VIJAYAWADA, TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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C PRADEEP KUMARn VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh High Courton Monday directed the Stategovernment to probe the circum-stances that led to the RUIAhospital tragedy in which 11Covid-19 patients lost their lifeand fix responsibility.

The court was hearing a peti-tion seeking registration of an FIRand investigation into the incidentthat led to the death of 11 peopledue to low oxygen pressure amidthe delay in the arrival of an oxy-gen tanker from Chennai.

Y Balaji, counsel for the peti-tioner, submitted that the incidenttook place due to negligence onthe part of the government andhospital authorities. The peti-tioner pointed out that no FIR ofthe incident has been registeredso far. The petitioner ?told thecourt that it was still not clear howmany people died due to short-age of oxygen.

Counsel for the petitioner alsopointed out to the disparity in the

ex gratia as families of the victimsof LG Polymers gas leak weregiven Rs 1 crore as ex gratia whilethe government announced com-pensation of Rs 10 lakh for theRUIA hospital victims.

Agreeing with the petitioner'scontention that a case should beregistered and investigated, thecourt issued notices to the Stategovernment, police and hospitalofficials, asking them to filecounters. It also directed the gov-ernment to find out due towhose negligence the RUIA hos-pital tragedy occurred. The courtthen adjourned the hearing fortwo weeks.

ML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

In a development that may inten-sify the disputes over utilisation ofKrishna waters between the twoTelugu States , the Krishna RiverManagement Board has written tothe Telangana State Genco author-ities to immediately stop furtherrelease of water through SrisailamLeft Power House for power gen-eration.

The KRMB addressed a letter toDirector (Hydel) TS Genco follow-ing a letter it received from the

Water Resources Department,Andhra Pradesh Government thatTelangana has already drawn 3.09tmc ft of water, i.e. 34 percent ofinflows, of 8.98 tmc ft intoSrisailam for power generation.

As a result, the water level inSrisailam is below MDDL(Minimum Draw Down Level)i.e. 834 ft.

The AP government contendedthat the Telangana government wasdrawing water unilaterally fromSrisailam without orders from theKRMB.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Stating that legal action must betaken on two media houses, ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy onMonday said that a publication hadclaimed that patients died due tolack of oxygen in Ashram Hospital,but the reality was that medicaloxygen is abundant in the state.

Condemning the baselessreports published by a section ofmedia, the Chief Ministersaid thatthey were written with jealousy, asthe state is being applauded foreffectively controlling Covid-19.

During a review meeting onCovid here on Monday, he said thatthe “news reports” were written insuch a way so as to create panicamong the people. “The articles arecompletely baseless, written with amischievous mindset, without ashred of humanity,” Jagan said.

He said that people would havebelieved such reports if they werepublished during the peak of thepandemic, but now, since the caseswere declining, registering an aver-age positivity rate of less than fivepercent, their hollowness was evi-dent. In the current scenario, over 70percent oxygen beds and ventilatorsare available in the state, he said.

Officials informed Jagan that 750

tonnes of medical oxygen wasused when Covid was at its peakand now the daily requirement hascome down to just 180 tonnes. Allthe oxygen allocations given to theState are being stored at Visakh-apatnam Steel Plant and can beused when required, they said.

The Chief Minister questionedhow there would be a shortage ofoxygen when there is surplus pro-duction in the State.

During the meeting, the ChiefMinister also criticised a mediahouse for misquoting him in anarticle. He said that, “The post ofChief Minister is being devaluedand degraded by such writing.While the government is serious-

ly conducting review meetings,such media houses are making funas if the officials are attending thereview to pass time.”

He said that the state has a goodreputation in dealing with Covid,by successfully controlling it, whichwas possible only because of theefforts put in by all officers and staffwho worked together relentlessly.

“Starting from the village level tostate level, it was made possible bythe ANM, volunteers, collectors,district and zonal officers, andmedical staff,” Jagan said.

The officials said that legalaction will be taken against the twomedia houses for defaming thegovernment.

PNS n TIRUPATI

A woman software engineeremployed in a leading tech com-pany in Hyderabad was foundmurdered and burnt on Mondayin Tirupati.

"One Srikanth Reddy is strong-ly suspected to be behind thisincident," Tirupati superinten-dent of police Avula RameshReddy told reporters, confirmingthe murder. Ramesh Reddy saidpolice are currently gatheringevidence and exuded confidenceabout nabbing Srikanth Reddy in2-3 days. Police identified the vic-tim as Bhuvaneshwari (26).Srikanth Reddy is her husband.

RUIA HOSPITAL TRAGEDY

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Government on Mon-day relaxed curfew timings bythree more hours – till 9 pm –in eight of the 13 districts of AP.The new orders will be in placefrom July 1 to 7.

The decision was taken at areview meeting chaired by ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddyon Covid prevention measuresand vaccination in the State, . .

The decision was taken basedon positivity rate which hasseen a significant reduction inthe State. Accordingly, curfewwill be in place from 6 am to 9pm in the districts where thepositivity rate is less than 5 per-cent.

Curfew relaxed by 3 hours in 8 districtsfrom July 1

Disgusted with falsehoods on oxygen,CM mulls legal action on media houses

FM unveils stimulus for economic revivalPNS n NEW DELHI

To help revival of the economy bat-tered by COVID-19, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman onMonday announced a slew ofmeasures, including Rs 1.1 lakhcrore credit guarantee scheme forimproving health infrastructure,and enhancing the limit underthe ECLGS by 50 per centto Rs 4.5 lakh crore forthe MSME sector fac-ing liquidity crunch.

Sharing the detailsof stimulus package,the finance ministersaid this compriseseight relief measuresand other eight measuresto support the economicgrowth.

She announced Rs 1.1 lakh croreloan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors, including health

sector, which includes guaranteecover for expansion or for newprojects.

Besides, she said, additional Rs1.5 lakh crore limit enhancementdone for Emergency Credit LineGuarantee Scheme (ECLGS)scheme.

The existing limit for ECLGSscheme, announced as part

of Rs 20-lakh croreAtmanirbhar Bharat

Abiyan package inMay 2020, was Rs 3lakh crore.

Last month, thefinance ministryexpanded the scope

of the Rs 3 lakhcrore ECLGS by

including concessionalloans to hospitals for setting

up on-site oxygen generationplants.

Twitter websitedisplays distortedmap of IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Amid a stand-off with theIndian government over compl-iance with new IT rules, theTwitter website is displaying awrong map of India, showingJ&K and Ladakh as a separatecountry. The glaring distortionappears on the career section ofTwitter website under theheader 'Tweep Life'.

This is the second time Twi-tter has misrepresented India'smap. Earlier it had shown Leh aspart of China. The US digital gi-ant has been engaged in a tusslewith the Indian governmentover the new social media rules.

The government has slammedTwitter for deliberate defianceand failure to comply with thecountry's new IT rules, whichhas led to the microbloggingplatform losing its legal shield.

PNS n BALASORE (ODISHA)

India on Monday successfully test-fired its new generation nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile from adefence base off Odisha coast, anofficial statement by DRDOsaid.The surface-to-surface ballisticmissile has a range of 1000 to 2000km, it said. The sleek missile, anadvanced variant in the Agni series,was test-fired from a mobile launch-er off the Abdul Kalam Island inOdisha at 10.55 am, said a DRDOsource. Its trajectory was monitoredby sophisticated tracking radarsand telemetry along the coast line.

The nuclear-capable missile,which met all mission objectiveswith high level of accuracy, has beendesigned and developed by theDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO), the state-ment added.

India successfully test-firesnew-gen Agni Prime missile

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Prime Minister PVNarasimha Rao was a rare schol-ar and statesman who gave a newsense of direction to the country'seconomic and foreign policies,former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh said onMonday, paying glowing tributesto the late Prime Minister on his100th birth anniversary.

Singh, who virtually addressedthe concluding programme ofRao's birth centenary celebrationsorganised by Congress inTelangana, said one of the signif-icant aspects of the economicreforms initiated by theNarasimha Rao regime was thatthey took into account the uniquenature of the realities of theIndian situation. PV NarasimhaRao strongly felt that the reformswould have to be mindful ofIndian concerns and would haveto protect the interests of our poorand our working people, he said.

Stop water release fromSrisailam, TS Genco told

PNS n HYDERABAD

The target of mopping up Rs 1.75lakh crore from disinvestments ofsome of the public sector compa-nies, including LIC and BPCL dur-ing the current fiscal, is on trackand groundwork is being preparedfor the goal, Chief EconomicAdvisor KrishnamurthySubramanian said on Monday.

On the COVID-19 pandemic,Subramanian said the impact ofthe second wave is lesser than thatof the first one.

In an interactive session, organ-ised by Federation of TelanganaChambers of Commerce and

Industry, Subramanian said robustGST collections, over Rs 1 lakh-crore per month for eight monthsin a row shows that consumptionis picking up indicating positivesignal for growth.

"There has to be a lot of workwhich is going on and this yearthere is actually a lot of emphasison achieving thesetargets.Remember that Rs 1.75lakh crore, a good part of it will befrom LIC's IPO (Initial PublicOffering).Second is BharatPetroleum (BPCL) privatisation.And these two together itself canaccount for a large part of (disin-vestment target)," he said.

Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment targeton track- Chief Economic Advisor

Woman techiefound murdered,burnt in Tirupati

‘SERIOUS PROBLEM...’: SUPREME COURTON BODIES FOUND FLOATING IN GANGA

2 DRONES SEEN NEAR MILITARY STATIONIN JAMMU, WERE FIRED AT, ‘FLEW AWAY’

ISSF WORLD CUP: RAHI SARNOBATWINS GOLD IN WOMEN'S 25M PISTOL

‘I GET RS 5 LAKH A MONTH, PAY MORETHAN 50% IN TAXES': PREZ KOVIND

The army says a major threat was averted after two drones wereseen last night near a military station in Jammu and fired at byalert troops, hours after drones were used in a terror attack on

the Jammu Air Force base. The drones "flew away" after the armyfired at them, said an official statement.The drones were spotted near the Kaluchakmilitary station in Jammu. The first wassighted at 11.30 pm and the second,around 1.30 am. "On midnight of 27-28June 2021, two separate drone activitieswere spotted over Ratnuchak-KaluchakMilitary area by alert troops. Immediately,high alert was sounded and Quick ReactionTeams engaged them with firing.

Olympic-bound Rahi Sarnobat displayed sensational form to clinchthe women's 25m pistol gold medal at the ISSF shooting WorldCup here on Monday but teen sensation Manu Bhaker ended

seventh in the same event. Sarnobat's gold is India's first in the ongoingedition after the country secured one silver andtwo bronze medals earlier in the tournament.The 30-year-old Sarnobat fired a final score of39 after qualifying second with a total of 591.Her stupendous performance in the finalincluded perfect scores in the third, fourth, fifthand the sixth series. The silver went to France'sMathilde Lamolle, who scored 31 in the final.Inthe qualification, Sarnobat fired a brilliant 296in the rapid fire round on Monday.

President Ram Nath Kovind, urging people to pay taxes regularlyfor the sake of development, said at an event in his hometownin Uttar Pradesh last week: "I pay taxes too". He also remarked

that others earned more than what he could save in a month afterpaying taxes. President Kovind, on a three-day visit to UP, made these remarks duringa stopover at the Jhinjhak town on Fridaywhen he was travelling from Delhi toKanpur by a special train. Jhinjhak is closeto the President's birthplace, the Paraunkhvillage of UP's Kanpur Dehat district . At afunction organised at the Jhinjhak railwaystation, the President urged people to paytaxes as a duty to the nation.

The grisly sight of dead bodies floating on the Ganga - ahorrific all-too-common sight last month during the peak ofthe second Covid wave - is a "serious problem", the Supreme

Court said on Monday, while hearing a petition on the framing ofpolicies to protect the rights of the dead.However, the two-member bench ofJustices L Nageswara Rao and HemantGupta directed the petitioner to approachthe NHRC, which has already issued somedirections in this regard. "Go before theNational Human Rights Commission. Howmany forums can you approach? It is aserious problem... we know. Luckily thesituation is not that now.

Fix responsibility, HC tells govt

3

No scientific data sofar to show Delta

plus variantadversely impacts

vaccine efficacy: Paul

2

2 2 2

PVNR gave newsense of direction toeco, foreign policies:Manmohan Singh

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh reported 2,224fresh cases of Covid-19 and 31deaths in 24 hours ending 9 Am onMonday. The fresh cases weredetected from 71,758 tests at a pos-itivity rate of 3 percent, the lowestin more than three months.

Also, the State reported 4,714recoveries and 31 deaths in 24hours, a bulletin said. After a totalof 2.18 crore tests so far, thecumulative cases rose to 18,82,096,at an overall positivity rate of 8.65percent.

Totally, 18,27,214 got curedfrom the infection and the recov-ery rate climbed to 96.95 percent.The mortality rate remained stableat 0.67 percent with a gross toll of12,630 so far.

The active caseload has reducedto 42,252 now.

In the week from June 20-26, atotal of 28,800 cases were report-ed in the State, 71 percent of whichcame from the rural areas.

Government data showed that ofthe 287 deaths during the week,rural areas accounted for 62.1percent and urban the rest. In the

urban local bodies (ULBs), onlyone (Visakhapatnam-906) hasmore than 500 active cases now.

Seventy-six ULBs have less than50 each, 20 have between 50 and100 and five have between 100 and200. In rural mandals, the numberof those having more than 100active Covid-19 cases reducedfrom 100 to 66 last week.

AP witnesses 2,224fresh cases, 31 deaths

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The total number of Black fun-gus cases in Andhra Pradesh hasincreased to 3,364 and deaths to253, Principal Secretary (Health)Anil Kumar Singhal said onMonday.

He said the mucormycosis(Black fungus) cases were drop-ping as the Covid-19 infectionsstarted declining in the state.

Black Fungus casesin AP rise to 3,364

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Two days ago,Opposition leaderRahul Gandhi

claimed that the Centre’s poli-cies have failed to take note ofthe farmers’ stir. People havestopped paying attention toRahul Gandhi, who is criti-cised as a leader withoutresponsibility and who regardsthe Congress as his fiefdom.

Barring a few who are notable to comprehend Modi’spolicies, farmers across thecountry see a bright futureahead for themselves.

How many know that thecountry was dependent onother countries for food grainsduring the rule of RahulGandhi’s great-grandfatherJawaharlal Nehru?

At that time, there was anall-round shortage of foodgrains. In the second FiveYear Plan period, the countryborrowed to procure foodgrains. In spite of buildingmajor irrigation projects, thevast majority of the land wasdependent on rains for irriga-

tion. Nehruvian policiesfuelled inequalities in villagesand increased poverty.

Lal Bahadur Shastri gavethe slogan Jai Jawan-Jai Kisanand unleashed a green revolu-tion in the country. Thereafter,noticeable changes in Indianfarm sector occurred.

After Shastri, the agricul-ture sector received equalimportance only in theVajpayee era.

The New Agriculture Policyintroduced by him in 2000 setnew targets for the agriculturesector. It promoted soil fertil-ity, ecological safeguards, bio-diversity and gave priority torecycling of fuels. The creditfor introducing Kisan CreditCards goes to Vajpayee. AfterVajpayee, Narendra Modi’sname enters the annals as thePM who gave the most prior-ity to the agriculture sector.

During the past five years,the size of the agriculturebudget has increased by atleast five-and-a-half times.The then PM Manmohan

Singh allocated Rs 21,933.50crore in the last Budget of theUPA government. By 2021-22,the allocation to the farmsector has shot up to Rs1,23,017.57 crore.

For several years, the coun-try’s preoccupation with foodsecurity led to neglect ofimproving the lot of farmers.Right from the beginning,Modi targeted to double theincome of farmers. He consti-tuted an inter-ministerialcommittee in 2016 to suggestways to double farmers’income.

Modi started to implementthe solutions offered by thecommittee with sincerity. He

set his sights on growing adiverse variety of crops, safe-guarding the soil fertility, useof organic fertilisers, promo-tion of agro-based industries,promoting animal husbandry,dairy development, fisheriesand horticulture, makingmodern technology accessibleto the farmer.

On account of the resourcesprovided to farmers andincentives offered to them,there was an unprecedentedfood grain production in thecountry.

The government is givingan incentive of Rs 6,000 peracre in a year – payable threetimes in a year – to ensure

guaranteed income to thefarmer. The governmenttransferred Rs 1.35 lakh-croreinto the bank accounts ofover 11.30 crore farmersthrough the PM KisanSamman Nidhi scheme.

Why has the Oppositionfailed to take note of this?Over 8.95 farmers have regis-tered to derive benefit underthe Pradhan Mantri FasalYojna, sanction of institution-al loans to the tune of Rs 7.3

lakh-crore in the very firstyear of Modi com-ing to powerthrough theKisan CreditCards. Thegovernment setthe target to increasethe loan amount toRs 16.5 lakh-crore by 2021-22.It sanctioned soil health cardsto over 23 crore farmers. Dothese steps display Modi’scommitment to the agricul-ture sector?

Modi put in untiring effortsto prevent the agriculture sec-tor from coming to a grindinghalt and to ensure uninter-rupted food supply to thepeople during the pandemic.Modi, in his 75th edition ofMann Ki Baat, said that themuch-delayed modernisationof the agriculture sectorshould be taken up.

In addition to employingtraditional agricultural meth-ods, implementing new alter-natives to these methods andnew inventions should be the

key, Modi feels. He set up a Rs1 lakh-crore Basic

I n f r a s t r u c t u r eDevelopment Fundfor the agriculturesector.Last year, he ear-

marked Rs 6,865 crore inthe Budget to encourage farm-ers to sell their producethrough farmer producerorganisations. The Centre hasbeen encouraging organic cul-tivation of agriculture, bee-keeping, doubled allocationsto micro-irrigation, encourag-ing mechanisation of agricul-ture in an unprecedented way.

In fact, NDA governmentprovided institutional loans tothe tune of Rs 15.60 lakh-croreto farmers, doubling allocationto micro irrigation.

In all, 12.7 lakh farm equip-ment and implements havebeen supplied to farmers onsubsidy. Earlier, to be eligibleto derive benefit under cropinsurance, the farmer shouldsuffer at least 50 percent ofcrop loss. Now compensation

for the crop loss is being paideven if the loss of crop is only33 percent.

Ex gratia paid to farmers’families for death due to nat-ural calamities was enhancedto Rs 4 lakh from Rs 1.50 lakhearlier.

Going by the decisions,anyone can easily understandthat the Modi government ispro-farmer.

Responding to various sur-veys undertaken in ruralareas, farmers said that theycame to know for the firsttime that the Centre is imple-menting measures that willbenefit them.

Critics of Modi havestopped reaching out to themasses and stopped studyingthe impact of his policies.Otherwise, they would haveoffered constructive criticismof Modi’s policies. The peoplehave seen through their crit-icism and found there was nosubstance in it. That’s whythey have stopped payingattention to the criticism.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

In all, 12.7 lakh farm equipment andimplements have been supplied tofarmers on subsidy. Earlier, to beeligible to derive benefit under cropinsurance, the farmer should suffer at least 50 percent of crop loss.

Standing with the farmers, with their best interest at heart

ZBNF can help AP save Rs 2,154crore on annual fertiliser subsidySNV SUDHIR

n VIJAYAWADA

One of South Asia’s leadingpolicy research institutions,the Council on Energy,Environment and Water(CEEW) has found that witha complete shift to ZeroBudget Natural Farming(ZBNF) and with no use ofchemical inputs, AndhraPradesh can save Rs 2,154crore on fertiliser subsidy thatit spends annually.

CEEW researchers com-pared the costs of ZBNFinputs and practices with thecosts of chemical inputs likefertilisers and pesticides forthe farmer and also estimatedthe potential savings in fertilis-er subsidies at different stagesof ZBNF penetration for thestate.

The study by CEEW’sresearchers Niti Gupta,Saurabh Tripathi and Hem HDholakia was conductedthrough a primary survey offarmers across 60 villages insix districts of all agro-climat-ic zones in Andhra Pradesh.

ZBNF advocates the use ofnatural fertilisers and pesti-cides in a total shift fromexternal synthetic chemical

inputs. It encourages the appli-cation of natural mixturesmade using cow dung, cowurine, jaggery, pulse flour etc.,mulching practices, and sym-biotic intercropping.

In 2015, the Government ofAndhra Pradesh mandatedRythu Sadhikara Samstha(RySS), a state-owned, non-profit organisation to scale-upZBNF practices to cover all sixmillion farmers and eight mil-lion hectares of agriculturalland in the state by 2024.

As of July 2019, more thanfive lakh farmers have enrolledin the state government’s pro-gramme across all 13 districtsin Andhra Pradesh coveringaround 2,04,000 acres.

CEEW estimated the totaloutlay on fertiliser subsidies in2017–18 in Andhra Pradeshalone to be Rs 3,485 crore.During this time, the consump-tion of urea in Andhra Pradeshwas reported to be 14,00,000tonnes and that of diammoni-um phosphate (DAP) was a lit-tle over 326,000 tonnes. Inaddition, sales of a range ofcomplexes were reported to beclose to a million tonnes.

