Panel blames poor safety protocol for Vizag gas leak Poor safety protocols and total breakdown of the emergency response of procedures were the root causes of the May 7 styrene vapour leak in the LG Polymers unit at Visakhapatnam, in which 12 people were killed and hun- dreds fell sick, the High Powered Committee constitut- ed by the AP government said here on Monday. Citing multiple inadequacies on the part of LG, the HPC faulted the "slackness of man- agement" for poor safety pro- tocol, poor safety awareness and inadequate risk assess- ment response that aggravat- ed the situation, a senior gov- ernment official told PTI. The HPC, headed by Environment and Forests Special Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad, sub- mitted a 4,000-page report to Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy here on Monday. "The accident occurred due to uncontrolled release of styrene vapour from the M6 tank at the LG plant, which qualifies as a major accident under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989. AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, is gradu- ally earning praising from even his critics for his han- dling of the Coronavirus pan- demic in the state, especially for the number of tests con- ducted in the state. Comparisons are being drawn with neighbouring Telangana where the health- care system has seemingly collapsed and patients are running from pillar to post to even get a bed in a hospital, let alone proper treatment. Initially, it was Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who drew attention with his quick deci- sions; at one time, it appeared that the State had well and truly kept the virus at bay. However, the lack of adequate number of tests, despite calls to ramp up testing by courts, the Centre and the public in Telangana led to a change in perception. Meanwhile, the ramped up testing in AP, the approach to patient care and treatment began to show a difference on the ground. While in Telangana, videos released by patients on poor amenities in state-run hospi- tals, of how private hospitals are looting the public in the name of treatment went viral, the AP government kept on ramping testing and strictly enforced the rules in contain- ment zones. As things stand, while the AP Government has conduct- ed over 10 lakh primary con- tacts and treatment is being provided till all patients are cured and dropped at their homes, the Government of Telangana has been accused of turning away people suspect- ed to be having symptoms, by refusing to accept that there is anything wrong with them. AP is getting tests done on all suspects, apart from the primary suspects collecting samples at the door-step of the patients, if necessary. Tru-Nat tests are being done and the suspects are sent for quarantine till the results are received. T DP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu wants the Centre to take cognisance of the criminal motive behind ‘SMS Testing Racket’ by the YSRCP govern- ment. In a tweet, he said that he was shocked to see Jagan’s gov- ernment stoop to such a level to cover their failures. The ‘One Million Covid tests’ nar- rative woven by the AP gov- ernment is a scam, Naidu alleged. The former chief minister also alleged that that the present dis- pensation is cheating the people and the Centre about the Covid-19 test results. Naidu cited a video in which a ward health secretary named Susheela from Tadipatri con- stituency saying: “Poornashankar, a com- puter operator, called me and asked me to select and send 7 members for a Covid-19 test, so we requested a few people in our area to take the test; after they had refused we asked our fellow col- leagues in the Secretariat to get ready by 9 am the next day to take the test. They accept- ed. The next day, my col- leagues waited until noon as we did not receive a call from Poornashankar. Samples were not taken for the Covid-19 test. However after a few days B Teja, a colleague of mine, said that he had received a message on his mobile, from the Petition Monitor Cell of Anantapur, stating that his Covid-19 test result was neg- ative, this even though he did not give his sample for the Covid-19 test.” 3 T formula helped State remain relatively healthy Blaming the TDP government for halting such a prestigious programme by approaching the AP High Court, the State Government on Monday announced that it has postponed the distrib- ution of house site pattas to August 15. Addressing a press conference here, Minister for Municipal Administration Botsa Satyanarayana said that the TDP leaders are intentionally fil- ing petitions in the High Court to stop the distribution of 30 lakh house sites to the poor and weaker sections across the State. He slammed N Chandrababu Naidu and his party leaders for approaching the court and try- ing to prevent the poor from getting house sites. “Seeing the plight of the poor people who wish to own a house, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy promised to provide 30 lakh house sites and thus the government acquired 26,034 acres of land,” Botsa said. The Minister said that Naidu failed to distribute a single house to the poor in his five-year rule. “Today, TDP leaders are claiming that they have built lakhs of houses for the poor. But in reality, they sanctioned only 6.2 lakh houses out of which only 3,55,000 were constructed. They have to answer whether it is correct or not.” House site distribution put off to August 15 Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan on Monday said that his party would not allow the sacrifices of Amaravati farmers go waste. He recalled that the farm- ing community has pooled 34,000 acres of agricultural land after Amaravati was declared as the new capital city of the State. He said that the Jana Sena has been reit- erating from the beginning that the YSRCP government is making a decision unilat- erally insulting the farming community stating that it will change the capital city since it is their government. Jagan to pay homage to YSR on July 7, 8 Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is sched- uled to tour Kadapa district for two days on July 7 and 8. The Chief Minister will visit Idupulapaya along with his family in honour of his father, late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy Jayanthi on July 8. District officials in the wake of Covid-19 are following the Standard Operational Protocol (SOP) to avoid any incon- venience to the Chief Minister during the tour. The police department has made all the security arrangements at Kadapa, RK Valley IIIT. Additional PS K Nageswar Reddy released the Chief Minister’s tour schedule saying that on June 7, Jagan will start at 3.30 pm from his home in Tadepalli and will reach Gannavaram airport to fly to Idupalapaya. A ndhra Pradesh’s coron- avirus tally shot past the 20,000 mark on Monday as a record 1,322 cases were added in a day. This was the first time the fresh cases touched the four digit mark in the state as the tally rose to 20,019 while seven deaths saw the toll mounting to 239, a govern- ment bulletin said. The number of active cases now stood at 10,860 with the discharge of 8,920 patients so far. On Monday, Srikakulam district reported two deaths while Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Guntur, Anantapur and Chittoor reported one fresh death each. Of the 20,019 cases regis- tered in the state till date, 17,365 were locals, 2,235 from other states and 419 foreign returnees, according to the bulletin. The Andhra Pradesh gov- ernment on Monday issued an order naming all Rythu Bharosa Centres in the state after former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Accordingly, the state gov- ernment will address all the centres as ‘Dr YSR Rythu Bharosa Centres’. The state government in its order said that the gesture was in memory of the exem- plary services rendered by YSR during his tenure as chief minister of AP for the cause of the farming com- munity. The Dr YSR Rythu Bharosa Centres are the brainchild of Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy to take the entire gamut of agriculture-related service right up to the doorstep of the farmer. In the first sign of de-escala- tion of tension in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese Army has removed tents and start- ed to withdraw its troops from Galwan Valley as decid- ed during high-level talks between the two militaries, government sources said on Monday Galwan Valley was the site of a violent hand-to-hand clash between the two mili- taries on June 15 that left 20 Indian soldiers dead China's People's Liberation Army was seen removing tents and structures at patrolling point 14, the sources said, adding rear- ward movement of vehicles of Chinese troops was seen in the general area of Galwan and Gogra Hot Springs They said disengagement of Chinese troops in the area has begun as per decisions arrived at during the Corps Commander-level talks The sources said there was clear sign of withdrawal of structures and troops from the patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley and that they are likely to move back more than a kilometre in the area Chinese Army removing tents, seen withdrawing from Galwan Doval, China FM phone call before Galwan pullback
Panel blames poor safetyprotocol for Vizag gas leak�'�� ��2�������
Poor safety protocols and totalbreakdown of the emergencyresponse of procedures werethe root causes of the May 7styrene vapour leak in the LGPolymers unit atVisakhapatnam, in which 12people were killed and hun-dreds fell sick, the HighPowered Committee constitut-ed by the AP government saidhere on Monday.
Citing multiple inadequacieson the part of LG, the HPCfaulted the "slackness of man-agement" for poor safety pro-tocol, poor safety awarenessand inadequate risk assess-ment response that aggravat-ed the situation, a senior gov-ernment official told PTI.
The HPC, headed by
Environment and ForestsSpecial Chief SecretaryNeerabh Kumar Prasad, sub-mitted a 4,000-page report toChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy here on Monday.
"The accident occurred dueto uncontrolled release of
styrene vapour from the M6tank at the LG plant, whichqualifies as a major accidentunder the Manufacture,Storage and Import ofHazardous Chemicals Rules,1989.
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AP Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, is gradu-ally earning praising fromeven his critics for his han-dling of the Coronavirus pan-demic in the state, especiallyfor the number of tests con-ducted in the state.
Comparisons are beingdrawn with neighbouringTelangana where the health-care system has seeminglycollapsed and patients arerunning from pillar to post toeven get a bed in a hospital, letalone proper treatment.
Initially, it was TelanganaChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao who drewattention with his quick deci-sions; at one time, it appearedthat the State had well andtruly kept the virus at bay.However, the lack of adequatenumber of tests, despite callsto ramp up testing by courts,the Centre and the public inTelangana led to a change inperception.
Meanwhile, the ramped uptesting in AP, the approach topatient care and treatmentbegan to show a difference onthe ground.
While in Telangana, videosreleased by patients on pooramenities in state-run hospi-tals, of how private hospitalsare looting the public in thename of treatment went viral,the AP government kept onramping testing and strictlyenforced the rules in contain-ment zones.
As things stand, while theAP Government has conduct-ed over 10 lakh primary con-tacts and treatment is beingprovided till all patients arecured and dropped at theirhomes, the Government of
Telangana has been accused ofturning away people suspect-ed to be having symptoms, byrefusing to accept that there isanything wrong with them.
AP is getting tests done onall suspects, apart from theprimary suspects collectingsamples at the door-step of thepatients, if necessary.
Tru-Nat tests are being doneand the suspects are sent forquarantine till the results arereceived.
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DP supremo NChandrababu Naiduwants the Centre to take
cognisance of the criminalmotive behind ‘SMS TestingRacket’ by the YSRCP govern-ment.
In a tweet, he said that hewas shocked to see Jagan’s gov-ernment stoop to such a levelto cover their failures. The‘One Million Covid tests’ nar-rative woven by the AP gov-ernment is a scam, Naidualleged.
The former chiefminister alsoalleged that thatthe present dis-pensation ischeating thepeople and theCentre aboutthe Covid-19test results.
Naidu cited avideo in which a wardhealth secretary namedSusheela from Tadipatri con-stituency saying:
“Poornashankar, a com-puter operator, called
me and asked me toselect and send 7members for aCovid-19 test, sowe requested a fewpeople in our area
to take the test; afterthey had refused we
asked our fellow col-leagues in the Secretariat toget ready by 9 am the next dayto take the test. They accept-ed. The next day, my col-
leagues waited until noon aswe did not receive a call fromPoornashankar. Samples werenot taken for the Covid-19test. However after a few daysB Teja, a colleague of mine,said that he had received amessage on his mobile, fromthe Petition Monitor Cell ofAnantapur, stating that hisCovid-19 test result was neg-ative, this even though he didnot give his sample for theCovid-19 test.”
Blaming the TDP governmentfor halting such a prestigiousprogramme by approaching theAP High Court, the StateGovernment on Mondayannounced that it haspostponed the distrib-ution of house sitepattas to August 15.
Addressing apress conferencehere, Minister forM u n i c i p a lAdministration BotsaSatyanarayana said that theTDP leaders are intentionally fil-ing petitions in the High Courtto stop the distribution of 30lakh house sites to the poor andweaker sections across the State.
He slammed N ChandrababuNaidu and his party leaders forapproaching the court and try-
ing to prevent the poor fromgetting house sites.
“Seeing the plight of the poorpeople who wish to own ahouse, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy promised toprovide 30 lakh house sites and
thus the governmentacquired 26,034 acres
of land,” Botsa said.The Minister said
that Naidu failed todistribute a singlehouse to the poor in
his five-year rule.“Today, TDP leaders are
claiming that they have builtlakhs of houses for the poor. Butin reality, they sanctioned only6.2 lakh houses out of whichonly 3,55,000 were constructed.They have to answer whether itis correct or not.”
Jana Sena Party presidentPawan Kalyan on Mondaysaid that his party would notallow the sacrifices ofAmaravati farmers go waste.
He recalled that the farm-ing community has pooled34,000 acres of agriculturalland after Amaravati wasdeclared as the new capitalcity of the State. He said thatthe Jana Sena has been reit-erating from the beginningthat the YSRCP governmentis making a decision unilat-erally insulting the farmingcommunity stating that itwill change the capital citysince it is their government.
Jagan to pay homageto YSR on July 7, 8�'�� ��2�������
Chief Minister YSJ a g a n m o h a nReddy is sched-uled to tourKadapa district fortwo days on July 7and 8. The ChiefMinister will visit Idupulapayaalong with his family in honourof his father, late chief ministerYS Rajasekhara Reddy Jayanthion July 8.
District officials in the wakeof Covid-19 are following theStandard Operational Protocol
(SOP) to avoid any incon-venience to the ChiefMinister during thetour. The policedepartment has madeall the security
arrangements atKadapa, RK Valley IIIT.Additional PS K
Nageswar Reddy released theChief Minister’s tour schedulesaying that on June 7, Jagan willstart at 3.30 pm from his homein Tadepalli and will reachGannavaram airport to fly toIdupalapaya.
avirus tally shot past the20,000 mark on Monday as arecord 1,322 cases were addedin a day.
This was the first time thefresh cases touched the fourdigit mark in the state as thetally rose to 20,019 whileseven deaths saw the tollmounting to 239, a govern-ment bulletin said.
The number of active casesnow stood at 10,860 with thedischarge of 8,920 patients so far.
On Monday, Srikakulamdistrict reported two deathswhile Visakhapatnam,Krishna, Guntur, Anantapurand Chittoor reported onefresh death each.
Of the 20,019 cases regis-tered in the state till date,17,365 were locals, 2,235 fromother states and 419 foreignreturnees, according to thebulletin.
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The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment on Monday issuedan order naming all RythuBharosa Centres in the stateafter former chief ministerlate YS Rajasekhara Reddy.Accordingly, the state gov-ernment will address all thecentres as ‘Dr YSR RythuBharosa Centres’.
The state government inits order said that the gesturewas in memory of the exem-
plary services rendered byYSR during his tenure aschief minister of AP for thecause of the farming com-munity.
The Dr YSR RythuBharosa Centres are thebrainchild of Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy totake the entire gamut ofagriculture-related serviceright up to the doorstep ofthe farmer.
In the first sign of de-escala-tion of tension in easternLadakh, the Chinese Armyhas removed tents and start-ed to withdraw its troopsfrom Galwan Valley as decid-ed during high-level talksbetween the two militaries,government sources said onMonday
Galwan Valley was the siteof a violent hand-to-handclash between the two mili-taries on June 15 that left 20Indian soldiers dead
China's People's LiberationArmy was seen removingtents and structures atpatrolling point 14, thesources said, adding rear-ward movement of vehicles ofChinese troops was seen inthe general area of Galwanand Gogra Hot Springs
They said disengagementof Chinese troops in the areahas begun as per decisionsarrived at during the CorpsCommander-level talks
The sources said there wasclear sign of withdrawal ofstructures and troops fromthe patrolling point 14 inGalwan Valley and that theyare likely to move back morethan a kilometre in the area
Chinese Army removing tents,seen withdrawing from Galwan
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.
Swamy Vivekananda advo-cated to the World thatdiscipline, sincerity, ser-
vice and dedication are key toachieve anything in life. Heimplemented many pro-grammes with the motto of‘service to humanity is serviceto God’.
At a time all political outfitsin the country are direction-less following loss of power,the BJP is treading the pathshown by Swami Vivekanandaand emerging as a serviceorganisation, not just a polit-ical outfit.The BJP is the onlypolitical outfit to tread alongthe path shown by SwamiVivekananda.
It may be recalled thatPrime Minister NarendraModi, forgetting his status,washed the feet of sanitationworkers during the last year’sKumbh-Mela. He forgot hisstatus and expressed grati-tude touching their feet.
The PM regards politics asa means to serve the peoplecontrary to the popular beliefthat politics mean an oppor-tunity to indulge in multi-crore scams, nepotism and
looting the people. Modi has changed the very
definition of politics. He recently went on record
at a meeting held in connec-tion with SwamyVivekananda’s birth anniver-sary stating that the purposeof politics is to serve the peo-ple. Objective of political out-fits should be to extend trueservice to people. He saidBJP never misused power tomeet its selfish goals. He calledupon BJP workers to takepledge to render selfless ser-vice to people and work withdedication to serve them, avalue that every BJP workershould adopt. He appreciat-ed the dynamic BJP workerswho rendered service activi-ties. He asked them to docu-ment their service activities indigital form to serve as anexample for posterity.
BJP workers have venturedonto the streets risking life tohelp the poor and needy at a
time when everyone has con-fined themselves home toprotect themselves fromCoronavirus.
Modi described the BJP asa means to serve society, butnot an outfit practising elec-toral politics and his words areinvaluable. In fact, the BJP putthe nation first, the party sec-ond and the individual later.
Soon after voted to power,Modi adopted the slogan “SabKa Saath, Sab Kaa Viswas, SabKaa Sukh and Sab KiSamruddhi”.
He advocated BJP workersto adopt service attitude, bal-anced approach, exercisingrestraint, coordination, posi-
tivity, good attitude and sam-vaad.
Apart from being active onsocial media, political outfitsshould be in the midst of thepeople when caught in difficul-ties and should infuse confi-dence among them by extend-ing support to them. Then onlythe existence of the politicaloutfit would have some mean-ing. Those who serve the pub-lic from the lowest rung will getopportunity to climb up theladder. Modi is the perfectexample for climbing up theladder of power from the hum-ble origins of an ordinaryworker in the BJP.
Right from Atal Behari
Vajpayee to Modi, BJP leadershave worked selflessly andadhering to values and imple-mented many schemes andservice activities for the ben-efit of the people.
In Congress, heredity, clout,money power, caste equationswill help leaders climb up theladder in their career. InCongress, a family exercises
control over the party. Hence,there is no recognition for tal-ent and hard work.
In BJP thereare no suchsorry state-of-affairs. We comeacross politicalleaders, having amassedcores of wealth, shed-ding crocodile tears to earnsympathy of the people.
In the BJP, even if a wealthyperson enters the party fold,he should work and serve thepeople adhering to the partyideology.
