PNS n HYDERABAD

One more patient in Telangana test-ed positive for Covid-19 on Sunday,the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) announced.This takes the total number ofpatients infected with coronavirusin the state to three. Among thesethree patients, only the softwareemployee who had returned fromDubai recovered and has sincebeen discharged from GandhiHospital.

As per MoHFW, the new patienttoo is an Indian national. Accordingto reports, the new patient had vis-ited the Netherlands.

Telangana's first COVID-19patient was discharged two daysback. The Union Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfareannounced that Telangana regis-

tered three confirmed cases ofcoronavirus on Sunday.

The ministry, while includingTelangana's discharged COVID-19 patient, added the names of two

other persons to the list of corona-positive list from the state.

One person in this list includesthe 24-year-old student who hadreturned from Italy. Sources could

not specify who the second positivecase is.

The 24-year-old student hadcome to Khammam on March 7from Italy. After she showed symp-toms of COVID-19, she initially gottreated at a local hospital. She wasadmitted to Gandhi Hospital onMarch 11. It was on March 14 thatshe tested positive for coronavirus.

However, the state governmenthas not yet confirmed whetherthere is a third coronavirus patient.

Dr. P Sravan Kumar, superinten-dent of Gandhi Hospital, said thatthere were only two positive casesof COVID-19 in the state-- one,including the discharged patient,while the other is the Italy-returnedstudent. "No third case has beenconfirmed yet. We are awaitingresults for several cases.

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HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

4

Yogi to becomefirst UP CM fromBJP to complete3 yrs in office

5

Auditors mustuse latest techtools for qualityaudits: CEPR

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Red gram: Stategovt lacks foresight:Kishan

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HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated March 15, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC TODAY

Month & Paksham:Phalguna & Krishna PakshaPanchangam:Tithi: Ashtami: 02:59 am (Next Day) Nakshatram: Jyeshtha: 11:12 amTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 07:56 am – 09:25 amYamagandam: 10:55 am – 12:24 pmVarjyam: 07:23 pm – 09:02 pm,

09:37 am – 11:12 amGulika: 01:54 pm - 03:23 pmGood Time: (to start any important

work)Amritakalam: 05:13 am – 06:51 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 12:00 pm – 12:48 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly sunnyTemp: 33/21Humidity: 42%Sunrise: 06.23Sunset: 06.26

COVID-19 OFFICIAL COUNT*ONE MORE IN TELANGANATESTS COVID-19 POSITIVE n The new patient reportedly returned from the Netherlands

Corona shutdown to costRs 10,000 cr for TS govtL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

The Telangana State govern-ment's decision to enforce'corona shutdown' as a way toarrest the spread of Covid-19could cost the state exchequernearly Rs 10,000 crore.

Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao onSaturday ordered the shut-

down, effectiveSunday, of

public places, cinema halls,pubs, bars, swimming pools,museums as well as indoorand outdoor stadiums for a

week (till March 21).Schools, including

coaching centres,will remain

closed untilM a r c h

31.

Marriage halls and functionhalls too would remain closed,except for marriage eventsalready fixed. Even in the caseof such weddings, the numberof guests should not cross200 members. The GO speci-fies that the halls should nottake up any new orders untilMarch 31.

Permissions for summercamps, rallies, public meet-ings, cultural events, tradefairs, sports events and carni-vals will not be accorded tillMarch 21.

The foregoing decisionswould hit the State's revenuesin the form of taxes, includingGST, on which the state exche-quer is dependent heavily. Forexample, the tax on petroleumproducts and liquor contributesignificantly to the revenues ofthe Telangana government.

n GST earnings to take a hit

n The closure of bars,pubs and membershipclubs is expected to dentthe earnings of TSgovernment

Happening Hyd grinds to ahalt on Day-1 of shutdownPNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad, bandied about asthe most happening city inIndia, came to a grinding halton Sunday, day one of the'corona shutdown' declared byChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to arrestthe spread of Covid-19.

Several hangouts, whichotherwise witness huge crowdson Sunday, wore a desertedlook as the response of busi-ness establishments to the gov-ernment orders, issued lateon Saturday night, was near

total. These include cinematheatres, pubs, bars and clubs.

Although shopping mallsand hotels were not closed,they too looked empty, withpeople preferring to stayindoors out of fears of con-tracting coronavirus, whosecommunity transmission hasbecome a headache for thehealth authorities. Thus,

though some of the shoppingmalls and hotels were open,they did not witness even 20per cent of the total businessthey do on normal days.Weekends being prized daysfor shopping malls, cinematheatres, bars and pubs, somehave already begun feeling thepinch of the lockdown.

One year jailfor spreadingrumours oncoronavirusPNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Police havewarned that those spreadingfalse news and rumours oncoronavirus may be jailed upto one year.

Hours after the state gov-ernment announced shut-down to contain coronavirus,the police chief warnedagainst rumours and falsenews. Police CommissionerAnjani Kumar said false newsand rumours are bad forsociety.

He said those who arespreading false informationon social media and creatingpanic on coronavirus wereliable for punishment underthe National DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA) Act section.

‘Ban AIMIM’: BandiPNS n HYDERABAD

Newly-appointed TelanganaBJP president Bandi SanjayKumar said on Sunday theAIMIM should be banned forits link to "violence and terror-ists" and claimed Congressworkers will join the saffronorganisation in large numbersas their party was staring at"disintegration" in the state.

Appointed as the state partychief last week, the first timeLok Sabha MP sees himself asa "fighter" for Hindutva idealsand accused the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samithi

(TRS) of joining hands withthe Asaduddin Owaisi-ledAIMIM, which has strongpresence in Hyderabad, toinstigate violence duringprotests against the anti-Citizenship (Amendment)Act.

"We (BJP) will soon launcha state-wide exercise high-lighting the nexus between theTRS and the AIMIM for sheervote bank politics. TheAIMIM is essentially a partyof terrorists," Kumar alleged,stating that Owaisi's partyshould be banned.

SEC puts off polls to Andhra Pradesh local bodies PNS n VIJAYAWADA

State Election Commission onSunday announced postpone-ment of the local body elec-tions in the State in view of theprevailing situation due tocoronavirus outbreak.

State ElectionCommissioner Ramesh Kumartold the media that the elec-tions were being postponed forsix weeks. The elections torural local bodies and urbanlocal bodies were scheduled tobe held on March 21 andMarch 23 respectively. Pollingfor Panchayats were sched-uled to be held in two phaseson March 27 and 29.

He said the decision was

taken in view of the precau-tionary measures being takenacross the country to preventpossible spread of coronavirus.The Commissioner said therewas a possibility of the virusbeing spread through ballotpapers to be used for thepolling. He said a decision onthe new dates would be takenafter a review of the situationsix weeks later.

PNS n AMARAVATI

Terming the decision ofState ElectionCommissioner to post-pone the local bodypolls as unilateral, ChiefMinister YSJaganmohan Reddy metGovernor Biswa BushanHarichandan and com-plained about the move .

Space agencies scrambleto protect astronautsPNS n WASHINGTON

As COVID-19 pandemickeeps governments on theirtoes, NASA and otherspace agencies haveadded stringent mea-sures to prevent thespread of new coron-avirus among astronauts so

that they do not carry thedeadly virus into space.

NASA astronaut ChrisCassidy and Russian cosmo-

nauts Nikolai Tikhonovand Andrei Babkin are

likely to be launched for theInternational Space Station

(ISS) on April 9.

Though shopping malls and hotels were notclosed, they too looked empty as peoplepreferred to stay indoors out of corona concerns

So far we have had threepositive cases and as

of now two people are inisolation. Today one personwho travelled to TheNetherlands also testedpositive for the virus. We havealso traced the people hecame in contact with

—DR PRABHAKARREDDY,

COVID-19 INCHARGE,GANDHI HOSPITAL

n Total number of patientsinfected with the disease in the

state increased to three

n The Centre, while includingTelangana's discharged COVID-19

patient, had added two otherpeople to the corona-positive list from the

state.

Lumbini Park looks forlorn on Sunday

BEIJING TO SEND ALL INTERNATIONALARRIVALS TO QUARANTINE FACILITIES

Queen Elizabeth II has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace inLondon to Windsor Castle as the UK plans for isolation measures for

people over 70 amid the country's death toll fromCOVID-19 hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 withina day. The 93-year-old monarch and her 98-year-oldhusband, Prince Philip, are likely to be placedin quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estatein Norfolk in the coming weeks as toughermeasures are put in place to fight thecoronavirus outbreak in the UK affectingover 1,140 people.

TRUMP TESTS NEGATIVE FORCORONAVIRUS: PHYSICIANUS President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus,

the White House physician said, hours after his administration declaredthe COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency on Friday.Trump, 73, had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night.The results came out in less than 24 hours. "Last night, afteran in-depth discussion with the President regarding theCOVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, Ireceived confirmation that the test is negative," Dr SeanConley, the presidential physician, said in a memorandumto White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grishamon Saturday.

The Islamic endowment overseeing the Al-Aqsa mosque compound,the third holiest site in Islam, says the mosque itself and other

buildings will be closed over concerns about the new coronavirus.Sheikh Omar Kiswani, the director of the mosque, said on Sunday thatprayers will continue to be held outdoors. The closure isto continue indefinitely. Iran's official leading thecountry's response to the worst coronavirusoutbreak in the Middle East acknowledged that thepandemic could overwhelm healthfacilities in the country, which isunder severe US sanctions.

AL-AQSA MOSQUE, 3RD HOLIEST INISLAM, CLOSES OVER CORONA

QUEEN SHIFTED OUT OF BUCKINGHAMPALACE AMID COVID-19 CRISIS

Beijing authorities will send all international arrivals in the Chinesecapital to quarantine facilities starting Monday, state media reported,

as China steps up measures against imported coronavirus cases. Peoplearriving from abroad had previously beenallowed to undergo the mandatory two-week quarantine at home, but now onlythose in "special circumstances" will beexempted from being sent to facilitieswhere they must pay for their stay, localCommunist Party newspaper BeijingDaily reported Sunday.

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Jagan raises SEC caste for localbody poll postponement

*at 5

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n Su

nday

Newly-appointed Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar addressing partymen in Hyderabad on Sunday

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddycalls on GovernorBiswa BushanHarichandan at theRaj Bhavan inVijayawada onSunday protestingagainst State ElectionCommissioner NRamesh Kumar’sdecision to postponepolls to local bodies

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 hyderabad 02

Gulf migrants keen to return homePV KONDAL RAOn WARANGAL

With cases of coronavirusbeing reported across theworld, the family membersand relatives of migrants whoare working in Dubai and Gulfcountries are a worried lot.They are frequently in touchwith their beloved ones overphone and enquiring abouttheir health condition.

A seizable number of peoplefrom Metpalli region of Jagtialdistrict in the erstwhileKarimnagar went on work per-mit to Saudi Arabia and Gulfcountries and their familymembers here feel a bit tensedover the existing conditionsprevailing over there.

It may be recalled that, as aprecautionary measure, SaudiArabia has temporarily bannedentry to tourists from coron-avirus-affected countries andvisitors, including those com-ing to the Prophet's mosqueand for Umrah. The measureswere taken following commu-nity spread in religious clusterssuch as churches in Singaporeand South Korea.

Soujanya, wife of Rajender,working in Riyadh feels thatthe panic button pressed by thegovernments of Telangana andIndia were in a way creatingtension among their family.However, she said that thepreparedness of the govern-ments has instilled confidenceto counter and contain thespurt of the virus. Though the

situation in Telangana is much-better as compared with otherstates, the families of migrantsare a worried lot over theirfamilies as the situation overthere was more serious thanreported. "We request theadministration to initiate mea-sures to bring back our familymembers safe under this hourof panic," Soujanya said.

There is of course a grim sit-uation in certain villages fromwhere fifty to sixty membersmigrated to the Gulf countriesin search of work in Metpalliand Siricilla belt. The villagersare of the opinion that an ini-tiation to get their neighbours

back to the country and quar-antine if they are infectedbefore handing over the sameto their family members.

Many workers in the Gulfare keen on returning to theirnative places after the out-break of the pandemic.Meanwhile, people across thesections are all praise forTelangana government for ini-tiating measures to tackle thespread of coronavirus.

As the state government hasannounced that all the educa-tional institutions will be shuttill March 31, there was asense of relief among the par-ents as they say that this peri-

od can be utilised as prepara-tion vacation for their kidsahead of April exams.

It may be recalled that, withthe second case of coronavirusreported in Hyderabad, theState Cabinet on Saturdaydecided to impose restrictionson social gatherings and shut

down all educational institu-tions, cinema theatres andmass gatherings for the next 15days to curb the spread ofCovid-19. However, shoppingmalls, restaurants, supermar-kets and other commercialestablishments will remainfunctional.

AVINASH DEEPAK PULIn MAHBUBNAGAR

Closure of bars till March 31responding to the directive of the state government is likely toshow a serious impact on theliquor sales in many parts of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district. Ason date, sales through bars and permit rooms have been more than fifty per cent quantity to the cumulative sales and since the barsare closed, the sales were reduced to the minimum on Sunday.Usually Sunday business is very high in the constituencyheadquarters and in Shadnagar limits, the sales have been almostdecimated till the evening. Reports from various parts of erstwhileMahbubnagar district and adjoining Nalgonda district indicate thatthe permit room business has drastically come down particularlyafter the decision of AP State election Commission to postpone theelections of local bodies in that part. Since the adjoining parts ofMahbubnagar and Nalgonda are connected to Andhra Pradeshborder, the permit rooms located in Telangana have netted hugeprofits for over ten days. As that business was stopped in themorning, the newly secured permissions of permit rooms inKoththakota of erstwhile Mahbubnagar on the Kurnool border havebecome stale and there was minimum business till afternoon.Particularly after the declaration of the SEC of Andhra Pradesh topostpone the elections of Local bodies, the permit room business onthe border came to a standstill. Reports of minimum business wereevident in Khammam Krishna Border, Nalgonda Guntur Border andMahbubnagar Kurnool border respectively.

As a precautionary measure, Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned entry to tourists fromcoronavirus-affected countries and visitors,including those coming to the Prophet'smosque and for Umrah

LIQUOR SALES COME DOWN IN MAHBUBNAGAR

HC UPADHYAY n HYDERABAD

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment has dared to take the bullsby the horns in passing theordinance to recover damage topublic and private properties inany violent protest or demon-stration from the miscreants.'The Uttar Pradesh Recovery ofDamage to Public and PrivateProperty Ordinance, 2020' pro-mulgated on March 13 pro-vides legitimacy to the coercivemethods of the government torecover from the criminals andanti-nationals the amount ofloss caused by them, duringviolent protest, to the publicand private property.

Following the AllahabadHigh Court's order for removalof hoardings put up inLucknow featuring the names,pictures and addresses of anti-CAA protesters who werebooked for the violent protestsagainst the Citizenship Law onDecember 19, 2019, the Stategovernment has appealed tothe Apex Court, which in turn,has referred the matter to alarger bench. Now, with thisOrdinance, the way has been

cleared for the State govern-ment to tighten the noosearound miscreants who bla-tantly indulge in destroying pri-vate and public properties dur-ing riots or demonstrations.

True, the Courts go by therule book and hardly take intoaccount the popular sentimentwhile deciding a case. However,the judiciary ought not to betoo insensitive so as to com-pletely ignore the nationalinterest in the name of rule oflaw. Unfortunately, in ourcountry there seems to be nodefinite pattern to deal with thesensitive issues and courts,including the higher courts, areeither pressurised or misguid-ed by the powerful lobbies. Beit a case of Yakub Memon, thecondemned gangster for whosesake the Apex Court was madeto burn the midnight oil or beit the suo motu cognizance ofthe alleged manhandling ofTukde-Tukde gang's leaders bysome lawyers in Delhi, theSupreme Court has set badprecedents which are certain-ly not befitting to its past gloryand high reputation.

The same is true in the caseof recent Allahabad High

Court's verdict which objectedto the naming and shaming ofcriminals and anti-nationalsby the magistrate on behalf ofthe government. Legal techni-calities apart, the spirit of theConstitution of India unequiv-ocally mandates everyConstitutional authority toensure that not only the per-sonal freedom, liberty and pri-vacy of its citizens are protect-ed but also the overall nation-al interests of the country. Infact, the national interests areof paramount importance thanindividual freedom, privacy,etc. When there is a conflictbetween these two, certainlythe national interest must bepreferred.

In the name of Azadi andfreedom of expression, there is

no need to give a long rope tocriminals and anti-nationals.All laws should aim at strength-ening the national fabric andfostering unity and anyonewho goes against nationalinterest or nurtures a dream todivide India in the name ofregion, religion or languageshould be shunned by the peo-ple in authority, including thoseoccupying the august posi-tions in judiciary.

Hope, Parliament too, wouldemulate the Uttar Pradeshmodel and pass similar legisla-tion so as to deter the miscre-ants from taking law in theirhands. Certainly, such ele-ments need to be tackled withiron fist and exemplary punish-ment if India as a one countryhas to survive.

Advocates not to be broughtunder CP Act

Responding to the letterssent by the Chairman, BarCouncil of India andChairman, Bar Council ofDelhi, Union Minister forConsumer Affairs Ram VilasPaswan has clarified on Twitterthat there was no proposal toinclude Advocates under theConsumer Protection Act,2019.

Thus, the acrimony betweenthe Bar and theGovernment has finallyended in a cordial man-ner.SC surrenders toCovid-19

In a situationthat may be termedas 'unique', theApex Court onMarch 13th decidedthat it would take uponly urgent mattersfrom March 16, afterthe short break ofHoli festival and dates in rou-tine matters will be given by theCourt Masters before the Courtassembles. The meeting

presided over by the ChiefJustice of India decided to hearonly urgent matters by suchnumber of Benches as may befound appropriate.

The Delhi High Court toohas decided in a similar man-ner and also asked all theDistrict Courts of Delhi toaccommodate all parties/wit-nesses/advocates seekingadjournment 'favourably' in allmatters, including criminalmatters.

10 years jail for ex-BJPMLA

The Tees Hazari Courtin Delhi sentenced

expelled BJP MLAK u l d e e pSingh Sengarand six others

in Unnao Case, guiltyof culpable homicide

not amounting to mur-der, to 10 years' impris-onment under section304 IPC and 5 years'imprisonment for crim-inal conspiracy under

section 120 B of IPC.Sengar, currently in Tehar

Jail serving life sentence in therape case, and his brother Atul

Sengar have also been asked topay Rs 10 lakh each as compen-sation to the victim's family.

This augurs well forthe speedy disposal of heinouscrimes like rape, murder, etc.The present judgment wouldsend the warning signals to allthe criminal elements in thecountry.TSHC cracks whip on pollutingplastic units

The Telangana High Courtcame down heavily on thehundreds of plastic units oper-ating in Kattedan IndustrialArea near Hyderabad andasked the authorities to shutdown all such units whichhave been operating withoutclearance from the PollutionControl Board (PCB).

A division, bench compris-ing Chief Justice R.S.Chauhanand Justice Abhishek Reddy,while hearing a plea filed byresidents of Shastripuram saidthat officials of GHMC andPCB remained 'mute specta-tors' as illegal plastic unitsmushroomed in the area. TheCourt added that it will person-ally responsible to monitor theclosure of polluting industries

and posted the matter to April7 for submission of the actiontaken report.

Thanks to the judiciary,which has shaken the author-ities from decades of slumber,many of the illegal plastic unitsdeal in single use plastic andPVC pipes. The thick smoke ofplastic waste burnt at the streetcorners pollutes the air andposes health hazard besidespolluting the ground water inthe region. But for the interven-tion of the High Court, theshow of minting moneythrough illegal gratificationcould have gone on eternally. Summer dress code foradvocates

The Bar Council for thestate of Telangana, through acircular, has relaxed therequirement of wearing blackcoat and gown for the advo-cates practicing in the lowercourts during the summer peri-od from March 15 to July 15.Accordingly, the lawyers mayappear with black or grey pantand white shirt with black tieor white band or collar duringsummer period in all courtsexcept the High Court.

LEGAL ROUNDUP

The Courts go by the rule book andhardly take into account the popularsentiment while deciding a case.However, the judiciary ought not tobe too insensitive so as tocompletely ignore the nationalinterest in the name of rule of law

Criminals and anti-nationals don't deserve sympathy

Uncertainty gripsmarkets amid Covid-19concerns, NK posturingPNS n HYDERABAD

The global markets remaineduncertain due to several fac-tors such as increasing rate ofCOVID-19 throughout theworld. North Korea is onceagain at its old game ofthreatening the US in partic-ular and rest of the world ingeneral, and fast changinggeo-political equations allover the world. Goldremained buoyant and closedat US $ 1,529. 31 (per ounce)while silver, followed suitand closed at $ 14.66 (perounce). Platinum and palla-dium also marched forwardand closed at $ 766.35 (per 10gms) and $. 1,869.75 (per 10gms) respectively.

