2PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradeshon Sunday extended till May 17 theirongoing lockdown as a large part ofthe country remained under strictcurbs due to the raging COVID pan-demic with 4,03,738 new cases and4,092 deaths recorded in a day.

Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan andPuducherry will also have a two-week shutdown starting Monday,while in Karnataka stringent restric-tions will come into effect till May24 . On Saturday, Kerala cameunder a nine-day complete lock-down. In the Northeast, Mizoramgovernment has imposed a seven-day lockdown from Monday, whileSikkim has clamped restrictions tillMay 16. Announcing the lockdownextension, Delhi Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal said althoughCOVID-19 cases and positivity ratehave come down in the last few days,any leniency would squander thegains achieved so far in the currentwave of the pandemic. Metro trainservices have been suspended andwedding ceremonies at public placesbanned during the period. In UttarPradesh, the curfew was earlierscheduled to end at 7 AM onMonday .

"The corona curfew imposed inthe state is giving positive results, andit is helping in breaking the chain ofCOVID infection. The number ofactive COVID-19 cases is registeringa decline. In this scenario, it has beendecided to extend the corona curfewtill 7 am on May 17 (Monday),"Additional Chief Secretary(Information) Navneet Sehgal said.Haryana Health Minister Anil Vijannounced the lockdown extensionand said that stringent measures willbe taken to contain the spread ofcoronavirus infections in the state.

HYDERABAD, MONDAY MAY 10, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 200*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8EARNINGS, UPDATES, MACRO

DATA TO GUIDE MKT SENTIMENT

ANALYSIS 7TIME TO REVIEW PUBLIC

HEALTH INSURANCE

SPORTS 12DRAVID PREDICTS 3-2 WIN FOR INDIA IN ENG

}{

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADDWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated may 9, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly sunnyTTeemmpp:: 34HHuummiiddiittyy:: 58%SSuunnrriissee:: 05:46 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:39 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Chaitra & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Chaturdashi: 09:54 pm

Nakshatram : Ashwini: 08:25 pm

Time to Avoid : (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam : 07:25 am – 09:01 am

Yamagandam : 10:36 am – 12:12 pm

Varjyam : 03:56 pm – 05:43 pm

Gulika : 01:48 pm - 03:24 pm

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 12:20 pm – 02:08 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 12:20 pm – 02:08 pm

2

Page 11

NITHIIN'S NEXT WITH

VAKKANTAMVAMSI

3

Punjab is being run bythe ‘Badals’, instead

of Congress

5

India's power con-sumption up by nearly

25% in first week...

8

Fruits prices increasemanifold in

Gaddiannaram fruit...

‘AFTER CITIES, VILLAGES IN GOD'SHANDS NOW’: RAHUL ON COVID SURGE

As the second wave of the COVID-19pandemic is now spreading fast inrural areas, Senior Congress leader

Rahul Gandhi today said that not onlycities, villages too are also left at themercy of God. Taking to Twitter, theCongress leader also cited a media reportabout the rapid surge in COVID-19 casesin Indian villages. He has repeatedlycriticised the centre and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for the handling of the COVID-19pandemic. He suggested four points to the union governmentto control the spread of the virus."After cities, villages are alsodependent on God (Parmatma Nirbhar) now," tweeted Rahul.

HIMANTA BISWA TO BE NEXT ASSAMCM, SWEARING IN LIKELY TODAY

North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA)convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma is all setto become Assam's next Chief Minister

after being elected unanimously as theleader of the BJP Legislature Party andsubsequently as the NDA Legislature Partyon Sunday, central observer and UnionAgricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomarsaid. Ending speculations on who wouldoccupy the top post as both Sarma and outgoingchief minister Sarbananda Sonowal were contenders,the powerful NEDA convenor was elected as the legislature partyleader, a week after the ruling alliance won the assembly electionswith a clear majority for the second successive term.

HERO MOTOCORP EXTENDS SHUTDOWNAT ITS PLANTS DUE TO PANDEMIC

India's largest motorbike maker, HeroMotoCorp Ltd , extended ashutdown at its manufacturing

facilities across India till May 16, aday after Maruti Suzuki India Ltdannounced a similar move, citingthe COVID-19 pandemic. Hero'sdecision was made to ensure safetyof its workforce and to break the viruschain, the company said in a statementon Sunday. Hero MotoCorp had suspendedits manufacturing operations in April. India's largestcarmaker, Maruti, on Saturday extended a plannedmaintenance shutdown until May 16.

FM RULES OUT GST WAIVER ON COVIDVACCINES, SAYS IT’S COSTLY AFFAIR

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman onSunday virtually ruled out exemptingCovid vaccines, medicines and oxygen

concentrators from GST, saying such anexemption will make the lifesaving itemscostlier for consumers as manufacturerswill not be able to offset the taxes paid oninputs. Currently, domestic supplies andcommercial imports of vaccines attract a 5per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST), whileCOVID drugs and oxygen concentrators attract a 12per cent levy. Congress working president Sonia Gandhi had last monthdemanded that all life-saving drugs, equipment and instrumentsrequired to treat Covid-19 patients must be exempted from GST.

Jagan silences many with barb at SorenPNS n HYDERABAD

Is there any political strategybehind Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy's reaction toJharkhand Chief Minister HemantSoren’s outburst over PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s tele-phone call?

Political observers feel that Jaganhad more than just the PrimeMinister’s image in mind when hecountered Soren’s tweet againstModi. Jagan requested Soren “not toindulge in politics that would only

weaken our nation…” but instead"come together and strength-en the Centre's pandemicresponse…”

The Chief Ministerwas responding toSoren’s tweet inHindi in which hesaid: “Today, respect-ed Prime Ministercalled. He only spoke his"Mann Ki Baat". It wouldhave been better if he would havetalked business and listened to theissues.”

With this statement, it appearsthat Jagan indirectly warned the

opposition parties, which areattacking his government,

not to politicise Covid-19.Through his statement,Jagan has also put a checkon the opposition parties,particularly on Telugu

Desam Party nationalpresident N Chandrababu

Naidu, while remaining in thegood books of Modi.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In line with the Centre's decisionsto augment human resourcesdeployed in fighting COVID-19,Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao on Sunday decided to inviteapplications from 50,000-odd med-ical students who have completedMBBS and are otherwise qualified

to offer their services to helpreduce the burden on the StateMedical and Health staff who areamong the frontline warriors in thefight against the pandemic.

As part of the exercise, the ChiefMinister held a high-level review atPragathi Bhavan here on the Covidsituation in the state. KCR instruct-ed the medical and health officers to

also appoint, for two to threemonths, doctors, nurses, lab techni-cians, pharmacists and other para-medical staff immediately and utilisetheir services for Corona treatment.

On Monday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi approved a num-ber of measures,

ANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

There is no space left in theAmberpet burial ground for thedead, residents of the localitybemoan. There is only one grave-yard for Muslims and that too isfull now, they say.

Residents have been requestingthe authorities for quite sometime to give them an additionalpiece of land for burying thedead.

Finding a final resting place fora departed is becoming a big taskfor Muslim families in the city,with administrators of severalburial grounds used by Muslimsrefusing permission due to lack ofspace. Given the raging secondwave of COVID-19, the number

of deaths has also been on the rise.During the first wave of the

pandemic last year, city residentswere not allowed to bury thebodies of COVID victims due to

safety protocols and because of thestigma associated with it .However, this year families aredesperately looking for burialgrounds to bury the bodies of

those died of Covid. The familymembers of Amberpet residentsare now forced to bury the deadon the sites of existing graves dueto lack of space in the burialground at Amberpet.

Shaik Salauddin, a social activistand resident of Amberpet, said:"There is only the Karabagh grave-yard for Muslims in Amberpetand it is already full. It was allot-ted during the time of the Nizamsand for the last 15 years the con-cerned authorities have beenpromising that they will provideus space for a graveyard. Manyelections are over, but we are yetto get a new graveyard for theMuslim community in theAmberpet area. Muslims inAmberpet are suffering due to lackof space and families need to sub-

mit identity proof and recommen-dations from mosque committeesto get space in the local graveyardsand also the dead must be locals".

He adds, "Muslims living inAmberpet area have been suffer-ing for many years to bury thedead alongside the graves of theirfamily members. Now they arestruggling even more because ofincreased deaths in COVID-19second wave. It is the responsibil-ity of the local leaders to providespace for burials as they are prom-ising us the same during everyelection. Even then it is of no useas the situation has been the samefor the last 15 years. Residents areforced to bury the dead amongtheir loved ones in the alreadyexisting graves due to lack ofspace. We have no other option."

Lockdown extended in Delhi,UP, Haryana till May 17

Comes into effect inTamil Nadu, Raj,Mizoram today

Bengal Guvsanctions CBIprosecution oftop TMC leadersPNS n KOLKATA

Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar, on a request by the CBI,sanctioned the prosecution ofFirhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee,Madan Mitra and SovanChatterjee, all of them ministersduring the time of the alleged com-mission of a crime that came tolight in the purported Naradasting tapes, a Raj Bhavan officialsaid on Sunday. "Governor is thecompetent authority to accordsanction in terms of law as he hap-pens to be the appointing author-ity for such ministers,

Chinese scientistsdiscussed weaponisingCovid in 2015: ReportPNS n BEIJING

A document written by Chinesescientists and health officials beforethe pandemic in 2015 states thatSARS coronaviruses were a "newera of genetic weapons" that couldbe "artificially manipulated into anemerging human disease virus,then weaponised and unleashed,reported Weekend Australian.

The paper titled The UnnaturalOrigin of SARS and New Speciesof Man-Made Viruses as GeneticBioweapons suggested that WorldWar Three would be fought withbiological weapons. The docu-ment revealed that Chinese mili-tary scientists were discussing theweaponisation of SARS coron-aviruses five years before theCOVID-19 pandemic. The reportby Weekend Australian was pub-lished in news.com.au.

Peter Jennings, the executive

director of the Australian StrategicPolicy Institute (ASPI), toldnews.com.au that the document isas close to a "smoking gun" as we'vegot. "I think this is significantbecause it clearly shows thatChinese scientists were thinkingabout military application for dif-ferent strains of the coronavirusand thinking about how it could bedeployed," Jennings said.

Talks for national alliance ofoppn parties to start soon: RautPNS n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut onSunday said that talks for the forma-tion of an alliance of opposition par-ties at the national level will start ina few days, and he has discussed theissue with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

He also said that Congress will bethe soul of such an alliance.

"There is a need to have a strongalliance of opposition parties in thecountry. But there can't be analliance without the Congress party.Itwill be the soul.

Leadership can be decidedthrough consultations," Raut toldreporters. "The Maha Vikas aghadi(MVA) in Maharashtra was formedafter three ideologically different par-ties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress)

came together and the leadershipwas unanimously given to UddhavThackeray. This is an ideal alliance,which is working fine," he said.

The Congress has done well inAssam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in

the recent Assembly elections. Butit did not win a single seat in WestBengal and this is not good. Theparty needs to be strengthened fur-ther, he said. The Congress is a pan-India party, whether in govern-ment or in opposition, he said.

"I discussed these issues with NCPpresident Sharad Pawar, but since heis indisposed, he is in Mumbai.Talks of forming an alliance of oppo-sition parties will start in a few days,"the Sena's Rajya Sabha member said.Replying to questions on Leader ofOpposition Devendra Fadnavis crit-icising the Maharashtra governmenton its handling of Covid pandemic,Raut said Prime Minister NarendraModi has responded to Fadnavis'sallegations by saying that the state wasdoing well.

AP govt opens war roomsfor smooth oxygensupply to hospitalsPNS n AMARAVATI

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment has opened a State OxygenWar Room (SOWR) to ensureseamless management of oxygensupply to all districts and there-after to hospitals for treatment ofcritical Covid patients. A DistrictOxygen War Room has alsobeen established in each of the 13districts for the purpose. TheCentre has allotted 590 tonnes ofoxygen supplies to AP. While thecurrent consumption is about500 tonnes, the demand isexpected to go up further and,accordingly, the state requestedthe Centre to increase the allo-cation to 1,000 tonnes.

TS to draft 50K medicalstudents for Covid duty

PM appreciates CMP

rime Minister Narendra Modispoke to Chief Minister K

Chandrasekhar over phone onSunday, soon after the latter'sreview at Pragati Bhavan. The PMinformed the CM that Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan had briefedhim about the suggestions givenby the CM. "Your suggestions aregood and we will implement them.I thank you for the goodsuggestions," Modi told KCR. TheCM had urged the PM to supplymore oxygen and Remdesivirinjections to the State. The PMresponded positively to the CM'srequest and assured him ofimmediate action on the requests.

Debris fromChina's

disintegratingrocket fallsinto Indian

Ocean

P2

2

2

No space in Amberpet graveyard now

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

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

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

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021

Monday MirchiBabus’ ‘Delhi connections’

The federal spirit of the Constitution is moretalked about than followed in the country thesedays. Thanks to the camaraderie among babusin Telangana State, including those who are ondeputation to the Centre, things are movingagainst odds. Babus who have good rapport withtheir counterparts on deputation with variousCentral government departments are apparent-ly helping the state get resources. Over the pasttwo weeks, these babus with ‘Delhi connections’have become the most familiar faces among thosehandling the pandemic in Telangana. All thisis happening at a time when netas, in the absenceof polls, have once again become idd ka chandh.A senior official in the Health Department saidthat for procuring drugs, vaccines, testing kitset al, state IAS officers had to use their person-al relationship with their counterparts at theCentre. A senior official didn't mince words topoint out that today, behind every resourceobtained from the Centre in connection with thepandemic, there is an IAS officer. About 20 suchsenior IAS officers are reportedly workingbehind the scenes to obtain and manage Covid-related resources and supplies from the Centre.This significant contribution of babus wasacknowledged by both Chief Secretary SomeshKumar and Director of Health Dr G SrinivasaRao during their recent press conferences.

CS Somesh Kumar said:"There are three IASofficers (apart from CS) -- one local, one out-side and other officer-- working on regulatoryframework for sourcing things, transport andhealth secretaries and then there is an IAS offi-cer for each task like sourcing medicines etc.including Sandeep Sultania and Jayesh Ranjan".

With the country battling a devastating sec-ond wave of Covid, members of the elite civil ser-vice have not been immune to the crisis.According to Somesh Kumar (who has recov-ered from Covid), everybody has been workingvery hard, including officers who have tested pos-itive for Covid-19 or have got a stent in theirheart. Collectors with a positive bent of mind areworking without a break.

That apart, many IAS officers are going toGovernment hospitals for treatment, settingexamples for people. “Due to privacy issues, weare not revealing their names. Some are inNIMS,” he said. The DPH put it with surgicalprecision: “If you are getting oxygen orRemedesivir, beds, human resources in time, thecredit goes to these IAS officers”.

No longer under cloud

Bureaucrats who were under a cloud in oneregime can always shine in another. Senior IASofficer Adityanath Das who was made the ChiefSecretary faced troubles after YS RajasekharReddy’s untimely death. His name was includ-ed in CBI cases and his allotment to Telanganacadre was denied. After so many hardships, hewas made Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradeshand he is due to retire next month. However,Jagan has decided to write to the Centre, recom-mending further extension of 6 months afterretirement to Adityanath Das. Though severalforces tried their best to stop the extension toAdithya, CM YS Jagan is particular about rec-

ommending his extension. A little bird told usthat he even gave a piece of his mind to seniorofficials who tried to delay the letter from thestate government to the Department of Personneland Training till last minute. Those who are closeto the CM are lauding him for his respect for theAdithya, who has faced serious hardships in hiscareer just because he released a G.O. allottingwater to India Cements.

Inquiry at incredible speed

The alacrity with which the State machinery‘nailed’ the ‘accused’ in the allegations relating toencroachments on assigned lands and templelands in Atchampet and Devaryamjal villagesrespectively has made one thing clear: the gov-ernment, if it wants, can work at breakneck speed.The Medak District Collector, ACB officials couldproduce a preliminary enquiry report in 24 hoursflat, after ‘probing’ allegations of encroachmenton assigned lands in Atchampet. Coincidentally,the hungama that started with hyped mediareports was good enough to strip a Minister ofhis post and later his Cabinet berth itself. It is adifferent matter that the High Court has rappedthe State government as officials did not followrules in conducting the ‘inquiries’ and has soughta fresh report based on proper proceedings.

The entire episode makes one wonder why thegovernment, which could act with remarkablespeed on a complaint that eight farmers madeto the Chief Minister, cannot respond in a rea-sonable, if not similar, manner to the complaintsthat thousands of farmers have lodged over thelast two years regarding errors that had crept intotheir pattadar passbooks after ‘purification’ ofland records. These are errors that have beentransmitted by default to the much-toutedDharani portal. They include simple ones likethose pertaining to name, sex of the applicantas well as serious ones like reduction in the extentof their agricultural landholdings. A cynicasked: “Should all of them complain to CMdirectly to get things done?”

Long wait for a short while in CMO

Unpredictable are the ways of AP ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy when it comesto assigning subjects to babus or stripping themof their powers. Some babus who fall from hisgrace await posting for too long only to be easedout the moment they feel 'settled' in their newposting. After almost a year of being divested ofall his powers in CMO, retired IAS officer JMurali finally got a new posting. In no time, hewas eased out of the CMO. Murali, who hadbeen posted as Director, State Institute of RuralDevelopment (SIRD), was among the threeretired bureaucrats (Ajeya Kallam and PVRamesh are the others) who were stripped of alltheir powers in CMO last July. These had beengiven important subjects in CMO when Jagancame to power in May 2019. A year later, Jagansidelined them and allocated their subjects toPraveen Prakash, Solomon Arokiaraj and KDhananjaya Reddy. PV Ramesh then resigned.Ajeya Kallam, while continuing as a principaladvisor, is not seen much these days. Hopefully,Murali's sinecure ended respectably.

- Yours truly The major global marketsremained volatile dur-ing the week ended

Saturday due to prevailingdeadlock-like situation oncontentious issues amongUSA, Russia and China. India,which is otherwise capable ofplaying the role of a mediator,has been unfortunately tiedup with internal problems,including Covid-19 pandem-ic and communal frenzy inWest Bengal.

Consequently, New Yorkgold closed at US $ 1,830.70(per ounce), after crossing thepsychological barrier of $1,800, while silver closed at $27.43 (per ounce). Platinumand palladium closed at $1,247 (per ounce) and $ 2,830(per ounce) respectively.

Other economic parame-ters remained moderate. Brentclosed at US$ 68.28 (per bar-rel), while Crude MCX oilwas quoted at Rs.4,760(per barrel). While GoldMCX stood atRs.47,760 (per 10gms), MCX Silverappreciated andclosed atRs.71,500(per kg),C o p p e rMCX closed at Rs.786.15 (perkg). Sensex and Nifty 50closed at

49206.47 and 14823.15points respectively.

Leading foreign currencies’exchange rates were, US $:Rs.73.25, British Pound:Rs.102.37, Euro: Rs.89.10,

Singapore $: Rs.55.30, SwissFranc: Rs.81.34, Australian $:Rs.57.47, Saudi Riyal: Rs.19.53,New Zealand Dollar: Rs.53.30,Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs.243.24,Omani Rial: Rs.102.27 and

UAE Dirham: Rs.19.94,Japanese Yen: Rs.0.67

and Hong KongDollar: Rs.9.43. In

local markets,standard gold(24 carats)appreciated by

Rs.1,110 and closed atRs.48,660 (per 10 gms).Ornamental gold too followedsuit, and was quoted in the

range of Rs.44,550–44,600on the closing day. Silver(0.999) too appreciated byRs.2,000 and closed atRs.76,100 (per kg).

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in principal

wholesale commodity marketsin the twin cities was strong.Rythu Bazars and the variouscommodity markets locatedin Begum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir Alam Mandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally and General Bazarrecorded moderate trading.

During the week, commonpulses such as tuar dal,masoor dal, moong dal andurad dal and commodities likechillies and garlic recorded amarginal increase, while sta-ple foodgrains and commonedible recorded a negligibledecline.

Due to Covid-19 restric-

tions, major commodity mar-kets are almost closed.Turmeric farmers are theworst hit lot since traders arenot able to lift the crop.Consequently, some farmershave begun selling the pro-duce direct to traders by offer-ing lower rates.

Common vegetables suchas cabbage, cauliflower, ribbedgourd, snake gourd, lady’sfinger, cucumber, potatoes,onions, tomatoes, Frenchbeans and leafy vegetablesremained unchanged.

The NECC wholesale priceof egg in Hyderabad appreci-ated by Rs.51 and closed atRs.418 (per 100). The highestprice of Rs.500 was recordedat Ranchi, while Hospetrecorded the lowest of Rs.385.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

n HC UPADHYAY

The ongoing mayhem andbloodbath in the aftermath ofthe Assembly elections inWest Bengal have beenunprecedented in the history ofIndependent India. It would befoolish to term the violentincidents as sporadic, naturalsparks of anguish by thevictorious Trinamool Congress(TMC) party or mere aberra-tions of law. It would also befoolish to term the bloodyincidents as an outcome of par-tisan politics. In the frenzy,apparently political workers ofHindu religious faith, irrespec-tive of their party affiliations,have been killed. It is not justa coincidence that only Hindushave been killed, looted, orraped; it is certainly the resultof meticulous planning.

The West Bengal has been ahot-bed of infiltrators fromBangladesh andMyanmar.Over the past four decades, alarge number of Bangladeshis,mostly Muslims, have illegallymigrated and settled in the bor-der states of West Bengal andAssam. That is why today, theWest Bengal has over 30%

Muslim voters, while about65% are the Hindu voters andthe remaining 5% the voters ofother faiths. Even among 65%of the

Hindu voters, there are atleast 5% of voters who have ille-gally entered the state of WestBengal from Bangladesh.