There is no exaggeration tostate that JP Nadda, onbecoming the party nationalpresident, converted the BJPinto a social service organisa-tion.
He motivated party workersto provide food to the starv-ing by himself embarking onsuch programmes. He askedthe party workers to spendtheir life among the daily
wage earners, migrant work-ers and fulfil their needs.
In the context ofOpposition resort-ed to slinging mudon the BJP statingthat the Modi
Government leftmigrant workers in the
lurch,Nadda exhorted theparty rank and file to tightentheir belts to extend succourto the needy.
The BJP workers motivatedeach other using social plat-forms and approached thepeople.
They distributed 22.18ration kits, 5.04 crore facemasks among other things. Itis no mean achievement.
Over 57.94 lakh partyworkers worked with dedica-tion, while another 8.23 lakhdevoted to serve the aged andindisposed. The BJP workersconducted a signature cam-paign collecting over 4.79-lakhsignature expressing gratitude
to frontline warriors. Pseudo secularists often
criticise the BJP as a commu-nal party, anti-Muslim and itsdogmatic.
But how many does knowthat the BJP activists roseabove partisan casteism andcommunalism during the cur-rent Covid-19 crisis to servethe people with dedication?
In the worst affected Covidcity of Mumbai, the BJP andRSS workers risked their livesand worked with local admin-istrative machinery andensured that their familymembers also took part in theservice activities.
For BJP workers, the wholeworld is family. By virtue of itsideology, the BJP under theleadership of Modi, Amit Shahand Nadda, emerged as thebiggest ever political partywith over 18 crore members.
The comprehensivehumanitarianism andAntyodaya principles, advo-cated by BJP ideologue PanditDeen Dayal Upadhyay,formed the basis for the actionplan of the BJP or for the Modigovernment.
Brushing aside the Opposition’sallegations that the govern-ment is vindictive, Minister forWater Resources Anil KumarYadav said everyone is equalbefore law and TDP leaders areplaying cheap politics to gainpolitical mileage.
Speaking to the media hereon Monday, Anil Kumar saidthat N Chandrababu Naidu isusing the BC card to divert thepublic attention from thenumerous welfare schemesbeing implemented by the gov-ernment and to cover the mis-deeds of his party activists.
Kollu Ravindra was arrestedwith proper evidence pointinghis involvement in the murderof a BC leader. Does Naidu notcare about that BC family,which has lost its bread-win-ner? The minister asked, “Whydid Kollu Ravindra try toescape when he was notinvolved?”
He said that Naidu should be
ashamed of backing taintedleaders and those who ill-treat-ed women. Ayyanna Patruduused abusive language againsta woman and the governmenttook action against him.Similarly, Atchannaidu wasarrested for looting Rs 150crore of public money from theESI accounts. Amidst all these,Naidu has been crying foul stat-ing that the government is
vindictive and targeting BCs.He should know that this istotally wrong and no one isabove law.
The minister stated thatNaidu had failed to deliver thepromises he had made to BCwelfare during his term. OnlyRs 15,000 crore was spent forBCs against his promisedamount of Rs 50,000 crore inhis five years in office. He has
been using BCs as a vote bankand playing caste politics. ButChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy had spent Rs 20,000crore towards the welfare ofBCs in one year.
Even in the forthcominghouse-site distribution of thetotal 30 lakh sites, 22 lakhs arebeing given to BCs, SCs, STsand minorities, he pointed out.
A minor girl was found to bepregnant in a village underYelamanchili Police Stationlimits in Vizag district. The15-year-old girl was alleged-ly repeatedly gangraped bythree youngsters in the samearea.
A week ago, the girl’sgrandparents observed agrowing bump on the girl andthey took the girl to a hospi-tal at Tuni in East Godavaridistrict where she was con-firmed to be six months preg-nant. The victim, along withher grandparents, lodged acomplaint with YelamanchiliPolice Station seeking actionagainst the culprits.
The girl‘s parents died a fewyears ago due to ill health.The girl has been stayingwith her grandparents (whoare farmers by profession)for the past six years. The girlis a Class-IX dropout.
Police said that the girl’sgrandparents used to go totheir farm-fields and return tohome in the evening where-as the girl was staying alonein the home during the day-time. Noticing that the girl is
alone in the home, threeyoungsters of the same areabefriended with her later theythreatened her and rapedrepeatedly for months. Shewas raped repeatedly andthreatened of dire conse-quences if anything was dis-
closed, the complaint stated.It was only on Friday that
she was found to be sixmonths pregnant, it stated.Inspector of YelamanchiliPolice Station Narayana Raosaid that a case was registeredagainst the tr io underSections 376 (punishment forrape) and 506 (punishmentfor criminal intimidation) ofIPC and relevant provisions ofthe Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act.
The girl was admitted tothe government hospital atAnakapalle town in Vizagdistrict for medical examina-tion. Police launched a man-hunt to nab the trio.
TDP former MLA Kuna RaviKumar demanded a probe intothe scam in land acquisitionand house sites distribution bya sitting judge or by the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI).
He said the government wastalking about having spent Rs4,000 crore for the house sitesprogramme while on the con-trary, there were reports ofmisuse of over Rs 1,600 croreof these funds.
Addressing a press confer-ence here on Monday, heaccused the government ofextending undue favours to theruling party leaders by pur-chasing low cost lands worthRs 10 lakh per acre at far high-er rates of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50lakh.
All these amounts were notbenefitting the actual farmersbut the YSRCP leaders werepocketing these huge amountsand becoming rich overnight.The YSRCP has made it a sin-
gle point programme to lootthe people's money in thename of house site pattas.
He reminded that Ministerfor Municipal AdministrationBotsa Satyanarayana andYSRCP top leaders comparedAmaravati Capital City area toa burial ground. But the gov-ernment was now distributinghouse sites to the poor belong-ing to Vijayawada and otherplaces in Amaravaiti city area.By making such statements,the YSRCP was making a
mockery of people's welfareprogrammes as well as theprestigious Capital City pro-ject. This showed the lack ofresponsibility of ministers andthe government as a whole.
He asked whether theYSRCP government was readyfor a judicial inquiry if it wasreally confident that there wereno irregularities or scam in thehouse site pattas distribution.
He asserted that the TDPwould soon complain onceagain to the Central govern-ment on the issue of pendingpayments under NREGS ruralemployment scheme.
Chief Conservator of ForestsN Prateep Kumar said thatChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hasinstructed officials of the for-est department to ensure 33per cent green cover.With the support ofvarious depart-ments, theywould take up 20crore plantationacross the State.
The ChiefC o n s e r v a t o rinformed that about603.97 plants are readyat various nurseries across theState. In Anantapur there are49 nurseries and has 42.35lakh plants, Chittoor has 49nurseries with 34.39 lakhplants, East Godavari 47nurseries with 28.74 lakhplants, Guntur 21 nurserieswith 16.72 lakh plants,Kadapa 35 nurseries with50.26 lakh plants, Krishna 37nurseries with 13.35 lakhplants, Kurnool 49 nurserieswith 25.04 lakh plants,Prakasam 40 nurseries with
42.41 plants, Nellore 39 nurs-eries with 55.57 lakh plants,Srikakulam 87 nurseries with71.32 lakh, Visakhapatnam159 nurseries with 135.16lakh plants, Vizianagaram 66nurseries with 62.64 plantsand West Godavari has 59
nurseries with 26.02lakh plants with
more than 100varieties ofplants, he said.
He furtherstated that theChief Minister’s
aim was thateveryone has to take
part in the plantationand shall safeguard the plantto grow as a big tree. He saidthat the forest departmentshould plant and take theresponsibility to safeguardand as per the Survey ofIndia, AP is in the first andsecond position comparedto others States in increasingthe green cover. The forestdepartment with the support of various otherdepartments shall take upthe plantation project suc-cessfully, he added.
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The Chilakalapudi police arrest-ed M Pavan Kumar fromPrakasam district on Mondayfor issuing fake e-Passes. Thegovernment has imposedrestrictions on travellers fromone State to another. The gov-ernment was issuing e-Passes totravellers, who wish to cross theborder from one State to anoth-er.
The culprit taking advantageof the circumstances resorted tocheating people by issuing fakee-Passes on the pretext of main-taining an agency to issues e-Passes. He issued about 73 fakee-Passes to innocent but arrest-ed by the Chilakalapudi police.
Pavan was an employee in aconsultant company was cheat-ing people coming fromTelangana to Andhra Pradeshthat he would get e-Passes fromthe DGP office and was issuingfake passes to people cheatingthem and making money.
As per fiat of SPRavindranath Babu,Chilakalapudi CI VenkataNarayana, along with his team,laid a trap and nabbed the cul-prit on Monday.
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In a fight against novelCoronavirus, researchers havedeveloped a human cell 'mem-brane on a chip' that allowscontinuous monitoring of howdrugs and infectious agentsinteract with our cells. It maysoon be used to test potentialdrug candidates for Covid-19.
The study, published in thejournals ACS Langmuir andACS Nano, revealed that thedevice could mimic any celltype--bacterial, human or even
the tough cells walls of plants.According to the researchersfrom the University ofCambridge in the UK, CornellUniversity and StanfordUniversity in the US, theirresearch recently pivoted tohow Covis-19 attacks humancell membranes and, moreimportantly, how it can beblocked.
They have been successful-ly used to monitor the activityof ion channels, a class of pro-tein in human cells which arethe target of more than 60 per
cent of approved pharmaceu-ticals. "This type of screening
is typically done by the phar-maceutical industry with live
cells, but our device provides aneasier alternative," said studyresearcher Dr Owens fromCambridge's Department ofChemical Engineering andBiotechnology.
"This method is compatiblewith high-throughput screen-ing and would reduce the num-ber of false positives making itthrough into the R&D
pipeline," Owens added.According to the researchers,cell membranes play a centralrole in biological signalling,controlling everything frompain relief to infection by avirus, acting as the gatekeeperbetween a cell and the outsideworld.
The team set out to create asensor that preserves all of the
critical of a cell membrane —structure, fluidity, and controlover ion movement — withoutthe time-consuming stepsneeded to keep a cell alive.
The device uses an elec-tronic chip to measure anychanges in an overlying mem-brane extracted from a cell,enabling the scientists to safe-ly and easily understand howthe cell interacts with the out-side world. The device inte-grates cell membranes withconducting polymer electrodesand transistors.
Akhanda Pradhama SargaSundarakanda pathanam willbe conducted at the NadaNeerajanam platform on July7 seeking health and prosper-ity of mankind.
Speaking about the unique‘recitation’, the Additional EOsaid Srivari darshan hadresumed at Tirumala fromJune 8 onwards with all nec-essary Corona restrictions. Hesaid the Sundarakanda recita-tion was taken up by the TTDfor relieving humanity frompandemic Covid-19.
Devotees recited the slokasand were imparted the signif-icance and meaning with 10slokas per day and thePradhama SargaSundarakanda recitation con-cluded on Monday. As per thelegend of Ramayana pennedby sage Valmiki in PradhamaSarga that Hanumanta hadsurged from Mahendragiriand reached Lanka passing alldemon armies.
He said all arrangementswere made for recitation of 211slokas on Monday. It isbelieved that such recitationwill please Lord Hanuman,His Master Sri Ramachandraand Sri Venkateswara, anavatar of Sri Ramachandra,will save humanity from theCovid-19 pandemic.
The Additional EO said onTuesday Akhanda PradhamaSarga Sundarakanda recitationwill be conducted for 70-80minutes. He appealed to devo-tees recite slokas penned byValmiki as they are sacredverses and the pdf of all slokasis available in SVBC website,www.svbcttd.com.
“Hygiene is a crucial concernthat is on top of the mind ofevery individual. We all knowthe importance of sanitisingour hands, however, it is nowequally crucial to ensure thatour surroundings and the sur-faces we are in constant touchare also sanitised to keep our-selves fully protected and dis-ease-free. Understanding thisgrowing demand,” WiproConsumer Care launchedWipro Maxkleen DisinfectantSurface Sanitiser that ensures99.9 per cent protection againstgerms (bacteria, fungi) andprotection against various typesof viruses.
In this time of fear anduncertainty, Maxkleen chose touniquely communicate high-lighting the everyday chal-lenges a mother faces to ensurecomplete hygiene for her kids.
The TVC realistically cap-tures that kids will be kids, whoare always up to some mischiefand will touch surfaces withtheir bare hands, but the moth-er is relieved as she is equippedwith Maxkleen disinfectantsurface sanitiser.
Poor design of the tank,inadequate refrigeration andfaulty cooling system, absenceof circulation and mixing sys-tem, poor process safety man-agement system and totalbreakdown of the emergencyresponse of the procedureswere the root causes of theaccident," the HPC said in itsreport.
The HPC also observed thatthe factory has "absolutely nostocks of inhibitors and negli-gible stocks of terminators,which could have been used tominimise the impact of theaccident, if not neutralise it”.
"The temperature in thetank rose substantially. It wasa tank with small vents. Therise in temperature caused thestyrene liquid to eventuallyvaporise and increase the pres-sure," the HPC noted.
The committee alsoobserved that the alarm system(at the plant) was not useddespite there being a total of 36activation points, includingone at the factory gate.
Using the alarm could havealerted the people in the vicin-ity (from the impending dan-ger), it added.
Director of the IndianInstitute of Petroleum(Dehradun) Anjan Ray,Director General of DGFASLIRK Elangovan, RegionalDirector of Central PollutionControl Board (Pune) BharatKumar Sharma, AP SpecialChief Secretary (Industries)Karikal Valaven, AP PollutionControl Board member-secre-tary Vivek Yadav and otherswere part of the HPC.
Receiving the report, theChief Minister said that it willserve as guidelines on how toavert mishaps and if necessarynecessary amendments willbe made to the existing laws tothis effect. The Committee inits report has mentioned at 36
places about how the alarmsystem did not function andthe siren did not blow, Jagansaid.
Based on the report, indus-tries should be classified intogreen and white and should berelocated far from residentialcolonies so that people shouldnot suffer. All concernedDepartments should bring outa foolproof action plan andprotocols, the Chief Ministersaid.
The report should be placedin public domain to show ourconcern towards the peopleand safety measures the indus-tries should take in tune withour policy of transparency, hesaid.
The Committee held discus-sions will all stakeholders, expertsfrom State and Central organi-sations, health activists, eyewit-nesses, NGOs, examined 1250questions raised by publicthrough 250 emails and 180phone calls and messages besidesspeaking to affected people.
The report was preparedbased on detailed technicalevaluation carried out scientif-ically and gave its suggestions.
The Chief Minister talked toother members of the HPCthrough video conference.
Speculation over a total lock-down in the state amidincreasing number ofCoronavirus cases has led totipplers throng wine shops.Liquor worth Rs 973.61 crorewas sold between June 26-30.
This has come as hugerelief to the fund-starved stategovernment. The income dueto sale of liquor, albeit due topanic buying, is more encour-aging to the state compared toincome from GST and regis-tration of property.
The state exchequerreceived Rs 4,997.81 croreduring April-June period.The liquor sales increasedremarkably in the last ofJune. Similarly, the sales haveincreased during July 1-4period. Liquor sales duringMay 6 to May 31, the govern-ment earned Rs 1,864 croreand in June the state earnedRs 1,995 crore.
During normal days, thewine shop owners lift beerworth Rs 70-75 crore per dayfrom depots of TelanganaState Beverages Corporation.However, during June 26-30,with the exception of June27, liquor worth Rs 150 crore
was sold per day. DuringJuly 1-4 period, the daily sale of liquor is put at Rs 75crore.
Not only tipplers, manypeople have thronged super-markets in the city to stock upessential commodities. Longqueues were seen outsidedepartmental stores and localkirana stores, with the rushincreasing post afternoon.Scenes outside the ATMswere much the same.
Also, fearing lockdown,hundreds of people headed totheir native places in neigh-bouring Andhra Pradesh.
Fearing that they may bestuck in the city if the lock-down was re-imposed, work-ers and businessmen werereturning to be with theirnear and dear ones.
Using whatever mode oftransport available to them,the migrants were leavingHyderabad, which is wit-nessing a big spike in Covid-19 cases. Majority of thosereturning home were dailywagers, construction labour-ers , domestic help andtraders. Most of them hadreturned to Hyderabad aftereasing of lockdown in May.
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Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has asked officials toexpedite the Nadu-Nedu, ManaBadi works and prepareStandard Operating Procedures(SOPs) for a weekly report torecord the work in progress.
During a review meeting onthe Mana Badi works held hereon Monday, the Chief Ministertold officials that the paintingcolours to be used for the schoolsshould be pleasant and the engi-neers concerned should monitorthe works on a daily basis.
Officials have given aPowerPoint presentation onthe colours and their combina-tions. The Chief Minister saidthat they should be pleasing tothe eye and carry a bright andfestive atmosphere. The wallsshould be painted with draw-ings, which would be educativeand moral bearing. The workshould start after the monsoon,so that public money is notwasted, he said
For the second and thirdphases of Mana Badi, worksshould be taken up on time andthe fund raising programme
should begin. As the first phaseof work is being taken up byParents Committees there wouldnot be any delay in the work, theChief Minister said.
Officials said that works arebeing done expeditiously and onan average works worth Rs 2crore are being done per houracross the State. When officialssaid that at some places, theworks are being delayed, theChief Minister asked them totake over the works from thedonors and hand them over toCollectors.
Engineers looking after VillageSecretariats should also takecare of the Mana Badi schools insuch cases, and they should visitthe schools at least once a weekand record their report in theManagement Book (MB). Tothis effect SOPs should be pre-pared, he said.
Education Minister A Suresh,Education DepartmentSecretary, B Rajasekhar,Education CommissionerChinna Veerabhadrudu andother officials participated in themeeting.
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During his rule, Naidu lefta debt of Rs 4,300 crore in thehousing department, of whichover Rs 3,000 crore alone wasfor TIDCO housing project. InTIDCO housing, nearly70,000 houses were left with 90per cent completion and inover 50,000 houses even thebasements were not laid, Botsasaid.
