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MONEY 8REAL ESTATE SENTIMENT

ALL-TIME LOW IN APRIL-JUNE

ANALYSIS 7IN THE NAME

OF GOD

SPORTS 11GENOA RETAIN SERIE A PLACE

VIJAYAWADA, TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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SIBLING TO KAJAL IN

MOSAGALLUPage 12

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 273*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

HYDERABAD

WEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated august 3, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Shravana & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 09:54 pm

Nakshatram: Shravana: 08:11 am

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 03:33 pm – 05:08 pm

Yamagandam: 09:11 am – 10:46 am

Varjyam: 12:24 pm – 02:05 pm

Gulika: 12:22 pm - 01:57 pm

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Amritakalam: 10:32 pm – 12:13 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:56 am – 12:47 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly cloudyTemp: 33/26Humidity: 73%Sunrise: 05:56 amSunset: 06.48 pm

Vizag land prices skyrocketover Executive Capital buzzPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Lands in Visakhapatnam, theofficially anointed ExecutiveCapital of Andhra Pradesh, willcost a bomb if the annualrevised market value by the gov-ernment is implemented. Theunit rate of land in some pock-ets of the city like Mudasarlovaare proposed to be increased by27 per cent and this may makethem even costlier than landprices in Banjara Hills ofHyderabad.

Land prices in Vizag havealways been on the higher sideand the proposed revision, ifimplemented, would place partsof the city among the costliestplaces to live in, in the country.

Before implementing therevised unit rates of the land, theRegistration and Stamps depart-ment has sought objection andsuggestion from the public.People can give their feedbackon the revised rate beforeAugust 10 on the departmentwebsite.

The north of Vizag towardsVizianagaram and northeast ofthe city, Bheemili is expected tosee major development as thestate government is reportedlyscouting for land in these areaswhere large tracts are available.

Vizag District RegistrarManmadha Rao said that sub-registrars have revised the landsrates of areas coming undertheir jurisdiction on the basis ofrationalisation.

UNLOCK-3

Protocols issued for reopeningof gymnasiums, yoga institutes PNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the reopening ofyoga institutes and gymnasi-ums, the health ministry onMonday issued Covid-19-appropriate protocols to be fol-lowed at such facilities likeallowing only asymptomaticpeople, maintaining social dis-tancing, disinfecting equip-ment and wearing of visorwhile exercising as far as pos-sible.

All yoga institutes and gym-

nasiums in containment zonesshall remain closed and onlythose outside such zones will beallowed to open, the 'Guidelineson Preventive Measures toContain Spread of Covid-19 inYoga Institutes & Gymnasiums'stated.

"Spas, sauna, steam bath andswimming pools (whereverapplicable) shall remain closed,"the document said.

The guidelines lay down theprocesses and premisesredesigning, including proper

placement of equipment, thatneed to be followed beforereopening such establishments.Yoga institutes and gymnasi-ums have been asked to planthe floor area based on fourmetres squared per person.

Persons above 65 years ofage, persons with comorbidi-ties, pregnant women and chil-dren below the age of 10 yearsare advised not to use gyms inclosed spaces, the guidelinessaid.

Amaravati

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment on Monday signed apact with three FMCG compa-nies — Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL), ITC and Procter andGamble (P&G) — for market-ing and technology support foreconomic empowerment ofwomen under two newschemes to be launched soon.

The Memorandum ofUnderstanding was signed inthe presence of Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy here.

HUL Chairman andManaging Director SanjivMehta, ITC Executive DirectorSanjiv Puri and P&G IndiaCEO Madhusudan Gopalanparticipated through a videoconference.

"Women empowerment andtheir self-reliance are very vitalfor strengthening the ruraleconomy," an official state-

ment quoted the CM as hav-ing said in the meeting.

The companies will givehandholding to women underthe YSR Cheyutha scheme, tobe launched on August 12, thataims to provide annual finan-cial assistance of Rs 18,750 fornext four years to women of45-60 years age group belong-ing to SC, ST, backward class

and minorities communities, itsaid.

The companies will help inproviding marketing opportu-nities and technology supportto women under this pro-posed scheme benefiting 25lakh women in the state.

The government will spendRs 4,500 crore for this schemein the first year, it added.

Naidu gives Jagan 48 hours towithdraw 3-capitals decisionPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onMonday challenged ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy to either withdraw hisdecision to trifurcate the StateCapital “within 48 hours” ordissolve the State LegislativeAssembly to seek fresh mandatefrom the public.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Naidu dared theChief Minister to seek a freshmandate if he possessed thecourage and if he was fully con-fident of having the approvalof the people for his decentral-isation decision. “If the peoplevote for and return the YSRCPto power, the TDP would thenhumbly accept the mandate andwould not object to the deci-sion. If the CM does not comeout with a proper response, theTDP along with the other

Opposition parties wouldintensify their agitation notjust through the legal route butalso hold the CM as a culprit inthe people's court,” Naidu said.

The TDP chief listed out howthe YSRCP leaders made theinnocent voters of AP believethat Amaravati would not bedestroyed as the capital even ifJaganmohan Reddy becamethe Chief Minister in 2019.“But, after coming to power, theCM backstabbed and betrayed

all the 5 crore people of the stateby going ahead with his plan toshift the Capital without dis-cussing or taking prior approvalof the people. Jagan himselfrepeatedly uttered the electionslogan that he would neverbreak his promises and that hewould worship his party man-ifesto like the Bible, theBhagavad Gita and the Quran.Having sworn on the holybooks, the Chief Minister wasnow relentlessly breaking hispromises without any con-science,” Naidu alleged.

He recalled how YSRCP's2019 Election ManifestoCommittee chairmanUmmareddy Venkateswarlurepeatedly assured the people atthat time that the party wouldcontinue AP Capital inAmaravati alone and it wouldbe developed into a well-equipped, good city.

TDP's B TechRavi quitsCouncil over three capitals PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Desam Party (TDP)member MareddyRavindranath Reddy onMonday tendered his resigna-tion from the Andhra PradeshLegislative Council, protestingthe YS Jaganmohan Reddygovernment’s decision to goahead with three capitals plan.

Ravi, alias B.Tech Ravi, saidhe has sent in his resignationto the Council Chairman M ASharif. He was elected to theCouncil from the KadapaLocal AuthoritiesConstituency in 2017 and hadtenure till March 2023.

Ravi is the first legislator toquit his post protesting themove to have three capitals forthe state — the ExecutiveCapital in Visakhapatnam,Legislative in Amaravati andJudicial in Kurnool.

State records 7,822infections, 63 deathsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a breather of sorts forAndhra Pradesh, the numberof infections droppedsignificantly, withthe State record-ing 7,822 freshcases onMonday, takingthe tally to1,66,586.

This is farlower than the10,000-plus Covid-19 cases reported inAP the entire week gone by,and authorities are beginningto hope that the worst is over.

While 5,786 patients recov-ered and were discharged fromhospitals across the state onMonday, another 63 suc-cumbed to the pandemic in

the last 24 hours, a govern-ment bulletin said.

With a total of 88,672 recov-eries so far, the number of

active cases now stood at76,377 and the total

fatalities increasedto 1,537, the bul-letin added.

In the last 24hours ending 10am on Monday,

45,516 sampleswere tested, includ-

ing 18,088 for rapidantigens while the

cumulative tests crossed21,10,923.

The infection positivity raterose to 7.89 per cent after39,520 per million populationtests were conducted.

3 liquor addictsdrink sanitisercocktail, dead PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Mere daysafter thetragedy atKurichedu inwhich 10people diedafter con-suming alco-hol-based hand sanitiser inPrakasam district, one moresuch incident has come tolight in YSR Kadapa district.Three men died after con-suming alcohol-based handsanitiser in Pendlimarri man-dal of YSR district, AndhraPradesh. At least eight peo-ple had consumed the sani-tiser, police said. Thedeceased were identified asChennakesavulu, Bheemaiahand Obulesh.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Drugs Controller Generalof India (DCGI) has given nodto the Serum Institute of India(SII) for conducting phase 2and 3 human clinical trials ofthe Oxford University devel-oped Covid-19 vaccine candi-date in the country.

Government officials toldPTI that the approval for con-ducting phase 2 and 3 clinicaltrials by the SII was granted by

DCGI Dr V G Somani lateSunday night after a thor-ough evaluation based on therecommendations of theSubject Expert Committee(SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submitsafety data, evaluated by theData Safety Monitoring Board(DSMB), to the CDSCObefore proceeding to phase 3clinical trials," a senior officialsaid.

"As per the study design,each subject will be adminis-tered two doses four weeks

apart (first dose on day oneand second dose on day 29)

following which the safetyand immunogenicity will beassessed at predefined inter-vals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatoryresponse, the expert panel atthe Central Drugs StandardControl Organisation(CDSCO) on Friday, after adetailed deliberation and con-sidering the data generated onthe vaccine candidate in phase1 and 2 of the OxfordUniversity trial, had recom-

mended granting permissionfor phase 2 and 3 clinical tri-als of the potential vaccine,'Covishield', on healthy adultsin India, the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3clinical trials of the Oxfordvaccine candidate is going onin the United Kingdom, phase3 clinical trial in Brazil andphase 1 and 2 clinical trials inSouth Africa.

State scouts for consultantto rein in Vizag’s pollutionSUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

The State Government isscouting for a consultancy,based either in India or over-seas, to study the pollutionlevels, and also suggest mea-sures to improve environ-mental conditions in Vizag,the upcoming executive cap-ital of AP.

The consultancy will berequired to study all avail-able reports and studies donein past few years by various

agencies like CPCB, APPCB,Universities and others, tocarry out additional envi-ronmental studies, to studythe pollution related problemsand suggest measures formitigation and design a futur-istic sustainable environmentmanagement plan forVisakhapatnam city as well asother industrial clusters in thedistrict.

APPCB has invited biddingfor the project, but has alreadyextended the last date twice.

Once finalised, the consul-

tancy would be required toconsult all stakeholders andelicit the opinion of the localpeople and to prepare a sus-tainable EnvironmentManagement Plan.

The plan is not only tostudy the ambient air pollu-tion but water includingground water, surface water,marine pollution, sewage sys-tem,

Vizag city lies within twomajor hill ranges — Yaradaand Simhachalam.

OBTUSE ANGLE

August 5, a red letter day

2

‘It's Lord Ram’s will that I attend bhoomi puja’

5

NK Singh: India needsto grow much fasterover next decade

8

Nod for phase 2, 3 human trials of Oxford vaccine candidate

AP ties up with top firms foreconomic growth of women

3

333

33

33

l Property to cost more than Hyd’s Banjara Hills after 27% hike from Aug 10

MAN ARRESTED FOR DISTASTEFULCOMMENTS ON AMIT SHAH'S HEALTH

‘REGRESSIVE': AMAZON FACES CRITICISM FORSELLING RAKHI GIFTS WITH ADOPTION JOKES

E-commerce giant Amazon has come under attack from socialmedia users and adoptive parents for selling merchandise bearing

messages like "Tu toh adopted hai" (You are adopted) and "Tujhe namummy, papa dustbin se utha ke laye the" (Our parents picked youfrom a dustbin) as Raksha Bandhangifts.They said such "tasteless" jokesreinforce the stigma around adoption.Despite repeated attempts, Amazon couldnot be reached for comment. "One of themost hilarious dialogues exchangedbetween a bro-sis duo is "Tu adopted hai".

Religious rituals got under way in Ayodhya on Monday, two daysahead of the groundbreaking ceremony for a temple at a spot

where devotees believe Lord Ram was born. Barricades are alreadyin place in the temple town and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath issued an appeal, asking only those invited forWednesday's bhoomi pujan ceremony to come to Ayodhya.Adityanath spent hours reviewing thearrangements for the ceremony at the RamJanmabhoomi, where the temple will beconstructed following the go-ahead last yearby the Supreme Court.

Aperson has been arrested for allegedly uploading objectionable posts onUnion Home Minister Amit Shah, who is infected with COVID-19, in the

social media, police said on Monday. The man, who was held on Sundaynight, claims to be associated with the Karnataka Congress social media unit,the police said. The accused has made derogatory comments on Shah's healthcondition and been booked by the police. Shah on Sunday said he hastested positive for coronavirus and is getting admitted to ahospital following doctor's advice. Meanwhile, stateCongress president D K Shivakumar appealed to the partyworkers to not make defamatory statements against anypolitical leader and said it was not the party's culture.

RITUALS BEGIN IN AYODHYA, STAGE SETFOR RAM TEMPLE ‘BHOOMI PUJAN’

INDIA'S CASE TALLY CROSSES 18 LAKH,RECOVERIES SURGE TO 11.86 LAKH

India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 18-lakh mark on Monday, just a dayafter it went past 17 lakh, with 52,972 cases reported in a day, while the

number of recoveries surged to over 11.86 lakh, accordingto the Union Health Ministry data. The number ofCOVID-19 tests carried out in India has alsocrossed the 2 crore-mark, according to the IndianCouncil of Medical Research (ICMR). The totalcoronavirus cases surged to 18,03,695, while thedeath toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 38,135 with771 people succumbing to the disease in a day, thedata updated at 8 am showed.

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

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VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020 vijayawada 02

EGG

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`//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

August 5 will be a redletter day in the coun-try’s social and politi-

cal history. Abrogation of Article 370

granting special status to J&Kwas described by many as ahistoric event, but it’s only aphenomenon with somedecades of history behind it,while construction of amasjid at Ram Janma Bhoomihad taken place several cen-turies ago.

In this backdrop, layingthe foundation stone onAugust 5 at the disputed sitefor a Sriram temple honour-ing sentiments of millions ofpeople is not an ordinarymatter.

There is a correlationbetween the desire to have atemple for Lord Sriram at hisbirth place and the seat of hisadministration between themythological and historicpast, national self-respect ofIndians and spiritual questdeep-rooted in the soil of thecountry.

Millions of people go tomany pilgrim centres, apartfrom Ayodhya, irrespective ofcaste, community, geograph-ical and language considera-tions. Their belief systems,

faith, pujas and pilgrimagesstand as symbols of nationalunity.

The mythological charac-ters and those in theRamayana influenced thepeople irrespective of timeand geographical constraints.

Why do people worship aparticular deity? Why dopeople undertake pilgrim-ages knowing well that Godis omnipresent?

To find answers to thesequestions, one has to delvedeep into our rich and diver-sif ied cultural heritage.During the course of history,many temples have been van-dalised and idols ofGoddesses have beendestroyed, devotees killed. Inspite of this, they rosestronger from the ruins.

This denotes not only thecultural unity, unflinchingcommitment to faith andsentiments, but also nation-al spirit that flows like anundercurrent.

It is inevitable to say thatthe national spirit ignites

social awareness with thebuilding of a temple for LordSriram at Ayodhya.

BJP knows the significanceof Lord Sriram and theRamayana in people’s livesand their impact over sever-al centuries on the Indian psy-che and moral values andhence it is working in tunewith the prevailing senti-ments.

Not only Sikhs, Jains andBuddhists, many Indians,including Muslims, regardLord Sri Rama as a modelruler and a person havingmyriad of noble qualities.

Noted Urdu and Persianpoet Allama Iqbal describedLord Sriram as “Imam-e-Hind”.

Mahatma Gandhi chantedthe name of Lord Sriram allthrough his life with devo-tion. He did not regard LordSriram as a mere Hindu deityalone, but as a symbol ofnational unity and a divinepower.

There is no exaggeration tostate that building a templefor Lord Sriram, who isregarded as the collectivepsyche of Indians, unity andintegrity, at his birthplaceunder BJP rule is a wonder-ful development that wouldleave a lasting impression onthe collective Indian aware-ness.

Sardar Patel took measuresto rebuild the vandalisedSomnath temple soon after

India became Independent.In the same fashion, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi istaking all necessary measuresto build the Ram temple.

Within four days of annex-ing the Junagadh princelystate with Indian union in1947, Patel declared that theGovernment would rebuildthe historic Somanth templeat its place and reinstall theJyotirlingam.

The task initiated by Sardar

Patel was accomplished by theKM Munshi, inspite of opposi-tion fromJ a w a h a r l a lN e h r u .Munshi made itclear to Nehru thatGovernment lend-ing support to re-buildingthe Somnath temple wouldgladden the collective Indianpsyche.

Munshi invited Dr BabuRajendra Prasad to declareopen the rebuilt Somnathtemple and to get theJyotirlingam installed in it asper the religious rites. In spiteof severe opposition fromNehru, Rajendra Prasad kepthis word. He made it clear thathe would not be able to bealienated from his religion. Hedescribed the Somnath tem-ple as a symbol of nationalfaith.

The temple which has risenfrom ashes makes it clear thatno power on earth or a per-son in the world will be ableto erase faith and love from

people’s minds and hearts. Today, our efforts arenot aimed at correct-ing history. Our goalis to redefine ourbonding with our

beliefs, faith and valuesinculcated by our religion

since ages. The Opposition parties are

questioning Modi taking partin the foundation stone lay-ing ceremony for the Ramtemple in Ayodhya. It is bet-ter for them to recall thewords of Rajendra Prasad.

Laying the foundationstone for rebuilding the tem-ple at Ayodhya after fivedecades of rebuilding theSomnath temple is a historicdevelopment.

Veteran BJP leader LKAdvani started his historicrath yatra from Somnathtemple, treating building thetemple at Ayodhya as contin-uation of the rebuilding goal.

When Advani embarkedon rath yatra, Modi was thenan ordinary party worker.Today, Modi is attending the

foundation stone laying cer-emony in his capacity as PM.It is purely accidental anddivine development.

Congress and other partiesplayed havoc with the senti-ments of the people of thecountry. They did not under-stand the sentiments of peo-ple and practised vote bankpolitics.

Had the Congress set itssights on Ram Janmabhoomi,the BJP would not havebecome a party to theAyodhya movement. Thepeople gave overwhelmingsupport to AyodhyaMovement because of thepseudo-secularism practisedby the Congress.

In 1989, the BJP adoptedAyodhya Resolution inPalampur expressing its will-ingness to relocate the disput-ed structure to another place.The verdict delivered by aBench of the Supreme Courtlast year, reflected the spirit ofthe Palampur resolution ofthe BJP.

It clearly establishes howjustified the BJP is in itsdesire. There is no doubtthat the BJP would not onlybuild the Ram temple but alsoestablish Rama Rajya.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

Lord Sriram and the Ramayana in people’s lives andtheir impact over several centuries on the Indianpsyche and moral values and hence it is working intune with the prevailing sentiments. Not only Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, many Indians,including Muslims, regard Lord Sri Rama as a modelruler and a person having myriad of noble qualities

AUGUST 5, A RED LETTER DAY

Covid dampens Raksha Bandhan celebrationsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy said Raksha Bandhancelebrated the eternal bond oflove between siblings. "To protectone another has taken a differ-ent meaning this year amidstpandemic but the festive spiritremains the same. Greetingsand lots of love to all my dear sis-ters across the State," he tweeted.

The Raksha Bandhan wascelebrated in the State andTelangana on Monday amid theCovid-19 pandemic. People wereseen taking precautions whilecelebrating the festival, whichsignifies the bond between sis-ters and brothers.

Highlighting the importanceof Coronavirus precautions,Telangana Congress MLADanasari Anasuya gifted a mask

and sanitiser to party MP A.Revanth Reddy after tying rakhion his hand. "Happy RakshnaBandha to my brother MP

Revanth Reddy. Gifted him amask and sanitiser with rakhi,"she tweeted.

Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao's daughterand former Telangana RashtraSamithi (TRS) MP K Kavitha tieda traditional rakhi on brother andCabinet Minister KT. RamaRao's hand.

The siblings were seen wear-ing masks during the celebrationsat Pragati Bhavan, the ChiefMinister's official residence.Kavitha applied 'tilak' on the fore-heads of his brother and sister-in-law and after tying rakhitouched his brother's feet. Hegave his blessings.

"The sibling bond is the most

beautiful of all. Wishing you alla very happy Raksha Bandhan,"Kavitha tweeted. Union Ministerof State for Home G. KishanReddy visited his two sisters inHyderabad on the occasion."This festival gives every broth-er and sister countless memoriesto cherish forever," he said.

Telangana Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan greeted people onthe occasion. "It (RakshaBandhan) symbolises the greatIndian tradition of the eternalbond between brothers and sis-ters. I wish the thread of love willbind the hearts and lives of allbrothers and sisters and maketheir immortal bond of togeth-erness stronge,” she said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Regional differences would cropup if Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy goes aheadwith his proposal of three cap-itals, Andhra Pradesh CongressCommittee (APCC) president SSailajanath warned.

In a statement here onMonday, he said that the ChiefMinister was taking unilateraldecisions just like NChandrababu Naidu. “If thecapital is changed whenever theadministration was changed,who should be held responsi-ble,” he wondered.

He recalled that farmers gavetheir land for the capital cityafter Jaganmohan Reddy as theopposition leader supportedsetting up of capital city inAmaravati. “If the capital isshifted in the name of decentral-isation, farmers will be left in thelurch,” he said. The ChiefMinister should consult all thestakeholders before taking thedecision on the capital city, hesaid. “The capital city should beaccessible to all the people in the

State,” he pointed out. Heridiculed the proposal of devel-opment of all regions instead ofdemanding special packagefrom the Centre for the devel-opment of north Andhra. Jaganshould convince the Centre to

provide special packages forRayalaseema and north Andhraon the lines of Bundelkhand.

Sailajanath condemned thearrest of the Congress leaderswhen they launched agitationagainst the three capitals.

