c m y k c m y k

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I THURSDAY I 23 JULY 2020

EDITDECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

The serological survey conducted by the National Centre forDisease Control under the directorate-general of health services inthe Union ministry of health and family welfare between June 27and July 10 in Delhi has come out a finding that 22.86 per cent of

the population there showed signs of antibodies for the Sars-CoV-2, thevirus that causes pandemic Covid-19. This means that almost one in everyfour persons in the national capital had contracted the disease and recov-ered without being noticed.

The survey results assume significance in the backdrop of the successfulCoronavirus containment strategy worked out by the Delhi and Uniongovernments in the national capital. With no lockdown, the daily numberof infections has come down today to less than half of what it used to be atthe same time last month. The new plan focused on extensive home visitsand aggressive testing followed by prescription of home quarantine forthe asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients. Such a move ensuredthat the under-nourished and fragile healthcare infrastructure was put tooptimum use and prevented overwhelming of hospitals by patients. Theexperiment also resulted in remarkable improvement in the reproductionrate (Rt), or the average number of people infected by a single infectiouscase, which has now fallen below 1. It may be noticed that there are nocomplaints of major under-reporting of deaths, too.

It may be noted that Tamil Nadu government has also been able toachieve similar results in Chennai but only after imposing a strict lock-down. The survey results and the encouraging experience in Delhi shouldforce the government to make a rethinking on using lockdown as a Covidcontainment strategy. Though the nation is officially into Unlock 2.0, it isa fact that the big metros and parts of several states are at present underlockdown.

Restrictions on movement of people and their activities, of course, slowdown the spread of the pandemic but there has to be a cost-benefit analy-sis of the same in the backdrop of the new pieces of information. Therepeated editions of the lockdown have thrown economic life out of gearand pushed crores of people into poverty and misery. With many of therelief schemes failing to reach the targeted population and the inflationrearing its head, the Union government should advise the states againstany more lockdowns. Instead, it must help the states replicate the Delhimodel which can protect both lives and livelihoods. It could lay focus onreverse quarantine — to keep the most susceptible people under quaran-tine while allowing others to go to work keeping social distancing normsincluding ensuring physical distance among people and frequent washingof face and hands etc. Restrictions on social and religious gatherings,however, should not be eased.

With the arrival of a vaccine being very much on the cards, the govern-ment must play its cards well and ensure that we do not suffer too manylosses in this short span. It is time we bid goodbye to lockdowns andembrace other successful models to keep the virus at bay.

23 JULY 2020

Delhi spells cautioushope for reopening

Challenges lieahead as newconsumer law

is now in force

In the time of a war ora pandemic, eachcountry looks out forits own first. It comesas no surprise that

the rules of global tradewent out of the windowbetween February andApril this year withnations fighting oneanother to secure suppliesof personal protectiveequipment (PPE). Indiafaced an acute crisis in theearly weeks of Covid-19 asit was hugely dependenton imports for critical sup-plies of medical products,including PPEs. Much haschanged since then.

The Coronavirus pan-demic has spawned a cot-tage industry in PPEs,hand sanitisers, masks,etc. India is now the sec-ond largest manufacturerof PPEs, after China. Amida global shortage and theworld’s strictest lock-downs that ground all pro-duction to a halt, barringthat of essential items,many garment makers, forexample, sensed a bigopportunity and got intothe protective wear space.Now, there is an oversup-ply of indigenous PPE kits.Many are unsold. Andprices have dipped.

Worryingly, there isanother more seriousproblem. Atmanirbharta,or self-reliance, is facing aquality challenge in theprotective gear market.

There has been a flood ofcomplaints about low-quality PPEs, sanitisers,gloves and so on, raisingconcerns about the impacton India’s public healthresponse to Covid-19 andinfection control strate-gies.

This week, the direc-torate-general of foreigntrade issued a notificationwhich said that the gov-ernment had not foundany applications from July1 to 3 seeking to exportPPE medical coverallsmeeting the necessary cri-teria, and “all applicationstherefore have been found

ineligible for allocation ofexport quota”. Last month,the government had decid-ed to shift the export ofPPEs from the “prohibit-ed” to “restricted” catego-ry, with a permissiblelimit of 50 lakh kits.

Till the time of writing,no export licence has beenissued. The Centre hasgiven a new deadline tolocal PPE makers to put intheir applications forapproval of exports.

What is happening?What exactly is the prob-lem?

Several health profes-sionals I spoke to saidwhile it was very cred-itable that India had man-aged to shed its importdependence on protectivewear and certain medicalproducts in barely twomonths, the mad rush tostep up production hadopened the floodgates tomany fly-by-night opera-tors who had skipped allquality norms. This, theysaid, posed a serious chal-lenge for the domestic andexport markets.

At the heart of the matteris the lack of standards.The Central DrugsStandard Control Organi-sation has not defined anyclassification of PPE com-ponents intended for med-ical use, says Dr SanjeevRelhan, chairman of thePreventive Wear Manufac-turers Association of India(PWMAI). Without classi-fication under MedicalDevice Rules, it is not pos-sible for the industry tounderstand the applicableregulatory requirements.There are additional chal-lenges. There are few test-ing laboratories to vali-date quality and even afteran increase in their num-ber, “these labs are not suf-ficient to enable manufac-turers to follow globalstandards”, says DrRelhan.

What needs to be done?Even in a healthcare set-

ting, everyone is not atequal risk. Dr Relhan and

many others are seekingguidelines for choosingthe right PPE after riskassessment for variouslevels of protection.Another looming chal-lenge is disposal of protec-tive gear. Currently, thereis no formal standard forthe safe disposal of soiledPPEs. This can lead to afurther spread of infec-tions. “Hence, a standardfor safe disposal of biopro-tective PPEs is required onan urgent basis,” saysPWMAI’s head.

What about exports?Sections of the local pro-

tective gear industry wantto tap the export marketnow that domestic demandhas been met, but manyinsiders strike a caution-ary note. Dr Relhan pointsout that the regulations ofthe importing countriesare stringent, and theindustry first needs tomeet these quality stan-dards. He says the govern-ment should allow theexport of PPEs meant formedical use only after reg-ulating the quality proto-cols required for manufac-turing. Since a large num-ber of PPE manufacturersare in the MSME (micro,small and medium enter-prises sector), the MSMEministry and state govern-ments should supportthem financially by bring-ing in a scheme for fund-ing technology upgrada-tion, counselling andtraining for both theMedical Devices Rules2017 (India’s new rules formedical devices) as well asglobal regulations, espe-cially those of the UnitedStates and Europe, and thecertification costs.

What about strict qualitynorms for domestic sales?

No doubt, we can’t affordto risk our reputation inthe export market by send-ing out products whichdon’t meet internationalquality norms. The cau-tionary note struck by theDGFT is welcome. But it isequally important toensure that Indian doc-tors, health workers andordinary citizens are notat risk through use of low-quality protective wear,sanitisers, etc. “Prof.Arvind Baronia, head ofcritical care, SanjayGandhi Post-GraduateInstitute of MedicalSciences, Lucknow, said

the facility returned 60-70per cent of the PPEs sup-plied. It is difficult tospend even a few minutesin those made from cheapnon-woven fabric withpolyethylene lamina-tion…” a recent report inthe Indian Express noted.

Established manufactur-ers of infection-preventionclothing say that a regula-tory mechanism must bein place for purchases byhealthcare establishmentsto check the practice ofbuying substandard prod-ucts. Hospitals should notbecome amplifers of infec-tion. Last year, the NitiAayog, the government’sthink tank, proposedbringing all medicaldevices under one regula-tory regime in a phasedmanner and to have a sep-arate Medical DevicesAdministration with fourdivisions. That plan is yetto materialise.

Arguably, low quality inprotective wear is not justan Indian problem. Lastmonth, Doctors WithoutBorders, which won theNobel Prize in 1999, pub-licly urged for better regu-lation to ensure that per-sonal protective equip-ment is distributed in anequitable and transparentmanner during the ongo-ing Coronavirus pand-emic. “The market for per-sonal protective equip-ment is dominated by alack of transparency aboutwhat is being producedand where, its quality, theamount in stock, and howthey are allocated,” saidMSF’s Thierry Allafort-Duverger.

The bottomline is thatregulation can’t be a cussword if PPE makers inIndia wish to nurture areputation for quality andplug into global supplychains. The global PPEindustry is expected totouch $92.5 billion by 2025.There may be a ready mar-ket for protective wear.

But to get a juicy slice ofthat, Atmanirbharta and“Make in India” mustmeet its quality challengeat home as well as abroad.

The writer focuses ondevelopment issues in

India and emergingeconomies. She can be

reached atpatralekha.chatterjee

@gmail.com.

Subhani

PatralekhaChatterjee

A quality challenge for‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’

The banality and horror of crime against women in UP came onceagain to fore when a journalist was shot for reporting the sexualharassment of his niece to police. Vikram Joshi, who worked with a

Hindi newspaper, had filed an in-person molestation complaint on behalfof his relative on June 16 but even after he followed it up with postal mail,no action was taken. Nine people have been arrested after his death. Theruling party is at it now, trying to add communal colour to the tragedy.

The promise was of ramraj, epistemically problematic but putativelyassuring rule of law and peace. When the incumbent Chief Minister, YogiAdityanath, took over the reins from his predecessor in 2017, it was expect-ed that he would bring down the crime graph in Uttar Pradesh. Law andorder had deteriorated under his predecessor who nonetheless boosteddevelopment. It turned out to be a false hope. It appears that the CM onlybelieves in encounter raj; his casually brutal, inherently misogynist andtrigger-happy force groomed to look the other way in the face of the mostdreadful atrocity but quickly bump off the odd don fallen out of politicalfavour.

Law is forever the first casualty, and it is ones who are politically weak-est, dalit, women or Muslim, who are at the receiving end. On Wednesday,too, a woman, who immolated herself in front of Mr Adityanath’s officeover police inaction in a land dispute case in Amethi, died. Her daughterwho accompanied her in the gesture is struggling.

With medieval notions of honour circumscribing lives of Indian womenand making them soft targets of sexual crime, sexism and gendered hate,any outrage often perpetuates a sick and pervasive reality. But there arebreakthroughs. Rape survivors have reclaimed their identities and goneto court. Nevertheless, the price they are being forced to pay is too steep.Remember the Unnao rape cases? It seems the bodies must pile up beforethe administration is nudged to sit up and take note.

Economic development of anycountry starts and ends with con-sumers. This stands true if we go

by the present carnage of the Indianeconomy, which went into further dol-drums because of the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns.

The central government took almostone year to notify the new consumerprotection law. It was notified on July 20.

Consumerism is traceable toEcclesiastes 5:11 of the Old Testament inwhich it was said, “When possessionsincrease, so does the number of con-sumers, therefore what good are theyto their owners, except to look atthem?” The modern consumer organi-sations sprung up in Denmark in 1947and Great Britain in 1955, which led tocreation of Consumer Councils to fightagainst unscrupulous producers andtraders, but actual “consumerism”started in the United States, thanks toleaders like Ralph Nader.

The turning point, however, came onMarch 15, 1962, when the then USPresident, John F. Kennedy, addressedthe US Congress, emphasising that, “Ifa consumer is offered inferior prod-ucts, if prices are exorbitant, if drugs

are unsafe or worthless, if the con-sumer is unable to choose on aninformed basis, then his dollar is wast-ed, his health and safety may be threat-ened and national interest suffers.”Then, he extolled four basic consumerrights — the right to safety, right to beinformed, right to choose, and right tobe heard. On April 16, 1985, the UnitedNations General Assembly passed aresolution containing the UnitedNations Guidelines for ConsumerProtection, recognising more con-sumer rights — the right to satisfactionof basic needs, the right to redress, theright to consumer education, and theright to healthy environment.

The Indian Parliament enacted theConsumer Protection Act in 1986 con-taining 31 sections and bestowing sixconsumer rights — the right to protec-tion against hazardous goods and ser-vices, the right to be informed, theright to access to a variety of goods, theright to be heard, the right to getredressal and the right to consumereducation. To enforce these rights, thelaw provided for establishment ofConsumer Councils and a three-tierredressal mechanism at the district,state and national levels. In all fairness,

this law worked successfully, with theaid of the judiciary, to a large extent.

For providing more effective protec-tion of consumers, the Union govern-ment enacted the new legislation in2019 consisting of 107 provisions. Thecardinal principles of speedy, inexpen-sive and informal justice appear tohave been whittled down by the newlegislation, notified recently.

Besides introduction of new conceptslike product liability, protectionagainst unfair trade practices in e-com-merce and punishment for misleadingadvertisements, the new law envisagesestablishment of Consumer ProtectionCouncils at central, state and districtlevel to render advice on the protectionof consumer rights. The new law alsomandates formation of a CentralConsumer Protection Authority withextensive powers to investigate,penalise or refer to the ConsumerRedressal Commissions, complaintsagainst any trader for violating con-sumer rights, adopting unfair tradepractices or publishing misleadingadvertisements.

The new law also stipulates establish-ment of Consumer Disputes RedressalCommission in each district for redres-

sal of consumer disputes, where thevalue of goods or services is up to `1crore. Similarly, the law also stipulatesestablishment of State ConsumerDisputes Redressal Commissions toredress complaints valued between `1crore to `10 crores and to decideappeals from the decisions of districtcommissions. The National ConsumerDisputes Commission has the originaljurisdiction to decide cases where thevalue of goods or services exceeds `10crores and to decide appeals from thedecision of state commissions.

The unique provision in the new lawis the establishment of the consumermediation cells to be attached to eachdistrict, state and national commissionfor settlement of disputes throughmediation, which is welcome.

However, the provisions relating toCCPA, supposed to be a superhero inconsumer protection, direct selling,director general, e-commerce and pun-ishment provision for false or mislead-ing advertisements, and so on, are yetto be notified. This non-enforcementcould be because of the pressure fromthe industry, a large number of provi-sions in the new law and also becauseof concurrent rule-making power in

multiple authorities. The consumercannot be a king in the real sense ifthese provisions are not implemented.

Lamentably, the consumer affairsdepartment is still tied up with the foodand public distribution department,which factor does not permit theauthorities to have a determined focusto safeguard various rights of con-sumers. A dedicated consumer affairsministry is the need of the hour.Further in the age of false advertise-ments, penal provisions relating tothese have to installed at the earliest.

Consumers International, a well-known international NGO, gave thetheme “sustainable consumerism” tothis year’s World Consumer Day,envisaging “usage of products and ser-vices that have a minimal impact onthe environment so that future genera-tions can meet their needs”. If we useproducts and services having lessimpact on the environment, futuregenerations might be safeguarded fromdeadly pandemics like Covid-19.

Dr G.B. Reddy is a professor atUniversity College of Law, Osmania

University. Akash Kumar Baglekaris a student at the same college.

G.B. Reddy andAkash Baglekar

Jungle raj in UP

Dev 360

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at:

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LETTERSWRONG PRIORITIESWhen India is bruised bythe Covid-19 pandemicand governments arestruggling to assistmigrant workers, indus-tries, agriculture and alsopay salaries and pensions,the Modi government atthe Centre and the govern-ments in TS and AP wantto construct new buildings.Big buildings are not nec-essary in this digital ageand many companies aresurrendering their rentedoffice spaces. What peopleneed is service, not build-ings.

