HYDERABAD, TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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In brief

Herd immunity:a distant dream for TSWith 21 districts in the state (63%) having less than 15% vaccination

coverage, herd immunity in the state remains distant dreamNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Going by the numbers of peoplevaccinated in various districts ofTelangana, it appears that achiev-ing herd immunity (with vaccina-tion being the principal method) isstill a distant dream.

In nearly 21 districts ofTelangana (63%), not even 15% ofthe population has been vaccinat-ed. An analysis of data available onthe CoWIN app shows that vacci-nation in the rural areas ofTelangana is very less.

According to WHO, herd immu-nity against COVID-19 should beachieved by protecting peoplethrough vaccination, not by expos-ing them to the pathogen that caus-es the disease. To achieve herdimmunity, it is estimated that atleast 60% of the population has tobe inoculated. America is talkingabout vaccinating at least 75-85%of its population for achievingherd immunity.

However, only five districts ofTelangana have vaccinated morethan 20% of their population.Hyderabad, Yadadri Bhuvangiri,Mulug, Karimnagar and Siddipethave inoculated just above 20% oftheir population. Data available on

CoWIN dashboard suggests 12districts in Telangana have vacci-nated less than 1 lakh people, withNarayanpet vaccinating only 37,975people.

At least eight districts ofTelangana have vaccinated lessthan 10% of their population viz.Narayanpet, Vikarabad, WarangalRural, Adilabad, Nalgonda,Kumaram Bheem Asifabad andJogulamba Gadwal. Of the 55 lakhvaccines, 9.2 lakh vaccine doses

were administered in Hyderabad,followed by 4.9 lakh in Medchal,and 4.5 lakh in Rangareddy. As thebigwigs of TRS party hail fromSiddipet and Karimnagar, perhapsthe districts could administer2.2lakh doses each.

While the first dose has beengiven to 44.54 lakh people, anoth-er 10.75 lakh individuals havereceived the second dose.

OMG! No FB, Twitter,Instagram from May 26?PNS n NEW DELHI

Will social media platforms likeFacebook, Twitter, Instagram et al beblocked effective May 26?

The answer seems to be in the affir-mative as the window provided forcomplying with the Centre's February25th orders to regulate digital contentends on Tuesday. It may be recalled thaton February 25th the Centre issuedguidelines for regulating social mediaplatforms and OTT streaming servic-es, and establishing what it called a "softtouch progressive institutional mech-anism with level-playing field" featur-ing a Code of Ethics and a three-tiergrievance redressal framework.

The guidelines followed its face-offwith Twitter. The Union govern-ment then directed the social mediaplatforms to mandatorily appoint agrievance officer who shall registercomplaints within 24 hours.

Sabita releases Covidrelief to private teachers PNS n HYDERABAD

In line with the decision taken byChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao,the authorities havet r a n s f e r r e dRs.40.94 crore tothe accounts ofover two lakhteaching and non-teaching membersof staff of privateschools to providethem some succour dur-ing the pandemic period.

Education Minister P. SabithaIndra Reddy formally launched, at

MCRHRD Institute here onMonday, the programme to trans-fer the emergency assistance of Rs

2,000 a month to the accounts ofprivate school teachers and

other employees for themonth of May.

She said that the deci-sion to extend assistanceto private school teach-ers was taken by the

Chief Minister onhumanitarian grounds;

though the Covid-hit State'sfinancial condition was not all

that promising.

On-site registration for 18-44 yearsage group now enabled on CoWinPNS n NEW DELHI

On-site registration and appoint-ment has now been enabled forthe 18-44 years age group on theCoWin platform for COVID-19vaccination, the Union HealthMinistry said on Monday.

However, this feature is beingenabled only for governmentCOVID Vaccination Centers(CVCs) at present, it said.

This feature will not be avail-able for private CVCs and theywill have to publish their vacci-nation schedules exclusively withslots for online appointments.

This feature will be used onlyupon decision of respective states

and UT governments.

2nd dose vax to beresumed at govtcentres from todayPNS/HYDERABAD: The suspendedsecond dose vaccination programmewill be resumed from Tuesday. ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao hasinstructed officials to resume thesecond dose vaccination programmefrom Tuesday. He said that all thosepeople who had taken the first doseand eligible to take the second doseshould go to government vaccina-tion centres for the jab.

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

The controversy over the transfer ofseven mandals of erstwhileKhammam district in Telangana toAndhra Pradesh is likely to surfaceagain.

The main opposition party inTelangana, the Congress, has decid-ed to take up legal recourse over theissue. The Election Commission ofIndia had in 2018 issued delimitationnotification on changing the bound-aries of three Assembly constituen-cies in Telangana and two Assemblyconstituencies in Andhra Pradesh.

The Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) argues that thetransfer of seven mandals fromTelangana to Andhra Pradesh andchanging the boundaries of fiveAssembly constituencies in bothTelugu states is illegal andunconstitutional.

Moreover, theAndhra Pradeshgovernment hadissued a Gazettenotification merg-ing the seven man-dals in that state.However, the Telangana Stategovernment did not issue

any Gazette notifi-cation regard-ing transfer

of thes e v e n

mandals toA n d h r a

Pradesh. In fact, TPCC

Election CommissionCoordination Committeechairman and former minis-ter Marri Shashidhar Reddylodged a complaint over thisissue with the Election

Commission of India in 2018but no action was taken.

In the 2019 Assembly elections inAndhra Pradesh, voters of these vil-lages utilised their votes.

"There should be no change in theextent of any of the constituencies,as per the Delimitation ofParliamentary and AssemblyConstituencies Order, 2008, whichin any case is subject to the provi-sions contained in Article 170 of theConstitution of India both in termsof the number seats and their extent,as all of them remained frozen tillafter the first census after 2026,”Shashidhar Reddy said.

Speaking to The Pioneer, he said:“However, the AP Reorganisation

Act, 2014 was amended after bifur-cation of the State in July 2014 anddeemed to have come into force onMay 29, 2014, which was prior to theappointed day i.e June 2, 2014.”

With this amendment, sevenmandals of Khammam district ofTelangana, linked to PolavaramProject were transferred toAndhra Pradesh. These sevenmandals were part of threeAssembly constituencies ofTelangana, namely, Bhadrachalam,Ashwaraopet and Pinapaka,Shashidhar Reddy pointed out.

Mid-air weddingin SpiceJetchartered flight PNS n NEW DELHI

A mid-air wedding in the presenceof guests and relatives took placeinside a SpiceJet chartered flight onMay 23 morning wherein COVID-19 social distancing norms wereviolated, sources said on Monday.

The chartered flight left theMadurai airport and remainedairborne for approximately twohours on Sunday morning beforereturning there, they added.

A senior official of aviation reg-ulator Directorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) said that theflight crew has been off-rostered fornot enforcing the social distancingnorms onboard. SpiceJet has beendirected to lodge a complaint withrelevant authorities against thosepeople who did not follow theCOVID-19 norms inside the flight,the official said.

DISTRICT TOTAL

Narayanpet 37975Kumuram Bheem 48037Mulugu 57587Jogulamba Gadwal 59493Wanaparthy 61757Warangal (Rural) 62180Adilabad 63447Jangaon 70654Vikarabad 76408JayashankarBhupalpally 81258Mancherial 96544Nagarkurnool 108912RajannaSircilla 113095Mahabubabad 113714Mahabubnagar 114136Peddapalli 118641

Medak 119201Nirmal 140632Nalgonda 147301Jagtial 147941Suryapet 148751BhadradriKothagudem 149251Khammam 157777Sangareddy 162126Kamareddy 175954YadadriBhuvanagiri 177078Nizamabad 183456Warangal(Urban) 218162Karimnagar 220524Siddipet 221281Rangareddy 457083Medchal 499242Hyderabad 920215

However,only five

districts ofTelangana

havevaccinatedmore than

20 per centof their

population

Police book UppalMLA in land disputePNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Rashtra Samiti memberand MLA from Uppal BethiSubhash Reddy is embroiled in aland dispute now. A case has beenfiled against Bethi Subhash Reddyas well as Kapra TahasildarGoutham Kumar under sections120B, 166A, , 167, 168, 170, 171,447, 468, 471, 307, 506 of IPC.Subhash Reddy has been accusedof demanding money in connectionwith a dispute regarding a 90-acrepiece of land in survey number 152.

CM instructs officials to increase RATsin PHCs along with Fever SurveyML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao has pushed for the implemen-tation of the dual strategy of con-ducting fever survey to give med-ical kits to suspected carriers of thevirus and increasing corona testsacross the State to contain theCovid-19 pandemic.

The door-to-door Fever surveybeing carried out in Telangana hasbeen giving good results. Alongwith it, Corona tests should beconducted on all people coming toPrimary Health Centre for it with-out turning them away. For this,

the number of Rapid AntigenTest kits should be increasedimmediately from tomorrow itselfin the medical centres.

12 of ‘Munna Gang’ get death sentenceA CHANDRA SEKHARn ONGOLE

The Ongole district court onMonday ordered 12 of the noto-rious 20 member ‘Munna Gang’that was accused of murderinglorry drivers and cleaners to behanged till death. Seven otheraccused will spend the remainderof their lives in jail.

The court sentenced Munna,the main accused in the case and11 members of his gang to deathafter a trial that stretched over 13

years. The court found all theaccused guilty of brutally murder-ing lorry drivers and cleaners.

The judge sentenced three ofthe accused to death on twocounts, indicating their brutality.

Munna, whose real name is Md.Abdul Samad, was a RegisteredMedical Practitioner (RMP) andhis family is settled in Islampet,Ongole.

Eager to make easy money, heformed a gang that in its earlierdays searched for buried treasuresand indulged in scams like rice

pulling. Not satisfied with the yields,

Munna led his gang on the pathof brutality and became a highwaykiller and made huge sums ofmoney by committing murdersand looting truck drivers andcleaners.

The gang’s barbarity came tolight when bodies of its victims,packed in gunny bags anddumped beside a stream, werefound in 2008.

Delhi Police raidsTwitter offices in‘Covid toolkit’ case

The Delhi Police's Special Cellon Monday served a notice to

Twitter India in connection withthe probe into the alleged 'Covidtoolkit' matter, with two teamsdescending on its offices in Delhiand Gurgaon, officials said. "TheDelhi police team went to theTwitter office to serve a notice toTwitter, as part of a routineprocess. This was necessitated aswe wanted to ascertain who is theright person to serve a notice, asreplies by Twitter India MD havebeen very ambiguous," DelhiPolice PRO Chinmoy Biswal said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The TDP politburo meeting, heldunder the leadership of partynational president N ChandrababuNaidu on Monday resolved that theTelugu Desam Party’s annual two-day conclave, the Mahanadu, wouldbe held on May 27 and 28 in virtu-al format like last year. The decisionon virtual Mahanadu was takenconsidering the prevailing Covid-19second wave that has thrown life outof gear for several weeks now.

The politburo took strong objec-tion to the manner in which theGovernment has got an atrocitiescase filed against Janardhan Reddy,

CM instructs toincrease beds to forblack fungus patientsC

hief Minister K ChandrasekharRao has suggested that the

number of hospital beds earmarkedfor black fungus patients beincreased to 1,500 in the State.Besides, the Medical and HealthDepartment should assess therequirement of medicines to treatthe disease and place orders toprocure them immediately.

TDP to hold‘virtual’ Mahanadu

Getting e-pass a tallorder due to glitchesANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

Citizens are having a tough time inobtaining their e-pass acrossTelangana State due to technical aswell as language issues, among otherhassles. Some of them have been try-ing in vain to obtain e-pass for thepast 10-15 days. It has become dif-ficult for working class people whodo not know English to upload theirparticulars on the website even ifthey have smart phones with prop-er internet connectivity.

City activists have alleged thatvarious problems on the websiteare getting on the nerves of vulner-able communities in the state,

especially those who know onlyUrdu and Telugu and those whodon't have smart phones or laptopswith internet connectivity.

According to the activists, thereare many categories of peoplewho are not enlisted as eligible toobtain e-pass.

Cong to rake up transfer of TS villages to Andhra controversy

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States to receive 48lakh Covid vaccine

doses in next 3 days

More than 1.80 crore COVID-19

vaccine doses are stillavailable with the states and

Union Territories and they will receiveover 48 lakh doses in the next threedays, the Union Health Ministry said

on Monday. The Centre has so farprovided, both through the free of cost

category and through direct stateprocurement category, more than

21.80 crore vaccine doses to statesand UTs. Of this, the total

consumption, calculated based onaverage up to May 23, including

wastages is 20,00,08,875 doses theministry said. "More than 1.80 croreCOVID vaccine doses (1,80,43,015)are still available with the states and

UTs to be administered.

Pfizer, Modernarefuse to sell vax toDelhi govt: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

on Monday said USpharmaceutical giants Pfizer and

Moderna have declined to sellcoronavirus vaccines to the city

government as they want to directlydeal with the Centre. "We have had

talks with Pfizer and Moderna. Theysaid they won't give us vaccine and

will directly talk to the Centre," Kejriwaltold reporters. "I appeal to the centralgovernment with folded hands to talk

to these firms, import vaccines anddistribute them among states," headded. The Delhi chief minister's

remarks came a day after a seniorPunjab official said Moderna had

refused to send vaccines directly to thestate government stating that it only

deals with the Centre. Kejriwal said thesecond wave of COVID-19 is declininggradually and the city government hasstarted preparations for the third wave.

Centre, states mustexpedite registration

of migrant workers: SC

The Supreme Court Monday said the

process of registration of migrantworkers is "very slow" and it must

be expedited so that benefit of variousschemes can be extended to them amidthe COVID-19 pandemic. The top court

observed it is "not happy" with theefforts of the Centre as well as the states

on the issue of registration ofunorganised workers.Aa bench of

Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shahsaid the benefit of schemes meant for

them can be extended after they areidentified and registered by authorities.

Details on Page 5

10% of population mustbe vaccinated in everycountry by Sept: WHO

The World Health Organization

(WHO) chief on Mondaycalled for a huge global effort

to ensure that 10 percent of thepopulation in every country is

vaccinated against COVID-19 bySeptember.World Health Organization

director-general Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus called for a "massive

push to vaccinate at least 10 percentof the population of every country by

September", in a speech at the openingof the UN health agency's main annual

assembly.

22

Continued from page 1

The government said the 'codeof ethics' and three-tier griev-ance redressal mechanismwould be applicable for newspublishers, over-the-top (OTT)platforms and digital media. Allof them were given threemonths to comply.

However, the new rules are setto take effect on Tuesday withoutany of the social media giants --Twitter, Facebook and Instagram -- complying with any of it, govern-ment sources said. The rules includeappointment of compliance offi-cials, giving their name and contactaddress in India, complaint resolu-tion, monitoring of objectionablecontent, compliance report, andremoval of objectionable content.So far, no company except for one

has appointed any such officials,sources said.{ Seeking to establisha soft touch regulatory frameworkfor these entities, the governmenthad said OTT platforms wouldhave to self-classify the content intofive age-based categories - U(Universal), U/A 7+ (years), U/A13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Suchplatforms were told to implementparental locks for content classifiedas U/A 13+ or higher; and reliableage-verification mechanisms forcontent classified as 'A'.

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021

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The Narendra Modi-led BJP governmentwould be complet-

ing seven years in office onWednesday.

In view of the pandemic,the BJP high command hasasked leaders and cadres notto organise any victory pro-cessions or marches, but tomitigate the woes of the peo-ple and carry out serviceactivities.

The BJP, which gave a PMwho regards himself as thechief servant of the people,regards itself as a serviceorganisation, and not a polit-ical outfit.

The BJP has 113 OBC MPs,53 Dalit MPs, 43 Girijan MPs— the most of any party inthese categories — since itempowers the downtroddensections of society.

Those who try to belittleModi on the basis of his over-seas ratings and claim hispopularity is on the wane

should remember that theseratings say that over 60 per-cent of the people love thePM.

Did any agency say that theratings of any Oppositionleader have increased of late?No Opposition leader canmatch Modi in terms of pop-ularity.

Modi’s rivals unleashedpropaganda prior to hisreturning to power for thesecond time that his ratingshad plummeted. However,people wanted Modi to con-tinue in power even in 2019and the vote share of the BJPincreased from 31 to 40 per-cent.

Modi set a record as theonly non-Congress leader tohave returned to power win-ning consecutive elections.

As PM of the country,nobody has any doubts abouthis ability to meet his goal andserve the nation for a longperiod.

Covid-19 second wave hasclaimed the lives of manyacross the country, but how isit justified to hold the BJPgovernment at the Centrealone responsible for thetragedy and discounting therole of the states?

Which infrastructuralamenities have been createdin the country during thesix-decade rule of theCongress and what are thesteps taken by Modi in thisregard?

Two AIIMS were set up,one each at Delhi and SoniaGandhi’s constituency of Rae

Bareli, during Congress rule,while Atal Behari Vajpayeetook steps to set up six.However, under Modi, 14AIIMS have been set up atvarious places across thecountry. He implemented theAyushman Bharat scheme toprovide free medical treat-ment up to Rs 5 lakh to over50 crore people in the coun-try.

During the past sevenyears, revolutionary changeshave been ushered in thecountry by Modi, a fact whichcannot be erased from histo-ry.

Even his fiercest criticsadmit that a perceptiblechange has taken place inimplementation of welfareschemes.

Apart from infrastructuraldevelopment schemes —including development ofroads and bridges at a cost oflakhs of crores — distributionof free LPG cylinders throughUjjwala Yojana, supply of

drinking water to people’sdoorstep, transferof Rs 14.5 lakh-crore into42.20 croreJ a n - D h a nbank accounts,distribution of Rs 1lakh-crore for PM-Kisan Samman, houses for alland many other schemes haveimproved the standards ofliving of the people.

Can anyone say GST is nota tax reform?

The Insolvency andBankruptcy Code wasamended to check activities ofthe companies that defaultedon repayment of lakhs ofcrores in loans and steps weretaken to reduce the non-per-forming assets of banks.

Ever since Modi came topower, he took steps to turnthe country into SwachchBharat with a missionary zeal.There is no denying that hiscampaign motivated the peo-

ple. Modi implementedmany programmeswhich were not evendreamt of by previ-ous governments.

Did any governmenttake a bold initiative like

abrogation of Article 370 todeclare J&K an integral partof India?

Did anyone imagine a mag-nificent Ram temple atAyodhya and a solution to thevexed Ram Janambhoomiissue?

Who had the courage todeclare that people of allfaiths are equal by doing awaywith triple talaq?

Above all, the Modi gov-ernment has succeeded inimplementing a clean andcorruption-free administra-tion. During the six decadesof Congress rule, severalscams had taken place. In fact,corruption is rampant inevery non-BJP ruled state.

Taking advantage of aleaked report, the oppositiontried to target the BJP govern-ment saying that unemploy-ment has increased in Modirule.

Statistics presented inParliament by Modiboomeranged the maliciouspropaganda by saying thattwo crore people got jobs inthe first two years of hisregime.

Is it not true that the Mudrascheme benefited 22 lakh inseven years by way of loans tothe tune of Rs 16 lakh-crore?

People say that they wantModi by virtue of not beingthe hope of the majorityalone, but also due to trans-parency, desire to see thecountry develop everyday,and selfless sincerity.

They know that there is noother leader in the countrywho is comparable to Modiand will never be in the nearfuture

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

Modi’s rivals unleashed propaganda prior tohis returning to power for the second timethat his ratings had plummeted. However,people wanted Modi to continue in powereven in 2019 and the vote share of the BJPincreased from 31 to 40 percent.

Modi has achieved more in 7 years than others in 7 decades

Covid shots are all highly protective against death: StudyPNS n NEW DELHI

Current Covid shots providea high level of protectionagainst hospitalization anddeath, according to a summa-ry of the efficacy of eight vac-cines that showed the PfizerInc.-BioNTech SE jab maybetter at stopping at least twoworrisome coronavirus vari-ants.

Efficacy against Covid-linked disease averaged about85% after a full course, risingto almost 100% protectionagainst severe disease, hospi-talization or death, JuliaShapiro, Natalie Dean, IraLongini and colleagues said ina paper released Friday beforepeer-review and publication.The University of Florida

researchers compared datafrom journal articles andmedia reports for productsthat have gone through dou-ble-blinded, placebo-con-

trolled, late-stage vaccine tri-als, as well as observationalstudies.

"These estimates should beuseful for constructing math-

ematical models for vaccina-tion impact and for makingpolicy decisions involving vac-cination," they said. They planto update their research, whichreceived funding from theU.S. National Institutes ofHealth, as more informationbecomes available.

The unprecedented speedwith which safe and effectivevaccines have been devel-oped and rolled out acrossthe world have enabled manyeconomies to reopen, pavingthe way for a recovery fromthe worst pandemic in a cen-tury. Stil l, uncontrolledspread of the SARS-CoV-2virus risks spawning newvariants that may underminethe potency of these immu-nizations.