3-capitals will pave way forregional differences: APCC

Jagan extendsbirthday wishesto GovernorPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy conveyedhis wishes to Governor BiswaBushan Harichandan on hisbirthday on Monday. Jagancalled the Governor andextended birthday wishes tohim, praying for healthy andlong life. Taking to Twitter,the CM hailed Harichandanas a people's leader, who hadspent his entire life in the ser-vice of people. Warm greet-ings to @governorap ShriBiswa Bhusan Harichandan jion his birthday. A leaderwho has spent his entire lifein the service of people; maythe Almighty bless him witha long & healthy life.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A fleet of 32 e-Vehicles, provid-ed by Tamil Nadu-based VSLIndustries, was flagged off byMinisters for Panchayat RajPeddireddy RamachandraReddy and Minister for CivilSupplies Kodali SriVenkateswara Rao (Nani) hereon Monday.

The 32 vehicles, fully batteryoperated and non-pollutantworth Rs 1 crore, would be dis-tributed 12 each to the pan-chayat raj and municipaladministration departmentsbesides four each to the med-ical and health and civil sup-plies departments. They werehanded over to the govern-ment free of cost by TamilNadu-based VSL Industries.

While 15 vehicles would beused for lifting garbage fromhouses, four would be used forspraying disinfectants for con-

taining the Covid-19 pandem-ic, four others for testingCovid-19 and four for distrib-uting food to the houses. VSLIndustries ChairmanHarikrishna was felicitated onthe occasion.

Panchayat Raj PrincipalSecretary Gopal KrishnaDwivedi, MunicipalAdministration CommissionerVijay Kumar, VijayawadaMunicipal CommissionerPrasanna Venkatesh wereamong those present on theoccasion.

MalayappaSwamy ridesGarudaVahanamPNS n TIRUMALA

TTD has organised theSravana Pournami GarudaSeva at Lord Venkateshwaratemple on Monday evening.The monthly festival was con-ducted in ‘ekantham’ inside thetemple in view of Covid-19restrictions. The majesticallydecorated with flowers andornaments the utsava idol ofSri Malayappaswamy was seat-ed at Ranganayakula Mandapam on his favourite GarudaVahanam. Tirumala pontiffChinna Jeeyar Swamy, CVSOGopinath Jetty and VGOManohar participated.

Bandaru takes onBotsa over northAndhra developmentPNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP former ministerBandaru SatyanarayanaMurthy on Monday assertedthat if north Coastal Andhrawas developed, it was underthe leadership of formerChief Minister NChandrababu Naidu, and notthe YSRCP government.

Murthy deplored thatinstead of continuing thegreat projects like Adani DataCentre and Lulu Group's ven-ture, which were brought byNaidu, the ruling YSRCP wasdriving them away to otherStates. The multi-crore AdaniData Centre has now gone toTelangana where thousandsof jobs would be created forthe youth.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Monday, theTDP leader challengedMinister for Tourism AvantiSrinivas and Minister forMunicipal AdministrationBotsa Satyanarayana andsenior leader DharmanaPrasada Rao to tell the peo-ple what development theyhave brought inVisakhapatnam and sur-rounding areas in the past 14months of their regime.

“The Templeton f irmwould have created lot ofsoftware jobs but it was alsodriven away to other States.The YSRCP leaders were nowtalking about development ofnorth Coastal Andhra only tocarry forward their evildesigns to kill AmaravatiCapital City,” he alleged.

Satyanarayana Murthy toldChief Minister YS

Jaganmohan Reddy that thenorth Coastal Andhra peoplewere peace-loving and good-natured, who would notaccept the food that wassnatched and stolen from themouths of some other region.

“One lakh families inAmaravati would be badlyaffected and they would losetheir lands and livelihooddue to the oppressive andvengeful action of the govern-ment. The Chief Ministerhas forgotten the fact that Rs10,000 crore people's fundswere already spent onAmaravati, which has all thepotential to grow into a glob-al city in future,” he pointedout.

The Templeton firmwould have created lotof software jobs but it

was also driven away toother States. The YSRCP leaderswere now talking aboutdevelopment of north CoastalAndhra only to carry forward theirevil designs to kill AmaravatiCapital City

‘Provide medicines, food forthose in home quarantine’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh UrbanCitizens Federation (APUCF)demanded here on Mondaythat the State governmentprovide medicines, food andfinancial help to those inhome quarantine.

Ch Babu Rao, convener ofthe Federation, addressingthe media here on Monday,recalled that the governmentis suggesting people afflictedwith Covid-19 should stay athome and get medical help.He alleged that officials areinsisting on people to stayhome for treatment thoughthey have no facilities at home.

In spite of people stayinghome, officials are not supply-ing medicines to them andthey are suffering since themedicines were not availablein the medical shops.

Representatives of APUCFbrought this issue to the noticeof officials at various districtslike Vizianagaram severaltimes, but in vain, he said.

The government says that itis spending Rs 500 per day forthe afflicted persons in theCovid hospitals for providingfood. However, it is sad that

the same facility or financialhelp was not being providedto those in home quarantine.Doctors are supposed to pro-vide medical care to personsin home quarantine regular-ly but in many areas this is notbeing done, he pointed out.

Babu Rao sought interven-tion of the government,Minister for Health and high-er officials in the issue andshould provide medicines andfood for those in home quar-antine. They should also begiven masks, sanitisers and Rs7,000 for 14 days of homequarantine for food expenses,he suggested.

APUCF also demanded hir-ing of marriage halls, schoolsand others in all the Assemblyconstituencies to providequarantine facilities to thepersons who have no suchfacilities in their homes.

l Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddywas taking unilateral decisions like NChandrababu Naidu. “If the capital is

changed whenever the administration waschanged, who should be held

responsible,” APCC president SSailajanath wondered

l “If the capitalis shifted in thename ofdecentralisation,farmers will beleft in the lurch,”he said

Ministers flag off 32 e-Vehicles in city

NOVEL PROTEST STAGED

Women leaders want Pawanto back pro-Amaravati stirPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The pro-Amaravati womenleaders and activists staged aninnovative rakhi protestdemanding Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi con-tinue Amaravati as the onlyCapital of Andhra Pradesh.

Women tied rakhis to twopersons, who were carryingthe portraits of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddyin a novel protest. Theydemanded justice to farmers,who sacrificed their livelihoodto the capital city. Theydemanded that Jana Sena chiefPawan Kalyan join Amaravatiagitations to protect the world-class the capital city.

Amaravati Women JACleader Penmatsa Durga Bhavanisaid that there is no chance tomeet Chief Minister YS

Jaganmohan Reddy bypro-Amaravati farm-ers and women,hence, they hadtied rakhis to theirphotographs in theunique protest. Shealleged that boththe State and Uniongovernment deceivedAmaravati farmers byshifting the Executive Capital toVisakhapatnam.

Congress partyleader and

AWJAC leaderS u n k a r aPadmasri wel-coming thestatement of K

Pawan Kalyanseeking justice to

Amaravati farmershad sought the latter

to join Amaravati agita-tions to exert pressure on the

Central and State governments.She claimed that Jagan has noright to function from theSecretariat in Amaravati due toannulment of APCRDA.

She lamented that the ChiefMinister backstabbedAmaravati farmers, while theBJP had helped the YSRCP gov-ernment by joining theAmaravati capital conspiracy.She affirmed that AWJAC andAmaravati farmers will contin-ue protest till cancellation of 3capitals move and getting clearannouncement from the gov-ernment about continuation ofAmaravati as the only capital ofthe State.

AWJAC leader and formerZilla Parishad chairpersonGadde Anuradha andDonepudi Rama Devi flayedJagan for bringing tears andspoiling lives of women whopinned hopes on developmentof Amaravati.

Ch Babu Rao, convener of AndhraPradesh Urban Citizens Federation

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020 vijayawada 03

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In an unfortunate incident, twotribals, who were returninghome after tending their cattle,died in a blast triggered by apressure landmine at Kondrumand Chintalaveedhi forest areaunder Pedabayalu police stationlimits in Vizag Agency onMonday.

The land mines were plantedby Maoists targeting the securi-ty forces. The deceased havebeen identified as M MohanKumar (26) and M Ajay Kumar(20), both were tribals and cat-tle grazers and both residents ofChintalaveedhi village.

The incident took place onthe final day of the MartyrsWeek of Maoists (July 28 toAugust 3). The CPI (Maoists),who are observing the MartyrsWeek, holed up in this area shar-ing borders with the Odisha arereported to have fortified thearea by planting improvisedexplosive devices (IEDs) on allroutes approaching their hide-out.

Superintendent of Police ofVisakhapatnam district BKrishna Rao said that the land-

mine or landmines were plant-ed by red-rebels targeting thesecurity forces. He said thatmore than one landmine mighthave exploded and could havebeen a pressure activated land-mine also.

The police said that sincecombing operation and sur-veillance have been enhanceddue to the ongoing Martyr’sWeek, it has been the routinepractice of red-rebels during theweek to target security forceswith landmines.

The bodies of the deceasedhave been shifted to the villageand later the bodies will be shift-

ed to the government hospitalfor autopsy.

A few days ago the exchangeof fire between the Maoists andthe combing security forcesreportedly left one Maoist deadon the Andhra Odisha Border(AOB). The exchange of firetook place in the forest areaunder Annavaram police stationlimits in Vizag Agency along theAOB.

The slain Maoist was PangiDaya, a member of PedabayuluDalam of the banned outfit, andwas a native of Vakapalle villageunder G Madugula Mandal inVizag Agency.

Landmine planted byMaoists kills two tribals

n Martyrs Week of Maoistsis observed from July 28 toAugust 3

n The land mines wereplanted by Maoiststargeting the securityforces. The deceased havebeen identified as MMohan Kumar (26) and MAjay Kumar (20), both weretribals and cattle grazersand both residents ofChintalaveedhi village

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Opposit ion leader NChandrababu Naidu onMonday accused the YSRCPgovernment of causing end-less misery and painfuldeaths to Amaravati capitalcity farmers by followingunconstitutional policies.

Naidu blamed the govern-ment's 3-capitals plan forthe latest death ofNannapaneni VenkateshwaraRao, who took part in thecapital city protests, tillSunday. In all, 65 Amaravatifarmers and farm labourersdied painful deaths amidruthless treatment meted outby the ruling party leaders.

The TDP president, in atweet, deplored that farmerVenkateswara Rao had givenaway all his four acres ofancestral property for build-ing a good capital city for theState. But he was subjected toharassment and anguish,which led to his death.

Naidu said even thoughfarmers were succumbingone by one, there wasnobody from the side of thegovernment to come and

console the bereaved fami-lies. The ruling party was fol-lowing oppressive policiesto break the hearts of farm-ers and local residents, healleged.

It may be recalled that theAmaravati protests reached anew peak ever since theGovernor signed the 3-cap-itals and CRDA Repeal Bills.

Naidu blames govt fordeath of Amaravati farmer

Minister challenges Naidu to seek relectionPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Asserting that the mandatewas for five years, the YSRCPhas asked N ChandrababuNaidu and his MLAs to seekreelection as it was TDP thathas been opposing three capi-tals concept.

Speaking to the media hereon Monday, Minister for WaterResources K Anil Kumar Yadavchallenged Naidu to seek freshmandate with his MLAs if hefaults their decision on threecapitals as the mandate given tothem is up to 2024.

He slammed Naidu for try-ing to promote commercialactivity by concentrating devel-opment only in Amaravati andto serve the real estate businessof his cohorts.

He said that the TDP has nomoral right to talk on the cap-

ital issue, or accuse ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy of bringing up decen-tralisation. He said that Naiduwas seen more distressedtowards the approval of threecapitals than the State bifurca-tion.

Jagan had given consent forestablishing capital inAmaravati, where he suggest-ed going with degraded forestlands, or government landsinstead of pooling agriculturelands, he reminded.

In the five year’s regime,Naidu had spent only Rs 10,000crore and tried to push the Stateinto debts to pool remaining Rs95,000 crore, he pointed out.

TDP leaders are misleading

the public with baseless allega-tions for gaining politicalmileage, he said and added thatpeople, including the CoastalAndhra region, are hailing theconcept of decentralisation andare confident with the vision ofJagan.

He assured that Amaravati isstill a capital city (Legislative)and the government is verymuch committed to its devel-opment. In regard to this, AnilKumar said that the ChiefMinister had constructed housein Amaravati, but Naidu builta lavish house in Hyderabadand didn’t dare to step inAmaravati for the past fivemonths. He termed Jana Senachief Pawan Kalyan as a con-fused man for demandingMLAs of Krishna and Gunturdistricts to resign in support ofAmaravati.

Jagan launches e-Raksha BandhanPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy launched e-RakshaBandhan, a month-long aware-ness programme on womenand children safety in cyber-space, on Monday, from hiscamp office in Tadepalli, on theauspicious occasion RakhiPurnima.

The government launched e-Raksha Bandhan, which isjointly designed by the PoliceDepartment and CID, for thesafety of children and womenin the State. Speaking on occa-sion, Jagan assured that thegovernment is taking all mea-sures for the safety of womenand to prevent crime againstthem.

He said that as a part of thismonth-long awareness pro-gramme, schools, colleges andworking women will be trainedonline by cyber securityexperts through the YouTubechannel. Experts on womensafety will give suggestions to

women on how they can pro-tect themselves from cyber-crime.

He said the campaign wouldbe conducted through shortfilms, animations and readingmaterial to create awarenessamong women over cyber-crime. He asserted that thecyber wing will collect all the

complaints lodged by dis-tressed women through Dishaapp, Cyber Mitra, Disha PoliceStation and stern action wouldbe taken against them.

Reiterating that the govern-ment gives utmost priority towomen empowerment, hereminded that 50 per centreservation has been given to

them in all sectors. Heexpressed pleasure that thegovernment is distributinghousing sites to around 30lakh women beneficiaries.

He said that as part of liquorban, wine shops in the Statehave been reduced by 33 percent. On the occasion ofRaksha Bandhan, Home

Minister Sucharita, MLAVidadala Rajini, Women'sCommission ChairpersonVasireddy Padma tied rakhi tothe Chief Minister.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy launches e-Raksha Bandhan, an awareness programme, at Tadepalli on Monday

n The governmentlaunched e-RakshaBandhan, which is jointlydesigned by the PoliceDepartment and CID, for thesafety of children andwomen in the State.

n The Chief Minister saidthe campaign would beconducted through shortfilms, animations andreading material to createawareness among womenover cybercrime. Heasserted that the cyber wingwill collect all the complaintslodged by distressed womenthrough Disha app, CyberMitra, Disha Police Stationand stern action would betaken against them

n Jagan had given consentfor establishing capital inAmaravati, where hesuggested going withdegraded forest lands, orgovernment lands insteadof pooling agriculturelands, Anil Kumar Yadavreminded

n In the five year’s regime,Naidu had spent only Rs10,000 crore and tried topush the State into debtsto pool remaining Rs95,000 crore, he pointedout.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Information of nodal officers,medical and health depart-ment, Information and PublicRelations officials’ names andtheir phone numbers shall beprovided to the journalistsand their family members suf-fering from Covid, disclosedInformation and PublicRelations Commissioner TVijaya Kumar Reddy.

Addressing the 13 districtsI&PR officials through a videoconference here at theCollector’s camp office, alongwith Health and FamilyWelfare departmentCommissioner KatamaneniBhaskar, a circular was issuedin this regard.

Speaking on the occasion,he said that during the Covidpandemic journalists are dis-charging their duties riskingtheir lives and it is the respon-sibility to address their healthissues by conducting tests,arranging beds in Covid hos-pitals and providing bettertreatment.

He said that the care andfacilities being provided atCovid Care Centres and hos-pitals like food, drinking water,toilets and hygiene should begiven publicity so that peopleshall get confidence on thetreatment. He said that people,who are infected with Covid,should be bold and get treat-ed as many are being success-fully treated and discharged.

Info of Covid officials tobe provided to scribes

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Monday said that theDrug Control Authority wouldbe strengthened and fake med-icines be weeded out in the inter-est of public health.

Chairing a review meetinghere, the Chief Minister said thatlabs would be strengthened,Vigilance and Intelligence Wingbe started and defaulterspenalised.

The State government wouldtake tough action against man-ufacturing and marketing of fakedrugs besides strengthening thedrug control authority with bet-ter infrastructure and manpow-er, he said.

The Chief Minister took aserious note on fake drugs andordered the officials to developan action plan within a monthfor starting ‘Drug ControlVigilance and Intelligence’ wing.

He emphasised on developingthe lab infrastructure and toincrease the testing facility inorder to control fake drugs in themarket. He directed the officialsto frame strict guidelines for

eradicating malpractices in theproduction and sale of drugs.

To ensure safety of the pub-lic, officials were told to takestrict action against those whoviolate the rules and not tocompromise on public health.

The Chief Minister instruct-ed the officials to increase thetesting capacity in the labs ofVijayawada, Kurnool, andVisakhapatnam, where almost13,000 samples can be tested.

In addition to this, the ChiefMinister also directed the offi-cials to lay special focus on con-ducting periodical inspectionson the 34,000 drug stores acrossthe State and also put a displayshowing the details of ‘how tolodge a complaint’ at everyoutlet and store all the com-plaints received in a digitaldatabase.

Drugs Control Authorityto get more teeth in AP

Information and Public Relations Commissioner T Vijaya Kumar Reddyaddresses officials through a video conference from Vijayawada on Monday

Continued from page 1

Apart from YSR Cheyutha,the government said it plansto launch another schemeYSR Asara in Septemberunder which Rs 6,700 crorewill be spent annually on 90lakh women and 9 lakh self-help groups in the state.

"The partnership with com-panies will push womenacross the state to obtainmore employment opportuni-ties that will provide a steadyincome," it said.

HUL's Sanjiv Mehta saidthe company has been run-ning a programme calledShakti for women empower-ment in Chittoor district andis happy to work with the stategovernment, the statementsaid.

ITC's Sanjeev Puri said thecompany can extend cooper-ation in watershed pro-grammes, social forestry,health and sanitation and postharvesting.

P&G's MadhusudhanGopalan said, "We are happyto be part of the YSR Cheyuthawhich would generate employ-ment opportunities."

Continued from page 1

Government data alsorevealed that the recovery rateincreased to 53.23 per centwhile the mortality rate slippedmarginally to 0.92 per cent.

After easing a little in the lastcouple of days, East Godavarionce again recorded the high-est number of 1,113 cases,now aggregating 23,314, whileVisakhapatnam registered1,049 fresh cases, taking itscumulative to 14,196.

Visakhapatnam now has thehighest number of 10,124 activecases, the bulk of which camein the last week.

Anantapur district also con-tinued its upward trend with953 new cases, reaching 17,476so far.

Kurnool inched closer tothe 20,000-mark, aggregating19,679 with the addition of 602fresh cases. West Godavari dis-trict reported 11 fresh casual-ties in the last 24 hours, fol-lowed by Visakhapatnam nine,Prakasam eight, SPS Nelloreand Srikakulam districts seveneach.

Continued from page 1

Incidentally, Venkateswarluhails from Guntur districtwhere Amaravati is located.YSRCP Mylavaram MLAVasanta Krishna Prasad wentto the extent of taking a vowthat he would resign ifAmaravati was discontinuedas a permanent capital.Krishna Prasad hails fromKrishna district which is closeto Amaravati Capital.

“The YSRCP Governmentwas going forward to killAmaravati Capital muchagainst the will of the peoplein just the same way that thethen Congress Governmentapproved the bifurcation billby shutting down TVs andclosing the doors of theParliament.

\Eventually, the AP peoplehad taught a bitter lesson tothe Congress. Even now,Capital shifting was taken upmuch against the opinion ofthe people. If Jagan wasthinking he had public sup-port, he could as well get aproper mandate for the sameby going for election,” theTDP supremo said.

Continued from page 1

For the first time since thecoronavirus lockdown cameinto force on March 25, thegovernment has allowedopening of yoga institutesand gymnasiums from August5 as part of the 'Unlock 3'phase.

"Yoga and physical activitybeing important for health &well-being, it has been decid-ed to open yoga institutes andgymnasiums from August 5,"the guidelines said.

The document outlinedvarious generic precautionarymeasures to be adopted inaddition to specific measuresto be taken at yoga institutesand gymnasiums to preventthe spread of Covid-19.

The guidelines state that atthe entry point at all suchfacilities, it is mandatory tohave hand hygiene (sanitiserdispenser) and thermalscreening provisions.

"Only asymptomatic per-sons (including staff ) beallowed in the premises. All

persons to be allowed entryonly if using facecover/masks," it said.

"All members, visitors andstaff may consider usingAarogya Setu application forrisk identification at all timesinside the yoga institute/ gym-nasiums," the guidelines stat-ed.

It also stated that prior toexercising in gymnasiumsusing equipment for cardio,strength training, etc. middlefinger be sanitised with alco-hol swab and oxygen satura-tion be checked using pulseoximeter. Those having oxy-gen saturation below 95 percent should not be allowed toexercise, it said.

Call central/state helpline/ambulance and refer suchpersons to the nearest healthfacility, the document added.

It calls for ensuring a min-imum distance of six feet at alltimes in queues and propercrowd management in park-ing lots, corridors and in ele-vators — duly following socialdistancing norms.

Continued from page 1

The officials said that the SIIhad submitted a revised propos-al on Wednesday after the SECon July 28, following deliberationover its application, had asked itto revise its protocol for the phase2 and 3 clinical trials besides seek-ing some additional information.

The panel had also recom-mended that the clinical trial siteswhich have been proposed forthe study be distributed acrossIndia.