“Against the counterfactualscenario calculated from thesurvey, Andhra Pradesh can

save fertiliser subsidy worth Rs517 crore if 25 percent ofcropped area (low policy sce-nario) in the state adoptsZBNF, including partial ZBNF.Similarly, the annual subsidysavings would be Rs 1,553crore with 75 percent (medi-

um policy scenario) and Rs2,071 crores with 100 percent(high policy scenario) croppedarea under ZBNF. If ZBNFadaptors completely transi-tion to the practice with nouse of chemical inputs, thesubsidy savings would be Rs

539 crore annually in a lowpolicy scenario. In a high pol-icy scenario, the subsidy sav-ings would be Rs 2,154 croreannually, a 100 percent savingsagainst the counterfactual sce-nario,” said the CEEWresearchers.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

CEEW researchers foundthat on an average, farmersin Andhra Pradesh spent Rs5,961 per acre on chemicalinputs to cultivate rice whilefarmers practicing completeZBNF spent Rs 846 per acreon natural inputs.

ZBNF farmers cultivatingmaize spent Rs 503 per acreon natural inputs, whereasfarmers using chemicalinputs, on an average, spentRs 7,509 per acre.

To cultivate groundnut, afarmer using chemical inputsspent Rs 1,187 per acre as

against Rs 780 per acre spentby complete ZBNF farmers.

A ZBNF farmer cultivat-ing rice can avoid fertiliserconsumption by 83 to 99percent. For groundnut,ZBNF would lead to reduc-tion of urea use by almost 70percent in urea and diammo-nium phosphate (DAP) useby 91 percent.

CEEW surveyed farmersacross six agro-climatic zonesof Andhra Pradesh to esti-mate reductions in self-reported fertiliser use attrib-utable to ZBNF adoption.Researchers adopted a strat-ified random sampling

approach to select the dis-tricts, mandals, villages, andfarmers. The districts sam-pled were Srikakulam,Vizianagaram, WestGodavari, Krishna, Kadapaand Anantapur.

Among the surveyedfarmers 44 percent are prac-tising ZBNF and 56 percentare practising conventionalfarming using chemical fer-tilisers.

In the total sample size 63percent of farmers cultivat-ed rice as the principal cropin the kharif season, 13 per-cent cultivated groundnut,and 6 percent maize.

AP farmers spend Rs 5,961 per acreon chemical inputs to cultivate rice

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Monday directedofficials to ensure paediatrictelemedical services are available24x& for children through toll-free number ‘104’ in the wakeof Covid-19 third wave.

The Chief Minister empha-sised that at least 150 paediatri-cians should be available for teleservices and they should betrained through the best insti-tutions like AIIMS.

Chairing a review meeting onCovid at his camp office, theChief Minister said JointCollectors should be involved inmonitoring ‘104’ services andthey should own them. Heasked officials to strengthenthe mechanism to ensure thatbeds are allotted to those inneed. Jagan said ‘104’ servicesshould be extended for non-

Covid diseases including sea-sonal diseases and added thatthe service should also work asreferral point for Arogyasri likevillage clinics and PHCs.

He said two doctors wereappointed in each PHC and twoPHCs were set up in each man-dal. These doctors were direct-ed to visit villages at least twicea month. Officials were instruct-ed to ensure the mechanismworks efficiently and effective-ly. The officials informed theChief Minister that there were44,773 active Covid cases at pre-sent and 7,998 patients arebeing treated in hospitals. Theysaid 5,655 people are beingtreated in Covid Care Centresand that recovery rate has risento 96.96 percent while the pos-itivity rate has dipped to 4.46percent.

The officials informed thatpositivity rate is less than five

percent in Srikakulam,Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam,Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool,Anantapur and Nellore.

They said that 93.62 percentof the patients in network hos-pitals are being treated underArogyasri scheme. The officialssaid 3,329 Black fungus caseswere registered till date of which1,441 patients are being treated,253 have died and 1,635 patientshave been discharged.

The officials informed theChief Minister the action planregarding measures being takenin the wake of Covid third wave.They said webinars are conduct-ed, training will be imparted tonew doctors and telemedicineis being made available. Theofficials said 190 psychiatristsand 16 clinical psychologistswere made available to providecounselling to Covid victims asper ICMR guidelines.

CM directs officials to launchpaediatric tele-medical services

Continued from Page 1

For the first time in morethan six weeks, the infec-tion positivity rate in EastGodavari district, themajor hotspot in the State,dropped from 10 percent to8.72.

West Godavari’s positiv-ity rate declined from 24 to7.25 percent, Krishna’sfrom 13 to 5.97 percent,Chittoor’s from 26 to 5.54percent and Prakasam’sfrom 18 to 5.07 percent.

The remaining eight dis-tricts showed a positivityrate below five percenteach, with Kurnool havingthe lowest of 2.18 percent.

In 24 hours, Chittoorreported the highest 409fresh cases, East Godavari

299, West Godavari 259and Krishna 222. Five dis-tricts added between 100and 200 new cases eachwhile four others regis-tered less than 100 each,with Srikakulam loggingjust 51.

Vizianagaram, whichwas the last district to reg-ister its first case in May lastyear, crossed 80,000 today.It is the only district in theState that has had less thanone lakh cases till date.

Chittoor reported sixfresh fatalities, Krishna five,East Godavari, Guntur andSrikakulam four each,Anantapur, SPS Nelloreand Prakasam two each,Visakhapatnam andVizianagaram one each ina day.

FM announcesstimulus...Continued from Page 1

Besides, the validity of thescheme was extended bythree months to September30 and or till guarantees foran amount of Rs 3 lakhcrore are issued.The lastdate of disbursement underthe scheme has been extend-ed to December 31.

Continued from Page 1

The AP government hadrequested the KRMB torestrain Telangana authoritiesfrom resorting to furtherdrawals from Srisailam reser-voir until the water level of+854 ft is attained. Otherwise,it would delay the release ofwater to Pothireddypadu, KCCanal, GNSS and drinkingwater supply to Chennai, theAP government said.

Telangana sources said thatit was not the first timeKRMB has written such a let-ter and every time theyexplained the position underthe Bachawat Award, theKRMB would withdraw thedirection. The Telangana gov-ernment was within its rightsto draw water from Srisailamdam to generate hydel powerand then water would flow toNagarjuna Sagar project andsubsequently to irrigate aya-cut in Andhra Pradeshthrough NS left main canal,the sources said.

Stop waterrelease ...

AP witnesses 2,224 fresh...

Continued from Page 1Of the total cases reported, only1,418 were now active after1,635 patients had recovered.He said 1,184 surgeries wereperformed on the infectedpatients so far. The official saidrequired stocks ofAmphotericin-B andPosaconazole injections werekept ready in all districts fortreating the Black funguspatients. The state is expected toreceive 15,000 Amphotericin-Band 13,000 Posaconazoleinjections this week. Another10,000 Amphotericin-Binjections were expected tocome after July 4.

Black Fungus casesin AP rise to 3,364

Continued from Page 1

Narasimha Rao brought real-ism to the fore in the country'sforeign policy and tried toimprove India's relations withits neighbours, he said.

Rao had launched what hascome to be known as thecountry's Look East policylinking India to many East andSoutheast Asian countries, hesaid.

Under his leadership, theballistic missile technologyprogramme was launched,besides successfully testingthe augmented satellite launchvehicle, he said.

Rao was truly a sanyasi inpolitics, he said. Singh praisedK Srinath Reddy, eminent car-diologist and president ofPublic Health Foundation ofIndia (PHFI), who receivedthe lifetime achievementaward presented by the organ-ising committee.

Srinath Reddy had servedas the personal physician ofRao when he was PrimeMinister.

Senior Congress leader andLeader of Opposition in RajyaSabha Mallikarjun Kharge,who also virtually addressedthe event, said it was duringthe Congress governmentheaded by Rao that the threatof terrorism was broughtunder control (in the 1990s).

Both Punjab and Jammuand Kashmir returned to nor-malcy in the 1990s and hadregular elections since then inJammu and Kashmir, he said.

Former President APJAbdul Kalam gave credit forconducting nuclear tests to theNarasimha Rao government,he said.

PVNR gave newsense of directionto eco, foreign...

Continued from Page 1

The Centre budgeted Rs 1.75lakh crore from stake sale inpublic sector companies andfinancial institutions, includ-ing 2 PSU banks and oneinsurance company, in thecurrent fiscal year.

The disinvestment planincludes strategic sale ofIDBI Bank, BPCL, ShippingCorp, ContainerCorporation, Neelachal IspatNigam Ltd, among others,and also legislative amend-ments required for LIC IPOwould be brought in 2021-22,Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman had said in herbudget speech.

"I think this year very like-ly will be the year of whichwill be remembered for pri-vatisation. We still have ninemore months.I am quite con-fident that we will achievethe target (of Rs 1.75 lakhcrore )," the Chief EconomicAdvisor said replying to aquery.

Earlier in his speech, hesaid every rupee spent bygovernments on "freebees"would contribute only Rs0.98 to the country's econo-my against Rs 4.50 whenused on capital expenditure.

Rs 1.75 lakh-crdisinvestment...

PNS n HYDERABAD

Many people are complainingof fungal and bacterial earinfections, and the numberhas seen an uptrend during therainy season. To avoid earinfections, keep your ears cleanand manage red flags likereduced hearing, pain, andwatery discharge, say experts.

Monsoon is pleasing, but italso brings a plethora of healthproblems with it. Ear infectionsare a common occurrence inmonsoon. They can impact anypart of the ear that is theinner, middle, or even theexternal ear. During monsoon,rain and contaminated water

entering the ear invites fungalinfections.

Likewise, increased humid-ity is the perfect condition forbacteria and fungus to grow.Moreover, debris in the ear andminor bruises from earbudscan also raise your risk of earinfections. Cotton buds, sticksmay contain fungus, and onceyou put it in your ear, it startsgrowing there.

Dr Purva Lunavat ENTSpecialist says, "Those withear infections may have symp-toms like choked ears, inabili-ty to concentrate that affectsproductivity, irritation, anddisorientation, itchiness, ear-ache, decreased hearing, watery

discharge, dizziness, severeheadaches, and even fever.Compared to previous years,patients with ear infectionsare coming to the hospital fortreatment even before the onsetof rains this year. Generally, 7to 8 new patients come to theoutpatient department everyday for treatment. The treat-ment for ear infections is clean-ing of the wax buildup inwhich leads to infection, go toa doctor who will clean the ear.You will be asked to use eardrops to dissolve the ear waxand clean out the infection."

Dr Lunavat added, "Do notput anything in your ears toclean them, as this may cause

infections and injuries. Try towipe your outer ears with aclean cloth to avoid fungalinfection while swimming.Clean earphones when youget drenched in the rain. Don'tput cotton swabs in the ear asthey may trap bacteria in theear. After a shower, dry yourears with a clean dry cloth. Ifyou use headphones to listen tothe music, use a disinfectant toclean it regularly. Get your earschecked by an ENT specialistafter you notice ear pain. It maytake around a week to clear outan ear infection, but if it stilldoesn't get better then consulta medical practitioner whomay also advise surgery."

According to Dr DevyaniShinde, ENT specialist, "Everyyear during the monsoons,there is an increase in thenumber of patients with earfungus and infection. A fungalinfection of the ear is calledotomycosis, and this diseasemainly affects the ear. Moisturein the ears during the rainy sea-son increases the risk of fungalinfections. Patients with the earpain are coming for treatmentin large numbers due to the fun-gal infection in the ears duringmonsoon. About 100 patientscome to me every month fortreatment of ear problems, andaround 50 of these patientshave a fungus ear infection.”

Steep rise in ear infections with onset of monsoon Curfew relaxedby 3 hours in 8...

Continued from Page 1

These districts are Anantapur,Kurnool, Guntur,V i z i a n a g a r a m ,Visakhapatnam, Kadapa,Nellore and Srikakulam.

In the remaining five dis-tricts – East Godavari, WestGodavari, Prakasam, Krishnaand Chittoor districts, curfewwould be in place from 6 pmto 6 am as the positivity rateremained over 5 percent.During the curfew, govern-ment offices will functionnormally. Medical, Healthand other emergency ser-vices would continue to func-tion as usual.

Woman techie...Continued from Page 1

According to the SP,Bhuvaneshwari was work-ing in Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS). The IPS offi-cer said 2-3 stories are circu-lating about whyBhuvaneshwari could havebeen killed and asserted thathe cannot say anything at thisstage until the culprit iscaught and all evidence isunearthed.

"After reconstruction ofeverything we can give youfull details," he added.

Meanwhile police regis-tered two cases in this regardunder IPC Section 174 atone police station and amissing case in another.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JUNE 29, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

RINL in-charge CMD KishoreChandra Das on Mondayinaugurated the renovatedbuilding at GovernmentJunior College at Madugula.

RINL-VSP extended assis-tance to carry out repairs tothe existing college buildingfrom its CSR funds.Anakapalle MP Bh Satyavathiand Madugula MLA BudiMutyala Naidu, also partici-pated in the function. RINLcontributed Rs.15 lakh forthese major repairs and face-lifting jobs executed throughthe Andhra Pradesh SamagraShiksha Abhiyaan (APSSA).

The CMD felicitated DrSatyavathi and MutyalaNaidu for their involvementin the project and otherimprovement activities. Theythanked RINL for extendingfinancial help from their CSRfunds for such a useful causeto improve educational facil-ities in villages in and aroundVisakhapatnam.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh TourismDevelopment Corporation(APTDC) MD SSatyanarayana on Mondaysaid that floating pontoonswill be used to promotetourism activities like floatingrestaurants, hosting culturalevents and for minor cargoactivities.

An agreement has been

signed between InlandWaterways Authority of Indiaand APTDC to promoteinland water activities andtourism by setting floatingsteel pontoons on RiverKrishna at Bhavani Islandand Berm Park respectively,Satyanarayana said.

In this connection, InlandWaterways Authority of Indiachairperson Amita Prasad vis-ited Bhavani Island and Berm

park on Monday and sanc-tioned three floating steelpontoons to APTDC.

Satynaraayana said that thefocus was to enhance tourismactivities in the state. “Thestate has prospective tourismopportunities for river frontdevelopment on RiverKrishna and Godavari as well.As part of tourism develop-ment floating pontoons play amajor role,” he added.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The High Court on Mondayadjourned hearing of a peti-t ion challenging theappointment of StateElection CommissionerNilam Sawhney to nextmonth.

The petition, filed by oneDr M Shailaja from Guntur,appealed to the court todeclare the appointment ofthe SEC as contrary to theConstitution of India.

Counsel for the petition-er contended that the MPTCand ZPTC elections wereconducted by the newly-appointed SEC NilamSawhney on April 8 againstthe guidelines of theSupreme Court and resultedin the wastage of Rs 160crore of public money.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP Government NursesAssociation (APGNA) hasurged the State governmentto extend its insurancescheme to contract and out-sourced nurses.

APGNA state president GManjula Devi and generalsecretary R Siva Kumari onMonday said that nurses arethe worst hit due to Covid asmany succumbed to theinfection while performingduties in government hospi-tals. They said that contractand outsourcing nurses arerendering services similar toregular nurses but they werebarred from health benefits.

The APGNA leaders urgedChief Minister YS Jaganmoh-an Reddy him to extend theinsurance scheme and payrevision to contract and out-sourcing nurses.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

BJP AP state president SomuVeerraju on Monday lashed atthe YSRCP government, accus-ing it of failing to implementCentral schemes.

Addressing the party exec-utive meeting, Veerraju saidthe State government has failedto implement the housingscheme, construction of irriga-tion projects and containingthe Covid pandemic.

He alleged that there wasrampant corruption and peo-ple are unhappy with theYSRCP administration.Veerraju claimed that theYSRCP government failed tofulfil its promise to fill vacantgovernment posts. He said theState government failed to fill

the 2.50 lakh posts lying vacantin various government depart-ments. He said unemployedyouth are in distress as theposts lying vacant in variousdepartments are not filled.

Veerraju pointed out that theBJP Yuva Morcha stagedprotests twice demanding thegovernment to fill the posts butthere was no response. TheState government failed tocomplete even one irrigationproject during the last twoyears. “The YSRCP govern-ment was not paying the farm-ers at the stipulated time,”Veerraju alleged. He claimedthat the Central governmentwas extending help to the statefor setting up industries but theYSRCP government failed togain from it.

Veerraju also alleged that theState government failed tocontain Covid in spite of analert sounded by the Centralgovernment about the secondwave. He alleged the Stategovernment failed to developinfrastructure facilities andwas instead doing publicitywith the medicine, vaccinesand injections sent by theUnion government.

Veerraju appealed to theparty cadre to explain thepolicies of the Central govern-ment and development thecountry made under the lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi during thelast seven years.

A resolution to fight theYSRCP government wasadopted at the meeting.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

First year MBBS students andtheir parents met Advisor tothe Government (PublicAffairs) Sajjala RamakrishnaReddy on Monday, and sub-mitted a memorandum tohim, requesting the govern-ment to promote them to thesecond year.

The delegation of studentsand parents, led by T SrinivasaViswanath, submitted thememorandum addressed toChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy. Thememorandum cited the diffi-culties faced by the studentsand sought promotion to thesecond year.

Ramakrishna Reddy onbehalf of the Chief Ministerinteracted with the parentsand students and assured res-olution of the issues men-tioned in the memorandumand said that he would bring

their requests to the notice ofthe CM.

Viswanatha and the otherstudents said that classes forfirst year MBBS students werenot conducted properly due tothe pandemic and the resul-tant lockdown. They said thatthe students were barred frompractical learning and whenonline classes were started,they were found to be not ashelpful as physical classes.The team said that improperclinical exposure and practi-cals restrained the studentsfrom subjects.

They said that many stu-dents were infected withCovid and remained in quar-antine and home isolation.The delegation said that stu-dents are worried about tak-ing exams and that thechanges to the paper evalua-tion process under new com-petency based curriculum wasworrisome.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Congress will stageprotests in various forms fromJuly 7 to July 17 against thehike of petrol and diesel prices.Former Kerala Chief Ministerand AP Congress in-chargeOommen Chandy on Mondaysaid that the BJP-led govern-ment was inhumanly increas-ing the prices of petrol anddiesel causing extra financialburden on people who werealready facing severe financialcrisis due to pandemicCoronavirus.

The AP Congress PoliticalAffairs Committee meetingwas held at the Andhra RatnaBhavan in Vijayawada in whichAPCC president Dr SakeSailajanath and others partic-ipated.

On the occasion, OommenChandy said that helping peo-ple during the Covid crisis wasthe responsibility of theCentral government but it wasabdicating its duties and was

instead imposing additionaltaxes by hiking petrol anddiesel prices. He said that peo-ple are facing severe financialhardships for the past 14months due to Covid-19 butthe government was regularlyincreasing prices of petrol,diesel, gas and edible oil relent-lessly.

Oommen Chandyannounced that Congresswould conduct continuousprotests in various formsagainst petrol and diesel priceshike and rollback of increasedprices from July 7 to 17.

APCC president DrSailajnath alleged that the BJP-led Union government and

YSRCP-led AP governmentfailed to contain the pandem-ic. He stated that NarendraModi and YS JaganmohanReddy were concerned abouttheir Prime Minister and ChiefMinister posts and have dis-carded all empathy for the peo-ple.

Dr Sailajanath claimed thatthe UPA government had pro-tected and safeguarded Dalitsduring its rule but now thereis no safety for the margin-alised and the downtrodden orthe minorities. “Attacks andatrocities on Dalits andminorities have increasedmanifold in the country,” hesaid.

Ommen Chandy distrib-uted prizes to the winners ofessay competitions conductedby the Congress. APCC organ-ising presidents Dr N ThulasiReddy and Sk Masthan Vali,former Union ministers ChintaMohan and JD Seelam andother leaders participated inthe programme.

Bhavani Island, Berm Parkget floating pontoons

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation authorities areworking to improve air quali-ty and bring down pollutionlevels besides transformingVijayawada as a dust-free city.

As part of this initiative, airquality sensors will be installedat 16 various locations to assessthe pollution levels in the city.In addition to the sensors, fivefountains are also planned bythe VMC officials at mainjunctions to bring down thedust pollution in the citybesides introducing latestmechanised sweepingmachines to clear the dust onthe roads.

For taking various develop-ment works under VMC, theUnion government has sanc-tioned Rs 31 crore toVijayawada city under the 15thFinance Commission grantsto instal air quality monitoringsystems, which will be useful to

test the quality of the air and tocheck the air pollution levels inthe city.

The Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation will instal 16 sen-sors in different parts of the cityfor automatic testing of airquality. The sensors will befixed to the electrical poles on

road medians to test and recordthe air quality levels. Thesedevices will be installed on theimportant junctions of the citywhere pollution levels are highand vehicular movement ismore.

Municipal Commissioner VPrasanna Venkatesh said theautomatic air quality monitor-

ing will help check the pollu-tion levels and take measuresto control it. He said the VMCwill be installing water foun-tains and growing plants on thedividers and along roads.

Venkatesh said air pollutiontesting sensors will bearranged on KT Road,Mahanadu Road, Patel Road,

MG Road, Dabakotlu Centrein Ajit Singh Nagar and otherlocations. He said moresweeping machines will beroped in the important junc-tions so that the dust particleswill be removed regularly onthe main roads, where pollu-tion levels are very high.

