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Amit Shah worships at Srisailam templePNS n AMARAVATI

Union Home Minister Amit Shaharrived in Srisailam in AndhraPradesh on Thursday to offer prayersat the Sri Bhramaramba

Mallikarjuna Swamy temple.Shah arrived in a helicopter from

Hyderabad and proceeded to thetemple. He was accorded a warmwelcome at the Sunnipenta helipadby state Endowments Minister V

Srinivasa Rao, MP P BrahmanandaReddy, Kurnool district Collector PKoteswara Rao and senior officials.

After the puja at the temple, theUnion Home Minister will fly backto Hyderabad in the afternoon.

GSLV fails to place satellite into orbitPNS n SRIHARIKOTA

ISRO's GSLV rocket on Thursdayfailed to inject into the orbit, thecountry's latest earth observationsatellite EOS-03 due to a failure toignite the cryogenic stage of thelaunch vehicle, prompting the pre-mier space agency to declare themission could not be achieved asintended.

However, the first and secondstages of the rocket had performednormally, the Bengaluru-head-quartered Indian Space ResearchOrganisation said.

In a notification, ISRO said,"GSLV-F10 launch took placetoday at 0543 hrs as scheduled.Performance of first and secondstages was normal.

However, Cryogenic UpperStage ignition did not happen dueto technical anomaly. The missioncould not be accomplished asintended."

According to ISRO, the cryo-genic upper stage ignition wasscheduled to take place 4.56 min-utes after the lift-off.

TRS leader fined,sentenced to six months’ jailNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Former MLA PayamVenkateshwarulu was sentenced to6 months' imprisonment and finedRs 10,000. He was awarded thesentence in a case relating to alle-gations of money laundering in theelection as the charges against himhad been substantiated. Payam,before switching to TRS, was pre-

viously floor leader of YSRCPparty in the TS Assembly.

It may be mentioned here a casewas registered against PayamVenkateshwarulu in AshwapuramPS in 2018. The special court forMLAs heard the case on Thursdayand gave its verdict. He paid a fineof Rs 10,000. The court stayed theimprisonment as he is preparingto go on appeal to the HighCourt.

Restrain AP fromdiverting water, TSwrites to KRMBPNS n HYDERABAD

With Andhra Pradesh continuingto illegally divert Krishna watersfrom the foreshore of SrisailamReservoir, despite TS' previousobjections, the Telangana govern-ment has once again written to theKrishna River Management Boardfor restraining AP from doing so.

Muralidhar, Engineer-in-Chief,Telangana, in a letter to KRMB onWednesday, said that even asTelangana had been requesting theBoard to restrain Andhra Pradeshfrom using more than 10 tmc forK-C Canal and the issue wasunder consideration of KWDT-II,AP has been utilizing much morewater than its earmarked share.

In addition, AP arranged addi-tional sources of water in an unau-thorised manner to the K-C Canalthrough three more projects.

ML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

At a time when political parties havevirtually been in the thick of cam-paigning for the Huzurabad bye-elec-tion in the hope that the ElectionCommission's notification is immi-nent, the poll panel does not seem tobe in any hurry to do so.

The Election Commission haswritten to the President/GeneralSecretary of recognized nationaland State political parties seekingtheir views on the guidelines andinstructions issued by the EC forcampaigning during the GeneralElection/bye-election in the wake ofCovid-19 pandemic in the country.

The Election Commission'sSecretary Ajay Kumar Verma stat-ed in the letter that several bye-elec-tions and elections to the Legislative

Assemblies of five States were due in2021-22. Therefore, the EC hadissued several guidelines whichcould be seen at the Commission'swebsite eci.gov.in and the direct pathis eci.gov.in/candidte-politicalpar-ties/instructions-on-covid-19/

The Commission sought the viewsand suggestions of the political par-

ties by August 30 so that exhaustiveguidelines over campaigning couldbe prepared. Thus, unless this exer-cise is completed, prompting the ECto finalise the exhaustive guidelines,it may not give notification for theHuzurabad bye-election any timesoon.

CM to distribute Dalit Bandhu cheques on Aug 16

PNS n HYDERABAD

Gearing up for the formal launchof Dalit Bandhu scheme at thepublic meeting to be addressed byChief Minister K ChandrasekharRao in the Huzurabad constituen-cy on August 16, Social WelfareMinister Koppula Eswar reiterat-ed that Dalit Bandhu would betaken forward as a movement.

Ahead of the Chief Minister's pub-

lic meeting, which is seen as a cru-cial step to turn the mood of the peo-ple, particularly Dalits, in the con-stituency long represented by EatalaRajender (who is now with theBJP), Eswar, along with ministersHarish Rao and Gangula Kamalakar,reviewed the arrangements for themeeting venue on Thursday andcalled upon Dalits to make themeeting a success.

o 2K beneficiaries to get the money at Public meeting in Huzurabad

o ‘Dalit Bandhu' sending shivers down spine of opposition leaders: Koppula Eswar

o Seeks views ofpolitical parties on the conduct of bye-elections in the wakeof the Covid pandemic

o Notification may notbe issued forHuzurabad any time soon

EC springs a surpriseon Huz’bad bye-election

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated AUGUST 12, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Scattered thunderstormsTTeemmpp:: 31/23HHuummiiddiittyy:: 72%SSuunnrriissee:: 5:58 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:43 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Shravana & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Panchami 13:42

Nakshatram : Hasta 07:59

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid (Bad

time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 10:46 am - 12:20 pm

Yamagandam : 3:30 pm - 5:04 pm

Varjyam : 3:38 pm - 5:10 pm

Gulika : 7:36 am - 9:11 am

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 12:49 am - 2:20 am

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:55 am - 12:46 pm

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Airports Authority ofIndia (AAI) has stated thatonly three out of six proposeddomestic airports by the stategovernment of Telangana arefeasible for operating bigaircraftS.

The Telangana State hasreceived the final techno eco-nomic feasibility reports fromthe Centre. Of the six airportsproposed only three were suit-able, the Airport Authority ofIndia clarified.

The AAI authorities visitedthe proposed areas in the stateand assessed the feasibility ofestablishing airports, landing ofaircraft and gave its report tothe Centre.

The Central teams thatmade field visits in phasessubmitted report that onlyMamunur in Warangal,

Adilabad and Jakranpalli inNizamabad were suitable forfull fledged airports.

Palwacha inB h a d r a d r i Kot h a g u d e m ,Devarakadra in Mahbubnagar,Basanth Nagar in Peddapalliwere not suitable for bigger air-

crafts, the Central teams saidin their report.

Telangana government rep-resented to the Centre to givepermission to operate smallflights locally in the areaswhere there was no feasibilityto operate bigger aircraft.

The state government wrotea letter to the AAI in thisregard and it also requestedthat a meeting be organizedwith stakeholders for operatingsmaller aircraft. It also request-ed the authority to makeanother field visit if required.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had per-sonally met the then CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puriin December, 2020that the state government hadinitiated action for creatingadditional domestic airportsat six locations and a formalproposal was sent to the AAIin 2018 to give feasibilityreports. It was indicated thatonly no- frills airports forsmall aircraft could be devel-oped to begin with and theymay be expanded for com-mercial operations based ondemand.

Three out of 6 proposed domestic airports feasible: Centre's ReportTS writes to Centre to give permission for smaller aircraft in other areas

Warangal Urban, Rural reorganised and renamedML MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

Telangana government issuedorders notifying the reorgan-istion of Warangal Urban andWarangal Rural districts intoHanumakonda and Warangaldistricts respectively.

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar issued the final notifi-cation orders after the

Ministers Errabelli DayakarRao, Satyavathi Rathod, MLAsRajaiah, Challa DharmaReddy, Government ChiefWhip Vinay Bhaskar met atWarangal Urban DistrictCollectorate on Wednesdayevening and reviewed theprocess for reorganisation ofdistricts.

The meeting considered allthe objections and sugges-

tions and decided to go withthe public view to reorganizethe districts for adminstativeconvenience as well as renamethem to acknowledge the his-torical significance of Kakatiyaheritage.

The gazette notification stat-ed that formation of districts,revenue divisions, mandalsand villages will not have anyeffect on the existing elected

bodies of zilla parishads, man-dal parishads and gram pan-chayats and their jurisdictionover the areas covered by theexisting districts till the newZPs, MPs and GPs are consti-tuted in accordance with law.

Hanumakonda district willhave 14 mandals and 163 rev-enue villages and Warangaldistrict has 13 mandals and192 revenue villages.

Hanumakonda has two rev-enue divisions and sixAssembly constituencies andWarangal district has two rev-enue divisions and five con-stituencies.

Minister Errabelli DayakarRao thanked the ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao for reorgansing andrenaming the districts in linewith the desire of the people.

Simhadri temple to make bidfor UNESCO tag, with AU helpPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Andhra University hasagreed to conduct a study onthe historical importance of theSri Varahalakshmi NarasimhaSwamy Devasthanam, popu-larly known as Lord SimhadriAppanna temple ofSimhachalam to facilitate theauthorities vie for UNESCO'sWorld Heritage Site tag.

It may be mentioned herethat recently, the UnitedNations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) recognised the13th century Ramappa templein Telangana as a WorldHeritage Site.

Following the honour, theSimhachalam Devasthanamrequested the AndhraUniversity management toconduct a study to ensure abond script on the historicalimportance of the temple sothat future generations benefit.

According to the availableinformation and inscriptions,

the 11th century temple wasbuilt by the Chola King ofKulothunga Chakravarthi.King of Vizianagaram, SriKrishnadevaraya also visitedthe temple and offered sever-al gold ornaments to the Lord.

In his background,Executive Off icer ofSimhachalam DevasthanamMV Suryakala met Vice-Chancel lor of AndhraUniversity Prof PVGDPrasada Reddy and urgedhim to take up a study on thehistorical importance of thetemple.

The Executive Officer alsopresented documentary evi-dence, books and other mate-rial pertaining to the Vice-

Chancellor.Responding to the request of

the Devasthanam, ProfPrasada Reddy assured a sci-entific study. The EO thenasked the Vice-Chancellor toengage an Experts Committeeto conduct a detailed study onthe temple. Prof PrasadaReddy said that the temple hasall the qualifications to get theUNESCO certification.

There are plenty of inscrip-tions and artistic sculptures inthe temple.

After the Lord VenkateswaraSwamy temple at Tirumala,Simhachalam temple is thebiggest Hindu shrine where theLord Sri Maha Vishnu is wor-shipped in three rupas.

Fire breaks out in house, no casualties PNS n HYDERABAD

Property worth a few lakhrupees was gutted when a firebroke out in a house inSantoshnagar on Wednesdaynight. No casualties werereported.

According to Fire officials,the fire broke out on the firstfloor of a house located atNew Santoshnagar colonyreportedly due to a shortcircuit. The occupants of thehouse who noticed it imme-diately rushed out. On infor-mation the local policereached the spot and laterinformed the fire controlroom. A fire tender reachedthe spot and doused theflames. The police are inves-tigating.

Massive reshuffle of judges in statePNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 45 judges havebeen reshuffled in transfersand promotions in TelanganaState on Thursday.

As per the orders passed bythe High Court, 45 districtand sessions judges wereasked to get relived and takeover the new charge. About14 senior civil judges werepromoted as district judgeson ad-hoc basis. These judgeswere also asked to hand overtheir additional chargesbefore proceeding to theirnext role.

T’gana AI Mission selects 42 startups under Revv Up accelerator programmePNS n HYDERABAD

Another new initiative hasbeen launched by theTelangana government underthe Telangana ArtificialIntelligence Mission (T- AIM)which announced the selectionof 42 startups into 'Revv Upaccelerator' programme.

The Revv Up acceleratorprovides exclusive opportuni-ties for AI start ups to solvesocietal and business prob-lems through partnershipswith government and industryrespectively. These start upswill receive mentorship fromindustry experts and technol-ogy and IP support as they aim

to build scalable business withAI based offering at their core,Jayesh Ranjan, PrincipalSecretary of IT&C said.

The T-AIM is a specialisedinitiative taken up under thesupervision of EmergingTechnologies Wing of ITdepartment which is given amandate to make Telanganaand Hyderabad a global AI hubin the coming years.

The Revv Up programme,powered by NASSCOM willenable and empower AI startups through a series of struc-tured interventions.

Jayesh Ranjan, said here onThursday that the startupsinvited to participate in the

inauguralcohort have beenthrough a rigorous selectionprocess that evaluated theircredentials across six criteria.The cohort represents 11 sec-tors and 10 Indian States andnearly 50 per cent of start upsthat are from outsideTelangana have expressedintent to open a local office inthis or next year. Over 70 percent of the cohort is eitherbootstrapped or has early fund-ing and more than 25 per centhave at least one femalefounder.

The participating entrepre-neurs and their start ups rep-resent AI powered innova-tions ranging from non-inva-

sive healthcare solutions toclimate modelling and newways to support learning.

Debjani Ghosh, President,Nasscom said Nasscom'sclosepartnership with TelanganaState would provide significantimpetus for startups and theiraspirations to become the AIGarage for the world.

Revv Up is another steptowards making Telangana andHyderabad a global destinationfor AI and other emergingtechnologies. The zero equityof cost accelerator programmeexclusively designed forgrowth-stage AI startups willbegin its core operations in thismonth.

Restrain AP from divertingwater, TS writes to KRMBContinued from page 1

Escape channel fromBanakacherla cross regulator,by lifting water from Malyalapumping station of HNSS, andfrom Muchumarri LIS. Thesethree additional sources forfeeding the K-C Canal ayacutwere "illegal and cannot bepermitted", the letter said.

The E-in-Chief requestedthe KRMB to restrain APfrom diverting water fromthe foreshore of the Srisailamreservoir through these threeunauthorized projects to feedK-C Canal unless a properaccount and allocation wasestablished for them.

The Telangana governmentpointed out that by way ofthese additional projects, APhad been utilizing more waterthan its entitlement and wascompletely diverting it to out-side basin. In fact, the K-CCanal had to realise its allocat-ed quantity of water from the

Tungabhadra River, includingregulated releases of 10 tmcfrom the Tungabhadra dam.

As AP had been using morewater than its earmarked shareof 31.9 tmc, there was no casefor taking up these addition-al sources for K-C Canal, theTelangana government point-ed out.

The Telangana governmentalso brought to the notice ofKRMB that KWDT-I hadimposed restrictions on theutilization of water in theTungabhadra sub-basin andheld that Tungabhadra Rivershould contribute substantialflows to the mainstream riverKrishna. Contrary to the spir-it of KWDT-I, AP, while draw-ing excess water fromTungabhadra, had made addi-tional arrangements to drawwater from the Srisailam reser-voir.

This is in complete violationof the provisions of KWDT-I.The operation of the above-

mentioned three unautho-rized projects, in addition toexisting excess utilizationunder K-C canal from the TBstem, had already affected thewater availability to severalprojects on the mainstream ofriver Krishna to in-basin pro-jects of Telangana dependingon Srisailam such asNagarjuna Sagar, Hyderabadwater supply.

As AP was planning todivert water from the bottomof the Srisailam reservoir i.e.at +798 ft, it would alsoadversely affect drinking watersupply to Hyderabad city.

The Telangana governmentenclosed several documents tosubstantiate the unauthorizeduse of the Krishna waters byAP at the cost of Telanganapeople and farmers such asJune 1944 agreement, 1951Inter State conference, K-CCanal and RDS utilisations andMap showing additional unau-thorized sources to K-C canal.

GSLV fails to place...Continued from page 1

A formal announcement wasalso made at the MissionControl Centre by the rangeoperations director, stating,"performance anomalyobserved in the cryogenicstage. The mission could notbe accomplished fully."

ISRO Chairman K Sivansaid, "(the mission) could notbe fully accomplished mainlybecause there is a technicalanomaly observed in the cryo-genic stage. This I wanted totell all my friends."

ISRO, after facing hurdlescaused by the Covid-19 pan-demic, resumed its launchoperations for the rocket toplace the satellite with anobjective to provide near real-time imaging of large areas ofthe country at frequent inter-vals and quick monitoring ofnatural disasters.

As the 26-hour countdownconcluded on Thursday, the51.70 metre tall rocket withfour stages lifted off majestical-ly at 05.43hrs, leaving behinda trail of thick orange colouredfumes.

The four-stage rocket wasthe first to carry a four-metredia 'Ogive Payload Fairing' atthe top of the vehicle to accom-modate larger payloads.

The rocket was supposed toplace the EOS "an agile state-of-the-art satellite into theGeosynchronous TransferOrbit, 19 minutes after lift-off.

Thursday's unsuccessfulattempt to launch the satellitecame in the wake of scientistspostponing the earlier plannedmissions earlier.

The satellite, originally titledGISAT-1 weighing 2,268 kgwas slated to be launched onMarch 5, 2020 but it was post-poned a day before the lift-offdue to 'technical reasons'.

The Covid-induced lock-down further delayed the mis-sion and once again it wasscheduled for a March 28,2021 launch but a 'minorissue' with the satellite forcedyet another postponement.

The objective of Thursday'smission was to provide nearreal-time imaging of largearea regions at frequent inter-vals, for quick monitoring ofnatural disasters, episodic

events and obtain spectralsignatures for agriculture,forestry, water bodies as wellas for disaster warning,cyclone monitoring, cloudburst and thunderstorm mon-itoring.

Before Thursday's launch,ISRO had launched Brazil'searth observation satelliteAmazonia-1 and 18 co-passen-ger satellites in February thisyear.

Thursday's mission is theeighth flight with indigenouscryogenic engine, 14th flight ofthe GSLV and also marks the79th launch vehicle missionfrom Sriharikota.

Previous launches of GSLVrockets include the GSLV-MkIII-M1/ Chandrayaan-2mission in July 2019 whileGSLV-F11 successfully placedGSAT-7A in December 2018.

An earth observation satel-lite -- EOS-01 -- was launchedin November 2020 by polarsatellite launch vehicle PSLV-C49, ISRO said.

ISRO had made arrange-ments to watch the launchthrough its various socialmedia platforms.

Continued from page 1

The Huzurabad bye election hasbecome an important election,particularly for the ruling partyand the BJP which got into elec-tion mode ever since EatalaRajender resigned as MLA inMay. Under normal circum-stances, a bye-election should beheld within six months; that is,before November 7.

However, political partiesestimated that bye-elections inother States would be clubbedtogether and thus theHuzurabad bye-election couldbe advanced. Hence, the rulingparty has been focusing onHuzurabad. A couple of minis-ters have been camping andcampaigning in the constituen-cy, where Eatala, having beensix-time MLA, is believed to

have a sway. After the announcement of

Dalit Bandhu, observers saidthat the mood was turning infavour of the ruling party, whichannounced on Wednesday GelluSrinivas Yadav, belonging toBC community, as its candidatefor the by-poll.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao is scheduledto address a public meeting to

launch the scheme formally onAugust 16, taking the campaignof the ruling party to its crescen-do. Harish Rao too startedfocusing on the Huzurabadconstituency since Wednesday,giving credence to the percep-tion that the notification for thebye-election will be issued anytime.

However, the EC's latest let-ter, seeking views of political

parties, has thrown spanner inthe works.