It was Dr YS RajasekarReddy who had started hous-ing for all and got 45 lakhhouses constructed. Today, allthose housing colonies haveturned into prominent placesand people are living in peace,the Minister said.
“In order to carry forwardYSR’s legacy, Jagan planned todistribute 30 lakh house sitepattas on July 8 with a strongdetermination. Due to thecourt cases, it was postponedto August 15,” he added.
It may be remembered thatChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hadexpressed his desire to distrib-ute the house sites as part ofthe Flagship Navaratna pro-gramme ever since heassumed office last year.
However, the programmewas postponed for three timesfor various reasons and the lat-est was on July 8, the birthdayof former chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
This too has been post-poned, at the last minute.
Earlier, the Chief Ministersaid that this would be thebiggest ever house sites distri-
bution programme across thecountry and the governmenthas identified about 30 lakhbeneficiaries across the State.
Jagan was scheduled tolaunch this ambitious pro-gramme from Kakinada, whileMLAs would have launched itin their own constituencies.
The Chief Minister wasadvised against distribution ofsites under legal disputes topoor people.
More specifically, the gov-ernment’s move to distribute aportion of Amaravati lands,which was donated by farmersfor the capital region is facinghurdles from the courts.Already the High Court stuckdown the government’s moveand the government went onappeal to the Supreme Court.The Chief Minister has report-edly decided to wait till clear-ance of all such court litiga-tions, before distribution ofhouse sites.
Speaking to The Pioneer,Krishna District Collector AMd Imtiaz said that the post-ponement of the house sitesdistribution programme thatwas scheduled on July 8 mightbe with the pending case inSupreme Court onConveyance Deed that will beissued to the beneficiaries bythe government.
The government wants toensure that the beneficiariesget a clear title document,after getting the clearancefrom the Court andexpressed hope that verysoon the beneficiaries willget the house sites.
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After much deliberations, theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA) has allowed universi-ties across the country to con-duct the final exams for thestudents.
In a letter to the UnionHigher Education Secretary,MHA instructed thatUniversity Grants Commission(UGC) can conduct the exam-inations as per the StandardOperating Procedure (SOP).
“The final term examina-tions are to be compulsorilyconducted as per the UGCguidelines on examinationsand academic calendar for theuniversities and as per theStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) approved by the Union
Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare,” read the statementissued by the MHA.
According to media reports,UGC authorities were all forconducting the annual exam-inations, especially for the finalyear students.
An expert committee wasrequested by the UGC to revis-it its guidelines in view of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and colleges will
be advised to assess the studentsthrough an examination con-ducted in either online, offlineor blended mode. The author-ities also decided to tweak theindicative alternative calendarand advise institutions to holdexams by September-end.
The new guideline empha-sises on conducting of semes-ter/final exams as it is a reflec-tion of competence and cred-ibility for global acceptability.
Sharing his view on thedevelopment ShashidharVuppala, an educational activistwho has worked extensivelywith students, says, "It's unsafeto conduct exams in such amanner. Even if the exams areconducted by September end,
who is to say that situation willimprove by then?”
UGC's guideline alsoinstructs universities to re-conduct exams for candidateswho are unable to take the tests,for whatever reasons, whenev-er feasible for the varsity.
Concerned over the future ofthe graduating batch, MdSohailuddin, GeneralSecretary, National Students'Union of India, RR District,said, "Many final year stu-dents have already got campusplacements. If the exams areconducted by September-end,no company will wait forrecruiting them. Most of themwill lose their jobs. How is thisfair? We are already in discus-sion to file a PIL against thismove in the Supreme Court."
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The sources said it would notbe possible to know immediate-ly how much distance theChinese troops are going backand that there will be clarity onlyafter a proper verificationprocess is conducted
The clashes in Galwan Valleytook place after Indian troopsstrongly opposed the erection ofa surveillance post by theChinese side near patrollingpoint 14
It is not immediately knownwhether the de-escalation initia-tive has also been started in thePangong Tso area where theChinese side has significantlyenhanced its presence, particu-larly in areas between Finger 4and Finger 8
On June 30, the Indian andChinese armies held the thirdround of Lt General-level talksduring which both sides agreedon an "expeditious, phased andstep wise" de-escalation as a "pri-ority" to end the standoff
The first round of the LtGeneral talks were held on June6 during which both sidesfinalised an agreement to disen-gage gradually from all thestandoff points beginning withGalwan Valley
However, the situation dete-riorated following the GalwanValley clashes as the two sidessignificantly bolstered theirdeployments in most areas alongthe LAC On Friday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi madea surprise visit to Ladakh dur-ing which he said the era ofexpansionism is over and thatthe history is proof that "expan-sionists" have either lost or per-ished, in comments which wereseen as a clear message to Chinathat India is not going to back-
off and would deal with the sit-uation with a firm hand TheIndian and Chinese armies arelocked in a bitter standoff inmultiple locations in easternLadakh for the last seven weeks
The tension escalated mani-fold after killing of 20 Indian sol-diers in Galwan Valley. TheChinese side also suffered casu-alties but it is yet to give out thedetails Both sides have held sev-eral rounds of diplomatic andmilitary talks in the last fewweeks to ease tension
Following the Galwan Valleyclashes, the Army has sent thou-sands of additional troops to for-ward locations along the borderbesides moving in heavyweapons.
The Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) is going to estab-lish a research cell at Indian Institute ofTechnology here to meet the futuredefence technological requirements of thecountry. The DRDO - IITH Research Cellwill undertake basic and applied researchprogrammes in identified technologyareas, a press release from the institute saidon Monday. An MoU was signed duringa virtual event organized at the DRDODG-MSS Office in Hyderabad on July 3in which officials from DRDO and IITHyderabad participated. Being estab-lished as an extension of the DRDOResearch and Innovation Centre (RIC),Chennai, the research cell is envisaged tobecome a Centre of Excellence in con-ducting scientific and applied research inadvanced technologies for defence, it said.
Continued from Page 1
Farmers, farm labour-ers and women are con-tinuing with their agita-tion for the past 200 daysto protect the capital city.“There will be solidarityfrom our party to theongoing movement insupport of the capital cityAmaravati. We extendsupport to them alongwith Bharatiya JanataParty. The farmers hadgiven lands to the govern-ment, but not to any indi-vidual or party. Hence,the agreement the gov-
ernment entered withwhile taking lands onthat day must be respect-ed,” Pawan Kalyan said ina statement.
He reminded that thegovernment has notreleased funds for pay-ment of lease amount;despite release of a GO, theamount has not beenreached the farmers tillnow. “There should bedecentralisation of devel-opment and every regionmust be developed but, itmay not be by mere split-ting the capital city intothree parts,” he added.
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These centres will effec-tively alleviate all the hard-ships for the farmers who willno more have to go out oftheir villages for any agri-related need. Jagan commis-sioned the Rythu BharosaCentres across the state onMay 30 on the occasion of hisYSRCP government com-pleting one year in power.
The state government hasalready announced that July8, the day of late Dr YSRajasekhara Reddy’s birthanniversary will henceforthbe celebrated as ‘Farmer’sDay’ in Andhra Pradesh.
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Jagan will land at Kadapaairport on June 7 evening,and will travel to Idupulapayaon a helicopter, will stayovernight at the Guest House.
Jagan will pay tributes toYSR at YSR ghat at Idupalapyavillage on June 8. The ChiefMinister will inaugurate anew building at RGUKT nearYSR circle, RK valley and willlay foundation stone of 3MW solar plant on June 8.
After that, Jagan will returnto Idupalapaaya guest house.He will reach Kadapa airport,from there he will return tohis residence at Tadepalli.
Ahead of the ChiefMinister's visit to Kadapa,district Collector C HariKiran along with JointCollector Saikanth Varmaand SP KKN Anburajanreviewed the arrangements atIdupalapaya on Saturday.
The officers had inspectedthe YSR Ghat, the statue ofYSR, newly-constructed IIITclassrooms, helipad and otherplaces where CM is sched-uled to visit. In view ofCovid-19 spread, only limit-ed people will be allowed atall the events following phys-ical distance.
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If anyone tests positive, he orshe is being sent to district head-quarters hospitals. If the symp-toms are serious, they are sent tobigger hospitals and given PPEkits, and RTPCR are run onthem. If they tested positiveagain, the patients are beingprovided institutional treatment.
According to AP officials, 10per cent those who tested pos-itive for Coronavirus in Tru-Nattests are also testing positive inthe RTPCR tests.
If a patient tests negative in theRTPCR tests, an ambulancedrops them at their home, withthe advice to undergo homequarantine for two weeks.Similarly, those who recoveredfrom the virus are being droppedhome by the government withthe prescription of two-weekhome quarantine.
In Telangana, even if someoneapproaches a hospital with visi-ble Covid-19 symptoms, thehospitals would not run tests onthem. Conducting tests for thosetested positive, their primarycontacts and family members isa Herculean task.
With no other option, peoplein Telangana are forced toapproach private labs or hospi-tals, only to be milked dry of theirmoney.
AP conducted 9,96,573 testsby early Monday, with with
17,699 people testing positive forthe virus. The number of casu-alties due to Covid was 218.
In sharp contrast, Telanganaconducted 1,10,545 tests, ofwhich 22,312 returned positive.The virus claimed lives of 288.The positivity rate is 20.18, whilethe death rate is 1.29.
For perspective, the number oftests conducted by AP in threedays was about the sameTelangana conducted over aperiod of four months.
The AP government alsoreined in the spread of virus bystricter controls on the red,orange and green zones, as wellas stricter checks on those enter-ing the state. Anyone enteringthe state is subject to strict homequarantine and if someone testspositive, institutional quaran-tine is mandatory.
In contrast, Telangana hasover 6556 patients under homeisolation. Many of them take pre-cautions so as not to alert theirneighbours that they have con-tracted the virus. Even the stategovernment authorities are notaware exactly where the contain-ment zones are located inTelangana. With no control onwho is infected, the spread hasbeen that much more quicker.
While Andhra Pradesh isamong the top three states thathave conducted the highest num-ber of tests, the government hasnot wasted time on creating
hype; instead, the focus hasunwaveringly on achieving effi-ciency and efforts to contain thespread of infections.
In the initial days of outbreakof the virus, the AP Governmentsent samples to the virology labin Pune, but the state now has 17labs.
To a very large extent, the vil-
lage volunteer system in place inAP has helped the state govern-ment control the spread of thevirus. The volunteers are under-taking door to door visits andregistering names of those whowant themselves tested for the
virus. The volunteers also furnishinformation to the medical andhealth department about thosewho are aged 60 years and above.
The medical and health per-sonnel then carry out tests at thedoorstep of the people.
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Speaking to The Pioneer,Medical and Health addition-al director, G Vasudeva Raosaid that from March 9 till May31, a total of 3,571 cases arereported in the state and onceunlock 1.0 was announced in35 days, 16,448 cases werereported, that include migrantsand foreign returnees. Testswere conducted at all entrypoints that gave good results toprevent the spread of virus. Hesaid that 22,000 doctors and24,000 paramedical wererecruited to ease pressure on thedoctors.
Vasudeva Rao said that theyare equipped with 70,000 hos-pital beds in 26 Covid-designat-ed hospitals with 100 privatehospitals backing with anoth-er 30,000 beds. About 90,000
beds for quarantine are alsomade available to face anyeventuality with a six layers ofhospitals.
The state is also equippedwith 15,000 beds with HighFlow Oxygen beds and 2,000ventilators giving the best treat-ment compared to other states.He said that at present 182 crit-ical cases are under treatmentacross the state.
It may be noted that morethan one million samples arebeing tested till date with 20,019positive cases, 10,860 active and8,920 patients being dischargedafter recovery. The death toll inthe state due to Covid is 239. Inall 19,361 tests per million arebeing performed with 1.94 percent positivity rate, 44.56 percent recovery rate and 1.19 percent mortality rate, saidVasudeva Rao.
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Naidu also cited a secondexample, quoted anotherperson of this “racket”, DevaPrasad, as saying: “I got amessage from the govern-ment hospital which saidthat I had tested positive forCovid-19. I am surprisedthat I tested positive withoutgiving my sample for test-ing”. Naidu insinuated thatthere is a conspiracy behindfalsifying the Covid-19 testresults by Jagan’s govern-ment and requested theCentre to expose the “crim-inal intent”.
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"In this regard they fur-ther agreed that both sidesshould complete the ongo-ing disengagement processalong the LAC expeditious-ly," the statement added.
Today, sources said Chinahas withdrawn its troops byat least a kilometer and dis-mantled its temporary struc-tures in Ladakh's Galwanriver valley, where 20 sol-diers were killed in actionduring a clash with Chinesetroops on June 15. Indiansoldiers have also pulledback and a buffer zone hasbeen created, sources said.
With almost no one to heartheir online grievances, neti-zens turned to TelanganaGovernor Dr TamilisaiSoundarajan for help amidstCovid-19 crisis. Dr Tamilisai isinteracting with netizens ontwitter and responding to theirrequests.
She got many requests ask-ing to save Hyderabad from theCoronavirus crisis. When aNetizen Machender Reddyasked the Governor to imple-ment lockdown in GHMClimits, Dr Tamilisai said ‘Noted’.
Likewise, the Governoraddressed concerns from thecitizens of the low number oftesting in the state. When anetizen Anil asked theGovernor to just tell thenumber of beds vacant in pri-vate hospitals, She said,“Noted .I am interacting withprivate hospitals to addressthis and other issues”.
Governor tweeted that shewill be interacting with privatehospitals with Covid isolationfacilities on Tuesday regardingCovid management and pub-lic grievances for redressalfrom them on beds , billings,testing etc for successful pri-vate-public participation.
The Indian Academy of Sciences,a Bengaluru-based body of sci-entists, has said the IndianCouncil for Medical Research's(ICMR) target to launch a coro-navirus vaccine by August 15 is"unfeasible" and "unrealistic".
The IASc said while there is anunquestioned urgent need, vac-cine development for use inhumans requires scientificallyexecuted clinical trials in aphased manner.
While administrativeapprovals can be expedited, the"scientific processes of experi-mentation and data collectionhave a natural time span thatcannot be hastened withoutcompromising standards of sci-entific rigour", the IASc said ina statement.
In its statement, the IAScreferred to the ICMR's letterwhich states that "it is envisagedto launch the vaccine for publichealth use latest by 15th August2020 after completion of all clin-ical trials".
The ICMR and Bharat BiotechIndia Limited, a private pharma-
ceutical company, are jointlydeveloping the vaccine againstthe novel coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2.
The IASc welcomes the excit-ing development of a candidatevaccine and wishes that the vac-cine is quickly made available forpublic use, the statement said.
"However, as a body of scien-tists – including many who areengaged in vaccine develop-ment – IASc strongly believesthat the announced timeline isunfeasible. This timeline hasraised unrealistic hope and
expectations in the minds of ourcitizens," it said.
Aiming to launch an indige-nous COVID-19 vaccine byAugust 15, the ICMR had writ-ten to select medical institutionsand hospitals to fast-track clini-cal trial approvals for the vaccinecandidate, COVAXIN.
Experts have also cautionedagainst rushing the process fordeveloping a COVID-19 vaccineand stressed that it is not inaccordance with the globallyaccepted norms to fast-trackvaccine development for diseases
of pandemic potential.The IASc said trials for a vac-
cine involve evaluation of safety(Phase 1 trial), efficacy and sideeffects at different dose levels(Phase 2 trial), and confirmationof safety and efficacy in thou-sands of healthy people (Phase 3trial) before its release for pub-lic use. Clinical trials for a can-didate vaccine require participa-tion of healthy human volun-teers. Therefore, many ethicaland regulatory approvals need tobe obtained prior to the initiationof the trials, it added.
Delhi Police Monday objected tocertain statements made in theDelhi High Court plea related tothe violence during Jamia MilliaIslamia (JMI) university protestsagainst the Citizenship(Amendment) Act lastDecember, saying they are “moreof a political statement made ata protest site”. Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, representingDelhi Police, took strong excep-tion to the language used in cer-tain paragraphs of the rejoinderfiled by one of the petitioners inthe matter and said “you cannotmalign constitutional authoritieslike this”.
“Irresponsible pleading isbecoming an order of the day...This is more of a political state-ment made at a protest site andcannot be a pleading before thehighest court of the state,” thesenior law officer said, referringto the averments made in therejoinder.
Mehta contended that “irre-sponsible” pleadings have beenfiled in the rejoinder of one of thepetitioners Nabila Hasan whohas sought action against thepolice for allegedly brutallyattacking the petitioners, stu-dents and residents of JMI.
Hasan's plea has also sought
action against the alleged ruth-less, and excessive use of forceand aggression unleashed by thepolice and paramilitary forces onstudents within the university.
Mehta was referring to thestatement made in the rejoinderwhich said: “The police wereutterly lawless obviously withclearance from the to. It is veryprobable that the order to mer-cilessly beat the students andbreak their bones as they beganto assemble outside Jamia tobegin a peaceful march to theParliament came from the HomeMinister.”
The rejoinder also stated,“The police force behaved as ifthey were common criminals.Their conduct was such that itwould appear to the common
person that the police force hadbeen given instruction from thehome Minister to break the lawat will and to cause as much painand damage and loss to the pub-lic as possible.”
Raising objection to thesestatements, the Solicitor Generalsaid broadly everyone knows theintention behind filing of a peti-tion but it should not be madeso obvious in the pleadings.
“It is an example of irrespon-sible pleading. The intentioncomes out clear. You cannotmalign the constitutional author-ities like this. This brings the catout of the bag. I have been say-ing this since the beginning thatthere is an agenda behind thesepetitions which are being pursuedso vigorously,” he contended.
District authorities in SouthWest Delhi have delinked threehotels from the hospitals theywere attached to to serve asCOVID-19 care facilities due tolow-occupancy, and some otherdistricts may follow suit, officialshave said.
Four hotels — Piccadilly atJanakpuri district Centre, TajVivanta in Dwarka, Pride Plazain Aerocity, and Welcome inDwarka Sector 10 — wereattached to hospitals closest tothem, in mid-June, to serve asfacilities for coronavirus patientswith moderate symptoms.