According to the revised pro-

posal by the SII, 1,600 peopleaged above 18 years will partic-ipate in the trials across 17 select-ed sites, including AIIMS-Delhi,B J Medical College in Pune,Rajendra Memorial ResearchInstitute of Medical Sciences(RMRIMS) in Patna, PostGraduate Institute of MedicalEducation and Research inChandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur,Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur,Andhra Medical College inVisakhapatnam and JSSAcademy of Higher Educationand Research in Mysore.

"According to the applica-tion, it would conduct an observ-er-blind, randomised controlledstudy to determine the safety andimmunogenicity of 'Covishield'on healthy Indian adults," theofficial said.

The SII, which has part-nered with AstraZeneca, formanufacturing the Oxford vac-cine candidate for Covid-19had submitted its first applica-tion to the DCGI on July 25seeking permission for con-ducting the phase 2 and 3 tri-als of the potential vaccine.

Continued from page 1

On July 31 the state gov-ernment notified the APDecentralisation andInclusive Development of AllRegions Act, 2020,and the APCapital Region DevelopmentAuthority (Repeal) Act, 2020,immediately afterGovernorBiswabhushan Harichandangave his assent to the twocontroversial laws.

The state LegislativeCouncil did not clear the twoBills and had referred them toSelect Committees for deep-er examination but the com-mittees never took shape.

As per the provisions of theConstitution, the Governorgave assent to the two newlaws, paving the way for thegovernment to go ahead withits plans of having three cap-itals for the state.

All opposition parties havebeen staunchly opposing thethree capitals idea, demand-ing that Amaravati be contin-ued as the full-fledged capi-tal of the bifurcated state.

Considering the demand inareas such as Anandapuram,Yendada, Pendurthy, landsabutting Vizag-Anandapuramnational highway,Madhavadhara, Murali Nagar,Kurmannapalem, Mindi,M a d h u r a w a d a ,Bakkannapalem, Kommadiand Paradesipalem, the revi-sion of rates range from 5 percent to 10 per cent and 10 percent to 20 per cent.

The government fixed mar-ket values of lands where newlayouts are developed in theGVMC limits have beenrevised. Rates in villages abut-ting roads have been revisedfrom 6 per cent to 12 per centin Saripalli and Rampuramareas, the revision was 15 percent and in Bheemili mandal13 per cent to 15 per cent.

Meanwhile, CREDAI chair-man P Koteswara Rao suggest-ed postponement of revision ofland value by at least one yearciting the difficulties arisingout of the Covid-19 pandem-ic and other reasons. Thiswould help attract prospective

buyers, he said. He alsoexpressed concern over howthe further increase in rates orland, which already costs abomb in Vizag city, will dashthe dreams of middle-classfamilies to own a home.

He also highlighted howland or apartments in someareas in Vizag city (like CBMCompound) are costlier than

Banjara Hills, one of the afflu-ent neighbourhoods inHyderabad.

The realty sector is the sec-ond largest provider of employ-ment after agriculture and thepresent crisis in this sectorwould have an adverse impacton employment opportunitiesand hundreds of daily workerswould be jobless, he said.

Vizag land prices skyrocket,further hike proposed

Continued from page 1

These two hill ranges causeinversion conditions particularlyduring the winter season. Majorhabitation and industries co-exist in the bowl area. The focuswill be to study the bowl area.

The point, line and areasources of emissions from theindustries, service sector andvehicular pollution which arelikely to have impact on the airquality of the study area due toprevailing meteorological

conditions shall be identifiedand comprehensive source dataof pollutants shall be obtained.Static non-point sources likecargo heaps and fuel heaps invarious facilities shall beidentified.

Moreover, the consultantwould submitrecommendations like short-term measures (to beimplemented within 3-6months), medium termmeasures (1-2 years) and longterm measures (in 4-5 years).

State scouts for consultant torein in Vizag’s pollution

Continued from page 1

Chennakesavulu andBheemaiah died at home,while family members ofChennakesavulu conductedhis last rites without inform-ing the police. Obulesh diedwhile undergoing treatmentat Rajiv Gandhi Institute ofMedical Science (RIMS), saidpolice.

The incident came to lightafter locals passed the infor-mation to the police. Policeshifted Bheemaiah's body toRIMS hospital in Kadapa forpost-mortem. Police arekeeping tabs the health con-dition of the remaining five.

Earlier, 10 people diedafter consuming alcohol-based hand sanitiser inPrakasam district on July 31.Prakasam districtSuperintendent of PoliceSiddharth Kaushal said thatthe deceased had consumedsanitiser for over 10 daysmixing it with water and softdrinks.

AP ties up withtop firms forwomen’s...

Nod for phase 2, 3 human trials...

Centre issuesprotocols for ...

TDP's B TechRavi quitsCouncil ...

Naidu givesJagan 48 hrs ...

In AP 7,822cases, 63 deathsrecorded

3 liquoraddicts drinksanitiser

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Three persons died whileeight others sustained seri-ous injuries near Gurajalavillage in Pamidimokkalamandal of Krishna dis-trict on Monday.

The accident took placewhen the car in whichthey were travelling lostcontrol and hit the divideron the VijayawadaMachilipatnam highwaykilling three and injuringeight. The incident tookplace while they werereturning after celebrat-ing Friendship Day atMachilipatnam beach. Thedeceased were identified asAmar, Yousuf and Sivarajfrom Vijayawada.

Three killedin accident

Naidu said eventhough farmerswere succumbingone by one, therewas nobody fromthe side of thegovernment tocome and consolethe bereavedfamilies

PNS n MUMBAI

Mumbai police chief ParamBir Singh on Monday said noparty was held at the home ofactor Sushant Singh Rajput onJune 13, a day before he wasfound dead at his Bandraapartment here.

Talking to media, Singhalso said no politician's namehas come up during the inves-tigation by Mumbai police.

There is no question ofnon-cooperation with theBihar police team which is inthe city in connection withthe Sushant Singh Rajputdeath case, Singh said, addingMumbai police are seekinglegal opinion on the matter.

Bihar DGP GupteshwarPandey on Sunday claimedthat Vinay Tiwari, the IPSofficer from Patna who is inMumbai to probe a case relat-ed to the Bollywood actor'sdeath, has been "forcibly

quarantined" by civic author-ities in the metropolis.

The investigation by theMumbai police is in the rightdirection, he said, adding thecase was being investigatedfrom all possible angles.

The Commissioner ofPolice said it was found theactor had bipolar disorder,and was undergoing treat-ment and taking medicinesfor it. "What circumstancesled to his death is the subjectof our investigation," headded.

After registering anAccidental Death Report

(ADR) in the case, the inves-tigation is in progress and tillnow statements of 56 personshas been recorded byMumbai police. The state-ments of Sushant's sistershave also been recorded, hesaid. Sushant was upset afterhe was linked with the deathof his former manager DishaSalian on June 8, he said.

"No politician's name cameup during the probe so far.There is no evidence againstany politician from any party,"

Singh said, referring to aquery on the name of aprominent youngMaharashtra politician beingmentioned on social media.

"The FIR by Bihar policesays Rs 15 crore weresiphoned off from Sushant'saccount. During the probe,we found he had Rs 18 crorein his account of whicharound Rs 4.5 crore are stillthere," he said.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020 nation 04

SHORT READS

UDF in Kerala protestsonline demandingCM's resignation THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: TheCongress-led United DemocraticFront in Kerala on Mondayorganised a half-day online sit-infollowing COVID-19 protocol aspart of protests against the Leftgovernment and demandingresignation of chief ministerPinarayi Vijayan in the recentgold smuggling case involvingdiplomatic baggage. The UDFleaders joined the protest, titled'Speakup Kerala', from theirhomes and offices across theState and the agitation wasinaugurated by All IndiaCongress Committee generalsecretary in charge of Kerala,Mukul Wasnik. OppositionLeader Ramesh Chennithala,who sat on protest at his officialresidence, reiterated his demandfor a CBI probe. "With this goldsmuggling case, the currentgovernment in the state hastarnished the image of Keralaworldwide," Chennithala alleged.

Women Cong MLAs tie Rakhis on CM's wrist

Lok Sabha MP KartiChidambaram testspositive for COVID-19CHENNAI: Lok Sabha MP andson of senior Congress leaderP Chidambaram, Karti, onMonday said he has testedpositive for COVID-19. "I havejust tested positive for #Covid.My symptoms are mild and asper medical advice I am underhome quarantine. I would urgeall those who have recently beenin contact with me to followmedical protocol," he said in atweet. The Congress leaderrepresents Sivaganga Lok Sabhasegment from Tamil Nadu.

Customer finds deadlizard in bowl of‘sambar', in Delhi NEW DELHI: A customerreportedly found a dead lizardin a bowl of ‘sambar' at apopular South Indian restaurantin Connaught Place here, policesaid on Monday. The incidenttook place on Saturday night,they said. According to thepolice, Pankaj Agarwal, aresident of Fatehpuri area inChandni Chowk, visited therestaurant along with his twofriends. They ordered ‘dosa'and ‘sambar' for dinner. WhenAgarwal started eating, hefound a dead lizard in his bowlof ‘sambar'. He captured thesight in his mobile phone andquestioned the restaurant stafffollowing which the managerassured him that it will nothappen in future, they said.

JAISALMER: WomenCongress MLAs of Rajasthancelebrated the festival ofRaksha Bandhan by tyingRakhis on the wrist of ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot. MinisterMamta Bhupesh and legislatorsShakuntala Rawat, Ganga Deviand others tied Rakhi on thewrist of the chief minister andoffered him sweets. Thewomen MLAs also tied Rakhion the wrists of otherlegislators including SanyamLodha. The festival wascelebrated in Hotel Suryagarhin Jaisalmer where the MLAshave been made to stay to savethem from the alleged bids tomake them ditch the Gehlotgovernment. They are expectedto stay here till the assemblysession begins on August 14.

PNS n MUMBAI

The India MeteorologicalDepartment issued a red alertfor Mumbai, Thane, Pune,Raigad and Ratnagiri dis-tricts in Maharashtra forTuesday after upgrading itsearlier rain forecast from"heavy-ver y heavy" to"extremely heavy".

An IMD official on Mondaysaid the "extremely heavy"forecast means Mumbai,Raigad, Thane, Pune and

Ratnagiri may get more than204.5 millimetres of rain in aperiod of 24 hours.

"Mumbai, Thane, Punewould receive extremely heavyrainfall in isolated places on

Tuesday and Wednesday.Raigad has a similar forecastbetween Monday andWednesday," he said.

"The probability of the fore-cast is very likely, which means51 per cent to 75 per cent ofactualisation," the officialadded.

Neighbouring Palghar dis-trict would get heavy to veryheavy rains at a few places onTuesday and the intensitywould increase on Wednesday,the IMD said.

PNS n CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu governmenton Monday rejected theCentre's three-language formu-la proposed in the newNational Education Policy(NEP) 2020 and said there willnot be any deviation from thetwo-language policy being fol-lowed in the state.

Taking strong exception tothe proposal for the three-language formula in the NEP,Chief Minister K Palaniswamiafter a chairing a meeting ofCabinet colleagues at theSecretariat here, said the statehas been following the two-

language policy for severaldecades and there will be nochange in it.

"Tamil Nadu will never allowthe Centre's three- languagepolicy. The state will continuewith it's dual language policy(of Tamil and English)," thechief minister said.

"The three-language for-

mula in the NEP is painfuland saddening. The PrimeMinister (Narendra Modi)should reconsider the three-language policy," he said,adding the Centre shouldallow the states to implementtheir own policy on the sub-ject.

Palaniswami said there willbe no change to the two- lan-guage formula which the statehad adopted decades ago.

Teaching up to class 5 inmother tongue or regional lan-guage and lowering the stakesof board exams are part of thesweeping reforms in the newNEP unveiled last week.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Nearly two-thirds of migrantworkers, who had left for homedue to the coronavirus-inducedlockdown, have either returnedto cities or wish to do so inabsence of skilled employmentin villages, according to a newstudy that surveyed 4,835households.

The collaborative study on'How is the hinterland unlock-ing' was carried out by the AgaKhan Rural SupportProgramme (India), Actionfor Social Advancement,Grameen Sahara, i-Saksham,PRADAN, SAATHI-UP,SeSTA, Seva Mandir andTransform Rural IndiaFoundation.

The study is based on a rapidassessment survey of 4,835households across 11 states in48 districts carried out in theperiod of June 24 to July 8.

The study found that 29 percent of migrants, who had leftfor villages, are now back incities, while 45 per cent wantto return to cities.

"Absence of skilled employ-ment in villages is reflected inthe fact that nearly 2/3rd ofreturned migrants have either

migrated again or wish to doso," it said.

The study also found thatmigrants who returned areengaged mainly in labour workin villages - more than 80 percent of them - which reflectsabsence of skilled employmentin villages.

"More than one-fourth ofthe migrant workers are stillsearching for work in villages,"the study found.

It also found that one in 4households is thinking of tak-ing their child out of school (24per cent).

"Though distress is still con-siderable, structural changesare not yet visible and thehealth risk of COVID-19 inrural India is rising," the studywarned.

Two-thirds of migrantsreturned to cities: survey

The study foundthat 29 per cent ofmigrants, who hadleft for villages, arenow back in cities,while 45 per centwant to return tocities.

PNS n MUMBAI

The Maharashtra governmenton Monday told the BombayHigh Court it does not intendto permit street vendors andhawkers to conduct their busi-nesses amid the COVID-19pandemic as it is not possible toregulate them.

The government filed an affi-davit in response to a publicinterest litigation filed by oneManoj Oswal, raising concernsofstreetvendorsbeing withoutincome due to the COVID-19lockdown.

Oswal in his plea arguedthat since hotels and restaurantsare allowed to operate,streetven-dorsshould also be allowed toconduct their business activities.

"Considering the presentground realities and the affectthat the COVID-19 pandemic

has caused on businesses andcommercial activities, the stategovernment does not intend topermit street vendors or hawk-ers to commence their business-es amid and post the lockdown,the government said in its affi-davit. The affidavit filed byKishor Nimbalkar, secretary,disaster management, relief andrehabilitation department, saidstreet vendors and hawkers fallin an unorganised sector andthus, it is very difficult to regu-late their business.

"The state governmentpresently does not intend to per-

mit street vendors or hawkers toconduct their businesses even innon-containment zones or areasthat are not in lockdown, main-ly because it is difficult toimplement conditions, if anyand if at all, imposed on themto conduct their business, theaffidavit said.

Oswal in his pleaargued that sincehotels andrestaurants areallowed tooperate,streetvendorsshould also beallowed toconduct theirbusinessactivities.

No intention to allow streetvendors to resume biz: Govt to HC

TN govt rejects three-language formula innew NEP, says will follow 2 language policy

PNS n MUMBAI

Actor Rhea Chakrabortysadvocate on Monday refut-ed Bihar Polices claim thatshe was "missing", and saidtill date she has not receivedany summons from them inconnection with the case ofactor-friend Sushant SinghRajput's death.

The Bihar Police last weeklodged an FIR againstChakraborty for allegedlyabetting Rajput's suicide.

The complaint was filed byRajput's father K K Singhagainst Chakraborty andother members of her fami-ly. The Bihar Police earliersaid their team had failed tolocate Chakraborty.

However, her advocateSatish Maneshinde in a state-ment said, "The contention ofBihar police that RheaChakraborty is missing isnot correct. Till today, nonotice or summons has been

received by her from theBihar police." Chakraborty'sstatement has already beenrecorded by the MumbaiPolice, Maneshinde said.

"She has cooperated withthe police as and when called,the statement said.Maneshinde in the statementreiterated that the BiharPolice do not have jurisdic-tion to probe the case andhence, Chakraborty has fileda petition in the SupremeCourt seeking transfer of thecase to Mumbai.

PNS n NEW DELHI

President Ram NathKovind celebratedRaksha Bandhan withmembers of the nursingcommunity atRashtrapati Bhavan onMonday and describedthem as saviours whoare risking their ownlives in the line of duty to saveothers.

The nurses offered rakhis tothe president and narratedtheir experience in dealingwith the COVID-19 pandem-ic, the Rashtrapati Bhavan saidin a statement.

The president felicitated thenurses, saying they have beenperforming the role of front-line COVID warriors and theircommitment to duty earnsrespect.

Traditionally, on RakshaBandhan, sisters seek their

brothers' protection, butin case of nurses it isthey who through theirdedication and commit-ment extend a helpinghand to their brothersand ensure protectionfor all people, the pres-ident said.

Referring to two mem-bers of the Military

Nursing Service, who testedCOVID-19 positive while deal-ing with patients but recoveredsoon and resumed duty withrenewed vigour, he thankedthe nursing fraternity for theirdedication during the pan-demic.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Singer Lata Mangeshkar andspiritual leaderAmritanandamayi postedRaksha Bandhan messages forPrime Minister NarendraModi on Monday which hesaid would inspire him andgive him strength.

Praising Modi's efforts as theprime minister, Mangeshkar,90, posted an audio noteaccompanied by a videomontage of her pictures withthe PM on Twitter.

The singer said she couldn'tsend a rakhi to him because ofthe coronavirus pandemic.

"I couldn't send rakhi today,the reason for which the entire

world is aware of. Narendrabhai, you have worked so hardfor the nation, spoken so wellfor it, that the citizens willnever be able to forget," shesaid.

Mangeshkar said that onRaksha Bandhan, she wantedthe prime minister to promisethat he would continue to take

the country forward. "Today, millions of women

in India won't be able to tie youa rakhi. But you can under-stand. If possible, then on thisday of rakhi, promise us to takeIndia ahead. Namaskar," sheadded.

In his response, the PMsaid the singer's message hasfilled him with fresh energy.

"Lata didi, on this auspiciousoccasion of Raksha Bandhan,this emotional message fromyou has filled me withimmense inspiration and ener-gy. With the blessings of mil-lions of mothers and sisters ourcountry will reach greaterheights and achieve success,"Modi tweeted.

PNS n COIMBATORE

Three people have been arrest-ed on the charge of producingfalse documents to help a SriLankan gangster stay here ille-gally, police said on Monday.This came to light when thegangster MaddumageLasantha Chandana Pereraalias Angoda Lokka had diedof a heart attack in the city andthe three approached the policeto cremate the body inMadurai. On investigation,Sivakami Sundari of Madurai,Dyaneswaran of Erode and aLankan woman Amani wereheld here on Sunday nightbased on information, a pressrelease from the police said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court has dis-missed a petition challengingthe decision of Guru GobindSingh Indraprastha University(GGSIPU) to reserve 50 percent state quota of PG medicalseats to MBBS graduates fromits own colleges.

Justice Jayant Nath saidGGSIPU is following the dictaof the Supreme Court in var-ious cases which haveapproved 'institutional reser-vation' upto 50 per cent of thepost graduate seats.

“In view of the stated legalposition, this is clearly permis-sible. The pleas of the petition-ers are clearly without merit.There is no merit in the pre-

sent petition. The same isaccordingly dismissed,” thecourt said in its 32-page judge-ment.

In the petition, variousMBBS graduates and studentsfrom Jamia HamdardUniversity had challenged thepolicy of GGSIPU of allocat-ing the entire 50 per cent statequota of post graduate medicalcollege seats to MBBS gradu-ates from colleges affiliatedonly to itself by way of'Institutional Preference'.

PNS n TURA

A 13-year-old girl inMeghalaya died after fallinginto a river while trying tohelp her friend who was slip-ping into a waterfall, policesaid on Monday.

The incident took place at2:30 pm on Sunday when thegirl along with three of herfriends went to the waterfallat the Daram Gurakol streamnear Rongkuchong village,they said. The girl, identifiedas Mima Patiasa K Sangma,saw one of her friends losingbalance and slipping into thewater while they were stand-ing near the edge of thewaterfall.

PNS n JAIPUR

The Rajasthan governmenthas transferred or redesignat-ed 57 officers of the IndianForest Service (IFS) and 31officers of the RajasthanAdministration Service(RAS).

IFS Shruti Sharma hasbeen posted as PrincipalChief Conservator of Forest,Jaipur whereas in the trans-fers of RAS, Narendra Guptahas been posted as AdditionalDivisional Commissioner,Jaipur, as per an order of theDepartment of Personnelissued on Sunday night.

Earlier on July 31, the gov-ernment had transferred orredesignated 97 RAS offi-cers.

Raj govttransfers 88IFS, RASofficers

PNS n NAGPUR

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadigovernment is committed toproviding reservations in jobsand education to the Marathacommunity and would leave nostone unturned to place its viewin the Supreme Court on theissue, said state revenue minis-ter and Congress unit chiefBalasaheb Thorat on Monday.Addressing a press conferencehere, he refuted allegationsleveled by Shiv Sangram Partyleader Vinayat Mete who hadsaid the state government wasnot putting its side in the apexcourt effectively.

Maha govtcommitted toMaratha quota

Girl dies whiletrying to savefriend

Chief Minister K Palaniswami

Palaniswami saidthere will be nochange to the two-language formulawhich the statehad adopteddecades ago.

Delhi HC dismisses pleaon 50% PG medical seats

3 held forharbouringLankan gangster

Actor Rhea Chakrabortys

Rhea not missing,hasn't got summons

No party at Sushant's home daybefore his death: Mumbai CP

Cooperatingwith Biharpolice: CPMumbai: Mumbai police chiefParam Bir Singh on Monday saidthere is no question of non-cooperation with the Bihar policeteam which is in the city inconnection with the SushantSingh Rajput death case. Talkingto media, Singh said theinvestigation by the Mumbaipolice is in the right direction,and added that the case wasbeing investigated from allpossible angles. TheCommissioner of Police saidthere are reports that the actorhad bipolar disorder, and wasundergoing treatment and takingmedicines for it. "Whatcircumstances led to his death isthe subject of our investigation,"he said. After registering anAccidental Death Report (ADR)in the case, the investigation isin progress and till nowstatements of 56 persons hasbeen recorded by Mumbaipolice.