For such a sorry state ofaffairs, both the central aswell as state governments inthe

last 40 years have to beblamed. It was at theinstance of the suc-cessive governmentsthat the illegalmigrants were givenfood, shelter, educa-tion and even citi-zenship with an eyeon their votes duringelections at all levels.

So, the Assemblyresults of West Bengal do notcome as a surprise. It is the quidpro quo between the illegalmigrants and the ruling partiesnamely, the Communists forfirst 30 years and the TMCthereafter were responsible fortilting the balance in favour ofthe ruling parties at the state.

But the story does not endthere. The vast majority of

Muslim migrants have in factcome with an internationalagenda of Pan-Islamisation.By dint of sheer numbers theyaim at creating Gazwa-e-Hindor Islamic rule in the country.As a part of this nefariousdesign, several internationalorganizations of Muslims,

including jihadi groups, pro-vide necessary where-withal to such local infil-trators. When Communist

rule was there in WestBengal, the

Muslims notonly used to

vote en bloc in theirfavour, but also

extended support ofmen, money, and mater-ial to win the elections.Now that TMC has beenruling for a decade, it hasbeen the recipient of full

strategic and logistic supportfrom the Muslim voters. Toprove this point, the latestAssembly results are enough.The TMC has been voted enbloc by the ‘united’ Muslimvote bank, while the Hinduvote has been divided betweenthe TMC and the BJP. Thisarithmetic of polarization iswell- known to all political

pundits.Considering this scenario

in the light of our past experi-ence of Jammu and Kashmir,where the majority Muslimcommunity not only capturedpolitical power, but also subse-quently persecuted the minor-ity Kashmiri Hindus who wereeventually subjected to masskillings and rapes and were dri-ven out of their hearths andhomes to save their life; thereis an urgent need to take strin-gent action to avoid the repe-tition of the same in WestBengal. One sure way is tobring in the ConstitutionalAmendment to remove thenasty word ‘secular’ from thepreamble and insert clearly inits place the words to mean thatIndia is a Hindu Rashtra andminorities shall be protected bythe state only if they remained‘loyal’ to the country by adher-ing to the Rule of Law.

Now the time is running out.To start with, let there bePresident’s rule in West Bengaland have a crackdown on jiha-di elements who indulge inkilling, rioting and rape.

The next step should be toround up all anti-Hindu ele-ments and promulgate a pres-

idential Ordinance givingimmediate effect to the above-mentioned ConstitutionAmendment. Let the fightagainst Covid-19 pandemictake the back seat; but accordpriority to the exercise ofcleansing the Jihadi, terroristand anti-national filth.

SC blow to Maratha reser-vation

In a landmark judgment,the apex court has held by 3:2majority that the 102 ndConstitution Amendment hascut short the powers of Statesto identify “Socially andEducationally BackwardClasses (SEBCs).” The Courtheld that, after the enactmentof Articles 338B and 342A tothe Constitution, the final saywith regard to inclusion, exclu-sion or modification of lists ofSEBCs is with the Presidentand with Parliament.

However, the apex courtobserved that the States canthrough their existing mecha-nism or even StatutoryCommissions only make sug-gestions to the President or the

Commission under Article338B for effecting any changesin the said list.

The 569-page judgmentdelivered in Dr. JaishreeLaxman Rao Patil V/s ChiefMinister of Maharashtra& Others has deflated theMaharashtra Government’s tallclaim of providing reservationto the Maratha communityobserving that the State, bydoing so, crossed the limit ofoverall 50% reservations.

DM in the soupA Division Bench compris-

ing Chief Justice Akil Kureshiand Jusitce SG Chattopadhyayof the Tripura High Courtgave the green light to the gov-ernment on May 6, to go aheadwith the inquiry against theDistrict Magistrate of Agartalawhose video had gone viral inrelation to an incident where-in a marriage function wasstopped midway by the saidDM and his team.

Earlier, the bench had issueda bunch of interim directions,including shifting of the DMout of Agartala, after having aprima facie view that it wouldbe necessary to do so “in orderto conduct a fact-findingenquiry regarding the incidentand the role played by the DM.”In compliance, the concerned

DM was suspended by thegovernment till further orders.

Indeed, it is unfortunate thatthe District Magistrate haslanded in the soup for havingperformed his lawful duties,albeit with little more vigour.Both the function hall ownersas well as the marriage partyorganizers had knowingly anddeliberately flouted Section141 IPC read with Section 144Cr.P.C which specifically pro-hibited the assembly of morethan 5 persons. FurtherCOVID-19 protocol, whichincludes wearing of mask, san-itization and social distancingtoo, was conveniently given thego-by.

However, the way in whichthe law-enforcing agenciesdealt with the incident, was tosay the least, barbarous. TheDM, being a person occupy-ing a coveted post, ought tohave behaved in a dignifiedmanner and shown somerestraint. The High Court,therefore, rightly brushedaside the police version thatthe marriage party was takento the police station to providetransport to the attendees asit was curfew time. Nothingwould have prevented the

police and DM to arrange thetransport for the marriageparty right from the functionvenue.

Malawi apex court termsmandatory death penaltyunconstitutional

In a judgment delivered bythe Supreme Court of Malawion April 28, the mandatorydeath penalty has been inter-preted as the maximum pun-ishment of imprisonment andnot necessarily the deathpenalty. In Charles Khoviwavs The Republic MSCA, theapex court of this SouthEastern African Country,while holding that “the Courtbelow erred in not accordingthe appellant a sentencerehearing on the basis that theappellant had earlier appealedto SC of appeal as the decisionof the Supreme Courtofappeal on the death sentencewas decided per incuriamsince at the time of entertain-ment of the appeal on deathpenalty there was no validdeath penalty at all against theappellant, the same havingbeen declared unconstitution-al and hence void ab initio.”The appellant in this case,along with another, wascharged with the offence ofmurder and awarded manda-tory sentence of death u/s 210of Penal Code.

LEGAL

ROUNDUP

Can’t afford to ignore the writing on the wall!

Major global markets volatile

SNCN ACHARYULU

n HYDERABAD

Change in the national politicsafter the results of West BengalAssembly elections may affectthe Federal Front proposed byTelangana Chief Minister andTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) President KChandrasekhar Rao. Massivevictory of Trinamool Congressin West Bengal in spite ofBharatiya Janata Party ( BJP)marshaling all its resources ,pumping huge money madeMamata Banerjee as a crucialleader in the national politicsparticularly among anti- BJPpolitical parties.

The partners of UnitedProgressive alliance (UPA),including one section ofCongress are demanding tomake Mamata Banerjee asChairperson of UPA in place ofSonia Gandhi to fight with BJPin the next Lok Sabha elections.The Telangana Chief MinisterKCR's proposed Federal Frontis against BJP and Congress. Inthe anti-BJP forces apart from

Congress the Telangana RashtraSamithi ( TRS) ,TrinamoolCongress (TMC), NationalistCongress party ( NCP), DMK,Janata Dal (Secular), Biju JanataDal (BJD), Samajwadi Party(SP), Bahujana Samaj Party(BSP), may play key roles.Among all these parties, exceptTRS, remaining parties areready to have alliance withCongress. YSR Congress Partyis against Congress and has softcorner towards BJP.

To lead the anti-BJP forces at

national level at present onlythree leaders are capable accord-ing to political circles. TelanganaChief Minister KCR, WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and former ChiefMinister and NCP PresidentSharad Pawar. Among thesethree leaders Sharad Pawar andMamata are ready to sail withcongress. Telangana CM KCR isalso depending on the DMK,Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal( Secular), Biju Janata Dal for hisproposed Federal Front. If all

these parties back the UPAthere will be no party for KCR's Federal Front. He then has tochoose to support UPA or NDAheaded by BJP. If MamataBanerjee is made UPAChairperson then KCR mayhave no objection to supportUPA. YSR Congress Presidentand AP Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy is at presentharbouring soft corner towardsBJP. However, he may be readyto support UPA if it promises togrant Special Category Status toAP.

It may be recalled thatMamata Banerjee during theWest Bengal Assembly elec-tions said, "I will win WestBengal with one step and Delhiwith two legs". MeanwhileSharad Pawar also said recent-ly that there was a need for thirdfront and CPM leader SitaramYechury also stated the need ofthe third front. The poor showin the local body elections byBJP where it is in power -Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh -has boosted the hopes of anti-BJP forces.

Will CM KCR's FederalFront become a reality?

TS to draft 50K medical students...Continued from page 1

Including postponement ofthe NEET-PG for at least fourmonths to make a large num-ber of qualified doctors avail-able for pandemic duty andpress into service medicalinterns. According to a state-ment issued later by the PMO,the services of final year MBBSstudents can also be utilised forproviding services like telecon-sultation and monitoring ofmild COVID cases after dueorientation under the faculty'ssupervision.

KCR said that these tempo-rary employees should be paidrespectable salaries and sincethey were extending valuable

services for the state, theirservices should be suitablyrecognised. In future their ser-vices should be given weigh-tage when they are appointedto government posts. The CMurged young doctors to comeforward to serve people whoare facing a difficult situation.He said those interested couldapply online by logging intohttps://odls.telangana.gov.in/medicalrecruitment/Home.aspx.The CM urged qualified nurs-es, pharmacists, lab techni-cians, and paramedics also tocome forward and offer theirservices.

Super specialty hospitals atWarangal and Adilabad

The state government has

decided to launch super spe-cialty hospitals at Warangal andAdilabad immediately andappoint medical and healthstaff there. KCR instructedthat the 250-bed super special-ty hospital of MGM onKakatiya Medical Collegepremises, Warangal and the250-bed super specialty hospi-tal at RIMS Adilabad shouldbecome operational immedi-ately.

The Chief Minister askedPrincipal Secretary (Finance)Ramakrishna Rao to immedi-ately release Rs 28 crore, Rs 8Crore under PMSSY for thesuper specialty hospital atMGM, Rs 20 crore for thesuper specialty hospital at

RIMS in Adilabad immediate-ly. He instructed the officialsconcerned to immediately takemeasures to appoint 363 staffmembers at the super special-ty hospital in Warangal and366 staff members at the superspecialty hospital at RIMS,Adilabad. He asked officials totake immediate action forrecruitment of 729 personnel.

During the review, the ChiefMinister enquired about theavailability of oxygen, beds,Remdesivir injections andother facilities. The Medicaland Health Dept officials toldthe CM that there was noshortage of oxygen supply andthat Remdesivir injections wereavailable in the state.

Bengal Guv...Continued from page 1

In terms of Article 164 of theConstitution," a statementissued by the officer on specialduty (communication), RajBhavan, said. All four wereministers in the MamataBanerjee cabinet when thetapes were allegedly made in2014. Hakim, Mukherjee andMitra have been re-elected asTMC MLAs in the just-con-cluded assembly elections,while Chatterjee, who left theTMC to join the BJP, has sev-ered links with both thecamps.

Jagan silences...Continued from page 1

Except for some BJP ChiefMinisters, no other ChiefMinister, including KCR react-ed to Soren’s comments on thePrime Minister. In AndhraPradesh the Telugu DesamParty, BJP and other oppositionparties are criticising Jaganand his govt every day on thesecond wave of Covid. In hisreaction to Soren, Jagan said:“In this war against Covid,these are the times not to pointfingers at but to come togeth-er and strengthen the hands ofour Prime Minister to effective-ly combat the pandemic".

Chinese scientistsdiscussed...Continued from page 1

"It begins to firm up the pos-sibility that what we have hereis the accidental release of apathogen for military use,"Jennings added. He also saidthat the document mayexplain why China has been soreluctant for outside investiga-tions into the origins of Covid.

"If this was a case of trans-mission from a wet marketit would be in China's inter-est to co-operate ... we'vehad the opposite of that."

Debris fromChina'sdisintegratingrocket falls intoIndian OceanPNS n BEIJING

The remnants of an out ofcontrol and China's biggestrocket re-entered the Earth'satmosphere with most of itsparts burned up and disinte-grated over the Indian Oceannear the Maldives, the coun-try's space agency said onSunday, ending days offevered speculation overwhere the debris would hit.

The remnants of China'sLong March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth's atmos-phere at 10.24 am Beijingtime and fell into an open seaarea at 72.47 degrees eastlongitude and 2.65 degreesnorth latitude, China'sManned Space EngineeringOffice said.

The coordinates put thesplash down in the IndianOcean, close to the Maldives,Hong-Kong based SouthChina Mornig Post reported,adding that most the rem-nants burned up during there-entry. US and Europeantracking sites had been mon-itoring the uncontrolled fallof the rocket. Monitoringservice Space-Track, whichuses US military data, alsoconfirmed the re-entry.

"Everyone else followingthe LongMarch5B re-entrycan relax. The rocket isdown," it said.

"@18SPCS confirms thatCZ-5B (LongMarch5B)(48275 / 2021-035B) reen-tered atmosphere 9 May at0214Z and fell into theIndian ocean north of theMaldives at lat 22.2, long50.0. That's all we have onthis re-entry; thanks for thewild ride," it said.

The US Space commandconfirmed the re-entry intothe atmosphere of the rock-et over the Arabian peninsu-la, but said it was unknownif the debris had hit land orwater.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021hyderabad 03

Foreign students seekingadmissions into various UG,PG, PG Diploma and PhD

programmes and diploma coursein English in Osmania University(OU) for the academic year 2021-22 can apply either online oroffline. The OU has recentlyissued a notification invitingapplications from foreignnationals for admissions into various programmes. The UGprogrammes being offered by the university include BA, BSc, BCom,BSW, BCA, BBA, BFA (Photography), BH&CT, BCT&CA, BFA(Applied Arts), BFA (Painting), BA-LLB, BBA-LLB, LLB (three-yeardegree course). Similarly, courses being offered at the PG levelinclude MA, MSc, MCom, MSW, BEd, MEd, MPEd, MLiSc, MA(Journalism & Mass Communication), LLM and MCA. Eligiblestudents are also given admissions into PhD programmes.

The Chief Ministers ofAndhra Pradesh andTelangana, conveyed their

greetings on the occasion ofMother's Day on Sunday.Tweeting in Telugu, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy said,"Nothing equals a mother'slove. The encouragement,courage, and inspiration amother gives, is invaluable. Salutations to the mothers whosymbolise love and sacrifice". His Telangana counterpart, KChandrasekhar Rao, in his tweet, noted that a mother's love issublime and pure, and said that our good qualities, such aspatience, love, sacrifice are imbibed from them. He also said thatmothers play a key role in the growth of every person. TheTelangana Chief Minister also said that several welfare schemesrolled out for the benefit of mothers, by the state government, areproving to be role models for the country.

Govt's schemes for moms arerole models for country: KCR

Anine-year-old Covid positive child,who sustained burn injuries afteraccidentally spilling hot water while

trying steam inhalation, was treated bydoctors at Continental Hospitals. The boywas rushed to the hospital with burnsand tests revealed that he was Covidpositive and 25 per cent of his body,especially the lower limbs, had received burn injuries. The doctorssaid that the mother of the child had also tested positive. The childwas admitted in the hospital's Paediatric Intensive care unit (PICU)and collagen dressing for burns was taken-up. The treatment forCovid was provided through IV medications and vacuum dressingwas applied for faster healing. After two-weeks of treatment, thechild and his mother have recovered and will be discharged,doctors said. "Steam inhalation is a home remedy for common cold,cough and upper respiratory tract infections. If steam inhalation isgiven to a child, it should be done under the supervision of eldersand with all the precautions to prevent spillage of hot water," DrAnjul Dayal, senior paediatrician and paediatric intensivist said.

As part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Nehru Zoological Park isorganising programmes focusing on Indian SpottedChevrotain/ Mouse Deer (Moschiola indica) from May 10 to 16.

An expert talk will be held on Conservation Breeding of Mouse Deerin Nehru Zoological Park, by Dr G Umapathy, Senior PrincipalScientist, LaCONES, CCMB and the Central Zoo Authority of India,will be hosting a live stream on their Facebook Channel. The zoo willalso host a painting competition on the topic "Portrait paint of aMouse Deer" apart from a short movie on Mouse Deer, a webinarwith Dr A J T Johnsingh and V V L Subhadra Devi, a press releasesaid. A poster exhibition and plantation of wild fruit trees in zoopremises for frugivorous birds and animals and a talk on breedingbiology, enrichment and reintroduction of Mouse Deer at the parkalong with a quiz competition are also lined up. Those interested intaking part in the painting and quiz competition can send theirentries via email, on awarnesnehruzoologicalpark@gmail.com orcontact the zoo at 040-24477355 for further details.

Week-long Independence celebrations at Nehru zoo

CITY LIGHTS

After the citizens made several appeals to the Municipal Administration Department to restorethe Tipu Khan Bridge at Langer Houz, Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration Arvind

Kumar assured to give a facelift to the bridge. Nawab Tipu Khan Bahadur constructed thebridge on the 'Sangam' of rivers Musi and Eisa, with his own money for public utility. It waslater extended by the state government. Over the years, the bridge facilitated both travel and

trade. The bridge is now in a state of neglect with no cleanliness and outgrown all over it. Lackof illumination is even causing accidents and making the area under the bridge a den for drugaddicts and other wayward elements and the name plate mentioning detailed information about

the Bridge is missing.

ALL SET FOR FACELIFT

PNS n HYDERABAD

Eleven persons includingthree children were serious-ly injured in a road accidenton National Highway 65 atTirumalgiri of Chivvemlamandal in the district onSaturday night.

The incident has takenplace when a SUV in whichthey were traveling hit acrash barrier set up on theroad after hitting a bullock.About 10 persons includingseven adults and three chil-dren were travelling in thevehicle at the time of the inci-dent. They were going toJangareddygudem of EastGodavari district in AP fromHyderabad to attend thefuneral rites of a relativethere, but met with the acci-dent on the way. The victimsbelong to two families, whowere residing in SumithraNagar of Kukatpally inHyderabad. Learning aboutthe incident, Suryapet policerushed to the spot and shift-ed the injured to GovernmentGeneral Hospital at Suryapetfor treatment.

11 persons hurt as vehicle rams into road barrier

PNS n HYDERABAD

The third Oxygen Expressstarted from Sanathnagar NewGoods Complex, here onSunday.

The Oxygen Express con-taining five tankers has left forMBMB siding Angul inOdisha, where the emptytankers will be filled withLiquid Medical Oxygen.

As part of the initiative,South Central Railways hadearlier moved two emptyOxygen Expresses to Angul.The SCR zone had identifiedthe station capable of handlingthe Oxygen Express in the twincities area and on receipt of therequest from the State gov-

ernment, the originating sta-tion as well the Green Corridorto move the Oxygen Expresswas mapped till the destinationstation.

The Green Corridor ismapped so as to ensure fastermovement of these tankers. Asheight is one of the importantaspects of moving the tankers

by trains, the corridor ismapped taking into consider-ation various constraints likecurves, Road over Bridges,platform canopies, Over HeadEquipment etc., along theroute. Further, considering itsimportance, the movement ofthese trains is being monitoredcontinuously at the apex level.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana continued to reporta declining trend in Covid-19cases, with 4,976 cases report-ed from across the state overthe 24-hour period ending5.30 pm on Sunday.

The state had reported 5,186cases for the correspondingperiod on Saturday. Over thepast week, Telangana's dailycount has been consistentlydeclining. Following the latestupdate, the state's cumulativetally has climbed to 4,97,361

State health authorities alsosaid 35 people succumbed tothe pandemic during the past24 hours, taking the cumulativedeath toll to 2,739 on Sunday.

In a positive sign, the statecontinued to report morerecoveries than new cases. Asmany as 7,646 people haverecovered during the period,taking the cumulative recov-eries to 4,28,865.

The recovery rate, whichhad plunged to almost 80 percent a few days ago, has furtherrisen to 86.22 against thenational average of 82.1 onSunday. For the third consec-utive day, the daily count ofcases in Greater Hyderabadstayed below the 1,000 mark,at 851. However, the adjoiningdistricts of Rangareddy andMedchal Malkajgiri reportedhigher numbers with 417 and384 cases, respectively.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The sleuths of Task Forceapprehended three suspects forprocuring Remdesivir injec-tions and illegally selling themat higher rates.

The police seized twoRemdesivir from the suspectsPraveen Kumar, 30, Raju, 22,and Rajender, 24. The arrestwas made under the supervi-sion of P. Radhakishan Rao,Deputy Commissioner of

Police (OSD), Task Force andCentral Zone team

According to the police,Praveen Kumar and Rajenderwho used to work in a privatecompany lost their jobs duringthe lockdown. Noticing the

huge demand for Remdesivirdue to the Covid situation, thetwo procured the antiviral withthe help of Raju who works ina medical hall and were sellingthe injection for Rs 35,000without any valid documents.

On Sunday, the three sus-pects were trying to sellRemdesivir 100Mg/20ml to acustomer when they werearrested, The suspects werehanded over to Nallakuntapolice for further action.

Third Oxygen Express dispatchedfrom TS with 5 tankers to Odisha

Three persons held for black marketing Remdesivir

Telangana Covid tally drops below 5K mark

PNS n HYDERABAD

Prices of various vitamin-richfruits have increased as thereis mad rush among the peopleto buy them since doctorsprescribe consumption offruits to boost immunity.Common man has to spend Rs500 to Rs 1,000 per week tobuy fruits to provide nutritionto the family.

On account of demand-supply gap in summer, the costof fruits will be very high. Butthis summer, the fruits priceshave been alarmingly highbecause of the Covid-pusheddemand. All are keen to buyfruits to improve immunityincreasing demand, especiallyfor citrus fruits like sweetlemon, orange, pomegranate,kiwi, papaya, guava, grapes andapple.

