K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Telangana Assembly SpeakerPocharam Srinivas Reddy hassuggested that all those seekingto enter Assembly and Councilpremises must undergo Covid-19 tests before the commence-ment of the session. He saidthat Ministers, MLAs, MLCs,officials, Assembly staff, policeand media persons, amongothers, must not enter theAssembly and Council premis-es if they test positive or havefever, cough and cold.

Pocharam was speaking tomedia persons after a meetingwith the Legislative AffairsMinister, Chief Secretary andother officials, including police,on Friday at the AssemblyCommittee Hall.

Pocharam said that theHouse would run for 20 to 21days. According to him, thismonsoon session is being heldunder special conditions andthe authorities are taking all

steps to ensure that it is held ina trouble-free manner. Covid-19 rules being implemented by

Parliament would be replicat-ed for the state Legislature.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday urged womenpolice personnel to engagewomen in Jammu andKashmir to prevent youth fromtaking to terrorism at an earlystage itself.

Virtually addressing IPSprobationers at the SardarVallabhbhai Patel NationalPolice Academy here, Modialso said the 'humane' side ofthe police force in the countryhas come to fore during thecoronavirus pandemic.

Responding to a womanprobationer, Modi heapedpraises on the people of theunion territory, saying theywere "lovely" people.

"I am very connected tothese people. They treat you

with so much love...we have tostop those who take the wrongpath. Women can do that.

Our women personnel can

use mothers (in J&K)..if wedo that in the initial stagesitself, it will be very useful," hesaid.

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The differing approaches of theChief Ministers of TeluguStates has just spilled over to anew area: implementing DBTas required by the Centre in thename of power sector reforms.

Jagan recently approved theCentre's diktat with regard toimplementing Direct BenefitTransfer (DBT) for supply offree power to farmers and gotthe measure passed in the cab-inet meeting held two days ago.He did this despite the fact thatin June the Andhra Pradeshhad opposed the Centre'spower sector reforms andwrote a letter, saying "it'sagainst the Federal spirit of theConstitution".

Jagan's sudden U-turn overDBT for supply of free power tofarmers has come as a bigshock to Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Sources said on Friday KCRdiscussed at length the impli-

cations of AP's decision onpower sector reforms withministers and officials, butcategorically stated that thiswould not influence his deci-sion not to implement DBT forsupply of free power to farm-ers in Telangana.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the Centre has ques-

tionably linked power sectorreforms to States' entitlementto enhanced FRBM limits forsecuring additional loans.

In May this year, the Centreraised FRBM limit of Statesfrom 3% to 5% of GSDP, witha rider that States, in order toavail of it, need to implementreforms in the power sector,

public distribution system andULBs (urban local bodies).The power sector reformsmandate States to implementDBT for free power to agricul-ture sector.

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

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

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BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 326*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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‘Fintech the wayforward for Indianbanking, paymentsystem’

5

Man travels 1,200km on scooter totake wife to examcentre in MP

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Covid-19: Building a betterIndian city

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

said today. "We have received a meeting request. A meeting is likely," thesources said. Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghi is believed tohave asked for the meeting on the sidelines of a ShanghaiCooperation Organization (SCO) meet in the Russian capital. TheChinese side reached out to the Indian mission for the meeting,said sources. Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in atense border row in eastern Ladakh since May. In June 20Indian soldiers died in a clash with Chinese troops atGalwan Valley.

RAJNATH SINGH LIKELY TO MEETCHINESE DEFENCE MINISTER IN MOSCOW

7 US COPS SUSPENDED FOR BLACK MAN'SDEATH; VIDEO SHOWS HE WAS HOODED

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

the middle of next year, stressing the importance ofrigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety."Weare not expecting to see widespread vaccination untilthe middle of next year," spokeswoman MargaretHarris told journalists at a briefing in Geneva. "Thisphase 3 must take longer because we need tosee how truly protective the vaccine is and wealso need to see how safe it is," she addedreferring to vaccine clinical trials.

WIDESPREAD COVID VACCINATION NOTEXPECTED UNTIL MIDDLE OF 2021: WHO

Seven police officers have been suspended after the release of a video fromMarch showing a hood being placed on the head of a Black man in police

custody who later died, roiling the nation and leading to finger-pointing amonglocal officials. On Thursday, amid mounting questions about why it took fivemonths for the circumstances of Daniel Prude's death to become public, thegraphic video with Prude's last words went viral, onceagain forcing Americans to ask whether tactics used bypolice are too extreme. With protests and outrage buildinghere and nationwide, the city's mayor apologized Thursdayand rebuked the city's police chief, who she claimed didnot disclose to her the circumstances of Prude's death.

There has been a major force build-up of Chinese tanks and infantry forcesin the South Pangong region of Eastern Ladakh after the Indian Army

seized the initiative and gained control of several key heights in the area onAugust 30. Given the range of their guns,Chinese artillery would be located in'depth' positions, more than twentykilometres away from the Line of ActualControl. Source said that the presence ofadditional tank forces has been detectednot too far from Chinese positions inMoldo in South Pangong.

INFANTRY BUILD-UP IN SOUTHPANGONG AS STANDOFF INTENSIFIES

Jagan's U-turn shocks KCR,not to implement DBT in TS

‘Humane’ side of police cameto fore during pandemic: Modi

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi interacting with the IPS Probationersduring Dikshant Parade at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National PoliceAcademy, through video conferencing, in New Delhi on Friday

Covid test report must forlegislators to enter Housen Speaker issues dos and don'ts for session under ‘special conditions'

PNS n HYDERABAD

It is one thing to crow aboutrecovery rates and quiteanother to deal effectivelywith critical cases. For, morethan 10 per cent of criticalCovid-19 cases i.e. patientsneeding oxygen or ventilatorsupport or treatment in ICU inthe country are fromTelangana.

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

the cases admitted in ICU oron ventilator support are fromTelangana.

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

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

HC: How come 9 Covid deaths daily?INKESHAF AHMEDn HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Court onFriday termed the report sub-mitted by the state governmenton the steps initiated by it tocontain the spread of Covid-19virus and treatment of theaffected patients as "incompleteand confusing".

A division bench of the HCexpressed suspicion over thenumber of Covid-19 deathsbeing disclosed by the stategovernment in its media bul-letins. Citing the spurt in thenumber of Covid-19 positivecases in recent times, the HC

pointed out that the state gov-ernment was only showing 8 to10 deaths every day.

The division bench of theHigh Court warned of sum-moning the Chief Secretary of

the state if such wrong reportsare submitted before it. TheCourt directed the state gov-ernment to submit a reportrevealing the details of thefunds allocated for the Public

Health Department beforeMarch 23, 2020 and after theentry of COVID-19 in thestate. It also directed the stateto submit district and state-wise action plans framed underthe Disaster Management Act.

The division bench alsomade it clear that there was nocomparison between the fig-ures given out by the state gov-ernment and the figures pub-lished by media organisations.It expressed its displeasure atthe state government for notsubmitting district-wise fig-ures of the Covid-19 virusdespite its orders.

Activists in Hyderabad cry foul as people eat catsNAMRATA SRIVASTAVAn HYDERABAD

Even as the Centre is seized ofa plea to ban trading in dog andcat meat (see inset),

animal rights activists inHyderabad have come acrossseveral cases people catchingcats and eating them. PanneeruTeja, an animal welfare activist,shares that he recently rescueda cat from the clutches of agroup of people. Teja says, "Ireceived a call from a volunteer,saying two men inDommaiguda captured andsealed a cat in a bag with no ven-tilator. They came on a scooty

with no number plate. We some-how managed to rescue it andalso filed an FIR against the men

in Jawaharnagar Police Station,Rachakonda."

JEE, NEET to go ahead, apex courtdismisses 6 Oppn-ruled States’ pleaPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court todayrejected for the second time arequest to postpone the engi-neering and medical examsJEE (Joint Entrance Exam)and NEET (National Eligibilitycum Entrance Test) on accountof the coronavirus crisis. Thistime, six opposition-ruledstates had asked the court toreview its earlier order and putoff the exams for the safety oflakhs of students.

There is no merit in the peti-tion, Justices Ashok Bhushan,BR Gavai and Krishna Murari

said after considering it intheir chambers. "No case ismade out for reconsidering ourearlier decision," said the topcourt.

The SupremeCourt had onAugust 17 reject-ed a similarrequest by 11students from 11states.

Maharashtra ,Bengal, Punjab,Rajasthan, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh and Puducherryhad decided to request thecourt to reconsider its decision

in the interest of students.The states had claimed that

the top court order failed tosecure students' "right to life"

and ignored "teething logis-tical difficulties" to be

faced in conducting theexams during theCOVID-19 pandemic.

They had asked forthe exams to be

deferred "in a mannerthat achieves the twin

objectives of ensuring thatthe academic year of the stu-dents is not wasted and theirhealth and safety is not com-promised."