Lata Mangeshkar, Amritanandamayiwish PM Modi on Raksha Bandhan

IMD issues red alert for Mumbai warns heavy rains

PNS n NEW DELHI

Lighting of 11 lakh earthenlamps, a mega laser show, andlive telecast of the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ramtemple in Ayodhya throughLED screens across the city aresome of the events beingplanned by the Delhi BJP tomake the occasion "memo-

rable". Delhi BJP presi-dent Adesh Gupta saidon Monday that LordRama lives in thehearts of crores of peo-ple and the BJP hasbeen at the forefront ofthe movement for constructionof his temple in Ayodhya whichis why it wants the occasion tobe remembered by generations

to come. "It is amatter of great prideand joy for us that after500 years, the dream ofRam temple is going to

be realised on August 5.We have planned a series

of events to make the 'bhoomipujan' ceremony a memorablemoment for everyone in Delhi,"he said.

Delhi BJP to organise live telecast of Ram temple groundbreaking ceremony

On Raksha Bandhan, PresidentKovind describes nurses as saviours

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

Rajya Sabha memberAmar Singh crematedin DelhiNEW DELHI: Rajya Sabhamember Amar Singh wascremated at the Chhatarpurcrematorium here in thepresence of family membersand relatives on Monday, twodays after he died in aSingapore hospital. The lastrites took place around 11:30am. His two daughtersconsigned his mortal remainsto flames. Due to COVID-19protocols, Singh's last riteswere performed in the presenceof a limited number of people,including actor-turned-politicianJaya Prada, who consideredhim her 'godfather'. Earlier inthe day, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, BJP RajyaSabha member JyotiradityaScindia, and Jaya Prada wereamong the first ones to payfloral tributes to the formerSamajwadi Party leader at hisChhatarpur farmhouse.

Bihar SP quarantined,Cong's Nirupam attacksBMC, Mumbai cops

Covid: MP CM's 9thday test positive, hospstay continuesBHOPAL: Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan will undergo furtherhospitalisation after a COVID-19 test conducted on the 9thday returned positive, healthofficials and a state ministersaid on Monday. Chouhan hasbeen in Chirayu MedicalCollege and Hospital in Bhopalsince July 25 undergoingtreatment for COVID-19. Ahealth bulletin from ChirayuHospital said, "CM's RT-PCRtest for SARS-Cov-2 on 9th daywas positive. His medicalparameters are normal." MPHome Minister NarottamMishra confirmed thedevelopment to reporters andsaid the CM will stay in hospitalfor now, adding that the statecabinet meeting scheduled forTuesday would be a virtual one.

MUMBAI: Congress leaderSanjay Nirupam on Mondaylashed out at the BMC andMumbai police for placing asenior Bihar police officer whohad come to probe the SushantSingh Rajput death case inquarantine and asked whetherthe two agencies had gone"mad". Patna City SP VinayTiwari was quarantined by theBMC till August 15 at the StateReserve Police Force camp inGoregaon after he arrived in themetropolis on Sunday. "Lookslike the BMC and MumbaiPolice have gone mad. Theyhave quarantined till August 15IPS officer Tiwari who arrivedhere to probe the SushantSingh suicide case. How willthe probe go on? The chiefminister must interveneimmediately," Nirupam, aformer city Congress chief, saidin a tweet in Hindi.

PNS n AYODHYA

For the past three and a halfdecades, brothers Shankarlaland Bhagwatlal 'Pahaadhi' havebeen stitching clothes for RamLalla in Ayodhya. Their dedi-cation will be manifest in thesplendid dress they have metic-ulously crafted for the deity towear on August 5, during thebhoomi pujan ceremony ofthe Ram temple.

Operating from their shopnamed after their late fatherBabulal and located in thecity's Badhi Kutiyaa area, thebrothers stitch clothes for onlydeities and seers.

"My father late Babulal start-ed stitching the clothes of RamLalla in 1985. He used to carryour sewing machine to theRamjanmabhoomi and stitchthe clothes with me and myelder brother in tow,"Shankarlal, 54, told PTI on

Monday. "The three of us usedto make the clothes of LordRam. The dresses were madeand stitched virtually in frontof the deity. Since then, ourwork is continuing," he said.

Shankarlal said that forWednesday, the day of bhoomipujan to mark the beginning ofthe construction of the grandRam temple in Ayodhya, two

sets of dresses have been made-- one is green, while the otheris orange.

"The clothes are made usingsoft material such as 'makhmal'(velvet). After all, they are forRam Lalla who is a child. Thegreen dress has been madekeeping in mind the day-spe-cific colour, while orange isconsidered auspicious," he said.

On Wednesday, the greendress will be worn first and theorange one later, Shankarlalsaid.

The special dress for the cer-emony has nine gems stitchedin golden thread. "There isgrandeur in the clothes of theLord as well," he said.

On Sunday, the dresses werehanded over by the tailors, saidAcharya Satyendra Das, thechief priest of the Ram temple.

"A day-specific colourscheme is followed for thedresses worn by Lord Ram. OnMonday the dress is white, onTuesday it is red, while onWednesday it is the turn of thegreen dress for the Lord,"Shankarlal said.

On Thursdays the idol isdressed in yellow, Fridays arefor cream-coloured dresses,on Saturdays it is the turn ofblue clothes while on Sundayspink clothes adorn the deity.

Special dress with 9 gems withgolden thread for Ram Lalla PNS n BHOPAL

Senior Congress leaderDigvijaya Singh has requestedPrime Minister Narendra Modito defer the ground-breakingceremony for the constructionof Ram temple in Ayodhya onWednesday, saying the occasionis inauspicious.

The 'bhoomi pujan' of theRam temple is scheduled to beheld on Wednesday at Ayodhyain Uttar Pradesh and is expect-ed to be attended by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

In a series of tweets onMonday, Singh said, "I againrequest Modiji postpone theground-breaking ceremony ofthe Ram temple on August 5.After a struggle of hundreds ofyears, the occasion for the con-struction of the temple hascome.

Dont allow your arrogancecreate obstruction in the way."

Jagat Guru SwamiSwaroopanandji Maharaj

(Shankaraycharya of DwarkaPeeth) had said that August 5was an inauspicious muhuratfor the ground-breaking cere-mony of Ram temple. For theconvenience of Modiji thisinauspicious muhurat wasfixed," the Rajya Sabha memberclaimed in a tweet in Hindi.

"This means that Modji isabove the Hindu beliefs ofthousands of years. Is thisHindutava?" the former chiefminister of Madhya Pradeshsaid in another tweet.

He also claimed that someleaders tested positive for coro-

navirus as they ignored thetenets of the Sanatan Dharma.

Result of overlooking SanatanDharma's tenets- 1 All thepriests of Ram temple testedcoronavirus positive 2 UttarPradesh Minister Kamla RaniVarun died of coronavirus

3 UP BJP chief tested positive,admitted to hospital 4 UnionHome Minister Amit Shah test-ed coronavirus positive 5 MPchief minister and state BJPpresident tested positive 6Karnataka BJP chief ministertested positive, admitted in hos-pital, Singh tweeted.

"Modiji, how many morepeople you want to send to hos-pital by laying the foundationstone of the Ram temple. Yogiji(Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister)advice Modi. In yourpresence, the tenets of SanatanDharma are being broken?What is compelling you toallow all this to happen?" hesought to know in anothertweet.

Digvijaya requests PM todefer temple ‘bhoomi puja'

PNS n KOLKATA

Aiming to free up private hos-pital beds for COVID-19patients requiring emergencytreatment, the West BengalClinical EstablishmentRegulatory Commission in anadvisory said that only thedoctor will decide on admis-sion or discharge.

The decision of the examin-ing doctor taken without anyextraneous consideration orrecommendation will bedeemed final, it said.

If the number of waitingpatients is more than the num-ber of vacant beds, the doctor

on duty would examine eachpatient and allot beds to the

most deserving ones ignoringany extraneous considerations

or recommendations. Thedecision of the doctor on dutywill be final and binding uponall, said an advisory from theCommission.

The examining doctor willalso take the final call on shift-ing a patient from the generalbed to the ICU or ITU, theadvisory stated.

We have noticed thatpatients refuse to go homewithout a confirmatory coro-navirus negative report thoughthe discharge guidelines statethat clinically fit patient cannow be sent home even with-out testing negative. Followingthis we have decided on this

new advisory so that patientswho need to be hospitalised donot have to wait as they do getany vacancies, one member ofthe Commission said.

If the patient wants he/shecan shift to a safe house afterbeing discharged from thehospital but will not be allowedto occupy a bed pending a neg-ative COVID-19 report, hesaid.

In West Bengal there are 55private hospitals so far treatingCOVID-9 patients.

With 37.88 per cent occu-pancy there are at the moment11,552 beds for patients of thepandemic in West Bengal .

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray is unlikelyto visit Ayodhya for the bhoo-mi pujan for Ram temple con-struction there on August 5owing to the serious COVID-19 situation in the UttarPradesh town, senior ShivSena leader Sanjay Raut indi-cated on Monday.

"It is important that the PMis going. The chief minister(Thackeray) can go there any-time, Raut told reporters herewhile extending good wishesfor the ceremony.

The 'bhoomi pujan' of theRam temple is scheduled to beheld on Wednesday atAyodhya in Uttar Pradesh andis expected to be attended byPrime Minister NarendraModi.

Raut reiterated the ShivSenas contribution in the Ramtemple construction campaign,and said the party has given Rs

one crore for the purpose ofbuilding the temple.

"The outbreak of COVID-19in Ayodhya and surroundingareas is a matter ofconcern...Uttar Pradesh's min-ister Kamal Rani (Varun) lostlife (due to the disease), whilethree other ministers areinfected," Raut said.

"I think as less people as pos-sible should go there and theceremony there be held. It is

important that the PM isgoing.

The chief minister(Thackeray) can go there any-time, the Rajya Sabha membersaid.

Asked if Thackeray has notbeen invited for the ceremony,Raut said, Nobody is waitingfor the invitation."

He said the chief priest ofthe temple and security guardsthere have been quarantined.

Digvijaya Singh

PNS n AYODHYA (UP)

Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigantin the Ayodhya land disputecase, has decided to gift a'Ram nami' stole and a copy ofthe Ramcharitmanas to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi whenhe attends the bhoomi pujanceremony for the Ram templehere on Wednesday.

"Yes, I have received theinvitation from Shri RamJanmabhoomi Teerth KshetraTrust for the bhoomi pujan cer-emony. I will certainly attendit. The dispute is over now afterthe court's verdict," Ansari,69, told PTI.

"Our Prime Minister is com-ing. I will meet him and givehim a 'Ramnami' stole (withRam's name written on it) andRamcharitmanas as a present,"Ansari said.

His father Hashim Ansari,the oldest litigant in the BabriMasjid-Ram Janmabhoomiland dispute case, died at theage of 95 in 2016 after whichthe son started pursuing thecase in the court.

Talking about Wednesday'sground-breaking ceremony tomark the beginning of theconstruction of a grand Ramtemple here, Ansari said, "Ibelong to Ayodhya. All this(temple's construction) willchange the fate of Ayodhya. Weall want our child to get betteropportunities".

He further said, "I respectsadhus and saints. I am happyto have received the invitationfor the ceremony. I think it isLord Ram's will that I attend it".

PNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa, who is current-ly undergoing treatment forCOVID-19 at a hospital here,on Monday said there was noneed for anyone to worry andhe will soon get back to workafter recovery.

In a video released by hisoffice, the Chief Ministersaid the health of the peopleof the state was his priorityand requested them to follow

measures like maintainingdistance and wearing masksto control the spread of virus.

"Last night around 8:30-9:00, as soon as I got toknow that I was corona pos-itive, I came to the hospitaland I'm undergoing treat-ment.

Doctors after tests lastnight and this morning havesaid that there are no issuesand I will recover and go outsoon," Yediyurappa said inthe video message.

PNS n BENGALURU

Six employees at the KarnatakaChief Minister B SYediyurappa's office have test-ed positive for COVID-19,official sources said onMonday.

After the Chief Ministertested positive, his office andresidence were sanitised.Besides, contact tracing wasdone during which the six ofhis staff members were con-firmed to have contracted thevirus, the sources said.

However, GovernorVajubhai Vala and HomeMinister Basavaraj Bommai,whom the Chief Minister had

met on July 31, have testednegative.

Officials said random testswere conducted at the ChiefMinister's premises and the sixwere found infected. They

included a gunman, a driver,and house-keeping staff.

They have been sent to theCOVID-19 care centre set upat the Bangalore InternationalExhibition Centre (BEIC) asthey were asymptomatic,sources said.

Yediyurappas personal res-idence Dhavalagiri has beensanitised, the officials said,adding that entry would berestricted to the ChiefMinister's home and office.

He was admitted to Manipalhospital here on Sunday nightafter testing positive.

The hospital has said theChief Minister was doing welland clinically stable.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Mondayvisited Ayodhya to reviewpreparations for Ram temple‘Bhoomi Pujan' by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onAugust 5.

The Chief Ministerreached Ayodhya in theafternoon and visited theRam Janmabhoomi sitewhere the Bhoomi Pujan isto be held.

He also visited HanumanGarhi temple and was seengiving various directions tothe senior officers.

Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Awanish KumarAwasthi, Ayodhya DistrictMagistrate Anju Kumar Jhaand DIG Deepak Kumaralso accompanied the CMduring his visit in which healso sought details of seatingand other arrangements forthe event, a senior officialsaid here.

PNS n LUCKNOW

As the man on ground zero,BJP MP Lallu Singh fromAyodhya has been a part of theRam Janmabhoomi move-ment long before it caughtpopular imagination in 1990sand believes that Ram temple'sconstruction will change thenational politics in the same bigway the agitation for it oncedid. Singh (65) names many,from VHP's late patriarchAshok Singhal to veteran BJPleader L K Advani and sever-al sants, when asked of peoplewho played a key role in themovement's success whileasserting that it was PrimeMinister Narendra Modi whofinally "fulfilled the dream thatthe Hindu samaj nursed forlong". Speaking to PTI, the sec-ond-term Lok Sabha membersaid he was confident that thetemple would be finally built atthe disputed site in Ayodhya,the ground zero of the RamJanmabhoomi movement,since Modi came to power forthe first time in 2014.

PNS n KOLKATA

Amid reports of infighting inthe BJP unit of West Bengal,the party's state president,Dilip Ghosh, on Mondayasserted that all was well in theorganisation, and charged theTMC with spreading canardsagainst the saffron camp.

The senior BJP leader alsosaid that a section of media wastrying to mislead the people ofthe state with "false" informa-tion about his party.

"The TMC and a section ofthe news media are trying to

spread canards against thestate unit (of the BJP) to cre-ate confusion among the cadresand malign the image of theparty. "I want to make it veryclear that reports of dispute in

the party are untrue. We areunited and will fight togetherto defeat the TMC in next elec-tions," Ghosh said during apress meet here.

Speculation is rife that someBJP leaders may switch over to

the TMC, ahead of the 2021assembly polls. Last week, for-mer MLA Biplab Mitra quit thesaffron camp to return to thestate's ruling party.

Media reports also suggest-ed that a few leaders in theWest Bengal unit of the BJP areunhappy with the state leader-ship. The reports claimed thatdifferences had cropped upbetween Ghosh and a sectionof state leaders, who hadmoved to the BJP from theTMC over the last few years,during an organisational meet-ing in New Delhi.

PNS n BHOPAL

Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan hasappealed to people to lightlamps at their homes onTuesday and Wednesday andrecite 'Sunderkand' and'Hanuman Chalisa' to mark the'bhoomi pujan' for the construc-tion of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Chouhan made the appeal onMonday in a video from a city-based hospital where he has

been undergoing treatment forCOVID-19 since the last 10days. The ground-breaking cer-emony of the Ram temple isscheduled to be held onWednesday at Ayodhya in Uttar

Pradesh and is expected to beattended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. "I appeal thatwe all light lamps and light upour houses with decorative elec-tric bulbs on the night of August4 and August 5 to express ourhappiness for the constructionof the temple (at Ayodhya).Celebrate by staying at home,recite 'Sunderkand' (part of theepic Ramayana) and 'HanumanChalisa', Chouhan said in thevideo.

Raut reiteratedthe Shiv Senascontribution in theRam templeconstructioncampaign, andsaid the party hasgiven Rs one crorefor the purpose ofbuilding thetemple.

Yogi visitsAyodhya to seepreparations

Chouhan urges people to lightlamps at home for Ayodhya event

No infighting in Bengal BJP, TMC spreading canards

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday thankedeveryone involved in promot-ing, teaching and usingSanskrit language.

Sanskrit Day is observedevery year on the full moonday of the Hindu calendarmonth of Shravan.

In a tweet in Sanskrit, theprime minister describedSanskrit as a beautiful lan-guage which has made Indiaa repository of knowledge formany years.

He urged everyone to worktowards making Sanskritmore popular.

On SanskritDay, PM thanksthose involvedin promoting

Doctors to decide on admission, discharge of patientsWill soon get back towork after recovery: CM

Modi ‘fulfilled'dream of Hindus:Ayodhya MP

6 staff at Kar CM office hit by virus

Iqbal Ansari

B S Yediyurappa's

Dilip Ghosh

Media reports alsosuggested that afew leaders in theWest Bengal unitof the BJP areunhappy with thestate leadership

PNS n NEW DELHI

The total number of tests fordetection of COVID-19 hascrossed the two-crore mark inIndia, according to the IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) data.

A cumulative total of2,02,02,858 samples have beentested up to August 2 with3,81,027 samples being testedon Sunday, the ICMR said.

The total number of tests fordetection of COVID-19 hadcrossed the one-crore mark inIndia on July 6.

There are now 1,348 testinglabs in the country comprising914 in the public sector and

434 private labs. Having started with one sin-

gle laboratory at the NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV) inPune and then expanding to

100 laboratories around thebeginning of the lockdown, theICMR on June 23 validated the1000th testing lab.

India's COVID-19 tally

crossed the 18-lakh mark onMonday, just a day after it wentpast 17 lakh, with 52,972 casesreported in a day while thenumber of recoveries surged toover 11.86 lakh, according tothe Union Health Ministrydata.

The total coronavirus casessurged to 18,03,695, while thedeath toll due to COVID-19climbed to 38,135 with 771people succumbing to the dis-ease in a day, the data updat-ed at 8 am on Monday showed.

Various steps taken by thecentral government have pavedthe way for enhanced testingfor COVID-19, the health min-istry had said earlier.

Covid tests in India cross 2-cr mark

FOR AUG 5 CEREMONY

‘It's Lord Ram's will thatI attend bhoomi puja’Thackeray unlikely to attend

Ram temple ‘bhoomi pujan'

Indian analysts seem indiffer-ent to the threat of India los-ing the railway line from Iran’sChabahar port to Afghanistanand Central Asia and suggest

that New Delhi should focus on tieswith Arab countries that provideenergy security and jobs to millionsof Indians. The view that Indiamust choose between the SunniArab world and Shia Iran is myopicand contrary to established Indiandiplomacy. Certainly, lakhs of IndianMuslims annually visit Saudi Arabiafor hajj/umra but the lockdownimposed in March revealed thatthousands of citizens visit Karbalaand Najaf that are sacred to the Shias.Many work in Iran. Indeed,Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav(retd) is believed to have beenabducted from Chabahar andpushed across the border intoPakistan.

The stalemate in India-Iran tiesis due to US sanctions that covercountries engaging with Tehrancommercially. India secured anexemption for the Chabahar port,which may not cover the railway, andstopped buying the light Iraniancrude suited to its refineries after thesix-month grace period ended. Thefreeze on its oil revenues seriouslyhurt Iran’s economy, forcing it to seekways to end its economic and diplo-matic trauma.

Tehran moved cautiously, leak-ing “news” about a $400 billion dealwith China, which seemed crediblegiven Beijing’s huge investmentsacross the globe. An unverified 18-page document gave the details of a25-year Iran-China agreement thatChinese President Xi Jinping hadproposed during a visit to Iran inJanuary 2016. It mentioned a $280billion investment in Iran’s oil andgas industry and $120 billion acrossvarious sectors. Beijing wouldreceive crude oil and gas at discount-ed prices for 25 years.

New Delhi was alarmed at thepossibility of China funding the rail-way and depriving India of its cov-eted alternate route to Afghanistanand Central Asia, bypassingPakistan. Envoy GaddamDharmendra rushed to meet IranianSpeaker Bagher Ghalibaf and ViceMinister of Roads and President ofthe Railways, Mohsen PourseyedAghaei, to salvage the Chabahar-Zahedan (and possibly Zarang) line.Also at stake is a free trade zone toserve the landlocked Central Asianstates. Further, the Farzad-B gas fieldwas discovered by ONGC Videsh in2012 but its development has been

stuck in wrangling over Iran’sdesire for two pipelines asopposed to India’s insistence ona single pipeline. This is pure-ly a commercial dispute andTehran needs to be reasonable.

But for Chabahar and relat-ed projects, India will have topioneer some deft diplomacy tobreak the deadlock betweenWashington and Tehran orsacrifice its regional ambitionsforever. It is no secret thatIslamabad is now firmly inBeijing’s sphere of influence; itsdeafening silence on the treat-ment of Uyghurs in Xinjiangand refusal to bring its citizensback from Wuhan after thepandemic in order to saveChina’s face leave no scope fordoubt on this score. India didnot blame China but rushed tobring its students back fromWuhan; now, the Chineseaggression in Ladakh has dra-matically altered the situation.

