vijayawada-english-edition-2021-04-27.pdf - Daily Pioneer

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WHAT’S BREWING 10GOING DIGITAL IS IN ‘VOGUE'

ANALYSIS 7A FLAWED IDEA THAT

THE US MUST ABANDON

SPORTS 11IPL PLAYERS START

PULLING OUT

}POOJA HEGDETESTS POSITIVE

FOR COVID

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Lockdown only afterCentre’s clarification,

says Alla Nani

4

Oscars 2021’s trib-

ute to Irrfan Khan

and Bhanu Athaiya

9

It’s time theOpposition joins

hands with Modi tofight Covid

CHINA'S AIRLINE SUSPENDS FLIGHTSWITH MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO INDIA

China's state-run Sichuan Airlines hassuspended all its cargo flights to Indiafor 15 days, causing major disruption

to private traders' efforts to procure themuch-needed oxygen concentrators andother medical supplies from China despiteBeijing offering "support and assistance" tothe country to deal with the latest surge ofCOVID-19 cases. In a letter to the salesagents on Monday, the Sichuan ChuanhangLogistics Co. Ltd, the company which is part of theSichuan Airlines said the airline has suspended its cargo flightson six routes, to Delhi, amid hectic efforts by private traders fromboth sides to procure oxygen concentrators from China.

AT 3,876, MUMBAI LOGS LOWESTCOVID-19 CASES SINCE MARCH 30

Mumbai reported 3,876 new COVID- 19cases on Monday, the lowest dailycount since March 30, while 70

more patients succumbed to theinfection, the city civic body said.According to the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)'s updateddata, with the addition of 3,876 cases, theCOVID-19 tally increased to 6,31,527, whilethe death toll jumped to 12,853. Ascompared to Sunday, the metropolis has reported1,666 fewer cases, but six more deaths. A day before, thefinancial capital had registered 5,542 new cases and 64fatalities.

US TO SUPPORT INDIA IN COVID FIGHT,BIDEN TELLS MODI DURING PHONE CALL

US President Joe Biden on Mondayconveyed solidarity with India in itsfight against Covid-19 and asserted

that his country was determined tosupport its efforts by quickly deployingresources such as therapeutics,ventilators and identifying sources of rawmaterials to be made available for themanufacture of Covishield vaccine. Bidenexpressed the support of the US to India in atelephonic conversation with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, during which the two leaders discussed thepandemic situation in their countries, including India's ongoingefforts to contain a second wave of Covid-19.

DELHI RUNNING OUT OF SPACE FORFUNERALS AMID RECORD COVID DEATHS

With over 350 deaths recordedevery day in recent days, Delhihas less and less space to

cremate its dead. So much so thatnew facilities, even if temporary,sites are being developed toaccommodate the pandemic's incr-easing number of victims. Today,Delhi recorded 350 deaths, yesterdayit was 357, and the day before, 348.The average number of COVID-19-relateddeaths in the past week was 304. At the Sarai Kale Khancremation site, for instance, around 60-70 bodies are beinghandled every day because of the deadly second wave.

VVIIJJAAYYAAWWAADDAAWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated april 26, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTTeemmpp:: 38HHuummiiddiittyy:: 52%SSuunnrriissee:: 05:52 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:35 pm

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TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Chaitra & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Purnima: 09:00 am Pratipada: 05:13 am (Next Day)

Nakshatram : Swati: 08:08 pm

Time to Avoid : (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam : 03:22 pm – 04:57 pm

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Gulika : 12:13 pm - 01:48 pm

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 12:25 pm – 01:49 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:48 am – 12:39 pm

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

At a time when every single breathcounts, the country is unable toproduce a few more hundredtonnes of oxygen per day due to anunresolved dispute between aFrench gas major ‘Air Liquide' andVizag-based RINL that first sur-faced around 2013.

Air Liquide had signed a long-term agreement with RINL in No-vember 2010 according to which itwas supposed to supply oxygen andnitrogen to meet the needs of itsexpansion from 3 million tonnes to

6.3 million tonnes per year. Accordingly, by 2012-13 two

ASUs were built by the Frenchmajor on the RINL Plant premis-es that had the total installed oxy-gen capacity over 1,800 tonnes perday. In addition, Air Liquide was toproduce large quantities of liquidgases like oxygen, nitrogen andargon to meet the needs of theindustrial and medical customersin the region. The trial run of boththe ASUs was also successful.

The Air Liquide investmentamounted to around €70 millionfor the production facilities and thesupply chain put together.

However, due to some financialdispute cropped up between RINLand Air Liquide which is said tohave finally gone to arbitration. Thedispute led to the already builtASUs lie idle without any produc-tion since then.

“Had the two sides resolved theissue quickly and amicably, both theASUs would have started produc-tion which would have helped theplant in steel production all theseyears and now help the entirecountry in these difficult times,”RINL former CMD Y SivasagarRao told The Pioneer.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of measures to containthe spread of Covid-19, theAndhra Pradesh Governmenthas announced that henceforth,only 50 people or less would beallowed to attend any functionacross the State.

As per orders issued by StateHealth secretary Anil KumarSinghal only 50 people would beallowed to attend any functionacross the state. Sports complex-es, gyms and swimming poolswill remain closed until furtherorders while public transportand cinema halls will be allowedto function with 50 percentcapacity.

Singhal also instructed thatsocial distance be strictly main-tained in all offices. Allocationof beds and admissions ofpatients in hospitals will bedone through a single call cen-tre.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh on Mondayreported 9,881 fresh Covid-19cases, taking the infection count to10,43,441, while 51 fatalitiespushed the toll to 7,736, accordingto an official bulletin released bythe state government.

The total recoveries stood at9,40,574 with as many as 4,431people recovering from the disease,

the bulletin said giving detailsduring the last 24 hours ending 9am today.

The state has 95,131 active casesand over 74,000 samples weretested during the last 24 hours.

Chittoor and Nellore topped thetoll chart with six casualties eachfollowed by Kurnool andVizianagaram five each.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an important development, thestate government on Mondaydecided to follow a three-tierstructure for effective implemen-tation of Covid management inthe state with immediate effect.Orders were also issued constitut-ing a State Level Task Force Co-mmittee to monitor the effectivefunctioning of the new system.

As per the new arrangement, atthe district level, the Collector willdivide all private hospitals permit-ted to treat Covid-19 patients intoclusters and appoint a DistrictLevel Officer as in-charge for eachof these clusters to frequentlyinspect these hospitals, receivecomplaints and look into theseand take appropriate actionagainst the hospitals whereverneeded.

Each cluster will have 5-8 pri-vate hospitals. Complaints per-taining to nearby hospitals illegal-ly treating Covid patients shouldalso be monitored by the officerso appointed.

NAVEENA GHANATEn HYDERABAD

With healthcare infrastructurecrumbling, the pandemic hasshown that it’s now only about sur-vival of the privileged.

To get oxygen, injections, drugsor hospital bed, even an oximeteror to transport the dead, people arehaving to resort to using their cloutand connections.

For a common man, only divineintervention with huge dollops ofluck can help emerge from the dan-ger. As Covid-19 positive cases con-tinue to rise, the calls for helponline, offline, to helplines andrunning from pillar to post has onlyincreased. Only a minuscule pop-ulation is able to get a Covid ICUbed through the routine process. Asimilar situation is occurring withregard to drug procurement, whereeither the citizens have to use

contacts or pay through theirnoses.

Sai Teja, activist and member ofFeed The Needy said, “We arereaching out to our connectionsmore than ever. Even for a Fabiflutablet, we had to reach out to ACP-level officials as it is becoming dif-ficult to procure things.”

He said that even cremations arenot possible without ‘contacts’.“One person expired at AIG hos-pital and they wanted us to take the

body before 6 pm. I had to reachout to bigwigs to allow the hospi-tal to preserve the body for onenight. We shifted it to Kondapurarea hospital and cremated the nextday.”

Even to shift body to nativeplaces, it is impossible without cloutand connections.

Sharing her ordeal, B Pratibha, aresident of Tirumellgiri said, “Myparents tested positive for coron-avirus and I couldn’t get an oxime-ter. None of the medical shops inthe neighbourhood had it. Ourfamily doctor who knew of suppli-ers called and arranged it for us.”

Even officials in the administra-tion have agreed that distress callsand for seeking help for ICUadmission have been increasing.Some have even agreed to havemade calls for Tocilizumab andRemdesivir.

PNS n CHENNAI

The Madras High Court onMonday castigated the ElectionCommission over the Covid-19second wave in the country, hold-ing it 'singularly' responsible forthe spread, called it the "the mostirresponsible institution" and evensaid its officials may be bookedunder murder charges.

The EC allowing political par-ties to take out rallies and meet-ings had led to the spread of thepandemic, the court said.

"Were you (living) on anotherplanet," the first bench of ChiefJustice Sanjib Banerjee and JusticeSenthilkumar Ramamoorthyasked the EC officials.

The bench made the stingingobservation on a PIL from KarurAIADMK candidate and Tran-sport Minister M R Vijayabaskarfor the April 6 Assembly polls,seeking a direction to authoritiesto ensure fair counting of votes onMay 2 in Karur by taking effec-tive steps and proper arrange-ments with Covid-19 protocols.

Since as many as 77 candidatesare contesting from Karur con-stituency, it would be very diffi-cult to accommodate their agentsin the counting hall. It may affectobservance of the protocols, thepetitioner alleged.

When counsel for the EC saidthat all necessary steps were under-way, the bench shot back sayingthat by allowing the political par-ties to take out rallies and meetings,it (Commission) had paved theway for the resurgence of the sec-ond wave of the deadly virus.

Irked over the submission ofEC counsel that all precautionarymeasures would be taken at thecounting centres, the Chief Justicereplied that the EC must be 'sin-gularly' held responsible for thesecond wave of the pandemicspike in the country.

Poll panel may be booked for murder,says irate Madras HC on Covid spread

PNS n NEW DELHI

Air India brought 328 oxygen con-centrators to India on its NewYork-Delhi flight on Monday,Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

Various hospitals across thecountry continue to grapple witha severe shortage of medical oxy-gen on Monday even after receiv-ing emergency supplies.

On Saturday, 20 people died atDelhi's Jaipur Golden Hospitalamid a shortage of oxygen.

"All efforts to strengthen India'sfight against the pandemic are on.318 Philips oxygen concentratorson @airindiain flight from JFKairport land at @DelhiAirport,"Puri tweeted on Monday.

With 3,52,991 people testingpositive for coronavirus infectionin a day, the highest so far, India'stally of COVID-19 cases hasclimbed to 1,73,13,163 whileactive cases have crossed the 28lakh-mark, according to theUnion Health Ministry dataupdated on Monday.

The death toll increased to1,95,123 with a record 2,812 newfatalities, the data updated at 8 amshowed.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi onMonday said all citizens should getCovid vaccines for free and thecountry should not be made a "vic-tim of the BJP's system".

India's vaccination campaign isall set to get a major boost fromMay 1 when everyone above theage of 18 will be eligible for vaccine.

"Enough of discussion. All citi-zens of the country should get vac-cine for free. Don't make India avictim of the BJP's system," he saidin a tweet in Hindi.

Gandhi and the Congress have

been asking for free vaccination ofall. The party has also criticised thegovernment's vaccination policyand the handling of the crisis.

Maharashtra, which is leading inthe number of cases and deaths inthe country, Gujarat, Odisha andRajasthan has said they will providefree vaccination to all, joining sev-eral other states.

However, four states ruled by theCongress and its allies accused theCentre of "hijacking" vaccine stocksfrom manufacturers and expresseddoubts they would be able to lau-nch the inoculation drive to coverthose between 18-45 years of age.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With 3,52,991 people testingpositive for coronavirus infectionin a day, the highest so far, India'stotal tally of COVID-19 cases hasclimbed to 1,73,13,163 whileactive cases have crossed the 28-lakh mark, according to theUnion Health Ministry dataupdated on Monday.

The death toll increased to1,95,123 with a record 2,812 newfatalities, the data updated at 8am showed.

It’s all about survival of the privileged

AP sets up task forceto lead Covid fight

State restrictsguests atfunctions to 50

IAF sendsaircraft tobring emptycontainersPNS n NEW DELHI

A heavy-lift transport aircraft ofthe Indian Air Force was onMonday sent to Dubai to airliftseven empty cryogenic oxygencontainers, officials said.

They said the C-17 aircraft hasalready landed in Dubai.

"After loading, the aircraft willget airborne for Panagarh in WestBengal and is likely to arrive thereat 5:30 pm," said an official.

India is struggling with a sec-ond wave of coronavirus infectionand hospitals in several states arereeling under shortage of oxygen.

Air India brings318 oxygenconcentratorsfrom New York

2 ‘disputed’ oxygen plants lie idle in AP

n Minister says 30% oxygen wasted in hospitals

AP reports 9,881 newCovid cases, 51 deaths

Covid: India logsrecord 3.52 lakh newcases, 2,812 fatalities

As Covid-19 positive

cases continue to

rise, the calls for help

online, offline, to

helplines and running

from pillar to post

has only increased.

Rahul Gandhi demands freeCovid vaccine for all citizens

22

2 2

2

22

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021

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` 74, 600 (1kg)

` -6600

EGG

RATES

GOLD

VIJAYAWADA 373

HYDERABAD 400

VISAKHAPATNAM 505

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀33.. 9955

SILVER

VIJAYAWADA

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `133

Without Skin `152

Broiler at Farm `92

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

` 48, 870 (10 gm)

` -2220

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an endeavour to address thegrowing concern of climatechange and rising health con-cerns, the not-for-profit organ-isation set up by theGovernment of AndhraPradesh focusing on farmer’sempowerment — RythuSadhikara Samstha (RySS) —has commissioned a study toexplore the health and environ-mental benefits of naturalfarming.

To take this forward, RySShas signed a MoU for a fouryear study with the PublicHealth Foundation of India(PHFI) and The University ofEdinburgh (UoE) on Monday.

The BLOOM (Co-Benefitsof Largescale Organic FarmingOn HuMan Health) is a clus-ter-randomised controlledevaluation of the health effectsof AP Community-managedNatural Farming (APCNF).

APCNF is implementedthrough RySS and is the world’slargest chemical-free agro-ecology and regenerative agri-culture programme.

The study will undertake theaspects like carry out a com-munity-based, cluster-ran-domised controlled evalua-tion. Baseline assessments ofover 2,000 households acrosstwo districts Kurnool andVisakhapatnam in AP will beconducted to coincide withKharif -monsoon season.