However, only 25 of the total900 rooms of the four hotels wereoccupied over the past fort-night, the officials said.
In an order issued on Saturday,SDM (Dwarka) said Piccadilly,
Pride Plaza and Taj Vivantahave been delinked from thehospitals they were attached to.
Now, only Welcome hotel inDwarka Sector 10 will serve asan extended COVID-19 carefacility for Mata Chanan Devi,Akash Healthcare,Venkanteshwara and Manipalhospitals, the order said.
It also mentioned that thehotels claimed they were incur-ring huge expenses in keeping all
the rooms ready for patients eventhough the occupancy was low.
"We followed the governmentorders and did what was askedof us when the hotel was linkedto the COVID-19 hospitals as anextended facility. Our hotel wasalso used for quarantine facilitywhen repatriation flights arrived,and lots of people stayed here,”said a representative of one of thedelinked hotels, requesting notto be named.
The Delhi Fire Services hasreceived over 750 applications forissuance of no objection certifi-cates since the coronavirus lock-down began, but has not beenable to conduct inspections amidthe rising number of infections,officials said on Monday.
Fire-safety no objection certifi-cates (NOCs) are presently onlybeing issued on an emergencybasis during the lockdown forgovernment establishments andhospitals after following the pro-tocol, officials said.
Officials said since the nation-wide lockdown, they hadreceived applications for NOCsfrom various establishments,including industries, restaurants,guest houses, hotels and schools.
The maximum applicationswere received from guest hous-es and restaurants, a majority ofwhich are still closed due to therestrictions imposed in the wakeof COVID-19 pandemic.
Activities like the issuance ofNOCs, training sessions, publicawareness campaigns and fire-safety inspections will likelyremain suspended for a whileamid the rising novel coronavirus
cases, the officials said.The Delhi Fire Services has
received over 750 applicationsfrom various outlets from March21 to June 30 for issuance ofNOCs, officials said. Accordingto data shared by the fire depart-ment, the north zone received148 applications, the south zonegot 328, the west zone got 225applications for NOCs from var-ious outlets till June 30.
Forty-nine applications havealso been received from June 15-
30 on the department's digitalportal. The fire safety certificatesare valid for three years and theestablishment concerned shouldapply for renewal of certificate sixmonths prior to the date ofexpiry. During the nationwidelockdown from March 25, thedepartment said it had also sus-pended all its activities and onlycarried out firefighting opera-tions.
The Delhi Fire Services playedan effective role in carrying out
sanitisation work in contain-ment zones like the Nizamuddin,Markaz, Bhogal, Jangpura andOkhla Mandi among other areas,according to officials.
Delhi Fire Services DirectorAtul Garg said they had receivedover 750 applications for issuanceof NOCs since the lockdownbegan, but were unable to carryout inspection as all establish-ments were closed during thephase and safety was also a con-cern.
"Many of them who appliedfor NOCs were in the hope thatthe lockdown would be liftedsoon, but it kept getting extend-ed," Garg said. "Even now,requests are pouring in, butalthough lockdown has beenlifted, majority of these establish-ments are still closed."
He pointed out that severalindustries had still not startedtheir operations, schools wereclosed, many restaurants andguest houses were not function-al yet. The department will haveto wait for the situation to nor-malise to conduct its inspectionsbefore issuing NOCs, he added.
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The Delhi & Districts CricketAssociation (DDCA) is likelyto move the High Court andseek an extension to the stip-ulated six weeks given to con-duct the state unit's electionsfor the president and treasur-er's posts.
Almost all the factionswhich controls the 4000 oddvotes (Vinod Tihara group,CK Khanna's team and SPBansal's camp) have at differ-ent times met former financeminister late Arun Jaitley'sson Rohan to take up thepresident's post. Jaitley junioris yet to announce whether hewould throw his hat in the ringfor the top post which wasvacated by senior journalistRajat Sharma last year.
"Various modalities withrespect to elections were dis-cussed and a common consen-sus after the meeting was that,time period of six weeks pre-scribed by Hon'ble High Courtof Delhi is too short andDDCA may have to move to
High Court for extension oftime," Ombudsman Justice(Retd) Deepak Verma notifiedthrough a circular after an apexcouncil meeting via video con-ference on Saturday.
It was also notified that ameeting has again been sched-uled with Navin Chawla (elec-tion officer) and his team onTuesday to further discuss theelections.
"In view of the above, elec-tion process is hereby initiat-ed by carrying out draw of lots.
"Date, notice and agenda ofthe elections shall be intimat-
ed to each member of DDCAafter consulting with the elec-toral officer and his team,"Verma stated.
On the day, a draw of lotswas conducted as per a HighCourt order to decide on therotation among five directors.
As per the Companies Act,every year one-third of totaldirectors need to retire. DDCAhas seven directors and two ofthem need to retire every year.
During the meeting, fourdirectors retired through drawof lots (two for 2019 and twofor 2020).
Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Mondaytermed Leader of OppositionSiddaramaiah's allegations ofmisappropriation against hisgovernment in the purchase ofCOVID-19 equipment as"unnecessary" and asked himto examine all the documentspersonally.
He said if there were anyshortcomings, strict actionwill be taken against officialsor whoever is involved.
"Let Siddaramaiah comeand have a look at the figures,our officials will give him allthe documents. As the leaderof the opposition, let him per-sonally examine everything,"Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters afterpaying tributes to formerDeputy Prime Minister BabuJagjivan Ram on his deathanniversary, he said, "we willrectify if there are any short-comings and strict action willbe taken against officials orwhoever it is."
The Supreme Court Mondaydismissed a plea alleging bias inlisting of cases by its registryofficials and imposed a fine ofRs 100 on a lawyer for filingsuch a petition.
A bench comprising ArunMishra and S A Nazeer said itwas dismissing the PIL filed bylawyer Reepal Kansal and wasimposing a cost of Rs 100 onhim for filing such a petition.
Kansal said that due to tech-nical glitches, the bench could-n't pronounce its judgement viavideo conference and apprisedof its verdict telephonically.The lawyer said that the courthas held that the allegations hadno basis.
The PIL alleged that prefer-ence in listing of cases are
being given to influentiallawyers/petitioners.
The top court, on June 19, hadreserved its verdict on the PILseeking a direction to its registryofficials not to give preferencesto cases filed by influentialadvocates or litigants in listingbefore benches at the challeng-ing times when virtual courts arefunctioning due to prevailingCOVID-19 pandemic.
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Uttar Pradesh police have sus-pended three more of theirmen, suspecting that theytipped off Vikas Dubey whosegang members killed eightpolicemen in an ambush at avillage near Kanpur last week.
Police on Monday alsoincreased the reward for Dubeyarrest to Rs 2.5 lakh, up fromthe Rs 1 lakh offered earlier.
UP Director General ofPolice H C Awasthy said policeare conducting raids to trackdown the gangster, based oninformation they get.
Police had earlier suspend-ed Vinay Tiwari, station officerat Chaubeypur station andwere examining the possibili-ty that he informed Dubey thata police team was heading to
his Bikru village to arrest him.The gangster, who has faced
about 60 criminal cases overthe years, then allegedly set upan ambush for the policemen,killing eight of them in theearly hours of Friday.
Kanpur's Senior
Superintendent of PoliceDinesh Kumar P said moreChaubeypur policemen havenow been suspended.
“Three police personnelhave been suspended for theirsuspected role in leakage ofinformation,” he said.
The MDMK on Mondayalleged that the AIADMK gov-ernment tried to hide excess-es by police personnel that ledto the deaths of a father-sonduo at Sathankulam in south-ern Tamil Nadu.
The Vaiko-led party said thedirectives and guidance of theMadras High Court in this casehave given confidence thatthe guilty would be punished.
The Madurai Bench of thecourt intervened at the righttime and gave directions touphold justice when the "TamilNadu government, which mustown up responsibility for thedeaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks
made efforts to conceal theirbrutal killings (a reference toalleged torture by some policepersonnel)," a resolutionadopted at the distrct secre-taries meeting of the MDMKsaid.
Rubbishing oppositionaccusations, both the state
government and the AIADMKhad all along assured stringentpunishment in the case.
While Law Minister C VeShanmugam has said the gov-ernment would ensure highestpunishment to those responsi-ble for the deaths, theAIADMK top leaders OPanneerselvam and KPalaniswami vowed to do jus-tice.
The MDMK meet, held viaa virtual link was presided byparty presidium chairmanTIrupur Su Duraisamy andgeneral secretary Vaikoaddressed the office-bearers.
Further, the party said suchcourt directives brought con-fidence to the people.
A day before Chinese militarybegan pulling back fromGalwan Valley in easternLadakh, NSA Ajit Doval andChinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi agreed on an expedi-tious withdrawal of troops,holding that a complete disen-gagement at the "earliest" wasnecessary for full restoration ofpeace in border areas and bothsides should not allow differ-ences to become disputes.
Doval and Wang, who arespecial representatives forboundary talks between thetwo countries, held a tele-phonic conversation onSunday during which they hada "frank and in-depthexchange" of views on therecent developments in thewestern sector, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs said onMonday.
Significantly, Chinese troops
began removing tents early onMonday and started to with-draw from Galwan Valley, thesite of a violent hand-to-handclash between the two mili-taries on June 15 that left 20Indian soldiers dead, govern-ment sources said.
Rearward movement ofvehicles and troops was seen inGogra Hot Springs as well butthere was no confirmation of
similar disengagement inPangong Tso area, said thesources. They said Chinesetroops moved back aroundone kilometre from patrollingpoint 14, 15 and 17 in GalwanValley.
In the talks, Doval and Wangre-affirmed that both sidesshould "strictly respect" andobserve the Line of ActualControl and should not take
any unilateral action to alterthe status quo, the MEA said.
The two special representa-tives agreed to continue theirconversations to ensure "fulland enduring restoration" ofpeace and tranquillity in theIndia-China border areas.
It was the first time thatDoval and Wang held talksduring the ongoing stand-off.
The Congress on Mondayaccused the BJP of resorting to"cheap distractions and stunts" to"manage headlines" during theIndia-China border crisis, afterthe ruling party attacked RahulGandhi for not attending meet-ings of Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Defence.
The opposition party alsosaid that had the BJP govern-ment spent its energy in fightingChina and supporting the armedforces, it would not have to "lie"and "mislead" the country onChinese transgressions at theborder. The Congress' countercame after BJP chief J P Naddatook a swipe at Rahul Gandhiwho has been firing salvos at theModi government daily over theborder stand-off.
Nadda had said that Gandhidoes not attend a single meetingof Standing Committee onDefence but continues to demor-alise the nation and question thevalour of armed forces.
Congress chief spokesperson
Randeep Surjewala hit back atNadda, saying his "insidiouscomments" are making himlook like a "poorer version ofmalicious BJP spokespersons".
"Had the BJP and the ModiGovernment spent its energy infighting China and supportingour Armed Forces, you would-n't need to lie on Chinese trans-gressions to mislead the nation,"he said on Twitter.
Congress spokespersonPawan Khera said the govern-ment has not called any meetingof the Parliamentary Committee
on Defence for the last over threemonths at a time when there hasbeen tension at the border inLadakh. He claimed that the BJPis "rattled" because its "flimsy"and "individual-centric" foreignpolicy has failed and is resortingto "cheap diversionary tactics".
"Why resort to such cheap dis-tractions. China is making incur-sions into Indian territory at 6-7 points in Ladakh and the primeminister is giving a clean chit toChina, saying 'there has been noincursion and no one has occu-pied our land or post'," he said.
The BJP on Monday launcheda fresh attack on Rahul Gandhifor not attending a single meet-ing of Parliament's standingcommittee on defence,and accused him oftrying to demoralisethe nation.
Leading theattack, BJP presi-dent JP Nadda saidGandhi skips meet-ings of all importantparliamentary standingcommittee on defence butcontinues to "demoralise" thenation and question the valourof armed forces
Nadda's tweets came follow-ing reports that Gandhi has notattended the committee's meet-ings so far. There was no imme-diate reaction from the Congressto Nadda's attack.
"Rahul Gandhi does notattend a single meeting of
Standing Committee onDefence. But sadly, he continuesto demoralise the nation, ques-tion the valour of our armedforces and do everything that aresponsible opposition leader
should not do," the BJPpresident said.
He added, "RahulGandhi belongs tothat gloriousdynastic traditionwhere as far as
defence is con-cerned, committees
don't matter, only com-missions do. Congress has
many deserving members whounderstand parliamentary mat-ters but one dynasty will neverlet such leaders grow. Reallysaid". Stepping up the attack onthe Gandhi-scion, BJPspokesperson GVL NarasimhaRao said Gandhi chose not toattend as many as 11 meetingsof Standing Committee ondefence held so far.
The Indian Super League onMonday approved 3+1 foreignplayer regulation for matches ofthe franchise-based event, bring-ing it down from the existing fiveto boost "increased participa-tion" of local players.
The regulation will becomepart of the competition guide-lines from the eighth season in2021-22.
The decision was taken dur-ing a Football SportsDevelopment Ltd. (FSDL)meeting attended by its chair-person Nita Ambani and isbeing communicated with thestakeholders including clubsand the All India FootballFederation (AIFF).
As per the new regulation, anISL club could sign maximumof six foreigners in the squadincluding a compulsory Asianorigin player, with four for-eigners on the field.
The 3+1 foreign player rulesare governed by the AsianFootball Confederation com-
petition regulation.The move is expected to
boost increased participationof Indian players in the top-flight competition. Currentlyan ISL club is allowed to signup to seven international play-ers and play a maximum offive on the field.
"ISL has always exhibited aprogressive and adaptive natureto their operations. Since 2014,ISL has improvised on manyfront with each year and todayis yet another such example ofISL's forward looking statementon Indian football," said a foot-ball administrator.
BJP president J P NaddaMonday launched a broadsideagainst the TMC government inWest Bengal, alleging criminal-isation of politics and corrup-tion have scaled new heightsand calling for its ouster.
Lauding Jana Sangh founderSyama Prasad Mookerjee forfighting for a united India andopposing the "appeasement pol-itics" of Jawaharlal Nehru,Nadda said it is an honour tocelebrate his birth anniversaryat a time when the Modi gov-ernment has fulfilled his dreamof scrapping Article 370 thatbestowed on Kashmir a specialstatus.
On the one hand, we haveSyama Prasad Mookerjee, whofought for a united India andalways kept his ideals and prin-ciples above anything, and onthe other, we have the presentTMC government in Bengal forwhich "clinging to power by anymeans is everything".
"Criminalisation of politicshas scaled new heights, now weall hear about cut money inBengal. We need to cut to sizethese leaders. We need to restoreBengal's glory and remove thisgovernment lock, stock andbarrel," Nadda told a virtual rallyfor West Bengal on the birthanniversary of Mookerjee.
Bengal used to lead the coun-try once upon a time. SyamaPrasad Mookherjee had takenBengal to new heights...but it isa matter of shame that standards
of education have now plungedto abysmal levels. Now, if youare not associated with the rul-ing party of the state, you wouldbe graded accordingly. We needto change this, he said.
The BJP leader also deplored"politicisation of education"resulting in falling standards oflearning.
"This trend is worrisome forBengal. We must dedicate our-selves to restore education inBengal back to its glorious stan-dards," he said.
Single-use plastic has made a bigcomeback in the country withCOVID-19 dealing a fatal blowto the campaign launched underPrime Minister Narendra Modi'sinspiration to discard it, environ-mentalist Anoop Nautiyal saidon Monday.
The prolonged lockdown hashad a good effect on the environ-ment in general by bringingdown pollution levels but theincreased use of masks, gloves,face shields, PPE kits sanitiserbottles etc to fight the pandem-ic has given rise to new concerns,he said.
"Anyone would admit thatsingle-use plastic has made a bigcomeback post corona. Thecampaign against it which beganon Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's Independence Day callfrom the ramparts of the RedFort to discard it is almost dead,"Nautiyal, a politician-turned-environmentalist, said.
"After the prime minister's callan atmosphere was built all overthe country to discard single useplastic. A massive campaign
named "Swachchta hi Seva" waslaunched. Around one lakh peo-ple made a human chain inDehradun to back the cam-paign," he said.
All that, however, has come tonought with Corona making itcompulsory to wear masks,gloves, face shields, PPE kits, he
said. As many activities whichremained suspended for monthshave now been resumed, themomentum with which the cam-paign against the single-use plas-tic was launched needs to berevived during unlock-II, hesaid.
Asked how can it be donewhen use of masks, sanitiser bot-tles, gloves, PPE kits were a mustin the fight against the pandem-ic, Nautiyal said a collectivethinking on developing alterna-tives like reusable cloth masksand gloves to replace the currentones is needed.
Nautiyal also sought the cre-ation of a sound institutionalmechanism in Uttarakhand forthe disposal of bio-medical wastein accordance with the guidelinesof the Central Pollution ControlBoard in view of the pandemic.
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Various Central and state gov-ernment offices were shut, shopsand business establishmentsclosed and public transport,including buses, were off theroads in ThiruvananthapuramCorporation limits as triple lock-down measures came into forceon Monday in the backdrop ofthe rise in COVID-19 cases.
Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan is functioning from CliffHouse, his official residence. Atthe Secretariat, the seat of theadministration housing impor-tant ministries and bureaucrat-ic offices, only offices of theChief Secretary, HomeandRevenue secretaries, were func-tioning, government sourcessaid.
Tourism Minister
Kadakkampally Surendran saidas the situation was grim, strin-gent measures will continue inthe state capital even after theweek-long triple lockdown.
The capital city was "sitting onan active volcano" which couldburst any time, the ministerhad said on Sunday adding thestate government had also decid-ed to conduct more antigen
tests in the district.The triple lockdown in force
from today would last for a week.In Thiruvananthapuram
Corporation limits, 100 wardsare fully closed and only essen-tial services like medical shops,banks, ATM, hospitals, media,milk booths, petrol pumps andgas agencies are functioningwith minimal staff.
