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VIJAYAWADA, TUESDAY AUGUST 11, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 280*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

5

‘Rs 10k cr Fund of Funds for MSMEs to be operational soon’

8

Modi, the undisputed leader

2

Vasundhara Raje factor inSachin Pilot's‘Ghar-wapsi’

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated August 10, 2020 5:00 PM

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VIJAYAWADAWEATHERFFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly cloudyTemp: 29/25Humidity: 79%Sunrise: 05.58 amSunset: 06.45 pm

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment on Monday unveiled itsnew Industrial Policy 2020-23identifying 10 thrust areas topropel economic growth, withmanufacturing as the high pri-ority sector that would createlarge scale employment.

The government has identi-fied industrial zoning as a keyfocus area to ensure plannedindustrial development andprovide a risk-free, investment-friendly environment for settingup and operating industries inthe state with minimal impacton the environment.

"De-risking the investmentsis the cornerstone of the newindustrial policy. We are intro-ducing 'YSR AP One', a multi-faceted business enablementcentre which acts as a one- stopresource and support centre forindustries," state Industries and

Infrastructure MinisterMekapati Goutham Reddy said,unveiling the new policy at theAP Industrial InfrastructureCorporation. 'YSR AP One'would provide handholdingsupport (to investors) duringpre-establishment and setup ofindustrial units, post-setup sup-port, backward and forwardlinkages and access to marketand new technologies among

other things, the Minister said.The major incentive a

prospective investor gets, underthe new policy, is reimburse-ment of State Goods andServices Tax for five years(capped to Fixed CapitalInvestment) for medium, largeand mega industries linked toemployment creation, theMinister added.

New Industrial Policy for APunveiled with eye on investorsl State govt identifies 10 thrust areas to propel economic growth

State enhances registrationvalue of land in urban areasl Move may help govt rake in Rs 800 cr in additional revenue per yearPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The cash-starved AndhraPradesh government onMonday enhanced the value ofland in urban areas by 10 to 30per cent to net an additional rev-enue of Rs 800 crore per annumbut kept the registration rateunchanged at six per cent.

Special Chief Secretary(Revenue, Stamps andRegistrations) Rajat Bhargavasaid that revision of land valueshas been effected to reflect thereality as there were a lot ofanomalies in the current rates.

“We had to rationalise andequalise the value of land basedon the nature and use in a vicin-ity. Only where there was a hugedifference between the prevail-

ing higher market value and itssubstantially lower registrationvalue, we increased the land rateby 10 per cent to 30 per cent toachieve market value correc-tion," he said.

This would also protect theavenues for revenue generation"in a balanced manner",Bhargava said. He said thestamp duty and transfer dutystructure on land and related

transactions had not beenincreased from the existing sixper cent because of the prevail-ing economic environment,though many other states hadenhanced the rates.

“We have focused more onrationalisation and simplifica-tion of numerous land rateslabs by rectifying variousanomalies," the official said.

Non-implementation ofrevised rate on land convertedfrom agriculture to other uses,plotted layout having rate peracre, different rates on either sidesof national highway, state high-way for lands of comparable orsimilar land use are some of theanomalies "that we have nowsought to correct”, Bhargavaadded.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a bid to step up the exerciseon the formation of three cap-itals for Andhra Pradesh, theYSRCP government has filed apetition in the Supreme Courtrequesting expeditious hearingof the case. The JaganmohanReddy government on Fridayfiled a Special Leave Petition inthe Supreme Court challengingthe AP High Court’s interimorders granting stay on forma-tion of three capital cities for thestate. It argued that the HighCourt had issued orders with-out any valid reasons.

The petition was expected tocome up for hearing in theSupreme Court on Monday, butbecause of the caveat petitionsfiled by the Amaravati farmers,the apex court did not take upthe hearing.

As a result, the state govern-ment was forced to file the expe-ditious petition requesting that the

Supreme Court take up the SLPimmediately and submitted therelevant papers to the court,including the gazette notifications.

It may be recalled that athree-member division bench ofthe AP High Court comprisingJustice Rakesh Kumar, JusticeSesha Sai and JusticeSatyanaryana Murthy onAugust 4 granted a 10-day stayon the implementation of thegazette notifications and askedthe state government to file a

counter within 10 days.The High Court issued inter-

im orders acting on a petitionfiled by Rajadhani RythuParirakshana Samiti(Committee of farmers to pro-tect the capital).It ordered thestate government to maintainstatus quo with regard toAmaravati as the capital city andnot to proceed with any moveswith regard to the shifting ofexecutive capital fromAmaravati to Visakhapatnam.

Apex court asked to expeditehearing in three capitals case

AP making unnecessary fuss over projects: KCRPNS n HYDERABAD

An angry Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao and tookexception over what he termedthe “Centre following faultypolicies and the AP State govern-ment making meaningless, base-less and unnecessary fuss overthe projects being constructed inthe Telangana State” and decid-ed to present his point of viewduring the Apex Council meet-

ing to be held soon. The Telangana Chief Minister

has also decided to placethe complete factsbefore the ApexCouncil about the pro-jects being constructedin the State withc o m p l e t edata andput forthstrong argu-ments. It

was opined that a befitting replyshould be given to both the APState government and theCentre.

The CM also expressed deepregrets at the AP Governmentfor lodging false complaints

against the TelanganaState. He alsoexpressed his dissat-isfaction over atti-tude of the APGovernment.

To finalise the strategy to beimplemented in the ApexCouncil meeting, KCR held ameeting with officials of theIrrigation Department atPragathi Bhavan here onMonday where details of theprojects being constructed in theState were keenly examined. Healso discussed about the standtaken by and opinions expressedby the AP Government and theCentre.

India, UK ink new med-tech pact to fight Covid-19PNS n LONDON

Innovative Indian medicaltechnology (med-tech) start-ups were on Monday invited bythe UK and Indian govern-ments to apply for a Rs 5.6 mil-lion manufacturing supportprogramme as part of a newbilateral med-tech partnershipto combat Covid-19.

The programme involvesthe Andhra Pradesh MedTechZone (AMTZ) joining forceswith the UK government toplug the gap between thedemand and supply of ventila-

tors and essential medicalequipment, crucial in the fight

against the deadly coronavirus.Selected start-ups, who have

until the end of August toapply, will be hosted at AMTZ'sMediValley incubation centre,receiving financial, technicaland infrastructure support nec-essary to make their equipmentmarket-ready.

“I am delighted that this newmed-tech programme takesour partnership even further. Ilook forward to seeing thelife-saving solutions we canpioneer by bringing the bestscientific minds from the UKand India together as a force forgood in the world,” said SirPhilip Barton, the British High

Commissioner to India.Covid-19 affects every

human being on the planet andrespects no border. The needfor collaboration on scienceand innovation betweennations has never been moreimportant, he said.

The envoy highlighted thatthe UK is already India's sec-ond-biggest research partner,with joint research expected tobe worth 400 million poundsby 2021, with five new projectsto tackle anti-microbial resis-tance announced last month.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former minister andYSRCP leaderPenumatsa SambasivaRaju passed away onMonday due to age-related health issues. Hewas 87. Sambasiva Raju wassuffering from health ailmentsfor the past few days and wasadmitted to Apollo Hospital inVisakhapatnam where hebreathed his last while undergo-

ing treatment. He wasthe only leader whowas elected to theAssembly in undi-vided AP eight timesin a row and had

served as a Ministerbetween 1989-94.

Sambasiva Raju was firstelected to the Assembly in 1968,from Gajapatinagar and Sativadasegments eight consecutivetimes on Congress ticket.

3 employeesof RameshHospitalarrested PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada police onMonday arrested three peo-ple in connection with thefire accident that claimed 10lives undergoing treatmentin Hotel Swarna Palace con-verted into Covid CareCentre by Ramesh Hospital.

Dr Kodali RajagopalaRao, Chief OperationalOfficer, Ramesh Hospitals,Dr Kurapati Sudershan,General Manager, RameshHospitals and P Venkatesh,Covid Care CentreCoordinating Manager,Ramesh Hospitals weretaken into custody.

Less tests,cases dip to7,665 in AP PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A reduction in sample testingby about 15,000 bore a reflec-tion on Andhra Pradesh’sCovid-19 daily tally as itreported only 7,665 fresh caseson Monday after reportingover 10,000 each for five con-secutive days.

The latest bulletin said46,999 tests, including 24,331rapid antigens, were conduct-ed in 24 hours ending 9 am onMonday as against 62,000-plustests per day over the past fewdays. No reason was cited forthe drop in number of tests.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A day after the fireaccident at SwarnaPalace inVijayawada thatclaimed the lives of10 patients gettingtreatment at theh o t e l - t u r n e d -Covid Care Centre,investigations intothe tragedy began in rightearnest. The authorities haveset up three teams to gothrough the mishap.

While the first team isinvestigating the arrange-ments made for the treatmentof Covid-19 patients atRamesh Hospital, the secondteam is probing the possiblecauses for the short circuit

that sparked the blaze.A third team is examining

the fire safety norms beingfollowed at the hotel taken onlease by Ramesh Hospital foruse as a Covid Care Centre.Officers from various depart-ments are part of the teamsand began the task on handfrom Monday morning.

PMU launched to step up vigilon village, ward secretariatsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Monday launchedthe Pursuance and MonitoringUnit (PMU) call centre thatwill oversee the functioning ofvillage and ward secretariatsand help the governmentremove any delay in providingservices. The Chief Ministeralso released guidelines forsocial audit besides launching

internet services to village sec-retariats in remote areas. ThePMU Call Centre’s main taskwould be to keep track of thedeadlines in providing ser-vices and it will alert the CMOif any application is pending atany point.

The Call Centre will keepthe official machinery on alertand will see that the applica-tions are cleared and dis-posed of within the stipulat-

ed time. Starting with fourservices, the scope of thePMU will be widened to 543services and will have 200employees. During a reviewmeeting here on Monday, theChief Minister said that allapplications for rice card,pension, Aarogyasri card,house site pattas will betracked by the PMU and thefollow-up would be relentless.

Teams begin probingcause of fire, lapses

Sambasiva Raju, 8-timeMLA, passes away at 87

33

3 3

3

3

3

3

3

l Petrochemicals,aerospace and

defence,

l Automobilesand components,

l Machnery

l Precisionequipment

l Mineral-basedindustries.

l Food processing

SACHIN PILOT RETURNS TO CONGFOLD, MEETS RAHUL AND PRIYANKA

EX-PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEETESTS +VE, SAID TO BE ‘CRITICAL’

Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday underwent a brainsurgery at the Army's Research and Referral (R&R)

hospital for removal of a clot, sources said.Mukherjee,who was unwell, was hospitalised on the advice ofdoctors and had tested positive for Covid-19 prior tothe surgery."He underwent a successful brain surgeryfor removal of a clot at the Army's R&R hospital,"sources told PTI. He is critical and is on ventilatorsupport," the sources said.Mukherjee, said in atweet earlier that he had tested positive forCovid.

BCCI INVITES TENDER FOR IPLSPONSORSHIP FOR 4-MONTH PERIOD

The new IPL title sponsor to replace Chinese mobile phone companyVivo will hold the rights for only a four-and-a-half-month period and

the highest bid may not necessarily end up being the winning one, theBCCI stated on Monday. Vivo, which had a Rs 440 crore per year dealfor five seasons, has suspended its partnership with theBoard due to the Sino-India border stand-off. BCCIfloated the tender invite for a new sponsor on MondaySecretary Jay Shah announced a 13-point clause forsubmission of the bids from interested "third parties"and the winner will be announced on August 18. Thelast date for submission of bids is August 14.

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot will "work in theinterest" of the Congress party and its government in the state, the

Congress said on Monday after a meeting between the rebelleader and former party chief Rahul Gandhi. The twoleaders had a "frank, open and conclusive discussion",AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal saidin a statement. "Following this meeting, Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi has decided that the AICC willconstitute a three member committee to address the issuesraised by Shri Sachin Pilot and the aggrieved MLA and arriveat an appropriate resolution thereof," the statement said.

Pakistani troops resorted to intense mortar-shelling and firing fromsmall arms on forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in

Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday, a defencespokesperson said. The heavy shelling and firing fromacross the border in Balakote and Krishna Ghatisectors drew a strong and befitting response fromthe Indian Army, the spokesperson said. In thefirst act of ceasefire violation of the day, thePakistani troops opened fire on forward postsin Balakote sector around 10.15 am, thespokesperson said.

PAKISTANI TROOPS TARGET FORWARDAREAS ALONG LOC IN J&K'S POONCH

l Pharmaceuticals and biotechnologyl Textiles l Electronics l Footwearand leather l Toys and furniture

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VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020 vijayawada 02

EGG

RATES

` 58,470 (10 gm)

670

GOLD

` 75,150 (1kg)

` 1,350

HYDERABAD 345

VIJAYAWADA 375

VISAKHAPATNAM 375

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `44..0000

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

BULLION RATES

`//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `173

Without Skin `196

Broiler at Farm `119

`//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

While it’s not easy forthose in power tosustain their popular-

ity, this phenomenon is alien toPrime Minister NarendraModi.

His image has remainedunaffected even at a time theworld is ravaged by a pandem-ic and the country’s economycame to a standstill for abouttwo months.

The global economic slow-down and flow of investmentsand exports hitting roadblocksleft the Government in confu-sion on how on how to put theeconomy back on the rails.Moreover, the face-off betweenthe Indian and Chinese sol-diers in Ladakh that claimedthe lives of 20 Indian jawansleft the country in deep shock.

Some other Prime Ministerwould have buckled from sheerhelplessness and left the peo-ple demoralised.

We are fortunate enough tohave a Prime Minister likeModi at the helm of affairs dur-ing such a crisis.

Unfazed by the challenges,he has addressed the peoplenow and then and boosted

their morale. Further, he alsotook the CMs of various statesinto confidence. Modi tookmeasures necessary for thegood of the country and triedto streamline the socioeco-nomic systems in the country.Because of these measures,the people did not lose theirconfidence.

Sporting white robes, ashawl and white beard, helooks like a yogi and a sanyasi.His words infuse confidenceand boost the people’s morale.His presence in the PMO givesus a lot of reassurance, asrevealed by the latest survey,conducted to gauge the pulseof the people.

In fact, 44 per cent of thepeople surveyed indicatedthat the country never had aPM like him, while over 66per cent said that there was noworthwhile candidate for PMother than Modi for the nextLok Sabha elections.

Only 8 per cent of those

surveyed aspired to see RahulGandhi in the PM’s chair. Infact, 78 per cent of those sur-veyed rated Modi as the excel-lent PM, while only 17 percent gave an average rating tohis administration. Comparedto a survey conducted in2017, it was revealed that thepopularity of Modi increased.

Analysing this, the impor-tant reason emerges is Moditrying to project the identityof the country in whateverdecision he takes and that thepeople are leading their liveswith their heads held high.

Modi abrogated Article 370and declared J&K is an inte-gral part of the country. When

he announced the decisionone fine morning, theOpposition was flabbergastedand rushed into the Well ofthe House to create pandemo-nium. But the people of thecountry, in sharp contrast,rushed onto the streets and litfirecrackers to celebrate. Theydescribed annulment of spe-cial status to J&K as the bestdecision of Modi.

When he performed bhoo-mi pujan for the Ram templeat Ayodhya, the Oppositionparties criticised him. But thepeople of the country offeredaarti to their beloved deity.Therefore, the people votedthe second most crucial deci-

sion of the Modi administra-tion is to build a temple forLord Sriram. Decisions ofModi to salvage the crisis-rid-den economy of the countryin the name of Atma Nirbharpackage are regarded by peo-ple as a means to achieve aself-reliant and self-sufficientIndia.

The people are closely observ-

ing the decisions taken by Modito develop infra-structure in thecountry on alarge scale.Many appreci-ated the timelym e a s u r e sinitiated by PM top r e v e n tcrores of people falling prey tothe virus.

The people approved Modi’sleadership and his guidance bysounding bells and lightinglamps during the lockdown.The people felt that they wouldhave faced many more difficul-ties had Modi not initiatedsuitable action. That is why 77per cent of those surveyedrated Modi’s handling of theCoronavirus crisis as excellentand 77 per cent reaffirmedtheir faith in the healthcaresystem of the country.

Today, India is in a betterposition to manufacture PPEkits, beds and ventilators and

other equipment needed tokeep the virus at bay.

Moreover, the countryis a supplier of emer-gency medicines tomany countries. The

country is competingwith other nations to devel-

op a vaccine. This is attributedto the PM boosting ourmorale.

As the country is limpingback to normalcy from Covidpandemic, the Chinese aggres-sion incensed the people. Theystood behind the PM like arock. The Opposition did notcondemn the Chinese aggres-sion and did not extol sacri-fices made by Indian Jawans,but chose to criticise the PM,which was not to the liking ofthe people of the country.

In fact, 72 per cent of thosesurveyed opined that thecountry would be able torebuff the Chinese aggression.This demonstrates theunflinching faith the people

have in Modi’s leadership.About 69 per cent surveyedsaid that India would be ableto teach a bitter lesson toChina.

There is none to competewith Modi or question him inpatriotism. When Rafale war-planes touched down inHaryana, thousands cheeredtheir arrival and celebrated theevent, it reflects their thinkingpattern.

Within two days of impos-ing lockdown in the country,the Modi Governmentreleased thousands of crores inthe name of Garib KalyanJojna and other welfareschemes.

Recently, the Centrereleased Rs 90,000 crore underits PM-Kisan scheme.

There is no doubt that therural contours will undergo seachange with the release of Rs1 lakh-crore to strengthenagricultural economy.

The people feel that Modi isthe only leader able to under-stand their problems anduphold their respect and coun-try’s identity whether it is at theborders or inside.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

Sporting white robes, a shawl and white beard, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi looks like a yogi and a sanyasi.His words infuse confidence and boost the people’smorale. His presence in the PMO gives us a lot ofreassurance, as revealed by the latest survey,conducted to gauge the pulse of the people

MODI, THE UNDISPUTED LEADER

State has emerged as globalhotspot for Corona: NaiduPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The government should stopimplementing lopsided poli-cies as they were crippling agri-culture, irrigation, industry andall sectors in the State, advisedLeader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu.

Addressing the fourth in aseries of press conferences hereon Monday to create awarenessagainst the government onthree capitals plan, Naidualleged that the ruling partyleaders had only focused onAmaravati demolition and sup-pression of different sections ofpeople in the past 15 months.

He asserted that the TDP hadcompleted 72 per cent ofPolavaram project but theYSRCP's bad policies led toobstructions and non-comple-tion of this project till date.

“If works were continued,

this huge project would havebeen completed by 2019. TheYSRCP was not spending a sin-gle paisa, while the TDP hadspent Rs 64,000 crore by begin-ning 62 irrigation projects ofwhich 23 projects were com-pleted,” he pointed out.

He deplored that Chief

Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddyhad not held a single press con-ference till now to create aware-ness on Coronavirus preven-tion. As a result, situationbecame so pathetic that AndhraPradesh has emerged as a glob-al hotspot next only to Americaand Brazil, he pointed out.

The dangerous virus situa-tion in the State was gettinghighlighted in the nationalmedia as well, he disclosed.

Accusing the YSRCP govern-ment of lacking commitment tostrive for the uplift of people,Naidu said the present govern-ment had no realisation that awell-laid out vision was impor-tant for the State. All other lead-ers made fun when the TDPunveiled Vision-2020 for unit-ed AP. Later, successive govern-ments only followed the sameand the neighbouringTelangana State greatly benefit-ted from it, he said.

“Similar visions wereplanned for Andhra Pradesh aswell aiming at its developmentby 2022, 2029 and 2050. But,the YSRCP regime neglectedthem and caused the State to gobackwards in growth rate,” hesaid.

Governor greets people onSri Krishna JanmashtamiPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BushanHarichandan has extendedhis warm greetings and bestwishes to the peopleon the occasion ofSri KrishnaJanmashtami onTuesday.

In a message,the Governorsaid that the festi-val of Sri KrishnaJ a n m a s h t a m ireminds us of theeternal messageof Lord SriKrishna throughthe Bhagvadgita,aff irming thefoundation forbuilding a harmo-nious society. He wishedthat this auspicious occasionwould be a harbinger ofpeace, progress and prosper-ity and strengthen the bonds

of brotherhood, amity andharmony among the people.

SCR-Vja Dvnmanufactures45,000 masksPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The South Central Railway,Vijayawada Division, has suc-cessfully manufactured 45,000facemasks and 6,500 litres ofsanitisers with own resourcesavailable to further strength-en its effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic till date. Staff ofMechanical and ElectricalDepots in Vijayawada andKakinada collectively took thelead to achieve this big feat

The staff of Electric Loco-shed, Diesel Loco Shed andWagon Care Depot has comeup with a productive way ofmaking own sanitisers fromavailable Iso-Propyl alcoholand other raw materials as perthe WHO guidelines. A totalof 6,500 litres of sanitisers wereproduced in-house by the staffof depots in Vijayawada so far.

Electric Loco Shed aloneproduced 5,500 litres of sani-tisers and supplied it to all thestaff during the lockdown.More than 45,000 masks,which are reusable and wash-able, were manufactured bythe depots. Carriage andWagon Depot staff inKakinada and Vijayawadastitched 25,000 cloth maskswith the material availableand supplied it to variousdepartments. Not only staff,but also their family memberstook part in this noble initia-tive to step up the productionand to continue its fightagainst pandemic.

P Srinivas, DivisionalRailway Manager, Vijayawada,complimented K Srinivas,Senior Divisional MechanicalEngineer, and Dinesh Reddy,Senior Divisional ElectricalEngineer/Electric Loco Shed,for taking such a novel initia-tive by supplying face masksand sanitisers to the hard-working frontline staff of theDivision on war footing.

Bankers all praise for YSR Cheyutha, YSR Aasara schemesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Major scheduled banks appre-ciated the State government forthe YSR Cheyutha and YSRAasara schemes, which areaimed at empowering women.

During a video conferencewith officials of CMO here onMonday, bankers assured toprovide complete support forthe implementation of theschemes and said that recentpacts with ITC, Amul, HULand Procter & Gamble willbring in a new revolution.

