Maharashtrafarmers seekThackeray's nodto access land

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Hiring during Aprildips by 62% dueto lockdown

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What makesKCR tick as anefficient andeffective leader

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MONEY 8HIRING DURING APRIL DIPS BY 62%

DUE TO LOCKDOWN

ANALYSIS 7CURE THIS MALAISE

SPORTS 12DRIVE TO SUCCEED DIFFERENT

FOR KOHLI AND SMITH: WARNER

HYDERABAD, THURSDAY MAY 7, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 206*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated May 6, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Paush & Shukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Purnima: 04:14 pm

Nakshatram: Swati: 11:07 am

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:48 pm – 03:23 pm

Yamagandam: 05:50 am – 07:26 am

Varjyam: 04:08 pm – 05:34 pm

Gulika: 09:01 am - 10:37 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 12:44 am – 02:10 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:47 am - 12:38 pm

HYDERARBADWEATHERForecast: Scattered thunderstormsTemp: 40/24Humidity: 82%Sunrise: 05:47 amSunset: 06:38 pm

PNS n HYDERABAD

Exuberant tipplers throngedliquor shops while owners per-formed special prayers at sev-eral places as sale of alcoholicbeverages resumed inTelangana on Wednesday afterover a month long hiatus dueto the COVID-19 lockdown.

Customers formed serpen-tine queues even before theshutters went up as the govern-ment allowed sale of liquor atmore than 2,000 shops acrossthe state with guidelines,including maintaining social

distance and wearing of facemasks while also increasing theprices by 16 per cent.

ZERO IN ON HYDPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K Chandra-shekhar Rao has instructedthe officialsconcerned toensure that in Hyderabadand its surrounding dis-tricts, where the spread ofcoronavirus is pronounced,regulations are strictly imple-mented.

Along with Hyderabad,officials should be alert atvil-lages neighbouring Kurnooland Guntur districts, heunderlined.

The Chief Minister held ahigh-level review at PragathiBhavan here on Wednesdayon containment ofCoronavirus and implemen-tation of lockdown.

PNS n NALGONDA

While Covid-19 has hit every-one hard financially and men-tally, for those waiting to getmarried, the virus has hitwhere it hurts the most —emotionally.

Prospective brides andgrooms would have to wait forsome more months to tie theknot as there are no auspiciousperiod after summer.

The summer, which hasmany auspicious muhurats, ison the way out. Function hallshave remained closed for over43 days and there is no possi-

bility that the administrationwould be giving permission tothem to carry on their businessas usual. Livelihoods of priests,

photographers, videographersand cooks, who are dependenton function halls for their sur-vival, are at risk.

There were many who cele-brated engagement ceremoniesin February and had decided totie the knot after Ugadi thisyear. However, the lockdownhas put paid to their hopes, andthrown their plans in disarray.Even if the lockdown is liftedin the near future, the prospec-tive grooms and brides willfind it hard to decide on the

auspicious date, book thevenues and complete the wed-ding preparations.

The Telugu auspiciousmonths of Chaitram andVaisakham are ideal for mar-riages because of congenialatmosphere, not much agricul-tural activity, holidays forschools and colleges and so on.

Uttam to KCR: Don't think TS is your ‘jagir’PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) president &Nalgonda MP Capt. N UttamKumar Reddy has opined thatChiefMinister K. ChandrashekharRao crossed all limits of decencywhiletargeting the Congress partyduring his press conference atPragathiBhavan on Tuesday.

At a presser here onWednesday, UttamKumar Reddy

said that the language used byKCR to insult Congressleadersdid not befit the stature of a chiefminister. During30 years of hispolitical career he had not seenany chief ministerwho stooped tothis level while targeting polit-icalopponents. He said it wasunfortunate that a person whohad begun hiscareer as a 'pass-port broker' was calling Congressleaders 'brokers'.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Apparently liquor and beerworth Rs 350 crore werediverted to the black marketthrough backdoor sales byliquor shops at extortionateprices during the lockdown.So, when excise officialsinspected the wine shops on

Tuesday, they did find theseals put on the shops untam-

pered, but were greeted withnear-empty shelves. Theyfound that on an average atleast 70 per cent of the liquorbottles have gone "missing"from the shelves of wineshops. In some shops, 90 percent of the display racks wereempty.

Liquor, beer worth Rs 350-cr sold during lockdownBACKDOOR BUSINESS

PNS n SRINAGAR

Riyaz Naikoo, one ofKashmir's most wanted ter-rorists and commander ofterror group HizbulMujahideen, was killed duringan encounter in Jammu andKashmir's Pulwama districtthis morning.

Naikoo was killed during ananti-terrorist operation con-ducted by the Army and J&KPolice in the Beighpura area ofJammu and Kashmir'sPulwama district.

The operation was one ofthree separate anti-terror opslaunched in the southKashmir area. Two other ter-rorists were killed in anotherencounter in Sharshali villageof the district's Pampore area.

Hizb chief Riyaz Naikoo, most wantedterrorist, killed in J&K encounter

Liquor fetches TS govtRs 95 cr on Day-1HYDERABAD: The Telangana State government mopped up over Rs95 crore on Day-1 of post-relaxation liquor sales across the state onWednesday.While liquor shop owners lifted stocks worth Rs 55 crorefrom government godowns and these weresold out completely, another Rs 40 cr oldstocks lying in shops were also sold.OnTuesday, the state government decided toopen liquor shops across zones – red,orange and green, while increasing theprices by 16%.

Economy in the red,KCR drops ‘Coronafree Telangana’ slogan

Kavita helps 68 womenreturn homePNS n HYDERABAD

In all 68 women belonging toTelangana who got strandedin Solapur of Maharashtramanaged to reach theirrespective placeswith the inter-vention offormer MPKalwakuntlaKavita.

The formerMP arrangedthree special buses for themand took measures for themto observe physical distance.

Tipplers throng liquor outlets in TS,owners perform special prayers

n KCR wants strict enforcement of lockdownin state capital and surrounding districts

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Deteriorating financial condi-tion of the state governmentas well as contracting sta-teeconomy, resulting fromprolonged lockdown, haveapparently forced ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao to shift his stance onCovid-10.

Far from realizing his goalof ensuring 'Corona-freeTelangana', he is now recon-ciled to asking people to 'learnto live withcoronavirus bytaking enough safety precau-tions as it cannot beeliminat-ed completely in the nearfuture'.

KCR, who lashed out atCentre for relaxing lockdownrestrictions in aphased man-ner since April 15 across thecountry to rev up the econo-my and even declared thatTelangana government wouldenforce strict lockdown with-out any relaxations whatsoev-er, was forcedto open liquorshops, RTA offices, Stampsand registration officeseven in

red zones from Wednesdaywith an eye on potential rev-enues from these sources forthecash-starved state govern-ment.

KCR had refused to imple-ment partial lockdownannounced by the Centre fromApril 15 and asserted thatlockdown would be enforced-strictly and completely inTelangana till May 7.

Along withHyderabad,officials should bealert atvillagesneighbouringKurnool andGuntur districts,he underlined.

The marriages cannot be performed due tolockdown period. Even if the lockdown islifted, the prospective grooms and brides areworrying about auspicious period.

52,559CORONAOUTBREAKIN INDIA 15,257 1,785

DeathsRecover

n Near empty racks greetexcise officials during stockverification in shopsn Underhand sales at threetimes the MRP

11 fresh cases of CovidHYDERABAD: Telangana on Wednesday reported 11 fresh cases ofcoronavirus. All these cases were reported in GHMC limits. There were430active cases in the state as on Wednesday. The total number ofcases in the state has mounted to 1,107. In all, 20 patients weredischarged on Wednesday, taking the total number of those dischargedin the state so far to 648 persons.

13 special trainsleave for differentstates from TS, APPNS n HYDERABAD

In continuing evacuation,around 14,000 migrant work-ers left Telangana andAndhra Pradesh for differentstates in 13 special trains, anofficial of the South CentralRailway here said onWednesday. While 11 trainsleft Telangana, two originat-ed in Andhra Pradesh duringthe intervening night ofTuesday and Wednesday andwere headed to UttarPradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Jharkhand, Rajasthan andMaharashtra, the official said.

In Telagana, the departureof the trains was from six rail-way stations, most of them onthe city outskirts. In theneighbouring state, the trainsoriginated from Kurnool andRayanapadu stations.

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KCR was forced to openliquor shops and RTAoffices even in red zoneswith an eye on potentialrevenues for the cash-starved stategovernment

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Canadian singerGrimes, who announced on Tuesday the birth

of their first child together, plan to join a growingnumber of families opting for a gender-neutralparenting style. The approach has becomeincreasingly popular as more parents rejectgender stereotypes - such as dressing girls in

pink and boys in blue, instead allowing children to make such choices forthemselves."I don't want to gender them in case that's not how they feel intheir life," Grimes, 32, whose real name is Claire Boucher, told fans in aYouTube live stream in February while discussing her pregnancy.

FIRST HINDU YOUTH JOINS PAKISTAN AIR FORCE

ELON MUSK BACKS GENDER-NEUTRALPARENTING, BABY’S NAME REVEALED

Delhi Police's Cyber cell has arrested the admin of the Instagram groupwhich was being used to share obscene messages and morphed pictures

of underage girls on the social media site, officials said on Wednesday. Policesaid the 18-year-old admin of the group, known as "BoisLocker Room", appeared for his class 12 board examinationsthis year. He is a student of a school in Delhi-NCR. Fourgroup members, who all area majors, above 18 years, havejoined the probe on Wednesday, a senior police officialsaid. The juveniles, who are part of the group, are beingquizzed at their home in the presence of their parentsand members of NGOs.

The UN's leader said Wednesday the world's 1 billion people living withdisabilities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and called

for them to have equal access to prevention and treatment of COVID-19.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the pandemic is revealing theextent to which people are marginalized and is intensifyingthe inequalities that people with disabilities already face,such as poverty and higher rates of violence, neglect andabuse. His video message was released alongside a UNreport that said people with disabilities are estimated to be15 per cent of the world's population and 46 per centof the world's people who are older than 60.

In a first, a Pakistani Hindu youth has become the first person from the minoritycommunity to join the Pakistan Air Force.Rahul Dev has been recruited as a

General Duty Pilot Officer, PAF said in a tweet. Dev hails from Tharparkar districtof Sindh province.Sharing the picture of the young man, the PAF recentlytweeted, "Good news during #COVID19 tense situation. Tharrocked again...Congratulations #RahulDev who hails from veryremote village of Tharparkar has been selected as GD Pilot in #PAF."Though Dev's exact age is not known, those inducted in PAF at hislevel are often around 20.The official Radio Pakistan on Wednesdaysaid it is "for the first time in Pakistan's history" that a Hindu youth hasbeen recruited as a general duty pilot officer in PAF.

UN LEADER SAYS 1B PEOPLE WITHDISABILITIES HARD HIT BY VIRUS

ADMIN OF INSTAGRAM GROUP‘BOIS LOCKER ROOM' ARRESTED

KALYANRAMGETS TWO IN A ROW

A serpentine queue for liquor in front of a shop at Chatrinaka

Covid-19 tosses away plans for weddings on auspicious days

NO GLASS CEILING THIS:

A woman buying her stuff

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HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 hyderabad 02

Experts make a distinc-tion between being effi-cient and proving effec-

tive, whether one is talkingabout management or leader-ship. The word effectivepre-supposes one who is ade-quate to accomplish a purposeand produces the intended orexpected result. The termefficientimplies performingor functioning in the best pos-sible manner with the leastwaste of time and effort.

According to managementlegend Peter Drucker, effi-ciency is doing thingsright;whereas, effectiveness isdoing the right things.Effective leaders differ wide-ly in their personalities,strengths, weaknesses, val-ues, and beliefs. All they havein common is that they get theright things done. No matterthe style of the leader, the

effective ones also treat peo-ple with respect. An effectiveleader is a person with a pas-sion for a cause. He or she hasa dream and a vision for bet-tering society in their ownsphere of influence.

From the above stand-points, Telangana ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao is an efficient and effec-tive leader. This is reflectedin his handling of the coron-avirus crisis. KCR has provid-ed effective leadership tocontain and prevent thespread of coronavirus withoutletting people panic. Thespeed with which the spreadof the virus was contained inKarimnagar, much before theterm 'containment zone'became a buzzword, is thequintessence of his effectiveleadership. Right from thebeginning of the outbreak,

KCR has kept himself abreastof the ground realities, whiletaking preventive and correc-tive steps to contain the coro-navirus. KCR has proved thathe is a leader with vision andforesight. Given his exem-plary response to Covid-19and the much talked-aboutpolicies and programmes ofhis administration, he is aleader who knows the pulseof people. This is exemplifiedby the manner in which

Telangana liftedthe ban onsale of liquor in the State.KCR was left with no alterna-tive as all the bordering statesdid so as soon as PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced relaxations.

During the press confer-ence on May 5, KCR madestudied observations on howthe Central Government hasbeen trying to underminethe federal spirit in the coun-try and how it has been plan-

ning to usurp certain Statepowers. He referred to theproposed Act through whichthe Centre is trying to takecontrol of the country's powersector. Under the Act, theCentre would take all impor-tant decisions with regard to

the power sector -- fromappointing members to theRegulatory Commission todeciding on the subsidies,tariff to giving incentives etc.The new law could throwinto disarray the systems inplace in Telangana to ensure24-hourfree, uninterrupted-power supply to the farmsector and dismantle the concessions given to variouscategories.

KCR also touched on therigid economic policies ofthe Centre, regardless of theeconomic recession and thedeep financial crisis in thecountry prior to and postCoronavirus spread. He wasthe first Chief Minister towrite a letter to the PrimeMinister suggesting that theeconomic stimulus could beprovided throughQuantitative Easing (QE) and

helicopter money. He was thefirst CM to also argue infavour of extension of thelockdown period before Modisounded CMs. KCR's obser-vation, during the May 5presser, that any virus causingpandemic would weaken in a70-day period, reflects expertopinion. It is in tune with thestatement made by Prof IsaacBen-Israel and perhaps theWorld Health Organization,suggesting that theCoronavirus outbreak coulddie out within 70 days. Theextension of lockdown to May29 is significant; for, it wouldmark the completion of 70days. This is yet another example of effective decision-making.

At the national level, wehave the most efficient PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, aleader enjoying credibility

among people who respondeagerly to his occasional calls,be it clapping, clanging ofutensils, lighting a lamp, orswitching off the lights.

Still, the Centre has leftmuch to be desired in its han-dling of the Coronavirus sit-uation in the country. Thepublic engagement — seen inapplauding, lighting of lamps,clanging of utensils etc - couldhave been used effectively tocome up with sound plans.There can be no justificationfor the manner in which theCentre al lowed prayersinvolving thousands of peopleat Nizamuddin in Delhi. TheCentre's handling of themigrant labour crisis and theunseemly row over collec-tion of fare from labourersre-turning to their native placesby special trains reflect lack offorethought.

What makes KCR tick as an efficient and effective leader

VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAOCPRO to Telangana

Chief Minister

From the above standpoints, KCR is anefficient and effective leader. This isreflected in his handling of the coronaviruscrisis. KCR has provided effective leadershipto contain and prevent the spread ofcoronavirus without letting people panic

Sarpanches seal village bordersPV KONDAL RAOn WARANGAL

The clarion call of ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao to the sarpanches of vil-lages to lead from the front toachieve the set targets in theirrespective areas is thoroughlyheeded by the village heads innorth Telangana districts.

Villages have been imple-menting the lockdown normsstrictly and several sarpanch-es are guarding their villageboundaries . A womansarpanch in Narsampet areaof Warangal rural districtprevented the entry of out-siders into their locality andguarded the border by carry-ing sticks. The fresh assign-ment sarpanches adhered tothe directions of the govern-ment was guarding the wineshops.

Several villages in the dis-tricts, which are in the OrangeZones, have put up strict sur-veillance in their respectiveareas and they have beeninstrumental in maintaig phys-ical distance in front of thewine shops in the villages.

In Chilpurgutta mandal of

Jangaon district, the policedeployed for the purpose of thestrict camping of the lockdownwere diverted to regulate thecustomers coming in largenumbers much before theonset of the deadline stipulat-ed by the administration.

The sales have been hecticand the villagers in almost allthe rural parts have taken thechance of liquor purchases ina systematic manner. Ravinder,a sarpanch in the mandal saysthat their village knows therepercussions of the Corona

spread if the physical distanceand the mask wearing processare not practiced as per thenorms.

"Though I never consumedliquor, I am taking up the taskof guarding the village shoppremises to help the police reg-ulating the queue stipulated forthe purpose," he said. He toldthe PNS that the villagers wereby and large maintained disci-pline while standing in queueand are cooperating with theshop owners, he said. Likewise,in the villages surrounding

the Warangal rural, WarangalUrban, Bhupalpalli andMahbubabad in Warangal erst-while district, no untowardincident in front of wine shopswas reported as a strict disci-pline was maintained in andaround the shop premises thatare located in their respectivelocalities.

Warangal Urban, the redzone district and its securitywas of course affected follow-ing the shifting of deployedforces at the check posts intothe shops in surrounding parts.In all, twenty check posts werein the city premises till date butalmost all the forces were shift-ed for the regulation process inthe shops while in the city thepatrol parties guarded thecheck posts to contain therush.

As wine shopsreopen acrossTelangana, thevillage heads aremaking sureoutsiders won'tenter their villages

Telemedicine comes to a haltPNS n ADILABAD

The tele medicine facilitywhich was opened a monthago has remained closed for thepast two or three days becauseof non-availability of doctors.When the facility was startedthe RIMS doctors and privatedoctors representing the IMAformed part of the telemedi-cine facility.

The facility is useful to

patients to contact doctorsover telephone and receivetheir prescription for variousailments as regular hospitalsare not functional because of

the lockdown due toCoronavirus.

Several have accessed thefacility by dialling up 08732-231850. For the past two days

none is responding to thephone calls made to this num-ber.

Enquiries have revealed thatthe RIMS doctors attached totelemedicine are busy checkingup health of the migrant work-ers, while the private doctorsare keen on reopening theirclinics. As a result, thetelemedicine facility remainedunder lock and key to thedetriment of patients.

Several have accessed the facility bydialling up 08732-231850. It is said thatfor the past two days none is respondingto the phone calls made to this number

AVINASH DEEPAK PULInMAHBUBNAGAR

The charity units and foundationsundertaking the service activity dur-ing the lockdown period have decid-ed to suspend their activities for thetime being as the people are serious-ly engaged in purchasing liquor.

Some NGOs say that they wouldsuspend the activity for the timebeing as the BPL families identifiedby the administration were more par-ticular about purchasing liquor. "Wedid supply the kits to the tune of twothousand from our end and thefamilies receiving the ration werehappy," they said and added that themale counterparts of the same fam-ilies, which the NGOs supported,were found in the queue lines for pur-chasing liquor.

It seems like some are simplystarving their families for their liquorneeds, lamented a member of theNGO in Mahbubnagar. He said a totalof 24 NGO units operated in the fivedistricts of erstwhile Mahbubnagardistrict have decided to suspendtheir activities for the time being andthey were observing the develop-ments that are visible in the ruralparts.

An NGO member even went on togive a clarion call to the counterpartsto suspend the ration supplies as thesupplies intended for the purposemay be sold in the market for procur-ing the wine in some families. Hisopinion was supported by otherNGOs and they took the decision tostop supplies at least in seven districtsadjoining Mahbubnagar fromWednesday.

Charity units tosuspend their support

Kavita helps 68 women...Continued from page 1

For over 23 days, the womenfrom the state faced severeinconvenience because of stay-ing put in dinghy rooms andfor want of amenities for them.