Follow-up assessments willbe conducted 1 and 2 yearslater. A wide range of outcomeswill be explored including pes-ticide exposure, diet, cropyield, household income, dia-betes and kidney disease, andchild growth and develop-ment.

Agriculture minister KKannababu said, "We see thepartnership with the Universityof Edinburgh and the PublicHealth Foundation of India asa unique opportunity to estab-lish the health benefits of nat-ural farming, since it eliminatesthe need for synthetic pesticideusage. They have chosen APbecause the AP CommunityManaged Natural Farming (APCNF) is the largest naturalfarming programme in the

world. As an organisation thatis responsible for implement-ing the State wide transforma-tion to natural farming, wevalue the establishment of thehealth benefits scientificallyas it will help us to motivatemore farmers to take up thetransformation. We believethat this study will providesome of the most conclusiveevidence to date on healthbenefits of reducing pesticideexposure. The results of thestudy will also help us to edu-cate citizens about the healthbenefits of consuming foodproduced through Naturalfarming.”

The grant of Rs 15.70 croreover a period of 4 years isawarded by UK Research forInnovations - UKRI, Govt ofUK to The University ofEdinburgh (UoE) for conduct-ing this research.

UoE’s International Deanfor South Asia, Prof. PankajPankaj, said, “We are gratefulfor this opportunity to learnfrom the pioneering sustain-able agriculture programmebeing implemented in south

India. The study is being con-ducted to benefit farmers. Withthis new partnership withRySS, the researchers willensure that the outcomes arefarmer-centric.”

PHFI president Prof KSrinath Reddy said that near-ly 3 billion people are unableto afford a healthy diet andpoor-quality diets are linked to11 million deaths per year. Sub-optimal diets are associatedwith a wide range of serioushealth risks. Regular agricul-tural practices put very differ-ent demands on earth’s natur-al resources, which impliesdietary patterns in one regioncan be different to another dueto usage of natural resources.

The lead researchers of theBLOOM study, are Dr LindsayJaacks, UKRI Future LeadersFellow and Chancellor’s Fellowin the Global Academy ofAgriculture and Food Security,UoE, and Dr. PoornimaPrabhakaran, Head,Environmental Health andDeputy Director of the Centrefor Environmental Health atthe PHFI.

The Modi governmentis putting up a relent-less fight against

Covid-19 for the past 16months and the time hascome for all of us to put up aunited fight now.

The Government took aseries of measures like impos-ing lockdown, curfew, restric-tions on overseas tourists,demarcated zones and sensi-tising people.

The PM addressed thenation many times. TheCentre released Rs 15,000crore for PPE kits, ventilators,ICUs, testing centres and soon. By May 12, the PMannounced the Rs 20-lakhcrore Atma Nirbhar package,which constitutes 10 percentof the country’s GDP.

The Centre announced var-ious packages for workers,small, micro and mediumindustries, cottage industries.Under PM Garib KalyanYojana, several welfare andrelief measures worth Rs 1.70-

lakh crore were implemented. The Centre implemented

Vande Bharat Mission to bringback Indians stranded abroaddeploying Air India, IAF andNavy flights.

Can anybody say that thegovernment did not take anymeasures at all? Can anybodysay that the measures initiat-ed by Modi did not helprevive the economy after thecrisis due to lockdown?

The turnaround of theeconomy, when compared toother nations, was rapid.

If the present rate of growthwere to continue, India wouldemerge as the third mostdeveloped economy in eightyears surpassing the UK,Germany and Japan, accord-ing to economists.

Unfortunately, theOpposition does not praise thegood done by the governmentand work in unison with itwith a positive attitude, where-as in other countries, rulingand opposition parties unite

when faced with a majorproblem.

In India, the Oppositionhighlights the lacunae of theruling party, issues statementsand pokes fun on socialmedia.

The Opposition on onehand blames CMs of BJP-ruled states on Covid-19 whiletrying to sweep the lacunae ofOpposition-ruled states underthe carpet.

They blame the Modi gov-ernment for shortage of oxy-gen, injections and beds inhospitals.

The state governments crit-icise the Centre alleging that

it is not doing anything to cre-ate medical and health ameni-ties because medical andhealth is listed under thestates’ list.

In the states’ list, of the 61aspects, the sixth pertains topublic health, sanitation, hos-pitals, hospitals and so on. Inspite of it being listed under thestates’ list, the ModiGovernment released thou-sands of crores since March2020, till the Budget waspassed this year. In last year’sBudget, the Modi governmentallocated Rs 64,180 crore underthe Swasthya Bharat Yojana.

On account of a series of

measures initiated by Modi,India achieved self-sufficien-cy in creation of medicalamenities, Covid testing kitsand so on.

Today, the Navy is supply-ing oxygen cylinders to thecountry. The Centre has start-ed Oxygen Express trains tosupply medical oxygen to allparts of the country.

Earlier, the Centre convert-ed hundreds of passenger rail-

way coaches into isolationcoaches. Assessingthe demand forRemedisivir, itbanned exportof the drug.Modi has direct-ed industries toensure their oxygenplants work at capacity. Thegovernment lifted customsduty on oxygen cylinders andvaccines to facilitate theirimport.

Countrywide, the Modigovernment will soon beembarking on a major vacci-nation programme in fourdays to administer the vaccineto people in the 18-44 yearsage group. The Centre hasdeclared that it will supply thevaccine free of cost to states,the states are also coming for-ward to give vaccines free ofcost to the people.

The PM asked CDS BipinRawat to deploy doctors indefence services and retiredarmy medical personnel in the

war against Covid. Opposition partieshave been creatingproblems in the wayof the Governmentat every step know-

ing well that Modi hasbeen extending decisive

leadership. During the current Covid

crisis, the opposition hasbeen spreading rumours andcreating misunderstandingsamong the people.

The Opposition blamesthe BJP election campaign inWest Bengal for the spread ofthe virus but why has it notappealed to farmers agitatingon the borders of Delhi to calloff their protest?

When the Covid was at itspeak last year, crores of BJPworkers helped supply food,clothes, masks and medi-cines to migrant workers.

BJP national president JPNadda appealed to partyworkers, sarpanches and peo-ple’s representatives to stand

by the people at this hour. The BJP’s people’s represen-

tatives have set up quarantinecentres, medical amenitiesand started temporary hospi-tals.

They operatedDhanwantari Raths to distrib-ute medicines among thepeople. They sensitised peo-ple on the need to undergovaccination.

At the same time, leaderswho target Modi havebecome distanced from thepeople long back.

They did not do anythingto help the people, barringspeaking on TV, tweetingand forwarding WhatsAppmessages.

The country is facing a cri-sis, the state governmentsshould work in tandem withthe Centre to provide succourto the people.

When the whole countrybecomes one, any problemcan be driven away from thesoil.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

Unfortunately, the Opposition does notpraise the good done by the government andwork in unison with it with a positiveattitude, whereas in other countries, rulingand opposition parties unite when faced witha major problem.

It’s time the Opposition joins hands with Modi to fight Covid

UK’s Edinburgh varsity to studyAP’s natural farming benefits

PNS n NEW DELHI

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) onMonday predicted a wet spellover several parts of the coun-try, including central, southand northeast India, fromApril 26 to 30.

Thunderstorms with light-ning and gusty winds (speedreaching 30-40 kilometresper hour) are very likely atisolated places overTelangana, Kerala and Mahefrom April 26.

Lightning at isolated placesover Gangetic West Bengal,Andaman and NicobarIslands, central Maharashtra,Marathwada, Rayalaseema,south interior Karnataka andTamil Nadu, Puducherry andKaraikal on Monday.

Heat wave conditions are

very likely in isolated pocketsover Gujarat and coastalOdisha, the IMD added. OnApril 27, thunderstorms withlightning and gusty winds(speed reaching 30-40 kmph)are very likely at isolatedplaces over Uttarakhand,Assam, Meghalaya, centralMaharashtra, Marathwada,Telangana, Kerala and Mahe.

Lightning is also likely atisolated places over Jammu,Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad,Himachal Pradesh, GangeticWest Bengal, Odisha,Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland, Manipur,Mizoram, Tripura, Konkan,Goa, coastal Andhra Pradesh,Yanam, Rayalaseema, southInterior Karnataka andTamilnadu, Puducherry andKaraikal.

On April 28, thunder-storms with lightning arelikely over Uttarakhand,Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, sub-Himalayan West Bengal,Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,Assam, Meghalaya, centralMaharashtra, Marathwada,Telangana, Kerala and Mahe.

Heavy rainfall is likely atisolated places over southinterior Karnataka and northKerala on April 28.

According to the IMD,thunderstorms with lightningand gusty wind (speed reach-ing 30-40 kmph) are likely atisolated places overUttarakhand, Vidarbha,Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,Sikkim, Odisha, ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Meghalaya,coastal Andhra Pradesh,Yanam, Telangana, Keralaand Mahe and with lightning

at isolated places over Jammuand Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad,Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland,Manipur, Mizoram andTripura, Rayalaseema, coastaland south interior Karnataka,Lakshadweep and TamilNadu, Puducherry andKaraikal on April 29.

On April 30, thunder-storms with lightning andgusty winds are likely overUttarakhand, Vidarbha,Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,Sikkim, Odisha, ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Meghalaya,coastal Andhra Pradesh,Yanam, Telangana, Keralaand Mahe.

On the same day, heavyrainfall is likely at isolatedplaces over south interiorKarnataka and north Kerala,the IMD added.

Continued from Page 1

The bench even said that ECofficials may be booked undermurder charges.

The judges also orallywarned that they would nothesitate to stop the counting ofvotes on May 2.

"Public health is of para-mount importance and it isdistressing that constitutionalauthorities have to be remind-ed in such regard. It is onlywhen a citizen survives that hewill be able to enjoy the rightsthat a democratic republicguarantees", the judges said.

Observing that the situationnow is of survival and protec-tion, the bench directed theElection Commission to file adetailed report by April 30 onthe blueprint of Covid-19 pro-tocol to be followed on thecounting day.

The court directed the com-mission for the blueprint to befiled after a detailed consulta-tion with the state HealthDepartment Secretary.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadureported 15,000 new Covidcases, while its active cases arein excess of one lakh.

Elections had been held infour states — Tamil Nadu,Kerala, Assam and WestBengal and the union territo-ry of Puducherry and thecounting of polled votes will betaken up on May 2.

While voting is over in allthe other states, the seventh ofthe eight-phase polling in WestBengal was held on Monday,with the last phase scheduledon April 29.

Earlier, the Calcutta HighCourt had expressed dissatis-faction with the EC over theenforcement of Covid-19health safety norms duringthe ongoing West Bengalassembly election process,including campaigning.

On April 22, hearing threepublic interest litigations (PILs)seeking enforcement of Covid

protocol during the polls, adivision bench presided byChief Justice T B NRadhakrishnan had saidissuance of circulars and hold-ing meetings on Covid safetywere not enough.

It later directed the compe-tent authorities to make thepeople of West Bengal abide bythe restrictions imposed by theCommission on public behav-iour regarding protective pro-tocol for Covid-19 in the state,which also has witnessed analarming rise in infections.

Poll panel may be bookedfor murder, says irate...

It’s all about survival ofthe privilegedContinued from Page 1

Meanwhile, even doctors areoverburdened by calls andrecommendations. A doctorin government chest hospitalsaid, “Even as they enter hos-pital, we have people calling ussaying that they are fromCM’s peshi, health minister’speshi, relative of police, localreporter etc. As days pass thenumber of such references isonly increasing.”

He said that the hospital

staff are already stressed withthe workload. “For us, anypatient has the same value andour duty is to save as manylives as possible. At our hos-pital, VIP or poor people willget the same treatment andexpecting preferential treat-ment at government hospitalsis unwise.”

Even calls to the HealthMinister have increased afterhe himself asked people toreach out to him.


There will also be a DistrictLevel Flying Squad constitut-ed by the Collector with rep-resentatives from DirectorGeneral, Drugs ControlAdministration, Vigilance andEnforcement Department andMedical and HealthDepartment. This FlyingSquad will inspect the hospi-tals frequently and ensurethat strict action is initiatedagainst hospitals violating theguidelines issued by the gov-ernment from time to time.The flying squad will therebyensure effective functioning ofthe cluster in-charge officers.

At the third layer, StateLevel Task Force Committeeheaded by senior IAS officer,Satish Chandra will monitorthe effective functioning ofthe above arrangements andreview the complaintsreceived from time to time.

The district Collectorshave been directed to consti-tute the clusters and appointDistrict Level Officers andDistrict Level Flying Squad assuggested and report compli-ance urgently, duly furnishingthe details of the officersappointed and teams consti-tuted to the Government.

AP sets up taskforce to lead Covid fight


A state-level task force was setup to supervise Remdesivirinjection for supply to Covidpatients, he said and addedthat there are currently 11,000Remdesivir vials available.Singhal said that the CentralGovernment has allocated341 metric tonnes of oxygento the state,which is not suf-ficient for the present needs.

“We are monitoring med-ical oxygen consumption ona day-to-day basis. Oxygen isbeing wasted in many placesas it is being used when notneeded,” he said.

State restricts...


Registering a steady increase,the active cases have increasedto 28,13,658 comprising 16.25per cent of the total infections,while the national COVID-19recovery rate has furtherdropped to 82.62 per cent.

The number of people whohave recuperated from thedisease surged to 1,43,04,382.The case fatality rate has fur-ther dropped to 1.13 per cent,the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally hadcrossed the 20-lakh mark onAugust 7, 30 lakh on August23, 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh on September 16. Itwent past 60 lakh on

September 28, 70 lakh onOctober 11, crossed 80 lakh onOctober 29, 90 lakh onNovember 20 and surpassedthe one-crore mark onDecember 19. India crossed thegrim milestone of 1.50 crore onApril 19. According to theICMR, 27,93,21,177 sampleshave been tested up to April 25with 14,02,367 samples beingtested on Sunday.

The 2,812 new fatalitiesinclude 832 from Maharashtra,350 from Delhi, 206 fromUttar Pradesh, 199 fromChhattisgarh, 157 fromGujarat, 143 from Karnataka,and 103 from Jharkhand.

A total of 1,95,123 deathshave been reported so far in

the country including 64,760from Maharashtra, 14,426from Karnataka, 14,248 fromDelhi, 13,557 from TamilNadu, 11,165 from UttarPradesh, 10,941 from WestBengal, 8,432 from Punjaband 7,685 from AndhraPradesh.

The health ministry stressedthat more than 70 per cent ofthe deaths occurred due tocomorbidities.

"Our figures are being rec-onciled with the IndianCouncil of Medical Research,"the ministry said on its website,adding that state-wise distrib-ution of figures is subject tofurther verification and recon-ciliation.

