feet thisyear as on Tuesday. With malls,hotels and other commercialestablishments remainingclosed, the supply of water forresidential areas and even slumsthrough tankers is going onuninterruptedly.

Official pointed thatHMWSSB supplies over 410million gallons of water a day

of which nearly 25 per cent issupplied for commercial needs.HMWSSB initiated its summeraction plan worth Rs 50 crores.As part of this, an additional230 additional tankers will beavailable in addition to theexisting tankers. Another 23filling stations and 110 fillingpoints will be arranged.

It may be mentioned herethat due to lockdown,HMWSSB has set up four taskforce teams at its head office.Each task force comprises 100linemen and sewerage workers,one general manager, twodeputy general managers, fourmanagers, one sub-inspectorand police personnel.

Official pointed that HMWSSB suppliesover 410 million gallons of water a dayof which nearly 25 per cent is suppliedfor commercial needs

‘Summer plan' savesHyd from water crisis

Count your calories this RamadanPNS n HYDERABAD

The holy month ofRamadan this year is unprece-dented in that it is going to bewithout the zing that marksiftar party, public celebrationsand camaraderie because ofthe worldwide scourge ofnovel coronavirus pandemic.

So, doctors are advisingthose observing fast to watchout for the calorific intake andquality of food. People withType 2 diabetes and hyperten-sion who have their conditionsunder control, either throughdiet or medication, may beable to fast. It is advised toavoid fatty foods, fruit juicesand excess quantity of fruitslike mangoes or too manydates, especially diabetics.

Dr. Ravi SankarErukulapati, SeniorConsultant Endocrinologist -

Apollo Hospitals, says:"Diabetics, especially thosewith poor control, are atincreased risk of contractinginfections and this applies tothe novel coronavirus also.The complications and deathrates due to Covid-19 diseaseare high in those with diabetesthan non-diabetics, especial-ly if glucose control is notgood. If one is fasting, it isimportant to be aware of the

symptoms and signs of lowblood glucose, recognise,check blood glucose using aglucometer and to treat it."

Doctors advise people tostay at home. Maintainingsocial distance and wearingmasks is essential, as is avoid-ing Eid shopping by physical-ly going out. People shouldconsult their physician & dia-betologist for advice that canbe tailored to their situation.

Doctors also advise peopleto not expose themselves toexcess heat, but to stay indoorsand adequately hydrate beforeand after the fasting period.

Dr. Zaheer Abbas says:"Always have a light & nutri-tious suhoor which is a fuel forthe day. Drink plenty of water& eat water- rich fruits. Try toadd watermelon in suhoorwhich could be special sweettreat during iftar as well.

Sanitation worker donatesRs 10k to CM Relief FundPNS n HYDERABAD

A sanitation worker of theGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) hasdonated Rs 10,000 to theTelangana Chief Minister'sRelief Fund.

The big-heart, who drawsonly Rs 12,000 monthly salary,met Municipal AdministrationMinister K.T. Rama Rao, hereon Tuesday, and handed overhis donation.

Her gesture hugelyimpressed the Minister, whohas been receiving huge dona-tions from industrialists andprominent personalities on adaily basis. He appreciatedAlivelu for her commitmenttowards the society andapplauded her gesture.

She has been delivering ser-vices as a sanitation worker inthe Tolichowki circle for the

past five years. Her husbandSailam is a daily wager at a veg-etable market and her twochildren are studying in school.

Alivelu said many suggest-

ed her not to contribute moneyduring these difficult times.But her husband and childrenwho stood by her and encour-aged her to contribute.

Sanitation worker Alivelu hand overs cheque to Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday

Central team meetsmigrant labourersPNS n HYDERABAD

On the fourth day of its visitto assess the Covid-19 situa-tion in Hyderabad, the InterMinisterial Central Team(IMCT) on Tuesday visited ahospital, a temporary shelterhome for migrant workersand control room at GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) head-quarters.

The team enquired aboutthe functions of control room,facilities provided to themigrant workers in shelterhomes, distribution of food tothe needy and response to thecalls about suspected Covid-19 cases.

Officer on Special Duty,Anuradha explained to theteam the functioning of thecontrol room 24x7, supply offood to the needy by vehiclesthrough Hare Krishna

Foundation and AnnapurnaMeals and about getting feed-back and tracking on healthconditions of home quaran-tined people.

The team made a call to thefield staff and enquired towhom they have suppliedfood and how many on a par-ticular day. The field staffgave the details which talliedwith the data provided by thecontrol room.

The central team appreciat-ed the functioning of the con-trol room and providing shel-ter and food to the migrantworkers by the GHMC.

The team later visited KingKoti Hospital. It also visitedVictory Play Ground where atemporary shelter has beenprovided for 102 migrantworkers. The team enquiredfrom the workers about facil-ities like food and healthcheck up.

No rapid tests in TS: EtelaPNS n HYDERABAD

Health Minister Etela Rajendersaid that no rapid or randomtests will be conducted inTelangana. He said that, "ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raosaid earlier, that Telanganawon't conduct rapid testingbecause the guidelines were notclear. We are doing tests in themost scientific way possible.ICMR guidelines are being fol-lowed for testing in Telangana.As many as 19,063 sampleshave been tested so far inTelangana. Numbers of casesare more important than thenumber of tests conducted.State is doing enough testing".

He said," Telangana is testingeffectively and is not doing itunnecessarily. We are notagainst testing". As of Monday,the state had tested 18,687samples and by Tuesday morn-ing, the figure rose to 18,894. ByTuesday evening, Etela saidthat the figure was 19,063.

The Minister pointed outthat the people are not scaredof Covid-19 any more like theywere before. He dismissed theclaims of low testing rate in

Telangana and said that they arenot hiding Coronavirus cases.Corona deaths in Telangana are2.5 per cent while nationalaverage is 3.2 per cent. He said,"Karimnagar is role model forTelangana in handlingCoronairus crisis and likewiseTelangana is the ideal for thecountry. We have identifiedthose who went to Markaz ina very short period of time"

He said that there are nomassive primary and secondarycontacts in Hyderabad in whicheight circles have about 70 percent of cases. Everyday 1,549tests can be conducted. Amachine that conduct 5,000

tests at a time will soon be pro-cured by the state government.

The Minister said, "ICMRguidelines state that mildpatients can be treated at home.Only people in need of hospi-talisation need will be admittedin hospital in future. As such,not more than 10 people needhospitalisation. By May 8, allthose admitted will be recov-ered".

ICMR latest guidelines statethat if there are less than fivecases, containment zones neednot be pronounced. InTelangana, infected familiesare more and about 1,281 peo-ple came from New Delhi of

which 1,244 were identified.People are being monitoredclosely in containment zones.

Etela said, "Nobody is doingRandom test in Telangana.Central government came to doRandom tests, but after lookingat the situation in Telangana,they found no necessity to dothe test."

Meanwhile, the Minister saidthat more than 100 Covid sur-vivors in Telangana have comeforward to donate blood forPlasma therapy.

He said, "Plasma therapyapproval has come, we will lookat the procedures and take itforward."

Health Ministry joint secre-tary Lav Aggarwal on Tuesdaysaid the plasma therapy isbeing experimented, and thereis no evidence that this couldbe used as a treatment. He said,"Until ICMR concludes itsstudy & a robust scientificproof is available, Plasma ther-apy should be used only forresearch or trial purpose. Ifplasma therapy is not used inproper manner under properguideline then it can also causelife threatening complications"

IIIT-H CIE's‘Unpitch'attracts 180startupsPNS n HYDERABAD

Centre of Innovation andEntrepreneurship(CIE), alsoknown as CIE@IIITH organ-ises 'Unpitch' - an unconven-tional pitch event to help star-tups tide over lockdown trig-gered slowdown. A three-dayonline funding pitch eventwas just organised to help seedrevenue, bridge funds to tideover the squeeze, or fundingfrom corporate angels. Aunique feature of the eventwas that all pitched for fundsagainst specific short-termoutcomes and market results.

It was organised in partner-ship with Headstart, PWC,TiE & TheCapitalNet, the ini-tiative received a tremendousresponse from startups andinvestors.

180 startups applied andover 15 VCs/angel investorsalong with 10 corporates par-ticipated. The series providedan exclusive platform fornationwide tech startups toraise bridge/growth funds asthey grapple with the currentlockdown situation.

Police lendsolidarity toHarjeet SinghPNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad Police par-ticipated in 'Main BhiHarjeet Singh' campaign onMonday and wore nameplates bearing the name ofHarjeet Singh, in support ofthe ASI whose hand wasdismembered in an attack inPatiala on April 12.

Anjani Kumar, IPS,Commissioner of Police,Hyderabad said, "Todaymore than 2,000 police offi-cers wore the nameplate ofbrave Harjeet Singh of ourfraternity. We feel proudthat we wear the same khakiwhich he wears," he said.

Punjab Police launchedthe campaign on April 26,where the police personnelare being exhorted toreplace their own name withHarjeet's name on theirbadges.

This initiative was start-ed to support their col-league Sub-InspectorHarjeet Singh whose handwas chopped off while hewas trying to impose Covid-19 lockdown restrictions inthe state.

He was attacked by agroup of criminals whowere asked to show theircurfew passes at a vegetablemarket in Patiala on April12 amid lockdown.

Mayor Dr Bonthu Rammohan, Principal Secretary of MA&UD Arvind Kumar andGHMC Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar officials administering oath withentomology wing workers on Tuesday

E-learning gains tractionwith lockdown of edu sector PNS n HYDERABAD

The Coronavirus pandemichas disrupted the way learningusually happens and pavedthe way for Edtech. The resul-tant uncertainty due to thepandemic has impactedschools and educational insti-tutes across India. Edtech isexpected to remain a very hotsector of Venture Capitalinvestment, according toKPMG report. As per thereport, Edtech was a big win-ner in Q1'20 with Byju raising$400 million, Unacademy rais-ing $110 million, and AakashEducational announcing itsacquisition of Meritnation.

Pavan Chauhan, Founderand CEO of Meritnation notesthat the ability to adapt isimportant for success. He said,

"Students across India are com-ing online to study in hugenumbers. The popularity oflive classes with thousands ofstudents joining in every dayclearly shows that students areincreasingly getting used to theconcept of online learning.Meritnation will continue tooffer Free Live Classes on itsplatform till the lockdown iscalled off, and will be there toensure that the students get all

the help to study from the safe-ty of their homes. All educatorscan reach out to Meritnationfor any assistance that theymay need to help students".

With 35 per cent of India's1.3 billion population below 15years of age, it present animmense business potentialfor edtech products to scale-upby plugging gaps.

With 35 per cent ofIndia's 1.3 billionpopulation below 15years of age, itpresent an immensebusiness potentialfor edtech productsto scale-up byplugging gaps

16 quarantined aftertrader tests positivePNS n HYDERABAD

A 50-year-old shopkeeper ofSaroornagar area in Hyderabadhas been tested positive forCoronavirus. Following histest results, 16 people, includ-ing a five year old girl, werekept under quarantine.

The man, a resident ofSaroornagar, is a trader ofgroundnuts and owns a shopin Malakpet.

The sixteen persons includehis primary contacts - his wife,two sons, brother, and broth-er-in-law. Others quarantinedinclude his colleagues, houseowner, neighbours, an autodriver, a doctor and staff fromJeevan Sai Hospital inVanasthalipuram.

According to the policesources, the patient identifiedwas suffering from fever andcough since April 17.

"On April 20, he was takento Jeevan Sai Hospital inVanasthalipuram and four dayslater he was shifted to Omnihospital in Kothapet.

However, he wasn't givenany treatment. The same dayhe was shifted to Nizam'sInstitute of Medical Sciences,after being denied treatmentthere, too, he was taken toYashoda hospital inSomajiguda, and test samplesrevealed that he was positive"sources said.

All the sixteen patients havebeen put under home quaran-tine.

Experts: Coronavirusalso affects kidneysPNS n HYDERABAD

The unprecedented Covid-19pandemic has almost openeda pandora's box. Besides otherchallenges, it has been testingthe current healthcare sys-tems. Among the Covid-19infected people, quite a fewhave developed kidney abnor-malities in otherwise healthykidneys. A few patients evendeveloped Acute KidneyInjury (AKI), a conditionknown to impact survival ofpatients. Also, a recent reportof the International Society ofNephrology (ISN) reveals thatof the people infected withCovid-19, 25 to 50 per cent ofthem were seen with kidneyabnormalities, which mani-fested as a substantial leak of

protein and blood in urine,resulting in the developmentof AKI in close to 15 per centpatients, hinting that Covid-19also attacks the kidney.

"Effect on the kidney is sec-ondary to hypoxia or cyto-kines released by the Covid-19. It is generally perceivedthat Covid-19 types of virus-es are borne from respiratorysystems - lungs, but a growingbody of evidence shows thatCovid-19 also attacks the kid-neys either directly or mediat-ed by immune response seenin severe patients and not justthe lungs. As per earlierreports of SARS and MERS-CoV infections, AKI haddeveloped in 15 per cent cases,but about 60 per cent of thosecases reported mortality.

IT companies gear up for post lockdown measuresPNS n HYDERABAD

"After May 3, will the govern-ment continue the lockdownor do away with it?" is the hottopic being discussed in vari-ous circles not only in the statebut also across the nation.

In case of partial withdraw-al after May 3, the IT compa-nies are preparing the groundfor launching their operations.They have been waiting fororders to be issued by govern-ment on observing physicaldistance as a prelude to start-ing their business.

Moreover, they are also inthe business of bringing inmore rules to rein in Covid-19.

Tech Mahindra CEO andManaging Director CP Gunnashared some photos through

twitter indicating how it isgearing up to reopen challenge.

The photos pertain toobserving social distance nearoffice entrance, lifts, bath-rooms and others.

Similarly Wipro ChairmanRishad Premji also sharedsome photos on social mediaon observing social distance inWipro.

Not only major IT compa-nies, even smaller units haveset their sights on steps to betaken after partial withdrawal

of lockdown. These includethermal screening, keepingsanitisers on employees' desks,taking care of employees'health conditions and others.

Society for CyberabadSecurity council general secre-tary Krishna Yedula said thatmeasures are being contem-plated by IT units in case ofreopening. The safety mea-sures include maintaining adistance of two feet near theentrance and at the accesscard screening facility.

Allowing only 50 per cent ofthe capacity of the lift and onlyone person for a cab.

Krishna said that the ITunits should refashion theirworking schedule as per therules issued by governmentafter lifting of the lockdown.

Migrants vandalise...Continued from Page 1The workers were earlier

hired by contractors engaged inthe construction of theDiamond Bourse Complex inKhajod area of Surat, they said.

It all started when the work-ers learnt that their contractorshave brought in more labour-ers from other parts of Gujaratto speed up the constructionwork after getting approval of

the district collector, DeputyCommissioner of Police (zone-3) Vidhi Chaudhari said. "Theygot angry after seeing labour-ers from outside at the site.They claimed that these out-siders may be carrying coron-avirus. These workers thenstarted demanding that if per-mission can be granted to bringoutsiders here, then why can'tthey travel to their native places.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020 hyderabad 04

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The Coronavirus survivorswho were discharged fromGandhi Hospital after theirtreatment on Tuesday sharedtheir experiences. While theywere all praise for amenitiesprovided, especially the food,some even expressed that therewas anxiety when they werebrought to the hospital andduring the course of treatment.

A survivor SheikMohammad Hussain fromNizamabad said, "I was admit-ted on April 3, second andthird tests were conducted 15days later. The only problem isthat when doctors ornurses,were asked about theirdischarge, they had no clarity.The doctors pointed out thatthey are not responsible for thedischarge or reports."

For which the hospitalauthorities clarified that dis-charge date will be confirmedonly after two consecutive

results test negative and that'sthe reason they were not ableto confirm beforehand thedischarge date of the patients.

Another Covid survivorMohammad Sadathullah fromWarangal said, "I was broughtto Gandhi Hospital on April 9.I was scared when I was told,

but when I was brought here,all my fears disappeared.Doctors and nurses were verycordial and sanitisation wasvery good. Iftar and Seharwere provided. We are veryhappy with the facilities andwe thank the hospital and theChief Minister."

Several Covid-19 survivorsmentioned that food and facil-ities are very good, doctorswere checking every 1-2 hoursand they were being servedtwo types of rice, dal andcurry for food.

Mohammad Asif fromVikarabad said, "I came hereon April 12. We had no prob-lems. Food is given on time.They are cleaning every 3hours.

Only problem is that wewere not given any facilities togo home after discharge. Itshould be provided as there arewomen and children, who willface issues. For this, hospitalstaff responded by saying thatthe district authorities are inti-mated 5 to 6 hours before dis-charge to ensure that theyprovide the transportationfacilities during lockdown toget the patient home."

Covid survivors also saidthat they were able to do rozaand got iftar and sehar ontime.

