PV KONDAL RAOn WARANGAL

The chance recovery of fivemore bodies from an open wellin Gorrekunta village ofGeesugonda mandal on the out-skirts of Warangal on Friday,during police searches to retrievethe bodies of four members ofa family of migrant labourbelieved to have ended their livesin suicide pact on Thursday, hasshrouded in mystery the realcause of all of these deaths, withthe police now looking at otherangles such as food poisoning,starvation and murder.

According to the police, thedeceased comprise seven mem-bers of the family of MasudAlam (50) and a driver who isa distant relative of theirs, all

hailing from Bengal; and twoother workers from Bihar. All ofthem were working withSaidatta Gunny Bag Industrieslocated in the vicinity.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The mercury touched 42.7degrees in Hyderabad onFriday, which is the highesttemperature recorded this yearin the capital. Bandlaguda inthe city experienced about43.9oC, followed byMusheerabad where the mer-cury soared to 43.7oC.

Several parts of the city,including Sadar Mahal, ShapurNagar, Qutbullapur, ShantiNagar- Uppal, Alkapuri,Malkajgiri, Narayanguda,Patigadda, Sumitra NagarColony, Rocktown Colony,Madhapur, Seethaphalmandi,West Maredpally, Amberpet,Rajendranagar, BHEL factorywitnessed about 43oC.Heatwave swept the state, withKhammam recording 45.8oC,Adilabad 45.3o C, Nalgonda45oC, and Nizamabad 44.9oC.

During the last 24 hours,highest maximum tempera-ture of 45.8 o C was recordedat Dondapadu (Suryapet) andlowest minimum temperature

of 20.2 oC recorded atBegumpet (Siddipet).

According to TSDPS, "Withthe prevailing northerly/northwesterly winds over thestate, maximum temperaturesare expected to be 3 to 4oCabove normal during the nextthree days; thereafter, it isexpected to be near normal forthe remaining days.”

PNS n HYDERABAD

Education Minister SabitaIndra Reddy on Friday saidthat the remainder of the SSCexaminations will be heldfrom June 8 to July 5 across thestate in 2005 additional exam-ination centres to facilitateobserving physical distance.

Between two successiveexaminations, two days time isallowed for students. In addi-tion to 2530 examination cen-tres, the examinations will beheld in 2005 more centres toenable students to take precau-tions for Covid-19, she said.

The SSC public examina-tions have to be postponedafter holding few exam papersdue to lockdown. Now, theremainder of exams are goingto be held from June 8. Theadditional exam centres havebeen located in a radius of halfa km from the earlier identifiedexam centres. Students will beintimated about the change ofexam centres will be notifiedthrough their head masters andChief exam superintendent.

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

The Krishna RiverManagement Board (KRMB)has accepted a request by theAndhra Pradesh governmentfor the release of 2 tmc ft ofwater from Nagarjunasagarfor the state’s drinking waterrequirements.

Telangana state, representedby its engineer-in-chiefMuralidhar Rao did not objectto AP’s request when it cameup before the KRMB’s three-member committee that met atthe Jal Souda in Hyderabad on

Friday. KRMB member secre-tary Paramesham and APengineer-in-chief NarayanaReddy also participated in themeeting.

In the meeting, the AP gov-ernment requested the Boardto allocate 2 tmc ft of water aspart of the assured allocations

for the month of May. The APgovernment pointed out thatthis quantum is part of thedrinking water needs and mustbe released as the water yearwill be completed by the endof the month.

Muralidhar Rao later toldreporters that Telangana gov-ernment responded positivelyto AP’s request. He also saidthat the meeting didn’t discussany other issue, including GONo. 203 issued recently by theAP government to enhance thecapacity of Pothireddypaduhead regulator.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The nearly two-month-longCovid-19-induced nationwidelockdown may have been a cri-sis period for all; yet, theTelangana Rashtra Samithi hasturned it into an opportunityand made the most of it polit-ically. For, the upgrade that thecivic infrastructure got duringthe period in India's most hap-pening city will hold the pinkparty in good stead during theupcoming GMCH polls.

Instead of bad roads, delayedSRDP projects and overflowingdrains and sewage lines -- theammunition for oppositionparties at the hustings - the citynow sports mostly smoothroads, new flyovers, accessroads and what not.

Although the civic upgradeworks had started much beforethe lockdown was clamped,executing them in the midst ofheavy traffic on most thor-oughfares and completing

them to tight deadlines wellahead of the elections posedformidable challenges.

The lockdown periodenabled the MunicipalAdministration Departmentto not only take up road widen-ing works, but also lay pipelinesas well as relocate and revampall cables in the city in line withthe new road works.

HYDERABAD, SATURDAY MAY 23, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 222*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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MONEY 8TOMATO PRICES FALL 3-YEAR LOW AT

RS 3-10/KG IN DELHI

ANALYSIS 7THE ART OF SURVIVAL

SPORTS 12BCCI MADE NO COMMIT-

MENT ON SA TOUR: DHUMAL

5

RBI measures tohelp revive economy, says SBIchairman

8

Digital adoptionneed of the hour,says KTR

4

PM says countrystands withBengal, announ-ces Rs 1K cr aid

2

22

2 2

2

2

AMAZON TO HIRE 50,000 IN INDIAAS LOCKDOWN BOOSTS DEMAND

PM'S PACKAGE "CRUEL JOKE ONCOUNTRY": SONIA AT OPPN MEETThe government has abandoned any pretence of being democratic, has

no compassion for the poor and has embarked on a "wild adventureof so-called reforms" including a grand clearance sale of public sectorunits, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said today duringthe first online meeting of opposition parties to discussthe coronavirus crisis."All power is now concentrated inone office, the PMO," the Congress president said in asearing critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi andhis government over its Covid response. The spirit offederalism, which is an integral part of ourConstitution, is all but forgotten.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday slashed interest rates, extendedmoratorium on loan repayments and allowed banks to lend more tocorporates in an effort to support the economy which is likely to contract

for the first time in over four decades. The benchmark repurchase (repo) ratewas cut by 40 basis points to 4 per cent, Governor ShaktikantaDas said announcing the decisions taken by the central bank'sMonetary Policy Committee (MPC) that met ahead of itsscheduled meeting in early June. Consequently, the reverserepo rate was reduced to 3.35 per cent from 3.75 per cent.He said the MPC had voted to maintain its accommodativestance, implying more rate cuts in the future if need arises.

RBI RAMPS UP ECONOMIC SUPPORT; CUTSINT RATES, EXTENDS MORATORIUM

NIZAMABAD LOCAL BODIES MLC ELECTION ONCE AGAIN POSTPONED

Amazon.com Inc’s India unit said it would hire 50,000 temporary workers tomeet a surge in online shopping in the country, where customers have been

stuck indoors for two months in a lockdown to fight the coronavirus outbreak.E-commerce firms faced massive disruption in the initialdays of the lockdown in India, but a slow easing of thestringent regulations has allowed them to resume largeparts of their operations. "We want to continue helpingcustomers all over India get everything they need sothey can continue to practice social distancing," Amazonsenior executive Akhil Saxena said in a statement on thecompany's blog.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued orders postponing the byeelection to the Telangana legislative council from Nizamabad local Authorities

Constituency 45 days. Dr. Shashank Goel, Chief Electoral officer, Telangana saidin a press release here on Friday that the Election Commission of India on May22, further extended the by elections. On March 5, the Election Commission ofIndia declared schedule for bye election of MLC seat from Nizamabadunder the Local Authorities Constituency to fill in the vacancy. Theelection was supposed to be held on April 7. However theelection was postponed due to Covid-19 outbreak and theresultant lockdown. The vacancy arose because ofdisqualification of R Bhoopathi Reddy on January 16 2019.

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated May 23, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Jyeshtha & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Pratipada: 12:16 amNakshatram: Rohini: 04:52 am

(Next Day)Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 08:59 am – 10:36 amYamagandam: 01:49 pm – 03:26 pmVarjyam: 08:17 pm – 10:00 pmGulika: 05:45 am - 07:22 amGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 01:26 am – 03:09 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:47 am – 12:38 pm

Forecast: Mostly sunnyTemp: 42/27Humidity: 18%Sunrise: 05.42Sunset: 06.43

Masks give crooks chance to wink at eye in the sky NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

The city, which has reeled underunprecedented lockdown due toCovid19 pandemic, is nowfac-ing a different threat. Thealready busy Telangana statepolice are trying to crack thecode tocurb property offencesand other crimes which are like-ly to go undetected as wearingfacialmasks are made mandato-ry now.

Across the world, maskshave become more and moreprevalent, first as a voluntary

precaution and then as arequirement imposed by gov-ernmental agencies and busi-nesses. And now with manypeople wearing masks as wellas latex gloves, the cops willhave a tough time as therewould be very less chance tocrack a case. Criminals in thewest are already exploiting thesocial acceptance of face masksdue to the coronavirus as thisis a perfect opportunity forthem to conceal themselvesand blend right in.

“It’s a catch-22 situation forus, we will have to come up

with stricter vigilance as ournumber one crime solvingtool, CCTV cameras, will befutile,” said an official from

Hyderabad police.“It underscores a troubling

new reality for law enforce-ment. No one would be

alarmed at sight of a personwith masks and gloves now,compared to just a month ago.Just how many criminals aretaking advantage of the pan-demic to commit crimes isimpossible to estimate. Reportsare starting to pop up acrossthe United States and in otherparts of the world of crimespulled off in no small partbecause so many of us are nowwearing masks. The CCTVfootage is less useful if we areunable to see face,” said the offi-cial.

GHMC POLLS

TRS to get ‘Corona’ boost

KCR okays filmshootings from JunePNS n HYDERABAD

In a big relief to the Telugufilm industry, Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhara Rao onFriday gave the green light forresumption of film shootingsfrom June, with a rider thatindustry leaders should pre-pare an action plan for limit-ed shoots and post-productionwork amid strict adherence tosocial distancing norms intro-duced as part of Covid-19 con-tainment measures.

Work in film and TV indus-tries in the state has not pro-gressed a bit since March 22

when the nationwide lockdownwas imposed to check the spreadof coronavirus. All cinema hallswere shut down and shootingscancelled "until further instruc-tions from the government".

Hyd records highesttemperature

HEATWAVE IN TELANGANAPendingSSC examsfrom June 8

Virus hits those in 40-59 age harder in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

While elders are often told tobe risky for Coronavirus,Telangana has been witnessinga different trend wherein thedeaths in age less than 50yearsis increasing. A closer look atthe data raises questions aboutthe widely held idea thatCOVID-19 is mainly danger-ous for the elderly. About48.89percent of deaths in thestate are of people below59years and almost 42percentof deaths are of people in ageof 40-50years. The number ofdeaths in age group 40-49 isreportedly 10. Nearly 22peoplewho succumbed to thecorona virus are belowthe age of 60. Theworking-age pop-ulation is vulnera-ble to the disease.Those in the age of40-49 and 50-59are highly vulnerablereporting 10 and 9deaths. On Thursday,5deaths were all related tothose in 40-45years age. Thenumber of people above 60years who succumbed to theinfection are 23. The state did-n’t report deaths in 10-29 age

bracket. SO far35male and 10

female have died ofinfection. However, gov-

ernment claims that majority ofdeaths are due to co-morbidi-ties. Telangana’s official statis-tics do not break down coron-avirus infections by reasons.

n 42 percent of deaths in this age group

TS reports 62 morecases, 3 deathsHYDERABAD: In yet anothersingle-day big spike, TelanganaState reported 62 cases ofCoronavirus on Friday. This is amassive jump in the number ofcases since Tuesday, when thenearly two-month-longlockdown was eased. The state also reported threedeaths, taking the death toll to48. This is for the fourth day ina row that the state hasreported death. Of the 62 freshcases, 42 are from GHMC areaand one from Ranga Reddy

district. The remaining 19cases pertain to

migrants - again a bignumber.

During the last 24 hours,highest maximumtemperature of 45.8 o Cwas recorded atDondapadu (Suryapet)

n Decision on reopeningtheatres later

n Tollywood biggies meet CM

n Seek nod for resumption ofshootings, reopening oftheatres to save film industryfrom going deeper into crisis

n The already busy state police aretrying to crack the code to curb propertyoffences and other crimes which arelikely to go undetected as wearingfacialmasks are made mandatory now

n The deceased compriseseven members of the familyof Masud Alam and a driverwho is a distant relative oftheirs, all hailing from Bengal;

and two other workersfrom Bihar

n All of them wereworking with

Saidatta Gunny BagIndustries located in

the vicinity

n Criminals in the west are alreadytaking advantage of the situation

Migrants’ deaths turn mysterious

n Civic infra upgrade during lockdown gives the ruling party an edge

AP to get 2 tmc ft water from Nag’sagar

Govt allows OCIs totravel back to IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Giving a major relief to theOverseas Citizen of India card-holders stranded abroad, theMHA relaxed the visa andtravel restrictions imposedduring the COVID-19 lock-down for certain categories.MHA Spokesperson in a tweetsaid, "Relaxing visa and trav-el restrictions imposed in wakeof COVID-19, certain cate-gories of OCI cardholdersstranded abroad have beenpermitted to come toIndia."The MHA also saidthat travel restrictions imposedwould not apply to any aircraft,ship, train or any other vehi-cle deployed for bringing backthe above-mentioned cate-gories of OCI cardholders.

MAHESHAPPEALS TO

‘MASK UP'

Page 11

2

The first-ever cable-stayed bridge of the city at DurgamCheruvu, withremarkable aesthetic value and commute facility, might be opened for traffic byJuly-end and (below) Level 1 flyover at Biodiversity Junction

The well from which nine bodies of migrants, including 7 of a family, were recovered in Gorrekunta village of Geesugonda mandal on Friday

Film personalities including Chiranjeevi met Chief Minster K ChandrasekharRao at Pragati Bhavan on Friday, paving the way for the CM's green light forresumption of film shootings in a phased manner

PNS n HYDERABAD

Braving Covid-19 threat andhot summer sun, peopleacross the state have activelytook part in the 'Green Friday'programme initiated by theTelangana government. Thepeople actively took part inthe programme by wateringsaplings planted during HaritaHaram last year. Incidentally,Friday was also observed asglobal bio-diversity day.

Maintaining physical dis-tance environmental loverscelebrated the InternationalBio Diversity Day by wateringsaplings that were plantedunder several rounds ofHaritha Haram programme.

Enthusiasts and plant loversutilised the services of thetractors that were distributedunder Palle Pragathi pro-

gramme and watered theplants. Despite of the severheat, people in several man-dals and districts took part inthe Green Friday programmewearing masks. Some of peo-

ple's representatives also par-ticipated in the wateringprgramme.

Some people also visitednurseries and enquired aboutthe upcoming Haritha haram

programem and the variety ofsaplings that will be plantedthis monsoon season. TheState government has alreadydirected all governmentdepartments to take good careof plants taken up underHaritha Haram programmeon every Friday to increase thechances of survival of theseplants.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020 hyderabad 02

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HYDERABADBULLION RATES

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Foodgrain productionat record high: GovtPNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture Minister S NiranjanReddy on Friday said that theTRS government believes thatthe survival of farmer is crucialfor development of Telangana.

Speaking at the PatancheruMarket Committee oath-takingceremony here on Friday, theMinister said that the tanks inTelangana are overflowingsluices during hot summerunlike earlier, when empty tankbeds greeted the people. He saidmany livelihoods are linked toagriculture.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao did notprovide irrigation facility orpower supply round the clockto farm sector or introducedRythu Bandhu or Rythu Bhimaat the behest of the oppositionparties, he said exhorting thepeople not to give credence toopposition criticism.

The food grain production inTelangana has reached surplusstage, turning around in six

years, he said adding that thegovernment has to searchgodown space to store the har-vested crops. In rabi, the areaunder paddy was 39.40 lakhacres. If the third phase ofKaleswaram and Palamuru-Ranga Reddy projects were tobe completed, there would beshorage of space for storing theharested crops, he said.

The state government hasplans to set up integrated mar-kets keeping in mind the peo-ple's needs, he said adding thatnew developments should takeplace in marketing system. Hewanted the farmers, tradersand marketing officials to notethe changing scenario of mar-kets.

He referred to online market-

ing of vegetables and fruitsand visualised a great role formarketing department to con-duct research on online market-ing system. He suggested elect-ed people's representativesundertaking a study on Gajweland Siddipet markets.

Construction of a market on14-acre site is a wonder, he saiddescribing it as a boon to theregion. Finance Minister THarish Rao advised the newexecutive of the MarketCommittee of Pathancheru tolive up to the expectations of theChief Minister. He congratulat-ed the new chairman and mar-ket committee members andoffered his full support to them.MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddywas also present.

Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy addressing the gathering at the Pathacheru Market Committee oath-taking ceremony

The state government has plans toset up integrated markets keepingin mind the people's needs, saidAgriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy

7,608 tonnes of free ricedistributed so far: GangulaPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Civil SuppliesGangula Kamalakar hasexplained Union Minister forConsumer Affairs and FoodRam Vilas Paswan the mea-sures initiated in the state formigrant workers during thelockdown period imposedclose on the heels of outbreakof Coronavirus.

He was speaking withPaswan through video confer-ence here on Friday. "Firstand foremost, a survey hasbeen conducted in the state toidentify 6.7 lakh migrant work-ers. They have been given freeof cost 7,608.012 tonnes of freerice and Rs 31.61 lakh towardsfinancial assistance," he said.

He also explained to Paswanthe amenities provided tomigrant workers and theprogress of procurement ofpaddy for rabi season. As partof portability of ration cardsand one nation-one rationcard system, Aadhaar cards of96.40 ration card holders have

been seeded to their rationcards. Telangana state occu-pied the first position in porta-bility of ration cards issue. Heurged Paswan to increase thefinancial assistance of Rs 500

to Rs 2,000 and provide freerice to migrant workers inMay and June too. CivilSupplies commissioner AnilKumar and other officials werepresent.

The Minister also explained to Paswanthe amenities provided to migrantworkers and the progress ofprocurement of paddy for rabi season

Enthusiasts andplant loversutilised theservices of thetractors that weredistributed underPalle Pragathiprogramme

Farmers urged to gofor profitable cropsPNS n SURYAPET

Minister for Power GJagadish on Friday askedfarmers to put full stop to thetraditional agricultural prac-tices and focus attention onraising profitable crops.

Speaking after laying foun-dation stones for series ofroad development projectsat a cost of Rs 90 crore inSuryapet Assembly con-stituency, the Ministerappealed farmers to followguidelines prepared by ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao on raising profitablecrops. The Chief Ministeralready prepared a map onwhich crops are profitable forwhich region, he said.

Coronavirus caused hur-dles to development works,he said adding that the stateand the people feel theirmorale boosted in the com-bat against the invisibleenemy, the Coronavirus.

Till a vaccine for Corona isinvented, observing physical

distance and observing pre-cautions is essential, he said.

The Minister undertook awhirlwind tour of LakshmiNayak Thanda, Pachya Nayakthanda, Kota Pahad, GMalkapuram, Kandagatla,Durazpall i , Balemla,Mukkudevulapalli and othervillages as part of the roaddevelopment works. RajyaSabha Member BadugulaLingaiah Yadav, Zil laParishad chairman GujjaDeepika Yugandhar Rao,vice-chairman VenkatNarayana Goud and otherswere present.

People water saplings planted as part of Harith Haram on Friday

Green Friday observed across state Don't panic,says EtelaPNS n HYDERABAD

Health Minister EtelaRajender has urged people notto panic about the increasingcases, while asserting that thestate would take all measuresto contain the virus. Etelaasked them to give data on thenumber of additional medicalstaffers needed to cater to theincreasing number of cases.He spoke to Union MinisterDr Harsh Vardhan and soughtrelaxations for migrants. Hesuggested that migrants whohave cancer dialysis patientsand others with serious prob-lems should be quarantinedand subject to test after 7 days;and, if the result is negative,they should be allowed to beput in home quarantine there-after.

KCR okaysfilm shootingsfrom June...Continued from page 1

On Friday, KCR said that filmshootings and post-produc-tion work, suspended due tothe lockdown, should beresumed in a phased manner.He suggested that everyoneshould follow lockdown con-ditions and take preventivemeasures to help containcoronavirus. He wantedshootings to be conductedwith industry players adopt-ing self-regulation. The ChiefMinister has also instructedthe officials concerned toprepare guidelines on how toconduct film shootings in theState.The Chief Minister helda meeting with prominentfilm personalities at PragathiBhavan here on Friday.

Ministers Talasani SrinivasYadav, Niranjan Reddy, ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar,film personalitiesChiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, DSuresh Babu, Allu Aravind, NShankar, Rajamouli, Dil Raju,Trivikram Srinivas, Kiran,Radhakrishna, Koratala Siva,C Kalyan, Meher Ramesh,Dhamu and others participat-ed. The discussion centred onresumption of film shootings,revival of post -productionwork as well as reopening oftheatres.

Masks givecrookschance...Continued from page 1

With everyone basicallyincognito, would-be witness-es might not notice someoneacting differently, and thatwould make it harder to geta good description or identi-fication of the suspect.

“Before life in a pandem-ic, masked marauders had tofree their faces immediatelyafter leaving

a bank or store to avoidsuspicion once in the gener-al public. But it came with therisk of being

photographed and identi-fied through omnipresentsurveillance cameras and cell-phones. These days, they cankeep the masks on and blendin easily with or withoutbeing 'captured'in images. We will have tocome up with a strategy tostop this before it starts,”added another official fromthe Commissioner'sTask Force.

