HYDERABAD, FRIDAY MAY 29, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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BALAYYA FURIOUSAT HIS EXCLUSIONFROM INDUSTRY

MEETINGS

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Telangana's coronavirus casescrossed 2,256 on Thursday, withover 117 fresh cases being regis-tered as the death rate rose to 3percent. Four more 4 deaths werereported on Thursday, taking thedeath toll in the state to 67.

As per the media bulletin, 66persons from Telangana, 49Saudi Arabia deportees andtwo migrants tested positive forthe virus. Of the 66 cases in thestate, 58 are from GHMC, 5from Ranga Reddy, 2 from

Medchal and one from Siddipet.Apart from 1,908 locals, so far

348 non-locals, comprising 175migrant workers, 143 SaudiArabia deportees, and 30 foreign

evacuees, have tested positive. Inall, 24 persons were dischargedon Monday, taking the tally ofthose discharged upon recoveryto 1,345. There are 844 active

cases in the state, undergoingtreatment in the hospitals.

According to the HealthDepartment, the active casesaccount for 37 percent of allcases, with 60 percent of thepatients already discharged.Work towards reducingmortality

With the state reporting deathsalmost every day, HealthMinister Eatala Rajender hasdirected Gandhi Hospital doctorsto work towards reducing themortality due to coronavirus.

TRS asks EC to disqalify NZBMP Aravind for ‘fake degree’PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS) party has filed a com-plaint with the ElectionCommission over the falseclaim made by Nizamabad MPDharmapuri Arvind withregard to his educational qual-ification in his election affidavit.

TRS leader Krishank Mannemet Shashank Goyal, ECI -CEO Telangana on Thursday,and handed over the com-plaint letter, along with neces-sary documents, and requestedan enquiry into the fake educa-tional qualification mentioned

in the election affidavit ofDharmapuri Arvind.

Krishank, in his representa-tion, asked EC to initiate crim-inal action against Arvind and“declare his election as NULLand VOID in the interests of

Justice to Mankind”.The TRS leader said, “The

voters have seen his educationqualification and treated himmore eligible and cast theirvotes in his favour which ledthe other efficient candidateto lose from the election.”

Krishank pointed thatArvind holds a fake degree inMA Political Science.

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The current unprecedentedfinancial crisis has pushed theTelangana state government toslash the sisf the state budgetfor the second year in a row.This is because budget projec-tions for 2020-21 went haywireon account of corona-inducedlockdown. Official sources toldThe Pioneer that ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao is considering proposals toslash the upcoming budget.

Sources indicated that KCRmay slash the size of the next

budget to about Rs 1 lakh crore.It may be recalled that

Finance Minister T Harish

Rao had presented state annu-al budget 2020-21 with a totaloutlay of Rs 1.82 lakh crore inMarch.

It was then estimated thatthe state government wouldearn revenues totaling Rs12,000 crore per month.

TS likely to cut budget againGet prepared forlocust menacePNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao said thatall precautions are being takenin the State to ward off locustswarms that may enter theState. He said the collectorsand police officials of the dis-tricts bordering Maharashtraand Chhattisgarh States havebeen alerted. Fire engines,jetting machines and systemsfor spraying pesticides are inplace, with a five-membercommittee tracking the move-ment of the swarms of locusts.

n KCR tells officials

PIONEER EFFECT

Kanna Lakshminarayana’s daughter-in-law found dead PNS n HYDERABAD

AP BJP president KannaLakshminarayana's daughter-in-law died soon after collaps-ing at Madhapur inHyderabad on Thursday,just two days after cel-ebrating her marriageanniversary.

N a l l a p u r e d d ySuharika was marriedto Lakshmina-rayana’syounger son, KannaPhaneendra. The couple cele-brated a decade of their mar-ried life on May 26.Accordingto the police, Suharika went tomeet a friend in Kondapurwhere she allegedly collapsed

in their residence. She wasrushed to a private hospital inGachibowli where the doctorsdeclared her dead.

“The doctors declared herdead and we suspect that

she might have had aheart stroke.However, the doc-tors at the hospitaldid not confirm

this. The reason behind

the death can only beconfirmed once the autopsyreport comes out” said NShyam Prasad Rao, ACP,Madhapur, adding that thebody was sent for post mortem.

n Budget 2020-21proposals go haywire due tolockdown

n State economy mayremain sluggish for the nextsix months

Apart from 1,908 locals, so far 348 non-locals, comprising175 migrant workers, 143 Saudi Arabiadeportees, and 30foreign evacuees, havetested positive.

TS SEES BIGGEST SPIKE INCORONA WITH 117 CASES

2,256Totalcases in TS

2 2

2 22 2

Heat wave followed bythunderstorm in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

Heatwave will sweep parts ofTelangana even on Friday, fol-lowing which there will bethunderstorm at isolated placesover the next five days, saysIMD. Giving room for a sighof relief, HyderabadMeteorological Centre haspredicted light to moderaterains for the next five daysin Telangana.

On Thursday, people inTelangana had to bear thebrunt of scorching heat, asheatwave swept severalareas in the state that wit-nessed 46 degree Celsius.Heatwave-like conditionshave been observed at afew places over north

Telangana districts.Mancherial witnessed 46degree Celsius onThursday.

Hyderabad recorded amaximum temperature of42.9oC at Qutubhullapur.IMD predicts rain orthundershowers to occurtowards evening or night

in the capital.

Rains expected over next 5 days in StateHeat wave-likeconditions have beenobserved at a few placesover north Telanganadistricts. Mancherialwitnessed 46 degree

Celsius on Thursday

n Files complaint over theNizamabad MP’s false claim inaffidavit regarding hiseducational qualification

India-based firmsspoofing WHO tohack: GooglePNS n SAN FRANCISCO,

Several India-based firms arespoofing the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) by cre-ating fake Gmail accounts andluring business leaders in dis-guise of informing them of lat-est Covid-19 announcementsand hack their personal andfinancial information, Googlehas warned. These "hack-for-hire" firms, many based inIndia, have been creating Gmailaccounts spoofing the WHO,largely targeting business lead-ers in financial services, con-sulting, and healthcare corpo-rations within numerous coun-tries including, the US,Slovenia, Canada, India,Bahrain, Cyprus, and the UK.

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HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020 hyderabad 02

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CSIR-CCMB completesculture of CoronavirusDAVE BENNETT SILVERY n HYDERABAD

City-based CSIR-Centre forCellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB), which hasfine-tuned its ability to culturethe virus that causes Covid-19(SARS-CoV-2), is now poisedfor developing a vaccine andtesting potential drugs to fightCovid-19.

Apart from being a poten-tial donor of the culture tointerested parties, CCMB canput its cultured SARS-CoV-2to use in at least six majorareas: (1) vaccine, (2) antibod-ies or antidotes, (3)testing ofantibodies, (4) drug screen-ing, (5) testing of disinfectantsand (6) testing of instru-ments.

Over the last month and ahalf, CCMB has establishedstable cultures of COVID-19causing coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from patients' sam-ples. A team of researchers,led by its in-house virologistDr. Krishnan H Harshan, hasisolated infectious virusesfrom several isolates. Thisability to culture the virus inthe lab is key for CCMB towork towards vaccine devel-opment and testing potentialdrugs to fight COVID-19. Italso makes the premier insti-tution a potential donor of theculture to other authorizedcentres that can continuegrowing the virus for theirown use. "This virus is knownto infect epithelial cells in thehuman respiratory tract. The

viruses infect these cells byinteracting with receptor pro-teins called the ACE-2, fol-lowing which the virus is

internalized by a processnamely endocytosis.

Virus RNA is later releasedinto the cytoplasm of the cells

where it makes viral proteinsfirst and then starts to replicatethe genomic RNA. Thus, thevirus uses resources from thesecells to make more copies ofitself. Therefore, the virusneeds a set of host factors thatallow it to replicate," said DrHarshan. Currently, primaryepithelial cells of human ori-gin do not grow over genera-tions in labs, which is key toculturing viruses on a contin-uing basis.

Potential uses ofcultured SARS-CoV-2PNS n HYDERABAD

Vaccines are those specificagents generated from a par-ticular pathogen that triggerimmune response in the hostorganism that can be used asa protection from infection bythe respective pathogens.Usually, proteins specific topathogens are good candidatesas vaccines. Such proteinswith antigenic properties trig-ger antibody response in thehost. Depending on the nature ofthe antigens, the antibodyresponse could be long-termor short-term. Historically,attenuated or killed viruses areused as vaccines in severalcases such as in the case ofpolio. Though the inactivatedvirus cannot initiate infec-tion, their structural proteinstrigger antibody production inthe cells. The efficacy of inac-tivated SARS-CoV-2 as vac-cine candidate is currentlybeing investigated by severalgroups.

Antibodies or antidotes:Inactivated viruses can triggerantibody response in other

mammalian hosts in addi-tion to humans. Various suchhosts are currently under testfor their efficiency of antibodyresponse. They can vary fromsmall rodents such as mice tolarge mammals such as hors-es and camels. Such antibod-ies generated in these non-human hosts can be purifiedand processed for injectinginto humans. Such antibodiescan trigger antiviral responseupon injection into humansand have the potential of lim-iting the infection.

These antibodies are notvaccines, but can be consid-ered as antidotes against thevirus. Testing of antibodies: Aclass of antibodies, referred toas 'neutralizing antibodies',have the ability to bind toviruses, thereby preventingthem from infecting cells.Such neutralizing antibodiescan be generated in othermammals as explained above.During the characterization ofsuch antibodies, their neutral-izing capacity is studied byincubating with infectiousvirus to check the preventionof infection.

We are testingdrugs: Director PNS n HYDERABAD

"Using the Vero cell lines togrow the coronavirus, CCMBis now in a position to isolateand maintain viral strainsfrom different regions. We areworking towards producingviruses in huge quantities thatcan be inactivated and used invaccine development andantibody production for ther-apeutic purposes. We havealso started testing potentialdrugs with other partnerssuch as DRDO using thisviral culture. We hope thatsuch systems are replicated atmultiple research institutesand private companies tobecome a useful resource inthe fight against this pandem-ic as well as for future pre-paredness," said Dr RakeshMishra, CCMB Director.

Officials told to mitigate drinking water problems PNS n SIDDIPET

Minister for Finance T HarishRao has called upon the engi-neering officers to take steps todrive away the drinking waterproblem by effectively imple-menting the Mission Bhagirathascheme.

The Minister inauguratedthe Mission Bhagiratha-RWSSuperintending Engineer'soffice near Komati Cheruvu onThursday. Speaking in this con-nection, the Minister notedthat the drinking water problemin villages caught the attentionof Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao soon afterhe became the CM. He founda lasting solution through theMission Bhagiratha project.

He asked assistant engineers

to make field trip and send thelong sheet so that superior offi-cers will make a field visit. TheRWS officials upon scrutiny ofthe long sheet at district anddivision levels should undertakefield visit, the Minister said.Engineer-in-Chief Krupakartold the Minister that he madearrangements for his office to

receive long sheets on Tuesdays. The RWS officials told the

Minister that 3,000 villages inorange, green and red zonesacross the state did not receivedrinking water as part of theMission Bhagiratha. Theseinclude villages in Medak andSangareddy districts too.

Seven functionaries includ-ing the panchayat secretaryand sarpanch should sign thelong sheets indicating their vil-lage received water supply ornot. Harish Rao asked officialsto supply drinking water inrural areas also on demand on

an experimental basis aftermaking field visits. He askedthe officials to arrest pipelineleakages to rule out inconve-nience to people. The Ministerattributed in some villages inundivided Medak district notgetting water supply for a weekto deficiency in supervision.

He does not want it to berepeated. At the same time, heasked RWS officials to plugpipeline leakages as it is theirduty. People's representatives onfield visit should not get com-plaints from people on watersupply.

Harish inaugurates Mission Bhagiratha- RWS SE office at Komati Cheruvu 3,000 villages in orange, green and redzones across TS did not receive drinkingwater as part of the Mission Bhagiratha

PNS n HYDERABAD

TSIIC Chairman GyadariBalamallu has said that infra-structure development worksare going at a brisk pace inindustrial estates at a cost of Rs2,209 crore.

Speaking after visiting the T-Works and T-hub II towersbeing built at Rayadurgam oncity outskirts on Thursday, hesaid 59 industrial parks arebeing set up in 39,000 acres inthe order of their priority forthe past five years. He direct-ed the contractors to execute

the works within the deadlinestipulated. Balamallu said thatthe TSIIC earmarked Rs 2,209crore to alienate lands forindustrial projects and providenecessary infrastructure for

the past five years. The fundsare being used to develop landdevelopment in industrialestates in all the nine zones inthe state. Besides, develop-ment of roads and provision ofwater and electricity wouldalso be provided.

To encourage startup com-panies, the knowledge cityand T-Hub phase-2 planned tobe set up Rayadurgam at a costof Rs 458.85 crore are nearingcompletion. The T-Works pro-jects taken up at a cost of Rs 72crore are going on at a briskpace.

Jagadish Reddy inaugurates2BHK houses in SuryapetaPNS n SURYAPET

Minister for Energy G JagadishReddy has expressed happi-ness over 80 beneficiaries ofthe 2BHK houses celebratinghouse-warming ceremony.Speaking after inauguratingthe 80 2BHK houses, built ata cost of Rs 5.8 crore atGumpula Tirumulagiri inChivvemla mandal inSuryapeta constituency, onThursday, the Minister saidthat the government wouldnot compromise on quality ofconstruction and also shortlisted beneficiaries in an exer-cise conducted transparently.

The basic amenities in the2BHK houses for the poorwould be provided in such away that they become model

housing colonies, he said. Infact, eight years ago it wasdecided to build weaker sec-tion houses for the poor atGumpula Tirumalagiri, hesaid. Moreover, Telanganagovernment set an example forstates in providing basicamenities to people, he said.

The Minister exhorted thebeneficiaries of housingcolonies to be prepared togrow saplings in the colony.The government will provideroads and drainages as part ofinfrastructure development inhousing colonies, JagadishReddy added.

Lab poised for developing a vaccine and testing potential drugs to fight Covid-19

Infra works worth Rs 2,209 crunderway at industrial estates

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated May 28, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Jyeshtha & Shukla Paksha

PanchangamTithi : Saptami: 09:54 pm

Nakshatram: Ashlesha: 06:58 am

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start any important work)

Rahukalam: 10:36 am – 12:13 pm

Yamagandam: 03:27 pm – 05:05 pm

Varjyam: 06:30 pm – 08:02 pm

Gulika: 07:22 am - 08:59 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 03:44 am – 05:16 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:47 am – 12:39 pm

Forecast: SunnyTemp: 42/29Humidity: 23%Sunrise: 05.41Sunset: 06.46

Minister for Energy G Jagadish Reddy inaugurates 80 2BHK houses at GumpulaTirumulagiri in Suryapeta

Get prepared for locust menaceContinued from page 1

Efforts are being made to pre-vent the entry of locustswarms into the state.

The Chief Minister held ahigh-level review at PragathiBhavan here on Thursday onthe measures to be taken tocheck the menace. He consid-ered experts' views on theentry of locust swarms in thenorther parts of the country,their travel path, impact andrelated issues. He was given tounderstand that the swarms oflocusts had already causedmuch damage to farmers inRajasthan, though farmers inGujarat, Punjab and MadhyaPradesh were also affected.

As of Thursday evening, theswarms of locusts were head-ed for Balaghat in MadhyaPradesh from Maharashtra

en route Bhandara andGondia. Chances of theswarms going from MP tonorth India were more. Sincethe swarms of locusts travel inthe direction of the wind;only if the winds blow towardssouth, they may travel viaChhattisgarh to TS.

"To kill the swarms oflocusts, in our neighbouringstates, major attempts arebeing put in Gondia. There thelocusts were killed in crores.But yet, some of the survivinglocust swarms may travel toPunjab via MP. If the windchanges its direction, theymay enter our state viaChhattisgarh. So, measuresshould be taken so that thelocusts do not enter our state.Areas bordering Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh should be onhigh alert," KCR said.

Panel to stay inRamagundam

The Chief Minister askedofficials to track the travel pathof the locusts from time totime and to monitor measuresto avert the entry of locustsinto the state. The governmenthas appointed a five-membercommittee.

CIPMC Plant ProtectionOfficer Sunitha, AgricultureUniversity principal scientistDr SJ Rehman, WarangalConservator of Forests Akbar,Ramagundam PoliceCommissioner Satyanarayana,Mancherial Collector Bharathiare members of the commit-tee. This committee will stayin Ramagundam for four daysfrom Friday.

AP BJPleader’sdaughter inlaw found...Continued from page 1

The Raidurgam Police regis-tered a case of suspiciousdeath and began an investi-gation. The police said thatdespite the family ruling outfoul play, the investigationwould continue to ascertainthe events that led to herdeath.

India-basedfirms...Continued from page 1

"The lures themselvesencourage individuals to signup for direct notificationsfrom the WHO to stayinformed of COVID-19 relat-ed announcements, and linkto attacker-hosted websitesthat bear a strong resem-blance to the official WHOwebsite," security researchersfrom Google's ThreatAnalysis Group said onWednesday. The sites typical-ly feature fake login pagesthat prompt potential victimsto give up their Googleaccount credentials, andoccasionally encourage indi-viduals to give up other per-sonal information, such astheir phone numbers.

Heat wavefollowed...Continued from page 1

The South-West monsoon islikely to hit the state on June 10.As per IMD, "In view of likelyformation of a low-pressurearea over southeast & adjoiningeast-central Arabian Sea around31st May, conditions are likelyto become favourable for onsetof Southwest Monsoon overKerala around 1st June, 2020."The Southwest Monsoon hasfurther advanced into someparts of Maldives-Comorinarea, some more parts of southBay of Bengal, remaining partsof Andaman Sea and Andaman& Nicobar Islands. Conditionsare becoming favourable forfurther advance of SouthwestMonsoon into some more partsof Maldives-Comorin area dur-ing the next 48 hours

According to TSDPS,"Heatwave-like conditions areexpected to continue at a fewplaces for next two days, main-ly over Adilabad, KomaramBheem, Nirmal, Nizamabad,Jagtial, Mancherial, Peddapalli,Karimnagar, Jayashankar,Khammam and NalgondaDistricts and thereafter it isexpected to recede slightly from30th May onwards.

TS likely tocut budgetagainContinued from page 1

However, the governmentcould earn revenues totalingjust Rs 1,500 crore in April andRs 3,000 crore in May.