Covid: India logs record 3.52lakh new cases, 2,812 fatalities


Interestingly, these two ASUswere installed by Air Liquideunder Build-Own-Operate(BOO) model where theFrench giant was to investand operate the units with-out much financial burdenon RINL.

“Had the RINL’s top exec-utives taken little interestafter witnessing and experi-encing the first wave ofCovid pandemic last yearand taken it up with theUnion Steel Ministry, theissue would have beenresolved by now and addi-tional oxygen would havebeen produced daily. In the

current scenario even onetonne of oxygen is preciousnot only in Andhra but alsoacross the country,” anotherretired senior executive ofRINL told The Pioneer.

Every day on an average,the ASUs that are in opera-tion produce 2,600 tonnes ofoxygen in gas form, and 100tonnes in liquid form —which is supplied for medicalpurposes. Air Liquide and itsUK-based rival Linde Plc arethe two biggest providers ofgases to industry in India.

RINL, the only shorebased integrated Steel planton the East coast, having itsown captive oxygen plantprimarily for the process of

steelmaking.To meet the oxygen

requirements for Covidpatients in the second wave,RINL has already suppliedaround 400 tonnes of liquidoxygen last week to variousdestinations in AndhraPradesh and other states asinstructed by governmentauthorities.

About 28 oxygen plantslocated in the steel plants ofboth public and private sec-tors are supplying about1,500 tonnes of medical oxy-gen daily. A stock of 30,000tonnes including the safetystock, is being made availablefor medical use, according tothe Steel Ministry.

2 ‘disputed’ oxygen plantslie idle in AP


Meanwhile, State HealthMinister Alla Kali Krishna onMonday said as much as 30percent of medical oxygen isbeing wasted in hospitals.

"The State governmentreceived information thatoxygen is being wasted.It has

come to the notice of the gov-ernment that nearly 30 per-cent of the oxygen is beingwasted in the state. Onlythose who need oxygenshould only be given (in hos-pitals)," he said.

"The State needs 390tonnes of oxygen per day butwe are getting only 360

tonnes (from all sources).We are requesting the Centrealso to enhance the supply,”the Minister said

He further said the supplyof Remdesivir, an anti-viraldrug to treat Covid-19 severecases, is being monitored bythe state government in orderto curtail black-marketing.

IMD predicts wet spell over parts ofcountry from April 26-30

AP reports 9,881 newCovid cases, 51 deaths

Govt asks Serum ,BB to lower priceof vaxPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre on Mondayasked SII and Bharat Biotechto lower price of their Covidvaccines amid criticismfrom various states.

The issue of vaccine pric-ing was discussed at a meet-ing chaired by CabinetSecretary Rajiv Gauba.

Now the two companiesare expected to come up withrevised pricing for their vac-cines. The Hyderabad-basedBharat Biotech has fixed theprice of its Covid vaccine,Covaxin, at Rs 600 per dosefor state governments and atRs 1,200 per dose for privatehospitals.


‘Officials should turn all their focus to the availability of beds,oxygen and Remdesivir injections.These facilities should beexpedited immediately in order toprevent the situation from goingout of control create confidenceamong the people.’

Ensure villages get 20 gbpsInternet, Jagan tells officials PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has asked officials toincrease the Internet speed to20 GBPS to enable uninter-rupted work-from-home invillages.

The Chief Minister waschairing a review meeting onInternet connections to villagesand distribution of laptops asan option under Amma VodiScheme on Monday duringwhich he directed the officialsto be prepared to provideuninterrupted, unlimitedbroadband Internet network toall villages.

The Chief Minister askedofficials to prepare an actionplan to provide Internet con-nection to 31 lakh houses inthe YSR Jagananna coloniesthat are under-constructionand to lay underground cablesin 108 cyclone-affected vil-lages. He said providingInternet facility in all villagesshould be completed by 2023.

During the review meetingheld at the camp office here onMonday, Jagan said that villagedigital libraries should be setup in all villages and construc-tion should be done as per theschedule. He told officials to

ensure that computers areready by the time constructionis completed. Also, a stand fornewspapers should bearranged and there should beprovision for six computers ineach library and 4-6 comput-ers can be set up as per therequirement.

The Chief Minister said lap-tops should be distributed tothose who opted for them onJanuary 9, the day of imple-mentation of the Amma Vodischeme.

The Government has givenoptions to the students of

Classes 9 to 12. Guaranteecard, warranty card and othercertifications should be provid-ed to students along with lap-tops and maintenance shouldbe taken care of.

“If any laptop is given in theVillage Secretariat for repair, itshould be sent to the servicecentre and get repaired with-in a week. Laptop service cen-tres should be available inevery revenue division,” theChief Minister said.

Energy SecretaryNagulapalli Srikanth said cableworks are already underway

and will be completed byMarch, 2023.

He said 14,671 km of aerialcable has been laid in 3,642 vil-lages of 307 mandals.

Panchayat RajCommissioner Girija Shankarsaid digital libraries are beingconstructed with an area of 690square feet and the construc-tion cost of each library is esti-mated at Rs 16 lakh, while 20seats are being set up in eachlibrary.

School Education PrincipalSecretary Buditi Rajashekarsaid options are being collect-ed from students for theAmma Vodi scheme and lap-tops are being procured in twomodels and high end versionlaptops will be provided toengineering students.

Energy, Forest andEnvironment, Science andTechnology Minister BalineniSrinivasa Reddy, AP FibernetChairman Dr P GouthamReddy, School EducationPrincipal Secretary BuditiRajashekar, IT PrincipalSecretary Jayalakshmi, EnergySecretary Nagulapalli Srikanth,Panchayat Raj CommissionerGirija Shankar, AP FibernetMD Madhusudan Reddy andother officials were present.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onMonday expressed shock andgrief over the death of Covidpatients allegedly due to lackof timely oxygen supply at theMaharaja Hospital inVizianagaram.

“The Jaganmohan ReddyGovernment has become soinefficient that it is not beingable to provide oxygen topatients battling for their livesin Government hospitals,”Naidu alleged.

In a statement here, theTDP chief termed it as a “totalfailure” on the part of theYSRCP Government not toensure proper supply of oxy-gen at the hospitals in a verydifficult time. “The situationwas deteriorating in all the 13districts with scarcity of oxy-gen beds increasing every-where,” he claimed.

The TDP chief demandedthe YSRCP Government wakeup from its slumber and beginrendering genuine and sincereservices to the people in thistroubled time. “Officialsshould turn all their focus tothe availability of beds, oxygenand Remdesivir injections.These facilities should beexpedited immediately inorder to prevent the situationfrom going out of control cre-ate confidence among the peo-ple,” he said.

Naidu expressed shock overthe death of their party corpo-rator Vanapalli Ravi Kumar in

Visakhapatnam followingCovid-19 infection. He con-veyed his condolences to thebereaved family members.

“From the beginning, RaviKumar has been taking anactive part in the party activ-ities in the port city. It wasunfortunate that Ravi Kumarfell victim to the Covid infec-tion and breathed his lastwhile taking treatment at theNRI hospital,” the TDP chiefsaid.

Naidu also condoled thedeath of Kathari Praveen, hus-band of Chittoor formermayor Hema Latha. Praveen'sfather Mohan also served asthe mayor of Chittoor and hewas murdered while in office.Their family has been active-ly engaged in strengtheningthe party in Chittoor rightfrom the beginning. The TDPwould extend all support totheir family in this time of lossand pain.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP National General SecretaryNara Lokesh on Monday urgedGovernor BiswabhusanHarichandan to intervene to getthe board examinations forClass X and Intermediate eitherpostponed or cancelled inAndhra Pradesh. Lokesh saidthat the Covid-19 second wavewas posing a serious threat toall sections of people with thehighest single-day spike of over12,634 cases reported onSunday. The public opinion wasin favour of the cancellation ofthe examinations so that thestudents and their parentswould be spared from needlessexposure to the virus threat. In a letter to the Governor,Lokesh termed it as an issue ofurgent and critical importance tothe public health of the entirestate. “The Government ofAndhra Pradesh announced itsdecision to conductIntermediate exams for morethan 10 lakh students in May,2021 and also 10th exams for6.3 lakh students in June, 2021.There was widespread anxietyamong the people about illness,serious disorders, and untimelydeaths due to the second waveof Covid-19,” Lokesh mentionedin his letter. Stressing the needfor timely intervention, he said:"Hospitals are falling short ofcrucial resources and medicalsupplies. Lockdowns of varyingseverity are being enforcedeverywhere. As Your Excellencyis well aware, more than 20states in the country have can-celed or postponed exams for

10th and 12th class students. Itis thus egregious on the part ofthe Government of AndhraPradesh to stick to its decisionof conducting exams."Lokesh expressed concern thatmuch more fatal and infectiousmutations of the coronaviruswere spreading currently. It maybe impossible to ensure safetyin the exams involving thou-sands of schools, lakhs ofteachers, and millions of stu-dents. Even if a single life of astudent, teacher, or parent waslost to Covid-19 due to thismass gathering at exams, it willbe an unpardonable failure onthe part of the government. Meanwhile, Lokesh announcedthat his party would file a PIL inthe court seeking immediatepostponement or cancellation ofthe Class X and Intermediateexaminations to protect the stu-dents from the Covid-19 infec-tions. Lokesh said that the deci-sion was taken after taking theopinion of students, parents andadvocates who took part in the'digital town hall' meeting heldon Monday.

Naidu blames Govt for Covid deaths at Visakhapatnam hospital

Lokesh urges Guv to intervene in board exams

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP MLC P Ashok Babu onMonday expressed concernover the 'lack of safety andsecurity' to the lives of govern-ment employees in AndhraPradesh in the wake of the fatalsecond wave of Covid-19.

In a letter to Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy, Ashok

Babu deplored that theemployees were living under athreat from the virus epidem-ic even as the YSRCPGovernment was behaving ina highly objectionable manner.

It was scary that AP hascome to stand among thoseStates which were the worst hitin the second wave of thedeadly virus.

The TDP MLC urged theChief Minister to allowemployees to work from homein their best interests.

“In just a week, over fiveemployees lost their lives at theAP Secretariat. Governmentemployees should also be treat-ed as frontline warriors on parwith doctors and police,” hesaid.

Stating that the number offatalities was rising, AshokBabu demanded payment ofRs 1 crore ex gratia to the kinof employees who succumbedto Covid-19.

The Government shouldimmediately pay the DAarrears which were pendingfor over 5 DAs, he demand-ed.

TDP demands `1 cr to kin of Covid-hit employees

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Covid-19 positive cases arerapidly increasing among thestaff of Kanakadurga temple.

On Monday two archakastested positive, taking the tallyto 52. Also, Jamalamma anattender succumbed to Covidon Monday taking the tollamong the temple employeesto three.

A priest had succumbed toCovid on Saturday and nearly45 people working in Durgatemple including priests hadbeen infected fromCoronavirus. In view of the ris-ing positive cases the templeexecutive committee chair-man Pyla Somi Naidu, execu-tive officer D Brahmarambaand priests conducted a meet-ing on Sunday and imposedthe Corona restrictions.

This is despite the templeauthorities imposing Covid-19restrictions by restrainingDarshan timings and suspend-

ing several pujas. The Antaralaya Darshan

(sanctum sanctorum darshan)has been cancelled and devo-tees would only be allowed intothe temple from 6.30 am to7.30 pm following Coronaguidelines.

The temple timings werechanged in view of night cur-few being imposed from 10 pmto 5 am to contain the spreadof and further to restrain thespread of Coronavirus in tem-ple premises.

Temple EO, MsBrahmaramba said that thedevotees coming to the temple

for darshan should wear masksand maintain physical dis-tance. She explained that all theArjitha sevas will be per-formed in ekantham (privacy),the devotees will be allowed fordarshan from 6.30 am to 7.30pm.

She stated that after 7 pm,the devotees will be deniedentry through the Ghat Roadand Maha Mandapam routeand the Antaralaya darshan fordevotees is completely can-celled. The EO stated that Rs200 fine will be imposed fortemple staff for violating rules.

Temple trust committeechairman Somi Naidu saidthat for every one hourSodium Hypochlorite will besprayed in the queue linesthrough which the devoteesenter the temple premises. Hestated that soon after the dar-shan the devotees shall notform groups and maintaindistance and disburse from thepremises.

One more Durga templestaff succumbs to Covid

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra PradeshGovernment has been distribut-ing Covid kits to eliminate theneed for hospitalisation ofCovid-19 patients.

These kits comprise Vitamin-C 500 mg tablets, Zinc 20 mgtablets, Vitamin D3 (60,000) 16capsules, B-Complex tablets,Paracetamol 650 mg tablets,Cetirizine 10 mg tablets,Pantoprazole 40 mg tablets andantibiotics.

Once a person tests positivefor the virus, he or she is wor-ried about getting a bed in aCovid-19 treatment facility. Infact, many people are not awareof the fact that 85 percent ofthose who have tested positivefor the virus got cured by avail-ing themselves treatment while

in home isolation. The State Government is dis-

tributing kits and boosting themorale of the Covid affected say-ing that the virus can be curedfrom home.

The virus is more virulent inthe second wave.

There are over thousands ofactive cases in the state puttingsevere pressure on availability ofbeds. As the situation worsens,the patients are facing the prob-lem of shortage of oxygen asthey have had difficulty inbreathing.

Some people are able to getrid of the virus without anytreatment at all. As mentionedabove, 85 percent are able to freefrom the virus receiving treat-ment in home care. People areworrying about their healthand are not able to observe these

facts. The Government encour-ages those who tested positive toremain in home quarantine .There is a plan to treat them.Once a person tests positive forthe virus, they will receive aphone call to enquire about theirsymptoms and how they are

keeping up their health. If the symptoms are mild and

if they are asymptomatic, theyhave to receive treatment inhome care. They will be guidedon what type of treatment theyshould avail themselves.

A call centre has been set up

with 104. If the mild symptomsare worsening, they will bereferred to quarantine centres. Ifbreathing levels goes down,they are being referred to hos-pitals.

To enquire about the healthof the patients, ANMs, ASHAworkers, village secretariat per-sonnel, volunteers will bedeployed. They will find out thestatus of the progress of thepatient or otherwise of it.

Those who spend time inhome quarantine, the state gov-ernment distributed Covid-19kits. In fact, many people areable to come out of the Covid-19 with the help of these kits.

ANMs and ASHA workersdeliver these kits at the door stepof the patients. These kits alsocontain masks, gloves and handsanitisers.

