PNS n HYDERABAD

The recent rainfall has led to anincrease in ground water lev-els in all districts of the state,according to the TelanganaGroundwater Department.

According to GWD, “In thelast decade(2010-2020), theaverage water levels in themonth of August have been atshallowest level (i.e, 6.35 mbgl) with 40% excess to nor-mal rainfall during 2020 anddeepest at 12.47 m bgl with17% excess to normal rainfallduring 2016 of the samemonth”.

The average groundwaterlevel in the State during

August-2020 is 6.35 metersbelow ground level (m bgl)and it varies from 1.23 m bgl(Warangal (R)) to 18.51 m bgl(Sangareddy).

A net rise in groundwaterlevel of 4.80 m was observedduring August-2020 as com-pared to August-2019, and therise was observed in all districts.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB)sleuths on Wednesday seized1.5 kg gold from a bank lock-er which allegedly belongs totainted Keesara tahsildar ErvaBalraju Nagaraju.

Following the arrestNagaraju, ACB officials con-ducted raids on his residenceand office. During searches inhis house they found the keyof bank locker.

A sum of Rs 28 lakh incash was recovered from the

tahsildar's office.The officialsalso found Rs 8 lakh in cashin the car of the tahsildarparked outside the guesthouse.

HYDERABAD, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 324*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

8

Adani says air-ports to createadjacencies forgroup businesses

5

GST issue anattempt to subvert federalism:Mamata

2

Challenges inimplementationof NewEducational Policy 2020

22

TS pays Rs 25 crinterest per day! L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The Telangana State govern-ment is currently paying Rs 25crore per day towards intereston the huge loans it has mob-lised from various financialinstitutions over the past sixyears since the formation ofstate in June 2014.

Official sources told ThePioneer that the mountinginterest burden on the TS gov-ernment had forced ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoto write a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onTuesday rejecting the borrow-ing options proposed by theCentre to the States for bridg-ing their GST revenue shortfall.

Although all non-BJP ruledstates are opposing the Centre'sGST payout options, KCR hasbecome the first Chief Ministerin the country to write to thePrime Minister directly, taking

serious exception to theCentre's GST options.

As things stand, if the TSgovernment is constrained toaccept the Centre's GSToptions, it would have to bor-row an additional Rs 8,000crore.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India on Wednesday banned118 more mobile apps withChinese links, including pop-ular game PUBG, citing dataprivacy concerns and a threatto national security.

This takes the total count ofChinese-linked mobile appsbanned by India to 224.

The 118 apps banned onWednesday include Baidu, BaiduExpress Edition, Alipay, TencentWatchlist, FaceU, WeChat read-ing, Government WeChat,Tencent Weiyun, APUSLauncher Pro, APUS Security,Cut Cut, ShareSave by Xiaomi,and CamCard, besides PUBGMobile and PUBG Mobile Lite,according to an official release.

"The Government blocks118 mobile apps which areprejudicial to sovereignty andintegrity of India, defence ofIndia, the security of the stateand public order," the state-

ment said. The move comesamid fresh border tensionswith China in Ladakh.

The statement cited numer-ous complaints received bythe IT Ministry from varioussources, including several

reports about the misuse ofsome mobile apps available onAndroid and iOS platforms forstealing and surreptitiouslytransmitting users' data toservers outside India.

Centre gives 50L ex gratiato kin of martyred nurses,ahead of Telangana govtPNS n HYDERABAD

Although the Telangana Stategovernment is yet to make anannouncement regarding theex gratia sum to be paid tohealth workers martyred in thefight against the Covid-19pandemic, the Union govern-ment has already released theamount it had promised insuch cases to the kin of twofrontline workers of the state.The kin of deceased staff nurs-es - Victoria Jayamani of ChestHospital and Pavitra ofJangaon Hospital received Rs50 lakh from the central gov-ernment on Wednesday.

While appreciating health-care workers for their servicesin tackling Covid-19, the stategovernment has not yet com-mitted any amount for paymentof ex gratia sums to the kin ofabout 15 healthcare workers

who had lost their lives. Thisis despite the fact that variousquarters, including doctors'associations, have demandedthe governmemnt to go beyondexpressing condolences to thebereaved families.

Since the compensationfrom the state government isyet to be given, healthcareworkers are voluntarily donat-ing money to the family ofdeceased doctor Naresh.

81% of techies in city miss office environmentPNS n HYDERABAD

Nearly 81 per cent ofInformation Technology (IT)professionals in Hyderabad saythey miss their office environ-ment while working fromhome (WFH), Knight FrankIndia said on Tuesday. But ITemployees working inHyderabad miss their officeenvironment less, compared tothose in other metro cities.

With regard to the share ofemployees who miss theirworkplace, the National CapitalRegion (98 per cent) leads thetable, followed by Mumbai (94

per cent), Bengaluru (91 percent), Chennai (90 per cent),Pune (88 per cent) and

Hyderabad (81 per cent).WFH, necessitated by

Covid-19-induced lockdown,

also appears to have adverselyimpacted the productivity andperformance of the employees.About 30 per cent of theseemployees expressed deteriora-tion in their productivity andwork performance while work-ing from home.

Considering the significanceof 4.1 million IT sector employ-ees and their influence in deci-sion-making, Knight Frank

India conducted the surveywith 1,600 employees of ITand IT-enabled services compa-nies in India to understand theirproclivity towards WFH.

The survey showed 60 percent of respondents believedtime saved due to no office trav-el and 58 per cent highlightedsavings due to no cost of trav-el as advantages of WFH option.

5 Pawan fans killed in accidentPNS n HYDERABAD

Five fans of popular Teluguactor Pawan Kalyan, died ina road accident while return-ing home after celebrating hisbirthday in Telangana'sWarangal district in the earlyhours of Wednesday.

The car, in which theywere travelling, collidedhead on with a sand ladentruck at PasaragondaCrossroad in Damera man-dal, police said.

This was the secondtragedy to hit Pawan Kalyan'sfans celebrating his birth-day, in less than six hours.

DGP airdashes to Asifabad City techie, Kashmiri coupleamong 5 charge-sheeted by NIADURGA PRASAD SUNKU n HYDERABAD

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA), New Delhi onWednesday filed a charge-sheet against five peo-ple, includingHyderabad-basedAbdullah Basith,for their allegedassociation withthe banned IslamicState KhorasanProvince (ISKP), anaffiliate of ISIS.

Abdullah Basith wasbooked by NIA in 2016 in theAbu Dhabi ISIS module case.He was arrested by NIA in

February 2018. According to NIA officials,

Abdullah Basith, resident ofChandrayangutta, Hyderabadwas continuously making

efforts to propagate the ide-ology of ISIS in India

for which he hadentered into a con-spiracy with ISIShandlers and hisassociates.

He and his asso-ciates were involved

in identifying, moti-vating, radicalising

gullible Muslim youths tojoin hands with him in theconspiracy.

PNS n ASIFABAD

With rumours of the imminentsurrender of top Naxaliteleader and former secretary ofCPI (Maoist) Ganapati aliasMappalla Laxman Rao comingthick and fast, TelanganaDirector General of PoliceMahender Reddy onWednesday airdashed toAsifabad district.

The DGP heli-hoppedamong half a dozen placesnearby, reportedly in pursuit ofsome leads from a diary belong-ing to Maoist leader Bhaskarthat the police found recently.Hence, the DGP's tour of theforest areas of Asifabad districtassumes significance.

The DGP held discussions

with various authorities at thehelipad in Asifabad. DistrictCollector Sandeep Kumar Jhaand RamagundamCommissioner of PoliceSatyanarayana accompaniedhim on his tour.

After assessing intelligencereports on the movements ofMaoists, the DGP left forUtnoor. He toured Adilabad,Tiryani, Narnur and Deopurareas.

Groundwater levelshighest in the decade

Mock drill at Srisailampower plant PNS n SRISAILAM

The recent fire mishap atSrisailam Left Bank Canalpowerhouse has so sensi-tised the staff that a mockdrill on Wednesday, full witha ball of fire and deafeningblasts, saw frightened person-nel in the plant running outto save their skin.

Later, TS Transco and TSGenco Chairman-cum-Managing DirectorDevulapalli Prabhakar Raoissued a statement ruling outany blasts or fire in the pow-erhouse and clarifying that itwas only a mock drill con-ducted to prevent recurrenceof August 20-type incident inthe plant.

The mock drill was con-ducted by TS Genco civildirector Aja and his team atthe behest of the CMD.

It may be recalled that theAugust 20th fire mishap in theplant had claimed nine lives.

Meanwhile, theGovernment of Telanganaannounced ex gratia pay-ment to those who werekilled in the fire mishap.

PNS n HYDERABAD

There is less infection andmore fatalities among seniorcitizens in Telangana State,compared to the national aver-ages with regard to theseaspects of Covid-19 caseload.

As per data revealed by theUnion Health Ministry onWednesday, 12 per cent of peo-ple infected by Covid-19 casesare aged above 60 years. InTelangana, about 10.33 per centof the people infected are agedabove 60 years.

The age group of personsabove 60 years is the smallestgroup that has tested positivefor coronavirus, but the fatal-ity rate is very high amongsenior citizens. About 51 per

cent of deaths in the countryare among people aged 60 andabove. While there are noexact figures for deaths in thestate in this age group, officialshave stated that the fatality hasbeen largely among senior cit-izens and those with comor-

bidities.Sources in the Health

Department stated that seniorcitizens do not step out andeven the infected cases amongthem in the state are largely dueto youngsters who are goingoutside and failing to follow the

precautions.Based on the data provided

by the Telangana HealthDepartment, the age-groupwise approximation has beendone to match the nationalage-group categorisation.

The percentage of minorsvulnerable to infection isnearly equal at state and coun-try levels. Patients of the agebelow 17 years account fornearly 8 per cent of the Covid-19 cases across the state andcountry.

Patients within the agegroup of 26-44 account for43.06% of the total Covid-19cases in Telangana, which is 3points above the national per-centage.

ACB seizes 1.5 kg goldfrom Keesara Tahsildar

As things stand, if theTS government isconstrained to acceptthe Centre's GSToptions, it would haveto borrow anadditional Rs 8,000 cr.

India bans PUBG, 117other Chinese apps

‘The Govt blocks 118 mobile apps which are prejudicialto sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India,the security of the state and public order

n About 40 per cent ofthose in the age group of26-44 years have beeninfected by coronavirusacross the country

n About 26 per cent of thecases at the national leveland 25.3 per cent of thecases at the state level areamong those in age groupof 45-60 years

Less infection, more fatalities among aged

About 30 per cent of these employees expresseddeterioration in their productivity and workperformance while working from home.

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MONEY 8ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL

TURN POSITIVE BY Q1FY22: EACPM

ANALYSIS 7CORONA POLICY

VS REALITY

SPORTS 11PAK END ENG TOUR

WITH WIN

}PK ACES THELAWYER LOOK{

PM-CARES GOT RS 3,076 CRORE IN 5 DAYS, NAMES NOT REVEALED

MISSION KARMAYOGI' TO PREPARE CIVILSERVANTS FOR THE FUTURE: PM MODI

The Telangana government has permitted operation of metro rail services herein a graded manner from September 7. The announcement comes after the

Centre allowed the metro services to resume operations across the country, aspart of Unlock-4 guidelines. "Managing Directors of all Indian metros held avideo conference on Tuesday (September 1) to recommend protocols fornecessary precautions and safety measures. Theprotocols will be decided in a day or two by theministry of housing and urban affairs, governmentof India with the approval of the Home ministry,"Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd MD, N V S Reddy said ina statement on Tuesday night.

HYDERABAD METRO RAIL TORESUME OPERATIONS FROM SEPT 7

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that 'MissionKarmayogi', a major bureaucratic reform exercise

approved by the Union Cabinet, will "radically"improve the government's human resourcemanagement practices, asserting that the programmeaims to prepare civil servants for the future. Theexercise will use scale and state of the artinfrastructure to augment the capacity of civil servants,Modi tweeted. "The iGOT platform will enable thetransition to a role-based HR management &continuous learning.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested alleged "hawala" dealer Naresh Jainin a money-laundering probe linked to "hawala" transactions worth about Rs

20,000 crore, officials said on Wednesday. They said Jain has been arrested undersections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and will be producedbefore a court here. A maze of multiple shell or dubious firms and atleast 600 bank accounts are under the scanner of the agency inthe case, touted to be one of the biggest hawala and trade-basedmoney-laundering cases of the country. The officials said Jainand his associates are being probed for "hawala" or illegalfinancial transactions, including overseas ones, worth about Rs20,000 crore that have been carried out over the last few years.

ED ARRESTS RS 20 K CRORE'HAWALA' DEALER NARESH JAIN

The PM-CARES fund for Covid received Rs 3,076 crore in five days,according to an audit statement made public by the government. The

statement, for the financial year 2020, only records donations betweenMarch 27 (when the fund was set up) and March 31. Of this Rs 3,076crore, Rs 3,075.85 crore came from domestic voluntary contribution andRs 39.67 lakh was foreign contribution. The statement saysPM-CARES had an initial corpus of Rs 2.25 lakh and thefund has also received an interest of around Rs 35 lakh.The audit statement has been uploaded on the PM-CARES fund website but the "accompanying notes 1 to 6"in the statement have not been made public.

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADDWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated September 2, 2020 5:00 PM

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Bhadrapada & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 12:26 pm

Nakshatram: Purva Bhadrapada:

08:51 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:47 pm – 03:19 pm

Yamagandam: 06:06 am – 07:38 am

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 09:10 am - 10:42 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 12:05 pm – 01:50 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:50 am – 12:39 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTTeemmpp:: 31/23HHuummiiddiittyy:: 65%SSuunnrriissee:: 06.02 amSSuunnsseett:: 06.27 pm

Page 11

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HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 hyderabad 02

EGG

RATES

` 54,210 (10 gm)

` 6610

GOLD

` 68,700 (1kg)

` 22,300

HYDERABAD 418

VIJAYAWADA 455

VISAKHAPATNAM 458

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..5500

SILVER

HYDERABAD

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `181

Without Skin `206

Broiler at Farm `125

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

PV's birthplace to be a tourist hubPNS n VANGARA

Tourism Minister V SrinivasGoud on Wednesday hinted atdeveloping Vangara village, thenative place of former PrimeMinister PV Narasimha Rao,into a historic tourist attractionand put it on national tourismmap. The Minister, who visitedPV Narasimha Rao's house inVangara on Wednesday, saidthat Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao wants todevelop the Vangara village insuch way that it gets internation-al recognition in the birth cen-tenary year of the former PM.

Addressing media here, hesaid he along with tourism sec-retary KS Srinivas Raju,Tourism Department MDManohar, director for depart-ment of culture Hari Krishna,EE of Shilparamam Anji Reddy,archaeology deputy directorNarayana visited Vangara andspoke with PV Narasimha Rao'sfamily and took a decision todevelop the house as a famoustourist centre discussing thearrangements with the familymembers.

The Minister described PV as

a great person who usheredfinancial, economic and landreforms in the country. Hecalled PV as the person who hadgrown to become the country'sPM from a humble position ofvillage patwari. He distributedhis 1,000 acres of land amongthe landless poor by ushering inland reforms. The ChiefMinister is taking all measuresto spread the greatness of PVNarasimha Rao to every nookand corner of the globe, he said.

In spite of holding severaltop positions in the country,PV Narasimha Rao led a sim-ple life, he said. No governmentgave importance to PV uponhis death. In the ParliamentCentral hall, there was no por-trait of him, he remarked. Thestate government will take allsteps to develop Laknepallialong with Vangara, where PVwas born and brought up, intofamous tourist centres. The vil-lages would be placed on

tourism circuit to attracttourists to the place from allparts of the state.

His house would begroomed into a museum dis-playing the articles used by himwith proper description. Heused to draft plaints whenpeople approach him withproblems. He also used com-puter adopting himself tochanging technology environ-ment, he minister said quotingthe villagers as saying.

Earlier, he went round thehouse of PV Narasimha Rao.Along with District CollectorRajiv Gandhi Hanumanthu,ZP Cairman Dr Sudhir Raoand held discussions with PVNarasimha Rao's family mem-bers. He said that he visitedVangara on the orders of Chief

Minister K ChandrashekharRao. He asked the officials todevelop Warangal-Siddipetroad into a double road andbeautify it on either side.

He insisted on erection ofwelcome arches. The Sivatemple in the village would bedeveloped while the tank inVangara would be developed asa mini tank bund. A suspen-sion bridge would be installedin the middle of the tank. Amodel park would be built inseven acre site. The decisionswould be taken to the notice ofthe Chief Minister beforeimplementing them, he said.PV Narasimha Rao's son PVPrabhakar Rao spoke. PVNarasimha Rao's family mem-bers Vani Devo, Kashyap andothers were present.

A suspension bridge will be

constructed in the tank at the

village besides developing a model

park in seven acres of the land,

said Minister Srinivas Goud

TS reports 2,892new cases, 10deaths PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana continued torecord an increase inCoronavirus cases with 2,892fresh infections and 10 moredeaths, taking the tally in thestate to 1.30 lakh. GHMCaccounted for the most num-ber of cases with 477, fol-lowed by Rangareddy 234,Medchal Malkajgiri 192,Nalgonda 174 andKarimnagar 152 districts, agovernment bulletin said onWednesday. As many as59,421 samples were tested onSeptember 1. Cumulatively,14.83 lakh samples have beentested.

The New Educational Policy(NEP), as approved by theNarendra Modigovernment,has been wel-comed by and large, thoughsome circles have raised con-cerns about certain opera-tional issues. All said and done,this NEP is certainly a path-breaking initiative. It is a time-ly move that promises a slew oftransformative reforms in theentire education system with aview to responding to thetrends and needs of society inthe 21st century. This policy isaimed at addressing the much-discussed twin problems in oureducation system: rote learningdevoid of understanding andthe disconnect between educa-tion and life.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, while addressing a con-clave on 'TransformationalReforms in Higher Educationunder NEP 2020' highlighted

how the policy focuses on shiftin approach from 'what tothink' to 'how to think' andhow it would transform the'intent' and 'content' of theeducation sector with empha-sis on integrating 'local' and'global' ultimately and lay thefoundation for 'New India'.

Critical thinking cultivatesthe skills necessary for mak-ing responsible choices thatchange the lives of individu-als and transform societies.Such reflection has never beenmore important than in thisera of media frenzy and infor-mation overload.

It is well-known that manypolicies, despite beingdesigned with good intent andhigh aspirations, have failedmainly due to challengesencountered in their imple-mentation. Sometimes politi-cal masters lose steam midwayand allow the policy to drift.

Should NEP 2020 meet suchfate, it would be a disaster forgenerations to come.

Bringing change in educa-tion is a major challenge. Oneof the primary reasons why fac-ulty membersand educationadministrators do not respondto change is their abiding com-mitment to a model of univer-sity that was first developed by18th century philosopher fromPrussia, Immanuel Kant. Thechanging dynamics of work,productionprocess associatedwith rapid technological trans-

formation necessitates reassess-ment of the effectiveness of thismodel.

When the organisation ofknowledge changes,the struc-ture of educational institution-salso needs to be transformed.While many teachers are seri-ous scholars, too often they areafraid of experimentationandchange, and fall back on famil-iar past making educationself-replication. The past mustgive way to future in whichthere is ample opportunity forcollaborative interaction at

every level of the educationprocess. Policy should focuson how to identify, prepareand retain education leadersi.e., Vice Chancellors,Principals, HeadMistresses,Registrars etc. An effectivechoosing process of ViceChancellors should comeoutwith methods that will stop

the problem of inbreeding.Further, some of the propos-

als relate to creatinginstitutions.Some of the proposals requirelegal changes. Since various-bodies from central and stategovernments have to lead theimplementation,collaborationand timely infusion of requisiteresourceswill be crucial forsuccessful execution of thepolicy. The National ResearchFoundation (NRF),NationalEducational TechnologyForum(NETF), which are to beindependent bodies, and theproposal for a Board ofGovernors for universitiesrequire amendments to thecentral and/or state universitiesActs. Policymakers need toput in enormous efforts andstrategy,while ensuring coher-ence in policy, to successfullyoperationalize the NEP 2020.The policy already outlinedenvisions a substantial increase

in government investment byboth central and state govern-ments in the education sectorand ultimately to reach 6% ofGDP at the earliest.

As education is a concur-rent subject, NEP 2020 pro-poses strengthening andempowering the CentralAdvisory Board of Education,in which education ministersof all the states are members,and which functions in collab-oration with the Ministry ofEducation and correspondingapex bodies of the states. Howto get substantial coopera-tion from states and makeapex bodies at the centre andin the states take the lead willdepend on creation of convic-tion in the political executiveof states and education func-tionaries across the country.

If NEP 2020 has to serve theintended social and econom-ic purposes, the operational-

ization plans should focus ondeveloping institutional mech-anisms, pedagogicalresources, effective teacherand faculty training systems,educational leaders develop-ment structures and socialbases that make educationalprocesses meaningful, enrich-ing and economically viablefor all students. The govern-ment has the great opportuni-ty to reposition the entireeducation system and build21st century model of educa-tion that is of high quality, yetequitable and affordable.Evolving world demands thatwe move from discussion,deliberation and debate torapid and responsible action.Our policy actions must beguided by vision of 'what' andstategy of 'how' to create agloballycompetitive educationsystem and realise the dreamof 'New India'.