NEW AGRI POLICY

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao hasannounced that to make agri-culture a matured professionin future, the governmentwould implement both longterm and short term strategiesin the state. The Chief Ministerdesired that cultivation inTelangana State should bedeveloped in such a mannerthat crops should be cultivat-ed based on the eating habitsof the people, agri-basedindustries should get theirraw material continuously, theentire yields should be sold inthe market at good prices, thecultivation of crops shouldbe done to compete at the

international level. He said thatthere should be a tangiblechange in the agriculture inthe State.

The Chief Minister held ameeting with the experts atPragathi Bhavan here onFriday to finalise the strategyon the cultivation to be done

in tune with the marketdemands, agri-business, foodprocessing, agro industriesdevelopment and other relat-ed issues. Former MLC ProfNageshwar, AgricltureUniversity Vice ChancellorPraveen Rao, Agri-businessCollege Principal Seema,Administrative Staff College ofIndia Director Srinivaschary,Food and Agriclture manage-ment Consultant GopinathKoneti, Seed Development

Corporation MD Keshavuluand others participated.

A detailed discussion washeld on what kind of changesto be brought in cultivation ofcrops? What are the methodsthat are available now to addvalue to the crops produced byfarmers without sending themdirectly from farm to the mar-ket? What new changes to bebrought in? What changesshould be done for the use offertilisers and chemicals?

What should be done to makesure that the entire yields isutilised? The experts in thisregard gave several sugges-tions. It was decided to holdsuch discussions in the com-ing days and give a directionand path to agriculture inState. "Agriculture was insevere crisis when the Statewas formed. Due to somemeasures taken by the govern-ment there is some respite.The farmers are gaining con-fidence now. The reforms peri-od will begin in agriculturefrom this monsoon seasoncrops. Farmers are with con-fidence and faith that whatev-er the government says itwould be for their benefit andwelfare,” the CM said.

TRS to get ‘Corona’...Continued from page 1

Privatisation gave heft to roadworks and added pace to thegamut of activities.

At the helm, MunicipalMinister K T Rama Rao, hasbeen hands-on, expediting theprojects by holding meetingsat regular intervals.

Land acquisitions, issuesconcerning compensation andthe opposition parties trying tocapitalize on them would havenormally impacted the rulingparty to some extent. Yet, allthis has now become non-issues, thanks to the exemplarymanner in which MA&UDDepartment has utilized thelockdown.

Completion of Level 1 fly-over at Biodiversity Junction,

which was stuck due to polit-ical issues, is in itself anachievement. The Balanagarflyover, which was mired inland acquisition issues, eventhough not completed, man-aged to gain pace. TRS has theiconic Durgam Cheruvubridge to showcase whilemarching into polls.

The way the 45 BasthiDwakhanas were inauguratedon Friday is yet another exam-ple of how the ministers con-cerned are being tasked.Despite crisis, announcing thedelivery of 50,000 'dignity'(2BHK) homes by August isanother major goal. Severaltimes citizens who had givenup their lands for 2BHK stageddharna at GHMC office.

AP to get 2 tmc ft waterfrom Nag’sagar

Virus hits those in40-59 age... Continued from page 1

Narayana Reddy brought tothe notice of the Board that thetwo states have been utilisingwater up to 510 feet love andthere have been instances of thislevel being breached.

The Board accepted that itwill give 2 tmc ft of waterthrough Nagarjunasagar rightbank canal from the Telangana

water share as the latter has still49 tmc ft. Narayana Reddyinformed that AP governmentasked the Board to keep the pro-posed water census pending tillMay-end to consider the waterloses due to Thummilla LiftIrrigation project and otherissues. He said that the 2 tmcft allocated will be utilised forthe drinking water needs ofGuntur and Prakasam districts.

Hyd records highest... Continued from page 1

Further, she said that theexamination halls have beensanitised, students will be givenmasks and will be allowedinside the exam hall after ther-mal screening. Only one can-didate for each bench isallowed to sit. The students are

allowed one hour before theexam inside the exam centreand hence should makearrangements to reach theexam hall one hour in advance.The RTC will run special busesto exam centres and a helplinewill be set up to offer sugges-tions to parents regarding theexam centres, she said.

Continued from page 1

Even the recent case ofAllampally Madhavi, wherethe husband Madhusudhandied was aged 42. The fami-ly alleged that the person washealthy and how can he die ofcoronavirus at such youngage. Only one child – aninfant of 45days succumbedto infection in the state. aninfant boy belonging toAbhangapur village ofNarayanpet district in south-ern Telangana died at GandhiHospital in April. Even in thecase of infant, he had a weakimmune system and had con-tracted pneumonia.

Continued from page 1

The migrants who testedpositive in the state nownumber 118. Amongmigrants arriving in statethrough various points ofentry, the asymptomatic onesare being quarantined athome and in quarantine,while the symptomatic onesare isolated and tested for fur-ther course of action. With670 active cases, the state hasso far witnessed 1,761 cases.

Migrants deaths turned mysterious...Continued from page 1

The others were identified asNisha Alam (45, wife ofMasud), Busra Alam (22, hisdaughter), Guddu (three-year-old granddaughter of Masud),Shahbaz Alam (21, son ofMasud), Sohail Alam(20,younger son of Masud),Shakeel (40, driver), Sriram(35, Bihari) and Shyam (40,Bihari). The well in question,situated in front of a cold stor-

age plant, is brimming withwater, though it has not beenin use for the past few years.The company owners onThursday found the dead bod-ies of four members in the welland on Friday one more bodysurfaced. The remaining fourwere retrieved by police subse-quently.

In view of the mysteriousnature of the deaths, PoliceCommissioner of WarangalDr. Ravinder, along with his

personnel, rushed to the spotand began conductinginquiries from various angles.They are looking at the possi-bility of starvation, food poi-soning or murder being thecause of deaths, though initialreports suggested it could be asuicide pact. Clues teams weredeployed to gather evidencesand currently the police sus-pect food poisoning to be theprobable cause of the deaths.Unconsumed portions of the

food found at their kitchenwere also sent for tests. If foodpoisoning is determined asthe cause of the deaths, it rais-es further questions as to whodumped the bodies in the welland whether the workers weregiven stale food and if so, bywhom. Initially, circumstantialevidence suggested that theworkers might have committedsuicide as they could not getwork during the lockdownperiod.

‘Govt to implement long and short term strategies’CM desired that cultivation in stateshould be developed in such a mannerthat crops should be cultivated basedon the eating habits of the people

TS reports 62more cases...

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Man injured inroad mishap

Tobacco worth1.60L seized

PDS ricesmuggling racketbusted

Aprivate employee rammed hiscar into a pillar of the PVNR

expressway at Mehdipatnam inthe wee hours of Friday.According to the police, theincident happened when theyoungster, identified as Rohit,was proceeding from Asif Nagartowards Mehdipatnam. "Theincident occurred around 1 am,when the car reached pillar No.33. Rohit was driving the vehicleat a high speed and lost controlof the wheel. He went on to hitthe pillar ahead. Fortunately forhim, the airbags in the caropened and he survived thecrash with injuries," the policesaid, adding that the motoristspassing by noticed him andshifted him to hospital.

Task Force team on Fridayseized banned tobacco

products worth Rs 1.60 lakh atWyra. According to Task forceACP G Venkat Rao, gutkha andother tobacco products wereloaded in a car for transportationfrom the residence of theaccused Dara Meenakshi atGannavaram village of Wyramandal. Based on a tip-off a raidwas conducted and Tthe car andthe tobacco products wereseized.

Karimnagar commissioneratepolice busted a PDS rice

smuggling gang and arrestedtwo persons. The police seized130 quintal of rice worth Rs 2.6lakh ready to transport toMaharastra from them. Based ona tip off, police conductedchecking in Budagajangalacolony.

Facilities inaugurated in Sec’bad, Khairatabad, LB Nagar, Serilingampally, and Charminar zones PNS n HYDERABAD

Ministers KT Rama Rao,Talasani Srinivas Yadav andEtela Rajender on Friday inau-gurated Basti Dawakhanas inthe city. While IT Ministerinaugurated two BastiDawakhanas at Erragadda andVengalrao Nagar, AnimalHusbandy Minister inaugu-rated urban clinics at ChepalaBavi and Nala Bazar. HealthMinister Etela Rajender inau-gurated urban clinic at SVNagar in Mallapur division.Facilities inaugurated inSec’bad, Khairatabad, LBNagar, Serilingampally,Kukatpally and Charminarzones.

Speaking on the occasion,Animal Husbandry TalasaniSrinivas Yadav said that thestate government has set upurban clinics for the benefit ofthe poor and middle classes."The urban clinics save the poorand middle classes of theirmoney and provides affordabletreatment to them," he said."Urban clinics have been pro-vided in slums to treat minorailments of the poor eliminat-ing the need for travelling longto reach government hospitals,

he said adding that the urbanclinics found favour with thepeople at many places. Theurban clinics will have doctors,para-medical personnel andnurses and provide treatment topatients, he said calling uponASHA workers to sensitise peo-ple of slums on urban clinics.The government has plans topromote at least 1,000 urban

clinics," he said. MA&UD Minister KT Rama

Rao said that the governmentaims at providing primaryhealth care to poor at doorsteps."These clinics will be open topublic from 9AM to 4PM.Locals of each basti can availmedical facilities in these clin-ics," he said. The Ministerexamined the facilities available

in the Basti Dawakhana.Minister got his body temper-ature and BP checked with themedical staff available in theclinic. After inaugurating theBasti Dawakhana, the Ministerinteracted with an elderlywoman who came for the treat-ment at the clinic.

Health Minister EatalaRajender also underlined theneed for people observingCovid-19 precautions eventhough the threat due to virushas subsided to an extent. "Weare able to save Hyderabadfrom the virus by enforcinglockdown strictly," he saidquoting the examples of

Mumbai, Thane and Pune.Further, he asked the people toobserve physical distance andadvised them not to be com-placent that nothing will hap-pen to them.

Turning his attention onurban clinics, he said thatmore and more services wouldbe added to the urban clinics,which functions daily from 9am to 4 pm. He suggested cor-porators and slum residents toplay crucial role in managingthe affairs of urban clinics.Zonal Commissioner of theGHMC Upender Reddy, localcorporators and others werepresent.

Ministers KT Rama Rao, Etela Rajender and Talasani Srinivas Yadav getting their body temperature and BP checked after inaugurating the facility on Friday

These clinics will be open to public from9AM to 4PM. Locals of each basti canavail medical facilities in these clinics,said Minister KT Rama Rao

MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao addressing the 'Digital Summit', organised bythe Confederation of Indian Industry, on Friday

PNS n HYDERABAD

'Digital Literacy', 'DigitalInfrastructure' and 'DigitalInnovation' are three keyenablers for India to chart dig-ital revolution in post-covidera, said IT Minister KT RamaRao on Friday.

He was speaking at the'Digital Summit', organisedby the Confederation of IndianIndustry, a virtual conferenceon "Digital Revolution in PostCovid Era: Touching Lives &Enriching Businesses" withan objective to bring togethereminent policymakers andindustry leaders relevant to thecontext, on to a common plat-form and try understandingfrom them, their views on var-ious aspects - current scenarioand way forward, how to makeIndia a leader in DigitalRevolution in post-covid era.

Speaking on the occasion,the Minister said, "Digital rev-olution can only be possible ifdigital or even non-digitalsolutions can be accessed by acommon man. Enabling com-mon man with the help oftechnology will make himbelieve in technology, andcreate a social impact. If Indiahas to grow leaps and boundswe need to create people dig-itally literate, create broadbandand other necessary digitalinfrastructure and innovate. Itis also critical that IndianUnion Government shouldencourage States to collabo-rate, coexist and compete withGlobal IT Value Chain; aspart of Digital India Strategy."

Ajay Prakash Sawhney, IAS,

Secretary, Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology (MeitY), congrat-ulated and complimentedTeam Telangana for achieving18 per cent growth in ITexports in this challengingtimes. Sawhney further addedthat government of Telanganahas lived up to any challengegiven to them. Speaking aboutsome of the upcoming schemeto boost electronic manufac-turing in the country, he wasconfident that the StateGovernment will encouragethe IT ecosystem in the Stateto innovate and develop soft-ware products.

Addressing the summit,Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary, shared an experi-ence on how around 1000+local kirana stores wereempowered through the dig-ital platform offered by thestate government in Covidtimes. He added that the pan-demic has provided a big pushto the digital transformation inthe country. While it offersgreat opportunity, there is alsoa need to relook digital Indiaprogramme to ensure that itdoes not create digital divide.

Digital revolutioncan only bepossible if digitalor even non-digitalsolutions can beaccessed by acommon man, said KTR

PNS n HYDERABAD

The detective inspector ofBalapur police station wastested posit ive forCovid-19 on Friday.He was downwith fever andwas on s ickleave f romWe d n e s d a y,officials said.According tosources , theoff icial had acough for aboutfive days and attendedduty too.

However, on Wednesdaywhen he complained of highfever, he was advised to takeleave and go for a medical

check-up.Doctors tested him and in

the results which were out onFriday, he was found to be

positive. He was imme-diately shifted to

Gandhi Hospitaland his family

m e m b e r swere homequarantined.

Followingt h i s ,

R a c h a k on d aPolice have gotall the primary

contacts tested anddirected other officials and

constables who were prima-ry contacts to the infectedperson to be under homequarantine.

On their part as a protocol,the staff at the Balapur policestation are taking precaution-ary measures such as use ofsanitizers and masks apartfrom physical distancing.

According tosources, ponWednesday thecop complainedof high fever.Later, he wasadvised to takeleave and go for amedical check-up

Balapur DI tests positive for Covid-19

‘Miscommunication'lands Manipuri groupin wrong train PNS n HYDERABAD

A group of students andemployees from Manipur haveboarded the ‘wrong’ specialtrain following an alleged mis-communication under thedirections of Telangana StatePolice.

The group, which consistsof five students and employeesfrom Manipur, alleged thatthey were asked to board thetrain on May 20 under the pre-text that it would go to Jiribam,Manipur. However, a few stopslater, after talking with anoth-er co-passenger, they came toknow that the train is headingtoward Agartala in Tripurastate. Surprised, the group hasbeen trying to find a solutionto the issue since then.

The announcements weregiven about the special traindestinations, and people aresent only after confirmation,said the police inspector ofUppal, N. Ch Ranga Swamy.The whole episode came intolight after Jonah Trichao, thechief co-ordinator for theManipur Student Union,tweeted the issue on May 22.According to Jonah, there wasno proper communicationfrom the state officials aboutthe time and availability of thetrains.

"The whole process hasbeen chaotic, because no com-munication about travelarrangements were done inadvance by the officials. As ofnow, two trains have left forManipur, taking around 650-700 people. Students are

informed on the day of travelthat there is a train to theirhometown on the same day.When I asked the nodal offi-cers, they said they have noinformation about this," theco-ordinator said.

Another passenger fromManipur, Nadeem Khan, whotravelled to Jiribam via thespecial train on May 19, alsoalleged that the communica-tion from officials was notproper. "It took around 58hours to reach Jiribam.Around 1,200 persons were onthe train, and it was toocrowded. Had I known thisbefore-hand, I would not haveboarded it," he said.

As of now, the Manipuristudents and employees areplanning to get down atBadarpur station in Assam."We have tried to co-ordinatewith Manipur state officials.Hopefully, they might arrangetransport for us to Manipurfrom there," said Angam.

City gets 45 more Basthi Dawakhanas

Cyberabad police takes nochances, warns lockdown violatorsPNS n HYDERABAD

Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner VC Sajjanar,who reviewed the situationearlier this week after the relax-ations came into effect, has saidthat special checks againstlockdown violators would stillbe carried out across the com-missionerate and warned vio-lators to strictly follow rules.

The official has been fre-quently paying surprise visits todifferent places in the commis-sionerate. He said that thoughthere were no containmentareas in Cyberabad, the policewere still vigilant and enforc-ing lockdown strictly to containthe spread of the virus. Over a100 special lockdown enforce-ment teams are constantly onthe field and engaged inspreading awareness among

people, he said and urged peo-ple not to venture outsideunnecessarily. "If anyone isfound coming out for joy rid-ing or unnecessary reasons,stringent action will be initiat-ed. It is the duty of the peopleto oblige the government, as itis for the good of the people,"

Sajjanar said.Ever since the lockdown

came into force, the CyberabadPolice have booked more thanfive lakh traffic violation casesand over 12,000 vehicles havebeen seized, apart from over2,000 lockdown norms viola-tion cases. Traffic DCP SMVijay Kumar said the relaxationwas only for businesses andsome essentials and that the 3km radius rule was still invogue. "Anyone found violat-ing the rule or without validvehicle documents, licence,documents of the vehicle, hel-met, seat belt and proper num-ber plate will be booked underthe provision of law," the DCPsaid. Violators are beingbooked under sections of theIndian Penal Code, EpidemicDiseases Act and DisasterManagement Act.

‘Shift stranded migrants to function halls’PNS n HYDERABAD

Making it amply clear to thestate government that it is theforemost duty of the govern-ment to look after the migrantworkers who are trying toreach their villages and cities inother states of the country, theTelangana High Court onFriday asked the state govern-ment to shift the migrant work-ers who are either stranded orwalking in Medchal Highwayto function halls located inMedchal after assessing theirexact number.

A division bench of the HCcomprising of the Chief Justiceof the state Justice RS Chauhanand Justice B Vijaysen Reddydirected the state governmentto take steps to provide food,shelter water and toilets.Making it clear that the govern-ment should not dump themigrant workers at any of theborder district of the state, itasked the state to make con-certed efforts to take themigrant workers to the nearestrailway station or bus stationand help them find the trainsand the buses to reach their vil-lages and the cities in otherstates.

The High Court warned thestate government to strictlycomply with its orders andadded that any of failure on thepart of the state government tocomply with its orders wouldcompel to take a serious of anyOmission or inefficiency on itspart. It asked the advocateGeneral of the state BS Prasadto inform the court about theconcerte steps initiated by thestate government to amelioratethe condition of the migrantworkers and about the imple-mentation of its orders beforeMay 29.

The division bench of theHigh Court passed these orderswhile dealing with PublicInterest Litigation moved as alunch motion by Prof. RamaShankarnarayan Melkote.Arguing the case on behalf ofthe petitioner, High Courtadvocate Vasudha Nagaraj toldthe division bench of the HCthat the state police were pick-ing up the migrant workershailing from states like UttarPradesh, Bihar and northernstates were being dumped intotrucks and buses to send themAdilabad district.

She also told the HC thatlarge number the migrantworkers walking on theMedchal highway without anysupport from the state govern-ment. She also told the HC thatthe Medchal highway has largenumber of marriage hallswhere the migrant workerscan easily be kept and lookedafter well by the state govern-ment till proper arrangementswere made for their trans-portation either by buses or bytrains.

Create separate Covid-19disabled fund

The Telangana High Court onFriday expressed surprise overthe allocation of a paltry sum ofRs 10,000 to each district disabledwelfare officer in the state toenable him to take care of thepersons with disabilities. It direct-ed the state government to cre-ate a separate "COVID-19 dis-abled fund" to extend all kinds ofhelp to such persons during theongoing lockdown period. Adivision bench of the High Courtcomprising of the Chief Justiceof the state Justice RS Chauhanand Justice B Vijaysen Reddyasked the state government to fileits report before May 29.

ADMISSIONS FOR 2020-21

UoH extends last datefor admissionsPNS n HYDERABAD

University of Hyderabad,which has earlier invitedonline applications for itsentrance examinations andadmissions to various cours-es for the Academic year2020-21 from April 3 to May22, has extended the last datefor applying to June 30. Thedecision to extend the last datewas taken considering theexisting situation in the coun-try due to the Covid-19, theuniversity said in a release. Atotal of 2,456 seats are beingoffered for admissions to 132

courses which include 16 inte-grated courses, 41 PG cours-es, 15 M Phil, 10 M.Tech and46 Ph.D. programmes. Thecandidates were advised tokeep watching the website forfurther updates and moredetails can be had from web-site: http://www.acad.uohyd.ac.in/

Accoring to thegroup, a few stopslater, after talkingwith another co-passenger, theycame to know that the train isheading towardAgartala in Tripurastate and notiribam in Manipur

‘Physical distancemust whileexchanging wishes’PNS n HYDERABAD

Home Minister MohammedMahmood Ali on Fridayappealed to people to main-tain physical distance whileexchanging Eid wishes andavoid gathering. He conduct-ed a review meeting withPrincipal Secretary (Home)Ravi Gupta, Director-Generalof Police M Mahendar Reddy,Commissioners of PoliceAnjani Kumar, Mahesh MBhagwat and VC Sajjanar onthe measures to be taken onthe occasion of Ramzan.Authorities of GHMC andHMWS&SB are makingcleanliness and water supplyarrangements on the eve ofthe festival. "There is no otherway except maintaining phys-ical distance to contain thespread of virus,” he said.

10 startups inT-Hub's fintechacceleratorprogrammePNS n HYDERABAD

T-Hub on Friday said it hasshortlisted 10 startups for itsfintech accelerator pro-gramme. The programmewas launched in November2019 in partnership withNPCI (National PaymentsCorporation of India), theumbrella organisation forretail payments systems inIndia and DST (Departmentof Science and Technology).The programme is designedto enhance faster productdevelopment and scale-up ofthe fintech startups shortlist-ed to be a part of the batch.