An independentBalochistan offers a way out. Atthe time of the Soviet invasionof Afghanistan in 1979,American scholar SeligHarrison had the prescience torealise that the turmoil inKabul would bring Pakistan’sBaloch problem to the forefront(In Afghanistan’s Shadow:Baluch Nationalism and SovietTemptations, 1980). Till hisdeath in 2016, Harrison urged

Washington to support Balochindependence in pursuit of itsown interests in the region butsuccessive administrationsfrom Nixon-Kissingerremained invested inIslamabad.

Now, the China-Pakistanaxis has eroded Washington’srelationship with its non-NATO ally. Baloch resistance toIslamabad’s unceasing atrocitiesand resentment against theChina-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) thatencroaches upon their landand resources give America anopening. For, Balochistan is thegeostrategic region withoutwhich Pakistan is just a land-locked landmass, of no useeven to the Army that controlsit.

As Italian scholar Valeria FPiacentini observed in 1945,Balochistan is at the cross-roads of two “axes”, east-westand north-south, of threemacro-regions: Asia, Africaand the Mediterranean basin.It forms the hinge between theIndian sub-continent, CentralAsia and the Euro-Asiaticsteppes and the Iranian plateau;as also the link between regionsthat gravitate towards theIndian Ocean and its western“sea routes”, the Persian Gulfand the Red Sea.

This is why London want-

ed Balochistan to be part ofPakistan and nudged MAJinnah after the Khan of Kalatproved obdurate. Balochistanwas annexed in 1948. TheCIA-MI6 operated fromBalochistan to overthrow thethen Iranian Prime Minister MMossadegh after he nation-alised the Anglo-Iranian OilCompany. Washington usedBalochistan for its proxy waragainst Soviet forces inAfghanistan and opened waragainst the Taliban.

Gwadar Port, China’s bigprize and raison d’être for theCPEC, belongs to Balochistan.Chabahar is part of the sameMakran coastline. If USPresident Donald Trump canbe persuaded to see the Balochquest and Iran as potentialallies, that could take the entireMakran coast away from China(depriving it also of the militarybase it is building in Jiwanipeninsula off Gwadar). Itwould put a powerful brake onChina’s relentless acquisition ofports and bases across theIndian Ocean littoral.

Iran is a catch for Beijingbecause like Pakistan, it canjoin the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) by land and sea, giving itaccess to staggering geostrate-gic space. Tehran could linkBeijing with Ankara, whichoffers access to the

Mediterranean Sea and thenations of North Africa,Central Europe and Europethat comprise its littoral. TheMediterranean Sea opens intothe Atlantic Ocean via theStrait of Gibraltar; this couldbring Beijing closer toWashington than ever envis-aged by the State Departmentor Pentagon. Beijing inChabahar would also haveaccess to the Arabian Sea,Strait of Hormuz and Sea ofOman, besides a shortcut to itsmilitary base in Djibouti. AUS-friendly Balochistan andIran would end this dream run.

Interestingly, in June 2020,Moscow arrested Valery Mitko,president, Arctic Academy ofSciences, for allegedly givingChina information about sub-marine detection, a reflectionof Moscow’s anger at Chineseambitions in the Arctic region.Washington has also arrestedcitizens in prestigious institu-tions working covertly forChina. It should investigatewhether the tales of Russianinterference in the 2016 and2020 presidential electionsoriginated from “friends” ininstitutions that received lavishChinese funding. PerhapsRussian President VladimirPutin has signalled as much.

(The author is a seniorjournalist. Views are personal)

In some good news for India, which is grapplingwith the twin woes of an ailing economy and thedeepening Coronavirus crisis, a Chennai-based

techie has claimed that the rover onboardChandrayaan-2, the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation’s (ISRO’s) moon mission, is intact onthe lunar surface and had even moved a few metres.India’s second mission to the moon had ended indisaster as a last-minute software glitch led to theVikram lander crash-landing on the lunar surface, just500 metres short of touchdown. Yes, we were ambi-tious to land on the dark side of the moon, which big-

ger space-faring nations have not attempted, but the rover’s presence is reassurancethat while we need to refine our efforts, they have all not gone to waste. And ISROneeds to follow through the Chandrayaan series in mission mode.

Since the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 last year, things have not gone too well forISRO, with its GISAT-1 launch being mysteriously called off on March 4, a day beforetake-off citing an ambiguous “technical reason.” Plus, the space agency, which had avery busy schedule for this year — with around two dozen launches, including Aditya,India’s first solar probe — is having trouble keeping its commitments. Due to the pan-demic playing spoilsport, ISRO, too, had to go into a lockdown mode. India’s ambi-tious human space flight programme Gaganyaan, is in trouble because the astronauttraining of the four test pilots of the Indian Air Force has been stopped. Besides over100 manufacturing units in the private sector, that are contracted to manufacture com-ponents for ISRO’s missions, are shut and the work of producing rockets, satellitesand scientific instrumentation is on hold right now. But what is most encouraging isthat the rover was found by a Chennai techie, Shanmuga Subramanian, from NASA’simages. He had earlier helped NASA find the debris of the Vikram lander, earning himplaudits from the space agency and the gratitude of an embarrassed ISRO. His persis-tence should be a reason for inducting him and others like him in our space-faring pro-jects. Space nerds should be identified from school and encouraged. It was difficult todetect the rover because it was on the South Pole of the Moon, which is not alwayswell-lit and was missed by the NASA flyby on November 11 possibly for this reason.Not just this, it seems that the rover uploaded commands to the lander, which couldnot relay them back. Is some data stored there? But with the Vikram lander going silent,we will never know. Whether this translates into any gains for ISRO, only time will tell.But for now, there is something to cheer about in the Indian space community.

As the Chinese are reluctant to significantly pullback from Pangong Tso, fortifying their posi-tions around it, and making concessional

retreats at other sites just to keep talks going, Indiashould be prepared for the long haul. And though aSiachenisation at the heights would mean a wasteof man and resources on both sides, China seemsto be preparing for a stakeout this winter at least. Forall the diplomacy around eastern Ladakh, it is just adiversionary tactic as the Chinese will not forfeit whatthey have gained in Pangong Lake and Depsang areas.That’s because this geographical wedge between

Gilgit-Baltistan in the west (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), where China is heavily invest-ed in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and Aksai Chin in the east, is anirritant to its regional supremacy, strategically and economically. And it wants an unhin-dered run of the highway from Xinjiang to Tibet, 179 km of which is under Indian shad-ow. So far, its contiguous hold on Central Asia, Pakistan and beyond was a low-cost,undemanding exercise, playing as it did on smartly interpreting its version of the Lineof Actual Control (LAC) on the ground. As it is unmarked and fluidic, it has justified itssalami slicing to perceptional differences and pre-empted counter-attacks by heavingdown with military presence and developing border infrastructure, the scale of whichhas held India back from a robust counter-challenge for years. But now that we haveramped up our border infrastructure, China is extremely uncomfortable about the prox-imity of the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) road to sensitive areas and strategic highways tothe north of the Karakoram Pass. And as Galwan has shown, our troops are more thancapable of bloodying noses in high altitude warfare. So China simply won’t give up thespurs it has now because it doesn’t want to compromise its edge in the Karakoram.Already, it has browbeaten India at the talks table by calling for a buffer zone, whichmeans our forces cannot patrol up to the points they used to because of the Chineseinsistence on a no man’s land. This would allow it to build resources on its side unmon-itored and reverse any disengagement move made so far at short notice. This clausealso makes Indian vigilance difficult besides burdening soldiers with knife-edge pre-paredness at all times. China is hoping that it will be able to renegotiate the status quoat Pangong Tso by wearing out our troops and patience, particularly during a long, hardwinter. If anything, the “push and extract” policy might continue even as nominal con-cessions are made to show that it is committed to the dialogue process. The People’sLiberation Army (PLA) cannot be written off simply because it has had a history ofwinter offensives, be it the occupation of Tibet or the incursion of 1962.

For China, the loss of troops at Galwan is a loss of face. And the fact that it hasmaintained somewhat of a radio silence on casualties means that it will strike back.Right now, tainted by the Wuhan virus, China may have stretched itself too thin in usingthe pandemic to reshape its imperial dream of colonising the world. But it won’t acknowl-edge India’s neo-assertiveness by withdrawing. Instead, it will consolidate, given thatit will be the only economy to register growth, even if it is as low as one per cent, andwill bet big on fighting for Asian pride against a US-dominated West. Despite the USopposition, it has already got aggressive in the South China Sea, claiming islands, set-ting up bases and enveloping South and Southeast Asians with its transactional eco-nomic largesse and debt-trapping. Many have given in to the bullying but India hasn’t.Besides, with the US using us as its proxy, we will increasingly become a pawn in thegame of two big powers for world domination. If China loses its stakes in India, thesecond biggest Asian power, how would it be able to convince other Asian nations togo with its hegemonic vision? So there will be need-based engagement all right butcoercion will be constant. India may not match up to its economic and military mightas yet and while it develops self-sufficiencies of its own, it has to take on a partneringrole with both Western and regional countries. It can challenge China in the Indian Oceanregion, get more active in the Quad initiative with US and Japan and use its interna-tional goodwill as a nation that respects “rule-based order” to build a case against China’saggressive tactics. And it must now confront the boundary question, insist on mark-ing the LAC. For years of denial and yielding to the Chinese template of working aroundthe boundary dispute have only left us with trade dependencies and a deficit. Today, itis eastern Ladakh but if the territorial push in Bhutan is any indication, China may verywell expand its claim lines in Arunachal Pradesh now, just to stretch us beyond ourextremities. We should be wary of the fact that the PLA, which has been pitching tents,building roads and marking territories since 2013 and which directly takes orders fromChinese President Xi Jinping himself, may lie low but not go silent.

A long haul

Liquor deaths

Sir — It is unfortunate that morethan 85 people died and manyothers were taken ill due to theconsumption of spurious liquorin Punjab. The sale of illicitliquor is a thriving business notonly in Punjab but in manyparts of the country. In fact, Indiaremains one among the countrieswith the highest number of alco-hol-related deaths. And whenev-er such a tragedy unfolds,Governments react by imposinga ban on the sale of liquor. Theyfail to either bring tighter regu-lations or crack down on dens,which operate without a licenceas they fulfil a demand whilemaking huge profits.

People take to illicit liquoras they cannot afford to buylicensed brands. Spurious liquordoes not attract taxes or dutiesand, thus, comes cheap. ThePunjab Government must set aprecedent by constituting aSpecial Investigation Teamwhich must track down all boot-leggers in the State. The UnionGovernment, too, must come upwith a multi-pronged plan tocurb the sale and consumptionof toxic alcohol.

Ramesh G JethwaniBengaluru

Education revamp

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “New curriculum” (July 31).

The new National EducationPolicy (NEP) promises a trans-formational shift, infusing anelement of joy and purpose inlearning. The new guidelines, if

implemented, will offer stu-dents a flexible academic jour-ney where they can pick andchoose instead of remainingconfined to set patterns. The

loftier goals are to mainstreamabout two crore out-of-schoolchildren. Before and after 1947,matriculation was the require-ment for entrance to higher edu-cation in colleges. Then, 10+2streams brought more changesbut NEP, 2020, promises themuch-needed reforms. Thoughchallenges remain, the new NEPcan be a game-changer as itpromises to bestow flexibility,improve the skills of the studentsand grant more autonomy toeducational institutions.

Abhijit RoyJamshedpur

Exercise in futility

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “New curriculum” (July 31).NEP, 2020, is an exercise infutility. It wasn’t debated inParliament. Increasing the tenureof undergraduate courses makesno sense as postgraduate pro-grammes have been watereddown. The only redeemable fea-ture is that it does not disturb thethree-language formula system.

RatnapriyaVia email

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020

06

Checkmating China

SANDHYA JAIN

If Trump can be persuaded to see the Baloch quest and Iran as potential allies that could take

the Makran coast away from China, it would put a powerful brake on the latter’s ambitions

It’s (Gunjan Saxena: TheKargil Girl) my film, too.Everyone has a right totheir opinion, but peopleare spitting fire against oneanother. The flak is unfair.

Actor—Angad Bedi

I believe that he (Trump) plansto install himself in some kindof emergency way to continueto hold onto office. And that’swhy the American people hadbetter wake up.

Top Democrat leader—Whip James Clyburn

S O U N D B I T E

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

Plain truths about Rafale

Before the arrival of the Rafale jets, their acquisi-tion process went through many twists and turns.It was in 2000, during the initial years of NDA-I,

when the Indian Air Force (IAF) initiated a proposal forthe acquisition of 126 Mirage 2000-IIs from DassaultAviation (DA) for induction from 2004-05 onwards.According to the CAG, the Defence Procurement Board(DPB) discarded the proposal after protracted deliber-ations till 2004. When the UPA Government came topower, it issued a Request for Proposal for the acqui-sition of 126 advanced versions of MMRCA in 2007.As per the delivery terms, 18 aircraft were to be sup-plied in flyaway condition and the balance 108 were tobe manufactured by HAL. The RFP was withdrawn basedon a report by the Ministry of Defence, which report-edly carried out a statement saying that “the price bidof DA was non-compliant as it was incomplete and notin the prescribed format” yet again. And the NDA-IIGovernment signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement(IGA) in 2016 for 36 fighter jets at a price aligned tothe earlier “incomplete” offer. Delivery of the first batchof 18 Rafale aircraft was to be completed within 53months and the balance 18 within 67 months from thedate of signing of the IGA. The agreement put a lid onthe original proposal to manufacture 108 Rafale war-planes by HAL.

Exactly two decades into the process, the rulingGovernment has landed on the indigenous builder now

to meet the initially projected requirement. The Air ChiefMarshal has now confirmed that an order for another83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas MK IA, from HALwas being fast-tracked. In a nutshell, IAF initiated a pro-posal for 126 Mirage 2000-II from DA in 2000 and theMinistry is still preparing to place an order for 83 TejasMK IA with HAL in 2020. During the intervening 20 years,India has acquired just five Rafale fighter jets out of the36 ordered and that, too, at a phenomenal cost. Yet,the irony is that confirmed jingoists hit the streets injubilation on the arrival of the foreign-made Rafales butfound no reason to applaud the Tejas, the indigenous-ly designed and built Light Combat Aircraft.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

All wasn’t lostWhile people boycottChinese products, cellphonemakers in China will contin-ue as title sponsors of theIPL. No wonder China isthumbing its nose at us.

NC leader—Omar Abdullah

As talks for pullback continue, they are just a diversion as it isn’t easy for China to give up Pangong Tso

Chennai techie finds Pragyan, the rover on-board Chandrayaan-2, intact while assessing NASA images Swami Swarupanand had

warned that August 5 wasinauspicious for the stone-lay-ing of Ram temple. This datehas been fixed in accordancewith Modiji’s convenience.

Congress leader—Digvijaya Singh

In the name of God

NONE OF THE ILLICIT LIQUOR (DEATH) CASES FROM

THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN SOLVED

BY THE PUNJAB POLICE.

—DELHI CHIEF MINISTER

ARVIND KEJRIWAL

WHY DON’T YOU ASK YOUR PUNJAB UNIT

FOR DATA AND FIGURES FIRST AND THEN

COMMENT ON OUR WORKING.

—PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER

AMARINDER SINGH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The innocuous-sounding statement of theGeneral Secretary of the Shri RamJanmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust,

Champat Rai, that the construction of the Ramtemple, whose foundation will be laid by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on August 5, will becompleted within three-and-a-half-years, haspolitical overtones which no one can miss.

“We will try to complete the construction bythree years but we have six months extra in casewe fail to meet the deadline because of any even-tuality. But, mark my words, the temple will beready with its pristine grandeur by the end of2023 or early 2024,” Rai had said when announc-ing that Modi would be the chief guest of theground-breaking ceremony for the Ram temple’sconstruction.

For those who need it to be spelled out, thetiming of the completion of the temple is cru-cial — end of 2023 or early 2024. The Lok Sabhaelections are expected by March 2024. This meansthat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would againuse the Ram temple to play the Hindutva cardand propel the party towards victory. This timethe BJP will go to the masses saying “jo kaha, wohkiya (we did what we said we would do).” Thecommon refrain of BJP leaders and campaign-ers will be,“We promised the people that the Ramtemple would be built in Ayodhya and we ful-filled that promise.” I would not be surprised ifthe party takes a miniaturised model of the Ramtemple across villages or puts up such modelsbefore the Model Code of Conduct comes intoplay in every gram Sabha. The process has alreadybegun as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) hasasked for funds from the people for temple con-struction. The VHP has set a target of reachingover 10 crore families in five lakh villages acrossIndia with an appeal to donate at least 100 vol-untarily for the temple’s construction. It is set tostart from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and will thenspread out across the country.

The VHP’s plan does not end here. The RamJanmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the templetrust which is entrusted with the task of con-structing a temple at the Ram JanmabhoomiComplex, in collaboration with the VHP, plansto kick-start the ‘Akhand Bharat Week’ after thebhoomi pujan (ground-breaking ceremony).The week will be celebrated from August 16 toAugust 23 when the Parishad volunteers will goto the villages and tell the masses about the RamMandir construction and how this temple willensure the “akhandata” (integrity) of the coun-try.

The BJP has always used the temple issueto meet its political aims. It has always found amention in its election manifesto, whose nomen-clature has changed with the passage of time, TheBJP election manifesto is now called ‘SankalpPatra’. After the famous Rath Yatra carried outby Lal Krishna Advani along with PramodMahajan in 1989 from Somnath to Ayodhya, withNarendra Modi accompanying the yatra fromSomnath till the border of Gujarat, the BJP sawthe potential of the issue to propel the party togreat political power.

When the yatra was stopped in Samastipurin Bihar by the then Lalu Prasad Governmentand Advani was arrested, the whole of India wasdrenched in the spirit of Hindutva. The rath wasstopped on October 23, 1990. This set off a string

of events that shaped the country’s pol-itics in years to come. Advani’s arresttriggered massive protests across thecountry, sparking communal riotsacross several towns, especially innorth India. Hundreds of Kar Sevaks(voluntary workers) marched towardsAyodhya to liberate the RamJanmabhoomi. Exactly a week afterAdvani’s Rath Yatra was stopped — onOctober 30 — as many as 28 Kar Sevakswere killed in police firing while try-ing to storm the Babri Masjid. Evenbefore the Kar Sevaks had enteredAyodhya, then Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Mulayam Singh Yadav hadclaimed that “parinda bhi par nahi maarsakta (not even a bird can enter there).”Mulayam Singh still justifies the policeaction.

The events that unfolded thenonly benefited the BJP as its politicalclout grew exponentially and it grabbedthe opportunity with both hands. In the1991 election, for the first time the partygave the slogan of “Mandir wahinbanayenge (we will build the templethere only)” but it was only in 1996, thatfor the first time, the BJP mentioned theRam Mandir in its manifesto.

The party reiterated its commit-ment to facilitate the construction of amagnificent Ram temple at theJanmasthan (birthplace) in Ayodhyaafter coming to power as “this is thedream of millions of people in our land.The concept of Ram lies at the core oftheir consciousness.”

The words remained the same inmanifesto after manifesto and in 2019it said: “We reiterate our stand on theRam Mandir. We will explore all pos-sibilities within the framework of theConstitution and make all necessaryefforts to facilitate the expeditious

construction of the Ram Temple inAyodhya.”

That commitment was fulfilled inNovember 2019 when the SupremeCourt paved the way for the construc-tion of the Ram temple in Ayodhya andallowed the construction of a mosque,which incidentally will come up 30 kilo-metres away from the complex wherethe original mosque stood.

With the completion of one aim,the BJP has already got ammunition forthe elections — which is powerful andemotive. And the subsidiary propscan come from more communal pitch-es like cow vigilantism and the anti-cit-izenship law protests. Emotion is a veryimportant quotient for winning orlosing elections in a democracy.Corruption, religion, nationalism, casteet al are some of the issues which havean emotive appeal and can unite peo-ple in no time. This is not limited toIndia only. Even in the US, the slogan“America First” did wonders for DonaldTrump. Similarly, in 2019, Balakotsupplied the required emotive quotientin the form of nationalism and the BJPand Modi swept the Lok Sabha polls.The BJP has already made the construc-tion of the Ram temple a political issue.Ayodhya city has been painted in saf-fron hues. Students of the arts facultyof Saket Degree College have drawnpictures of Ram, Laxman and charac-ters of the Ramayana on the wallsaround the city — not even leaving thewalls of the Sulabh Shauchalaya toiletcomplex.

In the backdrop of the COVID-19guidelines, people have been asked notto go to the Ram Janmabhoomi sitewhere the main function will be held.But the BJP has plans to put up LEDscreens all across Ayodhya so that peo-

ple can witness the ground-breakingceremony and watch the PrimeMinister lay the foundation stone of thetemple on August 5. They argue that itis natural for people to want to witnessthis historic moment at the RamJanmabhoomi Complex but because ofCOVID-19 guidelines they cannot beallowed entry there, hence they canwatch it on big screens near theirmohallas (localities).

The VHP has done its part and hasasked people across India to decoratetheir homes, mohallas and mandirs andwatch the live telecast of the grand cer-emony together while singing bhajans(hymns). Milind Parande, SecretaryGeneral of the VHP, had issued a state-ment saying that the live telecastsshould be accessible to the communi-ty on big screens or at auditoria.“People should decorate their houses,neighbourhoods, villages, markets,monasteries, gurdwaras and ashramsand distribute prasad and also lightlamps after sunset,” the VHP leader hadsaid in that statement. “Use all meansof publicity to make this grand pro-gramme available to more and morepeople in society,” he had further said.The paraphernalia is ready. The BJP andits right-wing organisations are all setto milk the situation for political gains.The Unlock 3.0 guidelines may haveasked people to desist from organisingreligious functions but the BJPGovernment and the party are ready forsuch a big event. After all, it is all pol-itics. And an investment made todaywill hold good later. One wonders ifCOVID-19 management could be pur-sued with such intent. Lord Ram wouldhave wanted that.