DR. K. LAKSHMINARAYANA

IAS (retired),Skill Development Expert

Critical thinking cultivates the skillsnecessary for making responsible choicesthat change the lives of individuals andtransform societies. Such reflection hasnever been more important than in this eraof media frenzy and information overload

Challenges in implementation of New Education Policy

Authorities crackdown on schoolsNAMRATA SRIVASTAVA

n HYDERABAD

After receiving several com-plaints from parents' associa-tions, the School EducationDepartment, Government ofTelangana, has issued freshorders to private schools in thestate asking them not toincrease the fees for academ-ic year 2020-21.

Citing the GovernmentOrder issued on April 20, theauthorities instructed schoolsto charge only tuition fees andthat too on a monthly basis.

"Keeping in view the hard-ship caused by lockdown dueto COVID-19, the TelanganaState Cabinet passed a

Resolution that schools shallnot increase any kind of feesduring the academic year2020-21 and shall charge onlytuition fees on monthly basistill further orders," read theorder.

The authorities also plan totake strict action against thosewho do not comply with theinstructions.

"Non-complaince of theinstructions will result in thecancellation of school recogni-tion, revoking the NoObjection Certificate alreadygranted for affiliation to otherboards, and initiation ofappropriate actions againstthe school management underrelevant acts/rules."

81% of techies in city miss office...Continued from Page 1

In terms of disadvantages, 43per cent felt a lack of office-dri-ven social life and 42 per centcited difficulty to focus in aninformal setting.

The IT sector has been a keydriver of India's office market.

It contributed 44 per cent ofcumulative office spacedemand in the last 10 years(2010-2019).

"This market research ofthe real users of IT/ITeS officespaces clearly indicates thatdespite certain conveniencescited for work from home

arrangement, most employ-ees miss the office environ-ment due to benefits of com-munication and collaboration,"said Sugata Sarkar, SeniorDirector for Consultancy andMarket Research at KnightFrank India.

TS pays Rs 25 cr...Continued from Page 1

The TS government'sinterest burden on loansmore than doubled from Rs5,000 crore in 2014, when theState was formed, to Rs13,000 crore now.

As per the Comptrollerand Auditor General's (CAG)statistics, the TS governmentis spending Rs 13 crore peryear towards payment ofinterest on loans.

CAG statistics say the TSgovt has already spent near-ly Rs 60,000 crore towardspayment of interest alonesince 2014 at the rate of Rs 25crore per day.

These statistics show thatTS paid Rs 5,195.75 croreinterest in the first year ofstate formation in 2014-15fiscal. It increased to Rs6,755.78 crore in 2015-16, Rs7,995.11 crore in 2016-17, Rs

10,262.50 crore in 2017-18,Rs 11,892.47 crore in 2018-19and finally to Rs 13,642.30crore in 2019-20.

The statistics indicate thatTS government had paid overRs 9,000 crore interest peryear on an average over thepast six years.

Should the TS governmentborrow an additional Rs8,000 crore on account ofGST obligations, the interestburden alone would shoot toRs 15,000 crore this fiscal2020-21. The state govern-ment is simply not in a posi-tion to afford this, givendwindling revenues onaccount of corona-inducedfinancial crisis.

The Finance Departmenthas red-flagged all options fortaking further loans, forcingKCR to write to Modi oppos-ing Centre'a options for bor-rowings by States.

Continued from Page 1

"The compilation of these data,its mining and profiling by ele-ments hostile to national secu-rity and defence of India,which ultimately impingesupon the sovereignty andintegrity of India, is a matter ofvery deep and immediate con-cern which requires emer-gency measures," the releasesaid. Earlier on June 29, thegovernment had banned 59Chinese apps, including huge-

ly popular TikTok and UCBrowser, saying they were prej-udicial to sovereignty, integri-ty and security of the country.

That ban, applicable on appssuch as WeChat and Bigo Live,had come in the backdrop ofa stand-off along the Line ofActual Control in Ladakh withChinese troops.

The June ban was followedby blocking of 47 moreChinese apps that were clonesand variants of the onesbanned earlier.

On Wednesday, the gov-ernment said the Electronicsand IT Ministry, invoking itspowers under section 69A ofthe Information TechnologyAct along with relevant rulesand in view of the emergentnature of threats, has decidedto block the 118 mobile apps.

These apps have beenblocked "in view of the infor-mation available they areengaged in activities whichare prejudicial to sovereigntyand integrity of India.

Continued from Page 1

Another accused AbdulQhadeer, based inChandrayanagutta, Hyderabad,also came under the influenceof accused Abdullah Basithbecause of their commonintention to propagate the ide-ology of ISIS in India for

which he actively started meet-ing the other gang members.The recovery of explosive sub-stances from his possessionestablished his intention tofabricate an IED, said NIA.

This case was initially regis-tered by the Delhi PoliceSpecial Cell in March, 2020,after the arrest of a Kashmiri

couple viz. Jahanzaib SamiWani and his wife Hina BashirBeigh from Okhla Vihar, JamiaNagar in Delhi.

The couple was found to behaving affiliations with ISKP,which is a banned terroristorganisation and part of ISIS,and were found to be involvedin subversive and anti-nation-

al activities. They were alsofound to be in touch withAbdullah Basith, lodged inTihar jail in another NIA case.On 12 July, 2020 NIA teamscarried out searches in Puneand arrested two accused per-sons viz. Nabeel S. Khatri andSadiya Anwar Sheikh in con-nection with the ISKP.

India bans PUBG, 117 other...

City techie, Kashmiri couple among 5 charge

Less infection...Continued from Page 1

Presenting an analysis ofCovid-19 cases and mortal-ity on the basis of age, theage groups between 26-44years formed the largestchunk of Covid-19 positivecases in Telangana and thecountry as well. At the statelevel, nearly 43 per cent ofcases are among those in theage group of 26-44 years.About 25.3 per cent of thecases at the state level areamong those in the agegroup of 45-60 years.

The MOHFW urged citi-zens to continue to strictlyfollow the Covid-19 safetyguidelines. In a statement,MOHFW said: “It continuesto be important to observeCovid-19 appropriate safebehaviour of wearingmasks/face covers in public,following hand hygiene andcough etiquette.”

DGP airdashesto Asifabad Continued from Page 1

The TS police were tight-lipped about his visit toAdilabad.

The DGP has previouslysurveyed the forest areas inundivided Adilabad dis-trict, following inputs aboutthe presence of Maoiststhere.

Meanwhile, intelligencesources said that negotia-tions were under waybetween the top gun ofMaoists Ganapati and gov-ernment representatives overthe former's surrender.

The 74-year-old Naxaliteleader, who had steppeddown from the post of secre-tary of CPI (Maoist) twoyears back on health grounds,is said to be inclined to sur-render.

5 Pawan fans killed...Continued from Page 1

Three youth were electrocut-ed to death and three otherswere injured when they camein contact with a live wirewhile erecting a banner inAndhra Pradesh's Chittoordistrict on Tuesday night.

The victims were identifiedas Rajender (31), Somasekhar(29) and Arunachalam (20).

Pawan Kalyan, who is alsothe president of Jana Senaparty, announced financialsupport of Rs 2 lakh to thefamily of the deceased inChittoor incident.

He expressed his condo-lences and stated that it was hisresponsibility to support thefamily.

Warangal police said theyouth who celebrated PawanKalyan's birthday in Warangalwere on their way to Mulugu

to drop one of them when thecar in which they were travel-ling rammed into a truck.

The victims were identifiedas M. Rakesh, Naresh, M.Rohit, Sabir and K.Jayaprakash, all aged around25 years.

Jayaprakash, who was dri-ving a Sedan car, apparentlylost control while overtakinga vehicle and collided head-onwith a truck coming from theopposite direction.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan'snephew and superstar K.Chiranjeevi's actor son RamCharan has also announced Rs2.5 lakh for the families of thevictims of Chittoor accident.

"Nothing we do can com-pensate for the loss of lives. Wecan only stand by the familiesof the deceased and lend oursupport in these difficulttimes," tweeted Ram Charan.

ACB seizes 1.5 kg goldfrom Keesara TahsildarContinued from Page 1

"We have traced the locker keyto South Indian Bank, Alwal,(Secunderabad) branch, whichwas in the name ofG.J.Narender, a relative ofE.B.Nagaraj,Tahsildar. Whenthe locker was opened with thehelp of key seized from thetainted officer's residence, theofficials found gold ornamentsweighing 1,532 grams worthRs. 57.6 lakhs and they wereseized, " said ACB officials.

The seized gold ornamentswould be deposited in theCourt of Special Judge for SPEand ACB cases, Hyderabad.

On August 14, acting on atip, Telangana ACB raided aguest house at A S Rao Nagarwhich purportedly belongs toK. Anji Reddy (40), a realestate dealer, one of the con-

spirators, and caught Keesaratahsildar E. Balraju Nagarajucaught red-handedly with Rs1.10 crore cash which he wastaking from Ch. Srinath (50),another real estate dealer, inconnection with the 28 acresof land at Rampally village inKeesara mandal. Investigationsrevealed that he was acceptingbribe to clear the land issuepertaining to 19 acres 39 gun-tas of survey number 614 andother numbers in the limits ofRampally village, Keesaramandal to process the file infavour of original pattadarsand to furnish orders ofDistrict Collector Medchal-Malkajgiri. Recently he, alongwith other accused, were takeninto police custody for ques-tioning. He reportedly didn'tcooperate with the investi-gating officers.

Mock drill at ...Continued from Page 1

A sum of Rs 50 lakh wouldbe paid to the family ofDivisional Engineer SrinivasGoud and Rs 25 lakh tobereaved families of eightothers killed in the firemishap, Minister for EnergyG Jagadish Reddy said.

Centre gives 50Lex gratia to kin...Continued from Page 1

A doctor, sharing his viewson condition of anonymity,said that if the State govern-ment was determined, itcould have made anannouncement in this regard,instead of holding so manymeetings. “Odisha and Delhiannounced Rs 50 lakhs andwe here who always lead byexample haven’t evenannounced ex gratia,” he said.

Groundwaterlevels highest...Continued from Page 1

A minimum rise of 0.40 mwas observed in Adilabadand maximum rise of 11.89m in Mahabubnagar district.

The report says, “thus thereis 40% more rainfall duringthis period in the State, ascompared to normal annualrainfall up to August 2020. 23districts received excess rain-fall than normal rainfall(+20% to 121%) and remain-ing 10 districts received nor-mal rainfall (-19 to -19%)”.

Excise Minister Srinivas Goud pays floral tribiutes to the potrait of former PM PVNarasimha Rao, in Vangara on Wednesday

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 hyderabad 03

IN BRIEFIN BRIEF

IIIT Technology Venture Partnersinvested in two Artificial

Intelligence-based startups -Dave.Ai and Stack Finance. Whilethe partner has invested Rs 20lakh in Dave.Ai - a Bengaluru-based AI sales augmentation platform, it has invested another Rs 20lakh in Stack Finance which is a startup that helps people to knowabout their spending. Dave.Ai's platform is used by brands to createsales experiences on the web, virtual reality, and augmented reality.The startup, founded in 2016 by Dr Ananthakrishnan Gopal, AshokBalasundaram and Sriram P H, has also received funding fromMumbai Angels, and participation from GHVAccelerator and MohanKumar - CEO of Crestere Technologies LLP. Delhi-based StackFinance is a startup founded by Smriti Tomar and it enables ahealthier financial lifestyle by automating investments, expenses, andborrowing under a single platform along with friends and family, anAI-powered intelligent and personalised manager.

The Telangana Audiologists andSpeech-Language Pathologists

Association, an association of over270 audiologists and speechtherapists, hosted a two-day CREwebinar, under the aegis of theRCI, on "Tele Learning for Childrenwith Amplification Devices", foraudiology, speech, language,

pathology and special educators dealing with children with hearingimpairment, from across the country. The webinar extensivelyfocused on topics which are of great relevance in the currentscenario of social distancing with emphasis being laid on onlineeducation and addressed the unique and compounded challengesfaced by children with hearing impairment.

IIIT Tech Venture partners invest in AI-based startups

TASLPA hosts webinar on tele

learning for hearing impaired

PNS n HYDERABAD

Doctors warn the peopleagainst brewing immunityboosting decoctions at home asthey are likely to cause gastricproblems, acidity, burning sen-sation in chest and other diges-tion related problems.

In a bid to boost theirimmunity in the wake of Covidinfection, some of them arepurchasing readymade pow-ders while others are usingAyurvedic herbs and spicesavailable in kitchen to makeimmunity boosting decoctions.

The doctors say that immu-nity boosting preparations areacceptable to be used only tocertain extent. If the dosageincreases they are likely tocause gastro intestinal prob-lems, the doctors warn.

Noted gastroenterologistfrom Osmania Hospital DrMadhusudhan has noticed thatsuch cases are almost doubledwhen compared to earlier.

People have been usingmedications for cough, coldand fever so that others wouldnot be able to suspect them tobe Coronavirus carriers.

In fact, the symptoms ofCoronavirus match with that oftyphoid, malaria, dengue andswine flu too. Currently, onlyCovid tests are being conduct-

ed and the tests for otherfevers are not being conduct-ed.

Even doctors are not able todiagnose what kind of feverwith which the patient is suf-fering from. Under such sce-nario, the people are takingadvantage of Youtube andsocial media to buy medicineswithout giving weightage toother factors like age, weight,

BP and others. Since the peo-ple are using medicines ontheir own, without consultingdoctors, they have been affect-ing changes in pulse rate andfinding it difficult to breatheforcing them to approach hos-pitals. Some medical expertsopine that it may also lead todeath.

Doctors have no under-standing in the beginning on

what drugs to use to treatCoronavirus patients. Ofcouse,now they have some under-sanding. Earlier,H y d r o x y c h l o r o q u i n e ,Azithromycin, Vitamin-C andParacetomol received widepublicity as effective drugs totreat Covid.

Subseuently, they startedprescribing dexamethasoneand other drugs received pub-licity. Many have used thesedrugs on their own. Vitamintablets are not harmful, butdexamethasone is a corticos-teroid cause heart ailments,says head of the department ofcardiology in NIMS Dr RVKumar.

To boost theirimmunity, someare purchasingreadymadepowders whileothers are usingherbs and spicesin kitchen tomake immunityboostingdecoctions

Easy, healthy diet can help in Covid fightPNS n HYDERABAD

Easy, affordable and healthyeating can help people fromfalling prey to Covid-19, saynutritionists.

The food consumed impactsthe human body's ability tofight diseases and recover frominfections and eating a healthy,nutritious, and balanced diet isimportant amid global pan-demic, they said on the occa-sion of national nutrition week,being celebrated fromSeptember 1 to 7.

Though no food will cureCovid-19 infections, a healthydiet along with good physicalactivity will help build astronger immune system totackle the adverse impact of thedeadly coronavirus, they said.

As the nutrition week isbeing celebrated amidst thepandemic, doctors say it isimportant to know that goodnutrition helps reduce the risks

of ailments like diabetes, hyper-tension, obesity, heart diseases,which are common reasons forfalling prey to coronavirus.Many types of cancers too canbe prevented by consuming

healthy and nutritious food.According to common

understanding, a healthy dietfor a newborn baby meansexclusive breastfeeding in thefirst six months, with the intro-

duction of nutritious and safefoods to complement breastmilk from 6 months to 2 yearsand beyond. For young chil-dren, a healthy and balanceddiet is essential for growth

and development while foraged, it can help to ensurehealthier and more active life.

"Food makes a world of dif-ference to our system which islinked to the solar clock. Eatingat regular hours means theenergy levels remain steady anddo not sway from highs to lows.This will help body rhythm set-tle down and it will balance outthe hormones to keep the bodyenergized. Any food that isclosest to its natural form,least processed and seasonal isthe best for health," saidSrilatha, Clinical Nutritionist,Medicover Hospitals.

"Nutrient-rich food addshealth while processed andrefined foods add empty calo-ries leaving you without ener-gy and feeling low and can leadto many diseases. Fermentedfoods add good bacteria thatkeep the gut healthy and theabsorption of nutrients effi-cient," she said.

City to unveil iconic cable-stayed bridgePNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad is all set to addanother iconic structure as thecity's first cable-stayed bridgeis ready to be unveiled.

The bridge, which has comeup on Durgam Cheruvu lake,is expected to add glitter to theinformation technology hubMadhapur, housing gleamingtowers of global IT giants.

IT Minister KT Rama Raoon Wednesday released avideo of the bridge, which willconnect Road Number 45 inJubilee Hills to Madhapur."Infrastructure is the key to gr-owth and government spendsover 60 per cent budget oninfra creation," he tweeted.

The bridge, constructed ata cost of Rs 180 crore, will notonly cut short the distance

between the two points butwill also become the newtourist spot as the authoritiespropose to allow only pedes-trians on the bridge during theweekends. It is claimed to bethe world's longest span extra-dosed cable stayed bridge witha length of 238 metres.

Infrastructure major L&Thas designed and constructedthe bridge under EPC mode.According to the GHMC, offi-cials only cables were procuredfrom Germany while all othercomponents are from India.

Officials say 4,800 metrictonnes of steel, 300 metrictonnes of stay-cable and 3,000cubic metres of concrete wereused in the construction. Atotal of 26 stay-cables support53 cement concrete segmentsof the bridge.

KTR tells civic body officials to intensify sanitation drivePNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal Administration andUrban Development MinisterKT Rama Rao directed theGHMC zonal commissionersto focus mainly on sanitation.

On Wednesday, duringreview meeting at PragatiBhavan on various develop-ment projects taking place inGHMC, KTR suggested thatnecessary steps should be takento further implement the pro-grams related to sanitation.

The meeting was attendedby Hyderabad City MayorBonthu Rammohan, PrincipalSecretary of the MunicipalDepartment Arvind Kumaralong with GHMCCommissioner Lokesh Kumarand other senior officials.

During the meeting, therewas a lengthy discussion on theinfrastructure developmentactivities currently underwayunder the GHMC as well asother development projects.

KTR said large-scale con-struction of public toiletsshould continue by October 2.Appreciating the ongoing con-struction of large-scale foot-paths in the city, KTR suggest-ed that efforts should be madeto make the footpaths as longas possible, where possible.

It was suggested to coordinatewith the Irrigation Department,to move even faster on the

development and beautifica-tion works of the ponds.

KTR expressed satisfactionover the special drive on thedevelopment of parks. It wassuggested that all the parks inthe city should be cleaned andeach park should be developed

wherever possible.The Minister told the offi-

cials that there was some workpending regarding the footover bridges and suggestedthat they should see to it thatthe construction is completedexpeditiously.

Minister KT Rama Rao holds review meeting with officials to discuss on various projects on Wednesday

State varsities gear up for final examsNAMRATA SRIVASTAVA n HYDERABAD

After the final verdict from theSupreme Court, theUniversities in Telangana havestarted the process of conduct-ing the final examination.

University of Hyderabad(UoH) plans to conduct exam-inations for the final semesterpost-graduate students fromSeptember 16. Announcingthe decision after a meeting ofa high-level committee head-ed by the two Pro Vice-Chancellors, followed by a dis-cussion with Heads ofDepartment and Deans ofSchools, the Vice-Chancellor,Prof Appa Rao Podile saidthat the University was com-pelled to comply with theorders of the SC on August 28upholding the guidelines of theUGC to declare the results onlyafter conducting end-semesterexaminations. The students,who are unable to attend theexams from September 16,will have another opportunity

to appear in the second spell ofexams scheduled for October5.

In an open letter to theUniversity community, ProfAppa Rao explained that whilethe earlier decision was takenwith the best interests of stu-dents in mind, after the SCjudgement, the University hasscheduled the end-semesterexaminations so as to not jeop-ardise the future of students if

their degrees were to be inval-idated by regulatory authori-ties. The Heads and Deans willwork out a range of flexibleoptions to administer theexaminations online and min-imise the inconvenience tostudents, he added.

Osmania University, too,has issued guideline for theaffiliated colleges to conductthe examination. In the orderissued, the authorities of OU

instructed the colleges to con-duct the final semester exam-ination to the student of all UGand PG programmes related tothe academic year 2019-20,including backlog exams.

They added, "Pending con-duct of examination, all thestudents belonging to interme-diate semester of the academ-ic year 2019-20 will be promot-ed to the next semester of theyear 2020-21. However, thesestudents will have to clear allexaminations, including back-logs, if any, whenever theexaminations are held to final-ly complete the course."

The University is planningto conduct the final exams inSeptember itself. Prof Dr GopalReddy, Registrar of OU said,"We have planned to take theexams in the month ofSeptember. However, we can'tconduct online examination asmany of our students are attheir native, rural places. Wehave to work out all the details,and will announce the exami-nation dates very soon."

TS EAMCET to take place in SeptemberPNS n HYDERABAD

The JNTU will be conductingEAMCET during September9, 10, 11 and 14. The examwill be conducted throughonline mode.

The arrangements for con-duct of the examination arebeing made with the requiredfacilities for the candidates byfollowing Covid guidelines.

EAMCET-2020 is sched-uled in 102 test centers with79 test centers in Telanganaand 23 test centers in AndhraPradesh. The total number ofapplicants in Engineering (E)stream is 1,43,165. The halltickets of these candidateswill be available for down-loading from the official web-site from September 3 to 7.

