HYDERABAD, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 21*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8HOMEMAKERS GO DIGITAL FOR

FESTIVE SHOPPING, GIFTING

ANALYSIS 7WHEN WILL WEEVER LEARN?

SPORTS 12MI TAME DC,ENTER FINAL

}METRO RIDE FOLLOWED BY METRO

SHOOT FOR PAWAN

Page 11

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated November 5, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Ashwin & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Panchami: 06:36 am

Nakshatram: Ardra: 06:45 am

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 10:34 am – 11:59 am

Yamagandam: 02:49 pm – 04:14 pm

Varjyam: 07:25 pm – 09:06 pm

Gulika: 07:45 am - 09:09 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 05:33 am – 07:14 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:36 am – 12:22 pm

{

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly sunnyTemp: 29/19Humidity: 63%Sunrise: 06.16 amSunset: 05.42 pm

www.dailypioneer.com

BIDEN

No major layoffs due toCovid in Telangana: KTRnNew SMEs tower in Kompally, cluster in Kollur

nRs 100 crore donations received from ITindustry bodies used to strengthen govt hospitals

PNS n HYDERABAD

TS IT Minister K T Rama Raosuggested on Thursday that thesoftware industry inHyderabad had shown itsresilience, despite the devastat-ing impact of Covid.

He was speaking at the 28thedition HYSEA AnnualInnovation Summit andAwards 2020 on Thursday.

KTR said: "There were lay-offs as usual - part of the pri-vate sector, but there were nomajor layoffs due to COVID.In fact, all the industry bodies,and HYSEA (HyderabadSoftware EnterprisesAssociation) likewise cametogether with our Governmentto constitute a Layoff RedressalCommittee. We counselledmany companies and employ-ees, and ensured that their con-cerns were addressed duringthe Covid times". He statedthat state's IT exports grew at18% - for the last financial year,which was more than doublethe national average of 8%.

HYSEA organized the 28thedition of the Annual HYSEASummit, which featured-Conference, Product Expo andAnnual Industry Awards. Thetheme for this year's event is

'Surge Ahead: Win the NewNormal'. The conference, exhi-bition and awards were orga-nized in a hybrid (virtual +physical) mode.

On work from home option,KTR said that, "Even thoughthe work from home is invogue now,

Sans Covidsecond wave, Hyd IT cangrow at 10% Although the IT industry in

general is expecting aslowdown in FY21, its arm inHyderabad is still anticipatinggrowth of around 10 per cent.But this is subject to furtheruncertainties, considering thesecond and third waves ofCOVID-19 in many countries.This positive assessment isbased on the White Paper on'Post-Covid imperatives forHyderabad IT industry'prepared by the Governmentof Telangana in associationwith KPMG and CBRE.Earlier this year, Hyderabadregistered 17.93 per centgrowth in exports in FY19-20.About 38 per cent of theparticipating organisationsbelieve that there would begrowth in business;

11 schools violated GO 46,increased fees: TS Govt tells HCPNS n HYDERABAD

The state government has toldthe Telangana High Courtthat it is committed to theimplementation of the officialorder issued on April 24,2020directing all private unaidedrecognised schools, i.e. thosewhich are affiliated to thestate board, CBSE, ICSE andother international boards, tonot increase any kind of feesduring the academic year

2020-21 and charge onlytuition on monthly basis tillfurther orders.

The Director of the SchoolEducation Separtment ASrideva Sena told a division

bench of the High Court thatthe department had conduct-ed a detailed inquiry into the

complaints received against11 private schools affiliated toCBSE, ICSE and other boards.These schools are MountLitera Zee School (MLZS),Ranga Reddy District;Meridian

School, Banjara Hills; OxfordGrammar School,Himayathnagar; Neeraj School,Ameerpet;Narayana HighSchool,DD Colony; JubileeHills Public School, GeetanjaliPublic School, Little FlowerHigh School and Kalpa Schoolfrom Hyderabad and St.Andrews High School,Secunderabad and St. AndrewsHigh School, Medchal.

Car turns turtle onDurgam bridgePNS n HYDERABAD

A car overturned on theDurgam Cheruvu cable-stayedbridge on Thursday. Sinceboth the passenger and driverwere wearing seat belts, nocasualties were reported.

The car was heading toGachibowli when the fronttyre burst and eventually the

car driver lost control. As perMadhapur police, “There weretwo persons in the car, includ-ing the driver. The passers-bypulled them out of the car.Only the car overturned andthere were no injuries to thepassengers”. While they weretaken to the hospital for treat-ment, the traffic police towedaway the vehicle.

Covid cases up 24% in TS from last weeknExperts warn of multiple Covid waves if people ignore norms PNS n HYDERABAD

New Covid-19 cases are againgoing up in Telangana. Theaverage daily cases in the lastseven days increased 24% fromthe caseload in previous sevendays.

Health officials have onceagain appealed to the public tohelp slow the spread by wash-ing hands, wearing mask, andstaying six feet apart from oneanother -- pleas that have fall-en on deaf ears.

From 23-29 October, on anaverage, 1,153 cases were report-ed per day. The caseload hasgone up to 1,432 per day since30 October.

According to Director ofPublic Health Dr G SrinivasaRao, “Cases are increasing inDelhi and Kerala since lastweek. These two states were thefirst to be infected. We cannotsay that there won’t be a second

wave in Telangana. When peo-ple are not neglecting Covidnorms and governments are nothandling it properly, then wewill see not just second but mul-tiple Covid waves. When wethink of going back to pre-Covid

days, such waves are bound tohappen”.

The second wave in particu-lar is going to be severe becauseof people’s careless behavior.

As per CCMB DirectorRakesh Mishra, “Second wave isbecause of human behavior. Itmight happen any place andIndia is no exception. But a sec-ond wave virus is present allover, including small pocketsand many places. People aremore relaxed and not respect-ing masks, social distancing. Thefirst wave virus is spreadingfrom one region to another. Ifwe are not careful, it will eruptin large numbers as there arehundreds of seeding points”.

PNS n NEW DELHI

WhatsApp is introducing anew disappearing messagesoption this month. The fea-ture will allow WhatsAppusers to enabledisappear-ing mes-sages onchat conver-s a t i o n sb e t w e e nfriends, to automaticallydelete messages after sevendays. Anyone can enable theoption in individual chats,and group admins will beable to enable disappearingmessages in group chats.

WhatsAppnew feature tovanish msgs

‘Khichdi’ medical system can put millions at risk: IMA PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Medical Association(IMA) on Thursday said it is"highly perturbed" by the recentpolicy proposals for integrationof all systems of medicine, call-ing it a "khichdi medical system"which could put millions of livesat risk.

In a statement, the organisa-tion of doctors said it stands forpurity of systems of modernmedicine as well as Ayush andthat this new system will pro-vide "hybrid doctors" and thechoice of the patient is effective-ly nullified.

"It is not in the interest of tra-ditional systems either to losetheir identity and further devel-opment. As such 96 per centpatients in IPD and 94 per centof patients in OPD are beingserved by modern medicine," itsaid.

"Currently, a patient has thechoice of choosing either mod-ern medicine or alternative sys-tem as per their desire.Unfortunately, the khichdi med-ical system that is being envis-aged will provide only hybriddoctors and the choice of thepatient is effectively nullified,"the statement said.

It claimed that NITI Aayoghas formed four committees tointegrate all systems of medicine.These committees are in the area

of medical education, clinicalpractice, public health, medicalresearch and administration.The theoretical basis of policy

seems to emanate from thenew National Education Policy.

Warning that the radicalchanges that are being institu-tionalised will have seriesimpact on the health of peopleand can put millions of lives atrisk, the IMA said it is "highlyperturbed" by the move.

"The most important policyshift is from multiple dedicat-ed medical streams to a systemof integrative medicine. In sim-ple words, what is being envis-aged is to mix systems of med-icine together in curriculum,practice and research.

Democrat Presidentcandidate Joe Bidenis all set to become

next US President withedging close to the magicfigure of 270 electoralvotes. After registeringback-to-back clean sweepsin Michigan andWisconsin, Democrat con-tender Joe Biden hassurged past US PresidentDonald Trump’s tally with264 electoral votes againstthe latter’s 214. The formerVice-President needs onlysix more votes to becomethe 46th President of theUnited States. Seeking a re-election, Trump is trailingby a margin of 50 votes.

The Republican presi-dent, who during the longand rancorous campaignattacked the integrity of theAmerican voting system,has alleged fraud withoutproviding evidence, filedlawsuits and called for atleast one recount.

Some legal experts called

the challenges a longshot unlikely to affectthe eventual outcomeof the election.

As counting contin-ued two days afterElection Day, slowedby large numbers ofmail-in ballots this

year, Biden was lead-ing in Wisconsin,Nevada and Arizonaand closing in onTrump inGeorgia andPennsylvania.

264214

TRIUMPHS

The battleground has now shifted tofive states – Pennsylvania (20Electoral College votes), Georgia (16),North Carolina (15), Arizona (11),Nevada (6), and Alaska (3)

‘STOP THE COUNT’: Trump

President Trump tweeted“STOP THE COUNT” on

Thursday as officials in key bat-tleground states continued totally legally cast ballots, and JoeBiden moved within 17 electoralvotes of being able to claim vic-tory. Arizona, Alaska,Pennsylvania, North Carolina,Georgia and Nevada remainuncalled.

In Arizona, Biden’s lead nar-rowed overnight, giving theRepublican incumbent a smallpath to victory there.Meanwhile, Trump’s lead inGeorgia shrank, leaving thatstate in play.

While Biden’s campaign has

continued to express confi-dence, Trump’s reelection cam-paign attempted to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania andMichigan, sought a recount inWisconsin and challenged thehandling of ballots in Georgia.

Several states allow extradays for the receipt of ballotspostmarked by Election Day.These include the swing statesof Pennsylvania and NorthCarolina, which are allowingballots mailed by Election Dayto be received up to three andnine days after, respectively, tobe counted. The Supreme Courthas allowed those extensions toremain.

Pennsylvania also did notallow officials to begin countingthe hundreds of thousands ofmail-in ballots until ElectionDay. Trump's remarks come ashis lead over Biden inPennsylvania and Georgiasteadily narrows as ballots arecounted. Yet Biden also leadsTrump in Arizona, where thegap also narrowed between thetwo candidates overnight.Stopping the count in Arizonawould leave Biden ahead.

Biden also leads in Nevada,though a number of ballots haveyet to be counted. Republicansare hoping that race turnsaround.

PNS n NEW DELHI

An Indian government-backed COVID-19 vaccinecould be launched as early asFebruary - months earlierthan expected - as last-stagetrials begin this month andstudies have so far showed itis safe and effective, a seniorgovernment scientist toldReuters.

Bharat Biotech, a privatecompany that is developingCOVAXIN with the govern-ment-run Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR),had earlier hoped to launchit only in the second quarterof next year.

"The vaccine has showngood efficacy," senior ICMRscientist Rajni Kant, who isalso a member of itsCOVID-19 task-force, said atthe research body's NewDelhi headquarters onThursday.

"It is expected that by thebeginning of next year,February or March, some-thing would be available."

BB vaccine by Feb:Govt Scientist

2

2

2

2

2

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

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

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

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

hyderabad 02

As per the directions of Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar, Kakatiya UrbanDevelopment Authority (KUDA) takes steps towards facelift and beautification at CSRGardens in Warangal.

BEAUTIFICATION DDRIVE

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020

EGG

RATES

` 51,930 (10 gm)

` 110

GOLD

` 66,600 (1kg)

` 3300

HYDERABAD 450

VIJAYAWADA 498

VISAKHAPATNAM 480

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..9988

SILVER

HYDERABAD

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `170

Without Skin `193

Broiler at Farm `117

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

T-Hub completes 5 years: KTR says there is more to doPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana government's start-up initiative completed 5 yearsand its affiliated startups havecreated 15,000 jobs and raisedRs 1,800 crore funding.Minister KT Rama Rao said,"Exactly 5-years ago, T-Hubwas unveiled. It has shaped upwell but there is a lot more thatneeds to be done, especially ineco-system technologies. Lotmore collaborative effort andlot more synergies need to beexplored".

Since 2015, T-Hub came upwith innovation programmesfor startups, corporations, andmore, and building a globalinnovation hub. T-Hub hasdesigned and delivered 75innovation programmes in thelast 5 years, enabling startupsto go-to-market, get customers,raise funds and empower cor-porations to build a culture ofinnovation and create impact.During the pandemic, the flag-ship programme, Lab32, hashelped startups likeChitmonks, Drink Prime andPulse raise funding.

Ravi Narayan, CEO of T-Hub and Chief InnovationOfficer, Telangana, said, "Dueto this robust innovationecosystem that T-Hub andother enablers in Telanganahave built, we have seen a risein the total number of startupswhich grew from 400 to 2,000in the span of the last few yearsin the state".

As per T-Hub, the corporatememberships and partnershipshave enabled more than 350startups to collaborate, present

Proof of Concept (PoC) work,raise money or get acquired bylarger corporates, out of which100 startups from Hyderabadengaged in such programsduring pandemic.

T-Hub has forged somestrong international connectsin the last one year, with theSouth Korean Government,Japan Investment andCooperation Agency (JICA)and others, which helped cre-ate more than 325 internation-al startup connects.

SMART PHARMA

RAISES RS 2 CRSmart Pharma, a cloud-basedSAAS start-up, started in 2020providing subscription-basedsoftware solutions has raisedseed funding to the tune of Rs.2 Crores from an undisclosedinvestor in the PharmaceuticalIndustry. Smart Pharma ispart of WE HUB's SecondIncubation cohort and is one of26 startups from across 16cities in India. The applicationenables customers to digitalisetheir operations and includesonline billing, inventorymanagement, product tracking,accounting, customer relationmanagement, analytics anddashboard. All the features aredesigned keeping in mind themultiple pain points that arefaced in day to day activities ofthe Pharma Industry. KTRcongratulated the founderSaketha and said, "This is justthe beginning for womenentrepreneurs We-Hub. Ibelieve the potential to achievemore success will lie inbuilding a robust ecosystem.”

State's Covid-19 recoveriescross 2.25 lakh markPNS n HYDERABAD

The number of Covid-19recoveries in Telanganacrossed 2.25 lakh on Thursdaywith 978 more patients recov-ering from the infection dur-ing the last 24 hours. Healthofficials said the total numberof people recovered so farsurged to 2, 25,664. The state'sCovid recovery rate stands at91.85 per cent, just below thenational average of 92.2 percent.

The last 24 hours saw thestate adding 1,539 new cases,pushing the cumulative tallyto 2,45,682. Of this the num-ber of active cases stands at18,656 including 15,864 whoare in home or institutionalisolation. Five more peoplesuccumbed to the virus dur-ing the same period, pushingthe death toll to 1,357.

The fatality rate stands at0.55 per cent against thenational figure of 1.5 per cent.According to the director ofpublic health and family wel-fare, 44.96 per cent of thedeaths were due to Covidwhile 55.04 per cent ofdeceased had comorbidities.

The maximum number ofnew cases (285) were record-ed in Greater Hyderabad. Thecases also surged in districts.

Rangareddy district record-ed second highest number ofinfections at 123 followed byMedchal Malkajgiri (102),Karimnagar (86), BhadradriKothagudem (82), Khammam(78), Nalgonda (69) andSuryapet (52).

According to a media bul-letin by the health depart-ment, a total of 44,327 sampleswere tested during last 24hours and out of them 41,377tests were conducted in thegovernment-run laboratories.

There are 18 laboratoriesconducting RT-PCR/CB-

NAAT/TRUENAT tests and1076 Rapid Antigen testingcentres run by governmentand 47 private laboratories.

The cumulative number oftests rose to 44,39,856.Samples tested per millionpopulation surged to 1,20,477.

Out of total 2,45,682 pos-itive cases so far, 70 per cent(1,71,977) were asymptomaticand 30 per cent (73,705)symptomatic.

The data shows that 63.9per cent of those tested posi-tive so far were aged between21-50 years. As many as 22.91per cent were aged above 51.The positive cases include13.18 per cent who werebelow 20 years.

Land mafiamember heldPNS n HYDERABAD

Cyber Crime Station (CCS),Detective Department (DD)police here on Thursdayarrested a land mafia mem-ber who misguided variousgovernment organizationsand claimed crores of rupeesby producing forged and fab-ricated documents of land sit-uated at Banjara Hills.

On credible information,CCS, DD police arrestedMohad Ali, 34, a realtor ofDarushifa for the offenceand being produced beforethe court for judicial remand,a police release here said.

During the course of inves-tigation, the CCS, Policeswung into action and col-lected evidence so far estab-lishing that the accused per-son Mohd Ali is a member ofa land mafia gang headed bySyed Abdul Ithalid.

They used to induce theGovernment officials, withhuge amounts, as usual theyinduced the then RevenueInspector, and Tahsildar ofShaikpet Mandal to makeofficial favour in grabbing thecrores of Government landsituated at Banjara Hills.

In this case, earlier, theACB officials laid a trap andcaught Tahsildar Ms Sujatha,Revenue Inspector NagarjunaReddy, as well as BanjaraHills Sub-Inspector ARavinder.

Subsequently, they werearrested and remanded tojudicial custody.

BIDEN TRIUMPHS

No major layoffsdue to Covid inTelangana: KTRContinued from page 1

we believe that campuses andworkplaces are there to staythe long run".

Donations totaling aboutRs 100 crore raised by the ITIndustry bodies had been usedprimarily to procure state-of-the-art COVID testing equip-ment for the Governmenthospitals in Telangana, hesaid. On flood relief efforts,KTR said: "Infosys has comeforward and taken up severalworks in Peerzadiguda, neartheir Pocharam campus. It isvery heartening to see multi-national companies takingresponsibility for societyaround them."

KTR urged IT firms tolook at other parts ofHyderabad l ike Uppal/Pocharam, Kompally, South(GMR/ Shamshabad). Thegovernment was opening anew Tower in Kompally forSMEs and a new cluster inKollur in the North West todisperse the IT around thecity. "We are doing thegroundbreaking for theKompally Tower shortly. Andwe already have more than200 SMEs interested in tak-ing space here. There are aslew of benefits, including30% rental rebate, for theSMEs and anyone whobrings in more than 500

employees to the GRIDregions will get a custompackage", he added. A WhitePaper, in collaboration withKPMG and CBRE, on 'Post-Covid imperatives forHyderabad IT/ITeS indus-try', was launched at thesummit.While InfosysLimited, Tata ConsultancyServices, and Tech MahindraLimited won TOP IT/ITESExporter Award, Deloitte andCognizant won the sameaward in MNC category.

11 schoolsviolated GO 46,increased fees:TS Govt tells HC

Sans Covidsecond wave, Hyd IT cangrow at 10% of these 43 per cent are globalcapacity centres with theirheadquarters outside India. Thepandemic has made more thanhalf the industryembrace/expect flat or negativegrowth. As per a recent surveyconducted by HYSEA, close to38 % of the organisations thattook part in the survey believerevenues would go negative orremain flat in FY20-21, whileanother 24 per cent wereunsure.

Continued from page 1

She filed an additionalcounter affidavit consisting ofthe inquiry report againstthe 11 schools in response toa batch of Public InterestLitigation (PIL) pleas filed onthe issue by the HyderabadSchool Parents Association(HSPA). In her affidavit, shestated that Manikonda-basedMount Litera Zee School hadcollected a fee of ?10,000 ascaution

deposit from its studentsviz. seventh standard stu-dent Makkena Kushal and9th standard studentMakkena Mohith Chowdaryin violation of the GO. Shealso said that Banjara HillsMeridian School had notonly increased its fee butalso clubbed other fee likemess fee and transportationfee into the tution fee andprojected it as tuition for

the year 2020-21. She saidthat other schools like OxfordGrammar School,Himayathnagar and NeerajSchool, Ameerpet, JubileeHills Public School,Geetanjali Public School,Little Flower High Schooland Kalpa School, Hyderabadand St. Andrews HighSchool, Secunderabad andSt. Andrews High School,Medchal also violatedthe GOby collecting different kindsof fee from the students. Itsaid that the inquiry againstNarayana High School, DDColony was still going on andadded that it required moretime to conclude it.

