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RECORD COVID-19 TESTS DONE BY US, RUSSIA'S ATTEMPTS TO STEAL VACCINE ROSHNI NADAR, INDIA'S WEALTHIEST US SHATTERS CORONAVIRUS RECORD 2ND HIGHEST BY INDIA: WHITE HOUSE DATA ‘UNACCEPTABLE’: UK MINISTER WOMAN, NEW CHIEF OF HCL TECH WITH OVER 77,000 CASES IN A DAY fter the US, which has carried out a record 42 million COVID-19 tests, ttempts by Russian-backed hackers to steal COVID-19 vaccine oshni Nadar Malhotra, India's wealthiest woman, is now the he United States shattered its daily record for coronavirus infections AIndia has done the second largest number of 12 million coronavirus Aresearch from Britain are "completely unacceptable" but have not done Rchairperson of HCL Technologies, the Noida-based IT company said Ton Thursday, reporting more than 77,000 new cases as the number tests, the White House has said. More than 3.5 million any damage, security minister James Brokenshire said on Friday. Britain's on Friday. The 38-year-old succeeds her father, Shiv of deaths in a 24-hour period rose by nearly 1,000, according to a people have tested positive with the coronavirus and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said on Thursday that hackers Nadar. The appointment of non-executive director Reuters tally. The loss of 969 lives was the biggest increase since June 138,000 died in the US. Globally, more than 13.6 million backed by the Russian state had tried to steal COVID-19 Roshni Nadar Malhotra to the new role takes effect 10, with Florida, South Carolina and Texas all reporting their biggest have tested positive and over 586,000 have died. "With vaccine and treatment research from academic and immediately, the company said in a regulatory filing. one-day spikes on Thursday. More than 138,000 regard to (the coronavirus) testing, we've done more pharmaceutical institutions around the world. Russia has Shiv Nadar will continue to be HCL Tech's managing Americans have died from COVID-19, a toll than 42 million tests. The second-highest number is rejected London's allegations. "It's completely unacceptable director, with the designation as the chief strategy that experts warn will likely surge 12 million from India. We're leading the world for the Russian intelligence agencies to seek to get into the officer. Born and raised in New Delhi, Roshni studied following recent record spikes in case in testing," White House Press Secretary systems of those who are seeking to respond to this crisis ... in Vasant Valley School, and graduated from the numbers and an alarming rise in Kayleigh McEnany told reporters. to develop a vaccine," Brokenshire told Sky News. Northwestern University in Illinois, USA. hospitalizations in many states. Meet Guv, take charge as Covid-19 kills 534 people in the State since its outbreak SEC: HC to Ramesh Kumar Cases double in 11 days, deaths in nine days PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM The YSRCP govt had It had said that there are ̈ on April 10 abruptly some constitutional issues PNS n VIJAYAWADA State and eight from other Expressing displeasure over involved, which require hear- states, besides two foreign the approach of the AP govern- removed Ramesh ing. The top court had said it The Coronavirus has snuffed returnees tested positive, tak- TV journalist dies ment to its previous order, the Kumar from the was not satisfied that the out the lives of 534 people in ing the cumulative total of Andhra High Court on Friday post by motives of the state govern- Andhra Pradesh, with 42 of 2,602 cases on Friday. of Covid in AP asked Nimmagadda Ramesh ment were entirely innocent. these succumbing to the virus Anantapur district reported PNS n TIRUPATI Covid-19 is Kumar to approach the State promulgating the On May 29, the High Court in the past 24 hours alone. six Covid-19 deaths while five a wicked Governor seeking his restora- ordinance, had struck down the Covid-19 cases in the state deaths each were reported A 43-year old television journal- tion as State Election amending the AP Ordinance promulgated on also breached 40,000 mark from Chittoor, East Godavari ist succumbed to coronavirus at problem Commissioner (SEC). April 10 by the YS Jaganmohan and shot up to 40,646 with and Prakasam districts. a Covid Care facility The High Court heard the Panchayat Raj Act, Reddy government, curtailing 2,602 more people being Four deaths each here on Friday, a hospital case and asked the AP 1994 the tenure of the SEC from five infected with the virus in the were reported official said. Government to file counter- to three years. past 24 hours. from Guntur He had tested positive for 2 affidavit asking why its order Reacting to Friday’s develop- an ordinance promulgated by It also quashed a The State's Covid-19 tally and West the virus on June 12 and was was not implemented yet and ment, counsel for Ramesh the Andhra Pradesh govern- Government Order appointing jumped to 40,000 from 30,000 subsequently admitted to a explain its position. Kumar said that the High ment curtailing the tenure of retired judge V Kanagaraj as in just five days, the cases dou- Covid designated hospital in The Governor can appoint Court verdict should be imple- the state poll panel chief from the new chief and restored bling in 11 days while the Kadapa, the official said. the State Election Commiss- mented at any cost. five years to three. retired bureaucrat Ramesh number of casualties Godavari The journalist, working for a ioner as per the court verdict, The Supreme Court has list- It had issued notices and Kumar as chief of the state poll doubled in districts leading Telugu TV channel, the High Court observed. ed a petition for hearing that sought response from the State panel. just nine days while three was shifted to the Covid Care Counsel for Ramesh Kumar sought constitution of an inter- Election Commission and Justice V Kanagaraj, a retired in the state. deaths each were facility here on July 14 after a told the court that the State im committee in the absence of Ramesh Kumar, who was judge of the Madras High A total reported from Kadapa video in which he alleged he was Government failed to obtain a the SEC to continue the elec- restored as state poll panel Court, had assumed charge as of 20,245 and Vizag districts. not happy with the treatment at stay in the case from the tion process for panchayat raj chief. the SEC on April 11, replacing samples Kurnool, Nellore and the hospital in Kadapa went Supreme Court, which took up elections in the state. The apex The top court had agreed to Ramesh Kumar. were tested Vizianagaram districts viral on social media.The man, the case for hearing thrice. court had on July 8 scheduled hear the plea of state govern- The High Court had deliv- between reported two deaths hailing from Kadapa, 140 km Since the Supreme Court did the next hearing in two to three ment challenging the decision ered the judgment on a batch Thursday 9 am and each while Krishna dis- from here, died this evening, the not grant a stay in the case, it weeks. of the High Court striking of writ petitions, including the Friday 9 am in which trict registered one death. official said. could be inferred that the High On June 10, the top court down the ordinance and asked one by Ramesh Kumar, chal- 2,592 persons from the 3 3 Court order was very much had refused to stay the order of Kumar and others to file their lenging the Ordinance and valid, the court observed. the High Court striking down response in two weeks. the appointment of a new SEC. DISHA CASE Modi's ‘indiscre- tions' weakened Naidu condemns India, left it Covid patients herded in 108 ‘attack’ on SC panel receives vulnerable: Rahul vehicles s like animals: Naidu Dalit judge PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM 1,365 affidavits PNS n VIJAYAWADA he adjust himself in the vehi- IITs to relax 5 cle. Former Chief Minister and PNS n HYDERABAD TDP national president and For some time, the elderly TDP suprem N Chandrababu admission former Chief Minister N patient argues and tries to took to microblogging web- Over 1,300 affidavits have Chandrababu Naidu on board the vehicle. As there are site Twitter on Friday to con- been received by the three- Friday expressed concern too many patients inside, he demn what he called a member panel formed by the criterion over the 'poor quality' of ser- is forced to stand on the “heinous attack on Dalit Supreme Court to probe the PNS n NEW DELHI vices being rendered by the footboard leaving one door Judge Ramakrishna”. "His circumstances that led to the 108 ambulances in these trou- open, the video shows. only fault was to stand up for alleged encounter of four The Indian Institutes of bled times of Coronavirus The ambulance staff does Dalit families whose assigned people arrested in connection Technology (IIT) have decid- epidemic . not bother to make another lands are being forcibly taken with the rape and murder of ed to relax admission criteri- "Appalled to see the sus- trip. They simply drive the away by land grabbers and a veterinary doctor here. on this year in view of partial pected Covid patients being vehicle ahead with its rear goondas of YSR Congress In response to a notifica- cancellation of class 12 exams herded into a waiting 108 door still open and exposing (sic)”, Naidu tweeted. tion issued in February, the by various boards, Union ambulance like animals lead- Twitter. the patients to risk. Naidu was reacting to an commission's office has While the family HRD Minister Ramesh ing to wider spread. If all the The TDP chief also shared It may be recalled that the allegation by magistrate S received 1,365 affidavits, an members of three Pokhriyal 'Nishank' 108 publicity amounts to this, a video that showed how a suspected patients were com- Ramakrishna from Chittoor official release said on Friday. people who died in announced on Friday. then I'm afraid AP Govt will elderly patient, suspected to plaining about the late arrival who had alleged that he was While the family mem- "Due to the partial cancel- fail its people as numbers be infected, refused to board of 108 ambulances in several physically assaulted by bers of three people who the 'encounter' filed lation of class XII exams by mount. God save Andhra the fully packed ambulance. instances leading to serious YSRCP men. died in the 'encounter' filed their affidavits on several Boards, Joint Tomar asks Pradesh!" Naidu posted on However, the 108 staff insists health risks. their affidavits on March 5, March 5, those of Admission Board (JAB) has 3 those of the police personnel decided to relax the eligibil- farmers to involved in the incident were the police personnel ity criterion for JEE register under received on June 15. involved in the (Advanced) 2020 qualified PMFBY Covid-Positive TTD senior The judicial commission incident were candidates this time. Woman constable headed by former Supreme "Qualified candidates who priest to be shifted to Chennai Court Judge V S Sirpurkar received on June 15. have passed class XII exam- held its first sitting on inations will now be eligible PNS n TIRUPATI one among the 14 archakas February 3. respective affidavits disclos- for admissions irrespective of 8 alleges sexual infected since the shrine was Subsequently, it could not ing facts within their knowl- marks obtained," the minis- A Covid-19 infected senior priest reopened on June 11, the official meet due to the lockdown edge," it said. ter said in a series of tweets. TODAY (Archaka) of Tirumala Tirupati told PTI tonight. announced to contain the The four accused were For admissions to IITs, harassment by CI Devasthanams (TTD) that gov- The priest,who was also suf- spread of COVID-19 across arrested on November 29 apart from qualifying the erns the Lord Venkateswara fering from severe diabetes and the nation. last year two days after they JEE (Advanced), the eligibil- ALMANAC PNS n KURNOOL shrine at Tirumala will be shift- high BP, would be shifted from "As per the directions of allegedly kidnapped the vet- ity was to secure either min- Month & Paksham: ed to Apollo Hospital in Chennai Tirupati Covid care facility to the Commission, a public erinarian, killed her after imum score of 75 per cent Ashadha & Krishna Paksha A woman head constable on for better medication, a temple Chennai tonight or tomorrow, notification was issued on raping and then burnt the marks in class 12 board Panchangam Friday staged a protest in front official said on Friday. Of the he said. As of now the priest's February 5 calling upon all body at Chattanpalli near exams or rank among the top of the district collectorate here, total Covid affected 140 TTD condition was said to be stable, persons acquainted with the here. 20 percentile in their qualify- Tithi : Trayodashi: 12:40 am (Next Day) alleging sexual harassment and staff, the 63-year-old priest was he added. incident to file before it, their ing examinations, he tweeted. Nakshatram: Mrigashirsha: 09:23 pm threat to her life from Atmakur 3 Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start Circle Inspector Gunasekhar any important work) Babu. Rahukalam: 09:08 am – 10:45 am She also alleged that the inspector had promised to SP and was confident of the SP AP renewable energy export policy targets 120 GW Yamagandam: 01:59 pm – 03:36 pm marry her but cheated her, rendering her justice. Varjyam: 05:53 am – 07:30 am after coming to know that she Ever since she lodged a Steps to facilitate solar, wind and solar-wind hybrid energy projects in State announced Gulika: 05:54 am - 07:31 am had separated from her hus- complaint with the SP, the PNS n Good Time: (to start any important work) band. The woman also alleged inspector has been threatening VIJAYAWADA Under the new There would not be any ment. that Gunasekhar Babu showed her, she alleged. Moreover, she policy which obligation on part of the power The New and Renewable Amritakalam: 12:15 pm – 01:55 pm her fake divorce papers after alleged that he was keeping A renewable energy export distribution companies in the Energy Development Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:56 am – 12:48 pm assuring her that he planned to track of her every movement policy for Andhra Pradesh would be in force state to procure electricity pro- Corporation of AP Limited divorce his wife. with the help of his friends. was announced by the State for 5 yrs, the govt duced under the policy, he said. (NREDCAP) would be the VIJAYAWADA However, enquiries made She reiterated that there is a Government on Friday to facil- would lease out Also, banking of energy on nodal agency under the new by her revealed that he has life threat to her and her son itate the setting up of 120 GW hourly, intra-day, daily, week- policy to implement the pro- WEATHER been living with his wife, the from Gunasekhar Babu. solar, wind and solar-wind five lakh acres to ly, monthly or yearly basis and jects. Forecast: Mostly cloudy woman head constable said. It is learnt that a departmen- hybrid energy projects. private developers drawal would not be allowed. "Allocation of renewable Temp: 34/26 Alleging that he had duped tal inquiry is under progress in The policy would also pro- The policy has been brought energy resource potential in Humidity: 69% her on the pretext of marrying the incident. Pending the out- mote the establishment of years, the government would Power generated from the out to tap the huge untapped any area to developers will be Sunrise: 05.51 am her, she claimed that he also come of the inquiry, she staged renewable energy equipment- lease out five lakh acres of land projects would be exported to potential and attract private done on a first-come-first- Sunset: 06.53 pm extorted money from her. a demonstration in front of the manufacturing facilities. to private developers for setting other states, Energy Secretary investments to boost the local serve by NREDCAP through Current Weather Conditions She said that she lodged a Collectorate, creating a sensa- Under the new policy which up renewable energy projects Srikant Nagulapalli said in an economy and generate addi- online applications," Srikant Updated July 17, 2020 5:00 PM complaint against him with the tion in the city. would be in force for five for a period of 30 years. order. tional revenue to the govern- said. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 vijayawada 02