The MunicipalCommissioner furtherstressed the importance ofincreasing greenery and plan-tation in the city and saidCanal bund beautificationprogramme is underway andthe VMC has planned to plant25,000 saplings in the rainyseason. He said the VMC iscreating awareness among thepeople on the protection ofsaplings. Venkatesh said keep-ing in view of the monsoonseason, de-silting of drains hasbeen almost completed in thecity and the VMC is takingmeasures to check water-log-ging in the low-lying areas ofthe city.

Sensors to help VMC reducepollution levels in Vijayawada

PNS n NEW DELHI

It will be unfair to put a date forany COVID wave as the behav-iour of coronavirus is unpre-dictable and a disciplined andeffective pandemic responsecan help the country get awayfrom any significant outbreak,COVID Task Force chief V KPaul said on Monday.

Amid rising concerns overthe Delta plus variant of thevirus, Paul, who is also a NitiAayog Member, asserted thatthere is no scientific data so farto establish that the new vari-ant is highly transmissible orreduces vaccine efficacy.

In an interview to PTI, Paulsaid that another wave of anysize would be dependent uponseveral factors, including over-all discipline in terms ofCOVID-appropriate behav-iour, testing and containmentstrategies, and vaccinationrates. "And in addition, theunpredictable behaviour of the

virus can also change the pan-demic dynamics. In such a sce-nario, their complex factorwill determine the chain oftransmission and outbreak.

"Occurrence or non-occur-rence of any wave, is in ourown hands. To my mind, it isnot fair to put any date for anywave," he said.

Daily fresh cases of COVIDhave come down from fourlakhs during the peak of the

second COVID wave toaround 50,000 in the past fewdays and the unlock process orlifting of restrictions is under-way in many parts of the coun-try.

"If we are determined anddisciplined and marshal effec-tive pandemic response, weshould be in a position to getaway from any significant out-break," Paul said.

Currently, three COVID

vaccines -- Covaxin by BharatBiotech, Covishield by SerumInstitute of India (SII) andRussia's Sputnik V -- are beingused for inoculation in India.

When asked about the Deltaplus variant, Paul said scientif-ic knowledge about it is still inthe early stage.

"The so-called Delta plusvariant exhibits an additionalmutation in the Delta variantand since this is a new variant,scientific knowledge is still inthe early stage.

"Whether this additionalmutation in the Delta variantis associated with increasedtransmissibility or excess sever-ity of disease, or any adverseeffect on vaccine efficacy is cur-rently not established and weshould wait for this informa-tion to emerge.

"And we should wait forthese aspects to be studiedsystematically," he pointed out.

A new viral variant of thecoronavirus, Delta Plus, was

identified on June 11, and wasrecently classified as a variantof concern.

Regarding the effectivenessof Covaxin and Covishieldagainst the Delta variant of thecoronavirus, Paul said thatbased on the scientific evalua-tion by the ICMR, both vac-cines are effective against thecoronavirus, including theDelta variant, which is present-ly the predominant variant inthe country. ICMR is the IndianCouncil of Medical Research.

When asked if India is closeto giving indemnity to foreignvaccine makers like Pfizer andModerna, Paul said the issuehas multiple dimensions and itis not wise to give a timeline forsuch issues.

The discussion for pavingthe way for internationallydeveloped vaccines to India, isgoing on. The issue has multi-ple dimensions and we are try-ing to find an agreed way for-ward at the earliest.

No data to show Delta plus impacts vax efficacy

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national general secre-tary Nara Lokesh on Mondaydemanded Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy to releasea 'new job calendar' in orderto fill 2.30 lakh jobs aspromised by him during hisstate-wide padayatra prior to2019 elections.

Lokesh wrote a letter to theChief Minister, urgingincrease of vacancies inGroup-1 and Group-2 jobs to2,000 to meet the immediateaspirations of the youth. Also,there was a need to fill 6,500plus posts in the police forcewhich included the constablevacancies. In addition, thenew job calendar shouldannounce a mega DSC togive 25,000 teacher posts, hedemanded.

Lokesh warned the ChiefMinister to fulfil his jobpromises within a month'stime failing which the TeluguDesam Party would launchyet another struggle alongwith the young protesters.“There should be no morebetrayals since the steep rise

in unemployment levels in thepast two years had badly hitthe young aspirants. AP stoodtop in entire South India injoblessness,” he wrote.

The TDP MLC urgedimmediate remedial measureswithout. “Steps should betaken to fill the 740 posts inthe revenue departmentthrough the APPSC and togive an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakhfor the families of unem-ployed youth who committedsuicide. The Governmentshould reinstate the unem-ployment allowance of Rs2,000 that had been given bythe TDP government andunjustly stopped by it,” hewrote. Given the socioeco-nomic impact of the pandem-ic, this allowance would be ahuge relief for unemployedyouth, Lokesh said.

Expressing concern overproblems of youth, Lokeshwrote: "As you are well aware,Andhra Pradesh has beenafflicted with an epidemic ofunemployment that has large-ly gone unnoticed by the gov-ernment for the past twoyears.”

Lokesh urges CM to solve‘joblessness epidemic' in AP

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP senior leader BandaruSatyanarayana Murthy onMonday accused ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy and his party MPVijayasai Reddy of mortgag-ing the interests of AndhraPradesh to the Central lead-ers only for the sake of theirown political and personalsurvival.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP leaderasserted that Vijayasai Reddyhad such a dubious trackrecord that he had no moralright to criticise former ChiefMinister ChandrababuNaidu. It was out of sheerfrustration and desperationthat the YSRCP MP wasmaking unwarranted andunparliamentary commentsagainst the Oppositionleader, Murthy said.

The TDP leader assertedthat all sections of the peo-ple knew very well whichleaders were running politicsin AP in collusion withTelangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.“Telangana Ministers arecalling YSR as a 'water thief 'but Jaganmohan Reddy andVijayasai Reddy are silent.Jagan and his party MPslack courage to demand andget the rightful share of prop-erty to the State as per the APReorganisation agreement,”Murthy alleged.

He demanded Jagan andVijayasai Reddy to explainwhy they were not able to getSCS, Railway Zone and fundsfor the backward regions inAP. “The YSRCP MP shouldapologise to the people of APsince he failed to even raisehis voice in Parliament forjustice,” Murthy demanded.

TDP: YSRCP colluded with KCR,compromised on AP properties

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A meeting of TDP leaders,presided over party supremoN Chandrababu Naidu, onMonday resolved to step upthe agitation to exert pressureon the YSRCP Governmentfor special Covid package,filling up of 2.30 lakh vacan-cies, payment of compensa-tion to Polavaram evacuees,Chandranna Bima and otherdemands.

As part of the decision, theTDP would organise a protest'deeksha' on Tuesday at theparty central office premises

from 10 am to 1 pm. Naidu,along with a few party lead-ers, would take part in theprotest duly observing theCovid-19 restrictions.

The TDP leaders said thatcrores of families have losttheir income due to the pan-demic. “Those dependent onsmall businesses and tradi-tional professions sufferedgreatly due to the lockdown.Many became orphans asheads of the family suc-cumbed to the virus. Rubbingsalt to the wounds, theJaganmohan Reddy regimeincreased taxes and rates,” the

TDP leaders said in a state-ment.

“Considering the travails ofthe people, the TDP demand-ed Rs 10,000 financial assis-tance to all the white rationcard holders. If the YSRCPhad not cancelledChandranna Bima, eachbereaved family would havegot Rs 10 lakh,” the statementsaid. “The farmers should begiven remunerative prices.Arrears should be paid.Journalists should be declaredas Coronavirus frontline war-riors. It was condemnablethat the Chief Minister did

not fulfil his promise to fill2.30 lakh job vacancies.However, the youth protest-ing against this were beingillegally put under housearrest,” the TDP leaders said.

They termed it as a breachof trust on the part of theYSRCP to take a U-turn onpayment of Rs 10 lakh com-pensation to Polavaram evac-uees. “It was inhuman andunlawful to cause flooding ofthe houses of the evacueeswithout giving them any com-pensation till now. TheGovernment should pay com-pensation to them,” it said.

TDP to pressurise YSRCP govt with deeksha today

Congress to stage protests againstrising fuel prices from July 7 to 17

RINL CMD opensrenovated juniorcollege building

SEC appointmentchallenged in HC

First year MBBS studentscite virus, seek promotion

APGNA demandsinsurance coverfor contract nurses

Veerraju alleges YSRCP Govtfailed to implement schemes

vijayawada 04VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JUNE 29, 2021

Deputy Chief Minister of State for Revenue, Registrations and Stamps Dharmana Krishna Das, Minister of State for Home andDisaster Management Mekatoti Sucharita, District Collector Vivek Yadav, who participated in a Gram Sabha at DevarapalliAgraharam in Duggirala mandal of Guntur district on Monday, laid the border stone of the village under the YSR JaganannaSasvatha Bhu Hakku mariyu Bhu Raksha Pathakam.

BORDER SSTONE

Partial lockdown in Chittoordistrict extended up to July 7S BHANU PRAKASH

n TIRUPATI

Covid-19 restrictions imposedin Tirupati and the rest of theChittoor district as part of theState-wide partial lockdown havebeen further extended from July1 to 7 as the positivity rate is morethan 5 percent. The districtauthorities have taken the deci-sion following orders to thateffect from the State govern-ment. The decision on completerelaxation in the district will betaken again after considering thepositivity rate.

The movement of public andbusiness transactions will beallowed for 12 hours from 6 a.mto 6 p.m. Chittoor district is oneof the worst-affected districts inthe State. The district is located onthe borders of Tamil Nadu andKarnataka and the authoritieshave found it difficult to containthe spread of the virus though thepositivity rate has decreased andthe number of cases reported hascome down when compared tothe cases reported earlier.

According to a report, there are

7,204 active cases in the districtand on an average 400 to 600 newcases are being reported daily.Health professionals feel that stillthere is a need for extending thepartial lockdown to curb thespread of the virus more effective-ly.

Meanwhile, after the first DeltaPlus Covid variant case wasreported in Tirupati a few daysback, the people have beenexpressing concern over its sever-ity and possible further spread.The entire city has been declareda red zone and several samples ofpositive patients have been sent toCCMB, Hyderabad, for genome

sequencing. Chittoor District Medical

Health Officer Dr U Srihari saidthat the people need not worryabout the Corona Delta Plusvariant and the medical team hasconducted an door-to-door feversurvey in the area where the DeltaPlus variant victim lived andfound that all of them werehealthy. The area where thepatient has been residing is underthe scanner of the Medical andHealth department. He furthersaid the people need have toworry as the Delta variant has notshown much impact in the area.

The Health and Family Welfare

Department of the Governmentof India has declared Delta Plus'a variant of concern' and thesenior doctors say that it is a morevirulent and transmissible vari-ant. They also say it could be inef-fective as well.

Senior doctor Swapna saidthat the people should be awareof the new variants of theCoronavirus and take every careto prevent the spread of the virusby wearing masks and sanitizinghands frequently.

More samples should be col-lected and the district hospitalshould have a gene sequencermachine which enables it todetect the variant of the positivecase quickly.

Meanwhile, a gene sequencermachine has arrived at SVIMSwhich needs to be installed andthe trial run has to be performedfollowing certain protocols. Ithelps in surveillance and decen-tralisation of gene sequencingprocess which is now done atCCMB, Hyderabad. Once itcomes into use, samples can betested quickly to study the newvariants.

‘Anna Prasadam’of Srikalahasthishrine gets ISOcertificationPNS n TIRUPATI

The free meal scheme ‘AnnaPrasadam’ at Srikalahasti tem-ple was awarded the IndianStandards Organisation (ISO)certification on Monday.Srikalahasti is one of thefamous Siva shrines in SouthIndia.

ISO representative Sivaiahand MLA BiyyapuMadhusudan Reddy handedover the ISO certification totemple Executive OfficerPeddiraju.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Sivaiah said that ISOhad given priority to quali-ty in the Annadanamscheme and cleanliness inthe management of templeguest houses by collectingthe opinion of the devoteesfor certification.

Madhusudan Reddy saidthat he was happy that thetemple had received the ISOcertificate for the Annadanamscheme of the temple.

He said that steps would betaken to develop the temple.

The temple EO and theMLA congratulated the staff.

K KALYAN KRISHNA KUMAR

n VIJAYAWADA

Protests by student unionsand unemployed unions acrossthe State have been on therisee, demanding an increasein the number of posts in thejob calendar released by ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy recently.

Going by the steps beingtaken by the State govern-ment, students and the youthfear that they would cross theemployment age limit by thetime an opportunity comestheir way. Hence, they wantthe age limit to be temporari-ly increased to 47 years fornotification of secretariat jobsand other jobs filled byAPPSC.

Speaking to The Pioneer, APUnemployment JAC Statepresident, SamayamHemantha Kumar, said thatthe upper age limit for DSC

should be extended up to 44years permanently as two yearshad already gone waste due tothe Covid crisis. He saidthere were only 36 posts inGroup 1 and 2 categories ofAPPSC in the calendarannounced by the govern-ment. Besides, the unem-ployed youth were worriedthat not a single post in Group3 and 4 was announced in it,he said.

Vijaya Raghunath Bhatla,vice-president, APUnemployment JAC, said,"The government said that itwould announce a mega DSCevery year but it is sad that nota single job has beenannounced in the calendar.Hence, we have to wait for onemore year for the announce-ment," he added.

He said a total of 2,500 jobvacancies, including AEE, AE,Deputy Surveyor and others,were present in the

Engineering Department.Former chief secretary NeelamSawhney had earlierannounced 768 of these postswould be filled but the job cal-endar released by the CM didnot mention even them. Theunemployed want notificationto be released to be releasedimmediately to fill the 24,000vacant posts in various depart-ments based on the earlierannouncement by then CS, hesaid.

An unemployed youthUmmadi Mahesh said thatthe State government had notdone even a single appoint-ment in the Library depart-ment in the last 12 years. Theunemployed youth recalledthat the government hadpromised to set up a digitallibrary for every 2,000 housesand fill the vacancies throughthe DSC, but it was yet tomaterialise, he added.

Ummadi Mahesh said, "We

are looking forward to fulfill-ment of the promise made byYSRCP chief YS Jagan MohanReddy that 2,30,000 govern-ment job vacancies would befilled in the State before theelections," he said.

He alleged that the FinanceMinistry had approved ninenotifications in the last govern-ment. But they were not men-tioned in the currently publishedGO and Calendar. He wanted1,300 posts pending in APPSCto be filled immediately.

Meanwhile, A DSC-1998eligible candidate HumayunKabir said that the 1998 DSCeligible teachers were unfair-ly discriminated against andkept aside while allocatingtemporary jobs in the DSC2008 batch by the govern-ment.

Meanwhile, YSRCP leaderssay that the Opposition behindthe agitation by studentunions.

PNS n KADAPA

Kadapa district farmers'unions and political partieshave called for a united frontto protest against the allega-tions made by the Telanganaregion leaders and the govern-ment over the Rayalaseema liftscheme. All parties and unionsstaged a protest at Kotireddycircle in Kadapa city onMonday. Leaders and activistsof CPI, CPM, RayalaseemaCommunist Party, Congress,YSRCP and farmers' unions inthe district took part in theprotest.

Andhra Pradesh StateAgricultural Advisory CouncilChairman Sambaturu PrasadReddy said that the project willprovide water to the backwardRayalaseema residents. Healleged that the allegationsmade by Telangana leaders onthe project were false accusa-

tions and said that they wouldcreate a regional crisis.

He demanded that the gov-ernment form an all-partybody to work collectively onthe irregularities being com-mitted by the people ofTelangana. He said the unionsin the district had decided tocondemn the false allegationsmade by Telangana and tolodge a complaint with theCentral Government, NationalGreen Tribunal (NGT) andApex Council against illegalprojects being constructed byTelangana.

Chandra, a leader of theCPI-affiliated farmer union,said it was unfortunate thatRayalaseema, the mostdrought-prone area, was beingsidelined. Leaders of CPM,Rayalaseema CommunistParty, Congress, YSRCP andfarmers' unions in the districtalso addressed the protest.

Cops foil BJYM bid to besiegehouses of Balineni, AdimulapuPNS n ONGOLE/TIRUPATI

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha(BJYM) workers attempted tolay siege to the houses ofMinisters Balineni SrinivasaReddy and Adimulapu Sureshin Prakasam district at Ongoleand Markapur respectively.The police foiled their attemptand arrested all the leaders andshifted them to various policestations.

Under the auspices of theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha(BJYM), district presidentTangirala Ashok Reddy andMarkapur town presidentBontala Dinesh, attempted tobesiege the house of EducationMinister Adimulapu Sureshin protest against the job cal-endar.

Speaking on the occasion,Ashok Reddy said that therewas deep frustration amongthe unemployed yout acrossthe State over the job calendarreleased by Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy.Therefore, the job calendarannounced by the State gov-ernment should be cancelledimmediately, he said anddemanded the release of awhite paper on job vacanciesfilled earlier.

Meanwhile, activists led byBJYM BJP district general sec-retary Ramisetty Haribabu,tried to storm Balineni's house.Haribabu said that the jobcalendar was not in line withthe promises made by JaganMohan Reddy during thePadayatra and that the govern-ment had deceived the unem-ployed. It has promised to fillabout 2,40,000 vacancies in theState at once. Thousands ofemployees and teachers haveretired over the last sevenyears but there has been noreplacement for them.

Senior BJP leaders SasanalaSarojini, Maddela LakshmiGaru, Paidimarri Srinivas Rao,District Vice PresidentKambham Venkata Ramana,Markapur Town PresidentPaidimarri Ramachandra Rao,District Legal Cell Convenor

Kadiam Ramaiah Yadav,District OBC Morcha VicePresident Battula Seshagiri,District Kisan Morcha vice-president Potti Venkata SubbaRao and others took part in theprotest.

PROTEST STAGEDAGAINST JOB CALENDAR

Unemployed youth and stu-dents have protested againstthe release of the job calendarby the government. Attemptswere made to lay siege to theCollector’s office under theauspices of the UnemploymentJAC and student unions.

Earlier, the police put youthand student union leadersunder house arrest in the dis-trict. Some were arrested andtaken to police stations.Opposition parties have

demanded the release of a GOto fill all the vacancies in theState.

BJYM leaders, on the otherhand, tried to storm the min-ister’s house. Earlier, some ofthe BJYM leaders were arrest-ed and others were placedunder house arrest.

Police issued notices to sev-eral leaders on Sunday night.Arundelpet police forciblyarrested the student unionleaders who were on their wayto the Collector's office fromthe CPM office in Brodiepetand shifted them to the policestation. Police personnel weredeployed at the Collector’sOffice.

The unemployed youthwere arrested and shifted toLalapeta station when theyattempted to approach theCollector's office under theauspices of Teachers MLC KSLakshmana Rao.

Student union leadersprotested at the station itself.

MLC Lakshmana Raodemanded that the govern-ment immediately issue a noti-fication to fill all the vacantgovernment jobs.

PNS n TIRUPATI

Tension prevailed in the cityfor some time on Monday asthe police foiled the attemptof members of various stu-dent and youth organisa-tions, including SFI, AISF,DYFI and BJYM, to lay asiege to the house ofMinister PeddireddyRamachandra Reddy inprotest against the job calen-dar released by the govern-ment.

The agitators raised slo-gans against the job calendarreleased by the Jagan MohanReddy government andtermed it a jobless calendar.

They demanded that thegovernment revise the jobcalendar assuring 1.20 lakhjobs. They said the presentjob calendar provides only12,143 jobs while there are2.4 lakh vacant posts. Thepolice chased and arrestedstudents when they turnedup at the minister’s house.

Police stations in the citywere filled with the stu-dents and party cadre. Thepolice counselled nearly 200students who were detainedand later freed them, askingthem not to participate inany agitation as it would martheir future if cases were reg-istered against them.

Tension in Tirupati as studentssurround Peddireddy’s house

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Nearly 16,000 home guards are working in the State, all of whomare now preparing for an agitation against GO No. 59 whichfacilitated promotion of secretariat secretaries as constables in lessthan two years. The GO says that there is an age limit and fitnesslevel to be qualified for police jobs. However, these eligibility criteriahave been ignored in the promotion of secretariat secretaries andthis has become a hot topic in the police circles.According to sources, the home guards are in consultation withseveral lawyers to go to court over these postings. UnemploymentJAC president Hemanta Kumar said that GO No. 59 should bescrapped immediately, failing which statewide protests would belaunched. Meanwhile, Hemantha Kumar said that they now want theage limit for constables to be raised permanently from 28 to 33 forDSP post in Group 1. He also said, "On the occasion of the PoliceMartyrs' Day 2020, the CM promised to fill 6,500 vacancies everyyear. However, only 450 police posts were announced in thecalendar, disappointing us" observed Hemantha Kumar.

Govt in a spot as resentment grows against job calendar

Home guards want GO No. 59 scrapped

Farmers, partiesslam TS leaders over lift scheme

1,000 kg ganja seized, 2 heldPNS n GUNTUR

Mangalagiri police seized 1,000 kg of ganja hidden in a mini-truckcarrying a load of pineapples to Nellore from Visakhapatnam onMonday. On a tip-off received by the Mangalagiri Rural police, themini-truck was raided at the Kaza toll gate on Sunday night. Duringthe raid, 1 tonne of ganja was found in the mini-truck laden withpineapples. The police said the driver and the cleaner of the mini-truck were arrested and the vehicle was seized.