IMD predicts rainsin TS from SundayPNS n HYDERABAD

After a two-week dry spell,rains are likely over parts ofTelangana again fromSunday.With no rains for overtwo weeks, the maximum tem-peratures across Telangana wit-nessed a significant rise. Themaximum temperaturesrecorded have been over 2 to 3degrees Centigrade above nor-mal. People are experiencingheat like in summer due to ris-ing maximum temperatures. Inview of the present conditions,power demand too has shot upall of a sudden to nearly 11,000MW over the past one week.

IMS scam accusedarrested for 2nd time

Telangana accounts for 10% ofcountry’s critical Covid-19 cases

HYDERABAD: ACB sleuths onFriday arrested ex-director ofInsurance Medical Service(IMS) Dr Ch Devika Rani --the prime accused in theIMS scam -- and eight otherson fresh charges of colludingand helping an accused K.Srihari Babu cause loss to thestate government to the tuneof Rs 6.5 crore.

n Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, officials, Assemblystaff, police and media persons must not enterthe House if they test positive or have fever, cough and cold

n Covid rules being implemented by Parliamentwould be replicated for the state Legislature.

n Legislators have to cometo the Assembly with test

reports. They will be allowedto enter the House if they

wear masks and havenormal body temperatures.

The division bench alsomade it clear that therewas no comparisonbetween the figuresgiven out by the stategovernment and thefigures published bymedia organisations.

‘Breeding ground forzoonotic diseases’A

group of animal rights bodies recently urged the Uniongovernment to stop dog and cat meat trade, saying it is the

"perfect breeding ground" for another public health disaster after theongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Zoonotic diseases are those that canbe transmitted from animals to people. Rabies, trichinosis, typhusand anthrax are some such diseases. In a joint letter to Union Healthand Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in May, fourorganizations viz. The Humane Society International/India, Peoplefor Animals, JBF (India) Trust and Pawsome also requested him topermanently shut down unhygienic cat and dog meat markets, amidgrowing global concern about zoonotic diseases and public healthdanger zones.

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It is pertinent tomention here that theCentre has questionablylinked power sectorreforms to States'entitlement toenhanced FRBM limits for securingadditional loans

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HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 hyderabad 02

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(IN HYDERABAD)

The Covid-19 pandemichas been particularlysevere on urban India.

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

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

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

The process of accretioncontinued during the Britishrule, and they added plannedareas to cities for Britishers(civil lines) and the military(cantonments or militarylines). Cities central to thecolonial enterprise were devel-oped much more, like thepresidency towns of Mumbai,Chennai and Kolkata.

Thus, two types of spatial

patterns are visible in Indiancities - indigenous (e.g.Chandini Chowk in Delhiand Abids in Hyderabad),and the new (e.g. canton-ments built the British andcolonies built by housingboards, urban developmentauthorities after indepen-dence). In the West, denser,mixed land-use compactcities are more liveable.However, in Indian cities therelationship between urbandensity and liveability is notconsistently positive, particu-larly in the indigenous city.

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

phenomenon?One uniquely Indian way

was championed by PatrickGeddes, pioneering townplanner, who visited Indiaduring 1915 and 1919, andprepared plans for 18 Indiancities (e.g. Tanjore, Madurai,Balrampur, Lucknow andIndore). His work was com-missioned by both British andIndian rulers. Geddes believedin ‘diagnosis before treatment’and thus advocated survey asthe first step in planning. Thesurvey instrument was devel-oped in civic surveys inEdinburgh and became themodel for later surveys.

Geddesian innovationshave a contemporary ring tothem. For example, reducingthe number of paved streets inresidential areas and turningthe land saved into usableforms of open space, which issomewhat similar to placemaking. He viewed both citiesand human beings as wholes,and he saw the process ofrepair, renewal and rebirth asnatural phenomena of devel-opment.

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

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

The method of conservativesurgery is different from thetypical development of a new

grid pattern with 40-feet streetsthrough congested localities,which was common practice inIndia at that time. Moreover,gridirons, while relieving con-gestion in some parts of thecity, increase it in other parts.

Conservative surgeryshows that new streets maynot really be required, asexisting lanes can be substan-tially improved by rearrang-ing the artefacts and activitieson the streets. Conservativesurgery requires long andpatient surveys, that too in thefield involving hours of per-ambulation and sketching ondifferent sites. Geddes gave upon the mathematical straightline and aimed at a differentaesthetic - one more attractiveand comparably cheaper.

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

inates in indigenous townsand was advocated byGeddes. Diverse historicstyles represent a recogni-tion of varying preferences ofhouse owners.

For example, one personmay desire an open balcony,another a closed and projectingone, while a third prefers a dec-orated window. One house-holder prefers plain whitewashwhile another one wants apainted plater house, and a thirdprefers a blue or a green.

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

Most important is theinvolvement of the real stake-holders of the area — resi-

dents, traders and those in thetourism business, who are inthe best position to con-tribute to the area’s redevelop-ment in collaboration withgovernments. This is anexemplar and can be replicat-ed in all commercial localitiesand housing colonies in India.

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

Unlike traffic zones, socialzones combine car and pedes-trian movement, children’splay areas, social activities andidea of shared space is appliedto transform busy trafficintersections. For this to hap-pen, traffic engineers andurban designs would have towork together.

(Author is a Ph.D. fromUSA and a D.Litt. from

Kanchi University. The article is based on hisresearch and practice and

views are personal)

SAMEER SHARMA, IAS

Covid-19: Building a Better Indian CityUrban India consists of ‘cities in a city’, andthese have developed through the ages by aprocess of accretion of settlements. Accretionoccurred as a response to invasions, physicalexpression of new political regimes orideologies, and regional and political interests.

PNS n BIDIPET

Money lenders have beenexploiting the condition of thepoor in villages by lendingmoney to them at usuriousrates of interest. The poor arenot in a position to repay theinterest on the loans borrowedfrom money lenders. In fact,the money lenders have dou-bled the rate of interest nowcompared to earlier. The mostvulnerable are daily wage earn-ers and petty vendors.

The virus has played havocwith the lives of the petty ven-dors, daily wage earners andthose who do petty jobs. SinceMarch 22, when Janata curfewwas observed, they could notstep out of homes for twomonths. Their savings, thelargesse by the State andCentral governments exhaust-ed.

The workers were not able tofind work even after unlockingthe lockdown as the Viruspushed many sectors deep intocrisis. In villages, NREGSworks benefited the poor to an

extent. The street businesseswere paralysed completely.There are no takers for goodsother than essential commodi-ties and eatables. The pettyvendors who road about streetsselling their wares on pushcarts and baskets are not ableto sell their products. Theirlivelihood has become a hugeproblem. They have no alter-native except borrowingmoney from village moneylenders.

As per the government rules,the money lenders should not

lend money at interest morethan Rs 2 per Rs 100. Theinterest mafia is turning the sit-uation to their favour to exploitthe people. On ordinary days,the money lenders collected Rs5 per Rs 100 as interest. Nowthey have doubled it. Theinterest mafia has forgottenhumanity. The street vendorsare borrowing anywherebetween Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000from money lenders promisingto repay the loan on weekly ormonthly basis. The street ven-dors would have to repay the

loan or interest by evening.Their earnings all through theday are sufficient to pay theloans leaving nothing for them.

The money lenders givemoney on the strength of vehi-cles, goods and on execution ofa promissory note. If repay-ment of loans becomes difficultby one or two days for want ofwork, the money lenders willget down to showdown.

Many shops in towns andcities have displayed To-Letboards as the landlords got thebusiness persons vacated asthey failed to pay rent, whichis in the range of Rs 10,000 toRs 20,000 in district head-quarters and which is of theorder of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000per month in taluk headquar-ters. At many places, shopowners are borrowing moneyat usurious interest to payrent. Owner of a general storein Bibipet Venkatesh said thathe is finding it very difficult torun the family as his businessis going through a tradedepression following outbreakof Coronavirus.

Telangana reports 2,478Covid cases, 10 deathsPNS n HYDERABAD

The daily jump in the Covid-19 cases dropped in Telanganaon Friday as the state report-ed 2,478 new infections duringthe last 24 hours. The numberof cases came down despite anincrease in the number oftests. Officials said 62,543 testswere conducted during a 24-hour period ending 8 p.m.Thursday.

The state had reported 2,817positive cases the previous daywhile 59,711 tests were con-ducted. According to a mediabulletin issued from the officeof the director of public healthand family welfare, 10 morepeople succumbed to Covid-19, taking the death toll to 866.

The fatality rate in the stateis at 0.63 per cent against thenational average of 1.74 percent. Out of the total fatalities,53.87 per cent had comorbidi-ties. The new cases pushed thestate's tally to 1,35,884. Ofthem, 93,760 (69 per cent)were asymptomatic and 42,124(31 per cent) symptomatic.

The number of new cases inGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC)dropped to 267 from 452 the

previous day, indicating fur-ther improvement in the situ-ation in the state capital. Thenumber of cases also droppedin the state capital's neighbour-ing Rangareddy district from216 to 171.