Fear, anxiety: Survivors telltheir stories of Coronavirus

Coronavirus survivors also said thatthey were able to do roza and got iftarand sehar on time

Harish Rao: Continue tomaintain social distancePNS n SIDDIPET

Finance Minister T Harish Raohas called upon the people tocontinue maintaining the socialdistance, wear masks and keep-ing the hands clean as a precau-tionary measure though theCovid-19 cases in Telanganahave come down.

Appreciating the police, doc-tors, sanitation staff and otherdepartments for their collectiveefforts in containing the spreadof the novel coronavirus in thestate, Rao has said that theycould efficiently deal with thepandemic because they had anefficient and committed leaderin Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao.

"We can save ourselves onlywith the collective effort. Evena single person's irresponsiblebehaviour at the time of emer-gency can land the entire statein trouble", Harish Rao sensi-

tised the people.Distributing a pack of essen-

tials to poor brahmins atIntegrated Office Complex inGajwel on Tuesday, theMinister has said that it ishappy to see just two positivecases reporting in state onMonday. He has further said

that they will distribute Rs1,500 cash and 12kgs of rice toall the ration cardholders inTelangana. Forest DevelopmentCorporation Chairman,Vanteru Prathap Reddy, GajwelArea Development Authority,Special Officer, R MuthyamReddy and others were present.

Minister lauded the police, doctors andsanitation staff for their efforts incontaining the spread of Coronavirus

PNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture MinisterSingireddy Niranjan Reddyon Tuesday inspected theworks related to the upcom-ing fruit market at Koheda onthe city suburbs near theOuter Ring Road (ORR).

As the existing market atKothapet will soon be shiftedto Koheda, lorries loaded withseasonal fruits especiallymangoes will start arriving atthe new market within a fewdays.

Once the market is shiftedto Koheda, the traffic chaoson the ever-busy LB Nagar

and Dilsukhnagar stretch areexpected to be eased as the

lorries will be heading toKoheda.

The marketing departmenthas developed the market at acost of Rs 65 lakh and alreadytwo sheds were put up andconstruction of another shedis under progress.

As the new market is nearto the ORR, it would be easyto farmers to reach thepremises without entering thecity, officials said.

Works pertaining to streetlighting connecting the mar-ket and the ORR are alsounderway along with otheramenities to farmers, agentsand vendors arriving at themarket as part of their dailybusiness transaction.

Minister launchesPPC in MakthalPNS n MAKTHAL

Minister V Srinivas Goud andMakthal MLA Ch RamMohan Reddy inaugurating apaddy procurement centre inMakthal mandal on Tuesday.

Narayanpet: V SrinivasGoud, Minister for Excise andProhibition, Youth and SportsAffairs, Tourism and Culture,along with Makthal MLA ChRam Mohan Reddy, inaugu-rated a paddy procurementcentre at Manthangode andKatrevupally villages ofMakthal mandal on Tuesdayand also inaugurated the newmobile micro ATM setup byDistrict CooperativeCommercial Bank.

Addressing the farmers, hesaid that Telangana was theonly State which was procur-ing the entire paddy producefrom farmers and had setupPPCs in all gram panchayats,keeping in mind the risk posedby Covid-19 in procurementprocess.

He said that Telangana gov-ernment was a farmers' gov-ernment which has set anexample for all other States inthe country by launching var-ious schemes in the best inter-ests of the farmers. He also dis-tributed essential commoditiesto the needy which was spon-sored by ZPTC Vanaja duringhis day's tour of the con-stituency.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana PradeshCongress Committee(TPCC) president andNalgonda MP N UttamKumar Reddy expressedshock over ChiefMinister KChandrashekhar Rao'sdecision to declare 21districts as Coronavirusfree without even con-ducting adequate num-ber of tests.

"The state govern-ment is not conductingtest for secondary con-tacts of those found pos-itive for Covid-19. There

are many complaintsthat people without anytravel history were notbeing tested althoughthey have clear symp-toms of Coronavirus.Testing for asympto-matic persons has

reportedly been stoppedlong back. Therefore,without conducting testsfor suspects, is it fair onthe part of state govern-ment to declare a district'Coronavirus free'?" heasked.

Donations continue to pour infor Telangana CM Relief FundPNS n HYDERABAD

Several prominent persons,organisations on Tuesdaygave huge donations to theChief Minister's Relief Fundto support the state govern-ment's programmes and mea-sures to prevent spread ofCorona virus in the State.

Telangana State Councilfor Higher Education(TSCHE) gave Rs 10 Croredonation to the CMRF. ACheque in this regard wasgiven to Chief Minister Sri KChandrashekhar Rao byTSCHE Chairman Prof TPapireddy, Vice ChairmanSri R Limbadri, ViceChairman V Venkatramana,and Secretary N Srinivas Rao.These five persons have indi-vidually gave another Rs 2.50

Lakh to the CMRF.Greenco group came for-

ward to give one lakh PPEKits worth Rs five crore.

A consent letter in thisregard is given by company'sMD Anil Chalamasetty tothe CM.

Mythra Energy group cameforward to give 2 Crore 50lakh worth PPE Kits andN95 Masks. A consent letterin this regard is given bycompany's MD VikramKailas, Director Vivek Kailasto the CM.

Telangana State PrivateMedical and Dental CollegesManagement Associationcame forward to donate med-ical equipment worth Rs 2crore.

A consent letter in thisregard is given by Association

President Laxmi NarasimhaRao to the CM.

Sri Ramchandra Missionhas announced a donation ofRs 1.50 crore. A Cheque inthis regard is given by SriRamachandra Mission's JointSecretary Vamsi Chalagulla,Dr Sharath Kumar to theCM.

Andhra Pradesh GasPower Corporation gave Rsone Crore to the CMRF. ACheque in this regard is givenby MD Venkateswar Reddy tothe CM.

People from Kaluwakurtyand TRS party workers gaveRs 7.41 Lakh to the CMRF. ACheque in this regard is givenby MLA Jaipal Reddy to theCM. Minister Sri NiranjanReddy participated in theprogramme.

Agriculture Minister inspects Koheda fruit market

State has become rice bowl of the country: KCRPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Raodeclared that the Telanganastate is becoming rice bowlof the country due to therecord level Paddy beingcultivated in the state fol-lowing improvement in theirrigation facilities. He saidthat a comprehensive strat-egy is being worked out toget reasonable support pricefor the agriculture produce,as there is an increase in theyield and acreage. The CMinstructed the officials con-cerned to construct andadditional 40 Lakh tonnescapacity godowns and 2500Farmer daises. He alsowanted finalisation of poli-cy for Rythu BandhuSamithis to play an activerole. The CM wanted farm-ers to purchase the fertilis-

ers for the month of June asthe stock of fertilisers areavailable now. The CMwarned that the govern-ment would take sternaction against those sellingthe spurious seeds, fertilis-ers and pesticides.

The CM held a high-level meeting here onTuesday at Pragathi Bhavan

on procurement of agricul-ture produce of the Rabi,availability of fertilisers,construction of Godowns,Farmers' Daises, gettingsupportive price for the pro-duce, extension of the civilsupplies services, activat-ing the Rythu BandhuSamithis and other issues.

"The life of Telangana is

associated with agriculture.There are 60-65 Lakh farm-ers in the State. There are somany others lives are depen-dent on agriculture sector.Since farmers were in theunorganised sector and dueto negligence and failure ofthe past government towork with commitment,farmers have suffered a lotin the past. Agriculture wentinto a crisis. After theTelangana state was formedand TRS came to power, dueto many farmer welfare andagriculture developmentmeasures taken by the gov-ernment, the situationchanged for the better.There is still a lot to be donefor the agriculture develop-ment and for welfare offarmers," the CM said.

"As the government hastaken on top priority con-struction of irrigation pro-

jects, in the days to come,about 1300 TMC ofGodavari and Krishnawaters would be utilised.Availability of water for irri-gation improved due totanks revival works doneunder Mission Kakatiya,24-hour- free power supply.Under projects, tanks andborewells, there is a possibil-ity of having two crops in1.45 Crore acres and threecrops in 10 Lakh acres.Then the Telangana Statewill become Rice Bowl ofIndia. The yield will bedoubled in the years tocome. It is our boundenduty to finalise a strategy toget the support price.

Agriculture department,Civil Supplies departmentand Rythu BandhuSamithies should grow

"Since the farmers are indistress due to the existingCorona virus situation pre-vailing, the state govern-ment now is buying eachand every morsel producedby farmers and this is donein anywhere in the country.Farmers should get theirsupport price in future too.The Civil SuppliesDepartment should expandits services so that farmerswould get their supportprice, people would get theirrice and pulses at reasonablerates.

The life of Telangana is associatedwith agriculture. There are 60-65Lakh farmers in the state, says CM

32 Coronavirussurvivors readyto donateplasma: Owaisi PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 32 people whosuccessfully recovered fromCOVID-19 in Telanganahave come forward to donatetheir plasma for treatment ofother patients in the state,AIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi said.

In his letter to TelanganaHealth Minister EtelaRajender, Owaisi furnishedthe details of the recoveredpatients and expressed hopethat their contribution wouldgo a long way in the govern-ment's efforts to treat coro-navirus patients.

"As you are aware, thedonation of convalescentplasma is critical in our col-lective fight against coron-avirus. In furtherance of thesame I am attaching here-with the names of 32 recov-ered patients who are willingto donate their plasma andcontribute in helping patientswho are currently affected byCovid-19," he said in the let-ter dated April 27.

Plasma treatment is doneby taking blood plasma froma cured Covid-19 patient totreat positive cases to effec-tively strengthen theimmune system. The stategovernment has got theCentre's approval to use plas-ma therapy in the treatmentof Covid-19 patients.

"I hope that this contribu-tion from recovered patientswill go a long way in the gov-ernment efforts to treatCovid-19 patients in thestate," the Hyderabad MPsaid.

PNS n WANAPARTHY

A couple fromMachanpally thandaof Machanpally grampanchayat inMahabubnagar diedin a lightning strikeduring the thunder-storms on Tuesdayevening. For the sec-ond time this month,farmers from severalparts of Palamururegion suffered lossesas their paddy cropswhich were ready forharvesting were dam-aged in strong windscoupled with rains

that lashed severalparts of Wanaparthy,Mahabubnagar andNarayanpet districtson Tuesday evening.The untimely rainscaused heavy losses topaddy and mangofarmers in the region.

In Wanaparthy ,moderate rains wererecorded in Ghanpur,Gopalpet, Revallyand Wanaparthy,where crops wereonce damaged at alarge-scale just coupleof weeks ago whenthere were hailstormsin these parts.

Cong: Bringordinanceto continueAgency GO 3 PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Congress has con-demned the Surpeme Court'sverdict of abolition of AgencyGO No.3. It is said that thetribal people will be affectedseverely with the abolition ofGO No.3 and the tribal peo-ple would lose the specialopportunities provided bythe constitution. The partydemanded the state govern-ment to file a review petitionin the Supreme Court imme-diately and also bring anordinance stating that thestate government is continu-ing the GO No. 3 as it is.

Speaking to the media atGandhi Bhavan on Tuesday,All India Adivasi Congressvice chairman T BellaiahNaik, former Union MinisterP Balram Naik and AICCAdivasi Executive MemberDr Naresh Jadhav havedemanded the state govern-ment to organise the TACmeeting immediately. Theysaid that the Adivasis wouldlose jobs of teacher, policeconstable, forest beat officer,VRO, VRA, gram panchayatsecretary, gram panchayatworkers, field assistants andothers.

TPCC: Addressissues ofsweet limefarmersPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) Covid-19Task Force chairman MarriShashidhar Reddy and mem-ber M Kodanda Reddy alongwith former market commit-tee member Dandem RamReddy visited the new whole-sale fruit market at Koheda,near the ORR to take stock ofthe situation there onTuesday. Though it has beenmade functional with sometemporary sheds, which arestill being erected, theyalleged. The leaders said thatthe fruit market has beenfunctioning at Gaddiannaramfor the last 34 years. Therewas a proposal to shift themarket from there as it wasgetting congested because oftraffic and over-crowding.However, the purpose of shift-ing it suddenly now in thewake of Covid-19 pandemicappears meaningless as thereis a lot of congestion withoutany scope for social distanc-ing possible, they alleged.

Robo-assistedservice for patientsin NellorePNS n NELLORE

The government on Tuesdaysaid that robo-assisted ser-vices to Covid-19 patientswould be introduced inNellore, the first of its kind inthe State. The governmenthas announced that roboswould be deployed in region-al Covid-19 treatment cen-tres.

Nellore-based organisationHelping Hands handed overthe robo to the government.The Helping Hands represen-tative Nizamuddin demon-strated the working of therobot.

Rains wreak havocin Mahbubnagar

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena president PawanKalyan paid rich tributes toDokka Sitamma, a charitablewoman of the yore.

In a statement releasedhere on Tuesday, he said thatpeople of Telugu Statesshould feel proud about theservices rendered by DokkaSitamma. She served food tothe needy expending herassets for the purpose ofcharity. She helped the poorto perform marriages andpursue education. .

Pawan paystributes toDokka Sitamma

Corona-free: Uttam cautionsCM against self-certification

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Delhi, Mumbai among15 ‘high case load’places, says AmitabhNEW DELHI: NITI Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant has identified 15places including Delhi, Mumbaiand Ahmedabad as "high caseload" and said India's success inbattling COVID-19 is dependenton them. Out of these 15, sevendistricts show particularly highcase volumes, like Hyderabad(TS), Pune (MH), Jaipur(Rajasthan), Indore (MP),Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Mumbai(MH) and Delhi. Other high caseload places that are "critical" inthe battle against COVID-19include — Vadodara (Gujarat),Kurnool (AP), Bhopal (MP),Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Agra (UP),Thane (MH), Chennai (TN) andSurat (Gujarat). "These 15districts are critical in our battleagainst #Covid_19 Of them 7show particularly high casevolumes. India's success inbattling COVID-19 is dependenton them. We must aggressivelymonitor, contain, test, treat inthese districts! We must winhere," Kant said in a tweet.

DCW counsellor,driver placed underquarantine

Lockdown violence:Man thrashes wife ashe loses virtual gameAHMEDABAD: Persuading herhusband to play Ludo with herso as to keep him indoorsduring the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, left aresident of Vadodara in Gujaratwith a spinal injury, as she wasallegedly thrashed by him eachtime he lost, an official said onTuesday. The incident came tolight last weekend when thewoman, a resident of Vemalilocality, called up Abhyamhelpline for victims of domesticviolence stating that she wasseverely assaulted by herhusband, the official said. Thevictim had asked her husbandto play Ludo with her on amobile phone in a bid to keephim indoors, he said. However,the plan backfired when theman started thrashing his wifeevery time he lost a game toher, forcing her to consult adoctor for spine injuries, theofficial said.

NEW DELHI: A counsellor ofthe Delhi Commission ForWomen (DCW) and a driverhave been put under quarantineafter they rescued a womanwho was later found COVID-19positive, the panel said onTuesday. DCW chief SwatiMaliwal has written to DelhiHealth secretary PadminiSingla, informing her about thematter and asking her to ensurethorough contact tracing. OnApril 24, the DCW counsellorhad rescued a woman who wasconfined by her parents forallegedly marrying against theirwishes with the help of policepersonnel from KN Katju Margpolice station. The woman washanded over to her husbandand they both travelled toPanipat. However, they metwith an accident after whichthey were admitted to ahospital. The woman testedpositive for coronavirus whenher examination was done atthe hospital, the panel said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Keeping vigil at film promotions,public events showcasing starsand outdoor shoots, bouncersfor hire exist on the fringes of theentertainment industry and haveretreated further into the shad-ows during the lockdown withno association to look out fortheir interests.

While help has started trick-ling in for daily wagers, bandedunder associations, unions andfilm bodies, hundreds of bounc-ers available for hire to providethat extra layer of security tostars on the move are languish-ing with no jobs and no money.

There are 700 odd bouncers,including several women, said aveteran. Not directly connectedto the stars, who have their ownsecurity, they are part of theunregulated work force thatkeeps the engines runningsmoothly in the showbiz indus-

try. But the industry itself hasground to a halt with no eventsand no shootings in the pan-India lockdown that began onMarch 25 and is likely to go ontill at least May 3.

Fahimda Ansari, 42, whoworked as a bouncer-cum-coor-dinator for female bouncers onfilms such as “Gangubai”, “Zero”,“Kalank” and “Student of theYear 2”, said she earns up to Rs700 per day if there is work.

But there isn't any right now

and the single parent is findingthe going really tough.

She got an offer to work in ahospital's quarantine facility butdecided the risk of contractingthe coronavirus was not worthit.

"I had to say no because as asingle parent I can't put mydaughter at risk,” Ansari said.

Giving an insight into herunusual line of work, she said 25to 30 women bouncers are need-ed for big events such as award

shows and they get their moneyimmediately. However, forshoots, where only one or twowomen bouncers are required,payments can be delayed by 15days or even a month.

Fahimda, who is not part ofany federation, said she doesn'tknow who to ask for help.

