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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tourism activities are set toresume in Andhra Pradesh aftera gap of five months as the stategovernment on Friday permit-ted opening up of sites as perUnlock-4 guidelines.

Special Chief Secretary(Tourism and Culture) RajatBhargava said all tourist destina-tions, ropeway operations, boat-ing, adventure sports andtourism-related transport opera-tions were being opened withimmediate effect. Similarly, allmuseums and archaeologicalsites, including forts and protect-ed monuments, buildings andstructures were also being openedto the public, Bhargava said.

“We have issued necessaryinstructions to the AP TourismDevelopment Corporation andthe Commissioner ofArchaeology and Museums inthis regard, asking them toscrupulously following theUnlock-4 guidelines issued bythe Union Ministry of HomeAffairs,” he said.

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MONEY 8‘INDIAN AUTO INDUSTRY FACING ONEOF THE TOUGHEST TIMES IN HISTORY’

ANALYSIS 7DESPITE THE VIRUS, FIND A

WAY TO HONOUR EDUCATORS

SPORTS 11MESSI CONFIRMS HE'S

STAYING AT BARCA

VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 304*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

5

‘29 pc retailinvestors who hadnever bought goldnow considering it’

2

‘Fintech the wayforward for Indianbanking, paymentsystem’

8

‘Muslims being targeted in UP,framed in falsecases’

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated September 4, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Bhadrapada & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 12:26 pm

Nakshatram: Purva Bhadrapada:

08:51 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:47 pm – 03:19 pm

Yamagandam: 06:06 am – 07:38 am

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 09:10 am - 10:42 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 12:05 pm – 01:50 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:50 am – 12:39 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERFFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTemp: 34/26Humidity: 68%Sunrise: 06.02 amSunset: 06.26 pm

UNLOCK-4

Tourism activitiesto resume in State

New terminal to make Vjaairport ‘truly international'

Krishna district Collector A Md Imtiaz inspects the designs for the proposedintegrated terminal for the Vijayawada airport at Gannavaram on Friday.

Confirming thatVijayawada airport at

Gannavaram will get an inte-grated terminal that wouldpave the way for landing ofinternational aircraft, offi-cials on Friday said that workon the expansion of the air-port will in all probabilitybegin in the next 10 days

The integrated terminalwould be built at a cost of Rs470 crore with a plinth area of3.5 lakh sq ft to cater to the

needs of domestic and inter-national passengers.

The new terminal wouldhave six aerobridges, 24check-in counters, 14 immi-gration counters and fourcustoms counters, baggageconveyers, baggage handlingsystem with internationalstandards, central air condi-tion, and security measureslike round-the-clock CCTVsupervision.

AP, TS at loggerheadsover ‘profitable’ routesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh and Telanganaare at loggerheads over runninginter-state bus services, despitecomplete opening of borders aspart of Unlock 4.

Thousands, if not lakhs, ofpeople in the two states remainwithout a public transportoption as the two states arelocked in a standoff over routes.

Private bus operators areexpected to grab theopportunityand exploitthe passen-gers if the stale-mate persists forlong, it is feared.

The lucrativeVijayawada-

Hyderabad sector has becomethe main bone of contentionbetween the two Telugu statesas Telangana is reportedlyinsisting that AP forego theprofitable route operations.

Though it does not possessadequate number of buses tomeet the passenger demand onthe Vijayawada-Hyderabad sec-tor, Telangana is said to beadamant on monopolising it.

Telangana is sour that its lim-ited services to Vijayawada

from Hyderabad aresparsely patronised,

causing a loss toits RoadT r a n s p o r tCorporation.

Benamis filingPILs withoutsubstance, A-G tells HCPNS n VIJAYAWADA

A d v o c a t e - G e n e r a lSubrahmanyam Sriram onFriday expressed concernover the Andhra PradeshHigh Court entertainingPublic Interest Litigation peti-tions filed “benamis" of theTDP and media houses sup-porting the opposition party.

l Tries to pass off as IAS officer to influence Dalit man tonsuring casePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In true filmy style, film pro-ducer and Big Boss fameNutan Naidu, abscondingafter being accused of assault-ing and tonsuring a youngDalit in Vizag, was arrestedon Friday at Udupi inKarnataka, but not before hetried to hoodwink the policeimpersonating an IAS officer.

Nutan Naidu hadbeen at large sincethe incident came tofore on August 29.

He faces chargesof tonsuring a 20-year-old Dalityouth ParriS r i k a n t hand alsof o ri m p e r -

sonating retired IAS officerPV Ramesh, AdditionalChief Secretary to theAP government. TheCCTV footage retrievedby the police from his

home in Vizag, hadrevealed how theDalit was ton-sured.

Nutan Naidutried his best to

dilute the case and protect hiswife N Priya Madhuri, policesaid.

Earlier on August 29, Vizagcity police arrested sevenpersons, including PriyaMadhuri, on charges ofassaulting and tonsuringSrikanth on August 28 inNutan Naidu’s house.

JEE, NEET to go ahead; SCdismisses pleaof six States PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court todayrejected for the second timea request to postpone theengineering and medicalexams JEE (Joint EntranceExam) and NEET (NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test)on account of the coron-avirus crisis. This time, sixopposition-ruled states hadasked the court to review itsearlier order and put off theexams for the safety of lakhsof students.

There is no merit in thepetition, Justices AshokBhushan, BR Gavai andKrishna Murari said afterconsidering it in their cham-bers. "No case is made out forreconsidering our earlierdecision," said the top court.

PNS n NEW DELHI

There has been a major forcebuild-up of Chinese tanks andinfantry forces in the SouthPangong region of EasternLadakh after the Indian Armyseized the initiative and gainedcontrol of several key heights inthe area on August 30. Given therange of their guns, Chineseartillery would be located in'depth' positions, more thantwenty kilometres away fromthe Line of Actual Control.

Source said that the presenceof additional tank forces hasbeen detected not too far fromChinese positions in Moldo inSouth Pangong. However, themovement of Chinese heavyweaponry continues to be wellsighted by the Indian Army''which dominates the heightsfrom Thakung to beyondMukpari.'' This includes control

of both shoulders of the crucialSpanggur Gap, a high-altitudepass that spans more than twokilometres in width throughwhich tanks can operate.

The Indian Army has rein-forced its own tank formationsin the area, and deployed addi-tional forces to shore up theheights that it holds along thedisputed Line of Actual Controlin the region. By dominating the

heights, Indian infantry forcesare in a position to engageChinese armour and troop for-mations with anti-tank guidedmissiles, rockets and otherweapons. India also operatesmissile-armed T-90 heavy mainbattle tanks in addition toupgraded T-72M1 tanks inhigh-altitude areas in EasternLadakh.

30,887medical poststo be filledwithin 10 daysPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Informing Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy that theState Government has beenspending Rs 10.18 crore perday on the pandemic, offi-cials stated that the vacantmedical posts in AP wouldbe filled within 10 days togive added ammunition tothe medical and healthdepartment in its fightagainst Covid-19.

During a review meetingheld here on Friday, theChief Minister was told thatthe process for filling up of30,887 posts in the HealthDepartment will be com-pleted in ten days. So far21,673 posts were filled oncontract basis and for the9,971 regular posts, 4,676were filled and recruitment isunder progress for theremaining 5,295 posts.

The State Government hasbeen spending Rs 10.18 croreper day on Covid-19 care ofwhich Rs 4.3 crore is for tests,Rs 1.31 crore on food forpatients and Rs 4.57 crore onmedicines. The officials saidthe State has 138 Covid Carehospitals with 37,441 beds ofwhich 2,462 general beds,11,177 oxygen -supportedbeds and 2,651 ICU beds arestill vacant and available ason Friday.

TikTok lovers commit suicidePNS n VIJAYAWADA

A love story that began onTikTok ended in tragedy onFriday when the lovers, whogot married recently, com-mitted suicide together byhanging themselves with arope in Bellamkonda ofGuntur district.

According to police, PPavan Kumar (19) and PutalaSailaja (17) met on the video

sharing app (banned by theCentral Government later),eloped and married against thewishes of their elders onAugust 3.

On Friday, the couple com-mitted suicide in the rentedhouse they were living in atMachayapalem village underBellamkonda Mandal inGuntur district.

In their suicide note, theydescribed themselves as "love

birds" and "TikTok lovers”.Bellamkonda sub-inspec-

tor S Rajesh said that Sailajaand Pavan Kumar were livingin the village for the past onemonth after they got marriedin Tirupati. Sailaja belonged toKota Gudibanda village ofKalakada Mandal in Chittoordistrict and Pavan Kumar toMangalagiri town of Gunturdistrict.

HC grants bail toRamesh Hospitalexecutives PAGE 3

Covid tally zoomsto 4.76 lakh in AP

PAGE 3

Major Chinese tank, infantrybuild-up in South Pangong

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‘Big Boss’ Nutan Naidu arrested

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart inMoscow, where both are attending a three-day event, government sources

said today. "We have received a meeting request. A meeting is likely," thesources said. Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghi is believedto have asked for the meeting on the sidelines of a ShanghaiCooperation Organization (SCO) meet in the Russian capital.The Chinese side reached out to the Indian mission for themeeting, said sources. Indian and Chinese troops areengaged in a tense border row in eastern Ladakh sinceMay. In June 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash withChinese troops at Galwan Valley.

RAJNATH SINGH LIKELY TO MEETCHINESE DEFENCE MINISTER IN MOSCOW

7 US COPS SUSPENDED IN BLACK MAN'SDEATH, VIDEO SHOWS HE WAS HOODED

AWorld Health Organization spokeswoman said on Friday it does notexpect widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 until the middle of

next year, stressing the importance of rigorous checkson their effectiveness and safety."We are not expectingto see widespread vaccination until the middle ofnext year," spokeswoman Margaret Harris toldjournalists at a briefing in Geneva. "This phase 3must take longer because we need to seehow truly protective the vaccine is and wealso need to see how safe it is," she addedreferring to vaccine clinical trials.

WIDESPREAD COVID VACCINATION NOTEXPECTED UNTIL MIDDLE OF 2021: WHO

Seven police officers have been suspended after therelease of a video from March showing a hood being

placed on the head of a Black man in police custody wholater died, roiling the nation and leading to finger-pointing among local officials. On Thursday, amidmounting questions about why it took five months for the circumstances ofDaniel Prude's death to become public, the graphic video with Prude's lastwords went viral, once again forcing Americans to ask whether tactics used bypolice are too extreme. With protests and outrage building here and nationwide,the city's mayor apologized Thursday and rebuked the city's police chief, whoshe claimed did not disclose to her the circumstances of Prude's death.

The commerce and industry ministry will on Saturday release the rankingof States and UTs in terms of ease of doing business.

In the last ranking released in July 2018, AndhraPradesh topped the chart, followed by Telangana andHaryana. "Steps towards easing the businessenvironment in India: Will release ranking of statesbased on implementation of business reform actionplan tomorrow," Commerce and Industry MinisterPiyush Goyal tweeted. The exercise is aimed at triggeringcompetition among states to improve business climatein order to attract domestic and global investors.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS: STATES'RANKING TO BE RELEASED TODAY

Jagan’s U-turn shocks KCR,not to implement DBT in TSL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The differing approaches ofthe Chief Ministers of TeluguStates has just spilled over to anew area: implementing DBT asrequired by the Centre in thename of power sector reforms.

Jagan recently approved theCentre's diktat with regard toimplementing Direct BenefitTransfer (DBT) for supply offree power to farmers and gotthe measure passed in the cab-inet meeting held two daysago. He did this despite the factthat in June the AndhraPradesh had opposed theCentre's power sector reformsand wrote a letter, saying "it'sagainst the Federal spirit of theConstitution".

Jagan's sudden U-turn overDBT for supply of free power tofarmers has come as a big shockto Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

Sources said on Friday KCRdiscussed at length the implica-tions of AP's decision on power

sector reforms with ministersand officials, but categoricallystated that this would not influ-ence his decision not to imple-ment DBT for supply of freepower to farmers in Telangana.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the Centre has ques-tionably linked power sectorreforms to States' entitlement toenhanced FRBM limits forsecuring additional loans.

In May this year, the Centreraised FRBM limit of Statesfrom 3% to 5% of GSDP, with arider that States, in order to avail

of it, need to implement reformsin the power sector, public dis-tribution system and ULBs(urban local bodies). The powersector reforms mandate States toimplement DBT for free powerto agriculture sector.

KCR has been opposing theCentre's power sector reformstooth and nail right from thebeginning on the ground thatCentre cannot dictate Stateswhat to do as power subject isin the Concurrent list andmoreover the Centre cannotusurp powers of States.

TS HC: How come 9 Coviddeaths daily?PNS n HYDERABADThe Telangana High Court onFriday termed the report sub-mitted by the state governmenton the steps initiated by it tocontain the spread of Covid-19virus and treatment of theaffected patients as "incompleteand confusing". A divisionbench of the HC expressed sus-picion over the number ofCovid-19 deaths being dis-closed by the state governmentin its media bulletins. Citing thespurt in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in recent times,the HC pointed out that the stategovernment was only showing8 to 10 deaths every day.

The division bench of theHigh Court warned of sum-moning the Chief Secretary ofthe state if such wrong reportsare submitted before it. TheCourt directed the state govern-ment to submit a report reveal-ing the details of the funds allo-cated for the Public HealthDepartment before March 23,2020 and after the entry ofCOVID-19 in the state.

Telangana contributes 10 % ofcritical Covid cases in countryPNS n HYDERABAD

It is one thing to crow aboutrecovery rates and quite anoth-er to deal effectively with crit-ical cases. For, more than 10per cent of critical Covid-19cases i.e. patients needing oxy-gen or ventilator support ortreatment in ICU in the coun-try are from Telangana.

There are 47,699 such crit-ical cases across the country,of which 4,776 are fromTelangana. About 12 per centof Covid-19 patients in thecountry needing oxygen sup-port are from Telangana.Likewise, nearly 7 per cent of

the cases admitted in ICU oron ventilator support are fromTelangana.

As per the data released bythe Union Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare, of the 8.3lakh active cases in the coun-try, only 28,437 need oxygensupport, while 19,262 are inICU or on ventilator support.

As per the data released byTelangana Health Department,of the 32,994 active cases,there are 7,246 patients admit-ted in government and privatehospitals in Telangana. Morenumber of critical patients areadmitted in private hospitalsthan in government hospitals.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

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VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 vijayawada 02

EGG RATES

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

CM committed to providingfree power to farmers: NaniPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy is committed to provid-ing free power to farmers on along term basis and the presentchanges will in no way affectthem while TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu, who hasa history of ditching the farm-ers and neglecting the agricul-ture sector, has no moral rightto comment on power sector,asserted Minister for CivilSupplies Kodali VenkateswsaraRao (Nani).

Speaking to the media hereon Friday, Nani said that it wasYSR, who had brought in theconcept of free power and hadproved that it was possible andpractical and now his son YSJaganmohan Reddy has gone astep forward and is contem-plating to generate green ener-gy dedicated for farmers’ freepower. The pilot project willbegin in Srikakulam and willcover the entire state by March

and the fruits can be reaped fora long time.

The new scheme is a perma-nent solution to safeguard theinterests of farmers and DIS-COMS and implementing thenine hour free power to farm-ers scheme in the right earnestunlike Naidu, who has landedin the State capital like an astro-naut and started speakingcelestial language unmindful ofthe fact that it he who hadruined the power sector and

left behind huge debts and duespushing DISCOMs into ahopeless position.

The minister clarified that theState government will not putany additional burden on farm-ers with the introduction ofDirect Benefit Transfer (DBT) offree power subsidy but willbring in more transparency andaccountability into the system.

The electricity bills of farm-ers will be sent to the govern-ment and amount will be cred-ited to escrow accounts offarmers, which would be paidto DISCOMs. This is to ensurepower subsidy dues are notkept pending as it happened inthe previous government,which left a debt of Rs 8,000

crore and also to make surethat farmers receive nine-hourfree electricity. It will ensureaccountability, transparencyand responsibility, he said.

Recalling the Basheerbaghincident, where farmers werekilled during the agitationagainst the reforms and hike inpower tariff, he said the thenChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu had ordered police fir-ing on farmers. After witness-ing such a heart-wrenchingincident, Dr YS RajasekharaReddy had promised to pro-vide free power to farmers,which was implemented dur-ing his tenure besides waivingthe pending bills, despite theopposition by the TDP.

OPP plant in Chintampallibags energy efficiency awardPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Oil Palm Plantation(OPP) plant in Chintampallihas been adjudged as theExcellent Energy EfficientUnit at the 21st NationalAward for Excellence inEnergy Management-2020based on its performanceand achievement in energyefficiency.

The Godrej Agrovet OPPin Seethanagram was alsohonoured with the CIIEnvironmental Best PracticesAward-2020 and recognisedas an InnovativeEnvironmental project fortheir efforts in waste manage-ment last month.

The plant owned by GodrejAgrovet, over 99 per cent ofthe plant’s energy comes fromrenewable sources and theplant sends to waste to land-fill. All organic waste fromthe palm fruit bunches areeither processed and reusedin the plant boiler fuel(renewable energy) or soldoff. Chintampalli plant hasalso reduced its specific ener-

gy by 12 per cent over threeyears through various energyefficiency measures.

Nasim Ali, CEO, said, “Weensure sustainability is at thecore of any new technologyinvestment. Driven by thedesire to create more inclu-sive and greener India, atGodrej, our initiatives are

broadly classified underCommunity CSR initiativesand Green– EnvironmentalSustainability Initiatives. Weare honoured that our effortshave been recognised andhope that other companies inthe sector replicate theprocess and help achieve alow-carbon economy.”

Kurnool Collector inrace for PM’s awardPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Kurnool collector GVeerapandian (IAS batch 2009)has been shortlisted for theprestigious PrimeMinister’s Award 2020.The much-awaitedlist of IAS officersshortlisted for theprestigious PrimeMinister’s Award2020 was madepublic on Fridayand it revealed that 12IAS officers, serving invarious capacities in the state,have been shortlisted undervarious Categories.

Among the other IAS officersshortlisted for the award fromsouthern states are HariChandana Dasari, Narayanpetdistrict, Telangana, J

Jayakanthan, Collector,Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu,former Collector of Banda dis-trict, Uttar Pradesh, Heera Lal,IAS, who is currently serving as

Additional MD, NationalHealth Mission, UP.

Similarly, KKNirala, Collector,Ahmedabad dis-trict and DrR a n g i t a b a l i ,Collector, Imphal

East district,Manipur. Devensh

Yadav, DeputyCommissioner, Changlang dis-

trict, Arunachal Pradesh, DrRK Pruthi, Sirmaur district,Himachal Pradesh. RanvirSharma, Collector, Surajpur,Chhattisgarh, Chandra MohanThakur, Collector, Anuppurdistrict, Madhya Pradesh.

Govt believesin Right toEdu: CMPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hasextended his warm greetingsto the teaching fraternity onthe eve of Teacher’s Day, cele-brated on September 5, com-memorating the birth anniver-sary of scholar, academicianand former PresidentSarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Teachers impart knowledgeand wisdom showing the pathfor future citizens and play akey role in building andstrengthening the ethical andmoral foundations of students,he said. “Our governmentbelieves in the Right toEducation and a level playingfield to all students. Teachersshould be the torchbearers inour endeavour.”

HDFC housingfinance branchinauguratedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

HDFC Limited strengthenedits presence in the State byopening a new office in the cityat Gollapudi. The new office iscentrally located and customerconvenience was given utmostimportance while finalisingthe new premises, according toHDFC.

Speaking on the occasion,Renu Sud Karnad, ManagingDirector, HDFC Limited, said,“Vijayawada is a major tradingand business centre of theState. It is hub of processing ofagri produce, automobile bodybuilding and small scale indus-tries.Real estate market inVijayawada is witnessing asteady growth due to betterinfrastructure and decentindustrial setup. Lower inter-est rates have made housebuying more affordable.

The Covid-19 pandemichas been particularlysevere on urban India.

If one has to live under con-ditions of restraint in cities,how are localities where peo-ple reside to be redesigned?

For this, one has to under-stand the unique trajectory ofIndia’s urbanisation and thenapply highly specific solu-tions.

Urban India consists of‘cities in a city’, and these havedeveloped through the agesby a process of accretion ofsett lements. Accretionoccurred as a response toinvasions, physical expres-sion of new political regimesor ideologies, and regionaland political interests.

The process of accretioncontinued during the Britishrule, and they added plannedareas to cities for Britishers(civil lines) and the military(cantonments or militarylines). Cities central to thecolonial enterprise weredeveloped much more, likethe presidency towns ofMumbai, Chennai and

Kolkata. Thus, two types ofspatial patterns are visible inIndian cities - indigenous(e.g. Chandini Chowk inDelhi and Abids inHyderabad), and the new(e.g. cantonments built theBritish and colonies built byhousing boards, urban devel-opment authorities afterindependence). In the West,denser, mixed land-use com-pact cities are more liveable.However, in Indian cities therelationship between urbandensity and liveability is notconsistently positive, partic-ularly in the indigenous city.

Often, higher density inIndian cities is the result ofover-concentration in theindigenous city or unplannedmixing of land uses (I call it“mixed-up land use”) in thenew ones. The congestionforces so generated have anegative spiralling effect onliveability. How does oneaddress this uniquely Indian

phenomenon? One uniquelyIndian way was championedby Patrick Geddes, pioneer-ing town planner, who visit-ed India during 1915 and1919, and prepared plans for18 Indian cities (e.g. Tanjore,Madurai, Balrampur,Lucknow and Indore). Hiswork was commissioned byboth British and Indianrulers. Geddes believed in‘diagnosis before treatment’and thus advocated survey asthe first step in planning. Thesurvey instrument was devel-oped in civic surveys inEdinburgh and became themodel for later surveys.