Elaborating on the welfareschemes, officials said that theState government is deter-mined to empower women

financially and asked thebankers to extend their sup-port for the government initia-tives.

Besides these, bankers havecome forward to provide farmloans to dairy farmers, alongwith insurance facilities as theState government has made apact with Amul for boostingthe dairy sector in the State.

Principal Secretary to ChiefMinister Praveen Prakash,SERP CEO Rajababu,MEPMA MD Vijayalakshmi,SLBC Convener BrahmanandaReddy and bankers fromUnion Bank of India, SBI,Indian Bank and other officialstook part in the meeting.

New Policy will attractmore investments: CIIPNS n VIJAYAWADA

CII Andhra Pradesh onMonday in a statement wel-comed the new industrialdevelopment policy 2020-23released by Mekapati GouthamReddy, Minister for Industries,Commerce, Investments,Infrastructure, InformationTechnology, Skill Development& Training, here on Monday.

D Ramakrishna, Chairman,CII Andhra Pradesh, in a state-ment thanked the IndustriesMinister for laying greaterfocus on MSME, end to endbusiness facilitation and focus-ing on balanced regional devel-opment in the new policy. Thepolicy laid emphasis on pro-moting skill development andentrepreneurship with 30 SkillDevelopment Centres, whichwill be set up across the State,to help the industry and ensurethe availability of skilled man-power.

“The policy is in line withCII recommendations to the

government. The advantageof the State in sectors likeaerospace, defence, pharma,textiles, automobile, electron-ics and petrochemicals wouldattract greater investmentsunder the new policy,” he said.

Under the Ease of DoingBusiness, the policy envisagessetting up of YSR AP ONE, amulti-faceted business enable-ment centre, to assist investorsthroughout the investment lifecycle is welcomed by the indus-try.

“As a part of policy consul-tations with the industry, CIIalso suggested to the govern-ment to focus on more indus-trial clusters in the State,which was accepted by thegovernment. The policy,which was framed with aninclusive developmentapproach, would greatly helpthe development of all sectionsof society particularly encour-aging women and youth entre-preneurs apart from job cre-ation,” he said,

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Ruling party MLAs and min-isters were violating the lock-down restrictions, organisinglarge gatherings and movingacross the State with no regardfor the rules that were inplace, alleged TDP MP GallaJayadev. He lamented thatChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy continuesto ignore wearing a maskduring meetings and soughtthe YSRCP government totake strict measures to containspread of Covid-19 across theState.

Jaydev lamented thatAndhra Pradesh is now theglobal epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic as AndhraPradesh, after Maharashtra, isreporting the highest positivecases in the country with reg-istering of around 10,000 newcases daily for several days inthe last two weeks. He statedthat since the start of the pan-demic, Maharashtra has

always been recording themost number of cases in thecountry, but now the numbersfrom Andhra Pradesh arerivaling them.

He said they cannot blamethe people for not followingsocial distancing and masknorms when the leaders andpublic representatives, whoare supposed to set an exam-ple to people in following theCovid norms, continue toviolate the rules since thestart of the pandemic. He

demanded Jagan, ministers,legislators and party leaders to follow Corona protocolstrictly.

Jayadev demanded that theYSRCP government take cor-rective action to avoid anyfuture disruptions to the econ-omy and the lives of the peo-ple due to the increasingCorona crisis.

AP Chambers welcomesNew Industrial PolicyPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Chambers ofCommerce and IndustryFederation (AP Chambers)welcomed the new industrialdevelopment policy 2020-23announced by MekapatiGoutham Reddy, Minister forIndustry, Commerce, IT andSkill Development, atMangalagiri on Monday.

Terming the new industri-al policy as the most practica-ble and implementable, takingthe feedback from all stake-holders and ground realities,Sudhir Mulagada, Chairman,AP Chambers, Visakhapatnam,said the policy offers Plug andPay facility for MSMEs similarto IT industry, including ready-built factory shell and all basicfacilities in MSME parks, as perthe requirement.

The policy also replaces theexisting lease and buy option inAPIIC land policy with “Lease

+ Buy model” with low upfrontpayment and option to buyland post 10 years of success-ful operation. Among the otherkey features of the policy areclear cut incentive structure forthe Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises. One of the key fea-tures of the policy is the hand-holding during pre-establish-ment and set up of the unit.

G Sambasiva Rao, FormerPresident, AP Chambers, said

this is one of the best indus-trial policies in the country.This policy offers specialincentives for the womenentrepreneurs belonging toSC/ST /BC and Minority com-munities in reserving 16.2 percent and six per cent of plotsin the APIIC parks for SC andST entrepreneurs respectively.This will ensure balancedgrowth across the 13 districtsof the State, Rao said.

PNS n BENGALURU

The Covid-19 pandemic haspermanently altered consumerbehaviour in India and nearly90 per cent of those surveyedare making lasting changes tohow they live, work and shop,and there is no going back tothe pre-pandemic world forconsumer brands, a new reportsaid on Monday.

According to Accenture's'Covid-19 Consumer PulseResearch' that surveyed 2,500consumers in the countrybetween March and June(among 45,000 globally), 85 percent of consumers said theyshopped more health-con-sciously while 85 per cent saidthey were focused more onlimiting food waste.

"The pandemic has taken atoll on brand loyalty and asconsumers make more social-ly and environmentally sustain-able and healthy choices, con-sumer goods companies musttailor their offerings according-ly and refresh their brand

promise to meet these newrequirements," said AnuragGupta, Managing Director andLead, Strategy and Consulting,Accenture in India.

Consumers are more mind-ful of what they're buying,striving to limit food waste,

shopping more cost conscious-ly and are making healthier andenvironmentally-sustainablechoices. The survey found thatthe pandemic is causing morepeople to shop for groceriesonline.

"While 71 per cent felt thatquality, safety and trust are themost considered brand attrib-utes in purchase decisions, 75per cent said that they're beingmore cost-conscious whenshopping for products.

Covid ‘permanently altered' consumer behaviourl According to Accenture's'Covid-19 Consumer Pulse

Research' that surveyed2,500 consumers in the

country between March andJune (among 45,000

globally), 85 per cent ofconsumers said they

shopped more health-consciously while 85 per

cent said they were focusedmore on limiting food waste

l "The pandemic has taken a tollon brand loyalty and as consumersmake more socially andenvironmentally sustainable andhealthy choices, consumer goodscompanies must tailor theirofferings accordingly and refreshtheir brand promise to meet thesenew requirements," said AnuragGupta, Managing Director andLead, Strategy and Consulting,Accenture in India

l Jaydev lamented thatAndhra Pradesh is now theglobal epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic as AndhraPradesh, after Maharashtra, isreporting the highest positivecases in the country withregistering of around 10,000new cases daily for severaldays in the last two weeks. Hestated that since the start ofthe pandemic, Maharashtrahas always been recording themost number of cases in thecountry, but now the numbersfrom Andhra Pradesh arerivaling them

Follow Coronavirus protocol,TDP MP advises YSRCP

Krishnashtamiwishes by CM

Chief MinisterY S

Jaganmohan Reddyhas extended hisgreetings to thepeople on the occa-

sion ofKrishnashtami, also

known asJanmashtami, and

said that the day iscelebrated acrossthe country withjoy and fervour.

The Chief Ministerwished for good

health and happiness tothe people on the occasion.

G Sambasiva Rao, former President, AP Chambers, addressing the media(File photo)

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020 vijayawada 03

FIRE AT COVID-19 CARE CENTRE

Govt panels launch probePNS n AMARAVATI

A day after the fire mishap thatleft nine Covid-19 patientsand another cured person deadin Vijayawada, official panelsformed by the governmentlaunched a swift probe intovarious aspects related to theincident, including non-com-pliance of fire safety norms bythe Swarna Palace hotel man-agement.

The committees were alsoinvestigating whether theRamesh Hospitals manage-ment, which leased the hoteland converted it into a CovidCare Centre, had requisite per-mission and adequate facilitiesto run it.

While the fire was suspect-ed to have been a result of anelectrical short circuit, presenceof stocks of hand sanitisers inthe reception area of the hotelliterally added fuel to the fire."The (hotel) staircase is aninternal one and due to stackeffect the smoke clogged theentire corridor, staircase androoms. This made the Covid-19 patients unable to locate asafe place and they could notcome out, resulting in thedeath of 10 persons," DirectorGeneral of State DisasterResponse and Fire ServicesMd Ahsan Raza noted in a pre-liminary report to the govern-

ment."As we have already estab-

lished, the hotel is a major firehazard. It did not even havebasic firefighting equipment.Though there was a rear exitstaircase, it was not openedwhen the fire broke out. Thiswas a major lapse on part of themanagement," a senior fireofficial pointed out.

Some crucial documentsand computer hard disks wereconfiscated as part of the inves-tigation to obtain vital clues, asenior official involved in theprocess said. The two-membercommittee headed by AarogyaSri Health Care Trust CEO AMallikarjuna visited the sceneof the accident as well theRamesh Hospitals located attwo places in Vijayawadaessentially to take stock of thesafety measures for the

patients.A team also visited Swarna

Heights, another hotel leasedby Ramesh Hospitals for asecond Covid Care Centre inthe city, and inspected thefacilities. Joint Collector(Development) SivasankarLotheti, who is heading a com-mittee constituted by theKrishna

District Collector, conduct-ed an investigation on thelapses, if any, on part of thehospital management inrespect of safety norms.

It was also looking intocharges of collection of exorbi-tant fee by the hospital man-agement. "Prima facie we learntthat the Covid-19 patientswere being charged exorbi-tant rates running into lakhs ofrupees. We are verifying allrecords and also recording

statements of the patients," asenior official said. As thecommittees have been asked tosubmit reports within 48hours, they were going abouttheir tasks at a rapid pace, rop-ing in other officials to under-take a wider inspection ofother Covid Care Centres andquarantine centres inVijayawada and other parts ofKrishna district, where about425 people were under quaran-tine now.

On the instructions of theCollector A Md Imtiaz, teamsled by the respective tahsildarsalso began inspecting theother Covid Care Centresbeing run in hotels by someprivate hospitals.

TDP asks SEC to order CBIprobe into ‘YSRCP lapses’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

With Nimmagadda RameshKumar back in the saddle as StateElection Commissioner, theTelugu Desam Party on Mondaydemanded him to order a probeby the CBI into what it allegedwere over 2,500 poll code viola-tions by the ruling party, at thetime of filing of nominations forthe local body polls.

TDP MLC G Deepak Reddyappealed to Ramesh Kumar toorder a CBI probe into theseviolations allegedly committedby the YSRCP activists at thetime of filing of nominationsfor the local body elections.

Deepak Reddy said that theelections, put off by the SECdue to the Coronavirus spread,should be held under thesupervision of Centralobservers with security provid-ed by Central forces.

He said that if ruling partyactivists or leaders were notsuitably punished for com-mitting the poll violations, theSEC should not conduct thepolls at all. The TDP MLC fur-ther said that a CBI inquirywould expose the YSRCP'selection offences and thiswould surely lead to the dis-missal of the JaganmohanReddy government for itsinvolvement in the seriouslapses.

Deepak Reddy claimed thatYSRCP activists committedserious irregularities by tam-pering with voters lists and alsoby changing reservations andboundaries of local bodies.He said there was a need toremove the “oppressive RajaReddy constitution and bringback the AmbedkarConstitution” in the State.

The MLC also said that

YSRCP leaders should face seri-ous action for making degrad-ed comments and even threat-ening Ramesh Kumar and hisfamily members. He said thatthe YSRCP Government shouldbe punished for not taking anyaction even though the SEC hadtransferred two collectors, twoSPs, two DSPs and four CIsbesides suspending one CI forpoll offences.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Whip Gadikota SrikanthReddy said that private hospi-tals are flouting norms andRamesh Hospitals should beresponsible for the fire mishapat Covid facility.

Speaking to the media hereon Monday, Srikanth Reddy hasflayed Chandrababu Naidu fordrawing controversies over thefire accident and blaming thegovernment. The MLA statedthat the Chief Minister alsoincluded Covid underAarogyasri for getting treated inprivate hospitals. However, pri-vate hospitals like RameshHospitals have been violatingthe rules and charging exorbi-tant fees for treatment. Withouttaking any safety precautionsthey have been hiring privatehotels and operating quarantinecentres, he said and added thatthe government has constitut-ed a committee for investigationand soon strict action will betaken against those responsible.

He said that TDP leaders keptmum over the accident onlybecause the hospital belongs totheir party supporter and themistake lies on their end. Hesaid that Dr Ramesh is a staunchsupporter of Naidu, who even

took part in the Zoom confer-ences of Naidu, and found faultwith the government measureson Covid-19 control.

He asserted that the govern-ment under is putting relentlessefforts in implementing Covid-19 measures and has conduct-ed over 20 lakh tests. He statedthat Andhra Pradesh stands asa role model to many States intaking effective measures forcontainment of virus and con-ducting a large number of tests.In this context, he recalled thatChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has secured third placein the country as the Best CMfor his transparent governanceand effective implementation ofwelfare activities.

He slammed Naidu for politi-cising all issues and playingspoilsport. He stated that thepublic has been watching dou-ble standards of Naidu and thecheap politics he has been play-ing on decentralisation, oppos-ing three capitals, and are wait-ing to reject him forever. Hedared Naidu to give an open let-ter opposing the Kurnool asJudicial Capital.

Private hospitals floutingnorms, alleges Chief Whip

MLA Udayabhanutests positive for Covid-19 PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP MLA fromJaggayyapet andGovernment Whip SamineniUdayabhanu was tested pos-itive for Covid–19. He saidthat he was tested positiveand appealed to everyonenot to worry. The MLAreleased a video on Facebookon Monday.

The MLA appealed to thepeople not to panic if infect-ed with Coronavirus, oneshould be careful by follow-ing social distance and wear-ing mask. “It is advisable toconsult a doctor immediate-ly if Corona symptomsappear and get tested. Peoplewho undergo Corona testsshould stay at home until thereport is negative.” He furtherappealed to people, whorecovered from Corona tocome forward to donate theirplasma and save others, whoare suffering from the virus.

TS EAMCET likelyfrom September 9PNS n HYDERABAD

The Engineering Agricultureand Medical CommonEntrance Test (EAMCET) islikely to be held on September9, 10, 11 and 14 while theEngineering CommonEntrance Test (ECET) will beheld sometime in late Augustand the Polytechnic CommonEntrance Test (POLYCET) onSeptember 2. This was hintedat, by the chairman of TelanganaState Council for HigherEducation (TSCHE) Prof TPapi Reddy who addressed themedia here on Monday.

Prof Papi Reddy emphasisedthat a clear picture on conductof degree and PG examinationswill emerge only after theSupreme Court verdict.

He disclosed that he hadmet State Education MinisterSabita Indra Reddy on theissue, but since the matter wassub-judice, a decision on thefinal dates could not be taken.“Moreover, the Supreme Court

has asked the Governments ofMaharashtra and Delhi to filea counter on the issue. A courthearing is also scheduled inHigh Court on August 17 onCommon Entrance Tests(CETs),” the TSCHE chair-man said.

He revealed that theEducation Minister also con-firmed that online digital class-es for government school stu-dents, from Classes VI to X, willcommence on August 20. Theclasses will be conductedthrough T-SAT andDoordarshan. Digital classes forClasses III to V would startfrom September 1 and for Interstudents from August 17.

"As we have alreadyestablished, the hotelis a major fire hazard.It did not even havebasic firefightingequipment. Thoughthere was a rear exitstaircase, it was notopened when the firebroke out. This was amajor lapse on partof the management,"a senior fire officialpointed out TDP MLC G Deepak Reddy also said that

YSRCP leaders should face serious action formaking degraded comments and eventhreatening Ramesh Kumar and his familymembers. He said that the YSRCP Governmentshould be punished for not taking any actioneven though the SEC had transferred twocollectors, two SPs, two DSPs and four CIsbesides suspending one CI for poll offences

Chief Whip GadikotaSrikanth Reddy saidthat TDP leaders keptmum over theaccident onlybecause the hospitalbelongs to their partysupporter and themistake lies on theirend. He said that DrRamesh is a staunchsupporter of Naidu,who even took part inthe Zoomconferences of Naidu,and found fault withthe governmentmeasures on Covid-19control

State enhancesregistration...

Continued from Page 1

The Special Chief Secretary said avery scientific approach had been fol-lowed using GIS maps, cadastralmaps and superimposing Googlemaps with the latest land use mapsprovided by the urban local bodies.This was compared with the dataavailable on the 'Meebhoomi' websiteof the state government. “We nowhave a better indexing of urbanproperties as per the prevalent landuse like residential, house site or com-mercial. We also prepared a list ofconverted land and land where lay-outs and colonies were approved bythe Town and Country PlanningDepartment,” Bhargava said.

New IndustrialPolicy for APunveiled with eye on investors

Continued from Page 1

The current lease and buy models forland allotment are being replaced with acomposite lease+buy model, where anindustrialist gets to purchase the land aftersuccessfully running his unit for 10 years.

"The manufacturing sector, as anemployment provider, remains a high pri-ority for the state. The government willundertake structural reforms to acceler-ate industrialisation in the state. Webelieve that providing the right facilitiesat the right cost and offering transparentapprovals is critical to the success of theindustrial sector," Goutham Reddy noted.

The thrust areas identified by the gov-ernment, under the new industrial poli-cy include food processing, pharmaceu-ticals and biotechnology, textiles, electron-ics, footwear and leather, toys and furni-ture, petrochemicals, aerospace anddefence, automobiles and components,machinery, precision equipment and min-eral-based industries.

Continued from Page 1

“I, on my own, invited the APState elders in the government,offered them lunch and dis-cussed the matter. I have extend-ed a friendly hand to the APGovernment saying that boththe states should construct pro-jects based on the needs of thepeople. We have made ourstand clear that there should notbe any egos or Basins (RiverBasins). But yet, the AP Stategovernment had unnecessarilypoked us and picking up a fight.The AP State governmentlodged baseless allegations andcomplaints without any truth.Let us give a befitting answer inthe Apex Council to effectivelycounter the AP State govern-ment’s meaningless charges andshut its mouth once and for all.We will create a situation wherein the AP State government willnever make such allegations infuture,” KCR said.

“The Central government hasalso faulted in its attitude on theTelangana projects. We are con-structing projects based on ourshare of the river waters. It is not

at all correct to raise objectionson the projects whose allocationof water was agreed upon beforethe formation of Telangana State,permissions given and hugefunds were spent,” the CMobserved.

“The Central government isalso raising unnecessary objec-tions over releasing water fromSrisailam to Nagarjunasagar. Infact, it is only after filling up ofNagarjunasagar project thatother projects should be filled upwith water,” he said.

“After formation ofTelangana we have embarkedon redesigning and construc-tion of the projects, based onthe share of water, needs andrights of the state. TheTelangana Statehood move-ment began against as dissat-isfaction over projects notbeing completed despite thewater allocations and discrim-ination being done on theIrrigation sector to the region,”KCR said.

He reminded that Pranahita-Chevella project was redesignedto construct Kaleswaram project,Kanthanapally redesigned to

construct Sammakka Sagar,Rajiv Sagar, Indira Sagarredesigned to construct SitaramaProject, and Dummugudem isredesigned to constructSithamma Sagar.

“In the first Apex Councilmeeting, AP government raisedobjections over the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift IrrigationScheme. The Telangana Stategovernment mentioned aboutthe Machumarri project takenup by the AP government. Thenit was decided that both

the projects would continue.It is not proper for the AP to raisethe same matter now. We willalso once again explain factsabout Palamuru-RangareddyScheme,” the CM said.

Principal Secretary(Irrigation) Rajat Kumar, CMOSecretary Smita Sabharwal, CMOSD Sridhar Deshpande,Government’s Chief WhipDasyam Vinaya Bhaskar, StateRythu Samiti president PallaRajeshwar Reddy, MLC SeriSubhash Reddy, MLA Surender,E-in-C Nagender Rao, DeputyE-in-C Anita and other officialswere present.

AP making unnecessary fuss...

Continued from Page 1

The new med-tech pro-gramme follows a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU)signed recently between the UKgovernment and AMTZ andaims to boost med-tech collab-oration between the two coun-tries by creating direct researchand development linkagesbetween UK companies andAMTZ's manufacturing andtesting facilities, as well as to thewider Indian healthcare market.

AMTZ is happy to sign amemorandum of understand-ing with the British HighCommission for encouraging

innovations in medical devices,particularly on those productsthat are necessary for fightagainst the pandemic, said DrJitendar Sharma, ManagingDirector and CEO, AMTZ.

Through this partnership,British High Commission andAMTZ aims to encourage anumber of innovators and pro-vide them with technical, tech-nological, financial, entrepre-neurial and strategic hand hold-ing enabling them to leapfrogfrom idea to innovation andfrom a start-up to an establishedenterprise. This is with an aimto serve the global innovationcommunity, he said.

The call for applications isopen to all Indian start-ups,micro small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) andinnovators, including those atprototype, development, pilot,validation, early traction, andscaling stages.

It signifies a major develop-ment as part of the UK-IndiaTech Partnership, which wasestablished in 2018 to bringtogether the best tech mindsfrom both countries to deliv-er high-skilled jobs and eco-nomic growth as well as to col-lectively tackle some of theworld's biggest challenges.

AMTZ is an enterprise

under the government ofAndhra Pradesh, dedicated tomedical device manufacturing.

It has reserved 100,000square feet rent-free manufac-turing space for start-ups tofacilitate quick commercialisa-tion of successful solutions. Ithas been contracted by thegovernment of India for themanufacture of ventilators andother essential medical equip-ment, such as masks, person-al protective equipment (PPE),testing kits, etc.

MediValley is the incubationand innovation arm of AMTZ,funded by NITI Aayog, as AtalIncubation Council.

India, UK ink new med-tech pact...

PMU launched to step up vigilon village, ward secretariats

3 employees ofRamesh Hospitalarrested

Continued from Page 1

Earlier, Vijayawada city central MRO,P Jaya Sri lodged a complaint with theGovernorpet police under whose jurisdic-tion the hotel comes.

