VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:56 am - 12:47 pm

INDIAN, CHINESE ARMIES SET UPHOTLINE FOR SIKKIM SECTOR

Ahotline has been set up between the Indian andChinese armies in the North Sikkim sector to furtherboost confidence along the Line of Actual Control in

the region, officials said on Sunday. The hotline is betweenthe Indian Army in Kongra La, North Sikkim and China'sPeople's Liberation Army (PLA) at Khamba Dzong inTibetan Autonomous Region, they said.The Army said thehotline is aimed at furthering "the spirit of trust and cordialrelations along the borders". he opening of the hotlinecoincided with the PLA Day on August 1, it said.

MASOOD AZHAR LIVING IN PAKISTANAS STATE GUEST, CLAIM REPORTS

Pakistan has ensured that India's most wanted terroristMasood Azhar, who has been charge-sheeted inseveral cases from the 2001 Parliament attack to the

2019 Pulwama suicide bombing, remains in a denselypopulated area so that an operation similar to the one bythe US against Osama bin Laden is not possible, accordingto a report by a newly launched Hindi news channel. Thechannel says it has "accessed undeniable visual evidence"that confirms Pakistan's "deep state is still providing a safehaven to terror masterminds" including Masood Azhar.

DALAL STREET INVESTORS RICHER BYOVER RS 31 LAKH-CR THIS FISCAL

Equity investors have witnessed a wealth addition ofmore than Rs 31 lakh crore (Rs 31,18,934.36 crore) inthe first four months of the current fiscal, helped by an

overall bullish sentiment in the market. The 30-share BSESensex has jumped 3,077.69 points or 6.21 per centduring April-July this fiscal. The benchmark had reachedits all-time high of 53,290.81 on July 16, 2021. It closed atits lifetime high of 53,158.85 on July 15. Thanks to theoptimistic investor sentiment, the market capitalisation ofBSE-listed companies have zoomed Rs 31,18,934.36 crore.

J&K TO DENY SECURITY CLEARANCEFOR PASSPORT TO STONE-PELTERS

The CID wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police has orderedthe denial of security clearance required for passport andother government services to all those involved in stone-

pelting or subversive activities. In an order issued onSaturday, the SS), CID, Special Branch (SB), Kashmir,directed all the field units under it to ensure that the person'sinvolvement in law and order, stone-pelting cases, and othercrime prejudicial to the security of the state be specificallylooked into during verification related to passport, serviceand any other verification related to government schemes.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Andhra Pradesh has so far receivedRs 62.69 crore as part of Covid-19Emergency Response and HealthSystem Preparedness Package(ECRP-II) by the Centre, while 11other States in the country got abetter allocation.

The package is aimed at givingimpetus to development of healthinfrastructure across the country.

Under this package, the Statewas allocated Rs 696 crore ofwhich Rs 418 crore will be releasedby the Centre and remaining Rs278 crore will be borne by the state.

Of the Rs 1,827.80 crore releasedso far to all the States and Union

Territories, Andhra Pradesh hasreceived Rs 62.69 crore. The Centreis still to release more than Rs10,000 crore tothe States.

A n d h r aPradesh reporteda very high case-load and hasalways beenamong top fivestates, in terms ofcaseload, in thecountry. At least sixStates are to receivemore than Rs 100crore, with the high-est allocation of Rs281.98 crore going to

Uttar Pradesh. Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya

Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assamtoo were allocated more than Rs100 crore.

Other states including WestBengal, Odisha,

Karnataka ,T a m i l

N a d u ,G u j a r a tr e s p e c -t i v e l ywere allo-

c a t e dmore funds

t h a nA n d h r aPradesh.

The data was shared by UnionHealth Minister MansukhMandviya. He said, "Of the totalallocation of Rs 12,185.30 crore, theNarendra Modi government hasreleased Rs 1,827.80 crore under theCovid Emergency Response andHealth System Preparedness pack-age to states. PM Modi has ensuredIndia fights corona unitedly".

On Saturday, Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bushan chaired ahigh-level meeting to reviewCovid-19 situation in 10 States,including AP, and they were askedto follow up on the implementationof the ERCP-II package.

C PRADEEP KUMARn VIJAYAWADA

Cinema lovers are gradually return-ing to theatres to enjoy histrionicsby their favourite actors on the bigscreen after a long gap of threemonths when the halls across theState were closed due to Covid sec-ond wave.

Two new movies —Thimmarusu and Ishq — werereleased on July 30 and the public,

vexed from watching movies on thesmall screen, has begun returningto the theatres to get the big screenexperience.

In fact, the State government hadallowed theatres to reopen a fewweeks ago as part of curfew relax-ations. However, film exhibitorshad postponed reopening, seekingvarious relaxations from the Stategovernment to enhance revenue,and also awaiting the release of newfilms.

Their apprehensions were notbaseless — they were worried thatthe film lovers would put safety firstand be wary of making it to thehalls. They were also worried aboutany possible resurgence of theinfections.

Also, all cinema halls wereallowed to reopen with only 50 per-cent occupancy in Andhra Pradesh.Add to this the curfew timing of 10pm to 6 am still in place, the nightshows were out of the equation.

Exhibitors wanted assurances,and flexibility to change the tim-ings, from the government. “Now,cinema theatres will open accord-ingly,” said N Sarveswara Rao, pro-prietor Sri Kamakshi Combines.

He said that film exhibitors arefacing huge losses amid the pan-demic, and many single-screentheatres have been either shutdown, or on the verge of doing so.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh finally appears tohave woken up to the potential ofseaweed cultivation as an alterna-tive livelihood to the fishers.

Seaweeds are in demand inseveral industries and CMFRIAndhra Pradesh unit, with anoffice in Vizag, had also taken upthe mapping of potential sitesalong the state’s coastline forseaweed cultivation.

Importantly, the AndhraPradesh government had recent-ly submitted project proposals tothe Department of Fisheries inthe union Ministry of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry and Dairyingto establish seaweed rafts and

monoline/tube nets.Seaweeds are macroscopic

algae growing in the marine andshallow coastal waters and brack-ish water habitats. According tothe National FisheriesDevelopment Board (NFDB),these seaweeds are wonder plantsof the sea, the new renewablesource of food, energy, chemicalsand medicines with manifoldnutritional, industrial, biomed-ical, agriculture and personalcare applications.

Seaweeds are also termed asthe ‘Medical Food of the 21stCentury’ due to usage as laxa-tives, for making pharmaceuticalcapsules, in treatment of goitre,cancer, bone-replacement thera-py and in cardiovascular surger-

ies.The Department of Fisheries

has approved proposals to thetune of Rs 2,523.41 lakh for sea-weed cultivation under thePradhan Mantri Matsya SampadaYojana for Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Maharashtra, TamilNadu and Union Territories ofAndaman and Nicobar Islands aswell as Dadra and Nagar Haveliand Daman and Diu during2020-21.

Seaweeds found along theVizag coast can be used to treathealth ailments that are caused bycertain bacteria like E Coli andBacillus Subtilis like food poison-ing among others.

PNS n TOKYO

Reigning world champion PVSindhu on Sunday became onlythe second Indian and thecountry's first woman to wintwo Olympic medals, securinga bronze after a straight-gamewin over World No. 9 He BingJiao of China in the badmintonwomen's singles third-placeplay-off here.

Sindhu, who has returnedwith medals from each of thebig-ticket events such as theCommonwealth and AsianGames and the BWF WorldTour Finals in the last fiveyears, outwitted eighth seedBing Jiao 21-13 21-15 to add abronze to the silver that she hadsecured at the 2016 Rio Games.

"It makes me feel really happybecause I've worked hard for somany years. I had a lot of emo-tions going through me -

should I be happy that I wonbronze or sad that I lost theopportunity to play in thefinal?" the 26-year-old saidafter the match.

"But overall, I had to close offmy emotions for this one matchand give it my best, my all andthink about the emotions. I'mreally happy and I think I'vedone really well. It's a proudmoment getting a medal for mycountry,” she said.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar is thefirst and only other Indian towin two Olympic medals, fol-lowing up his bronze at 2008Beijing with a silver at the2012 London edition.

She also became only thefourth player to win two con-secutive medals in women'sbadminton singles across theOlympic history.

India qualify forOlympic semisafter 49 years PNS n TOKYO

A determined Indian men's hock-ey team advanced to the Olympicsemifinals for the first time in 49years, beating Great Britain 3-1 inthe quarterfinals here on Sunday,a triumph which leaves the sidewithin touching distance of amedal that has proved elusive forover four decades.

The eight-time formerOlympic champions scored threefield goals through Dilpreet Singh(7th minute), Gurjant Singh(16th) and Hardik Singh (57th)to seal the win.

Great Britain's lone goal wasscored by Sam Ward from apenalty corner in the 45thminute.

India will take on world cham-pions Belgium in the semifinal onTuesday.

India's last of the eight Olympicgold medals came way back in the1980 Moscow Games but therewere no semifinals in that editionas only six teams participated inthe event.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court is scheduled tohear on August 5 the pleas, includ-ing the one filed by senior journal-ists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, whohave sought an independent probeby a sitting or a retired judge intothe alleged Pegasus snooping mat-ter.

According to the cause listuploaded on the apex court web-site, a bench comprising ChiefJustice N V Ramana and JusticeSurya Kant would hear on August5 three separate petitions seekingprobe into the reports of allegedsnooping by government agencieson eminent citizens, politiciansand scribes by using Israeli spywarePegasus.

On July 30, the top court hadsaid it would hear next week theplea filed by Ram and Kumar in thematter.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal,appearing for the senior journalists,had told the court last week that theplea needed an urgent hearing in

view of its wide ramifications.According to the plea, the alleged

snooping represented an attempt byagencies and organisations to muz-zle the exercise of free speech andexpression of dissent in India.

The petition also seeks a direc-tion to the Centre to disclose if thegovernment or any of its agenciesobtained licence for Pegasus spy-ware and used it, either directly or

indirectly, to conduct surveillancein any manner.

The petitioners have claimedthat investigations involving sever-al leading publications around theworld have revealed that severalIndians, including journalists,lawyers, ministers, oppositionpoliticians and activists, have beenidentified as potential targets forsurveillance using the Pegasus soft-

ware.Besides the plea filed by Ram and

Kumar, two separate petitions onthe issue have been filed in the apexcourt by advocate M L Sharma andJohn Brittas.

In his plea, Sharma has sought acourt-monitored probe by a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) into thereports of alleged snooping.

An international media consor-tium has reported that over 300verified Indian mobile phone num-bers were on a list of potential tar-gets for surveillance using Israelifirm NSO's Pegasus spyware.

“The targeted surveillance usingmilitary-grade spyware is an unac-ceptable violation of the right toprivacy which has been held to bea fundamental right under Articles14 (equality before the law), 19(freedom of speech and expression)and 21 (protection of life and per-sonal liberty) by the SupremeCourt,” said the plea, filed by thetwo journalists.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In signs of acceleration in eco-nomic activity, India's tax col-lections on goods sold andservices rendered returned toover Rs 1 lakh crore in Julyafter the second wave of Covid-related restrictions caused ablip in the previous month.

Goods and Services Tax(GST) mop-up grew 33 percent year-on-year in July toover Rs 1.16 lakh crore, indi-cating that the economy isrecovering at a fast pace. In July2020, the collection was Rs87,422 crore.

PNS n NEW DELHI

While the Delhi Sports Universitywill take another two to three yearsto be fully functional, its vice-chan-cellor Karnam Malleswari plans tohave courses that will help studentsbranch out in various sports-relat-ed fields.

It has been a little over a monthsince Malleswari, 2000 Olympicsbronze medal winner in weightlift-ing, was appointed as the VC of thevarsity. She has been functioningout of a temporary office inThyagraj Stadium.

"We plan to have 2000 studentsin the varsity-- 1000 male studentsand 1000 female students," she toldPTI in an interview.

"All of them won't reach theOlympics. Some will reach nation-als, some internationals but onlyselected athletes will reachOlympics.

So for the remaining students,we need to have such courses that

will help them in their futurecourse."

Malleswari, the first Indianwoman to win an Olympic medal,said the varsity could have cours-es in sports medicine, sports train-ing, sports management whichwill help the students in theirfuture endeavours.

Second successiveOlympic medal for

‘Sensational’ Sindhu

11 STATES GOT HEFTIER COVIDRESPONSE PACKAGE THAN AP

Olympian Malleswariplans diverse courses

Cinema halls back in business, with Covid rules

Centre accepts AP’s proposal totap seaweed cultivation potential

GST collections atover Rs 1.16 lakh- cr inJuly; second highestthis fiscal

P-2: Governors, CMs of Telugu States hail Sindhu

PEGASUS SNOOPING ISSUE

SC to hear on Aug 5 pleas seeking probe

2

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MEN’S HOCKEY

PV Sindhu

with her

women's

singles

badminton

bronze

medal at a

ceremony

during the

Tokyo 2020

Olympic

Games at

the

Musashino

Forest

Sports Plaza

in Tokyo on

Sunday

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Monday MirchiGyan from social media

Regardless of the pitfalls of social media plat-form, there are administrators who take a leafout of it for improving public policies.Conscription i.e. compulsory enlistmentfor state service, typically into the armedforces, is presently not in vogue in India,though the Indian Parliamentary Committeeon Defence forces recommended in early2018 introduction of five years of compul-sory military service to such aspirants whoplan to join Central and State GovernmentGazetted services directly.

Should India make two-year public servicecompulsory for youth? This discussion wastriggered on Twitter after a post by TelanganaCMO Secretary Smita Sabarwal.

She proposed 'public service conscription',under which youth could be made to takeup activities like sanitation, greening, socialservice etc. in defined areas.

However, Andhra Pradesh government'sadvisor S Rajiv Krishna disagreed with thiscall, perhaps because of its totalitarianimplications. According to him, what Indianeeds the most is better education and healthfrom the government, besides significantlyreduced government involvement in the livesof citizens.

Ensuring more entrepreneurial ventures,increasing employment and the resultingpoverty alleviation are more important.With many more such inputs from people,Smita said that she would work on the model.She thinks that social media responses willbe a durable policy input.

Men in khaki not an exception

We know that in TS five top IAS officershave been on the 'waitlist' for months on endfor postings, after being asked to report tothe General Administration Department. Itappears that men in khaki, even IPS officers,are not an exception when it comes to enlist-ing in the waitlist.

The TRS government recently transferredsome IPS officers. As part of this, KarimnagarCommissioner of Police Kamal HaasanReddy was transferred and another IPS offi-cer was appointed in his place. But KamalHaasan Reddy was not given any new post.He was asked to report to the DGP office.Babus, both IAS and IPS, are at a loss to knowwhy even efficient ones among them aremade to undergo such 'punishment'.

They feel that being made to wait for a longtime for fresh posting is a kind of punish-ment in the government's view.

One senior IPS officer commented thatIAS officer Shashank and IPS officer KamalHaasan Reddy have been moved in view ofthe forthcoming Huzurabad bye-election.Even if that is OK, the babus want to knowwhy such babus cannot be given proper post-ing immediately.

Grouse against upright IAS officer

Some IAS/IPS officers bend over back-wards to please political bosses. Otherschoose to go strictly by the rule book, know-ing fairly well that political leaders rewardthose who know how to circumvent such rulebooks. In any case, those sticking to the rulebook often face the music.

IAS officer Valluri Kranthi, who is serv-ing as Commissioner of Karimnagar

Municipal Corporation, has run into trou-ble because she does not believe that the'wishes' of people's representatives should bedeemed as 'commands' to her.

Naturally, corporators trooped to districtminister Gangula Kamalakar with a vocif-erous demand that the Commissioner betransferred.

Their litany of complaints included chargesthat she did not take their representations onpublic issues into account, had not been act-ing on property transfer applications evenafter six months, government schemes werebeing implemented without their involve-ment, tenders for even emergency workswere not being invited on a war-footing, and,most importantly, contractors' bills were notbeing cleared.

Observers say, when even the GreaterHyderabad Municipal Corporation has notbeen paying bills due to its precariousfinancial position, such complaints need tobe taken with a pinch of salt.

Department of stress

People don't face stress if their financialposition is sound. Same is the case with gov-ernment finance departments. Once thefinancial position weakens, those helmingfinance departments know they are playingwith fire and those working in such depart-ments come across fire and brimstone. Nowonder, it is now clear that the most stress-ful job for AP bureaucrats is a position in thestate Finance Department.

With the spending on Covid-relatedworks going up like a runaway rocket, rev-enues have plummeted -- of course partlydue to weak economic activity, fewer receiptsfrom the Centre as part of tax devolution andthe munificent welfare programmes of theYS Jaganmohan Reddy government.

To put it mildly, it has become a night-mare for officials to continue in the statefinance department. For, they are nowtasked with releasing funds for the prioritysectors 'judiciously', finding ways to improverevenue receipts, and raising loans from themarket for which they need to approach theCentre every now and then.

They do accompany Finance MinisterBuggana Rajendranath during his visits toDelhi seeking funds, but without any reliefto their own workspace.

These officials need to also counter the'misinformation' campaign of the oppositionparties on the state's debt position and theimplications of loans taken. Those who havesurvived this horror show for a year are won-dering how long they can continue.

So-called tough ones and thepowers that be

It is not easy to secure modifications intransfer orders issued already, unless oneapproaches the powers that be through rightchannels, call them tough or whatever. Inan intriguing development, orders modify-ing the transfers of some IAS officers effect-ed 10 days ago were issued last week in AP.This happened days after the issue of theactual transfer orders. Apparently there arepeople in the AP CMO who can influencepowers that be and get things done super fast.

—Yours truly

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Governors and ChiefMinisters of the Telugu speak-ing states — Andhra Pradeshand Telangana — on Sundaycongratulated star shuttler PVSindhu for winning thebronze medal for India inwomen's singles badminton atthe Tokyo Olympics.

Telangana GovernorTamilisai Soundararajanhailed Sindhu and said in atweet, "HeartiestCongratulations toBadminton Champion P VSindhu on winning thebronze medal for India inwomen's singles badminton.@Pvsindhu1 becomes thefirst Indian woman to winmedals in two Olympicgames. India is truly proud ofyou."

AP Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan hailed the shut-tler for winning the bronze inthe Olympics.

"It is a very proud momentthat Sindhu clinched thebronze, becoming the onlyIndian woman to win twoindividual medals inOlympics," he said.

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Raoexpressed his happiness atSindhu creating history as thefirst Indian woman sportsper-son to win medals in two suc-

cessive Olympics, a releasefrom CMO said here.

Extending his congratula-tions to Sindhu, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy wishedher success in future eventsand to bring laurels to thecountry and the state.

Andhra Pradesh Leader ofthe Opposition NChandrababu Naidu also con-

gratulated Sindhu."Sindhu is a role model for

sportspersons of this genera-tion. I wish she wins more infuture and scales the pinna-cle of glory," the former chiefminister added.

Reigning world championSindhu on Sunday becameonly the second Indian andthe first woman from thecountry to win two Olympicmedals, securing a bronzeafter a straight-game winover World No. 9 He Bing Jiaoof China in the badmintonwomen's singles third-placeplay-off.

Sindhu, who has returnedwith medals from each of thebig-ticket events such as theCommonwealth and AsianGames and the BWF WorldTour Finals in the last fiveyears, outwitted eighth-seedBing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to adda bronze to the silver that shehad secured at the 2016 RioGames.

Governors, Chief Ministersof Telugu States hail Sindhu

Cinema halls back in business,with Covid rules...Continued from Page 1

“Exhibitors in both TeluguStates have been seeking var-ious relaxations from therespective governments, tohelp lessen losses,” he said. Telugu Film Chamber ofCommerce (TFCC) presidentNarayandas Kishandas Narangwrote a letter to Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddydemanding that the govern-ment increase the ceiling onticket prices. He also raisedother concerns in his letter. He said that the Chief Ministerwould take a call on the issuesraised on August 15 and exud-ed confidence that there wouldbe a positive response from thegovernment. Narang said that with twosmall movies that werereleased on Friday, theatres areback into business. In Vijayawada, manager of the

Raj-Yuvraj theatres D Srikanthsaid that two new movies hitthe screens after a gap of threemonths due to the Covidinduced curfew and there wasgood response from the audi-ence. He said that four shows arebeing screened per day with 50per cent occupancy, maintain-ing strict Covid guidelines —including wearing of facemasks inside the hall manda-tory and thermal scan beforeentering.

Several major Telugu filmswhich were lined up for the-atrical release from April 2021,like Love Story, Virata Parvamand Tuck Jagadish, had beenpostponed due to the alarmingrise in Covid-19 cases at thetime and the producers canstart hoping again. Incidentally, Narappa, starringVenkatesh and Priyamani,which was scheduled to releasein theatres in May, was recent-ly released on the OTT plat-form.

Second successive...Continued from Page 1

Up against an opponent, whohad beaten her nine times sofar in the last 15 meetings,Sindhu showed great determi-nation to outplay Bing Jiao withher aggression to scoop India'sthird medal at Tokyo.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanuhas already gone back after col-lecting a silver, while boxerLovlina Borgohain is assured ofat least a bronze so far.