Usman Khan, who alsoworks as a bouncer and coordi-nator, said these are challengingtimes for those with meagreincomes.

He has to look after his ailingmother, who is a diabetic, andsaid he has no option but to con-tinue in this line of work.

“To be a bouncer is not a skill.This field doesn't require anyqualification or any other specif-ic quality hence we are here. Myfather, who was a junior artiste,expired in 2004 on a film set aftera heart attack. I was in Class 6at the time and I had to leaveschool,” Khan said.

Without union, bouncers for hire inBollywood struggle for survival

Lockdown no bar, Jammuregion expects bumper cropPNS n JAMMU

The Department of Agriculture(DoA) on Tuesday ruled outany major impact of thenationwide lockdown on har-vesting of rabi crops across theJammu division and said theregion is expecting a bumpercrop this season. A senior gov-ernment official on Tuesdaysaid over two dozen wheat pro-curement centres are beingset up to facilitate the farmersto sell their produce.

Director Agriculture,Jammu division, Inder Jeetalso said they have alreadystarted distribution of seedsand made available sufficientfertilizers for the upcomingkharif season to ensure that thefarming community does notface any problem.

"The harvesting is going onsmoothly and we are expectinga bumper wheat crop this sea-son owing to good rainfall," theofficer said.

He said a total of 24 wheatprocurement centres are beingset up in Kathua, Samba andJammu districts to facilitate the

farmers to sell their produce atthe Minimum Support Prices(MSP) of Rs 1,925 fixed by thecentral government. TheJammu division comprises 10districts including these three,which account for major agri-cultural products.

With the advent of harvest-ing season, the Advisor toLieutenant Governor, K KSharma on Monday inaugurat-ed two such centres at villageKeso Mansa in Ramgrah blockof Samba district andSohanjana in Mandal Phallanblock in Jammu district.

The centres are opened by

the Food Corporation of India(FCI) with the support of theAgriculture department toensure minimum price to thefarmers and prevention of dis-tress sale or exploitation in thehands of private players.

"We have taken all steps intime to ensure that the lock-down does not have anyadverse impact on the farmingactivities. To overcome thenon-availability of migrantlabourers (due to the lock-down), we have deployed moremachinery and utilized theavailable resources in a judi-cious manner to ensure that

the harvesting of the crop issmooth," Inder Jeet said.

The Director Agriculturesaid his department facilitatedsmooth movement of dozensof combine harvesters fromneighbouring Punjab and alsomade available four of its com-bine harvesters to the farmerson subsidy under various gov-ernment schemes. "We aredirectly monitoring the deploy-ment of the machinery and ful-filling all the requirements ofthe farmers," he said.

Adityanath directs officials toencourage use of plasma therapyPNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Tuesdaydirected officials to encourageuse of plasma therapy for thetreatment of coronavirus infect-ed people and to increase testingcapacity.

Holding a review meetingwith senior officials of the state,the chief minister asked them tomake pool testing arrangementsin all the labs with proper train-ing as per protocol for those tak-ing samples, an official releasesaid.

He also asked them to delib-erate on opting for a world- classtechnology for increasing thetesting capacity, the release said.

Adityanath asked for geo-tagging shelter homes and mak-ing oxygen available in all hos-pitals while increasing the num-ber of beds for patients.

He directed officials to preparea work plan suggesting ways andmeans to restart industrial unitsafter May 3 and also a workplanfor giving employment tomigrant labourers.

Stressing on strict implemen-tion of the lockdown, the chiefminister said emphasis should beon social distancing and contin-

ued patrolling by the police.He said that it needs to be

ensured that only those linked tomedical, sanitation and homedelivery are allowed in the thehotspot areas and all the hous-es there are sanitized, the releasesaid.

Directing for proper medicalexamination of the studentsreturning to their homes fromAllahabad, the chief minister alsoissued directions for deployingsenior officers from administra-tion, police and health depart-ment in Varanasi, Hapur ,Rampur , Muzaffarnagar andAligarh districts.

He said that arrangementsshould be made in every district

for quarantine centres and shel-ter homes with a capacity of15,000 to 25,000 and all thosecompleting 14 days institution-al quarantine in shelter homesshould be medically examinedand sent for home quarantine.

He called for pool testingand random testing and askedthe district magistrate, chiefmedical officers to personallyinspect L1, L2, L3 COVID hos-pitals, shelter homes and quar-antine centres besides keeping aneye on the food and lodging facil-ities there. Referring to the prob-lem of feeding stray cattle, thechief minister asked for establish-ing a 'bhusa bank' (fodder) forthem, the release added.

Restrictions tightened inKashmir following spikein COVID-19 casesPNS n SRINAGAR

Curbs imposed in Kashmir tocontain the spread of coron-avirus have been further tight-ened following a spurt in thenumber of cases over the last fewdays, officials said here. Therestrictions on movement andassembly of people in the Valleyentered the 41st day on Tuesday,they said. Security forces havesealed off the main roads inmost places and installed barri-ers at several others to enforcethe lockdown, the officials said.

The administration has saidessential services, includinghealthcare personnel, areexempted from the restrictions,while otherwise, only peoplewith valid movement passes areallowed passage. The declaredcontainment or 'red' zones acrossthe Valley have been sealed to

ensure strict adherence to thestandard operating procedure,the officials said.

Markets were shut and pub-lic transport was off the roads,with only pharmacies and gro-ceries allowed to open, they said.

Educational institutionsacross Kashmir are closed, whileall public places, including gym-nasiums, parks, clubs and restau-rants, were shut down more thana week before the nationwidelockdown was announced byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the prime ministerannounced the countrywidelockdown on the evening ofMarch 24, the Union territoryadministration here, had onMarch 22, announced a lock-down across Jammu andKashmir till 31st March as partof efforts to curb the spread ofthe coronavirus.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Two priests were found mur-dered at a temple in Bulandshahrdistrict on Tuesday morning,allegedly killed by a local youth.

Jagdish (55) and Sher Singh(45) were apparently hit with alathi at Paguana village's Shivatemple in Anupshahr police sta-tion area, police said. The allegedkiller was arrested.

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath directed strictaction in the case as oppositionleaders targeted his BharatiyaJanata Party government over thecrime. Congress leader PriyankaGandhi and Samajwadi Partychief Akhilesh Yadav said thecase should not be politicised,

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray spoke toAdityanath, expressing concernover the killing. Days earlier,Adityanath had made a similarphone call to him over the lynch-ing of two sadhus in Palghar.

According to Uttar PradeshPolice, Murari, also known as

Raju, was accused by the sadhustwo days ago of stealing a pair oftongs used by them.

The youth, allegedly under theinfluence of cannabis, was caughtnear the temple soon after thetwo were found dead in the tem-ple.

Senior officers rushed to thespot and questioned the man,who told them that after taking“bhang” on Monday night hewent to the temple and killed thesadhus with a lathi lying there.

According to one official, the

intoxicated youth said he carriedout “God's will”, denying he hadany quarrel with the priests.

The senior official said theyouth will be interrogated atlength later as he was still underthe influence of the drug.

Villagers caught the youthwhen he was spotted roamingnaked about two kiolmetresfrom the scene of the crime,police said. Some reports said hewas carrying a sword and initial-ly police said the two priests werehacked to death.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

A day after allowing a batch of150 migrants from Surat inGujarat to travel to Odisha in pri-vate buses, authorities onTuesday permitted a group of 36workers to proceed toSiddharthnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Thousands of migrantworkers from various states arestuck in Surat and other citiesof Gujarat since the coron-avirus-enforced lockdowncame into force on March 25.

The state government shift-ed about 4500 migrant work-ers to their native states ofRajasthan and Madhya Pradeshin the last three days by deploy-ing state transport buses.

"The government shiftedaround 4,500 stranded migrantsto Rajasthan and MadhyaPradesh by deploying buses.

"On April 27, as many as2,314 labourers fromRajasthan, living in 158 labourcamps in Gujarat, were shift-ed to their native places using84 state transport buses.Collector of Dungarpur dis-trict in Rajasthan receivedthem," Additional ChiefSecretary, Labour andEmployment, Vipul MitraMitra said in a statement.

All labourers were screenedbefore boarding and socialdistancing norms were also fol-lowed.

"This is in continuation withthe massive exercise launchedon April 25 when 2,300 work-ers from Madhya Pradesh wereshifted to their native places bydeploying about 100 statetransport buses," the IAS offi-cer said.

Guj shifts stranded migrants toMP, Rajasthan, allows others

Tripura sets up mobile vanfor coronavirus testingPNS n AGARTALA

Taking a cue from Kerala, theAgartala Municipal Corporation(AMC) Smart City Project hasbuilt a mobile COVID-19 test-ing van in which swab samplesare collected by medical expertsfrom inside a glass encasementminimising their risk of exposureto novel coronavirus. This kindof testing van is the first-of-itskind in the northeastern region,a top AMC official said.

The three-wheeler van cannegotiate through narrow lanesand facilitate easy sample collec-tion from the entire communi-ty, Chief Minister Biplab KumarDeb said. It will also cut downon Personal ProtectiveEquipment (PPE) wastage, thechief minister said.

AMC Commissioner Dr

Sailesh Kumar Yadav said, withno COVID-19 patient in anyTripura hospital anymore, andthe state now placed under greenzone, kiosks are placed on vansto serve as COVID-19 testingvehicles for carrying out rapidrandom community testing.

"We have made the device see-ing the Kerala model of testing

where stationary testing kiosksare placed in front of hospitals.

"We can now undertake rapidrandom community testing byusing these vans. Medical expertscan collect swab samples of peo-ple from inside a glass encase-ment, so there is no chance ofhaving any physical contact," theAMC commissioner said.

Researchers at Noida universitydiscover molecule to treat COVID-19PNS n NEW DELHI

Researchers at Shiv NadarUniversity have discovered aset of chemical molecules thathave the potential to cureacute respiratory distress syn-drome (ARDS) caused bycoronavirus infection, theNoida-based private universi-ty claimed on Tuesday.

The team of researchers ledby Professor Subhabrata Senfrom the Department ofChemistry expects to completethe pre-clinical studies by theend of this year and after whichthe compound will be poten-tially ready for human trials, theuniversity said in a statement.

The new chemical entities(NCEs) hold potential to cureacute respiratory distress syn-drome (ARDS) induced byCOVID-19 or other severeacute respiratory syndrome(SARS) and middle east respi-ratory syndrome (MERS),

according to the statement.The researchers have filed a

provisional patent in India toprotect the new chemical enti-ties and the novel molecule indiscovery is being moved tothe next stage of checkingwhere its efficacy will be test-ed on animals.

According to the researchers,the therapy would not only pre-vent COVID-19 from affectinga person's lungs but will alsoaddress lung injuries alreadyinflicted by the virus, in cases,the ventilators are either not

proving effective or are notavailable altogether that wouldbring in relief to COVID-19patients suffering from ARDS.

"We hope our therapeuticapproach will unravel solutionsagainst maladies associatedwith acute respiratory distresssyndrome. Our aim is to con-clude the preclinical studies bythe end of this year, post whichthe new compound will poten-tially be ready for the nextstage of development alongwith human trials," Sen said.

The two-fold strategydevised by the research teaminvolved the application of theNCEs to inhibit attachment,entry and infection of the newcoronavirus through a knowntarget on the virus and co-administration of a knowndrug (that modulates a set ofhormonal receptors in human)and these NCEs to attenuateARDS caused by the novelcoronavirus, Sen said.

PNS n KOCHI

The Kerala High Court onTuesday stayed for two monthsthe operationalisation of thestate government order todeduct the salary of govern-ment employees for fighting theCOVID-19 pandemic in thestate. Justice Bechu KurianThomas issued the interimorder considering a batch ofpetitions filed by a section ofstaff and their organisationschallenging the governmentdecision. In its order, the gov-ernment had said the stategovernment employees' salaryfor six days every month wouldbe deducted for the next fivemonths. "This would be applic-able to employees of all state-owned Enterprises, Public Sec-tor Undertakings, Varsities, etcin the state," the order had said.

PNS n KOLKATA/KHARAGPUR

The body of a 31-year-oldresearch scholar of IIT-Kharagpur was found hangingin his hostel room, police saidon Tuesday. The body ofBhavanibhatla Kondal Rao wasfound in his room on the sec-ond floor of the B R AmbedkarHall around 10 am on Monday,they said. Unable to contacthim over the phone, his parentsinformed other inmates of thehostel. They found Rao's roomto be locked from inside andafter repeated knocking whenhe did not open the door, theyinformed police, an officialsaid. The police then rushed tothe hostel and broke open thedoor, finding the body to behanging, he said. Rao, a residentof Vijayawada in AndhraPradesh, was a research schol-ar in the Department ofMechanical Engineering.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray spo-ke to his Uttar Pradesh counter-part Yogi Adityanath over phoneon Tuesday and expressedconcern over the killing of twopriests in Bulandshahr district,Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rautsaid on Tuesday. The killing ofpriests in Uttar Pradesh shouldnot be communalised like thePalghar incident in Maharashtra,Raut said, in an apparent taunt atthe BJP. Raut said Thackerayspoke to the Uttar Pradesh chiefminister and expressed concernover the incident in Bulandshahr."Uddhavji said when suchincidents happen, we shouldrefrain from indulging in politicsand unitedly work to punish theculprits," Raut said.

Thackeray dialsUP CM, raisesconcern overkilling of priests

Killing of priestsin UP shouldn'tbe politicised:CongressNEW DELHI: The killing of twopriests in Bulandshahr in UttarPradesh should not be politicisedlike the Palghar incident inMaharashtra, the Congress saidon Tuesday, asking the BJPgovernment in the state to tellwho is responsible for the crime.Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala asked theBJP and the state government toalso tell as to how many peoplehave been arrested in the case.Two priests were foundmurdered at a temple inBulandshahr district on Tuesday."The BJP was trying to give apolitical twist to the killing of twopriests in Palghar. We demandthat there should be no politicson the killing of priests inBulandshahr," he said.

The industry itself hasground to a halt withno events and noshootings in the pan-India lockdown thatbegan on March 25and is likely to go ontill at least May 3

31-year-oldresearch scholarfound hanging inIIT-K hostel

HC stays Keralagovt order forstaff' salary cut

With the advent ofharvesting season,the Advisor toLieutenant Governor,K K Sharma onMonday inauguratedtwo such centres atvillage Keso Mansain Ramgrah block ofSamba district andSohanjana in MandalPhallan block inJammu district

Two temple priests killed in UP, Oppn targets state govt

The number of COVID-19 positivecases in the US just hit a stagger-ing one million while the numberof deaths crossed 56,000. Thecountry has, perhaps, passed its

peak, unless there is a second wave, like in thepandemic of the last century. As casesmount, the number of Americans who willsuccumb to the deadly virus is astonishing-ly reaching closer to the combined death tollin the Korean and the Vietnam wars.

The world has grown up on the narra-tive that America cares about the lives of itspeople — whether in combat or civilians —than most countries. While the validity of thisargument can be debated, there is no deny-ing that there’s a sense of pride about theAmerican way of life and the approach of itsGovernment, which drives a superiority rid-den revenge in the aftermath of every exter-nally induced attack/setbacks. Not for noth-ing, the death of four American soldiers inthe deserts of Niger and three soldiers in theManda Bay, Kenya, in 2018 churned adomestic debate about the need for assessmentin American troop deployments in Africa andthe world over. The humiliation that Americasuffered in Tehran in the 1979 hostage crisisstill fuels its regime, toppling compulsions inTehran. The severity of the US’ response hasalso historically depended on the political affil-iation of the incumbent President, with theRepublicans going for a whole hog response.That America is mired in an election cyclewith Joe Biden, the likely Democratic presi-dential candidate, catching up fast withPresident Donald Trump’s ratings is sure toshape a response that is intended to reassurethe domestic electoral base that the US willavenge the loss of lives. So, how will it respond?

While it is too early to predict theAmerican response in shaping a post-COVID-19 global order, portents of a recal-ibrated relationship with China are alreadyemerging. Mutual blame-game over the ori-gin of the virus, expulsion of each other’sprominent media organisations and an inves-tigation into the origin of the virus are alreadybeing undertaken by the US. While this maynot fundamentally transform the broadertrends of the Sino-US relationship, historical-ly predictable trends in the latter’s responseafter national crises and the vectors emerg-ing from the COVID-19 epidemic, along withits toll on American lives, point to substan-tive overhaul in its policies once it emergesout of the reeling pandemic that has broughtthe country to a screeching halt.

The 9/11 attacks saw it undertake imme-diate response in the form of unprecedent-ed tightening of homeland security and glob-al compulsive lobbying for “war on terror,”leading to the invasion of Iraq on the pretextof “weapons of mass destruction.” Theimpact of these global changes in America’sforeign policy was so intense that they arebeing experienced even now in varied forms:Tougher airport screening protocols, reduc-

tion in the number of visasissued, surveillance and tighten-ing of immigration norms. Withthe Trump administration rein-forcing American foreign policyconservatism, these impacts arebeing felt even more, especiallyby the non-citizens in the USthan ever before. His announce-ment of a new visa section normmust be seen in the same light.