In her complaint, Jaya Sri stated thatRamesh Hospital Vijayawada had signedan MoU with Swarna Palace for runningof a private Covid-19 centre to treat Covidpatients on paid basis.

The complainant further stated that themanagement of the hospital and hotel hadknowledge about the electrical defects inthe hotel and deliberately avoided repairsas it need huge expenditure.

The complaint also said that the man-agement went ahead with opening theCovid Care Centre while being aware ofthe dangers posed by the electrical defects.

As per the instructions of Vijayawadapolice commissioner B Srinivasulu, DCPVikrant Patil formed three teams and filedcases on Ramesh Hospitals managementand Swarna Palace hotel management andarrested three people.

Continued from Page 1

The centre will track the work ofthe employee of Village Secretariatand upwards to MRO, MPDO andSecretary to see that the services arerendered within the prescribed time-line — 10 days for rice card and pen-sions, 20 days for Aarogyasri and 90days for house site pattas.

The Chief Minister said that feed-back on why any application is notcleared in the stipulated time shouldreach the CMO where officialswould take note and then speak tothe district collectors or joint collec-tors concerned. The officials shouldremember that power comes out ofresponsibility, Jagan said.

He said that the data from the CallCentre should be processed automat-ically and an analytical text shouldcome out which should be followedup. The Chief Minister also releasedguidelines for the social audit in vil-lage and ward secretariats and hasalso launched the internet services to

village secretariats in remote areaswith functional broadband internetservices. These services will be avail-able in 512 secretariats where inter-net services are not available. Theywill be linked to other secretariatswithin two months. The Secretariatswill have digital boards displaying thewelfare schemes the Government hasbeen implementing and the informa-tion should be available to people.

The CM said that all village sec-retariats should have toilets. Thefocus should be on constructionwork of ward secretariats and urbanhealth clinics. He said that vacanciesin village secretariats should be filledup by September and the employeesshould be given proper training onthe various schemes being imple-mented by the government andthere should be self assessment.Panchayat Raj Minister PeddireddyRamchandra Reddy, Chief SecretaryNilam Sawhney, Principal SecretaryAjaya Kalam and others participat-ed in the meeting.

Less tests, casesdip to 7,665 in AP

Continued from Page 1

The states gross testingincreased to 25,34,304, leadingto a cumulative positivity rateof 9.29 per cent as against thenational average of 9.01 percent. The fresh cases took thestate's tally of positive cases to2,35,525 while 80 fresh deathswere reported in the last 24hours, taking the overall toll to2,116.

Also, 6,924 coronaviruspatients got cured and dis-charged from hospitals.

After a total of 1,45,636patients recovered from theinfection, the state now has87,773 active Covid-19 cases,

the bulletin said.Only East Godavari report-

ed cases in four digits (1,235)while all other districts stayedon a three-digit count.

Though it has been addingless number of cases,Prakasam district continued toreport more number of deaths42 in the last five days with 22coming in the last two days.

Guntur reported 10 newcasualties, West Godavari 9,Kadapa and Srikakulam seveneach, Chittoor and Kurnool sixeach, Anantapur, SPS Nellore,Visakhapatnam andVizianagaram five each. EastGodavari added four moredeaths to its tally.

Continued from Page 1

During the investigationkey documents were seizedfrom the house ofMuthavarapu Srinivas, ownerof Hotel Swarna Palace. Whilethe search operation was on,the police did not allow any-one to enter or leave thehouse.

According to sources thepolice seized key documentsrelated to the agreementbetween Ramesh Hospitalsand Hotel Swarna Palace.

Authorities are investigatingallegations of non-compliancewith fire regulations, safetystandards and possible shortcircuits.

Electricity department offi-cials and fire safety officialsinspected Hotel Swarna Palaceand Swarna Heights.

Elsewhere, the authoritiesbegan collecting details onthe Covid treatment conduct-ed under the auspices ofRamesh Hospitals at SwarnaPalace and Swarna Heights.The police and the fire officials

also began checking if the con-struction of the hotel wasdone as per the approvedplan. District Committee alsoinspected the hotel where thefire accident took place atSwarna Palace.

Sub Collector DhyanChandra, District JointCollector (Development) ShivaShankar, VMC Health Officer,Deputy Electrical Inspectorwere part of the teams. Areport is likely to be submittedto the government after theinspection is concluded.

Teams begin probingcause of fire, lapses

Sambasiva Raju,8-time MLA,passes away...

Continued from Page 1

Deputy Chief MinisterPushpa Sreevani expressedher grief at the passing awayof the former minister.

Remembering his servicesto the state, she said that hewas a great leader who left anindelible mark inVizianagaram politics.Sreevani said that SambasivaRaju’s contribution to thedevelopment of the districtwas invaluable. On July 29,former AP minister andYSRCP leader KoppanaMohan Rao (75) passed awaydue to ill health while under-going treatment at a privatehospital in Kakinada.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020 04

SHORT READS

Mulayam's conditionimproving: HospitalLUCKNOW: The condition ofSamajwadi Party leaderMulayam Singh Yadav whowas admitted to a hospital inLucknow last week isimproving, the medical facilitysaid on Monday. Yadav wasadmitted last Friday followingan infection in the urinarytract. His test results forcoronavirus were negative.The former Uttar Pradeshchief minister's condition isimproving and he isresponding to treatment,Medanta Hospital directorRakesh Kapoor said. Kapoorhad earlier said the 80-year-old SP leader also underwentultrasound, blood and urinetests. SP spokespersonRajendra Chaudhary had saidon Saturday that party chiefAkhilesh Yadav and his wifeDimple Yadav had gone to thehospital on Friday night toenquire about the condition ofthe party patriarch.

Pakistani troops fire atborder posts along LoC

Maha: Two girls dieafter stack of plywoodfalls on them

THANE: Two minor sistersdied after a stack of plywoodsheets fell on them at agodown in Maharashtra'sThane district, police said onMonday. The incident tookplace around 9 pm on Sundaywhen the girls were sleepingin their father's godown inShil area of Thane, policeinspector C J Jadhav said. Adog jumped on the stackfollowing which the plywoodsheets fell on the girls,trapping them, he said. Thegirls, aged 9 and 11 years,were taken to a civic-runhospital where they died whileundergoing treatment, he said.A case of accidental death wasregistered, he added.

JAMMU: Pakistani troopsopened fire on forward postsalong the Line of Control(LoC) in Poonch district ofJammu and Kashmir onMonday in violation of aceasefire agreement, adefence spokesman said. Theunprovoked firing from acrossthe border started in theBalakote sector around 10.15am and was given a befittingresponse by Indian Armypersonnel guarding the LoC,the spokesman said. He saidthe cross-border firingbetween the two sides wasgoing on when last reportswere received. However, therewas no report of any casualty,the spokesman said. Officialssaid Pakistan Army personnelalso fired mortar shellstargeting Tarkundi village,causing panic amongresidents. On Sunday,Pakistani troops resorted toheavy shelling in Mankote,Shahpur, Kirni and KrishnaGhati sectors.

PNS n MUMBAI

The Mumbai civic body hasstarted the second phase ofsero-surveillance study in thecity from Monday to assess thespread of COVID-19 and howmany people have developedantibodies against the disease.

The survey will cover F-North (Dadar, Matunga andDharavi), M-West (Deonar andGovandi) and R-North(Dahisar) wards, where a simi-lar study was conducted lastmonth, a BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)official said. The study will pro-vide information about thespread of the infection and alsothrow light on herd immunity,he said. "The sero-surveillancestudy will give an insight into thespread of COVID-19 and devel-opment of antibodies. The paperwork for the survey has begunfrom today," AdditionalMunicipal CommissionerSuresh Kakani said.

If everything goes as per theplan, the survey is expected tobe completed in 12 days, he said.

A serological survey involvestesting of blood serum of indi-viduals to check for the preva-lence of antibodies against aninfection. The sero survey con-ducted in the first half of Julyrevealedthat 57 per cent of slumpopulation and 16 per cent ofnon-slum residents in the threecivic wards had developed anti-bodies. It showed high propor-tion of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection in the city.

BMC starts phase-IIof sero-survey

Rahul objections to draftEIA ‘premature': Javadekar

New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI)Those raising objections tothe draft environment impactassessment (EIA) notificationare the same people who took"big decisions without consul-tations" when they were inpower, Union EnvironmentMinister Prakash Javadekarsaid on Monday, hitting out atCongress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi had on Sundaytweeted that the draft EIA wasa "disaster" and urged peopleto protest against it.

Speaking to the media after anevent to celebrate WorldElephant Day, Javadekar said,"Saw reaction of some leadersdemanding protest against theEIA draft. How can they protestagainst the draft? It is not a finalnotification. It was kept forpublic consultation for 150 daysbecause of COVID-19.Otherwise it is only 60 days asper rules."

"We have received thou-

sands of suggestions whichwe welcome. We will consid-er those suggestions. Thentake a call and come out withfinal draft. So people jumpingjust on the draft is not fairpractice. Those who want tonow protest, during theirregime took many of the bigdecisions without consulta-tions. It is unnecessary andpremature. I have mentionedit in my letter to (Congressleader and former Union min-ister) Jairam Ramesh," theminister told reporters.

"It (Gandhi's comment onEIA and demanding protests)is unnecessary and prema-ture," Javadekar said.

Gandhi had on Sundaytweeted, "This EIA 2020 draftis a disaster. It seeks to silencethe voice of communities whowill be directly impacted by theenvironmental degradation itunleashes. I urge every Indianto rise up and protest against it."

The Congress leader has alsocalled for its withdrawal, sayingit will lead to further environ-mental destruction and looting.

Trinamool questionsdefence sector reformsPNS n KOLKATA

A day after the Centre imposedrestrictions on import of 101weapons and military plat-forms, the Trinamool Congresson Monday sought to know ifthe country's defence industryhas the ability to produce theseitems.

Senior TMC leader and theparty's national spokespersonSaugata Roy said the centralgovernment should create a"proper roadmap" to makeIndia's indigenous defencesector self-reliant.

In a major reform initiativeto boost the domestic defenceindustry, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Sundayannounced restrictions onimport of 101 weapons andmilitary platforms includingartillery guns, assault rifles,transport aircraft and sonarsystems.

"The announcement mightsound good, but there are a fewthings that have to be lookedinto. The Centre has put an

embargo on 101 items, but thequestion remains whether ourindigenous defence sector hasthe ability to produce thoseitems. If not, what is the Uniongovernment doing to enhanceits capabilities," the seniorTMC leader said.

Roy, a veteran parliamentar-ian and former union minis-ter, claimed that attempts havebeen made to undermine thecountrys ordnance factoriesover the last five years.

"On one hand, you talk of'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) and on theother, you weaken our ord-nance factories instead ofstrengthening them. This isunacceptable," he said.

Sonia completes one year asparty chief amid crisis in CongPNS n NEW DELHI

Sonia Gandhi completes oneyear as the Congress interimPresident in her second stint asthe party chief with the GrandOld Party in turmoil followingthe high profile rebellions ofJyotiraditya Scindia and SachinPilot.

After Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan, the party is also fac-ing a problem in Punjab wheretwo MPs have opened a frontagainst Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh.

Sonia Gandhi in her secondstint is battling ill-health as wellas the feuds within the party. Shewas unable to stop JyotiradityaScindia from breaking the partyand joining the BJP which led tothe fall of the Congress govern-ment in Madhya Pradesh. Shecould not intervene betweenthe two factions and GeneralSecretary in-charge DeepakBabaria could not bring about atruce between the two high pro-file leaders Scindia and former

MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath.The same thing happened in

Rajasthan where former DeputyChief Minister Sachin Pilotrevolted against Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, leading to a cri-sis in the government. There alsothe Congress leadershipremained weak and could notbroker peace between the twofactions.

The third state where theCongress is facing problems isPunjab. The party is trying todownplay the rift and said thatthe media is trying to read too

much into it.The second stint of Sonia

Gandhi came about following heresignation of her son RahulGandhi as the party Presidentand after the Congress WorkingCommittee could not find areplacement except SoniaGandhi. Since August 2019, theparty has been fighting the BJPwhile the internal rifts havewidened. There is also a sense ofresentment over the interferenceof Team Rahul Gandhi in theorganisation's functioning.

At the July 30 meeting of its

Rajya Sabha MPs where theissue of leadership was discussed,many leaders demanded thatRahul Gandhi should be broughtback as Party President. A con-troversy erupted when someleaders demanded that the partyshould introspect on the reasonsfor its electoral defeats, to whichleaders close to Rahul Gandhiraised questions over the UPArule, which led to a war on thesocial media. Senior leaders hadto intervene and say that theyshould desist from making com-ments on social media.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Close to 15 per cent studentsenrolled in Delhi governmentschools are not "traceable" sincethe lockdown was announcedand have not been attending thealternative classes conductedonline or through phones,according to Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia.

Sisodia, who is also theEducation Minister, said effortsare being made to locate thesestudents either physically or tele-phonically to get them into thesystem.

"We are conducting fullfledged teaching learning eitheronline or through phones andteachers have been instructed toensure personal involvementwith each student. So far, thereare maximum 15 per cent stu-dents who are not traceable andare not in contact with theirschools and hence not attending

the classes," Sisodia said."I have been reviewing this

personally and we have been ableto trace few students, for otherseither they are not staying at thesame addresses or their phonenumbers mentioned in ourrecords are not traceable. I haveasked that School ManagementCommittees (SMCs) should beroped in to track these students.There are certain students whohave gone to places like

Uttarakhand and Bihar but arestill connected with us and areattending the classes and doingassignments," he added.

Asked about a definite num-ber of the students who have notbeen traced, Sisodia said, "On anaverage there are 4-5 students inevery class who are in this cate-gory. Many of them are class 6students and numbers for otherclasses are quite low".

There are around 15 lakh

students enrolled in over 1100Delhi government schools. "Westarted conducting online class-es for class 12 students from April6 and sending e-learning mate-rial or activities to those enrolledin classes nursery to eighth overWhatsApp or SMS. The govern-ment has also provided a subsidyof Rs 200 for internet packagesto all its class 12 students whohad registered for the onlineclasses," a senior Directorate ofEducation (DoE) official said.

The HRD ministry had lastmonth asked states and union ter-ritories to ensure that the namesof children of migrant workerswho returned home during theCOVID-19 pandemic are notstruck off their school rolls.Issuing a set of guidelines, theministry had also directed thestates to prepare a database of chil-dren who have left the local areafor their homes in other states orother parts of the same state.

Venkaiah lays foundation stonefor RS staff housing complex PNS n NEW DELHI

Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Monday laid thefoundation stone for a Rs 46crore housing complex forRajya Sabha employees hereand expressed concern overthe delay in launching of theproject.

Land in R K Puram wasallotted for the project as earlyas in 2003.

The long period of 17 yearstaken for launching the hous-ing project resulted in avoid-able costs for the Rajya SabhaSecretariat, Naidu, who is thechairman of the Upper Houseof Parliament, said during avirtual event.

He also referred to thesocial-economic-legal-admin-istrative cobwebs that resultedin non-utilisation of the pre-cious land resource and theseveral rounds of meetings hehad held over the last two yearswith various officials to removethe hurdles in the way of util-isation of the land, accordingto a statement.

Naidu pointed out that if

the 8,700 square metres ofland allotted for the RajyaSabha Secretariat in 2003was put to use in time, thesecretariat could have bene-fitted significantly in theform of house rentallowance, besides recoveringsubstantial portion of the

investment in the housingproject by now. Referring tothe huge annual rent of Rs 30crore being paid by the sec-retariat for locating RSTV inthe NDMC Complex, he saidrelocation of the channel toR K Puram would have alsobenefitted substantially.

15% students enrolled in Delhi govtschools not traceable since lockdown

Blast destroyed landmark 19th century palacen BEIRUT

The 160-year-old palace with-stood two world wars, the fall ofthe Ottoman Empire, theFrench mandate and Lebaneseindependence. After the coun-try's 1975-1990 civil war, ittook 20 years of careful restora-tion for the family to bring thepalace back to its former glory.

“In a split second, every-thing was destroyed again,”says Roderick Sursock, ownerof Beirut's landmark SursockPalace, one of the most storiedbuildings in the Lebanese cap-ital.

He steps carefully over thecollapsed ceilings, walkingthrough rooms covered in dust,broken marble and crookedportraits of his ancestors hang-ing on the cracked walls. Theceilings of the top floor are allgone, and some of the wallshave collapsed. The level of

destruction from the massiveexplosion at Beirut's port lastweek is 10 times worse thanwhat 15 years of civil war did,he says.

More than 160 people werekilled in the blast, around 6,000were injured and thousands ofresidential buildings and officeswere damaged. Several her-

itage buildings, traditionalLebanese homes, museums andart galleries have also sustainedvarious degrees of damage.

The Sursock palace, built in1860 in the heart of historicalBeirut on a hill overlooking thenow-obliterated port, is home tobeautiful works of arts,Ottoman-era furniture, marble

and paintings from Italy — col-lected by three long-lastinggenerations of the Sursock fam-ily.

The Greek Orthodox family,originally from the Byzantinecapital, Constantinople — nowIstanbul — settled in Beirut in1714.

The three-story mansion has

been a landmark in Beirut.With its spacious garden, it'sbeen the venue for countlessweddings, cocktail parties andreceptions over the years, andhas been admired by touristswho visit the nearby Sursockmuseum.

The house in Beirut'sChristian quarter of Achrafiehis listed as a cultural heritagesite, but Sursock said only thearmy has come to assess thedamage in the neighborhood.So far, he's had no luck reach-ing the Culture Ministry.

The palace is so damaged thatit will require a long, expensiveand delicate restoration, “as ifrebuilding the house fromscratch,” Sursock says. Sursockhas moved to a nearby pavilionin the palace gardens, but thishas been his home for manyyears alongside his Americanwife, his 18-year-old daughterand his mother, Yvonne.

Trump end run around Congressraises questions on his claimsn BRIDGEWATER (US)

President Donald Trump's endrun around Congress on coro-navirus relief is raising ques-tions about whether it wouldgive Americans the economiclifeline he claims and appearscertain to face legal challenges.

Democrats called it a pre-election ploy that would bur-den cash-strapped states.

"When you look at thoseexecutive orders ... the kindestthing I could say is he doesn'tknow what he's talking aboutor something's wrong there,”House Speaker Nancy Pelosisaid.

“To characterise them aseven accomplishing what theyset out to do, as something thatwill take the place of an agree-ment, is just not so.”

After negotiations with law-makers on the next package ofpandemic economic assistance

hit a wall, Trump used what hesaid were the inherent powersof the presidency to forgeahead on tax and spendingpolicy that Congress says it isgranted by the Constitution.

Trump asserted he had theauthority to defer payroll taxesand extend an expired unem-ployment benefit, although ata lower amount than what thejobless had been getting dur-ing the crisis.

His reelection chances

imperiled by the pandemic, thepresident contended his orders“will take care of pretty muchthis entire situation, as weknow it.”

But the orders appeared tocarry less weight than Trumppromoted and cut federal reliefspending by shifting moreonto the shoulders of strug-gling states.

Critics said the actionscrossed a legal line and fell wellshort of what is needed to helpright the fragile economy.

“Paltry,” said SenateDemocratic leader ChuckSchumer of New York, giventhe scope of the economicand health crises.

Though certain to furtherstrain relations with Congress,the moves were framed by theWhite House as the presidentbreaking through theWashington gridlock in orderto directly distribute aid.

The long period of 17 years taken forlaunching the housing project resulted inavoidable costs for the Rajya SabhaSecretariat, Naidu, who is the chairman ofthe Upper House of Parliament, saidduring a virtual event

“In a split second,

everything was

destroyed again,”

says Roderick

Sursock, owner of

Beirut's landmark

Sursock Palace,

one of the most

storied buildings

in the Lebanese

capital

Lebanon's justice ministerresigns in wake of explosionn BEIRUT

Lebanon's justice minister hasresigned in protest, the thirdCabinet member to do so fol-lowing last week's devastatingexplosion in Beirut, the statenews agency reported onMonday.

Marie-Claude Najm's resig-nation on Monday came aday after the ministers of infor-mation and environmentstepped down.

A Cabinet meeting is sched-uled for Monday, amid reportsthat the whole governmentmight resign. If a total of sevenministers resign, the Cabinetwould effectively become acaretaker government.

The explosion, along with asevere economic crisis, has

been widely blamed ondecades of corruption andmisrule by Lebanon'sentrenched political class.

The blast on Tuesday killed

more than 160 people andwounded more than 6,000. Itcaused widespread devasta-tion across the capital andobliterated the port.

The third statewhere the Congressis facing problemsis Punjab. The partyis trying to down-play the rift andsaid that the mediais trying to read toomuch into it

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020 nation 05

SHORT READS

India’s deepest Metrovent shaft completed

KOLKATA: The country'sdeepest underground railventilation shaft equal to a 15storey building and animportant part of the city'sEast-West Metro line wascompleted on Monday, officialssaid. The ventilation shaft,which is 43.5m deep, wascompleted jointly by KolkataMetro Rail Corporation (KMRC)and Afcons, a privateengineering company. Suchshafts are not only used toprovide ventilation to thetunnels, but also for evacuationduring an emergency. Theevacuation shaft is located onStrand Road near Hooghlyriver, a statement said. "TheMetro shaft has beenconstructed adoptinginnovative engineeringtechniques and methodology tonavigate geological challengesand overcome any impact onKolkatas circular railway trackalong the Hooghly, Afconsproject manager Satya NarayanKunwar aid.

Former CM mocksCentre's package foragricultural sector

Raped minor commitssuicide in Karnataka'sDharwad districtBENGALURU: A minor girlcommitted suicide afterallegedly being raped in avillage in North Karnatakarecently, police said onMonday. According to police,the incident occurred when thegirl, aged 13-14 years andstudying in the eight standard,was on her way to a temple onJuly 30 at Bogur in Dharwadrural. The girl returned homeand reported the matter to hermother. Later, she consumedpoison, polices said. She wasrushed to a hospital but couldnot be saved. The accused hasalready been arrested, theyadded. State Minister forMedium and Large Industries,Jagadish Shettar has promisedjustice to the family. "Anincident of rape and death of aminor girl has taken placerecently in village Bogur inDharwad district. I met thefamily of the victim andconsoled them," the ministersaid in a tweet.