Kavita responded when oneof the family members of thestranded women contacted

the former MP through twit-ter and sought her interven-tion. All the women reachedtheir respective places onWednesday. The officials havemade arrangements to sendthem to quarantine facilities.

The women and their par-ents expressed their gratitudeto Kavita.

Covid-19 makes marriage...Continued from page 1

These two months have manyauspicious muhurats, but the lock-down played spoilsport. The auspi-cious month of Shravanam begins inthe last week of July and lasts goodpart of August. Some marriages canbe performed in this season, but thefarmers are busy during the period.Moreover, educational institutionswere commence after vacation.Therefore, many people will not optfor celebrating wedding during the

period. The months of Bhadrapadamand Pushyam are considered unfit forsolemnising marriages. This basical-ly means that prospective brides andgrooms should have to wait tillKartika and Margasira months, whichcoincide with November andDecember. Till then, there is nopossibility for celebrating weddings.

The marriage season helps func-tion hall owners, workers, cooks, tenthouses, priests, printing presses, pot-ters, barbers, washermen, music par-ties, tailors earn money.

Continued from page 1

Six of the trains left for Bihar,two trains each headed toUttar Pradesh and MadhyaPradesh. One train each leftfor Jharkhand, Rajasthan andMaharashtra, he said.

The railways had beenrunning 'Shramik Special'trains since May 1 for ferry-ing the migrant workers atthe request of states.Telangana Chief MinisterKCR had said the state gov-ernment has paid Rs fourcrore as advance for opera-tion of the special trains.

Zero in on HydContinued from page 1

Medical and Health MinisterEtelaRajender, Government'sChief AdvisorRajiv Sharma,Chief Secretary SomeshKumar, DGP MahenderReddy, Special Chief Secretary(Health) Shanta Kumari,Principal SecretariesNarsingRao, Ramakrishna Rao andothers attended the review.

"The situation in the State isunder control, except inHyderabad andits surroundingdistricts. The spread is less inother districts. All the newcases being reported are fromHyderabad, Medchal,

Rangareddyand Vikarabaddistricts. Hence, the officialsshould put more focus onHyderabad. Whoever is hav-ing symptoms they should begiven treatmentand all thosewho came in contact with thepositive cases should bequar-antined. Ensure strict mea-sures so that nobody fromHyderabadgoes out. Norshould outsider enterHyderabad. Appoint sharp-police, IAS and Medical andHealth officers as the SpecialOfficers.Round off entireHyderabad and eradicate thevirus," the Chief Minister said.

Tipplers throng liquor outlets in TS, owners...Continued from page 1

Shops in coronavirus con-tainment zones will, however,remain closed.

Telangana is the latest tojoin the list of states, includingneighbouring Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh, which haveallowed sale of liquor thatremained out of bounds forthe tipplers during the first twophases of lockdown. "I was

waiting for this day... I wouldnot mind the price hike. Thistime I will get sufficientstocks," a buyer said at one ofthe shops here. Some peoplebroke into dance and shoutedslogans hailing Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao, who onTuesday night announced thedecision to allow liquor sales,keenly awaited by the tipplersafter the shops were shut fromMarch 22.

Uttam to KCR: Don't think TS is your...Continued from page 1

Uttam said that KCR shouldnot consider Telangana as his'jagir'(personal fiefdom) justbecause his party had won thelast elections.

"Would we not call as 'buf-foon' a person who went onrecord in the Assemblystatingthat Coronavirus could betreated with a paracetamoltablet?"he asked.

Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the Chief Minister hadimposed salary cutfor allemployees and halved evenpensioners' pay citingfinan-

cial problems. However,money running to thousandsof crores was paid tocontrac-tors in the same month. Healleged that KCR was rob-bingthe Telangana's exchequerto benefit Andhra contrac-tors.

Uttam alleged that KCR wasno longer sensitive to the prob-lems being faced by people dueto arrogance stemming frompower. He charged KCR's fam-ily with chartering flights atstate cost even forpersonaltours.

The TPCC chief said thatKCR had shown utter disre-

spect to theinstitution ofGovernor by criticising therepresentation submittedbyCongress party to GovernorDr. Tamilisai Soundararajan.He said KCRshould beashamed for wrongly statingthat Congress leaders wereex-pecting a higher death toll dueto Coroanvirus in the state.For, the representation ques-tioned the fewer numbers oftests being conducted onCovid-19suspects. KCRshouldhave mentioned the testing ratein Telangana State in compar-ison to that of other States andthe national average.

11 fresh ...Continued from page 1

Among those discharged onWednesday, 10 belonged toHyderabad and 2 each fromSuryapet, Gadwal andAdilabad. Twenty-nine peo-ple have died from Covid-19so far, though no deaths werereported on Wednesday.There are 22 districts whichhave reported zero positivecases in the last 14days.Urging citizens to maintainphysical distance, the HealthDepartment said, "Alwaysmaintain a safe distance of atleast 6 feet from others. Closecontact with strangers is to beavoided.”

Economy inthe red...Continued from page 1

He then reasoned that all effortsput in by states sinceMarch 22to contain spread of coron-avirus would go down thedrain if partial lockdown wasimplemented from April 15. Tolay it on thick, KCR had com-mented that if lives were saved,a battered economy couldalways be brought back toshape. Therefore, he said hewould go to any extent tomake Telangana 'a corona-freestate' by imposing lock-down strictly.

13 specialtrains...

Continued from page 1

Following relaxations in lock-down norms, long queues oftipplers were seen outsidestandalone liquor shops onWednesday in various parts ofTelangana. The state has 2,300liquor outlets, including 185 inHyderabad. In some zones, the

police had a tough time in reg-ulating the queues at the liquorstores as per social distancingnorms. Interestingly, at someplaces, mounted police madean appearance. The state gov-ernment could have lost Rs1,800-2,000 crore in unearnedrevenues as the liquor shopsremained shut for 45 days.

Liquor fetches TS govt ...

Liquor, beer worth Rs 350-cr sold...Continued from page 1

Unfazed by the missing stocks, whichreflects gaps in the excise depart-ment's watch, the officials, however,are putting up a brave front, claim-ing that there were "no cases of winebottles missing from sealed shops".

It was on March 22 that sale ofliquor was suspended on account ofJanata Curfew. The nationwide lock-down came into force the very nextday. On Tuesday, when excise officialsconducted stock verification in all thewine shops across the state, theyfound discrepancies galore. For, theState Beverages Corporation suppliedliquor worth Rs 88.95 crore to over2,216 wine shops in the state on

March 20. On March 21, liquor andbeer worth Rs 109 crore were sup-plied. According to conservative esti-mates, beer and liquor worth Rs 200crore was supplied to wine shops injust two days. Besides, the shops hadpre-existing stocks of liquor worth Rs300 crore. Thus, on the whole, theliquor shops ought to have stocksworth Rs 500 crore, which shouldhave been available for sale fromWednesday. However, it was foundthat liquor and beer worth Rs 350crore were diverted to the blackmarket through backdoor sales.

In Papannapet of Medak district,when excise officials went to inspecta wine shop, the locals resisted.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Stranded Telangana NRIs willbe returning home shortly inseven flights from six coun-tries. More than 2,350Telangana natives are expect-ed to return shortly in thesespecial flights, according toChief Secretary to TelanganaSomesh Kumar.

The government is makingall arrangements for theirquarantine on arrival and asenior official level meetingwas called by the ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar toreview the arrangements inHyderabad.

The Chief Secretary

informed that the Union gov-ernment had issued ordersregarding the movement ofIndian Nationals stranded inforeign countries and issuedcertain standard operatingprotocol.

The Chief Secretary direct-ed the officials to makearrangements for institutionalquarantine, medical screen-ing at the airport and coordi-nation with the nodal officersdesignated by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA).

Somesh Kumar informedthat as per guidelines, theincoming passengers have toundergo institutional quaran-tine at their own cost. He

directed the officials to co-ordinate with hotels to preparepackages for their 14-day stayto suit the budgets of differenttravelers.

The Chief Secretary alsodirected that medical teamsshould be arranged to under-take their regular check-up.Transport arrangements fromthe airport to quarantine cen-ters were entrusted to TSRTCManaging Director.

Special Chief SecretaryShanthi Kumari, Health andFamily Welfare PrincipalSecretaries Sunil Sharma, VikasRaj, Additional DG of Law &Order Jithender and otherswere present.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Charred body ofman found, copssuspect murder

Bizman duped of Rs 3.67 lakh

Man sleeps withcharging phone,electrocuted

Aburnt body of a man wasfound at Chintapatla village in

Yacharam on Wednesday. Policesaid that the man had beenmurdered and the body was laterdumped there by unidentifiedassailants. According to thepolice, the partially burnt bodywas found by villagers whoalerted the police. The policeexamined the spot and collectedthe clues. "The accusedmurdered the man elsewhereand later dumped the body at thespot and burnt it to avoid gettingidentified" said M Madhu Kumar,Inspector of Police, Yacharam.The police said that the man, inhis 40's, seems to have been alabourer by profession. Officialsare looking into the surveillancecameras for a detailed enquiry.The Yacharam police shifted thebody to a hospital for post-mortem and registered a caseunder section 302 of the IPC. Aninvestigation is underway.

Abusinessman who tried toprocure PPEs and donate to

doctors, was duped of Rs 3.67lakh by online fraudsters.According to the police, thevictim is also a social workerand is engaged in variouswelfare activities. He hadplanned to hand over PPEs tothe doctors working on Covid-19cases to acknowledge theirselfless services. A few daysago, he checked an onlinetrading portal and posted amessage that he wanted to buyPPEs. A person identified asLouis from Denmark sent amessage to the victimexpressing interest in taking theorder and providing the PPEs.He said that their branch officein Mumbai can supply therequirement to him. Believinghim, the victim made an onlinepayment of Rs 3.67 lakh to thefraudster, said the police.However, the person did notprovide the PPE's and insteadswitched off the phone. Thevictim approached the policeand made a complaint.

Aman died of electrocutionafter he plugged his mobile to

power supply and slept with thephone over his chest at Bhongiron Tuesday. The deceasedperson was identified as 32-year-old Jodi Devoji from Mancherialdistrict. He had migrated with hiswife, Nirosha and was working ata poultry farm in Kerchupallyvillage of Valigonda in Bhongir.According to police, on Mondaynight, after completing their dailychores, the couple went to sleep.Devoji before going to sleeppulled out an extension cablefrom the electrical supply,connected his mobile charger toit and fell asleep. He kept themobile on his chest and slept.Around 3:30 am, the cable gotdisconnected from the phoneand fell on him and he waselectrocuted. His wife Niroshanoticed this and alerted the farmowner and villagers, but Devojiwas already dead. Based on hercomplaint, the Bhongir Policeregistered a case and areinvestigating.

Say no to Eid shopping,help needy, is the buzz

File photo of the shopping street at Charminar during Ramzan

PNS n HYDERABAD

Say no to Eid shopping thisyear to help the needy cam-paign is gathering momentumwith the backing from a crosssection of Muslim communi-ty. The campaign which start-ed on social media a few daysago found huge support incities across India. The com-munity is being urged to cele-brate the true spirit of Ramzanby feeding a family, by payingsomeone's school fee, helpingsomeone restart the businessand pay someone's rent.

Religious scholars, intellec-tuals, politicians and youthhave appealed to the commu-nity to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitrwith simplicity without newclothes and new footwear anduse the money thus saved tohelp those who are facingsevere hardships due to theongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

With little more than twoweeks to go for Eid, whichmarks the culmination ofRamzan, appeals are beingmade to the entire communi-

ty to avoid shopping and usethe money to help the needyamong their relatives, neigh-bours or other people in theirtowns and cities.

As the Telangana govern-ment has extended the lock-down till May 29, there will beno Eid celebrations inTelangana state.

Hyderabad, a key hub ofRamzan festivities and shop-ping, is deserted and there areno chances of garment orfootwear shops re-openingbefore the festival.

As Hyderabad is one of thesix red zone districts, the gov-ernment has ruled out allow-ing markets to open. ChiefMinister K. ChandrashekharRao made it clear that no con-gregational prayers will beallowed on the occasion of Eid.

"When there will be noNamaz-e-Eid, what purposewill new clothes serve. As it isthere is no festive atmospheredue to the pandemic and thelockdown and the miseriesthey caused to millions,"activist SQ Masood said.

On an average a middleclass family spends about Rs50,000 on Eid shopping. Theynot just buy the new clothesand new footwear but also gofor new curtains, upholstery,crockery and some otherhousehold items.

The crisis triggered by theoutbreak of Covid-19 andresultant lockdown has alreadyconsiderably impacted pur-chasing power of many fami-lies. Those depending on thebusiness during Ramzan havebeen hit hard.

As Ramzan is called as the month ofempathy, community leaders haveurged the affluent to come forwardto help the needy

Pictures, posts flood social mediaplatforms as liquor shops reopenNAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

After staying shut for the 40-day lockdown to slow thespread of the novelCoronavirus, alcohol shopsacross the state that met thegovernment's conditions beganopening their shutters Monday.On social media, people fromacross the state shared photosand videos of the long queuesthat were visible outside thesestores, not always with ade-quate physical distancing.

Social media platforms alsowitnessed posts of people shar-ing videos and photos of theirfresh stock. Several videos ofmen dancing with joy bythanking Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao went viralas well. Meanwhile, a certainsection of netizens also spokeabout how it was a bad decisionby the government to open upwine shops than other essentialservices.

"I have been alone andhomebound since the lock-down started. I'm not a chron-ic alcohol but I do enjoy drink-ing. It has been so hectic withworking from home, news

about deaths and Coronavirusaround for the past few weeks,this will surely help me getthrough the lockdown. Thankyou Chief Minister sir," said aperson standing at a line inSecunderabad area.

"When people are happy for#LiquorShops opening morethan vaccination forCoronavirus," said a tweetfrom Telangana which had avideo of a man dancing withbottles.

"These #LiquorShops queuesshow that after 6 weeks of pro-hibition, everyone has fallen inline," said another post with apicture of a long line outside awine shop in Madhapur.

However, while manyrejoiced the reopening, certain

section of society also showedtheir disappointment with thenews.

"After watching people gobonkers over alcohol in otherstates, I was just yesterdaytelling my family about howChief Minister won't let thishappen in Telangana and herewe are now. Can't say I'm notdisappointed," said an arealocal from Venkatapuram,Alwal, which has two wineshops in the nearby locality.

"Our 40 days performancego vain because lots of wine-shops not keeping social dis-tance! Who is responsible?!"(sic) tweeted a user with a han-dle Taranth Poojari, furtherasking why are temples stillclosed.

Lockdown may lead to car battery failureNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

While there have been positiveslike reducing pollution levelsdue to decrease in car usebecause of the Coronaviruslockdown, but it has broughtwith it some rather unwantedconsequences like peoplewould need to shell out moneyfor new car batteries.

Battery failures traditionallypick up in the winter but thelockdown, which has led tomany cars remaining stationary,has seen winter levels of batteryfailings happening now.

To maintain their cars athome, owners have beenadvised to take several mea-sures. This includes starting thecar once every week and accel-erating it for 15 minutes.

Kiran Kumar, a mechanic inpopular car showroom in

Kukatpally said, "Typically oldcars will face issues if the bat-tery is not recharged. These carsget recharged if travelled longdistances. Sometimes even newcars may face such issue. It isbetter if the car is started onceand accelerated for 15 mintuesfor every five to seven days. Iam sure once the lockdown is

over, we will witness manysuch repairs."

A leading service centre hasopined that several cars willneed new batteries once thelockdown is completed.

Also the owners or drivers ofthe cars are advised to movetheir car forward and backwardto keep it from remaining

immobile for too long andavoiding flat spots on tyres.Even car manufacturers advisedpeople to take care of their cars.

According to TATA motors,"It is important to preserve thefunctionality of its internalcomponents. Therefore, usinga tyre stopper or putting the carin gear is a more efficient wayof parking the car than usingthe handbrake as it can jam thebrake if engaged in the car parkposition for a prolonged peri-od of time. To reduce the effectof changing weather on thevehicle, the fuel tank of the carshould be kept full to avoid

moisture from settling in."Regular sanitisation and

periodical checks of the interi-or and car parts such as thesteering wheel are also impor-tant to maintain regularhygiene and ensure that thecomponents are functioning.

According to Mahavir Isuzuin Hyderabad, "Keep your carinner environment healthy, bycleaning the interiors. This willkeep your car in healthy con-dition by terminating unneces-sary germs and bacteria. Don'tleave any items in the car. SetAC ventilation switch at recir-culation mode."

Battery failures pick up in the winterbut the lockdown, which has led tomany cars remaining stationary, hasseen many battery failures

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chilkur priest calls for 'be afarmer' challenge, after wit-nessing farmers disposingheaps of vegetables atMoinabad.

The authorities of ChilkurBalaji temple and the priestplanted seeds on a piece of anagriculture land at Chilkuralong with the fellow devotees.The temple called upon salut-ing those involved in the agri-culture sector, who toil day andnight to produce food grains,who provided us our dailyfood without which we cannotsurvive even for a second.

Enroute Yenkepally inMoinabad, on May 4 chiefpriest CS Rangarajan wit-nessed a farmer Srinivas dis-

posing heaps of tomatoes onthe road as he was unable toget the price, labour or beartransportation cost. While thepriest made a purchase tohelp farmer, moved by theplight of the farmer, theycalled upon the 'be a farmerchallenge'.

Chief priest Rangarajansaid, "We call upon people toaccept this divine challengeand plant seeds on a piece ofland or even in a flower pot inyour houses, flats, residencesthat you reside. We have decid-ed to come with be a farmerchallenge, on this auspicious

occasion of Nrusimha Jayanthion Wednesday".

As lockdown is not applic-able to farming activity, youcan also volunteer and help inharvesting produce, help intransporting produce, supportmonetarily a farmer of yourchoice. He said, "As rightlypointed out by our ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao, this is the time oneshould celebrate the recordyield of agriculture producethat is witnessed in Telanganafor the first time in history.

But unfortunately, due tolockdown we are not celebrat-ing it in the usual style.Instead, let us celebrate it in theform of planting a seed sittingin our homes, flats, and resi-dences".

Chilkur priest throws ‘farmer challenge’

Groundwaterlevels rise by 3.9 m compared to April 2019 PNS n HYDERABAD

Groundwater levels acrossTelangana this summer arebetter than last summer.Increase in groundwater lev-els of 3.09 m is observedduring April 2020 comparedto April 2019 and the rise isobserved in all the districts.As per the monthly reportby Ground WaterDepartment, averagegroundwater level in thestate during April 2020 is11.05 meters below groundlevel (m bgl) and it variesfrom 4.66 m bgl inWanaparthy to 22.12 m bglin Medak

However, an average fallin groundwater levels of0.54 m is observed duringApril 2020 as compared toMarch 2020 and the fall isobserved in all the districts.

Shallow water levels of <5m bgl occur in 9 per centof the state area, while mod-erately deep water levels of15-20 m bgl occur in 14 per-cent of the state.

One of the world's oldest freighters 'Aeroflot' at Hyderabad International Airport.

PNS n HYDERABAD

GMR led HyderabadInternational Airport handledits first ever commercial cargoservice from Russia with thelanding of Aeroflot Airlines,the flag carrier and the largestairline of the RussianFederation on May 5. TheAeroflot freighter came fromMoscow landing at HyderabadAirport on May 5 and depart-ed on May 6 at 12.03 am.