Mid-air...Continued from page 1

He also said that the DGCA"will take strict action" after itcompletes its probe into thismatter. Images and videos of themid-air wedding were circulat-ed on social media on Monday.The images and videos purport-edly show people standingextremely close to each other asthe couple tied the knot. Whenasked on the matter, a SpiceJetspokesperson said, "A SpiceJetBoeing 737 was chartered by atravel agent in Madurai onMay 23, 2021 for a group of pas-sengers for a joy ride post theirwedding. The client was clear-ly briefed on Covid guidelinesto be followed and denied per-mission for any activity to beperformed on board.

White fungus rare, but postCovid patients vulnerable to it

Treated in time, it won't cause risk to life or visionML MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

Even as the state governmenthas set up two nodal centres fortreatment of rising black fun-gus cases (which cannot behandled at district ENT cen-tres), the incidence of whitefungus is causing concern.

This being so, in UP evenyellow fungus cases have beenreported.

However, experts say that thecases of white fungus are cur-rently rare and there is no needfor the public to panic. Still,people and doctors need to bewatch out for the symptomsand take treatment in time. For,if diagnosed and treated intime, white fungus is unlikely

to cause any risk to one's life orvision, says Vivek Pravin Dave,Retina Specialist, L V PrasadEye Institute.

White fungus, called as can-dida albicans, is a kind of yeastthat naturally lives in and onhuman body, but an over-growth can lead to health prob-lems. It can affect various partsof the eyeball and also any partof the body, according to DrDave. While mucormycosis orblack fungus affects tissuesaround the eyes, especiallynasal sinuses, white fungusaffects mainly tissues inside theeye, especially the vitreous geland the retina. If untreated, itcould lead to significant visionloss. It may become life-threat-ening only if the infection

spreads to the whole body.That also happens only inpatients who are severely debil-itated and immune-compro-mised. Dr Dave says there is noadequate data to compare whitefungus versus black fungus inpatients who have recoveredfrom Covid as cases due towhite fungus currently are veryrare. However, one can look forsymptoms of white fungussuch as decrease in vision with-in one to three months ofCovid recovery-- often centralvision -- and seeing a blackshadow or lots of black floatingparticles/floaters in front of theeye. Explaining what causeswhite fungus, Dr.Dave saysthe current Covid manage-ment protocols require judi-

cious, but high dose of steroidusage in those patients whoselungs have got affected. Whilesteroids help bring down theCovid-related damage, thecounter effect is that it sup-presses the body's immunemechanisms, making it vulner-able to these kinds of fungalinfections. Patients who havelow immunity or high bloodsugar levels are more at risk. Inthe context of the Covid-19infection, it can occur eitherconcurrent to the Covid-19infection or in the early post-recovery phase as the immunesystem is low on that timeline.Patients with comorbiditieslike diabetes and any otherchronic disorder are more like-ly to develop this infection.

ANUSHA PUPPALA

n HYDERABAD

Former PG student ofOsmania University and PhDaspirant has started a Covidisolation center at Challagarigavillage in Chityal mandal inJayashankar Bhupalapally dis-trict of Telangana.

The 10-bedded Covid facil-ity which is completely free ofcost provides free treatment,food and medicine to thepatients daily.

The 28-year-old DudapakaNaresh who passed out in2018 from Osmania Universityis the President of DalitMinority Student Association.

Naresh who hails fromChallagariga village startedthis isolation centre with theaim to help his fellow villagerswith Covid treatment. He tookthis initiative with help of hisProfessor Sujatha Surepallyand other volunteers NerellaArun and Gollapally Srikanth.

Naresh and his team is pro-viding free breakfast, lunch,snacks, dinner and fruits to the

COVID positive patients attheir isolation center.

Speaking to The PioneerNaresh said, "We took permis-sion from the Collector for set-ting up the Covid isolationcentre in our village. Local offi-cers are continuously monitor-ing and inspecting the isolationcenter. We have invited doctorsto treat the patients and localasha workers to take care of thepatients."

He further added, "It's beenjust two days since we startedour isolation center andalready three have threepatients here. We are tryingour best to provide themhealthy and nutritious food.”

OU alumnus opens isolation centre in his native village

Details of Incharge persons and Vehicles for

carrying dead bodies to graveyardName of Zone Incharge Person Vehicle NumbersL.B. Nagar Zone Kumar, Superintendent, AP 22 T 9538

9100091941 AP 11 V 5926N Venkatesh, DCTO AP 11 X 26889701365515

Charminar Zone DD Naik, Jt. Commissioner AP 37 TE 38309440585704 AP 05 TB 1212S Bal Reddy, Administrative AP 07 UE 4919Officer, 9849907742.

Khairatabad Zone Rakesh, Asst. Engineer AP 10 V 97217995009080 AP 12 T 6431

Kukatpally Zone Chandrasekhar Reddy AP 11 X 7847AMOH, 7993360308 AP 11 X 7853Sreeramulu, DCTO,9515050849.

Serilingampally Zone JC Malla Reddy, 6309529286 AP 28 V 2576 M Ramesh Kumar TS10UA47419989930253.

DVD Control Room: 9154795942.Secunderabad Zone Dr Ravinder Goud, AMOH TS 12 UA 8663

7993360302 AP 07 UE 4919Shanker, DTCO, 9100091948

Sabita...Continued from page 1

Yet, Telangana became thefirst State in the country toextend financial help to pri-vate school teaches facingproblems due to closure ofschools.

Apart from extendingfinancial assistance ofRs.2,000 each, the State gov-ernment was providing 25 kgof rice free of cost to the fam-ilies of teachers and non-teaching staff. The financialaid and rice supply, started inApril, would continue till theschools were reopened, shesaid.

Sabitha Indra Reddy saidthat financial assistance ofRs.2,000 was credited to theaccounts of 1.25 lakh identi-fied teachers for the month ofApril and the governmentthen released Rs.25.12 crore.About 3,139 tonnes of rice,worth Rs.11.88 crore, wasprovided to each privateschool employee, at the rateof 25 kg per family, throughfair price shops, she said.

However, as managementsof some more private schoolsrepresented to the ChiefMinister to extend help totheir teaching and non-teach-ing staff also, the ChiefMinister agreed to extend thefinancial assistance and riceto another 79,156 teachersand non-teaching staffers,she said.

Policebook...C o n t i n u e dfrom page 1One MekalaSrinivas Yadavhadapproached thecourt allegingthat Subhashdemandedmoney withregard to thisland dispute.The JawaharNagar Policefiled casesagainstSubhashReddy, follow-ing directionsissued by thecourt.

OMG! No FB, Twitter...Delhi Police...Continued from page 1Earlier, official sources said that twoteams of Special Cell had raided theTwitter India offices located inDelhi's Lado Sarai and in Gurgaon,on the outskirts of the nationalcapital, in connection with theprobe into the 'toolkit' matter, anofficial said.

On-site registration...Continued from page 1

States and UT must decide onopening of on-site registra-tions/facilitated cohorts' reg-istration and appointmentsfor 18-44 years age groupbased on the local contextjust as an additional measureto minimize vaccine wastageand for facilitating vaccina-tion of eligible beneficiariesin the age group of 18-44years, the ministry said in itsstatement.

The coverage of vaccina-tion was expanded to peoplein the age group of 18 to 44years on May 1 with theimplementat ion of theLiberalised Pricing andAccelerated Nat ionalCOVID-19 Vaccinat ionStrategy.

The facility of only onlineappointment mode initially

to people in the age group of18 to 44 years helped toavoid overcrowding at vac-cination centres, the state-ment.

2nd dose vax to ...Continued from page 1

The Chief Minister directedFinance Minister Harish Rao andMedical and Health departmentofficers to identify super spread-ers and organise a special vacci-nation programme for them. Heasked officials to formulateguidelines for it. Those waitingfor Covishield second doseshould have completed 12 to 16weeks after the first jab as perthe revised Central guidelines.There is no change in the gapfor Covaxin second dose of fourto six weeks.

CM instructs officials...Continued from page 1

The number of RAT kits inevery centre should beincreased by speaking to themanufacturers, he said.

The Chief Minister held areview on control of Covid-19,black fungus, vaccines andlockdown implementationwith senior officials at PragathiBhavan here on Monday.

Finance Minister HarishRao, Chief Secretary SomeshKumar, DGP MahenderReddy, Health Departmentofficials, CMO officials CovidTask Force Committee mem-bers, Finance Department offi-cials and others attended themeeting.

The Chief Minister saidthat tests should be conduct-ed on all those approachingPHCs since most of them were poor people.

CM instructs to...Continued from page 1

The stocks of available medicineslike Ponaconazole should be

increased immediately, he said.KCR discussed at length the actionplan to control post-Covidcomplications like black fungusduring the review held on Monday.He reiterated that there was nopriority other than controlling Covid-19 at present and the governmentwas ready to spend any amount ofmoney for the purpose and wouldtake loans, if required. The State washit by Corona and black fungus. So,along with government hospitals,private hospitals and other sectorsalso should response to the criticalsituation with a humanitarianattitude, he said.

12 of ‘Munna...Continued from page 1

One set of victims — the dri-ver and cleaner of a truck thatwas heading to Kalpakam inTamil Nadu with a load of ironrods from Durgapur in WestBengal — disappeared. On October 17, 2008, lorryowner VeerappanKuppuswamy lodged a com-plaint at the Ongole Talukpolice station.

The police then kept vigil onscrap metal traders and this ledthem to Md Abdul Samadalias Munna.

More than 20 SIM cardswere seized in Karnatakabefore the accused were arrest-ed while trying to flee thecountry in March.

During investi gations, thepolice found several startlingfacts.

Getting e-pass...Continued from page 1

They include NGOs, blooddonors and volunteers, whoare therefore facing manydifficulties in providing helpto needy and people in dis-tress.

34-year-old MohammadAzmathulla, who is a marblecutter, is unable to travel to hisworkplace every day becausehe could not avail an e-pass.He says, "I have been tryingto apply for an e-pass for thepast two days but unable to doso due to which I can't reachKishanbagh, where I work. Iam scared that my two-wheel-er will be seized.

TDP to hold ‘virtual’ MahanaduContinued from page 1

Describing it as politicalvengeance. The SC, STAtrocities Act was beingbrazenly misused by theJaganmohan Reddy regimewith no respect for the laws of

the land, the politburo said. The High Court of Andhra

Pradesh itself has said recentlythat nobody should act in amanner that would cause'democratic backsliding' andpose a threat to the fundamen-tal rights of citizens.

Herd immunity: a distant dream...Continued from page 1

Even though the daily Covidcases are coming down inurban areas, rural Telanganacontinues to see a surge incases.

The cases are continuouslyrising in Nagarkurnool,

Mahabubnagar, YadadriBhuvangiri and Khammam.The lack of smart phonesand poor access to the inter-net means the Aarogya Setuapp and the CoWIN portalare out of the reach of a size-able part of the rural popula-tion.

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021hyderabad 03

Noted gastroenterologistand chairman of AsianInstitute of

Gastroenterology (AIG), Dr DNageshwar Reddy hasreceived the Rudolf VSchindler award in the annualCrystal Award of AmericanSociety of GastrointestinalEndoscopy (ASGE), one of theapex bodies of GI Endoscopy,a press release said. Namedafter Dr Schindler, who iswidely considered as 'father ofgastroscopy', the Rudolf V Schindler award is the highest categoryin the Crystal Awards of ASGE. "ASGE's highest honour is given to amember who has accomplishments in endoscopic research,teaching and service to the field of GI Endoscopy exemplified thestandards and tradition of Dr Schindler," ASGE president Dr KlausMergener said while presenting the award. "The award is atestament to all endoscopists worldwide even from the developingnations that hard work and dedication are recognised by Societyirrespective of where they work," Dr Reddy said. Dr NageshwarReddy also expressed gratitude to colleagues and staff at AIGHospitals for providing quality affordable care, promoting educationand research endoscopy.

CITY LIGHTS

AIG chief Dr Nageshwar Reddy wins Rudolf V Schindler award

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)announced that it will pay salaries in full to the sanitationworkers infected with COVID-19 under home isolation,

recognizing their services as front-line workers duringpandemic. Besides providing them with full salary, the civicbody will also cover all their medical expenses. GreaterHyderabad Municipal Corporation said that the workers whotested positive for COVID-19 should save the message sent totheir mobile phone or the details displayed in the governmentportal as proof. The sanitation workers should submit the proofto their sanitary field assistant and the entomology staffersshould submit the proof to their entomology field assistant tomake sure there are no salary deductions. The ordeal to submitproofs is to ensure that the benefits reach only those who areaffected by Covid. Each day, over 1500 workers in the civicbody absent themselves for various reasons. Since last year,Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has prioritized thehealth of sanitation workers who have been working nonstop tocontrol the virus from spreading out.

GHMC sanitation workers hit by Corona to get full salaries

PNS n HYDERABAD

Death of Government employ-ees under the GHMC limits ison the rise with one or twodeaths being reported everyday. In undivided Rangareddydistrict alone, over 20 govern-ment employees died of Covid.

In spite of departmentalaction to keep the virus at bay,there is no let up in the Covidcases. The employees are feel-ing diffident to report for workwith the spurt in Covid cases.

There are over 1.17 lakhgovernment employees inHyderabad, Rangareddy andMedchal district. Besides, thereare over 40,000 outsourcedemployees.

The government suspendedthe implementation ofGrievances Day on Mondays toprevent spreading of the virusamong the people. It provideda complaints box at collec-torates. People visit the collec-torates to drop their com-plaints. But governmentemployees are apprehensive ofthese visitors spreading the

virus among them as the visi-tors are not leaving the officewithout meeting the officersconcerned.

Because of the lockdown, thenumber of visitors to the gov-ernment offices has comedown. In the GHMC officealone, 70 persons have testedpositive for the virus. Underthe limits of the GHMC circles,over 250 persons tested positive

for the virus. Recently, twoclass-IV employees workingin the office of the DRO diedof Covid-19.

According to unconfirmednews, at least 100 governmentemployees working in the cityoutskirts died of Covid. Over1,000 government employeeshave been receiving treatmentfor Covid. There are manyexamples to prove this. A 57-

year-old nursing superinten-dent in Govt MaternityHospital at Sultan Bazaar diedof Covid on May 20, whileTSMDC general managerDeepti died of Covid on May19. Deepti also lost her moth-er Janakamma in the battleagainst Covid. DE in the elec-tricity department, Kukatpally,died of Covid on May 16. OnMay 4, senior assistant at

MPDO Abdullahpurmet diedof Covid. Panchayat Secretaryin Shad Nagar mandalManikantha also succumbed tothe virus.

The government depart-ments are being run with theparticipation of only one thirdof the employees daily.Employees of DMHO, Womanand Child Welfare, revenueemployees have no option butto take part in the Covid oper-ations causing severe stress totheir family members. Thereare over 4,585 employees work-ing in Medchal, Hyderabad,Rangareddy collectorates.

TSGO President KLakshman has appealed toemployees to take precautionsfor Covid and wear masks andclean their hands with sanitis-ers. He asked the applicants vis-iting government offices andgovernment employees toobserve physical distance. Hedemanded that the govern-ment paid a compensation ofRs 25 lakh to bereaved familiesof employees who died ofCorona virus.

Government employees worriedover rise in Covid deaths in city PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana police continued tostrictly implement the lock-down across the state, whichentered its 13th day onMonday. Following the direc-tion of Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Friday,the police became strict withthe implementation of lock-down norms from Saturday.

Police in the three policecommissionerates inHyderabad and surroundingsand in the rest of the state aredealing firmly with the lock-down violators. Traffic jamswere seen at several places onMonday after four-hour relax-ation ended at 10 a.m.Motorists found on roads after10 a.m. were stopped at vari-ous points and cases werebooked against them.

Police have asked people toreturn home before the end ofthe relaxation period. Thepolice commissioners and dis-trict superintendents of policehave already been directed tobe firm with those coming outon roads after 10 am. DirectorGeneral of Police M MahenderReddy on Monday visited few

areas under Rachkonda policecommissionerate in GreaterHyderabad. He personallychecked the lockdownenforcement at few check-points.

The police chief, however,asked officers to displayrestraint with those exemptedfrom lockdown. His directioncame in the wake of few com-plaints of police high hand-edness with those moving inmedical emergencies or thosepermitted to deliver servicesduring the Covid lockdown.Following some incidents ofpolice in and aroundHyderabad beating up deliveryboys of food apps and e-com-merce companies and seizingtheir vehicles on Saturday, the

DGP advised police to ensureseamless delivery of essentialservices. The food and e-com-merce good delivery wasrestored since Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rachakondapolice commissioner said4,000 cases were booked forlockdown violations onSunday in the commissioner-ate limits. He appealed topeople to cooperate with thepolice in enforcement of thelockdown."People have four-hour relaxation from 6 am to10 am. They may use this peri-od to move around to buyessentials and attend otherworks but many individualseven after 10.30 a.m. are seenmoving on roads without avalid reason," he said.

Police in Telangana continue toenforce Covid lockdown strictly

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana state authoritieshave signed an MoU withNational Health Authority(NHA) to launch AyushmanBharat PM-JAY within thestate. The MoU between theNHA and Government ofTelangana has determined tocombine the present statescheme 'Aarogyasri' withAyushman Bharat- PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPM-JAY) and converge it into'Ayushman Bharat PM-JAYAarogyasri.'

With this convergence, thescheme has been additionalexpanded and now encom-passes 33 States/UTs.Approximately 26 lakhs bene-ficiary households (nearly 1.3

crore people) as per SECC,2011 knowledge shall be eligi-ble to avail providers below thescheme within the state.

"Beneficiaries are entitled toavail free healthcare coverage ofup to Rs 5 lakhs per family peryear for secondary and tertiarycare hospitalization. Healthservices can be availed in anyof the 22, 000 empanelled pub-lic and private hospitals acrossthe country through thescheme's portability feature.NHA along with State HealthAgency (SHA) will undertakenecessary action to ensure thatall eligible beneficiaries areprovided free healthcare ser-vices under the convergedscheme," an announcementfrom NHA mentioned.

Speaking on this launch, Dr

R S Sharma, CEO, NationalHealth Authority, mentioned,"We are happy to onboard thestate of Telangana for the roll-

out of AB PM-JAY. The bene-ficiaries from the state are noweligible to avail of free health-care services pan India through

our network of more than22,000 hospitals. This is notonly going to benefit the eligi-ble families in the state but willalso enable the delivery ofhealthcare services to PM-JAYbeneficiaries from otherStates/UTs living in Telangana.The providers' base has alsoincreased. Our call center hasstarted getting calls from theeligible population in the State.We are committed to taking thebenefit of the scheme to all eli-gible beneficiaries."

He additional knowledge-able that the eligible inhabitantsof the state would profit fromfree healthcare providersthroughout the nation and thelaunch of a converged schemewill result in efficient utilizationof assets for offering high qual-

ity healthcare providers."NHA will provide several

auxiliary supports to StateHealth Agency (SHA) includ-ing related to fraud and abusecontrol. A beneficiary can callthe toll-free number 14555 toknow about their eligibilityunder the scheme and infor-mation on how to avail ser-vices," the assertion added.

The scheme covers greaterthan 1,500 well being advan-tages packages of procedurespertaining to secondary andtertiary care and hospitals arereimbursed at pre-fastenedcharges. The AB-PMJAY, aflagship healthcare scheme,offers a canopy of Rs 5 lakh perhousehold per 12 months toround 50 crore poor and weakpeople.

‘AB PM-JAY Aarogyasri' to benefit 26L households in TS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal Administration andUrban Development principalsecretary Arvind Kumar onMonday made surprise visits tocrematoriums in the city tocheck whether extra moneywas being charged from people.

The crematoriums locatedin Punjagutta, Bansilalpet andJubilee Hills were coveredduring the surprise inspection.To make sure people were notforced to shell out extra moneyto perform the last rites oftheir departed, the GHMChad started displaying thecharges at crematoriums lastweek. The rate for conductingthe last rites on a funeral pyre

using wood is Rs 8,000 and thecharge for electric cremationis Rs 4,000.

Arvind Kumar also lookedinto the amenities at the cre-matoriums and checked theelectric cremation facility inPunjagutta as well. He wasaccompanied by GHMCKhairatabad zonal commis-sioner P Pravinya and othercivic officials.

GHMC zonal commission-ers are also inspecting grave-yards to check whether extramoney is being charged frompeople. On Monday, theyspoke to relatives of thedeceased and enquired aboutthe facilities and charges col-lected from them.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a horrific incident, a youth,riding pillion on a motorbike,was killed as his friend ridingthe bike tried to evade a forestcheckpost during the ongoinglockdown in Telangana'sMancherial district.

The youth riding the bike ata high speed dodged in time toescape the iron rod but the pil-lion rider's head smashedagainst the rod. VenkateshGoud, 30, fell off the vehicleand his death was instanta-neous.