‘Khichdi’ medical system can...Continued from page 1

This retrograde step of unsci-entific mixing of systems ofmedicine will produce hybriddoctors who are nowhere," thestatement said. IMA has anIMA-Medical Student Network

in 287 medical colleges of thecountry. The medical studentsof this country are equallyconcerned about their careerand future. IMA MSN hasjoined hands with IMA in thiscampaign against quackery,mixopathy and crosspathy.

Continued from page 1

Multiple Trump lawsuits anda recount request would haveto succeed and find in somecases tens of thousands ofinvalid ballots to reverse theresult if Biden does prevail.

Some of the outstandingvotes in Georgia andPennsylvania were clusteredin places expected to leanDemocratic - like the Atlantaand Philadelphia areas. InGeorgia’s Fulton County, whichincludes most of Atlanta, offi-cials said they expected to fin-ish vote tallying on Thursdaymorning, with 10,000 absenteeballots left to count. By earlyThursday, Trump led by 19,000votes out of nearly 5 millioncast in the state.

Trump had to win the stateswhere he was still ahead,including North Carolina, plus

either Arizona or Nevada totriumph and avoid becomingthe first incumbent U.S. pres-ident to lose a re-election bidsince fellow Republican GeorgeH.W. Bush in 1992.

The president appears tohave grown more upset as hisleads in some states havediminished or evaporated dur-ing the counting. On Thursdaymorning, he weighed in onTwitter, writing, “STOP THECOUNT!”

To capture the White House,a candidate must amass atleast 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College. Suchelectoral votes are based large-ly on a state’s population.Edison Research gave Biden a243 to 213 lead in ElectoralCollege votes. Other networkssaid Biden had won Wisconsin,which would give him anoth-er 10 votes. The counting and

court challenges set the stagefor days if not weeks of uncer-tainty before Dec. 8, the dead-line to resolve election disputes.The president is sworn intooffice on Jan. 20, 2021.

“The litigation looks morelike an effort to allow Trump tocontinue rhetorically attempt-ing to delegitimatize an elec-toral loss,” said Joshua Geltzer,executive director ofGeorgetown Law’s Institute forConstitutional Advocacy andProtection.

Biden, a 77-year-old formervice president, predicted victo-ry on Wednesday and launcheda website to begin the transi-tion to a Democratic-con-trolled White House. Trump,74, is seeking a second fouryears in office after a tumul-tuous first term.

Trump’s campaign called fora recount in Wisconsin, where

Biden led by roughly 21,000votes out of 3.3 million cast, amargin slim enough to entitlehim to a recount. Howeverelections experts said a recountin Wisconsin was seen asunlikely to unlikely to alter theresult.

His campaign also filed law-suits in Michigan andPennsylvania to stop votecounting. Michigan Secretaryof State Jocelyn Benson, incharge of elections, called theTrump team’s lawsuit “frivo-lous.” Trump’s campaign fileda lawsuit in Georgia to requirethat Chatham County, whichincludes the city of Savannah,separate and secure late-arriv-ing ballots to ensure they arenot counted.

It also asked the U.S.Supreme Court to allow Trumpto join a pending lawsuit filedby Pennsylvania Republicans

over whether the battlegroundstate should be permitted toaccept late-arriving ballots thatwere mailed by ElectionDay.Trump’s campaign said itplanned to make an announce-ment in Las Vegas later onThursday. Fox News reportedthe campaign would announceanother lawsuit, this one alleg-ing voter fraud in Nevada.

Despite Trump’s allegationsof fraud and an unsubstantiat-ed charge that Democrats aretrying to “steal” the election,U.S. election experts say fraudin balloting is rare. If victorious,Biden would face a tough bat-tle to govern, with Republicansappearing poised to keep con-trol of the U.S. Senate, whichthey could use to block largeparts of his legislative agenda,including expanding health-care access and efforts aimed atfighting climate change.

‘KVK farming modelsuitable for State’PNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture MinisterSingireddy Niranjan Reddyon Thursday said the cultiva-tion methods adopted byfarmers at the Krishi VigyanKendra (KVK), Baramati willbe suitable for farmers inTelangana State too. TheMinister, along with PrincipalSecretary of Agriculture BJanardhan Reddy, visited theKVK on Thursday as part oftheir four-day tour ofMaharashtra.“The Baramati KVK is con-sidered as a modern day tem-ple for agriculture. The three-decade long efforts of formerUnion Minister andNationalist Congress Party(NCP) founder Sharad Pawarand his brother Appa SahebPawar are commendable. Wein Telangana under the lead-ership of K ChandrashekharRao are trying to make agri-culture profitable by diverting

farmers from conventionalagriculture practices to mod-ern farming,” he said.Niranjan Reddy said the agro-climatic conditions of westernMaharashtra and TelanganaState are similar and hence,farmers can emulate newmethods of cultivation prac-ticed in KVK Baramati. Heopined that farmers must beencouraged to take up cropsthat cost less to produce,occupy less land and yieldmore. “Sharad Pawar saidthat he visited Hyderabad tostudy Telangana agitation in1969. I was directed by theChief Minister to meet himpersonally and convey hiswishes. I will meet SharadPawarji on Friday,” NiranjanReddy said. The Telanganateam then met RajendraPawar, Chairman of KVKBaramati, and congratulatedhim and his entire team forthe path-breaking work theyhave been doing.

Cotton production gains momentum in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

The productivity of cotton, acrop now suggested by theState government for farmersin the State as an alternative tomaize, was impressive duringVaanakalam 2019.

While Adilabad topped theState with highest productivi-ty of 1,559 kg per acre, RajannaSircilla, Khammam,Nagarkurnool, JayashankarBhupalpally, YadadriBhuvanagiri, Siddipet,Nizamabad, Mancherial andBhadradri Kothagudem,Nalgonda topped the Statewith highest production of

3,93,620 tonnes of kapas.The data released by the StatePlanning Board clearly indicat-ed that the farmers had beguntesting new grounds by diver-sifying into growing vegetablesand fruits as suggested by

experts. The total productionof onions during Yasangi of2019 stood at 1,28,046 tonnesin the State with Sangareddy,Vikarabad, Nizamabad,Jogulamba Gadwal, Medak,Wanaparthy, Mahbubnagarand Ranga Reddy occupyingthe top five positions in yieldas well as cultivated area.

In the case of tomatoes, thefarmers are expected to reap5,32,692 tonnes of productionfrom 41,768 acres of land.Ranga Reddy, Siddipet,Vikarabad, Sangareddy,Adilabad, Medchal Malkajgiriand Bhadradri Kothagudemwere the highest producing dis-

tricts. The total production ofmangoes was 12, 70,364 tonscultivated in an area of 3,17,591 acres of land. Jagtial,Khammam, Nagarkurnool,Ranga Reddy, Mancherial andMahabubabad were among the14 districts that registered con-siderable yield. The State alsofared well when compared withother predominantly agricul-ture States in the country in theproduction of traditional crops.According to 2018-19 dataTelangana occupied top place ingroundnut (Vaanakalm) pro-duction in the country fol-lowed by Tamilnadu andRajasthan.

13 arrested forcricket bettingPNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 13 persons werearrested by sleuths of a TaskForce for allegedly involvingin online betting on the ongo-ing IPL T-20 cricket games atEasgaon village. Task ForceInspector Rana Prathap saidthat the accused were identi-fied as Presenjit Saha,Sowmitra Sarkar, Shanu Das,Krishna Mandal, Mahesh,Lonare Ashok, VikramMandal, Manikkar, Varun,Abhishek Singh, Kamalesh,Parimal Das and PrashanthMandal, all belonging toEasgaon.

Hyderabad woman in Somalia seeks helpHyderabad: A woman fromHyderabad, who is currently inGaldogob district of Somaliaafter getting married to aSomalian national in 2008,

has appealed to the Ministry ofExternal Affairs to rescue her,stating that she was beingharassed by her husband andin-laws. Raheemunnisa, was

married to Omar Dahir Farahin 2008 and after a few yearsin the city, she shifted toSomalia along with her hus-band.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 hyderabad 03

First-of-its-kind and the largest Buddhist HeritageTheme Park in the world at Nagarjunsagar is nearingcompletion. The park, coming up in 275 acres, willfeature monasteries, eco tourism resorts, cottages, foodcourts and much more.

ADDED AATTRACTION

Based on data compiled andstudied by John Loannidisof Stanford University,

Elsevier and SciTech Strategies,and published in the highlyrespected journal PLOS Biologylast week, three UoH facultyfigure in the top 200 resear-chers in their respective fields:Prof. MNV Prasad of the School of Life Sciences, ranked 116th in thefield of Environmental Sciences, Prof. Ashwini Nangia of School ofChemistry, ranked 124th in the field of Inorganic and NuclearChemistry, and Prof. Pramod K Nayar of the Department of Englishranked 189th, in the field of Literary Studies. While Prof. MNV Prasadis an Honorary Professor at UoH after superannuation; Prof. Nangia isassociated with UoH and is presently serving as Director of NCL, Puneand Prof. Pramod K Nayar is also the Director at UoH. Prof Appa RaoPodile, Vice Chancellor, commented: "I am delighted but not reallysurprised at the wonderful rankings and citation record of our faculty.UoH clearly demonstrates excellence across multiple disciplines as canbe seen from this data."

Principal Secretary of ITJayesh Ranjaninaugurated All India

Virtual COWE Mart, a virtualexhibition of all womenentrepreneurs virtually onThursday afternoon. Tosupport its members in thisCOVID 19 Pandemic, COWEhas designed Virtual COWE MART,The exhibition has 50 vendorsshowcasing their products such as Textiles, Cosmetics, Jewellery,Organic Food products. It’s a promotional event to small womenentrepreneurs and home entrepreneurs, who are unable to market orpromote their products due to the prevailing pandemic situation. It willbe open for 70 days. Jayesh Ranjan said these are difficult times. Anyefforts to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and spirit to protectlivelihoods is praiseworthy. All industries are badly disrupted for thepast eight or nine months. Soudhamini Prodduturi the NationalPresident said that they have 2 industrial estates one in AP atMallavella Village. One in TS at Toopran developed with the assistanceCentral Government. This facility woulf be inaugurated by in 2 months.

Three UoH faculty figure in World’s top 200 researchers

Jayesh Ranjan launches virtual expo of women entrepreneurs

Hyderabad PoliceCommissioner,Anjani Kumar said

that bursting of fireworksor crackers on publicroads and at public placesis strictly prohibitedduring the celebration ofDiwali festival. In anotification, Anjani Kumarsaid as per the directions by the Supreme Court, there should be acomplete ban on bursting sound emitting firecrackers on the publicroads and public places in the Twin cities. Meanwhile, the top copalso warned youngsters against participating in online betting and toldcriminal cases will be registered against them if they are caught So far30 cases of cricket betting were booked against organisers of onlinebetting in the last five weeks, he said. “During investigation we foundthat many youngsters including students are participating in the onlinebetting. Criminal cases will be registered against the participants aswell,” he said. The Commissioner asked the parents to keep a watchon their children and said if cases are registered, their children will facedifficulties in finding jobs and obtaining visas.

Bursting crackers in public places prohibited: Top cop

CITY LIGHTS

The Union Ministry of Education has extended the last date forfresh applications and renewals for the National MeritScholarships, up to November 30. In a notice issued on

Thursday, Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education informedthat the extension is applicable to all students who passedintermediate education for fresh and renewal of applications for thescholarships for the academic year 2020-21. The last date forinstitutions for verification and defective application verification isDecember 15. Students can apply through the official website ofTSBIE. Also, the list of provisionally selected candidates will beavailable on the same website. For renewal of the scholarships, theauthority has approved the relaxation of minimum passing markscriteria and all students who have been promoted to nextyear/semester are eligible for renewal of applications under thescheme for the academic year 2020-21 only, the TSBIE added.

Last date extended for renewal of National Merit Scholarships

Waste-to-energy plant generates1.3 cr units power during trial run PNS n HYDERABAD

Prior to inauguration, theGHMC's waste-to-energyplant, that generates powerfrom garbage in Jawaharnagargarbage dumping yard hasproduced 13.44 million unitsof power till November 3 sinceit was started on June 20 on anexperimental basis.

As the state government didnot give permission for theplant to go on stream complete-ly, the officials are using onlyone of the two boilers to burnthe garbage into ashes.

Daily, the plant burns 800tons of garbage to produce 2lakh units. The GHMC is mak-ing arrangements to formallylaunch the plant in a week asthe experimental power gener-ation is termed successful.

If the plant were to go onstream fully, it burns 1600 tonsof the garbage, which wouldmean finding a solution to 27per cent of the garbage prob-lem in the city. At 1000 degreesthe garbage would turn intoash. The ash would be recycledfor use of bricks and otherproducts.

Of the rest of the garbage,4600 tons would be turned intofertilizer and only that garbagewhich is useless for recyclingwould be disposed of, the offi-cials said.

As per the agreement, thepower being produced byRamky Environ Engineersshould be purchased at the rateof Rs 7.80 a unit. The RamkyEnviro Engineers has targetedto produce 174 million units ofpower.

The power is connected tothe Malkaram substation,which is near the Jawaharnagarsite. A GHMC official said thatthe boilers were sourced from

China with the reciprocatingtechnology originating fromBelgium.

The garbage generated in thecity would reach 17 garbagecollection yards. Currently,stinking smell is emanatingfrom these yards.

However, the GHMC hasplans to modernise them.GHMC sanitation additionalcommissioner Rahul Raj saidthat seven of them have beenmodernised so far. Gradually,the rest of the yards would alsobe modernised, he said addingthat greenery would be devel-oped in the yard besides pro-viding CCTV cameras.

Two arrestedfor propertyoffences PNS n HYDERABAD

Two burglars involved ineight property offences inHyderabad and Rachakondawere caught by theHyderabad police onThursday. The police recov-ered 35 tolas of gold orna-ments and Rs 1.25 lakh cashfrom them.

Acting on a tip off, theCommissioner's Task Force(east) team caught the duo -Nenavath Vinod Kumar, 25,a car driver and KatravathRajesh, 25, a painter whowere involved in eight casesregistered at Meerpet,Charminar, Balapur, LBNagar and Adibatla policestation limits. One of theirassociates Shakeel of Moghal-pura is absconding.

"Nenavath Vinod Kumardropped out of B. Tech coursein 2012 and since then hasbeen committing propertyoffences along with his asso-ciates. He was previouslydetained under PD Act by theHyderabad police twice, how-ever he failed to mend hisways," said Anjani Kumar,Commissioner of PoliceHyderabad.

Efforts are on to nabShakeel who is absconding.

State universities stare at financial crunchPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has been alwaysbeen very proud of its educa-tional institutions. However, fora few years now, variousUniversities including OsmaniaUniversity and KakatiyaUniversity are facing severefinancial crunch.

As per the OsmaniaUniversity Teachers' Associat-ion (OUTA), the Universityreceived some funds, howeveras the years go they have to runpillar to post for the money.

OUTA President, Prof BManohar shares, "OsmaniaUniversity received about Rs300 crore for the salary pay-ment. However, the expendi-ture of the University is waymore. Once the funds areexhausted, we have to again goto the government, seek fundsand then pay salaries. For a few

years, the salaries towards theother half of academic year arealways delayed.

Also, last year the govern-ment increased the salaries oftemporary staff as well. As theUniversity is growing theadministration has to hire

teaching and non-teaching fac-ulties on contract from time totime. To pay them and the per-manent staff is always an issue."

Since most funds are used uptowards salaries, the Universityhas to rely on other resourcesfor development projects. Vice-

president of OsmaniaUniversity Teachers' Associat-ion, Prof A Krishnaiah said,"We rely on various projectsand UGC's help for develop-ment of the University.

In fact, although the labs areequipped, the University does-

n't have funds to maintainanything."

Unfortunately, the sameissues are being faced byKakatiya University is well.Prof Mallikarjuna Reddy,President of Kakatiya Unive-rsity Teachers' Association said,"KU is allocated Rs 80 croreeach year, while the annualexpenditure of the Universityis around Rs 120 crore. Wesomehow manage, however,paying salaries on time is a bigproblem here too. Many timesthere are no funds for researchwork. The infrastructure devel-opment of the University is alsosuffering due to the lack offunds."

According to sources, whilethe state government is awareof all the issues and has beenapproached several times toincrease the block funds, theyhaven't paid heed to it.

While the stategovernment isaware of all the issues and has beenapproachedseveral times to increase theblock funds,they haven'tpaid heed to it

NAMRATA SRIVASTAVA n HYDERABAD

The recent destructive floodsin the city not only affected thepeople, but also tree and ani-mals. However, the latter didnot receive as much attentionas required.

Many NGOs and activistsare still invested in making surethat all the animals and treethat were affected during therains are cautiously relocated.

Pradeep Nair of AnimalWarriors shares, "It was a verydifficult task to make sure all theanimals were safe. Especially inareas where the water flow wasa lot. We were getting the callsfor several days after the floodsas well. In fact, we got a call justa day back about a buffalowhich is stuck on the other sideof a nala. We knew about thebuffalo before as well, howev-er the flow of water was a lot forus to get her on the other side.Now that the flow has reducedwe are trying to get her to herowner. Several dogs and pigs

lost their lives because they werestuck without help. We are stillworking on making sure thatthe animals are safe."

Pradeep adds that city needsa government aided space forrescue animals. "Our biggestproblem now is as we are res-cuing these animals there is nospace for us to keep them. Wetake them to the governmenthospitals or schools. However,

as per law there should be a five-acre space in every district forrescue animals. But Hyderabaddoesn't have any such place. Ifit did, it would have made ourjob much easier."

The trees that were rescuedby Vata Foundation have beenrelocated to KPHB, howeverneed taking care of for a while.The head of Vata FoundationP Uday said, "We had to wait

before we got the required per-mission from GHMC, howev-er we were able to do it.

The tree that got re-plant-ed have started leaving, how-ever I have asked my volun-teers to keep an eye on themat least until the next mon-soon and keep watering them.About 2000 to 3000 treesmust have been affected dur-ing the rain."

Cops bust MLM racket, nab three PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Commissioner'sTask Force on Thursdaynabbed three persons fororganising illegal money cir-culation racket and cheatingcustomers. A laptop andthree mobile phones wereseized from them.

The accused were identi-fied as Hadman LalKumavath, 46, Milan Gopal,44 and Narpat Jain, 48.

According to the police,the three persons establisheda company 'Hypenext' andenrolled several personsassuring high returns andcommission for introducingnew members in the compa-ny. The gang organised ameeting for its members at anupscale hotel in the city lastmonth and gave a detailedpresentation about theiractivity. After several personsjoined the company the gangcheated them after collectingmoney from each member,the police officials said.

The trio along with theproperty was handed over tothe Abid Road police stationfor further action.

Lingampalli Railway Station goes solarPNS n HYDERABAD

The Lingampalli RailwayStation is now equipped withsolar panels to power it up.

The South Central Railway(SCR) installed solar panels inLingampalli railway stationwith a capacity of 55 kWp.These are expected to result insavings of 72,000 units perannum. Already, LED lights arebeing used in the station andnow the solar panels are mak-ing it a much more energy effi-cient station, officials said.

The SCR officials stated,"Several major stations inTelangana are powered by solarpanels, including Kanchegudaand Secunderabad. We areworking towards making our

stationed more eco-friendly."The Lingampally station is

one of the busiest stations inthe city. It is fourth busiest rail-way station in the city afterSecunderabad, Kacheguda andHyderabad. Several long dis-tance trains are depart from

this station every day. In Secunderabad, solar pan-

els have a capacity of 500 kWp,which is highest in the zone,followed by Kacheguda (400kWp) and Hyderabad (227kWp). According to officials,around 25 railway stations

were provided with solarpower in the State. InTelangana region, there is asavings of Rs 1.50 crore perannum through solar panels.

On solar panels alone, theSCR has been saving nearly 80lakh energy units which con-vert into a sum of over Rs 4crore. A total of 6.5 MWP solarpower plants/panels have beeninstalled at the stations, servicebuildings, pumps and streetlights in the zone. From 2014,the railways is making effortsto tap renewable energysources like solar power, daylight pipes and LED lightingand plans are afoot to extendsolar panels to more stationswhere power consumption ismore, officials said.