This is the first time a com-mercial B777 Passenger toCargo f light landed atHyderabad InternationalAirport to uplift thePharmaceuticals to Moscow.This aircraft carried GeneralPharma and took off with afull load of approx. 50 tonsboth in belly as well as fastenedcargo-on-seats. This was aone of its kind wide body 'P toC' Cargo flight movement for

Hyderabad.Currently, the service of

Aeroflot freighter is limited tothe Covid-19 lockdown peri-od. Hyderabad InternationalAirport is pursuing to have aregular weekly frequency ofthis freighter, which if worksout, will enable a direct con-nectivity of Hyderabad toRussia and other CIS coun-tries. CIS countries have amajor demand forPharmaceuticals and thisfreighter can open up a directgateway to the CIS countries.

Stranded Telangana NRIsto return home in 7 flights

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar reviews arrangements for return of stranded NRIs in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

RGIA handles firstfreighter, lifts 50tonnes of Pharma

PNS n HYDERABAD

A study conducted by theUniversity of Hyderabad(UoH) faculty has revealedthat specific regions inspike proteins ofSevere AcuteR e s p i r a t o r ySyndrome (SARS)coronaviruses arerequired to causehuman infection.

A SARS coronavirusprotein named - Spike, thatforms a crown-like appearance'Corona' specifically binds tohuman angiotensin-convert-ing enzyme-2 (ACE-2) recep-tor. A crucial questionaddressed is what changesmight have occurred in SARScoronavirus genomes and thespike proteins during evolu-tion that made the virus capa-ble of causing the humaninfection?

Prof. Lalitha Guruprasadat School of Chemistry, UoHanalysed complete genomesand spike protein sequences of

several SARS coronavirusesfrom the bat, civet, and humanSARS coronavirus-2.

Her study revealed that"three sequence regions and adisulfide bridge are present

only in SARS coronavirusspike proteins that bindACE-2 receptor,whereas, thesesequences are absentin bat SARS coron-

aviruses that are inca-pable of causing human

infection".The present Covid-19 is

caused by SARS coronavirus-2 with its epi-centre, reportedfrom Wuhan, China duringDecember 2019, has rapidlybecome a pandemic resultingin an alarming number ofinfections and deaths world-wide.

According to the study, thesequence motifs that are spe-cific to human SARS coron-avirus-2 that interact withACE-2 can be exploited aspotential candidates for anti-body design.

UoH faculty deciphers keyto SARS Covid in humans

This is the firsttime a commercialB777 Passenger to Cargo flightlanded at RajivGandhi Airport

MIM activistrapes minorPNS n HYDERABAD

A minor girl was allegedlyraped by a close associate ofa MIM MLA at Chaderghaton Wednesday.

According to the Police,the 16-year-old girl, who hadlost her parents, was livingwith her uncle at Chaderghat.The accused person, Shakeel,lived next to the girl's uncle'shouse. At around 1.30 am onWednesday, the girl wentoutside to relieve herselfwhen Shakeel allegedlydragged her into his homeand sexually assaulted her.

Residents heard the girl'sscreams and rushed toShakeel's house. He tried toescape but they nabbed himand beat him up. He was laterhanded over to the policewho have registered a caseunder relevant sections of thePOCSO Act and SC/ST act.The girl was sent to a hospi-tal for medical examinationand an investigation is under-way.

The incident soon flaredup on social media as the girlcomes from a marginalisedsection of society and BJPsupporters took to twitterdemanding stringent actionincluding hanging the rapist.

TT, TSWREIS toconduct onlineclasses on TSATPNS n HYDERABAD

In view of the nation-widelock-down amid Covid-19pandemic crisis, TelanganaSocial and Tribal WelfareResidential EducationalInstitutions Societies willjointly organise online lessonsfor degree college studentsfrom May 6 to May 30through 'TSAT' TV channel.

Expert lecturers will con-duct online classes in differ-ent subjects includingCommerce, ComputerScience, Microbiology,Maths, Botany, Electronics,Chemistry, Zoology, Telugu,English and life skills.Secretary Dr RS PraveenKumar advised the studentsto watch online classes, sothat there will be minimumdisruption to their academicschedule.

Secretary Dr RS PraveenKumar thanked MinistersKT Rama Rao, KoppulaEshwar and SatyavathiRathod for entrusting thetask of organising the onlineclasses in an endeavor tobridge the education gap.

TIME toconduct TTSEexam for CATaspirantsPNS n HYDERABAD

TIME, the leading test-prepinstitute is conducting TIMETalent Search Examination(TTSE) for CAT aspirants onthe May 10. Students can takethe test online from theirhome in any of the two slotsviz., 9 am or 6 pm, or canchoose to write the test in boththe slots as well, to maximizetheir performance and gainthe most of the attractive per-formance-based fee waiverthat is on offer, a press releasesaid. This fee waiver will beavailable on the CAT 20/21/22classroom/online courses andthe link for CAT aspirants toregister is www.t4e.in/actnowTTSECAT.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 hyderabad 04

KTR asks Centre toback pharma sectorPNS n HYDERABAD

The Indian Pharmaceuticalindustry has been a world leaderin generics both globally and indomestic markets contributingsignificantly to the globaldemand for generics in terms ofvolume. However, the novelCoronavirus, which has claimedover 1,600 lives in the country,is taking a toll on the industry.Telangana, which is the largestpharmaceutical hub in thecountry, contributes more than35 per cent of the national pro-duction and is home to aboutmore than 800 Life Sciencescompanies employing about1,20,000 people.

As the industry has startedto experience financial burdendue to reduced productioncapacity, shortage of labour,price pressure caused by sup-ply chain issues and maintain-ing a large skilled workforce onpayrolls among the many otherdeeper issues as a result ofCovid-19, IT and IndustriesMinister KT Rama Rao in a let-ter to Union Minister DVSadanand Gowda requestedthe Central Government's sup-port to the Pharmaceuticalindustry. He also made somerecommendations to help theindustry overcome the Covid-19 crisis.

The Minister, in the lettermentioned that the reformsand targeted support will notonly help stabilise the sector butwill also go a long way in fur-ther consolidating India's lead-ership position by attractingnewer investments from

around the globe.Speaking on financial stress

on the Industry, he suggested,"In order to ease the financialburden to an extent, I urge theGovernment of India to expe-dite both income tax and GSTrefunds to these companies.GoI should also considerextending a moratorium on taxpayments for the next 6months, atleast for the MSMEsector, to further ease thefinancial stress on companies".

Prevent accumulation ofinput tax credit by allowing theexporters to use this accumu-lated un-utilised GST credittowards payment of their GSTliability on imports. He saidexpedite clearance of incen-tives under export promotionschemes and askedGovernment of India to reviewall pending incentives cases

and expedite release toexporters to reduce the finan-cial burden.

He suggested measuresIncentive for export promo-tion, reduction in capital bor-rowing costs, price controlrelaxation for essential andnon-essential medicines,Expedite port level clearancesto ease Logistics Issues.

"It is also suggested that asan interim relief in the presentunprecedent situation,Government of India shouldwaive off port related costs fora minimum of 6 months tooffer interim relief to compa-nies," he said.Government of Telangana hasalready invested in world'slargest integrated Pharma clus-ter - Hyderabad Pharma Citybeing developed in 19,333acres.

PNS n MEDAK

Finance Minister T HarishRao on Wednesday went onrecord stating that the TRSgovernment released Rs 1,200crore to waive farmers of theirminor loans up to Rs 25,000 atone go and the AgricultureDepartment would depositmoney in the farmers' bankaccounts towards settlement ofthe loans.

The move would benefitover 5.85-lakh farmers, he saidrefuting the allegations beinglevelled by the opposition par-ties against the pro-farmerTRS government. Disclosingthis to media here, he soughtto know what the BJP andCongress did for farmers intheir ruled states. He said thathe is ready to visit any state ofthe opposition parties to com-pare the achievements vis-à-visthe TRS-ruled Telangana,which is the only state in thecountry to procure all cropsharvested by farmer during the

current rabi. In the BJP-ruled Karnataka,

a quintal of paddy is being pro-cured at Rs 1,500, while theTRS procures paddy at Rs1,835 per quintal. TheCongress' Rahul Gandhi dupedthe people of Chhattisgarhpeople by promising to waivecrop loans worth Rs 2 lakh foreach farmer at one go, healleged.

The Government ofTelangana has set aside Rs30,000 crore to procure paddy,Bengal gram, maize and greengram, he pointed out. The TRSgovernment earmarked Rs12,000 crore in the state bud-get under the Rytu Bandhuscheme and also released theallocated amount withoutwithholding at least Re 1.Moreover, Telangana is unique

to provide round the clockpower to farm sector, he saidenquiring the opposition lead-ers whether any BJP orCongress ruled states emu-lates the Telangana.

The Congress and BJP areduping the farmers on thepretext of taking up theircause, he alleged. The TRSgovernment urged the Centreto link the NREGS with farmsector on umpteen times, butthe Centre turned a deaf earto the government pleas, helamented.

IT Minister KT Rama Rao wrote a letterto Union Minister DV Sadanand Gowdarequesting the Central Government'ssupport to the Pharmaceutical industry

Finance MinisterHarish Rao saidthat the Centre didprecious little tothe TRSgovernment intackling the novelCoronavirus crisis

TRS policies best, Harish tells Oppn

SCCL donatesRs 40 crorePNSnHYDERABAD

Singareni Collieries CompanyLimited (SCCL) donated Rs 40crore to the Chief Minister’sRelief Fund (CMRF) to help theState government in its combatagainst Coronavirus and also tohelp the poor during the lock-down. Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao receivedthe cheque from SCCL chair-man and managing director N

Sridhar at Pragathi Bhavan onWednesday. Popular jewellery brand LalithaJewellers also contributed Rsone crore to the CMRF. Thecompany’s chairman and man-aging director M Kiran Kumarhanded over the cheque to theChief Minister at PragathiBhavan. He also contributed Rsone crore each to the CMRFs ofAndhra Pradesh and TamilNadu.

Two more trains with migrants leave from TSPNS n HYDERABAD

Two more special trains carry-ing over 2,000 migrant work-ers left Telangana for Bihar andJharkhand on Wednesday, offi-cials said. Both the trainsdeparted from the Bibi Nagarrailway station in YadadriBhuvangiri district nearHyderabad early onWednesday morning.

Migrant workers fromYadadri Bhuvangiri and otherdistricts were brought to therailway station by buses late onTuesday night. A team of 50personnel from the healthdepartment led by the districtmedical and health officerscreened the workers beforeallowing them into the station.

Officials said that all neces-sary arrangements were madefor the smooth journey of the

workers. Yadadri BhuvangiriDistrict Collector AnithaRamchandran, along withsenior officials, supervised thearrangements at the station.The workers expressed theirhappiness on returning to theirhome states after a long wait.They said they had registered

their names with the police sta-tions concerned and were dulyinformed about the travelarrangements made.

With this, the number ofspecial trains operated formigrant workers fromTelangana rose to four. The firsttrain had left for Jharkhand on

May 1, while the seconddeparted for Bihar on May 5.Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao had saidon Tuesday said that 11 trainscarrying migrant workers wereleaving for various states. Hesaid five of these trains wereleaving for Bihar, two each forUttar Pradesh and MadhyaPradesh and one each forJharkhand and Rajasthan.

However, the informationabout the operation of thetrains is being kept confiden-tial to avoid entry of unautho-rised persons into the railwaystations. The Chief Minister

had said after the state cabinetmeeting that the migrant work-ers can't be sent in thousandsand lakhs as this needed theconsent from their home states.

He said he spoke to ChiefMinisters of Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and other states andthey wanted Telangana to sendthe list of the workers whowanted to come so that theycould make proper arrange-ments for their transportationto their respective districts andvillages. "I wanted to send 40trains but we need the consentfrom the3 concerned states," hesaid.

With this, the number of special trainsoperated from TS rose to four. The firsttrain had left for Jharkhand on May 1,while the second for Bihar on May 5

Telangana HC seeks info on stepstaken to bring back stranded pilgrimsPNS n HYDERABAD

Expressing concern over thesafety and security of 107 pil-grims who are now stranded inSirohi at Rajasthan due to theongoing nationwide lockdown,the Telangana High Court onWednesday directed the stategovernment to inform thecourt about the steps taken tobring them back to the state.

A division bench of the HCcomprising of the Chief Justiceof the state Justice RS Chauhanand Justice B Vijaysen Reddypassed this order in a taken upPublic Interest Litigation (PIL)which is based on a letteraddressed to the HC by advo-cate K Ramakanth Reddy, anative of Hyderabad.

The division later postedMatter to May 8 for furtherhearing. In his letter, Reddysaid that the 107 pilgrims hadbeen stranded at ShantivanPrajapita Brahma Kumarishwariya Vishwa Vidyalayafrom Sirohi District of Rajasthasince March 23 2020.

He told the HC that pilgrimswent to Rajasthan to attend aspiritual retreat. He told the HCthat pilgrims were under self

quarantine since the day one ofthe lockdown and were healthywithout any symptoms ofCovid-19. He urged the HC toissue directions to the state gov-ernment authorities to takeadequate steps to bring back allthe 107 pilgrims fromTelangana by plying buses or bymaking suitable interimarrangements for their trans-portation to the state. He toldthe High Court that theBrahms Kumari organisationwas ready to bear the cost of thetransportation of the pilgrims.

‘File detailed report’The Telangana High Courtdirected the State governmentto submit a detailed report

seeking directions to theauthorities concerned to ensurethat private vehicles carryingpregnant women are allowed tomove freely without insistingfor showing movement passand to fix fees charged by pri-vate hospitals regarding childbirth maternity neo natal care.

A division bench comprisingof the Chief Justice of the stateJustice RS Chauhan and Justice

B Vijaysen Reddy asked thestate government to submit itsreport by Friday. The divisionbench passed the orders whiledealing a letter written by anadvocate by name SreenithaPujari, a native of Gadwaltown from Jogulamba Gadwaldistrict.

Shabbir slams KCRfor criticising CongPNS n HYDERABAD

Former Minister MohammedAli Shabbir on Wednesdaystrongly condemned ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao for his criticism onCongress party during mediabriefing on Tuesday.Addressing a press conferencein Kamareddy, Shabbir Alisaid people had lot of expecta-tions from the state Cabinetwhich met for over seven-and-a-half hours on Tuesday.While poor and middle classpeople expected a good reliefpackage, the industry wantedsome financial support.

However, nothing came

during the Chief Minister'spress meet.

He made usual announce-ments which had nothing forthe common people. Insteadof addressing people's issue,Chief Minister wasted people'stime criticising the oppositionparties. Shabbir Ali said thatthe Chief Minister should'vebeen ashamed of himself fornot delivering the promiseswhich he made on March 22.So far, the lockdown has beenextended thrice. But except for12-kg rice and Rs 1,500 cashfor White Ration Card hold-ers no other section of thesociety has been given anyhelp.

Shops to be opened on odd-even basisPNS n KHAMMAM

Shops selling non-essentialcommodities will open forbusiness from Thursdayonwards in municipalities inthe district based on number-ing system, Transport MinisterP Ajay Kumar said onWednesday. He said officials in

Khammam MunicipalCorporation, Wyra, Sathupalliand Madhira Municipalities onWednesday were engaged inallotting numbers to the shops.Based on odd and even num-ber system, the shops would beallowed to function on alter-nate days.

There was no need to seek

permission from anyone toopen the shops from 10 am to6pm.

But the owners have tostrictly follow the numberingsystem. Physical distancingmust be maintained at theshops and all customers shouldbe asked to wear masks, AjayKumar noted.

CPI lashesout at KCRPNS n HYDERABAD

CPI state committee secre-tary Chada Venkat Reddy onWednesday responded onreopening of wine shops andcriticised that the state gov-ernment is more interested inrevenue generation that safe-guarding the public health.At a time when theCoronavirus is spreadingfast, what is the rationalebehind the governmentallowing wine shops to openin orange and red zones? hequestioned.

He described it as akin togiving money to the poorwith one hand and takingback the same with the otherhand through liquor sales.Referring to Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao's crit-icism of the Opposition par-ties, he said that it would notaugur well for the CM todenigrate the Oppositionparties, which, he said, havea constructive role to play indemocracy.

‘CMs requested PM to reopen liquor shops’PNSnHYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy onWednesday revealed that theCentre allowed reopening ofliquor shops during the thirdphase of the nationwide lock-down following requests fromChief Ministers of differentstates. He said during a video-

conference with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, these ChiefMinisters, including of BJP-ruled states, sought reopening ofliquor shops, citing loss of rev-enue to the states since thebeginning of the lockdown inMarch. The Chief Ministerstold the Prime Minister thattheir states don't even havemoney to pay salaries to their

government employees. Reddyrevealed this during a webinarorganized by the Federation ofTelangana Chambers ofCommerce and Industry(FTCCI) on 'UnderstandingMHA guidelines'. The Ministryof Home Affairs (MHA) hasallowed reopening of liquorshops in all three zones -- green,orange and red.

Finance Minister T Harish Rao at a programme in Medak on Wednesday

SCCL Chairman and Managing Director N Sridhar handing over the cheque toCM K Chandrashekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on Wednesday.

Former Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir distributing essentials to an elderlywoman in Kamareddy on Wednesday

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

DCW issues notice topolice over jailedJamia studentNEW DELHI: The DelhiCommission For Women hasissued notice to Delhi Policeover trolls "slandering" JamiaMillia Islamia student SafooraZargar, who is pregnant andlodged in Tihar Jail for allegedviolence during anti-CAAprotests here. Zargar, themedia coordinator of JamiaCoordination Committee, wasarrested last month inconnection with the protestsin northeast Delhi's Jaffrabadin February. Later, she wasbooked under the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act in acase related to the communalviolence over the Citizenship(Amendment) Act in northeastdistrict and sent to Tihar Jail.Zargar is being trolled onsocial media on the paternityof her child. "On receipt ofcomplaints, DCW issuednotice to Delhi Police CyberCrime Cell against shamefulslandering by trolls ofpregnant Safoora Zargar," thepanel said. DCW chief SwatiMaliwal said the court willdecide whether Zargar isguilty or not "but no one hasthe right to outrage hermodesty and vilify hercharacter".

People booked forspreading rumours aboutU'khand CM's death

Man beaten to deathin Uttar PradeshBAGHPAT (UP): A 42-year-oldman was beaten to death afterhe reportedly stabbed anotherperson on Binauli road inBadaut area here, police saidon Wednesday. The incidenttook place on Tuesday nightwhen Shyambir attackedanother man, Jainis, with aknife after they had anargument over some issue.Later, the family members ofJainis hit Shyambir with sticks,they said. Shyambir wasrushed to the hospital, wherehe was declared brought dead,police said.Jainis is stated to beout of danger, they said, addingthe matter is being probed.

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhandpolice on Wednesdayregistered a case against somepeople who spread a rumourabout the death of ChiefMinister Trivendra Singh Rawaton social media, officials said."An unfortunate and shamefulrumour has been spread aboutthe Chief Minister on socialmedia. Dehradun SSP has beenasked to register a case againstthe culprits and arrest them,"DG (Law and Order) AshokKumar said. Those spreadingrumours on social media willnot be spared under anycircumstances and stringentaction will be taken againstthem, he said. "They havecrossed all limits in this case.Stern action will be takenagainst those who spread therumour and also those involvedin the conspiracy," Kumar said.

Maha to ramp up ICU beds,seeks Central facilitiesPNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra, which is battlingsurge in COVID-19 cases, hasrequested the hospitals underthe Railways, the Army andother Central undertakings tomake their facilities in the stateavailable to the governmentwhich is planning to ramp upthe number of ICU beds.

A statement issued by theChief Minister's Office (CMO)on Wednesday said CM UddhavThackeray was personally talk-ing to the higher authoritiesconcerned for getting more ICUbeds for the treatment of theCOVID-19 patients.