Bandi Chandrashekhar, whowas riding the bike, did notstop to check on his friend.The incident occurred on May22 but came to light onMonday with a video goingviral on the social media.

According to police, theincident occurred at forestdepartment checkpost on themain road at Tapalpur villagein Jannaram mandal.

The police later arrestedChandrashekhar, who wasfound to be heavily drunk. Hewas booked for causing death

by negligence.According toAkhil Mahajan, AssistantCommissioner of Police,Mancherial, the alcohol con-tent of the accused was 131mg.

"There is no fault of forestguards. It's very heartening tosee most of the people realis-ing that police had no fault inthis. A case has been registeredin concerned police stationagainst rider," the officialtweeted.

The CCTV footage shows aforest guard standing at thecheckpost with the gate low-ered signaling the approaching

bike to stop. However, appar-ently fearing that his bike maybe seized for violating lock-down norms, the bike rider didnot stop and approached thecheckpost at a high speed.

While the rider ducked onapproaching the gate to avoidhitting the pole, the pillionrider hit the iron rod and felloff the vehicle, though theguard was seen trying to raisethe gate in last minute.

Venkatesh Goud, a residentof Kotha Kommugudem inLuxettipet mandal of the samedistrict, sustained head injuryand died on the spot.

TS man killed in bid to avoidcheckpoint during lockdown

PNS n HYDERABAD

A woman was killed andher husband was injuredwhen a fire broke out attheir house at Vanasthalip-uram on Monday.

The fire, suspected tohave been caused by a shortcircuit, engulfed the houseof Balakrishna at FCI Col-ony. Balakrishna's wifeSaraswati, 42, was charredto death in the mishap.

Balakrishna, who pulledout both his children safe-ly, sustained injuries whiletrying to rescue his wife. Hewas admitted to a privatehospital at LB Nagar.

A fire tender rushed tothe scene to extinguish thefire, which broke out on thesecond floor of the house.

The body was shifted toOGH for autopsy.

Woman killed as major fire breaks out in her house

Arvind Kumar pays surprisevisit to crematoriums in city

PNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

The Rachakonda policearrested a cyber stalker forharassing a woman by cre-ating a fake Instagramaccount on her name.

The accused identified asAlluri Neha, a resident ofBandlaguda, was a teamlead in an MNC.

Neha met a person at agym and got acquainted tohim. Later, when theaccused came to know theperson is married, shewanted to disturb the peacebetween the couple by falseallegations.

Neha created multiplefake social media accounts-Instagram and Facebook- and also sent abusivemessages to the victimclaiming to be having anextra-martial affair withher husband. The policeoff icials arrested theaccused and sent to judi-cial custody.

Cyberstalker arrested for creating fake Insta profiles

Faced with the danger ofcontacting Coronavirus,people living in small

towns and districtheadquarters of Telangana

are found to be muchmore cautious and

disciplined. Roads wore a deserted look in

Mancherial and the rest of rural parts on Mondaywith the police personnel

taking measures toenforce strict lockdown

across the state to checkthe spread of Covid.

RURALDISCIPLINE

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana reported 3,043Covid-19 cases and 21 deathsduring the 24-hour periodending 5.30 pm on Monday.

The fresh cases pushed thestate’s cumulative tally of casesto 5,56,320. The death toll hasmounted to 3,146.

The case fatality rate standsat 0.56 per cent which is lowerthan the national average of1.1 per cent. The state contin-ues to see more recoveriesthan new cases. A total of4,693 people recovered duringthe 24-hour period. Accordingto the daily bulletin issued bythe health department, thestate’s cumulative number ofrecoveries rose to 5,13,968.The recovery rate improvedfurther to 92.38 per cent. Thisis higher than the nationalaverage of 88.7 per cent.

The number of active casesdropped to 39,206.

The authorities conducted59,709 tests during the 24-hour period. With this thestate has so far tested1,45,67,606 samples. Samplestested per million populationstand at 3,91,391.

The daily count in GreaterHyderabad dropped to below500. The state capital report-ed 424 new cases on Monday.No other district reportedmore than 200 cases. Rangare-ddy and Medchal Malkajgiriadjoining Hyderabad added165 and 185 new cases respec-tively.

Twenty out of 33 districtslogged new cases in doubledigits. Khammam districtreported 198 cases, followedby 162 in Karimnagar, 159 inNalgonda and 130 inSuryapet.

TS reports 3,043new Covid cases

hyderabad 04HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021

PNS n HYDERABAD

People, right from those whoare young to the aged havebeen suffering from depressionunable to get clarifications ontheir doubts pertaining toCovid-19.

Under home isolation,Covid-19 patients are living inthe grip of fear.

Psychologists fromTelangana have been boostingthe morale of the depressedCovid patients by sensitisingthem on various aspects of thevirus and on the precautions tobe taken. In all, 210 personshave been helped to overcometheir psychological disorders inthe process.

The fear of death among theCovid patients is not allowingthem to think logically in a sta-ble way. Such patients havebeen counseled so that can leada normal life, says Dr MotkuriRamachandra, a psychologist.

Ramesh lives inSecunderabad and is workingin a private company. Recently

his parents tested positive forthe virus. He also contractedthe disease from parents, andwas pushed into depression.He stopped eating food and hiscondition had been worseningwith each passing day. Herefused to go to a hospital.Upon consulting a psycholo-gist, who counselled him over

mobile phone and dispelled hisfears and explained him howbest he can overcome the viruswith confidence, he became anormal person again. Within10 days, Ramesh came out ofthe Covid and now is leadinga normal life. Counselling psy-chologist Dr Lakshmi hasobserved that many have been

showing symptoms like annoy-ance, confusion, despair, lone-liness, anxiety, sleep disordersetc..

They have been counselledto develop positive thinking.

People have been advisedagainst following every piece ofnews on media about Covid-19. She advises them to take

adequate rest and have healthyhabits. They are asked to doregular and light workout,speak with near and dear ones,practise yoga and meditation tocome out of the stress. Everyidea that crosses our mindleaves its impact on body cells.

According to M KrishnaSahiti, counselling psycholo-gist, some of the people whohave recovered from Covidare worried about their familymembers contracting the virus.The negative ideas push theminto stress and ultimately intodepression. She asked people togive up fear to keep the virusat bay. Mental health is animportant factor. People shouldgive up thought that hangsheavy on mind.

The following are the phonenumbers of counselling psy-chologists: Himabindu (8919508522), Krishna Sahiti (7993715081), Dr Lakshmi Nippani(94406 84805), Dedeepya(73969 96688), Harita (9441236079) and Dr MotukuriRamachander (96037 84559).

Dispelling fear is the key to keepCorona at bay, say psychologists

PNS n GADWAL

Appreciating the servicesextended by doctors, nursesand other support staff duringthe Covid pandemic,Agriculture Minister SNiranjan Reddy said people,particularly the poor, will beindebted to them forever forproviding quality treatment.

The Minister on Mondayvisited the District Hospitalhere and reviewed the mea-sures in place to provide qual-ity treatment and containingthe spread of the virus. "Theservices being extended bydoctors and nurses duringthis pandemic have to be com-plimented. Staying away from

their families, they are render-ing good service to the soci-ety," said Niranjan Reddy.

He appealed to the people tocooperate with officials ineffective implementation ofthe lockdown and controllingCovid cases.

Special wards have been setup in all district hospitals andpeople do not have to worryabout availability of beds, hesaid, adding that all facilities arebeing provided at Covid carecentres for the convenience ofpeople. He appealed to the peo-ple to remain confident whileundergoing Covid treatment.Going by the reports, Covidcases are coming down acrossthe country, he said.

PNS n SURYAPET

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) presi-dent and Nalgonda MP NUttam Kumar Reddy onMonday urged the state gov-ernment to take up measuresto conduct RT-PCR test onmaximum number of thepeople to contain the spreadof Coronavirus in the state.

Wearing a PPE kit, UttamKumar Reddy visited theCovid ward in the govern-ment general hospital hereand interacted with thepatients. He appreciated thedoctors, nurses and para-medical staff for relentlessly

extending their services toCovid patients in the hospi-tal. He alleged that the stategovernment had reducedCovid tests and limited the

number of persons gettingthe test facility at PHCs. RT-PCR test labs should be set upin all government hospitals inthe state, he added.

PNS n JAGITIAL

The 25th Kisan Rail fromLingampet Jagtial in Telanganaleft for New Delhi on Mondaywith 585 tonnes of mangoes, asthe Indian Railways, overcom-ing the challenges of the Covidpandemic, continued to pro-vide support to the agricultur-al sector.

The Jagtial area is wellknown for cultivation of exportquality mangos. Till now, dur-ing the mango season, thetraders, cargo aggregators andfarmers were transportingthese superior quality mangoesby road to different parts of thecountry, which is expensive,time taking and prone to rela-tively more enorute damagesand losses, said South Central

Railway (SCR).Introduction of Kisan Rail

concept by Indian Railways,along with 50 per cent tariffconcession provided by theUnion Ministry of FoodProcessing Industries underthe scheme "Operation Greens

- TOP to Total" was extensive-ly publicised by the newly-formed Business DevelopmentUnit (BDU) team ofSecunderabad Division acrossall segments of freight cus-tomers including traders, cargooperators, bulk transporters

and farmers in and aroundJagtial region, it said.

The BDU also explained tothe freight customers of thisarea about various schemes andconcessions being offered bythe Railways. All these factorsprovided a path for initiatingmango loading by Rail fromJagityal area.

Within a short span of 42days, the 25th Kisan Rail fromLingampet Jagityal could beachieved transporting around13,590 tonnes of load andearning revenue of Rs 5.50crore, notwithstanding theCovid pandemic.

Kisan Rail rakes are provingto be game changers for boost-ing rural economy by provid-ing faster and timely trans-portation of horticultural pro-

duce. These trains areimmensely helping the farmingsector of this area in findingnew avenues for marketingtheir farming produce acrossthe country. Further, it providesa smooth, hassle-free and eco-nomical transportation facili-ty with least enroute damagesto the farmers, traders andcargo operators.

Also, with the commoditiesbeing loaded in parcel vans,where the requirement is only23 tonnes per van, this hashelped the farmers and traderswith small to medium quanti-ties also to avail the facility.SCR General Manager GajananMallya has expressed his hap-piness on loading of 25th KisanRail from Lingampet Jagityal toNew Delhi.

PNS n WARANGAL

Member of the Telangana Statecommission on child rightsYedlapalli Brundadhar Raohas asked anganwadi teachersto take suitable measures toshield children from Covidduring the lockdown period.

He was taking part in a dis-cussion held on the role ofAnganwadi teachers in pro-tecting children during lock-down period held here onMonday.

District Child ProtectionOfficer P Santosh Kumar saidthat there is scope for childmarriages during current lock-down and for sexual assault ofminor girls. Therefore, heasked anganwadi teachers toremain on the alert.

During last year's lockdown,several sexual assaults werereported against girls, he saidasking parents to take care oftheir wards.

In case of problems, call up100 and Child Line services on1098. Child Welfare commit-tee chairman A AnilchanderRao has asked children whowere rendered orphans due todeath of parents because ofCovid, to resolve problems ofinmates of child protectionhomes in the district shouldcall up 040-23733665.

Bheemadevarapali projectCDPO Soundarya, ChildWelfare Committee mem-bers Dr Pariki Sudhakar,ICFS protection officer SPraveen Kumar and otherswere present.

‘More effort needed toavert child marriages'

PNS n MEDAK

TPCC organising secretaryMyadam Balakrishna hasbreathed fire on exploitationof farmers at the paddy pro-curement centres in Katrialadue to overweighing of paddy.

He inspected the procure-ment centre on Monday andaccused PACS directorSrisailam Reddy of over-weighing the paddy to thedetriment of farmers.

He accused the TRS gov-ernment that its sayings anddoings are entirely differentand trying to hoodwink thefarmers. He lodged a com-plaint with joint collector onthe exploitation of farmers atKatriala and asked him totake steps to ensure that thefarmers are not duped.

He sought the governmentto register criminal casesagainst the PACS director. Healso spoke to IKP CEO overmobile phone and urged theCEO to order an inquiryinto the irregularities at theIKP centre in Katriala.

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

District Collector L Sarmanon Monday inspected thedoor-to-door fever going onin Lingala and Balmuru man-dals of the district and inAtchampet municipality. Hesaid that the survey helpsCovid patients get medicalhelp and protect their lives.

The Collector asked teamssurveying houses to writedown names of house own-ers, house number and theirtelephone number withoutfail. If anyone has Covidsymptoms, their full detailsshould be registered in therelevant register. They shouldjot down whether Covid kitwas given to them or not,what is the oxygen and satu-ration level, pulse reading andother parameters should benoted down in the register.

If the oxygen concentra-tion level drops below 95 percent, they should be rushedto hospital. He laid emphasison giving pulse oximetre toeach team. The Collectorwent through the registerand told the team what para-meters should be noted downin the register.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Congress MLA andAICC secretary SA SampathKumar alleged that theTelangana health sector was inthe sleeping mode. There wasa need to treat the state'smedical and health sector. Speaking to the media atGandhi Bhavan on Monday,Sampath Kumar alleged thatthe state government was notin a position to conduct coro-na tests. The government wascreating hungama inHyderabad, however, nobodycared about the rural areas.The government was notreviving vaccination after itstopped vaccination for thelast one week.

The state and central gov-ernments were playing ablame game, accusing eachother in the name of vaccina-tion, he said. There was nocompletion of the first dose,but the government wasspeaking about second dose,he ridiculed saying lakhs ofpeople had been waiting forthe second dose. The condi-

tion was very dangerous indistrict hospitals, he said.There was no CT Scan facili-ty in 19 out of 32 district hos-pitals. Sampath alleged thatblack marketing of remde-sivir injections was going on indistrict hospitals. The districthospitals authorities are sellingremedesivir in black market bygiving only two or three injec-tions to the patients, instead ofthe stipulated six injections.The task force committeebeing appointed by the gov-ernment under the leader-ship of IT minister KT RamaRao, was not doing anythingsubstantial however, it wasgiving an impression that itwas doing a lot. He asked KTRto learn about the groundreality as the conditions wereserious. "The government hasto initiate strong steps to con-trol the situation," he said.

Meanwhile, TPCC OfficialSpokesperson Nizamuddinhas on the other hand descr-ibed the visit of Chief MinisterK Chandrashekhar Rao toGandhi Hospital and MGMHospital as a publicity stunt.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Legislative Council member KKavitha's initiative to help apregnant woman, who wasfacing severe complicationsand at the same time, difficultto meet medical expenses, hasseen the woman deliver ahealthy baby boy, apart frominspiring the woman's husbandto offer free cab rides to preg-nant woman.

It was on May 22 thatKavitha responded to an SOSrequest on Twitter and took up

the case of 23-year-old Jyothi,who was nearing her delivery.Her husband Raju Naik, a cabdriver from Kosgi was alsofinding it difficult to meetmedical expenditures and hadlaunched a crowd-fundingcampaign to pay the deliveryexpenses.

Kavitha, on hearing theirstory and the crowd fundingcampaign, immediatelyreached out to the family andpersonally looked into the caseof Jyothi. Given her deliverycomplications, Kavitha moved

her to a private hospital anddecided to bear all the medicalexpenses to ensure that bothJyothi and the baby were safeespecially during the Covid-19pandemic. On Monday, Jyothigave birth to a baby boy, withboth mother and son doingwell. Jyothi and Raju Naikwill soon be returning homewith their newborn. The fam-ily from Kosgi is overwhelmedwith the help from the MLC,with Naik declaring that hewould from now offer cabrides to pregnant women.

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Telangana State CooperativeApex Bank (TSCAB)Chairman Konduru RavinderRao said the bank was takingall measures to transform andrejuvenate all the PrimaryAgricultural CooperativeSocieties (PACS) into multi-service centres and diversifytheir activities along with pro-viding credit to small andmarginal farmers.

"Our idea is to diversify theactivities of the PACS intomulti-service centers such asprovide agricultural inputs andimplements, warehousing andvalue addition to farm produceby utilising the support of thegovernment in general andNABARD in particular andhelp the societies run in prof-its", he pointed out.

Ravinder Rao, accompaniedby Manakondur legislatorRasamayi Balakishan, SUDAchairman GV RamakrishnaRao, DCCB CEO N

Satyanarayana Rao, UtoorPACS president PradeepReddy, NABARD DDMAnanth and others participat-ed in the inauguration of a ricemill constructed at a cost of Rs1.25 crore and laid the founda-tion stone for the constructionof a godown at a cost of Rs 1crore by the PACS in Utoor vil-lage in Manakondur mandalon Monday.

Speaking on the occasion,Ravinder Rao said a decadeago, the PACS Utoor was run-ning in losses as they were

solely relying on credit tofarmers. "Now, they have diver-sified their activities and areoperating petrol filling sta-tion, constructed five godowns,RO water plant, set up a seedprocessing unit and is operat-ing three cash counters of thesociety and doing a roaringbusiness of over Rs 25 croreand earning profits," he said.

Appreciating the UtoorPACS for opening a rice milland planning to set up a Dal(pulses) mill, he said that thesocieties should take up valueaddition to the farm produceand earn profits. The societyshould sell the Utoor brandrice and dals and win over theconfidence of the customers aswell as benefit the farmers.

District Cooperative CentralBank (DCCB) CEO NSatyanarayana Rao said theywere taking all steps to utilisethe NABARD funds to give afillip to the PACS through thecooperative banks for takingup multi-service activities.

‘Virus special wards setup in district hospitals'

585 tonnes of Jagtial mangoes exported to Delhi

Kavitha helps pregnant woman

Congress alleges irregularities in procurement ofpaddy in Medak

Cong: Health sector is in sleeping mode

Efforts on to transform all PACS into MSCs: TSCAB

PNS n NALGONDA

Nalgonda Superintendent ofPolice Ranganath has saidthat private vehicles can crossinto Telangana from AP evenin lockdown period if theycarry e-pass and made itclear that there are no restric-tions whatsoever on move-ment of ambulances.

Patients, including Covidpatients, are allowed into thestate provided if they have let-ters from hospitals and otherrelevant letters. Movement ofinter-state vehicles armedwith e-pass are also allowedbetween 6 am and 10 am.

Those who travel to TSfrom AP should follow policeguidelines. Vehicles withouthaving any passes have beencongregating at the border.

He assured the peoplerequiring emergency carewould be allowed even ifthey cannot obtain e-passes,out of humanitarian grounds.

‘Fever survey helps Covid patients get timely medical aid'

PNS n JAGTIAL

To follow up on the lockdownimplementation in the dis-trict, Karimnagar range IGPPramod Kumar inspected theKondagattu junction checkpost and some areas in the dis-trict headquarters on Monday.

He told all the police person-nel about the steps to be takenand charges to be framed forthe implementation of lock-

down strictly in the district.On this occasion, he men-

tioned about using the lock-down exemption time wiselyfor procuring the items ofdaily needs and getting back tohomes by ten in the morning.

Government employeesshould also get to their officeby 10 O'clock, he said. Publichealth and public safety are thekey themes in implementingthe lockdown, he said. Strict

actions would be taken onlockdown violators and someactions had also been takenagainst them so far, the IGPsaid.

A total of 4,231 cases hadbeen registered under DisasterManagement Act on variouscharges. While 465 cases hadbeen registered for maintain-ing improper social distance,78 cases had been registeredagainst large public gathering,

3,925 cases for not wearingmasks and some cases wereregistered against the people,who violated lockdown restric-tions and were roaming onroads. He further said a totalnumber of 919 vehicles wereseized.

He raided the Kodimyalapolice station area in the dis-trict and counselled those whocame out during the lock-down.

Lockdown violators will be dealt strictly: IGVehicles armedwith e-pass will be allowed into state: TS Police

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

Additional Collector Srinivashas visited Raghupatipet vil-lage and asked the door-to-door fever survey teams tohand over Covid kits to peo-ple identified as having symp-toms during the survey.

If anyone has less oxygenconcentration levels, theyshould be referred to govern-ment hospitals for bettertreatment.

Addl Collector reviews survey

Uttam demands RT-PCR test labsin all government hospitals in TS

AJAY YADAV

n KARIMNAGAR

Despite several complaintsover using fake medicines andcharging exorbitant pricesagainst the Sunrise Hospitals inKarimnagar and The Pioneermaking it evident by publish-ing in these columns to itsreaders on May 22, the officialshave not yet taken any actionagainst the hospital.

It may be mentioned herethat there is alleged involve-ment of hospital in the deathof a person identified asRaavikanti Ganesh, 45, bytreating him with fake med-icine.

A relative of the deceasedRaavikanti Venkataiah, aretired ZP CEO, complained tothe additional collector ShyamPrasad Laal and the DMHODr Juveria, regarding the injus-tice done to his nephew.