Other economic para-meters, moved southward.Brent closed at US $ 34.97(per barrel), while CrudeMCX oil was quoted atRs.2,414 (per barrel).While Gold MCXincreased and stood atRs.40,348 (per 10gms) even MCXSilver has seen anincrease andclosed atRs.40,487(per kg).Sensex andNifty 50closed at 34,103.48 and9,955.20 points respectively.Leading foreign currencies'exchange rates were: US $:Rs.73.74, British Pound: Rs.90.75, Euro: Rs. 82.42,Singapore $: Rs.52.26, SwissFranc: Rs.77.75, Australian $:Rs.45.71, Saudi Rial: Rs.19.71, New Zealand Dollar:44.85, Kuwaiti Dinar:Rs.240.01, Omani Rial: Rs.192.18 and UAE Dirham:Rs.20.14, Canadian Dollar$53.21. At home, though thedemand picked up due toongoing marriage season,both the precious metalswere divergent. Standard gold(24 carats) depreciated by awhopping Rs.2,180, andclosed at Rs.42,290 (per 10gms). Ornamental gold too,moved in tandem and wasquoted in the range ofRs.40,120 - Rs 40,220 on the

closing day. Similarly, silver(0.999) also depreciated sig-nificantly by Rs. 6,500 andclosed at Rs.40,400 (per kg).

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in the prin-

cipal wholesale commoditymarkets in the twin citiesremained moderate. RythuBazars and the various com-modity markets located inBegum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir Alam Mandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally and GeneralBazar was moderate. Duringthe week, common pulsessuch as tuar dal, masoor dal,moong dal and urad dal andcommodities like chillies,turmeric and garlic recordeda marginal appreciation,while staple food grains andcommon edible oilsremained unchanged at theprevious week's closing lev-

els. Turmeric, jeera andwheat witnessed heavyinflow in the markets,

thanks to the bumpercrop harvested by

farmers despiteflood situation.

Coriander, gin-ger andt a m a r i n dr e m a i n e dd i v e r g e n t

within narrow margins. The prices of common

vegetables firmed up with thesummer setting in Telangana.Potatoes, the supply of whichhas been impacted adverse-ly due to the floods in thegrowing areas, are likely toflare up by 25% in the nearfuture. Common vegetablessuch as cabbage, cauliflower,ribbed gourd, snake gourd,lady's finger, cucumber,onions, tomatoes and Frenchbeans, along with other leafyvegetables, recorded a declinein the range of 22 per cent to46 per cent. The NECCwholesale egg prices recov-ered by Rs.15, and closed atRs.295 (per 100 closing).Burdwan and Midnaporerecorded the highest price ofRs.380, while Ajmer closedwith the lowest price of Rs.265.

Very rarely one finds anuncanny resemblancebetween a filmi dialogue

and a statement in the Assembly. Inthe latest TS Assembly session, dur-ing a discussion on Palle Pragathi,Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao sounded likeMahesh Babu when he said thatbore wells are left open; and, if a kidfalls into it, the collector, firedepartment personnel and every-body else has to be on their toes.Can't we just fill it? It almostseemed like the reel talk by MaheshBabu in the recent flick Sarilerunikevaru echoed in real life. In themovie, Mahesh Babu, pointing toa politician says, kids are falling intobore wells; in other countries theyremove in 1 hour, but in our coun-

try, it would take three days afterthe proclainers are put to work. Theprotagonist asks politicians toupgrade. The entire sequence, inwhich Prakash Raj is at the receiv-ing end, almost was repeated in theAssembly.Freebies, phir bi no takers!

The coronavirus pandemic hasshattered and shuttered many busi-nesses over the past few weeksacross the nation. Poultry farms inthe state are no exception. In fact,they constitute the worst-hit busi-nesses. This is because of fake socialmedia messages which suggest

that consuming chicken could pavethe way for contracting the dead-ly coronavirus. The word is alsospreading by word of mouth. Nowonder, those relishing non-vege-tarian food have stopped eatingchicken. It is about a month sincepeople removed chicken from theirmenu.

Poultry farm owners initiallyresorted to issuing ads about thebenefits of eating chicken and sug-gested, in the context of Covid-19concerns, that it does not have any"side effects" on health. However,people did not bother about theads. Unable to bear the expenses

of feeding thousands of fowls infarms, poultry farm owners start-ed making attractive offers like 'buyone fowl and get one fowl free' andthe like. Even that did not workout. Now some poultry farm own-ers are giving away live birds freeof cost. That is, the birds are nowfreebies; phir bi no takers!

Few take RTC busesOn Sunday most roads were

deserted. Not only people but alsovehicles were hardly seen on theroads of Hyderabad, much unlikenormal Sundays. One of the mainreasons could be the closure ofcinema theatres and parks as wellas public places due to concernsover the accelerating communitytransmission of coronavirus. Notmany people took TSRTC buses.In general, RTC buses are packedon Sundays. However, the occu-pancy ratio in buses was not asusual, though there were manymarriages this Sunday. Bus con-

ductors, normally 'hard-pressed'to make their way in packedbuses, took leisurely walks in thebuses and were seen seated, tak-ing rest. A conductor, whilebreathing easy, said apologetical-ly that revenue had come downeven on a Sunday. Pre-shutdown functions smooth

Many of the pre-shutdown fix-tures and functions in ruralTelangana districts went offsmoothly, with usual pomp andparaphernalia on Sunday. In theWarangal urban district, the mar-riage reception of Rythu

Samanvaya Samithi chairpersonPalla Rajeshwar Reddy's son wasperformed grandly. People camefrom far and wide, includingparts of Warangal urban District.Most of the people of Sodashpallivillage in Velair mandal assembledunder one roof. Unlike in otherfunctions held in this rural part,the gathering at the reception wasvirtually a show of strength andPalla and his followers were metic-ulous in performing the functionunder utmost hygienic condi-tions. Food stuffs and water wereserved in a systematic manner.

(Contributed by Naveena Ghanate, Ch Pradeep,

K Venkateshwarlu and P V Kondal Rao)

REPORTERS’

D ARY

When KCR sounded like Mahesh Babu…

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

One year jail forspreading rumours...Continued from Page 1

Punishment under the Actcan be up to one year impris-onment and fine, he said.

"Whoever makes or circu-lates a false alarm or warningas to disaster or its severity ormagnitude, leading to panic,shall on conviction, be punish-able with imprisonment whichmay extend to one year or withfine," says section 54 of the Act.

Announcing the closure of

all educational institutionsand banning public gatherings,Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao onSaturday night warned themedia against publishing orairing unconfirmed reportsabout coronavirus cases.

He asked the media outletsto strictly go by the informa-tion released from the healthdepartment with regard tothe coronavirus cases. "Thosespreading false news will facestringent action," he said.

Ban AIMIM, says Bandi SanjayContinued from Page 1

Kumar, 48, accused the KChandrashekhar Rao-ledTelangana government ofrenaming a host of centraldispensation schemes to "mis-lead" people and alleged ascam involving diversion offunds provided by the Centre.

Associated with theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) since a very young age,the state BJP chief has risenthrough the saffron ranks,holding a number of organisa-tional posts in the party and itsyouth wing, BJYM, earlier.

He was a corporator before

winning his maiden Lok Sabhapoll in 2019.

Kumar mentions with pridethat he was jailed for at leastseven times between 2005 and2011 during agitation over avariety of Hindutva issues.

His strongest words arereserved for the All IndiaMajlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen(AIMIM), which has grownover the last few years outsideits traditional base ofHyderabad with its unsparingattacks on the BJP, especiallyover its Hindutva planks.

The Owaisi-led party haswon a few seats in states likeMaharashtra and Bihar in

regions with large Muslimpopulation.

"The AIMIM should bebanned. I will work for it,"Kumar said.

Asked about Owaisi's con-demnation of terrorist organ-isations in his speeches in par-liament, the Telangana BJPchief claimed this is all "acting".

The party, he claimed, hasopen "sympathies" for terror-ists and undertakes events intheir support in its bastion ofold Hyderabad.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,the TRS, Congress and the BJPwon nine, three and four seats,respectively. The vote share of

the Congress was higher thanthat of the saffron party in theelections.

Kumar, however, assertedthat the Congress has onlyweakened since then as it is ina state of "internal war".

"It is looking at disintegra-tion. The Congress will ceaseto exist in the state soon. Manyof its leaders and workers havejoined us. Its rank and file willmerge into our party to take onthe TRS as the BJP is the onlyalternative," he said.

The TRS, he added, hasonly made false promises andits development claims arebogus.

Spaceagenciesscramble...Continued from Page 1

The space agencies are inprocess for the "health stabi-lization" for the next expedi-tion crew, reports Space.com.

The astronauts have start-ed their quarantine earlierthan usual due to the currentpandemic. Other proceduresto ensure that astronautsdon't bring an illness to theISS is also under evaluationat the US space agency.NASA mandates that astro-nauts stay in quarantine fortwo weeks before launchinginto space.

"This is done in order toensure that they are not sickor incubating an illness whenthey reach the orbiting lab,"said the report on Saturday.

The procedure is crucial asmicrogravity can affect theimmune system, exposingthe astronauts to the virus.

NASA has also suspendedtours at the facilities wherethe astronauts undergotraining ahead of theirflight.The agency has askedits own staff to stay home ifthey feel sick.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a major haul, the officialsof Directorate of RevenueIntelligence on Sunday seizedmarijuana worth Rs 3.10crore by stopping from ashipment heading towardsBidar in Karnataka. Officialsarrested six men in connec-tion with the drug smuggling.

The seizure was madebased on specific intelligence.The officials of DRI launchedan operation and intercepteda truck, bearing number TS12 UC 5662, and a car, bear-ing number AP 29 AB 7351,which was piloting the truckin the city on Saturday after-noon.

The driver of the vehiclewas questioned and during asearch of the lorry, the offi-cials found 1,554 kgs of ganja.The cannabis was stashedand packed in 751 packets,which were concealed underempty crates in the truck, arelease from DRI HyderabadUnit said. The contraband,

meant to be smuggled toBidar in Karnataka was con-fiscated under the provisionsof Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act, 1985.

Six people, including twodrivers, one truck owner, twoganja cultivators and a suppli-er, involved in the illegalactivity have been arrestedand the truck and the carwere seized, they said.Further investigation is inprogress.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 hyderabad 03

Three teenagers Ananya, Tia and Priya from Oakridge International School on Saturday adopted the oldest inhabitant of thezoo, the Galapagos giant tortoise for a period of one year at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad on Sunday. As part of theadoption process, they handed over Rs 30,000 to curator of the zoo N Kshitija

OLDEST CCITIZEN AADOPTED

RIME ORNERC

24-year-old manhangsself over family disputes

Aman committed suicide overfamily disputes at his house

in Chilkalguda in the city onSunday. According to the police,BolliRaju, 24, ofSeethaphalmandi underChilkalguda police station area ofthe city was living along with hiswife M Divya and other familymembers. The couple gotmarried a year and half ago.On Saturday late night, Rajucame home from work and wentinto his room without interactingwith anyone. On Sundaymorning, when the familymembers knocked the door ofhis room to wake him up,however, Raju did not response."After breaking open the door,the family members found Rajuhanging from the ceiling fan inhis room. The family memberstold us that Raju was depressedover frequent quarrels with hiswife over family issues andmight have ended his life," saidthe Chilkalguda police.On a complaint made by thefamily members, the policeregistered a case under Section174 of CrPC and took upinvestigation. The body wasshifted to Gandhi Hospital wherea post-mortem examination wasperformed.

Electrician impregnatesInter student

Astudent of Sri ChaitanyaJunior College was allegedly

impregnated by an electricianworking at the same college whocheated her in the pretext of love. According to sources, the victimwas found to be 5 monthspregnant. "She got acquainted tothe electrician, identified asBabu, who works at the samecollege and got physicallyinvolved with him as he lured herin the name of love. Recently, thevictim complained of stomachpain to her parents who thentook her to hospital. The doctorthen told the family that she wasfive months pregnant. Uponenquiry, victim told her parentsabout the accused, who wasreportedly absconding. Based ona complaint, the Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport policebooked cases under sections ofPOCSO and section 376 (rape) ofthe IPC and started aninvestigation.

60-year-old man attempts to rape minor, arrested

The JagadgiriGutta Policearrested a 60-year-old man for

attempting to rape a minor girl atJagadgiriGutta in the city onSunday. The accused, identifiedas BabuMiya, 60, residing in thesame area as of the victim, whowas a class second student, saidthe police. The girl was alone athome on Saturday when the manapproached her and tried tosexually assault her. "He tried torape her when she raised analarm and scared him away. Sherevealed the ordeal to herparents after she reached home,"said the police. Based on acomplaint from the family, caseswere booked against the manunder relevent sections of theIPC and POCSO Act and he wasplaced under arrest.

Coronavirus threat changes airport protocolPNS n HYDERABAD

Cyberabad Commissioner ofPolice VC Sajjanar, IPS alongwith Shamshabad DCP NPrakashRedd and police offi-cials, Health Department offi-cials, GMR airport staff, CISF,Immigration visited RajivGandhi International Airporton Sunday to check coron-avirus screening and to ensureprecautions are taken.

The police commissionersaid the state government hastaken a serious concern to pre-vent the threat of coronavirus.

The deputy commissionerof police, Shamshabad,Telangana doctors and immi-gration officials have con-ducted a review meeting atShamshabad airport to seethe facilities available here forscreening the air passengers.

The state government pro-cured three additional stand-ing thermal screeningmachines, which will speed-upscreening of passengers atShamshabad airport.

There was only one stand-ing thermal screeningmachine and a few hand-helddevices to check temperaturesof passengers at Shamshabadairport, which was delayingthe process of screening.

Speaking about the medicalscreening arrangements at air-port VC Sajjanar said," AllInternational flight passen-gers are screened with thermalimaging equipment and sub-sequently if any symptomsare identified or throughscrutiny of their self declara-tion forms, as per protocolthey are sent to designatedhospital in protective equip-ment like masks, dress, gloves,headgear, goggles, shoes etc.Subsequently at hospital theirsample is collected and sent tolab in Pune for testing. Allthose who don't have anysymptoms but arriving from 7

maximum affected countries, that is China, Iran, SouthKorea, Italy, Spain, Germany,France are sent for quarantinein a state designated facilityfrom March 13th onwards for14 days quarantine.

Around 200 doctors divid-ed into 3 teams and medicalstaff with sufficient ambu-lances from Telangana statehealth department and APHOare working round the clockwhile around 200 police stafffrom Cyberabad police andCISF are providing security."

The Commissioner ofPolice also said, "No rallies,cultural events, processions,jatharas shall be permitted.This is a precautionary mea-sure which the governmenthas taken in the light of thespread of deadly covid 19. Irequest people to kindly abideby the same."

Cyberabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar visits Rajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport to check coronavirus screening on Sunday

Hyderabad's famous Salar Jung Museumandother tourist spots like the Nehru

Zoological Park remained closed on Sundayfollowing the shutdown ordered by the stategovernment as a precautionary measure tocontain possible spread of coronavirus.Themuseum authorities announced that themuseum will remain closed till March 21. Theauthorities of Salar Jung Museum and othertourist spots made the announcement hoursafter the state cabinet held a meeting anddecided to declare a holiday for all educationalinstitutions and banned public gatherings.Salar Jung Museum, which is located on thebanks of the Musiriver, is one of the biggesttourist attractions of Hyderabad and usually witnesses 3,000-4,000 visitors every day. The numberincreases upto 6,000 during weekends. Chief Minister K ChandrashekarRao has ordered the shutdown ofpublic places, cinema halls, pubs, bars, swimming pools, museums, indoor and outdoor stadiums for aweek, while schools, including coaching centres, will remain closed until March 31, in a bid to preventthe spread of coronavirus. However, the state Disaster Management, in a Government Order (GO), statedthat the Board exams for class 10 students will continue as scheduled. Permissions for summer camps,rallies, public meetings, cultural events, trade fairs, sports events and carnivals will not be accorded tillMarch 21, the GO read. Meanwhile, public transport, including the Hyderabad Metro Rail and buses ofthe Road Transport Corporation (RTC), are in service as usual on Sunday, with adequate sanitationmeasures taken up by the respective departments.

Tourist spots closed for a week

7K schools, colleges to remain shut till March 31 At least 7,000 schools and

colleges under the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation limits will remainclosed till March 31 as theChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao onSaturday night ordered theirimmediate closure as a precau-tionary measure to tackle thecoronavirus. Besides these,several coaching centers inthe city including those atAmeerpet, KPHB,Dilsukhnagar and AshokNagar will remain closed.

The schools and colleges arelocated in Hyderabad,Rangareddy and Medchal dis-tricts coming under theGHMC limits.

The condition of students

pursuing education in BC, SCand ST residential school areplanning to go home.

However, SSC students willremain in the hostels to pre-pare for the exams.

The schools offering CBSE

syllabus have been closed forsummer vacations after theexaminations. However, theyare scheduled to function fromthird week of March. But thestate government ordered thatall schools should remain till

March 31. Therefore, they willalso reopen only on March 31.

In all, 5.70 lakh students arepursuing education in engi-neering, B Pharmacy, B Ed,MBA and MCA courses in col-leges situated on the city out-skirts. As holidays have beendeclared for them, roads weara deserted look as school, col-lege buses will remain offroads. The SSC exams will beheld as scheduled from March19. Over 1.64 lakh students aretaking the public exam inHyderabad, Rangareddy andMedchal districts.

The officials have been mak-ing arrangements to hold theexams. Moreover the studentsare allowed to wear masks andbring drinking water bottles.

There was only one standingthermal screening machine and afew hand-held devices to checktemperatures of passengers atShamshabad airport, which wasdelaying the process of screening

Universities incity suspendclasses, tests In the wake of the coron-

avirus pandemic and in theeffort to step upthe precaution-ary measures, University ofHyderabad (UoH), OsmaniaUniversities, KalojiNarayanaRao University ofHealth Sciences have can-celled allclasses till March 31.

Apart from classes, all thecommon facilities such as thelibrary, gym, yoga will also beclosed. A notification by theUoHsaid that the scheduledexaminations will also stand-suspended during the sameperiod. According to the noti-fication, all workshops, acad-emic seminars andsympo-siums, workshops and cultur-al events will also be cancelled."Students are strongly advisedto return to their homes andtakeadequate precautions asper guidelines issued by thelocalauthorities," it added.

The officials of OU also an-nounced the closure of itsUniversity campus, constituentand district postgraduate col-leges andother colleges underit until March 31.

However, the officials oftheOU said, "All semesterex-aminations that are alreadyscheduled and are underwayshall be heldas per the sched-ule. All hostels and messes,including libraries, willalso beclosed with immediate effect."

It has further stated that allpublic gatherings, seminars,conferences and workshopswill not be permitted untilMarch 31. Meanwhile, theKaloji NarayanaRao Universityof Health Sciences declaredholidays to medical colleges upto March 31.

Limiting screen time may improve teenagers' sleepPNS n HYDERABAD

An increased amount of screentime throughout the day hasbeen linked to insomnia inadolescents.

This can include social mes-saging, web surfing, watchingTV, and gaming, in addition tousing the internet for collegeand school assignments.

At least 40 per cent of young-sters residing in twin cities havebeen suffering from insomniabecause of their addiction tosocial networking sites includ-ing Facebook, WhatsApp,Snapchat and others.

People who should be ontheir beds as the clock strikesnine, are remaining awake tilllate hours at the cost of theirhealth and even conjugal life.

This has been leading to

anxiety and loss of concentra-tion in them and causing dia-betes and hypertension too.

Sleep problems suffered byteenagers can be improved bylimiting exposure to light-emitting screens on mobile

phones, tablets and computers,a study suggests.

Meanwhile, a survey con-ducted by the National SleepFoundation, those who work inIT sector have to work latehours in tune with the time

table of the countries theywork for, spend late hours inthe name of week-end partiesin discos and pubs. They con-sume alcohol, masala food andoil food. They retire very latein the night before the food getsdigested. It has been putting

overload on respiratory tract.They are also suffering fromsleep apnea. Some others havebeen addicted to the use ofsleeping pills and other nar-cotics.

The survey results foundthat 16-18 per cent of thosesurveyed suffer from sleepapnea in Delhi, while it is 15.5per cent in Bengaluru, 15 percent in Chennai and 12 percent in Hyderabad.

People are seen getting upand sitting in bed as they havedifficulty in breathing, reduc-ing oxygen supply to heart.

Obstructive sleep apnea isstated to be one of the risk fac-tors for the 60 per cent of theheart attacks that take placebetween 2 am and 5 pm.

Those who sleep for four orfive hours a day would not be

able to fight against cancers.The hormones needed for thegrowth of body and brain willdecrease and would haveimpact on production of sex-ual hormones.

A survey done by electron-ics giant Philips in severalcities, including twin cities,revealed that 40 per cent of theurban people have insomnia. Inall, 58 per cent attribute theirloss of productivity to inso-minia, while 22 per cent ofthose surveyed say they sleepat work places. 11 per cent saythat they apply for leavebecause of insufficient sleep.