Geddesian innovationshave a contemporary ring tothem. For example, reducingthe number of paved streetsin residential areas and turn-ing the land saved into usableforms of open space, which issomewhat similar to placemaking. He viewed bothcities and human beings aswholes, and he saw theprocess of repair, renewaland rebirth as natural phe-nomena of development.

His planning instrumentwas a diagnostic survey fol-lowed by ‘constructive andconservative surgery’. Thediagnostic survey starts with

an assessment of the nature ofgrowth of the city. The citywould seem chaotic to themodern eye trained to amechanical order, however,there is an underlying orderof life in its development.

The method of conserva-tive surgery is different fromthe typical development of anew grid pattern with 40-feetstreets through congested

localities, which was com-mon practice in India at thattime. Moreover, gridirons,while relieving congestion insome parts of the city,increase it in other parts.

Conservative surgeryshows that new streets maynot really be required, asexisting lanes can be substan-tially improved by rearrang-ing the artefacts and activitieson the streets. Conservativesurgery requires long andpatient surveys, that too inthe field involving hours ofperambulation and sketchingon different sites. Geddesgave up on the mathematicalstraight line and aimed at adifferent aesthetic - one moreattractive and comparablycheaper.

Thus, there are two styles— regular and formula-dri-ven vs. individual and free.The former is found in newtowns and the latter pre-dominates in indigenous

towns and was advocated byGeddes. Diverse historicstyles represent a recognitionof varying preferences ofhouse owners.

For example, one personmay desire an open balcony,another a closed and project-ing one, while a third prefersa decorated window. Onehouseholder prefers plainwhitewash while another onewants a painted plater house,and a third prefers a blue ora green.

Slowly this is gainingrecognition. One of the mostwell-known examples is thetransformation ofShahjahanabad in Delhi. It isstreet development ofChandini Chowk keeping inview aesthetics as well as thecommercial needs of the res-idents.

Most important is theinvolvement of the realstakeholders of the area —residents, traders and those in

the tourism business, who arein the best position to con-tribute to the area’s redevel-opment in collaboration withgovernments. This is anexemplar and can be replicat-ed in all commercial localitiesand housing colonies inIndia.

The Covid-19 crisis is anopportunity to rebuild a ‘cityin a city’. Making operationalthe individual and free stylemeans reclaiming local streetsand transmuting them intosocial zones.

Unlike traffic zones, socialzones combine car andpedestrian movement, chil-dren’s play areas, social activ-ities and idea of shared spaceis applied to transform busytraffic intersections. For thisto happen, traffic engineersand urban designs wouldhave to work together.

(Author has a PhD fromUSA and a DLitt from

Kanchi University. The arti-cle is based on his researchand practice and views are

personal)

SAMEER SHARMA, IAS

COVID-19: BUILDING A BETTER INDIAN CITYOften, higher density in Indian cities is the result of over-concentration in the indigenous city or unplanned mixing of land uses (I call it“mixed-up land use”) in the new ones. Thecongestion forces so generated have a negativespiralling effect on liveability

Guv extendsTeacher’s Daygreetings

Pavitrotsavamsat PrasannaVenkateswaraSwamy templePNS n TIRUPATI

TTD is organising annualPavitrotsavams at Sri PrasannaVenkateswara Swamy temple inAppalayagunta will be conduct-ed from September 13 to 16with Ankurarpanam onSeptember 12. In view ofCovid-19 restrictions, theSenadhipati Utsavam,Ankurarpanam and other rit-uals will be performed in‘Ekantham’. Accordingly,Pavitra Pratista will be per-formed on September 13,Pavitra Samarpana onSeptember 14 and MahaPurnahuti on September 15.On all three days, the utsavaidols of Sri PrasannaVenkateswara and His consortswill be given a holy bath.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BhusanHarichandan conveyed hisgreetings to the teaching fra-ternity in the State on the eveof Teacher’s Day on Saturday.

“Teacher’s Day is celebrat-ed on September 5 every yearin honour of Dr SarvepalliRadhakarishnan, who servedthe country as the first Vice-President and secondPresident, coinciding with hisbirth anniversary. DrRadhakrishnan was an exem-plary academician, scholar,philosopher, author and states-man, who stood for high eth-ical values in life. Teachers arethe architects of society andplay an important role in thenation building,” he said.

l Nani said that it was YSR, who had brought in the concept of freepower and had proved that it was possible and practical and now his sonYS Jaganmohan Reddy has gone a step forward and is contemplating togenerate green energy in order to provide free power for farmers. Thepilot project will begin in Srikakulam and will cover the entire state byMarch and the fruits can be reaped for a long time

Indo-Russia Naval exercisebegins in Bay of BengalPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The 11th edition of two-dayexercise INDRA NAVY, a bien-nial bilateral maritime exercisebetween the Indian Navy andRussian Navy began in Bay ofBengal from September 4.

Initiated in 2003, Ex INDRANAVY epitomises the long-term strategic relationshipbetween the two Navies.

Whilst the exercise is beingundertaken in the Bay ofBengal, Rajnath Singh,Defence Minister of India, ison a visit to Moscow fromSeptember 3 on the invitationof Defence Minister of theRussian Federation, GeneralSergei Shoigu to discuss bilat-eral cooperation and issues ofmutual interest and commem-oration of the 75th anniversaryof victory in World War II.

This exercise has maturedover the years with an increasein scope, the complexity ofoperations, and level of partic-ipation.

The primary aim of exerciseINDRA NAVY-20 is to furtherconsolidate inter-operabilitybuilt up by the two Navies overthe years and also to enhanceunderstanding and proceduresfor multi-faceted maritimeoperations.

The scope of this editionincludes wide-ranging and

diverse activities across thespectrum of maritime opera-tions. Due to restrictionsimposed by the Covid-19 pan-demic, INDRA NAVY-20would be undertaken in a‘non-contact, at sea only’ for-mat.

The Indian Navy is repre-sented by guided-missiledestroyer Ranvijay, indigenousfrigate Sahyadri and fleettanker Shakti, along with theirintegral helicopters. Sahyadrihas been presently redeployedto provide assistance to MTNew Diamond, which hascaught fire off the coast of SriLanka.

The Russian FederationNavy is represented by destroy-er Admiral Vinogradov,destroyer Admiral Tributs and

fleet tanker Boris Butoma ofthe Pacific Fleet, based atVladivostok.

The exercise is aimed atenhancing interoperability,improving understanding andimbibing best practicesbetween the two navies, andwould involve surface andanti-aircraft drills, firing exer-cises, helicopter operations,seamanship evolutions etc.The last edition of the exercisewas conducted offVisakhapatnam in December2018.

Exercise INDRA NAVY-20will help to further boostmutual confidence and coop-eration between the two Naviesand would reinforce the long-standing bond of friendshipbetween the two countries.

NASA gears can withstand freezing cold during lunar missionIANS nWASHINGTON

A NASA project is developingspecial gears that can withstandthe extreme temperatures expe-rienced during lunar missionsand beyond.

During NASA's Artemis mis-sions, temperatures at the Moon'sSouth Pole will drop drasticallyduring the lunar night. Fartherinto the solar system, on Jupiter'smoon Europa, temperaturesnever rise above minus 162degrees Celsius at the equator.

Typically, in extremely lowtemperatures, gears - and thehousing in which they are

encased, called a gearbox -- areheated. After heating, a lubricanthelps the gears function correct-ly and prevents the steel alloys

from becoming brittle and, even-tually, breaking. NASA's BulkMetallic Glass Gears (BMGG)project team is creating materi-

al made of "metallic glass" forgearboxes that can function inand survive extreme cold envi-ronments without heating, whichrequires energy. Operations incold and dim or dark environ-ments are currently limited dueto the amount of available poweron a rover or lander.

The BMGG unheated gear-boxes will reduce the overallpower needed for a rover or lan-der's operations, such as point-ing antennas and cameras, mov-ing robotic arms, handling andanalysing samples, and mobili-ty (for a rover). The powersaved with the BMGG gearbox

could extend a mission or allowfor more instruments. Theteam recently tested the gears atNASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory in SouthernCalifornia where engineersmounted the motor and gearboxon a tunable beam designed tomeasure the response an itemhas to a shock, or forcefulimpact.

Team members then usedliquid nitrogen to cool the gearsdown to roughly to minus 173degrees Celsius. Next, theyfired a cylindrical steel projectileat the beam to simulate a "shockevent."

BJP V-P hails ban on online gamblingPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The BJP has welcomed theYSRCP government’s decisionto ban the online gambling.BJP State vice-presidentVishnuvardhan Reddy heapedpraise on Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy andreminded that the BJP hadwritten a letter to the govern-ment last month demanding aban on the online gambling.

He said that several families

were ruined due to the addic-tion towards online gamblinglike Rummy and Poker.

The government said thatanyone found playing onlinegambling would be jailed forone year. “If the same person isfound committing the samecrime for the second timewould be jailed for two years,”disclosed Minister forInformation and PublicRelations PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani).

The Godrej Agrovet OPP in Seethanagram was

also honoured with the CII Environmental Best

Practices Award-2020 area and recognised as

an Innovative Environmental project for their

efforts in waste management

File Photograph INS Shakti

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 vijayawada 03

Free power to farmers is patentscheme of YSR, asserts SajjalaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Government Advisor (PublicAffairs) Sajjala RamakrishnaReddy on Friday lashed out atthe TDP president NChandrababu Naidu for crip-pling the State economy duringthe TDP regime and left thefarmers to their fate, and addedthat free electricity supply tothe farming community is thepatent scheme of YSRajasekhara Reddy.

Speaking to the media hereon Friday, Sajjala RamaKrishan Reddy said that thepeople are aware of the croresof rupees, which were misap-propriated in the name of wel-fare schemes, during the TDPtenure. Naidu crippled theState finances and left debts ofabout Rs 2.58 lakh crore inaddition to the pending arrearsof Rs 40,000 rore. At the timeof bifurcation the total debtswere only Rs 90,000 crore, hereminded.

Though Naidu had

promised to clear all farmloans, he barely managed toclear one-fourth of thepromised amount during hisrule, he said. Naidu left aroundRs 8,000 crore of pending duesto the power sector, it wasChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, who cleared all thosepending dues to ensure thecontinuation of the free-powerscheme, he added.

Furthermore, Sajjala saidthat Naidu has a history ofabandoning the farmers and

attacking them. It is Naidu, whohad hiked the power tariff dur-ing the TDP rule and orderedfiring against those farmersprotesting at Basheerbagh inHyderabad. He said that it wasYSR, who had brought in theconcept of free power and hasproved that it was possible andpractical and now his son YSJaganmohan Reddy, too, toeinghis father’s line. It is the patentscheme of YSR and YSJaganmohan Reddy, unlikeNaidu who has a patent of

bringing belt-shops andencouraging the consumptionof alcohol.

In regard to the DirectBenefit Transfer (DBT) of freepower subsidy for agricultur-al connections, Sajjala saidthat the State government tookthe initiative on the lines of theCentral government draftguidelines of the Electricity Bill,which would benefit the Statein future for getting Centralgovernment funds. He statedthat opposition leaders canexpress their doubts over theimplementation of the scheme

instead of politicising the issuewith baseless allegations againstthe government. The ChiefMinister with an intention tosafeguard the farmers’ welfare,is bringing 10,000 MW of solarpower plant at low cost withlong term benefits for 30-35years, which is a kind of per-manent solution to implementnine-hour free power to farm-ers scheme. He assured that thegovernment takes all theresponsibility if there is anydelay in clearing the bills andmake sure that Discoms don’tsuspend the connections.

Though Naidu had promised to clear allfarm loans, he barely managed to clearone-fourth of the promised amount duringhis rule, he said. Naidu left around Rs8,000 crore of pending dues to the powersector, it was Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, who cleared all thosepending dues to ensure the continuationof the free-power scheme, he added

Infection, recovery casesrunning closely in StatePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

While the Covid-19 infection isexploding across the State, therecovery number also remainshigh with a very minor differ-ence if anything to go by the Stategovernment data. When theinfection and discharge numberof a month, between August 1and September 1 is analysed, asmany as 2, 94,628 infectioncases were reported while in thesame time 2, 63, 262 recovered.The difference between thenumber of infections and recov-ery in a month differs by 31,000.

The daily report of the Stategovernment shows the differenceis hovering around 1,000-2,000cases. The positive cases report-ed in the State was 1,47,314 tillAugust 1 and it surged to4,42,244 by September 1.Similarly, the discharge casesjumped from 73,719 to 3,36, 981.

The doctors monitoring theCovid-19 cases are of the viewthat the percentage of peoplerecovering from Coronavirusinfection in the State is increas-ing significantly due to the detec-tion of the virus at an early stage,which would help in the fastrecovery of the infected persons.

On Friday, 12,334 peopleinfected with Covid recoveredwhile the positive cases report-ed was 10,776. This indicatesthe current pattern of infectionand recovery. Earlier, peoplebeing treated at the hospitalwere being discharged onlyafter being tested negative

twice and the period wasaround seven to 14 days.

There are around 1, 02,067active cases in the State tillSeptember 4 when the totalcases reported so far is at 4,73,611. Even if there are over one

lakh active cases, about 70%people are getting treated athome, or in isolation. Thisalso raises the question of howthe health department is con-firming the recovery cases soearly.

Covid tally zooms to 4.76LAMARAVATI: The virulent spreadof coronavirus saw AndhraPradesh adding over 1.04 lakhfresh cases since August 26 asthe state reported more than10,000 cases for the tenth day ina row on Friday.

The infection positivity raterocketed to 12.02 per cent muchhigher than the national averageof 8.43 per cent as 10,776 newcases were added in the 24hours ending 9 am on Friday,taking the overall tally to4,76,506, the latest Covid-19bulletin said.

Precisely 1,04,867 cases wereadded in ten days, the fastestspike so far.

The last 24 hours also saw12,334 Covid-19 patients gettingcured and discharged fromhospitals, the second highest sofar after 12,750 on August 1.

Consequently, the number ofactive cases slid marginally by1,634 to 1,02,067, pushing theoverall recovery rate to 77.68per cent.

The state also reported 76new casualties, according to thebulletin.

Two more districts in the stateChittoor and West Godavari wentpast the 40,000-mark in totalCovid-19 cases on a day threedistricts registered new cases inexcess of 1,200 each.

Continued from Page 1

The Chief Minister directed theofficials to set up help desks with'Arogya Mitras’ at every Aarogyasrinetwork hospital and said that thehelp desks should also be availableat every empanelled hospital.

Implementation of Aarogyasrischeme in network hospitals shouldbe regularly monitored and severeaction would be taken against anyhospital flouting the norms, he said.Arogya Mitras should have clearunderstanding on protocol and theyshould monitor if Arogya Asara(recuperation allowance) amount isbeing given to patients treated underArogyasri scheme.

They should take regular feedbackon the medical services being pro-vided to Covid patients and submita report.

The Chief Minister said that newmedical colleges would strengthenthe health system in the State anddirected officials to take immediate

steps for construction of medical col-leges and also to focus on construc-tion of urban health centres.

The Chief Minister told the offi-cials to give ratings to the hospitalsby taking feedback from the patientson food, sanitation, infrastructureand services of the doctors.Feedback, including Aarogya Asarashould be taken from Aarogyasrinetwork hospitals and any discrep-ancy should be rectified immediate-ly.

The Chief Minister directed theofficials to make mock calls to callcentres everyday to check theirwork and record the response. Hedirected the officials to intensify thecampaign on what should a persondo and whom should he call if he istested positive for Covid-19.

Deputy Chief Minister Alla KaliKrishna Srinivas, Chief SecretaryNilam Sawhney, Medical and HealthSpecial Chief Secretary Dr KSJawahar Reddy were among thosewho were at the review meeting.

30,887 medical posts tobe filled within 10 days

Continued from Page 1

The court agreed with thesubmission of the A-G thathe would file preliminaryobjections on the main-tainability of PIL, and per-mitted him to file the objec-tions and adjourned hearingfor two weeks for thecounter to be filed.

Sriram was presenting hisarguments in the Advocate-General on a PIL filed byone Kilaru Naga Sravanfrom Vijayawada regardingadvertisements given tomedia houses and also usageof ruling YSRCP colours inthe advertisements.

The petitioner allegedthat Sakshi media house,owned by ruling YSRC pres-ident and Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy and hisfamily, was being givenunfairly high advertise-ments.

The Advocate-Generalalleged that the petitionerwas a benami for the TDPand Andhra Jyothy and hadfiled the PIL without dis-closing his full credentials.

“PILs are about the puri-ty of the process of thecourt and not for benamisand ghosts to abuse,” he said.

Sriram argued that thepetitioner had suppressedthe facts that between 2014and 2019, Eenadu andAndhra Jyothi had gainedall the advertisements dis-proportionately.

“The petitioner was per-haps a beneficiary of allthese and now comes tofight for Andhra Jyothi andthe TDP in court by givinghalf-baked figures,” the A-Galleged.

He said files which didn'tgo to the Chief Minister andwere decided by theInformation and Public

Relations Commissionerwere aggravated and pre-sented in the court.

The A-G pointed out thatthe petitioner had mournedthe loss of TDP in the elec-tions and said: Battle is lost.But war is to be won.

“They want to win thewar by filing such false affi-davits in court for AndhraJyothy and TDP,” Sriramsaid.

The court agreed with thesubmission of the A-G thathe would file preliminaryobjections on the maintain-ability of PIL at the instanceof benamis and ghosts ofTDP and Andhra Jyothy,before filing the counter onmerits of the case.

It permitted him to filethe objections and said itwould decide on the objec-tions and adjourned thecase by two weeks for thecounter to be filed.

TDP benamis filing PILswithout substance, A-G tells HC

Continued from Page 1

The over-all domination ofIndian forces in the region,the Chinese Army continueto hold positions on Black-Top and Helmet, two featureson the Chinese side of theLine of Actual Control.Multiple sources sai that bothpositions are within the rangeof Indian soldiers who occu-py near-by heights and holdground at the base of thesefeatures. In other words, anylengthy maintenance andreplenishment of theseChinese posts would be chal-

lenging. There has beenheavy air activity as wellalong the Line of ActualControl with the Chinese AirForce stepping up its fighterdeployment from both theNgari-Gunsa and Hotan airbases in Tibet. The bulk ofthe Chinese fighter-flyinghas been done by home-builtversions of the Sukhoi 30fighter which also happens tobe the mainstay of the IndianAir Force.

The situation along theLAC is "slightly tense", Armychief General Manoj MukundNaravane said this morning,

adding that "we have under-taken some precautionarydeployments for our ownsafety and security". "In viewof the situation, we haveundertaken some precaution-ary deployments for our ownsafety and security. Thesedeployments, we undertookalong the LAC," Army chiefGeneral Manoj MukundNaravane said today, refer-ring to the de facto borderwith China.

"We are sure that the prob-lem can be resolved fullythrough talks," the Armychief added.

Major Chinese tank, infantry build-up...

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the opposition NChandrababu Naidu onFriday accused the the YSJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment of failing to take actionagainst the culprits involvedin the ongoing atrocities onDalit and other weaker sec-tions in the State.

Naidu said that in the lat-est incident, leaders of theruling party set fire to thehouse of Dalit girl MachchaDhana Lakshmi atMudinepalli in Kaikalurarea in Krishna district justbecause she lodged a com-plaint with the policeagainst a local YSRCPleader for misleading andbetraying her.

Further TD politburomember Varla Ramaiah

lodged a complaint withNational SC Commissionregarding the alleged arsonattack on the house of theDalit girl and sought probeby a special team into theincident.

Naidu alleged that oncoming to know about thepolice complaint, the rulingparty leaders burnt the vic-tim’s house overnight. He

alleged that the Dalit fami-ly was thrown on the roadswith no roof of their own.

The former chief minis-ter said that the police weresupposed to rescue the Dalitgirl whom the YSRCP leaderpromised to marry but latercheated. He lamented thatthe girl did not get any jus-tice while, on the otherhand, she lost her house andhas no place to take shelter.

The TDP chief deploredthat in the last 15 months ofYSRCP rule, atrocities werecontinuing unabated onDalits and other weakersections across the State.

“The authorities, whohave to lawfully come totheir rescue, are helplessspectators to these mis-deeds,” the former chiefminister said.

Naidu blames govt for arsonattack on Dalit girl's house

AP, TS at loggerheads overinter-state bus services

Continued from Page 1

As two rounds of talks so farbetween officials concerned of thestates did not break the deadlock,they are now banking on a possi-ble political intervention to end thetussle and get the buses back onroads. AP Transport Minister PerniVenkataramaiah is expected toopen negotiations on Monday toresolve the ongoing crisis andensure the bus services between thestates are resumed at the earliest,authoritative sources said.

Post-formation of Telangana inJune 2014, the AP ReorganisationAct enabled running of inter-statepublic sector Road TransportCorporation bus services for fiveyears without any formal agreementor permit. That arrangement endedin June 2019 but no fresh pact wassigned between the two states,though there was never a break inRTC bus services till the Covid-19lockdown came into force onMarch 25. But as the lockdown

restrictions were eased and opera-tion of inter-state bus servicesbecame possible, Telangana soughtto seize the chance and put brakeson AP buses. "At the time of bifur-cation in June 2014, APSRTC buseswere running 3.37 lakh route km toTelangana while the latter operat-ed only 94,000 route km. Over thelast five years, Telangana increasedits operations to 1.55 lakh route kmwhile AP brought it down to 2.65lakh km, a top official of the APTransport said. AP was hithertorunning 500 services to Telanganaper day, out of which 400-odd wereto Hyderabad city only. "Hyderabadservices are the biggest revenueearners and Telangana now wantsto grab it all. It wants us to cut theroute km by one lakh km thoughwe agreed to reduce 50,000 km. Wealso asked Telangana to enhance itsown operations by 50,000 km tobring parity. Still, it has not comeforward to sign an agreement andresume interstate services," theTransport official noted.

