043 5 ˜ˆ % RINL, POSCO to form joint 6˘ ˛ˆ!$ 0ˆ$2!!$ · 2020. 8. 23. · He asked officials to take the Andhra Pradesh government to task for illegally utilising water from

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The Apex Council meetingscheduled for August 25 to sortout the differences betweenTelangana and AndhraPradesh over the sharing ofKrishna and Godavari riverwaters, has been postponedagain.

The Union Water ResourcesMinistry on Sunday informedthe governments of both theTelugu States about the post-ponement.

The meeting was postponedas Union Minister for Jal ShaktiGajendra Singh Shekhawattested positive for Covid-19.The Minister had tweeted onAugust 20 that he had testedpositive and was admitted to ahospital.

The Minister is theChairman of Apex Councilformed under Andhra PradeshReorganisation Act-2014. TheChief Ministers of the TeluguStates are members of theCouncil.

As per the information ear-lier received by both the States,Shekhawat was scheduled to

conduct the meeting throughvideoconference on August25.

It had assumed significancein view of the objections raisedby Telangana over AndhraPradesh going ahead with theRayalaseema Lift IrrigationScheme (RLIS) across Krishnariver. Telangana has been stat-ing that the project wouldadversely affect its interests.

Andhra Pradesh, on theother hand, had raised objec-tions to six irrigation projects,or schemes, including theKaleshwaram Lift Irrigation

Scheme, taken up by Telanganaon the Godavari river.

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao statedlast week that the State will betaking a tough stand overAndhra Pradesh's objections tothe projects across Krishnaand Godavari rivers whileseeking a halt to the RLIS.

Welcoming the Centre'sdecision to hold Apex Councilmeeting on August 25, Rao hadsaid all the disputes and doubtsexpressed by the Andhra gov-ernment and the Centre onsharing of river waters will be

clarified and cleared.He asked officials to take the

Andhra Pradesh governmentto task for illegally utilisingwater from Godavari andKrishna rivers in contraventionof the Bachawat TribunalAward.

In separate letters to the twoChief Ministers earlier thismonth, Shekhawat had urgedthem not to proceed with theprojects being objected to byeach other.

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As Amaravati agitationreached 250 days, the slugfestbetween the YSRCP and theTDP on three capitals hasbeen intensifying as ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu havestuck to their guns.

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onSunday slammed JaganmohanReddy for 'pushing ahead' withhis three capitals decision

though it has no approval ofpeople. Naidu asserted that thefact that the YSRCP was afraid

of seeking a fresh mandate wasa clear indication of how thepeople's mood was stronglyagainst the capital shiftingbeing pursued by the Jagan’sregime.

The TDP chief alleged thatthe ruling party was goingahead with the three capitalsblindly despite lack of publicsupport, hence, that wouldamount to despotic anddestructive action on the partof the Chief Minister.

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Officials of the Medical andHealth Department busted anillegal Covid-19 treatmentracket that was quietly organ-ised at a private hospital inEluru. Officials seized MuraliKrishna Multi-SpecialityHospital on charges of illegal-ly carrying out Covid-19treatment and f leecingpatients with exorbitant bills.

A team comprising Elururevenue department person-nel besides District Medicaland Health Officer raided thehospital and seizedRemdesivir injection dosesworth Rs 10 lakh. The hospi-tal is not among the autho-rised list of centres that arepermitted to treat Covid-19patients.

Jagan holds reviewmeeting on flood situation� �� 0��

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy askedofficials about the flood waterbeing released from the pro-jects on the Krishna river andthe inflows coming fromupper riparian areas. TheChief Minster was speaking ata review meeting convenedhere on Sunday.

In turn, officials explainedto the Chief Minister that fourlakh cusecs of flood waterwould reach the PrakasamBarrage, while the latterinstructed both the Krishnaand Guntur DistrictCollectors to be cautious andtake appropriate measures byshifting the people in the lowlying areas to safer places.

The Chief Minister alsotold officials to take measuresobserving the flood situationand ensure that there are nolapses in providing rehabili-

tation to people affected dueto floods.

He ordered officials con-cerned to take measures toprovide food, medicines andother facilities to people resid-ing in flood-hit areas inGodavari districts.

Following are the inflowsand outflows at various reser-voirs till Sunday evening -Inflow at Srisailam reservoirstand at 4,01,089 cusecs and

outflow 4,95,389 cusecs;inflow at Nagarjunasagar is3,25,634 cusecs and outflow3,25,634 cusecs; inflow atPulichintala reservoir is3,30980 cusecs and outflow2,79,008 cusecs, inflow at thePrakasam Barrage is 3,29,816cusecs and outflow 3,23,538cusecs and inflow at SirArthur Cotton Barrage is18,47495 cusecs and outflow18,47,495 cusecs.

Covid claims 93more lives in State�� 0��

Covid-19 claimed 93 morelives across the State onSunday, taking the toll to3,282, health officialssaid. The State alsoreported 7,895new cases, push-ing the tally to3,53,111.

A n d h r aPradesh is thethird worst-affect-ed State in the coun-try after Maharashtraand Tamil Nadu in terms ofthe number of Covid cases andrecords the fifth highest num-ber of deaths afterMaharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and Delhi.

According to the healthdepartment, 16 fatalities werereported from Nellore dis-

trict, 13 in west Godavari dis-trict, 11 in Chittoor, 10 inKurnool, nine in Prakasamdistrict, eight in Kadapa, six in

Srikakulam, five inVisakhapatnam and

four in EastGodavari.

A n ant apu r,Guntur andKrishna districtsaccounted for

three deathseach, while two

deaths were report-ed from Vizianagaram

district. During the last 24hours, 1,256 cases were report-ed from East Godavari district.As many as 985 cases werereported from Nellore, 934from Chittoor and 923 fromPrakasam district.

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Harsha Reddy, daughter ofChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, is reportedly all set topursue post graduation inbusiness administration. Shehas secured admission in theglobal repute INSEADBusiness School in Paris.

Institute Européend'Administration des Affaires(European Institute ofBusiness Administration inFrench language –INSEAD—is one of the world's leadingand largest graduate businessschools that offers anExecutive MBA programme.

Harsha Reddy has already

completed her graduationfrom London School ofEconomics, one of the presti-gious economic institutions inthe world. She joined thecourse in 2017. She is alsowalking in the footsteps of herfather, Jaganmohan Reddy,who had pursued MBA. Jaganwas also a businessman before

entering politics. The ChiefMinister with his wife may goto Bengaluru on Tuesday forsend-off.

Jagan’s younger daughterVarsha Reddy is also anunder-graduate in the presti-gious University of NotreDame, Indiana State, in theUS.

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The Criminal InvestigationDepartment(CID) taskedwith probing the Srisailam fireaccident will pinpoint whereand when the fire erupted,establish whether StandardOperating Procedures werefollowed while carrying outvarious works, and assesswhether the personnel con-cerned had enough experi-ence to handle the worksassigned in the power house.

Addressing these questionsare crucial because some saythat the fire started during thereplacement of batteries,while others attribute it toshort circuit. Besides, thereare allegations that someinexperienced persons werehandling the task of replace-ment of batteries.

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The Centre on Sundayannounced standard operatingprocedures (SOPs) for resum-ing shooting of films and TVprogrammes, and these includemeasures such as social dis-tancing and mandatory use offace cover or masks for cast andcrew, except for actors in frontof camera.

The guiding principles andSOPs on preventive measures

for media productionto contain thespread ofCOVID-19 wereannounced byInformation andBroadcast ingMinister PrakashJavadekar.

He asserted thatthese measures willfacilitate resumption ofshooting and provide employ-ment to scores of people

impacted due to thefilm industry being

hit in the wake ofthe COVID-19pandemic.

These SOPshave beenfinalised after

consulting thehealth and home

ministries, Javadekarsaid.Shooting of films and TV

serials can be started using

these SOPs issued in the wakeof the pandemic, the ministersaid.

Sharing details of the SOPs,Javadekar said barring thosewho are in front of cameras allothers will have to wear masks.

"We are laying down SOPs asper international experience,and with the consultation of thehealth ministry and the homeministry, we have issued theseSOPs," he said.

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RINL, POSCO to form jointworking group for AP steel project� ��

The Ministry of Steel has askedRINL and South Korean play-er POSCO to form a jointworking group to oversee theirplans of setting a green-fieldproject in Andhra Pradesh.

The South Korean steel majorand state-owned RINL havebeen in talks for quite some timeover their plans to set up a jointventure (JV) for manufacturingvalue-added special grade ofsteel. According to a ministryupdate, "The way forward forthe proposed greenfield invest-ment project by POSCO Steel atVisakhapatnam was discussedwith the representatives ofPOSCO Steel...through a videoconference.

"It was agreed to set up a JointWorking Group (JWG) consist-ing of representatives from

POSCO and RINL to facilitatethe implementation of MoUsigned between the two compa-nies regarding investment onland owned by RINL."

The JWG would meet regu-larly to expedite the imple-mentation of the MoU, theministry said.

The MoU between the two

players was signed towards theend of last year, an official said,adding the group would nowwork on the aspects of the"final agreement as to whatwill be the share of the players(in the JV), amount of theinvestment, among others."

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With the world slowly goingback to normal, many studentsfrom Telangana are lookingforward to go abroad for high-er education. For several years,United States of America hasbeen the favourite destinationfor many students who want tostudy abroad. In fact,Hyderabad contributes the mostnumber of students who fly toUSA each year, and is in the topten worldwide list.

However, this year expertsbelieve that USA is no longer thepreferred study location formany. Given the current pan-demic situation inUSA, many par-ents are hesitantto send kids tothe States.

S h a r e sS a n j a yG u p t aVa s y a aG r o u po f

Services, a consultancy servicesfor students who wish to studyabroad, "USA has been verypopular with the students for along time. However, Canadawith its easy immigration poli-cies is the new favorite. Whilethere is no reduction in thenumber of students who wantto study abroad, many are look-ing for Canada, Australia, NewZealand as study locations."

Santosh Gupta, owner ofCollege Day consultancy, shares,"UK, and other European coun-tries are also preferred by thestudents now. Those looking todo Masters in culinary arts orhotel management are also

looking at Singapore.While students who want

to do research stillprefer US

Universit-ies,those looking

to work for agood five to ten years

abroad are certainlylooking to go to Canada or

Australia."

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The YSRCP has sought toplay down the agitation by thefarmers of Amaravati, whichentered 250 days on Sunday.

Senior YSRCP leaderand Deputy ChiefMinister AmzadBasha toldreporters inKadapa onSunday thatthe so-calledagitation inA m a r av at ifor the capitalwas fake andstage-managed.

“There are nofarmers and there is noagitation of farmers. Thosewho are making a hue and cryare all real estate dealers,” healleged.

Basha said most of the pro-testers in Amaravati at presentwere benamis of TeluguDesam Party president NChandrababu Naidu.

“The TDP chief is enactinga big drama in Amaravati. It is

an artificial agitation being runby N Chandrababu Naidu,” healleged.

The Deputy Chief Ministeralso accused the former ChiefMinister of creating hurdles in

distribution of house sites tothe poor.

“The Jagan gov-ernment has

contemplateddistribution of30 lakh housesites to thepoor andconstruction

of houses inthose plots. But

Naidu is stallingthe project by mov-

ing courts,” he said.Stating that the TDP chief

was an expert in managing allsystems, Basha said the previ-ous TDP government had notgiven even a single house siteto the poor in its five-yearterm. He also described thecomplaint made by Naidu toPrime Minister NarendraModi on alleged telephonetapping as a shameless act.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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For the second time in arow, the YSR Congressfinds itself locked in a

row with the judiciary, cur-rently over allegations of tap-ping judges' phones. This haserupted even before the stormraised by abuse of judges in thesocial media has subsided.

The controversy acquired anew dimension last week whenthe A. P. High Court issuednotices to the Centre, theCentral Bureau of Investigation,telecom operators and theTelecom Regulatory Authorityof India. Possibly, it may beinching towards a confronta-tion between the judiciary andthe executive.

Just in May, the Court hadinitiated contempt proceed-ings against many socialmedia users, including rulingparty supporters, for launch-

ing a smear campaign againstjudges in the wake of threejudgments delivered by it.The Court had ordered a CBIprobe into the mishandling ofa government doctor by Vizagpolice, hauled up top bureau-crats for defying its ordersbanning use of YSRC partycolours on government build-ings and, lastly, reinstated sus-pended IPS officer A. B.Venkateswara Rao.

Leader of the Opposition N.Chandrababu Naidu and theruling party's own MP RaghuRama Krishna Raju lodgedcomplaints of phone-tappingwith the Centre.The JaganMohan Reddy governmenthas junked these charges andserved notices on a newspaperfor publishing the story on tap-ping judges' phones.

Phone-tapping of adver-saries is becoming an integralpart of ruling parties' strate-

gies.Their targets could bepolitical rivals, suspects oreven ordinary citizens. Policein Kerala, under fire for col-lecting call data records ofCovid-19 patients for contacttracing, claimedthat this exer-cise was limited to gatheringtower location details.However, even collection ofcall data records constitutesviolation of the fundamentalright to privacy guaranteedunder Article 21.

It is not just the act of tap-ping that is disconcerting

and illegal if carried out with-out proper authority. Thevery criminality encompass-ing the mindset of spying onfellow legislators withoutheed to the damage it cancause to the democratic fab-ric is disturbing.

We are an imperfect democ-racy with low rankings in theindices of freedom. We havehad the Kanpur gangster VikasDubey and Disha's killers inHyderabad being shot dead bypolice after arrest. It is thustaken for granted that laws can

be bent in offences like phone-tapping.

The BharatiyaJanata Partyraised a hue and cry inRajasthan recently when theCongress released a phoneconversation involving UnionMinister Gajendra Singh abouthorse trading. It raises the

question about which was abigger crime: assault on per-sonal freedom by the Congresstapping telephone or the BJPtrying to bring down an elect-ed government through dubi-ous methods. In 2001, theparty's then president BangaruLaxman was caught red-hand-ed in a sting operation byTehelka.

Closer home, ChandrababuNaidu hadn't much to saywhen the Telangana RashtraSamithi released tapes of aconversation with nominatedMLA Elvis Stephenson aheadof the Legislative Council elec-tions in 2015 to wreck the KCRgovernment.Naidu's partythen got shattered inTelangana with no hopes ofrevival. He made no convinc-ing protestations then but isnow attempting to take themoral high ground by seekingthe Prime Minister's inter-

vention. Ramakrishna Hegde

resigned as Karnataka ChiefMinister in 1988 over chargesof telephone -tapping. Thevery same Congress, whichhad plotted his ouster,showedno qualmswhen FinanceMinisterPranab Mukherjeecomplained to the PrimeMinister in 2011 that his officewas bugged.

The issues here are twofold:(a) the ease of snooping in thisage of technology and lately (b)the lenience towards thosewho bug telephones for illicitpolitical activity.Devices fortapping are freely available inthe market. Even calls frommobile applications can behacked through advancedtools.

The law permits only theCentral and the State govern-ments to intercept phone callsto counter a public emergency

or for ensuring public safetyafter getting written permis-sion from the Home Secretary.As this communication ifleaked would jeopardise thepolitical interests of the gov-ernment, snooping is doneillegally.

Eight years ago, then CBIjoint director V.V.Lakshminarayanacomplainedto Hyderabad police thatanewspaper and televisionchannel owned by Jagan's fam-ily had revealed the call datarecords of his cell phones.The CBI official, who wasthen investigating a slew ofcases against the YSRC leader,said the action was aimed atdemoralising him.

The High Court was rightwhile making it clear that thiswas a serious matter. The two-judge bench, perhaps forstronger emphasis, said tele-phone-tapping was not a joke.

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With a successful vaccine forCOVID-19 in sight and eas-ing of geo-political tensionsnotwithstanding moderateirritants, the New York goldcooled down significantlyduring the week endedSaturday.Consequently, NewYork gold showed a down-swing and finally closed at US$ 1,919.50 (per ounce) while,silver followed suit and closedat $ 26.64 (per ounce).Platinum decreased andclosed at $ 891 (perounce),whereas palladiumincreased to $ 2,065 (perounce) respectively.

Other economic para-meters remained strong.Brent closed at US$44.36 (per barrel)while Crude MCXoil was quoted atRs.3,174 (per bar-rel).Gold MCXstood atRs.51,462(per 10gms). The MCX Silver moveddownward and closed atRs.66,820 (per kg), coppermarched ahead and closed atRs.520.50 (per kg). Sensexand Nifty 50 closed at38434.72 and 11371.60points.

Leading foreign curren-cies' exchange rates were: US$: Rs.74.90, British Pound:Rs.98.29, Euro: Rs.88.21,Singapore $: Rs.54.66, SwissFranc: Rs.82.04, Australian $:Rs.53.67, Saudi Riyal:Rs.19.97, New ZealandDollar: Rs.48.84, KuwaitiDinar: Rs.244.91, Omani Rial:Rs.194.80 and UAE Dirham:Rs.20.39, Japanese Yen:Rs.0.71, Hong Kong Dollar:Rs.9.66.

In the domestic market,due to incessant rains, cou-pled with Covid-19 fear,potential buyers preferred toremain indoor for most of the

time. Both the precious met-als shed extra weight andclosed at much lower levels.Standard gold (24 carats)declined by Rs.60 and closedat Rs.55,450 (per 10 gms).Ornamental gold too movedin tandem and was quoted inthe range of Rs.50,730 -50,830 on the closing day.Silver (0.999) appreciatedbyRs.800 and closed atRs.67,800 (per kg).