Kshirasagara Balaji RaoHyderabad

IPL IN UAEIt is ridiculous to read formercricketer Brijesh Patel stating thatIPL can be conducted in the UAEbecause of Covid-19 pandemic. IPLis a game between Indian statesgiving a chance to youngsters andinternational players to provideentertainment to cricket fans. IfIPL is conducted in the UAE it losesits sanctity and can be called asUAEPL, not IPL.

T. Kailash DityaHyderabad

The BCCI should be stronglyadvised against holding IPL 2020and dispense with further delibera-tions in pursuit of such events dur-ing these critical times. The prob-lems of affected patients are com-pounded by the lack of beds, suffi-cient doctors, medicine being soldat exorbitant prices and lack of oxy-gen cylinders.

T.M. Uday ShankarHyderabad

25 Badrinath buseswashed away

NEW DELHI, July 22Rescue teams were at worktonight in the Joshimath area ofthe Uttar Pradesh hills after thesacred Alaknanda, rising inflood, washed away some 25 pas-senger vehicles and several hous-es.

Defence Minister Jagjivan Ramtold UNthat on thebasis ofr e p o r t sr e a c h i n g

him the toll was feared to beheavy. At least 200 pilgrims werefeared to have been drownedaccording to PTI. Unofficialreports, however, suggested thetoll might be one thousand. Butin Lucknow a State Governmentspokesman said only 30 to 40 per-sons had been washed away.

50 YEARS AGO IN

c m y k c m y k

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I THURSDAY I 23 JULY 2020

Vol. 83 No. 204 Established 1938 | 16 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com

Max: 33.3OCMin: 24.7OC RH: 73%Rain: Trace

Forecast: Cloudy sky, rainor thundershowers likely.

Max/Min temp 33/23ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDESarvari; Dakshinayana

Tithi: Sravana Shuddha Tadiya till 5.01 pm

Star: Magha till 5.41 pmVarjyam: 6.27 am to 7.57 am; 1.08 am to

2.37 am (Friday)Durmuhurtam: 10.13 am to

11.05 am; 3.22 pm to 4.14 pmRahukalam: 1.30 pm to 3 pm

HIJRI CALENDARZulhijja 1,1441 AH

PRAYERSFajar: 4.44 am

Zohar: 12.32 pmAsar: 4.54 pm

Maghrib: 6.58 pmIsha: 8.13 pm

SUNSET TODAY 6.52 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 5.53 AM

MOONRISE TOMORROW 8.14 AMMOONSET TODAY 9.16 PM

COUNTER POINT

1,52,19,309CASES AROUND THE WORLD

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+45,862)

12,38,013

(+1,554)

(+6,045)TS: 49,259

DEATHS

(+1,118)

29,887

AP: 64,713

438

823

6,22,464

213

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

COVID-19 C UNT

worldometers.info/coronavirus

covid19india.org

(+65)

(+9)

S.A. ISHAQUI | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Chief Minister K. Chandra-shekar Rao on Wednesdayasked the Home departmentto release prisoners withgood conduct during theensuing Independence Daycelebrations.

The Chief Minister held ameeting with ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar,Principal Secretary (Home)Rajiv Trivedi, and DGP M.Mahender Reddy atPragathi Bhavan in thisregard. He took stock of theguidelines pertaining torelease of ‘rehabilitated’prisoners.

He asked the authoritiesto prepare a list of eligibleprisoners to be released onIndependence Day so thatthe state government couldissue appropriate orders.

The direction of the ChiefMinister to the homedepartment for the releaseof prisoners, who have con-ducted themselves well dur-ing their prison term, has

given a ray of hope to theprisoners, who have beenwaiting for the release forthe last two years.

On July 18, 2018, theCentral government hasdirected state governments

to release prisoners withgood conduct in the prisonon the occasion of the 150thbirth anniversary celebra-tions of Mahatma Gandhiby granting a special remis-sion.

Though several state gov-ernments followed thedirection of the Central gov-ernment and released over2,000 prisoners, the Telan-gana government had con-fined itself to granting thespecial remission to a fewselect prisoners last year.

This year, however, theChief Minister is keen onreleasing prisoners, whoare in the prisons across thestate despite their eligibili-ty for the remission.

Those eligible for remis-sion, according to theCentre’s guidelines, includethose over 55-year-oldwomen and transgenders,over 60-year old-men, andphysically challenged con-victs, who have completed50 per cent of the actual sen-tence period. Terminally illconvicts and convicted pris-oners who have completedtwo-third of their actualsentence period are also eli-gible for the remission.

However, those jailed forhenious crimes are not eli-gible for the release.

KCR tells home wing toset free ‘good’ prisonersOfficials told to give list of eligible prisoners for I-Day release

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Chief Minister K. Chandra-sekhar Rao on Wednesdayhanded over an appoint-ment order to Santoshi,wife of martyred ColonelSantosh Babu, at PragathiBhavan, posting her asdeputy collector in theGroup-I cadre of the stategovernment.

Colonel Santosh Babu wasamong the 20 Indian sol-diers martyred in Galwan

Valley in Eastern Ladakhon June 15 in a violentclash with Chinese troops.Many casualties were repo-rted among the Chinesetroops too, though theyhave not yet been officiallyacknowledged by China.

The Colonel’s familyarrived at the PragathiBhavan following an invita-tion by the Chief Ministerfor lunch.

■ Page 2: Plot documentshanded over to Santoshi

Martyred Colonel’swife is dy collector

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

India on Wednesday surpassed the 12-lakh mark for Covid-19 cases, byadding 1,61,753 new cases in the lastfour days.

While Maharashtra continued to topthe list with 10,576 new cases, AndhraPradesh was the second with 6,045cases. Collectively, five southern statesreporterd 19,250 cases with AP toppingthe southern list followed by TamilNadu with 5,849, Karnataka with 4,764,Telangana with 1,554 and Kerala with1,038. Puducherry reported 124 cases.

According to Covid19India.org, a por-tal that compiles data from state bul-letins, 7,82,780 people have recovered.While 4,24,936 are undergoing treat-ment for the viral infection, 29,887 peo-ple have died of the viral infection.

CORONAVIRUS CASES CROSS12 LAKH MARK IN INDIA

ANUDEEP CEREMILLA | DCWARANGAL, JULY 22

On Wednesday, TRS MLC and formerdeputy CM Kadiam Srihari has beentested positive for the Covid-19.

Covid-19 fear is spreading among pol-itical leaders and their followers in Wa-rangal. As many as four leaders have te-sted positive for the virus in four days.

Srihari, who fell sick went to a privatehospital where he underwent the Covid-19 test. The result was positive. His dri-ver, gunmen and his PA were also foundto have contracted the virus. They haveall been suggested home quarantine.

Warangal mayor, Gunda Prakash Rao,and his wife are currently undergoingtreatment for the virus.

■ Page 2: Politicians run for safety from Coronavirus

KADIAM SRIHARI TESTSPOSITIVE FOR COVID-19

MADDY DEEKSHITH | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Despite a good monsoon,several parts of the cityhave been facing an acutewater crisis with 10 out of16 operations and mainte-nance (O&M) divisionswith no water for fivedays now.

Areas like Kushaiguda,Cherlapally, Kapra, Mall-apur, Alwal, Malkajgiri,Kukatpally HousingBoard, L.B. Nagar andseveral other reservoirswithin the Outer Ring

Road (ORR) limits havenot been receiving drink-ing water supply for days.

Due to short circuit, sev-eral motors were defunctand about 10 O&M wings,especially in the Godavaricommand area, have beennot receiving due to watershortage. Though peoplehave been suffering, nei-ther the Hyderabad met-ropolitan water supplyand sewerage board(HMWSSB) officials norelected representativesincluding city mayor,Bonthu Rammohan, are

addressing public griev-ances.

According to waterboard officials, the shortcircuit resulted in motorrepairs in over 10 reser-voirs and all of them weredefunct. Adding to thewoes, the higher authori-ties sitting in theHMWSSB headquartersin Khairatabad haveappointed an official tomonitor about 10 divi-sions in the GHMC limits.

■ Page 2: Water woesmay continue for a week

Short circuit leaves half ofcity high and dry for water

New Delhi/Jaipur, July22: The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) onWednesday raided thepremises of RajasthanChief Minister AshokGehlot’s brother in con-nection with a money lau-ndering case linked to analleged fertiliser exportscam, officials said.

The action came afterthe central probe agencyfiled a criminal Enforce-ment Case InformationReport (ECIR), ED equiva-lent of a police FIR, in a2007-09 customs depart-ment case where it wasalleged that irregularitiestook place in the procure-ment and export of sub-sidised Muriate of Potash(MOP) meant for farmersand investigation in thiscase was finalised in 2013.

The ED took cognisanceof the Customs FIR and acharge sheet was filed byit on July 13 in this case to

press money launderingcharges to probe a “smug-gling syndicate” allegedly

run by Ashok Gehlot’selder brother AgrasainGehlot, his firm AnupamKrishi and others, theysaid. The agency said thecase pertains to fraudu-lent export of MOP, a rest-ricted commodity for exp-orts, in the guise of indus-trial salts to buyers basedin Malaysia and Taiwan.

Its export is restricted sothat it is available toIndian farmers, they said.

ED sleuths wearing pro-tective suits to combatCovid-19 infection wereassisted by personnel ofthe CRPF, who were seenstanding guard at thefarmhouse and residenceof the Gehlots in Mandorearea of Jodhpur district,to carry out the searches.

The raids come at a timewhen a political slugfest iscurrently on betweenChief Minister Gehlot andhis former deputy SachinPilot. — PTI

ED raids Gehlot brother’shouse over fertiliser scam

PARMOD KUMARNEW DELHI, JULY 22

Rajasthan Assembly Spea-ker C.P. Joshi Wednesdaymoved the Supreme Courtagainst the high courtorder restraining him tillJuly 24 from conductingdisqualification proceed-ings against 19 dissidentCongress MLAs sayingthe “judiciary was neverexpected” to intervene insuch matters resulting in"constitutional impasse”.The SC will hear his pleaon Thursday.

RAJASTHANSPEAKER MOVESSC AGAINST HC

Digs out 11-yr-old Customs department case

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

IN BRIEFMinorities welfaredept appointment Hyderabad: Minorities wel-

fare department hasTelangana State Wakf BoardCEO Abdul Hameed who has

been posted as additionalcollector (local bodies)Jangaon and appointed

Hyderabad district minoritieswelfare officer Mohammed

Khasim in his place with fulladditional charge. Mr Khasim

took the charge onWednesday.

Siddipet role model forgreen cover: Harish DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Finance Minister T.Harish Rao onWednesday said thatSiddipet district hademerged as a role modelfor the country in protec-tion of plants on bothsides of Rajiv GandhiHighway, a 91-km stretchfrom Ontimamidi villageto Siddipet town.

The Minister was inter-acting with MGNREGSworkers at Mulug on hisway to Siddipet. He saidthat with the efforts ofMGNREGS workers, agreen cover was devel-oped on either side of thestretch, including avenueplantations on dividers.

He said that Siddipetwould be the country’sfirst district to engageworkers in such activities.He urged the districtadministration to rope inMGNREGS workers toprotect the saplings plant-ed along Rajiv GandhiHighway and for removalof bushes on either side ofthe road at periodic inter-vals.

He said that since theNational Highway passesthrough 33 villages inSiddipet district, grampanchayats of these vil-lages should be asked toengage MGNREGS work-ers to plant saplings andclear the bushes so thatthe road is well maintained.

Politicians run forsafety from CoronaFrom Page 1

Husnabad MLA,Vodithala Satish, has alsotested positive recently.BJP Warangal urban pres-ident, Rao Padma, too wasadmitted to a private hos-pital in Hyderabad fortreatment of Covid-19 twodays back. After JangaonMLA, MuthireddyYadagiri Reddy, recoveredfrom the virus, his sonand daughter-in-law alsowere affected and are cur-rently undergoing treat-ment. As a result of thecurrent scenario, thosewho work frequently withthe politicians are wor-ried about their safety.Tension prevails amongparty leaders from villageto district level.

Government officialswho take part in pro-

grammes along with thepoliticians are also wor-ried. They are all queuingup for Coronavirus testsand avoiding attendingtheir usual programmesas much as possible,remaining quarantined intheir homes. As a result,programmes like Harithaharam and others are notseeing much attendancefor the past four days.

With a lot of party work-ers seeking Covid-19 tests,medical officers are com-plaining that politicalpressure is mountingupon them to conducttests on followers. Whilethe medical officials areconducting tests onlywhen someone showssymptoms, the politiciansare insisting on conduct-ing tests on their followers.

MAKE AGRIPROFITABLE FORFARMERS: KCRS.A. ISHAQUI | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Raocalled upon theAgriculture Departmentto work with firm com-mitment towards mak-ing agriculture sector aprofitable vocation inthe state. He was holdinga review meeting withofficials of theAgriculture Departmentat the Pragathi Bhavanon Wednesday.

The Chief Ministerstressed on the need tostrength the AgricultureDepartment in view ofthe increase in extent ofland under cultivationin the state followingconstruction of newirrigation projects. Thestate government’sefforts to revive irriga-tion tanks and improvegroundwater levels havealso brought additionallands under cultivationin the state.

He also emphasised onthe need to revamp theHorticulture Depart-ment and decide on thecrops to be broughtunder its jurisdiction.He said to strengthenboth the agriculture andhorticulture depart-ments, the governmentis ready to sanctionadditional posts asrequired.

The Chief Ministersaid, “The efforts put inby Telangana to developthe agriculture sectorare unparalleled. Noone has ever made suchan attempt till now inthe history of inde-pendent India. We havespent crores of rupees,constructed major proj-ects and are givingwater free of cost tofarmers.”

PLOT DOCUMENTSHANDED OVER TO SANTOSHIFrom Page 1

While interacting withthem, Mr Rao inquiredabout their well-being.

He assured the familythat the state govern-ment will always bethere to lend any sup-port required by them.

Handing over theappointment letter toSantoshi, the ChiefMinister instructedCMO secretary SmitaSabharwal to guide andmentor Santoshi till shecompletes her trainingand settles down in hernew job.

Mr Rao also directedthe authorities con-cerned that they give hera posting in Hyderabador its surroundingareas. Later the ChiefMinister had lunch withfamily members of lateColonel Santosh Babu.Earlier, Hyderabad dis-trict collector SwethaMohanty handed overdocuments of a plotmeasuring 711 squareyards to the family ofthe martyred colonel.The plot is located oppo-site KBR Park on RoadNo 14 in Banjara Hills.

Start Indian medicalservices, IMA tells PMBALU PULIPAKA | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The Indian MedicalAssociation has urged thecentral government toaccept the demand forintroducing IndianMedical Services on thelines of other all-Indiaservices.

In a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,the IMA said Covid-19 pan-demic has brought intosharp focus the need for acentral medical servicescadre. “There is a sense ofhelplessness with diver-gent directives beingissued in different districtsof various states. The med-ical profession has to han-dle medicare institutionsand streams considering

the uniqueness and vari-ous complexitiesinvolved,” the IMA said inits letter dated June 21.IMA national president DrRajan Sharma said that theorganisation also submit-ted a 38-page report on theproposed Indian MedicalServices. India had such aservice during the Britishrule but it was done awaywith post-Independence.