The 20 startups wereselected from over 150 appli-cations received from acrossIndia, after a rigorous evalu-ation process. Some of theshortlisted startups areChitmonks, Syntizen,AShield Technologies,amongst others.

Startups accepted into theprogramme will receive train-ing and guidance from T-Hub and NPCI via a curricu-lum of activities, specificallydesigned to support productdevelopment and growth indigital payments. Also, star-tups will have access to NPCIretail payments APIs forproduct development and T-Hub's network of mentors,industry experts, investors,service providers and thecommunity.

Take care offruit growers:HC tells govtPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Courton Friday directed the stategovernment and the Centreto take steps to ensure thatthe fruit growers do notincurr any kind of losses dur-ing the ongoing lockdownperiod. A division bench ofthe HC passed these orderswhile dealing with a PIL filedby 75-year-old retired veteri-nary doctor from Nirmaldistrict K Narayana Reddy.The Court directed both thegovernments to file reportsinforming the measurestaken. It later posted thematter to June 5.

Spl buses for govt staffon 32 routesPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao onFriday gave green signal forrunning special buses forgovernment employees in 32city routes from Saturday.The employees will have toshow their identity card togain entry into the bus. TheRTC is already extending itsservices in Hyderabad city tothe emergency servicesemployees since lockdowncame into force. The corpo-ration is also extending itsservices to shift the foreignreturnees to paid quarantinecentres located in manyhotels across the city fromairport.

VMware Indiainks pactwith WE HubPNS n HYDERABAD

VMware India on Friday signedan MoU with WE Hub, aGovernment of Telangana initia-tive for women entrepreneurs, toextend VMinclusion Taara'supskilling and return to workprogramme in the State. Withthis MoU, VMware and WEHub aim to empower womenwith the skills they need to returnto their dormant/ interruptedtechnology careers. The aim isalso to provide a platform fordeeper and better networkingopportunities for women intechnology to be a part of theeconomic workforce of the State.WE Hub aims at providing aplatform by enabling skill upgra-dation, networking opportuni-ties and the career options forwomen returning to workforcein Telangana. As part of the col-laboration, WE Hub will be inte-grating modules on entrepre-neurship as an addition to thecurriculum so the variousopportunities available forwomen planning a return to thework.

Digital adoption needof the hour, says KTR

The govt was told to shift migrants whoare either stranded or walking tofunction halls located in Medchal afterassessing their exact number

PNS n HYDERABAD

There is a discrepancy in thearea of lands acquired for exe-cution of irrigation projectsand canals and the actual areaof land found mention in theland records. The discrepancypertains to at least 1.93-lakhacres. The state governmentcleansed the land records threeyears ago. In fact, the landsacquired for projects are in theenjoyment of farmers in sever-al districts, but the land recordsmention them as pattadar lands.Various irrigation projectsspread across 3,309 villages ofthe state. The projects monitor-ing system, the total landacquired for execution of pro-jects is mentioned as 5.30-lakhacres.

While a portion of the landis government land, the rest isacquired from farmers. In theland revenue records (integrat-ed land management system),only 2.63 lakh acres of land islisted in the name of theIrrigation Department. The dis-crepancy in land records hasbecome a moot point

In the revenue land records,the tank bed lands, project andcanal lands are included underthe same head of account.However, the ChiefCommissioner on LandRecords and the Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar wanted theauthorities to include the landsacquired from farmers for irri-gation projects have been

included under 508, while thetank bed lands under the headof account 501 and complete theexercise by May 23. He issueddirections to district collectorsin this regard. Irrigation princi-pal secretary Rajat Kumarordered the IrrigationDepartments officials twomonths ago for reunification ofvarious divisions of theIrrigation and Catchment AreaDevelopment department. Aspart of this, he called for docu-menting the lands acquired bythe Irrigation Department.

The department has details ofland acquired recently, while therelevant documents for thelands acquired for Sriramsagar,

Nagarjuna Sagar projects are notavailable. Therefore, the stategovernment called for revenueand irrigation departments toundertake a joint exercise.

Accordingly, the stage is setfor releasing the encroachmentsof irrigation canals, taking pos-session of the lands acquiredfrom farmers and making suit-able changes in online landrecords.

As soon as the land isacquired from the farmers, thelands should be included underthe ownership of the IrrigationDepartment. In fact, one thirdof the land acquired from farm-ers is not included under theirrigation department's name.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020 hyderabad 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

In the first move of its kind inthe country, Telangana stategovernment had decided thatit will tell its farmers what theyshould grow, when and howmuch. According to ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao, the purpose of the moveis to make the farmers pro-duce what the market wants.However, the government'smove, at a time when the rabiseason is about start in fort-night or so, has not gonedown well with the farmers.

The farmers have been rais-ing traditional crops sincethey know very well the typeof soil of their land and theavailability of water. They areworried about governmentdictating terms on what cropsthey should raise. Moreover,the government statement thatit will not procure crops fromthem from next season if theywon't raise the crops as sug-gested by the government leftfarmers worried and con-fused.

Fluctuations in prices ofcotton are more, compared topaddy. Lack of adequategodown space to store them,the prices linked to globalmarket and due to other fac-tors, the cotton farmers arefacing exploitation at thehands of traders.

The farmers are confident ofselling a quintal of paddy at a

profit of at least Rs 100 or 200even if they did not get MSP forit. But the prices of cotton nose-dive all of a sudden the lossruns into several thousands ofrupees. Last year, a quintal ofcotton commanded Rs 6,000 asagainst the current Rs 3,300.The Centre has to rope in theCotton Corporation of India torescue the farmers.

In April 2016, Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao advised

the farmers against raising cot-ton crop and took pains toreduce the area under the cropthen. The state governmentwanted the farmers to raisealternate crops then. Now, theChief Minister has beenencouraging farmers to raisecotton crop citing unprece-dented demand for cotton inglobal market, kicking off acontroversy. The farmers areworried over increasing the

area under cotton and reduc-ing it simultaneously underpaddy. The latest policy of thegovernment discourages thefarmers to raise maize andencourages them to grow cot-ton and red gram in rabi.

The proposed policy advo-cates increasing the area underfine varieties of rice. But theground realities are different.There is no big variation inprices of coarse and fine vari-eties of rice. Fine varieties ofrice are sold at Rs 1,835 aquintal whereas coarse vari-eties are sold at Rs 1,815 aquintal. However, there are noenough seeds in the marketsto raise crops as recommend-ed by the government.

NEW AGRICULTURE POLICY

Farmers a worried lot

It is said that there are no enoughseeds in the markets to raise cropsas recommended by the Telangana state government

TS Employees JAC demands full salariesPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Employees JACon Friday demanded the stategovernment to pay the salariesdeferred for the months ofMarch and April in the monthof May. The state governmentemployees and teachers decid-ed to stage protest at their res-idences on May 23 (Saturday)demanding the government

to pay full salaries to theemployees.

Telangana Employees JACchairman Karem RavinderReddy, secretary general VMamatha, TNGO CentralUnion general secretaryMamilla Rajender, TGO stategeneral secretary EnugulaSathyanarayana on Friday saidthat they successfully tackled thespread of Corinavirus with the

steps taken up by the state gov-ernment. "All government activ-ities have resumed their opera-tions from the first week of May.The conditions of state revenueimproved," they said. They saidthat employees belonging tothe Muslim community aremanaging with half salaries forthe last two months duringRamazan. The employees andteachers decided to stage

protest at their residences onMay 23 (Saturday) demandingthe government to pay fullsalaries to the employees. Theprotest programme will betaken up with the call given bythe Telangana Employees JAC.Pensioners would also partic-ipate in these protest. The JACleaders asked the employees toshare the photos of protest onsocial media platforms.

OUTA seeksprotectionof landsPNS n HYDERABAD

Osmania University TeachersAssociation (OUTA) andCongress party on Fridaydemanded the state govern-ment to protect varsity landsfrom being grabbed by land-sharks

In statement, OUTA pres-ident Prof B Manohar andgeneral secretary Prof BSurender Reddy alleged thatthe encroachment ofOsmania University landscame to a halt temporarilywhen the teachers and stu-dents protested in this regard.However, the encroacherslaunched their efforts againduring the lockdown period.

However, the encroachersare leveling the land with thehelp of police by stating thatthey have all documents. "Whythey have waited all thesedays if they have all docu-ments. Why they had taken upland leveling works at thetime of corona as the studentsand teachers are away from theUniversity," OUTA ques-tioned. OUTA demanded thegovernment to react immedi-ately on the issue and protectOsmania University fromencroachers. It may berecalled that the studentsand some professorsobstructed the efforts of lev-eling the alleged OsmaniaUniversity land couple ofdays ago by the retired judgeV Narasimha Reddy.

Scribes lodgecomplaint withHarish againstBhupal ReddyPNSn HYDERABAD

Telangana Journalists on Fridaylodged a complaint with theFinance Minister T HarishRao alleging that TRS MLAfrom Narayankhade, BhupalReddy allegedly made themunicipal officials demolishthe under construction houseof a reporter Paramesh, work-ing with vernacular media. It issaid that the reporter coveredthe news of Bhupal Reddy notfollowing lockdown restric-tions during his birthday cele-brations. The TUWJ-143 con-demned the act of MLABhupal Reddy. Reacting to thecomplaint, Minister HarishRao assured journalists that hewill do justice to the reporter.The journalist leaders -Maruthi Sagar, Sayyed Ismail,A Ramana Kumar, PYoganand, G Sampath,Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Sridhar,Yadagiri Goud, YoganandReddy, Dara Singh lodgedcomplaint with Harish Rao.

Another journalist unionTUWJ-IJU has warned that itwill take up 'ChaloNarayanakhade' and lay siegeto MLA Camp office if theydidn't get positive response.

The TUWJ leaders stageddharna before SangareddyCollectorate on Friday andsubmitted a memorandum tothe Collector. Sangareddy dis-trict journalist leader VishnuKumar questioned the officialsto reveal as to how far their actof desecrating the under con-struction house is correct whereseveral illegal constructionswere taking place with MLA'stwilight.

In the land revenue records (integratedland management system), only 2.63lakh acres of land is listed in the nameof the Irrigation Department

MLC POLLS

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Congress party on Fridaydemanded that the ElectionCommission to take sternaction against TRS leaders,including ruling party's candi-date K Kavitha, for their allegedinvolvement in horse trading ofMPTCs, ZPTCs, MunicipalCouncillors and Corporators,to win the MLC elections fromNizambabad Local Bodies.

"Ruling TRS party is brazen-ly indulging in violation ofCode of Conduct in the ongo-ing Nizamabad MLC Elections(Local Bodies) as the contest-ing candidate from TRS isKavitha Kalvakuntla, daughterof present Chief Minister ofTelangana. Therefore, theyhatched a conspiracy to winthese elections by hook orcrook and hence resorted toillegal means of violating thecode of conduct," TPCC work-ing president A Revanth Reddy,former Minister MohammedAli Shabbir, Congress candi-date V Subhash Reddy andRamareddy ZPTC N MohanReddy alleged in their com-plaint lodged before ChiefElectoral Officer Dr. ShashankGoel at his office here onFriday.

Speaking to media personslater, Shabbir Ali said that TRSMinisters, especially VemulaPrashanth Reddy, Member of

Parliament BB Patil, GovtWhip G Govardhan and otherMLAs from Nizamabad andKamareddy districts have beenopenly violating the Model ofCode of Conduct without fearfrom the election authorities.

"TRS leaders are indulging inhorse trading of MPTCs,ZPTCs, Municipal Councillorsand Corporators, belonging toall opposition parties. SinceTRS does not have sufficientnumbers to win the elections,they are threatening or luringthe elected representatives ofother parties to join TRS toensure Kavitha's victory. Theiractions are a real threat todemocracy. This must be

stopped immediately if wewish to protect our democra-cy and constitution," he said.

Shabbir Ali informed thatthe Congress leaders submittedthe complete list of MPTCs,ZPTCs, Municipal Councilorsand Corporators who wereforcibly defected to TRS. Hesaid the behaviour of rulingTRS clearly shows that theMLC elections were not freeand fair in any manner.

Therefore, he said that theCEO has been urged to takeimmediate action under rele-vant laws and rules to stophorse trading and contain thepolitics of luring or intimida-tion.

TRS indulging in horse trading: Cong

Malkajgiri MP Revanth Reddy, Congress leader Shabbir Ali lodging the complaintbefore Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Shashank Goel at his office on Friday

TRS leaders are indulging in horsetrading of MPTCs, ZPTCs, MunicipalCouncillors and Corporators, said Cong

CPI: No facilities evenafter paying for quarantinePNS n HYDERABAD

CPI on Friday ques-tioned the state govern-ment to reveal whetherit is doing business in thename providing quaran-tine facility in hotels bycharging Rs 15,000 to Rs50,000 from thosereturning from foreigncountries.

CPI state secretaryChada Venkat Reddy onFriday tried to visit thePark Hotel after receiv-ing several complaintson paid quarantine inhotels to foreignreturnees. However, thepolice obstructed Chada.

According to ChadaVenkat Reddy, CPITelangana stateCommittee memberSada Laxmi returned toIndia after visiting herdaughter, who stays inAmerica. The state gov-ernment kept her at paidquarantine in Park Hotelin Somajiguda.

However, Sada Laxmibrought to ChadaVenkat Reddy's noticethat there are no ade-quate facilities and goodfood and doctors arenot checking on themregularly. Chada Venkat

Reddy went to ParkHotel along with partyleader Dr D Sudhakar.However, the policeobstructed CPI leadersfrom entering inside thehotel and informedthem that they are notallowing anyone insidethe hotel. Reacting to thepolice response, Chadaexpressed his displea-sure. He alleged that themigrant workers, hand-icraft workers, smalltraders and others werefacing lot of troublesdue to suddenannouncement of lock-down by the state andcentral governments.

The government isshifting the foreignreturnees to paid quar-antines. Those who

return from foreigncountries doesn't meaneveryone will havemoney. But still, the gov-ernment kept them inhotels with the conditionof self expenses rangingfrom Rs 15,000 to Rs50,000. However, thepersons staying in hotelquarantine are lodgingcomplaints that thehotels are not providingminimum facilities evenafter taking huge moneyfor 14 days quarantine,"he said. Chada demand-ed the government toprovide good food tothose staying in paidquarantines. Chadaspoke to Police andTourism Departmentofficials on the issue oflack of facilities.

CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy at the Park Hotel inHyderabad on Friday

Like any other sweet,Tirupati Laddu availableacross AndhraPNS n TIRUPATI

The famous "Tirupati laddu",the sacred 'prasad' of theancient nearby hill temple ofLord Venkateswara, will beavailable for purchase by devo-tees at subsidised price in theheadquarters of all 13 dis-tricts in Andhra Pradesh fromMonday. About 10,000 ladduswould be made available at themarriage halls or informationcentres of Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams (TTD), whichadministers the cash-rich tem-ple at Tirumala, in the districtheadquarter towns or cities, atemple official said on Friday.

The 'laddu', which is pricedat Rs 50 each, would be sold atRs 25 "as a token of gift" to thedevotees during the Covid-19lockdown period, he said.

Fresh stock would be trans-ported from the holy hills a daybefore the existing inventory isexhausted at the respectiveplaces, he added.

Entry of devotees to themore than 2,000-year old tem-ple, that used to draw thou-sands from across the countryevery day during normaltimes, has been barred sinceMarch 20 to check the spreadof the deadly coronavirus.

The devotees of LordVenkateswara in Chennai,Bengaluru and Hyderabadcould also be able to receive the'laddus' at subsidised pricesoon. TTD authorities wereperusing the matter withrespective state governmentsfor their nod in view of Covid-19 lockdown, the temple offi-cial added.

Power staff JAC to stage protest on June 1ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT BILL-2020

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State Power EmployeesJAC (TSPE JAC) has taken sever-al decisions on the proposedElectricity Amendment Bill-2020here at a meeting on Friday. TheJAC announced that it will launcha protest on June 1 following thenational call given by the NationalCoordination Committee ofElectricity Employees andEngineers (NCCOEEE). The JACasked the employees to wear blackbadges on June 1 in protest againstthe Electricity Amendment Bill-2020

In a statement, the JAC said thatthe power sector is under the Stateand Central concurrent list.However, the Central governmentis trying to take the powers of the

sector through the proposedElectricity Amendment Bill-2020.With this, the states will remain asspectator losing decision makingpower resulting in the power con-sumers, power projects and

employees would experience heavylosses.

JAC said that the cross subsidywill be lifted slowly forcing thepoor and middle class consumersto pay heavy tariffs. Then the state

governments have to pay subsidiesto consumers through DBT. Theconsumers have to pay power tar-iffs without any subsidy. "Thefarmers, poor domestic consumerswill face troubles if the subsidy ofthe government didn't reach intime through DBT. Then theElectricity Department will cut thepower connection if the consumerfail to pay the tariff on time," theJAC said.

The JAC condemned theCentral government's decision ofprivatisation through sublicenseand franchise in power distributionsector. The JAC thanked the ChiefMinister K Chandrashekhar Rao,Power Minister Jagadish Reddyand Transco and Genco CMDPrabhakar Rao for stating that theywill obstruct the bill at any cost.

Discrepancy in irrigation,revenue land records in state

Waive off electricity,water bills: CongPNSn HYDERABAD

The Congress party on Fridaydemanded that the TelanganaGovernment to waive off elec-tricity and water bills for theentire lockdown period for allcategories of consumers byutilising the funds received byCMRF towards Covid-19 reliefworks.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

INS Sunayna returnsto port after anti-piracy deploymentKOCHI: INS Sunayna, anoffshore patrol vessel of theIndian Navy, successfullycompleted her anti-piracydeployment in the Gulf of Adenand arrived here early Fridaymorning, a Defence spokesmansaid. The ship, based under theSouthern Naval Commandhere, had to sustain herselfwithout entering any port for 80days due to COVID-19pandemic, he said. She wasfuelled and resupplied bytankers of the Indian Navy andUS Navy, the spokesman said."Such an unbroken andsustained deployment at seaspeaks of very high crewproficiency and morale of theship", he said. The ship wasreceived by senior officers ofthe Southern Naval Command,who welcomed the crew backhome and congratulated theship on her sterlingperformance. INS Sunayna isthe second Saryu-class patrolvessel of the Indian Navy,designed and constructedindigenously by the GoaShipyard Limited.

Karna govt to bearShramik train travelcost till May 31: CM

Senior railway officialtests positive forcoronavirusNEW DELHI: A senior officerworking at Rail Bhavan hastested positive for coronavirus,becoming the third such case inthe building which is theheadquarters of the IndianRailways. The officer wasworking on the cadrerestructuring of the RailwayProtection Force Service. Shehad last come to work on May13, following which Rail Bhavanwas shut down for sanitisationpurposes for two days after anRPF staffer tested positive forthe disease, officials said. Therailway officer stays atCommonwealth Games Villageapartments, where many seniorofficers of the railways reside,they said. The officials said thata joint secretary-level officerworking closely with her hasbeen sent to 14-day homequarantine, while some juniorstaffers have been asked toisolate themselves.

BENGALURU: The Karnatakagovernment on Friday said itwould bear the travel cost ofmigrant workers and strandedpeople to their respective statesby Shramik trains upto May 31.Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa,in a series of tweets, said thegovernment has considered theplea of migrant workers whowere unable to bear the travelexpenditure to go back to theirhome towns. "The governmentconsiders migrant workers,who have come from far flungparts of our country, as ourown people and it is my firmbelief that they too must besupported by the State," hesaid. Shramik trains are beingoperated by sharing the fare ona 85-15 ratio between theRailways and the state govern-ments. According to reports,some states had refused to paythe fare for migrant workers,resulting in the labourerspaying for the trips.

Dalai Lama writes to Naveen,Mamata; expresses sympathyPNS n BHUBANESWAR

Tibetan spiritual leader theDalai Lama has written toMamata Banerjee and NaveenPatnaik, chief ministers of WestBengal and Odisha respective-ly, expressing his sympathy forthe loss of lives and property inthe two states ravaged bycyclone Amphan.

In his letters to the two chiefministers, the Buddhist leadersaid he is making a donationfrom the Dalai Lama Trust forthe relief and rebuilding efforts"as a mark of solidarity with thepeople of West Bengal andOdisha."

However, the amount ofdonation was not mentioned inthe statement issued by hisoffice on Thursday.

"This morning His Holinessthe Dalai Lama wrote toMamata Banerjee and NaveenPatnaik, the Chief Ministers of

West Bengal and Odisha respec-tively to express his sadness overthe loss of life, the devastationof property, as well as the hard-ship caused to so many peopledue to Cyclone Amphan," saidthe statement on Thursday.

Cyclone Amphan hasclaimed 77 lives in West Bengaland Banerjee said the state suf-fered losses to the tune of Rs 1lakh crore because of it.

There has been no confirma-

tion of any loss of human life inOdisha due to the cyclone,though it affected nearly 45 lakhpeople and damaged a largenumber of houses in the coastaldistricts.

The Dalai Lama also con-veyed his condolences to thefamilies who have lost lovedones, and to all those affected bythe storm. "I appreciate theprior preparations that weremade to respond to this natur-al disaster, and the efforts thatare underway to provide reliefand assistance to those affected,"the Dalai Lama wrote to eachchief ministers.