(The writer is Executive Director,News, Lucknow edition)

The BJP has already made the construction of the Ram temple a political issuethat will hold good for 2024. Ayodhya city has been painted in saffron hues

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

Of slavery and history

GWYNNE DYER

Judging people for the past is a distraction fromthe business at hand, which is to clear up theghastly heritage of racism that slavery has left

BISWAJEET BANERJEE

FOR THOSE WHO NEED

IT TO BE SPELLED OUT,

THE TIMING OF THE

COMPLETION OF THE

TEMPLE IS CRUCIAL —

END OF 2023 OR EARLY 2024.THE LOK SABHAELECTIONS ARE

EXPECTED BYMARCH 2024. THIS MEANS

THAT THEBHARATIYA JANATA

PARTY WOULDAGAIN USE THE

RAM TEMPLE TOPLAY THE

HINDUTVA CARD AND

PROPEL THE PARTYTOWARDS

VICTORY

Assessing the people of America’s past by today’s stan-dards would compel us to cast the majority of our heroesas villains.” That seemed to be the line taken by Senator

Tom Cotton of Arkansas in his opinion piece for The New YorkTimes. It caused great outrage, the Opinion Editor had to resignand Cotton was roundly abused for “defending slavery.” He prob-ably deserved that. What he actually said was that the “FoundingFathers” of the US saw slavery as the “necessary evil upon whichthe Union was built.” That would sound all right in a classroom,if you then explained that otherwise the slave-owning south-ern states would not have agreed to a federation of all 13colonies.

It sounded less well coming out of the mouth of a senatorwho wants to ban federal funding for a project to improve theteaching of the history of slavery in American schools. SenatorCotton is one of President Donald Trump’s loyal soldiers, try-ing to whip up a white racial panic and consolidate the boss’s“base.” But that’s not the point. The point is that I changed oneword in that quote, and that it wasn’t Cotton who said it. It wasNigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, and whatshe actually said, in an opinion piece for the BBC, was this:“Assessing the people of Africa’s past by today’s standards wouldcompel us to cast the majority of our heroes as villains.”

She was talking specifically about her great-grandfather,Nwaubani Ogogo Oriaku, who was a widely respected traderin tobacco, palm oil, and slaves in south-eastern Nigeria in theearly 20th century. The Atlantic slave trade had been bannedby the European empires a century before but slavery was stilla flourishing domestic business in Nigeria and many other Africancountries. Her great-grandfather became famous by defying theBritish colonial authorities, who were trying to stamp out slav-ery within Nigeria. They had confiscated some of his slaves andhe marched right up and demanded them back, waving a trad-ing licence that dated back to the previous century.

They were taken aback, apologised and returned his slaves.Indeed, they were so impressed by his boldness and self-con-fidence that they subsequently appointed him “paramount chief”of his region. So he became a local hero in his own day andis still a hero to Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s family. Slavery wasnormal in most pre-modern societies, including almost all thekingdoms and ethnic groups of sub-Saharan Africa. Africanshad sold slaves north to various Islamic empires in the MiddleEast for centuries before Europeans showed up on the coastin ships. They were just another set of customers buying in thesame market.

Most enslaved Africans didn’t travel more than a few hun-dred kilometres from home, of course. It is estimated that inthe 18th century, one-third of the people in what is now Senegalwere slaves who belonged to other Senegalese. But the oneswho were sold to foreigners probably suffered even more.

Historians believe that around one-fifth of the ten millionAfricans transported to the Americas over more than three cen-turies died on board ships. The fatalities among the estimated17 million African slaves sold to Arab traders and forced to walkacross the Sahara or carried around the India Ocean in shipsduring ten centuries were probably just as high. What awaitedthe survivors when they arrived was pretty appalling too.

But Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is right. The past is a differentcountry and it’s pointless to judge people by standards theywould not even comprehend. Judging people for past historyis a distraction from the business at hand, which is to clear upthe ghastly heritage of racism that slavery has left in America.

It is noteworthy that there is no comparable heritage of guiltand racism in the African countries that sold the slaves.Everybody, slaves and masters, was from the same group, andeverybody was involved one way or another. We used to do it,now we don’t, end of story. Why is it so different in the Europeancountries, and above all in the US? My guess is that it’s becauseslavery, uniquely in the world, had completely died out in Europeby a thousand years ago. When 16th-century Europeans reachedWest Africa, it was quite new to them.

They took to slave-owning readily enough but they had notraditional framework in which to think about it. Nwaubani OgogoOriaku didn’t need to justify owning slaves by telling himselfthey were inferior. He’d bought them fair and square. What’sthe problem? Whereas American plantation owners had to comeup with bizarre racial fantasies to explain to themselves why itwas right to own other people — and their great-great-grand-children are still struggling with those fantasies today.

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

The seeds of the Public InterestLitigation (PIL) germinated inIndia during the time of Justice

Krishna Iyer in 1976 and subse-quently in 1979, when the inhumanconditions of 50,000 undertrial pris-oners led to their release. The idea thatemerged in a movement that wassteered by Justice PN Bhagwati wasto ensure speedy justice as a funda-mental right, which was never with-in the reach of the poor and theunderprivileged.

From being a potent weaponmeant to check the failures of the leg-islature and the executive, the PILslowly and steadily became a domain

to nurture and pursue private inter-ests. It offered a political theatre forguerrilla warfare in a layered style. Itsoon became the Frankenstein’s mon-ster that could make the legislatureand the executive shiver. And thisyear, the PIL industry wants toachieve its final goal and that is to dic-tate terms to the Supreme Court (SC)of India.

There has been so much degen-eration that Justice Arijit Pasayatunderscored that the ‘P’ in PIL standsfor politics, paisa, publicity or privateinterest. This position has been ade-quately reiterated by the SC in theAshok Kumar Pandey case. However,the litany of frivolous petitions overa period of time has become so bigthat PIL activists have started issuingintegrity certificates to serving andretired judges and bureaucrats.

“Why is your shirt not buttonedand why are your collars open?” theChief Justice of India (CJI) asked aPIL lawyer in the ongoing proceed-ings in Court No 1, following themurder of eight policemen on dutyand the subsequent encounter of

Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) notorious gang-ster Vikas Dubey and his associatesby the police.

The single-member commissionof enquiry appointed by theGovernment of UP was undone fol-lowing certain PILs filed before theapex court. This was done even afterthe SC has ruled in the BharatiTamang and State of West Bengal VsCPDR cases that a PIL for seeking acommission of enquiry is maintain-able only in exceptional circum-stances.

It was further qualified in theZahira Habibulla Sheikh andCommon Cause Vs Union of Indiacase that such “exceptional circum-stances”, justifying a relief-seekingcourt-appointed enquiry, arise onlywhere deficiency in a probe is visibleor there is prima facie evidence ofabuse of power, which casts anydoubt on the independence of thecommission. The SC further held thateven in such cases, a third party canseek remedy through a PIL only whenthe allegations of such abuse ofpower or deficiency in enquiry are

borne out of records, as laid down inthe Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan case.

However, the PIL action contin-ued. The first round was followed byobjections to the appointment of aparticular retired judge of theSupreme Court even after the CJIcleared the name. The “bias” of theretired bureaucrat in the commissionwas mocked. The SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) constitutedby the State under the AdditionalChief Secretary was challenged. Valueand virtue certificates from an invis-ible, point-based human rights cur-riculum were exchanged and exhib-ited before the Bench.

How far should the court go tosatisfy the petitioners — especiallywhen they have no track record ofrepresenting the public at large in anymatters of grave concern — and thosewho attack the reputation of retiredjudges, whose contribution to thelegal system for decades is in the pub-lic domain?

How did the apex court deal withsuch frivolous petitions in the past?In the Mathews Nedumpara case, the

SC in 2019 initiated suo motu con-tempt proceedings and, after takinginto consideration the objectionableconduct of the petitioner, includinghis acts of filing frivolous petitions,sentenced him to three months’ jailand a suspension of the sentence if heundertook that he would never brow-beat a judge. He was additionallybarred from practising before the SCfor one year.

Further in the case of SurazIndia Trust v Union of India, the courtruled that the petitioner be preclud-ed from filing any case in public inter-est before any court in this countryand imposed a penalty of `25 lakh.

When one thought that the SC-appointed commission would final-ly get to work on why the mockery ofrule of law in the gory death of police-men should not be repeated, anoth-er bunch of petitions was filed, thistime based on a media article. ThePILs again questioned the integrity ofa commission that collectively bringsto the table 150 plus years of serviceto the nation.

Should these petitions and their

consequent dismissal, as bland as itmay appear, soaked in the semanticsof apology, not be considered onemore assault on the mutilated bodiesof the policemen who died on duty?

Keeping aside differences onpolitical or ideological leanings, mis-givings or otherwise concerning thejudiciary, the police force and thegraver grouse we have developedtowards the criminal justice system,we need to pause and introspect.

The commission is expected, asper the terms of reference, to enquireinto the nexus between the criminalsand the police/establishment andmake suggestions to ensure suchevents do not recur in the future.

How long do we wait for thecommission to function and makeappropriate recommendations to fixa broken system? A system in whicha history-sheeter with more than 60heinous offences was out on bail.

A system in which “insiders”appeared to have tipped off the crim-inals. A system in which there is nospeedy trial or regular hearings. A sys-tem in which the criminals run a

racket from within the jails. A systemin which the families of policemenmurdered are looking at a long andhard road to justice. A system inwhich endless aspirations for the ideaof justice are only soaked in the bodyof hope. Just because hope is the onlyfeeling stronger than fear and it is withthat hope that we look up to Court No1 to dispense justice now.

It is time to move beyond sim-ple dismissals and imposition ofcosts. In spite of settled laws, thetyranny of frivolous petitions is notjust obstructing the functioning of theapex court by eating up precious timeand resources but is mocking at thevery idea of justice. It is time to ensurethat just because the highest court hasopened its doors to justice, it cannotbe converted into a platform forenabling the agenda of one particu-lar section of activist lawyers. It is timeto act against those misusing the PIL,which is considered the most impor-tant tool in delivering speedy justiceto the underprivileged.

(The writer is a SpecialCorrespondent of The Pioneer)

No more a matter of public interestWe must act against those misusing PIL, which is considered the most important tool in delivering speedy justice to the underprivileged and the poor

J GOPIKRISHNAN

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

SpiceJet operatesrepatriation flightfrom AmsterdamNEW DELHI: SpiceJet said itoperated its maiden long-haulcharter flight from Amsterdamto Bengaluru and Hyderabadon Sunday carrying 269Indians. The low-cost carriersaid in a press release it hadchartered a wide-bodyA330neo aircraft fromPortugese airline Hi Fly for thisflight from Amsterdam in theNetherlands. While theAmsterdam-Bengaluru leg ofthe flight had the Hi Fly's callsign 5K471, the Bengaluru-Hyderabad leg had theSpiceJet's call sign SG471."The flight arrived in Bengaluruat 8.58 am IST and the sameaircraft then proceeded toHyderabad with the remainingpassengers," SpiceJet said.The twin-aisle A330neoaircraft used by SpiceJet has aconfiguration of 353 economyand 18 business class seats.

Iran's stock markethits record highamid CovidTEHRAN: The Tehran StockExchange closed at a recordhigh on Sunday, crossing 2million points for the firsttime, even as US sanctions,unemployment, inflation andlow oil prices batter theIranian economy. Theexchange's website showed itclosed at 2,011,492 points, upsome 50,000 points fromSaturday. Governmentauthorities also offeredadditional shares of state-owned companies onto themarket on Sunday. The TehranStock Exchange has seensharp increases this year, evenas Iran struggled with one ofthe first serious coronavirusoutbreaks outside China.Encouraged by a governmenteager to privatize state-ownedfirms, average people nowhave access to the market andcan trade shares, earningreturns they'd never see in asavings account or acertificate of deposit.

Crude oil futuresdecline on lowdemandNEW DELHI: Crude oil futuresfell 1.22 per cent to Rs 2,986per barrel on Monday asparticipants reduced theirpositions on low demand. Onthe Multi CommodityExchange, crude oil for Augustdelivery fell by Rs 37, or 1.22per cent, to Rs 2,986 perbarrel with a business volumeof 3,945 lots. Crude oil forSeptember delivery wasquoting lower by Rs 38, or1.24 per cent, at Rs 3,027 perbarrel with an open interest of73 lots. Globally, West TexasIntermediate crude oil wastrading 0.99 per cent lower atUSD 39.87 per barrel, whileBrent crude was trading down0.76 per cent at USD 43.19per barrel in New York.

Global shares mixed amidCovid waves, recovery hopesPNS n TOKYO

Global shares were mixed onMonday as investors weighedrisks from rising coronaviruscases with hopes for a recov-ery in some places like China.

U.S. Secretary of State MikePompeo's weekend commentsthat President Donald Trumpplans to take action on a whathe sees as a broad array ofnational security risks pre-sented by software connectedto the Chinese CommunistParty added to market jitters.

Pompeo's remarks followedreports that Microsoft is inadvanced talks to buy the U.S.operations of TikTok, which isowned by the Chinese compa-ny ByteDance and is seen as asource of national securityand censorship concerns by theTrump administration.

France's CAC 40 added0.3% in early trading to4,797.41, while Germany'sDAX surged 1.3% to 12,475.63.Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.3%to 5,879.46. U.S. shares were setto drift lower with Dow futuresdipping 0.3% at 26,248.0. S&P500 futures were down 0.1% at3,259.38. In Asian trading,Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225gained 2.2% to finish at22,195.38. Australia'sS&P/ASX 200 was flat at5,926.10. South Korea's Kospiedged 0.% higher to 2,251.04.Hong Kong's Hang Sengdropped 0.6% to 24,458.13,while the Shanghai Compositeindex jumped 1.8% to3,367.97. Investors were alsowatching the Caixin manufac-turing Purchasing Manager'sIndex, a private survey whichshowed China's manufacturingactivity grew in July, rising toa higher than expected level of52.8 on a 0-100 scale where 50

marks the break betweenexpansion and contraction.

Over the weekend, thePhilippines reported its confirmed

caseload had surpassed 100,000,and authorities ordered a renewedlockdown for the capital Manilaand several other areas.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Markets regulatorSebi has againextended the dead-line to apply for 147senior level posts bythree months tillOctober 31 due to theongoing COVID-19situation.

On March 7, the regulatorhad invited applications forthese positions as part of itsplan to beef up the head-count for faster and moreeffective execution of its job.

The deadline for applyingfor the said posts was March23. It was later extended toApril 30, thereafter till May 31and again till July 31.

Now, the deadline has beenextended till October 31, dueto ongoing COVID-19 situa-tion, the Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi) said in a fresh notice.

The revised date for phaseI and phase II examination for

the recruitment of officers inGrade A (general, legal, infor-mation technology, engineer-ing, research and official lan-guage streams) will beinformed in due course, itadded. The phase I and phaseII examinations were earlierscheduled for July 4 andAugust 3, respectively.

A total of 147 vacancieswere notified for Officer GradeA (Assistant Manager) by themarkets watchdog to hire legalas well as IT experts,researchers, and other officialsfor general administration.

In addition, it invited appli-cations for engineering andofficial language streams.

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than 40 crore bankaccounts have been openedunder the government'sflagship financial inclusiondrive Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana (PMJDY),launched about six yearsago by the Modi-govern-ment.

As per the latest figure,there are 40.05 crore bene-ficiaries of this scheme anddeposits in Jan Dhan bankaccounts are in excess of Rs1.30 lakh crore.

"Another mi lestoneachieved under world'slargest financial inclusioninitiative, PMJDY: Totalaccounts opened under thescheme crosses 40 Cr.mark. Committed to takefinancial inclusion to thelast mile!," Department ofFinancial Services said in atweet.

Accounts opened underPMJDY are Basic SavingsBank Deposit (BSBD)accounts with additionalfeatures of RuPay debit cardand overdraft. There is norequirement of maintainingminimum balance in BSBDaccounts.

Bank accountsopened underJan Dhan crosses40-cr mark

PNS n NEW DELHI

India needs to grow muchfaster over the next 10 yearswith the use of technology andreforms in order to become animportant global player, 15thFinance CommissionChairman N K Singh said onSunday.

To achieve the potentialgrowth rate of 7-8 per cent,India has to improve factorproductivity and reduce incre-mental capital output ratio, hesaid.

Singh said technology, cou-pled with significant reforms inareas like health, educationand maintenance of infrastruc-ture, can make a decisive dif-ference. "If we wish to becomeimportant global player, wehave to obviously grow muchfaster over the next 10 yearsthan we did in the past decade,"he said at IIT JodhpurFoundation Day event.

Only technology solutionscan enable the realisation of'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', headded.

Singh said the coronaviruspandemic has exposed sever-al fault lines in the country'spublic health care system.

In 2018-19, public healthexpenditure in India was 0.96

per cent of GDP. This is one ofthe lowest among peer groupcountries. Out of this, about 70per cent of the expenditure onhealth is undertaken by thestates, while only 30 per cent isspent by the union govern-ment.

"It has become evidentlyclear with the current pandem-

ic that investment on health isnot just social sector spending,but a great investment inIndia's economic growth anddevelopment. Investment intechnology can amelioratethese issues in the health sec-tor," he said.

Singh suggested use of e-learning, electronic medicalrecords, electronic systems fordisease surveillance, radiolog-ical assessments and readings,and laboratory and pharmacyinformation systems to signif-icantly reduce inefficienciesand lack of resources foraffordable access to health-care.

Talking about use of tech-nology in education sector, hesaid that in the coming yearsthere would be need for a cre-ative mix or a hybrid betweenonline and offline education.

"Technology must deter-mine the optimum mix of thishybrid," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

GMR Infrastructure is workingon disinvestment of non-coreassets including land andhopes to yield "significantvalue" even from 50 per cent ofland monetization, accordingto a document.

The airport-to-port con-glomerate in an investor pre-sentation said land at strategicindustrial locations will bene-fit from the possible manufac-turing dislocation from China.

"Plan is to divest large partof other assets identified asnon-core divestment initia-tive," the document said andnoted that it has 10,500 acresof port and industrial land and"even 50 per cent land mone-tization" could yield significantvalue.

About its Kakinada SpecialInvestment Region (SIR) inAndhra Pradesh, the groupsaid that it is in discussion witha large number of clients formonetization of land.

"Government of AndhraPradesh signed MoUs withHaldia Petrochemicals Ltd toset up a refinery cumpetrochem project in 2,500acres and with HPCL-GAILconsortium for Petrochemcomplex in 2,000 acres land,"

it said and added in additionpact has been inked with astainless steel manufacturerfor 500 acres and an AustralianLithium Refinery for 100acres."

The port-based KakinadaSIR in the Krishna-Godavaribasin has plans for an allweather multi-purpose deep-water port, a logistics park, apetrochemicals cluster and aneco-industrial park, it said.

As per the document, 4,650acres area there has been noti-fied as SEZs and utility andenvironment approvals are inplace. In Kakinada SEZ inAndhra Pradesh, however, thecompany has continued itsefforts for various government

approvals and technical stud-ies and added that demand forindustrial parks is expected torevive to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The group saidInfrastructure has not beenmuch affected in the regiondue to COVID-19 as the com-pany was able to re-mobiliseand commence work quicklyas the workers hailed fromneighbouring areas and Hosur.

About Krishnagiri SIR(Tamil Nadu), the companysaid Infrastructure develop-ment in 275 acres is in progresswith all approvals in place.

GMR InfrastructureLimited's consolidated net lossfor the quarter ended March31.

NK Singh: India needs to growmuch faster over next decade

GMR Infra to divest large part of non-core assets

Real estate sentiment all-time low in April-JunePNS n NEW DELHI

The sentiments in the country'sreal estate sector hit an all-timelow during April-June due tothe COVID-19 pandemic andremain pessimistic for the nextsix months even as stakehold-ers see slight improvement,according to a survey.

According to 25th survey byproperty consultant KnightFrank and industry bodiesFicci and Naredco, the currentsentiment index fell to 22 inApril-June from 31 in the pre-vious quarter. "The currentsentiment is recorded to be atthe lowest," Knight Frank India

said in a statement.The future sentiment index

improved to 41 from 36 during

the period under review butremained in the pessimisticzone.

"With continued economicstress and ambiguity regardingrecovery, the current senti-ments of the real estate stake-holders in India have beenrecorded at a low 22 in Q2 2020(April-June)," Knight FrankIndia said.

This survey, covering theApril-June 2020 period, wasconducted in the first twoweeks of July 2020.

The survey covers key sup-ply-side stakeholders, whichinclude developers, privateequity funds, banks and non-banking financial companies(NBFCs).

A score of 50 represents a'neutral' view or status quo; ascore above 50 demonstrates a'positive' sentiment; and a score

below 50 indicates a 'negative'sentiment.

Knight Frank IndiaChairman and ManagingDirector Shishir Baijal said,"With some of the macroeco-nomic indicators showing mar-ginal improvement and withthe impending festive season inthe second half of the year, thestakeholders have shownimproved sentiments com-pared to the previous quarter,albeit they have remained inthe pessimistic zone."

He added that at this junc-ture, the lockdown is expect-ed to ease further by theadvent of the festive season,helping to revive economicactivity and propel conversionof the pent-up demand.

Baijal said the central bankand the government haveannounced stimulus measuresthat have provided much-required reprieve to the econ-omy in these testing times.