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar wrote to the EC recent-ly that the State was not in favourof conducting MLC elections forthe six seats that fell vacant onJune 3 in the wake of Covidcases still being reported inconsiderable numbers in somedistricts and that too amid talkof an impending third wave of

the pandemic.Sources point out that the

State government, which gave itsview and sought time for theconduct of MLC elections, maynot give a different view over theHuzurabad bye-election, keep-ing in view the Covid cases.

This may give some relief tothe Congress party, which is yetto find a candidate for theHuzurabad bye-election.

EC springs a surprise on Huz’bad bye-election

It may be mentioned here that recently, theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognisedthe 13th century Ramappa temple inTelangana as a World Heritage Site

CM to distribute Dalit Bandhu cheques on Aug 16Continued from page 1

Dalit Bandhu will be launchedby the Chief Minister on August16 with distribution of chequesof Rs.10 lakh each to 2,000 ben-eficiaries and from the next dayonwards, cheques would be dis-tributed to 20,000 more Dalits.

About 1.2 lakh people areexpected to attend the publicmeeting and 825 buses would bearranged to bring Dalits to themeeting. Lunch and drinkingwater facilities would be provid-ed for all those who are attend-ing the meeting.

Apart from Dalit MPs, MLAs,MLCs, other prominent personswould attend the meeting.People's representatives havestarted creating awareness about

the scheme among people andthe government has alreadyreleased Rs.500 crore for theimplementation of the schemein Huzurabad constituency.

The scheme would be imple-mented like a movement acrossthe State. A survey is beingtaken up for proper implemen-tation of the scheme. About12,000 Dalit families, at therate of 100 families per con-stituency in 119 Assembly con-stituencies, would be coveredunder the scheme during thisyear, he said.

About 20 per cent of the pop-ulation in the State comprisedDalits and very few Dalits wouldhave land and that too a fewkuntas. Therefore, barringemployees, almost all Dalit fam-

ilies would get the financialassistance under the DalitBandhu, he said.

Harish Rao gave several sug-gestions to people's representa-tives and police officers aboutthe arrangements for the pub-lic meeting and said separateblocks should be created formen and women at the meetingvenue. Separate galleries shouldbe set up for media representa-tives and VIPs and a stage set upfor artists next to the dais. Hesaid that no one should beallowed into the venue withouta mask and food packets shouldbe provided to the beneficiariesin the buses in which theywould be brought to the venue.

Later, speaking to local peo-ple at a meeting in Ambedkar

colony in Jammikunta, Eswarsaid that Eatala, BJP andCongress leaders were resortingto false propaganda againstDalit Bandhu scheme and com-plaining to ElectionCommission as they were scaredthat if the scheme was imple-mented, their political futurewould be at stake.

The scheme was sendingshivers down the spine of oppo-sition leaders, he said and addedthat, irrespective of politicalparties' criticism, the schemewould be implemented like amovement and the ChiefMinister would never go backon his word. He reminded peo-ple that KCR did not suspendwelfare scheme even duringthe pandemic crisis.

Chandrayaan-2finds presence ofwater moleculeson moonPNS n NEW DELHI

Chandrayaan-2, ISRO's sec-ond lunar mission, hasdetected the presence ofwater molecules on themoon, data obtained fromthe mission has revealed.

In a paper co-authored byA S Kirankumar, formerIndian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) chair-man, said imaging infraredspectrometre (IIRS) is one ofthe payloads on-boardChandrayaan-2, which isplaced in a 100 km polar orbitto acquire global scientificdata.

“The initial data analysisfrom IIRS, clearly demon-strates the presence of wide-spread lunar hydration andunambiguous detection ofOH and H2O signatures onthe Moon between 29°N and62°N lat., after incorporatingphysics-based thermal cor-rection to reflectance data,”the paper which was pub-lished in Current Sciencejournal said.

Plagioclase-rich rocks havebeen found to have higher OH(hydroxyl) or possibly H2O(water) molecules when com-pared to the mare regions,which were found to havemore dominance of OH athigher surface temperature, itsaid. The development alsoassumes significance consid-ering that Chandrayaan-2did not yield desired results.

Planned to land on theSouth Pole of the moon,Chandrayaan-2 was launchedon July 22.

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021hyderabad 03

PNS n HYDERABAD

All necessary precautions arebeing taken in light of the threatfrom Covid, as the faithful maketheir way to variousAshoorkhanas in Hyderabad toobserve the month of Muharramthat started on Tuesday.

Bibi ka Alam has beeninstalled in Bibi ka Alawa whileother Alams have beeninstalled in various otherAshoorkhanas.

Bargah-e- Hazrat AbbasMuttawalli Moosavi said, "Allnecessary precautions are beingtaken to make sure that Covid-appropriate behaviour is fol-lowed in Ashoorkhanas duringMuharram." Hashim, a devo-tee said, "Muharram isobserved to mourn the martyr-dom of Imam Hussein.Irrespective of caste or creed,any person from any religioncan take part."

Last week, Hyderabad City

Police Commissioner AnjaniKumar had held a meetingwith Muslim religious heads todiscuss the arrangements thatwere to be made for Muharram.The meeting was held at SalarJung Museum here inHyderabad.

Muharram commemoratesthe martyrdom of Imam

Hussein, the son of Hazrat Aliand grandson of ProphetMuhammad.

It signifies an expression ofsorrow over the martyrdom ofImam Hussein at the Battle ofKarbala that took place over 14centuries ago. A procession istaken out every year on thetenth day of Muharram, known

as Ashura. Muharram is alsothe first month of the Hijri cal-endar.

Elephant from Maharashtrato replace van in Bibi ka Alam

Meanwhile, the state govern-ment of Telangana has accord-ed permission for the use of ele-phant for Muharram processionto be taken out next week. The

order was issued by the SpecialChief Secretary to Government,Environment, Forests, Scienceand Techno logy. The HEH TheNizam's Religious Trust, PuraniHaveli, which is the custodianof the Bibi Ka Alam along withother organisations had submit-ted a representation to the gov-ernment to accord permissionfor use of elephant.

An elephant, Madhuri aged38 years from Kolhapur will beused to carry the Bibi ka Alamstandard during the proces-sion on the 10 of Muharrammonth scheduled next Friday.The costs involved in bringingelephant for the procession aretaken care of by TelanganaState Wakf Board following arepresentation of Riyaz ulHassan Effandi, AIMIM MLC.

Madhuri is expected to reachHyderabad on Friday and willbe housed at Khilwat PalaceAashoorkhana located nearCharminar bus stand.

In 2020, the elephant was notbrought for the procession inview of Covid pandemic restric-tions while the previous year, anelephant Sudha from Bijapur(Karnataka) was used for carry-ing the Bibi ka Alam, said SyedAli Jaffery of TelanganaElephant Welfare RehabilitationSociety.

For decades Rajini, the ele-phant owned by the HEH TheNizam's Trust and kept in NehruZoological Park was used for car-rying the standard during theprocession. However, followingan observation of the court that'captive elephant cannot be keptin zoo and used for religious pro-cession', the jumbo is not beingused in any religious processionincluding Bonalu, Muharram,Rajab festival or any other pro-cessions. Since then, organisersof various processions are bring-ing elephants from other statesacross the country to organiseprocessions.

Covid care a priority at Ashoorkhanas

PNS n HYDERABAD

The 35th edition of theHyderabad Sailing Week willbe held here from August 13 toAugust 19 at Hussain Sagarlake.

The sailing week will see thelargest congregation of sailorsin the country with GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan for-mally inaugurating at atSecunderabad Sailing Annexeon Friday.

The event will witness racesin three categories - LaserStandard, Laser Radial andLaser 4.7 class. While address-ing the media, Major GeneralJS Sidana, Vice Commodore,EME Sailing Association saidthe event is being conducted asAsian Games trials for LaserClass and has been accredited

as a YAI Ranking event."This implies that the rank-

ing of a sailor at the HyderabadSailing Week will be countedand considered towards over-all National Ranking and sub-sequent selection for participa-

tion at Asian Games," he said.Formed in 1964, the EME

Sailing Association has pro-duced a number of outstand-ing sailors and officials both atthe National and Internationallevels.

The closing ceremony ofthe Hyderabad Sailing Weekwill be conducted on August 19and will be presided over byAdmiral Karambir Singh,PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief ofNaval Staff.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two persons were killed andthree others sustained injuriesin a road accident atGandipet on Thursday.

According to the police,five persons were travelling ina car when the vehiclerammed into an electric poleat CBIT road, Gandipet. Twoof them died on the spotwhile three others sustainedinjuries.

On information theNarsingi police reached thespot and shifted the bodies forpostmortem examination tothe Osmania Hospital mortu-ary. The injured were shiftedto hospital for treatment.

Two killed, three injured as vehicle hits electric pole

PNS n HYDERABAD

The occupancy ratio inTelangana State Road TransportCorporation (TSRTC) buses isgradually picking up as the peo-ple have been coming forwardto undertake journeys, unlikeearlier when the RTC busesconfined to their depots forover 18 months.

The daily revenue, occupan-cy ratio, per kilometer incomehas remarkably improved. If theRTC were to run its rural ser-vices - Palle Velugu - and is ableto press into service its full fleetof inter-state bus services, nodoubt that its revenue will go upeven further.

On an average, the daily rev-enue of the RTC has crossed Rs9.5 crore. On Mondays,because of higher occupancyratio, the RTC earns Rs 1 croreadditionally. It may be recalledthat the RTC used to earn Rs13 crore per day prior to thepandemic situation.

The Palle Velugu buses arenot completely operational.

Moreover, the RTC is not ableto run its buses under hire asit is unable to pay up the billsof those who have hypothecat-ed their buses with the RTC.

The inter-state bus servicesof the RTC include super lux-ury and Garuda buses. Theyearn more revenue to the RTC.Even if they also hit roads, theRTC revenue is likely to crossRs 13 crore per day.

On Tuesday, the RTC earnedRs 9.31 crore through sale oftickets. Generally speaking, peo-ple would not prefer to travel onTuesdays as Tuesday is consid-ered inauspicious for travel. Inspite of that, the RTC onTuesday earned a fair amount byway of sale of tickets.

The average occupancy ratioachieved in all regions is put at70 per cent. The income per

kilometer of the RTC improvedat Rs 35.20.

As the pandemic situationwas at its worse in the state dur-ing the corresponding periodlast year, the RTC could earnonly Rs 277 crore. As the sec-ond wave situation eased, peo-ple are willing to move fromhere to there. The increasednumber of vaccinations donein the state also benefited the

RTC. The last Monday, theRTC earned Rs 10.31 crore,achieving an occupancy ratioof 71. The revenue of the RTCper km was recorded as 37.37.The occupancy ratio inHyderabad was put at 67.61.The income generated throughticket sales is put at Rs 289.13crore.

Only 60 per cent of theinter-state services are in oper-ation. In fact, the RTC is run-ning buses to AP at night.Because of Covid regulations,the RTC is not able to operatebuses to all towns and cities inAP. The occupancy ratio wouldbe very high as was earlier if thenight bus services are resumedto the previous level. Then, theRTC would be able to earn Rs2.5 crore additionally.

The bus services to states ofKarnataka and Maharashtraare not fully restored. Thesame is the fate with the PalleVelugu services. Once, thesetwo services are restored fully,the RTC is tipped to earn anadditional Rs 2.5 crore per day.

Occupancy ratio in TSRTC picks up

Hyderabad Sailing Week from today

JUMBO FEASTOn the occasion of World Elephant Day on

Thursday, the Nehru Zoological Park inHyderabad celebrated the day by giving a buffet

of cakes made of ragi and rice topped with fruits,vegetables, sprouts and corn to the elephants

along with sugarcane, pineapple, jaggery,coconut and green grass. Nehru Zoological Park,Hyderabad is currently housing 4 Elephants (1

male and 3 Female).

PNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

The state government ofTelangana appointed LSharman as the new collectorof Hyderabad district viceSweta Mohanty.

Sweta Mohanty wasrelieved from the post as sheapplied for leave to pursuehigher studies abroad. A 2005batch IAS officer, Sharmanwas serving as Collector ofNagarkurnool district.

Medak collector S Harishhas been posted as full addi-tional charge collector ofMedchal Malkajgiri district.

Nagarkurnool additionalcollector (local bodies) MManu has been posted asfull additional charge collec-tor of Nagarkurnool dis-trict.

Officials asked to complete pending works of DharaniPNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

District in-charge CollectorHarish has directed the offi-cials to ensure that no workrelated to Dharani portalshould be kept pending.

Addressing additional col-lectors Narsimha Reddy andSamson, District RevenueOfficer Lingya Naik andRevenue Divisional OfficerRavi here on Thursday,Harish sought informationabout what extent of land wasregistered in Dharani portalin the district? Is there anypending work related to reg-

istration of land? How manyslots are being booked perday? Harish questioned seek-ing the progress on land reg-istration in the district.

He asked the Tahsildarsshould find out how manyhave been registering the landdocuments and getting otherrelevant works done throughthe portal.

Malkajgiri gets new Collector,Sweta proceeds on study leave

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad MetropolitanWater Supply and SewerageBoard (HMWSSB) DanaKishore on Thursday said thata fortnight-long awarenessprogramme on maintenanceof sewers and safety fromAugust 16 for HMWSSBworkers.

During the programme, theworkers would be told aboutdo's and don'ts while attend-ing maintenance works ofsewers and the working ofsafety equipment and others.

The workers would be sen-sitised on standard operatingprocedures, working of safetyequipment and how to usethem, precautions to be takenwhile cleaning manholes andfirst aid in case of encounter-ing any problems, he said.

The workers should use

gloves, gum boots, masks,body suit and other safetyequipment. Managers havebeen asked to provide one daytraining programme to work-ers in their section.

A team of the most skilledsanitation workers would beconstituted in each division toensure that the works in thedivision are completed takingall precautions. To ensure prop-er conduct of the work, a socialaudit team would also be con-stituted, he said, adding thatthey would submit progressreport on maintenance of sew-ers from time to time.

He said that a committeewould be constituted to mon-itor the 15-day training andawareness programme.

He asked the authorities toprint hand bills to sensitisepeople on not putting garbagein manholes.

HMWSSB workers to be trained on safety

PNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

Sleuths of Rachakonda SpecialOperations Team, LB Nagarzone nabbed three-memberinter-state burglary gang andseized gold ornaments, netcash and other valuables, allworth Rs 9,63,000 from theirpossession on Thursday.

The suspects were involvedin cases in Telangana, AndhraPradesh and Maharashtra,police said. The arrested per-sons were Shaik Waseem, 22,a driver from Nizamabad,Shaik Ameer, 22, a mechanicfrom Adilabad and native ofMaharashtra and Shaik Feroz,21, a mason from Kanchan-bagh. Waseem and Ameercame to Hyderabad on 24 Julyand asked Feroz to join them

promising equal share in thestolen property to Feroz.

Later, the trio committedtwo thefts on 27 July atMeerpet and escaped withbooty. On 2 August, theybroke open the door locks andstole gold ornaments inanother house in the samelocality.

They were involved in threeburglaries in Meerpet sinceJuly, police said, adding thatfollowing three burglaries, theSOT took up investigationand collected footage fromsurveillance cameras at thecrime spots and identifiedthe suspects.

Based on clues, the gangwas arrested from the house ofShaik Feroz in Baba Nagar inKanchanbagh.

Cops bust three-member inter-state gang of thieves

PNS n HYDERABAD

A man kept his grandfather'sbody in a fridge at their housein Warangal district as he wasallegedly not having money toperform his last rites, policesaid on Thursday.

The deceased, aged around95, had retired as a headmas-ter and was drawing pensionand staying with his grandsonwhile his other family mem-bers reside in Kamareddy dis-trict, they said. On Thursday,some neighbours alerted the

police after a foul smellemanated from the house.

Police found the bodystuffed in the refrigerator, asenior police official said.

"The man told police that hisgrandfather was bedriddenand died of ill health recently.After the death, he had initial-ly wrapped the body with abedsheet and later kept thebody in the fridge. He toldpolice he did this as he wasunable to perform the lastrites as he did not have money,"the official said.

Police are also investigatingif the 23-year-old man hid hisgrandfather's body to ensurethat his pension did not stop,the official said.

Based on preliminary inves-tigation, the official said therewere no external injuries onthe elderly man's body and heis suspected to have diedaround six days ago. However,they were also verifying if hewas given some poisonoussubstance. As of now a case ofsuspicious death was regis-tered, police added.

Unable to pay for last rites, manstores grandpa’s body in fridge

PNS n HYDERABAD

Despite light rains in sever-al districts of Telangana, theweather in Hyderabad hasremained dry and hot forthe last few days.

On Thursday, the maxi-mum temperature record-ed in the city was 33.9degree Celsius, which is atleast 4 degrees more thanthe usual.

However, after a sunnyafternoon, the city wit-nessed very light drizzles ata few localities towards theevening. As per the Telan-gana State DevelopmentPlanning Society (TSDPS),the city might receive lightto moderate rainfall at iso-lated places for the nextthree days. The maximumtemperature in the city dur-ing the period is expected tobe in the range of 32 degreeCelsius to 34 degreesCelsius and the minimumtemperature rangingbetween 23 degree Celsiusto 25 degrees Celsius.

Hyd to witness light rains over next three days

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana on Thursday reg-istered 453 Covid cases tak-ing the tally to over 6.51 lakhwhile the toll stood at 3,836with three more casualties.The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporat ion

(GHMC) accounted for thehighest number of cases with69 followed by Karimnagar-55 district, a state govern-ment bulletin said.

The number of active caseswas 8,137.

The total number of casesin the state stood at 6,51,288,

while with 591 people beingcured, the total recoveries areat 6,39,456. Over 89,000samples were tested onThursday.

Cumulatively, over 2.31crore have been tested. Thesamples tested per millionpopulation were over 6.22

lakh, the bulletin said. The case fatality rate in the

state was 0.58 per cent, whileit was 1.3 per cent at thenational level.

The recover y rate inTelangana was 98.18 percent. It was 97.43 per cent inthe country.

TS clocks 453 Covid cases, 3 deaths

PNS n HYDERABAD

The demand for power inGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) limits isincreasing year after year. Thedemand for power has reached5.8 crore units per day duringthe current August as against4.1 crore units in August lastyear.

Lack of rains during the last10 days coupled with increas-ing day temperature, the peo-ple feel it very hot as if it wasa day in summer. The con-sumption of power in homesand offices has increased.

The daily consumption ofpower in January this year isput at 4.5 crore units per day,which is the maximum so far.The demand for power at theother end of the spectrum was3.6 million units per day. InFebruary, the peak level

demand of 4.7 crore units, 5.7crore in March and 7 croreunits per day in April and Maywere recorded.

The demand slumped to 4crore units per day due torains. However, on August 5,the demand peaked to 5.3crore per day. It reached 5.8crore units mark on Aug 10.This is attributed to rise inMercury and other atmos-pheric changes.

The electricity departmentofficials say that all arrange-ments have been made tomeet the increased powerdemand.

Under the limits ofTelangana State SouthernPower Distribution CompanyLimited, the peak hourdemand was put at 7248 mw,including 2800 MW of thepeak-level demand under nineelectricity circles in Hyderabad.

