VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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NATION 5DEMOCRACY MURDERED, VOICEOF PEOPLE CRUSHED: CONGRESS

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated AUGUST 12, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTTeemmpp:: 37/27HHuummiiddiittyy:: 53%SSuunnrriissee:: 5:58 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:43 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Shravana & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Panchami 13:42

Nakshatram : Hasta 07:59

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid (Bad

time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 10:46 am - 12:20 pm

Yamagandam : 3:30 pm - 5:04 pm

Varjyam : 3:38 pm - 5:10 pm

Gulika : 7:36 am - 9:11 am

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 12:49 am - 2:20 am

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:55 am - 12:46 pm

PAK TEST-FIRES NUCLEAR-CAPABLESURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILE

Pakistan on Thursday successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile which canstrike targets up to 290 kilometres, the army said. The

successful training launch of ballistic missile Ghaznavi wasaimed at ensuring operational readiness of Army StrategicForces Command, besides re-validating technicalparameters of the weapon system, the army said in astatement. As per the military's media wing, missileGhaznavi is capable of delivering multiple types ofwarheads up to a range of 290 kilometres.

MANDAVIYA DISCUSSES COVAXINAPPROVAL WITH WHO CHIEF SCIENTIST

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursdaymet WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan andheld discussions over the global health body's

approval for Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.“Held a meeting with Dr Soumya Swaminathan, ChiefScientist of @WHO. We had a productive discussion onWHO's approval of @BharatBiotech's COVAXIN. @Doctor-Soumya also appreciated India's efforts for the contain-ment of #COVID19, Mandaviya tweeted. BB had submitteddocuments required for Emergency Use Listing to WHO.

INDIA ‘CONCERNED’ OVER SITUATION INAFGHAN, IN TOUCH WITH STAKEHOLDERS

India on Thursday said the situation in Afghanistan is ofconcern and that it continues to hope for a comprehen-sive ceasefire to end violence in that country. Ministry of

External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi alsosaid India is in touch with all the stakeholders in Afghani-stan and closely monitoring the ground situation in thewar-ravaged country. Bagchi said India attended a regionalconference on Afghanistan in Doha on Thursday at Qatar’sinvitation. "We continue to hope that there will be acomprehensive ceasefire in Afghanistan," he said.

4 WOMEN PRIESTESSES TO CONDUCTENTIRE DURGA PUJA RITUALS

Acrowd-puller Durga Puja committee in the city hasdecided to conduct the entire puja rituals by a groupof four women priestesses marking a new precedent

as it is in the domain of male priests, confirmed Pujacommittee senior office-bearer Pradyumna Mukherjee. The66 Pally Puja committee, which had decided to mark thenew change in established practice after the death of itsveteran male priest at the end of last year, is hopeful thiswill be accepted by residents of the locality and the publicand they can carry on the practice in future.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The period between August 9 andAugust 27 will be extremely busyfor priests, function hall owners,wedding planners, florists and oth-ers dependent on the business ofmarriages due to the number of'Pendli Muhurtams'.

Astrologers foresee many blessedmoments between these two daysespecially for parents who want toperform the marriages of theirchildren during the auspiciousShravana Masam.

Priests said that Shravana Masambegan on August 9 and there aremany Muhurtams till August 27.According to the priests, LordShivakeshava is fond of SharavanaMasam and hence it is considered

to be an auspicious month. The dates – August 12, 13, 14, 16,

18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, and 27 – arevery auspicious for weddings. Then

the next auspicious date isSeptember 1, said an astrologer.

According to the priests, SwathiNakshtram falls on August 14,

Anuradha is on August 16, August18 is Ekadashi, August 21 isShravana, August 25 isUttarabhadra and August 26 isRevati Nakshtram – all very auspi-cious and many parents prefertheir child getting married onthese particular days.

There are no auspicious daysfrom September 2 to October 5 andduring that time parents would bevery wary of solemnising the mar-riage of their child, astrologers said.

The auspicious period will againbegin on October 7. Thereon,October 8, October 15, October 16,October 17, October 20, October21, October 23, October 24 andOctober 31 are auspicious days, apriest said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chandrayaan-2, ISRO's secondlunar mission, has detected thepresence of water molecules onthe moon, data obtained from themission has revealed.

In a paper co-authored by A SKirankumar, former Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO)chairman, said imaging infraredspectrometre (IIRS) is one of thepayloads on-board Chandrayaan-2, which is placed in a 100 kmpolar orbit to acquire global sci-entific data.

“The initial data analysis fromIIRS, clearly demonstrates thepresence of widespread lunarhydration and unambiguousdetection of OH and H2O signa-tures on the Moon between 29°Nand 62°N lat., after incorporatingphysics-based thermal correc-tion to reflectance data,” thepaper which was published inCurrent Science journal said.

Plagioclase-rich rocks havebeen found to have higher OH(hydroxyl) or possibly H2O(water) molecules when com-pared to the mare regions,which were found to have moredominance of OH at higher sur-face temperature, it said.

The development a lsoassumes significance consider-ing that Chandrayaan-2 did notyield desired results.

Planned to land on the SouthPole of the moon, Chandray-aan-2 was launched on July 22.

The orbiter of the mission isworking fine and has beensending data to Chandrayaan-1, the first lunar mission, andshowed evidence that there waswater on the moon, the papersaid.

Chandrayaan-2 finds presenceof water molecules on moon

PNS n SRIHARIKOTA

ISRO's GSLV rocket on Thursdayfailed to inject into the orbit thecountry's latest earth observationsatellite EOS-03 due to a failure toignite the cryogenic stage of thelaunch vehicle, prompting thepremier space agency to declarethe mission could not be achievedas intended.

However, the first and secondstages of the rocket had per-formed normally, the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian SpaceResearch Organisation said.

In a notification, ISRO said,"GSLV-F10 launch took place

today at 5.43 am as scheduled.Performance of first and secondstages was normal. However,Cryogenic Upper Stage ignitiondid not happen due to technicalanomaly. The mission could not beaccomplished as intended."

According to ISRO, the cryo-genic upper stage ignition wasscheduled to take place 4.56 min-utes after liftoff.

A formal announcement wasalso made at the Mission ControlCentre by the range operationsdirector, stating, "performanceanomaly observed in the cryo-genic stage. The mission could notbe accomplished fully."

ISRO Chairman K Sivan said,"(the mission) could not be fullyaccomplished mainly becausethere is a technical anomalyobserved in the cryogenic stage.This I wanted to tell all myfriends."

ISRO, after facing hurdlescaused by the Covid-19 pandem-ic, resumed its launch operationsfor the rocket to place the satellitewith an objective to provide nearreal-time imaging of large areas ofthe country at frequent intervalsand quick monitoring of naturaldisasters.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Andhra University has agreed toconduct a study on the historicalimportance of the Sri VarahalakshmiNarasimha Swamy Devasthanam,popularly known as Lord SimhadriAppanna temple of Simhachalam tofacilitate the authorities vie forUNESCO's World Heritage Site tag.

It may be mentioned here thatrecently, the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO) recog-nised the 13th century Ramappa

temple in Telangana as a WorldHeritage Site.

Following the honour, theSimhachalam Devasthanam request-ed the Andhra University manage-ment to conduct a study to ensure abond script on the historical impor-tance of the temple so that futuregenerations benefit.

According to the available infor-mation and inscriptions, the 11thcentury temple was built by the CholaKing of Kulothunga Chakravarthi.King of Vizianagaram, SriKrishnadevaraya also visited the

temple and offered several goldornaments to the Lord.

In his background, ExecutiveOfficer of SimhachalamDevasthanam MV Suryakala metVice- Chancellor of AndhraUniversity Prof PVGD PrasadaReddy and urged him to take up astudy on the historical importance ofthe temple.

The Executive Officer also pre-sented documentary evidence, booksand other material pertaining to theVice-Chancellor.

Simhadri temple to make bid forUNESCO tag, with AU help

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Union Home Minister Amit Shaharrived in Srisailam on Thursdayto offer prayers at the SriBhramaramba MallikarjunaSwamy temple. Accompanied by his wife, Shaharrived in a helicopter fromHyderabad and proceeded to thetemple. He was accorded a warmwelcome at Sunnipenta by End-owments Minister V SrinivasaRao, MP P Brahmananda Reddy,Kurnool Collector P KoteswaraRao and senior officials.

After the puja at the temple,Shah flew back to Hyderabad.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Six important members of theoutlawed CPI (Maoist), includ-ing a divisional commander,surrendered to Andhra PradeshPolice on Thursday, DirectorGeneral of Police D G Sawangsaid.

While the divisional com-mander Chikkudu Chinna Raoalias Sudheer carried a reward ofRs 5 lakh on his head, two AreaCommittee members (ACM)Vanthala Vannu alias Mahitaand Madakam Somidi carried Rs4 lakh each, the DGP told a press

conference.Three others carried a reward

of Rs one lakh each. Of the sixsurrendered Maoists, four hailedfrom neighbouringChhattisgarh.

The Visakha-East DivisionalCommander Sudheer, whoremained underground for 15years , was involved in 93offences, including 14 murdersand 11 exchanges of f i re .Sudheer hai led f romVisakhapatnam district and wasonce arrested in 2008 andreleased from jail the next year.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Andhra Pradesh is among the top12 States in terms of irregularitiesbeing detected, including adulter-ation of petroleum products atOil Marketing Companies(OMCs) retail outlets, whileneighbouring Telangana State isranked third.

While 3,226 malpractices weredetected in Andhra Pradesh, thenumber was a whopping 6,974instances in Telangana during thelast five years and current year(2016-17 to 2020-21 and April-June, 2021).

Maharashtra and Uttar Pradeshwere at the top two positions with7,433 and 7,416 instances ofirregularities for the aforesaidyears respectively.

The malpractices include adul-teration, overcharging, unautho-rised purchase or sale, seal tam-pering, and discrepancy in stock.

Of the 81,348 instances of mal-practices found in India, 42,620were at HPCL, 25,049 at IOCLand 13,679 at BPCL outlets.

Of the 6,974 instances, 6,078 atHPCL outlets, 453 cases of mal-practice were found in IOCL, and443 at BPCL outlets in Telangana.

According to data submitted inRajya Sabha, licences of seven

retail outlets were terminated,including on account of adulter-ation while 68 outlets were givensuspension of sales and suppliesand an explanation sought from4,252 outlets. Another 2,203 out-lets were given a warning letterand 444 outlets were slappedwith fines.

Plenty of auspicious dates make Aug joyful Six important Maoistssurrender to AP police

AP 12th in malpractices at fuel outlets

ISRO confirms GSLV failed to placeearth observation satellite into orbit

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress alleged on Thursdaythat the party's official Twitterhandle as well as that of a largenumber of its leaders and workershave been blocked by themicroblogging website, which jus-tified the action saying it has beendone for violating rules.

The development comesclose on the heels of theblocking of Congressleader Rahul Gandhi'sTwitter handle after heshared pictures of thefamily of a nine-year-oldalleged rape-and-murdervictim in Delhi last week inviolation of laws.

Twitter, on its part, said theblocking of the accounts of sever-al Congress leaders, including thatof Gandhi, was done to protect indi-vidual privacy and safety after theyposted images that violated its rules.

The Congress accused the web-site of acting against Gandhi'saccount under pressure from thegovernment.

The chief spokesperson of theparty, Randeep Surjewala, said theNarendra Modi government will

not be able to suppress their voiceby threatening Twitter.

"How much will you scareTwitter at the behest of the police?This is not just an issue of freedomof speech, but it is the issue of rais-ing the voice of a poor ValmikiDalit girl for justice and bringing

it before the country. Tilljustice is given to

the poor girl,we will con-

tinue toraise thisvoice," hesaid.

" T h eModi gov-

e r n m e n tcannot cow-

ardly suppress ourvoice by threatening

Twitter," Surjewala told reporters.On Instagram, the Congress

said: "Twitter India has locked theofficial handle of the principalopposition party. This is anunprecedented attack on the voiceof the people."

The head of the Congress's socialmedia department, Rohan Gupta,said the party's official Twitter han-dle and around 5,000 accounts of its

top leaders and workers have beenblocked by the website.

He alleged that Twitter is actingagainst the opposition party leadersunder pressure from the government.

"Twitter is clearly acting undergovernment's pressure as it did notremove the same pictures shared bythe Twitter account of the NationalCommission for Scheduled Castesfor a few days," Gupta said.

The Twitter accounts of AllIndia Congress Committee (AICC)general secretaries Surjewala, K CVenugopal, Ajay Maken, the party'swhip in the Lok Sabha ManickamTagore, Assam in-charge and for-mer Union minister Jitendra Singhand Mahila Congress presidentSushmita Dev have also beenblocked, the party said.

When contacted, a Twitterspokesperson said the company'srules are enforced judiciously andimpartially for everyone in its service.

"We have taken proactive actionon several hundred tweets thatposted an image that violated ourrules and may continue to do so inline with our range of enforcementoptions.

Congress says party’s officialaccount blocked by Twitter

Amit Shah worshipsat Srisailam temple

Restrain AP fromdiverting water, TSwrites to KRMBML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

With Andhra Pradesh resortingtocontinuous illegal diversion ofKrishna waters from fore shore ofSrisailam Reservoir despite its ear-lier objections, TelanganaGovernment has again written to theKrishna River Management Boardfor restraining AP from doing so.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

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Vizag coastline eroding at 1.16meters per year, find researchersSNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Notwithstanding the doompredicted by US space agencyNASA for the 'executive capi-tal' Vizag by the end of the cen-tury, analysis of the shorelinechange over the past 28 yearsusing temporal satellite imagesshows that Vizag coast is erod-ing at 1.16 meters per year andaccreting at 1.62 meters.

NASA, which has used theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) reportto assess changes in sea levelsacross the world, identified 12Indian cities that are likely toexperience the brunt of climatechange and rising sea levels ifthe situation is not contained.

NASA said these 12 cities,including Vizag, will be underwater by the year 2100.

As per the shoreline analy-sis done by the researchersbelonging to Department ofGeography at Delhi's JamiaMillia Islamia adapting DigitalShoreline Analysis System(DSAS), the average erosionrate along the 135 km Vizagcoast is 1.16 m/year and accre-tion rate is 1.62 m/year.

Significantly, erosion isobserved all along the coast onthe beach road that is crowd-ed with visitors during week-ends and public holidays.

Erosion was observed alongSagar Nagar Beach, Jalari Peta,VUDA Park, RK Beach, RelliVeedhi coast, while Yendadaand Pedda Rushikonda showedaccretion.

The all mean shoreline

change rate is 0.27 m/year. Ofthe 135 km coastal lengthstudied, high erosion occupied5.8 km of coast followed bymoderate erosion occupying46.2 km. Almost 34.7 km ofcoastal length showed little orno change. Moderate accretionwas found along 30.5 kmwhereas high accretion trendwas found around 17.8 km.

The shoreline change analy-sis was done by Mirza RaziImam Baig, Ishita AfreenAhmad, Shah Fahad ,Mohammad Tayyab and Atiq-ur-Rahman of Jamia MilliaIslamia.

Erosion was found to bedominant in Visakhapatnam,Anakapalle and Yalamanchilizones but accretion trendswere mostly found in theBheemili coast.

The coast which is subject-ed to accretion will be consid-ered less vulnerable comparedto erosion trend areas as theymove towards ocean whichresults in the addition of landareas but erosion trend increas-es the risk of exposure of pop-ulation to coastal hazard.

Shoreline change evalua-tions were based on comparingfour shorelines extracted fromdifferent time period satelliteimages. Multi-temporalLandsat satellite data for years1991, 2001, 2011 and 2018were used for the analysis.

"Visakhapatnam city beacherosion is caused due to con-struction of harbour-break-waters and seawalls. Prominentbeach erosion in the city coastled to collapse of the walls builtaround the parks and museumand electric lamp posts.Mangrove is one of natural bar-riers against shoreline erosionso conservation of mangroveforest is essential as theseashore is dynamic in nature.To reduce the risk of hazards,land area use for construction,housing and commercial pur-poses should be discouraged,"said the researchers of JamiaMillia Islamia.

To get cloud and haze-freedata and to avoid other kindsof atmospheric errors, satel-lite data of pre-monsoon-March to April months wasused.

The continuing coastal ero-sion and accretion rates havebeen calculated using theDigital Shoreline AnalysisSystem (DSAS). Linear

regression rate (LRR), EndPoint Rate (EPR) andWeighted Linear Regression(WLR) were used for calculat-ing shoreline change rate.

Shoreline of four zones analysedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The researchers from JamilaMilia Islamia choseBheemili, Visakhapatnam,Ankapalle and Yelamanchilisubdivisions / zones forshoreline change analysis asthey share coastline bound-aries of the district.

Significant erosion wasobserved all along the famousBeach Road in Vizag.

The study showed thatBheemili has 24.7 km shore-line and observed both ero-sion and accretion, but amajority of the transect showsdeposition. The averageaccretion rate of Bheemilicoast was recorded as 2.51m/year. Erosion was report-ed along Nerella Valasa rural,Startuo village coasts whileaccretion was observed alongBheemli beach andThalakonda Beach.

In Vizag zone, with 62.3km coastline, the overallshoreline change rate showeda negative trend throughoutthe zone except at a few tran-sects. The average erosion andaccretion rate was ?1.80m/year and 1.47 m/yearrespectively.

Under Vizag zone, erosion

was observed along SagarNagar beach, Jalari Peta,VUDA Park, RK Beach Vizag,Relli Veedhi coast whereasYendada and PeddaRushikonda showed accretion.

In Anakapalli zone, theshoreline change analysisshows both erosion andaccretion trend but erosionwas significant. In this zone,the average erosion and accre-tion rate was ?1.16 m/year and1.25 m/year respectively.Erosion was observed alongThanthadi beach whereasMutyalammapalem beachshowed an accretion rate.

In Yalamanchili zone, theaverage shoreline change ratewas ?0.54 m/year. Overall, thezone experienced erosion asmore than 756 transectsshowed erosion trend where-as only 239 transects showedaccretion rate.

Mean erosion rate was?1.18 m/year and accretionrate was 1.25. Villages likeJogannapalem, Thallapalem,Lalamkoduru, Chinnau-palam and Pentakota werefound to be vulnerable to ero-sion trend whereas villageslike Chippada, Pudimadakaand Sitapalem showed accre-tion trend.

Progress slips in AP's SDGsPNS n AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh's performancein its quest to achieve variousSustainable DevelopmentGoals of the United Nationshas come in for critical review,with the NITI Aayog pointingout the "slippage in progress"on at least half of the indica-tors.

Though the state retained itsthird rank in the country in theSDG India Index Report-2020,there is "decline in standingposition in some of the goalsdue to slippage in progress ofindicators" as compared to thelast year, the NITI Aayognoted.

The issue came up for dis-cussion during the two-dayworkshop on SDGs IndiaIndex and MultidimensionalPoverty Index that began at theSecretariat here on Thursday.

At the workshop, NITIAdviser (SDGs) Sanyukta

Samaddar dwelled on thestate's performance, progressand areas of development.

Citing the SDG India IndexReport, she said AP's rankingimproved in areas like afford-able and clean energy, lifebelow water, ending hunger,gender equality, reducinginequalities and responsibleconsumption and production.

In SDGs related to endingpoverty, ensuring good healthand wellbeing, quality educa-tion, clean water and sanita-tion, industry and infrastruc-ture, climate action, decentwork and economic growth,the state's performance hasshown a slide.

The fall has been significant,from No. 1 to 9, in the SDGrelated to peace, justice andstrong institutions, Samaddarpointed out.

She said similar workshopswere completed in 22 states sofar.

AP Chief Secretary AdityaNath Das said the govern-ment was according top prior-ity to education, health care,poverty alleviation, agricul-ture and allied sectors toremove inequalities in thesociety.

He said the state was on topin the country in human devel-opment indices.

"We have been implement-ing a slew of welfare schemesunder Navaratnalu for the lasttwo years with the main aim oferadicating poverty. Everyeffort is being made to lead thestate forward in all sectors,"Aditya Nath said.

Special Chief Secretary(Higher Education) SatishChandra, Principal SecretariesA R Anuradha (Women andChild Development), BRajsekhar (School Education),M T Krishna Babu (Roads andBuildings) and other seniorofficials attended.

Name of States Discre Suspected Overc Unauthorised Unauthorised others Total pancy product harging purchase fittings or Seals in stock adulteration or sale tampering

Maharashtra 106 9 68 1 118 6177 7433

Uttar Pradesh 185 13 48 3 218 6949 7416

Telangana 162 8 20 1 18 6765 6974

Rajasthan 336 18 43 5 46 5934 6382

Tamil Nadu 294 14 43 2 23 5322 5698

Gujarat 269 11 20 1 41 4869 5211

Karnataka 192 8 24 2 25 4870 5121

Madhya Pradesh 304 11 40 2 17 4584 4958

Punjab 109 9 48 0 23 4371 4560

West Bengal 98 7 36 1 10 4062 4214

Haryana 87 9 10 0 15 3260 3381

Andhra Pradesh 161 15 31 0 41 2978 3226

Complete landsurvey by 2023,CM tells officialsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Thursday directedofficials to complete the compre-hensive land survey by June2023, giving priority to the pro-ject.