Sindhu showed great forti-tude as she recovered from herpainful semifinal loss to WorldNo.1 Tai Tzu Ying and pro-duced an aggressive show at theMusashino Forest Plaza onSunday.

"It was a fresh game altogeth-er, we both had losses yesterdayand came back. For us, it wasvery important in getting amedal for the country and atthe Olympics," Sindhu said.

"It's not easy. It's a big thing.There were really long ralliesbut I had to be patient andcalm. Even though I was lead-ing, I did not relax."

Sindhu galloped to a 4-0 leadearly on but Bing Jiao startedto engage her in rallies andwaited for her to make errors.

The rallies started gettingintense as Bing Jiao set up thepoints with her angled returnsand flat pushes to claw back at5-5.

The Chinese didn't giveSindhu pace to play her powergame but the Indian soonworked her way around even asher opponent committed afew unforced errors.

Sindhu ended anothersuperb rally with a cross courtsmash and entered the intervalwith another down the line hitat 11-8.

The Indian stepped up thepace after the break to gatherthree more points and lookedin total control to pocket theopening game when her oppo-nent went wide.

After change of ends, Sindhucontinued her aggressive game,egged on by coach Park Tae-Sang from the sidelines, tolead 4-1 with a cross courtreturn.

11 states gotheftier Covid...

Continued from Page 1

It may be mentioned herethat in March last year, whenthe country was faced withthe first wave of the pandem-ic, the Prime Minister hadannounced a Central SectorScheme.

In July, Phase-2 of theemergency package wasannounced by the Centre,aimed at strengthening diag-nostics, telemedicine hubs,transportation of criticalpatients, setting up of Covidcare centres and paediatricICUs and oxygen supply.

In July, States and UTswere asked to send theirexpenditure proposals at theearliest to enable expedi-tious approval and sanction-ing from the Union govern-ment.

The States were advised toconduct a quick gap analysisfor various infrastructurecomponents under the sec-ond phase of the EmergencyCovid-19 Response Package(ECRP), including their ITinfrastructure readiness.

Centre accepts AP’s proposal...Continued from Page 1

In a first of its kind studyconducted by a group ofresearchers of the depart-ment of mar ine l iv ingresources of AndhraUniversity around 11 vari-eties of seaweed that werecollected from Vizag coastwere tested for antimicrobialactivity to these bacteria.

Currently, commercialseaweed cultivation is beingdone in Tamil Nadu andGujarat. Especially in TamilNadu, it is taken up bywomen Self Help Groups inthe nor thern s ide ofR ameshwaram. InR a m e s h w a r a m ,Kappaphycus seaweed isbeing cultivated on a largescale.

In Rameshwaram, roughestimates suggested thataround 1,200 tonnes of dryseaweed is produced annu-ally. Gujarat realised thepotential of seaweed in 2012,and Narendra Modi, thethen chief minister, had

begun the commercial sea-weed cultivation involvingSHGs.

“A projec t prop osa lrece ived f rom theGovernment of AndhraPradesh at a total projectcost of Rs 186.00 lakh wasapproved during 2020-21for establishment of 6000seaweed rafts and 1200monoline/tube net includinginputs for which the stateGovernment has alreadyidentified the beneficiaries,”Union Minister for Fisheriesand Animal Husbandr y

Parshottam Rupala toldRajya Sabha recently.

The major industr ia lapplications of seaweeds inIndia are as a source of agar,agarose and carrageenanused in laboratories, phar-maceut ica ls , cosmet ics ,cardboard, paper, paint andprocessed foods.

In India there are 46 sea-weed-based industries, 21for Agar and 25 for Alginateproduction, but they are notfunctioning up to their ratedcapacity, due to short-supplyof raw materials

n Of 20,000 species in theworld, 844 species are in Indiawith a total standing crop of91,339 tonnes (wet weight)consisting of 6,000 tonnes ofagar yielding seaweeds andremaining edible and otherseaweeds.n The world market ofseaweeds or seaweed productsis more than 10 billion USdollars.n At present, industries are

annually utilising 1,518 tonnesdry weight of red algae and2,285 tonnes dry weight ofbrown algae for themanufacture of agar, algin andliquid fertiliser in Indian Tamil Nadu has themaximum number ofseaweed species with 302,followed by Gujarat with 202,Maharashtra -152 andAndhra Pradesh has 78species.

India qualify for Olympic...Continued from Page 1

For a country that gave theworld stalwarts like MajorDhyan Chand and BalbirSingh Senior among others, ithas been especially painful towatch the hockey teams'Olympic debacles before thisedition.

The last time India featuredin the semifinals of theOlympics was in 1972 MunichGames where they lost 0-2 toarch-rivals Pakistan.

It was the edition in whichAmerican swimming legendMark Spitz won seven goldmedals, a feat which was over-shadowed by the massacre of11 Israeli athletes and coach-es by Palestinian terrorists atthe Olympic Village.

Belgium defeated Spain 3-1in another quarterfinal to sealtheir place in the last four.

The other semifinal of themen's hockey competition willbe played between Australiaand Germany.

By virtue of this win, Indianow have a 5-4 win-loss recordover Great Britain in theOlympic Games.

In Sunday's tie, Great Britainenjoyed the early share ofexchanges, earning their firstpenalty corner as early as in thethird minute but India defend-ed well to keep the dangeraway.

The Indians got their foot-ing into the match as time wentby and took the lead in the sev-enth minute through Dilpreet,who pushed the ball in pastGreat Britain goalkeeper afterbeing fed by Simranjeet Singh.

It was Simranjeet who cre-ated the chance after he stolethe ball from a Great Britaindefender just outside the lat-ter's circle.

Two minutes from the firstquarter, India custodian P RSreejesh made fine reflex savesto deny Great Britain.

The Indians didn't let theirrivals settle down and doubledtheir lead seconds into the sec-ond quarter through Gurjant.

It was Hardik who createdthe opportunity by intercept-ing a pass just outside the GreatBritain 'D' and then sent theball to an unmarked Gurjant,who kept a calm head to putthe ball into the net through

the legs of opposition goal-keeper Oliver Payne.

In the 35th minute, Gurjanthad another chance to extendthe lead but his reverse hitfrom a tight angle was easilysaved by Payne.

Thereafter, it was all GreatBritain as they pressed num-bers in front in search of goals.

Leading by two goals, theIndians dropped back and triedto defend the lead but themove proved costly as minutesfrom the end of the third quar-ter Great Britain secured fourback-to-back penalty cornersthe last of which was put intothe back of the net by Ward.

With 15 more minutesremaining and just a goalbehind, Great Britain went onthe offensive in the final quar-ter, throwing numbers intotheir attacks as the Indiansstruggled to control theonslaught.

Great Britain succeeded intheir efforts as they earnedthree more penalty corners inthe match but the redoubtableSreejesh rose to the occasionand pulled off saves after savesto keep his side ahead.

Olympic medallist...Continued from Page 1

Asked what drew her to theconcept of the varsity andwhy she agreed to come onboard, she said, "I was toldsports will be given moreimportance. I read their Act.It's my dream to work atgrassroot level and I felt thiswould help me fulfil mydream.

"If any child reaches nation-al camp, they get every kind ofsupport but at the grassrootlevel there is an issue."

Elaborating further, she saidthat sportspersons struggled alot before they reach thenational level and that's reason"we are not getting medals inOlympics".

"See the examples of Chinaand Russia. In weightlifting,they will have at least 15 chil-dren for each of the categoriesand there will be minor differ-ences between them. Some ofthem would be playing in theAsian Championships, somein other events," she said.

New farm motors to save powerPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Energy Departmentis all set to bring in a newadvanced and globallyacclaimed technology-enabledfarm motors that will helpreduce power consumption.

The new Permanent MagnetBrushless Direct Current(PMBLDC) motors will beintroduced soon in the agricul-ture sector by the State powerutilities.

PMBLDC technologyimproves motor efficiency byup to 90 percent against theexisting efficiency of 75 percentwith induction motor technol-ogy. Also the life expectancy of

the PMBLDC system is around15 to 20 years due to high gradematerials as compared to con-ventional AC motor life span ofaround 10 years.

As a part of this endeavour,a joint venture company of APPower Utilities, AP StateEnergy EfficiencyDevelopment CorporationLimited (APSEEDCO) hasentered into a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withAndhra University (AU).

The project deliverables ofMoU are preparing the designdocument of the proposedproject, manufacturing proto-col as per industry standards,complete operational manual,

documentation /soft copy ofsimulations and workingmodel to demonstrate the tech-nology.

Apart from the agricultural,domestic pumping, this tech-nology can be utilised for airconditioners compressors,refrigerators, washingmachines, electric vehicles etcto improve their overall effi-ciency.

The APSEEDCO technicalteam in coordination withAndhra University conductedwebinar and discussed in detailthe technicalities of the pro-posed technology and didcomprehensive analysis of theconcept of PMBLDC.

Continued from Page 1

The hacking of phones belongingto journalists, doctors, lawyers,activists, ministers and oppositionpoliticians “seriously compromises”the effective exercise of the funda-mental right to free speech andexpression, it said.

Such an act has an obvious chill-ing effect on expression by threat-ening invasion into the most coreand private aspects of a person's life,

it added.According to the petition, hack-

ing of phones using the Pegasus spy-ware constituted a criminal offencepunishable under Sections 66 (com-puter related offences), 66B (pun-ishment for dishonestly receivingstolen computer resource or com-munication device), 66E (punish-ment for violation of privacy) and66F (punishment for cyberterror-ism) of the IT Act, punishable withimprisonment and/or fine.

SC to hear on Aug 5 pleas seeking...

GST collections at over...Continued from Page 1

This is the second highest col-lection so far this fiscal after arecord Rs 1.41 lakh crore mop-up in April.

The finance ministry in astatement said robust GST rev-enues are likely to continue inthe coming months as well.

The gross GST revenue col-lected in the month of July 2021is Rs 1,16,393 crore of whichCentral GST is Rs 22,197 crore,State GST is Rs 28,541 crore,Integrated GST is Rs 57,864crore (including Rs 27,900crore collected on import ofgoods) and Cess is Rs 7,790crore (including Rs 815 crorecollected on import of goods).

The revenues for the monthof July 2021 are 33 per centhigher than the GST revenuesin the same month last year andinclude GST returns filedbetween July 1-31 as well asIGST and cess collected fromimports for the same period.

GST tax collections hadtopped Rs 1 lakh crore marketfor 8 straight months before theonset of the second wave ofCOVID-19 infections led to there-imposition of lockdowns indifferent states, muting eco-nomic activity.

"GST collection... dropped

below Rs 1 lakh crore in June2021 as the collections duringthe month of June 2021 pre-dominantly related to themonth of May 2021; and dur-ing May 2021, most of thestates/UTs were under eithercomplete or partial lockdowndue to COVID. With the eas-ing out of COVID restrictions,GST collection for July 2021has again crossed Rs 1 lakhcrore, which clearly indicatesthat the economy is recoveringat a fast pace. The robust GSTrevenues are likely to continuein the coming months too," theministry said in a statement.

In the current fiscal, GSTmop-up touched a record highof over Rs 1.41 lakh crore inApril, but fell to over Rs 1.02lakh crore in May after the out-break of second wave. In June,collection slipped below thepsychological Rs 1 lakh croremark to Rs 92,849 crore fol-lowed by a sharp rebound inJuly to Rs 1.16 lakh crore.

The GST collections in July2021 are primarily for suppliesand sales made in June, whenthe states were easing the lock-down restrictions. In themonths of April and May, moststates were under different lev-els of lockdown, which reducedbusiness activity.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onSunday expressed serious con-cern over the increasing threatthat the culprits in thePesaravai twin murders inKurnool district were posingto the lives and property of thecomplainant, witnesses andfamily members of the vic-tims.

Naidu wrote a letter to theDirector General of Police,urging him to immediatelyarrest the persons accused inthe ghastly double murderthat took place in Pesaravaivillage, Gadivemula mandalin Kurnool district on June 17.

Decrying the delay in tak-ing action, the TDP supremosaid in his letter to the DGP:"Such brutal, barbarous andgruesome violent acts have noplace in civilised and democ-ratic societies. The two people

murdered are brothers and areVaddu Nageswar Reddy, agedabout 55 years and VadduPrathap Reddy, aged about 52years. They were murdered bythe local YSRCP goons whenthey were actually going to thegraveyard to offer theirhomage to their youngerbrother Vaddu Mohan Reddy."

Naidu told the DGP that inthis regard, a complaint wasfiled and an FIR was registeredon the same day as cited in the

above reference. However,Accused No. 2, 3, 5, 10 and 11are roaming scot-free in spiteof witnesses testifying thatthey were also part of this bru-tal act. “Further, the culpritsare threatening the familymembers of the victims andare also threatening witnesses.The threats are being issued tothe complainant, witnessesand their family membersdirectly and indirectly overphone and physically,” theTDP supremo wrote.

He said that the accused, inconnivance with a section ofthe police, were posing seriousand grave threat to the life andproperty of the complainant,victims’ family members andwitnesses. “In this backdrop,it is appealed to immediatelyaffect the arrest of culprits andalso extend protection andsecurity to the complainant,witnesses and their familymembers,” he wrote.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national general secre-tary Nara Lokesh on Sundaystrongly criticised theJaganmohan Reddy Government for not fulfilling itselection promise to increasepensions for 'avva tatalu'(aged people) even afterentering third year of its rule.

Lokesh asked why theChief Minister failed to standby his promise to pay the oldage pensions to 5 lakh bene-ficiaries on August 1 itself.

“Every month, delay wasbeing caused in the name ofsome technical problem orother. If Jagan has the will, itwould not be that difficult,”he said.

In a statement here, Lokeshasked why the State govern-ment stopped after hiking justRs 250 when it had promisedto increase the old pension toRs 3,000 gradually.

“It was not proper to waitfor loans to give benefits tothe elderly people. Wherewas the need for runningaround others for loans whenJagan himself has huge ill-gotten wealth? A 10 percentof J-tax collections would beenough to immediately fulfilthe promise on old age pen-sions,” the TDP MLC said.

Lokesh expressed doubtwhether the YSRCP govern-ment was deliberately causingdelay in payment of pensionsto the elderly.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A maoist waskilled onSunday in an allegedexchange of fire (EoF)between the ultras and policein a forest area of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, policesaid. According to a seniorpolice official,special policeparties were combing in theKurnapalli-Bodhenalli areawhen the members of thebanned outfit CPI (Maoist)suddenly opened fire at thepersonnel, who retaliatedresulting in the death of onemaoist.

"While combing the areathe police sighted10 armedMaoists at around 8.15 am.They fired on the police andduring the encounter andone of them was killed.

There were no casualtieson the police side," BhadradriKothagudem DistrictSuperintendent of PoliceSunil Dutt said.

The identification of themaoist, who is in his mid 20s,was being ascertained, policesaid. Police seized one .303rifle and two kit bags fromthescene. Searches are on,they said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India will always be a voice ofmoderation, an advocate ofdialogue and a proponent ofinternational law, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarsaid on Sunday as the countrytakes over the presidency ofthe United Nations SecurityCouncil for August.

External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson ArindamBagchi described it as a"momentous day" and referredto the Sanskrit phrase'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'(the world is one family) todescribe India's worldview.

"As we take over UNSCPresidency for August, lookforward to working produc-tively with other members.India will always be a voice ofmoderation, an advocate ofdialogue and a proponent ofinternational law," Jaishankartweeted.

Bagchi said India's tenure atthe UN Security Council hasbeen guided by five 'S' ---'Samman (respect), Samvaad(dialogue), Sahyog (coopera-tion), Shanti (peace) and

Samriddhi (prosperity)'.The first working day of

India's Presidency will beMonday, August 2.

India began its two-yeartenure as a non-permanentmember of the UNSC onJanuary 1. It is India's seventhterm on the UN SecurityCouncil as a non-permanentmember. India has previous-ly been a member of the UNSecurity Council in 1950-51,1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78,1984-85, and 1991-92.

Following its election tothe global body, India said thatit will promote responsible andinclusive solutions to interna-tional peace and security andwould pitch for a new orien-tation for a reformed multilat-eral system.

PNS n NEW DELHI

After its vigorous revival in thefirst week of July that sawfloods, cloudburst and land-slides in several parts of thecountry, the SouthwestMonsoon ended with a sevenper cent deficit for the month,the India MeteorologicalDepartment said on Sunday.

The rainfall in July wasminus seven per cent whichcomes to around 93 per cent ofthe Long Period Average, IMDDirector General MrutyunjayMohapatra said.

Rainfall in the range of 96-104 is normal whereas precip-itation in the range of 90-96 isclassified as below normal.

July recorded extremelyheavy rainfall over coastal andcentral Maharashtra, Goa,Karnataka. Several towns andcities in Maharashtra weredeluged to very heavy rainfallwhich resulted in catastroph-ic events like landslides claim-ing scores of lives and damag-ing property.

The north Indian states --Jammu and Kashmir,Uttarakhand, HimachalPradesh and Ladakh -- alsosaw cloudburst events thatclaimed several lives.

The national capital toorecorded a very good rainfallactivity. But overall, the rain-

fall recorded for the month wasseven per cent less.

The IMD had predictednormal rainfall in July.

"We had predicted normalrainfall for July which wassomewhere around 96 per centof the LPA. July brings maxi-mum rain over the country,but there was no rainfall activ-ity over north India until July8 which could have been thereason behind the deficit,"Mohapatra said.

The Southwest Monsoonarrived over Kerala on June 3,two days after its normalschedule. But it very rapidlycovered the east, west, southand parts of north India byJune 19. But after that itentered into a phase that wit-nessed a spell of no rainfallactivity. It started revivingfrom July 8.

The Southwest Monsoon

reached Delhi on July 13 aftera delay of 16 days and coveredthe entire country the sameday. June received 10 per centmore rainfall than normal. Ofthe four-month rainfall season,July and August receive themaximum precipitation.

Overall, the country hasreceived one per cent less rain-fall than normal from June 1to July 31. The deficit wasminus 13 per cent in the eastand northeast subdivision ofthe IMD.

Northwest India divisionwhich covers north Indiarecorded a two per cent deficit.

The south peninsula divi-sion which covers the southernstates received 17 per centmore rainfall while the centralIndia division that compriseswest and central India record-ed one per cent more rainfallthan the normal.

PNS n BENGALURU

The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation is in discussionswith European and Israelispace agencies to enhancecooperation and identifypotential opportunities to worktogether. The Secretary in theDepartment of Space and ISROChairman K Sivan held virtu-al meetings with DirectorGeneral of Israel Space Agency(ISA) Avi Blasberger andDirector General of EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA) JosefAschbacher last week.

Sivan and Blasberger

reviewed the progress of theongoing activities includingcooperation in electric propul-sion system for small satellitesand GEO-LEO (Geosynchronous Earth Orbit-Low EarthOrbit) optical link.

They also discussed potentialopportunities of working

together in future includinglaunch of Israeli satellites inIndian launcher and commem-orating 75thanniversary ofIndian independence and 30years of India-Israel diplomat-ic relations through an appro-priate event in 2022, ISRO said.

Sivan and Aschbacherreviewed the status of ongoingcooperation activities in earthobservation, space science,satellite navigation, space situ-ational awareness and humanspace flight.

An ISRO-ESA Arrangementconcerning network and oper-ations Cross-support which

will enable use of ground sta-tion to support each othersspacecraft missions, was signedrecently. "They agreed toform thematic working groupswhich will discuss to identifypotential opportunities forworking together to furtherenhance ISRO-ESA coopera-tion", the space agency added.

"I place @ESA's cooperationwith @ISRO high on the ESAinternational agenda. #India'sspace portfolio is expandingthus many more cooperationopportunities between ouragencies are on the horizon",Aschbacher tweeted.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan, whose birth-day falls on August 3, hasdecided not to celebrate itthis year too, due to the pre-vailing Covid-19 situation.

Harichandan appealed toall concerned to not visit theRaj Bhavan to wish him onhis birthday.

The Governor appealed toall eligible to get vaccinatedas early as possible, asCovid-19 vaccine can behelpful in minimising therisk since it offers protectionagainst the virus. “As we arepassing through the secondwave, health experts arealready warning about theoccurrence of a third wavedue to emergence of newvariants and in these circum-stances, it is mandatory tofollow Covid-appropriatebehaviour by wearing mask,maintaining social distance,using hand sanitiser andprevent spread of Covid-19,” said Harichandan in amessage. Those who havebeen vaccinated should alsofollow these guidelines toprotect themselves and theirfamily members, said theGovernor.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Incredible as it may sound, butthe fact remains that theKakatiyas also issued inscrip-tions in Tamil language along-side Telugu in coastal Andhraand Telangana.