Power demand in Hydreaches 5.8 crore units

hyderabad 04HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

PNS n SANGAREDDY

A car was gutted when fireengulfed the engine at Digwalvillage in Kohir mandal ofSangareddy district onThursday.

The car was proceeding toHyderabad from Maharashtra.

The alert driver raised alarm andasked the passengers to comeout of the car. Three passengersare travelling at the time of theaccident. The fire personnelfrom Zaheerabad reached thespot and put out the fire. The firewas caused due to technical snagin the car's engine.

Car gutted, threeescape unhurt

PNS n NIZAMABAD

A history-sheeter has createdtension by wielding a pistol inNizamabad town as part ofthe birthday bash. The histo-ry-sheeter Arif who wasreleased on bail from jailrecently, fired in the air withhis pistol while mountingatop the car in the birthdaycelebrations.

The police, however,launched an investigationinto how he secured the pis-tol. Arif is an accused in sev-eral dacoities and murdersand he was taken into cus-tody under the Enforcementof Preventive Detention (PD)Act and put behind the bars,the police said.

Tension prevailsas a history-sheeter opensfire into air

PNS n WARANGAL

Celebrations organized withthe release of GO No.74 chang-ing the Warangal Urban andWarangal Rural districts asWarangal and Hanmakondadistricts here on Thursday.

The State government onThursday issued a GO chang-ing the names and giving theboundaries and new revenuedivisions. Warangal districthas two revenue divisionsWarangal and Narsampet withan area of 1805.37 square kmand 8.93 lakh population, whileHanmakonda has two revenuedivisions Hanmakonda andParakala with an area of1688.75 sq km and 9.05 lakhpopulation.

The government has soughtviews of the public on thechanging of names of the dis-tricts and other changes. Thegovernment received 133 sug-gestions and objections.Minister for Panchayat Raj,Rural Development and RWSErrabelli Dayakar Rao onWednesday reviewed the

objections raised by the peoplealong with Minister forWomen and Child WelfareSatyavathi Rathod, WarangalWest MLA and GovernmentChief Whip Dasyam VinayBhaskar, Station GhanpurMLA and former Deputy ChiefMinister Dr T Rajaiah,Parakala MLA Challa DharmaReddy, Warangal urban ZillaParishad chairman Dr SudhirKumar and collectors Rajiv

Gandhi Hanumanthu andHaritha and other officials.They discussed the sugges-tions and objections and tooksteps.

Hanmakonda has beenformed with 14 mandals -Hanmakonda, Kajipeta,Inavolu, Hasanparti, Peleru,Dharmasagar, Yelkaturthi,B h i m a d e v a r a p a l l i ,Kamalapuram, Parakala,Nadikuda, Damera,

Athmakuru and Sayampet.Warangal has 13 mandals -Warangal, Khilla Warangal,Sangem, Geesukonda,Vardhannapeta, Parvathagiri,Rayaparti, Narsampet,Chennaraopeta, Nallanbelli,Duggondi, Khanapuram andNekkonda. The governmentissued the final GO to thiseffect on Thursday.

Ministers Dayakar Rao andSathyavathi Rathod thankedChief Minister KCR for decid-ing to change the names of thedistricts to take forward thehistorical significance ofWarangal and Hanmakondaduring the Kakatiya dynastyand also considering theadministrative conveniences.

Meanwhile, people have cel-ebrated the establishment ofnew districts all over the twodistricts. At the celebrationsorganized at the Hanmakondacollector office, GovernmentChief Whip Dasyam VinayBhaskar and Minister ErrabelliDayakar Rao participated.They conducted a milk bath toKCR's portrait on the occasion.

People elated over change innames of Warangal districts

PNS n MEDAK

The Medak police have unrav-elled the mystery behind themurder of Dharmakar Srinivas(45), whose charred remainswere found in his own car atMangalparthy in VeldurthiMandal on Tuesday.

Superintendent of PoliceChandana Deepthi said thepolice identified three personsin the murder and arrested oneof them. History-sheeter Shiva(29) was taken into custody inconnection with the murdercase as he was closely associat-ed with the deceasedDharmakar Srinivas in hisbusiness. The police said Shivais the prime accused in the casewhile his two cousins Nikhiland Pavan were also primeaccused. They are the residentsof Medak, the SP said.

Speaking to reporters, theSP said that they had identified

three accused in less than 24hours by carrying out a scien-tific investigation. Deepthi thethree prime accused commit-ted the crime and they weresuspecting the role of otherstoo. However, she said thatthey could not disclose thenames of other suspects.

The SP said that the threeaccused slit Srinivas's throatand killed him on Mondayevening. Later, they hadstuffed the body in the car'sdickey and set it on fire atMangalaparthi

in an attempt to destroy theevidence. However, the topcop said that they could notconclude the exact motivebehind his murder. She, how-ever, said that the primeaccused had confessed thatsome business transactionshad motivated them to elim-inate, but they have found noconcrete evidence on it.

Bizman’s murdermystery unravelled

PNS n WARANGAL

The Central Crime Stationsleuths arrested two persons onThursday in connection withtheft cases and seized 825grams of gold jewellery, 846grams of silver ornamentsworth Rs 42 lakh.

Speaking to media personshere on Thursday,Commissioner of police DrTarun Joshi said Enubotula Suniland Lavudya Sagar had lostmoney in the cricket betting and

habituated to house burglaries.Earlier, they downloaded the appand held cricket betting in thecity and got huge money. Sincethey lost everything in the samebetting, Sunil sketched a map forrobberies in locked houses.

He learned to break open thelocks by seeing the YouTubevideos and bought the toolsnecessary for housing breaking.After thorough practising, theduo started house burglaries inthe Warangal city limits. Theyhave committed around seven

offences in the Subedari policestation limits and fifteen in theKazipeta, Matwada, Chilpuruand Dharmasagar police stationlimits and stolen valuables worthRs 42 lakh.

Hailing from Mahabubabaddistrict, the accused migrated toWarangal for higher studies andhabituated to cricket betting.During the interrogation, theduo confessed the crimes theyhave committed. The police alsoseized one laptop and a two-wheeler from them.

Two house burglars arrested, goldworth Rs 42 lakh seized in Warangal

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

The Wakf Board lands inMahabubnagar district will beprotected from encroachmentsand the state government hasbrought out new laws andconstituted a committee tosafeguard the assets, Ministerfor Excise, Sports, Culture andTourism Dr V Srinivas Gowdsaid on Thursday.

The Minister inauguratedthe Wakf properties protectionoffice in Mahabubnagar onThursday and Anwar Bashatook charge as chairman of theDistrict Wakf properties pro-tection committee.

Speaking on the occasion,Srinivas Gowd said the govern-ment introduced new laws toprotect the properties and alsoconstituted district-wise com-mittees. District Collector, SP,Joint Collector and RDOs willbe the members and one per-son from minorities will be thechairman and two advocatesand a senior citizen will also bethe members of the committee.

The Minister said the com-mittee should take steps to pro-tect the Wakf lands in the dis-trict and assured to provide allfacilities required for the WakfBoard office. In those days,voluntary organisations anddonors used to help the poorand donate lands to the tem-

ples, masjids and churches.There are many Wakf lands inMahabubnagar district andthe committee has to protectthese assets, he added.

Srinivas Gowd said the stategovernment is committed tothe welfare of the minoritiesand as part of the minority wel-fare, lands were given toKabharasthans in 20 acres infour places in the town. Fundshave been released for the ren-ovation of masjids and as partof it, Abdul Khader dargah wasdeveloped. Apart from it, sixminority residential schools,three colleges and one voca-tional college were established.People of all religions are livingtogether like Ganga Jamunaand Tahajib, he added. DistrictCollector S Venkat Rao assuredthat the district administrationwould provide all support for

protecting the Wakf properties. Wakf Board protection com-

mittee chairman Anwar Bashasaid it was happy that the gov-ernment has instituted a com-mittee for protecting Wakflands after 40 years. Andthanked Minister SrinivasGowd for taking initiative inthis direction. There are somany valuable lands for theWakf board and tougher mea-sures will be taken to protectthese lands, he added.

The Minister handed over acheque for Rs 60,000 fromChief Minister's Relief Fund toRiyazuddin. District SP RVenkateswarlu, Wakf BoardProtection committee mem-bers Javed Ali, RahimunnisaBegum, DCCB presidentNizam Basha, municipal chair-man KC Narsimhulu and oth-ers were present.

Wakf Board lands will beprotected, says Minister

PNS n BHONGIR

An old man allegedly commit-ted suicide within two hoursof the death of his wife atAregudem village ofChoutuppal mandal inYadadri-Bhongir district inthe early hours of Thursday.

According to reports, a60-year-old Pisapat iMallamma committed sui-cide by setting herself ablazeat her house at Aregudem asshe was said to be slippedinto depression. Her hus-band Mara Reddy (65) madea futile attempt to save her.Unable to digest the wife'sdeath, Mara Reddy also

ended his life by committingsuicide by hanging to a treein his agriculture field.

Noticing smoke comingout of the house, neigh-bours entered the houseand found the charred bodyof Mallamma. They alsofound Mara Reddy hangingfrom a tree.

Circle Inspector SrinivasReddy said the bodies of thehusband and wife wereshifted to the governmenthospital at Choutuppal forautopsy. Based on a com-plaint lodged by the son ofthe victim Bal Reddy, a casewas registered and investi-gation is on.

Man ends life within twohours of his wife's death

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

State Government ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar onThursday issued orders trans-ferring Nagarkurnool districtCollector L Sharman. ManuChowdhary has been appoint-ed as the new District Collectorfor the district.

His successor ManuChowdhary is working asAdditional Collector (LocalBodies) in Nagarkurnool andhe has been elevated asCollector. An IAS of 2017

batch, Manu Chowdhary tookcharge as Collector onThursday.

Meanwhile, his predecessorL Sharman said he was leavingthe district with satisfaction

that he had served the peoplefor 423 days whatever he cando for the best. He said hereceived the transfer orders asHyderabad Collector.

He met the collector officestaff, students and others at hiscamp office at a farewell func-tion. He said with supportfrom all the people, he has suc-cessfully faced the Covid sec-ond wave in the district. Hehas some memories with hisattachment with HarithaHaram, Palle Pragathi, planta-tion drive, extending loans to

street vendors and holdingmorning walks. He said he can-not forget the support from thepeople of the district. Hethanked one and all for extend-ing support during his tenure.

Additional Collector SrinivasReddy, DM&HO Sudhakar Lal,district officials Anil Prakash,Seetharam, Rajeswari, NarsingRao, Venkateswarlu, excise CIEdukondalu, several tehsildarsand others were among thosewho bid a farewell to him. Therevenue employees organised afarewell function later.

Collector Sharman transferred, Manu takes charge

HOMELY HONOUR

BJP State executive member Singaiahpalli Gopi felicitating UnionMinister for Tourism Kishan Reddy in New Delhi on Thursday.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Twitter India has blocked for-mer MP Ponnam Prabhakar'sTwitter account along with theaccounts of Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and the party'sofficial account.

Twitter India hasannounced in its statementthat it has been blockingPonnam's Twitter account forretweeting the former AICCChief Rahul Gandhi's demandthat the Central governmentdo justice to the Dalit girl, whowas raped in Delhi. TwitterIndia asked PonnamPrabhakar to delete that tweetfrom his account, which waslocked from Wednesday.

Ponnam's Twitteraccount blocked

SNCN ACHARYULU

n HYDERABAD

Huzurabad assembly by-elec-tion is a litmus test for TRStroubleshooter T Harish Rao.Chief Minister and the TRSPresident K ChandrasekharRao has given the responsibil-ity of winning TRS inHuzurabad by-election toMinister T Harish Rao.

After a few months of thegap, Minister Harish Raobecame a closure to CM KCR.The political future of HarishRao also depends on the resultof the Huzurabad assembly by-election. During the Telanganamoment, Harish Rao and for-mer minister and present BJPleader Eatala Rajender werevery close. Both are separateTelangana activists and theCM KCR was depended onboth leaders to implement thepolitical strategies during theTelangana moment.

In the Dubbaka assembly by-election in the erstwhile Medakdistrict which is the home dis-trict of Harish Rao and also CMKCR, the TRS failed in protect-ing its own seat and lost to BJP.But in the MLC elections of thegraduate constituency, Harish

Rao has played a crucial role inwinning both seats. Particularlyin the Hyderabad graduatesconstituency, Harish Rao retal-iated by defeating the sittingBJP MLC Ramachandra Rao.With this, the image of HarishRao is increased in the eyes ofCM KCR.

Now the Harish Rao is han-dling a difficult assignment inHuzurabad to get victory of theTRS candidate. In theHuzurabad assembly by-elec-tion, the actual fight is betweenTRS and Eatala Rajender. Inother words, the fight in theHuzurabad assembly by-elec-tion is between the old friendsEatala and Harish Rao. Thewinning in Huzurabad is mostimportant politically to TRS aswell as to Harish Rao. If Eatalawins in Huzurabad the creditgoes to him only and not to

BJP, since the BJP strength isknown by everyone in theHuzurabad assembly con-stituency. In the event ofEatala wins, there may be someshades in the image of HarishRao. If TRS wins the politicalfuture of Eatala may fall in thedark. At the same time, HarishRao will get more importancefrom CM KCR. And alsoHarish Rao will prove that heis a troubleshooter. TRS officialcandidate is Gellu SrinivasaYadav, but the real fighter isHarish Rao from TRS.

At the outset, the Huzurabadassembly by-election result ismore important personally toHarish Rao and Eatala than thepolitical importance to TRSand BJP. For both Eatala andHarish Rao, the Huzurabadassembly by-poll had turnedinto a prestigious issue.

HUZURABAD BY-POLL

Fight not on party lines, butbetween Eatala and Harish

Sharmila's ‘Podu Yatra' to beginfrom Lingala on August 18PNS n MULUG

YSR Telangana Party founder-president YS Sharmila isvisiting Lingala as part ofher 'Podu Yatra' onAugust 18 to extend hersupport to the ongoingmovement by Adivasisand Girijans demandingrights over Podu lands.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Thursday, YSRTPParliament convenor BanothSujatha Mangilal and co-con-venor Ramasahayam Srinivas

Reddy said YSRTP presidentSharmila is extending solidar-ity to the Adivasis and Girijans

said Later YSR hasgiven lakhs of forest

lands to thousandsof Girijan familiesin 2006 and givenland rights docu-

ments. But the pre-sent Chief Minister

KCR is diluting the rightsof the Adivasis by instigatingthe forest officials and attack-ing the innocent tribals. Thegovernment is playing with the

lives of the Adivasis, they said.Denoting that the fighting

Adivasis are not alone to fightagainst the government,Sharmina is launching 'PoduYatra' and reaching Lingala onAugust 18. They appealed tothe Adivasi youth, women,students, intellectuals, YSRTPworkers and YSR fans to par-ticipate in the programme inhuge numbers and make suc-cess the movement for Podulands. State Executive memberBazaru Shyamprasad also par-ticipated.

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC president A RevanthReddy has demanded ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao suspend the officials whobehaved inhumanly towardsAdivasi women in Khammamjail violating human rights.He also demanded that pattasshould be to all 'Podu' landsbefore September 17 in thestate.

He said the Chief Ministershould give Rs.10 lakh each tothe families of Dalit, Girijanand Adivasis. The Congresswill organise 'Dalit, GIrijan

Athma Gourava Dandora'meetings to intensify move-ment in case he failed torevive the ITDAs, which gavelight to the lives of Girijanand Adivasi families, byreleasing funds, he added.

Revanth Reddy wrote a let-ter to the Chief Minister inthis regard on Thursday. Inhis letter, Revanth Reddyalleged that the police arrest-ed 23 persons including 20women with regard to the'Podu' Lands issue atYellannagar in Konijerla man-dal in Khammam district.They have been shifted to

Khammam jail and later theyfiled an attempt to murdercases against them. Theyreleased them on August 11after getting bail. The police,who filed cases under 307,353, 148 red with 149 sec-tions, have gone back on thesections later and withdrew307, 148 sections. They sub-mitted a memo in the Courtto this effect after facingsevere crit icism. In theprocess, Girijans got bail onAugust 10.

However, the Girijan women,who were in jail, have beenalleging that the Khammam jail

staff behaved against theminhumanly and were beatenwith sticks using abusive lan-guage. The further said that thepolice also forced the women toclean toilets when they asked forfood, Revanth Reddy said in hisletter.

The jail staff made theGirijan woman clean the riceof 20 bags too. RevanthReddy al leged that theKhammam jail staff behav-iour is inhuman and it is notfair to spare any more. OneMariamma lost her life withthis sort of behaviour, healleged.

Revanth writes to CM, seeks suspension of jail staff

PNS n HYDERABAD

BC Welfare Associationnational president RKrishnaiah has announcedthat they will take up move-ment at the national level forthe sake of reservations forBCs in legislative houses.

Speaking to the mediahere on Thursday,Krishnaiah made it clearthat they will fight till theyachieve 50 per cent quota inLegislative Houses. Healleged that the politicalparties are treating BCs asvoting machines. The polit-ical parties would disappearif BCs united, he added.

He said that only 14 percent BCs are enjoying thepositions constitutionallyand in other sectors, thoughthey are 56 per cent acrossthe nation. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi acceptedfour out of 18 demands inregard to BCs recently. Herevealed that they will wagea fight to achieve theremaining 14 demands.

National-levelstir for BC quotain legislatures:Krishnaiah

L Sharman Manu Chowdhary

nation 05HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

ADelhi court has sought an action taken report from the police on a complaint filed by asacked professor of a Delhi University college seeking registration of FIR under theScheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the principal

for alleged casteist remarks. Additional Sessions Judge Charu Aggarwal has sought the reportfrom the station house officer on the application. The complainant, who worked as anassistant professor, moved the court alleging that the principal along with four professors,hatched a conspiracy to terminate her from service by forging documents, creating false

records, fabricating and giving false evidence. “The behaviour ofaccused number 1 (principal) has been casteist, demeaning,discriminatory, threatening towards the complainant that theaccused No.1 used to make casteist remarks so much so that onAugust 10, 2020, the complainant was refused her re-joining fromthe job,” the complaint stated. The professor sought directionfrom the court to the police to register an FIR against the principaland others under various sections of the Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Indian PenalCode and punish them in accordance with the law.

Jagannath temple reopens,entry for people from Aug 23

Sacked professor seeks FIR against DUcollege principal for casteist remarks

128 children among 576 new COVIDpatients in Mizoram

At least 576 more people, including 128 children, tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, takingthe tally in the state to 46,896, a health department official said on Thursday. Two more fatalitiesdue to the infection in the last 24 hours raised the death toll to 173, he said. Of the fresh cases,

323 were reported from Aizawl district, 71 from Kolasib, 57 from Champhai, 38 from Lunglei, 35from Lawngtlai. The single-day positivity rate was at 9.30 per cent as the new cases were detectedfrom 6,192 sample tests. At least 128 children and eight Border Security Force personnel are amongthe newly infected people, he said. Nine fresh patients have travel history, while 567 were found tohave locally contracted the disease, the official said, adding that 313 have developed symptoms of

Covid-19. Mizoram now has 11,989 active cases, and1,012 people were cured of the disease on Wednesday,taking the total number of recoveries to 34,734. Therecovery rate among Covid-19 patients in the state standsat 74 per cent. Over seven lakh sample tests for Covid-19have been conducted in the state so far. Stateimmunisation officer Dr Lalzawmi said over 6.42 lakhpeople have been inoculated till Wednesday with 2.13 lakhof them having received both doses of the vaccine.