To the West Bengal chiefminister, he said, "In addition toour profound respect for Indiaas a sacred land, which has alsobeen home to many Tibetansover the last 61 years, we havea special regard for Bengal"mainly because of two great per-sonalities who hailed from it.

HC declines to stayconviction of former CMMadhu Koda in coal scamPNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court Fridaydeclined to stay the convic-tion of former Jharkhandchief minister Madhu Kodain a coal scam saying it willnot be apt to facilitate him tocontest polls for any publicoffice, till he is finally acquit-ted.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru saidthe wider opinion was thatpersons charged with crimesought to be disqualified fromcontesting elections to publicoffices and therefore, it wouldnot be apt to stay Koda's con-viction to overcome the dis-qualification incurred byhim.

Koda had moved the pleafor stay of conviction to con-test in the 2019 Jharkhandstate assembly polls and thehigh court had reserved itsverdict on his application onMarch 19.

"It would not be apposite tofacilitate the appellant to con-

test elections for any publicoffice, till he is finally acquit-ted," the court said.

Koda was held guilty ofcorruption and conspiracy, bya trial court in 2017, in allo-cation of a Jharkhand-basedcoal block to Kolkata-basedcompany Vini Iron and SteelUdyog Ltd (VISUL).

Senior advocate R SCheema and advocateTarannum Cheema, appear-ing for CBI, had opposed hisplea for stay of conviction.

PNS n LUCKNOW

BSP chief Mayawati on Fridaycriticised the Congress govern-ment in Rajasthan for raisinga bill of over Rs 36 lakh for itsbuses used for ferrying stu-dents back to Uttar Pradeshfrom Kota and said this showsits “inhumanity”.

The bill was cleared by theYogi Adityananth governmenton Friday, a day after it was sentby Rajasthan for facilitating thestudents' return from coachinghub Kota amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

In a series of tweets,Mayawati said, “The demandof Rs 36.36 lakhs that theRajasthan government hasgiven as expenditure of send-ing about 12,000 young menand women back from Kota totheir homes shows their inhu-manity. Such disgusting politicsbetween two neighbouringstates is extremely saddening."

"But how appropriate andhow humane is the politicalgame being played by theCongress government of

Rajasthan, on one side charg-ing arbitrary fare for sendingUP students in their busesfrom Kota and on the othernow talking about buses tosend migrant labourers to theirhomes in UP,” Mayawati said.

Rajasthan government rais-ing the bill comes amid thecontroversy over Congressgeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi's offer to provide 1,000buses to ferry migrant labour-ers in Uttar Pradesh.

"In mid-April, the UttarPradesh government haddecided to bring students ofUP stranded in Kota due to

lockdown back home. UttarPradesh State Road TransportCorporation (UPSRTC) buseswere deployed for bringingthem back, but the number ofstudents there was more thanour estimate and we neededadditional buses," UPSRTCmanaging director Raj Shekharsaid.

"The buses of RajasthanRoadways available in Kotawere used for ferrying studentstill Agra and Mathura. The billfor the same was raised by theRajasthan Roadways whichhas been cleared by theUPSRTC," he added.

PM says country stands withBengal, announces Rs 1K cr aidPNS n BHUBANESWAR

After conducting an aerial sur-vey of the cyclone-hit areas ofWest Bengal on Friday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced a Rs 1,000 crorerelief package for the state, say-ing the nation stood withBengal in this hour of crisis.

"I assure my brothers andsisters of West Bengal that theentire country stands with youin these difficult times," Modisaid.

The Prime Minister alsosaid that Rs 2 lakh would begiven to the next of kin of thedeceased persons while thosewho suffered serious injurieswill get Rs 50,000 each.

Severe cyclone Amphanmade its landfall in WestBengal on Wednesday after-

noon and caused severe dam-ages in various parts of the statewith a wind speed rangingfrom 155 kmph to 185 kmph,accompanied by heavy rainfall.At least 80 people have losttheir lives due to the cyclone,as per sources.

Modi said that a Central

team will be sent to the statesoon to conduct a detailed sur-vey of the damages caused byAmphan, adding that allaspects related to rehabilitationand reconstruction will beaddressed. "We all want WestBengal to move ahead," he said.

Earlier, as the Prime

Minister landed in Bengal totake stock of the trail ofdestruction left behind by thesevere cyclonic storm, ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee andGovernor Jagdeep Dhankharcame to receive him alongwith the senior state BJP lead-ership.

Different Ramzan for different folks: Mosquesshut, poor Muslims struggle for food in lockdownPNS n NEW DELHI

The month of Ramzan hascome as a boon, says Shabana.Not because it's a holy month orbecause it leads up to Eid butbecause her children don't askher for three meals a day whenthey are fasting.

The distraught mother, apart-time domestic worker insouth Delhi, echoes thousandsof devout Muslims scramblingto feed their families in anextended lockdown that hasrendered them jobless and onthe verge of penury.

A large number of daily wageworkers, including rickshawpullers and construction labour-ers, and their families depend onneighbourhood mosques fortheir two main meals duringRamzan – sehri, the pre-dawnmeal at the beginning of a dayof fasting, and iftaar, at the end

of day.But with mosques shut, they

are left to fend for themselves,underscoring once again themagnitude of the crisis of unem-ployment and poverty triggeredby the lockdown, which beganon March 25 to stem the spreadof the coronavirus.

Many continued to fastthrough Ramzan, which is near-

ing its end, hoping their prayerswill help them pull through dif-ficult times and looking at thefasting month as a blessing indisguise as they don't have toarrange for three meals a day.

"Ramzan is a boon in suchdifficult times as my childrenfast and don't ask for threemeals in a day," said 28-year-old Shabana, who goes by

only one name.Her husband is stranded in

Jharkhand and she lives in theJohri Farm locality in Okhlawith her out-of-work brotherand two children -- a 12-year-old son and a 10-year-olddaughter.

"I was employed in threehomes, but my employers askedme not to come once the lock-

down began. Only one of themhas paid me for these last twomonths when I was not work-ing, " she told PTI.

"At least, during Ramzan, Ijust have to arrange for twomeals. For sehri, we just makedo with tea. And for iftaar, wemanage with whatever littlefood we can arrange,” she added.

"I can't bear to see my chil-dren's faces when they go outduring iftaar time and returndejected seeing others buyingdelicious food which we can'tafford," she said.

Shabana is not alone in hermisery. Sitara, a 40-year-oldout-of-work domestic help inNoor Nagar, said all her fourchildren fast during Ramzan. IfShabana and her family man-age with tea during sehri, herchildren and she just drinkwater. Iftaar is also about justmaking do.

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Domestic flyers arriving inKerala must undergo strict homequarantine as per the lockdownguidelines, in view of increasingCOVID-19 cases in the state,Health Minister K K Shailaja saidon Friday.

"Even if the domestic flightservices resume, those coming inmust remain under strict homequarantine as per the guidelines.

There is no change in that.Most people will be coming fromthe major hotspots of the coun-try," she said. Announcing theresumption of domestic flightservices from May 25, the CivilAviation Ministry had indicatedon Thursday that it was not infavour of quarantining passen-gers on short-haul flights.

However, the Assam govern-ment has made it mandatory forall air passengers coming tothat state to stay in quarantine for14 days.

Apart from the health depart-

ment and the local self govern-ment institutions, Shailaja saidthe people of Kerala must alsoensure that every returnee to thestate remained under strict homequarantine in order to curb thespread of the disease.

"We need to strictly keepunder observation all those whocome fromoutside the state andmake sure that they do notcome into contact with othersincluding their family mem-bers.

They should be effectivelyremain under room quarantine

at their residence," she said. Thestate reported 690 cases after 24more tested positive for coron-avirus on Thursday. As of nowover 80,000 people are underobservation across the state.

On the death of a 73-year-oldwoman, who came fromMumbai, on Thursday, the min-ister said, "Khadijakuttycamefrom Mumbai along with threeothers. She alighted atChavakkad. Her son who pickedher up from there took her to thegovt hospital as she was tired. Shewas given good care."

Quarantine must for domesticair travellers: Kerala govt

PNS n NAGPUR

Senior government officials inNagpur on Friday informed theBombay High Court thatCOVID-19 tests on police andmedical staff deployed in twocontainment zones in the cityshall be conducted only if thenumber of coronavirus positivecases in each of these areas isabove 15.

The submission was made bythe Nagpur district collectorand the city's police commission-er. The COVID-19 containmentzones they were referring to areSatranjipura and Mominpura.

The Nagpur bench of the HChad earlier this week directed thetwo senior officials to considerconducting COVID-19 tests onall medical and police personneldischarging duty in these twoareas as a pilot project.

The Nagpur district collectorand police commissioner onFriday submitted their report toa division bench of Justices Ravi

Deshpande and Amit Borkar inwhich they said a joint meetingwas convened along with seniormedical officials to consider thesuggestion made by the court.

COVID-19 tests of medicaland police personnel working ordischarging duty in the twocontainment zones ofMominpura and Satranjipuraare proposed to be conducted ifthere are more than 15 positivecases (in each of them), thereport said.

As per the report, a total of798 police personnel havebeen deployed in Satranjipuraand Mominpura areas ofNagpur. Besides, 296 medicaldoctors, nurses and otherhealthcare workers are render-ing their services to personsfrom these areas.

Out of the 295 medical staffworkers, 42 have been alreadytested for COVID-19 and theirresults turned out to be negativefor the infection, the report said.

Haryana sees 3-fold increase inCOVID-19 cases during MayPNS n CHANDIGARH

Haryana has recorded a three-fold increase in coronaviruscases this month, majority ofthem being reported from fourdistricts falling in the NationalCapital Region. The cases havejumped from 339 as on April 30to 1,031 on May 21.

The coronavirus cases inGurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipatand Jhajjar, which fall in theNCR, jumped from 54, 53, 25and 24, respectively, as on April30 to 239, 181, 150 and 91 byMay 21, according to data putout by the state health depart-ment in its daily bulletins.

Eleven of the 15 COVID-19deaths which the state hasreported so far took place dur-ing the month of May.

On May 4, Haryana hadrecorded the highest single-dayjump in coronavirus cases when75 infections were reported and

a day earlier the state had report-ed 66 infections, most of thesefrom the NCR districts.

The number of active cases inthe state have gone up from 100on April 30 to 335 on May 21.

Commenting on the spurt inCOVID-19 cases in the NCR,Health Minister Anil Vij said thepeople living in districts whichare closer to Delhi have also beenaffected. There are a total of

12,319 coronavirus cases in thenational capital, according toauthorities. Haryana has main-tained that several cases report-ed from Sonipat, Jhajjar,Gurgaon, Faridabad and evenPanipat have their origins ininfections emanating from thenational capital, following whichauthorities had put strict regula-tion on borders with Delhi tocheck the spread of infection.

Officials submit report in HC

on testing COVID-19 warriorsHC seeks NIAreply onNavlakha'sinterim bail pleaPNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court Fridaysought NIA's response toactivist Gautam Navlakha'sinterim bail plea in BhimaKoregaon violence case onmedical grounds. Navlakha,67, has sought bail saying he isaged and particularly vulnera-ble to catching any infections/virus, especially in a crowdedenvironment like prison. He ispresently lodged in Tihar jail.The petition also claimed thathe was diagnosed with highblood pressure during NIAcustody by the doctor at Safdar-jung Hospital, which increas-es the risk of his morbidity.

The Prime Ministeralso said that Rs 2lakh would begiven to the nextof kin of thedeceased personswhile those whosuffered seriousinjuries will get Rs50,000 each.

Rs 36 lakh bill for students fromKota shows inhumanity: Maya

"I was employed inthree homes, but myemployers asked menot to come oncethe lockdown beg-an. Only one of themhas paid me for the-se last two monthswhen I was notworking," she said

Health workers protest againstnew quarantine guidelines

PNS n NEW DELHI

Healthcare workers at severalCentral and city governmenthospitals sported black armbands on Friday to protest thegovernment's decision to end theneed for their quarantine afterCOVID-19 duty unless there hasbeen any form of high-riskexposure. Several hospitals inthe last few days have asked theirhealthcare workers staying inhotels during the quarantineperiod to vacate rooms imme-diately failing which the chargespaid for their overstay would bededucted from their salaries.

As per the Union health min-istry guidelines issued on May15, healthcare workers servingin COVID-19 areas do notneed to undergo quarantineunless there has been violation

in the use of PPE or any otherform of high-risk exposure orthey have symptoms suggestiveof coronavirus infection.

However, healthcare workerson the frontline have raisedobjections to the new guidelines.

The Federation of ResidentDoctors' Association (FORDA)has called for the black ribbonprotest to demand proper quar-antine and testing for all health-care workers on COVID-19duty. The FORDA had alsowritten to Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan seekinga revision of the guidelines stat-ing the virus has an incubationperiod of 2-14 days followingexposure and there are multipleinstances of doctors testing pos-itive for the disease following asecond test or subsequentlyafter that.

Ignorance is like knowledge, it has nolimits. The colossal movement of theblue-collar migrant workers back totheir home districts has exposed ourignorance about this segment. How

could the Centre not anticipate its possibil-ity when it shut down everything on mini-mal notice, drawing a lakshman rekhaaround houses on March 25? A plannedevacuation, like in the case of a naturalcalamity, would have helped. This could havealso prevented many deaths that the migrantworkers are facing almost on a daily basis onthe highways and railway tracks.

However, we choose to be wise only whentragedy strikes. After beating around the bushinitially, branding the upsurge in COVID-19cases as a conspiracy by certain ChiefMinisters or a political party, the Centre couldno longer overlook the elephant in thedrawing room. Commendably, the Ministryof Railways brought the wheels back on track.The Shramik special trains were started toferry the stranded workers back to their homedistricts. Post this, the Union Government hasbeen proactive in combating the COVID-19pandemic and providing relief materials.However, it chose to be wise only in hindsightwhen it came to migrant workers.

In a recent article, Mark Tully attributedthis crisis to the class divide. Since none ofour policy-makers comes from the class ofthe migrant workers, the mandarins ofRaisina Hill could not think about their fate.One would like to cite another factor that canbe termed as “dereliction of political duty.”Problems of the agriculture sector andfarmer suicides have rocked the Parliamentmany times. Some members have alsocalled for convening a separate session to dis-cuss agrarian issues and formulating a sep-arate agriculture Budget. It is another thingthat those suggestions have never been pur-sued.

However, this writer believes that theplight of the migrant workers in urban India,a bulk of whom belong to the unorganisedsector, is actually grimmer. Agrarian suicidesconstitute seven to 12 per cent of all suicidesin the country. Year-on-year figures areavailable in Accidental Deaths and Suicidesin India, an annual publication of theNational Crime Records Bureau (Ministry ofHome Affairs). The figures are low in percent-age terms if one considers that close to halfof India’s population remains dependent onprimary sectors like agriculture and forestryamong others. The law of probability entailsthat half of the suicides in India should comefrom that sector as well. However, merciful-ly, this is not the case. Agriculture is in thegreen zone as far as suicidal deaths are con-cerned. Which sector is in the red zone then?

To cite an example, in 2018, 22.4 per centof those who committed suicide were dailywage earners; 9.8 per cent were self-employed;9.6 per cent were unemployed; and other per-sons (a grey area) were 16.2 per cent.Comparatively, 7.7 per cent of the people

engaged in the farming sectorcommitted suicide. More peoplecoming from the salaried andprofessional class (8.9 per cent)committed suicide in 2018 in thecountry than those engaged inthe farming sector.

The exact situation of themigrant workers might fallthrough these statistics. However,a little application of the mind willreveal their plight. A person inthe farm sector at least lives in hisown home/native place. Amigrant worker, however, is sur-rounded by professional uncer-tainties and mental insecurities.These gnaw him to the core.

But why did the plight of thepeople in the urban unorganisedsector, many of whom aremigrant workers, never capturethe attention of the politicalclass? This is possibly becausenobody is sure where they havetheir votes. In a lecture deliveredby OP Rawat, IAS (Retd), the for-mer Chief ElectionCommissioner, at Jigyasa Forum,New Delhi, earlier this year, hehad said that nearly five crore ofthe migrant workers have neverbeen registered as voters. TheElection Commission of Indiamight have bridged that gaplately. But with a registered elec-torate of 91 crore out of India’sestimated population of 137 core,the saturation limit of above 18years voters seems to have beenreached in 2019 (discounting forsome duplication in electoralrolls, which is likely to be stream-lined in near future).

While farmers are “settled”voters, migrant workers are oftennot. While some of them remain

voters in their native place, oth-ers change their address to theplace of usual residency. Thisoften leads political parties, bothin the home and resident State,to turn a blind eye to their con-dition. Thus, their fate is less like-ly to be discussed in the legisla-ture. It is only in the wake of thelockdown that we have beenreminded of a 40-year progres-sive piece of legislation (formu-lated by the then Janata PartyGovernment) viz, the Inter-StateMigrant Workmen (Regulationof Employment and Conditionsof Service) Act, 1979, which hasbeen more honoured in breachthan in observance.

A migrant worker doesn’thave the dignity associated witha farmer. As the share of agricul-ture contracted in the GDP bas-ket of India, it implied more peo-ple had shifted out of that sectorto become wage earners. Now,the COVID scourge has inflict-ed heavy damage upon the man-ufacturing and service sectors. Itis anticipated that the unem-ployed migrant labour popula-tion will fall back upon agricul-ture for the time being. A situa-tion close to that happened whenfollowing the destruction ofindustries, during the onset of theBritish rule, people fell back onagriculture, leading to over-crowding.

Apparently, this overcrowd-ing was never fully outlived.Nearly a century of industrialisa-tion failed to bring down India’sagricultural dependency in termsof employment substantially.Notwithstanding, the share ofagriculture has been reduced

drastically in the GDP basket. It is a pity that States do not

have approximate figures aboutthe number of migrant workers.Since it is the fundamental rightof any citizen to move andresettle in any part of the coun-try, the State is not willing tointervene, despite the 1979 law.However, during a reply to aquestion in the Lok Sabharecently (Vide unstarred ques-tion 4747 dated March 23), fig-ures (as of 2016) were estimat-ed to be over 100 million (10crore). Indian Post moneyorders booked in Karnataka(paradoxically India’s IT State)amounted to ̀ 3,259 crore out ofIndia’s total figure of ̀ 5,065 crorefor the year 2018-19. The otherleading States are Kerala (`900crore), Tamil Nadu (`198 crore)and Maharashtra (`185 crore),referring to a strong elementfrom the migrant worker com-munity. A recent digital wallet adon television (Phone Pe) choseto break away from elitism andfeatured a migrant worker. It isan indication that the digital wal-let economy is now giving chal-lenge to “money order econo-my” of the migrant workers.

Economies often demon-strate great resilience in the faceof tough challenges. They oftenrecover sooner than predicted byexperts. As the economy settlesdown post-COVID, there will befresh demands for migrant work-ers. It remains to be seen whetherthey retake the flight of fancyback to the same place or explorelocal options.

(The writer is an independentauthor based in New Delhi. )

In a move that will change the higher edu-cation scenario in India forever, the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC) has green-light-

ed a proposal to allow students to take up twodegree courses simultaneously. What is clearat the moment is that only one of the cours-es can be pursued in the regular format whilethe other can be followed online. A student canpursue two degrees in different streams as wellas from different institutions. Though this movewas being mulled for a long time, the UGC tookit up seriously only last year. Dual degrees

empower a student with a higher skill set and improve his/her job prospects,particularly relevant when the world is staring at a recessionary economy. In theWest, universities routinely offer students double majors, which essentially comeas a single degree from a single university but with combined honours, such asa degree in two different streams like English Literature and Computing, givinggraduates the option of pursuing a career in either.

As it is, the country’s unemployment rate at the moment is a scary 24 percent. So the UGC’s decision will help urban job-seekers become more employ-able. Being flexible in a dismal job market will mean better chances of gettinghired in a cut-throat economic environment. However, as we celebrate this move,we must not ignore some of the stark realities of the Indian education system.A whopping 47 per cent of the graduates being churned out by our universitiesand professional colleges are not employable for any industry role. A 2019 sur-vey reveals that close to 90.92 per cent of graduating engineers lack the requiredprogramming and algorithm skills required to work in IT product companies.Software engineers have a very low employability rate, with only 16.25 per centbeing employable in IT services and 3.4 per cent in IT product companies. So,if this is the level of our education and this is the kind of knowledge, or lack ofit, that our students are imparted, then how does it matter if they can do one ormore degrees? They will still be unemployable and feel the worse for it becausethey would have worked that much harder. It is better we overhaul the educa-tion system and make it more research-based with practical industry knowledge.We must encourage innovation, higher-order thinking and improve our youths’cognitive skills. In short, we must adopt global standards of education so thatwhen our students graduate, their degrees can be put to good use.

The trouble with facts and figures is thatthey are good enough for comparativedata analysis, historicity and references

but fall short of mapping the extent of humantragedy, the loss of human settlements and thedeath of man-made legacies. So though thesuper-cyclone of 1999 claimed over 10,000lives, compared to the 80-odd caused byAmphan at a time when early warning sys-tems and disaster preparedness haveimproved, the latter has left a rampaging trailof destruction unseen in the last two decades.