This fact was disclosed onSunday by Dr E Sivanagireddy,archaeologist and CEO, PleachIndia Foundation during his‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity’exercise. Dr Sivanagireddyalong with R DasarathramiReddy, president, MotupalliHeritage Society were docu-menting the dilapidatedKodandarama Swamy templelocated in the outskirts ofMotupalli, an internationalport town of the medievalperiod, when he chanced uponthe Tamil inscription.

The inscription according tohim “is written in Tamil languageand Tamil and Grantha script, it

is dated to Saka 1230 (1st August,1308 AD) pertaining to the reignof Kakatiya PratapaRudra (1289-1323) that registers the gift ofland as Tiruvidaiyattam for pro-viding offerings to the deityRajanarayana Perumal in Desi-uyyakondan-pattinam aliasMottuppalli by Cattanthai-Cemmanadiyal-valumpotha-

lakiyan alias Patinenbhumi-vanikaratittan, for the merit ofthe king”.

The date and content of theinscription was confirmed byDr K Muniratnam Reddy,director, epigraphy branch,Archaeological Survey of India,Mysuru who deciphered 813-year-old Tamil Grandha script

and revealed the historicalimportance.

It is interesting to note thatMotupalli was mentioned as‘Desi Uyyakondapatnam’ and

the inscription slab was fittedinto the west side wall of thetemple during the renovationin 16th century AD.

Dr Sivanagireddy says thatthe gift of land was given toconduct the Tiruvidaiyattamfestival In the temple ofRajanarayana Perumal for themerit of the last KakatiyaEmperor, Prataparudra.

He said that the inscriptionbears significance as it is thesecond and next to one moreTamil inscription found atMotupalli issued by KakatiyaGanapatideva dated to 1244AD known as the AbhayaSasana, a charter that insuresthe life and goods of theseaborne trade.

Dr Sivanagireddy sensitisedthe local people on the histor-ical significance of the inscrip-tion and appealed to the StateGovernment to protect theinscription for posterity.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy will dedicate the firstphase initiatives of ManabadiNadu- Nedu to students of theState on August 16.

He will on the same daylaunch the activities of thesecond phase of the initiative,while work on the third phasewill be inaugurated in August2022.With the revolutionaryinitiatives in the educationfield till date, admissions intoschools have shot up by aboutfour lakh.

Mana Badi, Nadu-Nedu pro-gramme was started onNovember 14, 2019. The Stategovernment at the timeannounced that it plans torenovate schools by spendingabout Rs 16,700 crore in threephases. These activities are

being conducted under thesupervision of schools andparents committees, with fulltransparency, commitment andquality.

In addition to the moderni-sation of about 45,000 govern-ment schools, 471 governmentjunior colleges, 151 govern-ment degree colleges and 3,287government hostels in phases

over three years, new buildingswill be constructed for anoth-er 27,438 Anganwadis.

Under the 'Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu' programme, the Stategovernment has ordered toiletswith continuous water supply,safe drinking water supply,making necessary repairs to theschool, fans and tubelights foreach room, furniture for stu-

dents and teachers, greenchalkboard, painting, Englishlab, retaining wall and kitchenconstruction.

During the first phase, a totalnumber of 15,715 schools willbe revamped at an estimatedcost of Rs 3,996 crore.

On the other hand, stepshave been taken to make medi-um of education in English in

all government schools tomake English medium educa-tion accessible even to poorchildren. CBSE syllabus will beimplemented in all govern-ment schools to improve theteaching and learning stan-dards in English medium fromprimary level to enable poorstudents to excel nationallyand internationally.

As part of Jagananna VidyaKanuka every year, the govern-ment provides English-Telugudictionary along with uni-forms, school bags, textbooks,notebooks, workbooks, belts,socks and shoes to the studentsas soon as the schools start.

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment is the first and onlygovernment in the country toprovide student kits with somany items to school childrenlike no other state.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Krishna district Collector JNivas on Sunday reviewed theprogress of work on the hous-es sanctioned under the YSRJagananna colonies (PMAYU)scheme.

The AP government hassanctioned 1,67,541 housesacross the district to be built ata cost of Rs 3,016 crore.

In the district, 74,821 hous-es have been sanctioned forVijayawada division, 37,433for Bandar division, 25,103Nuzvid division and 30,184houses for Gudivada division.

In all 1,116 layouts were pre-pared for construction of1,67,541 houses in the district,on July 1, 2 and 3, the ‘ground-breaking’ ceremonies, sig-nalling start of constructionactivity for 1,00,039 houseswere conducted started as partof a mega coordinated exerciseacross the State.

Apart from the sanctioned1,67,541 houses in the districtarrangements were made forthe sanctioning of an addition-al 44,183 houses taking thetotal to 2,11,724 houses in thedistrict. The government hasalso made arrangements for79,883 Self Help Group

women to avail bank loans forthe construction of houses inJagananna colonies. So far,loans to the tune Rs 56.09 crorehave been sanctioned to 11,419women belonging to variousSHGs.

Henceforth, every 10 to 20people will form groups and acontractor or mason will beentrusted with the responsibil-ity of construction of the hous-es. So far, 1,322 groups wereformed with 25,013 beneficia-ries and the construction workis on. A proposal for Rs 2,713crore was sent to the govern-ment for setting up of infra-structure in Jaganannacolonies like CC roads, waterconnection, electricity con-

nection, drainage and internetfacilities.

Krishna district collector JNivas on Sunday visitedNandigama constituency andinspected the ongoing work atJagananna colonies. He saidthat the beneficiaries ofJagananna colonies expressedtheir happiness, as their dreamof owning a house was on theverge of becoming a reality.

A beneficiary, K Shyamalasaid: “Earlier, we could noteven imagine how we would beable to source funds for theconstruction of a house. Afterland was allocated, the loanwas sanctioned by Indian Bankwith the help of the districtCollector.”

Construction of Jaganannacolonies on at swift phase

Governor notto celebratebirthday thisyear also

Accused in Pesaravai murdersthreatening witnesses: Naidu

14th C Tamil inscription of Kakatiyas found

Jagan to inaugurate Mana BadiNadu-Nedu phase-1 on August 16

2 escape frompetrol bunkwithout paying PNS n HYDERABAD

Two motorcycle borne mis-creants escaped withoutpaying Rs. 200 at a fuel sta-tion at Mehdipatnam onSaturday night.

The incident happenedlate in the night at a fuel sta-tion located on theRethibowli road. The twopersons who were wearingfacemask came on a Pulsarmotorcycle at the fuel sta-tion and asked the workerMuneer to dispense Rs 200worth fuel in the tank. "AfterI filled the petrol they askedme if they can pay throughe-wallet, while I was pickingup the machine, the driveraccelerated the bike. I caughthold of one them but theymanaged to flee," Muneertold the police.

A police patrol vehiclewhich was passing the roadon noticing the commotionrushed to the fuel station.The police are enquiringinto the incident.

Rainfall seven percent belownormal in July, reveals IMD

Use ill-gottenwealth to clearAP's debts:Lokesh to Jagan

One Maoistkilled inexchange offire with cops

India will always be avoice of moderation:EAM Jaishankar

BJP condemnsattack on activistsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

BJP state general secretary SVishnuvardhan Reddy onSunday alleged that politicalmurders started in the Stateonly after the YSRCP came topower.

Addressing media personsat a programme inVisakhapatnam on Sunday,Vishnuvardhan Reddy saidthat the BJP strongly opposesthe attack on seven partyactivists who he said were

battling for their lives in hos-pital.

He said that the YSRCPwith a vengeance attacked theBJP leaders as they left theYSRCP and joined the saffronparty. Vishnuvardhan Reddysaid that each BJP leader suf-fered about 10 knife injurieson the body.

He said that the attack tookplace after the BJP opposedinstallation of a Tipu Sultanstatue in Proddatur by localMLA R Siva Prasad Reddy.

ISRO to boost ties with EU, Israeli agencies

vijayawada 04VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

Notorious criminal whoduped 300 women nabbedKADAPA: The police arrested a notorious criminal and recoveredRs.1.26 lakh cash and 30 grams of gold jewellery from him. DSP BSunil told the media here on Sunday that the police arrestedChennupalli Prasanna Kumar (23) for cheating 300 women in thename of giving them jobs. The DSP said that he confessed that hehad cheated 200 girls and 100 women in Vijayawada, Hyderabadand Kadapa in the name of providing jobs. One of his victimsSrinivas lodged a complaint with the police and during theinvestigation in offences had come to light. The accused PrasannaKumar discontinued B Tech and started chain-snatching andburglaries to fund his vices. He was sent to prison in a criminal casebut he was freed on bail. A suspect sheet was registered againsthim in Proddatur III town police station. He used to befriend girlsand women using social media. He used to shoot videos when theywere in compromising positions and blackmail them. Many of hisvictims did not complain due to social stigma. The police recoveredgold jewellery weighing 30 grams and Rs.1.26 lakh cash. He wasbeing produced before the court, the DSP said.

Supporters of pastors clash in Guntur church

GUNTUR: The supports of pastors Elia and Paradeshi Babu clashedin the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church here on Sunday and thepolice pacified them. The two pastors have been on loggerheads forthe AELC Bishop post for the last few days. The heated argumentstook place between Elia and Paradeshi Babu supporters in the WestParish church last week. The supports of two pastors indulged inheated arguments in the Church on Sunday and they even threwchairs on each other. At present Devasahayam is continuing as thechurch pastor with the patronage of Paradeshi Babu. But Elia groupformed an ad-hock committee and Krian Babu, Mohan Babu andBujji Babu conducted prayers in the Church on Sunday. At the sametime, the two groups picked up arguments which led to jostling eachother. Devasahayam group questioned when he was the pastor ofthe Church, how outsiders could conduct prayers. The Elia groupargued that Devasahayam indulged in corrupt practices and that iswhy a new ad hoc committee was formed. On the receipt of theinformation on the clash between two groups, police rushed thereand pacified both the groups.

SHORT TAKES

PNS n GUNTUR

The Irrigation department hasasked the environment depart-ment of Acharya NagarjunaUniversity to study and submita report on the environmenton the two new projects to beconstructed across the riverKrishna downstream thePrakasam barrage. TheIrrigation department wrote aletter in this regard to theUniversity official.The irriga-tion officials invited the ANUofficials for a discussion on theissue.

The AP government hadproposed to construct a projectat Chodavaram village in

Penmaluru mandal 12 kmdownstream of Prakasam bar-rage and another betweenMopidevi in Krishna districtBandikolanda in Guntur dis-trict, 62 km downstream to thePrakasam barrage at a cost ofRs.2,500 crore.

The irrigation officials askedthe environment departmentof ANU to conduct a study onthe environment and the influ-ence of agriculture, and aquasectors, if the projects areconstructed. "The governmentwill submit the report given bythe ANU scientists to theNational Green Tribunal," theofficial source said. The pro-fessors and PG students

together conduct the envi-ronmental study on the pro-jects, sources added.

Talking to the Pioneer, ANUenvironment department headSwamy said that if the projectswere constructed that wouldhelp the expansion of agricul-tural land, do away the drink-ing water scarcity.

"The projects, if construct-ed, mainly will help to reducesalinity in the groundwater andalso help for the developmentof aqua and fisheries sectors.By raising forest in the barrenland environment balancescan be maintained. We willsubmit the report after con-ducting a study", he said.

Govt plans two moreprojects on Krishna ̈ ANU asked to study & report on environment

Prakasam Dist Collectorsuspendsrevenue officialsPNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District CollectorPraveen Kumar suspendedChina Ganjam Tahasildar KVijaya Kumar for not imple-menting the lease agreementcondition of a sand quarry.

The Collector also sus-pended Podili Tahasildar A VHanumantha Rao, ARIShivarama Prasanna,Kambalapadu VRO KamalKumar, HanumanthunipaduTahasildar, RO and VRO fordereliction in duty.

The suspension of revenueofficials has become a hottopic in officialcircles.Meanwhile, the offi-cials said that Tahasildar'ssuspension ofH a n u m a n t h u n i p a d uTahasidar Sudhakar is unfor-tunate as he was suspendedon the same day he retired.The Collector also suspend-ed an RI and two VROs a fewdays ago for irregularities inmaintaining the land records.

PNS n KAKINADA

The Kakinada beach assumeda festive look as hundreds ofpeople thronged there onSunday to get a respite fromscorching heat and highhumidity.

Since Sunday, being a hol-iday, a large number of peo-ple across the district went tothe Kakinada-Vakalapudi-Uppada beaches, had a dipand enjoyed the breezes.However, the doctors andofficials expressed concernover people gathering in hugenumbers at one place ignor-ing the Covid protocols.

Hundreds throng Kakinada beach

PNS n ONGOLE

Former Minister and YSRCPleader Sidda Raghava Raothanked Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy forreleasing Rs.693.81 crore toabout 10.97 lakh studentsunder the Jagananna VidyaDeevena Scheme.

Talking to the media hereon Sunday, he said that thegovernment has so far spent

Rs.5,573 crore for the imple-mentation of Amm Vodi,Vidyakanuka, and ManabadiNadu-Nedu.

He said that a total of Rs.26,677 crore has been dis-bursed to the eligible poorunder various schemes. Hesaid that the Jagan MohanReddy-led government withan aim of providing educa-tional opportunities to everypoor student implementing

many schemes. The govern-ment is disbursing fee reim-bursement for every quarter-ly, he claimed.

"No state is implementingthe welfare schemes like theAP government," he said.The former minis terinformed that the JaganMohan Reddy governmenthas so far d isbursedRs .26 ,677 .82 crore to1,62,75,373 beneficiaries. He

alleged that the erstwhileTDP government disbursedinadequate amounts for var-ious schemes.

He said the government isextending Rs.10,000 to ITIstudents in two instalments,Rs.15,000 for polytechnicstudents. Rs.20,000 to thedegree students for messand other charges. He askedthe students to avail theschemes.

CM thanked for funding ‘Jagananna Vidya Deevena’

PNS n KAKINADA

The flexi banners were put up atvarious places in the agency areasasking the Maoists not to destroycellular phone towers and indulgein violent incidents, which creat-ed common in the district.

The flexi banners were put upin the Maoist-infested villages,including at Rampachoadavaramand Chintoor villages, asking theMaoists not to destroy cell phonetowers, which working as a liai-son between the government andthe tribal people.

The Maoists were also asked tostop the kidnapping of minor

girls, using them as labourers andtorture them. "We will revoltagainst you (Maoists), if youindulge in such violent incidents,

which are against the Maoists ide-ology", the Maoists were warnedin the flexi posters.

Meanwhile, the flexi posters

created flutters in the district asthey appeared after new SP NRavindranath Babu had assumedcharge. The SP immediately aftertaking charge undertook a visit tothe Maoist-infested areas.

It may be mentioned here thatsix Maoists were killed in analleged encounter betweenMaoists and the Police in the APand Odisha border area a few daysago. The Maoists are organisingthe anniversary which will con-tinue till the third week of August.The SP warned of stringent actionagainst the Maoists for kidnap-ping minor girls and using themas labourers.

Banners appear in agency areas against Maoists

PNS n KAKINADA

The police seized 10 kg ofcannabis and arrested fouryouths when they were ille-gally transporting on amotorcycle at Mannerurivulet stream in Baddangipolice station limits.

The arrested persons wereproduced before the court.Superintendent of policeRavindranath Babu told themedia here on Sunday thaton a tip-off, a police team ledby DSP Bhima Rao con-ducted a raid at a cremato-rium located behind theAPSRTC complex and found12 ganja selling gang andarrested them.

The S P warned of strin-gent action against those whoindulge in ganja sales andsupply.

PNS n ELURU

In a tragic incident, four mem-bers of a family allegedly commit-ted suicide by jumping into theriver Godavari at Chinchinadabridge in Yelamanchili mandalon Sunday and two bodies havebeen fished.

Police said that Kanchi Satish(34), his wife Sandhya (28), hisson Jashwin (4) and daughterDurga (2) were suspected tohave jumped into the river. Thefamily belonged toKeshavadasupalem village.

The police said that the rela-tives of the family lodged a com-plaint with the Palakollu ruralpolice station, two days ago thatthe family had gone missing.

The police found a motorcy-cle and a suicide note allegedlyleft by Satish. He alleged in the

suicide note that Phanindra, hiselder sister Pavani and her hus-band and parents were responsi-ble for their death as they cheat-ed him in money matters. Thepolice launched a search opera-

tion in the river Godavari withboats and fished out the bodiesof Satish (34) and Bindu SriDurga (2) and the search opera-tions were stopped as darkdescended, police said.

Suicide pact: 4 of a family jumpinto Godavari, 2 bodies retrieved

10 kg ganjaseized, fourarrested

AITUC: Deposit PF,ESI amounts ofcontract workers

PNS n TIRUMALA

The TTD received an appreci-ation from the Central Boardof Indirect Taxes and Customs,Ministry of Finance,Government of India forprompt filing of GST returnsand payment of Goods andServices Tax, thereby substan-tially contributing to buildinga strong and resilient nation.

The Ministry of Finance ishonouring the taxpayers whohave been a part of the GSTsuccess story on the eve of thecompletion of its four years.

Of the 1.3 crore registeredpersons under GST, only54,439 persons have attainedeligibility to receive this appre-ciation. The TTD has regis-

tered under GST in June 2017in 11 states across the country.TTD has been filing the GSTreturns and paying taxes intime without any default.

In this connection, the TTDhas received two letters ofappreciation from the Central

Board of Direct Taxes, accord-ing to a press release by TTDon Sunday.

Andal TiruvadipuramUtsav: The TTD will be organ-ising a ten-day festival of AndalTiruvadipuram Utsav fromAugust 2-11 at the Sri

Govindaraja Swamy temple inTirupati. As part of festivities,daily Tirumanjanam andAsthanam will be conductedfor processional idols of SriAndal Ammavaru in ekan-tham as per Covid guidelines.Among others, SriChakrathalwar Sattumora andSri Prativadi BhayankaraAnnan Sattumora will be heldon August 8. Similarly,Snapana Tirumanjanam forutsava idols of Sri GovindarajaSwamy and Sri AndalAmmavaru will be performedon August 11.

The TTD has, however, can-celled the procession of bothutsava idols up to PadalaMandapam at Alipiri due toCovid restrictions.

TTD gets pat for filing GST returns in time

‘Polam Badi' yielding result in promoting modern techniques

The flexi banners were put up in the

Maoist-infested villages, including at

Rampachoadavaram and Chintoor

villages, asking the Maoists not to

destroy cell phone towers, which

working as a liaison between the

government and the tribal people

PNS n KAKINADA

Though modern technology isruling the world nowadays, thefarmers in the state are still adopt-ing conventional methods infarming. In order to sensitize andcreate awareness among farmerson the modern farming methods,the agriculture department isconducting a "Polam Badi" pro-gramme in the fields itself week-ly once. The farmers in EastGodavari district are cultivatingpaddy in 2.32 lakh hectares. But

they do not have sufficient knowl-edge to use modern methods. Thefarmers use the pesticide and fer-tilizers which the traders suggestto them.

In order to sensitize the farm-ers, the agriculture officials areconducting the 'Polam Badi' pro-gramme. The agriculture officialstake the farmers to the fields andshow them the pests which eataway crops. They also demon-strate how to purify the seeds andplough the field in the field itself.The farmers are taught how they

should water their crops and thewater management methods.

Agriculture officer A GayatriDevi told 'The Pioneer' that theofficials explain to the farmers theutilization of modern agricultureequipment.

"We conduct the 'Polam Badi'for the farmers to sensitize themto various farming issues. Weteach them the precautions to betaken from the sowing operationsto harvesting in the 'Polam Badi'programme" she said.

"The farmers are being

explained on registering e-crop,using cow dung and urine as fer-tilizers. The objective of conduct-ing 'Polam Badi' is to reduce theinvestment of farmers on raisingcrops", Agriculture AssistantDirector G V Padmasri said.

"Initially when we asked thefarmers to attend 'Polam Badi'classes they ridiculed us statingthat they live in the fields and theyneed no teachings on farming.However, after a lot of cajoling,they started respective and attend-ing Polam Badi class", she said.

PNS n ELURU

AITUC district vice-presidentBandi Venkateswara Rao hasdemanded that the govern-ment should immediatelydeposit the 14-month PF andESI amounts deducted fromthe wages of contract andoutsourcing workers workingin Eluru MunicipalCorporation.

A meeting of the zonalmunicipal employees' unioncommittee was held atSpoorthi Bhavan here onSunday under the chairman-ship of union general secretaryA Appala Raju.

Speaking on the occasion,Venkateswara Rao urged thecorporation to release thearrears of engineering andcontract outsourcing workerspending for the past 17months.

He lamented that theCommissioner is not resolvingthe pending issues as there is

no municipal council for thepast two years. He alsodemanded payment ofallowances to the employeeswho were deputed for electioncounting apart from DA andHRA to the NMRs immedi-ately. The corporation shouldabolish the contract systemand regularize the services ofthe workers.

Union general secretary AAppalaraju demanded that theheirs of the outsourcing staffwho crossed 60 years, shouldbe given jobs and all the eligi-ble contract workers should bepromoted. He said the govern-ment should stop the deputa-tion of employees to villagesecretariats and all the regularemployees should assign theSR immediately.