The rapidity with which theCOVID-19 epidemic is sweepingacross cities in the US, havingbroken the back of one of themost populous and iconic cities,New York, there cannot be muchdoubt that Washington is plan-ning an overall recalibration offoreign relations with China.One of it is health infrastructure,perhaps an ongoing analysis toassess intelligence failure aproposCOVID-19, improving the use oftechnologies in predicting andfighting future crises like the cur-rent Coronavirus outbreak,enhancing robustness for betterdefence preparedness and com-mensurate response to criseslike this pandemic.

In the historic $2 trillionstimulus package that has beensigned by Trump to bring theAmerican economy back ontrack, an emergency fund of$8.3 billion has been put forth bythe Trump administration for thedefence department. Clearly,there is a defence component ofthe American response toCOVID-19 from the Pentagon in

waiting. Whether it will be tooChina-specific or a general uplift-ing of America’s preparednessremains to be seen.

That the US could not seethe virus coming and ravagingAmerican lives on an unprece-dented scale has catapultedCOVID-19 high on the list of itshistorical intelligence failure —perhaps in the same line as PearlHarbour, the Iranian hostagecrisis and the 9/11 attacks. Whilethat is a conventional nationalsecurity consideration, Chinahas also launched a “propagan-da war” through “wolf warrior”diplomacy upon the US and else-where by ramping up the narra-tive that the American militarymight be to blame for theCoronavirus outbreak in China.As such, what COVID-19 hasdone is that it has further flaredup the already tense and uncer-tain atmospherics in the US-China relationship, coming closeon the heels of an ongoing tradewar between the two largesteconomies of the world.

As the US-led liberal inter-national order is perceived to beunder severe strain in the face ofan unapologetic claim for a peer-competitor status by China,COVID-19 and the tit-for-tatresponses from both sides isbound to turn the US-Chinastrategic rivalry more com-bustible. In more recent US mil-itary and diplomatic documents,China has begun to occupy a

much starker place as a “revision-ist power”, a strategic competitorand challenger to the US globalprimacy “that needs to be coun-tered and contained.”

As China’s increasing eco-nomic and security engagementswith countries across the globerattle America’s strategic minds,the US, despite President Trump’suncertain ways, has been dou-bling down on its alliances andstrategic partners to manage theconsequences of China’s rise.America’s approach to China’sambitious Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) and the latter’sapproach to the US Indo-Pacificstrategy has brought forth acomplex set of perceptions andmisperceptions about the globalorder. The new face of US-China competition and con-frontation, seen through thewrangling over 5G technolo-gies, China’s heft with leading USuniversities and national securi-ty concerns, is adding furtheracrimony amid the COVID-19saga.

Amid anger and suspicionwithin the global communityregarding China’s response to thevirus outbreak, Beijing isincreasingly projecting itself asa country that has successfullyfought COVID-19 and is readyto help other nations now. To besure, China’s response amid theongoing COVID-19 crisis glob-ally has positioned it ahead ofAmerica in the “scramble for

Europe” 2.0. On the other hand, the US

occupies the limelight forPresident Trump’s arguably“incompetent” and “unpopular”leadership and for becoming theground zero of COVID-19infections. How the two mostpowerful militaries and thelargest economies in the worldrespond and engage with eachother will not only influence thefuture of their great power com-petition but also the multipleplatforms of global governanceand multilateral agencies, cuttingacross the political and econom-ic apparatuses that will deter-mine the emerging global order.

Once America emerges outof this pandemic, it is sure toundertake vigorous domesticand foreign policy recalibra-tion. Perhaps, for the first time,the world will see an offensiveconcoction of America’s healthimperatives domestically andits national security objectivesabroad. This strategy is likely topivot itself on three components— emerging technologies (par-ticularly AI), enhanced surveil-lance and a historicallyunmatched upping the ante onbuilding new and expansivehealth infrastructure. Airportsglobally, particularly in the US,could see the end of any “touch”,even as facial recognitionmachines will likely replace anyphysical contact that carries therisk of infection. Facial recogni-tion would in turn mean vastdatabases of people online.Many of these technologies arealready functional at Chineseairports, about which democra-cies all over the world, led by theUS, have depicted discomfort.

For many in the US, as inthe world, this would mean aconflicting question of “consent”and a more constricted democ-ratic space. Enhanced State con-trol, surveillance and personaldata storage could change thevery nature of democracies andfor many people a costly bargain.However, given the emergingnature of threats, it appears thatmost political systems will optfor that bargain, particularly inline with the fact that the fun-damental tenets of liberaldemocracies have historicallyshared an inversely proportion-al relationship with nationalsecurity.

In the case of the US, thesechanges would mean that theperils of fighting this one-upmanship battle with Chinacould shift the credentials of itspolitical system towards thosethat it seeks to fight.

(Vivek Mishra is deputydirector, KIIPS, Bhubaneswar,and research fellow, ICWA, NewDelhi. Monish Tourangbam isassistant professor ManipalUniversity, Karnataka)

As State Governments stare at their bal-ance sheets, it would not give them agood feeling. For, all across the coun-

try, with the exception of Bihar and Gujarat, theircoffers are dry. This is because the sale of twogolden elixirs have come to a grinding halt eversince the lockdown came into force. Well, notexactly. Petrol pumps are open, albeit with veryfew vehicles on the road; fuel sales are a merefraction of what it used to be in normal times.And while bootleggers are making merry,charging obscene rates for alcohol,

Governments are earning nothing as liquor vends stand shuttered across the coun-try. According to the International Spirits & Wine Association of India, the alco-holic beverage industry accounts for 15-30 per cent of liquor selling States’ earn-ings. Unlike the West, where liquor sales are not banned despite the lockdown,India ranks one among a handful of countries that has stopped alcohol sales. Inthe first few weeks of the lockdown, this newspaper had argued that a short-term forced deaddiction camp, which the nationwide lockdown actually is, wasnot a bad idea. However, as more and more stories emerged, of alcoholics com-mitting suicide and the inevitability of illicit hooch tragedies that are bound to fol-low, maybe it is time for the State Governments to think of a new strategy forboth alcohol and tobacco sales, one that can restrict crowding and yet ensurethat it is the Government and not the profiteers who make some money.

There is a genuine fear among State Governments that intense crowding aroundliquor vends, if sales are allowed, will defeat the very purpose of the lockdown.But crowding will anyhow take place whenever the vends open. Even those whohad sufficient personal stock at home at the start of the lockdown are runningdry now. Police forces are worried that making alcohol available among a frus-trated population could lead to a huge spike in domestic violence among otherissues such as physical abuse. Yet, both of these need to be balanced againstthe need for States to make some money. The Central exchequer is not wealthyenough to pay the bills forever. For this to happen, a well-calibrated approach isneeded to make liquor available than ban its sale altogether. The possibility ofusing e-commerce deliveries in restricted areas, making use of secure vehicles,is one that could be explored. Maybe this can be run on a pilot basis in one urbancentre. States can share best practices among themselves. Because right now,the lack of doing anything is hurting the public and the Government.

Profiteering during a public health crisismeans that we as a species have notlearnt lessons from a killer pandemic that

has driven home the point why saving lives andhumanity should be the only mission. And evenif that doesn’t work for us, then there is no waywe can tackle this war against an unknownenemy. The Government and the IndianCouncil for Medical Research (ICMR) havelanded with egg on their faces for importingthe much touted COVID-19 antibody test kitsfrom Chinese companies at higher prices and

without validating their efficacy. Large batches have been found to be faulty —some kits were found to be only accurate by up to five per cent and failed dis-mally even in identifying confirmed COVID cases — though the Government claimsthat these will be returned and that we have not lost money since no advancepayment had been made in full. But the damage has been done; testing has sloweddown till valid and credible replacements are got from South Korea and othernations. It is known that China dominates the testing kits market at the momentand no matter how much we ramp up production of our home-grown variants,we do not have the economies of scale that our neighbour has. As we go in forintensive testing, we need kits and we need them fast. Besides, by virtue of alonger experience in handling the virus and its factory floors opening up beforeothers, China is better equipped with testing technology and has been export-ing kits all around the world. Except that their quality has been uniformly sus-pect for a while with even the US, Germany, France and Turkey returning con-signments. Clearly China’s greed in capturing the world market has meant poorquality control. We did have enough time to decide, therefore, before placing theorder. Question is why did ICMR, despite knowing all this, still go ahead with theprocurement? Has it been hasty in calling this incorrectly, considering there wasa burgeoning pressure to arrest the disease spiral at home? And now that it hasapproached South Korea, too, why didn’t it go there in the first place given itsproven track record of rapid testing? Not only that, the Indian company that gotin the Chinese kits, had put a 140 per cent mark-up on prices and was sellingthem steep. Why wasn’t the ICMR, which works under a unified task force thatrepresents the country’s top experts, as vigilant about technical evaluation? Itdid not consult a technical joint monitoring group formed by the Director Generalof Health Services (DGHS) and went ahead with the contract nevertheless. Nowthis includes experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as well as emergency medical relief(EMR) officials and experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Is thereany reason to doubt them? Yes, ICMR is under pressure but does that mean itfollows what other nations are doing just because it is the done thing? It oughtto have convinced itself of the efficacy of such kits before anything else. Nowthis error has proven costly and will doubly delay the arrival of replacements.

There is no denying that China, which anyway dominates the pharmaceuti-cal market worldwide, is looking to colonise the post-COVID medical economyglobally. And in that attempt it is overselling itself, overlooking checks and bal-ances in its assembly line. Wondfo Biotech, from where we got the kits, of course,insists that its equipment is fine and claimed it had been validated by the Indianmedical research body itself at the time of issuing an import licence. It also laidthe blame on the door of Indian operators for faulty handling and storage thatled to erroneous results and accused India of perpetuating a bias at a time whennations should cooperate. China, while hyperventilating against us and using thefiasco to mount diplomatic pressure, should consider that India still went aheadwith the contract despite existing adverse reports. The UK Government is fac-ing criticism for having bought two million test kits for $20 million from Chinesecompanies that reportedly didn’t work. While China may use this as a reasonfor straining diplomatic ties, upset as it is by the Government’s decision to stepup scrutiny of investments from neighbouring countries and avoid ambush-liketakeovers, India must stand firm on devising its own COVID protocol that worksin our context. We have reliable experts who should be consulted for the bestway out even as building self-sufficiencies in healthcare will span many budgetsand implementation going forward.

Costly deal

Bihar must take a cue

Sir — It is important to note thatdue to the sudden imposition oflockdown due to the spread ofCoronavirus, thousands of stu-dents were stranded in variousparts of the country and abroadas well. They were unable toreturn home due to travel restric-tions. Students, stuck in severalparts of India, want to get backhome. In many cases, they are fac-ing financial distress.

Days after the lockdown wasannounced, the Uttar PradeshGovernment sent 250 buses topick up about 9,000 stranded stu-dents from Kota in Rajasthan.Several other States have alsoeither brought back students orare planning to do so.

However, it is regretful thatBihar Chief Minister NitishKumar has been opposing the eas-ing of lockdown rules and haseven refused to bring back stu-dents stranded in Kota. Kumarmust not abdicate his responsibil-ity of ensuring safe passage to thestudents and coordinate withState Governments to ensure has-sle-free return of the students.

AMS NadwiLucknow

Safety net needed

Sir — Ever since the lockdowncame into effect, it has beenmore than clear that the entirecountry is suffering. The unprece-dented lockdown has unsettledlives, halted the economy and put

India Inc into deeper crisis. Thedevastation faced by millions ofmigrant workers and labourers,who had little economic buffer orsafety net, was heart-wrenching.

But what about the plight ofpregnant women? There havebeen a number of incidents wheredoctors have refused to admit

pregnant women due to the lackof a COVID-19 test report. Manywomen have been forced to deliv-er babies at the roadside.

The Government needs to acton this to prevent a secondCOVID-19-related crisis — awave of premature births andpoor outcomes, especially among

our most vulnerable populations.Ensuring institutional deliverymust be the first responsibility ofevery State Government.

AA HafizKerala

Inculcate change

Sir — Post the lockdown, workculture is definitely going toundergo a sea-change. The ben-efits of this are many. We savehours of commute time, work-lifebalance improves and there’s adrastic change in the atmos-phere. This form of an arrange-ment has indeed worked andmany companies will be able toadopt it with ease for long-term.

While many companies willbe able to adapt to this new kindof work culture, there are othersfor whom getting back to theoffice is crucial and unavoidable.More and more will test positive,need isolation, quarantine, treat-ment, even hospitalisation. But wehave to take the bull by thehorns.

Niharika SinghVia email

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020

06

New order in the making

VIVEKMISHRA

MONISHTOURANGBAM

In a post-COVID world, how the US and China respond and engage with each other will not onlyinfluence the future of their great power competition but determine the emerging global scenario

The condition in China is suchand considering people’s angeragainst it, I’m sure opportunityfor India is going to come.State Governments must treatCovid-19 as an opportunity

Union Minister—Ravi Shankar Prasad

It’s better to have a lifethan dying because of thevirus. To those floutingrule, I want to ask them,has God given youimmortality?

Actor—Asha Parekh

The risk of radicalisation canincrease as extremist groupsseek to exploit the anger anddespair of the young. Theworld cannot afford a lost gen-eration due to the Covid crisis.

UN Secretary-General—Antonio Guterres

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

Measure of a national failing

According to data by a travel company in China,Chinese tourists booked trips to 419 cities in over100 countries for the seven-day holiday beginning

January 24, 2020. So Chinese tourists made 6.3 mil-lion outbound trips during the Spring Festival holidayin 2019, up by 12.48 per cent year on year. But Wuhan,the epicentre of Coronavirus, was sealed on January11. Clearly, the virus had already begun to migrate fromhere. It has been reported that Australia and New Zealandare among the most popular destinations for the Chinese,all thanks to the warm weather. Trips to Italy, Britain,Spain, Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates arealso bestsellers. These nations, which, too, were goingthrough a phase of subdued economy, became increas-ingly dependent on tourism to generate revenue andended up paying a disproportionate price. New York, thecommercial capital of global eminence, had to bear thebrunt of Coronavirus carriers from all across the world,including China. This is why it has taken the largest hitof all. As of today, the city has seen 291,996 cases and22,668 deaths.

India though does not come in the Chinese

tourist's itinerary. Mumbai and Delhi thus got no morethan normal exposure. But given the total lack of atten-tion and the insufficient budget to healthcare, isolationwas the only cure. It is not surprising that people wereas much aware of this national failing as the Governmentand, thus, there was ready compliance. Hereon, it shouldnot be left to the next health emergency to measure theextent of our healthcare upgrade.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Open the vendsI never even thought ofchanging the date of theelection due to theCoronavirus pandemic. Whywould I do that? November3, it’s a good number.

US President—Donald Trump

Why did ICMR go ahead with Chinese rapid test kits whenthere was enough evidence against their efficacy?

It will not be surprising if at the end of the lockdown wediscover that more people died from alcohol-related issues

Bridge the North-South gap

WHILE THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS FIGHTING THEPANDEMIC TOGETHER, KERALA CM’S ABSENCE FROMPRIME MINISTER’S MEETING CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED.

—KERALA BJP CHIEF K SURENDRAN

THE CABINET SECRETARY HAD INFORMED US THATONLY A FEW CHIEF MINISTERS WILL GET A CHANCETO SPEAK DURING THE CONFERENCE. —KERALA CHIEF MINISTER PINARAYI VIJAYAN

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

In the months during which the Coronavirusoutbreak has been afoot, it has laid bare thevulnerability and helplessness of an interde-

pendent and interlinked world to the ravages thatcan be unleashed by a rapidly spreading novelcommunicable disease. The question one asks atthis moment is, why is this so?

What happened to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) and the global governancestructures that were built in order to counter thissort of crisis? Didn’t the world learn anythingfrom the earlier outbreaks of communicable dis-eases like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS), Swine flu (H1N1) and so on? The entirehealthcare governance at the global level simplycrumbled like a house of cards. There is completedisarray and confusion around the world, whenideally global protocols should have been in placeto control the spread of the disease.

What has been witnessed during the pan-demic is that countries have tended to act inde-pendently. More in tune with their domesticrequirements (cultural pride, market demandsand so on) rather than in a coordinated fashionas part of a global governance network.

On the one hand, the Chinese authorities hadsought to suppress information regarding theappearance of the new virus (by some accountsthe Chinese are still hiding the real numbers),while on the other hand a unified response to thedisease, which was expected from the world andinternational institutions like the WHO (once itsgravity became evident) was completely absentand is absent even today.

Nothing highlights the lack of coordinationbetween countries better than the testing regimefor the Coronavirus initiated by South Korea andthe US. While South Korea made the testing ofCOVID-19 free for its citizens, in the US testingwas a paid endeavour in the initial days, whichresulted in delayed identification of infected indi-viduals and led to the rapid spread of the disease.