However, it increased inMedchal Malkajgiri districtf rom 129 to 190 .Sangareddy, another districtbordering the state capital,recorded 67 cases against 76the previous day.

The number of new cases in GHMCdropped to 267 from 452 the previousday, indicating further improvement inthe situation in the state capital

Dubbaka by-pollto be held alongwith Bihar electionsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Election Commissionon Friday said it has decid-ed to hold the pending by-polls, including for Dubbakaand the Bihar Assemblypolls "around the sametime".

In a statement, the ElectionCommission said that it willconduct by elections for 64Assembly constituencies andone for parliamentary con-stituency. The commissionreviewed the reports andinputs from ChiefSecretaries/Chief ElectoralOfficers of many of the con-cerned states seeking defer-ment of the by-elections intheir states in view of variousfactors.

It may be recalled that thesudden demise of four-timeMLA and journalist SolipetaRamalinga Reddy has left adeep void in DubbakaAssembly constituency’spolitical atmosphere. AsRamalinga Reddy was morethan just an MLA, but aninfluential figure and a dearto all, it would be a herculeantask for the pink party to findhis ‘heir’.

Covid test report must forlegislators to enter HouseContinued from Page 1

Already two MLAs have under-gone corona tests. The otherMLAs have to come to theAssembly with test reports.Thermal testing facility andsanitisers are being made avail-able at the entrance of theHouse. Ambulances, doctorsand staff, along with oxygen,would be kept ready for anyemergency.

All those eligible wouldallowed inside the Assemblyand Council premises only ifthey wear masks and have nor-mal body temperatures. He

suggested that all those havingoxygen percentage that is lessthan 90 should not to come tothe Assembly. He made it clearthat there is no permission forvisitors to attend this session.There is no entry for PAs ofMLAs and Ministers.

Those who come to theAssembly should not attend rel-atives' functions. They shouldnot go to the residences offriends, the Speaker said. Theymust come directly from hometo the Assembly and go backhome directly from the House.He said thatCovid kits would bedistributed to MLAs and MLC.

HC: How come9 Covid...Continued from Page 1

It asked the state govern-ment to submit reports ofthe district-wise figures forCovid-19 cases from August31.2020 to September4,2020. The HC benchalso asked the GHMCCommissioner to submit alist of the number of isola-tion wards and Covid-19centers located in its limits.

The division bench ofthe HC passed these orderswhile dealing with a batchof Public Interest Litigation(PIL) petitions filed on theissue of the containmentand management of thevirus. During the course ofarguments, the HCexpressed its dismay overthe inaction of the state gov-ernment on private hospi-tals which are violating itsorders by collecting exorbi-tant amounts of chargesfrom Covid-19 patients. Itwondered if there was noresponsibility on the part ofthe state government totake action against the pri-vate hospitals which areviolating rules even afteravailing subsidies from it.

Activists in Hyderabad cryfoul as people eat catsContinued from Page 1

Unfortunately, this is not anisolated case. Some people,impoverished and famishedmost of the days due theimpact of the pandemic, arenow after stray animals tostop their hunger pangs. PostUnlock 1, when hordes ofmigrant set out on long march-es to their hometowns, a sec-tion of the media flashed pic-tures of people feeding oncarcasses of stray dogs enroute. Priyanka Samyukta, apara veterinary doctor and ananimal rights activist, alsochanced upon people trap-ping cats and kittens a fewmonths back. She recalls, "Iwas out walking my dogs,when I noticed that two young

boys - nearly 16-17 years old- holding a long stick with ahook at one end. They wereholding a bag and trying totrap a cat. When I approachedthem, they ran. I followed andwas able to get hold of the bagin which I found two cats anda small kitten. There havebeen several such instances,where activists have saved sev-

eral cats from such people."Cat meat is illegal in India.

"Yet, this has been going on foryears," shares Priyanka, adding,"The problem is that these peo-ple are difficult to catch. Wehave been trying to catchthem, but they live in slumsand hence to get hold of them- especially when are in the act- is very tough."

IMD predicts rains...Continued from Page 1

The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment, in its specialweather bulletin issued forTelangana State on Friday,has warned of thunder-storms, accompanied withlightning and heavy rains, inisolated places from Sundayfor three days. The rains willbe returning to the Stateafter a brief lull due to acyclonic circulation oversouth Chhattisgarh andneighbourhood, 4.4 kmabove mean sea level whichis getting weak.

During the past 24 hours,Nallabelly (Warangal Rural)received 4 cm rainfall,Shyampet (Warangal Rural)received 3 cm, Bodhan(Nizamabad) received 2cm,Parkal (Warangal Rural)received 2 cm, Talamadugu

(Adilabad) received 1 cm,Miryalaguda (Nalgonda)received 1 cm, Atmakur(Warangal Rural) received 1cm, Yeda Palle (Nizamabad)

eceived 1 cm andKothagudem (Kothagudem)received 1 cm of rain.

Meanwhile, major irriga-tion projects on Krishna,Godavari rivers and theirtributaries continued toreceive flood waters as onFriday. At PriyadarshiniJurala on river Krishna, theinflow was 67,300 cusecs,and outflow was 75,479cusecs. Nettempadu lift waspumping 1,500 cusecs, leftcanal was receiving 900cusecs and right canal wasreceiving 786 cusecs.

On Godavari, the inflowshave been moderate withSRSP receiving 7,513 cusecs,Yellampalli 6,112 cusecs.

Jagan's U-turn shocks...Continued from Page 1

He even dashed off a letter toPrime Minister NarendraModi in June demandingwithdrawal of the draft Bill onpower sector reforms, expect-ed to be tabled in Parliamentin the upcoming monsoonsession beginning fromSeptember 14.

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment too had opposedthe power sector reformsand written a letter to theCentre to this effect in June,saying " it ' s against the'Federal spir it ' of theConstitution".

Incidentally, 11 States havewritten to the Centre oppos-ing power sector reforms,including TS and AP.

At a time when KCR wasexpecting the Centre to rollback power sector reforms

bowing to pressure from theStates, the U-turn of the APCM, and that too from a non-BJP ruled state, came as ashocker.

That apart, Telangana'sfinancial outgo on account offree power to farmers is farmore than that of AP. This isbecause TS has more agricul-ture pumpset connectionsthan AP.

AP has 18 lakh pumpsetconnections, while TS has 25lakh connections. Besides,TS provides 24-hour freepower to farmers, while APprovides free power only fornine hours. The Centre'sDBT scheme mandates Statesto instal power readingmetres for all farm pumpsetsand transfer the subsidyamount to farmers everymonth directly into the bankaccounts of farmers.

‘Breeding ground for zoonotic diseases’Continued from Page 1

"Within that context, it is onlyresponsible for governmentsacross Asia, including India, toalso tackle the dog and cat meattrades," the release quoted

Humane Society's managingdirector Alokparna Sengupta assaying. Dog and cat meats areconsumed in China, Vietnam,Indonesia and the Philippines,besides India, according to therelease.

IMS scam accused ...Continued from Page 1

All the accused have beensent to fourteen days' judicialcustody.

In continuation of theirextensive investigation intothe multi-crore IMS scam,ACB sleuths on 3rd ofSeptember fresh charges in thecase registered under thePrevention of Corruption Act.

On Friday, ACB officialsarrested accused Dr. Ch.Devika Rani, former Directorof IMS, Dr. Kalakuntla Padma,former Joint Director of IMS,and Dr. Kurapati VasanthaIndira, former Asst. Directorof IMS. The other arrestedaccused were identified ascouple Kancharla Srihari Babuand Kancharla Sujatha ofOmni Healthcare, andKukkala Krupasagar Reddy,Tankasala Venkatesh,Bandi

Venkateswarlu and CherukuriNagaraju, both employees ofOmni Medi.

Investigations revealed thatone of the accused K. SrihariBabu floated shell compa-nies and indulged in circulartrading by infalting the pricesof products using different'paper companies' and causedwrongful loss to the govern-ment.

The product HB Cuvettesreportedly manufactured byHemocue were supplied todistributors at the rate of Rs3,300/- per unit. The distrib-utors of Hemocue supplied thesame items at the rate of Rs4,800/-per unit. M/s LegendEnterprises supplied the aboveitems to the Director ofInsurance Medical Services atthe rate of Rs 16,500/-per unitand thus charged an excessprice of Rs 11,700/- per unit.

TS contributes

10 % of Critical ...Continued from Page 1

In all, 1,290 patients ingovernment hospitals and2,136 patients in private hos-pitals are on oxygen support.Likewise, 694 patients in gov-ernment hospitals and 856patients in private hospitalsare on ventilator support orin ICU. A total of 2,488 per-sons have occupied regularbeds in various hospitals.More number of Covid-19patients in Telangana needoxygen and ICU support,compared to those elsewherein the country on an average.According to MOHFW,across the country less than3.5 percent of active casesneed oxygen support. But inTelangana, 10.38% of patientsneed oxygen support.