Union advisor PV Ramana,Union leaders SankaGourisankar, CH SomeswaraRao, Shaik Ali, S Venkannaand others spoke on the occa-sion.

Janasena announces Chittoor district committee PNS n TIRUPATI

Janasena Party hasannounced its Chittoor dis-trict committee with threevice-presidents, six generalsecretaries and ten secre-taries. Janasena PartyPresident Pawan Kalyan hasapproved the new committeefor Chittoor district to thiseffect on Sunday. It may berecalled that Dr PasupuletiHariprasad has already been

appointedas districtpres identof theparty. Thenew com-mittee hasthree vice-presidentsS h a i k

Abdul Rahman, CLDevakishore and BattinaMadhubabu. Daram Anitha,Pula Rajesh Yadav, Ch

Gangadhar, N Tulasi Prasad,Jangala Sivaram and AkulaVanaja have been appointedas district general secretaries.The Janasena Party alsoappointed ten secretaries.They are : Kothuru Batasari,M Nazir, G Jabeed, KalathurJayaprakash Reddy, KuppalaLavanya Kumar, DevineniYeswant, Potukuri Anand,Gnanagiri Padmaja, KalapaRavi and Pula ChaitanyaMohan.

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

Helicopter reaches HP's Lahaul to rescueremaining 66 people stranded in Udaipur

Ahelicopter on Sunday reached Himachal Pradesh's tribal district Lahaul-Spiti to rescuethe remaining 66 people stranded there for six days, a state disaster management official

said. State disaster management director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said that the helicopterreached Lahaul this morning and will be rescuing the 66 people stranded at various placesin Udaipur. Of them, 37 are stranded at Jahlama, 15 at Shansha and 14 at Fooda, he added.

The helicopter was allowed to fly as weather was favourable on Sunday. Earlier,it could not fly due to bad weather for twodays, Mokhta added. So, 178 stranded peoplewere rescued through a zipline or ropeway asa helicopter could not fly for evacuation dueto bad weather, he added. They were strandedat Udaipur in the tribal district after acloudburst over Tojing Nullah on Tuesday, headded. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had onSaturday visited flood-affected areas of theLahaul Valley to take stock of the losses dueto flooding in Tojing Nallah on July 27.

Ready to withdraw FIR against Assam CM: Mizoram government

The Mizoram government is ready to withdraw the FIR filed against Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuango said on Sunday. Even Chief

Minister Zoramthanga did not approve the inclusion of Sarma's name in the FIR, he said."In fact, our chief minister did not really approve of mentioning the name of the Assam chiefminister in the FIR. He suggested to me that we should look into it," he told reporters. Chuango said that he will discuss the matter with police officials concerned and remove the

name of the Assam chief minister if there is nolegal validity to substantiate the allegations againsthim. "I will hold discussion with the police officerwho filed the FIR, and if there is no legal fit, wewould like to remove the name of Assam chiefminister from the FIR," he said, adding that he wasunaware of the development when the criminalcase was filed against Sarma. The chief secretary,however, did not mention whether the cases filedagainst six Assam officials and 200 unidentifiedpolice personnel will be withdrawn.

12 held for duping foreigners onpromise of providing tech support

Twelve people who impersonated executives of an e-commerce giant were arrestedfor allegedly cheating foreigners on the pretext of providing them technical support,

the Delhi Police said on Sunday. The accused were identified as Mandeep Singh (39),Sattick Chakraborty (24), Harpreet Singh (30), Nitin Choudhary (26), Jobin George(25), Hanumantu Rao (38), Mohit Gupta (30), Nitesh Kumar (32), SubhodeepBhattacharya (20), Moumita Majumdar (25), Diksha Khetarpal (28) and Shaba Khatun

(25), they said. According to police, they were informedabout some people running an international online cheatingracket from Ramphal Chowk, Dwarka Sector-7. Theaccused were using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)calling bypassing the legal international long distance (ILD)gateways. They were cheating people based in USA orCanada, they said. "On Saturday, police conducted raid onthe premises and found several people engaged in makingor receiving the calls. Twelve people were apprehendedfrom there," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka)Santosh Kumar Meena said.

INDIA

CORNER

‘Doors of SP open to all smallparties for 2022 UP polls’PNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav on Sunday said doors of hisparty are open to all small partiesfor an alliance ahead of the UttarPradesh Assembly polls next yearand he will try that all such polit-ical outfits come together todefeat the BJP.

He also asked the Congressand the BSP, which have beenattacking the Samajwadi Party(SP) on various issues, which sidethey are on.

“These parties should decidewhether their fight is with the BJPor SP,” Yadav told PTI.

On possible alliances for theupcoming state polls, the SPpresident said, "Doors of ourparty are open for all small par-ties. Many smaller parties arealready with us. More will comewith us." In an interview to PTI,he also lashed out at the Centreover the Pegasus spying row.

"They (NDA) have over 350seats in the Lok Sabha. The BJPis ruling in many states. Why andwhat was the government tryingto find through snooping? Theyare helping 'videshi takatein' (for-eign forces) with this act," Yadavsaid.

Asked about his uncle Shivpal

Yadav's Pragatisheel SamajwadiParty, which is also preparing tocontest the polls on all seats,Yadav said, "We will try that allparties unite to defeat the BJP."

On ‘Bhagidari Morcha' led byOm Prakash Rajbhar's SuheldevBhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) inwhich AIMIM leader AssaduddinOwaisi also took part, he said,"There have been no talks withthem till now."

The SP president also asked theother opposition parties, theCongress and the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP), to decide whichside they were on. "These parties

should decide whom they arefighting,” he said.

BSP chief Mayawati has oftentargeted the Samajwadi Party inher tweets. While accusing theBJP of using government machin-ery to ensure its victory in therecent panchayat polls, she hadsaid these “tricks” were similar tothe methods used by the previousSP government.

Congress chief Ajay KumarLallu has also attacked the SP andhad said the party leaders' state-ments reflected frustration anddisappointment as people haverejected them.

PNS n MUMBAI

In a veiled attack on the BJP,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Sundaysaid the language of intimidationwill not be tolerated and abefitting reply will begiven to thosespeaking it.

He made thestatement in thewake of BJP leg-islator PrasadLad's reportedremarks that ifneeded, the Shiv SenaBhavan, the headquartersof Thackeray-led party in centralMumbai, would be demolished.However, he had later retractedthe remarks and expressed regretsaying they were presented out ofcontext by the media.

Speaking at the inaugurationof the BDD Chawls redevelop-ment project here, Thackerayreferred to his three-party MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensa-tion as a “triple seat” government(with NCP and Congress beingthe other constituents).

Recalling a dialogue fromHindi blockbuster “Dabangg” -

“Thappad se dar nahi lagta (notscared of being slapped)” - thechief minister said, “Nobodyshould speak the language ofslapping us as we will give backsuch a tight slap that the other

person will not be able to getback on his feet.”

Asking the benefi-ciaries of the chawlsredevelopmentproject not to fallprey to allurementonce the project

gets over, he said,"Marathi culture must

be protected in the rede-veloped constructions at any

cost as the chawls had a historiclegacy, where revolutionaries hadlaid down their lives and alsowere witness to the SamyuktaMaharashtra movement.”

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, whowas also present at the event, saidthe legacy of BDD Chawls shouldbe protected and the Marathi-speaking people must stay backin the redeveloped houses, whichwould be given as part of the pro-ject being overseen byMaharashtra Housing and AreaDevelopment Authority(MHADA).

Language ofintimidation won’t betolerated: Thackeray

PNS n NEW DELHI

Attacking the Congress which hasbeen protesting in Parliamentdemanding a discussion on thePegasus snooping allegations,Union minister Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi on Sunday said the partywas "James Bond of spying" whenin power and it now wants towaste Parliament's time over "fakeand fabricated" issues.

Naqvi, who is the Rajya SabhaDeputy Leader, also accused theCongress and a few otherOpposition parties of workingwith the policy of "rant and run"by making allegations and scoot-ing off.

In an interview with PTI, theMinority Affairs Minister said thegovernment is ready to discuss all

issues that are related to peopleand expressed hope that theimpasse between the governmentand the Opposition will be bro-ken allowing Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha to function smooth-ly.

Both Lok Sabha and RajyaSabha have failed to transact anysignificant business, except pas-sage of some bills, amid contin-ued protests by Opposition par-ties over the Pegasus and farmers'issues since the Monsoon sessionof Parliament commenced onJuly 19. The Opposition and thegovernment are locked in a stand-off with the former seeking adebate over the Pegasus issue.

The senior BJP leader alsorejected talk of the Parliament'sMonsoon session being curtailed

and said there was no basis of such"rumours" as the session was toscheduled till August 13 andbusiness is listed till then.

Asked if a middle path can befound to end the deadlock inParliament, Naqvi said theCongress and a few otherOpposition parties are adoptinga "rant and run" formula and are

not interested in participating indebate and discussion on people'sissues.

"They first said that we want adiscussion on corona but thenlater did not agree to it. They saidwe want a discussion on farmersand then did not agree on that.There has been the problem offloods in various parts of thecountry, they are not showing anyinterest in that also or on the pricerise issue that they talk about," hesaid.

On the Opposition insisting ondebating the Pegasus issue, Naqvisaid they want to wasteParliament's time on "fake andfabricated issues that have noidentity" .

"Without wasting time, ITMinister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) had

made a statement and they had anopportunity to get a clarificationin Rajya Sabha. But instead of tak-ing a clarification they created aruckus and adopted a violentattitude," he alleged.

Naqvi said most of theOpposition parties are interestedin debate and discussion butunfortunately the Congress istrying to be their self-appointedhead and in that attempt it is"propagating its own negativeattitude as that of the Opposition".

"They (the Congress) are try-ing to hijack the thinking of eventhose opposition parties that arethinking on constructive lines.Congress is trying to become a selfappointed leader of theOpposition," the Rajya Sabha MPsaid.

Cong ‘James Bond of spying' when in power; Pegasus a ‘fabricated’ issue: Naqvi

NEW DELHI: The vaccinationdrive in the country is set to geta major boost this month, UnionHealth Minister MansukhMandaviya said Sunday as hetook a swipe at Congress leaderRahul Gandhi for questioning thegovernment's vaccine deliveryprogramme. The minister askedGandhi to join everyone infeeling proud about the workdone by the country's healthworkers. In a response toGandhi's tweet questioning theavailability of vaccines last

month, Mandaviya said morethan 13 crore doses wereadministered in July and thedrive is going to accelerate thismonth. "More than 13 croredoses were administered in Indiain the month of July. It is goingto accelerate this month. We areproud of our healthcare workersfor this achievement. "Now youtoo should be proud of them andthe country," Mandaviya said in atweet in Hindi in response toGandhi's post. Earlier during theday, Gandhi had tweeted in Hindi

saying "July is gone, but theshortage of vaccine hasn't goneaway." He used the hashtag#WhereAreVaccines. Thecumulative COVID-19 vaccinedoses administered in thecountry has crossed 47 crorewith 60,15,842 doses beingadministered in a span of 24hours, the Health Ministry saidSunday morning. More than 3crore balance and unutiliseddoses are still available with thestates, union territories andprivate hospitals, it stated.

Health Minister Mandaviya hits back at RahulGandhi for questioning vaccine availability

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has decided todemarcate boundaries of theNortheastern states throughsatellite imaging to settle inter-state border disputes that areoften becoming a cause ofconcern and sometimes evenleading to violence.

Two senior governmentfunctionaries said the task hasbeen given to the NorthEastern Space ApplicationCentre (NESAC), a joint initia-tive of the Department ofSpace (DoS) and the NorthEastern Council (NEC).

The NESAC helps augmentthe developmental process inthe Northeast region by pro-viding advanced space technol-ogy support.

The inter-state border dis-putes have come under freshfocus recently after five AssamPolice personnel and a civil-ian were killed in clashesalong the Assam-Mizoramborder.

The idea for demarcation ofinter-state boundaries throughsatellite imaging was mootedby Union Home Minister AmitShah a few months ago.

Shah had suggested ropingin NESAC for mapping theinter-state borders and forestsin the Northeastern region

and coming up with a scientif-ic demarcation of boundariesbetween states.

The Shillong-based NESACis already using space technol-ogy for flood management inthe region.

Since there will be scientif-ic methods in the demarcationof borders, there will no scopefor any discrepancy and thereshall be better acceptability ofthe boundary solutions by thestates, the government func-tionaries said.

Once the satellite mappingis done, the boundaries ofNortheastern states could bedrawn and the disputes couldbe resolved permanently, theysaid.

Five Assam Police personneland a civilian were killed andover 50 others including asuperintendent of police were

injured when the MizoramPolice opened fire on a team ofthe Assam officials on July 26following clashes along thetwo states' border.

While the Mizoram govern-ment claimed that a 509square-mile stretch of theinner-line reserve forest noti-fied in 1875 under the BengalEastern Frontier Regulationof 1873 belongs to it, theAssam side insisted that theconstitutional map and bound-ary, drawn by the Survey ofIndia in 1993, was acceptableto it.

After a massive tussle in2018, the border row resur-faced in August last year andthen in February this year.

However, the escalating ten-sions were successfully defusedafter a series of parleys with theintervention of the Centre.

NESAC to demarcateborders of N-Eastern states

PNS n LUCKNOW

Ahead of the 2022 UttarPradesh Assembly elections,Union Home Minister AmitShah on Sunday praised theYogi Adityanath government fortaking the state to the “topspot” in terms of law and order.Addressing a function after lay-ing the foundation stone of theUttar Pradesh State Institute ofForensic Sciences here, Shahsaid BJP governments work forthe development of the poorestpeople. "For six years till 2019, Itravelled a lot in UP. Hence, Iknow the earlier UP very well.There was an atmosphere offear in western UP because ofwhich people were leaving thearea, women felt unsafe, theland mafia was grabbing theland of the poor people, inci-dents of firing in broad daylightand riots were rampant,” Shahsaid. “In 2017, the BJPpromised that we will make UPa developed state and alsorevamp its law and order. Today

in 2021, I can say with pridethat Yogi Adityanath and histeam have taken UP to the topspot in terms of law and order,”he added. Shah said, “The BJPgovernments do not work onthe basis of caste, families, orfor the people who are close tothem. The BJP governmentswork for the development of thepoorest person and to revamplaw and order.” Adityanathalong with the Deputy ChiefMinisters Keshav PrasadMaurya and Dinesh Sharmawere present at the event.Terming the chief minister as'yashasvi' (glorious) and 'safal'(successful), Shah credited himfor effectively implementingdevelopment and welfareschemes in the state. "Today, in44 development schemes, UP ison the top spot in the country.Making schemes is very easy,but implementing them, remov-ing the intermediaries, andensuring the benefits reach thebeneficiaries without any bribeis very tough," he said.

Amit Shah lauds Adityanath on law and order in UP

PNS n NEW DELHI

It is the duty of every member ofan orderly society to offer everypossible opportunity to a "crim-inal" to defend himself, SupremeCourt judge U U Lalit said onSunday.

He said that even though acriminal must be brought tobook and punished for his wrongdeeds for an orderly society, legalrepresentation is part of every-one's fundamental rights.

Justice Lalit was speaking at thelaunch of the year-long campaign“Quality of services is key toaccess to justice for all”, organisedby Haryana Legal Services

Authority in Gurugram inHaryana.

“It is true that for an orderlysociety a criminal must bebrought to book, a criminal mustbe proceeded against, a criminalmust be punished for his wrongdeeds.

"But at the same time, as anorderly society, it is the duty ofevery member of the society tooffer to him every possible oppor-tunity to defend himself,” hesaid.

He said that during the lastyear and a half, when the entirehumanity has been on the backfoot because of the COVID-19pandemic, the virtual platform

has emerged as a "platform ofsolution".

All interactions, whetherthrough public offices or othermodes, even entertainment andother things have gone for a tosscompletely due to the pandemicsituation, he said.

However, this situation has alsotaught us to improvise, innovate"and to sort of bring out the bestwithin us.

"It has taught us that the vir-tual platform can be a platformof solution, where many of ourproblems can get sorted out."

Today all the courts are func-tioning through virtual modes, henoted.

Justice Lalit also inauguratedthe video conferencing facilitiesin all 22 DLSAs (District LegalServices Authorities) in the state,which will facilitate an interactiveplatform to fill the communica-tion gap between legal aid coun-sel and client.

He also inaugurated 'KidsZones' in 18 DLSAs to cater to theneeds of children who accompa-ny young couples whose cases arereferred for mediation.

Besides Justice Lalit, Punjaband Haryana High Court ChiefJustice Ravi Shanker Jha and HCjudges - Justice Jaswant Singh andJustice Rajan Gupta - also spokeat the occasion.

Duty of society to offer opportunity to‘criminal’ to defend himself: SC Judge

TN makes RT-PCR-vreport mandatory fortravellers from KeralaPNS n CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu governmenton Sunday said it was mandato-ry for people coming fromKerala, to the state to carry a neg-ative RT-PCR test report or vac-cination certificate of twoCOVID doses from August 5, inthe wake of aspike in infectionsin the neighbouring state.

Addressing reporters, Medicaland Family Welfare Minister MaSubramanian said, "From August5, concerned district administra-tions have been directed to inten-sify surveillance and allow peo-ple from Kerala to enter the stateif they possess an RT-PCR neg-ativity certificate."

Officials in the bordering dis-tricts have also been asked toallow people if they have neces-sary documents to show that theyhave received two doses of theCOVID vaccines.

On the serosurvey resultsreleased on Saturday,Subramanian said special focuswould be on those districts whichhave reported people with lowresistance power to the virus.

"Virudhunagar has highestseropositivity rate of 84 per cent,Chennai 82 per cent. But, in

Erode district, it is less. Specialfocus will be given to districtswhere people have low resistanceagainst the virus, by increasingvaccine doses and enhancingmedical infrastructure..," he said.

The third Tamil Nadu CrossSectional Serosurvey in July, cov-ering over 26,000 samplesrevealed that at least 66.2 percentof the population has developedantibodies to SARS-CoV-2, thevirus which causes covid-19.

While the overall seropreva-lence was 66.2 percent, the high-est sero-positivity was observedin Virudhunagar district at 84 percent while Erode reported thelowest at 37, according to the lat-est sero-suvrey conducted bythe Directorate of Public Healthand Preventive Medicine in 888clusters across the state.

Indian Navy rescues seven fishermen

PORT BLAIR: The Indian Navy rescued sevenfishermen from a distressed fishing boat, off

the coast of Car Nicobar, an official releasesaid. INS Airavat was transiting through thestrait at Car Nicobar on Friday night when it

received a distress call from the fishing boatwhich had developed a gearbox problem. It

immediately proceeded towards the distressedvessel at its maximum speed to render assis-

tance and successfully established contact withthe fishing vessel, the release said. All crew

members of the fishing vessel have been res-cued and one injured person is under medical

care onboard the INS Airavat.

Brown sugar worth `̀14Lseized in Bengal, 2 held

REWA/SINGRAULI, Six people were killedand four others injured in two incidents ofhouse collapse due to heavy rains in MadhyaPradesh's Rewa and Singrauli districts onSunday, officials said. In Rewa, a 35-year-old man, his 60-year-old mother and twodaughters, aged 7 and 8 years, were killedwhen their mud house collapsed in themorning, police officials said.Rewa CollectorIlayaraja T said the incident took place inGhuchiyari Bahera village under Garh policestation area, about 50 km from the districtheadquarters.

2 houses collapse inMP after heavy rains

MALDA (WB): Two persons were arrestedfrom West Bengal's Malda district after brownsugar worth around Rs 14 lakh was seizedfrom their possession, police said on Sunday.Acting on a tip-off, a team of policemen onSaturday apprehended the two from SusthaniMore area near National Highway 34, a seniorofficer said. Altogether, 697 grams of brownsugar worth Rs 14 lakh was recovered fromtheir possession, English Bazar Police Stationinspector in-charge Asis Kumar Das said. Thearrested persons are residents of Shrirampurand Jalua Bathan villages under the KaliachakPolice Station limits.

Agastya Mula (a 6,2000-ft-high peak) to make hourlyobservations on atmosphericpressure, temperature, humid-ity and evaporation.Meteorological observatorieswere set up across India.However, in 1863, ThomasGlaisher prepared a report thatadvocated a general system ofmeteorological observationson a uniform plan. The devas-tating cyclone of Calcutta in1864, which laid waste of itsinland port and anchored ships,followed by the Bengal famineof 1866, underscored the neces-sity for such a plan as an inte-gral part of governing India.

Between 1865 and 1874,five provincial meteorologicalsystems were established, cov-ering one-third of India’s ter-ritory. These parochial sys-tems, which worked withoutany cohesion, failed to reveala true picture of India’s climatepattern. Thus, in 1875, theIMD was founded to devise anintegrated approach. HFBlanford (1934-1893), theweather reporter to the BengalGovernment, headed thenascent IMD. Blanford wasoriginally a professor of natur-al sciences at the PresidencyCollege, Calcutta. He played aseminal role in developing asystematic and uniform systemof meteorological observa-tions throughout India.