According to Dr Srinivas,ENT, Star Hospital, insomnia isakin to the plague. Most of thepatients are aged below 35years. Eight hours sleep is nec-essary for people.

40 per cent ofyoungsters havebeen suffering frominsomnia because oftheir addiction tosocial networkingsites includingFacebook,WhatsApp, Snapchatand other apps

The cannabis werepacked in 751packets, whichwere concealedunder empty cratesin the truck. Thecontraband wasmeant to besmuggled to Bidarin Karnataka

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 268 cases werereported in drunken drivingchecks held inCyberabad areaover the week. Officials ofTraffic police said that no sig-nificant change was made inbreathalyzer checks as thepublic can blow into the devicefrom a distance to get theirblood alcohol count (BAC)checked. Out of the 268, 24were IT employees, 36 weredrivers, 3 bank employees,16 businessmen, 3 doctorsand 13 students among others,police said.

In view of curbing drunkdriving, police as been con-ducting regular checking inthe city. It is sad to note thatmany citizens 21 to 40 years

age group 221 members areresorting to this dangerousactivity without any concernfor safety.

Also, it was noticed that alot of youngsters are riding twowheelers dangerously indrunken condition withouthelmet and triple riding onhighway roads, which wasnoticed during checks.

The Cyberabad TrafficPolice appeals public to beresponsible and obey trafficrules at all times for safety ofthemselves and other roadusers.

Parents are also requestednot to encourage driving ofvehicles by their kids not hav-ing driving license, withoutwearing proper helmet,drunken driving etc.

268 cases booked for drunk driving

DRI seizes ganja worthRs 3.10 crore, arrest 6

PNS n HYDERABAD

More than 21,000 seats arelikely to be introduced innewly-introduced B Techcourses including artificialintelligence, machine learn-ing, cyber security, data sci-ence, internet of things, com-puter science and engineering(networks), computer engi-neering.

The colleges affiliated toJNTU have applied for permis-sion to fill 20,700 seats inthese branches.

The JNTU officials expect-

ed that they receive another1,500 applications from man-agements. Another 800 appli-cations from Osmania andKakatiya Universities are like-ly taking the total number ofseats in all colleges under var-ious universities put togetherto over 23,000. Even after ins-pection by committees in var-ious colleges and impose cut insome of the seats, at least21,000 seats will remain.

In all, 100 colleges will offerthe new courses. So far, 90 col-leges have applied for recogni-tion. The JNTU laid down the

condition that NAC-accredit-ed colleges and National Boardof Accreditation courses offer-ing colleges will be given pri-ority in giving recognition tooffer the courses.

The collegesaffiliated to JNTUhave applied forpermission to fill20,700 seats inthese branches

Engineering colleges to get moreseats for newly-introduced courses

2-year-old boy drowned in water sump at homePNS n HYDERABAD

A two-year-old boy drownedin a water sump in a house atJeedimetla on Saturday night.

According to the police,Vijay Krishna lived alongwith his parentsSantosh Kumar andSreevani, inAyo d hyanagarunder Jeedimetlapolice station area.On Saturday night,while Sreevani wasbusy with householdchores, Vijay Krishna wasplaying and sneaked out of thehouse on the road. Sreevaniwho noticed the child missingrushed outside and started a

search for him. After search-ing in the surrounding lanesand houses of neighbours forover half and hour, shereturned home.“After fewminutes Sreevani and neigh-

bours checked the watersump in front of their

house where theyfound the boy.Immediately the boywas pulled out andtaken to a hospital

where doctors pro-nounced him dead,”

said E Satyam, subinspector Jeedimetla policestation.

A case was registered by thepolice and investigation wastaken up.

RTC bus runs over33-year-old bikerPNS n HYDERABAD

A 33-year-old woman waskilled after a TSRTC busrammed into her Activa atMedchal on Saturday night.

According to the police,the victim Jangili Suvarna,33, who was working for a pri-vate company, was going onher two-wheeler fromKompally to her house onSaturday night. When she

reached KandlakoyaChowrastha, her vehicle washit by the bus.

“Suvarna fell off the bikeand was injured. She was thenrushed to a private hospital.The doctors pronounced herbrought dead,” said K Naidu,Sub Inspector, Medchal policestation .Based on a complaint,the police registered a caseagainst the driver of the busand are investigating.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) presidentN Uttam Kumar Reddy hasstrongly condemned ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao for referring the Congressas the Coronavirus for thecountry. He said KCR was areal Coronavirus whileCongress is nation builder.

Uttam, in a statement onSunday, said that KCR, duringa debate in the Assembly onCoronavirus, has made high-ly objectionable remarksagainst the Congress. He saidKCR would not have madethat speech as the ChiefMinister, if Congress wouldnot have granted statehood forTelangana.

He said that KCR mustrealise that the Congress hasgiven Telangana to fulfill theaspirations of people and sub-

sequently, he became the ChiefMinister. Therefore, he advisedthe Chief Minister to restrainfrom indulging in cheap talkagainst the Congress.

The TPCC chief demandedthat KCR withdraw hisremarks and tender an uncon-ditional apology for makinginappropriate words againstthe Congress party. He alsodemanded that the remarks be

expunged from the Assemblyrecords. Uttam ridiculed KCR'sunderstanding of Coronavirus.While the entire world is tak-ing precautions to prevent thespread of deadly Coronavirus,KCR has ridiculously com-mented that it won't come toTelangana as it has high tem-perature and it can be cured bytaking a paracetamol. Aftermaking such a statement in theHouse, KCR suddenly realisedthe threat Coronavirus posesto the State and announcedlockdown.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 hyderabad 04

KCR must realise thatthe Congress hasgiven Telangana to

fulfill the aspirations of peopleand subsequently, he becamethe Chief Minister

— N UTTAM KUMAR REDDYTPCC president

State govt lacks foresight: Kishan PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddyon Sunday attributed the loss-es to the red gram farmers tolack of foresight on part of thestate government and wanted itto buy red gram from farmerson a war-footing.

Expressing concern over theproblems of red gram farmers,he pointed out that the Centrethis time came forward to buymaximum quantity of red gramfrom farmers. The Centre isready to lift 25 per cent of theestimated red gram yield in thestate. Because of the middle-men, the MSP is not reachingthe farmers and the state gov-ernment is reluctant to checkthe menace of the middlemen,he alleged. The Centre gavegreen signal to Markfed to buy51,625 tonnes of red gram andtransferred Rs 266 crore for thesame, Kishan Reddy said alleg-ing that the state government

did not buy at least one tonneof red gram this time whereasthe Centre so far purchased65,000 tonnes of red gram.

This year the Centre hasplans to purchase 1,51,625tonnes as against the 70,300tonnes purchased last year. TheCentre came forward to spendRs 879 crore to lift red gramcrop, he said pointing out thatthe Centre gives Rs 300 as

bonus for every quintal inneighbouring Karnataka.

In the gap of the state gov-ernment writing letter to theCentre many traders made adistress sale of red gram to pri-vate traders at a throw awayprice, had the state governmentcome to the rescue of the farm-ers the loss to the farmerscould have been averted, hesaid. Therefore, the state gov-

ernment should constituterevolving fund on a war-foot-ing, he said. Only out of mag-nanimity, the Centre has beenpurchasing red grams fromtraders, he said.

The Centre purchased 1.20lakh tones of cotton from thestate government. Moreover,the Centre has been preparingplans to tide over water crisis in100 districts, he said. To trans-port the farmers' produce,Kisan Trains would be pressedinto service from this year, hesaid.

On coronavirus, the countrybecame alert ahead of manyother nations, he said adding

that the government has beenputting the officials on thealert reviewing the progress ondaily basis. There will be no taxwhatsoever on manufacture ofmedicines to treat Corona, hesaid.

The government will leaveno stone unturned to preventthe virus. The Centre has beenholding discussions with thestates from time to time andkeeping them on the alert.

Precautions should be put inplace to check the incidence ofthe virus, he said adding thatthere is no need for the coun-try to nurse apprehensionsabout the virus.

RED GRAM

Reviewdrinking watersituation:CollectorPNS n MAHBUBNAGAR

District Collector S VenkataR ao has directed a l lMPDOs to conduct NREGSmeetings in every grampanchayat on March 16 at 7am, so that works could beexpedited. In a statementsent to all district officials,the Col lector askedsarpanches, panchayat sec-retaries, technical assistants,APOs and ECs to hold themeeting involving ShramaShakti group members andto assign works alreadyidentified under self-workto wage seekers.

He said all the worksalready identified needed tobe filed in a report and onecopy needed to be given tothe panchayat secretarywho would be sole lyresponsible for the worksand a copy needed to bepasted either on the wall ofthe gram panchayat officeor on the wall of a govern-ment school in the village.

He directed MPDOs toconduct review of worksassigned to wage seekersand to review drinkingwater situation in everymandal from March 21 to24. He also directed officialsto complete ODF review inview of the NREGS meetingscheduled on Monday andstressed that no ODFreview would be held onMonday.

‘Adulteratedfood a bigthreat'PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Speakers at a debate on con-sumer rights on Sunday saidunanimously that adulteratedfood items were more danger-ous than coronavirus.Karimnagar consumers' coun-cil conducted a debate on'food adulteration' on the occa-sion of World Consumers'Day at Film Bhavan here onSunday. Participating in thediscussion, speakers said adul-terated oils and food itemswere being manufactured andsold across the State.Youngsters from rural areaswere falling prey to various dis-eases by consuming junk foodprepared by using adulteratedoil and other material. It is like-ly to become a big threat topeople if the government failedto wage war against adulterat-ed products. Meanwhile, pri-vate nursing homes were fleec-ing poor patients, they said andurged the government to keepa tab over private hospitals.

The Centre is ready to purchase 25% of theestimated red gram yield in the state.Because of the middlemen, the MSP is notreaching the farmers and the stategovernment is reluctant to check the menaceof the middlemen, said Kishan Reddy

TelanganaLokayukta Bill approvesPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Assemblyapproved the constitutionalamendment of extending SC,ST reservations for 10 moreyears besides approving abo-lition of Abhaya HasthamScheme, abolition of co-con-tributory pension of womengroups, GST AmendmentBill, removing 29 corporationchairmen positions from thelist of beneficial positionsand Telangana Lokayuktha-2020 Bill. On Sunday, thegovernment introduced thesebills in the house andapproved immediately with-out much discussion.

Construct new buildingfor OGH, says BhattiPNS n HYDERABAD

CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka on Sunday saidthat the Osmania GeneralHospital is in dilapidated con-dition and demanded thegovernment to takesteps to repair orconstruct newbuilding inplace of theexisting one.

He askedthe stategovernmentto appointstaff in thehospitals acrossthe state. He saidthat there were manyproblems in the govern-ment hospitals across the stateand mainly the hospitals werefacing troubles with lack ofadequate staff.

Participating in the discus-sion on Coronavirus in theAssembly on Sunday, Bhattisaid that the government com-pleted the construction of 54

hospitals across the state, how-ever, the government didn'tbring them to the use. Hedemanded the government toopen those hospitals immedi-ately.

He asked the govern-ment to create

awareness amongthe people on

Coronavirusby initiatingn e e d f u lsteps imme-diately. Hestressed theneed of pro-

viding masksand medical

services to thepeople immediately.

"The TRS governmentdidn't release a single Group-I notification till date," hesaid. He also demanded thestate government to completeconstruction works of indoorstadium in Assembly con-stituencies across the state bysolving the problems ofappointment of police jobs.

KCR is real coronavirus,says Uttam Kumar Reddy

Jaggaquestions‘silence' ofSC, BC leaders PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress MLA fromSangareddy T Jagga Reddyhas found fault with theleaders from SC Communityfor not reacting during thearrest of MRPS founderpresident Manda KrishanMadiga. He also askedAmbedkar Unions to revealas to why they remainedsilent when the policedestroyed statue ofAmbedkar at Punjagutta.He said that even AmbedkarUnions didn't support orreact when Congress leaderV Hanumantha Rao, who isfighting for the governmentto re-install statue ofAmbedkar.

He also asked BC Unionsto reveal as to why theyfailed to extend their sup-port to R Krishanaiah whenthe TDP announcedKrishnaiah as ChiefMinisterial candidate in2014 elections.

"People from MandaKrishna and R Krishnaiahcommunities are not comingforward when they are fac-ing troubles. They didn'tfight for their personalissues," he said. MandaKrishna and Krishnaiahwaged a movement for thesake of SCs and BCs, he fur-ther said. Transgenders gherao addl collector

PNS n SIRCILLA

A group of four transgendersgheraoed an additional collec-tor at Yellareddypeta onSunday and demanded him topay them Rs 5,116.

Refusing to take whateverthe official gives by way ofcharity, they confined him tothe 2BHK houses. At last, thepolice have to intervene to res-

cue the revenue official. Additional Collector

Anjaiah, who was transferredto Rajanna Sircilla districtrecently, visited Yellareddypetto inspect the 2BHK housesbuilt for the poor.

They demanded the officialto pay them Rs 5,116. Effortsby other revenue officials pre-sent there bore no fruit. Thetransgenders staged a sit-in in

front of a 2BHK housedemanding the official to paythem what was demanded andconfined the additional collec-tor to the house. They did notallow way for the official toleave the house.

On a complaint by revenueofficials, the police had tointervene and send them awaymaking the additional collec-tor to heave a sigh of relief.

3 arrested for theft PNS nKUMRAM BHEEM ASIFABAD

A bus driver working withTSRTC and two others werearrested on bike lifting chargesin Kagaznagar town onSunday. Eleven two-wheelerswere recovered from theirpossession. The value of vehi-cles was assessed to be Rs 5.30lakh.

The accused were identifiedas Vogilinatham Ganesh, aTSRTC driver and native ofNavegaon village in Rebbenamandal, and, his friendsSantosh of Nirmal town andJailauddin of Nizamabad dis-trict. The three were caughtwhile trying to sell the stolenbikes in Maharashtra.

During the course of inves-tigations, Ganesh admitted tostealing the bikes, he wanted

to lead a lavish lifestyle so withthe help of Santosh and Jilani,he stole bikes using duplicatekeys. He confessed that theyhad lifted bikes in Kagaznagar,Armoor, Dichpally andMetpally towns. They werehiding the two-wheelers atGanesh's residence. They wereproduced before a court andsent to a judicial remand.

A TSRTC bus driverwas among thearrested. 11 bikeswere recovered;The value ofvehicles wasassessed to be Rs5.30 lakh

BHAINSA RIOTS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP presidentBandi Sanjay Kumar onSunday made it clear that BJPwas the only alternative partyto the ruling TRS in the state. "My aim is to bring the BJP topower in the state. For the for-mation of Telangana state,several youth sacrificed theirlives. But the Chief MinisterK Chandrashekhar Rao isruling the state as he wished,"he said.

Bandi Sanjay warned theChief Minister saying thatthey will not keep quiet if thepolice uses their poweragainst BJP activists andyouth in the state.

Stating that the BJP is notagainst any religion and treatsall sections equally, Sanjayalleged that TRS is behavinglike a dictator while joininghands with MIM. He said thathe will strive hard to fly theBJP flag in the state andmove forward with aim ofbringing BJP to power.

"The BJP honored me byappointing me as a state partychief though I worked ascommon activist. The partyentrusted responsibilitiesbelieving in me as I am mov-ing forward believing inideals," he said. Sanjaythanked Karimnagar peopleon the occasion for electing

him as an MP with hugemajority.

Taking potshots at ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao, the MP said, "it is atro-cious on part of ChiefMinister to claim that thefunds giving by the Centre aregiving by him. The youth arefacing troubles for the liveli-hood in the state. The stategovernment had just allotteda mere 7 per cent of funds foreducation. There is no needfor people to afraid of TRS."

Bandi stands byBhainsa victims

BJP Telangana state unitpresident and KarimnagarMP Bandi Sanjay Kumarshowed his mark by taking hisfirst decision in an innovativemanner. He requested the

party leaders and cadre not tobring any bouquets, shawls,sweet boxes and others tofelicitate him.

He asked them to dropthat money in the Hundi setup at the BJP state head officein Hyderabad. He said thatthe amount would be handedover to the victims of Bhainsariots.

Due to the outbreak ofCoronavirus, Sanjay also can-celled his mass rally fromAirport to State BJP office.After reaching here in the city,Sanjay offered floral tributesto Telangana martyrs statue atGun Park. Later, he paid flo-ral tributes to Dr ShyamPrasad Mukherji at BJP stateoffice besides paying floraltributes to the portraits ofSardar Patel and SushmaSwaraj.

Bandi Sanjay stands by victims

Continued from Page 1

As of now, there are twoCOVID-19 positive cases inthe state."

The Telangana govern-ment has 1,123 people intheir COVID-19 suspectslist. Results are awaited inrespect of samples of 18 peo-ple in the state, who aresymptomatic of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Centresaid that a total of 90 Indiannationals had been con-firmed with COVID-19.Maharashtra and Kerala reg-istered the highest number ofcases. While Maharashtraregistered 31 coronaviruspatients, Kerala had 22patients, as of March 15.

One moretestspositive...

Continued from Page 1

The closure of bars, pubs andmembership clubs is expectedto dent the earnings of TS gov-ernment. This will directlyimpact the sale of liquor in state.Consumption of petroleumproducts is expected to comedown drastically over the nexttwo weeks as people wouldprefer to stay indoors with no

scope for recreational activityoutside.

The closure of all educationinstitutions is expected to resultin steep downfall in the con-sumption of petrol and diesel asthousands of buses and othervehicles belonging to institu-tions as well as autos and otherpassenger transport vehicleswill come to a grinding halt.

The government expects to

earn Rs 16,000 crore this yearthrough sale of liquor, whichamounts to nearly Rs 1,300crore per month.

The shutdown of bars, pubsand clubs is expected to dent Rs200 crore per week and Rs 400crore for two weeks, if the shut-down is extended for two weeks.

Similarly, the governmentearns nearly Rs 900 crore permonth on sale of petroleum

products. The 15-day closure ofeducational institutions andweek-long closure of recre-ational activities could dragdown consumption to nearlyhalf -- amounting to Rs 450crore.

This apart, the bar on func-tions and marriages wouldresult in heavy losses for thegovernment. Sales of liquor,soft drinks, beverages and food

items may come down drastical-ly as their usage is more duringsuch events.

The closure of theatres, recre-ational centres and public parkswill result in the governmentlosing heavy revenues in theform of sales and taxes on tick-ets, sale of food items, beveragesetc.

The closure will negativelyimpact consumption, resulting

in decreasing sales and dwin-dling taxes.

The Finance Department,which is working out on thelosses that the governmentwould incur on account of theshutdown, has put the figure atnearly Rs 10,000 crore.

The government also earnssubstantial revenues throughtourism and hospitality sec-tors. However, due to the clo-

sure, there will be low footfallsat tourist places and fewerbookings at hotels, adverselyaffecting the state's revenues inthe form of taxes.

In case the shutdown isextended further, the losses ofTS government could mountfurther, upsetting the state gov-ernment's plans to earn Rs 1.02crore revenues in the form ofvarious taxes and duties.

Corona shutdown to cost Rs 10,000 cr for TS govt

Happening Hydgrinds to ahalt on Day-1of ‘corona...Continued from Page 1

Likewise, people avoidedeven promenades and leisurespots at Tank Bund, NecklaceRoad, NTR Gardens, Imax,Lumbini Park and SanjeevaiahPark.

In line with the governmentorders, the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation andthe Hyderabad MetropolitanDevelopment Authority closedpublic parks and other publicplaces to prevent gatherings ofpublic. Even the NehruZoological Park, which seesheavy footfall on Saturdaysand Sundays, was closed onSunday and would remainclosed "until further orders".Coaching hubs at AshokNagar, Himayathnagar,Dilsukhnagar, Mehdipatnamand Nallakunta, which stu-dents taking competitiveexams congregate, were also locked.

All told, with most mem-bers of the public preferring tostay at home, the usual rush atMahatma Gandhi Bus Station,Jubilee Bus Station, and theSecunderabad Railway Stationwas missing. The services ofMMTS and Metro Rail ranwith abnormally poor occu-pancy ratios.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao haswarned businesses against vio-lation of the orders of the gov-ernment with regard to shut-down stating that the licencesand permits of violators couldbe cancelled and cases bookedagainst them.

Jagan raises SEC caste for local...Continued from Page 1

Speaking to the media afterapprising the Governor of thedichotomy of SEC, he said NRamesh Kumar has issued anotification postponing the elec-tions, citing coronavirus as rea-son, on one hand, and transfer-ring officials on the other handbesides taking such an importantdecision without consulting eitherthe Chief Secretary or the HealthSecretary.“The notification wasissued in secrecy and withoutconsulting officials concerned,is contradictory in nature, aselections were postponed and inthe same breath higher officialsfrom Guntur and Chittoor dis-tricts were transferred, while the

Collectors were asked not totake up the house site patta dis-tribution work. It seems thatSEC is working at the behest ofothers and is reading out thescript prepared by others,” healleged. "Ever since YSRCP haswon considerable seats unani-mously, the TDP, along with itsfriendly media, has been con-spiring to stall polls to save itsface and to deprive the State ofthe Central funds to the tune ofRs 5, 000 crore, which we haveto forfeit, if polls are not heldbefore March 31," he pointedout.