3 held for cultivating ganja plantsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Excise and Enforcementwing on Thursday bookedthree persons for allegedlycultivating ganja plants inMaqdumpally village inSangareddy district. Theaccused were identified asMachagoni Agamaiah, Machagoni Yadaiah and

Machagoni Jagan. Accordingto the officials, the enforce-ment staff led by AssistantProhibition and ExciseSuperintendent, D Gayathriconducted raids and found1.2 kg of dry ganja. The valueof the seized ganja is worthabout Rs 1.5 lakh in the openmarket.

71 gms of gold seized at RGIAPNS n HYDERABAD

Customs officials seized 71.47grams of gold worth Rs.3.67lakh from a passenger at theRajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport (RGIA) inShamshabad on Thursdaymorning.

Officials booked a case ofsmuggling of gold against thepassenger who arrived by flightIX 1948 from Dubai. The pas-senger allegedly concealed 12small cut pieces of gold weigh-ing 71.47 grams inside the zip-per of his jeans.Further inves-tigation is on.

Law will take its owncourse: Swathi Lakra PNS n HYDERABAD

The Woman Safety Wing,Telangana State on Thursdayorganised a one day onlinecounselling to respondents ongender sensitisation, reasons toanalyse for erratic behaviour ofrespondents in various SHETeam related offences in thestate.

Counselling session isattended by 26 police unitsunder the supervision of therespective SHE Teams of thepolice units from AdditionalSPs, DSPs, Inspectors S-Is,ASIs, police constables andhome guard officers.

As many as 143 Majors and7 Minor aged respondents'total 150 respondents havebeen counseled on Thursday.

Swathi Lakra, in-charge ofwomen safety wing who inau-gurated the counseling sessionremembered Swamy Viveka-nanda's quote that the bestthermometer to the progressof a nation is it's treatment ofits women ensuring that thereis change in behaviour ofrespondents and counselling isone such methodology. Shereiterated it's a way for the sus-pect to reform himself, rem-inded that law will take its owncourse if deviation repeats.

PNS n HYDERABAD

For the convenience of buspassengers and to addresstraffic chaos at LB Nagar, theHyderabad MetropolitanDevelopment Authority(HMDA) is constructing satel-lite wayside bus terminal nearHarini Vanasthali Park forintercity and inter-State buses.

Every day, around 30,000passengers heading towardsNalgonda, Khammam,Vijayawada and other placesboard RTC and private buseshere in this area.

During festive occasionslike Dasara and Sankranthi,TSRTC operates special busesfrom here to ease traffic con-gestion at MGBS, avoid trafficissues on the city roads, and as

a means to diversify bus oper-ations.

The situation turns worseduring weekends and holidaysand passengers face lot ofinconvenience. With close to600 buses operated from thearea, haphazard parking, espe-cially by private bus operators,results in traffic chaos. Toaddress these issues andensure decongestion of traffic,HMDA is now constructingwayside bus terminal withfive bus bays.

Principal Secretary ArvindKumar tweeted "HMDA takesup satellite wayside bus termi-nal with Rs 10 crore atVanasthalipuram to resolvetraffic chaos at LB Nagar forintercity and interstate buses,especially Vijayawada."

Vanasthalipuram soon toget wayside bus terminal

Flora and fauna still in needof attention after Hyd floods

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 hyderabad 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

State Chief ElectionCommissioner C Parthasarathion Thursday directed theGHMC commissioner to makearrangements for the GHMCelections in coordination withthe deputy commissioners toensure that the elections wouldbe held in a free and fair man-ner in their respective districts.

Addressing Collectors andadditional Collectors ofHyderabad, Rangareddy andMedchal-Malkajgiri districtsin the SEC conference hall hereon Thursday, the SEC askedthem to make arrangementsfor holding the polls to theGHMC before February 10,2021 as the tenure of theGHMC council comes to anend by that date.

A notification has beenissued on October 31 to pre-pare the voters' list and the

draft voters' list would be pub-lished on November 7. Thefinal voters' list would be pub-lished on November 13, headded. Those who did notregister as voters even afterpublication of the final voters'list can enrol as voters apply-ing to the relevant deputycommissioner either in persono r through online.

Additional Collectors (localbodies) will be appointed as

deputy election authority andrelevant orders will be issued ashort while later. The pollingbooths should be housed insprawling rooms to enable theauthorities to take Covid-19precautions, he said askingthem to identify the problem-atic and the most problematicpolling booths with the help ofthe revenue and the police per-sonnel.

The number of voters in

each polling booth should notexceed 1,000 under any cir-cumstances, he said. In pollingbooths having 1,000 voters,should have presiding officerand three poll officials, whilethe number of poll officialsshould be f our in boothswhere the polling booths havemore than 1,000 voters.

The quota for SCs, STs, BCsand women should be imple-mented as it was implementedin 2016 polls. A plan for beef-ing up security should be pre-pared in association with thepolice, he said asking the offi-cials to identify teams fordeployment as MCC and sta-tic flying squads. The distrib-ution, reception and countingcentres should be located as perthe Covid-19 regulations forpreserving the ballot boxes, hesaid. He put the ceiling on elec-tion expenses of each contes-tant at Rs 5 lakh.

SEC prepares action planfor GHMC elections

PNS n HYDERABAD

Dharani, the one-stop portalfor land transactions andissues, has recorded 5.84 lakhhits since November 2, the dayit went live after its formallaunch by Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao onOctober 29.

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar, who visited theDharani C ontrol Roomestablished at the BRKRBhavan here on Thursday,said 2,622 registrations werecompleted earning Rs 7.77crore for the State exchequerin the past four days. Over5 ,971 s lot s have b e enbooked using the portal and6,239 people have paidmoney.

The Chief Secretary, whoreviewed the functioning ofthe portal, said the 100member team at the controlroom will respond to anytechnical glitch that occursanywhere in the State andrectify it. The working ofthe portal was also moni-tored by the IG, Stamps andRegistrations, Seshadri. The

Chief Secretary expressedsatisfaction over the work-ing of the portal so far.

Earlier in the day, theChief Secretary reviewed

the working of Dharani withdistrict collectors through ateleconference. He directedthe collectors to initiate allthe steps required to man-age the portal in an efficientand transparent manner. Healso advised them not to useany discretion while dis-charging their duties andwarned of stern actionagainst anyone shirkingaway from their responsibil-ities. He also pointed outthat work on the s lotsbooked for a particular daymust be completed the sameday.

Dharani records 5.84 lakh hits

Over 5,971 slotshave beenbooked usingthe portal and6,239 peoplehave paidmoney, said CS

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar at the Dharani Control Room in BRKR Bhavan inHyderabad on Thursday

With Diwali round the corner, festive shopping gaining pace in Hyderabad. Women giving finishing touches to earthen pots — SSV CChary

FESTIVAL OOF LLIGHTS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP chief BandiSanjay Kumar on Thursdaycondemned the arrests ofBJP activists in Siddipet anddemanded the government torelease them immediately. Ina statement, Bandi warnedthe KCR government thatthey will face troubles infuture if they continue trou-bling BJP activists. "KCR isdoing all this fearing that hemay lose Chief Minister seat.These arrests are part ofmonster acts of KCR govern-ment. The TRS governmentswill not even assess whatwill happen if it does not stopillegal arrests," he said.

‘Govt harassingBJP activists’

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy on Thursday camedown heavily on the stategovernment over the distrib-ution of financial aid for floodvictims in Hyderabad.

He alleged that the govern-ment distributed aid only tothe relatives of TRS leaders. Hedemanded the state govern-ment order vigilance and ACBinquiry in this regard. Revanthon Thursday went to meet LBNagar Zonal Commissioner,however, he met DeputyCommissioner Maruthi inabsence of Commissioner andsubmitted the details of flood-hit areas.

Addressing the media, theCongress MP alleged that theruling TRS is utilising CMRFfunds to purchase votes inGHMC. Blaming the govern-ment for the flood situation inHyderabad, the Congress MPsaid, "The TRS governmentdescribed floods as naturalcalamity, however, ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao's followers encroachedwater bodies and sold out theplots by making layouts illegal-ly resulting in floods inHyderabad. Over 100 peopledied due to floods and the gov-ernment should own theresponsibility. It happenedbecause of state government's

negligence and inefficiencyof Municipal AdministrationMinister KT Rama Rao."

"The TRS leaders took Rs5000 as commission fromeach beneficiary. The TRSleaders looted Rs 200 crorefrom flood assistance. Therecould be no chance if the gov-ernment deposited the same inthe bank accounts of the floodvictims," he claimed. "Thegovernment didn't inform meabout the flood assistance dis-tribution though I am an MPof Malkajgiri," he added.Demanding the ZonalCommissioner to give thedetails of the distribution offlood assistance, Revanthexpressed anger over the offi-cials for not inviting him forthe distribution of the floodassistance to the beneficiaries.

Revanth for inquiryinto flood relief

PNS n HYDERABAD

Mild tension prevailed inNalgonda as Congress activiststried to lay siege to DistrictCollectorate office onThursday. They alleged thatthe state government didn'tannounce support price tothe fine variety of paddy cul-tivated by the farmers follow-ing Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao's sugges-tions as part of regulated cul-tivation. Speaking to themedia, the Congress leaders -Dubbaka Narsimha Reddyand DCC president ShankarNaik alleged that they areready to break the walls ofPragathi Bhavan in case ChiefMinister fails to do justice tothe farmers. They alleged thatthe Chief Minister is behavinglike a dictator towards protest-ers. They alleged that the gov-ernment didn't announce sup-

port prices to the fine varietyof paddy. "The governmentopened IKP centers for namesake but did not start procur-ing the paddy. The cottonfarmers are being deceived inthe hands of brokers as theCCI has not yet opened pro-curement centers. The govern-ment resorted to house arrestswhen the farmers tried tovoice their opinions," theyalleged. The Congress leadersmade it clear that the Congresswill stand by the farmers evenif the government resorts toarrests.

Cong activists try to laysiege to Collectorate

PNS n TIRUPATI

Lieutenant Governor ofJammu and Kashmir ManojSinha on Thursday arrived atTirumala, the hill abode ofLord Venkateswara, nearhere, to pay his obeisance tothe deity, a temple officialsaid. Sinha was accorded awarm welcome by chairmanof Tirumala-TirupatiDevasthanom (TTD) Y VSubba Reddy and AdditionalExecutive Officer A VDharma Reddy upon arrival,the official said.

After an overnight stay onthe hills, Sinha would visit theshrine and offer worship tothe presiding deity of LordVenkateswara on Fridaymorning, he said. This wasSinha’s maiden visit to thehills after he took over as thenew Lieutenant Governor ofJammu and Kashmir inAugust, he added.

J&K LG arrivesat Tirumala for worship

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

SRM University-AP is all set tolaunch unique, innovative andresearch-oriented M.Tech pro-grammes in Engineering dis-ciplines such as ComputerScience, Electronics andCommunications, Electricaland Electronics, andMechanical Engineering.

The curriculum is designedand developed keeping in viewthe industry needs, and latesttrends in these disciplines forthe holistic development of stu-dents. The enriching curriculawith core and elective subjects,fine-tuned at par with top inter-national universities, will enablethe students to emerge as inno-vative global professionals.

The students will be able tofollow the multidisciplinaryapproach in design and devel-opment of new systems.Students will be imparted withknowledge in latest aspectsand technologies throughintroductory and advancedlevel courses followed by

hands-on experience in theirareas of specialisation. Theprogrammes are aimed ataddressing the industry-acad-emia skill-gap in new-age tech-nologies including Internet ofThings, E-Mobility, ArtificialIntelligence and MachineLearning, Materials andManufacturing, among others.Students will be provided withadequate training, researchand internship opportunities togroom themselves to meet thechallenges of the real world.

The M.Tech programme atSRM-AP is designed toempower students to innova-tive products and servicesacross various domains inthese disciplines. The pro-gramme will provide an in-depth understanding of vari-ous processes, heralding thelearners to fully contribute tothe construction of a digitalsociety. No tuition, transportor accommodation fee will becharged to the student forpursuing M. Tech programme.

SRM varsity launches PG programmes in engineering

The CongressMP fromMalkajgirialleged that thestategovernmentdistributedfinancial aidonly to therelatives of TRS leaders

Congress neglected BCs, alleges TalasaniPNS n HYDERABAD

Animal Husbandry MinisterTalasani Srinivas Yadav onThursday ridiculed the deci-sion of the Congress party toallot 50 per cent of seats to BCsin the ensuing GHMC elec-tions, stating that it was theTRS that launched several pro-grammes for the welfare of BCsin the State under the leader-ship of Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao.

He said it has become a habitfor the Congress to release elec-tion time manifestos and for-get them comfortably immedi-ately after the elections. "Bydeclaring that that they would

move the High Court about BCreservations, Congress hasinvariably agreed that it can'twin the GHMC elections. Willthe party that witnessed sever-al intra party fights seekinglevel playing field for BCs inCongress provide social jus-tice?" he asked.

He alleged that Congresshad always encouraged a par-ticular community neglectingthe BCs who were in largenumbers when the State wasunder Congress rule in unitedAndhra Pradesh. He remindedeveryone that it was TRS thathad nominated BCs even ingeneral category seats in thelocal body elections. "TRS has

implemented several pro-grammes that were not evenmentioned in party manifestosuch as sheep for Golla Kurumacommunity with 75 per centsubsidy," he said. He said thatbeneficiaries from the BC com-

munity benefited from KalyanaLakshmi, Rythu Bandhu andRythu Bima schemes also' hesaid. He said that the StateAssembly has already adopteda resolution seeking 50 per centreservations to backward class-es in the State.

"In all 35 lakh GollaKurumas benefitted from thescheme launched by the ChiefMinister. It was his brain child.While few Cabinet memberssuggested a 20 per cent subsidyit was the Chief Minister whosuggested a higher amount ofconcession for the BCs. Thegovernment borrowed Rs 4,000crore from the National DairyDevelopment Board to fund

the project," he said. Agreeingthat there were teething trou-bles while implementing theproject, he said that very soonall those 28,000 people thathave submitted Demand Draftsfor sheep will be provided.

He attributed the delay in thedistribution of subsidy sheepwas because of tight financialsituation because of prolongedlockdown. "Garnering andspending Rs 10,000 crore is notan easy task. But the TRS gov-ernment is fully geared up tokeep its word," he said. He saidthat the number of sheep in theState which were 70 lakh fewyears ago have crossed the 2crore mark.

‘Mount pressure onCentre on NH projects’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State PlanningBoard Vice-Chairman BVinod Kumar on Thursdaydiscussed ways and means toget four-lane and six-laneNational Highway projects inTelangana with TRS floorleader in Lok Sabha at the lat-ter’s residence here. He sug-gested to Nama NageshwaraRao to mount pressure on theCentre to get clearance for theprojects soon. Vinod said thathe held discussions with theUnion Minister and officialson these road projects when hewas a member of the 16th LokSabha.

He laid emphasis on theCentre giving priority to theexpansion of the NationalHighways as stated in theStates Reorganization Act.These include NationalHighway projects betweenKarimnagar and Warangal(both four-lane and six-lane

roads). The NationalHighways between Jagityal-Karimnagar, Armoor-Jagityal-Ramagundam, Karimnagar-Gadchiroli, Khammam-Devaraplle, Mancherial-Warangal, Khammam-Vijayawada, Warangal-Khammam, Hyderabad-Manneguda, devasagar-Marikal-Jadcherla andKodada-Khammam should becleared immediately, he said.

He also referred to the Sagroli-B o d h a n - N i z a m a b a d ,Hyderabad-Moinabad-Chevella-M a n n e g u d a - Ko d a n g a l ,Nakreka l -Mahbubabad-Na r s a m p e t - M a l l e p a l l i ,H y d e r a b a d - A m a n g a l -Kalwakurthy,-Atchampet,Suryapet-Khammam-Mote-Wyra-Sattupalli-Aswaraopet,Sangareddy-Narsapur-Toopran-Gajwel-Jagdevpur-Bhongir-Choutuppal, Madnur-Bodhan,Mahbubabad-Jadcherla, Nirmal-Khanapur-Raikal and other pro-jects.

Kavitha felicitateswoman forexcelling inmining sectorPNS n HYDERABAD

MLC K Kavitha on Thursdayfelicitated Sandhya Rasakatla,who recently created historyby becoming the first womanin the Indian mining sector tobe awarded with theUnderground Second ClassManager’s CertificateCompetency.

Kavitha had earlier laudedSandhya’s accomplishment ina tweet, saying: “Ms Sandhyahas created history by becom-ing the first woman in theIndian mining sector to beawarded UndergroundSecond Class Manager’sCertificate Competency. Itfills our hearts with pride tosee the heights that women ofour State are achieving. Mayyou shine& rise.#Singareni”.

The Nizamabad MLC hon-oured Sandhya at her office byfelicitating her for her incred-ible achievement. Kavitha,under the leadership of KCR,has been in the forefront ofensuring the best for Singarenimine workers. The MLC hadalso stood by them recentlywhen she led a protest againstthe privatisation of 42 coalmines by the Centre.

BJP activistsuccumbs toburn injuriesPNS n HYDERABAD

BJP activist Srinivas, a nativeof Thammalonigudem ofYacharam mandal inRangareddy district, who sethimself on fire, succumbed toburn injuries here onThursday at YashodaHospital. It may be recalledthat, protesting against thearrest of Telangana BJP chiefBandi Sanjay, Srinivasattempted suicide onNovember 1 before the stateBJP office.

The BJP activists andpolice shifted Srinivas toOsmania General Hospitaland later shifted him toSecunderabad YashodaHospital for effective treat-ment. Bandi Sanjay Kumar,Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G KishanReddy, senior leaders DrLaxman, ChinthalaRamachandra Reddy, GPremender Reddy and sever-al others consoled the kin ofSrinivas.

PNS n HYDERABAD

TJS president Prof MKodandaram on Thursdaydemanded the state govern-ment to solve the problemsfaced by the private education-al institutions due to Covid-19pandemic.

Though the situation isimproving, there is no changein education sector. Severalprivate employees have losttheir jobs and are coming onto the roads, he said. “After los-ing jobs, some went to villagesand are working as labourers.The condition of private teach-ers has become pathetic due toCovid-19. Unable to take theburden, some are even com-mitting suicide,” he said anddemanded the state govern-ment to own the responsibil-

ity of the suicides of privateteachers.

Speaking to the media alongparty vice-president Prof PLVishweshwar Rao,Kodandaram alleged that thegovernment didn’t respondeven though the TJS demand-ed it to extend help to the pri-vate teachers, during lock-down. It is not fair on part ofthe government, he saiddemanding the government toextend Rs 7,500 help as astipend to the private teachersat least now. “It is atrocious onpart of the government as itfailed to release educationalcalendar even though the aca-demic year started severalmonths ago. Not announcingacademic calendar is nothingbut throwing the future of thestudents into dark,” he alleged.

Extend help to pvtteachers: TJS

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020

PNS n NEW DELHI

The 'Samosa Caucus' is return-ing, and could likely add a fewnew faces to it.

India-American politiciansPramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna,Dr Ami Bera and RajaKrishnamoorthi - all incum-bent Democratic members ofthe US House of Represe-ntatives, the lower house, werere-elected Wednesday.

However, the 'SamosaCaucus', an informal termreferring to the grouping ofIndian-American lawmakers,could expand beyond the fourDemocrats and Biden's run-ning mate Kamala Harris.

Four others have soughtelection to the House ofRepresentatives. These includeDemocrats Sri PrestonKulkarni and Hiral Tipirneni,and Republicans MangaAnantatmula and NishaSharma.

Two Indian-Americans arealso running for the Senate, theupper house - Democrat SaraGideon and Republican RikMehta.In total, 10 Indian-Americans have run for USCongress this year, of which

seven are Democrats and threeare Republicans. So far, fourIndian-Americans have wontheir respective races, fourhave lost and two are in racestoo close to call as of now.

Who is in the SamosaCaucus

WinnersPramila Jayapal: The first

Indian-American woman tobe elected to the US Congress,Jaypal was re-elected by a land-slide in the 7th congressionaldistrict of Washington. Shebeat her Republican challengerCraig Keller by 69.6 percentagepoints, which was 282,601votes.

Ro Khanna: A lawyer and anacademic, Democratic incum-

bent Ro Khanna won the 17thCongressional District ofCalifornia by defeating hisRepublican counterpart andfellow Indian-American, RiteshTandon. Khanna won by 48.2percentage points.