ovid-19 is a wicked Covid-19, ventilators were problem - a term seen as a cure-all for patients. Ccoined by Horst Rittel Later, an Italian doctor, and Melvin Webber in their COVID-19 IS A WICKED PROBLEM Luciano Gattinoni, found that classic article Dilemmas in a Covid-19 patients even with General Theory of Planning. demic is expected to be every attempt counts sub- influenza (1957), and Hong low blood-oxygen levels were Simply put, wicked prob- around for a longer time. A A recent study in Spain has showed stantially: In physics, experi- Kong flu (1968). Even though not having difficulty in lems have several causes, are mix of the two is also used if that only about 5 per cent of the ments can be repeated again they have some commonali- breathing. Moreover, the mor- tough to define and do not the pandemic is ill-defined affected population had developed and again in laboratories with- ties, each of them is “essential- tality rate of patients on ven- have one right answer. Issues and there are a large number antibodies and there was large chance out any negative effects on dis- ly unique”. tilator support was more than connected to the environ- of unknowns. cipline of physics or on soci- In other words, despite sev- 80 per cent. Thus, excessive ment, poverty reduction and Wicked problems have no of collateral damage to other parts of ety. eral similarities between reliance of ventilators in the Covid-control are examples of stopping rule: In arithmetic, the body due to infection With wicked problems, Covid-19 and the earlier vari- early stages of the outbreak wicked problems. one stops when one reaches a every intervention matters. eties of influenza, one cannot was unnecessary. Some of the reasons that solution to an equation (e.g. al formula of a chemical com- In hindsight, this strategy Suppose one is unsure about be sure that some features of Societal problems are make Covid-19 a wicked 2+2=4). In Covid-19, one pound is either correct or would be judged as “bad” the efficacy of putting on Covid-19 do not override its wicked problems, including problem are described below. does not know when to stop false. (not false). masks. During this trail-and- commonalities as compared Covid-19. Wicked problems Definition and action are testing in different areas, how Covid-control operations There is no immediate/ulti- error period, some people to influenzas dealt with in the are messy and complex and linked: One’s definition of long to enforce lockdowns and are assessed on the binary, mate test of a solution: SAMEER SHARMA, IAS would contract Covid-19 and past. neutral, and absolute objective Covid-19 dictates the actions with what intensity, number of good or bad, not true or false. Solutions to wicked problems infect others. During the The practitioner has no solutions are unavailable. In to tackle it. Enforcing stay-at- beds to be made ready, and so Some nations followed the generate waves of conse- experimental period, the dis- right to be wrong: The pur- fact, wicked problem are home orders is the primary on. In the absence of stopping strategy of achieving “herd quences, which may appear in responsible for the coming ease would have spread irre- pose of Covid-19 interven- resolved (not solved) based on action if the aim is to reduce rules, field workers stop or immunity” and did not quick- the long run. apart of serfdom and the feu- versibly and tracking the tions is not to find the truth, a hard-to-find political judge- the number of cases (flatten pause when they run out of ly ramp up testing. One example is the effect of dal system. Similarly, the source of infections would but to save the lives of people. ment. the curve). This option is time, money, or patience, A recent study in Spain has pandemics on the political effects of Covid-19 on societal become undoable. As the actions of people exercised if a vaccine/cure is finally saying “That's good showed that only about 5 per economy. The 14th Century affairs will be hard to know Every wicked problem is involved in Covid-control (Author has a PhD from expected soon. enough,’ or “This is the best I cent of the affected population plague killed a large part of the right away. essentially unique: Pandemics operations touch the lives of USA and a DLitt from The well-known public can do within the limitations”. had developed antibodies and workforce. This led to higher Every solution to a wicked have been around as long as people, they cannot afford to Kanchi University. The arti- health model of testing, track- Solutions are not true-or- there was large chance of col- wages for surviving peasants. problem is a “one-shot oper- human beings. Some of the go wrong. cle is based on his research ing, isolating and quaranti- false, but good-or-bad: lateral damage to other parts In the long run, the plague ation”, because there is no recent most well known are - For example, during the ini- and practice and views are ning is relied on if the pan- Conventionally, the structur- of the body due to infection. was one of the major factors opportunity of trial-and-error, the Spanish flu (1918), Asian tial stages of outbreak of personal) Flipkart signs MoU with V-Cs told to follow Covid-19 APSSDC to support artisans PNS n VIJAYAWADA n The partnership n Both the Government protocols for conducting exams Flipkart, India's homegrown e- under the Flipkart of Andhra Pradesh Commerce marketplace, has Samarth and the Flipkart Group n PNS VIJAYAWADA signed a Memorandum of programme will will focus on creating Understanding (MoU) with enable local avenues to increase Governor Biswa Bushan the Andhra Pradesh State Skill artisans, weavers, Harichandan said Covid-19 Development Corporation business and trade and craftsmen inclusion protocols should be adhered to (APSSDC) to promote the from 13 in conduct of exams for final State's arts, crafts and hand- opportunities for year students as per UGC loom sectors by bringing them districts to these underserved guidelines while addressing into the e-Commerce fold. showcase their segments of the the Vice-Chancellors of State The partnership under the hallmark society, thereby universities through a video Flipkart Samarth programme products to a pan- adding further thrust conference from the Raj will enable local artisans, India customer to Made in India Bhavan here on Friday. weavers, and craftsmen from base. efforts The Governor, who is also 13 districts to showcase their Chancellor of State universities, hallmark products to a pan- "Andhra Kumar, Chief said the higher education insti- Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan interacts with the Vice-Chancellors through a video conference from the Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada on Friday India customer base. Pradesh has always Corporate Affairs tutions are constrained to go Both the Government of been in the fore- Officer, Flipkart for conduct of online classes in curriculum to meet global Andhra Pradesh and the front of economic Group. virtual mode because of the sit- n The Governor, who is n The Governor while interacting with the Vice-Chancellors of 20 standards, while facing the Flipkart Group will focus on growth and currently leads In a year since its launch, uation created by the Covid-19 also Chancellor of State State universities, who participated in the meeting through video challenges posed by the Covid- creating avenues to increase the charts when it comes to Flipkart Samarth has played a pandemic. He said online class- universities, said the conference, expressed satisfaction for the innovative methodologies 19 pandemic. The minister business and trade inclusion Ease of Doing Business. We are significant role in building es cannot replace the tradition- higher education adopted by the universities in finishing the left over syllabus of the said in spite of the opportunities for these under- thrilled to partner with the capabilities within the rural al class room teaching method- institutions are previous academic year through online mode and also the steps unfavourable conditions creat- served segments of the society, Government of Andhra and underserved society of ology. The Governor said to constrained to go for taken to commence the next academic year ed by the pandemic, the gov- thereby adding further thrust Pradesh to give the artisans the the country and is today sup- overcome the challenges posed conduct of online ernment will not compromise to Made in India efforts. opportunity to showcase and porting the livelihood of more by the Coronavirus pandemic, classes in virtual mode n The Vice-Chancellors said they are fully prepared to conduct in upholding the sanctity of the Flipkart Samarth seeks to sell their products on a trans- than 5,00,000 artisans, weavers the education institutions have education system and main- break entry barriers for arti- parent platform; with a and micro enterprises across because of the situation exams for the final year students of Undergraduate and Post to restructure and redesign Graduate courses, as per UGC guidelines either off-line or online taining integrity in the conduct sans by extending time-bound promise of wider market India. the curriculum for conducting created by the Covid-19 of examinations. incubation support, which access. As a homegrown plat- Flipkart Samarth works classes through online system pandemic mode duly following the Covid-19 protocols. Prof K Hemachandra includes benefits in the form of form, over a decade, we have closely with reputed NGOs by developing suitable e- Reddy, Chairman, AP State on boarding, free cataloguing, built a localised platform that and government bodies and Content. the innovative methodologies Vice-Chancellors said they the Covid-19 protocols. Council of Higher Education, marketing, account manage- understands Indian MSMEs livelihood missions to reach a The Governor while inter- adopted by the universities in are fully prepared to conduct Audimulapu Suresh, Mukesh Kumar Meena, ment, business insights and and consumers. This allows large number of rural entrepre- acting with the Vice- finishing the left over syllabus exams for the final year stu- Minister for Education, who Secretary to the Governor, warehousing support. our platform to very effective- neurs, with a special focus on Chancellors of 20 State univer- of the previous academic year dents of Undergraduate and participated in the conference, MM Naik, Special Commenting on the MoU, ly bridge the market access gap women-led enterprises, dif- sities, who participated in the through online mode and also Post Graduate courses, as per said it is necessary for the high- Commissioner, Collegiate Dr Arja Srikanth, IRTS, Special that the two communities face. ferently-abled entrepreneurs, meeting through video confer- the steps taken to commence UGC guidelines either off-line er education institutions to re- Education, also participated Secretary to the Government, Through technology acting as artisans and weavers. Many of ence, expressed satisfaction for the next academic year. The or online mode duly following design, re-format and re-orient in the conference. and MD & CEO, Andhra a catalyst, we believe that we whom often face obstacles Pradesh State Skill can bring the true value of e- such as lack of access to work- Development Corporation, Commerce to such ecosystem ing capital, poor infrastructure stated that this collaboration partnerships. Flipkart Samarth and inadequate training. Pavitra Samarpana conducted with Flipkart India will help all will continue helping under- Flipkart has assessed the pain Missing child reunites producers like artisans and served communities in break- points and aspirations of these FPO’s from the remotest places ing social and demographic groups and designed Flipkart in the State in seamless mar- barriers and bringing them Samarth to address their prob- at Kodandarama Swamy temple keting of their products in rel- into the fold of the formal lems and make it easier for with mother after 4 yrs evant markets. economy," said Rajneesh them to list and sell online. PNS n VIJAYAWADA Vijayawada and have been PNS n TIRUPATI there ever since. A child, who had gone miss- The sixth phase of On second day of the ongoing ing, reunited with his mother ‘Operation Muskaan Covid- annual Pavitrotsavam at Sri Kanakadurga after four years. Thanks to the 19’ was launched in the State. Kodandarama Swamy temple, Pregnant women ‘Operation Muskaan Covid- Director General of Police D the holy ritual of Pavitra flyover by 19’ initiated by the police. Gautam Sawang formally Samarpana was performed Srinivas, son of Sri Lalitha, launched rescue vehicles for with religious fervour in advised to avoid hailing from Palacol in West Vijayawada, Guntur urban ‘Ekantham’ in view of Covid- August Godavari district, was study- and rural units for the week- 19 restrictions PNS n VIJAYAWADA ing Class IV. long campaign (July 14-20) at The utsava idols of Sri Sri Lalitha lost her hus- his office in Mangalagiri. Sitarama and Lakshmana were antenatal checkups Minister for Endowments band soon after the birth of The campaign was launched brought to yagashala where the PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM Vellampalli Srinivas has direct- Srinivas. In 2016, Srinivas fled by police to protecting street rituals of Snapana A priest offers aarti to presiding deities at Kodandarama Swamy temple in Tirupati ed the officials to wrap up the home and boarded a train in children from getting affected Thirumanjanam were per- on Friday as part of ongoing annual Pavitrotsavam Pregnant women are advised works of Kanakadurga flyover Palacol and reached by Coronavirus, following the formed and Pavitras submitted to avoid routine antenatal by August. The minister, who Vijayawada railway station. directive of the Ministry of to all deities, including holy Singhal, special grade deputy Deekshitulu, AEO Durga Raju, checkups if they are not in the reviewed the progress of works The railway police rescued Home Affairs (MHA) to places like homa kundam and executive officer Parvathi, chief superintendent Ramesh, tem- category of high risk pregnan- here on Friday, said that the fly- Srinivas and shifted him to a search missing minors and dwajastambham. priest Sri Kodandarama ple inspector Ramesh and oth- cy, or in last trimester of preg- over will be ready by August 15 Child Care Centre in adults. TTD EO Anil Kumar Swamy temple Anand Kumar ers participated. nancy, said Dr B Radhika, con- and will be made available for sultant obstetrician and gyne- the public by August 30. VIJAYAWADA cologist, KIMS Icon Hospital, The previous government COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS Vizag. completely neglected the BULLION RATES “As this is a new virus, how works of Kanakadurga fly- GOLD exactly it affects pregnant Dr B Radhika over and Benz Circle flyover, ` 51,140 (10 gm) women is not yet clear. But resulting in the increase of traf- UK PM hopes for return to ‘normality' by Dec from the experience of pregnant women who are fic woes in the city. “Earlier, N ` 40 INS n LONDON er alternative means of trans- Corona-hit patients in China infected with Covid-19, Chandrababu Naidu had SILVER PM Boris Johnson port where they're available," and knowledge of other virus- according to Dr Radhika announced that he would ` 52,300 (1kg) Coronavirus restrictions are explained during a Boris Johnson said. es that cause severe respirato- Majority of women with complete the flyover by ` 700 being relaxed again in England news conference at From August 1 the govern- ry illness, it is found that Covid-19 will experience early Krishna Pushkaralu, but he under a plan outlined by Prime ment will change its advice on pregnant women are more symptoms like mild or mod- had failed to complete the pro- Minister Boris Johnson on Downing Street that working from home, to give vulnerable to infection with erate cold/flu, a new continu- ject in his five-year tenure. He CHICKEN Friday. Johnson said that he is the plan ‘remains business owners the choice Covid-19 than general popu- ous cough, high-grade fevers abandoned the project and RATES `/KG "hoping for the best and plan- conditional’ on the over whether to ask staff to lation. However, there are no with myalgia. failed to allocate funds on a ning for the worst", with cur- come to work or to continue to reported deaths of pregnant A study of nine pregnant timely basis, due to which the Dressed/With Skin `191 rent changes in rules bringing UK pulling together work from home. women from Coronavirus at women, who were infected works have been drastically Without Skin `218 a "significant return to normal- to win its "long "Instead of government the moment,” she disclosed. with Covid-19 and had symp- delayed.” Broiler at Farm `132 ity" by Christmas. fight" against the telling people to work from “Pregnant women are toms showed that none of The minister asserted that The Prime Minister virus home, we're going to give advised attend antenatal care, their babies were affected by the YSRCP government laid a explained during a news con- "Throughout this period we employers more discretion and with minimum visits at the virus. The virus was not special focus on the flyover EGG ference at Downing Street that will look to allow more close ask them to make decisions 12,20,28,36 weeks of gestation. present in amniotic fluid, the projects and prioritised them the plan "remains conditional" end or be changed, the BBC contact between friends and about how their staff work safe- Fetal kick count to be checked babies throat, or in the breast to complete at the earliest. RATES `/100 on the UK pulling together to reported. Johnson said that family where we can," he said. ly," said Johnson. daily. Tele-health services to be milk. The risk of passing the Seeing the plight of the pub- HYDERABAD 345 win its "long fight" against the social distancing will stay in Johnson has encouraged adults "That could mean, of course, considered as much as possi- infection to the foetus appears lic with increasing traffic snarls VIJAYAWADA 364 virus. place for now, but may be to use public transport again. continuing to work from home ble,” she suggested to be probable but very low in the city, the Chief Minister Scotland, Wales and scrapped from as early as "In England from today we which is one way of working There does not appear to be and there is no evidence of any directed the officials to speed VISAKHAPATNAM 356 Northern Ireland will all make November - saying family and are making clear that anybody safely and which has worked any increased risk of miscar- fetal malformations or effects up the works. Soon these fly- RETAIL PRICE `3.80 their own decisions on when friends could potentially hug can use public transport while for many employers and riage or other complications due to maternal infection with overs will be ready for public (IN VIJAYAWADA) Covid-19 restrictions should again by Christmas. encouraging people to consid- employees. such as fetal anomalies for Covid-19. use, he said.

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Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 vijayawada 03

KADAPA STEEL PLANT More funds for SC, ST welfare: CM Private firms keen to PNS n AMARAVATI The CM said, “Our government has Reiterating his government's introduced many schemes for the welfare commitment to the welfare of of SCs and STs. YSR Asara, benefiting 25 associate with government SCs and STs, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday lakh women, and YSR Cheyutha, PNS n VIJAYAWADA said that more funds have benefiting 90 lakh women, will be been earmarked for the pur- implemented from this year. These two "The government is setting pose in financial year 2020-21. schemes are aimed at self reliance of up a Steel Plant in Kadapa in He also instructed officials to the public sector under joint complete the Ambedkar Park women. We have signed a pact with venture mode. In this regard, in Vijayawada by April 14. AMUL for dairy development and women the government has already Addressing the sixth SC, ST can benefit from this sector.” issued an Expression of Interest Development Board meeting for setting up of the steel here on Friday, the Chief plant. Several leading steel Minister said that the govern- ence and greenery and as far as to RS 15,735 crores. For ST wel- companies in the steel sector ment has earmarked Rs 15,735 possible concrete work should fare the amount increased from have shown interest to associ- crore for SC welfare and Rs be minimised, he said. Rs 2,902.61 crore in 2018-19 to ate with the government for 5,177 crore for ST welfare for will be implemented from this should have ambience and The Ministers lauded the Rs 3,669.42 crore in the next establishing the new steel the year 2020-21. year. These two schemes are greenery to attract tourists and Chief Minister for his efforts year and for 2020-21 it was plant," said R Karikal Valaven, The YSR Cheyutha and aimed at self reliance of visitors. for the uplift of SCs and STs increased to Rs 5,177 crore. Special Chief Secretary, try is limping back to normal- n R Karikal Valaven, R YSR Asara welfare schemes, women. We have signed a pact Works on the Ambedkar and the welfare schemes imple- The total number of SCs Industries & Commerce. cy with recovery in the econo- Karikal Valaven, Special which will be implemented with AMUL for dairy develop- Park should be expedited and mented by the government benefitted from various He was speaking at a confer- my. this year will further benefit the ment and women can benefit the deadline of April 14, 2021 has been very useful and schemes is 77,27,033 and the ence organised by the Seshagiri Rao MVS, Chief Secretary, weaker sections, he said. from this sector.” be kept in mind, Jagan said. thanked him. number of STs is 24,55,286 Confederation of Indian Chairman, CII National Steel Industries & Commerce, The Chief Minister said, He said that the Ambedkar This project should be taken up Giving the details of the aggregating to 1,01,82,319. Industry (CII), Andhra Pradesh, Committee & Joint Managing stated that the “Our government has intro- Park, with 125- feet Ambedkar as a matter of prestige and as expenditure, the officials said, Ministers P Viswaroop, Taneti on sustainability in the steel sec- Director & Group CFO, JSW government is coming duced many schemes for the statue in the heart of a challenge by the ministers while the amount spent for SC Vanita, Dharmana Krishna tor with a theme focusing on Steel Limited, in his theme up with a one-stop shop welfare of SCs and STs. YSR Vijayawada should be ready by and officials and they should welfare during 2018-19 was Rs Das, Adimulapu Suresh, Chief ‘Sustainable Business Strategies address stated that Covid-19 has solution for investors to Asara, benefiting 25 lakh April 14 to commemorate the put up a concerted effort, the 8,903.44 crores it went up to Rs Secretary Nilam Sawhney, and –Shape the ‘New Normal’ brought life and livelihood as a provide required services women, and YSR Cheyutha, legendary leader’s birth Chief Minister said. The park 11,205.41 crore in the next year other officials attended the through virtual platform. centre of discussion in the pre- to invest in the State benefiting 90 lakh women, anniversary and the Park should have a pleasant ambi- and for 2020-21 the amount rose meeting. R Karikal Valaven appreciat- sent context. He mentioned ed the CII for organising the that Covid-19 has transformed n Pradosh Kumar Rath, steel conference focusing on the business operations and Chairman-cum-Managing sustainability. Referring to the created demand destruction Director, Rashtriya Ispat second phase of unlock he said with supply chain disruption Nigam Limited, in his Covid-19 kills 534 people that industry is supported with across the globe. address said that in the Naidu condemns all measures to re-start their Speaking about sustainabili- present disruptive operations. He urged the indus- ty, the steel manufacturers are try to follow all required Covid- following environmental and scenario the in State since its outbreak 19 protocols to ensure safety of social sustainability. In fact, technologies such as ‘attack’ on Dalit judge Internet of Things attains Continued from Page 1 20,298 while the number of their employees. some of the Indian companies active Covid-19 cases in the TV journalist Continued from Page 1 Kumar, Dr Sudhakar, Dr He stated that the govern- are leading the way in following importance in running In the past 24-hours, East state stood at 19,814. Anitha Rani, Mahasena ment is coming up with a one- the measures for environmen- the steel plants. He was Godavari district registered On the death toll front, dies of Covid According to reports, Rajesh and others (sic)”. stop shop solution for investors tal sustainability. Referring to optimistic that the steel the highest number of Covid- Kurnool district continued to some men attacked Denying justice to Dalits to provide required services to reviving the demand for steel he industry is limping back 19 cases in a single day with be top in the chart with 116 in AP Ramakrishna at his resi- and stifling their voice with invest in the State. Pradosh said that the impact of Covid- to normalcy with 643 cases followed by Guntur deaths followed by Krishna Continued from Page 1 dence in B Kothakota when intimidation and violence Kumar Rath, Chairman-cum- 19 will soon be a matter of past recovery in the economy with 367, Chittoor 328 and district with 86 deaths while he questioned them while will set a poor example for Managing Director, Rashtriya and would have great prospects Kurnool 315 cases. Anantapur district has occu- He is the second journal- they were stealing his bricks the entire society and future Ispat Nigam Limited, in his for the steel industry in the com- A total of 837 persons from pied third place in the chart ist to die due to coronavirus which he had stocked next to generations, he wrote. address said that health and ing days. in the steel sector would lead to Andhra Pradesh recovered with 58 deaths. in Andhra Pradesh after a his residence for construc- “Dalit intellectuals must safety of employees is important D Ramakrishna, Chairman, faster recovery in the economy. from the virus and were dis- Chittoor district reported a 45-year-old scribe working tion. unite to fight this menace in view of Covid-19.In the pre- CII Andhra Pradesh & J Srinivasa Raju, Chairman, charged from the hospitals in total of 43 Covid-19 deaths for a Telugu TV channel in Naidu tweeted: "This is with one voice and reclaim sent disruptive scenario the Managing Director, Efftronics CII Visakhapatnam Zone and the state in the past 24 hours. while Guntur district reported the temple town suc- one of the many incidents of what is rightfully theirs," technologies such as Internet of Systems Private Limited, in his Managing Director, Geomarine With this the number of 39 deaths, west Godavari (36), cumbed on Sunday last, a atrocities being carried out said the TDP chief in a series Things attains importance in welcome remarks said that Dynamics India Private people discharged from hospi- East Godavari (34) and government official said. on Dalit intellectuals includ- of tweets with the hashtag running the steel plants. He was Covid-19 has posed challenges Limited, delivered concluding tals in the state increased to Visakhapatnam (28). ing former MP Harsha #TDPWithDalits. optimistic that the steel indus- to business. He felt that revival remarks at the session. NSP yet to get proper inflows SC panel receives PNS n HYDERABAD 1,365 affidavits Strange it may sound, but true! There are no inflows Continued from Page 1 language, the office of the into Nizamsagar project in Commission got it translated to Nizamabad district in spite On December 6, the English. of heavy rains lashing the Cyberabad police said all the The translated records run- state ever since the mon- four were killed in "retaliatory" ning into thousands of pages soon season began. The full firing after two of the accused were then verified and collated reservoir level of the project opened fire at police after by the Secretary and the staff of IPS officer couple who is 1,405 feet. Against the snatching their weapons the Commission, it added. FRL, the water level in the besides attacking the latter with Though the Commission reservoir measured as Out of the total stones and sticks, resulting in was scheduled to sit on March beat Corona join duty 1,376.38 feet. storage capacity injuries to two policemen. 23 and 24, it had to be suspend- Out of the total storage of the project "In response to the notifica- ed due to the outbreak of the PNS n AMARAVATI n DGP Gautam Sawang capacity of the project 17.802 tion, in all 1,365 affidavits have coronavirus. The committee TMC, the project has only 17.802 TMC, the been received by the Office of explored the possibility and asked the IPS officers, IPS officer and Disha Special 0.828 TMC. Described as project has only the Commission. The family viability of conducting online Officer Dipika Patil and her hus- who defeated the virus, boon of erstwhile Nizamabad 0.828 TMC. members of three of the persons hearings and sittings to com- band DCP Vikrant Patil joined should serve as a great district, the water level in the who died in the incident filed plete the inquiry expeditiously. the duty here on Friday after source of inspiration to reservoir is at the dead stor- facility only if there are con- Kamareddy district. The rest Described as their affidavits on March 5. But, after considering sever- their recovery from the people and should age level. In spite of mon- siderable inflows into the of the ayacut is in Nizamabad boon of erstwhile The affidavits of the Police al aspects it found that virtual Coronavirus. It may be recalled boost people’s morale soons arriving two months project. On account of poor district. The ayacut lands Nizamabad personnel involved in the inci- hearing was not feasible as it that the couple recently contract- ago in the state, strangely inflows into the project, last spread over Varni, Bodhan, district, the dent were received on June 15. would involve participation of ed the Coronavirus. Director- there are no inflows into the year also only for a couple of Yedapalli, Renzel, kotagiri, The state government is yet to several persons, witnesses General of Police Gautam even at the slightest suspicion on project. This is attributed to times, water was released to Rudrur, Ditchpalli, water level in the respond," the release said. deposing before it, advocates Sawang welcomed them cordial- contracting the virus. no rainfall in the upper ayacut lands from the pro- Nizamabad rural, Armoor, reservoir is at the The Telangana government appearing for the different per- ly into the office. He said that he was very reaches of the project leading ject. Zakranpalli and other man- dead storage also constituted a Special sons, whose security and con- Addressing the media in this happy to note that the police offi- to the water-level touching Under the project, 2.31 dals of Nizamabad district. Investigation Team headed by fidentiality has to be ensured. connection, the DGP asked the cers recovered from the virus, the dead-storage level. lakh acres are cultivated in The farmers cultivate Rachakonda Police Despite the constraints IPS officers, who defeated the which they had contracted as a Farmers who cultivate the ayacut. Last year, only lands under borewells if the farmers cultivated lands Commissioner Mahesh imposed by the unexpected virus should serve as a great part of their duty to safeguard lands under the ayacut areas 1.95 lakh acres could be pro- project fails to provide irri- under borewells as ground Bhagwat to look into the alleged circumstances, the source of inspiration to people the public health. The IPS offi- are eagerly waiting for vided irrigation facility. The gation facility to the ayacut water table increased due to encounter issue. Commission is committed and and should boost people’s morale. cer couple told the media that inflows into the project. project has 31,927 acres aya- lands. Last year, water was the rains. This year also, the As most of the records from has been looking for different The DGP exhorted the police they are able to recover fully with Lands to a great extent in cut in Nizamsagar, released from the project to farmers are transplanting the SIT as well as affidavits ways to complete expeditious- personnel and officers on duty the moral support given to Nizamabad and Kamareddy Banswada, Nasrullahbad, wet two crops only twice. On paddy practising cultivation received in response to the ly, the enquiry assigned to it, the should get themselves checked up them by the DGP. districts will get irrigation Birkur mandals of account of heavy rains, the under bore wells. public notice were in Telugu release said. Smugglers try to sell pangolin VSP employee 5,000 beds in Covid Care for Rs 65 lakh, two arrested succumbs to Covid-19 Centres in every district PNS n GUNTUR TRADE UNION DEMANDS TESTS FOR ALL PNS n AMARAVATI