The candidates are advisedto visit the test center well inadvance to get acquaintancewith the location of center.

Math tough, physics lengthy: StudentsPNS n HYDERABAD

The JEE-Main for undergrad-uate engineering took place onWednesday in Telangana. Theexams were conducted inmorning and evening session.A total of 67,319 students haveregistered for JEE, which willbe held at 27 centres.

According to students whoappeared for the examination,the question paper was a bitmore tricky as compared to theJEE paper they attended inJanuary, earlier this year.

Shanmukh, who gave theJEE Mains at the Karmanghatcentre shares, "The paper wastougher than January exam.The mathematics part was

lengthy. There were a few tric-ky ones as well. It took a whileto solve. Physics was also notso easy."

Some students, however, feltthat there was some help fromthe mock tests available on

NTA. Juhee Verma shares,"Many questions that were apart of the examination weresimilar to the mock tests avail-able on NTA's website. Somewere a bit lengthy, but not sodifficult."

JEE EXAMS

PNS n HYDERABAD

The state government is stillundecided on when to run citybus services even as it issuedorders to resume Metro Railservices from September 7.

According to reports, tillWednesday, RTC officials havenot received even oral orderson running the buses.

The RTC officials said, "Inthe backdrop of Centre per-mitting Metro Rail services,the RTC is ready to start citybus services. But the StateGovernment has to give itsnod for the same. All arrange-ments have been put in placeto run the buses if the Centregives its nod."

An official of the RTC,speaking to this correspon-dent, on Tuesday night saidthat so far no positive feelershave been received so far from

the government in this regard. There is complete scope for

limiting number of passengerson Metro Rail unlike the RTC.As there is spike inCoronavirus cases, if the citybuses hit streets with over-crowded commuters it wouldpose more problems to thestate administration.

The RTC higher authoritiesdo not favour running the cityservices so soon.

TSRTC still undecided onwhen to resume city buses

77% appear for Polycet PNS n HYDERABAD

The State Board TechnicalEducation and Training con-ducted Polycet-2020 onSeptember 2. The exam wasscheduled from 11:00 am to1:30 pm on Wednesday.

Across the state, 29,968 girlsand 43,950 boys (73,918 can-didates) registered for takingPOLYCET in 285 examinationcentres in 50 coordinatingcum helpline centres. Howev-er, only 77 percent of student- 22,335 girls and 34,479 boys- attended the exams acrossstate. All the pandemic pre-cautions were taken by theauthorities to make sure allstudents were safe.

POLYCET is conducted forcandidates seeking admission

in polytechnic courses in engi-neering/non-engineering/technology offered at variouscolleges of Telangana.

This time the total seatsavailable for Diploma in engi-neer and non-engineer poly-technics is 30,760 (of which11,980 are in government col-leges and 18,780 in privateinstitutions). The seats avail-able for Diploma inAgriculture are 870 across thestate.

All the pandemicprecautions weretaken by authorities to make sure all students were safe

Soon after completion of the immersion of Ganesh idols onWednesday morning, the Hyderabad MetropolitanDevelopment Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad

Municipal Corporation (GHMC) took up the exercise of clearing theremnants of idols and other material from the Hussain Sagar.HMDA deployed three Dredge Utility Crafts and two Floating TrashCollectors to clear the trash from the lake. Similarly, the GHMCcleared all the waste from pavements and on Tank Bund and NTRMarg and other stretches. Annually, two to three thousands ofmetric tonnes of waste is excavated from the lake, but this yearthis was not the case. Since not many idols were set up by youthassociations this year, and with the idol sizes too being small,there was not much of idol remnants including frames, etc in thelake, said an official from HMDA.

Post immersion, GHMC takesup cleaning of Hussain Sagar

PNS n HYDERABAD

Rachakonda Police Comm-issioner Mahesh Bhagwat onWednesday issued ordersplacing a Sub-Inspector andtwo police constables of theNacharam police stationunder suspension on chargesof misconduct.

The police personnel iden-tified as Shivakumar, SI andtwo constables Ramulu andM Ashok of Nacharam PoliceStation were placed undersuspension for exhibitedgross misconduct demandingand accepting bribe fromaccused for helping them innoxious offence of storingbanned gutkha products.

The Commissioner urgedcitizens to inform onWhatsApp 949061711, if anyillegal demands by any cop.

CP suspends 2constables, SIfor taking bribe

Doctors warn against homebrewed immunity boosters

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 hyderabad 04

Children attend online classes in Mancherial district on Wednesday

Excise revenue drops by 4.37% in AugPNS n HYDERABAD

Excise revenue in Augustdropped by 4.37 per cent,compared to the revenue inJuly. Excise revenue constitutesmajor sources of income to thegovernment after the GST andCommercial taxes. The reduc-tion is attributed to impact onpurchasing power, decrease inconsumption of beer in themonsoon season, people pre-ferring to not touch alcohol inthe auspicious month ofShravan and so on.

Liquor sales commenced inMay after the lockdown andthe excise revenue realised inthat month was Rs 2,270 croredue to hike in liquor costs. Had

the prices not increased, therevenue would have been lessthan that. In June and July, theexcise revenue increased andthe government earned Rs2,506.93 crore in July. But to

the surprise of all, the revenuedropped in August to Rs2,397.31 crore, which is less byRs 109.62 crore compared tothe revenue earned in July.

In August, 27,636 cases of

liquor, 3,61,904 cases of beerwere sold. The rains in August,kept the beer guzzlers awayfrom liquor shops leading todrop in beer sales. Withmigrant labourers returning to

their native places, sales ofliquor are discouraging.Closure of bars due to lock-down, the bar owners say thatthey have lost six months ofbusiness and appeal to govern-ment to stretch their licenseperiod by six months.

The Telangana Restaurantand Bar Licensees Associationrepresentatives have urged theExcise Minister V SrinivasGoud for extension of licenseperiod. The association repre-sentatives submitted a repre-sentation to the Minister whenthey called on him at his offi-cial quarters here on Tuesday.They also urged the govern-ment for permission to reopenthe bars.

Govt hospitals to be equippedwith liquid oxygen tanksPNS n HYDERABAD

In view of the unprecedenteddemand for oxygen cylindersin the wake of Coronavirusoutbreak, the Medical andHealth Department has decid-ed to install liquid oxygentanks on a large scale to ruleout deaths due to for want ofoxygen.

As a result, the state govern-ment is going to set up thesetanks in 22 government hospi-tals and other teaching hospitals.Further, it will increase capaci-ty of the existing tanks. As aresult, an additional 4,500 bedswill get oxygen supply. Thesehospitals will have continuouspiped oxygen gas supply.

Initially, nine hospitals willhave the liquid oxygen tanksincluding the TIMS, govern-ment Hospital at King Kothi,government chest hospital andOsmania General Hospital.

Subsequently, the facilitywill be extended to KondapurArea Hospital, teaching hospi-tal at Mahbubnagar, RIMS inAdilabad, teaching hospital atSangareddy. In all, the facilitieswill be extended to 22 hospitals.The six kilo litres of oxygensupply in Osmania GeneralHospital will be increased by

other 20 kilo litres. The government has decid-

ed to provide liquid oxygentanks to those hospitals whosebed strength exceeds 100. InTIMS, a 21-kilo Litre oxygentank would be installed, whilethe capacity of the MGM hos-pital at Warangal would bedoubled to 20 kilo litres.

Eatala seeks Jammikunta,Huz’bad development planPNS n HYDERABAD

Health Minister EatalaRajender on Wednesdaysought to prepare aComprehensive CityDevelopment Plan if neededto address the problems in theHuzurabad and JammikuntaMunicipalities and shapethem into model towns.

He along with MunicipalAdministration PrincipalSecretary Arvind Kumar andCDMA Satyanarayana held ameeting with Huzurabad andJammikunta Municipalityofficials and public represen-tatives at the CDMA office atMasab Tank on Wednesday.

At the request of theMinister, Arvind Kumarformed a team with officialsfrom all departments anddirected them to visit twotowns next week and preparean action plan. The Ministersaid that in the next 6 months,

the phase of the two munici-palities will change.

He said, "All major roads inthe town are equipped withcentral lighting system, drink-ing water, drainage, park, foot-path, integrated markets, veg-etable, non-veg, vaikunthadams, dumping yard, pondbeautification, constructionof tank bunds, pig rehabilita-tion, ring road construction".Eatala said that there is noshortage of funds and urged allofficials to work in coordina-tion and make changes visible.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Under the impact of heavy rainsin upper reaches of GodvariRiver in Maharashtra andChhattisgarh, tributaries ofGodavari River Painganga andPranahita are in spate which iscausing floods to River Godavari,which pacified recently afterbeing in spate for sometime.

The authorities ofKaleswaram Project are dis-charging 8.60 lakh cusecs bylifting 65 gates of LakshmiBarrage from Tuesday after-noon. The other tributaries likeSabari, Taliperu, Kinnerasaniand streams running fromhills are emptying themselvesinto Godavari River increasingthe flood level in the river.Therefore, the water level inBhadrachalam is on the riseevery hour. At 6 pm, theinflows into Dowaleshwaramare measured to be around4,06,032 cusecs. While 11,600

cusecs are being dischargedinto canals in the GodavariDelta system, the rest of the3,89,032 cusecs are being dis-charged into the sea.

Meanwhile, the flood level inRiver Krishna has receded asthere was let up in rains lash-ing the Western Ghats. Thepower houses of Almatti andNarayanapur dams are dis-charging water in limited quan-tity. The inflows into Srisailamproject have come down to22,345 cusecs. The main trib-

utary of Krishna River is RiverBima. The Maharashtra gov-ernment lifted all gates ofUjjaini dam on River Bima todisharge 2137 cusecs to down-stream projects.

If the rains continue to lashthe Western Ghats, the RiverKrishna is likely to be in spatein this month too. On accountof water level is up to the brimin Almatti, Naraanapur,Tungabhadra, Ujjaini andJurala dams there is no alter-native to release water from the

dams. Therefore, heavy floodsare predicted to river Krishnathis month too.

Meanwhile, the flood levelto River Krishna at PrakasamBarrage in Vijayawada hascome down. The inflows aremeasured as 32,435 cusecs.The government is discharging16,705 to Krishna Delta systemwhile letting 15,730 cusecs toflow into the sea waste.

GODAVARI IN SPATE AGAIN PD Act againstseasonedburglar PNS n SIDDIPET

Commissioner of Police DJoel Davis has invoked the PDAct against a seasoned bur-glar, accused in a series ofburglary cases under variouspolice Station limits inSiddipet district and otherparts of Telangana.

The accused, GarimellaSatyanarayana alias Satthi(40), a native of Kondapurvillage of Miruoddi Mandal,has 33 house-breaking casesagainst him in Siddipet OneTown and Two Town policestation limits. Satyanarayana,who was jailed for hisinvolvement in variouscrimes in LB Nagar andMusheerabad police stationlimits in the past, failed tomend his ways even afterrelease from jail.

‘Will supply adequatestocks of fertilisers'PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister for Chemicalsand Fertilisers SadanandaGowda on Wednesdaypromised to supply adequatestocks of fertilisers to meet thefield requirements of farmersin Telangana State. He alsoassured that the requirementsof fertilisers in the State wouldbe monitored closely at regu-lar intervals.

He was responding to arequest made by UnionMinister Kishan Reddy who isalso Secunderabad MP.Officials of Chemicals andFertilisers Ministry informedthat the total projectedrequirement of fertilisers for

the entire season in TelanganaState was 10 lakh tonnes. Theystated that against the require-ment of 8 lakh tonnes of fer-tilisers from April 1 to August31, the Centre had ensuredavailability of 10.17 lakhtonnes including the openingstock of about 4 lakh tonnes.

Narsaiah cremated with state honorsPNS n PEDDAPALLI

Former Minister MathangiNarsaiah (76), who died of aheart attack while undergoingtreatment for Covid-19, wascremated with State honorusin Godavarikhani onWednesday. Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao haddirected the officials to makearrangements for his funeral tobe held with full State honours.

He was cremated on thebanks of river Godavari on theoutskirts of Godavarikhanitown with public representa-tives, relatives and other well-wishers bidding him a tearfuladieu. Police gave a gun saluteto the former Minister.

Welfare Minister KoppulaEashwar, local MLA KorukantiChander, MLC T Jeevan

Reddy, RamagundamMunicipal Corporation MayorAnil Kumar and other politi-cal leaders paid floral tributesto Mathangi Narsiah.

Narsiah was admitted to aprivate hospital in Hyderabad

recently after he tested positivefor coronavirus. Narsaiah'swife Bojamma, who was alsoinfected by the virus, diedwhile undergoing treatment ina private hospital inHyderabad on August 15.

Police welcome Ultra surrender reportsPNS n HYDERABAD

Amid media speculations thattop Maoist leader Ganapathywas likely to surrender due toill- health, the Telangana policeon Wednesday said they wel-comed any such move by theultra. A senior police officialon Wednesday said so far theyhave not received any commu-nication from Ganapathy oranyone associated with himregarding the surrender, how-ever, speculation was rife thathe may turn himself in.

"... there is a rumour doingthe rounds that he

(Ganapathy) is having someserious health problem.. andthere is a speculation that hemay come back (surrender)because his condition requiresspecialised treatment," the saidadding so far he has not con-tacted Telangana police. TheTelangana police welcomed

any such move (offering to sur-render before police) by anyultra. "He is free to come...if hewants to come let him come.He may try his own ways," theofficial added. Ganapathy,(around 73 years of age), is anative of Jagtiyal district inTelangana.

A senior police official on Wednesday said sofar they have not received any communicationfrom Ganapathy or anyone associated withhim regarding the surrender, however,speculation was rife that he may turn himselfin.

In view of heavyrains in the uppercatchment area, theflood situation wasgetting intensified atPeruru and Taliperu.Flood duty officerswere told to be readyto shift the residentsin the floodinundation areas

In June and July, theexcise revenueincreased and govtearned Rs 2,506.93crore in July. But tothe surprise of all,the revenue droppedin August to Rs2,397.31 crore,which is less by Rs 109.62 crore

NEW BBEGINNING

Use biodegradable plates, Harish tells peopleSIDDIPET: Finance Minister THarish Rao on Wednesday urgedpeople to used biodegradableplates made of areca palm insteadof plastics that were harmful tothe environment. The Minister wasspeaking after inaugurating an

Areca palm plate making unit setup by Pramod Yadav, a youngsterconscious about environmentalissues. Yadav presented a pack ofplates, bowls and spoons toHarish Rao at his residence. Theplates are 100 per cent

biodegradable. This is the firstsuch unit in Siddipet district.Appreciating the efforts of Yadav,Finance Minister Harish Rao saidthe youngster had seized anenvironment-friendly businessopportunity.

Welfare Minister K Eashwar and local MLA K Chander paying floral tributes toformer Minister M Narsaiah in Godavarikhani on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

Passenger trains,inter-district busservices from Sept 7CHENNAI: Inter-district bustransport and passenger trainservices within Tamil Naduwould be permitted fromSeptember 7, Chief Minister KPalaniswami announced onWednesday. While bustransport is allowed only withindistricts as of now, there wererepresentations from the publicto the government seekingfacilitation of services to gofrom one district to another, hesaid. "Considering publicwelfare, following the StandardOperating Procedure, fromSeptember 7, inter-districtgovernment and private bustransport will be allowed acrossTamil Nadu," Palaniswami saidin a statement. Similarly, fromthe same date, passenger trainservices within Tamil Nadushall be permitted, he said.Inter-state train servicesarealready operational inpermitted routes.

Further research onTamil Brahmi,Vattaezhuthu inscriptions

AIMIM MP detainedwhile trying to offerprayers at mosqueAURANGABAD: AIMIM MPImtiaz Jaleel was detained bythe police here in Maharashtraon Wednesday while he was onhis way to a mosque to offerprayers defying COVID-19restrictions, a senior officer said.The local MP and state unitpresident of the AIMIM had lastweek said he would offerprayers at mosque if the stategovernment fails to open allreligious places, which havebeen shut due to COVID-19pandemic. Jaleel was detainedwhen he was on his way toShahaganj mosque and thentaken to the office of the citypolice commissioner, the officialadded. Jaleel said similar agita-tions would take place acrossthe state, if the government failsto open all religious places.

CHENNAI: Madurai, with itsproximity to the ancientarchaeological excavation siteof Keeladi in nearby Sivaganga,holds the potential for furtherresearch on the Tamil Brahmiand Vattaezhuthu inscriptions,a senior archaeological officerhas said. Although Madurai, insouthern Tamil Nadu, hasyielded numerous Tamil Brahmiinscriptions in the past, thedistrict hogged the attention ofthe archaeologists once againwhen a 2,000-year-old TamilBrahmi inscription wasdiscovered on a memorial pillarin Ekanathan Mutt inKinnimangalam village near thecity a month ago. Following thediscovery, a team ofarchaeologists led by DeputyDirector of Tamil NaduArchaeology Department RSivanandam visited the muttrecently, and carried out aninspection. According to thearchaeology report the TamilBrahmi inscription found on abroken pillar at the mutt hadthe words "Egan AadhanKottam" (region or territory of aking or chieftain).

PNS n KOLKATA

Attacking Congressmen whoraised questions over the partyleadership, leader of theCongress in Lok Sabha AdhirRanjan Chowdhury said onWednesday they were "benefi-ciaries of the system" and thatno voice of dissent would havebeen heard had the party beenin power at the Centre.

He also said the Congresshas failed to find an alternativeto the Gandhis, who alone cankeep the party united withtheir pan-India appeal.

"A political party is not a sta-tic entity, it is a dynamic onewhere change is constant.These divergent views and callsfor reforms are coming up aswe are not in power. Had webeen in power, you wouldn'thave found any dissentingvoices," he told PTI in aninterview.

His comments came days

after 23 senior leaders wrote aletter to Congress presidentSonia Gandhi calling for far-reaching reforms such as hav-ing a "full time, active and vis-ible" leadership, devolution ofpowers to state units and anelected working committee.

Chowdhury, who is a mem-ber of the Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC), the high-est decision making body ofthe party, said those who raisedquestions over the functioning

of the party have been an inte-gral part of it for decades.

"Those who are raising ques-tions now have been verymuch part of this system fordecades and have been bene-ficiaries of it. So why are theyquestioning it now? The boneof contention is the way the let-ter was leaked to the mediabefore the working committeemeeting. Such letters will onlyhelp the BJP in attacking theCongress," he said.

Dissenting voices within Congas it's not in power: Adhir

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra on Wednesdayalleged that incidents of per-secution and killing of Dalitswere taking place in UttarPradesh, and demanded thatthe Yogi Adityanath govern-ment should stop "ignoring"them and take action.

The Congress has beenalleging that the law and ordersituation is deteriorating inUttar Pradesh under the BJPrule, a charge denied by thestate dispensation.

"Incidents of persecutionand killing of Dalits are hap-pening in UP. Mahoba, Agra,Gorakhpur, Rae Bareli,Hardoi," she alleged, listing theplaces from where such inci-dents have been reported.

Will the BJP governmentbother to explain why theincidents of persecution ofDalits are not stopping in thestate, the Congress generalsecretary asked.

"The state governmentshould stop ignoring theseincidents, take action andanswer," she said in a tweet inHindi.

Priyanka slams UPgovt over alleged‘persecution' of Dalits

PNS n NEW DELHI

Thirty-six security personnelunder the command of theUnion Home Ministry died bysuicide in 2019, taking thenumber of such cases to 433 insix years, according to the lat-est National Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) data.

Of the 433 suicide deathsamong the Central ArmedPolice Forces (CAPF) person-nel during the six-year period,the least (28) number of caseswas reported in 2018 and themaximum (175) in 2014, thedata showed.

The number stood at 60 in2017, 74 in 2016 and 60 in2015, the NCRB data for therespective year showed.

The CAPF refers to sevencentral security forces of thecountry under the administra-tive control of the Ministry ofHome Affairs.

It consists the BorderSecurity Force (BSF), theCentral Reserve Police Force

(CRPF), the Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF), theIndo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP), the Sashastra SeemaBal (SSB), besides the AssamRifles (AR) and the NationalSecurity Guard (NSG).

As on January 1, 2019, theCAPF had an actual strengthof 9,23,800 personnel, whoplay a vital role in guarding theborders and assisting theCentre and state governmentsin maintaining internal secu-

rity and in curbing other ille-gal or unlawful activities, theNCRB stated.

However, the NCRB datadid not give a force-wise breakup of suicide cases within theCAPF. A total of 36 CAPF per-sonnel killed themselves dur-ing 2019, with 14 of them (38.9per cent) due to “family prob-lems” and three due to “ser-vice-related issues”, the NCRB,which also functions under theUnion Home Ministry, stated.

PNS n NEW DELHI

For many students appearing inJEE-Mains in Delhi, the daybegan with exam anxiety andapprehension about contractingCOVID-19 infection but spe-cial arrangements made at cen-tres to combat the virus allayedtheir fears, and they were final-ly relieved that they would nothave to lose an academic yearbecause of the pandemic.

The Joint Entrance Exam(JEE)-Mains for admission toengineering colleges began onTuesday amid stringent precau-tions and social distancingmeasures in view of the pan-demic despite calls from somequarters for postponement ofthe crucial exam which hadalready been deferred twice.