For the 9,600 posts, 50,000nominations were filed and2,000 YSRCP candidates wereunanimously elected for

MPTCs. The Opposition partywas making an issue out of thisunmindful of the fact that dur-ing 2013 elections, the TDP hadwon 269 MPTCs unopposed.

"Naidu has conspired to post-pone the polls with the fear ofdefeat and spreading rumours.We complained to theGovernor and will also exploreother options, as we are the gov-ernment elected with a major-ity of 151 seats in the 175-mem-ber House, if the elections arepostponed and officials arebeing transferred what the elect-ed representatives should do,"he asked.

As far as coronavirus is con-cerned, worldwide 80.9% caseswere cured by house isolation

and in our State out of 70 sam-ples taken, only one case wastested positive and the govern-ment has taken effective stepsand screened people with care.

"Postponing election will notbe the answer, as we have to livewith tackling the coronaviruscases for at least one moreyear. In 10 days, the electionswould be over and measures tohandle will continue, includingprevention of public gather-ings," he said.

The government has takeneffective steps for screeningand setting up of quarantinefacilities in Visakhapatnam andVijayawada. Isolation roomswill be set up at six places, heinformed.

‘Rs 5,800 cr loss dueto delay in AP polls’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Lambasting Opposition leaderN Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCPMLA Ambati Rambabu saidthe former was behindpostponing the localbody elections bywhich the State hasl o s tRs 5,800 croreCentral governmentfunds.

Ambati Rambabuflayed the State ElectionCommissioner N RameshKumar for using coronavirus asthe reason to postpone elections.

It was not fair to use coronavirusas a reason to postpone the elec-tions, as there was no viruseffect in the State, he said while

speaking to the media here onSunday. The State could

have received Rs 5,800crore if the electionshave conducted as perthe schedule, he felt.The State Election

C o m m i s s i o n e rinstead of abiding the

constitutional rules hastaken the decision to favour theopposition party and Naidu bywhom Ramesh Kumar wasappointed in 2016.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Don't conduct grouptours till Mar 31: Copsto tour operatorsMumbai: Amid thecoronavirus scare, theMumbai Police on Sundayissued an order for touroperators, asking them not totake any groups to foreign ordomestic destinations fortourism purpose till March 31,an official said. Defying theorder, which came into effecton Sunday, may attract actionunder IPC 188 (disobedienceto order duly promulgated bypublic servant), the officialsaid. "To prevent furtherspread of COVID-19, we haveissued an order prohibitingconduct of any kind of tourinvolving group of people,traveling together to a foreignor domestic destinationorganised by private touroperators. If found, the policewill take action against suchgroups under section 144 ofCrPC," Deputy Commissionerof Police Pranay Ashok said."This is a very specific orderaimed at preventing danger tohuman life and safety. Itshould not be confused withthe regular order issued undersection 144 CrPC," he said.

Anti-CAA stir:Protesters blockedfrom taking out marchat AMU Aligarh (UP): Studentprotesters tried to take out acandlelight march at AligarhMuslim University here tomourn the death of a youthwho had died of gunshotinjuries sustained in violentclashes during protests overthe amended citizenship actlast month, but were blockedat the main gate itself, policesaid. Sixty students including50 unnamed persons havebeen booked by police at theCivil Lines police station inconnection with the protestsat the AMU campus onSaturday night. Ten studentswere named for violatingSection 144 of the IndianPenal Code. The protesterstried to march towards thecollectorate, which is locatedclose to AMU, to submit amemorandum to seniordistrict officials but werethwarted from doing so bypolice personnel who reachedthe spot and blocked them atthe Sir Syed Crossing, themain university campus gate,according to Civil Lines CircleOfficer (CO) Anil Samania.

Trinamool MP givesZero Hour notice in RSto demonstrate steps New Delhi: MP Derek O'Brienhas given a Zero Hour noticein Rajya Sabha seekingpermission to "demonstrate"five steps from the floor ofParliament on how to preventcoronavirus, sources said onSunday. Generally MPs aregiven around three minutes tospeak on issues during ZeroHour. TMC chief and WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee last week made asimilar demonstration fromher office in Kolkata urgingpeople not to panic. In hisnotice, O'Brien has said thathe wanted to show from thefloor of the House how oneshould wash hands regularlyand thoroughly with soap andwater for at least 20 seconds.

PNS n SRINAGAR

NC president Farooq Abdullahon Sunday asked all politicalparties of Jammu and Kashmirto jointly appeal to the Centreto bring back all detaineeslodged outside the union ter-ritory on "humanitarian"grounds.

In his first statement afterbeing released on Friday, the82-year-old leader said he hasbeen consciously avoidingmaking any political state-ments since he was releasedfrom detention.

He was initially taken underpreventive custody and laterslapped with the Public SafetyAct on September 15, whichwas subsequently extendedon December 13 and March11.

Abdullah said while headvocated for a "free and frankexchange" of political views inorder to take stock of the"momentous changes" thatJammu and Kashmir has seensince August 5 last year, "weare still some way away froman environment where suchpolitical discourse will be pos-sible. This is especially so con-

sidering the number of peopledetained in August last yearwho remain in jails outside J-K". He said before "we allowpolitics to divide us, I appealto all political leaders in thestate to unite behind the call tothe Union government tobring back all detainees fromJammu and Kashmir from

prisons outside the union ter-ritory pending their release".

"While we would like to seethem all released as soon aspossible, pending that theyshould be shifted to J-K. Thisis a humanitarian demandand I hope others will join mein placing this demand infront of the government of

India," the former chief min-ister said.

The veteran politician, whohad gone to meet his son andformer chief minister OmarAbdullah on Saturday, said, "Iam acutely aware that com-pared to hundreds of Kashmirifamilies I have been far morefortunate."

"I was detained at home andmy family had access to me.Yesterday, when I went tomeet my son Omar, alsodetained under the PublicSafety Act, I had to travel akilometre from my home to beable to see him," he said.

Abdullah said, however, forthe families of most of thedetainees meeting their lovedones is not so easy.

"Their loved ones have beendetained in jails spread acrossa number of states. They gettwo visits a month for whichthey have to spend largeamounts of money they can illafford travelling to and stayingin the vicinity of these pris-ons," the National Conferencechief, whose PSA was revokedby the JK administration onFriday after being detained for221 days, said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Come March 19, Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathwill set a record of being thefirst chief minister from theBJP to complete three straightyears in office in the state.

Adityanath (47) was swornin as the 21st chief minister ofUttar Pradesh. He assumedoffice on March 19, 2017, saysthe official website of the UttarPradesh Legislative Assembly.

He is the fourth chief min-ister from the saffron party tohead the northern state.

Before Adityanath, KalyanSingh, Ram Prakash Guptaand Rajnath Singh of the BJPhad served as Uttar Pradeshchief ministers.

Kalyan Singh had held thehigh office twice. He becamethe chief minister of UP for thefirst time on June 24, 1991, andheld the post till December 6,1992. His second stint wasfrom September 21, 1997 toNovember 12, 1999.

He was succeeded by RamPrakash Gupta, who was theUP chief minister fromNovember 12, 1999 to October28, 2000.

Rajnath Singh occupied theoffice from October 28, 2000to March 8, 2002.

"Yogi Adityanath isfrom a humble back-ground. He doesnot belong to thecategory of

'viraasat ki siaasat' (politics ofinheritance). He achieved thisposition through sheer hard-work," UP BJP media coordi-nator Rakesh Tripathi toldPTI.

"Everyone has seen his spir-it of waging a war againstJapanese Encephalitis inGorakhpur, and today he haswaged a similar war againstvarious illnesses of UttarPradesh-- be it crime or cor-ruption. He is credited for thesuccessful organisation ofKumbh in Prayagraj, PravasiBharatiya Diwas, InvestorSummit and the recently con-cluded Defence Expo," he said.

The opposition Congress,however, pooh-poohed thethree-year rule of the priest-turned-politician.

"It has been three years ofblatant lies.Farmers andyouths of thestate havebeen duped.

'Jungle raaj' is prevailing inUttar Pradesh. There is no let-up in crime against women inthe state," UP Congressspokesperson Ashok Singhsaid.

In the 2017 UP assemblyelections, the BJP won 312 ofthe 403 seats, while Apna Dal(Sonelal) got nine seats andSuheldev Bharatiya SamajParty (SBSP) won four seats.

Later, the Om PrakashRajbhar-led SBSP parted wayswith the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Almost a year before the2019 Lok Sabha election, theBJP suffered shock defeats inthe bypolls.

The saffron party lost theLok Sabha bypolls inGorakhpur (vacated byAdityanath), Phulpur (vacat-

ed by UP Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya) and Kairana (neces-

sitated by the death of sittingBJP MP Hukum Singh)

and Noorpur assemblyseat (necessitated bythe death of BJP MLALokendra SinghChauhan).

Not taking the defeat to hisheart, Adityanath chose tolearn from the "mistakes".

He had said the bypoll losswas a "lesson to the BJP" andcited "over-confidence" andthe "inability to gauge theunderstanding between SP andBSP" as prime reasons behindthe party's defeat.

"When the election candi-dates were declared, the SP,BSP and Congress were nottogether... they had not joinedhands then.

But suddenly in the middleof the election, the SP and theBSP forged an electoral under-standing," he had told themedia at his residence. "Theover-confidence and inabilityto gauge the electoral under-standing between the SP andBSP led to the defeat," he hadsaid. The tables turned in 2019and the BJP won Kairana,Gorakhpur and Phulpur seatsin the Lok Sabha electionsthat year.

The BJP bagged 62 out of 80Lok Sabha seats in the state in2019, while its ally Apna Dal(Sonelal) got two seats.

Yogi to become first UP CM fromBJP to complete 3 yrs in office

JK Apni Partydelegation meetsAmit ShahPNS n NEW DELHI

Chief of newly-formed 'JKApni Party' Altaf Bukhari metUnion Home Minister AmitShah on Sunday during whichthe minister allayed fears ofdemographic changes inJammu and Kashmir and alsoassured for early return ofstatehood.

Emerging after a nearly two-hour long meeting with thehome minister, Bukhari, abusinessman-turned-politicianwho led a delegation of theparty, said various issues,including apprehension of peo-ple of a possible demographicchange, early restoration ofstatehood and release of polit-ical prisoners were discussed.

"The home minister made itclear that there was no questionon the issue of any demograph-ic change," Bukhari said.

He said the home ministeralso reiterated that the govern-ment was committed for early

restoration of statehood toJammu and Kashmir and alsosaid that the process of delim-itation would be completed inthe most scientific manner atthe earliest.

On release of politicaldetenues, who were detainedafter August 5 last year whenthe Centre revoked specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmirand bifurcated it into union ter-ritories of Jammu and Kashmir,and Ladakh.

The meeting came a dayafter the delegation had calledon Prime Minister NarendraModi.

"The Home Ministermade it clear thatthere was no questionon the issue of anydemographic change,"Bukhari said.

Cong MLAs return to Bhopal from JaipurPNS n BHOPAL

A day before the bud-get session of theMadhya PradeshAssembly begins,the CongressMLAs, who hadbeen camping inJaipur amid thepolitical crisisbeing faced by theKamal Nath govern-ment, returned to Bhopal onSunday.

Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon had late Saturdaynight directed Chief MinisterKamal Nath to seek a trust votein the assembly on Monday.

Talking to PTI, a CongressMLA said the party legislatorshave returned to the state cap-ital from Rajasthan.

"After landing at Bhopalairport, we are being taken

to a hotel in buses.Instead of returning

home, we will stayin Bhopal as thebudget session ofthe assembly willstart onMonday," the

MLA said.The Congress

Legislature Party hadon Saturday issued a whip,

asking its MLAs to remain pre-sent during the assembly ses-sion.

However, the BJP MLAs,who have been staying at ahotel in Haryana, have notreturned to Bhopal so far.They had been flown toHaryana a few days back.

Meanwhile, the Congress

expressed confidence that itwill prove its majority in theHouse, while the oppositionBJP claimed that the rulingdispensation has been reducedto minority as 22 of its MLAshave resigned.

"We are confident of prov-ing our majority," state PublicRelations Minister P C Sharmasaid.

He said although the gover-nor has asked the Congressgovernment to seek a trust voteafter his (governor's) addressin the assembly on Monday,

the Speaker was empowered todecide about the proceedingsof the House and he wouldtake a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip inthe assembly, NarottamMishra, said, "The Congresshas lost its majority. The gov-ernor is saying that was inminority. I am not sayingthis...it has been mentioned itthe governor's letter sent tochief minister."

The Kamal Nath-led gov-ernment has been facing adeep crisis following the resig-

nation of 22 Congress MLAsafter former Union ministerJyotiraditya Scindia quit theparty on Tuesday. A day later,Scindia joined the BJP.

On Saturday, the Speakerhad accepted the resignationsof six ministers, who areamong the 22 rebel MLAs.With this, the strength of theHouse has come down to 222and the majority mark is now112. However, the resigna-tions of 16 other rebel legisla-tors, have not been accepted sofar.

The Congress now has awafer-thin majority in the222-member House.

The Congress's strength hasnow come down to 92, after its22 legislators rebelled andresigned few days back. Beforethe rebellion, its tally was 114.

MP POLITICAL CRISIS

SER opens 50-bed isolationward in Ranchihospital

PNS n NEW DELHI

Taking a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Congress leader RahulGandhi on Sunday said hehad asked the PM to to passon the benefit of the global oilprice crash to Indian con-sumers, but instead "ourgenius" hiked excise duty onfuel.

His jibe at the prime min-ister came a day after the gov-ernment hiked excise duty onpetrol and diesel by a steep Rs3 per litre each to garnerabout Rs 39,000 crore addi-tional revenue.

"Just 3 days ago I hadrequested @PMOIndia topass on the benefit of theglobal oil price crash toIndian consumers, by slashingthe prices of petrol & diesel inIndia. Instead of heeding thisadvice, our genius has goneand hiked #exciseduty onfuel!" Gandhi tweeted.

He also tagged a video of apress conference in whichFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman purportedlyavoids answering a questionon why government has not

passed on the benefits of theglobal oil crash to the people.

He also tagged avideo of a pressconference in whichFinance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanpurportedly avoidsanswering a questionon why governmenthas not passed on thebenefits of the globaloil crash to the people.

"I was detained at home and my family hadaccess to me. Yesterday, when I went to meetmy son Omar, also detained under the PublicSafety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from myhome to be able to see him," he said.

PNS n BHOPAL

Jyotiraditya Scindia, whosemove of quitting the Congresshas pushed the Kamal Nath-ledgovernment in Madhya Pradeshto the brink, is likely arrive inBhopal on Sunday night orearly Monday, a leader said.

The rebel Congress MLAs,who have been camping inBengaluru, are also scheduled toreturn to the Madhya Pradeshcapital by Sunday night, sourcessaid.

Madhya Pradesh Governor

Lalji Tandon had lateSaturday night direct-ed Chief MinisterKamal Nath to seeka trust vote in theL e g i s l a t i v eAssembly onMonday, the first dayof the budget session.

"Scindia ji is scheduledto arrive Bhopal on Sundaynight or early on Mondaymorning," said PankajChaturvedi, a close confidanteof Scindia.

However, he did not reveal

anything aboutScindia's plans after

arriving in the city.Scindia had

gone to Delhi onFriday after filinghis nomination

paper for theupcoming Rajya Sabha

election as a BJP candi-date. Sources said that on hisarrival, Scindia would meet hisloyalist MLAs, who resignedfrom the state assembly andCongress after he left the grandold party.

These rebel Congress MLAsare likely to reach Bhopal onSunday night or early Mondaymorning from Bengaluru, theysaid.

Assam shutsschools,cancels examsPNS n GUWAHATI

The Assam government onSunday ordered shutting downof educational institutions,gymnasiums, swimming poolsand cinema halls with imme-diate effect till March 29 in thewake of novel coronavirusoutbreak.

Assam Chief SecretaryKumar Sanjay Krishna,addressing a press conferencehere said, "Even though nopositive case has been detect-ed in the state so far, we are tak-ing all precautionary mea-sures."

He said barring boardexaminations, all exams sched-uled till the specified datehave been cancelled.

"All programmes scheduledat government auditoriumshave also been cancelled. Wehope those owned by privatefirms will also follow," he said.The chief secretary said all thedeputy commissioners havebeen asked to discourage anypublic gathering in their dis-tricts. He said the state govern-ment is fully equipped to han-dle any crisis arising out of thepandemic.

PNS n BHOPAL

Madhya Pradesh BJPLegislature Party on Sundayissued a whip to all its MLAsto remain present in the Houseduring the Assembly sessionthat begins on Monday, andvote in favour of party duringthe trust vote.

The whip was issued by BJPchief whip and MLANarottam Mishra.

The chief whip told theparty MLAs to vote in favourof the BJP during the floor test.BJP MLAs are currently stay-ing at a resort in Gurugram(Haryana).

Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon had directedChief Minister Kamal Nath

late Saturday night to seek atrust vote in the assemblysoon after his (governor's)address on March 16.

The Kamal Nath govern-ment in the state is teeteringafter 22 MLAs, supporters ofJyotiraditya Scindia who quitthe Congress and joined theBJP, resigned.

MP jail inmatesto supply 2kmasks PNS n JABALPUR (MP)

Inmates of a jail in MadhyaPradesh will supply 2,000masks they have manufac-tured to the state healthdepartment in view of thenovel coronavirus outbreak,a senior official said onSunday.

The inmates of NetajiSubhash Chandra BoseCentral Jail in Jabalpur start-ed making the masks after arequest from the state healthdepartment, DeputyInspector General of Police(Jails)(Jabalpur range) GopalTamrakar told PTI."A teamof 50 inmates are engaged inmaking 2,000 masks. Thesewill be supplied by March 16.However, the BJP MLAs, who have been

staying at a hotel in Haryana, have notreturned to Bhopal so far. They had beenflown to Haryana a few days back.

Farooq asks political parties to bringback those detained in jails outside

"It has been three years of blatant lies. Farmers andyouths of the state have been duped. 'Jungle raaj' isprevailing in Uttar Pradesh. There is no let-up incrime against women in the state," UP Congressspokesperson Ashok Singh said.

PNS n RANCHI/HOWRAH

The South Eastern Railway(SER) has opened a 50-bedisolation ward in the Ranchirail division hospital in view ofthe novel coronavirus out-break, officials said on Sunday.Apart from the 50-bed isola-tion ward, a 24/7 emergencyteam has also been deployedat the hospital, the SER said ina statement.

Cleaning workers of theSER are sanitising points ofhuman contact such as door-knobs, washbasins and bench-es at major railway stations atregular intervals, it said.

There are 45 railway stationsin the Ranchi railway divisionof the SER.

The SER is also undertak-ing an awareness drive aboutCOVID-19 through publicaddress systems at major sta-tions and inside the compart-ments of local trains across therailway zone, SER CPROSanjay Ghosh said.

Pass on oil price crashbenefit to people: Rahul

218 Indians evacuated fromItaly sent to ITBP quarantinePNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 218 Indians,mostly students, broughthere from Italy on Sundayhave been taken to an ITBPquarantine facility insouth-west Delhi's Chhawlaarea, officials said.

The Air India flight fromMilan landed around 9.45 amat the Indira GandhiInternational Airport (IGIA).

Out of the total Indiannationals in this group, 211are students.

"All the 218 evacuees fromMilan are being taken to ourquarantine facility in southwest Delhi's Chhawla area.They will be there for over afortnight as per quarantineprocedures," an Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP)spokesperson said.

The facility has earlier

catered to two such batchesof Indians and foreigners,evacuated from Wuhan inChina, totalling 518 people.

The ITBP centre, like inthe past, will have a dedicat-ed team of doctors, para-medics and other staff apartfrom providing food, medicaltesting and indoor enter-tainment facility to theinmates, the spokespersonsaid.

These rebel CongressMLAs are likely toreach Bhopal onSunday night or earlyMonday morning fromBengaluru, they said.

Scindia to arrive in Bhopal before MP Assembly session BJP asks MLAs tobe present in House

Following an infructuous spell oflooking east, India’s Act EastPolicy (AEP) is hobbled by snagsin connectivity, continuing insur-gencies, agitations, blockades

and extortion in the North-east andreplication of some of these very problems,especially insurgencies and snarls, indecision-making in Myanmar, the launch-pad and fulcrum of AEP. Last month, thevisit of Myanmar President, U WinMyint, to India reminded us of AEP anew.