The chances of state revenueearnings returning to normal-cy look bleak at least in the nearfuture as all sectors are facingpoor demand due to cashcrunch in home budget, mar-ket disruption, loss of liveli-hood, jobs and salary cuts forall sections. The government isnot in a position to pay evensalaries and pensions in full toits staff and pensioners and hasbeen paying half salary andpensions for the past threemonths. KCR had slashed thebudget size by 20 per cent in2019-20 from Rs 1.82 lakhcrore to Rs 1.46 lakh crore dueto economic slowdown anddecrease in the Centre's grants.This year, the financial positionof the government has gonefrom bad to worse due to pro-longed lockdown. A week afterHarish's budget presentation,the state went into lockdownmode to the check spread ofcoronavirus. The governmenthas since extended lockdownspells three times, with the lat-est one scheduled to end onMay 31.

Due to lockdown since mid-March, the entire economicactivity in the state had cometo a grinding halt.

Although the governmentannounced relaxations mid-May, the situation has notimproved much on the eco-nomic front. This is becauseHyderabad and the surround-ing districts, namely RangaReddy, Medchal, Medak --considered growth engines ofTelangana with heavy activityin industrial, commercial andservice sectors --continue toremain corona hot spots, withlittle scope for immediaterevival of economic activity.

All told, the governmentcould earn only Rs 3,000 crorein May, of which the State'sown revenue comprises Rs2,000 crore and the rest Rs1,000 crore came in the formof state's share in central taxes,grants etc.

TS sees biggest spike inCorona with 117...Continued from page 1

The Minister said that allnecessary facilities will beprovided for doctors to ensurethat the number of deaths isreduced. Eatala said, "thereare no people who die only ofcoronavirus; rather they arethose who were sufferingfrom various chronic dis-eases, got infected with thevirus, and succumbed". Eatalaasked Gandhi SuperintendedDr Raja Rao to divide exist-ing beds into an intensive careunit, a high dependency unit,and a stepdown unit.

Rajender held a high-levelreview on the readiness of the

Health Department to treatpatients in the wake of thegrowing number of coronacases. He said health care pro-fessionals need to focus onsurveillance as the spreadcan be prevented by onlydetecting corona cases.

He suggested that Feverclinics be set up in every hos-pital, from PHC to tertiarycare hospitals. It has been sug-gested that OPs should beseparated from those whohave colds, coughs and feverwithout interfering with otherpatients. District hospitalshave been asked to set upIsolation Centers and told tosend swabs from there.

TRS asks EC to disqalify NZB...Continued from page 1

As per the representation,“Dharmapuri Arvind playedfraud by making innocentvoter to treat the said falsestatement made in his decla-ration affidavit as true andmade them to cast their valu-able vote in his favour andalso cheated your authority bymisrepresenting the facts bymaking false statement” (sic).

The TRS alleged that, with-out having any such educa-tional qualification, Arvindportrayed himself as if he hascompleted MA in Pol Sci.

It may be mentioned herethat at the time of submittinghis nomination Arvind haddeclared, in Higher Educationcolumn, that he has an MAJanaradhan Rai NagarRajasthan Vidyapeetha ,obtained in 2018.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020 hyderabad 03

RIMEORNERC

Mother, son heldfor matrimonialfraud

Decomposedbody of womanfound in lockedschool premises

Amatrimonial scam wasunearthed by the Jubilee Hills

police on Thursday who arresteda 44-year-old woman and herson, who created a fake profileon a matrimonial site and lured asoftware engineer and made himtransfer Rs.65 lakh. According tothe police, the accused wereidentified as Malavika Devati andher son Venkateshwara PranavLalith Gopal Devati, 22, bothnatives of Ranga Reddy district."Malavika's husband DevatiSrinivas is absconding. Shecreated a profile on amatrimonial site under thefictitious name of KeerthiMadhavaneni and contactedmany men. A software engineer,Varun from California, contactedher after going through theprofile," said the police. Duringtheir regular interaction overphone, Malavika told Varun thather father had died a few yearsago and that her mother wastorturing her to transfer theproperty onto her name. Shesought his help in fighting acourt case. "Believing her, Varunsent Rs.65 lakh as expenses,"added the police. Upon realisingthat he was conned, Varunapproached the police, who thenarrested Malavika and her son.Further investigation is on.

Adecomposed body of anunidentified person was found

in the compound of a privateschool in Asoka Nagar ofAmberpet on Thursdayafternoon. According to thePolice, the body was suspectedto be of a 50-year-old woman.Locals complained of foul rottensmell emanating from the schoolpremises. The Police wereinformed, who reached theschool and found the body. TheAmberpet police registered acase and began an investigation.

15 COPS TEST POSITIVE

Police face the brunt of Coronavirus attackNAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad city police is takingstrict measures to curb theinfection in the department asmore and more cops are beingtested positive day by day. Theheadcount of those infected inthe state stands at more than adozen, with the latest being aTraffic department ASI.Meanwhile, Gandhi Hospitalhas separated a ward especial-ly for the police departmentpersonnel. The exact head-count is 15 as of May 28, with12 in Hyderabad and three inCyberabad police commission-erate offices being tested pos-itive for Covid-19 in Telangana.

The Police Commissioner ofHyderabad, Anjani Kumarconfirmed that nine policepersonnel tested positive onWednesday. On Tuesday, 3constables working inShalibanda, Kamathipura andBahadurpura police stationshad tested positive.

After two constables of theIT cell in Hyderabad commis-sionerate infected, the entirestaff in the multi-storied build-ing had been worried.Following this, the top brassdecided to be more cautiouseven with regard to the day-to-day work in the commission-

erate building. It suspectedthat one constable contractedthe virus during his visits to ahospital while accompanyinghis pregnant wife for check-ups.

Meanwhile, another consta-ble working in close proximi-ty with him also underwenttests only to be confirmed as asecond positive case from thecommissionerate building. Asregards the three policemen inCyberabad commissionerate,efforts are on to ascertain howthey contracted the virus.

"The affected cops wereadmitted to Gandhi Hospital.The additional inspector ofChilkalguda police station wasput in charge of the wardwhere cops are being kept. Ascases are surging among police-men, senior police officialshave decided to make arrange-ments for the cops at theCovid-19 nodal hospital. Wehave made arrangements forthe cops getting admitted atGandhi hospital," said an offi-cial from the North ZonePolice.

Apart from encouraging sanitationpractices, department is providingsanitisers and face shields to cops

Arvind Kumar: Gear up forintensive sanitation drive PNS n HYDERABAD

Principal secretary of MunicipalAdministration Arvind Kumarasked the officials concerned togear up for massive sanitationcampaign in their municipali-ties and urban local bodiesfrom the June 1 to 8 as part ofthe intensive sanitation drive.

Arvind Kumar along withdirector of MunicipalAdministration Satyanarayanaheld a video conference with theadditional collectors, municipalcommissioners and officials ofurban local bodies from theCDMA office on Thursday.The principal secretary saidthat as per the instructions of

the Chief Minister, operationalguidelines have already beenissued to all the municipalitiesfor taking up sanitation activi-ties in the municipalities. Specialcleanliness drive has to be con-

ducted in areas wherevergarbage is accumulated formonths together. All debrisshould be removed, drainsdesilted and road side bushesand shrubs should be cleared.

Muslim man buried in shamshan ghat

PNS n HYDERABAD

The mortal remains of aMuslim man had to beburied in a Hindu sham-shan ghat or cremationground after caretakers ofat least five Muslim grave-yards allegedly denied hima place for burial over fearthat he could have died ofCovid-19. Some Hinduresidents of the area cameforward to help the rela-tives of Mohammed Kha-wja Mian, 55, and helpedbury him in a shamshanghat at Gandmguda.

Khawja died of cardiacarrest at his residence onMay 22 and his relativesapproached at least five

graveyards in the city forthe burial. Mutawallisrefused to allow the burialciting him to be a non-local or expressing appre-hension that he could havedied of Coronavirus. Theincident sparked outragewith demands from differ-ent quarters to take actionagainst the caretakers of

the graveyards. In a sepa-rate incident, a caretaker ofa graveyard at Mallapurrefused to allow burial ofanother person on theground the deceased wasnon-local.

Waqf Board has threat-ened action against care-takers of graveyards if theyrefuse to allow burial of

Muslim bodies. "Graveya-rds are not the personalproperty of managingcommittees or custodians.They are mere caretakers.Demanding money for theburial or denying the placefor burial will not be tol-erated," Waqf Board chair-man Mohammed Saleemsaid. He said the caretak-ers can't deny the burial ofany Muslim irrespective ofthe area he comes fromand the disease he had.

Saleem called a meetingof the Waqf Board on June6. A resolution will bepassed in this meeting fortaking action against com-mittees resorting to unfairpractices.

Kabristan denies entry: Waqf Board threatens action against Mutawallis

Kamineni flyover, underpass at LB Nagar opened for traffic PNS n HYDERABAD

Education Minister SabitaIndra Reddy and MLA, MusiRiver Front ChairmanDevireddy Sudhir Reddy onThursday inaugurated theRight Hand Side (RHS) fly-over built at a cost of Rs 44crore near Kamineni Hospitaland also the vehicle underpass(VUP) built at a cost of Rs 14crore at LB Nagar junction,executed as part of theStrategic Road DevelopmentProject (SRDP) of the GHMC.

With the construction offly-overs, elevated corridors,road under bridges, cablebridges and so on as part ofthe SRDP the Hyderabad cityis competing with internation-al cities, the Minister said.

Of the 11 works proposedunder the SRDP package II ata cost of Rs 448 crore, worksworth Rs 268 crore have beencompleted, the Ministeradded.

As part of the SRDP pack-age II, an underpass was built

near Chintalkunta, flyovers oneither side near KamineniHospital was built, a flyoverwas built near LB Nagar tofacilitate vechiles travelingtowards Vijayawada and con-struction of an under passnear the LB Nagar was com-pleted. The vehicles can avoidsignals and travel continuous-ly towards their destination

without much traffic snarls. City Mayor Bonthu

Rammohan, MLC AMallesam, GHMC commis-sioner DS Lokesh Kumar,Chief Engineer of the GHMCZiauddin, LB Nagar ZonalCommissioner UpenderReddy, local corporators,deputy commissioners andothers were present.

TS well prepared withrequired kits: SomeshPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar informed the Cabinetsecretary that the state hasbeen working on guidelinesand is making all the arrange-ments to control Coronavirus.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gaubaheld a video conference withall the Chief Secretaries andSecretaries on Thursday.

Somesh said that the situa-tion is under control and thegovernment is prepared withrequired kits to deal the cases.

KTR to takepart in ICC’s‘Covid-19reshape’PNS n HYDERABAD

IT and Industries MinisterKT Rama Rao will take partin 'Covid-19 reshape SouthAsia's future' - a virtualevent on the impact of theCovid-19 on South Asia andhow it will reshape theregion's future.

The event is being organ-ised by the InternationalChamber of Commerce(ICC), Sri Lanka, chapter onMay 30 at 4 pm.

The other speakers whowill share their thoughts atthe event are ExecutiveSecretary of UNESCAP DrArmida Saisiah Allsjahbana,Chairman of InternationalChamber of Commerce PaulPolman, Former PrimeMinister of Sri Lanka RanilWickremesinghe and a fewothers.

The InternationalChamber of Commerce is thelargest, most representativebusiness chamber in theworld. It has over 45 millionmembers in over 100 coun-tries and has interests span-ning every sector of privateenterprise. ICC supports thework of the UN, the WTO,and many other intergov-ernmental bodies, both inter-national and regional.

3-yr-old boy stuckin borewell deadPNS n HYDERABAD

A pall of gloom descended onPodichanpally village ofMedak district, after three-year-old Sanjay Saivardhanwas found dead by the teamsinvolved in the rescue oper-ation. A 12-hour long rescueoperation to pull out three-year-old Sanjay Saivardhanended up in a tragedy after hewas found dead in theborewell at Podichanpallyvillage of Medak district onThursday morning.

Sanjay was playing in thefield when he slipped and fellinto a well at around 5 pm onWednesday. A 30-memberNDRF team had launched arescue operation to pull outSanjay to safety. Despite theirbest efforts, they could notsave the boy. The rescuersfound him dead at seventeenfeet deep well on Thursday."A case will be registered aga-inst landowner and operatorwho dug the well," saidAnjaneyulu.

After digging a 25 feetparallel pit, rescuers foundthe child in an unconsciousstate. It is suspected that thechild died of asphyxia.

When the boy was broughtout from the well, he was cov-ered with mud. Doctors saidthat the child could havedied within a few hours afterfalling into the well.

Fire breaks out in an electronic unitPNS n HYDERABAD

A massive fire brokeout at a fan manufac-turing unit in theindustr ia l area ofBalanagar on Thursdayafternoon. No casual-ties have been reportedand police suspect thatthe fire might havebeen caused by a shortcircuit.

According to thepolice, locals noticedthe fire engulfing themanufacturing unit andinformed the policeand the fire officials.Four f ire enginesrushed to the spot andstruggled for two hoursto put out the fire.

Fire officials said that

the thick smokeemerged from the fac-tory due to the plasticmaterial stored there.Heavy machinery andmaterial in the unit wasdamaged. The propertyloss is yet to be estimat-ed.

The Balanagar policeregistered a case andlaunched an investiga-tion.

Fire in city civilcourt canteen PNS n HYDERABAD

A minor fire brokeout in the canteen atthe City Civil Courtpremises at PuraniHaveli on Thursdayafternoon. Accordingto the police, workerspresent in the premis-es noticed the smokeand informed thePolice and fire offi-cials. Fire tenders fromthe Moghalpura firestation rushed to thespot and put off thefire within half-an-hour.

T-Hub launchesT-Tribe PNS n HYDERABAD

To foster entrepreneurshipamong students, T-Hub onThursday announced thelaunch of its academic mem-bership program 'T-Tribe'.The initiative will enableearly-stage innovation andstudent entrepreneurshipwith its two offerings:Launchpad and Master Class.

The Launchpad is a one-year entrepreneurship plat-form that is designed for aca-demic institutions that haveincubation or e-cells. MasterClass is an entrepreneurshiplearning and pre-incubationprogramme that is designedfor student entrepreneurswho have innovative and fea-sible startup ideas/solutions.As a part of the Master Classoffering, over 70 studentinnovators and aspiring entre-preneurs will get an opportu-nity to receive advance men-toring from T-Hub. TheMaster Class is an exclusivefour-month pre-incubationprogram designed for studententrepreneurs in India.

Loo Cafe 2.0public toiletsfrom June 1PNS n HYDERABAD

Ixora FM, which introducedthe Loo Cafe concept inHyderabad, has now upgrad-ed its facilities, speciallyfocused at improving saniti-zation during the ongoingCovid-19 pandemic, and isset to launch 'Loo Café 2.0'public toilets from June 1.

Dubbed 'Loocafe-2.0', thefocus is now on offering sani-tised, disinfected and clean-er options in the backdrop ofthe pandemic.

Principal secretary of Municipal Administration Arvind Kumar holds videoconference with the department officials from the CDMA office on Thursday

Education Minister Sabita Indra Reddy, MLA Devireddy Sudhir Reddyinaugurates flyover and vehicle underpass at LB Nagar on Thursday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress MP fromMalkajgiri alleged thatthe centre is not extend-ing help to themigrant labor,who were fac-ing troublesdue to Coronavirus. Hedemanded thecentre to extend finan-cial assistance to thesmall scale industries.

He also demanded thecentre to extend Rs.7500per month for each poorfamily in the coming 6months. He asked thePrime Minister NarendraModi to listen the 'MannKi Bath' of poor andmigrant workers as peo-ple listened PM's 'MannKi Bath' all these days.

Revanth Reddy askedthe centre to cut the bud-

get allocated to defenseministry and also reducethe waste expenditure inthe ministry. Hedemanded the Prime

Minister to stop pur-chasing of new warequipments keep-ing Coronavirusproblem in view.

The centre will saveRs 5 lakh crore with

the stoppage of wastageand purchasing of warequipments and other,he said suggesting theModi to spend the sameamount for the sake ofpoor during this coronadays. He suggested PrimeMinister Narendra Modito bring the black moneyfrom Swiss Bank anddeposit Rs 15 lakh eachin the bank accounts ofpoor at least now as poorwere becoming muchpoor.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020hyderabad 04

Ministers dismiss rumourson Rythu Bandhu schemeK VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

Analysing the statements made bythe Tribal Welfare, Women andChild Welfare Minister SathyavathiRathod, it seems most of theMinisters are opposing the presti-gious Rythu Bandhu scheme intro-duced by the Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

Minister Sathyavathi Rathod onThursday said that the Chief Min-ister made it clear that the RythuBandhu will be given to farmers tillhe continuous as the CM of the statethough few Ministers suggestedhim to halt Rythu Bandhu in recentCabinet meeting. The Minister alsosaid that the CM made it clear thatRs 5,000 would be given to farmersper acre for two seasons.

It may be recalled here that somesection of media published news thatthe state government may put con-ditions in extending Rythu Bandhuonly for the land cultivated by farm-ers. However, the CM warned thatthe Rythu Bandhu will be given tothe farmers, who would cultivate thecrop suggested by the government.

Meanwhile, the opposition partiesincluding the Congress terming theRythu Bandhu as 'Election Bandhu'alleged that the state government is

extending the scheme only duringthe elections but not always. TheCongress leaders also alleged that thegovernment has not yet credited theYasangi Rythu Bandhu money toseveral farmers.

In the meantime, news appearedthat the Rythu Bandhu may begiven only to the area of land culti-vated by the farmers due to short-age of revenue.

However, Ministers SathyavathiRathod and Jagdeesh Reddy onThursday made it clear that the stategovernment will not stop RythuBandhu to anyone. Sathyavathi saidthat the government allocated Rs14,000 crore for coming crop year.Satyavathi assured that the new far-mers would also get Rythu Bandhufrom the coming season. RythuVedikas are being set up to discussthe issues faced by farmers.

Jagdeesh Reddy also dismissed theinformation against discontunia-tion of Rythu Bandhu scheme whileparticipating in a face-to-face pro-gramme with farmers Penpahadmandal of Suryapet constituency.

The Minister made it clear thatthere is no truth in the publicitygoing on against Rythu Bandhu.

Sathyavathi Rathodand Jagdeesh Reddymade it clear that thestate will not stopRythu Bandhu schemeto anyone

Centre, State failed to protect poor: Uttam

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) President andNalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddysaid that the nationwide 'Speak UpIndia' online campaign undertaken bythe Congress party on Thursdayreceived tremendous response inTelangana.