Moneylenders use Covidcrisis to their advantage

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 hyderabad 03

IN BRIEFIN BRIEF

The Government of Telangana has decided topostpone Teacher's Day celebration, on

September 5, as mark of respect towards DrPranab Mukharjee. The Department ofEducation, in a GO to all the heads ofeducational institutions, instructed that asmark of respect to the departed dignitary,Telangana is observing seven days of statemourning from August 31 to September 6 - both daysinclusive. During the period of state mourning the National Flag willfly at half mast throughout the state where it is flown regularly andthere will be no official entertainment. The authorities requested theeducational institutes to not celebrate the Teacher's Day onSeptember 5. They also asked schools/colleges to felicitate theawardee teachers after the completion of state mourning.

The Consortium of National Law Universitiesat an emergency meeting of the Governing

Body requested the National Law School ofIndia University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, toreconsider its decision of holding its ownindependent test for this year's admission to

BA.LL.B and LL.M. The emergency meeting ofthe Governing Body held on Friday under the

chairmanship of Prof. V. Vijaykumar, Vice-Chancellor, NLIU, Bhopalwith all the members present including the Vice-Chancellor ofNLSIU, Bengaluru, resolved that the decision was in violation ofRule 15.3.3. of Consortium Bye-laws as all members of theConsortium were duty-bound to admit students only through CLAT.After detailed deliberations, it was unanimously resolved to requestthe NLSIU, Bangalore to reconsider its decision of holding its ownindependent test for this year's admission to BA.LL.B and LL.M.

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Chiefof the Air Staff (CAS), Indian Air Force,

visited College of Air Warfare (CAW) onThursday. The Secunderabad based CAWwith its origins dating back to 1959 is anIAF institution of higher learningconducting courses on air warfare for tri-service officers in an integrated manner. During his visit to CAW, theCAS addressed officers from all the three services undergoing the44th Higher Air Command Course (HACC). He sensitised themabout the emerging contours of national security, emphasised theunique attributes of air power that would allow its employment inlikely scenarios and apprised the course officers about the progressbeing made in deliberations that are ongoing for creating integratedstructures towards enhancing synergy in future war fighting.

TS Government postponesTeacher's day celebrations

The Indian School of Business (ISB)through its initiative- The Global ISB Forum

(TGIF), organised a discussion on 'Vision ofNational Education Policy for HigherEducation'. The conversation was aimed atgaining insights from the New Education

Policy. The panelists touched upon various aspects including - role offoreign universities, implications for degree granting status, liberalarts education versus specialized education, vocational training andeducation, infrastructure development, among others. Speaking atthe session, Shri Navin Mittal, IAS, Commissioner, Technical andCollegiate Education, Government of Telangana emphasized that agreater research funding, accelerating infrastructure and enhancedscholarship to students in meritorious institutions must be givenimmediate attention to implement the New Education Policy. Heunderlined on the need to strengthen Industry-Institute connect,which will help the students to understand the industry needs muchbetter before they enter into the job market.

Reconsider decision forindependent test: NLUs

Air Chief Marshal visitsCollege of Air Warfare

Road to New Education Policy

discussed at ISB's TGIF event

PNS n HYDERABAD

Industries Minister K T RamaRao on Friday exuded confi-dence that if Telangana isincluded in the Ease of DoingBusiness rankings along withcountries around the world, thestate is definitely going to be inthe top-20. He made the abovecomments during a conversa-tion with Google IndiaCountry Head Sanjay Gupta atthe US-India StrategicPartnership Forum's 3rdAnnual Leadership (virtual)Summit 'US-India week 2020:Navigating New Challenges.

He said the TS-iPass policyformulated 6 years ago hasattracted large scale invest-ments in the state. KTR saidthe reforms taken by theTelangana government in thisfield are on par with manyexcellent policies around theworld. Minister proudly saidthat Hyderabad has claimed itsrightful place on the globalinnovation map and has cap-tured the imagination of glob-al leadership.

In order to achieve self-suf-ficiency in various fields, it isnecessary for others to takeinspiration from the manyprograms undertaken by theTelangana government, saidKTR. Speaking on the occa-sion, Minister KTR said thatTelangana is moving towards

achieving self-sufficiency inadministration, schemes andattracting investments.

"There are many opportuni-ties in the current crisis andIndia has the potential toattract large-scale investorsfrom all over the world," KTRsaid. He said that instead oflooking at India as a whole,investors need to think about

the programs being undertak-en by the various progressivestates in the country based onthe policies of those states. Hesuggested the need for furtherlarge-scale engagement withthe states in that direction.

KTR expressed confidencethat the country's youth is themost attractive resource forIndia and that many compa-

nies will come forward toinvest based on the talent here.He said that for the existing tal-ent, the youth need more skilltraining. To that end, theTelangana government has setup the Telangana Academyfor Skill and Knowledge(TASK) and has been provid-ing them with skills trainingservices for the last five years.

Minister went on to high-light the setting up of T-Hubafter state formation and alsomentioned the 'The InnovationPolicy' which defined a holis-tic approach to bridge the gapsbetween Start-ups and govern-ment and to build the Start-upecosystem.

TS will be among top 20in world in EoDB: KTR

Industries Minister K T Rama Rao during a conversation with Google India Country Head Sanjay Gupta at theUS-India Strategic Partnership Forum's 3rd Annual Leadership (virtual) Summit 'US-India week 2020.

COVID CRISIS

Good samaritans joinhands to help needyPNS n HYDERABAD

The pandemic certainlybrought the world to a stand-still, however, it also broughtcommunities together andprompted people to help eachother. A few groups operatingin Hyderabad are going put oftheir way to help the needyduring these dark times.Interestingly, most of thesepeople are just common citi-zens and not connected to anyNGOs.

When Siddharth Rao, a 28-year-old from the city, madea WhatsApp group with just10-15 people to provide infor-mation about Covid-19, littledid he know that the groupwould gain so many members.He shares, "After my uncleAchyut Rao, well-known childrights activist from the city,expired due to Covid, I creat-ed a WhatsApp called'Combat COVID' with just 15members. Soon I started get-ting calls and messages inquir-ing about basic Covid infor-mation. I also added doctors

to the group so that the infor-mation passed on was accu-rate. We have around 104members in the group whohave successfully helped sev-eral people to get admitted inhospitals, get plasma donors,and provide any other infor-mation pertaining to the dis-ease."

Akhil Ennamsetty, an advo-cate, who was the first Coronasurvivor from Telangana todonate plasma also created anonline platform to help Covid

patients. "The platform wasstarted in May. Several peoplehave been able to benefit fromthe platform. In fact, we did-n't need any advertising, all thepeople who followed came tothe page via word of mouth."

An eight-member teamcalled Cure Bank is workingtirelessly to connect Covidparients to plasma donors.Sirish Javvaji, says, "I believewe should always worktowards creating a better soci-ety.”

An eight-member team calledCure Bank isworkingtirelessly toconnect Covidparients toplasma donors

Visit to tiffin centres now a costly affairPNS n HYDERABAD

In the wake of Coronavirus,breakfast items like idli, vada,dosa and so on have becomecostlier due to increase in costof essential commodities andvegetables, shortage of labour-ers and drop in customers vis-iting the vendors. Prior toordering food at a roadsidepush-cart break-fast vendoror big hotel, one has to loosenthe strings of his or her purseas the food has become pricey.

Earlier, Rs 100 used to fetchbreakfast for four at least at aroadside shop. But that's notthe case now. In fact, peoplehave made adjustments withtheir lifestyle and prefer to eatwhatever they have at homeinstead of going out to enjoythemselves food. Besides,

increasing the cost of essentialcommodities and vegetables,the other reason beingadvanced for increase in thecost of breakfast items to loss-es sustained by the push-cartfood vendors and hotels dur-ing the past five or six monthsdue to closure of their shops.

There is a 30-40 per cent

jump in the price of breakfastitems such as Idli, Vada, Dosa,Puri, Mysore Bonda and so on.The special breakfast itemstoo have become costlier. Aplate of Idli was sold at Rs 15or 20 prior to outbreak of thevirus. Now the idli is not beingsold at that price nowhere inthe city. Some have increased

the cost of Idli while some oth-ers have greatly reduced size.The Idli is now being sold at Rs30-50 a plate depending on thetype of the restaurant. The spe-cial Sambar Idli is being soldbetween Rs 50 and 70 a plate.The ordinary Dosa which wasonce sold at Rs 20 a plate nowsells at Rs 30.