"However, there is a need forfurther demand-boostingmeasures to improve senti-ments in the economy," hesaid.

For the real estate sector inparticular, Baijal said there isa need for measures such asadditional tax benefits forbuying or renting a house,added incentives for affordablehousing, easing of cravailabil-ity for the sector and a one-time restructuring of develop-er loans to help the sectorrecover from this crisis.

l Stakeholders remain pessimistic for 6 months: Survey

PNS n MUMBAI

Slumping for the fourthstraight session, equitybenchmark Sensex plunged667 points on Monday fol-lowing a selloff in index-heavyweights RelianceIndustries, HDFC twins andKotak Bank as soaringCOVID-19 cases keptinvestors jittery.

The rupee too sank 20paise and settled below the75 per US dollar mark.

The BSE Sensex ended667.29 points or 1.77 percent lower at 36,939.60,while the NSE Nifty tumbled181.85 points or 1.64 percent to 10,891.60.

Kotak Bank was the toploser in the Sensex pack,falling over 4 per cent, fol-lowed by IndusInd Bank,Axis Bank, ONGC, HDFC

Bank, Bajaj Auto andReliance Industries (RIL).

On the other hand, Titan,Tata Steel, HCL Tech, L&Tand SBI were among thegainers.

According to traders,massive selling in indexmajors RIL and HDFC duodragged the key indiceslower.

Further, foreign fund out-flows and concerns over risein COVID-19 cases acrossthe world kept investors onedge, they added.

The number of casesaround the world linked toCOVID-19 has crossed 1.8crore, while the infectioncount in India has crossed 18lakh. Globally, however,bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo,Seoul settled on a positivenote, while Hong Kongended in the red.

Sensex tanks 667 points;Nifty ends below 10,900

Sebi extends deadlineto apply for 147 seniorlevel posts till Oct 31

PNS n NEW YORK

Technology giant Microsofthas said it will continue talks topurchase the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing appTikTok's American businessafter its India-born CEO SatyaNadella and President DonaldTrump had a conversation.

The statement fromMicrosoft came days afterTrump said that he could use

the emergency eco-nomic powers or anexecutive order toban TikTok in the USover national securi-ty issues.

Redmond-head-quartered Microsoft,in a statement onSunday, said that fol-lowing a conversationbetween Nadella and Trump, itis prepared to continue discus-

sions to explore a purchase ofTikTok in the US.

“Microsoft fullyappreciates the impor-tance of addressing thePresident's concerns. Itis committed to acquir-ing TikTok subject to acomplete securityreview and providingproper economic bene-fits to the United States,

including the UnitedStates Treasury,” the statementsaid.

Microsoft will move quick-ly to pursue discussions withTikTok's parent companyByteDance in a matter of weeksand will complete these discus-sions in any event bySeptember 15, it said.

“During this process,Microsoft looks forward tocontinuing dialogue with theUnited States government,including with the President,”the company said.

PNS n NEW YORK

New York landmark retailerLord & Taylor has filed forbankruptcy, joining a growinglist of retailers flummoxed bythe pandemic.

The company, which wassold to the French rentalclothing company Le ToteInc. last year, filed Sundayfor bankruptcy protection

in the Eastern Court ofVirginia.

In an announcement on itswebsite the company, one ofthe oldest American depart-ment stores, said it was look-ing for a new owner.

Like many retailers, Lord& Taylor was already strug-gling with the shift to onlineshopping even before thepandemic struck this spring.

Lord & Taylor is latestretailer to file for bankruptcy

PNS n NEW DELHI

Shares of Tata Motors onMonday jumped over 8 percent after the company's firstquarter earnings were betterthan estimates.

The stock rose by 8.30 percent to Rs 113.40 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it jumped 8.45per cent to Rs 113.50.

The results were subdued,

but better than estimates.Standalone Q1 EBITDAwas also better thanexpected, EmkayGlobal FinancialServices said.

"Tata Motorscontinues to out-perform on balancesheet as well as costcontrol initiatives,"according to a report by

Edelweiss Research.The homegrown automajor on Friday

reported a consoli-dated net loss of Rs8,443.98 crore forthe first quarterended June 2020.

The company hadposted a net loss of Rs

3,679.66 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Total income from opera-tions during the period underreview stood at Rs 31,983.06crore as against Rs 61,466.99crore in the correspondingquarter of the last fiscal.

The company's British armJaguar Land Rover (JLR)reported a 44 per cent dip innet revenue at 2.9 billionpounds during the first quar-ter.

Tata Motors shares jump over 8%

PNS n NEW DELH

State-owned Coal India Ltd(CIL) on Monday said it hasclocked a 17 per cent growthin composite opencast pro-duction in July over the samemonth a year ago.

Further, the company isexpecting the production torise post monsoon in view ofthe positive growth trend inthe OBR. OBR impliesremoving top soil to exposethe coal seams and makethem mining ready. Thecomposite production was110.40 million cubic metres(M CuM) for July, against94.4 M CuM in July 2019,CIL said in a statement.

This is sum total of OBRand the amount of coal pro-duced through opencastmines. "For CIL which relies onopencast mines for 95 per centof its entire annual coal output,OBR is a crucial performanceindicator which exposes thecoal seam for future productionat short notice," said a seniorexecutive of the company.

CIL logs 17%jump inopencastproduction

Bank of India Q1 net profitrises over 3-fold to Rs 844 crPNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Bank of India(BoI) on Monday reportedover three-fold rise in netprofit to Rs 843.60 crore forthe quarter ended June 30,as pressure of badloans eased.

The bank hadregistered a netprofit of Rs 242.60crore in the April-June period of2019-20. The totalincome during theperiod under review increasedto Rs 11,941.52 crore, from Rs11,526.95 crore in the year-agoperiod, BoI said in a regulato-

ry filing. On the assets front,the bank witnessed improve-ment with gross NPAs declin-ing to 13.91 per cent of thegross advances as on June 30,2020 as against 16.50 per cent

in the same period a yearago. Similarly, net NPAs

or bad loans toodeclined to 3.58 percent, from 5.79 percent in the corre-sponding period last

year. As a result, theprovisioning for bad

loans declined to Rs766.62 crore during April-June of this fiscal, from Rs1,873.28 crore in the sameperiod a year ago.

‘Will continue discussions to buy TikTok in US’

TuesdayAugust 4, 2020

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otorcyclinghas evolvedover theyears. It is nolonger amale-domi-

nated space and overthe past few years, wehave observed quite alot of women increas-ingly choosing motor-cycles as their bestcompanion. And whenyou are a woman solorider, you not only facethe odds on the roads,but also the repercus-sions of going againstgender norms. Thereare challenges whichmost of the female bik-ers face like the lack oftoilets on the road andmountains and fuelingup after sunset, gettingaccommodation inremote places, etc.

However, takingthese issues in strideand stayingfocused onbeing bettermotorcyclists,exploring moreuncharted territo-ries, and lastly,relayingit to theworldthroughthe

power of social mediais Kiran Mortha, aHyderabad-basedfemale rider. She recallsher incredible first rideto Kanyakumari toKashmir which coin-cided with the worldmotorcycling day. Shementions that shecruised herself up toKanyakumari throughthe rains. Her eagernesswas to reach Kashmirby July 18 as it hap-pened to be her birth-day. She coveredapproximately 14,000km in her maiden rideto become the firstwoman from Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh tohave coveredKanyakumari toKashmir in her firstsolo trip.

A psychologist byprofession and a vora-cious reader who wouldwant to own a mini

library at her

place, Kiran, from anearly age, has only lis-tened to her heart. Shefeels that Motorcyclingis an art and believesthat riding can be bothliberating and medita-tive.

Speaking of howwomen are faring inmotorcycle riding andthe kind of supportthey receive, Kiran says,“When I say riders, Iam referring to thosewho hold the spirit. Notthose who just do occa-sional 10-20km ridesand come for meets. Soif we are looking at rid-ers who have donesome remarkable rides,they are hardly 1%.Support for female rid-ers could be better.” Shegoes on to add, “Indiais not an equal society.Crime against womenis high and sexualharassment is every-where. It’s a challengefor women. But aswomen proved ittime and again,

there will be a few of uswho will beat the sys-tem and thrive.”

Taking us throughher journey, she says, “Ipicked up a love for themotorcycle quite early.My father owned aYezdi and every time hewould work on hisbike, I would be hisassistant mechanicassisting in opening lit-tle screws and nuts,segregating them,cleaning, oiling, apply-ing shellac and gasket,to placing piston rings -I was probably 7 or 8when I embarked onthis journey.As far as Ican recall, Ilearned toride at theage of 16.My firstride to

Kanyakumari toKashmir coincidedwith the WorldMotorcycling Day.”

Kiran’s convenientescape on her Watson(her Royal EnfieldThunderbird motorcy-cle) is the mountains inCoorg, Madikeri, andthe Western Ghats. Sherode solo toKhardongla and is thesecond woman in Indiato have achieved thisfeat. What messagedoes Kiran wants togive to girls who wantto get onto the bike butare restricted from fam-ily or because of otherexternal factors? “If youwant to do it, the onlyone who is stoppingyou is yourself. Butwhen you are becominga rider, keep in mind:Be a rider in your spir-it. Not a Social Mediarider. Motorcycling isan art, learn it, love it.Adhere to traffic rulesand always stay safe. Bealert and never race oncivilian roads. Learn tofix a bike, be your ownfirst mechanic. Alwaysavert danger, be precau-tionary. Your familywill eventually comearound,” she signs off.

With femalemotorcyclists having to

face repercussions ofchoosing to tread paths

that break genderstereotypes, Hyderabad-

based Kiran Mortha,who happens to be the

first woman fromTelangana and Andhra

Pradesh to have coveredKanyakumari to

Kashmir in her firstsolo trip talks to

K RAMYA

SREE on herjourney,

challenges, andmore

M

When I sayriders, I amreferring to thosewho hold thespirit. Not thosewho just dooccasional 10-20km rides andcome for meets.So if we arelooking at riderswho have donesome remarkablerides, they arehardly 1%.Support forfemale riderscould be better

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

Tech Addiction: Boon or baneamid pandemic?

The pandemic brought in a plethora ofchanges to our lifestyle — change ineating habits, work, daily routines,sleep cycle, etc. What it also did to thekids, as they're locked in, is increasetheir screen time. Juhi Kaul, abroadcast auditor and former mediainstructor and Shivani Wadhwa, aneducationist and counsellingpsychologist discuss theharmful effects of thisaddiction to the screen,ways to tackle it andmore with ThePioneer's SHIKHADUGGAL

ith the countryunder lockdown,children are spend-ing a significantpart of the day infront of the televi-

sion, computer or mobilescreens. This has been thestory of students in many partsof India including Hyderabadwhich is better served by tech-nology.

“The lockdown has broughtus closer to the dependency ofdigital gadgets to the extentthat we can’t function withoutthem anymore. However, bal-ance plays a key role herebecause an excess of anythingleads to a major disaster.

Technology is an addiction— the uncontrollable urge

to consume something that’staking over your life.

Strangely, smart-phones in

today’s ageare as

important as the need to havesalt in your food,” says JuhiKaul, broadcast auditor andformer media instructor todefence forces of India.

But what can be the possiblered flags for technology addic-tion? There are several signs orsymptoms that can indicate anaddiction to screens or tech-nology. These signs can beuseful in helping one decidewhether a problem might needprofessional assessment or not.As parents, a major red flag tolook out for is when your childstarts passing up opportunitiesfor socialisation. If a child’sonly interactions are throughscreen activities, they’re miss-ing out on a tonne of learningopportunities. Anxiety devel-ops when the child is awayfrom the internet. Adding tothese, there is an increase innon-responsive behaviour, lessattentive nature, there’s noproper time for meals, andhealth disorders tend to arise.

“A techie addict will stopworrying about what’s hap-pening to his/her body, theyhardly give a damn about theirhygiene or temperamentalissues. They hate to attendonline classes but love surfingonline as they have made theirdefault activity as social media.Either you will find them tex-ting, playing, or binge-watching,”adds the media trainer.

Parents are posting happypictures of

children sitting with mobilephones, whereas mental healthprofessionals sound a word ofcaution. An educationist andcounselling psychologist fromHyderabad, Shivani Wadhwabelieves digital technologiesare aggravating feelings of anx-iety, depression, causing loss ofsocial skills, disturbing kids’sleep patterns, leading tocyber-bullying and distortingbody image issues. “It isimportant to monitor andlimit their time screen.Children should take as muchresponsibility — whether it’sreporting about cyber-bullyingcases or developing pro-activecoping strategies such as notengaging with unwanted mes-sages and fact-checking all theinformation available on theinternet. I request kids to usetechnology to learn and devel-op their skills, be moreengaged in science, and showproductivity on while on theirrespective smartphones,” shesays.

Some other practical tips totackle technology addictioninclude making it a rule thatyou can’t be online if the sun is shiningwhen you’re at home, avoidingaimless browsing, giving yourtime online a purpose, chal-lenging yourself to read at least30 pages of a great book beforeyou check your computer ormobile device, and compilinga list of one-hour eveningtasks.

W

hough India hasentered Unlock3.0, the pause inthe fitnessindustry is like-ly to last longer.

The new normal is here tostay as gyms will not bere-opening to the world asthey used to be.

It has become impor-tant for the fitness indus-try to be very careful,maintain proper hygieneand use technology toavoid any contact thatcould lead to the transferof the virus. COVID-19has created a ‘new normal’everywhere and the focushas shifted to health andsafety like never before.

As the industry headstowards this new direc-tion, the fitness enthusi-asts are sitting on thefence — anxious to returnyet nervous. “Gyms will have to reas-sure their members thatthey have taken all thepreventive measures tosafeguard them fromunnecessary exposure. InUnlock 3.0, a contactlessgym experience with inte-grated technology at thecore of reopening strategyis the only way forward toreduce the risk of anytransmission,” saysAmaresh Ojha, Founder &CEO, Gympik.

Every gym irrespectiveof their scale needs tech-nology for a safer phasedexit from the lockdown.“We have upgraded oursoftware to offer a con-tactless all-in-one gymmanagement to ourclients. Be it app-basedslot booking, contactless

member check-ins totouchless payments andvirtual training, we arecommitted to supportingour fitness partners tobring back members safe-ly- with minimumupheaval and completepeace of mind. We havealso recently released ane-book- ‘Gym owner’splaybook to survive theCovid-19 challenge’ tohelp the gym owners sailthrough the crisis,” addsOjha.

While gym owners waitfor the official guidelinesfrom the government,many of them have modi-fied their SOPs andtrained staff on all Covidproof safety and sanitiza-tion plans.

But getting back to thebusiness at this time mayseem like starting afresh,feels Arun Chaudhary,Gym Owner, SweatFitness. “We supportstringent safety standardsat the gym. We have putin place a lot of protocolswith the help of technolo-gy to ensure social dis-tancing is maintained andeach member gets ahealthy workout space.”

“Things have changedcompletely for us inUnlock 3. Unlike earlier,members can’t simply walkinto the gym,” he said.

Viraj Ramesh Trivedi,Gym Owner, MickeyMehta’s Gym Borivali con-ducted by V.R. Fitness,said, “We have eliminatedthe biometric access con-trol with a simple touch-less QR code-basedmobile check-in via ourmember app.”

T

Fitness industrycould revivewith care, bettertechnology

AN UNCONVENTIONAL SOLORIDER BREAKING STEREOTYPES

It is important to monitor

and limit their time screen.

Children should take as

much responsibility —

whether it’s reporting about

cyber-bullying cases or

developing pro-active

coping strategies such as

not engaging with

unwanted messages and

fact-checking all the

information available onthe internet.

SHIVANI WADHWA

EDUCATIONIST AND

COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGIST

10

what’s brewing?Vijayawada Tuesday August 4 2020

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ate actor SushantSingh Rajput, whowas found hang-ing at his Bandraresidence on July14, had googled

several words related todeath and mental disor-der towards the end,said Mumbai police onMonday.

Sushant searched forwords like “painlessdeath”, “schizophrenia”and “bipolar disorder”on Google, according toMumbai PoliceCommissioner ParamBir Singh.

Commissioner Singhrevealed these detailswhile interacting withthe press on Monday.

Sharing the informa-tion, celebrity photog-rapher Viral Bhayaniposted on Instagram:

“CommissionerParam Bir Singh todayrevealed few things tothe press.”

“Sushant wouldsearch for articles andhis name on Google to

find out what was beingwritten about him. Hewould also search for“painless death”, “schiz-ophrenia” and “bipolardisorder”. During thepress conference, theMumbai PoliceCommissioner alsosaid, “All bank state-ments from January2019 to June 2020 havebeen analysed. Therewere around Rs 14.5crore credit in theaccount.” The top copalso mentioned thatthere is a fixed depositof 4 crores too.

“Till now statementsof 56 people have beenrecorded, all angles arebeing investigated be ita professional rivalry,financial transactionsor health. It has cometo surface that he hadbipolar disorder, he wasundergoing treatmentand taking medicinesfor it. What circum-stances led to his deathis the subject of ourinvestigation,” he said.

L

ihar Poice IPSofficer VinayTiwari who hasbeen tasked withheading the probeinto actor Sushant

Singh Rajput’s death case byDGP Gupteshwar Pandeyhas been quarantined by theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation hours after hearrived in the city to expeditethe investigation.

Bihar DGP Pandey hastweeted that Tiwari wasforcibly quarantined onSunday even before the IPSofficer could initiate hisprobe.

Pandey tweeted, “IPS offi-cer Vinay Tiwari arrivedMumbai today on officialduty to lead his police teamfrom Patna but he wasforcibly

quarantined by the BMCofficers at around 11 p.m.Earlier, he was not given aplace in the IPS mess whenhe said that he is staying in aguest house in Goregaon.”

Tiwari arrived in Mumbaion Sunday afternoon. He wasreceived at the airport by hisfour colleagues, who havebeen in the city for the pastfew days trying to makeheadways into the probe thathas been with the city policefor the last over 45 days.

At the airport itself, Tiwarihad said that the investiga-tion into Sushant's death wasmoving in the right direction.

He then went to a guesthouse in Goregaon with theother four where he had along chat with them. OnMonday, he was to meetDCP Abhishek Trimukhe of

Bandra Zone-9. Trimukheis looking after the case.

Now, Tiwari will bequarantined till

August 15. TheBMC, however,

did not dis-closed his

whereabouts.

B

n the occasionof RakshaBandhan,Akshay Kumarhas announcedhis new film

titled Raksha Bandhan,which will celebrate the‘most special bond in theworld’. The actor dedicat-ed the film, that will bedirected by Aanand L Raiand written by HimanshuSharma, to his sisterAlka. The actor is alsocollaborating with Rai forAtrangi Rai, co-starringDhanush and Sara AliKhan.

Sharing the news onTwitter, Akshay said thatRaksha Bandhan was the‘quickest’ he has ever saidyes to a film. “A storythat touches your heartso deeply & so instantly,it’s the quickest I’vesigned a film in mycareer. Dedicating thisfilm, #RakshaBandhan tomy sister, Alka & to the

most special bond in theworld...that of a brotherand sister.Thank you@aanandlrai,this one isvery special,” he wrote.The film will be present-ed by Alka and Rai.

“Directed by @aanan-dlrai. Written by#HimanshuSharma.Produced by#ColourYellowProductions @cypplOfficial inassociation with#CapeOfGoodFilms.Presented by#AlkaHiranandani &Aanand L Rai, in theatreson 5th November 2021.#SirfBehneDetiHai100PercentReturn,” he added inanother tweet.

In 2017, Alka revealedthe ‘greatest gift’ thatAkshay (whom she affec-tionately calls ‘Raju’),gave her. She said in avideo, “Mummy-Daddywould insist that if I hadto stay out late or attenda late night party then I’d

have to ask Raju toaccompany me. Hewould never go with meand always say, ‘You haveto take care of your ownsafety.’ And I would belike, ‘Why?’” She addedthat she missed manyparties because of this.

Alka talked about thevoid in their lives whentheir father passed awayand how Akshay ‘quietly’took over his responsibil-ities. However, he contin-ued to maintain that sheshould be able to takecare of herself.

It was only when Alka’sdaughter Simar grew upand went to the US forhigher studies that sherealised the importanceof what Akshay wouldsay. “This has been thegreatest gift my brotherhas given to me and mydaughter - The strengthto be self-sufficient.Thank you, Raju. I loveyou,” she said.

O

Akshay Kumar announcesnew film Raksha Bandhan,dedicates it to sister Alka

SUSHANTSINGH RAJPUTSEARCHEDFOR ‘PAINLESSDEATH' ONINTERNET

Bihar cop headingSushant probeforcibly quarantined

11VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 4, 2020

PTI n LONDON

Former batsman Jonathan Trotthas been appointed England’s

batting coach for the upcomingthree-Test series against Pakistan,starting Wednesday.

The 39-year-old, who scored3835 runs in 52 Tests between2009-2015 for England, will bejoined by former New Zealandspinner Jeetan Patel andWarwickshire seamer GraemeWelch, the ‘BBC’ reported.

Trott, who played 68 ODIs andseven T20 matches, has scored18,662 runs in first class cricket.

England and Pakistan willlock horns in a three-match Testseries starting Wednesday at theOld Traford in Manchester, fol-lowed by the next two games in theAgeas Bowl in Southampton.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India have been handedrelatively easy draws in

the twice rescheduledThomas and Uber CupFinals slated to be heldfrom October 3 to 11 inAarhus, Denmark.

The Indian men’s teamhas been placed in GroupC alongside 2016 champi-ons Denmark, Germanyand Algeria, while thewomen's side has beenclubbed with 14-time win-ners China, France andGermany in group D in thedraw which was staged atBWF headquarters inKuala Lumpur on Monday.