Although 500,000 people had been evacuated, the wind speed of 185 kmph ham-mering in with brute and unsparing force from the Bay of Bengal meant that itdisfigured the iconic face of Kolkata as we knew it. The city has lost over 9,000big trees that lined its avenues and wrapped around its colonial splendour. Thehowling storm tore through the facades of a cultural entity called Park Street,crumbled heritage ruins down to their last bones and shattered the egoism ofmodern-day highrises which couldn’t hold their glass showcase as they splin-tered wildly. Even at the time of writing this, cellphone towers and power sup-plies are out in many areas. Kolkata airport looked like a sea with untold dam-age to infrastructure. Mangled heaps of metal, cars that had turned turtle or tele-scoped into houses, debris and uprooted trees and poles have buried lives, liveli-hoods and identities. The official cost of destruction may be estimated to be at`1 lakh crore but rebuilding an emotion and culture that had held out for hun-dreds of years is quite something else. For Kolkata has never been about inan-imate structures, each of them had a life force of its own. That moral invincibil-ity, a sense of being really, has taken a big hit. Not only that, Amphan’s rage hascaused irreparable damage to the ecologically fragile Sundarbans region and itspeople. Mud embankments in the delta, a UNESCO site, were breached as thehungry tide whipped up by the churner flooded large swathes of the islands andsubmerged them into oblivion. With sea water entering agricultural land, officialsnow fear that more than two lakh rice farmers could be severely affected. Nobodyknows if the tigers, numbering around 100, are safe or not. The marine ecosys-tem has also shape-shifted overnight, the mangroves reduced to clumps. Almostthe same part of the Sundarbans was devastated last November by Cyclone Bulbuland the State Government had asked for a financial relief package worth ̀ 23,000crore from the Union government. Political wrangling on the package was stillgoing on when Amphan pummelled Bengal further. Besides the State makes up15 per cent of India’s food supplies, so the nation has a broken conduit. That’sthe reason why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for an end to politicisa-tion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly responded by doing an aerial tourbesides announcing a `1,000 crore package. And although media coverage ofthe crisis smelt of bias despite the scale of devastation, any kind of politicisa-tion over relief and rehabilitation should be avoided by either side. For given theCOVID-19 pandemic, nobody would want Bengal to become an uncontrollablehotspot with thousands displaced and forced to seek shelter in crowded camps.

Although the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had done mass evac-uations in both Bengal and Odisha, its teams now have the dual task of rehabil-itation and disease control. It is being helped by the State police and firemen butsaving lives is still a humongous task. Lessons learnt from Fani have, however,helped NDRF deploy tree-pole cutters in the areas which were expected to beworst-hit. Which is why the State could resume some patchy bursts of powersupply in 24 hours. But it is relocating the displaced and evacuees that is caus-ing a bigger problem. Due to social-distancing protocols in place, the cyclonerescue centres, which could hold about 1,000 people, can now shelter only 400-500 locals. With a lot of physical handling in relief and rescue efforts, they alsohave an additional responsibility of ensuring that locals who moved into shelterhomes do not contract the disease. Apart from routine medical assistance tothe injured and hurt, there is a simultaneous need for testing given the high infec-tivity of the disease. Let us not forget that returnee migrants also form a part ofthe evacuees. Clearly, Amphan has been an epic humanitarian disaster for EastIndia. And a precursor to what a rough monsoon could do to coastal states amidthe pandemic. So for once, the Centre versus State war or ruling party versusOpposition won’t make sense to anybody, not even the politicians.

Teachers’ plight

Sir — Private school teachers areamong the worst hit due to theCOVID pandemic. Many teach-ers and lecturers in private insti-tutions are facing the repercus-sions of pending dues andsalaries. Left with no option,some have been forced to take upagricultural works in their vil-lages. Many have turned as man-ual labourers and some havebeen seeking work under theMahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Schemebecause they did not get theirsalary for the last two months andthere is no certainty as to whenthey might receive their dues.

They are facing terminationthreats, too, even after providingonline classes to pupils. Someteachers, who moved to the urbanareas from the villages, do not haveration cards. This makes themineligible to receive Governmentassistance, including foodgrains.The payment of salaries, job secu-rity and addressing other problemsof private teachers and lecturersshould be a priority area for theadministration.

The Government shoulddirect private schools and other

institutions to pay salaries for theentire month. Education depart-ments of all States should do theirbest to ensure that no teacher goesunpaid.

Ravi Teja Kathuripalli Hyderabad

Tap grassroot talent

Sir — The story of Jyoti Kumari,a 15-year-old native of Bihar’sDarbhanga, who travelled on abicycle carrying her wounded

father and covered more than1,200 km from Gurgaon inHaryana to her village is one ofindomitable courage and persis-tence. Cycling down more than1,200 km is not a mean job. Thisis why, impressed by her physical

endurance, the Indian CyclingFederation has decided to inviteher for trials next month. This isa life-changing opportunity forher. Jyoti has proved that talentexists in small villages. Due to alack of guidance, infrastructureand opportunity, those talentedfail to deliver. The StateGovernment must provide allsupport and help her tap talent.

MN UllahSaharanpur

Back to playing games

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “The dragon’s grip” (May 22).When the focus of the entireworld is on trying to get rid of theCOVID pandemic, China is backto playing old games and ispreparing strategies to destabiliseIndia’s development by creatingdisturbances along the Line ofActual Control. India should beextra careful in guarding its bor-ders more than in wartime asChina is creating problems via theNepal tri-junction, too.

Manisha Via email

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020

06

Without a roadmap

PRIYADARSHI DUTTA

The long march of migrant workers back to their home States took the Government by surprise. It is time we have a consistent policy on this diligent segment of society

The Government was uncertain about the criteriafor lockdowns. Nor does ithave an exit strategy.Successive lockdowns haveyielded diminishing returns.

Congress president—Sonia Gandhi

Oh! I am hale and hearty.Main abhi zinda hoon. I amglad someone called to checkofficially. I don’t know whysomeone is deliberately doingthis. Is it some kind of a joke?

Actor—Mumtaz

We urge the Indian side to worktogether with us, abide by ourleadership’s consensus, complywith the agreements signed,refrain from unilateral actionscomplicating the situation.

Chinese official —Zhao Lijian

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

A callous response to emerging crisis

The Indian Railways has been a source of both hopeand anguish for millions of Indians. But it appearsthat the migrants, who are desirous of returning to

their native places, are in for a long and miserable wait.Despite the Railways having introduced a number of“Shramik” special trains to carry them back to their homeStates, it is surprising that thousands of labourers, with-out a valid ticket, thronged outside railway stations in sev-eral parts of the country. In some places, the police hada tough time in tackling the situation. This certainly laysbare the truth behind the administration’s claims of hav-ing an efficient system in place to ensure that the entireprocess of transporting the migrants back home is car-ried out methodically and in accordance with the guide-lines prescribed vis-à-vis the COVID pandemic. Reportsof stranded migrant labourers giving vent to their annoy-ance indicate a complete failure or a marked reluctanceon the part of the Government to come to terms with theenormity of the situation. With no vaccines or cure in sightto contain the virus, social distancing norms and the wear-ing of face masks continue to be the most reliable meth-ods to ward off the dangers of the pandemic.

This is why the blatant disregard shown by themigrants on the need to maintain social distancing is a

cause for alarm. One can well understand their plight.They are seemingly at their wit’s end as they try to getaccustomed to the circumstances arising out of the pan-demic. Apparently, there has been a communication gapbetween the “facilitator” and the “migrants.” This hasresulted in unmanageable crowds becoming the orderof the day around most “departure” points. How doesthe Government propose to tackle this issue?

Pachu MenonMargao

WHILE FARMERSARE SETTLED

VOTERS, MIGRANTWORKERS ARE

OFTEN NOT. WHILESOME OF THEM

REMAIN VOTERSIN THEIR NATIVEPLACE, OTHERSCHANGE THEIR

ADDRESS TO THEPLACE OF USUALRESIDENCY. THIS

OFTEN LEADSPOLITICAL

PARTIES, BOTH INTHE HOME AND

RESIDENT STATE,TO TURN A BLIND

EYE TO THEIRCONDITION

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Double degreesI don’t think KL Rahul is along-term option. He shouldalways be the back-up wick-et-keeper. If a keeper getsinjured then Rahul shouldkeep wickets.

Former India cricketer —Mohammad Kaif

With the face of Kolkata and Sundarbans changed foreverby Amphan, the Centre vs State war should stop now

While this will increase employability, the question is aboutthe quality of college courses and industry-ready orientation

Bengal battered

The art of survival

LIKE IT WAS WITH VIJAY SHANKAR OR WHOEVER GOTPICKED IN THE WORLD CUP. SOME OF THE DECISIONS

WERE ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING.—CRICKETER

GAUTAM GAMBHIR

AT THE TOP, EVERYONE WAS A BATSMAN. AND VIJAYSHANKAR, WHO BATS AT THE TOP ORDER, COULD BEHELPFUL WITH THE BALL IN ENGLISH CONDITIONS.—FORMER CHAIRMAN OF SELECTORSMSK PRASAD

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The current pandemic is an unprecedentedcalamity and its economic and social pain isimmense. The worst affected are the popula-

tions who subsist on daily wage or seasonal income.Barring agriculture, which is still functional, the ruraleconomy is groaning in distress. Since the deeperbehavioural changes and social restrictions that thepandemic has imposed are expected to become —and remain — the new normal for a long time, wewill have to recalibrate our economic and social pat-terns so that the hardship of daily subsistence doesnot further compound problems created by the loom-ing health crisis.

Almost 90 per cent of the workers in India arepart of the informal economy and thrive on dailywork, with little provision for employment protec-tion. The pandemic has required governmentsaround the world to introduce social distancing andlockdowns in unprecedented ways. These measureshave impacted economies and jobs worldwide andin India, too.

One of the vulnerable communities affected bythe crisis are folk artistes/craftspersons. With incomesdrying up, daily subsistence is becoming a challengefor them. But there is also an overlooked opportu-nity in this pandemic for both the Government andthese communities. The battle against the virus isbeing fought on two fronts: Prevention and cure.While health workers are making brave efforts to han-dle the contagion, the preventive part involves deepbehavioural changes, which are more effectivelyachieved through multiple approaches of social mes-saging that can make people aware. Folkartistes/craftspersons can play an influential role indissemination of information about COVID-19 ina language that rural India understands and bringabout the desired behavioural changes in society. Folkart is the most powerful medium of communicationin the hinterland.

To adapt to the new norms of social distancing,we can have smaller troupes. Village heads havebecome highly mature in handling calamities and weknow how Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across the coun-try are responding to the pandemic creatively. Often,responses look to established or well-known systemsto relay accurate information and solutions to peo-ple. For example, trusted community leaders,artistes/craftspersons can influence the behaviour ofpeople and ensure that accurate and culturally-sen-sitive health messages are conveyed and that assis-tance reaches those who need it most.

Folk arts are built on time-honoured wisdomdocumented through centuries. Much of India’s ruraland tribal social structure is built around practicescarried forward through folk wisdom. The role of folkart in this entire ecosystem is rather important becauseit incorporates valuable lessons from folk mytholo-gy. Though many fear that the impact of COVID-19 may be the end of artistes/craftspeople, the factremains that their creativity and resilience can savethem. Several organisations and guilds led by not-for-profit Dastkar are in the forefront of efforts to keepthe morale of the artistes/craftspersons intact. Thesepeople know that while lives are important, livelihoodsare no less critical.

India’s folk artistes/craftspersons have long usedtraditional storytelling for social messaging. It is wide-ly recognised as one of the most powerful tools ofcommunication and documentation of their culture.

Many grassroots organisations have alreadylaunched several innovative campaigns bychannelising the creativity of these people.However, countrywide efforts will berequired to protect the physical and finan-cial health of these marginalised commu-nities who have no fallback in these tenu-ous times.

NGOs have already channelised thecreativity of these artistes/craftspersons ina way that ensures their financial sustenanceand also reinforces the outreach of the pub-lic education campaign about the pandem-ic and the new social norms it has imposed.The initiative has caught the attention ofthe world. Working during the lockdown,which has crossed two months, a group ofcraftspersons across India produced illus-trations and paintings in traditional stylesthat depict the behavioural practices beingadvised by health advisories.

Since March, craftspersons have pro-duced artwork underlining the importanceof social distancing, wearing face masks,washing hands with soap, other hygiene eti-quette and avoiding group travel. There arealso scenes depicting hospitals treatingCOVID-19 patients. Traditionally, manyfolk art forms in India were made on largescrolls or as murals to share informationwith the community. Artists would hold upscrolls in village squares and share messagesfor creating awareness and eliciting com-munity responses. Ambika Devi is an artistfrom Rashidpur village in Bihar. Shemakes Madhubani paintings which showpeople wearing face masks and maintain-ing social distancing in village markets.

Bhilwara in Rajasthan is considered agreat success story in reversing the tide ofinfections. It was an early hotspot before

the virus was contained through creativeapproaches. Kalyan Joshi is a Phad artistfrom Bhilwara. His paintings carry mes-sages in the local language about social dis-tancing and face masks. Joshi’s artworkshave become extremely popular with thelocal people as they relate the idea to theirown traditions. Bhilwara is a prime exam-ple of innovative strategies in promotingnew behavioural patterns.

Apindra Swain, a Patachitra artist inOdisha, was quite discouraged as he hadlost his creativity. Yet when he created a clas-sic Patachitra artwork depicting the newnormal, people were interested.

It is the responsibility of all citizens, notjust NGOs, to ensure that the creative juicesof artistes/craftspeople keep flowing, so thatthe traditions they preserve don’t die out.There are several enterprising ways inwhich we can support these people. Forinstance, community stitching of masks,table mats, garden umbrellas, lampshadesand so on can be undertaken using folk andtribal art signages. This can be donethrough prior contracts with buy-backarrangements. The sponsor organisationscan arrange for supply of raw materials andsewing machines.

Tribal tours can be organised for cityfolk and foreigners and attractive productdiscounts can be offered. This can be fac-tored into the ticket/tour cost. Instead ofbringing artistes/craftspeople to the city forthe usual folk festivals, tourists can be takento the villages, where they can perform intheir natural setting. This will give touristsa better insight into their culture and be anovel experience for them as well.

Pre-sale of products can be organisedwith prepaid tour tickets for a group of 10-

15 people as per social distancing norms. In case of musicians, drama troupes,

dancers and singers, a large village centrecan be identified and made into a sort ofkala gram (art village) and artistes can per-form there. The number of performers pergroup can be restricted for the purpose ofsocial distancing.

The Companies Act, 2013, allows forpromotion and development of tradition-al arts and handicrafts to be counted as acorporate social responsibility (CSR), giv-ing businesses an effective cause to supportfolk artistes/craftspersons. The large avail-ability of space, the presence of vast cor-puses dedicated to CSR funding and thebusiness expertise of organising events allcome together to make corporations idealpatrons of folk art in these uncertain times.We all can inspire and encourage not onlyfolk artistes/craftspersons but all individ-uals to use their creativity to adapt to thenew normal.

These are people who believe in hardwork and a life of dignity. They are the oneswho will not die of starvation but from lossof dignity. We must remember that whileCOVID-19 can be lethal, mental or finan-cial illnesses can be no less fatal.

It is too early to tell if the pandemic willproduce an artistic legacy like the greatplague of the early 20th century did, but thisvirus and its fallout have already garnereda huge response. The work produced bytoday’s craftspersons in response to theCoronavirus has been to either raisemorale or money for sustenance. It is alsoa time-honoured way of documenting ourhistory.

(The writer is a well-known development professional)

Working during the lockdown, craftspersons across India produced illustrations and paintings

in traditional styles that depict the behavioural practices being advised by health advisories

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

Why don’t weget it?

GWYNNE DYER

A point will come when the local environmentwill no longer be compatible with a normal

human lifestyle

INDIA’S FOLKARTISTES AND

CRAFTSPERSONSHAVE LONG USED

TRADITIONALSTORYTELLING

FOR SOCIALMESSAGING.IT IS WIDELY

RECOGNISED ASONE OF THE MOSTPOWERFUL TOOLS

OF COMMUNICATIONAND

DOCUMENTATION OF THEIR CULTURE.

NGOS HAVEALREADY

LAUNCHED SEVERALINNOVATIVE

CAMPAIGNS BYCHANNELING THE

CREATIVITY OFTHESE PEOPLE.

HOWEVER,COUNTRYWIDE

EFFORTS WILL BEREQUIRED TOPROTECT THE

PHYSICAL ANDFINANCIAL HEALTH

OF THESEMARGINALISEDCOMMUNITIESWHO HAVE NO

FALLBACK IN THESETENUOUS TIMES

Ihave never really believed the story climate crusaders tell to explainwhy so many people don’t get the message. You know, the onewhere if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will hop right

out, whereas if you just turn the heat up slowly it won’t notice. Itwill stay there and boil to death. I have never actually tried the exper-iment but surely not even frogs are that stupid. And I’m pretty surehuman beings aren’t. So why didn’t the good people of Houstonstart campaigning against global heating after Hurricane Harvey in2017 left a third of their city under water? Why didn’t the citizensof the Philippines demand that their country end its heavy relianceon burning coal for power after Typhoon Haiyan killed at least 6,300of them in 2013? Why weren’t the survivors in the State of Odishaup in arms about India’s greenhouse gas emissions after the mostintense cyclone in history killed 15,000 of them in 1999?

Well, partly because there were no data proving that the warm-ing was making the tropical storms worse. Pretty well everybodyin the meteorological trade and a great many lay people assumedthat to be the case. But the evidence just wasn’t there. Until now— and as if to celebrate its belated arrival, here comes another mon-ster storm.

On Sunday and Monday super-cyclone Amphan spun up quick-ly over the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal, going from nothingmuch to a Category Five tropical storm and adding 175 kmph toits sustained wind speed in only 36 hours. When it hit on Wednesday,Amphan left at least 80 people dead in West Bengal while two deathswere reported from Odisha and neighbouring Bangladesh saw 22casualties. There are fears the cyclone could exacerbate the spreadof the Coronavirus in overcrowded emergency shelters. In an ini-tial assessment, officials in Bangladesh said the cyclone causedabout £106 million in damage to infrastructure, housing, fisheries,livestock, water resources and agriculture. And the full extent of thedamage along India’s eastern coast was not immediately known.Authorities in both countries managed to evacuate more than threemillion people before Amphan struck.

Cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes (all the same phenome-non, just in different oceans) are capricious. Their winds drop rapid-ly over land and they are most destructive if they move slowly andloiter just off the coast. People living around the Bay of Bengal knowthat the storms are getting worse: 140,000 people died when CycloneNargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta in Burma (Myanmar) in May 2008.So do people living around the Caribbean, on the US eastern seaboard,and at the western end of “typhoon alley” (the Philippines, China,Korea and Japan). But they needed hard evidence, and now theyhave it. A study by researchers at the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration and the University of Wisconsin atMadison published on Monday confirms that there is a direct linkbetween warmer oceans, more water vapour in the air and biggerstorms. Not more storms, but much bigger.

In fact, the likelihood that any given tropical storm will growinto a Category Three or higher hurricane (or the equivalent in termsof cyclones and typhoons) is rising by eight per cent per decade.Could it just be natural variation? James Kossin, lead author of thenew study, doesn’t think so: “We have high confidence that thereis a human fingerprint on these changes.” The data extend over fourdecades, which means the number of Category Three-plus hurri-canes has grown by a third since 1980.

It can only get worse, as will almost every other climate impact.The average global temperature now is 1.1°C above the pre-indus-trial average, but there is already enough carbon dioxide in the airto give us another half degree C of warming when it delivers its finalload. Never mind all the extra carbon dioxide that will be dumpedinto the atmosphere next month, next year, next decade. What willjust the amount that we have already put there do to the tropicalstorms? The point will come, as with most of the other climatechanges, when the local environment will no longer be compatiblewith a normal human lifestyle.

For the 500 million people who live around the Bay of Bengal,the world’s biggest bay, the breaking point may be massive cyclonesand floods that are made worse by sea level rise. For others it maybe intense heat and permanent drought. In some places, it will befamine. But at least a quarter of the world’s population is going tohave to move in the next 50 years. Where to? No idea. With almosteight billion people, the world is pretty full up already. Interviewinga couple of climate scientists recently, I saw for the first time a graph,modelling the future of a runaway warming world, that explicitly includ-ed a “death” term. Mass death, that is. It made me feel a bit frog-like.

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

With COVID-19 bringing theshutters down on schoolsand colleges in the country,

over one crore teachers are adaptingto new ways of instruction to ensureminimal disruptions to education.Schools are finding innovative ways toimpart lessons, right from gettingtheir teachers to use WhatsApp to cor-rect assessments, recording classes orlive-streaming lectures.

In every effort, be it home visitsto check on students, travelling milesin search of internet connectivity toaccess online training material orcontributions from retired faculty,

the teachers truly remain the frontlinewarriors of education. Yet they areundervalued and unappreciated. Thetypical job description of a teacherinvolves expectations around strongcontent knowledge, 21st-century learn-ing experiences, effective learningenvironment as well as the need to belife-long learners, growing and evolv-ing in their professions.