BENGALURU: Former KarnatakaChief Minister Siddaramaiah onMonday ridiculed theagriculture package, saying theCentre has only re-announcedits own scheme announced inMay this year. Her tweeted,"Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had alreadyannounced the AgricultureInfrastructure Fund package inMay 2020. Now, our... NarendraModi has announced it again."He said, "We were seeing UPAschemes being rebranded butnow their own schemes arebeing re-announced." Theformer Chief Minister wasreferring to the Rs one-lakhcrore package announced toboost the agriculture sector.According to Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa, thePM Kisan Scheme hasbenefited 52.50 lakh farmers inthe state. Yediyurappa had saidthe first installment of Rs 1,049crore would be credited tofarmers' accounts.

Vasundhara Raje factor inSachin Pilot's ‘Ghar-wapsi’PNS n JAIPUR

In the Sachin Pilot-Congresstruce after a month-long rebelcrisis, a key role was played bythe BJP's reality in Rajasthanand the quiet power of its for-mer Chief Minister VasundharaRaje Scindia. Sachin Pilot'smeeting with the Gandhis forthe first time since his revolt setthe stage for reconciliation justfour days before a likely test ofstrength in the Rajasthanassembly.

The BJP, accused by theCongress of snatching power instates by luring its MLAs, official-ly kept a distance from theAshok Gehlot government's cri-sis, calling it the Congress's"internal problem".

The BJP's Rajasthan chiefSatish Poonia tweeted: "We hadbeen saying all along - it is theCongress's internal fight and itwas needlessly blaming BJP.Poor Rajasthan had to watchCongress's 31-day Ramlila...sis-ter Priyanka Gandhi and broth-er Rahul Gandhi woke up late..."He added: "Now that your crisisis resolved, apologise to the peo-ple and do some work."

Gehlot accused the BJP of col-laborating with his estranged for-

mer deputy, Sachin Pilot, tostage a coup. The Congress evenaccused Union MinisterGajendra Singh Shekhawat of arole in bribing Congress MLAsand filed a complaint against himbased on audio tapes thatemerged online.

The BJP's hand, said theCongress, was clear also in thefact that Sachin Pilot's 18 rebelswere staying in resorts inHaryana. When a SpecialOperations Group team fromRajasthan came searching forrebel MLAs accused of deal-making, they were blocked by alarge team of Haryana police-men. Sources say secret meetingsof rebels with BJP leaders were

also allowed in buildings official-ly designated as coronavirusquarantine centres.

But the BJP officially main-tained it had nothing to do withthe Congress crisis, and wouldnot push for a test of strength.Sources say the party had nochoice, given the loud silence ofits Rajasthan powerhouseVasundhara Raje Scindia.

Vasundhara Raje reportedlyrefused to fall in with any planto join forces with the rebels topull down the Congress govern-ment.

The BJP was forced to cancela meeting which she was toattend but reportedly did notplan to.

In the past month, since rebel-lion broke out in the Congress,Raje posted just one tweet on July18, saying the people of Rajasthanwere paying the price for theCongress crisis. Sources say with-out the former CM's cooperation,the BJP could do little. Rajasthanis the rare state where regionalleaders enjoy more influenceover MLAs than the central lead-ership. The BJP has 72 MLAs inthe state and 45 of them areextremely loyal to Raje.

India's Covid death ratedown to 2%, decreasingPNS n NEW DELHI

As the total coronaviruspatients across the countrycrossed the 22-lakh mark,India's fatality rate dropped toits lowest two per cent in thelast 24 hours whereas therecoveries reached a new peakof over 15 lakh so far.

The latest data shared by theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) revealsthat the current Case FatalityRate (CFR) is two per cent andis steadily declining. Thereport came at a time whenthe country tested a recordover 1,000 deaths in a singleday, pushing the death toll sofar to 44,386.

The central governmentsaid the fatality rate is at itslowest and India is among thecountries with lowest fatalities.

As per the Health Ministry,the coordinated efforts ofthe Centre and states/UnionTerritories on early detectionthrough aggressive testingand efficient clinical manage-ment of hospitalised caseshave shown results with con-tinuously decreasing CFR."Early identification of caseshas also led to steep fall inpercentage of active cases," itsaid.

SC to hear tomorrow pleas onmerger of 6 BSP MLAs with CongPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Mondaysaid it would tomorrow hearthe petitions filed on the issuerelating to merger of six BSPMLAs with the Congress inRajasthan last year.

The apex court was hearinga plea filed by a BJP MLA whohas challenged the RajasthanHigh Court order which hadrefused to stay the functioningas Congress legislators of sixBSP MLAs who after electionto the assembly merged withthe ruling party in the state.

A bench headed by JusticeArun Mishra said that appealfiled by BJP MP MadanDilawar would be heard alongwith a separate plea filed by thesix MLAs. In their plea, thesesix MLAs have requested theapex court to transfer to itself

Dilawar's plea pending in thehigh court seeking their dis-qualification for allegedly vio-lating the party whip.

Dilawar has challenged in theapex court the August 6 orderof a division bench of highcourt which had disposed of hisplea against the order of a sin-gle judge, who had refused to

stay the functioning of these sixMLAs as Congress legislators.During the hearing conductedon Monday through video-conferencing, senior advocateHarish Salve, appearing forDilawar, told the apex court thatin September last year theAssembly Speaker had passedan order accepting the merger.

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than 500 people and 100elephants die every year due toconflict with each other, officialsof the environment ministry saidon Monday. Releasing the figuresat an event ahead of WorldElephant Day on August 12, theofficials said interactions betweenhumans and elephants have ledto the death of both.

As per the last census conduct-ed in 2017, India is home to30,000 elephants.

Addressing the event, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar said elephant conser-vation is vital as it balances theecosystem. Elephants have to bekept in forests for which fodderand water augmentation pro-gramme has been initiated, theminister said, adding that by nextyear results will start showing.

Speaking about the signifi-cance of elephants, UnionMinister of State for EnvironmentBabul Supriyo condemned theMay 27 incident in Kerala where-in a pregnant elephant died afterconsuming a firecracker-filledpineapple. "We must protect ourelephants. The Kerala incidentwas inhuman and such criminalacts will be dealt with. The min-istry and states have zero toler-

ance approach to such activitiesand I am sure exemplary punish-ment will be given to the culprit,"Supriyo said.

Giving out the figures of deathsdue to human-elephant conflict,Additional Director General ofForests (Wildlife) SoumitraDasgupta said hundreds of ele-phants migrate and come incontact with human beings.“More than 500 human and 100

elephant deaths take place eachyear due to the conflict. In last fiveyears, the ministry has unleasheda series of activities for the con-servation of elephants. More ele-phant corridors have been iden-tified, budget has been increasedby 30 per cent and several com-mittees have also been formed,”said Dasgupta.

More than 500 people, 100 elephants die everyyear due to conflict with each other: Officials

PNS n NEW DELHI

The current academic year willnot be a "zero year" for collegesand higher education institu-tions, Education Ministry offi-cials told a parliamentary panelMonday, indicating that theyhoped to conduct exams by theend of the session, sources said.

They also told the panel thatonline classes are only meantfor school children above Class3 and only limited number ofonline classes are allowed forthose up to 8th standard.

However, panel membersraised questions on the viabil-ity of online classes for poorfamilies who cannot affordmobile phones or laptop com-puters, the sources said.

A majority of poor families,especially in rural areas, mayhave one mobile phone among

the members. How would theirkids get access to online educa-tion, the MPs asked the officials.

Panel Chairman VinaySahasrabuddhe suggested thatchildren can be taught viacommunity radio and transis-tor, which is cost-effectivecompared to mobile phones,can be provided to poor stu-dents, according to the sources.

The senior BJP leader also

suggested creation of a "bigquestion bank" of all subjectsfor students on the basis ofwhich questions should beasked whenever the exams areheld for this academic session.

Quoting Sahasrabuddhe, thesources said it would solve theexam management-relatedissues and ease the anxiety andfear among students amid thiscoronavirus crisis.

This academic year will not be ‘zeroyear', hopeful of conducting exams

TN CM directs officialsto bring back bodies ofstudents from RussiaPNS n CHENNAI

Four students from TamilNadu pursuing medical edu-cation in Russia drowned in ariver in that country and direc-tions have been issued tobring back their remains backhome at the earliest, ChiefMinister K Palaniswami saidon Monday.

He said he has directedsenior government officialsto immediately get in touchwith the External AffairsMinistry and the Indianembassy in Russia, andarrange for bringing back thebodies of the four whodrowned in the Volga river.

The victims were studying

at the Volgograd State MedicalUniversity and died due to the'current' in the river, he said ina statement here.

The four students areMohammed Ashiq of Tiruppurdistrict, R Vignesh (Cuddalore),Manoj Anand (Salem) andStephen (Chennai).

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Railways has initiated actionagainst a private agency forissuing a fake advertisementfor over 5000 posts in thenational transporter. The adver-tisement printed in a promi-nent newspaper said theRailways was seekingapplications for5,285 posts in eightcategories.

"It has come tonotice of Ministry ofRailways that oneorganization by name of“Avestran Infotech” havingwebsite address"http://www.avestran.in"www.avestran.in has given an advertise-ment in a prominent newspaperon 8th August 2020 calling forapplications against a total num-ber of 5,285 number of post ineight categories on outsourcing

basis on Indian Railways on 11year contract. The applicantshave been asked to depositRs.750/-as online fee and lastdate for receipt of applicationshas been mentioned asSeptember 10, 2020.

"It may be informed to allthat advertisement for

any Railway recruit-ment is always doneby Indian RailwaysONLY. No privateagency has beenauthorized to do the

same. The saidissuance of said adver-

tisement in question is ille-gal," the ministry said in a state-ment. The ministry said railwayswill initiate strict against theagency. It also clarified that therecruitment of various cate-gories of Group 'C' and erstwhileGroup 'D' posts on IndianRailways is presently catered.

PNS n MUMBAI

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Monday began a freshround of questioning of actorRhea Chakraborty and herfamily members in connectionwith its probe in a money laun-dering case linked to the deathof actor Sushant Singh Rajput.Rhea, her brother Showik andfather Indrajit Chakrabortyreported at the office of thecentral probe agency in theBallard Estate area around 11am in response to their sched-uled summons for Monday,officials said.

Later, Shruti Modi, the busi-ness manager of Rhea andRajput, also reported at the EDoffice. All the four were ques-tioned by the agency onAugust 7 too. Post 2 PM,Rajput's friend and roommateSiddharth Pithani also arrived

at the ED office and his state-ment is expected to be record-ed too.

Pithani, an IT professional,had told various news channelsthat he was present in theBandra flat on June 14 whenthe 34-year-old actor hangedhimself.

Called 'Buddha' by Rajput,he is stated to be living withRajput for about a year, and

had earlier recorded his state-ment with the Mumbai Policeas part of their accidentaldeath report (ADR) probe inthe case. Among those ques-tioned earlier, Showik has beengrilled for about 22 hours tillnow. He had left the ED officearound 6:30 am on Sundayafter an overnight questioningsession that began aroundnoon on Saturday.

PNS n MUMBAI

The CBI told the Bombay HighCourt on Monday that it wasconducting preliminary enquiryinto the complaint filed by 63moons technologies limitedagainst former Union financeminister P Chidambaram andtwo other bureaucrats allegingabuse of official powers. CBIadvocate Hiten Venegavkar tolda division bench of Justices S SJadhav and N J Jamadar thatsince the allegations pertain tothe year 2012-2013, the agencyhas to recover relevant docu-ments which will take some time.

The court was hearing a peti-tion filed by the Jignesh Shah-promoted company, earlierknown as Financial TechnologiesLtd, questioning the 'delayed'action by the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) againstsenior Congress leader

Chidambaram and bureaucratsK P Krishnan and RameshAbhishek. Abhishek was chair-man of the Forward MarketsCommission and Krishnan wasan additional secretary and jointsecretary in the Ministry ofFinance when Chidambaramwas the finance minister.

We (CBI) are conducting pre-liminary enquiry. Since the casedates back to the year 2012 and

2013, we need to apply ourmind and verify the allegationslevelled and recover all relevantdocuments, Venegavkar said.

He said the complainant (63moons technologies) was sum-moned by the CBI for recordingof statement and the firm wasasked to submit further evidencein support of its allegations.

"However, till date CBI has notreceived any further evidence ordocuments from the petitionercompany, Venegavkar said.

Advocate Aabad Ponda,appearing for 63 moons tech-nologies, refuted this argumentand said all relevant documentshave already been submitted tothe CBI. "A preliminary enquiry,as per provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act,has to be completed within aperiod of four months. In thiscase, the preliminary enquirywas initiated in February.

Inquiry on in 63 moons complaintagainst Chidambaram: CBI tells HC

No quarantinefor airpassengersvisiting AssamPNS n GUWAHATI

Any air traveller to Assamwho will depart from the statewithin 72 hours of his arrivalwill not have to undergo quar-antine provided his RapidAntigen Test (RAT) result at theairport is negative, an orderissued by the state governmentsaid on Monday. The passen-ger will also have to provide acopy of his return ticket indi-cating his departure within 72hours, the order issued by thestate Health Department'sPrincipal Secretary Samir Sinhasaid. The visitor shall provideswab samples for RapidAntigen Test (RAT) immedi-ately on arrival and if the resultis negative, then he will beallowed to proceed.

The BJP's Rajasthanchief Satish Pooniatweeted: "We hadbeen saying all along -it is the Congress'sinternal fight and itwas needlessly blam-ing BJP. Poor Raja-sthan had to watchCongress's 31-dayRamlila... sisterPriyanka Gandhi andbrother Rahul Gandhiwoke up late..." Headded: "Now that yourcrisis is resolved,apologise to the peo-ple and do some work"

Rhea, family appear before ED again forquestioning in money laundering case

Yogi posts officialto monitor pvthospitalsPNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Mondayasked the Medical EducationDepartment to post an officialfor monitoring at each privatemedical college hospital treat-ing Covid patients.According to a statement,the CM during a review meet-ing at his residence here saidthe private medical collegeswhere COVID-19 hospitalshave been established, anofficer should be appointed bythe department for “monitor-ing and ensuring quality treat-ment to patients”. He alsoasked officials to increase thenumber of beds in hospitals.He directed to appoint twospecial secretary-level offi-cers each to support the dis-trict magistrates of Lucknowand Kanpur in tackling coro-navirus outbreak

Elephants have tobe kept in forestsfor which fodderand wateraugmentationprogramme hasbeen initiated, theminister said,adding that by nextyear results willstart showing

Rlys clamps down onagencies recruitment ads

62,064 new Covid casestake tally past 22 lakhPNS n NEW DELHI

India's novel coronavirus tallycrossed the 22-lakh mark onMonday with 62,064 new cases,while the recoveries surged toover 15.35 lakh, the HealthMinistry said. The death tollfrom the pathogen climbed to44,386 with 1,007 more fatali-ties, according to the ministrydata. There are 6,34,945 activecases of the coronavirus disease(COVID-19). The total coron-avirus cases now stands at22,15,074, it said. India'sCOVID-19 recoveries have

crossed the "historic peak" of1.5 million with the recovery of15,35,743 patients that waspossible because of the policyof "testing aggressively, trackingcomprehensively and treatingefficiently", the Health Ministrysaid in a statement. "Betterambulance services, focus onstandard of care and use ofnon-invasive oxygen have giventhe desired results," the min-istry said. With the highest-eversingle-day recoveries of 54,859in the last 24 hours, the recov-ery rate has scaled another highof almost 70 per cent, it said.

Recently, the PrimeMinister inauguratedthe country’s largestphotovoltaic (PV) cell-based solar energy

plant at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.While inaugurating this 750megawatt (MW) plant, he stressedupon the need for atmanirbharta(self-reliance). Considering thatabout 80 per cent of our solarpower generation equipment is ofChinese origin, the inaugurationof the solar plant was timely. ThePrime Minister used the occasionto emphasise this aspect. Said he,“India won’t be able to fully use itssolar power potential if the coun-try doesn’t develop better solarpanels, batteries and storage man-ufacturing capacity.” India import-ed $2.16 billion worth of solarphotovoltaic cells, panels andmodules in 2018-19.

India is lucky that sunlight isavailable in abundance here butthe challenge lies in the procure-ment of the PV cells. This hasbeen one of the major constrain-ing factors in our efforts to realisethe full potential of solar energy.According to a report submittedby the parliamentary StandingCommittee, in order to achievethe target of 100 GW of solar elec-tricity capacity by 2022, Indiashould have had an installedcapacity of 32,000 MW by 2017-18. But as of January 31, 2018, thecountry only had a capacity of18,455 MW. As per the standingcommittee, the Ministry of Newand Renewable Energy has toinstall the remaining 81,545 MWin just four years — this is over20,000 MW a year and appearsdifficult to achieve.

However, despite the con-straints, the price of solar energyhas come down to `2-2.50 perunit from `7-8 per unit in 2014.A serious lacuna in this entireexercise of achieving the solarpower target continues to be ourpoor record of indigenous man-ufacturing of solar panels and ournear-complete dependency onChinese imports.

Today, China is the onlycountry that caters to most of theglobal PV cell demands. It pro-duces the cheapest solar panels. Itis difficult for any country tomatch such low prices. This hasled to a situation where China hasa virtual monopoly and this maynot be desirable in the long run.Our own imports, mostly fromChina, accounted for 90 per cent

of 2017 sales, up from 86 percent in 2014. Thus, it is para-doxical that both our sources ofenergy, oil as well as solar, arecurrently heavily dependenton imports.

The Chinese advantage isbased on low cost of manufac-turing despite the process beinghighly power consumptive andpolluting. In the present sce-nario, particularly in the wakeof the Galwan incident, importsof solar technology from Chinahave been banned as it wouldnot have been logical on ourpart to continue to nourishtheir economy.

In the absence of cheapimports, the current situationmay, perhaps, appear to be dis-appointing but there are alter-natives which must be fullyexploited. First, the solar ther-mal route for harnessing solarenergy has found limited appli-cation so far. As of now, thereare only six functional solarthermal plants, which amountto just a fraction of our totalrequirement.

Understandably, this tech-nology has its own advantagesbut is somewhat more expen-sive than the PV cell route. Thisis why it has not gatheredmuch acceptance. Moreresearch in this area can ensurethat costs are further cut downleading to profitability.

An alternative to silicon-

based PV cells, which is thespeciality of China, has sincebeen found in the form ofPerovskite solar cells. This isalso a tried and tested method.According to the work done atthe National Institute ofAdvanced Studies, Bengaluru,the efficiency of the Perovskitecells, which was about three percent in 2006, showed a markedimprovement. It has now beendetermined to be at about 22per cent, which makes it quiteviable.

Perovskite is a crystallineform of the chemical called cal-cium titanate. It may sound for-midable but fortunately, all theraw materials used to manufac-ture it are indigenously avail-able. The process, too, is muchsimpler, less polluting and con-sumes less power than theproduction of silicon chips.

Perovskite is the product oflimestone, which is abundant-ly available in the country, andtitanium oxide, which isobtained from sands contain-ing ilmenite, an ore of titanium.Ilmenite, too, is available inabundance as we have reservesof several million tonnes of thisore in the sands along theshores of Andhra Pradesh,Odisha, Tamil Nadu andKerala.

The present usage of tita-nium oxide is confined to thepaints and pigment industry as

well as in the manufacture ofcosmetics and sunscreens as itoffers good protection againstUV rays.

The absence of Chineseproducts from now onwardsneeds to be considered as anopportunity for acceleratedresearch so as to put this tech-nology to commercial use atthe earliest. Perovskite-basedsolar cells have performedexceedingly well in controlledconditions but the problem ofdegradation due to weatherconditions needs to beaddressed. The silicon-basedPV cells are almost weatherproof, so the durability ofPerovskite has to be brought upto that level.

Perovskite technology hasthe potential of being a game -changer in our quest for har-nessing solar energy with lesspolluting and low cost solu-tions. The renewable energyfirm, ReNew Power Pvt Ltd,has already announced that itis in discussion with variousStates to set up a `1,500-2,000crore facility to make solarcells and modules. The need isfor close monitoring and allo-cation of sufficient funds forresearch. India can’t afford tolose the new solar race.

(The writer is a formerGovernor and senior advisor atthe Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)

India is one of the world’s largest buyers of defenceequipment. It is also unique among big nations withlarge armed forces to have an abysmally small domes-

tic arms industry. The country imports everything —from frontline fighter aircraft to clothing equipment andbulletproof vests worn by frontline infantrymen. It is atrade that has made many people in Delhi very rich andled to a completely corrupt military decision-makingprocess, both from the political front as well as insidethe forces. Therefore, should the announcement by theRaksha Mantri, Rajnath Singh, to gradually move a hun-dred items from the import list to beef up domestic pro-

duction be seen as a positive? Frankly, yes and also no. Yes because there is a desper-ate need for India to build up a military-industrial complex of companies, both public andprivate, that can supply our defence needs in a hurry. To give an example, the speed withwhich Boeing delivered the last batch of Apache attack and Chinook transport helicoptersafter the events of June 15 shows just how agile and efficient American military suppli-ers are. Nobody is saying that India can reach this efficiency, from both a scientific or pro-duction standpoint, but the knee-jerk reaction with which our country buys arms from abroadat any sign of trouble has to change. With some notable exceptions such as Larsen &Toubro and various Tata Sons companies, the private sector’s involvement in defence pro-duction has been abysmal. Mainly because of the Government’s reluctance to involve them,thanks to strong Defence Public Sector Unit (DPSU) lobbies among politicians and bureau-crats. Various research institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), too,must chip in to develop technologies and boost in-house capabilities. Even in an area whereIndia is fairly self-reliant — building surface warships — we barely produce one largecapital ship annually. Yet China is churning out destroyers and frigates by the dozen everycouple of years. If we are to bridge this gap, Indian industry must be encouraged.