“I was asked to post a letterin the complaint box of theCollectorate and the addition-al collector would take the nec-essary action, but no action hasbeen taken on the hospital yet.All the private hospitals arelooting public neglecting thegovernment orders. The kin ofthe Covid patients are beinglooted,” Venkataiah said.

“I preferred to admit Ganeshin a private hospital due to theamenities provided by them,but the Sunrise Hospitals hasemptied all my savings. Thehospital management is

responsible for the death of myson,” said Rajayellaiah, fatherof the deceased.

Despite of registering innu-merable complaints regardingthis, the government had failedto take an action against theerring hospitals.

Sources reveal that theSunrise Hospitals continue toplay fast and loose with thetreatment and bills of Covidpatients. Meanwhile, whenThe Pioneer has approachedthe DMHO Dr Juveria regard-ing the issue, she stated that nocomplaint had been receivedregarding the issue. However,a monitoring committee hadbeen appointed to supervisethe treatment and billing in theprivate hospitals for Covidpatients. Dr Juveria said thatthe committee supervises 3 to4 hospitals a day and ensuresthat quality treatment is givento the patients.

Sunrise Hospital in Karimnagarcontinue to play fast and loose

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal onMonday said collective effortsof all the stakeholders to dealwith cyclone Yaas can ensurezero casualty.

He said central and stategovernments are workingtogether to ensure an orderlyplanning, relief and rehabilita-tion measures post cyclone.

"We must ensure a complete-ly zero casualty situation andthe collective efforts of govern-ments and industry partici-pants can actually make thathappen," Goyal said whileinteracting with industry rep-resentatives on preparednessfor cyclone Yaas. Several peo-ple have been killed in inci-dents related to cyclone'Tauktae'. The minister alsoemphasised on ensuring min-imum outage of power andcommunication.

He said all essential workersshould be provided with nec-essary resources to carry on thework efficiently.

"Railways has also kept res-cue equipment on standbysuch as Accident Relief Trains,Medical Relief Vans and TowerWagons. All of us shouldwork to protect small indus-

tries and large industriesshould ensure the suppliers aregiven all the support that isrequired," he added.

He said oxygen plants andOxygen Express will continueto serve the hospitals as soonas the cyclone passes by.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said there is nochallenge with regard to oxy-gen supply, but there could bea challenge at the power sup-ply front due to the cyclone.

"I think states are preparingthemselves accordingly," hesaid. Union minister for Ports,Shipping and WaterwaysMansukh Mandaviya saidcoordination between different

stakeholders is important inthis situation. The meetingwas attended by officials fromIMD, representatives from stategovernments of West Bengal,Jharkhand, Andhra Pradeshand Odisha, besides seniorindustry members.

A presentation was made onthe cyclone track and intensi-ty, districts/regions that mayexperience heavy rains, windsand storm surge, likely damageand measures to mitigate dam-age. Some of the issues raisedin the meeting included ensur-ing the need for completecommunication and powerback-up, and stockpiling emer-gency materials.

Goyal tells officials to ensure Yaas causes zero casualties

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) has directed itsrescue teams to ensure that thecountry's major medical oxygengeneration plants based inOdisha and West Bengal are"running and alive" duringCyclone Yaas that is developingin the Bay of Bengal, a seniorofficer said on Monday.NDRF director general (DG) S NPradhan said the force hasearmarked a total of 149 teamsfor undertaking evacuation andrescue operations, of which 99will be deployed on the groundand the remaining 50 will beavailable at its various basesacross the country for quickairlift, if required.Pradhan added that all the statesexpected to face the fury of the'very severe cyclonic storm' havebeen asked to "not take anychance" and evacuate each andevery person from its likely pathwell in time. This advisory hasbeen reiterated specifically in thebackdrop of the recent on-seaaccident that took place during

the onslaught of Cyclone Tauktaeon the western coast where over70 personnel working at a bargeoff the Mumbai coast have beenkilled till now. Cyclone Yaas isvery likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts betweenParadip and Sagar Island aroundMay 26 noon. It is expected tobring in winds of 155-165kilometres per hour, gusting upto 180 kmph. "Both Odisha andWest Bengal are major supplierfrom the eastern grid to thesouth, northern and central gridwhen it comes to medical oxygen(required for the treatment ofcoronavirus infected patients).""For example, all the oxygen fromAngul (in Odisha) goes by trainand roads towards central, southand parts of north India.Likewise, oxygen produced fromKolkata and Haldia (in WestBengal) goes towards the north,east and north-eastern parts ofthe country," Pradhan told PTI.All these have "to be kept runningand alive" apart from securingany possible damage to COVID-19 facilities and even quicktransport of patients to saferlocations, he said.

Keep ‘alive' oxygen plants, linkedroads in Odisha, WB: NDRF

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Mondayagreed to hear during ongoingsummer vacation the plea offormer Karnataka ministerand mining baron GaliJanardhana Reddy seeking per-mission to visit his home townBallari which was prohibitedwhile being granted bail in amining case.

Reddy, accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, is outon bail since 2015 and sever-al conditions including pro-hibiting him from visitingBallari in Karnataka andAnanthapur and Kadapa inAndhra Pradesh were imposedby the apex court in its order.

A vacation bench compris-ing Ashok Bhushan and M RShah took note of Reddy'sfresh plea seeking permissionto visit Ballari and said thematter would be listed beforeanother bench probably nextweek by Chief Justice N VRamana.

On April 5, a bench com-prising Justices Bhushan and RSubhash Reddy had reservedverdict on a similar plea byReddy seeking modification ofthe bail conditions imposed bythe apex court in 2015.

“I have discussed withJustice Reddy. He has alsoconsented to the release of the

matter. It will be listed beforeanother bench during thevacation only,” Justice Bhsuhansaid on Monday, adding thedate of hearing and the benchwould be decided by the CJI.

The CBI, represented byAdditional Solicitor GeneralMadhavi Divan, opposed theplea of senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for Reddy,that the interim application belisted during the summerbreak itself, saying, “It lookslike a side wind to get intoBallary”.

The law officer said thebench had already reserved itsorder on the similar plea afterthe arguments got over.

Earlier also, the CBI hadopposed Reddy's similar pleasaying that he should not beallowed to visit district Bellary

in Karnataka as he holds con-siderable influence and mightinterfere with the investigation

"He has led multiple peti-tions, witnesses under policeprotection have been threat-ened and vehicles have been seton fire. Over 40 witnesses arethere. We do not know whatwill happen if this gentlemanis allowed to enter the area,"the probe agency had said.

Reddy was granted condi-tional bail by the apex court inJanuary 2015 after spendingmore than three years in jail.

Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, man-aging director of theObalapuram MiningCompany (OMC), were arrest-ed by CBI on September 5,2011 from Ballari and broughtto Hyderabad.

SC to hear in summer breakGali’s plea to visit Bellari

INDIA CORNER

Andaman and Nicobar IslandsCOVID-19 tally rose to 6,844 as24 more people tested positive

for the virus while two new fatalitiespushed the death toll in the unionterritory to 103, a health departmentofficial said on Monday. All the newcases were detected during contacttracing, he said. The archipelagonow has 268 active COVID-19 cases of which 260 are in SouthAndaman district and eight in North and Middle Andaman district, theofficial said.Thirty-two people were cured of the disease during theperiod, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to6,473.The administration has so far tested 3,83,265 samples forCOVID-19 and the test positivity rate is 1.79 per cent. The official saida total of 1,20,801 beneficiaries have been inoculated in the unionterritory so far. A lockdown has been imposed in the South Andamandistrict which has reported the maximum number of cases fromMonday till May 31 to break the chain of the coronavirus infection. Allshops selling essential items will remain open between 6 am and 8am daily during the period.

Andamans reports 24 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths

Apolice officer donned a PPE kitand carried a COVID-19 positivepatient, whose oxygen

level had dropped to critical level, toan ambulance for shifting him to ahospital in Assam's Chirang district,Director General of Police BhaskarJyoti Mahanta said. The Officer inCharge of Dhaligaon police stationPrasenjit Das received a call seeking help on the Chirang PoliceCOVID helpline on Saturday night from a coronaviruspositive patient who was in a critical condition with his SPO2level falling and had reached the 50s. Das rushed to the patient'shouse with an ambulance and found that there was nobody to carrythe semi-conscious positive patient to the vehicle. The police officer,realising that the condition of the patient was deteriorating, decidednot to waste anytime looking for people but immediately wore a PPEkit and carried the patient to the JSB Civil hospital. "At a time whencorona has created fear in the minds of people, Das displayed a deepsense of duty and selfless service to take humanity to a different levelaltogether", the DGP said.

Police officer wears PPE kit to shiftCOVID-19 patient to hospital

Himachal Pradesh Chief MinisterJai Ram Thakur on Mondaydigitally dedicated to the state

a 250-bed, anti-Covid makeshifthospital near Dharamshala.Thehospital with oxygen beds was setup at a space provided by RadhaSoami Satsang Beas at Paraur inKangra district, for which Tahkurthanked the organisation.“The volunteers of Radha Soami SatsangBeas would also provide food to patients and their attendants free ofcost which is a great service towards humanity,” said the chiefminister, thanking the religious organisation. Elaborating variousmeasures aimed at expanding health infrastructure capacity to tacklethe pandemic, the chief minister said, “It was due to the efforts of thestate government that the Centre has doubled Himachal's oxygenquota from 15 MT to 30 MT.”“Now the government has urged theCentre to increase the same by 10 MT more for which thegovernment has agreed in principle,” Thakur said.

Covid: HP CM dedicates 250-bedmakeshift hospital at Dharamsala

The Uttarakhand government onMonday extended the COVID-19 relatedcurfew period across the state till June1.The period of the ongoing curfew inthe state was scheduled to come to anend at 6 am on Tuesday morning.Giving the information here, CabinetMinister and the state government'sspokesman Subodh Uniyal said shopsdealing in essential commodities like milk, meat, fish, fruits andvegetables will open daily for three hours from 8 am to 11 am duringthe period. The timings for the opening of shops have been changedin accordance with the demands of businessmen and traders afterdiscussions with Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, he said.

COVID-19 curfew restrictionsextended till June 1 in Uttarakhand

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Mondaysaid the process of registrationof migrant workers is “veryslow” and it must be expedit-ed so that benefit of variousschemes can be extended tothem amid the COVID-19pandemic.

The apex court observed it is“not happy” with the efforts ofthe Centre as well as the stateson the issue of registration ofunorganised workers.

While stressing on the needto register migrant as well asunorganised workers, a benchof Justices Ashok Bhushan andM R Shah said the benefit ofschemes meant for them can beextended after they are identi-fied and registered by author-ities.

“The process of registration

is very slow. We are not happywith the efforts undertaken bythe Centre and states on regis-tration of unorganised work-ers,” the bench said.

The top court said the gov-ernment must ensure that ben-efit of schemes reach the ben-

eficiaries, including migrantworkers, and the process mustbe monitored and supervised.

The apex court was hearingan application filed by threeactivists who have soughtdirections to the Centre andstates to ensure food security,

cash transfers, transport facil-ities and other welfare mea-sures for migrant workers whoare facing distress due to thecurbs clamped in several partsof the country amid the pan-demic.

The top court said it had last

year passed directions regard-ing registration of migrantworkers.

The bench said for extend-ing the benefits of schemes, theauthorities must complete theprocess of registration and thegovernment should also reachto these workers to complete itexpeditiously.

“We want this process to thecompleted. We also want thatall organised workers be regis-tered,” it said, adding, “Wewill ask the government tospeed up the process”.

“It is a difficult task but hasto be achieved,” the benchsaid, adding, “Our main con-cern is that benefits meant forthem must reach them”.

During the hearing con-ducted through video-confer-encing, the bench told thecounsel appearing for Gujarat

that if the contractors andemployers are not cooperatingin the process of registration ofworkers then the state govern-ment may consider cancellingtheir licences.

The top court said theremust be supervision of thesebenefit schemes to ensure thatit reaches the concerned ben-eficiaries.

“On paper, we have every-thing which says that govern-ment has spent thousands ofcrores on this, but the issue iswhether it is reaching to theconcerned persons. You have tomonitor and supervise it,” thebench observed.

“It is the anxiety of the courtthat the benefit of schemesmust reach to the concernedperson,” the bench said, addingthat it would pass order in thematter during the day.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The issue whether productsderived from non-mammalsources, particularly plants,can be termed as milk or milkproducts was raised in a pleabefore the Delhi High Courtwhich on Monday soughtresponse of the Centre, Delhigovernment and food safetyregulator FSSAI on the issue.

Justice Rekha Palli issuednotice to the Centre, Delhigovernment, Food Safety andStandards Authority of India(FSSAI) and various compa-nies, including Hershey,which sells such products --like soy milk -- seeking theirstand on the plea by theNational Cooperative Dairy

Federation of India(NCDFI).

NCDFI, the apex body ofthe the cooperative dairysector, has contended that

beverages or productsderived from soya, almondsand so on cannot be sold as'milk' or 'milk products' likepaneer, curd or yogurt.

HC seeks Centre's stand over soy,almond to treat as milk products

PNS n GIR SOMNATH

Police have registered an FIRagainst nearly 2,000 unidenti-fied people on charges ofattempt to murder and riotingafter members of two commu-nities clashed with each otherhere in Gujarat, leaving sixpolicemen and around adozen other people injured, anofficial said on Monday.

The FIR also names 47other persons for similaroffences in connection withthe incident that took place onSunday, he said.

The clash broke out at NavaBandar village in Una talukaof Gir Somnath after an alter-cation over collision of twofishing boats at a jetty in thevillage, he said.

Around 1,500 to 2,000 peo-ple belonging to two commu-nities allegedly hit each other

with sticks, swords, iron andplastic pipes, and also hurledstones and empty glass bottles,the official said.

When police intervened tocontrol the mob, the riotersattacked them, injuring sixpersonnel, including AssistantSuperintendent of Police OmPrakash Jat, two sub-inspec-tors and three constables, anofficial from Nava BandarMarine police station said.

The police had to lob sever-al teargas shells to control themob, he said.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

A coaching centre owner inJasdan town of Gujarat's Rajkotdistrict was arrested forallegedly flouting COVID-19norms after police found morethan 550 students in hispremises during a raid, policesaid on Monday.

The raid on the centre,located some 215 kilomeresfrom here, took place onSunday and its owner, identi-fied as 39-year-old JaysukhSankhalva, was arrested onMonday, said RajkotSuperintendent of PoliceBalram Meena.

"He was arrested under IPCand Epidemic Diseases Actprovisions for disobeyingpolice notification on COVID-19 norms as well as for negli-

gent act which may spreadinfection. The children havebeen handed over to theirparents," he said.

According to police,Sankhalva runs a coachingcentre-cum-hostel to providetraining to students appearingfor Jawahar NavodayaVidyalaya and Balachadi SainikSchool entrance exams.

"Based on a tip off, we raid-

ed the premises and found 555students between the age of 9-10 taking tuition. These chil-dren were not wearing masksnor was social distancing beingmaintained. The centre wasfunctioning despite the stategovernment's ban on class-room teaching due to theCOVID-19 outbreak," Jasdanpolice station sub inspector JHSisodiya said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Twelve people were bookedin Akola in Maharashtra forallegedly ordering the socialboycott of a police patil andhis kin after he objected tothe construction of a villageassembly hall, an official saidon Monday.

The incident took place inSonuna village under Channipolice station limits, over580 kilometres from here, hesaid. "Police patil (villagelevel functionary liaising withpolice) Ramesh Kadam andhis kin, who have been resid-ing in Sonuna for the past 35years, objected to an assem-bly hall being constructednear a temple.

12 held for sociallyboycotting man,family members

Guj coaching centre raided,555 students found;1held PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing concern overmosquito infestation inthe national capital, theDelhi High Court Mondaysaid if the situation is notcontrolled immediately,the rise in vector-bornediseases could lead tomore problems and com-plexities amidst the ongo-ing COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench of JusticesVipin Sanghi and JameetSingh took suo motu cog-nizance of the mosquitoinfestation in Delhi andsaid that on account of theprevailing pandemic, thesteps to be taken by theDelhi government andcivic authorities havetaken a back seat and theyneed to pull up theirsocks.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Monday said thereare around 500 cases of blackfungus or mucormycosis inDelhi and the city has beengrappling with a shortage ofAmphotericin-B injectionused in its treatment.

"We have set up dedicatedcentres for the treatment ofblack fungus at Lok NayakHospital, GTB Hospital andRajiv Gandhi Super SpecialtyHospital but we do not havedrugs.... We did not get theinjections on Sunday," he toldreporters.

Four to five injections perpatient per day are used in thetreatment of the fungal infec-

tion. There are around 500cases of black fungus in Delhiat present, he said, addingDelhi has been receivingaround 400 to 500 injectionsper day.

The central government hasbeen distributing the injectionamong states. There is a severeshortage of this drug in themarket and its productionshould be ramped up, thechief minister said.

Around 500 cases ofblack fungus in Delhi

Check mosquitoinfestationduring Covid:HC

Communal clash: FIRagainst over 2,000 people

‘Expedite Covid benefit schemes for migrant workers’

FLOUTING COVID NORMS

SC BATS FOR REGISTRATION

parties, including the BJP, theCongress, AAP, Shiv Sena, YSRCongress, the TelanganaRashtra Samithi and the DMK.The Maharashtra Governmentis run by a coalition of eightparties, including the Shiv Sena,the Congress, the NCP and theSP. The DMK-led coalition inTamil Nadu has the Congress,the CPI, the CPM and theMDMK, among others.

While everyone isindulging in the blame game,it must be noted that the PrimeMinister has chosen not toblame anybody. However, somefundamentals must be under-stood. Under the Constitution,the State Governments are pri-marily responsible for hospitalsand their disasters. The sharingof powers between the Centreand the States is delineated inthe Seventh Schedule, whichlists the items that fall within thedomain of each entity.

Item six in the State List inthis Schedule states: “Publichealth and sanitation; hospi-tals and dispensaries.” In otherwords, public health and themanagement of hospitals anddispensaries is wholly theresponsibility of the Statesand they cannot get away bypointing fingers at somebodyelse. The States also have theduty to prevent spread of

infectious diseases (Item 29 inthe Concurrent List).Therefore, no State can claimthat it was helpless or power-less to deal with these issues.

Over the last month, thePrime Minister has been madethe fall guy — a convenientruse to deflect blame from allother entities. But once weovercome this crisis, we musttake stock of what the follow-ing entities did or did not doin the first quarter of this year:The Chief Ministers; StateHealth Ministers; ChiefSecretaries; Health Secretaries;the Indian Council of MedicalResearch and the administra-tors of all major Governmentand private hospitals, apartfrom the Union Government,the Union Health Ministry inparticular, the Union HealthSecretary and all senior offi-cials in that Ministry. Did anyof the administrators of privatehospitals who are studio-hop-ping over the last three weeksand blaming all and sundry forthe oxygen depletion, takeany measures to augment thesupply and storage of oxygenin their hospitals over the pastyear? But, as stated earlier, thisis not the time for this exercise.

It is true that the Centreshould have woken up to thedisaster much earlier.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwatsummed it up when he saidafter the first wave of COVID-19: “The Government, admin-istration and public droppedtheir guard.” However, this isnot the time for finger-point-ing. “We have to stay positive…. to keep ourselves COVID-negative,” he says.Emphasising the need forpositivity at this juncture,Bhagwat referred to a partic-ular phase in World War IIwhen England appeared to belosing the war. Yet, there wasa note on Prime MinisterWinston Churchill’s desk thatread: “There is no pessimismin this office. We are notinterested in the possibilitiesof defeat. They don’t exist.”Bhagwat said India too needsto have such courage andresolve to defeat COVID-19.He is absolutely right. Whileit is true that not a single fam-ily is unaffected by either theCOVID illness or consequen-tial bereavement, we have toexhibit superhuman courage,resolve and positivity in theface of personal tragedy todefeat this rampaging scourge.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy studies. The views expressedare personal.)

On the day Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli failed to prove his majority inthe House of Representatives, he had published an appeal in The Guardian, request-ing the UK Government and the international community for assistance in Nepal’s

fight against COVID-19. The article received significant backlash within his country. Thepeople were unconvinced since Oli has left no stone unturned to turn Nepal into a polit-ical mess; beginning with his quest to remain in power, to misusing the office of thePresident. Despite losing majority in the House, Oli was invited to form a minority

Government. Within days, the same Parliament hasbeen dissolved again, and new elections have beenscheduled for November. Noteworthily, Nepal is expe-riencing the worst of COVID-19 amid rising cases, fatal-ities and looming doubts over the supply of vaccinesfrom international manufacturers. The shadow of cor-ruption in procuring vaccines and medical equipmentis dark enough to be seen. So, a plea from Oli is noth-ing but a mockery of good governance and a forcedblindfold on the international community to overlook.Oli has become an authoritarian leader who disrespectsthe will of the people, political mood and remainsunbothered by what the country is facing.