Both the men's andwomen's team are seededfifth in the tournament,according to the BWFrelease. Indonesia, 13-timeformer champions, and six-time former winner Japanwill headline as the topseeds for the Thomas Cupand Uber Cup respective-ly.

The prestigious eventwas originally scheduled tobe held from May 16-24but was postponed toAugust 15-23 before final-ly rescheduling it in

October due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

No tournament hasbeen possible since BWFhad shut down their WorldTour and other sanctionedtournaments following thecompletion of the All-England in March due tothe global health crisis.

BWF Chief OperatingOfficer Stuart Borrie said:"We acknowledge the manydisruptions this year toour calendar but we wouldlike to assure you that theBWF continues to monitorthe ongoing developmentssurrounding COVID-19and to plan for a safe returnto international bad-minton.

“We trust everyonewithin the badmintoncommunity is keeping safeand well and preparing forthe return to internationalcompetition.”

In Thomas and UberCup Final, the top twoteams in each group at theend of the group stage willmake it to the knock-outround.

The Indian men’s andwomen’s teams had failedto reach the knockout stagein the last edition in 2018.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indian junior men’s hock-ey team core probable

Arshdeep Singh wants totake a leaf out of senior play-er Ramandeep Singh’s bookon how to manage injuriesin his bid to seal a place inthe national side.

The 19-year-old Singhmissed out on the Six-Nation Championship inSpain last year due to a kneeinjury. He is inspired by theway Indian men's hockeyteam forward Ramandeephas dealt with injuries in hisinternational career.

“It was really disap-pointing to miss out on theSix-Nation Championshipin Spain last year. However,I have realized that injurieswill be a part and parcel ofany sportsperson’s career. Ilook up to the wayRamandeep Singh has dealtwith injuries in his career,”Singh said.

“He (Ramandeep)is aninspiration for all younghockey players in India.One needs a lot of determi-nation to come back frominjuries and now I knowhow important it is toensure that I keep checking

on how my body is reactingin every situation,” said theyoung forward in a HockeyIndia release.

Singh, who has attend-ed several junior men’snational coaching camps,said he has been focussingon his fitness in the last fewmonths.

“The last few monthshave been a huge challengefor all of us. However, I havetaken the time to focus onmy fitness. I know I amclose to receiving an oppor-tunity to play for Indianjunior men’s team in thenear future and I don’t wantto miss the chance due to aninjury.

“I have been practicingyoga to become mentallystronger as well. I have to be

absolutely ready to grab myopportunities wheneverthey are presented tome,”said Singh.

Talking about his futuregoals, Singh said there isnothing bigger than playingfor the country.

“Playing for senior teamis always going to be mybiggest goal. However, Ihave to first perform at thejunior level and get recog-nized as a skilful player. Iwill keep working towardsmy goal in whichever way Ican.

“I am sure one day I willwalk out on the pitch withthe senior Indian team. Iwill work very hard toensure that I get a chance tocontribute to India’s famousvictories in the future.”

PTI n LONDON

Former off-spinner Graeme Swannhas slammed selectors for splitting

England's most successful new-ballpairing of Stuart Broad and JamesAnderson during the recently-con-cluded Test series against the WestIndies, saying “you don’t discardblokes with 500 Test wickets lightly”.

England paid the price for dump-ing Broad in the first Test as they lostby four wickets at Southampton.With Jofra Archer missing the secondTest due to a bio-secure breach,Broad returned to take six wickets asEngland bounced back with a 113-runwin. In the third Test, Broad wasawarded the man of the match afterhe took 10 wickets to cross the 500-wicket mark and also scored a crucial62 with the bat as England sealed theseries with a 269-run win.

The experienced Anderson, onthe other hand, was included in thefirst Test but rested in the secondmatch before finally joining his long-time partner Broad in the third Test.

“How stupid did it look to breakup England’s most successful bowlingpartnership of all-time when we lostthat first Test match?" Swann, who hastaken 255 wickets in 60 Tests, wasquoted as saying by ‘Mirror.Co.Uk’.

“Jimmy and Broady have formedone of the most -successful bowlingdouble acts Test cricket has known.Why would you want to chuck it out

before its sell-by date? I can under-stand the attraction of 90mph pace,and both Jofra and Woody are hugeassets.”

“But I’m sorry, you don’t discardblokes with 500 Test wickets lightly,”Swann said.

Broad and Anderson have cap-tured 1,090 wickets between them,with 895 of those scalps coming in the117 Tests they have played together.

“Jimmy and Broady go -togeth-er like Morecambe and Wise orBonnie and Clyde,” Swann said.

Swann, a three-time Ashes win-ner, added that England should notmess with the two experiencedbowlers and give them an equalopportunity to try and make it to the2021 Ashes in Australia.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Birthday boy and iconic Indianfootball team captain Sunil Chhetri

on Monday said talent is not the prob-lem in the country and all stakehold-ers need to ensure that the next cropof players are well looked after.

“Talent is not the problem here.We could have plenty of Olympic goldmedals. I know how hard the AIFFworks to get a bigger pool of players.It is very important to give the youngtalented players the right food, train-ing and so on. When all this is done,it can be a monumental growth,”Chhetri, who turned 36 on Monday,said during the E-Delhi summitorganised by Football Delhi to cele-brate the occasion of his birthday.

All India Football Federation(AIFF) President Praful Patel laudedthe Government of Odisha for settingan example of how a state governmentcan help sports thrive in a particularregion.

“I think states like Odisha need tobe commended. They have activelysupported every sport. That is some-thing that other state governmentsshould follow too,” Patel said.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, AFCGeneral Secretary Dato Windsor John,Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategic Officer,Tech Mahindra, Football DelhiPresident Shaji Prabhakaran werealso present in the virtual meet, as wastalismanic captain Chhetri.

Patel, during the discussion high-lighted the progress that the All IndiaFootball Federation has made forwardtogether over the last decade.

"We have come a long way.Globally FIFA now acknowledgesthat Indian football has to be support-ed and strengthened for the sport togrow in the region. FIFA and AFChave made it clear that football has tobe commercially viable and it has tosupport the overall ecosystem aroundit,” he opined.

“That is why it is important to pro-fessionalise the sport. The I-Leaguewas the first step towards that. Now,the ISL has taken it further and mademore additions to Indian football.”

Sports Minister Rijiju lauded theAIFF for bringing FIFA events to India(2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the2021 FIFA U-17 Women's WorldCup).

“I complement AIFF for engagingwith FIFA to bring this tournament.With such tournaments being hostedin India we will have a brilliant situ-ation where the sport will furthermature," he said. "We will ensure thatthe U-17 Women’s World Cup is oneof the most successful FIFA events inIndia.”

AP n ROME

Genoa secured safety on thefinal day of the longest-everSerie A season, while Lecce

dropped down to the second divi-sion.

Genoa beat Hellas Verona 3-0 tofinish four points ahead of Lecce andensure a 14th consecutive season inthe top Italian league on Sunday.

Lecce lost 4-3 to Parma, Bresciaand Spal had already been mathe-matically relegated.

LONGEST SEASONThe coronavirus-delayed season

ended almost 12 months after itstarted on Aug. 24, 2019.

“The longest season in historyends today, in our country's most dif-ficult year in recent memory,” saidVincenzo Spadafora, Italy’s sportsminister. At the start of the lockdownin March, Italy was the epicenter ofthe pandemic in Europe and hasnow registered more than 35,000deaths from COVID-19.

“During those weeks we reallythought that the season should bestopped,” Spadafora said.

“But thanks to the series of pre-cautions we took and the seriousnessof the protocols put in place by theItalian soccer federation, the seasonwas not only able to restart but alsobe completed.”

Due to the virus, the season wassuspended for more than threemonths between March and June.

Juventus sealed a record-extend-ing ninth straight title last weekend.

GENOA SAFEAntonio Sanabria scored twice

for Genoa, which also got a goalfrom Cristian Romero. Still, it wasa nervous finish with Genoa losing

two players to red cards and endingwith nine men to Verona's 10.

Lecce, which needed to win andhope that Genoa didn't, fought backfrom two goals down to equalize by

halftime. But then AndreasCornelius and Roberto Ingleserestored Parma's two-goal leadbefore Gianluca Lapadula pulled oneback for Lecce.

OTHER RESULTSUdinese beat eighth-place

Sassuolo 1-0, Fiorentina defeatedlast-place Spal 3-1 to finish 10th, andBologna drew 1-1 with Torino.

Genoa players celebrate at the end of the match with coach Davide Nicola after a serie A football match between Lecce and Parma AP

GENOA RETAIN SERIE A PLACETalent is not the problem in our country, says Chhetri

Trott appointedPoms batting coach

India get easy draw inThomas & Uber Cup final

Swann criticises selectorsfor dropping Broad

Ramandeep inspiration foryoung players: Arshdeep

Azhar, Babar aim to make progress in rankingsPTI n DUBAI

Skipper Azhar Ali and hisdeputy Babar Azam will

be aiming to move up theladder in the ICC Test rank-ings when Pakistan take onEngland in the three-matchseries starting on Wednesday.

According to latest rank-ings, Azhar, presently 27thamong batsmen, will be hop-ing to regain the form thatlifted him to a career-bestsixth in December 2016,

while Babar will be hoping toprogress from a career-bestaggregate of 800 ratingpoints.

Babar is currently sixthafter having occupied acareer-high fifth place inFebruary. Asad Shafiq (18th)and Shan Masood (33rd)are other Pakistan batsmento have enjoyed higher rank-ings in the past but willhave to contend with a sharpbowling attack in order tomove up again.

In the bowling depart-ment, pacer MohammadAbbas (13th) and experi-enced leg-spinner Yasir Shah

(24th), who have in the past,been ranked third and first,respectively, and left-armfast bowler Shaheen Afridi(32nd) are other Pakistanplayers to watch.

For England, Stokes dis-placed West Indies captainJason Holder from the top ofthe all-rounders’ list duringtheir last series and former-ly top-ranked Broad rose tothird position in the bowlers’list, currently led by Australiafast bowler Pat Cummins.

PTI n MANCHESTER

Pacer Chris Woakes on Mondayis happy staying away from the

spotlight and says he just wants tochurn out match-winning perfor-mances for England.

Woakes’ performances oftengo unnoticed as the likes of StuartBroad, James Anderson and JofraArcher steal the spotlight.

“I honestly really don’t mind.I’m not one for being centre ofattention," Woakes was quoted as

saying by ‘Sky Sports’."Don't get me wrong, I want

to go out on the field and performand I want to make match-win-ning performances for Englandbut it really doesn’t bother me ifI’m first choice to write about ornot, to be brutally honest,” headded.

The 31-year-old, who has 106wickets from 35 Tests, feels whilehe can't join compatriots JamesAnderson and Broad in the 500wickets elite club, he still has a lot

to offer.“My stats have been men-

tioned and they’re very good inEngland, I want to keep work-ing on those, keep improvingon them and making themas good as they can be,”Woakes said.

“At my age and where Iam now at 31, it’s unlikelythat I’m going to go on and get500 Test wickets like Jimmyand Broady but I still wantto go on and get as many as I

can individually.“I still feel like I can provide

really good services to Englandfor many more years to comeso I'm happy with how itworks and as long as I con-tinue to be able to representEngland then I'll be happy,”Woakes added. England are

in a unique situation with alltheir pacers fit to play result-ing in an intense competitionbetween the speedsters tostart the match.

Woakes happy being away from the spotlight

Apple and Steve Jobs related memorabilia have always found aspecial place among the collectors. These artefacts have

fetched thousands of dollars in the past. Earlier this week,another such memorabilia fetched over $16,000 ( ?11.99 lakhsapproximately) in an auction. A Fortune magazine cover signedby late Apple founder Steve Jobs went on auction earlier thisweek on Nate D Sanders auction site at a starting price of$11,000. It wassold at a price of$16,638. What'sspecial about thismagazine cover,other than the factthat it is signed bythe legendaryApple founder isthe back story associated with it. According to the auction site,the magazine signed by Steve Jobs is the Fortune magazinecover from 9 October 1989 issue. It was published shortly afterthe launch of Jobs' new company NeXT. "Jobs signs in black ink,''To Terry / steve jobs'', with his characteristic lower casesignature, next to a photo of the charismatic technology icon,"the auction site wrote. The auction site shared that the recipient,Terry, was one of Jobs' chauffeur drivers for several years beforeasking Jobs to sign this magazine. Although Jobs signed themagazine cover, he subsequently called the limousine companyto complain about the autograph request.

Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in adramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting

into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flightby Elon Musk's SpaceX company. It was the first splashdown byUS astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built andoperated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The returnclears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as nextmonth and possibletourist flights next year.Test pilots Doug Hurleyand Bob Behnken arrivedback on Earth in theirSpaceX Dragon capsulenamed Endeavour, lessthan a day after departingthe International SpaceStation and two monthsafter blasting off fromFlorida. The capsule parachuted into the calm gulf waters about40 miles off the coast of Pensacola, hundreds of miles fromTropical Storm Isaias pounding Florida's Atlantic coast. "Welcomeback to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX," said MissionControl from SpaceX headquarters. "It's a little bit overwhelmingto see everybody here considering the things that have gone onthe last few months since we've been off planet," Hurley said afterarriving back home in Houston Sunday evening where they weregreeted by a small masked-gathering of family and officials.

The United Kingdom is considering minting a coin tocommemorate India's independence hero Mahatma Gandhi,

amid growing interest in recognising the contributions ofpeople from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic (BAME)communities. UK's Finance Minister Rishi Sunak asked theRoyal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC) in a letter to pursuerecognition of individuals from those communities, the UKTreasury said in anemailed statementlate on Saturday."RMAC is currentlyconsidering a coin tocommemorateGandhi", the Treasurysaid. Gandhi, whowas born in 1869,advocated for non-violence throughout his life and played akey role in India's struggle for independence. His birthday,October 2, is observed as the International Day of Non-Violence. Often referred to as India's "father of the nation", hewas assassinated by a Hindu radical on January 30, 1948, justa few months after he led India to freedom from British rule.As part of a global reassessment of history, colonialism andracism triggered by the death in May of a Black man, GeorgeFloyd, in the United States after a Minneapolis police officerknelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, some Britishinstitutions have begun re-examining their past.

Dadar gets femalefigures on signage

Magazine cover signed bySteve Jobs sold for $16k

NEW

S

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he Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has installedsigns at a traffic junction in the Dadar area of Mumbai with

female figures to promote gender quality in the city. Maharashtra'senvironment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray sharedphotos of the newly-installed signs at the junction in Dadar onTwitter Saturday. "If you have passed by Dadar, you will seesomething that will make you feel proud. @mybmcWardGN isensuring gender equality with asimple idea - the signals nowhave women too," he tweeted.According to reports, Mumbai'scivic body will change roadsigns and pedestrian signals at13 junctions on Cadell Road, a4.5-km arterial stretch inMumbai's Dadar and Mahim.This road has SiddhivinayakTemple, Mahim dargah, Mahimchurch, BR Ambedkar'smemorial Chaityabhoomi andthe proposed site for thememorial of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. The initiative hasmade Mumbai the first Indian city to have female symbols on roadsignages. Many cities in Germany and the Netherlands andSwitzerland's Geneva already have female signs on traffic lights.Authorities in Australia's Melbourne have been using femalefigures to promote gender equality since 2017.

ctor Sonu Sood haspledged support for afamily in WestBengal, whose homewas ravaged by therains. A Twitter user

brought Sonu’s attention to thefamily’s plight.

Sharing a video on Twitter, theperson wrote in Hindi, “SonuSood sir, this family is inJalpaiguri. The woman’s husbandis dead. She has a small child butnothing to feed it. The rains haveadded to their woes. You are herlast hope. Please save this familyif you can, Sonu sir.”

The actor replied to the tweet,and wrote, “Let’s help our sisterout on the occasion of RakshaBandhan. Let’s build her a newhouse.”

Sonu’s gesture was met withwarm appreciation by his fans.The actor has already foundimmense love for his sus-tained efforts to help migrantsand the poor during thelockdown period. He startedby arranging for buses andtrains for migrant workers,and has now begun arrang-ing flights for those strand-ed overseas. PriyankaChopra recently called himan inspiration.

He announced on Monday, “Very happy to share with myfriends wanting to come backto India.Bec of your requestsI tried & have finally beenable to add Delhi as astopover for flight fromMoscow. SG 9272, 04August wl now beMoscow-Delhi-Chennai(Departure2:35PM)Waitingfor u to reachur homessoon.”

ctress Shweta Basu Prasad has revealedher Raksha Bandhan plans this year.

Shweta said that her brother Rahul isgood at gifting and the siblings are veryclose.

“My brother and I are like friends. Weboth love mithai but we are also health conscious sowe try to feed each other mithai (sweets) because weknow we are not supposed to be having,” she said.

The Kotha Bangarulokam actress is also happy thather play is being slated for Raksha Bandhan. Theplay is available on Tata Sky Theatre.

She said, “In the play, I have a lot of relationshipsbut the one between mybrother and me isone of the mostbeautiful rela-tionships.”

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tollywoodVijayawada Tuesday August 4 2020

hen it comes toplaying each

other’s love inter-est, it is a known

fact that everyactor and actress is

chosen to radiate the rightchemistry. But when it comes

to on-screen siblings, veryfew actors have managed toshare glorious chemistry onscreen as brother and sister.

In the forthcomingHollywood-Indian project

Mosagallu, the two talentedlead actors Vishnu Manchu

and Kajal Aggarwal are beingpaired as siblings in the

movie and share fantasticchemistry. They hope to por-tray a neven-seen-before sib-

ling pair. Kajal Aggarwal, the actress

known for her commitmentto her roles in the movies she

works, went through a spe-cial workshop for Mosagallu.

“Familial relations inIndian movies are rare whenit comes to a leading actor or

an actress playing siblingson-screen,” says a close

source. It’s very rare to seestar lead actors being paired

as siblings in movies. Veryfew actors like Sharukh Khan

and Aishwarya Rai in Joshand down south legendary

actors NTR and Savitriplayed each other’s siblings

onscreen. The movie which is based

on one of the biggest I.Tscams in history is currently

under-post production.Bollywood actor Suniel

Shetty, Ruhi Singh, NaveenChandra, and Navdeep are

playing very important rolesin the film.

Jeffrey Gee Chin from LosAngeles is donning the direc-

tor’s hat for Mosagallu.Talented Hollywood cine-

matographer Sheldon Chau issaid to be pushing his own

limits for Mosagallu.Produced by Vishnu Manchu

under 24 Frames Factor inassociation with AVA

Entertainment, the film wasoriginally scheduled for a

worldwide release this sum-mer; but could’'t happen as

planned due to the pandem-ic. The revised date for its

release is expected to beannounced soon.

Accepting her co-star from the film EeNagaraniki Emaindi Abhinav Gomatam's#GreenIndiaChallenge, actress Simran

Choudhary planted saplings at her home inKompally on Monday. The actress furthernominated her friends including playback singerVedala Hemachandra, Shreya Rap, Sri Nitishamong others, to take up the challenge. She alsourged her fans and followers to do their bit tomake this world a greener place to live. ActorRupesh Kumar too, of 22 fame, took part in the#GreenIndiaChallenge and planted a sapling inhis garden on the occasion on his birthday. Hethanked Rajya Sabha MP Joginpally SantoshKumar for the great initiative, while also askingfans on twitter to take up the challenge.

Celebs goinggreen with#GreenIndiaChallenge

After actors Nikhil Siddharth and Nithiin, another personality from the Telugu filmindustry has tied the knot during the lockdown. Saaho director Sujeeth Reddy gothitched to fiancee Pravallika over the weekend in Hyderabad. It was a close-knit

ceremony with only family members in attendance.Photos from the mehendi event and wedding are doing the rounds on social media. Whilethe 29-year-old director opted for a traditional dhoti and kurta for his big day, the bridelooked beautiful in a pink zari saree. Pravallika is a dentist by profession.On June 10, the couple got engaged in an intimate ceremony. They were in a relationshipfor the past few years. While the engagement took place at a hotel in Hyderabad, thewedding happened at a private resort in the outskirts of the city.Sujeeth made his directorial debut with Run Raja Run at the age of 23. StarringSharwanand, Seerat Kapoor and Adivi Sesh in lead roles, the comedy-thriller was asuccess. His second film was the highly anticipated Saaho with big names from the Indianfilm industry — Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Arun Vijay,Chunky Panday, Tinnu Anand and others.

Saaho directorSujeeth ties the knot

Shweta Basu Prasad:My brother and I

are like friends

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ere’s big news on one of themost awaited announcementson the small screen for Teluguaudiences. The most contro-versial yet loved show BiggBoss is back on Star Maa with

its 4th season!Being one of the costliest reality shows

for Telugu audiences, like always, there ishuge buzz regarding the show.

The announcement was made recentlyby Star Maa that the reality show will hitthe screens soon. Not very long ago,Tollywood actor Nagarjuna shot for thepromo of the show as well.

According to the latest update, 16 par-ticipants have been finalized for the showout of the filtered 30 candidates. All the16 participants have undergone COVID-19 tests and tested negative. As a precau-tionary measure, they are have been putunder quarantine under the supervisionof the Bigg Boss management.

They will be tested again right beforethe show begins and only then they willenter the sets of Bigg Boss. The show isgoing to start on August 30 at a grandlevel and the pomo is expectred to be outin a couple of days.

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Bigg Boss 4 contestants under quarantine

Sonu Sood pledgessupport to womanwhose home wasravaged by rains

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Vishnu to playsibling to Kajal in

MOSAGALLU