To buy a half-a-dozenoranges, one has to spend Rs100. Two months ago, anorange was sold at Rs 10. Eachpomegranate sells at Rs 50,while each kiwi fruit is beingsold between Rs 30-40. Thepapaya sells at Rs 60-80 a kg,while guava sells at Rs 60-70 akg. Meanwhile, grapes arebeing sold at Rs 100-120 a kg.

The kala jamoon which isentering the market now sellsat Rs 150-200 a kg.

Mangoes which till otherday were sold between Rs 100-120 a kg. However, they havebecome cheaper now. A kg ofmangoes sell at Rs 60-80.Watermelons became afford-able for people as they sell atRs 20-30 a kg.

In tune with the demand,imports have increased toGaddiannaram fruit marketfrom other districts and statesand also from overseas.Oranges, sweet lemons, man-goes, kiwi, apple fruits are

being imported. The fruit mar-ket imported fruits worth Rs1.50 lakh last week. Tradersfrom other states are compet-ing with each other to buy thefruits imported from over-seas.

A tender coconut is nowbeing sold at Rs 50 each asagainst its sale price of Rs 30-35 a few days ago. If onewants to buy a Kerala coconut,one should pay Rs 60 each.Traders indicate that its pricesare likely to go up further bythis month end and one has tospend Rs 70-80 to buy a ten-der coconut.

Fruits’ prices increase manifoldin Gaddiannaram fruit market

PNS n HYDERABAD

Registered MedicalPractitioners (RMP) andPrivate Medical Practitioners(PMP) see Covid-19 pandem-ic as a godsend opportunity tothem to milk the patients andrefer them to corporate hospi-tals if the situation aggravates,thereby earning handsomecommissions.

The shortage of testing kitsin PHCs has been helping thebusiness of RMPs and PMPsthrive. They have been con-ducting blood tests and lootingthe gullible public by offeringthem treatment for typhoid,viral and seasonal fevers.

The rural practitioners wereafraid of treating patients dur-ing the first wave of the Covidfearing that it would spread tothem. As the second wave is onthe rampant, the RMPs andPMPs have been taking Covidprecautions and trying to treatCovid patients.

The limited number of testsbeing done in governmenthospital is forcing people with

symptoms to approach pri-vate clinics, which conductblood tests and diagnose theirdisease as typhoid.

They also admit seriouspatients collecting additionalfee and offering them five-daytreatment. They collect feedepending on the financialposition of the patients. Thecost of medicines is addition-al. If the patient's conditionimproves they go home, oth-erwise they are being referredto private hospitals.

Within a week, the patientsare generally complaining ofother health problems forcingthe PMPs and RMPs to referthem to private hospitals inKarimnagar or Mancherial orHyderabad which pay themhandsome commission. Theyare collecting 10-15 per cent ofthe total bill paid by patients incorporate hospitals as com-mission. The clinics havebecome virtual hotspots forspreading virus to others. Thepatients are mingling withfamily since they are diag-nosed as having typhoid. They

are not observing Covid-19rules. As a result, the disease isspreading to other familymembers and patients withother diseases.

There is virtually no actionagainst those who run theseclinics and laboratories withoutany permission. Nobody seemsto be paying any attention in

spite of government warning.The district officials are not vis-iting villages to check mal-practices done by PMPs andRMPs.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Software professionals workingfrom home suffer due to con-tinuous power cuts inAmeenpur area in Sangareddydistrict in Telangana. Usually,the power goes off at around 10am for more than five hours.

Majority of the residents inAmeenpur are techies or workin multinational companieswho are working from homesince the Covid pandemic hasbegun. Some of them work asper different shift timings andsome people work for UKshift, Australia shift, regularshifts or US shifts.

Ameenpur residents allegethat there is no electricity formore than five hours for somedays despite TS governmentpromising round the clockpower supply. Residents saythat it’s impossible to stay inthe area without an inverter.

Surendra Uplenchiwar, atechie, who is staying inAmeenpur area since last 10years told The Pioneer,"Lakhs of people are workingfrom home to prevent thespread of Covid, but we arefinding it difficult to do sodue to continuous powercuts. I think electricitydepartment is not ready tosupport or manage thispower cut in Ameenpur.Maintenance is always therein Ameenpur 33/11kv sub-station.”

He further adds, "Withoutinverter, we cannot stay inAmeenpur. I urge the stategovernment to find out thepermanent solution for thisissue. It is intermittent issue,but without inverter no onecould stay here. If someone isworking from home in WFHour area them they shouldmust have a inverter.”

Frequent power cuts in Ameenpur hinder WFHOU opens foreign admissions

for the academic year 2021-22

Second wave: RMPs and PMPssqueeze Covid patients in state

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

People are rushing to hospitalsthese days for Coronavirustests, treatment and for vacci-nation. With this rush, the hos-pitals are becoming hubs forthe spread of corona. Peopleare gathering in huge numbersat hospitals particularly atPHCs across the state and inGreater Hyderabad for coron-avirus tests and for vaccination,making the places centres forthe spread of corona.

Some people visit the hos-pital for Coronavirus testsand some people visit thehospital for vaccination andothers visit with differenthealth problems.

However, the Coronaviruscarriers - both symptomaticand asymptomatic - are mov-ing closely with others in thepremises. Knowingly orunknowingly, the people com-ing for tests are becomingspreaders of Coronavirus

Another problem the peo-ple are facing is that they aregetting corona by visiting hos-pitals for the sake of their fam-ily members, who are takingcorona treatment there.Ramesh from Hubsiguda test-ed corona positive immedi-ately after visiting a coronapatient taking treatment in aprivate hospital in Kachiguda.“Luckily I have recovered fromcorona after home isolationitself,” Ramesh said.

Some people are returninghome after seeing the hugerush in the hospitals afraid ofcontracting corona. Ch VenkatReddy from Uppal said that hereturned from Uppal Hospitalafter seeing the rush in thehospital premises. “I went fora vaccine. I was scared whileseeing the rush. There were ahuge number of people, whocame for corona tests and forvaccines. I failed to identifywho came for what as thepremises were filled with sev-eral people. There was also along queue for the coronatests,” he said.

The doctors are suggestingthat people should not visit thehospitals where the rush ishuge.

Hospitals turn ‘super spreaders’

Doctors treat 9-year-old Covid positive boy with burn injuries

PNS n HYDERABAD

BC Welfare and CivilSupplies Minister GangulaKamalakar informed thatwelfare of all sections of thesociety was of top priorityfor the Telangana govern-ment. He distributedRamzan gift packages toMuslim beneficiaries at aprogramme held in theCollectorate auditoriumhere on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion,Kamalakar extendedRamzan greetings to the

members of the Muslimscommunity. Stating thatRamzan was a most pre-cious festival for Muslims,he said community peoplewere unable to celebratethe festival according totheir religious practice forthe last two years due toCovid-19 pandemic. Hehoped that the pandemicrelated issues will be solvedby next year.

People of all religionsand castes were being givenequal importance by theTelangana government after

formation of separate State.Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao wasproviding gifts to Hindus,Christians and Muslims onthe occasion of Dasara,Christmas and Ramzanrespectively, he said.

"People of all religions areunable to celebrate theirrespective festivals due toCovid pandemic.Irrespective of religion andcaste, all sections of thesociety should lead peacefullife in cooperation witheach other," he added.

‘Government committed to welfare of all sections’

PNS n HYDERABAD

It is a scenario where a personwho tested positive for Covid-19can’t step out of their homes topurchase medicines, groceriesand other necessities. Moreover,with the increasing number ofcases, there’s also an increase inthe necessity for people who canbring Covid patients the requireditems.

Several youngsters across thecity have risen up to the occasionand one such person is RohithVakrala, from the NGO Councilfor Transforming India.

Having started off by deliver-

ing in various localities in Alwal,Kompally, Suchitra and Bolarumto various people who tested pos-itive, especially the elderly ones,Rohith and their friendsSriharshitha, Vinay, Vivek andAmruth together formed TheHyderabad Essentials DeliveryCollective (THEDC), andextended their services across thecity.

“When we receive a requesteither on our phone or on socialmedia, our network of volunteersget into action and buy the nec-essary medicines, groceries anddeliver it to the ones in need. Weonly take the cost price of what-

ever they want and the deliveryis done free of cost,” says Rohith.

The team of 75 volunteersacross the city deliver essentialsin a contactless manner and theypay for the fuel charges in addi-tion to donating their time for thecause.

“In the last few days, we havereceived many calls, specificallyfrom NRIs, whose elderlypatients are in home-isolationafter testing positive and we alsodeliver food from restaurants orother places, to ensure they don’thave to cook,” adds Rohith, say-ing, “We are receiving almost ahundred requests a day”.

Youngsters in Hyderabad deliveressentials to patients in isolation

hyderabad 04HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021

PNS n WARANGAL

People living in the Warangalcity and erstwhile Warangaldistrict are a harried lot, as thedistrict is devastated by the sec-ond wave of Corona with thenumber of the affected and thedead rising. Taking advantageof the situation while the pri-vate hospitals are fleecing peo-ple, some unscrupulous peopleare selling the Remdesivirinjection, used in treatingcorona patients in the blackmarket, at huge prices.

Warangal is the second mostpopulous city after Hyderabadin the state. People are allegingthat the district authoritiesare not doing anything to stopthe private hospitals, whichnow virtually have no supervi-sors, from charging exorbitantfees under various heads, in thename of treatment. The druginspectors are not also doingtheir bit, they, people allege areworking as if to water downthe extent of malpractices doneby the private hospitals. The

police are however, registeringcases against those sellingRemdesivir in the black mar-ket. Reportedly the injection isselling in the black market inthe range of Rs 30,000 to40,000 per vial. Police haverecently booked three personsfor selling the medicine atexorbitant prices.

The district governmenthospitals are also lacking ingiving quality treatment to

the people. People are not sat-isfied with the treatment givenat the Warangal MGMHospital. The suffering peopleare now concerned. They wanta brake put in the growingnumber of private hospitals inthe city and the district. Theywant the district authorities toact at a war footing to stop theirregularities taking place at theprivate hospitals at the wake ofthe Corona second wave.

Black marketers, pvt hospitals fleecepatients amid artificial drug shortage

PNS n HYDERABAD

Himachal Pradesh GovernorBandaru Dattatreya onSunday condoled the death ofAvula Bhavani, daughter ofGHMC Gudimallapur Corp-orator Devara Karunakar, dueto Covid.

B h a v a n i ,who deliv-ered a babyboy 10 daysago, breat-hed her lastsuccumbing toCovid. He describ-ed it as very painful. Paincaused to Karunakar and hisspouse due to Bhavani'sdeath cannot be mitigated,the Dattatreya said.

He said his interactionwith her when he had visit-ed her house in Hyderabadlast time brought him hap-piness and joy. It was so sadto note that Bhavani had todie due to Corona virusorphaning her infant son,he said. He conveyed hisheart-felt sympathies tobereaved Karunakar coupleand other family members.

"I would pray to God forher soul may rest in peaceand to give lot of strength tofamily members to bearwith the loss," he said.

Covid-hit TS Minister Koppula hospitalised PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana ScheduledCasteDevelopment andWelfare MinisterKoppula Eshwarwas admitted toa private hospitalin the city onSunday after devel-oping mild symp-toms for Covid.

The Minister requested allof those who have come to

close contact with him in thelast few days to

undergo Covidtest, officials

sources said.Meanwhile,

according tothe Office ofthe Director

of PublicHealth and

Family Welfaredepartment, there are

68,462 active cases in the stateas on Saturday.

Give up, get treatment; state police tells Covid-hit MaoistsPNS n BHADRADRI

In a bid to leave no flankexposed in the battle againstCoronavirus in the state,Telangana Police have reachedout to covid-struck Maoists too.

Police in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, haveappealed to the ultras, whocontracted the virus, to returnto the mainstream and seektreatment.

In a media statement,Superintendent of Police, SunilDutt advised those Maoistswho are suffering from Covid,to surrender to the police, sothat they can be provided suit-able treatment in hospitals.

According to the statement,police has credible informationthat several of the Maoistcadres, and their leaders, aresuffering from the virus. It alsonoted that many of the Covid-

struck Maoists who wish tosurrender and avail treatment,are being prevented by theirleaders. Police warned thatsuch a situation would lead to'severe repercussions'.

PNS n WARANGAL

Restoration and conservationof structures with heritage andcultural value are very vital topass on the legacy of our ances-tors to future generations.However, there seems to beofficial apathy to conservethese structures, includingancient temples, in erstwhileWarangal district. Some ofthese ancient temples andarchitectural marvels were builtby the Kakatiyas and are in astate of neglect in the district.

Devuni Gutta, located on ahillock in the dense forest areanear Kothur village of Mulugudistrict, is lying in utter negli-gence. An architectural marvelin the wild, walls of this tem-ple were made of sculpted

sand rock bricks and it is saidto be one of its kind in thecountry. This constructionmethod resembles the famousAngkor Wat Temple and isapproximately 800 years old.

While the constructionmethod of the Angkor Wattemple in Cambodia was one ofthe reasons for it to become aWorld Heritage Site, theDevuni Gutta temple, which is500 years older than AngkorWat unfortunately is in sham-bles. Since it came to light in2015, archaeologists fromGermany, United States andItaly have visited this templeand published research paperin a reputable internationaljournal. The entire templetower or the 'gopuram' is bal-anced on just 2 cm of wood

near the lintel, which can col-lapse any moment. In additionthe area near the temple hasbeen dug up causing furtherconcern. "Efforts are needed tobe taken to prevent any furtherdeterioration," said an expert.

"In my opinion, actions areneeded to be taken immediate-ly. Maintenance of this monu-

ment should be handed over tothe Archaeological Survey ofIndia (ASI). Dimensional map-ping of the monument so as tofacilitate future renovation andrestoration works and properresearch and documentationabout the monument by theauthorities of the StateArchaeology Department or

the ASI are needed," he said.The Telangana governmenthas recently taken some stepstowards protection of the site,however, the renovation workshave not started yet.

Kakatiya era templesMeanwhile, the Kakatiya era

temples, located just 33 kmaway from Warangal city onNational Highway 163 inAtmakur mandal of WarangalRural district, which werebelieved to have been built dur-ing the 12th century AD by ageneral of the Kakatiyas, arealso crying for attention.

Though the shrines weredeclared as ancient monu-ments and notified as protect-ed structures under the StateArchaeological and RemainsAct 1960 by the Department of

Archaeology and Museums,no efforts either to protect orrenovate these ancient monu-ments were taken so far.

Similarly, the Jakaram,Nidigonda, andRamanjapuram temples -which are under the purview ofthe Archaeology Department -were demolished 20 years agobut their re-construction hasnot been taken up so far.Moreover, the sculptural wealthin these temples is being loot-ed. Due to lack of security, thesculptures, pillars and otherthings are being stolen from thepremises of the demolishedtemples. The archaeology offi-cials are delaying taking upreconstruction works of thetemples as the stolen thingshave to be re-sculpted.

Architectural marvels in erstwhile Warangal lie in neglect

Increasing Covid cases keep copson three border states on high alert PNS n JAYASHANKAR-BHUPAPALAPALLY

The people have been conduct-ing intensive searches in bor-der villages of Telangana,Maharashtra and Chhattisgarhon Sunday as there is unprece-dented spurt in Covid casesduring the second wave.

Bastar Range IG Sunder Rajand Bijapur Superintendent ofPolice Kashyap and other seniorofficials toured the border vil-lages. The police conductedsearches in Bhupapapatnamand Taralaguda villages andreviewed the measures put inplace to rein in the virus.

There is inter-state move-ment of people from borderingareas. Daily hundreds of peo-ple travel to Telangana fromneighbouring states to work asagricultural workers in chilli

fields. With them, there islikelihood of bringing Covid tothe state.

Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli,Mulugu, Bhadradri-Kothagu-dem and Khammam districtshave reported extensive spre-ading of the virus. In the firstphase, it is limited to urbanpockets. In the second phase,it is penetrating into villagesincreasing cases in rural areas.

Therefore, the police ofTelangana, Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh became alert andput brakes to inter-state freetravel of people from one stateto other.

The officials are allowingonly those who tested negativefor the virus through establish-ing check-posts and thermalscreening, Bastar range IT andBijapur SP said.

Gambling, betting rampant in MedakPNS n MEDAK

Gambling was going uncheckedin all the mandal headquartersin Medak district as people whoplay cards were losing whatev-er the savings left when theCoronavirus pandemic wasdevastating across the state.

It was the common scene inany family where the personshabituated to gambling werehaving tussles with the fami-ly members. Some wereresorting to the mortgage ofgold ornaments from theirspouses to get money for gam-bling. The repercussions of thegambling in the families wereso severe that sometimes itwas leading to quarrels amongthe couple, suicides and final-ly divorces. At the end of thegame, women were the worstsufferers. However, the policedepartment turned Nelson'seye on the gamblers in the dis-trict.

People, who have no routinework, were hooked to playing

cards and they usually preferto sit in the agriculture fields,farmhouses and other seclud-ed places. Even under theshadow of a tree, the gamblingwas continuing and using kidsas their carriers to get ciga-rettes, gutkas and other mate-rials. According to sources, thebetting games like 'teen patha','rummy', 'andhar - bahar' and'jodis' were widely playedalong with alcohol and otherentertainments.

Surprisingly, local people'srepresentatives, governmentemployees, retired employ-ees, youth and people workingin other sectors were activelyparticipating in the gambling.

However, the police werenot responding even somevillagers lodged complaintsagainst gambling in villages.The gambling bets continuefrom morning to night.

The villages like Khilla,Papannapet, Yedupayala

Devasthanam, Chegunta,Manoharbad, Ramayampet,Haveli Ghanapur, Toophran,and some village in Kolcharammandal were popular for gam-bling dens in the district.

Around nine cases wereregistered against the peoplesince January this year and 57people were taken into cus-tody on the charge of gam-bling. The police seized Rs97,700 in cash and sevenmobile phones from theaccused. It was alleged thatthere was no proper vigilanceagainst the gambling dens asthe police were busy with thecontaining of corona pan-demic and inspections weregoing on on the highways. Inthe wake of the corona, gam-bling activities were gainingmomentum in villages.

The situation was goingworse in rural areas with hec-tic gambling and betting andit required stern action againstthose who were organising thedens.

PNS n MEDAK

Strict surveillance would beexecuted against illegal activ-ities like gambling and bet-ting in the district and sternaction would be initiatedagainst those who were play-ing cards or encouraged,Medak district SP ChandanaDeepti has warned.

She said people who rent-ed out their houses for gam-bling would also be punished.She appealed to the people topass on the informationabout these gambling activ-ities and their details wouldnot be disclosed.

Property owners who rent houses for gambling willbe punished: SP

PNS n HYDERABAD

Left parties are synonymous tomass movements. In generalthey used to wage movementson behalf of the people andagainst the governments.However, the Left parties par-ticularly, CPM, also has the his-tory of running 'Ganji' and'Ambali' centres duringdrought conditions. Last time,the CPM had organised Ganjiand Ambali centres in a bigway was in the year 2017 in theerstwhile Mahabubnagar dis-trict for the sake of the poor.

On the same lines, CPM has

been taking part in offeringfree services to the poor coro-na patients in spite of their lim-ited resources to protect thepeople. As part of it, the CPMTelangana wing has started its

corona isolation centre atSundaraiah Vignana Kendram(SVK) on May 3rd with 20beds. Within six days, 20patients are availing the facil-ity created by the CPM and

four patients have been dis-charged from this isolationcentre as they have recoveredfrom Corona.

While speaking to ThePioneer, Coronavirus IsolationCentre in-charge GDNarasimha Rao has said thatthey were using the online ser-vices of four doctors everyday. He said that on Sundaythey conducted counseling withthe psychiatrist Dr RadhikaAcharya to infuse confidenceamong the corona patients asmany corona patients weresuccumbing to the fear of coro-na rather than Covid impact.

Wife of Putta Madhuappears before policePNS n PEDDAPALLY

The police served notices onZP Chairman Putta Madhu'sspouse and Manthani munic-ipal chairperson Putta Sailajaon Sunday under Section 41 ofCRPC in murder of high courtadvocate Vaman Rao and hislawyer wife.

She appeared beforeRamagundam Commission-erate on Sunday. The policealso questioned Vaman Rao'sfather Gattu Kishan Rao.

It may be recalled thatVaman Rao and his spousewere done to death onFebruary 17 afternoon inbroad day light in full view of

public at Kalvacharla underRamagiri police station limits.

The police were understoodto have questioned her withher links to some people ofPalakonda.

It may be recalled that herhusband - Putta Madhu whohas been absconding for thepast eight days - was picked upnear Bhimavaram in AndhraPradesh. Putta Madhu wasquestioned by police under thewatchful eyes of police com-missioner Satyanarayana.There is breakthrough in thecase after three months. In alllikelihood, Putta Madhu andSailaja are going to be present-ed before judge in two days.

PNS n SANGAREDDY

Bajrang Dal convener SubhashChander has demanded thegovernment to pay compensa-tion for the places of worshipto be demolished as part of theroad widening projects beforegrounding the works.

Protesting here on Sunday,Subash demanded the state topay compensation first anddemolish the shrines later. InSarafpalli, five places of wor-ship are going to disappear.The villagers resisted thedemolition move. As the con-tractor promised to givematerial to build new tem-ples, the row has been settled.

Dal: Compensate for demolition of places of worship

COVID SECOND WAVE

PNS n MAHBUBNAGAR

Excise Minister V SrinivasGoud has advised people withCovid symptoms to see doctorimmediately to avert threat tolife without becoming panic.

Visiting the GovernmentHospital at the DistrictHeadquarters on Sunday, theMinister went round theCovid ward and oxygen plantand interacted with patientsquestioning them about treat-ment being provided to them.Recovered patients told theMinister that the doctors aretaking good care of thepatients and rated the foodbeing provided to them asgood.

