HYDERABAD, THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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MONEY 8‘ANTIVIRALS, HYPERLOOPS AMONG 20MARKETS TO TRANSFORM ECONOMIES’

ANALYSIS 7THE LINES ARE

BLURRED

SPORTS 12RCB TOTALLYOUTGUN KKR

}PAWAN KALYANANNOUNCES RS 1CR

FOR TSCMRF

Page 11

Around 30 lakh government employees will receive a bonus for 2019-2020, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said today after a cabinet

meeting. At the meeting, chaired by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, approval was givenfor Productivity Linked Bonus or PLB for theyear 2019-2020.This will benefit 16.97 lakhnon-gazetted employees of commercialestablishments like Railways, Posts,Defence, EPFO, ESIC. Non-PLB or ad-hocbonus is given to Non-Gazetted CentralGovernment employees, from which 13.70lakh employees will benefit, thegovernment said.

CABINET APPROVES BONUS FORCENTRAL EMPLOYEES, 30 L TO BENEFIT

FORMER GOVERNOR ESL NARASIMHANDONATES RS.25,000 FOR CMRF

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan has promised to set upa "coaching city" similar to Rajasthan's Kota, Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar

and Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, if voted to power, so that students fromBihar do not have to migrate to cities in other states toprepare for competitive exams. He released hisparty's manifesto for the upcoming assemblyelection in Bihar. The coaching city will haveaccomodation facilities and libabry for students,the LJP said, adding seats will be reserved forstudetns from economically weaker sections. Agrand Sita temple, which the party says will putBihar on the world map, is also in the list ofpromises.

Former Home Minister of Telangana, NayiniNarasimha Reddy passed away at a

private hospital in Hyderabad onWednesday midnight. He was 86. Nainiwas born on 12May1944 in Devarkondaof Nalgonda district. Educated upto HSCNaini actively participated in in 1969Telangana Agitation and has been withKCR through out the agitation. Frombeing the first labor unionleader in VST industries,Naini became the firsthome minister ofTelangana.

Former Governor ESL Narasimhan has expressed his concern over thepresent situation in Hyderabad due to heavy rains and floods. He

praised the relief and rehabilitation works taken up by the TelanganaState government for the sake of flood victims. Narasimhan announcedRs.25,000 donation to Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF)from his personal savings for the sake of relief works.The Chief Minister's Office posted a tweet in thisregard on Wednesday. It may be recalled thatNarasimhan has been leading a simple life along withhis wife at his hometown Chennai, after steppingdown from his position. Tamilisai Soundararajanreplaced ESL Narasimhan as Governor andshe took charge on September 9, 2019.

KOTA-LIKE COACHING CITY, GRAND SITATEMPLE: CHIRAG PASWAN'S PROMISES NAYANI IS NO MORE

{

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Independentdirectors a ‘puzzle', says Sebi chief

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BJP-JD(U) alliance‘superhit' likeSachin-Sehwag incricket: Rajnath

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Aryan civilisationled to the Worldcivilisation

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 21, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Ashwin & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Shashthi: 07:39 am

Nakshatram: Purva Ashadha: 12:58 am

(Next Day)

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:26 pm – 02:53 pm

Yamagandam: 06:14 am – 07:41 am

Varjyam: 10:43 am – 12:18 pm

Gulika: 09:07 am - 10:33 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 08:13 pm – 09:48 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:37 am – 12:23 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Scattered thunderstormsTemp: 29/21Humidity: 73%Sunrise: 06.11 amSunset: 05.49 pm

PNS n HYDERABAD

The city, which has had enoughof water in the past 10 days, isnow seeing a flood of politi-cians, who are virtually com-peting with one another toreach out to people in theaffected areas and therebytouching a raw nerve since thehealth authorities have justgot a breather in containmentof Covid-19 pandemic.

With neither netas nor thepublic minding Covid-19 --the former by not taking pre-cautionary measures and thelatter by being too steeped inflood-related troubles to thinkabout other issues -- it isfeared that things may beback to square one, if such

things continue. Amid the pandemic, relief

measures are somewhat undo-ing the progress achieved bythe state in containing Covid-19. For instance, the ReserveBank of India has hinted thatcurrency notes could be car-riers of bacteria and viruses,including coronavirus, for aslong as 28 days.

Still, at every cash distribu-tion area, one can see violationof all Covid-19 norms – nosocial distancing, no masksand no gloves.

Althought the HealthDepartment has warned peo-ple to follow norms for festi-vals, nothing seems to beapplicable for politicians.

Netas flood inundated areas, undo Covid-19 containment

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao, whovisited ai l ing NayiniNarasimha Reddy in thehospital on Wednesday,became visibly emotional onseeing the condition of his

long-time associate, who hasbeen with the TelanganaRashtra Samiti since itsinception.

Nayini was admitted toApollo Hospital about aweek ago, after he developedpost-Covid complications.

KCR gets emotional onseeing critical Nayini

5-member inter-ministerial centralteam to visit TS to assess flood damage NEW DELHI: A five-member inter-ministerial team of the centralgovernment will visit Telanganafor two days beginning Thursdayfor an on-the-spot assessment ofthe damages caused by the recentheavy rains and floods, officialssaid. Incessant rains last weekcaused flooding in Hyderabad andparts of Telangana leaving threepeople dead. The centralgovernment has constituted afive-member inter-ministerialcentral team for an on-the-spotassessment of the damagescaused by the recent rains andconsequential floods in Telangana,

a home ministry official said. Theteam will visit the state for twodays beginning Thursday and willsubmit a report on its return, theofficial said. A joint secretary ofthe Union Home Ministry will leadthe team. Hyderabad and someparts of Telangana had witnessedone of the worst deluges in recenttimes following unprecedenteddownpour in over a century lastweek. In Hyderabad, rains led tolakes and other water bodiesoverflowing with the waterinundating several low-lyingareas, including parts of the cityand its outskirts.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Crime rate in Telangana isvery low in comparison toother states of the country,Telangana Home MinisterMohammed Mahmood Aliclaimed on Wednesday.

Addressing the PoliceCommemoration Day paradehere, Mahmood Ali said sincethe formation of Telanganastate (in June 2014) no com-munal incidents have takenplace in Hyderabad city,adding it is the result of con-tinuous efforts of police andutilisation of modern technol-ogy in maintaining law andorder.

Integrating science andtechnology in policing, friend-

ly policing and other initia-tiveshelped prevent violentincidents in the state, he said.

Over 3.5 lakh CCTV cam-eras have been installed inHyderabad city and it occupiesthe top position in the coun-try in installation of suchcameras, the minister claimed.

Ministers Sabita Indira Reddy and Ch Malla Reddy distributing Rs 10,000 each to flood-hit victims, violation social distancing norms

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao consoles Narasimha Reddy's son-in-lawSrinivas Reddy. Rajya Sabha MP J Santosh Kumar and TRS state generalsecretary Shravan Reddy accompanied him

PNS n HYDERABAD

TRS public representativesfrom the city performed'Shanti puja' along the Musiriver on the advice of priests.Deputy Chief MinisterMahamood Ali, MinisterTalasani Srinivas Yadav andMayor Bonthu Rammohanwere among those who partic-ipated in the ritual of offeringriverine prayers on Wednesday.

Mayor Bonthu Rammohan,along with his wife BonthuSridevi Yadav, offered prayersto Goddess Ganga atPuranapool Kaman onWednesday.

Shanti puja performed at Musi

Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan and his wife BonthuSridevi perform Shanti Puja at Musi river

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Enforcement Directoratehas attached 27 immovableproperties located at Hyderabadand Vijayawada worth aroundRs 11.05 crore belonging toNimmagadda Ramakrishna,Nimmagadda Venugopal,

VVNK Viswanath and theirfamily members in a bankloan fraud case.

The market value ofthe properties seized isestimated to be aroundRs 33.39 crore.

The assets wereattached under

Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

The probe revealed thatsiphoned off amount of Rs1.72 crore was allegedlydiverted in the productionof a Telugu movie

"Aakasame Haddu".

Students willbe issued freshcertificates PNS n HYDERABAD

The State Government hasdirected the EducationDepartment andUniversities to issue freshduplicate certificates, freeof cost, as and when stu-dents apply either online oroffline.

The government issuedan order to this effect onWednesday, following rep-resentations from severalstudents that they theircertificates were either lostor damaged due to theunprecedented rains andconsquent flooding of theirhouses.

ED attaches 27 properties in bank loan fraud case

Landslide at Indrakeeladri before Jagan visit PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Boulders came crashing downthe Indrakeeladri hill inVijayawada in a landslide onWednesday causing minorinjuries to three people, policesaid.

A possible tragedy wasaverted as the ghat road lead-ing to the historicKanakadurga temple wasclosed for pilgrims in view ofthe official visit of ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy in the afternoon.

Police said the landslidehappened about an hour beforethe Chief Minister's arrival.

A temporary tin shed erect-

ed on the hill for the ongoingDasara Navaratri festivalcrashed under the impact of

the landslide and three personsin the vicinity suffered injuriesas stone pebbles fell on them,

police said.The incident happened close

to the Media Point on the hilltemple.

On the auspicious MoolaNakshatram day, when theGoddess is decorated asSaraswati Devi during theDasara festival, the ChiefMinister was supposed to pre-sent silk clothes to the deity onbehalf of the state govern-ment.

Police sources said he wassupposed to take the ghat roadto reach the temple around 4pm and the landslide hap-pened about an hour before hisarrival.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

As many as 101 tanks, includ-ing three in Hyderabad, havebreached due to the heavyrains, followed by floods, inTelangana. In all, 53 tanks inthe city suffered minor damageover the past 10 days. Of the45,000 tanks in the state, 101have breached. Almost all ofthe 185 tanks in Hyderabad areoverflowing.

Sharing these details withthe media on Wednesday,Principal Secretary RajatKumar said: "Only three tanks-- Pallechuruvu atRajendranagar, Appacheruvuat Gaganpahad, and GurramCheruvu at Balapur havebreached in Hyderabad. Therepairs to these tanks were

completed within 12 hours.There are rumours of otherbreaches, which are all false”.

Rajat said that on the direc-tions of Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao, 15 techni-

cal teams had been deployed toinspect all the overflowing 185tanks and submit a report onthe precautionary measures tobe taken in view of the possi-bility of the city receiving morerains and experiencing furtherflooding. The technical teamswill inspect all tanks and,

wherever repairs and strength-ening were needed, correctivemeasures would be taken, apartfrom preventive steps.

To avoid financial hurdles,the Zonal Commissioners ofthe Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) had been empowerednow to sanction works up to Rs2 crore. “Previously they couldsanction works not exceedingRs 20 lakh, but following dis-cussions with Minister K TRama Rao, GHMC officialscan now sanction upto Rs 2crore”. The team will coordi-nate with other departments toalert and shift people residingin low-lying areas. The situa-tion was now manageable andnormalcy restored soon, headded.

101 TS tanks breached,all 185 in city overflowing

700 mm rainfall just in October

15 teams of engineers to takestock of the situation, suggestpreventive measures

Rs 50 crore estimatesent to the Centre fromthe IrrigationDepartment

Aftermath of the landslide at Kanaka Durga temple in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada

Crime rate in Telangana lowcompared to other states: HM

Principal Secretary Irrigation Rajat Kumar

2 2

2 2

2

2 2

2

With heavy rains and inflows, Gandipet Lake is brimming with water.

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020

EGG

RATES

` 51, 330 (10 gm)

` 4410

GOLD

` 62,000 (1kg)

` 11500

HYDERABAD 490

VIJAYAWADA 529

VISAKHAPATNAM 522

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `44..9900

SILVER

HYDERABAD

BULLION RATES

`//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `209

Without Skin `238

Broiler at Farm `144

`//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

In Valmiki Ramayana, astranslated by 'AndhraValmiki' Vavilikolanu

Subbaravu alias Vasudasa, itis mentioned that EmperorSagara, on coming to know ofthe misdeeds of his sonAsamanja excommunicatedand exiled him.

It is believed that Asamanjaheaded towards Egypt, tookcontrol and ruled it. In sup-port of this argument, thereare a couple of pages in theIndo-Egyptian History bookpenned by B Das.

Every Hindu believed inthe superiority of the Aryancivilisation till the impact ofthe West on the East. Greatsages and savants of the Eastleft no dates of events chron-icled in these epics and shas-tras. Even two to three cen-turies ago, English and otherEuropean traders and trav-ellers could not conceive thethought of human civilisationdating back ages ago.Naturally, they questionedthe authenticity of epics likeRamayana, Mahabharata andalso the Puranas. With thespread of Western culture,Indians themselves began todoubt the authenticity ofthese epics and a school ofthought emerged that fol-lowed the Westerner's men-tality whereby Greek andRoman civilisations weregiven precedence over theAryan civilisation. However,scholars like Max Weber andMax Muller recognised theantiquity of the Rig Vedaand ancient civilisation ofthe Hindus.

Egyptologists, mostlyEuropeans and Americans,who tried to interpret the pic-tographic and hieroglyphicwritings found in the tombsand pyramids of sovereigns ofEgypt, traced an ancient civil-isation to the Hellenic andRoman civilisation (Aryan)and supposed it to be thefather of the world civilisa-tion. Other scholars andphilosophers worked inde-pendently to trace the originof all civilised languages tothe Aryan tongue -- theSanskrit of the Vedas.Laurence Austin Waddellproved conclusively that theancient Egyptian languagewas radically Aryan in origin.

The key to the Sumeriancivilisation (earliest knowncivilisation in the historicalregion of Mesopotamia) andto Sumerian hieroglyphs wasfound at Mohenjo-Daro by

Indian archaeologists in samestyle of tablets, potteries, sealsas were found at Babylon.Research shows that theAryans founded their Empirein Babylonia that embracedthe West and Sind (India) onthe East. These Sumerians orAryans conquered Egypt andfounded the Egyptian Empireunder Pharaoh Menes orAsamanja. It is mentioned inthe Puranas that Sagar's soncrossed the sea to found theEgyptian empire andAsamanja became the firstPharaoh of Egypt. The mostwonderful result of all theseresearches is the linking of thedynasties in Aryan Puranas,Sumerian symbols andEgyptian symbols.

One can find identities ofcountries mentioned inMahabharata. Waddell'sbook 'Egyptian: Civilisationits Sumerian Origin', namessuch as Kur (Suria or Syria-the land of Kurus, MisorGopta (Egypt), Maruts ofAsia Minor (the land ofMaruts or Amorities) andlastly Kuru-Panch (Kuru-Panchala-Syria being knownas the land of Kuru Panchala)will rouse curiosity to locatethe ancestral empire of theAryans as depicted in theMahabharata and thePuranas.

Phoenicians were thePanch (Panchala) of theVedas. Aryans spread their

civilisation on theMediterranean coasts andeven carried it to the Britishshores on the West andhelped spread it not only toMalay Peninsula, Chins,Korea and Japan but crossedthe Pacific Ocean. The alpha-bets and writings of all oldcivilisations and all old coun-tries - Egypt, Babylonia, AsiaMinor, China, Japan, Koreaand even ancient America -were derived from the Aryanalphabet.

The older Egyptologistswanted to prove Egyptiancivilisation originated around4000 BC and that would leadus to conclude that the Aryancivilisation is much older.Waddell and European anti-quarians are eager to provethat the Sumerian-Aryancivilisation dates only back to3000 BC. They base it on thearguments that the dynastiesof kings of all ancient civili-sations are the same as thedynasties mentioned in theMahabharata. They calculatefrom circumstantial evidencein Egyptian records of pic-tographs that Asamanja ruledEgypt about 2704 BC-2641BC.

Astronomy plays a greatpart in the interpretation ofage of the Aryan civilisation.If European scholars nowconcede the authenticity ofthe genealogy of the kings ofIndia as chronicled inMahabharata and as verifiedfrom pictographs in tablets,and seals of three differentcivilizations -- the Sumerian,the Assyrian and Egyptian -- they must have to forgettheir preconceived notionsabout date of origin and re-study Hindu Shastras in thelight of science and astrono-my to fix the dates of thesekings and to trace the periodof the dawn human civiliza-tion: the Aryan civilisation.

(Source: Andhra ValmikiRamayana, Bala Kanda

Mandaram by VavilikolanuSubbaravu Elias Vasudasa)

Aryan civilisation led tothe World civilisation

VANAM JWALA

NARASIMHA RAO

CHIEF PUBLIC RELATIONS

OFFICER OF CHIEF MINISTER

OF TELANGANA

Egyptologists, mostly Europeans andAmericans, who tried to interpret thepictographic and hieroglyphic writingsfound in the tombs and pyramids ofsovereigns of Egypt, traced an ancientcivilisation to the Hellenic and Romancivilisation (Aryan) and supposed it tobe the father of the world civilisation

PNS n HYDERABAD

As per the directions of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, Chief Secretary, SomeshKumar on Wednesday direct-ed the officials to prepare a sys-tematic plan to expedite thedistribution of financial assis-tance to the flood-affectedhouseholds in Hyderabad. TheChief Secretary held a reviewmeeting with officials at BRKRBhavan on disbursement offinancial assistance to the floodaffected victims.

The Chief Secretary direct-ed the officials to constitute300 teams in GHMC and 50teams in neighbouring munic-ipalities to distribute financialassistance at the doorsteps ofthe households without anydelay. He also directed to set upa Control room in GHMC andin the office of CDMA tomonitor distribution.

He asked officials to prepareroute-plans, identify affected

localities and mobilize requiredmanpower from the districts,as required. He directed thatten teams should be constitut-ed for each circle comprisingthree members to disbursethe amount. He also advisedthat route-officers should beappointed in each circle forarranging required cash to theteams. The SLBC convenerhas been requested to ensureadequate cash in high denom-inations even holidays toensure uninterrupted distrib-

ution. Arvind Kumar, Principal

Secretary, K Rama KrishnaRao, Principal SecretaryFinance, Rahul Bojja, SecretarySC Development, LokeshKumar, Commissioner,GHMC, Satyanarayana,CDMA, Ronald Rose, SpecialSecretary Finance, SwethaMohanty, HyderabadCollector, Amoy Kumar,Rangareddy Collector andother officials attended themeeting.

350 teams to ensuredistribution of financial aid

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar at a review meeting on Wednesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

More than 25 per cent 11kvfeeders were affected due toheavy rains and floods. Heavyrains across the state over thepast two weeks, especiallyacross Hyderabad, have dam-aged several power transform-ers and HTLT lines, disruptingpower supply in many places.

As per TSSPDCL, 754 of2,927 11kv feeders were affect-ed and rectified. Fifteen of286 33/11 KV sub stationswere impacted due to rains.About 1,215 DistributionTransformers in the GHMCarea, which has seen a majorflood, were impacted.

While TSSPDCL could rec-

tify 1,170 DTRs, the remaining45 couldn't be rectified due toheavy water logging. Out ofthese 45 DTRs, 20 DTRs arerelated to apartments while theremaining are of colonies. Ofthe 8.73 lakh poles in GHMC

area, 1,296 were affected due torains. While 32 poles are yet tobe rectified, 1,264 are nowoperational.

Prabhakar Rao, Chairman& Managing Director, TSGenco & TS Transco, held a

meeting of senior officials toreview the restoration ofpower supply on a war foot-ing. He said that power sup-ply has become a big chal-lenge as many buildings arestill inundated. While urgingpeople to co-operate,Prabhakar Rao said thatRestoration of power supply isbeing taken up on a war foot-ing basis apart from creatingadditional helplines.

Prabhakar Rao appealed topeople not touch the damppower poles, hanging electricwires, and immediately informthe relevant electrical author-ities. He said that despite theheavy rains restoration worksare going quickly and the fol-

lowing nodal officers havebeen specially appointed tooversee that the works aredone swiftly. People can con-tact TSSPDCL Area NodalOfficer at 9440813856,TSNPDCL Area Nodal Officerat 9440811210 andTSTRANSCO State NodalOfficer at 9491398550. Specialcontrol has already been set upfor power supply complaints inthe respective areas andPrabhakar Rao said that inaddition to the existing callcenter number 1912, peoplecan contact the following num-bers - TSSPDCL at7382072104, 7382072106,7382071574 and TSNPDCL at9440811244, 9440811245.

25% 11KV FEEDERS HIT BY FLOODSAccording toTSSPDCL, 754 of2,927 11kvfeeders wereaffected andrectified. 15 of286 33/11 KV substations werealso impacted

Continued from Page 1

According to the anti-money laundering probeagency, loans were taken onthe pretext of pisciculture, butinstead the money was divert-ed to the main accused who inturn used it to introduce sharecapital in M/s Venus AquaFoods Limited (VAFL) withhelp the company to borrowmore.

The ED took up investiga-tion based on an FIR filed byCBI, BS & FC, Bengaluru,against NimmagaddaRamakrishna, ManagingDirector of M/s Venus AquaFoods Limited and otherDirectors of the company fordefrauding Union Bank ofIndia (erstwhile AndhraBank), Gudivada branch to thetune of Rs 36.97 crore.