If anyone can be held responsible for paralysing Nepal in every sphere, it’s the pre-sent-day “Oli-garchy”. The apex court has nullified Oli’s earlier attempt to dissolve Parliament,and ill-intended overnight ordinances on political parties were withdrawn by the Presidentamidst opposition. He was once again challenged to prove his majority, but he failed.Currently, unashamed, Oli continues to be the caretaker Prime Minister. Voices are ema-nating from the Army veterans, civil society and the democratic forces to hold Oli respon-sible for the current crisis. These are the same voices that fought an autocratic monar-chy for more than a decade to establish an envisaged democratic order in the Himalayancountry. However, in less than 15 years, leaders like Oli have done no good but fueledthe ethnic divide, economic slowdown, soured relations with India and institutionalisedcorruption. When Nepal became the world’s sixth Communist-ruled country in 2008,questions were asked whether Communism and democracy could coexist. With partieslike the CPN-UML led by Oli and the Maoists in Nepal, self is prioritised before ideology,nation and people. Therefore, Nepal needs a second wave of democracy to re-establishinstitutions in the truer sense with education, medical and economy at the priority.

COVID-19 is a national disaster. There is a national task force in place handlingthe pandemic centrally. However, when it comes to the procurement of vac-cines, the one and only element to fight the virus with, it is being done in a

decentralised manner, with the Centre and the States both in a race to get hold ofas many doses as they can from the market, even from abroad. Why is procure-ment not a national task being taken up by the Centre? The question has been doingthe rounds since the third phase of the Government’s vaccine policy was announcedearlier this month. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia made a pertinentpoint to bring out the pointlessness of such an exercise when he asked rhetorical-

ly what if the States asked the districts to procuretheir own vaccines, just like the Centre is askingthe States to? The Chief Minister of Punjab, CaptainAmarinder Singh, has already said that US phar-ma giant Moderna has refused to supply the vac-cine directly to the State, saying it deals withrequests only from the Government of India andnot from the States or private companies. TheSupreme Court a fortnight ago asked the Centrewhy cannot it buy 100 per cent of the requirementand why cannot the Centre follow the nationalimmunisation programme policy with respect to theprocurement of COVID-19 vaccines?

The control of infectious diseases falls in the Concurrent List and is, therefore,said to be a shared responsibility between the Centre and the States; that is how theformer’s argument goes. However, former Health Secretary K Sujatha Rao pointedout that all these years, the Union Government was supplying vaccines and drugsto the States under the National Programme and that it was for the first time that theCentre was leaving the States alone to buy vaccines on their own and at a price tobe determined by the manufacturers. The Centre is the nodal agency to facilitate near-ly all aspects of vaccination. It is the Centre, not the States, that can persuade theUnited States for the raw materials; can help the suppliers expand production capac-ity; approve more vaccines and balance the domestic supply with obligations of theIndian manufacturers under Covax. Procuring vaccines is a logical extension of theCentre’s job. The current policy has created a divide of sorts: The Centre loweredthe threshold age for vaccination to 18 years but will not vaccinate the nearly 90crore people in the 18-45 age group. It is left to the States while the Centre takescare of the older, high-risk categories. Where will that leave Punjab? Where will thatleave the other States if the rest of the pharma companies react like Moderna? Thevaccination, obviously, cannot stop. The Centre will then be forced to retract its pol-icy; something it can do voluntarily and without compulsion today.

Pandemonium

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

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HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021

06

Oli-garchyThanks to Oli’s mismanagement, Nepal is looking at fresh elections in November

Several COVID patients have tragically died, either due to the depletion in oxygen supply at hospitals or for other reasons, across 14 States

PICTALK

A group of Barabanki residents jumps into the Saryu to avoid vaccination against COVID-19 AP

A SURYA PRAKASH

It is the Centre’s duty to make available the anti-COVID jabs to all the States

Do the States haveany responsibility?

The death of patients dueto depletion of oxygenin some hospitals inDelhi and in many other

States in the past weeks alongwith the shortage of beds anddrugs for COVID-19 patientshas shaken the nation’s con-science. Apart from Delhi,dreadful stories of criminal neg-ligence and utter incompetence,leading to the death of COVIDpatients due to oxygen shortage,are surfacing from many States.

In Karnataka, 24 COVIDpatients lost their lives on May2 and 3 when the district hospi-tal in Chamarajanagara ran outof oxygen. A three-membercommittee appointed by theHigh Court indicted the districtadministration and the hospitalauthorities for their failure tosupervise the crisis and said theoxygen shortage was the result ofcallousness at various levels.

Reports from Goa wereequally grim as over 80 patientsin the Goa Medical College andHospital reportedly lost theirlives because the hospital ran outof oxygen. While the hospitalauthorities claim not all of thesecases can be linked to depletionof oxygen, one hears that thisinstitution had a very primitivesystem of oxygen supply andinsufficient storage capacity.The Goa Bench of the BombayHigh Court also had to step inand press for speedy action toresolve the logistics issues.

In Haryana, such deathswere reported in hospitals inGurugram, Rewari and Hisarwhile the cities in Maharashtrathat were hit by oxygen short-age included Kandri, Malegaonand Nasik. And, as if all this wasnot enough, there have beendisastrous fires in hospitals inseveral States.

An analysis of the death ofCOVID patients due to oxygenshortage shows that such incidentshave occurred in Delhi,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Karnataka, Telangana, AndhraPradesh, Tamil Nadu and Goa, atotal of 14 States — half the num-ber of the States in the country.And the elected Governments arerun by a wide range of political

SOUNDBITEPUT AN END TO FARMERS’ AGITATIONSir — Many rounds of talks between thefarmer unions and the Government haveremained inconclusive due to the adamantattitude of both sides. The growers are rigidon their demands: To repeal the three farmlaws and a written guarantee from the Centreon the Minimum Support Price (MSP). TheGovernment, on the other hand, is willingto negotiate with the farmers on any issueapart from the repeal of the laws.

Meanwhile, the farmers need to be waryof the self-styled intellectual activists who havewormed their way into the dispute. Theyseem motivated more by their animusagainst the Union Government than by thewelfare of the farmers. The cultivators, if goodsense prevails, should quit the agitation routewhile the going is good for them.

Instead of intensifying their protest, itwould be wiser to use the six-month land-mark to move beyond the politics of agita-tion and put an end to it. May 26 marks thecompletion of six months of the protest. Withthe Centre reiterating that its offer is on thetable, the unions must accept the 18-monthsuspension of laws and end their agitation.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

WAKE-UP CALL FOR OUR POLITICOSSir — The second wave of the Coronavirushas exposed the inefficiency and inertia ofour Central and State leaders. It seems theynever took the killer infection as seriously asthey take elections, big or small, in differentparts of the country. Our country neitherupgraded the infrastructure nor stepped upthe pace of the vaccination campaign.

While most developed countries bookedvaccine orders in far excess of their popula-tion, India lagged way behind in its strate-gic planning. Often, even the courts had tointerfere and pulled up the Governments onthe handling of the crisis. The cost of inoc-ulating the whole country is 0.36 per cent ofthe GDP which, experts say, can be achievedeasily. If India exhausts its vaccine fund allo-cated in the Budget of 2021, a lion’s share ofthe population can be vaccinated.

If the Indian leaders still do not wakeup, then the world’s largest manufacturer of

vaccines may end up being the last in inoc-ulating its citizens. While the other coun-tries announce freebies to those getting thejab, our politicians seem interested only ingarnering votes to cling to power.

V Nagendra Kumar | Hyderabad

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE NEXT PROBLEMSir — Anxiety, depression, tension, frustra-tion and post-traumatic stress have beenamong the most common problems forIndians, as reported by the Social JusticeMinistry’s mental health helpline. Not surpris-ingly, many States are experiencing more callsto these helplines during the second wave.

According to the Department ofEmpowerment of Persons with Disabilities(DEPwD) data, 26,047 calls were received bythe KIRAN helpline till April 30 since

September 16, 2020. While the overall num-ber saw a declining trend from March (3,617)to April (3,371), there was an increase inKerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtraand Haryana, where the calls more than dou-bled from 73 in March to 170 in April.

Most of the callers over the past monthraised concerns regarding the second waveafter being diagnosed with COVID-19. Theofficials said the increase in the number ofcalls could be partially due to the helplinebeing promoted as a COVID-related men-tal health resource during the second wavein the region. The majority of the callers hadbeen men in the age group of 15 to 40 years.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Several lives were lost due to overconfi-dence and negligence, both in equal mea-sure, after the oilfield accommodation

barge, “Papaa-305”, with 261 men sank intothe Arabian sea 35 nautical miles off theMumbai coast. The Coast Guard had warnedthe shipping boats and fishermen against ven-turing into the sea.

Did the captain ignore the advisories? Wasthe decision to keep going his own? When acyclone warning is given, the captain isexpected to steer his vessel to the safety of theharbour. The warning was sounded on May 11,so the ONGC had enough time to evacuate itspersonnel.

But the barge was stuck in the sea. Themain danger for ships and barges duringcyclones is the wind speed. The tidal waveswere as high as 10 metres, the survivors said.Due to the high wind speed, the barge wentadrift and swayed to hit a rig, resulting in waterleakage. Many life rafters were reportedly punc-tured, making them unsuitable for emergen-cies. Many men jumped into the water withfloating rings, hoping to be spotted by rescuers.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)has said it repeatedly warned the ONGC aboutthe cyclone. The company claims the cyclone“changed its path” and caught the bargeunawares. Surely, it’s an unverified claim thatneeds to be taken with a pinch of salt. Luckily,two other barges that went adrift were safelybrought to the shore.

But for the admirable job done by the Navyand the Coast Guard, the number of casualtieswould have been much higher. A detailed inves-tigation into the tragedy should be conductedand responsibility fixed. Heads must roll; oth-erwise there will be little accountability.

Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

Time to fix responsibility

The US’ maximumpressure campaignagainst Iran hasproved ineffective;Iran in the face of the

American sanctions has triumphed.

Iranian President— Hassan Rouhani

Vaccination is thekey to controllingthe pandemic butthe Centre doesn’tseem to care.

Congress leader— Rahul Gandhi

My friends,acquaintances,followers, ourvolunteers, friendsfrom the TV and filmindustry, Government officials anddonors — I’m amazed andoverwhelmed to see how everyoneis standing with us in this initiative.

Dancer and actor— Raghav Juyal

The PM is takingcredit for Coronavaccination; hisphotograph shouldalso be printed onthe death certificatesof Corona victims.

Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president

—Jitan Ram Manjhi

I spoke with Kohliduring IPL when DCplayed RCB. He told

me that I bowledwell and should

continue doing this.

Delhi Capitals bowler

— Avesh Khan

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

WHILE EVERYONE ISINDULGING IN THE

BLAME GAME, ITMUST BE NOTED THATTHE PRIME MINISTERHAS CHOSEN NOT TO

BLAME ANYBODY.HOWEVER, SOME

FUNDAMENTALS MUSTBE UNDERSTOOD.

UNDER THECONSTITUTION, THE

STATE GOVERNMENTSARE PRIMARILY

RESPONSIBLE FORHOSPITALS AND THEDISASTERS THEREIN

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY WORLD WRESTLING DAY.THIS DAY IS ALL ABOUT HELPING EACH OTHER

TO FIGHT COVID-19 AND MOTIVATE EACH OTHER.— WRESTLER

BAJRANG PUNIA

THE APPLICANT (SUSHIL) IS BEING FALSELY IMPLICATED.THE PURPORTED VICTIMS WERE TRYING TO DEFAME AND FIX (SUSHIL) FOR A LONG TIME.— WRESTLER AND OLYMPIC MEDALLISTSUSHIL KUMAR

On January 16,2021, the Covid-19 vaccina-tion programme was launched withmuch fanfare by Prime Minister NarendraModi. It was touted as the only ray of hope

after a year of human suffering. An ambitious pro-ject to vaccinate 1.3 billion population in a two-doseregimen, an event of this magnitude had never beenattempted in India before. Although India has beenone of the largest exporters for vaccines in the lastdecade, several questions were raised: Does Indiahave the capacity to manufacture 2.6 billion doses?Does India have adequate infrastructure to man-age distribution, transportation and storage of vac-cines that may require sub-zero temperature?Does India have the trained manpower and facili-ties at the last mile level (primary health care cen-tres) to administer the doses successfully to its pop-ulation spread far and wide in the interiors of thecountry.

The questions were uncomfortable and right-ly so as barely four months into the programme, theentire vaccination drivehas been put in peril due toscarcity of vaccines, lack of resources at the prima-ry healthcare level and people's reluctance to getthemselves vaccinated.

This article adopts a supply chain managementapproach to propose solutions that can be leveragedto add order to the vaccine programme, mitigatebottlenecks and increase the supply and distribu-tion of vaccines. Supply chain management is thefacilitation of of flow of goods from the raw mate-rial suppliers to the manufacturers, dealers, distrib-utors, retailers and finally to the customer; it is alsothe management of bilateral and seamless flow ofinformation end-to-end. The principles of supplychain management advocate creating strong net-works and integrated relationships between the dif-ferent echelons of the chain.

PROCUREMENT OF RAW MATERIALSTwo major constraints to sourcing of raw mate-

rials for Covid 19 vaccine were identified as: 1) rawmaterials and technologies needed for the fightagainst COVID-19 are under intellectual propertyprotection and therefore inaccessible to many coun-tries 2) US has invoked Defence Protection Act thatprevents the export of critical materials to encour-age domestic production. The US has assured thatit willexpedite export of raw materials, but when isthe question. Meanwhile,an international agreementthat compels majority of countries to remove or notcreate trade barriers that disrupt the global flow ofraw materials for making vaccines, should be inplace.Many petitions have been filed to waive offthe patents of Covid-19 vaccines so that productioncan be expanded rapidly. In this context, it makessense to invest in the R&D and clinical trials ofindigenous vaccine developed in India.Alternatesupplier base from other countries such as Russiashould be developed to procure and supplement rawmaterials for large-scale commercial productionwhile strictly adhering to the biosafety standards.

MANAGING MANUFACTURING CAPACITYThe manufacturing process of Covid-19 vac-

cine is complex and requires specialized productioncapacity. Moreover, adjuvant materials such as con-sumables, single-use reactors bags, filters, culturemedia, and vaccine ingredients are needed in largevolumes to complete production.India's manufac-

turing capacity and capability for vac-cines was not questioned earlier asthe country houses the largest vac-cine manufacturer in the world andexports 60 per cent of its productionto other countries as part of theUNICEF immunization programme.However, with Covid 19 vaccines, theproduction capacity has been severe-ly over-estimated for two reasons:1)India manufactures vaccines large-ly intended for children, therefore itwas presumptuous to assume thatthis high capacity would easily betransferred to making adult vaccines.Moreover,India's decision to exportvaccines to the rest of the world waspremature as the combined produc-tion of Covishield (60 million permonth) and Covaxin (five millionper month) is insufficient to servicedomestic demand, leave alone createexport surplus.India now needs toinvest in expanding the manufactur-ing capacity along with conductingclinical trials to ensure continuousand seamless production. Ratherthan relying on one manufacturer,the Union and state governmentsshould consider public-private part-nerships, advanced purchase agree-ments, incentives and benefits withconcessional loans to propel vaccineproduction.

VACCINE MID-MILE LOGISTICSAlthough India has escalated its

cold chain infrastructure to facilitatesmooth transportation of vaccines

across the country, it needs to investfurther in logistics infrastructure asthe vaccines need to bestoredandtransported at temperatures 2-8degrees from the point of manufac-ture to the point of administration.Temperature integrity needs to bemaintained at all times as25 per centvaccines degrade by the time theyreach their destination due to tem-perature errors. Thus, need of thehour is to create public-private andpublic-public partnerships to outfittransportation modes, storage hubs,packing stations, dangerous goodshandling areas and health centerswith freezers.

India's primary healthcare cen-ters which are last mile storage andadministration points are ill-equipped to handle thesevaccines.Ancillary items like syringesand glass vials need to be madeinadequate quantities along with prop-er training of healthcare workers whocan immediately respond to anyemergencies. Verifiable transcript ofthe vaccine's lifecycle and journeyneeds to be documented as counter-feiting is rampant in the pharmaceu-tical supply chain.

The Indian government hasdone well to launch the Co-Winappand a dedicated 24x7 hotline andthis has brought visibility and trans-parency to the front-end opera-tions, but same visibility needs to beextended to the back-end of the sup-ply chain.

For this, a supply chain info-directoryneeds to be establishedthat can help suppliers and pur-chasers traverse the volatile anduncertain environment. The info-directiory would serve as a centralrepository of demand and supplydata, including information on theneeds of different states and regions,confirmed purchase orders, sup-plies and manufacturing capacity forinput materials and finished prod-ucts, delivery times, and so on.Moreover, Chain of Custody alsoneeds to be established to ensuretracking of vaccines in the supplychain and prevent counterfeiting ofdata and systems.

The challenges to vaccinatetheIndian population against Covid-19atthe earliest are humungous.The sup-ply scenario in India has been unpre-dictable for Covid vaccine due tomultiple reasons: lack of raw mate-rials, limited manufacturing capac-ity, inadequate transportation andlogistics infrastructure and insuffi-cient trained manpower. On thedemand side, although the popula-tion numbers are fixed, demandremains uncertain at the micro leveldue complications suffered by somepatients, misinformation regardingthe efficacy of the vaccine and newinformation related to the highlymutant strain of the virus makes mat-ters worse, creating scepticism overthe effectiveness of the overall vac-cination programme.

KOTA SRIRAJ

SUPPLY CHAINMANAGEMENT

IS THEFACILITATION OF

THE FLOW OFGOODS FROM

THE RAW MATERIAL

SUPPLIERS TO THE

MANUFACTURERS,DEALERS,

DISTRIBUTORS,RETAILERS AND

FINALLY TO THE CUSTOMER;

IT IS ALSO THEMANAGEMENT OF

BILATERAL ANDSEAMLESS FLOWOF INFORMATION

END-TO-END

At a time when COVID-19-induced patient load is over-whelming, it is critical to ensure that factors such as cli-mate change do not add to the disease burden. In these

trying times climate change made worse by rising methane lev-els has the potential to add to the health miseries unless urgentmitigatory measures are applied. The global methane emissionstoo are anything but under control as per a report by the UnitedNations Environment Program (UNEP).

The UNEP report has underlined the urgent need to reducethe human-caused global methane emissions especially from theagricultural sector with its livestock emissions from enteric andmanure fermentationcontributing up to 32 per cent of globalmethane emissions. Even though the carbon dioxide levels droppedduring the coronavirus pandemic,however, the same did not hap-pen with methane as the concentration in the atmosphere reachedrecord levels last year, according to the data from the United StatesNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is wor-risome as methane being an extremely powerful greenhouse gasis responsible for about 30 per cent of global warming.

The UNEP report calls for cutting down methane emissionsby 45 per cent to avoid worst consequences.If achieved it wouldprevent a rise in global warming by up to 0.3 degrees Celsiusby 2045. Besides, it will help prevent 2,60,000 premature deaths,7,75,000 asthma-related hospital visits annually, and 25 milliontonnes of crop losses. In India, the agri sector contributes tonearly 47 per cent of the anthropogenic methane emissions.

The European Commission for instance had adopted theEuropean Union Methane Strategy in October 2020 which hasoutlined measures to cut methane emissions in Europe and inter-nationally.India has the potential to reduce methane emissionsin the agriculture, waste and energy sectors.

India must begin by addressing the losses and waste in thefood sector. A UN report pegged domestic food waste in Indiaat 68.7 million tonnes annually. This waste releases immense quan-tities of methane. Implementing behavioural change methods canhelp reduce waste and diverting the waste towards energy gen-eration can help reduce methane emissions. Improvement in live-stock management, encouraging adoption of health dietsfocused on vegetarian can reduce methane emissions by 65-80million tonnes per year and help script a low methane emissionsfuture for India.In the agriculture sector the adoption of zero tillagepractice, coupled with efficient use of fertilisers and better man-agement of water in rice crops can go a long way in gaining con-trol over the carbon footprint of the agriculture sector.

These measures are excellent ways to get a handle onthe runaway methane levels in India.However, the governmentmust not fritter away the precious progress made through thesemeasures. One such activity is the continuing usage of coalin India. The government must urgently look towards diallingdown coal usage and lend scalability to alternative sourcesof energy. This must be combined with reducing the miningactivities and closing the abandoned coal mines effectivelyso that they do not keep leaking methane.

Rising methane emissions can have disastrous conse-quences for human's and environment alike. India must rein inthe emissions before they assume unmanageable levels.