COMMODITIES

The sentiment in principalwholesale commodity mar-kets in the twin cities contin-ued to remain strong. RythuBazars and the various com-modity markets located inBegum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, Risala

Abdullah, MirA l a m M a n d i ,

D i l s u k h n a g a r ,K u k a t p a l l y ,

Bowenpally andG e n e r a lBazar arestruggling

to resume normal businessactivities.

During the week, com-mon pulses such as tuar dal,masoor dal, moong dal andurad dal and commoditieslike chillies and garlicremained at moderate levels,while staple foodgrains andcommon edible oils recordeda marginal appreciation.Common vegetables such ascabbage, cauliflower, ribbedgourd, snake gourd, lady's fin-ger, cucumber, potatoes,onions, tomatoes and Frenchbeans along with leafy vegeta-bles recorded appreciation inthe range of 5% to 8%.

The NECC wholesale egg-price in Hyderabad appreci-ated by Rs.15 and closed atRs.375 (per 100). The highestprice of Rs.448 was recordedat Burdwan and Midnapur,while Hospet recorded thelowest of Rs.345.

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In an interesting development,Collector A MD Imtiaz dis-closed that Krishna districtstands at 13 position in theState pertaining to Covid infec-tions which is least. Addressingthe media persons here onSunday, he said that the firstCovid positive case in Krishnadistrict was identified onMarch 23 exactly five monthsago on the same day.

He appreciated the peoplefor their support in followingthe Covid protocol like saniti-sation, wearing mask andmaintaining social distance,which was the key in contain-ing the spread of virus in thedistrict. He appealed to peoplethat they have to still takeutmost precaution as vaccine isstill under trials.

He said that they have con-ducted Serosurveillance, a sci-entific study on how peoplehave developed antibodies and

immunity to fight against thevirus. For the study, they col-lected 3,750 blood samplesfrom people living in the cityin containment, non-contain-ment zones, urban and ruralareas in the district. Accordingto the study, 20 per cent inentire district were infectedfrom the virus and were backto normal without their knowl-edge that they are infectedfrom Covid.

In Vijayawada city, samples

were drawn randomly frompeople living in Krishna Lanka,Ranigari Thota, Kothapeta,Wynchipet and Jakkampudiareas that are badly hit by thedeadly Covid virus.Interestingly, it was found that40 per cent people in thoseplaces do not know that theywere infected and were back tonormal. All the samples drawnwere asymptomatic. This studysays that many people devel-oped antibodies and immuni-

ty against the virus, which is agood development, he said.

The Collector reminded thatthree cities in the country hadcarried out Serosurveillanceand it was found that 23 percent in Delhi, 40 per cent inMumbai and 50 per cent inPune were asymptomatic. Heappealed to people, who didnot get tested for Covid to gettested, and if the result is pos-itive they can take treatment,which is available free.

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The protest by people inAmaravati against the govern-ment's move to trifurcate thecapital entered 250th day onSunday.

Protests were staged with thetitle 'Rajdhani Ranabheri' inMandadam, Thulluru,Velagapudi, Dondapadu andother villages of Amaravati.Farmers, women, leaders ofpolitical parties and people'sorganisations participated inthe protests, with the womenbeating drums and utensilsand farmers with ploughs,bulls, buffaloes and sheep.

The TDP staged a protest inGuntur in solidarity with thepeople of Amaravati. Formerministers Nakka Anandbabuand Yanamla Ramakrishnudu

participated in the protest.Anandbabu said the YSRCP

government was showing noconcern for the people ofAmaravati by going ahead withits three capital plans. Healleged that the governmenthad thrown the Constitution tothe winds.

It may be recalled that

protests intensified in 29 villagesof Amaravati on July 31 whenGovernor Biswa BushanHarichandan gave his assent tothe Andhra Pradesh CapitalRegion Development AuthorityRepeal Bill-2020 and theAndhra PradeshDecentralisation and InclusiveDevelopment of All Regions

Bill-2020.The approval of the Bills

paved the way for shifting thekey capital functions fromAmaravati. The governmentplans to develop Visakhapatnamas the Executive Capital. Withthe shifting of the offices of theChief Minister, Governor, min-isters and secretaries to thecoastal city, it will become theseat of power. The governmenthas decided to develop Kurnoolas the Judicial Capital by shift-ing the High Court there.Amaravati, which was original-ly planned as the only capitaland a world-class city, will serveas a mere Legislative Capital.Dealing with the petitions filedby farmers of Amaravati andothers challenging the two Bills,the High Court has ordered thestatus quo till August 27.

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TTD will be organising annu-al Pavitrotsavams on August25 and 26 at Sri MaragadavalliSameta Agasthewara templewithin Sri VenkateshwaraSwamy temple complex atNarayanavanam withAnkurarpanam on August 24.As part of the festival, Yagasalapuja and Purnahuti will beperformed in the morning ofAugust 25 and Pavitrotsavamrituals in the evening. OnAugust 26, Purnahuti andPavitramala Samarpana will beconducted.

Legends say that the templewas built by ancestors of AkasaRaja, father of Goddess

Padmavati, and the deity ofAgastheeswara is a self-mani-fested one. The holyPavitrotsavams will also beperformed at Sri ParasareswaraSwamy temple, which is thesub-temple of Sri KalyanaVenkateswara temple inNarayanavanam on August 30and 31 with Ankurarpanam onAugust 29. As part of the fes-tival, rituals like Pavitramalaswill be performed at Yagasalaon August 30. Similarly, MahaPurnahuti, Yagasala puja,Pavitra Samarpana will beconducted on August 31.These Pavitrotsavams wouldbe conducted in ‘ekantham’ atboth the temples in view ofCovid-19.

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The nationwide lockdown tocontain the outbreak of theCovid-19 pandemic in India hasbrought economic activity to acomplete standstill. Duringthese times of crisis, when mostsectors in the economy are in aslump, the agriculture sector hasrisen to become a beacon ofhope and has the promise ofleading the country's econom-ic recovery.

With the novel virus taking atoll on the people across theworld, many private organiza-tions have resorted to lay-offs,pay cuts and some organizationshave shut their shop. Manypeople, following the easing oflockdown rules, shifted theirbase to their native places, andit includes agricultural labour-ers too.

However, the one and onlysector undeterred by the ongo-ing crisis was agriculture sector.Despite the tough conditions,the farmers are providingemployment to the labourers byincreasing their daily wage. The

state has 56 lakh farmers, 1.32crore agricultural laborersincluding 54 lakh MNREGA jobcard holders.

The farmers increased thepaddy sowing price from Rs2,500 (last Rabi or Yasangi sea-son rate) to Rs 3,500 per acreand in some places, it is Rs 4,000per acre. Now, the agriculturallabourers are earning anywherebetween Rs 600 and Rs 1, 000per day. Before sowing paddysaplings, the farmers are provid-ing work to the tractor driversby paying over

s 5,000 per acre for plough-ing till sowing work. The farm-ers are also providing work to

other daily wage labourers asthey need three to five looseworkers to clear the 'varams',sprinkling fertilizers and distri-bution of paddy saplings in thefield. Those daily wage workersare earning Rs 600 to Rs 1,000depending upon the demandand area. The farmers are alsoarranging transportation to pickup and drop the agriculturallabourers from their villages,which is additionally putting aburden on them.

After three to four months,the farmers have to pay anoth-er Rs 2,000 per acre during cropcutting. They have to pay a cou-ple of thousand rupees to shift

their paddy produce to themarket. The vehicle chargedepends on the distance fromthe village to the market. Thefarmers are also providing liveli-hood to the fertilizer and pesti-cide shop owners by purchasingthe needful from them besidespurchasing cultivating goods.

This year, the prices of vari-ous seeds have also increaseddrastically but the farmers did-n't hesitate in buying them.Also, few farmers are employinga worker for a period of 12months by giving them aroundRs 1 lakh. Come what may, thefarmers are undeterred withthe ongoing Corona crisis. Moreso, the farmers, this yearincreased cultivation area up to1.20 crore acres, thanks to boun-tiful rains.

Ram Reddy, a farmer fromNalgonda district, said that theyare doubling their agricultureactivity and least bothered aboutCoronavirus. "We are busy withfarming activity and labour isdemanding more wages. We arepaying them in tune with theirdemand as we farmers have todo our activity on time," he said.

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In a shocking incident, awoman and her two childrendied after consuming poisonat Kotaiah Nagar, Kondapallivillage in Krishna district onSunday. The woman wasidentified as Lavanya (23)wife of Adapa NageswaraRao and three-year-olddaughter and nine-month-old son.

Lavanya administered poi-son to her two children andlater consumed it. Locals onnoticing something fishyimmediately rushed them tothe nearby private hospitalwhere they were declaredbrought dead by doctors.

The woman's husbandNageswara Rao was workingin Kondapalli village and gotmarried to Lavanya in 2014.The reason behind the sui-cide was yet to be ascertained.

Vijayawada ACP Sudhakar,Ibrahimpatnam CircleInspector Sridhar Kumar,RSIs Ramesh and Srinivasuluvisited the scene of offence.

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Two persons died in a roadaccident when the motoristlost control over the bike andfell on the road divider atMalkajgiri on Saturday night.

The victims were identifiedas Radesham, 35, and Prem,26. According to the police,Radesham and Prem weretravelling to Moula Ali fromLalapet on a two-wheelerwhen the incident occurred.When the bike reachedMoula Ali Flyover bridge,the person who was ridingthe bike lost control over itand accidentally fell on aroad divider, due to whichboth of them sustained bleed-ing injury and died on thespot. Following the com-plaint from their kin,Malkajgiri police booked acase and further investigationis underway.

Both the bodies were shift-ed to Gandhi HospitalMortuary for autopsy.

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TDP MLA from Srikakulamdistrict K Atchannaidu wasshifted to NRI hospital aftertesting positive forCoronavirus. Authoritiesdecided to move him to NRIhospital on Saturday eveningfor Covid treatment. It maybe recalled that he has beenreceiving treatment atRamesh hospital in Gunturfor some time now for piles.

Earlier, Atchannaidu wasarrested by ACB officials oncharges his involvement inthe Rs 150 crore scam in thepurchase of ESI medicalequipment. On June 12,Atchannaidu was arrested bypolice at Nimmada. On theother hand, ACB officialsalready arrested 12 people,including former ministerAtchannaidu, in connectionwith the case. Inquiry isunder progress about therole of 25 more persons,including officials in the ESIscam. The ACB would provethe role of the accused in theESI scam in a scientific man-ner and soon a charge sheetwill be filed in the Court,according to sources.

Continued from page 1

Soon after descending onthe hospital, DMHO DrSunanda, MROChandrasekhar and the RDOtook up investigation imme-diately. Their inquiries unrav-elled several startling revela-tions. The authorities havefound out that the hospitalhas been charging a stagger-ing Rs 2 lakh per day for aCoronavirus-infected per-son. The hospital is alsofound to be charging othersRs 1 lakh per day for treat-ment at their facility.

Even worse, the authoritieshave also unearthed that thehospital management havebeen including ventillatorcharges even without provid-ing the facility to theirpatients. Also, Coronaviruspatients are also being forcedto cough up additionalcharges of Rs 10,000 everyday under the pretext of pro-viding PPE kits. The author-ities found to their shock atotal of 18 Covid-19 patientsbeing illegally treated at thehospital at the time of theirraid.

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As if blow to businesses due tolockdown wasn't enough,adding fuel to the fire, now theshopkeepers in Hyderabadhave become most infectedwith Coronavirus. Cloth mer-chants, super market owners,mom-pop stores and smallbusiness have becomehotspots. With festive seasoncoming up, there is a kind offear among the businessesover being safe and making aliving.

A cloth merchant inMoosapet, Nitin Kumar said,"Most of our customers arefrom lower strata. Eventhough we made maskmandatory, provide sanitiser,not sure how I got infected.This resulted in me infecting10 of family members. Wecannot demand customers tokeep distance when it comesto buying clothes. They haveto touch it. If I stop them, I willbe at a chance of losing cus-tomers".

Retailers and traders in thecity have already suffered hugelosses and such infections will

further add to their woes. Asenior doctor in governmenthospital also confirmed that alot of retailers were gettingadmitted in the hospitals dueto Covid-19. Grocers pointthat sale would be affectedwhen customers get to knowabout their infection. A retail-er Naveen M from Kukatpallysaid, "In Nagpur, all shopkeep-ers and staffers were asked to gettests done irrespective of symp-toms. We should also need suchinitiative by government withcamps in various locations".

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Two young cyber criminalsfrom Haryana were arrestedfor making fraudulent transac-tions at Vizag ATM usingduplicate ATM key, switchingof ATM power cables. Withtheir unique modus operandi,they switch off the power cablewhile the machine dispensescash and this shows that thetransactions failed due topower disruption during thetransactions.

The fraudulent transactionstook place at SBI ATM nearBirla Junction.

Airport Police with a specialinvestigation team were inves-tigating the case based on acomplaint from the concernedSBI branch which could detectthe crime with the help ofCCTV footage.

The accused from HaryanaState had collected 34 SBIATM cards of their relatives,friends and also collected theirPIN numbers and cell num-bers. They used to give sharesto the card holders.

On August 18, Aakib Khan(27) and Mubarik (21) landedat Visakhapatnam on Air IndiaFlight from Delhi and stayed ina lodge near Dabagardens.

The next day, they took oneHonda Activa on rent from arental service provider onbeach road and conductedRecce at isolated ATM centresnot guarded by securityguards.

According to the police, the

duo used to open the lock ofthe front box of the ATMwith the duplicate keys andinsert an ATM Card. Enteringthe PIN number, they with-draw the amount and imme-diately they would switch offthe power button available inthe front box only.

“As a result, the ATM shows“Transaction Failed” due tonetwork failure but a with-drawal message is delivered tothe register mobile number ofthe cardholder. After a fewminutes, the actual card hold-

er called the customer carecentre and complained that hetried to withdraw an amountof Rs.19, 500 and the transac-tion failed, but the amount wasdebited in their account.

“After 3 days, the aboveamount will be credited intothe account by the Bank asthey find that ‘TransactionFailed’. The actual cardholderused to give 50% of the amountcredited in his account to theaccused.

V.Suresh Babu, DCPCrimes, under the close mon-itoring ofK.Venugopalapalanaidu,ADCP Crimes, Ch.Penta Rao,ACP Crimes, the Investigatingofficer M.Radha Krishna, SIPendurthy Crime PS and histeam arrested the accused andrecovered the stolen propertyin cash of Rs.76,000, 34 ATMcards, duplicate keys, HondaActiva from their possessionand sent them for remand.

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Integrated Sports Complex,proposed in Vizag city, hitsanother roadblock as the landearmarked for the project hasbeen cancelled. The adminis-tration would identify alterna-tive land chunks for the projectnow. The project land hasmade way for the govern-ment’s housing scheme for thepoor. About five years ago, theAndhra Pradesh governmenthad proposed to set up thestate of art stadium (integrat-ed sports complex) in over 150acres of land in Vizag city sim-ilar to the Gachibowli stadiumin Hyderabad city of Telanganato promote sports and producetalented sportspersons fromthe region.

A year ago, Vizag districtadministration had allottedaround 80 acres of land toSports Authority of AndhraPradesh (SAAP) for the major

project (integrated sports com-plex) at Aganampudi area inVizag city. While the SAAP waswaiting for the allotment of theremaining 75 acres of land forthe project, the AP governmenthas cancelled the allotment of80 acres of land.

Recently, the 80 acres ofland allotted for the sports pro-ject at Aganampudi was can-

celled and the land was allot-ted for the house-sites for thepoor. The government hasassured to allocate the requiredland for the project in anoth-er location of the city, said NSurya Rao of District SportsAuthority.

Though politicians said thatVizag city will be developedinto an international sports

hub, the government is yet tocome up with any proposals forcreating sports infrastructurein the city, said Olympian andSecretary of District OlympicAssociation MV Manikyalu.The image of Vizag city andAndhra Pradesh has declinedin the sports sector as we don’thave sports icons and stadiumspost bifurcation of the state.The successive governmentsfailed to create sports infra-structure and develop stadi-ums, he added.

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Jagan Mohan Reddy in hisresponse to Shekhawat hadsaid that RLIS is "not a newproject" and it will not affectthe water needs of Telangana.

He said Andhra Pradeshwas drawing only the shareallocated to the State by theKWDT. The Apex Councilmeeting was earlier sched-uled for August 5 but waspostponed on the request ofTelangana government.

A meeting chaired by KCRdecided not to lose even asingle drop of water andresolved that the State gov-ernment was ready to fightfor its rights to any extent.

The meeting condemnedthe way the Central WaterResources Ministry was turn-ing a "deaf ear" to theTelangana government'srequests.


Naidu stressed the need forpeople across the State toexpress their solidarity withthe 'Ranabheri' agitation,which is going on inAmaravati. It is one of thelongest stirs in the country'srecent history.

The agitators would con-tinue this till the govern-ment withdrew its evil plan todestroy their dream capital.

Naidu expressed concernthat the government hasbecome a mute spectatorthough over 85 farmers, farm

labourers and women havesacrificed their lives whiletaking part in the agitation.