“An all-India medicalservice will be able to servethe needs of the people bet-ter, as it will be staffed bymedical professionals whounderstand the groundrealities and the complexi-ties involved in healthcare.This will ultimately resultin better health services topeople across the country,”he said. In its report, the

IMA said healthcare deliv-ery systems in India areplagued by “abysmal lackof professionalism inhealthcare administration.There is lack of profession-alism in managementamong clinician-turned-administrators as well.This chink has totallyrevealed itself in all itsmanifestations in allaspects of managing theCovid-19 pandemic.”

This tragic situation issufficient indicator andalso “an eye opener for allpowers that be to realisethat a separate administra-tive cadre is the core foradministering and manag-ing healthcare services,including public health, inthe country,” the reportsaid.

Old OGH building to be shut downKANIZA GARARI | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The old building ofOsmania general hospital(OGH), a heritage struc-ture, is to be sealed andcompletely vacatedaccording to orders issuedby the director of healthand medical education onWednesday.

The building where rain-water entered the groundfloor and flooded the areais now not going to be usedand will be sealed.

The orders state that itmust be completely vacat-ed. The patients of gener-al surgery and orthopedicdepartment were shiftedto other blocks after theflooding. There are opera-tion theatres on the firstand third floors of thebuilding. The administra-tive department of thehospital also sits in thesame building and theytoo have to be shifted toother buildings.

Dr P. Naik, in-chargesuperintendent of OGHsaid, “We have alreadyshifted patients. There areonly doctors' rooms andadministration staff inthe building who will needto be moved.”

The sealing of the build-ing raises the question ofwhether it will then berestored or allowed todeteriorate. A senior doc-tor, on condition ofanonymity, said, “It is aheritage structure andrestoration will have to bedone but when is a verybig question.”

A section of heritageenthusiasts and seniordoctors who have studiedin Osmania medical col-lege believe that it was a'deliberate attempt to floodthe building'. They fearthat sealing of the build-ing is going to be a steptowards further deteriora-tion rather than restora-tion. Inspection of thebuilding was also carriedout in September 2019 byheritage experts and theyfound that the building isstrong and its foundationintact. It required mainte-nance in terms of clean-ing and removing vegeta-tion and restoration workwas needed due to its highusage.

Anuradha Reddy, con-venor of INTACH,Hyderabad chapter, said,“We have our fears for the

building and we hope forrestoration work will becarried out at the earliest.What was the reason forflooding in the hospital?Has it been identified?OGH was never flooded inthe many rains thatoccurred in Hyderabad.Why did it happen now?”

According to Telanganagovernment doctors' asso-ciation (TGDA), the pro-posal is to completelyrestore the heritage build-ing, dome and façade,which faces the HighCourt.

Dr R. Raghu, co-chair-man of the joint actioncommittee of TGDA said,“We want a new OGHbuilding but the heritagestructure will be restored.The other new buildingswill be behind the her-itage structure.Government has taken thefirst step towards safety

and we hope that otherswill also follow.”

Demand for new OGHbuildings and completerestoration is pendingsince 2015. There are a lotof encroachments insidethe OGH building andexperts state that the newbuilding can be easilymade by evicting these

encroachers. There is space for huge

buildings at the back.Experts state that thedomes and the buildingare a glory in the medicalworld and the building hasa rich heritage. It must berestored and a methoddrawn to allow new andold buildings to co-exist.

HC URGES RBITO COME CLEAR

ON ‘FRAUD’ A/CsVUJJINI VAMSHIDHARA DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The Telangana High Court onWednesday sought an explana-tion from Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) that the masterand updated circulars beingissued to banks to declare cer-tain loan accounts as fraudaccounts, follow the PrincipalNatural Justice or not.

Responding to the contentionof some borrowers that theirrights were violated, as theirexplanation was not beingheard and principles of natu-ral justice were denied, beforetheir loan accounts weredeclared as fraud.

A Division bench comprisingChief Justice RaghvendraSingh Chauhan and Justice B.Vijaysen Reddy directed RBI togive their explanation withinthree weeks.

The bench was dealing witha plea filed Rajesh Agarwal ofBS Company. He challengedthe decision of the SBI andseveral other consortiumbanks to declare his account asa fraud account.

His contention was that hewas denied a chance to explainhis case.

However, Advocate Generalof Telangana, B.S Prasad, whoalso represented SBI, told theCourt that the company’s out-standing amount to the Banksconsortium had crossed `3,000crore.

RBI counsel Nalin Kumarsaid that the purpose behindtheir master circular was totackle the ongoing loan frauds.

The RBI has started cominghard on banks after it detectedthat they continued to treat aborrower as a normal default-er despite the promoters’arrest by investigating author-ities for fraud. Following this,many banks started reportingfraud Accounts, he said.

EFLU ASSISTANTPROF COMMITS

SUICIDEDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

An assistant professor at theEnglish and ForeignLanguages University (EFLU),Hyderabad was discovereddead in his apartment atTarnaka on Wednesday, thepolice have said.

The body of the deceased,identified as 25-year-old Dr B.Rahul, a native of Vijayawada,who taught in the departmentof computational linguistics,was discovered by the maid-servant and the watchman ofthe apartment complex in themorning, the police said.

It is believed that Dr Rahul,who was found hanging fromthe ceiling, died two days agofrom the state of the body. Thepolice said they found a pieceof paper with a brief note thatincluded a phone number pur-portedly written by thedeceased saying that it was hisfather’s contact number andthat he should be informed.

According to the OsmaniaUniversity police, the maidservant went in the morningbut did not receive anyresponse from inside. She thencalled the apartment complexwatchman.

With a foul smell emanatingfrom inside the apartment, thewatchman broke the doordown only to discover DrRahul hanging by a ropearound his neck from the ceil-ing.

The body was beginning todecompose and it is suspectedthat he may have died two daysago, the police said. The bodyhas since been sent for a post-mortem examination and thepolice have registered a caseand are investigating.

Sorry state of affairs

Osmania General Hospital is shifting necessary material from the old building in the wake of flooding in the hospital wards after heavy rains lashed the city last week. — DEEPAK DESHPANDE

●● THE CHIEF Ministerdirected the con-cerned authoritiesthat they give her aposting in Hyderabador its surroundingareas.

●● THE BENCH was dealingwith a plea filed RajeshAgarwal of BS Company.He challenged the decisionof the SBI and several otherconsortium banks todeclare his account as afraud account. His con-tention was that he wasdenied a chance to explainhis case.

IREDDY SRINIVAS REDDY| DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) state president andMP, Bandi Sanjay Kumar,alleged that theTelangana RashtraSamiti (TRS) governmenthad become helpless incontaining the Covid-19pandemic because it wasbeing run by a bogusChief Minister and hisequally inept ministers.

Addressing a virtualpress conference onWednesday, he demandedthe Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao tocome out of his farm-house and make efforts tobring relief to the people,whose life has been devas-tated because the stategovernment has beenunable to containCoronavirus.

The senior BJP leaderalleged that the Ministerswere touring districts inthe name of welfare pro-grammes to divert theattention of people fromcorona.

He accused them ofactually spreading thedisease as they were notmaintaining social dis-

tance and other Covidguidelines during theirtours.

Sanjay alleged that dis-tribution of corona kitswas a huge scam andthose that were being dis-tributed were of poorquality and N95 masksdid not meet the safetystandards that have beenprescribed.

The contract was givento close associates of TRSleaders. The BJP demand-ed that corona cases mustbe included in Arogyasrischeme and `5,000 crorebe released immediatelyto help corona patients.

KCR a bogusCM: BandiMake efforts to bring reliefto people, BJP tells KCR

From Page 1

Officials said that the 10motors were defunct asthe water board supplieddrinking water with 50 percent shortage. They saidthat the restoration ofmotors would take at leastone week as they were notable to procure spare partsbecause of their shortagetoo.

HMWSSB officials alsoclaimed that all the lowerrung officials working in10 divisions were put inhome isolation as anemployee died of Covid-19last week.

Though officials havetried to hire contractualemployees, they have boy-cotted work demandinghigher wages as they werereluctant to work for`7,000 a month.

Besides this, officialsclaimed, none of the elect-

ed representatives havebeen turning up to attendthe public grievances fear-ing Covid-19, though about40 percent of populationin Godavari basin is sub-jected to severe inconven-ience.

Sharing his experience,Rajkumar said thatthough the water boardhas been supplying waterthrough tankers everyalternative day afterstalling the Godavariwater, it has been notmeeting the demands ofthe residents. He said thatthe consumers have beenforced to book a tanker tomeet the domestic needs,even during the monsoon.“We have been paying `750to `1,200 based on thedemand. Though waterboard officials assured usthey would restore thewater supply, they failed toachieve the target in the

last five days. Our situa-tion would turn from badto worse if water supply isstopped for anotherweek,” he said.

“We have been sufferingfrom acute water crisissince the month and theboard has completelystalled water supply sincefive days. The residents inthe area have already sub-mitted three representa-

tions to the HMWSSBwhich did not provide anyrelief,” said AbhinavTrivedi. He said that theboard has neither provid-ing water tankers nor arethey supplying waterthrough any other source.

Reddy said that at timeswe have purchased 25litres cans for `35 each tomeet needs in emergency.Surprisingly, none of theboard officials were will-ing to comment on theissue and the same goeswith the public represen-tatives.

The officials were noteven ready to disclose howmany million gallons aday was supplied to thecity. The water boardsources said that residentsliving in 12 peripheralmunicipalities were thesilent sufferers. They havebeen not receiving watersince 10 days.

Water woes may continue for a week

OGH was let to rotfor ulterior motives SANJAY SAMUEL PAUL |DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Poor maintenance ofOsmania GeneralHospital's (OGH) heritagestructure and possibleulterior motives are saidto be the two main reasonsfor the infrastructural cri-sis in the building over theflooding.

The collapse of thestorm water drain in theOGH building premiseswas because the sewersaround have inappropri-ate road work and werealso choking due to waste.Well-wishers of OGH whocomprise doctors, her-itage lovers, history buffsand enthusiasts, are upsetthat the basic mainte-nance of the hospital hasbeen constantly and con-tinuously neglected.

The latest decision toseal the heritage buildingthat served as the in-patient block, comes aftermoderate rains in the arealed to unprecedentedflooding of the wardsthrowing patient care intodisarray. The repeatedflooding in the past few

days was a result of poorplanning and execution ofroad work inside the hos-pital by the Telanganastate medical services andinfrastructure corpora-tion. This was firstannounced by the hospitalauthorities who inspectedthe premises after the firstflooding on July 12.

The roads were laid insuch a manner that theypractically choked off thedrain cover openings inthe hospital premises thatresulted in the firstinstance of flooding.

Three days later, on July15, the hospital was flood-ed for the second time, notjust with rain water butwith sewage-laced waterthat entered the premisesafter overflowing becauseof drains choked in thenearby Begum Bazar area,according to officials.

Meanwhile, there arealso allegations that thegovernment has allowedthe situation to get worseallegedly because themove would benefit pri-vate hospitals as the num-ber of beds available atOGH will fall.

Dr Iqbal Jaweed, execu-

tive member of Osmaniamedical college alumniassociation said that theconspiracy to ruin OGHhas been started by seal-ing the building.Outraged, he said “Thisstep is a pre-planned moveand it has been carriedout with the motive. Weare not going to allow thisheritage building to beruined. It is the alma mat-ter of medical studies inthe city and there is noway it can be ruined inthis manner.”

Junior doctors state thatthe building’s condition isvery bad and there weremultiple instances ofchunks of plaster fromthe ceiling falling onpatients. An Osmania jun-ior doctors' associationrepresentative said “Forlong there has been a needfor a new building in thishospital and the govern-ment has delayed it. Thishospital gives the best pos-sible treatment to thepatients as well exposureto student doctors to learnabout diseases and treat-ment methods, which noother corporate hospitalor college can provide.”

1,554 NEW COVID CASES IN TELANGANADC CORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, JULY 22

On Wednesday, 1,554 newCovid-19 cases wererecorded and there werenine deaths from the virusin Telangana.

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporationhas 842 cases , RangaReddy, 132, Medchal, 96,Karimnagar, 73,Nalgonda, 51 and

Warangal Urban has 38cases. The cumulativetesting positivity report is16 per cent in the state.

Till date there are 49,259cases in the state andthere are 3,08,959 testsconducted in the state.

People have been askedto exercise caution andmost of them haveimposed self-lockdown toavoid contracting thevirus.

●● SURPRISINGLY,NONE of the board offi-cials were willing tocomment on the issueand the same goeswith the public repre-sentatives. The offi-cials were not evenready to disclose howmany million gallons aday was supplied tothe city.

●● THE BJP leaderalleged that theMinisters were touringdistricts in the name ofwelfare programmes todivert the attention ofpeople from corona. Heaccused them of actu-ally spreading the dis-ease as they were notmaintaining social dis-tance and other Covidguidelines during theirtours.

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

IN BRIEF

Minorities Boardrelieves Wakf CEO

ATHER MOIN | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The Minorities WelfareDepartment has relievedTelangana State Wakf BoardChief Executive Officer AbdulHameed and has been who hasbeen posted as AdditionalCollector (Local Bodies)Jangaon. It appointed DistrictMinorities Welfare Officer,Hyderabad, Mr MohammedKhasim as Wakf Board CEOwith full additional charge. MrMohammed Khasim took thecharge on Wednesday.

The demolition of Secretariat L Block at Saidabad in progress on Wednesday. — GANDHI

Media in war zones, whynot at demolition site: HC

Govt: No idea whenschools will re-open

27-yr-old arrested forduping people onlineDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

A 27-year-old man was arrest-ed by the Punjagutta police forcheating people by collectingcash on the pretext of trans-ferring money online. Policesaid that the accused posed asan NRI, who was unable toconvert dollars into rupees topay hospital bills and dupedthe innocent persons.

Punjagutta police said theaccused K. Raja Rohit Reddymade about `4 lakh by cheat-ing people in the last onemonth.

Explaining the modus

operande, the police said thastRohit from Hanmakonda, agraduate and unemployed,befriends strangers at corpo-rate hospitals posing as anNRI. After conversing forsome time, he informs that hehas to pay hospital bills of apatient, but is unable to con-vert US dollars to rupees. Herequests strangers to givecash promising to transfer themoney online. However, hesends the money to anotheraccount and shows the imageof successful money transfer,and immediately flees fromthe spot, said the police, whoarrested him on Wednesday.

THREE SCR EMPLOYEES KILLED BY TRAINENGINE DURING WORK ON TRACKSDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Two bridge assistants anda mason working withSouth Central Railway’sSecunderabad divisionwere killed after they werehit by a train engine whileworking on the tracks nearVikarabad, while nine oth-ers escaped unhurt.

The Secunderabad Gove-rnment Railway Police,probing the incident, saidthat the workers did notnotice the engine coming

near until it came too closeby which time it was toolate. The deceased includeN. Pratap Reddy (58), amason living at BN ReddyNagar, and bridge assis-tants D. Naveen Kumar (35)of Mettuguda, and 25-year-old Secunderabad residentShamsheer Ali, a Biharnative who joined theRailways nine monthsback. A team of 13 staff,including a supervisor,went to Vikarabad to carryout painting and othermaintenance works.

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The Telangana governmentinformed the High Court thatthe commencement of the ac-ademic year for 2020-21, will beannounced based on the pr-evailing pandemic situation.Nothing can be said now aboutwhen schools will re-open.