Later talking to media, hesaid that last year 300 beds wereprovided for Covid patients lastyear, this year; 250 more oxy-gen beds would be provided.He asked people with symp-toms to see doctor immediate-ly or call up call centre.

Three mobile ambulanceclinics have been set up.Medicines would be sent tothem to their door-step.

Doctors and medical staffhave been appointed special-ly. Therefore, he asked peopleto use their services withoutbecoming panic. He askedthem to implement govern-ment guidelines and sugges-tions to save their lives. If thereare symptoms, people shouldavail treatment facility beforeit was too late.

The recovered patients havebeen giving good rating to thegovernment hospital here,therefore, he asked people notto visit private hospitals andreceive treatment in govern-ment hospitals. Those whohave symptoms should con-fine themselves to their homeinstead of roaming outside.

He appreciated doctors andother medical staff for work-ing round the clock to providetreatment to Covid patients.

Wake up before it’s too late, says Srinivas Goud

Covid hits RTC services hard PNS n HYDERABAD

As did the Coronavirus firstwave, the Covid second wavealso has hit the TelanganaState Road Transport Corpor-ation (TSRTC).

The TSRTC is not in a posi-tion to get Rs 1 crore revenueper day these days with the sec-ond wave prevailing.

The things have becomeworse with the closure of theborders of Andhra Pradesheven though it has been run-ning the buses within the state.TSRTC used to get revenue ofRs 13 crore per day till lastmonth. However, things have

changed with the sudden surgeof Covid cases. The RTC hasexperienced Rs.350 crore lossalready.

Leave alone the salaries ofRTC employees, the daily rev-enue earned is not enough forbuying diesel for all its run-ning buses. The employees arefacing a lot of troubles as theyare yet to get the April'ssalaries.

About 49,000 employees areworking in the corporationand the corporation has to payRs.180 crore every month assalaries. The corporation hasalso to pay Rs.200 crore fordiesel and maintenance every

month. The revenue the RTCgets is equal to its salaries andmaintenance.

The occupancy ratio haddrastically decreased with thesurge of corona since April.

The situation in Hyderabadcity buses is severe when com-pared to the district services.The people are afraid of usingthe RTC buses thinking thatthey will contract corona ifthey travel in RTC buses.

An RTC employee,Venkataiah, stated that he did-n't get his last month's salaryyet. He said that he had beenexpecting his salary onMonday or Tuesday.

TS Cong wages twitter war against state govtPNS n HYDERABAD

AICC In-charge for TelanganaCongress and CongressWorking Committee perma-nent invitee and MP fromVirudhunagar, ManickamTagore, alleged that the onlystate in India with 71,304active cases and still not shut-ting down, when other stateswere caring for their people'shealth and taking precautionsby enforcing lockdown, wasthe Telangana.

Manickam in his tweet onSunday questioned the actionof Chief Minister KChandrasekharr Rao, stating“Whether Chief Minister andhis son KT Rama Rao thought,as they got Covid positiveand then recovered, so therewas nothing to worry?”

TPCC Working Presidentand Malkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy questioned TelanganaChief Minister's Office saying,"Telangana tests only 55,000today. Is this how theTelangana CMO is going toreduce the spread of Covid?"

However, TPCC Chief NUttam Kumar Reddyuploaded the letter addressedby the Rajya Sabha Leader ofOpposition (LoP) MallikarjunKharge to the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi which says,"Because the situation we facetoday requires a collective andconsensual effort, I write tohumbly submit the followingsuggestions to you for urgentconsideration." The LoP (RS)wrote to Prime Minister Modi,on behalf of the people ofIndia.

After ‘Ganji’, ‘Ambali’ centres, CPM running free Covid isolation centre

HP Governor mourns deathof corporator's daughter

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021 nation 05

The Rajasthan Police has takenpreventive action against a

man for allegedly posting falseinformation on social mediaabout scarcity of oxygen andRemdesivir injection in the city'sgovernment hospital in Tonkdistrict, police said on Sunday.Nasir Khan, who claims to be ajournalist, is actually a taxi driverand has a past criminal record,Tonk Superintendent of Police (SP) Om Prakash said. He said that onlypreventive action was taken under CrPc section 151 (arrest to preventthe commission of cognizable offences) and he was released later. No case has been registered against him, the officer said. Khan throughhis posts on Facebook had accused the local administration ofmismanagement in tackling the COVID-19 situation. He also falsely wroteabout absence of local MLA Sachin Pilot.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M KStalin on Sunday tasked the

ministers to ensure fullimplementation of the two-weeklockdown beginning May 10 andmake sure that oxygen is used in aproper manner and its wastageavoided in hospitals. Chairing thefirst Cabinet meeting, Stalin askedhis colleagues to keep tabs on theCOVID-19 scenario and management and besides other things,monitor the sale of anti-viral Remdesivir and see to it that themedicine was not sold in the black market, an official release heresaid. Remdesivir is being sold by the government in Chennai,Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Stalinsaid Ministers should ensure implementation of lockdown in thedistricts assigned to them as compliance alone could contain thevirus spread and bring down the deaths. Also, proper treatment forpatients needed to be made and amenities, including food for doctors,nurses and people beingtreated should be improved.

INDIA CORNER

Atiger was found dead at a forest inthe Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR)

inMadhya Pradesh's Balaghat district,an official said on Sunday. The carcassof the feline, aged around 12 to 13years, was spotted on Saturday by apatrolling team in the Bhaisanghatrange, located over 400 km from thestate capital Bhopal, KTR field director S K Singh said. The tigerapparently died 10 to 15 days back, he said. "Prima facie, the tiger wasidentified as T-44. Its body parts were intact, though two canines werefound partially broken," the official said.An autopsy was conducted andthe carcass was disposed of as per guidelines of the National TigerConservationAuthority (NTCA), he said. This is the second tiger deathreported in Madhya Pradesh in the last two days. On Friday, thecarcass of a sub-adult (aged between 18 and 24 months) tiger wasfound floating in a canal of an inter-state water project in Balaghat'sWaraseoni tehsil, an official earlier said.

Preventive action against man forrumour-mongering in Rajasthan

Tiger found dead in MP's Kanha reserve

Security forces on Sundayunearthed a terrorist hide-

out in Poonch district ofJammu and Kashmir, leadingto the recovery of 19 handgrenades and scuttling of aterrorist plan to disturbpeace in the border districtby carrying out grenadeattacks, a defence spokesman said. No one was arrested during theoperation which was jointly carried out by the Army and police inPhagla area of Surankote, the spokesman said. Based on a specificinput that terrorists were planning to target security forces on NH144A (Jammu-Poonch highway), a well coordinated joint operationwas launched by the Rashtriya Rifles and police in Phagla area. “Therelentless development of intelligence by both the agencies led todiscovery of a huge cache of grenades, hidden in a well concealednatural (cave) hideout. A total of 19 hand grenades have beenfound,” the spokesman said. He said the recovery of the grenadesfoiled the designs of inimical elements to disrupt peace and tranquil-lity in Poonch.“This busting of hideout has averted a likely majorplan of attack on security forces.

Terrorist hideout busted in J-KPoonch; 19 grenades seized

TN CM tells Ministers to ensurelockdown implementation

PNS n KOLKATA

A graffiti on a central Kolkatawall said "Long live Marxism".Someone with a wry sense ofhumour had cut out the word'live' and scrawled 'dead' on top.

The results of last week'scounting of votes cast in thecrucial West Bengal electionsseemed to bear this out.

Not only had the combinedLeft parties drawn a blank inpolls to the assembly whichthey had run with an over-whelming majority for 34 longyears, their vote share haddwindled to a mere 5.47 percent in 2021, down from 30.1per cent in 2011 when they lostthe elections to TrinamoolCongress supremo MamataBanerjee's juggernaut.

In the clash of the titanswhere the TMC was in astraight fight with the BJP in

most constituencies, the onceall-powerful Left seems to havebeen squeezed into oblivion.

Even in the 2016 assemblyelections, the Left parties hadmanaged to get 25.69 per centof the votes polled.

"We lost because other fac-tors like anti-incumbency wereoverridden by people's anxietyto halt the BJP from capturingBengal," admitted NilotpalBasu, CPI(M) Politburo mem-ber and former Rajya SabhaMP.

Analysts said that the TMC'swin was in part powered by again of at least five per cent ofthe popular votes which nor-mally go to the Left, as electorsdecided to ignore issues likecorruption to exercise theirfranchise against the BJP.

In 2019, when the BJP won18 Lok Sabha seats and baggedabout 40 per cent of the votes

cast, the Left and the Congresshad ceded grounds to the right-ist party, this time the Left voteswent to the TMC," saidDipankar Bhattacharya,

General Secretary of theCPI(ML)- Liberation partywhich came out with a 'NoVote to BJP' campaign.

Bhattacharya, an alumnus of

the Indian Statistical Instituteand his team have beenresearching on the just-con-cluded elections at their officein Creek Row area.

The sharp drop in votespolled has dismayed CPI(M)cadres, and the central leader-ship of the party will review theelection results to analyse what

went wrong and to chartout afuture course of action.

Even Jadavpur, long dubbed'Leningrad of the East' whichhas elected a Left candidate inevery election since 1967,except once, fell before theTrinamool onslaught.

To rub in the humiliation,veteran CPI(M) leader SujanChakraborty lost by a marginof nearly 40,000 votes to a lit-tle-known TMC debutante ina seat, where it was said that theLeft "would win even if the

party fielded a lamp post withthe hammer and sickle sign onit".

"The Kolkata city voting pat-terns show that people decid-ed to stop the BJP and theychose to gravitate towards theTMC it is a limited mandatefrom the Left-liberal-secularopinion against the BJP," Basusaid, adding "the ruling partyshould not consider this astheir vote. As Leftist forces con-solidate, it will regain this voteshare".

West Bengal: Is the Left on its deathbed? "The Kolkata city voting patternsshow that people decided to stop the BJP and they chose to gravitatetowards the TMC it is a limitedmandate from the Left-liberal-secularopinion against the BJP”

Maratha activistshold protestagainst SC'squota verdict

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than 72 lakh COVID-19vaccine doses are still availablewith states and union territo-ries, while over 46 lakh doseswill be received by them with-in the next three days, theUnion Health Ministry saidon Sunday.

The government of Indiahas so far provided more than17.56 crore vaccine doses(17,56,20,810) to states andunion territories free-of-cost.Of this, the total consumption,including wastages, is16,83,78,796 doses (as perdata available at 8 am today).

"More than 72 lakh COVIDvaccine doses (72,42,014) arestill available with states andUTs to be administered. Stateswith negative balance areshowing more consumption(including wastage) than vac-cine supplied as they have notreconciled the vaccine theyhave supplied to the armedforces," the ministry said.

PNS n RAIPUR

The Chhattisgarh governmenthas allowed home delivery ofliquor in the state throughonline sale during the ongoingcoronavirus-enforced lock-down, officials said on Sunday.

The opposition BJP inChhattisgarh criticised the rul-ing Congress over the decision,claiming that it seems the stategovernment's priority was toprovide liquor to peopleinstead of medical facilitiesduring the COVID-19 pan-demic. The state commercialtaxes department in an orderon Saturday gave permission tothe excise commissioner toallow home delivery of liquorthrough online orders, officialssaid.

During the lockdown, liquorshops are not allowed to open

in the state."To curb illegalmanufacturing, sale, trans-portation and possession ofliquor during the lockdownperiod, permission has beengranted for its home deliverythrough online orders fromMonday," an official from theexcise department said.

Timings for the home deliv-ery of liquor have been fixedfrom 9 am to 8 pm.

The district administrationcan change the timings as perthe local situation, the officialsaid. The Chhattisgarh StateMarketing CorporationLimited (CSMCL) will decidewhich shops will provide thehome delivery service andcustomers will have to makethe payment in advance whileplacing the order, he said.

The state government hadearlier also allowed online sale

of liquor in May last yearwhen shops were closed due torestrictions imposed to containthe spread of COVID-19 dur-ing its first wave.

Like earlier, people can bookorders on the CSMCL's web-site or its app available onmobile playstore.

Customers can order up tofive litres of liquor at a timeand Rs 100 will be charged forhome delivery service, whichwill be available within 15 kmof the shop concerned, the offi-cial said. Chhattisgarh ExciseMinister Kawasi Lakhma onSaturday said in view of inci-dents of illegal sale of liquorand deaths after consumptionof sanitisers and alcohol-basedmedicines as a substitute forliquor, the government wasconsidering to restart the homedelivery service of liquor.

Chhattisgarh govt allows homedelivery of liquor amid lockdown PNS n BENGALURU

Covid-19 vaccines for peoplein the 18-44 age group inBengaluru, which has almosthalf the number of cases anddeaths in Karnataka, wouldbe available from May 10 atall major hospitals and med-ical colleges, Health MinisterDr K Sudhakar said onSunday.

“Starting Monday, Covid-19 vaccination will be pro-vided for cit izens agedbetween 18 and 44 years at KC General Hospital ,Jayanagar General Hospital,Sir C V Raman GeneralHospital , GovernmentMedical Colleges, ESIHospitals and NIMHANS inBengaluru," the minister saidin a statement. In otherdistricts, the vaccine shotswill initially be provided atdistrict hospitals, govern-ment medical colleges and all

taluk hospitals. The numberof vaccination centres wouldbe increased as and whenmore vaccines are available,the Minister added.

All such centres providingvaccination for the 18-44age group would have anexclusive session site ear-marked for them, hesaid,adding the shots wouldbe given only to those whohave registered and sched-uled an appointment on theCo-Win portal.

The minister said the govern-ment is leaving no stoneunturned to vaccinate everycitizen at the earliest and wasmaking continuous efforts tosecure supply of vaccines.Earlier on May 1, Chief MinisterB S Yediyurappa flagged off thefourth phase of the drive to vac-cinate citizens in the 18-44 agegroup with a promise that theshortage of doses would beaddressed soon.

Covid-19 vax for 18-44 agegroup in Bengaluru from today

Punjab is being run by the‘Badals’, instead of Congress PNS n CHANDIGARH

Congress leader Navjot SinghSidhu on Sunday sharpened hisattack against his own govern-ment in Punjab, alleging thatthere is a "consensus" among leg-islators that the state is being runby the "Badals" instead of theirown party.

Sidhu's fresh salvo against hisown government has come a dayafter he alleged that it was ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh's"incompetence" that the govern-ment was forced to accept thePunjab and Haryana High Courtorder over the 2015 Kotkapurapolice firing case.

The Amritsar MLA has beencritical of his own governmentever since the HC quashed anSIT probe report into the inci-dent, which had taken place inPunjab's Faridkot during aprotest against the desecration ofa religious text.

Responding to his unrelentingattack, the Punjab CM had ear-lier called the Congress leader'soutbursts "total indiscipline",suggesting that he may be leav-

ing for the AAP.Referring to the Badals, who

led the previous SAD-BJP coali-tion government in the state, theAmritsar MLA alleged that thestate bureaucracy and policewere "acting" as per their "wish-es".

"Consensus among MLAs,Badal Sarkar is ruling in lieu ofCongress Govt ... Bureaucracyand Police act as per wishes ofBadal Family, more often thanlistening to our MLAs and Partyworkers. Govt run not for wel-fare of the People, but for con-

tinuing control of Mafia Raj #75-25," alleged Sidhu in a tweet onSunday.

The Amritsar MLA's consis-tent frontal attacks come in thewake of reports that someCongress legislators, includingtwo ministers and Sidhu, heldmeetings in the past a few days.

The group of legislatorsreportedly decided to exert pres-sure on the Punjab CM to takeaction against those involved inthe desecration of the religioustext.

The Congress had in the run-up to the 2017 Assembly pollspromised to take strict actionagainst the culprits.

Last month, in a meetingwith Chief Minister AmarinderSingh at his farm house, sever-al party MLAs had urged him tobring the culprits to justiceexpeditiously.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh,who is close to Navjot Sidhu, hadthen said that he had told theCM that there was a public per-ception that he and the Badalswere "hand in glove" with eachother.

Over 72 lakh vaccine doses stillavailable with states, UTs: Centre

NEW DELHI: As the national capital enters into an extended periodof lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) Sunday said its services on all lines will remainsuspended from Monday till 5 am on May 17. The DMRC statementcame after the city government extended the ongoing lockdown foranother week. According to the DMRC statement, in the wake of theextension of curfew in Delhi for the containment of Covid-19, theDelhi Metro services on all its lines shall also remain suspended forpassenger or essential services from Monday till 5 am March 17.

BENGALURU: Ahead of the fort-night long lockdown like restric-tions starting from May 10 inKarnataka, Bengaluru policecommissioner Kamal Pant onSunday urged people to strictlyabide by the guidelines andwarned of strigent action againstviolators. "I urge my fellowBengalureans to follow the lock-down guidelines from Mondaymore strictly. We can only besuccessful in our fight againstCOVID19, if we work together,Stay Home, Stay Safe!" Panttweeted. He warned that strin-gent action would be takenagainst those who violate theguidelines.

PALGHAR: A 103-year-old manfrom Palghar in Maharashtra hasrecovered from COVID-19 despitebeing in the vulnerable age group,officials said on Sunday. ShamraoIngle, a native of Virendra Nagararea here, was admitted to a ruralCOVID-19 hospital in Palghar afterhe contracted the infection. He wasdischarged on Saturday after recov-ering from the disease, a spokesper-son of the district collectorate said ina release. According to doctors atthe hospital, the elderly manresponded well to the medical treat-ment provided to him and co-oper-ated with the staff at the facility. Hewalked out of the hospital with asmile on Saturday. Palghar CollectorDr Manik Gursal and the hospitalstaff greeted the centenarian withflowers at the time of his discharge.

Delhi Metro services to remainsuspended till May 17: DMRC

Strictly followCovid guidelines,top cop urgespeople

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to thechief ministers of Punjab, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttarakhand on theCOVID-19 situation in their states, official sources said. Modi has beenspeaking to state chief ministers and lieutenant governors of unionterritories for the last few days to asses the pandemic situation thereand offer suggestions. Chief ministers have also briefed him on themeasures being taken by them to deal with the raging second wave ofthe pandemic. India recorded 4,03,738 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day,which pushed the tally to 2,22,96,414, the Union Health Ministry said.

PM Modi speaks to CMs offour state on COVID situation

103-year-oldman beatsCovid-19

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Amid the rise in cases ofmucormycosis or 'black fungus'infection among COVID-19 sur-vivors, the Gujarat governmenthas started setting up separatewards in hospitals for suchpatients and has procured 5,000vials of a medicine used in itstreatment. Gujarat has so farreported over 100 cases ofmucormycosis, a serious butrare fungal infection which hasleft many patients blind and isalso causing other serious issues.

Currently, 19 patients areundergoing treatment for it at the

Ahmedabad CivilHospital, as per thestate govern-ment. Two sep-arate dedicatedwards having60 beds eachhave been setup at theA h m e d a b a dCivil Hospital fortreating such patients,it said.

Similar facilities will also be setup at civil hospitals in Vadodara,Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar,Jamnagar and other places, thegovernment said in a release on

Saturday after a core-committee meeting

on COVID-19situation inGujarat underthe chairman-ship of ChiefMinister Vijay

Rupani. Thestate health

department has alsopurchased 5,000 vials

of Amphotericin B 50 mginjections at a cost of Rs 3.12crore for its treatment, the releasesaid. In neighbouringMaharashtra, at least eightCOVID-19 survivors have lost

vision in an eye due tomucormycosis and 200 othersare being treated, Dr TatyaraoLahane, who heads the state gov-ernment's Directorate of MedicalEducation and Research, said onSaturday.

Niti Aayog Member (Health)V K Paul on Friday saidmucormycosis is being found inpatients with COVID-19 disease."The infection is caused by a fun-gus named mucor, which isfound on wet surfaces. To a largeextent, it is happening to peoplewho have diabetes. It is veryuncommon in those who are notdiabetic.

Mucormycosis: Guj sets up special wardsin hospitals, procures anti-fungal drug vials

PNS n THANE

Maratha quota activists onSunday staged a protest at Divain Thane district of Maharashtraagainst the Supreme Court'sdecision to strike down the lawgranting them reservation inadmissions and jobs.

At least a dozen office-bear-ers and activists of the BharatiyaMaratha Sangh (BMS) ton-sured their heads and dis-played banners opposing theSC verdict at Chatrapati ShivajiMaharaj Chowk. Speaking onthe occasion, BMS leaderslashed out at political leadersbelonging to the Maha VikasAghadi (MVA) governmentas well as the Opposition accus-ing them of leaving theMaratha community in thelurch.

13 Covid +veprisonersescape fromcare centrePNS n CHANDIGARH

Thirteen prisoners escapedfrom a jail in Haryana'sRewari, a dedicated facilityfor COVID-19 positiveinmates in the state, officialssaid on Sunday.

Four police teams havebeen formed to trace theprisoners while RewariPolice is also coordinatingwith police departments ofneighbouring districtsincluding Narnaul, a seniorofficer said.

The incident took placeon the intervening night ofSaturday-Sunday and someof the escaped prisoners areconvicted in cases of mur-der, rape, and dacoity, theysaid.

The prisoners, who werekept in a special section of theRewari jail, cut an iron grillof the barrack in which theywere lodged and used clothfrom their bedding as a ropeto escape, they added.

75 marriagescalled off aftercampaign by copsPNS n KOTA

Over 75 weddings were post-poned in a day in Kota Ruraldistrict after police reachedout to families as part of acampaign to comply withthe lockdown which has beenenforced in the state to con-tain rising COVID cases.

During a field visit of DIGRavidutt Gaur, two beat con-stables of Kota Rural Police,Asharam of Digod policestation and Navneet ofKaithun police station,informed him that they hadpersuaded three families tocall off weddings scheduledfor this month, DSP and CO(Itawa) Vijayshankar Sharmatold PTI.