The famed Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri reopened on Thursday in the first phase afterremaining shut for over three months amid the COVID-restrictions. In the first phase, onlyfamily members of the servitors are being allowed to enter the temple, an official said.The

temple will open for the public in the second phase, he said.The 12th-century shrine was shuton April 24 amid the second wave of the pandemic, and remained closed during the RathaJatra. The family members of the servitors are being allowed darshan from Mangal Alati till

Rati Pahuda, the official said. While entering the temple, theyare required to produce any identity card issued by the templeauthority along with a government-issued identity proof suchas Aadhaar card.In the second phase, residents of Puri will beallowed to enter the temple through the Lion's Gate fromAugust 16, the official said.The general public will be allowedentry from August 23, he said.The temple will remain closed onAugust 21 and 22 in view of the shutdown in Puri on Saturdaysand Sundays.Devotees from outside Puri will have to producethe final COVID-vaccination certificate or COVID-negative RT-PCR report of testing done within 96 hours.

INDIA

CORNER

PNS n KOLKATA

The Trinamool Congress onThursday condemned thealleged blocking of theCongress's official Twitteraccount, questioning whetherit was linked to opposing thepolitics and policies of theBJP.

The Congress alleged thatthe party's official Twitteraccount and those of a largenumber of its leaders wereblocked by the microbloggingsite.

"What's going on @Twitter@TwitterIndia @jack What'sgoing on? We strongly con-demn the blocking of theaccounts of @INCIndia andsenior leaders of the Congressparty," TMC Rajya Sabhaparty leader Derek O'Brientweeted.

The TMC's West Bengalunit general secretary KunalGhosh said it was a danger-ous trend.

"It means the BJP hence-forth will control the socialmedia platforms as well. Theywill control the narrative andwill also decide who cantweet and who cannot. It hasto be looked into whether thisblocking of Congress'sTwitter handle is linked withits opposition to the policiesand politics of the BJP," hesaid.

TMC condemns‘blocking' ofCongressTwitter accounts

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leaders of several oppositionparties on Thursday marchedin protest against the govern-ment on several issues,including Pegasus, farm lawsand alleged manhandling oftheir MPs in Rajya Sabha,with Congress leader RahulGandhi saying the voice ofpeople was crushed inParliament and democracywas "murdered".

Top leaders of severalopposition parties met in thechamber of Leader ofOpposition in the RajyaSabha Mallikarjun Khargeand then walked in protestfrom Parliament House to

Vijay Chowk.Those who attended the

meeting included Gandhi,Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay

Raut, Tiruchi Siva, ManojJha and other oppositionleaders. They met RajyaSabha chairman M Venkaiah

Naidu and complainedagainst the alleged heckling ofMPs including some women.

Some union ministers alsomet Naidu and complainedagainst the alleged unrulybehaviour of some oppositionmembers in the House onWednesday.

The protest comes a dayafter the passage of bills inRajya Sabha amid charges ofmanhandling of oppositionleaders including somewomen MPs.

The protesting MPs carriedplacards and banners againstthe government that read'Stop murder of democracy'and 'we demand Repeal ofanti farmers laws'.

Democracy murdered, voiceof people crushed: Congress

Putting the blame on theOpposition for unrulyscenes witnessed during

the monsoon session ofParliament, a group of unionministers on Thursday saidRajya Sabha Chairman musttake the strongest possibleaction against those who brokethe rules. Addressing a jointpress conference here, they also

accused the opposition leadersof manhandling marshals, whileUnion Minister Piyush Goyalsaid that the Opposition'sapproach of "my way or highwayis highly condemnable" and thecountry also condemns suchattitude. Goyal, also Leader ofHouse in Rajya Sabha, said thegroup of ministers metChairman and Deputy Chairman

of the House and made anearnest appeal that the strongestpossible action should be takenagainst the opposition MPs fortheir deplorable behavior andmanhandling marshals.He said the Opposition wasunable to digest the fact that thecountry has given up on themand their behaviour in RajyaSabha on Wednesday was a

new low of the parliamentarydemocracy. The SecretaryGeneral's table in Rajya Sabha isnot meant for dancing andprotesting, Union MinisterAnurag Thakur said at the pressconference, referring to anincident when an oppositionleader was seen above a tableinside the upper house ofParliament.

Oppn should apologise to nation: Ministers

PNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Justice of India NVRamana on Thursday said thatfalse narratives and miscon-ceptions created in minds ofthe people that judges suppos-edly lead an easy life need tobe refuted by educating thepublic about the work put bythem with limited resources.

The CJI said the most obvi-ous sacrifice to become a judgeis monetary of course but onemust be moved by the spirit ofpublic duty to take such a deci-sion.

Justice Ramana, who wasspeaking at a farewell functionof Justice RF Nariman organ-ised by the Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA), said thatit is important for judges tostay in touch with society andnot remained completelysecluded.

However, he said the unde-niable fact is that "our engage-ment with society undergoes adrastic change when webecome a judge."

"I would like to flag theamount of work we put in asJudges, day in and day out.There exists a misconceptionin the minds of the people thatJudges stay in big bungalows,work only 10 am to 4 pm andenjoy their holidays. Such a

narrative is untrue," the CJIsaid.

He said it is not easy to pre-pare for more than 100 casesevery week, listen to novelarguments, do independentresearch, and author judg-ments, while also dealing withthe various administrativeduties of a Judge, particularlyof a senior judge.

"We either burn the mid-night oil, or wake up beforesunrise, or sometimes evenboth, to fulfil our judicialduties. We continue to workeven during the Court holi-days, do research and authorpending judgements. Ther-efore, when false narratives arecreated about the supposedeasy life led by Judges, it is dif-ficult to swallow," CJI said.

"We cannot defend our-selves. It is the duty of the Barto refute these false narrativesand to educate the publicabout the work put in byJudges with the limited

resources given to them,"Justice Ramana said.

He said "there are a numberof sacrifices one must makewhen one decides to become aJudge, the most obvious tobecome a judge is monetary,especially when one has aroaring practice, but one mustbe moved by the spirit of pub-lic duty to take such a deci-sion."

"Honestly, if Brother Nari-man had continued to be alawyer rather than becoming aJudge, he could have led a mo-re luxurious and relaxed life.That he managed to balance allhis duties and produce thequality of work he did, is a tes-tament to his work ethic andhis capabilities," the CJI said.

Justice Ramana said at thetender age of 12 years, whileother children were probablybusy playing cricket or some-thing else, Justice Narimanbecame an ordained priest ofthe Parsi faith.

Misconceptions about judgesneed to be refuted, says CJI

PNS n SHIMLA

Four more bodies were recov-ered from the landslide site inHimachal Pradesh's Kinnaurdistrict where the search andrescue operation resumed earlyon Thursday, raising the deathtoll to 14, officials said.

A Himachal Road TransportCorporation (HRTC) bus,which, along with other vehi-cles, was buried under thedebris, has been found in abadly damaged condition, StateDisaster Management DirectorSudesh Kumar Mokhta said.

However, a Bolero car alsofeared buried under the rubblecould not be traced, he said.

The HRTC bus was on itsway from Reckong Peo toHaridwar via Shimla when itwas hit by boulders after thelandslide around Wednesdaynoon near Chaura village onnational highway-5 inNigulsari area of Nichar tehsil.

In a video clip that surfacedon social media, a rescuerworking at the site near themangled remains of the bus isheard saying that the vehiclewas found by the Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) 17th

Battalion personnel. Anotherrescuer says that gloves shouldbe brought for continuing therescue operation.

Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq saidfour more bodies were recov-ered from the spot after the res-cue operation resumed onThursday.

The DC told PTI that 14bodies have been recovered sofar. Thirteen people were res-cued with injuries onWednesday, while several oth-ers were still feared buriedunder the debris. However theexact number was not known.

In a touching Facebook post,Lokendra Singh Vedic, a resi-dent of Shimla, said his father'sbody has been found but res-cuers are yet to find his head.

The rescue work, being car-ried out jointly by the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF), the ITBP, the localpolice and home guards,resumed at 6 am, Mokhta said.

Meanwhile, a two-minutesilence was observed in thestate assembly to pay homageto those who died in theKinnaur landslide.

Urban DevelopmentMinister Suresh Bhardwaj said

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur,along with Industries andTransport Minister BikramSingh, has gone to the spot totake stock of the rescue work.

Bhardwaj said the landslideoccurred at the place wherepeople usually stop their vehi-cles to look at the scenic viewand take photographs.

The state government hadrequisitioned four helicoptersfor rescue work on Wednesdayitself but they could not reachat the site due to bad weather,he added.

Senior Congress leader AshaKumari in the state assemblysaid Leader of the oppositionMukesh Agnihotri, RampurMLA Nand Lal and ShimlaRural MLA VikramadityaSingh have also gone to thespot. Expressing his condo-lences, CPM MLA RakeshSingha said the factors thatcause such landslides shouldalso be examined and rectified.

The authorities had sus-pended the operation ataround 10 pm on Wednesday.

The Bhawanagar stationhouse officer (SHO) had saidaround 25 to 30 people weretrapped under the debris.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The youth today are morelikely to trust an artificial intel-ligence-run system than onecontrolled by humans, andthey believe the "fractures" insociety are manifestations of anunderlying political problem, aWorld Economic Forum(WEF) report has claimed.

The report was launched aspart of a drive to mark theInternational Youth Day, whichis celebrated on August 12.

The WEF drive, called a'Youth-Driven Recovery Plan',saw participation of over twomillion young people fromacross countries, includingIndia, who shared their viewson what will become the nextnormal for society, govern-ment, and business.

According to the survey,young people believe there is aserious crisis in politics, espe-

cially with regards to climatechange policies, and incomeinequality.

"They believe that the frac-tures that have come to bear insociety are manifestations of anunderlying political problem.Concerns about corruptionand stale political leadershiphave become urgent prioritiesfor young people if they are to

keep faith in the political sys-tem," the report said.

The survey found that youngpeople would be more likely totrust a system run by artificialintelligence than humans. Aspart of the solution, they sug-gested greater investment inprogrammes that help young"progressive voices" join gov-ernments and become influen-

tial policy-makers, it said.Still smarting from the effects

of the 2008 financial crisis andfaced with stagnating incomes,young people no longer seem tobelieve that they will enjoy abetter standard of living thantheir parents did, the reportfound.

"They are extremely worriedabout their financial future.They want to see a globalwealth tax on assets worthmore than USD 50 million tosafeguard social safety netsand avoid austerity measuresthat disproportionately bur-den youth and the workingpoor and almost half of theyoung people surveyed saidthey feel inadequately skilledand close to a quarter said theywould risk falling into debt iffaced with an unexpected med-ical expense," the report said.

The Davos Lab Surveyshowed that physical safety

ranks as the greatest safety con-cern among young people, apotential function of theincreased use of surveillancetechnology and militarisedpolicing against activists andpeople of colour.

Climate change also rankedhigh among the concerns thatare on most young people'smind. "Young people want tosee a halt on all new coal, oiland gas exploration and devel-opment to limit global warm-ing to the 1.5 C limit set out inthe Paris Agreement.

"They call on financial insti-tutions to avoid bankrolling orunderwriting companies thatseek to start new fossil-fuelexploration and development,and on firms to actively replacecorporate board directors whoare unwilling to wind downfossil fuels or transition togreen energy sources," thereport said.

Youth are likelier to trust AI over humans: WEF

PNS n BENGALURU

Ruling BJP MLA fromMudigere M P Kumaraswamyon Thursday staged a protestaccusing his own party's gov-ernment in Karnataka ofneglecting his constituencythat has been ravaged by tor-rential rains, floods and land-slides over the past few years.

He staged a protest alone,with a placard, in front ofMahatma Gandhi statue atVidhana Soudha, the seat of thestate legislature and secretari-at here. "In 2019 we had heavyrains and about six peoplewere washed away along withtheir houses and it took fifteendays to search for their bodies,several houses and coffee plan-tations were destroyed due to

landslides, we asked for com-pensation, we were complete-ly neglected, we remainedquite," Kumaraswamy said.

Noting that the situation con-tinued last year and this year too,he said, "I did not want to ques-tion why other constituencies arebeing considered and we were not,but one name I will take-Shivamogga city- was consideredfor relief under NDRF norms, butMudigere which is a hilly area thatcomes amid western Ghats andreceives heavy rains, was left out."

Pointing out that in 2018 whenH D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S)was the Chief Minister, he hadgiven grants and had promised tohelp in other ways, following hisappeal on the social media not toneglect Mudigere constituency, theMLA said.

HP landslide: 4 more die, toll rises to 14PNS n AHMEDABAD

The Indian Air Force hassacked one of its personnelfrom service for refusing toget vaccinated againstCOVID-19, which has beenmade a service condition, thecentral government has toldthe Gujarat High Court.

Additional SolicitorGeneral Devang Vyas, in hissubmission on Wednesday inthe HC on a plea moved byIAF corporal YogendraKumar at Jamnagar inGujarat, told a divisionbench of Justices A J Desai

and A P Thaker that acrossIndia, nine personnel hadrefused to get vaccinatedand they were given show-cause notices.

One of them, who did notrespond to the notice, wasterminated from service,Vyas told the high court.

He, however, did not givethe name or any other detailsof the staffer against whomthe action was taken.

“Across India, only ninepersonnel have refused totake the vaccine. All of themwere given show causenotice...one did not respond,

so in view of the lack ofresponse, his service isalready terminated,” Vyastold the court.

He said as far as the vac-cine in general is concerned,it is optional, but so far as theAir Force is concerned, it isnow made a service condi-tion, which is in continuationof the oath taken at the timeof enrollment in the service.

Also, it is imperative to seeto it that the Force is not putin a vulnerable state, and it isrequired for personnel tomandatorily get vaccinated,he told the court.

PNS n KOCHI

Whether a wedding under theSpecial Marriage Act (SMA)can be solemnised via videoconferencing was a questionbeing examined by the KeralaHigh Court, which onThursday reserved its decisionon the issue.

Justice P B Suresh Kumarheard arguments on behalf of

the state government, whichis not in favour of online

solemnisation of marriagesunder the Act, and severalpetitioners who have con-tended that personal physicalpresence of the bride andgroom is not necessary forsolemnisation of nuptialsunder the law.

The state government saidthat under the Act, solemniza-tion of marriage was manda-tory prior to registering it

under the SMA and therefore,presence of the two sides andthe witnesses is requiredbefore the Marriage Officer.

It also said that if onlinemode of solemnisation waspermitted, it would mandatemaintaining of an electronicregister of marriages and set-ting up an online mode ofpayment both of which arenot in place presently.

Vax refusal: IAF staffer sacked

HC examines live wedding under SMA

PNS n NEW DELHI

A day after Parliament'sMonsoon session ended on astormy note, some Unionministers Thursday called onRajya Sabha chairperson MVenkaiah Naidu.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi,Leader of House in RajyaSabha Piyush Goyal andMukhtar Abbas Naqvi wereamong the ministers whomet Naidu at his official res-idence here. On Wednesday,Naidu broke down over thehuge ruckus in the House andequated the act of someopposition MPs to "sacrilegein temple of democracy".

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlais also likely to meet VicePresident Naidu in the evening.

Some ministerscall on RSSpeaker

PNS n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati on Thursday termedas unfortunate the deadlock inParliament between the gov-ernment and the oppositionover the Pegasus snoopingrow and other issues."Whatever happened in thecountry's Parliament and itsupper house Rajya Sabha dueto the deadlock is very unfor-tunate,” she said.

‘Deadlock inParliamentunfortunate’

K’taka BJP MLA onprotest against govt

CJI N V Ramana on retirement of Justice Nariman

vide a platform for radicalcommunist elements and awhole generation of dictatorsand autocrats to portray them-selves as leaders and statesmen.Most notable in this regard wasIndia’s Krishna Menon, whosevitriolic anti-Western rhetoricand fire-spitting speeches inthe UN earned him the dubi-ous sobriquet of a “spittingcamel” —he was so dubbed bythe Americans who hatedMenon’s patronising lecturing— but also earned India a lotof Western ill will.

The UN’s failures make anunusually long catalogue,beginning with 1948. Thatyear, the Soviet Union block-aded Berlin. The only actionthat prevented the city’s sur-render was the American air-lift of all conceivable suppliesin the spirit of Ich bin einBerliner, the famous words ofPresident Kennedy in 1963.

In the Korean War (1950-53), the communist North hadgone all out to take over theentire peninsula. Again, the UNcould do nothing. It watchedVietnam being bombed moreintensively than anywhere, any-time since or before WWII.The UN, however, remainedsilent and inactive as ever. In1956, the Anglo-French inva-sion allied with Israel againstEgypt over the Suez Canal

issue yet again proved UNincompetence. And again thesame year, when the SovietUnion invaded Hungary. In1959, the world witnessed theabduction and rape of Tibet byChina. In 1968, the internation-al body looked askance at thePrague Spring when Soviettanks rolled intoCzechoslovakia. The catalogueof UN acts of omission contin-ues to be legend.

As historians William HHarbaugh and Ronald EPowaski tell us, TheodoreRoosevelt was the firstAmerican President to call foran international league. At theacceptance for his NobelPrize, Roosevelt said: “Itwould be a masterstroke ifthose great powers honestlybent on peace would form aLeague of Peace.” Such an ideashould logically have emergedfrom Europe, whose long his-tory is a record of almostunending wars. At the end ofthe Great War, the League ofNations came up in the hopeof ending the era of war, andgive the West an age of peace.Yet again this idea emergedfrom an American president,Woodrow Wilson.

But the credibility of theLeague of Nations was weak-ened by the fact that the USnever joined the League and

the Soviet Union joined lateand was soon expelled afterinvading Finland. Germanywithdrew from the League, asdid Japan, Italy, Spain and oth-ers. The onset of the SecondWorld War showed that theLeague had failed its primarypurpose, which was to preventany future world war. TheLeague lasted 26 years; theUnited Nations (UN) replacedit after the end of the SecondWorld War and inherited sev-eral agencies and organisa-tions spawned by the League.

True, the League ofNations did not last long. Yet,credit must go to it for havingfounded the InternationalCourt of Justice and theInternational LabourOrganisation and other bod-ies. It is doubtful the UNwould leave behind anythingmemorable except its perfor-mance of profligacy. It is hightime India told the SecurityCouncil to give it a PermanentSeat with veto power. If theCouncil yields, well and good;else, New Delhi should resignfrom the organisation andsave itself time, money andhonour.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, anauthor and a former memberof the Rajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

THE BJP GOVT GOT JUST DESERTSSir — Parliament’s monsoon sessionended on a stormy note on Wednesday,two days ahead of schedule. Showingunity since the session began on July 19,the Opposition disrupted both theHouses over the Government’s unwill-ingness to discuss the Pegasus scandal,farmer protests and price rise, especial-ly of fuel. Immediately after the sessionended, Lok Sabha (with a productivityof just 21 per cent) Speaker Om Birlalamented that the House didn’t discusspeople’s issues. Rajya Sabha (productiv-ity of 28 per cent) Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu broke down, saying the sacrednessof the House had been tarnished. But hisbreakdown had a touch of irony to it.