On being directed by theHigh Court to explain thestand on permitting onlineclasses in schools and adopt-ing the virtual mode of educa-tion, the Telangana govern-ment furnished an affidavitbe-fore the court stating that thedecision was yet to taken.

On behalf of the Telanganagovernment, the special chiefsecretary of the education

department explained that theeducation department hasevolved a draft policy and pro-cedures to be adopted to helpeducation reach the doorstepsof the students, in the prevail-ing Covid-19 conditions andconsidering the financialbackgrounds of the parents.But it still needs approvalfrom the government.

Recalling the union homeministry’s guidelines issued atthe Unlock, which mentionedthat the schools and educa-tional institutions will remainclosed till July 31, 2020, theaffidavit also said that the gov-ernment was also waiting forcommunication from the un-ion ministry of human res-ources and development aboutthe re-opening of schools.

Hike in fines for noise pollution,display boards set up at traffic jn.T.S.S. SIDDHARTH | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Roughly 10 days after theCentral Pollution Control Board(CPCB) hiked the fines for noisepollution—between `1,000 and`1 lakh, the Telangana StatePollution Control Board(TSPCB) has setup three displayboards at a traffic junction.

Prasad Dasari, a senior scien-tist with TSPCB said: “We areinstalling three display boardsat the Cybertowers traffic junc-tion, which will display livenoise levels and carbon monox-ide levels at the junction.”

Prasad Dasari said audio mes-

sages will be played requestingroad users to switch off theirvehicles when the signal is red.Commuters will be able to seefor themselves the increase anddecrease in concentration ofnoise and CO (CarbonMonoxide) levels due to theirown actions.

Such display boards will be setup at other traffic junctions too.

These boards have beeninstalled for public awarenesswith funds coming from theNational Clean Air Programme(NCAP).

The move to have displayboards comes close on the heelsof CPCB proposal to have a newset of fines ranging between`1,000 and `1 lakh for those whoviolate norms restricting noisepollution under the NoisePollution (Regulation andControl) Rules, 2000.

The sources of jarring noisewould include loud constructionactivity, loudspeakers at func-tions and processions, honkingat odd hours, and so on.

Achyuta, child rightsactivist, dies of CovidDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, JULY 22

Prominent child rightsactivist, P. AchyutaRao, on Wednesdaysuccumbed to Covid-19while undergoingtreatment at a privatehospital here in thecity. He was 58.

In his death, childrenof Telugu speakingstates, particularlyfrom Telangana, lostone of their bestfriends they wouldhave never even heardof. For Rao, it did notmatter where a childcame from. Whethermade to work illegallyin brick kilns or stu-dents from well-to-dofamilies strugglingwith new psychologi-cal stresses brought onby online education,their problems wereapproached by himwith equal attentionand passion.

Admitted to the hos-pital about a week ago

suffering from Covid-19 symptoms, Rao wasreportedly sufferingfrom some long-termhealth issues such asdiabetes and wasplaced on a ventilatorfor the past few days,but did not recover,according to hospitalsources.

Founder of theBalala HakkulaSangham in 1985, alongwith his wifeAnuradha, Rao wasconsidered the voice ofchildren dispossessedof their rights andwasn’t willing to giveup his fight for them.

He was also a pastmember of the statecommittee for protec-tion of child rights.

One of his last cam-paigns was related toCovid-19 and true tohis passion about chil-dren and their welfare,it related to them.During the last week ofJune, Rao urged theTelangana governmentto recognise the riskposed to children byCovid-19. Childrenneed separate Covid-19facilities consideringthe fact that they are avulnerable group whocould be affected by thedisease, Rao had said.

Citizen represented by press, media should be given access, says courtVUJJINI VAMSHIDHARA | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

The single judge bench head-ed by Justice ChallaKod-andaram of Telangana HighCourt on Wednesday ques-tioned the Telangana gov-ernment as to why the elec-tronic media and press peo-ple are not permitted tocover and report on the dem-olition of the secretariat.

“The media and press areallowed in war zones subjectto their possessing valididentity given by the con-cerned authorities. The

press and media required tobe fed with the information(videos and photographs) ofthe demolition, which can bedisseminated to them, assuch information is readywith state public relationofficials. A citizen is repre-sented by the press. Hence,the press should be givenaccess to the informationwhich they require on time,failing which the newsbecomes stale,” observedKodandaram.

The judge was hearing thepetition filed by G. Sampath,bureau chief of a Telugunews channel and newspa-

per (V6) seeking a directionto permit the media to reportand telecast the ongoingdemolition of the secretariatat Saidabad as the media per-sons are restrained from cov-ering secretariat buildings.

Counsel for the petitioner,Naveen, informed the courtthat around 400 police per-sonnel are deployed at thesecretariat and have restrict-ed entry to all includingmedia and press, therebydepriving press of its free-dom in a democracy. A citi-zen of the state has everyright to know what is goingon at the site where the dem-

olition is in progress. Advocate general, B.S.

Prasad, informed the courtthat he needs to get clearinstructions from the gov-ernment on this issue andsought an adjournment. Thecase was adjourned toThursday.

However, Kodandaram ob-served “So far as the pressand media is concerned, un-less it is a prohibitory area,they are supposed to be pro-vided free access. Unless th-ere is something whichendangers the lives of pressand media personnel, wecannot deny them access.”

POWER | SHUTDOWN9.30 am to 11.30 pm

Gudimalkapur Sub-stationGudimalkapur 11 KV FeederSanthoshnagar, SBI Colony,

Amba Garden,Guddimalkapur, Kranthinagar,

Jeevan Kalyan Nagar, HillColony, Vijay Apts, Sai(Apts),

Huda Colony, Sai Gardens,Devarathna Apts, VijaySusheela Apts, Ganesh

Residency.11.30 am to 1.30 pm

A.S.R.R.Nagar SubstationColony 11 KV Feeder

Gudimalkapur, LIC.Building,Dhobi Ghat, Sai Garden.

2 pm to 4 pmGudimalkapur Substation

Sri Ram Nagar 11 KV FeederSri Ram Nagar, MIGH,

Muradnagar Kunta, AsifnagarMain Road, Milan Talkies,

Zeba Bagh.4 pm to 6 pm

Gudimalkapur Sub-stationZeeba Bagh 11 KV Feeder

Gandhi Statue, Zeba Bagh,Asifnagar PS, Muradnagar,

Imili Jaad, Milan Talkies,Mehdipatnam Main Road.

4 pm to 6 pmSD Hospital Sub-station

Khadibandar 11 KV FeederMG Nagar, Khadi Board,

Hasham Mosque, ChachaNehru Park, Dobi Ghat.

10 am to 2 pmSaroornagar Sub-station

Mohan Nagar 11 KV FeederMohan Nagar, Srungeri

Colony, Snehapuri Colony,Srinivasa Colony and sur-

rounding areas.Saroornagar Sub-station

Adarshnagar 11 KV Feeder10.30 am to 3 pm

Adarshnagar, AdarshnagarRoad Nos. 1&2, AurnodayaColony, Nagole Main Road

Vijaya Garden, AnandiEnclave, Nagole Village RTO

Office and surrounding areas.10.30 pm to 3 pm

Saroornagar SubstationNew Nagole 11 KV Feeder

New Nagole, RK Puram,Snehapuri Colony Road No. 5

and surrounding areas.

‘BLACK MAGICIAN’SODOMISES MINOR,

GETS LIFE TERMJAYENDRA CHAITHANYA T. | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 22

A man who dabbles in blackmagic sodomised a nine-year-old boy and was sentenced tolife imprisonment by a trialcourt on Wednesday.

The court also convicted andsentenced the boy’s mother toundergo 10 years of imprison-ment for attempting to kill theboy for objecting to her extra-marital relationship. The acc-used was also asked to pay`65,000 to the boy towards co-mpensation for the agony hefaced. A case was registered atKanchanbagh police station inSeptember 2016 by the fatherof the minor when he learnedabout the murder attempt. Theboy and his mother live in thecity while his father worksabroad. The Kanchanbaghpolice charge-sheeted the casebefore the first additional me-tropolitan sessions judgecourt. After the trial, judgeSuneetha Kunchala pronou-nced a judgement convictingthe mother and her paramour.

● ● CHILDREN OFTelugu speakingstates, particularlyfrom Telangana, lostone of their bestfriends they wouldhave never evenheard of.

P. Achyuta Rao

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

SHORT TAKES

CHIEF MINISTER ISINVISIBLE, SAYS

TEJASHWI

STRICT LOCKDOWN

BACK IN KASHMIRYUSUF JJAMEEL || DDC SRINAGAR, JULY 22

A 108-hour ‘strict’ lockdownthat began in all the ten dis-tricts of Kashmir onWednesday evening is expect-ed to act as an antidote by theauthorities who are worriedthat they might not have theresources they need to preventa much wider outbreak ofCoronavirus in the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir, partic-ularly the Valley has wit-nessed an alarming spike inthe number of cases of Covid-19 over the past week and as nomedical remedies are in sight,the government officials, med-ical fraternity and generalpublic - all are worried overthe situation worsening witheach passing day.

An official spokesman heresaid that 453 fresh positivecases surfaced across J&Kincluding 352 in the Valley and101 in Jammu region onWednesday, taking the tally to15,711. With ten more peoplesuccumbing to Covid-19 till fil-ing of this report, the toll hasrisen to 273.

Srinagar district, with 71deaths, tops the list of Covid-19 fatalities followed by 57 inBaramulla, 26 in Kulgam, 20 inBudgam, 19 each in Shopianand Anantnag, 15 in Kupwara,14 in Pulwama, 7 in Bandiporeand 5 in Ganderbal. InJammu, the Jammu districttops the list with 12 deaths outof 20 in the entire region.

The J&K government earlierduring the day on Wednesdayannounced that a completelockdown will be imposed inall districts falling in the redzone, except Bandipora, in theValley from (Wednesday)evening.

It also said that agriculture,horticulture and constructionactivities will, however, con-tinue as per the disaster man-agement guidelines.

NAYEAR AAZAD || DDC PATNA, JULY 22

Amid rising cases of Covid-19and deteriorating flood condi-tion in Bihar, the OppositionRJD on Wednesday blamed thestate government for its fail-ure in dealing with the crisis.

During his visit to flood-affected Darbhanga andMadhubani districts, RJDleader Tejashwi Yadav said,“People are suffering due tothe apathy of our state govern-ment. Our Chief Minister isinvisible and there is no one tolook after the people”.

RJD insiders said thatTejashwi Yadav is likely tovisit other districts of thestate to take stock of Covid-19and flood situation.

As per an assessment morethan three lakh people havebeen badly affected in aroundeight districts of north Bihar.Flood water has entered intoseveral low-lying areas of EastChamparan, Supaul,Darbhanga, Kishanganj,Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi andSheohar districts.

Earlier this week, ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar haddirected government officialsto step up relief measures forpeople living in containmentzones of the flood-affectedareas. Officials said that thestate government has set upseven relief camps and around27 community kitchens inareas where the situation isgrim. Besides, administrativeofficials have also been askingpeople who have taken shelterin relief camps to follow theCovid-19 guidelines. “Masksand gloves will be mandatoryin relief camps especially inthe containment zones”, offi-cials said.

BHAGWAN PPARAB ||DCMUMBAI, JULY 22

As the date for thebhoomipujan ceremo-ny for the proposedRam Mandir atAyodhya approachesnearer, the Shiv Senahas demanded dis-missal of the BabriMasjid demolitioncase before the eventtakes off. It would be atrue homage to ‘mar-tyrs’ of the RamJanmabhoomi move-ment, the party hassaid.

“It’s an irony thatwhile the foundationfor the Ram Mandir isbeing laid, the BabriMasjid demolitioncase is still going onagainst several peopleincluding Lal KrishnaAdvani and MurliManohar Joshi. Evenafter the SupremeCourt has deliveredthe verdict on RamJanmabhoomi, theCBI continues withthe Babri case andAdvani, who was theprime leader ofAyodhya movement,appears in it as anaccused,” the ShivSena said in an edito-rial in party mouth-piece Saamana onWednesday.

When you acceptBabar was an aggres-sor, the Babri caseitself becomes obso-lete. If the Babrimosque demolitioncase is dismissedbefore the bhoomipujan of the RamMandir, it would be ahomage to the mar-tyrs of the RamJanmabhoomi move-ment, the Sena said.

The Uddhav

Thackeray-led partyclaimed that theMughal emperorBabar was connectedwith Ayodhya onlythrough invasion.“Babar, who camefrom Uzbekistan,demolished severalHindu temples. He didnot even spare RamJanmabhoomi. TheBabri encroachmentwas demolished bylakhs of Karsevaks,who were from ShivSena and others,” itadded.

Had the domes ofBabri not been razed,the Ram Janma-bhoo-mi premises wouldhave never been liber-ated. The day BabriMasjid was pulleddown, the world saw

that faces of manywarriors turned blackwith fear. “We haven'tdone this, this is thejob of Shiv Sena,” thethen BJP vice presi-dent Sundar SinghBhandari had said. Onthis, BalasahebThackeray thunderedin Mumbai that if hisSainiks had indeeddone it, he was proudof them.” Since then,he was adored by peo-ple as Hindu-hri-daysamrat, said theSena.

The Babri Masjid inAyodhya was demol-ished on December 6,1992 by Karsevaks. Aspecial CBI court hascharged BJP leadersMr Advani and MrJoshi, who were lead-ing the Ram Mandirmovement at thattime, with criminalconspiracy in theBabri Masjid demoli-tion case. It has setJuly 24 for recordingthe statement of MrAdvani in the casethrough video confer-encing.

RAJNATH TELLSIAF TO BE READYTO HANDLE ANYEVENTUALITYPAWAN BBALI || DDC NEW DELHI, JULY 22

With talks between Indiaand China on militaryface off hitting a deadend as of now, defenceminister Rajnath Singhon Wednesday told thetop commanders of theIndian Air Force (IAF)“to stand ready to handleany eventuality”.

There has been no fur-ther progress in the dis-engagement after theCorps Commandersmeeting between the twocountries on July 14 onPangong Tso, Hot Springsgeneral area andDepsang plains.

Inaugurating the AirForce Commanders’Conference, defence min-ister said that the profes-sional manner in whichthe IAF conducted the airstrikes in Balakot as wellas rapid deployment ofthe IAF assets at forwardlocations in response tothe prevailing situationin Eastern Ladakh hassent a strong message tothe adversaries.

He said that the nation’sresolve to defend its sov-ereignty stands firm onthe faith its people havein the capability of itsarmed forces. “He allud-ed to the ongoing effortsfor de-escalation on LACand urged the IAF tostand ready to handle anyeventuality,” said the IAFstatement.

China has brought alarge number of troopsestimated to be around40,000 soldiers in thefront and depth areas atthe LAC in the Ladakhsector where they havealso amassed tanks,artillery, aircraft andradars, jammers. Indiahas also done mirrordeployment of its troopsin Ladakh to counter theChinese. India has alsodeployed tanks, heavyartillery and air defencesystem in the Ladakh sec-tor.

Baghjan Fire: Three foreignexperts hurt in explosion MANOJ AANAND || DDC GUWAHATI, JULY 22

In what is said to be an explo-sion due to some technicalglitch, three foreign experts,engaged in capping the fire ina gas well at Baghjan oil fieldin eastern Assam’s Tinsukiadistrict were injured onWednesday.