Dr Ami Bera: PhysicianAmerish Babulal 'Ami' Berawas re-elected in the 7thCongressional District of

California. He defeated 65-year-old Republican rival BuzzPatterson by 22 percentagepoints.

Raja Krishnamoorthi:Incumbent Subramanian RajaKrishnamoorthi won the 8thCongressional District ofIllinois and defeated PrestonNelson of the Libertarian Party,the third-largest political partyin the US, by 42.2 percentagepoints.

LosersSri Preston Kulkarni: Former

diplomat with alleged RSS ties,Sri Preston Kulkarni lost the22nd Congressional District ofTexas to Republican challengerSheriff Troy Nehls Wednesday.The latter won by roughly 7percentage points.

Manga Anantatmula:Andhra Pradesh-bornRepublican candidate MangaAnantatmula lost toDemocratic challenger GerryConnolly in the 11thCongressional District ofVirginia. She lost by 43.4 per-centage points.

Nisha Sharma: Republicancandidate Nisha Sharma losther maiden congressionalattempt to incumbent

Democrat Mark DeSaulnier inthe 11th Congressional Districtof California. She lost by 50.6percentage points.

Rik Mehta: Republican can-didate Rik Mehta lost theSenate race in New Jersey toDemocrat favourite CoryBrooker. This is not surprisingsince New Jersey hasn't elect-ed a Republican to the Senatesince 1972. Mehta lost by 22.7percentage points.

In the raceSara Gideon: The Senate

race in Maine betweenDemocrat Sara Gideon, who isalso the Speaker of the MaineHouse of Representatives, andSenator Susan Collins is narrowand ongoing. Collins had a 5.7percentage point lead as ofWednesday morning. So far, 66per cent of the estimated votetotal has been reported.

Hiral Tipirneni: Physicianand cancer research advocateHiral Tipirneni maintains a 0.6percentage point lead in the 6thCongressional District ofArizona over Republican rivalDavid Schweikert. So far, 80per cent of the estimated votetotal has been reported.

n WASHINGTON

The delay in the counting ofvotes in the US Election 2020has left Americans as well asthe rest of the world in a stateof attentive anticipation. Whileanxious Americans wait withbated breath to find out whotheir next President is, it seemsobservers in an unlikely part ofthe world are also losing sleepover US election results - India.

Even as Democratic chal-lenger Joe Biden andRepublican incumbent DonaldTrump continue to go neck-and-neck in several US states,it seems Indians have been tak-ing quite an avid interest inwho gets to be the next USPresident.

Be it the top trends on socialmedia or legacy news mediacoverage, the US Presidential

Elections have dominatedIndian news feeds.

Be it the Indian govern-ment's good relations with theDonald Trump administrationor the fact that Kamala Harris

could end up becoming thefirst-Indian origin to becomeVice President in the US,should Democratic challengerJoe Biden win the polls, the2020 elections have been high-

ly watched in India.So much so that many on

Twitter are now cracking jokeson the "extra" attention Indiansare showering on the electionsof a foreign nation.

While poll pundits (bothlegitimate and self-appointed)in India busied themselveswith calculating just who waswinning in the swing states,many chose to make memes topoke fun at Americans instead.Others made clever jokes relat-ing the current state of US elec-tions to Indian politics, wheresuch nail-biting scenes occuralmost every major election atthe central or state level.

One user cleverly noted thatin India, only those whowatched 'House of Cards' wereable to understand US elec-tions.

Meanwhile, back home,

Bihar chief minister and JDUpresident Nitish Kumar, whoheld multiple rallies across thestate in the run-up to the cru-cial Legislative Assembly elec-tions in Bihar, was at thereceiving end of an onionattack at one such rally inMadhubani district. The polls,which began on October 28,will be over on November 7when the new Bihar CM isexpected to be announced.

Bypolls are also underway inseveral states where a key bat-tle is being fought by BJP andother parties in states likeMadhya Pradesh. On Tuesday,voting began in 54 assemblyseats spread across 10 states inIndia.

But for now, it seems Indiansare more interested in findingout what is happening in theWhite House instead.

Twitter mocks Indians for obsession overUS elections while ignoring polls at home

n WASHINGTON

New confirmed cases of thecoronavirus in the U.S. haveclimbed to an all-time high ofmore than 86,000 per day onaverage, in a glimpse of theworsening crisis that lies aheadfor the winner of the presiden-tial election. Cases and hospi-talizations are setting recordsall around the country just asthe holidays and winterapproach, demonstrating thechallenge that either PresidentDonald Trump or former VicePresident Joe Biden will face inthe coming months.

Daily new confirmed coro-navirus cases in the U.S. havesurged 45% over the past twoweeks, to a record 7-day aver-age of 86,352, according to datacompiled by Johns HopkinsUniversity. Deaths are also onthe rise, up 15 percent to anaverage of 846 deaths everyday. The total U.S. death toll isalready more than 232,000, andtotal confirmed U.S. cases havesurpassed 9 million. Those arethe highest totals in the world,and new infections are increas-ing in nearly every state.

Several states on Wednesdayreported grim numbers thatare fueling the national trends.

Texas reported 9,048 new casesand 126 deaths, and the num-ber of coronavirus patients inMissouri, Nebraska andOklahoma hospitals setrecords. About a third of thenew cases in Texas happenedin hard-hit El Paso, where a tophealth officials said hospitalsare at a "breaking point." Publichealth experts fear potentiallydire consequences, at least inthe short term.

Trump's current term does-n't end until Jan. 20. In the 86days until then, 100,000 moreAmericans will likely die fromthe virus if the nation doesn't

shift course, said Dr. RobertMurphy, executive director ofthe Institute for Global Healthat Northwestern University's.

"Where we are is in anextremely dire place as a coun-try. Every metric that we haveis trending in the wrong direc-tion. This is a virus that willcontinue to escalate at an accel-erated speed and that is notgoing to stop on its own," saidDr. Leana Wen, a public healthexpert at George WashingtonUniversity. Dr. Susan Bailey,president of the AmericanMedical Association, said thereare things Americans can do

now to help change the trajec-tory.

"Regardless of the outcomeof the election, everyone inAmerica needs to buckledown,? Bailey said. "A lot of ushave gotten kind of relaxedabout physically distancing,not washing our hands quite asoften as we used to, maybe notwearing our masks quite asfaithfully. We all need to real-ize that things are escalatingand we've got to be more care-ful than ever," she said.

Polls showed the publichealth crisis and the economywere top concerns. They arecompeting issues that Trumpand Biden view through dras-tically different lenses. Trumphas ignored the advice of histop health advisors, who haveissued increasingly urgentwarnings in recent days aboutthe need for preventive mea-sures, instead holding rallieswhere face coverings were rareand falsely suggesting that thepandemic is waning. By con-trast, Biden has rarely beenseen in public without a maskand made public health a keyissue. Whether his voice willcarry much influence if Trumpis declared the winner is uncer-tain.

US sets record Covid cases amid polls

US polls sees return of ‘Samosa Caucus'

n WASHINGTON

The Democratic Presidentialcandidate Joe Biden has sur-passed the number of voteswon by any president inAmerican history. Biden hasbroken the record of formerPresident Barack Obama after71.2 million votes swung in hisfavour.

Obama set the record in2008 when he received 69.4million votes.

He currently has 50.3 percent of all votes counted so faragainst President Trump's 48.1per cent, with more than 87percent of votes counted.Those figures are expected tochange as the vote count pro-gresses.

The 2020 US election is ahistoric election in more waysthan one. Usually, US electionresults are clear by the end ofthe day. However, this yearthat wasn't the case as manypostal ballots were yet to becounted. More than 102 mil-

lion people voted prior to theelection day.

Biden's popular vote countwill continue to grow over thecoming days as states likePennsylvania, Nevada andGeorgia continue to countmail-in votes.

The former vice president'srecord-setting numbers arelikely a result of this year'sespecially high voter turnout.

Exit polls showed that theeconomy and the coronaviruswere among the top concernsfor voters. Supporters ofTrump tended to rank theeconomy as the more pressingissue, while Biden's supportersranked the coronavirus asmost important.

Whether or not Biden'spopularity translates to elec-toral votes remains to be seen.In 2016, Democratic candi-date, Hilary Clinton defeatedTrump in the popular electionby 3 million votes, but ulti-mately lost the electoral collegeand the election.

Biden breaks Obama's popular vote record

n HOUSTON

Young electors in the US havebeen making their voicesheard and although the votesare being counted, their choicecould shape the outcome ofthe closely-fought 2020 pres-idential election and decidethe presidency of the world'soldest democracy.

According to the Center forInformation and Research onCivic Learning andEngagement (CIRCLE) atTufts University, voters agedbetween 18 to 29 are voting inrecord numbers, includingmore than eight million youngpeople who voted early orabsentee in the 2020 elections.

I think with the recent hap-penings, racial injustice andthe pandemic, it's kind of dri-ving people to be more pas-sionate about the things thatare happening in our world aswell as just passionate aboutelecting leaders that have thesame ideas and values thatthey do, Texas SouthernUniversity junior MariahCampbell said.

Young voters have beenmaking their voices heardand mobilising, an extensionof rising youth activism inresponse to concerns overissues such as racial inequal-ity, climate change and gunviolence, CIRCLE said.

According to an analysisfrom the CIRCLE, the preem-inent, non-partisan researchcenter on youth engagementat Tufts University's JonathanM Tisch College of Civic Life,youth votes have been crucialin the 2020 elections.

In Pennsylvania, youthmade up 14 per cent of thevote and supportedDemocratic presidential nom-inee Joe Biden by +23; inMichigan, they made up 15per cent of the vote and sup-ported

Biden by +29; in NorthCarolina, they made up 16 percent of the vote and support-ed Biden by +16; in Georgia,they made up 21 per cent andsupported Biden by +15 andin Arizona, they made up 17per cent of the vote and sup-ported Biden by +28, it said.An early estimate of aggregateyouth voter turnout in 11crucial battleground statessuggests that 47 to 49 per centof all eligible young peoplecast ballots.

This estimate is based on aninitial analysis of 2020National Election Pool exitpoll and Census populationdata.

If votes continue coming inat the same rate in each state,youth voter turnout across

these states could rise to 51 to53 per cent. For comparison,using the same sources andmethodology, we estimate thatyouth turnout nationally was42 to 44 per cent in 2016 atthis same moment, it said.

Young voters preferred for-mer vice president Biden overPresident Donald Trump in 32of the 39 states for which datahas been reported so far, inmost cases by strong, double-digit margins. Nationally,based on CIRCLE analysis ofAP VoteCast data from theAssociated Press, 62 per centof youth (aged between 18 to29) voted for Biden, and 33per cent voted for Trump.

While not exactly compa-rable, because of separatesources and methodologyin each year, this is higherthan the level of youth sup-port Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton received in2016, and higher than thelevel of youth supportPresident Barack Obamareceived in 2012.

Young Americans had their say

n WASHINGTON

The mood in the White Houseovernight was tense. ThePresident's staffers and cam-paign officials stayed therethrough much of the night -their boss's job was on the line,and all they could do was waitand drink alcohol. Lots of it.

On Tuesday morning,women in the West Wing hadshowed up for work in festiveattire: Republican-red sweaters,skirts and stilettos, looking asif they had texted each other toagree the dress code.Throughout the day and intothe night, they watched elec-tion returns and wondered

what would happen. Then thepresident pulled ahead of hisDemocratic rival Joe Biden inFlorida. The mood bright-ened. A table in the office ofPress Secretary KayleighMcEnany was littered withwine bottles and bags of crisps.

Still the mood was edgy. Onestaffer cradled a beer bottle inhis arm, the partly peeled off.These occupants of the WestWing - the heart of any WHadministration - were nervo-us, though they tried to projectstrength and confidence.

n WASHINGTON

As US on 3 November votedto select the next AmericanPresident, Donald Trump Jr-- the eldest son of DonaldTrump -- predicted the pollresults of the 2020 presiden-tial elections by sharing a "redwave" map of the world.

In a major goof-up, the dis-torted map tweeted by TrumpJr showed India in blue shadewhile Jammu and Kashmirwas in red colour, indicatinga divide. The map, predictingpoll results, also showedregions of northeastern Indiain red. Predicting a "redwave" Trump Jr posted aworld map with the majori-ty of countries filled in withred, the Republican Party'scolour to indicate that hisfather will emerge victoriousin the election, which isunderway in the US. Themap showed a predominant-ly "red world" with the excep-tion of India which he hasshown in blue, meaning itwill vote for Joe Biden.

n WASHINGTON

The US Elections 2020 haveturned out to be replete withtwists and turns. The close yetdefinitive fight betweenPresident Donald Trump andDemocrat challenger JoeBiden has not been without itsfair share of criticism. As USmedia has reported, the elec-tions board has, in fact, evenreceived ballots from deadvoters.

Ballots mailed by oneFrances Reckhow, a registeredDemocrat reached the Boardof Elections. Reckhow request-ed an absentee ballot fromBOE on September 24 andsupposedly mailed it back onOctober 6. Subsequently BOEdeclared it valid on October 8.However, Reckhow, born in1915 who would have been105 years now, died in 2012, asmentioned in a report.

Reckhow's daughter CarolHuben, a registered Republican, resides in the same addressas her late mother.

A similar case was reportedfrom Brooklyn where oneGertrude Nizzere requested anabsentee ballot in September.Born in 1919, Nizzere wouldhave been 101 now.

Nizzere mailed back theballot that was received byBOE on October 13 anddeclared valid on October 25.However, upon further reviewNizzere's ballot was declaredinvalid after BOE found outthat the voter was deceased.

The Republican Party isscrutinising absentee ballotsand has flagged the two cases.They are referring the matterto the police.

The Staten Island GOP hasrequested the attorney's officeand New York Post to lookinto the matter.

Beer and angst as WhiteHouse party defies protocol

Did dead people vote in elections?

n WASHINGTON

While Democratic presiden-tial candidate Joe Biden isnow 6 electoral votes awayfrom winning the US presi-dency, an astrologer's forecastpredicting a victory forDonald Trump is being wide-ly circulated on social media.

Anand Mahindra, theChairman of MahindraGroup, has shared theastrologer's prediction onTwitter on Wednesday, crop-ping out his name "for thesake of privacy". The astrol-oger, in his forecast, predict-ed that Trump would "retainthe office of the President ofAmerica second time."

Taking to Twitter, the busi-nessman wrote, "Thisastrologer's forecast wasdoing the messaging circuitlast week. (Have concealedthe name & address for thesake of privacy) If PresidentTrump retains office, thisastrologer will be rather pop-ular, to put it mildly."

What the astrologer pre-dicted

Shree Donald Trump hav-ing ascendant lion and place-ment of sun in 10th housealong the dragon's head thatis rahu gives him upper handto repeat second term asPresident of America becausehe has exalted Jupitor tocombine wih Sun.

Mahindra's poston astrologer who predicted Trump will win

05

Donald Trump Jrtweets worldmap to predict dad's victory

AMERICA DECIDES

Tauseef Ahmed and hisaccomplice Rehan werearrested by the Haryanapolice from the Mewatregion (Nuh district) for

the murder of teenager NikitaTomar in broad daylight inBallabhgarh (Faridabad district).Tauseef was, allegedly, compellingNikita to marry him and convert toIslam. In a separate development, agroup of lawyers and a social work-er have filed a plea in the SupremeCourt seeking formation of a spe-cial investigating team (SIT) toprobe alleged forceful conversionsof Hindus in Nuh. The petition, filedthrough Advocate Vishnu ShankarJain, argues that the district admin-istration and the Haryana policehave failed to exercise their due pow-ers.

Nuh is different from the rest ofHaryana because of its religiousdemography. While Muslims con-stitute 7.06 per cent of the State’spopulation (as per Census, 2011),they constitute 75 per cent of the dis-trict. As per the 1971 census, theMuslims constituted 62 per cent ofthe population in the five tehsils thatnow form Nuh. This reversal of themajority-minority relationship hashad its consequences, particularly inthe polarised context prevailing inthe rest of the country. That’s whyChief Minister Manohar Lal Khattardeclared that his Government wouldbring a law against forced conver-sions and set up a board to protectHindu properties.

The Mewat district was renamedas Nuh in 2016. Earlier in 2001,Mewat (1,507 sq km) was carved outfrom Gurgaon district. Nuh hasbeen in the news for the wrong rea-sons. Mewati gangs are notorious forcattle smuggling, automobile theftsand highway robberies. Jails inGurugram and Faridabad districtshave a disproportionate number ofMewati inmates. Terror suspectshave been arrested from Nuh. Therehave been reports of communal dis-turbances.

Yet things need not have playedout like this. The Meo Muslims werea different lot; they were more or lessHindu in custom and culture untilthe beginning of the 20th century.Their syncretism could have been anexample for the rest of the Muslimsof the subcontinent. Major PercyWilliam Powlett wrote about theMeos of Alwar (then a princelyState) in Alwar Gazetteer (1878). Hesaid: “The Meos are half-Hindu bytheir habits. Mosques are rarely to

be seen in their villages. There areonly eight mosques in the 50 vil-lages of the tehsil of Tijarah.Leaving aside the temples, theplaces of worship of the Meos arevery much similar to those ofHindu neighbours. They areknown, for instance, as PaanchPeera, Baisa and Chahand.”

Mewat, as a historical region,extends into Alwar andBharatpur districts of Rajasthanand Mathura district of UttarPradesh beyond its heartland,that is Nuh. One has to cross theregion while going to eitherAgra or Jaipur from Delhi. It liesat the heart of the “golden trian-gle” tourist circuit comprisingDelhi, Agra and Jaipur.

It is barely known to the out-siders how this region, merely 70-80 km away from Delhi, acted asthe laboratory of Islamic alien-ation over the last century.Maulana Mohammad Ilyas(1885-1944), who started theitinerant Tabligh movement(Tablighi Jama’at), chose Mewatas its nursery in the 1920s. Themovement has been run from itsheadquarters in the BanglewaliMasjid in the Nizamuddin areaof Delhi. Since Maulana Ilyas wasa product of Dar-ul-Uloom atDeoband (in fact, a pet studentof its co-founder Ahmed RashidGangohi), the imprint of itsorthodoxy is evident in theTabligh movement.

Tabligh is an outreach move-ment by Muslim missionaries totake authentic Islam to thedoorsteps of the believers. Itencourages nominal Muslims(Momin) to become trueMuslims (Ihsaan/Muhsin). Theprocess involves disavowal of all

“Kafiresque” (that is not sanc-tioned by Islam) practices, whichmight be the legacy of the pre-Islamic past. The recital of sixKalimas (six verses of Quran) andperforming namaaz form thefoundation of Tablighi practices.The six Kalimas are avowals thatthere is “no God but Allah and

Muhammad is the messenger ofAllah.” The sixth Kalima is espe-cially a rejection of disbelief andpolytheism. The Kalimas consti-tute disavowal of associatingAllah with any other divineauthority. Naturally, syncretism isnot merely out of place, but sin-ful, to be practised alongsideIslam.

Way back in 1970, HashimAmir Ali, Director, RuralInstitute, Jamia Millia Islamia,had, by examining the featuresof the movement, stated that the“institution of Tabligh has begunto blow a wind of change for theworse in the hitherto tranquiland uniquely syncretic culture ofthe Meos” (The Meos of Mewat:Old Neighbours of New Delhi,P.41). Ali feared that orthodoxy,championed by Tabligh, wouldbe ruinous for the economic lifeof the Meos. The religiousinjunction against interest mightdiscourage them from acceptingloans from banks, opening bankaccounts or even joining coop-erative societies. It might beremembered that Dar-ul-Uloomat Deoband has pronouncedseveral fatwas against any kindof borrowing/lending whichinvolves payment of interest. Itis high time that fresh sociolog-ical studies are undertaken toascertain how far the Islamic pro-hibitions on certain issues (likeinterest on lending/borrowingand family planning methods)have kept the Muslim commu-nity backward and impover-ished.

The result of the Tablighmovement manifested duringthe tumultuous times of 1946-47when a popular demand for a

separate “Meostan” was raised.Interestingly, it was pitched bythe Communist leader KunwarMohammed Ashraf. Its bound-aries were envisaged as extend-ing from Mehrauli in Delhi toBandikui in Dausa district ofRajasthan. The Meos of Alwarand Bharatpur had formed theRajputana Muslim League. Oneof its sections was determined toachieve Meostan, envisaged asadjacent to Pakistan, by thepower of guns. This naturallyculminated in a riotous situationwhere Meos suffered heavy loss-es due to the Hindu backlash.Narayan Bhaskar Khare, theCongressman who was then theDewan of the Alwar State, haddescribed the situation in detailin his memoirs (My PoliticalMemoirs or Autobiography,1959).