Masala Dosa, Onion Dosa,Omlette, Upma Dosa pricesvary between

Rs 50 and Rs 70 a platedepending on the vendor. Atsome places, a Special Dosacosts Rs 100. A plate of MysoreBajji, which was sold at Rs 25a plate prior to Covid, now sellsat the double the price. Onehas to spend Rs 50-60 to havea plate of Vada. The prices ofa plate of puri or chapatti havealso increased.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Enforcement MedakDivision team on Friday arrest-ed two people for allegedlytransporting ganja. The offi-cials seized 850 kg of ganjaworth 1.5 crore. The arrestedwere identified as RathodBansilal and Rathod Shankar.

According to the officials,based on a tip-off, the MedakExcise enforcement team, ledby D Gayatri, AssistantProhibition & ExciseSuperintendent Enforcement,Medak conducted route watchat Doulatabad Crossroads ofHathnoora mandalSangareddy District. At about4.45 am, they intercepted aMahindra Bolero GoodsCarriage. On checking the

vehicle, they found 425 pack-ets of ganja in 10 gunny bagsfilled with groundnuts. Uponinterrogation, the accused con-fessed that they were transport-ing ganja from Andhra Orissaborder area to Maharashtra.

Meanwhile in another case,West Zone task force team,Hyderabad, apprehended oneperson near Shahinayathgunjoutpost, Jummerath Bazar,and seized six kg of Ganja. Theaccused Farid Sab was trans-porting ganja from Adilabadto city. He purchased six kgganja for Rs 5,000 per 2 kg. OnFriday, while he was waitingnear Shahinayathgunj out-post, Jummerath Bazar,Hyderabad and trying to sellthe ganja, the task force teamnabbed him.

2 held with ganjaworth Rs 1.5 crore

The officials with the seized ganja on Friday

TSECETpreliminarykey availableonlinePNS n HYDERABAD

Jawaharlal NehruTechnological University,Hyderabad (JNTUH)announced the preliminarykey for the recently conduct-ed TS ECET on August 31.

The authorities shared thatafter the exam, experts relat-ed to the subjects were invit-ed to prepare the preliminarykey for all the 200 questionsin 11 specialisations forwhich examinations wereheld. The preliminary keysand master question papers isuploaded on Telangana StateCouncil for HigherEducation's official website.

JNTUH also instructedcandidates to download can-didate specific response sheetconsisting of preliminary keyby entering the requireddetails. They can also checkthe options chosen by themduring the examination. Incase of any objection with thepreliminary key, candidatescan report the same throughonline mode. Every claimmust be supported by the evi-dence. Candidates can onlysend the objections bySeptember 6.

Helpdeskscome in handyfor patientsPNS n HYDERABAD

The help desk setup atGovernment hospitals areacting as liasion between theadmitted cases mainly fromdistricts and their familymembers as many admittedpatients are not carryingmobile phones and anxiousrelatives are concerned abouttheir health.

City-based NGO, HelpingHand Foundation has nowset up a help desk services atthe Gandhi hospital apartfrom the existing ones atDistrict Area Hospital, KingKoti, Osmania GeneralHospital, GovernmentNizamia General Hospital &at Government Chest hospi-tal, Erragadda for COVID -19. The newly setup helpdesk at GGH, will have fourPatient Counsellors and twoambulances attached to thedesk from 9am to 5pm daily.The volunteers will also assistelderly patients in providingpatient care & counselling.

Two chain

snatchers heldPNS n HYDERABAD

The Humayun Nagar policeon Friday nabbed two chainsnatchers and recoveredstolen material worth Rs 1.10lakh from them. The arrest-ed suspects were identified asL Uday Chary (21) fromBalanagar and a native ofMahabubabad, and G Raju(24) from Balanagar, a nativeof Medak. They were pro-duced before the court andremanded in judicial cus-tody.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Home Minister MohammedMahmood Ali on Friday con-vened a review meeting withthe Senior Level Police Officersin his office at Lakdi-ka-Pool.Ravi Gupta, PrincipalSecretary (Home), JithenderAddl DGP (Law and Order),Anjani Kumar , Commissionerof Police, Hyderabad, ShikhaGoel, AdditionalCommisssioner of Police(Crimes), Anil Kumar,Additional Commissioner(Traffic), Hyderabad, VCSajjanar, Commissioner ofPolice, Cyberabad and Sudheer

Babu, AdditionalCommisssioner of Police,Rachakonda Commissionaratehave participated in the meet-ing.

Minister appreciated thePolice Officers for successful-ly making necessary arrange-ments for peaceful completionof Muharrum and GaneshNavaratri and Immersion.Minister for Home said thatthis time it was a special taskfor the police for these festivalsin view of the spread ofCoronavirus for which manymeasures had to be taken bythe Police besides maintainingeffective law and order.

Minister reiterated duringmeeting that the TelanganaState Police has been rankedNo. 1 in the country in main-tenance of law and order,crime control and innovativeand people friendly pro-grammes besides effectivelyusing technology for detectionof crime, management of traf-fic, cyber crimes.

During the meeting,Minister also reviewed theposition of Traffic in the Cityand further arrangements forsmooth flow of traffic in thewake of ensuing AssemblySessions.

HM all praise for TS policeHome Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali at a review meeting with the police officials on Friday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Member of Parliamentand founding pesident ofTelangana JagruthiKalvakuntla Kavitha extendedher helping hand towards StJoseph's Secondary School(SJSS) in Hyderabad, respond-ing to an appeal on Twitter.The school works for theupliftment underprivilegedchildren.

The appeal was made byMarika Isabel Mary Gabrielwho has requested for com-puters for teachers to ensurecontinuous learning duringthe pandemic. Kavitha swift-ly responded to the request byproviding nine desktops to theschool in the presence of theprincipal Beula Gabriel andthe staff of the school. The for-mer MP also extended her bestwishes for the cause and mis-

sion that Beula Gabriel andSJSS envisage and wishedthem all the best in theirfuture endeavors. In responseto the gesture of former MP,Marika tweeted a video ofprincipal and the manage-ment of the school thankingformer MP.

Kavitha responded with acongenial tweet to thank SJSSfor giving her this opportuni-ty to be able to help.

LPCET to beheld onSeptember 6PNS n HYDERABAD

The State Board of TechnicalEducation and Training ofTelangana announced thenew exam date for LateralEntry into PolytechnicCommon Entrance Test(LPCET) 2020. The examwill now be held onSeptember 6, in two sessions- 11 am to 1 pm (Paper I) and2:30 pm to 4:30 pm (PaperII). LPCET is an entrance testconducted to grant admissioninto second year EngineeringDiploma courses inPolytechnics of Telangana.To apply for the test, candi-dates must have qualifiedITI with 60% marks.Candidates can check furtherdetails about TS LPCET 2020including application form,admit card, eligibility, exampattese, and others.

Kavitha donatescomputers to SJSS

KU to organise degreeexams from Sept 16PNS n HYDERABAD

The authorities of the KakatiyaUniversity (KU), Warangal,are gearing up to conduct theexams for the degree studentsfrom September 16 to October19. Controller ofExaminations, Prof SMahender Reddy along withother officials has releasedthe time table for the examshere on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion,

Mahender Reddy said thatthe sixth semester exams of theB.COM/B.Sc/BBA/BCA/ willbe held from 9 am to 11 am asper the schedule.

Meanwhile, the secondsemester exams of the B.Edsecond year will be heldSeptember 11 to 16. He alsoadded that the students mustappear for the exams wearingthe masks and they should fol-low the Covid-19.

IT Minister KT Rama Rao said thereforms taken by the Telanganagovernment in this field are onpar with many excellent policiesaround the world

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 hyderabad 04

Coronavirus slows downrecruitment process in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

In spite of clearance fromFinance Department, notifica-tions for recruitment in variousgovernment departments arenot being issued because of theimpact of Covid. In somecases, there is no progressbeyond issue of notifications.As there is no scope for issueof fresh notifications, manyunemployed have been return-ing to their native places andworking small errands. In fact,17,000 teacher posts remainedvacant in government schools,including 1,731 head masterposts. Similarly, 12,000 policeconstable posts remainedvacant in Police Department.There is no recruitment of SIsso far.

Municipal AdministrationMinister KT Rama Rao recent-ly announced filling of officerfor each ward. In fact, there are3,600 wards in the state.

Similarly, the FinanceDepartment gave clearance forfilling 2,000 posts in themunicipal administration min-istry. Over 5,600 postsremained vacant in MunicipalAdministration Department.There are 3,717 posts vacant inresidential schools for BCs.Further, 605 posts haveremained vacant for fillingthem up on outsourcing bases.

In Irrigation Department,

there are hundreds of vacanciesto be filled, but the recruitmentis not going on because ofCovid-19. TSPSC has said thatit is busy verifying certificatesissued earlier online and wouldissue notifications to recruitposts once the governmentgives its nod.