Continued from Page 1

Recently, Sailaja telephonedher mother Hemalatha who isin Dubai and informed herabout her marriage.Hemalatha could not controlher anger at the shockingnews and threatened Sailajathat she would be reaching thevillage with relatives and tak-ing her back.

The suicide note said thatHemalatha warned Sailaja that

her relatives would eliminatePavan Kumar if she refused toreturn home. In the suicidenote, Sailaja accused hermother Hemalatha of wantingto kill Pavan Kumar and saidthat this was the reason behindthe extreme step.

The police informed theparents and relatives of thecouple and bodies were shift-ed to the government hospitalat Sattenapalli for autopsy.Further investigations re on.

TikTok lovers commit suicideJEE, NEET togo ahead...

Continued from Page 1

The Supreme Court hadon August 17 rejected asimilar request by 11 stu-dents from 11 states.

Maharashtra, Bengal,Punjab, R ajasthan,Jharkhand, Chhattisgarhand Puducherry had decid-ed to request the court toreconsider its decision inthe interest of students.

The states had claimedthat the top court orderfailed to secure students'"right to life" and ignored"teething logistical difficul-ties" to be faced in conduct-ing the exams during theCOVID-19 pandemic.

They States asked for theexams to be deferred "in amanner that achieves thetwin objectives of ensuringthat the academic year ofthe students is not wastedand their health and safetyis not compromised."

Tourism activities...Continued from Page 1

The closure of tourist sitesand facilities, including hotelsrun by the APTDC due to theCovid-19 lockdown, caused arevenue loss of about Rs 10crore a month since March.

Meanwhile, Rajat Bhargava,

who is also Special ChiefSecretary (Revenue), issued amemo, permitting opening ofbars in Class-1 clubs, tourismfacilities and also militarycanteens for liquor sale.

He directed the ExciseCommissioner to take neces-sary action in line with it.

New terminal to make Vjaairport ‘truly international'

Continued from Page 1

At present, the domestic andinternational terminals arefunctioning separately. Thenew terminal would handleboth domestic andinternational passengers.Once completed, it would beable to handle 400international passengers and800 domestic passengers at atime.

The new terminal would

enable passengers to directlyaccess the apron from theaircraft.

At present, the passengersneed to take a transportingvehicle to reach the terminalfrom the aircraft. Districtcollector A Md Imtiaz, AirportDGM Mohammad Qasim, landin-charge Rajeswar, ACPVenkataratnam, GannavaramTahsildar Narasimha Raowent around the airport onFriday.

Harichandanto participatein Governors’conferencePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan has been invitedby President Ram Nath Kovindto participate in the Governors’conference on the ‘Role of NewEducation Policy-2020 (NEP2020) in transforming highereducation’ to be held onSeptember 7 through a videoconference. The Presidentspoke to the Governor overphone on Friday and discussedon the issue. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, UnionMinister of Education RameshPokhriyal Nishank will beaddressing the Governors’conference, followed by inau-gural address by President.The conference will be attend-ed by Governors, LtGovernors, EducationMinisters and others.

‘Big Boss’ Nutan Naidu arrestedContinued from Page 1

City police chief ManishKumar Sinha said that theirinvestigation revealed that onAugust 28, Nutan Naidu madevideo calls to Priya Madhuritwice from Hyderabad and healso threatened and abusedSrikanth using casteist slurs overthe phone. On August 29, a per-son claiming to be retired IASofficer PV Ramesh made phonecalls to medical officers DrSujatha, Dr Vasudev and thePrincipal of Andhra MedicalCollege and Superintendent (In-Charge) of KG Hospital PVSudhakar and informed them togive a medical certificate to sixof the seven arrested in the ton-sure case to send them to jail andrefer one accused Priya Madhurito hospital citing health issues.

Suspecting something fishyabout the phone call, DrSudhakar checked with PVRamesh who denied makingsuch a call. Later, Sudhakar alsoalerted Manish Kumar Sinhaabout the phone call. Manish

Kumar Sinha said that theimposter used to set his name inthe true caller as Chief Secretary,AP CMO. The phone calls tomedical officers pointed the fin-ger at Nutan Naidu.

The police said that NutanNaidu travelled to Bengalurufrom Hyderabad and laterMangalore. He was taken intocustody at Udipi railway stationwith the support of theKarnataka police. The policealso recovered four mobilephones from him.

Nutan Naidu tried to throwaway one of the four mobilephones while he was beingarrested. Investigation confirmedthat it was Nutan Naidu whoposed as PV Ramesh as thephone number matched with themobile phones seized from him.The police said that Naidu willbe brought back to Vizag cityfrom Udipi.Manish KumarSinha said that preliminaryinvestigation has revealed thatNutan Naidu had posed as PVRamesh earlier also and hadcheated some people.

High Court grantsbail to RameshHospitals executivesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Friday granted bailto the three executives ofRamesh Hospitals who werearrested in connection withthe fire at the Hotel SwarnaPalace in Vijayawada onAugust 9 that claimed thelives of 10 Covid patients. The three executives wereidentif ied as Dr KodaliRajagopal Rao, chief operat-ing off icer of RameshHospital, Dr KurapatiSudershan, general managerand Pallabothu Venkatesh,coordinating manager of thehospital at Swarna PalaceHotel which was engaged byRamesh Hospital for use as aCovid Care Centre.

The three executives were

arrested on the day of theaccident by the Governorpetpolice who had registered acriminal case, following acomplaint from VijayawadaCentral tahsildar P Jayasri.

The case was filed againstthe managements of RameshHospitals and Swarna PalaceHotel under Sections 304(culpable homicide notamounting to murder) and308, read with 34 (actsamounting to culpable homi-cide not amounting to mur-der) of the Indian PenalCode.

In the last week of August,the trio had moved bail peti-tion before the eighth districtadditional court but wererefused bail as they weredirectly accused in the firemishap.

CM, Gadkarito inaugurateDurga flyoveron Sep 18PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Principal Secretary (Transportdepartment) MT KrishnaBabu on Friday said thatUnion Minister NitinGadkari, along with ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy, will participate in vir-tual laying of the foundationsand inaugurations of variousprojects on September 18.

He said that the UnionMinister will be joining theprogramme from Delhithrough a video conference.Bhumi puja will be performedfor 16 projects worth Rs 7,584crore. A total of 877 kms ofroads belonging to NationalHighways will be developedfor which the foundation willbe laid. Similarly, 10 projectscompleted at an estimatedcost of Rs 8,038 crore will bededicated to the nation.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 nation 04

SHORT READS

Delhi doc, associateheld for forging Covid test reportsNEW DELHI: A doctor and hisaccomplice have been arrestedin Delhi on the charge offorging Covid-19 test reports,police said on Friday. Accordingto the police, Dr Kush BParashar used to recommendpatients for Covid-19 tests,collect samples personally orthrough his assistant. With thehelp of co-accused Amit Singh,Dr Parasher used to forgeCovid-19 test reports of arenowned diagnostic centre orother labs as per the demand.As the reports were prepared inPDF format on a computer andsent to patients on WhatsApp,it was difficult to detect theforgery. The matter came tolight when a person runningthe business of providingnursing staff to patients askedDr Parashar for tests on twonursing staff before hiringthem. According to police, thedoctor charged Rs 2,400 pertest for negative/positive report.

UP cop shoots, injuresSI, then shoots self

Former SP ministergets interim bail inrape caseLUCKNOW: The Lucknowbench of the Allahabad HighCourt has granted interim bailto former Samajwadi Partyminister Gayatri Prajapati for aperiod of two months. He hasbeen asked to furnish apersonal bond of Rs 5 lakh andtwo sureties. The court hassaid that Prajapati will notmove out of the country duringthis period. Prajapati wasarrested from Lucknow inMarch 2017 on charges of rapeand has spent the past threeand a half years in jail thoughhe was also in a Lucknowhospital for some months.Prajapati was arrested when a35-year-old woman hadaccused him of raping herwhen she met him for a job.The former minister allegedlymolested her minor daughtertoo. He enjoyed immensepolitical clout during SP govt.

BADAUN (UP): An UttarPradesh Constable on Fridayshot and injured his seniorofficer, a Sub-Inspector, andthen shot himself. Both theinjured men were referred to aBareilly hospital for treatment.Senior police officials reachedUjhani police station where theincident occurred. According toreports, Constable Lalit wasupset over denial of leave tovisit his hometown. He hadapplied for 10-day leave but theofficiating Station Officer, SIRam Avatar, refused to sanctionleave on the ground that SOOmkar Singh would do sowhen he rejoined duty. OmkarSingh is undergoing treatmentfor coronavirus. Ram Avatarsaid that he could grant Lalitonly four-day leave. This led toan argument between the two,following which the Constableallegedly opened fire at theofficiating SO. The accusedthen shot himself with hisofficial weapon.

n NEW YORK

In a new study on obesity sci-entists, including one ofIndian-origin, have found thatobesity may cause a hyperac-tive immune system responseto the Covid-19 infectionwhich makes it difficult tofight the virus.

According to the study pub-lished in the journal'Endocrinology', obesity notonly leads to problems likeheart disease and diabetes butalso influences the immunesystem in many ways.

Obesity causes chronic, low-grade activation of some partsof the immune system.

When someone with thispre-existing condition is facedwith an infection, it could leadto hyper-activation of theimmune system but in a detri-mental way that does not fightthe infection.

"The Covid-19 pandemichas made us aware of the com-

plex interactions of obesitywith infectious diseases and thegaps in our understanding ofhow chronic health conditionsaffect our immune responses toacute infection," said studyauthor Durga Singer from theUniversity of Michigan in theUS.

Recent evidence has high-lighted how one part of theimmune system, themacrophage, may be a culpritin driving severe Covid-19

disease. "Our manuscriptfocuses on what is alreadyknown about the interactionof obesity, macrophages andother infections like influen-za," Singer added.

"These findings highlightthe importance of under-standing how obesity mightinteract with new drugs orvaccines developed forCovid-19."

In this review, the authorsdescribed the impact of obesi-

ty on the immune system.They discuss the irregular

immune responses caused byobesity that drive organ injuryin severe Covid-19 infectionand impair a person's ability tofight the virus.

"We consider that obesity-driven dysregulation of innateimmune responses may driveorgan injury in the develop-ment of severe Covid-19 andimpair viral clearance," thestudy authors wrote.

Obesity may alter immunesystem response to Covid-19

Kolkata man inquarantine lockedup by neighbourPNS n KOLKATA

In a case showcasing the apa-thy of a section of populationtowards patients sufferingfrom coronavirus and theirkin, a man who had self-quarantined after his mothertested positive was locked inhis apartment by one of hisneighbours in Kestopur.

It took police interventionon Friday to get him out of thelocked apartment.

The incident took place atGhoshpara's Chitrakut DhamApartment this morning whenSajal Kanti Das, a law clerk byprofession, found that themain gate of his flat waslocked from outside. He calledup the security guard of thecomplex and office-bearers ofthe housing complex viaWhatsapp. However, no onecame to the family's rescue.

"I called up the security

guard and also informed man-aging committee members.But no one came to open thelock. During the lockdown Itried to help out the poor inour neighbourhood by buyingfood and other essential itemsfor them. But today, suchinhumane treatment wasmeted out to me by my ownneighbours. It is unfortunate,"Das said breaking down.

Finally, Das called up thearea police which went to thespot and examined the CCTVfootage.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has moved a pleain the Delhi High Court seek-ing review of its direction topublish the draft EnvironmentImpact Assessment (EIA) in allthe 22 languages in the EightSchedule of the Constitution,saying that official documentsare required to be publishedonly in Hindi and English.

The law does not requirenotifications to be published inlocal languages, it has con-tended.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice PrateekJalan on Friday issued notice tothe environmentalist, onwhose plea the high court hadissued the direction, andsought his response bySeptember 23.

Appearing for theEnvironment Ministry,Additional Solicitor GeneralChetan Sharma claimed thatthe court was "misled" by thepetitioner into passing the

June 30 judgement, which hadextended till August 11 thedate for giving comments andobjections to the draft EIA.

It had also directed that thenotification be published in allthe 22 languages within 10days of the verdict.

The June 30 order had comeon the plea moved by environ-mental conservationist VikrantTongad.

The Centre had on July 28moved an appeal before theSupreme Court against thehigh court decision.

On August 6, Tongadmoved a plea seeking con-tempt action against the min-istry for non-compliance of theJune 30 direction.

The apex court, on August13, declined to entertain theappeal at that stage, but grant-ed liberty to the ministry toseek review of the June 30 deci-sion of the high court.

The top court also put onhold any contempt proceed-ings against the government tillits review plea as disposed of.

Centre moves HC for review topublish draft EIA in 22 languages

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Fridayissued notice on a plea by asenior district judge in MadhyaPradesh, who is scheduled toretire at the year-end, forquashing of sexual harassmentcharges levelled against him bya woman judicial officer in2018. The apex court has alsostayed disciplinary proceedingsagainst the district judge.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice S. A. Bobde and JusticesA. S. Bopanna and V.Ramasubramanian issuednotice to the Madhya PradeshHigh Court on the plea.

Citing this case where thejudge is close to elevation andthen something happens, thebench said it is a regular phe-nomenon in the system, allkinds of things start happen-ing. The counsel representingthe petitioner submitted beforethe bench that his client has anunblemished 32 years of ser-vice, and the judge was about

to be considered for elevationto the High Court. He con-tended that all of a sudden, a2018 complaint surfaces andan inquiry is initiated.

The district judge movedthe apex court seeking astay on the August 14 orderof the Madhya Pradesh HighCourt, which dismissed hisplea at hearing itself holdingthat there was no illegality infacts or in law in the April 30final report submitted bythe Gender SensitisationInternal C omplaint

Committee (GSICC). TheGSICC report favoured fur-ther disciplinary actionagainst the judge. This waschallenged in the apex court.In June, the top court hadasked the judge to move theHigh Court, which dis-missed his plea.

The plea contended that theGSICC began the inquiryunder section 11 of the Act,which in law is forbidden to doso, by keeping the conciliationapplication pending for a longperiod of five months.

SC notice on MP judge's plea toquash sexual harassment charges

High time UP govt act: NGT on industries in residential areasPNS n NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunalon Friday rapped the UttarPradesh government for notshifting industrial activitiesfrom residential areas saying itis high time that the Stateenforces the order if it has anyrespect for the rule of law.

A bench headed by JusticeAdarsh Kumar Goel said theState has failed to complywith the order of the SupremeCourt passed seven years ago.

The green panel said thoughthe counsel for the State statesthat steps have been taken, thesame are not on record.

“Let further steps be takenexpeditiously and the statusreport as on December 31,2020 placed on record in theform of an affidavit of the con-cerned Principal Secretary ofthe State of UP.

“The Oversight Committeemay also give its independentreport in the matter. The

reports be furnished before thenext date by e-mail,” the benchsaid.

The NGT said that itappears the State authoritiesare not giving due considera-tion to the issue and the affi-davit filed on behalf of theState fails to even advert to theissue. The tribunal was hear-ing a plea filed by UP residentGopeshwar Nath Chaturvedirelating to the matter ofindustries illegally operating inresidential areas of UttarPradesh, more specifically thepolluting units at Mathuracity.

‘Parihar said he would procuredrugs on Showik's instructions'PNS n MUMBAI

The Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) on Friday told aMumbai court that Abdel BasitParihar, held in connectionwith the drug trafficking probelinked to actor Sushant SinghRajput's death case, revealedthat he used to procure drugsas per the instructions ofShowik Chakraborty.

The NCB told this to thecourt on the day it conductedsearches at the premises ofShowik Chakraborty, brotherof actress Rhea Chakraborty,who is accused of abettingRajput's suicide, and the lateactor's house manager SamuelMiranda in connection withthe drugs probe.

The Mumbai court onFriday remanded Parihar (23)in the NCB custody tillSeptember 9.

The NCB said interrogationof another arrested accused,Zaid Vilatra, led to the arrestof Parihar.

While seeking Parihar's

remand, the NCB told thecourt that Vilatra in his state-ment had disclosed the nameof Parihar as the receiver ofganja.

"While Parihar, in his state-ment, revealed that he used toprocure drugs from Vilatraand another person KaizanIbrahim as per the instructionsof Showik Chakraborty," theNCB told the court.

The agency further said thatthere are other instances whereParihar facilitated to arrange-for drugsand was in contactwith Showik.

"It is clear from the state-

ments of the accused that hewas an active member of drugsyndicates connected with highsociety personalites and drugsuppliers," the NCB added.

Parihar has given manynames and his custody isessential to unearth the mainplayer in the drug syndicate, itsaid.

Investigation into the drugangle in Sushant Singh Rajputcase is on. It needs to be inves-tigated throughly so as touproot drug citadel inMumbai, and especiallyBollywood, NCB added.

Held hostagefor damagingiPhone, teentries to end lifePNS n NEW DELHI

Humilated by torture andillegal confinement overdamaging an iPhone, a 16-year-old boy jumped fromthe fourth floor of a buildingin Chirag Delhi. The victimis undergoing treatment atSafdarjung hospital. The vic-tim's family has alleged thathe was held hostage by a manafter his father failed to payfor his expensive I-phonethat got accidentally damagedby the teenager.

The victim's family told thepolice that a man calledHoney asked for Rs 62,000 ascompensation for the damageand wrongfully confined thevictim and tortured him.Theincident happened onThursday evening when thevictim and his his friendwere going from his house tohis father's shop on theirbicycle.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab and Haryana HighCourt Judge Suvir Sehgal onFriday recused himself fromthe hearing of an anticipatorybail application filed by formerPunjab DGP Sumedh SinghSaini in a 29-year-old disap-pearance-cum-murder case.

Earlier, Justice Amol RattanSingh had recused from thebail plea case.

"We are left remediless in ananticipatory bail matter," Saini'scounsel APS Deol told themedia here.

Last week, the SAS NagarAdditional District andSessions Judge had dismissedthe anticipatory bail plea ofSaini.

The former DirectorGeneral of Police then

approached the High Court foranticipatory bail in the murdercase of former CITCO employ-ee Balwant Singh Multani.

The Punjab Police had onThursday denied withdrawalof security detail of Saini who,it said, had absconded afterleaving his security personnelbehind.

A spokesperson for theSpecial Investigation Team

(SIT), probing the extra-judi-cial killing case that was con-verted into a case of murder,denied the allegation of Saini'swife that the ex-DGP's securi-ty had been withdrawn, thusendangering his life.

Contrary to what had beenclaimed by Saini's wife in a let-ter to DGP Dinkar Gupta,there had been no changewhatsoever in the securitydetail and all the necessaryequipment, including the secu-rity box and jammer vehicle,were provided to the formerpolice chief, who is a 'Z' pluscategory protectee of the stategovernment, the spokespersonsaid.The kidnapping case wasrelated to a bomb attack onSaini by the KhalistanLiberation Force militants in1991.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju onFriday said he cannot give atime-frame for when thecrowds will return to stadiumsafter the government permit-ted sports gatherings of up to100 people from September 21in its Unlock 4 guidelines.

Speaking at the virtuallaunch of 'enJogo' Appdesigned by Bhaichung BhutiaFootball School to provideonline training modules tofootballers, Rijiju said theCOVID-19 pandemic situationhas made it difficult to saywhen the crowds will return tothe stadia. India has recordedover 39 lakh cases so far.

"I will not be able to make acall on that (on return of

crowd). I don't know what willbe the situation (of the pan-demic) in next 1 or 2 months,"he said.

"I wish they (fans) are therein the stadia as soon as possi-ble, we are hopeful of that hap-pening. But health and safetyof the public is also our prior-

ity," he added.The Union Home Ministry,

on August 29, allowed sportsgatherings of up to 100 peoplewith effect from September 21,lifting the the total ban, whichwas earlier put in place tillAugust 31.

Couple, 3 minordaughters founddead, suicidesuspectedPNS n DAHOD

A couple and their threeminor daughters were founddead at their residence inDahod town of Gujarat onFriday, police said.

Police suspect it to be a caseof suicide. SaifuddinDudhaiwala (42), his wifeMahejabeen (35) and daugh-ters Arava, Zainab (both 16)and Husaina (7) were founddead in their apartment inSujai Baug area in the morn-ing, inspector of Dahod townpolice station, H P Karen, said.

"Preliminary probe sug-gests that the deceased mayhave consumed poison-lacedwater or cold drink sometimebetween Thursday eveningand Friday morning," he said.

Covid test report mandatoryto enter Parl during sessionPNS n NEW DELHI

As Parliament is geared up forthe upcoming MonsoonSession, the Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha Secretariats haveissued detailed guidelines forMPs, their personal staff andparliamentary employees tofollow during the period.

The members have beenrequested to get their RT-PCRtests conducted 72 hours priorto arrival at Parliament afterSeptember 11 onwards. If thetests are not done, then it willbe done at the reception andthe members will have to waittill the results are out. If themembers are found coron-avirus negative but sympto-matic, then RT-PCR test will beconducted. Till the results areout, home isolation will beadvised.

The MPs have been advisedto get their personal staff and

family tested ahead of the ses-sion. Detailed guidelines havebeen sent to the members ofParliament for this purpose. Ifany of the personal staff orfamily members test positive,then the MPs concerned willhave to isolate themselves andfollow mandatory governmentguidelines.