ED in a statement said theinvestigation revealed thatVenus Aqua Foods Limitedhad availed Rs 19.44 crore fish

tank loans from Union Bankof India by furnishing forgedand fabricated documentsincluding fake lease docu-ments for 470 acres of fishfarms.The loan funds werediverted and not repaid caus-ing a loss of Rs 36.97 crore.

"Investigation furtherrevealed that the accused alsoavailed fish tank loans in thename of 54 individualsincluding themselves, theirfamily members, their friendsor relatives or associates andtheir family members to thetune of Rs 22.64 crore," theED said.

Part of the loan funds werealso used to acquire immov-able properties in the names ofNimmagadda Ramakrishna,Nimmagadda Venugopal,VVNK Viswanath, their fam-ily members and associates todisguise their origin and wereprojecting them as untaintedproperties added ED in state-ment.

ED attaches 27properties...

Continued from Page 1

The Health Department hascautioned people, includingpoliticians, not to give a missto Covid-19 protocols; yet,clearly no one heeds theirappeals.

Even public representativeslike Minister Mahamood Ali,Deputy Speaker Padma Rao,Mayor Bonthu Rammohan(who recovered fromCoronavirus) are ignoring thenorms. Talasani Srinivas Yadavappears to be an anti-maskcrusader. In their attempt togive “assurance” to citizens,politicians are going a stepahead and even touchingthem. The meetings are pro-viding ideal conditions for theSARS-CoV-2 to thrive andtrigger fresh clusters of Covid-19 outbreaks. Understandably,people in inundated areas arein acute distress and barely ina position to think aboutCovid-19.

Mujtaba Hasan Askari, of

Helping Hand Foundation,said, “At the moment distressand anxiety are so high amongpeople that none of them isconcerned about Covid-19.There is water, muck, sludgeand people are in the processof leaving there houses; somuch of damage, they don’thave proper food. The levels ofanxiety and suffering are sohigh that Covid is not on any-body’s mind”.

Only at relief centres, sus-pected carriers of the virus arebeing tested and many of theresults are turning out to bepositive. There is no protocolor safety in any of the inundat-ed areas. Sai Teja of Feed the

Needy said, “In slums, peopleare not following Covid-19norms. When we ask, they saywe will either die of these floodor Covid-19. Most of the peo-ple are worried about the lossthey have incurred. They tellus: How does it matter whichway they have to face death.Even when politicians are giv-ing money, it is looking like aphoto opportunity more thanconcern for health. We are dis-tributing masks as part of thegrocery kits, to ensure at leastthe thought to wear a maskcrosses their mind”.

An official in the HealthDepartment, on condition ofanonymity, said, “Nearly 70 percent of the cases are asympto-matic; so, it is important toavoid gathering at one place forany reason. At relief camps, weare providing masks, sanitisersand doing health screening.The localities in Hyderabad,which are inundated, will besanitised using sodiumhypochlorite solution.”

Continued from Page 1

Rajat said the state,in its let-ter to the Center, had given anestimate of Rs 50 crore for irri-gation-related damages.

He said, “About Rs 10 crorewas required to completetemporary repairs to thesetanks as per initial estimates.Another Rs 40 crore wasneeded to carry out perma-nent repairs and restorationworks”. Considering thatalmost all tanks in the citywere overflowing, Rajat saidthat they were no longer self-ie points and appealed peopleto not go out.

Although, on an average,800 mm rainfall is receivedthrough out the year, in justOctober 700 mm wasreceived, of which 300 mmwas on October13. Rajat said,“When 35 per cent of rainfall

occurs in one day, the load ontanks will increase”. Irrigationofficials have been instructedto reduce the weir of tanksand release water to avoidbreaches. Meanwhile, the statewill also study measures takenby Chennai and Mumbai forprevention of floods for pos-sible replication inHyderabad.

Officials put on alertChief Minister K

Chandrashekhar Rao has askedthe official machinery to be onhigh alert to ensure that tanksand lakes in Hyderabad city donot breach due to heavy rainsand flash floods. He wanted atleast 15 special teams to beformed to examine the tanks inthe city from time to time andtake measures to prevent anyuntoward incident. The CMspoke to Principal Secretary

Water Resources Rajat Kumarin this regard. CM said,“Besides the floodwater in thecity, water from the tanks insurrounding areas also enteredthe city. The tanks in city havewater to their capacity andthere are still floodwaterinflows coming into them.There is every likelihood ofthese tanks getting breached,causing more damage. Hence,at least 15 special teams withWater Resources Departmentofficials and staff should beformed. They should examineeach and every tank and lakein the city”. He urged theauthorities to identify tanksthat may breach and take pre-cautionary measures.“Whenever tanks are breached,repair them. Alert people in thelow-lying areas and those livingin vulnerable places. Shift peoplefrom these areas to safer places,”

101 TS tanks breached, all185 in city overflowing...

Netas flood inundated areas, undo Covid containment...

Continued from Page 1

A chadar was presented tothe Musa Qadri Dargah nearPuranapool by Deputy MayorMohammad Baba Fasiuddinin the presence of Ministers,Mayor and corporators.

Minister Talasani said,“Purnapul is very scared as theMusi river goes through thisarea. We wanted to pacifyGoddess Ganga; so, we pious-ly performed the prayer. TheState, under the leadership ofChief Minister KChandrashekar Rao, has beenmoving forward. But unfortu-nately, we are facing crisisthis year – eight months ofcorona and then flood whichdidn’t come in a century. Weperformed all-religion prayers.We are hopeful that theGoddess will calm down andstop this disaster”.

According to an officialstatement, Jumal Lal Tiwari, ascholar, was a Minister at thethen Nizam King MirMahboob Ali Khan's admin-

istration. Jumal Lal Tiwarisuggested to the Nizam thatspecial pujas should be per-formed.

Mayor Bonthu said, “NizamMir Mahboob Ali Khan per-formed puja to GoddessGanga after the Musi floods in1908 to pacify Mother Ganga,who was angry and causeddevastation. Since Hyderabadpeople are facing issues due toincessant rains, we performedprayers to calm the river. Wedid all-religion prayers withthe religious heads here atbanks of river Musi”.

During the 1908 MusiFloods, about 200 people weresheltered under a hugetamarind tree. Mayor andDeputy Mayor presented saf-fron and flowers to the tree,which had sheltered peoplefrom the floods.

On similar lines, GHMCMonsoon Emergency, DRF,Police and Medical personnelhave been honored for savingthousands of lives from thecurrent floods.

Continued from Page 1

As the temple has an alter-native entrance, it was usedfor the Chief Minister's visit.

Jagan arrived late followingthe incident and completedthe formalities. He theninspected the spot where theboulders fell and directedthe officials to take immedi-ate steps for the safety of thepilgrims. He also asked themto implement the templemaster plan and directed thatrequired funds be releasedimmediately.

Continued from Page 1

Top priority has been givenfor safety of women and chil-dren and in this regard, theWomen Safety Wing ofTelangana Police has taken upinitiatives like SHE TEAMS,Bharosa Centre, OperationSmile, and organised CybHerand other programmes, hesaid.

For the past six years peo-

ple of all religions have beencelebrating festivals in a peace-ful manner because of publiccooperation and police efforts,the minister said.

Telangana Director Generalof Police M Mahendar Reddysaid with the government'ssupport towards effectivepolicing, the crime rate hascome down tremendously inthe state.Senior police officialswere present.

Crime rate in Telangana low...

Continued from Page 1

Doctors have been treatinghim on ventilator support andproviding dialysis treatment.KCR enquired about thehealth condition of Narasimha

Reddy from senior doctorsand urged them to provideNayini the best treatmentavailable. He also consoledNayini's family members, whobroke into tears over the con-dition of the former minister.

KCR gets emotional on...

Students will be issued fresh certificates Continued from Page 1

Special Chief Secretary toGovernment, Education,Chitra Ramachandran statedin an order: "Due to theunprecedented rains andfloods resulting in inundationof houses a number of repre-sentations have been receivedthat hundreds of students haveeither lost their certificates orthey are damaged. Studentsand parents are worried aboutthis." She added, "TheGovernment has carefullyexamined the matter and here-by orders all the authoritiesnamely Commissioner School

Education, IntermediateEducation, CollegiateEducation, TechnicalEducation and Registrars ofUniversities to issuefresh/duplicate certificates asand when the students applyeither online of offline. All thestudents who require a copy oftheir lost certificate can applyto the concerned authorityduly giving their details ofname, type of exam, hall tick-et number and year of exam.Applications can be madeonline or offline. The author-ities are advised to issue thesecertificates on application freeof cost."

Shanti pujaperformed at Musi

Landslide atIndrakeeladribefore Jagan...

In their attempt togive “assurance” tocitizens, politiciansare going a stepahead and eventouching them

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020 hyderabad 03

L&T Metro Rail HyderabadLimited (LTMRHL) isdelighted to inform that

KVB Reddy, MD & CEO,L&TMRHL has been conferredwith ‘Construction WorldPerson of the Year 2020 –Private Sector’, by Constru-ction World Global Awardsover an event held virtually. The award is presented to professionalswho have made considerable achievements in their careers andbusinesses, and through their efforts have propelled the industryforward. On receiving the award KVB Reddy, MD & CEO, L&TMRHLstated, “I humbly thank Construction World and the juries forconferring me this prestigious award.”

Dr MCR HRD Instituteand Telangana StateCouncil for Higher

Education jointly organiseda webinar on “Reimagin-ing Education–NationalEducation Policy 2020 &Beyond”. Over 300 educ-ationists, from differentparts of the country, atten-ded the event. DG of the Institute and Special Chief Secretary BPAcharya in his opening remarks, said that while the literacy rate andeducational achievements of people have been registering impressivegrowth in terms of quantity, the need of the hour is to successfullyaddress the issues relating to improving quality of education. FormerSecretary of School Education Anil Swarup said that the NEP is aprogressive document. He stated that the focus of the Policy, which ismainly on giving a big boost to quality of education in general and thatof school teachers in particular, will result in multiple beneficialoutcomes for different stakeholders.

KVBR conferred ConstructionWorld Person of Year award

MCR HRD Institute and TSCHEorganise webinar on NEP 2020

The Cyberabad Policeprovided jobs in theInformation

Technology sector to 14family members of policepersonnel who lost theirlives in the line of duty thisyear. Speaking on theoccasion of Police FlagDay, Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner VC Sajjanar said while safeguarding the borders of thecountry was the duty of the soldiers, it was the responsibility of thepolice force to take care of internal issues. This year, so far, 264 policepersonnel had lost their lives in various incidents across the country.“Itis our duty to remember the service and sacrifice of police personnel.The police have been first responders to any emergency situationincluding the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Hyderabad rains,”Sajjanar said, adding that the Cyberabad police and the Society forCyberabad Security Council had provided jobs to 14 family members ofpolice personnel who lost their lives recently.“Some more names areunder scrutiny and we are hoping they too get placement in ITcompanies,” the Commissioner said.

Cyb police provide IT jobs to kin of 14 martyred cops

University ofHyderabad (UoH) onWednesday

announced the selection ofits first set of nine PhDscholars for fellowshipunder the lateral entrychannel of the prestigiousPrime Minister's ResearchFellows (PMRF) Scheme.The PhD students have selected Research Fellows in the school ofChemistry, life Sciences and Physics, the University said. The NationalCoordination Committee of the PMRF scheme made the selection ofthe students. Under PMRF scheme, each fellow will receive a startingmonthly fellowship of Rs 70,000, which may increase to a maximummonthly fellowship of R. 80,000 towards the end of PhD, provided theperformance during the initial years of PhD is satisfactory. Apart fromthis, each fellow would be eligible for a research grant of Rs 2 Lail peryear. Out of 13 fellowships offered by the University under PMRFScheme through the lateral entry channel in the current cycle- PMRFMay 2020, 9 fellowships have been selected and it was nowannounced. The remaining 4 lateral entry channel fellowships will becarried forward for the succeeding cycle.

Hyd University announces itsfirst batch of nine PhD scholars

CITY LIGHTS

GHMC polls to revolve aroundsetting up Basthi DawakhanasNAMRATA SRIVASTAVA n HYDERABAD

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation elec-tions this year are going torevolve around medical andhealth related issues. Keepingin view the ongoing pandem-ic and the recent downpour inthe city, most candidates stand-ing this year campaign aroundconstruction of well-equippedBasthi Dawakhanas in all thelocalities so that people do nothave to rely on NIMS, Gandhi,Osmania or other governmentmedical establishments.

Sohail Uddin, who is stand-ing in the GHMC electionfrom Moosarambagh, sharesthat a medical health facilitywith all necessary equipmentsand medicines can help the

people a lot. He says, "I believethat education and health relat-ed issues are going to take thecenter stage in the elections this

year. Moosarambagh is a low-lying area and people therereally struggled during therains. Also, to get tested for

Covid, they had to travel a lotas well. So, my primary aimwould be to construct a BasthiDawakhana, where people canget tested for any ailment eas-ily and can receive the basicfirst aid before being shifted toa bigger hospital."

Adding to the same, SChandrashekhar Reddy, who iscontesting fromChaintanyapuri, shares, "Thereare two slum areas inChaitanyapuri - MunicipalColony and IndiranagarColony. While the slums haveBasthi Dawakhanas, the otherareas like New IndiranagarColony can do with a similarset up. So, that will be one ofthe issues I will be voicing thisissue during campaign. Andonce I win, I will work on thison priority." Not just the can-

didates, the citizens are alsointerested in a cheaper, well-equipped medical centre neartheir homes.

Sasidhar Vuppala, a socialactivist, who has been veryvocal about this issue even inthe past, shares, "We have beenlistening to the BasthiDawakhana programme fromthe last year. I live in Kukatpalli,and there is no establishmenthere at all. The situation todayis such that even when peoplecan afford to live in apartments,they might not be able toafford the expensive medicaltreatment. I really hope thenew contractors take up thisissue and start working on it onpriority. As this project will notonly ensure that everyone getscheaper medical facility, butwill also generate jobs."

After a decade, Osman Sagarbrimming with flood watersNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The Osman Sagar, popularlyknown as Gandipet, whichwas built to protect the city inthe wake of the 1908 Musiflood, is now brimming.Officials have issued noticethat the gates are likely to beopened anytime soon and cit-izens have been alerted aboutpossible flooding.

Heavy inflows into theOsman Sagar from the upperreaches have been recorded.The Full Reservoir Level of thereservoir is 1,790 feet and thewater level reached 1786.86 onWednesday.

HMWSSB officials havefinalized arrangements for thelifting of the gates once thewater level reaches 1789 ft tosafeguard the dam. Currentlythe inflows are at 833 cusecsinto Gandipet. The capacity ofthe reservoir is 3.90 TMC,while currently there is 3.192TMC. Earlier the gates werelifted in 2010. Heavy rains in

Chevella, Shankarpalli, Shabadand Vikarabad have con-tributed significantly to theheavy inflows into Gandipet.

The water board has alert-ed people in the lower Musicatchment areas as the OsmanSagar gates are about to be lift-ed. The Bandlaguda MunicipalCorporation has asked peopleliving closer to Musi river toevacuate their premises asGandipet’s water level hasincreased and the gates couldbe opened anytime. Although

the gates are planned to beopened in the morning hours,officials point that, given therising inflows, there is uncer-tainty over the time of open-ing of the gates as rains arecontinuing at Vikarabad andTandur along the reservoir.

This being so, water isalready being released fromtwo of the gates of HimayatSagar, where the water level isat 1763 ft at 1,300 cusecsinflows and 1,372 cusecs out-flows.

Over 3k vehicles damaged due to delugePNS n HYDERABAD

The torrential rains, which led tooverflowing of several water bod-ies submerged colonies in parts ofthe city. Apart from having theirhomes flooded and sewage watercausing damage to furniture,affected victims also have losttheir properties: a staggering 3000plus vehicles have been damaged.

Raising the issue of cab and taxidrivers facing much lose after thetorrential rain Pawan Kalyan haswritten a letter to the Telanganagovernment asking them to extendextra financial help to the transportworkers.

He wrote, "Around 4.5 lakhpeople are getting livelihood as taxidrivers across Telangana. The ITand other allied sectors which arecentralised mostly in Hyderabadcity are badly affected byCoronavirus and now the floods."

He added, "The demand of the

drivers is that even the online cabservices shall reduce their commis-sions until the normalcy isrestored. The Telangana govern-ment should concentrate on theseissues. I appeal to the Telanganagovernment to take necessarysteps to support the taxi servicesector, which is the life line forLakhs of families." The actor eventweeted about the issue, which gar-

nered much interest. Sharing the plight of drivers after

flood, Chairman Telangana StateTaxi and Drivers JAC ShaikSalauddin, shares, "Some of themost affected areas in the Old Cityare Hafeez Baba Nagar, Al Jubail,Omer Colony, Falaknuma,Chaderghat and Balapur, wherepeople witnessed their vehiclesbeing washed away in floods. I can

assure that over 3000 vehicleswere damaged severely in therains. None of them could savetheir cars or bikes.”

“The vehicle's windshield, doors,seats and entire body is in a pret-ty bad condition. The cab driversoften buy cars on loans or onfinance, which is why the damageis even financially more devastat-ing. To witness one's car sub-merged in water, especially if oneis paying monthly installments,would be a very painful sight.Fixing vehicles which are damagedin such floods is usually very dif-ficult. Cars which are flooded orwashed away in water are seldomrepaired. Mostly, such cars will besold in scrap, as it costs a lot ofmoney and takes a long time torepair such machines as well. Werequest the government to giveeach driver Rs 50,000 at least tohelp them get back on road,"Shaik Salauddin added.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Human Rights Forum (HRF),Telangana demanded judicialenquiry into the alleged suicideof former Keesara tahsildarNagaraju. The forum suspect-ing foul play in the death ofNagaraju formed a fact findingcommittee.

The committee met the fam-ily members of Nagaraju, otherconcerned authorities andenquired about the situation.

During their enquiry withthe people close to Nagaraju,the committee found that hewas confident of getting bailand not at all depressed.

"We have several suspicionslike in the high security prison

like Chanchalguda where thereare more than three prisonersin a cell is it possible to com-mit suicide without beingnoticed?" questioned VBalaraju, Secretary of Human

Rights Forum, Hyderabad.It is learnt that there are

three more prisoners in thesame cell with Nagaraju whenhe allegedly committed suicide.

Further, the forum opinedthat there are no ligature markson Nagaraju. Usually if a per-son commits suicide ligaturemarks can be clearly visible.

HRF coordination memberTelangana S Jeevan Kumardemanded for judicial enquirywith competent authority intothe alleged death of Nagaraju.

It is to be noted that few daysago Nagaraj's wife E Swapnaapproached State HumanRights Commission for justicefor alleged foul play in thedeath of her husband.

PNS n HYDERABAD

After many protests and approaches,Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Universityfinally heard the plea of desperate teacherswho haven't been paid for long.

After being approached by the Teachers'Assocations, the University plans on warn-ing the institutes that haven't adhered to GO45 issued during the Covid pandemic.

JNTUH registrar Manzoor Hussainshares, "This is very inappropriate. I havealways been of the opinion that the teach-ing faculty makes the college great. TheUniversity was not aware of the severity ofthe issue. However, now we plan on writinga letter to colleges brought to our notice. Wewill warn them about their illegal actions."

The registrar however adds that de-affil-iation of these colleges won't be a possibil-ity. "I don't think we can de-affiliate themnow that students are already studying inthese colleges. Also, we request the govern-ment to look into these matters. Having saidthat, the University will certainly put pres-sure on these colleges to pay the salariesbefore the new batch join the academic year."

The members of TSTCEA are still nothappy with the University. They share, "Feesare being collected from students and yet thesalaries are not paid on time. It's not the mat-ter of salaries not being paid, but several peo-ple also lost their lives. We want theUniversity to make sure that not only thesalaries are paid but the dismissed facultyshould be reinstated immediately."

HRF demands judicial inquiryinto former tahsildar's suicide

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister of MA&UD,Industries and IT&C ofTelangana, KT Rama Raolauded Tummala Snikitha,who bagged the third rank inNEET.

Snikitha, along with herparents, cardiologist DrSadananda Reddy and gyne-cologist Dr Lakshmi met KTRon Wednesday, at PragatiBhavan along with StatePanchayat Raj, RuralDevelopment and Rural FreshWater Supply MinisterErrabelli Dayakar Rao.

The Minister said thatTelangana has been at theforefront of education inTelangana since the emer-gence of the state. He furtheradded that the educationalopportunities in our state haveimproved with the encourage-

ment from the Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao. "Theyouth of Telangana are show-ing their talent in many cours-es like engineering, medical,commerce, business and evenUPSC. Warangal is the secondlargest educational center inthe state after Hyderabad, andhas been producing severalbrilliant students in variousfields."Errabelli Dayakar Raoalso congratulated Snikithaand her parents.