"As a part of planning, theState Government has request-ed hospitals, institutions & build-ings under the management ofthe Railways, Mumbai PortTrust, Indian Army, Navy and

other Central Gov. undertakingsto make their facilities availableacross Maharashtra," it said.

The government stated that ithad been fighting a war againstcoronavirus for the past fewmonths, and so far has managedto contain its spread through var-ious measures.

It further said that the num-

ber of tests is being significant-ly increased, and hence, thepatient count is rising. "Thenumbers of patients being curedand discharged has alsoincreased," the statement said.

A total of 2,819 patients weredischarged from various hospi-tals in the state after recovery, astate government official had said

on Tuesday."Since the Centre has project-

ed rise in the number of coron-avirus positive cases in May, thestate government has created iso-lation and ICU facilities inMumbai and Pune," it said.

Mumbai, its metropolitanregion, and areas under themunicipal corporations of Puneand Pimri-Chinchwad accountfor the maximum number of thetotal 15,525 COVID-19 casesreported till May 5.

"In Mumbai, such (quaran-tine) facilities have been set upin Mahalaxmi Racecourse,Nehru Science Center, NehruPlanetarium, GoregaonExhibition Centre, BKC,Richardson Krudas factory landnear JJ hospital. Private hospitalshave also earmarked some oftheir facilities for ICU (beds)," thestatement said.

Over 700 patientsdischarged in Mahain two days: TopePNS n MUMBAI

Over 700 COVID-19 patientswere discharged from hospitalsin Maharashtra in the last twodays, including 354 on Tuesdaywhich was the highest in oneday, Public Health MinisterRajesh Tope said on Wednesday.

The total number of coron-avirus cases that have come tolight in the state so far is 15,525,he said in a statement here.

"But we have discharged 2,819patients after recovery till today.The discharged people have tospend 14 days in mandatoryhome quarantine from the dateof discharge," he said. "The stateon Monday and Tuesday dis-charged 350 and 354 people,respectively, after recovery fromCOVID-19. This (Tuesday's fig-ure) is the highest number ofdischarged people in a single day

in the state so far," Tope said.Maharashtra reported its first

case of coronavirus infection onMarch 9, while the first patientswalked out of hospital uponrecovery on March 25.

"The government's efforts ofconcentrated medication andutmost care of patients andtheir relatives helped in increas-ing the figure of dischargedpeople," the minister added.

PNS n PANAJI

At least 4,000 Goans from 65countries have registered them-selves on the Goa NRI commis-sion's portal to come back to thecountry amid the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, state NRICommissioner NarendraSawaikar said on Wednesday.

The state NRI commission hasshared the data with the Ministryof External Affairs (MEA),Sawaikar told PTI.

Nearly 4,000 people have reg-istered themselves on the GoaNRI portal launched by thecommission. They are spreadacross 65 countries, mostly in theMiddle East and the UK, the BJPleader said.

The Goa NRI Commissionhas urged the MEA to facilitateimmediate repatriation of Goanswho are stranded abroad.

Sawaikar said Goa doesnot figure in the first phaseof the MEA's repatriationinitiative, but its natives arelikely to be brought back in

the second phase.The 4,000 people who have

registered on the portal includea sizable number of students,some who have lost their jobsand some NRIs' parents who arestranded abroad as they had trav-elled prior to the lockdown.

Sawaikar said the MEAwill give preference to thosewho have requested to comeback under compelling cir-cumstances", the criteria ofwhich will be decided as per

their guidelines.Air India will operate 64 repa-

triation flights for a week fromMay 7 while the Navy deployedtwo ships as India rolled out amassive evacuation plan onTuesday to bring back thousandsof its nationals stranded abroaddue to the coronavirus-triggeredlockdown.

From the Gulf countries toMalaysia and the UK to the US,the multi-agency operation chris-tened 'Vande Bharat Mission' will

see the state-owned airline oper-ate the non- scheduled commer-cial flights till May 13 to ferryaround 15,000 Indian nationalsfrom 12 countries.

Those availing the repatriationflights will be charged, CivilAviation Minister Hardeep SinghPuri said on Tuesday in NewDelhi, adding that private Indianairlines may join the repatriationeffort after May 13.

Lockdown: 4,000 Goans from 65countries seek to return home

PNS n WARDHA

Farmers from the border areas ofMaharashtra's Amravati districtsought Chief Minister UddhavThackeray's permission to pre-pare their land for the upcomingKharif season, as the currentCOVID-19 lockdown has pre-vented them from accessing theirfarms in Wardha.

The authorities at Wardha,Chandrapur, Amravati andYavatmal districts have sealedtheir borders to contain thespread of coronavirus, as a resultof which, farmers in the borderareas have not been able toaccess their lands.

Farmers of Haturna village inAmravati district's Varud tehsilwrote to the Chief Minister seek-ing permission to access their

farms in Wardha district's Salora,Wadhegaon, Jamgaon, Dhadi,Borgaon and Drugwada areas.

The local authorities haddenied them permission to accesstheir farms, which is why theywere forced to write to the ChiefMinister, said Baburao Meshram,one of the 55 famers who signedthe letter to Thackeray.

Maharashtra farmersseek Thackeray'snod to access land

Marathi youth can takeadvantage of migrants'return: Rohit PawarPNS n MUMBAI

The return of migrant work-ers to their native states couldlead to difficulties in resump-tion of industrial activities inMaharashtra and the Marathiyouth can take advantage ofthe opportunity, NCP MLARohit Pawar said onWednesday.

The Marathi youth shouldnot underestimate work ofany kind during the presentcrisis, Rohit Pawar, who is thegrandnephew of NCP patri-arch Sharad Pawar, said onTwitter.

Several workers/labourersare returning to their home asthe lockdown is beingrelaxed.There could be difficulty inresuming industries-businessactivities due to the absence of

the workers from other states,"he said.

But the Marathi youth cantake advantage of the oppor-tunity created after the returnof workers and not underesti-mate any work during thepresent crisis, the MLA fromKarjat-Jamkhed constituencytweeted.

29 BSF jawans testpositive in JodhpurPNS n JODHPUR

Twenty-nine BSF jawans,forming part of a companydeployed earlier in the WalledCity area in Delhi on internalsecurity duty, tested positivefor Covid-19 here onWednesday, an official of theborder guarding force said.

All these jawans had beenshifted to the SubsidiaryTraining Center (STC) of BSFon Monday from Delhi forquarantine.

“Their samples were takenon Tuesday after their arrivalat Jodhpur and had been sentto AIIMS for examination.The report was released byAIIMS on Wednesday morn-ing, in which they were test-ed positive,” the BSF officialsaid.

All of them have now beenadmitted in the AIIMS fortreatment, he added.

According to the official, allthese jawans were the part ofa BSF company, which hadbeen sent to Delhi from Jaipur

for internal security purposeand had been put up at theJama Masjid.

Some of the jawans, onduty there, had tested corona-positive, after which the entirecompany was air-lifted toJodhpur and was quarantinedat the STC considering ade-quate accommodation fortheir quarantine.

The official said the quaran-tine centre at the STC here iswell-equipped for the pur-pose and the administrationhere has been taking propercare of all the jawans.

‘Economically anti-national’: Congon raising petrol, diesel pricesPNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Wednesdaysaid it is "economically anti-national" to fleece Indians of Rs1.4 lakh crore by raising taxeson petrol and diesel, and urgedthe Centre to share 75 per centof this revenue with states sothat people are not burdened.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidwhen the entire country isfighting the COVID-19 pan-demic and its poor, includingmigrants, shopkeepers andsmall businessmen, were virtu-ally penniless, the governmentof India was "fleecing" 130crore Indians by insurmount-ably raising prices of petrol anddiesel.

"To fleece people of India inthis fashion is economicallyanti-national," he told reportersat a press conference throughvideo conferencing.

Surjewala alleged that themanner in which "illegally andforcibly" this recovery is beingmade is "inhumane, cruel andinsensitive".

"The government shouldtransfer 75 per cent of thismoney so collected throughraise in taxes to states. This willensure there is no further bur-den on people of India, by way

of more taxes on petroleumproducts by states," he said.

He said the issue was dis-cussed at a meeting of the chiefministers of Congress-ruledstates with party presidentSonia Gandhi, where everyonebesides former prime ministerManmohan Singh andCongress leader Rahul Gandhiexpressed deep concerns.

85 more BSFpersonnel testCOVID-19positivePNS n NEW DELHI

Eighty-five more personnel ofthe Border Security Force(BSF)have tested positive forcoronavirus, taking the total to154, a force official said onWednesday.

These include over 60troops, who were deployed forlaw and order duties in theJamia and Chandni Mahalarea of the national capital, andsix from the escort team of theinter-ministerial central team(IMCT) that toured WestBengal to check COVID-19containment measures in thestate. At least 37 infected per-sonnel are from the Tripurafrontier of the force.

A total of 85 new cases havebeen detected. The troops wereperforming essential and oper-ational duties, a forcespokesperson said. There were69 cases of BSF personnel test-ing positive till Tuesday andhence the total stands at 154.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A plea was filed in the DelhiHigh Court on Wednesday forearly hearing on a petition seek-ing setting up of a judicial com-mission to inquire into theDecember 2019 violence ofJamia Millia Islamia Universityprotests against the CAA.

The application for early hear-ing is listed on May 8.

Earlier the high court hadfixed for July, the hearing on themain petition, in which noticeswere issued to the Centre, AAPGovernment and Delhi Police.

The fresh application wasfiled in the pending petition byadvocate and petitioner NabilaHasan in which she has soughtaction against the police forbrutally attacking the petitioners,students and residents of JamiaMillia Islamia. The petition hashighlighted the alleged ruth-lessness, and excessive use of for-ce and aggression unleashed bypolice and paramilitary forces onstudents within the university.

The plea, filed through advo-cates Sneha Mukherjee andSiddharth Seem, said the govern-ment imposed complete lock-down across the country onMarch 24 due to the spread ofcoronavirus during which move-ment of people is restricted butseveral students from the univer-sity have been called to thepolice station and crime branch.

It said students are made to sitthere for hours in the name ofinvestigation by the police and“the harassment of the studentsat the hand of the Delhi Police

has not stopped even with thecurrent situations in the country”.

Besides the present petition inwhich an application has beenfiled for early hearing, variousother petitions were also filed,including by lawyers, students ofJMI, residents of Okhla wherethe university is located and theImam of Jama Masjid mosqueopposite Parliament House, andthey sought action includingmedical treatment and com-pensation for the students andregistration of FIRs against theerring police officers.

Plea in HC for early hearing onpetition relating to violence at Jamia PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

As India begins its biggestevacuation excercise to bringback its citizens stranded in theGulf and various countriesdue to the COVID-19 lock-down, the three airports inKerala are all set to receivearound 2,700 expatriatesin thefirst five days, beginningThursday.

Three naval ships, which-have also joined in the evacu-ation process, left for Maldivesand UAE on Tuesdayto bringback Indian citizens.

The first of the three flightsfrom the Gulf will take off fromAbu Dhabi on Thursdaywith200 passengers and touch downat the Kochi International air-port at 9.45 pm.

Jishnu, a passegerfrom AbuDhabi, who got his ticket, waselated that he would be able toreturn to his home state.

"I am very happy to have gotthe ticket. I was informed yes-terday that I could travel", hetold a television channel.

The Kochi-Doha flight of

Thursday has been re-scheduledto Saturday, CIAL sources said.

Two flights with 200 passen-gers each are scheduled toland atKozhikode airport fromDubai and Riyadh onThursday.

Another two flights areexpected at Thiruvanantha-puram on May9 and 10 fromDoha in Qatar with 200 pas-sengers each, Thiruvanantha-puram Airport DirectorC VRaveedranath said.

Arrangements are in place atKochi, Kozhikode and

Thiruvananthapuram airportsin Kerala to receive the NRKs.

For those arriving atThiruvananthapuram, quar-antine facilities have beenarrangedin six taluks to acco-modateover 11,200 people andthe government will bear theexpenses.

Hotel rooms have beenarranged for another 6400people for which they willhave to pay, a governmentpress release said.

These people will have tocomplete their observationas

per the government'sCOVID-19 protocol. Various hostels,hotels, auditoriums have beentaken for quarantine facili-tiesof the NRKs.

The Cochin InternationalAirport and Cochin Port havealso made all arrangements toreceive expatriates returningfrom the countries, ErnakulamDistrict administration said.

Thermal scanners have beenset up at the airport for thescreening of the passengers andfor quarantine facilities, while4,000 houses with water, elec-tricity and bath attached facil-ities have been arranged inErnakulam district.

From May 7 to May 13, 64flights are expected to be oper-ated from various countries toIndia to bring back expats fromthe Gulf countries, Singapore,US and UK, among others.

While all arrangements havebeen made by the state govern-ment to receive the NRKs,there is some confusion aboutthe number of days passengerswill have to undergo quaran-tine onarrival.

PNS n MATHURA

A lab is being set up at theDeen Dayal VeterinaryUniversity here for COVID-19 testing, an Uttar Pradeshminister said.

"With the opening of the labat the varsity, the time taken forgetting reports of COVID-19samples sent to J N MedicalCollege, Aligarh MuslimUniversity, would be less,"Minister for AnimalHusbandry, Fisheries andDairying Chaudhary LaxmiNarayan said. Initially, 50 sam-ples will be tested in a day.However, it will graduallyincrease to 100 or more, he said.

Chaudhary said the gov-ernment has so far estab-lished 19 COVID-19 testinglabs in the state. Dr S K Gargsaid the work in the lab willbegin after the supply ofchemicals and testing kitswill be received fromBengaluru-based firms,which is expected shortly.

Kerala airports get ready to receive expats from Gulf

COVID-19 testinglab being set upat Deen DayalUniversity

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasannounced summer vacation inschools run and aided by thegovernment from May 11 toJune 30, officials said onWednesday. The governmenthas also clarified that studentswill not be called to schools forany vacation-related activity inview of the COVID-19 situation.

"Due to ongoing COVID-19pandemic, the teaching andlearning activities in the schoolshave been suspended sinceMarch 23. The lockdown hasfurther extended upto May 1."The summer vacations in gov-ernment and government aidedschools shall be observed fromMay 11 to June 30. However,keeping in view the COVID-19pandemic, students shall not becalled to schools for any teach-ing learning activity duringsummer vacation," DoE said.

Delhi announcessummer vacationfrom May 11 toJune 30

Air India will operate64 repatriation flightsfor a week from May7 while the Navydeployed two shipsas India rolled out amassive evacuationplan on Tuesday tobring back thousandsof its nationalsstranded abroad dueto the coronavirus-triggered lockdown

The Government’s directive to allpublic and private sector employ-ees to install the Aarogya Setu appin their mobile phones has raisedeyebrows in some quarters. But the

fact is that a post-COVID world is going tobe equated with a digital society. It will be thenew normal, where the use of diverse and con-verged digital technologies will help peoplemaintain social distancing and facilitatesecured living in an age of pandemic.

The Aarogya Setu app is designed tokeep the people informed about the risk ofthem being infected with Coronavirus.Self-assessment begins with a request forinformation such as gender, full name, age,countries travelled to in the last 30 days andprofessional details. The app, which makesthe use of GPS to get the user’s location, dis-covers other available applications nearhis/her device using bluetooth. By cross-ref-erencing the location details with that ofIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR)’s database and by collecting recordsof nearby users, it does a risk assessment andreturns with a colour-coded message. Itappears that the app continuously collects theuser’s data and uploads them to aGovernment server along with a DiD,which is a unique digital id. Data in the serv-er is anonymised in such a manner that per-sonalised features are suppressed withoutaffecting the statistical features of the dataensembles.

The fact that devices exchange informa-tion, continuously collect location data ofregistered users and maintain a record of theplaces where they may have come in con-tact with other people has given rise to asense of distrust among the people. Hence,the controversy. Arguments can be drawninto two fields: One of data privacy and theother on surveillance. While debate aroundthe Aarogya Setu app is unsubstantiated andunfounded, questions related to data priva-cy will very much be a talking point in a post-COVID society.

Data is now widely being treated as thenew “oil”, “gold” and is a valuable resourcefrom the perspective of society, economy,polity, privacy and human progress. For asociety to make progress from an informa-tion age to a knowledgeable, digital world(data-driven society), the effective use of dataand information, while qualifying with pri-vacy parameters, will be a cornerstone ofpublic discourse. Privacy is as old asmankind and has a close connection withhuman dignity, freedom and independenceof an individual. Maintaining privacy will bemore challenging in an age of informed soci-ety. Data privacy is a necessity so as to pre-serve and protect personal informationthat is collected by organisations. The fearof it being used by a third party is alwaysthere.

Data privacy assumes significance aspeople live with the app economy for theentire day, every day and every hour. Digital

citizens, while accessing variousapps, give in to the consentclause and in reciprocation for-feit intimate details to data com-panies by accepting the fine printof services that they receivethrough the app. Further, sever-al devices often track our move-ments, preferences and anyinformation they can mine fromour digital existence. This with-out the consent of the user.

Let us be clear at this stagethat collecting data, however pri-vate it may be, with the user’sconsent, implicit or explicit, forany purpose and using it for dataanalytics in anonymised form isnot a breach of privacy. Ofcourse, unless the data is person-alised and shared with otherplatforms or a third party. Thisseemingly is not the case withthe Aarogya Setu app at present.

The nation has just seen thatall efforts to curb the rapidspread of the Corona pandem-ic can be seriously affected dueto contact tracing. This can beminimised with the help ofdata-driven technology that col-lects contact history of individ-uals. Undoubtedly, contact his-tory is private but is used for apublic cause. Aarogya Setuensures just that and is a proofthat India is growing to be a dig-itally matured State.

Post the COVID pandem-ic, India will witness a rise inapp-driven socio-economicactivities. Every aspect of thedigital society — spanning from

e-commerce, digital marketingand learning, digital art and cul-ture, digital banking and trans-actions, social networking andsocial media, to digitalGovernment interventions —will spread ominously.

Collection of data, private orotherwise, is inevitable andunavoidable in a data-intensiveand algorithmically governedsociety. At the same time, the useof data responsibly while alsopreserving privacy should be theorder of the day.

This brings us to an impor-tant question: Is India preparedto regulate data laws in thecyberspace? Further, are the cit-izens digitally educated tounderstand the trade-offbetween “comfort” and “luxury”while using digital technologiesor when they share their data fora purpose? Are they aware of theprivacy concerns arising there-of? These questions need to beaddressed by digital communi-ties of a post-COVID society.

India’s legal system, too,can be construed as half pre-pared to deal with concerns aris-ing out of data privacy violationin the app economy and highlyintegrated digital age, eventhough the InformationTechnology Act (2008, amend-ed in 2011) provides the neces-sary legal regime for cybersecu-rity and protecting privacy con-cerns thereof.

With changing transnation-al contours of the app economy,

where the jurisdictional function-ality of service providers is ques-tionable and operates in clouds,India needs to consolidate andstrengthen data laws on priority.

The Personal DataProtection Bill, 2019, which isstill stuck in Parliament, intendsto regulate the processing of per-sonal data of individuals (dataprincipals) by the Governmentand private entities (data fiducia-ries). The Bill must providelegal teeth to data protectionauthorities to prosecute the datafiduciaries with penal actions.Such regulation, even if passed,cannot be effectively compliantin the context of lacking digitalcitizenship practices and eti-quette.

A post-COVID society anddemocracy in India will be dig-itally driven and will be con-verged around data privacy andsecurity that should not bedevalued due to the currentpolitical bickering on the instal-lation of the Aarogya Setu app.The app has only a limited pur-pose to contain the spread of theCorona infection. At the sametime, developers of the appmust take care to ensure that thedata collected for the purpose isnot intruded, de-anonymised orexploited by any other party.