Forest officials have nabbed PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM The government is taking steps two smugglers for trying to sell to provide 5,000 beds for a rare species of pangolin. A 54-year-old employee work- Covid Care Centres in each The smugglers revealed that ing in the central mechanical district and will take feedback they planned to sell the rare department of Vizag Steel from inmates on the facilities. pangolin for Rs 65 lakh in Plant died of Coronavirus on Speaking to the media here Guntur of Andhra Pradesh Thursday evening. He was on on Friday, Covid-19 Task Force on Friday. leave since June 23 and on Committee chairman MT Principal Chief Conservator Wednesday he showed serious Krishna Babu said that cur- of Forests (PCCF), N Prateep symptoms of Covid-19 follow- rently 46,198 beds are available Kumar said that the arrested ing which he was admitted to Rs 50 lakh in the event of in Covid Care Centres. duo was identified as U Siva the corporate hospital where death and establishment of a West Godavari, East Koteswara Rao and U Sivaiah. he succumbed. He is the first testing centre in the steel Godavari and Chittoor dis- They have launched a man- employee of the RINL to die township. Confirming death, tricts have already reached hunt for two more persons in of Coronavirus. the management of RINL in a the capacity of 5,000 beds directions to set up a special complaints we receive. Besides connection with the case. Earlier, wife of an employ- release said the RINL has been provision, while the remaining division for Covid-19 related this, we will be calling to those Prateep Kumar said that sell the rare species of animal gered species in India. It’s also ee died after she was infected taking all necessary measures districts will also be equipped queries in 1902 helpline, where discharged on a random basis Koteswara Rao and U Sivaiah near Jaggapuram area in the world’s most hunted as well with Covid-19. Employees of to contain the spread of virus with an ample number of the inmates can dial the toll- to check on the overall facili- trapped the pangolin by using Guntur district. as most trafficked animal. the steel plant took out a mas- among residents of township beds and the Joint Collector free number to provide feed- ties provided to them. Apart nets at Edlapadu forest area in Setting a trap, a team of for- The Forest Officials will sive rally demanding that the and Plant. (development) will monitor back, or lodge any complaints from the toll-free helpline, Guntur district a few days est officials reached the spot produce the rescued pangolin management organise testing An exclusive fever clinic the facility related to food, sanitation or even help desks will be made ago. They posted videos of the and arrested two of the four before the court on Saturday. for all the employees at the ear- was opened in the steel gener- Besides equipping Covid medical services. available for the inmates and animal on YouTube to attract accused on charges of illegal- “If the pangolin is found to be liest and make arrangements al hospital to treat fever Care Centres, Covid hospitals “In all the centres there will the centre in-charge will be put customers and sell the pan- ly possessing the protected in good health, we will release with corporate hospitals for patients. In the plant thermal and Quarantine Centres are be a display of the toll-free on duty,” he said. golin, a highly protected animal species. The forest offi- the animal into the forest,'' treatment. screening for the employees at also ready with all the neces- number, where patients can Going by the statistics, species under the Wildlife cials rescued the pangolin Prateep Kumar said. Maintaining social distance all the entry points in Plant is sary facilities. contact. We will be taking around 3,071 patients are Protection Act. from the clutches of the smug- An FIR has been lodged they staged a dharna in front being done. All training pro- Krishna Babu said Chief feedback from the inmates of undergoing treatment in 20 The forest officials received glers. under relevant Sections of the of TTI building and put for- grammes and conferences Minister YS Jaganmohan Covid hospitals, Quarantine Covid Care Centres, while a tip-off that some persons Prateep Kumar said that IPC and Forest Acts and fur- ward a set of demands, which have been postponed till fur- Reddy reviewed the Covid-19 Centres and Covid Care 6,727 were admitted to 94 were waiting for customers to Indian pangolin is an endan- ther investigation is underway. include insurance coverage of ther notification. situation in detail and gave Centres and also monitor the Quarantine Centres. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 nation 04 Periyar's statue found smeared New book documents SHORT READS pandemic through poetry with saffron colour in TN PNS n NEW DELHI PNS n COIMBATORE/CHENNAI The ongoing coronavirus pan- The defilement, suspected to have occurred demic has upended our lives like A statue of social reformer E V during the wee hours at Sundarapuram in never before. Here, giving some Delhi BJP protests Ramasami 'Periyar' was found the city, led to tension and anxiety and a solace to isolated souls and a real- against ‘huge' power daubed with saffron colour at posse of policemen -including two sporting ity check in verses is a soon-to- Coimbatore on Friday and police come book of poetry. bills are on the lookout for the mis- protective gear against coronavirus- was The book, titled "Singing in creants behind it. deployed at the spot the Dark", is an international NEW DELHI: The Delhi BJP After the incident came to anthology of poems which Friday staged protests at discom light, workers of DMK, MDMK include works by over a hundred offices across the city, demand- and VCK protested demanding said Periyar had slogged for of Periyar's atheist ideology, for poets from across six conti- ing relief for consumers from action and parties, including "small men" as well, (seen as a alleged denigration of 'Kanda nents written in 20 languages. "huge" power bills being sent to the ruling AIADMK and main reference to those behind sul- Sashti Kavacham,' a popular, Edited by eminent poet K responses to the diverse aspects manence of life. Commenting on them for the coronavirus opposition DMK strongly con- lying the statue by pouring Tamil hymn held sacred and Satchidanandan and scholar- of the pandemic. the book, Elizabeth Kuruvilla, lockdown period. Party leaders demned the desecration. paint) and that was why he was recited every day by millions of author Nishi Chawla, the book "The moods vary from quiet executive editor, Ebury and its MPs from Delhi partici- Police said they were probing being hailed as "Periyar" (great devotees in Tamil Nadu in praise will be released later this year, contemplation and choking Publishing & Vintage Publishing pated in the protests and the matter and assured immedi- man). of Lord Muruga/Skanda. announced publishing house anguish to suppressed rage and (PRHI), who commissioned the demanded consumers be ate action. MDMK chief Vaiko demand- The desecrated statue, Penguin Random House. careful celebration. Consisting of book, said "Singing in the Dark provided waiver on the fixed The defilement, suspected to ed that the government act unveiled in 1995, was one of the The poetic record of these poems of recall, experience and is a powerful poetic testimony to charges. "Shops and offices have occurred during the wee "responsibly" and take action. three statues of the social rather strange times include dream, this book has evolved this moment and will be read by were closed and all business hours at Sundarapuram in the He condemned the "continu- reformer in the city. contributions by Vijay Seshadri, into a virtual aesthetic archive of generations to come". activities were shut during the city, led to tension and anxiety ous targeting of Periyar's statues CPI district secretary V S Grace Cavalieri, Arundhati these strange times for genera- "No country, be it big or lockdown. But people are still and a posse of policemen - in Tamil Nadu." Sundaram said defacing the stat- Subramaniam, George Szirtes, tions to come," said small, has been spared the fear being sent huge electricity bills including two sporting protective The PMK, an ally of the rul- ue of Periyar was not acceptable Chandrakant Patil, Anamika, Satchidanandan. of the annihilation of a vast num- including fixed charges by the gear against coronavirus- was ing AIADMK demanded stern and urged police to take imme- Francis Combes, Rafael Soler, According to the publisher, ber of its population by a strange- Kejriwal government. The BJP opposes it and demands its deployed at the spot. Senior AIADMK leader and action against the miscreants and diate action and arrest the 'anti- Jerry Pinto and Ashok Vajpayee. the poems capture the anxiety ly beautiful-looking virus... As we waiver," said Delhi BJP president The colour, on a portion of Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar described the desecration as an social elements'. "This anthology had a hum- and agitation of isolation, the cling to life and try to recreate a Adesh Gupta, who participated the statue, around the right said such despicable acts can act of cowardice. DMK MLA N Karthik also ble beginning with a few poets unparalleled joys of witnessing sense of normality, we swing in a protest outside the Delhi arm and waist, was removed never be accepted, adding it The desecration by miscreants condemned the incident and said from the US and India but the revival of nature, the cruel between moments of anxiety, Electricity Regulatory Commiss- by Periyar's followers with police was a punishable offence. comes against the backdrop of that this could be an attempt to gradually evolved into an inter- realities of an inequitable world, creativity, loneliness and warm ion (DERC) office in Malviya help. DMK president M K Stalin the arrest of two men, followers destroy peace in Tamil Nadu. continental collection of poetic besides reflecting on the imper- fellowship," she added. Nagar. Delhi BJP general secretary and convener of the protest Kuljeet Chahal said the 'Bijli Jan Andolan' protests were WB guv hands over Rs 11L Most Muslim women in NE Delhi SOG team to visit Manesar held in all 70 Assembly constituencies in the city. cheque to jawan family support SC verdict on triple talaq to take statements of Raj's Bengaluru lockdown: PNS n NEW DELHI Mayor& civic body PNS n SURI (WB) Polygamy is not prevalent among dissident Cong MLAs favour extension West Bengal Governor Muslims in North East Delhi and PNS n JAIPUR BENGALURU: Even as Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday a majority of women of the com- Bengaluru is under a week long visited Birbhum district to munity support the Supreme A Special Operations Group lockdown till July 22, the city pay tributes to Army jawan Court's judgement on triple team is to leave for Manesar in Mayor and commissioner of Rajesh Orang, killed in the talaq, according to a Delhi Haryana to take statements of the civic body have favoured its June 15 clash with Chinese Minorities Commission (DMC) Congress MLAs purportedly extension, aimed at controlling troops in Eastern Ladakh, and report. heard talking in a viral audio clip the spread of COVID-19. said his supreme sacrifice has The study covers 600 women about horse-trading of legislators Speculations are once again rife made his hometown a "land of from 30 localities of North East to topple the Gehlot government that the current lockdown is brave heroes". Delhi which has the highest in Rajasthan, an official said on likely to be extended for 15 Accompanied by wife Muslim population in the Friday. days, as that much time is Sudesh Dhankhar and General national capital. It noted the this decision Muslim women DMC chairman Zafarul Islam Dissident Congress legislators, (ATS & SOG) Ashok Rathore required to break the chain. Officer Commanding-in- brave heroes. Rajesh Orang has prevalence of monogamy and have got a new lease of life," the Khan, releasing the report on supporting Rajasthan's former said. He said it would not be "We are seeing that people are Chief, Eastern Command, Lt given us one message — nation absence of divorce in the region. report stated. Thursday, said that triple talaq deputy chief minister Sachin appropriate to comment until still coming out despite the General Anil Chauhan, the first," he said after paying trib- When asked whether they However, there were a small was "negligible" and only some Pilot, are holed up in a resort in it is established in the investi- lockdown. The awareness has governor paid floral tributes to utes to the fallen soldier at were aware of the apex court's percentage of women who said "ignorant" men did it. Manesar. gation that the alleged names not come among the people the portrait of Orang and Belgoria village in the district. decision on the issue of triple that "whatever be the court's As part of the study, "A team is ready and will that have surfaced in the com- and even those who have an handed over a cheque for Rs Orang was among the 20 talaq, 93 per cent of them decision, whatever is followed in Development Oriented leave for Manesar to ascertain plaint and audio clips are understanding about the virus 11 lakh to the bereaved fami- Indian soldiers and one of the answered 'yes', the report stated. their culture will continue", it Operations Research and the versions of those whose those the real persons. are not maintaining social ly members. two from West Bengal who "In their opinion, a majority said. The Supreme Court in a Surveys (DOORS) held inter- names have come up in audio Rathore said SOG is also distancing," Mayor M Goutham "Rajesh made a supreme sac- were killed in the clash with of women who were aware of the 2017 verdict struck down instant views in January and February clips as there have been state- going to move court for permis- Kumar said. Speaking to rifice for the nation. He has the Chinese troops in Ladakh's court decision welcomed it, with divorce through triple talaq as with the respondents, of whom ments that these audio clips sion to hold voice spectrography reporters here, he opined that made this Birbhum a land of the Galwan Valley last month. some of them saying that with "unconstitutional" practice. 66.3 per cent were married. are fake or morphed," ADG tests to match the voice samples. in such a situation, it was fine if there was an extension, "because we have to cut the chain." "If there is a serious UK may have lockdown for fourteen days, I Bihar oppn parties want EC to assure that polls K’taka to issue caste, income feel that the chain can be cut," sufficient herd he said. won't trigger fresh spike in COVID cases immunity: study certificates to Brahmins No need for CBI probe PNS n NEW DELHI n LONDON PNS n BENGALURU in Sushant death case: Several opposition parties of The UK population may Deshmukh Bihar on Friday urged the already have developed suffi- Karnataka will issue caste and NAGPUR: There was no need Election Commission to assure cient levels of herd immunity income certificates to Brahmins for a CBI probe into the death voters that the upcoming required to prevent a feared sec- in the southern state to reduce the case of Bollywood actor assembly polls do not become ond wave of the coronavirus socio-economic inequality faced Sushant Singh Rajput as the a "super spreader event" amid pandemic in the country, notes by the community, an official said Mumbai police were capable of the coronavirus pandemic. an Oxford University study on Thursday. "A notification has handling the matter, said Ahead of their virtual meet- involving Indian-origin acade- been issued to tehsildars in all 30 Maharashtra Home Minister Anil ing with the Commission top mic Professor Sunetra Gupta. In districts to issue caste and income Deshmukh on Friday. The police brass this evening, the parties a paper titled ‘The impact of certificates to Brahmins so that were also examining the angle submitted a memorandum to host resistance on cumulative they can also benefit from the of "business rivalry" in the case, the poll panel drawing its mortality and the threshold of government schemes and schol- he said. Rajput, 34, was found attention to the coronavirus of at least two yards in a state herd immunity for SARS-CoV- arships," a Revenue Department The opposition parties, dead in his Bandra apartment in situation in the state. with a population of around 2', Gupta along with three other official said. Mumbai on June 14 and what "The COVID-19 pandemic 13 crore and electorate of 7.5 including the Oxford University colleagues The notification comes a er sections such as SC, ST and absence of the certificates. the police claimed was a case of has affected the state badly. In crore. Rashtriya Janata Dal, notes that the herd immunity month after the Karnataka State OBC groups," the official said. The certificates will also help suicide. In the initial investigat- the capital city, Patna, as many "People need explicit clari- CPI, CPI-M and threshold (HIT) required to Brahmin Development Board The board was set up in students from the community to ion, the Mumbai police had as 89 containment zones and ty so that wholesome partici- Hindustan Awam prevent a resurgence of the on June 10 appealed to Chief March 2019 as a state-run com- avail scholarships for higher found that the actor was under over 16 districts have been put pation of majority of voters is deadly coronavirus may have Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to pany with Rs 5 crore authorised studies from the state-funded medication for depression. On under lockdown for another not adversely impacted. People Morcha, wondered already been built up due to issue the certificates to the tra- capital and Rs 5 crore equity and board if their gross annual fam- Thursday, Rajput's friend, actor fifteen days with effect from also expect the commission to how the poll panel will exposure to seasonal coron- ditionally dominant communi- is registered with the Registrar of ily income is less than Rs 8 lakh Rhea Chakraborty, in a tweet, 16th July," the memorandum ensure and satisfy the people ensure physical aviruses, such as the common ty, which accounts for 3 per cent Companies. per year. The board has also demanded a CBI inquiry to said. that entire poll exercise does distancing of at least cold. “It is widely believed that of the 7 crore state population. The notification was issued to urged the state government to understand what "pressures" The opposition parties, not become a super spreader the herd immunity threshold "Though Brahmins are in the local bodies and taluk offices implement the 10 per cent quota prompted Rajput to take the including the Rashtriya Janata event," the memorandum said. two yards in a state (HIT) required to prevent a 'minority' in terms of their pop- after several members of the for its community members extreme step of suicide. Dal, CPI, CPI-M and The term of the Bihar with a population of resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 ulation across the state, they need community complained to state under the economically weaker Chakraborty said though she Hindustan Awam Morcha, assembly ends on November around 13 crore and (COVID-19) is in excess of 50 caste and income certificates to Revenue Minister R. Ashoka that sections, as applicable for Central has "complete faith" in the gove- wondered how the poll panel 29 and a new assembly has to electorate of 7.5 crore per cent for any epidemiologi- benefit from the welfare schemes they were unable to benefit government jobs and admissions rnment, a CBI inquiry would will ensure physical distancing be constituted before that. cal setting. meant for the economic weak- from the welfare schemes in the to central institutions. help bring justice to the case. advocate welfare DRI seizes gold worth Rs 7 crore scheme should NGT junks plea seeking alternative continue: Delhi HC methods of cremation to reduce air pollution smuggled into India from Myanmar PNS n NEW DELHI PNS n NEW DELHI PNS n NEW DELHI “We do not find the The Delhi High Court Friday Officials of the Directorate of asked the AAP government to The National Green Tribunal issue raised to be a Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have consider reopening registration Friday refused to entertain a plea substantial question seized gold worth Rs seven for two-weeks for lawyers, who seeking direction to install alter- of environment to crore, smuggled into India from are voters in the national cap- native methods of cremation to Myanmar, in separate operations ital and could not sign up for reduce air pollution and also to be gone into under in three states, according to an the Rs 50 crore Chief Minister's contain spread of COVID-19. Section 14 and 15 official statement issued on Advocates Welfare Scheme A bench headed by NGT Friday. Six people have also which includes medical and life Chairperson Justice Adarsh of the National been arrested during the opera- insurance cover. Kumar Goel junked the plea Green Tribunal, tions carried out by the DRI offi- The court asked the Delhi which sought conversion of at Act, 2010,” the cials on Tuesday, it said. government to complete the least one third of the number of "All the seized foreign-origin process of receiving financial pyres at all cremation grounds in bench said gold bars had been smuggled by them, it said. “Amid COVID, from them, the statement said. bids by insurance companies the capital to alternative modes appropriate authorities who may tributes significantly towards the into India from Myanmar and the carriers of the smuggled gold Two other passengers were and award the contract to the of cremation in a stipulated consider the matter as per viabil- air pollution. Referring to another study were being carried to Delhi by are using bus route with premise intercepted by the officials at successful bidder so that the period of time. ity. The tribunal was hearing a “A study titled “Contribution conducted by IIT Kanpur titled passengers travelling in buses via that due to COVID, there would Siliguri (West Bengal) bus station firm can start issuing policy to “We do not find the issue plea filed by Delhi resident of wood based crematoria in “Comprehensive Study on Green Guwahati, Siliguri and Patna,” be fewer checks en route,” the when they were boarding a bus those who have registered for raised to be a substantial ques- Parmod Kumar Bhatia and oth- Carbon dioxide emission and House Gases (GHGs) in Delhi”, the statement issued by the DRI said. Giving details of the bound for Patna and seized from the scheme. The premium of tion of environment to be gone ers seeking alternative methods their clean alternatives” based on the plea said that it looked at 53 DRI's Delhi zonal unit said. cases, the probe agency said two their possession 30 smuggled for- those insurance policies will be into under Section 14 and 15 of of cremation to reduce air pol- a study of 9 sites for a year found cremation sites in Delhi and The gold bars were found to persons were intercepted at eign-origin gold bars, collective- paid by the Delhi government, the National Green Tribunal, Act, lution. The plea, filed through that the total wood consumed found that wood required per have been concealed in special- Jewar toll plaza near Delhi who ly weighing 4.98 kg, it said. In it noted, adding that "there is no 2010,” the bench said. advocate Rahul Choudhary, said from sites was 11,593 tonnes per body for cremation is 216 kg and ly made cavities in the handles were coming by bus from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, two persons, need to delay the process for It said however that the order there are several reports pub- year and the amount of CO2 the emission estimation for 2014 of stroller bags carried by the pas- Guwahati via Siliguri and Patna. who had arrived in Patna by bus lawyers who have already reg- will not debar the applicant lished over the years which show released was equal to 20,422 was calculated as 41,252 tonnes sengers and also hidden inside The officials recovered around from Guwahati (via Siliguri), istered under the scheme". from raising the issue before that wood based cremation con- tonnes,” the plea said. of Carbon dioxide. the underwear/waist belts worn 4.98 kg of smuggled gold bars were intercepted by the officials. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 nation 05 SHORT READS Kharif crop acreage rises over Modi's ‘indiscretions' weakened India, left it vulnerable: Rahul 21% to 692 lakh hectares PNS n NEW DELHI Stepping up his attack on the PNS n NEW DELHI The acreage of pulses government over the LAC reached 81.66 lakh standoff, Congress leader The acreage of total kharif crops hectares against Rahul Gandhi on Friday issued Mayawati asks UP govt in the current sowing season was a video message sharing his to pay special attention reported at 691.86 lakh hectares 61.70 lakh hectares thoughts on why did China as of July 16 which is 21.2 per the previous year, choose to be aggressive now to cleanliness cent higher than the sowing cov- surging by 32.35 per and alleged that Prime Minister LUCKNOW: BSP supremo erage in the corresponding peri- cent against last year. Narendra Modi's "indiscre- Mayawati on Friday claimed that od last year. This is after the The coverage of tions" have weakened the coun- there was lack of sanitation in country received 10 per cent coarse cereals was try and left it vulnerable. COVID facilities set up in the above normal rainfall so far in reported at 115.60 In the video message post- state and expressed fears that the ongoing monsoon season. ed on Twitter, he hit out at the they could emerge as new As per the Union Agriculture lakh hectares against government saying that over centres of the spread of the and Farmers Welfare Ministry 103.00 lakh hectares the last six years, India has infection. She also expressed data, the total kharif crops of last year and been "disturbed and disrupted" into multiple spaces, including time to act and that is why they concern over the plight of have been sown in 691.86 lakh oilseeds at 154.95 with regard to its foreign pol- India's economy and ties with have acted," he alleged. migrant labourers who have hectare area against 570.86 per cent against last year. The which is up by 17.28 per cent. lakh hectares against icy and economy. neighbours and other coun- Noting that countries are returned to their home towns lakh hectare during the corre- coverage of coarse cereals was In case of Jute & Mesta, 6.88 110.09 lakh hectares The video message is the tries, to understand why did protected by a "confluence of after the country-wide lockdown sponding period in previous reported at 115.60 lakh lakh hectare area has been in the same period first of a series initiated by the Chinese choose this partic- forces and systems", he said, "a due to the coronavirus year, thus the coverage area hectares against 103.00 lakh covered against 6.84 lakh Gandhi to share his thoughts ular time to move against country is protected by its outbreak. "The government increased by 21.2 per cent as hectares of last year and hectares of the previous year last year with people on various issues India and violate the Line of foreign relationships, it is pro- needs to pay serious attention compared to last year. oilseeds at 154.95 lakh hectares which is 0.70 per cent higher facing the country. Actual Control (LAC) and tected by its neighbourhood, that most of the COVID centres Farmers have sown paddy, against 110.09 lakh hectares in than the compared period. i.e. departure of (+)10 per cent "Since 2014, the PM's con- what gave them the confi- by its economy, by the feeling set up in UP to check corona the chief kharif crop, in 168.47 the same period last year. So, there is no impact of during the period from June 1 to stant blunders and indiscre- dence to turn so aggressive. that its people have and the virus do not become new lakh hectares against 142.06 Sugarcane area reached Covid-19 on the progress of July 16. As per the report of tions have fundamentally "Today, you have a country vision that its people have." centres of diseases because of lakh hectares last year i.e. which 51.29 lakh hectares against area coverage under kharif CWC, the live water storage weakened India and left us vul- which is economically in trou- Gandhi has attacked the lack of cleanliness and proper is higher by 18.59 per cent. 50.82 lakh hectares of last year. crops so far, the Ministry said available in 123 reservoirs in the nerable. Empty words don't ble; in trouble as far as foreign prime minister and the govern- maintenance," Mayawati said in The acreage of pulses The acreage of cotton was in a statement. country is 150 per cent of live suffice in the world of geopol- policy is concerned; in trouble ment over the India-China a tweet in Hindi. In another reached 81.66 lakh hectares reported at 113.01 lakh As of July 16, actual rainfall storage of corresponding period itics," he alleged in a tweet with its neighbours; and that's border conflict in Ladakh in the tweet, the BSP chief said, "The against 61.70 lakh hectares the hectares against 96.35 lakh received in the country is 338.3 of last year and 133 per cent of along with the video message. why the Chinese have decided past as well and alleged their economic condition of lakhs of previous year, surging by 32.35 hectares of the previous year, mm against normal of 308.4 mm storage of average of last 10 years. Gandhi said one has to go that this is possibly the best "failure" in handling the issue. migrant labourers, who had returned to their homes in UP because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, continues to be very Record single-day surge of bad and now they are forced to India not a weak country, no power in the world wander for their livelihood. This is a matter of grave concern." nearly 35k COVID cases can touch even an inch of its land: Rajnath SC refuses to entertain PNS n NEW DELHI PNS n LUKUNG (LADAKH) PIL for uniform Rajnath singh education system With a record single day surge India is not a weak country of 34,956 cases, India's and no power in the world witnesses military NEW DELHI: The Supreme COVID-19 tally zoomed past can touch even an inch of its Court Friday refused to entertain ten lakh on Friday, just three land, Defence Minister drill in Ladakh a PIL seeking uniform days after it crossed the nine- Rajnath Singh said on Friday PNS n STAKNA (LADAKH) education, having a common lakh mark, according to the as he visited Ladakh to carry syllabus and curriculum for all Union Health Ministry data out a comprehensive review Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the children aged between 6-14 The total coronavirus case- of the security scenario in the Friday witnessed a military drill years, across the country. A load in the country surged wake of the border standoff involving a fleet of attack heli- bench headed by Justice D Y to?10,03,832, while death toll with China. copters, tanks, infantry combat Chandrachud told the petitioner mounted to 25,602 with the Addressing Army and vehicles and ground commandos and BJP leader Ashwini highest number of 687 fatali- ITBP jawans in Lukung, at a high-altitude forward base here. Upadhyay that these are policy ties recorded in a day, the data Singh said talks are under- In the drill, the Army and Air Force matters and cannot be decided updated at 8 am on Friday way to resolve the standoff displayed combat readiness in the by the court. "How can you ask showed in eastern Ladakh, "but to apparent reference to the standoff in multiple loca- region where India and China are the court to merge one board A total of 22,942 people have firmed cases includes foreign- Bengal, 17 from Bihar, 16 from what extent it will be killing of 20 Indian Army tions in eastern Ladakh for engaged in a bitter border standoff. with the other? These are not recuperated in the past 24 ers Jammu and Kashmir, 10 each resolved I cannot guarantee". personnel during the over eight weeks since May A large number of ground com- the functions of the court," the hours, the highest number of This is the sixth consecutive from Telangana and Gujarat "India is not a weak coun- Galwan Valley clashes with 5. mandos, tanks, BMP infantry com- bench observed . While refusing recoveries in a day, taking the day when more than 28,000 and nine from Punjab try. No power in the world Chinese troops on June 15. The tension escalated bat vehicles, Apache, Rudra and to entertain the plea, the bench total number of recovered cases were recorded.?? Rajasthan has reported eight can touch even an inch of Singh arrived in Leh on a manifold after the violent Mi-17 V5 helicopters, took part in said that the petitioner may go to the government with the plea. cases to 6,35,756, while there Of the 687 deaths reported fatalities followed by Madhya India's land," Singh said at a daylong visit, accompanied clashes in Galwan Valley. the drill at Stakna. Troops also car- The PIL has sough directions to are 3,42,473 active COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, 266 are Pradesh with seven deaths, forward post in Ladakh by Chief of Defence Staff However, following a ried out para dropping and slith- look into the feasibility of cases presently from Maharashtra, 104 from Jharkhand four, Haryana three, located on the banks of the General Bipin Rawat and series of diplomatic and mil- ering exercises in the presence of establishing 'One Nation One "Thus, around 63.33 per Karnataka, 69 from Tamil Assam, Kerala and Odisha Pangong Tso lake. Army Chief General MM itary talks, the two sides Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Education Board' by merging cent of patients have recovered Nadu,?58 from Delhi, 40 from two each while Chhattisgarh, "We will not allow the sac- Naravane. began a mutual disengage- General Bipin Rawat and Army the Indian Certificate of so far," an official said Andhra Pradesh, 34 from Goa and Puducherry have reg- rifice of soldiers to go in Indian and Chinese ment process at most of the Chief General MM Naravane. Secondary Education Board and The total number of con- Uttar Pradesh, 23 from West istered a fatality each. vain," Singh said in an troops are locked in a bitter friction points on July 6. the Central Board of Secondary Education. NCPCR seeks report ‘9 successive quarters of Death toll in south Mumbai Newly elected members of on rape case involving newspaper owner economic decline and an building collapse rises to nine RS to take oath on July 22 NEW DELHI: Apex child rights PNS n NEW DELHI member would be allowed only body NCPCR has sought a impending recession': PC PNS n MUMBAI one guest to accompany them at detailed report from Madhya Newly elected members of Rajya the oath-taking ceremony. Rajya Pradesh police in the case of PNS n NEW DELHI The death toll in the building Sabha will take oath on July 22 in Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah alleged rape of minor girls by a collapse in the Fort area of the House chamber, sources said Naidu has decided to this effect, Bhopal-based newspaper Senior Congress leader P Mumbai has gone up to nine, on Friday. This is the first time keeping in view resumption of owner, who has been arrested Chidambaram Friday attacked one of them a 17-year boy who that oath-taking of members will meetings by the Department from Jammu and Kashmir. The the NDA government over its succumbed to his injuries at J J take place in the House chamber Related Parliamentary Standing accused Pyare Miyan (68), who handling of the economy, Hospital here on Friday, civic during the inter-session period so Committees of both Rajya Sabha was on the run after five girls alleging the BJP-led dispensa- officials said. as to maintain norms of physical and Lok Sabha and keen interest and a woman filed complaints tion has caused nine successive Of them, seven, including two distancing due to COVID-19, expressed by the new members of rape against him, was quarters of economic decline women, have died since around officials said. Oath-taking is usu- to participate in such meetings. arrested in Srinagar on and an impending recession in Thursday midnight, while a ally done either during the session Some newly elected/re-elected Wednesday. Miyan has been 2020-21. "Those who scoff at search and rescue operation or in the chamber of the Rajya members of Rajya Sabha like K booked under the Protection of the UPA's record must know was still on at the building crash Sabha Chairman when the House Keshava Rao and Tiruchi Siva are Children from Sexual Offences that economists are laughing (OPHI) Study finds that 270 site in south Mumbai, a business is not in session. Sixty-one mem- the Chairmen of Parliamentary (POCSO) Act and Scheduled at their ignorance and inepti- million Indians were lifted out district, they said. Two persons bers were recently elected to Committees, who, without being Castes and Scheduled Tribes tude," the former finance min- of poverty during 2005-2015. were killed after a corner portion said. The elderly woman was A 17-year-old boy, who was Rajya Sabha from 20 states. administered oath or affirmation, (Prevention of Atrocities) Act ister wrote on Twitter. This, he said, was the peri- of the six-storey building, taken out from the debris and critically injured, also suc- Rajya Sabha officials said each the officials said. among others. The atrocities act He asked as to what the od of UPA-1 and UPA-2, 'Bhanushali', caved in around rushed to the state-run J J cumbed at the J J Hospital in the was invoked as two of the girls NDA government has done which he described as the 4.45 pm on Thursday in the Fort Hospital, where she was declared morning, they said. Two per- who have accused Miyan of since 2015. "Only caused a "golden period" of India's eco- area. Three more persons, who brought dead, they said. sons who were injured in the rape belong to SC/ST decline in economic growth for nomic growth. The UPA ruled were rescued from the site, were Two more persons, a 35-year- collapse are undergoing treat- communities. In a letter, NCPCR 9 successive quarters and an the country from 2004-14. declared dead at the hospital old male and a woman aged 23, ment, the officials said. member Yashwant Jain on impending recession in 2020- Chidambaram was the union around midnight on Thursday, were later pulled of the rubble The ill-fated building had Thursday asked the MP police 21.” The Rajya Sabha MP finance minister from May while a 62-year-old woman died and shifted to the J J Hospital, been partly vacated for repairs whether the other children, who claimed that the Oxford 2004 to November 2008 and on Friday morning, the where they were declared by Maharashtra Housing and were reportedly exploited by the Poverty and Human again from August 2012 to Brihanmumbai Municipal brought dead on Friday after- Area Development Authority accused, have been traced. Development Initiative May 2014. Corporation (BMC) officials noon, the officials said. (MHADA), BMC sources said. Pilot, dissident MLAs get Delhi minorities panel faults police 4-day breather: Speaker's role in Delhi riots targeting Muslims action on hold till Tuesday PNS n NEW DELHI The Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) PNS n JAIPUR Earlier, Speaker C P Joshi had A government-appointed com- written to the court that the mission promoting the rights of said Muslim homes, Sachin Pilot and 18 other notices will not be acted upon India’s religious minorities said shops and vehicles Congress dissident MLAs on till 5 pm on Friday. The coun- police failed to protect Muslims were selectively Friday got a four-day reprieve sel agreed to extend this to 5 pm campaigning against a new cit- targeted during the from any action by the assem- on Tuesday as the court is yet to izenship law during violent riots rioting that erupted bly Speaker on the disqualifica- give an order on the petition. in Delhi this year. tion notices served on them, The petition had challenged At least 53 people, mostly in northeast Delhi in after the Rajasthan High Court the notices based on a Congress Muslims, were killed and more February when extended its hearing on the complaint that the MLAs should than 200 were injured in the protests against the issue to next week. be disqualified from the worst communal violence in the new CAA broke out The division bench of the Rajasthan Assembly for defying Indian capital for decades. across the country court, hearing the dissident a party whip. The clashes erupted amid an MLAs petition against the The court of Chief Justice outcry over a new federal law Commission (DMC) said country. In all, 11 mosques, five Speaker's notices, adjourned Indrajit Mahanty and Justice laying out the path to citizenship Muslim homes, shops and vehi- madrasas or religious schools, a guard minority rights are not Friday evening. It fixed the next Prakash Gupta also asked for six religious groups from cles were selectively targeted Muslim shrine and a graveyard binding. “Seemingly, to crush the hearing for 10 am on Monday. Congress chief whip Mahesh neighbouring countries except during the rioting that erupted were attacked and damaged, a protests, with support of the The counsel for the Speaker Joshi, who had filed the com- Muslims. Critics said the law was in northeast Delhi in February team from the commission said administration and police, a assured the court that no order plaint before the Speaker, to discriminatory and flouted when protests against the new the report released on Thursday. retaliatory plan of pro-CAA pro- shall be passed on the notice till respond to the dissidents' peti- India’s secular constitution. Cititzenship Amendment Act Recommendations made in testers was worked out to trigger 5.30 pm on Tuesday. tion by Saturday. The Delhi Minorities (CAA) broke out across the the commission’s report to safe- violence at a large scale,” it said. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 op nion 06 www.dailypioneer.com facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/ PAPER WITH PASSION Pilot trapped Gehlot continues his leverage with the Congress, brandishing Insights from the ground legislators and now incriminating audio tapes t doesn’t look like conditions are conducive for Sachin Pilot to continue as a Congressman for too Until a viable vaccine is found, finding new ways to cope with the unexpected seems to Ilong, leave aside in Rajasthan, which he had nur- tured as his political karmabhoomi and for which he be our only recourse to brace against the unexpected challenges thrown by the virus is claiming rightful accommodation. And if he is indeed disqualified or declared unattached, should the courts not be happy with his explanation on why he defied diktats for party meetings or why his dissent is free- dom of speech, he would be out in the cold. But he’s not giving up the fight yet. Given the vituperative cam- paign mounted against him, it appears that while he may be a vote-catcher, he is not a power converter ANUPMA MEHTA or as artful a politician as his rival from the old guard, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The Life is not the way it’s supposed to be…. latter continues to have a hold on the legislators and the organisational matrix, some- The way you cope is what makes the thing that had compelled the Congress high command to name him Chief Minister while difference — Virginia Satir. making Pilot his deputy despite the latter shoring up the party’s tally across the State. hen the famous US Gehlot has been trying to drive Pilot away from the very beginning, limiting his pow- family therapist ers. Then came the sedition charge, accusing him of trying to topple the Government Virginia Satir talked in connivance with the BJP during the Rajya Sabha polls, although the Congress won about coping with that round. But it worked as a perfect trap with Pilot walking into it and declaring his life’s adversities, she wasW unlikely to have had images of a freedom from imposed indignities. And now to make sure that his loyalists desert him pandemic like COVID-19 in mind. in a fruitless and asymmetrical battle, Gehlot has released audio recordings of topple But her words have a grim relevance today as we learn to live with the game plans between MLAs close to Pilot and the BJP. The party went so far as to name unforeseen and unprecedented situa- Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in an FIR, saying it had his voice on tape. tion caused by the Coronavirus. A The Congress has suspended rebel MLAs Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh recent telephone survey conducted by from primary membership, a clear signal to Pilot that his fate would be no better. Pilot the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), still denies the overthrow attempts and says he is not joining the BJP but stacked up through its Data Innovation Centre, against a visible show of strength, has little legroom to defend himself. He may appear documents several insightful findings offensive but fact is Gehlot fuelled his impatience and instead of settling intra-party dif- about public behaviour and the health and economic outcomes of both the ferences like the smooth administrator he is, let them fester. The CM has herded a major- virus and the lockdown imposed by ity of the legislators, promised rewards to them and threatened Pilot camp MLAs with the Government to curb its transmis- early April, it was important to of livelihoods due to the closure week prior to the survey. them reporting suspension of disqualification, saying they would stand to lose. And with the police investigation and sion. explore awareness levels about of offices and businesses. More worryingly, as high as activities during the lockdown in The findings explain the surge as the disease and the possible pre- During DCVTS-2, an over- 61 per cent of the respondents May and June and 12 per cent audio clips, he has managed to convince the Congress central leadership that Pilot had most respondents, while adhering to vention measures among the whelming majority of the respon- above the age of 60 years had ven- shutting down completely. indeed overreached his ambitions to the extent of confabulating with the BJP. The stern safety protocols, admit that they took general public. A strange para- dents — 82 per cent —reported tured out of their homes despite Have welfare measures statements endorsing Gehlot’s line of argument coming from Central emissary Randeep advantage of the “unlock” phase to step dox that emerged in the first loss of income or wages, especial- the advisory to elderly people to mitigated financial suffering? out of the house when there was no round was the dissonance ly daily wage workers and remain indoors as they fall in the Apart from documenting the Singh Surjewala is proof enough that Gehlot has again been able to leverage numbers pressing need. At the same time, the between people’s perceptions employees in small businesses. high-risk category. Overall, there adverse impact on incomes and to justify his continuity as a chieftain. This despite certain reconciliatory voices of senior economic trough has been gloomy about the dangers posed by the Further, among these, 72 per cent was a general adherence to the wages, the third round of leaders and the Gandhi scions who held off Pilot from making a rash decision. Gehlot even after opening up with a high per- virus and the possibility they of casual workers complained precautionary measures specified DCVTS also focussed on the centage of the workforce losing jobs or envisaged of getting infected that their incomes and wages had by the Government and health role of Government pro- has also made sure that by embarrassing and calling out the BJP, which was attempt- facing salary cuts. This despite a themselves. suffered “very much”, indicating authorities, with 95 per cent of the grammes and measures to ame- ing a subtle kind of Operation Lotus, and weaning away some MLAs off Pilot, he looks majority going back to work in the While almost 95 per cent of that the brunt of the economic surveyed people affirming that liorate the suffering of the mar- less attractive as an investment. “unlock” phase. them averred that the virus was distress was borne by workers they were wearing masks or face ginalised sections. It was found The survey, titled, The Delhi highly dangerous, as many as 65 from the informal sector. Even coverings while going out; 66 per that a large number of house- The Rajasthan imbroglio shows why the Congress will always be a party of sta- Coronavirus Telephone Survey per cent of them did not expect among the salaried class, 38 per cent reported frequent use of holds — 58 per cent of the total tus quo since its old hawks, who have been allowed to unquestioningly harvest their (DCVTS), was undertaken in Delhi themselves or any of their house- cent of the workers either hand sanitisers; and only 0.8 per surveyed and 61 per cent in own fiefs while humouring the central leadership, will simply not allow any scope for and the National Capital Region hold members to get infected. received truncated salaries or cent of the respondents claimed Delhi alone — were given extra (NCR) in three rounds, between April This sense of confidence in the were relieved of their jobs. that they did not follow any pre- rations through the use of improvement or inspire the young to take over the baton. If any paratrooping attempt 3 and 6; April 23 and 26; and June 15 ability to sidestep the infection Interestingly, and perhaps as caution at all. Aadhaar cards and e-coupons. is made, then they threaten rebellion and given the years of familiarity at the local level, and 23 respectively. The most notable was obviously put to the test after a saving grace, farmers did not Economic repercussions About 35 per cent received cash they have a far stronger federal appeal and strength of personality to fall back upon. finding during the first round of the the easing of the lockdown in seem to be overly affected. Only of COVID-19: In what could transfers from the Government Ask Pilot, who has made inroads but his appeal is just incremental to the resources of survey was the successful communi- June, which has been followed by 34 per cent reported a drop in signify a gradual economic in May and June, taken togeth- cation by the Government of the a massive surge in positive cases incomes during the lockdown. revival post the lockdown, 78 er. While most of the fund Gehlot. He is still a challenger to the chieftain. It shows that even the younger Gandhis, dangers associated with the virus and in Delhi and the adjoining areas. This because most of them were per cent of the households transfers were achieved through Rahul and Priyanka, have no say as Gehlot went ahead with his belligerence despite the consequent need for a stringent Immediate impact of the busy harvesting the Rabi crop reported that their members had Jan Dhan accounts, the their warnings. Gehlot can easily turn himself victim of the younger dynasts, claiming lockdown — nearly 87 per cent of the lockdown: With a complete and doing preparations for the resumed going to the workplace Government also used other respondents asserted their support for shutdown of all activities and Kharif crop during this period. in the second and third weeks of schemes like the Ujjwala Yojana he has always pledged his loyalty to them. And since the States are mostly with the the lockdown to be extended for two commercial establishments Focus on safety measures June. But the trajectory of loss of and PM Kisan programme to old guard, even Rahul and Priyanka are not confident of swinging things their way and more weeks beyond its original end starting March 25, the first during “unlock” Phase I: The livelihoods and incomes for offer financial relief to the affect- assuage the ascendant ambitions of the younger lot. The Young Turks are no longer date of April 14, notwithstanding the phase of the NCAER survey most conspicuous results of the daily wage workers and small ed households. hardships caused by it. indicated that 25 per cent of the NCAER’s DCVTS were businesses reported in the sec- So what does the future por- young, now in their middling 40s and 50s, and are desperate to register some career The study also throws light on rural and 33 per cent of the observed in the third round, ond round of the survey contin- tend? The results of three rounds benchmarks than continue to be faceless foot soldiers. And given India’s changing polit- other aspects of dealing with COVID- urban residents suffered short- which virtually stood at the ued in the third round, too. of the NCAER survey could ical landscape, the dynamism of younger federal leaders and a more performance-dri- 19, including the level of awareness ages of essential items, including cusp between the lockdown Thus, DCVTS-III showed offer some insights to policy among the people about the risks and food supplies, cooking fuel and and phased “unlocking.” that more than 70 per cent of the makers for negotiating the rough ven verve in public discourse, they just don’t want to wait in a queue. The old hawks symptoms of the disease; their threat even medicines. Subsequently, Characterised by the opening up households relying on wage road ahead as we brace to meet are 60 plus themselves and had actually seized the reins of leadership quite young. So perceptions in terms of the chances of however, while shortages of of a range of commercial activ- work and business as the main the persistent challenges of a they will never understand this angst. Perhaps that’s why Rahul himself, frustrated at contracting the virus and their attitudes essential supplies somewhat ities and establishments, this source of income suffered exten- virus that refuses to go away. relating to mandated safety protocols eased when the respondents period in early June was critical sive loss of earnings. A large sec- Until a viable vaccine is found, 50, had stepped down as party president last year. Yes, the old guard wants Rahul back such as hand hygiene, social distanc- were interviewed during the to determine how far people tion of these households was also possibly by next year, turning to as leader, not for any altruistic reason but simply because the old warriors want to use ing and the use of masks. In addition, second round of the survey in were adhering to safety mea- compelled to borrow money to Virginia Satir’s practical advice his surname to shield themselves from taking responsibility for the party’s falling for- it highlights the impact of the lock- the third week of April, people’s sures against the disease. Some counter financial distress. In to find new ways of coping with down on the incomes and livelihoods worries had now squarely shift- level of complacency was wit- fact, medium and small busi- the unexpected seems to be tunes. As for Pilot, he has to lie low for a while than seem power-hungry and even with of all sections of society. ed to the economic impact of the nessed after the “unlocking” as nesses have literally withered our only recourse. his own outfit, clustered around prominent Gujjar votes, he would still have to, at some Pandemic makes inroads: With lockdown. The predominant 73 per cent of the respondents under the onslaught of the eco- (The writer is Consultant point, deal with the BJP. Then he would have to forget chief ministership for 2023 as the virus making nascent inroads concern during this period was reported going out for some rea- nomic earthquake unleashed Editor at NCAER. Views BJP has no less claimants. Meanwhile, the Congress may be missing the woods for into the country during late March and the decline in incomes and loss son during the period of one by the virus, with 52 per cent of expressed are personal) the trees. Trees which stand despite being reduced to stumps. S O U N D BITE Talks are on to resolve A race is fair, the result is valid For democracies and freedom- Give me six months to train, Blowing bubbles the ongoing border only if the starting point was the loving people around the world, let me play three Ranji dispute but I cannot same for every player. If not, the it is an imperative that we push games, I’ll score runs for Are ‘air bubbles’ between nations a way of getting guarantee to what comparison and the ensuing back against the challenge that India in Test cricket. I don’t extent the situation onslaught will take away the dig- the Chinese Communist Party even need six months, give international passenger travel going again? will be resolved. nity of the sport eventually. presents to us all. me three, I will score runs.