Naidu probably forgot the argu-ments of his party colleagues when theUPA was in power (the winter session of2010 was the worst, with the RS produc-tivity at a mere two per cent and the LSat six per cent). Then Opposition leaderin the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj haddeclared: “Not allowing Parliament tofunction is also a form of democracy, likeany other.” Her Rajya Sabha counterpartArun Jaitley had also argued in favourof disruptions. Instead of shedding croc-odile tears, Naidu should have acted asa neutral umpire. It seems that both theSpeaker and the Chairman forgot the realpurpose of the ‘Temple Of Democracy’.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF ROADSSir — Most of the roads across our nationare potholed, and vehicles just dance inand out of these. You will find these dan-gerous potholes everywhere, looking likea Rangoli filled with patches of dirtywater. Due to monsoon, these potholesget filled with contaminated, stagnantwater which breeds mosquitoes andcauses various diseases.

These potholes act as natural speedbreakers but also have the potential ofcausing fatal or other serious accidents.Potholes slow down traffic and drivingin lower gears causes more fuel to be con-sumed, besides damaging the vehicle.

Again, all these problems wouldn’t havearisen if potholes weren’t there or werefilled up quickly by the authorities con-cerned.

Moreover, the bigger potholes caneven hold up traffic as it’s tough to judgethe depth of a waterlogged pothole dur-ing monsoon. Sometimes one may notbe able to even spot it. Therefore, peo-ple must drive slowly under such con-ditions so that it causes less damage tolife and limb, besides the vehicle. Irequest the Government and the author-ities concerned to check the condition ofthese roads and take necessary action.

Princy Carol Gonsalves | Goa

KUDOS TO KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARKSir — To outsmart the poachers, theKaziranga National Park has activated10 satellite phones in six ranges. Thismay be the first instance that any for-est department in India has thought of

installing satellite phones since thenetwork in forested areas is always poor.Assam has also seen a rise in its tigerpopulation, with the Manas NationalPark bagging the TX2 conservationexcellence award along with RoyalManas National Park, Bhutan.

The Kaziranga Park has also seenconsiderable increase in the number ofbig cats, from 83 in 2014 to 121. Withthe new satellite phone feature, we cannow hope that this number wouldshoot up soon, not only for the big catsbut also for other animals including thepride of Assam, the one-horned rhinoc-eros. The Kaziranga Park has outwittedthe devious minds at their own gameand I thank the authorities for the for-ward-looking initiative.

Noopur Baruah | Tezpur

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

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HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

06

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The catalogue of the acts of omission of the United Nations, as well as

its predecessor the League of Nations, continues to be a legend

THE UN DIDN’TEVEN CONDEMN

CHINA'SUNPROVOKEDAGGRESSION

AGAINST INDIA INOCTOBER 1962,

LEAVE ALONE DOANYTHING ABOUT

IT. THE IRONY IS THAT THE

DICTATORIAL ANDCOMMUNIST

CHINA ENJOYS A PERMANENT

SEAT IN THESECURITY COUNCIL

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

The Supreme Court has shown seriousintent to rid politics of criminal elementsand, as an exemplary step, imposed

fines on various political parties for violat-ing the already passed orders which is sureto have an impact on the political atmos-phere. The court has now made the direc-tives more stringent. Within two days ofnomination of such candidates, the partymust publish their details on its official web-site, besides print and social media plat-forms. The whole idea is to ensure that peo-ple with criminal backgrounds do not mas-querade as party men and get elected to thelegislatures. In no case should the voter bekept in the dark about their past and ongo-

ing criminal cases. It is to be noted that allattempts to cleanse the political system ofcriminal elements were judicial and not leg-islative-driven. The judiciary has the powerto legislate when the legislature fails to doso, and it does not show the legislative sys-tem in good light. It is notable that politicalparties themselves are responsible for themalaise as they have failed in their duty tooust the criminals. Such facts have beenrevealed previously, too, and the NN VohraCommittee had in 1993 revealed the extentto which the political-criminal nexus hadgrown.

The court has also come down heavilyon the practice of withdrawing criminal casesagainst party men once their party comesto power. Now, the State Governments willnot be able to withdraw such cases withoutthe express permission of the High Courtconcerned. The HCs have also been told toreview all pending/cleared case withdrawalssince September 16, 2020, when the orig-inal directive was issued.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

SC gaze on ‘criminal’ politicians

Get veto power orbid adieu to UN

Prime Minister NarendraModi recently presidedover the UN SecurityCouncil meeting called by

India. However, the UN has beena non-achiever. For example, in1999, then UN Secretary GeneralKofi Annan suddenly flew intoDelhi to “mediate” in the KargilWar, only to be politely told by theVajpayee Government to mind hisown business and be gone. It isreported that this internationalbody employs 100,000 employees,from the senior-most to thejunior-most. If the average cost ofthese men and women is taken tobe $50,000 per head, it means anexpenditure of $5,000 millionannually. The organisation’s otherexpenses are separate.

The late American columnistCharles Krauthammer haddubbed the UN a “corrupt impos-tor, undeserving of any Americansupport”. Some others have evenmore pejoratively called it the‘Useless Nonexistent Organisation’.Entitled “A Table for Tyrants”, for-mer Czech President Vaclav Havelwrote an article in The New YorkTimes in May 2009, saying that hefelt scandalised when he saw theUN Human Rights Council filledwith members like Sudan,Zimbabwe, China and SaudiArabia, which have no humanrights.

Yet India continues to be anelephantine contributor to theUN peacekeeping contingents,and has sent nearly 200,000 peace-keepers to 44 missions over theyears. This is more than thenational armed forces of mostcountries. Indian forces workingfor the UN have suffered morecasualties than any other country’sarmed forces. Indian policymak-ers argue that this is being donenot for any strategic gain but in theservice of “global ideals” likestrengthening the world body,and international peace and secu-rity. The UN did not even con-demn a communist China’sunprovoked aggression against ademocratic India in October 1962,leave alone do anything about it.The irony is that the dictatorialand communist China enjoys apermanent seat in the SecurityCouncil while India, the world’slargest democracy, does not.

The only “service” the UNarguably performed was to pro-

SOUNDBITEWe have told theChairman…as 40-50 people werebrought from outside and womenMPs were manhandled.

Opposition leader in the RS— Mallikarjun Kharge

Our Government is determined totake action andwage an unceasing,constant and

persistent fight against crimeand violence in the Arab society.

Israel Prime Minister

— Naftali Bennett

Love shouldn’t be judged, loveshouldn’t berestrictive, loveshouldn’t be confined.

Actor— Shabana Azmi

Farmers are notgoing to fall in thetrap of the BJP. In2022, farmers willvote unitedlyagainst the BJP.

Samajwadi Party president— Akhilesh Yadav

(Ravindra) Jadeja is a main bowler,and he contributeswith the bat. Hehas not yet realised

his potential but is alreadymagnificent.

Former India batsman

— Virender Sehwag

So finally, who has emerged the vanquisher or the victim in the recently-conclud-ed display of one-upmanship within the hallowed portals of Parliament? To a non-partisan and dispassionate observer, it is difficult to cross her/his heart and pass

an honest opinion. For the divided polity of the ruling dispensation (which enjoys abrute majority in Parliament) and the raging members of the Opposition (which has

barely started bearing one another’s company andstarted speaking in the same voice), though, the ver-dict is crystal clear: Each one of them sees itself ashaving undisputedly emerged the victor in the eyesof the nation’s people. While one side chose to bla-tantly showcase and use the might of its numbers ineither House, often in a questionable manner, the otherside didn’t take it lying down and chose to “protestand dance” on the secretary-general’s table in the RajyaSabha, literally making a song and dance about theGovernment’s “mishandling” of the Opposition’sMembers of Parliament as well as of the situation.

The final result of the stalemate, which had been playing out in both the Housessince the monsoon session got underway on July 19, is among the poorest perfor-mance for a session: The Lok Sabha clocked a productivity of just 21 per cent andthe Rajya Sabha’s productivity was only a notch higher at 28 per cent. Both the LowerHouse and the Upper House may have been adjourned sine die (meeting ends withno scheduled day to get back together), the horse may have bolted, but the melo-dramatic saga continues. While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla lamented that the Housedidn’t discuss important issues related to the nation’s people, Rajya Sabha ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu went a step forward and, shedding a tear, said that the unrulyscenes had inflicted “incalculable damage to the dignity and stature” of the House.“I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts… I spent a sleep-less night,” he poured forth his pain and disappointment thus. Meanwhile, the Oppositionleaders, one after the other in a barrage, went hammer and tongs after the Government.So who is the winner, ultimately? The jury is still out on that one but one thing isclear: The biggest loser has been the electorate, the masses of India whose causeironically both the sides claimed to have been championing.

The report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not havecome at a more opportune time. The landslide on Wednesday that killed at least10 people in the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh, apart from injuring a few

dozen others, is startling evidence of the environmental dangers the report says awaitIndia in the coming years. The landslide crushed several vehicles and buried them undera huge pile of debris, blocking the highway for hours. The death toll would have beenhigher had not many people exited the vehicles and taken shelter under a rock forma-tion. This year, landslides have been more than a bane for Himachal Pradesh. In sixweeks till July 30, the State has seen 35 major landslides in many districts. Himachalexperienced a double disaster in terms of flash floods caused by cloudbursts as well— 11 such instances in recent weeks, that too in Lahaul-Spiti district which is a cold

desert. Not just Himachal Pradesh, but all hill Statesin India have had scant regard for environmental laws.The hills and mountain sides have been shaved ofthe natural green cover over decades of mindlessdeforestation and mining. The mountain regionecosystem, especially in Himachal, is quite fragile,according to scientists who say that poor and loosesoil, steep slopes and heavy rains during monsoonmake the region vulnerable to erosion.

Rocks and boulders do not have the advantageof a tight soil grip that loosens due to the felling oftrees and the topsoil rolls down into the rivers. The

key factor to stop landslides is to bolster the soil strata and that can only happen byplanting more shrubs and trees. Unscientific development is another factor that is respon-sible for landslides. Scientists at the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment andDevelopment in Kullu say that the Himalayan rocks are sedimentary, shaped by the flowof water over them for centuries. They are also fragile. When roads are cut through themountains, the upper portions can slide down automatically or the stones get loose enoughto fall any time. It is not just roads; building of dams and culverts, blasting of hills fortunnels or quarrying and deforestation also disturb the mountain ecology and cause acci-dents. Terrace farming, which has of late increased in the upper reaches of the State,and changes in cropping patterns that increase water usage are also factors. The entireHimalayan region is an unstable zone. The Government should conduct extensive stud-ies on the topography and its vulnerability and engineering measures needed to preventlandslides. Geological surveys are needed to mark zones of areas prone to landslidesand rock-falls. Such areas should be avoided while building new settlements. Dronetechnology could be used to constantly monitor the vulnerable mountain sections towarn motorists at the first indication of a rock-fall. Importantly, developmental worksthat cost the environment need to be discouraged and alternatives found.

Shadow of peril

WashoutThe monsoon session has seen poor conduct

and dismal performance from both the sides

PICTALK

Mads Pedersen raises his arms as he wins the second stage of the PostNord Danmark Rundt, Tour of Denmark PTI

The Himachal landslide is another reminder of the environmental dangers facing India

Commit India to buildnational health coverage

THERE WAS NO PARLIAMENT SESSION

THIS TIME AS THE VOICE OF 70 PER CENT OF

PEOPLE WAS CRUSHED, HUMILIATED.

— CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

IT’S UNFORTUNATE HOW THE CONGRESS AND

OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES ARE PROTESTING ON

THE ROAD. DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN SHAMED.

— BJP NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON

SAMBIT PATRA

After the Second World War, thewar-torn but victorious Britaindecided to build a system ofUniversal Health Coverage

(UHC). The country had suffered heav-ily in the war and realized the value ofmedical care and public health to savelives and protect health during the waryears. The war killed and maimed hun-dreds of thousands of people but themedical professionals had helped manymore to survive and get back to work.Disease, disability, and sickness wererampant in post-war Britain and hencethe nation decided to invest preciousresources of post-war era in developinga national health system - the famedNational Health Service (NHS) - to pro-vide universal health coverage.

India has also been a combatant inthe world war against COVID-19. As thesecond wave recedes, 400,000 people havedied and more than three crore wereaffected by official count. A recentnational sero-survey showed that 67 percent of the population was infected andhave antibodies. Those who sufferedCOVID disease may show delayed effects- the so-called long-COVID. The Indianeconomy too suffered a major setback. Alarge number of people in the formal andinformal sectors lost their jobs andmaybe in dire economics traits. Whilegovernments are providing relief, hard-ship continues for many families.

During the first, and more so in thesecond wave, Indian citizens and mediarecognized the importance of strength-ening public health, expanding medicalinfrastructure, and ensuring efficientdelivery of services. Several parts of thecountry ran out of beds, oxygen, vitalmedications, and medical and publichealth staff were grossly overworked. Thelack of anticipation and preparationreflected the weakness of our publichealth system which did not pick up theearly signals of virus mutation, high infec-tivity, and rapid spread. As India hasinvested only around one per cent of GDPin health for many years, public healthinfrastructure in India is very weak andinadequate even in normal non-pandem-ic times. With the pandemic, it was over-whelmed in no time -in spite of buildingtemporary hospitals. Despite stoppingalmost all other health service deliveryand dedicating available staff and beds toCOVID, it was extremely difficult to getassured of a bed and early admission toa well-equipped hospital, during April-May, in many cities. If India had invest-ed three per cent of GDP as governmentfunding for health, over the last 30 years,we would have been in a much betterposition to face this pandemic. Many livescould have been saved if our public healthcapacity was thrice the current size. If ourpublic health systems were stronger,transmission could have been containedmore effectively, limiting the number ofpatients who needed hospitalization.

If India had invested three per cent of GDP on health over the last 30 years, wewould have been in a much better position to face the COVID-19 pandemic

COMING OUT OFTHE SHOCK OF

THE SECONDWAVE, INDIA'S

POLITICIANS ANDPUBLIC SHOULD

BE READY TOINVEST IN AN

EFFICIENT AND WELL-RESOURCED

HEALTH SYSTEMTHAT WILL

PROTECT AGAINSTSUCH HEALTH

SHOCKS INFUTURE. IF AS A

NATION WEDECIDE TO GIVE

OURSELVESUNIVERSAL

HEALTHCOVERAGE, VIAOUR OWN TAX

MONEY, IT ISQUITE POSSIBLE

GIVEN INDIA'SRAPID ECONOMIC

GROWTH INRECENT YEARS

India got off to a spectacular start at the prestigious and powerful UnitedNations Security Council and achieved what many consider a diplo-matic victory of sorts over China. The Indian Prime minister’s first address

as chair, for an open debate on maritime security, managed to re-centerUnited Nations Convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) as the keydriver for managing all oceanic activities. China has for long managed tonegate the influence of UNCLOS with its aggressive militaristic actionsin the South China Sea. The world has been keeping a close eye on China’sillegal claim to many islands in the region while conducting exploitativefishing activities. The permanent court of arbitration setup under UNC-LOS had in 2016 termed China’s actions in the South China Sea as ille-gal. but failed to refrain the dragon to comply. Against this backdrop, India’sefforts to bring back the centrality of UNCLOS are being appreciated. Indiabegan working towards the document and the speech read by the PrimeMinister months in advance. Adopting a consensus-building approach,

the document was shared in advance with members of the UNSC andafter delays, China finally turned around and submitted to the primacyof the international agreement. While the permanent representative of Chinato the UN was absent during the deliberations attended by two prime min-isters, two presidents, and 10 ministers, his deputy was present.

China continues to use the UNCLOS agreement to criticize the UnitedStates, Japan, and Australia on a range of issues calling it political trick-ery of the United States in the garb of international law. Statements madeby the US on China accepting the SCS arbitration award has been ques-tioned as a threat to territorial sovereignty, maritime rights, and China’sinterest in the South China Sea. Efforts by countries such as Vietnam(one of the first signatories of UNCLOS) to hold a discussion on mar-itime security in the UN Security Council has been stalled by China. India’sother agenda at the UN Security Council meet was to highlight and bringterrorism to the center of global debate. The Security council acknowl-edged that terrorists could target critical infrastructure and public spacesspecially in the transportation sector including ports,maritime transport,and interconnect critical infrastructure which could bring the global econ-omy to a standstill. India with its 7500 kms of coastline has been at thereceiving end of sea route terrorists landing in the financial capital Mumbaiduring the 26/11 terror attack.Therefore, the security council’s call forenhanced international and regional cooperation on maritime security,prevention of terror activities, and appreciation of regional and individ-ual countries via information sharing is commendable. Finally, India’swell-crafted statement on promoting responsible maritime connectivityto boost trade can again be seen as the growing importance of the coun-try as a major maritime player. India mentioned that while developingany infrastructure it is important to pay attention to the fiscal sustain-ability and absorption capacity of the host countries for which appro-priate global standards and norms need to be developed. This was areference to China’s opaque debt trap aid through the Belt and RoadInitiative which has led to some beneficiary nations relinquishing theirrights to critical infrastructure projects developed in their countries withChinese money. The Indian Ocean is the major gateway accounting fornearly 75 per cent of the world’s maritime trade and half of global oilconsumption. Any threats to the free movement of ships on these oceansand unfair practices have an impact on the global economy.Therefore,regional trade relations based on internationally acceptable principles shouldbe the way forward.

(The writer is a policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.)

Severe price rise and plum-meting consumer confi-dence is rattling the mon-

etary policy management ofthe RBI.

Once again, the MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)finds the high petroleum taxesspurring prices of all com-modities and the inflationindex. A dissent note on theprice front has called for a cutin all taxes on petroleumproducts. The note says thatthe bank expects inflation totouch 5.7 percent in 2022against the present 5.1 percent.

The rising inflation shouldhave resulted in higher reporates but the central bank hasheld the rates back to 4 percent to help the government.Economically, it is not sup-posed to be a prudent decisionas it further restricts purchas-

ing power. This means theindustry may not find a con-ducive environment and thedemand side will remainweak.

The RBI ConsumerConfidence Survey for Julyreveals the weakness in thebargaining powers of theworking class and high pricesputting a squeeze on non-essential spending, a crucialfactor for socio-economicprogress.

The MPC fine print, how-ever, underlines worryingtrends like the threat of stagfla-tion, that is, low growth withhigh inflation. The MPCmight have retained the GDPforecast for 2020-21 at 9.5 percent but MPC members areseemingly more bearish intheir outlook than earlier. TheMPC has revised downward

the second, third, and fourthquarter projections because ofdemand-side projections.

An educationist observedthat the demand-side problemis even reflecting on the uni-versity admissions, particular-ly of private universities.Admissions are suffering at alllevels as parents have squeezedincome and little to spare. Thisindicates that a deep malaiseis setting in.

Inflation is the prime con-cern of the RBI, according toRBI deputy governor Michael

Patra. He says, "it is importantto bring that down". The cur-rent assessment is that theinflationary pressures during2021-22 are largely driven byadverse supply shocks. TheMPC says that there is a largeamount of slack in the econ-omy with output below its pre-pandemic level.