Uncle beats two children to death in Repalle

Woman killed in knife attackPNS n GUNTUR

A woman was killed in a knifeattack by an unidentified man atGunamvaripalem inNizampatnam mandal of thedistrict on Sunday night. Illicitrelationship is said to be thereason behind the attack.According to police, BorraPunnamma (32) and AddankiBalaiah were in a farm when theywere attacked by an unidentifiedman. The injured were rushed toGuntur Government Hospital.However, Punnamma died whileundergoing treatment. Doctorssaid Balaiah's condition iscritical.

PNS n KAKINADA

Four boys, all Class X stu-dents, accidentally drownedin River Godavari when theywent for a swim after playingon the riverbank for sometime at Lankala Gannavaramvillage in P Gannavarammandal of East Godavari dis-trict on Monday.

Locals informed the policethat the clothes and sandals offour students were found onthe banks of the river. Whilethe bodies of three studentswere found, search is on forthe fourth one.

The students were identi-fied as Bandaru NaveenKumar, Yarransetti RatnaSagar, Pantala Pawan andKhandavilli Vinay of LankalaGannavaram village. Details ofVinay, who is also feared dead,are yet to be known.

Meanwhile, a post-mortemexamination was conductedon the three bodies retrievedfrom the river.

4 boys drownin Godavari,three bodiesretrieved

PNS n GUNTUR

Two children were beaten todeath by their own uncle(Mothers' sister's Husband).Katuri Srinivasa Rao, a rowdyuncle from Karlapalem village,brutally murdered the kidswith wooden sticks whileplaying at their grandmother'shouse.

The incident, which tookplace in the town of Repalle inGuntur district, was filledwith intense tragedy.

According to Repalle townCI Suryanarayana, two chil-dren came to MorlaVijayalakshmi, a resident ofNetaji Nagar in the 23rd wardof the town, from Vejandla vil-lage in Chebrolu mandal.

Kondeti Koteswara Raoand Umadevi, a couple fromVejandla village, have beenworking in Bangalore.Arrived home due to a lockdown. Their two sons,Parthiv Sahaswat (10) andRohit Tashwin (8), werebrought by their mother totheir grandmother's housein Repalle during this vaca-tion.

Meanwhile, KaturiSrinivasa Rao, the husband of

Umadevi's younger sister, bru-tally beat two children todeath.

After the murder, he sur-rendered himself to the police.Vijayalakshmi had in hercomplaint to the police saidthat the murdered man hadbeen using drugs for a longtime as he was mentally dis-turbed and living in Repalle

for treatment for a fewmonths.

The murderer has beentaken into police custody andis being investigated. Thebodies of the two childrenwere taken to RepalleGovernment Hospital. Theparents were in tears as theycannot bear the death of theirtwo children.

Nursing staff strike work at GGHPNS n GUNTUR

Contract nursing employeeson Monday boycotted allwork except emergency dutiesat the Guntur GGH, demand-ing that their problems beresolved. CITU State leader AV Nageswara Rao expressedsolidarity with the strikingnurses.

Nageswara Rao said thatdespite the protests for the lastfour days, the governmentwas indifferent to their prob-lems. He said that the move-ment would be further inten-

sified if the legitimatedemands of the life-savingnursing officials were not met.

Prasad, State president ofthe Andhra Pradesh NursingWelfare Association, said thatbesides serving the patients,the nursing officers had beenon strike for 15 days in protestfor their rights.

The State government's unre-sponsive attitude showed thatthe government had been dis-criminating against them, hesaid. The programme wasattended by a large number ofcontract nursing employees.

Expedite construction ofJagananna colonies: LavuPNS n GUNTUR

Narasaraopet MP LauSrikrishnadevarayalu has direct-ed the authorities to complete theconstruction of Jaganannacolonies as soon as possible.Chief Minister Jagan MohanReddy has embarked on a mas-sive programme to build 31 lakhhouses like nowhere else in thehistory of the country, he said.

He was speaking at a reviewmeeting with officials of variousdepartments at VenkateswaraGrand Kalyana Mandapam inSattenapalli on Monday.

Local MLA Ambati Rambabu

said the government was givinghigh priority to the constructionof houses for Navratnas. A jointcollector was appointed for eachdistrict to oversee the construc-tion of houses, he informed.

The meeting was attended byDistrict Collector Vivek Yadav,Housing JC Anupama Anjaliand others.

Earlier, a ground-breakingceremony was conducted forconstruction of houses inKomerapudi village in the man-dal.

The MP and the MLA dis-cussed with the officials theinfrastructure in the colony.

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JUNE 29, 2021

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MPSanjay Raut on Monday said

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavisshould cooperate with ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray toresolve the issue of OBC quota inlocal bodies in Maharashtra. TheSupreme Court had recently truckdown such quota after observingthat the seats earmarked forvarious communities must notexceed 50 per cent of the total

strength of the local body. The BJP has been accusing the MVA governmentof not presenting empirical data in the apex court to show that such quota wasneeded in local bodies. Fadnavis had recently said he could get the OBCquota reinstated if he was given the reins of power in the state for fourmonths, adding that he would quit politics if he failed to do so.

Fadnavis must cooperate withMaha CM on OBC quota: Raut

AForest department employeehas been suspended for

'unwarranted firing' that had led tothe death of a Royal Bengal tigerin Kaziranga National Park andTiger Reserve in Assam a fewdays back, an official release said.Post-mortem conducted on the

carcass revealed a bullet injury through the lungs and the heart, causingdeath. "An inquiry conducted by the Assistance Conservator of Forests intothe incident revealed that the firing was unwarranted based on which the staffconcerned was suspended," the release issued by the Kaziranga National Parkauthorities said on Sunday. The carcass of the male tiger was found nearJaporipothar, under Kohora range of the National Park, on June 18 by staff ofthe Bheroni camp. The tiger had died of a gunshot injury during a conflictevent the previous day, fired by a staff of Bheroni camp, who has been nowsuspended.

Forest staff suspended for‘unwarranted firing' on tiger

The Supreme Court Mondayrefused to stay the Delhi High

Court order permitting unaidedprivate schools in the nationalcapital to levy annual fee anddevelopment charges fromstudents. A bench headed byJustice A M Khanwilkar did notagree with the submission of the

Directorate of Education (DoE) of the Delhi government that the orderquashing the notification be stayed for the time being to give relief to theparents of students. The top court made it clear however that all thecontentions of the Delhi government would remain open for adjudication bythe division bench of the high court as the dismissal of the plea here was noton merits. On May 31, a single judge bench of the high court had quashedthe office orders of April and August 2020 issued by DoE of the Delhigovernment forbidding and postponing collection of annual charges anddevelopment fees.

SC says ‘no’ to pvt schools tolevy development, annual fees

Defence Minister Rajnath Singhon Monday inaugurated three

bridges on way to the Indo-Chinaborder in Dharchula sub-division ofUttarakhand's Pithoragarh district.Three bailey bridges wereinaugurated virtually by the defenceminister from Delhi, Boarder RoadsOrganisation Chief Engineer MNVPrasad said. He said one bridge is

on Tawaghat-Ghatia Bagar road near Tawaghat, another on Jaulgibi-Munsyariroad at Kirkutiya and the third one on Munsyari-Bugdiyar-Milam road atLaspa. Built by the BRO, the bridges connect Indian mainland with the bordersecurity posts in this part of the Himalayan region, Prasad said. The bridgeshave a length of 140-180 metres, he said, adding that the BRO had to work inadverse conditions to construct the high-altitude bridges on time.

Defence minister inaugurates3 border bridges in Dharchula

INDIA CORNER

PNS n NEW DELHI

About 50 countries, includingCanada, Mexico, Nigeria andPanama, have shown interest inhaving a Co-WIN like system torun their vaccination drive, asenior official said Monday,adding India is ready to share theopen source software free of cost.

Dr R S Sharma, the chairmanof the empowered group forCovid-19 vaccine administration,said Prime Minister NarendraModi has directed officials to cre-ate an open source version of theplatform and give it free of cost toany country that wants it.

"The Cowin platform hasbecome so popular that as manyas 50 countries from central Asia,Latin America, Africa all showedinterest in having a Co-win likesystem," Sharma said at the sec-ond Public Health Summit 2021on 'Emerging Imperatives inStrengthening Public Health forIndia' organised by Confederationof Indian Industry.

He also said a virtual globalconclave of health and technolo-

gy experts from across the worldwill be held on July 5 where Indiawill share how this system works.

“We are telling the world howthis system can work and how weare ready to share an open sourcesoftware with any country free ofcost. There have been huge inter-ests starting from Canada,Mexico, Panama, Peru,Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Nigeria,Uganda," he said.

Sources said other countriessuch as Vietnam, Iraq, DominicanRepublic, the United ArabEmirates have also expressedinterest in knowing about the Co-WIN platform for implementingit in their own countries to runtheir own Covid programmes.

In five months, Sharma said,Co-WIN has grown to handling30 crore plus registrations andvaccinations.

"It is a citizen-centric platformand provides a single source oftruth till the district level. Fromthe beginning, it was ensured thatthe platform can be easily used toschedule, reschedule and cancelappointments," he said.

Sharma also said that vaccinat-ing 1.3 billion people is not a "triv-ial task", and added that thedevelopment of Cowin-like plat-form shows India has the capabil-ity to develop such great scalabledigital systems.

"People talked of digital dividein getting vaccine but from thebeginning itself we ensured thatit is very easy to get on the plat-form and schedule, reschedule orcancel an appointment and at the

same time if that is not possiblethen you can call a centre and getit done and go to common servicecentres to get an appointment," hesaid.

"Most importantly you can gowithout any appointment to vac-cination centre and get vaccinat-ed. In fact, 80 per cent of our peo-ple have gone to the centre with-out any appointment," he added.

On the National Digital HealthMission (NDHM), Sharma said

the whole idea is based on theconcept that many services can bedigitally delivered. The NDHMwill house all kinds of databaseswhich will have a facility for thepatient to fetch his/her records, hesaid.

"One of the silver linings of theCorona period is that we are atease with digital consultation.The most important outcome ofthis is going to be generation ofdata for researchers and academ-ic," Sharma said.

India has created digital arte-facts such as Aadhar that willenable the delivery of services dig-itally, he said. One such digitalproducts created is e-voucherwhich is person and purpose-spe-cific and will be launched verysoon, he said.

"Under Ayushman Bharat, if aperson wants to get an X-ray doneand hospital does not have an X-ray facility, the hospital can issuea digital voucher which goes to theX-Ray diagnostic centre then theQR code is scanned and moneyis received and X-ray is per-formed. This voucher will be a

game-changer," he added.Delhi AIIMS Director Dr

Randeep Guleria told the eventthat the pandemic has disruptedthe healthcare ecosystem andpublic health infrastructure andhas challenged resilience.

"Now we need to look aheadand strengthen our public healthsystem. We need to be preparedfor such a pandemic in future.Our basic aim is to have equitableaccess in remote areas. Importantto look at health as a percentageGDP and we should look at 2.5%of healthcare expenditure. Healthis a state subject but currentlythere is a lack of co-ordinationamong states," he said.

Some challenges that need to bemet are underinvestment as far ashealthcare is concerned. Secondly,public health system should bedriven by tech and data, he said.

There is a need to provide tele-health and tele-diagnostics inrural parts of India and industryhas an important role to play. Alsothere is a need for a robust elec-tronic healthcare system, DrGuleria said.

India ready to share Co-Win open source software for free

AAP: Punjab govt not allowingKejriwal to hold press meetPNS n CHANDIGARH

The Aam Aadmi Party onMonday accused the Congress-led government in Punjab ofdenying its national convenerArvind Kejriwal permissionto hold a press conference inthe state, a charge denied byChief Minister AmarinderSingh.

Delhi Chief Minister andAAP national convenerKejriwal is to visit Chandigarhon Tuesday to make anannouncement about provid-ing "free electricity" if his partycomes to power in Punjab fol-lowing the 2022 assembly elec-tions.

The AAP has planned tohold the press conference atPunjab Bhawan here.

Dismissing the accusation,Singh asked why would thestate government stop Kejriwalfrom holding a press confer-ence when he was allowed tohold a party programme a fewdays back.

The Punjab chief ministerwas apparently referring to

Kejriwal's June 21 visit toAmritsar for inducting formerPunjab Inspector General ofPolice Kunwar Vijay PratapSingh into AAP.

"Totally not true. We letArvind Kejriwal address a rallyhere just a few days back. Sowhy should we stop him now

from holding a press confer-ence? If he wants I'd be happyto arrange his lunch too. AamAadmi Party just wants to dodrama even if it means lying:Amarinder Singh," read a tweetby the Punjab chief minister'smedia advisor.

Earlier, the AAP's Punjab

affairs co-incharge RaghavChadha claimed that thePunjab Chief Minister's Officehas denied the party permis-sion to hold a press conferenceat a pre-decided venue.

"Amarinder Singh's fear ofKejriwal has reached a pointwhere his office has denied uspermission to hold a pressconference at the pre-decidedvenue. Nevertheless, ArvindKejriwal will make a megaannouncement tomorrow inChandigarh which will send440-volt current to Capt andhis party," Chadha said in atweet.Kejriwal has announcedhis visit to Chandigarh througha tweet.

"In Delhi, we provide 200units of free electricity to everyfamily. The women are veryhappy. Women in Punjab arealso very unhappy with infla-tion. The AAP governmentwill also provide free electric-ity in Punjab. See you tomor-row in Chandigarh," Kejriwaltweeted in Punjabi.

Punjab assembly electionsare due early next year.

“In Delhi, we provide 200 units of freeelectricity to every family. The women are very happy. Women in Punjab are also very unhappy with inflation. The AAP government will also provide freeelectricity in Punjab. See you tomorrow inChandigarh,” Kejriwal tweeted in Punjabi.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Minister Jitendra Singhhas urged medical profession-als "not to create a panic"about a possible third wave ofCOVID-19 infection andstressed that the basic approachshould be "precaution, nopanic".

Instead of getting tempted tomake alarmist observationsone could be a little morereassuring, he said at the PublicHealth Summit 2021 on'Emerging Imperatives inStrengthening Public Healthfor India'.

At the event organised by theConfederation of IndianIndustry, Singh said Covid-appropriate behaviour can actas a safeguard against the thirdwave.

"I have a small request tomedical colleagues to not cre-ate a panic about a possiblethird wave because the basicmantra is precaution not panic.

"Let us put all our mighttogether to fight the secondwave instead of talking aboutthe third one. Medical profes-sionals have found a goodplatform in the media... so

instead of getting tempted tomake alarmist observationswe could be a little more reas-suring," the minister said.

He also said that public-pri-vate partnership in healthcarehas strengthened amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.

All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)Director Dr Randeep Guleriasaid, "As we now prepare forthe possibility of the thirdwave and (the spread of) newvariants like Delta Plus... weneed to look ahead and seehow we can strengthen ourpublic health system focusing

on lessons we have learnt fromthe past."

"What COVID-19 hasshown us is that we need arobust healthcare system. Weneed to address the challengesthat we have in front of us. Oneis under-investment in health-care. Another is that the pub-lic healthcare system should bedriven by technology and datathat would help us make evi-dence-based decisions," hesaid.

The AIIMS director stressedon creating a specialised work-force, improving the healthinfrastructure as well as on

increasing doctor-patient andnurse-patient ratios.

"What COVID-19 hastaught us is the importance ofstrength of a public-privatepartnership. We have to moveout of silos.

"We had a vaccine (available)in less than a year (of the onsetof the pandemic) but most ofthe vaccines that came out werenot developed by industry butby academia. It happenedbecause of the partnershipbetween the industry and pub-lic health experts. The need forit has been felt like neverbefore," he said.

Don’t create panic about third wave:Minister Jitendra Singh to doctors

Instead of getting temptedto make alarmistobservations onecould be a littlemore reassuring,the UnionMinister Jitendra Singh said

PNS n MUMBAI

India has decided to allowethanol-based 'flex engines',which power vehicles using localfarm produce and not fossil fuels,and will be rolling out a schemeon the same in the next threemonths, Union Minister NitinGadkari said on Monday.

Gadkari said other countries ofthe world like Brazil, the US andCanada have flex engines whichare powered by farm produce andexhorted automakers like BMW,Mercedes and Toyota to developvehicles running on the alterna-tive fuel.

A switch to locally-producedethanol will be helpful for acountry like India which reliesmajorly on crude oil imports forpowering the transport sector, hesaid, adding that it will also be lesspolluting and cost-saving.

A litre of ethanol comes atbetween 60-62 per litre as againstthe over Rs 100 paid for petrol, theminister said, admitting that thecalorific value of the ethanol islow.

“In the US, Brazil and Canada,they have flex engines, so as thetransport minister we are goingto launch this flex engine facility

to all the consumers in the coun-try,” Gadkari said at an eventorganised by state-run lenderIndian Bank.

“We are going to launch thisscheme now and within threemonths we are going to start,” headded.

Gadkari said the governmenthas already started giving permis-sions to establish 100 per centethanol petrol pumps and addedthat Prime Minister NarendraModi has already inaugurated twosuch facilities in Pune,Maharashtra.

“We can make ethanol fromsugarcane juice molasses andnow the government is giving per-mission to make ethanol fromfood grains that are from rice,corn and food grains,” he said, ask-ing states like Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra, Karnataka and UttarPradesh to take the lead.

India to allow ethanol-based ‘flex engines’ in vehicles: Gadkari

1-yr extension toVenugopal asAttorney General

PNS n NEW DELHI

The central government hasdecided to extend the tenureof K K Venugopal as theAttorney General by one year,sources said on Monday.

Though the attorney gener-al usually has a tenure ofthree years, when his firstterm as A-G was to end lastyear, Venugopal had request-ed the government to give hima one-year tenure keeping inmind his advanced age.He is90. Keeping in mind the highprofile cases he is handling inthe Supreme Court and hisexperience at the Bar, the gov-ernment has decided to extendhis tenure for one more year,the sources said. Venugopal'scurrent tenure ends in the nextcouple of days.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A fire broke out in a room adja-cent to the operation theatre ofEmergency Department inAIIMS here on Monday morn-ing, Delhi Fire Service said. Noone was injured, they said.

A call was received at 5.04 amabout a blaze in the operationtheatre (OT) of EmergencyDepartment and seven fire ten-ders were rushed to AIIMS,Delhi Fire Service Director AtulGarg said.

The fire was brought undercontrol very quickly, he said,adding it broke out in the storeroom adjacent to the OT.

According to police, a PCR callwas received at Hauz Khas policestation at around 5.15 am aboutthe blaze and on reaching AIIMS,sparking and smoke wasobserved in a dummy room

near the casualty area. Deputy Commissioner of

Police (South) Atul KumarThakur said, "All the patients inthe vicinity were evacuated.Seven fire brigade vehiclesreached at the spot and extin-guished the fire."

The situation is now normaland under control, and there isneither any casualty nor anyinjury to any person, he said.

Casualty area has beenreopened for patients, the policesaid, adding an investigation isunderway to ascertain the exactcause of the blaze.

Another minor blaze wasreported at Safdarjung hospital,fire officials said.

A call was received at 7.58 amabout a fire near the canteen areaof the hospital. Three fire tenderswere rushed to the spot, saidGarg.

Fire breaks out inroom in AIIMS

PNS n NEW DELHI

India has overtaken the US in thetotal number of COVID-19 vac-cine doses administered so far,the Union Health Ministry saidon Monday.

While India launched theCOVID-19 vaccination drive onJanuary 16, and has administeredover 32.36 crore doses till date,the US which started its inocu-lation drive on December 14,2020 has given over 32.33 croredoses.

"India achieves another mile-stone in COVID-19 vaccina-tion and overtakes USA in totalnumber of COVID-19 vaccinedoses administered," the min-istry said.

India's cumulative vaccinationcoverage exceeded 32.36 croreson Sunday. A total of32,36,63,297 vaccine doses havebeen administered through43,21,898 sessions, as per the

provisional report till 7 am onMonday, the ministry said.

It said 17,21,268 vaccine doseswere administered in the last 24hours.

According to the data, so far1,01,98,257 healthcare workershave taken the first dose while72,07,617 have taken the seconddose.

As many as 1,74,42,767 front-line workers have received thefirst dose while 93,99,319 havetaken the second dose.In the 18-44 age group, 8,46,51,696 indi-viduals have taken then firstdose, while 19,01,190 havereceived the second dose.

In the 45-59 age group,8,71,11,445 people have beenadministered the first dose, while1,48,12,349 have taken the sec-ond dose. Besides, 6,75,29,713people aged above 60 years havereceived the first dose, while,2,34,08,944 have taken the sec-ond dose.

India overtakes US in total numberof vaccines administered: Centre

PNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Monday said hewould write to his Kerala coun-terpart Pinarayi Vijayan request-ing him to stop changing namesof places in Kasaragod district ofKerala bordering the state fromKannada to Malayalam.

The Karnataka Border AreaDevelopment Authority(KBADA) chairman Dr CSomasekhara on Mondaybrought the matter to the noticeof Yediyurappa stating that theKerala government intended tochange the names of some Keralavillages from Kannada toMalayalam sounding names.

"Responding immediately, theChief Minister said the matterhas been brought to his notice

now. He would bring it to theknowledge of the Kerala ChiefMinister," an official press releasesaid.