In 1878, a tentative forecast

of the character of the mon-soon season was desired by theGovernment. So the IMDintroduced a system of dailytelegrams of weather from allparts of India and Burma, andpublication of a daily weatherreport from the whole of Indiafor the Government. Blanfordemphasised on the improve-ment of the daily weatherreport by increasing the num-ber of stations from whichdaily telegrams were received;increasing the number ofobservatories; collection ofinformation of weather fromthe logs of ships entering intoports of Calcutta and Bombay;and improvement of solarobservations to obtain accuratemeasures of the sun’s heatingpower at the earth’s surface andits periodic variations.

By 1878, there were 103observatories at work acrossIndia, and the number rose to128 by 1885. Additionally,there were 22 observatories inBengal, established for collect-ing the telegraphic weatherreports from the provinces.The Climatological Atlas ofIndia (1906), published bythe IMD, informs that a sys-tem of telegraphic reportsand storm warnings for thelarger ports on the west coastof India was established in1880. The destructive floodsin the lower valley of Narmadaand Tapti rivers in July 1884,

of which there was no warn-ing, compelled the IMD todevelop a flood forecast sys-tem. In 1885, the first forecastof south-west monsoon rainswas made in the series ofannual monsoon forecast.

Since monsoon (fromArabic mawsim or season)denotes a sea-to-land windcirculation — or onshore flow— one cannot have the com-plete picture about this season-al reversal of wind without con-sidering the seas. In 1888, theBritish Government in Indiasanctioned compilation of thedaily weather report and chartof the India monsoon areabased mostly on marine mete-orological data. A formal sanc-tion was given for informationobtained from the logs of ves-sels and meteorological obser-vatories established in Persiaand Arabia. These reports wereof great interest, and were pub-lished continuously until 1899.

Simultaneously, thegrowth in information aboutIndian geography due to worksof the Survey of India con-tributed to understanding thetrue path of the monsoon.Weather reports and chartshave played an important rolein India’s policymaking sincethe late 19th century.

(The writer is an authorand independent researcherbased in New Delhi. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

HELP SAVE THE BIG CATSir — The International Tiger Day is cel-ebrated annually on July 29 as a way toraise awareness about this magnificent butendangered big cat. Tiger enjoys the rep-utation of being the largest big cat in theworld. The day aims to build a systemworldwide to protect tigers and their nat-ural habitats (‘Love these stripes’, August 1).

As for tigers in India, they often serveas the poster animal for saving ourforests. From being constantly hunted tobeing brought back from the brink ofobliteration in the early 1970s, andfrom threats through poaching in the1990s to establishing the NTCA, tigernumbers have grown steadily.

With Indian tigers accounting formore than 50 per cent of the world pop-ulation, restructuring the growing pop-ulation globally assumes greater impor-tance. Gratifyingly enough, a bunch ofpassionate wildlife enthusiasts are tryingto make the planet more habitable fortigers. When tigers thrive in an ecosys-tem, it indicates that the ecosystem isthriving along.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

MIZO-ASSAM BORDER FAR FROM NORMALSir — Tension is rising at an alarming rateon the Assam-Mizoram border as restric-tions on the movement of vehicles haveentered the sixth day. The situation in andaround Lailapur, which was rocked bydeadly violence, remains tense with theCRPF troops patrolling NationalHighway-306. Dozens of trucks withessential supplies, including COVID-19material, are waiting at the Kabuganj-Dholai stretch in Cachar district.

The organised blockade on roads lead-ing to Mizoram was lifted and no groupis on the streets. But aggrieved civilians arestill stopping vehicles; so the trucks andother commercial vehicles are not takingany risk. Vehicles from the Mizoram sideare also not entering Assam and only offi-cial and security vehicles are plying. Afterthe fierce gun battle between the two policeforces on a disputed border forest tract,various groups in the Barak Valley

enforced the blockade, drawing sharpprotests from the neighboring State.

Seven people from Assam, includingsix police personnel, were killed and morethan 50 injured in the violence. Assam’sBarak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganjand Hailakandi share a 164.6-km borderwith Mizoram’s Aizawl, Kolasib andMamit districts.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

MODERN-DAY MEDIA AND JOURNALISMSir — In the old days, a newsroom con-jured up the image of a fading, old build-ing, with a fan crankily spinning overheadin a hall with stacks of paper scattered onthe desk as the editorial staff struggled tomeet the deadline. The look of the news-room may have changed, but the enthu-siasm that comes with doing an interest-ing story has not. This is what keeps jour-nalists on the go.

Beyond recognising a good story, hav-ing all-round knowledge and looking forfacts, today’s journalists need to commu-nicate their stories effectively using vari-ous mass media tools. Journalists’ roleshave evolved in the past half century, fromwriting stories on a typewriter to editingon a computer; and from jotting downeverything on paper to having recordingdevices at their disposal. The recent yearshave seen the burgeoning of journals andnewer platforms of mass communication.

With the onslaught of technology andother inventions associated with the inter-net, getting acquainted with applicationdevelopment and other new media toolsis necessitated. Therein lies the success ofpresent-day media and journalism.

Calicut Kris Jayanthimaniam | Mumbai

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Predicting the timing and adequacy of monsoonal rain poses a challenge. TheBritish had realised that the subcontinent must be seen as a living whole

THE RAJA OFTRAVANCORE WASTHE FIRST INDIAN

RULER TO FUND ANOBSERVATORY. ABRANCH OF THAT

OBSERVATORY WASSTARTED AT

AGASTYA MULA (A 6,2000-FT-HIGH

PEAK) TO MAKE HOURLY

OBSERVATIONS ONATMOSPHERIC

PRESSURE,TEMPERATURE,HUMIDITY ANDEVAPORATION

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRIYADARSHI DUTTA

Activist Bezwada Wilson called out theUnion Government on its claim that noone died due to manual scavenging in the

last five years. He nailed the falsehood byasserting that at least 472 manual scavengerslost their life while cleaning human excreta dur-ing this period and adding that it was a con-servative figure.

The Government was too clever by halfwhen it used the words “manual scavenging”in the narrow sense of cleaning dry latrines todeny the deaths. Cleaning septic tanks and sew-ers too is manual scavenging as much as sur-face scavenging for the Government to leave

deaths due to it uncounted.The Government’s denial of these deaths

has inevitably drawn comparison with its recentdenial of deaths of critically ill COVID-19 patientsdue to oxygen shortage. There is no denyingthat the Government has developed the habitof denying unpalatable truths and painting arosy picture of everything. It feels compelledto resort to falsehoods as all that it is worriedabout is its own hide, or so it seems.

The attitude to centuries-old practice ofmanual scavenging has to change. The regres-sive view that it is an “internal spiritual activ-ity” should change. Those who say so shouldtake it up themselves! The prevalence of man-ual scavenging as an inherited occupationdespite the ban even after 75 years sinceIndependence mocks the kind of self-rule wehave had and invalidates the claim to moder-nity. Provided it gets its priorities right and hasthe political will, the Government can put inplace modern flush systems and other meansfor human waste disposal and “liberate” andrehabilitate manual scavengers and empowerthem to earn a life with dignity.

G David Milton | Tamil Nadu

No manual scavenging deaths?

India: The countryof all seasons

Better late than never; themonsoon has finallyarrived over Delhi-NCT.Monsoonal precipitation

is the most important feature ofIndian climate. One can hardlyoverestimate the importance ofrainfall in a country where half thepopulation is still employed in theagricultural sector. The IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) officially divides the yearinto (a) Winter Season (January-February), (b) Pre-Monsoon(March-May), (c) MonsoonSeason (June-September), and(d) Post-Monsoon Season(October-December), underscor-ing the significance of monsoon.

The motto of the IMD,Adityaat jayate vrishti (Sun caus-es the rains), acknowledges thetropical basis of the weather cycle.Whereas the tropical calendar —like Gregorian — dissects the yearinto four seasons; viz. spring,summer, autumn and winter,India actually has more numberof seasons. Whether it is the RigVeda Samhita, Charak Samhita orRitu Samhara of Kalidasa, thereare six seasons: spring (vasanta),summer (grishma), rainy (varsha),autumn (sharad), fall (hemanta)and winter (shishir).

Weather science was notunknown to Indians. However, asVarahamihira’s Brihat Samhitashows, whatever little was knownon the subject, was indiscriminate-ly mixed with astrology, proverbsand omens. The modern scienceof meteorology is thoroughlydependent on well-calibratedinstruments. The British werethe first to set up meteorologicalobservatories in India. They intro-duced instruments like a wholerange of barometers and ther-mometers, rain gauge, wind gauge,anemometer, electroscope, elec-trometer, ozonometer, cloudreflector, sunshine recorder andpluviometer in the 19th century.The Colaba Observatory, estab-lished in 1823, made valuable con-tributions to meteorology from1842 onwards under George Buist,Arthur Orlebar, CharlesMontriou, Fergusson, WilliamMoreland and Charles Chambers.

The Raja of Travancore wasthe first Indian ruler to fund anobservatory inThiruvananthapuram. A branchof that observatory was started at

SOUNDBITEDuring the COVIDpandemic, Yogi jiand his team didexcellent work. TheBJP will return topower with a massive majorityin the UP Assembly elections.

Union Home Minister— Amit Shah

From day one, I haddecided that I wouldnever repeat a char-acter. Actors gettypecast very quickly.

Actor— Rajpal Yadav

`5 lakh will begiven to each familywhose house hasbeen damagedmore than 75 percent while `3 lakhwill be given for houses dam-aged below 50 per cent due tolandslides and floods.

Karnataka Chief Minister— Basavaraj Bommai

The pressure will beon Australia as theyare one of the high-est-ranked teams.We will be able to

play freely.

Indian women’s hockey teamchief coach

— Sjoerd Marijne

Babul Supriyo, a former BJP Minister, has announced on Facebook that he isquitting politics. The two-time MP from Asansol and the face of the BJP in WestBengal has finally said adieu to the party that once banked upon his charisma

as a singer to garner votes. He said he was leaving politics after due considerationwith his family and that he would quit politics itself, not just the party or his Parliament

seat. He also wrote that he would not join any otherparty but later deleted that part. Babul has been can-did in admitting that his decision has a lot to do withhim being dropped from the Modi Cabinet. The partysaw it coming or not, but the BJP’s Bengal unit isin disarray. It does not have any popular face to por-tray. Babul had joined the BJP just before the 2014elections and was the blue-eyed boy of the PrimeMinister. He served as a Minister of State with impor-tant portfolios in both terms of the Modi Government.People often leave and join parties but Babul’s res-ignation is different as he made no bones that he was

upset about being dropped from the Cabinet.Babul had it rough with the BJP’s State-level unit as well. He was not on good terms

with State chief Dilip Ghosh and, indeed, the State unit of the party. Often he wouldbe on social media airing his views, which were embarrassing for the central brassas well. Known for his short temper, Babul has courted controversy several times. Oncehe was caught on camera slapping his own party worker and, on another occasion,threatening a guy to break his leg at a function for the differently abled. He defeatedMoon Moon Sen in the 2019 general elections but lost the Assembly elections by 50,000votes. His opponents have called his resignation a “drama”, saying if he had to resignas an MP he should have written to the Speaker. Instead, he took to Facebook to cre-ate a storm in a teacup. Indeed, that might be the case as Babul may try to throw hisweight around and bargain to retain his position. At the moment, it is a developing story.If it happens, it is indeed bad news for the BJP. Babul made little difference in the Assemblypolls but his replacement would be harder to find.

Adevelopment in the field of education is raising some concern in the minds of peo-ple. The NITI Aayog has backed the proposal of the All India Council for TechnicalEducation (AICTE) to revamp the national engineering entrance examination that

no longer requires mathematics and physics as mandatory subjects in plus-two. Studentswill need to pass any three of 14 subjects, including mathematics, physics and chem-istry, in their plus-two examination. The logic given is that the industry and a section ofthe students want the option to pursue technical programmes like agriculture, biotech-nology, electronics, or IT engineering that do not depend on physics and mathematics.The AICTE idea applies to the affiliated technical colleges and not to universities, IITs,NITs or IISERs. The move has been met with consternation. The alarmist view is that asection of the students may benefit from this rule but it would destabilise the approach

to technical education in the country, that there is noengineering without mathematics and physics, thatbridge programmes make poor substitutes. Some evenrecalled how zero, trigonometry and some aspects ofcalculus were invented in ancient India, wondering howsuch a legacy could be junked. The critics view theidea as a move to ensure the survival of engineeringcolleges in the country. Private engineering and othertechnical institutes are closing down by the hundredsevery year because the seats are not getting filled.

Students do not opt for colleges where minimumstandards of learning and infrastructure are not main-

tained and the graduates do not get jobs. Thirdly, as aspirations grow, the students pre-fer either nationally acclaimed engineering institutes or diversify into new technical fields.Critics feel that the AICTE proposal can breathe new life into these colleges, though thequestion mark remains about the quality of education imparted. The debate about therelevance of super subjects — mathematics and physics — can continue. The worldis changing fast and technology is speeding it up. The focus of education, especially inthe formative years, should emphasise on the applicational along with the theoretical.Technical education programmes are diversifying to as innovative as wine taster, cyber-security specialist, processed food specialist, site reliability engineer and growth man-ager. Linkedin came out with a list of emerging industrial jobs in India for 2020, onlysome of which have to do with engineering but with tangential links to mathematics orphysics. The India Skills Report for 2021 says the employability of India’s youth hasdecreased of late, making it imperative that higher and technical education equips themwith skills necessary for in-demand career opportunities. Technology is a double-edgedsword. It encourages automation. As it grows, jobs become obsolete. Elitist views abouteducation are becoming archaic. A skills-based ecosystem is needed. A better movethan the AICTE proposal, for instance, is to introduce a system of apprenticeship thatmakes the private sector responsible for imparting skills to the workers depending onthe basis of an annual revision of the skills shortage list.

A new beginning?

Adieu, Babul style!The former Minister is upset after being ousted

from the Modi Cabinet in the recent reshuffle

PICTALK

A crane lifts a dead dolphin at Bakkhali beach in South 24 Parganas district, on Sunday PTI

The AICTE plans to do away with mandatorymaths and physics for the engineering exam

We will hold themulti-party generalelections without failand brief internation-al delegates in the

near future on findings on theprevious elections.

Myanmar Commander-in-Chief— Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing

Post-IPO performanceamid retail investor rush

WHETHER LEAVING POLITICS IS SOMEHOWCONNECTED TO LOSING MINISTRY…YES,

IT IS TRUE TO SOME EXTENT.— FORMER UNION MINISTER

BABUL SUPRIYO

WHO IS GOING WHERE, WHY WILL I COMMENTON IT? SOMEONE ENTERING OR QUITTINGPOLITICS IS AN INDIVIDUAL CHOICE. — WEST BENGAL BJP PRESIDENTDILIP GHOSH

The economy contracted in 2020-21owing to the nationwide pan-demic lockdown last year andresulted in a higher unemployment

rate in both the formal and informal sec-tors.However, interestingly, during thesame period, there was an unprecedentedsurge in trading and investment in the stockmarket.

Both benchmark Sensex and Niftyclocked in their highs during the pandem-ic period rising from the low that they hitin March 2020. The new entrants are retailinvestors with their participation boomingamid the pandemic situation. According tothe data from the Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI), the new Demataccounts rose to an all-time high of 10.7million between April 2020 and January2021. The recent data from the NationalStock Exchange (NSE) shows that retailparticipation in the stock market's equitydivision constitutes 45 per cent of tradingturnover.

What was the reason behind such aninflux of these new retail investors (a majorchunk is the GenZ and millennials) in thestock market? Of course, the influence ofWarren Buffet, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, orthe movies like The Wolf of Wall Street andHarshad Mehta series acted as catalysts butthe major source of ignition arose fromincome uncertainty due to a significantnumber of job losses. Many opened theirDemat accounts during the pandemic,reminding us of the Warren Buffet quotethat "If your salary is your only source ofincome, you are one step away frompoverty".The ease of opening theseaccounts also boosted the process. Discountbrokerage firms like Zerodha, Upstox, etc.,helped the emerging investors to open theaccounts in a few hours. The investmentawareness campaigns also promoted theaccount opening with different sharebro-kers.

Another reason for such a high influxis the increase in liquidity in the marketbecause of Foreign Institutional Investors(FIIs). After withdrawing about $6.4 billionin the March 2020 quarter, FIIs re-enteredthe Indian equity markets in the June andSeptember 2020 quarters. The value of FIIinvestments in Indian equities reached $450billion at the end of the third quarter of2020. At this point the overall spending onconsumables was low and the additionalinflow of foreign currency increased the liq-uidity in the market. So, for the middle-income group, investment in stocks was anattractive option.

It is no exaggeration that most of theinvestment decisions were influenced by therecent rally in the stock market and not dri-ven by the fundamentals of the companies.The surge in the stock price of BombayOxygen Investments Ltd (BOM) was oneof the prime examples of herding behav-iour in the stock market. The price of BOMskyrocketed when there was high demandfor medical oxygen across the country butthe fun fact was that BOM was just a chem-ical company, not a producer of oxygen.

Companies aiming to raise finance

It is no exaggeration that most investment decisions were influenced bythe recent rally in the stock market, not by the fundamentals of companies

ANOTHERREASON FORSUCH A HIGH

INFLUX IS THEINCREASE IN

LIQUIDITY IN THEMARKET BECAUSE

OF FOREIGNINSTITUTIONAL

INVESTORS (FIIS). AFTER

WITHDRAWINGABOUT $6.4 BN IN THE MARCH 2020

QUARTER, FIISRE-ENTERED THE INDIAN

EQUITY MARKETSIN THE JUNE

AND SEPTEMBER2020 QUARTERS

Amonth ago, it seemed to be just another tale of ruthless minersand desperate, poor people conspiring to wreck the environmentwhile slow-moving, distant regulators failed to get a grip. But it

turns out to be more complicated than that, and rather more hopeful.The mining company was called DeepGreen, but is in the process

of becoming a larger entity called simply The Metals Company. The poorpeople are the eleven thousand inhabitants of Nauru, a tiny independentisland in the Western Pacific with no visible means of support.

And the slow-moving, distant regulators are the Jamaica-basedInternational Seabed Authority (ISA), a body created in 1994 under theUN Law of the Sea to govern activities on the seabed in the areas beyondthe reach of national laws (i.e. most of the planet).

In principle, the ISA controls mining on that seabed, but so far it hasonly issued exploration permits. Nobody wanted to do any actual min-ing, and business has been slow. But vital new technologies,

from mobile phones and computers to batteries for electric vehicles andenergy storage, have now created a huge demand for cobalt, nickel, cop-per, manganese, and rare earths - all to be found in vast quantities inpotato-sized 'polymetallic nodules' on some parts of the deep seafloor.

So DeepGreen partnered with Nauru's president, Lionel Aingimea,whose country has exclusive control of 75,000 sq. km. of seabed inthe Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the North Pacific (between Hawaii andMexico), and told the ISA on 30 June that it wants to start mining thearea within two years.

The beauty of this strategy is that if the ISA has not completed itslong-delayed 'Mining Code' within two years of getting such a request,the country making the request can just go ahead and start mining underthe current (almost non-existent) rules.

You have to feel sorry for Nauru. It's only the size of Manhattan upto 42nd Street, and 80 per cent of it was strip-mined for phosphates bycolonial powers. Almost half its population has type 2 diabetes (70 percent are obese), and it has no resources left worth mentioning.

One feels less sorry for Vancouver-based DeepGreen, which just wantsto make a lot of money, but CEO Gerard Barron does know how to talkthe talk: "The world is on a massive push to move away from fossil fuels,and what do we need if we want to do that? We need to build a lot ofbatteries."

He calls the polymetallic nodules "batteries in a rock", but it's notquite that simple. The nodules would be sucked up in a seawater-sed-iment slurry by huge undersea machines from as deep as 6,000 metres,passed up to the surface in a giant riser, then separated from the sed-iment and seawater (which would be pumped back down to the bot-tom). "We expect most of this sediment to resettle within hours-to-dayswithin tens to thousands of metres from origin."

Major potential customers for deep-sea metals like BMW Group, VolvoGroup, and Samsung SDI (battery makers) have declared that they willnot allow any seabed minerals in their supply chains until it's clear thatthey are environmentally defensible.

We may end up having to do deep-sea mining because shifting fromfossil fuels to sustainable energy will certainly require a great deal ofthose metals. But there's huge room for improvement in recycling, andif that's not enough we still have to weigh the environmental costs ofseabed operations vs. mining on land.

A moratorium is the right way to go, and DeepGreen has inadver-tently made it more likely.