The Lok Sabha Secretariathas arranged for a camp forCOVID-19 tests on Saturday,

where all employees proposedto be put on duty during thesession will be tested. Sevencounters have been set up forthe purpose at the reception ofParliament.

No symptomatic person willbe allowed into the House,apart from visitors, during thesession.

Earlier, Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla had given directionsto ensure that proper caution

is exercised with regard tohealth safety. For this, compre-hensive arrangements relatedto health checkups are beingput in place within theParliament House during theMonsoon Session.

Birla had said that all prepa-rations based on "expertadvice" will be undertaken toensure smooth conduct of thesession and prevent spread ofCovid-19 infection.

Recent evidencehas highlightedhow one part ofthe immunesystem, themacrophage, maybe a culprit indriving severeCovid-19 disease

Another HC Judge recuses fromhearing Punjab ex-DGP's bail plea

Can't say when crowds willreturn to stadia, says Rijiju

The members havebeen requested toget their RT-PCRtests conducted 72hours prior toarrival at Parlia-ment afterSeptember 11onwards

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

Home delivery ofMata Vaishno DeviShrine 'prasad'JAMMU: The management ofMata Vaishno Devi Shrine saidon Friday that it has arrangedhome delivery of 'Prasad' todevotees throughout thecountry. Ramesh KumarJangid, chief executive officer(CEO) of Mata Vaishno DeviShrine said on his Twitterhandle, "Shri Mata Vaishno DeviShrine Board has introducedthe home delivery of Prasad tothe devotees in India. "Forfurther details and placingorders, please visit our websitemaavaishnodevi.org. You canalso get your queries redressedthrough 0-9906019475 from8AM to 8PM JMD". The shrineis situated in the Trikuta Hills ofReasi district in Jammu andKashmir. Before the ongoingpandemic, over 2.60 croredevotees from different parts ofthe country would visit theshrine each year. The shrinewas closed for devotees afterthe outbreak of the pandemic.

Guj extends ban ontobacco products forone more year

7 women killed inTamil Nadu firecracker unit blastCHENNAI: Seven women diedand several others were injuredin a firecracker factory blast inCuddalore district in TamilNadu on Friday, said the police.The fire cracker unit waslocated in Kurunkudi village inCuddalore district and the blasthappened in the morning. Theexplosion killed five women,including the unit owner,instantaneously and alsobrought down some buildings.Out of the four injured womenwho were admitted to hospital,two succumbed. Police and firetenders rushed to the spot andcarried out rescue operations.Meanwhile Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister K. Palaniswamicondoling the death of sevenwomen announced a solatiumof Rs 2 lakh to their families.DMK President M.K. Stalin alsocondoled the death of sevenwomen.

GANDHINAGAR: The Gujaratgovernment on Friday onceagain extended the ban on thesale, stocking, production anddistribution of Gutka as well asproducts containing tobaccoand nicotine for another year.The ban on these products wasimposed by the then ChiefMinister and now PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in2012. Nitin Patel, the healthminister as well as the DeputyChief Minister of Gujarat, onFriday said "There is a ban onGutka and Pan masala contain-ing tobacco and nicotine in thestate, where selling stocking,production and distribution ofthese products is prohibited.Keeping in mind the health ofthe public, the government hasdecided to extend the ban forone more year."

Another BJPMLA complainsto NaddaPNS n DEHRADUN

In yet another indication ofdiscontent in the ruling BJPin Uttarakhand, one moreparty MLA has written to thecentral leadership complain-ing about lack of develop-ment in his constituency dueto bureaucratic indifference.

Close on the heels ofDidihat MLA Bishan SinghChuphal meeting JP Naddain Delhi to share his concernover lack of development inhis constituency, party MLAfrom Raipur in DehradunUmesh Sharma Kau wrote tothe party president to lodgea similar complaint.

Kau said people have highexpectations from him andthey are disappointed to seedevelopment activities com-ing to a halt in his con-stituency.

‘Muslims being targeted inUP, framed in false cases’PNS n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati on Friday allegedthat besides Brahmins andDalits, Muslims are being tar-geted under the BJP regime inUttar Pradesh.

She also flayed incidents ofvandalising idols of B RAmbedkar in the state andasked the government to takeappropriate steps.

"In the SP government,Brahmins and Dalits wereoppressed selectively. Now inthe present BJP government,along with them, there is a lotof oppression of Muslims aswell. They are being framed infalse cases, which is very sad,"Mayawati charged in a seriesof tweets in Hindi.

"Idols of the messiah ofDalits - Baba Saheb Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar - greatsaints and gurus were broken

in SP government, and namesof districts and institutions etc.named after them (Dalit icons)changed considerably...In thesame way, now, the presentBJP government is also run-ning," she alleged. "Now eventhe idol of Baba Saheb Dr.Bhimrao Ambedkar is beingbroken. The incidents ofVaranasi and now in Jaunpurare extremely condemnable.The government should takeappropriate steps in these mat-ters," Mayawati said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi airport has set up aCOVID-19 testing facility atthe multi-level car parkingarea of its Terminal 3 for arriv-ing international passengerswho have to take connectingdomestic flights, its operatorDIAL said on Friday.

It will be operational with-in a few days.

The testing facility has beenestablished by the DelhiAirport International Limited(DIAL) in collaboration withGenestrings Diagnostic Centre,which is currently associatedwith the Delhi government totest COVID-19 samples.

The Civil Aviation Ministryhad on Wednesday said thatinternational passengers whohave to take connectingdomestic flights after landingin India will have the option of

getting themselves tested forCOVID-19 at the entry air-ports. If the RT-PCR testresult is negative, the interna-tional passenger will beallowed to board his or herconnecting domestic flight andhe or she will not need toundergo any institutional quar-antine, the ministry's ordersaid.The DIAL's press releasesaid, "Results of samples col-

lected at the laboratory will bedeclared within 4-6 hours tothe incoming passengers. Untilthe results are confirmed, pas-sengers will be isolated at thewaiting lounge or may opt tostay in a hotel."

"Constructed in 3,500 squaremeter area at multi-level carparking (MLCP) of Terminal 3,this is the first such arrange-ment among Indian airports,"

it noted. An international pas-senger who does not have aCOVID-negative result cer-tificate from a test done notmore than 96 hours prior to thejourney, and does not opt foran on-arrival testing facility atthe entry airport, will have tocompulsorily undergo seven-day quarantine.

Delhi airport sets up Covid testing facilityfor select arriving international passengers

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission onFriday announced that by-polls for the 64 assembly andone parliamentary seats in dif-ferent states will be heldaround the same time with theBihar Assembly polls, dates forwhich will be announced later.There is a vacancy of 27 seatsin Madhya Pradesh assemblyalso, which means by-elec-tions in the state will also takeplace around the same timewith the Bihar Assembly polls.

The poll panel in a state-ment said that a meeting washeld on Friday regarding hold-ing of by-elections in differentstates.The Commission saidthere were 65 clear vacanciesbecause of by-elections inAssembly or Parliamentaryconstituencies, out of whichthere are 64 vacancies in stateassemblies and one in a

Parliamentary constituency.The Commission said it dis-

cussed the reports and inputsfrom Chief Secretaries or ChiefElectoral officers of many ofthe concerned states seekingdeferral of the by-elections intheir states in view of severalfactors including the extra-ordinary heavy rains in someplaces and other constraintssuch as the pandemic etc."Considering the General

assembly elections in Bihar arealso due and required to becompleted before November29, the Commission has decid-ed to conduct all the 65 by-elections and GeneralAssembly Election of Bihararound the same time," theCommission said.

The Assembly elections for243 Bihar Assembly seats aredue this year.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Fridayissued notice on the applica-tion filed by senior advocateIndira Jaising seeking imple-mentation of the court's guide-lines on conferring senior des-ignations. A bench comprisingJustices Rohinton Nariman,Navin Sinha and IndiraBanerjee issued notice to theregistrar general of the apexcourt, returnable in four weeks,on the application filed byJaising. The apex court wouldexamine whether the processof designating senior lawyersbegin with online interviews interms of its 2018 guidelines.

In August, Jaising hadmoved the top court seekingproper implementation of the2017 Supreme Court judge-ment, where it laid down theguidelines for the designationof lawyers as senior advocates,

for a uniform and standardisedprocess for conferment of thesenior gown on lawyers in theSupreme Court and the HCs.

Applications were invitedby the committee for the des-ignation of senior advocates inAugust of 2018. In March2019, the first round of seniordesignations, in line with thenew guidelines, finalised 37applicants. However, in thepast two years, applications

have not been invited by thecommittee and the processhas been frozen since then."Many High Courts have duti-fully implemented the judg-ment of this Court in IndiraJaising (matter). However, byinitiating the senior advocatedesignation process only once,post August 2018, this courthas failed to comply with itsown judgment and 2018guidelines.

‘IPS officers' dedicationto service will inspireyoungsters to join police’PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Home Minister AmitShah on Friday greeted the IPSofficers of 2018 batch andsaid he was confident thattheir commitment towardsservice will inspire young-sters to join the police service.

Shah's comments came afterPrime Minister NarendraModi interacted with theyoung officers, who are cur-rently at the SardarVallabhbhai Patel NationalPolice Academy (SVPNPA)in Hyderabad, through videoconference.

"My best wishes to all theseyoung IPS officers on their

Dikshant Parade. May theyserve the nation with utmostdedication while ensuring itssecurity & integrity. I am con-fident that their commitmenttowards service will inspire ouryoungsters to join the IndianPolice Service," he tweeted.

The home minister said theprime minister's inspiringspeech will surely boost themorale of the young policeofficers and guide them onhow to strengthen the police-public relations.

In his interaction, Modisaid the "humane" side of thepolice force in the country hascome to fore during the coro-navirus pandemic.

Hope to see peaceful resolution ofdecade-long Syrian conflict: IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

India has conveyed to Syriathat it hopes to see a compre-hensive and peaceful resolutionof the decade-long Syrian con-flict through a Syrian-led andSyrian-owned dialogue, involv-ing all parties.

This was conveyed byMinister of State for ExternalAffairs V Muraleedharan in histalks with Syria's Vice Ministerof Foreign Affairs andExpatriates Fayssal Mekdadheld through video confer-encing.

The virtual meeting onThursday provided an oppor-tunity to comprehensivelyreview the bilateral relationsand chart a road map for fur-ther cooperation in areas ofmutual interest, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs said in a state-ment.

Thanking Mekdad for hisassessment on the evolvingsituation in Syria and theregion, Muraleedharan reiter-ated India's hope to see a com-

prehensive and peaceful reso-lution of the decade-longSyrian conflict, through aSyrian-led and Syrian-owneddialogue, involving all partiesto the conflict that takes intoaccount the legitimate aspira-tions of the Syrian peoplewhile preserving the unity,sovereignty and territorialintegrity of the country.

Nine years of civil war inSyria has left thousands ofpeople, including civilians,dead, according to human

rights groups.Mekdad thanked the Indian

government for the timely giftof 10 metric tonnes of medi-cines in July 2020 to help Syriain fighting the COVID-19 pan-demic as also for the generousprovision of 1,000 scholar-ships to Syrians under theStudy in India Programme,besides 90 slots under ITECand 25 slots under ICCRGeneral Scholarship Schemegiven annually, the MEA said.

As many as 483 Syrians had

benefited from an artificiallimb fitment camp organisedby the Ministry of ExternalAffairs in Damascus in January2020 in partnership with theBhagwan Mahaveer ViklangSahayata Samiti (BVMSS),Jaipur, the statement said.

The Indian government hasearlier provided USD 12 mil-lion in humanitarian assis-tance to the Government ofSyria since the conflict brokeout in 2011.

Furthermore, India has set

up a bio-tech park and an ITCentre and extended USD 265million in line of credit for pro-jects in steel and power sectors,the MEA said.

The MoS for ExternalAffairs, in turn, apprisedMekdad about the steps Indiangovernment was taking toaddress both public health andsocio-economic challengesposed by COVID-19.

There was also a brief dis-cussion on the progress madeby India in vaccine researchand development, according tothe MEA.

India-Syria relations havebeen historically warm andfriendly, which have been nur-tured through regular exchangeof visits, the statement said.

Syria has been deeply appre-ciative of India's unwaveringsupport and continued devel-opmental assistance during itscrisis years, and has extendedunconditional support toIndia's candidatures for variousmultilateral and internationalorganisations, it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A whopping 82 per cent peoplesupport the CentralGovernment's new NationalHealth ID, provided it onlyseeks and stores health-relatedinformation and not sensitivepersonal details such as bank-ing information, sex life, caste,religion, political affiliations, etc.

The National Digital HealthMission was announced byPrime Minister NarendraModi in his Independence Dayspeech. The ambitious initia-tive will see the creation ofhealth IDs for every citizen thatwill enable storing personalmedical records and diseasehistory electronically.

The draft of the policy wasreleased on August 26 with aweek stipulated for public feed-back. However, on September1, the government extended

the public feedback deadlinetill September 10.

On the basis of 34,000responses from citizens resid-ing in 272 districts of India,'Local Circles' attempted tobring out what the masses feelabout the idea of creating a cit-izen digital health id.

In the first question, citizenswere asked about their viewson the creation of such a dig-

ital health id. Over 23 per centsaid it should be created as itcould help in faster access tohealthcare, while 18 per centsaid it should not be created asit could lead to personal sen-sitive data getting compro-mised.

As many as 59 per cent saidit should be created but datasought should be restricted tojust health information. The

results of the poll show that 82per cent support digital healthid creation but believe sensitivepersonal details should not besought. The main objective ofthe draft policy has been stat-ed as providing guidance andcreating a framework forsecure processing of personaldata of individuals who are apart of the national digitalhealth ecosystem.

82% back Centre's Health IDinitiative but wary of data-sharing

Terrorist killed,army officerinjured in KashmirencounterPNS n SRINAGAR

One terrorist was killed and anarmy officer injured in anongoing encounter in NorthKashmir's Baramulla district onFriday, officials said. Theencounter started in Yediporaafter a joint team of the policeand the army cordoned off thearea on the basis of a specificinformation about terroristshiding there. As the securityforces zeroed in on the spotwhere the terrorists were hid-ing they came under a heavyvolume of fire that triggered theencounter. "One terrorist hasbeen eliminated. Joint opera-tion in progress," army said.

PNS n GWALIOR

Rains and potholed roads wereno deterrence for a Jharkhandman who drove over 1,200 kmon a scooter, with his pregnantwife sitting pillion, so that shecould appear for an exam foraspiring teachers here inMadhya Pradesh.

The tribal couple,Dhananjay Kumar (27) and hiswife Soni Hembram (22), trav-elled on the two-wheeler fromGanta Tola village in Goddadistrict of Jharkhand to reachGwalior, a centre for DEd(Diploma in Education) exam,required to be cleared by thosewanting to take up teachingjobs.

The wish to see his wifebecome a schoolteacherinspired Kumar to undertakethe arduous journey, coveringmore than 1,200 km acrossfour states, braving rains and

bad roads in the midst ofCOVID-19-enforced lock-down.

As trains, buses and othermeans of transport were notavailable, we decided to tra-verse the journey by road onour two-wheeler, Kumar said.

My wife, who is pregnant,was initially reluctant to takethis arduous journey. Butafter seeing my determina-tion, she agreed for this longjourney, he said.

The couple arrived here onAugust 30 for DEd exam beingconducted by the MP Board of

Secondary Education. Theexamination will continue tillSeptember 11.

As a video of the couple andtheir journey taken by somenewspersons went viral onsocial media, the districtadministration stepped in tohelp them.

If I had hired a taxi for com-ing to Gwalior, it would havecost Rs 30,000 which was a bigamount for me. Whatever lit-tle jewellery we have, we mort-gaged it to raise Rs 10,000.

"So far, we have spent Rs5,000 on our one-way journeyand on a room that we havetaken on rent in DeendayalNagar here, Kumar, who hasstudied till Class 8, said.

We started off on August 28morning and enroute stayed anight each in Muzaffarpur(Bihar) and Lucknow to reachGwalior on our scooter, saidKumar.

Man travels 1,20 0km on scooterto take wife to exam centre in MP

SC notice on guidelines onsenior designations to advocates

Bypolls for 64 seats along withBihar Assembly elections: EC

Cong MLA’smother writesto YechuryPNS n THRISSUR

The 68-year-old mother ofCongress legislator AnilAkkara on Friday wrote toCPI-M General SecretarySitaram Yechury express-ing her deep anguish at theway a top CPI-M Keralaleader addressed her son asSatan's son.

In her letter, the motherLilly Antony said they werenot going to lodge any case ora police complaint againstCPI-M leader Baby John forhis outrageous statement.

"I do not know if I shouldwrite a letter like this to avery top leader. But I amdoing it because I am deeplypained when my son is calledSatan's son. In fact, my hus-band, a farmer and a driverby profession, who passedaway in 2004, and AnilAkkara belong to two differ-ent political parties.

If the RT-PCR testresult is negative, theinternationalpassenger will beallowed to board hisor her connectingdomestic flight andhe or she will notneed to undergo anyinstitutionalquarantine, theministry's order said

On the basis of 34,000responses from citizensresiding in 272 districtsof India, 'Local Circles'attempted to bring outwhat the masses feelabout the idea ofcreating a citizen digitalhealth ID

Nine years ofcivil war inSyria has leftthousands ofpeople, includ-ing civilians,dead, accordingto human rightsgroups

One does not quite knowwhat the shape of theworld will be after theCOVID-19 pandemic is

over. The several informed specu-lations at hand — including the onethat it would eventually be like it was— may or may not come true. Theonly thing that is reasonably certainis that the virus COVID-19 emergedin bats, infected another animal and,through it, humans. By all accounts,the infection among humans beganto spread from a market selling liveanimals in Wuhan, China. It is alsowidely known that viruses breedand spread in the unbelievablyover-crowded and insanitary con-ditions in which animals are keptthere, with some of them —COVID-19, for example — trans-muting themselves and becomingcapable of infecting humans.

Two things are important tonote. First, COVID-19 is not theonly virus originating in animalsand affecting humans. Other dead-ly diseases include Ebola, whichbelongs to the category of filovirus-es or thread viruses and includesthree sub-types of Ebola viruses andone known as Marburg. Namedafter Ebola River, which meandersthrough northern Zaire in Africa,it first emerged in 1976 in 55 villagesnear the banks. Fruit bats arebelieved to be its natural carriers.The virus, which spreads throughhuman to human contact, is akiller; the death rate so far has been88 per cent of those infected. As thedisease progresses, persistent feveris followed by a strange combinationof haemorrhaging and blood clot-ting all over the body, especially inthe spleen, liver and brain, in whatis known as disseminated intravas-cular coagulation. Death comesfrom haemorrhaging and shock.

Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome (SARS), Middle-EastRespiratory Syndrome (MERS),and West Nile Virus have also orig-inated in animals. SARS coronavirusemerged in China’s Guangdongprovince in 2002. First identified in2003, it most probably originated inbats and then spread to other ani-mals like civet cats before infectinghumans. There were 8,000 cases ofthe disease in the 2003 epidemic,which affected 26 countries.Transmitted from person to person,its symptoms are similar to those ofinfluenza — fever, muscle pain,headache, diarrhoea and shivering.Subsequently, there can also becoughing and shortness of breath.

Dromedary or Asian orArabian camels are a majorrepository of MERS Coronavirusor MERS-Cov which spreadsthrough human-to-humantransmission. Fever, cough,shortness of breath are among itssymptoms, as is diarrhoea.Patients often develop pneumo-nia. Birds, particularly crows, arethe natural hosts of West NileVirus which causes neurologicaldiseases that can be fatal. It iscommonly found in Africa,Middle East, North America,Europe and West Asia andspreads though infected mosqui-toes biting humans.

Eighty per cent of the peo-ple infected by the West NileVirus do not show any symp-toms. About one-fifth of theinfected develop fever andheadache, body ache, vomiting,diarrhoea and or rash. Less thanone per cent of those infecteddevelop illnesses like encephali-tis or meningitis involvinginflammation of the brain. Apartfrom the symptoms describedabove, those seriously ill sufferfrom stiff neck, tremors, visionloss, numbness and paralysis.

Rabies, originating amongother species, in dogs and mon-keys, and entirely preventablethrough vaccination, is perhapsthe most talked about of thenumber of zoonotic diseasesaffecting humans. The questionis, how do these come to infectpeople? While transmissionmodes may differ, the basic cir-cumstance is proximity to ani-

mals who are “hosts” to the virus-es concerned. The nature of thisproximity is influenced by theway that most humans regardanimals, which is that they canbe treated any way people like —they can be killed for fun as in thecriminal activity that goes by thename of hunting, for food, sav-agely hurt in the name of fun —bull fights in Spain, Jallikattu inparts of South India, or cock-fights and dogfights in manyparts of the world. They are madeto pull or carry heavy loads thatmake them stagger and under-go horrendous suffering in thename of medical experimenta-tion benefiting humans.

Of course, animals are notthe only living beings thathumans treat horribly. We treatthe whole of nature, of which ani-mals are a part, in the most crueland exploitative manner. Theworst victims are plants whichare feeling, communicating,mutually caring and benevolentliving beings that need to betreated with respect, and forests,which provide a wide range ofenvironmental benefits, includ-ing attracting rainfall and pre-venting soil erosion. They are,however, casually felled in Indiato make way for industrial enter-prises and coalfields when coal,a highly polluting source ofenergy, is increasingly in disuseeverywhere.