TDP MLC Nara Lokeshsaid that if the rulers beginchanging capital city everytime there is a change in thegovernment, then the Statewould be deprived of devel-opment.

“The YSRCP should realisehow the Amaravati agitationwas going forward for such along time. It is time for theruling party leaders to changetheir adamant attitude andfall in line with the people'saspirations,” he maintained.

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More importantly, the equip-ment in the Srisailam LeftBank Hydel Power Stationreportedly cost around Rs 7500crore. There are six units, eachgenerating 150 MW power, ortotal of 900 MW.

The team, under the leader-ship of Additional DirectorGeneral of Police - CID GovindSingh, has started investiga-tions. On Saturday they visit-ed the site and collected sam-ples for forensic analysis. Theteam is likely to record thestatements of all those who

were present at the site at thetime of accident, including theeight employees who man-aged to escape from the site, aswell as higher officials in chargeof the project.

"The fire started during thereplacement of the batteries.There are around six unitsand each unit consists ofaround 56 batteries. A fewdays before this accident, bat-teries of one of the unit werereplaced and while replacingthe batteries fire started," saidG Nagaraju, president of theTelangana ElectricityEmployees Union.

Expressing a different opin-ion, Eshwar Rao from theTelangana State UnitedElectricity Employees Unionsaid, "The fire started due to ashort circuit in a cable andspread to fifth and sixth panel.Some of them managed to getout and DE and AE tried tocontrol the fire by that time itwent out of their hands."

The smoke had engulfedthe area, which blurred their

vision, and nine persons dieddue to asphyxiation. After 10hours of rescue operation allthe bodies were recovered.

"The fire started at the cablein another floor battery whenreplacement work was goingon. Due to which when thepower tripped as the batteriesreplacement work is going onthe lights couldn't be broughtback which forced them towork in darkness. As there wasno power, water also enteredinto the premises delaying therescue operation," (sic) Raoadded.

"Inexperience and negli-

gence of the employee had costtheir lives. It is the mistake ofthe concerned officials to postthe inexperienced employees atthe power house," opinedNagaraju. "There is high tech-nology in place; if a personlights a cigarette also it will alertthe employees of VidyutSoudha." Nine people, includ-ing seven employees of theTelangana State PowerGeneration Corporation (TSGenco) were killed and eightothers injured in a major firemishap at the Srisailam LeftBank Hydel Power Station lateon Thursday night.

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"This is an important aspectof the economy and it employsmillions of people, therefore,we have issued this to facilitatenow the production activity toresume. I am sure everyonewill welcome this and all stateswill implement this," Javadekarsaid.

The I&B document alsoemphasised on the health andfamily welfare ministry's guid-ing principles which state thatnon-essential activities will notbe allowed in COVID-19 con-tainment zones.

The guiding principles alsosaid that employees who are athigher risk, such as olderemployees, pregnant employ-ees, employees who haveunderlying medical conditions,should take extra precautions.

They should preferably notbe exposed to any front-linework requiring direct contactwith the public, according tothe health ministry guiding

principles.The I&B ministry SOPs state

that physical distancing of atleast six feet to be followed asfar as feasible at all locations atall times, while sitting, stand-ing in queues, among others.

These include places such asshoot locations, sound record-ing studios and editing rooms.

Aspects such as scenes,sequences, set-ups, cameralocations, positions of variouscrew members, seatingarrangements, food and cater-ing arrangements, staggeredmeal timings should beplanned while giving due con-sideration to physical distanc-ing norms, according to theI&B ministry document.

Measures should be taken bythe production team to involvea minimum number of castand crew members during theshoot, the SOPs said.

Visitors and audience shouldnot be allowed on sets and foroutdoor shooting, necessarycoordination with the local

authorities should be ensuredto minimise and manage thespectators, they said.

Resting or stay-over facilitiesshould be planned whileadhering to physical distancingguidelines, according to thedocument.

Staggered call and pack-uptimings for different produc-tion units should be ensured bystudios having multiple sets,the SOPs state.

"There shall be designatedentry and exit points for allshoot locations and otherworkplaces," the documentsaid.

Common locations such assets, cafeteria, make-up rooms,edit rooms, vanity vans, wash-rooms should be sanitised reg-ularly, it said.

Sanitisation, to the extentpossible, before and after theshoot should be done, theSOPs said.

They also stressed that mea-sures for the safety of sanitisa-tion staff such as adequate

provisions for rational use ofgloves, boots, masks, PPE,should be undertaken.

The document also statesthat as far as possible, thepractice of work from homeshould be followed.

It says that sharing of cos-tumes, hair wigs, makeupitems, equipment should bekept at a minimum.

Make-up artists and hairstylists will use relevant PPEand artistes should be encour-aged to do their hair stylingand make-up remotely with thehelp of professionals, as per theguidelines.

Persons handling or workingwith common/shared equip-ment shall wear disposablegloves and efforts should bemade to encourage wearing ofgloves among other membersof the cast and crew as well,they said.

Shooting for films and TVserials was suspended follow-ing the outbreak of the novelcoronavirus.

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RINL, POSCO to form jointworking group for AP steel projectContinued from page 1

In July 2019, senior POSCOofficials had met the then SteelSecretary Binoy Kumar andsubmitted an investment pro-posal.

POSCO's interest in India isnot new. Earlier, the companyhad proposed to set up a 12MTPA plant at Jagatsinghpurin Odisha at an estimated costof Rs 52,000 crore.

An MoU was also signedbetween POSCO and the

Odisha government in thisregard in 2005 but the plantcould never be set up due tovarious reasons from delay inenvironmental clearances toprotests by locals, and the pactultimately expired in 2010 andwas not renewed again.

RINL's 7.3 million tonnes

plant in Visakhapatnam is ashore-based integrated steelplant. It has a land of overapproximately 22,000 acre ofits own and enjoys access toGangavaram Port, where rawmaterials such as coking coaletc arrives.

An expert said, since RINLis located on the eastern coastof India, a JV plant will giveaccess to the South East Asianmarkets besides catering to thedomestic needs of special steelthrough rail and road.

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Around an acre of land abet-ting national highway in theheart of the city that was force-fully occupied by someunidentified persons in thewee hours of last Sunday, hasbeen restored to the rightfulowner by the police.

It may be recalled that onSunday morning around 30 to40 unknown persons hadbarged into the leasehold siteof Rishikesh Marble andGranite Private Limited, over-powered the watchman tyinghis hands and broke open theoffice room of RishikeshMarbles. They ransacked theoffice room, changed the nameboard of Rishikesh Marblessubstituting the same with a

board with another name stat-ing that the site belonged toGabu Raghavi Reddy.

The extent of the siteattempted to be grabbed isabout an acre and situatedabutting the highway atIsukathota. The property, esti-mated to cost around Rs 40crore, belonged to KovvuriGangi Reddy who was formerVUDA Chairman and Telugu

Desam Party founder mem-ber.

The police cordoned thearea and either of the partieswas not allowed to enter intothe property. A complaintwas filed by the companywith the MVP Colony police.

Even though several influ-ential persons were behindthis land grabbing, the policedid not yield to any pressure,said Gangi Reddy lawyerTVSK Kanaka Raju.

This restoration of theproperty to the original own-ers would not have been pos-sible without the active inter-vention of Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy, RajyaSabha member V Vijaya SaiReddy, the family memberssaid.

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Grabbed prime propertyrestored to owners

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Narasaraopet MLA GopireddySrinivasa Reddy was infectedwith Coronavirus. Heannounced that he has under-gone tests after developingsymptoms like aches and painsand was found Covid positive.He said he was currently underhome quarantine andappealed to people not tocontact him till he recovers. Hecalled upon the cadre not to bediscouraged and that he will beback with good health soon.The MLA also appealed tothose who have met him forthe last five days to undergoCovid tests.

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APPSC has postponed thedepartment tests for the stategovernment employees,which was scheduled to beheld from August 25 toSeptember 1. The APPSChas already made all arrange-ments for the conduct ofthese examinations. Despitethe spread of covid, it hasdecided to conduct the testsin accordance with the coro-navirus regulations.

However, the decision wasreversed as the number ofcases has increased in recenttimes and the rate of spreadhas also increased. TheAPPSC said the tests wouldbe conducted as soon as theconditions were right.


The period also saw 7,449people recovering from thevirus. With this the cumula-tive recoveries rose to2,60,087. The recovery ratein the State improved to73.66 per cent while thenational average was 74.9 percent.

The State now has 89,742active cases with maximum17,228 in East Godavari, fol-lowed by 9,999 in Chittoor,7,003 in Vizianagaram, 6,810in Guntur and 6,058 inVisakhapatnam.

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A 22-year old youth fromHyderabad drowned atThatiguda waterfalls inAnanthagiri mandal inVisakhapatnam agency onSunday.

The deceased was identifiedas K Rana Prasad (22), a resi-dent of Yousufguda,Hyderabad and a third yearmechanical engineering stu-

dent.According to the Circle

Inspector of Araku police sta-tion, Pydaiah, four friendsfrom Yousufguda were on theirtour to Araku inVisakhapatnam agency.

“On Sunday, they visitedThatiguda waterfall inAnanthagiri mandal. Whenfour of them went in for swim-ming, one Rana Prasadclimbed a rock, where he acci-

dentally slipped and fell inwater. And, he allegedly fellunconscious sustaining headinjury. The victim is believed tohave swallowed water after hefell unconscious. His friendswere also not able to respondimmediately, the police said.

The body has been shifted toS.Kota hospital. Parents of theyouth were informed.Ananthagiri Sub-inspectorSudhakar has registered a case.

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The younger daughter of PDPpresident Mehbooba Mufti hassought to change her mother'sname in her passport toMehbooba Syed. A notice stat-ing this was published in a localnewspaper by Irtiqa Javed.

"I, Irtiqa Javed, daughter ofJaved Iqbal Shah Resident ofFairview House Gupkar Road,Srinagar, Kashmir 190001 wantto change the name of mymother in my passport fromMehbooba Mufti to MehboobaSyed.

"If anybody has any objectionregarding the same may pleasecontact the concerned authori-ties within the period of sevendays after that no objections willbe entertained," the notice read.

Mehbooba Mufti and her

husband are not living togeth-er. The couple have two daugh-ters -- Iltija and Irtiqa. While theelder daughter has followed inthe footsteps of her mother andtaken on the Mufti surname, theyounger one appears to be clos-er to her father.

Mehbooba is under detentionat her official residence here thathas been declared a subsidiaryjail.

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Accusing the BJD govern-ment in Odisha of havingbecome a property dealer, BJPnational spokesperson SambitPatra on Saturday alleged thatthe Puri district administra-tion has started selling the landof a century-old dharamasha-la in an illegal manner.

The Puri district adminis-tration has denied the allega-tion and said the BagalaDharmashala land has notbeen sold to any private lodgeowner but only 12 per cent ofits total area has been used torehabilitate some servitors ofShri Jagannath Temple whohave given their land for abeautification project.

Patra, who was on a visit toOdisha, told reporters thatsale of land of any dharmasha-la, particularly any propertyreceived by the government in

the form of donation, is illegal.In order to please some

senior leaders and officers, thestate government has demol-ished a part of the dharmasha-la meant for poor pilgrims.The state government itself hasbecome a property dealer, theBJP leader alleged. Statingthat a devotee, Kanheya Lalhad donated the land to BagalaDharmasala in 1905 to cater tothe needs of pilgrims and thepoor devotees visiting Puri.

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Government doctors inKarnataka on Sunday decidedto withdraw the proposedstrike from August 24 toprotest the suicide of their col-league due to alleged COVID-19 work pressure recently, fol-lowing an assurance by ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa tolook into their demands.

"The state government wasaware of the problems faced byDoctors during COVID-19situation.

As Chief Minister B SYediyurappa has assured tosolve the issues faced by doc-tors, the state governmentmedical Officer's Associationhas decided to withdraw strike.I thank them," MedicalEducation Minister KSudhakar tweeted.

Announcing the decision

of medical officers to call offtheir strike, Health Minister BSriramulu in a tweet said hehas assured them about fairinquiry into the Nanjangudincident and to look into theirdemands after discussing withthe Chief Minister.

Noting that he has called ameeting of department's offi-cials regarding issues faced bydoctors and take necessary

actions, in another tweet hethanked the medical officialsfor withdrawing the strike inthe interest of the people, real-ising the importance of theirservice during COVID-19times.

S R Nagendra, the Nanjagudtaluk health officer had com-mitted suicide last weekallegedly due to Covid-9 relat-ed work pressure.

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Former Union minister andsenior Congress leader PChidambaram on Sunday wel-comed a joint resolution of sixnational and regional parties inJammu and Kashmir, andappealed to them to stand "res-olutely" behind their demandfor restoration of special statusof the erstwhile state.

"Salute the unity andcourage of six mainstreamOpposition parties who cametogether yesterday (Saturday)to fight the repeal of Article370," tweeted the former Unionminister, who held portfolioslike home and finance.

Six political parties, includ-ing the National Conferenceand its arch rival PDP, issued theresolution making clear thatthere can be "nothing about uswithout us", a statement whichclearly indicated that the Centrehas to take into confidence

people of Jammu and Kashmirbefore implementing any con-stitutional change. The politicalparties termed the abrogation ofspecial status of the erstwhilestate under Article 370 of theConstitution as a "spitefullyshortsighted" and "grosslyunconstitutional" move andpledged a combined effort forrestoration of the pre-August 5position of last year.

In a series of tweets in bothEnglish and Hindi,

Chidambaram said, "I appealto them to stand resolutelybehind their demand. Ignorethe uninformed criticism ofself-styled nationalists who donot read history but try to re-write history."

Stating that the Constitutioncontained many examples ofspecial provisions for states andasymmetric distribution ofpower, he said, "How will thegovernment resolve the Nagaissues if it is against making

Special Provisions?"The Saturday's resolution,

termed Gupkar Declaration-II,was circulated in the media. Itwas signed by NationalConference president FarooqAbdullah, PDP chief MehboobaMufti, J-K Congress chief G AMir, People's Conference leaderSajjad Lone, state CPI(M) leaderM Y Tarigami, and Jammu andKashmir Awami NationalConference senior vice-presi-dent Muzaffar Shah.

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The assembly elections inBihar, due later this year, wouldbe held on time, highly placedsources in the ElectionCommission said on Sundayamid demands by some polit-ical parties for postponing thepolls in view of the COVID-19pandemic.

The term of the 243-memberBihar legislative assembly comesto an end on November 29.

Indications are that the pollscould be held sometime inOctober-November.

"Bihar elections are defi-nitely happening on time," asenior official of the poll panelsaid on Sunday.

The state's principal opposi-tion party, the Rashtriya JanataDal, has questioned the need forholding the elections amid thepandemic. The Lok JanshaktiParty, a constituent of the rul-ing NDA, has urged the pollpanel to postpone the polls inview of the pandemic.

Some other parties like theNCP and the National People'sParty too have demanded post-poning the elections.

Political parties had recent-ly responded to a letter fromthe EC seeking suggestions onhow to conduct campaigningduring the pandemic for theupcoming Bihar elections andcertain other by-elections.

Last week, the Commissionhad come out with a set ofbroad guidelines to hold elec-tions and by-elections amid the

pandemic.Voters will be provided

with gloves to press electron-ic voting machine (EVM)buttons and COVID-19patients in quarantine will beallowed to vote at the lasthour of the polling day,according to the guidelinesissued by the EC.

A separate set of guidelineswould be issued for voterswho are residing in areasnotified as COVID-19 "con-tainment zone".

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The Delhi Police has recovereda large quantity of explosivesand an ISIS flag from thehouse of MohammadMustakim Khan in Balrampurin Uttar Pradesh two daysafter he was arrested in thenational capital, officials saidon Sunday.

An alleged ISIS operative,Khan, armed with two pressurecooker IEDs, was arrested fromcentral Delhi's Ridge Roadarea on Friday night followinga brief exchange of fire.

A Delhi Police Special Cellteam took him to his BadhiyaaBhaisaahi village in UttarPradesh's Balrampur district.

One brown jacket contain-ing three explosive packetsand another blue check jacketcontaining four explosive pack-ets were recovered from hishouse, a senior police officersaid.

"Each explosive packet,removed from jackets, was

wrapped with transparent tapewhich contains explosive andcardboard sheet pasted withball bearings and electric wireswere coming outside from it,"Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Special Cell) P SKushwah said.

Khan had planned to carryout a "lone wolf " strike at aheavy footfall area in thenational capital.

"One ISIS flag, one leatherbelt containing around threekilogram explosive, eight tonine kilogram explosive infour different polythenes,

three cylindrical metal boxescontaining explosive andelectric wires wrapped withtransparent tape and twocylindrical metal boxes inwhich ball bearings werepasted were recovered fromhis house," the DCP said.

Among other materialrecovered from his housewere "one wooden brokenbox (for target practice), 30ball bearings of differentdiameters, one packet con-taining 12 small boxes ofball bearings, three lithiumbatteries -- two of 4V and one

of 9V, two cylindrical metalboxes, one ampere meter yel-low colour".

"Two iron blades, attached inparallel to each other, connect-ed to electric wires from sides,one wire cutter, two mobilechargers, a table alarm watchattached with electric wires andone black colour tape were alsorecovered from his house,"Kushwah said.

Security was stepped up inthe national capital and inneighbouring Uttar Pradeshfollowing the arrest.