(The writer is former Deanof the School of Computer andInformation Sciences at theUniversity of Hyderabad andcurrently the Vice Chancellor ofCentral University of Rajasthan)Filmmaker and author Satyajit Ray creat-

ed the sharp-witted, well-read, analyticaland intellectual sleuth Feluda as a home-

grown counterpart to the great detectives inworld literature. Feluda wasn’t superhuman ora geek, wasn’t blessed with great tools of gim-mickry but was a simpleton with a deductivemind, one which we could relate to. He wasthe original Bengali, who simply because ofhis rootedness became a pan-Indian favourite,too. And now he seems to have inspired a test-ing kit tool in our fight against COVID-19. TwoBengal scientists at the Council for Scientific

and Industrial Research (CSIR) have developed a rapid testing strip named afterhim, which is paper-based, affordable and reliable for early detection. In con-junction with Tata Sons, CSIR is gearing up for commercial production for it tobe ready for use by the end of this month. Making the best use of the new CRISPRtechnology for mapping the genomic sequence of the novel Coronavirus andpaper strip chemistry, the testing kit can read a visible signal that can be rapid-ly assessed to establish the presence of viral infection in a sample. Unlike theantibody-based rapid test currently being used by the Government for surveil-lance in hotspots and containment zones, the IGIB diagnostic kit relies on DNA-protein interaction for successful diagnosis. The strip basically will change colour,just like a pregnancy strip does. What’s more, the results will be available in min-utes. Besides, there’s no need for any specialisation, the test can be carried outin a simple pathological lab. While the now extant RT-PCR test kits are priced at`4,500, the Feluda test strip would cost only `500 per test. Compared to theRT-PCR test for COVID-19, which takes more than a day to yield results, Feludaresults will be out in an hour, out of which 45 minutes would be just for the test-ing preparations. This will facilitate large-scale sampling, which undoubtedly ismuch needed. Currently, India is testing less than one person per 1,000 people(0.76 to be precise). The scientists prefer saliva over blood because it is easyto collect even from an elderly patient.

With nations across the world caught in a race against time to develop avaccine for the deadly Coronavirus, India, too, has been scurrying to build itsown arsenal to fight it. From laboratories coming up with promising ideas to fast-tracking the development of a vaccine and the development of rapid testing kitsby a lab in Pune, the Corona crisis may well change science for good. What ismost required though is developing a respect for scientific temperament, hold-ing talent and funding research in the country. If a virus assault of three monthscould prod home-grown scientists to find their own solutions, imagine what sus-tained encouragement and funding of R&D could do? We should keep our bestscientific minds home in a post-COVID world to build our own sufficiencies. Andbegin to collect our own patents rather than in collaboration with others.

Asurvey by an independent economicthink-tank, the Centre for MonitoringIndian Economy (CMIE), for the week

ended May 3 has estimated that unemploy-ment rate in India surged to a staggering 27.11,up from just 8.7 per cent in early March.Unemployment has always been a slow-burncrisis in India but what’s worrying is an urbanflare-up ever since the lockdown. Accordingto the latest CMIE data, unemployment ratewas the highest in urban areas, whichinclude a majority of the red zones. As against26.16 per cent for rural areas, it stood at 29.22per cent in urban India. In the previous week

ended April 26, the urban unemployment rate had stood at 21.45 per cent andthe rural unemployment rate at 20.88 per cent. The impact of the shutdown onsmall businesses and manufacturing facilities has been brutal. Several previous-ly viable, even profitable businesses have been laid low due to the COVID-19shutdown. And with it, all hopes and dreams of not just thousands of entrepre-neurs but also accountants, clerks, secretaries and more have been shattered.Companies have had to slash wage bills significantly in order to ride out the stormand “orders” to pay salaries cannot possibly be met. We understand that sev-eral unions have approached the courts, asking them to order companies to payup. Firms, too, have retaliated saying that they cannot possibly pay and that thereneeds to be a sense of rationality here. It is true that some companies have usedthe pandemic as an excuse to shut down parts of their business or to get rid ofrecalcitrant employees and are just shrugging their shoulders. That said, unionsshould also realise that several firms have seen their cash flows drop to zeroand normal salary payouts to all employees will be impossible. Instead of fight-ing fruitless cases, which will only succeed in shutting down companies, unionsneed to rally the troops and raise money from their employed members to sup-port those who are jobless. Of course, only good ones do that and in India, unionshave been in a political morass for decades.

It must be agreed that we had no other option than go for a complete shut-down in a bid to contain the disease. But this does not absolve the Government.When the scale of disruption has been such that unemployment is becomingthe norm, it calls upon the Government to intervene and respond with all theresources it has at hand to alleviate distress. Statements by the Chief EconomicAdvisor KV Subramanian, saying that there will be “no free lunch” for a stimu-lus, are extremely unhelpful and insensitive. Further, the situation conveys thatthis Government is not getting the correct advice. Maybe these words were madein response to Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee’s comments ona call with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, where he had argued for a massivestimulus. But prima facie, it is impossible to see what choice the Governmenthas if the economy is to revive. It will be expensive and will mean the suspen-sion of some big-ticket projects and investments. Possibly even a pay cut forthe Government itself. But if revenues are to rise again, the Government has tospend instead of doing public relations exercises around “Make in India.” Theneed is to sustain incomes and that calls upon the Government to save the weak-ened parts of the economy. The need for a fiscal package cannot be denied.This is the start of the seventh year of the Narendra Modi Government and theCOVID pandemic cannot be blamed on prior actions. India has a once in a life-time opportunity to attract investors and make some truly dramatic reforms. Weare letting that opportunity as well as any job of preserving jobs slip through ourfingers. We cannot allow that to happen. If for nothing else, at least for the sakeof the millions who are now unemployed.

Creation to preservation

Prevent overcrowding

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “All for a drink” (May 5). Asthe fight against COVID-19entered its third phase with theGovernment providing consider-able relaxation in lockdown curbsas part of a phase-wise exit plan,hundreds of people have been lin-ing up before Government-runliquor shops, jostling and push-ing in complete defiance of socialdistancing norms. At most places,many buyers were not even wear-ing masks. The over one-month-long nationwide lockdown toprevent the spread of the viruswill become ineffective if theGovernment does not controlsuch crowding around the liquorshops.

MN QasmiKolkata

Save the labourers

Sir — The extended lockdownhas exposed the plight of themigrant workers. India of the1960s had dignified the ruraleconomy. Rural infrastructuresupport, that would have sus-tained income levels in agro-slack

seasons, was soft-pedalled, result-ing in migration.

Now, as restless migrantstried to set off for their villages,employers leveraged the lock-down to block the exodus toensure continuity to their farmand factory outputs. This 140 mil-lion strong migrant labour isvital to our economy, yet shock-

ingly, their status remains unde-fined. China has 300 millionworkers but it provides themwith more congenial work envi-ronment. It would be a pity if wenow fail to incorporate theexploited labour in the newscheme of things.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

Sheer injustice

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Reality, not criticism” (May 5).The homecoming of migrantworkers on special trains is wel-come. But it is also the moralresponsibility of the Governmentto bear the cost of their train jour-

ney considering their tragedyand distress. It’s ironical that theGovernment could fly backstranded tourists back home forfree to display its efficiency to therest of the world.

Though after facing pressurefrom Opposition, the Centreclarified that the railways will pay85 per cent of the train fares andthe remaining 15 per cent will bepaid by the State Governments,the onus has been put on respec-tive States who are already reel-ing under tough conditions. Notto forget, there’s no accountabil-ity of the money being collectedin the name of the crisis in thePM Cares fund.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

India must retaliate

Sir — The loss of three soldiersin Jammu and Kashmir is tragic.India must retaliate with fullmight. Only immediate forcefulaction will calm the people ofIndia.

JayantVia email

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

06

Corona’s privacy concerns

ARUN K PUJARI

With changing transnational contours of the app economy, where the jurisdictional functionalityof service providers is questionable and operates in clouds, India needs to strengthen data laws

The Centre is ready to help inevery way possible — be it man-power increase, capacity build-ing, technical assistance or anykind of handholding that isrequired to manage the situation.

Union Minister—Harsh Vardhan

What would life be?Without a song or adance, what are we? So Isay thank you for themusic. For giving it tome... #music.

Actor—Deepika Padukone

Pakistanis may soon recog-nise that China seeks not apartner but a colonial vassal, the deaths of whose citizens it sees as wholly irrelevant.

Former Pentagon official—Michael Rubin

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

The pharma industry deserves appreciation

Governments across the world are engaged in anintense battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.Only a vaccine can be a definite and conclusive solu-

tion to help mankind return to normal life. Whoever firstdevelops a COVID vaccine will gain a huge competitiveadvantage. India, too, has the potential to develop anantidote to COVID-19. We should be proud of our biotechcompanies. Six Indian companies are in the race to makea vaccine for Coronavirus. Over 30 Indian vaccines arein different stages of development, with a few going onto the trial stages. One of them, the Serum Institute ofIndia (SII), is the world's largest vaccine manufacturerby the number of doses produced and sold globally —more than 1.5 billion so far. It is great to know that avaccine candidate, developed by the SII in partnershipwith American biotechnology firm Codagenix, has pro-gressed to the pre-clinical test phase (the animal trialphase) and is estimated to be ready by early 2022. Muchof the optimism over the vaccine stems from its report-ed success on rhesus monkeys.

The Government should empower our pharmaceu-

tical scientists and doctors, provide them with more infra-structure. We should also enhance our bio-defence mech-anism. Hospitals should be equipped well to treat patientsaffected with special pathogens in the future. In this cri-sis, pharma industries and pharmacists also deserveappreciation. They have been working tirelessly.

Ravi Teja Kathuripalli Hyderabad

COLLECTION OFDATA, PRIVATE OR

OTHERWISE, ISINEVITABLE AND

UNAVOIDABLE IN ADATA-INTENSIVE

ANDALGORITHMICALLY

GOVERNEDSOCIETY. AT THESAME TIME, THE

USE OF DATARESPONSIBLY

WHILE ALSOPRESERVING

PRIVACY SHOULDBE THE ORDER

OF THE DAY

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Feluda to the rescue

We need to know what willhappen after lockdown 3.0?The CMs need to deliberate andask as to what is the strategyof the Government to get thenation out of the lockdown?

Former Prime Minister—Manmohan Singh

Millions of Indians are out of work. We must not let themget out of hope as well. It’s time for some big-bang reforms

CSIR has developed a testing strip, named after SatyajitRay's famous sleuth, to detect COVID-19 in minutes

Cure this malaise

WE DEMAND THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE FUEL HIKE ASIT WILL MAKE FOODGRAIN, VEGETABLES AND OTHER

ITEMS OF DAILY USE COSTLIER.—DELHI BJP PRESIDENT

MANOJ TIWARI

LIFE ISN’T ALL ABOUT RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE.TOUGH TIMES NEED TOUGH SOLUTIONS. THIS HASBEEN MY LEARNING AS FINANCE MINISTER.—DELHI DEPUTY CM AND FM MANISH SISODIA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Adoctor contracted COVID-19 from a patientand succumbed to the virus on April 19 inChennai. The funeral of the doctor was

stopped by residents who assembled in large num-bers to oppose it. The Madras High Court, takingsuo moto cognisance of the despicable incident, saidthat Article 21 of the Constitution, which protectsthe life and personal liberty of all persons, includeswithin its ambit the right to a decent burial. The courtsaid that this doctor was deprived of his right to havea decent burial.

In another incident in Meghalaya, the local gov-erning bodies known as Durbar Shnong preventedthe cremation of a COVID-19 infected doctor.Consequently, the Meghalaya Bar Association fileda Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court,against the State and local bodies. The court notedthat the State authorities handled the matter in aninept way and the obstructive conduct of the DurbarShnong would shock the conscience of every right-thinking individual.

The contemptible action of various groups toobstruct the dignified interment of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals has outraged the medicalfraternity and all citizens with a conscience. On April20, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said thatobjections to proper funerals of doctors and otherhealth workers, dying in the line of pandemic duty,is the last straw. The IMA demanded a specialCentral law to take stringent action against those whoindulge in violence against healthcare professionalsand hospitals. The IMA called for a “white alert”on April 22 and sought to declare April 23 as a “blackday” if its demands to protect the serving medicalfraternity were not met.

Soon after, the Union Cabinet passed theEpidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020which was then signed by the President. TheMinistry of Health and Family Welfare intended theOrdinance to ensure “zero tolerance” to any formof violence against healthcare professionals and dam-age to property. Significantly, in 2019 the HealthcareServices Personnel and Clinical Establishments(Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property)Bill, drafted by the Health Ministry to contain vio-lence against doctors, was rejected by the HomeMinistry, saying that there cannot be a separate leg-islation to protect the members of a particular pro-fession.

Hopefully, this Ordinance will make up for thepast errors and infuse confidence in the healthcarecommunity, that is on the frontline in our war againstthe pandemic. Though the passing of the Ordinanceitself is a positive decision by the Government, themoot question is whether the new law is adequateto protect doctors and other healthcare workers?

According to the Ordinance, an “act of violence”includes any of the following acts committedagainst healthcare personnel: Harassment impact-ing living or working conditions; harm, injury ordanger to life; obstruction in the discharge of dutiesand loss or damage to the property or documentsof the healthcare personnel.

Property is defined to include: Clinical estab-lishment; quarantine facility; mobile medical unit,and other property in which a healthcare worker hasa direct interest. Further, “healthcare personnel” arepeople, who while carrying out their duties in rela-tion to countering the epidemic, may come in directcontact with affected patients and thereby are at therisk of being impacted by such disease and includeany public and clinical healthcare providers such as

doctors, nurses, paramedical staff andcommunity health workers. The Ministryclaimed that while the citizens fully coop-erated with healthcare personnel most ofthe time, there were sporadic incidents ofviolence that demoralised the medical fra-ternity fighting the contagion. Therefore,it was felt that separate and stringent pro-visions for emergent times were neededto act as effective deterrents to any suchincidents of violence.

Though the Ministry makes tallclaims of zero tolerance, with very highaspirations of pacifying a demoralised andshaken medical fraternity, the Ordinancedoes not address the issue of attacks onhealthcare workers in normal circum-stances, after the pandemic is over.Assaults on them existed globally, longbefore COVID-19 reared its ugly head.Numerous pleas to protect medical staffhave fallen on deaf ears. According to theIMA, over 75 per cent of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals have faced vio-lence at work.

In 2012, a pregnant woman withobstetric complications died in Tuticorin.In retaliation, the attending doctor waskilled by the enraged husband. This trig-gered a call for a strike by the Tamil NaduGovernment Doctors’ Association. TheIMA has demanded that hospitals bedeclared as “protected zones” and calledfor strict implementation of laws in casesof violence against health professionals.

In 2014, angry relatives of a 14-year-old boy, who was declared “broughtdead” at a private hospital in Bathinda,Punjab, went on a rampage. They dam-aged the nursing home and burnt downthe doctor’s house. The Punjab StateChapter of the IMA demanded strictaction against those responsible for dam-aging the nursing home and the house ofthe doctor. Angry relatives of patients arenot the only ones who oppress medicalprofessionals, the Government set-up is

also equally guilty. Dr Indranil Khan, anoncologist, faced harassment after he post-ed images of doctors wearing raincoats ina COVID-19 ward of a Government hos-pital on social media. Police detained DrKhan, charged him with causing commu-nal disharmony and criminal intimidationand confiscated his phone.

A writ petition against his harassmentby the police was filed before the CalcuttaHigh Court. Justice Prasanna Mukherji ofthe Calcutta High Court said that freedomof speech and expression, which is grant-ed under Article 19 of the Constitution,has to be scrupulously upheld by the State.The court said that if an expression ofopinion brings the Government into dis-repute, it cannot defend the allegation byintimidation of the person expressing theopinion by subjecting him to prolongedinterrogation, threatening arrest, seizinghis mobile phone and SIM card.

In another incident, Dr PiyushPushkar Singh, who complained about theshortage of equipment and protectivemasks, was terminated by the Hindu RaoHospital for bringing disrepute to the insti-tution on April 15. Clearly, the EpidemicDiseases Ordinance, 2020, which is stat-ed to ensure the safety of healthcare pro-fessionals is not designed to protect DrKhan and Dr Singh.

Sadly, the COVID-19 outbreak led toa rash of attacks against doctors and otherhealth workers. Healthcare personneldeployed in rural areas were beaten andstopped from entering the villages and for“violating” the lockdown while going towork. The hurried promulgation of theOrdinance appears to be a knee-jerk reac-tion by the Government. First, theMinistry’s claim that the citizens fullycooperated with the healthcare workers isbelied by its own statement that incidentsof violence have occurred which demor-alised the medical fraternity. Second, theOrdinance only “protects” healthcare

personnel in an epidemic and not in gen-eral conditions. Therefore, this Ordinancedoes not afford any protection to the med-ical fraternity in a non-epidemic situation.

According to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), health workersmust be provided with training on infec-tion prevention, given Personal ProtectionEquipment and technical updates. Theymust have a blame-free environment toreport on incidents such as exposure toblood or bodily fluids or violence.

The right to health i.e. the right to livein a hygienic and safe environment,flows from Article 21. According toArticle 47 the improvement of publichealth is the primary duty of the State.Justice Chandrachud said under Article21, the right to life is meaningless unlessaccompanied by the guarantee of certainconcomitant rights including, but not lim-ited to, the right to health. The right tohealth is understood to be indispensableto a life of dignity, well-being and includes,for instance, the right to emergencymedical care and the right to maintenanceand improvement of public health. In thecurrent situation, with the need to have aconducive and safe environment formedical professionals and the responsibil-ity of the State to provide for public health,the Government will be well-advised totake all steps to protect the medical fra-ternity from any form of lawlessness. TheCentre must consider enacting a stand-alone law that will enable hospitals andmedical personnel to work in a safe envi-ronment at all times, so as to attain theConstitutional aspiration of right tohealth for all citizens. While social distanc-ing is being advocated, medical profession-als do not have the privilege of workingremotely. The best form of applause to givethe doctors and medical personnel is togive them a safe working environment.

(The writer is Advocate Partner in alaw firm)

The contemptible action of people to obstruct the dignified interment of doctors and violenceagainst health workers battling the pandemic has outraged the medical fraternity and most citizens

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

A very riskyproposition

KOTA SRIRAJ

The concept of ‘immunity passports’ comeswith practical difficulties and a lack of

sufficient scientific backing

ROBIN R DAVID

THOUGH THEMINISTRY MAKES

TALL CLAIMS OFZERO TOLERANCE,

WITH VERY HIGHASPIRATIONS OF

PACIFYING ADEMORALISED AND

SHAKEN MEDICALFRATERNITY, THE2020 ORDINANCE

DOES NOT ADDRESSTHE ISSUE OF

ATTACKS ON HEALTHWORKERS IN

NORMALCIRCUMSTANCES

AFTER THEPANDEMIC IS OVER.ASSAULTS ON THEMEXISTED GLOBALLY,

LONG BEFORECOVID-19 REARED

ITS UGLY HEAD.NUMEROUS PLEAS

TO PROTECTMEDICAL STAFF

HAVE FALLEN ONDEAF EARS.

ACCORDING TO THEIMA, OVER

75 PER CENT OFDOCTORS AND

OTHER HEALTHCAREPROFESSIONALS

HAVE FACEDVIOLENCE AT WORK

With May 17 just ten days away, 1.3 billion people are wait-ing with bated breath to see if the Government is able tousher in a graded relaxation of the 53-day-long lockdown

that India is currently under. The Government, on its part, is mullinghow to gradually open up the nation and the economy without result-ing in a fresh outbreak of Coronavirus cases.

As of now, the number of cases in the country is inching towardsthe 50,000 mark as States registered 2,958 fresh Coronavirus casesin the last 24 hours. There have been 1,694 casualties till now asthe toll zoomed to 126 in one day across the country.