Underlying such conduct isnot only callousness but sadism,to which animals can be subject-ed without attracting the kind of

condemnation and punishmentthat similar action towardshumans do. True, humans treatother humans too in pretty awfulways. Otherwise, there would notbe crimes like slavery and incar-ceration in concentration campsbut murder and genocide.Nevertheless, as often as not, per-petrators of such crimes againsthumans are punished. Mussoliniwas shot while on the run; Hitlerhad to commit suicide. SeveralGerman perpetrators of warcrimes and crimes againsthumanity during World War IIwere brought to justice at theNuremburg trials. More recent-ly, most perpetrators of warcrimes during Bangladesh’sLiberation War in 1971 havebeen sentenced, a few to death.

No murderer of a tree or theperpetrator of the genocide of aforest has been given similarpunishment. This is becausetrees, forests and the rest ofnature, including other non-human living beings, are gener-ally held to be existing for humanconvenience alone and, hence,have been put outside the uni-verse of morality that people havecreated for themselves. Thus,while the punishment for killinga human can be death, that ofkilling an animal is a fine and alaughably short stint in jail.

The attitude towards naturedescribed above has been com-pounded by the adversarial viewof it that emerged during the longstruggle for human survival andprogress, which included the

establishment of human settle-ments and farms for food, thedomestication of animals, use ofthe latter in wars, controlling ofrivers for irrigation and flood-prevention. The result of all thishas doubtless been the enormousmaterial progress witnessed fromthe emergence of the initial trib-al communities to the establish-ment of the complex moderncivilisations of the informationage. This in turn has led to theidentification of progress withmastery over nature. The latterwas not the matrix to live in har-mony with but to be destroyedand subordinated at will.

What was forgotten in theprocess was that humankindemerged from the cradle ofnature, which included all non-human living beings as well, andhas existed in the supportiveenvironment provided by it.Destruction — even severe dam-age to the latter — could threat-en its very existence. The devas-tating effects of climate change,including extinction of species,and the cyclones and tidal wavesthat are increasingly playinghavoc, are widely known. Nowthe abominable conditions exist-ing in Wuhan’s live animal mar-ket have unleashed the COVID-19 virus on humans. This isunlikely to be the last zoonotic ornatural calamity visiting ourworld. There will be others, andperhaps even more catastroph-ic, if we do not mend our ways.

(The author is Consulting edi-tor, The Pioneer)

In men’s tennis, discussions around who is the“Greatest Of All Time”, the so-called “GOAT”, canbecome very animated between supporters of

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In women’s tennison the other hand, there is no competition. SerenaWilliams stands heads and shoulders above playersfrom not only her generation but also the likes of SteffiGraf and Martina Navratilova from years past. It wouldnot be a stretch to say that Williams is one of thegreatest sportspersons of all time with only the likesof Michael Phelps and Lionel Messi for competition.And keeping her competitive nature going even after

becoming a mother is remarkable. Although the Belgian ace Justine Henin was thefirst “mother” to win a Grand Slam in the modern era, she did so at a time when fora female athlete, getting pregnant was a signal to retire. But now, Serena, VictoriaAzarenka and Tsvetana Pironkova, all post-partum athletes, have marched into thenext round of the US Open tennis tournament, the first major post-Covid tournamentin that sport, proving that women, just like men, are extending the prime of their careersand even “post-prime” by being more selective about where and how often they play.Our own Sania Mirza won the Hobart doubles title after having a baby. And boxerMary Kom set new records post-motherhood in a high-performance sport. Gone arethe days when women’s tennis was about a succession of lissome teenage blondesfrom the erstwhile Soviet bloc nations. Today’s players are older, stronger and willnot let marriage (or divorce) and motherhood stop their success.

But as discussed on these pages earlier, how will an increasing number of olderathletes staying on in their sports, irrespective of gender and sport, from tennis toeven cricket, impact up and coming stars. Of course, the best will still shine throughbut sports is reflecting the realities of modern life. Model Padma Lakshmi celebrat-ed her 50th birthday recently by announcing that the 50s were the new 30s. This,however, should create opportunities for more leagues and more sports across theboard. But we will also see more and more mothers competing in top-flight sports;no longer is having a baby considered the end of any career, whether in movies orin sports. And players like Serena Williams should be an inspiration not just to othermothers but women of all ages.

China had probably not anticipated that India wouldcontinue with its robust defence of the Line ofActual Control (LAC) instead of blinking after

Galwan. Or that it would need to pump in more resourcesand troops in Ladakh, where it has so far used percep-tional differences on what should be the border on theground to usurp land. It certainly had not bargained forIndia ramping up its border infrastructure and its sol-diers meeting it eye to eye in mountain warfare. Or expect-ed its unilateral adventurism to be challenged. But moreimportantly, it realises that an Asian split between its toptwo powers would only damage it strategically, politi-

cally and economically. And that its imperial dream of Asian domination would be unre-alised if India increasingly gravitates towards the US and the West, pushing the world tounipolarity. Already, the combined Indo-US strategy to challenge Chinese access to theirtechnology market is a precursor of a longer-term hit on its digital monopoly. And if Chinadoesn’t have a transactional relationship with India and engages with it somewhat, thenit would be difficult for it to convince smaller Central and Southeast Asian nations to acceptits overlordship in the region. Already some of these nations are part of the US-India axisin stalling Beijing’s designs in the Pacific. Perhaps that explains why the Chinese side con-veyed its keenness to have a meeting with India on the sidelines of the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) session in Moscow. And following the ban on Chinese applications,its spokesmen struck a reconciliatory note and resorted to soft diplomacy, referring to thecultural assimilation that has seen Rabindranath Tagore, yoga and Bollywood occupy cen-trality in Chinese life. The SCO provided the platform for Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’sfirst meeting with his counterpart Wei Fenghi after the Ladakh standoff. And though Indiahas emphasised that it would like to settle the border issue within the framework of diplo-macy and dialogue, the fact that Chinese troops are still stationed within our artillery rangein the south of Pangong Tso should remind us that the dragon still has a forked tongueand can spew fire. Singh, of course, set the tenor at the ministerial meeting itself, sayingnon-aggression and trust were the key to regional peace and stability. Clearly, the mes-sage is it cannot be business as usual.

Perhaps China is hoping that this heavy duty presence and its continued aggressivepile-up along the LAC would compel India to cede some ground at the talks table. Its rhetoricthat India is being provocative points to an assumption that its presence there has alwaysbeen legitimate, though this has never been a point of dispute since the 1962 war. It hasnow significantly enhanced its presence in the Depsang area, closer to the Daulat BegOldie airstrip. This shows that the Chinese will never reconcile to losing the strategic advan-tage in Ladakh because of the DSDBO road that allows India troop parity in this sector.Besides, China wouldn’t want the Indian shadow over the Karakoram, particularly betweenGilgit-Baltistan in the west (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), where China is heavily investedin the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Aksai Chin in the east. So India muststay the course and insist on status quo ante. Post-Galwan, it has already yielded someground by agreeing to pull back from old observation posts and creating a buffer zone.This would let the Chinese mobilise easily unmonitored. The 1993 agreement signed dur-ing the Narasimha Rao-Jiang Zemin era made it absolutely clear that both sides wouldscale down troops at the LAC to a “minimum level” as a confidence-building measureand strengthen bilateral ties by looking beyond the boundary arc. That has only resultedin our trade dependency on China without any let-up in its hegemonic intentions. India isalready more vigilant in the Indian Ocean region, with our Navy watching every movementalong the Malacca Straits, a key strategic and economic transit corridor for China. It hasgot more active in the Quad initiative with US and Japan and begun using its internation-al goodwill as a nation that respects “rule-based order” to build a case against China’s“wolf warrior” tactics. And it must add the boundary question to negotiations, insist onmarking the LAC on the ground. We must also join the global chorus against Tibet or Xinjiang,something that riles up China no end and could be used as a bargaining chip. This coun-terweight would work better than just relying on the US, which beyond the point of inter-nationalising an issue, wouldn’t stay invested as it is too remote for its domestic concerns.Russia, which wants the SCO to work, so that it can fob off the preponderance of the USand the West, is compromised by heavy Chinese investment in its infrastructure and gaslines. It does need India to counterbalance itself against Chinese heft but cannot force China’shand on the border issue. Already, it has classified the standoff as a matter of bilateralconcern between both countries. Russia is keeping itself updated about the sensitivitiesinvolved and the fact that Singh decided to attend the RIC meeting and the Moscow VictoryParade despite the COVID pandemic is indication of the strategic depth India attaches toRussia. The latter acknowledges India’s insistence on sticking to defence deals despiteUS pressure. Will it be able to convince China about a need for status quo in the interestof a multi-polar world? A tall order really. India needs to watch out for its own interest.

Will talks work?

Grow rural economySir — This is in reference to thearticle, ‘How to grow green shoots’,published on September 4. It isthe huge stockpile of 73.85 MTof reserve grains that is feedingthis nation during the pandem-ic. However, it need not havetaken a contagion for this nationto realise that we are but anagrarian economy and owe muchto the rural sector. In fact, it wasthe agro sector that demonstrat-ed the strength and resilience togrow during the pandemic whilethe urban economy just foldedup.

Economists feel their onlyobligation is to suggest ways tocreate jobs. Since jobs are in theurban centres, they only focus onthe urban economy. This result-ed in the informal sector and therural economy being largely for-gotten. It is a pity that we refuseto make any effort to organise the“informal sector”, only to thenneglect it as an “unorganised sec-tor.” It is high time that the thruston the economy reverts to ruralepicentres.

It is sad that so much ofhuman creativity in rural areasshould be going to waste. Theyouth here are all not just labour-ers but do create wide-ranging

products and services. The rightframework, institutions and poli-cies will transform ruraleconomies. With the tools ofInformation Technology, good

political leadership, quality edu-cational institutions and health-care facilities, a new class of ruralmicro entrepreneurs will emerge.As that happens, merely creating

unprocessed agricultural inputsand sending daily wage labour-ers to the cities would be a thingof the past. The rural economymust have its place in the sun in

a New India that we want.R NarayananNavi Mumbai

NDA, be democratic Sir —It is a matter of grave con-cern that the NDA Governmenthas nixed the Question Hour inthe forthcoming MonsoonSession of the Parliament. Thisdecision will set a wrong trendeven for the State LegislativeAssemblies. Question Hour isdevoted to questions that MPsraise about any aspect of admin-istrative activity. The concernedMinister is obliged to answer tothe Parliament, either orally or inwriting, depending on the typeof question raised. This moveamounts to gagging democracyand refraining from answering tothe Government’s failures onmany aspects, like the gaspingeconomy, management of thepandemic and the fiasco withChina in Ladakh. Hope that theNDA Government will reconsid-er this issue and allow QuestionHour to continue in order to sus-tain democratic values.

Amit Singh KushwahaSatna

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

06

Harvest of dominationHumankind has identified progress with mastery over nature. It destroyed and

subordinated nature at will. COVID-19 is just one manifestation of this horror

By abolishing the QuestionHour, this Government isrunning scared of answeringthe relevant questions to thepeople of India through theirelected representatives.

Congress leader—Randeep Surjewala

We must prevent the youthfrom taking the wrong path.Women police officers canmake women understand theneed to stop their childrenfrom doing wrong.

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

To tell you the truth, Dilipsahib has not been told thathis brothers Aslam bhai andEhsan bhai are no more. Wekeep every kind of disturbingnews away from him.

Former actress—Saira Banu

S O U N D B I T E

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

Good move by India to ban PUBG

The dispute between India and China in the border areasin eastern Ladakh doesn't seem to be getting resolvedanytime soon. This issue is a hard nut to crack for

both the countries despite months of talks on the mili-tary and diplomatic level. The frequent attempts by Chinato intrude at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are a delib-erate violation of bilateral agreements between the twoneighbours with long-standing traditional ties. The waythat the battle-hardened Indian troops have been mov-ing from pillar to post to thwart the Chinese intrusionsis quite appreciable and praiseworthy.

However, China must stop its aggression as this isnot a creative solution to this ongoing tussle. On the Indianside, an economic strike on Chinese interests is a movein the right direction. Not because it will hurt the Chineseeconomy too much but because it sends a strong mes-sage that we won’t take things lying down and will reactmilitarily and economically. The prohibition of 118 mobileapps, most of them Chinese, is certainly a remarkable andformidable step taken by the Central Government. Oneof the most striking and sensational aspects of this deci-sion is the banning of the popular online multiplayer gamePUBG.

The complete credit of this goes to the Ministry ofElectronics and Information Technology for many reasons.Hundreds of thousands of adolescents and youths in Indiahad become addicted to PUBG, leading to emotional and

mental fatigue. They lost concentration on their studiesand work. Plus, for ages, India has been an open mar-ket for Chinese products, which led to the ruin of the indige-nous industry and products. We have to introduce indige-nous apps instead of foreign ones. The same should bedone for all other products that we get from China now.

All possible efforts should be taken to avoid thedependency on foreign goods and apps. In view of theongoing face-off between the two countries on the bor-der, it is the duty and responsibility of every Indian to comeunder one umbrella of unity and patriotism to boycott allChinese products so as to attain ultimate success.

Prabhakaran VallathKozhikode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Mommy time We will defeat the TMC boththrough the EVMs and ballots.TMC knows it will be defeated,that’s why it is scared and theState Government is not willing to hold elections.

BJP leader—Dilip Ghosh

While Rajnath Singh shared a platform with his Chinesecounterpart in Moscow, the border is still hot. India must not budge

Motherhood is not stopping today's breed of femaleathletes. It is an inspiration for all women

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

The gift of autonomy

MUMBAI AND MAHARASHTRA ARE SECURED BY THE

POLICE. IF ANYONE FEELS UNSAFE ABOUT LIVING IN

MUMBAI, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE HERE.

— MAHARASHTRA HOME MINISTER

ANIL DESHMUKH

PEOPLE ARE THREATENING ME FOR COMING BACK TO

MUMBAI. SO I WILL GO THERE ON 9TH. KISI KE BAAP

MEIN HIMMAT HAI TOH ROK LE (STOP ME IF YOU DARE).

— ACTOR

KANGANA RANAUT

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Teachers are the fulcrum around which anyprogressive and vibrant society moves.Look at countries and compare their rate

of growth and the scale of teachers’ status in thesociety; it will be apparent that both go up anddown together. India had a great guru-shishyaparampara and teachers were highly revered bythe students and civil society. Respect for teach-ers was not ornamental but real in those days.The educators were revered in the true sense aseven the king would not take decisions withoutthe consent of the Raj Guru.

Even though the Raj Guru is often depictedas a poor person in popular culture, the kingwould invariably receive the guru by standing upfrom his seat. The teacher in turn would oftenvisit the king’s court in moments of crisis to coun-sel the ruler. Sadly, those days are long gone.

We need to understand today as to why thejudgement of teachers was final in the days ofyore. To be precise, the objective of the king (orin today’s parlance the politician) is to remainin power. Similarly, the aim of the common peo-ple is to be rich or famous or powerful. However,the objective of a teacher is nothing but to seehis/her students grow and achieve what theyaspire to. This is the only profession where theindividual works not for oneself but for otherpeople’s growth and success and derives pleasurein the attainments and achievements of the stu-dents whom s/he teaches. However, to expectsuch dedication we, too, must have complete trustin teachers and grant autonomy in pedagogicactivities; as individuals and as a system.

In India, we celebrate Teachers’ Day on thebirth anniversary of Dr SarvepalliRadhakrishnan, a scholar of philosophy and agreat teacher loved by all who had the good for-tune to be taught by him. Radhakrishnan taughtIndian philosophy and religion at many Britishand Indian universities. He later joined the free-dom struggle, because he believed that to servea foreign rule was “irreligious” or adharm in theHindu tradition.

Radhakrishnan pursued his study of Indianphilosophy while continuing to make his con-tribution to the freedom struggle. He was in arelentless search for the ultimate truth, which hebelieved was the pursuit of every Hindu schol-ar i.e. Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye (attaining salvationthrough search of the ultimate truth).Radhakrishnan became the Vice-Chancellor ofthe prestigious Banaras Hindu University on theinvitation of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya tosucceed him in 1938. It was a position thatRadhakrishnan occupied till 1948. Once Indiabecame independent, Radhakrishnan became thechairman of the first commission on educationto be set up to revamp the higher education sys-tem of the country.

The report presented by him is popularlyknown as the Radhakrishnan CommissionReport. It is a comprehensive one but today it isvital to remember that this report stressed on theimportance of education being grounded in theIndian tradition. The RadhakrishnanCommission Report was also of the view thatschool education must be given emphasis andrevamped so that deserving students couldenter higher education institutions.

This Teachers’ Day has special significance

for us all. The Narendra ModiGovernment issued its New EducationPolicy 2020 (NEP) on July 29, after amammoth discussion nationwide forfive long years. The Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD), nowrenamed the Ministry of Education(MoE), had started the discussion in2015 and people at the grassroots levelwere consulted through 33 identifiedareas or themes; and then a commit-tee under TSR Subramanian (a retiredbureaucrat) was asked to prepare a drafton the basis of all the documents andfeedback that were collected.

However, this report was widelycriticised and was largely unacceptableto most stakeholders. So, a new com-mittee was constituted to prepare afresh draft under the chairmanship ofDr Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, (aspace scientist of global repute). Thedraft report was submitted to theGovernment on May 31, 2019. The finaldocument, prepared by theGovernment on the basis of all the dataand feedback collected through the twodrafts, was released in July. This doc-ument is extraordinary in manyrespects. The previous documents raninto hundreds of pages but this was pre-sented in just 62 pages. Beside otherthings, the policy focusses on educators,right from pre-school teachers to theones teaching in universities.

This Teachers’ Day the educatorsmust rejoice at the appearance of thePrime Minister in a conclave of teach-ers on August 6, only a week after thenew national education policy docu-

ment was released. Talking about theNEP while addressing the conclave,Modi had said, “Today, there are viewsand opinions coming from all acrossthe India. People are sharing theirthoughts on this. It has been widely wel-comed and one thing that has beenobserved is that no one is saying thatthis policy has any bias towards any onearea... that is a great thing. Now every-one’s focus is on how this will be imple-mented. As far as the political will toimplement this is concerned, I want toassure you that I am fully with you... allthe way.”

He called upon the educators toown the policy and implement it in let-ter and spirit. The message conveyedwas that the nation has realised that theeducation policy will have little impact,like all the previous policies, if the edu-cators don’t own it. A policy documenton education will have to be owned andimplemented by teachers and teachersalone. Plans prepared on the basis of thepolicy will have to be implemented inthe classrooms which teachers alonehandle. It is noteworthy that in hisspeech, the Prime Minister addressedprincipals who are the key players intransforming schools. If this is not justrhetoric, then we can indeed look for-ward to a “year of the teachers.” ThisTeachers’ Day can perhaps then be seenas a landmark one in the history of edu-cation in India.

The Mudaliar Commission onschool education was constituted as acorollary to Radhakrishnan’s report.This commission suggested the forma-

tion of an independent body to coor-dinate school education among theStates of India. This, it said, was nec-essary because education is a nationalconcern and the major responsibility ofmaintaining quality and content ofschool education as well as higher edu-cation rests upon the UnionGovernment. The University GrantsCommission (UGC) was established onthe recommendation of the DrRadhakrishnan Commission but theSchool Education Commission (SEC)has not been established till date. Weneed to get this going.

The best tribute to DrRadhakrishnan would be to give schoolteachers an independent statutorybody to regulate themselves instead ofbeing monitored by “brown sahebs.” Wehave been shouting against Macaulay’spolicy of controlling teachers andschools because the gurukuls (residen-tial schools of ancient times) and themadrasas were the places which pro-duced the best minds of the nation.However, Macaulay planned anddestroyed the indigenous school sys-tem.

Today the educationally best per-forming nations have no Governmentinterference in schooling. India needsthis too if we are to compete globally.Modi had also expressed the impor-tance of good quality teachers on sev-eral occasions. Hope he gets his poli-cymakers to walk the talk.

(The author is Professor ofEducation at IGNOU. The viewsexpressed are strictly personal.)

Today the educationally best performing nations have no Govt interference in schooling.India needs this, too, if we are to compete globally

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

China schoolingthe Mongols

GWYNNE DYER

There is a growing sense of insecurity in theruling elite that makes it impatient to stamp

out differences and deviations from the norm

CHANDRA BHUSHAN SHARMA

THE BEST TRIBUTETO DR

RADHAKRISHNANWOULD BE TO GIVE

THE SCHOOLTEACHERS OF INDIA

AN INDEPENDENTSTATUTORY BODY

TO REGULATETHEMSELVES

INSTEAD OF BEINGMONITORED BY

BROWN SAHEBS.IF WE WANTDEDICATED

TEACHERS, WEMUST HAVE

COMPLETE TRUST INTHEM AND GRANTTHEM AUTONOMY

AS INDIVIDUALSAND AS A SYSTEM

Residential schools were a common feature of European set-tler societies (except New Zealand) until quite late in the 20thcentury, and their purpose was not just to educate but to “dera-

cinate” their aboriginal pupils: That is, to cut them off from their roots.The Chinese Government would reject the analogy with its last breath,but it is now doing the same thing. Last week, in China’s InnerMongolian Autonomous Region, ethnic Mongolian parents began hold-ing rallies and keeping their children home from school in protestagainst new measures to reduce teaching in the Mongolian languagein favour of Chinese. Under the new rules, history, politics, languageand literature will be taught in Mandarin Chinese, not in Mongolian.

It has not been reported in the Chinese media, of course, butthe BBC reports that students at one demonstration chanted “Ourlanguage is Mongolia and our homeland is Mongolia forever!” Atanother school, only 40 students registered for the autumn term insteadof the usual 1,000 — and most of them left after the first day. It shouldbe noted that in Inner Mongolia, ethnic Chinese (Han) people are afour-fifths majority of the 25 million residents. The province is beyondthe Great Wall and was once almost entirely Mongolian, but it wasalready majority Han before the current Chinese Communist regimecame to power in 1949.