Nikhil Kumar, who trav-elled from Uttam Nagar to hiscentre in Vivek Vihar, saidthat the exam was heldsmoothly.

"Proper social distancingwas ensured by the staff insidethe premises. The exam wentokay. I prepared for the

entrance through online class-es. I am relieved that the examis finally over despite so manydelays," he said.

Vishal Gupta, a resident ofBhikaji Kama Place, said thathe reached the centre by cab.

"The exam was held from9.30 am to 12 noon. There werearound 50 students sitting inthe room where my exam wasscheduled. Social distancingnorms were strictly followed byschool staff. I didn't face anydifficulty in reaching the cen-tre," Gupta said.

Bhushan Gaur (17), whocame to Vivek Vihar fromKhanpur, said that though hehad fears of coming in contactwith the virus but was relievedthat all went well.

"My JEE exam will be heldfrom 2.30 pm. Initially I wasfearing that I may come in con-tact with the virus but when Ireached the centre I gainedconfidence. I had done mypreparations and I am relievedit will be over. Waiting anoth-er year would have been prob-lematic.

"The coaching institutes hadconducted online classes andalso shared PDF material of thecourse," Gaur said.

Sanjay Kumar, his father,said that they initially hadapprehensions because of therising number of COVID-19cases.

Vishal Yadav, a resident ofJagatpuri in Shahdara, saidthat social distancing was themain concern on his mind.

"The school staff gave ussanitiser thrice. When weentered the school, they gave us

a mask also and asked the stu-dents to remove the old one.Inside the centre, we were sittingon alternate chairs," Yadav said.

Scenes outside exam centresacross the country reflected the"new normal" amid the pan-demic -- staggered entry andexit for candidates, sanitiser atthe gates, distribution of masks,and students queuing up withsafe social distance among them.

JEE-Mains, the first largescale exam to be conductedamid the pandemic, is sched-uled from September 1 to 6.Over 9 lakh candidates haveregistered for the exam foradmission to engineeringcourses in IITs, NITs andCentrally Funded TechnicalInstitutions (CFTIs).

While the governments ofOdisha, Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh have assured stu-dents that they will providetransportation to candidates, agroup of IIT alumni and stu-dents have also launched a por-tal to provide transport facili-ties to exam centres for the can-didates in need.

FEAR AND RELIEF

JEE-Mains candidates recount exam day experience

GST issue an attempt tosubvert federalism: MamataPNS n KOLKATA

Depriving states of GSTcompensation is an "attemptto undermine federalism",West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said in aletter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi onWednesday.

Urging the prime ministernot to belie the trust betweenthe states and the Centre onthe issue, Banerjee askedhim "not to allow an insuffer-able blow to the federalistpolity of the nation bydepriving the states of theGST compensation".

"I am deeply anguishedby the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) imbroglio whichtantamounts to a betrayal ofthe trust and moral respon-sibility of the Government ofIndia towards the states, vio-lating the very premise offederalism.

"This is a travesty and anabrogation of the fundamen-

tal basis on which the statesgave up 70 per cent of theirtaxing powers, including theentire VAT regime, to usherin the GST regime," Banerjeesaid in the four-page letter.

The chief minister addedthat the "agreed formula" forgiving up taxing powers wasthe promise of full compen-sation of shortfall in GSTcollection for five years.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A team of Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice personnel retrieved andcarried the body of a pony oper-ator for eight hours, walking adistance of 25 kms in the moun-tainous stretches of Uttarakhandbefore handing it over to his fam-ily, officials said on Wednesday.

The trek was undertaken onAugust 30 after the 14th battal-ion of the border guarding forcewas informed that a body waslying in Syuni village nearBugdayar of Pithoragarh district.

The pony operator,Bhupendra Singh Rana, used tocarry ration and other essentialsto the high-altitude camps of theITBP. It was during one such trekon August 28 that he was killedafter being hit by shooting stonesfrom a hill slope, the officials said.

"The jawans carried the bodyof the 30-year-old man for a dis-tance of 25 kms for about eighthours and handed over the mor-tal remains to the family mem-bers of the deceased," an ITBPspokesperson said.

"A team of eight personnelstarted the trek at 11:30 AM andreached Munsyari village at 7:30PM on the same day," he said.

The personnel carried thebody on a stretcher and negoti-ated narrow mountain bendsthat are witnessing heavy rainsand landslides, he said.

According to local residents,this is not the first time that theITBP has come to their rescue.

Last week, an ITBP team hadcarried an injured woman for 15hours after rescuing her from amountainous and remote borderlocation in Pithoragarh.

Residents of Vyas Valley saidthe ITBP not only providesemergency ration to locals incase the supply gets disrupted butalso provides food and shelter totravellers. "It would have beentough to live in high-altitude vil-lages had there not been ITBPcamps," said Shalu Datal, a res-ident of Santi village in DarmaValley.

36 suicides in CAPF in 2019,433 in six years: NCRB

BORDER TENSION

India, China hold another roundof Brigade Commander-level talksPNS n NEW DELHI

Days after China's "provocativeactions" in Pangong lake areain eastern Ladakh, the situationin the region remained sensi-tive on Wednesday while armycommanders from both sidesheld another round of talks todefuse tensions, governmentsources said.

The army of the two coun-tries held BrigadeCommander-level talks inChushul with a focus on bring-ing down tensions in thePangong lake area, they said,adding similar dialogue onMonday and Tuesday, eachlasting over six hours, did notproduce any "tangible out-come".

Sources said India hasachieved tactical gains in east-ern Ladakh in the last few daysby occupying a number ofstrategically important hill topsand locations.

On Monday, the Indian

Army said the Chinese militarycarried out "provocative mili-tary movements" to "unilater-ally" change the status quo onthe southern bank of Pangonglake on the intervening nightof August 29 and 30 but theattempt was thwarted by theIndian troops.

External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson Anurag Srivastavaon Tuesday said the ChinesePLA was engaged in "provoca-tive action" again on Monday

when the ground commandersof the two sides were holdingtalks to ease the situation follow-ing China's attempt to changethe status quo in the Pangonglake area two days back. "The sit-uation in the area remained sen-sitive," said a source.

The two sides were earlierengaged in a confrontation onthe northern bank of Pangonglake but it was for the first timesuch an incident occurred onits southern bank, they said.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Tuesday carried outa comprehensive review of thesituation in eastern Ladakh ata high-level meeting attendedby External Affairs Minister SJaishankar, National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval, Chief ofDefence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat,Army Chief Gen MMNaravane and Air ChiefMarshal RKS Bhadauria.

It was decided at the nearlytwo-hour meeting that theIndian Army will continue tomaintain its aggressive postur-ing in all sensitive areas alongthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) to effectively deal withany Chinese "misadventure",the sources said.

They said the Indian Armyhas further bolstered its pres-ence around the SouthernBank area of Pangong lake bydeploying additional troopsand bringing in more weapon-ry including tanks and anti-tank guided missiles.

2 notoriousdrug peddlersheld inRishikeshPNS n RISHIKESH

Two notorious drug ped-dlers were arrested inUttarakhand's Rishikesh andsmack worth Rs 7 lakh wasseized from them, police saidon Wednesday.

Akram and Jahid werearrested on Tuesday whenthey came to sell the bannedsubstance, Muni Ki Retipolice station in-charge R KSaklani said.

Hailing from Bareilly inUttar Pradesh, the accusedhave a record of involve-ment in drug peddling cases,he said. Saklani said 96.95grams of smack worth near-ly Rs 7 lakh was recoveredfrom the accused.

ITBP troops walk 25 kms in 8 hoursto carry home body of pony operator

Cabinet to includeKashmiri, Dogri, Hindi asofficial languages in J-KPNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a billunder which Kashmiri, Dogriand Hindi, apart from the exist-ing Urdu and English, will be theofficial languages in the unionterritory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Announcing the decision at anews briefing, Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar said theJammu and Kashmir OfficialLanguages Bill, 2020 will beintroduced in Parliament in theupcoming Monsoon Session.

The Bill received the Cabinetnod on Wednesday at a meetingpresided by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

The minister did not divulgefurther details saying the bill bedebated in Parliament soon.

Union Minister JitendraSingh said the government hasaccepted the long pending

demand of the region for theinclusion of Dogri, Hindi andKashmiri as officials languagesin J-K.

"It is not only a fulfilment ofa long-pending public demandof the region but also in keep-ing with the spirit of equalitywhich was ushered in afterAugust 5 last year," he toldreporters.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The expected entry of formerchief minister Jitan RamManjhi in the NationalDemocratic Alliance ahead ofthe Bihar assembly polls hasadded to disquiet withinanother NDA constituent LokJanshakti Party, which hascalled a meeting of its state par-liamentary board next week.

In an indication of the LJP'sworsening relations with ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar-ledJanata Dal (United), partysources said the main item onthe agenda when its boardmembers meet on September7 is whether to put up its can-didates against the JD(U).

The Chirag Paswan-headedparty has so far refrained fromtargeting the BJP and has been

even praising Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's leadershipwhile keeping Kumar in itscrosshairs.

"We are definitely consider-ing putting up our candidatesin seats where the JD(U) willcontest," said an LJP leader.

Paswan declined to com-

ment on the matter but addedthat his party will take itsdecisions at an appropriatetime. "I am focussed onpreparing my party for thepolls. Whatever decisions areto be taken in the interest ofmy party will be taken at anappropriate time," he said.

As Manjhi enters NDA, LJP considersputting up candidates against JD(U)

"This is a travestyand an abrogationof the fundamentalbasis on which thestates gave up 70per cent of theirtaxing powers,including the entireVAT regime, tousher in the GSTregime," Banerjeesaid in the letter

"The exam was heldfrom 9.30 am to 12noon. There werearound 50 studentssitting in the roomwhere my exam wasscheduled. Socialdistancing normswere strictly follo-wed by school staff. Ididn't face any diffi-culty in reaching thecentre," Gupta said

Last year, visiting Arab princes fromSaudi Arabia and United ArabEmirates (UAE) were given Pakistani

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s privilegedtreatment of personally chauffeuring themin a bit to dial up charm offensives. Pakistan’ssituation was precarious as its coffers weredangerously depleted and in dire need ofArab largesse. Also embarrassingly forPakistan, both monarchies had justexpressed displeasure at the Pulwama ter-ror attack. While the princes did loosen theirpurse strings and provide generous finan-cial support, something was amiss. Soon theUAE announced its highest civilian award,i.e. Order of Zayed, for the Indian PrimeMinister for boosting “comprehensive strate-gic ties.” A few years earlier, the Saudis hadconferred their highest award, KingAbdulaziz Sash, on the Indian PrimeMinister.

Whispers of Pakistani unreliability andundercutting were gaining credence inRiyadh and Abu Dhabi – the Arab monar-chies were picking signs of trapeze artistImran Khan’s growing dalliances with theirnemesis of Turkey, Malaysia, Qatar and Iran.In the imploding world of Organisation ofIslamic Countries (OIC), fissures havedeveloped, and new power centres areemerging to the discomfiture of Saudi-UAEled Gulf Sheikhdoms. Within that churn,Pakistan is no longer perceived as a depend-able ally.

This sudden dissonance was contrary toPakistan’s traditional status as Saudi Arabia’s“closest Muslim ally.” From supportingPakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, oppos-ing the creation of Bangladesh, supportingPakistani machinations in Afghanistan andKashmir, to even supposedly funding the“Islamic Bomb,” the Saudis were once themost generous Pakistani supporters.Pakistanis had reciprocated by providingsecurity to Saudi Arabia in terms of military,training and weaponry, as also affording thesingular honour of taking Riyadh into con-fidence before conducting its atomic tests.The Saudis also entrusted the formerPakistani Military Chief, General RaheelSharif, to lead the Riyadh-based 41 nation,Islamic Military Counter-TerrorismCoalition (IMCTC). UAE was part of thistriumvirate and had conjointly recognisedthe Pak-backed Taliban government inAfghanistan and was the only countryalong with Saudi Arabia to hail the Pakistaniatomic tests as a “bold decision.” Also, ener-gy, commerce and expat repatriation madeboth these Sheikhdoms life-sustaining forgovernments in Islamabad. Above all, the co-religiosity and the Shariaisation project ofPakistani dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, in the80s was principally funded and abetted bythese two nations. UAE’s founding father,Sheikh Zayed, used to consider Pakistan hissecond home and when Dubai’s airlineEmirates was launched, it was PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA) that the Emiratis

turned to. The cash-rich Arabroyalty was feted and they treat-ed beholden Pakistan as theirbackyard, with private houbaragrouse hunting trips arrangedfor their princelings.

But the times soon changedand new considerations andurgencies kicked in with the“war on terror,” Arab Spring,deepening of sectarian faultlinesand the independent assertionof countries like Turkey. ButPakistan refused to change itsways and was embarrassinglycaught harbouring global terror-ist Osama Bin Laden till he was“taken out” and continued play-ing havoc in Kashmir andAfghanistan. Pakistan alsorefused to participate in theSaudi-UAE’s war in Yemen,fearing sectarian repercussionson its own soil, to the chagrin ofRiyadh and Abu Dhabi. ButPakistan’s unpardonable undo-ing with the Saudi-UAE duo wasits growing proximity withTurkey and assuming over-enthusiastically that it couldnow flex its muscle within theummah with the support ofTurkey. While countries likeTurkey, Malaysia, Qatar andIran have historically claimed“fraternal” relations withPakistan – they are nothingcompared to the financial, ener-gy, diplomatic and strategicsupport that had been given bythe Arab duo. Imran Khan hadungratefully partaken the

opportunity to cock a snook athis biggest benefactors.

Pakistani Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood cuttinglyaccused the Saudi-led OIC of“dilly-dallying” on Kashmir andin an unprecedented manneralluded to breaking ranks bysaying, “I’ll be compelled to askPrime Minister Imran Khan tocall a meeting of the Islamiccountries that are ready to standwith us on the issue of Kashmir.”The Arab duo noted the impliedimport of the loaded statementthat intended to shame themand repercussions soon fol-lowed.

They decided to halt theircrucial three-year aid plan toPakistan after just a year. Theyrepeatedly snubbed Pakistanon Kashmir. UAE faced thewrath of “Boycott UAE” trend-ing on Pakistani social media, asit was postured that only Turkey“stood by” Islamabad. To makematters worse for an increasing-ly isolated Pakistan, UAE hasnow recognised Israel and thathas weakened Pakistan’s abilityto rake up issues like Palestineand more specifically, Kashmir,as the practicalities of the loom-ing economic crisis, fight againstCovid pandemic, fight againstextremism and quest for region-al peace override all manufac-tured passions of Islamabad.Pakistan’s duplicity of terror isglobally established and its abil-ity to run with the hare and hunt

with the hound on terrorism inKashmir is becoming indefen-sible for one-time allies likeSaudi Arabia and UAE, whoseek progressive equations withthe West, India and even Israel.Meanwhile, Pakistan is harpingand walking the opposite direc-tion of revisionism and religiousextremism.

It has tried to mend fencesby dispatching the Chief of theArmy Staff to Riyadh but SaudiCrown Prince Mohammed BinSalman refused to meet GeneralQamar Bajwa. Imran Khan isboxed into a tight corner as theSaudi-UAE duo has called thebluff on Pakistan trying to be tooclever by half with Turkey andhas made normalcy condition-al to Islamabad reneging onAnkara. Abandoning Turkey atthis stage will lead to a loss offace for Pakistan as it will countas yet another act of Pakistan’spatented untrustworthiness andunreliability. Clearly ImranKhan has bitten more than hecan chew – he remains saddledwith a flailing economy, disrupt-ed aid lifelines, isolation amonghis traditional allies and a self-ish agenda of Kashmir, in whichnot too many are interested. Theproverbial chickens are cominghome to roost as Pakistan mullsover yet another botched act ofbiting the hand that fed it.

(The author is former LtGovernor of Andaman &Nicobar Islands and Puducherry)

There is little doubt that the Indiantelecommunications industry has trans-formed the lives of Indians and has done

so at a price, to the final consumer, of pen-nies. Once upon a time, an outgoing call costover 32 rupees a minute and data cost a hun-dred rupees for a megabyte. Today, mobile ser-vices are so affordable that many consumersdon’t think twice about placing calls or down-loading videos. In fact, data is so cheap thatsome consumers prefer mobile data or fibre-optic cables coming into their homes.

But were the cheap prices all based on a ruse of cheating the Governmentout of revenue? That is what the Government claimed and won a victory inthe Supreme Court in the now famous “Adjusted Gross Revenue” (AGR) case.The telecom companies fought hard to ensure that payments are made overan extended period of time rather than in one go, which was also fair on theface of it. Now that the issue has been settled, what next for Indian telecomcompanies? They will need to raise billions of dollars to pay these fines andit is unlikely that they will manage to drastically raise access prices, althoughthat might be the only solution. For far too long, India has operated on the basisof the “long tail” where low-income consumers make up a huge volume thanksto low prices. This has enabled low-cost invention but has stifled innovationto a large degree. India really needs to raise its median income higher and aconstant focus on low-cost jugaad will not help, so higher prices might bethe only way forward.

And those will be needed if India needs the next generation of telecom tech-nology, 5G, which will dramatically increase access speeds and could be thebackbone of Narendra Modi’s much-ballyhooed “Digital India.” India doesn’twant a monopoly in the telecom space and it needs the latest technology aswell. Higher prices might be frowned upon by some in the government butthey have gotten to the cake. They can’t keep on admiring it anymore.

At one level, we are being told to “live withthe virus,” working our ways around itwith safety protocols as postponing life-

altering decisions is no longer an option.Governments are working, elections are hap-pening, policies are being made and global delib-erations and summitry are on course. Yet atanother level, regimes across the world areusing the pandemic as an excuse to dictatenational life by curbing choices and pushing theiragenda. And India is no better where the demo-cratic core of the parliamentary system is being

diluted under the garb of protecting our lawmakers. What else can explain theGovernment’s suspension of Question Hour in the forthcoming monsoon ses-sion of Parliament as a precautionary measure against “crowding” and contrac-tion of the Zero Hour? If crowd management is not an issue while conductingpolls in Bihar or even conducting the JEE-NEET exams countrywide, why shouldmanaging MPs, who anyway are going to be on a rotational drill, be a challengewith safety protocols? That too, during Question Hour, where the Opposition getsthe only chance to question the Government and hold it to account? Besides, ithas a structured format, with MPs required to submit a questionnaire 15 daysin advance. So there could be even a staggered roster of Ministers and their offi-cials to answer them. But scrapping it altogether means that the Government isnot ready to face uncomfortable questions on pandemic management, the eco-nomic slide and the Indo-China stand-off at Ladakh and get on with pointed leg-islative business without much debate and discussion. Its Ministers are clearlynot willing to inform the House about the rationale of decisions taken, if not defendthem. In other words, this monolithic assertiveness is corroding the deliberativeand inclusive character of the legislature. Even the Zero Hour, that allows forimpromptu discussion on public policy, has been curtailed to 30 minutes. Expectedly,the Opposition is going hammer and tongs over the decision, spearheaded large-ly by the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Its MP Derek O’ Brien has asked why theQuestion Hour had been dropped considering the Parliament’s overall workinghours remain the same and no private members’ Bill will be moved. He even askedwhy the monsoon session was being called a “regular” session and not “extra-ordinary” to justify the curtailment of the Question Hour. The TMC even cited howthe Question Hour was dropped during the 33rd (1961), 93rd (1975), 98th (1976)99th (1977) sessions over specific reasons like Odisha, proclamation of Emergency,the 44th Amendment and President’s Rule in Tamil Nadu and Nagaland. Sensingthe outcry, the Government on its part deployed seasoned senior Minister RajnathSingh, who is known to share a good relationship with the Opposition, to con-verse with its leaders and ensure a smooth flow of proceedings. This individualbridge-building has worsened matters as an all-party virtual meeting could havesorted matters better. But the Opposition, which anyway doesn’t have the bigenough numbers to stop Government policy, is not ready to let its voice go unheard.Or the ethics of parliamentary democracy be compromised.

The Question Hour is the only time that allows the Opposition equal stand-ing and allows it to keep a check and balance on the executive. Even TreasuryBench MPs can ask questions of a Minister for better clarity on policies. Droppingit means reducing the relevance of the MP. A legislator asks questions on behalfof the constituents who elect him and any democratically-elected Governmentis, therefore, duty-bound to respond. Every citizen has the right to know the detailsof the functioning of a State and the Government is morally bound to place themon record. Even if the pandemic is a looming threat, the Government could haveat least taken the questions and worked out a system of virtual responses in realtime. Anyway, the Question Hour hardly sees a flurry as Ministers answer by rota-tion and questions are selected through a ballot and starred for discussion. TheHouse of Commons even has a dedicated slot for “Prime Minister’s Questions”,where the Prime Minister personally answers or explains his Government’s func-tioning. That hasn’t happened here in recent memory and certainly looks mostunlikely in the handout era of information dissemination. Besides, even the natureand tenor of questions are regulated by several rules before they are cleared andscheduled. So the Government should not have scrapped the Question Hour fear-ing recklessness and pandemonium. Perhaps, its suspension this time will alsoawaken the Opposition to hold up its end of the bargain going forward. For in thepast, Question Hour has been routinely disrupted, stalling productive discussionsand debate, particularly in the Upper House. But without it, there will be no account-ability. And once a precedent is set, it will always be cited to justify another reg-ulatory move.