While the Chinese may be at fault in their fail-ure to warn the world about the outbreak of thehighly infectious disease right at its onset, theirpropaganda is correct to an extent that the devel-oped world, with all its technological prowess, hassurrendered before the Coronavirus. This begsthe question, what has caused the failure of glob-al healthcare governance?

The WHO Director-General Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus declared COVID-19 asa pandemic (rather late in the day) and askedcountries to undertake preventive and protectivepublic health measures that “strike a fine balancebetween protecting health, preventing econom-ic and social disruption and respecting humanrights.”

The WHO, while rightly emphasising theneed to respect human rights, appears to havesimply laid the responsibility of containing thepandemic along with the responsibility of pre-venting social and economic disruption, onnational healthcare systems, which are patchy andinefficient in most of the developing countries.

Ideally it should have been at the forefrontof the Corona war, advising countries on the pro-tocols that needed to be followed. Instead itsresponse was slow, confused and inconsistent. Itdoesn’t take a genius to imagine what the situa-tion in developing countries would be whendeveloped countries with better healthcare sys-tems were unable to contain the virus.

As the pandemic has shown us, the spread

of a contagion in any major economywill have reverberating effects on theentire global economy. Thus it cannotbe the job of national governmentsalone to halt the spread of disease. It hasto be a joint effort between the coun-tries with the global health watchdogleading from the front.

However, the statement of theDirector-General, which came outrather belatedly, was in the form of arecommendation rather than a concreteplan of action for nations to follow. Itindicated a complete lack of power toeffectively engage in governance ofhealthcare around the world and adopta leadership role in the hour of crisis.

The reason behind the incapacity ofthe WHO to effectively engage in glob-al healthcare governance appears to bethe North-South divide that permeatesinternational relations. This invisibleline has divided the world into the glob-al developing South, which comprisesthe underdeveloped and developingcountries and the wealthy, industrialisedNorth.

The countries of the global Southare plagued with problems, in differingmeasure, of poverty, lack of respect forhuman rights, absence of democraticgovernance and so on, along with a deepdistrust of the industrialised countries,who are perceived to be ready to useevery instrument to control policy-mak-ing of the developing nations, for theirown economic gains.

The developed countries, in theindustrialised North on the other hand,have either left the global South to itsdevices or are attempting to providestrait-jacketed solutions to problems,instead of sharing the global governancespace with them, in which an accept-able solution to the problems of theglobal South could be arrived at.

This exclusion of the South fromparticipation has further fuelled the per-

ception that developed countries areonly interested in subverting gover-nance of developing nations for theirown economic gains. COVID-19 hasrudely awakened the world to the factthat the dividing line between theglobal North and South is not so wideas it appears to be and the North can-not ignore the problems of the South —be it human rights violations or poorhealthcare — as something alien tothem.

What is the solution then? Theexisting global governance architecturehas fallen woefully short in managingthe interdependencies and integrationbetween countries. This is partly due tothe speed of globalisation which accen-tuates these interdependencies andpartly due to the Westphalian principlesof sovereignty and non-interference inthe internal affairs of States.

What is required at this juncture isa novel governance model which isbased on international cooperation.This governance model should respectsovereignty but only to the extent thatit does not cause hindrance in address-ing transnational challenges that mayrequire a global coordinated response.

Global governance implicitly man-dates a certain level of internationalintervention which is contrary to theprinciples of sovereignty and non-intervention in each other’s affairs. Inaddition, this governance model wouldalso have to address the asymmetriesexisting in the present structure of gov-ernance which lead to a participationdeficit of developing countries in glob-al norm creation, thereby accentuatinginequalities between nations.

This new model should genuinelyattempt to fulfill the mandate of ArticleIII of the United Nations Charterwhich provides that there should be“international cooperation in solvinginternational problems of an econom-

ic, social, cultural, or humanitariancharacter and in promoting and encour-aging respect for human rights and forfundamental freedoms for all withoutdistinction as to race, sex, language, orreligion.”

In the case of the present pandem-ic, while it is obvious that China issquarely to be blamed for the mayhemaround the globe, the immediaterequirement is that the WHO as aninternational organisation should bereformed as has been stated by the US,India and Australia.

The need for global healthcaregovernance has to be realised and theWHO should be vested with thisresponsibility.

For discharging this duty, the WHOshould be provided with the necessaryfinancial and human resources toaddress the issue of governance ofhealthcare around the world. Theadministration of the WHO should bemade more broad-based and represen-tative of global realities by increasing theparticipation of the global South in theorganisation.

At a political level, it may be pro-vided with similar administrative pow-ers as are available to the IAEA(International Atomic Energy Agency)where it can direct a proper course ofaction instead of merely making recom-mendations that the countries may ormay not follow.

Dilution of political borders is areality and not just in the field of pol-itics, finance and cyberworld but in thefield of social and physical integration.The problems of countries, starting withbasic healthcare, have to be addressedat a global level.

The earlier the world, both theNorth and South, realises this, the bet-ter it would be for everyone around.(The writers are Assistant Professors,Department of Law, Sikkim University)

As we grapple with the pandemic, one wonders what happened to the world health watchdogand global governance structures that were built in order to counter this sort of crisis

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

Points to ponder

ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA

Is the Coronavirus paving the way for Chinato ‘peacefully’ acquire and procure strategic

world assets without a fight?

VEERMAYANK

NIDHISAXENA

DILUTION OFPOLITICAL

BORDERS IS AREALITY AND

NOT JUST IN THEFIELD OF

POLITICS,FINANCE AND

CYBERWORLDBUT IN THE

FIELD OF SOCIALAND PHYSICALINTEGRATION.

THE PROBLEMS OF COUNTRIES,

STARTING WITH BASIC

HEALTHCARE, HAVE TO BEADDRESSED

AT A GLOBAL LEVEL. THE

EARLIER THEWORLD, BOTH

THE NORTH AND SOUTH,

REALISES THIS, THE BETTER IT

WOULD BE FOR EVERYONE

AROUND

Of all the nations in the world, only 164 countries have a navy andjust 18 of them manufacture warships (above 3,000 deadweighttonnage) for their own use or export. While the sea has histori-

cally played an important role in a country’s trade, industry, technolo-gy, economics, diplomacy, expansion and colonisation, it was WorldWar-I which signalled a paradigm shift pertaining to its enhanced rolein the definition of a superpower. The 20th century war enlarged thescenario with enhanced combat capability of the vessels and versatileuse thereof, by belligerents. It took a five-year World War to transformand tilt a land power into an actual, visible, ship-operating sea State.Sea replaced land. And that happened in the Pacific Ocean as the tra-ditional naval balance shifted from the West (Atlantic Ocean) to the FarEast, spanning from the US to Japan and to the Chinese coastline. Inreal terms, for the first time on the naval canvas, two powerful naviesemerged in the Pacific Ocean: From the mighty US and the tiny Japan.

Since the war left Japan the dominant power in the Pacific, espe-cially owing to the eclipse of the Russian army and simultaneous destruc-tion of Berlin and Moscow navies, the traditional naval powers of theWest could not take kindly to the rise of (Asia’s) Nippon navy. This result-ed in the Washington Conference of 1921-1922 which concluded threetreaties — the Four-Power Pacific Treaty; the Naval Treaty; the Nine-Power Treaty on China — essentially all regarding the Pacific. As a resultJapan was checkmated and its navy drastically cut its size and strength.

Interestingly, a big country like China was never a naval power ormaritime nation during its 4,000 year history. Its so-called Silk Routeessentially ran through the great Euro-Asian landmass, for trade, ter-ror, tourism. Thus China saw with awe the unprecedented December1941 blow inflicted by the Japanese aircraft carrier force on the US navalbase Pearl Harbour. The budding leaders of the Communist Party ofChina, who took control of the State in 1949, after a prolonged civil wardeep inside their own land, saw it all in the post-Second World War era.The importance of sea power of the State was not lost on them.

Thus, after a slow and somewhat lethargic start, the Chinese wentfull steam from the 1990s when they established themselves as cred-ible trade partners of dual use, high quality military technology. With anability to access technology, through fair or foul means, and reverseengineering, Beijing gradually built a navy to compete with and chal-lenge, the US in the sea, hitherto the sole supreme operator across thevast Pacific since the end of the World War-II. As China always lookedat its bitter and traditional foe Japan’s military with a tinge of envy andadmiration, Beijing emulated Tokyo. Its navy, aka the PLA Navy, todayis constantly challenging the smaller neighbours and harassing the USin the western fringe of the Pacific Ocean.

It is claiming areas of several seas as if it’s something like Alsace,Lorraine; Eupen, Malmedy, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia; Schleswig-Holstein and Silesia, all of which were causes for major wars in Europein the 19th and 20th centuries. But, the gravest of threats posed by Chinato her maritime neighbours today can be found in its ceaseless attemptsto forcibly acquire numerous islands spread across the South ChinaSea, East China and the Sea of Japan. China threatens kinetic actionagainst smaller neighbours from Manila to Cambodia, Tokyo to Thailandand Laos to Vietnam.

Beijing very well understands the quality and numerical superior-ity of the US Navy and the contemporary Chinese focus is on an indige-nous carrier fleet and intimidation, leading to area-denial to the US car-rier battle group in the Pacific Ocean. Little wonder, no sooner did theUS-China trade spat begin in June 2018, there took place in December2018 the Military Industry List Summit, where Chinese Rear AdmiralLou Yuan, deputy head of Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, thun-dered: “What the US fears the most is taking casualties....sinking oneaircraft carrier could kill 5,000 US service members.” Then, one finemorning comes the news that one of the mammoth 75,160 tonne USNavy carriers, Theodore Roosevelt, with 5,750 sailors aboard, has beenhit by the Coronavirus; thereby aborting its mission for an indefinite peri-od and putting almost 1,000 sailors in quarantine. The fight for the Pacificis over in one stroke. China trumps the mighty US without a single shot.Soon, comes, another shocker. More than 1,000 of the 1,862 sailorsof the French Navy’s sole 43,182 tonne aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle,too, hospitalised owing to COVID-19. The best possible news for China,however, comes from India. At least 25 Indian Navy men from theMumbai-based shore establishment Angre are afflicted by the virus, send-ing the Western Naval Command into a tizzy.

Is the writing on the wall visible? Is the COVID-19 paving the wayfor China to “peacefully” acquire and procure strategic world assets with-out a fight? Making the enemy surrender before and not after a fight.War in accordance with the art of war of Sun Tzu, Mao Zedong andnow Xi? It is time to ponder.

Are we so dependent and helpless that we cannot look after nation-al interests except through dubious foreign investment, unaccountedmoney and poorly-finished, cheap Chinese goods? Are we, thereby,torpedoing our sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom for globali-sation, liberalisation and privatisation? Are we heading towards immi-nent financial disaster? It is time for some deep introspection.

(The writer is the author of ‘China in India’)

As we near the end of the lock-down on May 3, there areindications that the exit strat-

egy is likely to be a staggered one asthe Government tries to beat theCoronavirus from sweeping acrossthe country. Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan has indicated thatthe COVID-19 strategy will remain,the same: Locate, test, isolate andtreat.

While it is true that our villageshave not reported many cases so far,

but if the virus spreads to ruralIndia, can our public healthcare sys-tem manage to deal with it? Is therea contingency plan for such a situ-ation?

Right now the Governmentseems to be banking on the COVID-19 not reaching rural India. It ishoping that the million migrantlabourers who went back home totheir villages soon after the nation-wide lockdown began on March 25might not be infected or vectors.

This is for two reasons, DrVardhan says. “Personally I feelthat these migrant labourers wouldnever have come in contact with thecarriers of the disease. TheCoronavirus arrived in India withinternational travellers and, there-fore, most cases so far have been inthe cities. The second is that theyhave already covered the two-week quarantine period. Had they

been infected it would have beendetected by this time,” he explainsto this columnist.

Also, the rural folks havebecome alert and do not allowstrangers into their villages. They arekeeping constant vigil. Awarenessabout the virus and how it spreadshas increased because there are117 crore phone subscribers who getinformation through their mobilephones.

State officials have told villagecouncils to prevent labourers return-ing from the cities from entering thevillage or meeting people due to thefear that they might be infected withthe Coronavirus. In view of allthese precautions, the Minister isconfident of meeting the challengeif it reaches rural India.

“Money is not an issue. We havegiven ̀ 4,000 crore to the States. Weare supplying them test kits. We can

do much more,” he assures.However, data show that though

urban residents are more at risk dueto proximity to international trav-ellers and cheek by jowl housing, therural folk are not off the hook asthey face several challenges includ-ing inadequate access to properhealthcare, low insurance penetra-tion and a growing chronic diseaseburden.

With two-thirds of the popula-tion living in rural India, we needa different strategy to take care oftheir healthcare needs, particularlyas the pandemic looms over us. Asa priority, the quality of rural health-care needs to be stepped up.

The health infrastructure datapublished in the National HealthProfile, 2019, found thatGovernment hospitals would runout of beds in rural India even if thevirus hits 0.03 per cent of the pop-

ulation in the villages. The pressureof handling patients in rural Indiais twice as much as the nationalaverage. While for every 10,000 peo-ple in the country, there is one doc-tor available; in rural India one doc-tor is available for every 26,000 peo-ple.

There are also practical difficul-ties in implementing Governmentguidelines on health and hygiene.For instance, rural folks wonder howthey can follow social distancing ina limited space? Or wash theirhands often when they are in thefields or even at home becausethere is no running water or soap?They wonder how they will be ableto afford masks when they don’thave money to buy them? Or howcould they get proper healthcare inthe event of an outbreak whenthere are not enough Governmenthospitals in the vicinity?

The widening urban-ruraldivide is also evident in the inequal-ities in consumption, quality of lifeand availability of physical andsocial infrastructure.

The Union Governmentannounced a `1.7 trillion financialpackage on March 26 for direct cashtransfers and free food and the sec-ond one is to follow soon. But thisbarely amounts to one per cent ofIndia’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

What is needed is a strategysuited to rural India. For an inclu-sive economic growth, there is aneed to focus on the agrarian econ-omy. Second, the panchayats shouldbe utilised in the fight againstCOVID-19 and also for economicrecovery.

Realising the need for this,Prime Minister Narendra Modihimself addressed the gram pan-

chayats and sought their help lastweek. Similarly, realising theirimportance, Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik has pragmaticallyvested on sarpanches the powers ofDistrict Collectors.

In Kerala, its network of localbodies and the women empower-ment programme ‘Kutumbashree’has taken the battle against theCoronavirus to the communitylevel. Gram panchayats could be theengine to deal with the problemsunique to the villages. It is clear thata successful strategy for rural Indiawill go a long way in dealing withthe pandemic. However, the solu-tions have to be organic and com-munity-based for them to work.And the war should be fought ontwo fronts — healthcare as well ason the economic front.

(The writer is a senior journal-ist)

Rural India hunkers down to avoid COVIDIt is clear that a successful strategy for rural India will go a long way in dealing with the pandemic. However, the solutions have to be organic

and community-based for them to work. And the war should be fought on two fronts — healthcare as well as on the economic front

KALYANI SHANKAR

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS n KOLKATA

Hit hard by the COVID-19pandemic, exporters havesought relief from the govern-ment and banks to deal withthe situation, a representive ofa trade body said on Tuesday.

Chairman of CII NationalCommittee on Exports andImports, Sanjay Budhia, saidexporters are looking forwardto extension of interest subven-tion scheme that expired onMarch 31, among other mea-sures.

"CII and all industryassociations are askingfor renewal of thescheme as interestrates in India are ashigh as 9 to 10 percent," Budhia said.

Indian exportersshould get cost ofcredit at interna-tional ratest o

compete with Chinese exports,he said. Budhia said China hasannounced export rebate of upto 13 per cent and also deval-ued its currency.

Another exporters' body,Engineering ExportsPromotion Council (EEPC),has also made a case for termloan extension. "Workingcapital is an issue and term loanextension is what the exportersare looking for," ExecutiveDirector of EEPC SuranjanGupta said.

On rolling over of forwardcontracts, Budhia said

due to the lockdown,there are no ship-ments taking place.

" T h eexporters are seek-ing rollover of for-

ward contracts and they shouldnot be penalized for forwardcover taken as non-shipment ofgoods is not leading to realisa-tion of export proceeds," hesaid. Leading public sectorlender State Bank of India saidsome packages are beingworked out for exporters,adding that these have to bewithin the guidelines of the RBIand other regulations.

"We are already extending anemergency line of fund- basedlimit and non-fund based limitto the MSMEs," an official ofthe bank said.

He also said exporters will begranted extension of time forexport realisation and no inter-est charges will apply for mak-ing deferred payments up tothree months.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

TVS Motor to raiseup to Rs 500 crvia issue ofsecuritiesNew Delhi: TVS MotorCompany on Tuesday said itwill raise up to Rs 500 crorethrough issue of securities on aprivate placement basis. Thecompany's board which met onTuesday, has approved theissuance of non-convertibledebentures, aggregating up toRs 500 crore on a privateplacement basis, TVS MotorCompany said in a regulatoryfiling. The two-wheeler major,however, did not disclose thereasons for raising the capital.