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Union Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan has inaugurat-ed a 10-bed portable hospitalat the National DisasterResponse Force's (NDRF) 8thBattalion campus in KamlaNehru Nagar here, officialssaid on Sunday.

Battalion Commandant P KSrivastav told PTI that thehospital, which was opened bythe minister on Saturday, is ajoint venture of the CSIR-Central Building ResearchInstitute (CBRI), Roorkee inUttarakhand and the NDRF.

The unique aspect of thefacility is that the hospitalinfrastructure can be trans-ported during any naturalcalamity to the place where itwould be required. It has beendesigned in such a way that itcan be easily dismantled andreassembled in short notice.

All the medical equipmenthas been designed and spon-sored by CBRI while the

NDRF has arranged the bedsand testing machines.

The hospital will also providean OPD facility besides equip-ment for blood pressure, ECGand defibrillator machines.Oxygen pipelines have alsobeen fitted to every bed.

Keeping COVID-19 in view,an isolation ward along withquarantine facilities have alsobeen earmarked with handwashing and sensor basedsanitiser points.

To maintain the tempera-

ture, thermal insulators havealso been used in the water-proof structure to ensure it canbe fitted at any place and in anyweather, Srivastav said.

Vardhan lauded the NDRFand their services during res-cue operations in disaster-hitareas.

S N Pradhan, DirectorGeneral of NDRF and CSIRDG Shekhar C Mande, whowere present at the inaugura-tion, planted saplings in thepremises.

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The BJP will not project anychief ministerial candidate forWest Bengal Assembly pollsand bank on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's developmentplank to fight against the TMC,the party's Bengal minder,Kailash Vijayvargiya, said.

The saffron camp will pickits chief minister, once voted topower, he said on Sunday.

"As of now, it has beendecided that we won't projectanyone as our chief minister-ial face. We will fight under theleadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and win theelection. Once voted to power,the legislative party in consul-tation with central leadershipwill decide on its chief minis-terial choice," Vijayvargiya toldPTI.

Asked if the party has any-one in mind for the post, he

said that "time has the answer"."Right now, our target is to

win 220-230 seats in the 294-member Assembly. We willachieve our target as we did inthe Lok Sabha polls. The issueof projecting a CM face won'tbe a factor,” he said.

Incidentally, in 2016, too, theBJP had fought the Assemblypolls without any CM face. But

a lot of water has flown underthe Howrah Bridge over thelast four years, with the saffronparty having emerged as theprime challenger of the rulingTMC in Bengal, by pushing thetraditional opposition parties— the CPI (M) and theCongress — to distant thirdand fourth positions.

The saffron camp reachedits all-time high in Bengalpolitics last year when itstunned political pundits bybagging 18 of the 42 LokSabha seats in the state, fourless than the ruling TMC, andwith a staggering vote share of41 per cent.

According to BJP sources,the decision of anointing achief ministerial face beforeelections could be a double-edged sword for the party, soit would "be wiser to rely onthe negatives of the oppositioncamp" to win the elections.

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Two Naxals carrying cashrewards on their heads havesurrendered in Chhattisgarh'sinsurgency-hit Narayanpurdistrict, a police official saidon Sunday.

The cadres, AkhileshHurra alias Baldev (23) andJairam Markam (28), turnedthemselves in before policeon Saturday, citing disap-pointment withthe "hollow"ideology of Maoists andincreasing pressure of theanti-Naxal operations,Narayanpur Superintendentof Police Mohit Garg said.

Hurra, who was active as amember of Kiskodo LOS(local organisation squad) ofthe outlawed outfit, had beeninvolved in three Naxalattacks on security forcesbetween 2013 and 2018 inNarayanpur and neighbour-ing Kanker district, whileMarkam was working as ajan-militia commander, hesaid.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday posted a video on hisInstagram page in which he isseen feeding peacocks at his res-idence during his morningexercise routine. The 1.47-minute video also has a fewglimpses of the prime minister'sdaily walk from his home to hisoffice within the Lok KalyanMarg residence. Peacocks areoften a regular companion of thePM during his exercise routine,sources said. At his residence,the prime minister has alsoplaced elevated structures, oftenfound in rural India, where birdscan make their nests, they said.

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CBI sleuths on Sunday ques-tioned actor Sushant SinghRajput's friend SiddharthPithani, cook Neeraj Singhand domestic help DeepeshSawant at the DRDO guesthouse here in connection withhis death case and later visitedthe actor's flat in Bandra alongwith them, an official said.

In the morning, Pithani,Neeraj and Sawant arrivedseparately at the DRDO guesthouse in Kalina are ofSantcaruz, where the CBI offi-cials probing the case are stay-ing, an official said.

These three persons, whowere present in the flat whenRajput (34) was found hangingin his room on June 14, werequestioned for about five hoursfollowing which the CBIsleuths took them to the late

actor's residence at Mont BlancApartments in suburbanBandra around 2.45 pm, hesaid. Forensic science expertswere also part of the CBI teamwhich visited Rajput's resi-dence, the official said.

Mumbai Police officials werealso present at the actorshouse, he added. On Saturdayalso, the CBI team accompa-nied by Pithani, Neeraj andSawant visited the late actor's

house in Bandra to recon-struct the sequence of eventsbefore he was found dead.

Another CBI team onSaturday visited the state-runCooper Hospital in the city,where autopsy had been per-formed on Rajput's body. Athird CBI team had visited theBandra police station to meetMumbai Police officials whowere investigating Rajput'salleged suicide earlier.

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Days after including India'smost wanted terrorist DawoodIbrahim on its new sanctionslist, Pakistan on Sunday triedto wriggle out of its admissionon his presence in the countryby claiming that its notifica-tions about the 88 bannedterror groups and their leaderswere based on the details pro-vided by the UN.

Seeking to escape from get-ting blacklisted by theFinancial Action Task Force(FATF), the global moneylaundering and terroristfinancing watchdog, Pakistanon Friday imposed toughfinancial sanctions on 88banned terror groups and theirleaders, including Ibrahim,26/11 Mumbai attack master-mind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa(JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed andJaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)

chief Masood Azhar.The Pakistan government

ordered the seizure of all mov-able and immovable propertiesof these outfits and individu-als, and freezing of their bankaccounts. Underworld donIbrahim, who heads a vast andmultifaceted illegal business,has emerged as India's mostwanted terrorist after the 1993Mumbai bombings.

In 2003, the US declared

Ibrahim as a SpeciallyDesignated Global Terrorist.India has repeatedly asked theGovernment of Pakistan tohand over Ibrahim to India sothat he can be prosecuted forthe crimes committed by him.It is reported that Ibrahim isbased in the southern port cityof Karachi. It is believed thatthe latest move by the Pakistangovernment is part of its effortsto wriggle out of the grey list.

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Top Congress leaders, includ-ing Rahul Gandhi, on Sundayrequested the government todefer the all-India medicaland engineering entranceexaminations taking into con-sideration the concerns raisedby a section of students andparents amid the coronaviruspandemic.

Rahul Gandhi said the gov-ernment must listen to the'mann ki baat' of students andarrive at "an acceptable solu-tion", while party general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadrasought the postponement ofthe National Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET) and theJoint Entrance Examination(JEE) till the coronavirus situ-ation improves in the country.

Congress leader in LokSabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury wrote to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi sug-

gesting that the exams bedeferred, while Kapil Sibalsaid these needed to be post-poned. "GOI must listen to the#StudentsKeMannKiBaatabout NEET, JEE exams andarrive at an acceptable solu-tion," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

In a tweet in Hindi, PriyankaGandhi said, "The COVID-19situation in the country is yetto normalise. In such a situa-tion, if students who are tak-ing NEET and JEE, and their

parents have raised concerns,then these should be taken intoconsideration by the govern-ment and those conductingthese exams." Chowdhuryrequested PM Modi to inter-vene and postpone the exams.

"The aspirants of nationalexamination are undertremendous mental pressure asto how they could be remainimmune to the infection whileattending the examinationphysically.

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Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh has opposedthe bid by some Congressleaders to challenge theGandhi family leadership inthe party, saying this is not thetime to raise such an issue.

In a statement, Singh saidthe need today is for a strongopposition against the BJP-ledNDA which is out to destroythe country's constitutionalethos and democratic princi-ples.

The veteran Congress leadersaid the NDA's success wasattributable to the absence ofa strong and unitedOpposition. "The move bythese Congress leaders todemand a rehaul of the partyat this critical juncture wouldbe detrimental to its interests,and the interests of the nation,"he said. "What the Congressneeds is a leadership that isacceptable not just to a few but

to the entire party, through itsrank and file, and the nationat large," he said, adding thatthe Gandhis were the right fitfor this role.

"Sonia Gandhi should con-tinue to helm the Congress aslong as she wants," he said,adding that Rahul Gandhishould thereafter take over ashe is fully competent to leadthe party. Some Congressleaders, including ex-minis-ters, have written to partypresident Sonia Gandhi for theoverhaul of the organisation-al structure and changes to theleadership.

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Recoveries among COVID-19patients in the country surgedto 22,80,566 on Sunday, push-ing India's recovery rate tonearly 75 per cent, while thecase fatality rate reduced to1.86 per cent — one of thelowest globally, the Unionhealth ministry said.

The constantly rising num-ber of recoveries has ensuredthat the active cases of coron-avirus infection, which is the"actual caseload" of the coun-try, currently comprises only23.24 per cent of the totalcases, it said.

"This has also resulted in agradually falling mortalityrate. Currently at 1.86 percent, India's case fatality rate(CFR) is one of the lowestglobally," the ministry said.

With 57,989 patients recu-perating from COVID-19 in aday, recoveries have surged to22,80,566 and exceed the total

number of active cases ofcoronavirus infection by near-ly 16 lakh (1,572,898). Thenational recovery rate hasincreased to 74.90 per cent.

The ministry said the aver-age daily number of recover-ies is on a "constant upwardmove" from 15,018 betweenJuly 1 and 7 to 60,557 betweenAugust 13 and 19.

The increasing recovery rateand declining case fatality ratehave been made possiblebecause of "comprehensiveand sustained effectiveness ofthe Centre's policy of testingaggressively, tracking com-prehensively and treating effi-ciently".

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A Samajwadi Party (SP) leaderhas alleged that Uttar Pradeshminister Chetan Chauhan,who succumbed to COVID-19in a Gurugram hospital, diednot because of the disease, butdue to carelessness in his treat-ment at the state-run SGPGIhere.

Chauhan (73), who wasadmitted to the Sanjay GandhiPostgraduate Institute ofMedical Sciences (SGPGI)after he tested positive forCOVID-19, was shifted to theMedanta hospital in Haryana'sGurugram when his conditiondeteriorated. The cricketer-turned-politician died lastweek due to COVID-relatedcomplications, after being puton life support for nearly 36hours.

Raising the issue in the

Upper House of the UttarPradesh Legislature, SP MLCSunil Singh Sajan alleged onFriday that Chauhan receivedpoor treatment at the SGPGI.

The SP leader also claimedthat Chauhan and he wereadmitted to the same ward ofthe hospital.

"Once during a round, adoctor and a nurse asked whois Chetan, to which the min-

ister raised his hand since hewas a simple person. He wasasked as to when he got infect-ed with the virus, to which heexplained the entire matter tothe hospital staff. At that time,another personnel askedChauhan what do you do, towhich he said he is a ministerin the Yogi Adityanath govern-ment," Sajan said.

He added that he wasangered by the behaviour ofthe hospital staff withChauhan. "When I could notcontrol my anger, I told thedoctor that Chauhan hadplayed cricket for India, towhich the doctor said 'oh, heis that Chetan'. After this, thedoctor and the other staff left,"the SP leader said. The footageof Sajan's speech in theLegislative Council went viralon social media platforms onSaturday.

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BJP President J P Nadda saidon Sunday that all three NDAconstituents in Bihar, theJD(U), LJP and his party, willfight the coming assemblypolls in the state together withChief Minister Nitish Kumaras the face of the alliance, andexpressed confidence that itwill emerge victorious.

Nadda's remarks at a virtu-al meet of the Bihar BJP comesamid a bitter war of wordsbetween Kumar's JD(U) andChirag Paswan-headed LJP.

The BJP has been maintain-ing that the ruling NationalDemocratic Alliance is intactin the state and has stuck toKumar's projection as its chiefministerial face. N a d d aalso claimed that the opposi-tion in Bihar as well as else-where has become a "spentforce" and asserted that the BJPis the only party which isbeing looked at by people withhope.

The opposition has neitherideology nor vision nor anyspirit to serve people, and it

can't rise above petty politics,he added.

He praised the Bihar gov-ernment's handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic andfloods in the state.

The special packageannounced by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has beenimplemented in "letter andspirit", he said, asking the stateBJP to go to people with itsdetails. Nadda also shareddetails of the Modi govern-ment's work to boost healthcare measures to battle thepandemic and to provide reliefto people, especially the poor,with several packages.

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The Ministry of Education hasinvited suggestions fromschool teachers and princi-pals on the implementation ofthe new National EducationPolicy, Union Minister RameshPokhriyal 'Nishank' said onSunday.

"We believe that the teach-ers are the key to the imple-mentation of NEP 2020, andhence we have decided to callfor suggestions from all schoolteachers and principals fromacross the country on how totake the implementationprocess of#NationalEducationPolicy for-ward," he tweeted.

The NEP approved by thegovernment last monthreplaces the 34-year-oldNational Policy on Educationframed in 1986 and is aimed atpaving the way for transforma-tional reforms in school andhigher education systems tomake India a global knowledgesuperpower.

Teaching up to Class 5 inmother tongue or regional lan-guage, lowering the stakes ofboard exams, a single regula-tor for higher education insti-tutions, except for law andmedical colleges, and com-mon entrance tests for univer-sities are part of the sweepingreforms in the new NEP.

Replacing the 10+2 structureof school curricula with a5+3+3+4 curricular structurecorresponding to age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18 yearsrespectively, scrapping M.Phil

programmes and implement-ing common norms for privateand public higher educationinstitutions are among othersalient features of the newpolicy.

"To simplify the process forthe teachers, the suggestionsare being called on each themeof the NEP related to schooleducation, through a questionanswer process. The questionsare framed in such a mannerthat teachers can relate tothem from their experience asteachers and classroom trans-

actions. Each question alsogives reference to the para-graph of NEP to which refersto, to enable the teacher to readthe same for better under-standing of the policy beforeuploading suggestions," saidSchool Education SecretaryAnita karwal.

"All suggestions receivedshall be examined by a team ofexperts from NCERT. Thoughsuggestions are being called ina limited word format, howev-er, for gathering further infor-mation, if required, teacherswhose suggestions are founduseful for incorporating inNational Curriculum frame-work or in the implementationplan, shall be individually con-tacted," she added.

The ministry has requestedstates and union territories todisseminate the call for sugges-tions widely amongst all teach-ers in the state whether belong-ing to government schools,private schools, or affiliated todifferent secondary schoolboards.

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Aiming to woo the influentialIndian-American voters num-bering over 2 million, theTrump campaign has releasedits first video commercial thathas short clips from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'sspeeches and US PresidentDonald Trump's historicaddress in Ahmedabad.

Modi and Trump addresseda huge crowd in Ahmedabadduring the US president's visitto India in February this year.Trump was also accompaniedby his wife Melania, daughterIvanka, son-in-law JaredKushner and top brass of hisadministration on his trip toIndia.

"America enjoys a great rela-tionship with India and ourcampaign enjoys great sup-

port from Indian-Americans!"Kimberly Guilfoyle, nationalchair of Trump Victory FinanceCommittee said in a tweetreleasing the video commercial.

The president's son DonaldTrump Jr, who is leading thecampaign and is well connect-ed with the Indian-Americancommunity, also retweeted it as

the commercial soon becameviral on social media with over66,000 views on Twitter in thefirst few hours.

Titled "Four More Years"the 107-second video startswith the iconic footage of Modiand Trump walking hand inhand at the NRG Stadium inHouston during the prime

minister's visit to the US lastyear wherein the leaders of theworld's two largest democraciesmade a joint address before astrong crowd of Indian-Americans numbering morethan 50,000.

Amidst cheering of thou-sands of his supporters in theUS, Modi is seen as saying that

Trump "needs no introduction"and that "his name comes up inalmost every conversation."

He is the president of theUnited States of America "MrDonald Trump", the primeminister says at the start of thevideo, that has been concep-tualised by Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump VictoryIndian American FinanceCommittee.

Modi is highly popularamong Indian-Americans. Hisstar appeal has attractedrecord crowds. His address atthe Madison Square Garden in2015 and then in the SiliconValley two years later, bothattracting more than 20,000people, making the primeminister perhaps the only for-eign leader in recent memoryto have addressed such hugerallies in the US.

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Another row over Hindi haserupted in Tamil Nadu withthe DMK alleging yoga andnaturopathy practitionersfrom the state were asked toleave a virtual meet held bythe AYUSH department ifthey did not understand thelanguage and seeking actionagainst officials concerned.

The episode "exposed" theBJP-led government's agendaof imposing Hindi through itsofficials, the Dravidian partychief M K Stalin alleged whileparty MP Kanimozhi wrote toAYUSH Minister ShripadYesso Naik seeking an inquiry.It comes close on the heels ofKanimozhi's recent claim thata CISF Personnel had askedher if she was an Indian as shecould not speak Hindi.