The Chief Minister chaired areview meeting on YSRJagananna Saswatha BhoomiHakku-Bhoomi Rakshanascheme at his camp office, wherehe instructed officials to procurenecessary equipment andresources, including drones andrequired software, and to impartbest possible training to the staff.

He said the villages should bemapped after completion of thesurvey and the records should beupdated. The Chief Ministerdirected the officials to preparean action plan to complete the

survey soon and ensure thatthere is no scope for corruptionin the process. He also askedthem to ensure farmers face noproblems due to the survey.

The Chief Minister said theCabinet Subcommittee consti-tuted to monitor the compre-hensive land survey should meetevery week and review theprogress. He himself wouldreview the project once everymonth.

The Chief Minister directedthe officials to coordinate withSurvey of India and take theircooperation. He instructed themining officials to ensure therewas no shortage of survey stones.

The officials said surveystones will be manufactured infour plants from November and16,000 stones will be preparedfrom four plants per day.

AP 12th in malpractices at fuel...Continued from Page 1

OMC have a system of moni-toring and surveillance at theretail outlets for checking irreg-ularities or malpractices and totake action in case of estab-lished irregularities againsterring dealers as per MDGGuidelines -2012 and the deal-ership agreement.

Union Minister HardeepSingh Puri said, "Samples arealso drawn at random from

petrol pumps and sent for test-ing to authorised laboratories.In case it is established thatadulteration has taken place,appropriate stringent action istaken against the erring deal-ers / transport contractor."

He added, "Surprise inspec-tions are carried out by OMCsperiodically at the retail outletsto check adulteration and otherirregularities/malpractices andaction is taken as per theMarketing Discipline

Guidelines-2012 and theDealership Agreement"

Tank trucks are being sealedbefore leaving companypremises to protect againstpilferage en-route. Tamperproof locking system has beenintroduced in tank trucksdelivering petrol / diesel atretail outlets.

A 3-tier sampling system isfollowed to help ascertain thepoint where adulteration couldhave taken place.

Simhadritemple to...Continued from Page 1

Responding to the request ofthe Devasthanam, ProfPrasada Reddy assured a sci-entific study. The EO sought anExperts Committee to conducta detailed study on the temple.Prof Prasada Reddy said thatthe temple has all the qualifi-cations to get the UNESCOcertification.

There are plenty of inscrip-tions and artistic sculptures inthe temple.

After the Lord Venkatesw-ara Swamy temple at Tirumala,Simhachalam temple is thebiggest Hindu shrine where theLord Sri Maha Vishnu is wor-shipped in three rupas.

ISRO confirms GSLV...Continued from Page 1

As the 26-hour countdownconcluded on Thursday, the51.70 metre tall rocket withfour stages lifted off majesti-cally at 5.43 am, leavingbehind a trail of thick orangecoloured fumes.

The four-stage rocket wasthe first to carry a four-metredia 'Ogive Payload Fairing' atthe top of the vehicle to accom-modate larger payloads.

The rocket was supposed toplace the EOS "an agile state-of-the-art satellite into theGeosynchronous TransferOrbit, 19 minutes after lift-off.

Thursday's unsuccessfulattempt to launch the satellitecame in the wake of scientistspostponing the earlier plannedmissions earlier.

The satellite, originally titledGISAT-1 weighing 2,268 kgwas slated to be launched onMarch 5, 2020 but it was post-poned a day before the lift-offdue to 'technical reasons'.

The Covid-induced lock-down further delayed the mis-sion and once again it wasscheduled for a March 28,2021 launch but a 'minor issue'with the satellite forced yetanother postponement.

The objective of Thursday's

mission was to provide nearreal-time imaging of large arearegions at frequent intervals,for quick monitoring of natur-al disasters, episodic events andobtain spectral signatures foragriculture, forestry, waterbodies as well as for disasterwarning, cyclone monitoring,cloud burst and thunderstormmonitoring.

Before Thursday's launch,ISRO had launched Brazil'searth observation satelliteAmazonia-1 and 18 co-pas-senger satellites in Februarythis year.

Thursday's mission is theeighth flight with indigenouscryogenic engine, 14th flight ofthe GSLV and also marks the79th launch vehicle missionfrom Sriharikota.

Previous launches of GSLVrockets include the GSLV-MkIII-M1/ Chandrayaan-2mission in July 2019 whileGSLV-F11 successfully placedGSAT-7A in December 2018.

An earth observation satel-lite -- EOS-01 -- was launchedin November 2020 by polarsatellite launch vehicle PSLV-C49, ISRO said.

ISRO had made arrange-ments to watch the launchthrough its various socialmedia platforms.

Restrain AP from diverting water...Continued from Page 1

Mr.Muralidhar, Engineer inChief, Telangana in a letter tothe KRMB on Wednesday saidthat even as Telangana hasbeen requesting the Board torestrain Andhra Pradesh fromnot using more than 10 tmc forKC canal and the issue isunder consideration ofKWDT-II, AP has been utiliz-ing much more water than itsearmarked share.

In addition, AP arrangedadditional sources of water inan unauthorized manner toKC Canal through three moreprojects- Escape channel fromBanakacherla cross regulator,by lifting water from Malyalapumping station of HNSS andfrom Muchumarri LIS. Thesethree additional sources forfeeding the KC Canal ayacutare illegal and cannot be per-mitted, the letter said.

The E in Chief requested theKRMB to restrain AP fromdiverting water from the fore-shore of Srisailam reservoir th-rough these three unautho-rised projects to feed KC Canalunless a proper account andallocation was established forthem.

The Telangana governmentpointed out that by way ofthese additionalities, AP wasutilizing much more water to

this project and thus complete-ly diverting to outside basin.Infact the KC canal has to realiseits allocated quantity of waterfrom Tungabhadra River in-cluding regulated releases of 10tmc from Tungabhadra dam.

As AP is using more waterthan its earmarked share of31.9 tmc, there is no case fortaking up these additionalsources for KC canal, the TSgovernment pointed out.

Telangana government alsobrought to the notice of KRMBthat KWDT-I imposed restric-tions on utilization of water inTungabhadra sub-basin andheld that Tungabhadra Rivershould contribute substantialflows to the mainstream riverKrishna. Contrary to the spir-it of KWDT-I, AP while draw-ing excess water fromTungabhadra has made addi-tional arrangements to drawwater from Srisailam reservoir.

This is in complete violationof provisions of KWDT-I.Theoperation of above three unau-thorized projects in addition toexisting excess utilizationunder KC Canal from TBstem, has already affected thewater availability to severalprojects on mainstream ofriver Krishna to in basin pro-jects of Telangana dependingon Srisailam such as NagarjunaSagar, Hyderabad water supply.

Congress says...Continued from Page 1

Certain types of private infor-mation carry higher risks thanothers and our aim is alwaysto protect individual privacyand safety," he said.

According to Twitter, if atweet is found to be in violationof its rules and is not deleted bythe account holder, themicroblogging platform hidesit behind a notice and theaccount remains locked untilthe said tweet is removed or theappeal is successfully processed.

The US-based companysaid it was alerted by theNational Commission forProtection of Child Rights(NCPCR) about specific con-tent on the platform thatrevealed the identity of analleged sexual assault victim,who is a minor, and her par-ents. The said content wasreviewed against Twitter'srules and policies as well as theconcerns expressed as a mat-ter of Indian law.

"So! After Shri@RahulGandhi, the Lord@narendramodi Ji and Vassal@Jack & @twitter have locked@rssurjewala, @ajaymaken &@sushmitadevinc. @INCIndiaregisters its protest andpromises to continue the fightfor each and all being

wronged! We shall hold on@AshwiniVaishnaw Ji," tweet-ed Pranav Jha, AICC secretaryin-charge of the party's com-munications department, onWednesday night. His accountwas also blocked by Twittersubsequently.

"The list goes on. @Twitterlocks @JitendraSAlwar and@manickamtagore and manymore. Doesn't Modi Ji under-stand that we @INCindia'nshave a legacy of fighting evenfrom behind the locks of kaalapaani?" Jha had asked inanother tweet.

"He thinks the virtual locksof Twitter will deter us fromfighting for India," he said.

Gandhi had tweeted pic-tures with the family of thenine-year-old victim of allegedrape and murder in Delhi lastweek.

The NCPCR took cogni-sance of the former Congresschief 's tweet and directedTwitter to act against hisaccount for violating the pri-vacy of a minor victim, man-dated by the laws of the land.

Congress leaders changedtheir Twitter handle names toRahul Gandhi with some ofthem even replacing their dis-play pictures on themicroblogging site with that ofthe former party chief.

Six important Maoists surrender...Continued from Page 1

Mahita was involved in 10offences, including two mur-ders and four exchanges of fire.She was involved in the mur-der of then Araku MLA KidariSarveswara Rao and ex-MLASiveri Soma in 2017, the DGPsaid.

Somidi worked in the per-sonal protection team ofMaoist top leader AkkirajuHarigopal alias RK. Somidi'shusband Ranadev, a divisioncommittee member, was killedin an exchange of fire withpolice a few years ago.

The DGP said lack of pub-lic support and discriminationby the (Maoist) top cadreagainst the Adivasi cadre weresome of the reasons for the sur-

render of the outlaws."The scenario has changed

in the Andhra-Odisha Border(AOB) and the cut-off area,resulting in the shrinking ofthe Maoists' movement andtheir influence on the public.They are facing difficulty inreviving the movement due tolack of recruitment from localAdivasis and tribals," he said.

Besides, the governmentoutreach and welfare anddevelopment programmeseven in interior tribal areaswere distancing the tribalsfrom the Maoists, Sawangpointed out.

The DGP said there hasbeen a significant decline inLeft Wing Extremism (LWE)in AP, "both in numbers andgeographical spread", in the

last two years."LWE activity is now large-

ly confined to Visakhapatnamand East Godavari districts. Inthe last two years, the Maoistcadre strength declined from140 to 54," he noted.

As such, Maoists were try-ing to bring in cadres fromChhattisgarh into the AOBarea.

In May this year, CentralCommittee member Udaybrought eight new cadres fromChhattisgarh to AOB, the DGPsaid.

Sawang said six cadres ofMaoists, including two divisioncommittee members and oneACM, were "neutralised" inexchanges of fire inVisakhapatnam district in thelast three months.

Plenty ofauspiciousdates makeAug joyful Continued from Page 1

During the devotional monthof Karthika Masam November6, November 10, November12, November 13, November17, November 20 andNovember 21 are auspiciousdays and marriages are pre-ferred on these days.

As the marriage season hasbegun, parents are busy inmaking arrangements for thewedding of their children.

Most function halls havebeen booked while cateringagencies, photographers, dec-orators are very busy withorders. Jewellery shops andpattu sari shops are over-crowded at most places.

It may be mentioned herethat the State government haspermitted wedding functionswith less than 150 guests andCovid protocols duly followed.

AP logs 1,859new Covidcases, 13 deathsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh on Thursdayadded 1,859 new coronaviruscases to its tally that nowtouched 19,88,910. In the 24hours ending 9 am onThursday, 1,575 patients hadrecovered from the infectionwhile 13 more succumbed inAP, the latest bulletin said.

The total recoveries nowincreased to 19,56,627 and thedeath toll to 13,595, the bulle-tin said. The number of activecases rose by 271 to 18,688.

East Godavari reported402, Chittoor 233, SPS Nellore225, West Godavari 195, Gun-tur 182, Kadapa 148, Krishna144 and Visakhapatnam 123new cases in 24 hours. WhilePrakasam added 96, the rem-aining four districts reportedless than 40 new cases each.

Chittoor reported fourfresh fatalities, Krishna three,East Godavari and Prakasamtwo each and SPS Nellore andVisakhapatnam one each in aday.

Massivereshuffle ofjudges inTelanganaPNS n HYDERABAD

In a major reshuffle of judges,45 were transferred and 14promoted in Telangana onThursday.

As per the orders passed bythe High court, 45 districtand sessions judges wereasked to get themselvesrelieved and take over thenew charge. In all, 14 seniorcivil judges were promoted asdistrict judges on ad hocbasis. These judges were alsoasked to hand over theiradditional charges before pro-ceeding to their next role.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Arguments regarding thequash petition filed by formeradvocate-general DammalapatiSrinivas concluded onThursday and the High Courthas reserved its orders.

In September 2020, theACB had registered a caseagainst Srinivas alleging misuseof his position to purchase landin Amravati even before theofficial announcement of theState capital.

Srinivas approached theHigh Court which proceededto stay the ACB FIR. Thoughthe State government had ini-tially approached the SupremeCourt challenging the HighCourt’s order, it later withdrewits petition in the apex court tocontinue its hearing in theHigh Court.

On Thursday, presentAdvocate-General Sriram

Subramanyam pointed out thatat the time of the registrationof the crime, the complaint dis-closed a cognisable offenceand the decision to take it fur-ther for investigation, was bonafide and legitimate in law. Allthe procedures and processes

leading to the registration ofthe FIR were complied with,Sriram said.

“The initiation of the processcannot be faulted on theground or motives or politicalaspersions. There is no basis forthe said contention and in any

event, the court did not issuenotice to the respondent in thesaid writ petition and thereforethe FIR can’t be tested onmalafides or motives,” he said.

Sriram said that it was incor-rect to say that the FIR was ini-tiated based on the profile ofthe probable accused. The casehas the trappings of a scam;offence and the accused wereincidental to the prosecution,he said.

It is evidenced by the factthat the earlier case registeredby the CID and quashed by theHigh Court in the Amaravatiland scam case, had differentaccused whose profile was farremoved from the present caseaccused, he said.

No investigation was possi-ble here because it was stayedon the first day, Sriram added.

Justice Manavendranath Royheard the petition and reservedthe judgment

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Desam Party (TDP)MLC Paruchuri Ashok Babuon Thursday approached CIDseeking action against socialmedia platforms that havebeen targeting its leaders.

He lodged a complaint stat-ing that time and again TDPleaders have been complainingabout obscene, vulgar, hate-based postings of the rulingYSRCP supporters againsttheir leaders and cadre onvarious social media platforms.However, there appears to beno action initiated based ontheir complaints, he said.

“The authorities endorsedthe cases with Section 500 ofIPC and did not take anyaction to arrest the culprits,whereas the TDP activists weretaken to custody and in somecases they were remanded withseveral irrelevant sections. Youare responding swiftly towardsany iota of false complaintsfiled by the YSRCP against

TDP supporters. Most impor-tantly, the posts by TDP sup-porters are posted with goodintention to express their dis-sent against the government’santi-people policies. The postsby the YSRCP are vulgar,obscene, promoting hatred andenmity between communitiesand derogatory in nature withan evil intention to malign,defame, degrade and to assas-sinate the character of TDPsupporters,” Ashok Babu saidin the complaint to CID DGP.

He further said that YSRCPsupporters are using varioussocial media platforms likeYouTube channels, Facebookpages/accounts, Twitteraccounts and other socialmedia platforms and havebeen intentionally making,publishing or circulating state-ments, rumours or reportswith an intention to promoteenmity, hatred and ill-willamong the people.

“These social media opera-tors are involved in morphingphotos of senior leaders bydescribing and depicting themin a vulgar and obscene man-ner in order to defame anddegrade their characters andpersonalities. Action againstTDP supporters alone, clearlyshows the skewedness andpartiality of the police person-nel. Such one sided actions ofthe police do not augur well fordemocracy. Therefore it isrequested once again to takeimmediate action against theculprits,” he added.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Kanchi Kamakoti SeerVijayendra Saraswathi Swamyhas suggested that thereshould be an internationalorganisation especially toteach Telugu language to thosewho settled in various coun-tries. Former deputy SpeakerMandali Buddha Prasad metVijayendra Saraswati inKanchi and discussed theTelugu language, culture andtraditions.

The Seer told BuddhaPrasad that efforts are beingmade to teach Telugu to morethan one crore Telugu peoplewho migrated and settled inTamil Nadu. The Seer saidthat efforts are also beingmade to organise the TallapakaAnnamayya Sangeethotsavamas like TyagarajuAradonatswavalu being heldin Thiruvaiyaru.

Vijayendra SaraswatiSwamy blessed Buddha Prasadon the occasion.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

As the land acquisition andhouses to the land losershave been delayed in the dis-trict, Collector ofVisakhapatnam district Dr. AMallikharjun informed thathe would convene a month-ly review meeting and hedirected the revenue officialsto show the progress.

While addressing a meet-ing with all the senior offi-cials, the Collector directedthem to complete the landacquisition works on prior-ity for various projectsincluding APIIC, NIOB,Nakkapalle NationalHighway and Paderu GreenCorridor. There was a delayin attending the works ofAPIIC, NIOB and NationalHighway works atNakkapalle. The Tahsildarsof the respective mandalsand RDOs should immedi-ately attend the works, theCollector directed.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Central Sericulture Researchand Training Institute (CSRTI)Director Dr. Babulal has saidthat India is the second largestproducer of silk in the worldwith an annual silk productionof 35,469 MT. Focusing ismore on application-orientedresearch to transform Indiansericulture particularly toachieve excellence, he said.

Addressing the participantsin an International E-Conference on “SericultureMolecules to Materials” organ-ised by GITAM Deemed to beUniversity Seribiotechnologylab on Thursday, Babulal men-tioned that India is the onlycountry producing all the five

kinds of silk includingMulberry, Eri, Muga, TropicalTasar and Temperate Tasar.Mulberry silk contributesthree-fourths of the total silkproduction in India and CSRTI

has developed technologiessuitable for the needs of mul-berry sericulture farmers in thestates of Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Maharashtra and

Madhya Pradesh, Babulaldetailed.

Organising secretary of theconference Prof. M Anithainformed about the researchactivities of GITAM

seribiotechnology lab forenhanced silk production,improved silk quality andhelped in growth of the larvae.

GITAM Pro Vice-ChancellorProf. Jayasankar Variyar, Prof.A. Subrahmanyam, on theoccasion, emphasised upon theneed to develop new technolo-gies and materials with silk.Central Tasar Research andTraining Institute (Jharkhand)Scientist Dr.JP Pandey detailedthe utilisation of byproducts ofsericulture. He said that around3.50 lakh families are associat-ed with the tasar silk industryand also providing livelihoodfor the huge tribal populace ofIndia.

Conference convener Dr.Kiranmayi presided over theprogramme.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Vizianagaram districtadministration has openedall the hostels of BackwardClasses for graduation andPost-Graduation students.

According to theCollector, Vizianagaram dis-trict, A Surya Kumari, inview of the examinations forthe 2021-22 academic year,the hostels have beenopened to provide accom-modation facilities to thestudents. Due to the Covid-19, all these months thehostels have been keptclosed. As the Covid-19positive cases are in thecontrol and in view of theexaminations, the Collectorinformed that the hostelshave been opened.

For more details about thehostels one can contactAssistant BC Welfare offi-cers of Vizianagaram Rural,Urban, Bobbili, andParvatipuram.

India, second largest silk producer : Expert

High Court reserves orderson ex-AG’s quash petition

TDP seeks against YSRCP for‘obscene’ social media posts

BC hostelsreopened inVizianagaram

Telugu must be taught toNRI kids: Kanchi Seer

Review meetsoon on landacquisition

PNS n HYDERABAD

A man kept his grandfa-ther's body in a fridge at theirhouse in Warangal district ashe was allegedly not havingmoney to perform his lastrites, police said on Thursday.

The deceased, aged around95, had retired as a headmas-ter and was drawing pensionand staying with his grand-son while his other familymembers reside inKamareddy district, theysaid.

On Thursday, some neigh-bours alerted the police aftera foul smell emanated fromthe house.

Police found the bodystuffed in the refrigerator, asenior police official said.

"The man told police thathis grandfather was bedrid-den and died of ill health

recently. After the death, hehad initially wrapped thebody with a bedsheet andlater kept the body in thefridge. He told police he didthis as he was unable to per-form the last rites as he didnot have money," the officialsaid.

Police are also investigatingif the 23-year-old man hid hisgrandfather's body to ensurethat his pension did not stop,the official said.

Based on preliminaryinvestigation, the official saidthere were no externalinjuries on the elderly man'sbody and he is suspected tohave died around six daysago. However, they were alsoverifying if he was givensome poisonous substance.

As of now a case of suspi-cious death was registered,police added.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Rajendranagar Policeraided a house atShivrampally and caught twopersons who were illegallystoring rice meant to be dis-pensed under PublicDistribution Scheme (PDS).

Acting on a tipoff, thepolice raided the house whereMohd Feroz and Fareed hadstored PDS rice after sourc-ing it from card holders.

The rice was to be sold tosome persons who wouldlater smuggle it to otherStates, said K Kanakaiah,SHO (Rajendranagar). Thepolice seized around 15 quin-tals of rice and booked a caseagainst the duo.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two persons were killedand three others sustainedinjuries in a road accident atGandipet on Thursday.