(The author is an environmental journalist. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

The second wave ofCovid-19 caught Delhicompletely unawares

and exposed the fault lines inthe capital's healthcare infra-structure. It is well known thatCovid-19 treatment requiresoxygen. Yet, Delhi did nothave any plan of action whenit came to managing it. Wewere completely dependent onoxygen supply from otherstates. The Union govern-ment continued to increaseDelhi's quota of oxygen. TheDelhi government, on theother hand, was accusing theCentre of not doing enough.For days, oxygen misman-agement caused heavy losses.There were casualties, due tooxygen shortage, reported inJaipur Golden Hospital andBatra Hospital, who com-plained of an unresponsiveadministration on the ground.

During the Court pro-ceedings, the Delhi govern-

ment was reprimanded forbeing unable to get its actright. The Delhi High Courttold the government to put itshouse in order or let Centretake over. Even after Centre'supward revision of Delhi'squota of oxygen, the Delhigovernment did not haveenough tankers to lift theoxygen and supply it to hos-pitals. Later, it was revealedthat Delhi does not have stor-age facilities to store oxygenthat was supplied by theCentre and was forced toreturn the excess oxygen.

It is predicted that thethird wave might be morealarming than the currentwave and impact our childrenmore. Therefore, it is imper-ative that we begin preparingfor the third wave from dayone. Till now, preparationsinitiated by the Delhi govern-ment seem inadequate andunsatisfactory. Delhi needs

to move in the direction ofbecoming self-reliant in oxy-gen production. In order toaccomplish this, I have writ-ten to Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal to make fol-lowing policy interventions:

pFast track installation ofPSA oxygen generation plantsfrom the PM Cares Fund inDelhipProvide subsidy and simpli-

fy process to encourage indus-try to set up oxygen plants inDelhipRelax norms for privatenursing homes who are 100%dependent on oxygen cylin-ders to set up storage units(oxygen tanks) within premis-espMandate installation of oxy-gen plants in all governmenthospitals and incentivise pri-

vate hospitals to install oxy-gen plants within premises

Besides oxygen, it is crit-ical to ramp up Delhi's health-care infrastructure. Delhi's'unique healthcare model'turned out to be an emptyboast when the tragedystruck. The much-publicizedMohalla clinics could not beused to treat even one patientinfected with Covid-19. Infact, many of these were seensubmerged in piles of garbageor lay abandoned like a haunt-ed house.

The people of Delhideserve to be treated and notleft to die. Therefore, theDelhi government needs tomove beyond making cos-metic changes and doingphoto-ops. The need of thehour is to operationalise hos-pitals that are non-function-al. Build more isolation cen-tres as well as identify alreadyexisting infrastructure such as

mohalla clinics, communitycentres, schools and so onthat could be turned into iso-lation centres and equippedwith oxygen cylinders andconcentrators.

Apart from physicalinfrastructure, our medicalstaff also needs to be expand-ed to reduce the burden onexisting workforce. The cur-rent wave has taken a serioustoll on the physical and men-tal health of medical profes-sionals and supporting staff.We must support them byfilling up vacancies of med-ical professionals and sup-porting staff in Category B,C and D and train them onCovid management at a largescale.

For children, specialpreparations need to be madeto ensure that they receivetimely care. Special pedi-atric wards equipped withoxygen supply should be

made mandatory in everyhospital. Tie-up with Centralagencies on specialized treat-ment for children to keep theadministration updated onany advancements in thisregard.

To minimize the impactof future waves, vaccinationneeds to be undertaken on amission mode. It is importantto keep politics aside andstart the process of placingorders with vaccine manufac-turers. Though the Centre isalready delivering vaccinesfree of cost to Delhi for peo-ple above 45 years of age, itis in the purview of states toprocure more vaccines asper the needs from vaccinemakers in India and abroad,subject to approvals.

This is the time to actand ensure that no life is lostdue to systemic failures andmisplaced priorities of theDelhi government.

The city Government must heed warnings and ensure that no life is lost due to systemic failures or misplaced priorities

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

REIN IN METHANEEMISSIONS, NOW

The rising levels of methane gas havethe potential to add to patients’ misery

ANITA KUMAR

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The author is Director,CII School of Logistics,

Amity University. The views expressed

are personal.

VIJENDER GUPTA

The author is Member ofLegislative Assembly, Delhi,representing the BharatiyaJanata Party from Rohini.

The views expressed are personal.

Supply chain strategiesto manage vaccination

A wake-up call for Delhi's health infrastructure

Yes, there are problems but there are also solutions that can be leveraged to addorder to the campaign, mitigate bottlenecks and increase supply & distribution

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Gold in the national capitalon Monday gained Rs 95to Rs 48,015 per 10 gram

amid a positive global trendand rupee depreciation,according to HDFC Securities.In the previous trade, it hadclosed at Rs 47,920 per 10gram. Silver also jumped Rs154 to Rs 70,998 per kg, fromRs 70,844 per kg in the previous trade. The rupee depreciated by 4paise to 72.87 against the US dollar in the early trade on Monday. Inthe international market, gold was trading in the green at USD 1,882per ounce and silver was flat at USD 27.67 per ounce. HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said, "Goldprices continued upside after gaining for three consecutive weeks.Gold prices traded near four-month high on weaker dollar." MotilalOswal Financial Services Vice-President (Commodities Research)Navneet Damani said, "Gold steadied near the highest level amidweaker dollar and pullback in US yields showing the investorsincreased optimism on the precious metal."

State-run Canara Bankon Monday said it islooking to raise capital

through a mix of equity anddebt instruments in thecurrent fiscal and a meetingof the board of directors willtake place on May 28.However, the bank has notmentioned how muchamount it plans to raise during 2021-22. "The board meeting of thebank is scheduled to be held on May 28, 2021 at the head office,Bengaluru, to consider and approve the capital raising plan of thebank for FY 2021-22," Canara Bank said in a regulatory filing. Thelender said the capital is slated to be raised through qualifiedinstitutional placement (QIP), follow-on public offer, rights issue,preferential issue or any other means or a combination. It may alsoinclude the issue of Basel III bonds or other such securities. CanaraBank stock traded at Rs 155.70 apiece on the BSE, up 1.96 per centfrom previous close.

Canara Bank board meetingto consider capital raise

Stock brokers' associationAnmi has urged marketsregulator Sebi to reconsider

the proposed 100 per cent levyon intra-day trade peak margins,as the higher-margin will reducehedging opportunities. In aletter to Sebi on May 15, theAssociation of NationalExchanges Members of India(Anmi) said that there is a great disconnect between what is beingcollected from clients and what needs to be collected vis-a-vis theattendant risks arising in intraday trades. It, however, reiterated thatthey are not against the collection of intraday margin levied onclients nor the levy of full margin on the clearing memberirrespective of the nature of the trade. The bookers' associationrequested Sebi to reconsider the proposed 100 per cent levy on daytrade peak margins as the margin is 300 per cent of what shouldhave been the actual levy.

Anmi urges Sebi to reconsiderproposal on 100 per cent levy

Zydus Cadila on Monday launchedUjvira, a drug used for treatment ofbreast cancer. The company has

launched Trastuzumab Emtansine, thefirst antibody drug conjugate (ADC)biosimilar and a highly effective drugfor treating both early and advancedHER2 positive breast cancer, under thebrand name Ujvira, Zydus Cadila said in a statement. "In a stepthat can significantly reduce treatment cost by almost 80 per cent,the drug is being offered at Rs 32,495 for a 100 mg vial. Thecurrent MRP of existing Trastuzumab Emtansine drug is Rs1,59,225 for 100 mg vial. Ujvira will be available in two strengths,100 mg and 160 mg," the company added. Zydus Cadila said HER2positive breast cancer is considered an aggressive form andconstitutes 20 to 25 per cent of all breast cancers. Dr Sharvil Patel,Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare the launch of Ujvira reinforcesthe innovation capabilities that India has to be able to createcomplex therapies like ADCs and Zydus' ongoing commitment tooffer breakthroughs backed by science and innovation.

Zydus Cadila launches breastcancer treatment drug Ujvira

Gold gains Rs 95; silverjumps Rs 154

Sensex jumps 111 pts; Niftyends near 15,200 PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexadvanced 111 points onMonday, tracking gains inHDFC twins, SBI and L&Tamid mixed cues from globalmarkets.

The 30-share BSE indexclimbed 111.42 points or 0.22per cent to finish at 50,651.90.

The

broader NSE Nifty rose 22.40points or 0.15 per cent to15,197.70.

SBI was the top gainer in theSensex pack, advancing over 2per cent, followed by L&T, ITC,Dr Reddy's, Axis Bank andPowerGrid.

On the other hand, IndusIndBank, UltraTech Cement, Titanand Bajaj Finserv were amongthe losers.

Domestic equities remainedpositive despite mixed globalcues as persistent decline indaily caseload and improve-ment in recovery rate in secondwave of COVID-19 continuedto lift investors' sentiments, saidBinod Modi, Head - Strategy atReliance Securities.

Elsewhere in Asia, boursesin Shanghai and Tokyo endedon a positive note, while HongKong and Seoul were in thered.

Equities in Europe werelargely trading with gains inmid-session

deals. Meanwhile, interna-tional oil benchmark Brentcrude was trading 1.81 per centhigher at USD 67.55 perbarrel.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Russian Direct InvestmentFund (RDIF) and Indian drugfirm Panacea Biotec onMonday announced the launchof production of the Sputnik Vcoronavirus vaccine in India.

The first batch of theCOVID-19 vaccine producedat Panacea Biotec's facilities atBaddi in Himachal Pradeshwill be shipped to the Russia'sGamaleya Center for qualitycontrol.

Full-scale production of thevaccine is expected to start thissummer, RDIF and PanaceaBiotec said in a joint statement.

As announced in April,RDIF and Panacea have agreedto produce 100 million dosesper year of Sputnik V, it added.

"Launch of production inIndia in partnership withPanacea Biotec marks animportant step in helping thecountry fight the pandemic,"RDIF chief executive KirillDmitriev said.

The production of SputnikV supports efforts of India'sauthorities to leave behind theacute phase of coronavirus assoon as possible while thevaccine will also be exported ata later stage to help prevent thespread of the virus in other

countries around the world, headded.

On the development,Panacea Biotec MD RajeshJain said, "This marks a signif-icant step as we initiate pro-duction of Sputnik V. Togetherwith RDIF, we hope to helpbring a sense of normalcyback to people across thecountry and around theworld."

Sputnik V was registered inIndia under the emergency useauthorisation procedure onApril 12, 2021, and vaccinationagainst coronavirus with theRussian vaccine started onMay 14.

RDIF, Panacea Biotec launch

production of Sputnik V in India

PNS n MUMBAI

With their collection efficien-cy getting impacted amid dis-ruptions caused by the secondwave of COVID-19 pandemic,microfinance institutions(MFIs) may see their creditcost in the 3-6 per cent rangein the current fiscal, a reportsaid.

India Ratings and Researchin its report said that collec-tions of micro lenders andsmall finance banks (SFBs)are likely to have declined 3-5per cent in April 2021 andadditional 5 -7 per cent May2021 (first fortnight of themonth), both on a month-on-month basis.

"MFIs could again see cred-it costs in the range of 3-6 percent in FY22, if the early trendsof the collection performancewere to persist,” the agencysaid.

It said May 2021 could see ahigher drop in collections (5-7 per cent) than even April2021 (cumulative 10-15 per

cent drop in collections com-pared to March 21), as statesimplement stricter measures tomanage the second COVIDwave. The variation amongMFIs could be wider, depend-ing on their level of concentra-tion in regions where lifting ofrestrictions could be slow, itsaid. The report further said

the incidence of most of therelevant provision will alsofall in FY22, given that the bulkof the second wave portfoliodeterioration would happenat the beginning of FY22.

"As a consequence, theimpact of the credit costs onaccount of the second wavewould be higher in the annu-al financials for FY22 thanFY21 and possibly even thedemonetisation crisis,” it said.

During demonetisation,MFIs credit costs were spreadover three years as the eventoccurred at end of the thirdquarter of FY17 and the regu-lator provided forbearance forNPA (non-performing assets)recognition, the report said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug majors Roche India andCipla on Monday announcedlaunch of Roche's AntibodyCocktail in India priced at Rs59,750 per dose for the treat-ment of mild to moderateCOVID-19 in patients who areat high risk.

"The first batch of theAntibody Cocktail(Casirivimab and Imdevimab)is now available in India whilea second batch will be madeavailable by mid-June. In totalthey can potentially benefit2,00,000 patients as each of the1,00,000 packs that will beavailable in India offers treat-ment for two patients," Ciplaand Roche said in a joint state-ment.

Cipla will distribute theproduct by leveraging its strongdistribution strengths acrossthe country, it added.

The price for each patientdose [a combined dose of 1,200mg will be Rs 59,750 inclusiveof all taxes. The maximumretail price for the multi dose

pack (each pack can treat twopatients) is Rs 1,19,500 inclu-sive of all taxes

As per the statement, thedrug will be available throughleading hospitals and COVIDtreatment centers.

The CDSCO had recentlyprovided an EUA for theAntibody Cocktail in India. Ithas also received a EUA in theUS and several EU countries.

“We are optimistic that theavailability of AntibodyCocktail (Casirivimab andImdevimab) in India can helpin minimising hospitalisation,ease the burden on healthcaresystems and play a key role intreatment of high risk patientsbefore their condition worsens,”said V Simpson Emmanuel,Managing Director and CEO,Roche Pharma India.

MFIs credit costs may be in 3-6 pc range

PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug major Dr Reddy'sLaboratories has earmarked aCapex of around Rs 1,000crore for the current fiscal asit remains positive about sus-taining its growth trends in thecurrent fiscal and beyond, asper a top company official.

The Hyderabad based firminvested about Rs 1,000 crorein the 2020-21 fiscal.

"The Capex will be aroundthe same numbers, maybe a bithigher if everything goesthrough," Dr Reddy'sLaboratories CEO Erez Israelisaid in an analyst call.

However, it depends on theCOVID-situation that howmuch the company would beable to put in during the fiscal,he noted.

He was responding to aquery whether the company'sCapex for FY22 would behigher than FY21.

"We had about give or takea little bit less than Rs 1,000crore of Capex in FY21," Israelisaid.

On the growth outlook forthe current fiscal, Israeli noted:

"While the current businessenvironment continues toremain uncertain owing tothe global pandemic, webelieve that the foundation issolid and there are multiplegrowth levers available for usto sustain growth trends inFY22 and beyond".

The drug maker's growthwould be primarily driven byorganic moves, focusingaround pipeline monetisation,productivity enhancement,diversifications and capabilityramp-up in marketing anddigitalisation, he added.

"Further, our strong bal-ance sheet allows us to contin-ue to invest in the right set ofinorganic moves to enablelong-term growth," Israeli said.

Dr Reddy's has a net surpluscash of Rs 751 crore as ofMarch 31, 2021, he added.

On the company's NorthAmerica Generics business,Israeli said that as of March 31,2021, the drugmaker had 95cumulative filings pendingapproval with the US Food andDrug Administration(USFDA), which included 92abbreviated new drug applica-tions (ANDAs) and three newdrug applications (NDAs).

"Overall, in the year (2020-21), we launched 28 new prod-ucts, including one relaunch.We expect the strong newlaunches momentum to con-tinue through the current yearas well with a similar numberof launches," he added.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories lines up Rs 1K-cr capex for current fiscal

PNS n MUMBAI

Domestic rating agency Icraon Monday forecast a 2 percent uptick in growth duringthe March FY21 quarter, and3 per cent from the grossvalue-added perspective.

This would mean that theNSO projection of a double-dipcontraction is avoided. Theagency has placed the full-yearcontraction at 8.45 per cent. Itschief economist Nayar expectsthe annualised GDP growth at2% in the March quarter, upfrom 0.40% in December.

The agency has projectedthe GVA growth at 3 per centin Q4 of FY21, up from 1 percent in Q3, suggesting that thedouble-dip recession impliedby the NSO for Q4 is averted.

"We have forecast GDPgrowth to trail the GVAexpansion in Q4, on accountof the assessed impact of theback-ended release of subsi-dies by the government. Giventhe latter, we believe the trendin the GVA performance maybe a more meaningful gauge ofthe economic recovery in Q4,"Nayar said.

Icra pegs India’s Q4GDP growth at 2 pc

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amazon India on Mondaysaid it has launched a COVID-19 Relief Scheme (CRS) underwhich it will provide financialassistance to frontline teams ofassociates hired throughstaffing agencies and othereligible employees with aCOVID-19 allowance andadditional hospital reimburse-ment.

The COVID-19 allowance isa one-time grant per employ-ee of Rs 30,600 for in-houseCOVID care, medical equip-ment, or medication relatedexpenses, Amazon India saidin a blog.

If employees exceed theirmaximum insurance cover dueto COVID-19 related hospital-isation expenses, AmazonIndia will also additionallyreimburse insurance-approvedhospital expenses up to Rs 1.9lakh, it added.

Amazon India said it isencouraging all its employeesand frontline teams to get vac-cinated at the earliest possibleopportunity and making vac-cination a ready choice for itsteams.

The company is also provid-ing a special pay of up to Rs1,500 to all associates workingthrough staffing agencies forboth doses of the vaccine.

In addition, it is enablingvaccination for its associatesand employees through vari-ous other channels, including

reimbursements and facilitat-ing easy access to hospitals.

Amazon India had recent-ly announced that it will coverthe COVID-19 vaccinationcost for more than 10 lakhpeople including its Indiaemployees, sellers, associatesas well as its operations part-ner network of DeliveryService Partner (DSP) associ-ates, including Amazon Flexdrivers, I Have Space (IHS)store partners, trucking part-ners and their eligible depen-dents.

Amazon to offer Covid financialsupport for frontline teams, staff

PNS n NEW DELHI

FMCG major Nestlé India onMonday said it will set up oxy-gen plants in five hospitalsnear its factories across thecountry, as part of its supportto fight against the coronaviruspandemic.

The company is in theprocess of setting up the oxy-gen plants in hospitals near itsfactories in Punjab, HimachalPradesh, Uttarakhand,Karnataka and Goa, NestleIndia said in a regulatory filing.

Nestlé India Chairman andManaging Director SureshNarayanan said the company'steam is continuing to help

those communities in needduring the pandemic, withinitiatives that focus on safe-guarding the wellbeing of peo-ple at large. "We have lent ahelping hand in augmentingmuch needed medical supplieslike ventilators, masks, PPEkits, face shields, and oxime-ters, etc," he added.

Narayanan further said,"Recognising the need foroxygen support for COVID-19patients, my team is in theprocess of setting up oxygenplants in five hospitals nearour factory locations inPunjab, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Karnataka andGoa."

Nestlé to set up O2

plants in 5 hospitals

PNS n NEW DELHI

Auto components makerIgarashi Motors India onMonday said its manufactur-ing units and corporate officein Chennai will be closedfrom May 24 to May 30 dueto restrictions imposed byTN government to curb thesecond wave.

The company, whichmanufacturers DC motors,has two units in Chennai.It supplies to global auto-motive parts majors,including Bosch, Contine-ntal, Cooper, MagnetiMarelli and Delphi.

In view of governmentdirective of May 22 of com-plete lockdown in the stateto prevent and contain thespread of COVID-19 sec-ond wave, "our manufac-turing units and corporateoffice at Chennai will beclosed from May 24, 2021until May 30, 2021",Igarashi Motors India saidin a regulatory filing.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Jaypee Infratech's financialcreditors have decided todefer the voting process onSuraksha group's bid, thatwas scheduled to startfrom Monday, to acquirethe troubled realty firmthrough insolvency.

The decision to deferthe voting was taken onMonday morning in ameeting of the CoC,which was called afterNBCC suo motto sub-mitted 14 page adden-dum to its resolution plan.

When asked whethervoting on Suraksha bid hasbeen deferred, JIL IRPAnuj Jain said: "Yes".Sources said homebuyers'representative in the panelwill this week conduct avoting process for fla-towners to decide whetherextra time should be givento both the bidders.

Igarashi Motors'Chennai unitsshut from May24 till May 30

Creditors' paneldefers voting onSuraksha's offer

Antibody Cocktaillaunched in India atRs 59,750 per dose

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ou may have seennews stories aboutpossible vision dam-age from the bluelight emitted by com-puters, smartphones,

tablets, televisions, and otherelectronic devices. Too muchscreen time is a common pitfallin this digital age and it cancause eyestrain in many. But thechances of permanent visiondamage are low. Digital eye-strain often leads to dry eyesand puts an extra burden on themuscles that help the eye focus.Also, the eyes do not blink asfrequently when looking at digi-tal devices which cause fasterdisruption and evaporation ofthe film of tears that protectsthe surface of the eye. That cancause minor eye irritations suchas burning and stinging. So, ifyou grew up listening to yourparents tell you to move awayfrom the TV screen becauseyou’ll ruin your eyes, you prob-ably rolled your eyes at them inresponse and the fact is, pro-longed screen time can have aneffect on your eyes if you aren’tcareful. “Thanks to the eye irri-tation and redness, it feels like Iam crying all day and for achange, my boss is not to beblamed for it, haha! Theincreased screen time withalmost no breaks is the reasonfor my growing eye troubles. Ihave been using eye drops, but Iwill be visiting an ophthalmolo-gist soon. I am afraid that I willhave to wear glasses now for thefirst time in my life,” says SonaliSingh, a social media managerwith a marketing firm.