The explosion occurrednear well number five. Thethree injured foreign expertshave been rushed to a hospi-tal in Dibrugarh. The medicalteam of the Oil India Limitedaccompanying the injuredpersonnel said that all ofthem were out of danger.

The three injured areAnthony Steven Reynolds,Doug Dallas, Craig NeilDuncan. They are from M/sAlert Disaster Control compa-

ny. Mr Tridip Hazarika,spokesperson of Oil IndiaLimited, also confirmed theincident.

While narrating the acci-dent, the experts of the OilIndia Limited said, “Duringthe disaster control processthe experts were on their wayto open the spool of the wellwhich is essential before put-ting up the BOP (Blow OutPreventer) that finally dousesthe fire. It’s during thatprocess that the blastoccurred and three expertswere injured.”

Pointing out that frequentprotest of local organisationshas come as a major hurdle inspeeding up the process ofcontaining the fire, sources inthe Oil India limitedinformed that the team ofexperts was hesitant to work

at the site due to the ongoingfierce protests in Baghjan onTuesday.

Even the experts fromONGC were reluctant towork. Six foreign experts,who have been roped in to capthe natural gas well, haveexpressed their willingness toexit the operations.

The foreign experts wereheld captive by locals alongwith 200 personnel from sev-eral Indian agencies for over18 hours at the oil field.

Sources said that locals hadblocked all exits from theBaghjan blowout site onSaturday. This had forcedIndian officials and foreignexperts - three fromSingapore, two from the USand one from Canada - tospend hours in torrential rainat the site.

Sena: DismissBabri caseThe dismissal would be homage totemple ‘martyrs’, says Shiv Sena

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JULY 22

Ahead of BJP veteranL.K. Advani’s deposi-tion before a specialCBI court, which ishearing the BabriMasjid demolitioncase, Union homeminister Amit Shahon Wednesday met theparty veteran at thelatter’s residence.

One of the promi-nent faces of theR a m j a n a m b h o o m imovement, Mr

Advani has to deposebefore the specialcourt in Lucknow onJuly 24 and a daybefore another partyveteran M.M. Joshi,has to depose beforethe court either in person or through video-confer-encing.

Also, both the BJPveterans are likely tobe invited for thefoundation laying cer-emony of the RamMandir in Ayodhya onAugust 5.

Family members of journalist Vikram Joshi stage a protest demandingjustice for him in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. Joshi, who was shot at bymiscreants in Ghaziabad Monday night, died at a hospital Wednesdaymorning. — PTI

PARMOD KKUMAR || DDCNEW DELHI, JULY 22

The Supreme Court onWednesday issued notice to theactivist-lawyer PrashantBhushan on a suo motu contempt proceedings as ittook cognizance of the tweetby him which the court felt iscapable of undermining its (court’s) dignity andauthority.

A notice has also been issuedto Attorney GeneralK.K.Venugopal and Twitterbased in California.

Taking cognizance of the twotweets by Bhushan - one relat-ing to Chief Justice Sharad A.Bobde riding a bike at Raj

Bhawan in Nagpur and other showing in poor light the role played by the top courtin last six years under four CJIs, — Justice ArunMishra heading a three-judgebench said, “We are, primafacie, of the view that the statements on Twitter havebrought the administration of justice in disreputeand are capable of undermining the dignity and authority ofthe institution of SupremeCourt in general and the officeof the Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of pub-lic at large.”.

The notice is returnable onAugust 5.

SC issues contemptnotice to Bhushan DC

CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JULY 22

Former SupremeCourt judge JusticeB.S. Chauhan willhead the inquirycommission toprobe the allegedencounter killing ofgangster VikasDubey who wasaccused of beinginvolved in thekilling of eightUttar Pradeshpolice personnel onJuly 2 in Kanpur.

Dubey wasallegedly encoun-tered by UttarPradesh police nearKanpur on the

morning of July 10where he was beingtaken after hisarrested in MadhyaPradesh, a day earli-er.

Besides inquiringinto the encounterof Dubey, theCommission willalso inquire intothe killing of 8police personnel,grant of bail toDubey prior to thekilling of the copsand the circum-stances surround-ing it, statements byvarious leadersincluding ChiefMinister YogiAdityanath and oth-ers.

PAGDI

MENGHRAJ KHEMNANIS/o Hassomal Khemnani

Inserted by: Ashok Khemnani (Son)Sangeeta Khemnani (Daughter-in-law)

Arti Khemnani (Grand Daughter)Karishma Khemnani (Grand Daughter)

Khemnani Family, Khemlani FamilyBabani Family, Panyani Family

Sadamangani Family, BulchandaniFamily, Near & Dear

(B/2021/D00028)

PAGDI

MENGHRAJ KHEMNANIS/o Hassomal Khemnani

With profound grief we inform the saddemise of our beloved Father ShreeMenghraj Khemnani, S/o HassomalKhemnani on 20th July 2020.Pagdi will be held on Thursday 23rd July2020 from 5.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. at ourRes: Jhulelal Appts, King Koti, Hyd.(Due to present situation we requesteveryone to pray for him from theirrespective homes)Inserted by: Ashok Khemnani (Son)Sangeeta Khemnani (Daughter-in-law)Arti Khemnani (Grand Daughter)Karishma Khemnani (Grand Daughter)

(B/2021/D00027)

Sri POORAN SINGHExpired on 12-7-2020 at 3.55 a.m.

Bhog on 25-7-2020Sons: Jagjit Singh

Narender Singh [Advt]Kachiguda

9032057786, 8328065314(B/2021/D00029)

ASIKE PARAMESWAR(Retired Superintendant Customs & Central Excise) DOB: 07-03-1949 DOD: 14-07-2020 "Your loving memories will remain in ourthoughts and hearts forever."

Inserted by: Wife: Asike PunyavathiSons & Daughters-in-law:

Asike Kranthi Kumar - DeepaAsike Naveen Kumar - Sumalatha

Daughter & Son-in-law:Bathula Sree Lakshmi & Bathula PramodhGrand Children: Asike Snikitha, Asike Simritha,Asike Rutika, Bathula Aaradhya, Bathula Aarav10th Day Ceremony will be held on 23-07-2020 and Lunch follows at 1-17-60/2/2, RamNagar Colony, Temple Alwal, Sec’bad.

10th DAY CEREMONY

13th DAY CEREMONY

Late Smt. KALERU SATYAMMAD.O.D: 11-07-2020

W/o Late Sri. Kaleru ViswanathamInserted by:

Son: Kaleru Madhukar RaoKodalu: Kaleru Sarita& Family Members

Vishwam Group of Hotels,Paradise, Sec’bad.

Address: H.No. 16-6-687,Chaderghat, Hyd.

OBITUARY

PALAKATI SURESHLost our dear friend on 11-7-2020

From: Hatti Venkat, Gary,Siddamsetty Sudhir, Mithilesh,

Sridhar Rama Raju, Kevin & Rajiv

(S/2021/D00309)

MOHAMMED FAROOQS/o Haji Mohammed Omer

Retired Manager BHEL, HyderabadPassed away on Morning of 20th July2020. We deeply mourn his passing away.

Wife: Majida AtyaSon: M.S.I. Farooqui IrfanDaughters: Mrs. Habeeba Fatima

Mrs. Haseeba Fatimaand All Family Members,

Brothers & Grand Children.Ph: 9246569868 / 040-24462070

(S/2021/D00311)

OBITUARY10th DAY CEREMONY

PUPPALA SHAKUNTALAW/o Late Puppala Eswaraiah

DOB: 1-1-1955 DOD: 14-7-2020Gone from our sight

but not from our hearts.From: Pilly Sai Kumar & Family

9966611104(S/2021/D00308)

OBITUARY“I will dwell in the House of theLord forever.” - Psalms 23:6

Mr. GAMPALA BHUSHNAM DAVIDS/o Late Mr. G.L. Bhushnam- Retd. Lecturer (Govt. of A.P.)

Called to Glory on: 22-07-2020Inserted by: Family Members

Mobile: 9963477811(S/2021/D00306)

10th DAY CEREMONY

ARIGE MAHESH KUMAR (Retd. AAO-ICAR)

DOB: 10-July-1956 DOD: 14-July-202010th Day Ceremony on 23.7.2020 at 1PM. Location: Gowliguda, Near CBSWorkshop.

From: Wife - Arige Latha,Son - Kartikeya

Inserted by: Mantri Venkateshwar Rao

(S/2021/D00312)

MEMORIAL THANKSGIVINGSERVICE

“I have fought a good fight, I have finishedmy course, I have kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7)”

Mr. PARADESI PRABHAKAR(Retd. Sr. Superintendent

Intermediate Board-Nampally)DOB: 01.01.1959

Called to glory: 14.07.2020Memorial service will be held on 23rdJuly 2020, 5:30 p.m. at C.S.I. WesleyChurch, Sec-bad. Followed byFellowship dinner.

Inserted by: Grand Daughters (Aadhya, Anam & Maisha)Daughters & Sons-in-law

Ph: 9985248474 / 9966604658

(S/2021/D00316)

12th DAY CEREMONYIN LOVING MEMORY OF

SANGRAS VINAYAK RAO B.E., F.I.E.

SE. Retd. Irrigation & C.A.D. (Govt. of A.P)DOB: 17.09.1933 DOD: 13.07.2020

Inserted by:Wife: Smt. Sangras Manorama &

Family MembersPh: 9885065360, 9703530881

OBITUARY

AMIT SHAH MEETS ADVANI

EX-SC JUDGE TO HEAD PANELTO PROBE DUBEY ENCOUNTER

Justice for journalist...

● ● A SSPECIAL CBIcourt has charged BJPleaders Mr Advaniand Mr Joshi, whowere leading the RamMandir movement atthat time, with crimi-nal conspiracy.

WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

Lenders may bypass IBC and sell to funds

Soon, AIFs can buybad loans directly

THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020 | HYDERABAD

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JULY 22

Gold prices on the MultiCommodity Exchangehave breached Rs 50,000mark, touching a newrecord high even as goldin the Delhi spot marketmoved up above Rs51,000. Silver made aneight-year high of Rs62,200 in the futures mar-ket as the internationalrates continued theirbull-run amidst a weak-ening US dollar.

In the domestic futuresmarket, gold made afresh high of Rs 50,085per 10 gm and in theDelhi spot market, 24carat gold was trading atRs 51,650, gaining morethan Rs 1,700 from theprevious close.

While silver went aboveRs 62,000 in the futuresmarket, it was trading ata discount at Rs 60,700per kg in the spot market.

Both gold and silverhave been moving up forthe past several sessionsas bullion continued itsbull-run in the interna-tional market.

On Wednesday, gold wasseen touching $1,861 perounce, a level last seen in2012. Silver at $23 anounce too was trading ateight-year high levels.Bullion has been gainingfrom the weakness of theUS dollar, with which ithas an inverse correla-tion. The dollar index wasseen at a three-month lowof 95 and has seen weak-ening for the past oneweek, said Ajay Kedia,MD, Kedia Commodities.

The new stimulusannounced by the Euro-pean Union has raisedconcerns about econom-ic risks and fuelled antic-ipation of similar stimu-lus in the US.

“US lawmakers could

soon agree on a new stim-ulus package, as extend-ed unemployment aid formillions of Americanswill expire at month-end.Republicans are in talksto provide additional $1trillion, Democrats aretalking of even a biggerone close to $3 trillion,”said Sriram Iyer, seniorresearch analyst atReliance Securities.

Prices also found sup-port amidst escalation oftensions between the USand China. Besides,Covid-related uncertain-ties have not eased yet.

Analysts say though thefundamentals are stillstrong for the bullion,technical correction cancreate volatility.

“Inves-tors have to becautious at this time asthere could be correc-tions due to profit-book-ing. Gold has the poten-tial to move towards$1,880 and to all-timehigh of $1,920 in thefuture. In the Indian mar-ket, depending upon thetrajectory of rupee, goldcan move up to Rs 54,000-55,000 levels,” said Kedia.

ASHWIN J PUNNENMUMBAI, JULY 22

The Securities andExchanges Board of India(Sebi) may soon allowAlternative InvestmentFunds (AIFs) to directlypurchase stressed loansfrom the lenders to helpimprove liquidity for thepandemic-hit financialservices sector.

Speaking at the FicciCapital Market summit onWednesday, Sebi chairmanAjay Tyagi said, "We hadinitiated a proposal forallowing AIFs to directlypurchase the stressedloans from the lenders."

He said the RBI hasrecently issued a consulta-tion paper on permittingpurchase of stressed loansby a wide set of entities. "Ifallowed, the AIFs would beable to buy out stressedloans of banks and NBFCs,thereby, releasing theirlocked capital," he said.

Due to the suspension ofInsolvency and Bankrup-tcy Code (IBC) provisionsfor six months, the compa-nies and the lenders areunable to utilise the IBCframework for resolution.

To help such stressedcompanies to raise capitalthrough preferential allot-ment, the Sebi has relaxedthe pricing methodologyfor issues and exemptedallottees from open offerobligations.

These relaxed norms canbe used for restructuringstressed companies with-out going through the IBCprocess, he said.

Further, the Sebi hascome out with several

relaxations to facilitatefundraising by the corpo-rates during these times.

These relaxations relate

to rights issue, follow-onoffer, qualified institution-al placements, creepingacquisition of shares bypromoters and easier pric-ing framework for allot-ment of shares throughpreferential issue, headded.

According to him, manycorporates have alreadyused or are in the processof using these relaxationsto raise funds to meet theirrequirements.

Tyagi mentioned aboutthe challenges faced bycorporates because of theunprecedented pandemic,adding that the Covid-19situation has pushed manycompanies into stress andworsened it for alreadystressed companies andsuch firms are finding itdifficult to raise fundsfrom the market.

He said funds raised dur-ing Q1FY21 were Rs 2.77lakh crore as compared toRs 2.94 lakh crore duringQ1FY20. For equitymopup. the comparisonbetween the two periodswas Rs 0.67 lakh crore ver-sus Rs 1.28 lakh crore. Fordebt, it was Rs 2.1 lakhcrore versus Rs 1.67 lakhcrore.

"Thus the overall situa-tion is not all that bad,especially considering thatfund raising this yearstarted only from Mayonwards. There is no causefor despair," he said.

Tyagi said that overseaslisting of companies willdepend on two crucial poli-cy interventions, on theForeign Exchange Mana-gement Act and on theIncome Tax Act.

Mumbai, July 22:While the US remainsthe favourite destinationfor Indians looking forjobs overseas, there hasbeen a substantial fall inthe number of searcheslooking for employmentopportunities in Amer-ica, a report by job por-tal Indeed has said.

According to theIndeed data, job search-es for the USA fell to 42per cent in June 2020from a high of 58 percent in January 2019.However, the USremained the favouritedestination for Indianslooking at jobs abroad,the global agency noted.

The downward trendpredates impacts of theCovid-19 pandemic andcorresponds with uncer-tainty around and tight-ening of the US immi-gration policy, it added.

The data for this reportis compiled and analy-sed from job searches onthe Indeed platform.

Indian job seekersremained keen toexplore work opportuni-ties across the globe,making up a significantfraction of thoseemployed in various sec-tors such as technology,administration andmanagement, sales andconsumer marketing,among others interna-tionally, the report said.

Over the same period,there was a rise insearches for these rolesin Canada, the UAE, theUnited Kingdom,Singapore, Australiaand Qatar, it added.