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Bourbons, it is famously stated,learnt nothing and forgot nothing.It is heartening that the Sheikhs ofEmirates have chosen to departfrom that mindset. The United

Arab Emirates (UAE), in its 50th year of exis-tence, has decided to establish diplomaticrelations with Israel. One is reminded howthe accursed “Palestinian cause” had prevent-ed India from entering into full diplomaticcommunion with the Jewish country until1992. However, since then, India has gainedimmensely from its ties with Israel, where-as Palestine was an absolute drag upon us.

The UAE’s choice, of course, predicatesupon Israel’s decision to discontinue annex-ation of the West Bank (actually parts whereIsraeli settlers live). Still, it is a climbdownfrom the position maintained by the lateSheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), the founding president of the UAEand a forceful critic of Israeli politics.Shortly after the outbreak of the secondPalestinian intifada in September 2000, theUAE had stepped up its monetary assistanceto the Palestinian National Authority (PA),led by Yasser Arafat (UAE Year Book, 2005,page 27).

Within 10 days of Sheikh Zayed’sdemise on November 2, 2004, Yasser Arafatalso passed way in Paris on November 11.Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, succeed-ed Arafat as the new President of PalestinianAuthority in the election held in January2005. The event promised to open a newchapter of peace. In April 2005, SheikhHamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the thenDeputy Prime Minister of the UAE, issueda statement on resolving the Palestine issue.Hamdan noted that any solution to the con-flict must be based “on the international andlegitimate resolutions that call for an end tothe Israeli occupation of the Palestinian andArab territories and the establishment of aPalestinian state with Jerusalem as its capi-tal.” (UAE Year Book, 2005 Page 83).

However, long before, the Palestinianstate itself turned into a chimera for no faultof Israel. Between August 15 and September22, 2005, Israel withdrew completely fromthe Gaza strip and adjacent NorthernSamaria. Some 9,000 Israeli citizens livingin 25 settlements in Gaza were evicted in theprocess against their wishes. This was exact-ly when the fissures within the PalestinianAuthority became palpable. Fatah, a creationof Late Yasser Arafat and which dominatedthe Palestinian Liberation Organisation(PLO), felt increasingly challenged byIslamist group Hamas, which had gainedprominence during the second Intifada. Inthe first and till date, only the parliamentaryelection of the Palestinian Authority held onJanuary 25, 2006, Hamas (running under thename “Change and Reform”) could secure74 seats in a 132-seat unicameral legislature,putting Fatah into distant second spot with45 seats.

Talks about forming a national unity

Government that would includerepresentatives from Fatah andother parties failed. The list ofCabinet Ministers presented byPrime Minister-designate IsmailHaniya on March 27, 2006,contained names of only Hamasrepresentatives. As though aFatah-led presidency andHamas-led Government werenot a sufficient cause for friction,the US and the EU discontinuedtheir diplomatic ties and mon-etary assistance citing thatHamas did not recognise Israel’sright to exist.

Hamas was not a part of theOslo Accords-I (1993) and II(1994) signed between Israel andPLO, which contained assur-ances on mutual co-existence,peace and dignity. It continuesto negate Israel’s fundamentalright to exist.

The state of affairs withinthe Palestinian Authority dete-riorated sharply as a result of thegrowing Fatah-Hamas conflict.Hamas tried to raise its parallelsecurity force for PalestinianAuthority as it failed to cut teethinto existing security apparatusloyal to Fatah. The situation spi-ralled into a civil war, which splitthe Palestinian Authority alongregional lines. On June 14, 2007,Hamas conclusively seized Gazastrip, thus ending months ofrivalry and conflict with Fatah-controlled paramilitary forces.

Since that date, all the king’shorses and all of his men could-n’t put the Humpty of Palestinetogether again. The Parliamentbuilding in Ramallah, West

Bank, presents a sad picture ofPalestinian politics. According toa January 2020 report by France-24, its doors are smashed, tablesgather dust as 12 years of unreadpostal mails continue to pile up.

Should the Arab countriesremain wedded to a commit-ment that dead-ended? Theirofficial position is best encapsu-lated in a line from theKhartoum Declaration(September 1, 1967): “No peacewith Israel, no recognition ofIsrael, no negotiations with it,and insistence on the rights ofthe Palestinian people in theirown country.” The UAE was nota participant in the KhartoumConference (August 29-September 1, 1967) in whicheight Arab heads of the Statedeliberated inter alia on theirresponse towards Israel in theaftermath of the six-day war(June 5-10, 1967). The six-daywar led to Israel capturing theSinai Peninsula and Gaza Stripfrom Egypt, Golan Heights fromSyria and West Bank, includingEastern Jerusalem from Jordanagainst the united strengths offour Arab militaries.

The Emirates of the UAEwere then called the TrucialStates, which like neighbouringBahrain and Qatar, were BritishProtectorates since the 1820s. Itwas only in January 1968 thatthe British suddenly announcedtheir intention to withdrawforces from the Persian GulfStates in a phased manner. Thisled to inter alia the birth of theUAE in 1971. Thus, for almost

150 years, the Emirates had nopower to deal with foreignnations except through Britain.They had never been party toArab League’s (estd.1945) cam-paign to “wipe out Israel fromthe face of the globe.”

However, two key signato-ries of the KhartoumDeclaration subsequently madepeace with Israel. Egypt onMarch 26, 1979, and Jordan onOctober 26, 1994, signed peacetreaties with Israel, recognisingthe latter’s right to exist. Boththese treaties, facilitated by theUS, were signed in WashingtonDC.

Even Israel and PalestinianLiberation Organisation signedtwo treaties as a result of OsloAccords viz, WashingtonAgreement on Declaration ofPrinciples of Palestinian Self-Rule (September 13, 1993) andthe Cairo Agreement on theGaza Strip and Jericho (May 4,1994). Interestingly, it wasMahmud Abbas, the thenPalestinian spokesperson onforeign affairs, who had actual-ly signed the agreement along-side Israeli foreign minister viz,Shimon Peres in Washington.How can Abbas, as the Presidentof the Palestine NationalAuthority, object to the UAE’sestablishing diplomatic relationswith Israel? Should they wait tilleternity for the lost cause of thePalestinians?

(The writer is an author andindependent researcher based inNew Delhi. The views expressedherein are his personal)#��)��

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Sir — Indeed, arrangements andprecautions to conduct theJEE/NEET examinations whileensuring the safety of candidatesare imperative. The SupremeCourt has mandated that theexams be conducted, even in themidst of a daunting pandemic, tosave student careers. Increasingthe number of centres with thor-oughly ventilated and sanitisedhalls, social distancing, masks andless crowding at the exam centresand screening students are amust. Even a single case ofCOVID-19 among the candi-dates will be detrimental.

NR NagarajanSivakasi

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Sir — Cricket is known as a gen-tleman’s game and former skipperof the Indian men’s team, MSDhoni, embodied this descrip-tion. But it was surprising thatPrime Minister Narendra Modiwrote a letter to Dhoni, callinghim “one of the important illus-trations of the spirit of NewIndia, where the family name

does not make young people’sdestiny but they make their ownnames and their own destinies.”

Sports lovers will be awarethat the Prime Minister has, thusfar, never really showed any inter-est in sports. If he did care about

sports, then why is it that thedemise of two of the country’smost valuable sportspersons —Chuni Goswami and PKBanerjee, whose contributionsto India’s football legacy areimmense — went unacknowl-

edged by him? It would not beunreasonable to summarise thatthe Prime Minister’s display ofgreat fondness for Dhoni waspurely politically motivated —after all, there are some crucialState Assembly elections around

the corner and the addition ofsomeone like Dhoni to the BJP’scampaign would be a master-stroke. Modi is a seasoned politi-cian: He is unlikely to extend suchgestures without reason. Dhoni is,and will likely remain, in the lime-light for a while, and the PrimeMinister’s fondness for the cam-era is well-known. Modi’s affec-tion aside, if the former cricketcaptain does decide to join poli-tics, then cricket lovers will hopethat he has a fulfilling and grace-filled innings, much like thosethat have out on the field.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Gaps online” (August 21). TheNCERT survey has flagged someserious issues in present timeswhen the whole education systemremains dependent on gadgets.Many from the middle class havelost their jobs. How can the poorbuy these costly gadgets?

SmitaVia email

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The perennial deliberations on gender equal-ity and women’s empowerment have cometo the fore again. The school of post-mod-

ernism has witnessed and inundated us withnumerous opinions whether women are equal tomen. This time the debate was kicked off whenthe food delivery company Zomato announcedup to 10 days’ paid ‘period leave’ per year forwomen and transgenders. Announcing the deci-sion, Zomato founder and CEO DeepinderGoyal stated, “There shouldn’t be any shame orstigma attached to applying for period leave. Youshould feel free to tell people on internal groups,or e-mails that you are on your period leave forthe day.”

Given this announcement, the social mediawas flooded with numerous opinions, for andagainst the move. There are umpteen questionsdoing the rounds. Is it a new wave of feminismor a part of the existing activism for feminism?Or is it a corporate ploy to make women lessemployable? However, this narrative should notbe allowed to make society digress from the dis-course on gender equality, which is one of theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of theUnited Nations (UN).

A startling UN study says that worldwidewomen do 2.6 times more unpaid care anddomestic work than men. According to theInternational Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s)report titled ‘Care work and care jobs for the futureof decent work’, data from 64 countries represent-ing two-thirds of the world’s working age popu-lation show that 16.4 billion hours per day arespent in unpaid care work — the equivalent totwo billion people working eight hours per daywith no remuneration. Were such services to bevalued on the basis of an hourly minimum wage,they would amount to nine per cent of the glob-al Gross Domestic Product or $11 trillion.According to the report, “Globally, women per-form 76.2 per cent of total hours of unpaid carework, more than three times as much as men. InAsia and the Pacific, this rises to 80 per cent.”

Sadly, achieving gender equality has some-what slipped from the development agenda inIndia. The National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB), in its latest data, points out that casesof missing women, sexual violence and harass-ment at home and workplaces are on the rise. Thenumber of sexual harassment cases in shelterhomes has grown by 30 per cent. The cases relat-ing to sexual assaults at workplaces, registeredwith the National Commission for Women(NCW), are increasingly a matter of concern.

Though India is the world’s fifth-largest econ-omy, the workforce participation rate of womenabruptly declined last year, the World Bankreveals. While women constitute 48.1 per cent ofthe population of the country, only 23 per centof them are in the workforce. When India’s femaleworkforce is compared with other countries, it is35 per cent, 56 per cent and 61 per cent in SriLanka, the US and Canada respectively.

In the corporate world, Indian women occu-py only 15 per cent of the seats in boardroomsacross the nation and only six per cent of Boardchairs are women. Adding to the problem, ruralwomen are departing from the workplace at a

faster rate than their urban counterparts.Economic and cultural reasons can beattributed to the disturbing trend in theemployment landscape. Worryingly,India has fared badly in UN rankingslike the Gender Development Index andGender Inequality Index.

Talking about menstruationremains an age-old taboo in India,despite the fact that there have been afew documentaries and movies made ina bid to break the silence over the issue.There is no doubt that when a privatecompany is offering paid ‘period leave’even in these troubled times, it hasforced several private and Governmententities to consider this aspect.

The encouraging aspect is that thisis not the first time that something likethis is being considered in the country.The Government Girls School inTripunithura, located in the erstwhileprincely state of Cochin (nowErnakulam district), had in 1912allowed students to take period leaveduring the time of their annual exam-ination and permitted them to write itlater.

In 2017, a Mumbai-based digitalcompany had also announced that itwould offer ‘First Day of Period Leave.’The Bihar Government has been per-mitting women to take two extra daysof leave since 1992. A woman MP in2017 tabled a Menstrual Benefits Bill inthe Parliament, arguing for two days’‘period leave’ for women each month.

As per global data, around 26 percent of the global population in thereproductive age undergoes the men-struation cycle. And women inIndonesia, Japan, South Korea and cer-

tain countries are exempted from workduring this time to a certain extent.

However, discussing periods andleave sanction are not isolated compart-ments. In fact, Menstrual HygieneManagement (MHM), a holisticapproach to address women’s unmetmenstrual hygiene needs, is linked to theSDGs. According to the data producedby UNICEF, 71 per cent of girls in Indiaare still unaware of menstruation untiltheir first cycle begins. Here again, theurban and rural dichotomy is exposed.Hopefully the move to offer period leavewill boost the process of MHM.

Surprisingly this move has beenheavily criticised by a certain section ofwomen. The International Society ofWomen Airline Pilots (ISWAP) has stat-ed that 12.4 per cent of Indian pilots arewomen and such moves will put a ques-tion mark on the capabilities of womenin the workplace.

Public figures in a gender-agnosticstructure termed the move for offeringperiod leave as a discriminatory andanti-feminist. They say that despite thefact that menstruation can be verypainful and debilitating, most womennever make it an excuse to shirk work,either in the workplace or the home.Many have contended that the policydoesn’t give women a fair chance butacts as a hindrance in their battle forgender equality.

They believe that expanding such apolicy would not only mean lowersalaries for women, it would perpetu-ate a hiring bias against women. It setsthe wrong precedent as it will only putmore work pressure on the maleemployees, resulting in gender dis-

crimination yet again. It may ghettoisewomen and create adversities instead ofadvantage in the professional landscape.

However, there is another school ofthought and some women have wel-comed the move. They feel it willbreak all taboos surrounding the issuein the socio-cultural milieu. This act willdestigmatise and deconstruct the dom-inant discourse and enable women totake a day off with dignity instead ofresorting to any pretension of sickness.There is no iota of doubt that it is a start-ing point, which can re-define womenempowerment, resulting in enhancingtheir health and efficacy.

Due to the efforts of social activistslike Arunachalam Muruganantham,the emergence and growth of activismin this direction has gained increasingimportance. The inclusion of transgen-ders by Zomato in this dialogue sur-rounding periods is praiseworthy, too,and adds more value to the announce-ment as this issue has never even beenconsidered. Society has been unfair tothem in this as it has been in every othersphere of their lives.

However, merely doling out periodleave may not improve the efficiency ofwomen. Understanding the demo-graphic pattern, re-engineering thevalue systems, social support and plac-ing public policy at the right time arethe need of the hour to overhaul thedomain of women empowerment intoan organised and organic one.

(Biswal and Chakraborty areAssistant Professors at SIMC and SIBMrespectively and are working at SymbiosisInternational (Deemed University),Pune)

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For almost a year, the Minister ofEducation, Shafqat Mahmood,has been trumpeting the Imran

Khan Government’s plans to roll out arevolutionary Single NationalCurriculum (SNC) in 2021 that will end“educational apartheid” in Pakistan andsee private and public schools andmadrasas following a uniform curricu-lum. But it is only now that a debatearound this has erupted in the media,largely triggered by an article in Dawnby physicist, author and columnist, DrPervez Hoodbhoy.

Dr Hoodbhoy believes that theintention of the SNC to bridge the gapbetween the standards of educationreceived by rich and poor children ismorally attractive, but the Governmentdoes not have the resources to carry outsuch an ambitious plan, especially in acountry where only a minute percent-

age of the annual budget is allotted toeducation. Hoodbhoy is concernedabout the manner in which religiousstudies are being suggested in theSNC. He fears the changes are not onlysimilar to the ones that were introducedin the curriculum during the Zia-ul-Haq dictatorship but actually “aredeeper” than those conceived by thatregime. By “deeper” he does not meanmore reflective. Because as anotherphysicist, educationist and author, DrAH Nayyar, says, Islamic studies inPakistan are almost entirely based onrote learning, which eschews criticalthinking. To paraphrase Dr Nayyar’sconcern, the SNC, instead of bringingnon-religious subjects to madrasas, justmight end up bringing the madrasas topublic and private schools.

The Harvard-educated Dr MariamChughtai, who is one of the architectsof the SNC, insists that such fears areunfounded because, basically, the SNChas adopted a curriculum that wasalready in the works in 2006 and, sec-ond, nothing is mandatory in it becauseprovinces and private schools will befree to pick and choose from it whatthey believe will suit their needs. In herdebates with Dr Hoodbhoy, she hasrefuted his allegations that the SNC will

go on to further radicalise an alreadyradicalised nation.

In a 2003 study on the state of edu-cation in Pakistan, Dr Nayyar and DrAhmad Saleem demonstrate that, from1971 onwards, school textbooks haveincreasingly promoted an artificialnational and sectarian homogeneity,discouraged critical thinking and onlyscantly acknowledged Pakistan’s ethnic,sectarian and religious diversity. In asimilar 2005 study by the educationistand scholar Dr Rubina Saigol, she writesthat the tumultuous departure of EastPakistan in 1971 was understood by theState as a consequence of not pursuinga more unified idea of Pakistani nation-alism and of its majority faith, Islam.Interestingly, this was also the narrativeaired by religious parties. According toDr Saigol, this narrative was firstwoven into a new subject called‘Pakistan Studies’, which then mutatedinto becoming a study of the region’shistory that leapfrogged from oneperiod to the other, nonchalantly ignor-ing those periods that were felt to negatethe post-1971 ideological narrative.

Dr Saigol believes it was a panic-stricken manoeuvre, which was thenwielded as an ideological tool to shapeyoung minds into becoming model,

unquestioning Pakistani citizens. In the1980s, this attempt was further bol-stered by an unprecedented addition inthe curriculum of religious studies, thatwere to be learned through rote. What’smore, Islamic content also seeped intonon-religious subjects which non-Muslims do not have the choice to skip.