To support it, one mayrefer to the Purchasing PowerIndex that remains below thecritical threshold of 50, valuesabove which signify an expan-sion in activity, compared tolast month. The Nomura IndiaBusiness Resumption Indexhas also shown a marginal fallin the last fortnight. ANomura India economist haspointed to the dissent of anMPC member against theaccommodative policy ratestance.

The dissent note of RajKiran Rai G, chairman ofindustry lobby of IndianBanks Association (IBA) andhead of Union Bank of India,says: "RBI 'nudges' the govern-ments at the Centre and statesto cut the high indirect taxeson fuel products to bringdown the pressure on prices.It is pertinent to note thatwhile the decision of the mon-etary policy committee for acontinuance of the accom-modative stance was unani-mous in the June policy, it isnot so in this policy." Heunderlined the building ofthe price pressures.

That is vital. The growthremains uncertain. It fell to4.04 per cent in 2019-20 from6.53 per cent in 2018-19. In2020-21, it plummeted tominus 7.25 per cent and is

expected to grow by 9.5 percent. There are many doubtsthough.

The World Bank (WB)has slashed India's GDP fore-cast to 7.5 per cent, whichmay fall to 6.5 per cent in2023. It may not be off themark. The pandemic has dis-proportionately affectedlabour and the informal sec-tor. The output gap is predict-ed by the MPC though it isnot confident about thegrowth. In monetary policyterms, potential output isalso taken as the limit whichcan be reached without stok-ing inflation.

The MPC does not ruleout 5.7 per cent inflation in2021-22 fiscal. The consumerprice index is at a high at 6.16per cent. With income losses,it hits the demand to critical

levels. While bank lending isnot picking up, the growth ofbad loans spells trouble notonly for NBFCs but the wholeof Indian economy. If theirability to lend is curtailed dueto the surge in bad loans, con-sumption and demand wouldweaken further.

This might hit the bank-ing sector as the RBI finan-cial stability report estimatesbad loans to touch 9.8 percent by March 2022. It meanslenders may see bad loansrising by `1.3 lakh croreand outgo of `7000 to 9000crore as interest payment.

The RBI has given theprescription for the govern-ment to follow. If it followsthe steps to check inflationthe economy may spur elsemore difficult days await thenation.

If the Government follows RBI's steps to check inflation, the economy may grow or, else, more difficult days await the nation

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMNTHE CONSENSUS ONMARITIME SECURITY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(Dr. Dileep MavalankarisDirector, Indian Institute

of Public Health,Gandhinagar and Dr.K.Srinath Reddy, President,Public Health Foundation

of India. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

MPC says stagflation looms large, cut taxes

SHIVAJI SARKAR

(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

KUMARDEEP BANERJEE

Now, as the second wave isending what can the new youngand dynamic health ministerMansukh Mandavia do to ensurethat the people of India never haveto face such a tragic situation inthe future? He has to work withthe Finance Minister and thePrime Minister to rapidly increasethe budget for health departmentover next 2-5 years. He also has towork with State governments toprod them to increase their healthbudgets so that the total spend inIndia on health from the publicsector goes to three per cent ofGDP. The priority should be toexpand primary care substantial-ly and ensure secondary care to all,at little or no cost.

An unspoken dimension ofthe COVID-19 pandemic is thehuge financial cost borne by cit-izens who had to go to privatehospitals. Anecdotal stories arehorrendous - in many cities, pri-vate sector ICUs charged ? 1 lakhper day and many COVIDpatients needed 10-15 days in ICUincluding the use of ventilators.Even without any sophisticatedtreatment, many hospitals billed?20-40,000 per day by adding up avariety of charges and jacking upprices. A very small proportion ofIndians can afford these kinds ofcharges, as they do not have anyinsurance. In many States, thePMJAY scheme did not providecoverage for COVID care. Manyprivate insurance schemesalsodid not provide cashless service.Hence many people suffered greatfinancial hardship in the covidpandemic. Many families losttheir life savings or are in deep

debt due to COVID treatmentcosts. This would not have hap-pened if we had universal healthcoverage. PMJAY is a good initia-tive to move us on the road toUHC, but it has still many limi-tations. It does not cover out-patient care and cost of medicine.It is disconnected from primarycare. The lack of well-equipped-high-quality hospitals in manytier-2 and tier-3 cities hampersaccreditation by PMJAY.

Coming out of the shock ofthe second wave, India’s politi-cians and the public should beready to invest in an efficient andwell-resourced health systemthat will protect against suchhealth shocks in the future. If asa nation we decide to give our-selves UHC, via our own taxmoney, it is quite possible givenIndia’s rapid economic growth inrecent years. The Central govern-ment can provide the frame-work by extending the reach,coverage, depth, quality, and costprotection offered by the twocomponents of AyushmannBharat programme. Both Centraland state governments shouldincrease their funding for healthand join efforts to create a single-payer system. Segments of thepopulation that are not present-ly covered by government pro-grammes, because of higherincomes, should be encouragedto join the pool through income-graded premiums till a trulyuniversal programme emerges.Such premiums will work out tobe much cheaper than the cur-rent private sector insurancepremiums.

We need to ensure that a sickperson never has to pay the med-ical bills when he is sick. Citizenspay direct and indirect taxes,which entitles them to essentialhealth services. The governmenthas to be the guarantor of healthservice delivery, even if it is not thesole provider. The additional twoper cent of GDP, provided viaUHC mandate, will need to gofirst to expand the governmentinfrastructure at primary and sec-ondary levels. As per need andavailability, private providers maybe contracted at a pre-determinedbulk discounted price for medicalcare. A strong public sector willnot only ensure greater equity atall levels of care but also, withgood governance, set cost andquality standards for the privatesector to match.

We also have to substantiallystrengthen the public health andpreventive care system. This canbe done via new national andstate-level public health cadres.Strong public health will alsoreduce the need for curative carehence decreasing the cost ofUHC. Such a UHC system willnot only improve the health of thenation but increase the productiv-ity of the people. It will also cre-ate jobs for women and youngmen in the expanded architectureof public health and health care.So UHC is not only a health mea-sure it is an overall economic andwelfare measure.The Indian peo-ple desire it and they deserve it.Post pandemic is the right timefor such bold measures whichPrime Minister Narendra Modi isknown for.

DILEEPMAVALANKAR

K. SRINATHREDDY

India's efforts at the UNSC meeting to bring backthe centrality of UNCLOS are being appreciated

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Drug firm Natco Pharmaon Thursday reported a38.57 per cent decline in

its consolidated net profit atRs 75 crore for the quarterended June 2021. Thecompany had posted a netprofit of Rs 122.1 crore forthe corresponding period ofthe previous fiscal, NatcoPharma said in regulatoryfiling. Consolidated totalincome of the company stood at Rs 427.3 crore for the quarterunder consideration. It was Rs 582.1 crore for the same period ayear ago, it added. "The degrowth in sales can be partially attributedto the higher proportion of initial phase of pandemic exports to theUSA in Chloroquine Phosphate tablets and Oseltamivir Phosphatecapsules in the revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2020,"Natco Pharma said. The company has strong product launches bothin export markets and domestic India business during the currentfinancial year and expects to have good growth, it added.

Amazon India on Thursdayannounced the expansion ofits fulfilment network in Tamil

Nadu by almost doubling thestorage capacity this year. Thefulfilment infrastructure to offerstorage space of close to 4.4million cubic feet to sellers in theState. The e-commerce giant launched a new fulfilment centre (FC)and a specialised FC for large appliances and furniture inCoimbatore. The company would also 'quadruple' its storagecapacity at an existing Centre in Chennai, a company statementsaid. Chief Minister M K Stalin formally inaugurated the fulfilmentcentre in the presence of Industry Minister Thangam Thennarasu,company Vice-President (Customer Fulfilment Operations) andSupply Chain, Prakash Dutta, among others. In Tamil Nadu,Amazon India would have six fulfilment centres and double itsstorage capacity with close to 4.4 million cubic feet spread across acarpet area of more than one million square foot.

Amazon almost doublesstorage capacity in TN

Italian superbike maker Ducati onThursday said it has launchedXDiavel Dark and the XDiavel Black

Star models in India priced at Rs 18lakh and Rs 22.6 lakh (ex-showroom),respectively. Back in 2016, thecompany had entered the cruisersegment with the XDiavel range."TheXDiavel range was the result of ourefforts to bring two universes together. We wanted to build a bikethat offered the comfort of the cruiser and the performance of asport-focused bike. XDiavel has wowed and attracted a massivefollowing all over the world and offers a wholesome ridingexperience in an incredibly attractive looking package," Ducati IndiaManaging Director Bipul Chandra said in a statement. The XDiavelBlack Star and XDiavel Dark are finally here as India has a bigcommunity of riders who love cruisers, and the company is surethey will appreciate a cruiser which serves a unique flavor ofcomfort and pure, unadulterated performance, he added.

Ducati launches 2 models in India at Rs 18L, Rs 22L

Sugar mills have exported 5.11million tonnes of the sweetenerso far in the ongoing 2020-21

marketing year ending September,with maximum shipments toIndonesia, trade body AISTA said onThursday. About 2,02,521 tonnes ofsugar is under loading. An additional6,78,237 tonne of sugar is in transit for delivery to port-basedrefineries, it said.Mills have contracted to export the entire 6 milliontonne sugar quota assigned by the food ministry in January thisyear, AISTA said in a statement.An additional 8,00,000 tonnes ofsugar has been contracted under the OGL route without subsidysupport. The sugar marketing year runs from October toSeptember. According to AISTA, mills have exported a total of 5.11million tonnes of sugar from January 1 till August 5, 2021.Of thetotal exports undertaken so far, maximum exports have beenundertaken to Indonesia at 1.69 million tonnes so far this year,followed by Afghanistan at 6,23,967 tonnes and the UAE at4,60,816 tonnes and Sri Lanka at 3,78,280 tonnes.

Sugar exports touch 5.11 mntonnes so far this year: AISTA

Natco Pharma Q1 net profitdeclines 39 pc to Rs 75 cr

PNS n NEW DELHI

India cannot become the nextfactory of the world by copy-ing China, Niti Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant said onThursday, and stressed that thecountry needs to get into sun-rise areas of growth if it wantsto be a global leader.

Addressing a virtualevent organised byindustry body CII,Kant said India'sprivate sector hasto set ambitioustargets for itselfand focus ongreen hydrogen,high-end batteries,advanced solar pan-els to become compet-itive.

"India cannot become thenext factory of the world bycopying China...We havealways got into sunset areas ofgrowth, this is the time to getinto sunrise areas of growth,"he said.

According to Kant, Indiashould not get into areas whereChina is already a leader.

"India hasthe strongestglobal compa-

nies in ther e n e w a b l e

sector...these (hydro-gen, high end batteries,

advanced solar panels) areareas of technology of growth,if you want to be a globalleader," he noted.

The Niti Aayog CEO saidIndian Industry needs to striveto become lean, digital andinvest in skills, steep increasein corporate R&D & cuttingedge product innovations to be

competitive."The new technology has to

be shared, connected and elec-tric," he said.

Noting that disruptioncaused by COVID-19 pan-demic must be used by the pri-vate sector to become global-ly competitive,Kant said, "Theworld is moving towards greentechnology. The old technolo-gy will die, the green technol-ogy is the future."

He said India is looking atinnovative projects for reduc-ing costs in green energy pro-jects.

India cannot become next factoryof world by copying China: Kant

This photo provided by the Japan Coast Guard shows a vessel that has split into two and leakedoil off Hachinohe, northeastern Japan - AP

PNS n NEW DELHI

Passenger vehicle wholesales inIndia rose significantly year-on-year in July, as COVID-ledrestrictions eased across statesand companies pushed stocksto dealers to build up invento-ries for the upcoming festiveseason, SIAM said onThursday.

The total passenger vehiclesales -- including dispatches ofcars, utility vehicles and vans -- from OEMs to dealershipsincreased by 45 per cent to2,64,442 units in July against1,82,779 units in the samemonth last year.

According to the latest databy the Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers

(SIAM), two-wheeler dispatch-es from the OEMs to dealer-ships, however, declined by 2

per cent to 12,53,937 units inJuly, compared to 12,81,354units in the year-ago period.

Motorcycle sales were at8,37,096 units last month asagainst 8,88,520 units in July

2020, down 6 per cent.Scooter dispatches, however,

increased 10 per cent to3,66,292 units from 3,34,288units.

Similarly, three-wheelerwholesales surged 41 per centto 17,888 units last month asagainst 12,728 units a yearago.

The total sales across cate-gories, excluding commercialvehicles, stood at 15,36,269units compared to 14,76,861units in July last year.

SIAM Director GeneralRajesh Menon noted that thedomestic auto industry contin-ues to face heavy headwinds inthe form of global semi-con-ductor shortages and a steeprise in commodity prices.

"On one hand, the industryis managing such supply chainchallenges while ensuring thesafety of its people, and on theother hand, the industry is alsokeeping a close eye on the onsetof the third wave in India andacross the world.

“Amidst such a challengingand uncertain business envi-ronment, the industry is tryingto maximise production andsales," he stated.

However, sales during Aprilto July 2021 for the passengervehicle segment are still lowerthan the level of 2016-17; forthe two-wheeler segment, stilllower than the level of 2010-11;and the three-wheeler segmenthas been pushed back by manyyears, Menon noted.

Passenger vehicle wholesales rose 45% up to July: SIAM

PNS n MUMBAI

Budget carrier SpiceJet onThursday said its passengerscan now book cabs for airporttransfer during their flight,using the airline's in-flightentertainment platformSpiceScreen.

In the first phase, the newservice will be available to pas-sengers arriving at the Delhiairport, starting August 12.The airline will further extendthe service to all major air-ports, including Mumbai,

Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa,Chennai, Kolkata,Ahmedabad and Pune in aphased-manner.

This first-of-its-kind ini-tiative in the domestic aviationindustry would help the pas-sengers avoid any waiting fortheir transport, post-arrival atthe cab transfer area, the air-line said.

Once a passenger books acab on SpiceScreen, they willget the cab booking OTP mes-sage via SMS, WhatsApp andautomated inbound call con-

firmation on their mobilephone on arrival. It will alsoallow customers the flexibili-ty to pay via any paymentoptions (online or cash) at theend of the journey, it added.

SpiceJet launchedSpiceScreen, a complimenta-ry in-flight entertainment sys-tem in August last year, whichis can be accessed on any ofthe passengers' handhelddevices, including a smart-phone, tablet or laptop, bysimply connecting to theonboard wireless network.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold in the national capitalon Thursday rallied Rs 422 toRs 45,560 per 10 gram amidgain in global precious metalprices, according to HDFCSecurities.

In the previous trade, theprecious metal had closed atRs 45,138 per 10 gram.

Silver also gained Rs 113 toRs 61,314 per kilogram fromRs 61,201 per kilogram in theprevious trade.

In the international mar-ket, gold was trading withgains at USD 1,756 per ounceand silver was flat at USD23.44 per ounce.

"Gold prices witnessedrecovery on softer dollar andfall in US treasury yields,"according to HDFCSecurities, Senior Analyst(Commodities), Tapan Patel.

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexsurged 318 points to end at itsnew lifetime high on Thursday,tracking gains in ICICI Bank,L&T and Tech Mahindra.

The 30-share index ended318.05 points or 0.58 per centhigher at its all-time peak of54,843.98. The broader NSENifty advanced 82.15 points or0.26 per cent to record16,325.15.

PowerGrid was the topgainer in the Sensex pack, ral-lying over 6 per cent, followedby Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech,Titan, L&T, NTPC and ICICIBank.

On the other hand, DrReddy's, IndusInd Bank,Reliance Industries and AxisBank were among the lag-gards. "Domestic equitiesrecovered sharply mainly ledby sharp rebound in IT and

PSU banks. Additionally,strong buying was seen inmidcap and smallcap stockstoday after persistent selling forlast couple of days," said BinodModi, Head - Strategy atReliance Securities.

IT stocks remained in focus

and investors continue to lap-up quality IT names as sus-tained double-digit revenuegrowth visibility backed bystrong deal wins offer comfort,he noted. Elsewhere in Asia,bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul ended

with losses.Equities in Europe were

largely trading on a positivenote in mid-session deals.Meanwhile, international oilbenchmark Brent crude rose0.17 per cent to USD 71.56 perbarrel.

Sensex, Nifty soar to fresh highs

PNS n NEW DELHI

Retail inflation eased to 5.59per cent in July mainly due tosoftening food prices, accord-ing to official data released onThursday.

The Consumer Price Index(CPI) based inflation was 6.26per cent in June and 6.73 percent in July 2020. According tothe data released by theNational Statistical Office(NSO), inflation in the foodbasket slowed down to 3.96per cent in July from 5.15 percent in the previous month.Earlier this month, the RBI

projected the CPI inflation at5.7 per cent during 2021-22 -- 5.9 per cent in the secondquarter, 5.3 per cent in third,and 5.8 per cent in the fourthquarter of the fiscal, with risksbroadly balanced. CPI infla-tion for Q1:2022-23 is project-ed at 5.1 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India,which has been mandated bythe government to keep theretail inflation at 4 per centwith 2 per cent margin oneither side, mainly factors inthe CPI-based inflation whiledeciding its bi-monthly mon-etary policy.

Retail inflation easesto 5 per cent in July

PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm Cipla on Thursdaysaid it has received approvalfrom the US health regulatorto market DifluprednateOphthalmic Emulsion, usedin the treatment of inflamma-tion and pain associated withocular surgery, in theAmerican market.

The company has receivedfinal approval from the USFood and Drug Administrati on(USFDA) to market its productwhich is a generic version ofNovartis PharmaceuticalCorporation's Durezol, Ciplasaid in a statement.

The product is also usedfor the treatment of endoge-nous anterior uveitis.According to IQVIA (IMSHealth), Durezol had USsales of around USD 106million for the 12-monthperiod ending June 2021.

The product will be avail-able for shipping soon, theMumbai-based drug majorsaid. Shares of Cipla weretrading 0.29 per cent up at Rs912.90 apiece on the BSE.

Cipla getsUSFDA nod forgeneric product

Gold ralliesRs 422; silvergains Rs 113

SpiceJet passengers cannow book cabs during flight

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Coal India onThursday said its e-auctionallocation stood at 35.5 milliontonnes (MT) during April-July2021 under five auction cate-gories, registering a sharp 28.6per cent increase over thesame period a year ago.

Its e-auction allocation was27.6 MT in the correspondingfour months of the 2020-21 fis-cal. Coal India Ltd's (CIL)actual e-auction net sales wereworth over Rs 4,700 crore dur-ing the first quarter of theongoing fiscal, posting a jumpof 87 per cent year-on-year.

The sale volume was 30.2MT in the June quarter this fis-cal as against 15.9 MT in thesame period last year when the

pandemic slowed down thesales, it said in a statement.With international coal pricesspiraling upwards with no signsof let up, consumer preferencefor domestic coal is seeminglygaining ground, it said.

The effect of ascending costof coal sourced from overseaswas evidenced in the country'scoal importers booking 70 percent of the total quantity of 2.4MT offered to them undertheir special spot e-auctionduring April-July. The add-onover the notified price underthis category was 52 per cent.