The beat constables weregiven a reward of Rs 1,100each, he said.

The DIG then directedofficials to conduct meet-ings at gram panchyat level inpresence of influential localsand public representatives topersuade families to cancelupcoming weddings, Sharmasaid.

PNS n BALLIA

Two doctors and as manyhealthcare workers of a govern-ment Covid-19 hospital herewere injured Sunday after thefamily of a 65-year-old womanattacked them alleging delay inadmission and oxygen supply,

police said. Chief Medical Officer Dr

Rajendra Prasad said theCovid-infected woman wasadmitted to the hospital inPhephana village around 3.00am in serious condition andpassed away soon afterward.

The family alleged that they

were made to wait for aroundhalf-an-hour at the hospitalbefore admission and theirpatient was given oxygen afterone hour of being admitted,police said.

Chief Medical OfficerPrasad said after the womanpassed away, her family mem-

bers got angry and accused thehospital staff of negligence.

They indulged in vandalismand attacked the hospital staffin which Dr Pritam KumarPandey, Dr Sharad Kumar,and health workers KishanKumar and Rizwan injured, theCMO said.

2 docs among 4 staff injured in attack

Some historians believethat the plague was a very bigblow or setback to the EasternRoman Empire, whichbecame weaker with time. Nowonder that its successor,the Byzantium, failed to standup to the Central Asian Turkswho invaded first Anatoliaand eventually alsoConstantinople and changedits name to Istanbul. Thisshows how a pandemic canaffect the destiny of a civili-sation. Christianity in theavatar of the Eastern Romanempire did not decline, butthe Empire did. The Churchis still headquartered atIstanbul with only about twoto three per cent Christians.

Smallpox was the nextepidemic that came fromtime to time and place toplace. But regardless, it was adisease which was generallyfeared as an endemic; it con-tinued to frighten peopleuntil some decades ago. Somuch so that, in most partsof Asia, every infant wascompulsorily vaccinatedagainst it. Out of fear, in Indiathe disease was worshiped asSitala Devi and there weretemples dedicated to her.Experts suspect that it beganas a virus carried by cows,camels or monkeys. These

useful animals might havepassed on their virus whentheir domestication began.The disease began, it is con-jectured, about 1,100 yearsBC because it was detected insome Egyptian mummies ofthe time. One or two Romanemperors were recorded tohave died of smallpox at theturn of the millennia. Thepox did not spare WesternEurope, especially Spain,from where it reached LatinAmerica by the early years ofthe 16th century. A reportedSpanish solution was; to thewhole family or householdbeing infected, demolish thewhole building. So that somany burials were avoided!

Cholera was anothermenace that spread mainlythrough water or any liquid.It is believed to have begun inthe Ganga delta. From there,it travelled far and wide,including Russia, on to placesin Europe early in the 19thcentury. The bug then crossedthe Atlantic Ocean Americaand spread for a while in theUS as well as to Latin. As wasoften the case, the source ofthe epidemic of cholera wasdiscovered by the Germanscientists in the late 19thcentury. Despite this discov-ery, cholera also travelled

east to Indonesia and south-west to some African coun-tries. To prevent the menaceof cholera, all that was need-ed was for people to keepaway from drinking doubtfulwater. In the West, it wasnicknamed as “Blue Death”though in Kolkata, the firstsymptom the doctors lookedfor was the colour of the exc-reta. If it was not white, it wasnot cholera.

Diphtheria, typhoid,polio, measles, influenza andyellow fever are some otherendemics. Typhoid, likecholera, was a water or liquid-borne disease. Polio, measlesand influenza are air-borne.All these are different bugs.Influenza played havoc afterthe World War I in most partsof the world. Malaria isunique. In India, it had beenvirtually eradicated but hascome back. Evidently, inIndia, we have allowed thatparticular breed of mosquitoto be reborn. Incidentally,while studying modernEuropean history, I had comeacross a reference toNapoleon Bonaparte havinglost thousands of soldiersupon the altar of ‘yellow fever’.

(The writer is a well-knowncolumnist and an author. Theviews expressed are personal.)

Walk into any ayurvedic store and you can easily buy a bottle of “gaumutra”; oneneed not have a medical prescription. The cow’s urine, or “gaumutra” as it iscommonly known, has immense therapeutic value and is used in the treatment

of various diseases in the traditional Indian medicinal system. Used in many formula-tions, it is considered the panacea for a host of ailments, ranging from constipation tocancer. Many, who believe in this curative system, have stood benefited. But still, themajority of people, particularly the urban class , has an obnoxious feeling about it andconsiders it sub-standard — something that belongs to the “uneducated” and “ortho-

dox” class. But there are a lot many people who, inthe face of these unsubstantiated critique and the way-ward trolls, don’t take offence and stand their ground.They do have a reason, a valid one — we have failedto establish the medicinal properties of “gaumutra” asper the modern scientific parameters, thanks to our igno-rance and carelessness towards our heritage.

The country is facing an unprecedented crisis inthe second wave of COVID-19; the impending third wavelooms large. At a time when the scientists are strug-gling with the virus mutants, BJP MLA Surendra Singhfrom Uttar Pradesh comes up with a suggestion thatseems bizarre, to put it mildly. He said that the spread

of COVID-19 can be stopped by using “gaumutra’ as he demonstrated that five bottlecapfuls should be mixed in a glass of water and gulped down. He claimed that the secretof his health, “despite working for 18 hours a day”, was “gaumutra”. Well, in this hourof crisis, when everyone is anxiously waiting for his or her turn to get vaccinated, suchout-of-the-box advice will hardly prompt anyone to walk into an ayurvedic pharmacy for“gaumutra”. When it’s about making choices in the face of an existential threat, mostpeople will obviously go for a safer option, i.e. vaccination. The general populace is notat fault but only those who claim to serve the cause of ayurveda and other indigenousmedicinal system. Well, the desired results have not been obtained but with the Ministryof Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy purposedwith developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicinesystems and the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog formed in 2019, one can only hope thatour indigenous medicinal system and traditional knowledge and breeds are not lost.

When the BJP’s leadership didn’t outright project Sarbananda Sonowal as itschief ministerial face ahead of the Assam Assembly polls, it was clear toeveryone that the issue will be decided after the polls — and Himanta Biswa

Sarma was in with more than a strong chance. Sonowal ran a largely successfulGovernment as the Chief Minister, ran a corruption-free Government and faced sev-eral tricky challenges without many slip-ups. When a man like him, who played akey role in the integration of the tribal votes with the BJP’s Hindutva support base,was not deemed fit to be projected as the CM, the writing seemed clear on the wall.The formality took nearly four days of negotiation and deliberation on the part of the

central leadership before deciding to hand over theState’s reins to a man who, despite all his expe-rience and financial muscle, carried the legacy ofscams and corruption. After all, before Himantaswitched over from the Congress in 2015, he wasbeing probed by the CBI in more than one corrup-tion scandal. That a party like the BJP, which placessuch high premium on probity and ideologicalmooring, would reward such a person with the chiefministerial office shows a major shift in the saf-fron outfit’s policy. No doubt, Sonowal is a non-controversial, popular figure who led the BJP’s pollcampaign in 2016 and brought the party home by

ousting the well-entrenched Congress regime. But Sonowal had to pay the price fornot being as suave, politically crafty and a man of the masses as Himanta.

Sonowal also lacked a godfather like Amit Shah in Delhi. The tribal leader also lackedinfluence outside Assam, whereas Himanta has played a key role in putting the BJP’sfootprint in the entire Northeast. By hook or by crook, he ensured that the BJP emergedas the main player in the region. While Sonowal was undoubtedly a popular tribal leader,Himanta could wear many hats at the same time. Himanta was seen as the architectof the BJP’s impressive show in the Northeast in the last Lok Sabha elections and alsohailed for his handling of the anti-CAA agitation and the pandemic. Meanwhile, Sonowalhas been offered a Cabinet berth in the Modi Government but it’s not yet clear whetherhe wants to accept it. It’s known that he is very unhappy with the treatment meted outto him. His next move has to be watched carefully. If he chooses to return to the Centrewhere he held the Sports portfolio before becoming the Assam CM, then the BJP lead-ership could breathe freely. Otherwise, he would remain a serious challenge to Himantawith the backing of the various tribal outfits and legislators. The fact that someone likeHimanta, who undoubtedly is a resourceful leader of the Northeast, had to leave theCongress after being "insulted and humiliated when Rahul Gandhi made him wait forhours", shows that the current plight of the Congress is of the making of its own. Himanta’selevation will no doubt hurt Sonowal, but it will hurt Rahul much more.

Fair deal?

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

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

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021

06

Moo-t pointIf cow urine is really beneficial against Corona, the Govt hasn't done a great job propagating it

Starting from bubonic plague, there has been a series of pandemics.Corona is only the 12th to have hit the human race so severely

PICTALK

A man crosses a street during sudden rain in Kolkata, Sunday PTI

DIPHTHERIA, POLIO,TYPHOID, MEASLES,

INFLUENZA ANDYELLOW FEVER

ARE SOME OTHER ENDEMICS.

TYPHOID, LIKECHOLERA, WAS A

WATER OR LIQUID-BORNE DISEASE.POLIO, MEASLES

AND INFLUENZA AREAIR-BORNE. ALL

THESE AREDIFFERENT BUGS.

INFLUENZA PLAYEDHAVOC AFTER THE

WORLD WAR I

PRAFULL GORADIA

In an indication of the future, the BJP uproots the popular Sonowal from the Assam CM's chair

The pandemics& the epidemics

We all know thatCorona is not thefirst pandemic toattack almost the

entire world. One can onlyhope that it neither conquerscountries nor changes thecourse of their history. The keyto overturning a pandemicappears to discovering the heartof it; what precisely sets it off.What to destroy at the core ofthe disease and then how todestroy. While medical scientistsand experts try to find a wayout, the disease runs riot.

A consolation is thatCorona is by no means the firstpandemic. There have been 11predecessors and Corona is the12th. As far as the recorded his-tory tells us, the first calamitywas caused by bubonic plaguewhich suddenly sprouted intoan Egyptian port in the sixthcentury. On record, it has beencalled a pestilence; the wordpandemic is a recent innovation.The plague spread far and wideand, on the way, it went toConstantinople across theAdriatic Sea, then Rome, fromthe Eastern to the WesternRoman Empire. From earlyyears, plague was nicknamed“Black Death”.

It then spread acrossWestern Europe, includingBritain. Incidentally, atConstantinople at the time,ruled the Emperor Justinian. Iremember him in history forbuilding the Hagia Sophia, thearchitectural icon of the cityand, for centuries, of an empire.The Turkic conquerors builtfour minarets and converted itinto a mosque. Kamal MustafaAtaturk in the early 1920schanged it to a museum which,very recently, President Erdoganhas reconverted it into amosque. Incidentally, in parts ofthe German-speaking areas,Jews were accused of poisoningthe wells’ mud, and hence thedrinking water. As a punish-ment, the Jews were given thechoice of either converting toChristianity or face death.Those who did not convertwere taken to Jewish cemeter-ies and collectively on fire.

It is very difficult tomaintain propersupply of oxygen atevery hospital. Werequest the Centre toprovide at least 700MT oxygen per day to Delhi.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister

— Manish Sisodia

SOUNDBITEPROTECT THE PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISESSir — The successive Governments havefailed to promote public sector enterprisesand, it seems, that those involved in produc-tion of the ayurvedic medicines are alsoneglected. It is high time that theGovernment should work upon the loop-holes. The Indian MedicinesPharmaceuticals Corporation Limited(IMPCL), a Central Public SectorEnterprises, is a premier company under theMinistry of AYUSH for production ofAyurvedic medicines at economical prices.It is known for producing cost-effectivemedicines of reliable quality and standard.The IMPCL has recorded its highest-everturnover of ̀ 164 crore in 2020-21. Further,the World Health Organisation (WHO)recently recommended its 18 Ayurvedicproducts for WHO-GMP/COPP certifica-tion subject to certain observations inMarch 2021.

Unfortunately, its products are not seenanywhere in the market except atGovernment dispensaries. There also, a com-plete range of products is not available andespecially pain-relief oil is always out of stock.Even the website of the company doesn’t dis-play the full range of products and list of dis-tributors or dealers. It is really a cause of con-cern especially in the backdrop of the factthat it has been awarded ‘World HealthOrganisation, Good Manufacturing Practices/ Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product(WHO-GMP/CoPP)’ certification by WHOafter conducting a thorough inspection andthis certification is an endorsement of thequality of products. While the product of ourpublic sector is recognised worldwide, itseems that our own Government has failedto give the much needed push to it. That iswhy, the products are not found in privateayurvedic medicinal stores in Delhi and arealways out of stock. In case the company doesnot have a network of distributors and deal-ers, it should immediately engage them sothat people may be benefitted through eco-nomical and reliable range of ayurvedic med-icines.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal | Delhi

PUNISH THE PANDEMIC SCAVENGERSSir — During these trying times, when phil-anthropy is at its peak and people are help-ing each other, there are some morally bank-rupt people who are profiteering from thehapless victims of COVID-19. In theabsence of any price capping mechanism,costs of life saving equipment have jumpedmanifold.

Though some prices can be reasonedwith inflation, Chinese products like pulseoximeter which come with no price tags aresold overpriced. Private hospitals bribehealth workers to refer patients to them anddemand exorbitant sums upfront for theiradmission, people are cheated over oxygensupplies, ambulance services charge morethan `30k to ferry patients within the citylimits and the pharmacies attached to thehospitals sell life saving drugs at three times

the maximum retail price. Further, the duplicate of Remdesivir and

other life saving drugs are circulating in theopen market. On one side we have auto-rick-shaw drivers, recovered victims and middleclass senior citizens selling their jewelleriesand other belongings, giving up their vehi-cles and spending their lives savings to aidthe COVID victims and on other side wehave these pandemic scavengers doingeverything possible to decimate the human-itarian efforts. Supply of life saving drugs,oxygen concentrators, raw materials for vac-cines and other essentials are pouring in fromacross the world. But these pandemic scav-engers are undermining the efforts of ourGovernment and international bodies.

Aryaputra P Das | Bhubaneswar

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin’s Governmentmust step up efforts to contain COVID-19.It must be his first task and empathy for

people who are in difficult and distressed sit-uations, he should guide the handling of thepandemic. The change of Government in TamilNadu is significant in terms of ideology andculture, apart from politics. The newGovernment is unlikely to be pliable in the man-ner the EPS Government was for the BJP toimplement its agenda. As the inheritor of thelegacy of Periyar, Anna and Kalaignar, Stalinwill continue to be in the vanguard of the ide-ological battle against the BJP.

The sanction of `4000 for each householdas COVID relief, free medical treatment forCOVID patients in private hospitals, free ridefor women in Government-run buses and set-ting up of an exclusive department for redressof grievances in 100 days are the mainannouncements made by Stalin the day he wassworn in as the CM. These announcementsindicate that the Government is determined forthe welfare of the people. However, it’s dis-appointing that only two women were madeMinisters. A mere six per cent of berths forwomen who make up half of the total popu-lation do not help bridge the gender inequal-ity. The under-representation of women in theCabinet must be rectified to achieve some sem-blance of gender balance. Stalin should holdpower as an instrument for delivering publicservice. He should endeavor to ensure that hisadministration is free from the taint of corrup-tion. He has to provide a people-friendly, wel-fare and development-oriented and corruption-free Government if he is to make the DMK peo-ple’s natural choice in the next elections.

G David Milton | Tamil Nadu

Stalin must not fail Tamil Nadu

May 8, 1945, was a day of liberation.It is our everlastingresponsibility tokeep alive thismemory of people

who lost their lives during thoseyears.

German Chancellor — Angela Merkel

Delhi is almostgasping for breath. Ihave dispersed a lot of300 cylinders and, forthe rest, we are tryingto generate fundsfrom like-minded people.

Actor— Raveena Tandon

There are lives atstake. Saving them isour priority, and it isthe responsibility ofevery Punjabi to savethese lives.

Punjab Chief Minister

— Amarinder Singh

The availability ofplayers from the top

two T20 teams—England and India—

should prompt theBCCI to host the

remaining IPL matches in England.

Former England captain

— Kevin Pietersen

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

Time to review publichealth insurance

THE CENTRAL VISTA IS A CRIMINAL WASTAGE. PUT

PEOPLE’S LIVES AT THE CENTRE, NOT YOUR BLIND

ARROGANCE TO GET A NEW HOUSE.

—CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

THE COST OF THE CENTRAL VISTA IS ABOUT `̀20,000

CRORE. THE CENTRE HAS ALLOCATED NEARLY TWICE

THAT AMOUNT FOR VACCINATION.

—HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS MINISTER

HARDEEP PURI

Healthy families are the foundation of healthycommunities, thus, there is nothing moreimportant than good health and reliable

healthcare for the family. Universal health cover-age aims to ensure that all people receive qualityhealthcare without suffering financial hardship. Thebiggest challenge is to combat the multiple scourgesravaging the world’s poor and sick. Due to the cur-rent pandemic we are facing pressing challenges andhealth-related expenditure has now become a pri-mary route to impoverishment. India took a greatleap in public health insurance when it launchedthe Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)and the Ayushman Bharat (AB) scheme. These arethe country’s flagship structures created to help uni-versalise healthcare so that economically vulnera-ble families get the medical care they need withoutbeing pushed into debt. The cost to the Governmentis around `1, 052 per family, with 60 per cent of itbeing borne by the Centre and the rest by States.

Although the scheme has several laudable objec-tives and novel features, it has its limitations. Despitehaving an apparently formidable beneficiary base,the AB-PMJAY still has a small share in the over-all inpatient care provision. This is due to lowempanelment of hospitals, a general reluctance ofprivate providers towards dispensing AB-PMJAYbenefits, and limited contribution of AB-PMJAY tothe overall business of hospitals. The Governmentpays public and private hospitals fixed rates for treat-ing people covered under the programme and thisdoesn’t fit in with the viability of the private sector.New ways will need to be explored to see how theprivate sector can be co-opted in the delivery of pub-lic health. At the same time, the public health sys-tem — particularly in rural India — will have to beregenerated.

For the poor, health is often the dividing linebetween the path to prosperity or a slide into des-titution. To make matters worse, the combinationof typically volatile and precarious incomes and theabsence of quality healthcare means low-incomecommunities not only need access to healthcare, butalso the ability to pay for it. Private healthcare hascatastrophic costs that shave off hard-earned sav-ings of patients. The repercussions have spilloverconsequences, resulting in less money being avail-able to households for food, education, housing andother necessities.

A health emergency is a bigger risk to farmersthan an unsuccessful crop. Once they sell theirland/livestock, they become indentured labourersand that takes a generation or more to fix. Care atIndia’s public hospitals is technically free. But in real-ity the poor quality of care, lack of human resourcesand equipment have impeded them from copingwith overwhelming patient loads. As a result, manyunderprivileged Indians are forced to seek treatmentin costly private hospitals they cannot afford, or, sim-ply go without care.

Not only are there steep medical costs involvedin a health episode, but there are also incidentalexpenses. This is further compounded by the lossof income during the period an individual isill/injured or caring for an ailing loved one.Without insurance, people often turn to informalmeans to manage these risks, but such strategies pro-vide inadequate protection. So when misfortunestrikes, many get drawn into debt traps as they bor-row beyond their means. This can lead them to sell

productive assets, take children outof school or put them to work, com-promise on food, or leave other ill-nesses untreated. Due to this dynam-ic, a health issue can easily becomea financial sinkhole. Health insuranceserves two primary functions forindividuals. First, it secures financialaccess to healthcare, both for preven-tive services and/or treatment.Second, it evens the costs of those ser-vices, protecting against potentiallydevastating economic shocks.

Health insurance policies inIndia typically don’t cover outpatientor domiciliary treatment, where themajor expenses involve pharmacybills, diagnostic and pathologicaltests. Several health insurance pro-grammes cover wage loss on accountof illness or other health-relatedissues, but many don’t. Due to thesecoverage gaps, even insured benefi-ciaries can incur high indirect costs,especially in cases that require hos-pitalisation. For instance, India’sflagship public health insurancescheme, AB, fails to recognise andcompensate the indirect costs asso-ciated with hospitalisation — andthese are quite significant for thepoor. These include expenses on trav-elling to the hospital and back.Additionally, staying in a hospital orat home, after hospitalisation, impliesa loss of wages. Often, attending care-givers from the family also have toforgo wages for several days andarrange for their lodging in case thetreatment is being undertaken awayfrom their native town. Poor house-holds may take on debt, selling pro-ductive assets or even their homes.

This risks a negative feedbackloop: Poverty leads to bad health,which generates further poverty.They may be forced to avoid or delay

treatment, as they cannot afford tolose their wages. Similarly, those whoneed longer-term hospitalisationmay go back to work even if theyhave not fully recovered. Lostincome, often one of the largest com-ponents of a financial shock, is farlower among the insured, because itallows them to seek care sooner.

Since many of the concerns ofwomen are not easily insurable, e.g.,maternity costs, a more relevantproduct would be one that combinesinsurance and savings. In this way, forexample, a woman could use her sav-ings to cover the cost of normal deliv-ery, and insurance to cover the costof unexpected complications. Inevaluating the success of AB, whatmatters, even more than the benefi-ciaries count, is whether it removesthe need in the target population toprioritise livelihood over their dailyneeds. This is normally the case formost poor families who lack incomesupport during the treatment.

It can also consider includingprimary, day-to-day healthcareinstead of just secondary and tertiarycare. This is because poorly-deliveredprimary care inevitably increases theburden on health and finance at thesecondary and tertiary levels downthe line. Nurses and practitioners oftraditional medicine will have to take“bridge courses” to keep abreast ofthe bewildering forms of new dis-eases. Diseases are not static things.Pathogens change, hosts change andenvironments change. Our immunesystems change as well, as a result offending off infections. And, of course,our lifestyles change, as also socialstandards, medical systems and pub-lic-health programmes.