However, Lord Mountbatten’sPartition declaration, dated June3, 1947, which stipulated thedivision of both Punjab andBengal, knocked out the plan fora Meostan. Beleaguered, a largenumber of Meos fled to Pakistanbut only to be invited back toIndia by the Jawaharlal NehruGovernment. Stopping themfrom migrating to Pakistan alsobecame an article of faith forMahatma Gandhi. Khare, there-fore, was not certain that perma-nent peace had returned toMewat. He was apprehensivethat communalism could stillrear its ugly head. Time has vin-dicated Khare as the discontentcontinues to simmer.

(The writer is an author andindependent researcher based inNew Delhi. The views expressedhere are personal)E

verywhere else in the world, where people direct-ly elect a national leader, whether it is France, Mexicoor Nigeria, the candidate with the plurality of the

vote wins. Which is perfectly reasonable. Sure, there canoften be legal challenges to the way an election has beenconducted, particularly in nations new to the conceptof democracy and in those where religious and ethnicfissures exist. In such cases, political violence can eruptand elections might be far from “free and fair”, whetherthey are presidential or legislative. But this is hardly expect-ed of a nation that for decades has been the beacon ofdemocracy. If anything, the US, over the past two days,

has been a horrible advertisement for the concept of democracy. Let alone the convolut-ed “electoral college” system that chooses the President, let alone the fact that twice inthe last two decades the candidate who won the presidency lost the popular vote, the factthat the President himself is threatening a legal challenge to the polls even before the lastvotes are counted is frankly ridiculous. The US does have an established postal ballot sys-tem which many States have strengthened, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Few othernations conduct such extensive absentee voting but for the US, where close to a quartermillion individuals have succumbed to the pandemic, this was a logical step to curb thespread of the disease. Sure, the system can be manipulated but because most AmericanStates have their own set of rules for polling, many precautions were taken. However, itappears inevitable that Donald Trump and his team will challenge the legality of the polls,particularly mail-in ballots, and the time it is taking to count them. The matter is almostcertain to head up to the US Supreme Court where he has managed to tilt the balancetotally in favour of the conservative side. The US Supreme Court did take a major call inthe controversial 2000 election when it stopped the vote count in Florida, which turnedthe election in favour of George W Bush. The consequence that decision had for modernhistory is known to all of us. It would be vital for the US Supreme Court to remember thatany decision it might make on the elections will have a global reaction since the US hasan outsize influence on policy. And should the courts intervene in the democratic processat all if there is no clear evidence of wrongdoing? A valid vote should be counted whetherit was mailed in or cast at the polling centre.

As the counting continues in the tense presidential race, visuals of mayhem on thestreets erode faith in an institution that should have remained sacred. Supporters of bothTrump and Democrat candidate Joe Biden are confronting each other. In response to Trump’saggressive effort to challenge the vote count and even accusing Biden of trying “to stealthe election,” protesters in Minneapolis blocked a freeway while in Portland, hundreds gath-ered on the waterfront with another group in downtown urging for racial justice. However,things took a violent turn when protesters started smashing shop windows and confrontingpolice officers and National Guard troops. Pro-Trump protesters gathered outside the coun-ty recorder’s office in Phoenix and outside a ballot-counting centre in Detroit, demandingthat officials “stop the count.” The biggest democratic exercise conducted during the pan-demic has turned into a farce.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is fighting the bina-ry of being wanted and unwanted at the same time.And is desperate to squeeze some self-worth in

between, be it for legacy or future rehabilitation. He iswanted by his dominant alliance partner, the BJP, as thechief ministerial face, given his regional appeal, theabsence of a towering leader in its own State unit andhis utility as a deflector of criticism that the Central partygobbles up allies. At the same time, he is unwanted bythe people for a dismal performance in his last term, aburden that the BJP is not quite happy with, what withthe ignominy of onions being hurled at him. On his part,

the Janata Dal (United) leader is torn, too, between his ideological moorings as a secu-lar-socialist and political expediency. A conflict he had forcibly resolved to stay relevantbut is now too tired to continue. Which is why he publicly announced that this would behis last election as campaigning for the State Assembly election ended yesterday. Perhaps,that also explains his exasperation with the BJP without which he would not have got thethrone after he deserted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav. Even now, it is theBJP carpet-bombing the State all the way and deploying Prime Minister Narendra Modi,generating a swell that could get him there. But at heart, Nitish knows that he wouldn’treally be deserving of the verdict if he got it, facing as he does unprecedented negativityfor failing to push the State’s development, mishandling the pandemic and bungling therehabilitation of jobless migrant workers and students. Besides, he doesn’t want to be seenas further ignoring local issues or being swept away by the tide of the BJP, which has pre-dictably talked only about national issues than pledging deliverables at the State level. Orbe seen as betraying his grain. So in the last leg, he reached out to Muslim voters in theSeemanchal region, dispelling fears over UP Chief Minister and BJP campaigner YogiAdityanath’s speech on “throwing out infiltrators” and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.Though he did not name Adityanath, he dismissed the speech as “faltu”, saying every-one was an Indian and safe in his State. He even tweeted, “It is our duty and in our cul-ture to take everyone along. Bihar will progress only then.” Clearly, he is against the BJP’sHindutva-driven agenda and its positioning of everything else as anti-national. A seasonedpolitician, he knows that the Opposition, now spearheaded by the feisty RJD leader andLalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, has a pulse of the locals. Therefore, he wants to make the rightnoises than appear as a genuflecting stooge. Besides, Nitish has an axe to grind withAdityanath, who is the new-found favourite of Bihar’s electorate, comprising a large chunkof returnee migrants and students, for rehabilitating them in camps in UP. Nitish has neverbeen comfortable with either the new citizenship law or the National Register of Citizens(NRC). In fact, the JD(U) suffered a blow with then vice-president Prashant Kishor pub-licly asking him to rethink the support for the legislation. And though Nitish assured thatNRC would not be implemented in the State, he did not contest the CAA for enabling areligion-based criterion that privileged naturalisation of persecuted refugees. But now, atthe fag end of his political career, he is not willing to compromise his integrity anymore.

The man, who once built his relevance by pitting the majoritarian BJP against the sec-ular-socialist Lalu, oscillating between both depending on trade winds, is now trapped byhis own machinations. He cannot go back to Lalu or the secular camp, having shut thedoor forever when he chose the BJP. And although he crafted a new caste equation, unit-ing the most downtrodden, the extreme backward castes and Dalits, that number-crunch-ing did nothing to solve what became a statewide epidemic of joblessness and hopeless-ness. The BJP, though ambitious about being the single largest party in the State and hav-ing its own CM some day, will be charioteering Nitish for now. And despite promising bigeconomic packages and special status in 2015, it didn’t quite push them, unwilling to ben-efit Nitish by association, preferring to keep him at its mercy. With his political stock at anall-time low, he could be attacking the BJP to show that he still counts. And by dramati-cally signing off on the campaign as his last, he might be hoping for some emotional responsethat gives some respectability to JD(U) than it being reduced to the status of a B-team ofthe BJP. But if he goes back on these statements again, he would be lost forever.

Nitish’s outburst

Tejashwi’s time Sir — A month ago, the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) wascruising merrily to win a fourthterm in the Bihar Assemblywhile the Mahagathbandhan(Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congressand the Left parties) was strug-gling to stitch together an agen-da, which could bring people ofall castes and ages together. Aconfident BJP allowed theincumbent Chief Minister NitishKumar, chief of the Janata Dal(United), to lead the coalition.Even so, Lok Janshakti Party, anold member of the NDA, sulkedabout it and turned into a vocalcritic of the Chief Minister.

However, things changedwhen massive crowds throngedthe rallies of Tejashwi Yadav,throwing up more than onepossibility. Even theMahagathbandhan emerged as acohesive unit with an agenda thatcaught the imagination of thepoor, oppressed and the econom-ically backward. The NDA car-ried on with its usual rhetoricwoven around Article 370, RamMandir, Muslims via Pakistanand nationalism blissfully. Itunderplayed crucial issues likethe woes of migrant workers, thepoor state of the health sector,

decayed educational institutionsand unemployment. However,the underdog, Tejashwi, relent-lessly highlighted these issuesduring his campaigns. Though itis hard to predict who will even-tually win, the election has beensuccessful in catching the BJP offguard and portraying Tejashwi asa valid option.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

Long road to recoverySir — The BJP Government hascited the GST inflows, whichcrossed the `1 lakh crore markfor the first time in this financialyear, as a clear sign of recoveryin the economy after its 23.9 percent contraction in the firstquarter. However, economistsand businesses are scepticalabout the sustainability of this

trend. Only if this level of revenueis maintained through the rest of2020-21, will we see a reductionin the shortfall in the GST com-pensation for the States. Also, theeconomy can be firmly back onits feet only if exports and privateinvestment return to pre-COVIDlevels. At present, need-basedand time-bound stimulus can goa long way in achieving such aturnaround. However, we need

to await data for November andDecember before we can confi-dently say the economy hasrecovered.

Yash Pal RalhanJalandhar

Race to White HouseSir — With no clear winneremerging from the counting sofar, the result of the US presiden-tial elections hangs in the bal-ance. Donald Trump’s descrip-tion of the election as “a majorfraud on America” without basis,his accusation against Joe Bidenof trying “to steal the election”and his decision to ask theSupreme Court “to stop all votecounting” have just added to theconfusion. In the US elections,nothing is predictable as it’s theswing States that hold the key tothe White House. The race is soclose that it can go either way.With both sides ready to deploylegal teams, a cloudy outcomecould possibly lead to a court bat-tle. In such a scenario, it mighttake days or even weeks for theresults to come out.

Krishnan Ramani Ghaziabad

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020

06

Nuh still a cauldronFresh sociological studies should be conducted to ascertain how far the Islamic

prohibitions on certain issues have kept the Meo Muslims backward

He (Nitish Kumar) is the mostgreedy person and will do anything to remain in power. Heused to stand with folded handsin front of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at political rallies.

Lok Janshakti Party chief —Chirag Paswan

Ban crackers, now

Since the onset of winter, Delhi has been wrappedin a blanket of toxic air. On November 4, the AirQuality Index (AQI) entered the “severe” zone. The

PM10 levels in Delhi-National Capital Region stood at561 microgram per cubic meter (g/m3) at 8 am, thehighest since November 15 last year, when it was 637g/m3, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.Experts say that the rise in pollution is due to low windspeeds and solar radiation. On November 3, the nox-ious haze reduced visibility to merely 600 metres at theSafdarjung Observatory and it increased to 1,200 metresthe next morning. As if the things aren’t already bad,some people in Delhi-NCR decided to celebrate KarwaChauth by bursting firecrackers.

A day after the National Green Tribunal asked theMinistry of Environment and Forests to ban the use offirecrackers from November 7 to 30 in the interest ofpublic health and environment, a number of Statesissued restrictive orders. Starting from Rajasthan andOdisha to Bengal and Haryana, all these States have

banned the use of firecrackers. However, it is up to peo-ple to take the situation seriously. By continuing to burnfire crackers, they are not just flouting rules but alsoaiding in the degradation of the overall air quality. Andnot to forget that toxic pollutants can make people moresusceptible to COVID.

Bal GovindNoida

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Legal conundrum

The JD(U) leader takes on Yogi Adityanath over infiltration, says heis fighting his last election. Will this rescue his political worth?

In the biggest democratic exercise conducted during the pandemic, the US isn’t doing a great job upholding it

PRIYADARSHI DUTTA

As I’ve said repeatedly inthe last few months, weneed another (COVID)rescue package. And weneed to do it before theend of the year.

US Senator —Mitch McConnell

We will celebrate Diwalitogether this year as well,without burning crackers. Ifwe burn crackers, we will beplaying with the health of ourchildren and our family.

Delhi Chief Minister—Arvind Kejriwal

Kai Havertz has tested positive for COVID-19. He is in isolation. Everybodyhas been tested, the wholesquad since, and the resultshave come negative.

Chelsea manager —Frank Lampard

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

THE MEO MUSLIMS WERE

A DIFFERENT LOT; THEIR

SYNCRETISMCOULD HAVE BEEN

AN EXAMPLE TOTHE REST OF THEMUSLIMS OF THE

SUBCONTINENT.THE ORTHODOXY,CHAMPIONED BY

THE TABLIGHMOVEMENT,

CHANGED ALL THAT

S O U N D B I T E

The Coronavirus outbreak hasbirthed another pandemic, thatof mental illness. With the world

having spent nearly a year battling theoutbreak and Indians having spent oversix months under various lockdownsnecessitated by the contagion, mentalwell-being has been hit like neverbefore. The major issues that have beenreported to have been associated withthe COVID-19 pandemic are stress,anxiety, depressive symptoms, insom-

nia, denial, anger and fear. These feel-ings are fuelled by the fact that peopleare continually living in fear of contract-ing the disease. People with pre-exist-ing health conditions and the elderlyare under stress of succumbing to theCoronavirus. Worryingly, the urge tocommit suicide is looming among thefrontline workers and the medical fra-ternity because of their exhausting andhectic schedules and the ominous sit-uation surrounding them.

Cases of Coronavirus-related sui-cides have been reported fromMaharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assamand Kerala. In fact, suicide was the lead-ing cause of over 300 non-Coronavirusdeaths reported in India during thenationwide lockdown. And then, thereis the added pressure of salary cuts, fur-loughs and job losses. Those who arefortunate enough to have a job still arehaving to cope with extended workinghours and household chores. All these

factors have left people irritable andbrooding. It is evident that even afterthe pandemic ends, the mental healthconditions brought on by the contagionand their socio-economic impact onpeople will linger for quite some time.

According to a survey, about 41 percent of the population in India has beenaffected by loneliness. Between 33 to74 per cent of the people have report-ed psychological distress and over 40per cent are suffering from depressionand anxiety. As India faces a mentalhealth pandemic, it is high time that theState invests in establishing a holisticmental healthcare infrastructure thatis not hidden under the carpet of phys-ical healthcare.

However, the one good thing thathas come out of all this is that the con-tagion has put the spotlight back onmental health issues. Before the pan-demic struck, mental well-being waslargely ignored and people did not talk

about it, forget about seeking help. Now,India is more comfortable talkingabout it. Once the problem is detect-ed, it becomes easy to devise a cure.Vocalising the problem has also givena better insight into things that both-er people.

As of now, India accounts for 2.2lakh suicides each year, as per a World

Health Organisation (WHO) report,and work needs to be done from thegrassroot level. Beginning with educa-tion, the desired outcome of success-ful treatment can be realised. Given thepaltry number of psychiatrists in thecountry, the Government needs toincrease the number of seats for stu-dents of the discipline in the already

existing channels. Following the initiation at the edu-

cational level, reform and sensitivityneed to be brought in at the profession-al level, too. Given the dismal state ofaffairs right now, where psychiatristsprescribe medicines at the start of treat-ment without thoroughly assessing thepatient’s condition, counselling requiresan intensive revival. Likewise, a struc-tured guideline describing the conductof the treatment must be in place. It isimportant to increase the access oftroubled people to counselling andmental health centres and doctors. Thismay seem difficult given India’s poormental health infrastructure and mas-sive population, but the surge in thenumber of people suffering right nowdemands massive efforts nevertheless.

During the pandemic and in thepost-Corona world, there is a cryingneed for mental health insurance, too,so that it is instrumental in relieving the

burden of treatment expenditure. TheInsurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority of India(IRDAI) in 2018 asked mental illness-es to be included in regular healthinsurance coverage. In line with itsdirections, some insurers have alreadystarted customising mental healthproducts but they are few and farbetween.

Technology can be harnessed tokeep mental health issues at bay.Virtual contact can be a means to con-nect with isolated people. The arrivalof virtual consultancy and chatbots hasencouraged the masses to seek help.This has helped those who fear beingdiscovered and judged by others. Thechances of mental health issues turn-ing into a sweeping problem in a post-Corona world are vast only if they areleft unattended.

(The writer is founder and CEO ofa mental wellness platform)

When will we ever learn?

PEOPLE HAD TO RUN FROM PILLAR TO POST TO GET

A SCHEDULED CASTE CERTIFICATE. NOW WE WILL

ENSURE THAT THE PAPER IS AVAILABLE IN 14 DAYS.

—WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER

MAMATA BANERJEE

THESE POLL SOPS WON’T WORK. THE TMC KNOWS

ITS POLL PROSPECT ALL TOO WELL AND THE MOVE

EXPLAINS ITS DESPERATION.

—GENERAL SECRETARY, BENGAL BJP

SAYANTAN BASU

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

On October 15, External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar stated that the India-Chinatalks on disengagement were “confiden-

tial and a work in progress.” Subsequently, for-mer military veteran and journalist Ajai Shuklawrote on October 23 that the Government wasin talks with the Chinese for a “Doklam-typeagreement” which would result in “mutualtroop withdrawals in the Pangong Tso sub-sec-tor of Eastern Ladakh.” If he is correct, and thereis no reason to disbelieve Shukla, given the accu-racy of his earlier reports on the imbroglio, thenour political establishment (as it has on numer-ous occasions earlier) is once again showing utterignorance of how the military operates and is inthe process of succumbing to Chinese pressure,grasping at straws in the hope of achieving whatcan, at best, be termed as illusory peace.

The truth is that even a cursory peep into ourhistory suggests that our politicians lack theresolve to see things through, especially when thegoing gets tough. Oddly enough, they have alsorepeatedly shown themselves to be remarkablyincompetent when it comes to negotiations withadversaries. Pandit Nehru, for example, turnedout to be extremely short-sighted in his handlingof the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) issue, seek-ing to negotiate a settlement just as preparationsto recapture lost territory were moving forward.We are still paying with blood in J&K for his fol-lies then.

To add to that, Nehru’s disastrous handlingof the Indo-China relationship continues to hauntus to this day as well. What was pathetic at thetime was his abject surrender and acceptance ofdefeat without even a semblance of resistance,reflected in his farewell address on radio to ourAssamese brethren after our forces had retreat-ed from Arunachal Pradesh. This was not just areflection of his incompetence or inability tounderstand the manner in which the militaryoperates, but more importantly, showed him tobe irresolute and lacking in moral fibre as well,a flaw that taints most of our political establish-ment even today.

While one cannot blame Prime MinisterShastri for either lack of spine or absence of prin-ciples, he, too, showed complete ignorance of howthe military operates and, therefore, a remark-able lack of judgement in his talks with FieldMarshal Ayub Khan of Pakistan at Tashkent afterthe Indo-Pak War of 1965. The decision to vacateHaji Pir Pass, a key feature in the Pir Panjalmountain range, was to put it mildly, not justshort-sighted but utterly naïve. The fact of thematter is that its capture, after a brilliantly-planned and executed operation, not onlyallowed us the option to reach Poonch directlyfrom Uri but also dominate the importanttownships of Rawalkot, Bagh and Kotla inPakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). They couldhave been ours to occupy at any time of ourchoosing. These locations are now used byPakistan as launchpads to push militants intoKashmir.

While the Bangladesh Liberation War wasundoubtedly an unequivocal victory, its post-warimpact weighed heavily on our military. Not onlydid Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reduce pen-sions and the status of the military, she agreedto the return of 90,000 prisoners of war (PoWs)without either forcing Pakistan to enter into anagreement on the status of J&K or getting backour own servicemen captured by them. The factthat 54 of our servicemen continue to languishin Pakistani captivity is shameful. But what isworse is the Government’s utter disinterest in get-ting our PoWs back. As some may be aware,there is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court,lodged by their next of kin, requesting it to direct

the Government to take all necessarymeasures to arrange for their return,sadly with little success till now. Thisis not just a reflection of the callousnessor lack of empathy within our politicalestablishment that only gives impor-tance to anything that impacts its elec-toral prospects, but also indicts all ofus citizens, who prefer to live in igno-rance.