Speaking to media persons, UttamKumar Reddy informed that over 1.5lakh Congress leaders and workersfrom across Telangana went live onsocial media platforms like Facebook,Twitter, YouTube, Instagram to con-vey a common message that Centralgovernment should help the poorpeople who were affected due tounplanned lockdown. "As per thedirections of Congress presidentSonia Gandhi, we all demanded thatthe Central government provideimmediate cash assistance of Rs10,000 to all poor families and alsoprovide Rs 7,500 per month for thenext six months. We urged the gov-ernment to ensure safe and free trav-el of migrant workers to their nativeplaces without further delay. We also

demanded that the work days underMNREGA be extended to 200 daysto facilitate jobs in rural areas," he said.

Further, Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the Central government shouldannounce a special package for Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) to protect crores of jobs. Hesaid the small and medium industryshould be provided financial relief andnot just loans.

Stating that lakhs of jobs were lostin Telangana due to unplanned lock-down, the TPCC Chief demanded

that Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao immediatelyimplement the 'unemploymentallowance scheme' to provide Rs.3,016 per month to all jobless youthin the state. He said the promise, madein 2018 Assembly elections, remainedunfulfilled for the last one-and-a-halfyear and this was the most appropri-ate time for its launch. He also urgedthe state government to waive offpower and water bills for the lock-down period for all categories of con-sumers.

'Speak Up India' campaign evoked good response, says PCC chief

PCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy interacts with migrant workers from Orissa before flagging offtheir bus in Gandhi Bhavan.

CMs, seers are deceivingcitizens: CPIPNS n HYDERABAD

CPI national secretaryDr K Narayana has ques-tioned China JeeyarSwami andSwaroopanandendraSwami to tell whetherthey joined hands withpoliticians or politiciansjoined hands withSwamijis. On Thursday,Narayana found faultwith Swamijis, who givesan impression that theyare spiritualists, for doingyagams while joininghands with political lead-ers. He also found faultwith the governments,which were elected by thepeople, for joining handswith Swamijis. He allegedthat Andhra Pradeshgovernment has joinedhands with a Swamijistaying at Visakhapatnam and Telanganagovernment is withanother Swamiji.

HC Chief Justicereleases funds forneedy advocatesPNS n HYDERABAD

The chief justice of TelanganaHigh Court JusticeRaghvendra Singh Chauhanon Thursday released finan-cial assistance meant for theneedy advocates and advo-cates' clerks through onlinemode. He released the assis-tance in the presence of bythe advocate general of thestate BS Prasad, the chairmanof Telangana State BarCouncil A Narasimha Reddy,the registrar general of theHC registrar A VenkateswaraReddy and the secretary oflaw department of the state ASanthosh Reddy.

Tthe advocate general BSPrasad said that the ChiefJustice had released the firstleg of the distribution of thefinancial assistance to theadvocates and their clerks. Healso said that a total of 14,166advocates would benefit fromunder the scheme and addedthat the assistance would bedirectly credited into theaccounts of the advocates.

State failed inhandling Covidcrisis: VamsiPNS n HYDERABAD

AICC Secretary ChallaVamshi Chand Reddy allegedthat the Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao profess-es TS as one of the richeststates, but contrarily adoptsopposite course when it com-es to the payment of pensionsofgovernment employees. Vamshi said that while muchpoorer states are still payingsalaries, why is the TS gover-nment determined to cut thesalaries when people are fac-ing hardships.

Saucer pits set up to quenchthirst of wild animals: MinisterPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for ForestsIndrakaran Reddy onThursday said that strin-gent measures have beentaken to provide drink-ing water to wild animalsthrough solar pumps andsaucer pits to preventthem from venturinginto human habitats forfood and drinking water.

Responding on leop-ard venturing into vil-lages from forest areas,he said that summercoupled with lockdownconditions encouraged

wild species to enterhuman habitats.

The Minister said thata wing in the forestdepartment exclusivelyworks to quench thethirst of the wild animals.

Indrakiran said that

meadows are being pro-vided in forest areas forbenefit of the herbivo-rous animals. Moreover,there are VCTV camerasin forests to captureimages of wild animals,he said.

Meadows arebeing providedin forest areasfor benefit ofherbivorousanimals

Revanth tells PM tohear Mann Ki Bathof migrant workers

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Odisha CM wishesspeedy recovery ofcorona warriorsBHUBANESWAR: Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik onThursday wished speedyrecovery of a sarpanch, andsome ASHA and Anganwadiworkers who have testedpositive for COVID-19. Whilespeaking to them overtelephone, the chief ministerpraised their courage anddedication in providingoutstanding service to society,an official said. "These coronawarriors will be an inspirationto others," the official quotedthe chief minister as saying. Atleast one sarpanch (villagehead) and some accreditedsocial health activist (ASHA)and Anganwadi workers havebeen infected with the deadlyvirus in the state so far, theofficial said.

Lockdown has to end:Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

HC says NIA acted inhaste in takingNavlakha to MumbaiNEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt has pulled up the NIA forhastily removing activistGautam Navlakha, accused inBhima Koregaon violence case,from the national capital toMumbai even when his interimbail plea was pending here.Justice Anup J Bhambhani,said the National InvestigationAgency acted in "unseemlyhaste" in taking Navlakha, whowas lodged in Tihar jail here, toMumbai where theinvestigation is pending. Whilethe order was passed onWednesday, it was madeavailable on the court's websiteon Thursday. Navlakha wastaken to Mumbai by train onMay 26. The court had on May22, sought the NIA response ona plea by 67-year-old Navlakha,who said he was lodged inTihar jail at a time when theentire nation was gripped bythe threat of contracting thehighly contagious and deadlyCovid-19 virus.

BENGALURU: With the exodusof migrant labour back to theirhome states, there is no casefor extending the COVID-19-induced lockdown any longer,according to biotechnologyveteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,who said the focus now shouldbe to bring any outbreak undercontrol quickly. The ExecutiveChairperson of Bengaluru-headquartered biotech majorBiocon Ltd said on Thursdaytheir return without controlswould cause infections and thestates such as Bihar, UttarPradesh and Rajasthan shouldbe prepared to meet thepossible surge. "The Lockdownhas to end. What we reallyneed now is prepare for track-ing any outbreak and quicklybringing it under control. Thathas to be our strategy goingforward. You cannot go onincreasing the lockdown,"Mazumdar-Shaw said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

BSP president Mayawati onThursday said the plight ofmigrant workers and reportsof their deaths while trying toreturn to their homes reflect-ed lack of concern on the partof the Centre and state govern-ments.

However, courts have start-ed taking cognisance of theplight of migrants, she noted.

"The manner in which thebitter truth of the sorry stateof migrant labourers forced toreturn home and their deathson the way are coming beforethe country and the worldthrough the media, re-estab-lish that the central and stategovernments have no con-cern for them, this is very sad,"she said in a tweet.

Nine migrants have beenfound dead in Shramik trainssince Monday.

"On the 65th day of lock-down today, this news givessome relief that the hon'ble

courts have started questioningthe central and state govern-ments about the malfunction-ing in government hospitals intesting and treatment of coro-navirus, neglect of private hos-pitals, plight of migrant labour-ers and deaths," she added.

The Supreme Court onTuesday took suo-motu (on itsown) cognizance of miseriesfaced by migrants, who arestranded across the countryand asked the Centre and thestates to take measures toprovide relief to workers asthere there have been inade-quacies and certain lapses .

‘Centre, state govts haveno concern for migrants’

PNS n AGARTALA

Tripura Police has registered acomplaint against Bangladeshisinger Mainul Ahsan Nobel,who earned fame in the musicreality show 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' inKolkata, for allegedly humiliat-ing Prime Minister NarendraModi over social media.

The complaint was filed by aresident of Belonia town inSouth Tripura district who is astudent of Pandit Deen DayalPetroleum University atGandhinagar in Gujarat.

The complaint was filed onMay 25, the person who iscalled Suman Paul said.

Nobel is not yet a popularsinger in Bangladesh and hasalways been rejected by theaudience of that country. He par-ticipated in the TV music real-ity show called Sa Re Ga Ma Pain Kolkata, earned money,gained fame and returned toBangladesh. If the person insultsour prime minister it cannot beaccepted. So I filed the FIR, Paultold reporters.

Belonia superintendent ofpolice Jal Singh Meena con-firmed that the complaint wasregistered and forwarded toTripura Polices cyber crime cell.

The complaint was registeredthe same day it was filed atBelonia police station underIndian Penal code sections 500(punishment for defamation),504 (intentional insult), 505(public mischief) and the IT Act.

We have registered the com-plaint and forwarded it to thecyber crime cell because it is notin the Indian cyber space. Wehave started investigation intothe issue, the SP said.

Complaint against B'deshisinger for humiliating Modi

Heavy rain, winds disruptrestoration work in Bengal

Kolkata, May 28 (PTI) Anovernight downpour, coupledwith gusty winds, claimed atleast two lives and dealt afresh blow to the city andother south Bengal districts onThursday, a week after CycloneAmphan battered the state,leaving behind a trail ofdestruction.

In North 24 Parganas, a 40-year-old man was killed andfive others were injured after abrick wall collapsed on them,police said.

One person died in a light-ning strike at Durgapur inWest Burdwan district, a dis-aster management departmentofficial said.

Sources in the KolkataTraffic Police said the squall,which started on Wednesdayevening, left parts of CentralAvenue, MG Road, BidhanSarani and Ultadanga heavilywaterlogged for at least a fewhours, inconveniencing work-ers undertaking relief work in

the wake of the May 20cyclone. In Howrah, severalareas including PanchanantalaRoad, Shibpur, and Mandirtalaremained inundated, with justa few shops lifting shutters dur-ing the day.

Official sources said theheavy rain, preceded by theNor'wester, has also disruptedlife in Nadia, Hooghly, Northand South 24 Parganas, Eastand West Midnapore districts,which are already under severestrain for the past eight days

due to the cyclone.Protests that had been rag-

ing on in the Amphan-hit cityseeking resumption of powerand water supply, were missingon Thursday, with privatepower utility CESC claimingthat electricity has largely beenrestored in the metropolis.

In Roy Bahadur Road areaof Behala, however, residentsclaimed they were still reelingunder water crisis, and uproot-ed trees blocking major roadswere yet to be cleared.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Walking the runway to successtill just a few months ago, theIndian fashion industry is nowreevaluating its future with insid-ers saying the COVID-19 pan-demic and lockdown have set theclock back at least a decade.

As the lockdown continuesand incomes shrivel, elaboratetrousseaus, designer gownsand bespoke suits running intoseveral lakhs of rupees haveplunged in the list of prioritiesof the industry's trend-con-scious clients.

It is difficult to predict con-sumer behaviour even after therestrictions are lifted but manydesigners believe the focus willbe on simpler aesthetics and onmaintaining the artisans andcraftspersons who are the back-bone of their business.

“The fashion industry hasnever been affected in such adefinitive way around theworld. We've had times whenthere has been a recession indifferent countries at differenttimes but the whole worldshutting down together is

unprecedented,” veteran cou-turier Ritu Kumar said.

While it's too early to visu-alise what the future holds, shebelieves the pandemic will “setback the clock by one or twodecades in the way we thinkabout clothing and fashion”.

“It'l l put a crunch onturnovers and cash across thefashion industry. It's difficultto predict what will happenafter the lockdown is lifted…will customers immediatelybuy because they've beendeprived of shopping for so

long, or will customer behav-iour change since the scare ofthe virus will prevail for sometime,” she added.

She said luxury goods arelikely to be the last to really getback into the flow of things.

"As for the heavy crafts-manship, two things may hap-pen - one is that maybe peoplewill start appreciating thecraftsman's work and try andbuy more of handloom andhandcrafted designs, whichare more classical and not fastfashion…

“On the other hand, thebridal market in itself willalways be there, but I think itis going to scale down to a largeextent... the craftsmanshipwill still be there but at asmaller level,” she added.

Fashion designers said theyare utilising lockdown days toplan the way forward for securebusiness continuity in the secondhalf of 2020 while taking care ofthe well-being of their employ-ees and artisans, who have beenwithout work with production

and export shutdowns.While there are no separate

figures for the fashion industry,the Confederation of IndianTextile Industry (CITI) esti-mates that the textile and cloth-ing industry in India employsover 105 million people and alsoearn around $40 billion forex,apart from substantial revenueunder GST and other taxes.

Rahul Mehta, president ofthe Clothing ManufacturersAssociation of India (CMAI),added that India's apparel mar-ket is estimated to be around Rs6.5 lakh crore. This includes allsectors starting from high-endfashion labels to moderatelypriced ready-to-wear brands.

Designers are facing a dou-ble whammy and looking athuge monetary losses, saidSunil Sethi, chairperson of theFashion Design Council ofIndia (FDCI).

"They have to bear losses likemost other industries and alsoneed to take care of the men-tal, physical and financial well-being of the people involved inthe process of converting theirdesigns into a garment.

As luxuries slip in list of priorities, fashionindustry ponders bleak future post lockdown

It is difficult topredict consumerbehaviour even afterthe restrictions arelifted but manydesigners believe thefocus will be onsimpler aestheticsand on maintainingthe artisans andcraftspersons whoare the backbone oftheir business

Almost 80% of COVID cases inIndia asymptomatic: VardhanPNS n NEW DELHI

Union Health Minister HarshVardhan on Thursday saidalmost 80 per cent of theCOVID-19 cases in India areasymptomatic or at best withvery mild symptoms.

In an exclusive interview toIANS, the Health Ministersaid, "Even today, in almost 80per cent of the cases ofCOVID-19, which are beingreported in India, the patientstend to exhibit either nil ormild symptoms. Thesepatients are mostly contacts ofconfirmed cases. Interestingly,had it not been for our con-tact tracing efforts, and if leftto their own in isolation,these patients may not haveeven remembered or report-ed their infection."

Harsh Vardhan, who hasrecently been elected the chiefof WHO's Executive Board,was answering a query onwhether asymptomatic

patients who are potentialvirus carriers and who can takethe virus deeper into ruralIndia are causing worry to thegovernment.

He said, "I am aware aboutWHO's mention of somelaboratory-confirmed casesthat are truly asymptomatic.It is equally true, that as ondate, there has been no doc-umented asymptomatictransmission."

However, he added that

recently, more symptoms likeheadache, muscle pain, pinkeye, loss of smell, or loss oftaste, intense chills, rigorsand sore throat have beenincluded in the list of COVID-19 symptoms by Centers forDisease Control andPrevention (CDC) of theUnited States. "It will requiremore studies before thesesymptoms are finally includ-ed in our list in India," hequipped.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress President SoniaGandhi on Thursday said theentire country has heard thecries of pain of migrants "exceptthe government" and urgedthe Centre to unlock its coffersto help those affected by thecoronavirus-induced lockdown.

In a video message posted aspart of the Congress' 'Speak UpIndia' campaign launched onThursday, she demanded thatthe government provide Rs7,500 to each needy family forthe next six months.

Gandhi lamented that eventhough the country is passingthrough a serious economiccrisis with loss of livelihood,the central government has not

helped those affected."It is for the first time since

Independence that such aspectre of pain and anguish hasbeen witnessed, where lakhs offamished and thirsty labourershave been forced to walk hun-dreds of thousands of kilome-tres back home barefoot and

without any access to medi-cines or transport," she said.

"Everyone across the coun-try except the governmentheard their cries of pain andtrauma," she said in her videomessage on the party's socialmedia handles.

Gandhi said instead of loans,the government should pro-vide financial relief to smalland medium industry so thatcrores of jobs are saved and thecountry progresses.

Noting that crores of liveli-hoods have been lost, lakhs ofbusinesses and factories shutand farmers are running frompillar to post to self their pro-duce, she said, "The entire coun-try endured this pain but prob-ably the government did not."

Entire country heard cries ofmigrants but not govt: SoniaPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Thursdayasked some searching ques-tions from the Centre on theplight of migrant workers rang-ing from as to how long theywill have to wait before goingto their native places to whowill pay for their travel andprovide them food and shelter.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, S K Kaul and M RShah asked Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, appearing forthe Centre, about the confu-sion over the payment of trav-el fare of stranded migrantworkers and said that theyshould not made to pay fortheir journey back home.

“What is the normal time? Ifa migrant is identified, theremust be some certainty that hewill be shifted out within one

week or ten days at most?What is that time? There hadbeen instances where one statesends migrants but at the bor-der another State says we arenot accepting the migrants. Weneed a policy on this," thebench told Mehta.

The bench, questioning himover the travel-fare for themigrants, said: “In our country,the middlemen will always bethere. But we don't want mid-dlemen to interfere when itcomes to payment of fares.There has to be a clear policy

as to who will pay for theirtravel."

At the outset, Mehta submit-ted a preliminary report andsaid that between May 1-27total of 3,700 special trainshave been run for carryingmigrant labourers and manyhave been shifted by road tobordering states. He said 91lakh migrant workers havebeen shifted to their nativeplaces till Wednesday.

Millions of migrant workerswere stranded across the coun-try without food, shelter andtransportation after the nation-wide lockdown was announcedfrom March 25 at 4-hournotice to combat the spread ofglobal pandemic, Coivd-19.

They then started walkinghundreds of miles to reachtheir homes, leading to miser-able plight.

Modi's letters to his motherwill be released next monthPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi's book 'Letters toMother', translated by filmcritic Bhawana Somaaya, willbe released by HarperCollinsPublishers as e-book and hard-back in June this year.

As a young man, Modi hadgot into the habit of writing aletter every night to 'MotherGoddess', whom he addressedas 'Jagat Janani'.

However, after every fewmonths, Modi would tear upthe pages and consign them toa bonfire. But the pages of onediary, dating back to 1986, sur-vived.

"This is not an attempt at lit-erary writing; the passagesfeatured in this book are reflec-tions of my observations andsometimes unprocessedthoughts, expressed without

filter... I am not a writer, mostof us are not; but everybodyseeks expression, and when theurge to unload becomes over-powering, there is no optionbut to take pen and paper, notnecessarily to write but tointrospect and unravel what ishappening within the heartand the head and why," Modisaid about the book.

Bhawana Somaaya, recip-ient of the Padma Shri awardin 2017 and author of sever-al books on cinema, said, "Inmy opinion, NarendraModi's strength as a writer ishis emotional quotient.There is a raw intensity, as immering rest lessnesswhich he does not disguiseand that is his attraction."