But beyond what meets the eye,teachers also have to be passionate andthoughtful, encouraging studentengagement. They have to be respon-sive and empathetic to the needs of stu-dents from myriad backgrounds; pro-mote collaborative learning and team-work; inculcate strong values andsocial cohesion; conduct assessmentsand continuously use insights to drive,modify and bolster instruction.Educators must collaborate and con-sistently engage with parents and thelarger community; be role models,holding themselves to the highestprofessional standards and serve asmentors, bringing out the best in eachstudent, facilitating their transition to

higher levels of education or work.While expectations are galore, teach-ers function in a system that is crip-pled with challenges, including poortraining and inadequate resources.Teachers in India are often burdenedwith administrative responsibilities— election duties, maintaining mul-tiple student rosters and so on. Teacherdistribution is also poor and conse-quently, a single teacher could beteaching students from different class-es or at various learning levels, at thesame time. Despite overarching chal-lenges and constrained work environ-ment, teachers are disproportionate-ly faulted for poor learning outcomesand painted as culprits.

As standardised tests outweigh ateacher’s personal observation of a stu-dent’s progress; as people outside ofeducation are more prized as teachersthan those who have honed the craft;as technology threatens to replaceteachers; or as policies are set withoutfactoring in the opinions of teachers,we witness a collective failure — a mas-sive undermining of the profession. It

marks a systemic failure to recogniseand value teachers as experts in thefield.

Standardised models of practiceand training, evidence-based strategiesthat advocate a one-size-fits-allapproach tend to overshadow theunimaginable unpredictability andingenuity of working with and shap-ing young individuals. What makes ateacher’s work unique is that at theheart of it is emotional labour. Itrequires establishing connections withstudents first and teaching, after. Fora teacher, the most joyous memoriesstem from seemingly little momentslike a restless child settling down in theclassroom, a slow-learner inculcatingstrong foundational skills, watchingstudents embody values of sharing andkindness, witnessing the shy studentask questions or listening to first-gen-eration school-goers teach their par-ents the alphabet. This kind of workseldom gets accurately captured in pro-ductivity or efficiency metrics.

Though the metrics can’t possiblyaccount for it all, they do offer inter-

esting insights. Today, with an increas-ing body of research, there is greaterclarity and evidence on key drivers oflearning. Teachers are paramount.No other initiative — such as reduc-ing class size, revamping curriculum,investing in technology and buildingbetter infrastructure comes close tohaving as much of an impact as a goodteacher.

Drawing from a Harvard-Columbia Study, which tracked 2.5million students over two decades, onecan safely conclude that elementaryand middle school teachers have a last-ing impact beyond academics, includ-ing greater matriculation and higheradult earnings. Even students withgood kindergarten teachers end upmaking more money in the long run.Another study from Stanford showsthat an effective teacher can raise learn-ing levels each year. These impactsattenuate over time and with 70 percent of these gains retained in the longrun, a student with a learning achieve-ment, that is one standard deviationabove average, can expect 10-15 per

cent higher earnings each year. Thereis symmetry in these estimates, too.The impact, as multiplied by thenumber of students taught, means thatthe economic value of a good teachergrows with larger classes.

While the majority of teachersmay be effective and hard-working, thesymmetry also suggests lower returnsfrom ineffective or poor-quality teach-ers. Simply put, better teachers havegreater potential.

A 2013 study estimated thatreplacing an ineffective teacher in thebottom five per cent with an averageteacher could boost one student’searnings in the US by $2,50,000.Extrapolating from this, a 2016 reportfrom Washington anticipated anincrease of more than $11 billion inearnings of students by improvingteacher quality for a million publicschool students.

Implications for policy in theIndian context are clear — there mustbe concerted efforts to recognise thevalue of teachers and improve theirquality/effectiveness. A roadmap to

improve teacher quality should includetransparent and merit-based recruit-ment policies to ensure that only themost-deserving individuals get select-ed. Training should be rigorous andcustomised, delivered to suit the needsof each teacher as opposed to cascad-ed standardised training workshops ormodules. Performance-based evalua-tion and promotion mechanisms mustbe implemented to drive better learn-ing outcomes. There must be a focuson reducing the administrative load onteachers; providing greater support andaccess to requisite resources; rational-ising the distribution of teachers, andcreating a fostering environment,which acknowledges their work andencourages professional growth.

It is time we valued teachers, per-haps as we did in the ancient days. Sowhile we “reimagine” the educationsystem post-COVID, let us begin byplacing the teacher at the centre, forevery child deserves a good educator.

(The writer is a young profession-al at the Niti Aayog. Views expressed arepersonal.)

Learn to appreciate good teachersA roadmap to improve teacher quality should include transparent and merit-based recruitment policies to ensure that only the most-deserving

individuals get selected. Training should be rigorous and customised as opposed to standardised modules

SARAH IYPE

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

MOIN QAZI

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

India's garmentexports to decline30-35 pc in FY21:Crisil Research

New Delhi: Drug firm Lupinon Friday said it has receivedapproval from the US healthregulator to market genericTrientine Hydrochloridecapsules used for treatment ofWilson's disease. Thecompany has receivedapproval to market itsTrientine Hydrochloridecapsules USP, 250 mg, fromthe United States Food andDrug Administration (USFDA),Lupin said in a statement. Theproduct is a generic version ofBausch Health US LLC'sSyprine capsules in the samestrength, it added. Thecapsules will be manufacturedat Lupin's Nagpur (Unit 1)facility, Lupin said. As perIQVIA MAT March 2020 data,Trientine Hydrochloridecapsules USP had an annualsales of approximately USD 86million in the US, it added.The product is indicated in thetreatment of patients sufferingfrom Wilson's disease who areintolerant of penicillamine, thestatement said. Shares ofLupin Ltd were trading at Rs894.85 per scrip on the BSE,up 1.03 per cent over previousclose.

Lupin gets USFDAnod to marketgeneric capsules forWilson's treatment

Mumbai: India's garmentexports are likely to decline by30-35 per cent this financialyear due to COVID-19pandemic, which has renderedmany people jobless in majorexport destinations, includingthe US and Europe, accordingto Crisil Research. The US andthe European Union, whichtogether account for 64 percent of India's readymadegarment (RMG) exports, arestaring at a recession, CrisilResearch said in a report,adding that the US is theworst-infected country now,and the pandemic-drivenlockdown has ripped manyapparel retailers there.Besides, a spike inunemployment and fall inpersonal incomes would cutspending on apparel, it said.In March quarter, India'sgarment exports slipped 16per cent, while the fall was adrastic 91 per cent in April, itsaid. "We expect readymadegarments exports to dive 30-35 per cent this fiscal," thereport added. Indianmerchandise exports fell 13per cent (in dollar terms) inthe quarter ended March, anda steep 60 per cent in April asthe COVID-19 pandemic andshutdown of national bordersslammed global trade, it said.Exports of textiles and cottonyarn, which were comingapart even before thepandemic struck because ofcompetition from Vietnam,Chinese stock liquidation andlack of free trade pact support,have been shred, it added.

RBI measures to help reviveeconomy, says SBI chairmanPNS n MUMBAI

The steps announced by theReserve Bank of India includ-ing reduction in repo rate andextension of moratorium onterm loans for another threemonths will help in quickrevival of the economy, StateBank of India chairmanRajnish Kumar said.

The RBI on Friday slashedrepo rate by 40 basis points to4 per cent.

The central bank extendedthe moratorium period forthe repayment of loans byanother three months tillAugust 31, 2020, and alsoincreased bank exposure tocorporates to 30 per cent of thegroup's net worth from thecurrent limit of 25 per cent.

"The entire effort of thegovernment and the RBI is torevive the growth in the econ-omy and at the same timerecognising the difficultiesthat industries are fac-ing. All the mea-sures aroundreduction inrepo rate,moratoriumand increasein the limit ongroup expo-sures will behelpful inrevival of thee c o n o m y , "Kumar toldreporters througha video call onFriday.

The measures are acalibrated response tothe situation which isemerging on account

to the disruptions caused dueto COVID-19, he said. Kumarsaid, so far, 20 per cent of theSBI borrowers have opted forthe three-month moratorium.

He said the extension ofmoratorium on repayment ofloans will be helpful to theindustry.

Also, with the extension ofmoratorium, there is no urgentneed for a dispensation fromthe RBI.

"Right now, the moratoriumwill take care of the situationaround the cash flow disrup-tions. I would not be obsessedwith one-time restructuring atthis particular point of timewhen we have time till August31," he said.

Kumar, however, said bankscan still go for restructuring ofstressed accounts, if required,as per the June 7 circular ofRBI. When asked

about extending morato-rium to

N B F C sa n d

housing finance companies,Kumar said that it would begiven on a case to case basis.

“We would decide on a case

to case basis. We will have tolook at their (NBFCs/HFCs)cash flows and take a decision,”he said.

Textile bodies welcome RBI measuresPNSn COIMBATORE

Indian Texpreneurs Federation(ITF) on Fridaythanked the RBIfor extendingloan moratori-um to sixmonths whichwould help tex-tile industriesmanage cashflow towards re-starting busi-nesses during the post-COVID-19 times. Conversion ofdeferred interest as a one-yearterm loan would also help thecompanies manage the liquid-ity and speed up the revivalprocess because every rupee isimportant now to streamlinepost-COVID business opera-tions, ITF convenor PrabhuDhamodaran said in a state-ment here. Stating that theindustry expected the samelevel of repo rate reduction, hesaid, "With the announcementby the RBI, our entire energyshould be on talking with banks

to get the practical benefit ofall rate cuts." Prabhu

thanked the FinanceMinistry and RBI forthe timely interven-

tion, even as theRBI governor

had mentioned about its vigi-lance and battle-readiness,which was giving confidence to

industry players.M e a n w h i l e ,

Tirupur ExportersAssociation (TEA)also thanked RBIfor reduction of thepolicy repo rate by40 basis points (0.4per cent) from 4.40

per cent to 4 per cent withimmediate effect.

He said this was the secondreduction RBI has done afterreducing from 5.15 per cent to4.40 per cent on March 27 dur-ing the COVID-19 environ-ment. Thanking RBI for themeasures to improve the func-tioning of markets, TEA presi-dent Raja M Shanmughamhailed the decision to increasethe maximum permissible peri-od of pre- shipment and post-shipment export credit sanc-tioned by banks from the exist-ing one year to 15 months fordisbursements made uptoJuly 31.

He said this measure is ben-eficial to Tirupur knitwear gar-menting units, as they haveresumed operations and func-tioning partially from the sec-ond week of May.

RBIextended the

moratoriumperiod for

repayment ofloans byanother threemonths tillAugust 31,

2020

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark BSESensex tumbled 260 pointson Friday, dragged by lossesin banking and financialstocks as RBI's rate cut andother measures to prop upthe economy failed to meetmarket expectations.

After falling over 450points during the day, the 30-share index ended 260.31points or 0.84 per cent lowerat 30,672.59.

The broader NSE Niftytoo settled 67 points or 0.74per cent down at 9,039.25.

Axis Bank was the top lag-gard in the Sensex pack,plunging more than 5 percent, followed by HDFC,Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank,Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, HDFCBank and IndusInd Bank.

On the other hand, M&M,Infosys , Asian Paints ,UltraTech Cement and TechMahindra were among thegainers.

Earlier in the day, theReserve Bank of India (RBI)unexpectedly slashed bench-mark interest rates to theirlowest levels since 2000 in aeffort the revive the econo-my.

The repo rate was cut by40 basis points to 4 per centand the reverse repo rate wasdecreased to 3.35 per centfrom 3.75 per cent.

The central bank alsoextended the three-monthmoratorium on loan repay-ments till August 31 andraised the limit on banks'group exposure to compa-nies.

"However, RBI has not

announced any relief on therestructuring of loans toaddress the risk of risingasset quality issues in thebanking sector which hascome as a disappointment forthe equity markets," saidGaurav Dua, Sr VP, HeadCapital Market Strategy &Investments, Sharekhan byBNP Paribas.

Along with adverse impactof COVID-19 pandemic, theadditional concerns relatedto US-China brinkmanship iscreating uncertainties andaccordingly, equities areexpected to remain volatilewith negative bias in theimmediate term, he added.

India witnessed the biggestsingle-day spike with 6,088COVID-19 cases, taking thetally to 1.18 lakh. The deathtoll rose to 3,583, according

to the health ministry.Globally, the number of

cases linked to the diseasehas crossed 51 lakh and thedeath toll has topped 3.32lakh.

Hong Kong led a sell-offacross Asian equities afterChina introduced proposalsto enact a national securitylaw for the city.

B ourses in Shanghai ,Tokyo and Seoul ended sig-nificantly lower.

Stock exchanges in Europewere trading on a negativenote in early deals.

International oil bench-mark Brent crude futuresslipped 4.38 per cent to USD34.48 per barrel.

On the currency front, therupee depreciated 34 paise toprovisionally close at 75.95against the US dollar.

After falling over 450 points duringthe day, the 30-share index ended260.31 points or 0.84 per cent lowerat 30,672.59

Tomato prices fall 3-year low at Rs 3-10/kg in DelhiPNS n NEW DELHI

Tomato prices in consumingcentres of Delhi, Bengaluruand Hyderabad fell belowthree-year lows, in the rangeof Rs 4-10 per kg on Friday inthe wholesale markets onhigher arrival, according toofficial data.

The prices had ruled at Rs14.30 per kg on May 22 lastyear at the Azadpur wholesalemandi in the national capital,while above Rs 30 per kg inHyderabad and Bengalure.

The steep fall in prices oftomatoes was due to highersupply of the commodity amidsluggish demand and lack ofsmooth movement of perish-able commodities in thisCOVID-19 crisis, experts said.

According to data main-tained by the food processingministry, "In Azadpur, the

current modal prices are trad-ing near Rs 440 per quintal ascompared to Rs 1,258 perquintal last year." In Delhi, thetomato crop is coming fromHaryana, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan, it said. InHyderabad's Bowenpallywholesale market, tomatoprices were ruling at around

Rs 5 per kg on Friday, com-pared with Rs 34 per kg a yearago.

Similarly, in the Bengaluruwholesale market, tomatoprices were ruling at Rs 10 perkg as against above Rs 30 perkg in the year-ago period.

In tomato-producing areasalso, the wholesale rates havefallen below three-year's sea-

sonal average in 40 districtsout of 52 tracked by the foodprocessing ministry for thepurpose of extending market-ing linkages. Even in 12 clus-ters identified for linkingdirectly to markets, prices oftomatoes are ruling belowthree-year's average low.

For instance in five tomatoclusters located in the Kolardistrict of Karnataka, pricesdeclined to the level of Rs 3-8 per kg depending on thequality and varieties whencompared with Rs 14-35 perkg in the year-ago, the datashowed.

In Andhra Pradesh, five

clusters located in Chittoordistrict as well as in two clus-ters in Odisha showed a sim-ilar declining trend in prices.

Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka are the top-twomajor tomato-producingstates in India. The combinedproduction of the two states isestimated at 42 lakh tonne thisyear. India's annual tomatoproduction is enough to meetthe domestic demand of about111 lakh tonnes.

The government has peggedtotal tomato output at 193.28lakh tonne for 2019-20 cropyear (July-June), according tothe ministry's data.

The prices had ruled at Rs 14.30 per kgon May 22 last year at the Azadpurwholesale mandi in the national capital

Spain sayslockdown puthotel occupancyat 'nil'PNS n MADRID

The latest report fromSpain's National StatisticsInstitute makes grim read-ing for the countr y 'stourism sector.

The report publishedFriday said that in Aprilhotel occupancy was “nil,” asestablishments locked downdue to the new coronavirusoutbreak.

The institute, which is agovernment body, publishedcolumns of zeros forovernight stays, averagelength of stays and occupan-cy rates. Spain is Europe'ssecond most popular touristdestination, after France.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Edelweiss Asset Managementon Friday said it will launchthe second tranche of BharatBond ETF in July, with twonew series, to raise up to Rs14,000 crore.

This comes after the suc-cessful launch of the initialser ies of the ETF inDecember 2019.

Through the launch of thetwo new ETF ser ies ,Edelweiss Mutual Fund pro-poses to raise an initialamount of Rs 3,000 crorewith a green shoe option ofRs 11,000 crore based onmarket demand, the fundhouse said in a statement.

The two new series willhave maturities of April 2025and April 2031.

The Bharat Bond ETF pro-gram is a government initia-tive and Edelweiss AMC hasbeen given the mandate todesign and manage the prod-

uct. "The launch is in line with

our vision to create a ladderof Bharat Bond ETFs acrossvarious maturities on theyield curve. This will providemore options for investors tomatch their investment needs

with different time horizons,”Radhika Gupta, CEO ofEdelweiss Mutual Fund said.

"In the current environ-ment, investors need safe,liquid, and tax efficientoptions for their debt invest-ments, and Bharat Bond ETF

meets this need effectively.We are happy that investorsin the first series of BharatBond ETF have had a goodexperience and the AUM ofthese ser ies has a lsoincreased organically afterthe launch,” she added.

The ETF will invest inconstituents of the NiftyBharat Bond Indices, con-sisting of AAA-rated publicsector companies.

Bharat Bond Funds ofFunds (FOF) with similarmaturit ies wi l l a lso belaunched for investors, whodo not have demat accounts,the fund house said.

The first tranche of BharatBond ETF raised over Rs12,400 crore, from a diverseset of investors.

Further, after the new fundoffer (NFO), the Bharat BondETF program continued tosee healthy investor partici-pation and good liquidity onthe exchanges.

Bharat Bond ETF's second tranche coming in July

This comes after the successful launchof the initial series of the ETF inDecember 2019

Sensex drops 260 pts as RBImeasures fail to cheer investors

Major ports see 21 pc volume contraction in April PNS n NEW DELHI

Impacted by COVID-19, majorports in India witnessed asteep 21 per cent volume con-traction in April and bulkcargo throughput may shrinkup to 8 per cent in the currentfiscal, ratings agency Icra saidon Friday.

It said the container segmentmay witness a decline of 12-15per cent during the currentfinancial year.

"The Indian port sector hasbeen adversely impacted due tothe COVID-19 outbreak and

the subsequent lockdownintroduced by India and othermajor economies.

"Although, the sector has

been classified under essentialservices and has remainedoperational during the lock-down, the impact on domes-

tic economic activity as well asslowdown in global trade hasresulted in steep contractionin cargo volumes at the major

ports in April 2020, withthroughput decline of 21 percent," Icra said in a statement.

While the decline wasacross major cargo categories,petroleum, oil and lubricant(POL), thermal coal and con-tainer segment witnessed sig-nificant contraction. The out-look for the port sectorremains negative in the nearto medium term, it added.While all cargo segments arevulnerable, Icra said the con-tainer segment is expected tobe more adversely impacted.

Rs 1,160 crreleased toNafedPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has released Rs1,160 crore to cooperativeNafed for undertaking pro-curement of rabi pulsesgrown in the crop year 2019-20, directly from farmers forbuilding a buffer stock ofonion and pulses, a seniorgovernment official said onFriday.

The fund has been madeavailable through the PriceStabilisation Fund (PSF)operated by the consumeraffairs ministry. Under thePSF, commodities are pur-chased at market prices.

The government has set aprocurement target of50,000 tonnes of onion, 5.5lakh tonnes of tur dal and1.5 lakh tonnes of masoordal for the buffer stock pur-pose.

RITES signs pactfor acquiring 24 pcin IRSDCPNS n NEW DELHI

Infrastructure consultancy andengineering company RITESon Friday said it has signed anagreement for acquiring 24 percent stake in Indian RailwayStations DevelopmentCorporation (IRSDC) for Rs48 crore.

The company has signedshareholders' agreement foracquiring 24 per cent stake inIRSDC for Rs 48 crore withRail Land DevelopmentAuthority and IRCONInternational being the otherequity partners, the companysaid in a statement.

The company further saidthat it has resumed operationsat most of its offices and pro-ject sites after the coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictionswere eased.

The Miniratna public sectorenterprise said that duringthis lockdown period, apartfrom concluding negotiationsfor a major export deal withCFM Mozambique enhancedto Rs 700 crore on account ofincrease in quantity, it hasbeen able to successfully deliv-er the 188 RKM Vijaypur-Pachore Road-Maksi sectionrailway electrification projectin Madhya Pradesh.

Prime Minister NarendraModi imposed a nationwidelockdown to control thespread of coronavirus onMarch 25. It has been extend-ed thrice, with the fourthphase set to expire on May 31.

"During the lockdown

RITES continued to focus onkey business deals like exportsto Africa, signing of IRSDCshareholders' agreement etcand now we have hit theground running as we resumemost of our operations with-in the guidelines issued by thegovernment," RITES LtdChairman & ManagingDirector Rajeev Mehrotra said.

The company has resumedbusiness activities adheringto necessary safety protocolsand has implemented aStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) to guide its employeesabout precautions and safetymeasures at work, he said.

Income Tax deptissues refunds of Rs26,242 cr since AprilPNS n NEW DELHI

The tax department on Fridaysaid it has issued I-T refundsof Rs 26,242 crore to 16.84lakh taxpayers since April aspart of efforts to hasten refundprocess for making liquidityavailable with people andfirms to deal with COVID-19crisis.

The Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT) said 16,84,298tax assesses have receivedrefunds between April 1 andMay 21.

Income-tax refund of Rs14,632 crore to 15,81,906assesses and corporate taxrefund amounting to Rs

11,610 crore to 1,02,392 assess-es have been processed duringthis period, the CBDT said ina statement.

The refund process hasbeen further expedited at agreater pace since FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman'sannouncement made in the'Atamanirbhar BharatAbhiyan' last week.