Minister of MunicipalAdministration andUrban DevelopmentKT Rama Rao laudedTummala Snikitha,who bagged the thirdrank in NEET

Telangana at forefrontof education: Minister

Eight arrestedfor murder ofhistory-sheeterPNS n HYDERABAD

The Pahadishareef police onWednesday arrested eight-member gang in connectionwith the murder of a history-sheeter, occurred 10 daysago in Balapur. Ali wasallegedly murdered on suspi-cion that he had turned intoa police tipper, police said.

The victim was identifiedas Syed Waheed Ali and thevictims were identified asShaik Ismail, the main con-spirator, Syed Zaheeruddin,Syed Abid, Mohammad,Khaja Shahbaaz, MohammadShabaz, Mohammad Omer,and Mohammad Ameer.

According to the police,Syed Waheed Ali met ShaikIsmail three years ago whilethey were lodged in prisonand friendship developedbetween them. "Shaik Ismailgrew suspicious that SyedWaheed Ali was passing info-rmation to the police abouthis criminal activities.Subsequently, Shaik Ismailplanned to eliminate SyedWaheed Ali and roped in hisassociates to implement hisplan," said police. As pertheir plan, along with theother suspects, he picked upAli from his house and aftermaking him drunk, took himto a secluded place wherethey stabbed him to death.

Fraudster cheats man of Rs 1 crore, nabbedPNS n HYDERABAD

A fraudster who cheated a customer to atune of Rs1.7 crore under the guise supply-ing gold at low price was arrested byHyderabad Central Crime Station Police onWednesday.

The accused identified as Kota Rakeshcheated Koteswara Rao Guptha, a residentof Ameerpet. Based on the complaint fromGuptha, police booked a case and investi-gated it.

After a year of manhunt, police arrestedRakesh at Bashettyhalli village, DibburahalliMandal, Chikballapur District, KarnatakaState and brought him under transit warrantand sent him to judicial custody onWednesday.

"During interrogation accused disclosedthat he used to lure innocent public in thename of gold business, assure them to sup-ply the gold for low market price. After gain-ing the trust he will collect the hugeamounts from the customers on pretext ofproviding the gold in a low market price andescape," said Sub-Inspector KLaxminarayana.

After series of protests,JNTU finally pays heedto desperate teachers

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020 hyderabad 04

PNS n DUBBAK

Finance Minister T HarishRao dared BJP president BandiSanjay to prove his allegationthat beedi workers are beingpaid a reduced pension of Rs1,600 with evidence or quit andoffered to step down asMinister and MLA post ifBandi Sanjay were to prove hisallegations. The Minister wasaddressing a women's rally inthe town on Wednesday insupport of TRS candidate.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, who wasborn in Chintamadaka anddid his schooling in Dubbak,has love for the constituency,but who else will love to devel-op the constituency, HarishRao questioned. In Modi's ownstate of Gujarat, Rs 500 isbeing paid as social welfarepension, while KCR gives Rs2,000 as pension to various cat-egories of beneficiaries permonth, he compared and saidthat the people would notbelieve the lies being spread byCongress and BJP. He object-ed to Bandi's statement that theCentre is funding the welfareand development schemes ofthe state government anddenied it as totally false.

He appealed to the peoplewhether the BJP governmenthas been giving free power toagriculture sector or givingpensions to beedi workers orextending input subsidyscheme under Rythu Bandhuto benefit farmers or imple-menting the schemes likeKalyana Lakshmi in any of itsruled states. He observed thatthe BJP has no issue to cam-paign against the TRS. On

what basis the BJP would seekvotes from people of Dubbakconstituency, he wondered.Will the BJP seek votes promis-ing to fix metres to the waterconsumed by farmers? Will itseek votes for jeopardising theinterests of the maize farmersby allowing import of maize bythe country? Harish sought toknow who will benefit fromallowing import of the maizeby the country? He said that the

people of Dubbak seek welfareand development of the con-stituency and told the electro-rate that the people would getduped if they give their vote tothe Congress or the BJP. He saidthat Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy,whose death forced by-electionin Dubbak, served the peopleof the constituency till hebreathed his last. Dubbak TRScandidate Sujata said that KChandrasekhar Rao, blessed

her as his daughter and askedher to contest the by-election toserve the people. Sujatha saidthat she would follow the foot-steps of Ramalinga Reddy andfulfil his ideals. Earlier, womenof the constituency took out ahuge rally in support of Sujata.The rally commenced atDubbak RTC bus depot andmade its way via AmbedkarCircle in the town and culmi-nated in a meeting atTelanganaTalli Statue. MPKottaPrabhakar Reddy, MLAPadma DevenderRddy, formerminister SunitaLakshma Reddy,several TRS leaders and otherstook part in the meeting.

Oppn misleading people: Harish

SPLASHING SSLOGANS

K VENKATESHWARLU

n HYDERABAD

Telangana Congress Affairsin-charge Manickam Tagore ismaking all efforts to end fac-tions in the state Congress.Tagore came to the state withprior information about thestate leaders. He made it clearto the leaders and cadre to stopcriticising each other on socialmedia platforms. He alsodirected the leaders to workunitedly.

He exuded confidence thatthe party will win 2023 elec-tions if the leaders work hard.He described the party leadersas cricket team and himself asthe manager. "The team willhave different kinds of players,however, the team will winonly if it plays as a team," hesaid indirectly hinting theparty leaders that 'individual-ism' will not help the party.

Without naming the leader,Manickam Tagore asked ofthe person concerned not tomake their followers raise slo-gans in support of them anddirected them to raise sloganssaying 'Jai Congress' and 'JaiSonia Gandhi'. He asked theleaders to leave the meeting,who were not invited. He alsosought explanation from theparty leaders who skipped themeetings.

On the other hand,

Manicakm Tagore is also util-ising the Dubbak by-electionsto nullify the factions withinthe party leaders with his firmstrategies. He assigned all theleaders-- from TPCC Chief tomandal level leaders to partic-ipate in election campaign byallotting mandals, villages andbooths. Tagore also gave tar-gets to the leaders to ensure thevictory of the party candidate.Surprisingly, the party leadersare working in their allottedplaces similar to 'never beforeever after' manner as the elec-tion is not that easy to win asthe ruling TRS party and BJPare striving hard to win theelection.

He also asked the partyleaders to work hard by think-ing that every leader is a partycandidate. He stressed on the

fact that party is importantthan leaders. One of the partyleaders told to The Pioneer thatManickam Tagore had con-ducted review meetings simi-lar to head master.

"I don't know what will bethe result in Dubbak. However,the atmosphere in the partyhas changed. It's a good signfor the Telangana Congress asMaickam Tagore is trying totreat the root cause," he said oncondition of anonymity. It'scommon in TelanganaCongress that the leaders try toexpose others using party plat-forms leading to factions andinfighting. However, this atti-tude among the leaders mightchange with ManickamTagore's style of working,another leader opined.

Manickam tries to bringpeace to T-Cong factions

TelanganaCongress Affairsin-chargeManickamTagore exudedconfidence thatCongress partywill win 2023Assembly pollsif the leaderswork hard

PNS n HYDERABAD

Horses turned out to be sav-iours helping a group of goodsamaritans in taking reliefmaterials, including food andrescuing marooned people innarrow streets and by-lanes,where boats could not ventureduring recent floods in the city.

Members of the HyderabadHorse Riding School bandedtogether and lent a helpinghand to the personnel of Army,NDRF and police in reachingout to residents, whose hous-es were inundated followingincessant rains last week. Thehorseriders waded throughchest-deep water, navigatingobstructions such as electricpoles, trees, to deliver essentialslike milk and medicines to peo-ple.

Our horses came in handy atplaces where boats were unableto reach in view of electricity

poles, parked vehicles, trees,and others, Md Abdul Wahab,President of Hyderabad Horse

Riding School (HHRS) said onWednesday. Relief activitieswere carried out at Nadeemcolony, Virasat nagar, Balreddynagar and others in Tolichowkifor four days starting October15.

The team deployed around15 equines besides relief work-ers on the ground to carry out

rescue and relief work, Wahabsaid. The relief work involveda big team and required a lot ofplanning. Our team rescuedcitizens who were reluctant tomove out of their homes, byconvincing them, he added.

The horse riding school,established a decade ago, is runwith a service motive and has

also taken up Swachh Bharatwork earlier. The heavy rainshave left 70 people dead in thestate in the last one week andcaused damage to propertieswith the state government peg-ging losses at over Rs 5,000crore as per preliminary esti-mates.

‘Horse power’ to fore in rescue of flood victims

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) presidentN Uttam Kumar Reddy onWednesday said that the StateGovernment should increasethe amount for flood relieffrom Rs 500 crore to Rs 5,000crore. Uttam, in a statementinformed that the TPCC CoreCommittee, which met atPragnapur in Gajwel con-stituency on Tuesday night,held detailed discussions onvarious issues including theflood situation in Telangana,agriculture and KalwakurthyLift Irrigation Scheme.

The meeting was attendedby AICC Incharge ManickamTagore, CLP leader MalluBhatti Vikramarka and othersenior leaders. After havingdetailed discussions, the CoreCommittee passed severalunanimous resolutions.

"A number of issues such ashuge misery and loss of life,property and agricultural cropsand the inadequate response of

state and central governmentswere discussed. The CoreCommittee unanimouslypassed resolutions on variousissues," Uttam said. It wasdecided to write to the PrimeMinister and demand that thepresent situation in Telanganastate be declared as a nationalcalamity. The Congress partycondemned the incompetentand inefficient handling of theexcess rains cum flood situa-tion in Hyderabad and otherparts of the state by TRS gov-ernment. It also condemnedthe negligent attitude of ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raois not touring the flood affect-ed areas of Hyderabad city or

the extensive crop damageareas in rural Telangana anddescribes the situation akin to"Nero fiddles while Romeburns".

The party demanded thestate government to immedi-ately take up enumeration ofcrop damage due torains/floods. "For all farmerswhere extensive crop damagehas occurred, an amount of Rs20,000 per acre should begiven immediately. Cotton,paddy and maize crops dam-aged due to rains should bepurchased with relaxed condi-tions and higher moisture con-tent be accepted. Due to theheavy rains, whatever the crop

left that damaged crop to bepurchased by governmentagencies by relaxing the qual-ity norms such as shading ofcolour, moisturize percentageand damaged cotton," it said.

The Congress condemnedthe negligent and unscientificapproach of the TRS govern-ment which has led to the col-lapse of the Kalwakurthy liftirrigation scheme inMahbubnagar district.

Hyd floods a national calamity: Cong

PNS n HYDERABAD

The inflows into NagarjunaSagar Project from upperreaches is put at 3.42 lakhcusecs forcing authorities tolift 18 crest gates of the projectto discharge downstream. Asthe water level reached themaximum level in the project,the officials are discharging theflood water in its entirety.

The water level in the projectreached 310.55 TMC asagainst the FRL of 312 TMC.Water stored in the project ismeasured at 590 feet.Meanwhile, the MET officepredicted rains in the state forthree or four days. If the rainswere to continue, the floodlevel in the Nagarjuna SagarProject is likely to increase fur-ther.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a remarkable development,Telangana’s Covid-19 recoveryrate has crossed 90 per cent asthe state continued to seemore recoveries than newinfections. Health officials onWednesday said 1,811 peoplerecovered during 24 last hours,taking the total number ofrecoveries to 2,04,388. Thestate's recovery rate climbed to90.38 per cent as against thenational average of 88.8 percent.

The state reported 1,579new cases, taking the cumula-tive tally to 2,26,124. Of thisonly 20,449 cases are active.Out of the total active cases,17,071 are in home or institu-tional isolation. Five more

people succumbed to the infec-tion during the last 24 hours,ending 8 p.m. on Tuesday.The fresh fatalities pushed thedeath toll to 1,287. The fatali-ty rate dropped to 0.56 per centagainst the national average of1.5 per cent.

Officials said the percentageof deaths due to Covid-19 was44.96 while the remaining55.04 had co-morbidities.

Greater Hyderabad and dis-tricts continue to show declin-ing trends in the number ofnew cases. According to themedia bulletin issued by theoffice of the director of publichealth, Greater Hyderabadreported 256 new cases.Medchal Malkajgiri t recordedsecond highest number ofcases at 135 followed byKhammam (106).

As inflows rise, 18gates of NSP lifted

PNS n PNS/NIRMAL

Minister for Forest AllolaIndrakaran Reddy onWednesday said that stepswere being taken for develop-ing the famous Sri GnanaSaraswathi Devastanam-Basar. The Minister alongwith his wife performed spe-cial prayers at thetemple of 'god-dess of learning'on Wednesday.

Indrakaranstated that anaction plan waschalked out for creating basicamenities and to improveexisting facilities for the con-venience of devotees belong-ing to several parts ofTelangana and Andhra Pradhesh. Heinformed that Rs 50 crore wasearmarked for developingthe shrine.

More facilities atBasar templesoon: Minister Congress Core

committee meetdiscussednumber ofissues such ashuge misery andloss of life,property andagriculturalcrops and others

Minister HarishRao asked why the BJPruled govtsincluding PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi’shome stateGuajarat is notgiving Rs 2,000pensions?

The teamdeployed around15 equinesbesides reliefworkers on theground to carryout rescue andrelief work, saidMd Abdul Wahab,President ofHHRS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party onWednesday strongly con-demned the undemocratic,unethical an illegal methodsbeing allegedly used by theruling TRS government tocreate obstacles to its partyMLA contestant M.Raghunandan Rao in the Dubbakabypoll campaign.

BJP will lodge a complaintwith Telangana State ElectionCommission (SEC) and itwill also explore all legaloptions against the govern-ment, party Telangana UnitChief Spokesperson KKrishna Saagar Rao said in arelease here. The low-leveltactics being used by theTRS exploiting police andadministrative machinery isexposing fear of their defeatin the election, he alleged.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddyon Wednesday claimed thatTelangana Ministers had beenmaking unwarranted criticismagainst the Centre. Referringto their criticism that theCentre had not yet extendedany help to the state for floodrelief efforts, Kishan pointedout to media persons that themoney belonged to people inthe first place.

The Centre had suggestedto the state government toinitially spend money for thesake of flood victims from theState Disaster Fund and thatthis amount would be reim-bursed later. There was noquestion of giving fundsbefore assessing the losses.

Kishan aleged that the stategovernment officials never

cared about encroachmentsalong the Musi river. He sug-gested that the Telanganagovernment should removethese encroachments imme-diately. He attributed theflood situation to encroach-ments on tanks and nalas.One could understand theextent of encroachments bylooking at satellite pictures ofthe situation before and after2014 (after TRS came topower). The encroachmentsthat had taken place duringthe erstwhile Congressregime continued even underthe TRS government regime,he said.

Stating that the floodcanals and drainage systemswere in a bad state, KishanReddy alleged that the KCRgovernment was not remov-ing even the silt in floodcanals.

Telangana’s Coronavirusrecovery rate crosses 90%

‘Govt creatingobstacles incampaign’

Kishan talks toughon encroachments

Spreadingawareness on

wearing masks,youngsters

along with theofficials

concernedpainted thewalls in

ShamshabadMunicipality.

Horse riders waded through chest-deep water, navigating obstructions such aselectric poles, trees to deliver essentials like milk and medicines to people

Finance MInister T Harish Rao addressing the gathering in Dubbak on Wednesday

BJP to rope in SmritiIrani for campaign?PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP is planning torope in Union Minister forWomen and Child develop-ment Smriti Irani for cam-paign in Dubbak. Accordingto sources, the party leadershave approached the UnionMinister in this regard.However, she is yet to respond.According to rumours makingrounds in political circles,Jana Sena president PawanKalyan may participate inDubbak by-poll campaign insupport of BJP candidateRaghunandan Rao. Clarifyingon the issue, BJP sources saidthere are no such plans as ofnow.

“There may not be bigimpact with Pawan Kalyanbecause it is a by-election.Though Pawan Kalyan hasgreat fan following among

youth, by-poll equations willbe different when comparedwith normal elections,” BJPsources said. Another argu-ment is that it is not the righttime for PK to enter Telanganapolitics, as the by-election wasby-election was necessitated bythe death of SolipetaRamalinga Reddy. Politicalanalysts opine that Dubbak byelection may not be goodplatform for PK. It will domore harm than good.

‘Karimnagarpolice rolemodel for TS’PNS n KARIMNAGAR

BC Welfare Minister GangulaKamalakar on Wednesdayopined that it was impossibleto think about the societywithout police. Peacefulatmosphere prevailed in thesociety only because of relent-less service by the police of allcadres, he said.

As part of police flag-day(police martyrs commemora-tion day), a commemora-tion parade was held in com-missionerate headquartershere on Wednesday, whereinKamalakar participated aschief guest. Speaking on theoccasion, Minister said peo-ple were able to lead peace-ful lives only because of thepolice discharging theirduties with a great responsi-bility by sacrificing their free-dom.

The state reported 1,579 new cases,taking the cumulative tally to2,26,124. Of this only 20,449 cases areactive. Out of the total active cases,17,071 are in home or institutionalisolation

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020 nation 05

INDIA CORNER

Two unidentified menattacked a gold traderand robbed him of

valuables worth Rs 37 lakh inJetpur town of Rajkot districton Wednesday, police said.Chiman Vekaria was attackedby two robbers, who allegedlythrew chilli powder on hisface and snatched a bagcontaining 700 gm of goldworth Rs 35 lakh and Rs 2 lakh cash,sub-inspector P B Vaghela ofJetpur police station said.The attack took place when the victim, atrader from neighbouring Dhoraji town, was passing through anarrow lane connecting Nana Chowk and Soni Baazar, the officialsaid. When the Vekaria fought back, the robbers attacked him with aknife and injured his leg before escaping the scene, he said. Thevictim is undergoing treatment at a hospital and further probe isunderway, the official added.

PNS n KAHALGAON (BIHAR)

Calling the BJP-JD(U) partner-ship as "superhit" as the open-ing pair of Sachin Tendulkarand Virender Sehwag in crick-et, Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Wednesday said onecan debate on the quantum ofdevelopment done by thealliance government in Bihar,but no one can point a fingerat Chief Minister Nitish Kumaron corruption.

Attacking the oppositionRJD, Singh said the people hadwitnessed its 15-year tenureand can see the differencebetween its "misrule" and thegood governance of the NitishKumar-led alliance govern-ment.

Addressing a rally here inBhagalpur district ahead ofthe Assembly polls beginningOctober 28, Singh said, "The

alliance of the BJP and theJD(U) is as superhit as theopening pair of Sachin andSehwag of Indian cricket team."

He said the alliance govern-ment has provided basic facil-ities of electricity, road andwater, which Bihar lacked fordecades. "People have seen the

15-year rule of 'lalten' (RJD'spoll symbol lantern) and theyhave also seen the developmentof Bihar during the BJP-JD(U)alliance government. The per-formance of these two govern-ments cannot be compared.The state transformed underthe NDA government," Singh

said. Praising Chief MinisterNitish Kumar and his deputyand BJP leader Sushil Modi,Singh said there are no chargesof corruption against them.

"I am not making this claimthat Nitish Kumar has doneeverything for Bihar. It couldbe debated whether he hasdone enough work or lesswork or more was required tobe done, but there can be nodebate on their integrity," Singhsaid.

Singh said no one can point

a finger at Kumar on the issueof corruption.

Taking potshots at theRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD),Singh, speaking in localBhojpuri language, said 'lalten'has cracked and its oil hasleaked and nothing will worknow.

He also spoke at lengthabout various welfare schemesof the Modi government suchas Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana and Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana.

BJP-JD(U) alliance ‘superhit' likeSachin-Sehwag in cricket: Rajnath

Attacking the opposition RJD, Singhsaid people had witnessed its 15-year tenure and can see thedifference between its "misrule" andthe good governance of the NitishKumar-led alliance govt

Gold trader attacked, robbedof valuables worth lakhs

Disgruntled MaharashtraBJP leader EknathKhadse will join the NCP

on Friday, stateminister Jayant Patil said onWednesday, endingspeculations about the seniorsaffron party leader jumpingthe ship.Khadse was sulkingsince he was made to resignas minister in 2016 in the then Devendra Fadnavis-led BJPgovernment over corruption allegations. Speaking to reporters here,Patil, who is the state NCP chief, said with the joining of a seasonedleader like Khadse, who is a former minister and ex-leader ofopposition in the state Assembly, the Sharad Pawar-led party will bestrengthened, particularly in the Khandesh region. Khadse, who isbelieved to have strained ties with Fadnavis, comes from Jalgaondistrict of the Khandesh region. Once seen as No.2 in the thenFadnavis cabinet, Khadse resigned as revenue minister in 2016 overland grab allegations, and since then he has been largely sidelined inthe saffron party. Patil claimed "a lot of people" want to join the NCP,but said there is no need to hold bypolls amid the COVID-19crisis. "Eknathrao Khadse saheb, who worked hard along with(late) Gopinath Munde saheb to expand and strengthen the BJPin Maharashtra for several years, told me some time back thathe has quit his party," Patil said.