Amid this spike, the Centre’s dilemma is made worse by theassessments made by British brokerage firm Barclays, which peggedlosses to the Indian economy at $120 billion or four per cent of theGross Domestic Product (GDP), putting more pressure on theGovernment to ease the lockdown, at least on commerce, at theearliest.

If the recent surge in cases is anything to go by, India still hasa long way to go before it can claim to have a grip on COVID-19,unlike New Zealand which has successfully eliminated the virus.According to Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, NewZealand, this feat was achieved through rapid preventive measures,widespread testing and scientific research-based methodologies.

India needs to script its own success story in controlling thevirus on one hand and revivifying the economy on the other hand.This naturally needs an immediate restoration of business and com-mercial activities but this is fraught with unimaginable risks to pub-lic health. As it is, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have con-tinued to report a high number of COVID-19 cases while Delhi’sCoronavirus count reached 5,000 after a deadly spike on May 4.But despite the doom and gloom scenario, the economy has to beopened up anyhow. These exasperating conditions have led somecountries to explore the option of giving “immunity passports” or“risk-free certificates” to those who were infected with COVID-19but recovered from it.

These passports or certificates issued by the Government arebeing visualised as a way to help people go to work and, in theprocess, get the economy moving again. In order to have an immu-nity passport, one would have to be reliably tested for antibodiesand specific proteins that could help stall and stop the growth ofthe COVID-19 infection. This concept quickly caught the imagina-tion of many nations stuck in various levels of the lockdown as itpresented a plausible exit strategy from the existing limbo. But theconcept of immunity passports has its own share of practical dif-ficulties and lack of sufficient scientific backing, all of which makeit a major hit or miss initiative.

The foremost challenge for the immunity passport strategy isthat the antibody testing procedures across the world are in theirformative stages. Even the home-testing kits for the same are notup to the mark in terms of quality and require strict following ofinstructions as per the kit.

Then there is also the issue of people who have fought off thedisease initially having got infected again, whereupon their immu-nity failed. This also undermines the concept of immunity pass-ports, as once the person is granted an immunity certificate, thereis no guaranteeing that s/he will not get infected again, thereby pos-ing a threat of community transmission.

The issuance of an immunity passport will also cause socio-logical issues as it demarcates “healthy” people from “sick” peo-ple who have no option but to wait for vaccines or drugs to be devel-oped.

The novel Coronavirus is a “new” strain and has no precedent’nobody knows how and when it ends and the level of immunityneeded to tackle it. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict how andwhen an infected person can be pronounced safe. Basing immu-nity-related conclusions on still-developing antibody testingprocesses for a disease that has evolved out of a new strain is noth-ing but speculation, which is not advisable. The lockdown of theglobal economy has dealt a major blow to incomes. However, panic-led initiatives to open the economy can lead to a major loss of lives,which are more precious than monetary gains.

India must follow the trio of best practices adopted by NewZealand, wherein rapid isolation measures for hotspots, widest pos-sible population testing using the latest scientific methodology iscombined with a calibrated easing of activities for green and orangezones. It must also ensure that the identified hotspots or red zonesstay fully quarantined. India must also encourage the scientificresearch community to identify measures to enhance and bolstercell-level immunity in human bodies as that alone provides the firstline of defence against the COVID-19 virus.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

The Indian subcontinent hasalways been extremely proneto natural disasters like floods,

earthquakes, landslides, avalanchesand storms. Statistics published inmedia reports suggest that post-Independence, till 2017, India haswitnessed 529 natural disasters,leaving aside those caused bydroughts, epidemics and extremetemperature. These disasters haveresulted in nearly 2,00,000 deathsand left hundreds of millions affect-ed in the country.

In all of these incidents, our

armed forces have been employedfor conduct of HumanitarianAssistance and Disaster Relief(HADR) missions, more often thannot, as the key nodal agency.

It, therefore, comes as a majorsurprise to all, especially the mili-tary leadership, when they findthemselves and the military on thefringes in this ongoing war againstthe pandemic, tasked with provid-ing only limited assistance on theperiphery.

That apparently appears to havebecome a source of immense anxi-ety and insecurity among theService Chiefs, forcing them to calla press conference to announce aseries of displays by elements of thethree Services and the Coast Guardto honour our “Corona warriors.”

If, on the other hand, these werethe directions of the Governmentthat they were complying with —which is also a major possibility —it shows them up as weak, only aim-ing to please their political bosses in

hopes of future rewards.To my mind, there appears to be

no other reasonable explanation forthis bizarre exercise, which obvious-ly appears to have, at least outward-ly, paid them some dividends, if thePrime Minister’s tweet means any-thing.

Let us not get it wrong. Thereis indeed much to be appreciative of,inasmuch as such displays gotowards building the morale of the“Corona warriors.” But did it reallyrequire the Chief of Defence Staffand the three Service Chiefs to makethe announcement? Is that whatthey have been reduced to? For thatmatter, was the scale that thismorale-boosting exercise wasundertaken at really necessary?

In such troubled times, sub-stance over showmanship wouldhave been better appreciated. Muchof that time, money and effort, couldand should, have been better utilisedin providing assistance to the vastnumbers of our citizenry who have

been rendered utterly destitute,hungry, without shelter and unableto reach their homes because of anill-planned and poorly-executednationwide lockdown.

Feeding the hungry, providingtented shelters for the homeless ortransport for the weary are not mat-ters that require approval from thehighest levels, just a humane bent ofmind at the local level. That in itselfwould have garnered enough good-will among the populace, withoutthis grasping for publicity that wewitnessed on television.

It should be seen as a positivestep that our military has not beencalled out in this disaster, except ofcourse for providing medical assis-tance where necessary. This suggeststhat our civil administration isfinally maturing and waking up toits duties, however poor its perfor-mance might have been this timearound.

In all fairness, this particulardisaster has been on an unprece-

dented scale. We neither anticipat-ed it nor were we prepared ortrained for it and errors were to beexpected.

It has been the bane of the mil-itary in the past that whenever a dis-aster occurred, it invariably led tothe civil administration and itsagencies all but abdicating theirresponsibilities, leaving it to the mil-itary to take over the process, coor-dinate and provide the requiredassistance. Examples are too numer-ous to quote but the floods that dev-astated Uttarakhand and Kashmir,in the past, best illustrate this phe-nomenon.

Clearly, as we look at and assessthe security environment in ourregion, there can be little doubt thatour military must take all necessaryprecautions to keep its units out ofharm’s way so that they can meettheir constitutional obligations andsuccessfully protect our sovereign-ty at a moment’s notice. Static unitsand those uncommitted opera-

tionally, spread out all over thecountry could have been utilised ina number of ways to provide suc-cour to our hard-pressed brethren.As a matter of fact, it was the bound-en duty of our Service Chiefs to haveinterceded with the Prime Ministerand have convinced him of the enor-mous range of assistance that ourforces were capable of providing.

Obviously the lack of PersonalProtection Equipment (PPE) with-in the forces may well have been animportant consideration for thehierarchy in whatever suggestionsthey may have made. In any case, the“Corona warriors” would have beenmore appreciative if they had beenprovided with PPE and protectionfrom rampaging mobs instead.

In fact, within the veteran com-munity, leaving aside a few, thesetheatrics have been seen as contraryto service norms and ethics, as theformer Naval chief, AdmiralLaxminarayan Ramdas’, article inone of our dailies makes it amply

clear.Instead of copying what the US

Air Force Aerobatics Teams did atNew York, we could have looked atthe more innovative ways theSpanish military was used to man-ufacture PPE. It may come as a sur-prise but various Ordnance Corpsestablishments within the Armyare authorised tailors and equipmentrepairers, who could have beengainfully employed to producemasks and other equipment.

Given the massive deficiency inPPE suits, even the OrdnanceParachute Factory at Kanpur couldhave been modified quickly tomass-produce them. An opportuni-ty to do good was truly squandered,leaving behind only a bitter taste inthe mouth that is unlikely to disap-pear any time soon.

(The author, a military veteranis a Consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation and a SeniorVisiting Fellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai)

Substance over showmanship neededThe ‘Corona warriors’ would have been much more appreciative if they had been provided with PPE and protection

from rampaging mobs by the military. Our Ordnance factories could have been used to mass-produce such gear

DEEPAK SINHA

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

PNS nMUMBAI

The nationwide lockdown dueto the spread of COVID-19pandemic has resulted in 62per cent decline in hiringactivities in April compared tothe same month last year,according to a report. Hiringactivities dropped to 951 lastmonth from 2,477 in April2019, according to the NaukriJobSpeak Index.

The April 2020 decline inhiring is led by sectors likehotel/restaurant/travel/airlines(-91 per cent), auto/ancillary (-82 per cent), retail (-77 percent) and accounting/finance(-70 per cent). The NaukriJobSpeak is a monthly Indexwhich calculates and recordshiring activity based on joblistings on Naukri.com website.

New jobs for professionals inthe ticketing/travel/airlines,hotel/restaurants andHR/administration sectors wit-nessed a dip of 95 per cent, 89per cent and 78 per cent,respectively. Functional roles inpurchase/supply chain (-70 per

cent), marketing/advertising (-69 per cent), sales/businessdevelopment (-69 per cent)and accounts/finance (-68 percent) also witnessed a steepdecline. However, new jobs forprofessionals in the IT-soft-ware (-51 per cent),BPO/ITES/KPO (-54 per cent)pharma/biotech/ healthcare (-57 per cent) and teaching/edu-cation (-56 per cent) sectorswere less impacted as comparedto other sectors in April 2020.

The job market across citiesregistered a double-digit dip inhiring mainly led by metroswhere Delhi dipped by 70 percent followed by Chennai (-62per cent), Kolkata (-60 per cent)and Mumbai (-60 per cent).

There was an across the

board decline in hiring at var-ied experience levels with theentry-level experience bands (0to 3 years) witnessing thesharpest decline of 67 percent. “The disruption causedby the COVID-19 pandemiccontinues to impact the hiringactivities leading to a 62 percent decline in April' 2020.

While hotel/restaurant/trav-el/airlines have been signifi-cantly impacted, industrieslike IT-software/software ser-vices, pharma/biotech/clinicalresearch and insurance havebeen less impacted,”Naukri.com Chief BusinessOfficer Pawan Goyal added.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Adani EnterprisesQ4 net profitdeclines 64 pc toRs 96.93 cr

New Delhi: Honda Cars IndiaLtd (HCIL) on Wednesday saidlack of required workforce ismaking it difficult for thecompany to resumeoperations at its twomanufacturing plants, butadded that its dealerships havestarted to open across thecountry. The automaker, whichsells models like City andAmaze, said that with newrelaxations rolled out by thegovernment, it is planning torestart operations at Tapukaraplant in Rajasthan sometimenext week. "However, in orderto resume production even atlower level and in single shift,we require manpower which isliving in the neighbourhoodand also from nearby areas ofDharuhera, Rewari etc.," HCILSenior Vice President andDirector, (Marketing and Sales)Rajesh Goel told.

Lack of manpowerhampering plans torestart plants: Honda

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union government willgain close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore inadditional revenues this fiscalfrom a record hike in excise dutyon petrol and diesel that haspushed total incidence of taxa-tion on auto fuels to 70 per centof the price. Late on Tuesdayevening, the government hikedexcise duty on petrol by Rs 10 perlitre and that on diesel by Rs 13a litre to mop up gains arisingfrom international oil pricesfalling to a two-decade low.

Petrol price remainedunchanged at Rs 71.26 a litre anddiesel at Rs 69.39 as state-ownedoil firms set off the excise dutyhike against gains they accruedfrom fall in international oilrates.

This is the second hike inexcise duty in less than twomonths and will help the govern-ment garner over Rs 1.7 lakhcrore in additional revenuesannually at 2019-20 level of con-sumption, industry officials said.

Considering the slump in con-sumption due to travel restric-tions imposed by coronaviruslockdown, the gains in theremaining 11 months of thecurrent fiscal year (April 2020 to

March 2021) will be close to Rs1.6 lakh crore, they said.

Together with Rs 39,000 crorein annual revenues gained fromthe March 14 excise duty hike ofRs 3 per litre each on petrol and

diesel, the government stands togain as much as Rs 2 lakh crore.After the excise duty hike, taxes- both central excise and stateVAT) - make up for 70 per centof the price of petrol and diesel.A litre of petrol costs only Rs18.28 per litre in Delhi but afterincluding excise duty (Rs 32.98),dealer commission (Rs 3.56)and VAT (Rs 16.44) the price forconsumer comes to Rs 71.26 alitre.

Similarly, a litre of diesel costsonly Rs 18.78 but after includingexcise duty (Rs 31.83), dealercommission (Rs 2.52) and VAT(Rs 16.26), it is priced at Rs 69.39for consumers. State-owned fuelretailing companies, Indian OilCorp (IOC), Bharat PetroleumCorp Ltd (BPCL) and HindustanPetroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) hadfrozen petrol and diesel pricessince March 16, anticipating thegovernment move and will nowset off gains they accrued fromthe continuing drop in interna-tional oil prices against the exciseduty hike.

Maruti reopens 600 dealerships, with new norms PNS n NEW DELHI

The country's largest carmak-er Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)on Wednesday said it has re-opened 600 dealerships whichwere closed due to coron-avirus-led lockdown, and haseven started deliveries of thevehicles.

The auto major said it hasput in place a comprehensivestandard operating procedure(SoP) across its sales outletsand reinforced digital infra-structure for vehicle purchaseamid COVID-19 pandemic.

"Over the last few days wehave been able to make 600-odd dealerships operationalacross the country," MSIExecutive Director, Marketingand Sales Shashank Srivastava

told PTI.He said that dealers have

applied for permissions toopen up in states where suchclearances are mandatory.

The company, which hasaround 3,080 dealershipsacross 1,960 cities and towns in

the country, has managed toopen 474 Arena outlets, 80Nexa dealerships and 45 com-mercial vehicle sales outlets.

The company has also start-ed deliveries of cars with 55units having already been dis-patched over the last few days,

Srivastava said.When asked about the time-

frame of commencing opera-tions across the company'sentire sales network, he said, "Itwill depend on how soon weget approvals from respectivestate governments."

The company has enoughstock with dealers to take careof the deliveries at the moment,he added.

Operations at the firm'smanufacturing plants remainssuspended as of now.

Further, MSI ManagingDirector and CEO KenichiAyukawa said, "All our dealer-ships have put in place steps toensure complete safety, hygieneand sanitisation of all touch-points". The steps are aimed atremoving hesitancy on thepart of buyers to visit theshowrooms to take delivery oftheir vehicles.

The COVID-19 SoPdesigned by the companyencapsulates all the facets ofcustomer interactions.

The auto major said it has put in place acomprehensive standard operatingprocedure (SoP) across its sales outletsand reinforced digital infrastructure forvehicle purchase amid COVID-19 pandemic

PNS n FRANKFURT

Automaker BMW saw netprofit fall slightly in the firstquarter from a year earlier,when the company had a largeone-time expense. The compa-ny said it expected earnings todeteriorate during the firsthalf of this year due to thecoronavirus lockdowns andpredicted the entire autoindustry would be held back bythe outbreak “for quite sometime to come.” The companysaid that it remained financial-ly solid with 19 billion euros($21 billion) in cash at the endof the first quarter.

Net profit fell 2.4% to 574million euros ($620 million) inthe first three months of theyear, down from 588 millioneuros in the first quarter of2019, the company saidWednesday. The year-earlierfigure was lowered by a 1.4-bil-lion euro charge stemmingfrom a European Union anti-

trust case. Car sales fell 21% inthe quarter as first China andthen Europe and the UnitedStates saw dealerships closedduring the outbreak.

Earnings were supportedby a favourable product mix inwhich vehicles with higherprofit margins predominated.

It said sales this year wouldbe substantially below lastyear's and that a quick recov-ery “is unlikely” as the situa-tion would only begin to sta-bilize in the third quarter.

The company said it expect-ed profit margins of 0%-3% forthe full year, cut from an ear-lier outlook of 2%-4%.

New Delhi: Adani Enterpriseson Wednesday reported a63.57 per cent decline inconsolidated profit to Rs96.93 crore for the fourthquarter ended March 31. TheGautam Adani-led companyhad clocked a consolidatedprofit of Rs 266.09 crore forthe corresponding quarter ayear-ago, the company said ina BSE filing. Its consolidatedtotal income income for thequarter increased by 2 percent to Rs 13,698 crores asagainst Rs 13,473 croreduring the year-ago period.The total expenses of thecompany rose to Rs13,711.98 crore during thequarter under review asagainst Rs 12,975.30 crore inthe same period previousfiscal. The company in astatement said: "The PATattributable to owners forQ4FY 20 was Rs 61 crores vsRs 283 crores in Q4 FY 19"."Adani Enterprises Limited hasalways strived towards nationbuilding through its businessendeavours which focuses oncreating excellentinfrastructure capabilities toaccelerate the growth.

Petrol price remained unchanged at Rs71.26 a litre and diesel at Rs 69.39 as state-owned oil firms set off the excise duty hikeagainst gains they accrued from fall ininternational oil rates

PNS n NEW DELHI

Capital markets regulator Sebihas directed eight entities tomake an open offer to share-holders of KanchanInternational Ltd.

The market regulator alsodirected the entities to pay 10per cent interest along with theoffer price to shareholders whowere holding shares at thetime when the company violat-ed the Sebi norms.

The entities have been askedto make the open offer within45 days from the date whenthe coronavirus-induced lock-down would be lifted.

The order would come intoforce on May 18, 2020 or atthe end of the lockdown peri-od, if the lockdown is furtherextended beyond May 17,2020, Sebi said.

The eight entities that havebeen asked to make the openoffer are - Kanchan KitchenAid Pvt Ltd, Dinesh C.Khimavat, Usha D. Khimavat,

Kanchan C. Khimavat, BharatPipalia, Mahendra DKhimawat, Chetan Khimavatand Marlex Products Ltd. Also,the restraint imposed uponthe entities earlier, from access-ing the securities market, shallstand relaxed only for the pur-pose of making a publicannouncement to acquire

shares of the company.Sebi noted that there was a

change in the shareholding ofthe promoter and promotergroup entities due to sale ofshares or off market transfer ofshares by these entities and theshare capital of the companyalso changed due to conversionof warrants into equity share.

India Sotheby's Realty namesVineet Nanda as director PNS n NEW DELHI

India Sotheby's InternationalRealty on Wednesday said ithas appointed Vineet Nandaas director - new projects.Nanda is an industry veteranwith more than three decadesof experience.Earlier he was with Omaxe,

Central Park and M3M. Hehas also worked with UshaInternational at a nationalhead position.

India Sotheby'sInternational Realty CEOAmit Goyal said, "Vineetcomes with extensive experi-ence in selling residentialinventory in the NCR and

will assist with our KeystoneProgram for new develop-ments.

Post COVID-19 we feelthat most mid-sized develop-ers will outsource their salesand marketing piece to pro-fessionals like us, as is thecase in most developed mar-kets globally. We havealready been approached byseveral reputed developersto initiate the discussions".

India Sotheby'sInternational Realty, anexclusive master franchisee ofUS-based Sotheby'sInternational Realty, is intoadvisory services for luxuryproperties.

SBI scouts for PRagency to devise brandbuilding strategiesPNS n NEW DELHI

As part of the brand buildingexercise, the State Bank ofIndia (SBI) is looking for apublic relations agency to helpit become the preferred choiceof customers for theirbanking needs.

The country'slargest lender, SBIhas a network ofmore than 22,000branches spreadacross India. It isalso present in over30 countries.