—PTI

Indian jobseekers losinginterest in USopportunities

July 22: Royal Philips NVhas reached out to Chineserivals to gauge their inter-est in acquiring its homeappliance unit, whichcould fetch as much as $4billion, people with knowl-edge of the matter said.

The Amsterdam-basedcompany has approachedfellow white goods manu-facturers Haier GroupCorp and Midea Group Coahead of a formal sale

process expected to start inthe fourth quarter, the peo-ple said, asking not to beidentified as the informa-tion is private.

Philips is contactingTurkish household appli-ance makers Arcelik ASand Vestel as well to testtheir appetite for a deal,one of the people said.Buyout firms BlackstoneGroup Inc, CVC CapitalPartners and KKR & Co are

also expected to study thebusiness when the salekicks off, according to thepeople.

Philips said in January itplans to sell its home appli-ances unit, which gener-ates revenue of 2.3 billioneuros ($2.6 billion). The dis-posal forms part of CEOFrans van Houten's effortsto revamp Philips into afocused health-care equip-ment maker. —Bloomberg

Sebi chairman AjayTyagi said retail partic-ipation in the equitymarket has increasedsince the lockdown andnew demat accountshave shot up, as severalparticipants were firsttime investors. To facili-tate a smooth entry ofthese newcomers to thecapital markets, Tyagisaid it would be idealthat they begin theirjourney by first invest-ing in risk-free govern-ment securities (G-Secs). To achieve this,he suggested that G-Secs be issued in thedemat form.

Ajay Tyagi

Philips looks for buyers of appliances business

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 37,871.52 -0.16Nifty 50 11,132.60 -0.27S&P 500* 3,266.82 0.29Dollar (`) 74.76 -0.01Pound Sterling (`) 94.58 0.26Euro (`) 86.10 -0.77Gold (10gm)* (`) 50,920▲430 0.84Brent crude ($/bbl)* 44.17 -0.15IN 10-Yr bond yield 5.814 -0.015US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.587 -0.020

* As of 9:30 PM IST

L&T profit drops68% to `537 cr,income falls 27%Larsen & Toubro posted 68.37per cent decline in consolidatednet profit to Rs 536.88 crore forthe first quarter against Rs 1,697.62 crore in the year-ago quarter.Total income fell 27.19 per centto Rs 22,037.37 crore from Rs30,270.94 crore. Total expensesfell to Rs 21,367.63 crore from Rs 27,615.71 crore. "The Group'soperations and financial resultsfor the quarter have been veryadversely impacted by the lock-down,” the company said.

‘NEWCOMERSSHOULD STARTWITH G-SECS’

Gold breaches `50,000 onMCX, `51K in Delhi spot

Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited, Printed atDeccan Chronicle Press at Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Ltd. #563/9/D&9/E,Behind Andhra Bank Pet Basheerbagh,

Kompally, Ranga Reddy Dist. Editor:T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI Reg

No.APENG/2008/24282. © All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in partwithout written permission of The Editor,

Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

IN BRIEF15 injured in

Chicago shooting Chicago: Fifteen people wereinjured, one person was bei-ng questioned and multiplesuspects were being sought

after gunfire erupted outsidea funeral home on Chicago’s

South Side where at leastone squad car was present,

police said. First Deputy Su-perintendent Eric Carter said

mourners outside a funeralhome in the Gresham neigh-

bourhood were fired uponTuesday from a passing vehi-

cle. Carter said several tar-gets of the shooting returnedfire. The vehicle later crashedand the occupants fled in se-

veral directions. Carter saidall the victims were adults. Aperson of interest was being

questioned but no arrestshad been made. The shoot-

ing comes as the Departmentof Homeland Security is plan-ning to deploy federal agents

to Chicago to deal with anuptick in violence.

Jadhav case:Pak moves court

SHAFQAT ALI | DCISLAMABAD, JULY 22

Pakistan on Wednesdayapproached Islamabad HighCourt (IHC) for appointment

of legal representative forIndian spy and agent of intel-

ligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

Kulbhushan Jadhav. The fed-eration through defence sec-

retary and judge advocategeneral branch GeneralHeadquarters has been

made party in the plea. Thepetition stated that

Kulbhushan Jadhav, who wasinvolved in several terrorist

activities in Pakistan, hasrefused to file plea against

his sentence. The agent can-not appoint lawyer in

Pakistan without assistancefrom India, it read.

The government side hasfiled the petition under the

Presidential Ordinance. Earlier, Pakistan had decided

to grant third consular accessto Kulbhushan Jadhav.

US orders Beijingto shut consulateHints at Cyber espionage, China hits back

2,700 years ago...

Employees of the Israel Antiquities Authority works at an excavation site, dating back to the Kingdom of Judah2,700 years ago, in Jerusalem on Wednesday. A significant administrative storage centre from the days of KingsHezekiah and Menashe has recently been uncovered in Jerusalem. Excavation at the site revealed an unusuallylarge structure built of concentric ashlars walls. Around 120 jar handles dated back 2700 years, many of them bear-ing seal impressions with ancient Hebrew script implying they were for the Judean king, have been uncovered in asite located in today’s Jerusalem, believed to be a governmental centre for collecting and distributing taxes in theform of oil and wine. — AFP

Beijing/Houston, July22: China and the USwere headed for a majordiplomatic confrontationas Washington on Wedne-sday ordered the closureof the Chinese consulatein Houston, a move it saidwas aimed “to protectAmerican intellectual pr-operty and private infor-mation”, hinting at cyberespionage. Reacting stro-ngly to the move, ChineseForeign Ministry spokes-man Wang Wenbin term-ed it as an “unpreceden-ted escalation” and warn-ed retaliatory measures.

“China demands the USrevoke the wrong decisi-on. If the US went ahead,China would take neces-sary countermeasures,”he warned. Wang alsosaid the Chinese embassyand consulates in the UShad received both explo-sives and death threatsrecently. Earlier, the USState Department in abrief statement said “wehave directed the closureof PRC [People’s Republicof China] Consulate Gen-eral Houston, in order toprotect American intel-

lectual property and Ame-rican’s private informa-tion.” State Departmentspokeswoman MorganOrtagus said the US “willnot tolerate the PRC’s vio-lations of our sovereigntyand intimidation of ourpeople, just as we have nottolerated the PRC’s unfairtrade practices, theft ofAmerican jobs, and otheregregious behaviour”.

Ortagus also pointed tothe Vienna Convention,under which states “havea duty not to interfere inthe internal affairs” of ahost country. The consul-ate in Houston, Texas, isone of five in the US, notcounting the embassy inWashington DC. It isunclear why this one wassingled out. The US movefollowed the AmericanJustice Department’s cla-im that hackers workingwith the Chinese govern-ment targeted firms dev-eloping vaccines for theCoronavirus and stolehundreds of millions ofdollars worth of intellec-tual property and tradesecrets from companiesacross the world.

Both the US and Chinawere locked in a politicaland strategic conflict inrecent months on a host ofissues, including the ori-gin of the Coronavirus,China’s decision to imple-ment its national securitylaw in Hong Kong anddeepening trade frictions.Beijing apparently is loo-king at options to orderthe closure of the US Con-sulate in Wuhan or inHong Kong, where the Ch-inese officials had accu-sed the US of backing theanti-China protests.

Earlier, the ChineseForeign Ministry said in astatement that on July 21,the US abruptly demand-ed that China’s ConsulateGeneral in Houston ceaseall operations and events.“It is a political provoca-tion unilaterally launc-hed by the US side, whichseriously violates intern-ational law, basic normsgoverning internationalrelations and the bilateralconsular agreement betw-een China and the US.China strongly condemnssuch an outrageous move,” it said. — PTI

Washington, July 22:The price tag for the nextCovid-19 aid packagecould quickly swell above$1 trillion as White Houseofficials negotiate withCongress over money toreopen schools, prop upsmall businesses, boostvirus testing and keepcash flowing to Ameri-

cans while the virus cri-sis deepens.

Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell onTuesday promised a newround of direct paymentsto earners below a cer-tain income level, similarto the $1,200 checks sentin the spring.

— AP

Virus aid deal mayswell past $1 tn

London, July 22: Britai-n’s government announ-ced Wednesday that it willopen a new special path-way to obtaining Britishcitizenship for eligibleHong Kongers from Janu-ary 2021.

The Home Office saidholders of the BritishNational Overseas pass-port and their immediatefamily members can moveto the UK to work andstudy. The change toimmigration rules wasintroduced after Chinaimposed a new, sweeping

national security law onHong Kong. Those eligiblecan access the British jobmarket at any skill leveland without a salary thre-shold, but will not haveaccess to public funds.

“The UK has a stronghistoric relationship withthe people of Hong Kongand we are keeping ourpromise to them to upholdtheir freedoms,” HomeSecretary Priti Patel said.Those who come to the UKthrough the new pathwaywill be able to apply to set-tle in Britain permanent-

ly once they have lived inthe UK for five years.After 12 months, they canapply for British citizen-ship. Britain handed overHong Kong, to Chineserule in 1997 under a “OneCountry, Two Systems”framework. “Today’sannouncement shows theUK is keeping its word:We will not look the otherway on Hong Kong, andwe will not duck our his-toric responsibilities to itspeople,” British ForeignSecretary Dominic Raabsaid. — AP

UK’s citizenship path toHong Kongers from Jan.

OHIO SPEAKER’SARREST MUDDIES2020 ELECTIONColumbus, July 22:The arrest of Ohio’sHouse speaker on feder-al bribery charges hassuddenly thrown a shad-ow over not just his poli-tical future, but that ofhis party, in a state whe-re Republicans havebeen preparing to solidi-fy control. Federal pros-ecutors say RepublicanSpeaker Larry Househo-lder and four others per-petrated a $60 million fe-deral bribery scheme co-nnected to a taxpayer-fu-nded bailout of Ohio’sN-power plants. — AP

Washington, July 22:The US is leading theworld in terms of Covid-19 testing and India issecond, President Dona-ld Trump has said whilewarning Americans thatthe pandemic may “getworse before it gets bet-ter”. Over 140,000 Ameri-cans have died due to theCoronavirus and 3.8 mil-lion have tested positivein the country. — PTI

PANDEMIC MAYGET WORSE: DON

GAMES pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

SHORT TAKESJapan not sure ofhosting Olympics

Harper stands bySachin verdict

Tokyo: The delayed TokyoOlympics could not be heldnext year if conditions sur-

rounding the Coronavirus pan-demic continue as they are, the

president of the organisingcommittee said Wednesday.

In an interview with Japanesebroadcaster NHK, Yoshiro Mori

said he was hopeful that the sit-uation would improve and sug-

gested a vaccine was the key.“If this kind of situation (with

Covid-19) continues, is it possi-ble to hold the games?” Mori

was asked by NHK.“If current situation continues,we couldn’t,” Mori replied. TheTokyo Olympics are scheduled

to open on July 23, 2021 a yearfrom Thursday.

The Tokyo Olympics are sched-uled to open on July 23, 2021 a

year from Thursday. — AP

New Delhi: Former ICC elite-level umpire Daryl Harper looks

back at his controversial deci-sion against Sachin Tendulkar in

the 1999 Adelaide Test “every-day of my life”.

A bouncer from Australianspeedster Glenn McGrath had

Tendulkar ducking and the ballhit him on his shoulders.

Officiating in the game, umpireHarper deemed it as LBW and,

to India’s surprise, raised his fin-ger, igniting a debate. Recalling

the controversial decision,Harper said he still thinks about

that dismissal even after 20years and stands by the call he

made that day. “You may be disappointed toknow that I’m still extremely

proud of that decision because Iconsidered the action before

me and applied the law withoutfear or favour,” Harper

said. — PTI

Regd. No. H/SD/509/2018-20Printed and Published by

K. Sudhakar on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printedat Deccan Chronicle Press situatedat Plot No. 9 Alwal Village, VallabhNagar Taluk, Medchal Malkajgiri

Dist. Telangana and Published at 36,S.D. Road, Secunderabad-3.

RNI Registration No. 3081/1957.Editor: Aditya Sinha

New Delhi, July 22: In amassive jolt to India’sOlympic preparations, theWorld Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) has extended thesuspension of the coun-try’s National DopeTesting Laboratory(NDTL) by another sixmonths citing non-confor-mation to internationalstandards.

The WADA first suspend-ed NDTL in August lastyear for a period of sixmonths. A fresh round ofinspection by the worldbody, much to the embar-rassment of country’ssporting establishment,showed that non-conformi-ties still existed.

“The World Anti-DopingAgency has suspended theaccreditation of theNational Dope TestingLaboratory in New Delhi,India, for a second periodof up to six months,”WADA said in a statement.

The suspension prohibitsthe NDTL from carryingout any anti-doping activi-ties, including all analysesof urine and blood sam-ples.

The laboratory’s non-con-formities pertain to the

International Standard forLaboratories (ISL) identi-fied during a WADA sitevisit, including the labora-tory’s isotope ratio massspectrometry — the analyt-ical technique of choice forconfirmation of prohibitedsubstances.

Sports minister KirenRijiju said that technicalproblems are beingaddressed as the first sus-pension notice was servedbefore he took over theNDTL chairmanship.

Currently, urine samplescollected by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)are being sent primarily tothe WADA-accredited labin Doha. — PTI

WADA extendsIndian lab ban

● The WADA firstsuspended NationalDope TestingLaboratory (NDTL) inAugust last year forsix months. After afresh round ofinspection the worldbody has decided toextend the ban foranother six months.

FAN FRAME

Kalyan Vadlamani took this photo with former Indiancricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the OldTrafford ground in Manchester, England, ahead ofIndia’s first Twenty20 match in the series againstEngland in July 2018.

Sterling nets brace as Manchester blank WatfordWatford, July 22: As theball rolled past him andManchester City’s scoreracked up, goalkeeper BenFoster increasingly fearedfor Watford’s PremierLeague survival.

Taking points off Citywas always going to be atough task but collapsingto a 0-4 loss to the PremierLeague runners-up alsowiped out Watford’s goal-difference advantage overrelegation rivals onTuesday.

City winger RaheemSterling left VicarageRoad with a welcomerecord of his own. A first-half double a half-volleyand a follow-up after hav-ing a penalty saved tookhis season’s goal tally to apersonal high of 19.

Sterling set up the thirdwhen his close-range shotwas saved by FosterWatford’s star performerand Phil Foden tappedinto an empty net in the63rd minute.

Meanwhile, a 1-0 win forAston Villa over Arsenalhours later droppedWatford into the bottomthree, because of its infe-rior goal difference toVilla.

Trezeguet netted thewinning goal in the 27thminute on Tuesday asVilla moved aboveWatford on goal differenceand out of the bottomthree for the first timesince February.

Aston Villa climbed outof the Premier League’srelegation zone with onematch to play after beat-ing Arsenal. — Agencies

Milan, July 22: LuisMuriel came off the benchto score the only goal asAtalanta beat Bologna 1-0in a fiery Italian leagueclash on Tuesday to moveback second behind lead-ers Juventus.

Muriel struck just afteran hour as Atalantaextended their unbeatenrun to 15 games to movesix points behindJuventus, and two aheadof third-placed InterMilan.

Swedish star ZlatanIbrahimovic turned back

the clock with a double asAC Milan beat 10-manSassuolo 2-1 to move fifth.