The Chief Minister saidMalayalis and Kannadigas inKasaragod and Manjeshwar havebeen living harmoniously, hence

it is not proper to change theKannada names of places toMalayalam.

He said he would write to theKerala Chief Minister requestinghim to stop the process immedi-ately.

Somasekhara pointed out thatthe decision to change theKannada names of the villagesmight have been taken at thelocal level and the Chief MinisterVijayan may not be aware of it.

Karnataka's Forest andKannada and Culture MinisterAravind Limbavali wrote to thestate chief minister regardingKerala government's move tochange names of border villagesin the state from Kannada toMalayalam.

He said the Kerala govern-ment is implementing its deci-

sion to change the Kannadanames of villages in Kasargodand Manjeshwar taluks, whichborder Karnataka, intoMalayalam.

"Kannada speaking peopleare in high number in thesetaluks. They have been speakingKannada and also followingKannada culture for several cen-turies. The Kannada name ofevery village reflects the cultureof the local residents. The peo-ple too are emotionally attachedto these names," the Minister saidin the letter.

The government should haveat least discussed the matterwith the local residents andtaken their opinion before mak-ing the move. The present deci-sion, therefore, is totally unilat-eral, Limbavali said.

‘Stop changing Kannada names ofplaces in Kasaragod to Malayalam'

(IS), debilitating sanctionsagainst Iran continued and it fig-ured prominently in the “Axis ofevil”. Americans wasted oppor-tunities to thaw relations withIran, partly driven by pressuresfrom Arab Sheikdoms andIsrael, who had their own sec-tarian and domestic considera-tions, as also due to Americancalculation of resultant cost-ben-efit analysis of hypotheticallyundoing its belligerent posture.On the rebound, Iranians soonreposed faith in the hardlinepopulism and fiery anti-USrhetoric of MahmoudAhmadinejad — willy-nilly, theAmericans had forsaken theopportunity of engaging mean-ingfully with the pragmatistsand the reformists.

Oddly enough, confronta-tional politics of the Iranianhardliners suited both Tehranand Washington DC as eachregime was able to justify theirintransigence to their domes-tic constituents and the Arab-Israeli combine was contentwith the rupture. Only thecoincidentally overlappingtenures of a statesman inBarack Obama and a yet anoth-er Iranian moderate-progres-sive, Hassan Rouhani, couldnudge and shape the path-breaking Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA) or theIran Nuclear Deal. In July

2015, the deal was signed andthe crippling sanctions againstIran were lifted; for once andonly for once, the hands of themoderate political options inIran were strengthened.However, within a year, DonaldTrump was railing against the“rotten” deal and threatened to“tear up” the deal, if elected.Trump was indeed elected,and he did renege on a deal thatwas complying with all its pro-visions, as per all internation-al expert accounts. Humiliatingsanctions soon returned.

Joe Biden had campaignedon “rejoining” the Iranian Deal,albeit with political correctnessof “if Iran returns to strict com-pliance with the nuclear deal”.Biden was confirmed onNovember 7, 2020, and swornin on January 20, 2021. TheIranian presidential electionswere slotted for June 18, almostfive months after Bidenassumed the presidentship, butBiden, who oversaw the Israel-Palestinian flare-up in the inter-im, did not move forward onre-ratifying the Iranian NuclearDeal, something he hadpromised. Even on lifting sanc-tions as part of COVID-relat-ed humanitarian relief, Bidenremained inexplicably silent.Beyond the controlled levers ofthe Iranian ElectionMonitoring Agency (EMA),

managed by the clergy-ledGuardian Council, allowingfor only a handful of candidatesto run — popular circum-stances and frustrations withthe continuing failures of themoderates in power to stymiethe socio-economic conditionsor revive the Iranian NuclearDeal successfully led to revi-sionist sentiments and thereturn of the familiar hardlin-ers, with Ebrahim Raisi. Themoderates had no substantivecase to justify their re-electionand their popularity had plum-meted, and the US had facili-tated their helplessness.

Familiar sabre-rattling hasreturned with Raisi refusing tobudge from pursuing Iranianmilitaristic plans, supportingfriendly militias or from meet-ing Biden. The new IsraeliPrime Minister, NaftaliBennett, has opened account bycalling out Iran’s “regime ofbrutal hangmen” whereas theUS is left mumbling a half-con-vincing, “Iranians were deniedtheir right to choose their ownleaders in a free and fair elec-toral process”. History repeatsitself with the US misusing its“monopoly on truth”.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

DEATH DUE TO THE VVIP CULTURESir — At a time when the country is strug-gling to contain the spread of COVID-19,which is mutating alarmingly and snatch-ing the lives of lakhs of people and the lock-down in many parts of the country has alsopushed them to face innumerable problems,it is unfortunate that President Ram NathKovind preferred to make a five-day trip toUP, including a visit to his native villageParaunkh in the State. The Railways imme-diately made all the arrangements toorganise a special train with all luxuries andcomforts for the First Citizen of India, hisfamily and entourage, in deference to hisdesire to undertake a train journey this time.

Further, as the car carrying a patient,Vandana Mishra, to a hospital was stoppedfor the presidential convoy to pass throughin Kanpur late on Friday, she died for wantof timely medical attention. ThoughPresident Kovind has sent a condolencemessage to Vandana’s family in keeping withobligations of his high office, one reallywonders when are we going to give up thistype of VVIP culture? Why can’t we learnfrom other nations, where we find no suchstoppage of traffic is entertained? When arewe going to give up this type of culture atthe cost of the lives of our citizens?

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

ATTACK ON THE JAMMU IAF STATIONSir — It’s debatable whether Saturday night’sterrorist attack on the Indian Air ForceStation at Jammu came two days after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi met the leaders ofmainstream political parties from Jammuand Kashmir, or Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT)attack on the Air Force Station against ear-lier Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested analleged LeT operative with an improvisedexplosive device (IED) weighing nearly fivekg in Jammu, but hope that this is not theindication of five States, particularly UttarPradesh, elections knocking on the door.

As per the short official statement onits official Twitter handle, the Indian AirForce said: “Two low-intensity explosions…….one caused minor damage to the roofof a building while the other exploded in an

open area” without any damage to anyequipment. Whatsoever, this could be arehearsal for more high-intensity attackswhich may be planned. This way, thePakistan-based terrorists could check ourArmy’s intelligence.

Undoubtedly, our three Services chiefsand our nation’s forces are capable enoughto face any sort of attacks and fight any bat-tle, but in the crucial moment they arevoiceless.

Yes, the terrorist attack is an indicationto the Modi Government that it’s the pri-mary business. But it seems that the PrimeMinister is simply happy with his CentralVista, Ram Mandir or election rallies. TheModi Government must wake up and notremain under any false illusion.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

DELTA, A VARIANT OF CONCERNSir — The global pandemic has not pro-vided us any relaxation so far. While thenumber of cases of the pandemic has comedown, on the other hand, a new type of virushas started spreading. According to expertsand doctors, Delta Plus has been placed inthe category of “Variant of Concern” sinceits spreading intensity is more than others.

It is worth noting that research is goingon this variant so that it can be detected,whether the vaccines could be effective. Insuch a situation, many questions are beingraised. However, no citizen should leave anystone unturned to get the jab.

Aman Jaiswal | New Delhi

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

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The moderates had no substantive case to justify their re-election andtheir popularity plummeted, and the US facilitated their helplessness

WITH NOTHING TOSUGGEST THE

IRANIAN HAND INTHE 9/11 ATTACK,

THE RISE OFGROUPS LIKE THE

AL QAIDA, TALIBAN,OR LATER THE

ISLAMIC STATE (IS),DEBILITATING

SANCTIONSAGAINST IRAN

CONTINUED AND ITFIGURED

PROMINENTLY INTHE ‘AXIS OF EVIL’

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

BHOPINDER SINGH

The Kerala story on dowry deaths is appalling.Some laws in India have self-contradictions.The suggestion of former Chief Minister

Oommen Chandy of the UDF Government that theGovernment employees sign an affidavit statingthat they would neither accept nor give dowry isin good spirit. But the suggestion seems to havethe notion that only the Government employeesare giving and taking dowry. There are peopledemanding dowry in other professions also andthere are also Government employees who do notdemand or accept dowry. The laws should not beenacted or the existing laws should not be strength-ened keeping in mind only the Government employ-ees. Anyone demanding and accepting dowryshould be dealt with an iron hand and handed outstringent punishment. The Government employ-

ees are barred from practising bigamous or polyg-amous marriage for the reason that they are underthe control of the Government. Further, in the eventof the death of a Government employee, the ter-minal benefits are distributed among the surviv-ing wives if the deceased employee had more thanone wife. If a strict law is enforced that the termi-nal benefits, with or without nominations, can begiven only to the legally wedded first wife or firsthusband, then the men or women marrying thealready married women or husband would thinktwice before marrying such persons.

This rule, on the one hand, bars theGovernment employees from entering into morethan one wedlock and, on the other, it “legalises”second and subsequent marriages according rightsover the terminal benefits. Further, the arms of thelaw do no reach the politicians or non-Governmentemployees if they are married to more than one.Enactment of more and more laws only swells thelaw books. It is pointless if all these laws are notimplemented to bring the culprits to book. Theapplication of laws and award of punishment insome isolated cases do not send any strong mes-sage to the people acting in a manner repugnantto the laws of the land.

KV Seetharamaiah | Hassan

Dowry deaths are a blot on society

The US has aidedextremism in Iran

The history of the fracturedUS-Iranian relationshipis fraught with deliberateamnesia and convenient

posturing on both sides that laysa disproportionately large blameon the Iranian side, in driving Irantowards hardline anchorage. Thestarting point of the Americanangst and narrative is the IranianRevolution in 1979, and the fol-lowing US Embassy hostagedrama that lasted for 444 days. Inthe Iranian conscience (complete-ly ignored in the US), the grousestarted much earlier with the US-backed coup against Iran’s nation-alist, reformist and immenselypopular Prime Minister,Mohammad Mosaddegh, in 1953.

Mosaddegh was not a bigot,instead he personified seculardemocracy — but his moves toliberate Iran from the grosslyunfair and inequitable strangle-hold of western oil companieswere his undoing. The proudpeople of a civilisation founded byCyrus the Great around 550 BCdid not take too kindly to repeat-ed sleights, manipulations andclientelism that were to trigger therevolt and takeover by the religiousfundamentals, ultimately. In thetentative years following theIranian Revolution, Americansstrengthened the hands of theIranian Ayatollahs during thedeadly Iran-Iraq war, by support-ing the Ba’athist regime of SaddamHussein (who too would be dis-owned later). The US knowinglysupported Iraq with double-usagetechnology, shared intelligence,given training, overlooked excess-es and continued giving econom-ic support — the decade-long warwith an estimated 1-2 millioncasualties, mostly on the Iranianside, galvanised the Shiite spirit ofmartyrdom and legitimised thetheocracy in Iran. Later, from 1989to 2005, Iran saw the presidentshipof moderate pragmatists in AkbarHashemi Rafsanjani andMohammad Khatami — this wasalso the years of the two Gulf Warsand Islamic extremism, wherethe pointers were squarely on theArab Sheikdoms, yet Iranremained designated ‘ForemostState Sponsor of Terrorism’!

With nothing to suggest theIranian hand in the 9/11 attack, therise of groups like Al Qaida,Taliban, or later the Islamic State

SOUNDBITEThe Congressdemands that theGovernmentinclude COVID-19as disaster andprovide compensation of `10 lakh to the families of the deceased.

Congress spokesperson

— Gourav Vallabh

Taliban familieslive here, inPakistan, in theRawat, Loi Ber,Bara Kahu and

Tarnol areas.

Pakistan Interior Minister

— Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed

Words have petnames these days. Amazing isamaze... Fabulousis Fab! I dread theday Hello will behell!

Filmmaker— Karan Johar

India is a peace-loving nation thatnever resorts toaggression but it isalways prepared togive a befittingreply, if provoked.

Defence Minister— Rajnath Singh

I’m actually noton the (Tokyo)

Olympic list, notthat I’m aware of.

Tennis player

— Serena Williams

The UP elections are going to be a pre-run for the general elections in 2024; itis clear from the importance the political parties are attaching to the election.The old maxim goes “whosoever rules UP rules India”, thanks to its 80 MPs

who can swing the balance. It is for this reason that political parties are already inelection mode. They would not mind testing the political temperatures with their ver-

bal jibes. Mayawati has announced that she wouldnot have a tie-up with the Asaduddin Owaisi-ledAIMIM and that the BSP would not have an alliancewith any party for that matter in UP. The advanceannouncement is interesting. She was trying to gaugethe reaction of other players or it was sincere admis-sion, we don’t know. Mayawati holds the key to UPwith around 20 per cent Dalit votes behind her. Sheon her own cannot rule UP and would need to havean alliance if she wants to see herself on Yogi’s chair.Which party, is still a mystery. Unpredictable andshrewd, she is keeping everyone guessing. As she

knows well, all parties need her votes. Interestingly, despite a consolidated vote behindher, the BSP has been unable to translate them into wins.

The Bua-Bhatija alliance has not worked. In the 2014 general elections, BSP couldnot get a single seat in UP. In 2019, she managed only 10 seats. In the 2017 UPelection, BSP won only 19 of the 403 seats contested. Mayawati’s announcementshould be music to BJP’s ears. In effect, she says that the SP-BSP alliance is nothappening. However, this could be a tactic to put Akhilesh Yadav on the back footand yield more seats if he at all wants an alliance. Even if she goes solo, it wouldbe helping the BJP, as the Dalit vote is not what the BJP eyes particularly. The BJPhas UP right now but it is facing many challenges. Political alliances would be crit-ical in UP. The BSP’s decision would be important as its vote share remained unmovedat 22 per cent even in 2017. The 2022 election would be crucial for Mayawati aswell. She will have to prove her hold over Dalits. Then there is a clear threat fromBhim Army’s Chandrasekhar, an emerging Dalit leader. He is likely to challenge herauthority as a Dalit leader sooner than later!

The drone enters India as a new security threat. The flying apparatus can be sentanywhere by anyone at any time, can travel largely unnoticed and, if need be, cantake explosives as a payload as was the case in Jammu on Sunday. The Indian

security forces are investigating how the two explosions happened at the Indian Air Forcestation. There are two basic issues involved. The first is, who was behind the attacks.The immediate finger of suspicion points to Pakistan. Many State and non-State actorsin that country have invested in Kashmir remaining a disturbed zone even though Pakistanhas officially agreed to a ceasefire. Their ease of access into Kashmir has of late beencurbed by the Indian security forces, making it difficult for conventional methods ofinfiltration into Kashmir to succeed. Drone technology comes to the aid of such frus-trated parties to either send across arms and ammunition, as has been the case on a

couple of occasions in the past or drop explosives.The possibility of elements inimical to Indian interestsgetting paid or brainwashed to do the job from Indiansoil cannot be ruled out. It could also be the handi-work of misguided local elements with or without ques-tionable patronage. Either way, the drone attack is abig security threat. There are reports of quadcoptershaving been seen in the Kaluchak area of Jammu onSunday night and the police are pursuing certain leads.

In the long run, there will be concomitantthoughts on early drone detection, regulating droneoperations in India, increasing security near defence

installations, and so on. The second issue relates to the timing of the drone attack,irrespective of who the sponsor is. There is a lot at stake in the entire region betweenKashmir and Kabul at present. The Taliban are on a territory-grabbing spree in Afghanistaneven as the US troops prepare to withdraw. India is assessing its role in Afghanistanthat also calls for a line of communication with the Taliban, much to Pakistan’s cha-grin because not only Pakistan wants to play a dominant role in Afghanistan but italso gives protection to a large section of the Taliban leadership on its soil. And, theFinancial Action Task Force has decided to keep Pakistan in the grey list. Importantly,it comes immediately after the first opportunity to revive talks between the UnionGovernment and the mainstream parties after ending J&K’s special status in 2019.Whether as part of backchannel communication with Pakistan or under the critical glareof the international community or otherwise, it is the Union Government’s initiative tocomplete the pending democratic processes in J&K. The communication has happenedin Delhi on June 24 only with political parties which do not question the Constitutionof India. There is still a question mark about separatist groups, whose leaders are cur-rently in incarceration and who have steadfastly refused to talk to the Union Governmentwithout involving Pakistan.

Lethal weapons

Posturing?Mayawati’s claim of going it alone in the next UP

polls could be a way of testing the waters, too

PICTALK

A farmer ploughs a paddy field at a village near Balurghat in South Dinajpur district PTI

The terror strike on the IAF station points to another emerging danger, real and present

Taxing MNCs — G-7formula is erroneous

A NEWS CHANNEL IS SAYING THAT THE AIMIMAND THE BSP WILL FIGHT THE UP ELECTIONS

TOGETHER…THIS NEWS IS COMPLETELY FALSE.— BSP SUPREMO

MAYAWATI

WE ARE WITH OP RAJBHAR SAHIB… WE DIDN’THAVE ANY TALKS WITH ANY OTHER PARTYREGARDING THE (UP) ELECTIONS OR TIE-UP.— AIMIM PRESIDENTASADUDDIN OWAISI

The agreement reached by theFinance Ministers of advancedeconomies at the G-7 meetingontaxing MNCs stands on two

main pillars, viz., a global minimum cor-porate tax (GMCT) rate of 15 per cent andsecondly, “reaching an equitable solutionon the allocation of taxing rights, withmarket countries awarded taxing rightson at least 20 per cent of profit exceed-ing a 10 per cent margin for the largestand most profitable multinational enter-prises”.

They also agreed that while coordi-nating international taxation rules aroundthese two pillars,concurrent efforts willbe made for the removal of all DigitalServices Taxes, and other relevant simi-lar measures imposed by several countrieson these companies. The agreement willbe discussed at a meeting of G-20 FMsand central bank governors in July 2021.

The G-7 move is prompted by a ten-dency among MNCs to register in low-tax European jurisdictions such as TheNetherlands, Ireland, and Luxembourgand some Caribbean nations, and showtheir revenue and profits in those juris-dictions regardless of where their sales aremade. This enables them to avoid payinghigher taxes in the 'source' country.

According to the Tax Justice Networkreport, governments in source countriesare losing around $100 billion annuallyin tax revenue with the US alone losingnearly $50 billion a year. India too is los-ing huge sums estimated to be $10 billionannually. It is affected mostly by digitalgiants such as Google, Facebook, andAmazon whichreport a bulk of the rev-enues generated from Indian customersin the books of their investmentarms/subsidiaries registered in low-taxjurisdictions such as Singapore, Mauritius,and Ireland.

The problem also referred to asBEPS (base erosion and profit shifting)is also being addressed in a ‘structured’manner under the aegis of theOrganization for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) which iscoordinating efforts of over 140 countriesto arrive at the so-called BEPS frameworkagreement for taxing profits of theseMNCs. In a draft on “taxing digital com-panies” released on October 9, 2019, theOECD had stated: “Profits of MNCsshould be available for taxation in thecountry where their customers are, irre-spective of any physical presence in thatmarket, and that a formula should beevolved for such taxation.” However,progress on this has been stymied by theCoronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, by-passing the OECDprocess, the developed countries led bythe US have taken the lead. The G-7agreement seeks to mount a two-prongedattack. First, by requiring every countryto set a floor below which it cannot setits corporate tax, it wants to kill the veryurge which drives MNCs to register theirsubsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions.

The source country should have the freedom to decide the tax rate it deemsfit in sync with its policy imperatives

FAR FROMADDRESSING THECORE ISSUE, THIS

PRESCRIPTIONWILL ONLY

CREATE MOREANOMALIES.IMPOSING ACORPORATE

MINIMUM TAXWILL INTERFERE

WITH THESOVEREIGN RIGHTOF A COUNTRY TODETERMINE ‘WHAT

SHOULD BE ITSTAX POLICY’ AND

IMPAIR ITSABILITY TO

GALVANISE THEPOLICY TO

ACHIEVE CERTAINOBJECTIVES

Lakshadweep, an ecologically pristine island cluster inhabited by64,000 mostly Malayali-speaking population, finds itself at the receiv-ing end of deteriorating ecological conditions for a variety of rea-

sons. These islands rely on fishing, coir-twisting, and coconut cultiva-tion as drivers of the economy and livelihoods. Tourism is an emerg-ing industry but yet to exploit its full potential as both the local popu-lation and the administration are wary of the collateral damage a full-fledged tourism industry can have on Lakshadweep. Even without thetourists, Lakshadweep is slowly losing the battle with climate changethanks to rising pollution levels and controversial political decisions. Overthe last few decades, pollution and plastic and sewage waste have causedstress to local biodiversity and contaminated the fresh-water aquifers.In Kavaratti alone, nearly 1.2 million litres of solid waste besides 50,000litres of untreated sewage are generated daily. They are either dumpedalong the shoreline or let into septic pits which in turn contaminate ground-water and pollute freshwater sources such as wells. Coastal erosion

has anyway been a problem for three decades now. Coral mining activ-ities disturb the deep-sea ecological biodiversity. The islands fall alongthe maritime route of middle-eastern and south-eastern Asia: there isa steady traffic of oil tankers, cargo, and passenger ships. A CochinUniversity of Science & Technology report says the sea traffic was dump-ing untreated waste, oil, and ballast water into the sea. This is in addi-tion to occasional, accidental oil spills such as the X-Press Pearl cargoship that caught fire near Sri Lanka's western seaboard and sank. Hadthe ship sunk near Lakshadweep, it would have had tremendous impli-cations for the marine environment as the vessel was carrying 25 tonnesof nitric acid and sodium hydroxide. This toxic cargo of the sunk ves-sel has now become a maritime ecological disaster for Sri Lanka. Politicaldevelopments in Lakshadweep are adding a new set of challenges. Therecentdecisions of local administrator Praful Khoda Patel to developLakshadweep on the lines of Maldives have run into rough weather withthe local population, activists, and even the BJP colleagues of PrafulPatel protesting against the draft regulations. The proposed regulationsincluded a cow slaughter ban, authority to detain any person withoutpublic disclosure for a period of one year and disqualifying anyone hav-ing more than two children from holding a panchayat post.