Covid kits help eliminate need for hospitalisation

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Asserting that the State gov-ernment, under the leadershipof Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, has beentaking stringent measures tocontain Covid-19 in the state,Minister Botsa Satyanarayanaon Monday accused TDPleaders N Chandrababu Naiduand Nara Lokesh of creatingtension and confusion amongthe public for their politicalinterests.

Speaking to the media at theYSRCP central office here,the Minister said the stategovernment has laid specialfocus on bed availability, oxy-gen and medicines and takingmeasures to ensure 50,000beds are available across thestate.

He said the governmenthas set up ‘104’ call centre andis providing beds to therequired patients within twohours and added that a statecommand control centre hasbeen set up and higher officialsare alert and monitoring thesituation.

“While the state govern-ment has been running frompillar to post to fight the pan-demic, Naidu and yellowmedia are propagating falseinformation to create unrest inthe state,” Botsa said.

He said while the employ-ees have been striving hardfighting against pandemic, thecomments of Naidu andLokesh are lowering the con-fidence among them.

He said officials becamealert in the oxygen supply

issue in a hospital inVizianagaram and saved liveswith great effort and slammedNaidu for not praising the doc-tors and criticising the govern-ment over the issue. “Thegovernment would welcomeany reasonable suggestionsfrom the opposition,” Botsasaid, criticising Naidu for notgiving one responsible sugges-tion to the government.

The Minister came downheavily on Lokesh fordemanding cancellation orpostponement of Class 10 andIntermediate exams. “The stategovernment has taken thedecision to conduct examskeeping in view the future ofthe students,” the Ministersaid.

He questioned how the stu-dents can compete in nation-al level institutions withoutwriting the board exams. Hequestioned Naidu and Lokeshwhy they didn't comment orreact while Narendra Modisaid lockdown was the lastoption.

TDP using Covidto make politicalgains: Minister

C PRADEEP KUMAR

n VIJAYAWADA

At a time Covid-19 pandemicis creating havoc, the demandfor medical oxygen in hospitalsis increasing. Due to the spikein the number of people suffer-ing from Covid, hospitals arealso falling short of beds.

Oxygen reserves in hospitalsare declining and patientsundergoing treatment are indeep trouble.

Government hospitals areovercrowded with Covid vic-tims and relatives. The grief ofthose who have lost their lovedones and the cries of familymembers are heart wrenchingand have become common-place at hospitals.

Heartbreaking scenes arenow a common sight at theVijayawada Government

General Hospital. Threepatients are carried on onestretcher due to shortage ofstretchers while many patientsare waiting in the ambulancewith oxygen support waitingfor their turn as there is anacute shortage of beds.

As Vijayawada GGH is aCovid designated hospital, peo-ple from far away places comefor treatment. There, doctorsare forced to tell every patientand their relatives ‘Please wait,all beds are full’.

Getting a bed in the hospi-tal remains a major task forpatients; besides shortage ofoxygen is haunting patientsundergoing treatment in gov-ernment hospitals.

There is a shortfall of oxygensupplies to even private hospi-tals as there is no supply tomeet the needs of the growing

number of the patients. This scarcity has led to a

spike in oxygen prices. A fivekg oxygen cylinder that wassold at Rs 100 earlier is nowsold at Rs 300, as per reports.Also, private hospitals haveraised charges all across.

Meanwhile, patients andtheir relatives accuse theGovernment of providingincorrect information on thefacilities for Covid patients inhospitals.

“In the Covid dashboard, itis being shown that there are

oxygen beds vacant and thereare plenty of them available.But when a patient is taken tothe respective hospitals, thereare no beds. The hospitalauthorities say that there is nooxygen supply,” is a complaintrepeated by quite a few individ-uals.

Krishna district Collector AMd Imtiaz said that all thepatients are being accommo-dated either in the hospital orCovid Care Centres whichhave all the facilities.

“Many people are not show-ing interest in getting admittedto CCC. As the dashboard wasnot updated there may be amismatch in the figures per-taining to the number of bedsavailable and other details,”Imtiaz said.

He said that patients arebeing discharged once fully

recovered and immediately,another patient is allocatedthe same bed. “Though there isa shortfall in oxygen supply, weare managing and treating allpatients,” said the collector.

Imtiaz appealed to people toopt for home isolation if theirhealth condition is not severe.He said that many patientscome and get themselvesadmitted to a hospital just as aprecautionary measure. “Thepresent situation is only becausesome people did not followCovid appropriate behaviourand had been attending func-tions in large numbers.Presently we are tracking, trac-ing and treating all the positivepatients,” Imtiaz said.

He appealed to all the peo-ple above 18 years to registerthemselves and get vaccinatedwhen their turn comes.

Situation dire but manageable, says Krishna Collector

Unfarewell: Kin bid mutedfarewell toCovid victimsamid 2nd wavePNS n HYDERABAD

Funerals of persons deceaseddue to Covid are taking placewith no near and dear in atten-dance, regardless of the personwho died belongs to affluentsections of society or poorersections.

In fact, their funerals arebeing conducted similar tothat of an orphan in the deadof night. The absence of thefamily members is conspicuousat these funerals. The heirs inthe family feel sad for not ableto lit funeral pyre of elders inthe family, but could only paymoney to the ambulance dri-vers to dispose of bodies,unable to hazard a risk.

Ambulance drivers and per-sonnel at crematoria and bur-ial grounds are conducting thefunerals not only in Hyderabadand also in Karimnagar andWarangal. Compared to funer-als prior to Covid and thefunerals taking place during thecurrent pandemic times havebeen bringing up tears in theeyes of the people.

A teacher set an example forothers to emulate. He groomedmany children into very suc-cessful persons. When he diedrecently due to Covid, his ownson could not take part in hisfuneral, but could give Rs25,000 to the ambulance driverto dispose of the body.

Similarly, an elderly womanwho used to live in Hyderabadhas had six sons. She recentlydied of the pandemic. All hersons are millionaires. There aremany sugar patients in thehouse hold. The family gave Rs30,000 to ambulance driver forher cremation. Some peopleare watching the funeral serviceof the parents through a videocall as they cannot afford attend-ing the funeral services. If videocall is not feasible, videos arebeing sent to the near and dearthrough WhatsApp.


No quarantine centre inAvanigadda: Buddha Prasad

AVANIGADDA: Former Deputy SpeakerMandali Buddha Prasad has said it wasunfortunate that Covid centres were not setup in Avanigadda constituency despite theChief Minister's instructions to convert wed-ding halls and cinema theatres into Covidcentres if possible as nothing was importantthan the lives of the people. He alleged onMonday that a quarantine centre was

opened in Avanigadda in the past so they thought it would be reopenedbut no arrangements have been made to start a quarantine centre inAvanigadda till the date. He said that the area hospitals in some districtshave been made Covid hospitals. He appealed to the Medical andHealth Minister to convert Avanigadda Area Hospital into Covid Hospitalbut was ignored. The corona was intensifying day by day during thesecond wave in the Avanigadda constituency. Many deaths were report-ed in the constituency, he said and added that setting up a Covid quar-antine centre with an oxygen facility could save many lives.

Six KL University students arrested, ganja seized GUNTUR: As many as six students of KL University in Tadepalli werearrested for possessing huge quantities of ganja here on Monday. Thepolice also seized 1.9 kg of cannabis, two hookah bang bottles and sixmobiles from them. Disclosing the details, Guntur urban SP RN AmmiReddy said the Guntur police were trying to crack down on drugusage for over a month now. Seminars were conducted to createawareness among the students on the ill-effects of drug use and theseprogrammes were organized in various educational institutions apartfrom counselling to the students. Drop boxes were set up at TadepalliKL University as part of the awareness programme. Some studentsinformed about drug usage in the university through this dropbox, theSP said. The students of the University Rohit and Sandeep went toLambasingi together and bought 2 kg of ganja. They brought it fortheir use and they have an intention to sell it on the campus. The SPappealed to the students to stay away from drug addiction and focuson their studies.

Vontimitta Sri Kodandaramakalyanotsavam performedKADAPA : Lord Sri Kodandarama Swamy kalyanotsavam was orga-nized in a grandeur manner at Vontimitta in Kadapa district on Mondaynight. The celestial wedding of the Lord and his consort Sita Devi wasperformed under the moonlight on the full moon day. The event wasconducted in Ekantham (Privacy) due to Corona restrictions. RevenueMinister V Srinivas Prasad presented the silk garments, pearls andnecklaces to the God and the Goddess on behalf of the AndhraPradesh State Government. The event, which was hosted by TirumalaTirupati Devasthanams, was attended by TTD officials, JEO Bhargavi,TTD board member Meda Mallikarjuna Reddy and other officials.

SHORT TAKES

PNS n KAKINADA

Despite the alarming surge in thecorona positive cases, peoplewere flocking to amusementplaces in hundreds unabatedlycausing great concern for the dis-trict medical and health officialsin East Godavari.

The corona cases were on therise rapidly and the death toll wasalso mounting up. Despite allefforts by the district administra-tion to create awareness amongthe people about the precautionsof wearing a mask and maintain-ing physical distance, there wasno a little change in the attitudeof the people. People gathered inhuge numbers to witnessGundata and cockfights whichwere held in Pithapuram fourdays ago. Recording dances wereorganized in Alamuru mandaltwo days ago. People who attend-ed these amusement places werenot bothered to wear masks and

maintain physical distance. The queue lines were seen at

the chicken and mutton shopsacross the district on Sundaymorning and people were leastbothered to maintain physicaldistance in the queue lines. Thepolice personnel became mutespectators for ongoing Covid ruleviolations.

Having a population of 54lakhs, about 1.35 lakh peoplewere exposed to coronavirus. Atotal of 9,394 active cases and 661deaths were reported till now in

the district. The official figureswere varying with the real mor-tality rate. The government hasdeclared seven private hospitalsas Covid hospitals. Another 15private hospitals were recentlyapproved. However, the Covidbeds were filled in all almost allcorporate hospitals.

Meanwhile, theMeteorological Department hasissued heavy rain forecast warn-ings in the district. Also, the mer-cury rises on the other side.

People fear that the virus mayincrease in these variant cli-mates. The corona positivepatients were scared of joiningthe government hospitals. As aresult, the beds in the govern-ment-run hospitals were empty.Those who tested positive wererushing to private hospitals withCovid scare. Taking advantage ofthe situation, the hospital man-agements were not consideringArogyasree and other medicalreimbursement schemes.

In the adjoining WestGodavari, the officials declaredsome villages as containmentzones. Whereas in East Godavari,no containment zones wereannounced at the village levelcausing deep concern to thepeople.

Cockfights amid Covid threat causes concern

PNS n ONGOLE

Acting swiftly on the directivesfrom the Superintendent ofPolice Siddhartha Kaushal, thehighway patrolling police onMonday saved the lives ofCovid patients at RIMSHospital in Ongole.

An oxygen-laden tanker,which was supposed to supplyoxygen to RIMS Hospital,broke down midway atNarnivaripalem near Bollapallitoll plaza at around 4 am onMonday.

The tanker (AP 38 TT9368)was transporting 20,000 litres(22 tons) of oxygen fromVisakhapatnam to RIMS hos-pital in Ongole. The highwaypatrolling police of J Pangalurunoticed the tanker andinformed the police controlroom. Reacting to the informa-tion, SP Siddharth Kaushalcalled J Pangaluru SI andordered him to get it repairedimmediately. The tanker has amechanical issue and its elec-trical brakes were malfunction-

ing. The local police sum-moned three lorry mechanicsand got the tanker repaired.

The cops escorted the oxy-gen tanker till it reached the

RIMS hospital. The hospitalmanagement has lauded theservices of patrolling person-nel and thanked SP Kaushal forhis timely intervention.

Cops to the rescue of Covid patientsas oxygen tanker breaks down

Oxygen being filled into tanks at RIMS Hospital in Ongole. (inset) Oxygen tanker which was breakdown at Bollapalli highway.

270 staffers of APSPDCLaffected by corona, seven die

PNS n NELLORE

Siddhagunta Rajendra Prasad,son of a lorry driver hassecured Ph D for his thesis on"Experimental investigation,modelling and optimization ofprocess parameters for abrasivejet machining". Prasad wasthe second son of SiddhaguntaPeddabbai, a lorry driver andSaubhagya couple from NTRNagar in Nellore.

Rajendra Prasad was work-ing as the Head of theDepartment of MechanicalEngineering at PriyadarshiniEngineering College inKanupartipadu.

Prasad received his doc-torate from Dr AdimulapuSuresh, Minister of Educationat the Eleventh Graduationceremony organized byJawaharlal Nehru TechnicalUniversity, Anantapur.

Speaking on the occasion,Rajendra Prasad said his tenresearch papers were pub-lished in internationallyrenowned journals and nowhe was happy to receive theDoctorate. Rajendra Prasadwas congratulated by his col-leagues and friends on theoccasion.

Rajendra Prasad, son ofa lorry driver, gets Ph D

Hoarders of O2

and Remdesivirwarned

PNS n GUDIVADA

State Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs MinisterKodali Srivenkateswara Rao(Nani) has appealed to theration dealers not to believe therumours being circulated onsocial media that the TDSexemption would be madeapplicable to the ration dealersand the amount would bededucted from their commis-sion.

The representatives of theAndhra Pradesh RationDealers' Welfare Associationcalled on Minister Kodali Naniat his residence in Gudivada onMonday. The association pres-ident Kagitha Konda expressedconcern over applying TDS(Tax Deduction at Source) forthe ration dealers during thecorona disaster. The rationdealers said they were effective-ly managed free essential com-modities' distribution pro-

gramme undertaken by thegovernment to save lives. Hesaid the commission of aboutRs. 175 crore was creditedinto the accounts of rationdealers. It was understood thatthe government has decided toexempt TDS on commission asthis would make a huge burden

on each dealer to the tune of Rs20,000, he said.

The dealers also urged forwithdrawal of damaged condi-ments supplied to ration shopsin Bantumilli and Krittivennumandals in Krishna district.Reacting to their plea, MinisterKodali Nani said that he would

talk to the officials of the CivilSupplies Department aboutthe damage of soybeans inBantumilli and KruthivennuMandals.

The DM would be instruct-ed to withdraw the condi-ments if they were foundimproper.

Don’t believe in rumours over TDS: Nani

People gathered in huge numbers to witnessGundata and cockfights which were held inPithapuram four days ago. Recording danceswere organized in Alamuru mandal two daysago. People who attended these amusementplaces were not bothered to wear masks andmaintain physical distance.