Mumbai: Logistics servicesprovider Blue Dart Express onTuesday said it has launched aservice through whichcustomers can sendmedicines to relatives livingabroad. To avail the medicinedelivery service, customersneed to visit any BlueDart/DHL counter across Indiaand provide valid medicalprescription for sendingmedicines overseas to theirfamily/ friends through theBlue Dart-DHL's door-to-doorexpress service, the companysaid in the release. Blue Dartservices have been operationaleven amid the lockdown withits teams working round-the-clock to ensure priorityclearance and delivery ofessential commodities, thecompany said. “We havetransported over thousands oftonnes of cargo carryingessential supplies since thenationwide lockdown beganand have been extending allpossible support to variousstate government, pharmacompanies to fight this waragainst the global COVID-19pandemic," Ketan Kulkarni,CMO and Head – BusinessDevelopment, Blue DartExpress Ltd, said.

PNS n BHOPAL

Various companies such asPrism Cement and YashTechnologies have decided todonate advance testingmachines to Madhya Pradeshgovernment to fast examinecoronavirus samples in thestate. COVID-19 testing is amajor challenge for the stategovernment, which at presenthas 2,165 positive cases with110 deaths so far.

As part of CSR initiatives,Prism Cement - a unit ofPrism Johnson Lid and Indore-based Yash Technologies willdonate two high capacityadvanced testing machines.

These machines will beinstalled in Indore and Bhopal

for testing corona samples,state Medical Educationdepartments principal secre-tary Sanjay Shukla told PTITuesday. Shukla also informedthat these companies were

originally planning to donatemoney to the CM Relief Fund,but later Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan suggested thatit would be better if thesefirms can provide vital

machines for testing instead offunds, as that will expedite theprocess of availability of thesetesting units in the state duringsuch a crucial time.

These machines are capableof testing 800-1,000 tests perday and have already arrived inBhopal and Indore, Shuklasaid.

Besides, Vardhman Group,Dalmia Cements and Welspunhave also decided to donatesuch machines to the state foraugmenting its testing facilities,

which will play a major role infighting corona virus scare, hesaid. In order to augment thetesting facilities for COVID-19in Madhya Pradesh, PrismCement Division of PrismJohnson Limited, as a respon-sible corporate citizen decidedto contribute in this socialcause by handing over to thestate government a high speedCorona Virus Testing Machineunder CSR, Prism JohnsonLimiteds general manager,Neelmani Singh said.

PNS n BENGALURU

India's information technol-ogy services industry wouldsee hiring freeze this year andsenior level staff taking a 20-25 per cent salary cut due tothe adverse impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic, says ITindustr y veteran T VMohandas Pai.

The former Chief FinancialOfficer of IT services major,Infosys Ltd, said the IT indus-try has done a "fabulous,unbelievable and remarkable"job in transitioning morethan 90 per cent of itsemployees to work fromhome.

It has achieved this task bysetting up infrastructure athome, taking permissionfrom their clients, and mak-ing sure that "security andoversight are there.

The Chairman of privateequity fund Aarin Capitaland Manipal GlobalEducation said 25 to 30 percent, may be more, ofemployees of IT companieswill always work from homeby rotation even after thecoronavirus-inflicted lock-

down is lifted and the situa-tion returns to normalcy.

Speaking to P T I, Pai saidhe does not expect thedemand for office space inthe IT sector to shrink goingforward because companieswould now need to maintainsocial distancing in theircramped office space.

"Now with social distanc-

ing, you need more space perperson. So, 25 per cent work-ing from home will provideadditional space. I thinkspace in the offices for peo-ple would get bigger; so forthe next one year, the market(office space segment) couldbe very soft, and then it willgrow at the normal pace," hesaid.

On apprehensions in somequarters about job losses andsalary cuts, Pai said IT com-panies would not hire moreand they will suspend recruit-ment, except honouring com-mitments already made.

"Secondly, if people leave,I don't think they will fill upthe backlog, because thisquarter and next quarter, themarket is going to be soft.

All the clients are in theWest, they have not openedtheir offices yet, they are stillgoing through the pains.

So, I think next year thereis going to be recruitment,this year will be soft, they (ITcompanies) will not grow in(terms of) people," Pai said.

"There will be salary cuts.There will be promotions butnot increments in salariesfor most people. For seniorlevel they will cut salaries toadjust costs.

People getting Rs 75,000 toRs one lakh and above permonth, they will see salarycuts, may be 20-25 per cent,"he added.

Pai does not see pay cutsfor staff drawing salary lessthan that.

Corporates to donate Covid test machinesAs part of CSR initiatives, Prism Cement - aunit of Prism Johnson Lid and Indore-basedYash Technologies will donate two highcapacity advanced testing machines

Blue Dart Expresslaunches medicinedelivery for Indiansliving abroad

PNS n MUMBAI

Extending its gains for the sec-ond session, equity bench-mark Sensex jumped 371points on Tuesday driven byaggressive buying in financialstocks amid hopes of anoth-er stimulus package by thegovernment.

After a volatile session, the30-share BSE gauge settled371.44 points or 1.17 per centhigher at 32,114.52. It hit anintra-day high of 32,199.91and a low of 31,661.34.

Similarly, the NSE Niftyadvanced 98.60 points, or1.06 per cent, to close at9,380.90.

IndusInd Bank was the topgainer in the Sensex pack, ral-lying over 15 per cent, fol-lowed by Bajaj Finance,HDFC, Axis Bank, ICICIBank, M&M and SBI.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Nestle India, NTPC,HCL Tech and Bajaj Autowere among the laggards.

The Reserve Bank of India'smassive liquidity booster tothe mutual fund industry con-tinued to spur buying in

financial stocks, traders said.Expectation of another stim-ulus package by the govern-ment has also buoyed investorsentiment, they added.

Bourses in Hong Kong andSeoul ended on a positivenote, while Shanghai andTokyo settled in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europewere trading significantlyhigher in early deals.

International oil bench-mark Brent crude futures

advanced 1.95 per cent toUSD 23.52 per barrel. On thecurrency front, the rupee roseby 7 paise to provisionallyclose at 76.18 against the USdollar. Meanwhile, global tallyof coronavirus infections hascrossed 30 lakh, with over 2.11lakh deaths.

Death toll from COVID-19in India rose to 934, whiletotal number of cases climbedto 29,435, as per health min-istry data.

Gulf Oil resumespartial operationsat Silvassa plantPNS n NEW DELHI

Hinduja Group firm Gulf OilLubricants India Ltd hasresumed partial operations ofits lube plant at Silvassa inDadra and Nagar Haveli, fol-lowing the easing of lock-down restrictions.

"Further to our letter datedMarch 24, 2020, regardingtemporary closure of our Plantoperations at Silvassa in wakeof COVID-19 outbreak andlockdown, we hereby informyou that based on the permis-sions received from the localgovernment authorities, thecompany has resumed partial-ly its plant operations atSilvassa, the UT of Dadra andNagar Haveli (DNH) and is

taking up production as perrequirements primarily to sup-ply customers in the essentialcategories," the firm said in aregulatory filing.

Gulf Oil has a lube blendingplant in Silvassa with a capac-ity of 90,000 kilo litres.

The company said the per-mission to resume operationsis valid till the national lock-down date of May 3.

It has a second lubricantplant at Ennore near Chennaiwith a capacity of 40,000-50,000 kl but it hasn't resumedoperations there.

The company said it hasalso received permission tooperate its Chennai plant tillMay 3, 2020, but is not oper-ating currently.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Average spot power price hasremained as low as Rs 2.36 perunit on the Indian EnergyExchange (IEX) during thelockdown period so far, whichbegan last month to containthe spread of coronavirus.

The IEX has witnessedheightened activity amongpower distribution companies(discoms) since the coron-avirus-induced nationwidelockdown on March 25,according to a statement by theExchange.

It stated that with a declinein peak demand by almost 25

per cent, the Exchange has wit-nessed high sell-side liquidity,almost at 2.7 times the demandside, which is helping keep theprice in the market undercheck.

The average price in the IEXday-ahead market has been aslow as Rs 2.36 per unit duringthe period from March 24 toApril 20, the statement added.

Power procurement by dis-coms from southern, westernand northern states, such asAndhra Pradesh, Telangana,Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Biharand Punjab, have continuedand increased over the pastseveral weeks, owing to amplepower availability and attrac-tive prices, it said. The averagespot power prices in Marchand April last year stood atover 3 per cent.

PNS n NEW DELHI

BSE will make available thenegative price level feature atits trading system for com-modity derivatives segment,the leading exchange said onTuesday.

This comes following arecent global development inthe crude oil derivatives mar-ket where trading of deriva-tives contracts happened atnegative prices owing to var-ious underlying factors.

In a circular, BSE hasinformed its trading membersof commodity derivative seg-ment that the exchange's trad-ing system has been modifiedto accept orders and executetrades at negative prices.

To facilitate testing of thisfeature in the simulation (test)environment, the exchangesaid that trading price rangeof Brent Crude Oil futurescontracts will be suitablyupdated to accept orders atnegative price levels and exe-cute trades.

The new feature will bemade available to members totest from Monday, May 4,2020, onwards, it added.

RBI employeescontribute Rs 7.30cr to PM-CARESfor Covid fightPNS nMUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Tuesday said itsemployees have decided tocontribute salary of one ormore days totalling Rs 7.30crore towards the PM-CARESFund. To help people affectedby any kind of emergency ordistress situation like the oneposed by the COVID-19 pan-demic, the government has setup a public charitable trustnamed Prime Minister'sCitizen Assistance and Reliefin Emergency Situations Fund(PM-CARES Fund) to receivecontributions from varioussources, the central bank saidin a statement.

"Responding to the call tosupport this noble cause, theemployees of the ReserveBank have decided to con-tribute one or more dayssalary to the PM-CARESFund," the RBI said. The totalcontribution from theemployees amounting to Rs7.30 crore is being remitted tothe PM-CARES Fund, it said.Rs 50 lakh

compensationfor port staff incase of death PNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Tuesdayannounced a compensationof Rs 50 lakh for dependentmembers of port employeesin case of loss of life due toCOVID-19 while dischargingduties. The compensationhas been announced for anydeath due to COVID-19 tillSeptember 30, 2019 and thesituation will be reviewedafter that. Declaring thecompensation for the portemployees/workers in case ofloss of life due to COVID, theMinistry of Shipping in astatement said: "All portemployees including con-tractual labourers employeddirectly by the port and othercontractual employees arecovered" under it.

Okinawa hikesdealer margins by3 pc to 11 pc amidpandemicPNS n NEW DELHI

Electric two-wheeler makerOkinawa on Tuesday said ithas increased dealer marginsby 3 per cent to 11 per cent persale amid nationwide lock-down due to COVID-19 pan-demic. The hike, from 8 percent to 11 per cent, is effectivefrom April 27 onwards untilfurther notice, Okinawa saidin a statement. The hike indealer margins is expected toadd up to Rs 2,000 per vehi-cle in a dealer's kitty, it added.If a dealer is selling 100 vehi-cles in a month, he will end upmaking an additional profit ofover Rs 2 lakh. Okinawa cur-rently has a sales network ofover 350 dealerships across thecountry. "We understandthat the country is goingthrough difficult times. Inthis hour, everyone holds aresponsibility to do their bit tomake it easier for as manypeople, as possible," OkinawaFounder and MD JeetenderSharma said.

Govt to take all possible steps forwelfare of seafarers: MandaviyaPNS n NEW DELHI

Acknowledging the impor-tance of seafarers in smoothsupply chain of cargo, UnionMinister Mansukh LMandaviya on Tuesday saidthe government will take allpossible steps for safe returnof the stuck seafarers in thewake of COVID-19 pandem-ic.

He said this in an interac-tion via video conference withship liners, shipping compa-nies, maritime associations,seafarers unions regardingthe change of crew at IndianPorts, a statement by shippingministry said.

During the interaction, theshipping minister also recon-noitred the situation of Indianseafarers working as well as

stranded in the Internationalwaters, the statement added.

Mandaviya directed to pro-vide the details of Indian sea-farers stranded abroad for thefuture evacuation plan, thestatement said adding heassured the seafarers associa-tions of their quick evacuationwhenever the situationbecomes favourable.

The minister alsoacknowledged theimportance of sea-farers for thesmooth supplychain movement.

Mandaviya alsoacknowledged thechallenges faced bythe seafarers andappreciatedtheir workin this

crucial and testing times.He also directed the offi-

cials of the shipping ministryfor easing the process of 'sign-on and sign-off ' for the seafar-ers at the Indian Ports, itsaid.

Representatives fromIndian National Ship Owners'Association , Maritime

Association of NationwideShipping Agencies –

India , National Unionof Seafarers of India,Indian MaritimeFoundation , MaritimeUnion of India,Maritime Association

of Ship Owners Shipmanagers and Agents,

among others par-ticipated in the

interaction.

IT industry has done a "fabulous,unbelievable and remarkable" job intransitioning more than 90 per cent of itsemployees to work from home

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in theSensex pack, rallying over 15 per cent,followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC, AxisBank, ICICI Bank, M&M and SBI

CII and all industry associationsare asking for renewal of the

scheme as interest rates inIndia are as high as 9 to 10per cent, Budhia said

Exporters seek relief amid Covidoutbreak, SBI works on packages

PNS n SINGAPORE

Singapore will enter into arecession this year due to thecoronavirus pandemic and thecity-state's economic growthcould even dip below the fore-cast range of -4 to -1 per centto record its worst-ever con-traction, the country's centralbank said on Tuesday.

The Monetary Authority ofSingapore (MAS) in its latesthalf-yearly macroeconomicreview warned of job losses andlower wages, with “significantuncertainty” over how long andintense the downturn will be.

"The Singapore economywill enter into a recession thisyear,” said the MAS in a 132-page report.

Depending on how the pan-demic evolves and the efficacyof policy responses around theworld, Singapore's economicgrowth could even dip belowthe forecast range of -4 to -1 percent to record its worst-evercontraction, said the MAS.The grim prognosis comes asSingapore reels from theCOVID-19 outbreak. To date,nearly 15,000 people inSingapore have been infectedwith the disease and fourteenhave died.

Average spot power price remains low at Rs 2.36 a unit during lockdown

Singapore to enter intorecession this year due tocoronavirus pandemic: MAS

BSE brings negativeprice feature forcommodity derivatives

Sensex jumps 371 pts, Nifty tops9,300 as financial stocks soar

IT firms to suspend hiringthis year: Mohandas Pai

rom photogra-phers experienc-ing a decrease intheir revenue, lowcamera sales,adopting new

habits to cancellations,indeed the virus has createda pandemic in the lives offreelancers too.

The craze of virtual pho-toshoots was started by anItalian photographer calledAlessio Albi. Celebrities likeAlaya Furniturewala, PalakTiwari, Reem SameerShaikh, Hansika Motwani,Demi Lovato too, have beenphotographed this way. Theportraits have been catchingfolks’ attention and Danielterms it as “a new perspec-tive and an unforgettableexperience amid the lock-down” while stating thatmodels operating like pho-tographers in positioningthe mobile cameras accord-ing to the photographer’sinstructions as the shoot’suniqueness.

“The idea of an onlinephotoshoot is helping mereach out to and shoot mod-els from various other coun-tries like USA, Canada, andother European countries asI sit here in my living room,”he laughs.

Getting to the technical bitof this trend, Daniel, akaPixel Farmer, tells us how hetakes a tour of the fashionmodel’s living room before hebegins the shoot since he’s anardent admirer of natural

lighting. “We then work onthe right clothing, props,positioning of the mobilecamera, and gauging expres-sions. Major difficultiesinclude the clarity of the pic-ture and the application weuse for a video call,” adds thisself-taught photographer.

Without needingan army of hair-stylists, make-up artists, andeditors, thistrend is inspir-ing numerousphotographersto continueworking ontheir business-es while stay-ing at homeand weavingoriginality.

If anything goodhas come out ofthis lockdown, it

has to be thediverse ways

people are usingtheir creativeminds. One

such artistry isFaceTime photoshoots. SHIKHADUGGAL speaksto Daniel Chinta,

a celebrityfashion

photographerfrom Hyderabadon the dawn ofthis new trend

f

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

WednesdayApril 29, 2020

Speaking to V SATEESHREDDY,television actressJayakhavi sharesabout herunexpectedentry intoacting, howdance helpedher acting,love forHyderabadicuisine,trends in serialsand more

orn and brought up inTiruchirappalliof Tamil Nadu,television actressJayakhavi settled

in Hyderabad after her mar-riage. She’s a trainedBharatanatyam dancer andis currently pursuing herM.Phil in Bharatanatyam.The beautiful lady enteredthe Telugu television indus-

try with the serialPrema on ZeeTelugu. She is nowplaying the lead

role in the serialThoorpu Padamara

and has received greatappreciation for her actingskills.