Most of China’s five million Mongols are concentrated in threeeastern districts of Inner Mongolia, but even there they are not a major-ity of the population — and many of these Mongolian-speakers areurbanised people who are fully bilingual and intermarry freely withtheir ethnic Chinese neighbours. The core of the unrest is among themillion or so who still pursue a modified version of the old “nomadic”culture. They are the traditional Steppe-dwelling people who followtheir herds on horseback or in all-terrain vehicles through their sea-sonal rounds. Unlike aboriginal languages, Mongolian has been writ-ten in its own script for many centuries, and Genghis Khan’s empireonce briefly ruled about a quarter of the world, but the “nomadic”Mongols do depend on boarding schools.

Such schools are simply a practical necessity for people wholive in small groups and move frequently, and in the Chinese case,they were not originally conceived as instruments of cultural geno-cide. Until recently, in fact, they operated entirely in Mongolian, withChinese taught as a second language. The Chinese policy towards“tribal” minorities has traditionally been more tolerant than the USor Canadian policy towards native Red Indians, the Australian poli-cy towards Aborigines, the Scandinavian policy towards Sami (Lapps)or the Russian policy towards Siberian native peoples. All of thoseunlucky people got the kind of residential schools that aimed at cul-tural assimilation and religious conversion.

The children spent most of the year in boarding schools, not withtheir families. They were taught the religion of the settlers, not thatof their native culture. They were forced to use the language of thedominant European group and forbidden to speak their own. And mostof them were subjected to violence. (Yes, most.) Many of the adultswho emerged from this ordeal were tormented men and women, andtheir legacy of alcoholism, drug abuse, child abuse, nihilism and despairis still being passed down the generations. Nothing of the sort hashappened to the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, so far as is known —but something bad is starting to happen to them now. The Chineseculture has always been patronising towards the minorities living with-in China’s borders, but it didn’t usually see them as threats. Theyaren’t threats now, either, but there is a growing sense of insecurityin the ruling elite that makes it impatient to stamp out differencesand deviations from the norm. You can see it in Tibet, where the screwshave been turned so tight on dissent that more than a 100 peoplehave burned themselves to death in protests since 2009. You can-not avoid seeing it in Xinjiang, where more than a million Uyghurshave been sent to concentration camps that operate like residentialschools for adults, trying to separate the residents from their reli-gion, language and values.

And you can detect it in a minor key even in Inner Mongolia, ina needless, destabilising attempt to force Mandarin down the throatsof loyal, innocent people who pose no threat whatever to the State.What drives President-for-Life Xi Jinping and his advisers to suchridiculous and counter-productive extremes? The only plausible answeris fear that history will repeat itself. China’s rulers are all Communistsin theory (though how many still really believe it is another matter),and so they rightly worry that what happened the communist par-ties of Europe in 1989 could also happen to them. However, two yearsafter that the Soviet Union broke up as well. It’s really unlikely thatChina will ever do the same, because more than 90 per cent of thepopulation is ethnic Chinese, but the guilty flee where none pursue.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’)

COVID-19 has forced schoolsand universities across India,and the world, to suspend

face-to-face teaching and move toonline classes. This transition toonline teaching and learning is chal-lenging for most organisations, stu-dents and teachers alike as academ-ic institutions across the world havecancelled all on-campus activitiesthat made the experience of learningmemorable and meaningful. Hence,celebrating Teachers’ Day this yearwill not be the same as it used to bein the past. Irrespective of religiousbeliefs, Teachers’ Day is celebratedacross the world, albeit on differentdays. This is because, no matter whatsociety one belongs to, we all havegrown up with the realisation that wemust always show respect to the

teachers who made us as we are.Right from becoming a good humanbeing to a civilised citizen of thecountry.

The United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) started observingTeachers’ Day on October 5, 1994 asit commemorates the anniversary ofthe adoption of the 1966International Labour Organisation(ILO)-UNESCO Recommendationconcerning the Status of Teachers.This recommendation sets bench-marks regarding the rights andresponsibilities of teachers and stan-dards for their initial preparation andfurther education, recruitment,employment, teaching and learningconditions.

However, in India it is celebrat-ed on September 5 to mark the birthanniversary of Dr SarvepalliRadhakrishnan, who was a teacherpar excellence. When he became thePresident of India in 1962, his stu-dents and friends sought permissionto celebrate his birthday. However, DrRadhakrishnan politely requestedthem to celebrate his birthday as aday dedicated to all the teachers inthe country.

The former President of India,Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, once said,“Teaching is a very noble professionthat shapes the character, calibre andfuture of an individual. If the peopleremember me as a good teacher thatwill be the biggest honour for me.”

A teacher, who may give us apiece of advice and the lessons of alifetime, is always considered a high-ly honoured person in every commu-nity.

In India, the teacher-studentrelationship has a special religiousand social bond and significance.Since ages, the story of Eklavya hascome to define exemplary disciple-ship. This story is an example of ded-ication, hard work, obedience andpaying the guru his due. This alsoshows that acquiring or gainingknowledge is not possible without theteachings and blessings of the guru.In ancient times, a common practice

in learning was guru-dakshina, wherea student would offer a gift or fee forthe knowledge gained by him.Actually, Dronacharya blessedEklavya with immortality by askinghim for his thumb because whenev-er people think of an ideal studentand devotion to a teacher, theythink of Eklavya and not Arjuna.

A teacher has a very high statusand is given a lot of importance inIslam. There is a famous saying ofHazrat Ali in which he said that “ifa person teaches me one singleword, he has made me his servant fora lifetime.” Teachers always play aprominent role in influencing andinspiring students. In our society,parents are responsible for givingtheir children quality care. However,teachers are responsible for honingtheir skills and making their futurebright and successful.

They are a source of inspirationto students as they prepare the lat-ter to face any challenge with confi-dence and commitment. With enor-mous understanding of the subjectmatter and with deep knowledge andwisdom, they always nourish the livesof their students.

Keeping the importance of the

teacher-student relationship in mind,Tariq Mansoor, who himself is a pro-fessor and the Vice-Chancellor of thehistoric Aligarh Muslim University,says, “Teachers are the backbone ofany academic institution and alwaysplay a very big role in shaping thelives and careers of students.” This isa fact as our foundational educationcompletely depends on the guidancewe get.

Teachers’ Day is a wonderfulopportunity for all students to appre-ciate the hard work and efforts putin by teachers in grooming and shap-ing their life in a meaningful way.The most difficult and challengingpart for a teacher is to balance theclass where students come from dif-ferent economic, social, religious, lin-guistic and cultural backgrounds. Buteach one still does it, day after day.

Teaching is one of the mostrespected and valued professions inthe world and an educator continuesto be a respected person in society.Let’s remember ours, wherever theyare, especially for preparing us to beresilient in these pandemic times.

(The writer is the Chairperson,Department of Linguistics at AligarhMuslim University.)

Despite the virus, find a way to honour educatorsTeacher’s Day is a wonderful opportunity for all the students to appreciate the hard work and efforts put in by their gurus

MJ WARSI

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

There has been significantpushback against onlinelearning in Pakistan over thelast six months, and this iscontinuing. Given the digitaldivide and the variation inhome environment ofstudents, this is notsurprising. But the pushbackshould not blind us to theopportunities that onlineteaching and learning offer.And in many ways, we havejust started to explore thesepossibilities. Given theimportance and scope of thislearning worldwide, we arebeing myopic.(Dawn

DON’T RESISTONLINE LEARNING

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Instagram launchesseparate Reels tabfor India usersNEW DELHI: Facebook-ownedInstagram on Friday said it haslaunched a separate tab for'Reels' in India, making it thefirst country to get the feature,that will enable users to easilydiscover short-video content.In July, Instagram hadunveiled its new format 'Reels'in India that allows users tocreate and share short videos."Earlier this month, we startedtesting a new tab onInstagram to make it easier todiscover entertaining Reels.Today, we're expanding thistest in India to most of thecountry. India is the firstmarket we're launching in dueto the interest and creativitywe've seen," Facebook IndiaDirector and Head ofPartnerships Manish Choprasaid in a statement on Friday.The Reels Tab will replace theExplore tab.

Freight haulersdemand action onBrexit preparationsLONDON: British freighthaulers and storagecompanies are asking for anurgent meeting withgovernment leaders becauseof concern that gaps inpreparations for Brexit maythreaten supplies of criticalgoods. Trade associationsrepresenting the companieshave written to Michael Gove,the minister overseeingBritain's exit from theEuropean Union, saying thatimprovements to border postsand computer systems arebehind schedule. The groupssay that if the issues are notaddressed, "disruption to UKbusiness and the supply chainthat we all rely so heavily onwill be severely disrupted.”More than 40 years of freetrade with the EU will end Jan.1 after an 11-month transitionperiod that followed Britain'sformal departure from the blocearlier this year.

Rupee settles 33paise higher at73.14 against USDMUMBAI: Snapping the two-day losing streak, the rupeerebounded by 33 paise andsettled at 73.14 (provisional)against the US dollar onFriday, even as the domesticequity market was trading withsignificant losses. At theinterbank forex market, thedomestic unit opened on astrong note at 73.38 againstthe US dollar, then gainedfurther ground and closed at73.14 against the Americancurrency, registering a gain of33 paise over its previousclose. During the tradingsession the local unitwitnessed high volatility andtouched an intra-day high of73.01 and a low of 73.47against the greenback. OnThursday, the rupee slumped44 paise to close at 73.47against the US dollar.

PNS n WASHINGTON

The United Stateskeeps regaining moreof the jobs that van-ished when the viralpandemic flattenedthe economy earlythis spring.

Yet so deep werethe layoffs that began in Marchthat millions of Americansremain burdened by job loss-es that might prove perma-nent. Economists have forecastthat employers added 1.4 mil-lion jobs in August and thatthe unemployment rate fellfrom 10.2 per cent to 9.8 percent, according to a survey bydata provider FactSet.

That rate would still be justbelow the peak unemploy-ment level of the 2008-2009Great Recession.

The Labor Department willissue the August jobs report at8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.

While a monthly gain above1 million would show thatsome businesses are still will-

ing to add workers, it wouldtake many months to return topre-pandemic job levels evenif that pace could be sus-tained. And many economiststhink hiring is slowing. Theeconomy still has roughly 13million fewer jobs than it didwhen the coronavirus struckin March.

Friday's jobs data will be thesecond-to-last employmentreport — for most voters, themost visible barometer of theeconomy — before ElectionDay, November 3.

President Donald Trumpfaces the daunting task ofseeking re-election in theworst economic downturnsince the 1930s.

Jobs report likely to point

to a still-slow recovery

RBI expands priority sectorlending categoriesPNS nMUMBAI

The ReserveBank hasexpanded thescope of prioritysector lending toinclude start-upsfunding up toRs 50 crore, andloans to farmersfor installation of solar plantsand compressed biogas plants.

The Priority Sector Lending(PSL) guidelines have beencomprehensively reviewed andrevised to align it with emerg-ing national priorities andbring sharper focus on inclu-sive development, after havingwide ranging discussions withall stakeholders, the RBI said onFriday.

"Revised PSL guidelines willenable better credit penetrationto credit deficient areas;increase the lending to smalland marginal farmers andweaker sections; boost credit torenewable energy, and healthinfrastructure," the RBI said ina release.

The PSL will include bankfinance to start-ups for up to Rs50 crore.

According to the release,loans to farmers for installationof solar power plants for solar-isation of grid-connected agri-culture pumps and loans forsetting up Compressed BioGas (CBG) plants have beenincluded as fresh categories eli-

gible for finance under priori-ty sector.

The revised guidelines, theRBI said, also seeks to addressthe issues concerning region-al disparities in the flow of pri-ority sector credit.

Further, the central banksaid that higher weightage havebeen assigned to incrementalpriority sector credit in 'iden-tified districts' where prioritysector credit flow is compara-tively low.

The targets prescribed for"small and marginal farmers"and "weaker sections" will beincreased in a phased manner,the RBI said, adding that"higher credit limit has beenspecified for FarmersProducers Organisations(FPOs)/ Farmers ProducersCompanies (FPCs) undertak-ing farming with assured mar-keting of their produce at apre-determined price". Underthe new norms, the loan lim-its for renewable energy, healthinfrastructure, including theprojects under 'AyushmanBharat', have been doubled.

‘Fintech the way forward for Indian banking, payment system’PNS n NEW DELHI

State Bank of India (SBI)managing director AshwaniBhatia on Friday said Fintechis the way forward for theIndian banking and pay-ment system as there is a lotof opportunity for growth.

Giving the example of SBI,he said, 91 per cent of jobsare being done digitally now,which was unthinkable 35years ago.

"We believe that this 91per cent will become 100 percent. For a bank like StateBank of India, and otherbanks obviously, everythingis going to move digitally.There is no doubt about

that. Penetration of smart-phones is also going toincrease," he said at a virtu-al conference organised by

the Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII).

Going forward, he said,branches are going to

become nothing but distrib-ution points like what hashappened in Europe andother places.

This is where the bigopportunities lie, he saidadding, "I am sure as weevolve, and we will evolvevery very fast. Fintech is theway forward as far as theIndian banking system isconcerned and the paymentsystem is concerned."

Fintech refers to compa-nies or services that usetechnology to offer financialservices to businesses orconsumers.

Bandhan Bank managingdirector Chandra ShekharGhosh said : "B anks and

Fintech will co-exist to drivethe ecology of money. Thereare benefits that Fintechbrings in that banks do notinherently have and vice-a-versa. A combination of bothis what brings best value forcustomers.

"It is not about UX (userexperience) but about CX(customer experiences). Bestconsumer experiences comefrom a combination of tradi-tional banking and Fintech...both will thrive and togeth-er drive growth for them-selves and for the reason oftheir existence -- the cus-tomers. Customers are thefirst priority."

Observing that India is

not one market but a sum ofvar ious smal l markets ,Ghosh said Fintech compa-nies have to develop prod-ucts for each segment ratherthan jumping in the samespace. Pointing out that con-sumer behaviour has under-gone change during the lock-down and COVID period,Ghosh said digital paymenthas seen significant growthand is going to stay evenafter COVID-19 is over, headded.

He said there has beenspurt in online fraud duringCOVID-19 period and mostdefrauded customers areelderly who are least awareabout the technology.

OYO India offers voluntaryseparation or leave extensionPNS n NEW DELHI

Hospitality firm OYO India onFriday said it is offering itsemployees who are on leavewith limited benefits, theoption to voluntarily separateor extend the leave for anoth-er six months.

In April, the company askedsome of its staff in India to goon leave with limited benefitsfrom May 4 for four monthsand also asked all employees inthe country to accept a cut intheir fixed salaries by 25 percent due to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on thehospitality industry.

After June 8, the companycould partially reopen its hotelsin a phased manner after thegovernment's nod. Post-unlock, the company startedtracking to 30 per cent of pre-COVID-19 occupancy levels,OYO India said in a statement.

It has enabled the companyto prioritise its commitment ofsaving as many jobs as it couldand call back some impactedcolleagues in different teamsand geographies, as limitedopportunities opened up, itadded.

In an address to employees

on Leave with Limited Benefits(LwLB), OYO India andSouth Asia CEO Rohit Kapoorsaid, "We know it is challeng-ing to hold you back due to asituation that neither you norwe can control or wish away."

Given the context, OYO hascreated a set of options for allemployees on LwLB in India tomake a decision that is bestaligned with their longer-termcareer goals and financialrequirements, he added.

"You can either choose toopt for the voluntary separa-tion programme (VSP) or con-tinue the LwLB period byanother 6 months untilFebruary 28, 2021," Kapoorsaid.

This will never measure up

to what OYO would have ide-ally liked to do, or "you wouldhave expected of us — doaccept our sincere apologies forthe same. We are living in aworld where everything is farfrom ideal and the solutionthat we are offering may still besub-optimal," he added.

The impacted employeeswill be offered additional ben-efits to the ones received overthe last four months, based onthe option exercised, OYOIndia said.

The company said that forthose who opt for VSP, thecompany will provide benefitssuch as financial assistance,relaxation on employee stockownership plan (ESOP) vest-ing, continued health coverage.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Route Mobile, cloud commu-nications service provider,on Friday fixed price band ofRs 345-350 a share for its ini-tial share-sale offer that willopen for public subscriptionon September 9.

The public offer compris-es a fresh issue worth Rs 240crore and an offer for sale(OFS) of Rs 360 crore by pro-moters — Y SandipkumarGupta and RajdipkumarGupta, Route Mobile said ina statement.

The initial public offer(IPO) will conclude onSeptember 11 and the invest-ment by anchor investors willbe finalised by September 8.

The company proposes toutilise the net proceedstowards funding for repay-ment or pre-payment, in fullor part, of certain borrowingsof the company; acquisitionsand other strategic initia-tives; purchase of office

premises in Mumbai; andgeneral corporate purposes.

It had received approvalfrom markets regulator Sebiin December 2019 to floatthe IPO.

The cloud communica-tions service provider hadinitially filed for it's IPO inJanuary 2018, later it refiledthe document in October2019.

Due to unfavourable mar-ket condition, the companyfailed to bring its IPO evenafter receiving approval in2018, market sources said.

ICICI Securities, AxisCapital, Edelweiss FinancialServices and IDBI CapitalMarkets & Securities are themanagers to the issue.

‘Indian auto industry facing one ofthe toughest times in history’PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian auto industry is fac-ing one of the toughest timesin history and needs govern-ment support through reduc-tion of GST and incentive-based scrappage policy, MarutiSuzuki India ManagingDirector and CEO KenichiAyukawa said on Friday.

Ayukawa, who is the presi-dent-elect of auto industrybody SIAM, said the sector hasbeen "set back by many years"by a combination of the coro-navirus pandemic and theslowdown that has been goingon since last fiscal.

As the global health crisisbroke out, he said, the autoindustry in India also played itspart by getting into manufac-turing of ventilators, PersonalProtective Equipment (PPEs)and importing testing kits fromabroad to fight the virusalthough sales have been hithard.

"In August we can say wejust came back on our feet toachieve performance compara-ble to last year. Also last yearis not a good comparison as theindustry saw negative growthof 15-25 per cent. This negativegrowth has set back the indus-

try by many years," Ayukawasaid at the 60th annual conven-tion of Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM) conducted online.

Reiterating the long pendingdemand of the auto industry toreduce Goods and ServicesTax (GST) on automobiles by10 per cent, Ayukawa said, "weare facing one of the toughesttimes in history. The industryneeds your support".

"We are eagerly waiting forGST reduction and scrappageincentive scheme. We believethat taxes on the increasingturnover will be more than thegovernment expenditure onthe scrappage scheme and GSTreduction," he said.

He thanked heavy industriesminister Prakash Javadekar,who assured the gathering thathe will take up the matter ofGST reduction with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman.

Ayukawa also said thegrowth witnessed in the lastcouple of months is on a verylow base of last year and "weare also not sure whether thisis sustainable in future" whilefestival demand is very impor-tant. "So, at some point of timewe definitely need some sup-port from the government," hesaid, adding the industry iswaiting for a government deci-sion to encourage demand.

Industry not in positionto make investments Auto industry body SIAM

on Friday said that man-ufacturers were not in a posi-tion to invest further in theimplementation of upcominggovernment regulations as thesector was going through anextremely difficult period.

Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM) also noted that gov-ernment support was requiredto pursue the targets set underthe Automotive Mission Plan2026 (AMP 2026).

"For (implementation of)upcoming regulations, invest-ments are very steep and thecommensurate revenues havenot been realised by the indus-try due to lack of consumerdemand," SIAM PresidentRajan Wadhera said whilespeaking at the industry body'sannual convention here.

So, the industry does nothave the ability to invest fur-ther into the implementation

of new regulations like CAFEnorms from 2022 onwards, henoted. Wadhera also said thatthere should not be an over-dose of regulations as India'semission standards are alreadyat par with the strictest in theworld. Seeking governmentsupport to offer some form ofdemand boosters, Wadherasaid: "We feel that whatever weare talking on reviving demandwill provide the required pushto consumers to come to deal-erships."

He noted that demand stim-ulus for the industry is a mustin order to achieve targetslisted in AMP 2026.

AMP 2026 is the collectivevision of the government ofIndia and the automotiveindustry on where the varioussegments of the automotiveand auto component industryneed to be by 2026 in terms ofsize and contribution to theoverall Indian economy.

PNS n COLOMBO

The Sri Lankan Navy withassistance from Indian shipswas battling for a second day onFriday to douse a major fire rag-ing on an oil tanker carryingcrude from Kuwait to India thatleft one of its 23 crew membersdead. The Sri Lankan Navy onFriday confirmed that a Filipinosailor died in a boiler explosionin the engine room of thePanama registered tanker MTNew Diamond that caught fireon Thursday.

The Navy said that 22 of the23 member crew had beensafely rescued off the tanker.

The tanker was carrying270,000 metric tonnes of crudeoil from Kuwait to India when

its engine room caught fire offthe coast of Sangamankanda inthe eastern district of Ampara.

The Navy said that so far the270,000 metric tonnes of crudeoil it was carrying had not beenaffected by the fire.

The Sri Lankan Navy is also

taking steps to ensure thatthere will be no seepage of oilto the sea from the tanker.

The distressed vessel is in thewaters 23 nautical miles off theeastern coast where the seadepth is measured at 3100metres.

Route Mobile's Rs 600-crIPO to open on Sep 9

PNS n NEW DELHI

Diversified business entityITC has accelerated digitaltransformation under thecompany's future-readystrategy to enhancecompetitive advan-tage and opera-tional effective-ness, itsChairman SanjivPuri has said.