The open-door policy is intended tousher in development in the North-east,which could in turn facilitate the closureof insurgencies. For the Look East Policyto work, it was necessary to press the“pause” button on democracy and,instead, support the ruling militaryjunta. Reversion to democracy, albeit par-tial, has been achieved as I discovered lastmonth in Yangon through a joint civilmilitary leadership, with the Army hav-ing the last word.

At the core of AEP is connectivity —by road, rail, sea, inland waterways and air.The strategic geography in the North-eastchannelises this outreach through the nar-row and sensitive Siliguri corridor, the vul-nerable chicken’s neck of the region.Choices for bypassing the Siliguri constric-tion were to transit through Bangladeshand/or use the sea route to reach insur-gency-free Mizoram on the Myanmar bor-der — from Kolkata to Sittwe Port inMyanmar and upto Mizoram.

Earlier, Bangladesh had rejectedIndian requests to connect Myanmarthrough the Port of Chittagong uptoAgartala and thence to the Myanmar bor-der. What is being operationalised now isthe costly and delayed Kaladan multi-modal access from Sittwe toMyanmar/Mizoram through Rakhineand Chin States, currently beset with insur-gencies by the Arakam Army. Therefore,instead of working this project south-north, it has been reversed, starting fromMizoram to Sittwe, which will have a 1,000km special economic zone (SEZ) and agas land pipeline from its gasfields to Gayain Bihar. A number of roads to andthrough Myanmar to the east are underconstruction and completion, thusenhancing the AEP connectivity grid.

Unique to Myanmar is the civil-Armyjoint leadership arrangement under anArmy-dictated constitution of 2011, whichensures that 25 per cent of the elected seatsin Parliament is reserved for the Army. Asthe Constitution forbids Myanmar’s pop-ular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of theNational League of Democracy (NLD)from holding office, she is a StateCouncillor in the improvised system,which allows her the number three posi-tion in the State hierarchy after thePresident and Vice President; whereas the“C” in C Senior General Aung Hlaing, who

calls the shots, is at number five.The Constitution reserves theposts of defence, home and bor-der affairs Ministers for theArmy.

The NLD wants to changethe Constitution, which requiresan unachievable two-thirdsmajority in Parliament. Lastweek, State Counsellor Aung SanSuu Kyi unsuccessfully tried topass the Constitutional amend-ment. Senior General Min AungHlaing is in his second term,which will end in April 2021, andefforts are on to accommodatehim as the Vice President. Thismay introduce a modicum ofcivilian control over the military.While the Army is popular in thecountryside, it is disliked by theurban elite. It disapproves of theoverwhelming Chinese pres-ence and meddling inMyanmar’s internal affairs. Butothers don’t mind them as theyhave the money to invest anddevelop the country.

Another historical challengefacing Myanmar is its myriadinsurgencies, which like the clus-ter on the Indian side, is a hur-dle for AEP. At the time of inde-pendence, many States in theerstwhile Burma had soughtself-determination and separa-tion but the PanglongAgreement of 1947 promised tosettle Centre-State relations even

as the Communists and Karensfavoured independence. Today,there are more than two dozenactive and dormant insurgencies,the active ones in border Stateslike Shan, Kachin, Chin andRakhine. The world’s most com-plex but elaborate peace processis in Myanmar and it consists ofunilateral, bilateral and a nation-wide cease fire agreements,prone to violations and formaland informal dialogues backedby the international communi-ty, prominently by China.

The year 2019 was bad forthe peace process. The 21st cen-tury Panglong Union PeaceConference with 10 nation-wideceasefire signatories and thehigh-level Joint ImplementationCoordination Meeting couldnot be held, though the UnionPeace Dialogue took place in July.Both the failed meetings are like-ly to be held after the nationalelections later this year, which theLady — reference to NLD leaderDaw Suu Kyi — is expected towin but with a reduced majori-ty. For various reasons, her pop-ularity has waned but there is noalternative leader.

Chinese President Xi Jinpingvisited Myanmar this Januaryand signed 33 agreements, ofwhich the China-MyanmarEconomic Corridor (like theeconomic corridors with

Pakistan and Nepal) was the cen-tre piece. All three strategic cor-ridors seek access to markets buttwo have an eye on warm watersof the Indian Ocean. SurpassingIndia’s port potential at Sittwe isKyakpyu, the deep-water portcoupled with SEZ and ultimate-ly road, rail, oil and gas pipelinesradiating through Myanmarnorth of China’s Yunnanprovince. China’s footprint isenormous: There are hordes ofChinese in the north. Thoughthe controversial $3.6 billionhydel dam at Myitsone has beenput on hold, bilateral tradestands at $17 billion and Chinaholds 40 per cent of Myanmar’sforeign debt of $5 billion. Xisigned separate agreements withthe Senior General and StateCouncillor while hailing thenew blueprint for comprehensivestrategic cooperation and thenew 2+2 strategic dialogue,Myanmar’s first with any coun-try.

India, though with goodintentions and now sizeable civiland defence cooperation, is nomatch for China’s deep pocketsand outreach to play the role ofa regional equaliser. Still, itsimpressive infrastructure andcapacity-building programmeshave been appreciated. Japan willteam up in improving qualityand quick delivery of projects.

While the two million, mostlyIndian Tamil, diaspora is noasset, the Buddhism connecthas not been tested even asIndian tourists are throngingMyanmar. India has transferreda Russian kilo-class diesel-elec-tric attack submarine and maysoon sell Brahmos missilesagainst the $1.5 billion line ofcredit, of which $300 million isleft. Border trade — within 16km — is a paltry $25 million,though overall trade is around$2.5 billion, far below potential.

The flowering of bilateralrelations is stalled in part by thecomplexity of joint leadershipand the unstoppable rise ofChina. While Beijing has cast astring of pearls along India’speriphery, it has placed inMyanmar, an arrestor wire sys-tem of an aircraft carrier to bluntthe take-off of AEP towardsAsean, where China is also thedominant influencer. Myanmar’sfull transition to democracydepends on progress in ethnicreconciliation and resolving civil-military tensions throughConstitutional reform. Till then,AEP will remain constrained.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff.)

With the Coronavirus spreading like wildfire,Governments around the world have beenforced to close schools and colleges as

a precautionary measure. But should this be allowedto dampen the students’ future, upset schedulesor stunt their minds? For in these unfortunate times,there’s an opportunity for institutions to boost theironline capacity and mainstream tech education.Those possessing enough resources and infrastruc-ture must create a more robust system and thosewith deficiencies must evolve new learning tools.Though digital education has been a stated goal

of our education policy for a long time and distance learning has been seen as anoption in undeserved areas, there has not been mass adoption yet. Yet global insti-tutions have called for a shift from in-house tutorial to online learning to not only main-tain a continuity plan but create new value chains and fructify an ed-tech revolution.

Now as the conventional education system stands fractured, India cannot affordto be a laggard. Ed-tech is already bridging massive gaps in the conventional formof learning caused by the crisis and can very well be mainstreamed after this. Withmore people likely to work and learn online, the Kerala Government has announcedit would provide extra bandwidth across the State. Besides, many online learningwebsites are allowing free access to their content to close the gaps affected stu-dents are bound to face. But making the tech system work will require much morethan just temporary concessions. That’s partly because not all students will beable to tap the potential due to existing anomalies like capped and costly data plans,slow connectivity and lack of accessibility to smartphones among other things.Until now, the ed-tech’s focus has been on learners in the metropolitan cities, whichhave a robust payment system, internet bandwidth and familiarity with online prod-ucts. The challenge is to reach students belonging to low-income families and liv-ing in deep pockets of rural India. For educators, it will be a humongous task tocraft modules according to the learning trends of the students on a case-specificbasis and at the same time, they have to keep their course prices at par with theindustry average. The opportunity at hand is to grow the e-learning space at $243billion by 2022. With India having one of the largest networks of higher educationinstitutions in the world, it will be interesting to see how unicorns in the educa-tional space change their strategies.

The Government has finally realised that its sin-gle-minded Kashmir policy, the one it has beenramming hard without factoring in local con-

texts and complexities, is costing it internationalacceptability. So even while it convinced the worldabout changing the status of Jammu and Kashmiras an internal and sovereign matter and as a larg-er counter-terrorism initiative, its civil lockdown ofthe Valley ate into its credibility. But what made Indialook like an unfair oppressor was the arrest of demo-cratically-elected leaders, with a decided pro-Indiatilt, and labelling them as enemies of the State

overnight. Worse, they were considered as good as “terrorists” and booked underdraconian laws, nullifying any interlocutory scope that they could have offered withKashmir’s civil society and citizenry even in a changed scenario. The growing anx-ieties about human rights curbs in the Valley despite a largely incident-free record,both in the European Union (EU) and the US, and an interventionist push from USPresident Donald Trump, have finally forced the Government to yield some ground.So it has released former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference(NC) leader Farooq Abdullah after seven months of captivity. And it is likely that itmay release others over a period of time. The Government also has self-serving motives.For some time, it has been trying to restore a semblance of normalcy by conduct-ing panchayat and local-level polls, hoping to build a new narrative ground up, albeitwith candidates friendly to it. As another round of panchayat polls is scheduled forMarch, officials elected a year ago, most of whom were walkover wins, fear to moveout of Srinagar hotels, simply because they contested against local will. Such wasthe boycott then that over 12,000 panchayat seats continue to be vacant. This round,too, could collapse as panchayats have made it clear that any electoral process wouldhave to be preceded by the release of jailed NC and People’s Democratic Party (PDP)leaders. This has completely blasted holes in the BJP’s attempt to rebuild a grass-roots matrix or carry out its much-touted development agenda, something it thoughtwould be a cakewalk in the absence of traditional politicians. It has failed to raise analternative political front and, therefore, needs to create a political climate first. TheNC and PDP would still be needed for that purpose. The BJP may have encouragedthe formation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), drawing rejects fromthe PDP and NC, under the stewardship of ex-PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari, but it can-not generate reassurance, least of all credibility, driven as it is by self-serving trans-actional politics than ideology. The Government would still find it easier to deal withold faithfuls than new aspirants. Perhaps, it is to craft an environment of fairplay thatAbdullah has been released. The JKAP may have been formed but needs time todevelop a cadre base, something which is still concentrated around the NC and thePDP. Question is will the NC now be used as a polarity to justify the politics of theJKAP or be used to build new bridges? After being treated so unjustly for siding withNew Delhi throughout his career, Dr Abdullah has refused to comment on politicalmatters till all leaders are released.

In fact, he may use this unwanted alienation to his advantage and be of somerelevance. For at the moment, he hardly has any asset value. For the normal Kashmiri,he is a recipient of much of their hatred and abuse. They believe he shortchangedthem by choosing a secular and democratic India and lost Article 370. Now, not onlythat is gone, the former State has been reduced to a Union Territory. So Kashmirisare questioning his family legacy. For New Delhi, he may have been the moderateface that’s not needed in changed times, given the endorsement of Jammu andKashmir’s special status both at home and the world. Therefore, Abdullah’s inescapableneed to question the abrogation of Article 370 and appear an activist Kashmiri ismore than an irritant, it is an obstacle in the new narrative. His suggestions of a nego-tiated autonomy for the two sides of Kashmir and converting the LoC into a soft bor-der for trade and commerce to flourish seem impractical when all talk is about right-ing historical wrongs and reclaiming territories in that context, rather than address-ing current realities. Yet one must remember his worth through the decades of con-flict. He acted as a filter and as Chief Minister did manage to keep militancy in check,give some semblance of credibility to the election process and had a pan-India accept-ability as a regional voice. For Abdullah may be a spent force, but people, who haveinvested in the idea of India at his call, will only see this as betrayal and recede intoseparatist ways. Simply for that reason, he still has worth and the emotion of hispeople. It is through him that the Government can let people speak and be heard.Without it, there can be no reconciliation. And the Government’s intent would alwaysseem doubtful to the world.

World upside down

Sir — Nature has its own way oftesting humans. The spread of onevirus has brought the entire worldto its knees. The novel Coronaviruspandemic, which began in Chinain late December, has since sick-ened more than 11,0000 and killedmore than 5,000 people worldwide.Its spread has not only renderednations vulnerable but has servedas a warning to those who possessor are developing biologicalweapons. One can only imaginehow dangerous the situation wouldbe in case any nation resorts togerm warfare.

Some of the affluent coun-tries, like Italy, are experiencingscarcity of essential items. Thereare reports that supermarketsthere have run out of goodsbecause COVID-19 has crippledsome Chinese manufacturingplants, which produce those com-modities. Panic buying, too, hascontributed to the present situa-tion. But the worst is yet to come.

Compounding woes, stockmarkets have crashed. The glob-al economy has already suffereda loss of $2 trillion. Airlinesaround the globe are suffering set-backs and economies dependent

on tourism stand devastated.Many industries dependent onChinese imports are facing grimlosses. India is no exception tothis. The crippling of the Chinesefactories is bound to sound thedeath knell for many industries.

KS Jayatheertha Bengaluru

Swift reforms needed

Sir — The prompt bailout propos-al for Yes Bank, with the State Bankof India (SBI) and other privatebanks such as HDFC and AxisBank chipping in their bit to pro-vide financial aid, has averted the

tragedy for the moment. Further,the Cabinet, too, has approved thereconstruction of the crisis-hitYes Bank as per the scheme pro-posed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). But pro-active measures areonly temporary in nature.

The fact of the matter is thatthe Central bank could have

nipped the problem in the budhad it taken lessons from earliersuch episodes of banks coveringup their solvency. But in India, wewake up only with whistle-blow-ing and end up with a late reali-sation. India’s financial sector isin dire need of reforms.

T Ridhi SreelekhaSecunderabad

Good old ways

Sir — The spread of Coronavirushas remined us of the good oldways. Once again, emphasis isbeing laid on Ayurveda, other tra-ditional medicines like Unaniand homoeopathic medicine sys-tems. Besides, the Indian traditionof namaste has gone global withthe likes of US President DonaldTrump, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron and evenPrince Charles saying no to helloand yes to folded hands. Insteadof using tissue papers, people arenow getting accustomed to wash-ing hands. It is better to follow ahealthy and systematic lifestyle.

Nitesh KumarJharkhand

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

06

Neighbourhood challenge

ASHOK K MEHTA

Irrespective of India’s Look East and Act East policy, bilateral relations between New Delhi and Naypyidaw have been stalled because of China’s dominance

Scindia's exit could open the flood-gates in the Congress as no leaderhaving self-respect can survive in asuffocating environment. I am sure that filters are in place toweed out the migratory.

BJP leader—Tom Vadakkan

I'd want to contributetowards portrayal of Indianwoman in cinema who areforward-thinking, beautiful,strong, vocal, independentand upright human beings.

Miss World —Manushi Chhillar

S O U N D B I T E

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

IPL without fans may be a futile tournament

This refers to the editorial, “Cricket shutdown?”(March 13). The shadow of Coronavirus has beenincreasing and impacting all public activities and

sports cannot remain in isolation. The National RifleAssociation of India (NRAI) has cancelled theInternational Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) WorldCup, which was to be hosted in Delhi. The UEFA hascalled a meeting to review the ongoing Euro 2020 andforthcoming Champions League. Though theGovernment has left the decision to host the forthcom-ing Indian Premier League up to the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India (BCCI), the cricketing body has sus-pended the league till April 15. If the situation does notimprove in the coming days, the league could be calledoff altogether.

It goes without saying that fans are the soul for anygame and without their motivation, appreciation andencouragement, an athlete is never going to relish theexperience of going out on the field. The BCCI may havecommercial compulsions as everything is planned wellin advance but then this is an exceptional situation andit calls for some difficult decisions. Without spectators

on the ground, the IPL will not be the same anymore,irrespective of fans having the option of watching it overtelevision or mobile. In such a scenario, the BCCI andits chief, Sourav Ganguly, must take a decision whichis good for the safety of all players and in the largerinterest of the game. Some financial loss in the bargainshould not be a big deal.

Bal Govind Noida

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Time to take a leapI am no admirer of Modibut I admire his courage of conviction and uncompromising effort topolarise the country onevery possible issue.

Congress leader—Digvijaya Singh

What’s next for the NC chief, who still has a psychological hold on the people? Can he still be an asset?

With Coronavirus disrupting learning, it will be interestingto see how tech unicorns tap the potential

The anti-people policies of theBJP Government are responsiblefor the high prices of petrol anddiesel despite crude oil remain-ing down to less than 50 percent for the last six years.

Congress' spokesperson—Ajay Maken

Farooq is free

Help farmers grow money

THOUGH ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS WE MAY NOT BEABLE TO GET THE FIFTH SEAT WE DON’T SAY THAT WE

WON’T FIELD A CANDIDATE. WE WILL DECIDE SOON.—TMC GENERAL SECRETARY

PARTHA CHATTERJEE

FIELDING THE FIFTH CANDIDATE WAS THE RESULT OFTMC’S SECRET TALKS WITH THE BJP WHICH, TOO,WANTS TO BLOCK THE LEFT’S ENTRY TO PARLIAMENT.—FORMER CPI(M) MP SAMIK LAHIRI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

While the share of agriculture in India’s econ-omy has progressively declined, eventoday the sector directly and indirectly

occupies over 50 per cent of the country’s workforceand contributes to over 17 per cent of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP). However, the farm sec-tor’s importance in our economic and social fabricgoes well beyond these indicators as the majority ofIndia’s poor live in rural areas where farming is theprimary source of livelihood. Additionally, with agrowing population and rising incomes in the cities,farmers face the burden of increasing yields andimproving the quality of their produce. But, for manyyears now we have been beset with an agrarian cri-sis for a variety of reasons. The Government’s strat-egy, over the years, primarily focussed on raising agri-cultural output, improving food security and pro-viding subsidies and waivers rather than recognis-ing the need to raise farmers’ income. While theseprove helpful in the short run, they are not effec-tive measures for the long haul as farmers contin-ue to face the same issues that got them into a cat-astrophic situation in the first place.

Instead of handing out loan waivers, theGovernment could help farmers by providingaccess to exploitation-free credit. This has beenattempted but both vision and implementation havebeen lacking. If easy credit is available, farmers willhave improved access to seeds, pesticides, irrigationfacilities and even mechanisation. Since farmers typ-ically procure all these materials via an open mar-ket as there is no State support, higher income oreasy credit will enable them to produce more/bet-ter. As farm incomes reduce or stagnate over time,conversion of farmlands for alternate uses to gen-erate money has gone up significantly in the pastdecade as land prices have seen a considerable uptick.After putting in all the hard work, farmers do notreceive fair wages for their labours. This has tradi-tionally been due to unfair exploitative practices atthe mandis (wholesale food markets) and the largenumber of middlemen across the supply chain, rightfrom production to consumption. In addition, foryears now, low global prices have hurt exports andencouraged cheaper imports, that further hit farmerincomes. A highly-fragmented supply chain andpoor farm infrastructure is a contributing factor tothe farm crisis as more than 50 per cent of the pro-duce is wasted in distribution alone. At the front end,there is very little demand insight for various cropsand virtually no marketing infrastructure and at thefarmers’ end there are non-existent or poor storagefacilities and additional transport and manpowercosts. Due to all the contributing factors above, farm-ers’ incomes have either stagnated or been lowerwhile the cost of production and support servicesis perpetually increasing. The farmers, despite highinterest rates, take the risk and cultivate only to bedisheartened when their produce does not fetch suit-able prices that cover their costs and leave somethingover as profit. Only a small portion of the farm pro-duce gets the Minimum Support Price (MSP) andmore than 90 per cent of farmers are at the mercyof the traders who set the market price. As incomesbecome insufficient, more and more farmers facepoverty. This situation discourages the current cropof farmers but more so the next generation whichgravitates towards the city for better opportunities.This leads to a shortage of hands for farm activitiesand is a very prevalent problem in an agri-rich Statelike Maharashtra where a lot of the farm help and

labour is being brought from other States.The lack of fair return on both financialand effort investment by farmers has ledto a marked increase in farmer suicides.

To solve this crisis all controllable,supporting factors (Government policy,spending, initiatives, incentives amongothers) have to singly focus on helping thefarmer be self-sustainable. On an averagethe farmers’ income today is only ̀ 20,000a year in 17 States or about half the coun-try. That means that the monthly incomeof a farming family — with an average offive members — is less than `1,700. It ishard to imagine how farmers are surviv-ing today with these incomes which haveto suffice for supporting their families andcontinuing with their farm productionactivities. With 50 per cent of our popu-lation working in the agri sector, it isimperative to help generate more incomefor them both for their betterment and forthe economy to keep ticking.