Unexpected entryJayakhavi says that acting

happened unexpectedly.“The scriptwriter ofKarthika Deepam is a closefriend of mine. He asked meto audition for a role inPrema. With the support ofmy family, I auditioned andwas selected. In the serial. Iplayed a small role as apolice officer. It got mepositive feedback frompeople,” she informs.

Lead roleLater, Jayakhavi was

selected for one of thelead roles in ThoorpuPadamara along with

actress Yamini. She shares,“Thoorpu Padamara is allabout the life of two verydifferent girls. I’m playingthe role of Shruti, whodoesn’t believe anybody eas-ily and doubts everyone andeverything.”

Learning TeluguWhen asked how she

learned the Telugu lan-guage, she shares, “I neverhad Telugu speaking peoplearound me. It was only aftermy marriage that I wasexposed to the beautifullanguage and culture. I’mrunning a dance school inHyderabad and training stu-dents here. I communicatewith my students in thelocal language, whichhelped me learn the lan-guage very fast. It alsohelped me understandscenes easily during shoot-ing.”

Dance made actingeasy

Jayakhavi saysBharatanatyam helped herdevelop her acting skills.She explains, “Dance helpedme act easily. In classicaldance, we perform variousexpressions. All thesehelped me in my acting.When my team explainsabout any scene, I work outhow to perform it and thisprocess proved successful

all the time. Dance mademy acting comfortable.”

Want to excel in every role

The actress says that shedoesn’t have any dream roleas such and says that shehopes to excel in every roleshe gets. “I want people torecognise me with mynames in the serials and notmy real name. In the longerrun, I someday hope to actfor the Telugu film indus-try,” she says.

Good craze for serialsShe added that the craze

for serials among people isincreasing every year. Sheshares, “Now we also havemany mediums like webseries and others. With allthese, several buddingartists are getting opportu-nities and it is good. I per-sonally don’t see these plat-forms as competitorsbut we’re all in thefield of entertainmenttogether. The Televisionindustry is working hardand adopting the latesttrends, topics, sub-jects, and require-ments to engage ouraudience. I’m surethere will soon be aserial on the lines ofCOVID-19 too,” shesmiles.

Three women behindher success

She said that she wasencouraged to take updance and acting by hergurus and family. She says,“I am very grateful to myBharatanatyam guruSupriya Ravikumar. Shehelped me learn variousemotions with ease. Mymother-in-law, SheelaGopinath has always been agreat support who encour-aged and appreciated myevery role. My mother Jothitoo, inspired me to take upand pursue what I lovedoing. These three womenplayed a key role in my suc-cess.”

Loves Hyderabad food“I’m a big foodie and I

love the variety of cuisinesthe city of Hyderabad hasto offer. The spicy food ofHyderabad is great. I wasnever exposed to spicy foodearlier, but now, I’m lovingthe city’s spicy food,” shesays.

ADOPTINGNEW TRENDS

Televisionindustry

I nnever hhad TTeluguspeaking ppeoplearound mme. IIt wwas oonlyafter mmy mmarriage tthat IIwas eexposed tto tthhebeautiful llanguage aandculture. II’m rrunning aadance sschool iinHyderabad aand ttrainingstudents hheree. IIcommunicate wwith mmystudents iin tthe llocallanguage, wwhichhelped mme llearn tthelanguage vvery ffastt. IItalso hhelped mmeunderstand ssceneseasily dduring sshooting

From a LANDSCAPESHOOT to virtual shoot

The idea of an online photoshoot is helping mereach out to and shoot models from various othercountries like USA, Canada, and other Europeancountries as I sit here in my living room

DANIEL CHINTACELEBRITY FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER

A HEALTHYImmune systemgoes a long wayV SATEESH REDDY

he world is cur-rently fightinghard to tramplethe Corona crisis. Peopleaged above 50

and below 10 are facingdouble the risk. Many doc-tors have been advising peo-ple to indulge in variousactivities at home duringthis lockdown to boost theirimmune system. With thelockdown, many havebecome lazy and aren’t giv-ing their diet much thought,which is gravely affectingthe immune system further.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Dr Tulasi, nutritionist atKIMS Hospitals shares,“The Immune system pro-tects our body against vari-ous parasites, viruses, anddiseases. Before theCoronavirus pandemic, notmany were aware of theimportance of the immunesystem and now everyone isdiscussing it. Most Indiansseem to have a goodimmune system when com-pared to foreign countries,however, we have toimprove it by maintainingproper diet and habits.”

When asked how thingschanged due to the lock-down and its impact on ourimmune system, she adds,“Lockdown is making usstay home for monthstogether. With no way to go out, people stopped exercising regularly and participating in other activities. Our eating habits also changed and we are watching movies orare on our couches all thetime. Due to all of this,some people are also facing sleep disturbancesand have put on weight.This could result in lowimmunity power. With the lockdown, our

schedules changed and weare not maintaining propertimetable to eat. Lack of sunexposure also is giving us adeficiency of Vitamin D. Allthese factors are affectingour immune system andpushing people closer to thedanger of contractingCOVID-19.”

“To improve our immunesystem, we have to indulgein various indoor activitiesat home. We can do somewalking, skipping, yoga, andother activities. It is alsoimportant to follow a bal-anced diet to cover all therequired vitamins, minerals,proteins,” she says, addingthat one has to drink at least10 glasses of water everyday.

On what foods need to be consumed more in timeslike these, she says, “It’simportant to get enoughproteins, vitamins, and minerals during this time to maintain good health.Intake of leafy vegetables,citrus fruits, dry fruits, walnuts, seeds, milk prod-ucts, egg yolks, chicken,fish, meat regularly helps us to maintain good health.Water-based foods likewatermelon also help. Along with these, maintain-ing a particular time for eating also results in goodhealth conditions.”

We have been seeing people make cakes and pizzas at homes since bakeries and restaurants are all closed. She says, “It is not a good time tomake cakes and pizzas athomes because these foodstake more time for digestionand with no regular activi-ties it weakens our immuni-ty. To maintain goodhygiene, people must cleantheir vegetables with warmwater and baking powder.Lastly, it is important tocook well to get rid of thebacteria.”

T

out of the

BOX

World Immunisation Week

B

10

Hyderabad Wednesday April 29 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

A fullhousewith a

depletinglarder makes

it tough to getcreative for

Iftaar dishesduring Ramadan.

Tata Sky CookingExpert, ChefHarpal SinghSokhi sharestwo recipesfor a sweet

end toyourdailyfast.

WHAT YOU NEED:For Grindingo Biscuits: 4-5 noo Ghee: 1 tspo Condensed milk: 1 tspo Brown sugar: 1 tspo For cookingo Ghee: 2 tbspo Pistachio crushed: 2 tspo Rava (Semolina): 1 1/2

cupo Milk: 2cups o Condensed Milk 1/2

Cup

o Butterscotch syrup: 2tbsp

For Garnisho Chocolate syrup: 2 tbspo Pistachio, crushed: 1

tbspHOW TO MAKE:o Take biscuits, break them

in to small pieces andadd in blender, addbrown sugar and 1tsp ofghee.

o Add condensed milk 1tsp and coarsely grind

o Pour the mixture in cupsfor a base and keep

aside.o In a pan add ghee, pista

and roast for 2-3 min.Then add rava and sautetill rava is roasted.

o Add condensed milk, milkto the mixture and cookwell till sheera thickens.

o Add butterscotch syrup inthe pan, mix well.

o Now pour the mixture inthe cups with the biscuitbase. Top it with thickchocolate syrup.

o Garnish with remainingpista and serve hot.

Something

WHAT YOU NEED:o Ghee: 2 tbspo Rajgira flour: 1 cupo Assorted nuts chopped: 2 tbspo Sugar: 5 tbspo Rose petals: 15-20 noso Rose Syrup: 4 tbspo Cardamom powder: 1 tspo Khoya: 1 1/2 cup

o Milk: 1 cupHOW TO MAKE:o Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the

rajgira flour and stir fry.o Add assorted nuts and stir fry till

the flour turns slightly brown.o Add sugar, rose syrup and mix

well.o Let it simmer for 3-4 min, then

add milk, cardamom powder and mix well.

o Cook till you get the desiredconsistency.

o Add khoya, rose petals, and let itsimmer for 2-3 mins.

o When the halwa has turnedslightly thick, take it off the heat.

o Garnish with rose petals andserve warm.

ROSE FLOUR HALWA

sweet for IFTAAR

BUTT

ERSC

OTCH

CHOC

OLAT

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EERA

or two reasons, April28 holds a specialplace in veteranfilmmaker KRaghavendra Rao’sheart. Taking to

Twitter on Tuesday, heinformed that two films heassociated with — AdaviRamudu and Baahubali: TheConclusion — released onApril 28 and went on to re-write history. “Adavi Ramudureleased 43 years ago on thisday. It sowed the seeds forrecords to be broken. It ranfor a year in four theatres,200 days in eight centres and100 days in 35 centres. Thefilm helped me to cement mybond with NandamuriTaraka Rao further. On thesame day three years ago

Baahubali: The Conclusion,which I presented, released.If Adavi Ramudu had Teluguaudience in awe, Baahubaliwas a super hit world-wide,”the director recalled.

outh star Prabhas onTuesday thanked his fansand team of Baahubali 2:The Conclusion on the third-year anniversary of theblockbuster’s release.

The actor, who attained pan-Indiastar status after the release of the SSRajamouli-directed films, said thesequel is the “biggest film” of his lifeand one of the “most memorable pro-jects”.

“Baahubali 2 was not just a filmthat the nation loved but also, thebiggest film of my life. And, I’m grate-ful to my fans, team and director SSRajamouli who made it one of themost memorable projects.”

“Baahubali 2 completes three yearsand I’m delighted for all the love thefilm and I have received,” Prabhas, 40,wrote on Instagram alongside somebehind-the-scenes photos from thefilm’s sets.

Baahubali: The Beginning, the firstfilm in the series, released in 2015. Itwas the first Telugu film to get aworldwide release in Hindi.

Baahubali 2, which opened in 2017,became the biggest hit in the historyof Indian cinema. Both parts wereproduced by Shobu Yarlagadda andPrasad Devineni.

Bollywood filmmaker Karan Joharwas attached as the distributor onboth the films’ Hindi version.

The franchise also featured RanaDaggubati, Anushka Shetty,Tamannaah, Ramya Krishnan,Sathyaraj, Nassar and Subbaraju.

Prabhas was last seen in “Saaho”opposite Shraddha Kapoor.

The actor will next be seen in a filmwith Nag Ashwin.

esides scripting his twofeatures, Rakshasa RajuRavanasurudu andAlimelu Manga VenkataRamana, director Tejais busy drawing a road

map to put “industry back ontrack” after the lockdown restric-tions are lifted phase by phase.“When shooting or while exhibit-ing, cinema is dependent on anumber of people. Then there arepromotions which involve pressand people. I’ve been listing outon the dos and don’ts for theindustry to bounce back. And thefinal draft is almost ready. As anindustry we went off the track,giving importance to luxury thanquality. It’s time we rectify it,” hetells us in an interview.

He adds that he had a wordwith Suresh Babu, members ofthe Telugu Film Chamber ofCommerce and guidelines will beissued to production houses anddirectors because at the end ofthe day, the onus on keeping thesets infection-free rests on theirshoulders. “Damodar Prasad, whois the Film Chamber Secretary,corrected some of my notes. Thedraft will be sent to the govern-ment for their approval,” Teja,who is also a producer, distribu-tor and exhibitor, states.

Spelling out some of the mea-sures from the draft, he shares,“From here on, tickets will besold in a chessboard format(alternate seats will not be sold).The canteens that serve snacks incinema halls should be certifiedCoronavirus-free. The food pre-pared should be shot on CCTV. Ifthe audience has any distrust, thetheatre management should be aposition to screen the footage. Inwashrooms as well, social dis-tance squares need to be painted.The audience should put onmasks and gloves while entering acinema hall. If they don’t, the the-atre management should come upwith a stall which sells them.Every exit point shall be providedwith sanitizers by the theatrestaff.”

Shooting-wise as well, a lot ofstandard practice will cease toexist, he informs. “We are consid-

ering lowering down the crowdon sets. Plus, the shoot will becovered by CCTVs and thefootage will be owned by theproducer. It helps the healthauthorities if there is an unfor-tunate case of Covid-19. All thefood has to come from a cater-er in a sealed way. Generally,we are served food duringbreakfast or lunch hours butthat will change now. Allthe shots need to be plannedin advance by the directorand the cinematographershould be aware of them, sothat light men can workaccordingly in a couple ofdays prior. It also results in thenumber of light men dipping onthe actual shoot day,” he explains.

Teja notes that technicians willbe asked to maintain a distance of10 feet away from the actors onceshootings resume. “All the actorsneed to use their own transporta-tion henceforth for the locations.Thermal scanners will be fit atlocations. The shoot surfaceswill be cleaned with disinfec-tants every two hours,” hepoints out.

Shifting focus to thebuzz about him in talkswith Amazon Prime forthree web series andfilms, he clarifies, “No,I’m not in talks withany OTT platforms.I like to see mymovies on the bigscreen.”

11

B

Hyderabad Wednesday April 29 2020

TWO FILMS HEASSOCIATED WITH— ADAVI RAMUDUAND BAAHUBALI: THE CONCLUSION —RELEASED ON APRIL28 AND WENT ON TORE-WRITE HISTORY

tollywoodTEJA COMES UP

WITH A ROAD MAPFOR THE INDUSTRY

Damodar Prasad, who is the Film Chamber Secretary,corrected some of his notes. The draft will be sent to thegovernment for their approval, finds NAGARAJ GOUD

aga Chaitanya had asweet surprise for hiswife SamanthaAkkineni who turned33 on Tuesday. Withrestrictions in place

because of Covid-19 outbreak,the actor donned an apron andbaked a cake for the birthdaygirl. Last seen in Jaanu, Samcouldn’t help but post the videoof her husband taking the help ofinternet to whip up what lookedlike a chocolate cake fromscratch.

Sam also posted some picturesof her mid-night birthday cele-brations on her Instagram page.In one of the pictures, she can beseen praying for the well-beingof her family, while other showsher and Chay smiling while pos-ing for a selfie. She shared aphoto of her dog too.

On the work front, Sam willbe next seen in Raj-DK’s TheFamily Man 2, which marks herHindi and digital debut. She hasreportedly essayed the role of aterrorist in the spy thriller. She isalso set to star in a female-cen-tric Telugu-Tamil bilingual filmdirected by Ashwin Saravananand co-starring Prashanth.

Chay bakesSam’s b’day cake

N

THE ACTOR, WHO ATTAINED PAN-INDIA STARSTATUS AFTER THE RELEASEOF THE SS RAJAMOULI-DIRECTED FILMS, SAID THESEQUEL IS THE “BIGGESTFILM” OF HIS LIFE AND ONE OF THE “MOSTMEMORABLEPROJECTS”

PRABHAS ONBAAHUBALI 2:The Conclusion3rd anniversary:Biggest film ofmy life

SF

TG Vishwa Prasad,chairman ofPeople Tech

Group and PeopleMedia Factory, alongwith Vivek Kuchibotla,co-producer at PeopleMedia Factort, metTRS workingpresident KT RamaRao and made adonation of Rs 25lakh towardsTelangana CM ReliefFund to fight theCoronaviruspandemic.

April 28 is a special day for KRR

sport 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 29, 2020

AFP n TOKYO

The postponed Tokyo 2020Olympics will have to be

cancelled if the coronaviruspandemic isn’t brought undercontrol by next year, the organ-ising committee’s presidentwarned, ruling out furtherdelays.

The comments, in an inter-view with a Japanese sportsdaily published on Tuesday,come as medical experts doubt-ed whether the pandemic canbe sufficiently contained bynext year to hold an eventdrawing participants and spec-tators from around the world.

The pandemic has alreadyforced a year-long delay of theGames, which are now sched-

uled to open on July 23, 2021.But Tokyo 2020 president

Yoshiro Mori was categoricalwhen asked by the NikkanSports daily whether the Gamescould be delayed until 2022 ifthe pandemic remains a threatnext year, replying: “No.”

“In that case, it’s cancelled,”Mori said.

Mori noted the Games hadbeen cancelled previously onlyduring wartime, and comparedthe battle against coronavirusto “fighting an invisible enemy”.

If the virus is successfully

contained, “we’ll hold theOlympics in peace next sum-mer”, he added. “Mankind isbetting on it.”

Masa Takaya, a Tokyo 2020spokesman, declined to com-ment on a possible cancellationof the Games and told reportersthat Mori’s remarks were basedon “the chairman’s ownthoughts”.

But the comments will addto growing questions aboutthe postponement, decided lastmonth after heavy pressure onthe organisers and theInternational OlympicCommittee from athletes andsports federations.

On Tuesday, the head ofJapan Medical Associationwarned it would be “exceeding-

ly difficult” to hold the Gamesnext year if a vaccine has notbeen found.