In 1947, soon after the creation ofPakistan, the country’s first EducationMinistry announced that Pakistanneeded a new curriculum “in line withthe requirements and ideals of thecountry.” But Pakistan largely followedthe education policy inherited fromBritish India, which was based on the‘Education Dispatch of 1854’ that stat-ed, “schools should be practically use-ful to the people of India in their dif-ferent spheres of life.” This meant anemphasis on the teaching of the sci-ences, law and economics, whereas reli-gious teaching was to be undertakenprivately. In 1959, at the start of theAyub Khan regime the Commission onNational Education suggested design-ing of curricula “to focus on develop-ing basic skills in reading, writing, andarithmetic, creating a high sense ofpatriotism as well as a liking for work-ing with one’s own hand and addition-al subjects for specific vocations and

careers.” The panel also proposed theestablishment of Textbook Boards toregulate textbook development. Thiswas to be an evolutionary process andthe country’s curriculum remained asit was since 1947, even though historytextbooks began to put more empha-sis on Muslim eras of the region’s his-tory, without leapfrogging the non-Muslim ones. Religious studies were stillto be taught at home, but publicschools did begin to introduce somebasic forms of Islamic studies.

In 1967, a permanent institutionresponsible for curriculum develop-ment was formed. But not much couldbe done by it because of political tur-moil (1968-70) and civil war in EastPakistan in 1971. In 1972, when the ZABhutto took over, it recommendeddesigning of curricula “relevant to thenation’s changing social and econom-ic needs compatible with the ideologyof the country.” The subject of PakistanStudies was introduced and so wasIslamiat. Emphasis was also put on“universal free education” for which theGovernment nationalised various pri-vate schools.

According to the 1972 and 1981census reports, literacy rates onlyslightly improved but failed to cross 30

per cent. And as has often been lament-ed by most educationists, the quality ofeducation suffered too. This saw theexpansion of religious subjects andmore “Islamised” additions in PakistanStudies books. “Islamisation” was fur-ther enacted by the Sharia Act of 1991during the first Nawaz Sharif regime.

After 9/11, Musharraf tried tointroduce non-religious subjects inmadrasas because they were seen ashotbeds of religious radicalisation. Notonly did the move fail, this ploy alsofailed to take into account the possibil-ity of radicalisation, emerging in privateand public schools because of a curricu-lum heavily influenced by retrogressiveideological biases and distortions.

The SNC is a continuation of thesame ploy but it is now going the otherway. The overwhelming addition ofnew religious studies in it suggests that,to make the madrasas agree to acceptthe teaching of non-religious subjects,the Government has decided to bringthe madrasas to public and privateschools. This is akin to the State’s recentattempt at mainstreaming radical out-fits by encouraging them to take partin electoral politics. It is a ploy that mostexperts would agree is not working.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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Overseas investors have put inRs 41,330 crore in Indian mar-kets on net basis in August sofar as the excess liquidity inglobal markets found its way toemerging markets like India.

According to the deposito-ries data, foreign portfolioinvestors (FPI) pumped in Rs40,262 crore into equities andRs 1,068 crore in the debt seg-ment between August 3-21.

Prior to this, FPIs were netbuyers for two consecutivemonths. They invested Rs3,301 crore in July and Rs24,053 crore in June on netbasis.

According to HimanshuSrivastava, associate director -manager research, MorningstarIndia, there has been excess liq-uidity available in the globalmarkets with many major cen-tral banks pushing aggressivestimulus measures to combatthe coronavirus pandemic andsupport their dwindling

economies. "Also, the US is printing

money constantly. The excessliquidity is finding its way intoIndia as well as probably otheremerging markets," he added.

Srivastava said FPIs haveturned their focus towardsemerging markets like Indiabecause these markets havebeen performing well and offer

a good potential to generatebetter returns.

On the domestic front,opening-up of the economyand resumption in businessactivities is a positive sign. Inaddition to that, Indian equi-ties continue to be attractive-ly valued thus drawing theattention of FPI, he said.

Harsh Jain, co-founder and

COO at Groww said that"after investing in bluechipstocks, FPIs are now startingto pick mid-cap and small-capstocks."

Amidst concerns overeconomy due to the pandem-ic, FPIs headed either towardsgold or bluechip stocks thatare more stable and have bet-ter capacity to deal with toughtimes.

Now, nearly four monthsafter the lockdowns started,we have a clearer picture ofthe economy which hasturned out to be much betterthan feared, he noted.

According to Rusmik Oza,executive vice president, headof fundamental research atKotak Securities, "due to pos-itive flows by FPIs and activeparticipation of local investorsby way of direct equities,Nifty-50 has been tradingabove the 11,000 mark."

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Seven of the top 10 valueddomestic firms added a total Rs67,622.08 crore to their marketvaluation last week, with HDFCBank and ICICI Bank emergingas lead gainers.

Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), HDFC Bank, HindustanUnilever Limited (HUL),HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank,ICICI Bank and ITC were thegainers while RelianceIndustries Limited (RIL),Infosys and Bharti Airtel wit-nessed a decline in their marketvaluation. The market capital-isation (m-cap) of HDFC Bankjumped by Rs 28,183.55 crore toRs 5,97,051.15 crore.

ICICI Bank added Rs21,839.67 crore to its valuationat Rs 2,55,929.73 crore whileHUL's m-cap rose by Rs6,848.94 crore to Rs 5,17,641.12crore. The market capitalisation

of Kotak Mahindra Bankincreased by Rs 6,241.25 croreto Rs 2,65,097.18 crore andthat of HDFC went up by Rs1,858.87 crore to Rs 3,22,872.98crore. TCS added Rs 2,157.62crore in its valuation to Rs8,43,611.13 crore. The marketvaluation of ITC rose by Rs492.18 crore to Rs 2,42,280.13crore.

In contrast, the market cap of

Reliance Industries declined byRs 20,507.97 crore to Rs13,19,705.53 crore.

Bharti Airtel's valuationdipped Rs 4,855.45 crore to Rs2,83,688.98 crore and that of Infosys went lower by Rs1,972.11 crore to Rs 4,04,151.80crore.

The 30-share BSE Sensexadvanced 557.38 points or 1.47per cent last week.

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As many as 412 infrastructureprojects, each worth Rs 150crore or more, have been hit bycost overruns of over Rs 4.11lakh crore owing to delays andother reasons, according to areport. The Ministry of Statisticsand ProgrammeImplementation monitors infra-structure projects worth Rs 150crore and above.

Of the 1,683 such projects,412 reported cost overruns and471 time escalation.

"Total original cost of imple-mentation of the 1,683 projectswas Rs 20,65,336.20 crore andtheir anticipated completioncost is likely to be Rs24,77,167.67 crore, whichreflects overall cost overruns ofRs 4,11,831.47 crore (19.94 percent of original cost)," the min-istry's latest report for June2020 said. The expenditureincurred on these projects tillJune 2020 is Rs 11,21,435.29crore, which is 45.27 per cent ofthe anticipated cost.

However, it said that thenumber of delayed projectsdecreases to 418 if delay is cal-culated on the basis of latestschedule of completion.

Further, it said that for 979projects neither the year ofcommissioning nor the tentativegestation period has beenreported. Out of 471 delayed

projects, 127 have overall delayin the range of one to 12months, 112 have delay of 13 to24 months, 127 reflect delay inthe range of 25 to 60 monthsand 105 projects show delay of61 months and above.

The average time overrun inthese 471 delayed projects is43.34 months. The brief reasonsfor time overruns as reported byvarious project implementingagencies are delay in land acqui-sition, delay in obtainingforest/environment clearancesand lack of infrastructure sup-port and linkages. Besides, there

are other reasons like delay intie-up of project financing,delay in finalisation of detailedengineering, change in scope,delay in tendering, orderingand equipment supply, law andorder problems, geological sur-prises, pre-commissioningteething troubles and contrac-tual issues, among others, thereport said. It also observed thatproject agencies are not report-ing revised cost estimates andcommissioning schedules formany projects, indicating thattime or cost overrun figures areunder-reported.

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Calling 'green shoots' of eco-nomic revival as a mechanicalrebound, former Reserve BankGovernor D Subbarao saysIndia's short and medium termgrowth prospects continue toremain grim and the govern-ment should not read too muchinto the economic activity com-ing back from the depressedbase of lockdown.

Indian economy was in atroubled state when the pan-demic hit the world. Before theCOVID-19 crisis hit India, thereal GDP growth had moder-ated from 7 per cent in 2017-18 to 6.1 per cent in 2018-19and to 4.2 per cent in 2019-20.

"I don't believe we shouldread too much into the greenshoots that you refer to. Whatwe've been seeing is just amechanical rebound from thedepressed base of the lock-down; it will be misleading tosee it as a signal of a durablerecovery," Subbarao told PTI inan interview.

He said the "short-term aswell as medium-term prospects(for Indian economy) contin-ue to be grim".

"The pandemic is still spi-ralling, the number of dailycases is rising and it is spread-

ing to newer regions," he added.On India's medium-term

growth prospect, the formerRBI governor said that theeconomy was in a troubled statewhen the COVID-19 crisis hitIndia.

"When the crisis is behind usand I hope that is soon enoughthese problems are going to bemuch bigger. Fiscal deficit isgoing to be much higher, thedebt burden much larger andthe financial sector in a worseshape," he said.

The World Bank last weekprojected India's fiscal deficit torise to 6.6 per cent of GDP in2020-21 (April 2020 to March

2021) and remain elevated at5.5 per cent in the followingyear. This compares to the 3.5per cent target set by the gov-ernment.

"Our medium-termprospects will depend on howeffectively we resolve thesechallenges," Subbarao said.

With India's economic growthin pre-COVID 2019-20 fiscalslipping to the lowest in a decade,global and domestic agencieshave indicated a sharp contrac-tion in the GDP in the currentfiscal. The estimated contractionranges from 3.2 per cent to 9.5per cent. This will be the firstcontraction in four decades.

Asked whether he sees anypositive at all in this grim sce-nario, he noted that the ruraleconomy has recovered betterthan the urban economyhelped by several factors andthe expanded MNREGA pro-vided a lifeline when mostneeded.

Subbarao said that anotherbig although less acknowl-edged positive is that the econ-omy today has some basic safe-ty-nets in place.

Citing an example, Subbaraosaid that 40 million urbanlabour went back to their vil-lages post COVID-19 inducedlockdown and despite thatthere have been no reportedcases of mass starvation orhunger.

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World's leading spirits makerDiageo incurred a loss of 2 mil-lion pounds on sale of itsIndian wine business last year,the company's annual reporthas said.

Diageo-owned liquor firmUnited Spirits Ltd (USL) hadsold its entire equity stake inFour Seasons Wines as well asassociated brands to GroverZampa Vineyards and QuintelaAssets for Rs 31.86 crore.

"The disposal of the Indianwine business has resulted inan exceptional loss of 2 millionpounds," Diageo said in itsAnnual Report 2020.

Talking about consumptionpreferences, Diageo said con-

sumers who drink alcohol areincreasingly choosing spiritsover beer and wine.

"This is a long-term trend. Inmarkets where spirits is a lessmature category, mainstream

spirits brands can offer quali-ty and affordability. In moremature markets, premium coreand reserve brands offer choiceand new experiences," thecompany said.

In January 2019, UnitedSpirits had entered into anagreement for the sale of all theequity shares held by the com-pany constituting 100 per centof the paid up equity share cap-ital of its wholly-owned sub-sidiary, Four Seasons Wines(FSWL), along with the brands.

Total consideration received forthis sale was Rs 31.86 crore.

USL had said this movetowards disinvestment ofFour Seasons Wines was inline with its strategy to suc-cessfully continue to mone-tise its non-core assets,including subsidiaries.

At the time of the sale, USLsaid the Four Seasons Winesbusiness was a niche but asmall part of the overallDiageo India portfolio andthe sale would enable thecompany to focus on its pre-miumisation strategy andgrow core spirits business inIndia.

Earlier this month, Diageodisclosed it had taken a writedown of 1.3 billion pounds.

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The CBIC has asked GSTfield offices to conduct hear-ings in GST appeal cases viavideo conferencing for theirexpeditious disposal whileensuring social distancing.

In April, the Central Boardof Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) had issuedguidelines for conductingpersonal hearing in virtualmode for appeals underCustoms Act, and erstwhileexcise and service tax relateddisputes.

In a letter to PrincipalChief Commissioners, theCBIC said the feedbackreceived from trade and fieldformations on this indicatedthat the initiative has helpedin speeding up passing ofadjudication and appellateproceedings, saving cost oftravel and time, and critical-ly ensuring social distancingin these challenging times.

Accordingly, the board hasdecided to make it mandato-ry for various authorities,such as Commissioner(Appeals), original adjudi-cating authorities andCompounding Authority toconduct personal hearing invirtual mode in cases relatingto Central GST and IGST, theCBIC said. "This initiativewould facilitate all stakehold-ers such as suppliers underGST, importers, exporters,passengers, advocates, taxpractitioners and authorisedrepresentatives," it added.

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More than one crore passen-gers were fined for travellingwithout a ticket in 2019-20,earning the Railways a revenueof Rs 561.73 crore -- a growthof around 6 per cent over2018-2019, an RTI applicationhas found.

The Railways has earned Rs1,938 crore through finesimposed on ticketless trav-ellers between 2016-2020, arise of 38.57 per cent from2016.

An RTI application filed byMadhya Pradesh-basedactivist Chandra Shekhar Gaurrevealed the details.

The Railways earned Rs405.30 crore as penalties fromticketless travellers in 2016-17.In 2017-18, it recovered Rs441.62 crore and it earned Rs530.06 crore in 2018-19.

In 2019-2020, 1.10 crorepassengers were found travel-ling without valid tickets.

The Indian Railways haslaid down norms to curb tick-etless travel.

A passenger travelling with-out a ticket needs to pay aminimum fine of Rs 250 alongwith the cost of the ticket. If apassenger refuses to pay thefine, the person is handed overto the Railway ProtectionForce (RPF) and bookedunder Section 137 of theRailways Act. After that, theperson is presented before amagistrate. The magistratecan fine him for Rs 1,000.

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Packaging products makerCosmo Films is planningto enter into the pet carebu s i n e s s t o t ap t h eemerging opportunity,according to a top compa-ny official.

The Delhi-based com-pany is sensing a goodopportunity in the petcare business, which isgrowing at a compoundannual growth rate of 22per cent.

It is expecting a highergrowth in the businessled by factors like rise inincome, growth in numberof small families and lim-ited social lives in thepost COVID-19 era.

The company is going tostart a pilot project inDelhi-NCR and has plansto extend it to other citiesat a larger scale, once itbecomes successful.

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Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance(ABSLI) on Sunday said it isopen to opportunities for con-solidation as the sector isexpected to undergo a churn asa result of business disruptionscaused by the COVID-19 pan-demic.

In an e-mail interview toPTI, ABSLI managing directorand chief executive KamleshRao said data suggests that intimes of socio-economic crisislike this COVID-19, around30-35 per cent companies findit difficult to survive, whileclose to 15-20 per cent firmsoutshine their peers in respec-tive industries and emergesuccessful.

Based on the performance,"we hope to be in the list of 15-20 per cent companies thatoutshine their peers. If thereare opportunities of consolida-tion in the market which areworth evaluating, we willexplore the same. Currently, we

are not in talks with anyone,"he said.

ABSLI is a life insurancesubsidiary of Aditya BirlaCapital Ltd.

Rao said the company'sbusiness in the first quarter ofthe fiscal was good and itexpects to continue themomentum.

The company, he said, iscomfortably placed and cur-rently not planning to raisefunds.

Under the current sce-

nario, it was very difficult tohave a short or long-termview about the business, hesaid adding ABSLI wouldcontinue to have a healthymix of products with a focuson protection and guaranteedsolutions.

Even in challenging timeslike these, the company hassuccessfully launched twoproducts ABSLI Child'sFuture Assured Plan andABSLI Assured FlexisavingsPlan, catering to the seg-ment of guaranteed savingsand protection, he said.

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As many as five large banks,including SBI, PNB and BoB,are likely to sell shares toinstitutional investors in thesecond half of this fiscal asthey look to shore up theircapital base amid the coron-avirus pandemic impactingthe economy.

Qualified InstitutionalPlacement (QIP) would bethe most preferred way andpublic sector banks are like-ly to take a call on taking thisroute after finalisation oftheir second quarter results,

merchant banking sourcessaid.

According to the sources,banks would get a better pic-ture about their Non-Performing Assets (NPAs),one-time loan restructuringand consequent ratings latestby the end of October.

Four to five large bankslike State Bank of India (SBI),Punjab National Bank (PNB),Bank of Baroda (BoB) andUnion Bank of India wouldlook at raising capital towardsthe end of third quarter orduring the fourth quarter ofthis fiscal, they added.

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f one were to tellyou that being achocolate taster isserious business,you will laugh itoff. However, you

read that right. There ismuch more to eating choco-lates than just to satisfy yoursudden cravings. Meet LNitin Chordia, Chennai-based India’s first certifiedchocolate taster, who decidedto explore these unchartedwaters back in 2013 and takechocolate eating to anotherlevel.

Chordia didn’t have anyculinary background andchocolate tasting was initiallya part of his previous job.