The firm furthersaid that it hasresumed ops atmost of its officesand project sitesafter the corona-induced lockdownrestrictions wereeased

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SaturdayMay 23, 2020

SITCOMS TOBINGE INLOCKDOWN 4.0

Due to the increasing COVID19 crisis, the country has gone

under the 4th stage oflockdown. Life under lockdown

might be getting very boringand difficult and we cannotwait for this to end and go

outside to socialize again. Butsadly it's going to take a littlemore time for that to happen. SIDDHESH SUMAN comes to

your rescue to help you killthis cloud of boredom

itcoms have been an integral source of familyentertainment for quite some time now. They'veonly gotten more popular among the Indian audi-ence than ever. Here is our list of top 5 popularSitcoms to binge in lockdown 4.0.

1. THE OFFICE (2005-2013) - (AMAZON PRIME)The Office is an American mockumentarysitcom starring Steve Carell, John Krasinski,Rain Wilson & Jenna Fischer. The seriesportrays the everyday lives of 'DunderMifflin' employees and their notorious bossplayed by Steve Carell, who gets himselfand his employees into all sorts ofmisadventures. The show humorouslydepicts how much love and friendship officeworkers share among themselves and careabout their office family. The show ishilarious, emotional and there is somethingin every character we all can genuinely

relate to. A great show for people who miss going to theiroffices amid this lockdown.

2. FRIENDS (1994-2004) - (NETFLIX)Friends created by David Crane & MartaKauffman is a television sitcom starringJennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, LisaKudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc &David Schwimmer. The series revolvesaround 6 friends living in New York gettinginto all kinds of trouble going throughmassive family issues, romance, fights,laughter, and tears only to find the truemeaning of friendship. The show lasted 10seasons and is considered among the mostpopular TV sitcoms of all time. The showbeautifully portrays friendship and makes

you laugh and cry. A great show to watch and talk about, withyour friends.

3. MODERN FAMILY (2009-2020) - (DISNEY PLUS HOTSTAR)Modern Family created by ChristopherLloyd & Steven Levitan is a mockumentaryfamily sitcom. The story revolves around 3modern families related to each other andfaces everyday family problems and solvesthem in their own comedic way. The showis best known for its quirky depiction of amodern family drama and distinctcharacters each different from the other.The show takes us on a roller coaster rideof how a family grows in this modernworld. The show successfully ran for 11seasons and stars Ty Burell, Julie Bowen,

Sofía Vergara, Ed O'Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse TylerFerguson, and many more. A great show to binge on with yourown modern family.

4. THE BIG BANG THEORY (2007-2019) - (AMAZON PRIME/NETFLIX)The Big Bang Theory created by Chuck Lorre& Bill Prady is an American Televisionsitcom. The series when premieredoriginally revolved around 4 geeky scientistfriends Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Rajand how their lives change when fun spirtedPenny moves next door and introduces themto the fun side of the world, lateraccompanied by 2 more female leadcharacter neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler,and microbiologist BernadetteRostenkowski. The series is romantic,emotional, clever and wildly funny and is

also the longest-running multi-camera sitcom ever made with12 seasons. The show stars Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, JohnnyGalecki, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Mayim Bialik, andMelissa Rauch. An extremely binge-worthy show to lift spirits inquarantine.

5. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (2005-2014) - (DISNEY PLUS HOTSTAR)How I Met Your Mother created by CraigThomas & Carter Bays follows the leadcharacter, Ted Mosby, telling a story to hischildren in the future of how he met theirmother. The story revolves around 5friends and the quest of Ted Mosby tryingto find the one woman he's meant to bewith, which gets him and his friends into alot of adventure and drama. The show ranfor a total of 9 seasons which lead up toTed finally meeting witAAAh "The One".The show has romance, drama, andcomedy accompanied by great characters.

The show stars Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil PatrickHarris, Jason Segel & Alyson Hannigan. A great TV show tobinge for people who love classic romantic comedy.

S

‘MY LITTLE WORLDOF DREAMS’

an you shareyour associa-tion withHyderabad?

I have been inHyderabad since 2006.What started as a simple jobtransfer of my husband andI trying to explore a newcity turned out to be lifechanging experience. I start-ed my entrepreneurial jour-ney in 2010 by setting upKonnections, an integratedcommunications marketingagency and since then therehas been no looking back.The city has given me muchmore than I could have everimagined. It has given mewings to fly. How has the city beentreating you?

I have thoroughlyenjoyed my stay here andlove each and everythingabout the city. The beautifulweather, the pink summerand lovely winters all areextremely enchanting. Everyone who ismigrating from othercities, have apprehen-sions or pre conceivednotions about the citythey are going to live.

Whatkind of

thoughts you hadabout Hyderabadbefore moving hereand how do you find itnow? Were your appre-hensions justified?

Being a pure Delhi girl,my parents were very wor-ried about linguistic issues,food and work culture.Having worked in top com-munication agencies inDelhi I felt like steppingback a few years as Ithought that people will notbe open to newer ideas andsolutions. But the city sur-prised me as language wasnever an issue as majority ofpeople speak Hindi andEnglish. In fact, the localfood has impressed me somuch that I relish theTelangana cuisine muchmore than the north Indiancuisine. The work culture isextremely supportive, andpeople encourage talent andfew of my local friends andassociates have been instru-mental in fuelling my entre-preneurial journey. Have you lived in othercities in the country?If so, how isHyderabad differentfrom others?

Yes, I have lived in Delhiand Mumbai. Hyderabad isspecial as the city has a soul.The people are warm andcaring. It is a great mix ofold and new world. Withthe phenomenal growth ofIT sector, Hyderabad is oneof the most sought-aftercities in the world. One thing that comesto your mind when youthink of Hyderabadand why?

Not one but three —Biryani, Pearls and ITboom. All the madness andhustle and bustle of thecity gives it a character. Ithas a lot to offer.

Can you shareone of your fond-est memorieshere?

Having spent somany years inHyderabad there aremany lovelymoments which are

dear to me. The lifehas seena fullcircle

in this city. I love spendingtime with my son and ofcourse the business has alsohelped me achieve mydreamsHow is the city helping you in yourcareer?

The city has been verysupportive. The peopleencourage entrepreneurialspirit and respect your acu-men. There is value for tal-ent and people appreciatehard work. I very proudlysay that had it not beenHyderabad it would havebeen very difficult to firststand, survive, and thenflourish in the present daycompetitive environment. Ihave evolved each day andhave been able to stand tallin the midst of all odds.How difficult/easy wasit to establish anorganisation and keepit running successfullyfor the last 10 years?How has the cityhelped in your success?

It is challenging to set upan organisation without anymajor backing or investorsupport. Plus being awoman, it is more difficultto convince people of yourcapabilities. It has taken alot of perseverance and ded-ication to establishKonnections to its presentlevel. Had it not been for thesupport and encouragementof my mentors, I wouldnever have embarked on myentrepreneurial journey. InHyderabad, if people likeyour work they give youopportunity and encourageyou to take up challenges.Had it not been Hyderabad,I would probably be stillslogging in a corporate job.What do you like anddislike the most aboutHyderabad?

Almost everything, greatfood, lovely weather,encouraging environmentto grow professionally, timefor family, rapidly growinginfrastructure and proactivegovernance… the city hasall the ingredients for agreat living. The traffic sce-nario in Hyderabad hasbeen a bit of concern butat present due toCovid-19 we can’t com-

plain about that too. Have you visitedHyderabad earlierbefore shifting here? Ifso, what kind of differ-ences you've seen asa visitor and as a per-son living here?

In the initial years of myjob, I used to visit the cityfrequently for professional

work. Ifound the

city very laid back and slowwhen compared to Delhiand Mumbai. However, overthe last decade the city hasemerged as a promising city,with a much better infra-structure and overall devel-opment. This makes it abetter place to live in.What is it that your rel-atives or friends whovisit you here like totake back and wheredo they want to visitwhen they come toHyderabad?

All relatives or friendsvisiting Hyderabad haveIKEA on their must visit listfor last one year. Biryaniand Hyderabad pearl jew-ellery is always on the mustdo lists of all visitors. Whatthey love is the relaxed atti-tude and weather What is Hyderabad toyou?

My ‘Karam-Bhoomi’. It hasmade me what I amtoday.

Moving to a completelyunknown city for thesake of her husband's joband going on to establishher own communicationsagency is never an easytask, but Mukta Kumar issomeone who has takenthe proverbial bull by thehorns and come outtrumps. What started as asimple job transfer of herhusband and that initialheady feeling trying toexplore a new city turnedout to be life changingexperience. A native ofDelhi, Mukta started herentrepreneurial journeyin 2010 by setting upKonnections, anintegratedcommunicationsmarketing agency. Shefeels that had it not beenHyderabad, she wouldprobably be stillslogging in acorporate job.Mukta speaksto K RAMYASREE abouther associationwithHyderabad,her successfulentrepreneurialjourney andmore...

C

It is challenging to set up anorganisation without any majorbacking or investor support.Plus being a woman, it is moredifficult to convince people ofyour capabilities.Had it not beenfor the support andencouragement of my mentors, Iwould never have embarked onmy entrepreneurial journey. InHyderabad, if people like yourwork they give you opportunityand encourage you to take upchallenges. Had it not beenHyderabad, I would probably bestill slogging in a corporate job.

Don’t delay blood cancer treatment, even for a pandemiclood cancer, alsocalled cute Leukemia,is the most dangerousand life-threateningcancer, where early

initiation of treatmentmakes a huge difference inthe patient’s outcome.Clinical Presentation ofBlood cancer varies rangingfrom Incidental detectionon blood tests to breathingdifficulty and fever. Thesesymptoms trigger COVID-19 testing and Isolation.

With the fear of COVID-19, a lot of patients tend towait at home until symp-toms worsen. In addition tothe delay in diagnosis, mostpatients may suffer fromthe postponement ofchemotherapy, due to ashortage of isolation bedsand blood products or the

wish to avoid immunosup-pressive treatments. Delayin chemotherapy initiationmay negatively affect prog-nosis and miss a chance ofcure particularly in youngpatients. Leukemia patientscould progress to high-riskdisease due to the acquisi-tion of additional geneticanomalies, and complica-tions due to a very highwhite cell count calledhyperleukocytosis.

Patients with blood-relat-ed cancers who havesteroids as part of theirtreatment mainly MyelomaCancer patients can havehigh chances of severe lunginfections and pneumoniawith COVID19. For thisreason, Myeloma autolo-gous bone marrow trans-plants are being deferred

until Corona pandemic set-tles. In Lymphoma andLeukaemia, patients’need for Transplanthas to be discussedon an individualbasis based onrisk and benefitas delay in treat-ment can risktheir life.

Delay intransplant resultsin the reappear-ance of a signifi-cant minimal resid-ual disease (MRD), anegative impact onoverall survival post-trans-plant is another concern.

Blood products’ shortageespecially platelet shortageis the biggest concern dur-ing Blood cancer treatment.Volunteer donors are

decreasing due to self-isola-tion, travel restriction, andfear of virus transmission.Currently, Red blood cellstocks are reasonable in

most blood banks afterendorsement by popularcelebrities and other politi-cal leaders.

By donating Platelets, adonor saves life imme-diately as platelets aregiven within 3-4 daysafter donation due totheir short shelf lifeunlike in Blood dona-tion they are notstored for a long dura-

tion.No doubt there is all

time need for more regu-lar voluntary donors forplatelets. We need morecoordinated programmesfor blood donors and end-users. Treating Hospitalsshould have dedicated unitswith good Isolation rooms,separation of COVIDpatients, and strict screen-

ing protocols. The risk ofCOVID 19 infection in hos-pitalised patients is very low.

Leukemia treatmentshould be initiated withoutdelay and continued evenduring the Corona pan-demic as the price to pay ondelay in treatment couldmean disease relapse andloss of life. The decision totreat is made on an individ-ual basis after discussingwith their treating physicianbased on their risk and ben-efits and on the local inci-dence of Coronavirus.

(The author, Dr. PadmajaLokireddy, is a member ofthe Consultant Haemato-

oncology and Stem cellTransplant department of

Apollo Hospitals, JubileeHills, Hyderabad.)

B

10

Hyderabad Saturday May 23 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

mitabh Bachchanis spending ample

time during thelockdown workingout with grandson

Agastya Nanda,and he has shared a snapshot

capturing the experience onhis social media.

The actor took toInstagram to share a post-

workout selfie with Agastyafrom his gym at his resi-

dence.In the monochrome pic-

ture, Big B is seen taking amirror selfie with Agastya.Both are all smiles even as

they strike a cool pose for thepicture. They are seen hold-

ing a dumbbell each.Sharing the picture on

Instagram, Amitabh wrote:“Fight .. fight the fit .. fit the

fight .. reflective mirrors , lat-erally inverted imagery .. and

the inspiration withGrandson ..”

Agastya is Big B and JayaBachchan’s grandson from

Shweta Bachchan Nanda andNikhil Nanda.

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Big Bsweats itout with

grandsonAgastya

Nanda

Actor Prithviraj,others return fromJordan after 50 days

ifty days afterbeing stuck inJordan, topKerala actorPrithviraj andaward win-

ning director Blessy onFriday morning landedhere.

The 58 member crewwas stuck in Wadi Rum, adesert in Jordan, as theywere shootingAadujeevitham based onthe award winningeponymous Malayalamnovel by Benyamin.

In the first week ofApril, the film shoot wascalled off, after restric-tions came in the wake ofthe coronavirus crisis inJordan, and since then thecrew was seeking toreturn home.

The crew arrived fromDelhi on Friday morningand actor Prithviraj afterthe health checkup at theairport came out anddrove away in his car.

According to the healthauthorities, all the 58 haveto be in isolation in theirhomes for 14 days, fol-lowing which based on acheck up, further proto-

cols will be decided.After finishing the

shoot, the crew was tryingto return, but was told towait for the appropriatetime.

Following the greensignal by the authorities,the crew flew in fromJordan to Delhi and fromthere they reached Kochi.

Billed as one of thecostliest Malayalam filmAadujeevitham tells thetale of the life of a manending up in shamblesafter reaching the MiddleEast and finds himselftending goats in extremedesert temperatures.

When they left fromhere to Jordan, their planwas to go to Algeria afterfinishing the Jordan leg inthe first week of April, butCovid spoiled all theirplans and the crew wasstuck in a plush resortnear Rum Wadi inJordan.

Blessy’s past films,including his debut filmin 2004 Kaazcha,Thanmathra Pranayam toname a few, occupy aplace of pride in theMalayalam film industry.

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RICHA SHARMA: Artistes atvirtual concerts should be paid

ith social distancingbeing need of thehour, virtual concertshave become the lat-est trend. SingerRicha Sharma is all

for it, but says such concertsshould not be held for free.

Right from the legendaryAsha Bhosle to Grammywinner Ricky Kej to the pro-lific Shreya Ghoshal, everysinger seems to be boardingthe virtual concert bandwag-on, but not all the artists getpaid for singing live fromtheir homes.

“If times like these go onfor long, then there is noother option (but virtual con-

certs). We have to go withthe flow. The only thing isthat people need to under-stand that artistes also haveto pay their bills,” Richa toldIANS.

She shared that when thefirst phase of lockdown start-ed in March, many artistestook part in such concertswithout thinking aboutmoney.

“People didn’t know andthey also sang for free on dif-ferent platforms. But now ifwe talk about concerts, itshould be paid so that ourmusicians, who don’t havemuch earnings, get help. Ifsuch concerts are paid, it will

be helpful to all,” said theSajdaa hitmaker.

Like her colleagues, shewill also be a part of a digitalshow soon. She is one of thesingers of the fundraisingconcert Ek Desh, Ek Raag,which will celebrate 25 yearsof Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Ek Desh, Ek Raag is a 25-hour digital music marathonthat starts on May 23. The25-year milestone gala willculminate in an Ek Desh, EkRaag concert on May 24across 19 ZEE channels withsome of the popular faces of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa singingfrom the confines of theirhomes.

Whe production onJames Cameron’smuch-awaitedAvatar sequels isexpected torestart in New

Zealand next week.Producer Jon Landau took

to Instagram on Thursday toshare that he and the rest ofthe Avatar cast and crew willbe returning to New Zealand nextweek, reports variety.com.

“Our Avatar sets are ready. —and we couldn’t be more excitedto be headed back to New Zealandnext week,” Landau wrote whilesharing a photograph of two watervessels used in the films.

“Check out the Matador, a highspeed forward command vessel(bottom) and the Picador jetboat

(top) - can't wait to share more,”he added.

The work on the Avatar sequelscame to a halt in March with lock-down orders by the New Zealandgovernment due to the coron-avirus pandemic.

Earlier in an interview withEmpire for the new Celebration OfCinema issue, Cameron sharedthat he is confident that his much-

awaited Avatar 2 will releaseas planned.

Avatar 2 is currently slatedfor a release on December17, 2021.

“I want to get back to workon Avatar, which right nowwe’re not allowed to dounder state emergency lawsor rules. So it’s all on holdright now,” Cameron said.

The filmmaker had shared thathe was scheduled to take the film-ing to New Zealand before thelockdown.

“We were about to shoot downin New Zealand, so that gotpushed. We’re trying to get backto it as quick as we can,” he said.

It is being believed that Avatar 2takes place 12 years after theevents of the first movie.

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Avatar sequels to resumeproduction next week in NZ

s India is openingup slowly andsteadily with thephased easing oflockdown restric-tions, Superstar

Mahesh Babu on Fridayemphasised the need of tak-ing precautionary measuresto netizens while steppingout, especially with Covid-19threat still looming large.

“We are opening up.Slowly, but surely. In a timelike this, masks are mandato-ry. Make it a point to wear amask every time you stepout, that’s least we can do toprotect ourselves and others.It may seem odd, but it is theneed of the hour and wemust get used to it. One stepat a time! Let’s adapt to thenew normal and get life backon track. It’s cool to bemasked. I am. Are you?” theactor, who is chilling withfamily at his home inHyderabad, wrote onInstagram.

Mahesh has been at theforefront when itcomes to askinghis followers topractice socialdistancing andfear distanc-ing as wellfrom thepast manyweeks.

“Besidessocial dis-tancing andmaintaining

good hygiene, there is some-thing as important thatneeds our attention-#FearDistancing — Keepingourselves away from peopleand news that creates panicand fear. Fake news is a realissue! Stay away from mis-guided information,” he hadposted on Twitter a fewweeks ago.

On the work front, theactor’s next with Parasuramwill have a formal launch onhis dad Krishna’s birthday

this May31st.

11

Hyderabad Saturday May 23 2020tollywood

Revisiting old cricket ties,binge-watching shows is

Vishnu's lockdown routineIn the past I couldn't watch many shows dueto my schedule as an actor but the lockdownhelped me to complete some of them, SreeVishnu tells NAGARAJ GOUD

enerally a socialrecluse, the lockdownhasn’t had mucheffect on Sree Vishnu,who hardly steppedout of his apartment

for almost two months. The onlyone time he had to venture outwas to distribute some essentialneeds to the disadvantaged. So,what did he do all this while?He tells us in a conversation, “Inthe past I couldn’t watch manyshows due to my schedule as anactor but the lockdown helpedme to complete some of them.I’m through with Money Heist(four seasons) and I’ve complet-ed Breaking Bad as well. I had tostop the latter midway sometimeback. I’ve just started Dark andI’m glued to it. You can’t catego-rize it into one particular genreas it metamorphosis from beinga thriller to a horror withoutyour notice. It’s pure rivetingstuff.”

A cricket player and anardent follower of the game, headmits to be “blown away” byThe Test-a docu-series whichnarrates Australia men’s cricketteam’s path to redemption last

year in England under the cap-taincy of Tim Paine after theinfamous ball-tampering scan-dal in March 2018- streamingon Amazon Prime. Plus, heexults, “You won’t believe that10 days ago I’ve even watchedsome ‘complete’ matches ofsome famous India versusPakistan world cup encounters,matches between Australia andSouth Africa and 2003 Ashes aswell.”

With people consuming a lotof content on OTT platformsdue to lockdown restrictions, hebelieves the industry will churnout better films in the comingdays. “The different and absorb-ing the content is the better isthe reception of the viewers-this is what I’ve noticed in thepast couple of months. The old-clichéd stuff will cease to existin Telugu cinema. I’ve evenwatched Iranian films like ASeparation and The Salesmanand I’m sure that if our audi-ences get used to drama, we willgo back to the golden period of’70s where dramas shone,” theactor, who will be next seen inRaja Raja Chora, concludes.

G

Sam and Chay's funny banteraga Chaitanyaand Samantha,one of the mostloved celebritycouples, gracedthe roka ceremo-

ny of Rana Daggubati andMiheeka in Hyderabad onWednesday. While Chaykept it simple — donning acheckered shirt and trousers— Samantha chose to wear

an ethnic yellow colouredsalwar kameez for the gath-ering.

On Friday, Sam, aftersharing a group picture withthe family and wishing thesoon-to-be-wed couple,posted a single picture ofher husband on Instagramand wrote, “After sendingmommy, aunties, sister,friends, very straight male

friends it’s now Instagram’sturn .. ‘See eee my husbandlooks so handsome no ????(husband is somewhere dig-ging a large pit to jump intoright now) (sic).” Reactingto this, Chay wrote, “Okaynow .. this looks like one ofthose paid partnership posts(sic).” The fun banterthough was loved by theirfollowers.