Thus, it is necessary to enlargethe benefits to include loss of wages

and incidental expenses during hos-pitalisation. This is already the pre-vailing practice of specific compara-ble schemes. Such plans provide a“hospital cash” or “wage loss” bene-fit, which is a fixed amount for trans-portation and wage loss for each dayof hospitalisation. Some plans indeveloping countries provide a fixedamount to the beneficiary for eachnight of hospitalisation, irrespectiveof the actual expenses incurred.This top-up coverage can be usedwith any other social security schemethat members may enroll in. Theenhancement of the coverage couldmake the scheme truly pro-poor.And, considering that this addedbenefit would be conditional on priorhospitalisation, there is no risk ofmoral hazard or unwarranted claims.

Universal health coverage willbecome a reality only if individuals,families and communities areempowered to identify their ownhealth needs and take action toaddress the diseases that increase costof care and contribute to the burdenon our health systems. It is theGovernment’s primary job to investin a dependable State-run system andalso devise regulations that keep play-ers, public and private, committed toserving national interest.

Several laudable policies arealready in place. Yet, for reforms tobe successful, we need hardcodedchanges and higher and more pro-ductive investments. A lot of moneyis wasted on excessive administrativeexpenses, inefficiencies, duplicationof services, and fraud and abuse ininsurance claims. It is now for thepolicy doctors to collaborate with thereal doctors to come up with radicalsolutions that can build a healthierworld for everyone.

It is now for the policy doctors in India to collaborate with the real doctors tocome up with radical solutions that can build a healthier world for everyone

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

WILL BECOME AREALITY ONLY IF

INDIVIDUALS,FAMILIES AND

COMMUNITIES AREEMPOWERED TOIDENTIFY THEIR

OWN HEALTHNEEDS AND TAKE

ACTION TOADDRESS THE

DISEASES THATINCREASE COST

OF CARE ANDCONTRIBUTE TOTHE BURDEN ON

OUR HEALTHSYSTEMS. IT IS THE

GOVERNMENT’SPRIMARY JOB

TO INVEST IN ADEPENDABLE

STATE-RUN SYSTEMAND ALSO DEVISE

REGULATIONS THATKEEP PLAYERS,

PUBLIC ANDPRIVATE,

COMMITTED TOSERVING

NATIONALINTEREST

The term “learning organisations” has been around in managementliterature for ages. Like many fashionable phrases, it got its famebecause it originated in the West at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), Sloan. Peter Senge’s work on learning organisations,‘The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization’talked of organisations where people continually expand their capacityto create the results they wish for, thereby making it necessary for expan-sive patterns of thinking. Senge also talked of “aspiration being set free.”It was widely hailed as a breakthrough, thought with five componentsto it: Systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building sharedvision and team learning. His commitment to the concept of systemsthinking found wide resonance among engineers and economists.

Senge needed to look at two further points. One was his belief thatall expression of behaviour has a logical backdrop to it and the other isthat organisational survival had some special logic to it. Anyone whohas made some attempt to understand human behaviour knows thatthere aren’t always logical processes of behavioural derivations. Emotionsmatter and many times emotions take over logic.

Unfortunately, sometimes at the cost of the subject’s welfare! It isimportant to realise that “non-systems thinking” is very often the under-pinning of much human action. There are many situations where thispropensity surfaces, not the least of it is where egos are involved. Inclosed systems like organisations, continuous self-growth is essential.It is equally so in open systems like societies. It is difficult to survivewith the mindset of a 20-year-old when one is in the 40s. Hence whilePeter Senge’s contributions are useful, they have been, however, builtupon for organisations what would be fairly commonsensical for soci-ety at large. Be that as it may, the concept has determined a lot of col-lateral business which has originated in the domain of firm manage-ment. Follow up books have emerged, consultancies have becomeendemic and training programmes have been spawned.

Organisations and individuals who are not conversant with the lineof thinking on the subject have obviously hailed it as a big breakthrough.Putting it all together within learning organisations, exchange of knowl-edge within the system and interaction of the firm with the businessenvironment have become an important foci. The fulcrum of the actionis to provide continuous learning opportunities for achievements of organ-isational goals and to encourage enquiry and dialogue. When peopleattempt collective enquiry accompanied by dialogue, it is easier to man-age risks. Risk is fundamental to the act of living. All this is possibleonly when one has shared goals and mutual respect.

Some major theories of organisational management are under stressdue to the pandemic. Over the last 18 months there has hardly beenany sustained thought on conceptual pillars of organisation manage-ment. Illustratively, the media which has such an important role in theformulation of organisational norms of society, at times, tends to oper-ate in the same manner — for instance in the same way in May as itdid in December 2019. Obviously, a few newspapers and channels rep-resent a vested interest. However, a time comes when pursuit of groupinterests would need to be subsumed for a while, to the larger causeof collective survival. For instance, in India, some things have gone wrong.They cannot be swept under the carpet however, when collective sur-vival is at stake, judgement has to be exercised as to when to raise atopic and pursue it. Holding on to one’s views to convert them with afocus on solutions would be the wise way forward. It is good that sev-eral agencies are doing so. It is best not to push things towards a big-ger crisis. Alleviating suffering is the need of the hour.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant of internation-al repute. The views expressed are personal.)

Ever since the second waveof the COVID-19 infec-tions has shaken our

country it has also shaken themoral values of many people.There are any number of storiesall over the country of peoplefacing severe extortion andbeing forced to make largepayments to get essential med-ication, oxygen, ambulance ser-vice and hospitals beds.

Perhaps there is a reasonwhy people have behaved andcontinue to behave in such ashameful manner. The drop inincomes and loss of livelihoodsover extended periods since thepandemic struck has probablyshaken the moral and ethicalvalues of many. But it stilldoesn’t justify such actionswhen somebody’s life is atstake. It doesn’t justify selling aninjection of Remdesivir at`40,000 when the MaximumRetail Price (MRP) is `3,500 adose. A few arrests have been

made, but this trade continuesunabated in many parts of thecountry.

When somebody’s lovedone is struggling to breathe andstay alive, people are forced toshell out huge sums. Peoplehave taken flights from Delhi toMumbai and Hyderabad tosource this drug from produc-tion units. Since this is a sched-uled drug and permitted to begiven only under the supervi-sion of a medical practitioner,the Government should havemade it mandatory for thepharmacies to sell this drugdirectly to the hospital or nurs-ing homes where patients areadmitted, based on the doctor’sprescription.

The patients could pay forit along with the hospital bill. Itwould result in complete trans-parency and tackle hoardingalong with black marketing.

The other huge issue hasbeen the lack of medical oxy-

gen. Despite the SupremeCourt’s direction to the Centreto make 700 metric tonnes ofmedical oxygen available toDelhi on a daily basis to tideover the COVID crisis, Delhi isstill gasping for its share and theArvind Kejriwal Government isrunning from pillar to post toget its allotted quota. The samedire situation exists in otherStates, too.

In smaller hospitals andCOVID care facilities, patientsare being told to bring theirown oxygen. People are camp-ing outside oxygen plants forhours together to fill cylinders.A normal cylinder that wouldearlier cost `600-`800 is beingsold by unscrupulous people forover `20,000.

Gurudwaras have starteddistributing oxygen within theirpremises as have other religiousplaces, easing some of the pain.Even then, lives continue to belost at a rapid pace with the con-

tinued scarcity of this natural-ly available product. Peoplewho could not afford to get holdof oxygen cylinders startedlooking for oxygen concentra-tors to deliver uninterruptedoxygen supply without havingto refill. Overnight, oxygenconcentrators (OCs) disap-peared from the market, every

available piece of every brandgot taken and then started theusual black marketing. Abranded OC that is usuallypriced at `40,000-`50,0000 isbeing sold in the black marketat around ̀ 90,000 for substan-dard Chinese products withoutwarranty, and depending on theurgency and desperation goesup to `1.5 lakh. With theincrease in production of med-ical oxygen in Delhi hopefullythings will get better.

Transporting a COVIDpatient to the hospital has beenanother nightmare. Patientscannot be brought in a car dri-ven by relatives for the fear oftransmitting infection, requir-ing transportation in an ambu-lance. Hence, ambulanceproviders have been chargingexorbitant amounts for shortdistances of travel. In Delhi-NCR the minimum charge fora ride of less than five km is`10,000 provided the patient

does not require oxygen sup-port or an accompanying doc-tor; the same ride for a patientrequiring oxygen support anda doctor could cost the familyupwards of `20,000. Inter-citytransfers by ambulance, forexample Delhi-Chandigarh arepriced at ̀ 1,00,000. When oneservice provider was confront-ed and told that this was farmore than what an airlinewould charge, the responsewas: “Please take the plane!”

Bargaining and pleadinghas no takers. Nobody has thetime for your story. Thankfully,in Delhi, the Government hasnow intervened and regulatedprices. The other problem is theshortage of hospital beds.Government portals showingvacant hospital beds haven’tbeen updated with the groundrealities.

Many telephone numbersposted on Government web-sites are not in use or not

being answered, adding to thepeoples’ misery. Many hospitalsshow vacant beds on their web-site but these are not availablewhen patients arrive. Staff inmany hospitals has been charg-ing huge bribes from patients toprovide beds. Those waiting inambulances till the patient getsa bed are being charged ̀ 2,000per hour, as waiting charges!

Large hospitals have bedsreserved for politicians andsenior bureaucrats, whereasthe commoner has to runaround to multiple hospitals,pay large sums at every pointand yet, has a faint hope of get-ting the care needed.

Has our country lost itssoul? Is it the effect of the pan-demic or were we inherentlylike this? As the country battlesits biggest crisis ever and fam-ilies weep for the departed,Indians need to look within tofix their broken ethical com-pass.

Sadly, people all over the country are facing extortion and being forced to make large payments to get essential medication, oxygen, ambulances and so on

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021

07

www.dailypioneer.com facebook.com/dailypioneer | at the rate ofTheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

FIRSTCOLUMN

TOWARDS HIGHERWISDOM

It is best not to push things towards a bigger crisis.

Alleviating suffering is the need of the hour

MOIN QAZI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a well-known development

professional of international repute. The

views expressed are personal.

Indians need to look within to fix their broken ethical compass

SUNIT MEDIRATTA

The writer is a neurosurgeon, ApolloHospital. The views

expressed are personal.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

State-run firms NHPC andIREDA organised a two-day vaccination drive,

during which as many as 317employees of various publicsector units in the powersector were inoculated. Thevaccination drive was jointlyorganised by the PSUs on May7-8. The free COVIDvaccination camp -- jointly organised by Indian Renewable EnergyDevelopment Agency Ltd (IREDA) and NHPC Ltd -- was organisedfor the 18-44 age group employees at IREDA's Corporate Office,New Delhi, a power ministry statement said. This was done in linewith the direction of Power Minister R K Singh. A total of 317employees from IREDA, NHPC, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New& Renewable Energy, MHA, PFC, REC, BHEL, BBMB, MMTC,NEEPCO, PTC, NSPCL and CEA (central electricity authority) gotvaccinated in this camp with the objective and fulfilling to rapidlyimmunise all eligible employees amid the second wave ofinfections, it said.

NHPC, IREDA jointly organisecoronavirus vaccination camp

PNS n NEW DELHI

Power consumption in thecountry grew 25 per cent inthe first week of May to 26.24billion units (BU) over thesame period last year, showingconsistent recovery in indus-trial and commercial demandof electricity, according topower ministry data.

Power consumption in thefirst week of May 2020 was21.05 BU. The power con-sumption in the entire monthof May last year was 102.08 BU.On the other hand, peakpower demand met, which isthe highest supply in a day,during the first week of thismonth remained well abovethe highest record of 166.22GW in May 2020 except onMay 2, when it was 161.14GW.

During the first week ofMay this year, peak powerdemand met or the highestsupply in a day touched thehighest level of 168.78 GW (onMay 6, 2021) and recorded a

growth of nearly 22 per centover 138.6 GW (peak met)recorded in the same period in2020 (on May 7, 2020).

The power consumption inApril grew 41 per cent to119.27 BU.. Power consump-tion in April 2020 haddropped to 84.55 BU from110.11 BU in the same monthin 2019, mainly because offewer economic activities fol-lowing the imposition of lock-down by the government inthe last week of March 2020 tocontain the spread of deadlyCOVID-19. The power con-sumption also fell in May2020 to 102.08 BU from120.02 BU in May 2019.

Similarly, peak powerdemand met or the highestpower supply in a day alsoslumped to 132.73 GW inApril last year from 176.81GW in the same month in2019, showing the impact oflockdown on economic activ-ities. The fewer economicactivities also resulted in a fallof peak power demand met in

May 2020 to 166.22 GW from182.53 GW in May 2019.

Experts are of the view thathigh growth in power con-sumption as well as demand inMay this year is mainly due tobase effect but the data showsrecovery so far even as thesecond strong wave ofCOVID-19 forced authoritiesto impose local lockdowns tocontain deadly virus across thecountry. They have cautionedthat local lockdowns mayderail recovery in commercialand industrial power con-sumption and demand.

After a gap of six months,power consumption hadrecorded a 4.6 per cent year-on-year growth in September2020 and 11.6 per cent inOctober 2020. In November2020, the power consump-tion growth slowed to 3.12 percent, mainly due to the earlyonset of winters. In December2020, power consumptiongrew by 4.5 per cent while itwas up 4.4 per cent in January2021.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Continuing their buying spreefor the second straight month,mutual funds invested Rs 5,526crore in stocks in April withfund managers sensing oppor-tunities after some consolida-tion in the market.

Investment by mutual funds(MFs) in equities will contin-ue in coming months seeingthe increase in user growths asmultiple fintech players areentering into this space,Kaushlendra Singh Sengar,

founder and CEO atINVEST19, said.

Alok Aggarwala, ChiefResearch Officer, BajajCapital, is also of the view thatthis bullish stance to contin-ue as valuations moderatesomewhat post FY21 earningsand the consolidation pro-vides investors with an oppor-tunity to accumulate equities.

Another factor driving thisstance is the softening ofbond yields from Marchonwards, forcing investors toflock to equities in search of

higher returns, he added.According to Sebi data,

MFs put in a net amount of Rs5,526 crore in equities in themonth of April, much higherthan a net sum of Rs 4,773crore invested in March.

This was the first such fundinfusion by MFs in 10months. Prior to the inflows,mutual funds had been with-drawing money from equitiessince June 2020, data availablewith the Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi) showed.

Mutual funds on buying spreefor second month in a row

PNS n NEW DELHI

COVID-19 updates, financialresults and macro-economicdata will continue to steerstock markets in this holiday-shortened week, say analysts.

Global trends are alsoexpected to guide the marketsentiment, they added. Equitymarkets would remain closedon Thursday for 'Id-Ul-Fitr'.

"This week, the trend in themarket will be dictated bydevelopments in the COVIDspread, upcoming result out-comes and global cues.Industrial production data forMarch and inflation data forthe month of April are expect-ed to be released this week,"said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

Financial results of AsianPaints, Jindal Steel & PowerLimited, Lupin, Vedanta, Ciplaand Dr Reddy's Laboratories'would remain in focus.

"Investors seem to have fac-tored in the heightened daily

COVID cases and are cur-rently looking beyond theshort-term impact. However,the risk of pandemic gettingprolonged and national lock-down getting imposed lingerswhich is capping the market

upside. "Thus, going ahead,markets are likely to remainrange-bound with bouts ofvolatility. Going ahead, theinterplay of resurgence inCOVID-19 cases and the paceof vaccination would decidethe trajectory of economicrecovery going forward,"Siddhartha Khemka, Head -Retail Research, Motilal OswalFinancial Services Ltd said.

Analysts said that Brentcrude movement, trend in therupee and investment patternof foreign institutionalinvestors would also be influ-encing market sentiments.

Foreign investors have beennet sellers in the equity marketssince April this year amid theraging second wave of coron-avirus infection and its impacton the economy.

According to depositoriesdata, FPIs pulled out Rs 9,659crore on net basis from theequity markets in April whilethey withdrew Rs 5,936 crorein the first week of May.

The number of coronaviruscases crossed the grim mile-stone of 2 crore last week asIndia has been reporting recorddaily cases amid the secondwave of COVID-19. Variousstates have imposed lockdownsto control the rise in the caseswhich could impact the econ-omy.

"We feel improvement inthe domestic COVID situationis critical for any sustainable upmove else the rebound mayagain fizzle out in the follow-ing sessions," said Ajit Mishra,VP - Research, ReligareBroking Ltd.

Earnings, updates, macro data to guide mkt sentiment

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned CIL will continuewith the supply of coal to thepower plants under importsubstitution in the ongoingfiscal.

The development assumessignificance in the wake of thePSU earlier stating its drive forcoal import substitution hasgained tempo with consumersopting for about 90 milliontonnes (MT) of indigenouscoal in FY'21.

"The issue of supply coal inthe FY 2021-22 was deliberat-ed during the sub-group meet-ing...chaired by Joint Secretary,

Ministry of Coal, wherein ithas been decided to continuethe supply of coal to the powerplants under import substitu-

tion mechanism for FY 2021-22," Coal India Ltd (CIL) saidin a notice.

CIL further said that the

PSU and the Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) have beendirected to put notice asking tosubmit the requirement for2021-22.

"Power utilities desirous ofprocuring domestic coal inlieu of imported coal are here-by requested to submittheir...requirements of coal forFY 2021-22," the notice said.

It further said that the sup-ply of coal to power plantswould be made strictly as peravailability and they will haveto honour their fuel supplyagreement (FSA) commitmentbefore lifting coal underimport substitution.

Coal India to continue with fuel supply to power plants under import substitution

PNS n NEW DELHI

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani'sReliance Retail Ltd has beenranked second fastest growingretailer in the world in the2021 ranking of global retailpower houses by Deloitte,down from top rank securedthe previous years.

It has been ranked 53rd inthe list of Global Powers ofRetailing, improvement from56th earlier, according to theDeloitte report.

The list is topped by US giantWalmart Inc, which retains itsposition as world's top retailer.Amazon.com Inc improved itsposition to rank second. CostcoWholesale Corporation of USslipped a rank to be placedthird followed by SchwarzGroup of Germany. The top 10has seven US retailers and onefrom the UK (Tesco PLC at10th position). Other US retail-

ers in the top 10 include TheKroger Co (ranked 5th),Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc(6th) and CVS HealthCorporation (ranked 9th).Germany's Aldi EinkaufGmbH & Co. oHG and AldiInternational Services GmbH& Co. oHG is placed at 8thposition. Reliance Retail is theonly Indian entry in the glob-al list of 250 retailers. It featuresconsecutively for the 4th timein the list of Global Powers ofRetailing and World's FastestRetailers. "Reliance Retail, lastyear's Fastest 50 leader,dropped to second place. Thecompany recorded YoY growthof 41.8 per cent, driven primar-ily by a 13.1 per cent increasein the number of stores in itsconsumer electronics, fashionand lifestyle and grocery retailchains, to 11,784 stores across7,000+ towns and cities inIndia at fiscal year end"

Reliance 2ndfastest

growing retailer

PNS n NEW DELHI

Corporate India is stepping upto shoulder coronavirus-induced challenges by lendinga helping hand through vari-ous initiatives like testing, vac-cination camps, financial aid,medical help and resourceaccess for COVID-19 care.

As the country battles withthe second wave of the pan-demic, companies are tweak-ing policies on loans, insuranceand leaves to help employeestake care of themselves andtheir families.

Apart from facilitating vac-cination appointments andpaid vaccination leaves, manycorporates have updated thegroup Mediclaim policy to

cover COVID-19-relatedexpenses for employees andtheir families.

"We are offering COVID-19Kavach policies for employeesand their family members tomeet COVID-related medicalexpenses, in addition to GroupTerm and Mediclaim cover,"said Kristyl Bhesania, executivevice-president and head(human resources) at Tata AIALife Insurance.

HDFC Life has taken initia-tives like doctor on call, facil-itation of COVID-19 vaccina-tion, mediclaim e-cards andhospitalisation, said VibhashNaik, head (HR, Learning &Development and Admin) atHDFC Life.

He added that oxygen con-

centrators are being madeavailable in select cities.

"Medicines and laboratorytests at discounted rates areavailable for the employeesthrough an app," Naik noted.

Capgemini has a centralised,all-India command centre thataddresses the employees' andtheir dependent's medicalemergencies and needs relatedto availability of hospital beds,ICU, ventilators, ambulanceservice, blood plasma donors,oxygen concentrators, andmedicine requests.

The company has also initi-ated a Project O2 to provideoxygen concentrators for itsemployees and their dependentfamily members who havebeen impacted by COVID-19.

India Inc steps up to shoulderCOVID-induced challenges

Homegrown auto majorMahindra & Mahindra(M&M) is keeping a close

watch on recent increase incommodity prices, especiallythat of steel, to see howsituation pans out beforeinitiating any action tosafeguard its business, said atop company official. Over the past few days, domestic steelmakers have hiked the prices of hot rolled coil (HRC) and coldrolled coil (CRC) by Rs 4,000 and Rs 4,500 per tonne, respectively.After the price revision, a tonne of HRC will cost Rs 67,000, whilethe buyers will get CRC for Rs 80,000 per tonne. According to thesources, the prices of HRC and CRC could again be increased by Rs2,000-4,000 per tonne in mid-May or early-June. HRC and CRC areflat steel used in consumer-friendly industries such as automobiles,appliances and construction. Already, Tata Motors and MarutiSuzuki India have announced price hikes to offset the impact of risein input costs.