Leaving all this aside, to understandwhat exactly the signing of a “Doklam-type agreement” signifies, we wouldneed to focus on how that confronta-tion, in July 2017, which lasted for 75days, played out. To understand thecontext, it is necessary to remind one-self that at that time, our general elec-tions were due in just over a year andthe NDA Government was already fac-ing difficulties because of a falteringeconomy, not helped by a rather disas-trous demonetisation exercise.

Clearly the last thing the Centreneeded was trouble on our borders.This is ironical, given that the BJP prob-ably won handsomely because of thePulwama incident and our subsequentattack on Balakot.

The critical importance of theDoklam plateau lies in the fact that itstraddles the People’s Liberation Army(PLA)-occupied Chumbi Valley, whichis to its north, and the Jampheri Ridgeto its south, which overlooks theSiliguri Corridor, India’s lifeline to itsNorth-Eastern States. Though the sta-tus of the Doklam plateau itself is underdispute with the Chinese laying claim,it was till recently in the possession ofour steadfast ally, Bhutan. Therefore, itwould be reasonable to expect that theIndian Army would intervene in sup-port of the Bhutanese Army if theChinese attempted to illegally occupythe plateau, given the potential threatthat it posed to our own security as well.

Therefore, when the PLA com-menced road construction towards

the Jampheri ridge, our Army didrespond to the ingress in an extreme-ly robust manner to halt Chinese roadconstruction activity. Surprisingly,however, this action was at the initia-tive of the local commanders on theground, unwilling to be bullied by thePLA, reportedly much against thewishes of the Army Headquarters andthe Government, who were probablyfearful of the consequences of oppos-ing the Chinese.

Favourable public opinion, howev-er, forced the Government’s hand andthey had no choice but to walk the talkon nationalism. This matter was sub-sequently supposedly resolved at theWuhan informal summit where avaguely-worded statement, the so-called “Wuhan Consensus”, wasreleased. In view of the mutually-agreed withdrawal of troops by bothsides at the confrontation site to reducetension and probably based on goodfaith, the Indian Army carried out troopwithdrawals as required. However, thePLA reneged and after pulling backonly a few hundred metres, establisheda new camp, recommencing road con-struction activity along a slightly dif-ferent alignment three months later. Inthe process, it illegally occupied muchof the Doklam plateau.

The latest reports suggest that theycompleted construction in January2019 with the road terminating at thebase of the Jampheri ridge.

However, the response of theGovernment to this provocation wasremarkably subdued with no counter-action being initiated by the Armyagainst renewed Chinese activity.Clearly its hands had been tied by theGovernment making abundantly clearthat the present Prime Minister had,like those before him, succumbed toChinese pressure despite being fullyaware of the grave implications of theChinese activity. Therefore, the

Government’s refusal to acknowledgethe PLA’s alleged occupation of approx-imately 1,000 sq km of disputed terri-tory in eastern Ladakh was not unex-pected. Nor was the public endorse-ment of this stand despite the loss of 20bravehearts to Chinese treachery atGalwan.

Since then, the surprise pro-activeaction of the Army to occupy heightsalong the Kailash Range may havestrengthened the hands of theGovernment in the continuing negoti-ations but it has not truly understoodthe significance of the military action.

If India understood the importanceof the military action, it would refuseto discuss the issue in any talks just asthe Chinese have done over theiroccupation of disputed territory in theDepsang sub-sector. While it is quiteapparent that the Chinese are not in afavourable position to launch a full-fledged offensive at present due to hos-tile weather conditions and a lack ofrequisite forces, the situation may wellchange by next spring.

Would the Government then stillremain steadfast in its aim and contin-ue to confront the bully, or will it backdown, as it has before, accepting somefacile, token, face-saving tidbit thrownat us by the Chinese? After the Centre’searlier misstep in Doklam, there mustbe fairly serious reservations, within thesecurity establishment at least, as towhether this Government can followthrough on its present course to its log-ical end, especially given that Chinacontrols the escalation ladder.

Actions always speak louder thanwords and we will soon know if Modihas it in him to be different from thosein whose footsteps he follows.

(The writer, a military veteran, is aConsultant with the Observer ResearchFoundation and a Senior Visiting Fellowwith The Peninsula Foundation,Chennai)

The Army’s occupation of heights along Kailash Range may have strengthened the Govt’shand in talks with China but it has not grasped the significance of the military action

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

A 2016 reduxin the US?

GWYNNE DYER

The battle in the courts will be long andexhausting, and there’s not going to be any

closure or healing in the US

DEEPAK SINHA

IF INDIAUNDERSTOOD

THE IMPORTANCEOF THE

MILITARY ACTION,IT WOULD

REFUSE TODISCUSS THEISSUE IN ANY

TALKS JUST AS THE CHINESE

HAVE DONE OVER THEIR

OCCUPATION OFDISPUTED

TERRITORY IN THE DEPSANGSUB-SECTOR.

WHILE IT IS QUITE APPARENT

THAT THE CHINESE

ARE NOT IN AFAVOURABLE

POSITION TO LAUNCH A

FULL-FLEDGEDOFFENSIVE ATPRESENT DUE

TO HOSTILEWEATHER

CONDITIONS AND A LACK OF

REQUISITEFORCES, THE

SITUATION MAY WELL

CHANGE BY NEXT SPRING

By the time you read this, you may know more than I do asI write it, but some conclusions about the US presidentialelection are already certain. First, this has been essential-

ly a re-run of the 2016 presidential poll, when Hillary Clinton wasthe Democratic nominee four years ago. The final Electoral Collegetally and therefore the presidency may still be in doubt, but wealready know the popular vote as the knife-edge race tilted towardDemocrat Joe Biden early on November 5, with wins in Michiganand Wisconsin bringing him close to a majority. President DonaldTrump claimed he was being cheated and went to court to tryand stop the vote counting. His allegation of a giant “fraud on theAmerican people” is not a reckless statement made in the heatof the moment by a losing candidate. There is no doubt that thischest-beating was a calculated move to discredit a late surge ofDemocrat votes as postal ballots are counted.

The tragedy is that this “blue shift” syndrome has becomea set pattern of the US presidential elections. More so this yearafter 100 million US citizens voted through the postal ballot or inadvance as they tried to dodge the Coronavirus bullet. Trump hasbeen trying for days, in the run-up to the election, to defame postalballots and to assail the credibility of the US electoral system. Notsomething that is particularly difficult for him to do consideringthe fact that he controls the Justice Department, and theRepublicans dominate the executive machinery of swing States.

However, as the momentum moved to Biden, the unfazed politi-cian made a televised speech from his hometown of Wilmington,Delaware, to say that “when the count is finished, we believe wewill be the winners.” But does Biden not realise that there is nomore a guarantee of victory than Hillary Clinton’s three millionmajority in 2016?

So the Electoral College is as big a problem as ever, and the“great demographic shift” that was going to make a Republicanvictory impossible is still becalmed somewhere over the horizon.Second, the Republicans will most likely keep their majority in theSenate, in which case they can block any new legislation theDemocrats want to pass even if Biden does win the presidency.That includes any attempt to tackle the Electoral College issue,which was a fairly forlorn hope in any case. Not winning the Senatealso means the Democrats cannot create new Supreme Courtjudges, which is their only possible way to roll back the Republicanpolicy of packing that court with conservative appointees (cur-rently a six-three majority). In that case Supreme Court decisionsthat will probably re-ban abortion and dismantle former PresidentObama’s healthcare reforms, will be impossible to reverse.

Finally, the culture war that already obsesses and disfiguresthe US will continue. Indeed, it will intensify if Trump loses theelection and continues to deny it and claim fraud. Losing the pres-idency is virtually an existential question for him, since withoutit he would be exposed to an avalanche of legal charges. Therehas been some speculation that an amnesty would encourage himto accept his electoral defeat and leave the White House quietly,and that would be a good idea if it could actually work.Unfortunately, even a victorious Biden could only offer Trump anamnesty for federal charges, and some of Trump’s worst legalproblems are at the State level.

So Trump must hang on to the leadership of the RepublicanParty and mount as many legal challenges as possible for his ownsurvival. Back in his real-estate days, his first reflex was to tiehis opponents up in court battles, even if the courts were ulti-mately likely to decide against him. At the very least that was away of buying more time, and now there’s also the slim chancethat some key lower-court decision might be appealed all the wayup to his friends on the Supreme Court. The battle in the courtswill be long and exhausting, and there’s not going to be any “clo-sure” or “healing” in the US in the aftermath of the election.

At the time of writing this column, it looks like Joe Biden willwin and become the 46th President of the US but his victory willbe as unconvincing in the eyes of foreigners as it is to many ofhis fellow Americans. A conclusion that has been growing else-where about the US since 2016 has only been strengthened bythis election: America is not to be trusted. Are they to be trust-ed as partners and/or allies? For example, within few inches ofvictory, Biden immediately announced that if he wins, the US willrejoin the Paris Climate Agreement (which the US officially quiton November 4), but it is actually a treaty and he’ll never get rat-ified by the Senate. Obama got around this once by pretendingit wasn’t really a treaty, but it’s hard to get away with that tricktwice. The same goes for the US’ existing alliances and trade deals.They may be safe under a Biden presidency but other countrieswould be unwise to count on them for the long term. The part-ners and allies will have to start looking for insurance elsewhere,because it is now clear that Trump was not a fluke. The “otherAmerica” is permanently just one roll of the electoral dice awayfrom regaining power, and it is both ugly and unreliable.

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

Address the emerging pandemic within the pandemicThe chances of mental health turning into a public health challenge in a post-Corona world are vast only if it is left unattended

SUMIT MITTAL

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020

www.dailypioneer.comanalysis

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 money 08

MONEY MATTERS

German luxury carmakerBMW on Thursdaylaunched limited edition

Mini John Cooper Works Hatchin India priced at Rs 46.9 lakh(ex-showroom). The limitededition model is inspired bythe Mini John Cooper WorksGP and is offered as acompletely built-up unit (CBU) and only 15 units are available andcan be booked exclusively on shop.mini.in, BMW India said in astatement. Commenting on the launch, BMW Group IndiaPresident Vikram Pawah said, “Mini John Cooper Works hasalways been in a league of its own with a unique combination ofheritage, exclusivity and performance. “Inspired by Mini'smotorsport genes and legendary racing successes, Mini JohnCooper Works GP Inspired Edition is a tribute to Mini John CooperWorks GP." The latest limited edition follows the footsteps of the2006 and 2013 Mini John Cooper Works GP models, the companysaid. It is powered by a 2-litre petrol engine and can accelerate to100 km/h in 6.1 seconds.

BMW launches limited edition MiniJohn Cooper Works Hatch in India

Shares of State Bank OfIndia jumped nearly 7per cent in early trade

on Thursday after thecompany reported a 55.41per cent rise in consolidatednet profit for the secondquarter ended September30. The stock rose by 6.71per cent to Rs 220.95 onthe BSE. At the NSE, itgained 6.76 per cent to Rs 221. The country's largest lenderState Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday reported a 55.41 per centrise in consolidated net profit at Rs 5,245.88 crore for the secondquarter ended September 30 on account of decline in bad loans.The bank's net profit stood at Rs 3,375.40 crore in July-Septemberquarter of the previous fiscal. On a standalone basis, thebank's net profit rose nearly 52 per cent to Rs 4,574 crore drivenby lower provisions and higher growth in net interest income. Itsnet profit stood at Rs 3,012 crore in the year-ago period. Netinterest income grew 14.56 per cent to Rs 28,181 crore during thequarter as against Rs 24,600 crore last year.

SBI shares jump nearly 7 pc afterstrong Q2 earnings

Reliance Industries onThursday said it willchallenge in Supreme

Court the dismissal of its pleaby the Securities AppellateTribunal against a Sebi rulingbarring the firm and 12 of itspromoter group entities fromdealing in equity derivatives foralleged unfair trade practices.SAT, by a 2:1 majority order, has dismissed RIL's appeal against theSebi order dated March 24, 2017, in the matter relating to the saleof Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) shares by the company inNovember 2007, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-run firm said in a filingto the stock exchanges. "The company will examine the orderpassed by SAT," it said. "All trades carried out by the company weregenuine and bona fide. No irregularity can be attached to thesetransactions," it added. RIL also said it has not violated any law orregulation while selling shares of RPL in November 2007.

RIL to appeal in Supreme Courtagainst SAT ruling

The country's largest carmakerMaruti Suzuki India (MSI) onThursday said it is recalling

40,453 units of its multi-purposevehicle Eeco to fix an issue with theheadlamp.The recalled units weremanufactured between November4, 2019 and February 25, 2020, theautomaker said in a statement."The company will inspect 40,453units of Eeco for a possible issue of standard symbol missing onthe headlamp. Any action, if required, shall be undertaken free ofcost," it added. Owners of the suspected vehicles under this recallcampaign will be contacted by MSI authorised dealers in duecourse of time, the company said.

Maruti recalls 40,453 Eeco units tofix issue with headlamp

PNSn BENGALURU

Indian homemakers areincreasingly adopting digitalpayments and online applica-tions for both work and enter-tainment, according to a latestreport by consultancy firmEY.

The report 'Sentiments ofIndia: Homemakers, Backboneof Our Homes' explores shift inthe behaviour and consump-tion patterns of homemakersand their households acrossareas like digital adoption,increase in shopping basketsize, festive spending, workambitions, and the evolvingsocial dynamics of homemak-ing.

The findings are based onthe survey responses of 385Indian homemakers across theurban adult population acrossthe country, an EY statementsaid.

Festivities are likely to besmaller, more intimate, andmore digital ashomemakersmay continue to feel cautiousduring the festive season.

The report said 84 per centof them mentioned that they

would prefer celebrating withonly members from theirhousehold and 44 per centwish to avoid crowded market-places.

The fear is stronger in highspenders with 52 per cent like-ly to avoid visiting crowdedmarketplaces. Online sales areexpected to pick up with 28 percent homemakers planning toshop online for most festiverequirements, the statementsaid.

Partner of design thinkingand digital transformation, EY

India, Shashank Shwet,saidthough there is an accelerateduptake of online shoppingamong homemakers, digitalliteracy remains a bottleneckfor wider adoption of digitalchannels, especially in theolder age categories.

"To eliminate this digitaldivide, brands should developuser-friendly interfaces spe-cially designed for this seg-ment.

They should also leveragemarketing campaigns andinfluencers from peer groups

to educate homemakers aboutthe safety and in-built securi-ty of online transactions",Shwet said.

EY said supply chain dis-ruptions due to lockdownsmeant lesser availability of pre-ferred brands and homemak-ers were forced to try neweroptions.

The report said 35 per centhomemakers have permanent-ly shifted to newer brands in atleast one of the grocery cate-gories, indicating an increasingopenness to try new brands.

Homemakers go digital forfestive shopping, gifting

The report said 84per cent of themmentioned that theywould prefercelebrating withonly members fromtheir household and44 per cent wish toavoid crowdedmarketplaces

PNSn BENGALURU

Federal Reserve officials aremeeting this week with theeconomy facing growingthreats from a resurgence of thecoronavirus and fromCongress' failure to provide anyfurther aid for struggling indi-viduals and businesses.

Yet the Fed will likely end itslatest policy meeting Thursdayby deciding to wait beforedetermining whether or how toexpand the economic supportit has been supplying throughultra-low interest rates. Thecentral bank has been buyingTreasury and mortgage bondsto hold down long-term bor-rowing rates to encouragespending. And it haskept its key short-term rate,which influences many corpo-rate and individual loans, near

zero.The Fed's meeting comes

against the backdrop of ananxiety-ridden election week,with the results of Tuesday'svoting still uncertain, and anescalation of the virus acrossthe country. The economy andthe job market have weak-ened again after initially strong

bounce-backs from the pan-demic-fueled recession thaterupted in early spring.

If the rise in confirmedCOVID cases were to causewidespread business shut-downs or restrictions as coldweather arrives, consumersmight cut back on spendingand further slow the economy.

Heightening the risks, themulti-trillion-dollar stimulusaid that Congress passed inMarch and that helped sustainjobless Americans and ailingbusinesses has expired. Lawmakers have failed thus farto agree on any new rescuepackage, clouding the futurefor the unemployed, for small

businesses and for the econo-my as a whole.

Most economists say thatunlike Congress, the centralbank may already have provid-ed almost all the help it can forthe economy through its low-rate policies. Fed officialsthemselves, including ChairJerome Powell, have soundeda similar message.

In March, when the pan-demic first struck, the Fed cutits key rate to an ultra-lowrange of 0% to 0.25%. InAugust, it announced that itplanned to keep rates nearzero even after inflation hasexceeded the Fed's 2% annu-al target level. And inSeptember, the policymakerssignaled that their key ratewould likely stay near zero atleast through 2023 — andpossibly longer.

Fed adopts’wait and watch’ approachThe Fed's meeting

comes against the

backdrop of an

anxiety-ridden election

week, with the results

of Tuesday's voting still

uncertain, and an

escalation of the virus

across the country

PNSn NEW DELHI

Hyundai Motor India remainscautiously optimistic regardingthe domestic market as itexpects a pent-up demand todrive sales for the next fewquarters but believes that thelong-term pull in the marketwould depend upon the over-all macroeconomic situation,according to a top companyofficial.

The country's second largestpassenger vehicle maker notedthat factors like shift towardspersonal mobility from sharedand public transport due to thepandemic would keep fuellingthe demand in the short term.

“As per our market research,around 10 lakh people haveeither postponed or decidedagainst buying a car due touncertain market conditionsdue to the pandemic situation.

So this pent-up demand will bethere, already we have seensome of that demand in thesecond quarter. This pent-updemand would continue inthe coming quarters as well,”Hyundai Motor India MD andCEO SS Kim told PTI.

The demand would be thereat least till the first quarter ofnext year, he noted.

“But in the end, the overallmarket situation will be deter-mined by macroeconomicindicators like GDP growth etc.

It will have an impact on thedemand. Then there is alsoworry about the second waveof coronavirus, so we remaincautiously optimistic,” Kimsaid. The company will movequickly to make changesaccording to the market situa-tion if required, he added.

Kim noted that despiteshort-term challenges, Indiaremained a very strong auto-mobile market. “Consideringthe lower penetration of cars inIndia, from a long- term per-

spective I think India has hugegrowth potential as far as newcar demand is concerned. Inthe short term, we might havefew uncertainties but from along-term perspective the mar-ket remains intact,” he said.

He said the company contin-ues with its investment plans inthe country, including newproduct development andother related initiatives.

“Even during the pandemicperiod we continued to invest

in developmental activities fornew segment vehicles and newaffordable electric vehicle.There can be some changes intimelines but we will continuewith the development process,”Kim said. When asked if thecompany would be able tomanage with the current pro-duction capacity at its Chennaiplant, he said it was enough forthe time being to take care ofdomestic and export require-ments.

Demand for cars to depend on economic situationThe country's second largest passengervehicle maker noted that factors like shifttowards personal mobility from shared andpublic transport due to the pandemicwould keep fuelling the demand in theshort term

PNSn NEW DELHI

Hyundai Motor India onThursday said it has launchedall-new versions of its premi-um hatchback i20, pricedbetween Rs 6.79 lakh and Rs11.17 lakh (ex-showroom).

The fourth generation of thei20 comes with both petroland diesel powertrains andwould compete with the likesof Maruti Suzuki Baleno, TataMotors Altroz and ToyotaGlanza.

The 1.2-litre petrol manualvariants are priced between Rs6.79 lakh and Rs 9.19 lakhwhile the automatic trims aretagged at Rs 8.59 lakh and Rs9.69 lakh.

Similarly, the 1-litre turbopetrol variants with IMT tech-nology are priced at Rs 8.79lakh and Rs 9.89 lakh whilethe seven-speed DCT trimsare tagged at Rs 10.66 lakh andRs 11.17 lakh.

The 1.5-litre diesel variantsare priced between Rs 8.19

lakh and Rs 10.59 lakh. Thecompany said all prices wereintroductory and wouldremain in force till December-end.

"In this pandemic period,the all-new i20 will play agreat role in generating inter-est among the customers.The model has performed sowell in the Indian market andwe are expecting better per-formance in terms of volumesand customer satisfactionwith the all-new version,"Hyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL) MD and CEO SSKim told PTI.

The company has onceagain redefined standards inthe premium hatchback seg-ment with the launch of themodel, he added.

The model comes with tenfirst in segment features likehill assist control, multi-phone Bluetooth connectivi-ty, air purifier and tyre pres-sure monitoring system(TPMS) among others.