Thankfully, the Centre has set a tar-get to double farmers’ income by 2022.While this is a good first step towardsenabling farmer self-sustainability, theincome has to go up significantly morethan double at the current levels for it tobe truly transformational. The broaderstrategy and framework outlined by theGovernment is based on good principles.However, implementation on the groundand ensuring effective and timely impactfor the farmer will make the difference.Some of the key factors to ensure that theoutcome is favorable are given below:

Productivity of farmland holdingshas to be prioritised and improved: Mostimportantly, reducing dependence whol-ly on rainwater through better irrigationmechanisms and better planning ofgroundwater, is important. Enabling bet-ter support services such as easy access tocredit on fair terms, availability andaccess to high-quality seeds, fertilisers, pes-ticides and technology-driven enhance-

ments would be extremely beneficial. Helping farmers align their produc-

tion with seasons and market demands:As phone and internet penetration growexponentially, providing farmers educa-tion, information on weather, marketrequirements, pricing, Governmentschemes and subsidies would be useful.

Crop diversification for betterincome: A lot of companies, especiallystart-ups are taking up the important taskof educating and advising farmers how tonot only improve farm yield but also todiversify their produce to increaseincomes. This farmer education andawareness, at a larger scale, would not onlyhelp increase farm income but also helpmeet the demands of a growing popula-tion.

Better access to markets and pricing:Currently, the control of pricing or whatthe farmers receive for their hard work isin the hands of a few traders in mandis.Traditionally, this has been the area ofmost severe exploitation of farmers.Ensuring transparency in buying and sell-ing of agri goods at the mandis and ensur-ing MSP is an immediate impact solution.In the last few years, with the rise in over-seas Fast-Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) companies coming to Indiaand recently minted and existing compa-nies working in agriculture, farmers havebeen given an alternative to selling in man-dis. Here, for production to certain spec-ifications and quality standards, farmersearn more than what they would at man-dis and have some demand guarantees aswell. Companies such as Big Basket,More, Godrej, Reliance and so on all havecenters where farmers can sell their pro-duce directly with transparent pricing.However, this is limited to areas that arecloser to urban centres and has not yetpenetrated the deeper rural areas where-in there is a larger number of severely-impacted farmers.

Improved agri-infrastructure andsupply chain: A lot of the produce, be itvegetables, milk, grains and so on, is lostin distribution across the supply chain. Allstakeholders suffer additional costs due tothese losses. Farmers suffer the most dueto loss or quality deterioration and it alsodiscourages them from diversifying theircrops to fruits and vegetables. Enablingefficient, low-cost storage options atfarmer locations, improving access totransport or credit facilities for the same,subsidies on cold storage, use of technol-ogy to predict demand and so on wouldhelp eradicate some age-old problems andpositively impact farmer incomes.

Cooperative farming/cluster farm-ing/Farmer Producer Organisations:Most farmers across India have margin-al land holdings and this reduces their abil-ity to generate higher incomes individu-ally. Consolidation of land holdingsbecomes an important strategy to raisefarmer incomes. They can voluntarilycome together and pool land to gain thebenefits of size. Through consolidation,farmers can reap the benefits of economiesof scale both in input procurement andoutput marketing.

Focussing on these areas and imple-menting programmes with a single, uni-fied vision will be a huge step in the direc-tion of reviving India’s agriculture sector.Improving purchasing power in ruralareas, especially that of farmers, will alsohelp accelerate overall economic growth.Poor policy, high price volatility, climaterisk and indebtedness plague India’s farmsector. A majority of farmers — 85 per cent— include small and marginal ones, withdeclining and increasingly fragmentinglandholdings, where these external factorsand uncertainty make them even morevulnerable.

(The writer is Director, Farmpal,which helps farmers to connect with busi-nesses)

Improving purchasing power in rural areas, especially that of farmers who constitute over 50 per cent of the workforce, will accelerate the economic growth of the country

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

Of threat and itsperception

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

It is nobody's case that danger is not there. It isa question of an intelligent understanding ofdisaster as it is possible to face it sensibly

PUNEET SETHI

POOR POLICY,HIGH PRICEVOLATILITY,

CLIMATE RISK AND

INDEBTEDNESSPLAGUE INDIA’SFARM SECTOR.

A MAJORITY OFFARMERS — 85

PER CENT —INCLUDE SMALLAND MARGINAL

ONES, WITHDECLINING ANDINCREASINGLYFRAGMENTING

LANDHOLDINGS,WHERE THESE

EXTERNALFACTORS

ANDUNCERTAINTY

MAKE THEM EVEN

MOREVULNERABLE

Periodically there are events which capture the people’s mindand imagination because they are so unusual. Recall the glob-al frenzy at the beginning of 21st century? The midnight of

December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000 were supposed to beepoch-making. However, any student of geography knows that thereis no such thing as a century changing. The planet Earth rotatesaround its own axis and around the sun. The flashpoint of December31, 1999 changing to January 1, 2000 would be at different pointsof the globe at different times of the same day. For the purposesof enabling “measurement of time”, the Earth is divided into lon-gitudes. This measurement begins at a given longitude in the PacificOcean region. The rest of the measurement of time follows. Themarking of the longitude is notional and the time taken by the Earthto rotate fully, once, around its axis is taken to be “24 hours.”

Because of this innovation, calendars could be created andseasons marked by months. This collection of months became ayear. The globe is dotted with many types of calendars, each mark-ing the days and the collection of days in its own unique manner.Ultimately, all calendars talk of a year. In a manner of speaking,the measurement of days, months and years is based on assump-tions which make learning scientific and sequential.

To get back to the story of the so-called beginning of the21st century, the “unique event” was projected as once-in-a-life-time occasion. People wanted to be among the first on the plan-et to witness the “birth” of the 21st century. They also wanted tohave a story for their children and grandchildren if they were everasked, “Where were you when the new century was born?” Sothe enterprising ones got to work and some of them sat on thebeaches of certain islands to be among the first to witness the firstsunrise of the 21st century. This became a multi-billion dollar busi-ness but no management book has discussed this. However, the“dawn of the new century” became a reality in perceptions.

Simply put, the gross truth is that there is no such thingas a sunrise or sunset. The simple truth is that the sun never risesand it never sets. It looks like a sunrise because the Earth rotates.Also, there would be no qualitative difference between a December31 and January 1. In a manner of speaking, January 1 would belike any other day at any other time. Nothing would have changedin nature or reality, other than one more rotation of the blue plan-et while orbiting around the great fireball in the sky. However, thefallacy does not end there.

A new century, even going by the self-given measurements,does not begin with a zero. A new century would begin with one.Hence, the 21st century did not begin, in a manner of speaking,in the year 2000 but would have begun in 2001 only. However,such is the power of the hype created by the media that no oneseriously questioned the beginning of the new century on January1, 2000. Thus it is that the new century was ushered in and cel-ebrated. Almost every kind of reaction, from that of theastronomers to statisticians, was conspicuous by its silence onthis anomaly. Clearly, in life, the importance of “belief” is high andthe media plays a determining role in it. This is a running themewhich has several precedents in this century. For instance, therewas the Y2K scare at the turn of the 21st century, where comput-er users and programmers feared that computers would stop work-ing on December 31, 1999. There was such a major brouhahaover the Y2K threat that it delivered huge financial gains for somecomputer companies. Ultimately, nothing happened but the beliefin and the fear of the Y2K phenomenon was enormous.

Come 2001, there was the “threat” of Anthrax and in 2002many believed that the West Nile virus was a threat to the world.In 2003 it was the fear of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS), while in 2005 the “Bird Flu” was believed by many to bea recipe for disaster. A few gained and many, especially poultryand those involved in animal husbandry, paid the price of the glob-al panic exacerbated by the media.

Whenever there was a threat perception the question of scale,magnitude and range of impact, were rarely built into the equa-tion. Ultimately, this was nowhere near many of the other equallydisastrous events that the world had seen, like in the time of the“great plague.” Swine flu, Ebola virus, Zika virus all had their days.

It is nobody’s case that danger is not there. It is a question ofan intelligent understanding of disaster as it is possible to face dan-ger sensibly. One of the media reports says that on March 12 alone,the ongoing Coronavirus wiped out ̀ 11 lakh crore from the sharemarket at Dalal Street with the Sensex crashing by 2,919 points.However, the biggest challenge of the time may be to face chal-lenge in a realistic manner.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

The National Programme forHealth Care of the Elderly(NPHCE) was launched by the

Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare in 2010 to provide accessibleand affordable healthcare for theelderly and the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) declared 2020-2030 as the ‘Decade of HealthyAgeing.’ This is very relevant for Indiaas according to census data, there areover 104 million senior citizens in thecountry. Out of this, more than halfof the elderly are women.

Approximately 71 per cent of thecountry’s elderly reside in areas withlimited access to healthcare. It goeswithout saying that the incidence ofhospitalisation is much higher in the

elderly as compared to the total pop-ulation.

A major cause for concern is thefact that 27 per cent of people abovethe age of 80 were found to be home-bound or immobile.

Despite the fact that the situationis grave, States have not managed touse more than seven per cent of thefunds disbursed by the Centre for thehealthcare needs of the elderly andonly five per cent of the fundsreleased for the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) havebeen put to use.

This is particularly pathetic con-sidering the fact that the NPHCE ispart of the NCD flexi pool which isone of the major components of theNational Health Mission (NHM).

Providing access to quality health-care is the responsibility of the CentralGovernment as well as States and theyneed to put central funds to good useand ensure that healthcare schemesfor the elderly are implemented in alldistricts.

At present, the implementation islackadaisical and is marred by

unwieldy cost overruns. StateGovernments are already over-whelmed by their existing healthcareprogrammes and it is not unreason-able for them to expect a certainamount of flexibility in operations.However, the failure to produce tan-gible results points towards a lack ofplanning and organisation. Unlessthere is a strict oversight mechanism,course correction is difficult and theelderly of the nation will continue tosuffer the result of this indifference atthe State Government and bureaucrat-ic level.

Where do we stand?: At present,the facilities that are dedicated forgeriatric care are sub-standard. Inrural and remote areas, where a sub-stantial percentage of the elderlyreside, you would be hard-pressed tofind a functional facility, let alone awell-equipped one.

State Governments are not verykeen on spending money on pro-grammes like the NPHCE as they usethe funds for more immediaterequirements like skill training, salaryand infrastructure development, all of

which are crucial areas that are for-ever cash-strapped.

Even though the NPHCE isunder the NCD flexi pool, there aretwo main reasons behind the under-utilisation of funds. First, we suffer ashortage of medical professionalswho are trained in geriatric care.Second, State Treasuries take a lot oftime to release funds to the respectivedistrict administration.

Both of these factors lead to anunderutilisation of capital, preventingthe programme from taking flight.Also, depending on the economiccondition, a number of StateGovernments cut back on expendi-tures to trim the fiscal deficits.

Time to address the skill gap:Since the core of the programmefocusses on clinical care, it is not pos-sible to ensure effective implementa-tion, unless we train our healthcareprofessionals. Only a handful of med-ical colleges in India have postgrad-uate programmes to train undergrad-uate students in geriatric care, owingto the strict guidelines laid down bythe Medical Council of India (MCI).

Unless medical colleges get thetechnical and the bureaucratic supportthey need, it is unrealistic to expectthe current state of affairs to improve.Thankfully, the Government haswoken up to this reality and is nowsupporting two National Centres forAgeing (NCAs) that are dedicated totrain professionals, conduct research,and provide healthcare for the elder-ly. We also have regional geriatric cen-ters (RGCs) that aim to provide ter-tiary care through outpatient depart-ments for seniors in addition to pro-viding postgraduate medical coursesfor students who want to specialise ingeriatric medicine. If we open moreRGCs and NCAs, particularly inrural and remote areas, it will helpimprove health outcomes for theelderly.

The need for a multifacetedapproach: We also need a shift insocietal attitudes towards the elderlyif we want better results. Preventingand treating health problems in theelderly requires a multiprongedapproach that incorporates the activeinvolvement of the healthcare ecosys-

tem, urban/rural development, socialwelfare and legal sectors. We need toexpand our current geriatric care pro-gramme to include non-medicaldeterminants as well.

Unless we have an unwaveringpolitical commitment coupled withsocial action, it is difficult to imple-ment customised policies at the grass-root level. Seniors must be educatedabout potential risk factors so thatthey are empowered to take controlof their health. Children must volun-teer to look after their ageing parentsand we need customised health insur-ance schemes to take care of the needsof our senior citizens.

The Government must establishmore gerontology units to train med-ical and paramedical professionals onthe healthcare needs of the elderly. Tosum it up, a joint approach can helpaddress the challenges in geriatric carein the country. Failing to do so willdevelop into a costly proposition inthe future.

(The writer is Director andCreative Strategist at CHAI Kreativeand Return of Million Smiles)

States must utilise funds for geriatric careUnless there is a strict oversight mechanism, course correction is difficult and the elderly of the nation will continue to

suffer the result of this indifference at the Government and bureaucratic level

KEWAL KAPOOR

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

At no other time in historyhas fashion been accessibleto so many people. Tech-nology will help to makefashion greener. Plus, thereis a discernible shift fromdiscarding clothes torepairing, reusing or evenrenting them. However, it ishard to see how this will beenough to make fashionsustainable if the industrystill produces more clothes.We must rethink the ideathat the hunger for newclothes ought to be satedimmediately.

(The Guardian editorial)

FASHION CAN’TCOST THE EARTH

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

INOX beginscommercial op in LucknowNEW DELHI: Film exhibitorINOX Leisure on Sunday saidit has started commercialoperations at a multiplexcinema theatre in GomtiNagar, Lucknow fromSaturday. "The company hascommenced the CommercialOperations of a MultiplexCinema Theatre taken onLeave & License basis, locatedat INOX Leisure Limited, 3rdFloor, Phoenix Palassio Mall,Plot No 1, Sector No 7, GomtiNagar Extension, AmarShaheed Path, Lucknow -226010 with effect fromyesterday, i.e. Saturday, 14thMarch, 2020," a BSE filingsaid. The multiplex has 10screens and 1,710 seats, itadded. INOX is present in 68cities with 147 multiplexes,624 screens and a totalseating capacity of 144,394seats across India.

IDFC First to invest Rs 250 cr in Yes BankNEW DELHI: New Delhi, Mar15 (PTI) IDFC First Bank onSunday said it will make anequity investment of Rs 250crore in beleaguered Yes Bankto acquire 25 crore equityshares. "...duly authorizedcommittee of the Board ofDirectors of IDFC FIRST BankLtd had at its meeting held onMarch 14, 2020 accordedapproval for an equityinvestment of upto Rs 250crores comprising upto 25crore equity shares at a priceof Rs 10 each and face valueof Rs 2 each, under theproposed Scheme ofReconstruction of Yes BankLtd under the BankingRegulation Act, 1949, subjectto regulatory and governmentapproval(s), if any," the banksaid in a BSE filing. Earlier onSaturday, Federal Bank hadcommitted to investing Rs 300crore in Yes Bank forsubscription of its 30 croreshares.

NCLAT to have abench at Chennai,Govt issues orderNEW DELHI: A bench of theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) isbeing constituted in Chennaito handle matters arising fromSouthern states. Thegovernment has notified theconstitution of the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal, Chennai Bench,which will come into effectfrom March 18, 2020. TheChennai-based bench wouldhear the appeals against theorders of the benches of theNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) havingjurisdiction of Karnataka, TamilNadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Lakshadweep andPuducherry, the notificationsaid.

CORONA SCARE

FPIs press panic button, withdraw Rs 37,976 crPNS n NEW DELHI

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) have withdrawn a whop-ping Rs 37,976 crore on a netbasis from the Indian marketsin March so far amid the coro-navirus pandemic triggeringfears of a global recession.

Overseas investors pulledout a net sum of Rs 24,776.36crore from equities and Rs13,199.54 crore from the debtsegment between Mar 2-13,depositories data showed.

This translates into a totalnet outflow of Rs 37,975.90crore during the period underreview. Prior to this, foreigninvestors were net buyers forsix consecutive months sinceSeptember 2019.

"The spread of coronavirusoutbreak, which has now beendeclared a pandemic, and con-tinued slowdown in the glob-al economy, has created avicious cycle which is consum-ing investors worldwide," saidHimanshu Srivastava, senioranalyst manager research,

Morningstar InvestmentAdviser India. Global marketsreeled last week after the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)declared the coronavirus out-break a pandemic, andexpressed deep concern overthe "alarming levels of inac-tion". Given the ongoing sce-nario, foreign investors havetaken a flight to safer invest-ment options, such as dollar

denominated asset classes andgold as against fixed incomesecurities of emerging marketslike India, he added.

Going forward, as coron-avirus crosses boundaries andaffects other countries, it mayhave a more serious impact onthe already slowing globaleconomy and on foreign flowsinto emerging markets such asIndia, Srivastava said.

‘AIRTEL, VODAFONE IDEA MUST DISCLOSE WORKINGS’ PNS n NEW DELHI

Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea Ltd, whose self-assesseddues to the government are lessthan half of what theDepartment ofTelecommunications (DoT)estimates, must disclose work-ings highlighting areas of dif-ference as minority sharehold-ers deserve to know, an analystreport said.

While Bharti Airtel haspegged its dues arising from aSupreme Court ruling thatasked for non-telecom rev-enues to be included in calcu-lating spectrum charges andlicence fee at Rs 13,004 crore,the DoT puts the estimate at Rs35,000 crore.

In case of Vodafone Idea Ltd(VIL), the DoT is seeking overRs 53,000 crore, while thecompany estimates its duesare Rs 21,533 crore.

"While we appreciate thematter is still sub judice, oncethe legal chapter is over, Bhartiand VIL could (and should)disclose their self-assessmentworkings highlighting the areasof difference versus the DOTmath. Even as this isn't a statu-torily mandated disclosure, webelieve the minority share-holders deserve to know,"Kotak Institutional Equitiessaid in a March 9 report.

Stating that there is a case for

better disclosures on the mathfrom both the DoT as well asthe operators, it said a detailedexplanation of the calculationspost the closure of the legalproceedings is a must. "Itwould go a long way in inspir-ing confidence among theminority investors."

VIL has so far paid Rs 3,500crore out of its self-assessed lia-bility of Rs 21,533 crore, whileBharti Airtel has paid Rs13,004 crore to the governmentin two installments. It hadalso deposited an additional Rs

5,000 crore as an ad-hoc pay-ment to cover any reconcilia-tion differences.

Similarly, Tata Teleserviceshas paid Rs 2,197 crore in dues,and more recently an addition-al Rs 2,000 crore to cover rec-onciliation differences, whilethe DoT estimates the liabili-ties to be about Rs 14,000crore. "At some level, it is baf-fling that something as basicand critical as the base of rev-enues on which as much as 12-13% of sector revenues are paidas regulatory levies stayed a

matter of dispute on principlesand calculations more than twodecades after NTP-1999 (thetelecom policy that establishedrevenue share as a mecha-nism) was introduced andimplemented," Kotak said.

It hoped that for the sake ofminority investors, the telecompolicy hereon leaves little roomfor such material disputes, andeven when such disputes arise,they are settled (in or outsidecourts) in a more time-boundand reasonable manner.

Total adjusted gross rev-enue (AGR) dues, includinginterest and penalty, as per theself-assessment exercise doneby various telcos are 34.5 percent of the DoT assessed pro-visional dues for Bharti, 40.6per cent for VIL, and 16 percent for TTSL.

"We do not have sufficientdetails to be sure of why thedivergence. We do believe,however, that operators wouldhave been extra cautious intheir math given the SupremeCourt's tough stance on thematter," the report said.

Kotak said Bharti and VILmade higher provisions forthe dues in their Q2 FY20earnings as they many nothave had enough time post theSupreme Court's October 24,2019 order to complete theirself-assessments and adopted aconservative stance.

‘Construction, chemicalmanufacturing likely tobe worst-affected’PNS n NEW DELHI

Construction, transport andchemical manufacturing sec-tors are likely to be the worst-affected by the coronaviruspandemic in China, says areport. However, India's topimports — crude oil andgems and jewellery — whichcollectively account for 46 percent of total imports are rel-atively insulated from thepublic health crisis in China,according to the report byICICI Securities.

The novel coronaviruswhich originated in China'sWuhan city towards the endof 2019 has so far claimedover 5,000 lives and infectedmore than 1 lakh people glob-ally. Daily death toll due to thevirus is still very high andgiven the number of infectedpeople, the battle with thevirus is far from over, it said.

Since the severity of thevirus became known, globalfinancial markets have beenon the edge. Although mostof deaths are in China, thevirus has reportedly spread toabout 100 countries and has

been declared a pandemic bythe WHO. Out of India'stotal imports of USD 507billion in FY19, 26 per cent ofthe basket, which comprisesiron and steel and inorganicchemicals, is likely to beaffected modestly.

"We expect the impact oniron and steel to be moderatebecause India imports 11 percent of its iron and steel fromChina. Also, India's biggestimport source country foriron and steel, South Koreaimports 20 per cent of itsrequirement from China.

While Bharti Airtel has pegged its dues arisingfrom a SC ruling that asked for non-telecomrevenues to be included in calculatingspectrum charges and licence fee at Rs 13k cr,the DoT puts the estimate at Rs 35,000 crore

Auditors must use latest techtools for quality audits: CEPRPNS n NEW DELHI

Auditors need to be equippedwith the latest available tech-nological tools to execute highquality audits, right-leaningthink-tank Centre forEconomic Policy Research(CEPR) has said in a newreport.