Mahindra evaluating options as commodity prices surge

ArcelorMittal Nippon SteelIndia along with theOdisha government has

initiated a feasibility study forits proposed 12 million tonneper annum (MTPA) integratedsteel plant in Kendraparadistrict of the state. In March2021, the Gujarat-basedArcelorMittal Nippon SteelIndia (AM/NS India) had signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Odisha government for setting the greenfield projectin Kendrapara with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore. AMNS Indiais a 60:40 joint venture (JV) company between Mittal'sLuxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel of Japan. In aninvestor presentation, ArcelorMittal said, "AMNS India is developingits longer term opportunities for growth and has signed an MoUwith the government of Odisha to explore options for a greenfieldintegrated steel plant in the Kendrapara district.

AMNS India initiates feasibilitystudy for 12-MTPA steel project

Digital lender Fincare SmallFinance Bank has filedpreliminary papers with capital

market regulator Sebi to raise Rs1,330 crore through an initial share-sale. The initial public offer (IPO)comprises fresh issue of equityshare of the bank worth Rs 330crore and an offer for sale aggregating up to Rs 1,000 crore by promoter Fincare Business ServicesLimited, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus(DRHP).This offer includes a reservation for subscription byemployees. The bank would utilise net proceeds from the freshissue towards augmenting its Tier-1 capital base to meet futurecapital require ments. Further, a small portion of the proceeds willbe used towards meeting the expenses in relation to the offer.Under the terms of the RBI final approval and the small financebank (SFB) licensing guidelines, the lender is required to list itsequity shares on the stock exchanges within a period of three yearsfrom reaching a net worth of Rs 500 crore.

Fincare Small Fin Bank files Rs 1,330-cr IPO papers with Sebi PNS n NEW DELHI

The surge in COVID-19cases across the countryhas derailed fruit drinkc on c e nt r at e m a k e rRasna's marketing invest-ment and expansion plansfor the current financialyear.

"Investment plans relat-ed to marketing have beenpostponed. We also hadvery ambitious plans forretail expansion with ourmocktail bars...that plan isalso slightly de-railed dueto surge in COVID-19cases," Rasna Chairman &Managing Director PiruzKhambatta told PTI.

Covid resurgencederailed Rasna'sinvestment, plans

PNS n DUBAI

Dubai's long-haul carrierEmirates will begin shippingaid for free into India to helpfight a crushing outbreak ofthe coronavirus, the airlinesaid Sunday.

The offer by Emirates,which has some 95 flightsweekly to nine cities, comes as

air freight costs have skyrock-eted.

That's as air cargo demandhas risen to its highest record-ed level ever amid the pan-demic, which has seen carri-ers including Emirates flycargo in otherwise-empty pas-senger seats. Emirates madethe announcement at Dubai'sInternational Humanitarian

City, already home to a WorldHealth Organization ware-house that's been crucial to thedistribution of medical gearworldwide. Since the foundingof the long-haul carrier in1985, Emirates has flown toIndia. The airline over timegrew its network into flyinginto nine destinations acrossthe country.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Eight of the top-10 most-val-ued companies together addedRs 81,250.83 crore in marketvaluation last week, with TataConsultancy Services emerg-ing as the biggest gainer.

Only Reliance IndustriesLtd and Infosys took losses intheir market capitalisation forthe week closed on Friday.

Rest eight companies --Tata Consultancy Services,HDFC Bank, HindustanUnilever Ltd, HDFC, ICICIBank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Bajaj Finance and State Bankof India -- emerged as gain-ers. The market valuation ofTata Consultancy Services(TCS) jumped Rs 34,623.12crore to reach Rs 11,58,542.89

crore.Hindustan Unilever Ltd

added Rs 13,897.69 crore totake its valuation to Rs5,66,950.71 crore.

The valuation of HDFCgained Rs 13,728.03 crore toRs 4,50,310.13 crore and thatof Kotak Mahindra Bank ral-lied Rs 6,213.06 crore to Rs3,52,756.84 crore.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Building materials makerKamdhenu Group is lookingat over Rs 1,000 crore revenuefrom its paints segment overthe next five years, amid ris-ing demand for the productin line with new housingprojects.

The company is also in theprocess of hiving off its paintsbusiness into a separate enti-ty, Satish Kumar Agarwal,Chairman and ManagingDirector (CMD), KamdhenuGroup, said.

As per available figuresprovided by the company,Kamdhenu had garnered arevenue of Rs 226 crore fromthe paints segment in FY2019-20.

"Kamdhenu Paints is adivision of KamdhenuGroup. We are aiming toachieve revenue of over Rs1,000 crore by FY26 from ourpaints segment, citing therising market share of organ-ised players," the CMD toldPTI. The paint industry inIndia is witnessing an annu-al growth of around 18-20 percent, he said. Agarwal furthersaid for better functioning ofthe segment, the manage-ment has decided to demergethe paints division into aseparate entity and later list iton the stock exchanges.

Kamdhenu eyesRs 1,000-crrevenue frompaints section

M-cap of eight of top-10 cos zooms by Rs 81,250.83 crore

Long-haul carrier Emiratesto ship aid for free into India

India's power consumption up bynearly 25 pc in first week of May

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

MondayMay 10, 2021

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE LATESTWEAPON AGAINST COVID

Who knew that at a time whensome of us were frowning uponthe bane of technology andsocial media, they wouldactually turn to be tools inhelping one another out of theclutches of the pandemic? ThePioneer's SHIKHA DUGGALwrites about how people acrossthe country have beenefficiently using social mediaduring these trying times.

hen Instagram wascreated, nobody sawthe potential it had.People thought it’sonly convenient forentertainment pur-

poses but nobody would haveever thought that an app that’smajorly used to share photosand reels has today become asystem on its own, bringinginformation leads to fight thedeadly coronavirus, beatinglimitations of time and dis-tance. The political boundaryof our country may have beencrumbling but the people-to-people communication hasn’t!

From information on leadsabout lack of injections, oxygenrequirements, non-availabilityof beds to assisting the audi-ence with covid-resources andmental health talks — it’s acovid-informative societyonline. Celebrities across thecountry are also helping withthe same. The newly turnedphilanthropic hero Sonu Soodis wearing his heart on hissleeves! Instead of battling for

box office records, he’s battlingto arrange oxygen for the entirecountry. How do these redres-sals even get this far? Daily, hisTwitter is flooded with amplerequests. He’s more connectedto the virtual world because ofthe digital culture which hasbecome so widespread. Socialmedia is adamant about influ-encing democratic processeson a mass scale in 2021!This has proved that acollapsing systemcan be over-turned withthe help ofsocialmedia.

“My mom had just beenresponding to medicines— shecontracted Covid, developed asevere lung infection, and westruggled to find hospital beds.Luckily, she responded to thetreatment at home. But thou-sands aren’t as lucky. I couldsee that we needed a databaseof all

essential services inone place duringthis emergency. TheHyd CovidResources app is adirectory of allessential service

providers in the city. We listproviders of oxygen, plasma,pharmacies, meal providers,and a range of services that thepeople of Hyderabad needright now,” informs VennelaKrishna, the young creator ofHyderabad Covid-resourcesapp in the city, updating every-body quickly on the availability

of beds, oxygen requirements,injections, etc., online!

Calls are beinganswered by

millions ofonline vol-

unteers

repostingand trying

to help the bestthey can. The gap

between demand andsupply in a country that

largely relied on private health-care has seen the entry of prof-iteers, increasing the need forcyber verification and authen-tication. “Social media today isevolving into a much moresubstantial role than just beinga platform for entertainment!

In the initial lockdown, it was areal saviour keeping peopleentertained at a time when allother means of relaxation werecut off. Today, amid this sec-ond wave of the crisis, it isplaying a major role in bring-ing credible information topeople. People now have accessto pages of doctors, hospitals,and other health care services.Many people are also comingforward to be contacted in caseyou wish to clear any doubts!And, the information providedis usually verified by the per-son posting it, unlikeWhatsApp forwards where thesource is usually unknown.This gives us the reassurancethat we need in such toughtimes!,” shares Dr DivyaDevulapalli, consultant psychi-atrist, Care Hospitals, BanjaraHills.

In the process, the youth ofIndia are also learning lessonsin resilience, confidence, andtaking the initiative in a diffi-cult world.

Social media consumptionincreased by 75 percent dur-ing India’s lockdown lastyear, according to 2020 sta-tistics and those figures arelikely to remain high thisyear as states enforce localrestriction measures.

“We have seen children,especially young school-chil-dren, forming groups, websites,authenticating information andfollowing leads during this cri-sis. These young ones gottogether, especially youth influ-encers, and have been raisingtheir voices through their plat-forms, verifying information,and trying to share the rightresources. It’s a concept that isgetting replicated in one stateafter another, and it’s a verypositive sign emerging fromthis crisis,” concludes RakshitTandon, a leading cybersecuri-ty expert!

So you now know that youcan get onto your tablets andpartake in some communityservice and it looks that is howwe can live in hope, and copewith losses for the time being.

he official trailerof The Last Hour,Amazon PrimeVideo’s first-everIndian supernatur-al crime series was

packed with heavy doses ofsuspense, mystery andunexpected twists andturns! The upcoming showstars Sanjay Kapoor, KarmaTakapa, Shahana Goswami,Shaylee Krishen, Raima Sen,Robin Tamang andMandikini Goswami inprominent roles.

Actor Sanjay Kapoor, whois known for films likePrem, Mohabbat, Raja andSirf Tum, plays a pivotalrole in the film. Speakingabou this, he says, “Havingplayed a host of diverseroles in films over the last26 years, I was thrilledwhen I was approached tobe a part of this supernatur-al crime thriller to play thelead character of Arup.Working in The Last Hourhas truly been an amazingexperience for me. WhenAmit narrated the story tome, I had no secondthoughts and just knew

right away that I had to be apart of this show. I loved

playing a Cop in this storywhich has a very unique

concept and narrative. Astory like this deserves to be

told to a wide audience andI’m glad that a globalstreaming giant like willshowcase our work to view-ers across the world.”

The trailer of the showtakes absolutely no time tocapture the viewer’s atten-tion as it builds intrigueright from the word go. Wesee Arup, a newly trans-ferred seasoned city copessayed by Sanjay Kapoorput in charge of trackingdown a mysterious killer ina small Himalayan town.Unable to get to the bottomof the investigation, heropes in Dev, a mysterious,young Shaman as his localinformant, who has a secretgift of communicating withthe dead in their last hour,to solve the case.

Arup finds himself lostin a maze only to find outthat there exist a host ofhidden secrets that willchange his life forever. Withthe past wreaking havoc inthe present, this show setsthe premise for a fascinatingwatch that’s going to haveviewers hooked to theirscreens.

w

t

he stress that highschool studentsface around theworld, and espe-cially in India, hasbeen worrisome

for decades now. The pilingassignments, tiring assess-ments, and approachingexams have always been acause of pressure and anxietyfor students. With the grow-ing awareness about mentalhealth in the past years,Boards have been makingattempts to counter thisissue.

Recently, the CentralBoard of SecondaryEducation, CBSE launched anew mobile app for studentsand parents.

The new app ‘Dost forLife’ is an exclusive psycho-logical counselling app forstudents and parents ofCBSE-affiliated schools. Theapp has been designed forstudents of classes 9 to 12and their parents and can beused for counselling sessionsfrom May 10 onwards!

The new app will simulta-neously cater to students andparents from CBSE-affiliated

schools in different geogra-phies across the world. “TheBoard will conduct livecounselling sessions free ofcost thrice a week onMonday, Friday, andWednesday by trained coun-selors/Principals. Studentsand parents of CBSE affiliat-ed schools can choose any ofthe two-time slots: 9.30 amto 1.30 pm or 1.30 pm to5.30 pm and connectthrough a Chatbox as pertheir convenience. The appwill also provide studentsinformation on suggestivecourse guides after 10+2,tips on mental health andwell-being, a corona guide,and also rap songs,” the teammentions.

The ‘Dost for Life’ app isavailable on the Google Playstore and can be easilydownloaded on any Androidphone initially. The boardwill extend this facility forother phone users in duecourse of time. The time isnow, to ensure better,healthy and happier learn-ing.

APP TO HIGHSCHOOL

STUDENTS'RESCUE

T

ot longer than a week ago, it wasshared on various social network-ing sites that the Covid-19 vac-cines shouldn’t be taken duringone’s menstrual cycle. But do thevaccines affect one’s periods? It's

not known yet, but researchers are starting tostudy the issue. Vaccines are designed to acti-vate your immune system, and some expertshave wondered if that could temporarily dis-rupt menstrual cycles. So far, reports of irreg-ular bleeding have been anecdotal. And it’shard to draw any links to the vaccines sincechanges could be the result of other factorsincluding stress, diet, and exercise habits.There’s also a lack of data tracking changes tomenstrual cycles after vaccines in general.

If scientists do eventually find a link

between the vaccine and short-term changesin bleeding, experts say that would be no rea-son to avoid getting vaccinated. “The benefitsof taking the vaccine certainly way outweighputting up with one heavy period, if indeedthey’re related,” said Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, agynecologist and a professor at the YaleUniversity School of Medicine.

Researchers recently launched a survey tobegin gathering data. The findings won’tdetermine whether there's a relationshipbetween Covid-19 vaccines and menstrualchanges, but it could help form the basis forfurther research, said Katharine Lee, one ofthe researchers, who is based at WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis.

Dr. Jen Gunter, an obstetrician, and gyne-cologist in the San Francisco Bay Area, said alink is possible, since the uterine lining, whichis shed during menstruation, containsimmune cells that help protect the uterus. Buta lot more research needs to be done in thearea to confirm any such links.

THE LAST HOUR

Sanjay Kapoor headlines

n

Vaccine toaffect your

period?

new promo fromSalman Khan’supcoming actionfilm Radhe: YourMost Wanted Bhaihas been released.As expected of

Salman’s star vehicle, the teaseris full of bravado and not muchelse. The film also stars RandeepHooda in the role of the antago-nist. It is Randeep’s characterRana who is in the spotlight in

the

latest teaser.Prabhudheva directorial Radhe:

Your Most Wanted Bhai, which alsostars Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff, andMegha Akash, will be Salman Khan’sfirst film since 2019’s Dabangg 3.

With Radhe, Salman Khan returnsas a cop, and his character, the titularRadhe, does not play by the rules.

The recently released trailer evokedpositive reactions among fans. Radhe:Your Most Wanted Bhai, which is allset to be the biggest theatrical release

in quite a while, hits theatreson May 13. Radhe willalso simultaneously

release on ZEE5’s pay-per-view medium

ZeePlex and onDTH services,including Dish TV,D2H, Tata Sky,and Airtel DigitalTV.

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

CALVIN AND HOBBES

10

Hyderabad Monday May 10, 2021what’s brewing?

FUN

aveena Tandon and AkshayKumar-starrer iconic num-ber Tip Tip Barsa Paanifrom the 1994 Mohra refus-es to get old. The VijuShah-composition, sung by

Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, con-tinues to be the benchmark for sen-suality in rhythm.

Coupled with Raveena Tandon’sgorgeous moves in that yellow sareeand her chemistry with AkshayKumar, Tip Tip Barsa Paan” is still afavourite on the dance floor. It’s nosurprise then that the song’s foot-tap-ping dhol version has surfacedonline.

The video posted by the Twitterpage Cinema Aaj Kal shows a mansinging and playing the song on adhol as a huge crowd gathers towatch his performance. It’s unclearwhether the performance was a partof a wedding or any other celebra-tion. But the musician would havenever thought his terrific experimen-tation with the song would reach thestar herself. As the Twitter page had

tagged bothRaveena andAkshay, the for-mer reacted to thevideo, writing, sheloved it. “Love this ver-sion #dholmix,” Raveenawrote quote-tweeting thevideo.

While there have been manyindependent versions of Tip TipBarsa Paani, its first big-screenrecreation will be seen inAkshay Kumar-Katrina Kaifstarrer Sooryavanshi. The song,choreographed by Farah Khan,is touted as one of the high-lights of the Rohit Shetty-directed actioner.

Interestingly, another songfrom Mohra, whose music wasa chartbuster, has also beenrecreated. The popular track TuCheez Badi Hai Mast, yet againfeaturing Raveena and Akshay,was remixed for Kiara Advani-starrer Machine, which releasedin 2017.

etflix has released a promo-tional featurette about Armyof the Dead ahead of thezombie movie’s release. Thevideo has Zack Snyder talk-ing about the trailer for the

film shot by shot.Snyder not only talks about how the

shots were created, but also theirbehind-the-scenes stories. The part

where he talks about a zombie tiger,the shot which was much discussed onsocial media, is particularly interest-ing. The high-budget movie lookswell-worth spending two and a halfhours, at least judging by the trailersand teasers.

The film marks Zack Snyder’sreturn to the zombie genre after his2004 debut feature Dawn of the Dead.

Army of the Dead has a group of mer-cenaries heading off into a quarantinezone to plot a heist in a Las Vegas casi-no amid a zombie outbreak.

Dave Bautista, Huma Qureshi, EllaPurnell, Ana de la Reguera, GarretDillahunt, Raúl Castillo, OmariHardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, TigNotaro, and Matthias Schweighöferare part of the film’s cast.

awny Kitaen, the sultry red-haired actress who appeared inrock music videos during theheyday of MTV and starredopposite Tom Hanks in the1984 comedy Bachelor Party,

has died. She was 59.The Orange County coroner’s office

said she died at her home in NewportBeach. The cause of death was notimmediately released.

Her daughters, Wynter and Raine,confirmed their mother’s death onKitaen’s Instagram account.

“We just want to say thank you for allof you, her fans and her friends, foralways showing her such support andlove. You gave her life everyday,” theirstatement said.

Kitaen became the rock world’s“video vixen” after appearing on thecover of two albums from the heavymetal band Ratt and starring in sev-

eral music videos for Whitesnake,including the 1987 smash songHere I Go Again. The video,played repeatedly on the burgeon-ing music television network, fea-tured Kitaen performing cart-

wheels on the hood of a Jaguar.She also starred as the fiancee to

Tom Hanks’ character in the comedyBachelor Party, and as Jerry Seinfeld’sgirlfriend in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld.Other TV credits included a stint as co-host of America’s Funniest People and onthe reality shows The Surreal Life and

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in whichshe revealed her struggle with substanceabuse.

Kitaen had a tumultuous personallife, which included a brief marriage toWhitesnake’s lead singer, David

Coverdale, and a rocky marriage tobaseball pitcher Chuck Finley, withwhom she had two daughters. “My sin-cere condolences to her children, herfamily, friends & fans,” Coverdale tweet-ed.

Raveena ‘approves'Tip Tip BarsaPaani dhol version

Tawny Kitaen, star of ’80srock music videos, dies at 59

a

n

r

t

Zack Snyder breaks downArmy of the Dead trailer

Radhe... new teaser:

Randeep Hooda steals the light

oung Rebel starPrabhas attained cultstatus across the coun-try after the sensationof Baahubali directedby Rajamouli. He is

currently having his hands fulland his dates are unavailable till2025. He is currently starring inRadhe Shyam, Adi Purush, Salaar,and Nag Ashwin’s project.

Apart from it, rumours haveit that renowned female direc-tor Sudha Kongara narratedhis idea to Prabhas andhe asked her to comewith a boundscript. Anotherrumour thathas spreadlike wildfireis thatPrabhasdecided toteam withSalaar direc-tor PrashantNeel, and DilRaju willbankroll the pro-ject.

In the meantime,reports are coming in thatPrabhas, who is getting manyBollywood offers, is waiting foran offer from his dream director.Prabhas had many times revealedthat he is a big fan of starBollywood filmmaker RajkumarHirani and he watched his hitfilms Munnabhai MBBS, ThreeIdiots more than 20 times. Heexpressed confidence that in thefuture his dream would be ful-filled and he will star in thedirection of Rajkumar Hirani.

11

Hyderabad Monday May 10, 2021 tollywood

ithiin has been doing filmsirrespective of the results atthe box office. He, who iscurrently starring inMaestro, is all set to sign hisnext. The buzz is strong

that the young star is ready to teamwith Vakkantam Vamsi who earlierdirected Allu Arjun’s Naa Peru Surya.

Vakkantam Vamsi narrated a storyto the Ishq star who liked it and decid-ed to give a green signal. The film willgo to the sets after the second wave ofcorona recedes. An official confirma-tion of the same is awaited.

Meanwhile, Nithiin’s Maestro is theremake of the Bollywood hitAndhadhun. Maestro featuresTamannah and Nabha Natesh and isdirected by Merlpaka Gandhi. The AAa.. actor is reprising the role of ablind pianist played by AyushmanKhurana in the original.

Nithiin who scored a hit withBheeshma, failed to maintain the suc-cess run as his last two films Rang Deand Check bit dust at the box office.Nithiin and Vakkantam Vamsi hope tocome back to the success track withtheir upcoming project.

TR is known togive opportunitiesto successful new-comers. As suchafter the sensationof Uppena featur-

ing Vaisshnav Tej and KritiShetty, NTR not only showeredpraises on debutant directorBuchchibabu Sana but alsooffered him to come with astory.

An excited Buchchibaburecently met NTR and narrateda story. Impressed with it, NTRasked him to develop it further.Buchchibabu, following NTR'sadvice, readied a powerful storykeeping in view NTR's massimage. Though Buchchibabu isready with it, insiders revealthat the project is not going totake off sooner. In the mean-time, Buchchibabu is planningnot to waste time but to comewith a small budget film withnewcomers.

The reason behind NTR-Buchchibabu's project delay isthe surge in Corona cases in

the second wave. This ham-pered NTR's plans as he isalready busy with RRR withRam Charan under the direc-tion of Rajamouli and also hashis next locked with KoratalaShiva.