(Gwynne Dyer's new book is 'Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy(and Work)

The Opposition has onceagain disappointed thecountry. After demand-

ing a special Parliament sessionto discuss national issuesincluding the Corona crisis, ithas shown no interest in join-ing the proceedings for even asingle day during the ongoingMonsoon session. It hasalready made it clear that thesession is "washed out" fromtheir side. The media has alsoreported this.

The country's "grand oldparty", the Congress, is becom-ing a "champion" of such "irre-sponsible politics" committedby some Opposition parties.Inearly May, the Leader of theCongress in the Lok Sabha,Adhir RanjanChowdhury,requested thePresident of India to convenea special session of Parliament

because the MPs wanted todiscuss the Corona crisis intheir respective constituen-cies. The Congress' "newfriend", Shiv Sena MP andleader Sanjay Raut, also reiter-ated the demand.

The Government said theentire administrative machin-ery was engaged in controllingthe second wave of Covid-19and a gathering of MPs inParliament could be dangerousgiventhe pandemic. TheOpposition issued severalstatements criticising theGovernment's stand.

Parliament is in session forover a fortnight but theOppositionhas not allowed itto work. When on thefirst dayPrime Minister NarendraModi invited Opposition lead-ers to a special meeting toinform them about the current

and future steps to tackle theCorona crisis,some leaders,including from Congress,asked why the meeting wasneeded when Parliament wasabout to convene.Congressitself had originally suggestedconvening an all-party meet-ing on the Corona crisis butsuch statements prove howserious the Opposition was inattending the session.

Itsseriousness vanished inthe first week itself whenpapers were snatched from aMinister in the Rajya Sabha. Inthe Lok Sabha, Opposition

members started throwingpieces of paper at the Speakerand the media. The HouseReporters were not spared the"torturous behaviour" of someOpposition parties.

The Opposition is usingthe so-called "Pegasus issue"asa shield for its "irresponsiblebehaviour".The concernedMinister has already given state-ments in both Houses on thePegasus issue.If the Oppositionis dissatisfied with the minister'sstatement, the best forum for itis the Rajya Sabha where thereis a provision to seek clarifica-tion from theminister. But theOpposition's focus was to causean uproar during the minister'sstatement and then snatch thepaper from his hand.

Opposition behaviourraises some important ques-tions. Was demanding an

emergency Parliament sessionon the Corona crisis just a trickto divert the government'sattention? If their intention wasfor a discussion, then why isthe Opposition running awayfrom it all this while? Or,isthe Opposition taking a U-turnfearing the Corona debatemay "boomerang" on themsince positive cases are increas-ing in states like Kerala andMaharashtraeven though thesecond wave of the Corona hasabated?Or, is the Oppositionafraid that if a detailed discus-sion is held,then its ChiefMinisters will get exposed? Isit that the leaders, who areclaiming Opposition's unityagainst the Modi Government,are afraid that this so-calledunity will be shattered duringspecific discussions in theHouse? If so, it would be per-

tinent to mention here that thehollownessof Opposition unityis getting exposed day by day.When the Congress calls for ameeting, the TrinamoolCongress' MPs go missingand when the Trinamool lead-ers meet other parties, theCongress keeps away.

The reality is that insteadof becoming a "part of thesolution", some political par-ties are involved in spreading"political pollution" during thepandemic period. They triedto use a "national calamity" asa "political opportunity".

The Opposition is stallingwork in Parliament on the pre-text of anunsubstantiated,baseless and fabricated issue ofPegasus that has no relevanceto the interests of the people ofthe country. Earlier also, theOpposition paid the price for

creating illogical ruckus with-out understanding the moodof the people of the country.This time too, they will meetthe same fate.

The Government hasrepeatedly it is ready for a dis-cussion on all essential issuesincluding the Covid-19pan-demic, farmers' issues, infla-tion, floods, etc. On the allegedPegasus issue also, theGovernment issued a state-ment in Parliament withoutdelay. But the Congress isadopting a "hit and run" pol-icy. By labelling its "negativeand obstructive approach" asthe "stand" of the entireOpposition, Congress is tryingto "hijack" the positive think-ing of those Opposition par-ties who are in favour of dis-cussion and smooth func-tioning in Parliament.

The party is trying to ‘hijack’ the positive thinking of those Opposition parties who are in favour of discussion and smooth functioning of Parliament

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNNAURU: SEABED

SETBACK

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(Arnab Sarkar is PGDMStudent, Great Lakes

Institute of Management,Chennai. Ranjitha Ajay is

Assistant Professor ofFinance at GLIM,

Chennai. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Cong uses ‘hit and run' policy, is ‘champion of commotion’

MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI

(The writer is Deputy Leader,Rajya Sabha &Union Ministerfor Minority Affairs. The views

expressed are personal.)

GWYNNE DYER

through Initial Public Offerings(IPO) took advantage of the increasein the number of account holders inthe stock market. This is because thenumber of active investors increas-es the probability of bidding whichwould further improve the proba-bility of oversubscription, and even-tually, the listing will occur at thehighest price. From the newinvestors' point of view, an IPO is afaster profit-making option andrequires much less research forbidding. Only the general marketsentiment is enough to anticipatelisting gains. The phenomenal par-ticipation of retail investors led toalmost every IPO getting oversub-scribed from the retail category.During the pandemic period, a largenumber of Indian companies raised?20,350 crore and ?31,265 crore infinancial years 2020 and 2021,respectively, through IPOs.

The trending craze of IPOs waspeculiar last year (the same trend isfollowing this year though). Froma general, preconceived notion, wecan justify our rationale that thosecompanies with good financialrecords and future growth oppor-tunities should get impressiveresponses from the primary market.But if we look at recent IPO data,the retail subscription was almost 68times for a loss-making companylike Burger King or BBQ Nations(with 13 times oversubscription),and the same was only about 3.6times for Indian Railway FinanceCorporation (IRFC) thatmakesprofit year-on-year and is expectedto improve its profitability further.

Interestingly, even after 1.5 years,IRFC shares have not picked up inthe secondary market whereas theRailTel IPO, despite being a govern-ment-backed company, performedquite well both in the primary andthe secondary markets.

It is very difficult to formulateany strategy for the companieslaunching an IPO, as decrypting themindset of the retail investors isalmost impossible. But each IPOwas the talk of the town every time.Maybe because the new investorsare very tech-savvy and they alwayskept an eye on the review and finan-cial analysis of these IPOs throughdifferent mediums. Hence, the over-all response from the primary mar-ket was beneficial for the issuingcompanies.

But what about the gain of theinvestors (the retail investors, as theyare the prime focus of the discus-sion)? Well, it was a win-win situ-ation for both the investors and thecompanies. Talking about the list-ing gains, 29 out of 40 companies(excluding the recent IPOs that arenot listed yet) gave an average of 42per cent returns. And all the 11companies that couldnot generatelisting gains are already givingreturns (as of July 15, 2021). Thismeans every listing of last year gaveat least some returns (the minimumprofit figure is 29 per cent; SBICards). The one-year return fromthe IPOs will be difficult to measure,as only one company came up withan IPO in the first six months of lastyear. So, if we consider last year'sIPOs, the average return is 202 per

cent. But it is unfair to assumeeveryone got the allotment of allthese IPOs. So, from the listingprice, if we calculate the return, itis roughly 118 per cent.

An interesting inference thatcan be drawn is that last year thosecompanies which were listed witha higher price than the IPO price areall generating positive returns as ofJuly 16,2021. So, from a valueinvesting point of view, investorsfeel, these companies are a good betfor them in the long term.

However, there is a propensityfor retail investors who get IPOallotments to square off the positionon the listing day itself with a mod-erate listing gain. With news spread-ing of some supernatural listinggains of some companies, for exam-ple,Indigo Paints, which was listedwith 109 per cent return, orHappiest Minds Technologies,which was listed with 123 per centreturns, potential investors get themotivation to enter the equity mar-ket. At the same time, some activeinvestors tend to bid furiously forthe next IPO without proper analy-sis. The first outcome is good for theeconomy. But the second scenariois detrimental to investors' mindsetand leads to a gambling outlooktowards the IPOs. So, the educationon personal financing and the stockmarket, interpretation of the balancesheets of companies for funda-mental analysis, and understandingthe due diligence of companiesacross sectors is something that theretail investors must know thor-oughly.

RANJITHA AJAY ARNAB SARKAR

We may end up having to do deep-sea miningbut still have to weigh the environmental costs

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Realty firm MacrotechDevelopers expects toachieve its target of 50

per cent growth in salesbookings this fiscal to Rs9,000 crore despite sluggishhousing demand in April-Mayin view of second wave of theCOVID-19 pandemic, a topcompany official said.Mumbai-based Macrotech Developers, which markets its propertiesunder 'Lodha' brand, got listed on the stock exchanges in April thisyear after raising Rs 2500 crore through its initial public offering(IPO). It is one of the leading real estate firm in the country.In aninterview with PTI, Macrotech Developers MD and CEO AbhishekLodha sounded confident of meeting the sales bookings guidance ofRs 9,000 crore for the current 2021-22 financial year as housingdemand recovered strongly after almost a washout in April-May.Thecompany's sales bookings stood at Rs 5,970 crore last fiscal year."Ourhousing sales were badly impacted during April-May because of thesecond wave.

Skoda Auto India on Sundayreported over three-foldincrease in sales in July at

3,080 units compared to 922units in July 2020. The surge insales is fuelled by the launch ofcompact SUV Kushaq which willbe one of the important growthdrivers of the brand goingforward, the Czech carmaker stated."Kushaq was launched with thevision of substantially growing our volumes in India, and it is veryencouraging to see our plan taking shape. Despite a challengingenvironment, we have managed to have a really successful launch,which is in line with our strategic focus and volume expectations,"Skoda Auto India Brand Director Zac Hollis said. Moreover, the newlaunch has enabled the automaker to build a strong momentumacross the value chain, he added."We are seeing a surge indealership footfalls and customer enquiries. There is also a multi-fold increase in the requests for new dealerships from the dealerfraternity across India.”

Skoda sales surge over 3-fold in July at 3,080 units

As many as 12 firms haveraised a staggering Rs27,000 crore through IPO

route in the first four months ofthe ongoing fiscal, and thepipeline is pretty strong for theremaining part of the yeartoo.Further to this, initial sharesales of four other companiesDevyani International,Windlas Biotech, Krsnna Diagnostics andExxaro Tiles are schedule to open on August 4.Hemang Kapasi,Head of Equities at Sanctum Wealth Management, said that asmany as 40 initial public offers (IPOs) are lined up for rest of theyear looking to raise Rs 70,000 crore.Further, a lot of retailinvestors associated brands are going to list on the Indianbourses. The initial share sales of Paytm, Mobikwik, Policy Bazaar,CarTrade Tech, Delhivery and Nykaa will keep investors busy inthe current fiscal, Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, founder and CEO atINVEST19, said.

IPOs fundraise tops Rs 27,000 cr in Apr-Jul

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL)on Sunday reported a 12year-on-year rise in

domestic sales at 6,055 unitsfor July. The company had sold5,383 units in the domesticmarket during July 2020, HCILsaid in a statement.Exportsstood at 918 units last month,it added. "We achieved ourproduction ramp-up from last week of July and have streamlinedsupplies in line with market activity. Barring few locations, dealeroutlets were mostly operational last month, albeit with lessercapacity," HCIL Senior Vice-President and Director (Marketing &Sales) Rajesh Goel noted. He added that the market sentiment hasimproved amid prevailing lower coronavirus infection rate. "Weexpect the upcoming festive period will help the industry tomaintain this momentum." However, the company will keep a closerwatch on the challenges related to the pandemic and rising cost ofacquisition of cars due to price hike from this month, he added.

Honda reports 12 pc rise indomestic sales at 6,055 units

Macrotech to meet Rs 9K crproperty sales target in ’22

PNS n NEW DELHI

Industry chamber PHDCCIon Sunday urged the govern-ment to bring petroleum prod-ucts in the ambit of goods andservices tax (GST) soon, ashigh inflation in the fuel prod-ucts is not only stoking over-all prices but also increasingthe cost of raw materials formanufactured items.

PHDCCI President SanjayAggarwal said the WholesalePrice Index (WPI)-basedinflation has been in a double-digit growth trajectory for thepast three months, stoked byhigh prices of fuel and power.

He added that high com-modity prices are posing a

serious challenge to the smallbusinesses to operate in thedifficult pandemic times.

These are impacting thecost of production and reduc-ing price-cost margin of theproducers and affecting theircompetitiveness in the domes-tic and international markets,Aggarwal said.

"We urge the government tobring the petroleum productsin the ambit of GST, soonerthan later.

"High inflation in the fuelproducts is not only stokingoverall inflation but alsoincreasing the cost of rawmaterials for manufacturedproducts with its cascadingimpact," he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Nearly 1.74 lakh homes, wortharound Rs 1.4 lakh crore, arecompletely stalled across sevenmajor cities with Delhi-NCRaccounting for maximum 66per cent, according to proper-ty consultant Anarock.

In its research, Anarock hastaken into account only thosehousing projects that werelaunched in 2014 or before.

Including both stalled anddelayed units, the consultantsaid the total number reachedto 6,28,630 homes worth Rs5,05,415 crore across sevencities -- Delhi-NCR, MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR),Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Chennai and Kolkata.

Given the huge fundingcrunch in the construction

industry, Anarock said the out-look for people who boughtunits in completely stalled pro-jects is "disastrous", while theprospects for buyers in heavi-ly delayed projects are "bleak atbest".

Prashant Thakur, director

and head (research) atAnarock, said: "As of H1 2021-end, we have nearly 6.29 lakhunits that are yet to be complet-ed across the top-seven cities."

Anarock said the overallvalue of the 1.74 lakh homesthat are totally stuck across the

seven top cities currentlyexceeds Rs 1,40,613 crore.

In a city-wise break-up, theDelhi-NCR property markethas maximum stalled stock of1,13,860 units (approximatevalue Rs 86,463 crore) or 66 percent of the total across the top-

seven cities.The MMR has 41,730 units

that are completely stalled(approximate value Rs 42,417crore) or 24 per cent of the totalaffected stock.

Pune, the other major west-ern market, has 9,990 stalledunits worth Rs 5,854 crore.

In the southern cities,Chennai has no stalled projects.

Bengaluru has 3,870 stalledunits worth Rs 3,061 crore,while Hyderabad has 4,150such units valued at about Rs2,727 crore.

Kolkata has mere 150 stalledunits (valued at about Rs 91crore). Anarock noted that theSpecial Window for Affordableand Mid-Income Housing(SWAMIH) fund has come tothe rescue of several projects,while state-owned NBCC has

also 'adopted' some othersspecifically in NCR.

Talking about both stalledand delayed projects, Anarocksaid: "Altogether, approx 6.29lakh homes are either com-pletely stalled or languishingunder heavy delivery delaysacross the top-seven cities."

At least 71 per cent (about4.49 lakh) of these delayed orstuck units fall within theprice-sensitive Rs 80 lakh bud-get range. Just 18 per cent fallin the premium segment, andanother 11 per cent in the lux-ury category.

"Launched in 2014 or before,the total value of the current-ly stuck/delayed housing stockexceeds Rs 5.05 lakh crore.Nearly 28 per cent (about1,73,730) of these units arecompletely stalled," it said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Minister for RoadTransport and HighwaysNitin Gadkari has instructedto open one side of the 1.6-km-long Kuthiran Tunnel inKerala.

This is the first road tun-nel in the state and will dras-tically improve connectivityto Tamil Nadu andKarnataka, according to anofficial statement.

"The 1.6-km-long tunnel isdesigned through Peechi-Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary,"it added.

The road will improve con-nectivity to important portsand towns in North-SouthCorridor without endanger-ing wildlife, it added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

MG Motor India on Sundayreported a twofold increase inretail sales to 4,225 units for July.

The company had sold2,105 units in July 2020.

The car maker also record-ed the highest-ever book-ings and retail sales of ZS EVin July 2021.

"A lot of people ask aboutEV potential in India and mytypical answer is: People areready and they need goodsolutions/ options fromOEMs (original equipmentmanufacturers). One proofpoint: We booked all-timehigh 600+ ZS EV in Julyalone!!," MG Motor IndiaPresident and ManagingDirector Rajeev Chaba said ina tweet. Elaborating on theoverall sales in July, MGMotor India Director (Sales)Rakesh Sidana said theHector and ZS EV furthergained momentum duringthe month.

PNS n MUMBAI

Amid fears of a third wave ofcoronavirus pandemic andhardening of retail inflation,the Reserve Bank is likely tomaintain status quo on inter-est rate and watch the develop-ing macroeconomic situationfor some more time before tak-ing any decisive action onmonetary policy.

The RBI is scheduled toannounce its bi-monthly mon-etary policy review on August6 at the end of the three-daymeeting -- August 4-6 -- of theMonetary Policy Committee(MPC).

The RBI Governor-headedsix-member MPC decides onthe key policy rates. The panelhad left the rates unchangedlast time citing concerns oninflation.

"Higher commodity pricesand rising global prices post therobust recovery in a few indus-trial countries will have impli-cations on production costs.We expect the RBI to be in a

wait-and-watch mode as it haslimited elbow room tomanoeuvre monetary policies,"opined Rumki Majumdar,Economist, Deloitte India.

Shriram Transport FinanceManaging Director and CEOUmesh Revankar too said thecentral bank will keep the reporate at the present level despitehigher inflation.

"The rise in inflation is

because of the fuel prices,which will get normalise (insometime), and the inflationpressure will ease," Revankarsaid.

The Reserve Bank, whichmainly factors in the retailinflation while arriving at itsmonetary policy, has beenmandated by the governmentto keep Consumer Price Index(CPI) based inflation at 4 per

cent with a margin of 2 per centon either side.

Inflation ruled above thetolerance band during June-November 2020 and has againmoved above the upper toler-ance threshold in May and June2021.

The sense is that inflationwill persist at these elevatedlevels for some months beforeeasing in the third quarter of

2021-22 when the kharif har-vest arrives in markets, a recentRBI article said.

Ranen Banerjee, Leader -Economic Advisory Services,PwC India said that given thestatus quo stance taken by theUS FOMC as well as othermajor monetary authoritieswith the inflation being viewedas transitory, "we can expect asimilar status quo announce-ment by the MPC too".

Growth concerns and weakdemand conditions owing toimpact of second wave ofCovid on employment anddeclining labour force partici-pation rate combined withnervousness of a possible thirdwave, puts constraints on anychange in stance by the MPC,he said.

Further, tranches of GSAPsand OMOs can be expected tokeep the yield on G-Secs fromrising as there is a constantupward pressure on it owing tohigher borrowing programmeof government and inflationarypressures, Banerjee said.

RESERVE BANK TO MAINTAIN STATUS QUO ON INTEREST RATE

Gadkari instructsto open one sideof KuthiranTunnel in Kerala

Bring petroleum productsin ambit of GST: PHDCCI

1.74 lakh homes stalled in 7 cities: Report

PNS n NEW DELHI

Smaller stocks have rewardedinvestors with high returns asthe smallcap index jumpedby 29.72 per cent so far this fis-cal, outshining its biggerbenchmark gauge.

An analysis of the perfor-mance of smaller stocks in thefirst four months of the ongo-ing fiscal revealed that the BSEsmallcap index has zoomed6,137.29 points or 29.72 percent, while the midcap indexhas jumped 2,905.91 points or14.39 per cent.

In comparison, the 30-shareBSE benchmark Sensex hasgained 3,077.69 points or 6.21per cent.

"The sheer variety acrossthemes and sectors aided by alow-base effect made them lowhanging fruits as valuationsvis-a-vis growth made a casein their favour," said SRanganathan, Head ofResearch at LKP Securities.

The midcap index zoomedto its record high of 23,207.51

on July 23, and the smallcapindex reached its all-time highof 26,895.93 on July 30. TheBSE benchmark had reachedits lifetime high of 53,290.81on July 16.

VK Vijayakumar, CheifInvestment Strategist at GeojitFinancial Services said,"Market performance has beenincredible. In fact, the broad-er market has done much bet-ter than the benchmarkindices. The outperformanceis stunning, giving excellent

returns to investors in thebroader market."

Analysts said that pickup ineconomic activities and ramp-up of vaccination have alsohelped market rally.

Last fiscal, the BSE smallcapindex zoomed 11,040.41points or 114.89 per cent,while the midcap jumped9,611.38 points or 90.93 percent. In comparison, the BSEbenchmark clocked 20,040.66points or 68 per cent gain lastfiscal.

Smaller stocks in limelight; givehigher returns to investors this fiscal

PNS n NEW DELHI

The country's largest carmak-er Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)on Sunday reported a 50 percent increase in sales at1,62,462 units in July.

The company had sold1,08,064 units in July last year,Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)said in a statement.

Domestic sales increasedby 39 per cent at 1,41,238 unitslast month as against 1,01,307units in July 2020, it added.

Sales of mini cars compris-ing Alto and WagonR stood at

19,685 units as compared to17,258 units in the samemonth last year.