Interestingly, for the monthof July almost all the quantityof 1.6 MT offered to coalimporters under exclusive spe-cial e-auction window wasbooked.

CIL's e-auction allocationup 29% in Apr-Jul this yr

PNS n HYDERABAD

ADP India donated ICUequipment to NilouferHospital in Hyderabad. Thecompany has taken the initia-tive to augment the availabil-ity of ICU beds and equip-ment for the hospital to gearup for the possible third waveof coronavirus.

ADP is supporting the 10-bed ICU ward, along with allthe required equipment tomake it fully operational.The company said it has con-tributed cardiac monitors,ventilators, beds, ECGmachines, BiPAP machines,defibrillators, equipment forthe hospital's nursing sta-tion, air conditioning, laryn-goscopes and ICU syringepumps among others.

"Through this collabora-tion, ADP India aims to helpthe authorities enhance thehealth infrastructure toensure sufficiency of medicalcare regardless of the circum-stances," said Dr Vipul Singh,divisional vice-president,ADP India.

Ramesh Reddy, DirectorMedical Education, said,"This hospital not only treatschildren from Telangana butalso from AP, Karnataka, andnearby States.”

ADP donatesmedical equipment to Niloufer Hospital

TD Power Systems Q1 profit at Rs 10 crPNS n NEW DELHI

TD Power Systems onThursday posted a consolidat-ed net profit of Rs 10.38 crorefor June quarter mainly due tohigher revenues.

The company had a loss ofRs 9.80 crore in April-June2020-21, a BSE filing said.

Total revenue in the quar-

ter rose to Rs 165.41 crorefrom Rs 75.99 crore in thesame period a year ago.

Considering the presentliquidity position of the groupand its ability to raise funds ifrequired, the managementdoes not foresee any adverseimpact of the pandemic on itsability to continue as goingconcern and in meeting its lia-

bilities as and when they falldue, it said.

The impact assessment ofCOVID-19 is a continuingprocess given the uncertain-ties associated with its natureas well as duration, and themanagement will continue tomonitor any events/ changesto future economic condi-tions.

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FridayAugust 13, 2021

SHIKHA DUGGAL

odcasts continue to growin popularity and it does-n’t look like it will slowdown anytime soon. Withendless content optionsand ease of consumption,

the storytelling in the form of pod-casts is one such platform that is themost ideal these days. If it’s a fic-tional story, podcasts are a great wayto reach your idyllic audiences.Previously known as audioblogging,it has its roots dating back to the1980s. With the advent of broad-band internet access and portabledigital audio playback devices suchas the iPod, podcasting began tocatch wind in 2004.

Writer and podcaster, Preeti Shahis a storyteller who believes inexploring different mediums whilecreating an engaging connectionwith readers and listeners throughrealism. “The connection between apodcaster and their audience is verydifferent as compared to othermediums. It’s a much closer connec-tion because it makes the listenersfeel that they and the speaker areboth in the same space. In my pod-cast series, the stories I have createdare set in contemporary scenariosthat are relatable to the listeners. Irealised that the stories resonatedwith people when they emailed ormessaged me on Instagram. I havehad numerous occasions where peo-ple not only in India but in coun-tries like Germany, Denmark,France, US, etc., have written to meabout being in a similar situationand how they dealt with it them-selves. As a storyteller, it is extreme-ly humbling when people tell youthat their real life is mirroring yourfiction,” shares founder and chiefstoryteller of the podcast – Abruptlywith Preeti! Podcasting in Indiabegan around 2005 when Appleupdated iTunes to support podcasts,and Abhishek Kumar and AdityaMhatre started Indicast. Before youjump right in and press record,come up with a concept and defineyour theme or the niche. Popularpodcasts topics include everythingfrom news and crime to businessand fiction. Preeti’s fiction podcastfeatures short stories, narratedunder five minutes for listeners. The

podcast’s first season, The StruggleSeries, showcased stories of peopletrying to come to terms with situa-tions in their lives while simultane-ously dealing with the pandemic-enforced lockdown. Hubhopper,Aawaz.com, O2Pod Collective,Saavn, and Audiomatic are someindigenous podcasting platformsused by creators and listeners.

“If you have a story to tell you’llfind listeners. Just go and narrate

your piece from your heart, thesame way you’ll tell anyone in per-son. The good thing about the pod-casting world is that there are nobarriers to access! The only prereq-uisite is good content and knowing

who would like to consume it. Withtime, you can pick up the technicali-ties as well as the nuances of themedium. If you look at the arrival of‘Clubhouse’, it has unquestionablygiven a boost to consumption ofaudio based platforms. However,podcasts have been growing in pop-ularity in India for a while now.And, the past two years has seen aboom in the number of both —podcasts creators and podcast listen-

ers. It has been during this periodthat we have had audio originals ondifferent streaming platforms as wellas known faces taking a plunge intothe world of podcasting.”

As a storyteller, Preeti is also the

creator of the 100StoriesOfShe, anonline series of micro-stories aboutone single character, revealed overhundred days. Her main drivingforce is to be able to share herinscription with people, irrespectiveof the medium. As someone whoconsumes podcasts, she noticed thatthere were hardly any English story-telling podcasts for an Indian audi-ence with Indian settings. In a worldof time constraints, she wanted tomake storytelling accessible by cre-ating micro-pods. Now storieschange over time, also when itcomes to reaching affluent con-sumers, especially in 2021, all ofthem recognise the benefits ofaudio! She mentions, “Though, Ihave noticed that a large part of myIndian audience tends to be youngerpeople while on the other hand,audiences from other countries tendto be across several age brackets. In2020, the pandemic enforced manychanges in our lives. And, whileissues related to the marginalisedsections of society or people infect-ed with the virus were highlighted,little was spoken about the day-to-day challenges that the lockdownhad introduced in our existence.While I was presenting fiction, Iwanted to bring to the fore somestories and issues that people weredealing with like a ghost amid thelockdown. And then, there wasanother series in which I was keento explore how conventionally goodpeople can make seemingly greychoices, all driven by desperation.The intent was never to present theright or wrong but life as it is, andthe likely scenarios and mindsetsthat compel people to act in waysthat they probably wouldn’t haveimagined ever doing themselves.”

Today there are more than115,000 English-language podcastsavailable on the internet. Infact,Spotify-owned ‘Anchor’, a podcast-making platform, added more than25,000 podcasts from India in 2020.According to the Media andEntertainment Outlook 2020 reportby PricewaterhouseCoopers, Indiahas emerged as the third-largestpodcast-listening market in theworld after China and the US, with57.6 million monthly listeners. Thisshows that the medium has foundits loyal listener fan base now, pro-viding some exponential growth too.

RACHEL DAMMALA

laa Mari IkaRaavameaning‘won’t youcome back’,is a song

about reliving thebeautiful moments inthe past, time andagain, to cherish themall. Presented byAditya Music, thesong by a trio offriends VenkateshVuppula, SumanthBorra, and Faraz Fazalhas been climbingcharts and how!Produced by SandeepKumar Gaddee,Abhilash Reddy, andSumanth Borra, thesong struck a chordwith audiences remi-niscing their beloved,wishing they could goback in time.

Asked what madethem create a songlike that, Sumanthsays, “As an engineer-ing student, I alwayswondered if we couldreally travel back intime. If we did, whatcould its consequencesbe, and if things canget better, if it werepossible at all. So themain build up of thesong hooks with theselines as ‘samayam ven-naki velluna, vellethelokam chalula, chaltheveluvva unduna - elaamari ika raava.”

“I’ve been intomusic right from mychildhood and wasinvolved in variousuniversity-level com-petitions. VenkateshVuppala was mysenior in the LovelyProfessionalUniversity and helpedme get out of my com-fort zone and genre ofmusic. We met timeand again and bondedwell during the lock-down and contributedto the song Elaa MariIka Raava. Later wegot signed by southIndia’s biggest music

label Aditya Music,something we neversaw coming. Theresponse has beenamazing, we’re sooncoming up with manymore musical feasts toour Telugu audiencein multiple genres,music is a never-end-ing story for us,”shares an elatedSumanth Borra, whois also a software pro-fessional.

Venkatesh Vuppulahas written, com-posed, arranged,mixed, mastered, andproduced the track.Sharing his experi-ence, he says, “I com-pose, produce, rap,perform and writesongs. I was seven-eight years old whenmy love for musicbegan. I have wan-dered here and therein different profes-sions figuring outwhat I like and what Iwant to do. And itfinally came to a pointwhere I realised musicis my jam and I wantto do it full time tillthe last breath I take.”

Faraz Fazal, aknown face, is a soft-ware engineer wholoves and lives music.It was his passion thatmade him a profes-sional through hisjourney of coveringseveral songs and gar-nering fans.

Asked how the songcame to be, Vekateshtells us, “I have writ-ten the song and com-posed it back in 2018but waited for the per-fect moment to makeit captivating andreachable to a wideraudience. Thanks toAditya Music for mak-ing it happen.”

The group tells usthat the song was sup-posed to release backin February 2021, buttime froze due to thesecond wave of theCovid pandemic.“Several people fromour own team had

fallen prey to thedeadly virus. Butthanks to God, every-one is now doing welltoday and is extremelythrilled about theresponse the song hasreceived. It was a jour-ney with ups anddowns but post therelease, the responses,wishes, and love wereceived made us for-get all that we foughtto get here today,” thetrio shares.

Taking us throughthe process of song-writing and compos-ing, Venkatesh shares,“I was pretty muchstubborn to portraythis song a perfect mixof western and Indianmusic. It’s not just me,our entire team sharedthe same thoughtprocess. It took awhile to make it hap-pen though! Once themusic composing andsong structure weredesigned, the rest ofthe process was alldone online justthrough a WhatsAppcall. Faraz and I wereon call, discussing thevocal parts, andSumanth and I dis-cussed the rap part!And today, here weare with the completesong that has multipleflavours.

On a concludingnote, they tell us abouttheir future projects:“We are ready with awhole bunch of songswith our signaturestyle and of course,Sumanth’s melodicvoice going with it.You might see a newcollaboration, whoknows what’s thefuture holds. Onething we’re sure of isthat we will keep thecrowd entertainedwith the new stylewe’re bringing to theindustry! We have sev-eral singles coming uptoo, keep loving andsupporting good con-tent, and artists likeus.”

City boystake you on a

time travel

TIME FORAUDIOBINGEING

hailand MedicalNews, a promi-nent globalmedical plat-form and its sis-ter company

Northern Thai Herbs ismaking its foray into Indiaby initially collaboratingwith a variety of religiousorganisations to distributefree herbal therapeutic teasto the poor and those inneed. It is in talks to includethe Sri Sathya Sai CentralTrust-Anantapur, ShriSaibaba Sansthan Trust-Shirdi, MataAmritanandamayiFoundations, Iskon India,Bhrama Kumari ShivaniFoundation and variousprominent temples through-out India including theSabarimala Temple in Keralaand also Buddhist templesand monasteries inBodhgaya-Patna andKushinagar-Uttar Pradesh.The free therapeutic teasproject is being funded bywealthy donors from aroundthe world including coun-tries like Singapore, Canada,Australia, UK and USA.

The special herbal thera-peutic teas are not substi-tutes for any standard med-ical treatment protocols norany Covid-19 vaccines.Rather, the teas have beenfound to be perfect adju-vants to standard treatmentprotocols and also for thosethat are pending vaccina-

tion.Northern Thai Herbs Ltd

is not making any medicalclaims about the teas butevery herb and phytochemi-cal compound used in theteas have supporting studiespublished in a variety ofcredible medical publicationpublications and a variety ofsafety studies have alreadybeen completed along withnumerous observationalclinical trials across theworld including Colombia,Brazil, Iran and even in theUnited States in Florida.

The teas are made notonly from Thai herbs butalso a variety of organicherbs sourced from around

the world and also containextracted active phytochem-icals that have been nano-encapsulated via nanotech-nology into nanospheresthat are added back into theherbs so that these criticalphytochemicals do not getdamaged by the gastric acidsand enzymes and are prop-erly absorbed into thebloodstream.

Often many phytochemi-cals in various therapeuticpreparations are basicallydestroyed in the stomacheven before they can activatetheir therapeutic properties.An interesting feature of thenanospheres is that somehave delayed breakdown

times, ensuring that some ofthe antiviral phytochemicalsare constantly in the blood-stream, hence serving asprophylaxis.The teas have aperfect form factor as a ther-apeutic product as the sim-ple addition of hot water tothe teas not only releases theactive phytochemicals onthe spot but the heat fromthe teas also help especiallywhen respiratory issues areinvolved and are unliketablets, capsules or suspen-sions, etc. Initially at least 6million sets of the teas areexpected to be distributed inIndia. Although the teas arenow produced in Thailand,Vietnam, Poland and

Australia, prospective col-laborators are being sourcedto also have productiondone in India with anexchange of know-howincluding formulation andproduction techniques.

The free teas are unliketraditional therapies or someof the untested Ayush prod-ucts being flogged in Indiaas literally every ingredienthas been tested against theSARS-CoV-2 virus andaudited in the treatment ofvarious conditions associat-ed with Covid-19 disease.Thailand Medical News isalso planning to set up anIndian medical site calledIndia Medical News and alsoan online medical andhealth directory called IndiaMedical Directory for thosesourcing of Indian medicalsuppliers including medicaldevices, drugs and pharma-ceuticals, medical equip-ment and also hospitals anddoctors.

The platform will have itsown team to audit any prod-uct or service before havingit listed on its site to ensurethat only credible and reli-able suppliers with a trackrecord of proper manufac-turing or product or servicequality are included.

p

e

T The new healing-tea

PAR

TY

10

what’s brewing?Hyderabad Friday August 13, 2021

The gorgeous team of the JITOLadies Wing Hyderabadcelebrated inauguration of a

two-day Lifestyle Exhibition earlierthis week! Under the bright lightsand beautiful decor, a lot of funwas to be had, with a variety ofproducts to browse through.

TTRRAADDEE SSEECCRREETTSSO

lympic medalist PV Sindhuinaugurated Vasundhara, anexclusive and flagship jewellery

store set up by Mrs VasundharaKasaraneni, the first successful womanentrepreneur in the jewellery industry inSouth India. The star shuttler, whorecently won the bronze medal at theTokyo Olympics, inaugurated the10,000sft floor flagship showroom atRoad No 45 in Jubilee Hills on Thursday.

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l Rohan and Harshitha

l Trivikram Srinivas l Subbarami Reddyl Rekha

l Sudha Jain

l Anil and Vasunara

Rules

ARCHIE

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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

udhir Babu andAnandi-starrer SrideviSoda Center, directedby Palasa 1978 fameKaruna Kumar, is allset to hit big screens

on August 27. Produced by VijayChilla and Shashi Devireddyunder the banner of 70 mm, thefilm is already in the news for itsspecial song releases recently.

The first look of the film andthe introduction teaser got anamazing response from movie

lovers and industry sources.Lyrics by SirivennelaSitaramashastri and tunes bymusic maestro Manisharma isthe icing on the cake for the film.Shreekar Prasad is the editor ofthe film and Shyam Dutt is theCinematographer.

Naresh, Raghubabu,Ajay, Satya Rajesh,HarshavardhanSaptagiri, will beseen playing somekey roles in the film.

outh star Adivi Sesh onThursday said the finalschedule of his multilin-gual feature Major, basedon the life of 2008Mumbai terror attackmartyr Major Sandeep

Unnikrishnan, has begun.The Sashi Kiran-directed biopic is

inspired by the life of MajorUnnikrishnan, the NSG commando,who saved several hostages duringthe 26/11 attack at the Taj MahalHotel in Mumbai and sacrificed hislife for the nation.

In a social media post, the 35-year-old-actor shared the updateregarding the shooting schedule.“FINAL schedule begins. Eager tobring this to you. In theaters only.Only when it’s safe. For ALL audi-ences from Kashmir to

Kanyakumari. Our 75thIndependence Day is almosthere. A film based on theLife of #MajorSandeepUnnikrishnan (sic),” hewrote, along with a picture ofhim from the film.

The makers are most likely tofinish the shoot by month-end.Major also stars SobhitaDhulipala, Saiee Manjrekar,Prakash Raj, Revathi, and MuraliSharma.

It has been produced by SonyPictures Films India in associa-tion with Mahesh Babu’s GMBEntertainment and A+S Movies.

The film, which is slated to bereleased this year, has been shotin Hindi and Telugu simultane-ously and will later be dubbed intoMalayalam.

11

Hyderabad Friday August 13, 2021

llari Naresh, who is riding high on the success of Naandi, officiallylaunched his next film Sabhaku Namaskaram on Thursday. The actor’sdaughter Ayana clapped the board while Naandi director helmed the

first shot. Sabhaku Namaskaram is being directed by Satish Mallampati andproduced by SM Koneru. Chota K Naidu is the DoP of the film.

A

riti Sanon is having a golden run in the Indian film industry with several filmslined up in Bollywood and Tollywood. The actress feels no pressure andinstead is motivated and would not want it any other way.

Kriti’s latest release on Netflix Mimi opened to a positive response frommovie lovers and critics alike. She has her diaries full as her line-up includesHum Do Humare Do, Bachchan Pandey, Bhediya and Adipurush.

With so much riding on Kriti, does it get pressuring? Pat camethe reply: “No, there is no pressure. I feel excited, motivated,and thrilled because this is what I wanted to do. This iswhere I wanted to be and when I have reachedwhere I have these kinds of opportunities in frontof me,” added the actress, who appeared inForbes India’s Celebrity 100 list of 2019.

The 31-year-old is happy with the kind ofwork coming her way.

“I am doing films which are not similar in anygenre or flavour at all. I am getting to play somany different kinds of characters, getting towork with such amazing directors and storiesthat I would want to be a part of. I don’t thinkthere is anything more that you can ask as anactor and in a stage where you are getting yourdue and appreciation you crave as an actor,” shesaid.

Kirti added: “All the love and validation is the onlything we get in return. Once that starts pouring youfeel more satisfied, and motivated. I am thrilled andenjoying this beautiful phase and I am looking forwardto each and every film I have done.”

KRITI SANONON DOINGMULTIPLEPROJECTSTOGETHERK

Soung actorBellamkondaSreenivas hassigned a newfilm titledStuartpuram

Donga. Set in the 1970s,the upcoming film is basedon the life of TigerNageswara Rao, a notori-ous thief of Stuartpuram.The actor made theannouncement of his nexton his social media han-dles releasing the first lookposter of the filmStuartpuram Donga. Theposter shows a streamtrain emitting smoke thatpasses through the villagenamed Stuartpuram. Theregular shoot ofBellamkonda Sai Sreenivasstarrer Stuartpuram Dongais expected to commencevery soon.

The upcoming dramawill be helmed by KS, aprotégé of VV Vinayak,and the movie marks thecomeback of actor’ fatherBellamkonda Suresh tofilm production after agap. The music composerMani Sharma has beenroped in to render thetune.

Shyam K Naidu willhandle the cinematographydepartment whereas ASPrakash is the art director.Very soon the officialannouncement regardingthe details of the rest of thecast and crew will bemade.