Further modifying its COVID-19 quarantine norms, theKarnataka government onMonday exempted those trav-elling to the state fromMaharashtra from the manda-tory seven days of institution-al quarantine. From now onthose travelling to Karnatakafrom Maharashtra, like peoplecoming from other states, willhave to undergo 14 days ofhome quarantine. "Personscoming from other states toKarnataka shall be placed inHome Quarantine," an order byPrincipal Secretary RevenueDepartment (Disaster Manage-ment) and Member Secretary,State Executive Committee NManjunatha Prasad said.
The Delhi High Court Mondaysought the AAP government'sreply on suggestions for settingup a helpline for nurses tocomplain against private hos-pitals for failing to providingN-95 masks and PPE kits asalso considering ex-gratia tothose who die attending toCOVID-19 patients.
A bench of Chief Justice D NPatel and Justice Prateek Jalanasked the Delhi government toalso respond to the suggestionthat private hospitals and nurs-ing homes must file an undertak-ing before the concerned author-ities for providing PPE kits, N95masks to the nurses.
The high court directed theDelhi government, representedthrough advocate AnupamSrivastava, to file a precise replyto the 6 points suggested by thecounsel for an NGO which hasfiled a PIL alleging that nurses inprivate hospitals and nursinghomes were not being provided
proper personal protectionequipment (PPE) kits and masksto guard against COVID-19infection.
Besides helpline, ex-gratiaand undertaking, the Delhi gov-ernment will also respond to thesuggestions of extending thebenefit of Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Package (PMGKP) ofinsurance protection to nursesworking in private hospitals andnursing homes and that theinsurance premium be paid bythe authorities at least for the lim-
ited period during the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
Nurses must be provided witha quarantine facility and a nodalofficer be appointed so thatnurses can ventilate their griev-ances before and he can take upthe issues with the government,the advocate of the NGO,Distress Management Collective,Manoj V George suggested.
As the Delhi government'scounsel sought time to file replyto the suggestions, the court list-ed the matter for July 17.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju onMonday conveyed his greetingsto Tibetan spiritual leader theDalai Lama on the occasion ofhis 85th birthday and said hisvalues and ideals are the guid-ing light towards love andpeace for entire humanity.
The Union sports minister'sbirthday greetings came amidstIndia's ongoing border stand-off with China, which consid-ers the Tibetan spiritual leaderas “splittist" figure on accountof its perception that the DalaiLama is seeking independencefor Tibet. "On the auspiciousoccasion of the 85th birthdayof His Holiness The 14th DalaiLama, I offer my deepest rev-erence, prayers, and wishes forhis long and healthy life. Hisvalues and ideals are the guid-ing light towards love, peaceand compassion for entirehumanity," Rijiju tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Monday appealed tohospitals to counsel theirCOVID-19 patients to donateplasma after 14 days of recoveryfrom the disease, noting that thenumber of donors is yet to pickpace.
As the city's coronavirus tallyneared the one-lakh mark, thechief minister said there is noneed to worry about the figureas around 72,000 people havealready recovered from the virus.
Addressing an online mediabriefing, Kejriwal said that therehas been a major spike indemand for plasma over the past4-5 days, after the opening of thecountry''s first plasma bank inDelhi.
"The number of plasmadonors is less, while the numberof people demanding plasma ishuge. If it continues, the stock ofplasma at the plasma bank willfinish soon.
" I request recovered coron-
avirus patients to come forwardand donate their plasma in largenumbers," he said.
Kejriwal said his teams werealso contacting such people andrequesting them to donate plas-ma to save the lives of COVID-19 patients. Last week, the gov-ernment had set up the plasmabank at the Institute of Liver andBiliary Sciences (ILBS).
"I also appeal to all hospitalsto counsel their COVID-19patients for five minutes todonate their plasma after 14 days
of recovery from the disease," hesaid. Plasma is effective in reduc-ing the risk of death, he said.
Plasma therapy involves tak-ing antibodies from the blood ofa person who has recovered fromCOVID-19 and transfusingthose into a coronavirus infect-ed patient to help kick-start theimmune system to fight theinfection.
Terming plasma donors as"people's hope" in the wake of ris-ing number of COVID-19 cases,the chief minister requestedRWAs to honour plasma donor.
He also said that Delhi at pre-sent has 15,000 COVID-19 bedsof which only 5,100 are occupied.
The chief minister said20,000-24,000 tests are beingconducted every day in thenational capital, adding thatthere has also been decline innumber of people admitting tohospitals.
At present, there are around25,000 active cases in Delhi andof these, 15,000 people are cur-rently in home-isolation.
In May 2020, Beijing intruded intoIndian territory at some places acrossthe long border and Kathmanduclaimed areas of Uttarakhand whereIndia is building a road to Lipulekh
Pass on the Tibetan border to smoothen thejourney for pilgrims to the KailashMansarovar. Amid rising tensions, Nepalesepolice firing killed an Indian citizen andinjured two others at the border inSitamarhi, Bihar, on June 12. On the nightof June 15, Chinese forces brutally assault-ed our troops at the Galwan Valley inLadakh, killing an officer and 19 soldiers.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Olifuelled nationalist hysteria and compelledall political parties in Parliament to pass anew political map showing Kalapani,Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as Nepaleselands. Kathmandu claimed that in 1816, theEast India Company fixed Kali River as itswestern boundary with India; hence landeast of the river belongs to Nepal. The factis that four kings — Tribhuvan, Mahendra,Birendra and Gyanendra — never madeclaims to these areas.
The developments stunned New Delhiand embarrassed Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who has invested muchenergy in putting ties with Kathmandu ona more even footing. Despite bitternessover the border blockade caused by theMadhesi unrest in 2015, Modi ensured thatthe oil pipeline to Nepal is finished 15months ahead of the schedule and madeoperational in September 2019.
Oli’s actions stem from the need todeflect pressure from his own party, withPushp Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) and oth-ers demanding his resignation. The meet-ing of the 45-member standing committeeof the Nepal Communist Party (NCP),where Oli reportedly enjoys support of only15-members, was deferred to July 6. He maysplit the party and declare an emergency.
Oli and Prachanda failed to settle theirdisputes on July 3. In May 2018, whilelaunching the NCP, the duo had agreed toshare the prime ministership for 30-monthtenures each but in November 2019, theyagreed that Oli could continue for full-term.Prachanda now insists that Oli has violat-ed the spirit of the November accord andshould, therefore, uphold the originalagreement and step down in his favour. Oliaccused India of plotting his exit, a chargeresented by leaders of his own party.Indeed, discord heightened after Oli per-suaded President Bidhya Devi Bhandari toprorogue the Budget session of Parliamentwithout taking the party into confidence.
Nepali communists have always beenclose to the Communist Party of India andCommunist Party of India-Marxist. In2005, the Congress-led United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) Government brokered a 12-point pact in Delhi to oust the Hindumonarchy and bring the communists topower. This forced the Nepali Congress to
abandon its support for consti-tutional monarchy as a “symbolof unity.” Under the monarchy,Maoists were confined to thejungle and leaders of theCommunist Party of Nepal(Unified Marxist–Leninist) werein prison. Beijing persuaded theMaoists and CPN(UML) to forma united NCP. Nepal scholarslament that despite the massacreof the royal family, jihadi infiltra-tion and Christian evangelism inthe Himalayan nation, theBharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-ledGovernment has failed to recti-fy the UPA’s missteps. Nepal wasmade a secular republic withouta referendum; it is strategicallyvital to India but Indian foreignpolicy seems oblivious of itsvalue.
Interestingly, when the OliGovernment was facing a col-lapse in May 2020, the ChineseAmbassador, Hou Yanqi, man-aged a truce, revealing Beijing’spower over Nepal’s ruling party.The Chinese Communist Partyreportedly holds training pro-grammes in Kathmandu for theNCP’s young cadres. Hundredsof NCP mayors, deputy mayorsand province chiefs and Leftistjournalists regularly visit Chinawhere they are trained to fomentanti-India sentiments amongthe public. Currently, thePresident, Vice President,Speaker and Prime Minister areall communists and Left influ-ence has permeated the policeand judiciary. New Delhi musttake cognisance of this situation.
It is pertinent that in
November 2019, Nepal’s SurveyDepartment revealed that Beijinghad changed the course of 11rivers and grabbed nearly 36hectares of territory inS a n k h u w a s a b h a ,Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa andHumla districts. As protestorsburnt effigies of ChinesePresident Xi Jinping, Oli down-played China’s encroachmentand incited anger against India.
When India’s Army Chief,Gen MM Naravane, saidKathmandu was acting at thebehest of a third force (readChina), some diplomats felt thestatement was undiplomatic.The fact, however, is that Nepalipoliticians and members of civilsociety have long complainedabout the attitude of Indiandiplomats in their country.Many appreciated GenNaravane for highlightingChina’s excessive influence inKathmandu. Indeed, theGeneral was soon vindicatedwhen the Bill to change Nepal’smap was passed and quicklynotified. Previously, India failedto act when Madhesi and othergroups objected to the newConstitution in 2015; politicianswho visited New Delhi couldnot get access to importantpersonages in South Block. Aslong as this Constitution pre-vails, India will face problemsfrom Nepal.
Nepal’s national emblem hasalso been changed to includeKalapani, Limpiyadhura andLipulekh. Official letterheads,passports, et al are being updat-
ed to show these Uttarakhandareas as Nepali land. India mustact tough and reject all corre-spondence bearing the newemblem. Foreign Secretary-leveltalks are meaningless as officialshave no authority to negotiatewhat has been inserted into theConstitution.
Unless a comprehensiveNepal policy is enunciated andstrong measures are taken,Pakistan and China will contin-ue jihadi strikes and salami slic-ing against India. Bangladeshcould follow. Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina Wajed is possiblythe sole leader with a soft cornerfor India, a legacy of 1971 andformer Prime Minister IndiraGandhi’s exertions to ensurethat Sheikh Mujibur Rehmanwas returned to Dhaka alive afterthe war. But Sheikh Hasina is alonely figure, unable to protecteven Muslim youth who opposethe rabid Islam preached byclerics from being hacked todeath by fundamentalists. Shehas declared this is her last termin office. Yet, in all these years,the Foreign Ministry has failedto cultivate a second generationleadership in Bangladesh. A newKhaleda Zia could be loomingon the horizon. Nepal has sus-tained our ancient civilisationalties through people-to-peoplecontacts; we must help salvage itssoul. The gains made by PrimeMinister Modi during his earlyyears in office are being whittledaway. It is time to take stock.
(The author is a senior jour-nalist. Views are personal)
Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “The vaccine race” (July 6).Like many, one hopes India willbe the first to introduce a vaccinefor COVID-19, which will be ahealth milestone but in a propermanner. Therefore, many areunable to understand why thereis such a tearing hurry in Indiato make a medical miracle hap-pen so quickly at the expense ofscientific rigour. Covaxin wasapproved for human trials onlyrecently. When global scientificinstitutions are still facing anuphill task in zeroing in on a suit-able vaccine, is the ICMR’s“shrunk fit” vaccine timeline ofalmost 41 days realistic?
The suspicion is that theICMR appears to be wanting togive those who matter in India’spolitical set-up a major talking-point in the Independence Dayspeech on August 15.Overlooking crucial scientificsteps should not result in a prod-uct deadlier than the disease. Itdoes not matter who is first.Observance of protocol is theneed of the hour.
Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad
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Sir — The dastardly attack on ateam of Uttar Pradesh police inKanpur by the history-sheeterVikas Dubey and his assailantshas once again brought to fore the
failure of the police and thepolitical establishment in main-taining law and order situation inthe State.
As per reports by the NationalCrime Records Bureau (NCRB),in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 555personnel were killed and 2,048
cops got injured during policeoperations in 2018, which was thehighest in the entire country.This shows how increasingly dan-gerous the State has become. Aspolice raids are always highly con-fidential, it wasn’t surprising toknow that Vikas Dubey and his
assailants were tipped off by otherpolicemen. The Uttar Pradeshpolice must make amends for theloss of its personnel by bringingthe Dubey gang to justice. Itmust also crack down on thegreater threat to law and orderposed by the illegal guns trade.
Tushar AnandPatna
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Sir — A big void has formed withthe “Queen of Choreography” —Saroj Khan — passing on. Adance maestro, a choreographywizard and a versatile virtuoso ofthe art of film dancing — Khanhad created a niche of her ownwith her splendid choreographythat will remain forever in thehearts of film buffs and dancelovers across the world. The dancemaster has given us unforgettabledance numbers like Ek do teen,Hawa hawai, Do La Re, Do La Reand Maar dala among others.Nobody will ever forget her con-tribution to the dance world.
Priyanka has stolen the thunder from AkhileshYadav and Mayawati,” a Samajwadi Party (SP)lawmaker said on telephone. “Everyone is now
talking about the Congress Party and Priyanka.Today, the Muslims are more inclined towards theCongress than the Samajwadi Party,” he said.
The lawmaker, who was a Minister during theAkhilesh Yadav regime, was reacting to the polit-ical developments in Uttar Pradesh (UP), includ-ing the proactive stand taken by Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadra in politics. There wereunofficial reports doing the rounds that Priyankamight shift her base to Lucknow from Delhi andpeople were raving about how she had picked upthe gauntlet thrown by Chief Minister (CM) YogiAdityanath on the law and order issue in the State.
Recent developments have changed the polit-ical spectrum of UP. Particularly after a highly polit-ically-connected ganglord killed eight policemenin a village in Kanpur. The incident raised a bigquestion mark on Adityanath’s much-publicisedencounters to eliminate local mafia and ganglords.He had even claimed that criminals would be sentto jail or to the house of Yamraj (the Hindu deityof death and justice) if they raise their heads. Despitesuch major claims by the CM, Vikas Dubey not onlysurvived but also flourished.
Congress leaders were the first to question theUP Government on the issue of law and order.Numerically, the Congress is as small a party as theSuheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party in the UP StateAssembly, with just five lawmakers. But, led byPriyanka, the Congress put big parties like the SPand Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to shame when itquestioned Yogi Adityanath time and again aboutthe crumbling law and order situation in the Stateand the plight of migrant labourers, who are beingdenied work under different Government schemes.
The three parties — the Congress, SP and BSP— enjoy a strange relationship. In the past, they hadentered into alliances with one another on manyoccasions. During the last Assembly election in 2017the Congress and the SP contested together withthe tagline “Do ladke (two boys)” while the SPforged an alliance with the BSP in the 2019 LokSabha election. Despite having a working relation-ship with each other, the three parties have failedto come together post-COVID-19. Last monthwhen Congress national president Sonia Gandhicalled an all-party meeting to chalk out a strategyagainst the Narendra Modi Government, bothAkhilesh and Mayawati preferred to give it a skip.
No explanation was given about missing themeeting and it raised many eyebrows. The ques-tion asked was whether it was a political compul-sion or a backdoor manoeuvre by the BJP whichkept the SP and the BSP away from the meeting?One SP legislator was quoted as saying,“The SPwould not go with Sonia because the Congress putup missing Member of Parliament (MP) posters inAzamgarh”, Akhilesh Yadav’s parliamentary con-stituency.
The developments show that there’s more tothis than meets the eye. Sample this: BSP supremoMayawati was caustic against the Congress whenPriyanka offered 1,000 buses to the UP Governmentto ferry migrant workers to their native places. Herstatements reflected the words of BJP leaders. Sheattacked the Congress for not taking care of migrantworkers in its own States — a replication of state-ments by BJP spokespersons. Priyanka retorted thatsome political parties were acting as spokespersonsof the BJP — an obvious reference to Mayawati.
With the rise in Priyanka’s stature,Mayawati feels insecure. She had been theonly major woman leader in UP for aquarter of a century. But now she is beingchallenged by Priyanka. Second, the BSPand the Congress’ vote banks overlap.Dalits and Muslims helped the BSPscore 10 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,up from zero in 2014. The Congress hopesto dent these votebanks, which earlier sup-ported it.
Ditto is the case with Akhilesh Yadav.There is a fear in his mind that theCongress’ rise and the popularity ofPriyanka among the masses may lead tothe downfall of the SP. Of late, he has start-ed virtual meetings with party workers inan attempt to set his house in order. TheSP also hit the streets last week on theissue of rise in prices of petrol and diesel,just to keep his party workers involved.
There is a belief in political circles thatthe BJP wants the emergence of theCongress in the State so that there is tri-furcation in the Opposition. This willcome in handy during the electionsbecause the BJP is comfortable when itis pitted against a divided house.
An advocate in the Supreme CourtVishwanath Chaturvedi says the ModiGovernment is using the Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) to put a leash onthe SP and Mayawati. “Do not forget, bothMayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav andhis family are facing CBI enquiries. TheCBI is sitting tight on the probes and onesignal from Amit Shah could provedetrimental for both these leaders,” hesays. SP patriarch Mulayam and hisfamily are facing a DisproportionateAssets (DA) case. The Supreme Court(SC) had ordered a CBI inquiry on March1, 2007 into the alleged accumulation ofDAs by the Yadav family, on a PublicInterest Litigation (PIL) filed byVishwanath Chaturvedi. The agency fileda status report in 2007 alleging that the
Yadavs had �2.63 crore worth of assetswhich were disproportionate to theirdeclared sources of income, between 1993and 2005. Of this nearly �1.4 crore is inthe name of Akhilesh Yadav’s wifeDimple.
Chaturvedi claims that the CBI hadfiled a false report in the SC, that it hadsubmitted a final report to the CentralVigilance Commission (CVC). But whena Right to Information (RTI) applicationwas filed, the CVC said that no final reportwas submitted to it. As per Chaturvedi,the case against Mulayam and his fami-ly is still alive and the CBI is delaying thelegal process for obvious reasons.
Same is the case with Mayawati. TheCBI had launched a probe into allegedirregularities in the sale of 21 State-ownedsugar mills under the Mayawati-led BSPGovernment in 2010-11. According to areport released by the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG), the exercisecaused a loss of �1,179 crore to the State.On April 27, 2019, the CBI filed a caseagainst Mayawati. Yogi Adityanath had onApril 12 recommended a CBI probe fol-lowing the CAG’s disclosure.