Sales of compact segment,including models such asSwift, Celerio, Ignis, Balenoand Dzire, rose to 70,268 unitsas against 51,529 cars in Julylast year. Mid-sized sedanCiaz sold 1,450 units as com-pared to 1,303 units earlier.

Sales of utility vehicles,including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, stood at32,272 units last month ascompared to 19,177 in theyear-ago month, MSI said.

Maruti reports 50 pc rise inJuly sales at 1,62,462 units

PNS n NEW DELHI

Hyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL) on Sunday reporteda 46 per cent increase in totalsales at 60,249 units in July.

The company had sold41,300 units in the samemonth last year, HMIL saidin a statement.

Domestic sales were up 26per cent to 48,042 units asagainst 38,200 units in July2020, the company added.Exports increased to 12,207units last month as com-pared with 3,100 units in Julylast year, the auto majorsaid.

The company's domesticsales in July were backed bystrong performance of newlylaunched model Alcazar andother products like Creta, i20and Venue, Hyundai MotorIndia Director (Sales,Marketing & Service) TarunGarg stated.

Hyundai salesup 46 per centin July at60,249 units

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government has simplifiedthe procedure for filling appli-cations seeking anti-dumpingduty investigations by frag-mented industries, a moveaimed at promoting ease ofdoing business and expeditingtrade remedy measures forsmall and micro units.

According to a notice of theDirectorate General of TradeRemedies (DGTR), where theindustry is fragmented andconsists of an excessively largenumber of domestic produc-ers, the application forantidumping or countervailingduty investigation can be filedby an association on behalf ofthe domestic industry.

However, it said, suchdomestic producers must haveat least 50 per cent share intotal eligible domestic pro-duction of the product, overwhich antidumping duty isbeing requested.

As per the simplified proce-dure, all the domestic produc-ers in such cases would not berequired to provide detaileddata like labour and per unitpower cost, instead, all suchproducers will be required tofile "basic injury information"such as turnover, installedcapacity, exports, and domes-tic sales.

"The authority (DGTR), forthe purpose of determininginjury margin may limit

detailed examination of appli-cant domestic producers to alimited number of domesticproducers," it added.

The directorate will usesampling methods underwhich a limited set of produc-ers would have to providecomplete data or informa-tion.

Earlier all the applicantshave to provide complete anddetailed data with the applica-tion for such investigations.

Centre relaxes procedure for filing anti-dumping applications

MG reports twofold jump inretail sales

PNS n NEW DELHI

Digital payments and financialservices company Paytm hasstarted a process to hirearound 20,000 field sales exec-utives across India to educatemerchants on digital adoption,according to sources aware ofthe development.

According to a Paytm hir-ing advertisement, field salesexecutives (FSEs) would havethe opportunity to earn asmuch as Rs 35,000 and morein monthly salaries and com-missions.

The company is looking tohire youth and undergraduatesas FSE. "Paytm has started hir-ing FSEs. It is an opportunityopen for individuals who haveeither passed Class 10, Class 12or are a graduate. It will helpin employment generation insmall cities and towns, espe-cially for those who have lostjobs during the pandemic.

"The company wants toencourage more women totake up the opportunity tohelp educate women mer-chants about digital payment,"the source said.

Paytm to hire 20,000field sales executives

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK 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

SPEED BUMP

FUN

9

what’s brewing?Vijayawada Monday August 2, 2021

Coming up this weekHot on OTT:

Here's a lookat highlightfilms, showsand series thatare scheduledto drop in thedigital spacethis week.

Nuvvunte Naa Jathaga(Telugu film on AmazonPrime, August 2)Cast: Rajsekhar Aningi,Sreekanth Biroju, RafikshaDirection: Sanjay Karlapudi

A Telugu-drama filmbased on middle-classtrue-life incidents. Bhuvibelieves life has no higherpurpose other than accom-plishing love; Ram is adreamer with an aspirationof becoming an author.

The day doesn’t take longto arrive when they have tochoose between love anddreams.

Pray Away (documentaryfilm on Netflix, August 3)Creation: Ryan Murphy

Ex-leaders and a sur-vivor of the so-called “con-version therapy” move-ment speak out about itsharm to the LGBTQ+community and its devas-tating persistence. The filmearned a nomination forbest documentary featureat the Tribeca FilmFestival.

The Suicide Squad (filmon HBO Max, August 5)Star Cast: Margot Robbie,

Idris Elba, John Cena,Sylvester StalloneDirection: James Gunn

Supervillains HarleyQuinn, Bloodsport,Peacemaker, and a collec-tion of nutty cons at BelleReve prison join the super-secret, super-shady TaskForce X as they aredropped off at the remote,enemy-infused island ofCorto Maltese.

Navrasa (Tamil web serieson Netflix, August 6)

Cast: Suriya, VijaySethupathi, Manikuttan,Ashok Selvan

Creation: Mani RatnamThe Indian Tamil

anthology web seriesexplores the nine basicemotions of humans —anger, compassion,courage, disgust, fear,laughter, love, peace, andwonder.

Mr. Corman (web serieson Apple TV+, August 6)Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Arturo CastroDirection: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The American comedy-drama television series fol-lows the days and nights ofa public school teacherJosh Corman, played byGordon-Levitt in the SanFernando Valley. Theseries marks a return toTV for Gordon-Levitt,who grew up on the smallscreen with roles on multi-ple series, most notably hisco-starring turn on thelong-running NBC come-dy '3rd Rock from theSun'.

S.O.Z. Soldiers orZombies (web series onAmazon Prime, August 6)Cast: Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Fatima Molina,Horacio Garcia RojasDirection: RigobertoCastaneda

The science-fictionaction series is an eight-episode thriller with a newtwist on the idea of anundead army, set in thearid heat of the Mexicandesert. A new breed ofzombie goes off againstone of the most wanteddrug lords in Mexico.

Dial 100 (film on ZEE5,August 6)Cast: Manoj Bajpayee,Neena Gupta, SakshiTanwarDirection: Rensil D’Silva

This Hindi-thrillerdrama movie unfolds intoone night where one callturns everyone’s livesupside down.

resented by PanditChaturlal MemorialSociety, this tributewill feature a uniqueconcept‘Samyuktam: We are

United’ — bringing two danc-ing divas together,Bharatanatyam by RukminiVijayakumar and Kathak byVidha Lal.

The event in honour of theunsung heroes will witnesssome soulful music by manytalented musicians from India.Featuring artistes on variousinstruments and vocals includeyoung tabla maestro PranshuChatur Lal, mridangam mae-stro Harsha Samaga, PavithraChari and Rohith BhatUppoor, Atul Shankar,Mudassir Khan, GRaghavendra Prasath and TSSharath.

Shruti ChaturLal, grand-daughter of the tabla legendand the artistic director atPandit Chaturlal Festival said,“Under the aegis of PanditChatur Lal Festival, we havebeen successfully organizingthe Amar Jyoti editions. It hasbeen quite challenging to putthis concert together since theartists were travelling fromBangalore after the secondwave of Covid. In fact, evenwithout the audience, this is agrand musical tribute to themartyrs of India — theunsung, unknown soldiers whohave laid their lives for ourfreedom. We started this seriesin 1990 as a small effort fromour side to honour and extendour gratitude to the martyrs ofour nation and this year itmarks its commencement of24th edition.” Tabla player

Pranshu Chatur Lal shares,“The production ‘Samyuktam -We Are United’ is speciallydesigned to motivate usthrough these difficult timesand assist us in strengtheningour unity. With our jugalbandi,viewers will be able to experi-ence a blend of two Indianclassical dance forms Kathakand Bharatanatyam uniquelybut also the nuances ofHindustani and Carnaticrhythms and music traditionscombining the grace andpower of dance will for sure beconsidered to be magical to theeye.” Concept of the event wasconceptualised to acknowledgethe valour and courage of ourbrave Indian soldiers who laiddown their lives battling forthe country. The event can beviewed on August 7 at 7:00 PMon YouTube.

Bharatanatyam-Kathak jugalbandito honour nation's unsung heroes

Anushka Ranjanunlocking thepainter in her

ctress Anushka Ranjan ofFittrat fame took to paintingin a big manner during thelockdown and she haspainted more than twentypaintings. She is currently

doing more on that! She had neverpainted before and finally, she did itwhen she got the time during the lock-down and just didn't look back. Shehas made so many paintings and she isdoing even more everyday. She wouldalso be auctioning them for charitysoon and the proceeds would go to anNGO of repute. We had to see thepaintings to believe and they areabsolutely incredible. They are simple,appealing and memorable. Its hard to

believe that Anushka had actually notpainted before!

Let’s hear it out from Anushka onhow she unlocked the great painter inher. Here is what she had to say,“During the lockdown, I found a lot oftime and I wanted to try somethingcreative. So I took to painting. I wouldpaint everyday and then the feedbackstarted coming in. I was surprised.Someone suggested that I auctionthem and get the proceeds to charity.So I thought why not go for it. Wewould be auctioning them soon andget a good NGO on board. Let’s staysafe and get vaccinated. We don’t wantto see days as gone by. Let’s be pre-pared for the virus.”

P

A

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ver wondered who isa true fan? Feeling acertain kind ofempathy towardsyour favorite charac-

ter of the show to some extentcharacterises traits of being atrue fan. When there was themassive announcement ofreunion of the most popularsitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S, everyF.R.I.E.N.D.S’ fan ever wantedto talk about that commoninterest of sharing some cama-raderie with any of the mostloveable characters on-screen.In no time, that longingturned true when there wasanother declaration of onetrue F.R.I.E.N.D.S fanbeing cast with them!

Karishma Deora’s happi-ness knew no boundswhen she got to beacquainted with the factthat she’ll be the onlyIndian to share screen-space with Dave andNicole. How exhilaratedwas she? The admirer,who also happens to bethe co-founder and CCOat Antigravity, shares,“Firstly, sharing screenspace with few membersof the cast is a colossallandmark on its own. Idon’t think I havebeen able to getover it yet! Thesentimentattached to it?So, so, so surre-al! It was a priv-ilege to be a partof F.R.I.E.N.D.S— a show thatcontinues to bea part of ourpop-culture andevery now andthen, peoplefrom all eraswant to watchthe seasonsrepetitively, tohave a momentof hilarity andvarious otheremotions. Theshow is such

that it keeps you optimistic; itmakes you feel as if you areone among them. Every dia-logue, every episode has theability to strikea veryuniquechordwithyou,”she

laughs to herself.The 90’s sitcom is

so popular amongstthe Indian massesthat most of theurban youth musthave binge-watchedit multiple times.

And, if you’reanywhere betweenfifteen to thirty yearsold, the topic ofF.R.I.E.N.D.S was amust have discus-sion. There is a rea-son why the

demand for the reunion of thissitcom fuelled ten times evenmore and the spot on fanKarishma tells us why!

“Every personality in the sit-com is different from the other,there are no recurrent person-alities. In fact, in the manymore years to come, we are stillgoing to hold the same feelingsabout this show. The onlydowntime that I felt was menot being able to meet the starcast due the unprecedentedpandemic. The team decided tomanage with a fan video, how-ever, my excitement knew nolimits when I got to know theprevious night of the episodebeing aired in the country thatmy shot will be included too! Itwas my dance with my littleone that enticed the castingdirector to take it forward asthe only fan video to be includ-ed in the sitcom! It was slightlyheartbreaking for me but Imade peace with the fact that Iwon’t be able to meet them inperson. Slowly everythingbegan falling in place when ashot my video of myself and itturned out to be worth it tograb many eye-balls out there,”shares the overwhelmed fan.

The only fan of the show,considered to be a stress busterby many, to be chosen fromIndia, has her determinedfavorites too! The moment she

saw herself on the screen, itturned out to be a pinchingmoment for her! Monica beingthe most relatable character forKarishma, she feels she’s like asoul-sister to every girl. “I’mtotally in love with Monica,whoever knows me in and outknows I am also just the wayMonica behaves in the show.Competitive, organised, lovehaving my group of pals over,the urge to have a relationshiparound, supportive, etc. I hadan embargo on me to notreveal it to anyone regardingthe videos of fans that werebeing planned. Only I knowhow badly I was dying to tellthe world that ‘Hey, I'm goingto be seen sharing screen spacewith my favorite characters inthe reunion episode’! Theinstant all of my peers saw theclipping, they went gaga overit! Funnily, ‘was it really youwho was there’ was their pri-mary reaction to it. In fact, Iwas surprised to see myselftoo! Nonetheless, it is alwaysgoing to stay with me and willbe remembered forever,” sheconcludes.

So go back to your OTTchannels, watch the iconicshow with all the comfort foodyou have because even after somany years, it happens to be agood binge-watching experi-ence.

THE FAN WHO GOT TO SHARESPACE WITH THE F.R.I.E.N.D.S

E

Reigning in eSports globally

K RAMYA SREE

he e-sports industryoffers a lot of careeropportunities, not justfor the gamers butalso for casters, in-

game observers, editors, produc-ers, make-up artists, cameramen,analysts etc., for aspiring young-sters to seriously consider.

VLT sentinel, an Indianesports outfit floated by 33-year-old entrepreneur-turned esports

streamer, Manoj Kashyap, has toits credit the longest unprece-dented streak of 24 wins, arecord which is yet to be broken.It has become the first SouthAsian team to have qualified forthe Valorant ConquerorsChampionship (VCC), which isscheduled to be held at the endof August 2021.

VLT sentinel’s team has played13 of the 15 tournaments held in2020, emerging winners in all ofthem. Outperforming top-notch

teams from Thailand, Myanmarand Singapore, among others,VLT sentinel was ranked third inthe SEA (Southeast Asia) regionand number one in India in2020.

Valorant ConquerorsChampionship is organised byUS-based player-focused gamedeveloper and publisher RiotGames. The winner of thischampionship will bag the VCCChampions title along with alion’s share of the $33,000 prize

pool that is on offer. Riot’s Valorant game, released

in June 2020, currently has 44million users globally.

Manoj Kasyap, a post-graduatefrom Harvard University, hasbeen fascinated by gaming sincehe was 10 years old. After dab-bling with console games likeNitendo and Xbox, he tried hishand at Counter-Strike tourna-ments hosted by World CyberGames (WCG) in Hyderabadand across other cities in India.

Explaining to us how theeSports industry is faring overtime, Kashyap shares, “With theadvent of YouTube, Tiktok andInstagram, there has been a shiftin how we consume content, thishas been a boon for esports andevery platform gives betteropportunities so showcase theskills. Once a distant dream ofrepresenting India in esports hasnow become an everyday thingwhere India stands among theworld\s best in games likecounter strike, PUBG , Free fire,FIFA etc.”

When asked about its percep-tion in India, he said, “India’spresentation has still been look-ing at video games as a fun plaything and has never understoodthe competitive side of it. Offlate, there has been some cover-age in mainstream media whichis shedding light now.”

Career options in esports arenow far better than before. Heexplains, “You can choosebetween being a content creatoror trying your luck to be a pro-fessional player in either PCesports or mobile gaming. Nomatter which option you choose,India has the largest young audi-

ence which will help them propeltheir career. Other than India'sown organisations, we have a lotof international teams who nowhave teams formed aroundIndian players, which gives greathope to the young generation,even though esports is notdirectly recognised by the Indiangovernment. The players areemployed by these organisations,and earn something in the samelines of regular sports.”

ow do we ensure thatfuture generationswork towards a sus-tainable future, anduse the preciousresources of the plan-

et responsibly? The answer is,catch them young. MobiusFoundation is setting up WorldEnvironment School, the first-ever such institution in Indiaand South Asia to take a leadingrole in promoting Education forGlobal Citizenship andSustainable Development.

Located in Kodagu, India,with the objective of creatingawareness among students andproviding quality educationwith respect to the environment,the school aims to providevalue-based education in flexi-ble and innovative learningspaces. It will have an interna-tional curriculum with a region-al and global focus.

WES will create leaders dedi-cated to environmental custodi-anship, who will become globalcitizens, empathetic in the useof natural resources and totallycommitted to the principles ofsustainability. With a focus onacademic excellence, environ-mental consciousness and char-acter development, WES iscommitted to educating thewhole person in a school ofwarm-heartedness.

WES will strive to nurturetomorrow’s leaders throughexperiential education, wherestudents achieve more than theythink is possible. It is open to allstudents who wish to share theschool’s vision. The school, setalongside a lively communityand a natural setting, willextend a safe, stimulating envi-ronment that will instil in stu-

dents an awareness of thefragility of our natural worldand a sense of appreciation ofthe larger community that weinhabit. With a dedication toachieve the highest standards ofeducation, the school will keepthe needs of the students at theforefront so that they can flour-ish and find independence ofthought.

Imbued with the magic ofIndia, the students will be keptin touch with their local tradi-tions and roots, so that they canappreciate the heritage and cul-tural richness of the country.The school environment willfoster excellence by challengingstudents to explore and findthemselves intellectually, physi-cally, creatively and spiritually.

A creative and challengingcurriculum will allow studentsto learn about the global issuesthat plague the environment, inorder to inculcate in them acompassionate mindset to stayself-motivated and make a dif-ference in the world. WES’s aca-demic spaces will be centredaround a state of the art libraryand learning centre.

The academic departmentswill be divided into ‘pods’ forMathematics, Physical andEnvironmental Sciences;English; Languages; SocialSciences; Design and InnovationCentre; Expressive andPerforming Arts. There will becomprehensive facilities likespacious boarding houses, afully equipped medical centre, acentral dining room, a 500-seat-ing main hall as well as exten-sive sporting and outdoor edu-cation spaces including a swim-ming pool and indoor sportscentre.

H

T

DEDICATING LEADERS

TO ENVIRONMENTAL

CUSTODIANSHIP

MondayAugust 2, 2021

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facebook.com/dailypioneer

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | AUGUST 2, 2021

TOKYO TIMELINE

SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTSlBadminton: P V Sindhubeat He Bing Jiao (China)21-13, 21-15 in women’ssingles Bronze medalmatch.lHockey: India beat GreatBritain 3-1 in men’s quarter-final. lBoxing: Satish Kumar lostto Bakhodir Jalolov(Uzbekistan) 0-5 in men’ssuper heavy (+91kg) quar-terfinals.lGolf: Anirban Lahiri andUdayan Mane finished tied42nd and 56th at the end ofmen’s individual stroke playevent.lEquestrian: Fouaad Mirzaat 22nd after cross-countryround in individual event-ing.

IN ACTION TODAYlHockey: India vs Australiain Women’s Quarterfinal.(8:30am)lAthletics: KamalpreetKaur in Women’s DiscusThrow Final. (4:30 pm)Dutee Chand in Women’s200m Heat 4. (8:00 am)lShooting: Sanjeev Rajputand Aishwary Pratap SinghTomar in Men’s 50m Rifle 3Positions. (8:30am)lEquestrian: Fouaad Mirzain Eventing JumpingIndividual Qualif ier.(1:30pm)Eventing IndividualJumping Final. (5:15 pm)Live on SONY TEN & SIX

Tokyo: Alexander Zverevbrushed aside KarenKhachanov in straight setson Sunday to seal the Olympicmen’s singles title and winGermany’s first tennis Goldsince 1992.

The fourth seed, whoended Novak Djokovic’sGolden Grand Slam bid in thesemi-finals, produced a dom-inant display to win 6-3, 6-1 after just 79 minutes atthe Ariake Tennis Park.

“I couldn’t feel any-thing. I wasn’t playingfor myself. I was playingfor my whole coun-tr y,” saidZ v e r e v ,who fell tot h eground incelebra-t i o na f t e rc l i n c h -ing thewin.

Z v e r e vbecomes only thesecond Germanto win anOlympic singles

Gold after Steffi Graf in 1988,while Boris Becker andMichael Stich took the men’sdoubles crown four years later.

The world number five isstill waiting for a maidenGrand Slam title after severalnear misses, including whenhe blew a two-set lead to loseto Dominic Thiem in lastyear’s US Open final.

However, the 24-year-old can add this victory tohis 2018 ATP Finals tri-umph and his fourMasters titles.

Earlier, Czechs BarboraKrejcikova and

Katerina Siniakovaadded thewomen’s doublesGold to their2021 FrenchOpen title.

Krejcikova,who also wonthe RolandGarros singles

earlier this year,and Siniakova

beat Swiss pairBelinda Bencic andViktorija Golubic 7-5,6-1. AFP

Zverev wins tennis Gold

PTI n TOKYO

Reigningw o r l dchampi-

on P VSindhu onS u n d a ybecame onlythe secondIndian and the

country’s firstwoman to win two Olympicmedals, securing a Bronze after astraight-game win over world No9 He Bing Jiao of China in the bad-minton women’s singles third-place play-off.

Sindhu, who has returnedwith medals from each of the big-ticket events such as theCommonwealth and Asian Gamesand the BWF World Tour Finalsin the last five years, outwittedeighth seed Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15to add a Bronze to the silver thatshe had secured at the 2016 RioGames.

“It makes me feel really happybecause I’ve worked hard for somany years. I had a lot of emotionsgoing through me — should I behappy that I won Bronze or sadthat I lost the opportunity to play

in the final?,” the 26-year-old saidafter the match.