Senior BJP leader EknathKhadse to join NCP: Minister

West Bengal Congresspresident Adhir RanjanChowdhury on

Wednesday expressed doubt ifthe Calcutta High Court ordermaking all community pujapandals as no-entry zone willbe enforced in letter and spiritby the state administration. Hesaid the state government had"failed to give a convincing"roadmap during the hearing at the high court about ways to containgroup transmission of COVID-19 virus if puja revellers hit the streets.Chowdhury, who is also the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabhadescribed the Mamata Banerjee government as an "inept, inefficientregime". "The CM herself has confirmed community transmissionalready started in West Bengal and COVID-19 cases are on the rise inthe state. Keeping that situation in mind the state has failed toconvince the hon'ble high court that it will be able to check that graphif crowds are allowed on puja days," the West Bengal Congresspresident said. "I have doubt if the administration will succeed inenforcing the order of the high court barring entry of visitors into thepandals. There are thousands of pujas across the state, small andbig," he said. Chowdhury alleged the CM has taken hasty decisions"which had only caused confusion in people's mind." The seniorCongress leader further said decisions like providing Rs 50,000 as agrant to every puja committee has been taken keeping an eye on votebank politics while many people are dying every day due to lack ofproper healthcare facilities.

‘Doubt whether HC order willbe enforced in letter & spirit’

The number of insurance claims related to treatment for COVID-19rose to 40 per cent of the total health insurance claims inSeptember, according to an analysis.Based on its analysis of

industry data, insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com said "mostpeople filing the claim for COVID-19 treatment are senior citizens ofage group 60 years and more, followed by people in the age bracketof 41-45 years".In September, the insurance aggregator said COVID-19-related claims accounted for 40 per cent of the total healthinsurance claims. It has been steadily increasing from 8 per cent inMay. In July and August, it stood at 23 per cent and 34 per cent,respectively.Overall, coronavirus cases have been on the rise,especially in few states. The recovery rate is also high.During theApril-September period, COVID-19 claims accounted for 26 per centof the overall health claims pie while the non-COVID-19 claims stoodat 74 per cent.

Insurance claims related toCovid treatment rise in Sept

PNS n PATNA

Amid the hustle and bustle ofthe Bihar assembly elections,the BJP on Wednesday got itsDelhi MP and Bhojpuri singerManoj Tiwari to reprise one ofhis chartbusters, appealing tovoters to retain their trust inthe states ruling dispensation.

Suna ho Bihar ke bhaiya,launched by the party as itsnew election song, is a straightlift off jiya ho Bihar ke lala thefoot-tapping number fromManoj Bajpayee-starrer Gangsof Wasseypur, which hadacquired a cult status upon itsrelease a decade ago.

Incidentally, the composer ofthe original song, SnehaKhanwalkar, had been roped inby the campaign team of ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar in the2015 assembly polls when she

came out with the catchy phirse Nitish Kumar ho.

The JD(U) chief had thencomfortably returned to powerbelying naysayers who wereskeptical about his coalitionwith arch rival Lalu PrasadsRJD finding resonance with thevoters.

Back in the NDA, Kumar isnow the coalitions chief min-isterial candidate, and in thenew song Tiwari, who has

retained the tune as well as thebackground score of the orig-inal number, reminds the vot-ers that he wants them to sup-port the JD(U) chief even asthe larger than life persona ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his benevolence towardsBihar seems to be the centraltheme of the parody.

In the song that lasts nearlyeight minutes, Tiwari dwells atlength on the progress made bythe state under the NDA rule

badi mushkil se (against vari-ous odds). He goes on to addthat if someone says in spite ofso many accomplishmentsBihar mein ka ba (what doesBihar have to offer) then theperson needs to get eyeglasseschecked.

For the politically awarepeople of Bihar the insinuationis hard to miss.

Neha Singh Rathore, abespectacled 20 somethingfrom Kaimur district, to which

Tiwari also belongs, hasbecome an internet sensationwith her rap song Bihar meinkaa ba where she takes a grim,sardonic view of her homestate. She says a lot remains tobe done despite a decade-and-a-half of sushasan (good gov-ernance).

Manoj Bajpayees rap num-ber Mumbai mein kaa baa,released recently to muchacclaim, had inspired Rathore,who keeps a low profile andreaches out to viewers and lis-teners through songs which sheself-records on her smartphone and uploads on socialmedia.

A self-styled cultural activistwho wants to pull Bhojpurimusic out of the slush of sleaze,Rathore likes to make a polit-ical point without caring muchfor party affiliations.

In poll battle for Bihar, a war of songs eruptsSuna ho Bihar ke bhaiya, launched bythe party as its new election song, is astraight lift off jiya ho Bihar ke lala thefoot-tapping number from ManojBajpayee-starrer Gangs of Wasseypur,which had acquired a cult status uponits release a decade ago

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra on Wednesdayattacked the BJP-led govern-ment at the Centre over thenew farm laws and alleged thatfarmers in Uttar Pradesh wereforced to sell paddy at a ratelower than the minimum sup-port price.

Taking to Twitter, she alsoposted a video of a farmeralleging corruption in cropprocurement at theMohammadi Khiri mandi.

"The BJP government isholding a government KhatSammelan over the bills whichare against the interest of thefarmers, but is not listening tothe pain of the farmers,"Priyanka Gandhi said in atweet in Hindi.

"In almost all the places inUP, farmers are forced to selltheir paddy crops at Rs 1,000to 1,100 per quintal, about Rs800 less than the Rs 1,868 perquintal MSP," she said.

This is when there is a guar-antee for MSP, think what willhappen when this guarantee isnot there, she added.

Her attack on the govern-ment comes a day after thePunjab Assembly adopted aresolution rejecting theCentre's new farm laws andpassed four bills that it said willcounter the contentious legis-lation enacted by Parliament.

The three farm bills -- the

Farmer's Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Bill, 2020, theFarmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement of PriceAssurance and Farm ServicesBill, 2020 and the EssentialCommodities (Amendment)Bill, 2020 -- were passed byParliament recently.Subsequently, President RamNath Kovind gave his assent tothe bills.

The Congress, many otheropposition parties and severalfarmers organisations havebeen protesting against theselegislations, claiming that thesewill harm the interests of farm-ers and benefit corporates, aclaim denied by the govern-ment.

The Centre has asserted thatthese new laws will be benefi-cial for farmers and willincrease their income.

PNS n JAIPUR

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot onWednesday termed as "mostunfortunate" BJP PresidentJP Nadda's statement onimplementation of CAA.

Nadda had on Mondaysaid the execution of theCAA has been delayed dueto the COVID-19 pandem-ic and asserted that the lawwould be implemented soon.In a tweet, Gehlot said, "Evenbefore Covid-19 pandemicstarted, there were commu-nal tensions in the country &the situation was very tensein a number of areas due toBJP's insistence on imple-menting #CAA". "Nowwhen corona situation is stillvery serious, they want tostoke tensions again. It is thetime to overcome the crisesthe nation is facing unitedly& not to disrupt peace &communal harmony," hesaid.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Kolkata Police has arrest-ed over 3,000 people in thelast 10 days for floutingCOVID-19 protocol and notwearing masks, a senior offi-cer said on Wednesday.

Besides, intensifying vigil inand around the city, KolkataPolice between October 11 to20 has arrested at least 3,418people for not wearing facemasks to check the spread ofcoronavirus, the officer said.

"... We are trying to raise theawareness level of the peopleabout wearing masks duringthis ongoing pandemic. But

some people have takenthis thing very casually andviolating the norms. And nowwith the Durga Puja aroundand with doctors cautioningwe have enhanced the vigiland started being strict with

such violators," the seniorKolkata Police officer said.

The maximum number of734 arrests were made onOctober 18, while on Tuesdaythere were 495 arrests.

Apart from the Naka check-ings, police were arrestingpeople from places in andaround the market and shop-ping malls which have beenwitnessing people gathering inlarge numbers for Durga Pujashopping.

"We are keeping a tightvigil on areas like New Market,Gariahat, Lake Market andareas which have markets and

shopping malls and arrest-ing people for not wearingmasks," the officer said, addingthat the drive will continue.

West Bengal has reported3,29,057 COVID-19 cases and

6,180 deaths from the viraldisease so far.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Opposition leaders onWednesday expressed solidar-ity with activist Stan Swamy,who has been booked underthe UAPA, and demanded thatthe stringent law be repealed.

They also urged the publicto break their silence on thegovernment's efforts to "chipaway the rights of the people".

The NIA arrested 83-year-old Swamy on October 8 in theBhima Koregaon case. Activistsand political leaders have beencondemning Swamy's arrest,saying that despite him beinga patient of Parkinson's diseaseand suffering from other healthproblems, he is now in jail.

Speaking at a press confer-ence organised by People'sUnion for Civil Liberties(PUCL), Jharkhand ChiefMinister Hemant Sorenclaimed that the governmentwas trying to silence the voic-es of marginalised communi-ties.

In a video message, healleged that under the presentgovernment, the unity, integri-ty and democratic structureswere under attack.

"The NDA government sit-ting in the centre today - it issilencing the voices of thosespeaking for the adivasis, Dalitsand other marginalised groups,the non-BJP ruled states arebeing harassed, the variousconstitutional mechanisms of

our country are being weak-ened today by different groupsand organisations for its ownpolitical benefit under a hiddenagenda," he claimed.

"It is forcing us to ponderabout where the country isheaded. It crossed all limits

today when someone likeStan Swamy was arrested. Heis someone who has beenworking in Jharkhand foryears, in the remote farawayvillages, wandering in thejungles, just so that the adiva-sis, Dalits and minority pop-ulations here could bereached. This is extremelydisappointing. Stan Swamyis also suffering from manydiseases," Soren said.

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury as well as theDMK's Kanimozhi urged civilsociety groups and the publicto break their silence over the"government's attacks on therights of the people".

"Today we have to make adecision as political parties, asthe whole society whether toaccept what is happening insilence or say this is enoughand fight them together. If weaccept this, then in a few yearswe will not see a democraticIndia that we know. Every lawthat this government haspassed has chipped away therights of the people. It's timeto break the si lence,"Kanimozhi said in the videoconference.

PNS n CHENNAI

The DMK on Wednesday saidit is ready to join forces withthe AIADMK government andprotest for getting the 7.5 percent quota in medical admis-sions for state-run school stu-dents, a day after the rulingdispensation sought earlyclearance by the Governor fora bill envisaging the reserva-tion. Chief Minister KPalaniswami should come for-ward and announcea prote-ston the matter after consult-ing the opposition parties,DMK president M K Stalinsaid in a tweet.

In this matter, "DMK isready to protest/agitatetogether with the AIADMKgovernment.@CMOTamilNadu should come forwardto an nounce protes t(demonstration) by talkingwith parties," the leader ofthe opposition in the stateassembly said. Stalin alsow rote to G ove r norBanwarilal Purohit seekinghis immediate approval tothe bi l l , passed by theassembly on September 15for providing the horizon-

tal reservation to studentsof government schools whoc l e ar t he Nat i ona lEligibility cum EntranceTest (NEET).

"I urge you to imme-diately give assent to thebill and help fulfillment ofthe dream of governmentschool students to an extentto pursue medicine as theirprofession," he said in theletter, a copy of which heshared with his tweet.

PNS n SRINAGAR

Jammu and KashmirLieutenant Governor (LG)Manoj Sinha advocated com-prehensive measures onWednesday to deal with radi-calisation of youngsters in theUnion Territory, saying terrorelements from thousands ofmiles away are trying to infil-trate a large section of the soci-ety with the help of rabid pro-paganda.

Addressing policemen onthe occasion of the PoliceCommemoration Day atZewan on the city outskirts,Sinha hailed the Jammu andKashmir Police for maintain-ing law and order and dealing

with terrorism in the UnionTerritory. "Indoctrination isnot limited to an individualtaking up a gun after brain-washing by terror outfits, butwith the help of rabid onlineand offline propaganda, terrorelements sitting thousands ofmiles away are trying to infil-trate a large section of the soci-ety," the LG said in his address.

He said as a part of compre-hensive counter-radicalisationmeasures, there must be awell-coordinated, community-supported platform to publi-cise and propagate the sensiblevoices against terrorist ideolo-gy. "Our strategy on counter-radicalisation and de-radical-isation must be inclusive and

should involve communityelders to promote the messageof peace, prosperity and har-mony," Sinha said.

He called for a regularchange in strategy to deal withterror-funding from across theborder. "To deal with terror-funding, there is a need tochange our strategy regularlyso that we tackle it with a com-prehensive response," the LGsaid. He said cyber-patrollingand round-the-clock moni-toring of malicious content onthe dark web is another chal-lenge, but asserted that thepolice and other security forcesare capable of formulating aneffective mechanism to dealwith it.

Gehlot slams Nadda'sremarks on CAA

In almost all theplaces in UP,farmers are forcedto sell their paddycrops at Rs 1,000to 1,100 perquintal, about Rs800 less than theRs 1,868 perquintal MSP, saidPriyanka Gandhi

Over 3K held forflouting Covid norms

Opposition leaders condemn Stan Swamy'sarrest, urge people to break silence

Activists and political leaders havebeen condemning Swamy's arrest,saying that despite him being apatient of Parkinson's disease andsuffering from other healthproblems, he is now in jail

‘Ready to protestalongside AIADMK’

EPS should comeforward and announcea protest on the matterafter consulting theopposition parties,said M K Stalin

‘Thorough measures needed todeal with radicalisation in J&K’

Priyanka slams govt over farm bills

The Indian economy hasbeen stress-tested manytimes before but neverbeen dented as savagelyas this time around. But

2020 will be remembered as theyear that eroded a decade’s worthof progress, the annus horribilis thatbought humanity to its knees.Governments and businesses acrossthe world are undergoing rapidrecalibrations in order to adjust tothe world of extreme volatility,uncertainty, complexity and ambi-guity (VUCA). So, when the ChiefEconomist of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) states that“the world economy is not comingback to 2019 levels until 2022”, it isa comforting statement of fact thateconomic contraction is a univer-sal phenomenon and not a stand-alone, India-centric affliction.

So, how is the Governmentcatalysing towards a sustainablegrowth momentum? The task hasnot been easy for a country withlimited financial resources to securelives and livelihoods of 130 crorepeople, who account for 18 per centof the world’s population. Given theconstraints, the Narendra Modi-ledGovernment has pursued a path ofre-booting and rebuilding the econ-omy by wresting four pillars paral-lelly. First, by addressing interimand short-term solutions for sus-taining livelihoods. Second, byidentifying and spending on post-COVID sectors of growth that willlead to sustainable and a long-termrecovery. Third, by using its man-date to push ahead with powerfulreform agenda, passing in quicksuccession long-pending reforms inlabour, agriculture and education.India is poised for a stronger andmore robust comeback as com-pared to partial or cyclicalrebounds. Fourth, in order tomaintain a steady growth momen-tum, the Government has pursuedbalancing social sector spendingwith infrastructure spending. TheCentre recognises the importanceof infrastructure as the foremostengine of growth and the need toscale up outlays to at least eight percent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) on “next-generation infra-structure,” for which an allocationof 111 trillion investment has beenset aside from 2020 to 25.

Can the Government do moreby way of welfarist measures, giventhe anticipated shortfalls in rev-enue? The World Bank, usually theparagon of caution, has this time

around advised emergingnations like India to set aside fis-cal prudence and take on furtherdebt, as “you first worry aboutfighting the war, then you figureout how to pay for it.”

Interim solutions lie in firstaddressing livelihood issues byfurther extending the timelinesof direct income support for therural poor, as also offering urbanmigrants a similar package. TheCentre has spent around two percent of GDP on welfaristschemes like direct cash trans-fers for income support, freegrains for the rural poor,increased spendings onMahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment GuaranteeAct (MNREGA) and so on. Asthe crisis is far from over and theduration of the pandemic isuncertain, it is doubtful theGovernment will prematurelywithdraw welfarist spending.

By lowering interest rates,providing credit guarantees forMSMEs, allowing for loanmoratoriums and one-timerestructuring of loans, theGovernment has deployed asizeable fiscal package of aroundseven per cent of GDP towardsincreasing liquidity. This is muchrequired to address the supplyside needs of the industry,though funding has not ade-quately percolated down toSMEs, who are most severelyimpacted by the downturn.

While globally, Central Bankshave continued with massivedoses of Quantitative Easing(QE), there is room for more in

emerging markets like India asthe effect of rate cuts and liquid-ity keeps waning due to the weaktransmission. However, the pol-icy of easing credit flows is notinsulated from the downsiderisks of defaults that couldimpact the health of the alreadyfragile banking sector. Becauseit is a given that the impact onthe financial sector isn’t usuallyimmediately visible, so the trueimpact of defaults on loans willreflect only in the followingquarters.

The phenomenon of“revenge” or “rebound” spend-ing during the festival months isat best a temporary surge. As weenter the festive season, there isalready an average uptick by 34per cent to 40 per cent in sector-specific surges in the majorpropellers of growth like retail,consumer durables, automo-biles and residential housing.However, socio-economic vari-ables have contributed to wors-ening VUCA levels in the ser-vices sector, which contributes54 per cent to the GDP but hasseen irrecoverable demand-destruction.

Travel, tourism, shopping,hospitality, aviation, entertain-ment, leisure and fashion comeunder the discretionary-spendservice sector, which is expect-ed to see an improvement dur-ing the festive months. Viewedthrough the lens of behaviour-al science, the phenomenon of“revenge buying, or spending onindulgences” happens after aprolonged period of suppression

on lifestyle pleasures that createsthe much needed “feel-goodfactor.” Levels of discretionaryspending are a vital marker ofeconomic health, as people onlyspend on lifestyle expenses oncethey have disposable funds leftafter paying for taxes, housing,savings and other essentialneeds.

To gauge the downward orupward trends in these sectors,predictive insights can be gainedfrom the data of the GoogleCommunity Mobility Reportthat uses anonymised data pro-vided by Google Maps. Theglobal Google Mobility Indextrends show that travel andmobility levels had fallen to44.7 per cent in April and risento 82 per cent by mid-September. Here again, mobili-ty and commuting will vary withthe spread or decrease in region-al COVID-loads.

The aviation and hospitalityindustries have been among the26 most stressed sectors andrecovery is not expected before18 to 24 months. The tourismindustry contributes nine percent to the GDP, generates sub-stantial revenues and accountedfor 87 million jobs in 2019.

The festival season is expect-ed to give a big boost to theseclosely aligned sectors and willhopefully fuel the wheels of theeconomy till the end of 2020.Optimism thereafter rests on theadvent of the vaccine by early2021. However, with the onset ofwinter and the negligence ofmaintaining distancing proto-

cols at festive gatherings, thereis a risk of further waves of viraloutbreaks. This in turn willdeepen the negative impact onfuture earnings and impact con-sumer spending in the followingquarter of 2020 to 21.

Ultimately, the volume ofconsumer spending is not beingdictated by need-based buying,but by what I term as the “Indexof Fear-Intensity.” The quantumof “Fear-Intensity” in consumerswanes and rises in response tothe local COVID-load, intermit-tent lockdowns and the visibil-ity of each individual’s anticipat-ed earnings over the next sixmonths, which are now dictat-ing behavioural patterns of con-sumers.

Which sectors can ride theeconomy towards sustainablerecovery? There is empiricalevidence that increased spend-ing in infrastructure duringdownturns has never failed tohave trickle-down effects inrebooting the economy and cre-ating millions of jobs. As mostemerging nations are con-strained for resources, the IndianGovernment would be lookingto tap into concessionary financefacilities being extended byinternational developmentfinance institutions. The WorldBank, Asian Development Bankand IMF are fast-tracking gen-erous assistance to membercountries facing a COVID-crunch, with global interestrates being at historic lows.

Assessing sectoral bouncebacks in recovery for the July toSeptember quarter, it has beenlargely driven by agriculture,while IT, healthcare, fintech,educational technology, tele-com and e-commerce sectorswill remain the prime engines ofpost-COVID growth, as theycome under the category of thenew “Touchless and HomebodyEconomy.”

Stock markets, long seen as aproxy for the real economy, arenow being driven by ultra-laxmonetary policies in the devel-oped world. But stock marketbuoyancy in no way mirrors theactual economic pain at groundlevels, even as the Sensex con-solidates around the 40,000mark.

However, unlike measuringthe stock market performanceon a quarterly basis, corporatesand the Government will haveto get past the obsessive compul-sion to look at monthly out-comes, and instead adopt amedium-to-long-term approachfor a sustainable recovery, whileremaining resilient enough tocalibrate policies to the VUCAfactors.