However, there is a counter-argument. For several items on Singh’s list, India simplydoes not have the capabilities. Consider transport aircraft; Indian companies were unableto upgrade the extensive fleet of Antonov 32 medium aircraft. While the Modi Governmentought to be complimented on finishing the long gestation period for the Light Combat AircraftTejas, its three-decade development story is a joke. We have not built any commercial ormilitary transport aircraft in our history. And even if the proposed measures allow for jointdevelopment and Indian fabrication, pretending that we suddenly have the skills to makeplanes is outright bizarre. The same applies to state-of-the-art radar and sonar systems.If we are to get the best systems, we will have to import them until we are able to reverse-engineer or collaborate with the likes of France and Israel to develop our own. Yes, domes-tic manufacturing is a start and will save considerable resources but it should not comein the way of ensuring that India’s frontline warriors have access to the best technology.

If indeed Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, who met rebelCongress leader Sachin Pilot, have worked out a rap-prochement in the troubled Rajasthan Congress, then

it is their first decisive move, indicating a generationalshift. Their efforts have at least built a tenuous bridgebetween the old guard and the younger breed. ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot climbed down, as he was toldsternly that Pilot needs to be reinstated and given space.This is a high stake game for Rahul if he sees himselfas reclaiming the Congress fortunes with his peers, whoare getting disgruntled, impatient and sometimes evenimpervious to the need for accommodating experience.

But then he has to play the part proactively and wisely, not from the shadows as motherSonia Gandhi will continue to remain interim president for a little longer. He has to have astrategy, rather than running a lone warrior race on social media. Sure the seniors havefattened up their turfs and positions while letting the Gandhis take the credit or blame pub-licly as the case may have been, but in securing their interests, they have respectively devel-oped the party’s matrix creditably and have a depth of experience in political manoeuver-ing. But they are status quoist, preferring continuity into their sunset years in ways thatthey understand, choosing fiefdoms over the larger national revival of the party. The factis the Congress has lost the hunger to be a national alternative in the changed politicaltemplate of the times that is disruptive, dynamic, performance-driven, result-oriented andavowedly authoritarian. The party looks rudderless and hopeless in comparison. The youngerbreed, Rahul included, now want to leave their mark, and reclaim some respectability forthe party and as Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot have shown, can live down theirentitlements, work the ground and deliver results. Ambition is not a bad thing and maybethe propeller the Congress needs, provided it creates a margdarshak-like structure for theold hawks the way BJP has. Besides, the elders forget that they were mavericks once andshould let the fresh winds blow in, failed as they have in arresting the party’s erosion.

But as mentioned before, the party first needs a strategy. And must speak in a unitedvoice. To give the elders their due, they are right in suggesting that Rahul stop the person-al attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is understandable why Rahul, the nation’sbutt of ridicule courtesy the BJP’s online army, and the recipient of digs about his familylegacy, is tempted to make it personal. But he is ending up making Modi look like a vic-tim of dynastic snobbery, something that cost the Congress the Lok Sabha election lastyear. Despite India’s unwieldy pandemic and the mishandling of the Chinese incursion inLadakh, Modi’s personality cult remains unaffected. Attacking him is proving counter-pro-ductive for Rahul. The Congress needs to work on issue-based campaigns at a pan-Indialevel, be it of economic slowdown, joblessness or the youth. Only when issues are madebigger than the personality will the Congress be able to force a serious discourse beyondthe muscularity of Modi or the triumphalism of religiosity. Let’s face it, Rahul cannot wina personality war but can present a cogent alternative plan that may yet find takers. Insteadof interviewing experts and luminaries, he should get their inputs to prepare this agenda.Besides, while team Rahul is brimming with ideas, they are not tested in the crucible ofthe political laboratory and they would need seniors in scripting party responses ratherthan running down past UPA Governments. Rahul should at least insist upon a disciplinedpublic posturing. While he did try to appear responsible and principled by withdrawing frompublic life after the Lok Sabha rout, the fact is this move made him look like an escapist.If the high command thought this would lead to a yearning among partymen to get himback, that’s not the case. Perceiving the party as a rudderless ship, many grassroots work-ers and members have just migrated to other parties, be it the BJP or federal outfits, tobarter their worth. If he was really keen on a rebuild, he should have stuck through theworst. Something that sister Priyanka at least attempted in Uttar Pradesh. Most important-ly, if he really wants to be a reformist and take everybody along, he should usher in democ-racy within by calling for the Congress Working Committee elections at the earliest. Thereshould be a permanent president and not a stopgap one as MP Shashi Tharoor has indi-cated. Rahul’s problem is that he knows that the chair is his; every Congressman wouldacquiesce to Sonia’s wishes on this matter, even his peers. That probably fuels his com-placency or stubbornness, depending on which side of the prism you want to look from.But the Bihar and the Assembly elections aren’t too far away. So the Congress needs cam-paign planks than ego wars. And Rahul must engage with other federal front leaders onhis own steam than leave that to his mother. The Congress has already frittered away toomuch time and talk. Now it is action or perish. And the baba log, too, are greying.

Humanity exists

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Tragedy in Kozhikode”(August 10). Credit must begiven to the local residents,who rushed to the aid of thoseon-board the ill-fated flight.However, many people forgot tofollow COVID-19 protocols,the downpour and even the pos-sible danger of a fire. It must benoted that the airport area hasbeen listed as a pandemic con-tainment zone. Their help inspotting passengers and laterdisseminating informationusing social media were out-standing gestures. There werelarge queues of blood donors athospitals even at midnight,proving that humanity, humane-ness and hope are still alive.

M PradyuKannur

Avoidable crash

Sir — This refers to the edito-rial, “Tragedy in Kozhikode”(August 10). The Kozhikodeplane crash incident is areminder that the findings ofthe safety audits were not taken

seriously. In a similar incidentin 2010, a Boeing 737 aircrafthad overshot the tabletop run-way at the Mangalore airport,

killing 158 passengers and crew.Experts had warned of a repeatbut all in vain. The presentcrash has proved no lessons

were learnt by the authorities.Why was such a big aircraft

allowed to operate from a table-top? Why did the operators

allow water to collect on therunway? Given that the pilot hadalready aborted an attempt toland sensing the condition, whywasn’t the aircraft diverted to anearby airport? Although afew recommendations of theaviation safety report submittedto the Ministry of Civil Aviationin 2011 were implemented, laps-es remain. Instead of jumping toconclusions, we must wait forreports to emerge. Hereon, sug-gestions of the audit reportmust be implemented withoutany delay.

V Nagendra KumarHyderabad

Focus on safety

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Tragedy in Kozhikode”(August 10). The Karipur airportis in a hilly area and has a table-top runway. This has been a mat-ter of concern since long as fourmajor incidents have taken placein the past. Authorities need tofocus on improving safety levels.

AditiVia email

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020

06

Set new energy goals

KK PAUL

Perovskite-based solar cells are a good alternative to silicon-based PV cells. But the

problem of degradation due to weather conditions needs to be addressed

It is true, how many timesdid Sushant go to Patna tomeet his father? I havesympathy for his fatherbut there are many thingsthat will surface.

Shiv Sena leader—Sanjay Raut

You have an audience that isexposed to so much contentfrom across the world,which is why you really haveto push the envelope to grabits attention.

Actor—Kunal Kapoor

It is a disastrous situationfor people living withoutaccess to safe water andsafely managed sanitation.The chronic underinvestmenthas left billions vulnerable.

UN-Water Chair—Gilbert F Houngbo

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

Lessons from a series of tragedies

This refers to the editorial, “Tragedy in Kozhikode”(August 10). Tragedy after tragedy seems to beunfolding even as the COVID-19 pandemic shows

no signs of slowing down. The hooch tragedy inPunjab, fire accidents in Ahmedabad and Vijayawada,landslides in Idukki and the plane crash in Kozhikodehave all occurred in quick succession. The hoochtragedy in Punjab claimed 113 lives and highlight-ed how bootlegging and consumption of spuriousbrew continue in times of crisis. The incessant raincaused a landslide in Idukki, Kerala, which flatteneda row of 20 houses of tea estate workers. More than40 people died. The estate workers were not evac-uated in time to escape the nature’s fury. Every year,the living quarters of these workers become precar-ious during the rainy season, a fact that underlinesthe vulnerability of labourers to natural disasters. Theworkers must be provided with safe accommodation.

The Kozhikode plane crash turned the homecom-ing of Indian repatriates into a tragedy. Poor mete-orological conditions, low visibility and the less-than-adequate length of the “table-top” runways are saidto have led to the crash. The exact cause will beknown in the coming days. Local residents and secu-rity personnel braved unfavourable weather condi-tions to rescue the passengers trapped in the debris.Then, the fire that broke out at an Ahmedabad hos-

pital snuffed out the lives of eight COVID patients.It was attributed to short-circuit in a life-support sys-tem. The fire at a hotel-turned-COVID facility inVijayawada claimed the lives of 11 people. This hap-pened due to the Government’s callousness and themanagement’s negligence. The fire tragedies inAhmedabad and Vijayawada were very much avoid-able. All such incidents should be a wake-up call forthe Government to ensure that health facilities arewell-equipped and fire-proof. Flying protocols, too,need revision. Indian aviation deserves better.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

PEROVSKITE IS ACRYSTALLINEFORM OF THE

CHEMICALCALCIUM TITANATE.

IT MAY SOUNDFORMIDABLE BUT

FORTUNATELY, ALLTHE RAW

MATERIALS USEDTO MANUFACTURE

IT AREINDIGENOUSLY

AVAILABLE. THEPROCESS, TOO, IS

MUCH SIMPLER,LESS POLLUTINGAND CONSUMES

LESS POWER THANTHE PRODUCTIONOF SILICON CHIPS

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Atmanirbhar raksha

Economic slowdown in thecountry is a humanitariancrisis. The Government'sshock and awe approach tothe lockdown has causedtremendous pain to people.

Former PM—Manmohan Singh

Shooting from the hip or shooting oneself in the foot? Is a ban ondefence items enough to make India self-reliant?

Needed, full-time chiefThe Congress needs to conduct inner party elections and

get a president though it has saved Rajasthan

Bailout or blowout?

SYED ABDUL MALIK WAS A POET, WHO WAS

INDULGING IN INTELLECTUAL

JIHAD IN THE COUNTRY.

—BJP LEGISLATOR FROM HOJAI

SHILADITYA DEB

THE COMMENTS MADE BY DEB ARE POLITICALLY

MOTIVATED AND EXPOSE HIS LOW MENTALITY AND

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.

—LOP IN ASSAM ASSEMBLY

DEBABRATA SAIKIA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Following marathon deliberations of theMonetary Policy Committee (MPC) overthree days, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s)

Governor, Shaktikanta Das, made four importantannouncements under the central bank’s bi-monthly monetary policy review on August 6.

First, Das warned that India’s real GrossDomestic Product (GDP) growth is set to contractin 2020-21 but did not give a specific forecast. Healso cautioned that “while an early containmentof the COVID-19 pandemic may impart an upsideto the outlook, a more protracted spread of thepandemic, deviations from the forecast of a nor-mal monsoon and global financial market volatil-ity are key downside risks.” Furthermore, the MPCsees “upside risks to food prices and elevated head-line inflation during the second quarter of the cur-rent financial year (July-September), which wouldease in the second half.”

Second, “in respect of MSME (micro, smalland medium enterprise) borrowers facing stresson account of the economic fallout of the pandem-ic, lending institutions may restructure the debtunder the existing framework, provided the bor-rower’s account was classified as standard with thelender as on March 1, 2020; this restructuring willhave to be implemented by March 31, 2021.” Thebanks will have to make an additional provisionof five per cent on restructured loans.

Third, large companies will also be eligible forone-time restructuring without declaring it as anon-performing asset (NPA) or requiring achange in the promoter/s. The borrower accounthas to be standard as on March 1. The decisionon the restructuring scheme has to be taken byDecember 31 and restructuring must be imple-mented within six months. An additional provi-sion of 10 per cent on the restructured loans shouldbe made. An expert committee under KV Kamathwill recommend to the RBI the required financialparameters, along with the sector-specific bench-marks for this special window.

Fourth, the policy repo rate — the interest ratecharged by the RBI on loans it gives to banks —remains unchanged at four per cent. The reverserepo rate or the interest rate the banks get on theirsurplus funds parked with the RBI also remainsunchanged at 3.35 per cent. Further, the RBI willcontinue with the “accommodative” stance of themonetary policy as long as necessary to revivegrowth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19,while ensuring that inflation remains within thetarget.

The first announcement is on expected lineseven as intermittent lockdowns by States and asso-ciated disruptions in both supply and demand havedashed all hopes of a V-shaped recovery in eco-nomic growth (as alluded to by the ChiefEconomic Advisor, KV Subramanian during theinitial stages of the pandemic). Several agencies,including the World Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), have projected a signifi-cant deceleration in growth.

As regards the second, this is an extension ofthe existing scheme of one-time restructuringintroduced last year. That was applicable torestructuring plans implemented by March 31,(over 5,00,000 MSMEs had benefitted from it).Following a commitment given by the FinanceMinister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Budget for2020-21, the scheme was extended to December31 this year. For a borrower to be eligible, his/heraggregate exposure, including non fund-based

facilities, of banks and NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) should notbe beyond `25 crore as on January 1.Further, the borrower’s account was indefault but was a “standard asset” as onJanuary 1 and continues to be classifiedas a “standard asset” till the date of imple-mentation of the restructuring (accord-ing to an RBI notification in February).In addition, the borrowing entity is GST(Goods and Services Tax) — registeredon the date of implementation of the planexcept those that are exempt from GST-registration. The RBI has now furtherextended this to restructuring plansimplemented till March 31, 2021 withsome relaxation in the conditions.

The exposure limit, including nonfund-based facilities of banks and NBFCsto the borrower, should not exceed `25crore as on March 1. Further, theaccount should be standard as on March1 (against January 1 earlier).

Via the third announcement, the RBIhas extended huge relief to large corpo-rates, too. Unlike the existing arrange-ment under the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC), wherein theloan account gets a NPA tag and the pro-moter stands no chance of retaining thefirm, the proposed one-time restructur-ing treats the account as standard andthere is no change in the promoter/s.This special dispensation is meant onlyfor “COVID-19 related stress” and theKamath committee will have to ensurethat the facility is not misused. In otherwords, all stressed accounts prior toMarch 1, as well as those which wereunaffected during the pandemic, mustbe excluded.

With the introduction of the aboveone-time restructuring for MSMEs andcorporates, the need for extending themoratorium on servicing of loans (thiswas initially allowed by the RBI for threemonths from March 1-May 31 and fora further three months ending August31) automatically becomes redundant.While the latter was merely a deferment

of the payment liability, the former offersconcrete relief by extending the periodof repayment, relief in interest and so on.

The Governor sees the scheme as awin-win for both, the lenders and bor-rowers. According to him, while this willenable the latter to sail through the cri-sis period without getting permanentlyimpaired, the former’s balance sheet willlook healthier (as this will put a lid onthe NPAs) and they will be able toexpand credit for supporting revival ofgrowth. Hopefully, things pan out as perhis wish. If not, the banks could be in forbigger trouble even as borrowers comeup with more demand for restructuring.

Coming to the fourth announce-ment, Das has done the right thing byapplying the pause button on the reporate. Ever since he took charge(December 2018), the RBI has handedout a cumulative reduction in repo rateof 2.5 per cent, of which a 1.35 per centcut was prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Despite this, during 2019-20, growthin the GDP hit a low of 4.2 per cent.

This was because other factors suchas compression in demand (due tomassive loss of jobs and decline inincomes) and increasing risk-aversion ofbanks to lending (during 2019-20, bankcredit grew by 6.1 per cent, down fromthe 13.4 per cent growth during 2018-19) were at work.

Apart from these factors coming inthe way of spurring growth, even the cutin the repo rate was not fully transmit-ted (according to Das, reduction in lend-ing rate was just about 0.6 per cent),thanks to the high cost of the banks’funds (an overwhelming share of thesecomes from public deposits of varyingmaturity) on the one hand and highNPAs on the other.

Both these factors make the lend-ing rate downward inflexible. After theCOVID-19 crisis, the RBI has reducedthe rate by 1.15 per cent (0.75 per centon March 27 and 0.4 per cent on May22) thereby bringing the rate down to a

record low of four per cent. And this hascome at a time when the intermittentlockdowns are simply not allowing eco-nomic activities to get into full swing.When the wheels of the economy onground zero are stuck and there is littledemand for credit, how will lowering ofits cost (interest rate) help?

At this juncture, therefore, it makesno sense to keep lowering the policy rate.It sounds like the driver is merely press-ing the accelerator while the car is in theneutral gear. He will only end up burn-ing fuel without any outcome. Far fromany help in giving a boost to growth (asthe real bottlenecks lie elsewhere), thiswill do collateral damage. For instance,each time the RBI cuts the policy rate,it expects banks to follow suit. This willpropel the latter to pay less to depositorson fresh deposits or when the old onescome up for renewal.

The RBI may have paused now butby maintaining an accommodative pol-icy stance, it has kept the door open fora rate cut in the future. This should beavoided. Instead, it needs to work onother fronts such as credible measuresto reduce NPAs, goading banks to beproactive in looking for viable projectsfor funding (money is not a constraintas the measures announced by the RBIon March 27/April 17 have made avail-able plenty of liquidity to the tune of`5,00,000 crore), step-up investment bythe Government, especially in infrastruc-ture and so on.

By propelling demand — bothinvestment and consumption — andhelping businesses run, this will also helpreduce the cost of “one-time” restructur-ing and bring about a real improvementin the banks’ balance sheet in the nearterm. Meanwhile, all-out efforts shouldbe made for early resumption of eco-nomic activity even while strictly com-plying with Coronavirus-related proto-cols and guidelines.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based pol-icy analyst)

When the wheels of the economy on ground zero are stuck and there is little demand forcredit, lowering of interest rates will not help in any way

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

RATNESH KUSHWAHA

THE RBI MAY HAVE PAUSED NOW BUT BY

MAINTAINING ANACCOMMODATIVE

POLICY STANCE, ITHAS KEPT THE

DOOR OPEN FORA RATE CUT

IN THE FUTURE. THIS SHOULD BE

AVOIDED. INSTEAD,IT NEEDS TO WORKON OTHER FRONTSSUCH AS CREDIBLE

MEASURES TOREDUCE NPAS,

GOADING BANKS TOBE PROACTIVE IN

LOOKING FORVIABLE PROJECTS

FOR FUNDING(MONEY IS NOT A

CONSTRAINT AS THEMEASURES

ANNOUNCED BY THERBI ON MARCH

27/APRIL 17 HAVEMADE AVAILABLE

PLENTY OFLIQUIDITY TO THE TUNE OF

`5,00,000 CRORE),STEP-UP

INVESTMENT BY THE

GOVERNMENT,ESPECIALLY IN

INFRASTRUCTUREAND SO ON

Water is a unique substance as it is one of the few mate-rials on Earth that exists naturally as a solid, liquid and agas. There is an estimated over one billion cubic kilome-

tre of water on our planet, which covers nearly three-fourth of theEarth’s surface. Though this seems an inordinately huge amount,less than one per cent of it is fresh and usable and is found inlakes, ponds, rivers and groundwater. Though it is not possiblefor life on the planet to exist without it, about 97 per cent of thewater covering the Earth’s surface is salty ocean and not suit-able for drinking without desalination. So, here’s how the Earth’sfreshwater is spread around the globe: A whopping 70 per centof freshwater is locked in ice caps; less than one per cent of thefreshwater is readily accessible; Brazil, Russia, Canada, Indonesia,China and Colombia have 50 per cent of the world’s freshwaterreserves. Sadly, about one-third of the world’s population lives in“water-stressed” countries, defined as a nation’s ratio of waterconsumption to water availability. Countries labelled as moder-ate to high stress consume 20 per cent more water than their avail-able supply.

India is home to nearly 17 per cent of the world’s populationand is bestowed with just four per cent of the total water resources.In our country, 50 per cent of the annual rainfall is received inapproximately one month, resulting in non-optimal utilisation dueto our limited water-harvesting capacity. We optimally utilise only36 per cent of the total rainfall that translates into about 252 bil-lion cubic metres of water getting harvested against a total rain-fall of 690 billion cubic metre. India is still coping with issues likewater pollution, water purity and a worsening potability factor. Allthese may lead to scarcity in the coming years. That, too, in mostparts of our country. Despite this, water laws in India are largelya State-based subject. These have been crafted from various for-mal and informal laws, various kinds of rules and principles whichevolved over the years in a parochial and casual manner.

The Indian Constitution has empowered the States to legis-late in this area. Therefore, they have exclusive powers regard-ing framing of rules and guidelines on all water-related issues likeirrigation, canals, water management, embankments and so on.Though the Indian Parliament adopted the Water Act in 1974 butthe objective of the Act was skewed towards prevention, controlof water pollution and the maintenance/restoration of the whole-someness of water. This implies that it was designed to assesspollution levels and to penalise the polluters. In the present situ-ation, where India’s population is ascending at a rapid pace andwater resources are limited, various challenges are emerging, likeindiscriminate usage of groundwater, encroachment of water bod-ies and water pollution, to name a few. There are also various relat-ed issues like rejuvenation of moribund rivers, interlinking of rivers,riparian rights and negotiations with neighbouring countries on shar-ing resources which traverse both the nations.

Apart from these challenges, if we analyse water resourcesfrom a development perspective, there is a need to do a lot in thefield of inland waterways in the country, interlinking of rivers andwater management for better irrigation plans or promoting water-based economical projects like fisheries and developing fox nut(makhana) clusters.

The existing legal framework concerning water in India is most-ly complemented by human rights dimensions. The overall pic-ture is that there is multiplicity of principles and rules in the watersector and a lack of an overall framework. This is largely the lega-cy of the colonial Government, which was more focussed on irri-gation work. As a result of this, basic principles of water laws appliedin India are derived from these irrigation Acts, like the NorthernIndia Canal and Drainage Act, 1873. Thereafter, Acts like the MadhyaPradesh Irrigation Act, 1931, the Regulation of Water Act, 1941and the very recent Bihar Irrigation Act, 1997 came into existence,in which it was provided that all the rights on surface water shallrest with the State Government.