Meanwhile,Bellamkonda is currentlyworking for a Hindi film,which is the remake ofTelugu blockbuster dramaChatrapati in which

Prabhas essayed the leadrole under the direc-

tion of Rajamouli.The remake isdirected by VV

Vinayak, and isbacked by Dhaval

Gada and AksshayGada.

oung actor NikhilSiddharth andAnupamaParameswaranwho teamed for anew film 18 Pagesstarted their dub-

bing for the film onThursday. Nikhil took it tosocial media announcingthat he has started dubbingfor the film. Sharing picturesfrom the dubbing studio, hecaptioned it saying“#18Pages Dubbing Startsoff good to be back in theStudio... Movie Getting

Ready.'”Bankrolled by Bunny Vas,

Allu Aravind, and Sukumarunder GA2 Pictures in asso-ciation with SukumarWritings, the film will markthe first time collaborationof Nikhil and Palnati SuryaPrathap and it’s tipped to bea romantic entertainer witha smattering of humour.

Gopi Sundar has com-posed the music for the filmwith A Vasanth takingcharge of cinematographyand Navin Nooli is the film’seditor.

rt has no lan-guage. This iswhat our verytalented actorVijay Sethupathisays whenever

he is asked a question onlanguage barriers in acting.The actor has already madehis debut in Tollywood withUppena, and gained lovefrom Telugu households.

According to the latestbuzz in the film industry,Vijay Sethupathi is going tolock horns with NandamuriBalakrishna in an upcomingyet-to-be-titled project,which will be helmed byGopichand Malineni.

The reports are comingthat the director GopichandMalineni has approachedVijay Sethupathi to playBalakrishna’s villain in his

soon-to-be commencedTelugu film.

The director GopichandMalineni has penned a pow-erful script for the actorbased on true incidents, justlike his previous films.Noted production houseMythri Movie Makers isbankrolling the Telugu pro-ject. Music composerThaman S has been broughton the board for the project.

Tamil actress Varalakshmiis also a part of this yet-unti-tled film of Balakrishna.Vijay Sethupathi has donenegative roles in very fewmovies, including superstarRajinikanth-starrer Pettaand Vijay-starrer Master.

On the other side, he iscurrently in Mumbai for theshoot of his web series withRaj and DK.

Vijay Sethupathiin Balayya film

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tollywood

sport 12HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | AUGUST 13, 2021

PTI n NEW DELHI

A54-member Indian teamfor the upcoming Tokyo

Paralympics was on Thursdayaccorded a warm send-off bySports Minister Anurag Thakurand the national governingbody, with high hopes that thecountry will return with its bestever performance.

The team has some of thebrightest medal prospects likeDevendra Jhajharia, seekinghis third Paralympics gold(after 2004 and 2016) in F-46javelin throw, MariyappanThangavelu (T-63 high jump)and world champion SandeepChoudhary (F-64 javelinthrow).

India will compete in ninesports.

Mariyappan, who had wona gold in the last edition in Rio,will be the flag bearer of theIndian contingent during theopening ceremony on August24. The Tokyo Paralympicswill end on September 5.

The Tokyo-bound playerswere part of the event virtual-ly as they are in strict bio-bub-ble.

“The ambition and self-confidence of our para athletesgive inspiration to 1.3 billionIndians. In front of theircourage, the biggest of chal-lenges bow. And they deserveevery bit of it,” Thakur said ina video message.

“The number of our paraathletes participating in theupcoming Games is three timesbigger than the last edition. Ihave full faith in your abilities.I believe that your perfor-mance too will be better thanlast time.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

India women’s cricket teamfielding coach Abhay Sharma,

who was praised by the playersfor his work on the UK tour, hasnot entered the bio-bubble inBengaluru ahead of theAustralia tour and is set to bereplaced alongside trainerNaresh Ramdas. Sharma, whois among the support staff at theNational Cricket Academy, didnot enter the Indian team’s bio-bubble on Tuesday evening,surprising even the players.

From the UK tour, formerIndia opener SS Das hasretained his position as battingcoach while head coachRamesh Powar takes care of thebowling department. “Thenames of new fielding coachand trainer will be approvedshortly,” a BCCI official toldPTI. The UK tour was Sharma’ssecond assignment with thewomen’s team, having workedwith the players in a homeseries against South Africa.

PTI n NEW DELHI

An “individual with the rightcredentials” is set to eval-

uate the performance of theIndian shooting federation’sexecutives, which will formpart of a three-way reviewprompted by the shooters’ hor-ror run at the Tokyo Olympics.

The three-part review isalready underway, an insider inthe National Rifle Associationof India (NRAI) told PTI onthe condition of anonymity.

For the second successivetime, the Indian shooting team

returned from the Olympicsempty-handed, belying a bil-lion hopes after promising todeliver like never before.

Instead of stepping up theirperformance in Tokyo, the 15-

strong squad crumbled underthe mighty Olympic pressure.

“A review is already under-way and it is being held in threeparts. First the athletes, then thecoaches and support and thatwill be followed by the execu-tives of the national federation,”he said on Thursday.

Asked if NRAI presidentRaninder Singh will also beassessed, sources respondedin the positive and pointed outthat the federation chief him-self was open to the idea, hav-ing spoken on similar lines dur-ing the Games in Tokyo.

PTI n SYDNEY

Australia head coach Justin langer wasreportedly involved in a confrontation

with a Cricket Australia staffer over a videoposted on the board’s website, showing theBangladesh players celebrating their maid-en series win against the tourists last week.

According to ‘The Sydney MorningHerald’, Langer and Australia team man-ager Gavin Dovey “became animated” inrelation to a video added to thecricket.com.au website, after the thirdmatch, which Bangladesh won, taking a 3-0 lead in the recently concluded five-matchTwenty20 series.

The hosts won the five-match T20I

series 4-1.The matter was initially raised by

Dovey with the Cricket Australia digitalstaffer but when the latter stood hisground, the matter escalated and Langersubsequently confronted the staff member

shortly afterwards.“Dovey had argued that it was inap-

propriate for the Bangladesh team song tobe posted on a CA-operated website,” thereport said.

“...the incidents were witnessed by atleast a dozen people and left some players taken aback and with a sense ofunease about what had transpired,” it added.

While Langer refrained from com-menting on the issue, Dovey said: “Ahealthy team environment includes theability to have honest and frank discus-sions, whether it be between players, sup-port staff or others within the team envi-ronment, which was the case here.”

AP n BELFAST, NORTHERNIRELAND

Thomas Tuchel made thebold call, and Kepa

Arrizabalaga made the bigsaves. Brought on as a substi-tute with seconds remaining inextra time, Kepa kept out twospot kicks as Chelsea beatVillarreal 6-5 in a penaltyshootout to win the UEFASuper Cup on Wednesday.

Tuchel, the Chelsea manag-er, has been informed by histeam of statisticians that Kepahas a better record at savingpenalties than first-choice goal-keeper Edouard Mendy, so thesubstitution was made in the119th minute of a match thatended 1-1 after extra time.

Kepa had already saved apenalty from Aissa Mandiwhen he dived low to his rightagain and parried out RaulAlbiol’s attempt in what provedto be the final kick of theshootout at Windsor Park inNorthern Ireland.

As Chelsea’s players sprint-ed from the halfway line to cel-ebrate with Kepa, one of the

first to reach him was Mendy.“It’s fantastic how Edu

accepts it,” Tuchel said. “ Weneeded to do what’s best for theteam. ... There is proof thatKepa is better in this discipline.”

Less than 10 weeks afterChelsea’s 1-0 win overManchester City in theChampions League final inPorto, Cesar Azpilicueta wasagain lifting a European trophyto the backdrop of fireworks

and tickertape.Among the players cele-

brating on the podium behindhim was Hakim Ziyech, whohad his right arm in a sling aftera suspected dislocated shoulderin the 40th minute — 13 min-utes after putting Chelsea intothe lead by converting a crossfrom Kai Havertz.

That was canceled out byGerard Moreno in the 73rd forthe Spain international’s record

83rd goal for Villarreal —breaking the record he sharedwith US-born former Italystriker Giuseppe Rossi. Morenoexchanged a one-two withBoulaye Dia before lifting hisshot over Mendy and into thetop corner. Villarreal was play-ing in the Super Cup as theEuropa League champion, atournament it won by beatingManchester United in a penal-ty shootout. On that occasion,every one of its players convert-ed their penalties in theshootout before goalkeeperGerónimo Rulli saved fromopposite number David DeGea to seal an 11-10 win.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga celebrates with teammates after the penaltyshootout of the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Chelsea and Villarreal atWindsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday AP

Zurich: Italy and Argentinahave risen to fifth and sixthrespectively in the FIFAWorld Ranking followingtheir triumphs at Euro 2020and the Copa America, whileBelgium remain in top spot.

The Azzurri, who defeat-ed England on penalties inthe European Championshipfinal at Wembley last month,climbed two places to fifth.

Argentina moved up twospots to sixth after winningthe Copa America finalagainst Brazil, who movedinto second place andbumped world championsFrance into third.

Belgium, who wereknocked out by Italy at thequarter-final stage of theEuros, remain the top-rankedinternational team in theworld, while defeated finalistsEngland stay fourth.

The United States movedup 10 places into 10th placeafter winning the CONCA-CAF Gold Cup, whileMexico, who they defeated inthe final, climbed two placesinto ninth. Qatar were thebiggest movers, ascending16 places to reach 42nd spotafter reaching the semi-finalsof the Gold Cup, equallingtheir highest-ever ranking.

The next ranking updatewill be published onSeptember 16. Agencies

PTI n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) TheWrestling Federation of India

(WFI) on Thursday said it will con-sider feedback from Tokyo Gamesmedallists Bajrang Punia and RaviDahiya before deciding theircoaching staff in the new Olympiccycle but will not accept any inter-ference of NGOs like JSW andOGQ in the name of support toathletes.

Bajrang was trained byGeorgia’s Shako Bentinidis whileRavi had Russia’s Kamal Malikovas his personal coach. DeepakPunia also had a Russian coach inMurad Gaidarov, whose serviceswere terminated by the WFI whenhe assaulted a referee during theTokyo Games.

All the coaches had their con-tracts till the Tokyo Olympics andthe fresh ones will be finalised ina few days after WFI sits with thewrestlers, who are now busy withfelicitations.

“Bajrang has a medal working

with Shako Bentinidis. We will sitwith him and listen to his viewabout his game. If he wants to con-tinue (with Shako), we will consid-er that,” WFI President BrijBhushan Sharan Singh told PTI.

It is understood that bothBajrang and Shako want to contin-ue their partnership. The Georgianis already at Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) centre in Bahalgarh(Sonepat).

The federation is also happy

with the way Malikov has managedRavi so far and would not mindcontinuing with the arrangement.

However, what WFI is peevedat is the way non-profit sportsNGOs like Olympic Gold Quest(OGQ) and JSW are “spoiling thewrestlers.”

“The WFI and the Indian gov-ernment is capable of supportingall its athletes. JSW and OGQ don’tneed to come from ‘chor darwaja’(back door) and spoil our wrestlers.I urge them that they leave ourwrestlers and Indian wrestlingalone,” Brij Bhushan said.

“We are not happy with theway they are interfering. If theywant to help the wrestlers, they arewelcome but let them work at thegrassroots level. It’s the Cadets whoneed support.

“They pick only establishedwrestlers and leave them when theresults are not there. The govern-ment is spending crores of rupeeson their coaching and travel andthese people give a physio and startmaking tall claims,” he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The World Boxing Council (WBC)has announced the formation of

its India committee in collaborationwith the Indian Boxing Council.

The committee aims to offer a“pathway for domestic champi-onship success for aspiring profes-sional boxers throughout theregion and afford Indian fight-ers more significant globalopportunities, using the WBCIndia as a platform for devel-opment, progression, andinclusion”.

In addition, theWBC will put emphasison boxer safety and imple-ment a ranking system forboth male and female boxers.

“I am immensely proud to bear wit-ness to new horizons for boxing in India.The WBC recognizes the rich heritage ofthis proud sporting nation, where we havealready witnessed several Indian boxerscrowned with WBC and WBC affiliatedchampionships over the past number ofyears,” said WCB president Mauricio in astatement.

Commenting on the announcement,Indian Boxing Council (IBC) presidentBrigadier PK Muralidharan Raja said,“Indian boxers have worked hard andstarted to make waves on the profession-al boxing circuit in recent years. TheWBC India Championships will proveto be a decisive step in the right direc-

tion.“I look forward to working

with WBC India Co-chairpersonsMr. Kevin Noone, Ms. Oksana

Semenishina, and the entireWBC India committee togrow the sport in the coun-try.”

The inaugural WBCIndia championship contest is

scheduled to take place on the upcom-ing LZ Boxing promotion.

LZ president Parm Goroya said,“Being the first-ever WBC IndiaChampionship promoter on Indian soil isa privilege and a vindication of not giv-ing up on India and my vision.

“I send my deep appreciation toWBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, theIBC, the Indian boxers, and their teamsas we look to expand the Indian boxingmarket.”

AP n LONDON

English cricket leaders are“very confident” the

upcoming Ashes series will goahead as planned despite ongo-ing negotiations over Covid-related travel restrictions.

England’s players are con-cerned about the possibility offamilies being unable to jointhem on the trip givenAustralia’s tight border con-trols, as well as prospect oflengthy quarantines andrestrictive bubble environ-ments. Talks involving theProfessional Cricketers’Association have been ongo-ing for some time and whileTom Harrison, chief executiveof the England and WalesCricket Board, acknowledgedon Thursday there are plentyof complications before a finalgreen light could be given, hesuggested the necessaryexemptions would be attained.

“All the right conversationsare happening at governmentlevel in Australia, and we will

be using our own diplomaticchannels in the UK to ensurethat the view of the players andthe ECB (is heard),” Harrisonsaid at Lord’s during the secondtest between England andIndia. “This is not players ask-ing for anything unreasonable,these are very reasonablerequests that we are asking theAustralian government to givesome leniency, frankly.

“It’s going to beimportant for us toensure that we can givecomfort to players thattheir families are going tobe able to be in Australiaand that those conditionsin which they are quar-antined will be reason-able, enabling the play-ers to be at their best inthat test series,” he con-tinued. “It’s a conversationthat’s going to take placeover the next few weeks, butI am very confident we willget to a place where we canfulfill our obligations to tour.”

Harrison has played

down speculation the Ashescould be postponed by a yearto allow England fans toattend. He also cannot seeEngland players sitting outthe tour if loved ones werenot permitted to travel.

“The Ashes is so impor-tant to global cricket, muchlike an England-India series,but even more so in certainparts of the world and for

global cricket fans,” he said.“We never want to compro-mise the integrity of theseries for any reason. CricketAustralia understand this,just as well as we do.

“The issue at the momentis the process that we needto go through to get the

assurances that we need tobe comfortable, that our

players can get on the planeto Australia and feel confidentthat they can be at their bestand they can perform at theirbest, without having to copewith the mental weight ofbeing massively concernedabout the conditions.”

2nd Test. Day 2Live from 3:30pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

English cricket leaders confidentabout Ashes going ahead

Indian women’scricket team fieldingcoach, trainer set to be replaced

Langer in heated confrontation with CA staffer over Bangladesh video: Report

54-member Indian teamfor Tokyo Paralympicsaccorded warm send-off

World Boxing Council announcesformation of India committee

Italy and Argentinaclimb FIFA WorldRanking aftertrophy triumphs

Kepa helps Chelsea win UEFA Super Cup on penalties

WFI to listen wrestlers’ view on foreign coaches’fresh contracts, says no private NGO interference

NRAI executives to be assessed, 3-part review underwayTOKYO DEBACLE

IANS n LORD’S

England captain Joe Root’smove to put India into bat

after winning the toss on theopening day of the secondTest failed for three reasons.

There wasn’t as much life inthe pitch as a greenish top sug-gested -- it did not, for instance,seam with any great alarm; theEnglish bowlers failed to bowllate outswing from off andmiddle stumps with the newball; and last but not the least,brilliant batting by RohitSharma and KL Rahul.

Rahul, after a pensive start,accelerated appreciably. Hisfirst boundary was a straight sixoff Moeen Ali. He then pro-ceeded to register his secondthree-figure knock in England— both as an opener.

Root’s decision was defen-sive and possibly premeditated.He banked on James Andersondelivering the goods in heavy,overcast conditions. But Root’slack of confidence in his non-performing batsmen against apotent Indian attack was per-haps as much a reason for opt-ing to field.

Injury preventedAnderson’s age-old partnerStuart Broad from playing in

the match. Thisbrought in MarkWood, who isconsistently thefastest bowler oneither side, butdepends less onmovement in theair or off thewicket.

O l l i eRobinson, suc-cessful in the first test atNottingham with his disci-plined line and length, wasunable to tempt the Indiansinto error.

Sam Curran, who wasintroduced as first change, didswing the ball, but lacked paceand was feasted upon bySharma once he got going. Hehooked Wood for a six to fineleg. In the 100-run partnershipbetween Sharma and Rahul,the former’s share of runs was75.

But an overseas centurycontinues to elude Sharma,who fell for 83, bowled byAnderson off his pads. It willnot be surprising, though, if hemakes amends in this series, forhe is at present in sublimetouch, playing with time tospare — the hallmark of a qual-ity batsman.

London (UK): India openingbatters Rohit Sharma and KLRahul registered a 126-runopening stand against Englandon the opening day of theongoing second Test here at theLord’s Cricket Ground onThursday.

This is the first time thatIndia’s opening batters have puton more than 100 runs in a Testplayed outside Asia since 2011.This is also the highest first-innings opening partnershipfor India at Lord’s since 1952.

Rohit was not able to get tothe three-figure mark as he wassent back to the pavilion byEngland pacer JamesAnderson. After tea break,India’s score is 274/3 withRahul (125*) and AjinkyaRahane (1*) unbeaten at thecrease.

After the lunch break,Rohit and Rahul continuedfrom where they left andbrought up the 100-run open-ing stand in the 33rd over of theinnings. Rohit was the aggres-sor of the two and was march-ing ahead to another century inthe longest format.

However, he was not ableto register a century as he wassent back to the pavilion byJames Anderson in the 44thover and this brought an end tothe 126-run opening partner-ship. Rohit got out after scor-ing 83 runs. This broughtCheteshwar Pujara (9) to the

middle and he once againfailed to get going and was dis-missed by Anderson. In theend, Kohli and Rahul ensuredthat India entered the tea breakwith eight wickets in hand.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma andKL Rahul brought out their A-game to the middle as the vis-

itors went into the lunch breakwithout losing a single wicket.At the lunch break, India’sscore read 46/0 with Rohit(35*) and Rahul (10*) unbeat-en at the crease.

The first session saw fewinterruptions due to rain andonly 18.4 overs were bowled in

the session. Earlier, Joe Root-ledEngland won the toss and optedto bowl and the home teamskipper made no bones aboutthe fact that he wanted to makeuse of the overcast conditions toput pressure on India. But Rohitand Rahul ensured India has asolid foundation.

India’s first outside Asia since 2011

India’s Virat Kohli takes a single run off the bowling of England’s Moeen Ali during the 2nd cricket test between England andIndia at Lord’s cricket ground in London, on Thursday AP

Why Root’s decisionto insert India failed

Rohit, Rahul register over 100-run opening stand