ith India having created “air bubbles” with Union Minister Actor US Secretary of State Former Indian captain some countries such as France, the UAE and —Rajnath Singh —Taapsee Pannu —Mike Pompeo —Sourav Ganguly Wthe US and advanced negotiations on with Germany and other nations, it is heartening to see that international commercial air travel is restarting. L E T T E R S T O TH E EDITOR An “air bubble” is a form of a bilateral air traffic agree- Step in right direction has faced an inordinate delay in ment but one that follows the entry rules set by var- China’s Iran gamble costs India dearly its completion. Take the exam- ious nations related to registration and quarantine pro- ple of the Pancheshwar dam pro- tocols. In India, for example, travellers from abroad Sir — The Supreme Court’s his refers to the editorial, “Trouble in Chabahar” ject in Nepal, which has been are still mandated to undergo one week’s institution- order allowing people suffering (July 16). Historically, India and Iran have stood hanging fire since 1991, or the from disabilities the same ben- Tshoulder to shoulder. Be it Kashmir or Babri Masjid, trilateral highway between India, al and a week’s home quarantine. The “air bubbles” efits of relaxation in public edu- Iran has been with us. India, too, reciprocated by Myanmar and Thailand. New also prevent direct “sixth freedom” air traffic, a con- cation and employment as importing its oil requirements from Iran. Chabahar port, Delhi must show the will to con- necting one. International travellers will not, for example, be able to connect through Scheduled Caste/Scheduled a joint project of India, Iran and Afghanistan, is con- front this challenge or be pre- Tribe (SC/ST) candidates is wel- nected with India’s west coast. The initiative signifies pared to pay the price. Dubai or Paris airports while coming to India unless specifically allowed by the Indian come. It is significant because India’s trade outreach to Russia and Central Asia Kirti Wadhawan Government. However, one wonders how an immigration-free zone such as Europe’s until now they used to get relax- bypassing Pakistan. According to a 2016 agreement, Kanpur “Schengen” area will be managed. The increased flights will hopefully see better utili- ations on age limits but not in India was to develop a 628-km rail line from the port marks and in competitive exams to Zahedan along the Afghanistan border. Since India No lockdown, please sation of air fleets and present airlines an opportunity to make some money. However, like civil services. couldn’t effectively circumvent American sanctions on damaging China connection. Chabahar is billed as if experience from India’s domestic flights resuming operations is any indication, the They are often not able to get Iran, the latter decided to go ahead with the line on India’s response to Pakistan’s China-operated Gwadar volume of passengers might be minimal after an initial rush as few people have an urgent the benefit of reservation in edu- its own. Normally, it wouldn’t have been of much port. In due course of time, Chinese investments in Sir — With Coronavirus infec- cation and employment because consequence but for certain geopolitical developments. Iran are likely to render Chabahar irrelevant and may tions near one million, many non-personal reason to travel this time. they do not meet general stan- First, India is getting closer to the US and has also cease to be the centerpiece of Iran’s “Looking to the States have imposed lockdown So these “air bubbles” could be a start as it remains to be seen whether commer- dards. They face multiple barri- stopped buying oil from Iran. Second, Indo-China and East” policy. Our strategic ties with Iran are under the once again in selected areas for cial air traffic can ever re-emerge from the pandemic. For example, many airlines made ers, not just social attitudes but US-China relations are at their worst. China smelt an Dragon’s siege. The agreement cocks a snook at the varying intervals. Earlier lock- barriers in infrastructure, infor- opportunity and seduced Tehran with a $400 billion US and also provides China control over the Iran- downs being an example, neither significant volumes of connecting air traffic but with restrictions as well as the risk-averse mation, communication, admin- cheque. In return, China gets oil at cheap rates. With Pakistan coast. Opening up of a new geopolitical flash- could they yield any positive nature of most people to deal with another large airport, how will airlines like Emirates istration and the judicial system. this, China acquires strategic hold over Iran and also point is, of course, a bonus. result nor could we enhance pre- and Singapore Airlines cope? Emirates, for example, has already retired the earliest of It is the duty of the Government prepares it militarily. SK Prabhakar paredness. Lockdowns can never to enable a level-playing field Iran knocking India out of the rail project has this Gurugram be a permanent answer. It’s time its A380 superjumbo aircraft and laid off thousands of employees as the Indian air traf- where people with disabilities can we make peace with the virus fic that sustained that carrier has vanished overnight. Even storied airlines like British participate on an equal basis and start living with safeguards Airways have announced that they will retire their entire Boeing 747 fleet, joining Australia’s with others. Extending relax- Trouble with Iran India. The Chabahar port itself is regional aspirations. India’s fail- in place. Sanitisers, masks and ations will have wide-ranging of immense strategic value. Not ure to build the rail link between social distancing should be the Qantas and Dutch airline KLM in retiring the “Queen of the Skies.” While airlines high- implications. This will see more only does it promise the develop- the Chabahar port and Zahedan sine qua non. light how safe travel onboard is, drastic reductions in service, thanks to the pandem- disabled people being able to get Sir — This refers to the editori- ment of regional maritime tran- in the stipulated time proved Prathna ic, and the lack of passenger confidence have made certain that many of them will not into careers of their choice. The al, “Trouble in Chabahar” (July sit traffic between India, Iran, costly. Via email mind is still supreme. 16). Iran’s decision to drop India Afghanistan and Central Asia but But this isn’t the first time re-emerge from the crisis. Bubbles or not, the aviation industry itself sits on a precar- Ravi Teja Kathuripalli out of the Chabahar rail project is important from the business that an ambitious overseas infra- Send your feedback to: ious bubble. Hyderabad has come as a major setback for point of view as it helps us fulfil structure development project [email protected] VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com analysis 07 FIRSTCOLUMN Polls can wait, POINTCOUNTERPOINT I HAVE FAITH IN THE GOVERNMENT BUT IN THE INTEREST THERE IS NO NEED TO GIVE THE CASE TO THE CBI. OUR Bihar cannot OF JUSTICE, I REQUEST YOU (AMIT SHAH) TO INITIATE A POLICE OFFICERS ARE CAPABLE AND ARE CONDUCTING CBI ENQUIRY INTO SUSHANT’S SUDDEN DEATH. THE INVESTIGATION IN THE RIGHT WAY. It is time the EC, the Centre and State governments —ACTOR —MAHARASHTRA HOME MINISTER and political parties rise to the occasion and put RHEA CHAKRABORTY ANIL DESHMUKH the welfare of Bihar and its people first Games politicos play SARVESH TIWARI The way in which the anti-defection law has been brazenly thwarted calls for its review, including the ncertainty over controlling the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing globally and in India, too, with the Centre and State need to debar anyone from becoming a Minister without first getting elected to the legislature UGovernments being clueless about handling the outbreak and the socio-economic challenges arising from it. At a time like this, who wants an election in Bihar or anywhere else in the country, for that matter? However, the ruling NDA has other ideas and is going ballistic about the elections despite its dismal performance in man- aging the situation arising out of the outbreak. With the lowest test- ing rate in the country and the infection spreading fast, Bihar will soon have more than 10,000 active cases, as it registered 1,385 new infections on July 16, taking the number of active cases up to 7,289. The State will very soon be dealing with the floods that usu- ally happen during the monsoon season, and as if that is not enough, the Government has failed to control the annual outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome popularly known as chamki bukhar. Several DEVENDER SINGH ASWAL children have already died of it. Right now, the priority of the Government should be saving lives he high political theatre in Rajasthan and and providing livelihoods to migrant labourers who were forced to earlier in Madhya Pradesh has yet again brought to the fore the efficacy or other- travel 1,200 km and more on foot when they were left to fend for T wise of the anti-defection law enshrined in the themselves by their employers in the metro cities. Reduced to liv- Constitution by the 52nd Amendment, which was ing in wretched conditions and unsure of the future, it is the duty later further amended by the 91st Constitution of the Government to plan for them. What we see, however, is the (Amendment) Act, in 2003. The sum and sub- thirst to cling to power and rush the State into an election due to stance of these constitutional amendments is that the NDA’s confidence in its political arithmetic, even as the pandem- a member of the legislature, whether of the Union ic shows no signs of abating. or the State Legislature, shall be disqualified, if While the Election Commission (EC) has conducted polls on a s/he is disqualified under the Tenth Schedule. The much bigger scale in the world’s largest democracy with great effi- precise grounds for disqualification of a legisla- ciency, the current circumstances come with unprecedented chal- tor, as per the Tenth Schedule are, if s/he has vol- untarily given up his/her membership of such lenges. First, the EC will have to ensure strict implementation of the political party, or if s/he votes or abstains from guidelines for preventing the spread of the contagion. This itself is voting in the House contrary to the direction or going to be a major problem for the EC to solve. Here, technology the whip issued by the political party s/he is a can be of some help, but given the fact that Electronic Voting Machines member of. have invited doubts in the past, a new technological intervention will However, in the case of merger of not less than find few takers, especially in a backward and politically-charged State two-thirds of the members of the legislative party like Bihar. Disinfecting polling centres, enforcing physical distanc- with another party, the anti-defection law will not THE LAW OF ing, provision of gloves and masks, use of hand sanitisers and pro- apply. The competent authority to decide the ques- tion of disqualification is the presiding officer, the DEFECTION, viding separate enclosures for voters with temperature are bare essen- IN A WAY, tials when Coronavirus cases are rising alarmingly across the coun- Chairman/Speaker, which, after the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Kihoto Hollohan vs. CAN BE LIKENED try, barring a few States. The elections may spread over a much Zachilhu and others, case in 1992, can be a sub- TO THE THREE whether they promote democratic, col- MLAs loyal to him. This brought about Minister in 1996. He was elected to the longer period of time and may require not only a huge deployment ject of judicial review. PRINCIPLES OF legial or high command-centric leader- the fall of Kamal Nath and the reinstate- Rajya Sabha. In February 1995, Pranab of security forces but also of healthcare staff in the hinterland. The burning question is whether Sachin Pilot, CRIMINAL ship — is their internal matter on which ment of Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Mukherjee, not an MP then, was sworn Many have given the example of elections in South Korea. It is Congress MLA in the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, JURISPRUDENCE they flourish or perish in course of time. BJP as the Chief Minister. in as Minister and he briefly held the an unfair comparison because of the population factor alone. While has incurred disqualification under the Tenth WHICH REQUIRE In an all-India political party, inherent- Scindia later joined the BJP with his External Affairs portfolio but could not the State of Bihar has a population of nearly 10 crore, the east Asian Schedule. He has been removed from the post TWIN TESTS OF ly, there will be internal struggle among supporters on March 11. But in a be elected to Parliament due to a certain nation has just 5.16 crore people. Plus, the state of South Korea’s of Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and the MENS REA AND the leaders for higher positions. brazen mockery of the Constitution, 14 tussle with the then redoubtable TN infrastructure and logistical preparedness, credible technological tools post of Pradesh Congress Committee president, ACTUS REUS IN Eventually, it is the survival of the fittest, MLAs of the 22 Scindia loyalists, who Seshan, the Chief Election and level of education and development make it a different ball game for breaching party discipline. There were reports i.e. the leader who garners maximum had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha, Commissioner of India. Mukherjee of the Rajasthan Congress legislative party hav- ORDER TO support within the party. Yet, such a were inducted into the Council of had to resign and he was later made the altogether. Bihar generally witnesses a high voter turnout. However, CONSTITUTE A the intensity of participation in the present scenario is anybody’s ing issued showcause notices to Pilot and his loy- leader cannot last long if he is autocrat- Ministers in the second Cabinet expan- Deputy Chairman of the Planning alist legislators to explain why disciplinary action CRIMINAL ic, exceedingly self-centred and under- sion. Of the 34 Ministers, including the Commission by Narasimha Rao. In the guess and will be quite a blow to the basic duty of the EC, that all should not be initiated against them for defying OFFENCE. mines the dignity of his colleagues and Chief Minister, 14 are Scindia loyalists, same way, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, a voters must cast their vote, freely and fearlessly. the party. Pilot surprised everyone by moving MERE party functionaries who gave their creating acrimony within the BJP. What career Indian Foreign Service officer, The electoral blitzkrieg unleashed by the BJP hasn’t gone down court and the Division Bench of the Rajasthan PROBABILITY sweat and blood to build the matrix. is most intriguing is that these 14 was inducted into the Narendra Modi well with the people of the State who are lamenting the poor COVID- High Court has taken up the petition filed by him OF DEFECTION In Rajasthan, there is a political Scindia loyalist Ministers are not mem- Cabinet and later elected to the Rajya 19 arrangements and general administrative apathy towards the han- and 18 MLAs against the disqualification notices CANNOT BE A limbo for the moment and the ball is bers of the Vidhan Sabha. Articles Sabha. dling of the outbreak. Take for example, Nautan village in Champaran issued to them by Assembly Speaker CP Joshi. The GROUND FOR now in the court of Pilot. It is up to him 75(5) and 164(4), couched in almost But in Madhya Pradesh, this district. Here the quarantine centre is in a very bad shape and lacks court has not allowed any action against the leader DISQUALIFICATION, whether he resigns along with his fellow identical words, provide that “a Minister enabling mechanism was used whole- basic necessities like fans and bulbs. The state of hygiene and toi- and the MLAs till Tuesday. MLAs from the Congress Party and the who for any period of six consecutive sale to promote a political rift, create a The fact remains that every party is empow- EXCEPT THAT A legislature and contests another election months is not a member of the split and engender the downfall of an lets is pathetic and people are staying there in deplorable conditions. POLITICAL PARTY I am saying this authoritatively as I was personally involved in tak- ered under its constitution to enforce discipline by forming a new party or joins the Legislature of the State, shall at the expi- elected Government. Obviously, no dis- within its ranks for the larger objective of attain- CAN EXPEL SUCH mainstream rival party, which of course ration of that period, cease to be a qualification was incurred, so to speak, ing care of the labourers who returned to the State and failed to receive ing its political goal. No doubt, without discipline, MEMBERS he has openly ruled out. Minister.” Now these 14 Ministers will on the ground of defection. But the any help from the Government. The Centre and State should be vig- political parties would be reduced to a mere horde FROM THE To acquire power “is a general have to get elected before the expiry of question is much larger, as it involves the ilant and improve conditions in places like these. Test kits and Personal of power-hungry people without any sound polit- LEGISLATURE inclination of mankind, a perpetual, rest- six months from the date they were spirit of the anti-defection law. The Protective Equipment are in short supply. Voices talking of misap- ical moorings and identity. The moot point is PARTY less desire that ceases only in death.” To sworn in. Constitution (52nd Amendment) was propriation of funds and graft are getting louder in the State which whether the Congress Party can get Pilot and his nurture ambition is not prohibited by the The Constitution provides an enacted to curb the evil of defection, is yet to see community-level checking of infections. loyalist legislators disqualified under the anti- anti-defection law which only seeks to enabling mechanism to induct talent in considering it a serious threat under- This is an opportunity to bring people together, create social defection law. Apparently, Pilot and his fellow curb the evil of unprincipled defection. the Council of Ministers if it is not avail- mining the very foundations of democ- bonhomie and a social alliance cutting across caste lines. This is MLAs have neither defected, nor voted or Interestingly, politics, being a river, able within the duly-elected legislature. racy and the lofty principles which sus- the time to show solidarity with businessmen who have suffered abstained from voting against the party whip in is not always the same. In Madhya There have been many instances in the tain it. losses, labourers who have returned home in penury but have acquired the Vidhan Sabha. The law of defection, in a way, Pradesh, Congress Chief Minister Kamal past, especially at the Union level, when The manner in which the intent of can be likened to the three principles of crimi- Nath had to resign when he saw the non-members were made Ministers the anti-defection law has been brazen- some skill and experience working in the metros. There are enough nal jurisprudence which require twin tests of mens writing on the wall, which made it clear and later they were elected to the Lok ly thwarted calls for its review, includ- funds with the Government and re-engaging them only requires polit- rea and actus reus in order to constitute a crim- that he had lost majority support in the Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For instance, ing the need to debar anyone from ical will. This is the right time to ignite the latent constructive ener- inal offence. Mere probability of defection can- Vidhan Sabha. What happened was PV Narasimha Rao was not a Member becoming a Minister without first get- gy of Bihar. It is time the EC, the Centre and State governments and not be a ground for disqualification, except that inconceivable but its roots lay in the of Parliament (MP) when he was sworn ting elected to the legislature and debar- political parties rise to the occasion and put the welfare of Bihar and a political party can expel such members from autocratic, exclusionary and factional in as the Prime Minister of the country. ring such members from contesting elec- its people above all. There are enough constitutional provisions that the legislature party. Such members can be politics of the Chief Minister. He later contested from Nandyal in tions for at least three years. make way for polls later. Hopefully, the pandemic would be under declared as “unattached” by the Speaker but can- Jyotiraditya Scindia, disgruntled Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and (The writer is former Additional greater control and Bihar, too, would be better prepared to hold the not be disqualified in view of the clear legal pro- with the Congress Party, accused it of got elected to the Lok Sabha. Secretary Lok Sabha, an author and elections by then. vision. “rampant corruption” and resigned Similarly, Deve Gowda was not an writes on constitutional and parliamen- (The writer is a Bihar-based politician and political analyst) How political parties govern themselves — from the Vidhan Sabha along with 22 MP when he was sworn in as the Prime tary matters.) Food policy must focus on quality, not quantity FOREIGN EYE India must abandon policies that prioritise staple foodgrains above all other crops. It must diversify its food systems