SC asks searching questions to Centre over migrant crisis

HarperCollins topublish Modi's book NEW DELHI: Many letters thatPrime Minister Narendra Modi asa young man wrote to mothergoddess, whom he addressed as'jagat janani', every night on variedtopics will be published in a bookform in English next month.HarperCollins India said "Letters toMother", translated from Gujaratiby renowned film critic BhawanaSomaaya, will be released asebook and hardback. These lettershave been taken from Modi'sdiary, dating back to 1986. "This isnot an attempt at literary writing;the passages featured in this bookare reflections of my observationsand sometimes unprocessedthoughts, expressed withoutfilter..." a HarperCollins Indiastatement quoted Modi as saying.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court hasdirected the AAP govern-ment to ensure that foodand water are provided sep-arately to persons who havetested positive for COVID-19at the quarantine facilities inthe national capital.

The direction by JusticeNavin Chawla came on aplea by some of the personswho were quarantined inflats at Sultanpuri here aftertheir return from Indonesia.

They had claimed theywere tested negative but werebeing supplied with foodand water along with thepersons who have tested pos-itive for COVID-19.

The Delhi governmenttold the high court that foodand water was being provid-ed separately to those inquarantine who have testedpositive for coronavirus.

The petitioners, however,claimed that this was doneafter the instant petition wasfiled.

Taking note of the submis-

sions, the high court said thegovernment has assured thatfood, water and other facili-ties are being separately pro-vided and shall be separate-ly provided to the persons in

the quarantine who have test-ed positive for COVID-19.

"The respondent (Delhigovernment) is bound to thisstatement," the court said anddisposed of the petition.

The Delhi government told the highcourt that food and water was beingprovided separately to those inquarantine who have tested positivefor coronavirus

Ensure food, water providedseparately at quarantine: HC

After some intense physicalshowdown between theIndian and Chinese sol-diers at the Line of Control(LAC), attempts are now

being made by Beijing to dial down theconflict. A Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson said recently that the sit-uation at the border with India is “over-all stable and controllable” and that bothcountries have “proper mechanismsand communication channels” toresolve the issues through “dialogue”and “consultation.” China’s apparentattempt to de-escalate tensions at theborder is as quintessential a leaf fromits strategic playbook as its attempt toescalate it in the first place. A few famil-iar patterns apropos earlier suchendeavours cannot be missed.

The timing of the flare-up is, per-haps, the most predictable one. A pan-demic-stricken world has beenbrought down to its knees and Indiahas surpassed China’s Coronavirustally. It has now climbed into the top10 countries worst-hit by the pandem-ic. To recall, in 2014, when Chinesetroops intruded deep into the Indianterritory even as Premier Xi Jinpingwas on a State visit to India, it baffledmany. Why would Beijing do that? Ifanything, it only harmed the purposeof the ongoing bilateral talks. By now,China’s strategic charade of mixingwrong signals with publicly-percepti-ble good intentions is all too known.Physical assertion with an intention tosend a political message that pointssouth, deliberate obfuscation to pre-vent perception build-up, interna-tional grandstanding and the choice ofan opportune time — all of this col-lectively constitute the MiddleKingdom’s new approach to heightentensions. But there is a marked simi-larity that runs across modern China’sstrategic behaviour.

In its strategic playbook, it avoids“strength” and attacks “weakness.” Asthe world reels under the Corona pan-demic, China seems to have con-trolled the spread of the virus and hasnow resorted to practising aggressivebehaviour, thus rattling other countries.It has waged conflicts on multiplefronts. Border tension with India alongthe LAC has escalated; two new munic-ipal districts to control the disputedParacel and Spratly islands has beendeclared; military confrontation withMalaysia and Vietnam in the SouthChina Sea, too, has been launched.Besides, China has approved a contro-versial legislation in Hong Kong toundermine its autonomy. This, in clearviolation of the initial terms of agree-ment between Britain and China thatthe former’s autonomy shall be pre-

served until at least 50 years. Furthermore, there’s an obvi-

ous cold war 2.0 on with the US.Wolf warrior diplomacy hasbeen launched world over as apre-emptive effort to counter crit-icism and questions of account-ability. It is also resisting a glob-al call for an unbiased probe intothe origin of the Coronavirus.Above all, Xi has called upon thePeople’s Liberation Army (PLA)to “prepare for war.” All suchinstances have come to testChina’s strategic transition into a“great power.” As countries lookinward to deal with their eco-nomic, political and strategicproblems arising due to thespread of the virus, China con-siders this as its moment to testthe limits of “power transitionhypothesis.” But in many ways,how China acts during the pan-demic will define its futurecourse as a “great power.”

In the ongoing standoff withIndia, too, traits clearly point tothe aforementioned test-of-its-power transition. China hasopened multiple fronts of conflictalong the LAC; at least one ofthem is a hitherto uncontestedregion, the Naku La Pass in northSikkim. There are a few otherpeculiarities that set the ongoingborder flare-up apart from ear-lier skirmishes. The number ofPLA troops camped near theLAC is estimated to be some-where in between 5,000 and10,000.

Although India has matchedChinese encampments andnumbers, this is perhaps a newhigh of troop build-up by the lat-ter in the absence of any unilat-

eral aggression by the former.The military build-up andChina’s refusal to recede is gearedtowards “political signalling”than to “protect” an apparentincursion into India. This subtlepackaging comes at a time whenIndia is scrambling to improveborder infrastructure and con-nectivity in border areas. In thecurrent context, the strategicimportance of the Darbuk-Shyok-DBO road, that bringsIndia within an eight kilometrerange of the strategically impor-tant Karakoram Pass, cannot beoverstated.

Steps from either side pointto a long-drawn confrontation.While the two sides match introop numbers that mirror eachother, certain factors suggestthat neither side will be too quickto withdraw from strategic posi-tions. Chinese troops remainentrenched in bunkers alongwith a fleet of heavy vehicles andmonitoring equipment.Helicopter movement close tothe LAC has also been monitoredby the Indian side. India, too,scrambled two fighter jets alongthe LAC in Ladakh. Besides,Army Chief MM Naravane paida visit to Leh, the headquartersof 14 Corps in Ladakh, for asecurity review of the sensitivesector amid tensions. Perhapsthis suggests that the best way toresolve the present standoff isthrough established mechanismat the military and governmen-tal level, howsoever ineffectivethese mechanisms may be.

Chinese behaviour alongthe LAC points to a familiar pat-tern vis-a-vis India. Just like its

traditional medical practiceacupuncture, it is pressing certainpoints. Its assertions may oftenbe intended to solve a deeper ora different issue. In the presentcase, unprovoked assertionsalong the LAC can be linked toa few decisions taken by India inrecent times, which may haveperturbed China. Among themis the Indian Government’s deci-sion to implement three impor-tant recommendations relating toborder infrastructure that wasmade by the ShekatkarCommittee in 2016. Specifically,the work on the Sela tunnel (con-necting Tezpur in Assam toTawang) is in full swing. Oncecompleted, it will provide all-weather connectivity to animportant frontier with China inthe Kameng sector. Such projectsare also on to connect ZanskarValley and Ladakh. The Nimu-Padam-Darcha road being con-structed across the SinkunlaPass could have have been pointsof concern for China, too.

Other factors that couldhave perturbed Beijing includeNew Delhi’s decision to changeFDI norms for countries sharingland border with India. Thiscould potentially impact howChina invests in India. The vir-tual presence of two BJP MPs atthe swearing-in ceremony ofthe Taiwanese leader has alsoirked Beijing. Lastly, India’s sup-port to the global call for aWHO-led probe into the originof the Coronavirus is a cause, too.

From India’s point of view,the transgressions, includingones at previously uncontestedpatrol areas, like the Naku La

Pass, point towards a wider con-flicting arc. To that end, Chinesestrategy along the LAC has pre-ferred horizontal to vertical esca-lation, where scaling up of con-flict at the local level has been thepreferred strategy.

India’s options in the currentstandoff are limited. First, andperhaps the most likely way toresolve the tension, is by repeat-ing the Doklam strategy. Itshould resolutely wait until bothsides decide to de-escalate.However, under no circum-stances should India negotiate onsettled areas like the Naku LaPass. This will not only increasethe possibility for China to hor-izontally escalate against Indiabut would also dilute India’ssacrosanct nature of “sovereign-ty” apropos a modern state. Thisis precisely what makes the cur-rent standoff different and morefraught than previous ones. Sinceboth sides have laid claim to anew area as their “sovereignpart”, possibilities of de-escalationare high. India can press otherweak points of China to compeldesired State behaviour if LAC istoo sensitive a matter. Adoptingthe Indo-Pacific strategy to charta future strategy in Asia as anemerging global power is a low-hanging fruit. Among othersteps, raising a global pitch onChina’s other interests or deci-sions that run counter to Indianinterests can be considered. It is,perhaps, time to turn a new pagein dealing with China.

(The writer is deputy director, KIIPS, Bhubaneswar,and research fellow, ICWA, New Delhi)

As Coronavirus cases continue to rise acrossthe country and the Government healthcareinfrastructure begins to burst at the seams, the

Supreme Court has asked the Centre to identify pri-vate hospitals which can treat COVID-19 patients forfree or at a minimum cost as many of them have beengiven land either free or at nominal rates. However,the hospitals are off the hook for now as being a pol-icy issue, the Government would need to take a callon it first. At the moment, patients are being treatedfor free/minimum cost at Government hospitals acrossthe country. However, those who opt for private health-care facilities end up paying hefty sums as the cost

of treatment in general wards is around `0.8 lakh in Tier-III towns; `1.5 lakh in Tier-IIState capitals and `2.5 lakh in metro cities. Co-morbidities push up care costs further.

What complicates the matter is the fact that the Government cannot put a cap ontreatment costs like it did for the Corona tests as that will depend on many factors likethe place where the patient is being treated; his/her age; whether the person has anyco-morbidities; what stage the virus is in, whether it is in the initial stage or has theinfection aggravated. Will the s/he go to the ICU or be on oxygen support or will s/healso need a ventilator? Predictably private hospitals are not very keen to shoulder theCOVID burden with the Government because they say their bottomlines have alreadybeen hit by a decline in patient footfall, limited OPD operations and suspension of thelucrative medical tourism business. Plus the overheads have shot up as they are spend-ing more on disinfection, sterilisation, infection control, isolation wards, staff rotationsand quarantines, responsible waste disposal and comprehensive disinfection. Free treat-ment won’t work even if the hospitals had benefitted from largesse at inception. Sowhile the apex court and the Centre mull how to rope private hospitals in, patients con-tinue to suffer because even having an insurance does not mean that there will be nomajor out-of-pocket expense. Insurance firms are not paying patients for the PPE, faceshields and so on that constitute at least 50 per cent of the total treatment cost for aCorona patient. But what is irking is that while crying about the cost of the PPEs push-ing up their expenses, hospitals are glibly glossing over the fact that they are chargingall patients for these kits even though one doctor tends to multiple patients wearing onekit. Asking hospitals to lower treatment costs is reasonable but seeking to make it allfree will be counter-productive. The larger question right now is how to increase capac-ities as both public and private facilities are saturated.

The reverse exodus of migrants, which accord-ing to the Government’s admission in theSupreme Court has seen 91 lakh daily wagers

and service personnel move out of cities to their homeStates, may change the labour market forever. Shuntedout overnight by contractors and factories followingthe lockdown and with no savings, quarters or inter-im relief coming from either their employers or theGovernment, they trudged back home, risking theirlives in the process, exposing themselves to the dis-ease and starvation. And though they may return tothe subsistence economy that they once escaped,they are not coming back soon. Rejected by the big

cities that they helped build and mistreated like intruders by the Governments they votedfor, they would much rather find work in their home States under MGNREGA and infra-structure projects. The vacuum in big cities is already being felt as daily needs ser-vicemen like drivers, cleaners, electricians, handymen, carpenters, plumbers, househelps, gardeners and bricklayers have all fled. And now with several States compilinga data base of returnees with their skill sets, these people are most likely to be reha-bilitated in services vacated by migrants from elsewhere. In other words, local sourc-ing, something that political parties have promised in their manifestoes for a while, maysoon become the new rule of engagement in the labour market. Except that the tradi-tional labour-exporting States may be flooded with returnees seeking newer pasturesand fall short of accommodating them. Sensing the new labour map, the first off themark has been Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. With the State having alreadyreceived 23 lakh migrants by the end of last week, he has fast-tracked moves to absorbreturnee workers according to their skill sets and allocate them work zones. Fifteen lakhare already on the database and industrial units have sought contracts for five lakh amongthem. He has further drawn up a migrant commission to list all workers in the State,provide jobs and issue them a card that would ensure their social security during a cri-sis. An insurance scheme to secure their lives, too, is on the cards. And though he isreconsidering it, his controversial suggestion that other States hiring labourers from UPwould have to go via his Government points to a new trading tool that may just takeoff unofficially as everybody tries to leverage strengths in a pandemic-hit economy.Such a move is downright unconstitutional as every citizen has a right to migrate toany part of the country in the quest for better prospects. But new regional labour car-tels could emerge, peddling a skilled pool of workers and quoting higher prices nowin labour-starved zones. Rajasthan has started collecting data of both skilled and unskilledworkers from all 33 districts and will release them to factory owners in 18 industrialclusters soon. It has already collected details of 1.2 million unemployed people andwill soon launch a portal that will help devise programmes for the labourers, generatequick employment and also meet the demand-supply gap. It will also help design train-ing programmes for workers as per their qualifications and requirements of industries.Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh has restarted the Sambal Yojana, which will now coverreturnee migrants and provide social security to their family members, including schoolfees of children and insurance. A workers’ database is almost ready. Bihar and Jharkhandare also working on an internal reorganisation map. Punjab and Haryana, States with-out too much of local labour, were among the first to set up migrant portals to rehireand redirect displaced labour to their various work sites.

While the “vocal for local” mantra has taken a new meaning in the labour market,this could well be short-term. For wages and capacities are lower in States. For exam-ple, even if Uttar Pradesh manages to provide jobs to its returning migrants, its per capi-ta income is a little over `70,000. Comparatively, it is over `2 lakh in Maharashtra and`4 lakh in Delhi. So the osmosis will happen once the threat of the pandemic weak-ens. Besides what do you do with States like Uttarakhand, which do not have enoughopportunities to absorb highly-skilled labour? So far over 1.54 lakh migrants have returnedto the State and under the Mukhyamantri Swarojgar Yojana, they will get heavily sub-sidised loans to set up small businesses or shops. Many returnees are from the IT,hospitality and BPO sectors with a particular skill set and experience of working in bigcities and are not keen on the entrepreneurial mode. They wouldn’t want to erode theirrevenue-earning ability for the safety of a home that they won’t have to pay for. Labouris needed across industries and communities and perhaps a national database and apan-India social security net should be set up to streamline our demographic edge thanpass this on to States as their responsibility. Besides, this protection based on geog-raphy will never substitute competence.

Labour woes

Another threat

Sir — Swarms of locusts havebeen destroying crops acrosswestern and central India. Thisis the worst such attack in threedecades. With a speed of 150 kmper day, these creatures havebeen rampaging farms acrossUttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,Maharashtra, Gujarat and otherStates. Concerns about themharming farm output have beenraised. The solace is that with theharvest season over, rabi cropshave not been affected and mostmonsoon-fed crops are yet to besowed. But this does not meanthat they are harmless.

Cotton, summer pulses andvegetables have already sufferedin some regions. With agriculturefields remaining bare right now,the insects have made their wayto urban areas. This poses anoth-er set of problems. TheGovernment is using specialisedspraying machines and plans areon to deploy 60 specialised insec-ticide sprayers to kill the swarms.But what is needed is for us toshift to sustainable policies for anequitable future.

ShikhaVia email

Hasty decision

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Up in the sky” (May 27).The Uddhav Thackeray-ledMaharashtra Government has

said that the Centre “arbitrarily”took the decision to allowdomestic flight operations andthat “no consultation” was madewith the State. Meanwhile, theCivil Aviation Ministry has said

that Maharashtra, like all otherStates, agreed to allow domesticcivil aviation operations.

In an email response to theCentre, the MaharashtraGovernment has said that

restrictions on the movement ofpeople and transport are inplace in important cities such asMumbai and Pune. Politicalblame games aside, such a bigdecision should have not beentaken by the Centre before con-sulting the States.

MN Musaeed Jogeshwari Mumbai

Setting examples

Sir — Bollywood actor SonuSood deserves all the praise forarranging buses for the migrantworkers so that they reach theirhome States safely. His team haseven set up a toll-free number.In personal capacity, he hasbeen doing what theGovernment — both Centraland States — had promised todo. To see a member of the filmfraternity take such decisivesteps during the outbreak of adeadly virus is unusual. It is tobe seen if his colleagues, manyof whom hold immense wealth,follow his example?

Babu Tanda RampurUttar Pradesh

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

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op nionHYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020

06

Strategic stalemate

VIVEK MISHRA

The Chinese behaviour along the LAC points to a familiar pattern vis-a-vis India.However, it’s time for New Delhi to turn a new page in dealing with Beijing

Unka darr, unki siski, unkipeeda desh main sabne suni,par shayad sarkar ne nahi(Everyone saw their pain,heard their cries but may bethe Government has not).

Congress leader—Sonia Gandhi

The best thing I’ve learnedfrom Saif is being comfortablewith myself and not always berunning after money, successor fame. He’s taught me tolove the greater things in life.

Actor—Kareena Kapoor

The Indian Government, withits arrogant expansionistpolicies akin to Nazi’sLebensraum (living space),is becoming a threat to its neighbours.

Pakistan Prime Minister—Imran Khan

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

Amid crisis, people must act responsibly

With the fourth phase of the lockdown comingto an end and having registered more than 1.5lakh cases, one feels that the curfew should

have been implemented much earlier than in the lastweek of March. Also, the migrants should have beengiven at least a week’s window to return to their homeStates. Necessary medical infrastructure, arrangementsfor poor labourers, who have been rendered joblessdue to the spread of the pandemic, too, should havebeen put in place. There’s no disputing the fact thatthe lockdown was essential, at least to reduce the rateof spread of the infection. At the same time, it can-not continue endlessly, especially for a country like us.If not from the virus, people would die of hunger.