Ever since the state wascarved out in 2014, notificationto fill Group-I posts was notissued. In the first phase, it

planned to fill over 100 Group-I posts. Because of problems inZonal system, the notificationcould not be issued. In fact,there are 500 vacancies ingroup-I. In the new state ofTelangana, Group-2 notifica-tion was issued only once. Theunemployed have beendemanding the governmentto fill group-3 and 4 postswhich remained vacant on alarge scale.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana High Court onFriday issued standard operatingprocedure (SOP) for carrying outits limited physical hearing ofsome of its benches on an exper-imental basis. The physical hear-ing is scheduled to begin fromSeptember 7 and would concludeon September 11 of this month. Aspart of the SOPs, the entire HighCourt premises will be disinfect-ed everyday twice between 7.30 amto 9.30 am and after 5 pm.

The High Court will accepteither online filing of cases orphysical filing of cases as the casemay be. The cases filed by physi-cal mode will be scrutinized afterdue disinfection after 48 hours innormal course. All mentionsshould be made by the advocatesand litigant public only throughVideo Conferencing before allrespective Benches at 10.30 am.

Even while holding the courtsphysically, the respective courtswill take up the admission mattersin virtual mode in the forenoonsession, whereas the final hearingand other matters will be taken upby way of physical hearing in the

afternoon session or after exhaust-ing the list of admission matters.The registrar General of the HChas asked all the stakeholdersincluding the Advocates to followthe guidelines of the SOP whileappearing physically before thecourts scrupulously along withother instructions issued by it theHigh Court and Government ofIndia from time to time includingthat of maintaining physical dis-tance, use of masks, sanitizersetc.

He said that the entry to theHigh Court premises was restrict-ed only to the Advocates and

Parties-in-person whose names arepublished in the cause list. Theentry of parties or such otherstakeholders into the High Courtis permitted only if there is a courtdirection to that extent and on theauthorization given by the con-cerned Advocate. No one with thesymptoms of cough, fever, runningnose and people with less immu-nity and people without wearingmasks, be allowed to enter into theHigh Court premises. Personswith such symptoms shouldimmediately visit the nearestGovernment Hospital, and theircontact details be obtained, and

informed to the nearest CivilAdministration and the Directorof the Public Health of the state bythe Security Personnel of the HC.The Advocates shall enter into theHigh Security Zone through theGate No.4, after subjecting them-selves to the thermal screening atSecurity for detecting body tem-perature, infection status.

On entering the High SecurityZone, the Advocates Parties-in-Person would proceed to the des-ignated waiting halls and vacantCourt halls near by the concernedCourt Halls, and wait for their turnto enter respective Court Halls.

HC will accepteither online filingof cases or physicalfiling of cases asthe case may be.The cases filed byphysical mode willbe scrutinized afterdue disinfectionafter 48 hours innormal course

Revanth urges Centre to liftcurbs on Sec'bad Cantt roadsPNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy on Friday requestedUnion Defense Minister RajnathSingh to lift the curbs on closureof roads in SecunderabadCantonment area. He addresseda letter to Rajnath Singh onFriday in this regard and allegedthat the residents are facing a lotof troubles due to closure of 20roads in Cantonment area. Thelocal Military Authorities areacting unilaterally without fol-lowing any rules and not eveninforming the CantonmentBoard, he lamented.

Revanth Reddy, in the letter,mentioned that the Centralgovernment responded in thepast on the closure of roads inhis constituency by militaryofficials troubling about 10 lakhpeople. The Centre also direct-ed the Defence Department tolift the restrictions imposed onclosure of roads.

However, the SecunderabadCantonment officials are leastbothered about the Centre'sdirections, he said urging theUnion Defence Minister toinitiate steps to makeCantonment officials to openthe roads for common public.Revanth also attached thecopies of directions given bythe Centre in the past asking

the Cantonment officials toopen the roads for publicmovement, to his letter.

Revanth said that roads toMalkajgiri, ECIL, Safilguda,Risala Bazar, Bollaram Bazar,Lal Bazar and many other areaslead through SecunderabadCantonment area. "Lakhs ofpeople are facing troubles duethe closure of the roads byArmy officials now and then.The political parties submittedmemorandums in the pastalleging that the attitude ofArmy officials is in a disputablemanner. Telangana IT andMunicipal Minister KTRamarao too addressed a letterin this regard," he said in the let-ter. On the other hand, onesenior citizen Anup Kumarfiled a petition in SupremeCourt last month challengingthe closure of roads inSecunderabad Cantonment

area. The petition will come fora hearing very soon.

Revanth clearsthe air on newpolitical partyPNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy on Friday made it clearthat there is no political vacu-um in Telangana state. He saidthat the Telangana people donot want a new political partyand want to take up move-ments. Speaking to a section ofthe media on Friday, Revanthsaid that the people are in afeeling that the oppositionparties are not working up tothe expectations of the people.The Ministers — KT RamaRao and T Harish Rao aregoing on inauguration spreeacross the state, however, thegovernment is controllingopposition leaders in the nameof Covid rules. Revanth madeit clear that there is no spacefor a new political party in thestate as rumors spread for thelast several months that hewould float a new politicalparty in the state.Guv apprises President of

Covid situation in statePNS n HYDERABAD

President Ram Nath Kovindon Friday dialled TelanganaGovernor TamilisaiSoundararajan and discussedabout the President's upcom-ing video conference on theNational Education Policy-2020 scheduled to be held onSeptember 7.

The President has also inter-acted with the Governor onCovid-19 situation and askedabout the measures beingtaken to contain the pandem-ic in the State. The Presidentwished the people of Telanganato stay safe and to be in goodhealth and help prevent thespread of the Covid-19.

In his preparatory round ofdiscussions with Tamilisaiabout the scheduled videoconference on the NationalEducation Policy, the Presidentmentioned that quality of edu-cation at all levels andimprovement of higher educa-tion on a par with the globalstandards are vital.

During the proposed videoconference, the President willbe interacting with theGovernors of the States andMinisters of Education, while

all the vice-chancellors of theState universities will also jointhe meeting and listen to themessage by the President andhis interaction with theGovernors and the Ministers ofEducation.

The main objective of theproposed video conference isto create better awarenessabout the National EducationPolicy-2020, which is beingconsidered as the path-break-ing and is potentially capableof transforming the educa-tion system to meet the glob-al standards. The NEP-2020 isaimed at creating knowledge

economy and to make India asthe knowledge superpower.

Tamilisai informed thePresident about the variousinitiatives and the lead she hastaken with regard to the NEP-2020 and other key issues inthe higher education sector inthe State.

The Governor apprised thePresident about the webinarshe organised with six eminentpersonalities, including twomembers of the UGC, of high-er education on the topic of"Perspectives about NationalEducation Policy-2020: RoadMap for Telangana."

Many abstainfrom work atSrisailamPower stationPNS n SRISAILAM

The workers posted inSrisailam Left Canal Bankhydel power station abstainedfrom duty on Thursday with-out giving notice in largenumbers as the ElectricityDepartment officials haveconducted a mock drill in theplant on Wednesday withoutintimating to the workers.

The mock drill was con-ducted to assess the pre-paredness of the plant tomeet any eventuality in thewake of the August 20 fireaccident in the power plantclaiming lives of nine person-nel, including representativesof two battery companies.Daily at least 120-150 casualworkers report for work at theplant. But on Thursday, only100 workers reported forwork. In fact, many officersand staff members of theplant did not fully recoverfrom the August 20 fire acci-dent shock.

Covid dents TransportDepartment’s revenue PNS n HYDERABAD

In spite of vehicles coming onto the roads for the past twomonths and there is anincrease in the revenue of theTransport Department, thereis no growth in the revenuefrom permits and quarterly taxrevenue receipts. In August,the number of vehicles regis-tered exceeded those regis-tered in July by 14,977. Thenumber of vehicles registeredin August was 56,159. The carsregistered in August were10,621 as against 6,426 in July.

While 51,803 vehicles gotregistered in July, it was 66,780in August. Majority of the

66,780 vehicles registered werenew vehicles. The old vehiclesconstituted only 10 per cent. InJuly, the TransportDepartment earned Rs 296.44crore while the revenue earnedin August was 246.34 crore,registering a decline of Rs16.90 crore. In fact, quarterlytax is not being realised fromsome vehicles especially frommaxi cabs, contract carriages,travellers' buses and schoolbuses. These vehicles mostlyconfined to the garagesbecause of the Covid-19threat. The vehicles that areplying on roads pay quarterlytaxes, but there is no percep-tible change in the incom.

NTPC Ramagundam gets Covid care centrePNS n PEDDAPALLI

The National Thermal PowerCorporation (NTPC) has set up aCovid care centre at NTPC-Ramagundam along with five of itspower plants. The corporation'sExecutive Director atRamagundam, Raj Kumar inaugu-rated the new facility featuringTele Consultation, Tele Emergency,Covid care centre and TrueNatMachine.

Speaking on the occasion, hehighlighted NTPC's efforts to pro-vide best healthcare facilities foremployees and their dependents.Chief Medical Officer, Dr SashmitaDash spoke on various facilitiesavailable at the centre besides high-

lighting efforts from hospital man-agement and staff to fight againstCovid-19.