Atalanta had won sixsuccessive games since

the league resumed afterthe lockdown before draw-ing 2-2 with Juventus, andwere held 1-1 at Veronalast time out.

The Bergamo side have74 points this season withthree games to play, over-taking their previous besthaul of 72. — AFP

Zlatan turns on the heat for ACMilan, July 22: Cristiano Ronaldo iseyeing more records as Juventus headfor Udinese on Thursday with a ninthconsecutive Italian league title withintheir grasp. Ronaldo’s double againstLazio brought his tally to 51 Serie ‘A’goals since arriving in July 2018.

Ronaldo not only became the first play-er to achieve a half century of goals inItaly, Spain and England, but was alsothe fastest, doing so in 61 league games.

For Ronaldo the title of top scorer isup for grabs, as he is currently level on30 with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile. — AFP

CR7, JUVE CHASE ITALIAN RECORD

Aston Villa’s Trezeguet (right) celebrates scoring their opening goal with teammate Jack Grealish during theirEnglish Premier League match against Arsenal at Villa Park in Birmingham on Tuesday. Aston Villa won 1-0. — AFP

Raheem steers City

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THURSDAY | 23 JULY 2020

CHRONICLE

Simplicity, elegance and piety – these are the watchwords of the Travancore royal family which has been serving the presiding deity of one of India’s richest temples — the Sree Padmanabhaswamy

Temple in Kerala — and managing its affairs for centuries. We speak to the scions of the royal family, who are part of a great legacy and are delighted with the Supreme Court ruling that has upheld

their right to maintain/manage the temple and the deity

GOKUL M.G

Set against the back-drop of rolling, ver-dant hills, theKowdiar Palace inThiruvananthapuram

, Kerala, stands dignified,graceful, and proudly rooted inthe land and its culture. Unlikesome Mogul-era palaces innorthern India which aremade of materials importedfrom faraway places, theornately carved beams and pil-lars of the official residence ofthe Travancore Royal Familyare made of local wood. Thetiled roofs and graceful arches

of the 86-year-old buildingexude an aura made up of afine mix of simplicity and ele-gance — mirroring theapproach to life of the lineageit shelters.

After his visit to the princelystate of Travancore, where hemet the then regent, MaharaniSethu Lakshmi Bayi in 1924, anappreciative Mahatma Gandhiwrote, in Young India maga-zine, “My visit to Her Highnesswas an agreeable surprise forme. Instead of being usheredinto the presence of an overdecorated woman sporting dia-mond pendants and necklaces,I found myself in the presenceof a modest young woman who

relied not upon jewels or gaudydresses for beauty but on herown naturally well-formed fea-tures and exactness of man-ners. Her room was as plainlyfurnished as she was dressed.Her severe simplicity becamean object of my envy.

She seemed to me an objectlesson for many a prince andmany a millionaire whose loudornamentation, ugly lookingdiamonds, rings and studs andstill more loud and almost vul-gar furniture offend the tasteand present a terrible and sadcontrast between them and themasses from whom they derivetheir wealth.”

TURN TO PAGE 2

In the service of lord Padmanabha

Reacting to the SupremeCourt verdict, AdityaVarma’s mother, one of thesenior-most members of thefamily, Princess AswathiThirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi,75, says “This historic deci-sion is a win for the millionsof devotees. All these years Ihave been praying. This isthe Lord’s will and we areobliged to follow it. We thankthe apex court and everyonewho was in it with us duringthe long-drawn court battle.”

(left) Her Highness AswathiThirunal crying with tears ofjoy after the judgement

TAKING THE LEGACY FORWARD: The Travancore royal family in mundu and neryathu (the traditional dress)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SIMPLE, DOWN-TO-EARTHACHIEVERS

“It is the way we are brought up.Throughout history, our lineagehas been taking steps towardsmodernity — not just in our diplo-matic relations with the outsideworld, but within the family too,”says Aditya Varma, the youngestprince of the royal family. “Beinghumble and living a simple life areattitudes and approaches weinherited and we pass it on to suc-ceeding generations. People aresurprised that we still have ourmeals served on banana leaves,and we switch off lights and fanswhen we leave a room. From thecurrent head of the family, SreeMoolam Thirunal Rama Varma,who is the only nephew of the lastreigning King, to the youngestmember of the family, everyone isbrought up that way,” adds Aditya.

The Travancore Royal Familycan trace its origins to theAy/Venad family, the Cheras,Pandyas and Cholas. Founded inthe 1750s, the family ruledTravancore until they decided tojoin the Republic of India in 1949.The last ruling Maharaja of thePrincely State was Sree ChithiraThirunal Balarama Varma, whodied on 20 July, 1991.

Unlike other princely states ofIndia which follow a patriarchalsystem, the Travancore RoyalFamily espouses the matriarchalsystem, as do certain sections ofthe larger society in Kerala.Gopika Varma, wife of PrinceMarthanda Varma and a promi-nent classical dancer, says, “Ourwomen were powerful. Themoment I was married into thefamily, I felt how the matrilinealsystem that was followed empow-ered every woman in the family.Each female member of the fami-ly excels in whatever she does.Everybody around me was veryinspiring and they inspire everynew member. We, who come intothe family should be ready to bepart of that system. I was taughtto be non-materialistic in life.”

Asked what it feels like to be partof such a legacy, Aditya says“They (the women of the family)were all well-educated. The expo-sure to a modern education sys-tem, the open-mindedness thatwas inculcated, helped our womento excel in everything. The womenrulers of Travancore, SethuLakshmi Bayi for example, stoodshoulder-to-shoulder with men inmany ways, Art, diplomatic mat-ters, you name it, they were well-versed in and well-informed aboutit.” The scions of the Royal Familywere also not only patrons of thearts, but renowned artists them-selves, the shining stars being themusic composer Maharaja SwatiThirunal Rama Varma, and thepainter Raja Ravi Varma.

A PROUD LEGACY

The history of the city of

Thiruvananthapuram, orTrivandrum, is inextricablyinterwoven with the history ofthe Travancore Royal Family.Various generations of the rulerswere responsible for much ofwhat a visitor to the city seestoday when he looks around. “Bythe grace of Lord Padmanabha,we were able to do great things forthe city. Our ancestors imple-mented many beneficial policies.Now, going through the city andseeing all the institutions that myancestors built definitely fills mewith pride,” says Aditya Varma.

To the Travancore Royal Familybelongs much of the credit for thediverse, strongly secular face ofKerala.

But as a family, they traditional-ly surrender all to LordPadmanabha, the presiding deityof the famous SreePadmanabhaswamy Temple atThiruvananthapuram – in fact, itis from the ‘Anantha shyanam’posture of the deity that the citytakes its name.

For centuries, thePadmanabhaswamy Temple wasexclusively managed by succes-

sive generations of theTravancore Royal Family, whichrendered ‘shebait’ to the deity.The term is derived from the word‘seva’ or service. Under the termsof the Accession Agreementwhich came into force fromAugust 1, 1949, under which thePrincely State of Travancorebecame part of the Union ofIndia, the administration of theSree Padmanabhaswamy Templewas “vested in trust” in the Rulerof Travancore. After the death ofthe last reigning King, SreeChithira Thirunal BalaramaVarma, the right of shebait of thetemple passed to his youngerbrother, Uthradam ThirunalMarthanda Varma.

But, following a petition filed inthe Kerala High Court, allegingmismanagement of the temple,the family’s handling of the tem-ple’s management becameembroiled in controversy. Now, 10years later, the Supreme Courthas upheld the rights of theTravancore Royal family to per-form shebait in what is one ofIndia’s richest temples.

“We were all sad. For centuries,the family has surrendered every-thing to the Lord, and hearing

these allegations was hurtful. Iwas part of the committee whichdid the audit in Vault A of thetemple. That was the first time Isaw the priceless materials there.I was always curious about whatwas in the area where the vaultswere found. I still remember, onceduring an evening chat withthampuran, my uncle, I wonderedwhat could be there. I was simplytold there were some utensils forthe pooja. Against this back-ground, hearing the allegationsthat were made was heart-break-ing. For us the biggest fortune isthe blessing from the Lord,” saysAditya Varma.

Reacting to the Supreme Courtverdict, Aditya Varma’s mother,one of the senior-most membersof the family, Princess AswathiThirunal Gouri Lakshmi Bayi, 75,says “This historic decision is awin for the millions of devotees.All these years I have been pray-ing. This is the Lord’s will and weare obliged to follow it. We thankthe apex court and everyone whowas in it with us during the long-drawn court battle.”

She also wishes to see that thepending renovation works at thetemple are taken up immediately.

In the service of lord Padmanabha

2Thursday 23 July 2020

Deccan Chroniclethe buzz

Our women were powerful. Themoment I was married into the family,

I felt how the matrilineal system that wasfollowed empowered every woman in thefamily. Each female member of the familyexcels in whatever she does. Everybodyaround me was very inspiring and theyinspire every new member.”

— GOPIKA VARMA,wife of Prince Marthanda Varma and a

prominent classical dancer

Members of the royalfamily during the annualprocession to the SreePadmanabhaswamyTemple

Being humble andliving a simple lifeare attitudes we

inherited and we pass iton to succeeding genera-tions. People are sur-prised that we still haveour meals served onbanana leaves, and weswitch off lights and fanswhen we leave a room.From the current head ofthe family, Sree MoolamThirunal Rama Varma,who is the only nephewof the last reigning King,to the youngest memberof the family, everyone isbrought up that way.— ADITYA VARMA, theyoungest prince of the royal family

Kowdiar Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, was built in 1934

The engagement ceremony of Nithiin andShalini was held in Hyderabad on

Wednesday. Family and close friends of boththe families attended the event which was a

low key affair. The couple is set to tie theknot on July 26 in Hyderabad.

DC CORRESPONDENT

Priyanka Chopra Jonas has come a long waysince she won the Miss World title in 2000.

From making her acting debut with a Tamil filmThamizan in 2002 before finally venturing intoBollywood with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy in2003, the actress has completed two decades in theentertainment industry.

The Sky Is Pink actress, who is now concretisingher Hollywood career in Los Angeles, has aptlydecided to celebrate 20 years of her hard work.Expressing her gratitude to her fans, theQuantico actress took to her social media accountand shared a heart-warming video. The videosees her inviting her fans to join her in selecting20 significant moments of her career. “How I didthat? I don’t know. I probably missed many, manyof them along the way,” says theactress who has become a glob-al icon.

Alongside the video,Priyanka wrote, “2020marks my 20 years in theentertainment indus-try! What?! You all havebeen by my sidethroughout this jour-ney and your loyalty& support means theworld to me. Joinme as I take thistrip down mem-ory lane & cele-b r a t e# 2 0 i n 2 0 2 0(sic).”

Thursday 23 July 2020 3

Deccan Chronicleglam shamTaapsee’smetamorphosisThe actress talks about transformation and more in her latest social media post

DC CORRESPONDENT

In the currentbatch of actress-es, Taapsee Pannu

has successfully struck abalance between her tal-ent and glamour quo-tient. The athleticactress, who has made aname for herself withback-to-back power-packed performances,has also made evidentthe role glamour plays inthe making of aBollywood heroine.Although, the Badlaactress took to her socialmedia to reveal that itwasn’t always the casewith her.

Sharing a photo fromher high-school days onInstagram, the actresshas revealedthe transfor-

mation shehas under-

gone over the years. In the photo, in which she is pos-ing next to her two friends from 12th grade, the actresslooks unrecognisable in her school uniform. “Thiswas my 12th standard. Braces (for the second time ),embarrassing hair ( coz I was combing my curlyhair)…that fence (which could take those spareEXTRA kilos Of mine for the entire year!) (sic),” theactress wrote alongside the photo.

Taapsee further adds that the badge adorned on her blaz-er was the only goal she set in her life and achieved success-fully, and she is grateful for the friends who “made memoriesworth discussing for years after”.

Taapsee’s Instagram post revealed the transforma-tion she has undergone over the years

PeeCee all setfor nostalgia

THE WEBOFF

Mannat gets covered

Getting hitched Shah Rukh Khan’s sprawling res-idence Mannat was seen get-

ting covered in plastic for safetypurposes recently. The six storiedbuilding reportedly worth `200crores is seen covered in plasticdue to the precautionary mea-sures taken to protect the buildingfrom heavy rains.

TaapseePannu has

successfully strucka balance between

her talent andglamour quotientthrough carefully

chosen roles

This dish is full of goodnessof raw, green bananas.Packed with minerals, espe-cially potassium, containsdietary fibre and is also asource of Vitamin C and B6.It aids absorption of essen-tial minerals and nutrients.

INGREDIENTS: Raw banana: 2 Turmeric powder: ½ tsp Sambar powder: 1tsp

Asafoetida pow-der: ½ tsp Oil: 2tbsp Salt to taste Mustard seeds ½ tsp Urad dal ¼ tsp

METHOD: Peel the skin of bananasand cut them into roundels. Heat oil in a pan and

temper with mustardseeds and urad dal. Introduce bananaroundels and sprinkleturmeric powder, salt andasafoetida powder. Spray alittle water and stir well. Add sambar powder andcook till done. Serve as a side dish withrice and sambar orparathas.

4Thursday 23 July 2020

Deccan Chroniclepalate pleasers

Eat tostay fitDevour on some recipes with a little

touch of southern taste, keepingyour immune system on track as

well as your mental healthDC CORRESPONDENT

Food is anabsolute cure andhealer. Keeping in

mind the seasonalchange building resis-tances against any infec-tion is the need of thehour. And during thepandemic, as we wonderto look for an apt immu-nity booster to see usthrough this time, onecan do so much withsome simple seasonal veg-etables and a dose of regularspices from our home kitchen.

Vegetables with a little twistworks wonders for the Indianbody type. While moringa ordrumstick is a superfood andbest for immunity-compro-mised individuals, rawbanana keeps you fit andhelps fight viral infec-tions. Whereas, yel-low pumpkin and

ash ground is just the perfectcombination to com-bat several ailments.So try some recipeswith a little touch ofsouthern taste, keep-ing your immune sys-tem on track as wellas your mentalhealth by warding offdepression and infus-ing a calming effecton your mind.

A pro tip: To sup-port your digestionuse a pinch of anti-

inflammatory asafoetida.Recipes by Gita Hari,

Culinary Expert and WellnessFood Curator

Moringa MolagutalIt purifies blood and helps as astrong antibiotic agent. Loadedwith Vitamin C and anti-bacter-ial properties, it inhibits infec-tions and chest congestion.

INGREDIENTS: Drumsticks: 2 Turmeric powder: ½ tsp Tuvar dal: 1 cup Grated coconut: ½ cup Cumin seeds: 1tsp Red chilli: 1 Curry leaves: 1 sprig

Salt to taste FOR TEMPERING Oil: 1tsp Mustard seeds, urad dal andcumin seeds

METHOD: Wash and cut drumstick into1 inch long pieces. Pressure cook dal and set itaside. Boil drumstick with turmer-ic powder and salt. Grind coconut with cumin

and red chilli into a fine paste. Mix in dal, curry leaves andground paste into boiled drum-stick and cook. Add water to get a semi-liq-uid consistency. Let it simmer for 3 to 4 min-utes. Remove from flame and tem-per with mustard seeds, cuminand urad dal. Serve hot with rotis or riceand pickle.