A phased relaxation of the lockdown is inevitablenow. However, it is amusing to see how the public hasbeen flouting all lockdown norms. Even days beforethe lockdown was announced, the ever-busy and over-crowded streets of Kolkata wore a “ghostly” look.Getting into the railway coach seemed like a relaxedstroll in a park. In Central Kolkata, shops were almostdevoid of customers. And when the lockdown wasimposed, non-market areas remained almost desolate.At milk booths and grocery stores, people meticulous-ly stood in queues, maintaining safe distance from each

other and wearing masks religiously. The third phaseof the lockdown saw a slew of relaxations for non-hotspot areas. But many people took advantage of thesituation and came out of their homes on some pre-text or the other. With the Government easing norms,it was obvious that human activities would increase.But how can people act so irresponsibly? It’s high timepeople get accustomed to the new-normal and incul-cate behavioural changes and habits. Else India mustget ready to brace for alarming days.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The cost of careMS (Dhoni) is an incrediblecricketer. Intelligence, calm-ness, power, athleticism, speedand a match-winner. This puts him among the greatestsportsmen in the modern era.

Former India coach—Gary Kirsten

While States are redistributing returnee workers, in the long runwe need a national database and a pan-India social security net

SC asks Govt to identify private hospitals which benefitted frompast largesse and, therefore, should treat COVID patients free

Disastrous decade for data

REPUBLICANS FEEL THAT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMSSILENCE CONSERVATIVES. WE WILL REGULATE OR CLOSE

THEM DOWN BEFORE WE LET THIS HAPPEN.—US PRESIDENT

DONALD TRUMP

WE WILL CONTINUE TO POINT OUT INCORRECT ORDISPUTED INFORMATION ABOUT POLLS GLOBALLY. WEWILL ADMIT TO AND OWN ANY MISTAKES WE MAKE.—TWITTER CEOJACK DORSEY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Owing to the lockdown necessitated by theCOVID-19 pandemic, the Centre hasdeferred the National Population Register

(NPR) updation exercise and the first phase ofCensus 2021, both of which were scheduled to startin April. Census operations in India had hithertobeen conducted in an unbroken chain since 1881.The only exceptions were in Assam in 1981 due toStatewide protests against illegal immigration fromBangladesh and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991 dueto law and order problems.

India’s census, comprising house listing oper-ations, where all the houses, irrespective of use, areidentified and population enumeration, is one of thelargest administrative exercises undertaken any-where in the world. In the present context, givenhow the virus is spreading its tentacles, it is imprac-tical to send census enumerators to households tocollect and validate any information.

The census-NPR debate: Before the pandem-ic struck, the emphasis on conducting a joint cen-sus and NPR updation exercise, riding on the houselisting operations, had faced considerable debate andcriticism owing to the recently-enacted CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) intertwined with theGovernment’s open commitment to the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC).

Linking of the census and NPR raises techni-cal and operational questions. In 2011, the NPRtagged to the house-listing schedule had serious cov-erage issues, with about 60 million people missing.The fact that the NPR data is certainly not requiredfor targetting purposes, the question that arises thenrelates to its utility since it is collected at enormousphysical and financial costs when Aadhaar-basedbiometric identification numbers with higher cov-erage are already available. Moreover, since theGovernment has not revealed the existing NPR topublic scrutiny, all insistence on its accuracy is mere-ly a conjecture, validating apprehensions over theNPR being the base for the NRC. The census-NPRdebate has become intertwined with other contro-versies over official Government data. This has por-trayed the present decade as disastrous for publicdata in India and warrants an urgent response touphold the integrity and credibility of our statisti-cal institutions.

The political economy of official data and har-nessing ICT: Experiences from recent years suggestthat the Government itself shied away from accept-ing various official statistics on employment, con-sumption, sanitation, and so on, owing to the inabil-ity of the Government, NITI Aayog and otherdepartments to produce credible reports on accountof method and comparability, adhering to the con-sistent macro picture. Apart from concealment andpostponement of Government reports, if andwhen these are released, they are done so with mul-tiple disclaimers.

As a result, the entire process makes the reportsvirtually unusable. This is further amplified by bla-tant withholding of administrative data often man-aged by big private consultants. For several years,not much has been done to fix this lacuna.

To reform the Indian statistical system, the pre-sent Government prepared the Draft NationalStatistical Commission (NSC) Bill, 2019. This Billis aimed at empowering the NSC to effectively for-mulate policies, priorities and standards on statis-tical matters. Further, a Five-year Vision 2019-2024for the National Statistical System has been publishedby the Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation (MoSPI). The NITI Aayog on its

part has proposed a National Data andAnalytics Platform (NDAP). These effortsdemonstrate a growing acknowledge-ment of the need for the use of digital tech-nology, which would democratise accessto holistic and coherent publicGovernment data on a real-time basis.

Thus, going forward, it appears thatthe era of Industry 4.0, ArtificialIntelligence (AI), blockchain and gigeconomy would require extensive utilisa-tion of ICT. This would enable quick andsmooth harnessing of new sources of data,including payroll data, GIS data and bigdata generated using mobile communica-tions, social media interactions and dig-itally-enabled transactions.

A departure from the past censusexercise for census 2021 is that these oper-ations will be carried out with handhelddevices for prompt scrutiny and transferof data to secure centralised servers.While this is certainly a progressivemove, India must further take a cue fromthe experience of many countries intheir responses to COVID-19 to tackledata-related exigencies concerning citizensregistries.

In the US, the ongoing census 2020(https://2020census.gov/) operations havebeen made fully online, ensuring account-ability and credibility. Importantly, this hasmade the exercise open, inclusive andincorporative of citizens in these challeng-ing times. No wonder, the census exercisein the US appears more as a celebrationon social media, where its citizens areproudly enrolling and actively participat-ing, whereas, in India, the whole exercisedisplays apprehensions and policy vacu-um.

There is no time to lose. The existinginitiatives by the Government on harness-ing ICT, such as Pro-Active Governanceand Timely Implementation (PRAGATI),Digital India and JAM Trinity, need to beleveraged to carry out and continue thehistoric census exercise of 2021, as well as

to restore the credibility of our statisticalinstitutions.

COVID-19, data and the State:There is no denying that the pandemic canonly be fought with real-time informationand aggregated data collected using cut-ting-edge technology and with the use ofthe internet, phones, ICT, location dataand so on. This will help in the manda-tory surveillance of each citizen in theextended lockdown period to enforce thenecessary social distancing, isolation,tracing, delivery of essential services andwelfare, the functioning of the economyand society and, more importantly inensuring health and medical facilities.

This calls for a full-fledged citizen dig-ital literacy programme under DigitalIndia, utilising the lockdown time to hand-hold each citizen. In other words, the timefor ensuring universal digital literacy,learning and application is now or never.During the pandemic, the amount of con-structive and willing enrolment and sup-port from each citizen, community, pri-vate sector and civil society, which willprovide for such universal enumerationand registry by the Government, will beenormous and worth attempting. For now,the fallout of non-withdrawal of theState’s power over data and surveillanceremains a valid yet distant worry.

The way forward: The fight againstthe pandemic has taught us the real impor-tance of data and statistical systems witha robust ecosystem for innovation andaccountability. Empowerment of theseverely-underfunded and understaffedIndian statistical system requires urgentand large investments in technical andhuman resources.

Also, a real-time and dynamic data-base of unemployed, migrant and infor-mal sector workers would immensely helpin aiding the most vulnerable and mar-ginalised sections that are excluded fromany support from the Government in theabsence of their up-to-date registry. This

would, in future, help to avoid situationslike the current plight of internal migrantstrekking along the highways to reach theirhome villages and small towns, in the faceof the transportation and economic lock-down.

The census provides migration dataat the district and town level, so holdingit every five years instead of the presentdecadal system should be considered.Organising an intercensal survey, as donein many countries, can also mitigate thisdeficiency in the Indian data system to alarge extent.

Improving the credibility of officialstatistics would take a broad consensusand effective leadership. Disentangling theoverlapping functions of statistical bod-ies like the NSC and MoSPI and creatingcoherence and cohesiveness in theirduties and responsibilities is required.

To enable evidence-based policy-making, planning and implementation,adapting ICT at par with global standardsis required by the system of official sta-tistics in India. A universal digital Indiapush now can lay the foundation of real-time data and modern architecture. Thiswill go a long way in realising the visionof ‘New India’ and a $5 trillion economy.Further, postponement of NPR and onlydoing the first phase of the 2021 censuswork will be a logical step to ensure thatthe timeline for the population count inMarch 2021 is not altered. The challengesfor data, posed by the pandemic, CAA-NPR-NRC and the reluctance of theGovernment to release official data, needsto be tackled urgently. Besides this, theNSC should be made an independent anddynamic body led by professionals toensure availability of credible, accessibleand legible statistics to empower policy-makers with quality data to make India theworld guru.

(Kumar is Director, IMPRI andMohanan is former acting Chairperson ofthe NSC and mentor, IMPRI.)

The challenges for data posed by the pandemic, CAA-NPR-NRC and the reluctance of theGovernment to release official figures need to be tackled urgently

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

Saving livesand livelihoods

KUMARDEEP BANERJEE

The question of livelihood is gettingdesperate. The cure today is proving more

expensive than the pandemic

THE FIGHT AGAINST

THEPANDEMIC

HAS TAUGHT US THE REALIMPORTANCE OF DATA ANDSTATISTICAL

SYSTEMSWITH A

ROBUSTECOSYSTEM

FOR INNOVATIONAND

ACCOUNTABILITY.EMPOWERMENT

OF THE SEVERELY-UNDERFUNDED

AND UNDERSTAFFEDINDIAN STATISTICAL

SYSTEMREQUIRES

URGENTAND LARGE

INVESTMENTSIN TECHNICAL

ANDHUMAN

RESOURCES

Ahousing society with nearly 3,000 families in Greater Noidawas sealed this week due to a family being found Covid-positive. These families, most of them first-time flat own-

ers, self-employed or working for private enterprises in the NationalCapital Region (NCR), are a relatively new bunch of inhabitantsto this area. The sealing exercise ensured most of them are impris-oned within the society complex while their employers threatenedthem with salary cuts if not layoffs. For the first time perhaps sincethe lockdown began in March-end, angry employees from the hous-ing society took to an organised demonstration to save their liveli-hoods.

A few dozen special trains meant to transport migrant labour-ers to their States allegedly got diverted on extended routes andended up terminating at wrong destinations across the country.Many flights, too, got cancelled within the first two days of resum-ing operations in the country.

A high-intensity super cyclone whipped its way into main-land West Bengal leaving a trail of unprecedented destruction. Ittook nearly four days to restore electricity in the capital city of Kolkataeven as rural and semi-urban areas are yet to be reached andassessed, for providing basic amenities like clean drinking water.

The above examples are just a fragment of the apologetic taleof mismanagement and lack of coordination between different armsof the same Government in a particular geography. If we start addinglayers of Central, State, district, city and neighborhood governanceto this, an almost incomprehensible cobweb of India’s ongoingpandemic-redressal system emerges.

It takes courage and a Himalayan leap of faith to impose alockdown this stringent for more than two months on almost one-fifth of humanity, for a Prime Minister. We understand NarendraModi took a call to save lives while bartering away over 400 mil-lion livelihoods, of people who had just about begun to start hav-ing a semi-global existence with most basic amenities like elec-tricity, clean drinking water, gas connections and a monthly incomeof nearly $150. In just two months, the harsh realities of still beinga poor nation have started hitting hordes if not headlines.

Consider snapshots like the “Biggest recession for India”,“Millions of faceless, traceless stranded nowhere”, “Lockdownexit strategy missing.” The real issue is beginning to stare mostof us in the face and we are slowly realising that there is no lock-down exit strategy at all.

This reminds me of another great warrior. In the Mahabharata,Abhimanyu, the son of the brave Arjun, was a child prodigy whomastered the key skill sets of warfare in his mother’s womb.However, Abhimanyu didn’t know how to get out of the Chakrvyuha(a multi-tier defensive formation used in warfare), even if he didknow what it took to get into one and win a day in a battle. Weall know what it takes to prepare and get into a war. But how manyknow how to safely get out of one with least collateral damageto human life or limb, especially if the war is not at the borders?

That’s a crucial point, to drive at this stage and here are somenear-safe assumptions: COVID-19 spreads fastest with human-to-human contact. Misinformation or mistrust is a greater virusthan COVID and is here to stay longer. A vaccine, if at all, is atleast a year away from the developed world and much longer fora poor yet aspirational nation like ours.

The developing world can only wish for more heat and home-made remedies. The surprise element is that some of that ancientcommon sense does work in dealing with a deadly virus.

There is no statistical data to prove any of the above claims,but most of them have great significance. Indians can at this stagewish for a common-sense guided approach to the pandemic.

India has had a good recovery rate till now and low fatalityas compared to the rest of the world, based on public informa-tion. And there is no reason to doubt this information since in anation with nearly 1.5 billion phones the truth can’t be suppressedfor too long. Somebody or the other will definitely capture an anom-aly and let the information flow. Let us also accept and be cau-tious that India has managed to hold up so far and lives as envis-aged by our Prime Minister are more saved than lost.

However, the question of livelihood is getting desperate, thecure today is proving more expensive than the cause. Every lifesaved today may be lost to malnutrition, hunger, preventable dis-ease or disaster in the near future. Keepers of the law on the groundaren’t safe from the pandemic or viral flow of misinformation andone-size-fits-all can’t be the approach.

Going extremely micro-local and an empowered approachto tackle the pandemic can be a solution for the long-term fightagainst the virus. However, remember that with great power comesgreat responsibility. Therefore, frontline lawmakers, right from thesenior-most to those guarding the neighborhoods to prevent theoutflow of the virus, have to ensure livelihoods and social dis-tancing at the same time.

(The writer is a senior policy analyst)

Every morning I wake up to a fewmessages on Sayfty’s social mediapages. Usually, these are requests

for help and read like, “I know a girlwho is facing domestic violence (DV),please can you help?” One person asks,“Hey, do you help in the lockdown too?I have been going through domesticviolence for four years and it’s beenhorrible.” My team and I get busy sup-porting victims of domestic violence,getting them the help they need.

More than 90 countries are underlockdown with four billion people con-

fined to their homes. However, little domost people realise that for millions ofwomen, “home” is not a safe place dur-ing a lockdown. As the world scram-bled to flatten the Coronavirus curve,the DV curve surged across the globe.In France, DV cases increased by 30per cent while in Argentina, emer-gency calls regarding DV increased by25 per cent, Cyprus and Singaporehelplines registered an increase in callsof 30-33 per cent. The UK, US, Spain,India and other countries, have all wit-nessed a rise in violence at home.

Lockdowns have trapped womenand girls with abusive partners. Theyare isolated and cut off from supportnetworks and resources. Victims are nolonger able to pick up the phone andcall for help because they are beingwatched by the abuser constantly.They are unable to step out of that doorand seek support.

The truth is that DV has persist-ed in our homes for generations. A factmost of us choose to ignore. DV, like

all forms of abuse, is about power. Andduring this pandemic, men are usingviolence to control women’s minds,bodies, economic capacities andmobility. It is a deliberate action car-ried out against the victim with a senseof entitlement over their bodies. Andnothing can or should justify violenceagainst women/girls.

So, what have countries done sofar to address DV during this pandem-ic?

France is offering hotel rooms forvictims of abuse. The Government willpay for 20,000 hotel nights for victimsand put in place approximately 20counselling centres at stores across thecountry in order for women to be ableto seek help when they run errands.

In Germany, the Green Party’sparliamentary leader, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, said she feared for the lives ofthousands of women trapped with vio-lent partners and called on theGovernment to free up money for safehouses.

In Greece, officials said they werestepping up a campaign to helpwomen cope with problems clearlyemerging from the issue of confine-ment.

A prosecutor in Trento, Italy, hasruled that in cases of DV the abusermust leave the family home and notthe victim.

In India the National Commissionfor Women has launched a WhatsAppnumber (+91 7217735372) to facilitatequick and increased reporting, takingcognisance of the increase in violence.

So, the big question is, what cana citizen do as a bystander?

Now more than ever, bystanderintervention is vital. Each one of us,even under a lockdown, can activelyintervene online or in the offlinespace if we see someone experiencingharassment or violence. Here are fiveways that can help citizens speak out,identify, engage or respond to a situ-ation of domestic abuse.

Delegate: Which means get help

from someone else. For example, inIndia, you can dial 100 for the policeor 181 to connect to the women’shelpline number after checking withthe person facing harassment or abuse.

Delay: Wait for the incident to beover and then check in with the per-son harassed or abused. You can callthe person, message them or useanother creative way to check on themlike through a chat feature on an onlinegame and so on.

Distract: Is to use an indirectapproach to de-escalate the situationand divert the attention of the abuseraway from the violence to give the vic-tim a break. A common way to do this,if the incident is happening in yourneighbourhood, is to ring the bell andask to borrow something, like a cup ofmilk. The famous #RingTheBell cam-paign by Breakthrough is a classicexample of how to distract an abuser.

Document: You can documentthe violence using your phone or acamera. Remember, while document-

ing the incident, try to film undercov-er and give the videos and photos tothe person facing the violence. Consentis important. Let them decide what todo with it.

Direct: Speak up when you see aincident of DV. You can do so by nam-ing the behaviour. You can say,“Domestic violence is a crime.” Namewhat you see. “It looks like she is phys-ically hurt and very scared.” Ask theabuser a question, “Why are youbeating her?”

A word of caution: When inter-vening, please ensure your own safe-ty first. If you don’t feel safe interven-ing, get help. Be vigilant. DV, most ofthe time, is occurring behind closeddoors and is less talked about. In factin India, less than 14 per cent ofwomen who have experienced phys-ical or sexual violence seek help.

While a majority of us are follow-ing the shelter-in place order, manyfirst responders like postal workers,garbage collectors, food delivery staff

are out and about through neighbor-hoods doing their jobs. They may havean opportunity to detect violence andreport to the authorities. If you knowof someone facing violence, ask themhow they would prefer to connect? Stayin touch with them through creativeways. Once you have safely establisheda way to connect, help them find a DVshelter or a helpline number. Thinkthrough a safety plan with the victim.One safety plan does not fit all. Abuse,harassment and violence is different ineach incident. Each situation is uniqueand will require a different interven-tion.

These are difficult and unusualtimes for all. While we are physicallycut away from each other, don’t let thatprevent you from raising your voiceand using your resources for anotherpandemic called gender-based vio-lence. When will we try to flatten thispersistent curve?