Setup at Dhanwanthari Hospitalof NTPC-Ramagundam, the 10+1ICU care bed Covid care centre willserve as a nodal point for treatmentof mild to moderate corona patients

in association with Apollo TeleHealth Service. The Covid centrehas been strengthened with newmanpower besides providing train-ing to staff and sanitation workersin bio-medical waste. Districtauthority also extended requiredtraining to lab technicians.

The hospital is handling Covidcases and now with the setup ofTrueNat machine, the diagnosisprocess for Covid care treatmentwill be further improved. Presidentof Deepthi Mahila Samithi,Sadhana Rajkumar, senior officialsfrom NTPC and CISF, office bear-ers of unions, medical staff fromDhanwanthari hospital and ApolloTele Health Service and otherswere present.

Left Parties demandComprehensive LandSurvey in TelanganaPNS n HYDERABAD

Left parties on Friday demanded the stategovernment to conduct a ComprehensiveLand Survey before introducing newRevenue Act in the Assembly. They alsodemanded Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao to announce a Draft Act before intro-ducing new Revenue Act. CPI State secre-tary alleged that the new Revenue Act willhelp real estate businessmen.

Telangana State Rythu Sangham onFriday organised a round table meeting atMaqdhoom Bhavan on ‘Telangana- NewRevenue Act’. Speaking on the occasion,Chada Venkat Reddy alleged that the stateis under dictatorial rule though there isdemocracy for name sake. He alleged thatthe leaders, who encroached lands duringCongress and TDP governments in unitedAndhra Pradesh state are now in TRS party.The then YS Rajasekhar Reddy governmenthad set up the Koneru RangaraoCommittee, however, YSR governmentthrew the recommendations set aside thecommittee recommendations, Chada saidalleging that the Revenue Acts had becomea curse to the Telangana state.

Tribal schools gear upfor digital learningPNS n HYDERABAD

STEPapp (Student TalentEnhancement ProgramApplication) has received amandate from the IndianMinistry of Tribal Affairs toimplement its gamified learn-ing app across all TribalSchools in India in a landmarkdevelopment. This is the firsttime a government institutionhas tied up with an IndianEdTech startup on a mone-tised project.

This initiative will benefitmore than 1.5 lakh studentsfrom grades I-XII across thecountry immediately and willexpand the scope in the com-ing years. Through this asso-ciation, authorities willenhance the students' perfor-mance in school exams aswell as in competitive exams.This will also enable schools tomeasure the students' learningoutcomes through dash-boards. The content providedwill be in the English language.

STEPapp is a gamifiedlearning solution for studentsto gain conceptual clarity inmath and science through itsgamified format making itfun and enjoyable. It offersmany features including asimplified testing methodolo-gy, measurable learning out-comes, self-paced learning,content created by 400+IITians and doctors. TheMinistry of Tribal Affairs,India shared that STEPapp isa wonderful initiative to teachstudents about the concepts ofmathematics and science in agamified way so they can havefun while learning variousconcepts.

Officials told to procure seedsPNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture MinisterSingireddy Niranjan Reddyon Friday directed officials tokeep sufficient stocks of seedfor the ensuing Yasangi seasonfrom this month itself. Hedirected the officers to startprocuring seed for paddy,groundnut and Bengal gramkeeping in mind the hugeexpansion in acreage due toincreased irrigation facilities.

The Minister, who reviewedseed availability in the Statewith principal secretary forAgriculture B JanardhanReddy and Seed DevelopmentCorporation ChairmanKondabala Koteswar Rao, said

rainfall has been good thismonsoon season and all pro-jects and tanks were brimmingwith water. "As a result, we areanticipating that the Yasangicultivation will increase byleaps and bounds," he said. Headvised them to keep sufficientstocks of seeds for most soughtafter crop varieties.

Act tough againstencroachers: VHPNS n HYDERABAD

Congress senior leader VHanumantha Rao on Fridaydemanded Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to imple-ment former Prime MinisterPV Narasimha Rao's LandCeiling Act and land reformsbesides celebrating PVCentenary celebrations. TheCongress too supports KCR'sdemand of Bharath Ratna forPV, he said.

He also demanded thestate government to take upthorough discussion onRevenue Act in the monsoonsession to be commencedfrom September 7.

As there is noscope for issue offresh notifica-tions, manyunemployed havebeen returning totheir nativeplaces andworking smallerrands

HC issues SOP for physical hearings

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

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

Guj extends ban ontobacco products forone more year

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

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

Another BJPMLA complainsto NaddaPNS n DEHRADUN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

It will be operational with-in a few days.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Delhi airport sets up Covid testing facilityfor select arriving international passengers

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

Parliamentary constituency.The Commission said it dis-

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

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

The Assembly elections for243 Bihar Assembly seats aredue this year.

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"My best wishes to all theseyoung IPS officers on their

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

rights groups.Mekdad thanked the Indian

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

As many as 483 Syrians had

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

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

Furthermore, India has set

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

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

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

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

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

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

the public feedback deadlinetill September 10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Terrorist killed,army officerinjured in KashmirencounterPNS n SRINAGAR

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

PNS n GWALIOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Secondary Education. Theexamination will continue tillSeptember 11.

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

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

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

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

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

SC notice on guidelines onsenior designations to advocates

Bypolls for 64 seats along withBihar Assembly elections: EC

Cong MLA’smother writesto YechuryPNS n THRISSUR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Will talks work?

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

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

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

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

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

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

a New India that we want.R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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

Amit Singh KushwahaSatna

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

06

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

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

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

Congress leader—Randeep Surjewala

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

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

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

Former actress—Saira Banu

S O U N D B I T E

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

Good move by India to ban PUBG

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prabhakaran VallathKozhikode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

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

BJP leader—Dilip Ghosh

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

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

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

The gift of autonomy

MUMBAI AND MAHARASHTRA ARE SECURED BY THE

POLICE. IF ANYONE FEELS UNSAFE ABOUT LIVING IN

MUMBAI, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE HERE.

— MAHARASHTRA HOME MINISTER

ANIL DESHMUKH

PEOPLE ARE THREATENING ME FOR COMING BACK TO

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

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

— ACTOR

KANGANA RANAUT

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Teachers’ Day has special significance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

China schoolingthe Mongols

GWYNNE DYER

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

out differences and deviations from the norm

CHANDRA BHUSHAN SHARMA

THE BEST TRIBUTETO DR

RADHAKRISHNANWOULD BE TO GIVE

THE SCHOOLTEACHERS OF INDIA

AN INDEPENDENTSTATUTORY BODY

TO REGULATETHEMSELVES

INSTEAD OF BEINGMONITORED BY

BROWN SAHEBS.IF WE WANTDEDICATED

TEACHERS, WEMUST HAVE

COMPLETE TRUST INTHEM AND GRANTTHEM AUTONOMY

AS INDIVIDUALSAND AS A SYSTEM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping the importance of the

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

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

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

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

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

MJ WARSI

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

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

DON’T RESISTONLINE LEARNING

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

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

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

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

PNS n WASHINGTON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jobs report likely to point

to a still-slow recovery

RBI expands priority sectorlending categoriesPNS nMUMBAI

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

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

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

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

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

gible for finance under priori-ty sector.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII).

Going forward, he said,branches are going to

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

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

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

Bandhan Bank managingdirector Chandra ShekharGhosh said : "B anks and

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

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

Observing that India is

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

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

OYO India offers voluntaryseparation or leave extensionPNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

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

In an address to employees

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

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

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

This will never measure up

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

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

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

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

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

premises in Mumbai; andgeneral corporate purposes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Industry not in positionto make investments Auto industry body SIAM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PNS n COLOMBO

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

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

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

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

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

The Sri Lankan Navy is also

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

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

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

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

New technologies such as

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

Businesses, including supplychain and logistics to

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

ITC had madesubstantial invest-

ments for a digitalecosystem to drive

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

ITC accelerateddigitisation: Sanjiv Puri

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

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

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

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

L&T said the Pinakalaunch system has

been indigenouslydeveloped by thecompany as part ofPinaka developmentprogram of Defence

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

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

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

Sri Lankan Navy, Indian shipsbattling fire on board oil tanker

PNS n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

"Our efforts have started

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

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

Paytm FY'20 revenuerises to Rs 3,629 cr

AN YOU SHAREYOUR ASSOCIA-TION WITHHYDERABAD?

I shifted to Hyderabadaround 2006 and the city hasgiven me everything, I earn a liv-ing here! My health conditionsmade me join a gym. After beingstuck in my daily routine for 10years, I found something thatwould make me happy. I openedup a gym and started working toexpand it into a bigger space.Hyderabad transformed me. Thecity has its own panache.

HOW HAS THE CITY BEENTREATING YOU?