The challenge to the environment comes in the form of powers totake over local lands at a nominal cost in the name of town planning.This is a tunnel vision because the idea is far removed from groundrealities. Some of these islands are mostly coral atolls spanning a widthof a mere four kilometres and standing barely three metres above sealevel. Some are not even half a metre high. The Lakshadweep islandsare water-stressed and can take neither tourism load nor pollution indus-try would bring. The Niti Aayog report for Lakshadweep proposes anastonishing 1,092 new hotel rooms besides floating villas to augmentreal estate, but no thought has been given to the coral reefs which arealready battling bleaching and will now be subject to effluents from thevillas. Lakshadweep is fighting serious battles from climate change. In2019 a small island, Parali in Bangaram atoll, sank due to rising sealevels. Lakshadweep's ecology and people both need to be left aloneand any development must not be at loggerheads with the local peo-ple. To show the requisite respect to popular opinion, the governmentcan commission an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the pro-posed tourism plans and consider the views of the local population andenvironmental experts.

(The writer is an environmental journalist. The views expressed are personal.)

China is not a member ofthe G-7 which metrecently. It was not a for-

mal topic of discussion at themeeting either. However, it issaid the three Cs —Coronavirus, Climate, andChina - dominated the group-ing much of whose delibera-tions, obliquely, had an anti-China tone.

Prime Minister NarendraModi emphasized the role of'democratic and transparentnations' in dealing with theCoronavirus pandemic, whichsimply means that we do notexpect any solution from Chinaabout dealing with the pan-demic because China is neitherdemocratic nor transparent.The demand for a probe intothe origins of the pandemicfound much traction. A topmember of the Biden admin-

istration stressed the need torespond to China's lack oftransparency, poor environ-mental and labour standards,and coercive approach. Theissues of Hong Kong's autono-my, human rights in theXinjiang region, and peace andstability around the TaiwanStrait also resonated.

China must have felt isolat-ed being distanced from the G-7 summit. An anti-Chinatenor was growing across theworld in the last 16 monthsafter the Coronavirus outbreakwas sourced to that country.However, for the first time, theG-7, a grouping of the world'spowerful countries, appeared tounite against China, highlight-ing issues the country wouldwant to brush under the carpet.

Simultaneously, Quad,another powerful grouping of

the US, India, Japan, andAustralia, is conducting jointmilitary exercises to neutraliseChina and curb its maritimepower in the Arabian Sea andthe Pacific Ocean. This is notonly a powerful response to themaritime challenge India facesfrom China but also a vital con-dition for peace and stability inthe Indo-Pacific region. Theunambiguous statement of theG-7 on the security of the

Taiwan Strait is in a way a directchallenge to China. The factthat all the Quad membersattended the G-7 makes it a spe-cial event. It helps expand thescope of Quad itself.

China has been taking for-ward the Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) project andover 100 countries are its sig-natories. Coincidentally, Italy isboth a BRI signatory and a G-7 member. Two special invi-tees to G-7, South Africa andSouth Korea, are also signato-ries. The G-7 summit boldlyproposed the B3W (Build BackBetter World) initiative tocounter the BRI. This infra-structure building plan is beingpushed by US President JoeBiden. Till two years ago, it wasthought impossible to stop theBRI project, but the G-7 hastaken a step in that direction.

It is important to point outthat if China's ambitious BRI iscurbed and US-backed B3W ispromoted, India is expected tobe a big gainer not just strate-gically but also economically.The BRI project is dominatedmainly by Chinese banks andinstitutions and Chinese infra-structure companies (mostlyfrom the public sector). Due totheiropaque and discriminato-ry business approaches, notonly were the countries thatsigned up feeling the increasingdebt burden, but were alsoexperiencing growing politicalinterference from the Chineseestablishment. In contrast,B3W will both be transparentand beneficial for membercountries. For instance,infra-structure companies in coun-tries like India will get big busi-ness opportunities and eco-

nomic development will getaccelerated, while at the sametime curbing China's domi-nance. For a long time, Chinahad been capturing the world'smarkets through its ever-expanding industrial produc-tion and has increased its eco-nomic clout. On the strength ofits increasing economic andmilitary power, it has beenintimidating its neighboursand trying to grab their land.The G-7 stand will boost theconfidence of these countries.For the last five years, severalcountries in the world includ-ing India are becoming sensi-tive and protective about theirindustries and economy. Theefforts of 'Make in India' and'Self-Reliant India' calls areintended to reduce depen-dence on China. In such a sit-uation, it will not be easy for

China to maintain its pace ofgrowth.

For some time, China hadbecome arrogant because of itseconomic and military powerand clout. That is why officialstatements from China used tobe combative. However, seeingthe aggressive attitude of theworld, China has now softenedits posture under the impres-sion that its changed behaviourmight douse the world's grow-ing anger.But that is not all.China is also on targetabout theorigin of Coronavirus and itsspread. It can be said thatChina should be worried aboutthe increasing global mobilisa-tion and undoubtedly, to saveitself, China willlet go of itsarroganceand its economic andmilitary aggression. Perhapsthis will pave the way for peacein the world.

For the first time, the grouping appeared to unite against China, highlighting issues the country would want to brush under the carpet

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JUNE 29, 2021

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FIRSTCOLUMNWILL LAKSHADWEEPSURVIVE VAGARIES?

The water-stressed islands cannot take either the tourismload or the pollution that the new industries would bring

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(The writer is a policyanalyst. The views

expressed are personal.)

The G-7 Summit: Intimidating China

ASHWANI MAHAJAN

(The author is Professor,PGDAV College, University

of Delhi. The views expressedare personal.)

KOTA SRIRAJ

Second, source countries get to taxa certain portion of the profitsgenerated by most profitableMNCs from the operations intheir territories.

Far from addressing the coreissue, this prescription will onlycreate more anomalies. Imposinga corporate minimum tax willinterfere with the sovereign rightof a country to determine ‘whatshould be its tax policy’ andimpair its ability to galvanize thepolicy to achieve certain objec-tives. For instance, on September20, 2019, the Indian Governmentbrought about a steep reduction inthe tax rate for new entities in themanufacturing sector (incorporat-ed from October 1, 2019, andcommencing production byMarch 31, 2023) from the existing25 per cent to 15 per cent. Thiswas done to attract investment(including foreign investment),give a boost to growth, and createjobs. Under the GMCT regime,with the floor set at 15 per cent,India will lose the freedom tolower its corporate tax rate belowthis level. In fact, under an earli-er proposal mooted by the Bidenadministration to set GMCT at 21per cent(in 2017, the Trumpadministration had introduced acorporate offshore minimum taxcalled "Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) -it isapplied on the offshore income ofUS-based MNCs having sub-sidiaries in low-tax countries at10.5 per cent; Biden wanted todouble GILTI to 21 per centand insync GMCT at 21 per cent), Indiawould have been forced to

increase its minimum tax from 15per cent to 21 per cent. India’s abil-ity to attract investment will befurther undermined if in additionto GMCT of 15 per cent, the homecountry of the MNC (read theUSA) goes for the ‘top up’ option(under GILTI) i.e., the Indian taxrate remaining at 15 per cent, theformer collects six per cent tax onprofits earned by the firm inIndia. The effective incidence oftax - in this scenario - being 21 percent (15 per cent paid in India plussix per cent levied by US), UScompanies will be deterred frominvesting in India. That apart, aglobal minimum tax rate will dolittle to tackle tax evasion.

The only logical way forwardto do this is for the source coun-try, where the profits are generat-ed, to capture and tax them - asemphasized in the OECD draft.The GCMT cannot be a substitutefor this. Taking the Indian exam-ple, a levy of tax at 21 per cent-against the prevailing low of 15 percent (new manufacturing units) -will not result in additional taxcollection to fully offset the lossresulting from profit shifting. Forinstance, if out of `100 only `20is recorded in India, the extra rev-enue from the higher rate will beonly `1.20 (20x.06) against a lossof `12 due to profit shifting(80x0.15).

This brings us to the secondPillar of the G-7 deal. The pro-posed formula is seriously flawed.It gives to the source country tax-ing rights only to the extent of 20per cent of the profit (exceedinga 10 per cent margin) for the

largest and most profitable MNCs.Put simply, if the firm earns `100from its operation in India then,the latter gets to collect tax onlyon `20. Who gets the right to theremaining tax on `80? Will the taxhaven (read country where thefirm is incorporated and whererevenue from Indian operations isrecorded) get taxation rights on it?Or the home country of the MNCalso get a share in the cake?

The formula iserroneous.Neither the country ofincorporation nor MNC's homecountry has any right to collect taxon profits generated from itsoperations inthe source country.This right should vest entirely withthe source country. Further, itshould have the right to collect taxfrom all offshore companies doingbusiness on its territory andnotjust from the largest and most profitable MNCs - as proposed byG-7.

To conclude, G-20 shoulddrop the GMCT proposal. Itshould only focus on Pillar II witha clear stipulation that only thesource country from where an off-shore firm is deriving its income- irrespective of where it is record-ed - has the sole right to collect taxon it. A consensus should bebuilt around a criterionfor arriv-ing at the annual taxable profit.The source countryshould havethe freedomto decide the tax rateit deems fit in sync with its poli-cy imperatives. Till this is done,India should retain DST (or'equalization levy' introduced in2016/2020 instead of tax on prof-its) on digital giants.

UTTAM GUPTA

VIJAYAWADA TUESDAY JUNE 29, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

The country's largest car-maker Maruti SuzukiIndia on Monday said

it has expanded its vehicle sub-scription services to four morecities -- Jaipur, Indore,Mangalore and Mysore -- tak-ing the total number to 19cities. The company said it has also launched a marketplacemodel for its subscription service -- Maruti Suzuki Subscribe-- that will serve as a unified platform to offer customisedcar subscription products through multiple partners at com-petitive rates. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has partnered withthree subscription partners namely Orix Auto InfrastructureServices Ltd. (Orix), ALD Automotive India (ALDAutomotive), and Myles Automotive Technologies Pvt Ltd(Myles) for its subscription service.With the expansion of 'sub-scription' services to four new cities -- Jaipur, Indore,Mangalore and Mysore, customers can now opt for MarutiSuzuki Subscribe services in 19 cities, the company said ina regulatory filing.

Bharti AXA LifeInsurance registereda marginal rise of 4.3

per cent in its total premi-um income to Rs 2,281crore in FY21, the compa-ny said on Monday.Renewal premium grew bya healthy 10 per cent in2020-21, it added.The second wave of the COVID-19 pan-demic has impacted the new business premium income,which stood at Rs 783 crore in FY21, compared to Rs 829crore in FY20, a company statement said. The annualisednew business premium was Rs 582 crore for FY21.

Total premium income grew moderately to Rs 2,281 crorein FY21, from Rs 2,187 crore in the preceding financial year,the statement said.Renewal premium registered 10 per centgrowth at Rs 1,498 crore for 2020-21 as against Rs 1,359 crorein the previous fiscal.

Bharti AXA premium incomerises 4% to Rs 2,281 crore

Although GeneralMotors will buildHonda's first two fully

electric vehicles for NorthAmerica, the Japanese automak-er plans to change course andmanufacture its own later thisdecade.c Company officials say they're developing their ownEV architecture, and after two GM-made EVs go on salein 2024, Honda will start building its own. “It's absolutelyour intention to produce in our factories,” Honda of AmericaExecutive Vice President Dave Gardner said, adding thatHonda has developed battery manufacturing expertise frombuilding gas-electric hybrids. “We absolutely intend to uti-lize that resource.” Honda and GM have been partners onhydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles. Earlier this year theyannounced that GM would build one Honda SUV and oneAcura SUV using its Ultium-branded electric vehiclearchitecture and battery system.

Honda changing course, willbuild its own electric vehicles

State-owned NTPC hasfloated a global tender toinvite expression of inter-

est for setting up 1000 MWhof grid-scale battery energystorage system (BESS) at itspower plants in India. "AnyIndian/Global Company/their Consortium/ Affiliates/Representatives are invited tosubmit EoI for setting up 1000 MWh of Grid-scale BESSat NTPC Power Plants in India," the tender floated on June26, 2021, said. The tender notice said this expression of inter-est (EoI) is to assess commercialization prospects of settingup grid-scale BESS.After identifying the applicants throughEoI, Request for Proposals (RFP) for undertaking projectsacross multiple NTPC plants shall be invited separately forsetting up the facilities and scalable model for further addi-tional requirements.Last date for submission of EoI is August10, 2021. The EoI response will be opened the next day.

NTPC invites EoI to set up1GW battery storage system

Maruti launches subscriptionservices in four more cities

PNS n MUMBAI

India has decided to allowethanol-based 'flex engines',which power vehicles usinglocal farm produce and not fos-sil fuels, and will be rolling outa scheme on the same in thenext three months, UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari said onMonday.

Gadkari said other countriesof the world like Brazil, the USand Canada have flex engineswhich are powered by farm pro-duce and exhorted automakerslike BMW, Mercedes andToyota to develop vehicles run-ning on the alternative fuel.

A switch to locally-producedethanol will be helpful fora country like India which

r e l i e s

majorly on crude oil imports forpowering the transport sector, hesaid, adding that it will also beless polluting and cost-saving.

A litre of ethanol comes atbetween 60-62 per litre as againstthe over Rs 100 paid for petrol,the minister said, admitting thatthe calorific value of the ethanolis low.

“In the US, Brazil andCanada, they have flex engines,so as the transport minister weare going to launch this flexengine facility to all the con-sumers in the country,” Gadkarisaid at an event organised bystate-run lender Indian Bank.

“We are going to launch thisscheme now and

within threemonths we

are goingto start,”h eadded.

Gadkari said the government hasalready started giving permis-sions to establish 100 per centethanol petrol pumps and addedthat Prime Minister NarendraModi has already inauguratedtwo such facilities in Pune,Maharashtra.

“We can make ethanol fromsugarcane juice molasses andnow the government is givingpermission to make ethanolfrom food grains that are fromrice, corn and food grains,” hesaid, asking states like TamilNadu, Maharashtra, Karnatakaand Uttar Pradesh to take thelead.

At present, India allows for 20per cent ethanol-blending infuels. The country is saddledwith excess stocks of rice andwheat as well, Gadkari said,after flagging hunger as one ofthe key challenges for the coun-try.

He said Indian automakersincluding TVS and Bajaj havealready developed two-wheelersto run exclusively on ethanol,asking their peers to developtheir own models. Gadkari saidbankers also need to take thelead in identifying disruptivetechnologies of the future andfund them at the appropriatetime.

PNS n BEIJING

China on Monday launchedtwo units of a massivehydropower station in thecountry's southwest, said to bethe world's largest, which isunder construction and costsabout USD 34 billion.

The two units of theBaihetan hydropower stationwere launched ahead of theJuly 1 centenary celebrations ofthe ruling Communist Party ofChina (CPC).

The hydropower station islocated on the Jinsha River, theupper section of the YangtzeRiver, and straddles the south-western provinces of Yunnanand Sichuan.

China has already built theThree Gorges Dam on theYangtze River and approved

plans to build another massivedam on the Brahmaputra Riverin Tibet close to Arunachal

Pradesh. The dams cost about220 billion yuan (USD 34 bil-lion), according to media

reports. With a total installedcapacity of 16 million kilo-watts, the Baihetan hydropow-er station is equipped with 16hydro-generating units, eachwith a capacity of one millionkilowatts, the largest single-unit capacity in the world, thestate-run Xinhua news agencyreported.

In the station's undergroundpowerhouse, the first two suchunits are running steadily. Allunits are scheduled to be oper-ational in July 2022 and willgenerate over 62.4 billion kilo-watt-hour of electricity everyyear on average, the reportsaid.

When in full operation, theBaihetan project is expected to

save approximately 19.68 mil-lion tonnes of standard coal,and reduce carbon dioxideemissions by 51.6 milliontonnes, sulfur dioxide by170,000 tonnes and nitrogenoxides by 150,000 tonnes annu-ally, according to China ThreeGorges Corporation (CTGC),which built the station.

Chinese President Xi Jinpingcongratulated the Baihetanhydropower station for launch-ing the first two generatingunits, saying as a major projectin China's west-east powertransmission programme, thestation is the largest and mosttechnically difficult hydropow-er project under constructionin the world.

China launches 2 units of world's largest hydropower station

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government will providefree visas to 5 lakh tourists vis-iting India, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said onMonday.

Announcing measures torevive the tourism sector bat-tered by Covid-19, Sitharamansaid financial support would beprovided to more than 11,000registered tourist guides,travel and tourismstakeholders.

She said oncethe visa issuancefor internationaltravel is restart-ed, the first fivelakh tourists willbe issued visasfree of charge. Thetotal financial implica-tion of this measure would beRs 100 crore.

The scheme would beapplicable till March 31, 2022,or till 5 lakh visas are issued,whichever is earlier.

This would incentiviseshort-term tourists visitingIndia, she said.

The governmentwill also provide

working capital orpersonal loans to people

in the tourism sector to dis-charge liabilities or restartbusinesses impacted due toCovid-19.

Loans will be providedwith 100 per cent guaranteewith a limit of Rs 10 lakh fortravel and tourism stakehold-ers and Rs 1 lakh for registered

tourist guides.Sitharaman further said

that Rs 23,220 crore more willbe provided for public health.

This would have specialfocus on short-term emer-gency preparedness with spe-cial emphasis on children/pae-diatric care/paediatric beds.

The measures are part of aslew of announcements madeby the finance minister onMonday for economic revival.

India to allow ethanol-based flexengines in vehicles, says Gadkari

Free visas to 5 lakh tourists,financial support for tourism

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensextumbled 189 points on Mondayled by losses in index heavy-weights Reliance Industries,TCS and HDFC amid a nega-tive trend in global markets.

After touching a lifetimehigh of 53,126.73 in openingsession, the 30-share BSE indexended 189.45 points or 0.36 percent lower at 52,735.59.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty settled 45.65 points or0.29 per cent down at15,814.70. It touched a lifetimeintra-day peak of 15,915.65.

Titan was the top loser inthe Sensex pack, shedding over1 per cent, followed by TCS,HCL Tech, Reliance Industries,UltraTech Cement and BhartiAirtel.

On the other hand, DrReddy's, Tata Steel, TechMahindra, Sun Pharma andHUL were among the gainers.

"After opening at a record

high, the domestic marketsslipped into the negative zonetracking cues from global peersdue to spike in COVID casesacross Asia," said Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services.

PSU banks were in focus inanticipation of progress in privati-sation, he said, adding that themarket got volatile in the closinghour during the FM's announce-ment on fresh stimulus, though

it was focused on COVID-19relief package mainly for health-care and stressed sectors, whichwill benefit the broader economy.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses inShanghai, Hong Kong, Seouland Tokyo ended with losses.Stock exchanges in Europe weretrading in the red in mid-sessiondeals. Meanwhile, internationaloil benchmark Brent crude wastrading 0.16 per cent lower atUSD 75.26 per barrel.

Sensex drops 189 points, Nifty slips below 15,850

Global markets lower after WS recovers to new highPNS n BEIJING

Global stock markets declinedMonday after Wall Street hit anew high as investors lookedahead to manufacturing indi-cators from Japan, China andSouth Korea.

London and Frankfurtopened lower, while Shanghai,Tokyo and Hong Kong edgedlower, trading in a narrowrange.

On Friday, Wall Street'sS&P 500 index turned in itsbiggest weekly gain in fourmonths. That gain “is gener-ally telling of improving sen-timent,” said Mizuho Bank ina report.

Investors have been encour-aged by progress in

Washington on an infrastruc-ture spending plan, which fol-lowed a recovery from the joltto markets last week when theFederal Reserve said it mightstart raising interest ratessooner than expected.

In early trading, the FTSE100 in London lost 0.4% to7,106.95 and the DAX inFrankfurt was unchanged at15,609.20. The CAC 40 inParis sank 0.3% to 6,605.40.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500future was up less than 0.1%while that for the Dow JonesIndustrial Average was off lessthan 0.1%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose0.3%. That gave the index aweekly gain of 2.7%, its biggestsince Feb. 5.

Power Mech bags Rs 9,294 crcontract from Central CoalfieldsPNS n NEW DELHI

Power Mech Projects Ltd onMonday said it has bagged aRs 9,294 crore contract fromCoal India arm CCL to devel-op and operate a mine.

The project has beenawarded to a consortium ofPower Mech and AMR IndiaLtd. Power Mech is the consor-tium leader with 74 per centequity stake and AMR Indiawill hold 26 per cent stake.