(The writer is founder and CEO,Sayfty)

A pandemic of domestic abuse Lockdowns have trapped women and girls with abusive partners. They are isolated and cut off from support networks and resources

SHRUTI KAPOOR

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

ARJUNKUMAR

PCMOHANAN

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Dr Reddy's getsinspection closurereport fromUSFDA for TS

New Delhi: Leading stockexchange BSE has said it willdiscontinue liquidityenhancement scheme (LES)for equity derivatives segmentfrom June 11. The exchangehad introduced LES in equityderivative segment in August2019. The scheme wasprovided on index futures andoptions and 50 stock futuresand options. "The exchangeshall discontinue theLES...with effect from June11, 2020," BSE said in acircular. Under the LES,brokers and other marketintermediaries are givenincentives for a specifiedperiod of time to bring in andgenerate investor interest insecurities that have limitedtrading activity.

BSE to discontinueliquidityenhancementscheme

London: European budgetairline eastJet said Thursdaythat it plans to cut up to athird of its workforce as itrestructures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline didnot specify how many jobswould go, but some 15,000were employed at the start of2020. CEO Johan Lundgren,says the carrier remainsfocused on doing what is rightfor the company and its long-term “health and success.''EasyJet plans to resumelimited service on June 15, butestimates that it may takethree years to get back to2019 demand levels.Lundgren says that “againstthis backdrop, we are planningto reduce the size of our fleetand to optimise the networkand our bases.”

EasyJet to cut a thirdof workforce aspandemic hits travel

New Delhi: Dr Reddy'sLaboratories on Thursday saidthe US health regulator hasclosed inspection of itsTelangana-based facility. Thecompany has received theestablishment inspectionreport (EIR) from the US Foodand Drug Administration(USFDA) for Medchal-Malkajgiri-based integratedproduct developmentorganisation (IPDO) indicatingclosure of the audit, DrReddy's Laboratories said in aregulatory filing. The USFDAissues an EIR to a companywhen an inspection issatisfactorily closed.

PNS n MUMBAI

A joint forum of Air Indiaemployees and staff unionshas sought a Rs 50,000 crorefinancial succour from thegovernment for the nationalcarrier, stating that the airlineis a necessity forthe country.

In a letter toPrime MinisterNarendra Modi, theJoint Forumsaid that AirIndia is a "necessi-ty" for the country,especially in times of crises,and a financial package will notonly help the flag carrier butalso the entire aviation sectorand the economy.

The prime minister earlierthis month announced a Rs 20lakh crore package, whichcombined the government'searlier announcements on sup-porting key sectors as alsomeasures rolled out by theReserve Bank of India, to helprevive the economy amid thecoronavirus pandemic crisis.

Leading rating agencies haveforecast the Indian economy tocontract by 5 per cent in thecurrent fiscal due to the impactof the crisis.

"We thank you for the finan-cial package of Rs 20 lakhcrores to boost industry andthe economy. As you will agreethat civil aviation is of para-mount importance in today'scontext and therefore it isextremely necessary to boost

the aviation

industry and restore normaloperations at the earliest, whichis crucial for the economy tostabilise.

"In view of this, we requestyou to kindly grant Air Indiaa financial package of Rs50,000 crore which will go along way in ensuring that Air

India emerges as the strongestand best airline of India," theJoint Forum said in the letter.

Stating that Air India hasonce again played a crucial rolefor the nation bybringing back

stranded Indians from all partsof the world including severaloffline stations at a time whenairlines all over the world hadceased operations due to thepandemic, the Forum said thatthe carrier "even at peak of theCOVID 19 pandemic operat-ed flights to and from Wuhan

which is the origin and centrepoint of the coronavirus."

Besides, Air India staff wentout of the way at considerable"personal risk" to ensuresmooth operations of severalcargo and charter flights allthrough this period therebyfacilitating the smooth move-ment of medicines and medicalequipment between India andmany other countries includ-ing China, it said.

Air India has always per-formed national duties irre-spective of the serious risksinvolved, it said adding it hasbeen established beyond doubtthat Air India is a necessity forthe country especially in timesof crises.

Leading ratingagencies haveforecast theIndian economy

to contract by5 per cent inthe current

fiscal due to theimpact of thecrisis

Piyush Goyal expects better exports performance in MayPNS n NEW DELHI

The performance of the coun-try's exports is expected to bebetter in May as compared toApril, when the shipmentscontracted to an all-time highof 60.28 per cent, Commerceand Industry Minister PiyushGoyal said on Thursday.

He also hoped that the con-traction in the growth rate ofexports in June would bearound 10 per cent only.

There was a huge decline inexports in April but "my senseis that in May, it will improvesignificantly", he said whilespeaking at CII's ExportSummit through video confer-ence.

The minister expects thatthe exports will be down byabout 30-35 per cent in May.

Goyal said three main things-- reviving manufacturing,diversifying export basket,focusing on newer and accept-ing markets -- will drive theeconomy going forward.

Further, he said Indianindustries, entrepreneurs andstart-ups should see what newmarkets have opened updomestically for them andwork on those.

"Our agriculture exportpotential is huge. Rice, includ-ing Basmati, animal husbandry

products and organic products,among many others, we havean opportunity to work togeth-er as partners and expandIndia's footprint," he saidadding that diversificationalong with consolidation willhelp grow product basket andexpand India's presence hori-zontally across the world.

He said building upon thedomestic demands, with sur-plus going to export, will pushIndia to newer heights.

The ministry, he said, isworking on identifying sever-al sectors that holds potentialfor the domestic industry.

He added that the sectorsinclude auto components, fur-niture, air conditioners (ACs),set-top boxes, pharma, organ-ic products, agri-chemicals,textiles, toys and lithium-ionbatteries.

"Why we should be import-ing auto components. Thatneeds to be changed. Why weshould import USD 2 billionworth of furniture. Why we areimporting ACs and compo-nents like compressors... Weare looking at promoting APIs(active pharmaceutical ingre-dients) in India," Piyush Goyalsaid.

Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expectsthat the exports will be down by about30-35 per cent in May

‘Need to look at building economy with local skills’PNS n NEW DELHI

The country needs to go backto the basics and look atbuilding an economy basedon local skills and naturallyavailable resources, RajyaSabha MP and former Unionminister Suresh Prabhu saidon Thursday as he empha-sised the importance of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.

The five pillars of AtmaNirbhar Bharat (Self-reliantIndia) are economy, infra-structure, system, vibrantdemography and demand.

Speaking at a webinarorganised by the Institute ofCost Accountants of India,Prabhu said there is a need towork in a way that people'sneeds are adequately takencare of and demand of theworld is also catered to.

Noting that each district

has unique traditional char-acteristics, he said that if aproper study and documen-tation are done to make thedistricts self sufficient, then itwould have a transformativeeffect on rural India.

"In ancient times, India ws

a large economy and its prod-ucts were sought after. It did-n't produce steel, cement orautomobiles at that time butit produced things based onlocal skills. We again need togo back to the basics," Prabhusaid.

Prabhu is also India'sSherpa for G20 nations.

Speaking at the webinar,BJP National GeneralSecretary Ram Madhav saidPrime Minister NarendraModi gave a categorical callfor Atma Nirbhar Bharatamid the COVID-19 pan-demic and that the govern-ment's motto has been selfreliance for the last six years.

He said India has managedthe COVID-19 crisis wellcompared to many othercountries and attributed it tothree factors. Prime ministerwho has taken right decisionsat the right time, an efficient

administrative machinery andthe 1.3 billion people of thecountry who have showngreat unity and discipline inhandling the situation, henoted.

Talking about postCOVID-19 world, Madhavcalled upon people all overthe country to show greaterunity.

Industr y body Ficci 'sPresident Sangita Reddy said,"we are in a complex situa-tion" and going forward, thereis a need to build an econo-my that is driven by digitisa-tion, societal collaborationand self reliance.

The five pillars of Atma Nirbhar Bharat(Self-reliant India) are economy,infrastructure, system, vibrantdemography and demand

Govt seeks USD 520 mn from Cairn Oil & GasPNS n NEW DELHI

The government has slapped aUSD 520 million (around Rs3,941 crore) demand notice onbillionaire Anil Agarwal's oil andgas unit Cairn after an auditfound alleged discrepancies incost recovery in the Rajasthan oiland gas fields operated by thecompany, sources said addingthe firm has disputed thedemand and initiated arbitrationproceedings. The DirectorateGeneral of Hydrocarbons(DGH), the upstream technicalarm of the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas,sought USD 520 million inadditional profit petroleum forthe government after an audit ofcapital and operating expensesincurred on the Mangala andother oilfields in the Rajasthanblock RJ-ON-90/1, sources withdirect knowledge of the develop-ment said.

The audit alleged discrepan-cies in the way capital expensesmade on setting up the infra-structure to produce oil werebooked.

The law provides for operatorsrecovering all the capital andoperating cost from revenues

earned from the sale of oil andgas before sharing a fixed per-centage of profit with the gov-ernment. Booking a higherexpenditure curtails govern-ment's profit share.

Cairn Oil and Gas, a verticalof Agarwal-controlled VedantaLtd, earlier this month sent anarbitration notice, disputing thedemand, they said. A companyspokesperson declined to com-

ment. Cairn is the operator ofRajasthan block with 70 per centinterest while the balance isheld by state-owned Oil andNatural Gas Corp (ONGC).

ONGC is not a part of thearbitration but will have to abideby whatever award of the disputeresolution proceeding comesout, sources said adding thecompany will have to pay 30 percent of the USD 520 million

demand in case the arbitrationpanel upholds the DGHdemand.

The arbitration notice sent byCairn triggered disputed resolu-tion proceedings under theProduction Sharing Contract(PSC). A three-member arbitra-tion panel, comprising a nomineeeach of Cairn and the govern-ment and a neutral judge, will beset up to adjudicate on the dis-pute. Cairn and ONGC arealready in a dispute over pay-ment of royalty from the block.Cairn had stopped paying for itsshare of royalty on oil producedfrom its Rajasthan block follow-ing differences with partnerONGC on cost recovery.

SBI cuts interest rates on fixeddeposits across tenorsPNS n MUMBAI

The country's largest lenderState Bank of India (SBI) hasreduced interest rates on retailterm deposits by up to 40basis points (bps) across alltenors.

This is the second reduc-tion in fixed deposits interestrates by the lender in May. Ithad reduced its deposit rateson May 12.

The new rates of interest,effective from Wednesday,shall be made applicable tofresh deposits and renewals ofmaturing deposits.

For deposits maturing inseven days to 45 days, thelender is offering an interestrate of 2.90 per cent as against3.30 per cent earlier, accord-ing to the SBI website.

The revised rate for 180days to 210 days bracket is4.40 per cent compared to4.80 per cent.

FDs maturing in one year toless than two years will now

fetch an interest rateof 5.10 per cent asagainst 5.50 per cent.

Interest rate on depositsin the five years toup to 10 yearstenor will be 5.40per cent com-pared to 5.70 percent.

For senior citizens also,interest rates on retail termdeposits across all tenors havebeen cut by up to 40 basispoints.

The lender hasalso slashed interest

rates on bulk deposits(Rs 2 crore and above)

by up 50 basispoints.

Recently, SBIc h a i r m a nRajnish Kumar

had said that in thecurrent scenario interest ratesare going to reduce. "Thereduction in interest rates willbe for both borrowers anddepositors," he had said.

GHCL to defer all capital projects,except those in advanced stagePNS n NEW DELHI

Chemicals and textiles majorGHCL on Thursday said it hasdecided to defer all major cap-ital projects, except those inadvance stage, due to the ongo-ing coronavirus pandemic.

The company, which hadno material production in April,said currently its plants areoperating at 50-60 per cent util-isation levels based on demandoutlook and labour availability,and it doesn't see any liquiditychallenge in the near term,with around Rs 397 crore ofunutilised fund based limits as

on April 30 ensuring adequateliquidity. In a regulatory filingregarding material impact ofCOVID-19 pandemic, GHCLsaid, "The company has decid-ed to defer all major capital pro-jects except those in advancestages which will be completed."

It, however, did not elaborate onthe major capital projects. Oncommencement of operations,the company said its manufac-turing operations have gradu-ally restarted with dueapprovals from the respectivegovernment authorities.

Adani sees Covid-19 asopportunity for transitionto clean energyPNS n NEW DELHI

Billionaire Gautam Adani onThursday said COVID-19had an immediate economicimpact but the pandemicpresents an opportunity todesign a new and faster tran-sition to a low-carbon futureas he expects the price ofsolar modules to drop fur-ther.

Writing on Linkedin, hesaid the urgency of a greenrevolution in the energy sec-tor has gained greater impor-tance in view of COVID-19challenges.

"While the immediate eco-nomic impact may slow usdown, we are presented withan opportunity to pause,rethink, and design a newand faster transition to alow-carbon future," he said.

In January, Adani had saidthat his group is aiming tobecome the world's largestsolar power company by 2025and the biggest renewable

energy firm by 2030.Its existing portfolio of

renewable power generatingassets stood at over 2.5 GW.This is expected to morethan double by 2020, with theimplementation of 2.9 GWunder construction capacityand would further touch 18GW by 2025.

The head of India's biggestinfrastructure conglomerateAdani Group on Thursdaysaid many of the system oper-ators in Europe, faced withfalling demand, are learningto manage grids at a remark-ably high level of renewablesin the energy mix, often up to70 per cent.

Sebi fines Rs 10 lakh on AdaminaTradersPNS n NEW DELHI

Capital markets regulatorSebi has imposed a penalty ofRs 10 lakh on AdaminaTraders Pvt Ltd for fraudulenttrading in the scrip ofSecunderabad HealthcareLtd.

Sebi had conducted aninvestigation into the tradingactivities in the shares of theSecunderabad Healthcare forthe period betweenNovember 2011 and January2015.

During the probe, Sebifound that Adamina Tradersmanipulated the price of thescrip and created a mislead-ing appearance of trading inthe share.

By doing so, it has violat-ed the provisions of theProhibition of Fraudulentand Unfair Trade Practices(PFUTP) Regulations, theregulator said in an order.

In a separate order, Sebihas imposed a penalty of Rs3 lakh on SemwalGovindram Dhanesh forinsider trading in the matterof Alexander Stamps andCoin Ltd.

Sebi found that Semwalhad failed to frame andimplement code of conductas required under the PIT(Prohibition of InsiderTrading) norms.

NODWIN Gaming,Airtel team up togrow e-sportsPNS n NEW DELHI

Bharti Airtel and NODWINGaming on Thursdayannounced a partnership topromote and grow e-sports inIndia.

E-sports have the potentialto become a sizable part ofthe country's mainstreamsporting culture given India'slarge youth population andrising internet penetration,according to a statement bythe companies. It is estimat-ed that by 2021, online gam-ing will become over USD 1-billion market in India withover 620 million gamers.

MTal seeks govt interventionto resume elective surgeriesPNS n NEW DELHI

Industry body MedicalTechnology Association ofIndia (MTaI) on Thursdaysought the government's inter-vention to ensure that electivesurgical procedures areresumed at the earliest, asthis would enable hospitals tore-start their normal opera-tions.

The hospitals had to shutdown their OPDs due to var-ious government restrictionsto control the spread of theCOVID-19 pandemic, whichseverely impacted their rev-enue flow, MTaI said in a state-ment.

Elective surgeries accountfor about 50 per cent of rev-enues for hospitals in normalbusiness conditions.

The audit alleged discrepancies inthe way capital expenses made onsetting up the infrastructure toproduce oil were booked

Air India employees seek Rs 50k-cr for flag carrier

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

FridayMay 29, 2020

‘FORCED PAY CUT'or over twomonths now,cinemas acrossIndia haveremained shut,as most of the

country is under lock-down to curtail the spread of coronavirus.The move has hugelydented the earnings oftheatre staff, who weredependent on daily collec-tions. With cinema hallsshut across the state, thestaff and other workersare left to fend for them-selves.

Several employees oftheatres across the statehave either been forced toaccept pay cuts or havenot been paid, and a fewof them have been fired.Last week, members ofthe Telangana CinemaTheatre Employees’ Union(TCTEU), which includesgatemen, security person-

nel, booking clerks, oper-ators, electricians, andother employees workingin cinema halls, staged aprotest in the city urgingthe government to cometo their rescue.

They sought govern-ment’s intervention andensure that the theatremanagement pay fullsalaries to their employ-ees. It is said that severalemployees working in the-atres across the city havelost their jobs.

Ravi (name changed),an employee of AsianCinemas said that he hadbeen receiving only 40 percent of his salary sinceMarch. “Freshers earnsomewhere between Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000.However, following lock-down, we are being paidonly Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000per month. This barelycovers our monthly needs.

Some of us are the onlybreadwinners of our fami-lies.”

One of the employeeshad also said that migrantworkers, who left for theirvillages, have not beenpaid and have been askedto write and sign a letterstating that they are finewith not being paid theirsalaries.

Nirav (name changed),another employee ofAsian Cinemas informsthat he and his colleagueshave been receiving only30 per cent of theirsalaries.

But their employer hada different story to tell.Sunil Narang, the ownerof the multiplex chainAsian Cinemas, says, “Ouremployees are like familyto us. We are paying themin full. None of ouremployees have beenremoved from their jobs.”

When pointed out thatan employee spoke abouta pay cut, he said, “Ifthere are any pay cuts,care will be taken to paythe remaining later.”While this assurance doesbring hope in the lives ofsome employees, othersonly wish this was thesame deal with them.

Some allege that theyhave also been called towork for the past 2 weeks,but they haven’t beengoing since there’s nopublic transport and themoney their employerspromise to give would besufficient only for theirpetrol charges and won’tcover their other needs.

Some others say thatwhile their jobs are safe,they might not see anincrement any time soon.They also said that maynot be able to shift jobsbecause nobody is willing

to hire but only looking tofire.

Theatres’ AssociationPresident VijayenderReddy, who is an employ-er himself says, “I havebeen paying my employ-ees in full and will contin-ue to even after June.Most of our staff are per-manent members, so wecan explore the ProvidentFund option too. Weshare a beautiful bond ofemployer-employee fordecades now. If the lock-down does get extended,we might have to resort topay cuts, but we havepromised our employeesthat as soon as profitspour in after theatresopen to the public, theirremaining salaries will bepaid.”

On most staff notreceiving their salariesacross the city, he says,“Individual theatre own-

ers are ensuring they paytheir employees well, butmultiplexes, I hear, aren’tdoing the same, it’s a sadstate of affairs. Theiremployees fear their jobs’security.”