India’s agricultural sector produces child stunting, micronutrient malnu- affordable for impoverished people. accessible and affordable, it will also tural policies. Additionally, food more than enough foodgrain but fails trition is endemic. The needle on To achieve this goal, continued high- increase farmers’ incomes, empower- assistance programmes should be to meet demand for vegetables, puls- progress in the reduction of child level investments in agricultural ing households to devote more reformed to offer more nutritious es and other nutrient-rich foods. stunting has hardly budged over the infrastructure and research are need- resources to nutritious foods. foods. Household diet preferences If the country is to make good on decades, with 43.3 million stunted ed to sustain past gains in productiv- Farmers with small holdings also suggest a move away from staple its commitment under the United children in the country. Even as the ity growth and exploit new opportu- need support to overcome steep grains but the Public Distribution A CRISIS IN Nations’ second Sustainable nation struggles to tackle these prob- nities for growth, such as the renewed transaction costs due to low System (PDS) is still limited to wheat Development Goal (SDG) to achieve lems, it faces an emerging threat in the interest in millet and pulses. India economies of scale, poor market and rice. By building the market infra- THE MAKING PRABHU PINGALI zero hunger and provide access to rapidly rising number of adults who must re-orient agricultural policy connectivity, low bargaining power, structure to support the production The union is in jeopardy if nutritious food for all, India must are overweight or obese, and conse- away from its traditional focus on sta- and inadequate information about and procurement of non-staples, the Prime Minister Boris o successful have India’s food abandon policies that prioritise sta- quently, in the prevalence of non- ples and towards enhancing the pro- prices and quality standards. Government can diversify the PDS to policies been that the country has ple foodgrains above all other crops. communicable diseases (NCDs). ductivity and supply of coarse cere- This is particularly true for per- include nutritious foods like coarse Johnson treats Scottish Sregular bumper crops of wheat It must diversify its food systems and Much of the disparity in nutri- als, pulses, fruits, vegetables and live- ishable products like fruits and veg- grains and pulses. concerns over Brexit as and rice. For instance, the nation’s focus not on the quantity it produces, tional outcomes in India can be stock products. etables, which are among the most The zero-hunger challenge is a casually as he treats foodgrain production is estimated to but the quality. traced back to different levels and A successful re-orientation of nutrient-rich. By investing in rural multi-sectoral task and requires everything else. The have touched a record 295.67 million This is the conclusion of a newly- rates of development among the the agricultural policy on the nation- market infrastructure, enacting mar- explicit strategies for convergence of likelihood that he will tonne in the 2019-20 crop year (June- published study, the 2020 Food, States. In the underdeveloped, agri- al level will require solutions at the ket reforms and supporting policies and programmes across July) — the fourth-consecutive year Agriculture and Nutrition in India, culturally-unproductive States of cen- local level. Localised cropping systems farmer aggregation, India can enable Ministries at the Central, State and blunder into a constitutional that the country has witnessed record that provides a detailed analysis of the tral and eastern India, cereal grains across the country must be rethought its small-holding farmers to local government levels. Breaking out crisis in Scotland and production — buoyed by good rains, state of hunger and malnutrition in dominate diets and rates of undernu- to boost productivity and increase improve their livelihoods while pro- of disciplinary and organisational silos weaken the union with according to Agriculture Ministry’s the nation. Using district-level data trition and micronutrient deficiencies crop diversity while prioritising sus- ducing more diverse agricultural is crucial for ensuring success. rhetoric that stokes an latest data. This is up by 10.46 mil- and maps, the report highlights stark are high. States in the north and south tainability. For example, in eastern products. Achieving zero hunger in India is lion tonnes from the previous year. geographical differences in the extent of the country, with developed agri- India, where staple agriculture is less Research also shows that empow- a significant challenge but can be met English nationalist backlash Yet despite this major success in of the hunger problem and identifies cultural sectors and thriving manu- productive on account of poor infra- ering women to play a greater role in if the country re-orients its policies to is high. He does not want to producing India’s staple foodgrain, potential paths forward. facturing and services industries, structure and agro-climatic condi- agriculture and household decision- unleash the full, untapped potential be recorded in history as the and in part because of it, nearly 210 Over the last four decades, the have lower rates of undernutrition, tions, less water-intensive crops, such making improves nutrition outcomes. of the agricultural sector, with an man who broke the UK, but million Indians remain under-nour- country has made significant progress but high rates of obesity. as pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds, Likewise, improving infrastructure for emphasis on producing nutritious, there is no sign that he has a ished, and many more suffer from in reducing hunger, at least in terms Addressing both ends of the should be adopted. clean water and sanitation leads to non-staple crops. other forms of malnutrition, like of meeting the minimum calorie malnutrition spectrum requires Not only will such changes better health and nutrition results. (The writer is Founding Director, strategy for avoiding the micronutrient deficiencies and obe- requirements. However, as evidenced enhanced availability and access to increase India’s supply of nutrient-rich These strategies should be pursued in Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture confrontation. sity. The crux of the problem is that most clearly in the high prevalence of diverse and nutritious foods that are foods, helping to make them more conjunction with changes in agricul- and Nutrition) (The Guardian editorial) VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 money 08 CAPSULE States' market borrowings Investors Clinic ties up with NCR realty firms skyrocket this fiscal: Report n PNS NEW DELHI PNS n MUMBAI which is the combined debt of Around 5 lakh Front-loading of market loans has been the Centre and the states has Property brokerage firm customers are The states, reeling from mas- on the back of the Centre relaxing the increased from 30.9 per cent in Investors Clinic on Friday estimated to be Granules India Q1 sive revenue losses due to ways and means advances norms to FY15 to 35.1 per cent in FY20, said it has tied up with four coronavirus lockdowns, have says the agency's chief economist NCR-based realty firms to stuck in about net profit rises 34 front-loaded their borrowings manage cash-flow mismatches due to Madan Sabnavis. States are fac- offer fresh housing and 1,500 stalled pc to Rs 111.4 cr by a whopping 76 per cent so the pandemic, said a report ing a dual challenge of address- commercial units to dis- housing projects far this fiscal to Rs 1.93 lakh ing the current health crisis and tressed customers who are NEW DELHI: Drug firm crore, says a report. per cent between FY15 and advances, loans from the Centre, simultaneously managing their stuck in stalled real estate across the Granules India on Friday Front-loading of market FY20, notes the report. provident funds, reserve funds finances amidst the pandemic as projects. country reported a 33.87 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to loans has been on the back of The outstanding debt has and other contingency funds. the nationwide lockdowns and The amount invested by Around 5 lakh customers Rs 111.44 crore for the the Centre relaxing the ways almost doubled in the last five The ratio of states' outstand- the extended state-level lock- customers in the stalled pro- are estimated to be stuck in quarter ended June 30, 2020, and means advances norms to years to Rs 52.6 lakh crore and ing debt to total internal debt, downs have adversely impacted jects will be accounted for about 1,500 stalled housing that ready-to-move-in or mainly on account of robust manage cash-flow mismatch- the annual spike their revenues, he said without and adjusted in the pur- projects across the country. near-completion properties sales. The company had es due to the pandemic, says a rate is much faster quantifying how much is the rev- chase price of new proper- The NCR market is worst hit will be offered in projects of posted a net profit of Rs 83.24 report by Care Ratings. than the Centre's enue loss. "The cumulative ties, it said. because of non-delivery of four builders -- Supertech, crore for the corresponding In addition, the Centre has outstanding effect of this is likely to increase The existing home loans, projects by developers like Migsun, Bhutani and Home period of the previous financial also relaxed the fiscal deficit internal debt the overall outstanding debt of all if any, in the stuck proper- Unitech, Jaypee group and & Soul -- to customers year, Granules India said in a target from 3 to 5 per cent. which clipped the states which stood at Rs 52.6 ties will be closed and a Amrapali. under 'Property Swap' filing to the BSE. Its "Between April 1 and July at 10 per cent lakh crore in FY20,” he warned. fresh loan can be availed Noida-based Investors scheme. More developers consolidated revenue from 14, the states' market borrow- during the There was a steep double-digit while purchasing new units. Clinic said in a statement may join the scheme. operations stood at Rs 735.59 ings have jumped to Rs 1.93 same period. growth of 19 per cent in FY16 crore for the quarter under lakh crore, which is 76 per cent Outstanding followed by 18.4 per cent in consideration. "This is the higher than the corresponding debt of the states FY17 and this can be ascribed to period last fiscal year,” says the includes market bor- funds raised by a few states FIDC seeks result of operational excellence ‘IBA working on ease of and a vigilant watch over our report. rowings, power sector-spe- through the UDAY bonds, margins through optimisation The aggressive borrowings cific Ujwal DISCOM which was applicable during dedicated of the product mix and by will further shoot up the out- Assurance Yojana (UDAY) FY16 and FY17, along with the increased capacities and standing debt of all the states bonds, funds borrowed from the aggressive borrowing to the banking on lending side’ fund for NBFCs optimal capacity utilisation," which has more than doubled to National Social Security Fund, tune of over 40 per cent from n n Granules India Chairman and Rs 52.6 lakh crore in FY20, banks, and other financial insti- banks and financial institutions, PNS NEW DELHI PNS NEW DELHI MD Krishna Prasad growing at an annual rate of 14.3 tutions, ways and means according to the agency. Chigurupati said. The Indian Banks' Association The Finance Industry (IBA) is working on bringing Development Council ease of banking on the lend- (FIDC), a representative body Sensex ing side and is also focussing of non-banking finance com- 19.84L flyers flew domestically in June, on swift decision making amid panies, has written to Finance the COVID-19 crisis, its CEO Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rallies 548 pts Sunil Mehta said on Friday. for allocation of a dedicated load factor of airlines remained low Member banks are working Sunil Mehta fund to Nabard or Sidbi for PNS n MUMBAI on digitisation of loan prod- on-lending to small and PNS n NEW DELHI ucts so that the human inter- of algorithm based decision medium sized NBFCs that Ola converts Occupancy rate Equity benchmark Sensex vention is minimised in the making platform can be are facing liquidity chal- A total of 19.84 lakh passen- or load factor rallied 548 points on Friday, process of loan, he said. extended towards the entire lenges. The industry body fumigation centres gers travelled domestically in buoyed by gains in index- "Ease of banking is one of loan life cycle with the objec- has also requested that the into safety zones June this year, which is 83.5 per for five out of heavyweights Reliance the key agenda of IBA and tive of reducing physical inter- funds should be given in the NEW DELHI: Cab aggregator cent lower than the figures of six major Indian Industries, HDFC twins, bankers are thinking through face. He further said ease of form of term loans with a Ola has converted its the corresponding period last airlines was ICICI Bank and HUL. this. Bankers have to think transaction has already taken tenure of three-five years. fumigation centres into safety year, the DGCA said on Friday. between 50 and After trading on a positive about swifter delivery. Banks place as one can do it with a It said though the govern- zones to help drivers take care Moreover, the occupancy note through the day, the 30- are converting this pandemic click of button. ment has announced various of all the safety prerequisites rate or load factor for five out 60% in June share BSE Sensex ended in opportunity for digitisation "Banking has transformed measures to provide liquidi- for their rides amid COVID-19 of six major Indian airlines was 548.46 points, or 1.50 per of their loan products...6 during the last 10 years and it ty support to the non-bank- pandemic. The company has between 50 and 60 per cent in cent, higher at 37,020.14. months from now you will is going to transform further ing sector, the situation for announced Rs 500 crore June 2020, it said. AirAsia India and Air India - domestic flights. Similarly, the NSE Nifty find more digital lending and these improvements are small and medium sized commitment towards various "The passenger load factor - in the month of June stood at A total of 2.81 lakh air pas- surged 161.75 points, or 1.51 products and help in ease of really needed. Bankers are NBFCs has not changed sig- safety initiatives, and plans to in the month of June 2020 has 60.7 per cent, 57.9 per cent, sengers had travelled domes- per cent, to close at 10,901.70. banking," he said. working on it," he said at a nificantly and they continue set up over 500 fumigation shown a sharp decline due to 56.6 per cent, 56.5 per cent and tically between May 25 and ONGC was the top gain- Citing 'psbloansin59min- webinar organised by to face difficulties in raising centres across the country limited air operations because 56.5 per cent, respectively, as May 31, the DGCA had said er in the Sensex pack, rally- utes' portal, he said, this kind Assocham. funds. under its 'Ride Safe India' of the COVID-19 outbreak," per the DGCA. last month. ing 5.52 per cent, followed by initiative in view of the the Directorate General of India resumed domestic The DGCA data mentioned Titan, Reliance Industries, pandemic, the company said Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. passenger flights on May 25 that Vistara had the best on- HDFC Bank and Bajaj in a statement. "In many ways, The occupancy rate in after a gap of two months amid time performance at four Finance. SAP appoints Kulmeet Bawa as our driver-partners are SpiceJet was 68 per cent in June the coronavirus pandemic. metro airports - Bengaluru, On the other hand, TCS, operating like frontline this year. However, the occu- Indian airlines are allowed to Delhi, Hyderabad and Nestle India, Infosys, HCL workers and are facilitating pancy rate for other major air- operate a maximum of 45 per Mumbai - at 96.1 per cent in Tech and Axis Bank were the essential mobility for citizens lines -- IndiGo, GoAir, Vistara, cent of their pre-COVID June. laggards. President, MD Indian subcontinent across the country. We are committed to providing them PNS n NEW DELHI become intelligent enterprises access to high-quality and SAP is committed to sup- solutions," Ola spokesperson Tech major SAP SE on Friday port customers and help them Anand Subramanian said. Rupee settles 16 paise higher at 75.02 against $ said it has appointed Kulmeet transform, scale and win, The safety zones follow Bawa as President and Russell said. various procedures, including PNS n MUMBAI the US dollar, gaining 16 75.50. Traders kept a age through coronavirus out- Managing Director for SAP "We are confident that cab audits to ensure availability paise over its previous wary eye on China's break will keep the risk appetite Indian subcontinent, effective Kulmeet's track record of a of safety equipment. The rupee appreciated 16 paise close. trade relations with the intact". Meanwhile, the dollar July 20. customer-centric approach, his to close at 75.02 (provisional) It had settled at 75.18 United States and this index, which gauges the green- Bawa will be responsible focus on people and effective against the US dollar on Friday against the US dollar caution will limit the back's strength against a basket for driving and delivering an team-work, coupled with deep tracking positive domestic on Thursday. fall in USD/INR, of six currencies, fell 0.13 per exceptional SAP experience Kulmeet Bawa industry knowledge, will pro- equities and weakening During the ses- said Rahul Gupta, cent to 96.22. for employees and customers pel SAP India to continued American currency. sion, the rupee wit- Head of Research- On the domestic equity mar- across our ecosystem, as well report directly to Scott Russell, success," he added. At the interbank forex mar- nessed an intra-day Currency, Emkay ket front, the 30-share BSE as guide businesses in India, President of SAP Asia Pacific Most recently, Bawa was ket, the domestic unit had high of 74.98 and a low Global Financial benchmark Sensex was trading Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to Japan (APJ), it added. the Chief Operating Officer for opened on a weak note but of 75.25 against the US dol- Services. 306.35 points higher at adopt a digital-first mindset, The current pandemic envi- Resulticks where he led the soon recouped the losses amid lar. Gupta further said that "cor- 36,778.03 and broader NSE the company said in a state- ronment requires companies growth strategy and execution HCC-Dilip Buildcon high volatility and finally set- The USD/INR spot traded porate dollar inflows and gov- Nifty rose 89.20 points to ment. to take swift action and accel- of go-to-market for the organ- JV bags Rs 1,900 cr tled for the day at 75.02 against in the broader range of 74.85- ernment fiscal stimulus pack- 10,829.15. Based in Gurugram, he will erate digital transformation to isation. contract from NHAI MUMBAI: Engineering firm HCC has said its joint venture with Dilip Buildcon has Britannia Industries Q1 profit jumps HCL Tech Q1 net profit up 31.7 pc at Rs 2,925 cr received a Rs 1,900 crore NHAI contract for design and PNS n NEW DELHI from Rs 18,590 crore in March construction of a 22-km road over two fold to Rs 542.68 crore HCL Technologies, 2020. In constant currency to link Jharkhand and Bihar. IT firm HCL Technologies on which had posted terms, HCL Tech's revenue in The Rs 1,900 crore road PNS n NEW DELHI lockdowns imposed to curtail its Friday posted 31.7 per cent rise a net profit of Rs June 2020 quarter grew 1 per project, which will include a spread. Factories, depots, trans- in consolidated net profit in cent year-on-year. four-lane bridge over the Britannia Industries on Friday port and vendors across the sup- June 2020 quarter at Rs 2,925 2,220 crore in the "We started the year in the Ganga river, will connect reported over two-fold ply chain were impacted.” crore, and said it expects to see April-June 2019 middle of a global health cri- Sahibganj bypass in increase in consolidated prof- As soon as the lockdown was a positive growth trajectory in quarter (as per US sis and I had said we expect Q1 Jharkhand to Manihari bypass it at Rs 542.68 crore for the eased, he said the company the coming quarters on the to be soft and it played out as in Bihar, Hindustan quarter ended June 30, 2020, focussed on getting distribution back of strong deal pipeline. to be MD of the company with GAAP) anticipated... Not all of this dip Construction Company said in on the account of higher in the year-ago quarter, back to the pre-COVID-19 lev- The Noida-based company designation as Chief Strategy is attributed to COVID-19, a statement. HCC's share in income. The company had Britannia Industries said in a els and increasing its rural and also announced that its Officer, HCL Technologies this fiscal. some of this reduction was due the joint venture is 26 per cent posted a profit of Rs 248.64 regulatory filing. hinterland reach. “On the cost founder, Shiv Nadar has said. The company's revenue to offshoring of large deals or to the extent of Rs 494 crore in the corresponding Britannia Industries front, we witnessed moderate stepped down from the HCL Technologies, which grew 8.6 per cent to Rs 17,841 envisioned in the previous crore, it said. The scope of the quarter of the previous fiscal. Managing Director Varun Berry inflation in the prices of key raw Chairman's position, and his had posted a net profit of Rs crore in the quarter under year. HCL has executed the last work envisages construction Total income during the peri- said: “The quarter posed an materials and expect the prices daughter, Roshni Nadar 2,220 crore in the April-June review from Rs 16,425 crore in quarter on almost all dimen- of 15.885 km new link (NH- od under review stood at Rs uphill task for the economy in to be stable going forward given Malhotra will succeed him as 2019 quarter (as per US the corresponding quarter last sions," HCL Technologies 133B), including 6 km long 3,514.35 crore, up 26.97 per wake of COVID-19 and caused the positive outlook on mon- the Chairperson of the Board. GAAP), will not offer any year. On a sequential basis, the President and CEO C Ganga bridge. cent, as against Rs 2,767.8 crore significant disruptions due to soon and harvest,” he said. Shiv Nadar would continue salary increments to its staff topline was lower by 4 per cent Vijayakumar said. Asian stock prices mixed Tomar asks farmers to register under PMFBY PNS n NEW DELHI bank, Primary Agricultural regular SMS on their registered Tomar said the Credit Society, Common mobile numbers," he noted. after Wall Street slips Agriculture Minister Narendra enrolment of Service Centre (CSC), Village The Centre has made the PNS n BEIJING Singh Tomar on Friday asked Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), scheme voluntary for all the farmers to come forward to farmers under the Office of Agriculture farmers from Kharif-2020 sea- Asian stock markets were register under the crop insur- PMFBY for the Department or Representative son onwards. Earlier, the mixed Friday after Wall Street ance scheme PMFBY before ongoing Kharif- of Insurance Company to get scheme was compulsory for all closed lower amid uncertain- the last date and get a protec- enrolled. the loanee farmers. ty about the US economic tion against kharif 2020 crop 2020 season is Farmers also have options to "Now, farmers with loan outlook. loss due to unforeseen natural going on in full get enrolled through the dues can opt out of the scheme Shanghai and Tokyo retreat- calamities. swing across the National Crop Insurance Portal by submitting a simple decla- ed while Hong Kong and Seoul Tomar said the enrolment of country (NCIP) or Crop Insurance ration to their bank branch advanced. That followed a day farmers under the Pradhan Narendra Singh Tomar App, he said. seven days before the cut-off of declines on weak Chinese Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana The minister asked farmers date of enrolment," Tomar retail spending data. (PMFBY) for the ongoing Centre has made enrolment result of natural disasters. to carry Aadhaar number, bank said. Overnight, Wall Street's Kharif-2020 season is going on free for all the farmers who Since the launch of the passbook, land record/tenancy Under the scheme, farmers benchmark S&P-500 index in full swing across the coun- only need to pay a premium scheme in 2016, farmers paid agreement, and self-declaration can get their food crops (cere- lost 0.3% after reports includ- try and urged more farmers to amount now, he added. a premium of Rs 13,000 crore certificate to complete the als and oilseeds) insured at a ing one showing more layoffs. take benefit of the scheme. Through a video message, but they received claims to the enrolment process. minimal premium rate of 2 per “This may indicate nothing leg,” Robert Carnell of ING the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost The cut-off date for the the minister appealed to all tune of Rs 64,000 crore, he said. "This season, all farmers cent of sum insured, and com- more than a short pause for said in a report. 0.3% to 22,696.42. The Hang ongoing Kharif 2020 season in farmers to protect themselves Any farmer who wishes to enrolled under the scheme mercial and horticulture crops repositioning, or minor correc- The Shanghai Composite Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.4% few states and union territories against financial loss due to get enrolled under the PMFBY will be intimated about the sta- at 5 per cent of sum insured in tion before the next upward Index fell 0.5% to 3,190.15 and to 25,074.61. may end by July 31, 2020. The crop failures/damages as a should contact his nearest tus of their application through Kharif 2020. Follow us on @TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/ dailypioneer