According to the police,five persons were travellingin a car when the vehiclerammed into an electricpole at CBIT road, Gandipet.

Two of them died on thespot while three others sus-tained injuries.

On information theNarsingi police reached thespot and shifted the bodiesfor postmortem examina-tion to the OsmaniaHospital mortuary. Theinjured were shifted to hos-pital for treatment.

Unable to afford lastrites, man stores bodyof grandpa in fridge

2 killed, 3 hurt as vehicle hits pole

PNS n ONGOLE

Minister for Energy andEnvironment Balineni SrinivasaReddy has asked the officials totake steps to expedite the con-struction of houses.The minis-ter, addressing a divisional levelreview meeting on ‘Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu’ programmehere on Thursday, said thatChief Minister Y S Jaganmohan

Reddy aimed at constructinghouses to the all eligible poor.

The Minister asked the offi-cials to take the responsibility forcompleting the process at theearliest.

“The dream of owning ahouse of the poor should bemade a reality and the officialsshould strive hard for the pur-pose. Indifference will not be tol-erated. The officials should send

the progress report on the con-struction of houses at regularintervals,” the minister said.Later, the minister distributeddustbins to the residents inDivisions 18 and 34. Later, heplanted saplings under theJagananna Paccha Thoranamscheme.

Municipal CommissionerBhagyalakshmi and Corporatorswere present.

Two arrested with

15 quintals of PDS

rice in Hyderabad

PNS n HYDERABAD

All necessary precautions arebeing taken in light of thethreat from Covid, as the faith-ful make their way to variousAshoorkhanas in Hyderabadto observe the month ofMuharram that started onTuesday.

Bibi ka Alam has beeninstalled in Bibi ka Alawawhile other Alams have beeninstalled in various otherAshoorkhanas.

Bargah-e- Hazrat AbbasMuttawalli Moosavi said, "Allnecessary precautions arebeing taken to make sure thatCovid-appropriate behaviouris followed in Ashoorkhanasduring Muharram." Hashim, adevotee said, "Muharram isobserved to mourn the mar-tyrdom of Imam Hussein.Irrespective of caste or creed,any person from any religioncan take part."

Last week, Hyderabad CityPolice Commissioner AnjaniKumar had held a meeting with

Muslim religious heads to dis-cuss the arrangements thatwere to be made forMuharram. The meeting washeld at Salar Jung Museum herein Hyderabad.

Muharram commemoratesthe martyrdom of Imam

Hussein, the son of Hazrat Aliand grandson of ProphetMuhammad.

It signifies an expression ofsorrow over the martyrdom ofImam Hussein at the Battle ofKarbala that took place over 14centuries ago. A procession is

taken out every year on thetenth day of Muharram, knownas Ashura. Muharram is alsothe first month of the Hijri cal-endar.

Elephant from Maharashtrato replace van in Bibi ka Alam

Meanwhile, the state govern-

ment of Telangana has accord-ed permission for the use of ele-phant for Muharram proces-sion to be taken out next week.The order was issued by theSpecial Chief Secretary toGovernment, Environment,Forests, Science and Technology. The HEH The Nizam'sReligious Trust, Purani Haveli,which is the custodian of theBibi Ka Alam along with otherorganisations had submitted arepresentation to the govern-ment to accord permission foruse of elephant.

An elephant, Madhuri aged38 years from Kolhapur will beused to carry the Bibi ka Alamstandard during the processionon the 10 of Muharram monthscheduled next Friday. Thecosts involved in bringing ele-phant for the procession aretaken care of by TelanganaState Wakf Board following arepresentation of Riyaz ulHassan Effandi, AIMIM MLC.

Madhuri is expected to reachHyderabad on Friday and willbe housed at Khilwat Palace

Aashoorkhana located nearCharminar bus stand.

In 2020, the elephant was notbrought for the procession inview of Covid pandemicrestrictions while the previousyear, an elephant Sudha fromBijapur (Karnataka) was usedfor carrying the Bibi ka Alam,said Syed Ali Jaffery ofTelangana Elephant WelfareRehabilitation Society.

For decades Rajini, the ele-phant owned by the HEH TheNizam's Trust and kept inNehru Zoological Park wasused for carrying the standardduring the procession. However,following an observation of thecourt that 'captive elephant can-not be kept in zoo and used forreligious procession', the jumbois not being used in any religiousprocession including Bonalu,Muharram, Rajab festival or anyother processions. Since then,organisers of various proces-sions are bringing elephantsfrom other states across thecountry to organise proces-sions.

Covid care a priority at Ashoorkhanas

‘Expedite housing works’

Hyd Sailing Week from August 13PNS n HYDERABAD

The 35th edition of theHyderabad Sailing Week willbe held here from August 13 toAugust 19 at Hussain Sagarlake.

The sailing week will see thelargest congregation of sailorsin the country with GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan for-mally inaugurating at atSecunderabad Sailing Annexeon Friday.

The event will witness racesin three categories - LaserStandard, Laser Radial andLaser 4.7 class. While address-

ing the media, Major GeneralJS Sidana, Vice Commodore,EME Sailing Association saidthe event is being conducted asAsian Games trials for LaserClass and has been accreditedas a YAI Ranking event.

"This implies that the rank-ing of a sailor at the Hyderabad

Sailing Week will be countedand considered towards over-all National Ranking and sub-sequent selection for participa-tion at Asian Games," he said.

Formed in 1964, the EMESailing Association has pro-duced a number of outstand-ing sailors and officials both atthe National and Internationallevels.

The closing ceremony ofthe Hyderabad Sailing Weekwill be conducted on August19 and will be presided over byAdmiral Karambir Singh,PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief ofNaval Staff.

STAR IN THE CITY

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan arrived inKakinada on Thursday.He is learnt to be in thecity to take in shootingof a film starring him in

the lead role.

vijayawada 04VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

PNS n KAKINADA

Janasena party political affairscommittee chairman NadendlaManohar has exhorted theparty cadre to expose the mis-deeds and anti-people policiesof the YSRCP-led governmentand fight against them.

Manohar visited EastGodavari district and tookpart in various programmesheld at various places onThursday. He took part in themembership enrolment forthe Rajahmundry urban andrural constituencies. Later, hewent to Peddapuram where heprayed at Maridamma temple.

At Pithapuram, he handedover a cheque for Rs 5 lakh tothe family of Battula SubbaRao who died recently. He helda meeting with women.Addressing them, he allegedthat the government openedthe gates for the sale of liquorin the State.

“Let us fight against theanti-people policies of the

YSRCP government. Thefinancial position of AP hascrippled. The farmers are bear-ing the brunt of misrule of theYSRCP regime,” he said.

Manohar promised that theJanasena party would give toppriority to women in the party.He asked the Janasena activiststo draw inspiration from

Janasena chief Pawan Kalyanand work hard to strengthenthe party in the district.

District party presidentKandula Durgesh, PanthamNanaji, Muttha Sasidhar,Tummala Babu, BhogireddyGangadhar, MudragadaRamesh and M Seshakumariwere present.

PNS n GUNTUR

Telugu Desam Party (TDP)senior leaders are trying to gainhold on Sattenapalle Assemblyconstituency as there is nosenior leader to lead the cadreafter the sudden death ofKodela Siva Prasad Rao.

The TDP high commandhas not appointed in-charge tothe Sattenapalle Assembly con-stituency so far. After the deathof Kodela Siva Prasad Rao, hisson Kodela Sivaram tried tolead the cadre in Sattenapallebut he was stuck in police casesand shifted his residence toVijayawada.

Sivaram is said to be in adilemma on whether to con-fine himself to Sattenapalle or

represent his home constituen-cy Narasaraopet.

The TDP high commanddid not appoint Sivaram as in-charge to Sattenapalle con-stituency as many leadersopposed him. The TDP high

command had appointedChadalavada Aravinda Babu asNarasaraopet Assembly con-stituency in-charge. However,Kodela Sivaram is participatingin the party programme inSattenapalle and making efforts

for constituency in-chargepost.

Mannem NagamalleswaraRao, former MLA Y VAnjaneyulu and former MPRayapati Sambasiva Rao’s sonRayapati Rangababu are mak-ing efforts for the SattenapalliAssembly constituency in-charge post. The TDP seniorleaders in Sattenapalli wonderwhy the TDP high commandis hesitating in appointing in-charge to the SattenapalliAssembly constituency.

“Sattenappali constituencyis considered to be a fortress ofTDP and we do not under-stand why the TDP high com-mand has not taken the deci-sion to appoint in-charge to it,”a TDP leader said.

PNS n KAKINADA

While there are 96,000women's self-help groups, thatis, DWCRA groups, in EastGodavari district, all of themget loans through bank linkage.Apart from this, Stree NidhiMahila Bank also providesloans directly to DWCRAgroups. However, banks havebeen only advancing loans toDWCRA groups but are notpaying their savings. This hasled to an increase in deposits ofhundreds of crores of rupees inbanks which are doing businesswith this amount.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) recently stepped in andordered the banks to pay the sav-ings of DWCRA groups if theywant to withdraw the same.Members of DWCRA groupsare required to open a savingsaccount in the name of theirrespective groups. The savingsshould be deposited regularly inthat account at least for sixmonths. The bankers then givethem loans as per the recom-mendations of the animators at0.9 percent interest rate.However, the government paysthe interest amount. The banks

pay only 0.2 percent interest toDWCRA groups’ deposits anddo not agree to draw theamount. As on March 31 thisyear, the savings of DWCRAgroups in the district were up toRs 600 crore in the respectivebanks, said a Velugu ProjectArea Coordinator. Another offi-cial revealed that loans taken by

DWCRA women were up to Rs1,500 crore.

DWCRA groups aredemanding that the bankersallow them to withdraw theirdeposits but the latter are nothonouring their request. Theanimators, who oversee thefunctioning of DWCRA groups,are also supporting the banks.

With this, Rs 600 crore is lockedup in the banks. Sadly, thebanks are charging high inter-est rates on the loans taken byDWCRA groups.

Putting a check on the banksto do business with women’smoney, the RBI has directed allbanks not to impose any restric-tions on DWCRA women's

savings societies as they havethe power to withdraw fundsfrom the bank at their request.Also, the bankers did not lendmore than Rs 10 lakh to thecommunity despite conductingmore business activities in thepast. Now, the Centre has issueddirections to increase the cred-it limit to Rs 20 lakh. Women'sgroups are happy with this. TheDWCRA groups are happy thatbuying a couple of cows or buf-faloes, as in the past, will enablethem to become financiallyself-sufficient APM Baladevisaid women's groups wouldbenefit from the RBI decision.

Sadhanala Padma andVijayalakshmi, members of thewomen's unions, said they werehappy that they would be ableto set up more industries if theyimplemented the Centre's direc-tives.

DRDA Project DirectorHarinath said that the schemewould be implemented withimmediate effect. The womenare happy that their savings areup to Rs 5,600 crore and thatwithdrawing the amount wouldspare them from the trouble ofgoing to banks too often forloans.

DWCRA groups stand to benefitfrom RBI order on credit limit raise

Nadendla asks JSP cadre tofight ‘anti-people’ policies

TDP leaders set eyes on Sattenapalle

PNS n ONGOLE

Telugu Desam leaders andactivists accorded a warm wel-come to TDP national gener-al secretary Nara Lokesh at thenational high here onThursday.

Lokesh was going to Nellorefrom Vijayawada on a districttour. Lokesh interacted withthe activists and exhortedthem to expose the anti-peo-ple policies of the YSRCPgovernment and register theirprotest.

Telugu Yuvatha president MSrinivasa Rao, Anantamma, DDharma, corporator Raviteja,P Venkateswarulu, B Madanand Bhasyam Srinivas wereamong the leaders who werepresent.

PNS n KAKINADA

Rajahmundry MP andYSRCP Parliamentary ChiefWhip Margani Bharat Ramreceived the "Bharat YouthAward" in the national capi-tal New Delhi on Thursday.

Union Urban AffairsMinister Koushal Kishorepresented the award to BharatRam. The Bharat GauravAward Foundation organisedthe event. The MPs, MLCs,and admirers and leaderscongratulated MP BharatRam on receiving the award.

PNS n ELURU

Information and PublicRelations Minister PerniVenkatramaiah (Nani) onThursday told the newly-elected sarpanches to workfor the development of vil-lages rising above politics.

“Work hard for the devel-opment of villages irre-spective of political affilia-tions. Live in the village andvisit every road and toknow the problems of vil-lagers,” he told thesarpanches while address-ing the village sarpanchestraining classes held at theVishnu College auditori-um in Bhimavaram.

He asked them to collecttaxes from the people with-out compromise. “Create agoodwill among the peopleand serve them better.Work aiming for the devel-opment of the villages andmingle with the villagers,”he exhorted the sarpanch-es.

MLAs G Srinivas, MLCK Moshen Raju, DCMSChairman V VenkataSwamy, AMC Chairman TYedukondalu and MPDOG Padma were amongthose who attended.

PNS n KAKINADA

The police seized 1,900 liquorbottles worth Rs 50,000 atJonnada in Alamuru mandal.

Alamuru DSP BalachandraReddy said that on a tip off,the police conducted check-ing of vehicles.

They found 40 cartonscontaining 180 ml whiskybottles being transported ille-gally in a car.

The police seized the carand the liquor bottles. Oneperson was arrested in thisconnection.

One more accused in thecase is absconding and hewould be arrested soon, theDSP said.

PNS n ELURU

West Godavari DistrictCollector Kartikeya Mishraand S P Rahul Dev Sharmainspected the arrangementsbeing made for Chief MinisterY S Jaganmohan Reddy’s visitto Bhimavaram town.

The Collector and the SPinspected the helipad at KConvention centre and direct-ed the officials on the arrange-ments to be made. He direct-ed the officials to ensure that

the Covid protocol should befollowed during the ChiefMinister’s visit. He directed the

officials to take steps to cleanthe road leading to the con-vention centre from the heli-pad.

The Chief Minister andsome other ministers areattending the marriage ofMLA P Srinivasa Rao’s daugh-ter to be held on August 14 inBhimavaram town. JointCollector B R Ambedkar, Sub-collector C Vishnu, DSPVeranjaneya Reddy deputyDMHO V Prasad accompa-nied the Collector.

PNS n KAKINADA

Social Welfare Minister PinipeViswarup has directed the offi-cials to take steps to overcomethe hurdles in taking theprocess of construction ofhouses forward.

The minister held a divisionlevel review meeting inAmalapuram on ‘Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu’ onThursday.

Speaking on the occasion, heasked the officials to strive hardto achieve the target set byChief Minister Y SJaganmohan Reddy.

“The main problem in theAmalapuram division is thelayout levelling. Focus waslaid on getting soil for levellingthe layout. If there are any

problems in this regard, bringto my notice and I will takesteps to resolve them,” theminister said.

The minister said that about31 lakh house pattas were dis-tributed to the eligible poormaking the dream a reality.The responsibility of construc-tion of houses to the beneficia-ries lay on the officials, he saidand asked the officials to takeall needed steps to completethe houses constructionprocess at the earliest.

State Housing constructioncorporation chairmanDavuluri Dorababu said thatapart from allocating 31 lakhhouse sites, the government isdetermined to construct hous-es to the eligible poor. The gov-ernment has taken the con-struction of houses as a pres-tigious assignment and obsta-cles in this regard should beresolved at the earliest, he saidand asked all the departmentheads to work in a coordinat-ed manner.

Warm welcome toLokesh at Ongole

Work hard to meet housingtarget, Pinipe tells officials

PNS n KADAPA

The Bharatya Janata Party (BJP)activists, led by State president SomuVeerraju, staged a dharna in front of theCollector’s office here on Thursdaydemanding that the governmentannounce financial assistance andother help to the farmers.

Addressing the media on the occa-sion, he demanded that the govern-

ment provide drip irrigation equipmentto the farmers at subsidised prices.

He said that after Rajasthan, scantrainfall occurs in Rayalaseema region.

“The Union government has allo-cated Rs 10,000 crore to provide dripirrigation equipment to the farmersin the drought-prone areas and theState government should take stepsto provide the equipment to farmersin the region,” he said.

Somu Veerraju said the YSRCP-ledgovernment had failed in providingdrip irrigation equipment at sub-sidised prices to the farmers. Thegovernment should take steps toreopen the closed sugar and milk fac-tories in the district, he demandedand said that the BJP would launcha State-wide agitation on the farm-ers' issues, Veerraju said.

Later, the BJP State president

called on the party activists, who suf-fered injuries in an attack allegedlyby the YSRCP workers atAyyavaripalli village in Proddaturconstituency.

Later, he consoled the family of BJPdistrict former president K VRamana Reddy who died recentlyand conveyed his condolences. Heassured the family of extending fullsupport.

Tadikonda MLA overconfident ?PNS n GUNTUR

Ruling YSRCP TadikondaMLA Undavalli Sridevi’s over-confidence on getting ministe-rial berth in the ensuingreshuffle has stirred a contro-versy and her comments cre-ated a political commotion inthe district.

MLA Sridevi offered‘Bonalu’ to the Goddess at theBonalu festival in Hyderabadrecently. On the occasion, theMLA said that this year shetook part in the Bonalu festi-val as an ‘MLA” of AP, but inthe next year, she would par-ticipate as a “Minister ofAndhra Pradesh”.

Her comments on gettingministerial berth in the ensu-

ing reshuffle shocked andembarrassed all. It gave rise forthe speculation that the ChiefMinister had already givenher assurance of giving theminister post.

YSRCP leaders are guessingthat if Sridevi, who belongs tothe SC community, is takeninto the Cabinet, Home

Minister Mekathoti Sucharita,who also belongs to the samecommunity, will be droppedfrom the Cabinet.

Sridevi's followers defendedher stating that she defeatedthe TDP MLA in the capitalregion Amaravati, whichcomes under her Tadikondaconstituency. At present, fournames, including AmbatiRambabu, Alla RamakrishnaReddy, V Rajani and MNagarjuna, are doing roundsfor being inducted into theCabinet. The MLA Sridevi’scomments on getting ministe-rial berth changed the equa-tions in the district.Significantly, the YSRCP seniorleaders are tight-lipped on hercomments.

WG Collector, SP inspectarrangements for CM visit

BJP demands financial assistance to farmers1,900 liquorbottlesseized, onearrested

MP Bharat Ramgets youth award

‘Sarpanchesmust rise abovepolitics todevelop villages’PNS n NEW DELHI

Taking a swipe at the previousgovernments, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Thursdaysaid for years, the amount ofeffort that should have been putin to economically empowerwomen was not made andasserted that his dispensation isconstantly creating an environ-ment in which women self-helpgroups can connect villages withprosperity.

Participating in the"Aatmanirbhar Narishakti seSamvad" (dialogue with self-reliant women), the prime min-ister interacted with the womenself-help groups (SHGs) pro-moted under the DeendayalAntyodaya Yojana-NationalRural Livelihoods Mission

(DAY-NRLM) via video-con-ferencing.

He also released capitalisa-tion support funds to the tuneof Rs 1,625 crore to over fourlakh SHGs. In addition, Modialso released Rs 25 crore as seedmoney for 7,500 SHG membersunder the PMFME (PMFormalisation of MicroFood Proces singEnterprises) schemeof the Ministry ofFood ProcessingIndustries and Rs4.13 crore as fundsto 75 FPOs (farmerproducer organisa-tions) being promotedunder the mission.

In his remarks, the primeminister said in a changingIndia, opportunities are increas-

ing for the sisters and daughtersof the country to move forward.

The government is workingwith full sensitivity towardsthe education, health, nutrition,vaccination and other needs of"our sisters and daughters", hesaid. The way the women

served the people of thecountry through the

SHGs during thecoronavirus periodwas unprecedent-ed, the prime min-ister noted.

"Be it manufac-turing masks and

sanitiser or deliveringfood to the needy and

spreading awareness, the con-tribution of your 'Sakhi groups'has been incomparable in everyway," he said.

In the last six-seven years, thewomen self-help group move-ment has gained momentumand there are about 70 lakhsuch groups with which abouteight crore women are connect-ed.

Taking a jibe at the previousgovernments, Modi said foryears, the amount of effort thatshould have been put in to eco-nomically empower womenwas not made.

"When our governmentcame, we saw that there werecrores of sisters of the countrywho did not even have bankaccounts, who were fardetached from the bankingsystem. That is why we firststarted a huge campaign toopen Jan Dhan accounts," hepointed out.

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than 54.04 crore Covidvaccine doses have been provid-ed to states and UTs so far, and1,09,83,510 additional doses arein the pipeline, the Union HealthMinistry said on Thursday. Ofthis, the total consumption,including the wastage, is52,00,96,418 doses, according todata available at 8 am.

A total of 2,55,54,533Covid-19 vaccine doses arestill available with states, UTsand private hospitals to be ad-ministered, the ministry said.

The new phase of universal-isation of COVID-19 vaccina-tion commenced from June21, 2021.