Deaths due to technicalsnag in oxygen flow: Dy CM PNS n VIZIANAGARAM

Reacting to the death of twoCovid patients, who were onventilators due to technicalissues in VizianagaramMaharaja Hospital, DeputyCM Pamula Pushpa Srivanisaid the death of two peoplewas due to the slow release ofoxygen at midnight.

"We are working on it toresolve the technical issue ofoxygen supply at CovidHospital," she said. Speaking tothe media persons here onMonday, she said that she hadspoken to the District Collectorand the hospitalSuperintendent and the issuewas brought to the notice ofMedical Health Minister AllaKali Krishana Srinivas (Nani).There was a problem in thesupply of oxygen to patients inthe ICU. She said 15 peoplewere immediately rushed toanother hospital in the city andno human life was in dangerafter the oxygen problem arose.

She clarified that the HealthMinister had ordered to movethe patients to Visakhapatnamif the situation was still serious.

The technical problem of oxy-gen supply would also beresolved by evening and stepswould be taken to prevent

oxygen problems in all the hos-pitals in Vizianagaram districtand people need not worry, sheadded.

PNS n GUNTUR

Stern actionwould be ini-tiated againstthe hoardersof oxygenc y l i n d e r sa n dRemdesivirinjections tomake a fast buck, rural SPVishal Gunni has warned.

Addressing the media hereon Monday, the SP said thatin the wake of the corona out-break, the State governmentwas making all efforts tofetch much-needed oxygenand Remdesivir injections totreat those infected withcorona.

He warned that legal actionwould be taken against theperpetrators of such illegalacts and cases would be reg-istered against them.

The SP appealed to thepeople to bring to their noticeif anyone in the Guntur ruraldistrict has any informationon selling oxygen andRemdesivir injections in theblack market.

PNS n KADAPA

In a bizarre incident, a personbrutally murdered three of hisfamily members with a grudgeand surrendered before thepolice on Monday. The inci-dent occurred at Hyderanagarin Proddutur of Kadapa dis-trict. The deceased includethe mother, sister and brotherof the accused.

According to police, ChandBasha has two sons and adaughter. His elder sonKarimullah got married to agirl belonging to the samestreet four years ago. SinceKarimullah used to suspect hiswife's fidelity; she left himand started living with her par-ents. Karimullah reportedlydeveloped a grudge against his

family members for not sup-porting him over the issue asthey made no efforts to bring

his wife back. Raged by his parents' atti-

tude, Karimullah attacked hisbrother Mohammed Rafi witha pestle and then attacked hismother Gulzar Begum. Hisyounger sister Karimunnisa,who tried to protect her moth-er and brother, received griev-ous injuries.

All three persons suc-cumbed to injuries on thespot. However, Chand Basha,who was away from the houseat the time of the incident,escaped the attack.

Karimullah surrenderedbefore the police after themassacre. The Proddutur OneTown police registered a caseand are investigating basedon the complaint lodged byChand Basha.

Man kills three member of his family, surrenders

PNS n GUNTUR

Health Minister Alla KaliKrishna Srinivas (Nani) saidthat there were no guidelinesfrom the Centre to clamp full-scale lockdown in the State.CM Jaganmohan Reddywould decide if the Centralgovernment issued the guide-lines.

Minister Alla Nanny held areview meeting with districtofficials on the corona situa-tion in Guntur district onMonday. The public repre-sentatives of the district par-ticipated in the meeting virtu-ally.

The public representativesdemanded that a Covid carecentre should be set up inevery constituency with anoxygen facility immediately.District Collector Vivek Yadavasked Minister Nani to clari-fy the amount of oxygen to besupplied and the time of sup-ply every day as Guntur dis-trict needs 47 metric tonnes ofoxygen.

The Minister said the statehas required 360 metric tonnes

of oxygen and has beenimporting oxygen from otherstates. The Centre was askedto provide necessary stocks ofoxygen. Similarly, 12000Remdesivir injections wereavailable now they were beinggiven to everyone.

Addressing the media, AllaNani said that Oppositionleader Chandrababu was mak-ing irresponsible comments

about the Viziayanagaram inci-dent, where two patients diedwith a lack of oxygen in time.He advised Chandrababu Naidunot to take the Corona incidentsfor political advantage. HomeMinister Sucharita who partic-ipated with the Deputy ChiefMinister in the virtual confer-ence said that CM YS JaganMohan Reddy has the power tocontrol the corona.

Lockdown only after Centre’sclarification, says Alla Nani

PNS n NELLORE

As the Covid cases were surg-ing in the state, the electricityemployees were advised tomake appropriate arrange-ments to face challenges,adhering to corona guidelinesand every worker should gettheir jab as the corona secondwave was devastating,Chairman and ManagingDirector of AP SouthernPower Distribution CompanyLtd (APSPDCL) said onMonday.

Harnatha Rao organized ateleconference with the districtofficials and staff of Nellore,Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapurand Kurnool districts onMonday.

Speaking on the occasion,he said that so far 270employees were inflicted withthe corona pandemic in theSPDCL. Nellore district reg-istered the highest Covidcases of 82, Chittoor 77 cases,Tirupati and Kurnool regis-tered 31 each, Kadapa report-

ed 22 cases and Anantapurhas 27 cases. Out of the total270 cases, seven employeessuccumbed to corona, threein Nellore, two in Chittoor,one each in Kurnool andTirupati corporate office.Harnatha Rao expressed hisprofound sympathies to thefamily members of those whodied with the Covid-19 pan-demic.

The CMD of SPDCL direct-ed the officials to ensure 24/7power supply to hospitals,oxygen plants and manufac-turing units of masks andsanitisers. Orders were issuedto sanitize all electricity offices.However, employees in alloffices were instructed toattend only 50 per cent in a dayon alternate days to maintainphysical distance.

H. Harnath Rao, Chairman & Managing Director, AP Southern Power DistributionCompany Ltd.

State has required 360 metric tonnes of oxygen and has been importingoxygen from other states. The Centrewas asked to provide necessarystocks of oxygen.

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

Though there has been a slight fall in thenumber of new persons diagnosed

with Covid-19 on Monday in Kerala,Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said therewas no space for complacency as thereduced numbers were on account of thefall in the number of tests held during thelast two days.

“The State on Monday diagnosed21,890 new cases of Covid-19. We also reg-istered 28 deaths due to Covid-19 tillMonday evening. There are more than 2.32lakh persons undergoing treatment forCovid-19 in the State as on Mondayevening,” said Vijayan.

The Chief Minister said that two dead-ly genetically modified variants of theCovid-19, namely British and South Africanvariants have been detected in the State.“This is news causing concern and hasmade us resort to stringent measures,” saidVijayan who alerted the people of the Statethat the two new variants were dangerousand hazardous.

Vijayan blamed the Centre, especiallythe Prime Minister, for not releasing thequantity of vaccines asked by the StateGovernment.

“We are discussing with the vaccinemanufacturers directly so as to make thevaccine available to the Kerala population,”

said Vijayan in his media interaction onMonday evening.

The all party meeting convened by theChief Minister early in the day decidedunanimously to continue with the weekndlock down. “The general feeling was thata total lock down was not feasible at thisstage because it would pose considerablehardship to the population. We will con-tinue with the weekend lockdown,” said theChief Minister.

Vijayan asked the people of the State tocooperate with the Government in itsefforts to prevent the community spread-ing of the pandemic. “The number ofMuslim brethren who assemble in mosquesfor Ramazan prayers should not exceed 50.

The faithful should use pipe water towash their hands and face while theyshould avoid the water in the pools,” saidthe chief Minister.

All shops and business establishmentshave been asked to operate between 7 amand 5.30 pm. Bars, sports centres, clubs,spas, and cinema theatres have been askedto down the shutters with immediateeffect.

While extending support to theGovernment in all its efforts to check thespread of the pandemic, Leader ofOpposition, Ramesh Chennithala said theLDF Government was not prudent in thefinancial management of the State.

UK, S Afrian variants of Covid detectedin Kerala, 21,890 new cases reported

PRADEEP SAXENA n ALIGARH

At the time the entire coun-try is struggling with the

corona crisis, the district jail isproviding complete facilities forthe detainees. Separate L One(Level One) hospital have beenset up here for women and maleprisoners. There is a sufficientamount of oxygen cylindershere. Two doctors from theHealth Department have alsobeen appointed here. At present,a female prisoner is undergoingtreatment here.

There are currently 3600prisoner detainees in the DistrictPrison. These include captives ofHathras. In such a situation,when the second wave ofCorona came, vigilance wasincreased by the district prison.A corona check was arranged forthe detainees. Also, more than600 prisoners of age above 45

years were also vaccinated.However, the situation is stillnormal about Corona in jail.However, the prison adminis-tration, taking precaution, hasmade L1 hospitals for thedetainees. Health services havebeen started here by repairingsome of the damaged barracksin the premises. At present,there are also 10 cylinders ofoxygen. Work has also startedunder the supervision of Dr.Shahrukh of the jail hospital. Adoctor and a pharmacist havebeen appointed by the HealthDepartment. A female prisoneris undergoing treatment.

Vipin Kumar Mishra, SeniorJail Superintendent said thatthe health of the prisoners isbeing taken full care of. L-Onehospitals have been set up for thedetainees in the precautionaryprison complex, so that emer-gency situations do not arise.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n KOLKATA

Bengal on Monday recorded a briskpolling amid reports of some

stray violence coming from five dis-tricts that went to the 7th phase ofpolling on Monday.

The State recorded about 74 per-cent polling when reports last camein at 5 pm with nine about 80.30 and80.21 percent voters casting theirvotes in Murshidabad and SouthDinajpur districts. While Malda wit-nessed 78.86 percent polling about70.34 percent voters exercised theirfranchise in West Burdwan. In SouthKolkata the rate of polling was low at59.91 percent.

While there was no major reportof violence coming from any place theTMC and BJP blamed each other forjamming booths and rigging atAsansol, Raninagar and Malda. AtFarakka a TMC supporter wasallegedly stabbed by the BJP men,sources said.

At Jamuria Left candidate and

JNU students’ leader Aishe Ghoshalleged that the Left voters werebeing stopped by the Trinamoolgoons from going to the pollingbooth. Later the central forces escort-ed the voters to the booth. Reports ofsome disturbance came in from Sutiin Murshidabad too, sources said.

Elections will take place for 34Assembly seats across 5 districts --- ofSouth Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad,West Burdwan and Kolkata South --- across North and South Bengal. TheElection Commission deployed 89,600paramilitary personnel to ensure freeand fair elections.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday made the

most of the Madras High Courtorder — faulting the ElectionCommission of India for risingcorona cases in the country — tolaunch a frontal attack on the pollpanel holding it responsible for asurge in corona cases in her ownState.

Welcoming the Madras HighCourt observation that the ECIcould not avoid blame for thespread of pandemic Banerjeedemanded immediate withdrawal ofcentral forces saying about 3 lakh ofthem had been posted in the Statewithout them being properlychecked for their disease.

“The ECI has posted 3 lakhsecurity forces in Bengal withoutchecking whether they are coronapositive or not … this has infectedthe people in the State in large num-bers ... we want them to be with-drawn immediately,” the Banerjeesaid.

The Chief Minister also allegedthat “we have been repeatedly ask-

ing the ECI to shorten the phasesof elections to avoid large scaleinfections but they would not listento us … when you can single-phaseelection in Kerala, three phase inAssam why cannot you shorten theelection phases in Bengal?” Banerjeeasked saying “the ECI has provedthat it is working according to thedirections of the BJP … they want-ed the poll panel to hold 8-phaeelections and so they did it … theEC is responsible for increasingcases in Bengal.”

On the other hand the Left saidthat they had already cancelledtheir large rallies even before theHigh Court order and Congressleader Adhir Chowdhury said “wehad even asked the EC to postponethe elections.”

The BJP however refutedBanerjee’s charges even as its leaderSamik Bhattacharya said “she isusing the HC order to bake her ownbread … She has first to answer whythe EC has to hold 8-phase elec-tions… why cannot there be a sin-gle-phase polling in Bengal … shehas to ask this answer to the TMCgoons who loot votes.”

Didi: Madras HC right, ECresponsible for Covid surge

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

The Covid-19 situation has become grimmer in Jammuand Kashmir as the region has started recording one

death per hour. In the last 48 hours, 46 patients have suc-cumbed to the virus while 4,516 coronavirus positivepatients were added to the tally which crossed 20,000active positive cases. 2,135 fresh cases of coronavirus wererecorded on Monday.

On the other hand out of 87 Covid ICU beds avail-able in Government Medical College, Jammu only 20 areleft vacant. Out of 227 Covid ICU beds available across15 Covid hospitals in Jammu division 126 are left vacant.

The Health and Medical Education department isworking over time to operationalise the oxygen gener-ation plants to meet the growing demand of oxygen acrossover burdened health institutions.

The twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar areemerging as 'hot spots' as the total number of active pos-itive cases are increasing rapidly. Both these capital citiesaccounted for over 54 percent active positive cases.

Out of 2172 deaths due to covid 19 so far, Jammuregion has recorded 828 and 1344 deaths were reportedin Kashmir division.

On Monday Jammu recorded 472 fresh cases takingthe total number of active positive cases to 5089 whileSrinagar with 632 fresh cases recorded 6180 active pos-itive cases.

Out of 2135 fresh cases, 299 were travellers who test-ed positive during routine screening while 1836 localswere tested positive across the Union Territory of J&Kon Monday.

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath Government inUttar Pradesh has said it did not wish to conductpanchayat elections in the State in view of coro-navirus pandemic but had to do so following theAllahabad High Court's order which directed itto complete the poll process by May 10.

A Government spokesman said, "The electionswere due in December last year. The pandemic ledto delay in reorganisation and delimitation of pan-chayats. The writ petitions and subsequent deci-sion of the high court compelled the state gov-ernment to hold the election."

"In a writ petition filed by Vinod Upadhyayagainst the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabadhigh court in its order dated February 4, direct-ed the State Election Commission to complete theelection process for panchayats by April 30. Incompliance, the state government initiated theprocess of reservation and allotment by March 15,"the spokesman said.

The state government said the panchayat pollswere being conducted in keeping with Covid-19protocols issued by the State Election Commission.

The four-phase panchayat elections started onApril 15 and counting of votes and declaration ofresult will take place on May 2.

The spokesperson said the state governmentwas committed to ensuring the safety of voters.

For proper cleanliness, sanitization and pre-vention of infection in gram panchayats, specialsanitation drive was undertaken in villages across75 districts of the state. IANS

Panchayat polls held oncourt order: Yogi Govt

J&K records 2,135fresh Covid cases

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN nCHENNAI

An all-party meeting con-vened by Chief Minister

Edappadi K Palaniswami onMonday decided unanimouslyto open the oxygen plant ofAnil Aggarwal’s Sterlite CopperPlant at Thoothukudi in view ofthe pandemic situation pre-vailing in the State.