Saturday July 18, 2020

CRAFT BEER, carbs and hence, calories. In THE NEW RAGE view of an increasing demand for such drinks, a The Indian beer market lot of brewers have come up has also been experiencing with their versions of zero the trend of microbreweries per cent beer to tap the and exclusive beer spots. The demand from this segment. emergence of such outlets Players have been branching has contributed to an out into concepts such as increased awareness and easy non-alcohol brand exten- availability of beer in Indian sions and surrogate advertis- markets. Today, craft beer is a ing and alignment with rage in the industry and is sport. booming. The market is FROTHY swamped with a number of A RECESSION-PROOF craft beer with new and BEVERAGE innovative flavours. Beer consumers are nowadays The report also scrutinises shifting their preferences the Indian beer industry from regular mainstream with the help of SWOT bottled beer to artisanal Analysis, elucidating the brews, new fresh flavours and strengths of the industry in unique local ingredients. A being recession-proof in large number of microbrew- view of the fact that alcohol eries are also selling their consumption generally bottled craft beer. The surge remains unfazed by the eco- in craft beer sales is intended nomic downturn. Also, the to drive the beer industry growing Indian population sales to the bubbly top! serves as a ready customer base for the beer industry. THE ZERO BEER According to the United Nations, India is poised to BEER One of the recent trends to overtake China as the world’s hit the industry is emergence most populous nation around 2027. Such popula- tion growth puts the indus- try in a comfortable spot. Indian demographics are or alcohol, had bound to benefit the indus- any of us thought try in the long term with that there would With growing acceptability, large number of people F be a falling graph, popularity of under drinkable age. With ever? The global rising urbanisation, escalat- data suggests that ing disposable income and due to the ongoing pandem- microbreweries and growing affluent class, there ic, the beer market has seen a are enormous opportunities shift in consumer prefer- evolving consumer for the players to tap into. It ences towards low and non- is estimated that the urban alcoholic variants as well as preferences, the Indian beer population in India will rise craft beer. Well, who had to 38 per cent of the total thought this would change. market has all growth population by 2025. The report titled, India Beer Market — Industry triggers in place for CHALLENGES Size, Share, Drivers, Trends, IN GROWTH Analysis and Forecasts exceeding the projected rate (2019-24), released by Niir However, the industry Project Consultancy faces challenges in the form Services, provides a compre- of ban on direct advertising hensive analysis on the contribute to sales. tains not more than five per and derisory state of market Indian beer market. cent of alcohol. Even though infrastructure. The industry As per the data, India has NO MORE HARD beer is being increasingly is also highly taxed, regulat- one of the lowest consump- CHOICES accepted as a social drink ed and struggles with multi- tion levels of beer in Asia. and the urban youth in par- plicity of taxes. With global Currently, India consumes Looking at the manufac- ticular favours it as the pre- bigwigs like Carlsberg, about two per cent of the turing process of beer, from ferred alcoholic beverage, the Anheuser-Busch and total world volumes and has malting till the end of Indian market has been Heineken entering the coun- the potential to match the process at bottling, the beer highly dominated by hard try, the competitive land- world leader, China, thus segment in India is cate- liquor. However, consumers scape of the domestic beer opening a vast pool of gorised either by fermenta- are now looking for choices market has changed consid- opportunities for the brew- tion process (ale & lager) or away from whisky. erably. However, given the ing companies. However, by alcohol’s volume (mild & above growth triggers of beer changing dynamics of Indian strong). The Indian industry RISING ACCEPTABILITY beer industry is the rising to go to a liquor store earlier, It is still considered to be a of zero per cent beer. Since — acceptability, popularity of preferences, favourable is majorly dominated by & HOME DELIVERIES online alcohol-delivery. A especially women, now pur- forbidden, taboo drink in the consumer profile for beer microbreweries and craft demographics, growing strong beer but new flavour- sudden spurt of such portals chase their preferred drinks some parts of the society, industry in India is evolving, beer and evolving consumer awareness and acceptability ful mild beer are finding It is not just the male pop- not only indicates the rising and are in a sweet spot with detrimental for Indian cul- so is the preference meter preferences — the industry is of alcohol, rising per capita their feet on the ground. ulace that is enamoured by acceptability of alcohol in the home deliveries. ture. Drinking alcohol is cul- and hence the emergence of expected to reach consump- income and evolving cultural While strong beer has alco- beer but women equally country but also the much However, the industry still turally not accepted in most new varieties. Consumers are tion levels of 3,584 million attitude are some of the key hol content of not less than enjoy the beverage today. evolving consumer base. The faces moral restrictions due parts of the country. now increasingly opting for litres or 459 million cases by factors, which are likely to five per cent, mild beer con- One of the drivers for the consumers, who were unable to great religious influences. drinks that are low on sugar, 2024. COVID TRIGGERED SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE IMPACTING YOUR GUT?

uring the course of of gastrointestinal prob- All of this is being attrib- the COVID-19 pan- lems, he informs. uted to adoption sedentary demic, the first and "A number of patients lifestyle as most of us were D foremost message have also been noted to homebound and will that one ought to pay have had problems with remain so with intervals of heed to is to never let hyper-acidity and gastro lockdown. your guard down, it is reflux disease. Another Dr Gandhi reveals that a essential in ensuring that health concern that is significant number of you are safeguarded. common amongst many is patients have been operated However, that doesn't "Gall Stones", which are on for Hemorrhoids and seem to be the case as associated with severe pain Fissures over the two most patients seeking in the abdomen, leading to months, their complications online doctor consultation Gall Bladder Disease. If arising out of all lifestyle seem to be showcasing a not treated in time, it can changes. It is crucial for one host of concerns that need lead to severe life threaten- to refrain from panicking; surgical intervention. ing complications," Dr medical aid is available Rapid increase in the Gandhi says. through non-COVID number of gastrointestinal "Moving downward into OPD's or tele-consultation, infections has been noted the intestinal tract, a num- which is a good viable in patients over the past 3- ber of patients have had option. However, the expert 4 months, says Dr. Jignesh complaints of pain in the suggests that following cer- Gandhi, Consultant right lower abdomen as a tain self-help tips will help Laparoscopic& result of constipation, ease your health burden. Gastrointestinal Surgeon, while others have faced Hiranandani Hospital problems with Acute Vashi. Appendicitis. A majority AVOID FERMENTED FOODS, DUE TO LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DURING THE MANDATORY WALK DAILY These gastrointestinal of these patients have also LOCKDOWN, CONSUMING FERMENTED FOOD MAY LEAD TO A LOT OF REFLUX ISSUES, o MAINTAINING A LOW FAT DIET IS KEY; LOWER YOUR INTAKE OF CARBOHYDRATES AND ADD issues are related to diges- been operated upon after AND YOU MAY NOT WANT TO END UP FACING THE CONSEQUENCES OF FOR HYPER- IN MORE PROTEIN tion, as there has been a their Appendix ruptured. ACIDITY OR ACID REFLUX decrease in physical activi- A significant number of o SUFFICIENT INTAKE OF FLUIDS IS CRUCIAL, HYDRATING YOURSELF WELL IS THE KEY TO ty or exercise, change in people are noted to have o IF YOU ARE FACING GASTROINTESTINAL ISSUES ON REGULAR BASIS, IT IS BEST COOK AND GOOD DIGESTION food habits, and binge eat- been faced with great diffi- CONSUME ALL YOUR MEALS AT HOME ing is a common house- culty when passing of o AVOID EATING THE FOOD FAST AS IT LEADS TO AEROPHAGIA (SWALLOWING OF AIR WITH hold fad; these lifestyle stool/ motions, due to less- o CONSUME HEALTHY FOODS AND EAT SMALL MEALS EVERY TWO HOURS (TIME REQUIRED FOOD) WHICH ADDS TO REFLUX DISEASE, AND A SIMPLY ENJOY YOUR MEAL, RATHER factors have contributed to er fluid intake, odd sleep- FOR DIGESTION), KEEP ALTERNATING BETWEEN LIQUID DIET AND REGULAR SOFT DIET TO THAN FINISHING IT LIKE A TASK, WHICH HAS A HUGE IMPACT ON DIGESTION complaints from people ing hours, leading to break facing increasing number in the Circadian Rhythm. ENSURE SMOOTH DIGESTION o SOCIAL AND STRESS-RELATED HABITS SUCH AS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND SMOKING o IF POSSIBLE, WITHIN YOUR PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS/ RESIDENTIAL PREMISES, GO FOR A CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO COMPROMISED DIGESTIVE SYSTEM 10

Vijayawada Saturday July 18 2020 what’s brewing? Shilpa Shetty Kundra: I don’t think it makes any sense for producers to release their films this year his year was a big who she welcomed via sur- done it in a way that it was have taken the digital for the best, we’ll get to it chicken and then fish. I one for Shilpa Shetty rogacy on February 15. going to be easy for me route, would she be okay if when we get to it,” she luckily have a spouse (Raj Kundra and her fans “I’m someone who lives post my daughter’s birth, her films, too, get a direct- remains hopeful. Kundra) who wanted to T as the actor was set in the now, you’ve to take it but I still wouldn’t have got to-OTT release? The actor While films might have do it for health reasons to make a comeback as it comes, I don’t think the time like I do now, with reveals that the filmmakers taken a backseat, Shilpa but he has gone a step after a gap of 13 my reintroduction on the Samisha; this is priceless,” of both her films aren’t too has been taking utmost ahead become a vegan. years. And it was going to big screen is more impor- she adds. keen about the idea. care of her health and fit- When you see scientif- be a double celebration for tant than health. I don’t Calling 2020 a “blur” for “I’ve had a word with ness the past three months ic evidence that sup- her as she had two films want to step out of the everyone, Kundra feels that Sabbir (Khan; director of and in the process she has ports the idea of a releasing. However, the house as it is. When my things will not go back to Nikamma) and he’d not turned a vegetarian. While plant-based diet, you Covid-19 pandemic played daughter was born, I was normal before next year. like to release it on the she admits that being a realise you’d rather quite a spoil sport. so worried that I have two “My films are on floors. I web. Ours is a very big Mangalorean it was “diffi- adopt it, and not “Man proposes pandem- films, how would I man- don’t think it makes any film, we want to hear it on cult to give up the fish and make your body a ic disposes ,” Shlipa says age?” she shares. sense for producers to a Dolby digital surround chicken”, she’s happy that graveyard for ani- with a hearty laugh, adding The 45-year-old had release their films this sound. Even Ratan ji she’s now on the right mals. These are good that she isn’t sweating almost finished Nikamma years. I will wait for my (Ratan Jain; producer path. enough reasons to do much about it as she has and a little of Hungama 2 time. 2021 is the year. 2020 Hungama 2) doesn’t want “It has been a slow and it. I’ve seen a big got this time to spend with was left before the pan- didn’t exist,” she quips. to do it. These are not OTT gradual process. I first change in my body,” her daughter, Samisha, demic struck. “So we had Given that many films films. Everything happens gave up meat and then she concludes. BOLLYWOOD ONLY DIVIDED BETWEEN KIND AND UNKIND PEOPLE: RICHA CHADHA ON NEPOTISM DEBATE ctor Richa Chadha says begins at mild displeasure, for “not being accepted” in may be dealing with here. I in her decade-long thieving and at its worst, at the industry are the ones empathise but I won’t know career, she has met gen- the underbelly-level, mani- that got their breaks specifi- that pain, unless I am stand- A erous insiders and fests as a desire for socio- cally because of nepotism. ing in their shoes,” she “egomaniacs” out- pathic retribution,” the Richa added she does not added. Narrating Covid docu- siders, making Gangs of Wasseypur actor “hate star kids” and doesn’t Richa, however, said the her realise that wrote. understand why one expect- argument that an actor’s film a learning the divide in the Richa said if one’s lucky, ed to. acceptance depends on the Hindi film kindness, too, is expressed “Is it right to expect audience holds no ground as industry is pri- in a straightforward manner, someone else to be ashamed one has to first be cast to process: Gautham marily on the lines with genuine people eventu- of their eventually be embraced or of kindness. ally finding each other to parents/families/legacy? rejected. Vasudev Menon Actor Sushant make lifelong bonds. This is a hateful and non- After Rajput’s passing Singh Rajput’s death The actor said she has sense argument.” away, there were conspiracy ilmmaker Gautham will provide a glimpse into all on June 14 sparked a been at the receiving end of “I am a self-made person theories linking the actor’s Vasudev Menon says the key steps being taken debate around the outsiders’ unkind behaviour. in this business. Will you death to several people, tar- narrating the docu- across the country to battle industry’s nepotistic “There are insiders who tell my children to be getting even his actor-girl- F mentary Covid-19: the Covid-19 pandemic. culture. can be kind and generous, ashamed of my struggle to friend Rhea Chakraborty. India’s War Against Shot during the lockdown, In a blog post, and outsiders who are puni- reach where I have, for The Fukrey star said a sin- The Virus in Tamil the documentary tells its Richa said the tive egomaniacs. In the instance?” cere discussion about privi- was a learning experience. story through interviews with unkindness directed nascent phase of my career, Highlighting the rivalry lege can’t sustain in an envi- “It was more of an idea of experts, frontline workers, towards a person I was often ‘cut to size’ by that exists within the insid- ronment of blame-game. learning,” Gautham said, patients, migrant workers, can be wide ranging, outsiders. ers, Richa said stars kids are “The thing with privilege while explaining what made and others working tirelessly from “mild displea- “It took me all my often at the receiving end of is, it is invisible to those him take up the job. “Even behind the scenes to arrest sure” to even strength to recover from inter-generational, unforgiv- who have it. We cannot have though I am a feature film the spread of the deadly virus. revenge. various forms of subtle sab- ing and all encompassing a sincere discussion about guy who has started dabbling The film also sheds light on “It is being said otage. But this is not about contest. equality before confronting with alternative ideas such as the innovations and the way that the industry me. The tragic part is that “There exist hierarchies entitlement. And it will not web series, making a docu- technology is being used to seems to be divided everyone here has experi- within the clan too, wherein happen by blaming ‘the mentary or putting together combat Covid-19. between ‘insiders’ and enced a version of this,” she say the grandson of a leg- privileged’ for a man’s death images always seemed inter- The documentary is avail- ‘outsiders’? In my opin- added. endary singer or the son of or calling for actresses to be esting to me,” he added. able in seven languages ion, the Hindi film The 33-year-old actor said an ace stuntman maybe raped.” He continued: “So, when including English, Hindi, industry and its nepotism makes her “laugh thought of as lesser than “Do ‘well-wishers’ want an opportunity came to be Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, entire eco-system out loud” as many miss the that of a director or actor.” others to be driven to sui- the narrator or do the Malayalam and Bengali, and is only divided nuance in the debate. “Knowing how deeply cide because of this rancour voiceover for a film about it has released on the between kind and Pointing out that the defi- rooted caste is in our coun- they’ve unleashed? What India’s war against coron- Discovery Plus app on July unkind people. nition of nepotism is to ben- try, why does this unstated would we do then, book you avirus, it seemed interesting. 16. The documentary will “The spec- efit from one’s relationships, ranking system surprise for abetment to suicide? It seemed like a good learn- premiere on July 20 on the trum of Richa said a lot of actors anyone? We may never What does this malice ing opportunity.” Discovery Channel and unkind who are citing it as a reason know what someone else achieve? Zilch,” she added. The special documentary Discovery Channel HD. FUN

ARCHIE CALVIN AND HOBBES

GARFIELD REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

NANCY

SUDOKU Yesterday’s solution

GINGER MEGGS

Rules l Each row and column can contain each number (1 to 9) exactly once. l The sum of all numbers in any row or column must equal 45. VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | JULY 18, 2020 11

Solar Orbiter takes Woman becomes richest Boy gets 90 stiches after Unexploded bombs from Most closest ever pics of Sun after divorcing bizman saving sister from dog World War II discovered ew pictures of the Sun taken just 77 million km (48 million 49-year-old Canadian-Chinese Yuan Liping, has become a ridger Walker, a brave 6-year-old boy from Wyoming, has veryone speaks, and rightly too, of Stalingrad as one of the Read Nmiles) from its surface are the closest ever acquired by Amulti-billionaire and Canada's third-richest woman after Bgained social media notoriety after being praised by Anne Eturning points of the Second World War. A couple of critical

NEWS cameras. They come from the European Space Agency's Solar divorcing 56-year-old business magnate Du Weimin, who is Hathaway for rescuing his sister from a dog attack. On July 9, battles were fought the next year, in Kohima, in Nagaland, and Orbiter (SolO) probe, which was launched earlier this year. Among dubbed the 'vaccine emperor' of China. Also Read - China's Bridger jumped into action when a 1-year-old old German Imphal, the bloodier one, in Manipur. The combined toll is about the UK-assembled craft's novel insights are views of mini-flares Richest Woman Yang Huiyan is Second Only to Jeff Bezos in shepherd mix charged toward his 4-year-old sister, a statement 75,000 dead. The Japanese army lost both battles, and only just. dubbed "camp fires". These are millionths of the size of the Sun's Growing Fortune. As per a Bloomberg report, this was one of from the family obtained by CNN states. While shielding his If they had broken through, they would have entered the plains of giant flares that are routinely observed by Earth telescopes. the most expensive divorces in the history of Asia. During the sister he was brutally attacked by the dog. "Tragically, instead of Assam and holding them back would have been more difficult. Whether these miniature versions are driven by the same divorce settlement, Weimin, the chairman of Shenzhen Kangtai running off, the dog leaped and latched onto Bridger's cheek," More casualties as a result of the battles were averted, mechanisms, though, is unclear. Biological Products Co., the statement reads in part. interestingly enough, only yesterday. But these small flares could be transferred 161.3 million Bridger subsequently underwent Almost by chance, the Assam Rifles involved in the mysterious shares of the vaccine a two-hour surgery that required found a cache of unexploded bombs, heating process that makes the maker to his ex-wife, more than 90 stitches, according cartridge cases and ammunition star's outer atmosphere, or Yuan Liping, instantly to his family. And when his father boxes that go back to the Second corona, far hotter than its making her one of the asked him why he jumped in World War. The 27 unexploded surface. "The Sun has a relatively richest women in China. between his sister and the dog, bombs would have been a worry if cool surface of about 5,500 Notably, Kangtai is he is said to have told them, "if found by people who wouldn't have degrees and is surrounded by a currently in the process of someone had to die, I thought it known what they were. It could have super-hot atmosphere of more developing a vaccine to should be me," according to the certainly led to casualties. 43 than a million degrees," fight the coronavirus and statement. The young boy's aunt cartridge cases and 15 ammunition explained Esa project scientist the shares of the company has surged more than 60% over started an Instagram page and boxes were also found. "The bombs Daniel Müller. "There's a theory the past month. With this, Yuan has made it into the list of shared that Bridger is an Avengers fan, which caught Hathaway's will be dealt with. The local police will put forward by the great US physicist Eugene Parker, who world's 500 richest people, according to the Bloomberg attention. "I'm not an Avenger, but I know a superhero when I also be involved," said Major General conjectured that if you should have a vast number of tiny flares Billionaires Index. Yuan who holds a Canadian passport and see one," Hathaway wrote on Instagram alongside photos of Alok Naresh, Inspector-General, Assam Rifles. The recent find this might account for an omnipresent heating mechanism that resides in Shenzhen reportedly keeps a low profile. She Bridger and his sister. "I can only hope I'm half as brave in my isn't an exception. Ordnance from the Second World War is still could make the corona hot." Whatever their role, the camp fires served as a director of Kangtai between May 2011 and August life as you are in yours, Bridger. Wishing you an easeful being found in different parts of the North-East and also, parts of are certainly small - which may explain why they've been missed 2018 and now serves as the current vice general manager of recovery, and many cool looking rocks. Hey @markruffalo, do the world where bitter fighting took place. In this case, the bombs up to this point, says David Berghmans. subsidiary Beijing Minhai Biotechnology. you need a teammate??" had tremendous potential for damage and that has been avoided.