The vaccination drive hasbeen ramped up through

availability of more vaccines,advance visibility of vaccineavailability to states and UnionTerritories for enabling betterplanning by them, and stream-lining the vaccine supplychain, the ministry stated.

As part of the nationwidevaccination drive, theGovernment of India has beensupporting the states andUnion Territories by providingthem Covid vaccines free ofcost.

In the new phase of the uni-versalisation of the Covid vac-cination drive, the govern-ment will procure and supply(free of cost) 75 per cent of thevaccines being produced bythe vaccine manufacturers inthe country to the States andUTs.

PM hails work done by women SHGs, saysthey can connect villages with prosperity

54 cr vaccine dosessupplied to States

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

ADelhi court has sought an action taken report from the police on a complaint filed by asacked professor of a Delhi University college seeking registration of FIR under theScheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the principal

for alleged casteist remarks. Additional Sessions Judge Charu Aggarwal has sought the reportfrom the station house officer on the application. The complainant, who worked as anassistant professor, moved the court alleging that the principal along with four professors,hatched a conspiracy to terminate her from service by forging documents, creating false

records, fabricating and giving false evidence. “The behaviour ofaccused number 1 (principal) has been casteist, demeaning,discriminatory, threatening towards the complainant that theaccused No.1 used to make casteist remarks so much so that onAugust 10, 2020, the complainant was refused her re-joining fromthe job,” the complaint stated. The professor sought directionfrom the court to the police to register an FIR against the principaland others under various sections of the Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Indian PenalCode and punish them in accordance with the law.

Jagannath temple reopens,entry for people from Aug 23

Sacked professor seeks FIR against DUcollege principal for casteist remarks

128 children among 576 new COVIDpatients in Mizoram

At least 576 more people, including 128 children, tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, takingthe tally in the state to 46,896, a health department official said on Thursday. Two more fatalitiesdue to the infection in the last 24 hours raised the death toll to 173, he said. Of the fresh cases,

323 were reported from Aizawl district, 71 from Kolasib, 57 from Champhai, 38 from Lunglei, 35from Lawngtlai. The single-day positivity rate was at 9.30 per cent as the new cases were detectedfrom 6,192 sample tests. At least 128 children and eight Border Security Force personnel are amongthe newly infected people, he said. Nine fresh patients have travel history, while 567 were found tohave locally contracted the disease, the official said, adding that 313 have developed symptoms of

Covid-19. Mizoram now has 11,989 active cases, and1,012 people were cured of the disease on Wednesday,taking the total number of recoveries to 34,734. Therecovery rate among Covid-19 patients in the state standsat 74 per cent. Over seven lakh sample tests for Covid-19have been conducted in the state so far. Stateimmunisation officer Dr Lalzawmi said over 6.42 lakhpeople have been inoculated till Wednesday with 2.13 lakhof them having received both doses of the vaccine.

The famed Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri reopened on Thursday in the first phase afterremaining shut for over three months amid the COVID-restrictions. In the first phase, onlyfamily members of the servitors are being allowed to enter the temple, an official said.The

temple will open for the public in the second phase, he said.The 12th-century shrine was shuton April 24 amid the second wave of the pandemic, and remained closed during the RathaJatra. The family members of the servitors are being allowed darshan from Mangal Alati till

Rati Pahuda, the official said. While entering the temple, theyare required to produce any identity card issued by the templeauthority along with a government-issued identity proof suchas Aadhaar card.In the second phase, residents of Puri will beallowed to enter the temple through the Lion's Gate fromAugust 16, the official said.The general public will be allowedentry from August 23, he said.The temple will remain closed onAugust 21 and 22 in view of the shutdown in Puri on Saturdaysand Sundays.Devotees from outside Puri will have to producethe final COVID-vaccination certificate or COVID-negative RT-PCR report of testing done within 96 hours.

INDIA

CORNER

PNS n KOLKATA

The Trinamool Congress onThursday condemned thealleged blocking of theCongress's official Twitteraccount, questioning whetherit was linked to opposing thepolitics and policies of theBJP.

The Congress alleged thatthe party's official Twitteraccount and those of a largenumber of its leaders wereblocked by the microbloggingsite.

"What's going on @Twitter@TwitterIndia @jack What'sgoing on? We strongly con-demn the blocking of theaccounts of @INCIndia andsenior leaders of the Congressparty," TMC Rajya Sabhaparty leader Derek O'Brientweeted.

The TMC's West Bengalunit general secretary KunalGhosh said it was a danger-ous trend.

"It means the BJP hence-forth will control the socialmedia platforms as well. Theywill control the narrative andwill also decide who cantweet and who cannot. It hasto be looked into whether thisblocking of Congress'sTwitter handle is linked withits opposition to the policiesand politics of the BJP," hesaid.

TMC condemns‘blocking' ofCongressTwitter accounts

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leaders of several oppositionparties on Thursday marchedin protest against the govern-ment on several issues,including Pegasus, farm lawsand alleged manhandling oftheir MPs in Rajya Sabha,with Congress leader RahulGandhi saying the voice ofpeople was crushed inParliament and democracywas "murdered".

Top leaders of severalopposition parties met in thechamber of Leader ofOpposition in the RajyaSabha Mallikarjun Khargeand then walked in protestfrom Parliament House to

Vijay Chowk.Those who attended the

meeting included Gandhi,Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay

Raut, Tiruchi Siva, ManojJha and other oppositionleaders. They met RajyaSabha chairman M Venkaiah

Naidu and complainedagainst the alleged heckling ofMPs including some women.

Some union ministers alsomet Naidu and complainedagainst the alleged unrulybehaviour of some oppositionmembers in the House onWednesday.

The protest comes a dayafter the passage of bills inRajya Sabha amid charges ofmanhandling of oppositionleaders including somewomen MPs.

The protesting MPs carriedplacards and banners againstthe government that read'Stop murder of democracy'and 'we demand Repeal ofanti farmers laws'.

Democracy murdered, voiceof people crushed: Congress

Putting the blame on theOpposition for unrulyscenes witnessed during

the monsoon session ofParliament, a group of unionministers on Thursday saidRajya Sabha Chairman musttake the strongest possibleaction against those who brokethe rules. Addressing a jointpress conference here, they also

accused the opposition leadersof manhandling marshals, whileUnion Minister Piyush Goyalsaid that the Opposition'sapproach of "my way or highwayis highly condemnable" and thecountry also condemns suchattitude. Goyal, also Leader ofHouse in Rajya Sabha, said thegroup of ministers metChairman and Deputy Chairman

of the House and made anearnest appeal that the strongestpossible action should be takenagainst the opposition MPs fortheir deplorable behavior andmanhandling marshals.He said the Opposition wasunable to digest the fact that thecountry has given up on themand their behaviour in RajyaSabha on Wednesday was a

new low of the parliamentarydemocracy. The SecretaryGeneral's table in Rajya Sabha isnot meant for dancing andprotesting, Union MinisterAnurag Thakur said at the pressconference, referring to anincident when an oppositionleader was seen above a tableinside the upper house ofParliament.

Oppn should apologise to nation: Ministers

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Justice of India NVRamana on Thursday said thatfalse narratives and miscon-ceptions created in minds ofthe people that judges suppos-edly lead an easy life need tobe refuted by educating thepublic about the work put bythem with limited resources.

The CJI said the most obvi-ous sacrifice to become a judgeis monetary of course but onemust be moved by the spirit ofpublic duty to take such a deci-sion.

Justice Ramana, who wasspeaking at a farewell functionof Justice RF Nariman organ-ised by the Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA), said thatit is important for judges tostay in touch with society andnot remained completelysecluded.

However, he said the unde-niable fact is that "our engage-ment with society undergoes adrastic change when webecome a judge."

"I would like to flag theamount of work we put in asJudges, day in and day out.There exists a misconceptionin the minds of the people thatJudges stay in big bungalows,work only 10 am to 4 pm andenjoy their holidays. Such a

narrative is untrue," the CJIsaid.

He said it is not easy to pre-pare for more than 100 casesevery week, listen to novelarguments, do independentresearch, and author judg-ments, while also dealing withthe various administrativeduties of a Judge, particularlyof a senior judge.

"We either burn the mid-night oil, or wake up beforesunrise, or sometimes evenboth, to fulfil our judicialduties. We continue to workeven during the Court holi-days, do research and authorpending judgements. Ther-efore, when false narratives arecreated about the supposedeasy life led by Judges, it is dif-ficult to swallow," CJI said.

"We cannot defend our-selves. It is the duty of the Barto refute these false narrativesand to educate the publicabout the work put in byJudges with the limited

resources given to them,"Justice Ramana said.

He said "there are a numberof sacrifices one must makewhen one decides to become aJudge, the most obvious tobecome a judge is monetary,especially when one has aroaring practice, but one mustbe moved by the spirit of pub-lic duty to take such a deci-sion."

"Honestly, if Brother Nari-man had continued to be alawyer rather than becoming aJudge, he could have led a mo-re luxurious and relaxed life.That he managed to balance allhis duties and produce thequality of work he did, is a tes-tament to his work ethic andhis capabilities," the CJI said.

Justice Ramana said at thetender age of 12 years, whileother children were probablybusy playing cricket or some-thing else, Justice Narimanbecame an ordained priest ofthe Parsi faith.

Misconceptions about judgesneed to be refuted, says CJI

PNS n SHIMLA

Four more bodies were recov-ered from the landslide site inHimachal Pradesh's Kinnaurdistrict where the search andrescue operation resumed earlyon Thursday, raising the deathtoll to 14, officials said.

A Himachal Road TransportCorporation (HRTC) bus,which, along with other vehi-cles, was buried under thedebris, has been found in abadly damaged condition, StateDisaster Management DirectorSudesh Kumar Mokhta said.

However, a Bolero car alsofeared buried under the rubblecould not be traced, he said.

The HRTC bus was on itsway from Reckong Peo toHaridwar via Shimla when itwas hit by boulders after thelandslide around Wednesdaynoon near Chaura village onnational highway-5 inNigulsari area of Nichar tehsil.

In a video clip that surfacedon social media, a rescuerworking at the site near themangled remains of the bus isheard saying that the vehiclewas found by the Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) 17th

Battalion personnel. Anotherrescuer says that gloves shouldbe brought for continuing therescue operation.

Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq saidfour more bodies were recov-ered from the spot after the res-cue operation resumed onThursday.

The DC told PTI that 14bodies have been recovered sofar. Thirteen people were res-cued with injuries onWednesday, while several oth-ers were still feared buriedunder the debris. However theexact number was not known.

In a touching Facebook post,Lokendra Singh Vedic, a resi-dent of Shimla, said his father'sbody has been found but res-cuers are yet to find his head.

The rescue work, being car-ried out jointly by the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF), the ITBP, the localpolice and home guards,resumed at 6 am, Mokhta said.

Meanwhile, a two-minutesilence was observed in thestate assembly to pay homageto those who died in theKinnaur landslide.

Urban DevelopmentMinister Suresh Bhardwaj said

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur,along with Industries andTransport Minister BikramSingh, has gone to the spot totake stock of the rescue work.

Bhardwaj said the landslideoccurred at the place wherepeople usually stop their vehi-cles to look at the scenic viewand take photographs.

The state government hadrequisitioned four helicoptersfor rescue work on Wednesdayitself but they could not reachat the site due to bad weather,he added.

Senior Congress leader AshaKumari in the state assemblysaid Leader of the oppositionMukesh Agnihotri, RampurMLA Nand Lal and ShimlaRural MLA VikramadityaSingh have also gone to thespot. Expressing his condo-lences, CPM MLA RakeshSingha said the factors thatcause such landslides shouldalso be examined and rectified.

The authorities had sus-pended the operation ataround 10 pm on Wednesday.

The Bhawanagar stationhouse officer (SHO) had saidaround 25 to 30 people weretrapped under the debris.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The youth today are morelikely to trust an artificial intel-ligence-run system than onecontrolled by humans, andthey believe the "fractures" insociety are manifestations of anunderlying political problem, aWorld Economic Forum(WEF) report has claimed.

The report was launched aspart of a drive to mark theInternational Youth Day, whichis celebrated on August 12.

The WEF drive, called a'Youth-Driven Recovery Plan',saw participation of over twomillion young people fromacross countries, includingIndia, who shared their viewson what will become the nextnormal for society, govern-ment, and business.

According to the survey,young people believe there is aserious crisis in politics, espe-

cially with regards to climatechange policies, and incomeinequality.

"They believe that the frac-tures that have come to bear insociety are manifestations of anunderlying political problem.Concerns about corruptionand stale political leadershiphave become urgent prioritiesfor young people if they are to

keep faith in the political sys-tem," the report said.

The survey found that youngpeople would be more likely totrust a system run by artificialintelligence than humans. Aspart of the solution, they sug-gested greater investment inprogrammes that help young"progressive voices" join gov-ernments and become influen-

tial policy-makers, it said.Still smarting from the effects

of the 2008 financial crisis andfaced with stagnating incomes,young people no longer seem tobelieve that they will enjoy abetter standard of living thantheir parents did, the reportfound.

"They are extremely worriedabout their financial future.They want to see a globalwealth tax on assets worthmore than USD 50 million tosafeguard social safety netsand avoid austerity measuresthat disproportionately bur-den youth and the workingpoor and almost half of theyoung people surveyed saidthey feel inadequately skilledand close to a quarter said theywould risk falling into debt iffaced with an unexpected med-ical expense," the report said.

The Davos Lab Surveyshowed that physical safety

ranks as the greatest safety con-cern among young people, apotential function of theincreased use of surveillancetechnology and militarisedpolicing against activists andpeople of colour.

Climate change also rankedhigh among the concerns thatare on most young people'smind. "Young people want tosee a halt on all new coal, oiland gas exploration and devel-opment to limit global warm-ing to the 1.5 C limit set out inthe Paris Agreement.

"They call on financial insti-tutions to avoid bankrolling orunderwriting companies thatseek to start new fossil-fuelexploration and development,and on firms to actively replacecorporate board directors whoare unwilling to wind downfossil fuels or transition togreen energy sources," thereport said.

Youth are likelier to trust AI over humans: WEF

PNS n BENGALURU

Ruling BJP MLA fromMudigere M P Kumaraswamyon Thursday staged a protestaccusing his own party's gov-ernment in Karnataka ofneglecting his constituencythat has been ravaged by tor-rential rains, floods and land-slides over the past few years.

He staged a protest alone,with a placard, in front ofMahatma Gandhi statue atVidhana Soudha, the seat of thestate legislature and secretari-at here. "In 2019 we had heavyrains and about six peoplewere washed away along withtheir houses and it took fifteendays to search for their bodies,several houses and coffee plan-tations were destroyed due to

landslides, we asked for com-pensation, we were complete-ly neglected, we remainedquite," Kumaraswamy said.

Noting that the situation con-tinued last year and this year too,he said, "I did not want to ques-tion why other constituencies arebeing considered and we were not,but one name I will take-Shivamogga city- was consideredfor relief under NDRF norms, butMudigere which is a hilly area thatcomes amid western Ghats andreceives heavy rains, was left out."

Pointing out that in 2018 whenH D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S)was the Chief Minister, he hadgiven grants and had promised tohelp in other ways, following hisappeal on the social media not toneglect Mudigere constituency, theMLA said.

HP landslide: 4 more die, toll rises to 14PNS n AHMEDABAD

The Indian Air Force hassacked one of its personnelfrom service for refusing toget vaccinated againstCOVID-19, which has beenmade a service condition, thecentral government has toldthe Gujarat High Court.

Additional SolicitorGeneral Devang Vyas, in hissubmission on Wednesday inthe HC on a plea moved byIAF corporal YogendraKumar at Jamnagar inGujarat, told a divisionbench of Justices A J Desai

and A P Thaker that acrossIndia, nine personnel hadrefused to get vaccinatedand they were given show-cause notices.

One of them, who did notrespond to the notice, wasterminated from service,Vyas told the high court.

He, however, did not givethe name or any other detailsof the staffer against whomthe action was taken.

“Across India, only ninepersonnel have refused totake the vaccine. All of themwere given show causenotice...one did not respond,

so in view of the lack ofresponse, his service isalready terminated,” Vyastold the court.

He said as far as the vac-cine in general is concerned,it is optional, but so far as theAir Force is concerned, it isnow made a service condi-tion, which is in continuationof the oath taken at the timeof enrollment in the service.

Also, it is imperative to seeto it that the Force is not putin a vulnerable state, and it isrequired for personnel tomandatorily get vaccinated,he told the court.

PNS n KOCHI

Whether a wedding under theSpecial Marriage Act (SMA)can be solemnised via videoconferencing was a questionbeing examined by the KeralaHigh Court, which onThursday reserved its decisionon the issue.

Justice P B Suresh Kumarheard arguments on behalf of

the state government, whichis not in favour of online

solemnisation of marriagesunder the Act, and severalpetitioners who have con-tended that personal physicalpresence of the bride andgroom is not necessary forsolemnisation of nuptialsunder the law.

The state government saidthat under the Act, solemniza-tion of marriage was manda-tory prior to registering it

under the SMA and therefore,presence of the two sides andthe witnesses is requiredbefore the Marriage Officer.

It also said that if onlinemode of solemnisation waspermitted, it would mandatemaintaining of an electronicregister of marriages and set-ting up an online mode ofpayment both of which arenot in place presently.

Vax refusal: IAF staffer sacked

HC examines live wedding under SMA

PNS n NEW DELHI

A day after Parliament'sMonsoon session ended on astormy note, some Unionministers Thursday called onRajya Sabha chairperson MVenkaiah Naidu.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi,Leader of House in RajyaSabha Piyush Goyal andMukhtar Abbas Naqvi wereamong the ministers whomet Naidu at his official res-idence here. On Wednesday,Naidu broke down over thehuge ruckus in the House andequated the act of someopposition MPs to "sacrilegein temple of democracy".

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlais also likely to meet VicePresident Naidu in the evening.

Some ministerscall on RSSpeaker

PNS n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati on Thursday termedas unfortunate the deadlock inParliament between the gov-ernment and the oppositionover the Pegasus snoopingrow and other issues."Whatever happened in thecountry's Parliament and itsupper house Rajya Sabha dueto the deadlock is very unfor-tunate,” she said.

‘Deadlock inParliamentunfortunate’

K’taka BJP MLA onprotest against govt

CJI N V Ramana on retirement of Justice Nariman

vide a platform for radicalcommunist elements and awhole generation of dictatorsand autocrats to portray them-selves as leaders and statesmen.Most notable in this regard wasIndia’s Krishna Menon, whosevitriolic anti-Western rhetoricand fire-spitting speeches inthe UN earned him the dubi-ous sobriquet of a “spittingcamel” —he was so dubbed bythe Americans who hatedMenon’s patronising lecturing— but also earned India a lotof Western ill will.

The UN’s failures make anunusually long catalogue,beginning with 1948. Thatyear, the Soviet Union block-aded Berlin. The only actionthat prevented the city’s sur-render was the American air-lift of all conceivable suppliesin the spirit of Ich bin einBerliner, the famous words ofPresident Kennedy in 1963.

In the Korean War (1950-53), the communist North hadgone all out to take over theentire peninsula. Again, the UNcould do nothing. It watchedVietnam being bombed moreintensively than anywhere, any-time since or before WWII.The UN, however, remainedsilent and inactive as ever. In1956, the Anglo-French inva-sion allied with Israel againstEgypt over the Suez Canal

issue yet again proved UNincompetence. And again thesame year, when the SovietUnion invaded Hungary. In1959, the world witnessed theabduction and rape of Tibet byChina. In 1968, the internation-al body looked askance at thePrague Spring when Soviettanks rolled intoCzechoslovakia. The catalogueof UN acts of omission contin-ues to be legend.

As historians William HHarbaugh and Ronald EPowaski tell us, TheodoreRoosevelt was the firstAmerican President to call foran international league. At theacceptance for his NobelPrize, Roosevelt said: “Itwould be a masterstroke ifthose great powers honestlybent on peace would form aLeague of Peace.” Such an ideashould logically have emergedfrom Europe, whose long his-tory is a record of almostunending wars. At the end ofthe Great War, the League ofNations came up in the hopeof ending the era of war, andgive the West an age of peace.Yet again this idea emergedfrom an American president,Woodrow Wilson.

But the credibility of theLeague of Nations was weak-ened by the fact that the USnever joined the League and

the Soviet Union joined lateand was soon expelled afterinvading Finland. Germanywithdrew from the League, asdid Japan, Italy, Spain and oth-ers. The onset of the SecondWorld War showed that theLeague had failed its primarypurpose, which was to preventany future world war. TheLeague lasted 26 years; theUnited Nations (UN) replacedit after the end of the SecondWorld War and inherited sev-eral agencies and organisa-tions spawned by the League.