(The writer is author, colum-nist and Chairperson of theNational Committee for FinancialInclusion at the Niti Aayog)

In Kolkata and the rest of West Bengal, as well as inBengali communities across the length and breadthof India, the coming of the festive season meant going

to a Puja pandal, paying obeisance to the Mother andher children on their annual visit before indulging in foodand mingling with friends and family. And not just inBengal, where the arrival of Ma Durga meant a timeof feasting and spending on new clothes and house-hold goods, but across the country, across commu-nities, these months meant exchanging gifts, sweetsand what not. It was a time for togetherness, wherechildren travelled back to be with their families and the

usual news stories of these times over the past few years were the exorbitant airfaresacross the country. However, in these Coronavirus-infected months, whether in Kolkataor in Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park area, the limited and scaled down pandals have becomeno-go areas. But while the pandemic has dampened enthusiasm in many sensible peo-ple, who are relying on digital feeds to address their spiritual quest, others are incorri-gible. Festival romantics, for whom the joys of pandal-hopping cannot be denied, havecompelled the Calcutta High Court to modify its ban on entering pandals, now allow-ing small groups inside. How on earth will this be monitored? While this can possiblybe managed in cities like Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol and Siliguri, how will the rush becontrolled in the hundreds of small towns that dot the South Bengal countryside, all ofwhich have their own Puja pandals and where people invariably use India’s densest sub-urban rail system to work in the city of Kolkata? The potential for a regional healthcaredisaster is tremendous and one presumes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speechwas to ensure that things do not get out of hand. In Delhi, puja organisers have beencareful and no large pandals have been set up. The few pujas that are happening aretaking place purely for religious purposes in temples.

One hopes that the citizens of India pay heed to the PM’s request and understandthat God will not be angry if we do not go and pay obeisance in person. This is a hor-rible aspect of today’s reality and there will be an economic price as well, but if we areto stay safe and healthy during the winter, we do not have a choice.

One would have expected the pandemic to dull thecampaign for the Bihar elections but RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav is cer-

tainly stealing the thunder in optics. The surging crowdsat his rallies, in total violation of social distancing norms,the high decibel cheers and his promise of providing10 lakh jobs show the despondency of the State’smigrant workers, who are looking for a sliver of hope,if not the promised land. They say visuals shape per-ception, and though Bihar’s wisened voter has seldombeen swayed by spectacles and transferred votes,Tejashwi’s appeal is certainly giving some anxious

moments to the Janata Dal (United) supremo and incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.But with popular sentiment favouring the BJP with which JD(U) is in a combine, can Tejashwichurn the political waters if not turn the tide? Perhaps, he has immersed himself ratherlate in the day but will this legitimise his claim to being the torchbearer of his father, LaluPrasad Yadav, and his social justice movement? For now, Tejashwi, who has often beencriticised for running away to Delhi at the slightest challenge and being arrogant, is seri-ously investing himself as a chief ministerial aspirant. And over the last six months, hehas been grounded in his State, worked the grassroots and built a people connect. Mostimportantly, he has decided to step out of Lalu’s shadow and recast the political dia-logue to his specifications. He knows full well that he cannot fill his father’s big shoesjust yet and that RJD would still get the traditional caste-based loyalty and minority votesbased on Lalu’s goodwill. After all, the Yadav-Muslim combined votebase still makes for30 per cent of the State population. So he wants to carve out a broader constituency forhimself that is more contextual than historic and is keen to make the most of a time whenthe political stock of Bihar’s one-time deliverer Nitish is at an all-time low. So instead ofharping on the RJD’s core plank of caste, he has made unemployment of the State’syouth the pivot of his campaign, as economics is the only issue that matters in pandem-ic-hit times. This helps him on two counts. First, it helps him reel in the youth, who formabout 24 per cent of the electorate and who, like the migrant workers, are thoroughlydisenchanted with the way Nitish handled their return during the lockdown. They evenidolised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for rehabilitating them in transit, afact that the BJP is likely to encash for itself. Second, though the RJD is seen as a scam-tainted party, a new generation hardly remembers the details and Tejashwi is hoping tocontemporise the party’s appeal among the young. In fact, his catchy slogans, like “NayiSoch Naya Bihar” or “Abki Bar Yuva Sarkar,” are in tune with his effort to recast himselfas a development-oriented leader who can fill in where Nitish failed. Besides, he has alsogiven tickets to some upper caste leaders but has been astute enough to not upset thebackward castes and Dalits, considering that Nitish has systematically chipped away atthe RJD’s base over the years by creating sub-categories like the Extremely BackwardCastes (EBCs) and Mahadalits. Tejashwi, is, therefore, trying to broaden the party’s baseto make up for this slide and wants to personify the Bihar that doesn’t want Nitish. It isthis that makes him engaging in what was thought to be a colourless election.

The question is if the relatability and people connect can work on the ground math-ematically. Of course, this time both Lalu and Tejashwi have been careful about seat allo-cation to allies, preferring to keep the lion’s share for the party. They have learnt the hardway, drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha elections last year after contesting only 19 seatson their own and apportioning the rest among allies, who couldn’t ensure vote transfersto either the RJD or the Congress. So the party is contesting 144 Assembly seats, leav-ing 70 for the Congress and 29 for the three Left parties. On its own, its vote-catchingpotential goes up but right now with Nitish splitting its pie, what with Dalit leader JitanRam Manjhi and other splinters migrating to the JD(U), floating outfits or becomingIndependents, the RJD still needs its old allies lest they, too, desert and split the anti-vote. Besides, RJD won 80 seats in the 2015 Assembly election together with Nitish andthe JD(U) votebase. That’s gone now. So RJD cannot risk disadvantaging itself further.Besides, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) now has a broad caste arc withthe support of dominant groups like the Kurmis, Koeris/Kushwahas and Mahadalits, whoaccount for 60 per cent of Bihar’s population. Tejashwi is banking on the Left parties fortransplanting “caste” with “class” and hoping to make a breakthrough among the poorand underprivileged. By and large, the Left parties have limited but committed voters andcan matter in the RJD-led alliance. Besides, Tejashwi visited flood-hit refugees at theirhomes and toured the really backward pockets of the State. And though politically andideologically divergent, he backed rival claimant and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leaderChirag Paswan for pointing out Nitish’s flaws, cleverly not antagonising himself amongthe Paswans, a dominant section of Dalits. Nitish needed a credible challenger much ear-lier for people to reconsider, a space quietly picked up by the BJP with its post-Ayodhyaswell and the Modi aura. A fortnight of roaring success doesn’t translate to votes. WillTejashwi remain a talking point or indeed become a turning point?

Crowdpuller Tejashwi

Malabar naval exercise Sir — As a big strategic move,India has invited Australia to theannual Malabar naval exercisesafter a gap of 13 years. Thisproves the Quadrilateral SecurityDialogue (Quad) — whichincludes the US and Japan as theother two members — as beingsomething more than a meretalking shop. This will be theQuad’s first full military-levelengagement and a step closer forthe eventual formalisation ofthe grouping. New Delhi, over-coming its previous hesitation toinvite Canberra, changed tackafter China’s growing belligerenceand the ongoing border standoffin eastern Ladakh. With Chinaflexing its muscle across theregion, the need for a counterbal-ancing strategic-security plat-form was sorely felt. Beijing, thathad compared the grouping tosea foam in 2018, now sees thismove as a serious concern.

The Quad, through regularnaval coordination, can nowactualise the idea of a free andopen Indo-Pacific region. Aneffective navy with advancedoperational logistics gives Indiathe ability to exploit China’sMalacca dilemma and disruptenergy supplies to the latter,

should it launch another 1962style attack. Additionally, Indiaand the US are expected to signthe last of four military commu-nication foundational agree-ments — the Basis Exchange andCooperation Agreement — forgeospatial cooperation. This willgive us more eyes to monitor andreact quickly to Chinese moves.

N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

Hollow promises? Sir — Campaigning for theAssembly elections in 243 con-stituencies of Bihar is heating up.And at one such rally, RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) leader TejashwiYadav promised 10 lakhGovernment jobs if he comes topower. In response, the ChiefMinister and Janata Dal (United)leader Nitish Kumar asked Yadav

from where does he plan to getthe money for the salaries? Thisisn’t the first time. Rather thecampaigning period is usuallyfull of such tall promises that areforgotten once the polling is over.However, it is an absolute factthat the State needs comprehen-sive changes in numerous sec-tors: Employment, economy,education, healthcare, stringentmeasures to save flood-affected

areas and so on. The presentCM, in spite of being in alliancewith the BJP, which is in powerat the Centre, has failed to dealwith these issues and things haveonly changed for the worse.There needs to be a completeoverhaul of the Governmentand people are aware of it.However, with so many playersin the ring, only time will tellwho comes out on the top.

N Kalam Maharashtra

China over TaiwanSir — Beijing is enraged as Indiaconsiders formal trade negotia-tions with Taiwan. China’s terri-torial and economic imperialismhas forced its neighbours tolook for alternatives and a way tocounter the dragon.

So, even though New Delhihas been reluctant to seek tradetalks with Taiwan earlier, such astep would reduce our depen-dence on China for suppliesand further the goal of seekinggreater investments in technol-ogy.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020

06

Welfarism and growthWe have to get past the obsessive compulsion to look at monthly outcomes and

instead adopt a medium-to-long-term approach for a sustainable recovery

Is the mic ready? I wonderwho did that to our mic? I don't believe it was Joe(Biden). You know who itwas? Crooked Hillary(Clinton). It must've been.

US President—Donald Trump

Lack of adherence to Corona guidelines

On October 20, during his seventh address to thenation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made anearnest appeal to the citizens to not be careless

during the pandemic, especially as the festival seasonis approaching. As we continue to live with the virus,“even a small negligence” on our behalf can dampenthe festive spirit. He even announced that theGovernment is making all possible efforts to ensure thata vaccine, whenever it is launched, reaches every Indian.However, on the other hand, COVID protocols are beingbrazenly violated by political parties in Bihar and otherState election rallies. One such incident was when Bihar’sDeputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, addressedan election rally at Ramgarh in Kaimur district with anestimated 20,000 people gathered to listen to him.Throwing caution to the wind, the participants clusteredtogether, ignoring social distancing, and most did noteven wear a mask.

The Election Commission’s guidelines for holdinga physical rally mandate social distancing of at least

two metres and all attendees wearing masks. However,in the race to woo the electorate, the political leadershave forgotten that the pandemic is not over yet. Sowhile the PM’s address was informative, the Centreneeds to practise what it preaches or else Bihar elec-tions could turn into a mass virus-spreading event.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Keep Durga in our hearts

RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s son has committed himself to the racerather late in the day. He may dent but can’t demolish Nitish

The PM is right, if India is to avoid a devastating second wave,our behaviour during the festive season will matter

BINDU DALMIA

I have come back with great memories,a fabulous racing experience and valuable exposure to the sport.

Go Karting racer—Aashi Hanspal

Social media content must beregularly monitored to preventits misuse by the enemies.Militancy sponsored by theneighbour is being effectivelydealt with by our police.

J&K Lt Governor—Manoj Sinha

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

S O U N D B I T EYour generation can be the one that creates a new normal in America. One that'sfairer, where the system treatseverybody equally and giveseverybody opportunity.

Former US President—Barack Obama

THIS (KAPIL’S) SHOW IS FULL OF DOUBLE MEANING

WORDS, IN WHICH THE MEN WEAR WOMEN’S CLOTHES,

DO CHEAP THINGS AND PEOPLE LAUGH.

—ACTOR

MUKESH KHANNA

IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE PEOPLE SMILE. I HAVE

CHOSEN HAPPINESS AND PREFER TO FOCUS ON MY

WORK AND CONTINUE TO KEEP DOING THAT IN FUTURE.

—ACTOR AND COMEDIAN

KAPIL SHARMA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

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

A sad epoch inhuman history

RAGHVENDRA SINGH

Having planned Operation Gulmarg, Pakistanunleashed its tribal militia on Jammu and

Kashmir on October 22, 1947

Today is a black day in history and India is observing it as such,to protest against Pakistan’s role in instigating violence andterror in the Valley. Having planned Operation Gulmarg, Pakistan

unleashed its tribal militia on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on October22, 1947. Overruning Muzzafarabad, Domel and Uri, the triballashkars, led by Pakistan Army personnel, reached Baramulla onOctober 26 and wreaked havoc. A November 10 despatch by RobertTrumbull of The New York Times relates vividly the death and destruc-tion that was unleashed upon the town by the marauders. It hadbeen stripped of its wealth and dignity before the tribesmen fled inthe face of advancing Indian troops, who had rushed to the rescueof the hapless residents. Survivors of those events estimated that3,000 of their fellow townsmen, including four Europeans and a retiredBritish Army officer, Colonel Dykes, and his pregnant wife, were slain.When the raiders rushed into town on October 26, one party ofMahsud tribesmen scaled the walls of the Saint Joseph’sFranciscan Convent compound and stormed the convent hospitaland the church. Twenty-four hours later, when the Indian Army enteredBaramulla, only 1,000 were left of the population of about 14,000.

Max Despott, an Associated Press photographer, described onNovember 2 that he saw more than 20 villages in flames while fly-ing over a section of Kashmir Valley, extending within 20 miles ofSrinagar. The villages had been set on fire by the invaders, who werescouring the Valley and moving in the direction of Srinagar.

Sydney Smith of Daily Express of London was in theBaramulla Hospital during those ten days and filed a first hand reportof the attack on the convent. “The tribal lashkars had come shoot-ing their way down from the hills on both sides of the town. Theyclimbed over the hospital walls from all sides. The first group burstinto a ward firing at the patients. A 20-year-old Indian nurse,Philomena, tried to protect a Muslim patient whose baby had justbeen born. She was shot dead first and the new mother was next.Mother Superior Aldetrude rushed into the ward, and as she kneltover Philomena, she was attacked and robbed. When the AssistantMother, Teresalina, saw a tribesman point a rifle at Mother Aldetrude,she jumped in front of her and a bullet went through Teresalina’sheart. At that moment, Colonel Dykes raced from his room to getthe Mother Superior out of danger, shouting at the tribesman as heran. But the Mother Superior was shot and Colonel Dykes collapsedbeside her, with a bullet in his stomach. His wife ran from her hus-band’s room to help the Colonel, but she too, was shot. While thiswent on, Gee Boretto, an Anglo-Indian, was killed in the garden infront of nine nuns. Then the nuns themselves were lined up beforea firing squad. We did not find Mrs Dykes until the following day.She had been thrown down a well. Reports had come that the chiefof another Evangelical Mission, Major Ronald Davis, a Welshman,and one of his two English women assistants, had been shot dead.The other assistant was said to have been taken to the hills,” saysSmith in his report.

Abdul Rahman of Baramulla, too, recorded his observations andsaid that the raiders looted the Hindus to begin with, burnt the hous-es of the Sikhs and killed them. “As a result of this arson and loot,the Sikhs and the Hindus fled Baramulla, leaving their houses burn-ing, and most of their women were raped and kidnapped. The raidersdid not touch the Muslims to begin with — perhaps they wantedto win their sympathy. After a few days when they found that theywere about to be forced out of the Valley, they turned on everybody.They started wholesale loot, arson and rape. They killed whoevercame in their way. The raiders also took all the valuable ornamentsof silver and gold, shawls and so on when they left,” he recalled.

According to the Wazir-i-Wazarat of Baramulla, ChauduryFaizullah, the tribal lashkars entered in groups of 30-40 men. Over5,000 of them were concentrated in Baramulla at one time. Theywere mostly tribesmen with a few Punjabi Muslims, all well-armedand led by Pirs, Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary officers.The local Muslim Conference men joined the raiders and acted asguides. From the day the raiders entered the town, they started killingnon-Muslims and looting and burning houses, irrespective of reli-gion and raping women. They broke into houses in groups of 10-12, robbed them and carried away valuables, clothes and food. About280 lorries were used to ferry this loot. The Pakistani raiders lefton the night of November 7 when the Indian Army re-captured it.The Times of London reported on November 11 that residents seemeddelighted to welcome the Indian troops. The Press despatch alsobore testimony to the fact that the convent and hospital were notdestroyed by the Indian aerial attacks as alleged by Pakistan wire-less statements.

(The writer is Secretary, Ministry of Culture)

The Indian retail industry is a high-ly competitive, $800 billion mar-ket with a Compound Annual

Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent.Out of that, the share of online retail is$32.7 billion with a CAGR of 31 percent. Smartphone penetration, brandconsciousness, demographics and pol-icy support are the factors transform-ing and pushing this industry towardsomnichannel retailing.

Omnichannel retailing is a fully-integrated approach to commerce, pro-viding shoppers a unified experienceacross all channels or touchpoints,including online and offline. It offersconsistent merchandise and seamlessinteraction between online and offlinechannels, thus combining the benefits

of both. However, the pandemic andsubsequent national and local lock-downs have greatly impacted bothsupply and demand. The supply sidewas hit by administrative restrictionsand limited resources while demand,too, remained subdued due to job-loss-es, salary cuts and restrictive spending.In such a situation, an agile response isneeded for swift operations, customersatisfaction and surviving in the post-Corona era.

Evolving consumer behaviour:Though retail has undergone many sig-nificant disruptions in the past, perhapsnone has shifted consumer behaviouras rapidly as this contagion has. Thechanges are happening due to factorslike challenges in personal situations,preferences towards local products, pre-cautionary measures against the virusand rising digital awareness — a by-product of promotion of contactlesstransaction.

Even in the unlock stage, con-sumers are hesitating to visit stores andwhile exercising social distancing mea-sures, many uninitiated customers aremoving towards online retailing. Forexample, many senior citizens are opt-ing for online grocery shopping as a

precautionary measure. Use of serviceslike contactless digital payments, socialcommerce and virtual consultationare also seeing a rise.

Many of these behavioural changeswill continue even after the pandemicis over. McKinsey and Company citedthis as “consumer behaviour shift.” Forexample, people will get used to thecomfort of home delivery, ease of dig-ital payments, varieties offered byonline markets and so on. Retailersneed to draw insights from thesechanges and rebuild the consumer con-fidence as the new normal continues.

Financial skills: Revenue is sharplydropping for many categories. Eventhough store profit has gone down,retailers need to pay rents, salaries andso on. Hence, at this point it is neces-sary for them to optimise cost and cur-tail the offerings to profitable items. Inthe long-term, as demand picks up, itwould be prudent to invest inomnichannel fulfillment as means tofinancial resilience.

Accept the new normal: Social dis-tancing, safety and hygiene proce-dures will be here for a while. The bestway to go forward is to accept the newnormal and the complexity it will

bring to decision-making. Consumer connect: Now more

than ever, it is must for retailers to con-nect and communicate. Consumers willdefinitely like to know what a businessis doing to ensure their safety, for deliv-ery as well as in stores. Despite the pan-demic, customers will need timelydeliveries of their order. So, in case ofitem shortages or delayed fulfillment,it is necessary to explain the cause andconvey the commitment.

Extra activity: First and foremost,retailers need to adapt to safety regu-lations, sanitisation procedures and reg-ulatory directives at the country, Stateand municipal level in various phasesof the unlocking. They need moredynamic inventory and logistics plan-ning to meet the fluctuations both indemand and supply, plus a connect withemployees regarding their health andfinancial well-being. This will preventattrition and business continuity.

Infrastructure: The Indian onlineretail infrastructure is in an intermedi-ate stage. The pandemic just exposedthe flaws and inefficiency which werealready there. Retailers should reviewthe location of warehouses, deliverycentres and their distributors to com-

pute the risk of supply chain disrup-tions. The partnership with local gro-cery stores will help retailers to ensuretimely contactless last mile deliveryeven during a crisis. Retailers also needto re-imagine in-store experience, con-sidering customers’ safety and efficientoperation with reduced staff whilecomplying with social distancingnorms.

Technology skills: Technologyallows retailers to have relevant infor-mation and visibility throughout thesupply chains, resulting in timely com-munication with all the stakeholders.Businesses will need secured, informa-tive and intuitive shopping apps, whichcan balance for the lack of store visits.Also, Artificial Intelligence will contin-ue to make a big impact in this sectorto predict real-time consumer demand,optimise inventory and manage back-orders, thus ensuring operational agili-ty.

Also, Smart Mirrors andAugmented Reality can help build astore-like environment in the virtualworld, ensuring safety. This way, retail-ers and associated stakeholders need toramp up technological skills and infra-structure as they enter a post-pandem-

ic era. As of today, India is among thetop countries with the highest numberof COVID cases and there is no end tothe contagion in sight. Even the coun-tries, where the outbreak seemed to bein control initially, are experiencing asecond wave. This has caused supplyand demand disruption and jolted themarket ecosystem.