“Luckily, I don’t have aculinary background andchocolate tasting happenedjust like that. After complet-ing my masters in RetailManagement from the UK in2006, I returned to India andgot hired in a consultingcompany who had Godrej asone of its clients. I was cho-sen as a consultant whowould help Godrej Nature’sBasket in setting up stores. Inthe process, I got exposed togood and bad chocolatesbecause I was specificallyresponsible for choosingwhat products will go on theshelf. I did lots of evaluationand for this I used to get var-ious samples of chocolatesfrom all around the world,not a piece or two, but a bigbox full of different choco-lates. It was a dream job to behonest. That’s how I got edu-cated about chocolates andthe chocolate makingprocess,” he tells you.

This was not all, during hisstint as a consultant forGodrej, he learnt how to eatchocolate the right way. “One

day, I got two chocolates assamples from an Irish guy. Iwas left highly disappointedbecause usually people sentin big boxes. So I decided tocall him up and ask the rea-son. I waited for the righttime and during the course Ithought of tasting one. Iopened the packet and put apiece into my mouth.Suddenly, I received animportant email and gotoccupied with it. All thiswhile, the chocolateremained on my tongue as Iforgot to chew it and in aminute or two, it tasted likedifferent berries while melt-ing into my mouth. I wasshocked, I picked up thewrapper to check in theflavours. To my surprise, itwas basic chocolate withoutany added flavours. I lovedthe chocolate so much that Iimmediately called up theconcerned person and toldhim that there was a wrap-ping mistake. He said nothere are no errors, what youjust tasted is pure chocolate,he was surprised how I got totaste the exact flavour andthen I told him that it stayedthere in my mouth for some-time. Then he told me thatthis is the right way of eatingchocolate. It is not to beeaten like food but enjoyedand eaten slowly. I was leftfascinated. That was myintroduction to good choco-lates,” Chordia recalls.

From then on, Chordia’s

fascination for chocolatesgrew leaps and bounds andhe decided to explore theworld of chocolates, just likeWilly Wonka from WillyWonka & the ChocolateFactory. “In 2013, I got tiredof the corporate life anddecided to go back toChennai to do something ofmy own, however small orbig it is. And the very obvi-ous choice for me was choco-lates because I thought thatthis is the one area that inter-ests me and also there is agap in the industry in India.Because what we get in thename of Belgian chocolates isjust plain chocolate, butbecause it is so much betterthan India chocolate wethink it is the best. I thoughtthat it is an opportunity per-haps,” he tells you.

To begin with, Chordia dida 20-day backpack trip toBelgium to know all aboutchocolates. “First four dayswent into tasting differentchocolates and the rest of thetime I began meeting manu-facturers, visited retail storesand attended chocolate relat-ed social gatherings. Onething that I got to knowabout them is that there isone big company that makeschocolate and sells it to 2000different manufacturers whofurther just melt it, put it in amould with all the add-onsand wrap it in their packag-ing and sell it to the end con-sumer. They do all this in a

small 500 sq ft area which isboth their manufacturingand selling unit. On that trip,I discovered that chocolate ismade from a plant, so it canbe a vegan product,” he says.

On the trip, Chordia met aperson named Martin, whoused to conduct a three-weekchocolate tasting certifica-tion, which got him interest-ed. “They used to conduct athree-level certificationcourse and co-incidentallythe level one certification wasto happen in three weeksafter I returned from the trip.I did the course and I metpeople from 17 differentnationalities. It was an eyeopener since we all got tolearn so much about choco-lates. After the course, I start-ed taking chocolate tastingsessions and giving lecture tokeep the money flowing. Theresponse was amazing and Icontinued it for six months.Soon after Martin announcedthe level two and I went forit. That was when I learntchocolate making,” he tellsyou.

After getting the certifi-cate, Chordia, along with hiswife Poonam, came up withan institute calledCocoashala.

“A lot of students startedenrolling in the institute andthe most common querythat we received was whydon’t we have a chocolatebrand of ours if we are run-ning an institute. We

thought that it was a goodidea but we wanted to standout of the clutter. So I cameup with Cocoatrait, a zerowaste chocolate brand whichmeans even the packaging isenvironment friendly. Thewrapper is made out ofcocoa husk, which is aresidue of the chocolatemaking process and even theink is organic. The wrapperis printed inside out, so thatnot even a small portion getswasted. Our idea was tomake the most sustainableand the best chocolate in theworld. We have added allnatural flavours and it ispure vegan and organic. Tilldate we have 12 variantsincluding Masala chai andIrish Coffee and there aremore interesting flavours oncards which we will belaunching soon,” he tells you.

Till date Chordia has tast-ed 3000 different chocolates,as exciting it may sound butit was definitely exhaustingfor him. “Yes, it was exhaust-ing but I never got bored ofit. To kind of maintain thetaste quotient, I make surenot to taste more than twochocolates a day. And not tomention no tasting days,which are rare, seems like ablessing to me,” he says witha smile.

However, it was tough forhim to brave the stares whenhe decided to dig deep in thebusiness. “My family wassupportive, but there werepeople who laughed at theidea. Moreover, it was toughto quit at a time when youget a six-digit salary. But Iknew I was not made for it.Everyone thought I was nuts.But I believe in taking risksand had I not taken the riskback then, I wouldn’t be heretoday. It was all worth it,” he says.

For those, who want toknow the difference betweena good and the best choco-late, Chordia has a few wordsof wisdom for them.

“If you get to know thetaste of cocoa beans andberries and you are able tounderstand the efforts of thechocolate maker, then youare having the best chocolate.The more deep flavours youcan taste, the better thechocolate is. Rest can fall inthe category of good choco-lates,” he tells you.

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f you are worried about yourtoddler being hooked to asmartphone or a tablet, readon. Researchers now say thattoddlers with high dailytouchscreen use are actually

faster to find targets that stood outduring visual search compared to tod-dlers with no or low touchscreen use.

There has been growing concernthat toddlers and touchscreen use maynegatively impact their developingattention but this fear is not based onempirical evidence.

According to the study, published inthe Journal of the American MedicalAssociation-Pediatrics, the results areimportant for the growing debatearound the impact of screen time ontoddlers and their development.

The use of smartphones and tabletsby babies and toddlers has acceleratedrapidly in recent years.

“The first few years of life are criti-cal for children to develop the abilityto focus their attention on relevantinformation and ignore distraction,early skills that are known to beimportant for later academic achieve-ment,” said study author Tim Smithfrom the University of Bath in the UK

To provide such evidence, Smith’s“TABLET Project” at Birkbeck’sCentre for Brain and CognitiveDevelopment, recruited 12-month-oldinfants who had different levels of

touchscreen usage.The study followed them over the

next 2.5 years, bringing them into thelab at 18 months and 3.5 years.

At the 18-month and 3.5-year visits,toddlers took part in a computer taskin which they were trained to searchfor a red apple among a varying num-ber of either blue apples (easy search),or blue apples and red apple slices (dif-ficult search).

The researchers found that at both18 months and 3.5 years the hightouchscreen users were faster than thelow users to find the red apple when itstood out amongst blue apples.

“There was no difference betweenthe user groups when the apple washarder to find. What we need to knownext is whether this attention differ-ence is advantageous or detrimental totheir everyday life,” said another studyauthor Rachael Bedford.

It is important we understand howto use this modern technology in away that maximizes benefits and mini-mizes any negative consequences,Bedford added.

“We are currently unable to con-clude that the touchscreen use causedthe differences in attention as it mayalso be that children who are generallymore attracted to bright, colourful fea-tures seek out touchscreen devicesmore than those who are not,” theauthors wrote.

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yderabad’sfamous eateryRambharoseBhattad Ki Idli,known for itssuper-soft

idlies, mouth-wateringwada, Mysore bhajji, anddosas, thanks to populardemand, opened its 4thoutlet at Minister Road,Secunderabad!

Co-founders —Govindlal and MeenaBhattad, who’re expandingtheir business are defyingthe Coronavirus pandem-ic to tell the world that wemust keep moving andeach one must contributeto get our economy backon the track. Started by aRajasthani, Marwadi fami-ly, which traditionallydoesn’t eat Idli, it was runwithout a name for a cou-ple of years. Later, a gascylinder delivery boy, aMuslim by religion,named it ‘RambharoseBhandar’, meaning ‘deci-sion is on Lord Rama’.

So what is so specialabout this place? It isunique not for one butmany reasons. It cateredto the cravings of 35 lakhfood lovers in the past 20years. It is an adda formany millennials. Thesmall place is patronisedevery day by more than

350 people, 100 pickups,and 100 takeaways!

This new outlet promis-es to be highly hygienic,stomach-friendly, afford-able dishing out supertasty food. The taste issaid to be so good thatwhen patients don't likehomemade food, theychoose delicacies fromhere. “With the opening ofthe new outlet, we aregenerating employment to15 people, 10 directly and5 indirectly,” says RiteshBhattad, the millennialwho stepped into hisfather’s business.

Its parcels are taken tomany cities across thecountry. “I don’t know ifthere is any popular townleft out where our tiffins

have not been taken to,”adds Ritesh. On what’snext, young entrepreneursays, “We want to expandfurther by opening 8 out-lets in next one year intwin cities of Hyderabadand Secunderabad. Wewould like to have 100outlets by giving employ-ment to 1,000 people inthe next five years. Wehave even finalised ourplans to go international,which is on hold becauseof the outbreak ofCOVID-19. Once theeconomy settles after thispandemic, we will takeRambharose — BhattadKi Idli Chain of IdliOutlets to global marketsin the next couple ofyears.”

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MondayAugust 24, 2020

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ctor Ezra Millerbrought out thefirst glimpse of hisupcoming film,The Flash, and saidthat the superhero

movie will delve into the con-cept of the multiverse allowingother heroes to interact in onenarrative.

It is because of the conceptof the multiverse that MichaelKeaton and Ben Affleck willmake an appearance asBatman in the film. At the vir-tual gala, the team showedconcept art for the character’snew and improved suit.

“This film is immenselyimportant because if you lookaround at the DC universeyou have all these characterswho exist in their own bub-bles,” said Miller, who portraysthe role of speedster Barry

Allen.“We even have multiple

iterations of the same story. Byopening that (multiverse)door, all of these stories andcharacters can start to collide.It blows our minds the level ofpossibilities that exist with thischaracter and this story,” headded.

The film deals with timetravel, with Allen attemptingto right the wrongs of his past,which saw his mother gettingmurdered and his father get-ting jailed.

“He is someone who has thepower to change the events ofthe past, but by doing so, candeteriorate the fabric of thespace-time continuum,” saidMuschietti, who promised afilm that will deliver bothheart and humour. While talk-ing about the themes of themovie, he said, “It’s a timetravel story, which is veryexciting. He’s someone whohas the power of changing theevents in the past but in doingso can change the space-timecontinuum.”

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Vijayawada Monday August 24 2020 ��

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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Yesterday’s solution

ilmmaker James Gunnintroduced his ‘SuicideSquad’ at a virtual event,and said that the filmwill be different fromany other superhero

movie ever made.The first inside look into the

world of Gunn’s Suicide Squad,which is being described as a1970s gritty war movie, wasunveiled at the virtual DCFandome.

“The studio is overwhelminglyhappy with the movie. The acti-on is great. It’s funny, and it’s rea-lly dramatic in the right places,”Gunn said while talking aboutthe movie. He also updated onthe post-production process forthe film, which he described as“by far the most fun I have everhad making a movie”.

“It’s gonna be different fromany superhero movie ever made,”the filmmaker added.

Gunn also used the virtualevent to confirm the identities ofthe characters being played byeach of the cast members, with a“roll call” video.

While many fans werehoping for a trailerreveal, the directorreleased a montage ofthe behind-the-scenesfootage — teasing notjust the characters butalso the plot of themovie.

In the clip, it wasconfirmed that

John Cena plays the Pacemakerwhile Idris Elba essays the role ofBloodsport.

The actor-wrestler comparedhis role with Captain America,saying: “He’s like a doucheyCaptain America”.

Gunn said that Peacemakerwould go to any length for peace.

For Elba, Suicide Squad is a“twisted fantasy of characters”,and said, “It’s like a massive,graphic novel brought to life.”

In the film, Margot Robbiewill be reprising her role asHarley Quinn, alongside ViolaDavis (as Amanda Waller), JoelKinnaman (Rick Flag) and JaiCourtney (Captain Boomerang).

The film will also star PeteDavidson as Blackguard, MichaelRooker as Savant, Peter Capaldias The Thinker, Flula Borg asJavelin, David Dastmalchian asPolka Dot Man, DanielaMelchior as Ratcatcher 2, NathanFillion as T.D.K., Mayling Ng asMongal, Alice Braga as Sol Soria

and SeanGunn as

Weasel.

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irector Patty Jenkinsis committed torelease her upcom-ing film, WonderWoman 1984, in thetheatres. She says she

is sticking to it. “It’s so great onthe big screen,” Jenkins saidduring the film’s panel at DCFanDome.

“We all worked so hard tobring something that would bea big visual spectacular greattime. So we’re going to stick itout. We believe in putting it inthe cinema, and I can’t wait foryou all to see more today and Ican’t wait for the movie tocome out soon,” she added.

The virtual DC FanDomealso debuted a new trailer forthe Covid-delayed WonderWoman 1984, giving a firstsubstantial look at the film'svillain Cheetah played byKristen Wiig.

The preview showed Wiig’stransition from a jealous friendto supervillain, giving the firstglimpse of her character in acheetah-print clothing. Thefilm also stars Gal Gadot, ChrisPine, and Pedro Pascal.

The Warner Bros movie leftits original June release datedue to the Covid-19 pandemicand is currently scheduled torelease on October 2, 2020.

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wayne Johnson isall set to changethe hierarchy ofpower in thesuperhero universewith his Black

Adam avatar. TheHollywood star describedBlack Adam as a ruthlesskeeper of justice.

Johnson pulled back thecurtain of his upcomingfilm Black Adam at theDC Fandome by sharingsome concept art trailersfor the film, which has notyet been shot. He said thathe is in the “very earlyprocesses of this creation”.

“I can promise you this,I give you my word. Weare going to go beyondyour wildest expectations,”said Johnson, who alsoconfirmed that the filmincludes Justice Society ofAmerica charactersHawkman, Doctor Fate,Cyclone, and AtomSmasher (played by NoahCentineo).

“The superheroes haveto exhibit a little bit ofrestraint when it comes totaking care of the badguys. This idea that youcould take all of BlackAdam’s powers and hedoes not practice restraint,that makes for a reallypowerful combination,and one that’s explosive,one that’s very dangerous,and one that is ultimately

very likable.“He’s a ruthless keeper

of justice. He is the judge,the jury and executioner,”Johnson said while talkingabout Black Adam.

The Black Adam panelbegan with an animatedsequence voiced over byJohnson, which narratedthe origin story of theanti-hero.

In the clip, he said,“5,000 years ago, Kahndaqwas a melting pot ofmagic and powers. Mostof us had nothing exceptthe chains around ournecks. Kahndaq needed ahero; instead they got me.I did what needed to bedoneaand they impris-oned me for it. Now, 5,000years later, I'm free. And Igive you my wordano onewill ever stop me again.”

Johnson loves that BlackAdam’s origins are of aslave as he said, “He’s feltthe burdens and pressuresof a larger entity holdinghim down until he can’ttake it anymore. Whenyou come from that place,it’s just a very differentenergy and it informs howhe operates and deliversjustice.”

Black Adam is the arch-nemesis of the DC super-hero Shazam. He is imag-ined as a complex antiherowith a rich history of hisown.

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Legendary batsman SunilGavaskar has described the

current Indian Test side underVirat Kohli as the best ever,saying that the lethal bowlingattack makes it more balancedthan the teams of earlier eras.

Under Kohli, Indiareached the top of ICC Testrankings and the team is cur-rently at number one spot inthe World Test Championshipstandings. The highlight of theteam’s success is the first Testseries win in Australia in2018-19 tour.

“I believe this team is thebest ever Indian Test team interms of balance, in terms ofability, in terms of skills, interms of temperament. Can’tthink of a better Indian Testteam,” Gavaskar said duringthe India Today’s e-ConclaveInspiration series.

Gavaskar said what standsout in the current team is the“varied bowling attack” whichcan win matches on any sur-face, irrespective of the con-ditions.

“This team has the attackto win on any surface. It does-n’t need any help in condi-tions...They can win on anysurface. Batting-wise therewere teams in 1980s that werepretty similar. But they didn’thave the bowlers that Virathas,” the former captain said.

Talking further about the

world-class bowlers India cur-rently has, Gavaskar said,“Definitely without a question,India has got such a variedbowling attack today and thatis so essential. There is a say-ing that ‘if you don’t take 20wickets you won’t win amatch’.

“We have got the bowlingto take 20 Australian wicketson 1 run less than what Indiahas scored,” said the 71-year-old Gavaskar, who scored10122 runs from 125 Testsbetween 1971 and 1987.

While India have alwayshad skilled batsmen and greatspinners, it has been the devel-opment of a clutch of world-class fast bowlers like JaspritBumrah, Mohammed Shami,Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadavand Bhuvneshwar Kumar thathas made it the world’s topteam in recent years.

On the current battingline-up, Gavaskar said thecurrent Indian Test team canscore more runs than the likesof Australia, which leads theICC Test team rankings.

“You need to score runsalso. We saw that in Englandin 2018. We saw that in SouthAfrica in 2017 when we wentthere. We got 20 wickets everytime but we didn’t scoreenough runs.

“But now I think we havealso got the batting to be ableto score more runs thanAustralians.”