True, the League ofNations did not last long. Yet,credit must go to it for havingfounded the InternationalCourt of Justice and theInternational LabourOrganisation and other bod-ies. It is doubtful the UNwould leave behind anythingmemorable except its perfor-mance of profligacy. It is hightime India told the SecurityCouncil to give it a PermanentSeat with veto power. If theCouncil yields, well and good;else, New Delhi should resignfrom the organisation andsave itself time, money andhonour.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, anauthor and a former memberof the Rajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

THE BJP GOVT GOT JUST DESERTSSir — Parliament’s monsoon sessionended on a stormy note on Wednesday,two days ahead of schedule. Showingunity since the session began on July 19,the Opposition disrupted both theHouses over the Government’s unwill-ingness to discuss the Pegasus scandal,farmer protests and price rise, especial-ly of fuel. Immediately after the sessionended, Lok Sabha (with a productivityof just 21 per cent) Speaker Om Birlalamented that the House didn’t discusspeople’s issues. Rajya Sabha (productiv-ity of 28 per cent) Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu broke down, saying the sacrednessof the House had been tarnished. But hisbreakdown had a touch of irony to it.

Naidu probably forgot the argu-ments of his party colleagues when theUPA was in power (the winter session of2010 was the worst, with the RS produc-tivity at a mere two per cent and the LSat six per cent). Then Opposition leaderin the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj haddeclared: “Not allowing Parliament tofunction is also a form of democracy, likeany other.” Her Rajya Sabha counterpartArun Jaitley had also argued in favourof disruptions. Instead of shedding croc-odile tears, Naidu should have acted asa neutral umpire. It seems that both theSpeaker and the Chairman forgot the realpurpose of the ‘Temple Of Democracy’.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF ROADSSir — Most of the roads across our nationare potholed, and vehicles just dance inand out of these. You will find these dan-gerous potholes everywhere, looking likea Rangoli filled with patches of dirtywater. Due to monsoon, these potholesget filled with contaminated, stagnantwater which breeds mosquitoes andcauses various diseases.

These potholes act as natural speedbreakers but also have the potential ofcausing fatal or other serious accidents.Potholes slow down traffic and drivingin lower gears causes more fuel to be con-sumed, besides damaging the vehicle.

Again, all these problems wouldn’t havearisen if potholes weren’t there or werefilled up quickly by the authorities con-cerned.

Moreover, the bigger potholes caneven hold up traffic as it’s tough to judgethe depth of a waterlogged pothole dur-ing monsoon. Sometimes one may notbe able to even spot it. Therefore, peo-ple must drive slowly under such con-ditions so that it causes less damage tolife and limb, besides the vehicle. Irequest the Government and the author-ities concerned to check the condition ofthese roads and take necessary action.

Princy Carol Gonsalves | Goa

KUDOS TO KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARKSir — To outsmart the poachers, theKaziranga National Park has activated10 satellite phones in six ranges. Thismay be the first instance that any for-est department in India has thought of

installing satellite phones since thenetwork in forested areas is always poor.Assam has also seen a rise in its tigerpopulation, with the Manas NationalPark bagging the TX2 conservationexcellence award along with RoyalManas National Park, Bhutan.

The Kaziranga Park has also seenconsiderable increase in the number ofbig cats, from 83 in 2014 to 121. Withthe new satellite phone feature, we cannow hope that this number wouldshoot up soon, not only for the big catsbut also for other animals including thepride of Assam, the one-horned rhinoc-eros. The Kaziranga Park has outwittedthe devious minds at their own gameand I thank the authorities for the for-ward-looking initiative.

Noopur Baruah | Tezpur

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

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06

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The catalogue of the acts of omission of the United Nations, as well as

its predecessor the League of Nations, continues to be a legend

THE UN DIDN’TEVEN CONDEMN

CHINA'SUNPROVOKEDAGGRESSION

AGAINST INDIA INOCTOBER 1962,

LEAVE ALONE DOANYTHING ABOUT

IT. THE IRONY IS THAT THE

DICTATORIAL ANDCOMMUNIST

CHINA ENJOYS A PERMANENT

SEAT IN THESECURITY COUNCIL

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

The Supreme Court has shown seriousintent to rid politics of criminal elementsand, as an exemplary step, imposed

fines on various political parties for violat-ing the already passed orders which is sureto have an impact on the political atmos-phere. The court has now made the direc-tives more stringent. Within two days ofnomination of such candidates, the partymust publish their details on its official web-site, besides print and social media plat-forms. The whole idea is to ensure that peo-ple with criminal backgrounds do not mas-querade as party men and get elected to thelegislatures. In no case should the voter bekept in the dark about their past and ongo-

ing criminal cases. It is to be noted that allattempts to cleanse the political system ofcriminal elements were judicial and not leg-islative-driven. The judiciary has the powerto legislate when the legislature fails to doso, and it does not show the legislative sys-tem in good light. It is notable that politicalparties themselves are responsible for themalaise as they have failed in their duty tooust the criminals. Such facts have beenrevealed previously, too, and the NN VohraCommittee had in 1993 revealed the extentto which the political-criminal nexus hadgrown.

The court has also come down heavilyon the practice of withdrawing criminal casesagainst party men once their party comesto power. Now, the State Governments willnot be able to withdraw such cases withoutthe express permission of the High Courtconcerned. The HCs have also been told toreview all pending/cleared case withdrawalssince September 16, 2020, when the orig-inal directive was issued.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

SC gaze on ‘criminal’ politicians

Get veto power orbid adieu to UN

Prime Minister NarendraModi recently presidedover the UN SecurityCouncil meeting called by

India. However, the UN has beena non-achiever. For example, in1999, then UN Secretary GeneralKofi Annan suddenly flew intoDelhi to “mediate” in the KargilWar, only to be politely told by theVajpayee Government to mind hisown business and be gone. It isreported that this internationalbody employs 100,000 employees,from the senior-most to thejunior-most. If the average cost ofthese men and women is taken tobe $50,000 per head, it means anexpenditure of $5,000 millionannually. The organisation’s otherexpenses are separate.

The late American columnistCharles Krauthammer haddubbed the UN a “corrupt impos-tor, undeserving of any Americansupport”. Some others have evenmore pejoratively called it the‘Useless Nonexistent Organisation’.Entitled “A Table for Tyrants”, for-mer Czech President Vaclav Havelwrote an article in The New YorkTimes in May 2009, saying that hefelt scandalised when he saw theUN Human Rights Council filledwith members like Sudan,Zimbabwe, China and SaudiArabia, which have no humanrights.

Yet India continues to be anelephantine contributor to theUN peacekeeping contingents,and has sent nearly 200,000 peace-keepers to 44 missions over theyears. This is more than thenational armed forces of mostcountries. Indian forces workingfor the UN have suffered morecasualties than any other country’sarmed forces. Indian policymak-ers argue that this is being donenot for any strategic gain but in theservice of “global ideals” likestrengthening the world body,and international peace and secu-rity. The UN did not even con-demn a communist China’sunprovoked aggression against ademocratic India in October 1962,leave alone do anything about it.The irony is that the dictatorialand communist China enjoys apermanent seat in the SecurityCouncil while India, the world’slargest democracy, does not.

The only “service” the UNarguably performed was to pro-

SOUNDBITEWe have told theChairman…as 40-50 people werebrought from outside and womenMPs were manhandled.

Opposition leader in the RS— Mallikarjun Kharge

Our Government is determined totake action andwage an unceasing,constant and

persistent fight against crimeand violence in the Arab society.

Israel Prime Minister

— Naftali Bennett

Love shouldn’t be judged, loveshouldn’t berestrictive, loveshouldn’t be confined.

Actor— Shabana Azmi

Farmers are notgoing to fall in thetrap of the BJP. In2022, farmers willvote unitedlyagainst the BJP.

Samajwadi Party president— Akhilesh Yadav

(Ravindra) Jadeja is a main bowler,and he contributeswith the bat. Hehas not yet realised

his potential but is alreadymagnificent.

Former India batsman

— Virender Sehwag

So finally, who has emerged the vanquisher or the victim in the recently-conclud-ed display of one-upmanship within the hallowed portals of Parliament? To a non-partisan and dispassionate observer, it is difficult to cross her/his heart and pass

an honest opinion. For the divided polity of the ruling dispensation (which enjoys abrute majority in Parliament) and the raging members of the Opposition (which has

barely started bearing one another’s company andstarted speaking in the same voice), though, the ver-dict is crystal clear: Each one of them sees itself ashaving undisputedly emerged the victor in the eyesof the nation’s people. While one side chose to bla-tantly showcase and use the might of its numbers ineither House, often in a questionable manner, the otherside didn’t take it lying down and chose to “protestand dance” on the secretary-general’s table in the RajyaSabha, literally making a song and dance about theGovernment’s “mishandling” of the Opposition’sMembers of Parliament as well as of the situation.

The final result of the stalemate, which had been playing out in both the Housessince the monsoon session got underway on July 19, is among the poorest perfor-mance for a session: The Lok Sabha clocked a productivity of just 21 per cent andthe Rajya Sabha’s productivity was only a notch higher at 28 per cent. Both the LowerHouse and the Upper House may have been adjourned sine die (meeting ends withno scheduled day to get back together), the horse may have bolted, but the melo-dramatic saga continues. While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla lamented that the Housedidn’t discuss important issues related to the nation’s people, Rajya Sabha ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu went a step forward and, shedding a tear, said that the unrulyscenes had inflicted “incalculable damage to the dignity and stature” of the House.“I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts… I spent a sleep-less night,” he poured forth his pain and disappointment thus. Meanwhile, the Oppositionleaders, one after the other in a barrage, went hammer and tongs after the Government.So who is the winner, ultimately? The jury is still out on that one but one thing isclear: The biggest loser has been the electorate, the masses of India whose causeironically both the sides claimed to have been championing.

The report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not havecome at a more opportune time. The landslide on Wednesday that killed at least10 people in the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh, apart from injuring a few

dozen others, is startling evidence of the environmental dangers the report says awaitIndia in the coming years. The landslide crushed several vehicles and buried them undera huge pile of debris, blocking the highway for hours. The death toll would have beenhigher had not many people exited the vehicles and taken shelter under a rock forma-tion. This year, landslides have been more than a bane for Himachal Pradesh. In sixweeks till July 30, the State has seen 35 major landslides in many districts. Himachalexperienced a double disaster in terms of flash floods caused by cloudbursts as well— 11 such instances in recent weeks, that too in Lahaul-Spiti district which is a cold

desert. Not just Himachal Pradesh, but all hill Statesin India have had scant regard for environmental laws.The hills and mountain sides have been shaved ofthe natural green cover over decades of mindlessdeforestation and mining. The mountain regionecosystem, especially in Himachal, is quite fragile,according to scientists who say that poor and loosesoil, steep slopes and heavy rains during monsoonmake the region vulnerable to erosion.

Rocks and boulders do not have the advantageof a tight soil grip that loosens due to the felling oftrees and the topsoil rolls down into the rivers. The

key factor to stop landslides is to bolster the soil strata and that can only happen byplanting more shrubs and trees. Unscientific development is another factor that is respon-sible for landslides. Scientists at the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment andDevelopment in Kullu say that the Himalayan rocks are sedimentary, shaped by the flowof water over them for centuries. They are also fragile. When roads are cut through themountains, the upper portions can slide down automatically or the stones get loose enoughto fall any time. It is not just roads; building of dams and culverts, blasting of hills fortunnels or quarrying and deforestation also disturb the mountain ecology and cause acci-dents. Terrace farming, which has of late increased in the upper reaches of the State,and changes in cropping patterns that increase water usage are also factors. The entireHimalayan region is an unstable zone. The Government should conduct extensive stud-ies on the topography and its vulnerability and engineering measures needed to preventlandslides. Geological surveys are needed to mark zones of areas prone to landslidesand rock-falls. Such areas should be avoided while building new settlements. Dronetechnology could be used to constantly monitor the vulnerable mountain sections towarn motorists at the first indication of a rock-fall. Importantly, developmental worksthat cost the environment need to be discouraged and alternatives found.

Shadow of peril

WashoutThe monsoon session has seen poor conduct

and dismal performance from both the sides

PICTALK

Mads Pedersen raises his arms as he wins the second stage of the PostNord Danmark Rundt, Tour of Denmark PTI

The Himachal landslide is another reminder of the environmental dangers facing India

Commit India to buildnational health coverage

THERE WAS NO PARLIAMENT SESSION

THIS TIME AS THE VOICE OF 70 PER CENT OF

PEOPLE WAS CRUSHED, HUMILIATED.

— CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

IT’S UNFORTUNATE HOW THE CONGRESS AND

OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES ARE PROTESTING ON

THE ROAD. DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN SHAMED.

— BJP NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON

SAMBIT PATRA

After the Second World War, thewar-torn but victorious Britaindecided to build a system ofUniversal Health Coverage

(UHC). The country had suffered heav-ily in the war and realized the value ofmedical care and public health to savelives and protect health during the waryears. The war killed and maimed hun-dreds of thousands of people but themedical professionals had helped manymore to survive and get back to work.Disease, disability, and sickness wererampant in post-war Britain and hencethe nation decided to invest preciousresources of post-war era in developinga national health system - the famedNational Health Service (NHS) - to pro-vide universal health coverage.

India has also been a combatant inthe world war against COVID-19. As thesecond wave recedes, 400,000 people havedied and more than three crore wereaffected by official count. A recentnational sero-survey showed that 67 percent of the population was infected andhave antibodies. Those who sufferedCOVID disease may show delayed effects- the so-called long-COVID. The Indianeconomy too suffered a major setback. Alarge number of people in the formal andinformal sectors lost their jobs andmaybe in dire economics traits. Whilegovernments are providing relief, hard-ship continues for many families.

During the first, and more so in thesecond wave, Indian citizens and mediarecognized the importance of strength-ening public health, expanding medicalinfrastructure, and ensuring efficientdelivery of services. Several parts of thecountry ran out of beds, oxygen, vitalmedications, and medical and publichealth staff were grossly overworked. Thelack of anticipation and preparationreflected the weakness of our publichealth system which did not pick up theearly signals of virus mutation, high infec-tivity, and rapid spread. As India hasinvested only around one per cent of GDPin health for many years, public healthinfrastructure in India is very weak andinadequate even in normal non-pandem-ic times. With the pandemic, it was over-whelmed in no time -in spite of buildingtemporary hospitals. Despite stoppingalmost all other health service deliveryand dedicating available staff and beds toCOVID, it was extremely difficult to getassured of a bed and early admission toa well-equipped hospital, during April-May, in many cities. If India had invest-ed three per cent of GDP as governmentfunding for health, over the last 30 years,we would have been in a much betterposition to face this pandemic. Many livescould have been saved if our public healthcapacity was thrice the current size. If ourpublic health systems were stronger,transmission could have been containedmore effectively, limiting the number ofpatients who needed hospitalization.

If India had invested three per cent of GDP on health over the last 30 years, wewould have been in a much better position to face the COVID-19 pandemic

COMING OUT OFTHE SHOCK OF

THE SECONDWAVE, INDIA'S

POLITICIANS ANDPUBLIC SHOULD

BE READY TOINVEST IN AN

EFFICIENT AND WELL-RESOURCED

HEALTH SYSTEMTHAT WILL

PROTECT AGAINSTSUCH HEALTH

SHOCKS INFUTURE. IF AS A

NATION WEDECIDE TO GIVE

OURSELVESUNIVERSAL

HEALTHCOVERAGE, VIAOUR OWN TAX

MONEY, IT ISQUITE POSSIBLE

GIVEN INDIA'SRAPID ECONOMIC

GROWTH INRECENT YEARS

India got off to a spectacular start at the prestigious and powerful UnitedNations Security Council and achieved what many consider a diplo-matic victory of sorts over China. The Indian Prime minister’s first address

as chair, for an open debate on maritime security, managed to re-centerUnited Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) as the keydriver for managing all oceanic activities. China has for long managed tonegate the influence of UNCLOS with its aggressive militaristic actionsin the South China Sea. The world has been keeping a close eye on China’sillegal claim to many islands in the region while conducting exploitativefishing activities. The permanent court of arbitration setup under UNC-LOS had in 2016 termed China’s actions in the South China Sea as ille-gal. but failed to refrain the dragon to comply. Against this backdrop, India’sefforts to bring back the centrality of UNCLOS are being appreciated. Indiabegan working towards the document and the speech read by the PrimeMinister months in advance. Adopting a consensus-building approach,

the document was shared in advance with members of the UNSC andafter delays, China finally turned around and submitted to the primacyof the international agreement. While the permanent representative of Chinato the UN was absent during the deliberations attended by two prime min-isters, two presidents, and 10 ministers, his deputy was present.

China continues to use the UNCLOS agreement to criticize the UnitedStates, Japan, and Australia on a range of issues calling it political trick-ery of the United States in the garb of international law. Statements madeby the US on China accepting the SCS arbitration award has been ques-tioned as a threat to territorial sovereignty, maritime rights, and China’sinterest in the South China Sea. Efforts by countries such as Vietnam(one of the first signatories of UNCLOS) to hold a discussion on mar-itime security in the UN Security Council has been stalled by China. India’sother agenda at the UN Security Council meet was to highlight and bringterrorism to the center of global debate. The Security council acknowl-edged that terrorists could target critical infrastructure and public spacesspecially in the transportation sector including ports,maritime transport,and interconnect critical infrastructure which could bring the global econ-omy to a standstill. India with its 7500 kms of coastline has been at thereceiving end of sea route terrorists landing in the financial capital Mumbaiduring the 26/11 terror attack.Therefore, the security council’s call forenhanced international and regional cooperation on maritime security,prevention of terror activities, and appreciation of regional and individ-ual countries via information sharing is commendable. Finally, India’swell-crafted statement on promoting responsible maritime connectivityto boost trade can again be seen as the growing importance of the coun-try as a major maritime player. India mentioned that while developingany infrastructure it is important to pay attention to the fiscal sustain-ability and absorption capacity of the host countries for which appro-priate global standards and norms need to be developed. This was areference to China’s opaque debt trap aid through the Belt and RoadInitiative which has led to some beneficiary nations relinquishing theirrights to critical infrastructure projects developed in their countries withChinese money. The Indian Ocean is the major gateway accounting fornearly 75 per cent of the world’s maritime trade and half of global oilconsumption. Any threats to the free movement of ships on these oceansand unfair practices have an impact on the global economy.Therefore,regional trade relations based on internationally acceptable principles shouldbe the way forward.

(The writer is a policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.)

Severe price rise and plum-meting consumer confi-dence is rattling the mon-

etary policy management ofthe RBI.

Once again, the MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)finds the high petroleum taxesspurring prices of all com-modities and the inflationindex. A dissent note on theprice front has called for a cutin all taxes on petroleumproducts. The note says thatthe bank expects inflation totouch 5.7 percent in 2022against the present 5.1 percent.

The rising inflation shouldhave resulted in higher reporates but the central bank hasheld the rates back to 4 percent to help the government.Economically, it is not sup-posed to be a prudent decisionas it further restricts purchas-

ing power. This means theindustry may not find a con-ducive environment and thedemand side will remainweak.

The RBI ConsumerConfidence Survey for Julyreveals the weakness in thebargaining powers of theworking class and high pricesputting a squeeze on non-essential spending, a crucialfactor for socio-economicprogress.

The MPC fine print, how-ever, underlines worryingtrends like the threat of stagfla-tion, that is, low growth withhigh inflation. The MPCmight have retained the GDPforecast for 2020-21 at 9.5 percent but MPC members areseemingly more bearish intheir outlook than earlier. TheMPC has revised downward

the second, third, and fourthquarter projections because ofdemand-side projections.

An educationist observedthat the demand-side problemis even reflecting on the uni-versity admissions, particular-ly of private universities.Admissions are suffering at alllevels as parents have squeezedincome and little to spare. Thisindicates that a deep malaiseis setting in.

Inflation is the prime con-cern of the RBI, according toRBI deputy governor Michael

Patra. He says, "it is importantto bring that down". The cur-rent assessment is that theinflationary pressures during2021-22 are largely driven byadverse supply shocks. TheMPC says that there is a largeamount of slack in the econ-omy with output below its pre-pandemic level.

To support it, one mayrefer to the Purchasing PowerIndex that remains below thecritical threshold of 50, valuesabove which signify an expan-sion in activity, compared tolast month. The Nomura IndiaBusiness Resumption Indexhas also shown a marginal fallin the last fortnight. ANomura India economist haspointed to the dissent of anMPC member against theaccommodative policy ratestance.

The dissent note of RajKiran Rai G, chairman ofindustry lobby of IndianBanks Association (IBA) andhead of Union Bank of India,says: "RBI 'nudges' the govern-ments at the Centre and statesto cut the high indirect taxeson fuel products to bringdown the pressure on prices.It is pertinent to note thatwhile the decision of the mon-etary policy committee for acontinuance of the accom-modative stance was unani-mous in the June policy, it isnot so in this policy." Heunderlined the building ofthe price pressures.

That is vital. The growthremains uncertain. It fell to4.04 per cent in 2019-20 from6.53 per cent in 2018-19. In2020-21, it plummeted tominus 7.25 per cent and is

expected to grow by 9.5 percent. There are many doubtsthough.