"SBI is looking toengage with a pub-lic relations agency forproviding public relation ser-vices (conceptualisation andimplementation/execution ofpublic relations campaigns)," itsaid in a request for proposal(RFP).

In its RFP document for

selection of a PR agency, thebank said it aspires to give animpetus to its marketing effortsto develop a highly favourablebrand perception from what itis today, and at the same time,the lender endeavours to

become the preferredchoice of cus-tomers.

The selectedagency will beresponsible fordeveloping andimplementing pub-lic relation activi-ties to be organisedby the bank.

The agency mayalso be required to

engage with any specialist ser-vice providers such as film pro-duction house, event venues,travel agents, or other relevantservice providers to deliverholistic solutions, the docu-ment said.

The order would come into force on May18, 2020 or at the end of the lockdownperiod, if the lockdown is further extendedbeyond May 17, 2020, Sebi said

Sebi asks 8 entities to make open offerto Kanchan International shareholders

Naspers-backed Dot sets Dec-endtarget to digitise 5 L tradersPNS n NEW DELHI

South African internet firmNaspers-backed Dot plans todigitize around 5 lakh mer-chants and facilitate 10 lakhtransactions per day by theend of this year, a seniorcompany official said onWednesday. The companyhas raised around Rs 60 crorein a round led by Naspers firmPayu Fintech Investments fordeveloping QR code-basedcontactless commerce tech-nology and digitise merchantsacross the country, Dotfounder Shailaz Nag told PTI.

Naspers has invested inseveral Indian firms, includ-ing Swiggy, Byju's, OLX andMakeMyTrip.

Nag said Dot has developedcontactless commerce tech-nology which does away withthe need for people to queueup at any eatery or whileshopping.

"The entire catalogue of amerchant can be accessed bya QR code scanning andtransaction can be made on

that digital catalogue. There isalso no need for customers todownload separate apps forQR code scanning. Around2,500 large format retailershave started using it and weplan to take it to around 5 lakhmerchants by year end," Nagsaid.

The company starteddeployment of the technolo-gy at food outlets l ikeHaldiram's, Social, Chili's,Cafe Delhi Heights, Fab Cafeas well as retail brands, and isnow planning to reach out toother merchants for their digi-tisation.

"Our focus is also veryclear. We aren't giving any appor website to offline retailersto start running to becomedigital. Our goal is to provide

a digital commerce platformto offline merchants and usechannels like WhatsApp,Google, UPI, net banking etcfor post transaction engage-ments with the end user,"Nag said.

Compainesadivsed extradillegence inCovid-19 relief PNSnMUMBAI

With an increasing numberof corporates mobilisingresources to support the gov-ernment address theCOVID-19 threat, there is agreater need for due diligenceby companies on the partnersthey choose to work with toimplement the relief mea-sures, consultancy firm EYsaid on Wednesday.

Engagement with anunknown third party canexpose corporates to bothfinancial and reputationalrisks, EY warned in a reportfollowing a survey onCorporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) trends.

"In the current pandemicstage, wherein corporates aremobilising resources to sup-port the Government addressthe immediate threat, theneed of diligence cannot beoveremphasised," the reportsaid.

Mercedes-BenzIndia restartsproduction atplant in PunePNS n NEW DELHI

Mercedes-Benz India onWednesday said it hasresumed production at itsmanufacturing facility inChakan, Pune.

The production has com-menced in a graded mannerfollowing directives from thegovernment of Maharashtrato reopen and resume oper-ations, the company said in astatement. The company willplan a gradual ramp-up incoming weeks dependingcompletely on the evolvingcurrent situation, which isbeing monitored closely bythe leadership team,Mercedes-Benz India added.

"The production has begunwith only the essential staff atthe production facility, adher-ing to all the required socialdistancing protocols, andmandated safety and sanitiza-tion measures implement-ed," it said.

BMW: Outbreak will slow autoindustry 'for quite some time'

UP hikes petrolprice by Rs 2/L,diesel by Rs 1/LPNSn LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment on Wednesdayapproved a hike in the pricesof petrol and diesel, a stateminister said. Briefingreporters after the state cab-inet meeting here, UttarPradesh Finance ministerSuresh Khanna said, "TheUP government hasincreased the price of petrolby Rs 2 per litre, and that ofdiesel by Rs 1 per litre."

He added, "Petrol will nowcost Rs 73.91 per litre in UP,while diesel will be availableat Rs 63.86 per litre.

Centre to get Rs 1.6 L-cr fromrecord excise duty hike on fuel

Sensex rises 232 points ofback of bank, auto stocksPNSnMUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexended 232 points higher after asee-saw session on Wednesday,led by gains in banking, financeand auto stocks despite risingconcerns over the country'seconomic outlook as COVID-19 cases spike. After swingingover 800 points during the day,the 30-share index closed 232.24points or 0.74 per cent higher at31,685.75.

On similar lines, the NSENifty rose 65.30 points, or 0.71per cent, to finish at 9,270.90.

M&M was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, rallying over 5per cent, followed by BajajFinance, HDFC Bank, ICICIBank, Bharti Airtel and HeroMotoCorp. On the other hand,ITC cracked over 5 per cent.HUL, TCS, Titan and Infosystoo ended in the red.

According to traders, eco-nomic uncertainty due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, mutedcorporate earnings and weak

macroeconomic data are keep-ing investors wary.

In India, the death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 1,694 and thenumber of cases climbed to49,391, according to the healthministry. Globally, the numberof cases linked to the disease hascrossed 36.63 lakh and the deathtoll has topped 2.57 lakh.

Meanwhile, bourses inShanghai, Hong Kong and Seoulsettled with significant gains,while those in Tokyo were closedfor a holiday.

"The entire catalo-gue of a merchantcan be accessed bya QR code scanningand transaction canbe made on thatdigital catalogue.There is also noneed for customersto download sepa-rate apps for QRcode scanning.Around 2,500 largeformat retailers havestarted using it andwe plan to take it toaround 5 lakhmerchants by yearend," Nag said

Hiring during April dipsby 62% due to lockdown

The NaukriJobSpeak is amonthly Index whichcalculates andrecords hiringactivity based on joblistings onNaukri.com website

M&M was the topgainer in theSensex pack,rallying over 5per cent,followed by BajajFinance, HDFCBank, ICICI Bank,Bharti Airtel andHero MotoCorp

stablished in1989, theDoctors Colonyin Saroornagarwas declaredone of the best

colonies in East Zone by theGreater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation.With over three decades, thecolony is inspiring manyother welfare associations invarious ways. The colony is

spread across more thanfive acres and has around40 families of doctors liv-

ing here. Not only doctors,but the colony also has peo-ple of various other profes-sions including engineers,staying here.

Speaking to The Pioneer,

Dr D Ramulu, President ofDoctors Colony says, “Ourcolony was established in1989 by Andhra PradeshMedical Officers HousingSociety. Around 40 familiesof doctors are living here.Our colony is known for itscleanliness and greeneryand was appreciated by theGreater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation forour efforts to make ourcolony beautiful. To get ridof the garbage, we alwaysseparate waste into dry andwet and are working withthe GHMC. We teach ourcolony members about theimportance of putting dryand wet waste into separatebins. Our residents are very

active and always followcleanliness measures.”

The colony has a separatecommunity hall to conductvarious activities. He adds,“We have established a sepa-rate community hall in ourcolony to conduct variousactivities. Every year, all ofour residents participate inIndependence Day andRepublic Day and othernational events. We alsoconduct some games duringthese days to indulge ourmembers in various activi-ties.”

“We celebrate festivals likeSrirama Navami, Udagi, andothers with oneness.Celebrating our festivalswith people gives us utmost

happiness,” he says. The colony has a separate

park for residents to spendquality time. He shares,“Our park is filled withgreenery and it is the bestplace for us to hangout.People feel relaxed whenthey visit our colony park.We spend time here withour colony members aboutdiscussing various nationalissues and other topics.”

He said that the colonyalways gives priority tosenior citizens and estab-lished a separate buildingfor them. He adds, “Seniorcitizens guide us in variousdifficult situations. It is ourduty to respect them andgive them separate space.

We set up senior citizensassociation in our colonyand also established a sepa-rate building for them. Theycan indulge in various activ-ities in this building.”

The colony also encour-ages various cultural activi-ties. He shares, “We have aseparate community hall toconduct various culturalactivities. We conduct classi-cal dance and other eventsto engage our people in var-ious activities. We are also

conducting health campsregularly at our premises.”

He added that they willconduct executive commit-tee meetings every month todiscuss about the develop-ment activities.

He shares, “We’re current-ly facing Corona crisis. Wehave to be careful and mustfollow cleanliness to get ridof it. Our colony membersare following varioushygiene methods and help-ing officials in this issue.”

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

ThursdayMay 7, 2020

Residents ofthe Doctors

Colony inSaroornagar

are indulgingin various

cleanlinessactivities,

celebratingall festivals

together andproving unity

in diversity,finds

V SATEESHREDDY

A clean and green colony

SETTING EXAMPLEE

A SENIOR CITIZENSASSOCIATION WASSET UP IN THECOLONY ANDESTABLISHED ASEPARATE BUILDINGFOR THEM SO THEYCAN INDULGE INVARIOUSACTIVITIES IN THISBUILDING. IT ALSOHAS A SEPARATEPARK FOR ITSRESIDENTS

Get out of quarantinewith A NEW SKILL

Running out ofactivities

to do amidquarantine? The

Pioneer'sSHIKHA DUGGALbrings you someof the fun yet free

things to keepyou busy

during the lockdown 3.0

usion - Thread& Art

Nisha Negi, abudding fashiondesigner has comeup with a bewilder-

ing fusion of thread work andart. She’s embellishing minia-tures of human portraits withthe help of sugar beads,colourful threads and wastematerials. You can use thesedecorative pieces of work ashome decor as well. Isn’t it a

fabulous idea of ‘best out ofwaste?’

Display of IllustrationsJust like everyone else,

Justin Abhishek, an artist isalso confined to the four wallsof his house yet he’s makingthe best out of it by sketchingand painting his most-loved public figures. Hefeels this is a chance foreveryone to celebrate theheroes of entertainmentindustry. It’s his way ofexpressing love to them.

Mandala Craft onBottles

A talentedbaker, Agrima,who is knownfor hermouth-wateringcakes tries

her hand out on mandalaknack on ceramic glass bot-tles. From baking at home toexperimenting in kitchen,she’s learning something neweveryday. Using the lockdownextension very productively,she's pleased with the out-come.

Spreading happinessthrough cooking

As Prakya Shetty, foodinfluencer enters lockdown3.0, she has begun contem-plating life. She thinks life isteaching us effortless art ofbeing patient and allowing usto explore the creative virtu-oso. And in that attempt, shedecided to make her familyhappy by rustling up palatabledishes at home. “Stay safe andlet’s continue to cook up hap-piness through food,” sheadds.

Skill of Natural Dyes andEco Prints

When the whole country isbusy colouring the zones intored, orange and green, we atPioneer, have Mani BhavanaAla, who is obsessed over cre-ating swatches and shadecards with different paintmediums (gouache, water-colours, acrylic) on varioustypes of papers(watercoloursheets, handmade paper, blackslate paper). Apart from this,she has been experimentingwith natural dyes and ecoprints during quarantine.Dyes include flowers like rose,marigold, chrysanthemum.“It’s a never ending explo-ration now, every-daytherearenew

results and it feels like medita-tion for me,” adds Prakya.

Literary World Janani Rao, a renowned

poetess whose work wasrecently published in Aatish 2,an anthology of poem, isattending online poetry ses-sions amid lockdown. And asa result, loves penning downsoulful poems. Giving mean-ing to any moment she findsworth capturing, she shows ushow this lockdown is kind ofan equalise through her poet-ry. The soothing lines havebeen able to calm down manyof the nerves.

The lockdown faceThe shutdown seems like a

good opportunity forShantanu Baithoque to putmakeup on and send a mes-sage to the society to be cre-ative wherever you are regard-less of gender. The lockdownhas taught this androgynouspersonality how beauty can bean essential part of our livestoo. “Wearing makeup andtrying diverse trends with ithas boosted my productivityroutine,” adds Shantanu.

Portraits In SelfIsolation

Creativity is benefittingBhargava Ram, a professionalphotographer, in isolationtimes by making use of thatphoto button on his cameraand experimenting with selfportraits. He’s into creatinggood lighting at home, some-times natural sunlight, editing

snaps on light roomand uploading it onsocial media.Overwhelmedwith the numberof possibilities heis seeing, Ramis embracingevery

moment ofthis quar-

antine.

F

arineeti Chopra will go on a virtual coffee date withfive lucky winners to raise funds for daily wage work-ers hit by the coronavirus pandemic. She has part-nered with Anshula Kapoor’s online fundraisingplatform Fankind and non-profit organisation GiveIndia for this initiative.

In a post shared on Instagram, Parineeti wrote, “You saycoffee, I say WITH ME! @fankindofficial @give_india andI have come together for your chance to go on a virtual cof-fee date with me! All you have to do is log ontofankind.org/parineeti and help provide ration kits withessential food supplies for daily wage labourers whoare struggling to feed their families.”

“5 lucky winners will get a chance to go on a superfun virtual coffee date with me! No one should go tosleep hungry, so let’s come together to feed the lessprivileged. And to make our impact even bigger,A.T. E Chandra foundation will be adding 25% ofthe total donation we raise as a matching amount,thereby multiplying our impact. YOU, ME andLatte fun! So donate now!” she added.

Last month, Arjun Kapoor went on a virtualdate with five winners and raised enough money tofeed the families of 300 daily wage workers for a month.“Coronavirus has thrown us all into unchartered territory.I’m grateful to all my fans that my 30-minute virtual datewith five lucky winners for Anshula’s Fankind has raisedenough funds to feed many families. Along with thefunds raised during the chat, I have alsoextended some additional support to GiveIndia and this collective fund will supportthe families of these daily wage earnersfor a month,” he had said in a state-ment.

Arjun and Parineeti will be seenas two people on the run inDibakar Banerjee’s thrillerSandeep Aur Pinky Faraar,which marks their onscreenreunion after the 2018 filmNamaste England. Thefilm was scheduled torelease on March 20but has been indefi-nitely postponedin the wake ofthe coron-avirus out-break.

10

Hyderabad Thursday May 7, 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

Parineeti Chopra to go on virtual coffeedate to raise funds for daily wage workers

BIG B DEFENSIVE

ABOUT SHOOTING FOR

KBC AMID LOCKDOWN

mitabh Bachchan has startedshooting for the upcoming seasonof the popular quiz show KaunBanega Crorepati (KBC) amid theCOVID-19 lockdown, and from hislatest blog post it seems like the

actor is apprehensive about being judged forbreaking social distancing rules. He seemsdefensive in the post, insisting that the shootwas done with essential precautionary mea-sures.

“So yes I worked .. got a problem with that.. keep it to yourself then .. damned if youpour it out here in this locked in condition ..sufficient precaution as much that could betaken was taken .. and what had been sched-uled for 2 days , was completed in one day ..starting 6pm .. ending a short while NOW …!!” wrote Amitabh Bachchan in his blog.

Viewers are wondering how the quiz showwould be shot this year owing to the currentrestrictions including social distancing andthe lockdown. Talking about the same, Big Bmentioned in his blog: “Personal gratificationsto the many that ask .. and then the KBC pileof several.. in all about 10 to 12 videos andthen hours of audio recordings .. also for thesame , KBC .. and the speculation as to howthey shall conduct it .. there have been no def-inite answers for that .. but the authorityhopes well and long .. so ..”

The 77-year-old actor has also been suffer-ing from a Hamstring pain. “Just back fromwork .. hamstring be damned .. social messag-ing videos .. acknowledging the ‘angels’ videos.. giving commendation to them that work sowe exist .. and the invitations to the new sea-son of KBC .. The show goes on ..heavy inheart , to all,” Big B tweeted early onWednesday.

Like everyone else, he is also concernedabout the after-effects of the COVID-19 pan-demic. “Of one there is little doubt .. thedebate on the outcome of this pandemic ..hesitation .. apprehension .. fear or recurrence.. strain of the conducting of the time ofrelease .. and so much more ..”

“.. how long then shall it hold the barrel ..what shall be the outcome when the barrel isheld .. what alternatives shall prevail and whatin God’s name shall the future hold for us all..”

“.. the World is all ‘shook up’ .. as Elviswould say .. and would never be the same inthe respects of community and reaction,” hewrote.

A

Judi Dench becomesoldest personality to grace

British Vogue covereteran star Judi Dench saysthere is nothing likeable aboutgetting older. The actor, who isthe oldest celebrity to appearon the cover of British Vogue,

said she disagrees with the oft-quotedadage that age is an “attitude”.

Asked by the magazine what she likesmost about being 85, Dench said,“Nothing.” “I don’t like it at all. I don’tthink about it. I don’t want to thinkabout it. They say age is an attitude... It’shorrible,” she added.

The Skyfall star said she shares senti-

ments with colleague Maggie Smith, also85, whom she claims is beginning toworry about losing her driving license.

“I saw Mags — Maggie Smith — theother day, and she said, ‘My God, I thinkthey’re going to stop me driving my car’,”she recalled.

Dench, who was forced to give up dri-ving in 2017 when her sight began todeteriorate, said she missed gettingbehind the wheel of a car.

“It’s the most terrible shock to yoursystem. Ghastly. It’s terrible to be sodependent on people,” she said.

V

P

he Pioneer has previously reportedthat Jr NTR has agreed to feature in

KGF director Prashanth Neel’snext, an action-drama to be

mounted on a lavish scale. MythriMovie Makers tapped the director

for NTR to this end. Now, we’ve learnt thatthis project will be co-produced by Tarak’s

older brother Kalyanram under his NTR Arts.This is the new drift in Tollywood as most A-listers are ensuring that their own productionhouses are attached to the films they are star-

ring in a joint capacity-to minimise the riskfactor and maximise profits. Over here, it willbe a second project in row for NTR Arts with

NTR, as they are also jointly producing theactor’s immediate next with Trivikram Srinivas

(for Haarika & Hassine Creations) after hewraps up RRR. Tarak-Neel film will mostly be

going to floors in the second half of 2021 orearly 2022. The film, sources insist, will be a

pan-India affair and it will consolidate on theactor’s star power across India after RRR. Neelwill shift attention to the script after he wrapsup the promotional activities of KGF: Chapter

2 later this year.

Hyderabad Thursday May 7, 2020

11

tollywood

he fact that it wasSS Rajamouli’s sonKarthikeya’s firstproduction ven-ture meantAakashavani

grabbed immediate attentionwhen it was first announcedin November of 2018. Butnow, we hear that he is nolonger attached to the projectas a producer. Wonder why?Reliable sources indicate ithad something to do withcreative differences betweenthe director AshwinGangaraju and Karthikeyaover the film’s output. A well-placed source close to thedevelopment tells us,“Karthikeya felt the final out-put was different to what heand the director envisionedwhen they took it to floorsambitiously early last year.The director, though, washappy with the way it shapedup overall. With it being hismaiden film as a producer,Karthikeya wanted a productthat he was completely con-vinced but as Aakashavani

didn’t turn out to be that,he decided to handover

the production to someoneelse. It was an amicable part-ing between the young cre-ative minds. An announce-ment to this end is aroundthe corner.”

The source further addsthat Karthikeya’s production

house funded the projectuntil now and a producerwho wants to take it up willbe required to pay theamount that he invested sofar. The film is 95 per centover and the team was geared

up to commence the lastschedule when the lockdownwas announced. The finalschedule with Vinay Varma,who plays an antagonist willbe wrapped up inRajahmundry once theindustry decides on a date forfilm shootings to resume.