Covid-19 came with enor-mous challenges, and its reper-cussions are being felt aroundthe globe. “Changing lifestylesin the age of work from homeand home-schooling is leadingto modified visual conditions.Viewing a computer or digitalscreen often makes work for thehuman eye harder! As a result,the unique characteristics andhigh visual demands of comput-er and digital screen viewingmake many individuals suscep-tible to the development ofvision-related symptoms,”informs Rohan Paul, BusinessHead at ZEISS Vision CareIndia. Staring into a screen foran extended period of time cancause ‘computer vision syn-drome.’ What is it? Computervision syndrome, also referredto as digital eye strain, describesa group of eye-related problemsthat result from prolonged com-puter, tablet, e-reader, and cellphone use. Often the letters onthe computer or handhelddevice are not as precise orsharply defined, the level ofcontrast of the letters to thebackground is reduced, and thepresence of glare and reflectionson the screen may make view-ing difficult. “Continuous expo-sure to gadgets, binge eatingwhile watching TV, poor light-ing, poor posture while usinggadgets, wrong angle whilelooking at the screen, not blink-ing adequately, uncorrectedvision problems, not taking fre-quent breaks, and screen glare

can cause this syndrome,”speaks Dr. Kartikeya Sangal, anopthalmologist.

A recent report from a globalcomputer market leader showedthat 91 percent of respondentsin India agree that they haveincreased laptop usage duringthis pandemic, even more thanthe global average of 85 per-cent. "While this developmentsignals a lasting change inmodern work practices, italso causes several problemsrelated to eye health.Especially for adults whowork from home, whocommunicate with friendsvia video chat, whostreams content fromover-the-top platforms,and finally for childrentaking online courses.All this leads to inter-esting new trends inhow people deal withvarious eye-relatedtopics," concludedthe business head.Here are some ofthe consumertrends that havegiven shape toeye care duringthe pandemic:

-There's agrowingdemand for

lenses! More and more parentsare concerned about potentialeye strain and visual irritationof their children and want tomake sure their kids enjoy clear,natural, and healthy vision.Here are a few consumer trendsthat are giving shape to eye care:ÆPeople with increasedscreen time during the pandem-ic often experience symptoms ofeye strain, including sore orirritated eyes, neck pain,headache, difficulties in focus-ing on tasks, and even disruptedsleeping behaviour.ÆOptimised lenses are being

designed to ease the use of digi-tal devices such as laptops, e-readers, or smartphones. Specialoptimisation of the near zoneconsiders the typical move-ments of the eyes and the short-er reading distance required bythese devices. ÆThere is an increaseddemand for contactless consul-tation. As people continue tomaintain social distance, the useof remote refraction devices byoptometrists to perform con-tactless eye exams under obser-vance of the needed hygienemeasures is on the rise!

ÆDue to the use of facemasks, the demand for anti-fogsolutions for eyeglass lens wear-ers and cleaning solutions isalso increasing.

Anti-fog lenses help ensureclear vision during the day andlens wipes help keep the glassesclean and clear.ÆAs a result of the sensitiveenvironment, the demand forprotection against bacteria andviruses and more hygienearound optical products is ris-ing.ÆLastly, people want toexperience a secure shopping

solution. As a result,omnichannel sup-pliers are becomingincreasinglyimportant, espe-cially as theyenable a rethinkof the customerexperience byoffering thebest of bothworlds whileimprovingcustomersafety inthe currentpandemic.

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TuesdayMay 25, 2021

y

EYE CARE AMIDTHE PANDEMIC

fter winninghearts as thenation’s heart-throb on televi-sion, SidharthShukla is set to

broaden his horizon as anactor by entering the world of

the web soon. The popularactor is eagerly looking forward

to launching his highly antici-pated digital debut, Broken But

Beautiful 3! Sidharth's undeniablecharm and acting skills earned

him a massive fan base in no time,thanks to shows like Bigg Boss 13

and Khatron Ke Khiladi 7, whichmade him extremely popular in the

entertainment industry. Sharing his thoughts on the experi-

ence of working in television and OTT mediums,the heartthrob informs, “I know the whole world ishooked to the web platforms, and I feel it is thenew medium now. OTT consumption, especiallysince the last year, has tremendously increased.People are consuming different things, and actorsare willing to experiment more with content on theweb space.”

“Both the mediums have their share of chal-lenges. As actors, our job is to act in any medium. Istrongly believe if the content is good, people willwatch it, irrespective of the medium. I am trulyexcited about my digital debut and am looking for-ward to the audience’s response to Broken ButBeautiful 3,” Sidharth adds.

His last fictional show was Dil Se Dil Tak inwhich he was seen with Rashami Desai and JasminBhasin. The actor will be now seen making his dig-ital debut with Ekta Kapoor’s web series Broken ButBeautiful 3.

BROKEN

BUT

BEAUTIFUL

n view of the sec-ond wave ofCovid-19 that hasput extreme pres-sure on diagnosticpath labs, the

Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) recentlyapproved Covid-19 hometesting using Rapid AntigenTests (RATs).

The self-use test can beused by symptomatic indi-viduals and immediate con-tacts of confirmed cases asper the ICMR guidelines.Users of this test will notneed sample collection by ahealthcare professional.

This will ease pressure onoverburdened labs andreduce delays in testing.However, these tests shouldbe done wisely and in lieu ofthe said Covid-19 norms.

According to the ICMR,individuals who test positiveusing the home testing kitmay be considered as truepositives, and no-repeat test-ing is required. All sympto-matic individuals who testnegative must get tested byRT-PCR, as RATs are likelyto miss few positive cases.

Md. Shakeel Ahmed,Head-Emergency Medicine,Fortis Hiranandani Hospital,Vashi, answers to a newsagency the commonly askedquestions about home test-ing kits. It’s as simple asthese following steps:

HOW DOES THE HOME

TESTING KIT WORK?

Each kit provides all test-ing materials, instructions touse (IFU) leaflet and a bio-hazard bag to be safely dis-posed of after testing.

The test is designed to bedone using a nasal swab (notthe deep nasopharyngealswab) to reduce the discom-fort.

The kit is supposed toprovide results in 15 minutesand people who test positiveshould immediately isolateso that they do not infectothers, and quickly contactthe local municipal bodiesand their healthcareprovider.

Those who test negativeand continue to experienceCovid-like symptoms shouldseek follow-up care fromtheir healthcare providerand conduct an RT-PCRtest.

HOW DO YOU KNOW

WHEN THE RESULT IS

POSITIVE?

The kit has a control lineand a test line that will indi-cate the result. If both

Control Line C and the TestLine T appear in the car-tridge, the presence of novelcoronavirus antigen is con-firmed, and the result is pos-itive. This takes up to

around 15 minutes forresults to appear.

HOW DO YOU KNOW

WHEN THE RESULT IS

NEGATIVE?

If only quality ControlLine C appears but the TestLine T does not appear, thisindicates that novel coron-avirus antigen has not beendetected and the result isnegative.

HOW DO YOU KNOW

WHEN THE RESULT IS

INVALID?

For invalid results, if thequality control line C is notobserved, it will be invalidregardless of whether thereis a test line T. In this case,the test shall be conductedagain.

WHAT DO POSITIVE

RESULTS INDICATE?

Positive results indicatethe presence of viral anti-gens. People who test posi-tive with the home Covid-19Antigen Test should self-iso-late and seek to follow upcare with their physician orhealthcare provider for fur-ther action.

WHAT ARE THE POSSI-

BLE DISADVANTAGES

OF THESE TESTS?

There could a possiblediscomfort while sample col-lection, if you do not do itcorrectly. Also, RATs havethe tendency to interpretincorrect results. The otherpossibility is that people maytest positive and resort toself-medication which couldbe harmful to them.

ARE THERE ANY

PREPARATIONS TO DO

BEFORE THE TEST?

Firstly, it is important thatyou find a clean place to dothe test.¬ Identify a table andsanitise the surface thor-oughly¬ Wash your hands withsoap, and make sure thatyour hands are dry beforeyou perform the test¬ Tear the pouch and laythe contents of the kit on the

table¬ Before you proceedwith the test, please down-load the app mentioned inthe testing kit, fill in the cre-dentials and then proceedwith the test. This is impor-tant so that no positive caseis missed

Always remember thatthere are many factors thatcome into play when itcomes to home test kits.These tests work best withpeople who have symptomsof Covid-19. If you test a lit-tle early or say if you areasymptomatic, most likelyyour test may show negativeand that might give you afalse sense of reassurancethat this negative test meansyou are not transmissible,when you really could be.So, if you are sick, it isimportant to seek medicalaid from your healthcareprovider, and report thefindings of the test to thelocal municipal body.

All you need to know abouthome testing Covid-19 kits

A

I

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

10

Hyderabad Tuesday May 25, 2021what’s brewing?

FUN

COULD COVID CAUSEERECTILE DYSFUNCTION IN MEN?

long with physicaland mental health,sexual health prob-lems are also aggra-vated by the ongo-ing pandemic, a

primary reason beingincreasing stress due to fac-tors such as job, work lifebalance, financial challenges,lack of socialising andstrained relationships. Arecent study has revealed thatCovid increases the risk ofdeveloping erectile dysfunc-tion (ED) by nearly six times.

Sexual health and wellnessis defined as a state of physi-cal, emotional, mental, social,and spiritual dimensions inrelation to sexuality. Sexualintimacy is a highly stigma-tised and taboo topic inIndia, and people are usuallyunwilling to talk openlyabout their sexuality and sex-ual health.

Stress directly affects ourhormones and mood and cantake away a person's libido,thereby affecting quality timeof a couple. It can also causeone to indulge in smoking oralcohol consumption whichin turn can adversely affectsexual performance. Thesecan lead to problems such aspremature ejaculation, erec-tile dysfunction, reducedlibido, and male fertility.

Erectile dysfunction, orED, is a common conditionthat can make sexual activitydifficult. It may lead to a lossof intimacy in a marriage orlong-term relationship,affecting the mental well-being of both partners. Someleading Indian andrologistsshare their thoughts on the

recent study and the co-rela-tion between the coronavirusand erectile dysfunction.

Pramod Krishnappa,Consultant Andrologist, NUHospitals, Bangalore tells anews agency: “The Covid-19pandemic has wreaked havocon humans causing bothphysical and mental illness.Although the lung is themost prominent organ affect-ed, a recent research paperfrom Miami has revealed thepresence of Covid viral parti-cles in the most sensitiveorgan, penis. The authorshave also hypothesised thatthis widespread endothelialdysfunction could lead toerectile dysfunction. AnItalian survey led by Sansonealso revealed that the erectiledysfunction was common

among those who had Covid-19 infection in the past andvery aptly commented thatMask up to keep IT up.”

Raman Tanwar, MBBS,MS, FMAS, MCh (Urology)Gold Medallist, Departmentof Urology and Andrology atUro centre, Jyoti Hospital,Gurugram adds, “Covidinfection leads to widespreadendothelial dysfunctionwhich means that the liningsof blood vessels do not func-tion properly once infected.For erection the optimalfunction of blood vessel lin-ing is needed and many stud-ies across the world are find-ing an increased incidence oferectile dysfunction inpatients who are positive.Studies have also pointed thatthose who have ED are morelikely to have Covid-19 infec-tion.”

If an individual is diag-nosed with ED, the first stepis to reach out to a doctor asit can be a sign of underlyinghealth problem. Heart dis-eases, clogged blood vessels,high blood pressure, choles-terol, diabetes, obesity, anxi-ety, stress, depression andlifestyle habits like smokingand alcohol consumption area few of the main causes oferectile dysfunction.

Vineet Malhotra, ClinicalDirector, Diyos Men’s HealthCentre shares: “The recentstudy conducted at the Miller

School of medicine, Miami,USA notes the presence ofCovid-19 in the penis even 7months post infection. Theincreased risk of endothelialdysfunction can lead to a riskof erectile dysfunction inaffected men.”

Sanjay Pandey, Head ofUro-Andrology at KokilabenDhirubhai Ambani Hospital,Mumbai shares: “Covid-19affects different men in dif-ferent ways. There is a possi-bility that some men mightdevelop ED after sufferingfrom Covid-19. So particu-larly for young and healthypeople who abruptly developerectile dysfunction, andespecially after having Covid-19, this can be a sign ofsomething more seriousgoing on. This could last forlong term or short term. EDis usually a symptom ofanother medical condition. Ifyour health isn't great tobegin with, you’re more likelyto have severe or unwantedsymptoms from Covid-19,such as ED.”

Doctors suggest that withthe number of cases increas-ing every day and multiplestudies indicating that menare more prone to Covid19,this study makes it moreimperative that men must beextra cautious in their every-day life ignoring which couldaffect various aspects of theirlives.

ne of the mostcommon changespost-pandemic isthe global adop-tion of the work-from-home

(WFH) culture. As profes-sionals set up their indoorworkstations, their overallphysical activity hasreduced. The shutdown ofpublic spaces like gyms,beaches and parks, coupledwith restrictions on otheroutdoor activities such aswalking, jogging or cycling,has further added to theproblem, says Dhara Tanna,Senior Vice President ofFitternity. Advocating forinclusion of varying formsof exercise in one's dailyroutine, Tanna believes indi-viduals can achieve their fit-ness goals right from thesafety of their homes.

Here are some workoutsthat she suggests you caneasily include in your WFHregime to seamlessly achievethe balance between workand well-being.

Before starting yourwork day

It is essential to start yourday with a calm and relaxedapproach. Engaging in somebreathing exercises likepranayama or anulom vilomwill help you stay focusedand stress-free. Further,practicing these will ensurelowered blood pressure,heart rate, and risks ofdepression. These exercises

are also known to better thesymptoms of diabetes andeffectively lower chronicpain. They help in keepingthe body adequately oxy-genated, which is very nec-essary during the presenttimes.

Walk and talk

With most office meet-ings turning into conferencecalls, you end up stayingseated for longer time peri-ods. You can start takingyour calls while walkingaround your workspace tostay active. Apart fromimproving your blood circu-lation, it will also help youbenefit from the much-needed break from screentime. Additionally, walkinginduces the release ofhealthy endorphins orhappy hormones in thebody as well as helps inloosening muscles. You caneven increase your steps bygoing to the kitchen forwater; instead of sitting witha bottle. You can also keepyourselves motivated byhaving a healthy competi-tion with a friend or familymember on who achievesthe most steps.

Well-being breaks

Replace screen time whileyou take your in-betweenbreaks with some quickstretches. They are benefi-cial for both the mind andthe body. It will providemuscles and joints with the

required movement whilesimultaneously breaking themonotony of sitting in oneposition for far too long. Iteven reduces soreness andstiffness. Some of theseexercises like neck rolls, sidestretch, back and upper backstretch, seated hip stretch,spinal twist are a fewstretches that can be per-formed right at your desk.Just like our body, our eyesalso need some rest.

Eyes need rest too

Eyes have muscles whichalso require proper exercis-

ing in order to stay strongand healthy. One such easyexercise to reduce eye strainwhile working from home isthe 20-20-20 rule exercise.One should practice to lookaway from the screen afterevery 20 minutes and focuson any object that is 20 feetaway for 20 seconds. Thiswill surely work as a strainrelief to your eyes.

Post-work workout

To stay fit, people need toinclude at least 150 minutesof moderate-intensity physi-cal activity per week; or 75minutes of vigorous exerciseweekly. You can pick from awide range of workoutregimes that can be easilydone at home. Some of theseworkouts include Yoga,Zumba, Pilates, FunctionalTraining, and High-IntensityInterval Training (HIIT)among others. To stay ontrack and enjoy the bestresults, you can even joinonline classes. Most suchdigital platforms even offerthe option of one-on-onetraining with instructors.

With fitness being the toppriority of many, these arejust a few things that onecan include in their dailylives. Professionals can makeadjustments in this plandepending on their specificwork routines, says theFitternity expert.

However, to regularlyengage in some form ofphysical activity is some-thing you can’t afford tocompromise. Consistency isthe primary ingredient inthe recipe for a healthy life.Exercise not only improves aperson's physical health butalso works wonders for theirmental well-being.

How to incorporate exercisein your inactive WFH day

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tollywoodHyderabad Tuesday May 25, 2021

s Anuradha findsGanesan next to awoman’s deadbody in his ownhouse, the life ofthis simple

father-daughter duo fromChennai changes completelyovernight.

A leading crime novelwriter with symptoms oferratic behaviour, all evi-dence points in Ganesan’sdirection.

But when Anuradha, ayoung ethical hacker por-trayed by actor TamannaahBhatia takes it upon herselfto find the truth behind thismurder, she unfolds a chainof shocking revelations inNovember Story, a Tamilcrime thriller series.Directed by RamSubramanian and producedby Ananda Vikatan Group,it is also available in Hindiand Telugu.

Now here’s why this per-plexing murder case is amust-watch for all.

More than a classicmurder mystery

November Story is not justa classic murder mystery,but the riveting story of amurder that unveils a com-plex web of stories and char-acters. Featuring multilay-ered storytelling with flash-backs across time framesrevealing the back storybehind the murder, itexplores family dynamics, ayoung woman’s quest to saveher father, and much more.

A story behind a story

Every episode unveils hid-den truths that turn themurder mystery in newdirections, and buildintrigue and suspensearound the real murderer aswell as their motive.

Exceptional perfor-mances

ActorTamannaahBhatia hasdelivered

an exceptional performanceas she takes centre stagewith the portrayal ofAnuradha, a young and sim-ple ethical hacker whorelentlessly tries to find thetruth behind the murder inorder to clear her father’sname and directed by thefinest director, RamSubramanian.

Veteran actor GMKumar’s extraordinary por-trayal of novel writerGanesan, who suffers fromAlzheimer’s, keeps the sus-pense in the story alive. Itfeatures an ensemble cast oftalented actors that alsoinclude Pasupathy, Aruldass,Vivek Prasanna, and Mynaamong others, who have alldone justice to their roles,making it an even more cap-tivating watch.

Direction, writing, cin-ematography, and

more

After creating somefantastic movies,

director and writer RamSubramanian once againkeeps the audiences on theedge of their seat. The cine-matography, live locations,and lifelike sets of the showare so realistic and wellmade that TamannaahBhatia would just look likeyour next-door neighbour.The writing of the show

brings out different ele-ments like drama, parallelnarratives of past and pre-sent, and much more whichmakes this crime thriller amust-watch.

While you think youknow the murderer, theshow will keep you in doubtand guessing who commit-ted the crime.

handraMohan,one of thesenior-mostactors of

Tollywood, on hisbirthday recentlyannounced a shock-ing decision.

After playing a keyrole in Allu Arjun’sDuvvadaJagannadham,Chandra Mohan hasnot been seen in anynoted film post that.On the occasion ofhis 81st birthday onSunday, the senioractor officially con-firmed his retire-ment. ChandraMohan cited health-relatedissues as the reason for tak-ing such a decision.

After acting in more than932 movies, ChandraMohan started his journeyas a hero and went on to dosupporting roles as a charac-ter artist, and a comedian inmultiple languages. On hisbirthday, the senior actorwhile interacting with themedia spoke about a lot ofthings including his careerand life in general, one ofwhich is the announcementof his retirement.

Chandra Mohan under-went bypass surgery afterthe film Rakhi. Until then,he did not realise howimportant it is to keep one-self healthy. He had oftenjoked to his colleagues thathe’s iron man and nothingwould happen to him.

However, his approachtowards life changed afterRakhi. Chandra Mohan alsosuffered health issues duringDuvvada Jagannathambecause of which he had topostpone the shoot.

The actor revealed thesame and added that it isnever good to keep a pro-ducer waiting for him. Afterthat, he decided to call it awrap for his career inmovies and is currentlyrelaxing at home, with hisfamily.

The actor said he iswatching movies on televi-sion and online to keep him-self entertained andobserved that a lot of peopleare showering him with evenmore love ever since hismovies have been madeavailable on YouTube andother platforms.

amantha Akkinenimaking her digital andBollywood debut withThe Family Man 2 isknown news. A fewdays ago, the makers of

The Family Man 2 launched thetrailer of the second season.During a recent interaction withthe media, the Rangasthalam actressexpressed her interest to workRanbir Kapoor in Bollywood.

When she was asked to name oneBollywood actor with whom shewants to romance on-screen, apartfrom Manoj Bajpayee, Samanthareplied, “Ranbir Kapoor”.