"Power Mech...has beenawarded a Mine Development& Operation (MDO) projectfrom Central Coalfields Ltd(CCL), a subsidiary of CoalIndia Ltd, aggregating to Rs9,294 crore over the contractperiod," Power Mech said in astatement.

The contract will comprisemine infrastructure develop-

ment, removal of overburdenand extraction of coking coal,processing, crushing andtransportation of coal up towashery of CCL, carrying outR&R activities and any otheractivities incidental to miningas per the project document atKotre Basantpur Pachmo OCPlocated in Ramgarh andBokaro districts of Jharkhand.

The project has total coalextraction capacity of 105 mil-lion tonne (MT) with an annu-al capacity of 5 MT and over-burden removal during theproject period is over 539MBCM.

The concession period is 25years, including two years ofdevelopment period with anoption of extending the con-tract for a period of another 10years with the consent of boththe parties.

PNS n HYDERABAD

NMDC Limited is expectingthe demerger of its three-mil-lion tonne per annum capaci-ty steelplant being set up inChhattisgarh to be completedby thethird quarter of the cur-rent fiscal, a senior official ofthestate-owned miner has said.

Amitava Mukherjee,Director (Finance), NMDC inarecently held earnings callsaid the Board of Directors ofthecompany is expected togive its approval to the draftdemergerscheme by July 31and once that happens, then itwill be takento SEBI andCompetition Commission ofIndia for necessaryapprovals.

"By all accounts, this is theprocess after theBoardapproval could take any-thing between 100 to 160 days,

depending on how muchtime SEBI takes, how much

time MCA otherpeople take. So from -- if I

start from August 1, so itcouldbe anything between 100days from August to 160 daysfromAugust," he said replyingto a query on the timelinesfordemerger of the steel plant.

Sumit Deb, CMD of the

firm said the commissioningofthe steel plant would be dur-ing the third quarter.

Deb said the total capitalexpenditure for the current

financial year is around Rs3,700 crore out of which Rs1,500crore will be spent on thesteel plant.

C’garh steel plant demerger tobe completed in Q3: NMDC

Gold gainsRs 116; silverjumps Rs 161PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold in the national capital onMonday gained Rs 116 to Rs46,337 per 10 gram reflectingstrong global trends, accordingto HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the pre-cious metal had closed at Rs46,221 per 10 gram.

Silver also jumped Rs 161 toRs 67,015 per kilogram from Rs66,854 per kilogram in the pre-vious trade.

"Spot gold prices for 24 caratin Delhi were up by Rs 116reflecting strong COMEX goldprices and support from rupeedepreciation," according toHDFC Securities, SeniorAnalyst (Commodities), TapanPatel.

The Indian rupee slumped 6paise to 74.26 against the USdollar in opening trade onMonday.

PNS n MUMBAI

The rupee inched 1 paisahigher to settle almost flat at74.19 (provisional) against theUS dollar on Monday amidfirm crude oil prices and amuted trend in the domesticequities.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened at 74.24 per dollar asagainst its previous closeof 74.20.

It hovered in the rangeof 74.18 to 74.27 duringthe day before ending at74.19 against the green-back.

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges thegreenback's strengthagainst a basket of sixcurrencies, fell 0.10per cent to 91.76.

On thedomestic equi-

ty market front, the BSESensex ended 189.45 points or0.36 per cent lower at52,735.59, while the broaderNSE Nifty fell 45.65 points or0.29 per cent to 15,814.70.Brent crude futures, the glob-al oil benchmark, advanced0.07 per cent to USD 76.23 perbarrel. Foreign institutionalinvestors were net sellers in thecapital market on Friday as

they offloaded sharesworth Rs 678.84

crore, as pere x c h a n g e

data.

Rupee climbs 1 paisa higher to close at 74.19

PNS n BENGALURU

WhatsApp has appointedformer Amazon executiveManesh Mahatme as headof its Paymentsbusinessin India.

Mahatme brings withhim 17 years of experienceindigital financial servicesand payments acrossCitibank,Airtel Moneyand Amazon, WhatsAppsaid in a statementonMonday.

He joins WhatsAppfrom Amazon where hespent close toseven yearsas Director and Boardmember of Amazon PayIndiaand led product,engineering, and growthteams, it said.

"Payments onWhatsApp is uniquelyplaced to be asignificantpartner in the country'sgrowth agenda by mak-ingdigital payments acces-sible to users across thelength andbreadth ofIndia," said Mahatme.

WhatsApp appointsex-Amazonexecutive ManeshMahatme as Headof Payments

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

CALVIN AND HOBBES

9

Vijayawada Tuesday June 29, 2021

FUN

health

ancer is one of the10 leading causesof death in India.A staggering 14lakh new cases arediagnosed and

close to 10 lakh, people suc-cumb to cancer every year inIndia.

Anyone living with a histo-ry of cancer, from themoment of diagnosis throughthe remainder of life, is acancer survivor. It is estimat-ed that there are well over 20lakh cancer survivors at anygiven point of time in thecountry. Major advances incancer prevention, earlydetection, and treatment haveresulted in longer survival,and therefore, a growingnumber of cancer survivors.However, the enormous chal-lenges posed by Covid-19have hugely disrupted cancercare, with a disproportionate-

ly large number of peoplepresenting late, with conse-quently poor survival.

Cancer survivors, care-givers, family members,friends, and healthcare pro-fessionals unite to demon-strate that life after a cancerdiagnosis can be meaningfuland productive.

Knowledge, courage, hope,and inspiration can help beatcancer. And that is the keymessage to convey to cancersurvivors, nay, ‘cancer con-querors’. Cancer affects thebody, mind, and soul. And,therefore, just treating thephysical being is not ade-quate. Cancer can leave ahost of problems in its wake -physical, emotional, andfinancial hardships, whichoften persist after diagnosisand treatment. Hence coun-selling is an extremely impor-tant component of cancer

care, which ensures patientsand their relatives are betterinformed, better prepared,and more importantly, feelmore in control at every stageof their treatment andbeyond.

While it is heartening that“communication skills" hasbeen introduced into theIndian Medical Curriculumthree years ago, there needsto more focused efforts madeto ensure that it forms animportant component oftraining and assessment fordoctors pursuing a career incancer care.

Through my first-handexperience of taking care ofmy mother who ‘conquered’breast cancer, and equally,practising the art and scienceof breast surgery both in theUK and India, I have seenseveral ordinary womenbecome extraordinarythrough their tremendouscourage, rock-solid determi-nation and unwavering per-severance in the fight againstcancer. The importance ofthe multidisciplinary treating

team to instill this much-needed inner strength cannotbe overemphasised and iscritical to the victory againstcancer. There is an urgentneed to develop more dedi-cated cancer support groupsacross India that can furtherreinforce thepsychological/emotionalassistance to those who arenewly diagnosed and enablethem to swiftly return to anormal life.

‘Out of difficulties growmiracles’. A disease is nothingbut the body's signal to trans-form lifestyle, thoughtprocesses, and approach tolife. Cancer is one such dis-ease that can be conquered ifone does not get over-whelmed by fear and uncer-tainty. On this special day, Itake this opportunity tosalute the ‘cancer conquerors’and wish them good health,always.

(The writer is foundingdirector, Ushalakshmi BreastCancer Foundation and Kims-Ushalakshmi Centre for BreastDiseases, Hyderabad)

C

Caring forcancer

conquerors

n a fast-pacedworld today, thelifestyle andeveryday eatinghabits of peopleare also evolving

rapidly. The demands of thedynamic world are taking atoll on people and leading toa variety of lifestyle diseases.

Esophagitis is one suchlifestyle disease that iscaused mainly due tounhealthy dietary habits andan inactive lifestyle. Theesophagus is the musculartube that is responsible forsending food from themouth to the stomach. Anyinflammation or irritationof the esophagus is calledesophagitis.

Esophagitis can beextremely painful and cancause difficulty in swallow-ing along with sharp chestpain. A few reasons that cancause this condition is, sideeffects of certain medica-tions, infections due toviruses and bacteria, andallergies.

Symptoms

It is very easy to confusethe symptoms of esophagitiswith any other digestive-related conditions. Themedical prognosis by aqualified gastroenterologistis required to correctly diag-nose the condition. Butsome of the most commonsymptoms associated withesophagitis are as follows:¬ Difficult and painfulswallowing - If a person issuffering from esophagitis,they will experience extremepain during swallowing anyfood or liquid. This iscaused due to inflammationin the esophagus, whichcauses pain when any foodor liquid substance tries topass through the tube.Sometimes, it even leads tofood impaction, where thefood is stuck in the middle

of the esophagus.¬ Sharp chest pains andheartburn - When one triesto chew the food and swal-low it and experiences asharp pain in the chest, par-ticularly behind the breast-bone, the person could besuffering from esophagitis.The condition also causessevere heartburn sensationswhile eating because ofinflammation and acidreflux.¬ Sore throat - Whilesuffering from esophagitis,it is common to experiencea sore throat with scratchyand burning feelings. It iscaused by repeated regurgi-tation of food.

Although esophagitis is alifestyle disease caused dueto unhealthy food habits,other reasons lead to thecondition. Here are themost common reasons thatcause esophagitis.¬ Excessive intake ofalcohol and caffeine -Alcohol and caffeine whenconsumed regularly in largequantities, can cause acidreflux which leads to scar-ring of the esophagus. Thesevere scarring of the acidreflux leads to esophagitis.¬ Allergies - Certain

allergies such as allergicrhinitis, atopic dermatitis,and asthma can causeesophagitis. A person with afamily history of the condi-tion is more likely to sufferfrom esophagitis. ¬ Bacterial, viralInfections - In most cases,people with poor immunesystems suffer fromesophagitis. People withweakened immune systemsoften fall sick due to viraland bacterial infection andhence are excessively treatedwith antibiotics andsteroids. These medicationscan cause esophagitis as aside effect.

The most common treat-ment plan followed fortreating esophagitis is tolessen symptoms, managethe complications causedwhile treating the underly-ing causes of the condition.Treatment plans can varybased on the cause of thecondition and its severity. Afew of the common meth-ods to treat the conditionare dietary changes — If theesophagitis is not verysevere and the patient ismainly experiencing minorsymptoms like acid reflux, adietary change can treat the

condition. Foods containingexcessive caffeine, alcohol,fat, and spice are asked toavoid as they have the abili-ty to cause acid reflux andgag reaction in the foodpipe. Fundoplication is asurgery performed toimprove the condition of theesophagus and repair anydamages to the tissuecaused. This is performed asthe last resort if other inter-ventions do not yield anyresults.

A measured portion ofthe stomach is wrappedaround the valve separatingthe esophagus tube andstomach and this preventsacid from returning backinto the esophagus.

For anybody experiencingany symptoms and arechronic in nature, it is advis-able to visit a doctor and geta complete diagnosis done.Waiting for a longer periodor using over-the-counterpills to treat the condition,can worsen it and lead toserious and irreversibledamage to the esophagus.

(The writer, Dr. JaganMohan Reddy, is a SurgicalGastroenterologist at ApolloSpectra Hospital Kondapur,Hyderabad.)

EYE ONYOUR

PLATEI

ince the time theweb series formathas picked up pacein India, it hasbeen giving ussome memorable

characters whose status issomewhat immortalisedthrough the meme and inter-net culture! As actor Naveen

Kasturia aka Abhilash fromthe TVF Aspirants went viralon social media for keeping afond memory of his lady lovewhile he gets to know she hasmoved on in life. When TheViral Fever began, thethought behind starting TVFwas to reach out to theyounger generation whobarely watch television enter-tainment anymore, accordingto the founder of it. Today, itis covering a range of topicson politics, movies, lifestyle,and emerging social con-cepts, one of which was therecent release Aspirants thatwas a realistic story winninghearts.

“When I started working, Itook a lot of effort to con-sciously make both phases ofmy character’s life appear dif-ferent. I did a lot of work-shops with my co-actors, andthe effort was to make theyounger Abhilash likablebecause it saw problemseverywhere. He doesn’t seehow it can be solved, andthat is something Dhairyaimplants in him. I thinkthere is a lot of Abhilash inme and that’s why I connect-ed with him,” explainsNaveen.

Acting is being in character!Encompassing the struggles,disappointments, hope ofUPSC aspirants with the con-sequences of his choices,Naveen explored his character

with an open mind. It’s can beeasier to imitate a character oreven an emotion than it is tobring depth to it, Naveen man-aged to do both, effortlessly. Itshows in people sending himgreat responses through socialmedia, and being called tospeak at dominant summits!

But what is one thing he him-self learned from his character?"I learnt to apply the positiveapproach from the character,and that success has no valueunless you have family andfriends to share it with,” he

shares. He managed to applyhis real-life strength to hisreel life character which madehim feel alive as Abhilash. Thefocussed desire pushed him toface the persevered challengesof the role along with an exem-plary direction to bring sincer-ity to the role.

“OTT has emerged like adinosaur. There are lots ofplayers and content. Theconsumption has increasedand so has the production.Every show has an audience.A good show will obviouslyhave a wider reach but evenan average show gets its sec-tion of audience since we areso many and taste is subjec-tive. There is something foreveryone. I still feel that thedemand is greater than thesupply, and I think it hasbenefitted Aspirants. A showwould probably need moretime from you, but I am justtreating them as just stories.Initially, people might havehad their doubts about theweb, but I didn’t,” he sharesabout OTT platforms in thecurrent moment.

Naveen is glad thatPitchers season 2 is finallyhappening but feels hispotential was not utilisedwell after the show, as hewasn’t even expecting hewould come this far!Recalling the nervousnessaround the release of Pitchers- season 1, Naveen shares,

“At the time, people weren'taware of what a web series is.The only web series that hadcome out by then wasPermanent Roommates whichhad very short episodes.Pitchers was the first webseries with legit forty-minuteepisodes. I was really ner-vous about how it was goingto be received because it washappening for the first timethat someone was releasing afull-fledged series onYouTube with a longer for-mat. So, nobody imaginedthat the reception of theshow would be that huge. Imet so many people in mylife whose startup inspirationwas Pitchers. So many youngpeople were inspired by theshow. I don’t think anybodyanticipated that kind of suc-cess.”

Currently, Naveen Kasturiais in no hurry to resumework as he believes it’s notthe right time to resumeshooting. The accomplishedactor is at peace with himselfand wants to take it easy forsome time until the pandem-ic is over. Featuring not justthe goals and ambitions ofUPSC aspirants but also theirvulnerabilities and failures,the web series teaches theimportance of Plan B andhow one should never giveup hope. With five episodes,you can easily binge-watchAspirants over the weekend!

S

BRINGING DEPTHTO CHARACTERSLIKE NO OTHER

What doPitchers, TVFAspirants,SulemaniKeeda,Loveshhuda,Hope AurHum, andSone Bhi DoYaaro have incommon? Theamazing talentthat is NaveenKasturia! Thebrilliant actortalks to ThePioneer'sSHIKHADUGGALabout hisjourney fromthe web seriesto his most-loved role asAbhilash.

INCLUSIVECARE, NEED

OF THE HOUR

INCLUSIVECARE, NEED

OF THE HOUR

he Covid-19 pandemicand the subsequent lock-down have gravely impact-ed the socio-economicdevelopment, publichealth, and social dynam-

ics of society. While many view it as a‘great equaliser’, this assumption failsto account for how social identitiesimpact an individual’s life. As we cele-brate ‘Pride Month’, the reality is thatthe LGBTQIA+ community remainson the outskirts of most narratives.

Pre-pandemic, many in the com-munity lacked proper economic andsocial capital, and resorted to workingin the informal sector, mostly in sexwork, badhai toli, and begging, whichtook a hard hit last year due to Covid19. Many lost their livelihoods, couldnot pay rent, were evicted from theirhomes, and were forced to return totheir ‘original home and families’.Here, instances of violence, height-ened surveillance, and a lack of peersupport systems make the spacesuncomfortable. The Nazaria QueerFeminist Research Group in the

country’s capital has reported a two-fold increase in the number of callsreceived on their helplines, and had toincrease their staffing of therapists toassist queer individuals in distress.

The focus on Covid-19 has also ledto the de-prioritisation of multiplehealth concerns affecting communitymembers.

Many continue to live in crowdedspaces, leading to a struggle in follow-ing basic Covid safety protocols. Inthese settings, isolation, social dis-tancing, and sanitation facilities arerare. This is compounded by stigmaand disapproval due to the identity ofthese members. In terms of accessingvaccinations, community memberslack proper documentation essentialfor vaccine registrations.

According to the 2011 census,there are 4.88 lakh individualsdeclared as ‘others’, out of which lessthan 5 percent have been vaccinated.The main reason for this is the lack ofinformation and limited access to dig-ital infrastructure. Further, a 2017decision precludes transgenders, gay

and female sex workers from donat-ing blood post-Covid recovery, bycategorising them as high-riskgroups.

A recent PIL lodged in theSupreme Court highlights the dis-crimination in the implicit decisionconsidering a donor’s blood is testedfor all infectious diseases. The deci-sion remains a testament to the ostra-cization faced by the community whoare always viewed on the basis of theiridentity.

Sharing her experience as anLGBTQIA+ representative and acounsellor with the Naz Foundation,Kiran Butola highlighted that due toCovid, there has been an increase inaccounts of depression, anxiety, andmental distress — with many leftalone from the community, and noone to reach out to. Many membersengaged in sex work, mostly compris-ing women and trans individuals,faced a complete shutdown, and with-out resources, have been left to navi-gate. Those who resumed work foundit difficult to adhere to protective

measures. To add to the challenge, govern-

ment schemes have little to no focuson the needs of the community, andaccessing basic healthcare services is atask, with doctors not even acknowl-edging anatomical differences which,in turn, affects treatment. Section 377may have been amended, but there isan urgent need to sensitise stakehold-ers and the community. It is crucialthat we extend basic healthcare ser-vices, provide fiscal, social, and psy-chological benefits to all members ofthe society, especially the communi-ties most affected. There is a need todevelop a central database with ageand gender-disaggregated data tobring challenges of the members ofthe community into the mainstreamnarrative. This would especially helpthe regulation of the informal sectorwhich engages most LGBTQIA+community workers.

(Contributors Dr Sukriti Chauhanis a Public Health Specialist & CEO atETI, and Shireen Yachu is a PublicHealth Analyst.)

T

ctor Mona Singh, who webetter know and love asour favourite host ofIndia Idol years ago, willbe sharing screen spacewith Aamir Khan in theupcoming film Laal Singh

Chaddha. The movie is the Hindiremake of Tom Hanks’ Oscar-win-ning 1994 film Forrest Gump. Thebubbly actress said that her experi-ence of shooting with Aamir for thefilm was “absolutely magical”.

“It’s been the most beautiful jour-ney for me. From whom you canlearn so much. I know this for a factthat he knows everything abouteverything on the sets. Like what thecamera angle is, where the lightshould be, what are the dialogues,”she added. This is the second timethat Mona Singh will be sharingscreenspace with the perfectionist.She, who has previously workedwith him in Rajkumar Hirani’s 3Idiots, also said that she feels she isthe “chosen one” for she got to workwith the acclaimed actor for the sec-ond time. “I feel very lucky that thisis my second project with Aamir. Itrarely happens to people in their

career. I feel like the chosen one,”she said. Though a great manydetails regarding the film are not outyet, prolific actress Mona Singh issaid to be playing a crucial role inthe film.

Interestingly, Laal Singh Chaddhaalso features Kareena Kapoor whowas the female lead of 3 Idiots.During her latest interview with anentertainment channel, Mona said,“Kareena and I didn’t have anyscenes together and honestly I don’twant to give away what I have donein the movie.... We did spend timetogether, we chilled together and wetalked about things. We talked aboutmarriage. I remember telling herthat I was getting married and shewas so excited. She was like, “Arrewaah... I’m so happy for you. Lookat us, it’s been 10 years. In 2009 weshot 3 Idiots together and today, weare at Laal Singh Chadha. We wereremembering those days and talkingabout her marriage and her and herson...”

Helmed by Secret Superstar direc-tor Advait Chandan, Laal SinghChaddha is slated to be released onDecember 24.

Mona, Kareena, Aamir back together after 3 Idiots

A

TuesdayJune 29, 2021

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DEEPIKA RECLAIMS NO 1 RANKING PARIS: Star Indian archer Deepika Kumari onMonday regained the number one position inglobal rankings following her hat-trick ofgold medals at the World Cup Stage 3 here.

SOUTH AFRICA LEVEL T20I SERIES GRENADA: South Africa's spinners starredas they rebounded from a hammering in thefirst encounter of the five-match T20I seriesto defeat the West Indies by 16 runs in thesecond fixture on Sunday.

ROEHLER OUT OF TOKYO OLYMPICSBERLIN: Defending men's javelin championThomas Roehler has pulled out of competingat the Tokyo Olympics due to a back injury.

KONTA OUT BECAUSE OF COVIDLONDON: Three-time Grand Slamsemifinalist Johanna Konta was droppedfrom the Wimbledon because a member ofher team tested positive for Covid-19.

BILES IN US GYMNASTICS TEAM ST LOUIS: Simone Biles punched her ticketto the Tokyo Games on Sunday, easilywinning the US women's all-around title atthe US Olympic Gymnastics Trials.

INDIAN TEAM ARRIVES IN LANKA COLOMBO: The India white-ball team led byShikhar Dhawan arrived in Colombo for theirfour-week tour which will feature six whiteball games against hosts, starting July 13.