Pinnu Kranthi Kumar,who works in Karimnagarfor BookMyShow at AsianMukta Srinivas Theatres,said that his employershave been paying him andhis colleagues in full. “Idid get to know throughsome of my friends inHyderabad that the staffof most theatres aren’tgetting paid or have beenremoved from their jobswithout any intimation,”he said.

But employees of a fewother theatres are beingtreated well and are mak-ing the most of the lock-down. “We have been paidour salaries for the lasttwo months. We have

been asked to stay safe athome. Our employers areusing this time to train uson better ways to sanitiseand maintain hygiene inour cinema halls after thislockdown ends,” informArun who works forCinepolis.

It’s been a week since,TCTEU, on behalf of allthe theatre workers,reportedly has given arepresentation to theTelugu Film Producers’Council President C Kalyan and former president of Telugu FilmProducers’ CouncilTammareddy Bharadwaj.Nothing concrete seemedto have taken place sincethen, while over 25,000employees who work fortheatres across the state,continue to fear their jobs’security and are waitingin the hope of a solutionsoon.

IRKS THEATRE STAFF

Cinema hallsbeing shut for

so long hassaddenedmany, for

reasons ofentertainment,but there is an

other sectionof people who

is a worriedlot: the staff atthese theatres.The Pioneer's

RACHELDAMMALA

talks to thestaff of varioustheatres across

the state tofind out howthey're faring

and more

F

Our eemployees aare llike ffamily tto uus. WWe aare ppayingthem iin ffull. NNone oof oour eemployees hhave bbeenremoved ffrom ttheir jjobs. IIf tthere aare aany ppay ccuts,care wwill bbe ttaken tto ppay tthe rremaining llater.

SUNIL NNARANG

I ddid gget tto kknow tthrough ssome oof mmy ffriends iinHyderabad tthat tthe sstaff oof mmost ttheatres aaren’t

gettting ppaid oor hhave bbeen rremoved ffrom ttheir jjobswithout aany iintimation.

KRANTHI KKUMAR

ren’t your earli-est memoriesconnected tothose animatedseries youwatched as a

kid? If nostalgia’s hittingyou amid the lockdown,Disney+ Hotstar is here toyour rescue.

The OTT platform pre-sents to you its new ani-mated originals titledMira-Royal Detective,voiced by South-Asiansuperstars like FreidaPinto, Kal Penn, JameelaJamil, etc.

A mystery adventure,Mira is soon going to bethe newfound favourite ofkids. The story revolvesaround the life of a bravegirl of the samename, who isappointed a detec-tive by the royalqueen. Togetherwith her friendPrince Neel — a tal-ented inventor, Priya— her creativecousin, and comicalmongoose sidekicks— Mikku andChikku, she sets outon a mystery adven-ture.

Dubbing need notrequire makeup orbody language toexpress oneself,voice is the onlymedium to reach theaudience and that’s

how Slumdog Millionairefame Freida Pinto wasroped in for the voice ofthe Queen. “I think QueenShanti and I have this onething in common — weboth like to lead, andwhile I was voicing thecharacter of Queen Shanti,I think I did embodythose leadership qualities.I learnt how to lead withgrace and kindness fromthe Queen,” shares Freida.

Talking about her expe-rience of being a voiceartiste, the actress said, “Itwas a really interestingexperience of being avoice artiste because Idon’t do this so often. Thiswas kind of a no- brainer.I had to do it as soon as

they told me about theshow and the characters.But I feel the exaggerationthat comes with voicingthese characters, whenyou don’t have any visualreference because the ani-mation is happening sideby side while you are voic-ing it.”

This weekend’s newbieMira has mystery, anima-tion and is full of enter-tainment for the kids. Theoriginals will fill you withwonder and wouldn’t letyou control your curiosityabout what’s going to hap-pen next. Kal Penn akaKalpesh Suresh Modi, isalso thrilled to join theoriginals. He says, “I hopethat what kids learn the

most from Mira, RoyalDetective are theseincredible inquisitiveskills, these charactersthat are confident. Imean, Mira is incredi-bly confident and capa-ble and what an incred-ible message that sendsto young girls obvious-ly, but to young boys,who watch the show,Mira will inspire themtoo.”

The series featuresan all-star cast ofprominent South Asianactors includingJameela Jamil, KalPenn, Freida, HannahSimone, UtkarshAmbudkar, AasifMandvi and AparnaNancherla amongstothers.

So fasten your seatbelts to find answersto some unresolvedquestions and themultiple specula-tions aroundthem!

AI learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida Pinto

I learnt to lead with grace from

my character:

Freida PintoBored? Looking for somethinginteresting to beat lockdownblues? Disney+ Hotstar is hereto your rescue. The OTTplatform presents to you its newanimated originals titled Mira-Royal Detective, voiced bySouth-Asian superstars likeFreida Pinto, Kal Penn, JameelaJamil, finds SHIKHA DUGGAL

I tthink QQueen SShanti aand II hhavethis oone tthing iin ccommon —— wweboth llike tto llead, aand wwhile II wwasvoiicing tthe ccharacter oof QQueenShanti, II tthink II ddid eembody tthoseleadership qqualities. II llearnt hhowtoo llead wwith ggrace aand kkindnessfrom tthe QQueen. IIt wwas aa rreallyinteresting eexperience oofbeing aa vvoicce aartiste bbecauseI ddon’t ddo tthis sso ooften. TThiswas kkind oof aa nno- bbrainer. IIfeel tthe eexaggeration tthatcomes wwith vvoicing tthesecharacters, wwhen yyoudon’t hhave aanyvisual rreferencebecause ttheanimatiion iishappening sside bbyside wwhile yyouare vvoicing iit.

FREIDA PPINTO

V actor Manas Shah isgoing through a roughphase financially and hashad to sell off hiscar because hehasn't been

paid for his last showHamari Bahu Silk.

“This is the firsttime that I’m fac-

ing such a chal-lenging situa-

tion. I’m facinga big financialcrisis. I had tosell my car forsurvival. I also had to

leave my rented house andshift with my cousin inLokhandwala,” he said.

Talking about non-payment of dues, hesaid: “I started shootingon May 2, 2019,and

the last shoot was on November 5,2019. We all have been paid only forMay 2019, which was officially due in

September 2019 but we receivedit in October 2019. After that

nobody has received a sin-gle penny.”

“I have my parents tolook after in my home-town Ahmedabad. Mydad is retired afterserving in a bank for

years,” said Manas.With shooting of

shows being put on holddue to the ongoing pandemic,

his problems have even worsened.“It’s a very bad situation, not only

for me but also for all the people whoare working in this entertainmentindustry, because till now we haven’treceived payment of the past, in thepresent there is no work and the

future is unknown,” he said.

MARTIN SCORSESEcaptures lockdown

experience in short filmormer MissWorld andBollywooddebutantManushiChhillar has

joined hands withUnicef to promotemenstrual hygiene

as she says there still issilence and misinfor-mation.

On World MenstrualHygiene Day onThursday, Manushi willbe promoting the needto educate girls with all

information on main-taining hygiene,constructing ade-quate sanitation

facilities and provid-ing quick access to fem-inine hygiene products.

“Menstruation is stilla taboo and we willhave to work hardtowards ensuring thatevery girl, every woman

in every corner ofour

country is safe,” saidManushi, who has partici-pated in the UNICEF glob-al initiative called the RedDot Challenge — a symboladopted by the world bodyto depict menstrual cycle.

Manushi, who also runsher own initiative on men-strual hygiene calledProject Shakti, said thatevery girl has the right toaccurate information abouther body.

“Every young girl hasthe right to accurate infor-mation about her body.Without the right informa-tion, girls often don’t knowhow to safely manage theirperiod. There still is silenceand misinformation. Wehave come a long way buta lot still needs to be done.We all need to contributetowards raising awarenesson this. I'm proud andhonoured to be associatedwith UNICEF for thisnovel initiativethat aims

at debunking misinfor-mation, taboos and alsoraise awareness on thiscritical issue.”

Manushi is all set tomake her Bollywooddebut opposite superstarAkshay Kumar in theupcoming film "Prithviraj".

Directed byChandraprakash Dwivedi,Prithviraj is based on thelife of king PrithvirajChauhan. It stars Akshayas Prithviraj, whileManushi will playthe role of theSanyogita, thelove of hislife.

10

Hyderabad Friday May 29 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

MANUSHICHHILLAR TOPROMOTEMENSTRUAL HYGIENE

F ollywood maestroMartin Scorsese hasmade a short filmreflecting upon hislockdown experi-ence in New York.

“What I look forward to inthe future is carrying with mewhat I have been forced tolearn in these circumstances,”

Scorsese said.“It is essential. The

people you love.Being able to

take care ofthem and be

with themas much asyou can,”he added.

The 77-year-olddirectorhas made

the self-shot short

film for theBBC series

Lockdown Culture

With Mary Beard, reports vari-ety.com.

Through the series, Beardexamines the links betweenrisk, culture and creativity.

“Martin Scorsese makes awonderful end to the series.We see him at home, thinkingabout lockdown through thelens of classic movies, likeHitchcock’s The Wrong Man,”Beard said.

“But what’s really clever isthat this great Hollywoodluminary also gets us to lookat Hitchcock again afreshthrough the lens of our currentpredicament. I was absolutelyover the moon when he agreedto do it for us. It feels a bit likehosting a little premiere. Andit all contributes to a prettyamazing finale,” she added.

The series will also featuredirector Lee Daniels, who willexplain why the lockdown inHollywood could be a radicalcreative opportunity for film-makers.

H

ollywood actor VidyutJammwal has started an

initiative to supportideas from different

parts of India.Vidyut has been

helping and motivating fans tostay physically and mentally fit

since the beginning of the lock-down in March, and now he

wants to help people stay finan-cially fit too.

Talking about the initiative,Vidyut said, “I am what I am today

because of the love and support Ihave received over the years.

GoodwillforGood is an initiativethat is very close to my heart and

it is my way of giving it back tosociety. I have come across many

ideas that have the power to makea difference but what they lack is a

platform to showcase it. Throughthis initiative, I will promote these

brilliant minds and their uncon-ventional proposals.”

The fitness enthusiast is bestknown for starring in the

Commando franchise.Vidyut will next be seen in the

movie Khuda Haafiz.

BT

VIDYUT JAMMWAL STARTSINITIATIVE TO EMPOWERENTREPRENEURS

TV actor Manas Shah infinancial crisis, sells car

ooja Hedge is thelatest tinsel towncelebrity to havefallen victim toone of socialmedia’s biggest

issues: hacking. Taking toTwitter, the actress onWednesday night informedto her followers that herInstagram account has beencompromised. “Hi guys, soI’ve been informed by myteam that my insta accounthas been hacked and mydigital team is helping mewith it. Please do not acceptany invitations or pass outany personal informationout to the person asking.Thank you. (Sic),” shetweeted.

She later clarified theproblem has been attendedto by her digital team andthe account has beenretrieved. “Spent the lasthour stressing about thesafety of my Instagramaccount. Thanking my tech-nical team for instant helpat this hour. Finally, gotmy hands back on myInstagram Any mes-sage, follow back orpost in d pasthour from myaccount hasbeen done will

be undone. Ty. (Sic),” sheadded.

The hacker had control ofPooja’s account for morethan an hour, using it topost memes abouther colleagues inthe industry. Onesuch meme was ascreen grab of ascene fromSamantha-star-rer Majili. “Idon’t find herpretty at all,” thehacker wrote,commentingon the meme.

On thework front,the actresshas filmswithPrabhasand

Akhil lined-up to shoot forthe remainder of the year.She has recently agreed to

star in HanuRaghavapudi’s

next withDulquer

Salmaan aswell.

11

Hyderabad Friday May 29 2020tollywood

Balayya furious at his exclusionfrom industry meetings

andamuri Balakrishnaexpressed confidencethat production houseswill adhere to guide-lines like social dis-tancing and operatingwith limited crew once

the government gives the filmindustry authorization to resumefilm shootings. “Unlike say an ITsector whose offices have cubicleswhere social distance can be easilyachieved with the employees, filmindustry doesn’t operate that way,right? It will take time for theindustry to get back on its feet butit surely will. I’ve come to knowthrough news reports that indus-try is talking to the governmenton returning back to normalcy. Iwas told that shootings willresume from June second or thirdweek. A government order to thisend is awaited,” the actor saidwhen asked about the help gov-ernment is extending to the indus-try in this hour of crisis. He wasspeaking to media after offering afloral tribute to his father NTR onhis 97th birth anniversary at NTR

ghat on Thursday.The actor seemed unhappy with

the proposal that preferencewould be given to films that wereclose to completion followed byfilms that are 75 per cent and soon. “When a couple of industryaides sought my opinion on it, I’vetold them clearly to give everyfilm the consent to get back onsets, for the simple reason that noteveryone shoots at the sameplace,” the actor, who will be seenin Boyapati Sreenu’s next, anaction-entertainer, noted.

Later in the noon atBasavatarakam Cancer Hospital, ofwhich is the chairman, when areporter from a Telugu news chan-nel quizzed about his absence fromindustry’s recent meetings withTalasani Srinivas Yadav, a visiblyupset Balayya said, “Nobody hasinvited me to the meetings. Theyare doing real estate business sittingwith Srinivas Yadav. I need not fearanyone because it’s the truth.”

Telugu Film Producers CouncilPresident C Kalyan though choseto play down the raging contro-

versy. “The meetings so far con-ducted were not related to actingfraternity. Chiranjeevi garu leadthem because he wanted his filmto be back on sets like the wholeof industry. Nobody would’vestopped Balayya if he wanted toattend the meetings. In the past,when the TDP government was inpower, we asked to lead him to getsome things done for the industry.The question of differences ordivide doesn’t arise in the industry.He has not been insulted. Firstand foremost, as someone whohas produced films with him, Iwill not tolerate him being insult-ed,” he stated.

Reacting to Balayya’s comments,Talasani said that the whole ofindustry was not invited to themeetings. “Only active membersfrom varied crafts of filmmaking,exhibition sector and bodies likeTelugu Film Chamber andTelangana Film Chamber wereextended invitations. I’m open todiscussing with the whole ofindustry if it initiates action,” theminister said.

till early daysin his career,Sree HarshaKonuganti,director of thesuccessful

Hushaaru, isn’t relaxing abit after the lockdownenforced his secondfilm’s shoot to come to ahalt. He has used thetime thus far to binge-watch shows like Darkand Narcos besidesdevoting time to writing.“I’m writing a commer-cial entertainer. I have aslight mass streak in meand I’m putting it togood use with the writ-ing. The film will not bean out-and-out commer-cial entertainer though.It will be sensible yetwoo masses,” Harsha tellsus.

That’s not it. He hasalso completed penning alove story. “It’s a concept-driven feel-good lovestory. I’ve had the ideasince a long time and I’vecompleted writing itrecently. It’s a characteri-zation-based drama and

will be a whiff of freshair for the audience,” hepromises, adding that hehas been approached tohelm web series as well.“I would love to do aseries but I need to firstwrap up my next feature.If I were to do a series,I’d like exploring mysteryand investigativethrillers. Mystery thriller,especially, is my favouritegenre.”

Harsha is introducingleading producer DilRaju's nephew AshishReddy in his still-unti-tled next, a feel-goodyoung entertainer, butadmits to be under nopressure to make itcount.

“I’m not thinking onthose lines because I'vealready worked withnewcomers in my debutfilm. Otherwise as well, Igenerally don’t take pres-sure. I believe the film'scontent will do the trickfor us,” he notes, addingthat it is set on a big can-vas and boasts of bigaction sequences as well.

‘I have a slightmass streak in

me and I’mputting it to

good use withthe writing. Thefilm will not bean out-and-out

commercialentertainer

though. It willbe sensible yet

woo masses,’Harsha tellsNAGARAJ

GOUD

SP

N

Pooja's Instagramaccount hacked

ctress Seerat Kapoorsays she struggled withsleep problems a lotduring the initial days ofcoronavirus lockdown.

“Initially, my sleepcycles were the first to be severelyhit, perhaps due to the subcon-scious concern and chatter. A voicein my mind has been playing onloop, off late. It echos, ‘How can Ilearn ways to be more compas-

sionate than I am already?’,” Seeratshared.

Gradually, she managed to over-come her sleep problems as shereassessed her priorities.

“In addition, the lockdown hasmade me reassess my prioritiesand has shed light on the impor-tance of leading a more simplisticway of life. My deepest empathylies with the fright settled in thehearts of our people. I hope and

pray for this catastrophe to pass usall soon. Until then, we will with-stand the pandemic and fight thetest of covid-19 together,” sheadded.

Seerat is right now awaiting therelease of Krishna And His Leelaand Maa Vintha Gaadha Vinura, inwhich she shared screen spacewith Siddu Jonnalagadda. Both thefilms will be dropping on OTTplatforms shortly.

A THE LOCKDOWN HASMADE ME REASSESSMY PRIORITIES ANDHAS SHED LIGHT ON THEIMPORTANCE OF LEADINGA MORE SIMPLISTIC WAYOF LIFE, SAYS SEERAT

Lockdown affected my sleep cycle: Seerat

he Telugu filmindustry paidrich tributes tolegendary actorand former chiefminister of unit-

ed Andhra Pradesh, NTR,on his 97th birth anniver-sary on Thursday. From hisfamily members likeNandamuri Balakrishna, JrNTR and Kalyanram to sev-eral other industry person-alities, social media wasabuzz with their tributes toone of the greatest Indianactors.

K Raghavendra Rao, whoholds the distinction ofdirecting NTR in smash hitslike Adavi Ramudu,Vetagadu, Justice Chowdaryand Major Chandrakanthamong others, mentionedthat his career’s biggestachievement was to directthe actor. “My cinematicjourney has had numeroushighs! But the biggest hon-our, even greater than acco-lades and awards is surelyhaving had the opportunityto work with the legendaryNTR garu. I will forevercherish this andconsider it mybiggest achieve-ment,” the direc-tor posted onTwitter

MegastarChiranjeevi-while postinga picture ofhim with hissenior-

wrote, “You are Telugu com-munity’s pride and self-respect. You will never ceaseto exist from the hearts ofTelugu people. I considermyself lucky to have actedalongside you.”

Filmmaker Sreenu Vaitlaposted, “Agagu..Acharyadeva..emantivi emantivi ..Felt your presence throughyour dialogues in Ready,Dookudu and Baadshah.Your legacy will continueforever.”