Hence, it is certain that retailers,that are an integral part of the demand-driven economy, need to be financial-ly prudent, fast in their response to thenew dynamics and ready to collaboratethrough the value chain to thrive dur-ing this crisis and subsequent periods.As with many sectors, it is likely thatretail will see a regime shift and con-solidation. Smaller and financially-struggling businesses might face diffi-culty in surviving this crisis. At the sametime, retailers with a unique valueproposition will come out stronger. Thisoutbreak serves as a reminder forretailers to be more proactive in plan-ning and resilient in their response to unprecedented disruptions in future.

(The writers are Senior ResearchScholars at the Indian Institute ofScience, Bengaluru.)

New strategies for the new normalThis outbreak serves as a reminder for retailers to be more proactive in planning and resilient in their response to future disruptions

SWAPNILSONI

KOSHAJOSHI

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Because the pace oftechnological change,digitisation and globalisationjust keeps accelerating,theworld is being knit togethermore tightly than ever —sure, the globalisation ofgoods and people has beenslowed by the pandemic andpolitics, but the globalisationof services has soared —and the half-life of skills issteadily shrinking, meaningthat whatever skill youpossess today is being madeobsolete faster and faster.(The NYT editorial)

WORK, EDUCATIONREVOLUTION AHEAD

One issue which has captured the imagina-tion of India and occupied most of thespace in the country’s electronic and print

news media in recent times, especially some tele-vision channels, is the untimely death by suicideof actor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). The youngman, who was originally from Bihar, was founddead in his home in Bandra, Mumbai on June 14,where he had hung himself.

Going by the set procedures in such cases andgiven that this was a high-profile one involvinga celebrity’s death, the Mumbai Police went aboutits work diligently. It recorded the statements of56 people, including the immediate familymembers, relatives, live-in partner, friends andstaff of the deceased actor. At that point of theinvestigation, none of them alleged any foul play.Their statements, too, did not suggest a cognis-able offence. Consequently, the Mumbai Policeregistered the matter as an accidental death andproceeded in terms of Section 174 of the Codeof Criminal Procedure (CrPC). However, afterabout 40 days, on July 25, a First InformationReport (FIR) was registered at the Rajiv Nagarpolice station in Patna, Bihar, at the instance ofthe actor’s father, KK Singh, levelling allegationsof breach of trust, misappropriation of proper-ty of his deceased son and abetment to suicideagainst his live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty andher family members.

A police team from Patna went to Mumbaito carry out the investigation. However, theMumbai Police raised the issue of jurisdiction andthere was a lot of acrimony over the issue. Finally,on the recommendation of the BiharGovernment, the Central Government directedthe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carryout the probe in the matter. Meanwhile RheaChakraborty approached the Supreme Courtunder Section 406 of the CrPC for the transferof the FIR from the jurisdiction of the AdditionalChief Judicial Magistrate III, Patna Sadar, to theAdditional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate,Bandra, Mumbai.

Now, the settled legal position is that the FIRhas to be registered at the police station, whichhas jurisdiction over the area where the offenceor any part of it is alleged to have been commit-ted. Prima facie the Patna Police had no jurisdic-tion to register an FIR in the matter. Even if thecomplaint filed with the Bihar Police disclosedcommission of some cognisable offence, theestablished procedure would be to register a “zeroFIR” and transfer it to the police station empow-ered to do so. The Section which becomes rele-vant in this matter is Section 181(4) of the CrPC.It reads, “Any offence of criminal misappropri-ation or of criminal breach of trust may beinquired into or tried by a court within whoselocal jurisdiction the offence was committed. Orany part of the property, which is the subject ofthe offence, was received or retained, or wasrequired to be returned or accounted for, by theaccused person.”

The Supreme Court, in its judgment, upheldthe validity of registering the FIR in Patna, main-ly on the ground that the allegations also relat-ed to criminal breach of trust and misappropri-ation of money, which were to be eventuallyaccounted for in Patna (where the complainantresides) and that could prima facie indicate the

lawful jurisdiction of the Patna Police. The apex court heavily relied upon

the words “accounted for” in theSection to uphold the validity of theFIR. It did cite a few judgments to sub-stantiate its reasoning. Though it is notpossible to discuss every single judg-ment here, it can safely be said that innone of the cited judgments, the words“accounted for” have been used orapplied by the courts. They did notimply that only because the accusedwould eventually be accountable to legalheirs of the deceased, the FIR could belodged wherever the legal heirs of thedeceased reside, even though no partof the offence has ever taken place with-in the jurisdiction of that police station.

For argument’s sake, let us take ahypothetical case of a businessman,who commits suicide in Mumbai dueto alleged financial wrongdoing on thepart of his business associate or agentor even a creditor. Now, let us say thatone son of the deceased businessmanresides in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh andanother in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Byvirtue of this judgment, the police forcesof these two places would have the juris-diction to register an FIR and investi-gate the matter only because the moneywas eventually to be accounted for tothe satisfaction of the legal heirs in thesetwo cities. Thus, they would have theoption to choose the place/State whichbest suited their interests. An FIR setscriminal law into motion and, therefore,a probe by the police will follow. Apolice team from Lucknow orAhmedabad, as the case may be, willhave to travel all the way to Mumbai for

the investigation, collecting evidenceand recording the statements of wit-nesses. Will any meaningful probe bepossible in this manner? Will it not cre-ate a situation of political slugfests andinter-State wrangling with regard toinvestigations by the police force of oneState into a crime committed within theterritorial jurisdiction of another State?Will every such case then be assignedto the CBI or some other Centralagency?

Another aspect which needs to benoticed is that as per Supreme CourtRules notified on May 11, a single judgeis competent to hear certain bail mat-ters and transfer applications. The rel-evant apex court rule reads, “Providedthat the following categories of mattersmay be heard and disposed of finallyby a judge sitting singly nominated bythe Chief Justice: Special leave petitionsarising out of grant, dismissal or rejec-tion of Bail Application or AnticipatoryBail Application in the matters filedagainst the order passed under Section437, Section 438 or Section 439 of theCrPC 1973 (two of 1974) involving theoffences punishable with sentence upto seven years imprisonment; applica-tions for transfer of cases under Section406 of the CrPC 1973 (two of 1974);application of an urgent nature fortransfer of cases under Section 25 of theCrPC 1908 (five of 1908).”

Now Rhea Chakraborty filed a peti-tion under Section 406 of the CrPC fortransfer of investigation in the FIR reg-istered at Patna, Bihar to Mumbai,which was dismissed by the single judgeon the ground that Section 406 of the

CrPC does not grant the apex court anysuch power. Once the petition fortransfer itself had been declined, therewas no occasion to further decide thejurisdiction of the Patna Police to reg-ister an FIR, as it was neither a conse-quential matter, nor was the decision oftransfer petition dependent on theadjudication of validity of the FIR. Onthe perusal of the Rules reproducedabove, there was no occasion for thesingle judge to adjudicate upon theseissues. In effect, the judgment says thatin cases where a person commits sui-cide or is murdered and there are alle-gations of breach of trust or misappro-priation of property, then the FIR canbe registered by the legal heirs of thedeceased at any police station in India,wherever they reside. The investigationthen will have to be carried out by theofficer in-charge of that police station,though no part of the offence has evertaken place within its jurisdiction.

The judgment in the RheaChakraborty case has virtually laiddown a new jurisprudence with regardto police jurisdictions. It has blurredlines and has serious implications onthe criminal justice system so far as theinitiation of criminal proceedings isconcerned. This will only result in con-fusion and is susceptible to misuse bycomplainants. The court has given anopen-ended and wide interpretation tothe words “accounted for” in Section181(4) of the CrPC. This is bound togive birth to myriad and complicatedissues in the near future.

(The writer is an advocate in thePunjab and Haryana High Court)

AMIT JAISWAL

THE APEX COURTHEAVILY RELIED

UPON THE WORDS‘ACCOUNTED FOR’

IN THE SECTION TOUPHOLD THE

VALIDITY OF THEFIR. IT DID CITE AFEW JUDGMENTS

TO SUBSTANTIATEITS REASONING. IT

CAN SAFELY BESAID THAT IN NONE

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The lines are blurredThe judgment in the Rhea Chakraborty case has virtually laid down a new normwith regard to police jurisdictions, one which may be misused by complainants

analysis

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020 money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Media group DB Corp onWednesday reported a62.26 per cent fall in

consolidated net profit at Rs28.52 crore in the secondquarter ended on September 30,2020, on account of lowerrevenue from operations. Thecompany had reported a netprofit of Rs 75.57 crore in the July-September quarter a yearago.Revenue from operations during the quarter under review wasdown 34.82 per cent at Rs 346.36 crore as against Rs 531.39 crorein second quarter of 2019-20, DB Corp said in a regulatory filing.The company publishes newspapers such as Dainik Bhaskar, DivyaBhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar. Meanwhile, in aseparate filing, DB Corp informed the BSE that its board approvedthe appointment of Santosh Desai as an additional director witheffect from October 21, 2020 to hold the office as a non-executiveindependent director for a term of three years subject to theapproval by the shareholders.

DB Corp Q2 net profit falls 62 pc to Rs 28.52 crore

BDR Pharmaceuticals onWednesday said it haslaunched the generic version of

Lenvatinib drug for the treatmentof various types of cancers in India.The generic version of the drug hasbeen launched under the brandname 'Bdfoie' in the country. Thecapsules are used for the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer,advanced liver cancer and advanced kidney cancer, BDR Pharmasaid in a statement. The results of clinical trials showedencouraging results with safety and efficacy on patients withaggressive tumours, it added. The drug is priced at Rs 1,620 (4mg) and Rs 2,970 (10 mg) for a pack of 10 capsules, thestatement said. "By launching cost-effective therapy options wewant to mitigate the challenges faced by Indian patients in seekingaccess to treatment and finding a timely cure for life threateningdiseases," BDR Pharmaceuticals CMD Dharmesh Shah said.

BDR Pharma launches genericcancer drug in India

Realty major DLF's rental armhas given on lease 7.7 lakh sqft office space to Standard

Chartered GBS in an upcomingcommercial tower in Chennai to beconstructed at a cost of around Rs450 crore, a senior companyofficial said on Wednesday. DLFCyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL), which is a joint venturebetween DLF and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, has leasedthe space in its commercial project 'DLF Downtown' at Taramani inChennai being developed with a total investment of Rs 5,000 crore."We have signed an anchor leasing deal with Standard CharteredGBS for our upcoming office building at DLF Downtown," DLF'sManaging Director (Rental Business) Sriram Khattar told PTI.Khattar said this is one of the largest office space leasing deals inrecent times. "We will be developing a built-to-suit office building of10 lakh sq ft leasable area in this project. We have pre-leased 7.7lakh sq ft space to Standard Chartered GBS as an anchor tenant.

DLF pre-leases 7.7 lakh sq ft office space in Chennai

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India onWednesday said it has exportedover 25,000 cars in the current

year so far and achieved themilestone of shipping out 5,00,00thdomestically produced car, despitethe challenging demand scenarioglobally. The 5,00,000th milestone car is a left hand-drive Ventosedan, which is part of a batch of 982 cars being shipped out toMexico from Mumbai port, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India PrivateLtd (SAVWIPL) said in a release. The European car major startedexports of its vehicles from India in 2010 with 65 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento for the South Africa market. Since then, thecompany has continued to grow incrementally to build the 'Made inIndia' presence to 61 countries across South America, CentralAmerica, Africa and others.

Skoda Auto Volkswagen Indiaexports over 25k cars

PNSn NEW DELHI

The World Economic Forumon Wednesday released a list of20 markets of tomorrow thatwill transform economies in aninclusive and sustainable way,and named India among thecountries that present solidtechnological systems for sucha transformation.

However, several countries,including India, will needdevelopment in the social andinstitutional fabric to deliverthese markets, the Geneva-based organisation said in awhite paper released at its 'JobsReset Summit 2020', which isbeing held online.

These 20 'markets of tomor-row' include broad-spectrumantivirals, spaceflights, skillscapital, water rights and qual-ity credits, genes and DNAsequences, precision medicinesand orphan drugs, EdTech(education technology) andreskilling services, artificialintelligence, satellite services,greenhouse gas allowances,reforestation services, andhydrogen. Besides, electricvehicles, plastics recycling, care,data, digital financial services,hyperloop-based transport ser-vices, new antibiotics, and

unemployment insurance havealso been included in this list.

The WEF said some of thesenew markets will rely particu-larly on advances in technolo-gy, while others will requireradically new social and insti-tutional set-ups. Some marketswill emerge from a combina-tion of both the elements.

These markets can help soci-eties protect and empowerpeople, advance knowledgeand understanding, and protectthe environment, among otherbenefits. The WEF said coun-tries with advanced technolog-ical capabilities, strong socialcapital and future-orientedinstitutions are more likely tocreate a broader range of newmarkets needed for economic

transformation."As the world grapples with

the socio-economic conse-quences of the COVID-19pandemic, there is an increas-ing demand to shape a neweconomy that addresses broad-er societal and environmentalchallenges while generatingeconomic growth," it said. Toachieve this, the world needs toset an ambitious agenda oftechnological and socio-insti-tutional innovations to pilotnew markets that can helpsolve these challenges, theWEF added. It added thatIndia, Spain and Japan are justbelow the bar in terms ofsocio-institutional innovation,while the economy of Taiwan,China, is just above.

‘Antivirals, hyperloops among 20markets to transform economies’

NEW DELHI: More than halfof the working adults globallyare concerned about losingtheir job in the next 12months, including 57 per centin India, but more than two-thirds are hopeful that theiremployers will help themretrain for new employmentopportunities, a global surveyshowed on Wednesday.

The survey, released at theWorld Economic Forum's'Jobs Reset Summit' beingheld online, also showed widevariations between countries,while an average of three infour workers in Russia fearedjob losses, it was just one infour in Germany.

In India, nearly 57 per centof respondents said they are'concerned' about their jobs --over 25 per cent are 'veryconcerned' and 31 per centare 'somewhat concerned'.

Globally, 54 per centconcerned about job losses inthe next 12 months, the WEF-Ipsos global survey of morethan 12,000 working adults in27 countries showed.

The prevalence of job-lossconcern was highest at 75per cent in Russia, followedby 73 per cent in Spain andand 71 per cent in Malaysia.Germany scored the best with26 per cent, while it was 30per cent in Sweden, and 36per cent in the Netherlandsand the US.

However, 67 per cent ofworkers worldwide said theycan learn skills needed for thejobs of the future throughtheir current employer. Nearlynine in 10 workers in Spainthink they can gain essentialnew skills on the job, whereasfewer than half in Japan,Sweden and Russia.

Across the 27 countries,perceived ability to learn anddevelop those skills on the jobwas found to be the mostwidespread in Spain (86 percent), Peru (84 per cent), andMexico (83 per cent) and theleast common in Japan (45per cent), Sweden (46 percent), and Russia (48 percent). India also scored veryhigh at 80 per cent.

Half of working adults worriedabout jobs, says global survey

PNSn MUMBAI

Describing independent direc-tors as a "puzzle", SebiChairman Ajay Tyagi onWednesday urged such direc-tors resigning from boards ofcompanies to flag corporategovernance concerns if theyhave any.

Independent directors havean important role to performas they are a voice of theminority shareholders andadded that in the last two-threeyears, Sebi has seen a rise in thenumber of resignations of suchpeople.

"If any such resignation is onaccount of governance con-cern, considering the role of,and expectations from, inde-pendent directors, I urge theresigning independent direc-tors to come forward and statethe same clearly to the publicat large," Tyagi said at an eventorganised by industry group-ing CII.

He also said that the direc-tors are mandated to give rea-sons for their resignationswithin seven days and gobeyond "cryptic" writing todetail out an exact reason fortheir move.

Tyagi admitted that theindependent directors are a"puzzle" which the Sebi is try-ing to deal with as it attempts

to strengthen the overall sys-tems.

India Inc has faced fraudsover the last few years and reg-ulators have been makingefforts to strengthen the cor-porate governance standards.

"... the whole thing that they(independent directors) arethe voice of the minority share-holders, to what extent shouldthey be accountable andresponsible, how they fit ininto the board structure, whichtype of people should be taken"are among the issues Sebi isgrappling with, Tyagi said.

According to him, industrygroupings like CII, which is atpresent headed by bankerUday Kotak who had draftedthe code on corporate gover-nance, will play an importantrole.

The industry bodies have toself-regulate, introspect moreand set higher standards oncorporate governance, Tyagisaid. Investors, including insti-tutional and retail, also have animportant role to play andneed to participate in the vot-ing processes more actively, headded.

Similarly, auditors, creditrating agencies, debenturetrustees and proxy advisorsalso have an important role toplay in upping the overallstandards and helping usherreforms, he noted.

Further, Tyagi said thatreforms should not be limitedto a radical change alone andstressed that small, incremen-tal changes also constitutereforms.

Independent directors a‘puzzle', says Sebi chief

Sebi ChairmanAjay Tyagiadmitted that theindependentdirectors are a"puzzle" which theSebi is trying todeal with as itattempts tostrengthen theoverall systems

PNSn MUMBAI

The new integrated terminalbuilding being constructed atPune airport with an invest-ment of Rs 475 crore to handle2,300 passengers during thepeak hours is expected to becompleted by March 2022,AAI said on Wednesday.

A multi-level car park(ground plus three storeyed +2basement floors) is also underconstruction at a cost of Rs 120crore as part of the airportrevamp plan, the AirportsAuthority of India (AAI) saidin a release.

AAI has undertaken theconstruction work for the newintegrated terminal building at

Pune Airport in order to caterto the continuous surge inpassenger traffic and ease con-gestion at the airport.

More than 40 per cent of thework is completed and thenew building, which is spread

in over 5 lakh sq ft area, is like-ly to be completed byMarch,2022, AAI said.

The swanky new terminalbuilding will be able to process2,300 passengers (1,700domestic and 600 interna-

tional) during peak hours, itsaid, adding that it will beequipped with five boardingbridges, 34 check-in countersand in-line baggage handling

system,Besides, 32,000 sq ft space

has been provisioned for foodand beverages and retail out-lets inside the airport, therelease said.

The project also includesconstruction of a service yardof 3,800 sq metre, a 10-lakhlitre capacity undergroundtank, 1,130 kilo litres per daycapacity sewage treatmentplant, among others, it said.

With a parking capacity of1,024 cars, the facility will beconnected to the departurearea of the existing buildingwith a sky bridge with provi-sion of escalators and an ele-vator at the building side fordropping/going up.

Integrated terminal building at Pune airport by Mar ’22AAI hasundertaken theconstruction workfor the newintegrated terminalbuilding in order tocater to thecontinuous surgein passenger trafficand easecongestion

PNSn NEW DELHI

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX)on Wednesday said it hasrecorded a 13.2 per cent rise inelectricity sales to 16,486 mil-lion units (MU) in theSeptember quarter, as powerdemand accelerated andreturned to pre-COVID levels.

The second quarter wit-nessed a sharp recovery inindustrial activities and elec-tricity consumption, owing toeasing of the lockdown restric-tions across the country, anIEX statement said.

"The electricity volumes onthe exchange witnessed anincrease of 13.2 per cent Y-o-Y (year-on-year) in Q2FY21(July-September 2020) andstood at 16,486 MU as com-pared to 14,560 MU in

Q2FY20 (July-September2019)," it added.

The second quarter initial-ly saw a slump in manufactur-ing due to re-lockdowns in afew states, however, the indus-trial activity picked upmomentum in August andSeptember, it said.

With the rise in economic

and industrial activities, thepower demand also accelerat-ed and returned to the pre-COVID levels, IEX said.

The country witnessed a 2per cent y-o-y growth innational peak demand and 4.6per cent increase in energyconsumption in September2020.

PNSn NEW DELHI

Infrastructure company PNCInfratech on Wednesday saidit has emerged as the lowestbidder for a Rs 1,001 croreproject in Andhra Pradesh.

The company has beendeclared the L I (lowest) bid-der in an EPC Project for"Upgradation of CanalSystem from PothireddypaduHead Regulator and BCRComplex from foreshore ofSrisailam Reservoir andimprovements to existingSRBC/GNSS Canal up toberm level fromBanakacherla Complex toGorukallu BalancingReservoir...with the WaterResources Department,Andhra Pradesh," PNCInfratech said in a statement.

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Rating agency Fitch onWednesday affirmed its rat-ing for Kerala at 'BB' with astable outlook.

The BB rating is for thelong-term foreign currencyand local currency issuerdefault ratings of the state, theagency said in a statement.

"The BB rating affirmationwith stable outlook" is basedon a 'mid-range' assessmentof the state's risk profile anda moderate 'bbb' debt-sus-

tainability assessment, Fitchsaid, adding that Kerala is a'type A' government as it canincur structural deficits.

The agency has assessedthe state's revenue robustnessas 'stronger' and the stand-alone credit profile in 'BB'category, reflecting a combi-nation of the mid-range riskprofile.