Political observers say that it seemslike the SP and the BSP are dancing to thetune of the BJP. Till now, the CBI has notmoved an inch in Mayawati’s case whilein Mulayam’s case, too, the federalIntelligence agency is yet to submit anapplication in the apex court. If bothMulayam and Mayawati refuse to danceto the BJP’s tune, the Prime Minister willunleash the CBI against them. In the lastone year, Priyanka has tried to make thefight one-on-one in UP, which has madeYogi Adityanath nervous.
In July 2019, she staged a protest atChunar Fort when she went to meet thevictims of the July 17 massacre in which10 tribals were shot dead by the GramPradhan (village head) and his cohorts ina village in Sonbhadra over a land deal.
Priyanka stayed put in Chunar Fort, forc-ing the administration to bring the fam-ily members of the victims there and letthem meet her.
The attack on the BJP was so fiercethat the Yogi Government pulled out allrecords to show that the land deal was car-ried out during the Congress’ rule.However, the BJP could not shirk respon-sibility for the murders of the 10 tribals.Extensive damage was done to the imageof the UP Government by this incident.
Priyanka again visited UP — this timein February when the anti-CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) agitation was atits peak. She met the anti-CAA protest-ers in Bijnor and Azamgarh — the par-liamentary constituency of Akhilesh —and also visited the residence of formerIPS officer SR Darapuri, who was arrest-ed during an anti-CAA protest inLucknow.
In Bijnor she thundered, “Kisi koBhartiyata ka pramaan maangne ki ijazatnahi hai (no one has the right to ask forproof of Indianness).” While in Azamgarh,she held a roadshow, driving home thepoint that people living in India areIndians and they do not need to prove thatby showing documents.
Bijnor is considered the citadel of theBSP. Mayawati had won the Lok Sabhaelection for the first time in 1989 fromBijnor, while in seven Assembly seats theBSP had always maintained an upperhand. In 2019, the BSP won the Lok Sabhaseat in Bijnor, too. So, it was a master-stroke by Priyanka to hold rallies andmeetings in Bijnor and Azamgarh, both,challenging the SP and BSP leaders ontheir turf. Thus, the rise of Priyanka haspushed both the SP and the BSP towardsthe BJP. They would prefer to dance toModi’s tune rather than strengtheningOpposition unity.
(The writer is Executive Editor, News,The Pioneer, Lucknow)
Almost all aspects of world eco-nomics and finance today areaffected by the ongoing pan-
demic. Economic growth is faltering,businesses are struggling to stay afloat,what with supply chains disrupted anddemand nosediving, stock markets areerratic and capital is drying up. Foreigninvestors are also sitting on the fencewatching how things unfold beforemoving. The health crisis has translat-ed into an economic one, of dimen-sions being compared to the GreatDepression of 1929 and the sub-prime crisis of 2008. While the glob-al financial systems are said to be bet-
ter-equipped to handle economicdestruction of such magnitude as the2008 crisis, the challenge today is theuncertainty of the virus’ containmentand its ramifications.
There is strong empirical evidencethat Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)flows are less volatile than other formsof capital flows. However, at presentthey are also showing pessimism. Itwould be instructive to juxtapose theCOVID-19 pandemic with the finan-cial crisis of 2008 in terms of FDImovements to draw similarities anddifferences.
To begin with, the factors due towhich the two crises emanated are dif-ferent. Also at variance is the fact thatthe global financial malaise had spreadfrom the developed to developingeconomies, while the spread of the pre-sent health crisis has not hinged uponthe level of development of economies.What is common is that the entireworld has been engulfed by the twocrises. With the collapse of Lehman
Brothers on September 15, 2008, theglobal banking crisis that had growninto a worldwide financial crisis even-tually turned into a world economiccrisis and its repercussions were feltglobally within a few months.Especially in those economies whichhad a high degree of integration withthe global one.
The United Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development’s (UNC-TAD) World Investment Report, 2009pointed out that due to the world eco-nomic crisis, after five years of contin-ued growth, global FDI flows had fall-en from a historical high of around $2trillion in 2007 — which was the peakof a four-year upward trend in FDIflows — by around 29 per cent to $1.2trillion in 2008-09, primarily becauseof a fall in cross-border mergers andacquisitions. This decline was furtherattributed to liquidity constraints fortransnational corporations (TNCs),declining economic growth in major-ity of countries and risk aversion by
TNCs. The decline was recorded in allthree components of FDI, viz. equity,other capital and reinvested earnings.The dip in the flows was evident indeveloped countries first, followed bya decline in developing nations, too.Business-cycle-sensitive sectors suchas metal and manufacturing wereaffected the worst. There was a degreeof protectionism in the FDI policies ofsome countries, in the form of require-ments of higher domestic content inGovernment procurement, discourag-ing banks from lending for foreignoperations and so on.
Looking at the present times,even before the global spread of thepandemic, UNCTAD’s InvestmentTrends Monitor had predicted inJanuary 2020 that FDI flows, whichstood at $1.3 trillion in 2019, wouldrise marginally in 2020. According toestimates by the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation andDevelopment (OCED), as a conse-quence of the global economic slow-
down, FDI flows are expected todecline sharply by around 30 per cent,in the most optimistic scenario ofeconomies recovering in the secondhalf of 2020. UNCTAD’s estimationsuggests that global FDIs would declinebetween 30 per cent and 40 per centduring 2020-21, with developing coun-tries and emerging economies facingmost of this fall. This slump is almostof the same levels as one year after the2008 crisis. The hardest to be hit by thelikely downturn will be the energy andbasic industries, airlines and the auto-motive industry.
FDI inflows started recovering in2010 but remained below the pre-cri-sis level. It was only by 2015 that glob-al FDI flows reached somewherearound the high level attained in2007. Looking at trends in India, wesee that after 2008, FDI inflows into thecountry declined from $41.87 billionin 2008-09 to $34.85 billion in 2010-11. Fluctuations continued till 2012-13, after which there has been an
increasing trend. The inflows in 2019-20 at $73.45 were more than doublethat of 2010-11. During this recoveryperiod, the three policies which werefollowed globally, including in India,were those of investment liberalisation,facilitation and promotion, whichwere required for economic growth.
However, it will be different thistime, given that several jurisdictionsare adopting a somewhat cautiousapproach to FDI inflows to prevent“opportunistic investment behaviour”triggered by declines in valuations ofdomestic businesses and by investmentof State-owned enterprises. There areconcerns that bids to take control ofbusinesses of strategic importanceduring these times (such as healthcare,essential goods, and services) may bemotivated by non-commercial prior-ities harming economic and/or nation-al security interests. The list of coun-tries includes US, Canada, Spain,Australia, Italy and the EU. India, too,is in a watchful mode to prevent its
businesses from unfriendly takeovers.It tweaked its FDI policy in April byspecifying certain conditions requiredto be met by entities of countries shar-ing land borders with it. How the FDIpolicies of various jurisdictions willpan out in the near future remains tobe seen.
We are far from seeing an end tothe present health crisis, which hassnowballed into an economic predica-ment. Riddled with a number ofunknown variables, such as the trajec-tory of the virus, the effectiveness ofmitigating measures and develop-ment of a potent cure, at this point intime, it is all the more difficult to chalkout a medium to long-term course ofaction. Striking the right balancebetween liberalisation and exercisingcaution, while addressing the twinissues of economic and health criseswill be challenging.
(The authors belong to the IndianEconomic Service. Views expressed arepersonal.)
Kirana stores are emerging asthe hub that helps maintainregular supply of essentials ascities struggle to get back totheir normal rhythm andmany such neighbourhoodstores are considering greatertechnology adoption, accord-ing to a report.
The report is based on asurvey by consultancy firm EYthat gathered insights through27 qualitative interviews across12 cities in India, 5 metros and7 non-metros with partici-pants who represent smalland big kirana across a diversesocio-economic background.
Stating that there is arenewed trust in hyper-localcommunities, EY's latest
report 'Sentiments of India –Pulse of the country, Kiranas'said 40 per cent of respon-dents (kirana store owners)want to partner with onlinedelivery and supply platformsas they feel it can help themgrow and tide over in thesetesting times.
Commenting on the find-ings, EY India Partner -Customer Experience andDesign Thinking, ShashankShwet said, "amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic, thekirana stores have emerged aslocal unsung heroes servicingthe community at large. Thekirana store owners havetaken a lot of effort to keep upwith the changing demands ofthe crisis and managing theirday-to-day supplies."
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Suspension of the H1-B visasby the US will cost domestic ITfirms Rs 1,200 crore and havea marginal 0.25-0.30 per centimpact on their profitability, adomestic rating agency said onMonday.
An increase in local hiringover the last few years since theUS – the largest market forIndian IT firms - started curb-ing the visa issuances will helplimit the impact on the IndianIT companies now, CrisilRatings said.
It can be noted that lastmonth, the visas used byIndian tech professionals towork out of the US were sus-pended by the Donald Trumpadministration as it looked to
arrest the rising unemploy-ment.
Crisil, however, said thatthe marginal impact will beover and above the up to 2.50per cent decline in IT firms'profits because of the COVID-19 pandemic and added that
operating profitability is seen at23 per cent in FY21 as per ananalysis of 15 top firms' perfor-mance.
The US move on the H1-Band L1 visas will have limitedimpact because of the lowerreliance on the entry system by
hiring locally, it said, addingthat renewals of the visas willbe unaffected.
Zooming of the denial ratesto 39 per cent in FY20, up from6 per cent in FY16, had led tolower reliance on the visas bythe local IT companies, it said.
"New H1-B visa
issuances contribute less than5 per cent of the US onshoreworkforce of the top 5 listedIndian IT firms, which accountfor 60 per cent of the industryrevenue. On the other hand,the share of local hires in theirUS onshore employee mix hassteadily increased from 30-35per cent in fiscal 2017 to about55-60 per cent in fiscal 2020,”its senior director Anuj Sethisaid.
The US has proposed a tran-sition of the existing H1-Bvisa issuance to a merit-basedprogramme (criteria for cap-ping new visas at 85,000 to bedecided on quantum of salaryrather than the lottery systemcurrently) or a potentialincrease in minimum salaryfloor, it noted.
Dr Reddy's Laboratoriesexpects its overall performanceto be "quite volatile" in the cur-rent fiscal with uncertaintiesrelated to COVID-19 set toincrease during the period,the company said in its AnnualReport for 2019-20.
Sharing information withthe company's shareholders,the drug major said overall,there was no major impact ofthe pandemic during the lastfiscal, including the fourthquarter.
"Having said so, we believeFY2021 will have more uncer-tainties than ever before.Consequently, our overall per-
formance may be quitevolatile," Dr Reddy'sLaboratories said.
The company howeverremains cautiously optimisticof re-calibrating its levers tosuit the new business environ-ment, it noted.
"If we do this successfully, weshould be able to come to
terms with the new COVID-19reality. And, if that occurs,we should perform satisfacto-rily in FY2021," it added.
Elaborating on the impact ofCOVID-19 on the company'sbusiness performance last fis-cal, Dr Reddy's said it saw someincremental sales in certainmarkets, such as the US,
Europe and Russia, due to anincrease in panic.
The company's sales, howev-er, got impacted in domesticmarket and emerging marketslike Russia and Brazil due tothe pandemic, Dr Reddy's said.
The Hyderabad-based firmsaid it aims to continue withinitiatives like cost control and
increased efficiencies this fis-cal amid challenges like coro-navirus pandemic. "We expectthis journey to continue withincreased rigor in FY2021, andthus provide the necessaryimpetus to our performancenext year," Dr Reddy's said.
The drug firm will continue tofocus on patient-centric productinnovation, operational excel-lence, continuous improvementand attaining leadership in cho-sen spaces, it added.Commentingon the outlook for NorthAmerican Generics (NAG) busi-ness, the company said its currentpriority includes acceleratingnew product launches andincreasing the market share ofexisting products.
Apollo Tyres has decided to cutits capital expenditure (capex)by Rs 400 crore this fiscal amidchallenging business environ-ment due to the coronaviruspandemic, according to asenior company official.
"Given the overall demandsituation, we have cut back oncapex to the tune of another Rs400 crore in 2020-21 to makesure that we are not stressedfrom a cash flow or a liquidi-
ty perspective," Apollo TyresChief Financial Officer GauravKumar said in an analyst call.
The company had earlierearmarked a capex of aroundRs 1,400-1,500 crore for the
domestic operations for thecurrent financial year.
Apollo Tyres has also takena cut in the capex investmentacross its European opera-tions, he added. "We wouldhave talked if I remember cor-rectly the figure in India of Rs1,400-Rs 1,500 crore. That num-ber for the current year wouldbe about somewhere betweenRs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 crore. And,similarly, we have taken a cut inthe European operations aswell," Kumar said.
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Average spot power pricedropped 29 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.35 per unit in theday-ahead market in June onIndia Energy Exchange (IEX).
The day-ahead market(DAM) traded 4,174 MU (mil-lion units) witnessing highsell-side liquidity in the month,with total sell bids at 10,164MU being close to 1.5 timedthe buy bids at 4,661 MU,according to an IEX state-ment.
"The average market clear-ing price during the monthwas at Rs 2.35 per unit regis-tered a whopping 29 per centYoY (year on year) decline overa price of Rs 3.32 in June 2019,"it said.
The increased availabilityof power and attractive pricesin the market ensured that theindustries as well as the distri-bution utilities continue tohave access to lower electrici-ty prices leading to greater sav-ings as well as assisting themin building the much neededfinancial liquidity which is
critical at this hour, it added. The open access volume in
June witnessed 30 per centmonth-on-month increase.
Further, One Nation OnePrice prevailed for all 30 daysduring the month.
The real-time market(RTM), which began opera-tions from June, has receivedan overwhelming responsefrom the participants and in itsfirst month, it said.
The RTM attracted tradevolume of 515.5 MU compris-ing over 10 per cent of the totalvolume traded on IEX.
A total of 237 customersparticipated in the new marketsegment during the first monthwith single day highest volumeof 36.09 MU on June 30, 2020.
The average monthly mar-ket clearing price stood at Rs2.22 per unit for RTM alone.
The attractive prices (inRTM) enabled the utilities inmeeting efficient demandmanagement at 1-hour notice,renewable integration, utilisa-tion of generation capacity,facilitating gencos to purchasepower as well as the grid secu-rity.
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The rupee pared initial gainsand settled 2 paise down at74.68 against the US dollar onMonday even as the domesticequity market traded in thepositive territory.
Forex traders said positiveequities, foreign fund inflowsand weak US currency sup-ported the local unit, howev-er rising COVID-19 casesweighed on investor senti-ment.
In a highly volatile session,the rupee which opened at74.53 against the US dollar,touched an intra-day high of74.52 against US dollar, and alow of 74.82.
The domestic unit finallyclosed at 74.68 against the USdollar, down 2 paise over itsprevious close of 74.66 onFriday.
Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back's strength against a bas-ket of six currencies, fell 0.24per cent to 96.94.
On the domestic equitymarket front, the 30-share
BSE benchmark Sensex wastrading 525.69 points higher at36,547.11 and broader NSENifty rose 173.50 points to10,780.85.
Foreign institutionalinvestors were net buyers inthe capital market as theypurchased shares worth Rs857.29 crore on Friday, accord-ing to provisional exchangedata.
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Global stock markets roseMonday as investors shruggedoff worries about rising coro-navirus infections in theUnited States, Australia andsome other countries.
London and Frankfurtopened higher, while Shanghai,Tokyo, Hong Kong andSoutheast Asia advanced. Wall
Street futures also rose.Markets followed Wall Street
higher last week after unex-pectedly strong U.S. jobs datadespite some American statesreporting record new coron-avirus infections.
The Australian state ofVictoria prepared to close itsborder with neighbouring NewSouth Wales late Tuesday afterreporting a daily high in new
cases. Spain suspended accessto a northern county due tofears of an outbreak.
“Asia has shrugged off theCOVID-19 clouds that domi-nated the weekend press,”Jeffrey Halley of OANDA saidin a report.
In early trading, the FTSE100 in London rose 2.1 percent to 6,284.58 andFrankfurt's DAX added 1.9per cent to 12,770.30. TheCAC 40 in France advanced 1.8per cent to 5,098.66.
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An estimated 13 UK universi-ties, educating around 5 percent of students in the coun-try, would not be able to sur-vive the coronavirus pandem-ic lockdown without a govern-ment bailout support, a newreport claimed on Monday.
The Institute of FiscalStudies (IFS) estimates thatlong-term losses for the UK'shigher education sector couldcome in anywhere between 3billion pounds and 19 billionpounds, with the biggest loss-es stemming from a fall ininternational student enrol-ments – including those from
India who make up a largechunk of that segment.
“In our central scenario, 13universities educating around5 per cent of students wouldend up with negative reservesand thus may not be viable inthe long run without a gov-ernment bailout or debtrestructuring,” notes the IFS in‘Will universities need abailout to survive the COVID-19 crisis?'.
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Market regulator Securitiesand Exchange Board of India(Sebi) has shortlisted six enti-ties, including KPMG, PWCand Ernst & Young, for imple-mentation of a custom-madegovernance policy.
Other three shortlisted bid-ders are RSM AstuteConsulting, BDO India andANB Solutions.The regulatorplans to prepare policy docu-ments, standard operatingprocedures (SOPs) andotherIT documents throughconsultations as it has certainpolicy documents in place
which might require variationsas per the best industry stan-dards and practices.
Accordingly, in February,the market watchdog hadinvited expressions of interest(EoI) from agencies for con-sultation for IT policy prepa-ration, risk assessment andSOP documentation at Sebi.
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Knowledge ProcessOutsourcing (KPO) servicesprovider eClerx Services onMonday said its board hasapproved a buyback pro-gramme worth up to Rs 109.5crore.
"...the board of directors ofthe company...approved thebuy back of company's equi-ty shares for an aggregateamount not exceeding Rs1,095 million at a buy backprice not exceeding Rs 550per equity share from the
shareholders/beneficial own-ers of the company (otherthan those who are promot-ers, members of the promot-er group and persons in con-trol of the company)...,"eClerx said in a regulatory fil-ing. The buyback represents9.98 per cent and 8.37 percent of the total paid up equi-ty share capital and freereserves of the companybased on the latest standaloneand consolidated auditedfinancial statements of thecompany, respectively, itadded.