Unnecessary deaths

Sir — This refers to the report,‘Road deaths up despite tougherMVA,’ in The Pioneer onSeptember 2. It is a matter ofgrave concern that the nationalCapital tops in fatalities causedby road accidents. Although it isthe drivers who are heldaccountable for the fatalities inmost of the mishaps, one cannotoverlook the poor infrastructureof the roads as a serious cause.

During an inspection by theofficials of the Public WorksDepartment last year, more than2,000 major potholes were foundon the roads of Delhi.

This is terribly alarming aspotholes are one of the biggestcauses of fatal accidents, espe-cially where two-wheelers areconcerned. Besides this, brokenfootpaths, dislocated kerbstones, pillars in the middle ofthe road in many places anduncontrolled growth of treesaffecting traffic flow are some ofthe other anomalies whichaccount for the increasing num-ber of road accidents in thecountry.

It is distressing to note thatIndia ranks first in the world in

terms of road accidents with1.46 lakh fatalities annually asper the latest report of theInternational Road Federation,Geneva. The Government must

review this report and takeurgent action to improve the sit-uation and put an end to thesemeaningless deaths that can beavoided with a little bit of plan-

ning and competence by theauthorities. Of course, we needto change our behaviour, too.

Tushar AnandPatna, Bihar

Economic disasterSir — Just around four years ago,the IMF chief had extolled theIndian economy as the “brightspot in the dim and dusty globaleconomic scenario.” It would beeasy to say an evil eye caused oureconomy to get eclipsed soonafter. But there were too manybad decisions. First, it suffered therash of demonetisation. Then itgot trapped in lakhs of crores ofNPAs, the decimation of MSMEsand joblessness. Demonetisationproduced no black money either,the raison d’être of an exercisewith historical consequences andprecedence.

Tughlaq had done much thesame in shifting the capital fromDelhi to Daulatabad and back.But the return trip of a bounc-ing economy, never easy in thebest of times, has now been sav-aged by the Coronavirus. TheFM has already classified thispandemic as an “act of God.”The disastrous demonetisation,too, could be bracketed in thisclassification. God help us!!

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

06

Pak pays for double games

BHOPINDER SINGH

Imran Khan has been boxed into a tight corner as the Saudi-UAE duo has

called the bluff on Pakistan trying to be too clever by half with Turkey

S O U N D B I T E

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

The PLA has provoked India yet again

In a typical case of the pot calling the kettle black, the ChineseGovernment has accused Indian troops of illegally trespass-ing onto Chinese territory. These comments could set the

stage for a second tense border stand-off between the twonuclear powers in just three months. In a provocative state-ment, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India saidthat Indian forces had “conducted flagrant provocations overthe weekend, which again stirred tension in the border areas.”This accusation comes on the back of the People's LiberationArmy (PLA) provoking the Indian Army again on the night ofAugust 29. This led to a fresh clash between the Indian andChinese soldiers on the southern bank of Pangong Tso in east-ern Ladakh. This clash broke the uneasy calm that had per-sisted following the fierce clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.By attempting to carry out provocative military movementsto change the status quo near Pangong Lake, Chinese troopsacted in contravention of the confidence-building measuresthat both sides have worked out during the recent militarytalks. Chinese troops acted deliberately and provocatively andthus they have undone whatever progress was made duringbilateral talks at the military and diplomatic levels. Indian troops,however, forestalled this PLA activity, undertook measures tostrengthen their positions and thwarted Chinese intentions.

This development brings into sharp focus the hollow-ness of Chinese assertions about maintaining peace and tran-quility in the border areas. Indian troops deserve a pat on the

back for scuttling the misadventures of the Chinese. India stoodfirm in the diplomatic arena, too, by withdrawing from a mul-tilateral war exercise to be held in Russia.

The rationale behind this decision is the presence ofChinese and Pakistani troops in the exercise. The provoca-tive military movements by the PLA and the subsequent clash-es have given opportunities to India to expose China's hol-lowness and duplicity at the upcoming meeting of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation in Russia. India must insist on com-plete disengagement of troops and China must be made torealise that mutual cooperation is impossible after the attacksand attempts to destabilise India's territorial integrity.

Venu GSKollam

IN THE IMPLODINGWORLD OF

ORGANISATION OFISLAMIC

COUNTRIES (OIC),FISSURES HAVE

DEVELOPED ANDNEW POWER

CENTRES AREEMERGING TO THEDISCOMFITURE OF

SAUDI-UAE LEDSHEIKHDOMS.WITHIN THAT

CHURN, PAKISTANIS NO LONGER

PERCEIVED AS ADEPENDABLE ALLY

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Telecom price warsIs it a case of strangling the golden goose? Have corporate

raiders profiting from public goods been stopped?

No questions pleaseThe Question Hour allows the Opposition to keep a checkon the executive. Suspending it emaciates democratic spirit

It is so unfortunate that the tragic and untimely death of a belovedyoung star Sushant Singh Rajputhas become a media circus.

Actor—Vidya Balan

In sports, like cricket, you don'tneed much facilities but in ten-nis, you need to be a memberof a club, which is challenging,and that's why numbersdon't work in India.

Former tennis ace—Mahesh Bhupathi

I don’t know if anyone takes theChief Economic Adviser seriously. He saw green shootswhen the Finance Minister saidso. Where are the green shootsof recovery?

Former Finance Minister—P Chidambaram

I get along with him (AnthonyFauci) but every once in a while, he'll come up with one that I say, ‘Where did that come from?’"

US President—Donald Trump

Corona policy vs reality

BY INTRODUCING THESE CHANGES (NO QUESTION HOUR,

ZERO HOUR), THE GOVERNMENT HAS ENSURED THAT ITS

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARLIAMENT IS DONE AWAY WITH.

—CPI LEADER

BINOY VISWAM

THE GOVERNMENT WILL TRY TO ACCOMMODATE THE

OPPOSITION’S DEMAND FOR ZERO HOUR TO CONTINUE

SO THAT MEMBERS CAN RAISE URGENT MATTERS.

—DEFENCE MINISTER

RAJNATH SINGH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus in thecity of Wuhan in China towards the end of lastyear became a major health emergency and

a global pandemic. Over the last 10 months or so,different parts of the world have been the epicen-tres of this contagion. Governments around theworld have reacted to this unprecedented situationby taking extreme measures like closing internation-al borders and air space, imposing restrictions ondomestic travel, prohibiting huge gatherings likesporting or religious events, shutting down enter-tainment hubs and educational institutes. The tollof the virus on both personal and economicaspects has been tremendous with the huge loss ofhuman lives and slowdown of economies around theworld impacting several industries and the finan-cial markets. Governments have responded by pro-viding a slew of measures to aid the ailing industryby providing liquidity and slashing interest rates,among others.

The insurance industry is one such industry thathad to react quickly to this situation to develop newproducts in the face of the growing spread of theCoronavirus and the socio-economic uncertaintiesit brought in its wake. Lack of education and aware-ness have been the main reasons for India beinglargely under-insured, particularly in the area ofhealth insurance, with only 18 per cent of the urbanand 14 per cent of the rural population availing pro-tective schemes. The Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (IRDA) recently made theavailability of the standard health policy, CoronaKavach, mandatory. Though it can’t replace the nor-mal mediclaim policy, and all standard indemnitypolicies are covering Coronavirus in India, if peo-ple don’t have a health insurance, or if they are notadequately covered by their health insurance, itwould make a lot of sense to buy this special poli-cy. Especially given the fact that India now has near-ly 37,69,523 confirmed cases of COVID-19, thethird-highest in the world after the US and Brazil.There are no drugs as yet to fully cure patients andwork on the vaccines for the virus is still in the trialstages.

While most people with mild symptoms recov-er with the medicines prescribed by doctors, inextreme cases, infected people require hospitalisa-tion and ventilator support. That is where the billsgo up exponentially and this is where a person whodoes not have health insurance or whose cover isnot adequate will be most vulnerable as the out ofpocket expense will be huge. The features ofCorona Kavach are very standard and cover bothindividuals and families, and it is available in onebasic mandatory cover offered on indemnity basisand one optional cover available on benefit basis.Corona Kavach is a single premium plan where thesum insured is in the multiples of ̀ 50,000 where themaximum sum insured is ̀ 5 lakh, minimum being`50,000. Not only is the Corona Kavach a standard-ised policy, which is uniform across all the insur-ers, it is also very comprehensive, covering home-care and Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha andHomeopathic treatment, PPE and treatment of co-morbidities when hospitalised, including any ven-tilator and ICU charges, ambulance cost upto ̀ 2,000,pre and post-hospitalisation care upto a certain num-ber of days and daily cash allowance of 0.5 per centof the sum insured for a certain number of days.Some insurers do not have a cap on the room rentas long as the room availed is a single private one.

Then there is the Corona Rakshakwhich is an optional benefit-based coverthat can be issued by life insurance com-panies also in addition to health and gen-eral insurance firms. The maximum suminsured is `2.5 lakh, which is offered aslumpsum and can be used at will, espe-cially during home quarantine, on treat-ment, medicines and for nursing charges.The tenure of the policy and waiting peri-od remains the same as that of CoronaKavach. The requirement for claim in theCorona Kavach policy is a positive diag-nosis of Coronavirus from a Government-authorised centre and hospitalisation for24 hours. For Corona Rakshak, otherthings being same, the hospitalisationrequirement is for 72 hours. One is alsounsure of the amount of additional coverrequired if an health insurance policy isa part of the portfolio. An individualshould have a health insurance cover of`8-10 lakh, so depending on this, an addi-tional coverage of Corona Kavach can betaken, to top up your existing health pol-icy. But remember to choose a top-upCorona Kavach policy from the samecompany as your basic health policy toclaim cashless benefits for both. In mostof the cases, co-morbidities will also becovered during the claims. The premiummay vary from as low as ̀ 127 per monthto as high as `14,927, based on the suminsured, availing family cover, age of theinsured and so on. The IRDA has givena go-ahead to 29 general and health insur-ance companies, both State-owned andprivate, to market the Corona Kavach pol-icy. Some of the prominent State-ownedinsurers marketing this policy are SBIGeneral Insurance, National Insurance,New India Assurance, Oriental Insuranceand United India Insurance. Otherrenowned private players include AckoGeneral Insurance, ICICI LombardGeneral Insurance, HDFC ERGO General

Insurance and Star Health and AlliedInsurance among others. So how do youchoose the insurance company? There aresome factors, among others, that can helpyou make a wise decision.

Affordability: Choose an insurancecompany that can provide these policiesat an affordable premium.

Choose family coverage: It is alsoimportant to cover your entire family and,therefore, choose an insurance companythat offers coverage to family.

Network: A health emergency canstrike you, anytime and anywhere.Therefore, choose an insurance compa-ny that has a wide network of hospitalsaround the world.

Healthy claim settlement ratio:Choose an insurer who has a high claimsettlement ratio, which means it settlesmore claims than others when comparedto the total claims received.

Although the Corona Kavach is verycomprehensive, there are still circum-stances which are not covered. First, if thediagnosis is negative or not from aGovernment-approved centre. Second, ifhospitalisation is not required and thepatient undergoes only day care proce-dures. Third, if medicines are bought with-out proper prescription; fourth, if the treat-ment is availed outside India and fifth anyvaccination, inoculation expenses used forprevention of the condition are not cov-ered in the policy. So we have to be care-ful about different situations under whichour claims may not be processed. One ofthe reasons a claim may not be approvedis the choice of the line of treatment. It isa grey area as only treatments, which areapproved by the Indian Government, arerecognised by the health insurers. Forexample, the recently-tried plasma ther-apy is not officially recognised by theGovernment. The insurance companiesare claiming that they have eased their

norms to make it easier for their customersto settle claims, like accepting email sub-missions and in some cases, on meetingcertain conditions, without policy docu-ments. The LIC settled more than 561COVID-19 death claims amounting tonearly `27 crore till the last week of July.Although this data looks impressive,there are a number of cases where the kinof Corona warriors like doctors andnurses, who died of Coronavirus, are bat-tling to claim the insurance money. Redtapism is making their lives hell and thefamilies of the deceased health workers arestruggling to prove that they contractedthe deadly infection in the line of duty toclaim the ̀ 50 lakh insurance provided bythe Government.

In some cases, insurance claims werenot approved of doctors and nurses wholaid down their lives in taking care ofpatients as they were not CentralGovernment employees. Although theGovernment has provided an insurancescheme for frontline workers like sanita-tion workers, ASHA workers, ward boys,paramedics, doctors, nurses and special-ists, it fails to cover their treatment and islimited to their death. Even after monthsinto this pandemic, several claims arerejected due to the confusion about the eli-gibility and other requirements buriedwithin the fine print of policy guidelinesof the insurance companies.

Although, the Government has takena positive step to introduce a standard pol-icy for battling Coronavirus, hospitalisa-tion and other medical costs associatedwith it, it should also make it easier for theclaims to be settled. Though the insurancemoney can never replace our loved ones,the bereaved family members can at leasthope to pick up the remaining threads oftheir lives with it.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida)

Although the Govt has taken a positive step to introduce a standard policy for battling Coronavirus,hospitalisation and other medical costs, it should also make it easier for the claims to be settled

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

Unconventionalteachers

RAM KRISHNA SINHA

Apart from conventional teachers we havesome unorthodox ones amid us now who

must get recognition and appreciation

HIMA BINDU KOTA

ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT

HAS PROVIDEDAN INSURANCE

SCHEME FORFRONTLINE

WORKERS LIKESANITATION

WORKERS, ASHAWORKERS, WARD

BOYS, PARAMEDICS,DOCTORS, NURSES

AND SPECIALISTS, ITFAILS TO COVER

THEIR TREATMENTAND IS LIMITED TOTHEIR DEATH. EVEN

AFTER MONTHSINTO THIS

PANDEMIC, SEVERAL CLAIMS

ARE REJECTED DUETO THE

CONFUSION ABOUT THE

ELIGIBILITY ANDOTHER

REQUIREMENTSBURIED WITHIN THE FINE PRINT

OF POLICY GUIDELINES

We have different categories of teachers, depending upon thestages in our lives and the vocations we pursue. So, wehave school teachers, lecturers, professors, research guides,

trainers, instructors, tutors, coaches, mentors and so on. However,we have another set of teachers who don’t qualify in the strict sense,yet impart valuable lessons. The most important among them areparents. The foundations of intellectual, emotional and ethical groom-ing in a child are laid at home by the parents. In a joint family evengrandparents play a positive roles as guides.

Again, at workplaces, bosses, seniors, corporate leaders areanother set of educators. Equipped with knowledge, skills, exper-tise and experience, they often act as advisors, counsellors or men-tors and help their juniors and colleagues progress in their careers.

Then, we have religious and spiritual gurus who preach fromthe scriptures and holy texts and offer guidance to their disciplesand others on how to lead life well. However, apart from these obvi-ous ones, we have some unorthodox and unconventional teach-ers amid us now who must get recognition and appreciation.

Children: In the digital age, it is important to be familiar withnew age systems, processes and apps. Be it the smartphone, inter-net, video-conferencing/chatting, video games and other moderngadgets, we need to learn their operations to use them. These learn-ings help in vital activities like money transfer, booking tickets, order-ing food or non-food items, or viewing streaming channels, all ofwhich are now increasingly done online. In adaptation to new learn-ings, age being a factor, children have a distinct edge. They quick-ly adapt and learn. Their aptitude, familiarity and knowledge of thedigital and online platforms are now much in demand at home, allthe more during the lockdown. As digital tutors, they offer lessonsto their grandparents, parents and senior citizens to make them dig-ital savvy. Indeed, without their hand-holding, many of the older gen-eration find themselves handicapped in adjusting to the virtual space.

Social media: We have been used to learning the dos and don’tsfrom the traditional set of teachers, professional or otherwise. NowWhatsApp, Facebook and so on are potent learning platforms wherewe get free advice on topics ranging from money, health, nutrition,fitness, to culinary arts, home décor, farming to even immunity boost-ing during the pandemic. The medium being popular, all these tipsand learnings are widely read, shared and followed. The social mediaplatform, as a teacher, is helping us to learn and share informa-tion. The only caveat is the tips or instructions need to be followedby us with fact-checks, particularly in the matter of health.

Siri and Alexa: Digital Voice Assistants like Siri and Alexa arethe new teachers in the digital sphere. Like a friend, kids can unhesi-tatingly ask anything they want to know from Siri and Alexa. Notsurprising, devices with Digital Voice Assistants are being installedeven in remote tribal areas to infuse fun and excitement in learn-ing and improve school enrolments. In smart classrooms, the DigitalVoice Assistants act as the teacher. In the future, such devices andAI-assisted humanoid robots, as smart, interesting and trendy teach-ers, are likely to gain more popularity among children and schools.

Nature: Mother Nature has always been part of our existence.But we have forgotten to look at nature as a “healer” and “teacher”up until recently. Now, with the adverse effects of climate changeravaging us, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are realis-ing the hard way the critical importance of nature as our sustain-er, healer and teacher. In the collective confinement, we found toour great relief how nature is our constant friend and can lift ourhearts and give us so much joy. It would indeed have been muchtougher to deal with the pandemic, hadn’t nature been around us.

Nature teaches us the rhythms and cycles of life, selfless giv-ing, continuous growth and generation, and the essence of sus-tainability, harmony and oneness. It also teaches us to consumewisely and responsibly. Now in close communion with nature, thank-fully, we have discovered a friend, philosopher and guide.

Pandemic: Life itself is a teacher and we always knew that.But now, a catastrophe unleashed by the Coronavirus is teachingus novel lessons in life. Starting from coping with crippled busi-nesses, loss of livelihood to handling enforced loneliness, an emo-tional see-saw, topsy-turvy routines, we are learning unique lessonsand reinventing ourselves. The crisis has taught us to appreciatenature, create new networks, leverage the virtual world, look for newengagements, explore new hobbies, pursue passions, experimentwith new ways and ideas, act collectively for the common good,and, last but not the least, to have a better world view and perspec-tive. Welcome to all these unconventional teachers.

(The writer is former General Manager, Bank of India, Learningand Development and an author)

According to the PopulationCensus of 2011, there arenearly 104 million elderly

people (aged 60 years or above) inIndia, which has a ratio of 53 millionwomen and 51 million men. Areport released by the United NationsPopulation Fund (UNPF) andHelpAge India suggests that thenumber of elderly is expected to growto 173 million by 2026, which isroughly, 18 crore by the next sevenyears. That’s just a figure, thoughscary enough to tell the story of thechallenge we have right in front of us:Our elders and our responsibilitiestowards them.

Today, the world is facing anunprecedented crisis caused by aninvisible virus, which has the worstimpact on the elderly. However, this

susceptibility is not just limited to theCoronavirus as their immunity getscompromised as they age.

I would specifically like to drawattention to the elderly in HimachalPradesh as I belong to that beautifulState. The number of elderly peoplein Himachal is growing very fast.According to a United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP)report, Himachal has seven lakhpeople aged 60 years or more, whichis 10.2 per cent of the total popula-tion of the State, higher than thenational average of 8.6 per cent. Theelderly population in Himachal isprojected to grow at a rate of 3.1 percent annually and is expected to reach1.1 million by 2026, which will beabout 15 per cent of its total popu-lation by that year. A whopping 90per cent of the population lives inrural areas, so it can be said that anincreasing elderly population is amajor phenomenon in the ruralareas of Himachal.

The significant thing here isthat this elderly population is equal-ly distributed in these districts. As perCensus 2011, Hamirpur has 13.8 percent of the total population of theelderly, followed by Bilaspur (11.9 per

cent), Kangra (11.7 per cent) andAuna (11.5 per cent). Solan andSirmaur (8 per cent) have the lowestproportion of the elderly. Aboutthree-quarters of the elderly (71 percent) live with their family membersand they play an important role infamily decisions such as arrangingsocial and religious events, buyinghousehold items and property.

If we look at the lockdown thatwas imposed for more than 100 daysto deal with the Corona epidemic ina positive light, then it has given usan unprecedented opportunity tocommunicate and commune with theelders.

Things like sitting with them, lis-tening to their experiences, eatingtogether may seem to be insignificantor too small but through these, we areseeing the social institution calledfamily strengthened in society.Recently, in an online discussion heldby the Dadi Dada Foundation, a not-for-profit social organisation work-ing for the rights of the elderly inIndia, I put forth some points that canhelp create a good environment insociety for the elderly.

Give them your time: First,increase communication with the

elderly and spend time with them.Often we leave the elders to live intheir own world. Even if they wantto say something, we tend to ignoreit. This leads to a communication gap,which further gives rise to many psy-chological complexes in them andthat creates social disorder.

Discharge your duties towardsthem: Fulfil your duties towards theelderly and give them care and ser-vice. The obligation is to fulfil themoral and social needs of the elder-ly. Do not forget that to make youreach this point in life, they have dis-charged small responsibilities bydepriving themselves of many world-ly satisfactions.

Learn the rites, rituals and val-ues from the elders and adopt themfor life. Our children spend so muchtime on their mobile phones, gadgetsand so on but taking out time forgrandparents is not one of their pri-orities. Motivate children to receivevalues from their grandparents. Butfirst of all, apply these morals to yourlives as you can teach children morefrom your actions than words.