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Steve Smith on Sunday saidhe’ll miss being jeered and

heckled by English crowdsduring their upcoming limited-overs tour, admitting the boo-ing motivates him to do better.

The master Australianbatsman bore the brunt of thehostile English fans on theirtrip there last year after return-ing from a ban for ball-tamper-ing. But he thrived on the

taunts and potshots, scoring anincredible 774 runs in fourTests, at an average 110.57,including twin centuries on his

Test return at Edgbaston.“I do like batting there,

unfortunately there’s going tobe no crowd there to egg me onand give me a bit more moti-vation,” he said at Sydney air-port en route to Perth, fromwhere the team will fly toEngland. “Still, there’s going tobe plenty of eyes on the TV andit is going to be great to be backout there playing.”

Australia’s 21-man squadwill initially quarantine in

Derby before the first of threeT20s in Southampton onSeptember 4 in empty stadi-ums. They also play three ODIsat Manchester, with bothvenues having hotels attachedso they can remain in bio-secure bubbles.

“I’m looking forward togetting back into it, obviouslyit’s going to be a bit differentthan what we’re used to beingin a bubble and playing with nocrowds,” Smith said.

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Britain’s Andy Murray madea triumphant ATP come-

back on Saturday, defeatingFrances Tiafoe 7-6 (8/6), 3-6,6-1 in his first match of 2020at the Western & SouthernOpen. The 33-year-oldScotsman advanced in hot andhumid conditions to a second-round date with German fifthseed Alexander Zverev at theCovid-19 quarantine bubble

that will also be used for theUS Open, which starts onAugust 31. Former world No 1Murray, now ranked 129th,suffered a pelvic injury at theDavis Cup last November andthat, combined with the pan-demic shutdown, kept him outof competition until he faced22-year-old Tiafoe in a meet-ing of wildcard entrants. “Ithought I moved well today,”Murray said. “That was prob-ably the thing I was most

happy with and probably thething I was most apprehensiveabout going into the match. Mytennis could have been better.I did some things well at theend, but I could definitelyimprove in terms of my game.”Murray broke Tiafoe for a 2-0lead in the third set when theAmerican missed a volley,broke again to 5-1 with a back-hand return winner and held atlove to finish matters after twohours and 28 minutes.

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Legendary South African all-rounder Jaques Kallis,

Pakistan batting great ZaheerAbbas and Pune-born formerAustralian captain LisaSthalekar were on Sundayinducted into the InternationalCricket Council’s Hall of Famein a virtual ceremony.

Among the finest all-rounders to play the game,Kallis represented South Africain 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25T20s between 1995 and 2014.

The 44-year-old is Proteas’highest run-getter in Tests andODIs with 13289 and 11579runs respectively. He alsopicked up 292 and 273 wicketsin Tests and ODIs as a fastbowler.

Remarkably, he is the onlyplayer to score at least 10,000runs and take at least 250 wick-

ets in both Test and ODI crick-et.

“It is something that I neverexpected when I started play-ing. I certainly did not play thegame for any accolades or any-thing like that, I only wanted towin the games for whoever Iwas playing for,” Kallis said.

“But it is nice to be recog-

nised when one has succeededin the sport, it is nice to berecognised by people for some-thing that you have achieved inthe game, something that I amreally proud of.”

Kallis is the fourth SouthAfrican player to be inductedinto the Hall of Fame andAbbas the sixth from Pakistan.

Sthalekar is the 27th fromAustralia and the ninth womanplayer in the list, which includesfive from her country.

In all, 93 players have beeninducted so far under the sys-tem, which sees retired playersbecome eligible five years afterplaying their last internationalmatch.

Gavaskar, who himself wasinducted into the elite club in2009 and attended the virtualceremony, spoke highly ofKallis.

“He is a colossus. The wordfits him like a glove. No praiseis too high for this colossus.Very well deserved to be in thisICC Hall of Fame,” saidGavaskar.

Gavaskar was also all praisefor women’s cricket greatSthalekar.

“It is good to have another‘Kar’ in the ICC Hall of Fame.

Well done. You are an inspira-tion, not just in Australia alsoin India (as she was born there).

Sthalekar representedAustralia in eight Tests, 125ODIs and 54 T20s.

“I am deeply humbled toreceive this honour. Never inmy wildest dreams did I believethat I would ever get to joinsuch an illustrious group ofplayers,” she said.

The third cricketer to befeted in the ceremony wasAbbas, hailed as the ‘AsianBradman’.

Abbas played 78 Tests and62 ODIs for Pakistan, accumu-lating 5062 and 2572 runsrespectively. He averaged over40 in both the formats.

The 73-year-old is the onlyplayer from Asia to have scoredat least a 100 first-class hun-dreds and the first one to scorethree successive ODI hundreds.

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Indian batting great SunilGavaskar has said that he

would have loved to bat likecurrent limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

Gavaskar, who was thefirst batsman to reach 10,000career runs in Test cricket,said that circumstances anda “lack of confidence” in hisability stopped him fromdoing that in his playingdays.

“The way you see a RohitSharma opening the battingin one-day cricket, Test crick-et, smashing from the firstover. That is what I wanted toplay. Circumstances and ofcourse lack of confidence in

my ability did not allow meto do that,” Gavaskar toldIndia Today.

“But when I see the nextgeneration doing it, I amabsolutely over the moon, Ilove watching the next gen-eration because there yousee progress. You see howthey are setting the bar high-er for the next generation.”

Gavaskar was known toput a price on his wicket,playing long innings andanchoring the Indian bat-ting lineup during his illus-trious career. Rohit on theother hand is known for histendency to decimate bowl-ing attacks and is often ratedas the best limited overs bats-man in the world.

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Pakistan captain Azhar Alikept England at bay withan unbeaten 82 in the

third Test at Southampton onSunday.

At tea on the third dayPakistan were 158-5 — still ahuge 425 runs behindEngland’s mammoth firstinnings 583-8 declared.

But Azhar, who had onlymanaged 38 runs in three pre-vious innings this series, was insight of a hundred, havingbecome just the fifth Pakistanbatsman to have scored 6,000Test runs.

Together with wicketkeep-er Mohammad Rizwan (22not out) he had shared anunbroken stand of 83 afterPakistan had collapsed to 75-5.

��The duo also halted

England great JamesAnderson’s charge towardsbecoming the first paceman totake 600 Test wickets.

It looked like the 38-year-old was well on his way withsuperb lunch figures of 4-21from 11 overs taking him to597 Test wickets and leavingPakistan in the dire position of41-4.

But Pakistan fought backby scoring 117 runs for the lossof just Fawad Alam in Sunday’ssecond session.

The 35-year-old Azhar, inhis 81st match at this level,joined an elite Pakistan groupfeaturing Younis Khan, thecurrent batting coach, JavedMiandad, Inzamam-ul-Haqand Mohammad Yousuf tohave reached the milestone of6,000 Test runs.

England, pressing for theirfirst series win over Pakistan ina decade at 1-0 up in a three-match campaign, resumed intotal command with thetourists 24-3.

Anderson needed just six

balls Sunday to remove AsadShafiq, the batsman’s poorseries continuing when, onfive, he limply edged toEngland captain Joe Root atfirst slip.

England thought they hadAzhar, on 21, caught behind off

a fearsome 91 mph ball fromfast bowler Jofra Archer thatrose steeply.

But umpire RichardIllingworth’s not out decisionwas upheld when a challengerevealed the ball had brushedAzhar’s shoulder — a move

that meant England had usedup all three of their reviews inthe innings.

There was no need fortechnology when Alam, whosenear 11-year wait for a Testrecall ended with a four-ballduck in the drawn second Testat Southampton, fell for 21.

Pakistan were now 75-5but Azhar clipped Archer offhis pads for four to go to 6,000

Test runs and a sim-ilar boundary sawthe under-pressureskipper to a 137-ballfifty.

Both fours were applaud-ed by Azhar’s team-mates inthe Pakistan dressing room,with this match, as has beenthe case with all internation-als in England this season,being played behind closeddoors because of the coron-avirus.

England’s imposing totalwas built on a fifth-wicketpartnership of 359 betweenZak Crawley and Buttler,whose hundred was just hissecond century in 47 Tests.

�� ,+�4 Former captainBhaichung Bhutia says Indianfootball teams must strive to reg-ularly qualify for the Asian Cupand FIFA youth World Cups ifthey are to become a force to reck-on with in the continent. Bhutiastressed on the importance of con-tinuously producing quality play-ers for the national team byfocussing on the grassroots. “Forthe national team, we need to keepproducing good quality players.We do have good players at themoment but if we want to com-pete with the best in Asia, we needto keep producing bigger and bet-ter players,” Bhutia told AIFF TV.

“AIFF has focused on grass-roots a lot. We need to be strongat the grassroots and we areworking on it. “Our target for thenational teams should be quali-fying for the AFC Asian Cup andthe FIFA youth World Cups ona regular basis.” According tohim, an increase in the numberof matches and exposure tourshas helped the Indian footballteam improve its ranking inrecent years. “We had fewergames in comparison and oftenwould get drawn against toughteams in qualification games.Players now are getting manymore matches and so muchexposure. It has helped them toimprove and get better overtime,” he stated. PTI

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Jos Buttler is convinced ZakCrawley’s double-century

against Pakistan will be thecurtain-raiser “to a very spe-cial career” after sharing a hugestand with his England team-mate during the second day ofthird Test.

Crawley converted anovernight 171 not out, hisfirst Test century, into aninnings of 267.

Together with Buttler,whose 152 was just his secondhundred at this level, he put on359 runs — an England recordfor the fifth wicket.

At the age of just 22,

Crawley has now posted thetenth highest score by anEngland batsman in 143 yearsof Test history.

“It’s a pleasure to watchhim from the other end,”Buttler told reporters. “He hitsthe ball incredibly hard, hasshots all around the wicket andhe’s a great kid to bat with.

“It’s the start of a very spe-cial career. He’s going to scorea few more hundreds forEngland, no doubt. This willgive him a huge amount ofconfidence, but an innings ofthat magnitude will give himso much more belief. He’s gota level head too and he won’tget ahead of himself.”

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Former Pakistan fastbowler Shoaib Akhtar

slammed the team for theirperformance against Englandin the decisive third Testbetween the two sides under-way at the Ageas Bowl.

Pakistan looked to be incontrol for much of the firsttwo sessions of the first daybefore they lost control of thematch due to an epic 359-runstand for the fifth wicketbetween Zak Crawley (267)and Jos Buttler (152).

“I have seen the attitudeof aggressive bowlers, theyhave the intent of takingwickets. I do not know whatis being taught to the currentbowlers of Pakistan. There isno method, Naseem Shahkeeps on bowling at just onearea, there are no slowerballs or bouncers,” Akhtarsaid on his Youtube channel.

“I don’t know why there

is a lack of aggression, we arenot net bowlers, we are play-ing Test matches,” Akhtaradded.

“Our players do notunderstand that when you donot have the right mindset,you would not succeed.Pakistan looked like a veryordinary team, the way weare playing, it is looking likewe will face our biggestdefeat on foreign soil since2006,” Akhtar said.

Shoaib in a tweet alsoquestioned the team’s deci-sion to send in Babar Azamtowards the end of the sec-ond day instead of a night-watchman. Babar becamethe third man to fall to JamesAnderson and his wicketwas the last act of the day.

“It is a very embarrassingperformance from Pakistan,I was very hopeful of our sideperforming well in the series.Pakistan is looking like a clubteam,” he said.

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ith his recentfilm UmaMaheswara UgraRoopasya toowinning theadmiration of

audiences and critics alike,filmmaker Venkatesh Mahahas announced his next asSu Mathi. He is once againcollaborating with VijayaPraveena Paruchuri, hisproducer and actor of histwo directorial efforts, forthe project, which isbelieved to be a tale onimmigration. “On this date4 years ago I found@paruchurimd whobelieved in my vision & C/oKancharapalem became areality. So, on the anniver-sary of our partnership we rannouncing our next film.“SU MATHI” — an EmpireState of mind...!

#Su_Mathi_theFilm@bedheadchicken @planet-debbie (sic),” the directorwrote on Twitter onSaturday. He further notedthat he is dedicating thefilm, a joint production ven-ture between Mahayana

Motion Pictures, EternalSoul Productions andPurposeful Pictures, to hisand Praveena’s parents.

The director remainedunavailable for a commenton the film’s genre when wetried to reach out to him.

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s MegastarChiranjeevirang in his 65thbirthday onSaturday withhis family, the

producers of his next,Acharya, unveiled thefilm’s motion poster, giv-ing a peek into his much-anticipated look. It wasalso the first time the titlewas officially announced.The poster, with ManiSharma’s scintillatingbackground score, trans-ports the viewers into theworld of Acharya. As itcomes to a closure, aslightly blood-soakedChiranjeevi is seen with adagger in his hand, havingknocked out many men.Some villagers and priestsalso dot the backdrop. Theposter was unveiled withthe tagline — A Comrade’sQuest for Dharma.

A socio-political enter-tainer directed by hitmachine Koratala Siva,Acharya is said to be setin the backdrop ofEndowments Departmentand the stepmother treat-

ment it has been metedout over the years. It isbelieved that Chiru willbe seen as an employee ofthe department who isunhappy with the state ofsome temples and decidesto take matters into hisown hands. His role pri-marily targets encroachersand political heavy-weights who are involvedin forceful grabbing of theland that belongs to thedepartment and Hindureligious institutions.

The film went to floorsearly this January and 40per cent of the shoot waswrapped up when thepandemic-triggered lock-down brought the filmingto a screeching halt. Theinitial plan was to slot thefilm for IndependenceDay but now the makershave now revealed theyare targeting a summerrelease next year. Word isthat the film, co-starringRam Charan and KajalAggarwal, may have thecameras rolling onceagain from the last weekof September.

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fter shooting inGeorgia earlierthis March, theunit of Prabhasand Pooja Hedge-starrer Radhe

Shyam had to fly back toIndia due to the outbreakof novel coronavirus.With the virus casesspiking in India eversince and the subsequentannouncement of lock-down meant that RadheShyam’s shoot had to bedeferred indefinitely. Butnow, the waiting periodis over. Film’s directorRadha Krishna Kumar,without giving out toomany details, has con-firmed that it will getback to sets next month.“All excited to resume theshoot from 2nd week ofSeptember, the longestand the loveliest schedulewith our darling #prab-has and @hegdepooja@UV_Creations@UVKrishnamRaju@itsBhushanKumar#RadheShyam (sic),” hetweeted over the week-end.

In a press release lastmonth, the makers

revealed that 70 per centof the shoot has alreadybeen wrapped up.

A romantic drama setin Europe, Radhe Shyam,set to release next year, isbeing shot in Telugu andHindi simultaneously,while it will be dubbedinto Tamil andMalayalam. The film willalso mark veteran actorand Prabhas’ uncle UVKrishnam Raju’s daugh-ter Praseeda making herdebut as a producer. Sheis jointly producing italong with UV Creations’Vamsi and Pramod. Sheis representing her dad'sbanner Gopi KrishnaMovies, the productionhouse of which is pre-senting the film.

The likes ofBhagyashree,Priyadarshi, SachinKhedekar, Murli Sharma,Kunal Roy Kapur,Sathyan, Sasha Chettri,Beena Benarji andRiddhi Kumar are play-ing supporting roles inthe film. The makers areplanning to wrap up theshoot by the end ofDecember.

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irak RP, who is known for hiscomic gigs in the popular com-edy show Jabardusth, is switch-ing over to a career in direction.His first film, produced by KArunachalam, was launched in

Hyderabad on Sunday. Senior actors JDChakravarthy, Prakash Raj and RaoRamesh are playing key roles in the film, asuspense thriller. “JD is playing a differentcharacter and I’m delighted that he hasagreed to be a part of the film. We areplanning to begin the shooting as soon aspossible with schedules in Hyderabad andNellore,” RP said after the muhurat, whichwas attended by Naga Babu and JD.

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uriya-starrer SooraraiPottru (Akasaam NeeHaddhu Ra in Telugu) isthe first Tamil high-pro-file film that is taking thedigital route. It was sup-

posed to release earlier this Aprilbut with cinema halls continuingto remain shut due to coron-avirus pandemic, the actor, whohas produced the film along withSikhya Entertainment, preferredfor a digital, direct-to-homerelease on October 30.

Amazon subscribers can watchthe film in all four languages -Tamil, Telugu, Kannada andMalayalam on October 30.

In a statement, Suriya request-ed his industry colleagues, members of the general publicand his fans to understand thathe had to take the call as a pro-ducer not as a hero. He noted

that by the time the audiencesare back to cinema halls likebefore; he would act in a coupleof films and release them on thebig screen.

Directed by Sudha Kongara,Akasaam Nee Haddhu Ra isloosely based on the life of cap-tain Gopinath, founder of thebudget airline Air Deccan.

“Essaying Captain Gopinath’scharacter came to me as a chal-lenge, but we are very proud ofour final product. This film isour labour of love and I amhappy that it will now entertainthe global audience,” said Suriya.

He added that he wasimpressed with the subject rightfrom the start.

“The moment I heard thescript from director Sudha, I wassure it had to be told,” the actorsaid.

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043 5 ˜ˆ % RINL, POSCO to form joint 6˘ ˛ˆ!$ 0ˆ$2!!$ · 2020. 8. 23. · He asked officials to take the Andhra Pradesh government to task for illegally utilising water from