N

ilmmaker SudheerVarma has hired the ser-vices of senior writer GopiMohan to punch up thescript of his next, a remake

of 2017 South Korean action comedyfilm Midnight Runners. One of the topemergency rescue script doctors inTelugu cinema who is on the speed dialof many directors and producers, Gopihas done unaccredited fix-it work onmany films. While the untitled film’s dia-logues have been written by someone else,Gopi is providing the screenplay. “Sudheerhas decided to concentrate on the makingof his film this time around. Nonetheless,his inputs are still going into the creativeside of the film. The writing team is revertingto him,” said a source.

The remake, spearheaded by ReginaCassandra, Nivetha Thomas and NaveenChandra, was to roll early last month but thelockdown has put the brakes on Sudheer’splans. He is waiting for the industry to giveconsent to shootings. A joint venturebetween Suresh Productions, Guru Filmsand Kross Pictures, the film is anaction-comedy and will see the lead-ing ladies police academy cadets.

A

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Mahesh appealsto ‘MASK UP'

Pilates and abalanced nutritionalplan is Seerat'sfitness regimen

ctress SeeratKapoor, who will benext seen in Krishnaand his Leela,directed byKshanam fame

Ravikanth Perepu, knows howto achieve healthy weight losswithout losing the glow on herface.

Due to the COVID-19 lock-down, the actress is workingout at home and is makingsure to maintain her fitness.

“My fitness regime is anamalgamation of Pilates and abalanced nutritional plan. Ialso train with EMS (ElectroMuscle Stimulation) which is a20-minute workout sessiontwice a week. It is believed thatone 20-minute session of EMSis almost equivalent to 3 ses-sions of strength training,” shesays.

For her hourglass figure, shealso gave credit to her trainerSamir Purohit and nutritionistAnjali Peswani who have“stood by me through thickand thin, as my army”.

“Prior to the lockdown,Samir sent me a guidewith all the vital exercis-es, tailor made for mybody type due to which Ihave been able to main-tain the years of efforts,despite working outfrom home. I oscillatebetween his videos anddigital workout classeswith Namrata Purohit,”she said.

Apart from this, theactress, who has also fin-ished shooting for MaaVinthagadha Vinumaalongside SidduJonnalagadda, believesthat taking to housecleaning is a great sourceof functional training.

A DUE TO THE COVID-19LOCKDOWN, THEACTRESS ISWORKING OUT ATHOME AND ISMAKING SURE TOMAINTAIN HERFITNESS

esponding positively to therequests of industry veteranslike Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna,Allu Aravind and SureshBabu among others,

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao directed officialsto prepare guidelines so that the filmindustry can get back to its feet. The

noted cine personalities met KCR atPragathi Bhavan on Friday. With

livelihoods of thousandsdepending on the film indus-try’s functioning, the resump-tion of shootings and re-opening of cinema halls in aphased manner is ofimportance, KCR felt. Headvised the filmmakers tocommence pre-produc-tion works indoors tobegin with immediate-

ly, while simultaneously asking themto commence production works inJune. He informed the industry con-tingent that after only assessing theground situation, the government willconsider giving consent to lift the banon theatres. The industry should thriveand at the same time coronavirusshouldn’t spread, he told. He furtherappealed to the industry to work withlimited crew and practice social dis-tancing measures.

Ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav,Niranjan Reddy and principal secre-tary Somesh Kumar too attended themeeting.

Post the successful meeting, megas-tar Chiranjeevi tweeted, “I wholeheart-edly thank Hon’ble CM #KCR garu onbehalf of the Film, TV & Digital Mediaindustries for granting a patient hear-ing & his kind reassurance (sic).”

R

‘Govt will consider to liftthe ban on theatres’

Gopi Mohan'stouch toSudheerVarma's next

sport 12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

The BCCI has not made “anycommitment” to tour SouthAfrica in August and there

have only been discussions aboutsuch a possibility, Board treasur-er Arun Dhumal said on Friday,denying Cricket South Africa’sclaims of a confirmation.

CSA Director of CricketGraeme Smith and Chief ExecutiveJacques Faul on Thursday said thatIndia has agreed to tour the rain-bow nation for three T20Internationals in August, signallingresumption of cricket in the postCovid-19 world. But Dhumal dis-agreed.

“When South Africa’s tour ofIndia got cancelled due to coron-avirus, we had discussions that ifthere is a possibility, we will makean effort to tour South Africa. Butat no point have we made anycommitment to Cricket SouthAfrica about touring in August,”Dhumal said.

The senior BCCI office-bear-er then said that unless theGovernment clears internationaltravel, BCCI won’t be in a positionto make a commitment to anycountry.

“Right now, we can’t evencommit that we can tour Sri Lankain July followed by (short T20series) in Zimbabwe. Both thesetours are part of the FTP pro-gramme and we are still not surewhat the situation will be in twomonths, so how can we commit onSouth Africa tour?” Dhumal asked.

On a different note, whenasked about CSA Director ofCricket Graeme Smith’s supprt toSourav Ganguly’s candidature forthe ICC chairmanship, Dhumalsaid it would be good for globalcricket if an Indian is at the helm.

“There has been no formaldiscussion in BCCI about ICCchairmanship. Graeme Smith obvi-ously spoke in his personal capac-ity which is not CSA’s stand,” hesaid.

CSA President Chris Nenzanirefused to endorse Smith’s supportfor Ganguly in a statement issuedon Friday.

“As far as the BCCI is con-cerned we would certainly like anIndian to lead the global body andour President has credentials obvi-ously. But again we haven’t yet dis-cussed it,” Dhumal said.

However, a BCCI veteran whohas interacted with Nenzani, saidthat the cash-strapped Proteasshould only get a commitment ifit backs the BCCI view on ICCpolicies.

“We will definitely play SA

series but there should be riders.Is CSA with India on ICC policymatters? With Chris (Nenzani),you would want a full commitmenton paper and then proceed.

“It’s CSA which is desperate fora three-match T20. So they have todecide how they want to play it atthe ICC,” the veteran official said.

While the support to have anIPL in October-November win-dow instead of the T20 World Cupis growing, Dhumal said BCCIwon’t push for a postponement ofthe global event but at the sametime, it needs to be seen that inthese times, whether an event ofthat magnitude can be held inAustralia.

“T20 World Cup is a globalevent. Why should we push forpostponement of global event? Yes,what we need to check is that an

event of such magnitude with somany teams and all the health safe-ty norms, empty stadiums, can itbe held?

“These are calls that ICC andCricket Australia wil have to take,”Dhumal said.

Dharamsala ooption ffor ccampWith the civil aviation min-

istry announcing that domesticflights will be starting from May25, Dhumal said the Board couldexplore safe zone options for anational camp in case it can’t beheld at the National CricketAcademy in Bengaluru.

Will it make Dharamsala anoption considering that HPCAnow has a state of the art indoorstadium?

“Since it’s my state association,I would never, from my end, push

it but if after exploring options,BCCI finds that Dharamsala canhave a camp, I am more than readyto make all the arrangements.Even the hotel where the Indianteam stays Pavilion is HPCA prop-erty,” he said.

“In case, the situation inHimachal is under control and it’s

considered to be a safe zone as perGovernment protocols, the HPCAwill then do everything to make ita bio-secure environment. It alldepends on what is best availableoption,” he added.

HP has more than 100 casesand has recorded 4 Covid-19deaths so far.

PTI n MELBOURNE

There is a 9 out of 10 chance that India will makethe trip Down Under for a four-Test series later

this year, Cricket Australia chief executive KevinRoberts said trying to downplay the uncertaintytriggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I guess there’s no such thing as certainty intoday’s world so I can’t say 10 (out of 10), but I’mgoing to say nine out of 10,” Roberts told NewsCorp.

“With the variable being, who would knowwhether we can have crowds … I’d be really sur-prised if we can’t get the Indian tour away.

“But I wouldn’t, hand on heart suggest we’llhave full crowds from the start. We’ll just have tosee how that goes,” the under-pressure chief exec-utive said.

However, when it comes to away tours,Roberts wants a bio-secure environment whichmight prompt Cricket Australia to explore optionsof sending a team for a white ball series in England.

But before that, the CA would wait and watchhow the Pakistan and the West Indies tours ofEngland pan out in terms of health safety mea-sures.

“I think there’s some chance we could send ateam over,” Roberts said.

“Obviously we won’t jeopardise the safety ofthe players, but the best test of that is that the WestIndian and Pakistan tours of England before we’redue to tour. We hope they go off without a hitch,”Roberts said.

While the India tour is a lucrative one, it isunlikely that Australia would host Afghanistan fora one-off Test, which is not a part of the WorldTest Championship schedule.

KARACHI: Pakistan is keen to tourEngland this summer but the cricketboard does not plan to use the seriesas “leverage” to cut a deal for a recip-rocal tour in 2022, PCB chief execu-tive Wasim Khan said.

The England and Wales CricketBoard (ECB), which is estimated to loseas much as £380 million if the entireseason is wiped out due, hopes toresume cricket by rescheduling theseries postponed due to the coron-avirus outbreak, including the homeseries against Pakistan.

It seems to be an opportunemoment for the Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) to cut a deal for a returntour with England, who like severalcountries hasn’t toured Pakistan citingsecurity concerns.

“There is a lot of cricket to beplayed between now and 2022, I’ve hadthat question raised a few times; hasthere been a deal cut? Is somethinggoing to happen?” Khan said on SkySports — Cricket Show.

“But the simple fact is and it’s agenuine answer we need to get crick-et back on again and now is probably

not the time to try and leverage any-thing. Naturally things will take theircourse over the next two years,” headded.

Khan said Pakistan will haveample opportunities to prove teams likeEngland and Australia that it is safe totravel to, adding that right now thefocus is on trying to resume cricket,which has come to a halt due to thepandemic.

“We’ve got a lot of home seriesbetween now and then, which hope-fully will all go successfully, and we’llgive more confidence to the likes ofAustralia and England, who are due totour in 2022.

“But this is about getting cricketback on again. The cricketers want toplay and I think it’s important for theglobal game as well that we start tobring a level of normalcy to playingcricket again — whatever that may looklike — over the next six to 12 months,”he added.

Pakistan are scheduled to playthree Tests against England in Augustfollowed by thee T20s with the gamesto be played closed doors.

“We need a 14-day quarantineperiod when we get to England andenough time to practice for the guysso they can be ready,” Khan said.

“That’s a bit of a challenge, so we’relooking at an extended squad. We’relooking at bringing around 25 players— more than normal. We are planningto get them together to train for thetour. We’re probably about a week awayfrom that ,” he added. PTI

NEW DELHI: The Olympic-qual-ifying India Open badmintontournament, which was post-poned due to the Covid-19pandemic, will now be held herefrom December 8 to 13 after theBWF unveiled a revised calen-dar to salvage the disruption-hitseason.

The World Tour Super 500tournament, originally sched-uled to be held in New Delhifrom March 24-29, will now takeplace from December 8 to 13,the BWF said in a release.

The all-important event willbe preceded by the HyderabadOpen (August 11 to 16) and theSyed Modi International(November 17 to 22).

The BWF announcementcomes a day after India’s singlesplayers were allowed access toindoor courts with badmintonin the list of 11 sports whichhave been permitted to resumetraining.

As many as eight tourna-ments were rescheduled fromtheir original dates, includingimportant events such as NewZealand Open Super 300 (Oct

20-25), Indonesia Open Super1000 (Nov 17-22), MalaysiaOpen Super 750 (Nov 24-29),Thailand Open Super 500 (Dec1-6) and season-ending WorldTour Finals (Dec 16-20) inGuangzhou, China.

Four tournaments —German Open (March 3-8),Swiss Open (March 17-22),European Championships (April21-26) and Australian Open(June 2-7) remained suspendedwith BWF saying that “suitablereplacement dates are still beingfinalised.”

As many as 10 tourna-ments, including SingaporeOpen Super 500 (April 7-12),Badminton Asia C’ships (April21-26) — which fell within theApril 28 Olympic qualificationdeadline — were cancelled.

According to the revised cal-ender, the HSBC BWF WorldTour will return with the TaipeiOpen Super 300 fromSeptember 1-6, while theThomas and Uber Cup Finals inAarhus, Denmark will take placeon the rescheduled dates ofOctober 3-11. PTI

AFP n BIRMINGHAM

England paceman Chris Woakes isglad to be suffering the “normal-

ity” of familiar aches and pains fol-lowing his first bowling net prac-tice since the coronavirus lock-down.

Warwickshire’s Woakes wasback at his Edgbaston homeground in Birmingham onThursday for an hour-long stintafter being chosen for an individ-ual session.

The players are seeking tobuild up their fitness ahead of athree-Test series at home againstthe West Indies, which looks set tobe rescheduled for July behindclosed doors.

“It’s what we know, it’s what wedo,” Woakes told a conference callon Friday. “Obviously it’s the job, soit was nice to have some form ofnormality going back to sometraining.”

England have selected 18 bowlersto take part in individual training ses-sions across seven grounds, with justa physiotherapist in attendance.

Under strict health mea-sures they are not allowed touse changing rooms and mustwork with a set of balls theyalone can pick up.

“It looks a lot different towhat we’re used to,” said the 31-year-old Woakes, an allrounderand veteran of 33 Tests.

“But at the same time, withwhat’s everyone’s been through,it was quite nice to be out thereand do a bit of training and getthe ball back in hand,” the

World Cup-winner added.“Obviously not having

bowled for two months, there’sa few things that are sore. Thesides definitely woke up thismorning knowing I’d had abowl yesterday but it was niceto be back out there.”

AFP nMÖNCHENGLADBACH

Nearly 13,000 cardboardcut-outs of Borussia

Moenchengladbach support-ers are set to welcome theteam for Saturday’sBundesliga match againstBayer Leverkusen behindclosed doors.

Gladbach hosted the firstBundesliga game ever playedwithout fans on March 11,shortly before the Germanseason was put on holdbecause of the coronavirusoutbreak.

One of the club’s support-ers’ groups, FanprojektMoenchengladbach, subse-

quently came up with the ideaof allowing fans to print life-sized images of themselves tobe placed inside the ground.

The cut-outs line the sta-dium’s otherwise emptystands, with season ticket

holders able to have theircardboard lookalike allocat-ed to their regular spot.

“We’re arranging closeto 13,000 cut-outs, but almost20,000 have been orderedalready,” Thomas Ludwig,

head of the supporters' group,told SID.

“It’s a nice operation,which creates an atmospherein the stadium,” saidGladbach sporting directorMax Eberl. “Even if at thesame time it’s a reminder thatfootball without supporters isnot the same.”

“It’s fantastic. We reallyhave the impression that we’renot alone when we’re trainingin the stadium,” addedGladbach coach Marco Rose.

Gladbach are third inthe table and six pointsbehind leaders BayernMunich. They won 3-1 atEintracht Frankfurt last week.

AFP n BERLIN

Borussia Dortmund willagain be without Belgium

midfielder Axel Witsel whenthey travel to Wolfsburg onSaturday on the Bundesliga’ssecond week of action since itrestarted, coach Lucien Favresaid.

Witsel has not recoveredfrom muscular problems he

suffered trying to regain fitnessbefore last weekend’s resump-tion of matches.

But former Liverpool mid-fielder Emre Can is fit again andavailable for selection asDortmund aim to keep theirpursuit of leaders BayernMunich on track with a victo-ry.

Favre also said he was stillhopeful German internationalMarco Reus, who injured groinmuscles in February beforematches were suspendedbecause of the coronavirus pan-demic, could return to actionbefore the end of the season.

“He still hasn’t trained withthe team. We hope he’ll be ableto return as quickly as possibleand help us,” Favre said.Dortmund trail Bayern by fourpoints but face the reigningchampions at home on Tuesday

in a match that could prove cru-cial in deciding the outcome ofthe title race.

AFP n MILAN

Milan’s San Siro stadium iscloser to being demol-

ished after Italy’s heritageauthority found that the iconicstadium cannot be protected forcultural or historic reasons.

“The property namedGiuseppe Meazza Stadium (SanSiro) has no cultural interest andas such is excluded from theprotection provisions,” theLombardy region of Italy’s cul-tural heritage ministry wrote in

a report.AC Milan and Inter Milan,

who share the stadium to thewest of the city, have launchedtheir bid to knock down the SanSiro and build a new 60,000-capacity home on the samesite.

City authorities have beendivided over the project andrequested the opinion of Italy’sheritage authorities.

The report found that as theSan Siro has undergone contin-uous transformation since being

built in 1926, with only a smallpart of the original stadiumremaining, it would not be sub-ject to protection.

Although approval fromItaly’s heritage body is not thefinal decision, it could be animportant step towards bothteams’ hope of redevelopingthe site.

The clubs want to build anew ground adjacent to the cur-rent San Siro, while the old sta-dium would make way for anarea “dedicated to sports, enter-tainment, and shopping”.

Milan Mayor Guiseppe Salainsists he wants to renovate theexisting stadium so that it couldcelebrate its centenary in 2026by hosting the opening ceremo-ny of the Winter Olympics thatyear.

Both clubs are formerEuropean giants with AC Milanhaving won the ChampionsLeague seven times while Interwere the last Italian team to winthe European title, when theylifted the trophy for the thirdtime in 2010.

Neither have won the SerieA title since AC Milan tri-umphed in 2011.

LAHORE: Former Pakistan speedster ShoaibAkhtar and wicket-keeper Rashid Latif havetorn into Babar Azam saying that if hewants to lead like Imran Khan, then heshould also develop his personality to matchthe current Prime Minister of the country.

“Babar Azam wants to be a captain likeImran Khan but this does not mean thatit will only be related to playing cricket. Heneeds to take a leaf out of PM Imran’s bookwith regards to personality as well,” Akhtarsaid in a YouTube show WAJI’s Sports.

“Please don’t speak about things whichwe already know from the past 10 years. Wewon’t buy this argument. Babar has tosharpen up his communication skills, hispersonality, ability to lead from the front,fitness level etc. I think he has a lot to prove.”

Echoing the sentiments, Latif said:“When captain is sitting in a press confer-ence, he gives insight about his vision butthis was clearly lacking. Our captain is giv-ing headlines about the language barrierand things we already know.

“Babar should have made a strongstatement rather than just following thescript given to him. You have already show-cased that your mental attitude andapproach is not up to the mark.”

The whole debate over the languagestarted when former pacer Tanvir Ahmedsaid that Babar will have to improve hispersonality, his dressing sense and hisEnglish. IANS

BARCELONA: Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal wantsto stay at Camp Nou despite transfer rumours linkinghim away from Spain.

The Chilean also stated that he is looking to end theseason with couple of trophies in the bag.

“I am very happy and comfortable in Barcelona andof course I want to stay here. I am also feeling in bet-ter shape than ever. This is a good group and I have gotgreat friends in the dressing room,” Vidal told MarioVelasco during an Instagram Live session.

“Physically I feel better than ever. I have never hadso much time to prepare myself. We have a special (train-

ing) plan that helps me lengthen mycareer for as long as possible.

“I am ready for what’s to comeboth in the Champions Leagueand in LaLiga. We are top of the

league and we have a greatchance of going through in

the Champions League,” headded.

“There are two monthsof football left to be playedand in that time we have to

give everything.” IANS

PCB won’t use Eng tour as leverage for a return trip

India most likelytravel to Aus: CA

BCCI made no commitment on SA tour: DhumalPlayers not allowed loo breaksduring training: ICC guidelinesPTI n DUBAI

There will neither be loo breaksduring training nor the play-

ers will be allowed to hand overtheir caps or sunglasses to the on-field umpires as internationalcricketers will be required to letgo of some of their intrinsichabits when play resumes in thepost-Covid-19 world.

In its “back to cricket” guide-lines issued for resumption of thegame, ICC has effectively barredplayers from handing over theirpersonal equipments (cap, towel,sunglasses, jumpers) to theumpire or his teammates as partof maintaining social distance.

“Players and umpires shouldmaintain social distancing onthe cricket field and that includesno handing over of player items(cap, towels, sunglasses, jumpers)to the umpire or teammates,” readthe ICC playing guidelines.

However there was no clari-ty on who will keep the players’items?

“Consider adopting a processthat will assist the bowler in man-aging his/her items. Umpiresmay also be encouraged to usegloves when handling the ball,”

says the governing body.The players are unlikely to

keep their cap or sunglasses in thefield of play as it would attractpenalty runs just like in the caseof a helmet. The ICC also wantsthem to minimise their “timespent in the changing roombefore and after a match”.

The ICC Cricket Committeehas already recommended ban onusing the saliva on the ball andnow players have been advisednot to “touch eyes, nose, andmouth after making contact withthe ball” and sanitise their handsafter they come in contact withthe ball.

Life might get even tougherfor them when they are trainingfor the game with no loo andshower breaks encouraged.

“All participants should adopta ‘ready to train’ approach wherepossible i.E. Come to trainingprepared without the need to useany communal facilities such aschanging rooms or showeringfacilities,” read one of the train-ing guidelines.

“Personal equipment shouldbe sanitised before and after use(training and competition),” readanother one.

India Open from Dec 8-13

Woakes glad oftraining normality

Babar has a lotto prove: AkhtarSan Siro moves closer to demolition

Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium that is home venue to AC Milan and Inter in Serie A

Witsel missing but Can back for Dortmund

Emre Can trains during practice session

13K cut-outs to attend Gladbach game

Vidal wants Barca stay