“I would not say that theyshould not be held, but itwould be exceedingly diffi-cult,” Yoshitake Yokokura toldreporters.

‘VERY PPESSIMISTIC’And last week a Japanese

medical expert who has criti-cised the country’s response tothe coronavirus warned that hewas “very pessimistic” that thepostponed Olympics can beheld in 2021.

But Tokyo 2020 spokesmanTakaya countered that evenmedical experts said it was tooearly to make a judgement onsuch a possibility.

AFP n LONDON

Tottenham became the latest Premier League clubto open their doors to players on Tuesday as part

of the “Project Restart” plan to finish the English top-flight season.

The Premier League has been suspended sinceMarch 13 but there is growing belief the campaigncan be concluded over the summer months.

Resuming matches on June 8 is reportedlyamong the ideas set to be discussed when the PremierLeague’s key stakeholders meet on Friday.

That would require full training to begin by May18 and Premier League clubs are starting to worktowards that date by giving players the option of usingtheir training grounds.

Tottenham have followed Arsenal, West Ham andBrighton in allowing players to use facilities for indi-vidual sessions that conform to social-distancingguidelines.

“No more than one player per pitch will be per-mitted at any one time to undertake on-pitch exer-cise, with only a restricted number of the squad com-ing to the training centre each day,” a Tottenham state-ment said.

“Each player will travel independently and arriveat the facilities already dressed in training wear beforereturning home immediately after they have conclud-

ed their session.”After weeks of lockdown in

Britain, ministers believe thereturn of football would boostmorale. Culture secretary OliverDowden who is responsible forsport, said he had been in talkswith the Premier League “with

a view to getting football upand running as soon as pos-sible” but stressed anymoves would have to beconsistent with publichealth guidance.

The clubs remaincommitted to ending the2019/20 campaign and

there are compellingfinancial and legal rea-sons to play the remain-

ing 92 games.

AFP n BERLIN

The Bundesliga couldreturn by “the middle

or end of May”, Germany’ssports ministers have said,as the league awaits the go-ahead from AngelaMerkel’s government toresume the season.

The sports ministers ofGermany’s 16 states met onMonday and announced ina statement that it is “jus-tifiable” for the league toresume “in empty stadi-ums” from “the middle orend of May”.

“The German FootballLeague must create andenforce the strictesthygienic and medical con-ditions, and monitor themwith appropriate mea-sures,” added the state-ment.

German ChancellorMerkel will meet state lead-ers in Berlin on Thursday,when it is hoped theBundesliga will get thegreen light to resume.

All football inGermany ground to a haltin mid March due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

Last week, theGerman Football League(DFL) announced it isready to resume from May9, albeit behind closeddoors with tight hygienemeasures and players test-ed regularly.

A return in Maywould make theBundesliga the first topleague in Europe to resumeas Germany cautiouslyeases lockdown measures.

Key politicians, includ-ing health minister JensSpahn, have backed theleague’s return plans.

NEW DELHI: Badminton Association ofIndia is ready to host the $400,000India Open, an Olympic qualifier, inDecember this year or January nextyear, provided the Covid-19 pandem-ic subsides and the Government givesits approval.

The Badminton World Federation(BWF) had last week sent a letter toBAI, asking it for a slot to conduct theBWF World Tour Super 500 tourna-ment, which was suspended last monthalong with the other Tokyo Gamesqualifiers due to the virus outbreak.

In reply, BAI has given BWF twoslots, saying it is ready to host the eventeither in December or January, pend-ing government approval, said Ajay KSinghania, General Secretary, BAI.

“...We told them we are ready toconduct the India Open in Decemberor January but it all depends on howthis global health crisis comes undercontrol and if we get the Governmentapproval,” Singhania said.

“We received the mail (from BWF)last week, asking us if we can host theevent in September but gauging theuncertainties around, we have givenDecember as first option and Januaryas the second alternate.

“But it depends on a lot of factors.Right now, international travel is alsobanned, so let’s see.”

The India Open Super 500 eventwas scheduled to be held in New Delhifrom March 24 to 29.

Meanwhile, the Badminton WorldFederation on Tuesday suspended theUS Open World Tour Super 300 tour-nament to be held in June due to thefast-spreading Covid-19 pandemic.

“The Badminton World Federation(BWF) can confirm the suspension ofthe YONEX US Open 2020 set to beheld 23-28 June in Fullerton,California,” the BWF said in a release.

“This decision was made in closeconsultation and consensus with USABadminton. PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI

India on Tuesday lost thehosting rights of the 2021

men’s world boxing c’ship toSerbia after the InternationalBoxing association alleged non-payment of host fee by thenational federation, whichclaimed that AIBA “acted inhaste”.

The Boxing Federation ofIndia acknowledged the delaybut blamed it on “proceduralcomplications” arising out ofthe AIBA’s failure to resolve“issues” with regards to theaccount in which the moneywas to be transferred.

The payment of what isestimated to be $4 million wasdue to be made on December2 last year.

“After New Delhi didn'tfulfill its obligations to payhost fee as mentioned in theHost City Agreement terms,AIBA has terminated the con-tract. Therefore, India wouldhave to pay a cancellationpenalty of $500,” the AIBAsaid in a statement.

The elite competition,which would have happened forthe first time in the country, willnow be held in the Serbian cityof Belgrade.

“Serbia has everything toorganize a great event for ath-letes, coaches, officials, and, ofcourse, for our boxing fans,”AIBA Interim PresidentMohamed Moustahsane stated.

PTI n NEW DELHI

National badminton coachPullela Gopichand on

Tuesday said the current ath-lete-centric model of fundingdoesn’t benefit sport and thereis a need to look at supportinga group rather than individu-als to produce more champi-ons.

“All present models areathlete-centric, they don’t ben-efit the sport as a whole. Theybenefit individual athletes. Weshould look at funding a grouprather than individual ath-letes,” Gopichand made theassertion while addressing aspecial online session organisedby the Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) for its newly-appointed Assistant Directors.

“The structure shouldthrow up champions. The levelof competition should be sohigh, that they become world-class without them even know-

ing. The number 2 and num-ber 3 should be constantlypushing the number 1.”

Talking about the impor-tance of coaches in the sport-ing ecosystem, Gopichand said:“You want people to be on-field, you want them to work ascoaches ... (however) as timegoes by, a lot of people want to

become mentors and adminis-trators and they don’t want tocontinue coaching.

“As administrators I wantyou to be aware, of who areputting in the effort and whoare remotely managing.

“Most successful modelsworldwide are coach-driven,sports science and athlete-dri-

ven. People working on thefield should be the decision-makers.”

Gopichand, who won the2001 All-England C’ship title,said rather than having grass-root-level coaches, intermedi-ate coaches and elite coaches aspart of a hierarchy, they shouldall work parallelly.

He also said that it isimportant that coaches are con-stantly motivated so that theydon’t lose interest in their job.

Gopichand, who groomedSaina Nehwal and P V Sindhuto Olympic medals in 2012 and2016, also emphasised on theimportance of having a strongdomestic competition structureto create more winners.

“We need to find smallpockets where not only train-ing is world-class but compe-tition is also world-class.Internal competition is whatwill make people strive to getbetter,” he said.

IANS n NEW DELHI

One of the most awaitedpart of this years IndianPremier League (IPL),

which currently stands sus-pended due to the coronavirusoutbreak, was the return ofMahendra Singh Dhoni to thecricket field. Dhoni last playedin the World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand andsince then has been on a sab-batical. It was believed thatDhoni’s performance in the IPLwould decide if he will be a partof India’s WT20 squad. Butcricketer-turned-commentatorAakash Chopra begs to differ.

The former India openersaid that he believes it’s a hugemisconception people had thatDhoni’s comeback into theIndian team would be based onhis performance in the IPL.

“It’s a huge misconceptionthat Dhoni’s comeback to theIndian team was dependent onhis performance in the IPL,”Chopra said.

“If that is how we willview Dhoni as a player and his

career and what he hasachieved as a player, then Ithink we are just knocking atthe wrong door because it’s notright.”

Chopra feels that if Dhoniwants to play for the Indianteam again and if the teammanagement also wants thesame, it will happen.

“See, if the team wants himto play, all that will happen. Butif the IPL doesn’t take place thisyear, the T20 World Cup does-n’t happen this year, of coursehe will be a year older and withhim out of the cricket formore than 18 months, you canassume that you might not seehim play again for India,” hepointed.

The former India bats-man, however, said that look-ing at the present scenario,organising the T20 World Cuplooks “difficult” in October-November which in turn canopen a window for the 13thIPL edition and the tourna-ment can be held even behindclosed doors.

“It’s still a long shot

because we don’t know how theworld is going to operate. ThisCovid-19 pandemic is a devel-oping story. For a tournamentlike the IPL, you have to ensureplayers’ safety. It’s being con-templated to have the IPLbehind closed doors and Ithink it’s better to have thetournament with empty standsrather than not having thetournament at all.

“To be honest, the T20World Cup looks very, very dif-ficult because Australia hasalready put a travel ban tillSeptember. The T20 WorldCup is slated to be played inOctober. So, October-November might just turn outto be the window to open upsuddenly because moving theentire world to one place andthen playing the tournament isa lot tougher than playing, saythe IPL, in one country wheremost of the players are Indiansand only a handful of playershave to fly in. From a com-mentator and a cricket lover’spoint of view, I would want theIPL to happen,” he added.

PTI n KOLKATA

Former India player VVS Laxman onTuesday conducted his first online ses-

sion for batsmen of Ranji Trophy runners-up, Bengal, and to start with, he focussedonly on the mental aspect.

During his two separate 45-minutesessions with Abhishek Raman and KaziJunaid Saifi, Laxman also had in attendanceBengal coach Arun Lal, cricket operationsmanager Joydeep Mukherjee, and state U-23 coach Sourasish Lahiri.

Bengal opener Raman, who fritteredaway a bright start last season, was givenlessons on how to deal with failures andways to regain confidence.

“We talked about our last season. Whatwere my mindset through the season. Asession with lot to learn from and how to

prepare the mindset during ups anddowns of the season,” Raman said in astatement issued by the CAB.

Raman started the season with succes-sive hundreds, against Kerala and Andhra,but eventually aggregated 406 runs at 25.37from 10 outings.

Laxman talked about how to controlthe mind in order to avoid playing looseshots, importance of batting in the first onehour of play on bowling friendly pitches.

Rookie batsman Kazi, who made hisdebut and went on to play two matches,was told about how to ensure a seamlesstransition from age-group to senior crick-et. The CAB will continue with its onlineclasses with focus being on their top-orderbatsmen, their biggest letdown in an oth-erwise eventful season when they reachedtheir first Ranji Trophy final in 13 years.

NEW DELHI: Former Australiapacer Brett Lee believes battinglegend Sachin Tendulkar used toplay “cat and mouse” with leg-endary spinner Shane Warneduring their playing days.

Speaking on Star Sports’show Cricket Connected, Leesaid that Tendulkar was verycomfortable batting againstWarne and in fact on his days,the Master Blaster just toyedwith the Australian leggie, whichwas a rare sight.

“He (Sachin) used toadvance down the wicket a fewtimes & invited Warne to bowla fraction too short. Sometimes,he would wait patiently on theback foot and play those beau-tiful shots,” said Lee.

“It was almost like he wasplaying cat and mouse withWarne and not many batsmencan play cat and mouse withShane Warne because he’s so tal-ented. But on days, SachinTendulkar was toying withWarne and that does not happenoften,” he added.

Tendulkar and Warne hadan epic duel whenever theyfaced each other on the field.

Lee further revealed thatWarne hated the way Tendulkarbatted against him and wouldexpress anger after being unableto get the Indian batter out.

“The way Sachin used toread bowlers out of their hand,the different technique he used

to play different balls was pureclass.

“There were times whenWarne would try and get the tra-jectory a bit different throughthe air and sometimes, he wouldtry and get a few balls to drop.Every time he would try the sub-tle variations, there was onlySachin who would pick them up.

“Warne would bamboozleother batsmen around the world,but Sachin would watch thehand much better than most ofthe other batsmen.

“Warne hated it, he wouldcome back and say that he triedeverything to get Sachin out, buthe couldn’t,” Lee said.

Tendulkar made his debutagainst Pakistan at Karachi in1989 as a 16-year old. The mas-ter batsman went on to play 200Tests for India, scoring 100 cen-turies across Tests and ODIs. In463 ODIs, Sachin scored 18,426runs including 49 tons and inTests, he has 15,921 runs to hisname including 51 centuries.

“I was 22 years when I gotmy first opportunity to playagainst the Little Master,” Lee,who played 76 Tests, 221 ODIsand 25 T20Is for Australia, saidwhile recalling the first time heplayed against Tendulkar.

“I nicked him off and Ithought I’m done. I didn’t careabout a Test match since I wasso happy to get SachinTendulkar out,” he added. PNS

PTI n JAMAICA

Flamboyant West Indiesopener Chris Gayle has

called his former team-mate Ramnaresh Sarwan“worse than coronavirus”,accusing the Guyanese ofplotting his exit fromCaribbean Premier Leagueoutfit Jamaica Tallawahs.

The big-hitting Gayle,who has since moved to StLucia Zouks, blamedSarwan for an alleged fall-out with Tallawahs fran-chise, which did not retainhim for the 2020 seasonafter playing for them as amarquee player last year.

The opener claimedthat Sarwan was behindhis ouster as the former

middle-order batsmanwanted to take control ofthe franchise.

“Sarwan, you areworse than the coron-avirus right now,” Gaylesaid in a video uploadedon his YouTube channel.

“What transpired withthe Tallawahs, you have abig part to play becauseyou and the owner are likethis (very close). You werethe one at my last birthdayparty here in Jamaica, giv-ing big speech about howfar we have come.”

Sarwan is the assistantcoach of JamaicaTallawahs.

Continuing his ballis-tic attack on his formerWest Indies teammate,

Gayle went on, “Sarwan,you are a snake. You are sovindictive. You are soimmature. You still stab-bing people in the back.

“When are you plan-ning to change? Don’t evenconsider seeing theUniverse Boss and saying‘Yo Chris’ because I amtelling you this straightup, that’s it.”

Gayle played his firstfour CPL seasons withTallawahs before turningout for St Kitts and NevisPatriots in the next twoseasons respectively.

He returned toTallawahs the previous sea-son as a marquee playerbefore his alleged fall-outwith the franchise.

AFP n PARIS

French professional sportsleagues including football

and rugby cannot restart beforeSeptember because of coron-avirus restrictions, PrimeMinister Edouard Philippe saidon Tuesday.

Philippe made theannouncement as part of agradual plan to lift the lockdownin France. He said no eventwhere more than 5,000 peoplegather would be alloweduntil at least September.

The news is also like-ly to affect the Tour deFrance, due to embarkfrom Nice on August 29and where hugecrowds would beexpected to

gather at the start and finishlines.

“The 2019-2020 profession-al sports leagues, notably foot-ball, cannot yet restart,” Philippetold a televised address to Frenchparliament at the NationalAssembly.

“I would like to be precisehere, no large sports gatheringor any gathering of 5,000 peo-ple or more, needing the permis-sion of the local police and longprior arrangements, will be

allowed before September,”Philippe said.

The announcementappears to scupper theplans of French football'stop division Ligue 1 to

start again in June withplayers being recalled

as of May 11.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni bats during Chennai Super Kings nets session PTI

MS India comeback not dependent on IPL: Chopra‘Pant as dominantas Sehwag, Yuvraj’NEW DELHI: Out-of-favourIndia cricketer Suresh Rainahas jumped into the defense ofRishabh Pant, stating thatwhen the young wicket-keep-er-batsman is on song, hecould be as dominant asVirender Sehwag and YuvrajSingh.

Raina feels Pant can go onto become a top cricketer forthe country as he possesses allthe natural talent that a crick-eter should.

“He is a top cricketer,when he plays well, youbecome happy and he remindsof Yuvraj and Sehwag, he is asdominant as them, when heplays the flick, it reminds youof Dravid as well,” Raina saidduring a Live video sessionwith Yuzvendra Chahal.

Before cricket wasstopped due to coronavirus,Pant had lost his place in theteam in white-ball cricket toKL Rahul. IANS

Tendulkar toyed withWarne, says Lee

Laxman starts online sessionswith Bengal batters

Chris Gayle in action for CPL sideJamaica Tallawahs CPL/Twitter

You are worse than coronavirus: Gayle blasts Sarwan

Premier League’s ProjectRestart gathers pace

BAI ready to host IndiaOpen in Dec-Jan

Should fund a group rather than individuals to create more champions: Gopi

PV Sindhu in action during 2020 BWF All England championship AP/File Picture

Bundesliga could resume in ‘mid to late May’

Manuel Neuer in training session

Ligue 1 off until Sept India loses hostingrights of 2021 men’sWorld Boxing C'ship

Olympics will be cancelled if pandemic not over: Games chief

Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori speaks in teleconference withJohn Coates, chairman of IOC's Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020 Olympics