Make them your role model:Share the achievements of the elder-ly when you talk to the young ones

in your family. Today, our societylacks role models. We continue toseek role models in movies andbooks. Whereas in every householdyoungsters can be inspired by theachievements of their elders, fromtheir real life experiences and hardwork.

Take them along through thechanges in life: Often the elderly areleft out because of the rapid changesoccurring in our lifestyles. To dealwith that, we must include the eldersin our lifestyle changes. Often weassume that they would not be inter-ested in technology, fashion andsocial media and so on. However, itis not like that. At one time, our elderswere the drivers of change in theirgeneration. So we need to introducethem to changes in technology,lifestyle, innovation, social media andfashion in our generation.

Take advantage of their experi-ence: Take suggestions from them atevery turn of life. Later, it dependsupon you whether you fully accepttheir advice or not. But certainly, theirexperience will enrich your decision-making process. Experience-based onage cannot be acquired from a book,so take their opinion whenever there

is confusion or a new turn in yourlife. You will see that some positivesolution will always come out of theconversation to the challenge you arefacing.

Don’t leave them alone: Today,the biggest challenge for the elderlyis increasing loneliness and mentaldepression. In the metropolitan citiesin their pursuit of material things,children are lagging in the dischargeof their duties towards the parentsand grandparents.

Just by managing their carebased on financial help, you cannotassume hundred per cent executionof, and exemption from, your duties.After the birth of a child, untilhe/she begins to speak and walk, thepresence of the mother is indispens-able for the kid. In the same way,elders expect the same affection andintimacy from their children after atime.

Financial support is a must: Asage progresses, the needs and pref-erences of the elderly change. Theywill have to be provided with finan-cial security for every requirementincluding medicines, treatment, foodand clothes. Support them financial-ly if they are not independent and get

banking services and facilities forthose who have pension and othersocial security assistance from theGovernment or other organisations.

Do keep in mind that the elder-ly are the pillars of our society. Thestronger we make them, the strongerthe all-round development of oursociety and nation will be. For thewelfare and care of the elderly, wemust protect the already existingsocial support systems and tradition-al social institutions such as the fam-ily and kinship, neighbourhoodbonding, community bonding andcommunity participation.

Recently we celebrated SeniorCitizen’s Day and Ganesh Chaturthi.Remember the mythological story ofGanesha? To prove his superiority,Ganesha’s brother Karthik went offon a journey of the three worlds whileGanesha simply circumambulated hisparents. When asked why he did so,he answered that his parents Shivaand Parvati constituted the threeworlds and thus he was given the fruitof knowledge. Do give your parentsand grandparents that status in life.

(The writer is General Manager,Corporate Communications, withPower Grid Corporation of India)

Value the elderly for a stronger nationJust by managing their care based on financial help, you cannot assume hundred per cent execution of, and exemption from, your duties

NARESH KUMAR

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

VW begins bookingsfor automatic trims ofPolo, Vento NEW DELHI: VolkswagenPassenger Cars India onWednesday said it hascommenced bookings forautomatic variants of BS-VIcompliant Polo and Ventomodels. The Polo GT trim ispriced at Rs 9.67 lakh whileVento Highline Plus variant istagged at Rs 12.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Both the trimsnow come with one-litre petrolengine mated with six speedautomatic transmission. "AtVolkswagen, our brandphilosophy is to be a premiumaccessible car manufacturer inIndia. With that intention, weare launching our automaticvariant on the BS-VI Polo andVento," Volkswagen PassengerCars India Director SteffenKnapp said in a statement. Deliveries of the vehicles willbegin from September 15.

Gold declines Rs 614, silver tanks Rs 1,799NEW DELHI: Gold prices inthe national capital declinedRs 614 to Rs 52,314 per 10gram on Wednesday trackingweakness in the internationalmarket, according to HDFCSecurities. In the previoustrade, gold had closed at Rs52,928 per 10 gram. Silveralso tanked Rs 1,799 to Rs71,202 per kg from itsprevious close of Rs 73,001per kg. "Spot gold prices for24 karat in Delhi were downRs 614 with a decline ininternational prices," HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst(Commodities) Tapan Patelsaid. In the internationalmarket, gold was quotingdown at USD 1,963 per ounceand silver at USD 27.87 anounce. "Gold prices paredprevious gains as investorsswitched to riskier assets afterthe US and China showedrecovery in manufacturingactivities," he added.

HMSI sales inAugust drops 2 pcat 4,43,969 unitsNEW DELHI: HondaMotorcycle & Scooter India(HMSI) on Wednesdayreported 2 per cent decline inits total sales at 4,43,969 unitsin August. The company hadsold a total of 4,52,551 unitsin the same month last year.Domestic sales last monthstood at 4,28,231 units asagainst 4,25,664 units, agrowth of 1 per cent, it saidadding this was the first timein the ongoing fiscal that itsdomestic sales breached the 4lakh units mark. Exportsduring the month stood at15,738 units as against26,887 units in August lastyear. Last month, the companylaunched its Hornet 2.0motorcycle price starting Rs1,26,345.

Global shares mostly higher, cheered by US economic dataPNS n TOKYO

Global shares were mostlyhigher Wednesday as investorswere encouraged by positiveU.S. economic data, even whilethe coronavirus pandemic hasregions around the world bat-tling recessions.

France's CAC 40 added 1.7per cent in early trading to5,023.62, while Germany'sDAX jumped 1.8 per cent to13,204.32. Britain's FTSE 100rose 1.9 per cent to 5,970.36.U.S. shares were set for furthergains with Dow futures rising0.6 per cent to 28,790.0. S&P500 futures rose to 3,550.62, up0.7 per cent.

Investor sentiment was lift-ed by better-than-expectedeconomic data overnight. The

U.S. Commerce Departmentsaid construction spending inthe U.S. edged higher in July,breaking a string of losses dueto disruptions caused by thepandemic. “A positive tonehad been assumed by Asia

markets, finding inspirationfrom Wall Street with the gainsnotched overnight,” said JingyiPan, market strategist at IG inSingapore.

“Although the U.S. economyis nowhere near the state before

the COVID-19 hit yet, theseevidences of continued recov-ery nevertheless works in thefavour of keeping the cautiousoptimism and the equity rallygoing,” she said in a commen-tary.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei225 added 0.5 per cent to fin-ish at 23,247.15. Australia'sS&P/ASX 200 rose 1.8 percent to 6,063.20, even thoughthe nation reported its worstdrop in GDP ever, with a 7 percent contraction in the April-June quarter, and is now inrecession.

South Korea's Kospi rose0.6 per cent to 2,364.37. HongKong's Hang Seng slipped 0.3per cent to 25,120.09, while theShanghai Composite inched0.2 per cent lower to 3,404.80.

LIC Housing plans to raise Rs 50,500 crorePNS n NEW DELHI

LIC Housing Finance onWednesday said it will seekshareholders' approval in theupcoming annual generalmeeting this month to raise upto Rs 50,500 crore by issuingdebt securities or other hybridinstruments on a private place-ment basis. The company'sannual general meeting(AGM) is scheduled to takeplace through video confer-ence and other audio-visualmeans on September 28, 2020,in compliance with COVID-19related regulations.

The approval of the mem-bers is being sought by way of"special resolution, authorisingthe board of directors to issueNCDs and/or any other hybridinstruments which can be clas-sified as being Tier II capitalunder the provisions of theHousing Finance Companies(NHB) Directions, 2010, up toan aggregate amount not

exceeding Rs 50,500 crore(Rupees Fifty Thousand FiveHundred Crore only) on a pri-vate placement basis," it said ina regulatory filing.

The non-convertible deben-tures (NCDs) proposed to beissued by the company forcash may be either at par orpremium or a discount to facevalue, depending upon theprevailing market conditions atthe time of issues, it added.

The company said it may

issue the debt instruments inone or more tranches duringthe period commencing fromthe date of commencing of thismeeting up to the date of nextAGM. LIC Housing Financesaid its overall borrowingpower is of Rs 3 lakh crore andthe proposed fund raise plan iswithin the limit.

Shares of the company set-tled at Rs 303.80 apiece onBSE, up 0.05 per cent from theprevious close.

Economic growth will turnpositive by Q1FY22: EACPMPNS n MUMBAI

The economic growth willcome into positive territoryonly by March or June quarter2021, but India will have toturn the crisis into an oppor-tunity by introducing reforms,Nilesh Shah, a part-time mem-ber of the Economic AdvisoryCouncil to the Prime Minister,said on Wednesday.

Shah, who is the managingdirector of Kotak MahindraAsset Management Company,attributed the surge in equitymarkets to the optimism theyget by looking at the future andnot at the data of the past.

India's GDP contracted 23.9per cent year-on-year (yoy) inthe June 2020 quarter, whichsaw COVID-19 lockdowns,making the country one of theworst performers across theworld during the pandemic.

“At the current level, it lookslike March 2021 quarter orJune 2021 quarter will show y-o-y positive GDP growth,”Shah said speaking at a webi-nar organized by professionalnetworking platform Linkedin.

He hinted that GDP will behit by the pandemic for twoyears but stressed that we needto take advantage of the chal-

lenging situation, just the waywe did in 1991 during the forexcrisis which put the growthmomentum in a new orbit.

Shah said companies want toshift out of China and thatIndia ought to roll out the redcarpet for them and also cutthe red tape.

The cost of logistics, whichmakes Indian goods uncom-

petitive at the global level, hasto be reduced. Besides, the costof power has to go down assubsidized supply to farmersmakes it expensive for theindustry to get electricity, hesaid.

Drawing from mythology,Shah compared the conditionof an entrepreneur in theIndian context with that of thecharacter Abhimanyu inMahabharata and said the mar-ket forces are akin to theKauravs while the role ofPandavs is played by the reg-ulation, infrastructure supportand policies.

Commenting on the surge inmarkets, he said while the pastis about lockdowns, the futureis about reforms which willchange the growth orbit ofIndia and markets are readinginto the same.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Billionaire Gautam Adani onWednesday said his ports-to-energy conglomerate acquiringa controlling stake in Mumbaiairport will help expand itsexisting portfolio of six airportsand create strategic adjacenciesfor the group's other business-es.

Earlier this week, AdaniAirports, a subsidiary ofMumbai-listed AdaniEnterprises, announced the

acquisition of GVK AirportDevelopers Ltd's 50.50 percent stake in the MumbaiInternational Airport Ltd(MIAL). It will also buyout 23.5per cent stake of AirportsCompany of South Africa(ACSA) and Bidvest Group toget a 74 per cent controllinginterest in Mumbai airport.

"The Mumbai InternationalAirport is absolutely world-class," Adani said in a state-ment. "The addition of theMumbai International Airport

and the Navi MumbaiInternational Airport to our

existing portfolio of six airportsprovides us a transformation-al platform that will help shapeand create strategic adjacenciesfor our other B2B businesses."

MIAL holds a 74 per centstake in Navi Mumbai Airport.

Adani said Mumbai is set tobecome one of the top 5 glob-al metropolitan centres of the21st century and is expected tobe the nation's leading airportas well as a core domestic andinternational hub.

This when passenger traffic

across India is projected togrow 5-fold and the nationbuilds 200 additional airportsto handle over 1 billion domes-tic and international passengersacross the Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities,the majority of which will con-nect to Mumbai.

"Over this period, India's top30 cities are expected to eachrequire two airports and AdaniAirports sees itself well-posi-tioned to help build the infra-structure platform required,"he said.

Acquisition of Future Groupbiz is credit positive for RILPNS n NEW DELHI

Reliance Industries Ltd's acqui-sition of Future Group's con-sumer business will strength-en the retail footprint of India'slargest organised retailer,Moody's Investors Service saidon Wednesday.

Last week, RIL announcedthat it will acquire FutureEnterprise Limited's (FEL)consumer business for a pur-chase consideration of aroundRs 24,713 crore.

"The transaction is creditpositive because it will solidi-fy its (RIL's) position as thelargest organised retailer inIndia and further diversify itsearnings," the rating agencysaid in a note.

Moody's said despite a pricetag of around USD 3.3 billion,the cost of the acquisitionremains small relative to RIL'stotal assets of around USD 155billion and consolidated EBIT-DA of USD 12.8 billion for thefiscal ended March 31, 2020.

"As a result, the acquisitioncan be accommodated withinRIL's current rating," it said."Moreover, the company'srecent spate of asset monetisa-

tion and equity fundraisingactivities have created suffi-cient buffer within its creditmetrics."

"The acquisition willstrengthen RIL's position with-in the organised retail sector inIndia as it will be able toleverage on established brandnames and vast network ofstores currently owned andoperated by the Future Groupentities," Moody's said.

In addition, the acquisitionwill also allow RIL to step-upits retail footprint in states andterritories where it currentlydoes not have a significantpresence.

"Even though entities in theFuture Group are under finan-cial stress, we do not expect

RIL to be impacted given thatRIL is only buying the assetsand businesses," it said.

Successful completion andintegration of the assets pro-posed to be acquired will cre-ate business and financial syn-ergies, it said, adding the extentof synergies will depend onRIL's retail business strategyand how quickly the consumerdemand in India recover fol-lowing the unprecedented eco-nomic contraction due to coro-navirus. Compared to the pur-chase consideration of USD 3.3billion and reported net debtof USD 21.5 billion as ofMarch 31, 2020, RIL has raisedaround USD 23 billion sinceApril 2020 by way of monetis-ing stakes.

Australia's economy takessharpest dive since the 1930sCANBERRA: Australia'seconomy suffered its sharpesteconomic contraction sincethe Great Depression due tothe pandemic, with datareleased Wednesday confirm-ing the country is in its firstrecession in 28 years. Theeconomy shrank 7% in theJune, the biggest contractionsince records began in 1959,the government reported.

Prime Minister ScottMorrison told Parliament:“This is a devastating day forAustralia.” The country isnow in recession for the first

time in 28 years following a0.3% drop in the first quar-ter of the year, since it haslogged two straight quartersof contraction. “Today'snational accounts confirmthe devastating impact on theAustralian economy fromCOVID-19,” Treasurer JoshFrydenberg said.

The previous biggestdownturn since Australiabegan keeping records in1959 was a 2% fall in June1974. Economists estimate asharper decline of 9.5% in1930.

Sensex ends 185 ptshigher; Nifty tops 11,500PNS n MUMBAI

The BSE Sensex jumped 185points on Wednesday, trackinggains in RelianceIndustries, M&M andInfosys amid alargely positivetrend in globalmarkets and sus-tained foreignfund inflows.

After starting ona choppy note, theBSE benchmark ended185.23 points or 0.48 per centhigher at 39,086.03.

The broader NSE Niftyclimbed 64.75 points or 0.56per cent to close at 11,535.

Mahindra and Mahindra(M&M) was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, rallyingaround 6 per cent, followed by

PowerGrid, Tata Steel,IndusInd Bank,

Reliance Industries,HCL Tech, ONGCand Infosys.

On the otherhand, Bajaj Auto,Asian Paints, Sun

Pharma, HDFC andNestle India were

among the laggards.According to traders,

despite opening on a choppynote, domestic equities turnedpositive tracking firm cuesfrom most global markets.

RattanIndiaGroup sellssolar assets to GIP PNS n NEW DELHI

RattanIndia Group onWednesday said it has sold itssolar plants with a combinedcapacity of 306 MW toGlobal InfrastructurePartners (GIP) for about Rs1,670 crore.

GIP is one of the world'slargest infrastructure invest-ment managers with overUSD 51 billion of assetsunder management globally.

RattanIndia Group hadsolar assets portfolio of 306MW, consisting of groundmounted solar assets of 297MW spread across Karnataka(Pavagada), Maharashtra(Katol), Rajasthan (Bhadla)and Uttar Pradesh(Allahabad and Bareilly) and9 MW rooftop solar projectsspread across 10 cities, acompany statement said.

RattanIndia Group saidthe transaction is valued at Rs1,670 crore.

IRF: Strict rules for retrofitment of CNG kitsPNS n NEW DELHI

To ensure safety on roads,global body IRF onWednesday urged the gov-ernment for issuing strictregulations, includingdigital monitoringcompliance, forretro-fitment ofCNG kits in vehi-cles.

Currently, underthe CNG retro-fit-ment technique, thegas tank, fuel lines, injec-tion system and electricalsare retro-fitted to a vehicle thatis not designed for CNG,threatening lives, it said.

"The International RoadFederation (IRF) has urged theUnion Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways(MoRTH) to formulate andimmediately notify strict tech-nical requirements including

digital monitoring compli-ance for retro-fitment of CNGkits in the cars already on theroads," IRF said in a statement.

The MoRTH has worked inbringing in the legisla-

tive and regulatorye n v i r o n m e n ttowards savinghuman lives, IRFsaid.

The Geneva-based global road

safety body addedthat European crash

test regulation, MotorVehicle Amendment Act, reg-ulations for airbags, and seat-belt reminders are some majorexamples.

"On similar lines, the needof the hour by the ministry isto bring in strict regulationsand framework for retro-fit-ments of CNG kits in vehicles,"said K K Kapila, presidentemeritus, IRF.

PNS n NEW DELHI

APM Terminals Pipavav onWednesday said its boardhas approved a Rs 700 croreexpansion plan.

The amount will be usedfor upgrading existing facil-ities for handling bigger shipsand increasing the containercapacity to 1.6 million twen-ty-foot equivalent units(TEUs), it added.

"APM Terminals Pipavav(Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd)has announced the approvalof Rs 700 crore in coherenceto the expansion plan of thecompany. The stated invest-ment will be utilised forupgrading the port's existingfacility to handle bigger shipsand eventually expand thecontainer capacity to 1.6 mil-lion TEUs," the companysaid in a statement.

APM TerminalsPipavav boardapproves Rs 700 crore

‘Covid restrictions to shave off 18% of ONGC capex’PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Oil and NaturalGas Corp (ONGC) may seecapital spending this fiscalreduce by close to one-fifthafter COVID-19 related restric-tions delayed projects, its direc-tor-finance Subhash Kumarsaid on Wednesday.

ONGC, India's top oil andgas producer, had budgeted Rs32,501 crore of capital expen-diture for the fiscal to March2021 (FY21).

But the actual spending maybe around Rs 26,500 crore asproject implementations gotimpacted due to COVID-19

restrictions disrupting supplychain and movement of labour,he said at post-first-quarterearnings callw i t hinvestors.

"There isno con-scious effortto reducecapex butconsideringthe time lost(due toCOVID-19lockdown)and disruption in the supplychain, there may be a loss ofaround Rs 6,000 crore capex

which would get pushed intonext fiscal," he said.

Oil and gas exploration andproduction pro-jects typicallyinvolve the sup-ply of equipmentfrom overseassuppliers. Also,some facilitieslike rigs areoperated by for-eign crews.

Lockdowns inseveral parts ofthe world includ-

ing India restricted movementof labour as well as disruptedsupply chains.

"Capex flow will get pushedto next fiscal," he said addingFY21 capex would be aroundRs 26,500 crore.

On the company's borrow-ings, the official said therewas no immediate plan toraise debt and the recent reg-ulatory filing of board approvalfor Rs 45,000 crore borrowingpertained to "aggregation" of allprevious approvals.

He said the company hadraised loans for different pur-poses including the acquisitionof Hindustan Petroleum CorpLtd (HPCL) in recent years andthey all were through separateboard authorisations.

Abbott gets nod for once-a-dayheart failur,e angina treatment drug PNS n NEW DELHI

Global healthcare firm Abbotton Wednesday said it hasreceived approval from theDCGI for its once-a-day for-mulation, Ivabradine, used fortreatment of chronic heartfailure and chronic stable angi-na.

The company plans tolaunch Ivabradine prolongedrelease tablets in the Indian

market in the coming weeks,Abbott said in a statement.

This formulation will bemore convenient for patients,which will help facilitate treat-ment adherence with the aimto improve health outcomes, itadded.

The formulation has beendeveloped at Abbott's I&Dcentre in Mumbai, the state-ment said. "Adherence to ther-apy is a critical factor to max-

imize the overall health ofpeople with chronic heart fail-ure or chronic stable angina.We have used the best technol-ogy and science to develop thisnew dosage formulation,"Abbott Regional MedicalDirector Balagopal Nair said.

The convenient once-a-dayformulation will help improveoverall treatment adherence,leading to better health out-comes, he added.

Adani says airports to create adjacencies for group businessesStrata raises Rs 140 crore forwarehousing assets consortiumPNS nMUMBAI

Strata, tech-enabledcommercial realestate investment platform, onTuesday said it has raised Rs 140crore for a consortium of threegrade-A warehousing assetopportunities amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The consortium of assets,including two Strata Avignawarehousing I and II situated in

Hosur andone pharmawarehouse inBengaluru,

collectively computed for atotal of 7 lakh sq ft of the ware-housing space, the companysaid in a statement.

Besides, the assets alsosecured traction from the non-resident Indian (NRI) commu-nity and from investors acrosstier-II towns, the company said.

Even as more andmore relaxations

have been comingup and lockdown

being lifted slowly,schools don't seem

like they wouldopen up anytimesoon, given how

everyone's awaitinga vaccine for

COVID. Parentingamid the pandemichas become a huge

challenge,especially for

working parents,who're trying hardto stay sane for the

past few months.The Pioneer's

RACHEL

DAMMALA talksto parent bloggers

from various partsof India, who the

internet islooking to, for

practical advice

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

ThursdaySeptember 3, 2020

BLOGGERS TURN SAVIOURS

Covidcrisis:

national bad-minton player-turned-actor,Sudheer Babuhas given somespectacular films

and according to his fans,almost all his movies havea tremendous story, plot,and memorable perfor-mances. One such upcom-ing film of Sudheer Babu isV! Helmed by directorMohan Indraganti, the filmis a must-watch featuringstupendous actors likeNani, Sudheer, Aditi RaoHydari, Nivetha Thomas,and Jagapathi Babu.