The currentpandemic has accel-erated manifold thetransition to digitalisation thatwas already moving at highvelocity and the company isadopting new-age technolo-gies to stay ahead of the curve,Puri said.

New technologies such as

Industry 4.0, ArtificialIntelligence, Big Data,Industrial Internet of Things(IoT) and Machine Learningare being deployed by all

Businesses, including supplychain and logistics to

enhance operationaleffectiveness, Purisaid while address-ing shareholders inhis AGM speech.

ITC had madesubstantial invest-

ments for a digitalecosystem to drive

"smart manufacturing, prod-uct quality, traceability andsupply chain agility, amongstothers. This accelerated digi-tal journey has begun todemonstrate appreciable out-comes," he added.

ITC accelerateddigitisation: Sanjiv Puri

L&T defence arm bags govtcontract for supply of PWSPNS n NEW DELHI

Engineering and constructionmajor Larsen & Toubro (L&T)on Friday said its defencearm has receivedorders for the MoDfor the supply offour regiments ofPinaka WeaponSystems. "The con-tract involves supplyof Pinaka launchers, bat-tery command posts and asso-ciated ESP for four regiments,"L&T said in a regulatory filing.

The company did not pro-vide the value of the contracts,but said the orders fall underthe “significant” category,

which ranges between Rs1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 croreaccording to the classifica-tion of contracts.

L&T said the Pinakalaunch system has

been indigenouslydeveloped by thecompany as part ofPinaka developmentprogram of Defence

Research andD e v e l o p m e n t

Organization and functions asa high tech, all weather, longrange, area fire artilleryweapon system.

Shares of L&T were trading0.97 per cent lower at Rs951.70 apiece on BSE.

Sri Lankan Navy, Indian shipsbattling fire on board oil tanker

PNS n NEW DELHI

Digital financial ser-vices firm Paytm onFriday said its rev-enue for fiscal yearended March 31,increased to Rs 3,629crore supported byincrease in numberof transactions across varioussegments and point of saledevices.

The home-grown financialtechnology firm said its loss-es have narrowed by 40 percent on a year-on-year basis.

"We are on the path toempowering millions ofIndians with digital financialservices that would play a keyrole in building AtmanirbharBharat. We are also investingheavily in building digitalservices for our merchantpartners.

"Our efforts have started

reflecting in the strong adop-tion of more profitable ser-vices by our consumers andmerchants," Paytm PresidentMadhur Deora said in a state-ment.

"We are on path to becomeprofitable by 2022. Paytm isalso moving its efforts tobecome a dominant digitalfinancial services platformwith Paytm Postpaid, PaytmMoney and Paytm Insuranceservices contributing anincreased turnover in thecoming fiscal years," Deorasaid.

Paytm FY'20 revenuerises to Rs 3,629 cr

P Prithvi Singh isback — only thistime the hunter hasbecome the hunt-ed. The ground-breaking Season 1

that left audiences on thehook — the plan of killingCM Handa goes awry andaudiences were left guessingwhat Prithvi Singh’s next movewould be. Sudhir Mishrareturns this time as a seriesdirector along with SachinMamta Krishn as director.Ronit Bose Roy reprises hisrole of protagonist SP PrithviSingh who is caught in the eyeof a storm and is trying to finda way out of this hostage situa-tion.

Joining the ensemble castare actors Divya Dutta, DinoMorea, Shibani Dandekar,Shweta Basu Prasad, ShilpaShukla, Amit Sial, and Kan-waljit Singh. On his journey asthe director of the series,Sudhir Mishra, said, “Hostagesfranchise is very close to myheart because of the unexpect-ed nature of the narrative —it’s explosive, twisted and willcatch everyone by surprise! Asa storyteller that’s exactly thekind of work that I thrive on.Hostages Season 2 marks ajourney with an intriguingturn of events and brings newfaces, new secrets, and newmysteries for the audience toexplore and enjoy. DOPturned Director SachinKrishna has done a fantasticjob.”

On playing Prithvi Singh,actor Ronit Bose Roy shared,“It’s humbling to know thatmy character Prithvi Singh hasfound so much love and affec-tion, even though he techni-cally was the antagonist. Forme personally, I wanted to gobeyond my own performancefrom the previous season andreally explore the depths ofthis intense character wherehe goes from being entirely incontrol to losing that controland finding himself in a situa-tion he can’t find a way out of.Hostages Season 2 is a finelycrafted masterpiece and I'meager to know what else is in

store for Prithvi.”On joining the cast Actor

Divya Dutta shares, “It’s beena joyride being a part of thisshow. For me, it’s about bring-ing alive characters that arestrong and memorable. Play-ing a hostage negotiator yourealize how tough that job is -one wrong move and some-one’s life could be in danger. Ithas been a satisfying journey.”

Having reneged on his dealto kill Chief Minister Handa,Prithvi Singh now plans totransport the CM out of thecountry. As tables turn, willPrithvi Singh find a way out ofthis? Stay tuned!

Of a darker &grittier storyline!S

Divya Dutta Sudhirmishra

t is no surprisethat owing to thelockdown andlack of outdooractivity, most ofus are struggling

with our addiction toscreens. Curtailing ourscreentime has becomeclose to impossible for a lotof us, this has turned usinto impatient beings. Andwith us having to spendmost time indoors in thepresence of our family orwork from home pals, it hasbecome all the more impor-tant to keep a check on ourworsening habits.

Cell phones are of greatuse to us — they keep us intouch with friends andfamily and

can be lifesavers in anemergency. But what theycan also be is, annoying, ifnot used thoughtfully. It is,therefore, important thatyou learn to use yourphone’s features like silentring, vibrate, and voice mailto handle the times whenyour phone would botherothers. Observing somebasic etiquette and courtesywhen using mobile phonesso as not to make othersfeel annoyed or disrespect-ed isn’t a herculean task

after all. Mobilephone eti-

quette is vital in publicplaces as inconsiderateusers can be a great distur-bance to others. So here aresome of the things you cando, to use your phone effec-tively, without botheringanother:

Prioritise your contactswith the pin-shaped optionavailable on Whatsapp forattending the messages on apriority basis.

It is always advised notto call your head/bossesdirectly, try sending a mes-sage before calling and waitfor their reply. Only if it isan emergency, give a call.

It may be noted thateveryone in the

morning

is busy with their routineslike fitness, yoga, and otherpersonal work and some-times busy preparing theschedule for the day,appraising the bosses onimportant official issues,etc. Hence, calling may bedeferred and try to sendSMS and wait for the reply.

Whenever calling a VIP,first send an SMS seekingpermission to call andascertain free time to call.

Develop the habit ofcourtesy to acknowledge orreply to other people’s mes-sages with ‘regards’ or‘thanks’, which will helpdevelop a good rela-tionship.

Any Messageposted in the

HoDs group for want ofsome information with adefinite timeline should bestrictly adhered to, if unableto provide information itshould be clearly men-tioned and the timeline alsomay be indicated for sub-mission of the information.But, in any case, the replyshould be instantaneous.

It is advisable to pauseafter calling your office-mate/boss once and thensend an SMS as they couldbe busy attending othercalls or virtual meetings.

Repeated calls with-out pause shall be

made only in emer-gencies like acci-dents ormishaps.

I

ollywoodactor SaifAli Khanturns into astar Chef ashe learns to

cook with the best —MasterChef ShipraKhanna.

Shipra Khanna(MasterChef winner)and Saif Ali Khanwho is a self-pro-fessed good food afi-cionado, togetherwhip up 12 lip smack-ing, delightfully richcheesy dishes withBritannia Cheese. Youcan catch the duo onBritannia CheeseStarChef which is a12-part YouTubeseries keeps youentertained while youcreate some of thebest delectables.

This is not the firsttime Saif Ali Khan hasdonned the chef ’s hatand apron; in the 2017film ‘Chef ’, the actorplayed the role of chefwho travels back to

India from the Statesto discover what heloves cooking whileoperating a food truckwith his son. Themovie was based onthe 2014 Americancomedy-drama moviewith the same nameco-produced anddirected by, and star-ring Jon Favreau.

The YouTube is thedestination for aplethora of rich,cheesy recipes allmade with a selectionof the the brandsleading cheese prod-ucts. Shipra Khannasays, “The cheesyaffair with BritanniaCheese StarChefmakes me believe thatin the kitchen a Starcan become a Chefand a Chef canbecome a Star.Shooting with SaifOnline was fun andunique, especiallywith Cheese which isone of my favoriteingredients.”

B

SAIF ALIKHAN turns cheffor ShipraKhanna

COVID-19: DO'S ANDDON'TS OF BUS TRAVEL

As inter-city bus servicesresume gradually, the opportunityto travel comes as a huge relief to

millions of people across the coun-try. However, there will be a signif-icant difference in the way we look

at bus travel going forward.Experts suggest that Covid-19 ishere to stay and hence it is up to

all of us to keep it at bay by strictlyadhering to and following all

the precautions and guidelines on safety, social distancing

and personal hygiene. Whiletravelling is inevitable for most

people, there are clearly laid outguidelines that, when followed

diligently, will help check thespread of infection and keep inter-

city bus travel.“With Unlock 4.0 underway, the

nation is on its path to establishingnormalcy in every respect, includ-ing travel. It is the responsibility of

all stakeholders in the bus travelecosystem to follow the safety

guidelines to keep Covid-19 at bayand work together to make bustravel safe for everyone duringthese times,” Prakash Sangam,

CEO, redBus told IANSlife.

As we implementand adapt to new

standards of safety,the online bus

ticketing platformshares some of thedo's and don'ts of

bus travel:

DO'S:

oo Book bus tickets onlineto avoid unnecessarycontact

oo Always carry your ownface masks and hand

sanitizers

oo Ensure yourtemperature is normalprior to any trip

oo Always wear yourmasks when inside thebus and ensure youcover your noseproperly

oo Make sure to sanitizehands regularly,especially beforeentering a bus and afterexiting

oo Use tissues whilesneezing and coughing

oo Sneeze or cough intoupper sleeve if you runout of tissues

oo Bring your own linen,blankets and waterbottles for longdistance or overnight

journeys

oo Download Aarogya Setuapp (Highlyrecommended)

oo Be up to date onguidelines issued bythe state you aretravelling from and thestate you are travellingto.

DON'TS:

oo Do not travel if you arefeeling unwell or aredisplaying symptoms ofCOVID-19

oo Do not touch your face,nose and mouth often

oo Do not take off yourmask unless necessarywhile inside the bus

oo Do not touch grab rails,switches, knobs,

headrests, armrests ifpossible

oo Do not discardtissues/disposablemasks/gloves or anyother protective gearinside the bus

oo To counter Covid-19, itis paramount toinculcate a culture ofresponsible travellingamong passengers. Allit takes is a littlediscipline andresponsible behaviuor,which when exhibitedcollectively, can makea huge difference notonly to the ongoingefforts in containing thevirus but also to makebus travel a safeexperience foreveryone.

SaturdaySeptember 5, 2020

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

MOBILE PHONE ETIQUETTEAMID WORK FROM HOME

ritish actor RobertPattinson has testedpositive for Covid-19,news media reportedon Thursday, haltingproduction of The

Batman and highlighting theindustry’s struggles to get backto business after months of apandemic-induced shutdown.

Movie studio Warner Bros.said in a statement that “amember of The Batman pro-duction” in Britain had testedpositive for the coronavirus,but did not give a name.“Filming is temporarilypaused,” the studio’s statementadded, but did not say for howlong.

Variety, the HollywoodReporter and Vanity Fair allcited sources as saying theperson who tested positivewas Pattinson, the film’s star.

Warner Bros. andPattinson’s representatives didnot return calls seeking com-ment. It was not clear to whatextent Pattinson, 34, bestknown for his breakout role inthe vampire movie seriesTwilight, was suffering Covid-19 symptoms.

Filming of The Batman hadresumed north of Londononly three days ago after beingshut down in mid-March,along with dozens of other

movies and TVshows around theworld due to thecoronavirus.

The movie,in which

Robert starsas thecomicbook hero,

has

about three months of materi-al left to shoot, according toHollywood trade outlets. Itsrelease was pushed back earli-er this year from June 2021 toOctober 2021.

Movie and TV productionhas been slow to get goingagain in the United Statesunder complex safety proce-dures that include testing,quarantine and social distanc-ing on sets that employ dozensof crew members, makeupartists, actors, extras and otherproduction staff.

Some productions, includ-ing Universal Pictures’ JurassicWorld: Dominion, haverestarted in London or inEastern Europe, while the castof the Avatar sequel is back atwork in New Zealand, wherethe coronavirus has been keptin check.

Tom Cruise in July got per-mission to shoot parts of thenext Mission Impossiblethriller in Norway withouthaving to follow quarantinerequirements. However,Variety reported that the pro-

duction has hired twocruise ships to house

the crew to keepthem apart

from locals.

apper Yo YoHoney Singhand musicianSinghsta havecollaboratedonce again,

and the rap star say lock-down was the best timeto drop the new track.

Titled Billo tu agg, thesong is the latest in thenon-film circuit thatHoney Singh has workedon with Singhsta, afterMakhna.

“This is lockdowntime. The clubs are notopen and no parties aretaking place. I thoughtthis is the best time to

release the song whenpeople can listen to it athome or in their cars.That is why I chose thissong and that is how thissong happened,” HoneySingh told IANS.

About how the songcame to be, he added, “Billo tu agg has beenwritten and produced bySinghsta. He is myartiste. I signed him in2017 and I have pushedhim to do the kind ofmusic I wanted him todo. So, finally he cameup with this idea of thesong called Billo tu agg.”

The rapper, who is

known for belting outhits like Brown rang,Love dose and Blue eyessays he saw a lot ofpotential in the track.

“He (Singhsta) mademe listen to the songand said that ‘I havewritten and pro-duced the music,if you come onboard then thissong will begood’. I sawpotential in thesong and then Iwrote my versefor the song,”said HoneySingh.

Honey Singh on whyhe launched ‘Billo tuagg' amid lockdown

10

Vijayawada Saturday September 5 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ollywood actressKangana Ranauthas thrown anopen challenge atShiv Sena MPSanjay Raut asking

her not to come back toMumbai.

Kangana took to her veri-fied Twitter account onFriday and stated that shewould be arriving in Mumbaion the 9th of September anddared anyone to stop her.

“I see many people arethreatening me to not comeback to Mumbai so I havenow decided to travel toMumbai this coming weekon 9th September, I will postthe time when I land at theMumbai airport, kisi ke baapmein himmat hai toh rok le(stop me if you can),” tweeted the actress.

Kangana’s open challengecomes a day after the actressalleged on Twitter that ShivSena MP Sanjay Raut hasasked her not to come backto Mumbai.

“Sanjay Raut Shiv Senaleader has given me an openthreat and asked me not tocome back to Mumbai, afterAazadi graffitis in Mumbaistreets and now open threats,why Mumbai is feeling likePakistan occupied Kashmir?,”the actress had tweeted onThursday. Kangana is current-ly in her hometown Manali,where she has spent theCovid-19 lockdown with herfamily.

BKangana's challenge:‘Coming to Mumbai on

Sep 9, stop me if you can’

R

B

Robert Pattinsontests positive forCovid, The Batmanshoot suspended

Big B shoots 4campaign films in aday: ‘It’s a struggle tobe back on your feet’

ctor AmitabhBachchan isback in thework mode inthe right earn-est. As he retur-

ns to the sets after recov-ering from the coron-avirus, he has embracedwork with a vengeance.“Yooo .. hooo !!! .. backto the grind and work ..4 campaign films .. 5outfit changes .. 4 stillshoots .. 5 hrs one day ..other than me everyoneelse looking like theyready for a ‘heist’.. andtomorrow on to KBC ..!!” the actor tweeted.

Through his blog, healso gave a glimpse ofwhat his workday lookedlike. Sharing a few pho-tos where he is seated ona wheelchair, Amitabhwrote, “Its been a strug-gle to be back on yourfeet and the considerateunit accommodates mewith this vehicle of con-venience. The surround-ings are quiet and disci-

plined, scarce conversa-tion. A respected lookand guidance, care atevery wheel turn, crewabout, seeking anyrequirement from me,feeling like a child in thecradle. All precautions ofmask and PPE and dist-ance and channels whereI should wheel away, rea-dy and designed before,people about to take anyinstructions — fatigue,rest, eat something, acoffee or a drink, a bre-ak… just say it, no rushno issue.” He went on toexplain that the wheel-chair was a requirementfor one of the shoots.

A

pullout, CSK issued a statement, backing the play-er “Harbhajan Singh informed us he won’t be avail-able due to personal reasons. Team Chennai SuperKings is supportive of his decision and stands by himand his family during these testing times,” CSK tweet-ed CEO KS Viswanathan’s statement.

PTI n NEW YORK

Sumit Nagal’s trademarkfighting spirit was on dis-play throughout but it was

not enough to get past worldnumber three Dominic Thiem,who notched up a straight-setvictory over the Indian in theUS Open men’s singles secondround on Thursday.

Nagal lost 3-6, 3-6, 2-6 tothe second-seeded Austrian,

who celebrated his 27th birth-day with a commanding perfor-mance at the Arthur Ashe sta-dium.

Thiem, this year’sAustralian Open finalist, hadsaid that he has seen videos ofNagal’s game and knew that hehas a ripping forehand. Wellprepared, he came out with aclear strategy of not givingmany balls on the forehand sideof the Indian.

“Thank you 2020 US Open.Lots to learn. Going to keepworking hard! Thanks for all thesupport everyone,” Nagal latertweeted.

Nagal came into the contestafter giving India a rare singlesmain draw match win at aGrand Slam but it was alwaysgoing to be a daunting task forhim to challenge someone whohas made two French Open

finals.Slow off the blocks, Nagal

was broken early but the slog-ger that he is, he kept Thiemunder pressure, creating asmany as five chances to breakback in the fifth game that last-ed 10 minutes.

He converted the fifthbreakpoint when Thiem madean unforced error and made it3-3 with an easy hold, riding the

momentum. Playing with a lotof energy and stinging strokes,those were the best two gamesthat Nagal played as the gapbetween him and the top play-ers was on display after that.

Thiem, using his superiorgame shifted gears with remark-able ease, turning the tide withan immediate break and servedout the set.

Nagal lost his serve earlyagain with Thiem getting agrip of his returns. The Austrianstarted to serve better and alsounleashed his big-hitting game,keeping the match in a tightgrip. Thiem broke the 23-year-old Nagal one more time in theseventh with a cross court win-ner to serve at 5-2.

Nagal got a break backwhen Thiem hit a backhandlong on the third breakpoint butdropped his serve in the next togive his fancied opponent a two-set advantage.

Thiem wrapped up thematch with ease even as Nagal

kept finding winners here andthere. He fought hard and saveda match point too, but it wasclear that the young Indian’s bestwas not enough to trouble thetop guns.

The world No 3 Thiem willplay 2014 champion MarinCilic in round three. Cilic, seed-ed 31st, took four sets to over-come Norbert Gombos 6-3, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Elsewhere, third seed DaniilMedvedev progressed to thethird round 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at theexpense of the 116th-rankedChristoper OConnell.

The Bulgarian fell to 66th-ranked Hungarian MartonFucsovics 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in 4hr 50min.

Dimitrov became the sec-ond-highest men’s seed to exitthe tournament after Chile’sCristian Garin, seeded 13th, lostin five sets on Wednesday.Canadian Raonic was takendown 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 by hiscountryman Vasek Pospisil.

11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

AFP n STUTTGRAT

Jose Luis Gaya’s late goalgave Spain a 1-1 draw away

in Germany on Thursday asthe start of the Uefa NationsLeague marked the returnof international football inEurope following a hiatus of10 months due to the coro-navirus pandemic.

Valencia defender Gayawas on hand to score fromclose range in the sixthminute of added time inStuttgart af ter RodrigoMoreno had nodded down aFerran Torres cross, in a

dramatic ending to theLeague A, Group Fourencounter.

Earlier, new Chelseastriker Timo Werner hadgiven Germany the lead justafter half-time in an enter-taining contest between twoof the last three World Cupwinners.

It was Luis Enrique’s firstgame of his second spell asSpain coach, despite beingre-appointed in November2019 just after their lastgame in Euro 2020 qualify-ing.

“This team is full of faith

and hunger. We didn’tdeserve to lose and we keptfighting to the end,” saidSpain captain Sergio Ramos,who earned his 171st cap.

Elsewhere on Thursdayin the same group,Manchester City’s OleksandrZinchenko scored a fine goalto give Ukraine a 2-1 winover Switzerland in Lviv.

In League B, ArtemDzyuba netted a brace asRussia beat Serbia 3-1 inMoscow, while in the sameGroup 3, Hungary were sur-prise 1-0 winners away inTurkey.

AFP n NEW YORK

Se r e n aW i l l i a m s ,

Victoria Azarenka andTsvetana Pironkovamade up a ‘Band ofMothers’ whomarched into the thirdround of the US Openon Thursday.

Williams, Azarenkaand Pironkova were part of acluster of nine mums who start-ed this week’s women’s singlestournament at FlushingMeadows.

Six of the nine — KimClijsters, Vera Zvonareva,Tatjana Maria, KaterynaBondarenko, Patricia Maria Tigand Olga Govortsova — have

been eliminated.But unrankedB u l g a r i a nPironkova — play-

ing her first tournamentin three years after abreak to have her firstchild — prolonged herparticipation with a7-5, 6-3 upset of

Spanish 10th GarbineMuguruza.

Former world number oneSerena also advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Russia’sMargarita Gasparyan.