"The business in presenttimes is becoming larger andmore complex. It is becomingdifficult for the auditor toreally access the complete dataand study the systems toachieve the in-depth examina-tion and subsequent analysis,"CEPR said.

"The limited tools to accessand analyse the data and studythe systems to bring out effec-tive reports is becoming a bigchallenge and these limita-tions are across both the largeand small enterprise," it added.

According to the report, arapid increase in the volume ofdata requires auditors to beequipped with the latest avail-able technological tools toanalyse a much higher volumeof data in their audits than pre-viously required.

Vijay Gupta, a former cen-tral council member of theICAI, said, "The globalisedbusinesses of the clients thatthe audit firms serve, calls forthe latest audit techniques andprocesses that needs to getdeployed by such audit firms,the absence of which becomesa handicap in apt deliverance

of their duties."He said there is a need for

better IT infrastructure to cre-ate more robust audit frame-work.

The audit industry has beenfacing multiple challenges inthe current macro-economicenvironment and these arefurther getting aggravated bya prevailing negative narrativearound the audit profession inthe country.

There has been a spate ofactions taken against auditorsin the recent times, including

against PwC in the Satyamscam case, and against Deloitteand BSR with regard to theIL&FS fraud.

Also, in the 2013 case ofNSEL, auditors were arrestedby the Economic OffencesWing (EOW) Mumbai, butwere realised on bail later.

According to CEPR, latestadvances in technologypromise significant benefitsfor the audit profession, witha number of key drivers sig-nalling the need for technolog-ical change in audit.

According to report, a rapid increase involume of data requires auditors to beequipped with latest available technologicaltools to analyse a much higher volume ofdata in their audits than previously required

Top 10 cos lose Rs 4.22 lakh crin m-cap; TCS, RIL hit hardThe 10 most valued domestic companies lost a massive Rs

4,22,393.44 crore in market capitalisation last week, withheavyweights TCS and RIL taking the biggest hit. In a nerve-wracking week for the markets, the BSE Sensex plummeted3,473.14 points or 9.24 per cent, largely in tandem with globalequities which were hammered by panic selling amid thecoronavirus pandemic. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of TCSdropped by Rs 1,16,549.07 crore to reach Rs 6,78,168.49 crorefor the week ended Friday. Reliance Industries' m-cap plummetedRs 1,03,425.15 crore to Rs 7,01,693.52 crore. Infosys wasanother major drag, with its valuation plunging Rs 41,315.98 croreto Rs 2,73,505.62 crore. HDFC Bank's m-cap tanked Rs 34,919.51crore to reach Rs 5,87,190.43 crore and that of HindustanUnilever Limited (HUL) tumbled Rs 33,208.35 crore to Rs4,40,151.42 crore. The valuation of Kotak Mahindra Bank declinedRs 30,931.1 crore to Rs 2,81,237.76 crore and that of ICICI Bankfell Rs 25,098.54 crore to Rs 2,89,606.69 crore. Likewise, BajajFinance witnessed a drop of Rs 16,320.81 crore in its m-cap toreach Rs 2,37,989.09 crore. Bharti Airtel suffered a decline of Rs13,611.62 crore in its valuation to stand at Rs 2,69,613.64 crore.The market-cap of HDFC fell by Rs 7,013.31 crore to Rs3,58,201.28 crore. In the ranking of the 10 most valued firms, RILremained at the top, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, HDFC,ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and BajajFinance.

PNS n DUBAI

The central bank of the UnitedArab Emirates, home to theskyscraper-studded city ofDubai, on Sunday announceda USD 27 billion stimuluspackage to deal with the eco-nomic effects of the coron-avirus pandemic.

The money will go towardsupporting the country'sbanks, and regulatory limits onloans will be eased.

Nations across the MiddleEast have pledged to stimulatetheir economies as they weath-er the global pandemic, whichhas led to widespread schoolclosures, the cancellation ofsporting and other events, as

well as sweeping lockdowns insome hard-hit areas.

For most people, the newcoronavirus causes only mildor moderate symptoms, suchas fever and cough. For some,especially older adults andpeople with existing health

problems, it can cause moresevere illness, including pneu-monia.

Most people recover in amatter of weeks. But the virusis highly contagious and can bespread by individuals with novisible symptoms.

DoT units routinely seeking bulk call data recordsPNS n NEW DELHI

Some units of the telecomdepartment are seeking huge calldata records of people in somecircles on a routine basis whichis alleged to be in deviation fromthe standard operating proce-dure laid down by the govern-ment, according to sources.

Industry players have raisedconcerns over such practices ina communication to theTelecom Secretary, the sourcessaid.

They claimed the DoT unit ofDelhi demanded call datarecords (CDRs) of entire statefor February 2, 3 and 4, 2020and separately for specific routesin Delhi with residences ofMinisters, Members ofParliament, Judge, important

offices etc following whichindustry players gave represen-tation before telecom secretaryAnshu Prakash to raise concernon such practice.

"Telecom industry playershave written to the telecom

secretary that CDRs sought forspecific routes and areas maylead to allegations of surveil-lance, especially in the state likeDelhi having numerous VVIPzones having offices and resi-dences of ministers, MPs, judges

etc," a source aware of the com-munication said.

An email query sent to theDepartment of Telecom in thisregard elicited no reply.

According to the source, whodid not wish to be named, saidthat the DoT has already issueddetailed instructions and stan-dard operating procedures(SOPs) for providing CDRs tolaw enforcement agencies inAugust 2016 and April 2019.

The DoT including its fieldunits under the SOP arerequired to ascertain the iden-tity of the subscriber, examinethe justification carefully forCDR demand, detail purposefor seeking CDRs and not usingsuch CDRs received for anyother purpose, define the offi-cers authorised to seek and

approve such a request.However, various licence servicearea units of the DoT are notadhering to the set process andseek voluminous CDR detailsfrom telecom operators on reg-ular basis in contravention to the SOP.

"Almost all LSA units of DoTseek one day CDR details fromtelecom operators on monthlybasis in states like AndhraPradesh on 1st and 5th day ofthe month, Delhi on 18th day,Haryana on 21st day, HimachalPradesh and Jammu andKashmir on the last day of themonth, Kerala and Odisha onthe 15th day, Madhya Pradeshand Punjab on the last day of theprevious month and the first dayof the current month," thesource said.

PNS n RIYADH

Saudi Aramco on Sundayreported a 20.6 percent drop inits net profit for 2019 due tolow oil prices and pro-duction levels, thecompany said in astatement.

These are thefirst annual resultsto be announced bythe energy giant afterits historical USD 29.4billion initial public offering andlisting on the Saudi Tadawulmarket last December.

Aramco posted net profits ofUSD 88.2 billion last year com-pared to USD 111.1 billion in2018, Monday's statement said.

"The decrease was primari-ly due to lower crude oil pricesand production volumes, cou-pled with declining refining andchemical margins," it said.

The company alsomade USD 1.6 billion of

impairment provisionsfor losses associatedwith Sadara ChemicalCompany, an Aramco

subsidiary."2019 was an excep-

tional year for SaudiAramco. Through a variety ofcircumstances — some plannedand some not -- the world wasoffered unprecedented insightinto Saudi Aramco's agility andresilience," CEO Amin Nassersaid.

Aramco reports 20.6%drop in 2019 profit

Volatility to rule markets, Fed ratedecision to drive equities: AnalystsPNS n NEW DELHI

Equity markets are likely to seemore volatility this week andmay also witness a relief rallyafter suffering a massive drub-bing recently due to the coro-navirus pandemic, analystssaid.

In a nerve-wracking weekfor the markets, the BSESensex plummeted 3,473.14points or 9.24 per cent whilethe NSE Nifty lost 1,034.25points or 9.41 per cent, large-ly in tandem with global equi-ties which succumbed to panicselling triggered by the coro-navirus outbreak.

Domestic markets witnessed

a roller-coaster session onFriday, with trading being halt-ed for the first time in 12 yearsas benchmarks plunged over10 per cent in opening trade,before staging a record-shatter-ing comeback.

Analysts said participantswould keep an eye on the

spread of the coronavirus, aswell as further stimulus mea-sures by global central banksand governments. The USFederal Reserve is also sched-uled to announce its rate deci-sion this week.

"Markets would take a whileto recover from this significantprice damage. While volatilitymay continue in coming days,we could see intermittent reliefrallies, however these are like-ly to be short-lived. In suchtimes of global volatility, retailinvestors should keep calmand not panic," said SiddharthaKhemka, Head - RetailResearch, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.

UAE pledges $27 bn in stimulusas Mideast works to slow virus

Petrol price cut by 12 paise/ltr,diesel by 14 paisePNS n NEW DELHI

Petrol price was on Sundaycut by 12 paise a litre anddiesel rates by 14 paise as oilcompanies moderatedrate reduction amid thefall in global prices toabsorb the hike in exciseduty on fuel by the gov-ernment.

Petrol in Delhi now costsRs 69.75 per litre, whilediesel is priced at Rs 62.44,according to a price notifica-

tion of state-owned oil firms.Delhi has the lowest fuelprices among metros becauseof lower state taxes.

Industry sources said thereduction in rates would

have been higher butfor the Rs 3 perlitre increase in

excise duty effected onSaturday. Oil companies,they said, had been moder-ating reduction warranted inretail prices in anticipation ofan excise duty hike.

hat women see,perceive, thinkand function dif-ferently, is aknown fact.Capitalising on

this, Hyderabad Centre forPhotography in associationwith the State Art Galleryhas organised a photographyexhibition called ‘Resilience’that has photographs cap-tured by women.

Inaugurated by TelanganaGovernor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan, the Gallerywill display work of 20women photographers on 29different subjects, rangingfrom old women to babiesto waterfalls among others.A woman herself, the gover-nor lauded the photogra-phers for their work andencouraged many others.

Acquin Matthews, direc-tor of Indian PhotographyFestival says that one of pri-mary aims to hold the exhi-bition was to encouragewomen photographersacross the country to pursuetheir interests.

“We believe that photog-raphy communicates manycomplex and heart touchingissues with ease. Resilienceis a word that has a lot ofsignificance in the current

world conditions wherewe’re facing a lot of topicalsocial issues. We askedwomen photographers aboutthat one image that holdsclose to their heart and whyit's significant to them,”Matthews explains.

Women photographerswho have their work put upinclude Aditi Talwar, AmitaTalwar, Ananya Sinha,Ashima Raizada, BhargaviNaveen, Deepali Sharma,Jovy Thomas, KranthiRemala, Kirthana Devdas,Madhavi Kuram, MallikaRajkumar, Menty Jamir,Namrata Rupani, NishatFatima, Nupur Aai, PadmaT, Prerana Patil, Radhaprasad, Samyukta Lakshmi,Smita Sharma, SushmithaTadakamadla and SutapaRoy. The artists exploredmyriad themes includinghappiness, love, sadness, joy,fear, identity and variousother facets of life throughtheir images.

Award-winning indepen-dent photojournalist SmitaSharma’s work focusses pri-marily on human rights,gender, health and socialissues. Her work has beenpublished in various placesall over the world. In theexhibition, Smita showcasedher work of teenage preg-nancy in Kenya.

“During my travel, I metDamacline, my subject, at aprimary school and learntthat she was a new mother.She is one among the few lotof the girls who strive tocontinue their educationafter childbirth,” Sharmainforms. She learnt that hersubject joined school amonth after giving birth .Damacline wo run to herhouse during lunch breaksto breastfeed her newbornevery day.

“We decided to follow herhome one afternoon andhad to walk more than threekilometres in the blazingsun through fields and anarrow stream to reach herplace. She ran as fast as shecould to spend more timewith her baby during thehour-long break. I took thisimage at her home as shewas cuddling him. I wasamazed by her dedication topursue her studies whilegiving adequate attention toher new-born,” Sharma says.

Self-taught photographerMadhavi Kuram showcasedher work of an old womanwho was deserted by her

family. “This is a portrait ofa lady left by her family in ahome for the aged.Deserted, lonely and psy-chologically distraught,”Kuram describes her sub-ject.

“One morning, when Ivisited the place, I found herin a situation that churnedmy insides. A moment ofanger for her family that lefther there, helplessness that Icould not be of any help toher, sympathy for her trau-ma and situation, worryover how she would manageeverything all by herself,”she explains. Kuram was ina dilemma whether to pho-tograph the old woman insuch a situation, but realisedthat she badly wanted toshowcase this emotion.

“The portrait showseverything wrong with us asa society,” she tells us.

Another photographerBhargavi Jakkala believesthat memories must neverfade and hence loves to cap-ture babies. “Being a moth-er, I'm more insightful withevery portrait of my littleone and that’s how I fell inlove with every baby I meet.It’s a blessing to carry tinynew-born babies and that’sthe most beautiful part ofmy job,” Jakkala smiles.

“I love the calm and cutesmile babies give me everytime I take the into my armsand that, I will cherish for-ever,” she adds.

Photographer T Padma isa nature lover and likes tocapture her surroundings.

She is showcasing her pho-tograph of Sathodi waterfallsin the state of Karnataka.“Located at Yellapur inKarnataka, Sathodi water-falls is a beauty to watch atdawn with absolutely no onearound. I loved this compo-sition as the arrangement ofthe rocks leads to the water-falls, beautifully nestled inthe tress,” she talks abouther work.

“I fixed my tripod andstarted capturing as the lightwas apt for a slightly longerexposure for a bit ofsmoothening of the water. Afew minutes later, I couldsee a single beam of lightray falling on the waterfallsafter hitting a tall rock, andI knew there is going to bemore as the sun goes up and

captured it,” she says, look-ing at her photograph withpride.

(The gallery will be opento public from 10 am to 6

pm until the March 27)

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

MondayMarch 16, 2020

Through the eyes of

WOMENMore than 20 women

photographersfrom across the

country areshowcasing

variousemotions,issues and

more throughphotographscaptured by

them at StateArt Gallery,

reports VSATEESH

REDDY

T

‘Beauty of this countrylies in its diversity'

Sachin's Ode to Urduopular actor anddirector SachinPilgaonkar, whowas recently intown, loves tofondly brag

about his Urdu speakingskills.

Pilgaonkar, who loveseverything in Urdu, spokeabout the language, gram-mar, its usage in Indiancinemas and nuances ofghazal and poetry. Theactor credits MeenaKumari for making him tolearn and love the lan-guage. “I am grateful to herfor having encouraged myparents to teach me thisbeautiful language,” hesays.

The actor was all of nineyears old when he had tolearn the language for arole in the film Majhli Didito play the character ofKishan. And there has beenno stopping for him eversince. While Pilgaonkar’smother tongue is Marathi,he says his language ofthought is now Urdu.

While he was learningUrdu as a child, the actorone day found out that the legendary poet ManjuSultanpuri stayed rightopposite his house. The poet’s son andPilgaonkar were goodfriends, who played togeth-er in the neighbourhood.He addressed Sultanpuri as“abbaji”. The actor recalls atime when all the kids,including himself, queuedup at the poet’s house toreceive an Eidi of Rs 10.Pilgaonkar was given anUrdu script for Eidi. Thatgesture inspired him topursue his love for the language more deeply.

While talking about vari-ous brilliant songs andpoems by several poets, he

also recited some of hisown shayaris. On beingasked how he became ashayar, Pilgaonkar says,“Learning the languageautomatically makes one a shayar. The languageis so beautiful, it just

flows out. Urdu has anessence of its own.”

The actor recalled thetime he met former PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru.“I received the nationalaward for Best Child Artist for the film Ha Maza Marg Ekla. Nehrujicalled me, put me on his

lap, and broke his protocol to remove theiconic rose and pin it to my Sherwani,” he remi-nisces with a sense ofpride.

The actor counts himselffortunate for witnessingthe changing revolutions inIndian cinema from Blackand White to colour, from‘Mitchell Camera toArriflex Camera.’

One the work front,Pilgaonkar’s City of DreamsSeason 2 is all set to releasesoon on Hotstar.

— Meshael Saleem

MESHAEL SALEEM n HYDERABAD

ollywood actor, dancer,comedian, voice artist,impressionist JavedJaffery was in townrecently. He spoke atlength about his love for

Hyderabad, its people, culture, lan-guage, humour and cuisine.

In conversation with Prof. AmirUllah Khan, a development econo-mist, Javed Jaffery left the audiencein splits while he spoke on variousissue about his life, personal andprofessional.

The actor reminisced his earliestdays in the film industry and said hecherishes his Maggie advertisementdays. “I thoroughly enjoyed shootingfor the ketchup ad. It was fun andcreative,” he says. Jaffery was alsoknown for being the commentator inHindi for popular kids Japanesegame show, the Takeshi’s Castle.Although several other comedianstried their hand at the same, nothingcould match the comical level set byJaffrey. “People still walk up to tilldate and thank me for making theirchildhood special,” the actor gushes.

Commenting on the yesteryearactors of Bollywood, the actor says,“The actors back then had a styleand charm of their own. I seldomsee that in the actors of today.”

The actor had a brief stint in poli-tics back in 2014. He contested the2014 Lok Sabha polls on an AamAdmi Party ticket but lost to our

current Defence Minister RajnathSingh. But that didn’t stop the actorfrom raising his voice on politicalissues. The actor is among the fewlot of celebrities who dared to speakout against the CitizenshipAmendment Bill. “The beauty of thiscountry lies in its diversity. Any actto break this, will result in greatharm to the very fibre that makesIndia,” he says.

Speaking on the perils of it, Javedsays, “Everything we say or do isunder constant criticism. And any-body can come troll or threaten us.Social media comes with its own setof advantages and disadvantages. Butthat should never stop a responsiblecitizen from calling out the wrong-doers.” The actor was all praise forthe students who “bravely came outand were part of the struggle” againstthe CAA.

On the work front, Jaffery’s filmMaska, will soon be released onNetflix. It also stars Boman Irani,Manisha Koirala and Nikita Dutta inprominent roles.

B

P

THE BEAUTY OF THISCOUNTRY LIES IN ITSDIVERSITY. ANY ACT TOBREAK THIS, WILL RESULTIN GREAT HARM TO THEVERY FIBRE THAT MAKESINDIA, HE SAID.

PARTY

10

Hyderabad Monday March 16, 2020

CITY GUIDE

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, send your details alongwith a poster and contact number to pioneer.features@gmail.com

EVENTS

l Hyderabad Readers and Writers Group ishosting a book reading session on March 21 atPhoenix Arena from 6 pm.

BOOK READING

l Lamakaan, Banjara Hills is conducting a painting workshop on its premises on March 22from 11:30 am. The artistes will provide step by stepinstructions on how to paint.

PAINTING WORKSHOP

l Artist Bharati Shah’s latest art exhibition‘Metamorphosis’ will be on preview at StateGallery of Art, Madhapur today at 4.30 pm. Theexhibition is a bouquet of her recent paintingsthat reflect the concept of evolution and will beon till March 17 between 10 am and 7.30 pm.

l ‘Aur Karo Shaadi’ is the voice screaminginside every married man (and woman)!.Hyderabad's one of the best comedians AvinashAgarwal, who got married recently, will performthis stand up, at Aaromale on March 21 at 8 pm.

AUR KARO SHAADI

PUPPETRY DAY

COMEDY NIGHTSl Stand-up comedian Vivek Muralidharan ishosting his new stand-up show ‘VivekMuralidharan Live’ on March 22 at PhoenixArena from 5 pm. In this weekly show, he willspeak about various societal issues.

ACRYLICS ON CANVAS

l Nori Art and Puppetry Centre is conducting WorldPuppetry Day Celebrations on March 21 at Lamakaanfrom 6.30 pm.

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

what’s brewing?

l Kona Venkat l Puri Jagannadh and Charmee Kaur

l Suma Kanakala

l K Raghavendra Rao l Veeru Potla

l Shobu Yarlagadda l Sri Vasu l Y. V. S. Chowdary

l A

nush

ka S

hetty

GLITZY AFFAIRAnushka Shetty recently completed 15

years in the film industry. On theoccasion, she celebrated the event

— ‘15 Years of Anushka Shetty' over theweekend in the city. The event was graced by

several well-known celebrities from theindustry including Baahubali director SS

Rajamouli, Suresh Babu, Puri Jagannadh,among others

Photos bby SV Chary

lose on the heels ofPradeep Machirajudebuting as a leadactor with 30 RojulloPreminchadam Ela?,another popular

anchor Ravi has followed suit.His maiden film as a lead, titledThotabhavi, is directed b AnjiDevendla, and is an action-thriller. The shooting has beenwrapped up and currently it’s inpost-production. NewbieGauthami is paired oppositeRavi in the film, a productionventure of A Prakash Goud. Thefilm’s teaser was unveiled byJayam Manadera directorShankar recently in Hyderabad.“The teaser looks good and thefilm seems to be rich on pro-duction values. Ravi has a goodtiming and I wish the entire unitall the best,” the director said.