Shot primarily in Araku,Paderu and surroundingareas of Visakhapatnam,Aakashavani, a pure dramaabout a bunch of peopleresiding in a forest withradio playing a central role,features 90-95 per cent newactors. Tamil actor-film-maker P Samuthirakani anda couple of actors fromJabardasth (Shaking Seshubeing one) and VinayVarma are the only note-worthy names. The film isbeing planned to be dubbedinto Tamil as well. Themakers will kick-off thefirst round of promotionsafter the lockdown is lifted.Kaala Bhairava is the film’scomposer and the sourceexudes confidence that histhree songs will top thecharts.

T

ained with theway sanitationworkers aretoiling hard inthe summer,filmmaker

Sekhar Kammula hasdecided to offer refresh-ments to them. “Areas inand around Gandhi hos-pital seem like war-zonesand sanitation workers areour foot soldiers.Hundreds of them arerelentlessly working in thered zone areas, hotspotsand hospitals, riskingtheir lives. We really can’tthank them enough,” saidSekhar who lives in

Padmaraonagar,Secunderabad.

He added, “Wearranged butter milk andbadam milk from VijayaDairy for 1,000 sanitationworkers in this area for aperiod of one month forthem to beat the heat. TheDairy agreed to offer theproducts for a subsidisedprice. The GHMC NorthZone supervisors took upthe challenge of distribut-ing the drinks to each oneof their workers at theirrespective work areas by11 am every morning. It’sbeen a week that we start-ed this program and it's

working really well.” Hefurther noted that he isextending the same ser-vice to Kurnool MunicipalCorporation as well.

Likewise, Mohan Babu,who last month distrib-uted vegetables in AP vil-lages like Rangampeta,Pullaiahgaripalli andRamireddy Pally panchay-ats, is dispatching foodpackets to 200 policemenin Pahadi Shareef andShamshabad regularly forthe past many days. Plus,he recently adopted anorphanage home inSecunderabad and takingcare of its food needs.

Mohan Babu, Kammulacontinue their aid

P

ctress Shruti Haasan has appealed toher followers on the importance of stay-ing at home in these times, saying thatwe are battling it out against an enemywe haven’t neither seen nor understood.“I do miss working with people and the

energy of a movie set and the lovely vibe of a jamroom but isolating is something we HAVE TO DO

and when the lock down eases it doesn’t mean yougo out and throw a party and squish each other.

PLEASE STAY HOME as much as you can. We are upagainst something unseen and it’s something we haven’tunderstood yet. So we must not behave as Though weare invincible or can somehow negotiate with a virus!!(Sic),” the actress wrote on her Instagram page.

She added the “time can be used to talk with yourselfand ask yourself the questions you’ve been avoidingand maybe find a way to find some new answers!”“ALSO a time to have gratitude for what you do have,your food your friends your family and your comforts(sic),” she posted further.

On the work front, the actress will be next seenopposite Ravi Teja in Gopichand Malineni’s Krack —three years after her last release Katamarayudu.

Shruti underlinesthe importance of

staying at home

enior actor and for-mer MAA presidentSivaji Raja wasadmitted to a privatehospital inHyderabad on

Tuesday evening after he feltuneasiness in his chest. Theactor, who has featured inmore than 300 films — play-ing supporting roles mainly— is right now stable. Hisfamily and a team of doctors

are attending to him.Suresh Kondeti, producer

and Raja’s friend when

contacted, said, “He is doing wellnow. His blood pressure has dippeddrastically on Tuesday, followingwhich he complained of chest pain.He was immediately rushed to anearby hospital and was put inobservation. The doctors advisedhim to get a heart stent and theprocedure will be performed onThursday morning. He will mostlybe discharged the same evening oron Friday. Some of his friends fromthe industry wanted to meet himbut due to Covid-19 outbreak, hos-pitals are not allowing manyguests.”

Reliablesources

indicate it hadsomething to

do withcreative

differencesbetween the

directorAshwin

Gangaraju andKarthikeya

over the film'soutput, finds

Nagaraj Goud

S

A

TKalyanram gets two in a row

A PRODUCERWHO WANTS TO TAKE IT UPWILL BEREQUIRED TOPAY THEAMOUNT THATKARTHIKEYAINVESTED SOFAR.

SS KARTHIKEYA disassociates with AAKASHAVANI

Sivaja Raja hospitalised

PTI n NEW DELHI

Virat Kohli’s Indianteam still has a long

way to go before it is spo-ken of in the same breathas Australia of 2000s, feelsformer India pacer AshishNehra.

Under Kohli’s leader-ship, India earned itsmaiden series victory inAustralia in 2018-19,achieving the feat aftertrying for seven decades.

However, it can’t bediscounted that absence ofSteve Smith and David

Warner due to ball tam-pering ban turned out tobe an important factor.

“This Indian team hasto still cover a lot of dis-tance in order to match upwith that Australia team(led by Steve Waugh andthen Ricky Ponting),”Nehra said during aninteraction with ex-playerAakash Chopra on hisshow ‘Aakash Vani’.

“You are talking aboutan Australian team whichwon three consecutiveWorld Cups and beforethat reached the final in

1996, won 18-19 Testmatches in home andaway conditions,” Nehraadded.

He also did not appre-ciate the fact that everynow and then team com-bination is being tinkeredwith.

“It’s not like thisIndian team can not reachthere but I believe thecore group is very impor-tant. A person gets con-fused after watching manydishes on the table and soit’s important to havefewer but better dishes,”

Nehra made his displea-sure clear.

He the went on to citehow team managementhad handled RishabhPant's career so far.

“KL Rahul is playingon the fifth position andPant, the person you werepreparing to succeed M.S.Dhoni, is serving drinks,”the left-arm fast bowler,known for his straight for-ward views, said.

Thanks to his incon-sistency, Pant had lost hisplace in the Indian team inwhite-ball cricket to

Rahul.“I know he (Pant) has

missed his chances andthere is no doubt about itbut then you have kepthim in the team becauseyou saw the potential inhim at 22-23 years,” Nehrasaid.

“There are a lot of tal-ented players but theyshould be backed for alonger duration. Todayalso when we talk aboutthe number five and sixslots in Indian ODI side,then we are not sure aboutit," Nehra said.

sport 12HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | MAY 7, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

He has flattered to deceive onumpteen occasions but highly-

rated wicketkeeper-batsman SanjuSamson says he has learnt to accepthis failures in pursuit of the calmdemeanour that former India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala hasalways been talked about by the likesof Rahul Dravid and GautamGambhir but it hasn’t translated intointernational success with only fourT20 Internationals in his kitty in thelast five years.

“I have learnt to understand andfocus more on my strengths and (bemore) accepting (of) the failures. I tryto contribute to the team’s cause andtry to take the team over the line. I amlearning to focus and control my emo-tions while batting like MS Dhoni,”Samson said during a podcast organ-ised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback inIndia’s T20 side and it was a worthyexperience for him.

“It was great to be a part of theIndian team again. To be a part of oneof the best teams in the world, sur-rounded by players like Virat bhai andRohit bhai, it was a fantastic experi-ence,” Samson said.

In one of the games in NewZealand, Samson was sent to bat in theSuper Over, something which madehim feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

“It was a great feeling to be trust-ed by the players such as Virat bhaiand Rohit bhai to go out there and batin the crucial moments. It’s a greatfeeling when the team and the play-

ers consider you to be a match win-ner.” On a lighter note, Samsonrevealed that he refers to Steve Smithas “chachu” (uncle) after Brad Hodgeonce started calling him by thatname.

“I share a very good relationshipwith ‘Chachu’ Steve Smith. He is oneof the best brains in world cricket andwe all enjoy a lot playing under him.”

While Dhoni is his idol, he alsoloves watching Jos Buttler in Royalsand makes notes on how the starEnglishman prepares for games.

“I observe Jos especially given hetoo is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He’salways working on his skills and hisgame and never sits idle.

“He’s either working on his keep-ing, batting in the nets or runningaround the park. I love to observe andknow how he thinks and prepares asa keeper before a game.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

They have similar impact ontheir teams but Virat Kohli isdriven by sheer passion to

subdue the rivals while Steve Smithjust enjoys batting, says Australiaopener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and topAustralian batsman Smith arearguably the top two cricketers of thecurrent era. They achieve new mile-stones consistently, invoking debates,who is better between them.

“Virat’s passion and drive toscore runs is different to what Steve’swould be,” Warner said while speak-ing to Harsha Bhogle on ‘Cricbuzz inConversation’.

“Steve is going out there for a hitin the middle, that’s how he seesthings. He’s hitting them out in themiddle, he’s having fun, he's enjoy-ing himself, just does not want to getout.”

Warner feels, while Kohli is bat-ting he is aware that if he sticksaround the middle his team will beon top of the proceedings.

“Virat obviously doesn’t want toget out but he knows if he spends acertain amount of time out there, he’sgoing to score plenty of runs at arapid rate. He’s going to get on top ofyou. That allows the guys coming in,especially in the Indian team you’vegot a lot of players who can be flam-boyant as well.”

The Australian opener addedthat both men are mentally strongand a good knock by them boosts themorale of the entire team.

“When it comes to cricket, theyboth have got the mental strength, themental capacity to score runs. Theyboth love spending time in the mid-dle.

“They stabilise, they boostmorale - if they score runs, every-one else’s moral is up. If they are outcheaply you almost sense that on thefield that everyone is (down onmorale and thinking) ‘now we allhave to step up’. It’s a very bizarre sit-uation,” he added.

Asked about the similaritiesbetween himself and Kohli, who are

both live wires on the field, Warnersaid the passion to do better than theopponent keeps him going.

“I can’t speak for Virat, obvious-ly, but it’s almost like we got this thingin us when we go (out to the middle)we need to prove people wrong,prove someone wrong.”

“If you’re in that contest, and ifI’m going at him for example, you’re

thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to scoremore runs than him, I’m going totake a quick single on him’. You aretrying to better that person in thatgame. That’s where the passioncomes from.”

Warner also explained how hebreaks down a match into smallercompetitions.

“Obviously you want to win the

game but you almost break it downto: If I can score more runs than Virat,or if Pujara scores more runs thanSteve Smith, you have these little con-tests and that's how you try to nar-row the game in the sense that if wedo these little things, we can be aheadof the game or we can be behind thegame.

“The passion is driven by...Iknow my sense - one, the will to winand two, wanting to do better thanthat person in the opposition,” saidWarner.

PTI n BENGALURU

Defender Gurinder Singhfeels India has been play-

ing an aggressive brand ofhockey under chief coachGraham Reid, and it hashelped the team in creatingmore goal scoring opportuni-ties.

India displayed an attack-ing brand of play in the FIHHockey Pro League earlierthis year and reaped richrewards for it, beatingAustralia and world champi-ons Belgium.

“It’s been over a yearsince chief coach Reid hasjoined us and I am sure onecan see the difference he hasbrought to the side sinceApril last year. We havebecome much more aggres-sive in our approach andtherefore we are creatingmany more goal-scoringopportunities,” Gurinder said.

Gurinder said since hisarrival Reid has been workingclosely with every player,besides emphasising on teamtactics.

“It was amazing to see

him shift focus from workingon team tactics to the devel-opment of each and everyplayer during the senior mennational coaching camp inNovember last year," he said.

“Since there was a lot oftime to prepare for the nexttournament after theOlympic Qualifiers, chiefcoach Reid spent time with allplayers and ensured that weimproved on certain aspectsduring the camp,” he added.

Gurinder, who has beenin and out of the team, saidhis immediate goal is to book

a place in the Olympic-boundteam.

“I am working extreme-ly hard to book a place in theIndian team for the Olympicsat the moment. Keepingmyself fit is my number onepriority during the lockdownperiod and I am carrying outsome stickwork drills as well.”

“Playing for India at theOlympics has been a dreamsince childhood and hopeful-ly, I will make it to the squadand contribute to India win-ning a medal at the quadren-nial event,” he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s Test vice-captain AjinkyaRahane on Wednesday said crick-

eters will need at least a month oftraining before resumption of com-petitive games, which should happenonly after a vaccine for the dreadedCOVID-19 is discovered.

Rahane also said that in a coro-navirus-scarred world, the lifestyleof cricketers will undergo a changeas far as pre and post-match routinesare concerned.

“...We would be needing three tofour weeks of proper practice beforeplaying any kind of competitivegame (domestic or international),”Rahane, who was named brandambassador of ELSA (EnglishLanguage Speech Assistant) app,said during an online press confer-ence.

“...I am missing my batting. Butobviously, cricket should only startwhen we get a vaccine to fight thevirus,” he asserted.

While the sports ministry isplanning a phased resumption ofnational camps in Olympic disci-plines, the BCCI is yet to spell outits plans on cricket. Rahane said heis focussing on his fitness amid thelockdown.

“I am following the chart givenby our trainer. I am also doing ‘freeweights’ at home apart from medi-tation,” he said.

He agreed that in future, play-ers will be wary of wild celebrationsand group hugs which they are soused to at the fall of wickets.

“I think we might go back to thegood old days when fielders would

still stand in their designated posi-tions after the fall of a wicket andclap. May be handshakes will bereplaced by a 'Namaste',” the elegantMumbai right-hander predicted.

“But once sport resumes, youcan’t take anything for granted. Thesafety of the fans will be of utmostimportance. There will be changesin lifestyle while travelling.Especially before and after thematch,” Rahane said

However he was non-committalon whether there should be a ban onthe use of saliva to shine the ball, atopic of debate right now.

“I would like to wait and watch.You will only get a fair idea aboutrevised rules once play resumes.”

PTI n LONDON

The Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) on Wednesday

announced that it would recom-mend a second term for its PresidentKumar Sangakkara owing to theglobal disruption caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper-batsman became the firstnon-British President of the clubwhen he assumed office on October1 last year.

“The disruption to the globalcricketing landscape caused by theoutbreak of Covid-19 has led theCommittee to recommend thatSangakkara, who began his term ofoffice on 1 October 2019, be invit-ed to serve as President of the Clubuntil 30 September 2021,” the clubsaid in a statement.

The recommendation forSangakarra’s extension will be sentfor approval to the club's membersat the Annual General Meeting,which has been scheduled for June24. The club also added that this wasnot the first time a president will

serve beyond his oneyear tenure.

“ W h i l s tPresidents ofMCC only nor-

mally serve for atwe lve-mont hperiod, it is notunprecedented forlonger terms to be

introduced torespond to extra-

o r d i n a r yc i rc u m -stances.”

IANS n LAHORE

Former Australia all-rounder TomMoody believes Pakistan bats-

man Babar Azam has grown byleaps and bounds in recent timesand will “definitely” be among thetop five batsmen of the decade inTest cricket in the near future.

“He (Babar) has emerged overthe last year or so into somethingthat is going to be so special. Wetalked about how Virat Kohli is sogood on the eye as a batsman. If youthink Virat Kohli is good to watch,have a look at Babar Azam bat. Mygosh, he is something special,”Moody said in The Pitch SideExperts Podcast as quoted by crick-etpakistan.com.pk.

“I think in the next five to tenyears, he will definitely be in yourtop five (batsmen of the decade)without a question,” he added.

The former SunrisersHyderabad coach, however, admit-ted considering Azam’s statistics at

the moment, it is very difficult to puthim in the top five current batsmen.

“I think, in the next 5-10 years,he will be on your top five position.Even though he has played 26matches but in half of those match-es he was not considered even partof the main batting line-up forPakistan. He was the after-thoughtdown the order,” he said.

“I think at the moment, it is veryhard to justify him at that positiongiven his statistics. Away fromhome he is only averaging 37 and athome he is averaging 67. But wehave to consider that he has hardlyplayed away from home and a lot ofthose games away were during theearly part of his career,” Moodyadded.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The National Anti-DopingAgency's Director General

Navin Agarwal on Wednesdaysaid the body will conduct itsdisciplinary hearings onlinefrom Friday despite the manylogistical challenges to ensurecases don’t pile up due to thenational lockdown.

NADA hearings have notbeen taking place due to thelockdown to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s right, we will bestarting with our online hear-ings from May 8. Both Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel(ADDP) and Anti-DopingAppeals Panel (ADAP) hear-ings will be conducted for thecases which are pending,”Agarwal told PTI in an inter-view.

“Last year, they (ADDPand ADAP) did a remarkablejob and disposed off so manycases which hasn't happenedearlier in the history of NADA.Our panels disposed off 180cases which is a record for theagency,” he asserted.

Agarwal acknowledgedthat the unprecedented stepwould have its share of opera-

tional hassles.Listing inconsistent or

unavailable internet as one ofthem, Agarwal said athleteswill be allowed to participate viaaudio calls to ensure that thingscan be managed smoothly.

“We understand that theathlete needs to have the (inter-net) facility at his home for thehearings. I know there are lim-itations. We are working on thatand made arrangements at ourlevel.

“It will only be done on theavailability of an athlete througheither audio or video. I know inrural areas, internet bandwidthcan be an issue or network, weare game with even an audiorecording or a conference call,”he explained.

“We are requesting theministry as the campuses inNIS Patiala and Spots Authorityof India (SAI) Bengaluru areclosed and have barred entry orexit of any outsiders as per gov-ernment guidelines.

“So we are taking this upwith ministry and would like toknow whether our DopeControl Officers (DCOs) willbe allowed inside the campus-es for testing subject to allclearances,” he said.

AP nMADRID

If given the option, Rafael Nadal said he wouldscrap this season entirely so tennis could resume

normally in 2021.The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years

old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hopedto resume playing this year but doubted it couldhappen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would sign up right now just to being readyfor 2021,” Nadal said in interviews with El País andother Spanish newspapers published Tuesday.

“I’m more concerned with the Australian Openthan with what happens later this year. I think 2020has been practically lost. I'm hopeful of being ableto start next year.”

Nadal said the logistical difficulties of havingto move people from country to country for tour-naments make it hard for tennis to resume safelyamid the pandemic.

“Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feelingis that we are losing a year of our lives,” Nadal said.

“And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuablethan at 20, when you have more time ahead of you.”Nadal recently said he was concerned with the riskof new injuries when players return to action aftera long time without proper training. The Spaniardhas had to deal with a series of injuries through-out his career and expects his body to struggle againwhen competitions finally resume.

Nadal also complained about “confusing”information regarding the return to practice of ten-nis players in Spain. He said he went to train on aprivate court because it wasn’t clear to him

whether he could practice normally after the gov-ernment eased some of the lockdown measures thathave been in place in the country since mid-March.

Professional and high-performance athleteshave been allowed to resume practicing at any timethis week, but sports facilities and training centersare to remain closed, with some exceptions for soc-cer clubs and a few other sports.

Drive to succeed different for Kohli and Smith: Warner Will need at least onemonth of training: Rahane

“When it comesto cricket, they bothhave got the mentalstrength, the mental

capacity to scoreruns. They bothlove spending

time in the middle.They stabilise,

they boost morale -if they score runs,

everyone else’smoral is up. If theyare out cheaply youalmost sense thaton the field that

everyone is (downon morale and

thinking) ‘now weall have to step up’.It’s a very bizarre

situation,”

I have learnt to acceptmy failures: Samson

‘We have become moreaggressive under Reid’

Indian hockey coach Graham Reid in action Hockey India/Twitter

Nadal pessimistic about returnof competitive tennis in 2020

Rafael Nadal plays a return shot Rafael Nadal/Twitter

Anti-doping hearings to beconducted online: Agarwal

MCC to offer PresidentSangakkara second term

‘Current Ind team can’t be compared to Aus teams of 90s and 2000s’

If you think Virat is good to watch,have a look at Babar bat: Moody

“I THINK IN THENEXT FIVE TO TENYEARS, HE WILL

DEFINITELY BE IN YOURTOP FIVE (BATSMEN OFTHE DECADE) WITHOUT

A QUESTION,”