Williams and Pironkovawere later joined by Azarenka,another former world numberone who beat Belarussian com-patriot and fifth seed ArynaSabalenka 6-1, 6-3.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh onFriday became the second high-pro-

file name to pull out of this year’s IndianPremier League owing to “personalreasons”, saying he has informed theChennai Super Kings team managementabout his decision.

The 40-year-old, who has been apart of CSK during the past two seasonsis currently in Jalandhar with his fami-ly and requested privacy.

“I have informed the CSK manage-ment about my decision to pull

out of this year’s IPL. I havedecided to take a break due topersonal reasons in these dif-

ficult times. I expect thateveryone would respectmy need for privacy,”Harbhajan, who wasbought by the fran-chise for ̀ 2 crore, toldPTI on Friday.

Once Harbhajanofficially announced his

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s training environmentis second to none and the

national team can hit the topgear by the end of this year,asserted chief coach GrahamReid, who has adopted a “con-servative approach” to train hisplayers.

Forced to hit the pause but-ton after touching its all-time highest world rank-ing of fourth, the Indianmen’s hockey team didnot train for more thanfive months due to theCovid-19 pandemic.

An optimisticReid said eventhough the futurelooks uncertainwith no interna-tional competi-tion scheduledfor this year, theside can regain theintensity by the end

of this year.“It’s not just India, the rest

of the world has been affectedby the Covid. Every hockeyplaying nation is in the samemode. But the good thing isthat we are on the right pathnow. It is definitely going totake a while for us to return,”the Australian said.

“But by the end of this year,probably by November-

December we expect toreturn to where we werebecause if we are able totrain without any hin-

drance, our environ-ment is second to

none.“ T h e

best thing isthat wehave a cen-t r a l i s e dt r a i n i n genviron-ment justl i k e

Australia has in Perth.”Having spent the entire

period here in India since theoutbreak of the virus, Reid isaware of the approach he andhis support staff needs to adoptin the prevailing circumstances.

“The good thing is that theplayers have started what theylove doing — go on to the field.But we are taking a very con-servative approach, we are notgoing too fast,” he said.

“We are right now justfocussing on fitness and skilltraining, making sure that play-ers are getting their skills back,monitor everything with GPSwith emphasis on control overa player’s workload.”

The ongoing camp, thatbegan on August 19, is sched-uled to end on September 30,but the coach hinted that it canbe extended till November ifthe situation demands andexternal factors are under con-trol.

NEW DELHI: Skills are not a concernbut “match mindset” certainly is,Kings XI Punjab fielding coachJonty Rhodes has said, stressing theneed for practice games before theIPL to give the competition-starvedplayers a feel of what awaits them intournament proper.

Rhodes, who is returning to theIPL after a two-year gap, also feelsthat coaching staff like him has anadditional responsibility of provid-ing emotional support to theplayers this time giventhat most of themwould be without theirfamilies and friendsdue to Covid-19 healthsafety protocols.

“I think from askills point of view,batting wise, all theboys have their skillsback, they are playingramp shots in the nets

and playing shots all around theground, which is interesting becausethey could not practice much dur-ing lockdown,” Rhodes said.

“You tend to pick up the skillsquickly but it is the match practiceor the lack of it that will take a whileto get used to. Playing in the nets isone thing, if you can get the matchmindset, especially in a tournament

like the IPL, it is very important.”Like other teams, Rhodes

said KXIP too is keen on havinga few practice games before the

tournament. “We are tying toarrange one or two practice gamesjust because of this reason (for

match mindset). The skills have come

back quickly. The balls arejust flying out of theground and it is goodto see the bowlers hit-ting the right areas,”

said the South African.

ATLETICOS CCOSTA, AARIAS TTEST CCOVID ++VE Madrid: Atlético Madrid striker Diego Costa anddefender Santiago Arias have tested positive for thecoronavirus, the Spanish club said. The players are inquarantine and will not report for the team's first day oftraining on Friday.

PSG AANNOUNCE 33 MMORE CCORONA CCASES Paris: Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday announced“three new positive cases” of Covid-19 in their squad,a day after Neymar, Angel Di Maria and LeandroParedes were revealed to have contracted the virus,casting serious doubt over the start of their season inFrance. L'Equipe reported that defender Marquinhos,striker Mauro Icardi and goalkeeper Keylor Navas —who were also in Ibiza — were the new positive cases.

TT EEVENTS TTO RRETURN IIN NNOVEMBER Washington: Table tennis events will return in Chinain November. The International Table Tennis Federationsays World Cup events for men and women will beheld in China after the country took over hosting dutiesfrom Germany and Thailand. The 16 top-ranked menand women will compete at the ITTF Finals. World Cupevents will have 20-player lineups of no more than twofrom each country.

BARBADOS, SST KKITTS && NNEVIS EEXIT CCPL Tarouba: Defending champions Barbados Tridentscrashed out after suffering a six-wicket loss to GuyanaAmazon Warriors, while St Kitts & Nevis Patriots tooexited the CPL even before finishing their quota of tenleagues matches. While the Warriors secured theirsemis berth outplaying Tridents, the match betweenPatriots and Jamaica Tallawahs was washed out afterjust over five overs on Thursday. With three teams yetto play two matches each and two of them with onematch each in hand, the four semi-finalists have beenfinalised.

ALL QQUAID-EE-AAZAM GGAMES IIN KKARACHI Karachi: Cricket activities will resume in Pakistanlater this month with the start of the domestic season,the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Friday. The PCB saidthat the domestic matches would be held in a bio-secure environment due to the Covid-19 precautionsand has scheduled all matches of the premier firstclass tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Karachifrom October 18, 2020 to January 5, 2021.

HAVERTZ CCLOSE TTO CCOMPLETE CCHELSEA MMOVELondon: Kai Havertz left the Germany camp on Fridayto travel to London to finalise his transfer from BayerLeverkusen to Premier League side Chelsea, reportedlycosting around 100 million euros. Ahead of Sunday'saway Nations League match with Switzerland,Germany head coach Joachim Loew allowed the 21-year-old to leave their camp to settle the details.Havertz jetted to London, reportedly for his Chelseamedical, after being on the bench for Thursday's 1-1draw against Spain in Stuttgart. Agencies

SINGLES

AFP n SYDNEY

Australia’s T20 women’s Big BashLeague was on Friday shifted

entirely to Sydney as coronavirus trav-el restrictions forced drastic venue andschedule changes.

The eight-team tournament wasoriginally set to start on October 17,with 59 games across six cities.

But they will all now be played inSydney, starting a week later, due toCovid-19 border closures and quaran-

tine requirements.Many of Australia’s World Cup-

winning T20 squad will play the BBL,including Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healyand Ellyse Perry.

Cricket Australia’s head of BigBash Leagues Alistair Dobson said hewas working with the AustralianGovernment to ensure overseas playerscould also enter the country to join theirclubs. Players had been expecting theswitch to a single-location hub, andBrisbane Heat captain and Australia all-rounder Jess Jonassen said it was goodto have certainty.

“Now there’s that little bit of clari-ty around what the season is going tolook like, everyone is able to prepare forthat,” she said.

“I think everyone is just really excit-ed to get out on the field and start play-ing some cricket again.”

The men’s BBL is due to start onDecember 3 with games countrywide,although that will almost certainly berevised.

IANS n NEW DELHI

After three Indian wrestlers testedpositive for coronavirus at the

Sports Authority of India centre inSonipat, the Wrestling Federation ofIndia (WFI) is facing growing calls topostpone the men’s national camp.Some grapplers — in quarantine inSonipat — have expressed concern andsaid that to start the camp soon could“backfire”.

A senior wrestler told IANS that thefederation must speak to the SAI andpostpone the camp immediately.

“They put us at risk. Why is every-body going so mad about starting thecamp so early? What is the hurry? Whichtournament we are playing this year?This (national camp) is going to back-fire. Better postpone it immediately,” saidthe wrestler.

Another wrestler said that the ath-letes present in Sonipat are giving excus-es to leave the camp. “Wrestlers havestarted giving personal reasons to leavethe camp. Some said their mother is notwell and some have given other reasons.Nobody wants to take any chance withlife,” he said.

On Thursday, three wrestlers —Deepak Punia (86kg), Navin (65kg) andKrishan (125kg) — tested positive forCovid-19 in Sonipat, where they were ina 14-day quarantine ahead of a nation-al camp, raising doubts about the startof the training on September 15.

But the federation insisted that thedevelopment wouldn’t have a negativeimpact on the national camp. Accordingto a source, eight men wrestlers havereached the venue so far and they all areinside their rooms, serving the manda-tory 14-day quarantine period.

AFP n BARCELONA

Lionel Messi is staying at Barcelona and in anexclusive interview with Goal, he has explained

that he wanted to leave, but the club made it impos-sible.

“When I communicated my wish to leave to mywife and children, it was a brutal drama,” Messi toldGoal.

“The whole family began crying, my childrendid not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they wantto change schools.

“But I looked further afield and I want to com-pete at the highest level, win titles, compete in theChampions League. You can win or lose in it,because it is very difficult, but you have to compete.

“At least compete for it and let us not fall apartin Rome, Liverpool, Lisbon. All that led me to thinkabout that decision that I wanted to carry out.

“I thought and was sure that I was free to leave,the president always said that at the end of the sea-son I could decide if I stayed or not.

“Now they cling to the fact that I did not say itbefore June 10, when it turns out that on June 10we were competing for La Liga in the middle of thisawful coronavirus and this disease altered all theseason.

“And this is the reason why I amgoing to continue in the club. Now I amgoing to continue in the club becausethe president told me that the onlyway to leave was to pay the €700million (£624m/$823m)clause, and that this isimpossible.

“There was anotherway and it was to go to trial.I would never go to courtagainst Barca because it isthe club that I love, whichgave me everything since Iarrived.

“It is the club of my life, Ihave made my life here.

“Barca gave me everythingand I gave it everything. I knowthat it never crossed my mind totake Barca to court.

Well done

Sumit!Nagal’s US Open dream ended as he went down

to Thiem, but not before impressing his rival

Mum’s the word

Djokovic vs StruffLive from 4:30 am IST

STAR SPORTS SELECT 1 & 2

We expect to hit top gear by year end: Reid Need practice games for

match awareness: Rhodes Bhajji pulls out of IPL

CSK finally hit the netsDubai: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and allother Chennai Super Kings players, except for theCovid-19 afflicted duo of Deepak Chahar andRuturaj Gaikwad, finally hit the nets on Friday afterclearing a third round of testing for the virus.

The coronavirus-free players returned negativein the additional round of testing on Thursday, clear-ing their way to start training. PTI

Messi confirms he's

STAYING at BarcaWrestlers urge WFI topostpone men’s camp

WBBL to be played entirely in Sydney

Spain snatch late draw against Germany

Three children taken into care afterbeing locked up by their parents fornearly five months in case theycaught the coronavirus should not beallowed to return home, anadministrative court in Sweden hasruled. From March until early July, thechildren, aged between 10 and 17,were prevented from leaving thefamily's apartment, whose door was"nailed shut with planks", and also

kept isolated from each other, according to the court verdict inJönköping county. The children's lawyer, Mikael Svegfors, told localradio the family did not speak or understand Swedish fluently andfollowed the news about Covid-19 from the parents' home country,which had imposed much tighter restrictions than Sweden. "It is anabsolute clash between how people think in different parts of theworld," Svegfors said. "The children got caught up in this, and in thefear of a pandemic we should all be afraid of in one way or another."The case was "obviously very sensitive", but the court and localsocial services had the children's best interests at heart, he said.The parents have said the children were home-schooled and deniedlocking them in against their will, saying they were free to go out ifthey wished. They intend to appeal against the compulsory careorder. "There are different perceptions and different images in this,"Andreas Hannah, the lawyer who represented the parents at thecourt, told the radio station P4.

Parents lock kids for 4months over Covid fears

Arctic fires releasedrecord amount of CO2

The Arctic hasexperienced theworst fire seasonon record for thesecond year in arow, with giantwildfires sendingover one thirdmore carbon

dioxide into the atmosphere than last year. Fires raging acrossthe Arctic Circle emitted 244 million tons of carbon dioxide forthe first six months of the year, compared to 181 million tonsfor the whole of 2019, according to Europe's CopernicusAtmosphere Monitoring Service or CAMS. "We've known for along time that the rate of change of climate and temperature atnorthern latitudes has been two to three times faster than theglobal average," said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at CAMS."What we're now seeing is a symptom of that more rapid rate ofchange." The fast warming of the Arctic has manifested this pastfew months through heat waves that have broken temperaturerecords. At the same time, satellites showed that the sea iceshrank more than during any other July in history. Thinner icein Arctic waters meant the Northern Sea Route, which is usedduring the summer months to ship gas, oil and metals fromnorthern Russia to China, opened up earlier than usual this year.Emissions from Arctic fires were so high that in just six monthsthe region emitted the equivalent of what countries like Spain.

A tiny house plant with justfour leaves has been sold for awhopping £4,000. The plant isa variegated rhaphidophoratetrasperma or philodendronminima. The plant is rare withleaves that are half green andhalf yellow. The plant'suniqueness sparked thebidding on New Zealand'strading site Trade Me. Thewinning bid turned out to beNZ $8,150 (Rs 4.02 lakh). Thehighest price paid for a planton the website before this bidwas NZ $1,650. The listingwhich had over 8,000 views

described the plant as "extremely rare". It "currently has fourleaves with stunning yellow variegation on every leaf."Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones inthe leaves. Variegated plants are not only rare but they alsogrow slower than the non-variegated sorts. They rarely occurin nature because variegation is not all that good for theplant."It's the green in the leaves that lets plantsphotosynthesise. The less green, the less surface area theyhave to produce the sugars they need for growth and repair,"NZ Gardener editor Jo McCarroll explained.

Frenchman tolivestream own death

NEW

S

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A Frenchman who issuffering from an incurablecondition said that he plansto livestream his death onsocial media as he refusesto take food, drink ormedicine after PresidentEmmanuel Macron turneddown his request foreuthanasia. Alain Cocq,

who suffers from a rare condition where the walls of the arteriesstick together, said he believed he had less than a week to live andwould livestream his death on Facebook from Saturday morning.He had written to Macron asking to be given a substance thatwould allow him to die in peace but the President wrote back tohim explaining this was not allowed under French law. Cocq, 57,has used his plight to draw attention to the situation of terminally-illpatients in France who are unable to be allowed to die in line withtheir wishes. “Because I am not above the law, I am not able tocomply with your request,” Macron said in a letter to Cocq, whichthe patient published on his Facebook page. “I cannot ask anyoneto go beyond our current legal framework... Your wish is to requestactive assistance in dying which is not currently permitted in ourcountry,” said Macron. “With profound respect” In order to showFrance the "agony" caused by the law in its current state, Cocq saidhe would broadcast the end of his life on his Facebook page whichhe believed would come in "four to five days".

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Plant with 4 leaves soldfor Rs 4 lakh in NZ

oining films like Solo Brathuke So Betterand Wild Dog in getting back on sets afterCOVID-19 induced break is Ravi Teja-starrer Krack. The film, which is twoweeks away from a wrap-up, will beresuming later this month by following

all safety protocols.An intense action thriller, the film, which

marks Ravi and director GopichandMalineni teaming up after hits like DonSreenu and Balupu, is inspired by incidents

that transpired in both the Telugustates. It tells the story of a powerfulpolice officer P Veera Shankar(played by Ravi Teja) and will have

all elements that one expects fromthe actor’s film. The makers areplanning to slot the film for Dasaraor Diwali if cinema halls reopenearly next month.

Shruti Haasan is cast oppositeRavi Teja in the film, while thelikes of Samuthirakani,Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar,Devi Prasad, Pujita Ponnadaand Chirag Jani are playingsupporting roles. On thetechnical front, SS Thamanis scoring the music, whileMersal and Whistle camera-man GK Vishnu is the cine-

matographer. A productionventure of Tagore Madhu underSaraswathi Films Division, SaiMadhav Burra has penned the dia-logues.

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Vijayawada Saturday September 5 2020tollywood

with Dinesh Tej and Shweta Avasthihe filming ofdebutant directorK Pavan Kumar’suntitled romanticcomedy, featur-ing Hushaaru

fame Dinesh Tej and ShwetaAvasthi, has been wrappedup. Bankrolled byVenkatesh Kothuri underKothuri EntertainmentsLLP, it features SanjaySwaroop, Gururaj, Bindu,Sandhya Janak and Mani insupporting roles. Speakingto The Pioneer, the directorsays it was deliberate fromtheir end not to announcethe film when it went onthe floors last July. “Wewanted to finish the filmfirst and later focus on themarketing side. We’ve com-pleted the shooting in 36days spread over three

months. Right now, the re-recording is going on and inthree weeks time, the trailerwill be out,” the directortells us.

Pavan, who completedhis MBA from University ofKansas, US in 2009, workedas an assistant director for acouple of films, with HarishShankar’s Mirapakay beingthe prominent one. Hisinterest has always beenmovies and UPSC. He start-ed with movies but as itturned out to be difficult tobalance movies and UPSC,he had to temporarily bidadieu to movies and focuson UPSC. “I spent six yearsin New Delhi for UPSCpreparation. I gave fiveattempts, but couldn’t clearit. I came back toHyderabad in 2017 andrecommenced movieattempts. I've made a coupleof short films soon after toget hands-on experienceand got the nod of Dineshlast year for the featurefilm,” he shares.

Shedding light about thefilm, he points out that itnarrates the tale of a girl(played by Shweta) who isabout to get hitched. “She ishappy with the match, butis at a crossroads careerpoint of view. She wants to

do something meaningfulwith her life before walkingdown the aisle. What shedoes and how her personal-ity changes due to it is whatthe film treads. Dinesh willbe seen as a startup guywho helps the girl’s cause.It’s a slice of life feel-goodfilm and is a right film forthe season,” he asserts.

He goes on to mentionthat his producer Venkateshis keen on a big screendebut for the film. “Like ourteam, he loves the theatricalexperience and it is the rea-son why he has been wait-ing. We are hopeful of cin-ema halls reopening nextmonth,” Pavan informs,smilingly adding that whilethere will be a sectionwhich will be cautious tovisit theatres as soon theshutters are out, there willbe another section like him-tired of cooped at home andconsuming content on OTT.“I am eager to watch a filmin theatres.”

PAVAN'S FEEL-GOODROMANTIC COMEDY

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THE DIRECTORSAYS IT WASDELIBERATE FROMTHEIR END NOT TOANNOUNCE THEFILM WHEN ITWENT ON THEFLOORS LAST JULY.

Satya ecstatic withPawan's praise

hen he wishedpower starPawan Kalyanon his 49thbirthdayWednesday, little

did Satyadev know that histweet would elicit reactionfrom the star who generallydoesn’t communicate muchwith industry folks onTwitter! Naturally, Satya,who received rich plaudits

for his turn in UmaMaheswara Ugra Roopasyafrom the industry and gen-eral audience alike, wasover the moon with thereply of Pawan. “Thankyou Satyadev garu, I trulyenjoyed your performancein your latest film UmaMaheswara Urga roopasya.All the best” was Pawan’sreply to Satya.

An ecstatic Satya, who

played a blink and missrole in Pawan-starrerAttarintiki Daaredhi,wrote, “Sirrrrrr, thankyouuu so much. Will cher-ish this for a long longtime. Thank you again forpresenting me a gift onyour birthday. Our#umamaheswaraUgraRoopasya team is ecstatic withyour message@PawanKalyan (sic).”

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ivetha Thomas is happy with the tal-ent exchange happening within filmindustries in the country.

Several actors from film industriesdown South including Prabhas,Vijay Deverakonda, Dhanush,

Sudheer Babu have forayed Bollywood late-ly, or are set to do so, even as a huge list ofBollywood stars, including Akshay Kumar,Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya RaiBachchan among many others have workedin the south Indian film industries.

Nivetha said she welcomes such talentexchange. “It is cultural integration. I wel-come it with open arms. At the end of theday when we are talking about it from thebroader front. It is great to have people

from across regions working together,”she said.

The actress added, “It is like anexchange of different ideologies,

practices and methods becausewhen I was for the first timewith a Bombay team, I got tolearn a lot of stuff I didn’t know.”

Nivetha agrees that there is alot of “give and take” but aslong it is healthy, it is amazing.

“At the end of the day youcan’t set a formula to this. Justbecause you want to work withdifferent people you can’t havethem there. You only have todo what the film requires and

if that character requiressomebody who will do jus-

tice, forget the region.Take the actor who

does justice to therole,” she said.

Great to havepeople fromacross regionsworkingtogether:

NIVETHA

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n his 18-year career, Prabhashas always been content indoing one film at a time. Butthat is going to change nextyear, according to reports.The actor, who has

announced a couple of projects in thelast seven months, will be shufflingbetween the sets when they go in frontof the cameras next year. He will diveinto the shooting of Nag Ashwin’sfuturistic scientific-thriller set againstthe backdrop of an imaginary thirdworld war early next year and film forportions that need extensive VFXwork. The schedule, it is believed, willbe a short one, lasting just a month.Later, he will completely shift his atten-tion to Om Raut’s Adipurush, a screenadaptation of a chapter from Indianepic Ramayana, and will shoot until itends. The director is looking at a three-month time period to finish it. So it'slikely that Prabhas will rejoin the setsof Ashwin’s film in July or August. It isbeing said that this is his attempt to tellhis fans that he is serious about releas-ing at least one film a year from 2021onwards.

Prabhaslikely tojugglesets nextyear

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Ravi Tejato swinginto action

The filmmaker, whose interest has always beenmovies and UPSC, tells

NAGARAJ GOUD about hisfilm, completing shoot in 36

days, theatrical experienceand more