Meanwhile, on the work front,Samantha has a couple of big South

movies, which are in different pro-

duction stages.She will be sharing screen space with super-

star Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi inVignesh Shivan’s directorial venture KaathuVaakula Rendu Kadhal.

She is also playing the titular role inGunasekhar’s Shaakuntalam.

WHEN THE YETOVELLIPOYINDI

MANASU ACTRESSWAS ASKED TONAME ONEBOLLYWOOD ACTORWITH WHOM SHEWOULD LOVE TOSHARE SCREENSPACE WITH, APARTFROM MANOJBAJPAYEE,SAMANTHAREPLIED, “RANBIRKAPOOR”.

ctor Upendra ofS/o Satyamurthyfame, is one of themost popularactors in the southIndian film indus-

try. He’s wowed audienceswith films like Super Star,Hollywood, RakthaKanneeru, and many more.Eversince Upendralaunched his own politicaloutfit Prajakeeya, his fansand followers have beenwaiting for him toannounce a decision oncontesting elections andraising his voice regardingvarious issues.

Upendra, who is anactive user of social mediasites, took to his Instagramand revealed that he wants

to become a CM, as hewrote, “I want to be CM ofthis state. Will you elect meif I contest in the election?See, I am doing social ser-vice! I am buying directlyfrom the farmers, distribut-ing it free to the needy. Iwill also fight vigorouslyduring elections, screamabout the ruling party, theopposition party’s failures,and ask you to elect me. Iwill work for the brightfuture of everyone, I willwork day and night formaking Karnataka thegreatest state. Can you electme??” But he concludedsaying, “For that power, Iwill be permanently be aCM (Common Man) (sic)”,he added.

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REASONS TO WATCHNOVEMBER STORY THIS MAY

SAM EXPRESSES INTEREST TOWORK WITH RANBIR KAPOOR

ith every passingfilm, Devi SriPrasad is increasingthe standards ofmusic, giving audi-ences “We want

more” feelings. He is also onboard for Allu Arjun’s pan-India film Pushpa.

Whenever DSP, one ofTelugu cinema’s most celebrat-ed music directors, has com-posed music for an Allu Arjunmovie, more often than not, theresult has been purely magical.After all, how else would youdescribe the chartbuster music,which no doubt, helped theblockbuster fortunes of movieslike Arya, Arya 2, Julayi, S/OSatyamurthy, and DJ!

According to the latestreport in the film industry, DSPhas already churned out somehit numbers for the filmPushpa and the item song hascome out very well and they’reall set to be a rage.

We also hear that the musicdirector is giving Pushpa’smusic a pan-India theme and aglimpse of it was seen in theteaser.

DS

P r

end

ers

ragi

ng

item

son

g fo

r P

ush

pa

Chandra Mohan announcesretirement from acting

he star-dom ofPrabhas isun-matchedacross the

country. So in orderto elevate his heroismto another level, themakers are trying tocast powerful andmacho actors asantagonists oppositePrabhas. We now here that Prabhas will belocking horns with Bollywood macho heroJohn Abhram in his upcoming high octaneaction entertainer Salaar. which is generatingtremendous buzz across the country, as direc-tor Prashant Neel earlier created records withKGF. We hear he has penned a powerfulantagonist role in Salaar and is keen to have aBollywood star. In the meantime, reports haveit that Prabhas will be seen in dual roles in thefilm, and in one role he is seen as a mechanicand in another role as an army officer. ShrutiHaasan plays a journalist, Ramya Krishna,Prabhas’ sister in the film which will havemusic by Ravi Brasure.

Upendra wantsto be a ‘CM'

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WPrabhas-JohnAbraham's duelin Salaar

sport 12HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | MAY 25, 2021

shortpassesSEVILLA BREAK CLUB RECORD MADRID: Sevilla set a club record for pointsin the La Liga by beating Alavés 1-0. PapuGómez scored a stoppage-time winner forSevilla, which finished with 77 points that isone more than the previous record set by theteam in 2014-15 under Unai Emery.

ITALIAN SUPER CUP IN SAUDI ROME: The Italian Super Cup will return toSaudi Arabia next season when championsInter Milan face cup winners Juventus, theItalian League announced on Monday.

SHAPOVALOV PULLS OUTPARIS: Canada's world No 15 DenisShapovalov has made the “difficultdecision” to withdraw from the upcomingFrench Open due to a shoulder injury.

AMOL, JAFFER APPLY FOR COACH MUMBAI: Domestic doyens Wasim Jafferand Amol Muzumdar along with formerIndia leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule haveapplied for Mumbai head coach's post.

AFGHANS LOOKING TO HOST PAKKARACHI: The Afghanistan Cricket Board iskeen to host Pakistan for a white ball seriesin the UAE in August-September. A sourcein the Pakistan board said that the twoboards had opened talks on the plannedseries which would include three ODIs andthree T20 matches in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

NORTJE IN LINE FOR CSA AWARD JOHANNESBURG: Pacer Anrich Nortje andbatsman Aiden Markram were among thenames nominated for Cricket South Africa'splayer of the year award, with the pacerfeaturing in the ODI as well as the Test list.

MANDZUKIC EXITS AC MILAN MILAN: Croatian striker Mario Mandzukicconfirmed Monday he was leaving AC Milanat the end of his six-month contract. The35-year-old joined the club last January ascover for Ibrahimovic but made just 11appearances and scored no goals.

HUSSAMUDDIN STARTS WITH WINDUBAI: India were off to a confident start atthe Asian Boxing Championships with CWGBronze-winner Mohammed Hussamuddin(56kg) beating Kazakhstan's MakhmudSabyrkhan in his opening bout to enter thequarterfinals on Monday.

AFRIDI RULED OUT OF PSLISLAMABAD: Star all-rounder Shahid Afridihas been ruled out of the PSL due to a backinjury, the PCB said on Monday. Afridirepresented Multan Sultans in four of itsfive league games at Karachi, scoring justthree runs and picking up two wickets.

MILKHA HOSPITALISED, STABLE CHANDIGARH: Legendary sprinter MilkhaSingh, who has tested positive for Covid-19, was on Monday hospitalised, with hisson and ace golfer Jeev Milkha Singhsaying that the move was a precautionarymeasure. Hospital sources said thatMilkha's condition is “stable”. Agencies

AFP n MADRID

Spain coach Luis Enrique onMonday left veterandefender Sergio Ramos out

of his Euro 2020 squad butcalled up centre-back AymericLaporte, who recently switchedhis football nationality.

Ramos, the 35-year-oldReal Madrid captain has strug-gled with injuries this seasonand has played just five timessince the start of the year.

“It was a very difficult deci-sion but he has not been able toplay this season and has hard-ly trained since January,” LuisEnrique told the press confer-ence as he announced a 24-mansquad.

“I called him yesterday(Sunday), it was hard, difficult.I feel bad, because he is veryprofessional and he helps thenational team a lot. And he canstill help it in the future. But Ihave to look for the best for thesquad,” the coach said.

This season Ramos hasmissed games after catchingCovid-19 and also because ofinjuries to his right thigh, his leftcalf and, most recently, his lefthamstring.

He was in Madrid’s squadfor Saturday’s final game of theseason against Villarreal butdid not start.

The absence of Ramosmeans there is not a singleMadrid player in the Spainsquad. “It pains me not to havebeen able to help my teammore and not to play for Spainbut, in this case, the best thingto do is rest, fully recover andcome back next year like we’vealways done. It hurts not torepresent your country,but I have to be honestand sincere,” he wroteon Twitter.

“I hope we have agreat Euros. I’ll be anoth-er fan cheering onfrom home.”

Spain havealso qualifiedfor theO l y m p i c swhere they arescheduled tokick off thetournamenta g a i n s tEgypt onJuly 22, tendays afterthe Eurosend.

Ramos could be selected asone of three overage players.Luis Enrique refused to com-ment on the possibility becausehe does not select Olympicsquad.

Laporte, a 26-year-old ManCity defender, was born insouthwest France and was calledup three times for Les Blues butnever made it onto the pitch.

Luis Enrique said Laporte’sselection “has nothing to do”with the absence of Ramos.

While France coach DidierDeschamps has a wealth ofcentral defenders to choosefrom, Luis Enrique has hadfewer options since GerardPique retired in 2018.

Ramos has been an auto-matic starter when fit with anumber of players, includingVillarreal’s Pau Torres, RealSociedad’s Inigo Martinez andEric Garcia of Manchester City,playing alongside him.

After an impressive start atCity, Laporte suffered a kneeinjury in 2019 and has notbeen a regular under PepGuardiola this season.

In the absence of Ramos,two 32-year-old Barcelona play-ers, Sergio Busquets and JordiAlba, become the veteran lead-ership in a rejuvenated squad.

Luis Enrique has been ableto test many young talents inrecent months, and has called upa large number of them for theEuro, including Garcia, PauTorres, Ferran Torres, MikelOyarzabal, Pedri and DaniOlmo.

SQUADGoalkeepers: David De Gea,Unai Simon, Robert Sanchez.

Defenders: Jose Gaya, EricGarcia, Aymeric Laporte,Jordi Alba, DiegoLlorente, MarcosLlorente, Pau Torres,Cesar Azpilicueta.

Midfielders: FabianRuiz, Pedri, SergioBusquets, RodriH e r n a n d e z ,Koke, ThiagoAlcantara.F o r w a r d s :Dani Olmo,M i k e lO y a r z a b a l ,Ferran Torres,G e r a r dM o r e n o ,Alvaro Morata,Adama Traore,

Pablo Sarabia.

AFP n MILAN

Juventus qualif ied for theChampions League on the final

day of the season on Sunday with a4-1 win at Bologna and were joinedby AC Milan who beat Atalanta 2-0.

Napoli had to settle for a EuropaLeague spot, finishing fifth, onepoint behind Juventus, after a 1-1draw at home against Hellas Verona.

A pair of Franck Kessie penali-ties at the end of either half ensuredAC Milan finished the season second— 12 points behind city rivals InterMilan — and return to theChampions League for the first timesince the 2013-2014 season.

“We deserved the ChampionsLeague as well as second place,” saidMilan coach Stefano Pioli whose sidehad missed the chance to seal theirberth last weekend against Cagliari.

“We went through the wholechampionship at the top, unfortu-nately we had thrown away thematch point last Sunday.

“I’m really excited, happy, I haveto thank the club because they madeus work in a spectacular way.”

Atalanta had already ensured athird consecutive season ofChampions League football butmissed out on a first second-placeSerie A finish days after losing outin the Coppa Italia final to Juventus.

Cristiano Ronaldo was left onthe bench by Juventus coach AndreaPirlo who opted for an attacking line-up of Paulo Dybala and AlvaroMorata flanked by Federico Chiesaand Dejan Kulusevski.

“It was a shared choice, Ronaldowas tired after the fatigue onWednesday,” said Pirlo.

“He made himself available tothe team but I chose to have anoth-er player named Morata play, who isnot the latest arrival. I have a qual-ity team, with many choices avail-able.”

A Morata brace along with goalsfrom Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot pre-vented Juventus missing out on the

elite European competition for thefirst time since 2012.

In Naples, Amir Rrahmaniscored for Napoli after an houragainst his former club, which wouldhave been enough to secure a berth

at the top table but Davide Faraonipulled one back for the visitors nineminutes.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side weredenied a return to elite Europeanaction after also missing out last sea-

son.Lazio join Napoli in the Europa

League despite a 2-0 loss at Sassuolowith Roma finishing seventh aftercoming from two goals down to holdSpezia 2-2.

GATTUSO EXITNapoli president Aurelio De

Laurentiis on Sunday confirmedthat coach Gennaro Gattuso willleave the club after failing to quali-fy for the Champions League.

The southerners finished fifth,one point behind fourth-placedJuventus, after a 1-1 draw at homeagainst Hellas Verona

A win would have guaranteed atop four finish, but Napoli miss outon a second season of ChampionsLeague football.

“Dear Rino, I am happy to havespent almost two seasons with you,”De Laurentiis wrote on Twitter.

“Thanking you for your work, Iwish you success wherever you go. Ahug to your wife and children too.Aurelio De Laurentiis.”

The relationship between thepair had been tense with the clubhaving imposed a media boycott formonths.

Former AC Milan coach Gattusotook over after Carlo Ancelotti wassacked in December 2019.

The 43-year-old also missed outon a Champions League return withAC Milan in the 2018-2019 seasonby just one point.

The Italian 2006 World Cupwinner as a player has been linkedwith clubs including Fiorentina andTottenham.

Milan, Juve qualify for CL No Ramos, RealMadrid players inSpain Euro squad

AFP n LILLE

Lille won the Ligue 1 title on Sundaythanks to a 2-1 victory at Angers

which ensured they were crownedFrench champions for the first timesince 2011 on the final day of the sea-son.

An early Jonathan David strikeand Burak Yilmaz’s penalty in first-halfstoppage time ensured that ChristopheGaltier’s Lille finished one point aheadof second-placed Paris Saint-Germain,who won 2-0 at Brest.

Angelo Fulgini pulled one back inadded time at the end of the match, butthe hosts couldn’t stop Lille becomingchampions for the fourth time in theirhistory.

The match was played behindclosed doors due to Covid-19 restric-tions but fans poured into the streetsof Lille to celebrate at the final whis-tle.

Supporters lit flares and chantedsongs in the northern city’s centralPlace Charles de Gaulle in jubilationat a historic triumph against farwealthier opposition.

“This is exceptional. It’s been along day and a lot of pressure. To beatParis Saint-Germain to the league title

is something exceptional,” a jubilantGaltier said to Canal+.

“The players were amazing... thecredit goes to the players, they are theheroes.”

The title triumph came after

another away success for Lille, who fin-ish the season unbeaten on the roadsince November, and ends PSG three-year league winning streak.

It was fitting that it was David andYilmaz who scored the crucial goals at

Angers, as both have been key to animprobable run to the title that has alsoheld significant pressure from Monaco.

Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG willhave to settle for the French Cup in adisappointing season for the mega-richclub.

They lost eight times — a recordsince they were taken over by QatarSports Investments in 2011 — andtook only one point from their twomatches with Lille.

“There are no worries. We lost thetitle and now we have to focus on thefuture,” said Mbappe, who wascrowned Ligue 1 top scorer for thethird year in a row.

Monaco won the race for the finalChampions League position despiteonly managing a goalless draw at Lens,as Lyon lost 3-2 at home to mid-tableoutfit Nice and allowed the Principalityclub to claim third spot.

Lyon will be in the Europa Leaguealongside fifth-placed Marseille, whoscraped a 1-1 drew at Metz thanks toa penalty from Arkadiusz Milik in the14th minute of added time.

Lille end PSG’s dominance

Lille players & coaches celebrate after the Ligue 1 match between Angers and Lille at the RaymondKopa Stadium in Angers on Sunday. Lille won the match 2-1 to clinch the League 1 title AP

Rossoneri, Bianconeri without Ronaldo win on final day to seal top 4 spotas Napoli miss out after 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona

AC Milan players celebrate after 2-0 win against Atalanta in the Serie A match on Sunday @acmilan

PTI n NEW DELHI

India opener Shubman Gillfeels the team can’t be better

prepared for the World TestChampionship final against NewZealand but underlined theimportance of playing session bysession in English conditions.

Gill is undergoing a 14-dayquarantine in Mumbai alongwith the rest of the squad. It willbe his first tour of England withthe senior team having made hisdebut in Australia in Decemberlast year.

He did not have the best oftimes in the home series againstEngland and he is looking tomake amends starting with theWTC final against New Zealandfrom June 18.

“We did well in Australia.We have been playing well over-seas and I feel we can’t be bet-ter prepared for this final. As anopener, I feel you should be ableto play session by session not justin England, overseas in general,”

Gill told India TV.“It is very important to play

session by session. In Englandwhenever there is cloud around,the ball swings more and whenthe sun is out, it gets easier to bat.It is important to assess thoseconditions as an opener,” he said.

Talking about the quaran-tine protocols in Covid times, hesaid: “It is very hard, you are in

a room for 14 days there is notmuch to do. We are given work-out schedules, we do that. We tryto keep ourselves busy watchingmovies and spend some time onthe I-pad but it is very hard,” saidGill, who has played seven Testsso far.

Gill has been with the Testsquad since 2019 but got his bigbreak with the Boxing Day Testat the MCG in December.

Asked about time spent inthe team and interactions withskipper Virat Kohli and openerpartner Rohit Sharma, he added:“Virat bhai tells me to play fear-lessly whenever we speak aboutthe game. He speaks aboutmindset a lot, that you have tobe in good frame of mind whenyou go out to bat and shares hisexperiences.

“And when I am battingwith Rohit bhai, we usually dis-cuss where the bowlers willbowl, what the situation is like,depending on that, when to takerisk or not.”

Shubman focussed on playingsessions on his first UK tour

Southampton: New Zealandplayers involved in the now-sus-pended IPL-14, including skip-per Kane Williamson, havejoined the team’s training ses-sion for the upcoming two-match Test series against hostsEngland, New Zealand Cricketsaid on Monday.

The IPL contingent com-prising Williamson, KyleJamieson, Mitchell Santner,team physio Tommy Simsekand Chris Donaldson, thenational team’s strength andconditioning coach, arrived inthe UK last week from theMaldives, where they stoppedover after their departure from

India.“Back together! In positive

news the IPL contingent havejoined team training for the firsttime today. In not so positivenews the team are traininginside again,” the BLACKCAPStweeted. PTI

NZ IPL contingent joins team’s training

AFP n LONDON

England manager GarethSouthgate has told his play-

ers they should not be afraidto voice their ambition ofwinning Euro 2020 as he pre-pares to name his squad.

England, who reached thesemi-finals of the 2018 WorldCup in Russia, were crownedworld champions on home soilin 1966 but their record intournaments since then hasbeen patchy.

Southgate’s side hostCroatia, Scotland and theCzech Republic in nextmonth’s group matches, whichare being held across Europe.The semi-finals and final arealso being held at Wembley.

He will name his 26-mantournament squad on Tuesday,with the England chief acute-ly aware of how the pressuresand expectations will nowrapidly ratchet up.

“I said ahead of the WorldCup in Russia, we wanted thecountry to have pride in theteam, and I think we achievedthat,” he said.

“Some of that is aboutresults, and some of that isabout the way the team con-nect with the fans. Now ofcourse if you don’t win thematches then that pride isn’tthere, that’s the reality.

“And of course now we’vebeen to two semi-finals(including the Nations Leaguesemis) and we are as keen aseverybody else to go further.

“So we understand expec-tations change, and we should-n’t be afraid of saying we wantto go and win.”

Southgate said he wasanxious not to look too farahead in the tournament buthe added: “We have to alloweverybody to dream, we want

to dream ourselves.“But we’ve got to make

sure we won’t just win becausewe’re at home, we won’t justwin because we’re an excitingteam.

“We’ve got to get all theparts right, and that’s got to beour aim.”

England’s overall

European Championshiprecord is poor — they haveonly once reached the last four,at Euro 96, which they alsohosted.

At the 2016 tournament inFrance Roy Hodgson'sEngland suffered an embar-rassing defeat to Iceland in thelast 16.

“We’ve only been to oneEuropean semi-final as acountry, never mind to a finalor winning,” said Southgate.

“So we’ve a chance to bethe first, and that is a challengewe should embrace.”

POPE DOUBTFULBurnley and England

goalkeeper Nick Pope is amajor doubt for Euro 2020,with the Premier League clubconfirming on Sunday he willhave knee surgery this week.

After the operation the29-year-old will be assessed tosee if he can make GarethSouthgate’s squad for theEuros.

“Unfortunately, Nick isgoing to need a minor opera-tion on his knee this week,”Burnley manager Sean Dychetold BT Sport.

“That’s not ideal for himor us and possibly for theEngland team. We’ll wait andsee. It’s nothing too serious, wedon’t think, but it still neededdoing.

Manchester: Sergio Aguerois close to agreeing a moveto Barcelona that wouldunite him with fellowArgentine superstar LionelMessi, according toManchester City managerPep Guardiola.

City’s record goalscorer,who has spent a decade atthe Etihad is set to leave theEtihad as a free agent afterSaturday’s ChampionsLeague final against Chelsea.

“Maybe I reveal asecret,” Guardiola told theBBC. “Maybe he is close toagreeing a deal for the club

of my heart — for Barcelona.“He is going to be play-

ing alongside the best play-er of all time, Messi.”

If the move goes aheadit would be Aguero’s secondspell in Spain — he made hisname at Atletico Madridbefore the move toManchester in 2011.

Aguero’s final season atCity was dogged by injuryand a coronavirus infectionbut Guardiola believes thestriker has a lot to offer theCatalan giants.

“I’m pretty sure he isgoing to enjoy,” saidGuardiola. “And maybeBarcelona are stronger andstronger with him on thepitch.” AFP

Aguero close to Barca deal: Guardiola

England players should dreamof Euro glory: Southgate

England boss Gareth Southgate will have high hopes from Harry Kane in Euro