Hyundai i20 launchedat Rs 6.80 lakh

PNSn TOKYO

Nintendo, the Japanese com-pany behind Super Marioand Pokemon video games,reported Thursday that its fis-cal first half profit more thantripled as passed time whilestuck at home during thepandemic playing games.

`Kyoto-based NintendoCo's profit for the six monthsthrough September soared to213 billion yen, up from 62billion yen a year ago. Six-month sales soared to 769 bil-lion yen from 444 billion yen.Nintendo said more than 5million units of “Super Mario3D All-Stars” game softwarefor the Nintendo Switch weresold during the period, andnearly 3 million units of“Paper Mario: The OrigamiKing” were sold.

Nintendo's profit soars

PNSn NEW DELHI

The global economic fallout ofthe coronavirus pandemic willcontinue to remain a challengeand India has been looking atit not as constraints but as anopportunity for its economy aswell as rebalancing of theinternational system, ForeignSecretary Harsh VardhanShringla said on Thursday.

In an address at a virtualseminar, Shringla also saidIndia is committed towardsworking for a rules-based

international order under-pinned by rule of law, trans-parency, freedom of naviga-tion, respect for territorial

integrity and sovereignty, andpeaceful resolution of disputes.

"Our objective remainsadvancing the security andeconomic interests of all coun-tries," he said at the seminarorganised by the NationalDefence College.

Shringla said India hasdeveloped a unique way ofsharing its developmentalexperiences with its partnersthat has projected the country'sstrategic intentions to be a"force for good" in multiplegeographies across the globe.

‘Global economic fallout of Covidwill continue to remain a challenge’

PNSn LONDON

The Bank of England hasincreased its monetary stimu-lus by a bigger than anticipat-ed 150 billion pounds as it triesto boost the economy throughnew lockdown measures. In astatement released Thursday,the bank's rate-setting panelsaid its challenge is to respondto the economic and financialimpact of the resurgence of thecoronavirus, which has led tothe reimposition of widespreadrestrictions across the UK.

Bank of Englandincreasesstimulus

PNSn NEW DELHI

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd'sretail arm on Thursday raisedRs 9,555 crore from PublicInvestment Fund of SaudiArabia, taking total fundraisein last two months to Rs47,265 crore.

PIF will take a 2.04 per centstake in Reliance RetailVentures Ltd (RRVL), theIndian firm said in a state-ment.The investment valuesRRVL, the retail arm ofReliance Industries Ltd, at apre-money equity value of Rs4.58 lakh crore.

PNSn MUMBAI

Toyota Kirloskar Motor onThursday announced an assuredbuyback offer of 55 per cent onits mid-sized sedan Yaris andpremium hatchback Glanza ina bid to perk up consumer sen-

timent amid the festive season.In addition, the car maker alsorolled out various other schemessuch as low EMI payment forthe first six months across allToyota models as well as athree months EMI holiday forall its customers, according to a

release. The wide array of spe-cial benefits, ranging fromunique buyback offers to someof the lowest EMIs are aimed ateasing purchase decisions in thefestive season, it said. The latestdeal comprises an assured buy-back offer of 55 per cent on the

Yaris and Glanza, ToyotaKirloskar Motor (TKM) said inthe release. "We have announcedinnumerable finance schemesduring this festive season to offerinnovative solutions that matchthe evolving expectations ofour customers.

Kirloskar Motor’s assured buyback offer

Saudi’s PublicInvestment Fundinvests Rs 9K-crin Reliance Retail

PNSn MUMBAI

The rupee strengthened by 40paise to close at 74.36 (provi-sional) against the US dollar onThursday amid indications ofJoe Biden's victory in the USpresidential elections.

Traders said positive domes-tic equities and a weakAmerican currency overseasalso supported the local unit.

At the interbank forex mar-ket, the domestic unit openedat 74.35 against the US dollar,and finally closed at 74.36, reg-istering a rise of 40 paise over

its previous close.During the session, the local

unit witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 74.25 and a low of74.41 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee

had plunged by 35 paise toclose at its weakest level in over10 weeks at 74.76.

"It is believed that theRepublican Party is likely toretain its majority in the USSenate if the Democratic Partycandidate Joe Biden emergesvictorious in the presidentialpolls," said Ankit Agarwal,Managing Director, AlankitLimited.

Meanwhile, the dollar index,which gauges the greenback'sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, was trading 0.22per cent down at 93.20.

Rupee zooms 40 paise to74.36 against US dollar

PNSn MUMBAI

Rallying for the fourthstraight session, the Sensexsurged 724 points onThursday to close above the41,000-mark on across-the-board buying amid a strongtrend in the global marketsdespite uncertainty over theUS poll outcome.

After a strong start, the30-share BSE index main-tained its upward trajectorythroughout the session toclose at 41,340.16, up 724.02points or 1.78 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty zoomed 211.80 pointsor 1.78 per cent to finish at12,120.30.

All Sensex componentsclosed in the green.

SBI was the top gainer,soaring over 5 per cent, fol-lowed by Tata Steel, IndusIndBank, Bajaj Finance, BajajFinserv and HCL Tech.

Sensex surges724 pts; Niftytops 12,100

PNSn NEW DELHI

Bajaj Electricals on Thursdayreported a consolidated netprofit of Rs 53.11 crore for thesecond quarter endedSeptember 30, on account ofhigher income. The companyhad posted a net loss of Rs32.54 crore for July-Septemberperiod of the previous fiscal.Total income in the second

quarter stood at Rs 1,226.7crore, up 10.83 per cent as com-pared with Rs 1,106.80 crore inthe year-ago period, BajajElectricals said in a regulatoryfiling.It said the business nor-malised in the quarter afterbeing impacted in April-Juneowing to temporary suspensionof manufacturing facilities,sales and distribution due tothe outbreak of COVID-19.

Bajaj Electricals reportsprofit of Rs 53 crore

PNSn NEW DELHI

Gold prices rose Rs 158 to Rs50,980 per 10 gram in thenational capital on Thursday,supported by a rally in globalprices, according to HDFCSecurities. The precious metalhad closed at Rs 50,822 per 10gram. Silver prices alsojumped Rs 697 to Rs 62,043per kilogram from Rs 61,346per kg in the previous trade.

Gold up Rs 158,silver rises Rs 697

rowing exoticplants like cacti,succulents areslowly catching thetrend in theTelugu states.

Exotic Spines, started as apassionate hobby in 2015 byVamsi Krishna, who is anardent plant-lover, is now theonly firm that sells exoticplants like cacti, succulentsand air purifiers in the entireAndhra Pradesh andTelangana. Exotic Spines,ever since, has grown byleaps and bounds to becomea full-fledged business.

But what really sets themapart is their enviable collec-tion of rare and exquisiteCacti, Succulents and AirPurifying Plants from differ-ent parts of the world unlikeany other place inHyderabad. The numbersspeak for themselves — over300 varieties of cacti, 50 vari-eties of succulents and airpurifying plants.

Vamsi Krishna, thefounder of Exotic Spines, tellsus, “The love for gardeninghad made me start ExoticSpines. When I had cacti,succulents, air purifier plantsand others, many had askedme where I had got themfrom or if I was interested inselling them. That made mestart this business but I

would rather call myself agardener than a business per-son.”

The sales of these plantsare not just confined to theTelugu states. They export itpan-India. But how is theresponse from theTeluguites? He says, “Exoticspines are the only sellersthat sell cacti and other exot-ic plants in the Telugu states.I export them pan-India. InHyderabad, growing theseplants at home is slowly pick-ing up. But, it is still thecreamy crowd that is adapt-ing to this culture. We are yetto reach the masses.”

There is a misconceptionthat cacti, although pretty,can transmit bad energy athome. It is believed that theprickly and sharp thorns onthe leaves carry the bad ener-gy in them. Cacti can bringmisfortune at home and alsocause stress and anxiety with-in the family. Vamsi is astrong opponent of this theo-ry. He wants to create aware-ness among people about themisconceptions of growingcacti at home before expand-ing his business further.“More than selling theseplants, I first want to createawareness among the publicthat having cacti at home isnot a bad sign. There is amisbelief that cacti is not

supposed to be grown athome. I have been runningawareness campaigns regard-ing the same. Before expand-ing my business and sellmore exotic plants, I want toreach the masses and cleartheir misconceptions becausethere are a lot of benefits ofhaving an exotic plant at yourhome,” he explains, adding,“With many of us stayingaway from nature and accus-tomed to apartment culture,one needs fresh air and ofcourse you cannot grow hugetrees inside your balcony.That is where these succu-lents score big. They aresmall and easy to maintain.You water cacti once and it’sgood to grow for one wholemonth. Cacti, succulents givea sense of peace and calm,and refresh one’s thoughtswhen at home. Air purifiers,as the name suggests, purifythe toxins in the air insideyour house giving you asense of freshness.”

These plants are alwaysconsidered to be on the prici-er side when compared toother local plants, the reason,he says, is because they areimported from other coun-tries.

Aside from curating one ofthe rarest collections, ExoticSpines also specialise indesigning custom-made cactiand succulent arrangementsboth indoor and outdoor forplant enthusiasts. They takeup arrangements too — rang-ing from beautiful singleplant holders to landscapingof residential properties andcorporate offices.

Order online or visit themin person for a plethora ofoptions to beautify your home,office or customised gifts foryour friends and families.

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

FridayNovember 6, 2020

GOING GREEN,THE PRICKLY WAY

There's nothing like bringing a taste of theexotic to your garden, and when these plants

come to life, nothing can beat that vibrancy andinterest! K RAMYA SREE talks to Exotic

Spines’ Vamsi Krishna about the idea, benefitsand the business of growing them at home.

G

Acclaim for late Om Puri — ‘Rickshawala'Counted amongst one ofthe versatile actors of theBollywood industry, late

Om Prakash Puri's legacycan never pass away and

the filmmaker Ram KamalMukherjee is here to let

the late actor's distinctivepresence be felt in ourhearts for the coming

years by way of directinga charismatic yet a more

physically existentialmovie called

Rickshawala, that's oflate won critical acclaimand several international

awards too. In anexclusive chat with The

Pioneer's SHIKHADUGGAL, the filmmaker

Ram Kamal talk about themaking of the film, choice

of actors, tribute to Om Puri, nepotism

and more

o what is this movieRickshawala allabout? Life alwayswelcomes an indi-vidual like a blankpage but this wasn't

the case of the main protago-nist Manoj played byBollywood actor AvinashDwivedi in this classic indiefilm. Manoj’s future is writtenon the sprouting stones discov-ered on the pathway wherethere are prevalent obstacles ofclassism, migrant oppression,and contemporary issues ofunemployment deeply rooted.Now, will he succumb to thepressure of our Indian societyor stumble upon his origins?Rickshawala is about this andmore.

“I am grateful to dada (RamKamal) for casting me in thisfilm. He could have easilyopted for much better namesbut he preferred having cast anewcomer like me, that alsoshows his faith in the subjectthat he’s directing and thestrong choice of actors heprefers to work with,” saysAvinash. Wondering how’s thismotion picture an ode to thelate actor mentioned above?The director is an ardent view-er of cinema, the world of fea-ture films calls him for invitesto the erstwhile Picture Palacesand that’s when he once hadthe chance to see late Om Puri’sphenomenal performance inthe Rolland Joffe’s City of Joy,which sparked a proposal inhim to cast a newcomer in therole of a Rickshawala that hasonly been played by either OmPuri or Balraj Sahani from themainstream actors in the filmfraternity.

“Om Puri ji’s 70th birthanniversary was approaching

and I decided to show my fea-ture film to Nandita Puri, hiswife, and the founder of OmPuri Foundation. After watch-ing the film, Nandita was over-whelmed with the narrativeand performance of Avinash,and was gracious enough to

accept our request and come onboard with Om PuriFoundation as a social causepartner and that's how wemoved forward with this tribu-tary,” adds filmmaker RamKamal.

While compelling storylines

come in many forms, there’ssomething distinctly satisfyingabout a movie based on actuali-ty. Not only can you continual-ly remind yourself that whatyou’re watching on screen real-ly did happen, but you can alsofind joy in learning about a

captivating tale based on trueevents. This feature film takesall of the facts and spins theminto stories that will inspire,astound, and haunt you longafter you’ve finished watching.

How was the filmmaker ableto relate to it and bring it tofloors with its true sense ofreality? “As a filmmaker, I liketo make films that are close tothe real world. Of course, thereare certain cinematic libertiesas we are in the business ofentertainment. Also, that’s theonly quotient that probablydefines between cinema and adocudrama. We took immensepain in search and recce andgive credit to my cinematogra-pher Modhura Palit for captur-ing the pulse correctly. Myactors did numerous work-shops and shot at real locations.A director is nothing withoutits producers. Rickshawala ishere to immortalise the real-lifetragedies, struggles, and indi-viduality,” adds Ram.

He also reveals his unspokenopinion about nepotism in theBollywood film industry assome star kids despite being inthe atmosphere of stardomcouldn’t rise towards thedesired success and some doget the unspoken favours fromthe at a receiving end. Everyonehas different experiences in thisfilm fraternity, nonetheless,Ram Kamal Mukherjee strong-ly asserts that while Bollywoodis screaming from the rooftopabout nepotism, the hullabalooonly seems to be limited toInstagram hashtags. Neitherstudios nor established produc-tion houses stood by him whenhe wanted to make this filmwith all newcomers! This fifty-minute feature film is made at ashoestring budget and “proba-bly Shah Rukh Khan’s securityguard earns more money thanthe budget of his entire film,”believes Ram. “I am still strug-gling and willing to fight thebattle on a practical groundthan being a social media war-rior. It’s easy to win when youdon’t have to give your sweatand blood to something thatyou believe in,” the inspiringdirector tells us.

If all goes well, the renowneddirector is all set to step hisfoot into making a full-lengthfeature film titled Binodini inBengali. “I will come to blowsfor studios and producers tostand by me. There is no pointin disliking the trailer of a filmon YouTube, rather go andwatch the film which has adebutante on board either inCinemas or OTT and give newdirectors, actors, musicians afair fighting chance. Be thechange if you want to see achange,” the director concludes.

S

AS A FILMMAKER,RAM KAMAL LIKESTO MAKE FILMSTHAT ARE CLOSETO THE REALWORLD.RICKSHAWALAIMMORTALISESREAL-LIFETRAGEDIES,STRUGGLES, ANDINDIVIDUALITY.

Vamsi Krishna

here have been a lotof speculations aboutthe role of LashanaLynch in the Bondfranchise, and nowthe actress has con-

firmed that her character is setto be the next protagonist of thefilm series and take the storyforward.

In an interview with HarpersBazaar, the Captain Marvel starrevealed the news and addressedthe online abuse she faced whenthe rumours first surfaced earli-er this year, reportsradiotimes.com.

“I am one Black woman – if itwere another Black woman castin the role, it would have beenthe same conversation, shewould have got the same attacks,the same abuse,” she said.

“I just have to remind myselfthat the conversation is happen-ing and that I’m a part of some-thing that will be very, very rev-olutionary.”

The actress will be takingover as Bond from actorDaniel Craig, who willreprise the iconic characterone last time in No Time ToDie.

Talking about Nomi, her char-acter in the franchise, she said:“A character that is too slick, acast-iron figure? That’s com-pletely against what I stand for. Ididn’t want to waste an opportu-nity when it came to what Nomimight represent.”

“I searched for at least onemoment in the script whereBlack audience members wouldnod their heads, tutting atthe reality but glad to seetheir real life represent-ed. In every project Iam part of, no mat-ter the budget orgenre, the Blackexperience that I’mpresenting needs tobe 100 percent authen-tic,” she added.

Lynch’s character Nomienters the franchise in thenew James Bond film, NoTime To Die, even as DanielCraig’s James Bond bids adieu tothe series with the film.

LASHANALYNCH

confirms hercharacter

will replaceJames Bond

he father-sonrelationshipdrama, It’s MyLife, starringNana Patekar,Harman Baweja

and Genelia D’souza, willskip theatrical release andpremiere on television.

Directed by AneesBazmee, the film is aremake of the 2006 Teluguhit, Bommarillu, and is slat-ed to have a small screenrelease on November 29.

“Whenever I decide totake up a script, I always putmyself in the audience’sshoes and look at thingsfrom their point of view —if it is entertaining or not.Packed with double doses oflaughter, drama, romanceand a spectacular star cast,It’s My Life is a perfect enter-tainment package. I am surewith its TV release it willbrighten up everybody’smood, especially in these

unprecedented times,”claimed Bazmee.

“The film wasmade with the

thought ofhighlighting

unadul-terated

family equations and com-plexities, a genre that mostof us enjoy. The moviebeautifully showcases therelationship dynamicsbetween a father and sonfrom the time the child isborn to becoming an adultand taking up responsibility.It brings about such strong,heart-warming and relatableemotions that will surelystrike a chord with theviewers,” said BoneyKapoor, who has producedthe film with his brotherSanjay Kapoor.

“Television has alwaysbeen a great way to reachout to a wide set of audi-ence, and we are glad toshare our movie for the firsttime ever with the viewers,”he added. Sanjay Kapoorshared: “When I had envi-sioned making the Hindiremake of the popularTelugu film Bommarillu, lstrongly believed that themovie’s powerful narrativewill form a strong connec-tion with Bollywood movielovers as well.”

Nana Patekar andHarman Baweja reprise thefather-son duo of PrakashRaj and Siddharth in theoriginal, with music byShankar Ehsaan Loy.

The film will premiere onZee Cinema. The trailer of

the film wasreleased on

Thursday.

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

10

Hyderabad Friday November 6 2020 what’s brewing?

ctor Gauahar Khan on Thursdayannounced her engagement to dancerZaid Darbar. Khan took to Instagramto share the news, posting a picturewhere the duo can be seen holdingballoons, which read “a perfect

pair” and “she said yes”.The actor, known for films like

Ishaqzaade and Rocket Singh: Salesman ofthe Year, captioned the photo with a ringemoticon.

Darbar, who is the son of musiccomposer Ismail Darbar, also sharedthe picture on Instagram.Congratulations poured in for thecouple, with celebrities includingNeha Dhupia, Jay Bhanushali, SunilGrover among others sending goodwishes to Khan and Darbar. Theduo will reportedly tie the knot inDecember. Khan, who was thewinner of Bigg Boss 7, wasrecently seen on the latest sea-son of the Colors reality show.

A

It's My Lifeditches big

screen for directto TV release

Tollywood star JoshHartnett has noregrets about turn-ing down Supermanand Batman roles.He says he did not

want to be boxed into thesuperhero type.

The actor admits that “atthe time it didn’t seem likethe sort of decision I wouldbe talking about 15 yearslater”, reports metro.co.uk.

“There were a lot of pow-ers that wanted me to pur-sue those films, but I havealways been interested instories about people and Ididn’t want to be boxed intothat superhero type. Backthen, a lot of actors had tofight really hard to get theircareer back after they playedthose characters,” he added.

Instead, the actor hastaken interest in indepen-dent films. His latest indieproject is Target NumberOne, based on trueevents. The thriller isabout a petty

drug dealer who is framedby police and sentenced to100 years in a Thai prison.

Hartnett plays real lifeCanadian journalist VictorMalarek, who is trying tofree the dealer. “He is verycharismatic and heroic,"Hartnett said of Malarek.

“When it comes to cor-ruption or abuse of power,he will throw himself in theway of the metaphorical bul-lets to save the people he istrying to write about,” headded.

H

Josh Hartnett onrejecting Superman,Batman roles

T

Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar are engaged

fter a break of overseven months,Venkatesh-starrerNaarappa hasresumed inHyderabad

on Wednesday tak-ing necessary pre-

cautions. Beforethe lockdown, the

unit shot for 60days, filming in

Uravakonda (AP)and Kurumalai and

Theri Kaadu (TamilNadu).

Film’s producerSuresh Babu said that

presently directorSreekanth Addala is

filming climax scenesinvolving Priyamani, Rao

Ramesh, Rajeev Kanakala,and other principal cast

members. “With the ongoingschedule, 80% of the shoot will

be completed, leaving us onlyflashback portions to film,” he said.

Venky is expected to join the setsnext week.