The State saw the numberof new Covid-19 patients shoot-ing up to 15,684 on a single daywhile 94 deaths were recordedall over the State. Chennai saw4,250 new patients while neigh-bouring Chengalpattu districtsaw the figures going up by1,142 on Monday.

The Copper manufacturingunit owned by Aggarwal’sVedanata Group has been shutdown since May 28, 2021 fol-lowing riots by activists whodemanded the closure of thefacility because of alleged envi-ronmental pollution.

Tamil Nadu has been facingsevere shortage of oxygen in thebackdrop of the increasingnumber of Covid-19 cases. TheSterlite unit is capable of pro-

ducing 1,000 tonnes oxygen perday.

The Tamil NaduGovernment in a release saidthat the oxygen produced at theSterlite plant would be used tomeet the demands of the Stateand the surplus if any would begiven to other States which arein short supply.

The Chief Minister hadtold the media on Sunday thatthe State was in need of 310tonnes oxygen per day andthus may rise to 450 tonnes perday in coming days.

The all-party meeting wasunanimous in the decision thatonly the oxygen productionplant of the Sterlite Copperwould be allowed to operateand no other facilities of thecompany would be re-openedor revived.

The Sterlite Ltd had filed aplea in the Supreme Court ask-ing for court directive to theState Government to allow theGroup to operate the oxygenmanufacturing plant becauseTamil Nadu Governmentg doesnot have the capability or know-how to operate the plant.

The MDMK led by Vaiko

and NTK owned by Seamanhad staged protests inThoothukudi last week againstthe move to open the oxygenproducing facility of Sterlite Ltd.

The Madras High CourtChief Justice Sanjib Banerjee onMonday lambasted the electionCommission of India andblamed it for the second waveof Covid-19 that struck theState. While considering a pleamoved by AIADMK leader MR Vijaybaskar who is also theTransport Minister, to direct theElection Commission of Indiato put in place stringent mea-sures during the May 2 count-ing of votes, the chief justicesaid the ECI should have put inplace strict guidelines to enforcethe people to fall in line andobserve the safety protocols.

Meanwhile Tamil NaduPolice has issued an alert aboutthe unusual meetings and reli-gious ceremonies being held incertain districts of the State byTablighi Jamaat activists sincethe last two months.

It was the TJ activists whoplayed a crucial role in 2020 inspreading the pandemic acrossthe State.

15,684 new corona cases in TN

PNS n NEW DELHI

The limits imposed on airfaresand on number of domesticflights that can be operated inthe Indian market will extendtill May 31, said the CivilAviation Ministry on Monday.

Currently, the airlines arepermitted to operate not morethan 80 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic f lights.Moreover, they are allowed tocharge domestic airfares onlywithin lower and upper lim-its, which were set by the min-istry in May last year.

In two separate orders onMonday, the ministry saidthe caps on capacity as well asairfares will "remain in forcetill 2359 hrs on May 31, 2021,

or until further orders".When India had resumed

its domestic flight services onMay 25 last year, it had told theairlines to operate not morethan 33 per cent of their pre-Covid domestic flights. Thiswas gradually increased to upto 80 per cent by December 3,2020.

On May 21 last year, theministry had placed lowerand upper limits on airfaresthrough seven bands, classi-fied on the basis of flightduration.

For example, the first bandconsists of all flights that areof under 40 minutes' duration.The lower limit on such flightsis Rs 2,300 and the upper limitis Rs 7,500.

Panaji: The police and the districtadministrations in Goa have beendirected to crackdown on crowd-ed weddings and other functions,Chief Minister Pramod Sawantsaid on Monday, after a record 38persons died within 24 hours dueto Covid-19 related complications.

Sawant, however, has ruledout a lockdown in Goa, but addedthat if the Covid-19 footprintspreads further in the State, some"harsh decisions" would be taken.

"We have not decided on lock-down. We will crackdown on theCovid protocol violators strictlynow. The police have been instruct-ed to take action to ensure thatthere are no crowds at functions,including weddings. People shouldnot say we have stopped (events)then. Before going into lockdown,we will have to stop functions,"Sawant said.

The Chief Minister, however,refused to take questions related toa wedding attended by DeputyChief Minister ManoharAjgaonkar, where guests, includingthe minister himself, were seendancing at the packed event heldlast week. The video of the event

has gone viral.Sawant said that he "felt sad"

over the record 38 deaths whichwere recorded on Monday, butadded that the steep increase inCovid-19 infections over the lasttwo days -- 2,321 persons testedpositive on Monday -- was onaccount of clearance of a backlogof test samples.

"The Covid case count is 2000-plus today because we have clearedthe backlog. The second wave isvery dangerous. Those who havesymptoms should get admitted assoon as possible. We are providingall the facilities. We have increasedbed capacity, provided oxygen," theChief Minister said. IANS

"We have not decided onlockdown. We will crackdown on

the Covid protocol violatorsstrictly now. The police have

been instructed to take action toensure that there are no crowds

at functions, including weddings.People should not say we havestopped (events) then. Beforegoing into lockdown, we will

have to stop functions," Sawantsaid

No lockdown yet, feel sorryfor 38 Covid deaths: Goa CM

No shortage of oxygen in Aligarh jail hospital

Caps on domesticcapacity, airfares toremain till May 30

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Amid allegations that fourpatients died owing to acute

shortage of medical oxygen atThane’s Vedanta Hospital, theMaharashtra Government onMonday ordered an inquiry intothe circumstances leading to thedeath of four patients at the hos-pital.

Within hours after fourpatients died at Vedanta Hospitallocated at Thane’s Vartak Nagarlocality, the family members madean issue and claimed that theirnear and dear ones died due tolack of Oxygen.

Before long, Opposition BJPlegislator Niranjan Dhavkare vis-ited the Vedanta hospital, madeenquiries and demanded a com-prehensive inquiry against thehospital authorities. Local MNSworkers staged a protest outsidethe hospital.

Talking to media persons afterthe visit to the hospital, Dhavkare

said: “It is unfortunate that fourpatients have died at the VedantaHospital due to lack of medicalOxygen supplies. We demand acomprehensive inquiry into theincident. Those responsible for thedeaths should be punished. It isalso a must that the hospitalauthorities do not charge anythingfor the treatment undergone by thedeceased patients at the hospital”.

State’s Urban DevelopmentMinister Eknath Shinde, who isalso the Guardian Minister forThane district, and HousingMinister Jitendra Awhadannounced a high-level inquiryinto the incident.

Shinde said that the state gov-ernment had appointed BhiwandiNizampur Municipal Corporation(BNMC) Commissioner PankajAshiya to conduct an inquiry intothe cause of four patients’ deathand submit a report to the gov-ernment

"We are making all possibleefforts to overcome the shortage of

medical Oxygen by way of procur-ing stocks of life-saving gas fromother states and oxygen-fillingfacilities via train and flight,”Shinde said.

Monday’s was the secondinstance where the bereaved fam-ily members have staged protestsat hospitals in the MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR) overthe death of their relatives owingto medical oxygen shortagethere.

It may be recalled that amidreports that as many as Covid-19patients had died at Vasai, a satel-lite town of Mumbai, followingshortage of medical oxygen, themembers of bereaved families hadon April 13 staged a massiveprotest at Vinayaka Hospital inNalasopara, where the maximumdeaths have been reported. Somuch so that the hospital author-ities requisitioned the help of thelocal police to calm down friedtempers of the affected relatives ofCovid-19 patients.

OXYGEN SHORTAGE ROW

Maha orders probe into deathof 4 patients at Thane hospital

A deserted view of Asia’s largest tulip garden after it was closed due to Covid-19 cases in Srinagar on Monday PTI

Jammu: A joint team of army and local police on Monday recov-ered arms and ammunition from the hilly areas of Jammu andKashmir's Kishtwar district.

A defence statement said, "A joint team of army and policelaunched a search operation in Chhatru forest area in Kishtwardistrict yesterday. "The team recovered a cache of arms containingtwo pistols, ammunition and other war-like stores.

"Chhatru forest is along the known movement route of ter-rorists between South Kashmir and Kishtwar. These caches havebeen created by the terrorists in these remote areas to be usedfor destabilising the security situation which is heading towardsnormalcy.

"Army and local police alongwith other security forcesdeployed in Kishtwar have successfully recovered IEDs,Explosives, arms and ammunitionA in recent months to thwartthe nefarious designs of terrorists and the their few supporters". IANS

Arms and ammunitionrecovered in Kishtwar

Srinagar: As Covid designatedhospitals start running out ofbeds for indoor patients,Srinagar district administrationon Monday decided to establish an emergency Covid-19 centre at city's indoor sta-dium.

District magistrateSrinagar, Aijaz Asad said aCovid emergency centre hasbeen established at Srinagar'sindoor sports stadium.

Another officer at the DM'soffice said the centre wouldtreat patients with mild symp-toms and oxygen facility wouldbe available at the centre.

"Like last year, COVIDtreatment centres have alsobeen established at Sanat Nagarmarriage hall, KashmirUniversity's Zakura campus, NIT Srinagar and atthe Haj House," the officialadded. IANS

Emergency Covidcentres come upin Srinagar

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

ARo-Ro service carrying three tankersloaded with 44 tonnes of Liquid Medical

Oxygen (LMO), which had left Hapa in Gujaraton Sunday evening, arrived at Kalamboli in NaviMumbai on Monday morning.

The Ro-Ro service carrying three tankerscontaining 44 tonnes of medical Oxygen sup-plied by Jamnagar Refinery of RelianceIndustries Limited, traversed 860 km in littleover eleven hours and reached KalamboliGoods Shed at 11.25 am. It journeyed viaViramgam, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, VasaiRoad and Bhiwandi Road, after “following allthe safety parameters en route”.

The Government has provided a green cor-ridor for the faster movement of the OxygenExpress. The medical oxygen is being madeavailable for treatment of COVID-19 patientsacross the country, through Oxygen Expresstrains run by Ministry of Railways.

The Railways have so far run OxygenExpress trains between Mumbai to Vizag viaNagpur to Nashik and Lucknow to Bokaro andback. A total 150 tonnes of liquid Oxygen hasbeen transported in this train till April 25. Theauthorities have planned the operation ofmore such ‘Oxygen Express’ trains to variousparts of the country.

Oxygen Expressarrives in Mumbai

Tirupati: With corona cases record-ed in each and every division of thecity, the authorities have designatedTirupati as a containment zone.

Tirupati Municipal CorporationCommissioner PS Girisha on Mondaysaid that the decision was taken in thecontext of the central government'sdirectives on controlling the virus'spread.

A meeting of representatives ofbusiness and commercial organisa-tions, police officials, and public rep-resentatives, was organised at themunicipal corporation, to decideways and means to control the

Covid pandemic's spread in the city which is the gateway toTirumala - the world's richest Hindutemple.

Tirupati city corporation com-missioner Girisha said that the onusof controlling the spread of corona, lieswith the people themselves.

He said that along with contain-ment measures, the administration isfollowing up on completing the vac-cination process. IANS

While there was no major reportof violence coming from anyplace, the TMC and the BJP

blamed each other for jammingbooths and rigging at Asansol,

Raninagar and Malda. At Farakkaa TMC supporter was stabbed by

the BJP men, sources said

Tirupaticonverted intocontainment zone

74% polling inWB 7th phase

The Government isgetting oxygen as perquota. Strictdirections have beenissued to check blackmarketing.

Haryana Chief Minister

— Manohar Lal Khattar

Forces in countless acts ofsimilar valour and sacrifice,most recently in Galwan wherethe Commanding Officer wentdown fighting in hand-to-hand combat along with histroops. This unique Indianquality of “leading from thefront” is unmatched for anyfighting force in modern his-tory, and the Indian soldierknows that everyone in the unithas “got his back” and they will“never leave anyone behind”.Unlike the commercial/civiliandomain, the conscript IndianArmed Forces have magnifi-cently upheld the self-devisedconcept of “unlimited liability”towards the nation andamongst itself. Even in death,the spirit of “leaving no manbehind” is just as hallowed.Unbeknownst outside of the“uniformed” fraternity, it issuchlike traditions that makethe Indian Armed Forces dis-tinct from other “uniforms”, beit in the police or CentralArmed Police Forces that alsoface operational situations war-ranting such beliefs.

While the exact detailspertaining to the horrificMaoist attack in Chhattisgarhon the joint force of 2,000 secu-rity personnel, which led to 22jawans getting martyred, arestill a matter of conjecture andspeculation, certain known

details are disturbingly sugges-tive. Beyond rightful concernson Intelligence, planning, tac-tics and so on, the fact thatduring the ambush, a sizeablenumber of the personnelescaped to camps and leftbehind the wounded, dead andcaught-alive to fend for them-selves is shockingly telling ofa reality. Apparently, the bod-ies of the fallen soldiers, whowere subsequently stripped oftheir weapons and wares bythe insurgents, were reclaimedthe next day. Important to reit-erate that the recruitment areaand demographic profile of thesoldiers, be it in the ArmedForces or the policing realms,are common — the differencein cultural and instinctive pat-terns arises subsequent to join-ing the respective forces, andthat has to do with the leader-ship, lack of regimentationand political interferences, inone force versus the other. Thesame family that sends one sonto the Infantry unit may sendanother to a police force; how-ever, owing to institutionalmoorings and leadership, theconduct of one “uniform” ver-sus the other could differ incombat operations — and theblame should never be appor-tioned on the jawan.

The sense of invaluableidentity, “belonging” and pur-

pose that accrues to a SouthIndian officer in a SikhRegiment is inexplicably natur-al in an Infantry Regiment,which then seamlessly sub-sumes one’s personal identitytowards that of the regimentalidentity, values and traditions.For those intangible emotionsof the paltan/regimental prideand dignity, the Indian Armysoldier repeatedly fights to “thelast man standing”. Troves ofpolicing reform reports aregathering dust as the institutionsuffers from the lack of politi-cal will to reform, as it poten-tially “frees” the force frompolitical use/misuse. It is thiscultural risk and infection thatstares at even the Armed Forcesshould they too get politicisedand exposed to societal morass,passions and divisions.

The “uniform”, irrespec-tive of its denomination, mil-itary or police, must alwaysbelieve that their institutionwill never leave anyonebehind, fighting or dead. It’salmost a blood promise, beliefand practice that must neverend, for as long as conflictsexist, the unsaid oath to eachother must be sacred.