“Madrid did its part by winning all its matches, which is What now for impressive, but we also helped them to R34l kings of Spain win this league. We have lost a broken Barca? lot of points which we shouldn’t have done. We have been very Barcelona: Lionel Messi has rarely been known for speaking inconsistent” Benzema’s double leads 10/10 Los Blancos to 34th La Liga title — LIONEL MESSI out but he could not help himself when analysing what has been a disastrous season finale for Barcelona and did not hold back AFP n MADRID “There are people after Thursday’s limp 2-1 La Liga defeat at home by Osasuna. who say that Calling his side “weak”, “inconsistent” and “very easy to score eal Madrid were crowned happiness makes against”, the club captain called for urgent changes after surren- La Liga champions for no noise, but I’m dering the league title to Real Madrid, saying it was no good Rthe 34th time on the happiest person to use their rivals’ relentless form as an excuse. Thursday after Karim Benzema in the world on the “Messi explodes”, ran the cover of newspaper Mundo scored twice in a 2-1 victory over inside right now. Many thanks to Deportivo. Villarreal which clinched the title everyone for the support” Barca’s attentions now turn to the Champions League, a tro- with one game to spare. — ZINEDINE ZIDANE phy they have somehow failed to win since 2015 despite most- Benzema’s double included ly reigning supreme in Spain in that period. a second-half penalty at the “Everything But few would back them to win the mini-tournament in empty Alfredo di Stefano Zidane touches Lisbon in August, least of all Messi, who does not even fancy Stadium as Madrid moved seven turns into gold. their chances of hurdling their last-16 tie with Napoli, which points clear to end Barcelona’s We believe in is poised at 1-1 ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou on two-year hold on the trophy. him and in his August 8. Barca had to prevail against work. He’s the one “I said a while ago that it would be very hard to win the Osasuna at home and hope who has to make the difference” Champions League if we kept playing like this and it turned out Madrid slipped up but their fad- — SERGIO RAMOS it wasn’t even good enough to win the league,” he said. ing challenge ended with a 2-1 “If we want to win the Champions League we need to change defeat at Camp Nou, despite a “We really wanted many things, otherwise we will lose to Napoli brilliant Lionel Messi free-kick. to win this league too. It means Madrid claim title and that is “We need to clear our heads, their third La Liga title in 12 what we have this break should give us the years, after a relentless run of done. Zidane is the opportunity to take some air form since Spanish football architect of this title win. as things have been very resumed on June 11 following Real Madrid players celebrate with the La Liga trophy after they beat Villarreal on Thursday RMCF/Twitter He is a blessing from heaven” bad from January to the coronavirus pandemic. — FLORENTINO PÉREZ now.” Zinedine Zidane’s side have Madrid have also been SETIEN UNDER PRESSURE added: “We have to be self-crit- tee up Benzema backfired when Messi’s words won 10 games out 10 since the awarded five penalties during After three months away, ical, starting with the players, but his teammate encroached too “To return after were a particular- restart. They have conceded the run-in, some of them con- Barcelona had returned sitting across the whole club.” early. Benzema converted the re- spending three ly scathing state- four goals in that time and troversially, and this one caused top of the table but draws with Yet few could argue Madrid take. Iborra headed in Mario months locked in ment of the reign never been behind in a match. a stir too as Sergio Ramos tried Sevilla, struggling Celta Vigo and deserve the title and it was fit- Gaspar’s cross to set up a nervy our homes and to of coach Quique “For me this is one of the best to roll the ball to Benzema, who Atletico Madrid allowed Madrid ting that Benzema delivered it, finish but Barcelona were still win 10 matches in a Setien, who was appointed in days in my professional career,” finished, but had entered the to take charge. Barca were also his double taking his tally for the being held by Osasuna. row is incredible, but I January after the club sacked said Zidane. “After lockdown area too early. in first place when they sacked season to 26 in all competitions. Messi’s curling free-kick always believed in my team and Ernesto Valverde when they were and everything, it’s astonish- Much to Villarreal’s irrita- Ernesto Valverde in January His first came after 28 minutes into the top corner had cancelled knew we could win it” top of the table on goal difference. ing.” tion, Madrid were allowed to and while the club’s problems go when Casemiro stole possession out Osasuna’s opener from Jose — THIBAUT COURTOIS Setien, meanwhile, did not Asked if it trumps the retake and this time Benzema deeper than their coach, Quique in midfield and freed Luka Arnaiz, once of Barca B. But give exactly give himself a vote of Champions League titles made no mistake, before Setien’s position will come under Modric. He slid through Osasuna had a final trick up confidence, admitting he was Madrid won in his first spell as Vicente Iborra headed in what scrutiny. Benzema, who fired through the their sleeve as Roberto Torres “Another title in uncertain if the club would keep manager, Zidane said: “This is proved a late consolation. “Things have to change,” legs of Sergio Asenjo. finished at the back post to wrap the bag. Real faith in him for the Champions better than anything. It takes a “It’s a prize for all the work said Messi. “Everyone here in the Ramos had scored five goals up Barca’s miserable night at the Madrid truly came League campaign. “I hope so, but tremendous effort to win La we’ve done, this is the reward,” club will be feeling very angry himself since the restart and end of a turbulent season. Real together as a team I don’t know. I agree with Messi Liga. After 38 matches, you said Ramos. “We have one about what has happened this could have had a sixth after he Mallorca’s hopes of survival are during these tough on some things and that we have more points than anyone more match and we want to season and that’s normal. The was tripped by the dangling leg over after they lost 2-1 at home times. Congratulations!” need to take a hard look at our- else. It’s bloody fantastic.” win 11 out of 11.” players feel like that too.” Messi of Sofian Chakla. But his ploy to to Granada. — ROHIT SHARMA selves,” he said. Agencies

Fans allowed back AFP n LONDON went down after contact from Victor Inter pass Lindelof. anchester United beat Crystal TOP 4 RACE IS ON Referee Graham Scott waved Sanchez boosts Nerazzurri’s faint title hopes into English sports MPalace 2-0 to keep the pressure away their appeals and VAR didn’t on Leicester after their top-four rivals Man Utd, Leicester win to guarantee final-day shootout change the decision, with replays lenge. from next week defeated Sheffield United as the bat- showing Lindelof got a slight touch on “He is a rediscovered foot- tle for Champions League qualifica- the ball. Palace were denied again in baller, with the right hunger,” LONDON: Spectators will be allowed back into tion heated up on Thursday. the second half when Jordan Ayew’s said Conte. “He suffered a lot, some sports events in England from next Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had goal was ruled out for offside by VAR. he is now well, he is an extra week as coronavirus prevention measures no margin for error after Martial killed off Palace in the weapon for us.” are tested ahead of a planned wider reopen- Leicester’s 2-0 victory 78th minute with a clinical finish after Conte’s side revived their ing of stadiums in October. earlier in the day and good work by Rashford. title challenge, taking advan- Domestic cricket on July 26-27 is set to they responded thanks At the King Power Stadium, tage of defending champions be the first sport that fans are allowed to to goals from Marcus Leicester earned their first win in three Juventus’ draw with Sassuolo on watch in person since March. Some spec- Rashford and Anthony games thanks to goals from Ayoze Wednesday, with Atalanta a fur- tators will also be allowed into the world Martial. United’s fifth Perez and Demarai Gray. Thrashed 4- ther point adrift in third with snooker championship in Sheffield from July win in their last six league games leaves 1 by Bournemouth on Sunday, five games left to play. 31 and the Glorious Goodwood horse rac- them in fifth place in the Premier Brendan Rodgers’ team took the lead MILAN: Antonio Conte hailed in- Former Manchester United ing festival on August 1 is also part of a League. in the 29th minute with Perez’s first form Alexis Sanchez as an “extra and Arsenal forward Sanchez Government scheme piloting the return of They are level on points with goal since January. Gray’s deft finish weapon” as the Chilean inspired teed up Antonio Candreva for fans. fourth-placed Leicester, trailing them sealed the points from Jamie Vardy’s Inter Milan to a 4-0 win over the opener eight minutes before “From October we intend to bring back on goal difference, and one point pass in the 79th minute. lowly SPAL to move second in the break in Emilia-Romagna. audiences in stadia ... In a Covid-secure way behind third-placed Chelsea. Man United's Marcus Rashford, second right, scores the opening goal against Crystal Palace AP Leicester’s next match is at Serie A, six points behind lead- Cristiano Biraghi added a subject to the successful outcome of pilots,” With the financial implications of Ham on Wednesday before a decisive first-half stoppage-time when the Tottenham on Sunday before the ers Juventus. second on 55 minutes and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said failing to reach the Champions League showdown at Leicester on July 26. England forward cleverly deceived two Manchester United clash on the last Sanchez’s Inter career start- crossed for Sanchez to head in in Downing Street on Friday. certain to be painful for United, United could also qualify for the Palace defenders with a drag-back and day of the season. ed off badly, with injuries hold- on the hour mark. Ashley Young Stadium capacities will still be restrict- Solskjaer’s men will be under intense Champions League if they win the slotted home from close range. Palace At Goodison Park, Aston Villa’s ing him back, but the on-loan picked out Roberto Gagliardini ed and staggered entry times, social distanc- pressure in their final two league Europa League, which is set to resume complained vehemently that they hopes of avoiding relegation were seri- forward is now proving to be a to tap in a fourth with 16 min- ing measures and one-way systems will be games. After Sunday’s FA Cup semi- in August. should have been given a penalty ously damaged by their 1-1 draw key player in Inter’s title chal- utes to go. AFP required. AP final against Chelsea, United host West Rashford broke the deadlock in moments earlier when Wilfried Zaha against Everton. SINGLES MARTINELLI RULED OUT UNTIL END OF 2020 U-17 WC team camp likely in Aug first week India has potential to break medal jinx in Tokyo: Sreejesh London: Injured during training at the tail-end of the New Delhi: All India Football have a tournament in November. That PTI n NEW DELHI season, Arsenal's young forward Gabriel Martinelli will Federation (AIFF) general secretary is the first endeavour. We are also con- India men to open campaign against NZ target a return to full training by the end of the year Kushal Das on Friday said its “endeav- scious of fact that the U-17 World Cup aving encountered both following knee surgery, the Premier League club said. our” is to start the U-17 Women’s World team has to start its preparation. We Hsuccess and failure from NEW DELHI: Desperate to end its Australia on July 25, followed THIAGO CLOSE TO JOINING LIVERPOOL Cup team camp in the first week of should be able to start both camps by close quarters in a career span- four decade medal jinx, the by matches against Spain (July Liverpool: Thiago Alcantara is on the verge of joining August, hoping to find a way out amid first of week of August,” Das told AIFF. ning 14 years, national team Indian men’s hockey team will 27), reigning Olympic champi- Liverpool after stalling over signing a contract extension the Covid-19 pandemic. While the venue for the senior goalkeeper PR Sreejesh believes open its campaign against New ons Argentina (July 29) and at Bayern Munich, according to a report in Bild on Friday. He said they are also aiming to start national team is fixed, a lot also depends a “much-improved” India has Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics Japan (July 30). The paper claims Klopp wants to sign the playmaker but the U-16 team camp, which is the fed- on the state Governments as far as the potential to break its on July 24 next year. After their Games opener the clubs have yet to agree a transfer fee. According to eration’s top priority at the moment, organising the camps for the U-16 out- Olympic medal jinx in Tokyo The women’s side will be against Netherlands on July 24, Bild, Liverpool are not willing to pay more than 25 around the same time as there is a tour- fit and U-17 women’s side are are con- next year. up against mighty Netherlands Indian Eves will play Germany million euros, while Bayern want around 40. nament scheduled for November in cerned. India’s last success at the in their first match on the same (July 26), Great Britain (July Bahrain. “We are in talks with various state quadrennial sporting extrava- day. 28), Argentina (July 29) and ITALY LOOKING TO ALLOW FANS RETURN IN SEPT Talking about the senior men’s Governments and the Sports Authority ganza, though, came 40 years Men’s team will next Japan (July 30). PNS Kuala Lumpur: Italy will not be looking to allow a national team, Das said the camp will of India (SAI). Hopefully, in next one ago in the 1980 Moscow return of fans to the stadiums for football matches likely begin in September in week, we will finalise a date for the Olympics, where they won the much of a difference now, we “With one year left for our Indian hockey,” he said. before September, the country's Sports Minister Bhubaneswar as the capital city of camps. “For the senior team the aim is last of their eight Gold medals. have shown that in our FIH Pro preparations, I think it (Tokyo “We can really bring that Vincenzo Spadafora has said. Spadafora said in the Odisha is slated to host India’s two to start in early September. However, Sreejesh feels that League matches earlier this year, Olympics) is going to be the elusive Olympic medal back to Italian parliament that the Govt is working with FIGC and World Cup Qualifiers in October and It is a very tricky situation but we Indian hockey has progressed by that we can beat anyone, and not biggest tournament for me as our country if we perform to our league officials to allow the re-entry of fans to the November respectively. “Our first pri- will look to do our best under the cir- leaps and bounds in recent just beat, but also dominate well, and something tells me that potential in Tokyo next year,” stadiums in time for the start of the 2020/21 season. ority is to start the U-16 camp since they cumstances.” PTI times. “I feel like there is not them with our style of play. it is going to be a huge year for Sreejesh said. 12

Vijayawada Saturday July 18 2020 tollywood UPPENA for Sankranti Mythri Movie Makers have already spoken to their distributors regarding the postponement of release date, and the latter are happy with it, finds NAGARAJ GOUD

ne of the first films their distributors in this whose release was regard and the latter are affected due to the THE FACT UPPENA happy with it. It might not onset of coronavirus INTRODUCES MEGA- be a typical Sankranti O cases in Telugu states film with commercial was Uppena, a pro- STAR CHIRANJEEVI’S bells and whistles but duction venture of Mythri NEPHEW VAISSHNAV the makers are cer- Aakashavani Movie Makers and Sukumar tain that the audi- Writings. With its two songs TEJ AS A LEAD ACTOR ence will get soaked topping the charts, the film into its world,” managed to create positive FOR THE FIRST TIME, points out the buzz around it. The fact that MEANT THAT THERE source. to shift to it introduces Megastar Shot in Kakinada, Chiranjeevi’s nephew WAS AN ADDED BUZZ Puri, Sikkim and in Vaisshnav Tej as a lead actor AROUND IT. Hyderabad, Uppena, for the first time meant that which marks the direc- Hyderabad there was an added buzz for big-screen experience-not torial debut of around it. After the April first to forget that it introduces an Sukumar’s long-time he Pioneer has highly in favour of theatri- week date was missed, the actor from the mega family- protégé Buchi Babu earlier reported cal release but will assess makers briefly toyed with the we’ve learnt from a source Sana, is a hard-hitting that the filming the situation after two and idea of releasing it May 7 to close to the production house love story. Mangalore of debutant half months and later take coincide with the release date that they completely erased the girl Krithi Shetty is T director Ashwin a call along with the pro- of Sukumar’s maiden film thought of pitching the film in cast opposite Gangaraju’s ducer A Padmanabha Arya but it was put off, with cinema halls this year. Vaisshnav in the Aakashavani is over except Reddy,” the source con- cinema halls remaining shut “Uppena is now being con- film, while Tamil for a week’s portions, cluded. as corona cases continued to sidered for a release during actor Vijay which were to be shot in Shot primarily in Araku, distress both the states. Sankranti or a week prior to it Sethupathi has Rajahmundry. With Paderu and surrounding With direct to web release next year. Mythri Movie played a sup- Rajahmundry witnessing a areas of Visakhapatnam, ruled out as Uppena was made Makers have already spoken to porting role. spike in corona cases of Aakashavani, a pure drama late and in lockdown right about a bunch of people now, the director has residing in a forest with decided to shoot the pend- radio playing a key role, ing portions in the out- features 90- 95 per cent Swapna Cinema keen skirts of Hyderabad. new actors, while Tamil “Ashwin has found a suit- actor-filmmaker P able location and a budget Samuthirakani, Vinay chart is being prepared Varma and a couple of on a theatrical release right now. He will get clar- actors from Jabardasth ity on the shooting dates in (Shaking Seshu being one) another four-five days. He are the only familiar for Jaathi Ratnalu will shoot for a week in names. — NG Hyderabad, in adherence ith cinema halls contin- A source close to the produc- with the guidelines listed uing to remain shut, tion house tells us, “The film has out by the Telangana gov- many small to medi- moments which are cherished bet- ernment. After which um-budget films are ter on the big screen which is why he is required to trav- W eyeing digital release to producers Swapna Dutt and Nag el to Paderu for get back their invest- Ashwin are keen on waiting for another two days ment and land some profits as the corona crisis to end and the- of shoot,” pointed well. To this end, we’ve learnt that atres to reopen. While we don't out a source. Jaathi Ratnalu, produced by know what the future holds for us The director Swapna Cinema, is not favouring but as things stand, the producers would be ready the OTT option. Fronted by are keen on a theatrical release. with the final Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi and The film has been made as a full- copy a good 45 Rahul Ramakrishna and directed length comic entertainer and the days after by Pittagoda fame KV Anudeep, laughter is better experienced wrapping up the film’s shoot has been wrapped amid the audience in a closed the film. up except for a couple of days. environment.” - NG “A s hw i n is Kiccha Sudeep finally Varun Tej is waiting goes on ‘long drive' outhern star Kiccha Sudeep finally went for a long drive and he couldn’t be more happy. for ‘world to Sudeep took to his verified Instagram account, S where he shared a picture of himself posing in front of his car on the highway. “15th July-Was come back to happy to finally have a long drive, hyd-blore. Thanks Ram for this pic,” Sudeep wrote alongside the image. Last month, Sudeep reminisced about the times normalcy' when family pictures were taken, amid the selfies era now. The actor is known for his performances in films like elugu star Varun Tej Konidela says he is Sparsha, Huchcha, Nandhi, Kiccha, Swathi Muthu, My waiting for the world to bounce back to Autograph, No 73, Shanthi Nivasa, Mussanjemaatu, Veera normalcy in a new post on social media. Madakari, Just Maath Maathalli, Kempe Gowda and Eega. Varun took to his verified Instagram He was also seen in the Hindi film Dabangg 3 starring T account, where he shared a picture of him- Salman Khan. Sudeep will next be seen in Kotigobba 3 an self relaxing on his sofa. action film directed by Shiva Karthik. It also features In the image, he is seen wearing a maroon shirt Madonna Sebastian, Shraddha Das, Aftab Shivdasani, Nawab paired with black pants. He completed his look with a Shah and P. Ravishankar. The film is a sequel to the 2016 film pair of brown shoes. Kotigobba 2. “Just waiting for the world to come back to normal- cy!” he captioned the image. Varun recently shared a black-and-white picture on Instagram showing him at the gym, with a beam of light on his face. “FOCUS”, he captioned the image. Johar to stream on aha The Telugu star, who has worked in hits like Tholiprema, Fidaa and F2, will next be seen in n its quest to stack up playing a boxer in his upcoming film, tenta- diverse content for its tively called #VT10. film library, team aha- He will reportedly be seen playing a after Bhanumathi boxer in the film, a boxing drama I Ramakrishna — has helmed by debutant director Kiran now acquired the dig- Korrapati. ital streaming rights of director Teja Marni’s Johar, an anthology drama produced by Sandeep Marni under Dharma Surya Pictures banner. Featuring Subhalekha Sudhakar, Easwari Rao, Rohini, Naina Ganguly and Esther Anil in the lead roles, the film, inspired by real incidents, narrates how five lives are affected due to the construction of a statue. Johar will directly drop on aha shortly. Filmed across Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam and Varanasi, the film has been edited by Siddharth, who directed the damp squib Bhairava Geetha last year, while familiar face Chaitanya Prasad penned the dialogues. Priyadarshan Balasubramanian has composed the music.