The World Bank (WB)has slashed India's GDP fore-cast to 7.5 per cent, whichmay fall to 6.5 per cent in2023. It may not be off themark. The pandemic has dis-proportionately affectedlabour and the informal sec-tor. The output gap is predict-ed by the MPC though it isnot confident about thegrowth. In monetary policyterms, potential output isalso taken as the limit whichcan be reached without stok-ing inflation.

The MPC does not ruleout 5.7 per cent inflation in2021-22 fiscal. The consumerprice index is at a high at 6.16per cent. With income losses,it hits the demand to critical

levels. While bank lending isnot picking up, the growth ofbad loans spells trouble notonly for NBFCs but the wholeof Indian economy. If theirability to lend is curtailed dueto the surge in bad loans, con-sumption and demand wouldweaken further.

This might hit the bank-ing sector as the RBI finan-cial stability report estimatesbad loans to touch 9.8 percent by March 2022. It meanslenders may see bad loansrising by `1.3 lakh croreand outgo of `7000 to 9000crore as interest payment.

The RBI has given theprescription for the govern-ment to follow. If it followsthe steps to check inflationthe economy may spur elsemore difficult days await thenation.

If the Government follows RBI's steps to check inflation, the economy may grow or, else, more difficult days await the nation

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNTHE CONSENSUS ONMARITIME SECURITY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(Dr. Dileep MavalankarisDirector, Indian Institute

of Public Health,Gandhinagar and Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, President,Public Health Foundation

of India. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

MPC says stagflation looms large, cut taxes

SHIVAJI SARKAR

(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

KUMARDEEP BANERJEE

Now, as the second wave isending what can the new youngand dynamic health ministerMansukh Mandavia do to ensurethat the people of India never haveto face such a tragic situation inthe future? He has to work withthe Finance Minister and thePrime Minister to rapidly increasethe budget for health departmentover next 2-5 years. He also has towork with State governments toprod them to increase their healthbudgets so that the total spend inIndia on health from the publicsector goes to three per cent ofGDP. The priority should be toexpand primary care substantial-ly and ensure secondary care to all,at little or no cost.

An unspoken dimension ofthe COVID-19 pandemic is thehuge financial cost borne by cit-izens who had to go to privatehospitals. Anecdotal stories arehorrendous - in many cities, pri-vate sector ICUs charged ? 1 lakhper day and many COVIDpatients needed 10-15 days in ICUincluding the use of ventilators.Even without any sophisticatedtreatment, many hospitals billed?20-40,000 per day by adding up avariety of charges and jacking upprices. A very small proportion ofIndians can afford these kinds ofcharges, as they do not have anyinsurance. In many States, thePMJAY scheme did not providecoverage for COVID care. Manyprivate insurance schemesalsodid not provide cashless service.Hence many people suffered greatfinancial hardship in the covidpandemic. Many families losttheir life savings or are in deep

debt due to COVID treatmentcosts. This would not have hap-pened if we had universal healthcoverage. PMJAY is a good initia-tive to move us on the road toUHC, but it has still many limi-tations. It does not cover out-patient care and cost of medicine.It is disconnected from primarycare. The lack of well-equipped-high-quality hospitals in manytier-2 and tier-3 cities hampersaccreditation by PMJAY.

Coming out of the shock ofthe second wave, India’s politi-cians and the public should beready to invest in an efficient andwell-resourced health systemthat will protect against suchhealth shocks in the future. If asa nation we decide to give our-selves UHC, via our own taxmoney, it is quite possible givenIndia’s rapid economic growth inrecent years. The Central govern-ment can provide the frame-work by extending the reach,coverage, depth, quality, and costprotection offered by the twocomponents of AyushmannBharat programme. Both Centraland state governments shouldincrease their funding for healthand join efforts to create a single-payer system. Segments of thepopulation that are not present-ly covered by government pro-grammes, because of higherincomes, should be encouragedto join the pool through income-graded premiums till a trulyuniversal programme emerges.Such premiums will work out tobe much cheaper than the cur-rent private sector insurancepremiums.

We need to ensure that a sickperson never has to pay the med-ical bills when he is sick. Citizenspay direct and indirect taxes,which entitles them to essentialhealth services. The governmenthas to be the guarantor of healthservice delivery, even if it is not thesole provider. The additional twoper cent of GDP, provided viaUHC mandate, will need to gofirst to expand the governmentinfrastructure at primary and sec-ondary levels. As per need andavailability, private providers maybe contracted at a pre-determinedbulk discounted price for medicalcare. A strong public sector willnot only ensure greater equity atall levels of care but also, withgood governance, set cost andquality standards for the privatesector to match.

We also have to substantiallystrengthen the public health andpreventive care system. This canbe done via new national andstate-level public health cadres.Strong public health will alsoreduce the need for curative carehence decreasing the cost ofUHC. Such a UHC system willnot only improve the health of thenation but increase the productiv-ity of the people. It will also cre-ate jobs for women and youngmen in the expanded architectureof public health and health care.So UHC is not only a health mea-sure it is an overall economic andwelfare measure.The Indian peo-ple desire it and they deserve it.Post pandemic is the right timefor such bold measures whichPrime Minister Narendra Modi isknown for.

DILEEPMAVALANKAR

K. SRINATHREDDY

India's efforts at the UNSC meeting to bring backthe centrality of UNCLOS are being appreciated

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Drug firm Natco Pharmaon Thursday reported a38.57 per cent decline in

its consolidated net profit atRs 75 crore for the quarterended June 2021. Thecompany had posted a netprofit of Rs 122.1 crore forthe corresponding period ofthe previous fiscal, NatcoPharma said in regulatoryfiling. Consolidated totalincome of the company stood at Rs 427.3 crore for the quarterunder consideration. It was Rs 582.1 crore for the same period ayear ago, it added. "The degrowth in sales can be partially attributedto the higher proportion of initial phase of pandemic exports to theUSA in Chloroquine Phosphate tablets and Oseltamivir Phosphatecapsules in the revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2020,"Natco Pharma said. The company has strong product launches bothin export markets and domestic India business during the currentfinancial year and expects to have good growth, it added.

Amazon India on Thursdayannounced the expansion ofits fulfilment network in Tamil

Nadu by almost doubling thestorage capacity this year. Thefulfilment infrastructure to offerstorage space of close to 4.4million cubic feet to sellers in theState. The e-commerce giant launched a new fulfilment centre (FC)and a specialised FC for large appliances and furniture inCoimbatore. The company would also 'quadruple' its storagecapacity at an existing Centre in Chennai, a company statementsaid. Chief Minister M K Stalin formally inaugurated the fulfilmentcentre in the presence of Industry Minister Thangam Thennarasu,company Vice-President (Customer Fulfilment Operations) andSupply Chain, Prakash Dutta, among others. In Tamil Nadu,Amazon India would have six fulfilment centres and double itsstorage capacity with close to 4.4 million cubic feet spread across acarpet area of more than one million square foot.

Amazon almost doublesstorage capacity in TN

Italian superbike maker Ducati onThursday said it has launchedXDiavel Dark and the XDiavel Black

Star models in India priced at Rs 18lakh and Rs 22.6 lakh (ex-showroom),respectively. Back in 2016, thecompany had entered the cruisersegment with the XDiavel range."TheXDiavel range was the result of ourefforts to bring two universes together. We wanted to build a bikethat offered the comfort of the cruiser and the performance of asport-focused bike. XDiavel has wowed and attracted a massivefollowing all over the world and offers a wholesome ridingexperience in an incredibly attractive looking package," Ducati IndiaManaging Director Bipul Chandra said in a statement. The XDiavelBlack Star and XDiavel Dark are finally here as India has a bigcommunity of riders who love cruisers, and the company is surethey will appreciate a cruiser which serves a unique flavor ofcomfort and pure, unadulterated performance, he added.

Ducati launches 2 models in India at Rs 18L, Rs 22L

Sugar mills have exported 5.11million tonnes of the sweetenerso far in the ongoing 2020-21

marketing year ending September,with maximum shipments toIndonesia, trade body AISTA said onThursday. About 2,02,521 tonnes ofsugar is under loading. An additional6,78,237 tonne of sugar is in transit for delivery to port-basedrefineries, it said.Mills have contracted to export the entire 6 milliontonne sugar quota assigned by the food ministry in January thisyear, AISTA said in a statement.An additional 8,00,000 tonnes ofsugar has been contracted under the OGL route without subsidysupport. The sugar marketing year runs from October toSeptember. According to AISTA, mills have exported a total of 5.11million tonnes of sugar from January 1 till August 5, 2021.Of thetotal exports undertaken so far, maximum exports have beenundertaken to Indonesia at 1.69 million tonnes so far this year,followed by Afghanistan at 6,23,967 tonnes and the UAE at4,60,816 tonnes and Sri Lanka at 3,78,280 tonnes.

Sugar exports touch 5.11 mntonnes so far this year: AISTA

Natco Pharma Q1 net profitdeclines 39 pc to Rs 75 cr

PNS n NEW DELHI

India cannot become the nextfactory of the world by copy-ing China, Niti Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant said onThursday, and stressed that thecountry needs to get into sun-rise areas of growth if it wantsto be a global leader.

Addressing a virtualevent organised byindustry body CII,Kant said India'sprivate sector hasto set ambitioustargets for itselfand focus ongreen hydrogen,high-end batteries,advanced solar pan-els to become compet-itive.

"India cannot become thenext factory of the world bycopying China...We havealways got into sunset areas ofgrowth, this is the time to getinto sunrise areas of growth,"he said.

According to Kant, Indiashould not get into areas whereChina is already a leader.

"India hasthe strongestglobal compa-

nies in ther e n e w a b l e

sector...these (hydro-gen, high end batteries,

advanced solar panels) areareas of technology of growth,if you want to be a globalleader," he noted.

The Niti Aayog CEO saidIndian Industry needs to striveto become lean, digital andinvest in skills, steep increasein corporate R&D & cuttingedge product innovations to be

competitive."The new technology has to

be shared, connected and elec-tric," he said.

Noting that disruptioncaused by COVID-19 pan-demic must be used by the pri-vate sector to become global-ly competitive,Kant said, "Theworld is moving towards greentechnology. The old technolo-gy will die, the green technol-ogy is the future."

He said India is looking atinnovative projects for reduc-ing costs in green energy pro-jects.

India cannot become next factoryof world by copying China: Kant

This photo provided by the Japan Coast Guard shows a vessel that has split into two and leakedoil off Hachinohe, northeastern Japan - AP

PNS n NEW DELHI

Passenger vehicle wholesales inIndia rose significantly year-on-year in July, as COVID-ledrestrictions eased across statesand companies pushed stocksto dealers to build up invento-ries for the upcoming festiveseason, SIAM said onThursday.

The total passenger vehiclesales -- including dispatches ofcars, utility vehicles and vans -- from OEMs to dealershipsincreased by 45 per cent to2,64,442 units in July against1,82,779 units in the samemonth last year.

According to the latest databy the Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers

(SIAM), two-wheeler dispatch-es from the OEMs to dealer-ships, however, declined by 2

per cent to 12,53,937 units inJuly, compared to 12,81,354units in the year-ago period.

Motorcycle sales were at8,37,096 units last month asagainst 8,88,520 units in July

2020, down 6 per cent.Scooter dispatches, however,

increased 10 per cent to3,66,292 units from 3,34,288units.

Similarly, three-wheelerwholesales surged 41 per centto 17,888 units last month asagainst 12,728 units a yearago.

The total sales across cate-gories, excluding commercialvehicles, stood at 15,36,269units compared to 14,76,861units in July last year.

SIAM Director GeneralRajesh Menon noted that thedomestic auto industry contin-ues to face heavy headwinds inthe form of global semi-con-ductor shortages and a steeprise in commodity prices.

"On one hand, the industryis managing such supply chainchallenges while ensuring thesafety of its people, and on theother hand, the industry is alsokeeping a close eye on the onsetof the third wave in India andacross the world.

“Amidst such a challengingand uncertain business envi-ronment, the industry is tryingto maximise production andsales," he stated.

However, sales during Aprilto July 2021 for the passengervehicle segment are still lowerthan the level of 2016-17; forthe two-wheeler segment, stilllower than the level of 2010-11;and the three-wheeler segmenthas been pushed back by manyyears, Menon noted.

Passenger vehicle wholesales rose 45% up to July: SIAM

PNS n MUMBAI

Budget carrier SpiceJet onThursday said its passengerscan now book cabs for airporttransfer during their flight,using the airline's in-flightentertainment platformSpiceScreen.

In the first phase, the newservice will be available to pas-sengers arriving at the Delhiairport, starting August 12.The airline will further extendthe service to all major air-ports, including Mumbai,

Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa,Chennai, Kolkata,Ahmedabad and Pune in aphased-manner.

This first-of-its-kind ini-tiative in the domestic aviationindustry would help the pas-sengers avoid any waiting fortheir transport, post-arrival atthe cab transfer area, the air-line said.

Once a passenger books acab on SpiceScreen, they willget the cab booking OTP mes-sage via SMS, WhatsApp andautomated inbound call con-

firmation on their mobilephone on arrival. It will alsoallow customers the flexibili-ty to pay via any paymentoptions (online or cash) at theend of the journey, it added.

SpiceJet launchedSpiceScreen, a complimenta-ry in-flight entertainment sys-tem in August last year, whichis can be accessed on any ofthe passengers' handhelddevices, including a smart-phone, tablet or laptop, bysimply connecting to theonboard wireless network.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold in the national capitalon Thursday rallied Rs 422 toRs 45,560 per 10 gram amidgain in global precious metalprices, according to HDFCSecurities.

In the previous trade, theprecious metal had closed atRs 45,138 per 10 gram.

Silver also gained Rs 113 toRs 61,314 per kilogram fromRs 61,201 per kilogram in theprevious trade.

In the international mar-ket, gold was trading withgains at USD 1,756 per ounceand silver was flat at USD23.44 per ounce.

"Gold prices witnessedrecovery on softer dollar andfall in US treasury yields,"according to HDFCSecurities, Senior Analyst(Commodities), Tapan Patel.

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexsurged 318 points to end at itsnew lifetime high on Thursday,tracking gains in ICICI Bank,L&T and Tech Mahindra.

The 30-share index ended318.05 points or 0.58 per centhigher at its all-time peak of54,843.98. The broader NSENifty advanced 82.15 points or0.26 per cent to record16,325.15.

PowerGrid was the topgainer in the Sensex pack, ral-lying over 6 per cent, followedby Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech,Titan, L&T, NTPC and ICICIBank.

On the other hand, DrReddy's, IndusInd Bank,Reliance Industries and AxisBank were among the lag-gards. "Domestic equitiesrecovered sharply mainly ledby sharp rebound in IT and

PSU banks. Additionally,strong buying was seen inmidcap and smallcap stockstoday after persistent selling forlast couple of days," said BinodModi, Head - Strategy atReliance Securities.

IT stocks remained in focus

and investors continue to lap-up quality IT names as sus-tained double-digit revenuegrowth visibility backed bystrong deal wins offer comfort,he noted. Elsewhere in Asia,bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul ended

with losses.Equities in Europe were

largely trading on a positivenote in mid-session deals.Meanwhile, international oilbenchmark Brent crude rose0.17 per cent to USD 71.56 perbarrel.

Sensex, Nifty soar to fresh highs

PNS n NEW DELHI

Retail inflation eased to 5.59per cent in July mainly due tosoftening food prices, accord-ing to official data released onThursday.

The Consumer Price Index(CPI) based inflation was 6.26per cent in June and 6.73 percent in July 2020. According tothe data released by theNational Statistical Office(NSO), inflation in the foodbasket slowed down to 3.96per cent in July from 5.15 percent in the previous month.Earlier this month, the RBI

projected the CPI inflation at5.7 per cent during 2021-22 -- 5.9 per cent in the secondquarter, 5.3 per cent in third,and 5.8 per cent in the fourthquarter of the fiscal, with risksbroadly balanced. CPI infla-tion for Q1:2022-23 is project-ed at 5.1 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India,which has been mandated bythe government to keep theretail inflation at 4 per centwith 2 per cent margin oneither side, mainly factors inthe CPI-based inflation whiledeciding its bi-monthly mon-etary policy.

Retail inflation easesto 5 per cent in July

PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm Cipla on Thursdaysaid it has received approvalfrom the US health regulatorto market DifluprednateOphthalmic Emulsion, usedin the treatment of inflamma-tion and pain associated withocular surgery, in theAmerican market.

The company has receivedfinal approval from the USFood and Drug Administrati on(USFDA) to market its productwhich is a generic version ofNovartis PharmaceuticalCorporation's Durezol, Ciplasaid in a statement.

The product is also usedfor the treatment of endoge-nous anterior uveitis.According to IQVIA (IMSHealth), Durezol had USsales of around USD 106million for the 12-monthperiod ending June 2021.

The product will be avail-able for shipping soon, theMumbai-based drug majorsaid. Shares of Cipla weretrading 0.29 per cent up at Rs912.90 apiece on the BSE.

Cipla getsUSFDA nod forgeneric product

Gold ralliesRs 422; silvergains Rs 113

SpiceJet passengers cannow book cabs during flight

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Coal India onThursday said its e-auctionallocation stood at 35.5 milliontonnes (MT) during April-July2021 under five auction cate-gories, registering a sharp 28.6per cent increase over thesame period a year ago.

Its e-auction allocation was27.6 MT in the correspondingfour months of the 2020-21 fis-cal. Coal India Ltd's (CIL)actual e-auction net sales wereworth over Rs 4,700 crore dur-ing the first quarter of theongoing fiscal, posting a jumpof 87 per cent year-on-year.

The sale volume was 30.2MT in the June quarter this fis-cal as against 15.9 MT in thesame period last year when the

pandemic slowed down thesales, it said in a statement.With international coal pricesspiraling upwards with no signsof let up, consumer preferencefor domestic coal is seeminglygaining ground, it said.

The effect of ascending costof coal sourced from overseaswas evidenced in the country'scoal importers booking 70 percent of the total quantity of 2.4MT offered to them undertheir special spot e-auctionduring April-July. The add-onover the notified price underthis category was 52 per cent.

Interestingly, for the monthof July almost all the quantityof 1.6 MT offered to coalimporters under exclusive spe-cial e-auction window wasbooked.

CIL's e-auction allocationup 29% in Apr-Jul this yr

PNS n HYDERABAD

ADP India donated ICUequipment to NilouferHospital in Hyderabad. Thecompany has taken the initia-tive to augment the availabil-ity of ICU beds and equip-ment for the hospital to gearup for the possible third waveof coronavirus.

ADP is supporting the 10-bed ICU ward, along with allthe required equipment tomake it fully operational.The company said it has con-tributed cardiac monitors,ventilators, beds, ECGmachines, BiPAP machines,defibrillators, equipment forthe hospital's nursing sta-tion, air conditioning, laryn-goscopes and ICU syringepumps among others.

"Through this collabora-tion, ADP India aims to helpthe authorities enhance thehealth infrastructure toensure sufficiency of medicalcare regardless of the circum-stances," said Dr Vipul Singh,divisional vice-president,ADP India.

Ramesh Reddy, DirectorMedical Education, said,"This hospital not only treatschildren from Telangana butalso from AP, Karnataka, andnearby States.”

ADP donatesmedical equipment to Niloufer Hospital

TD Power Systems Q1 profit at Rs 10 crPNS n NEW DELHI

TD Power Systems onThursday posted a consolidat-ed net profit of Rs 10.38 crorefor June quarter mainly due tohigher revenues.

The company had a loss ofRs 9.80 crore in April-June2020-21, a BSE filing said.

Total revenue in the quar-

ter rose to Rs 165.41 crorefrom Rs 75.99 crore in thesame period a year ago.

Considering the presentliquidity position of the groupand its ability to raise funds ifrequired, the managementdoes not foresee any adverseimpact of the pandemic on itsability to continue as goingconcern and in meeting its lia-

bilities as and when they falldue, it said.

The impact assessment ofCOVID-19 is a continuingprocess given the uncertain-ties associated with its natureas well as duration, and themanagement will continue tomonitor any events/ changesto future economic condi-tions.

ollywoodcelebrityMira Kapoorsays sheturned toyoga because

she realised that yogahelps her listen to

her body andmakes her feelconnected and in

tune with herself. “My yoga jour-

ney picked upafter I became amom. It helpedme in ways thatmade me realisethat yoga is

morethanjustweightloss. Ithelped

me strengthen myself,become flexible and moremindful. My go to yogaroutine involves hipmobility and flexibilityflows that includes asanaslike Halasana andSarvangasana,” Kapoor,who is also a partner atSARVA and a yoga enthu-siast said.

Kapoor is part of theyoga-based wellnessbrand’s ‘Achieve’, a collab-orative platform wherevarious celebrity yogaenthusiasts join handswith the brand to creategoal-based workshopsaimed at achieving sus-tainable fitness outcomesin an engaging, encourag-ing and interactive way.

“Collaborating withSARVA on ‘Achieve’, shar-

ing the tips and tricks thatworked for me with alarger audience is anopportunity I want tomake the most of. Wehave solutions for peoplelike you and me. Realbodies with real problemsand real solutions.”