The state's gross regionalproduct (GRP) rose 11.4 percent in FY19 at current pricesto Rs 7.8 lakh crore, which iscompound annual growth

rate (CAGR) of 10.4 per centin the immediate past fouryears (FY15-FY19).

"We estimate FY20 GRP atRs 8.7 lakh crore. Kerala'stotal revenue increased at afour-year (FY15-FY19)CAGR of 12.5 per cent, fasterthan its GRP," it said.

The state has stable rev-enue sources, as its tax andnon-tax revenue accountedfor 67 per cent of operatingrevenue in FY19, higher thanthe all-state average of 55 percent.

PNSn MUMBAI

Gender positive workplacepolicies are attracting morewomen to the Data Sciencespace, as a significant per-centage of women believethat there are more opportu-nities for them in the AI andAnalytics field now than fiveyears ago, says a survey.

According to a survey by ed-tech company Great Learning,while 54 per cent women saidthere are more opportunitiesfor them in AI than five yearsago, 27 per cent believe thatequal growth and pay for thesame level of experience andeducation will encourage morewomen. The top five factorscited for this rise in opportuni-ty include positive workplacepolicies, greater participation ofwomen in the hiring process,favourable recruitment policies,lesser bias towards women andpresence of more role-modelsfor women than before, the sur-vey added.

PNSn MUMBAI

Extending its gains for thefourth session, equity bench-mark Sensex ended 163 pointshigher on Wednesday, led byindex majors HDFC twinsand ICICI Bank.

After gyrating 825.54 pointsin a highly volatile session, the30-share BSE index ended162.94 points or 0.40 per centhigher at 40,707.31.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty rose 40.85 points or0.34 per cent to finish at11,937.65.

PowerGrid was the topgainer in the Sensex pack,surging over 4 per cent, fol-lowed by Bharti Airtel, TataSteel, NTPC, HDFC Bank,UltraTech Cement and KotakBank.

On the other hand, TCS,Nestle India, RelianceIndustries and HCL Tech wereamong the laggards.

"Domestic indices managedto close in the green, but notwithout its share of hiccupsover rumours on waiver ofinterest on loans," said SRanganathan, Head ofResearch at LKP Securities.

Banks and metals providedsupport even as several stockssaw profit booking duringafternoon trade, he added.

PNSn NEW DELHI

Bajaj Finance Ltd (BFL) onWednesday reported a 36 percent drop in its consolidatednet profit at Rs 965 crore forthe second quarter of the2020-21 fiscal year.

The non-banking financecompany had posted a netprofit of Rs 1,506 crore in theJuly-September quarter a yearago.

Its total consolidatedincome grew 3 per cent to Rs

6,523 crore during the July-September period of 2020-21as against Rs 6,323 crore in thesame quarter a year earlier,BFL said in a regulatory filing.

Net interest income was up4 per cent at Rs 4,165 crore asagainst Rs 4,000 crore.

The Pune-headquarteredcompany said new loansbooked during the secondquarter of this fiscal dropped44 per cent to 36.2 lakh asagainst 64.7 lakh in the corre-sponding period a year ago.

PNSn LONDON

The UK government's bor-rowing rose to the highestlevel on record in the first halfof the financial year as tax rev-enue fell and authorities spentbillions of pounds to prop up

an economy ravaged by thecoronavirus pandemic.

The Office for NationalStatistics said Wednesdaythat the government bor-rowed a net 36.1 billionpounds (USD 47.1 billion) inSeptember, pushing the totalfor the first six months of the

year to 208.5 billion pounds.That's the highest figuresince records began in 1993.

Tax revenue dropped 11.6per cent from a year earlierin the six months throughSeptember. At the sametime, support for individualsand bus inesses to get

through the pandemic con-tributed to a 34 per centincrease in day-to-dayspending.

Public sector net debt nowstands at 103.5 per cent ofthe U.K.'s annual economicoutput, the highest levelsince 1960, the ONS said.

PNC Infratechlowest bidderfor Rs 1,001 cr

Sensex rises163points, Nifty 40

Fitch affirms Kerala ratingat ‘BB' with stable outlook

Bajaj Finance Q2net profit falls 36%

UK govt borrowing rises to record due to Covid

Women taking to Data Science

PNSn HONG KONG

Hong Kong airline CathayPacific Airways said Wednesday it would cut 8,500 jobsand shut a regional airline asit grapples with the plungein air travel due to the pan-demic.

About 5,300 employeesbased in Hong Kong andanother 600 elsewhere willlikely lose their jobs, and2,600 unfilled positions willbe cut. The cuts are about 24per cent of the company'sworkforce, Cathay Pacificsaid in a statement. “Theglobal pandemic continues tohave a devastating impact onaviation and the hard truth iswe must fundamentallyrestructure the group to sur-vive,” Cathay Pacific CEOAugustus Tang said in a state-ment. The company said itwill also shut down CathayDragon, its regional airlineunit, with operations ceasingfrom Wednesday. It will seekregulatory approval for mostof the routes to be operatedby Cathay Pacific and itsbudget airlines subsidiaryHK Express.

Cathay Pacific tocut 8,500 jobs

IEX sees 13.2 pc growth in electricity sales in Q2

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ThursdayOctober 22, 2020

Imagine findingfriends in people younever met? Imagine

thousands of themhelping pay for a

crucial surgery withouteven knowing who you

are, but doing it all inthe name of humanity?

That's exactly whathappened with Yona

and his 10-year-olddaughter Blessy. They

talk to The Pioneer'sRACHEL

DAMMALA on how acommunity of people

that cared for them,regardless of age,

gender, and language

e often wonder“what can mycontributionalone do?” Themiraculous storyof a 10-year-old

girl who was able to beat afatal disease will make yourethink how valuable everysingle contribution as acommunity is.

All of a decade old, Blessy,a happy-go-lucky girl wasdiagnosed with Wilson’sDisease, which could poten-tially take her life if not oper-ated upon. An immediateliver transplant was the onlyroad to her recovery. Herfather, Yona, an auto-drivercouldn’t afford the 26-lakhrupee surgery. But whensomebody told him aboutseeking help from strangerscould help to an extent, hedidn’t believe it at first. Hedecided to give it a try andthe result if for us to see.

Thousands of people,

across different states, lan-guages, and religions cameforward as one strong com-munity to stand by Blessy asshe battled the disease.

It all started when Blessybegan losing weight all of asudden and fell sick. Ahealth check-up revealed shehad jaundice, and monthslater, when medication didn'twork, a proper scan showedit was Wilson’s disease.“Soon, she was at end-stageliver damage and only animmediate liver transplantcould help save our daughter.The treatment would cost us26 lakhs, and I, an auto dri-ver, could never be able toearn so much,” Yona, Blessy’sfather tells us. That’s whenkind doctors like Dr LathaPrasad, Dr Dharmesh Kapur,Prashant Bachchan, Yona’spastor came to the family’srescue. While Dr Latha didall that she could do to treatthe girl without charging a

penny aside from the bedcost, Dr Dharmesh led thesurgery and PrashantBachchan advised the familyto go for crowdfunding viaMilaap. “While we weren’t sosure of receiving much, wethought we’d give a try. Andthat’s how thousands ofstrangers blessed Blessy andour lives by giving theirhard-earned money to affordthe treatment. Today, hersmile devoid of that pain,gives us joy like nothingelse,” shares the father.

There also were peoplewho told Yona that he, whoran around hospitals and formoney for more than a year,should let his daughter(eldest among three chil-dren) go since nobody couldpromise the operation, evenif done, could help saveBlessy’s life. He shares, “Theymeant it in good stead, but Icouldn’t ever give up withouttrying till the last minute and

I’m glad I did, because it wasthis very struggle that meltedpeople’s hearts to come for-ward and help. I thought tomyself, even if God intendedto take my child, I will do allI can to keep her with us aslong as I can, but God wasgracious and sent this hugecommunity of people whonever knew me to help ourdaughter.”

Today, the 6th gradersmiles as a mark of completerecovery from the transplantthat a community of com-pletely unknown people hashelped her afford. Blessy, notsurprisingly, hopes to be adoctor when she grows up.“I thank everybody thatshelled out every penny tomake me see another day inmy life. When I grow up tobe a doctor, I’ll treat thepoor free of cost so theywon't have to go through allthat my father did to saveme," she smiles.

W

nkur Bhatia is playing themain antagonist in theseries Crackdown, whichhas an ensemble cast.Clearly standing out asTariq who is the head of the

Pakistani army, he is as menacingas it can get and is a sight to beholdwith his portrayal of the character.Praises are pouring in from everynook and corner, with audiencesloving the series. He worked inSarabjit, Haseena Parker, andAarya earlier and his graph as anactor has only been going up andhe knows no limits now.

“It was a fantastic time shootingfor Crackdown. We finished it justin the nick of time. I would like tothank Apoorva Lakhia sir for thiswonderful opportunity. I hope Ihave been able to do pure justice toit. We wanted it to be a menacingcharacter as well as a memorableone, seems we have managed to dojust that. Acting is something thatmakes me feel alive and gives me akick. It's my only passion as I quit aWallstreet job for this. I am luckyto have been getting some greatopportunities. We as a team put inour best from Crackdown and Ithink the results are very convinc-ing,” shares Ankur.

Fans are asking for Season 2 andit will be sometime before we hearabout that. It's been some solidperformances and we have clearstandouts in them. Ankur definite-ly completes both.

Applausesfor AnkurBhatiasoaringhigh

A

CLEARLYSTANDING OUTAS TARIQ WHOIS THE HEAD OFTHE PAKISTANIARMY, HE IS ASMENACING ASIT CAN GET ANDIS A SIGHT TOBEHOLD WITHHIS PORTRAYALOF THECHARACTER INCRACKDOWN

I thank everybody that shelled out every penny tomake me see another day in my life. When I growup to be a doctor, I’ll treat the poor free of cost sothey won't have to go through all that my father didto save me

BLESSY

Through thelooking glassHyderabad has officially gone virtual! Inresponse to the pandemic, the eventindustry is shifting towards innovations inthe form of a new socially distanced realitychanging the way we interact rapidly. In thewake of this, Hyderabad’s Goethe-Zentrumpresents the first-of-its-kind virtual photoexhibition featuring works of 10 renownedartists based in Hyderabad on the emotionsof unity, harmony, and non-violence.Wondering who these amazingphotographers are and what do they do?SHIKHA DUGGAL writes about them

mita Talwar

Amita Talwar is a Hyde-rabad-based artist, pho-tographer, documentaryfilmmaker, and socialentrepreneur, who runs

Art for Causes, which focus on pro-viding education and introducingdifferent art forms and creative in-puts to children from economicallyunderprivileged backgrounds. Herphotographs, paintings are primarilyutilised to generate funds for NGOs.

S. Harpal Singh

S. Harpal Singh is born andbrought up in the Adilabad districtin northern Telangana, which isknown for its amazing range ofbiodiversity. He has also been theformer Senior Assistant Editor witha national English daily, based out ofhis home district. For the last 17 ye-ars, he has travelled across the dis-trict as a part of his work and beganclicking pictures in the rural areas.

Namrata Rupani

“Photography can change lives.It’s all about your perspective”, saysDr Namrata Rupani who discoveredphotography as her passion whilebeing a full-time dentist. She started‘Capture Life’, a photo service com-pany offering wedding and portraitphotography services. She startedconducting photography workshopswhich are now incredibly popular!She has shot multitudes of commer-cial projects for over 7 years now,which includes weddings, portraits,infrastructure, food, etc. The joy ofher pictures made her expand intothe fine art print business to makefine art prints, provide design andprint solutions for various clientsacross India. She is also internation-ally recognised as the FearlessPhotographer and has been namedin the “ Most Luxurious WeddingPhotographer” by Wedding Vowsmagazine.

Samar JodhaSamar is a photographer and

filmmaker who uses his practice tohighlight the voices of the margin-alised. He is keenly invested inYOUTH, a group that he believeshas the power to lead and enablesocial impact. Samar owns RedBalloon, an organisation that hasemanated from his long-held visionof using art to positively set a dis-course in society. With this, he hasgiven his vision a platform by creat-ing a collaborative ecosystem that iscritical, a large-scale mobilisation,and impactful. With art and designat its core, he builds partnershipswith children of all ages and back-grounds, raises awareness on criticalissues, and enables individual lead-ership towards a change.

Saurabh Chatterjee

Saurabh is the Founder and ChiefEducator at SIA Photography. Hisdream is to see India and to makeevery camera-owner a great photog-rapher. He has written over 200travel articles for various magazinesand newspapers. His works havebeen published in several nationaland international publicationsincluding the National GeographicTraveller, Lonely Planet, TimeoutExplorer (UK), The Times(London, UK).

Serish Nanisetti

Serish Nanisetti is the author ofGolconda Bagnagar Hyderabad,which is a narrative chronicle of thecity during the Qutb Shahi era. Ajournalist with a national Englishdaily in Hyderabad, he has exten-sively researched, written, and pho-tographed the city. He is busyclimbing hills, forts, or trampingthrough graveyards to get us someof his beautiful clicks.

Sourav Nandi

Sourav Nandi is a blooming artistfrom Bengal. He was born andbrought up in Birbhum district nearShantiniketan. Photography is hispassion, he has participated in anumber of group shows in Kolkataand across India. Some of his workshave been selected in internationalexhibitions too!

Vijay.S.Jodha

Vijay S. Jodha is a Gurgaon-basedwriter, filmmaker, and self-trainedphotographer. He has produced fivebooks and his projects have beenshowcased in galleries, museums,and festivals worldwide. His filmshave been broadcasted on 75 chan-nels in 195 countries including onBBC, CNN, and Discovery. His pro-jects have received over 70 honoursin 24 countries.

Swarat Ghosh

Swarat Ghosh is an Indian pho-tographer based in Hyderabad. Hisphotography has been published inseveral national and internationalmagazines, including TheWashington Post, Burn Magazine,National Geographic Traveller, andInternational Street Photographer.Furthermore, he was nominated forthe Joop Swart Masterclass orga-nized by World Press Photo. Duringthat same year, he won awardsunder the “Series” categories of twomajor street photography festivals –the London Street PhotographyFestival and Brussels’s StreetPhotography Festival and manymore such accolades to his name.

Sreesailam Pasupula

After completing his MasterCraftsman Diploma in ProfessionalPhotography and Digital imagingfrom Mumbai, Sreesailam Pasupulaundertook extensive traveling inIndia since to pursue his personalprojects and experience the diversecultures of the nation. He thus spe-cialised in different genres of pho-tography. He has received morethan 25 International Awards atHPA-China, PX3-France, IPA-USA,B&W Spider-USA, The ColourAwards-USA, Alliance Francis-Paris, etc. He was also the GrandPrize winner at the Lonely PlanetInternational Contest in 2010 andreceived the Xposure InternationalTravel Photography ScholarshipAward at Sharjah UAE in 2016.

Photographs can capture amoment in time that is gone foreveror capture a moment in history forfuture generations. They can alsochange behaviour and stimulateunderstanding between people sodon’t let anything hold you back,surf Goethe-Zentrum across socialmedia, and have a look at theseamazing pieces of exhibits with amessage lingering behind!

A

LENDING AHELPING HAND

10

Hyderabad Thursday October 22 2020

PAR

TY

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

what’s brewing?

NEW GUINNESS RECORD A

new Guinness World Record for the most number of diamonds ina ring was achieved by Hyderabad's very own Kotti Srikanth,owner of The Diamond Store by Chandubhai (Hallmark Jewellers).

Consisting of a total of 7,801 natural diamonds, 'The Divine - 7801Brahma Vajra Kamalam', was unveiled at their store.

VIRTUALBEAUTY PAGEANT

In a first-of-its-kind event, Grand Finale of MrsIndia Telangana and Mrs India Andhra Pradesh

2020, organised by Mrs Mamta Trivedi, waslive streamed where Mrs Hansapriya and Dr Bindu

Madhavi Paruchuri were adjudged winnersrespectively. Mrs Neha Jha won the Telangana

title in the Classic (40 to 60 years)category while Mrs Bandaru Komala

Krishna won the classic title inAndhra Pradesh.

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l Neeru Mohan

l Mamta Trivedi

l R

adhi

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l Vidya Vanka l Anisha Achuthan

l Srikanth and Chandraprakash

l Vandana Singh

l Sapna l Sirisha

he makers of Aranyaon Wednesday con-

firmed that the film,spearheaded by Rana

Daggubati andVishnu Vishal, will

be hitting the screens duringSankranti next year. The film,after witnessing multiple pro-duction delays, was slotted for

an April big screen rollout earli-er this year before the pandem-ic forced the makers to defer it

indefinitely. Amid rumours thatproduction house Eros Motion

Pictures was toying with theidea of a direct-to-web release,

the Sankranti release announce-ment dispelled such notions.“As we fight together against

the deadly pandemic, we mustlook to our forests for inspira-

tion — The lungs of our planetthat have long battled a growing

pandemic of deforestation &industrialisation! This

Sankranti 2021, let’s save themwith #Aranya at a theatre near

you,” read a statement from theproduction house.

Peppered with a lot ofaction, the film tells the storyof a mahout (played by Rana)who fights for the jungle, theanimals, and against society.

The issue of deforestation anda wall which is being made in

the middle of the jungle whichbreaks nature and the elephantcorridor is highlighted in par-

ticular. Directed by PrabhuSolomon, the lavishly-mountedAranya has been shot in Hindi,

Tamil and Telugu simultane-ously.

Interestingly, Aranya, at theTelugu box-office, has to face

some stiff competition fromRang De and Alludu Adhurs,

both films of which bookedtheir dates for Sankranti some-

time back.

ollywood starSanjay Dutt onWednesdayannounced that hehas come out “vic-torious” from his

cancer battle and thankedfans and well-wishers fortheir unwavering support inthis journey.

The 61-year-old actorshared the news in a state-ment on Twitter on the occa-sion of his children’s birthday,Shaahran and Iqra whoturned 10 today.

“The last few weeks werevery difficult time for myfamily and me. But like theysay, God gives the hardestbattles to his strongest sol-diers. And today, on theoccasion of my kids’ birthday,I am happy to come out vic-torious from this battle andbe able to give them the bestgift I can. The health and wellbeing of our family,” Sanjay

Dutt said.The news comes days

after a family source toldPTI that the actor had

responded “very well”to the medical treat-

ment for cancer.In August, Sanjay

Dutt hadannounced that hewould be taking abreak from hisprofessional com-mitments to focuson medical treat-

ment, amid specu-lation that he was

battling lung can-cer.

The actor, in hisstatement, further

thanked friends andfamily for being hissource of strength.

T

11

Hyderabad Thursday October 22 2020tollywood

A classic look for Prabhas in

RADHE SHYAM

couple of daysbefore superstarPrabhas rings inhis 41st birthday,the makers of hisnext, Radhe

Shyam, have unveiled a newstill of his from the film,bringing smiles on the facesof the legions of his fans.

Dressed in a classic darkpurple sweatshirt with darkbrown trousers and a bluepocketed blazer, Prabhasstrikes a cool pose while rest-ing on top of a vintage greenluxury car. Italian vintagearchitecture dots the back-ground.

Unveiling his look, leadactress Pooja Hedge, whoplays Prerana, in the film,posted, “The BIG momenthas arrived!! Here’s introduc-ing #Prabhas as#Vikramaditya in the latestposter of #RadheShyam!”

Production house UVCreations is also planning toreveal a motion poster of thefilm to mark Prabhas’ birth-day on Friday. Presently, thefilm is progressing in Italy,where director Radha

Krishna Kumar is filmingscenes on the lead pair andother supporting actors. Theunit is expected to return toHyderabad towards themonth-end.

A romantic drama set inEurope; Radhe Shyam isbeing shot in Telugu andHindi simultaneously, while itwill be dubbed into Tamiland Malayalam. It will alsomark veteran actor andPrabhas’ uncle UV KrishnamRaju’s daughter Praseedamaking her debut as a pro-ducer. She is jointly produc-ing it along with UVCreations’ Vamsi andPramod. She is representingher dad’s banner GopiKrishna Movies, the produc-tion house of which is pre-senting the film.

The likes of Bhagyashree,Sachin Khedekar, MurliSharma, Kunal Roy Kapur,Sathyan, Priyadarshi, SashaChettri, Beena Benarji andRiddhi Kumar are playingsupporting roles in the film,which according to a littlebirdie, is being planned for anApril-end big screen debut.

A

Unveiling abrand new still

and announcingthe character

name ofPrabhas from

Radhe Shyam,productionhouse UV

Creations isgearing up to

make the actor'sbirthday special

for his fans

Pawan Kalyanannounces Rs 1crfor TSCMRF

ate on Tuesdaynight, superstarand Jana Senachief PawanKalyanannounced a

contribution of Rs 1 croreto the Telangana govern-ment to aid the peoplewho have been affecteddue to ceaseless rains inHyderabad. His donationcomes in the wake of fel-low actors likeChiranjeevi, Nagarjuna,Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR,Prabhas, Ram, VijayDeverakonda and direc-tors like Trivikram, HarishShankar and AnilRavipudi contributinghandsomely to TelanganaCM Relief Fund.