3 SL CRICKETERS SUSPENDED COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) onMonday suspended three players, includingKusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella, forbreaching the bio-bubble during theirongoing tour of England and ordered theirimmediate return to the country.

MCLAUGHLIN SMASHES WREUGENE: Sydney McLaughlin set a worldrecord in women's 400m hurdles at the USOlympic trials on Sunday, clocking 51.90sec.

SIMRANJIT, SOLANKI NOMINATED NEW DELHI: Olympic-bound Simranjit Kaur,Gaurav Solanki and Sonia Chahal have beennominated for the Arjuna award by theBoxing Federation of India.

TOOR CONTINUES RICH FORMPATIALA: Olympic-bound Tajinder Pal SinghToor continued his impressive form as theshot putter produced yet another big throwon Monday while winning Gold in theNational Inter-State Athletics C’ships. Agencies

shortpasses

PNS n NEW DELHI

BCCI President SouravGanguly on Monday con-

firmed that the T20 World Cupscheduled to take place in Indialater this year is now being shift-ed to the UAE owing to thehealth safety concerns posed byCovid-19.

Ending weeks of specula-tion surrounding the mega-event in October-November,Ganguly told PTI, “We haveofficially intimated the ICCthat the T20 World Cup can beshifted to the United ArabEmirates. The details are beingchalked out.”

“The decision was takenkeeping health safety concernsof all stakeholders in mind,” headded.

The BCCI will, however,remain the hosts of the show-piece.

The former Indian captainalso informed that October 17has not been finalised as thestart date of the tournament yet.

“We will be able to finaliseitinerary details in some days.October 17 start hasn’t yet been

finalised.”Even an ICC spokesperson

confirmed that the global bodyis yet to zero in on a final sched-ule.

The ICC, at the start of themonth, had given BCCI a four-week window to decide andinform whether India couldhost the marquee event consid-ering the Covid-19 situation inthe country.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah, ina letter to all state units, said thatthe decision was taken keeping

in mind that “safety of playersand other stakeholders is ofparamount importance...”

Shah also wrote that “it wasnot an easy decision and wemulled over it for months, con-stantly keeping an eye on Covidsituation all along.”

“However with the secondwave causing such devastation,the decision ultimately boileddown to the safety and wellbeing of the players and orga-nizers,” he admitted.

“There is nothing more

that we could have wanted thanto host this prestigious tourna-ment in India, but it was not tobe.”

It was a foregone conclusionthat India will find it difficult tohost a 16-country tournamentacross nine cities with so manylayers of health security con-cerns being there.

The ICC had already start-ed its preparations and logisticsfor the tournament which willbe held in Dubai, Sharjah andAbu Dhabi.

The qualifying round couldbe held in Muscat, which willgive ideal time to the pitches inUAE to freshen up after 31remaining games of IPL are heldtill October 15.

Once the IPL was shifted tothe UAE, it was apparent thatthe T20 World Cup will movetoo given the looming concernsabout a possible third wave ofCovid-19 infection around thattime.

Shah, in his letter, men-tioned that “with its prior expe-rience in hosting IPL in UAE,we can say with certainty that itwill be hosted smoothly...”

2021 T20 WC shifted to UAEAFP n SAO PAULO

An Ecuador side fighting tokeep their Copa America

hopes alive managed to hold apreviously perfect Brazil —playing without a restingNeymar — to a 1-1 draw onSunday and reach the quarter-finals.

Seeking to extend a 10-match winning streak, Brazilcame out pressuring in Goianiaon the group’s final match day.

A free kick in the 37thminute set up Eder Militao,who headed the ball at a sharpangle into the top right cornerof the net, well clear of Ecuadorkeeper Hernan Galindez’s out-stretched arm.

But facing the specter of anearly exit, Ecuador came outfighting in the second half.

They got the equalizer inthe 53rd minute, as Brazil triedto clear a corner kick.

Enner Valencia managed tohead it back the other way, set-ting up Angel Mena, whosprinted in to fire the ball pastAlisson.

In other match, Peru fin-

ished the group stage on ahigh note after a spectacularturnaround.

The Incas opened the tour-nament with a 4-0 thrashing byBrazil.

But they went on to defeatColombia, then battle backfrom 2-0 down against Ecuadoron Wednesday to secure a draw.

They added three morepoints Sunday thanks to Andre

Carrillo, who capitalized onVenezuela’s clumsy failure toclear a corner in the 48thminute in Brasilia.

Brazil finished the groupstage as heavy favourites with 10points from four matches —three points clear of runners-upPeru in Group B.

Colombia finished thirdwith four points and Ecuadorfourth with three.

AFP n SEVILLE

Arocket from ThorganHazard knockedreigning champions

Portugal out of Euro 2020 onSunday and earned Belgiuma blockbuster quarter-finalwith Italy.

Hazard’s swerving shotbefore half-time sealed a 1-0win for Belgium and settleda scrappy contest in Sevillethat never really lived up to itsbilling as the stand-out tie ofthe last 16.

But it could prove a state-ment victory for Belgium,whose chief concern nowwill be the fitness of Kevin DeBruyne and Eden Hazard,

who both hobbled off injuredand will undergo scans.

De Bruyne suffered anankle injury while coachRoberto Martinez saidHazard’s problem was “moreof a muscle feeling”.

Cristiano Ronaldo testedThibaut Courtois with a dip-ping free-kick in the firsthalf but the 36-year-old nei-ther broke the internationalgoals record nor added to hisfive for the tournament.

Raphael Guerreiro wentclosest to a late equaliserwhen his shot came back offthe post, one of 29 shotsPortugal had, six of them ontarget.

But before the late rally,

Belgium were the braver,more fluid team andMartinez hailed his side’sfighting spirit to hold on.

“We showed our talent inthe first half and in the sec-ond half we showed an aspectthat wasn’t there two or threeyears ago,” said Martinez.“This is what a winning teamneeds.”

For all the superstarnames on the pitch, it wasEden Hazard’s less heraldedbrother Thorgan who proveddecisive, the BorussiaDortmund winger who Edenonce said had even more tal-ent than him.

“In these games if youhave a chance you have to

New Delhi: The India OpenSuper 500 and Hyderabad OpenSuper 100 tournaments were onMonday cancelled by theBadminton World Federation(BWF), which announced arevamped international calenderto salvage the remaining seasonaffected by the Covid-19 pan-demic.

The $400,000 India Open,which was supposed to be oneof the qualifiers for the TokyoOlympics, was scheduled to beheld from May 11 to 16 but waspostponed in April due to risingCovid cases in the national cap-ital. The $1,00,000 HyderabadOpen was slated to be held fromAugust 24 to 29.

However, Syed Modi IndiaInternational Super 300 tourna-ment, scheduled to be held inLucknow from October 12 to 17,remained on course as of now,according to the new calender.

In other announcements,the world body on Mondaysaid that Finland will host theSudirman Cup Finals in

September-October while theseason-ending World TourFinals will be staged inIndonesia.

China was scheduled tohost both the Sudirman CupFinal and the World Tour Finalsbut BWF decided to move boththe events out of the country dueto Covid-19 restrictions.

The apex body also decid-ed to push the prestigious WorldChampionships, to be held inSpain, by two weeks.

Denmark will host theThomas & Uber Cup Finals2020 in Aarhus (October 9-17),which was postponed last year.

It will be followed by back-to-back World Tour events —Denmark Open in Odense(October 19-24), French Openin Paris (October 26-31) andSaarLorLux Open (Nov 2-7).

The Indonesia Masters andIndonesia Open will be heldfrom November 16-21 andNovember 23-28, followed bythe World Tour Finals fromDecember 1-5. PTI

BWF cancels India Open,Hyderabad OpenAFP n LONDON

Defending champion NovakDjokovic overcame an

early scare to reach theWimbledon second round onMonday with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win over Britain’s 253rd-ranked Jack Draper.

World number oneDjokovic is chasing a sixthWimbledon title and 20thmajor and is halfway tobecoming just the thirdman in history tocomplete a calen-dar Grand Slam.

It’s a feat sorare that RodLaver was the lastman to achieve thesweep back in 1969.

However, asWimbledon returned after its2020 cancellation due to thepandemic, the 34-year-oldstruggled on the slipperyCentre Court surface with theroof closed above it due to rain.

Left-handed Draper, play-ing just his fifth match on themain tour, saved seven of

seven break points in the open-er as he stunned the top seed.

But Djokovic soonsnuffed out any danger ofhim becoming only the thirddefending champion to lose in

the first round, by sweepingthrough the remainder of thetie.

He f inished with animpressive 25 aces and 47winners as his 19-year-old

opponent wilted.Djokovic will face either

former runner-up KevinAnderson or Chilean qualifi-er Marcelo Tomas BarriosVera for a place in the last 32.

In other f irst roundmatch, French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas has beenupset in the first round byFrances Tiafoe of the UnitedStates.

The 57th-ranked Tiafoeapplied pressure by chargingthe net often and won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. He had been 0-11 pre-viously against players rankedin the top five.

Tiafoe won 24 points atthe net and saved all sevenbreak points he faced.

Tsitsipas was seeded thirdand had won more matchesthan any other player on themen’s tour this year. Hereached his first Grand Slamfinal at Roland Garros thismonth before squandering atwo-set lead in the finalagainst Novak Djokovic.

Tsitsipas lost in the firstround at Wimbledon for thethird time in four appear-ances.

Osijek: Olympic-bound RahiSarnobat displayed sensationalform to clinch the women’s 25mpistol Gold medal at the ISSFshooting World Cup here onMonday but teen sensationManu Bhaker ended seventh inthe same event.

Sarnobat’s Gold is India’s firstin the ongoing edition after thecountry secured one Silver andtwo Bronze medals earlier in thetournament. The 30-year-oldSarnobat fired a final score of 39after qualifying second with atotal of 591. Her stupendous per-formance in the final includedperfect scores in the third, fourth,fifth and the sixth series.

“This competition wasabsolutely not about perfor-mance or medal because I wastrying out a few things which Iam going to do in the OlympicGames and this is the finalcompetition before that.

“It was more about tryingout things and finalising everything before the Olympics for thelast time and that was just that,”she said. PTI

Rahi grabs

Gold in WC

Sao Paulo: Brazil coach Titehad an emotional exchangewith his Ecuador counterpartGustavo Alfaro after the teamsdrew 1-1.

TV footage showed Alfaropraising his counterpart’sethics and adding that Titedeserves the World Cup title.“Don’t go, please. Resistbecause you will end up beingworld champion, rememberwhat I am saying,” Alfaro toldTite on the pitch after thematch. “You dignify this (job).”

Alfaro confirmed duringhis news conference that he’dpraised Tite during their post-match conversation.

“I admire Tite a lot, Ithink he is a genius. For uscoaches he is a role model forhis commitment, his struggle,”Alfaro said.

“He can be world cham-pion and, honestly, I wouldlike coaches like that to havetheir reward. AP

‘Tite deserves to win

FIFA World Cup title’

AFP n LONDON

Twenty-five years on from thepenalty miss that cast a

shadow over his playing career,England manager GarethSouthgate has a shot at redemp-tion and revenge againstGermany.

Euro 2020’s blockbuster last16 clash comes much earlier inthe tournament than the Euro 96semi-final between the pairwhen Southgate was the onlyone of 12 players unable to findthe net from the spot.

But with a favourable routeto the final for the victors andEngland enjoying home advan-tage at Wembley on Tuesday andthe semi-finals and final shouldthey get there, the pressure is onSouthgate to deliver.

Southgate himself has triedto get his England team to lookforward not back, especiallygiven the Three Lions’ recordagainst Germany in major tour-naments.

Since lifting the World Cupin 1966, England have neverwon a knockout game againstthe four-time world champions,losing at the 1970, 1990 and2010 World Cups on top of thepain of Euro 96.

“There’s no point fearing thepast,” Manchester United for-ward Marcus Rashford said thisweek. “You can’t go back andchange it. What we can change

is the result of the next game.”Despite topping Group D

with seven points from a possi-ble nine, a return of just twogoals from three games has notimpressed the England fans ontheir return to Wembley.

The use of two holdingmidfielders in Declan Rice andKalvin Phillips and the manag-er’s faith in Harry Kane andRaheem Sterling means therehas only been two places avail-able for Jack Grealish, PhilFoden, Jadon Sancho, MarcusRashford, Mason Mount andBukayo Saka to fight for.

But that has so far not beenborne out at a tournamentEngland arrived at with farhigher expectations than inRussia three years ago.

Southgate has reportedlybeen influenced by the mannerin which Portugal won Euro2016 and France lifted theWorld Cup three years agowhere a solid defence built thefoundation for the likes ofCristiano Ronaldo and KylianMbappe to win games furtherforward.

Rarely have England everbeen so confident ahead of ameeting against Germany.

Joachim Loew’s men weresix minutes away from exiting atthe group stage for a secondstraight tournament before LeonGoretzka’s late strike snatched a2-2 draw against Hungary.

Ecuador halt Brazil’s win run

have a go,” Thorgan said. “It went in,with a bit of luck and it was the goalthat got us through. It’s a dream forme.”

Portugal, meanwhile, stuck to thedefensive approach that served themso well in France five years ago but hasperhaps been outgrown by a side thatnow boasts some of the most creativetechnicians in the world.

“I think it’s an unfair result butthey scored and we didn’t,” saidPortugal coach Fernando Santos.

“Looking at that second half, weare lucky to win,” Belgium defenderThomas Vermaelen said. “Portugalmade it really hard for us. We had toreally stay focused. It has cost us a lotof energy, but we have some time torecover and now we are looking for-ward to the game against Italy.”

While Portugal’s run for a secondconsecutive European title ended,Belgium stayed on track to end its titledrought. The Belgians lost in theEuropean Championship final in 1980and finished third three years ago atthe World Cup for their best finish atthat tournament.

Thorgan’s swerving shot before half-time helps Red

Devils oust defending champions from Euro 2020

PORTUGAL EXIT

England host Germanyin high voltage clash

Belgium's Axel Witsel, from left, Eden Hazard and Thorgan Hazard celebrate after Thorgan scores Belgium’s first goal @EURO2020

Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Jack Draper, left, after winning the first round men's singles match on day one AP

Wimbledon (day 2)Live from 3:30pm ISTSTAR SPORTS SELECT 1 & 2

Tsitsipas suffers 1st round defeat in Wimbledon

Ecuador's Alan Steven Franco, right, reacts at the end of Copa America match AP

fter delivering asuccessful hit withKrack, starringMass MaharajaRavi Teja andShruti Haasan,

director Gopichand Malineniteamed up with NandamuriBalakrishna for his next film.Recently there was a strongbuzz in the film industry thatGopichand met MehreenKaur Pirzada and offered therole of the female lead in hisupcoming directorial ven-ture, which had Balakrishnain the lead role, but theactress rejected the offer.

The actress of KrishnaGaadi Veera Prema Gadhafame finally came forwardand put a full stop to thisfresh rumor aboutBalakrishna’s film by saying,“I am busy shooting for myfilm with Maruthi Dasari sirand Santosh and I can’t waitfor you all to watch it. All thespeculations about my nextupcoming projectsare baseless.”

Mehreen Kaur

Pirzada urged her fans to notbelieve in anything until sheshared it officially.

On the work front, she iscurrently working withMaruthi Dasari for anupcoming yet-to-be-titledproject in which SantoshShoban of Ek Mini Kathafame is playing the lead role.She is also working with Anil

Ravipudi for the comedy-drama F3 which hasVenkatesh Daggubati,Varun Tej, and Tamannah

Bhatia in the leadroles.

The film isbeing

bankrolled byDil Raju.

12

Vijayawada Tuesday June 29, 2021 tollywood

NAYANTHARA TO TIE

THE KNOT AFTER

PANDEMIC ENDS

ctress Nayanthara fell in lovewith director Vignesh Shivanduring the shooting of NaanumRowdy Dhaan (Nenu Rowdy Ne)film. The love birds have beenseeing each other for the last four

years and often make appearances on eachother’s social media accounts. Throughouttheir relationship, several rumors have

cropped up time and again that Nayan andVignesh are set to get married.

Recently the filmmaker Vignesh Shivanopened up on their wedding plans. Duringa chat with his fans on Instagram, one of hisfans asked about his marriage withNayanthara, to which the director replied, “Iam saving money for the marriage and Iwill wait for the Corona crisis to end.” Withthis reply, Vignesh Shivan hint-ed that he would get mar-ried to Nayanthara afterthe Coronavirus pandem-ic ends!

Sources say that VigneshShivan’s family wants agrand ceremony for theirson’s marriage. Due to this,Nayanthara has

also agreed to an elaborateceremony rather than a simplemarriage.

On the work front, Vignesh iscurrently helming KaathuVaakula Rendu Kaadhalwhich has Nayan andSamantha Akkineni play-ing the female leads. Italso has VijaySethupathi playingthe lead. The film isa romantic comedyplaying on a triangu-lar love story anglebetween its leadactors.

A

iacom 18 Studioshas joined handswith Rise EastStudios for a yet-to-be-titled film star-ring Ashok Selvan

of Ninnila Ninnila fame.Directed by debutant filmmak-er R Karthik, the shooting ofthe film began on Monday.The film will star actors RituVarma, Aparna Balamurali,and Shivathmika in prominentroles. Interestingly, the filmmarks the second collabora-tion between Ashok and Ritu,after the Tamil-Telugu bilin-gual Theeni (Ninnila Ninnila),

which released this February.The new film will have cine-

matography by George CWilliams, music by GopiSundar, and editing by Antony.Produced by Viacom18Studios in association withRise East Entertainment, thefilm has the tagline, ‘whereyou think it ends, it begins’.

Meanwhile, Ashok Selvan’snext Tamil film is Hostel, co-starring Priyani BhavaniShankar, Satish, and Nasser.He will also be appearing inthe Mohanlal-led Malayalamperiod drama, Marakkar:Arabikadalinte Simham.

ctorSundeepKishan,who waslast seenin A1

Express,Tollywood’s firstHockey-basedfilm, is gearingup for his nextGully Rowdy,which is set tohit theatres any-time soon.

Touted to be acommercialentertainer, thefilm is producedby Kona Venkat.Starring BobbySimha, RajendraPrasad, VennelaKishore, andViva Harsha inpivotal roles, the

makers initiallytitled the filmRowdy Baby butsoon changed itto Gully Rowdy.The film hasactress NehaShetty ofMehbooba fame,playing thefemale lead.

On Mondaythe film com-pleted its censorformalities, andis gearing up fortheatrical release.

The directorNageswaraReddy is collabo-rating withSundeep Kishanfor the secondtime after TenaliRamakrishnaBA.BL.

he title andfirst lookposter ofSharwanand’supcoming filmwas released

on Monday. Titled OkeOka Jeevitham Sharwa’s30th film has fans excitedalready!

The first look posterlooks intriguing, as it dis-closes the theme of themovie billed to be a familydrama with sci-fi ele-ments.

Sharwanand can beseen carrying a guitar onhis back. While one sideof the poster shows green-ery, post office, letter,music cassette, kites, etc.,the other side sees facto-ries, cell tower, mobile,music system, flight, etc.The poster seems todescribe the impact ofglobalisation.

Oke Oka Jeevitham is

being directed by debu-tante Shree Karthik andproduced by DreamWarriors Pictures. RituVarma will play the femalelead with Sharwanand inthe film. The poster of thefilm has

Touted to be an emo-tional entertainer, OkeOka Jeevitham has AmalaAkkineni in a crucial role.The shooting of Oke OkaJeevitham was wrapped upa while ago. Jakes Bejoy iscomposing the music forthe film. Dear Comradefame cinematographerand editor, Sujeeth Sarangand Sreejith Sarang arealso part of this movie.

Apart from this,Sharwanand is also busywith Mahasamudhramwhich is nearing comple-tion. He has also lined upAadavallu Meeku Johaarluwhich will be directed byKishore Tirumala.

Sharwa's nexttitled Oke Oka

Jeevitham

Ashok Selvan, Ritu Varmato weave magic again

V

T A

A

is ready

hilpa Shetty Kundrachose to highlightcardio sessions inher Monday post,moving away fromthe yoga videos she

normally uploads. Shilpa posteda video onInstagram, whereshe is seen doing astepper workout,with a sprinkle ofBhangra handmovements toadd a humour ele-ment.

“A differentkind of #MondayMotivation today,6? Platform Side-To-Side Shuffle.Cardio Is NotBoring, You NeedTo Be Exploring. An extremelower-body-focussed highintensity Interval Training Drill,which conditions the heart andlungs as well. Burn more calo-

ries in less time,” the 46-year-oldwrote alongside the clip.

She added, “Making it fun byadding Bhangra Arms; and yes,adding ‘arms’ will burn morecalories. Try performing 3 to 4rounds of 1 minute each. Rest

for 1 minute afterevery round.Increasing the plat-form height willincrease the intensity.If you are a beginner,start with 30 secondsper round on a 4? or6? platform. HappyCardioing, The SSKWay!”

Talking about herprofessional life,Shilpa has two filmslined up.

She will be seen inHungama 2, the sequel to the2003 hit Hungama, and alsoNikamma, which starsAbhimanyu Dassani andShirley Setia

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Mehreen not part ofGopichand Malineni's next

Cardio is not boring,says Shilpa Shetty

GULLY ROWDY