The role of a painstaking

cop played by SudheerBabu is one of the manyinteresting roles in themovie. He gets to havemany stand-out momentsapart from being a desir-able police officer. In arecent media interaction,the Tollywood heroexpressed how the movieholds an extremely strongcharacterisation along withan ensemble cast. “It’s anaction-packed movie, itpursued me to grow as aperson every day on thesets,” he had said.

Cop films are havebecome an obsession in thefilm industry again and the

actor will be seen deliver-ing an authentic perfor-mance of a determinedcop. The audience tooseems to have a soft cornerfor watching actors playingcops on the silver screen asmost of the cop movies incontemporary times havelanded up being chart-busters at the box office.

But how’s the role of acop being played bySudheer is different fromothers? He enlightens us bytelling that this particularcharismatic character of acop is a righteous policeofficer who loves taking upchallenges and is sure to

give the audience a perfectdose of action starringopposite Nani and is a peo-ple’s saviour — “Actionthrillers will be incompletewithout a fight sequence, Iam going to portray adren-aline-pumping actionsequences building a greatmomentum to the screen-play written by Mohangaru.”

Talking about his OTTexperience, the starinforms that apparently themovie wasn’t made to bereleased on an OTT plat-form as it was meant to beviewed on big screens witha different charm, however,

OTT has become the cur-rent saviour given theuncertainty pertaining tothe pandemic. “The lookand the feel of the movieget the right expressiononly on a 70mm screennonetheless, these are grimsituations and we hope tohave a memorable experi-ence. Good stories andactors are finding theirspace on an over the topplatform which is eventual-ly helping our Tollywoodindustry also grow global-ly. Anybody sitting abroadcan go to Amazon PrimeVideo and watch ourmovie at the comfort of

their home and their fin-gertip,” added Sudheerwho’s currently awaitingthe release of V on the 5thof September.

When asked what is hisplus points are, he said thathe is adamant about cer-tain things and that when-ever he decides on some-thing, he will go for it atwhatever cost and achieveit. With no scope of shootsearlier during the lock-down, Sudheer Babuadopted fitness as hislifestyle mantra and islooking forward to somereally successful block-busters post-COVID.

A

Tollywood actor is eagerly awaiting hisupcoming film, V, that is touted to be an

out and out thriller and action-packedcop film. Considered to be one of

Tollywood's biggest blessings, SHIKHADUGGAL writes about the actor's film, its

release on OTT, and more.

SUDHEER BABUSPILLS THE BEANS

arenting amid theCOVID-19 crisisseems to be gettingtougher for many,as days pass by. Noparent anticipated

that they would be locked-inwith their kids for an endlessnumber of months, and somost weren't ready for thechallenges. Some parents saidthey have tried reading bookson parenting, looking for infor-mation online, trying distrac-tions, all in vain. It has becomeeven more important now forparents to look for or createcontent to entertain and pro-vide a much-needed escape fortheir kids.

Interestingly, parents havefound hope and practical sug-gestions and solutions fromblogging parents and socialmedia accounts dedicated to

parenting on theinternet!

Here in

Hyderabad, for mothers, it’s theHyderabad Mommies. Thisclose-knit community of moth-ers from the city is of and formothers looking for answers totheir queries on schools, stores,lifestyle, food for children, andsleep patterns, but now mostparents’ needs moved to infor-mation on how to keep theirkids gainfully engaged duringthe lockdown.

Post-COVID, such parentinggroups have been helping outparents, especially motherswith live sessions about thevirus, its vaccine, precautionsfor children, babies, pregnantmothers, and more. HyderabadMommies has been havinginteractive sessions by expertsin the field of medicine, mentalhealth, etc. “These live sessionshave helped parents who’relocked-in their homes. Theycan ask questions anythingunder the sun and we haveexperts answering them. Ourmain motive, that we keeptelling mothers, is this — bepositive and patient,” sharesChhaya Sharma, founder of thegroup. “We’ve also had sessionson yoga, sessions on mentalhealth by renowned counsel-lors/psychologists, webinars onyoga, etc. We’ve even had peo-ple help mothers with smallscale businesses,” she adds.

Priyanka, whose child is justabout to turn 2, had a toughtime battling post-partum

depression and certainlyunderstands other mothers

who’re going through thesame phase is. “The

post-partum phaseis worse when one

is stuck at home.So it hasbecome evenmore impor-tant forwomen toconnect witheach other,talk it out,and not beatthemselvesabout any-thing. Myprofile is allabout thesemothersand more.Just telling

anothermomthat herbaby

will fall asleep, her baby will dowell, she’ll do well, she’ll getthrough - all of these go a longway in comforting her. I alsoasked some mothers to look fora means of outlet, so write,some talk, it all helps,” she says.

Balancing work and familyhas been the biggest challengefor most parents. Chhayaadvises, “We can’t avoid or runaway from this change in ourlives, the only best way to dealwith it, is face and conquer it. Itdefinitely is tough with kidsaround, 24*7, kids can throwtantrums when they’re askednot to venture out. What weought to understand is thatthey need more attention, sinceinteraction with people/friendsoutside has reduced. We haveto make efforts to take time outfor them. My kid is 3-and-a-half-years-old. He understandswhen I talk to him like an adultand tell him my work timingsand boundaries. I also ensure Ikeep him busy during thattime by engaging him in someactivity, otherwise, he’d run tome for attention.” BloggerPriyanka Mallik, whose profile‘From_Vodka_To_Nappies’ onInstagram has been helpingseveral other mothers, secondsChhaya.

Namrata Sadhvani, founder of the mom blog,Momspresso, says “As a mom, Iknow how overwhelming itcan be for a mother, especiallywhen we’re used to a routine.When the kids went to school,

we had some “me time”. Withkids at home all the time, timefor self is a distant dream formothers. This is why we’repretty vocal about lettingmothers know that it’s okay tofeel overwhelmed because it’snot just them feeling that way.Nobody was ready, or well-equipped to deal with such anunprecedented situation. Andit helps to know you’re notalone. Telling moms that theycan find themselves in themiddle of all the madness helpslike nothing else. With theonus to run the house onmothers and they not being tohave things they do the normalway, can make them feelunderaccomplished or guilty ofnot doing enough. We ensurewe make these mothers knowit’s okay. It’s important to nor-

malise the situation prevalentin every house, important tofind joy in doing the mundanechores which we’d earlier out-sourced to our maids.”

Some parents have alsoresorted to keeping their kidsbusy using gadgets. On that,Chhaya says, “I did see a lot ofkids addicted to the iPad andother gadgets. Watching car-toons, video games, moviesthroughout the day, etc., willworsen their eyes. It is impor-tant to both — curtail theirscreen time, and monitor thecontent the child is exposed to.Remember, these habits willbecome tough to break oncewe go back to our normal lies,however far away it is.” Chhayaand many other parent blog-gers advise parents to assignduties to their kids. “They imi-tate whatever you, read a book,so they follow you. The moreyou’re engrossed in your laptopor phone, it is only natural thatthey will follow, however smallor grown-up they are,” bloggersbelieve. Parenting blogs areregularly hosting competitionsand other fun activities for kidstoo. They have dance, arts andcrafts, and singing sessions tokeep the kids excited, busy, andthinking.

Chhaya also advises parentsto talk to their kids aboutboundaries and tell themwhat’s allowed what is not.“Discipline them, not by angerbut with a stern yet lovingpatience. I involve my toddlerin household chores. It alsoallows me to spend more timewith him. This way, parentscan teach their kids life skillsyoung, irrespective of gender.My son enjoys making rotiswith me. Now, for him, it’s notjust my work, but both his andmine,” explains Chhaya. Likeher, Namrata too, asks parentsto involve themselves in theirkids' lives as much as they can,'cause it has been tough forthem too. "Go back to thebasics, take out your old boardgames, you’ll be surprised tosee how much fun it is to playwith the family,” she adds.

On disciplining kids andteaching them to take precau-tions seriously among others,Utpal Khot, a blogger andfounder of ‘Being A realHuman’ from Mumbai believesthat children learn from par-ents and that they mimic what

they do, just like Chhaya does.“It becomes all the moreimportant for parents to becautious in all that they do. Ididn’t have to teach my 19-year-old son much. When hesaw that every time I went outto feed over 400 stray animalsevery day during the lockdownand once I was back home, Ibathed with hot water, dranktwo cups of warm water, anddisinfected the place from theroad to my bathroom, he fol-lowed me. Children don’t listenwhen you impose things onthem, if anything, they couldturn rebellious. You’ve to live itfor them to follow, you have tohave a conversation with them.They will have a zillion ques-tions, be open, and willing toanswer them. If you don’tknow some, let them knowthat you’d do your research andget back. Chances are, they willdo that research themselves,thanks to Google. So it’s noherculean task, you see,” sharesUtpal, who had been able toinfluence his volunteers andtheir families’ lives too, onbeing extra cautious amid thelockdown.

Priyanka Mallik says thatparents must learn to givethemselves a break. “You’ve gotto understand that you don’thave to be a parent 24*7.Remember, taking some timeoff for some to relax is not tofelt guilty about. You don’t haveto put aside hours, because youcan’t if you have a child/chil-dren below 1 year of age. Sometime aside to just sip hot coffee,a 10-minute read of yourfavourite book, etc., should do.Your spouse needs it too. Youcan’t go out on dates, you surecan have one at home, if youcan plan and make time for itwhen the baby is asleep,” advis-es Priyanka.

The COVID crisis hasbrought with some positivestoo. The lockdown has allowedchildren and parents to spendmore quality time with eachother. It has brought familiescloser, made their eveningsfun, got them to connect withtheir friends, relatives, viavideo calls, zoom celebrations,etc.

P Utpal

Chhaya

Priyanka

ctor Ram Kapoorhas seen his shareof ups and downsin the entertain-ment industry, hav-ing worked in TV,

films and the OTT space. Hesays one has to be emotionallytough to survive here, andluck plays an important partto get success.

Kapoor, who is noted forhis film roles in HazaaronKhwaishein Aisi, GolmaalReturns, Udaan, and Thappadamong numerous others, hasforayed the digital space inrecent times with the web seri-es Abhay 2 and A Suitable Boy.

“It was such a treat to workwith (director) Mira (Nair) inA Suitable Boy because the

story is set in a different eraand I play a politician. It is awell written multi-layeredcharacter and it was a nicereunion,” Kapoor told IANS.He had earlier worked withNair in her 2001 film,Monsoon Wedding.

While the conversation aro-und the dark side of Bollyw-ood, and how mental health isaffected by competition in theindustry, Kapoor said that onehas to find stability within.

“After the initial struggle Iwent through, I managed tomake a name for myself in thetelevision industry. Then itwas my conscious decision tomake a shift from quality toquantity. Today when I saythat ‘work is fun for me’ and ‘Ilook for challenging and enga-ging characters in the kind ofweb series I do’, I say that witha certain amount of emotionaland financial stability. I haveearned it from television formore than 10 years,”he said.

“In our industry, the ups,the success, the fandom isextreme but when the down-fall happens, it is really dark. Ifyou are not emotionally tou-gh, it will be tough for you tosurvive the dark period beforeyou see the light!” he shared.

During the lockdown peri-od, several television actorscommitted suicide includingPreksha Mehta, ManmeetGrewal, Anupama Pathak, andSameer Sharma. The untimelydeath of Sushant Singh Rajput,who also started his journeyfrom television with the showPavitra Rishta, was initiallysuspected to be a case of sui-cide by the Mumbai Police.However, the case is now un-der investigation by the CBI.

Although hard work playsan important role, Kapooremphasises on the luck factor,too. “I am lucky to get theright opportunity at the righttime to prove my talent. Hon-estly speaking, there are manyactors I know who are talent-ed. They are no less talentedthan I am but probably theydid not get the kind of oppor-tunity they deserve, or did notget the appreciation from theaudience the way I got. I thinkit is pure luck and that iswhere my heart is filled withgratitude. Having said that, Iwould say whenever there is adown, it is only wise to stayhopeful and not give up. Whoknows, the good time is juston the way, coming towardsyou to change your life for agreater good. I am eternallyhopeful,” Ram signed off.

10

Hyderabad Thursday September 3 2020 what’s brewing?

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

Ranveer Singhshares hisfitness regime

Ali Fazal takes adig at how socialmedia works

ctor Ali Fazalhas shared aninsightful, albeithilarious, lookat how socialmedia works,

taking a dig at the‘whataboutery’ rampanton the medium. Hereshared the post original-ly shared by producerAtul Kasbekar.

The message went asfollows, “Me: I prefermangoes to oranges.Random person: So basi-cally, what you are sayingis you hate oranges? Youalso failed to mentionpineapples, bananas andgrapefruits. Educate your-self, I’m literally shaking.”The message was sharedunder the header, “Howsocial media works.”

Quoting Atul’s tweet, Aliwrote, “Hahahahahhahahok am exclusively postingthis. Yup this is it.. QED.”

Atul had shared thejoke and wrote, “This isbang on accurate thesedays especially on@Twitter.”

Ali, who is all set to beseen in Hollywood filmDeath on the Nile, hadtalked about social mediaand negativity around it.“I had learnt to ignoreand move on until Richapointed out that somethings are not acceptable.There is no need to pullyour own people down. Ihave conditioned myselfto not let social mediaaffect me much. We livein a world where botsmanage to sway trends, so

it is hard to sift the realfrom the fake. But I amhopeful that we will comeout of this age of informa-tion overload and find ourbearings,” he said lastweek.

Apart from Death onthe Nile, Ali will also beseen in the second seasonof his popular and widelyloved Amazon Primeseries, Mirzapur. Ali hadsaid in a recent statement,“Both the releases havetheir audiences and areboth two different ends ofthe spectrum. The oppor-tunities presented in frontof me have opened up thisrange. And for an actor, itis nectar. Right now, I amjust hoping that Death OnThe Nile gets a theatricalrelease in India.”

A

ollywoodactor RanveerSingh saystraining is avery impor-tant part of

his life, and he utilisedthe lockdown period toadd muscle mass to hisphysique.

“Training is a veryimportant part of mylife. I have been body-building since I was 16years old. During lock-down I have deliberatelyadded muscle mass tomy physique,” he tellsIANSlife exclusively.

“I have started liftingheavier than ever beforeand my focus has beencompound exercises. Iwasn’t doing a lot ofdead lifts earlier butnow I’ve incorporatedthem into my routine

and I am constantlyworking to perfect myform,” he adds.

In addition to itthere’s the bench presshe reveals and “militarypress and squats havebeen the mainstay of mylockdown routine alongwith a second session ofsteady state cardio”.

“I’m happy with myresults during but now I want to get ripped,”says the Padmavat actor.

Singh has been ropedin as the brand ambas-sador of BigMuclesNutrition.

He says he startedusing their supplementsduring the making ofSimmba when he wasrequired to bulk up,adding, “Since then ithas been a constant forme.”

B

A

Ram Kapoor: If you're not emotionally

tough, this is a tough industry

fter dipping histoes in action withbox-office smashGentleman fouryears ago, film-maker Indraganti

Mohana Krishna has diveddeep into the genre with V, hisnext. “In terms of style, lavish-ness and scale, V has been themost challenging film of mycareer so far. Besides shootingit across five states of thecountry (Telangana, AndhraPradesh, Goa, HimachalPradesh, Maharashtra), I’veshot it in Thailand as well tocreate a consistent visualexperience and colour palettefor the audiences,” the direc-tor speaks about the mysteryemotional action-drama,which delves into the life of apolice officer (played bySudheer Babu) who falls inlove with a crime writer(Nivetha Thomas). His lifetakes a turn when a killer(Nani) puts across a challengeto him with a puzzle to solve,leading to a good-versus-evilshowdown.

The director continues,“The camaraderie betweenNani and Sudheer helped meto finish the film easily.Keeping in mind Sudheer’saction image, I’ve speciallydesigned an action episodewhich comes early in the film.The action sequences betweenhim and Nani will be racy andemotional.”

V was initially planned fora theatrical roll out aroundUgadi earlier this year but thelockdown triggered by thepandemic pushed the releaseindefinitely. After waiting fornearly five months, film’s pro-ducer Dil Raju inked a dealwith Amazon Prime lastmonth, making it the first bigfilm from Telugu to get adirect web release. “We had tohold back the release for thepast five months. There is anexcitement surrounding thefilm and as there is no clarityon when cinema halls will

reopen, we’ve felt that there isno point in waiting further.Amazon is bringing the filmcloser to the audience. Thefact that it will be released in200 countries simultaneouslyis icing on the cake,” he main-tains.

As a technician though,Indraganti is a fan of watchingfilms on the silver screen.“The theatrical experience isdifferent and I believe theaudience too will not like tomiss it. But bearing inmind the present unfortu-nate circumstances, OTTis helping the cause

of filmmakers,” he states.Indraganti, who introduced

then assistant director Nani asa lead actor with AshtaChamma (2008), wasn’t awareof V being his discovery’slandmark 25th film. “After thestory narration, Nani askedme which role he shouldfavor. I asked him to preferthe one with a negative streak.He instantly said he wasthinking the same. However,during the narration, I didn’tknow this would be his 25thfilm. When I asked himwhether he is okay with it, hetold me, ‘I’m happy to do my25th film with you’. As anactor, Nani is not afraidof taking risks. Jerseywas a pointer inthat direction. Ifhe likes a role,he wouldn’teven botherabout its screentime.”

While this is histhird project withNani, with SudheerBabu, NivethaThomas andAditi RaoHydari, this is hissecond. He says atthe end of the day hischoices boil down tocomfort factor and alsohe approaches them“if they suit mycharac-ters”.

“Plus, they know what Iexpect of them,” he shares,confident that his cinematog-rapher PG Vinda’s wide rangeas a technician will be on fulldisplay with the film. “I sharea great wavelength with him.He knows what I need andhow I need (some shots). Idon’t need to explain much tohim.”

Interestingly, V marks itsglobal premiere on the sameday as his second film, AshtaChamma opened —September 5. Indraganti

attributesit to

mere coincidence. “The datewas Amazon Prime’s call.Also, this is Nani’s third filmwith me and with Dil Rajugaru. Some factors worked inour favour. We wanted torelease the film last Decemberbut as my father passed away,the shoot was halted for acouple of months.”

He admits to being a littlescared to join forces with bigstars because of the imagethey command, the expecta-tions surrounding their filmsand the elements that fansexpect from them. “I firstwrite the story and thendecide the casting,” he pointsout.

As far as developing a webseries is concerned, the direc-tor, who is known for his

genre-hopping habit witheach passing film, notesthat his plate as a featurefilmmaker is full, havingcommitted to four filmsalmost. He also agreed todo another film with DilRaju. “Web series need a

lot of effort. You have todo it like a yagna. But the

novel Saptabhumi can bemade into a web series. The

thought recently crossedmy mind,” he signs off.

A

11

Hyderabad Thursday September 3 2020tollywood

Little scared to directbig stars: INDRAGANTI

Thefilmmakergives insightsinto V, amysteryemotionalaction-drama,working withNani forthird time,OTTrelease,writesNAGARAJGOUD

s Pawan Kalyan turned49th Wednesday, a brandnew still and motionposter of Vakeel Saab, hiscomeback film, wasunveiled by film’s produc-

tion houses Sri VenkateswaraCreations and Bayview Projects as agift to the actor’s enormous fanfollowing. In the motion poster,Pawan’s character, dressed inblack-and-white, is seen hold-ing a criminal law book in onehand and a baseball bat inanother, indicating that he rolewill be a mix of brains andbrawn. Satyamev Jayate, echoes inthe background.

Pawan will be seen as aneccentric lawyer whodefends the threewomen (played byNivetha Thomas,Anjali andAnanya

Nagalla) from trumped-up charges ofassault and prostitution in the court-room drama, while using his legalacumen to make a larger commentabout consent and violence. Thefilm, a remake of Hindi hit Pink, is

being directed by VenuSreeram. 70 percent of

the film has beenshot when the lock-

down forced themakers to suspendthe shoot pro-ceedings. It islikely to resumesometime laterthis year.

eanwhile, thepre-look posterof Pawan’s nextwith Krish wasenough to sendthe former’s

fans into a state ofeuphoria. In his maid-en attempt at a perioddrama, Pawan was seenin a warrior get-up,sporting a couple ofrings, Kada on hishand, and an eaglebrooch on his waist, inthe look. No wonder, it

has immediately goneviral.

The untitled film,produced by AMRatnam, was shot for15 days before the lock-down disrupted theproceedings. “The 15shoot still rings fresh inthe memory of theunit. We can foresee asuccessful film whichwill be remembered forgenerations. And Iattribute it to your kindheart and encourage-

ment,” Krish tweeted.An MM Keeravani

musical, the film, co-starring Arjun Rampal,JacquelineFernandez andNarraSrinuamongothers, isbelievedto bemade on abudget ofover Rs 100crore.

ctors Allu Arjun,Ram Charan andproduction housesSVC Creations,Mega SuryaProduction and

Mythri Movie Makersannounced financial aid tofamilies of fans of PawanKalyan, who died in an acci-dent on Tuesday night whilemaking arrangements for theactor’s birthday celebrations.The incident took place inSanthipuram town ofChittoor district. The youthwere electrocuted to death

and three others wereinjured when they came incontact with a live wirewhile erecting a banner. Thedeceased were identified asRajender (31), Somasekhar(29) and Arunachalam (20).