Sivashankar master,Chatrapati Shekar, NarasimhaReddy, Jabardusth Apparao,Rohini and Unnikrishna amongothers have played supportingroles in the film.

ith the Statecabinet’sdecision toshut the-atres fromSunday

across the entireTelangana regionuntil March 21, theeffects were felt inTollywood circles. The latest is thatthe Indian MotionsPicture Producers’

Association hasdecided to stopshooting of films,TV serials, web seriesand other entertain-ment including digital

formats till March 31. “In view of the epidemic

spread of Covid 19, the associa-tion has unanimously decidedto stop shootings of films, TVserials, web series and otherentertainment from March 19 to31. Decision about restartingshootings shall be taken onMarch 30 after considering theprevailing situation,” read anofficial statement.Meanwhile, films like Palasa1978 and College Kumar whichreleased recently didn’t witness aspike in collections over thecourse of their first week theatri-cal run, it’s the upcoming releas-es that felt the heat. Nani-starrer

V which was announced forUgadi more than four monthsago has been moved to in anindefinite date in April. Orey..Bujjiga starring Raj Tarun was tobattle it out with V on Ugadi,with the film’s unit already kick-ing off active promotions in thepast 10 days. They’ve justreturned to Hyderabad afterwrapping up a major event inKarimnagar on Saturday.However, they seem to be clue-less on the date now. “We haven’tcome to a conclusion on the dateyet. As of now, we are thinkingof coming on the intended dateof Ugadi if the government liftsthe ban after March 21. But thenwill the audience muster courageto visit theatres four days afterthe ban, is still lingering in ourminds. It’s a dicey situation to bein, especially for a medium bud-get film like ours. If we moveaway from a date like Ugadinow, it would be extremely diffi-cult to get another good slot asthe summer season is packed tothe rafters,” told film’s directorVijay Konda speaking to us.

He added that the theatreshutdown will be a loss to theindustry as a major reshuffle inrelease days is around the cor-ner. “I believe summer is biggerthan Sankranti for industry andthere are some big films lined upin the next two months. If April

releases are pushed to May andMay releases are pushed to June,it will be a chaos of sorts. Thesummer advantage will be lostfor June releases which were ini-tially planned for May. We’veeven put a proposal inProducer’s Guild recently that ifa film that has been promotedextensively is deferred by 10days due to such a health emer-gency, then other films whichare lined up for next week

should be rescheduled by 10days. But then it’s a tall ask,” heinformed.

Producer KL DamodarPrasad, who is member of theProducer’s Guild, stated thatwhen a film is postponed toother date, it will inadvertentlyclash with the other film, whichbooked its date long time back.So how does the Guild intend tosolve such issues? “We can onlyadvice the producers in the bestinterest of other films and theindustry but it’s their call at theend of the day,” he replied.

Films which were on sets havealso borne the brunt ofCoronavirus. MegastarChiranjeevi has decided to stopshooting his next, Acharya, withKoratala Siva for the next 10-15

days. Stressing that importanceof health; Chiru said industryshould also do its bit to containthe Coronavirus. He also laudedthe efforts of central governmentand the two Telugu governmentsfor the efforts they are undertak-ing to control the deadly virus.We’ve also learnt that AlluArjun’s next with Sukumar willnow start in Maredumilli forestsnear Rajahmundry than inKerala. The fresh schedule wasto commence last week in theforests of Kerala but the Keralagovernment revoked the permis-sion in view of Covid-19. Onthe other hand, UV Creations isfacing criticism for shootingtheir next with Prabhas andPooja Hedge in Georgia despitethe prevailing condition. — NG

ven during hisprime, PawanKalyan washappy doingone film peryear. But with

an eye on his political life,Pawan is in fast mode onthe films front. Presentlyjuggling between the setsof Vakeel Saab and an unti-tled film with Krish — not toforget his nod to HarishShankar for Mythri MovieMakers, the film of which rollstowards the year-end — theactor, we’ve learnt from closesources, has approached PuriJagannadh to do a film forhim. It was Pawan who intro-duced Puri as a director twodecades ago with Badri.They’ve teamed up again forCameraman GangathoRambabu (2012) but it’s nosecret that they didn’t bond onthe sets as much as theywould’ve liked to.

A source close to the devel-opment tells us, “Pawan islooking at wrapping up filmsat a good speed to balance hispolitical life as well. Which iswhy, he is choosing filmmak

erswho can

wind up shoot under 80 days.While he is on the brink ofcompleting his portions forVakeel Saab, Krish, who isknown for his speed and qual-ity, has promised the actorthat he will complete theirfilm in less than 85-90 daysunless there’s a delay becauseof the actor’s political commit-ments. The director wrappedup a periodical film likeGautamiputra Satakarni in 79days. Harish’s film is a com-mercial potboiler, requiring agood 70 days of the actor. Onthe other hand, Puri is brand-ed for his breakneck speedand it is in this context that

Pawan hasapproached thedirector despitetheir past differ-ences.”

The source addsthat Pawan rangPuri a week agoand the conversa-tion lasted for anhour nearly. “Thedirector has lined-up other films-prominent of whichincludes Jana GanaMana with Yash — afterhe wraps up his presentventure with VijayDeverakonda but hesaid yes to Pawan. Herespects Pawan a lot ashe was the one whogave him a break inthe industry. Thestory hasn’t fea-tured in thescheme of theirdiscussion butPuri will work onit after he completesDeverakonda’s film. JPulla Rao and J Bhagavan arethe frontrunners to producethe film.”

Pawan islooking at

wrapping upfilms at a good

speed tobalance his

political life aswell. Which is

why, he ischoosing

filmmakerswho can wind

up shoot under80 days, finds

NAGARAJGOUD

Hyderabad Monday March 16, 2020

E

11

tollywood

Pawan to joinforces with PURI AGAIN

WParugu fameSheela tiesthe knot

issing in action fornearly a decade inTollywood, actressSheela Kaur, whoplayed the femalelead in films like

Parugu and Rajubhai, hastied the knot with a Chennai-based businessman SantoshReddy last week. The wed-ding, which was arranged bythe parents and relatives ofthe actor, was a close affairwith families and friends ofthe newlyweds in attendance.Sharing the news on hersocial handle, the 30-year-old

actress wrote, “Theday for us is special. Atime beyond compare.. Thejoy we feel deep in ourhearts..A new day, a new lifetogether #Married (sic).”

Besides Telugu cinema,Sheela set foot in multipleSouth languages includingTamil, Malayalam andKannada. Her latest appear-ance was in a Kannada filmcalled Hyper. As soon as sheposted her wedding pictureon social media, netizenswere quick to shower thecouple with their wishes.

M

Now, anchorRavi debuts as

a lead actortylish starAllu Arjun,who is bask-ing in theafterglow ofAla

Vaikunthapuramlo, onSunday, shared a photo-graph of his son Ayaanfrom his pre-schoolgraduation celebrations.

Allu Arjun took toTwitter, where he shared

an adorable photographof his son. “Pre SchoolGraduation Celebrations.Ayaan, I am so proud ofyou for excelling so well.I wholeheartedly Thank@bodhivalleyschool forteaching the foundationof life to my son. I am soglad as parents we madea good choice byenrolling in this school,”he captioned the image.

The actor thenthanked the teachers formaking his son ground-ed.

“Thanks to all theTeachers for making himgrounded, and all thehelpers for taking care allthese years. Thanks toBodhi Valley Schoolonce again. Proud andMemorable Day!” hewrote.

S

C

Bunny is proudof his son Ayaan

COVID 19 SCARE: ALLSHOOTINGS HALTED!

sport 12HYDERABAD | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

PTI n MARGAO

Chennaiyin FC headcoach Owen Coyle rued

his side’s missed chances intheir 1-3 defeat against ATKin the Indian Super Leaguesummit clash that cost thema third title.

Chennaiyin failed to givetheir magical turnaround inthis ISL the desired fairytaleending, and Coyle minced nowords that his side playedbetter than ATK in the finalheld here without spectatorson Saturday due to COVID-19 pandemic.

“Goals change games.We had a few easy chances ininitial phase but could nottake them. No one should tellme they (ATK) were the bet-ter team. My disappointmentis for how much my team putinto the game. But ultimate-ly if you don’t take yourchances, you give away softgoals,” he said.

“We were the team thatplayed all the football. To befair to them they stuck totheir task. They made ittough for us by banging theball forward. The spoils wentto ATK so all the very best tothem. We were the teamwho kept pushing on, butthey were clinical and wewere not,” Coyle added.

The 53-year-old Irishcoach said ATK must berelieved to have won thefinal and the title given thatChhenaiyin had more pos-session and goal-scoringchances.

“We had almost 70%

possession but ultimately ifyou don't take your chances,it will come back to hauntyou. There were two thingsfrom our perspective. One,we were not clinical enoughwith our chances and second,I felt ATK’s last two goalswere certainly avoidable,” hesaid.

“I think ATK will bevery relieved to get awaywith the trophy given whatwe brought to the game. Butthat is how football is at thehighest level.”

Coyle praised ATK goal-keeper ArindamBhattacharja despite he wasbeing the thorn inChennaiyin’s flesh by savingsome crucial saves.

“However, I have to sayATK’s goal in the first halfwas a wonderful finish andcredit to them. The man of

the match for me was theirgoalkeeper ArindamBhattacharja. He was trulyoutstanding. I have to givecredit to ATK for winning,”he said.

Despite the disappoint-ing stumble in the final hur-dle, it has been a season toremember for the MarinaMachans who made it to thesummit clash after languish-ing near the bottom of thetable midway into the season.

“My feelings go out to mygroup of players, becausethose players, particularlythe young players, they havedone so much. They havebeen a joy to watch. I reallyfeel for them. They love theirclub. I feel disappointed forthem. It is a tough night tolose and it is important torecognize the players whohave done very well.”

PTI n MARGAO

The first head coach to winthe Indian Super Leaguetrophy twice, Antonio

Habas of ATK feels that theleague has become more pro-fessional over the years with thecoming in of better playersand support staff.

He also said the latest titleATK won on Saturday afterdefeating Chennaiyin FC 3-1 inthe final here, though it wasplayed without spectators dueto COVID-19 pandemic, wasmore important than the clubwon in the inaugural seasonunder him in 2014.

“It’s different because in thefirst season, the Hero ISL wasnot the same competition. Nowit is much more professional.There are better coaches, bet-ter players, more teams, moretime in the competition,” hesaid when asked to compare hissuccess in the first ISL to thelatest one.

“This title is more impor-tant than the first, but the firstwas also important because itwas the first title,” Habas added.

ATK have now become thefirst ISL team to win the titlethrice in the league's six yearhistory, having also won thetrophy in 2016. ChennaiyinFC, who lost 1-2 in the summitclash on Saturday, had won thetitle twice (2015 and 2017-18).

Habas credited the collec-tive effort of the team as thereason behind their latest titleafter injuries to key playersearly in the season createdproblems.

“We are a group always,inside and outside of the pitch.This is important. We had bigproblems with injuries to CarlMcHugh, then Agus (Iniguez)and in the final, the problem to(Krishna) Roy. But the strengthof the team was the collectiveeffort,” he said.

“His (Carl McHugh) injurywas a big miss. With the prob-lem with Agus, the team was ina problem for two, three match-es. But the strength of thegroup salvaged the situation.When you have individualproblems, the only solution isthe team, the collective. Themix between Indian and for-eign players was fantastic this

season.”The 62-year-old Spaniard

admitted his side did not playwell in the second half of thesummit clash againstChennaiyin FC and his playerswere nervous.

“I think the match hadtwo different parts. In the firsthalf after the initial few min-utes, we were better than

Chennaiyin. And after that inthe second half, with the injuryto Roy (Krishna), the teamwas nervous.

“We could not find thenecessary personnel to keepscoring and kill the match off.In the second half, the team didnot play well. Even though wedid not play well, we had fan-tastic character. In some match-

es, you can win with the heart,”he said.

Asked about the secretbehind his success with ATK,Habas said,” “ATK has peoplethat love me, like I love ATK. Ihave a special connect withATK since the first season andit continues. We are a family.This is amazing. This is thesecret.”

AFP n LONDON

Former Manchester Unitedstar Wayne Rooney claims

the British government andfootball authorities have treat-ed players like “guinea pigs”during the coronavirus crisis.

While the rest ofEuropean football was shut-ting down due to the growingthreat of the global pandem-ic, Rooney is angry it took sev-eral days for the PremierLeague and Football League topostpone their matches untilApril 3.

It was only when Arsenalmanager Mikel Arteta andChelsea winger CallumHudson-Odoi tested positivefor the virus on Friday thatfootball’s UK governing bod-ies called a temporary halt tothe season.

Rooney, currently play-ing for second tier Derby, feltthey should have acted quick-er and the former Englandcaptain said he would “neverforgive” the authorities if hisfamily fell ill as a result.

“Why did we wait untilFriday? Why did it take MikelArteta to get ill for the gamein England to do the rightthing?” Rooney wrote in theSunday Times.

“For players, staff andtheir families it has been aworrying week - one inwhich you felt a lack of lead-ership from the govern-ment and from the FA andPremier League.

“After the emergencymeeting, at last the rightdecision was made -until then italmost felt likefootballers inEngland werebeing treatedlike guineapigs.

“I knowhow I feel. Ifany of my fam-ily get infectedthrough mebecause I’ve hadto play when it’snot safe, andthey get seri-ously i l l , I’dhave to thinkhard about everplaying again. Iwould neverforgive theauthorities.”

M a n ymatches atn o n - l e a g u elevel weregoing ahead asscheduled in

Britain this weekend andRooney believes PrimeMinister Boris Johnson“dodged” the issue by lettingfootball make its own decisionabout playing on.

The 34-year-old claimedmoney was key to the author-ities' reluctance to cancelgames.

“The rest of sport - tennis,Formula One, rugby, golf,football in other countries -was closing down and wewere being told to carry on,”Rooney said.

“I think a lot of foot-ballers were wondering, ‘Is itsomething to do with moneybeing involved in this?'”

Once the virus is undercontrol, Rooney wants a rad-ical schedule shake-up whichcould see the current seasonbeing concluded as late asSeptember, and the next twokicking off in winter-time asa result.

“We’re happy to play untilSeptember if the seasonextends to then, if that’s howit has to be. That’s our job. Aslong as we know we’re safe toplay and it's a safe environ-ment for spectators, we’ll play,”Rooney said.

“The next World Cup is inNovember and December

2022, so you couldactually use this sit-uation as anopportunity andsay we're going tofinish the 2019-20 season later thisyear, then preparefor 2022 by having

the next two sea-sons starting

in winter.”

‘We were better side, paidprice of poor finishing,’

ISL has become more professional over years : Habas

Players treated like ‘guineapigs’ over coronavirus: Rooney

AFP n VALENCIA

Valencia confirmed onSunday five of the club's

players and staff have testedpositive for coronavirus,including Argentiniandefender Ezequiel Garay.

Valencia said all thoseaffected were "now at home,in good health and obeyingself-isolation measures."

Garay, who was set tomiss the rest of the seasonwith a knee injury, becamethe first player in La Liga toconfirm a positive test earli-er on Sunday.

"Clearly I've got off onthe wrong foot in 2020,"Garay wrote on social media."I've tested positive for thecoronavirus, I'm fine andnow just listening to thehealth authorities, at themoment in isolation."

Valencia confirmedmore cases shortly afterGaray's announcement."Valencia CF confirm fivepositive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have beendetected amongst first teamstaff and players.

“All of these persons are

now at home, in good healthand obeying self-isolationmeasures.”

Valencia played behindclosed doors on Tuesday inthe Champions Leagueagainst Atalanta, the Serie Ateam based in Lombardy,one of Italy's worst-hitregions by the virus.

The club announced onFebruary 28 they would besuspending all non-sporting

activity with the first-teamafter a journalist attendingthe opening game againstAtalanta was confirmed tohave tested positive.

All engagement with themedia before and after sub-sequent matches against RealBetis on February 29 andAlaves on Friday was can-celled, while a tribute to theclub's former player DavidVilla was also called off.

Axelsen lifts maidenAll England Open titleAFP n ENGLAND

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen clinched themen's singles title of the All England

Open at Birmingham Arena here on Sunday.Axelsen outclassed Taiwan’s Chou Tien-

Chen in two straight games 21-13, 21-14. Thesummit clash lasted for about 46 minutes.Axelsen did not give any chance to worldnumber two to make a comeback in the clash.This was Axelsen’s maiden All EnglandOpen title.

Valencia confirm five positive testsfor coronavirus, among them Garay

PTI n NEW DELHI

The visit of a high-powered delegation compris-ing Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and top IOA

officials to Tokyo later this month to look into India'slogistical preparedness for the Olympics has beenput on hold in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visit was scheduled for March 25 to 29 butwill now happen at a later date which is yet to bedecided.

Besides Rijiju, the other members of the dele-gation included Indian Olympic Association pres-ident Narinder Batra, secretary-general RajeevMehta, Boxing Federation of India president AjaySingh, sports secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya andSports Authority of India director general SandipPradhan.

"The pro-posed visit ofHigh LevelI n d i a nDelegation toTokyo con-sisting ofGovt Officialsand IndianO l y m p i cAssociation toreview India's#Tokyo2020preparationon 25thMarch is tem-porarily post-poned," Rijijutweeted.

Mehta told PTI, "In view of the rising threat ofthis COVID-19 pandemic, the visit has been put onhold. As of now, we have not decided when the del-egation will visit Tokyo. It will happen at a later datedepending on the situation."

India will have its first-ever Olympic HospitalityHouse in Tokyo during the Summer Games,scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9. Itwill be built by JSW on a piece of land of 2,200square metre area and in close proximity to theGames Village and multiple venues in the Ariakeregion of the Japanese capital.

It will offer a range of activities and experiencesfor travelling fans and supporters who will be inTokyo for the Olympics.

Running through the duration of the Games,the India House will host watch parties, medal cel-ebrations and meet-and-greet opportunities with theIndian athletes. The visitors will also get a taste ofvariety of Indian cuisine.

There will be a dedicated Athlete Lounge forIndian Olympians and access to medical facilitiesand food will be available on site. A media centreto host travelling Indian media personnel has alsobeen planned in the area. Several Indian and inter-national brands will also have their stalls to displayand sell their products.

More than 70 Indian athletes have so far qual-ified for the Tokyo Olympics and the IOA is expect-ing the number to touch at least 125 before theGames.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to specula-tion over the fate of the Olympics this year. TheInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), howev-er, has insisted that the Games will be held as sched-uled in July-August.

Sports Min and IOAdelegation’s visit toTokyo cancelled

AFP n LOS ANGELES

Four-time Olympic Gold medallistSimone Biles wants more than good

wishes from USA Gymnastics.The US federation wished Biles a

happy 23rd birthday on social media onSaturday.

Biles — who also owns 19 world titlesand is expected to be among the stars ofthe Tokyo Olympics — used their tweetas a chance to demand an independentinvestigation into the Larry Nassar sexabuse scandal.

“how about you amaze me and do theright thing ... have an independent inves-tigation,” Biles snapped on Twitter after thefederation's birthday tweet.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the mostdecorated gymnast of all time,@simonebiles!” USA Gymnastics wrote,posting a video of Biles in action in a floorexercise. “We know you will only contin-ue to amaze us and make history!”

Former national gymnastics teamdoctor Nassar was jailed for life for abus-ing more than 250 athletes, including starsof the United States' 2012 and 2016 goldmedal-winning Olympic teams.

A US Senate investigation found that“multiple institutions" failed to adequate-ly respond to credible allegations againstNassar, but Biles has said that USAGymnastics and the US Olympic andParalympic Committee still owe his vic-

tims, including herself, more answers anda framework to ensure such abuses won'toccur again.

“Wish they BOTH wanted an inde-pendent investigation as much as the sur-vivors & I do,” she tweeted earlier thismonth..”

AFP n LAUSANNE

With less than five months to go before the TokyoOlympics, International Olympic Committee

President Thomas Bach plans emergency talks withmember organisations, sources close to the IOC saidon Sunday.

The IOC plans a conference call on Tuesday to“keep the international federations informed of thesituation, as well as the National Olympic Committeesand athletes,” one source close to the IOC told AFP.

The IOC “will take stock of the actions taken”to respond to the coronavirus crisis “and the feder-ations will have the opportunity to ask questions”added a source close to one international sports fed-eration

The IOC “conducts a regular dialogue with allthe Olympic partners and regularly informs them ofthe situation,” added an IOC spokesman.

While many international sporting events havebeen postponed or cancelled, Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe promised on Friday that Tokyowould host the Olympic Games as planned in Julyand August, despite questions raised by the pandem-ic.

Thomas Bach said on Thursday that his organ-isation would follow the recommendations of theWorld Health Organisation regarding a possible post-ponement.

He acknowledged, however, that the cancellationof qualifying events due to the epidemic was alreadyposing "serious problems”.

Biles takes aim at USA GymnasticsIOC to holdcoronavirus crisis talkswith sports bodies