“But overall, I had to close offmy emotions for this one matchand give it my best, my all and

think about the emotions. I’m real-ly happy and I think I’ve done real-ly well. It’s a proud moment get-ting a medal for my country.”

Wrestler Sushil Kumar is thefirst and only other Indian to wintwo Olympic medals, following uphis Bronze at 2008 Beijing with aSilver at the 2012 London edition.

Sindhu also became only thefourth player to win two consec-utive Olympic medals in women’sbadminton singles history.

Up against an opponent, whohad beaten her nine times so farin the last 15 meetings, Sindhushowed great determination tooutplay Bing Jiao with her aggres-sion to scoop India’s third medal.

Sindhu showed great fortitudeas she recovered from her painful

semifinal loss to Tai Tzu Ying andproduced an aggressive show.

“It was a fresh game altogeth-er, we both had losses yesterday(Saturday) and came back. For us,it was very important in getting amedal for the country and at theOlympics,” Sindhu said.

“It’s not easy. It’s a big thing.There were really long rallies butI had to be patient and calm. Eventhough I was leading, I did notrelax.”

“I’m on cloud nine. I’m goingto enjoy this moment,” Sindhusaid. “My family have worked hardfor me and put in a lot of effort soI’m very thankful. And my spon-sors have given me their best so I’dlike to thank them and enjoy themoment,” she added.

Tokyo: A determined Indianmen’s hockey team advancedto the Olympic semifinals forthe first time in 49 years,beating Great Britain 3-1 inthe quarterfinals on Sunday, atriumph which leaves the sidewithin touching distance of amedal that has proved elusivefor over four decades.

The eight-time formerOlympic champions scoredthree field goals throughDilpreet Singh (7th minute),Gurjant Singh (16th) andHardik Singh (57th) to sealthe win.

Great Britain’s lone goalwas scored by Sam Ward froma penalty corner in the 45thminute.

India will take on worldchampions Belgium in thesemifinal on Tuesday.

India’s last of the eightOlympic Gold medals cameway back in 1980 MoscowGames but there were nosemifinals in that edition asonly six teams participated in

the event.For a country that gave

the world stalwarts like MajorDhyan Chand and BalbirSingh Senior among others, ithas been especially painful towatch the hockey teams’Olympic debacles before thisedition.

The last time India fea-tured in the semifinals of the

Olympics was in 1972 MunichGames where they lost 0-2 toarch-rivals Pakistan.

Belgium defeated Spain 3-1 in another quarterfinal toseal their place in the last fourround.

The other semifinal ofthe men’s hockey competitionwil l be played betweenAustralia and Germany.

By virtue of this win, Indianow have a 5-4 win-lossrecord over Great Britain inthe Olympic Games.

INDIA W VS AUSTRALIAOn Monday, the Indian

women’s hockey team’s gritwill be put through a severetest when it takes on Australiain the Olympic quarterfinals,hoping to add another unex-pected win to a dream runthat has seen the side reach

the last-eight stage for the firsttime.

India finished their Pool Aproceedings in the fourthplace with six points, ridingon back-to-back wins overIreland and South Africa. PTI

Tokyo: A badly bruised SatishKumar (+91kg) put up a gutsyperformance against reigningworld champion BakhodirJalolov on Sunday but it wasnot enough to upstage therampaging Uzbek as the Indianboxer made a quarterfinal exitfrom the Olympic Games.

Taking the ring with mul-tiple stitches on his foreheadand chin after sustaining cutsin the pre-quarters, Satish lost0-5 but the scoreline was notreflective of his brave perfor-mance.

Satish, a two-time AsianGames Bronze-winner andmultiple-time national cham-pion, had scripted history byjust qualifying for the Gamesas he was the first super heavy-weight from India to achievethe feat.

“He is a bit low right nowbut when he settles down, hewill realise how big it was forhim to fight it out with thosecuts,” Indian Boxing’s HighPerformance Director SantiagoNieva said.

“The fight he gave despitethe blows is praiseworthy.Every punch that Jalolov con-

nected added to his pain, hewas feeling it all through. TheUzbek boxer is a special talent,”he said.

The 32-year-old Armyman stood his ground in thebiggest bout of his career,occasionally managed to landa shot with his right hand butJalolov dominated the pro-ceedings all through, relyingon his imposing demeanourand excellent counter-attackinggame to sail through.

What stood out about theCommonwealth Games Silver-winner was his resolve to fightit out.

He did not hesitate tolaunch attacks despite the riskof his cuts opening up.

Satish’s forehead cut didopen up eventually during thethird round but he foughtthrough even with that.

With this the Indian men’sboxing campaign came to anend in the Games.

Lovlina Borgohain (69kg)remains the lone pugilist infray after having made thesemifinals to secure India’sfirst and only boxing medal ofthe ongoing edition. PTI

Satish out afterloss in quarters

PTI n TOKYO

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiriended his second Olympic

campaign at Tied 42nd aftercarding a one-over 72 in thefourth and final round onSunday.

Lahiri, who began theweek with a superb 67 and wasinside Top-10, slid down theladder thereafter with roundsof 72-68-72 over the next threedays for a total of 5-under 283.He had finished at 57th spot in2016 Rio Olympics.

The other Indian in fray,Udayan Mane, who got intothe field later as a result ofsome withdrawals, also shotone-over 72 in the final roundafter earlier rounds of 76-69-70. He was 3-over for the

week and ended 56th.Lahiri started the week

with a bogey on the first daybut ended it with a birdie.

On the final day, he hadthree birdies and four bogeys.

Mane had four birdies,one on the front nine and threeon the back nine, besides fivebogeys.

Xander Schauffele (68-63-68-67) became the firstAmerican to win the Gold,while South African-bornSlovakian Rory Sabbatini (69-67-70-61), with his wifeMartina Stofanikova on thebag, won the Silver with arecord-breaking 10-under 61.

CT Pan (74-66-66-63),also with his wife Michelle Linas caddie, won the Bronze in aseven-man play-off. PTI

LAHIRI SIGNS OFF AT T-42

USA’s Xander Schauffele, left, celebrateswith his caddie after winning Gold AP

Tokyo: Lamont Marcell Jacobsstormed to a shock victory inthe Olympics 100m final onSunday to cap a golden doublefor Italy on a dramatic day ofathletics action at the TokyoGames.

Jacobs became the firstItalian in history to be crownedOlympic 100m champion afterpowering home in a blistering9.80sec, with Fred Kerley of theUnited States taking Silver in9.84sec and Canada’s Andre deGrasse Bronze in 9.89sec.

The 26-year-old Jacobserupted as he crossed the fin-ish line and leapt into the armsof compatriot GianmarcoTamberi, who only momentsearlier had clinched a rareshared Gold medal for Italy inthe high jump after a duel withQatari world champion MutazEssa Barshim.

It was the final act of a pul-sating day three of track andfield at the Olympic Stadiumwhich also saw a brilliant worldrecord-breaking Gold medalvictory in the triple jump forVenezuela’s two-time worldchampion Yulimar Rojas.

But the undisputed head-line-grabbing performance ofthe night belonged to Italy’sJacobs, who had never previ-ously gone under 10 secondsbefore the 2021 season.

In the triple jump mean-while, Rojas did her best toelectrify a largely empty stadi-um with a scintillating worldrecord with her last leap of15.67m, smashing the previousbest of 15.50m set by Ukraine’sInessa Kravets in 1995.

It was the first world recordof the Tokyo Olympics athlet-ics programme.

Earlier on Sunday, China’sGong Lijao claimed gold in thewomen’s shot put after leadingthe competition from start tofinish. AFP

Jacobs storms to 100m crown

India’s Satish Kumar exchanges punches with B Jalolov of Uzbekistan during theirmen’s super heavyweight over 91-kg boxing match PTI

India’s Fouaad Mirza, riding Seigneur Medicott, during the equestrian eventingcross county competition at the Sea Forest Cross-Country Course in Tokyo AP

Mirza 22nd after cross-country roundTokyo: Indian equestrianFouaad Mirza picked up 11.20penalty points and was placed22nd after the cross-countryround at the Olympics onSunday.

A good round in the indi-vidual show jumping qualifi-

er on Monday will ensurethat Mirza, India’s only eques-trian at the Olympics in overtwo decades, and his horseSeigneur Medicott remain inthe top 25 and make theeventing individual jumpingfinal in the evening. PTI

China's Chen Yu Fei celebrates after winagainst Tai Tzu-Ying in women’s final AP

Tokyo: China’s Chen Yufei claimedwomen’s badminton singles Goldon Sunday, denying Taiwan a sec-ond straight night of success.

Taiwan had bagged its first-everOlympic badminton medal onSaturday night with Gold in themen’s doubles competition.

But Chen ensured there wouldbe no repeat in the women’s singles,beating world number one TaiTzu-ying 21-18, 19-21, 21-18 to cap-ture the title.

In men’s singles, Denmark’sworld number two Viktor Axelsenovercame a nervy start to move intothe final, ending Guatemalanunderdog Kevin Cordon’s unlikelytilt at the title. The Dane will faceChina’s defending champion ChenLong in Monday’s final. AFP

Chen stunsTai for title

Indian men’s hockey team qualify for Olympic SF

Gurjant Singh (jersey 9) celebrates after he scores India’s second goal against GreatBritain during men’s hockey quarterfinal match on Sunday @TheHockeyIndia

Tokyo: The Indian men’shockey team captain ManpreetSingh on Sunday said hisplayers ‘almost killed them-selves’ in their efforts to securean Olympic semifinal berthafter a gap of 49 years, heap-ing praise on their commit-ment during the 3-1 quarter-final win over Great Britain.

The skipper said self-beliefwas key to success as Indiamade the last four round of theOlympics for the first timeafter the 1972 Munich Games.

“It was believing.Everyone believing in them-selves and that was the key

today, everyone gave their100 per cent today and theywere dying and almost killedthemselves on the field,”Manpreet said.

“Everyone played very well.We scored three outstandinggoals, the strikers made a goodopportunity and the wholeteam played really well.”

Elated with the outcomeof Sunday’s match, Manpreetcautioned his teammatesagainst early celebrations, say-ing the “business hasn’t fin-ished yet.”

“We are so happy becauseafter a long time we are reach-

ing a semifinal. Still, the busi-ness hasn’t finished yet. Still wehave two more games so weneed to focus, we need to haveour feet on the ground and weneed to focus on the nextmatch,” he said.

Experienced India goal-keeper PR Sreejesh pulledoff some f ine saves onMonday to play his part in thewin, and Manpreet was full ofpraise for the stalwart.“Unbelievable. You can see he(Sreejesh) always gives uslife. That’s why we call him‘The Wall’. It’s always out-standing,” he said. PTI

‘Players almost killed themselves in pursuit of win’

Tokyo: Gymnastics greatSimone Biles has withdrawnfrom the Olympic floor final,leaving the American with justone more chance of competi-tion at the Tokyo Games, USAGymnastics said on Sunday.

“Simone has withdrawnfrom the event final for floorand will make a decision onbeam later this week. Eitherway, we’re all behind you,Simone,” USAG tweeted.

Biles, the four-timeOlympic champion widely con-sidered to have pushed thesport to new limits, has said sheis struggling with the ‘twisties’,a condition where gymnastslose the ability to orientatethemselves in mid-air. AFP

Biles withdraws

from floor final

Dressel wins 5th yellow metal,McKeon makes Olympic historyTokyo: Caeleb Dressel bankedtwo more titles to end hisTokyo campaign with fiveGolds on Sunday, as Australia’sEmma McKeon became thefirst female swimmer to winseven medals at a singleOlympics.

The American machineearned the title of world’s fastestswimmer with a lightning 21.07seconds in the 50m freestylebefore helping the US menshatter their own world recordin the 4x100m medley relay.

The unassuming McKeonwas just as impressive, blastingthrough the 50m in23.81 to win thenspearheading

Australia to the women’s med-ley relay honours on the finalday of action.

It boosted her medal tallyto seven — four Gold andthree Bronze — surpassing thesix won by East German KristinOtto (1952) and AmericanNatalie Coughlin (2008).

McKeon also matched therecord for the most decoratedfemale athlete at a single Games

ever, tiedw i t h

Russian gymnast MariaGorokhovskaya (1952).

McKeon snared Gold in the50m and 100m freestyle,4x100m relay and the medley,along with Bronze in the 100mbutterfly and two further relays.

Like McKeon, Dressel tookout the 50-100 free double, butalso powered to the 100m but-terfly title in world-record time,while adding 4x100m free andmedley relay to thrust himselfinto rarified company.

He joins AmericansMichael Phelps, Mark Spitzand Matt Biondi, and Otto, asthe only swimmers to win five

or more Golds in oneGames. AFP

Thank you SindhuIndian superstar wins Bronze to become 1st femaleathlete from country to win 2 Olympic medals

OLYMPICS

NSilver medal in 2016

NBronze medal in 2021

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

NGold medal in 2019

NSilver medal in 2018 & 2017.

NBronze medal 2014 & 2013.

ASIAN GAMES

NSilver medal in 2018

NWomen’s Team bronze in 2014

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

NSilver medal in 2018

NMixed Team Gold in 2018

NBronze medal in 2014

ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

NBronze medal in 2014.

BWF WORLD TOUR FINALS/

BWF SUPER SERIES FINALS

NChampion in 2018

NRunners-up in 2017

SINDHU’S ACHIEVEMENTS

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundayhailed ace badminton player PV Sindhu as India’s pride aftershe won Bronze in the TokyoOlympics.

He tweeted, “We are allelated by the stellar perfor-

mance by P V Sindhu.Congratulations to her on win-ning the Bronze at@Tokyo2020. She is India’spride and one of our most out-standing Olympians.”

Modi also spoke to Sindhuon phone to congratulate her.

Sindhu India’s pride, one of our mostoutstanding Olympians: PM Modi

Lamont Marcell Jacobs celebrates after winning the final of men's 100-meters AP

Yulimar Rojas celebrates after winningthe final of women's triple jump AP

n line with the grand revelationsthat have been announced aboutthe upcoming Kichcha Sudeep-starrer Vikrant Rona, the filmwill be made in 3D and its mak-ers now unveil the first look of

Jacqueline Fernandez who will be seenessaying an interesting role in it.Displayed on billboards across Mumbai,the first glimpse reveals the Bollywoodstar’s character Raquel D’Costa AkaGadang Rakkamma in the pan-Indian 3Dfilm and her look as well!

Her look in the film will have a fusionof multiple ethnicities. She plays‘Gadang Rakkamma’ who runs a tavernin a fictional place. She will be seenmatching wits with Vikrant Rona,essayed by Baadshah KichchaSudeep.

Directed by Anup Bhandari,Vikrant Rona will release simultane-ously in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam,and Hindi. It also stars NirupBhandari, Neetha Ashok,Madhusudan Rao, RavishankarGowda, Sandesh Jain, Karthik Rao,Siddu Moolimani, Dushyant Rai, ChitkalaBiradar, Priya V, Samhitha, and VasukiVaibhav. Jacqueline inspired headlines asthe word about her stepping aboard theVikrant Rona universe spread like fire. Notonly will the stunning actress be seen por-traying a pivotal character, she will also beseen shaking a leg with Sudeep in the film.

Producer Jack Manjunath says, “Thestory of the world’s new hero

gets all the more excitingwith the entry of

Jacqueline. We’rehappy to

share a

glimpseof whatshe bringsto themovie.

We’re onour way to creat-

ing an extravagantpiece of cinema

that will be remem-bered by generationsto come and we’rethrilled about the growinganticipation surroundingit.” Director Anup Bhandarisays, “It feels amazing to beable to bring an element of sur-prise with each announce-ment.

Jacqueline’s poster revealwas planned to convey thescale of the film yet againand how invested we are infulfilling the promise ofoffering the audience amovie that will make theirtime in theatres worth it.”

12

Vijayawada Monday August 2, 2021 tollywood

fter much waiting,the makers of thegrand RRR havefinally released themuch-talked-aboutsong of the film

– Dosti. Aptlyreleased onFriendship day,the song, as thename suggests,celebrates thefriendshipbetween thelead charac-ters of thefilm —

Komaram Bheem and Alluri SitaRamaraju — played by NTR Jrand Ram Charan, respectively.

The song was released in fivedifferent languages, titled Dosti,Kannada, Natpu, and Priyam inTelugu, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil,and Malayalam. Composed byMM Keeravani, the song is sungby Hemachandra, AnirudhRavichander, Vijay Yesudas,Amit Trivedi, and YazinNizar. The musicvideo hasbeen shotwith allthe fivesingerstakingthelead intheirrespec-tive lan-guageswithmusicdirectorKeeravanimentor-ing

them. The song also offers abrief glimpse of the lead actors,Ram Charan and Jr NTR, in theend, greeting each other andjoining hands.

Releasing the song, directorSS Rajamouli tweeted, “ThisFriendship day, witness thecoming together of 2 powerfulopposing forces – Ramaraju &Bheem #Dosti.”

The song has already crossed10 million views in most of

the languages, and a whop-ping 4 million in Telugu, at

the time of writing thisarticle!

RRR is a fictionallove story based onthe lives of Telugufreedom fighters Ram

Charan and Jr NTR.The film also featuresAlia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn,

Ray Stevenson, AlisonDoody, and OliviaMorris. The film will

release in theatres globallyon October 13.

A

ampath Nandi, one ofthe most popular direc-tors of Telugu cinema,known for helmingfilms like Racha, BengalTiger, Goutham Nanda,

took to Twitter on Sunday toshare a heartfelt note for MegaStar Chiranjeevi along with a self-ie of the duo. The director-pro-ducer wrote, “One more megamemorable day in my life. Metour god Megastar Chiranjeevigaru today. Many more preciousconversations, priceless guidance,and moments to treasure. Cheersto all the super good timesahead.”

This post is doing rounds onsocial media with fans quizzing ifthe director is teaming up with

Chiranjeevi for his next. Recently,the Megastar announced that hewants to give chances to youngdirectors in his second innings.

On the work front, SampathNandi is currently working for hisupcoming sport-based directorialventure Seetimaarr which hasGopichand, Tamannah Bhatia,and Digangana Suryavanshi inthe lead roles. The movie is basedon kabaddi, and has bothGopichand and Tamannaahh ascoaches. Meanwhile, Chiranjeeviis busy with Acharya which is onthe verge of completion. Helmedby Koratala Siva, it has KajalAggarwal as the leading lady. Hewill also be starring in the Teluguremake of Vedalam and Luciferremake.

Chiru-SampathNandi film on lines?

ctress Mrunal Thakur,who will soon be seenwith actor DulquerSalmaan in their yet-to-be-titled trilingualfilm, revealed her look

and character’s name on Sunday.While Dulquer’s character is

called Lieutenant Ram, Mrunal’scharacter has been introduced asSita.

Directed by HanuRaghavapudi, the teaser showsDulquer clicking a picture ofMrunal as the two look at eachother.

The film produced by AshwiniDutt and Priyanka Dutt underSwapna Cinema is being made inTelugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. Itwill be presented by VyjayanthiMovies. Incidentally, Mrunal alsocelebrated her birthday onSunday. She uploaded the firstlook and captioned it as: “Here’s agift from me to you on my specialday! Thank you @swapnacinemafor this! Here to conquer yourhearts with the lovely@dqsalmaan!”

The shooting of the film wasrecently wrapped in Kashmir.

irector G Nageswara Reddy haspenned the story and screenplay ofan upcoming film Bujji Ilaa Raastarring Sunil and Dhanraj in leadroles. As the title poster and thetagline indicate, Bujji Ilaa Raa is a

psychological thriller. Garudavega fame cine-matographer Anji turns director with thefilm, besides cranking the camera. Chandini

Tamilarasanplays the heroinein the movie pro-duced byAgraharam Nagi Reddyand Sanjeeva Reddy under SNSCreations LLP and G Nageswara Reddy TeamWork. Sai Karteek renders soundtracks forthe film that will go on floors soon.

Bujji Ilaa Raaposter out

Mrunal Thakur’s first look inDulquer Salmaan’s next revealed

reen IndiaChallenge is gainingfame and nameacross the countryfor a better future.Celebrities, politi-

cians, and even the commonpublic are actively takingpart in the challenge initiat-ed by MP Santosh Kumar.On Sunday, actor AadhiPinishetty took part in theGreen India Challenge andplanted the saplings. In apost on social media, theactor further nominatedAkanksha Singh, NikkiGalrani, and MithunChakraborty.

The actor who plantedthree saplings urged people tocontinue the chain. Aadhi alsothanked Rajya Sabha MPJoginapally Santosh Kumar forinitiating the Green IndiaChallenge, an effort toincrease the green coveracross the country.

On the work front, AadhiPinisetty will be next seenplaying the important role inthe young and energeticactor Ram Pothineni in the

upcoming untitled film, which isbeing directed by Lingusamy.

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Jacqueline looks the part in Vikrant Rona's poster

Aadhi inspiresfollowers to

go green

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