Naarappa, which is the official remakeof Tamil hit Asuran, will narrate the tale of a

farmer Narappa and his fight to save his landand son from the most affluent family in the vil-

lage. Original producer S Thanu is producing theremake jointly with Suresh. According to a source,

Suresh is planning to unveil the first teaser on Venky’sbirthday next month (Dec 13).

lthough success has eluded Megha Akash in Telugudespite featuring in a string of films, she is still onthe wish list of many filmmakers. After signing filmswith Sree Vishnu and Shiva Kandukuri in the recentpast, the Chennai beauty has now landed a role inSatyadev and Tamannaah-starrer Gurthunda

Seethakalam, which is an official remake of Kannada film LoveMocktail. She will be reprising the part that was essayed by RachanaInder in the original. Film’s director Nagashekar said that they willreveal more surprises as the shoot progresses.

Gurthunda Seethakalam will narrate the heartbreaks a software pro-fessional (played by Satya) endures in his quest to find true love.

According to a source, eminent writer Lakshmi Bhupal has tweakedthe original to suit Telugu sensibilities and made the script tighter.

The film, which was launched a couple of months ago, willroll in Hyderabad from today, while Satyadev, who is shoot-

ing for Thimmarusu, will join the sets next month.Nagashekar is jointly producing it along with Bhavani

Ravi, while Kaala Bhairava has been signed onas the music director. – NG

A

11

Hyderabad Friday November 6 2020tollywood

ower starPawan Kalyanon Thursdayhopped on to ametro trainfrom Madhapur

to Miyapur for work, tak-ing his fans and passengersby surprise. He was accom-panied by the film’s produc-er Dil Raju on the journey.Dressed in his character’sattire with shades on, he cuta dash as he switched to atrain to Miyapur at the busyAmeerpet interchange sta-tion. En route to Miyapur,the Jana Sena chief interact-ed with a passenger ChinaSatyanarayana hailing fromDraksharamam. He got toknow from him the presentstate of farming in his area.Satyanarayana narrated thedamage the recent rainscaused the agriculture sector,before informing the actorthe following he commandsin his region. WhenSatyanarayana told him itwas his first ride on a metro,it drew a smile from theactor-leader’s face as hereminded the former that it

was his maiden ride as well.Pawan, with his entourage,

disembarked at Miyapur sta-tion, a part of which was

booked by production houseSri Venkateswara Creationsfor some visuals of the film.“Shots of Pawan taking atrain ride for work purpose

with junior artistsin the background have beenshot at Miyapur station forover a couple of hours. Theactor left the station immedi-ately after the completion of

these portions,” an onlookertold us.

According to a sourceclose to the unit, the actorjoined the shoot once againat Annapurna 7 Acres onThursday noon, where anaction sequence involvinghim is being shot. “Stuntmaster Ravi Varma is chore-ographing it. The presentschedule will go on tillNovember 13. In December,Pawan is required for theflashback portions involv-ing Shruti Haasan, callingan end to the entire shootexcept for patch work,” thesource adds.

Vakeel Saab, an officialremake of Pink, will seePawan as an eccentricHyderabad-based lawyerwho takes on the case ofthree women (played byNivetha Thomas, Anjaliand Ananya) after theyare sexually harassed by a

group of men who comefrom an influential back-ground. A joint productionventure between Dil Rajuand Boney Kapoor, it hasmusical notes by Thaman.

The actor on Thursday sprung a surprise when he opted to take a metro ridefrom Madhapur. He got down at Miyapur station, where he shot for someportions of his comeback film Vakeel Saab, reports NAGARAJ GOUD

P

METRO RIDE FOLLOWED BYMETRO SHOOT FOR PAWAN

Naarappa resumesA Megha Akash

lands a role inGURTHUNDA

SEETHAKALAM

he filming of AlluArjun-starrerPushpa, directed bySukumar, has beenreportedly delayedonce again. Already

way behind the schedule, itwas supposed to roll inMaredumilli on Thursdaybut with the constructionof sets in the forests con-suming time, the shoot hasbeen deferred, reports haveit. As of now, it looks likethe filming will resumefrom Sunday or Monday.

The unit has bookedThe Woods Resort inMaredumilli for the princi-pal unit to stay, while crewmembers will be campingin hotels in Rajahmundry.The near month-longschedule, which will wit-

ness Arjun joining the setsfor the first time, will kick-off with an action episodeunder the supervision ofRam-Laxman masters.

Set in the backdrop ofSeshachalam forests,Pushpa deals with redsanders smuggling and willsee Bunny as a truck driverwho converses in typicalChittoor accent. To be shotin Telugu and later dubbedinto Hindi, Tamil,Kannada and Malayalam,the film has JagapathiBabu, Brahmaji, RajDeepak Shetty, Dhananjayand Kannada Kishore insupporting roles, whileRashmika Mandanna is theleading lady. Sukumar’sfrequent collaborator DeviSri Prasad is the composer.

PUSHPAstares at a

minor delay

T

Actor and former Bigg Boss contestant SamratReddy on Wednesday tied the knot with AnjanaSri Likitha in Kakinada. The actor, who played

supporting roles in films like Konchem IsthamKonchem Kastham, Kittu Unnadu Jagratha and Wife ofRam, among others, entered into marital bliss amidfamily members, relatives and close friends. Hisfellow Bigg Boss contestants Tanish and DeepthiSunaina landed in Kakinada on Tuesday itself andupdated their followers on the rituals leading up totheir friend’s wedding. “Knots for life #married#taken #happymoments #mrandmrs #thankuall(sic),” Samrat posted on his social media pages onWednesday along with a picture from the wedding.This is Samrat’s second marriage. He was previouslymarried to K Harshita Reddy but the relationshipended in a bitter divorce.

Actor Samrat

ties the knot

AFP n ISTANBUL/LEIPZIG

Lionel Messi scored asBarcelona overcame a

depleted Dynamo Kiev 2-1 inthe Champions League onWednesday, while Juventuseased Ferencvaros aside andManchester United slumped toan unexpected defeat in Turkey.

Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain lost to RB Leipzig ina repeat of last season’s semi-final and Chelsea proved toostrong for Rennes, with TimoWerner twice converting fromthe penalty spot.

Making his 150th appear-ance in European competition,Messi dispatched an early penal-ty at Camp Nou after hewas fouled in the area andGerard Pique headed inAnsu Fati’s cross on thehour.

Viktor Tsygankovgrabbed a consolation forcoronavirus-hit Dynamo asBarca, winless in four games inLa Liga, recorded their thirdsuccessive Group G victory tostay three points clear ofJuventus.

“We are happy because wewon,” said Barca coach RonaldKoeman. “But we have to playbetter than we did today. Wehave to improve, above all with-out the ball, where we haven’tplayed well.”

Cristiano Ronaldo madehis first start for the Italian

champions since Septemberafter testing positive for Covid-19 in a 4-1 win at Hungarianside Ferencvaros.

However, the Portuguesestar was outshone in Budapestby Alvaro Morata, whose twogoals put Andrea Pirlo’s team incontrol.

Paulo Dybala added a thirdbefore an own goal from LashaDvali, with Franck Boli netting

for the hosts in the finalminute.

United produced ashambolic first-half defen-sive display as Ole GunnarSolskjaer’s side lost 2-1against Istanbul

Basaksehir.Demba Ba collected the

ball just inside his own half andraced through to beat goalkeep-er Dean Henderson on 13 min-utes, with Edin Visca smashingin a second after Juan Mata wasstripped of possession.

Anthony Martial’s headercut the deficit before half-timebut United saw their momen-tum in Group H halted afterwins over PSG and RB Leipziglast month.

“You don’t just turn up and

get three points in theChampions League. We weren’tgood enough, that’s it. It’s noteasy to be positive when you’velost the way we did,” Solskjaertold BT Sport.

PSG CCAPITULATE IIN LLEIPZIGEmil Forsberg’s penalty

earned Leipzig a 2-1 victory asthey came from behind to beata weakened Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a major blowto the Champions League aspi-rations of last season’s runners-

up.Angel di Maria had given

PSG an early lead in Germanybut he then crucially missed apenalty for the French champi-ons, who were missing bothNeymar and Kylian Mbappedue to injury and ended thecontest with nine men.

Christopher Nkunku lev-elled before half-time for Leipzigand Forsberg converted fromthe spot in the 57th minutebefore the visitors had bothIdrissa Gueye and Presnel

Kimpembe sent off.Chelsea strolled to a 3-0 win

at home against Rennes whosaw defender Dalbert sent offafter conceding two penalties inthe first half.

Werner took over spot-kickduties from Jorginho and con-fidently tucked both away beforeTammy Abraham turned in athird for the Blues on 50 min-utes.

Frank Lampard’s men haveyet to concede in Group E andare level on seven points withSevilla, who rallied to defeatKrasnodar 3-2 despite the dis-missal of captain Jesus Navaslate in the first half.

Erling Braut Haalandnotched a brace to lead BorussiaDortmund to a 3-0 win at ClubBrugge and send the Germanstop of Group F. Thorgan Hazardhad opened the scoring in hisnative Belgium.

Felipe Caicedo’s late equalis-er earned Lazio a 1-1 draw atZenit Saint Petersburg afterAleksandr Erokhin had struckin the first half in front ofsome 17,000 fans in Russia.

Resurgent Sunrisers target RCB’s history

KL Rahul 670 runs

Kagiso Rabada 25 wickets

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020

12

MOTION PICTURE

DUGOUTI just stuck to my basics,after a long time I wasplaying this format of thegame so I just wanted getback the rhythm andmomentum that was my plan

We have a great team with agreat bunch of girls. When thewicket wasn't turning, so Itried to keep it straight andvary the pace. It's quite nice toget few wickets

We haven't even got 12 hoursto recover from yesterday'sgame. So it has been difficultfor the girls to preparethemselves and come backand play the afternoon game

I just told all the bowlers tokeep it back of a length andstick to the stump line. I wasfollowing IPL, so I thoughtwe had a good bowlingattack (with all the spinners)

TODAY

Live from 7:30pmSTAR SSPORTS 11

VVSS

Royal Challengers Bangalore and India captain Virat Kohli cutscake to celebrate his 32nd birthday on Thursday @RCBTweets

AFP n PARIS

Rafael Nadal said he wasproud of a “great achieve-

ment” after securing the1,000th Tour-level victory ofhis illustrious career onWednesday, becoming thefourth man to reach that markwith a comeback win overFeliciano Lopez in the ParisMasters second round.

The 20-time Grand Slamchampion, back in the Frenchcapital less than a month afterwinning his 13th RolandGarros title, edged out his fel-low Spaniard 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

“I am proud about a lot ofthings, but I faced some chal-lenges in my career in terms ofbody injuries,” said Nadal.

“But I always had the pas-sion to keep going and thehumility to keep going whenthings are going in a way youdon’t expect. It’s a greatachievement for me.”

Nadal, whose first matchwin on the ATP Tour came inApril 2002 when he was just15, is fourth on the all-timelist, with Jimmy Connors lead-ing the way on 1,274 victories,32 more than second-placedRoger Federer. Ivan Lendl also

passed the 1,000-win barrier.“One negative thing about

getting to 1,000 — is thatyou’re very old as it means youhave to have had a very longcareer,” added Nadal. “But I’mvery happy.”

Nadal was given a specialpresentation to celebrate hisachievement after the match ina near-empty Bercy Arena,with the event being playedbehind closed doors afterFrance entered its secondcoronavirus lockdown lastweek.

“It has been a specialmoment. I know it’s a veryspecial number, 1000,” said the20-time Grand Slam champi-on.

“Even if it’s not the sameto celebrate something like thiswithout a crowd, I enjoyed itwith ATP, with the presidentof the French Federation, GuyForget, supervisor and theball boys.

“I enjoyed it and just cansay thanks to all of them tomake this moment a little bitmore special.”

The top seed, bidding fora first Paris Masters title, willface Jordan Thompson in thethird round after theAustralian beat Croatia’s BornaCoric 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Taking the trophy in Paristhis week would see Nadalequal Novak Djokovic’s recordof 36 Masters titles.

RCB spinner Yuzvendra Chahal posts picture with his fiancéDhanashree Verma, Indian captain Virat Kohli and his actor wifeAnushka Sharma after Virat's birthday celebrations Yuzi/Instagram

Delhi Capitals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and batsman AjinkyaRahane daughters Aarya, Akhira and Aadhya cheer for DelhiCapitals during their Qualifier 1 game against Mumbai Indians onThursday @DelhiCapitals

PTI n ABU DHABI

With momentum ontheir side, a confi-

dent Sunrisers Hyderabadwould look for anothercomplete performance tocontinue their forwardmarch in the IPL whenthey face a struggling

R o y a l

ChallengersBangalore in

the Eliminatorhere on Friday.

Pushed to the wallafter a slow start to thetournament, SRH pro-duced a lion-heartedeffort in the second leg

and peaked at the righttime to qualify for the play-offs by finishing third in theleague standings, just aheadof RCB.

It has been contrasting results forthe two teams in the business end ofthe tournament.

While RCB suffered four consec-utive defeats to finish the league stageat the fourth spot, SRH registered ahat-trick of wins to edge past ViratKohli’s men in the standings.

SRH made a remarkable turn-around in their final three games —defeating Delhi Capitals, RCB andtable-toppers Mumbai Indians tobook their last-fourth berth.

And come Friday, SRH would bebrimming with confidence, especial-ly after their 10-wicket win over MIin the last must-win game.

The credit for SRH’s success inthe past few matches goes to the

opening pair of Warnerand Wriddhiman Saha.

The duo has clickedupfront and has so far

shared two century stands — 107against DC and then 151 against MI.

While Warner has led SRH fromthe front, scoring 529 runs from 14games to occupy the second spot inthe scorers’ list, Saha (184 runs from3 matches) has proved that the SRHteam management has erred inbenching him for 11 ties.

Such has been Warner and Saha’sperformance that the likes of ManishPandey, Kane Williamson, PriyamGarg and Jason Holder were hardlybothered.

On the bowling front, SRH hasfound the right combination inSandeep Sharma, Jason Holder,Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan andRashid Khan and is expected to stickwith them.

While Sandeep has been sensa-tional in the powerplays, Natarajanhas done the job in the death overs.

Rashid has been consistent in themiddle overs, but certainly the inclu-sion of Holder and Nadeem has pro-vided balance to the team.

On the other hand, knowing verywell that another blunder couldsend them packing, the Kohli-ledRCB have a lot to ponder over.

Coming into the match with fourconsecutive losses, RCB’s confidencewould be rock-bottom.

But skipper Kohli understands itis not the time to think about pastresults and what matters from hereon is three wins on the trot to lift theIPL title.

But it would be easier said thandone as RCB seem to have lost someof their steam.

Josh Philippe, who has beenbrought in place of Aaron Finch, has

looked good in patches but hasn’tbeen able to convert his starts and inall likelihood, Kohli might be tempt-ed to bring back Finch on Friday.

Young Devdutt Padikkal, whoscored his fifth fifty of the event intheir last game, has been consistentat the top but Kohli needs to step upas of late, his strike rate has comeunder the scanner.

Kohli and AB de Villiers need totake responsibility in the big matchfor RCB, which also features the likesof Chris Morris, Shivam Dube andWashington Sundar.

Navdeep Saini, who was restedin the last match after he suffered asplit webbing, is expected to returnto partner Mohammed Siraj, IsuruUdana and Morris.

The spin department will beunder the wings of Sundar andYuzvendra Chahal.

PTI n DUBAI

Defending championsMumbai Indians

beat Delhi Capitals in IPLQualifier 1 to reach the finalof the 2020 edition.

The four-time winnersreached their sixth final inthe cash-rich league.Mumbai scored 200/5 in 20overs after some brillianthitting. In reply, DC failedto get past the target(143/8).

DC will await the win-ner of the Eliminator nowin Qualifier 2.

Suryakumar Yadav’snear flawless half-centurycomplemented by HardikPandya’s death-over fire-works saw Mumbai Indiansput up an above-par 200 for5 against Delhi Capitals inthe first qualifier of theIndian Premier League onThursday.

Surya smashed his wayto a 51 off 38 balls to lay afoundation that was enoughfor Hardik murder thebowling with five sixes inhis 14-ball-37.

In between, IshanKishan was an ideal anchorwith a priceless half-centu-ry (55 off 30 balls), adding60 for the sixth wicket withHardik in only 3.5 overs.

While RavichandranAshwin (3/29 in 4 overs)shone brightly with hiscerebral bowling, ShreyasIyer’s captaincy left a lot tobe desired due to negativetactics as far as his pacedepartment was concerned.

Starting with left-armseam of Daniel Sams (0/44

in 4 overs) badly backfiredand even worse was KagisoRabada (0/4 in 4 overs) andAnrich Nortje (1/50 in 4overs) also had a forgettableday at the office.

In all, Mumbai Indianshit 15 fours and 12 sixes, atestimony to the number ofbad balls bowled by theCapitals attack, especiallytheir speed merchants, whowere bowling short oflength consistently.

At the start, RohitSharma (0)’s dodgy ham-

string did play its part asAshwin bowled an off-break and the MI captain

didn’t move his front footenough to cover the spinand was adjudged leg

before.De Kock and Surya

however continued in fullflow as the boundaries andsixes continued to flowfrom their blades during the62-run stand in only 6.1overs.

While De Kock wassevere on anything bowledshort or on his legs, Surya’sflowing drives off spin andpace were a treat for theeyes.

SRH spinner Rashid Khan takes selfie with his fellow teammateJason Holder during his birthday celebrations @SunRisers

PTI n SHARJAH

Left-arm spinner SophieEcclestone grabbed four

wickets for just nine runs ina sensational bowling displayto help Trailblazers beatVelocity by nine wickets intheir Women’s T20Challenge match here onThursday.

E n g l i s h w o m a nEcclestone, ranked numberone in the ICC T20 rankings,was well supported by veter-an Jhulan Goswami (2/13)and Rajeshwari Gaekawad(2/13) as Trailblazers dis-missed Velocity in 15.1overs.

Trailblazers then chaseddown the small target of 48in just 7.5 overs with open-er Deandra Dottin and RichaGhosh remaining not out on29 and 13 respectively.

Despite their win againstSupernovas on Wednesday,Velocity’s net run rate wouldtake a beating afterThursday’s loss and thatcould hit them hard.

It was, however, a quietstart in the run chase for theTrailblazers as the Velocitybowlers denied them anyloose balls. Dottin and cap-

tain Smriti Mandhana (6)were finding hard to get theboundaries.

Mandhana finally wentfor the aerial route but per-ished in the process.

The Trailblazers were28 for 1 at the end of pow-erplay and they ended thematch in quick time withGhosh hitting a six to takeher side to victory.

Earlier, Ecclestone’s sen-sational four-wicket haulhelped Trailblazer dismissVelocity for a paltry score.

Ecclestone relentlesslyattacked the stumps with hersliders to end with dreamfigures of 4 for 9 in 3.1 overs.

Velocity, who beatSupernovas in the eventopener on Wednesday, putup a poor batting displaywith left-arm spin duo ofEcclestone and Gaekawadwreaking havoc. Theinnings folded up in 15.1overs.

Veteran Goswami ranthrough the Velocity top-order.

Only three of theVelocity batters could reachdouble digits with ShafaliVerma (13) being the top-scorer.

Ecclestone spins

Trailblazers to winDespite struggling post powerplay, Mumbai end up scoring 78 runs in final 5 overs

MI TAME DC, ENTER FINAL

Hardik Pandya chats with Ishan Kishan during Mumbai Indians innings IPLT20.com

Mohit's father nomore, DC playerswear black armbandto pay respectPTI n DUBAI

Delhi Capitals pacerMohit Sharma has left

for home following thedeath of his father ahead ofhis side's Indian PremierLeague Qualifiers 1 againstMumbai Indians here onThursday.

Delhi Capitals play-ers wore black armbandsduring the match as amark of respect for Mohit'sfather.

The 32-year-oldplayed just one match thisseason, against Kings XIPunjab on September 20,and took one wicket. DelhiCapitals won the match viaSuper Over.

He was India's one ofthe unlikely stars in the2015 World Cup inAustralia.

MATCHES 16

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD 09

ROYAL CHALLENGERS 07

Nadal enters 1,000-wins club Man Utd, PSG slump to defeatsRed Devils produce shambolic first-half defensive display asSolskjaer’s side lose 2-1 against Istanbul Basaksehir

Demba Ba celebrates after scoring Istanbul Basaksehir’s first goal AP