Vishnuvardhan Induri,who produced NTR biopicalong with Balakrishna andSai Korrapati, noted thatNTR was the only actor whoimpressed people with Ramand Ravana, Krishna and

Duryoadhana equally.“It is no exagger-

ation to saythat he is

god tomost oftheTelugus

irrespec-tive of polit-

ical affilia-tions,” hestated.

T SOCIAL MEDIA WASABUZZ WITH THEIRTRIBUTES TO ONE OFTHE GREATESTINDIAN ACTORS

HUSHAARU directorwants to go commercial

Rich tributespaid to NTR

spectators, then probably have3 or 4 venues; there’s still a pos-sibility, we are all optimistic,”said the former spinner, who isalso the chair-man of ICC’sC r i c k e tCommittee.

sport 12HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2020

PTI n MELBOURNE

Ending weeks of speculation,Cricket Australia on Thursdayconfirmed that India will make

the trip Down Under starting Octoberthis year for a financially criticalassignment comprising four Tests,ODIs as well as T20 Internationals.

Cricket Australia announced themuch-anticipated resumption of thegame after the Covid-19 pandemicwith a six-month home summerschedule, which will begin with a tourby Zimbabwe for a three-match ODIseries from August 9.

India will tour the country for aT20 series, which will begin onOctober 11 at Brisbane followed bymatches on October 14 (Canberra)and October 17 (Adelaide), the CAposted on its official website.

This is to be followed by the T20World Cup, the likelihood of whichgoing ahead is slim owing to the pan-demic. The CA did not even mentionthe event in its official scheduleunveiled on Thursday.

After the T20s, Virat Kohli’s menwill return for a four-Test series,beginning on December 3 atBrisbane. India are then scheduled toplay a Day/Night Test, as committedby BCCI President Sourav Ganguly,from December 11 to 15 in Adelaide.

The third and fourth Tests will beheld in Melbourne (December 26-30)and Sydney (January 3 to 7).

The ODI series is scheduled tobegin with a match on January 12 inPerth and it will be followed by con-tests on January 15 (Melbourne) and

January 17 (Sydney).“We are working closely with the

BCCI to deliver the eagerly anticipat-ed men’s and women’s tours, and weare looking forward to staging theimportant series against both themen’s and women’s New Zealandsides,” Kevin Roberts, CricketAustralia CEO, said in a statement.

The India women’s team willalso travel to Australia for an ODIseries with matches scheduled inCanberra (January 22), St Kilda(January 25) and Hobart (January 17).

Roberts hinted that if circum-stances dictate, there could be changes

in the schedule which also featuresseries against New Zealand (both menand women), West Indies and a one-off Test against Afghanistan(November 21-25).

“...But we’ll be doing everythingwe can to get as much internationalcricket in as possible this summer. Wewill communicate any changes to theschedule if or when they are required,”he added.

Cricket Australia also said that itwill continue to act in accordancewith public health advice andGovernment protocols to ensure thesafety of the public, players and sup-

port staff.“Australian cricket will survive

and thrive after the coronavirus pan-demic dissipates, just as we have afterworld wars, depressions, recessionsand the many other challenges thathave confronted us over the past 140-plus years,” he added.

AUS SSCHEDULE AAGAINST IINDIAMen’s T20I SeriesFirst T20: October 11, the Gabba,BrisbaneSecond T20: October 14, Manuka

Oval, CanberraThird T20: October 17, AdelaideOvalMen’s Test SeriesFirst Test: December 3-7, the Gabba,BrisbaneSecond Test: December 11-15,Adelaide Oval (day-night)Third Test: December 26-30, MCGFourth Test: January 3-7, SCGMen’s ODI SeriesFirst ODI: January 12, Perth StadiumSecond ODI: January 15, MCGThird ODI: January 17, SCG.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The much-delayed 36thNational Games, scheduled

for October-November in Goa,was on Thursday postponedindefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) recentlyasked the Goa Government tohost the National Games asscheduled from October 20 toNovember 4 this year.

However, a spurt in thenumber of novel coronaviruscases has led to a postpone-ment.

“The National Gamesorganising committee hasdecided to postpone NationalGames due to Covid-19 pan-demic,” Goa’s deputy ChiefMinister Manohar (Babu)

Ajgaonkar, who also holds thesports portfolio, was quoted assaying in a statement shared byIOA President Narinder Batra.

“... Committee to holdmeeting in September end anddecide on fixing dates forNational Games. (Goa)Government to take advicefrom Union Sports Ministry,need four months advancenotice to organise games,”Ajgaonkar’s statement added.

The previous edition of theGames was held back in 2015in Kerala.

The upcoming Games, fac-ing uncertainty for long, wasoriginally scheduled forNovember 2018 but was post-poned to April 2019. However,due to the general election, theGovernment of Goa orderedanother cancellation.

With the Games infrastruc-ture nearing completion, thepostponement is set to bring inbig losses to the stateGovernment.

Last month, it had soughtclarification from the IndianOlympic Association over thefate of the Games in the wakeof the pandemic.

And there was hope for theGames to go ahead as sched-uled as the state was marked inthe green zone for quite awhile.

But a sudden spurt hasproved to be decisive.

Goa has so far reported 68confirmed cases for the novelcoronavirus.

There were concerns aboutathletes coming here from otherstates, including the ones badlyaffected by the pandemic.

PTI n LONDON

England’s white-ball captainEoin Morgan has cast

doubts on the T20 World Cupgoing ahead as per schedule,saying that hosts Australiawould be wary of risking a sec-ond wave of coronavirus out-break in the country.

Australia, who are sched-uled to host the T20 World Cupfrom October 18 to November15, has been largely successfulin containing the contagion bysealing their borders andimposing travel restrictions.“I’d be surprised if it goesahead,” Morgan wasquoted as saying by thePress Association.

“My reasons for thatwould be if you lookat how Australiahas handled thep a n d e m i c ,they’ve shutdown the bor-ders prettyearly, had a lim-ited number ofcases and deathsin comparison tothe rest of theworld,” he added.

Morgan said

going ahead, Australia, whichhas reported just over 7,100positive cases with more than6500 recoveries and 103 deaths,would be weighing theiroptions.

“Their biggest worry mov-ing forward — a small negativeto a huge positive — would bethey almost don’t know whatthe immunity would be like ifthe virus does have an out-break,” he added.

Morgan said that havingteams flying in from across theworld will come with the pos-sibility of a second Covid-19

outbreak in the country.“Having 16 teams

across several venues hasthe potential to expose

something,” Morgan said“It might only be

a handful of casesto be spread, butwhen you look athow quickly itescalates, youweigh up thechance of play-ing a World Cupor postponing it,(which is) prob-ably a biggerpositive,” headded.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former India captain and Kings XI Punjabhead coach Anil Kumble is hopeful of the IPL

happening this year and is not averse to the ideaof conducting the cash-rich event withoutspectators due to the Covid-19 threat.

“Yes we are hopeful and optimistic that thereis still a possibility (to hold IPL this year) if wecan cram in the schedule,” Kumble said on StarSports show Cricket Connected.

“If we are going to have a stadium without

AFP n LONDON

The Premier League seasonis set to restart on June 17,

three months after it was sus-pended due to the coronaviruspandemic, British mediareported on Thursday.

No matches have beenplayed since Leicester’s 4-0 winover Aston Villa on March 9,with Liverpool just two winsaway from securing the title.

Top-flight clubs votedunanimously on Wednesday toreturn to contact training andwere meeting again onThursday to discuss issues suchas the restart date and therebate to broadcasters.

The BBC reported that thefirst two matches would beAston Villa vs Sheffield Unitedand Manchester City vsArsenal. Those matches are thetwo games in hand.

A full fixture list wouldthen be played on the weekendof June 19-21.

NEW DELHI: The InternationalCricket Council (ICC) Board onThursday deferred a decision onthe fate of this year’s T20 WorldCup in Australia till June 10 asit continued exploring contin-gency plans amid a raging pan-demic.

The ICC also launched aninquiry into concerns over the“confidentiality” of its function-ing, which the Board felt hasbeen breached in the past fewdays.

“The Board also requestedthe ICC management continuewith their discussions withstakeholders in exploring vari-ous contingency options in lightof the rapidly changing publichealth situation caused by theCovid-19 virus,” the ICC said ina statement after the Board’s tele-conference.

It is learnt that most of thediscussion on the day was per-taining to classified information,including internal e-mails, beingleaked, an issue that outgoingchairman Shashank Manohar aswell as board membersaddressed.

“A number of Board mem-bers had raised their concernsover this issue recently and feltit required immediate attentionto ensure the sanctity and con-fidentiality of Board matters inline with the highest standardsof governance,” the ICC releasestated.

In fact, the ICC’s EthicsOfficer will be probing themedia leaks.

“There was unanimous

agreement to immediately initi-ate an independent investigationled by the ICC’s Ethics Officerand supported by global experts.The Board will be updated onthis by the ICC CEO at its nextmeeting on 10 June 2020,” it fur-ther stated.

It is understood that ICCboard discussed all options withregards to the World Cup butthere was no unanimity onwhether to go ahead with theWorld T20 as per schedule orpostpone it to 2021 or possibly2022, which for many is a prac-tical solution.

With Cricket Australiaannouncing their itinerary onthe day, which included T20matches in October, there arequestions as to why the WorldT20 cannot go ahead in such ascenario.

“If you look at theAustralian itinerary, India’s T20games are scheduled in mid-October before the start ofWorld T20. If you can play T20games in mid-October, why is itnot safe to play World T20,” asource told PTI.

But having a World T20 isnot only a health concern butalso about commercial viability.

If BCCI is unable to organ-ise the IPL in this window, itstands to lose `4000 crore,which certainly would be a bigblow.

Also Star, which is broadcastpartner of both the ICC andBCCI, will also need to be takeninto confidence with regards torejigging of the calender. PNS

MS Dhoni's wife Sakshi has once again rubbished the rumours of the formerIndian skipper’s retirement from International cricket. On Wednesday, certain userson Twitter started to spread rumours of Dhoni's retirement with hashtag#DhoniRetires. Sakshi took note of thetrend and lashed out at those spreadingthese rumours. However, just a few minutes after posting the tweet, she deleted it.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The use of saliva toshine the ball is a “dif-

ficult habit” to get over butIndia’s bowling coachBharath Arun says hewon’t mind an “externalsubstance” at its expense ifit is used across teams.

In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, ICC CricketCommittee has decided toban the use of saliva as apart of health safety pro-tocol.

A lot of premier play-

ers and coaches now feelthat the use of externalsubstances should be

allowed to shine the ball inorder to maintain a bal-ance between the bat andball.

“As far as use of exter-nal substance is con-cerned, as long as it issame and uniform for allthe teams, why not try it,”Arun said.

“Use of saliva will bea very difficult habit to getover but we will make aconscious effort duringour training and practicesessions to get rid of thishabit,” he added.

LONDON: LegendaryEngland all-rounder IanBotham has said hewould have loved toplay against Indiancaptain Virat Kohli,saying he is theright guy to lead theIndian cricket team.

Speaking in anonline chat sessionwith Playwrite Foundation, Botham was quot-ed as saying by The Times of India: “Virat takesthe game to the opposition, he takes a stand forhis players. I would have loved to play againsthim. He is the right guy to take Indian cricketforward.”

Asked about all-rounders in modern daycricket, he said: “All-rounders can’t be manufac-tured, they don’t grow on trees. The workloadis double and it obviously takes a toll on yourbody. Just imagine Kapil… the amount ofbowling he did on those Indian pitches, whichhad very little to offer, that too in the scorchingheat of Chennai and Delhi. I can’t see anyone inthe present generation being able to do that,”Botham said.

Botham also rated Ben Stokes higher thanAndrew Flintoff, saying the 2019 World Cup andAshes hero is like him.

“Ben (Stokes) is better than a mile toFreddy (Flintoff). Ben Stokes is the closest ver-sion of me, he plays like me with his heart onhis sleeve. Flintoff was good but Stokes is justexceptional. He is the best cricketer in the worldnow.” IANS

PTI n LAHORE

Pakistan fielding coach GrantBradburn and spin great

Saqlain Mushtaq were onThursday appointed as PCB’sHead of High PerformanceCoaching and Head ofInternational PlayerDevelopment, respectively, aspart of a restructuring of its pre-mier training facility.

Bradburn is presently thefielding coach of the Pakistan’smen’s national team, a role hetook in September 2018 follow-ing a successful coaching stint

with the Scotland national team.He will be responsible for

raising the overall standard ofplayer support personnel acrossall the high performance centresof the country.

Saqlain played interna-tional cricket between 1995and 2004 and will be respon-sible for identifying,developing andpreparing players sothat they can go onto become world-class cricketers.

S a q l a i n ,known for intro-

ducing the Doosra, in his firstfull year (1996) with the Pakistanteam established a record for themost ODI wickets in a calendaryear (65).

He then did even better thefollowing year, setting a mark(69) that still stands.

Saqlain has previouslyworked as a spin bowling

coach with Bangladesh,West Indies and England,apart from serving as a

consultant for PCB,Cricket Australia and

New Zealand Cricket.“It is an honour and

a privilege to representPakistan...I am delighted to havebeen offered this exciting oppor-tunity to work on skilful andexciting young cricketers andhelp them grow in their careers.

“I am confident I will beable to translate all my knowl-edge and experience in theHigh Performance Centre andhelp the PCB raise the bar andset new benchmarks,” saidSaqlain.

The PCB will announceBradburn’s replacement in thenational team in due course.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Table Tennis Federationof India (TTFI) will make a

fresh attempt to organise atraining camp at the end of Junebut top players includingSharath Kamal and G Sathiyanare not ready to travel anytimesoon as the situation remains“unsafe”.

After the Governmentallowed sports complexes toopen without spectators earlierthis month, the TTFI had writ-ten to the players to assemble fora camp in the first week of June.

However, none of the topplayers was keen to travel andtheir response will be on simi-lar lines when they receive thefederation’s letter for the secondtime.

“We should be looking at

July if at all. It is still too earlyto travel and things are not set-tling down. The cases continueto rise. Let there be some stabil-ity, until then we can keeptraining the way we have beenat home,” India’s highest-ranked

player at 31, Sharath said.World number 32 G

Sathiyan, who is based inChennai like Sharath, is happytraining in his home city underpersonal coach S Raman.

Asked the need for a train-ing camp at this juncture, TTFIsecretary general M P Singh saidthey are only acting onGovernment’s direction andchecking players’ availabilityfor June end.

“If the players think it isunsafe for June end also, it istheir choice and we respectthat. But we are only acting asper Government’s direction,”Singh said.

The plan is to have 16 play-ers (8 men and 8 women) train-ing under one roof and thevenue options are Delhi,Sonepat and Patiala.

LEIPZIG: Julian Nagelsmanslammed 10-man RB Leipzig fordefending like “a school team” inWednesday’s 2-2 draw at hometo Hertha Berlin behind closeddoors which cost them thechance to go second in theBundesliga.

Hertha forward KrzysztofPiatek equalised with a latepenalty to seal the draw and savethe blushes of goalkeeper RuneJarstein who had made a blun-der for Leipzig’s second goal.

However, Nagelsmann wasfurious that Leipzig conceded aweak goal from a corner withonly nine minutes gone whenHertha midfielder MarkoGrujic, on loan from Liverpool,fired home unmarked.

“We started well, but fellbehind because we defend a setpiece like a school team,” fumedNagelsmann.

“We simply did nothing,everyone is standing in position,yet he (Grujic) could finishwith his foot, in the box.

“This is the second time ina row in a home game that weconceded from a set piece,”said Nagelsmann whose teamdrew 1-1 against Freiburg intheir last home game.

“We have to blame ourselvesfor this. We’re happy that wescored another point, but I’m nothappy at all.”

The result leaves Leipzigthird in the table, two pointsbehind Dortmund. AFP

AFP n LONDON

Roland Garros chiefs insist-ed on Wednesday the

French Open, delayed untilSeptember due to the coron-avirus pandemic, will have fansattending even if they still haveto abide by social distancingrules.

“In the autumn, we willplay Roland Garros with anoptimum spectator capacitywhich allows fans to respectsocial distancing,” Jean-Francois Vilotte, the director-general of the French TennisFederation (FFT), told AFP.

“The aim is that there willbe spectators but we will havethe capacity to organise RolandGarros whatever the optiondecided, including behindclosed doors.”

If fans are to be welcome at

the rescheduled tournament,then tickets would have to goon resale.

“We have set ourselves adeadline (for resale) ... but youwill not know it,” added Vilotte.

“It will be an exceptionaltournament anyway," he said,adding the organisation wasworking on holding a “post-poned tournament” and not a“downgraded” version.

In other words, juniors,singles, doubles and wheel-chair tennis events will still bestaged.

ICC defers decision on WT20postponement till June 10 Dates set for series Down Under

WACA chief lashes out at CA for India series snub

Virat & Co will travel Australia for T20, Test & ODI series in the last quarter of 2020 with Adelaide to host D/N Test

PTI nMELBOURNE

Western Australia CricketAssociation (WACA) chief

Christina Matthews has lashed out atCricket Australia for choosingBrisbane over Perth as one of thevenues for the high-profile Test seriesagainst India in the summer.

Matthews said the newly builtOptus Stadium is better than theGabba in every way. Instead, Perth willbe hosting the low profile one-off Testagainst Afghanistan in November.

“All the metrics associated withcricket over the last two years see ussurpass Brisbane in every area,whether that’s crowds, broadcast rat-ings, even better rainfall at that timeof year, more corporate seats — justso many indicators — and a brandnew stadium,” Matthews was quotedas saying by Fox Sports on Thursday.

“When Australian cricket’s prima-ry objective is fans first, it is astound-ing that the 10,000 members who paymoney to support cricket year afteryear in this state are not afforded thenumber one Test team to tour thisyear.

“The last time (India tour of2014), we were told it was because ourvenue wasn’t good enough and if wesupported a new stadium, this wouldnever happen again. And here we areagain,” Matthews said referring to theold WACA stadium.

India played in Perth when theytoured last year (December 2018) withAustralia winning the second Test by146 runs to level the series.

The reinstatement of the Gabbacomes after support from none otherthan Australia captain Tim Paine.Australia have not lost there in morethan 30 years.

PL to restart on June 17

Bharat bats for use of externalsubstance to shine ball

Virat right guy to take Indiancricket forward: Botham

Morgan casts doubtson T20 World Cup

Leipzig drop more points

Kumble optimisticof IPL this year

Bradburn, Saqlain get high performance roles in PCB

National Games postponed indefinitely Roland Garros planning for fans Top players say no to TTFI training camp