After teething troubles of set-tling down, the routine started. Imet a diverse group of peoplefrom commoners to celebs andthe one thing that brings themto strike the same chord istheir welcoming nature. Ichose to make a homehere, I live here nowand love it! It has alarge heart, embracedme with open arms,and kept me safe.The language wasnever a barrierhere, every sec-ond personspeaks Hindihere, so I neversaw it as astruggle. Also,the denizens ofthis city haveno pre-conceivednotions about amigrant.

FOR EVERYONE WHO

IS MIGRATING FROMOTHER CITIES, HAVEAPPREHENSIONS OR PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONSABOUT THE CITY THEYARE GOING TO LIVE, WHATKIND OF THOUGHTS DIDYOU HAVE ABOUTHYDERABAD BEFORE MOV-ING HERE AND HOW DOYOU FIND IT NOW? WEREYOUR APPREHENSIONSWERE RIGHT?

Yes, like any other migrant, Iwas apprehensive too. Earlier, we

were residing in

Bengaluru, I had my son there,and the idea of migrating filledme with several questions. Thecold gripping fear was stoppingus from trying a new city andmoving forward in life in termsof anxiety and the terror of re-locating. However, I finally madea fearless move and we moved!All my uneasiness vanished oncewe settled down, we were sur-rounded by amazing people here.They are honest, accommodat-ing, and not docile. I am happy toraise my son here.

ONE THING THAT COMESTO YOUR MIND WHENYOU THINK OFHYDERABAD AND WHY?

Without a doubt, it’s theTollywood Film Industry — itwon my heart. It’s a genuine lovefrom this industry that gave meimmense affection and respectelsewhere. I’m blessed to be apart of such a film industry, it’sone of the finest places to workin. I am fortunate that people inthe industry have been warm andwelcoming from day one. I amenjoying my

journeyand

every day it teaches me some-thing new. Initially, it was a newterritory for me with huge com-petition, but I dared to be extra-ordinary! The Telugu diaspora isspreading across the world nowwhich makes me proud that I amone of its lasses.

YOUR FONDEST MEMORYIN HYDERABAD?

Training the Megastar coupleRam Charan ji and UpasanaKonidela remains one of myfondest memories here. My holis-tic approach towards fitness ledme to grow amongst celebritiesand then there was no turningback after. I gave manyTollywood beauties a toned bodywith my expertise. This festivemonth I am celebrating myself! Ihave just taken up a big exciting

project, so stay tuned, folks!

HOW DID YOU MAN-AGE TO BEAR THE

BRUNT OFCOVID?

Most of usremember home

fitness from thetimes of theearly ’90s, it’sback intrend now!I am try-ing tofindways toexercise

effectivelywithin the

four walls of myhome, which is beingapplied to my celeb

clients as well. Thankfully,even if we are locked

inside, I have my fitnessroutine to rely upon!

Exercise can help keep yourimmune system function

properly, which is especially per-tinent today. Being at home canbe quite limiting in terms ofspace and lack of equipment. Thegood news is that the best bit ofkit we have is our own body.There's so much you can do withit: press-ups, lunges, squats,planks, jumps, stretches.

WHAT'S THE ONE THINGYOU LIKE AND DISLIKEABOUT THIS CITY?

There’s nothing that I dislike, Iam comfortable with my sur-roundings here. The kind peopleof Hyderabad has, makes it a bet-ter place to live in. Human kind-ness had never weakened the sta-mina of free humanity. This cityisn’t cruel to be tough!

WHAT IS IT THAT YOURRELATIVES OR FRIENDSWHO VISIT YOU HERELIKE TO TAKE BACK ANDWHERE DO THEY WANTTO VISIT WHEN THEYCOME TO HYDERABAD?

My relatives can’t take theireyes off the city’s architecture,food, lifestyle, and much more.Ask any of my relatives about oneof their favourite dishes and theysay it has to be the HyderabadiChicken biryani. I have heardthem saying it’s succulent, juicy,and soaks in all the aromas.

WHAT'S HYDERABAD TOYOU?

Hyderabad is a place that hashelped me grow in a lot of ways,be it work or even in my personallife because I met so many won-derful people. Hyderabad ishome and all hearts to it! Thelove I have received here is morethan what I could have achievedin my hometown.

C

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

SaturdaySeptember 5, 2020

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

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

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

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

store for Prithvi.”On joining the cast Actor

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

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

Of a darker &grittier storyline!

Fitting into a dress asTamannah Bhatia

does is a dream formany. With

Celebrities sharingtheir fitness journeys

on social media, wenot only have thecuriosity to know

what they eat but alsowho helps them keep

so fit. This week inour special edition of

Hyderabond,SHIKHA

DUGGAL talks toKiran Mirchandani

Dembla, a celebrityfitness expert who

helped T- town starslike Tamannah

Bhatia, SS Rajamouli,and Anushka Shetty

get into shape!Hailing from the city

on the banks ofYamuna river - Agra,

she's a certifiedinstructor and a

terrific DJ! She sharesmore about her story

on how she ended upmaking a living in thecapital of Telangana.

‘THIS CITY ISN'TCRUEL TO BE TOUGH'

Tollywood Film Industrywon my heart. It’s agenuine love from thisindustry that gave meimmense affection andrespect elsewhere. I’mblessed to be a part ofsuch a film industry, it’sone of the finest places towork in. I am fortunate thatpeople in the industry havebeen warm and welcomingfrom day one.

S

Divya Dutta Sudhirmishra

MOBILE PHONE ETIQUETTEAMID WORK FROM HOMEt is no surprisethat owing to thelockdown andlack of outdooractivity, most ofus are struggling

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

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

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

after all. Mobilephone eti-

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

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

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

It may be noted thateveryone in the

morning

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

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

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

Any Messageposted in the

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

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

Repeated calls with-out pause shall be

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

I

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

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

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

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

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

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

movies and TVshows around theworld due to thecoronavirus.

The movie,in which

Robert starsas thecomicbook hero,

has

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

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

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

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

duction has hired twocruise ships to house

the crew to keepthem apart

from locals.

apper Yo YoHoney Singhand musicianSinghsta havecollaboratedonce again,

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

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

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

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

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

The rapper, who is

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

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

Honey Singh on whyhe launched ‘Billo tuagg' amid lockdown

10

Hyderabad Saturday September 5 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ollywood actressKangana Ranauthas thrown anopen challenge atShiv Sena MPSanjay Raut asking

her not to come back toMumbai.

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

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

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

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

BKangana's challenge:‘Coming to Mumbai on

Sep 9, stop me if you can’

R

B

Robert Pattinsontests positive forCovid, The Batmanshoot suspended

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

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

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

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

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

A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11

Hyderabad Saturday September 5 2020tollywood

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PAVAN'S FEEL-GOODROMANTIC COMEDY

T

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

Satya ecstatic withPawan's praise

hen he wishedpower starPawan Kalyanon his 49thbirthdayWednesday, little

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

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

An ecstatic Satya, who

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

W

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

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

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

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

from across regions working together,”she said.

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

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

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

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

if that character requiressomebody who will do jus-

tice, forget the region.Take the actor who

does justice to therole,” she said.

Great to havepeople fromacross regionsworkingtogether:

NIVETHA

N

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

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

Prabhaslikely tojugglesets nextyear

I

J

Ravi Tejato swinginto action

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

NAGARAJ GOUD about hisfilm, completing shoot in 36

days, theatrical experienceand more

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

PTI n NEW YORK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

finals.Slow off the blocks, Nagal

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thiem wrapped up thematch with ease even as Nagal

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

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

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

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

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

12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

AFP n STUTTGRAT

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

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

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

dramatic ending to theLeague A, Group Fourencounter.

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

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

“This team is full of faith

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

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

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

AFP n NEW YORK

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spanish 10th GarbineMuguruza.

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

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

PTI n NEW DELHI

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

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

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

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

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

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

Once Harbhajanofficially announced his

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s training environmentis second to none and the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

drance, our environ-ment is second to

none.“ T h e

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

Australia has in Perth.”Having spent the entire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

match mindset). The skills have come

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

said the South African.

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

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

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

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

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

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

SINGLES

AFP n SYDNEY

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

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

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

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

tine requirements.Many of Australia’s World Cup-

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

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

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

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

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

IANS n NEW DELHI

After three Indian wrestlers testedpositive for coronavirus at the

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

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

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

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

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

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

AFP n BARCELONA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well done

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

to Thiem, but not before impressing his rival

Mum’s the word

Djokovic vs StruffLive from 4:30 am IST

STAR SPORTS SELECT 1 & 2

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

match awareness: Rhodes Bhajji pulls out of IPL

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

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

Messi confirms he's

STAYING at BarcaWrestlers urge WFI topostpone men’s camp

WBBL to be played entirely in Sydney

Spain snatch late draw against Germany

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

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

Parents lock kids for 4months over Covid fears

Arctic fires releasedrecord amount of CO2

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

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

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

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

Frenchman tolivestream own death

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

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

Three of nine mothers in main draw reachthird round, with wins over top seeds

Plant with 4 leaves soldfor Rs 4 lakh in NZ