Raw Banana Poriyal

Pumpkin & Ash gourd Sambar

High on beta caroteneand Vitamin C, pumpkinregulates blood pres-sure, and fights virusand infectious diseaseswhile ash gourd, anunderrated vegetable, ishigh on nutritionalvalue with Vitamins Cand B, minerals andphosphorous.

INGREDIENTS: Yellow pumpkin cutinto 1 inch cubes: 1 cup Ash gourd cut into 1inch cubes: 1 cup Tamarind juice con-centrate: 4 tbsp Tuvar dal: 1cup

Sambar powder: 2tbsp Asafoetida: ½ tsp Turmeric powder : ½tsp Curry leaves: 1 sprig Salt to taste Chopped corianderleaves for garnish

FOR TEMPERING: Oil: 1tbsp Mustard seeds, methiseeds and red chillies

METHOD: Pressure cook tuvardal and set aside. In a vessel, stir in 4glasses of water totamarind concentrate.

Add vegetable cubes,curry leaves, salt,turmeric powder, sam-bar powder and asafoeti-da powder. Let it boil till reducedto one-fourth its volume.Keep stirring inbetween. Add cooked dal andwater as required to geta sambar consistency. Stir well and let itsimmer for 3 to 4 min-utes. Temper and garnishwith coriander leaves. Serve hot with riceand papadam.

Gita Hari

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C M Y K

25

Deccan ChronicleCLASSIFIEDS5Thursday 23 July 2020

NOTICEReaders are advised to make appropri-ate enquiries while responding toadvertisements in these columns.Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. doesnot vouch for any claims made by theAdvertisers. The Printer, Publisher,Editor and Owner of Deccan ChronicleHoldings Ltd. shall not be held respon-sible / liable for any consequences, incase such claims are found to be false.

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INSURANCE CONSULTANCY

INTERIOR DESIGN

MOSQUITO NET

POULTRY

PEST CONTROL

WATER PROOFING

Actors cash inon TV advtsSurprisingly Anil Kapoor andKiara Advani make their presencein the top celeb-endorsement list while SRK, Amitabh, Alia are in the last four slot!

Kiara Advani Anil Kapoor

According to arecent reportregarding endorse-

ments in 2020, there hasapparently been a spike inthe volume of celebrity-endorsed ads on televisionduring the COVID-19 cri-sis. The TelevisionAudience Measurement(TAM) claims that celebri-ty endorsed ad volumeshave increased by a whop-ping 63%.

While actresses took thelion’s share with 43%share of the volume, ViratKohli topped the list, withMS Dhoni in the fifth posi-tion. Interestingly GoodNewwz actress KiaraAdvani shows up in thefourth position while theevergreen 63-year-oldactor Anil Kapoor is at thesixth position.

Reinventing himselfwith the changing times,Anil Kapoor is the second-most popular Bollywoodactor in the list, making itto the top 10 Indiancelebrities with a hugenumber of endorsementsthis year by maintaininghis relevance for brands

despite his years in theindustry. Kiara, whoturned in hits such asKabir Singh and GoodNewwz as well as a digitaldebut with her web filmGuilty last year, is the sec-ond most popularBollywood actress in theabove list. She has filmslike Bhool Bhulaiyya 2,Shershaah, Laxmmi Bomband Indoo Ki Jawaanicoming up.

Surprisingly, the lastfour positions go to actorVarun Dhawan, actressAlia Bhatt and the biggestsuperstars AmitabhBachchan and Shah RukhKhan. Notable omissions,however, include SalmanKhan, Aamir Khan,Hrithik Roshan andRanbir Kapoor.

Akshay Kumar, not sur-prisingly, has taken sec-ond spot in the list. WhileKareena Kapoor is in thirdplace as the topmost-ranked Bollywood actress,Deepika Padukone andPriyanka Chopra — twobig Bollywood brands —are missing in action here.

— Sanskriti Media

While actresses took the lion’sshare with 43% share of the vol-ume, Virat Kohli topped the list,with MS Dhoni in the fifth position.Surprisingly, the last four positionsgo to actor Varun Dhawan andactress Alia Bhatt and the biggestsuperstars Amitabh Bachchan and

Shah Rukh Khan. Notable omissions include SalmanKhan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor

6

Deccan Chronicle

Thursday 23 July 2020

coffee-break

Taurus: There might be siblingrivalry for some of you. Try to stayaway from any dispute or con-frontation. Your seniors will be

happy with your performance.

Gemini: You will be more spirituallyinclined today. Some of you mayeven plan for a pilgrimage withfamily. Finances look good now, a

great time to make investments.

Leo: You may feel at odds withyour family today over smallissues. A tiff with an elder in thefamily is indicated. Try to main-

tain a calm and composed life.

Virgo: Today it is about being ateam player rather than strugglingwith work pressure alone. Youmay develop some political con-

tacts which may prove to be fruitful in thecoming future.

Cancer: Advice given or taken nowwill be beneficial for you in thelong run. Take up an interestinghobby to spend quality time alone.

Money flow will be good.

Capricorn: You need to control yourtemper as it may lead you to trou-bles and misunderstanding in both,your personal and professional life.

Travelling will be relaxing.

Aquarius: The day is favourablefor putting across your newideas. On the financial front, it isadvised to stay away from

investments in stock market.

Pisces: Spend quality time withyour near and dear ones.Children need attention. Some ofyou may feel trapped in your cur-

rent job position. Don’t worry, all will be finesoon and you will move to greener pas-tures. Enjoy the evening with friends.

Scorpio: You will involve in contro-versies and clashes. Don’t look toothers for help, until you areabsolutely sure you cannot handle

the situation on your own.

Libra: It is advisable to think beforeyou speak today, especially on theprofessional front. Colleagues willbe jealous of your achievements

and will even try to disrupt your plans.Spend time with friends to relax.

Sagittarius: Do not believe all thatyou hear today. Confirm factsbefore taking crucial decisions.Hold off any important business

deals for time being.

Aries: You will start getting suc-cessful results for all your endeav-ours. With renewed zest you willaccomplish major jobs. A satisfy-

ing day on the professional front.

Your day today

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

Daniel Radcliffe, anEnglish actor and

producer. He is bestknown for playing

Harry Potter in theHarry Potter film

series apart from hisroles in Imperium, Kill

Your Darlings, VictorFrankenstein andSwiss Army Man.

You share your b’day with

scrabble brand | G2 R1 As Ms S1

DIRECTIONS: Make a 2 to 7-letter word fromthe letters in each row. Add points of eachword, using scoring directions at right. 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks”used as any letter have no point value. AllJudd’s words are in the Official ScrabblePlayers Dictionary (Merriam-Webster) andOSW Official Scrabble words (Chambers).JUDD’S Solution Tomorrow

TODAY’S RATINGS: 35 AVERAGE; 40 GOOD; 45 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

How many words of four or more letterscan you make from the letters shown intoday’s puzzle? In making a word, each

letter may be used once only. Each wordmust contain the letter at the top of thepyramid. There should be at least one

nine letter word. Plurals, foreign wordsand proper names are not allowed.

CE R D

T G A R I

ANSWERS:acid, acre, acrid, acted, arced, cadet, cadre, cage, caged, cagier, card,care, cared, carried, cart, carted, CARTRIDGE, cater, cedar, cider, cigar, cite,cited, crag, crate, crater, credit, cried, crier, dice, dicer, direct, edict, erratic,grace, graced, iced, race, raced, racer, racier, react, rice, ricer, trace, traced,tracer, tragic, trice

WHAT TO DO

Fill in the gridso that every

row, everycolumn, and

every 3x3 boxcontains thedigits 1 to 9.Every puzzlehas only one

correctsolution.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

SU◆DO◆KU

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

SU◆DO◆KU 2

Did you think the

SU◆DO◆KUon the left was easy?

Try this. Check the solution tomorrow.

Tips available at www.sudoku-xls.com

DC-AGE SU DO KUFORUM: Discuss theSU DO KU puzzlesprinted and con-

tribute mind teasersof your own at

www.sudexel.com/forum

Charles Schwab said,"All successfulemployers are stalk-

ing men who will do theunusual, men who think,men who attract attentionby performing more thanis expected of them."

He could have said thatall successful bridge play-ers are stalking men orwomen ... et cetera.

What is the unusual playneeded in this deal? Southis in four spades. Weststarts with his three topdiamonds. After ruffingthe last, how shoulddeclarer continue?

In the auction, Northused a support double,which enjoys considerablepopularity with tourna-ment players. It showedexactly three cards in part-ner's suit and any handstrength. If instead Northhad raised spades, it wouldhave guaranteed four

trumps. (Note that the dou-ble must be made belowtwo of responder's major.)

It is easy to be careless inthis contract. There seemto be 11 winners: fivespades, one heart and fiveclubs. Just in case East hasjack-fourth of spades,many players would cashtheir spade king and play aspade to dummy's ace. Butwhen East discards, sud-denly the contract cannotbe made (as the heartfinesse loses). If Southturns to the clubs, Westruffs the third round andplays his last trump. Thereis no dummy entry left.

Instead, South shouldcash the spade king andspade queen. If everyonefollows, he draws the lasttrump and claims an over-trick. Here, though, heswitches to clubs. Westmay ruff in, but the spadeace is still on the board as

the entry card to the lasttwo club winners.

Copyright United FeatureSyndicate

(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIP ALDER

AN UNUSUAL APPROACH ISDIFFICULT TO SPOT

Across1.Ten raced (anag) (8)6. Pollute (4)7. Soothed (6)9. Nab (5)

11. Inoculation fluid(5)

12. Tusk substance(5)

13.Memorise (5)16.Tooth coating (6)18.Short skirt (4)19.Providing food and

drink (8)Down1. Faulty (9)

2. Outer loaf (5)3. Mark correct (4)4. Alleviate (7)5. Compete (3)8. Taxing (9)

10.Fired clay article (7)14.Accused's defence

(5)15. Deflated (4)17.Pen end (3)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 6. Shoemaking, 8. Dingy, 10.Agape, 13. Abracadabra, 14. Tibet, 17.Dowel, 19. Groundless.

Down: 1. Shun, 2. Deny, 3. Lava, 4.Diva, 5. Agreeable, 7. Advantage, 9.Grade, 11. Guano, 12. Vat,15. Book, 16. Tuna, 17. Dull, 18. Wasp.

hocus focus

C A L V I N A N D H O B B E S | B i l l W a t t e r s o n

25

coffee-break7Thursday 23 July 2020

Deccan Chronicle

jumble

Dennis the Menace

B L O N D I E | D e a n Y o u n g a n d J o h n M a r s h a l l

A N D Y C A P P | R e g S m y t h e

T A R Z A N | E d g a r R i c e B u r r o u g h s

T H E W I Z A R D O F I D | P a r k e r a n d H a r t s d

A R C H I E | B i l l H e n r y S c a r p e l l i & c r a i g b o l d m a n

LIPIKA VARMA

Chehre is set to release soon on anOTT platform. Sound Designer

Resul Pookutty, who is busy wrappingup the film, shares some insights intothe movie and its star, AmitabhBachchan.

“There are certain theatricsinvolved in Chehre for which spokenwords are very important,”reveals Pookutty, adding, “Ithink I have recorded themovie keeping that inmind. Spoken words aremy element of design.That is probably whyAmitabh Bachchansaab wanted me to workin it.”

Pookutty is all praise forAmitabh Bachchan’s workethics. On the mega star’sdedication, he says, “Bachchansaab is on the sets at 8:30 for a 9 amcall. If he doesn’t have a shot, he willpull a chair and sit down on the sets.He won’t even ask for the AC to be puton. He never goes to his vanity vaneven if he does not have a shot. We arethus on our toes ourselves.”

Talking of Bachchan’s humility,Pookutty says, “If you praise him alittle on Twitter”, he replies, ‘You arecomplementing me far too much, Idon’t deserve it.’

He goes on to add that, “Everyonewho has a name in Hindi cinema, be itShahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar or

Aamir Khan, has certain valuesattached to their persona. It’s thesevalues that sustain them.”

This is not the first time Pookutty isworking with Bachchan. “We havedone many films together. This isfourth or fifth one,” he says.

On his experience workingwith Big B in Chehre, theSound Designer says,

“Bachchan saab is aphenomenal actor.

In Chehre heplays ar e t i r e dl aw ye r.He has ascene inwhich he

makes the clos-ing arguments.

He completed thealmost 40-minute-long

scene in a single attempt!We operated with two camera setups. It took half a day for him toprepare for the scene. And then hedid it in one go.”

Asked about his views on Chehrebeing released on the OTT platform,Pookutty says, “Releasing a film isnot in our hands. That right is vest-ed with the makers. Though we allwish to watch our films in the-atres, in this situation nothing canbe done. For me, whether the film seesa theatrical or digital release, we worktowards giving the same experienceto the audience.”

Yami Gautam is looking forward to hernext release — Ginny Weds Sunny —

expected shortly on an OTT platform. To theactress, who says “Love has become superfi-cial,” this romantic comedy is special. Themother in the story plays matchmaker to thecouple, essayed by herself and VikrantMassey.

She is looking forward to being seen onscreen with Vikrant after having sharedscreen space with Ayushmann Khurrana,Hrithik Roshan, Vicky Kaushal and ShahidKapoor.

Yami, at times, is known to pick roles thatare not the lead. Bala won her awards andaccolades last year. Her role as Pari Mishra,a small town TikTok star in the AyushmannKhurrana-Bhumi Pednekar starrer was ahuge surprise. “When people tell me that Ishould have seen how the audience laughedat the press screening of the film, it feelsnice. When someone appreciates your hardwork, it feels good. Every message, call orvoice note from your actor contemporaries,

directors and even the media feelsvery encouraging,” she says.

“People appreciated my ver-satility. I played an intensecharacter in my debut film(Vicky Donor) and then inKaabil. Then there was theagent’s role in Uri. Andthen there is comedy inBala. So, when everyone

talks about the differ-ent roles you have

done, it mattersa lot,” says theactress.

—Sanskriti

Media

Yami Gautamon a roll

8Thursday 23 July 2020

Deccan ChroniclematineeSalman busywith farmingScripts are not the priority now

During the lockdown,Salman Khan has been athis farmhouse in Panvel,

and has been spotted carryingout farming activity. The actor,who is reportedly contemplatingresuming shooting shortly, has,however, not listened to any newscripts, despite rumours inTinseltown that he has been lis-tening to narrations over Zoomcalls.

“Salman is a person who willcall someone over to narrate ascript if he likes an idea. He isnot the type to listen to long-dis-tance story ideas. Whenever hehears an idea he likes, he imme-diately agrees to it and has meet-ings over it. None of that has hap-pened,” say sources. “Apart fromthree songs that he made — PyarKarona, Tere Bin and Bhai Bhai— he has not done anything con-nected with films or entertain-

ment, recently. He is busy withhis chores at his farm,” addsthe sources.

Salman, who was expect-ed to shoot for Radhe,directed by Prabhudhevain August, followed byAbhiraj Minawala’sGuns of North, willnow wait for the rainsto subside. Accordingto industry sources, asthings stand in thefilm industry, it seemsunlikely that majorshots involving bigstars will take placein India till a vac-cine for theCoronavirus isfound. The buzz isthat the release ofRadhe may be post-poned to 2021.

—Sanskriti Media

‘Big B is phenomenal’

Salman, who was expected to shoot forPrabhudheva’s Radhe in August, followedby Abhiraj Minawala’s Guns of North, willnow wait for the rains to subside