One trend which should be followed and must be highlight-ed is the gradual formalisation of national water laws by takinginto confidence all the stakeholders. This should ultimately andamicably replace the existing local laws, incorporate every partof water resource and its components and address all water-relat-ed issue comprehensively. Any law is a collection of rules pre-scribed under the authority of the State or nation so as to man-age, preserve and ensure proper use of our water resources. Indianeeds a comprehensive national water law, which should be a col-lection of rules and principles to address all kinds of issues whichthe country is encountering or may encounter in the foreseeablefuture.

(The writer is an Advocate, Patna High Court and a wateractivist)

Tell me and I forget. Teach me andI remember. Involve me and Ilearn.” This quote by one of

America’s founding fathers, BenjaminFranklin, encapsulates the challengesand possible solutions to the new-ageeducation in India and across the globein today’s pandemic-afflicted world.With millions of students crossing thevirtual threshold and Work FromHome becoming the new normal,everyone is trying to decode employ-ability skills, performance metrics ineducational institutions and work-places. Amid the uneasy and unpre-dictable change, one thing is certain:The human spirit won’t change —andthat’s our biggest solution.

Now let’s step into a more famil-

iar past of conventional classrooms.Here, body language, facial expres-sions, physical projects and practicalexperiments were integral to learning,besides theory and concepts. Learningoutcomes took into account personal-ity traits, cognitive skills, life skills, crit-ical thinking and more, for creative andconventional courses. But the digitalworld has turned these features intochallenges. Or, not.

For instance, for fashion designstudies, real-world scenarios andindustry-live projects that hingedmainly on sensory and cognitive skills,put a big question mark on virtualteaching of concepts and practicaltraining. The challenge was how tokeep students engaged and achieve thedesired outcomes? Teaching frombooks was fine but what about prac-tical learning? The answer to this was,by understanding the process back-wards. For example, constructionstream students were asked to takeapart a stitched garment at home andunderstand the process, in reverse.They were asked to raise open-endedand close-ended questions and priori-tise them. For styling, students used

their mobile phones and narrated sto-ries with the limited resources avail-able while they were at home. In thetextile stream, students developedinteresting and innovative prints usingnatural dyes.

Similarly, the University ofPetroleum and Energy Studies,Dehradun, decided to take theCoronavirus challenge head-on bydeveloping AeroOpt, an airport man-agement tool to improve efficiency atcounters, staff requirements for board-ing gates and immigration securitywith social distancing norms. Boththese instances highlight how critical-thinking, innovation, creativity andadaptability were channeled as every-one struggled with the restrictionsimposed by the COVID-19 pandem-ic. And this is exactly what is needednow: A design-thinking approach,with problem-solving skills, criticalthinking, risk-management and mostimportantly adaptability.

With these developments, oneaspect is clear: To shape and mentorthis kind of an approach, boxedmethodologies cannot be a point of ref-erence. Instead, we need to look at

alternative approaches to teaching,experimentation with availableresources, providing critical feedbackand delivering learning assessmentoutcomes. This means re-structuringpedagogies and adapting courses to theonline mode with necessary tweaksand improvisations. Learning assess-ment is a fundamental feedback mech-anism in education, allowing all stake-holders of the learning process tounderstand what is being learned andwhere learning resources need to befocussed. The wheels are movingnow. But is India prepared to handlethese on a larger scale for the nextphase? Yes, because we have tremen-dous technology expertise and polit-ical will to tide through. Besides theDigital India initiative, strong indica-tors come from the recent move by ourGovernment to encourage moreForeign Direct Investment in educa-tion, provide `3,000 crore for skilldevelopment and recognise foreignonline degrees for Indian students. Atpresent, the Centre and States are col-laborating with broadcasting servicesto deliver education through televisionand radio. But for these media to suc-

ceed, it is important to operationalisetalent and skills. These can be done viaprojects, classroom discussions,encouraging feedback and curiosity. Inmy estimation, these key metrics willdefine the future:

Critical thinking: This is a keyskill that equally defines both educa-tional and professional spheres. Withthe pandemic-induced restrictions,how do teachers enhance criticalthinking? The answer is, by asking forreal-time projects drawn from the stu-dents’ immediate environment andasking for solutions from different per-spectives. How can things be made bet-ter? Is there a new way of looking at asituation? How will more people ben-efit from a solution? Is this safe and hasevery loophole been plugged? Theseare some indicators for enhancing crit-ical thinking.

Adaptability and innovation: Ina 2018 Barclays Life Skills Report in theUK, 60 per cent of the employers haveclearly stated that adaptability hasbecome more important now thanduring the previous decade. Therefore,how do you respond to a situation andhow quickly do you adapt to change?

Are you able to control your thoughts,emotions and behaviour under pres-sure or in certain situations? Adaptivestudents are certain to be a profession-al success, wherever they go. Some ofthe world’s best innovations havedebuted in the worst situations. Areyou willing to experiment, take risksand create something new? An inno-vator will always be valued in every sit-uation.

Empathy and collaboration: Howdo you respond to your peers? Are yousupportive, understanding and displaycompassion? Are you a team playerand do you believe in taking individ-ual credit? Do you believe in “We” over“I”? These values are critical to thefuture. The pandemic has erodedeverything that we took for granted inworkplaces, businesses, economiesand even our education systems. Thissudden pause from the physical worldis significant to herald change. Andremember, as Greek philosopherSocrates said, “The secret of change isto focus all of your energy, not on fight-ing the old, but on building the new.”

(The writer is CEO Asia PacificRegion, Global University Systems)

New performance measure metrics neededWith students crossing the virtual threshold, everyone is trying to decode employability skills in educational institutions and workplaces

SHARAD MEHRA

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

UTTAM GUPTA

State laws don’thold water

India needs a comprehensive national water law,which should be a collection of rules and principles

to address all related issues in the country

F O R E I G N E Y E

WILDLIFE CAUGHTIN CROSSHAIRWildlife conservation iscostly and reliant onphilanthropy and Westernvisitors as well as far-sightedpolicy-makers. While theenvironmental benefits of apermanent reduction inlong-distance air travel areindisputable, it alsothreatens the viability ofwildlife tourism. WhileCOVID-19 doesn’t affectanimals and ecosystems inthe way it affects humans, itis putting them at risk. (The Guardian editorial)

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Sensex rises 142 pts; L&T spurts over 4 pc MUMBAI: Equity benchmarkSensex jumped 142 points onMonday, tracking gains in L&T,ICICI Bank and HDFC twinsamid positive cues from globalmarkets. After rallying 390.12points during the day, the 30-share BSE benchmark paredsome gains to end 141.51points or 0.37 per cent higherat 38,182.08. The NSE Niftyclimbed 56.10 points or 0.50per cent to close at 11,270.15.L&T was the top gainer in theSensex pack, rallying over 4per cent, followed by M&M,Sun Pharma, NTPC, TechMahindra, ICICI Bank and ITC.On the other hand, Reliance,Asian Paints, Maruti, BajajFinserv and Bajaj Finance wereamong the laggards. Accordingto traders, market sentimentwas positive amid firm cuesfrom global indices andconsistent foreign fund inflows.

Rupee settles 3paise higher at74.90 against $NEW DELHI: The rupeesettled with gains of 3 paise at74.90 (provisional) against USdollar on Monday trackingpositive domestic equities. Atthe interbank forex market,the rupee opened weak at74.96, then recovered the lostground and finally settled at74.90 against the greenback.During the day, the domesticunit witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 74.85 and a low of74.96 against the Americancurrency. The rupee hadsettled at 74.93 against USdollar on Friday.Forex traders said, the rupeetraded in a narrow range aspositive domestic equities andforeign fund inflowssupported the rupee, whilestrong US dollar and rise incrude oil prices weighed thelocal unit. The dollar index,which gauges the greenback'sstrength against a basket ofsix currencies, rose 0.17 percent to 93.59.

TTK Prestige Q1 PAT dips 94 pcto Rs 2.14 crNEW DELHI: Kitchen andhome appliances maker TTKPrestige Ltd on Mondayreported a 94 per cent declinein consolidated profit after taxat Rs 2.14 crore for the firstquarter ended June 30. Thecompany had postedconsolidated profit after tax ofRs 35.81 crore in the April-June quarter last fiscal, TTKPrestige Ltd said in aregulatory filing. Consolidatedrevenue from operationsduring the first quarter stoodat Rs 226.64 crore, ascompared to Rs 461.2 crore inthe year-ago period, down 51per cent, it added. During thequarter, total expenses weredown at Rs 230.58 crore, ascompared to Rs 413.22 crorea year ago. The company'soperations were impacted bythe complete lockdownannounced by various states.

‘Rs 10k cr Fund of Funds forMSMEs to be operational soon’PNS n NEW DELHI

To provide Rs 50,000 croreequity support to stressedMSME units, a Fund of Fundsannounced as part of the Rs20.97 lakh crore AatmanirbharBharat Abhiyan package isexpected to get operation soon,State Bank of India ChairmanRajnish Kumar said onMonday.

The objective of the Rs10,000 crore Fund of Fundsscheme is to help MSMEs withgrowth potential at a timewhen they are facing severeshortage of equity and low rev-enues.

Talking about various stepstaken to help MSMEs, he saidbanks have announced anemergency credit line for suchbusinesses to improve their liq-uidity which has been hit bythe outbreak of COVID-19.

Another liquidity enhance-ment measure was throughsupport by way of a subordi-

nated debt which was guaran-teed by the government for thetroubled MSMEs, he said.

"Fund of funds, which Ipresume would also get oper-ationalised very soon. So thesetake care from the point ofview of finance," he said at avirtual event organised byFicci. Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in May

had announced the Fund ofFunds (FOF) will help MSMEswith growth potential and via-bility even as they face severeshortage of equity.

Moreover, the fund will beoperated through a MotherFund and a few daughter fundsto enable MSMEs expand insize and capacity and wouldalso encourage them to list on

the main board of stockexchanges, she had said.

The FOF scheme is intend-ed to help those businesseswho are in their nascent andinitial stages, where there arealmost no prospects to raisefunds through the help of pro-fessional corporations or ven-ture capitalists. The schemeproposes to buy up to 15 percent growth capital in highcredit MSMEs.

Speaking about other initia-tives of the bank, the SBIchairman said the bank recent-ly launched a gold loan schemefor MSMEs and sanctioned Rs88 crore under this productwithin one month.

"In a way it is monetizationon the ideal gold at least forbusinesses...safety of your jew-ellery we are ensuring youdon't have to even pay lockerand this product has receivedvery good traction and we areplanning to further build upthis product," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

S&P Global Ratings onMonday said that RelianceIndustries Ltd's sizable pro-ceeds from asset monetisa-tion over the past four monthsshould significantly improve itscredit quality.

"RIL's deleveraging couldexceed our expectations, giventhe extent and magnitude of itsasset monetisation," the ratingagency said in a statement.

The asset monetisation wasdespite operations that aretrending weaker than antici-pated for the fiscal year endingMarch 31, 2021.

The oil-to-telecom con-glomerate has amassed Rs 2.1lakh crore in investment pro-ceeds since Facebookannounced its investment in itsdigital unit Jio Platforms Ltd(JPL) in April 2020.

The proceeds include Rs1.52 lakh crore investmentsinto JPL, a Rs 53,124 crorerights issuance, and Rs 7,600crore from BP PLC for the fuelretail joint venture.

"The developments suggestthat RIL's adjusted debt couldbe less than Rs 1 lakh crore bythe end of fiscal 2021. This isbetter than our base case,

which already assumes a sharpdecline in adjusted debt to Rs1.7 lakh crore by fiscal 2023,from Rs 2.7 lakh crore in fis-cal 2020," it said.

As a result, S&P believesRIL's credit quality willimprove over the next two tothree years, even if the compa-ny's fiscal 2021 earnings arewell below forecasts.

"Our sensitivity analysisindicates that RIL's debt-to-EBITDA ratio will be resilientto earnings volatility, implyingmaterial buffer for its currentfinancials," it said.

RIL's first-quarter (April-June) earnings were resilient

despite weaknesses shown byits peers.

Consolidated EBITDA fell12 per cent year-on-year to Rs21,600 crore as the COVID-19pandemic and lockdowns,both globally and locally,weighed on the company's oilrefining and petrochemicals aswell as retail businesses. Thedigital division was a brightspot, however.

"Although earnings recoverycould be slow, we expect RIL'sfundamentals to remain sup-ported by ongoing strength inthe digital division and thegradual improvement in itsenergy segment,” it said.

RIL’s asset monetisation toboost credit quality: S&P

Equity MFs see first outflow in

over 4 yrs in July on profit-bookingPNS n NEW DELHI

Equity mutual funds witnessedan outflow of Rs 2,480 crore inJuly, making it the first with-drawal in more than fouryears, primarily on profit-booking by investors.

Overall, the mutual fundindustry witnessed a net inflowof Rs 89,813 crore across allsegments last month, muchhigher than Rs 7,265 croreseen in June, data byAssociation of Mutual Fundsin India showed on Monday.

This inflow could be attrib-uted to infusion in liquid fundsand low duration funds.

As per the data, outflowfrom equity and equity-linkedopen ended schemes was at Rs2,480.35 crore in July as com-pared to an inflow of Rs 240.55crore in June.

Such schemes had attractedRs 5,256 crore in May, Rs6,213 crore in April, Rs 11,723crore in March, Rs 10,796crore in February and Rs 7,877crore in January.

July 2020 saw the first out-flow since March 2016, whenequity schemes witnessed apull out of Rs 1,370 crore.

In July this year, except for

equity linked saving schemes(ELSS) and focused fund cat-egories, all the other equity cat-egories witnessed net outflow.

Association of MutualFunds in India (Amfi) ChiefExecutive N Venkatesh attrib-uted the outflow from equity-oriented funds to withdrawalfrom multi-cap and large capfunds due to profit booking byinvestors.

"Equity-oriented mutualfunds witnessed their firstmajor monthly net outflow ina long time. Multi-cap fundcategory was the worst hit fol-lowed by mid-cap and value

fund categories,” saidHimanshu Srivastava,Associate Director – ManagerResearch at MorningstarIndia.

This could be largely attrib-uted to investors bookingprofit given the surge in theequity markets, across marketsegments, in the recent times,he added.

Multi-cap, midcap, valuefund and multi-cap saw out-flows to the tune of Rs 1,033crore, Rs 579 crore, Rs 549crore and Rs 365 crore,respectively, during the monthunder review.

PNS n LONDAN

Shares advanced on Monday inEurope and Asia after PresidentDonald Trump issued execu-tive orders to provide tax reliefand stopgap unemploymentbenefits for Americans hit bythe fallout from the coron-avirus pandemic.

Investors are watching forfurther developments on stim-ulus for the US economy andon trade tensions betweenBeijing and Washington. Tradetalks are planned for Friday, tobe held virtually due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

Germany's DAX was flat at

12,673.25 while the CAC 40 inFrance added 0.5% to 4,911.65.Britain's FTSE 100 picked up0.3% to 6,050.82. The future for

the S&P 500 was flat, at3,345.80 while the future con-tract for the Dow industrialsgained 0.2% to 27,389.00.

“It has been an unusuallyrisk-friendly start to theMonday proceedings, but thereis still a lot of wood to bechopped on the US stimulusdeal, while August 15 tradetalks loom ominously," StephenInnes of AxiCorp said in acommentary.

Stock prices fell in HongKong after the authoritiesarrested pro-democracy mediatycoon Jimmy Lai and some ofhis associates on suspicion ofcollusion with foreign powers.

The Hang Seng indexdropped 0.6% to 24,377.43.

Lai was arrested Mondayunder the city's national secu-

rity law and posts on Twittershowed him being taken awayby police, as dozens of uni-formed police searched theheadquarters of his newspaper,Apple Daily. The national secu-rity law that came into effectJune 30 is widely seen as ameans to curb dissent afteranti-government protestsrocked Hong Kong last year. It has raised questions overwhether and to what extentCommunist Party leaders inBeijing will respect the “one-party, two-systems" arrange-ment promised to the formerBritish colony for a half-centu-ry after China took control of

the semi-autonomous in 1997.Elsewhere in Asia, South

Korea's Kospi jumped 1.5% to2,386.38 and the S&P/ASX200 in Australia surged 1.8% to6,110.20. The ShanghaiComposite index advanced0.8% to 3,379.25.

China reported its consumerprice index rose to 2.7% in Julyfrom 2.5% in June as floodingdisrupted farming across muchof the country, pushing foodprices higher. But producerprices and core inflation, whichexclude food and energy prices,fell to a ten-year low of 0.5%,reflecting continued weaknessamid the pandemic.

Global shares push higher on stimulus moves, US jobs data

PNS n HYDERABAD

Endiya PartnersFund II, a city-based venture cap-ital fund hasreceived a commit-ment of Rs 75 crore(USD 10M approx.)from theI n t e r n a t i o n a lFinancial Corporation(IFC), amember of the World BankGroup, the company said onMonday. IFC has also commit-ted an additional USD 10 mil-lion for direct co-invest-mentsalongside Endiya FundII, it said in a press release.

"Early Stage VC investmentvolumes in India are marked-ly lower than VC volumes incountrieslike the U.S. andChina. Our investment in VCfunds like Endiya helps mobi-lize capital from other LPs andbrings that capital to pathbreaking early stage business-

es. Endiya Partners hasdemonstrateddifferentiationin access to high-qualityPre-Series A opportunitiesinEnterprise Technology andHealthtech sectors," JunZhang, IFC Country Head,India said. Endiya Partners isaseed and early-stageventurecapital firm investing in IP-ledIndian product start-ups thatare globally relevant. EndiyaFund II has a corpus target ofRs 500 crore (USD 65 million)and has already completed itsfirst close at Rs 280 crore(USD 40 million) in May 2019.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading helmet manufactur-ing company StuddsAccessories on Monday said ithas commissioned two newfacilities at Faridabad inHaryana entailing total invest-ment of Rs 200 crore.

Spread across an area ofover 5.5 acres, the company hasmade an initial investment ofover Rs 160 crore to set up thelargest helmet manufacturing

facility in Asia, StuddsAccessories said in a statement.

Besides motorcycle helmets,including the Shifter andThunder series, the facility willalso produce bicycle helmets fordomestic market, it added.

The company said it hasalso commenced operations atanother production unit whichhas in-house production linefor expanded polystyrene(EPS), which is the mostimportant safety feature in a

helmet.Spread across 1.5 acres, the

company has invested Rs 40crore in the second plant, mark-ing a total investment of over Rs

200 crore in the manufacturingplants, Studds said.

"With the goal of expandingour production efficiency, ournew plants would provideemployment prospects for localcitizens as well as add to theoverall economic growth,"Studds Accessories LtdManaging Director SidharthaBhushan Khurana said.

The new plants will haveproduction capacity of 75 lakhunits of motorcycle helmets and

15 lakh bicycle helmets perannum, he added. The facilitieswill ensure direct employmentfor over 1,500 individuals,Khurana said.

"Currently, we have justbegun operations and are plan-ning to ramp up productiongradually. With the commence-ment of our new plants, wehave doubled our productioncapacity from 7 million to 14million units of motorcyclehelmets," he noted.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading bourse BSE onMonday said its mutual funddistribution platform StARMF has launched a directinvestment portal for corpo-rates, which will simplify theinvestment process.

The portal — StAR MFCorp Direct — will simplifyand provide end-to-end value-based services to the assetmanagement companies

(AMCs), distributors,investors, and mutu-al fund industryparticipants, BSEsaid in a state-ment.

The portal iscurrently live forcorporates. It willsoon will be availablefor other non-individualslike HUF, partnership firms,societies among others.

Earlier this year, the market

regulator Sebi allowedexchanges to process

mutual fundi n v e s t m e n t sdirectly frominvestors.

Taking thisopportunity, BSE

has developed StARMF Corp Direct por-

tal, which will go a longway in improving the existingexperience of corporates, saidGanesh Ram, Business Head-

Mutual Funds at BSE."Now, corporates can seam-

lessly transact (both in directand regular mode) with allAMCs and schemes, at one gousing Corp Direct instead ofswitching between multipleplatforms which is cumber-some, he said.

"Corp Direct will simplifythe MF investment processand significantly reduce timeand increase efficiency for cor-porates," he added.

Flipkart launches its firststartup accelerator programme

Swiggylaunchesquick grocerydelivery

CochinShipyard Apr-Jun profitdown 65 pcPNS n MUMBAI

The country's largest com-mercial shipbuilder CochinShipyard Limited (CSL) onMonday reported a 64.54per cent dip in standaloneprofit at Rs 42.64 crore inthree months ended June,adversely impacted by theCOVID-19 pandemic out-break and subsequent lock-down.

The company had posteda profit of Rs 120.25 crore inQ1FY20, as per a regulatoryfiling.

Income from operationsdeclined 54.87 per cent to Rs332.47 crore in June quarterof the current fiscal from Rs736.85 crore in the sameperiod last year.

"The company's opera-tions and financial results forthe quarter ended June 30,have been adversely impact-ed by the COVID-19 out-break. The pandemic hadprompted a lockdown result-ing in a temporary disrup-tion of operations fromMarch 23 to May 5," CSL saidin the regulatory filing.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Food ordering and deliveryplatform Swiggy on Mondaysaid it has launched a quickdelivery service, Instamart, inGurugram to deliver gro-ceries within 45 minutes.

"Swiggy Instamart will beavailable in Gurugram fromtoday onwards and can beaccessed through the'Instamart' tile within theSwiggy app," the companysaid in a statement.

The platform is currentlytesting 'Swiggy Instamart 'tosee how it augments the con-sumer promise of enablingunparalleled convenience bymaking grocery deliverymore instant and delightful,it added. Swiggy has launchedthis service partnering withvirtual stores.

PNS n BANGALURU

Flipkart on Mondayannounced the launch of'Flipkart Leap' — the compa-nys first startup acceleratorprogramme.

With the call-for-entriesbeginning today, 'Flipkart Leap'will identify B2C and B2Bstartups and help them scalethrough an intensive 16-weekvirtual programme, the com-pany said in a statement.

Throughout the pro-gramme, Flipkart's leadershipfrom business, operations,product and technology willmentor the selected startupsand share best practices, inaddition to master class ses-sions hosted by industryexperts, it said.