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The COVID-19 pandemic willresult in Rs 1.67 lakh crore ofdebt owed by top-500 corpo-rates turning delinquent byMarch 2022, a report said onMonday.
This will take the cumula-tive quantum of delinquenciesto Rs 4.21 lakh crore or about11 per cent of overall debt,India Ratings and Researchsaid in its report.
Concerns over banks' assetquality have been repeatedlyexpressed since the onset ofthe pandemic earlier this year.The RBI has allowed a six-month moratorium on loanrepayments ending August,which has resulted in thestress not being recognised.The government hasannounced a nearly Rs 21lakh crore stimulus package torestrict the economic impactof the pandemic.
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RPG group company CEATTyres on Mondayannounced its foray into thepersonal protective equip-ment (PPE) segment withthe launch of anti-pollutionS95 mask, GoSafe, amid anincreasing number ofCOVID-19 cases in thecountry.
The six-layered washableand reusable mask, pricedat Rs 249 per unit, are avail-able across its exclusivebranded stores 'CEATShoppe' and also on variouse-commerce websites, thecompany said in a release.
CEAT Tyres ChiefMarketing Officer AmitTolani said the objective ofmaking a foray into thebusiness of PPE is to plugthe paucity of safe and reli-able products like masks,especially at a time whenthe country is battling thecoronavirus pandemic. "Inthese unusual times, per-sonal safety, hygiene, andprotection are a real con-cern."
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To improve highways, a rank-ing system will be intro-duced based on performanceaudit of roads, NHAI said onMonday. NHAI has beenmandated the task to devel-op, maintain and manageNational Highways, the arte-rial roads of the country, forinter-state movement of pas-sengers and goods. "In itseffort to improve the qualityof roads, NHAI has decidedto undertake performanceassessment and ranking ofthe highways in the country,"NHAI said in a statement.
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Three consultancy agencies -PricewaterhouseCoopers,Ernst & Young, and KPMGAdvisory, have qualified thetechnical evaluation roundfor assisting the Departmentfor Promotion of Industryand Internal Trade (DPIIT)in effective and on groundimplementation of initiativesfor startups.
In March, the departmenthad invited a request for pro-posal (RFP) for the appoint-ment of a consulting agencyfor Startup India, followingwhich four consultancy firmsbid.
Cash flow: Apollo Tyres to cutcapex by Rs 400 cr this fiscal
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����#�$����#��he lockdownmay have hadus homebound,but it hasopened endlessvirtual oppor-
tunities of e-learning andentertainment. If you abird enthusiast, Mumbai'sinteractive bird park, isoffering a series of fourlive sessions with theirexotic celebrity birds -that they term ‘celebirdies’— starting July 14.
EsselWorld Bird Park’s
‘Celebirdy LIVE’, birdhandlers will be seendoing a walkthrough ofthe Park, while introduc-ing it along with spottingsome of the free flyingbirds at the premises.‘Kick’, the Green WingedMacaw will be the firstcelebirdy that will go livewith the bird handlers,who will talk about thebird and discuss interest-ing facts and little storybehind the tropical jungle.
Joining them over a live
chat will be renownedcelebrity vet specialist, Dr.Rina Dev who has beenassociated with the birdpark since the time of itsinception and knows eachone of them in and outclosely.
“Post receiving a won-derful response fromEsselWorld LIVE, thatstarted April 12, this timewe thought of doing a livesession with our very owncelebrity birds, which wecall ‘celebirdies’.
Considering we are India'sfirst interactive bird parkthat houses more than 500exotic birds, we thoughtwhy not get them closerto our patrons until we allare back home!
“We have planned foursessions in all where wewill be having four of ourdifferent celebrity birds golive on our Instagrampage,” said Paresh Mishra,Senior Vice President,Sales and Marketing,EsselWorld Leisure.
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eed the Needy,an independentfoundationdedicated toproviding foodto destitute
irrespective of race, colour,creed, religion or politicalinfluence have come upwith a plan to bid arespectful farewell toCOVID-19 deceased after arecent furore in the city ofHyderabad regarding theCOVID-19 victims beingdenied burial. PradeepGadicherla, Katragadda SaiTeja, and Ramanjeet Singhhave urged their team of ITprofessionals to take up thisresponsibility of conductinglast rites for the dead whosefamilies or neighbours arerejecting them. “Our team experiencedhow difficult was it gettingfor some victims to be
cremated who expired in aprivate hospital withrespective families alreadyin quarantine. In additionto that, there were noambulances available andcrematory grounds weren’tallowing them for burials,”says Sai Teja Katragadda,the founder.Members belonging todiverse faiths are willing towork as volunteers at thefuneral with prior training.Pradeep Gadicherla, generalsecretary of the foundationsaid it's free of costambulance service servingall the communities limitedto Cyberabad zonal areasfunctioning from 8 a.m to 6p.m. "The bodies will becarried in our ambulance tothe funeral site by a four-member team. They will betightly packed andcremated as per thedeceased's religious faith. Toavail this service, kindlyring on 8499843545", he
adds to that.There’s a stigma attached toCOVID patients ofcontracting the virus,forcing people to abandonthem. The kind of forcedfarewell they receivedwasn't definitely the rightway to do so and that madethe foundation take up thisnoble initiative. Accordingto reports, the WHO andICMR have already made itclear that the COVID-19virus will not remain activeafter four to six hours of
the death of the infectedperson. So, there is nopossibility of the familymembers being infected.This service was recentlyflagged off by policecommissioner V.C.Sajjanar.People have become selfishand are worried about theirown lives, but are notbothering about thesufferings of others, even ifthey are their own fathersand mothers. The victimsof COVID-19 should notbe left orphaned.
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as work from homereally turned out tobe as helpful as youhad thought it to be?Or has it becomeeven more tiresome?
How will the work patternstransform once you reach youroffice desks again?
A report compiled by a realestate consultancy firm exploredhow the office, as we know ittoday, will transform into agreener, healthier and sustain-able place to re-welcome itsemployees post COVID-19. Itindicated that around 30 per
cent Indian working populationfeels that the lockdown has giventhem an enhanced opportunityto balance their work and life.However, while 66 per centemployees immediately shiftedto working from home after theoutbreak of the pandemic,around 41 per cent employeesmiss a professional environmentwhile working. And for many,health and wellness are the keymotivators to re-enter officespaces.
Also, considering that safetyawareness has emerged as toppriority in a post-pandemicworld, over 76 per cent millenni-als will be cross-checking a com-pany’s social and environmentalcommitments before deciding towork there, ensuring that work-places witness new techniquesand ways of operations, collabo-rations and engagements.
Key to transformation: SpacingAs the country unlocks and
“working from office” gains backthe momentum, many compa-nies are looking forward to mak-
ing necessary changes for adapt-ability. New COVID-19 proto-cols will require greater physicalseparation in workplaces viaspatial, physical and temporalmeans. Workstations will bespaced further apart. Expertssuggest that conference roomswill be majorly de-populated,space-dividing partitions erectedand staff-issued rotating sched-ules will be religiously followedfor some time now. The collabo-ration seating will have to be
spread out so people are furtherapart from each other.
However, as much as de-den-sifying workstations are impor-tant, this might also be a chal-lenge in areas where desk spac-ing is tight. In situations whereexisting desk spacing is less thansix feet apart, every other deskcan be used as a buffer for eachperson. This could be achievedby assigning some people towork from home or temporarilylocating them in some otherareas. Leading companies acrossthe globe are already embracingflexible workplace arrangementsand taking preventive measuresto ensure social distancing andgood hygiene.
The digital drive:Telecommuting & otheradvancements
Companies will start investingin contactless technologies toreduce disease transmission.Standalone technology will bereplaced by integral solutionsthat connect building facilitieswith the occupier’s premise.People will have to be encour-aged to collaborate virtuallywhenever possible. Andtelecommuting will becomemore mainstream.
Also, to avoid transmission,technological accessories such asa mouse, keyboard, or headsetwill be provided to each individ-ual. These devices are touchedthroughout the day and hence,would be best if not shared with-out disinfecting between users.
Sustainable & hygienic practices
Companies will continue to
focus on greener spaces and sus-tainable building will continueto be in vogue. Use of smartermaterials, flexible arrangementof furniture, hub and clubmodel, employee experience,digital ecosystems and a moreholistic environment will be thefocus of the future workplaces.Health and wellness are going tobe key motivation for employeesto re-enter the office spaces andorganisations. Hence, reinforcinggood hygiene practices withwell-stocked restrooms that havetouchless soap and anti-viralcleaning supplies is crucial.Workplaces will also have toinstall plenty of hands-free dis-pensers, disinfectant machinesand sanitisers that contain highalcohol content in lobbies, con-ference rooms and lounges.
New touchless features in inte-rior design elements, includingtouchless faucets, automatedwindow shades and motion-sen-sor or voice-activated door hard-ware, will see a surge. Such fea-tures, experts suggest, could alsobe added to other spaces such asbuilding lobbies, reception desks
and common areas. Sustainablepractices such as utilising mate-rials which are smooth, easy towipe down and hold up to fre-quent deep cleanings, especiallyin high-traffic areas, will be fol-lowed.
Empowering employeesThe impact an organisation
casts on its people is beyond itstangible domains, as it results inlarger face-to-face engagement,professional empowerment anda sense of fulfillment and per-sonal confidence.
“While work from home is aninterim solution in the currentsituation, it has its own draw-backs too, including challengeslike the feeling of isolation andlack of personal connectivitywith colleagues. It is very diffi-cult to replicate an office envi-ronment and the collaborationopportunities in a WFH model.Hence, workplace design will beincreasingly gaining importancein the current context and willbe influenced by the fact thatpeople shape the spaces theyoccupy, with focus on human
experience, innovation in tech-nology, wellness and sustainabil-ity,” says Ramesh Nair, CEO andcountry head, India, JLL.
It will become important toconsider how employees are feel-ing when they prepare to returnto the office. Instead of issuing amandate for everyone to comeback together, offering the
option for people to do it alter-natively will be a safer option.
“Most space planners, archi-tects and product providers areproactively thinking ahead oftime to bring in new conceptsand technologies to provide ahealthier and more sustainableworkplace for the future.Occupiers have embraced thepreliminary phase to acceleratethe short-term transition andhave started partnering with cer-tain organisations to plan a saferand informed re-entry at theworkplace to ensure social dis-tancing and workplace wellness,”says MV Harish, managingdirector, PDS.
What’s next?There will be a new phase of
acceptance where employees willbe introduced to new norms ofwork and ethics such as flexibledesigned spaces, 90-degree rota-tion of desks and workstations,wide agile practices, health andwell-being packages for employ-ees and installation of contact-free spaces.
The post-COVID world is notsimply about measures thatfocus on employee wellness. It isalso about efficiency, speed andcost-effectiveness. Organisationsneed to optimise the existingspaces by making meaningfulmoves. Ultimately, the timespent optimising space will havethe most powerful impact.
India’s War Againstthe Virus in Hindion Discovery Plus.
The documen-tary will provide arare glimpse into allthe key steps beingtaken across thecountry to battlethe ongoing coron-
avirus pandemic.It will follow
both, the globaland the Indiantimeline, of how thevirus spread andwill shine light onimportant develop-
ments that havetaken place ever since
country’s first coro-navirus victim wasdetected in Kerala
in January.Shot exten-
sively duringthe period oflockdown,
the docu-mentary
mapsacross
the
country to tell the storythrough interviews with sub-ject matter experts, front lineworkers, patients, migrantworkers, and others workingtirelessly behind the scenes toarrest the spread of thisdeadly disease.
The film will also highlightthe way technology is beingused to combat the virus.
While Bajpayee will pro-vide the Hindi voiceover forthe documentary, writer-director Gautham VasudevMenon will do the Tamilvoiceover.
“Meaningful cinema,meaningful projects havealways endeared me, and Ibelieve specials like COVID-19: India’s War Against TheVirus are relevant not just fortoday but will continue toengage our future genera-tions as well,” said Bajpayee.
“This is an important storyand needs to be told in animpactful manner. I amproud to be part of this mon-umental project and target tobring all my experience intoplay for the narration inHindi language,” theactor added.
Menon saidworking on thedocumentary feltfamiliar as thepandemic hasaffected everyone.
“It is a valianteffort. I could nothave asked for abetter debut as anarrator, especiallyin mymother
tongue Tamil, and coinciden-tally this marks my first doc-umentary ever. I urge every-one to watch it along withyour family,” he said.
The documentary, alsoavailable in English, Telugu,Kannada, Malayalam andBengali, will drop exclusivelyon the Discovery Plus app onJuly 16.
It will also air onDiscovery Channel andDiscovery Channel HD onJuly 20.
Megha Tata, managingdirector-South Asia,Discovery, said the documen-tary is a way to help Indianaudiences understand deeperperspectives on the pandem-ic.
“There’s more at work thanwhat meets the eye as newchallenges unfold every daywith pandemic raging fire;our attempt is to bring it alltogether with a line-up ofprominent experts and offi-cials to provide a comprehen-sive view for our discerningaudiences,” Tata added.
Discovery Plus hasexplored stories
related to thepandemic in
three otherdocumen-taries —InvisibleKiller,Pandemic
Covid-19 andThe Zoo: Covid-19 & Animals.
ollywood star RanveerSingh turned 35 onMonday. To mark theoccasion, his fanshave donated comput-ers to a school, sup-
porting education for underpriv-ileged children in a village ofIndore district.
The actor’s fan club, calledRanveer Ka Fan Club, have beenactive since 2015 and the mem-bers do voluntary work.
Atharva Khendekar, a fan ofRanveer’s said, “As you know,Ranveer Ka Fan Club is alwayson spot to help the unprivilegedpeople and children. And thistime we are trying to help therural children who are not priv-ileged to afford high class edu-cation. For some of them basiceducation is also a dream. Weas a proud member ofRanveer Ka Fan Club areplanning to provide twobasic computer system andsome indoor games to thoseangles.”
Each year, they do some-thing on the actor’s birthdayand recently they started aprogram called RanveerGram Program.
Khendekar added, “Imaginethe amount of enthusiasm andexcitement in these children toattend their school when theyreceive the computers!”
These computers will be givento a school that educates chil-dren till the fifth grade. Theschool is situated in Sikandarivillage in Indore district,Madhya Pradesh.
The total budget for this pro-ject is Rs 30,000, says Khendekar.
“Out of this, Rs. 15,000 will befor two basic computers, Rs
10,000 will be for colouring ofwalls of the school, and Rs 5,000will be allocated to get indoorgames for children. So pleasecome forward and donate asmuch as you can and make thefuture youth of our countrymore educated andmore reliable,” heappealed.
Lastyear, thefanclub
installedsolar lightsin a small vil-lage called Akoli,where they installed
five solar street lights and houselights each. The villagers hadbeen using kerosene lamps formore than a decade and couldnot afford electricity.
op star Rihannahas pushedplans to releasenew music toconcentrate onher skincare
range.The singer, 32, has trade-
marked her new line asBuff Ryder, and sourcessuggest that she wants tobecome a beauty billion-aire after Covid-19destroyed the music
industry, reports the-sun.co.uk.
“Rihanna’s ninthalbum is on hold
indefinitely. Shewants to make
her mil-lions
with beauty and is planninga new skincare line to goalongside her FentyCosmetics range. Her lin-gerie range has gone downso well too that she feels sheneeds to strike while theiron’s hot. Whenever shedrops pics of her modellingthe gear, sales go up,” saidthe source.
With her music and herFenty brand, Rihanna hasamassed a fortune of nearly$60,00,00,000.
Rihanna’s last album“Anti” was released in 2016and was working on a newproject, dubbed as R9.
“Fans hopes for R9 willbe kept on hold whileRihanna builds her beautyempire as she plots tobecome the next beauty bil-
lionaire.
She’s realised there ismore money in the beau-ty game than music asrecord sales die down andlive touring faces big com-petition,” said the source.
Back in April, Rihannatold her fans and followerswatching her at home vir-tually to not bring up thealbum. “If one of y’all askme about the album onemore time when I’m try-ing to save the world,unlike y’all president...on sight,” the 32-year-old said during alive-stream, takinga jab at USPresidentDonaldTrump.
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' �� �,�. New Zealand is thelatest country after UAE and SriLanka which has offered tohost the IPL in case the billiondollar league can’t be held inIndia due to rising cases ofcoronavirus.
The postponementannouncement of the T20World Cup, to be held inOctober-November in Australia,is imminent, creating a windowfor the IPL.
The BCCI has alreadyzeroed in on the end Sept-earlyNovember window for the IPL.
The board’s first choice isstaging the tournament at homebut that is looking increasinglyunlikely with India having thethird largest case load of coro-navirus cases.
“Staging the event in Indiahas to be the first choice but incase it is not safe to have it, thenwe will look at the overseasoptions. After UAE and SriLanka, New Zealand has alsooffered to host the IPL,” a seniorBCCI official said.
“We will sit down with allstakeholders (broadcaster, teams,etc) and take a call. The safetyof the players is paramount.
There will be no compromise onthat,” the official said.
The IPL has been held over-seas in the past. The entire2009 edition was staged in SouthAfrica due to the general elec-tion back home and partially inthe UAE in 2014 due to the samereason.
However in 2019, despiteelections, the BCCI managed toschedule the IPL in India avoid-ing clashing with poll dates invarious states.
The UAE again is the front-runner to host the tournamentif it happens overseas. Sri Lankais a cost-effective option whileNew Zealand, which has beenlargely free from Covid-19, facesfeasibility issues.
With New Zealand, Indiahas a seven and half hour timedifference and even if the gamestarts at 12:30 pm in the after-noon, maximum office-goers(even those who work fromhome) will miss the action.
Apart from Hamilton andAuckland, which can be cov-ered by road, places likeWellington, Christchurch,Napier or Dunedin willrequire air travel. PTI
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Antoine Griezmann answeredhis critics in style on Sundayby scoring with a sensation-
al chip as Barcelona thrashedVillarreal 4-1 to keep their faint LaLiga title hopes alive.