Asked why she recom-mends post-partum yoga,Kapoor shares: “Postpregnancy, my back pain(that everyone said wouldgo after my deliveries),never really left me. Itried all sorts of remediesand routines. I realisedwhat I needed was to ‘behealthy, feel healthy’ fromwithin, this was morethan just weight loss forme, and I decided to turnto yoga.

“Yoga cured me of my

chronic back pain, sortedmy gut issues and evenhelped with regularisingmy hormones. Yoga hasworked wonders for me,hence I would recom-mend everyone to

include yoga in their dailyroutine.”

Does she involve herhusband Shahid Kapoorand their two children init, too? “Well, I try to asmuch as I can, over theweekends, but we all havedifferent schedules andgoals!”

She had recently postedglimpses from a yoga ses-sion with her mother andgrandmother. Askedabout her takeaways fromtheir yoga practices, shesays: “I think my firsttakeaway is that womenof all ages must continueto practice yoga.Intensities can vary butthe important thing to dois be consistent. That’s mybiggest takeaway.”

Sarvesh Shashi,

Founder, SARVA, says,“There is a renewed inter-est in people wanting tolive healthy and fit. Theopportunity to train withcelebrities with their owntried and tested methodsof fitness is a particularlyunique motivation forthose who want that extrapush to start back ontheir fitness journeys oreven to motivate them-selves to do more for theirhealth. This is where weare aiming to make a pos-itive impact through‘Achieve’. We have collab-orated with celebritieswho have used the powerof yoga to transform andmanage their own healthand fitness. They will nowshare their personal yogajourneys. favourite rou-tines, and techniques withthe audience. Anythingthat will get people offtheir arduous workschedules and dedicatesome time for them-selves.”

9

what’s brewing?Vijayawada | Friday August 13, 2021

Rules

ARCHIE

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REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

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NANCY

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

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

Love shouldn’t be ‘judged, restrictive,

confined’, says Shabana Azmihabana Azmi isover the moonas her short filmSheer Qormahas been select-

ed for a screening at theIndian Film Festival ofMelbourne 2021 (IFFM).

Talking about the movie,the veteran actress sayslove shouldn’t be judged,restrictive and confined.

Shabana said, “Loveshouldn’t be judged, loveshouldn’t be restrictive,love shouldn’t be confined.Sheer Qorma is one suchtender story of the free-dom to choose who welove.”

“We are extremelyhappy to see our labour oflove transcending acrossborders and getting recog-nition at a globally cele-brated platform like IndianFilm Festival ofMelbourne. In thesegloomy times, this hascome as a ray of happinessand hope,” added theactress.

Directed by Faraz ArifAnsari, Sheer Qorma is a

story of belonging andacceptance, identity andfamily, and how it comestogether under one roof, asresilient, queer Muslimwomen and non-binarycharacters of colour,choose to embrace lovethat exists beyond theirpersonal beliefs and socialmoralities.

The film also stars DivyaDutta and Swara Bhasker.Divya calls it a “big deal”for Sheer Qorma to beselected at the Indian FilmFestival of Melbourne.

“Sheer Qorma deservesall the accolades and lovethat it has been rightfullygetting because it deservesonly the best platforms

and I am excited that theAustralian audiences willget to see our powerfulstory of love and accep-tance on the big screen inMelbourne,” Divya said.

Swara shared that she is“super excited” that SheerQorma will have anAustralian premiere.

“This is such an honourfor I feel Sheer Qorma is afilm that needs to be plat-formed well and celebratedacross the globe for itchampions a story of loveand acceptance that shouldreach out to most audi-ences across the world forit is such a universal tale ofour times,” Swara said.

Director Faraz ArifAnsari chipped in andexpressed his excitement.

“I am also thrilled thatMasterchef Australia’sfinalist KishwarChowdhury will be pre-senting the film inMelbourne... I am mostcertain that Sheer Qorma isgoing to win many heartsin Melbourne!” Ansariconcluded.

upermodel ElenaFernandes willbe seen in hernext Bollywoodmovie with themuch-hyped and

anticipated Ek VillainReturns! The film has DishaPatani, Aditya Roy Kapoor,Tara Sutaria, JohnAbraham, and ArjunKapoor alongside Elena.The project is helmed byMohit Suri. Ek Villain wasone of the biggest hits andmuch is expected of thesequel as well. Elena hasburned the gram with hersizzling pictures and wecan’t wait to see her in thesequel. Let’s just hear it outfrom her, “It’s very exciting.I am honored to be working

with such a great team.Ek Villain is a remem-bered movie and peo-ple have loved it sothe anticipation ishuge for the next. I can’t thank my co-actors and my directorenough. It’s not only funbut a huge learningcurve for me! I havebutterflies in my stom-ach before I shootevery day. I am lov-ing it. I requesteveryone to staywithin protocolsand get vaccinat-ed soon. Let’swin this againstthe virus as wecan’t afford tolose.”

Yoga helps me listen tomy body: Mira Kapoor

AB, Emraan Hashmi-strarrerChehre to release on August 27

hehre, starringAmitabh Bachchanand EmraanHashmi, will arrivein cinema hallsworldwide on

August 27, the producersannounced on Thursday.

The mystery thriller isdirected by Rumy Jafry, andbacked by Anand PanditMotion Pictures and SaraswatiEntertainment Private

Limited.Chehre was earlier sched-

uled to be released in July2020 but was pushed due tothe coronavirus pandemic. Itwas later set to bow out onApril 30 but was again post-poned in the wake of the sec-ond wave of Covid-19.

The team had taken greatefforts and we always thoughtthat Chehre deserved a the-atrical release. We want the

magnanimity of the film to beshowcased in the right wayand hence are excited to final-ly reach the audience throughthe cinema screens, Panditsaid in a statement. Theatresin most parts of the countryincluding Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab,Haryana, Gujarat, AndhraPradesh and Telangana haveresumed operations.Maharashtra and few otherstates are yet to receive con-sent for the reopening of the-atres. Jafry said the filmdeserves a theatrical releaseand he is thrilled it is finallyarriving in movie halls.

“We are excited that ourfilm is getting a theatricalrelease because the way it isshot and the efforts we havetaken in terms of the produc-tion and post-production canonly be experienced in thecinema halls. Also, I assurethe audience that it will bebeyond satisfaction to watchAmitabh ji and Emraantogether on the big screen forthe first time,” Jafry said.

Chehre also stars AnnuKapoor, Krystle D’Souza,Drithiman Chakroborthy,Raghubir Yadav, SiddhanthKapoor, Rhea Chakraborty.

s

b s

Elena Fernandeswill be next seen inEk Villain Returns

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SHIKHA DUGGAL

odcasts continue to growin popularity and it does-n’t look like it will slowdown anytime soon. Withendless content optionsand ease of consumption,

the storytelling in the form of pod-casts is one such platform that is themost ideal these days. If it’s a fic-tional story, podcasts are a great wayto reach your idyllic audiences.Previously known as audioblogging,it has its roots dating back to the1980s. With the advent of broad-band internet access and portabledigital audio playback devices suchas the iPod, podcasting began tocatch wind in 2004.

Writer and podcaster, Preeti Shahis a storyteller who believes inexploring different mediums whilecreating an engaging connectionwith readers and listeners throughrealism. “The connection between apodcaster and their audience is verydifferent as compared to othermediums. It’s a much closer connec-tion because it makes the listenersfeel that they and the speaker areboth in the same space. In my pod-cast series, the stories I have createdare set in contemporary scenariosthat are relatable to the listeners. Irealised that the stories resonatedwith people when they emailed ormessaged me on Instagram. I havehad numerous occasions where peo-ple not only in India but in coun-tries like Germany, Denmark,France, US, etc., have written to meabout being in a similar situationand how they dealt with it them-selves. As a storyteller, it is extreme-ly humbling when people tell youthat their real life is mirroring yourfiction,” shares founder and chiefstoryteller of the podcast – Abruptlywith Preeti! Podcasting in Indiabegan around 2005 when Appleupdated iTunes to support podcasts,and Abhishek Kumar and AdityaMhatre started Indicast. Before youjump right in and press record,come up with a concept and defineyour theme or the niche. Popularpodcasts topics include everythingfrom news and crime to businessand fiction. Preeti’s fiction podcastfeatures short stories, narratedunder five minutes for listeners. The

podcast’s first season, The StruggleSeries, showcased stories of peopletrying to come to terms with situa-tions in their lives while simultane-ously dealing with the pandemic-enforced lockdown. Hubhopper,Aawaz.com, O2Pod Collective,Saavn, and Audiomatic are someindigenous podcasting platformsused by creators and listeners.

“If you have a story to tell you’llfind listeners. Just go and narrate

your piece from your heart, thesame way you’ll tell anyone in per-son. The good thing about the pod-casting world is that there are nobarriers to access! The only prereq-uisite is good content and knowing

who would like to consume it. Withtime, you can pick up the technicali-ties as well as the nuances of themedium. If you look at the arrival of‘Clubhouse’, it has unquestionablygiven a boost to consumption ofaudio based platforms. However,podcasts have been growing in pop-ularity in India for a while now.And, the past two years has seen aboom in the number of both —podcasts creators and podcast listen-

ers. It has been during this periodthat we have had audio originals ondifferent streaming platforms as wellas known faces taking a plunge intothe world of podcasting.”

As a storyteller, Preeti is also the

creator of the 100StoriesOfShe, anonline series of micro-stories aboutone single character, revealed overhundred days. Her main drivingforce is to be able to share herinscription with people, irrespectiveof the medium. As someone whoconsumes podcasts, she noticed thatthere were hardly any English story-telling podcasts for an Indian audi-ence with Indian settings. In a worldof time constraints, she wanted tomake storytelling accessible by cre-ating micro-pods. Now storieschange over time, also when itcomes to reaching affluent con-sumers, especially in 2021, all ofthem recognise the benefits ofaudio! She mentions, “Though, Ihave noticed that a large part of myIndian audience tends to be youngerpeople while on the other hand,audiences from other countries tendto be across several age brackets. In2020, the pandemic enforced manychanges in our lives. And, whileissues related to the marginalisedsections of society or people infect-ed with the virus were highlighted,little was spoken about the day-to-day challenges that the lockdownhad introduced in our existence.While I was presenting fiction, Iwanted to bring to the fore somestories and issues that people weredealing with like a ghost amid thelockdown. And then, there wasanother series in which I was keento explore how conventionally goodpeople can make seemingly greychoices, all driven by desperation.The intent was never to present theright or wrong but life as it is, andthe likely scenarios and mindsetsthat compel people to act in waysthat they probably wouldn’t haveimagined ever doing themselves.”

Today there are more than115,000 English-language podcastsavailable on the internet. Infact,Spotify-owned ‘Anchor’, a podcast-making platform, added more than25,000 podcasts from India in 2020.According to the Media andEntertainment Outlook 2020 reportby PricewaterhouseCoopers, Indiahas emerged as the third-largestpodcast-listening market in theworld after China and the US, with57.6 million monthly listeners. Thisshows that the medium has foundits loyal listener fan base now, pro-viding some exponential growth too.

RACHEL DAMMALA

laa Mari IkaRaavameaning‘won’t youcome back’,is a song

about reliving thebeautiful moments inthe past, time andagain, to cherish themall. Presented byAditya Music, thesong by a trio offriends VenkateshVuppula, SumanthBorra, and Faraz Fazalhas been climbingcharts and how!Produced by SandeepKumar Gaddee,Abhilash Reddy, andSumanth Borra, thesong struck a chordwith audiences remi-niscing their beloved,wishing they could goback in time.

Asked what madethem create a songlike that, Sumanthsays, “As an engineer-ing student, I alwayswondered if we couldreally travel back intime. If we did, whatcould its consequencesbe, and if things canget better, if it werepossible at all. So themain build up of thesong hooks with theselines as ‘samayam ven-naki velluna, vellethelokam chalula, chaltheveluvva unduna - elaamari ika raava.”

“I’ve been intomusic right from mychildhood and wasinvolved in variousuniversity-level com-petitions. VenkateshVuppala was mysenior in the LovelyProfessionalUniversity and helpedme get out of my com-fort zone and genre ofmusic. We met timeand again and bondedwell during the lock-down and contributedto the song Elaa MariIka Raava. Later wegot signed by southIndia’s biggest music

label Aditya Music,something we neversaw coming. Theresponse has beenamazing, we’re sooncoming up with manymore musical feasts toour Telugu audiencein multiple genres,music is a never-end-ing story for us,”shares an elatedSumanth Borra, whois also a software pro-fessional.

Venkatesh Vuppulahas written, com-posed, arranged,mixed, mastered, andproduced the track.Sharing his experi-ence, he says, “I com-pose, produce, rap,perform and writesongs. I was seven-eight years old whenmy love for musicbegan. I have wan-dered here and therein different profes-sions figuring outwhat I like and what Iwant to do. And itfinally came to a pointwhere I realised musicis my jam and I wantto do it full time tillthe last breath I take.”

Faraz Fazal, aknown face, is a soft-ware engineer wholoves and lives music.It was his passion thatmade him a profes-sional through hisjourney of coveringseveral songs and gar-nering fans.

Asked how the songcame to be, Vekateshtells us, “I have writ-ten the song and com-posed it back in 2018but waited for the per-fect moment to makeit captivating andreachable to a wideraudience. Thanks toAditya Music for mak-ing it happen.”

The group tells usthat the song was sup-posed to release backin February 2021, buttime froze due to thesecond wave of theCovid pandemic.“Several people fromour own team had

fallen prey to thedeadly virus. Butthanks to God, every-one is now doing welltoday and is extremelythrilled about theresponse the song hasreceived. It was a jour-ney with ups anddowns but post therelease, the responses,wishes, and love wereceived made us for-get all that we foughtto get here today,” thetrio shares.

Taking us throughthe process of song-writing and compos-ing, Venkatesh shares,“I was pretty muchstubborn to portraythis song a perfect mixof western and Indianmusic. It’s not just me,our entire team sharedthe same thoughtprocess. It took awhile to make it hap-pen though! Once themusic composing andsong structure weredesigned, the rest ofthe process was alldone online justthrough a WhatsAppcall. Faraz and I wereon call, discussing thevocal parts, andSumanth and I dis-cussed the rap part!And today, here weare with the completesong that has multipleflavours.

On a concludingnote, they tell us abouttheir future projects:“We are ready with awhole bunch of songswith our signaturestyle and of course,Sumanth’s melodicvoice going with it.You might see a newcollaboration, whoknows what’s thefuture holds. Onething we’re sure of isthat we will keep thecrowd entertainedwith the new stylewe’re bringing to theindustry! We have sev-eral singles coming uptoo, keep loving andsupporting good con-tent, and artists likeus.”

City boystake you on a

time travel

TIME FORAUDIOBINGEING

hailand MedicalNews, a promi-nent globalmedical plat-form and its sis-ter company

Northern Thai Herbs ismaking its foray into Indiaby initially collaboratingwith a variety of religiousorganisations to distributefree herbal therapeutic teasto the poor and those inneed. It is in talks to includethe Sri Sathya Sai CentralTrust-Anantapur, ShriSaibaba Sansthan Trust-Shirdi, MataAmritanandamayiFoundations, Iskon India,Bhrama Kumari ShivaniFoundation and variousprominent temples through-out India including theSabarimala Temple in Keralaand also Buddhist templesand monasteries inBodhgaya-Patna andKushinagar-Uttar Pradesh.The free therapeutic teasproject is being funded bywealthy donors from aroundthe world including coun-tries like Singapore, Canada,Australia, UK and USA.

The special herbal thera-peutic teas are not substi-tutes for any standard med-ical treatment protocols norany Covid-19 vaccines.Rather, the teas have beenfound to be perfect adju-vants to standard treatmentprotocols and also for thosethat are pending vaccina-

tion.Northern Thai Herbs Ltd

is not making any medicalclaims about the teas butevery herb and phytochemi-cal compound used in theteas have supporting studiespublished in a variety ofcredible medical publicationpublications and a variety ofsafety studies have alreadybeen completed along withnumerous observationalclinical trials across theworld including Colombia,Brazil, Iran and even in theUnited States in Florida.

The teas are made notonly from Thai herbs butalso a variety of organicherbs sourced from around

the world and also containextracted active phytochem-icals that have been nano-encapsulated via nanotech-nology into nanospheresthat are added back into theherbs so that these criticalphytochemicals do not getdamaged by the gastric acidsand enzymes and are prop-erly absorbed into thebloodstream.

Often many phytochemi-cals in various therapeuticpreparations are basicallydestroyed in the stomacheven before they can activatetheir therapeutic properties.An interesting feature of thenanospheres is that somehave delayed breakdown

times, ensuring that some ofthe antiviral phytochemicalsare constantly in the blood-stream, hence serving asprophylaxis.The teas have aperfect form factor as a ther-apeutic product as the sim-ple addition of hot water tothe teas not only releases theactive phytochemicals onthe spot but the heat fromthe teas also help especiallywhen respiratory issues areinvolved and are unliketablets, capsules or suspen-sions, etc. Initially at least 6million sets of the teas areexpected to be distributed inIndia. Although the teas arenow produced in Thailand,Vietnam, Poland and

Australia, prospective col-laborators are being sourcedto also have productiondone in India with anexchange of know-howincluding formulation andproduction techniques.

The free teas are unliketraditional therapies or someof the untested Ayush prod-ucts being flogged in Indiaas literally every ingredienthas been tested against theSARS-CoV-2 virus andaudited in the treatment ofvarious conditions associat-ed with Covid-19 disease.Thailand Medical News isalso planning to set up anIndian medical site calledIndia Medical News and alsoan online medical andhealth directory called IndiaMedical Directory for thosesourcing of Indian medicalsuppliers including medicaldevices, drugs and pharma-ceuticals, medical equip-ment and also hospitals anddoctors.

The platform will have itsown team to audit any prod-uct or service before havingit listed on its site to ensurethat only credible and reli-able suppliers with a trackrecord of proper manufac-turing or product or servicequality are included.

p

e

T The new healing-tea

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

PTI n NEW DELHI

A54-member Indian teamfor the upcoming Tokyo

Paralympics was on Thursdayaccorded a warm send-off bySports Minister Anurag Thakurand the national governingbody, with high hopes that thecountry will return with its bestever performance.

The team has some of thebrightest medal prospects likeDevendra Jhajharia, seekinghis third Paralympics gold(after 2004 and 2016) in F-46javelin throw, MariyappanThangavelu (T-63 high jump)and world champion SandeepChoudhary (F-64 javelinthrow).

India will compete in ninesports.

Mariyappan, who had wona gold in the last edition in Rio,will be the flag bearer of theIndian contingent during theopening ceremony on August24. The Tokyo Paralympicswill end on September 5.

The Tokyo-bound playerswere part of the event virtual-ly as they are in strict bio-bub-ble.

“The ambition and self-confidence of our para athletesgive inspiration to 1.3 billionIndians. In front of theircourage, the biggest of chal-lenges bow. And they deserveevery bit of it,” Thakur said ina video message.

“The number of our paraathletes participating in theupcoming Games is three timesbigger than the last edition. Ihave full faith in your abilities.I believe that your perfor-mance too will be better thanlast time.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

India women’s cricket teamfielding coach Abhay Sharma,

who was praised by the playersfor his work on the UK tour, hasnot entered the bio-bubble inBengaluru ahead of theAustralia tour and is set to bereplaced alongside trainerNaresh Ramdas. Sharma, whois among the support staff at theNational Cricket Academy, didnot enter the Indian team’s bio-bubble on Tuesday evening,surprising even the players.

From the UK tour, formerIndia opener SS Das hasretained his position as battingcoach while head coachRamesh Powar takes care of thebowling department. “Thenames of new fielding coachand trainer will be approvedshortly,” a BCCI official toldPTI. The UK tour was Sharma’ssecond assignment with thewomen’s team, having workedwith the players in a homeseries against South Africa.

PTI n NEW DELHI

An “individual with the rightcredentials” is set to eval-

uate the performance of theIndian shooting federation’sexecutives, which will formpart of a three-way reviewprompted by the shooters’ hor-ror run at the Tokyo Olympics.

The three-part review isalready underway, an insider inthe National Rifle Associationof India (NRAI) told PTI onthe condition of anonymity.

For the second successivetime, the Indian shooting team

returned from the Olympicsempty-handed, belying a bil-lion hopes after promising todeliver like never before.

Instead of stepping up theirperformance in Tokyo, the 15-

strong squad crumbled underthe mighty Olympic pressure.

“A review is already under-way and it is being held in threeparts. First the athletes, then thecoaches and support and thatwill be followed by the execu-tives of the national federation,”he said on Thursday.

Asked if NRAI presidentRaninder Singh will also beassessed, sources respondedin the positive and pointed outthat the federation chief him-self was open to the idea, hav-ing spoken on similar lines dur-ing the Games in Tokyo.

PTI n SYDNEY

Australia head coach Justin langer wasreportedly involved in a confrontation

with a Cricket Australia staffer over a videoposted on the board’s website, showing theBangladesh players celebrating their maid-en series win against the tourists last week.