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

The pandemic’s second wave has created havoc in the country and the gravity ofthe situation can be gauged from the Supreme Court’s assertion that it is a “nation-al emergency-like situation”. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the

country during his monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”, called it a “storm” thathas “shaken the nation”. With the COVID-19 cases hit-ting new peaks each passing day, the country is facedwith an acute shortage of medical oxygen, hospitalbeds and essential medicines. With the Centrescheduled to throw open vaccination to all adults fromMay 1, the Government hopes to rein in the raging pan-demic but four Opposition-ruled States — Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Jharkhand — claim that theywould not be able to launch the drive on May Daybecause they don’t have enough vaccines. This unfor-tunate development against the planned mitigation ofthe spread of the virus has put a spoke in the wheelsof the Union Government’s protracted battle againstCOVID-19. Not only the availability of the vaccines but

also their pricing has become a bone of contention for the States. The vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, would be provided to the States and private

hospitals at a much higher rate than what the Centre pays to procure these. Meanwhile,the Centre is tapping all the international cooperation it can to ameliorate the critical sit-uation. Maybe it’s time for India to reap the dividends of its unconditional help to othercountries — supplying them with vaccines, medicines and other essentials — whenthey were in a morass of despair. The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, con-veyed to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that just as India had aided the US when itshospitals were crippled by the pandemic, Washington is determined to help New Delhiin its time of need. The US, UK and the European Union have pledged to help India withvaccines, oxygen tankers and concentrators, PPE kits, ventilators and so on. Accordingto the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, India will soon receive at least 12 ISO con-tainers to help transport oxygen within the country. In the race against time, we neednot just global cooperation but also teamwork among the States and the Centre to defeatthe biggest enemy of humankind in living memory.

Scores of precious lives have been lost due to the horrific oxygen crisis in Delhi,under the very nose of the Central and State Governments, the Supreme Court,High Court and civic authorities. Still, there is no clarity on what led to such a

dreadful situation. The Centre has repeatedly laid the blame on the door of the ArvindKejriwal Government while the State administration has held supplier Inox respon-sible for the delay in distribution and asserted that the supply was “grossly inade-quate” to meet the demand of the hospitals. The truth lies somewhere in between.Kejriwal admits that the Centre has increased Delhi’s oxygen quota again from 480metric tonnes (MT) to 490 MT but accessing it remains a big issue. Delhi’s require-

ment is 700 MT but, according to him, only 330-335 MT is available. With the exponential rise inCOVID-19 cases, the demand has also increased.The demand-supply gap has led to the currentsituation. However, it’s not the time for a blamegame but to work together to save lives and winthe trust of the people who are fast losing faithin the institutions of governance. If the situationis allowed to persist, we would be headed towardsan unprecedented chaos and may face an erup-tion of mass protests that could worsen theCorona spread in the Capital. It’s time for theCentre to appoint an independent authority/reg-

ulator to take a holistic view of the situation, analyse the demand-supply gap, sug-gest corrective measures to remove distribution bottlenecks and ensure that nohospital is left without oxygen.

Any delay could be fatal because oxygen supplier Inox has already thrown in thetowel and expressed its inability to enhance the supply, citing production constraints.Faced with such a situation, the Centre and the State have to come together and reachout to industrial houses to help Delhiites. The Chief Minister has already written toindustrialists to provide a helping hand in handling the oxygen crisis. It is equallyimportant that the State authorities set up a control room for both hospitals and patientsto help them inquire about oxygen supply and the availability of oxygen beds. In theabsence of such a setup, the hospitals and patients both rush to social media andTV channels to vent their grievances, leading to more panic. Both the Governmentsshould also take urgent steps to ensure that all hospitals are equipped with oxygenplants, which require little investment and most of the big hospitals can comfortablymeet this expenditure. In very few developed countries can such big health setupsexist without oxygen plants, which are seen as a basic requirement. It’s hearteningto note that the Delhi Government has decided to set up half a dozen of its own oxy-gen plants to deal with the situation. We hope that the Centre and the Delhi Governmentunderstand the urgency of the situation and the growing frustration of the people,and join hands to ensure that no one gasps to death for want of oxygen.

Waiting to exhale

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

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

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021

06

Race against timeIndia ought to muster all the help it can, from

within and abroad, to tame the pernicious virus

Sadly, the age-old creed of nemo resideo was violated when thejoint security team came under fire from Maoists in Chhattisgarh

PICTALK

A policeman helps an autorickshaw driver wear a mask after new restrictions were announced in Peshawar AP

THAT A SIZEABLENUMBER OF THE

JOINT FORCEESCAPED AND

LEFT BEHIND ITS WOUNDED,

DEAD AND CAUGHT-ALIVE

TO FEND FORTHEMSELVES IS

SHOCKINGLYTELLING OF A REALITY.

APPARENTLY, THEBODIES OF THE

FALLEN SOLDIERSWERE RECLAIMED

THE NEXT DAY

BHOPINDER SINGH

The Centre and Delhi Government must work intandem to ensure regular oxygen supply to people

Those who leaveno man behind

The professional constructof a military soldier isdeliberately drilled andfreighted with sacred

ethos, timeless values and spirit-ed regimentation that almostdefy the modern-age perspectivesof practicality, individualism andpersonal safety. The nobility ofthe profession of arms is predi-cated, among other values, on theage-old Latin phrase “nemoresideo” or “leave no man/womenbehind”. In different expressions,languages and syntax, its inher-ent spirit manifests in the fight-ing soldier’s inviolable belief in hiscomrades-in-arms within hisplatoon or paltan (unit). Suchfaith within the combatants rous-es them to routinely defy the sit-uational/ operational odds anddo the seemingly impossible,frequently. It is often an institu-tional code that is insisted upon,nurtured and breathed as a given,falling short of which brings theultimate shame on the combat-ant — a question mark on theindividual or paltan’s izzat (theuncompromising pride vested in the “Naam-Namak-Nishan”(the distinguishing name, hall-marks and accoutrements of the battalion/regiment)!

The legendary story of WW1,where a soldier in a trench saw his“buddy” fall in fierce battle andurged his Lieutenant to allow himto dash into the no-man’s land tobring back his comrade, wasmet with a what could be con-strued a fair query today: “Youcould, but don’t think it would beworth it. Your friend is probablydead, and you may throw yourlife away.” But because a noble sol-dier is cut from a unique cloth,the combatant made the dareamid relentless firing, hoisted his“buddy” and retrieved him to thetrench. Expectedly, the Lieutenantsaid: “Your friend is dead and youare mortally wounded.” The gal-lant soldier replied: “It was worthit because when I got to him, hewas still alive…and I had the sat-isfaction of hearing him say,‘Jim…I knew you’d come’.” Themoving impact of this storywithin that detachment, unit oreven the Army is unfathomablein its psychological import.

The same spirit has beenshown by the Indian Armed

SOUNDBITEADHERE TO COVID-APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOURIt is with fear, anxiety and apprehensionthat the citizens and the authorities lookforward to May 2, the day of the fiveAssembly election results. What causesanxiety and an irregular pulse is not theresults themselves but the revelry, hulla-baloo and victory celebrations that normal-ly mark such occasions. Especially in theStates of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and WestBengal, where high-voltage campaigningtook place, there is no doubt that the polit-ical supporters and workers may do thesame once the results are out and COVID-appropriate behaviour would be thrownout of the window. It is a known fact thatthe current heavy spike in COVID casesin many of these States is a result of the irre-sponsible, callous and come-what-may atti-tude of the party leaders and workers whoflouted the COVID protocols and com-pletely ignored the precautionary normsduring the campaign. The leaders must actresponsibly and should try to reducecrowds in their celebrations and victory ral-lies. Let the parties and leaders realise thatthe duty of a politician is not just to amassvotes and grab power with vested interestsin mind. It is also their duty to check andcontrol their followers and workers, cur-tail heavy celebrations and strictly adhereto the COVID-appropriate behaviour dur-ing these trying times.

M Pradyu | Kannur

HELPING HAND TO INDIAThe diplomatic consultations and a hugebacklash against America for its tepidresponse towards the dire pandemic crisisin India and its hesitancy to revoke theDefence Production Act acted as a stum-bling block to export the raw materialsrequired for India’s vaccine production, hasbrought a change of heart in Washington.US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austinordered the defence department to use everyresource at their disposal to support India’sfight against the COVID-19 scourge. Sincethe pandemic started last year, India sup-plied hydroxychloroquine to the US and

Europe, with the total number of recipientcountries touching 150. India supplied 6.5crore vaccine doses to 93 countries in Asia,Latin America and African countries, apartfrom the UK. Medical support to India fromcountries like the US, France, the UAE,Denmark, Israel and some EU nations hasstarted to come as New Delhi stood firmwith the democratic world in supply ofmuch needed drugs and vaccines. PresidentJoe Biden’s tweet that the US will stand byIndia as the latter stood with Washingtonduring the first wave of COVID-19 infec-tion is an affirmation that India’s “vaccinemaitri” initiative paid off with the US med-ical supplies already on their way.

N Sadhasiva Reddy | Bengaluru

TIME TO REGAIN THE LOST GLORYChennai Super Kings’ talismanic cap-

tain MS Dhoni knows how to get the bestout of his players. And why not, he has been

doing it for more than a decade. RavindraJadeja’s excellence in the match against RoyalChallengers Bangalore is an epitome of this.After a thundering performance with thebat, the left-arm allrounder gave a jolt to theopposition with the ball, too. Dhoni was allpraise for the player, who became the firstCSK player and 10th player overall to score50 plus runs and take three or more wick-ets in an innings in the IPL. But it was Dhoniwho seemed guiding him from behind thestumps after each ball (“Isko danda ke baa-har mat rakhna” for Glenn Maxwell (as heplays switch hits very often). After havinga pathetic season last year in the UAE, theChennai Super Kings seems to have beenback in form with four consecutive wins. Itis imperative for the three-time IPL cham-pions to regain their lost glory.

Tushar Anand | Patna

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

It refers to the editorial ‘Free speech’ (April26). The political parties promise the moonto voters during elections but seldom hon-

our these undertakings. The promise of the freejab is nothing different. The BJP’s “free vacci-nation” promise in Bihar was a mere rhetoricand the State still has fewer vaccinations ascompared to other big States. Our politiciansact in such a manner which reflects they haveno sense of accountability. During elections, tallpromises are made to woo voters but the poorpeople are left at their wit’s end after the elec-tions are over. There are no restrictions or effec-tive control over political parties and their lead-ers by the Election Commission (EC) or the

Governments, and thus these politicos enjoya free hand in making promises. Despite sev-eral promises and programmes to alleviatepoverty in the last 75 years, nothing haschanged on the ground and still the majorityof our population reels under extreme pover-ty. Funds are earmarked for poverty eradica-tion in the annual Budget but these don’t reachthe poor. For many roadside dwellers, gettinga nutritious meal a day is like hitting the jack-pot. A promise made at the time of electionsshould be honoured in letter and spirit by theparties and their candidates. Only then the peo-ple will have faith in democracy. Of late, peo-ple are losing faith in the democratic set-up dueto the lack of inclusion in the matters of gov-ernance. The Governments and the parties mustbe inclusive in their functioning and widely dis-cuss with people their programmes, policiesand initiatives. Further, politicians should bemade accountable and giving freebies to vot-ers at the State’s expense should be done awaywith as it amounts to bribing the voters.

Sravana Ramachandran | Chennai

Change the freebie culture

We commend allcountries that havereached the targetof zero malaria forproving it’s possible.

United Nations Secretary-General— Antonio Guterres

I am responsible formy safety and of thosearound me. Stopfinding a scapegoatfor every problem andstart helping others. Ifyou have taken care of yourproblems, try and solve others’problems.

Actor— Vindu Dara Singh

In addition to themeasures, Goadefinitely needs to gounder lockdown onthe lines of the otherStates likeMaharashtra and Karnataka for aparticular period.

Goa’s Health Minister— Vishwajit Rane

We could have playedmost parts of our gamejust a little better. If youare able to do that,whether it is a couplemore good decisions

or a slightly more accurate period ofplay, the result can change quickly.

Cricketer— Kane Williamson

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

A flawed idea that theUS must abandon

I DON’T WANT THIS CASE TO BE DECIDED IN THE

SHADOW (OF DOUBT) THAT I WAS APPOINTED THE

AMICUS CURIAE BECAUSE I KNOW THE CJI FROM SCHOOL.

—SENIOR ADVOCATE

HARISH SALVE

THERE IS NOTHING CLANDESTINE ABOUT IT.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO JUSTIFY ANYTHING.

IT WAS A COLLECTIVE ACT OF THE COURT.

—FORMER CJI

SA BOBDE

The Joe Biden Administration is pushing fora Global Corporate Minimum Tax(GCMT) rate under the new internation-

al tax rules being coordinated by it with G20countries. In 2017, the erstwhile Donald TrumpAdministration had introduced the US corpo-rate offshore minimum tax called the GlobalIntangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI). It isapplied on the offshore incomes of US multina-tionals (MNCs) having subsidiaries in low-taxcountries, at 10.5 per cent, which is half theDomestic Corporate Tax Rate (DCTR) of 21 percent. US President Biden wants to doubleGILTI to 21 per cent and correspondinglyincrease the DCTR to 28 per cent. The US’ moveis prompted by a tendency among MNCs to reg-ister in low-tax countries such as Singapore,Mauritius, Ireland and show their revenue andprofits in those jurisdictions, regardless ofwhere the sales are made. This enables them toavoid paying higher taxes in the source coun-try. The GCMT is intended to prevent this taxbase erosion.

The US would want other countries to agreeto a certain minimum tax, say 21 per cent, sothat American companies have no incentive toregister their subsidiaries in low-tax countriesor so-called tax havens. This will ensure that theystay back and the tax revenue accrues to the US.Alternatively, if a firm pays lower tax than thisin a particular country, then its homeGovernment (the US) could levy tax equal to thedifferential (call it a “top up”), thereby eliminat-ing the former’s advantage of shifting revenueand profits to a low-tax jurisdiction. Theadministration will deny exemptions in respectof taxes paid, to countries that don’t agree to aminimum rate. The problem arising fromMNCs shifting revenue and profits to low-taxjurisdictions, also referred to as BEPS (base ero-sion and profit shifting), is afflicting most coun-tries, including India.

India is affected in particular, by the actionsof digital giants such as Google, Facebook andAmazon (all US-based MNCs) who have invest-ment arms in low-tax countries such asSingapore, Mauritius, Ireland and so on. Theyinvoice Indian customers via these offshore enti-ties despite having significant revenue, users orpaying customers in India even as their entityhere is crafted more like a service company tothe parent located abroad. This way, they bookthe bulk of their revenues in the parent firmwhile a very small portion of service revenue isreported in the Indian entity.