While Ram Charanannounced a donation of Rs2.5 lakh each to the familiesof the deceased, Allu Arjunannounced Rs 2 lakh each.Mega Surya Production,Mythri Movie Makers andSVC Creations, productionhouses of which are doingdifferent projects with

Pawan Kalyan, announcedcontributions of Rs 2 lakhrespectively for the deceasedfamilies.

“Nothing we do can com-pensate for the loss of lives.We can only stand by thefamilies of the deceased andlend our support in thesedifficult times,” posted RamCharan.

Upon learning about theincident last night, Pawan’sJana Sena party immediatelyannounced financial supportof Rs 2 lakh to the family ofthe deceased.

Mega family, Dil Raju,Ratnam and Mythri come tothe aid of deceased PK fans

A

M

Pre-look poster ofKrish’s film out

ahati Swara Sagar,who proved his met-tle with films likeChalo and Bheeshma,is the frontrunner toscore music for

Megastar Chiranjeevi’s next withMeher Ramesh. According toreports, Meher is keen onMahati’s musical notes for thefilm and even put forward a pro-

posal to Chiru. While the film—a remake of Tamil monster hitVedalam— will take time to goin front of the cameras, it seemsMeher wants to finalise his crewand cast at the earliest. Chiru,who is known to encourage newtalent, will be taking a final callon the composer soon.Interestingly, the actor had along-standing working relation-

ship with Mahati’s dad ManiSharma in the late 90s and earlynoughties. The composer is nowreuniting with the actor forAcharya.

Vedalam remake will narratethe tale of a gangster-turned-cabdriver, who secretly avenges themurders of his sworn sister’sparents. Anil Sunkara is producing it.

M

Mahati’s tunesfor Megastar?

Vakkanthamjoins Twitter

opular writerVakkantham Vamsi isthe latest tinseltownceleb to have joined theTwitter bandwagon.The usually reclusive

writer, who made his directorialdebut with Naa Peru Surya-NaaIllu India a couple of years ago,joined the social media platformon account of Pawan Kalyan’sbirthday Wednesday. The writer ispenning the story of Pawan’s nextwith Surender Reddy for SRTEntertainments.

Tweeting from the handle@VamsiVakkantham, the storywriter of films like Kick and RaceGurram wrote, “Can’t think of bet-ter day than this to be here onTwitter, Birthday wishes to themost humble and inspiringhuman being Power Star@PawanKalyan sir. Wishing youall the success and good health,Looking forward to work with you@DirSurender@itsRamTalluri#HBDPawanKalyan (sic).” He alsotagged a photo of Pawan, RamTalluri and Reddy.

The untitled film, believed to bean action entertainer with a differ-ence, is likely to be launched onDasara next month. Vakkanthamis also set for his second ventureas a director with Ravi Teja. It willmove to the floor next year.

P

A

PK ACES THELAWYER LOOK

PTI n NEW DELHI

Suresh Raina has broken hissilence over his unexpected

pullout from the IPL, saying hereturned to India for his familyand he might even fly back toDubai to rejoin the ChennaiSuper Kings for the tournamentbeginning September 19.

Raina, who announced hisinternational retirementalongside M S Dhoni onAugust 15, also rub-bished reports claim-ing a rift between himand his longtime fran-chise. The contingentrecorded 13 Covid-19cases, including two play-ers, and Raina’s pulloutwas attributed to that.

“It was a personaldecision and I had tocome back for my fam-ily. There was somethingthat needed to beaddressed immediatelyon the home front. CSKis my family too andMahi bhai (MS Dhoni)

is very important to me and thiswas a tough decision,” Raina toldCricbuzz.

“There is no issue betweenCSK and me. Nobody will justturn their back on `12.5 croreand walk away without a solidreason. I might have retired frominternational cricket but I’mstill young and I am looking for-ward to playing for them in theIPL for the next 4-5 years,” he

said. He also dropped a hinton rejoining the team in

Dubai when asked about hisfuture with CSK.

“I’ve beentraining even

while quar-ant in inghere. Youn e v e rknow youmight see

me in thecamp there

again,” said thesouthpaw.

Team owner NSrinivasan was not happywhen he first got to know

about Raina’s withdrawal fromthe tournament. The batsmansaid the former BCCI presidentis like a “father figure” to himand has every right to snap athim.

“..He’s always stood by me

and is close to my heart. Hetreats me like his younger sonand am sure a lot of what he saidwas taken out of context. Ekbaap apne bacche ko daant saktahai(A father can scold his son).

“He didn’t know the real

reasons for me leaving when hegave those comments. Now he’sbeen informed about them andhe even sent me a messagethereafter. We’ve chatted aboutit and both CSK and I just wantto get over with it,” said Raina.

12HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

AP n NEW YORK

Making quick work of anopponent for a change,Serena Williams

wrapped up her 102nd careerUS Open match win to break atie with Chris Evert for themost in the professional era.

Then Williams headedback out to the Arthur AsheStadium stands on Tuesdaynight, her dog in tow. Williamshad a match to watch — herolder sister’s, which did notwork out as well.

Serena Williams, who turns39 this month, defeated KristieAhn 7-5, 6-3. But VenusWilliams, who is 40, lost in theUS Open’s first round for thefirst time in 22 appearances,beaten 6-3, 7-5 by No 20

Karolina Muchova.It is the fourth time in the

past five Grand Slam tourna-ments that Venus exited in heropening match.

“I just ran out oftime today,” Venussaid.

Venus, who wontwo of her sevenmajor singles cham-pionships in NewYork, was trying to becomeonly the third woman in her40s to win a US Open singlesmatch.

“We would have neverthought we would still be outhere, to be honest,” Serenasaid.

“I love my job. At the endof the day, I love what I do. I’vealways said, ‘You can’t do it for-

ever,’” she said after delivering13 aces and dropping only sixpoints on her serve.

“One of these days,” Serenasaid, “it’s going to end.” She has

won 23 Grand Slam sin-gles titles, the most in theprofessional era, whichbegan in 1968; onlyMargaret Court collectedmore, with 24.

Six of Serena’s tro-phies came at the US Open, andshe also was the runner-up fourtimes, including each of thepast two years.

Entering Tuesday, Serenahad been 3-2 since tennismatches resumed after a hiatusbecause of the coronaviruspandemic — and all five wentthree sets. So Tuesday’s matchwas a welcome change.

AFP n MANCHESTER

Veteran al l-rounderMohammad Hafeez praised

teenage debutant Haider Ali’s com-posure after the pair combined toset up Pakistan’s five-run victoryover England in their tour-endingthird T20I at Old Trafford onTuesday.

It was Pakistan’s first victory in66 days of being in a bio-securebubble in England and meantthey squared this three-matchseries at 1-1 after a 1-0 loss in lastmonth’s three-Test series.

Hafeez made 86 not out andHaider 54 in Pakistan’s 190-4.

There was a 20-year age gapbetween the 39-year-old Hafeezand the 19-year-old Haider butyou would not have known itwhile they shared a stand of exact-ly 100 after coming together at 32-2.

Hafeez’s knock followed his 69in England’s five-wicket win at OldTrafford on Sunday and was hisfourth fifty in his last five T20Iinnings.

Haider came in at 2-1 afteropener Fakhar Zaman was out forone but demonstrated a maturitywell beyond his years during a 28-ball fifty featuring five fours and

two sixes.“He was good under pressure

and just expressed himself,” saidplayer of the series Hafeez ofHaider in a post-match interviewwith Sky Sports.

“I was just trying to back himevery time, tell him ‘you are play-ing well, continue like that,’” headded. “It is great to see youngsterscoming from our system and per-forming well.”

England were 69-4 in their

chase before Moeen Ali, whoshould have been stumped by for-mer Pakistan captain SarfarazAhmed on seven, revived theirhopes with 61.

But when veteran pacemanWahab Riaz, in for the injuredMohammad Amir, ran out Chris

Jordan and then caught andbowled Moeen, England were 174-8 with seven balls left.

They needed 12 off two ballswhen Tom Curran hit a six.

But Curran could not repeatthe shot when paceman HarisRauf bowled a last-ball yorker.

PTI n NEW DELHI

World champion P V Sindhu haspulled out of next month’s Thomas

and Uber Cup Finals due to “personal rea-sons” and could also miss the subsequentSuper 750 tournaments in Denmark.

The Thomas and Uber Cup Finals,scheduled to be held from October 3 to11 in Aarhus, Denmark is the first tour-nament in the revised calender

“Sindhu will not be able to participatein the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals dueto some personal reasons,” the OlympicSilver-medallist’s father P V Ramanatold PTI.

“She has some personal work, sounfortunately she will have to skip theevent. We have informed the BadmintonAssociation of India about her decision,”he added.

The Thomas and Uber Cup Finalswill be followed by the Denmark Open I(October 13-18) and Denmark Masters(October 20-25).

Asked if she would be participatingin the two 750 events in Denmark,Ramana said: “Actually that is also (indoubt) ... I mean the entries have been sentfor both the events, but it depends on herpersonal work if she would be able to playboth or not. “She may have to skip onetournament in Denmark. If she cancomplete her personal work then she willplay one.”

102 & counting

PTI n NEW DELHI

In his first high-profile cap-taincy assignment, K L Rahul

is looking to lead from the frontand use the nuggets of leader-ship knowledge he has collect-ed while observing the likes ofM S Dhoni, Virat Kohli andRohit Sharma.

Rahul has been handedthe Kings XI Punjab captaincyafter two stellar seasons withthe bat at the top of the order.

“Of course. They have beenthe most inspiring cricketersand leaders in the last 10 yearsat least. Having the opportu-nity to play under them is greatlearning,” Rahul said whenasked about the possibility ofseeing shades of Kohli andDhoni in his captaincy.

“Both (Kohli and Dhoni) ofthem are completely differentindividuals and lead the teamdifferently. But their passion forthe team is the same, theyalways want to win and push

the team together.“I also want use the same

approach with my team andlook to lead from the front. Itshould feel like a team, itshould feel like family.”

Rahul said he has pickedup the tricks of the leadershiptrade not just from his Indiaskippers but also oppositioncaptains.

“We are always constantlywatching the game on the field,I always keep my eyes open tolearning. You learn a lot watch-ing the likes of Rohit (MumbaiIndians captain and India cap-tain at 2018 Asia Cup).

“Guys like KaneWilliamson. Hopefully, it (thelearnings) is all stored in theback of my head (for me to usein the tournament),” said thestylish opener.

To start with at least, Rahulwill be opening the batting andwicket-keeping besides plottingthe opposition’s downfall ascaptain. It could be too muchwork in a high-pressure eventlike the IPL but Rahul is excit-ed about the challenge.

“I don’t know if it is goingplay a part or hamper anythingbut I am quite looking forwardto the responsibility, it is some-thing I have always enjoyed. Iam going in with an openmind and learn on the go,” hesaid.

PTI n DUBAI

Ricky Ponting remains at oddswith R Ashwin on the con-

tentious issue of ‘Mankading’but proposes introducing a one-run penalty for batsmen backingup too far at the non-striker’s endfor stealing a single.

The Delhi Capitals coach, astaunch critic of the practicenamed after former India all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, backedthe senior India off-spinner whenhe asked if the batsman shouldalso be penalised for leaving hiscrease at the non-striker’s endbefore a ball is delivered.

Ashwin, who will turn out forDelhi Capitals in the upcomingIPL, asked Ponting: “Now noballs are being looked at veryclosely, every single ball of a T20game... Can the batsman also bereprimanded on a similar line ifhe crosses the line?”

Ponting responded in thepositive.

“I think so,” the Australiangreat said.

“There should be some sortof run penalty. Like if you are toget to the top of your bowlingaction and stop, and it shows that

the batsman is cheating, he is outof his crease, I think put a runpenalty on him.

“... And do it right from thestart, because that will stop himstraightaway. Imagine taking 10runs off the team total becauseyou have taken a yard out of yourcrease. It’s got to be... Those sortof things need to be looked at.”

The issue became a talkingpoint when Ponting, head coachof Ashwin’s team Delhi Capitals,said he would have a discussionwith the bowler on the controver-sial manner of getting a batsmanout.

I can’t decide on Raina’scomeback: SrinivasanNew Delhi: Suresh Raina is likea “son” to him but ChennaiSuper Kings owner NSrinivasan on Wednesday saidthe all-rounder’s return to theside this IPL season after anunanticipated pullout would bedecided by the team manage-ment led by skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni.

“I have treated him like one(son). The reason for CSK’ssuccess in IPL over the years isbecause of the fact that fran-chise never poked its nose intocricketing matters,” Srinivasansaid.

“We own a team, we own

the franchise but we do notown players. Team is ours butplayers are not. I don’t own theplayers,” he added.

For Srinivasan, the deci-sion on Raina will lay with theteam management, whichmeans skipper Dhoni and CEOKS Viswanathan.

“I am not the cricket cap-tain. I have never told them(team management) whomto play, whom to take in theauction, never. We have thegreatest captain of all times. So,why shall I even interfere incricketing matters?” Srinivasansaid. PTI

Sindhu withdrawsfrom Uber Cup

Have picked up leadership traits

from Kohli, Dhoni & Rohit: KL

Ponting backs ‘run penalty’

solution offered by AshwinPak end Eng tour with win

Langer wary of ‘dangerous’ EnglandAFP n MANCHESTER

Australia coach Justin Langersaid his side would be ready to

face a “dangerous” England teamafter he watched them during theirT20 series against Pakistan.

Langer’s men face England inthree T20s at Southampton, withFriday’s opener at the AgeasBowl their first major matchsince March, before playingthe 50-over world champi-ons in three ODIs inManchester.

Langer told a confer-ence call from Australia’straining base inSouthampton on Wednesdaythat he was wary of EoinMorgan’s men.

“Dangerous... that’s whatI made of England. I’ve

watched the way Eoin Morganplays, it’s exciting to watch, he justcomes out and smacks it from ballone.”

“They’ve been the best one-dayteam in the world for a fewyears now.... We came heretwo years ago and gotsmashed 5-0,” added

Langer, who said beingwhitewashed had put“hairs on the chest” ofa youthful team.

“We came herelast year, won twoout of three games,just didn’t win the big

one in the (World Cup)semi-final. They are avery good cricket team,well led.

“We know what toexpect and we’ll be ready.”

Raina: You might see me back in CSK camp in some timePattinson replacesMalinga in MIABU DHABI: Defending champi-ons Mumbai Indians onWednesday announced thesigning of Australian pacerJames Pattinson as a replace-ment for Lasith Malinga for theupcoming IPL.

The veteran Sri Lankanpacer is unavailable for the sea-son due to personal reasons.“Lasith Malinga has requestedunavailability for the season forpersonal reasons and to be withfamily back home in SriLanka,” a media release issuedby Mumbai Indians said.

Pattinson will join MI,currently based in Abu Dhabi,this weekend. PTI

Mohammad Hafeez pats Haider Ali’s backafter the debutant scores fifty ICC/Twitter

The first and the last few minutes inside a commercial flight canbe challenging and anxious for passengers who value comfort

and safety above everything else. Even a faint sign of discomfortcan get such a passenger agitated or flustered. And if theirrequests are not tended to immediately, things can get a littlemessy inside. Many flyers get frustrated and anxious when theyget ready to get off a plane. The long queue and the waiting time

inside gets the better ofmany, resulting intantrums and rants. Butno one has ever gone tothe same lengths as thisfemale passenger whowas arriving back fromher holiday in Turkey. Thewoman, who happens tobe the mother-of-twochildren, was reportedly

feeling 'too hot' after her plane landed at Kyiv, Ukraine. So, thedecoded to open the emergency exit of the Boeing 737-86N andwaled on the wing of the plane to 'get some air'. A video shot fromthe runaway shows the woman casually walking along the wingbefore turning around to enter the cabin. A man who witnessed theshocking scenes said the woman walked on the wong whenalmost all the passengers had deboarded the aircraft. He addedthat the women's children were shocked upon realising their momwalking on the wing.

Passenger creates ruckus,walks onto plane’s wing

Glacial Lake volumesurged by 50 per cent

The volume oflakes formed

as glaciersworldwide meltdue to climatechange hadjumped by 50percent in 30years, accordingto new studybased on satellite data. "We have known that not all meltwater ismaking it into the oceans immediately," lead author Dan Shugar,a geomorphologist and associate professor at the University ofCalgary, said in a statement. "But until now there were no datato estimate how much was being stored in lakes orgroundwater." The findings, published Monday in Nature ClimateChange, will help scientists and governments identify potentialhazards to communities downstream of these often unstablelakes, he said. They will also improve the accuracy of sea levelrise estimates through better understanding of how - and howquickly - water shed by glaciers makes it to the sea. Between1994 and 2017, the world's glaciers, especially in high-mountain regions, shed about 6.5 trillion tonnes in mass,according to earlier research. "In the past 100 years, 35 percentof global sea-level rises came from glacier melting," AndersLevermann, climate professor at the Potsdam Institute forClimate Change Impact said.

Apicture of adog painted

in orange andblack stripes toresemble atiger hastriggered angryreactionsonline, withmany animalactivists and

citizens demanding strict punishment for the culprits. Picturesof the stray dog were shared on the Facebook page of ThePersatuan Haiwan Malaysia - Malaysia Animal Association. Theanimal rights group reached out to the citizens to help trackthose responsible for painting the dog. "Help Animal Malaysiafind out where location and who belongs to? Mystery giftawaits the complete information if it's in this country," read thecaption of the post. The post has triggered several reactionsamong netizens, with many criticising the people behind theact. "Do you think this is funny?" asked a user, while anotherwrote, "What a pity he got sprayed. Must not be comfortable."However, this is not the first time such an act has caught theattention, enraging animal activists. Last year, two donkeyspainted to look like zebras for a safari-themed weddingreception at a Spanish beach town had triggered outrageonline.

Fans spot 'Messi playingdhol' in Manchester!

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anchester City might be the favourites to sign Lionel Messifrom Barcelona after the superstar footballer decided to

terminate his contract with Barcelona but it was another 'Messi'that was spotted playing dhol outside the in Manchester duringEngland vs Pakistan 3rd T20I. Cricket fans shared pictures of aMessi-lookalike on social media after a man resembling theArgentine arrived outside the Old Trafford cricket ground onTuesday. Speculations have been rife over Messi's next destinationever since the 6-time Ballon d'Or winner decided to prematurelyend his association with Barcelona. While nothing has beendecided over the 33-year-old's future, some fans were sent in astate of delirium seeing Messi's lookalike wearing the jersey ofPakistan national team with a dhol around his neck outside OldTrafford in Manchester. A closer look atthe person was enough to dissolve allthose doubts. Jokes about Messilanding in Manchester, however, spreadon on social media soon after the manwas spotted. There have been a numberof instances where fans have gatheredoutside the stadiums to cheer for theirteam and celebrate their achievements.The Messi lookalike's prayers also seemto have worked well for his team asPakistan defeated England in the thirdand final T20I of the series to win theirfirst match of the tour.

Dog in Malaysia paintedto look like a tiger

Serena breaks Chris Evert’s record formost wins at US Open since Open Era

Comeback KingWith pros in the stands, Murray gets epic

fightback win on Slam returnAP n NEW YORK

This was the sort of matchAndy Murray came back for,

the sort of competition andcomeback he always lived for, thereason he went through two hipoperations and all the hard workthat followed.

And it was the type of vintageMurray performance —undaunted by a deficit, adjustingon the fly, muttering all the way— that was too compellingnot to watch, so while thereare no fans allowed into thisUS Open because of thepandemic, fellow pros madetheir way into the stands tosee the popular 2012champion save amatch pointTuesday and, even-tually, win.

Playing his firstGrand Slam matchin nearly 20months, toiling onhis metal hip for 4

hours, 39 minutes in ArthurAshe Stadium, Murray puttogether his 10th career come-back from two sets down andbeat Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 4-6,7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4.

“It was pretty emotionalstraight after the match finished,when I got back to the lockerroom — sort of look at myphone, see the messages fromfamily and friends, the team andstuff. They’re the people that

have kind of seen me gothrough everything, beenthere, seen the toughtimes,” said Murray, who

next plays 15th-seededFelix Auger-

Aliassime, a 20-year-old fromCanada.

“I don’t knowhow many of usactually believedI’d be back kindof winningm a t c h e slike that.”

Sumit createshistory PTI n NEW YORK

Sumit Nagal became thefirst Indian tennis player to

win a round at a Grand Slamin seven years when hedowned American BradleyKlahn in his first round match,setting up a contest againstworld number three DominicThiem.

Returning to the FlushingMeadows where he took a setoff Roger Federer last year, theIndian got past the local rival,ranked just a rung above theIndian at 126th in the world,6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in two hoursand 12 minutes on Tuesdaynight.

Somdev Devvarman wasthe last Indian to win a maindraw match at a major and

incidentally, it was atthe US Open in2013 when he beatSlovakia’s LukasLacko after coming

through quali-fiers.