According to ‘The Sydney MorningHerald’, Langer and Australia team man-ager Gavin Dovey “became animated” inrelation to a video added to thecricket.com.au website, after the thirdmatch, which Bangladesh won, taking a 3-0 lead in the recently concluded five-matchTwenty20 series.

The hosts won the five-match T20I

series 4-1.The matter was initially raised by

Dovey with the Cricket Australia digitalstaffer but when the latter stood hisground, the matter escalated and Langersubsequently confronted the staff member

shortly afterwards.“Dovey had argued that it was inap-

propriate for the Bangladesh team song tobe posted on a CA-operated website,” thereport said.

“...the incidents were witnessed by atleast a dozen people and left some players taken aback and with a sense ofunease about what had transpired,” it added.

While Langer refrained from com-menting on the issue, Dovey said: “Ahealthy team environment includes theability to have honest and frank discus-sions, whether it be between players, sup-port staff or others within the team envi-ronment, which was the case here.”

AP n BELFAST, NORTHERNIRELAND

Thomas Tuchel made thebold call, and Kepa

Arrizabalaga made the bigsaves. Brought on as a substi-tute with seconds remaining inextra time, Kepa kept out twospot kicks as Chelsea beatVillarreal 6-5 in a penaltyshootout to win the UEFASuper Cup on Wednesday.

Tuchel, the Chelsea manag-er, has been informed by histeam of statisticians that Kepahas a better record at savingpenalties than first-choice goal-keeper Edouard Mendy, so thesubstitution was made in the119th minute of a match thatended 1-1 after extra time.

Kepa had already saved apenalty from Aissa Mandiwhen he dived low to his rightagain and parried out RaulAlbiol’s attempt in what provedto be the final kick of theshootout at Windsor Park inNorthern Ireland.

As Chelsea’s players sprint-ed from the halfway line to cel-ebrate with Kepa, one of the

first to reach him was Mendy.“It’s fantastic how Edu

accepts it,” Tuchel said. “ Weneeded to do what’s best for theteam. ... There is proof thatKepa is better in this discipline.”

Less than 10 weeks afterChelsea’s 1-0 win overManchester City in theChampions League final inPorto, Cesar Azpilicueta wasagain lifting a European trophyto the backdrop of fireworks

and tickertape.Among the players cele-

brating on the podium behindhim was Hakim Ziyech, whohad his right arm in a sling aftera suspected dislocated shoulderin the 40th minute — 13 min-utes after putting Chelsea intothe lead by converting a crossfrom Kai Havertz.

That was canceled out byGerard Moreno in the 73rd forthe Spain international’s record

83rd goal for Villarreal —breaking the record he sharedwith US-born former Italystriker Giuseppe Rossi. Morenoexchanged a one-two withBoulaye Dia before lifting hisshot over Mendy and into thetop corner. Villarreal was play-ing in the Super Cup as theEuropa League champion, atournament it won by beatingManchester United in a penal-ty shootout. On that occasion,every one of its players convert-ed their penalties in theshootout before goalkeeperGerónimo Rulli saved fromopposite number David DeGea to seal an 11-10 win.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga celebrates with teammates after the penaltyshootout of the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Chelsea and Villarreal atWindsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday AP

Zurich: Italy and Argentinahave risen to fifth and sixthrespectively in the FIFAWorld Ranking followingtheir triumphs at Euro 2020and the Copa America, whileBelgium remain in top spot.

The Azzurri, who defeat-ed England on penalties inthe European Championshipfinal at Wembley last month,climbed two places to fifth.

Argentina moved up twospots to sixth after winningthe Copa America finalagainst Brazil, who movedinto second place andbumped world championsFrance into third.

Belgium, who wereknocked out by Italy at thequarter-final stage of theEuros, remain the top-rankedinternational team in theworld, while defeated finalistsEngland stay fourth.

The United States movedup 10 places into 10th placeafter winning the CONCA-CAF Gold Cup, whileMexico, who they defeated inthe final, climbed two placesinto ninth. Qatar were thebiggest movers, ascending16 places to reach 42nd spotafter reaching the semi-finalsof the Gold Cup, equallingtheir highest-ever ranking.

The next ranking updatewill be published onSeptember 16. Agencies

PTI n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) TheWrestling Federation of India

(WFI) on Thursday said it will con-sider feedback from Tokyo Gamesmedallists Bajrang Punia and RaviDahiya before deciding theircoaching staff in the new Olympiccycle but will not accept any inter-ference of NGOs like JSW andOGQ in the name of support toathletes.

Bajrang was trained byGeorgia’s Shako Bentinidis whileRavi had Russia’s Kamal Malikovas his personal coach. DeepakPunia also had a Russian coach inMurad Gaidarov, whose serviceswere terminated by the WFI whenhe assaulted a referee during theTokyo Games.

All the coaches had their con-tracts till the Tokyo Olympics andthe fresh ones will be finalised ina few days after WFI sits with thewrestlers, who are now busy withfelicitations.

“Bajrang has a medal working

with Shako Bentinidis. We will sitwith him and listen to his viewabout his game. If he wants to con-tinue (with Shako), we will consid-er that,” WFI President BrijBhushan Sharan Singh told PTI.

It is understood that bothBajrang and Shako want to contin-ue their partnership. The Georgianis already at Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) centre in Bahalgarh(Sonepat).

The federation is also happy

with the way Malikov has managedRavi so far and would not mindcontinuing with the arrangement.

However, what WFI is peevedat is the way non-profit sportsNGOs like Olympic Gold Quest(OGQ) and JSW are “spoiling thewrestlers.”

“The WFI and the Indian gov-ernment is capable of supportingall its athletes. JSW and OGQ don’tneed to come from ‘chor darwaja’(back door) and spoil our wrestlers.I urge them that they leave ourwrestlers and Indian wrestlingalone,” Brij Bhushan said.

“We are not happy with theway they are interfering. If theywant to help the wrestlers, they arewelcome but let them work at thegrassroots level. It’s the Cadets whoneed support.

“They pick only establishedwrestlers and leave them when theresults are not there. The govern-ment is spending crores of rupeeson their coaching and travel andthese people give a physio and startmaking tall claims,” he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The World Boxing Council (WBC)has announced the formation of

its India committee in collaborationwith the Indian Boxing Council.

The committee aims to offer a“pathway for domestic champi-onship success for aspiring profes-sional boxers throughout theregion and afford Indian fight-ers more significant globalopportunities, using the WBCIndia as a platform for devel-opment, progression, andinclusion”.

In addition, theWBC will put emphasison boxer safety and imple-ment a ranking system forboth male and female boxers.

“I am immensely proud to bear wit-ness to new horizons for boxing in India.The WBC recognizes the rich heritage ofthis proud sporting nation, where we havealready witnessed several Indian boxerscrowned with WBC and WBC affiliatedchampionships over the past number ofyears,” said WCB president Mauricio in astatement.

Commenting on the announcement,Indian Boxing Council (IBC) presidentBrigadier PK Muralidharan Raja said,“Indian boxers have worked hard andstarted to make waves on the profession-al boxing circuit in recent years. TheWBC India Championships will proveto be a decisive step in the right direc-

tion.“I look forward to working

with WBC India Co-chairpersonsMr. Kevin Noone, Ms. Oksana

Semenishina, and the entireWBC India committee togrow the sport in the coun-try.”

The inaugural WBCIndia championship contest is

scheduled to take place on the upcom-ing LZ Boxing promotion.

LZ president Parm Goroya said,“Being the first-ever WBC IndiaChampionship promoter on Indian soil isa privilege and a vindication of not giv-ing up on India and my vision.

“I send my deep appreciation toWBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, theIBC, the Indian boxers, and their teamsas we look to expand the Indian boxingmarket.”

AP n LONDON

English cricket leaders are“very confident” the

upcoming Ashes series will goahead as planned despite ongo-ing negotiations over Covid-related travel restrictions.

England’s players are con-cerned about the possibility offamilies being unable to jointhem on the trip givenAustralia’s tight border con-trols, as well as prospect oflengthy quarantines andrestrictive bubble environ-ments. Talks involving theProfessional Cricketers’Association have been ongo-ing for some time and whileTom Harrison, chief executiveof the England and WalesCricket Board, acknowledgedon Thursday there are plentyof complications before a finalgreen light could be given, hesuggested the necessaryexemptions would be attained.

“All the right conversationsare happening at governmentlevel in Australia, and we will

be using our own diplomaticchannels in the UK to ensurethat the view of the players andthe ECB (is heard),” Harrisonsaid at Lord’s during the secondtest between England andIndia. “This is not players ask-ing for anything unreasonable,these are very reasonablerequests that we are asking theAustralian government to givesome leniency, frankly.

“It’s going to beimportant for us toensure that we can givecomfort to players thattheir families are going tobe able to be in Australiaand that those conditionsin which they are quar-antined will be reason-able, enabling the play-ers to be at their best inthat test series,” he con-tinued. “It’s a conversationthat’s going to take placeover the next few weeks, butI am very confident we willget to a place where we canfulfill our obligations to tour.”

Harrison has played

down speculation the Ashescould be postponed by a yearto allow England fans toattend. He also cannot seeEngland players sitting outthe tour if loved ones werenot permitted to travel.

“The Ashes is so impor-tant to global cricket, muchlike an England-India series,but even more so in certainparts of the world and for

global cricket fans,” he said.“We never want to compro-mise the integrity of theseries for any reason. CricketAustralia understand this,just as well as we do.

“The issue at the momentis the process that we needto go through to get the

assurances that we need tobe comfortable, that our

players can get on the planeto Australia and feel confidentthat they can be at their bestand they can perform at theirbest, without having to copewith the mental weight ofbeing massively concernedabout the conditions.”

2nd Test. Day 2Live from 3:30pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

English cricket leaders confidentabout Ashes going ahead

Indian women’scricket team fieldingcoach, trainer set to be replaced

Langer in heated confrontation with CA staffer over Bangladesh video: Report

54-member Indian teamfor Tokyo Paralympicsaccorded warm send-off

World Boxing Council announcesformation of India committee

Italy and Argentinaclimb FIFA WorldRanking aftertrophy triumphs

Kepa helps Chelsea win UEFA Super Cup on penalties

WFI to listen wrestlers’ view on foreign coaches’fresh contracts, says no private NGO interference

NRAI executives to be assessed, 3-part review underwayTOKYO DEBACLE

IANS n LORD’S

England captain Joe Root’smove to put India into bat

after winning the toss on theopening day of the secondTest failed for three reasons.

There wasn’t as much life inthe pitch as a greenish top sug-gested -- it did not, for instance,seam with any great alarm; theEnglish bowlers failed to bowllate outswing from off andmiddle stumps with the newball; and last but not the least,brilliant batting by RohitSharma and KL Rahul.

Rahul, after a pensive start,accelerated appreciably. Hisfirst boundary was a straight sixoff Moeen Ali. He then pro-ceeded to register his secondthree-figure knock in England— both as an opener.

Root’s decision was defen-sive and possibly premeditated.He banked on James Andersondelivering the goods in heavy,overcast conditions. But Root’slack of confidence in his non-performing batsmen against apotent Indian attack was per-haps as much a reason for opt-ing to field.

Injury preventedAnderson’s age-old partnerStuart Broad from playing in

the match. Thisbrought in MarkWood, who isconsistently thefastest bowler oneither side, butdepends less onmovement in theair or off thewicket.

O l l i eRobinson, suc-cessful in the first test atNottingham with his disci-plined line and length, wasunable to tempt the Indiansinto error.

Sam Curran, who wasintroduced as first change, didswing the ball, but lacked paceand was feasted upon bySharma once he got going. Hehooked Wood for a six to fineleg. In the 100-run partnershipbetween Sharma and Rahul,the former’s share of runs was75.

But an overseas centurycontinues to elude Sharma,who fell for 83, bowled byAnderson off his pads. It willnot be surprising, though, if hemakes amends in this series, forhe is at present in sublimetouch, playing with time tospare — the hallmark of a qual-ity batsman.

London (UK): India openingbatters Rohit Sharma and KLRahul registered a 126-runopening stand against Englandon the opening day of theongoing second Test here at theLord’s Cricket Ground onThursday.

This is the first time thatIndia’s opening batters have puton more than 100 runs in a Testplayed outside Asia since 2011.This is also the highest first-innings opening partnershipfor India at Lord’s since 1952.

Rohit was not able to get tothe three-figure mark as he wassent back to the pavilion byEngland pacer JamesAnderson. After tea break,India’s score is 274/3 withRahul (125*) and AjinkyaRahane (1*) unbeaten at thecrease.

After the lunch break,Rohit and Rahul continuedfrom where they left andbrought up the 100-run open-ing stand in the 33rd over of theinnings. Rohit was the aggres-sor of the two and was march-ing ahead to another century inthe longest format.

However, he was not ableto register a century as he wassent back to the pavilion byJames Anderson in the 44thover and this brought an end tothe 126-run opening partner-ship. Rohit got out after scor-ing 83 runs. This broughtCheteshwar Pujara (9) to the

middle and he once againfailed to get going and was dis-missed by Anderson. In theend, Kohli and Rahul ensuredthat India entered the tea breakwith eight wickets in hand.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma andKL Rahul brought out their A-game to the middle as the vis-

itors went into the lunch breakwithout losing a single wicket.At the lunch break, India’sscore read 46/0 with Rohit(35*) and Rahul (10*) unbeat-en at the crease.

The first session saw fewinterruptions due to rain andonly 18.4 overs were bowled in

the session. Earlier, Joe Root-ledEngland won the toss and optedto bowl and the home teamskipper made no bones aboutthe fact that he wanted to makeuse of the overcast conditions toput pressure on India. But Rohitand Rahul ensured India has asolid foundation.

India’s first outside Asia since 2011

India’s Virat Kohli takes a single run off the bowling of England’s Moeen Ali during the 2nd cricket test between England andIndia at Lord’s cricket ground in London, on Thursday AP

Why Root’s decisionto insert India failed

Rohit, Rahul register over 100-run opening stand

udhir Babu andAnandi-starrer SrideviSoda Center, directedby Palasa 1978 fameKaruna Kumar, is allset to hit big screens

on August 27. Produced by VijayChilla and Shashi Devireddyunder the banner of 70 mm, thefilm is already in the news for itsspecial song releases recently.

The first look of the film andthe introduction teaser got anamazing response from movie

lovers and industry sources.Lyrics by SirivennelaSitaramashastri and tunes bymusic maestro Manisharma isthe icing on the cake for the film.Shreekar Prasad is the editor ofthe film and Shyam Dutt is theCinematographer.

Naresh, Raghubabu,Ajay, Satya Rajesh,HarshavardhanSaptagiri, will beseen playing somekey roles in the film.

outh star Adivi Sesh onThursday said the finalschedule of his multilin-gual feature Major, basedon the life of 2008Mumbai terror attackmartyr Major Sandeep

Unnikrishnan, has begun.The Sashi Kiran-directed biopic is

inspired by the life of MajorUnnikrishnan, the NSG commando,who saved several hostages duringthe 26/11 attack at the Taj MahalHotel in Mumbai and sacrificed hislife for the nation.

In a social media post, the 35-year-old-actor shared the updateregarding the shooting schedule.“FINAL schedule begins. Eager tobring this to you. In theaters only.Only when it’s safe. For ALL audi-ences from Kashmir to

Kanyakumari. Our 75thIndependence Day is almosthere. A film based on theLife of #MajorSandeepUnnikrishnan (sic),” hewrote, along with a picture ofhim from the film.

The makers are most likely tofinish the shoot by month-end.Major also stars SobhitaDhulipala, Saiee Manjrekar,Prakash Raj, Revathi, and MuraliSharma.

It has been produced by SonyPictures Films India in associa-tion with Mahesh Babu’s GMBEntertainment and A+S Movies.

The film, which is slated to bereleased this year, has been shotin Hindi and Telugu simultane-ously and will later be dubbed intoMalayalam.

12

Vijayawada Friday August 13, 2021

llari Naresh, who is riding high on the success of Naandi, officiallylaunched his next film Sabhaku Namaskaram on Thursday. The actor’sdaughter Ayana clapped the board while Naandi director helmed the

first shot. Sabhaku Namaskaram is being directed by Satish Mallampati andproduced by SM Koneru. Chota K Naidu is the DoP of the film.

A

riti Sanon is having a golden run in the Indian film industry with several filmslined up in Bollywood and Tollywood. The actress feels no pressure andinstead is motivated and would not want it any other way.

Kriti’s latest release on Netflix Mimi opened to a positive response frommovie lovers and critics alike. She has her diaries full as her line-up includesHum Do Humare Do, Bachchan Pandey, Bhediya and Adipurush.

With so much riding on Kriti, does it get pressuring? Pat camethe reply: “No, there is no pressure. I feel excited, motivated,and thrilled because this is what I wanted to do. This iswhere I wanted to be and when I have reachedwhere I have these kinds of opportunities in frontof me,” added the actress, who appeared inForbes India’s Celebrity 100 list of 2019.

The 31-year-old is happy with the kind ofwork coming her way.

“I am doing films which are not similar in anygenre or flavour at all. I am getting to play somany different kinds of characters, getting towork with such amazing directors and storiesthat I would want to be a part of. I don’t thinkthere is anything more that you can ask as anactor and in a stage where you are getting yourdue and appreciation you crave as an actor,” shesaid.

Kirti added: “All the love and validation is the onlything we get in return. Once that starts pouring youfeel more satisfied, and motivated. I am thrilled andenjoying this beautiful phase and I am looking forwardto each and every film I have done.”

KRITI SANONON DOINGMULTIPLEPROJECTSTOGETHERK

Soung actorBellamkondaSreenivas hassigned a newfilm titledStuartpuram

Donga. Set in the 1970s,the upcoming film is basedon the life of TigerNageswara Rao, a notori-ous thief of Stuartpuram.The actor made theannouncement of his nexton his social media han-dles releasing the first lookposter of the filmStuartpuram Donga. Theposter shows a streamtrain emitting smoke thatpasses through the villagenamed Stuartpuram. Theregular shoot ofBellamkonda Sai Sreenivasstarrer Stuartpuram Dongais expected to commencevery soon.

The upcoming dramawill be helmed by KS, aprotégé of VV Vinayak,and the movie marks thecomeback of actor’ fatherBellamkonda Suresh tofilm production after agap. The music composerMani Sharma has beenroped in to render thetune.

Shyam K Naidu willhandle the cinematographydepartment whereas ASPrakash is the art director.Very soon the officialannouncement regardingthe details of the rest of thecast and crew will bemade.

Meanwhile,Bellamkonda is currentlyworking for a Hindi film,which is the remake ofTelugu blockbuster dramaChatrapati in which

Prabhas essayed the leadrole under the direc-

tion of Rajamouli.The remake isdirected by VV

Vinayak, and isbacked by Dhaval

Gada and AksshayGada.

oung actor NikhilSiddharth andAnupamaParameswaranwho teamed for anew film 18 Pagesstarted their dub-

bing for the film onThursday. Nikhil took it tosocial media announcingthat he has started dubbingfor the film. Sharing picturesfrom the dubbing studio, hecaptioned it saying“#18Pages Dubbing Startsoff good to be back in theStudio... Movie Getting

Ready.'”Bankrolled by Bunny Vas,

Allu Aravind, and Sukumarunder GA2 Pictures in asso-ciation with SukumarWritings, the film will markthe first time collaborationof Nikhil and Palnati SuryaPrathap and it’s tipped to bea romantic entertainer witha smattering of humour.

Gopi Sundar has com-posed the music for the filmwith A Vasanth takingcharge of cinematographyand Navin Nooli is the film’seditor.

rt has no lan-guage. This iswhat our verytalented actorVijay Sethupathisays whenever

he is asked a question onlanguage barriers in acting.The actor has already madehis debut in Tollywood withUppena, and gained lovefrom Telugu households.

According to the latestbuzz in the film industry,Vijay Sethupathi is going tolock horns with NandamuriBalakrishna in an upcomingyet-to-be-titled project,which will be helmed byGopichand Malineni.

The reports are comingthat the director GopichandMalineni has approachedVijay Sethupathi to playBalakrishna’s villain in his

soon-to-be commencedTelugu film.

The director GopichandMalineni has penned a pow-erful script for the actorbased on true incidents, justlike his previous films.Noted production houseMythri Movie Makers isbankrolling the Telugu pro-ject. Music composerThaman S has been broughton the board for the project.

Tamil actress Varalakshmiis also a part of this yet-unti-tled film of Balakrishna.Vijay Sethupathi has donenegative roles in very fewmovies, including superstarRajinikanth-starrer Pettaand Vijay-starrer Master.

On the other side, he iscurrently in Mumbai for theshoot of his web series withRaj and DK.

Vijay Sethupathiin Balayya film

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AAdivi Sesh shoots thefinal schedule of Major

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Sridevi Soda Center intheatres on August 27

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Nikhil starts dubbing for 18 Pages

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