After the humiliation of beingbrought on in the 90th minuteagainst his former club AtleticoMadrid, Griezmann was back inthe starting line-up at La Ceramicaand repaid the faith with a stunning
goal, teed up by Lionel Messi.“It was the kind of goal only
great players can score,” saidBarcelona coach Quique Setien.“He played a spectacular match.”
Messi also laid on a curl-ing Luis Suarez shot into thetop corner after GerardMoreno cancelled out a PauTorres own-goal that had putBarca in front. Ansu Fati thenadded a fourth late on.
An impressive victory forSetien’s side reduces the gap back
to four points behind Real Madrid,who earlier ground out another 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Griezmann had experiencedhis lowest moment since joining
Barcelona on Tuesday in thedraw against Atletico but thiswas the perfect response. Hecelebrated his goal by sharinga warm embrace with Messi.
Villarreal looked a difficultopponent after winning five gamesout of six since the restart, a runthat has put them in in touching
distance of the top four. This defeatleaves them three points behindSevilla, who play Eibar on Monday.
The first half was perhaps themost entertaining in La Liga sincethe restart, with four goals andchances for two or three more.
Barca were ahead within threeminutes, Torres diverting JordiAlba’s cross into his own net underpressure from Griezmann at thenear post.
But Villarreal were level 11minutes later as a superb passfrom Samuel Chukwueze sent PacoAlcacer scampering in down theright and he did brilliantly toswitch to Santi Cazorla on theopposite side.
Cazorla’s drive was parried butonly to Moreno, who finished.Messi laid on two sumptuousassists before half-time but the fin-
ishes were even better.After chesting the ball down in
the centre circle, Messi touched andturned, leaving his marker fordead. He drove through twoVillarreal defenders before pushingthe ball left to Suarez, who arrivedfrom the angle on the edge of thebox and curled first time into thefar corner.
If that was power, Griezmann’swas finesse, Messi and Suarez com-bining before Messi dragged backto the Frenchman, who caressed adelightful chip over Sergio Asenjoand in.
Messi thought he had his goalin the second half but Arturo Vidalwas offside. Suarez was taken off,presumably rested, and Fati addeda fourth off the bench. The teenag-er cut in from the left and pulled hisshot back inside the near post.
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Manchester City manager PepGuardiola admitted his side cannot
lose games in the manner they did ingoing down 1-0 at Southampton onSunday if they are to take the PremierLeague title back from Liverpool nextseason.
City lost for the ninth time in theleague this season as Che Adams’s spec-tacular first Southampton goal con-demned Guardiola’s men to defeatdespite enjoying 74% possession and 26shots at goal.
“We played really well, but it was alittle bit the résumé of this season. Wemake one mistake, they punish us,” saidGuardiola. “We lost a lot of games andlosing a lot of games you cannot com-pete to win Premier Leagues. We needto improve because it happened manytimes this season.”
Just four days ago City showed whatthey are capable of when at their best bythrashing newly-crowned championsLiverpool 4-0. But defeat on thesouth coast sees the Reds regaintheir 23-point lead at the top of thetable.
Guardiola, though, insistedhis plan to get back on top does notinvolve a summer spending spreeon new players.
“No, I don’t think so,” added theCatalan when asked if new signings werethe key to a change in fortunes.
“I think we played good. The desire,the character to play until the end was
there, we put Southampton with 10 play-ers in the penalty spot, so we didreally well. When you review thegames and the chances we creat-ed you cannot do more. I like theway we played but it is notenough.”
Adams has endured a night-mare run in front of goal since a
$18.7 million move from Birminghama year ago. But on his 30th appearancefor Southampton, he caught City goal-keeper Ederson stranded well outside hisarea from fully 40 yards out.
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Brendan Rodgers says JamieVardy’s decision to stay at
Leicester has cemented hislegacy at the King PowerStadium after the striker joinedthe Premier League’s “100 club”.
The striker turned downthe chance to join Arsenal in2016, just weeks after spear-heading the Foxes’ PremierLeague title success.
Other members of thatLeicester team includingN’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrezand Danny Drinkwater madebig-money moves.
On Saturday Vardy, 33,scored his 100th PremierLeague goal, 206 games afterbecoming the first £1 million($1.25 million) signing from anon-league club (FleetwoodTown) when he joined Leicesterin 2012.
Of the 29 players to havebecome Premier League centu-rions, only Ian Wright (28 years286 days) made his debut in the
competition at an older agethan Vardy (27 years 232 days).
Leicester manager Rodgerssaid: “I think as things stand he’sa legend here now for the restof his time at the club — it’s justwhat he adds to that status overthe rest of his career.
“It’s hard to knock playersif they do want to move onbecause their careers are soshort but he’s obviously felt real-ly comfortable.
“He’s found a real homehere. He is adored by the sup-porters and they absolutelylove him.”
��������������� ��� �Leicester City playmaker
James Maddison and full backBen Chilwell are injury doubtsfor Tuesday’s Premier Leagueclash at Arsenal, managerBrendan Rodgers said.
The pair are among the topchance creators in Rodgers’side this season as the Foxeslook to retain their top four spotand qualify for the ChampionsLeague for the first time since2016.
“We’ve got doubts overJames Maddison and BenChilwell. They could be the twowho could struggle,” Rodgerstold reporters in a virtual newsconference.
“We just have to wait andsee. Ben’s (injury) is at the bot-tom of his foot, it’s giving himpain. We’ll see what the special-ist says, sometimes you can playthrough it.”
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The Indian Super League onMonday approved 3+1 for-
eign player regulation formatches of the franchise-basedevent, bringing it down from theexisting five to boost “increasedparticipation” of local players.
The regulation will becomepart of the competition guide-lines from the eighth season in2021-22.
The decision was takenduring a Football SportsDevelopment Ltd (FSDL) meet-ing attended by its chairpersonNita Ambani and is being com-municated with the stakehold-ers including clubs and the All
India Football Federation(AIFF).
As per the new regulation,an ISL club could sign maxi-mum of six foreigners in thesquad including a compulsoryAsian origin player, with fourforeigners on the field.
The 3+1 foreign player rulesare governed by the AsianFootball Confederation compe-tition regulation.
The move is expected toboost increased participation ofIndian players in the top-flightcompetition. Currently an ISLclub is allowed to sign up toseven International players andplay a maximum of five on thefield.
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Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that questions will be
raised if Indian Premier League is slot-ted in the window allotted to ICC T20World Cup in Australia, which in all like-lihood will be cancelled in the wake ofCovid-19 pandemic.
The ICC is yet to decide the fate ofthe T20 World Cup in Australia whichis scheduled to take place from October18 to November 15.
“There are rumors that the WorldCup was clashing with the IndianPremier League (IPL) and the Australia-India series, therefore, it (T20 WorldCup) won’t take place,” Inzamam said inhis YouTube channel.
“The Indian board is strong andhas control in the International Cricket
Council (ICC). If Australia says thatwe cannot hold the World Cupbecause of the Covid-19 pandemic,then their stance will be easily accept-
ed, but if any such kind event happensduring the same time, then questionswill be raised,” he said.
The 50-year-old former batsman,who has scored 8830 runs in 120 Testsand 11739 runs in 378 ODIs for Pakistan,further said: “People will think, if a coun-try could host 12 to 14 teams (16 teams),then why the ICC could not look afterthe teams, after all Australia is such anadvanced country.
“Another thing is the ICC should notbe allowed to give priority to privateleagues (IPL) on Int’l cricket. This willlead to young players forcing on privateleagues other than Int’l matches.”
The former coach, however, agreedthat it is not easy to host 16 nations dur-ing the T20 World Cup.
“Australia can say that it was difficultfor it to manage 18 teams (16) for the
mega event as it is not easy. Likewise, thePakistan team was in England in a hoteland all the facilities were being provid-ed there, therefore, it has not been easyto manage 18 teams (16),” he said.
The fate of Asia Cup which PCB willbe hosting in a neutral country for secu-rity reason is also an issue as no oneknows the fate of the tournament origi-nally scheduled in September.
Inzamam said: “I have also heard thatobjections are also raised on the dates ofthe Asia Cup as it is clashing with someother event.
“The ICC, the Asian CricketCouncil (ACC) and all cricket boardsshould sit together and give a strongmessage that any such kind of impres-sion (giving priority to private leaguesinstead of international cricket), won’ttake place,” he said.
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Roger Federer on Mondaysaid he is “missing”
Wimbledon after the grass-court Grand Slam was can-celled, but hopes to play thetournament in 2021.
The 38-year-old, who hasundergone two knee surgeriesthis year, had alreadyannounced he will not playagain until next year.
This week was scheduledto be the second week ofWimbledon, where Federerhas won a record eight men’ssingles titles, but the tourna-ment was cancelled for the firsttime since World War II due tothe coronavirus pandemic.
“Personally, it has beenvery pleasant to stay in thesame place for a long time, Ihadn’t experienced that formore than 25 years,” Federer
said at the launch of the RogerCenter Court running shoescreated by Swiss brand On.
“But of course I missWimbledon, of course I wouldlike to be there currently play-ing on Centre Court for aplace in the second week.
“Clearly, one of my biggoals, and that’s why I dorecovery work every day andwork so hard, and why I’mpreparing for a 20-week phys-ical preparation block this year,is because I hope to play atWimbledon next year.”
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The Australian cricket team,which started outdoor
training, has been told to getready for a white-ball seriesagainst England in Septemberas the ICC T20 World Cup isexpected to be postponed thisweek, according to a mediareport here.
“Cricket’s World Cup is setto be officially postponed thisweek as Australia’s players aretold to start preparing for come-back battle against England,”Australian newspaper The DailyTelegraph reported.
The report also stated thatif Cricket Australia decides onallowing its players to play inthe IPL, “..The ideal scenariowould be they could go straightfrom the England limited oversseries to wherever the T20league is held in Middle East orAsia.”
�#77$=$00.$5$7+*!(##(!"�!(*!S �!("36#)�����** ��.Barcelonapresident Josep MariaBartomeu has said thatLionel Messi will endhis career at theCatalan club, dismiss-ing a report saying theArgentine no longerwishes to renew hiscurrent contract whenit expires next year.
“Messi has said hewill end his workingand footballing life at
Barca,” Bartomeu toldSpanish networkMovistar after his sidebeat Villarreal.
“I’m not going toexplain the detailsbecause we are focusedon the competitionand we are negotiatingwith many players butMessi has explainedto us that he wants tostay and so we’re goingto enjoy him for much
longer.”The 33-year-old
Messi, who signed hislast contract in 2017,has become moreoutspoken against theclub’s hierarchy in thelast year and radiostation Cadena Sersaid last Thursday heis unhappy with howBarca is being runand wants to leave in2021. Agencies
.�%#$��������������New Delhi: The seventh IndianSuper League is set to be heldbehind closed doors fromNovember to March and it islikely to be restricted to twostates in view of the Covid-19pandemic with Goa and Keralaemerging as frontrunners.
“The league will be heldbehind closed doors for sure andthe dates are from November toMarch. Kerala, Goa, WestBengal and Northeast were dis-cussed as the likely states butGoa and Kerala can be said asthe frontrunners at this point oftime,” a source said. “The planis to host in one or two statesacross multiple venues.”
Both Goa and Kerala arebetter placed than many otherstates at the moment as far as theCovid-19 situation is concerned,and that makes it “favourable”for the organisers to host theleague there.
In the northeastern region,Aizawl, Imphal, Shillong,Guwahati and Gangtok werediscussed as probable venueswhile Kolkata was also part ofthe discussion. PTI
awindra Pulle, who worked withSrinivas Raaga on films like Katha andOkkadine and on Vaaradhi as an assis-tant director, is debuting as a directorwith Ardha Shatabdham. C/OKancharapalem fame Karthik
Rathnam, newbie Krishna Priya, Sai Kumar andNaveen Chandra are playing leading roles in thefilm, which is 70 per cent completed. “The story isset in Sircilla in 2003. Krishna (played by Karthik)belongs to a family of hand weaver’s and dreams ofgoing to Dubai for a better life for him and hisfamily. He falls in love with a local girl but the lovestory is caught in a web of politics. The filmrevolves around him, Sai Kumar, Naveen Chandraand another actor who will be seen as a minister.The minister’s role casting hasn’t been finalizedthough. Naveen will be seen as a cop,” the directortold us.
He further informed that he is looking at takingthe film back to floors in
another 10 days from now inNirmal, town of which he
has chosen to duplicateSiricilla of noughties. “Bynext month-end, I’mlooking to wrap up thewhole film,” he added.
Presented by VeerDharmik and pro-duced by Chitti Kiran
ith rumoursswirling aroundthat she is beingconsidered for spe-cial songs in filmslike Indian 2, star-
ring Kamal Haasan, andPushpa, starring Allu Arjun,Payal Rajput took to hersocial media and refutedsuch claims. “I have not beenapproached anything likethis. For the past few days,I’ve been receiving a lot ofmessages regarding specialdance numbers in Indian 2,Pushpa, and God knows howmany more. Let me stateclearly, they are rumors and Ihave not signed any film. Asof now, I am not shooting foranything (sic),” a visibly upsetPayal posted.
The actress will be nextseen in debutant directorPrandeep’s 5Ws, a crimeinvestigative drama whereshe plays a cop. She is alsoplaying a key role in JayanthC Paranji’s Narendra. In thesports-action drama, sheplays a fighter pilot whohelps the titular character(played by Nilesh Eti) toreach India from a prison inPakistan.
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elugu star MaheshBabu’s new postsums up the “threeworlds” of nerdy,goofy and sane.
In an Instagrampicture that the actor posted,he can be seen with his chil-dren, Sitara and Gautam. Inthe image, Mahesh wearsreading glasses, Sitara is seensticking out her tongue whileson Gautam just looks at thecamera. “Nerdy goofy andsane !! 3 worlds #lockdowndi-aries #stayhome #staysafe,” hecaptioned the image.
Mahesh’s wife and actressNamrata Shirodkar took tothe comment section andwrote, “More like my three
worlds.” Amid the lockdown,Mahesh has been spendingquality time with his family,going by the pictures andvideos he shares on socialmedia. Fondly called as thePrince of Tollywood, Maheshwill next be seen in Major.The film marks his debut asproducer and is inspired by26/11 martyr, Major SandeepUnnikrishnan. The film starsAdivi Sesh in the title role.
Major is inspired by the lifeof Sandeep Unnikrishnan, theNSG commando who lost hislife in the 26/11 terror attackin Mumbai. The bilingual filmis being shot in Telugu andHindi. Major is all set torelease later this year.
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ven before his maidenfilm Naandhi, starringAllari Naresh, opens incinema halls, debutantdirector VijayKanakamedala has
struck a golden deal. The Pioneerhas learnt that he has been signedon by three different productions-AK Entertainments (of AnilSunkara), SRT Movies (RamTalluri) and East Coast Productions(Mahesh Koneru) — for his futureassignments. “As a matter of fact,Anil Sunkara sent Vijay a chequedays before the much-lauded teaserof Naandhi dropped online. Theother production houses followedsuit after the teaser. While Vijayhasn’t entered into an agreement onwhich producer he makes his nextwith, AK Entertainments stands ahigh chance,” said a source close tothe development.
However, before he thinks of hisnew assignment, Vijay, who assistedHarish Shankar for films likeMirapakay, Gabbar Singh and DJamong others, first has to wrap upNaandhi, whose filming had to besuspended due to COVID-19 out-break. He intends to wrap up pro-ceedings in another 10 days,including a montage song. A hard-hitting social drama, the film is aproduction venture of SatishVegesna, who has co-producedOkka Kshanam and MosagallakuMosagadu in the past. — NG
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ne of the bestfilms of last year,Mathu Vadalara,fronted by SriSimha, NareshAgastya and Satya,
is going to Hindi, ThePioneer has learnt from reli-able sources. Backed by theprestigious Mythri MovieMakers and produced byChiranjeevi (aka Cherry) andHemalatha, the original, apart trippy and part comicthriller, marked the directori-al debut of Ritesh Rana, whois on board to helm theHindi version as well.
A source close to thedevelopment tells us, “MathuVadalara’s content has uni-versal appeal, so it was a nat-ural choice for Mythri andChiranjeevi, who is the CEOof Mythri, to consider theHindi remake. The fact that
the original — bereft ofnoted faces in the lead — setthe cash registers ringing inTelugu states meant that itwould be a profitable busi-ness proposition for the mak-ers in Hindi even before theyrelease it. Ritesh and his teamwill get the same freedom toexecute the remake similar tothe way they got in Telugu.The only difference is thistime around, the scale will bebigger for him.”
The source further addsthat the remake will markMythri’s first tryst with filmproduction in Hindi.However, the source is quickto clarify that the productionhouse will partner with alike-minded Bollywood pro-duction house to shepherdthe film. “Ritesh is likely toretain his core technical teamfrom the original. Prominent
among them include camera-man Suresh Sarangam andmusic director KaalaBhairava,” the source con-cludes.
Made on a budget of Rs2.1 crore, Mathu Vadalaralanded in profits before the-
atrical release from digitaland satellite sources. Thetheatrical revenue was abonus for the producers andthe distributors. Inspired byreal events, the film told thestory of a delivery agentBabu (Simha) who lands in a
neck-deep mess after he fol-lows his friend Yesu’s (Satya)idea to make some extrabucks. How he comes out ofit is told in a thrilling waywith situational humour andunexpected twists dottingthe narrative.
here’s no stopping film-maker Ram Gopal Varma these days. Just daysafter he announced 12 0clock, which boasts of a prominent cast
comprising Mithun Chakraborty,Flora Saini, Manav Kaul, KrishnaGautam and Makarand Deshpande,comes another announcement fromhim.
The new film, titled Thriller, willrelease on Shreyas ET app likeClimax and Naked. The director isintroducing a newbie Apsara Rana,who has her roots from Orissa,through the project.
“Before meeting Apsara,I dint evenhear about Orissa since the 1999 hur-ricane..but after meeting her now ,Irealised that Orissa creates all kindsof hurricanes..it’s been a great revela-tion that Orissa has such beauties..MORE POWER TO ORISSA@apsara_rani (sic),” the director post-ed on Twitter on Monday morning.
He also labeled her as an excellentdancer and an even better actor.