In a video statement,Pawan said that on onehand while the worldeconomy has crashed dueto the COVID-19 pan-demic, India has recordedthe highest amount ofrainfall in centuries.“Telangana,especially,has wit-nessedinces-santrains

in the past one week, lead-ing to property damageand loss of livelihood. Iblame it on impropertown planning in the lastfew decades. Irrespectiveof the present circum-stances, the Telanganagovernment has under-stood the trouble thatpeople are facing on theground and are doingtheir bit financially. I’mannouncing Rs 1 crore forthe government to contin-ue helping the people,” theactor noted.

Filmmaker Shankarof Jayam Manadera

and Jai BoloTelangana fametoo announced asum of Rs 10lakh as hiscontribution toCMRF.

L

B

Happy to

come out

victorious

from this

battle: SD

hen promi-nent actorBrahmajitweeted thathe was “plan-ning to buy a

motorboat…sugges-tions please…” in thewake of relentlessrains in Hyderabad,little did he know thathis wit would landhim in huge trouble.He was subjected toimmense trolling, withmany netizens findinghis tweet in poor taste,especially with therain fury causing greatdamage in low-lyingareas.

The actor, who usu-ally displays his funnyside on Twitter as well,was also a victim ofthe floods, as hisapartment cellar in thecity was filled withrain water. His plan ofparking his car afterwork at a nearbyapartment provedfutile and it is in thisregard, he uploadedthe motorboat post.But the brutal back-lash left him with nooption but to deacti-vate his Twitteraccount. He com-mands a sizable fol-lowing on Twitter.

In the recentpast, Brahmaji, amuch sought-after actor forsupporting turns,has been a part ofsuccessful films likeMathu Vadalara,Sarileru Neekevvaru,Ala Vaikutunthapuramlo andBheeshma. HisupcomingfilmsincludeUppena,AlluduAdhursandPushpa.

Brahmaji's

post landshim introuble

W

Aranya booksSankranti date Its celebration time in the family of

Sivakumar as his younger son Karthi,a Tamil-Telugu actor, was blessed witha baby boy on Tuesday evening.Updating the happy news to his fol-lowers on his social media pages,

Karthi thanked the doctors and nurses whohelped his wife Ranjani deliver a healthy child.“Dear friends and family, we are blessed with aboy baby. We can’t thank enough our doctors andnurses who took us through this life changingexperience. Need all your blessings for the littleone. Thank you god (sic),” his post read.

The actor’s bigbrother Suriya tooexpressed his joy, wel-coming a new mem-ber to their family. Hewrote, “We areblessed! Thank youyet again Dr NirmalaJayashankar andteam.”

The newborn isKarthi’s second child,as he already has adaughter Umayaalwho was born in2013. Karthi had tiedthe knot with Ranjanion 3rd July, 2011.

On the professionalfront, Karthi will benext seen in Sultan,which is presently inpost-production. Heis also playing aprominent part inmentor ManiRatnam’s PonniyinSelvan, whose shoot ison pause mode due toCOVID-19 pandemic.

I

Karthi blessedwith a baby boy

inning the box-office aside, F2-Fun and Frustration, starringVictory Venkatesh and VarunTej, has now bagged two presti-gious awards at the IndianPanorama for 2019 from the

Telugu category. According to TheMinistry of Information andBroadcasting, Government of India, thefilm has been named as the Best Film forTelugu category while Anil Ravipudibagged Indian Panorama RegulationsSpecial Jury award as the Best Director.

Expressing his happiness over theacknowledgment, Ravipudi extended histhanks to his leading lights and crew forthe support they’ve extended during themaking. “My thanks to the team of SVC,Raju garu and Sirish garu for makingthis laugh riot of a film to happen,” headded. He is gearing up to the sequel, F3,with the same cast up next. It will com-mence from next year.

W

F2 getsnationalrecognition

AFP n PARIS

Marcus Rashford once againsank Paris Saint-Germain

after netting the decisive goal ina 2-1 Champions League win inthe French capital on Tuesday,while Barcelona sent a messagewith a thumping 5-1 victory overFerencvaros.

Rashford, who scored thewinning spot-kick when Unitedknocked PSG out in 2019,drilled home a low shot threeminutes from the end whichwon a thrilling Group H contestat a near-empty Parc des Princes.

United had taken the lead inthe 23rd minute when BrunoFernandes slotted home fromthe spot at the second attempt,but Anthony Martial inexplica-bly headed Neymar’s cornerinto his own net 10 minutes afterthe break.

The rest of the match was anend-to-end affair with bothsides opting to go for the winrather than hold on for the draw,and Rashford took the pointsafter twice being denied byKeylor Navas earlier in thematch.

The win sets United upnicely for next week’s homeclash with RB Leipzig, who are

top of the group after beatingIstanbul Basaksehir 2-0 inGermany.

KOEMAN’S WWINNING SSTARTRonald Koeman got his

first Champions League cam-paign as Barcelona coach off toa winning start with a confidentwin over Ferencvaros that givesthem control of Group G, topbut level on three points withJuventus.

Ferencvaros, the firstHungarian team to make thegroup stage in 11 years, startedbrightly and even had the ball inthe net via Tokmac Nguen onlyfor the powerful 12th-minutestrike to be ruled out for offside.

Messi won and convertedthe penalty to give the Catalansa 27th-minute lead and thematch was as good as donewhen Ansu Fati clipped homeFrenkie de Jong’s sumptuouspass just before the break.

Philippe Coutinho lashed

PTI n ABU DHABI

Royal ChallengersBangalore cruised to afacile eight-wicket win

over Kolkata Knight Riders onWednesday at the SheikhZayed Stadium. MohammedSiraj led the way with figures of2/8 as RCB strangled KKR to84/8 in their 20 overs. Theychased down the target with awhopping 39 balls to spare.

The win takes RCB levelon points with the top-placedDelhi Capitals at 14, from 10matches. They remain secondonly on the basis of their infe-rior net run rate.

RCB openers Aaron Finchand Devdutt Padikkal startedthe farcical chase with an open-ing stand of 46 runs. Theyplayed through the powerplaybefore Finch fell to LockieFerguson. Padikkal thendeparted after a mix-up withnew batsman Gurkeerat MannSingh landed both batsmen atthe same end of the pitch.

Captain Virat Kohli thentook his place with Gurkeerat

and saw the team home with anunbeaten stand of 40 runs.

Earlier, pacer MohammedSiraj and Yuzvendra Chahalwreaked havoc in a stunningdisplay of swing and spin bowl-

ing as KKR could just managea paltry 84 for eight.

Siraj (4-2-8-3) ran throughthe KKR top order to trigger astunning batting collapse andbecame the first bowler in the

history of IPL to bowl twomaiden overs while Chahal(2/15) stymied their revivalhopes.

It is KKR’s second-lowesttotal after their 67 all-outagainst Mumbai Indians in2008.

Playing without Windiesstar players Sunil Narine andAndre Russell, KKR struggledto get going after electing to batand it was all over for themafter skipper Eoin Morgan wasdismissed by WashingtonSundar for 30.

It was a masterstroke fromskipper Virat Kohli to includeSiraj in place of spinnerShahbaz Ahmed keeping inmind a fresh strip.

Siraj began with a doublewicket maiden over in whichhe dismissed opener RahulTripahi (1) and Nitish Rana (0)off successive deliveries.

He followed it up withanother wicket-maiden over,getting rid of Tom Banton(10) in the process. His figuresread an astonishing 2-1-0-3 atthat time.

KL Rahul 540 runs

Kagiso Rabada 21 wickets

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 22, 2020

12

MOTION PICTURE

DUGOUTThis wasn't a season weexpected or our fans wanted,but we gave it our best.Sometimes, despite givingour best, the results don'tshow

To have Maxi in form is agreat thing and it has easedhis nerves as well. He hasplayed a lot of cricket for along time and he knew whathe needed to do

Deshpande is a confident ladand does his homework prettywell. He has been hit by ChrisGayle, who is a world-classbatsman and it's a greatlearning experience for him

I keep my mindset quitepositive. Just look to scoreruns, and not think pitch isdoing this or that. I play withcourage. I am not afraid toget out

TODAY

Live from 7:30pmSTAR SSPORTS 11

VVSS

POINTS TABLEP W L NRR PTS

1 DC 10 7 3 +0.774 14

2 RCB 10 7 3 +0.182 14

3 MI 9 6 3 +1.201 12

4 KKR 10 5 5 -0.828 10

5 KXIP 10 4 6 -0.177 8

6 RR 10 4 6 -0.591 8

7 SRH 9 3 6 +0.008 6

8 CSK 10 3 7 -0.463 6

Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta poses for photo withArshdeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell and Ravi Bishnoi after win againstDelhi Capitals on Tuesday @realpreityzinta

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra took to Twitter toshare a picture of the IPL virtual fan-wall wherein a person fromSolapur watching the match between DC-KXIP looked likeRishabh Pant @cricketaakash

BRAVO OUT OF IPL WITH GROIN INJURYCSK all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of theongoing IPL with a groin injury, dealing a massive blowto the already struggling side which has very slimchances of advancing to the play-offs. “Dwayne Bravo isruled out of the IPL due to a groin injury,” CSK CEOKashi Viswanathan told PTI. The 37-year-old Bravoplayed six games and scored only seven runs in twoinnings. However, he got six wickets in as many gameswith an economy of 8.57. “It's sad news, it's sad to beleaving my team CSK. To all our CSK fans, I want you allto keep encouraging the team, keep supporting, all thetrue die-hard CSK fans,” Bravo said in a video message.

HOLDER SAD THAT BLM NOT PART OF IPLWest Indies captain Jason Holder has expressed hisdisappointment over none of the IPL teams taking aknee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter

movement, which, he feels, has gone unnoticed in theworld's most glamorous cricket league. Holder, who ismember of SRH, made the statement while receiving theprestigious Peter Smith Award on behalf of the WestIndies cricket team in a virtual ceremony. “To be honest,I haven't had one conversation up here around it (BLM).Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is asad thing,” Holder said in his address posted on CricketWest Indies website.

PTI n DUBAI

The inexperienced youngguns of both Rajasthan

Royals and SunrisersHyderabad would like to puttheir hands up in testing times whenboth teams square off in a must-wingame on Thursday.

Whether it is Priyam Garg, AbdulSamad of Sunrisers or Kartik Tyagi,Riyan Parag of the Royals, the young-sters from both sides will be feeling thepressure of doing something out of thebox in case their illustrious seniors failin that pursuit.

The Sunrisers are currently totter-ing at the second last place in the eight-team table with just six points from ninegame while Royals are a notch aheadwith eight points after their comprehen-sive win over CSK in the previous game.

SRH can’t afford to slip up even onebit since another loss would rule themout of the Play-offs race. The Royalswould hope to continue with the win-ning momentum and hope that theirforeign recruits continue to perform likethey did against CSK.

They got their campaign back ontrack after two heavy defeats and wouldalso have the edge over SRH, which lostto KKR in the Super Over in theirprevious game.

Losing Super Over contestsoften push teams back as KXIPfound out after their opening lossto Delhi Capitals. One moreloss would make it extreme-ly difficult for the Royalsto stay alive.

While Jofra Archercontinues to be thebackbone of Royals’bowling attack, thewrist-spinning duo ofShreyas Gopal andRahul Tewatia were ter-rific in the middle oversagainst CSK and skipperSmith would be hoping foran encore from his bowlerson Thursday.

In batting, Jos Buttler

looked in ominous formagainst CSK, forcing Smith toplay the second fiddle but RRwould need more consistentpartnerships upfront.

“I have been doing ok, notquite scored as many runs as I would’veliked to and help the team win match-es,” Buttler said on the eve of thematch.

The opener is happy that Royals asa team has found some momentumgoing their way.

“We have started to play better inthe last few matches. We probablyshould have won the last three but haveonly managed to win one of those, sowe now have four matches remaining,all of which are must-win for us. We willneed to win all our games to give us achance of making the playoffs,” Buttlersaid, while admitting there is a gapbetween top and bottom four.

“There’s obviously a bit of a gapbetween the top 4 and us and we knowthe equation for us, so we move on tothe next game with a hope to do well andhopefully win against the Sunrisers.”

All-rounder Ben Stokes is yet to fireand Robin Uthappa had been theirweakest link so far, which might promptSmith to give a go to someone likePunjab dasher Manan Vohra.

The other aspect that hurt them isSanju Samson’s form which like everyother year has gone from good to badand now worse.

SRH, on the other hand, wouldstill be smarting from the Super

Over loss to KKR.David Warner and Co

would definitely be hurt bythat loss but they need tocome out of that shockquickly and re-strategise ifthey want to keep them-selves afloat in the T20event. The team heav-ily relies on its battingunit, mainly on the topfour comprising JonnyBairstow, Warner,Manish Pandey andKane Williamson.

PTI n DUBAI

It’s a wake up call, said Delhi Capitalsskipper Shreyas Iyer as he urged his

team’s batsmen, with the exception ofan in-form Shikhar Dhawan, to take“more responsibility” following asurprise IPL loss to Kings XI Punjab.

“This is like a wake-up call for us.Going forward we are going to facetough situations and tougher teams.We have played amazing cricket in thepast but we have to leave that in thepast,” Iyer said at the post-match con-ference.

“We have to come out all gunsblazing, play with freedom and takemore responsibility. We need onematch to qualify and keeping that inmind, we will take one match at atime,” he added.

Against KXIP, Dhawan alonescored 106 while the quintet compris-ing Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Marcus Stoinis,Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyercontributed 54 runs collectively.

“I am really happy for ShikharDhawan for the way he is going. Heis creating an amazing platform for usas batsmen. We should be knowingour roles pretty well,” the DC skippersaid.

However, he feels that his bats-men are in a good frame of mind andthe defeat was a one off setback.

“Other than that, I feel all thebatsmen are in really good frame ofmind and few matches can go wronghere and there as fatigue creeps in.Keeping that aside we need to focuson our strengths,” he said.

PTI n DUBAI

The ever-reliable MohammedShami has bowled with a lot

more “clarity of mind” in the ongo-ing IPL, which has helped himdeliver near-perfect performancesthis season, feels Kings XI Punjabskipper KL Rahul.

Shami, a world-class Testbowler, has been in his elements,taking 16 wickets for KXIP in 10matches so far and played a big rolein the last three games that the teamhas won.

“Look we all know that whatShami can do on a given day. Hehas been doing that for manyyears now. I think this year, thereis a lot more clarity and he has puthis hand up as a senior bowler,”Rahul said on Tuesday after KXIPbeat Delhi Capitals by five wicketsto keep their campaign for Play-offson track.

The KXIP skipper believes

PTI n SYDNEY

Sydney and Canberra areemerging as potential venues

to host India’s limited-over seriesagainst Australia during theupcoming tour starting nextmonth.

The Indian team was initial-ly supposed to land in Brisbanebut apparently Queensland statehealth authorities won’t allow thevisitors to train during themandatory 14-day quarantineperiod.

According to a report inESPNCricinfo, Sydney couldemerge as Indian contingent’sport of entry and the city mayallow them to train during theirquarantine.

It is learnt that the SCGcould be hosting four of the sixwhite ball games (three T20Isand three ODIs) whileCanberra’s Manuka Oval host-ing two games.

New South Wales state’ssports minister Stuart Ayresconfirmed that they havereceived a request from CricketAustralia to allow the Indian as

well as the Australian team toundergo its mandatory quaran-tine as well as training.

“Cricket Australia hasapproached the New SouthWales Government about quar-antining the Indian cricket teamand returning Australian crick-eters in Sydney,” Ayres wasquoted as saying by the cricketwebsite.

“That proposal is currentlybeing assessed by NSW author-ities including health and police.Fixtures for the Indian tour willbe determined by CricketAustralia and won't impact ourassessment of the quarantineproposal.”

If CA and the NSW stateGovernment are able to reach anagreement, a revised plan wouldthen be submitted by CricketAustralia to the BCCI forapproval.

RR, SRH lock hornsin must-win game

MATCHES 12

RAJASTHAN ROYALS 06

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD 06

Stats: Faisel FFeatures

RCB TOTALLY OUTGUN KKR

Mohammed Siraj celebrates with RCB skipper Virat Kohli and other teammates after taking his third wicket IPLT20

We want to finish on top: ABPTI n ABU DHABI

Experiencing one of theirfinest IPL seasons, Royals

Challengers Bangalore’s bat-ting maestro AB de Villierssays his team wants to top thepoints table on its way tothe play-offs of the ongo-ing edition.

After their gameagainst KolkataKnight Riders, theRCB were placedat the secondspot on thepoints table with14 points from tenmatches.

Going into theirlast four group

matches, the RCB recordedseven wins and three defeats.

“There is definitely a men-tal edge that a team takes infinishing at the top, havingbeen the most consistent teamover 14 matches against thebest teams in the IPL.

“So, we will definitelybe focusing on that. We

know that we will have totake it one hurdle at a time

though,” the SouthAfrican said in a videomessage uploaded byhis franchise on its

Twitter handle.The supremely

gifted cricketer hasplayed some fineknocks for RCB this

seasons, a couple of them sin-gle-handedly helping the teamto victory.

“... With it, we can alsosend a message to the otherteams that we are here to fin-ish at the top of the table andto not just qualify for the play-offs. I really think we have theability to do that,” the star bats-man said.

De Villiers has been inominous form and single-handedly won RCB the gameagainst Rajasthan Royals withan unbeaten 55 from 22 ballsin their 178-run chase lastSaturday. He had also smasheda 33-ball 73 in the first-leggame against Kolkata nightRiders.

‘This season Shami has lot more clarity about his role’

Mohammad Shami & Mayank Agarwal IPLT20

that when seniors perform,juniors take inspiration andthat’s what is happeningthanks to Shami’s efforts.

“It is important thatinternationals across teamsput their hands up. Thatmakes the team lot betterand youngsters can feed offthat,” he said.

“You start winning a lotof games and it’s great to seeShami doing really well andtouchwood the ball is com-ing out of his hand as per-fectly as ever. Hopefully hecan get more wickets for theteam and keep bowling theway he is bowling,” Rahuladded.

Glenn Maxwell alsoraised hopes of being back toform with a 24-ball 32,something that augurs wellfor the team, feels the skip-per.

“Well, it’s important forthe team and individual aswell...It’s important that theteam backs its match-win-ners. We know whatMaxwell can do. When hecomes good, he gives a lot ofsolidity to the team. He bal-ances it out and is a greatteam-man,” Rahul said.

KXIP has now beaten alltop three teams — RoyalChallengers Bangalore,Mumbai Indians and DelhiCapitals — in their last threegames.

“It feels really good. Weare at that stage of the tour-nament where we need tobeat every team that weface. It’s important that wetake one game at a time andif we keep trusting our-selves, it doesn’t matter whoyou are playing against,”said Rahul.

Defeat wake up call for us: Iyer

India could quarantine & trainin Sydney to start Oz tour

Rashford nets late winner as Man United beat PSG, Messi scores in Barca stroll

Late drama in Paris again

Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring Man Utd’s second goal AP

home the third before Ihor Kharatinpulled one back from the penaltyspot after Gerard Pique was sent off

for pulling back Nguen as hecharged towards goal.

Pedri and OusmaneDembele finished the scoringfor the 10-man hosts as they

prepare for the weekend’s Clasicowith Real Madrid. Juventus lookedcomfortable in their 2-0 win atDynamo Kiev in what was theAndrea Pirlo’s first ever ChampionsLeague match in the dugout, withAlvaro Morata scoring twice to takethe points for the Italians.

IMMOBILE DDOWNS BBVBIt was a good night for Italy as

Ciro Immobile got revenge on hisold club Dortmund by scoring inLazio’s 3-1 win over the Bundesligaclub in Rome, their first ChampionsLeague match in 13 years.

Immobile managed just threegoals in 24 Bundesliga games forDortmund in 2014/15, but lastseason’s European Golden Shoe

winner outshone Dortmund’s starforward Erling Braut Haaland bynetting the opening goal for thehosts after just six minutes.

Lazio went two ahead midwaythrough the first half thanks toMarwin Hitz deflected LuisAlberto’s whipped corner into hisown goal.

Haaland pulled one back witha thumping finish but Immobile laidon an easy finish for Akpa-Akproto hand Lazio a big win.

Simone Inzaghi’s men are levelon three points with Club Bruggein Group F following their dramat-ic 2-1 win at Zenit Saint Petersburgearned thanks to Charles DeKetelaere 93rd minute winner.

Chelsea are still waiting for a£220 million spending spree to payoff they began their campaign withan uninspiring 0-0 Group E drawwith Sevilla at Stamford Bridge.

All four sides in the group areon a single point after Rennesdrew 1-1 with Krasnodar.