The programme aims toprovide tools, framework,knowledge and an ecosystemto help startups create "world-class value-driven" products by

supporting them in buildingmarket-ready solutions,Flipkart said.

Flipkart Leap has identifiedfive themes to shortlist relevanthigh-potential startups —Design & Make for India,Innovation in DigitalCommerce, Technologies toEmpower the RetailEcosystem, Supply ChainManagement & Logistics andEnabling Relevant Deep Techapplications.

IFC to invest $10 mn inEndiya Partners Fund II

PNS n NEW DELHI

I n f r a s t r u c t u r emajor Tata Projectson Monday said italongwith its con-sortium partner hascompleted 110-kmstretch of the 200-km Surathani-Phuket transmis-sion line project in Thailand.

This transmission line pass-ing through forests and moun-tainous terrains will carryadditional electricity toPhuket.

"Tata Projects Limited... andits consortium partner hascompleted an important 110-km stretch of the 200-kmSurathani-Phuket transmis-sion line project in Thailand.This 500kV transmission lineis an achievement since itpasses through thick junglesand mountainous terrain," thecompany said in a statement.

Of this 110-km stretch,about 80 km was executed byTata Projects and the remain-ing by its partner, the compa-ny said adding that it utiliseddrone technology for string-ing of transmission linesthereby reducing timeframe

and avoiding manual work.The company, however,

did not provide the projectcost.

Vivek Gautam, COO –Tata Projects Ltd, said, "Weare proud to complete thisimportant transmission lineproject which is a true testi-mony of our top-notch exper-tise and vast experience. Withsuccessful completion of oursecond transmission line pro-ject in Thailand, we haveonce again proved our execu-tion capabilities not only inIndia but also around theworld."

Going forward, the com-pany shall continue to deliv-er projects on-time, usingworld-class project manage-ment techniques and uncom-promising standards of safe-ty, he added.

Tata Projects completestransmission line project

BSE StAR MF launches direct investment portal

Studds commissions two new facilities in Haryana

TuesdayAugust 11, 2020

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

hen a problemarises, people tendto talk about it,but they seldomconsider findingsolutions. But

social entrepreneurs are theones who’re keen on con-tributing their innovativesolutions to address social-economic challenges for theirrespective cities, especiallyamid the pandemic. Peoplewhose only dream is to watchthe city become a better placeto live in. These are the verypeople we call social entre-

preneurs in today’s era. Witha blend of idealism and com-mon-sense, social entrepre-neurs are bringing aboutbroad transformation inHyderabad, one such being isKhalida Parveen, a socialactivist and founder ofAmoomat Society.

Parveen is on a mission toconnect women from theremotest of areas towards thebest opportunities. A phar-macist by profession, shebelieves community leadersplay an exceptional role indealing with diverse situa-tions as she is, an examplebeing, providing premaritalcounseling, basic computercoaching, hiring candidatesfor assistant nurse training,etc. and these leaders aredealing with the crisis intheir own creative and capa-ble ways. You will findnumerous of these groups inHyderabad, she says.

“The youth of today isenergetic, enthusiastic,morally sound, and leadingthe city. They are aware ofthe problems we as a city arefacing currently — the plightof migrants, insufficientration for the needy, disre-spectful last rites, unavailabil-ity of beds for COVIDpatients, etc. Some youngtorchbearers stepped up tolight the way amid this lock-down from our society of aidtoo! Young community lead-ers need proper opportuni-ties to prove themselves thatthey can actively participateas well. COVID-19 offeredthem with this opportunity-

from distribution of dryration kits, cooking food forthe locals, distribution ofmedical essentials, arrangingtransportation for migrantsto return to their homelandand offering free ride servicesfor the deceased, these lead-ers of indomitable spirit took control of all theseactivities,” tells Khalida.

Relying upon strongnotions of a city where neti-zens are bereft of even basicnecessities of nutrition, edu-cation, and healthcare,Khalida Parveen trusts thereality of social entrepreneur-ship. Social entrepreneurshelp alleviate these issues byputting those less fortunateon a path towards a worth-while life. Rather than leavingsocietal needs to the govern-ment, they solve the problemby changing the system.“Rural mass in desperateneed of economical depen-dency. This new arena ofentrepreneurship may helpprovide a market to them sothat they can sell their cus-tomary products such ashandlooms. The importanceof social entrepreneurship isin front of you, education andhealthcare sectors are beingalleviated by them,” adds theactive citizen of Hyderabad.

“There must be a balancebetween economic growthand the welfare of society.With the current ecologicalcrisis, sustainable entrepre-neurship is highly indemand. I always believed inwhat Mahatma Gandhi hadsaid, ‘There is no beauty in

the finest cloth if it makeshunger and unhappiness’.Fostering change to our busi-ness organisations towardsgreater ecological integrityand social justice is very cru-cial. At this hour, we call fora long-term structural strate-gy of organisations for theworld’s economic and socialsystems to further reduce theburden on the ecosystem.Fast money is like fast food.After the sugar rush, it justleaves the bad taste in themouth,” reveals Kanthi Dutt,a social entrepreneur creatingbetter literacy funds in ruralIndia.

Talking about the digitisa-tion of India helping socialentrepreneurs connecting toremotest of areas, KanthiDutt indicates digitisationhas become rapid in today’sbusiness growth having thepandemic hit businesses.Companies that were plan-ning to go digital in five yearsdown the lane have gone dig-ital in a few days. The abilityto connect and interactquickly is essential, digitisa-tion ever more relevant forcompanies and citizens alike.Through digital entrepre-neurship, it is easier to devel-op, fund, and implementsolutions to social, cultural,or environmental issues.Right from creating better lit-eracy standards, buildingawareness programs to fur-ther impacting collectivebusiness growth.

The future looks bright,thanks to a new wave ofsocial entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs with a

SOCIAL IMPACT!

We've learnt of influencers,coaches on Instagram, and more.

Meet the new-gen of socialentrepreneurs who hope to

make the world a better place tolive in. The Pioneer's SHIKHA

DUGGAL speaks to a few ofsuch social entrepreneurs from

the city to understand what theydo, why, and how they do it

W

Ensuring safe onlinelearning for our little ones

his unprecedentedchange in onlinelearning for chil-dren has certainlyraised many con-cerns regarding the

child’s long-term health.Increased use of electronicgadgets, prolonged near work,and lack of daylight exposurecan result in the progressionof myopia or near-sightednessin children. Electronic devicesare known to emit short-wavelength blue light, sup-pressing the hormone mela-tonin which maintains thecircadian rhythm in the body.Prolonged exposure to bluelight, especially before theirbedtime can cause sleep dis-turbances in children. Toomuch screen time can alsoresult in dry eye, headache,stress, anxiety, behaviouraland mental issues.

Hence, it has become all themore important to strike abalance between academiclearning via digital technologyand good physical, mental,and personality developmentin children. Hence, therestricted use of electronicdevices for studying has beenadvocated by doctors. Certainpractices should be followedroutinely by teachers and par-ents to ensure a better lifestylefor children.

The amount of time thechild spends using digitaldevices should be proportion-ate to the child’s age. While 12to 16-year-olds can be allowed8 hours of online study, thehours of screen time foryounger children should berestricted to less than 4 hours.Toddlers (younger than 3years) must refrain fromusing any digital device.

Teachers must give appro-priate breaks during classes; ashort break every 45 minutesand a long break of 1-2 hoursduring long sessions. Online

classes should be scheduled inthe morning and afternoonhours only, ensuring that chil-dren do not use these devicesin the evening and night time.

It is important that thechild sits on a straight-backedchair with armrests, with thescreen placed about 2 feetaway at eye level. This ensuresgood posture and avoids backand neck problems in thefuture. Larger screen deviceslike desktop, laptop, or TV arepreferable. Room lightingshould be good and thescreen’s brightness should beoptimum. Screen protectorscan be used to reduce exces-

sive reflection.There also should be good

ventilation in the room.Sitting for long hours directlyin front of the fan or air con-ditioning can cause the eyesto dry up quickly. This addsto the strain. They should beencouraged to consciouslyblink frequently. An easymethod to follow is the 20-20-20 rule, where every 20 min-utes, the child should take a20-second break and look atany object 20 feet away. Thiswill relax the ciliary musclesof the eyes and ease the straindue to prolonged near work.At times, preservative-free

lubricating eyedrops can be usedto ease mildsymptoms of dryeye. Also, chil-dren who usuallywear glasses mustcontinue to wearthem duringclasses.

Also, variousways to reducescreen time canbe devised byteachers. Eachday, there shouldbe at least onesession of physicalexercise, yoga,dance class, orvirtual workout,intercepting theonline teachingschedule. Thiswill be fun as wellas healthy for children. Forhomework, they should beencouraged to use their text-books and notebooks andavoid all digital devices.

Parents must themselves seta good example by stayingaway from mobile phonesand TV as much as possible.They can also develop ‘quali-ty family time’, encouragingchildren to interact, playgames, and connect withfamily members duringleisure time. It should beemphasised that the use ofelectronic gadgets is onlyduring classes and for learn-ing. Children must be taughtto accept and acclimatize tothese new practices and tofollow them effectively.

Children’s health andwell-being must be the col-lective responsibility of fam-ilies, teachers, and doctors.Adapting to changing times,using technology to ouradvantage, but followingsafety measures can give abetter and healthier life toour children.

(The writer of the article,Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, is thehead of Child Sight Institute,

L V Prasad Eye Institute)

T During these times of apandemic, with severalrestrictions in place, schoolsare forced to shift fromclassroom learning to onlineteaching. Classes are beingconducted through virtualplatforms and homework hasnow gone digital. Children arerequired to spend long hoursindoors, focussing on theirmobile phone, iPad, or laptop.Here's tiny but certain changeswe can make to our children'slearning process that can helptheir overall health

Kids should beencouraged to consciouslyblink frequently. An easymethod to follow is the 20-20-20 rule, where every 20minutes, the child shouldtake a 20-second breakand look at any object 20feet away. This will relaxthe ciliary muscles of theeyes and ease the straindue to prolonged nearwork.

DR RAMESH KEKUNNAYA

ocial distancingnorms is the “newnormal” and ithas the worldspending moretime indoors than

ever, but a new surveyrevealed that 94 per cent ofpeople report they are happi-er and healthier when theyspend time outdoors.

As per Outdoorsy’s Roadto Wellness report, the openroad is a welcome relief aspeople search for safe traveloptions. 71 per cent ofrespondents who had tocancel their summer travelplans are now consideringalternative vacation, such asa road trip.

It seems like remoteworkers have also caughtthe travel bug. For those

with the flexibility to workfrom the road, a change ofscenery doesn’t have to tapinto vacation days. Work-from-home (WFH) workersare 2.5 times more likely tosay they would take moreroad trips if they had accessto an RV, with 72 per cent ofrespondents reporting theyare planning to take moreroad trips as a result ofwidespread work-from-home policies.

The survey shows 70 percent of respondents wouldrather go on a road tripwith family or a significantother than go alone, andthat air travel could be ahassle. Three out of fourpeople noted they woulddescribe their last road tripas a “much needed escape”

and would plan to take oneagain soon

Time spent outdoors hasa positive effect on an indi-vidual’s wellbeing, but withthis survey we learned moreabout the wellness benefitsattributed to time spent out-doors with family, saidOutdoorsy. “The surveyfound an overwhelminglypositive sentiment to familyroad travel and anecdotalreports found that familyties were strengthened indirect correlation to theamount of time a familyspends together in nature,”it said.

Overall, 88 per cent ofsurvey respondents say theywant to incorporate the out-doors into their daily rou-tine more often.

S

Road trips, outdoor timelinked to happiness: Survey

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSARE THE ONES WHO’RE KEEN

ON CONTRIBUTING THEIRINNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO

ADDRESS SOCIAL-ECONOMICCHALLENGES FOR THEIR

RESPECTIVE CITIES,ESPECIALLY AMID THE

PANDEMIC.

10

what’s brewing?Vijayawada Tuesday August 11 2020

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ilmmaker Hansal Mehta isset to develop and direct aweb series based on gang-ster Vikas Dubey, who waskilled in an encounter byUttar Pradesh police last

month.Eight policemen, including

DSP Devendra Mishra, wereambushed in Bikru village inChaubeypur area of Kanpurwhen they were going to arrestDubey and fell to bullets firedfrom rooftops shortly after mid-night on July 3.

Dubey, who was carrying areward of Rs five lakh on infor-mation leading to his arrest, wasarrested from Ujjain in Madhya

Pradesh on July 9.He was killed in an encounter

on the morning of July 10 when apolice vehicle carrying him fromUjjain to Kanpur met with anaccident and he tried to escapefrom the spot in Bhauti area, thepolice had said.

Producer Shailesh R Singh’sKarma Media and Entertainment,in association with PolaroidMedia, have bought the rights forthe upcoming project on thegangster.

Mehta, known for directingacclaimed films like Aligarh,Omerta and the National Award-winning Rajkummar Rao-starrer Shahid, said he

will approach the subject responsibly.

“It is a reflection of our timesand our system where politics,crime and lawmakers form acurious nexus. It is early to discuss approach but it will be approached responsibly and as a fascinating recounting. I see an edgy political thrilleremerging out of this, and it willbe very interesting to tell thisstory,” the director said in a statement.

Singh, who has backed filmslike Tanu Weds Manu, Shahid,Manoj Bajpayee-headlinedAligarh, Omerta and JudgementalHain Kya, said he is excited to

bring Dubey’s life to the screen.“I have been following the

whole story quite closely throughnews agencies and other means,killing of eight policemen shookthe nation and started the sevendays trail of Vikas Dubey whichfinally saw him killed in anencounter.

“I thought why not tell thisstory to the entire nation andbring out some real facts and goto the inner depth of the great totell this story. I am overwhelmedto tell this story and really look-ing forward to it,” Singh said.

Prior to Dubey, five of hisalleged associated were killed inseparate encounters.

F

Hansal Mehta to direct web series on gangster Vikas Dubey

VIDYA BALAN says peoplethought she was ‘mad’ whenshe signed The Dirty Picture

ctor Vidya Balanrevealed that when shesigned Milan Luthria’sThe Dirty Picture, peo-ple thought she was‘mad’ and told her she

could not be ‘doing things likethese’ as she had a girl-next-door image. However, her par-ents asked her to follow herintuition.

In an interaction with IndiaToday, Vidya said that she hadno reservations about doingThe Dirty Picture. “Themoment I met Milan, heinspired faith in me. So I knewthat he has a certain aestheticsense, I knew it won’t be cheap.Also, Ekta (Kapoor, producer)was involved and she is awoman. I knew her, I startedmy career with her. So I wassafe on those accounts. Butthere were people who told methat ‘Are you mad? You are agirl next door and you can’t bedoing things like these.’”

When Vidya went to her par-ents for advice, they asked herto go with her gut feeling. “I

remember speaking to my par-ents at that time and I askedthem ‘Should I do it?’ My par-ents, they are obviously notfrom this industry, so they keptsaying ‘No, do what feels right’.I asked myself ‘whatfeels right’ and theanswer wasloud andclear: ‘Dothe film’.So I wentahead anddid it,”she said.

In TheDirtyPicture,which was asemi-biograph-ical story of thecontroversial actor SilkSmitha, Vidya played a small-town girl who comes toChennai to try her luck infilms. Her character, Silk,embraces her sexuality anddoes not hesitate to use it to getwhat she wants.

Vidya said that she felt quite

comfortable wearing skimpyoutfits in The Dirty Picture, asshe was not expected to havethe ‘perfect body’. “You know,as a child, my mom had mademe wear shorts and everyone

teased me because I was reallyfat. After that, I had

never worn shorts inmy life. And during

the first costumetrials, NiharikaSingh gave me apair of hotshorts/hot pantsand I came outin that and I

actually felt fullyokay.”During the

dance rehearsals, thechoreographer kept ask-

ing Vidya to ‘thrust’ more, shesaid. “So I think slowly I wasletting go of my inhibitions andmaybe that’s why when I worethe shorts and walked out I wasfine. Because there was noexpectation of being perfect. Iwas not expected to have theperfect body in the shorts.”

A

Bosco Martis' directorialdebut titled ‘RocketGang', to be shot in virtualreality amid COVID

horeographerBosco LeslieMartis’ directorialdebut, a dance-horror-comedy,has been titled

Rocket Gang and the makerswill use real-time VirtualReality (VR) to shoot someof its sequences.

Bosco said the use of VRin Rocket Gang would comeas a “huge support” amid thecoronavirus pandemic.

The process would reducepost-production time anddecrease expected man-power, therebyadhering to safe-ty guidelineswhen thefilm goeson floors.

“Thestrengthof thefilm is thevirtualrealityexperiencewhich wouldbe first of its kindin Bollywood. It willbe challenging but we arevery excited to explore this.Especially in today’s timeswhen we are fightingCOVID-19 and the situationwe are in right now.

“We can’t get the supportof the full team so how doesone work? We would followall the norms and VR is

going to help us in a big wayto support this,” Bosco toldPTI.

Rocket Gang stars Studentof the Year 2 actor AdityaSeal, Nikita Dutta, last seenin Netflix’s Maska, and fivekids. It would also featureselect dancers who partici-pated in the reality show,Dance India Dance.

The film was supposed togo on floors on March 18 butwas pushed due to the coron-avirus-induced nationwidelockdown.

The team ultimately had topull down the set but

Bosco said whenhe pitched the

idea of VR toproducersZee Studios,they imme-diately cameon board.

“Thechallenge

was how tostart the film as

soon as possiblebecause I don’t

want the kids to growup, because they were cast fora certain reason and look.”

“Then VR came into playand we started working on it.I shared it with Shariq (Patel,CEO, Zee Studios) and heloved it. The team needs tobe excited for the vision andI’m so glad we all are,” Boscoadded.

C

BIPASHA BASU:THRILLERS MAKE FOR

A PERFECT CANVASFOR AN ACTOR

ctress Bipasha Basuloves to do thrillerprojects as theygive her a chance toemote so much,ranging from

drama, action, romance tofear.

“Thrillers make for a per-

fect canvas for an actor —there’s so much to emote, be itdrama, action, romance, fearand that’s what really pulls metowards this genre,” Bipasha said.

“I also believe that thisgenre is enjoyed by audiencesbecause it makes you feel like

you’re a part of the process,trying to solve the mystery inyour head. While I enjoyother genres as well, thrillershave always been special forme and ‘Dangerous’ evenmore so — I love the fact thatI could act with Karan (hus-band Karan Singh Grover)

again and collaborate withVikram (Vikram Bhatt),Bhushan (Bhushan Patel) andMika (Mika Singh) on thisproject,” she added.

Bipasha is reuniting withKaran Singh for thriller titledDangerous, co-starringSuyyash Rai, Natasha Suri.

A

AFP n SOUTHAMPTON

James Anderson insisted onMonday he is still “hungry”to play Test cricket after

speculation the England greatwas considering retirement.

Anderson recently turned38, an age where many previouspace bowlers would have longsince retired.

Given his age, Anderson’smeagre match haul of 1/97 dur-ing England’s three-wicket winin the first Test against Pakistancompleted on Saturdayinevitably led to speculationabout his future.

By his own admission,Anderson, England’s all-timeleading wicket-taker, “did not

bowl very well” at his OldTrafford home ground, whereone of the ends is named afterhim, as England went 1-0 up ina three-match series.

But the swing specialist,whose 590 wickets are the mosttaken by any paceman in Testhistory, said he should not bewritten off after one poor game.

“I want to play as long as Ipossibly can,” Anderson toldreporters during a conferencecall on Monday.

“If I keep bowling the way Idid this week, the opportunity toretire will be taken out of myhands. It will be a selectionissue,” he added ahead ofThursday’s second Test atSouthampton.

“I’m still hungry to play the

game. I think the frustration forme this week was that, after onebad game….the sort of whispers(about retirement) that goaround, I don’t think that’s real-ly fair.”

‘EMOTIONAL’Reflecting on his own per-

formance in the first Test,Anderson said: “It’s one of thosethings, everyone has a bad game,every now and then.

“I’ve not bowled very welland felt out of rhythm. For thefirst time in probably 10 years Igot a little bit emotional on thefield, got a bit frustrated, let it getto me a little bit.

“It reminded me of when Ifirst started playing, when youget frustrated and a little bitangry you try to bowl quickerand quicker and it doesn’t help.Hopefully, I can show people I’vestill got what it takes to play Testcricket.”

Anderson, a veteran of 154Tests, added: “I don’t think it’sthe toughest period of my career.I’m sure I’ll have another badgame in my career. I just don’twant every time I have a badgame for there to be whispersgoing round that I’m going topack in.”

Anderson is now in sight ofbecoming the first pace bowlerto take 600 Test wickets andoverhauling the England Testappearance record of 161 held byretired former captain AlastairCook, one of his best friends incricket.

“I want to be bowling welland contributing to Englandwinning games of cricket,” saidAnderson. “That’s been my focusthroughout my career and willcontinue to be my focus. If I get600 wickets then great; if I don’t,then I’m happy with what I’vegot.”

As for surpassing openingbatsman Cook’s cap record,which would be a remarkableachievement for a pace bowler,Anderson said: “154 does soundlike quite a lot of games. But Ifeel like I’ve still got quite a fewmore left in me. If I can go pastCooky it will probably be the one

11VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | AUGUST 11, 2020

PTI n NEW DELHI

The BCCI has received the central Government’sformal approval to conduct this year’s Indian

Premier League in the UAE, IPL Chairman BrijeshPatel revealed on Monday.

The IPL boss also said that BCCI, in all likeli-hood, will announce the tournament’s new title spon-sors by August 18. There will be a seven-day windowfor interested companies to submit the bid.

The Government had last week given an “in prin-ciple” go-ahead to the BCCI to shift the marqueeleague starting from September 19 to November 10in three UAE cities — Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubaidue to rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.

“Yes, we have received all the written approvals,”Patel said when asked whether the permission hascome in writing from both the Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs(MEA).

When an Indian sports body shifts a domestictournament abroad, it requires clearance fromHome, External and sports ministries respectively.

“Once we had the verbal okay from theGovernment, we had intimated the Emirates CricketBoard. Now we have the papers also, so franchisescan be intimated that everything is in order,” a vet-eran BCCI official said.