NTR-Buchchibabuproject not to takeoff anytime soon

ctress Sai Pallavi cele-brated her birthdayon Sunday. Wishingher on her birthday,the makers of ShyamSingha Roy shared her

first look from the film. Theposter features Sai Pallavi in anever-seen-before avatar. She isfierce, graceful and yet has a slightportrayal of anger on her face.

The makers introduced her assomeone from the “Holy ghats ofDevi Maatha.” While they keptmum on the details, we cannotwait to see what she brings on thescreen this time.

Sai Pallavi’s co-star Nani alsoshared the poster wishing her onher birthday.

He called Sai Pallavi’s characterShyam Singha Roy’s love interest.“His heart. Happy birthdayChinna gaaru,” Nani wrote refer-ring to her role in his 2017 releaseMiddle Class Abbayi.

Earlier this year, the makersshared the first look of Nani from

the film. The first look suggestedthat the film is a period dramaand is set in Kolkata and Nani’scharacter is styled accordingly. Italso had a woman hugging himfrom behind but we don’t see herface.

Shyam Singha Roy is helmed bydirector Rahul Sankrityan. Thefilm marks his second outing as adirector after Vijay Deverakonda’s

Taxiwala in 2018. This film hasbeen conceptualised and writtenby Janga Satyadev. Apart from SaiPallavi and Nani, the film alsostars Krithi Shetty who made herdebut with Uppena this year.

Sai Pallavi also has ViraataParvam with Rana Daggubatiand Love Story withNaga Chaitanya upfor release.

Shyam Singha Roy: Sai Pallavi looks fierce in film's first look

or a longtime now,rumourswere doingthe roundsthat ace

director Anil Ravipudi would bedirecting top stars Mahesh Babu

and Balakrishna. Reports also saidthat Anil would be directing Samantha

in a female-oriented film that featuresanother star heroine as an antagonist.

Though these excited movie lovers, everyonewondered if these were actually true and will take

off. But the wait is finally over as Anil Ravipudi

confirmed that he is indeed directing MaheshBabu and Balakrishna in his future projects.

Anil Ravipudi revealed “I met Mahesh Babu andnarrated the story. He asked me to develop thebound script. The project will go to sets onceMahesh Babu completes his Sarileru Neekevvaruand the project with Trivikram Srinivas. EvenBalakrishna has been given his nod to mystory”.

Anil Ravipudi is currently directing F3, thesequel of F2. He scored hits like Pataas, F2, and

Sarileru Neekevvaru earlier. While Mahesh Babu is busy with

Sarileru Neekevvaru withParasuram and his next

is with TrivikramSrinivas, Balakrishna

is currently busywith Akhandadirected byBoyapatiSrinu.

Anil Ravipudi

confirms projectswith Mahesh

Babu, Balakrishna

n

y

f

any expectedoffers galore toVamsi Paidipallyafter he scored aresounding hit inform of Mahesh

Babu’s Maharshi. At thattime, it was said thatMahesh Babu will onceagain team with VamsiPaidipally as he is known torepeat successful combina-tions. But nothing tookshape after that and thennew rumours were rife thatVamsi Paidipally would bedirecting Ram Charan.Even that didn’t turn into areality.

Now according to the lat-est reports, Vamsi had nar-rated a story to Kollywoodstar Vijay, and the latter hasgiven him his consent.Vamsi will direct the action-packed emotional entertain-er once Vijay completes hiscurrent commitments.

In the midst of all of this,we hear that Vamsi couldalso be directing Power StarPawan Kalyan. Sources saythat Vamsi narrated a storyto Pawan Kalyan who lovedit and the project will be

produced by Dil Raju. DilRaju recently producedPawan Kalyan’s comebackfilm, Vakeel Saab. Pawan iscurrently busy withHarahara Veeramallu anddirectors like HarishShankar, Surender Reddy,and Puri Jagannath arewaiting in the wings. IfVamsi gets a green signalfrom Pawan, it will be atreat for Pawan Kalyan fans.A confirmation from theteam is awaited.

m a

n

Will Prabhas' dreams with thisBollywood director turn true?

NITHIIN'SNEXT WITH

VAKKANTAMVAMSI

Vamsi Paidipally todirect Pawan Kalyan?

sport 12HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MAY 10, 2021

MARSEILLE SLIP UP MARSEILLE: Marseille manager JorgeSampaoli was unhappy with his team afterthey went down to a drab 1-0 Ligue 1 defeat atSaint-Etienne on Sunday to miss a chance totighten their grip on a European spot. ArnaudNordin scored the decisive goal at the StadeGeoffroy-Guichard, latching on to a WahbiKhazri cross at the end of the first half. “Wereally lost the first half, which was very pooron our part,” the Argentine said. “It'severyone's responsibility,” he added.

JANGRA WINS MAIDEN PRO BOUTNEW DELHI: Commonwealth Games Silvermedal-winning Indian boxer Mandeep Jangramade a positive start in the professionalcircuit, beating Argentina's Luciano Ramos inhis debut bout in Florida, USA. The boxerwon his first professional bout against Ramosin a four round unanimous decision in thesuper welterweight category on Saturday.

PCB MAY HOST PSL IN UAEKARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)has opened talks with the Emirates CricketBoard to hold the remaining matches of thePakistan Super League 6 in the UAE, nextmonth. PSL was postponed on March 4 inKarachi after an outbreak of positive casesamong the franchises. A PCB officialconfirmed that talks had been initiated with theECB to hold the remaining matches in Dubaiand Abu Dhabi. “Things are being worked outbut importantly the ECB has expressed itsconfidence that it can host the PSL matcheseven at a short notice,” he said.

MULLER HAILS BAYERN’S 9TH TITLE MUNICH: Thomas Mueller hailed BayernMunich's “phenomenal” achievement after theywere confirmed Bundesliga champions for theninth season in a row. “Nine titles in a row,that's crazy. And I was there each time. I'mvery grateful for that,” said Mueller, who nowholds the joint record of 10 Bundesliga titles.“It shows the development of this club overthe years. “It's phenomenal, it's a hugeamount of work every year with a great team.”

ATALANTA RETURN TO 2ND MILAN: Luis Muriel scored twice as Atalantabrushed aside relegated Parma 5-2 to moveback second in Serie A on Sunday. Gian PieroGasperini's side are closing in on a thirdconsecutive season of Champions Leaguefootball as they sit two points ahead of third-placed Napoli with three games to play. AlsoSassuolo kept their Europa League hopes alivewith a 2-1 win over Genoa.

PAK ON VERGE OF SERIES WINHARARE: Pakistan were on the brink of asecond successive innings win againstZimbabwe despite a fighting performance byChakabva on the third day of the of the secondTest. Bad light ended play with Zimbabwe on220 for 9 in their follow-on innings, 158 runsshort of making Pak bat again.

FRANKFURT FRUSTRATED BERLIN: Australian midfielder Ajdin Hrusticscored a bizarre late equaliser on Sunday togive Eintracht Frankfurt a 1-1 draw with localrivals Mainz and prevent their ChampionsLeague suffering a worse blow. Agencies

shortpasses

PTI n NEW DELHI

Batting great Rahul Dravidreckons India will prevailover England 3-2 in this sum-

mer’s away Test series and calls it thevisitors’ “best chance” to win in theUK since 2007.

Dravid was the last Indian cap-tain to win a Test series in England.

“I really do think India have avery good chance this time,” Dravidsaid during a webinar, according toESPNcricinfo.

Dravid, who is now the head ofthe National Cricket Academy(NCA) in Bengaluru, saidRavichandran Ashwin versus BenStokes could form an “interestingsubplot” to what is expected to bean intriguing series.

“There’s no question about their(England’s) bowling. Whatever bowl-ing attack England put on the park,especially their seam-bowling attack,is going to be fantastic. They have alot of players to pick and choose fromand that’s going to be terrific.

“But if you look at their top sixor top seven, you really think of onegreat batsman, a world-class bats-man who is Joe Root.

“Obviously, Ben Stokes isanother one, who is a good all-rounder, but for some reasonAshwin seems to do well againsthim. And that should be an inter-esting contest. I know he’s done wellagainst him (Stokes) in India, butit’ll still be an interesting subplot tothe series.”

But an Indian team, on the backof its historic triumph in Australiaand the home series win against

England, will certainly fancy itschances.

“... But I just think India will bewell-prepared, have the confidencefrom Australia, there’s lot of belief

in the squad.“A couple of players have been

to England a few times, there’s a lotof experience in the batting orderthis time around, so this is proba-

bly our best chance, maybe say 3-2 to India,” Dravid said.

The former captain said India, totheir advantage, will get a lot of timeto prepare there for the rubber.

“I think India will play really wellin England this time,” Dravid said.

“It’s a great opportunity we’vegot. After the WTC final, they’regoing to be in England for a wholemonth before the Test series starts.I don’t think any team has had thatkind of time to prepare for a Testseries as India will have this time,so that surely should be a greatadvantage.

“In England, if there’s one thingyou’ve always got to respect, it’s theconditions. It’s slightly differentfrom say an Australia or India.

“To some extent you sort of getthe feeling (as batsmen) that you’renever set. Even if you’re set and youget a good start, batting on 30, 40,50, things can change very quick-ly, the weather can change, the ballcan swing even after it’s 40-50overs old,” Dravid observed.

Dravid predicts 3-2 win for India in Eng

PTI n KOLKATA

BCCI president SouravGanguly on Sunday said

that the Indian team, sans thetop players, will tour Sri Lankain July for a limited overs bilat-eral series.

Big names such as skipperVirat Kohli and vice-captainRohit Sharma will not be partof the tour as they will beengaged in a marquee five-match Test series in England.

“We have planned a whiteball series for the senior men’steam during the month of Julywhere they will play T20Internationals and ODIs in SriLanka,” Ganguly told PTI.

Asked how will India seg-

regate the two teams, Gangulysaid that it will be a differentside, which won’t have anyonefrom the outfit that will be in theUnited Kingdom at that time.

“Yes, it will be a team ofwhite ball specialists. It will bea different team,” the formerIndia captain said, making itclear that the cricket board alsohas the preparation of white ballregulars in mind.

There will be at least 5 T20Internationals and may be threeODIs in Sri Lanka.

India’s tour of England willend on September 14 and withthe schedule of the remainderof IPL yet to be chalked out, theBCCI would want the likes ofShikhar Dhawan, Hardik

PTI n AUCKLAND

All New Zealand cricketers andcoaches, who were involved in

IPL 2021, have arrived home safe-ly by private jets in two groups afterthe indefinite suspension of the T20league midway into the season dueto the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cricketers Trent Boult, FinnAllen, Jimmy Neesham, AdamMilne and Scott Kuggeleijn, coach-es and former players JamesPamment and Shane Bond, andRoyal Challengers Bangalore’sdirector of cricketing operationsMike Hesson were the first to landhere late on Saturday night.

They arrived on board aBombardier Global Express privatejet via Tokyo in the first of twochartered flights repatriating the

Kiwis. On Sunday, former BlackCaps captains Brendon McCullumand Stephen Fleming were amongthe second group of cricketers totouch down here.

A second private flight ofVistajet carrying McCullum,Fleming, fellow IPL coach KyleMills, Kiwi fast bowler LockieFerguson, commentators SimonDoull and Scott Styris, and umpireChris Gaffaney also safely landedat the Auckland Airport on Sundayevening.

All the players and coacheswent into managed isolation uponarrival, according to a report instuff.Co.Nz.

Also, five-time championsMumbai Indians on Sunday saidthat all their foreign players andsupport staff have reached theirrespective destinations safely.

A total of 14 foreign playersand support of MI have left India.

According to MI, KieronPollard reached Trinidad safely,South African wicketkeeper- bats-man Quinton de Kock and MarcoJansen had landed inJohannesburg.

The franchise’s Australian play-ers Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile and support staff members,including chief coach MahelaJayawardene have reachedMaldives via a charter flight, andthey will serve a 14-day quarantinethere.

NZ cricketers reach home

India will tour SL in July for white ball series: Ganguly

AFP n BIRMINGHAM

Manchester United putManchester City’s Premier

League title celebrations on holdafter coming from behind to win3-1 away to Aston Villa onSunday.

Defeat for Ole GunnarSolskjaer’s side would havehanded the title to City and theirlocal rivals would have enjoyedseeing Villa’s Bertrand Traoreopening the scoring midwaythrough the first half.

But United hit back withtwo goals in four minutes afterthe break, Bruno Fernandesequalising from the penalty spotbefore Mason Greenwood putthem ahead.

United wrapped up the winthanks to substitute EdinsonCavani’s goal three minutesfrom time.

Victory left second-placed

United 10 points behind leadersCity, with 12 still on offer to theRed Devils from their final fourleague games.

United, however, faceLeicester and Liverpool in thecoming week and defeat ineither of those matches will seeCity, beaten 2-1 at home toChelsea on Saturday, crownedchampions before PepGuardiola’s men are away toNewcastle on Friday.

United kicked off having notlost a Premier League match atVilla Park since 1995, a yearbefore current managerSolskjaer joined the club.

Villa’s hopes of ending thatrun against United were nothelped by England InternationalJack Grealish’s ongoing absencedue to a shin injury, with Egyptforward Trezeguet a long-termabsentee as well.

Grealish looked on from the

stands on Sunday as did Englandmanager Gareth Southgate, him-self a former Villa defender.

LIVERPOOL BEAT SAINTSLiverpool kept alive their

hopes of a top-four finish in thePremier League as Sadio Maneand Thiago Alcantara sealed a 2-0 win against Southampton onSaturday night.

Jurgen Klopp’s side movedabove Tottenham into sixthplace thanks to Mane’s first-halfheader and Thiago’s first goal forthe club in the final moments atAnfield. Liverpool’s first victo-ry in four games in all compe-titions leaves them six pointsbehind fourth-placed Leicesterwith a game in hand in the raceto qualify for next season’sChampions League.

It was only their secondleague win at Anfield in their last11 matches.

Tokyo: World Athletics chiefSebastian Coe on Sunday saidthat he believes the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics canbe “a beacon of hope and opti-mism”, despite infections surg-ing in Japan and other countries.

A virus state of emergencyin Tokyo and other parts ofJapan was extended on Friday,less than three months beforethe Games are due to begin.

The emergency measurescome as Olympic organisersstruggle to win over a scepticalJapanese public, who fear theGames could spread infectionsdespite a ban on overseas fansand possibly domestic spectatorstoo.

But Coe, speaking at an ath-letics test event held behindclosed doors at Tokyo’s OlympicStadium, said he believes theGames can “have a profoundimpact” on the world andmoved to reassure the Japanesepublic that “we take those con-

cerns very, very seriously”.“I think that it will also act

as a beacon of hope and opti-mism in a world that I hope issoon moving back to some typeof normalcy,” he told reporters.

“I think that these Gameswill leave a strong lasting lega-cy, not just for Japan but at a timewhen the world is coming toterms with some pretty difficultand harrowing months.”

More than 10,000 athletesfrom 200 countries and regionsare set to travel to Tokyo forthe Games, with a decision onhow many domestic fans — ifany — can attend to be takenin June. AFP

Tokyo Games can bebeacon of hope: Coe

Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Deepak Chahar, YuzvendraChahal to be match ready.

“The BCCI president is verykeen that all our top players arematch ready and since Englanddoesn’t have a white ball leg themonth of July can be utilizedwell,” a BCCI source said whileexplaining the logic behind thetour.

For the Kohlis and Sharmas,they need not come from UK,which has in place some hardquarantine rules.

“Technically, in the monthof July there are no officialsenior India team matches. TheTest squad will be playing intrasquad games.

“So there is no harm in

India’s white ball experts gettingsome match time and selectorsalso get to fix the missing jigsawsin selection puzzle.”

This will give the team achance to carry out experi-ments, like whether it will beChahal, Rahul Chahar or RahulTewatia for the leg breakbowler’s slot, if Chetan Sakariyacan be tried as left-arm option,whether Devdutt Padikkal orShreyas Iyer gets fit to play bythen.

Not to forget that PrithviShaw’s International careercould get a boost with thiswhite ball tournament, withSuryakumar Yadav and IshanKishan also getting a chance tostake their claims.

Man Utd spring another comeback

Man United's Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring his side's third goal AP

‘Bumrah can take 400 Test scalps’PTI n NEW DELHI

West Indies fast bowlinggreat Curtly Ambrose says

Indian pace spearhead JaspritBumrah is “so different” from allother bowlers he has seen andhas the potential to reach the 400wicket milestone in Tests if hemanages to stay fit.

Ambrose, who took 405wickets in 98 Tests at an out-standing average of 20.99, saidfrom the current Indian lot,Bumrah has impressed him themost.

“India’s got a few good fastbowlers. I’m a big fan of JaspritBumrah. He’s so different thanany bowler I have seen. He’s soeffective and I’m looking for-ward to him doing really well,”Ambrose said on The Curtly &Karishma Show on YouTube.

Asked if the the 27-year oldcan scalp 400 wickets in thelongest format of the game,Ambrose said, “As long as he canremain healthy, fit and playlong enough. He can seam theball, swing the ball and bowl

great yorkers.”“He’s got a lot in his arsenal.

So as long as he can remain onthe park for a long period oftime, I’m sure he can get upthere,” Ambrose added.

Bumrah, who made his Testdebut in 2018, has snapped 83wickets in just 19 Tests at animpressive average of 22.10,quickly becoming a vital cog inthe Indian team’s scheme ofthings.

Ambrose, who along with

compatriot Courtney Walshmade the most lethal openingbowling pairs of all time, feelsthe the Indian speedster, with hisshort run up, puts a little morestrain on his body.

“You know in terms of fastbowling, it’s generally aboutrhythm. So, you need to build agood rhythm before you candeliver.

“Bumrah has got a veryshort run up. He walks most ofthe way and maybe one or two

or three little jogs before deliv-ery. So, it simply means he maybe putting a little more strain onhis body but if he can remainstrong enough, I think he’ll beok.

“It’s just about him stayingstrong to accompany that shortrun up. If he can do that, he’ll gothe distance,” Ambrose added.

India is set to take on NewZealand in the inaugural WorldTest Championship final fromJune 18 to 22 in Southamptonnext month and Ambrose feelsa good opening partnershipwill be crucial for Virat Kohli’smen.

“It will be very importantthat the opening batsman lay thefoundation because if you lose1-2 wickets pretty early youexposes captain (Virat) Kohliand the others guys in the mid-dle order.

“So if you get a solid plat-form from the openers I am sureit will make life a lot easier forthe middle order and the teamcan put up a good total,”Ambrose added.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates on the podium after winning the Spanish F1 GrandPrix at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo on Sunday AP

AP n BARCELONA

Lewis Hamilton beat MaxVerstappen in a thrilling

duel to win the Spanish GrandPrix and increase his champi-onship lead over his top rivalon Sunday.

Verstappen’s Red Bulledged the pole-sittingHamilton to the first curve tosnatch the early lead.

But Mercedes’ use of twopit stops to give Hamiltonfresher tires down the finalstretch paid off and allowedhim to overtake theDutchman with six lapsremaining.

“Red Bull got a great start,”Hamilton said.

“I was hunting .... It was along way to come back from,20-odd seconds back. But itwas a good gamble.”

Hamilton followed his100th career pole on Saturdayby taking his 98th career win.He also tied MichaelSchumacher’s mark of six vic-tories at the Spanish GrandPrix, including the last five ina row.

Hamilton increased hislead to 14 points overVerstappen, who grabbed abonus point for the fastest lap.

Hamilton’s teammateValtteri Bottas steered hisMercedes to a third-place fin-

ish.Verstappen got the jump

on Hamilton off the startingline, recovering the scarcemeters that separated them onthe grid down the first straight.They entered the first curveside-by-side and appeared tograze one another beforeHamilton backed off, asVerstappen pulled away.

The superior tire strategykicked in on lap 25 whenVerstappen came in to swaphis soft tires for the moredurable mediums. Hamiltonstayed out to take the lead forthree laps before he ceded itback to Verstappen when hehad to change his tires tomediums as well.

Even though Mercedesteam principal Toto Wolffsaid before the race that heexpected to make one pit stop,seeing Verstappen holding hislead must have changed hismind. Hamilton came in for asecond time on lap 43 for anew set of tires.

Verstappen saw Hamiltoneating into this lead and toldhis team “I don’t see how weare going to make it to theend.”

He was right. Verstappenwas unable to put up a fightwhen Hamilton caught andovertook him on the outsideof a turn.

BIG NAMES SUCH AS SKIPPER

VIRAT KOHLI & VICE-CAPTAIN

ROHIT SHARMAWILL NOT BE PARTOF THE TOUR AS

THEY WILL BEENGAGED IN A

FIVE-MATCH TESTSERIES IN ENGLAND

Suryakumar Yadav & Ishan Kishan will hope to get chance in SL series

Rome: Naomi Osaka is con-flicted over whether the TokyoOlympics should be held amidthe coronavirus pandemic.

The second-ranked tennisplayer, who represents Japan,was asked about the games atthe Italian Open on Sunday.

“Of course I would say Iwant the Olympics to happen,because I’m an athlete andthat’s sort of what I’ve beenwaiting for my entire life,” shesaid.

“But I think that there’s somuch important stuff going on,and especially the past year,”Osaka added.

“I think a lot of unexpect-ed things have happened andif it’s putting people at risk, andif it’s making people veryuncomfortable, then it defi-nitely should be a discussion,which I think it is as of rightnow.” AFP

Osaka conflicted overholding Olympics

Hamilton reignsin Spain (again)

Indian skipper Virat Kohli with his England counterpart Joe Root PTI/File PPicture

AFTER THE WTC FINAL,THEY'RE GOING TO BE INENGLAND FOR A WHOLEMONTH BEFORE THETEST SERIES STARTS. IDON'T THINK ANY TEAMHAS HAD THAT KIND OFTIME TO PREPARE FOR ATEST SERIES

— RAHUL DRAVID