Most of the franchises will be flying out afterAugust 20 after two mandatory RT-PCR (Covid-19tests) conducted within 24 hours from their depar-ture base.

The Chennai Super Kings players and staff, whoare leaving on August 22, will have a small camp atthe Chepauk on the insistence of skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni.

The BCCI is also facing problems on the spon-sorship front after calling off the title deal withChinese mobile phone company Vivo for the currentyear due to massive public outrage over the Sino-Indiaborder stand-off.

It was a `440 crore deal and as BCCI looks atpotential sponsors, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali hasshown interest in becoming the new title sponsor.

Patel, however, expressed confidence that a lotof companies are interested in becoming IPL spon-sors.

“It is not a setback (Vivo pulling out), there isalready a lot of interest (for title rights). Whetheran Indian company or from anywhere else, whoev-er bids the most gets the rights. We will finalise thewhole process by August 18,” Patel said.

AFP n MADRID

Atletico Madrid breathed asigh of relief on Monday

after further coronavirus tests ontheir players and staff turned upnegative, allowing the team totravel to Portugal on Tuesday fortheir Champions League quar-ter-final against Leipzig.

Tests at the weekend hadrevealed two coronavirus casesat the club, which Atletico con-firmed on Monday to be play-ers Angel Correa and SimeVrsaljko. Both players are

asymptomatic and will remainisolated at home while the restof the squad will return to train-ing in the Spanish capital onMonday afternoon, before flyingto Lisbon on Tuesday forThursday’s game against Leipzig.

“The first team and mem-bers of the coaching staff under-went new PCR tests yesterday,the result of which has been neg-ative in all of them, after theappearance of two positive casesin the tests carried out onSaturday,” Atletico announcedon Monday.

AP n DORTMUND

England winger JadonSancho will stay with

Borussia Dortmund for theupcoming season amidreported interest fromManchester United,club sporting direc-tor Michael Zorcsaid on Monday.

D or t mund“plan on havingJadon Sancho in ourteam this season, thedecision is final. I think

that answers all our ques-tions,” Zorc said at a trainingsession.

The 20-year-old Englandinternational, who has acontract with the Germanclub until 2022, had a stel-lar season with the

Bundesliga runners-upand has been reported-ly targeted by severaltop clubs, includingManchester Unitedafter the club qualifiedfor next season’sChampions League.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indian hockey team forwardMandeep Singh has tested

positive for Covid-19, becomingthe sixth national player to con-tract the dreaded infection, theSports Authority of India (SAI)said on Monday.

The 25-year-old fromJalandhar is asymptomatic andis being treated along with theother five players by doctors inBengaluru, where the nationalcamp is due to start on August20 at the SAI centre.

“Mandeep Singh, a memberof the Indian Men’s Hockeyteam, who was given the Covidtest (RT PCR) along with 20other players at the NationalCamp at SAI’s National Centreof Excellence in Bengaluru, hastested Covid positive, but isasymptomatic,” the SAI said ina statement.

PTI n NEW DELHI

World Athletics PresidentSebastian Coe on

Monday claimed that morepeople took to running to stayfit during the coronavirus-forced lockdown, something hissport can capitalise on once theworld is back to being normal.

Coe said athletics can ben-efit from the new-found habitof more people taking to walk-ing and running and his sport

will try to build on it to broad-en its base. “We are uniquelyplaced to help local, regionaland national health objectives.Research has shown thatthroughout the lockdown,more people are exercisingthan before. Some researcheven say there is 80 per centincrease at the global exercisepattern,” he said at an onlinemedia seminar organised byAsian Athletics Federation.

“Athletics is the main ben-

eficiary because people aredoing exercise through runningor walking. That is a very bigasset. We will not take it forgranted but will try to build onit in the post pandemic period.We will be allowing more youngpeople aceess to our sport,” headded. He said that athletics isone of the better-placed sportsamid the pandemic in terms ofcommunication and engage-ment among the officials as wellas the athletes.

AFP n PALERMO

Unseeded French playerFiona Ferro beat No 4 seed

Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 7-5 in thefinal to win the 31st PalermoLadies Open, the tournamentmarking the return of tennisafter a five-month shutdown dueto coronavirus.

Ferro needed one hour and43 minutes to seal the straight-sets victory. Her solid servingsaw Ferro deliver four aces in thematch helped her ease to a 6-2win in the first set.

However, Kontaveit whohad ousted top seed Petra Martic

in the semi-finals started tocome into her own at the end ofthe first set.

The gain in momentumwas evident when she brokeearly to get into a 2-0 lead butFerro upped her game to breakstraight back. TheFrenchwoman won three gameson the bounce to make it fivesapiece before a service winnersaw her through. It was Ferro’ssecond WTA title win as shemaintained fine form since thecoronavirus lockdown whenshe had gone unbeaten in twoexhibition tournaments beforethe Palermo Open.

STILL HUNGRY TO PLAYEngland pacer Anderson ignores retirement whispers, eager to bounce back

Buttler should always bein Eng Test side: WarnePTI nMANCHESTER

Jos Buttler is the “whole package” and that is whythe wicketkeeper-batsman should be a regular in

England’s Test side, feels Australian spin great ShaneWarne.

Buttler was under immense scrutiny due tolapses behind the stumps during the first Testagainst Pakistan last week. He missed two chancesagainst opener Shan Masood on 45, who went onto score 156, helping Pakistan put up 326 on theboard in their first innings.

However, the 29 year-old, who had also beenstruggling with the bat for some time, played a cru-cial 75-run knock in the second innings and shareda century stand with Chris Woakes to helpEngland win the first Test by three wickets.

“He should always be in the side. Jos is a verygood and reliable keeper but, occasionally, you’regoing to have a few bad days — it wasn’t easy outthere, either,” Warne told Sky Sports.

“But Jos should always be in your side becauseof what he’s capable of, with the bat especially. Andthen his keeping, he’s a good leader among the teamas well — there’s a calmness about him — he’s thewhole package.

“He’s always one of the first pencilled in for me,”Warne added.

Buttler changed the complexion of the gamewith his aggressive batting. He struck sevenboundaries and a six in his 101 ball-75, helpingEngland, who were reeling at 117 for five, chase

down the 277 run target.“What really impressed me with Buttler was

the way he went about it, he trusted himself, said‘I’m the man, I’m going to get this done’.”

Warne added that Buttler’s positive approachhelped his non-striker Woakes, who struck a match-winning unbeaten 84 after having averaged only5.22 in his last six Tests.

“He just played beautifully; and that helpedWoakes at the other end, who had been strugglingfor form, but came in and played extremely well.I’m very happy for Woakes and, in particular,Buttler. It was a fantastic chase, against a qualityattack, on a good pitch,” he said.

James Anderson celebrates the dismissal of Babar Azam during 2nd day of 1st Test AP

Pak must move on from Old Trafford defeat: MisbahManchester: Pakistan cannotdwell on their defeat byEngland in the first Test at OldTrafford as it would make ittougher for them to respond inthe next two matches, coachMisbah-ul-Haq has said.

“It was a thrilling Testmatch and full credit must goto England for the way theyfought back, came from behindand took the game away fromus,” Misbah wrote in his columnon the Pakistan Cricket Board’swebsite.

“There is disappointment,

of course, but we must not keepthat feeling in our minds oth-erwise it will be difficult tocome back... the team believeswe can fight back.

“Sometimes luck doesn’tfavour you, sometimes theopposition plays well — that’sthe beauty of the game.”

Misbah praised openerShan Masood, who scored 156in the first innings, as well aspacemen Shaheen Afridi andNaseem Shah who picked uptwo wickets each.

“It was a brave decision to

bat first against England’s bowl-ing attack in those conditions,”the 46-year-old said.

“Shan Masood batted real-ly well and... should be given alot of credit for his innings. He’sbeen working so hard... he’schanged a few things in hissetup. He’s a different bats-man.

“The bowling was alsoexcellent. It’s a young seamattack, apart from MohammadAbbas, and both Shaheen Afridiand Naseem Shah did reallywell.” Agencies

BCCI receive Govt

approvals for IPL in UAE

Correa & Vrsaljko return positive while otherremain unaffected as the Spanish giants preparefor Champions League quarters

Atletico Madrid players train during team’s training session ATM/Twitter

2 Atleti players test virus +ve

Sancho will stay at Dortmund

Collin Morikawa holds the WanamakerTrophy after winning the PGAChampionship golf tournament at TPCHarding Park on Sunday AP

Mandeep latesthockey player tocatch corona

Fiona Ferro, right, and Anett Kontaveit pose with the trophy after final WTA/Twitter

Ferro upsets Kontaveitto win Palermo OpenAthletics can grow further

in post Covid world: Coe

In a one of its kind theft, a large amount of cowdung was stolenat Rojhi village in Koriya district of north Chhattisgarh. The

incident comes days after the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congressgovernment launched the unique 'Godhan Nyay Yojana' schemeaimed at procuring cowdung at Rs 2 per kg from livestock anddairy owners. Lalla Ram and Sem Lal, both farmers lodged acomplaint with the local Gauthan Samithi (a body that managescattleshed premises) after they found over 100 kg cowdungmissing. Thefarmers hadaccumulated thecowdung to sellit to the stategovernment.Worried overthis new form ofcrime, thesamithi members decided to approach the police and filed acomplaint. The state government, on August 5, had transferredRs 1.65 crore to the accounts of over 46,000 cattle ownersunder the new scheme. In recent months, it had added economicvalue to cattle dung that witnessed innovative, useful and eco-friendly products moulded out of it. "The cowdung was takenaway by the locals only who apparently witnessing theexasperation among the villagers and the Gauthan samitireturned it. The issue of theft raised much concern among thevillagers,” said Sangeeta Lakra, the Koriya public relation officer.

Canadian brewery namesits beer 'pubic hair'!

Human sperm swims inentirely different way!I

n a breakthrough for fertility science, scientists have shatteredthe universally accepted view of how sperm 'swim'. About 300

years ago, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek used one of the earliestmicroscopes to describe human sperm as having a "tail, which,when swimming, lashes with a snakelike movement, like eels inthe water". This is an optical illusion, according to the new study."Human sperm figured out if they roll as they swim, much likeplayful otters corkscrewing through water, their one-sided stokewould average itself out,and they would swimforwards," said studyauthor Hermes Gadelhafrom the University ofBristol in the UK. "Thesperms' rapid and highlysynchronised spinningcauses an illusion whenseen from above with 2D microscopes - the tail appears to have aside-to-side symmetric movement, like eels in the water, asdescribed by Leeuwenhoek in the 17th century," Gadelha added.Using state-of-the-art 3D microscopy and mathematics, theresearch team have pioneered the reconstruction of the truemovement of the sperm tail in 3D. Using a high-speed cameracapable of recording over 55,000 frames in one second, and amicroscope stage with a piezoelectric device to move the sampleup and down at an incredibly high rate, they were able to scan thesperm swimming freely in 3D.

An Alberta brewery has apologized for unknowingly namingtheir beer after a Maori word that is commonly used to

mean 'pubic hair'. The Hell's Basement Brewery, whichreleased the 'New Zealand hopped pale ale' two years ago,used the Maori term 'Huruhuru' which they believed meantfeather, to reflect the light citrus taste of the beer. However,earlier this week, Maori former television personality Te HamuaNikora pointed the error and posted a Facebook video, toexplain "huruhuru" wasmore commonly usedin Te Reo Maori to referto pubic hair. "Yes Iknow huruhuru meansfeather, fur and evenhair of the head. I knowthis. But it is mostcommonly used as hairfrom a person'sprivates, " he wrote."Some people call it appreciation, I call it appropriation," headded. Accepting the mistake, Brewery founder Mike Patriquinsaid they did not intend to offend anyone and announced thatthe product will be rebranded."We acknowledge that we did not consider the commonplaceuse of the term huruhuru as a reference to pubic hair, and thatconsultation with a Maori representative would have been abetter reference than online dictionaries," Mike Patriquin said.

Girl who scored 2 in Mathsgets 100 after re-evaluation

Over 100 kg cowdungstolen in Chhattisgarh

NEW

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upriya, a specially-abled student alleged that she waserroneously given only 2 marks in Mathematics by the Board of

School Education, Haryana (BSHE) in her class 10 boardexamination as her answer sheet meant for ''blind candidate'' wasnot checked following proper procedure. However, after re-evaluation, she got 100 marks in the same subject. "I was given 2marks in Mathematics exam. I was shocked and sad. My fatherapplied for re-evaluation and after re-evaluation, I got 100 marks. Iwould like to demandfrom that board thatthis should nothappen to any otherspecially-abledstudent," Supriya, apartially blind studentsaid. Supriya's fatherChhajjuram said thatshe got over 90 marks in all subjects but she got only 2 inMathematics and hence he applied for re-evaluation. "I have spentRs 5,000 in the process of applying for re-evaluation. I am aMathematics teacher. My daughter scored good marks in allsubjects except in maths, hence I applied for re-evaluation. Latershe got 100 marks after re-evaluation," he said. The principal of theGovernment Senior Secondary School, Hisar, Hrishikesh Kundusaid that Supriya will be honored after school re-opens. "Supriya isa hard-working student. She is good at studies and we will honorher after school re-opens," he said.

eleased bySukumar lastweek, the teaser ofKanabadutaleduhas found instantappreciation from

one and all. The innovativecut and the rich backgroundscore helped it to be noticedby industry-wallahs as well.Noted names like Bunny Vas,Nikhil and Karthikeya amongothers were quick to ringdebutant director M BalaRaju and shower their praisetowards it. “In fact, BunnyVas garu asked us to show thefilm to him after the post-production formalities arewrapped up,” M Bala Rajutells us in a conversation.

A native ofVisakhapatnam, Bala Rajuwas smitten by movies sincechildhood. While studying X,he wrote, directed and actedin a play which won himplaudits all across the district,setting off his journey in thecreative field. “After the com-pletion of my engineering,I’ve done a short filmChandamama Raave. Soonafter, I came to Hyderabadand tried my luck as a writer.In the process, I’ve directedshort films like Chakori and

Thaamasi. I worked as aghost writer for seven-eightfeature films, with some ofthem emerging as big hits,”he notes.

Success on the short filmscircuit meant that he gradu-ated to feature films but hisdebut feature, Achuki, could-n’t go in front of the camerasdue to various reasons.Undeterred, he continued tomake more short films as he“hates being idle”. “Last year,I won the SIIMA BestDirector Award for my shortfilm Karthika. It even gotscreened at TaiwanInternational Film Festival,”exults the director, whoseother popular short filmsinclude BramarambakiNachhesanu, Sirivennela andPriyathama. “Producers of

Priyathama, with the help ofothers, decided to pool inresources forKanabadutaledu. People whoI know also chipped in.”

Bala Raju’s strong suit,according to him, is writingand screenplay. “I’ve grownup in different places and mylife is nothing short of a jour-ney so far. As I started to seethe society from my perspec-tive, the words started toflow. I’m a writer-filmmakershaped up by society,” hesays, adding that growing up,it was Puri Jagannadh whohad a lasting impression onhim, courtesy smash hits likeIdiot and Amma Nanna OTamila Ammayi. “His filmsaside, I used to watch hisinterviews 100 times. He waslike an addiction. I’m a big

fan of his narrative style.”Being a whodunit, he is

not comfortable with the ideaof sharing the story or theplot details ofKanabadutaledu, which waswrapped up in and aroundVizag in 38 days. “A charac-ter goes missing and thereare 100 reasons for it. It’s asimple concept. Seven-eightcharacters dot the film and amajority of them come fromthe team of C/OKancharapalem. It’s a screen-play-based film,” he main-tains.

Talking about the art ofscreenplay, he admits tobeing a fan of the screenplayof the acclaimed Americanneo-Western crime dramaseries Breaking Bad. “Theway the series kept the audi-

ences at the edge-of-their-seats is something I rave withgreat enthusiasm. Watching ithelped me to become a goodwriter,” he reveals.

The director has no issue ifKanabadutaledu drops on anOTT platform. “It is the pro-ducer’s call at the end of theday. I don’t have a burningdesire to see my name on thebig screen; I have the confi-dence it will happen in thefuture, with the 40 boundscripts that I have. I told myproducers if we recover themoney that we invested, thefilm is a success. Profits boildown to luck in the industry.But the way the deals aregoing post the teaser, offerswhich land the producers inprofits are pouring in,” hesigns off with a smile.

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tollywoodVijayawada Tuesday August 11 2020

Debutantdirector M BalaRaju speaks to

NAGARAJGOUD abouthis passion for

films, his debut film

Kanabadutaledu,making of short

films and more

SOCIETAL INFLUENCES

fter his projectswith PradeepKrishnamoorthyandVeerabhadramfailed to move

forward over creativereasons, Rajasekhar hasfinally green-lit a newproject. It will be pro-duced by VenkataSrinivas Boggaram,while Neelakanta willman the director’s chair.According to a source,the project is a remake of2018 Malayalam hitJoseph, an investigativethriller. “The story isright up Rajasekhar’salley and he is extremelyhappy with the tweaksthat Neelakanta made tosuit his image andTelugu nativity. Itwould’ve gone on tofloors by now if not forthe lockdown,” pointedout the source.

The original, directedby M Padmakumar, toldthe story of how a retiredcop, who is known forhis investigative prowess,unexpectedly gets pulledinto a criminal caseinvolving organ harvest-ing. The source furtheradds that Boggaram haslined-up another filmwith Rajasekhar and thesearch is on for a direc-tor. — NG

Rajasekhar inJosephTeluguremake

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Suniel Narang’scondition is stable

eading distribu-tor, producerand AsianCinemas chiefSuniel Narangwas admitted in

Apollo Hospitals onSunday night following asudden heart condition. Heis now doing fine. “SunielNarang suffered with chestpain last night and wasrushed to the ApolloHospital. Doctors per-formed stent a procedureimmediately. He is now sta-ble and healthy. He will getdischarged from the hospi-tal on Tuesday. He extendshis thanks to everyone whohas enquired about hishealth,” Suniel’s brother

Bharat Narang said in astatement on Monday.

Suniel along with hisfather Narayana DasNarang and business part-

ner P Ram Mohan Rao haslined-up projects withNagarjuna, Naga Shaurya,Nikhil and Sharwanand forthe next one year.

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he ongoing Covid-19pandemic will onlyenhance the existinginequality and disparityin Indian society, andalso impact economy and

education, feels actor Atul Kulkarni.“Everything is uncertain today

but one thing certain, especially ina developing country like India, isthat the disparity and inequality inour society are going to grow. Notonly economic disparity, it will alsohave an effect on the education,”said Kulkarni.

With educational institutionsshut owing to lockdown, onlineeducation has become an alterna-tive for students.

Commenting on the same, theactor said, “For online education,you need certain equipment athome. You need parents who canteach children at home. If you go toa village or even in Mumbai if yougo to a slum, such a cultural capitalis not with parents. As a result, youwill see a huge inequality and dis-parity in education, which is goingto come and bite us seven or eightyears from now. The attempt ofevery government should be toreduce that inequality.”

Asked how his life changed overthe past few months of lockdown,the actor commented, “I have notreally missed shooting or the sets. Ihave not really missed Mumbaibecause I have been staying in myfarmhouse for the last four months.I have really enjoyed my stay at thefarmhouse. My NGO works fromthere and work on that front isgoing on.”

On the work front, the NationalAward-winning actor features inthe recently-released Amazon Primeweb series Bandish Bandits.

Sharing his experience of work-ing in the musical, the actor said,“Music is the ‘atma' of BandishBandits. I am happy that I got thisopportunity to try something I havenever done before — to act like aclassical singer.

“Classical singing is extremelydifficult, to sing the sargam isn’tvery easy especially when you havethe breathless Shankar(Mahadevan) lending his voice toyou!” he added.

Asked if he would like to gothrough a training to get a hold ofclassical singing, the actor joked, “Iwould perhaps need 49 births tosing classical!”

Atul Kulkarni: Pandemicwill enhance disparity,impact economy, edu

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ith his twodirectorialventures— WantedandJawaan —

crash-landing at thebox office, BVS Ravihas shifted completeattention to writing.After penning thestory of VikramKumar’s next withNaga Chaitanya, thewriter, according to

the buzz, is nowhelping Shreyas ETto generate newfilms. He has writtenthree stories forShreyas Any TimeTheatre model and anew director Praveenis working on them.It remains to be seenwhether he willdirect all the threestories. One of thestories has beentitled Rave Party,

while the other two— more or less — areyouthful in their fla-vor.

Meanwhile, shed-ding some lightabout Thank You,Vikram, speaking tous recently, said thatit’s a story that needsto be told now. “Itwould resonate withthe audience at vari-ous levels. That saidit’s not a message-

oriented film but hasan undercurrent ofsomething which iswonderful. It got meconnected to thestory in the firstplace. It has got allmainstream elements— humour, drama,romance and a littlebit of action,” thedirector, who isdeveloping the storyalong with Ravi, hadsaid.

BVS Ravi shifts focus to writing

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Ram Charan allpraise for UMUR

s soon as itdropped onNetflix more thana week ago, UmaMaheswara UgraRoopasya

(UMUR) fronted bySatyadev and directed byVenkatesh Maha, receivedacclaim from audiences andcritics alike. Industry big-wigs too are all praise forUMUR. Appreciating theteam’s work, actor RamCharan took to twitter toextend best wishes to the

team. The actor whowatched UMUR recentlywas all praise for the film.

“#UmaMaheshwaraUgraRoopasya is one film Iabsolutely loved. The filmstays true to it’s content andI’m bowled over by the capti-vating performances of@ActorSatyaDev,@ItsActorNaresh garu,@ActorSuhas, HariChandana and Roopa. You’vedrawn the best from yourteam @mahaisnotanoun(sic),” the actor tweeted.

UMUR — an officialremake of Malayalam hitMaheshinte Prathikaaram —tells the story of an Araku-based studio photographerowner (played by Satya)who publicly vows that hewill not wear his slippersagain until he has avengedthe humiliation that he hasbeen meted out to by aneighbouring village resi-dent who suffers from angermanagement issues. Mahahas tailored the original tosuit Telugu nativity.

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