It results in a situation whereby these firmsgenerate most of their profits from users locat-ed in India and yet don’t pay taxes to theGovernment of India (GOI). This anomaly canbe corrected by taxing profits of MNCs in thecountry where their customers are. This posi-tion is endorsed by the Organisation forEconomic Cooperation and Development(OECD) which is coordinating with over 140countries to arrive at the BEPS framework agree-ment for taxation of their profits.

In a draft on “taxing digital companies”released on October 9, 2019, the OECD had stat-ed: “Profits of MNCs should be available for tax-ation in the country where their customers are,

irrespective of any physical pres-ence in that market, and that a for-mula should be evolved for suchtaxation.”

Instead of taking this forward,the US is trying to foist on othercountries the idea of a GCMTwhich it asserts, will solve allproblems related to erosion of thetax base, arguing that addressingit is technically simpler and polit-ically less contentious. The USapproach is flawed.

First, imposing a corporateminimum tax will interfere withthe sovereign right of a country todetermine its tax policy and impairits ability to galvanise the policy toachieve certain objectives. Forinstance, on September 20, 2019,the GOI brought about steepreduction in the tax rate for newentities in the manufacturing sec-tor (incorporated from October 1,2019, and commencing produc-tion by March 31, 2023) from 25per cent to 15 per cent.

This was done with a view toattract investment (including for-eign investors), give a boost togrowth and create jobs. This objec-tive will be defeated if under theGCMT regime proposed by theUS, India can’t lower its corporatetax to below a certain threshold,say 21 per cent.

The purpose would be defeat-ed even when the home country ofthe MNC (say the US) goes for the“top-up” option i.e. the Indian taxrate remaining at 15 per cent, theformer collects six per cent tax onprofits earned by the firm inIndia. The effective incidence of

tax being 21 per cent (15 per centpaid in India plus six per centlevied by America), US companieswill be deterred from investing inIndia.

Second, for preventing an ero-sion in the tax base, the only log-ical way forward for theGovernment in the source coun-try where the profits are generat-ed, is to capture and tax them —as emphasised in the OECD draft.The GCMT can’t be a substitute forthis. Taking the Indian example,levy of tax at 21 per cent —against the prevailing low of 15 percent (new manufacturing units) —won’t result in additional tax col-lection to fully offset the lossresulting from profit shifting. Forinstance, if out of `100 only `20 isrecorded in India, the extra rev-enue from the higher rate will beonly `1.2 against a loss of ̀ 12 dueto profit shifting.

Third, America’s move is anattempt to garner more revenuewithout at the same time, under-mining its own tax competitivenessglobally. In other words, the BidenAdministration wants US compa-nies to stay back even while tax-ing them at high rates. This is likethe proverbial “have your cake andeat it too.”

Despite the inherent flaws,the US is overwhelmingly focusedon steering a case for GCMT at 21per cent — double the extant 10.5per cent GILTI under its 2017 lawwhile at the same time, maintain-ing a stony silence on the moreimportant issue of “taxing digitalcompanies” that concerns a vast

majority of developing countries,including India, and a consensusalready reached among the 140countries involved in the negoti-ations on the BEPS frameworkagreement of the OECD.

The US should refrain frompursuing something that is neitherdesirable nor workable. Tellingsovereign Governments to go fora uniform tax at the lower end isa flawed idea. Instead, the focusshould be on adopting a uniformpolicy for combating the unhealthypractice of shifting profits andevading tax payment in a jurisdic-tion (source country) where it isdue. The OECD draft (2019) sug-gests the way forward.

In the context of taxing digi-tal companies, a committee set upby the Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT) had mooted theconcept of digital permanentestablishment (DPE). As a followup, in the Finance Act 2018, theGOI proposed that “such offshorefirms should be taxed in India ifthey have a market presence abovea threshold to be defined in termsof their customer base and rev-enue.”

A consensus should be builtaround a criteria for arriving at theannual revenue/profit from allsuch transactions of an offshorefirm taking place in the sourcecountry but recorded in an off-shore, low-tax jurisdiction andletting the former collect the tax onit. The source country shouldhave the freedom to decide the taxrate on those profits in sync withits policy imperatives.

Imposing a global corporate minimum tax will interfere with the right of a country to determineits tax policy and impair its ability to galvanise the policy to achieve certain objectives

KALYANI SHANKAR

A CONSENSUSSHOULD BE BUILT

AROUND ACRITERIA FORARRIVING AT THE ANNUAL

REVENUE/PROFITFROM ALL SUCH

TRANSACTIONS OFAN OFFSHORE FIRM

TAKING PLACE INTHE SOURCE

COUNTRY BUTRECORDED IN ANOFFSHORE, LOW-

TAX JURISDICTIONAND LETTING THEFORMER COLLECT

THE TAX ON IT. THESOURCE COUNTRYSHOULD HAVE THE

FREEDOM TODECIDE THE TAXRATE ON THOSE

PROFITS IN SYNCWITH ITS POLICY

IMPERATIVES

The World Health Organisation recently said that India’s situationis a devastating reminder of what the Coronavirus can do, as thecountry suffers from a severe and more lethal second wave of

the pandemic. India has overtaken the US with the highest number ofinfections. No doubt, the country is facing an unprecedented health emer-gency and the Centre and the State Governments are on their toes. Whenthe first wave of COVID-19 hit the world last year, India was not ade-quately equipped — there was a shortage of beds in hospitals and med-ical equipment — to deal with the crisis. There were also no vaccines.However, despite all these, India managed to fight the first wave suc-cessfully but the second wave is more serious. We were not preparedto deal with it though this time we have more beds, medicines, infra-structure and vaccines to aid us in our fight. Even during the secondwave, rural India is faring better with a lesser numbers of infections.Though the vaccination drive launched by the Government is going on,however, there exists a gap in the demand and supply of the vaccineowing to several reasons. Further, the Government has opened up vac-cination for all those above 18 years of age starting from May 1, which

might result in more vaccine shortage. However, all efforts are beingmade to increase the supply of jabs.

So, what went wrong? Complacency on our part is responsiblefor the second wave playing havoc. The authorities were so confidentthat the pandemic was gone, that Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhaneven announced that the COVID era was over, in March. Second, theElection Commission (EC) conducted Assembly elections to four Statesand a Union Territory — namely West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, TamilNadu, and Puducherry — amid the pandemic. Many experts opinedthat the election rallies were the super spreaders. Probably the EC wasencouraged after seeing the successful conduct of Bihar polls last year,however, that was during the period when the cases were reducing sig-nificantly. The EC could have at least banned the election rallies. Thepolitical parties could have restrained themselves from addressing hugegatherings where people participated without masks and social distanc-ing was thrown out of the window. Alas, by the time the EC bannedthe rallies, the damage had already been inflicted. The Madras High Courthas said that the EC is singularly responsible for spreading COVID-19and murder charges should probably be imposed on it for its “irrespon-sible” behaviour. The third mistake was that the authorities allowed mil-lions of devotees to bathe in the Ganga in Haridwar during the MahaKumbh Mela this month. The event was a super-spreader. Though wisercounsel prevailed on the Government which cut short the event, butby the time, it was already too late.

The fourth is the politicisation of COVID. The Centre has blamedStates for not being alert while the latter claimed that the former didn’theed their requests for more oxygen and vaccine doses. No matter,who is at fault, the crisis only worsened. Last year, the States and theCentre had worked in tandem. The Prime Minister took the Chief Ministerson board and shared the burden. Finally, the public should get their shareof the blame as people ignored the COVID regulations this year. Swayedby rumours, many people were also apprehensive of taking the jab whenthe Government launched the vaccination drive in March. Now, whenthere is a huge demand, the supply is not adequate. The country is fac-ing an unprecedented health emergency, the likes of which has neverbeen witnessed. The Centre, States and the citizens must be on thesame page and can contain the pandemic only if they all cooperate.What is required is micro-containment and the responsibility lies withall stakeholders. The sooner they realise it, the better.

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)

The US-centric climatediplomacy reminds oneof the world order, after

the collapse of the USSR, fol-lowing which America dictat-ed the terms of internationalpolitics. However, the currentsituation of a unipolar world iscontested with the rise of Asiansuperpowers.

The climate scientists werehorrified when former USPresident Donald Trumpannounced withdrawal fromthe Paris Agreement. Now,with the change in leadership,the US has taken over global cli-mate politics again. The majorreason is not just the power thatthe US commands, but alsobecause it is the second-largestemitter globally. The cancella-tion of the UNFCCC climatesummit in 2020 due to the pan-demic delayed many climategoals. So the US bid to bring cli-mate front and centre was awelcome step. But, making the

world move around its majorpolluter is not a favourablesolution. The recently-electedDemocrats have sanctioned ahuge amount to reduce domes-tic emission. Though onebelieves that the Republicansdidn’t do much for world cli-mate, there are doubts aboutwhat the Democrats did whenthey were in power, and was itsufficient? The global climategoals were relaxed, and manyscientists say that the ParisAgreement was a loosely-bind-ing document.

Before the recently-con-cluded Leaders Summit onClimate, John Kerry, US specialpresidential envoy for climatevisited many countries to gaintheir support. In world politicsas big States make strong com-mitments, others often follow toprove themselves. US PresidentJoe Biden made numerouscommitments and put climatechange at the centre of its poli-

cies. He also promised to dou-ble the funding that was to begiven to developing countriesby 2024, in comparison to whatthe US had spent in the secondhalf of the ObamaAdministration. NATO offi-cials committed to reducingemissions from military unitsand the CIA has also addedenvironment to its WorldFactbook.

A more aggressive planwas expected to be rolled out.Environmental groups andbusinesses urged Biden to set anemission reduction target of atleast 50 per cent by 2030. Manyscientists have accepted that itis scientifically feasible, thatthe US should cut emissions atleast up to 65 per cent below the2005 levels in this decade.Especially, as other developednations like the UK havepledged to reduce emissions by68 per cent by 2030. Democratslike congresswoman Alexandria

Ocasio-Cortez have proposedthe ‘Green New Deal’, whichwould eliminate carbon emis-sions from most sources over adecade. There were high expec-tations from the US and unlesshighly-ambitious short-termpledges aren’t achieved, it is dif-ficult to believe that the long-term obligations will bearresults. The commitments fromthe US will push othereconomies to follow suit. It is

better if the US sets an exam-ple for other States to follow.The setting of targets is a pos-itive first step, but making ade-quate policy changes and rollingout money are practical indica-tors of change.

On the second day of thesummit, the White House men-tioned that it lags behind Chinain developing clean technolo-gies. The US formally pledgedto cut its emissions by 50 percent-52 per cent by 2030. It alsoannounced its determination toreach a net-zero level by 2050.It is a new NationallyDetermined Contributionunder the Paris Agreement.

China reiterated that itwould be carbon-neutral by2060 and India reiterated itspromise to install 450 gigawattsof renewable energy capacity by2030 and also announced the‘India-US Climate and CleanEnergy Agenda 2030Partnership’. Japan also pledged

a new cut in emissions by 46 percent, below the 2013 levels bythe end of the decade. Israelupped its target by ending theuse of coal domestically by2025. A welcome step wastaken by Brazil, as it pledged toeliminate illegal deforestation by2030 and achieve carbon-neu-tral status by 2050 (a decadeearlier than the previous target).

The moves by States likeBrazil were viewed scepticallyas earlier its President JairBolsonaro had threatened towithdraw from the ParisAgreement. He had also askedthe Biden administration for $1billion for the conservation ofthe Amazon rainforest.Obviously, the shift towards aclean energy economy waspropagated to attract othercountries to pledge more.

Biden said, “The countriesthat take decisive actions nowto tackle climate change will bethe ones that reap the clean

energy benefits of the boomthat’s coming.” However, thecredibility of the US is at stake,given that its domestic politicsmakes major changes in inter-national climate roles. Kerrywas asked by many States, “Youdestroyed your credibility whenyou left the Paris Agreement,how can we trust you?” The USPresident responded to it byputting the future in the handsof the private sector, as it willturn clean energy policies intoreality.

The need of the hour is tomake the ones most responsi-ble for the global loss the cen-tre of shame rather than thecentre of power. Fulfilling long-terms obligations is very impor-tant, but it is comparatively eas-ier as the global and domesticpolitics will change by then. Theshort-term goals of the USmust be monitored and itshould be made accountable forits huge emissions.

The short-term climate goals of the US must be monitored and the country should be made accountable for its huge emissions

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMN

EVERYONE MUSTPULL TOGETHER

The Centre, States and citizens can contain the virusonly if they are on the same page and cooperate

UTTAM GUPTA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a New Delhi-based policy

analyst. The viewsexpressed

are personal.

Shame the biggest carbon emitters, don’t glorify them

AANEHI MUNDRA

The writer is a PhDResearcher, JNU. The

views expressed are personal.

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021 Money 08

PNS n MUMBAI

A month-long national lock-down to arrest the spread ofCovid 2.0 could shave off 100-200 bps of GDP, leading to a300 bps risk to annual growth,a brokerage report has flaggedwhile expressing doubts overthe ability of local lockdowns tocontrol the pandemic.

The second wave of thecoronavirus inflection hascaught the government off-guard with the daily casesjumping over 6.5 times in thepast 30 days.

With close to 3.53 lakh freshdaily infections, the country isthe worst hit globally. Death tolljumped to 1,95,123 as of 8 amMonday, with a daily new peakof 2,812 deaths in the past 24hrs, according to the govern-ment data.

“It remains to be seen if thesecond wave subsides withouta national level lockdown. Amonth of nationwide lock-down costs 100-200 bps ofGDP. This poses a 300 bps riskto our 9 per cent real GVAgrowth forecast for FY22,”Bank of America Securities

India economists Indranil SenGupta and Aastha Gudwanisaid in an note Mondayevening.

Given this high economiccost, they expect the Centreand the states to try to containthe spread with further tight-ening of night curfews andlocalized lockdowns.

They also expect the Reserve

Bank to come to aid by fund-ing government’s

welfare measures likeresumption of free food grainsto the needy

in May-June, for which itneeds an additional Rs 26,000crore or 0.1 per cent of GDP,through OMOs/G-Saps andother liquidity infusing mea-sures to arrest the rise in yields.

They expect the RBI toremain on hold in FY22 andhike rates by 100 bps in FY23.

“To slow rise in yields, weexpect the RBI to conductUSD 68.7 billion of OMOs/G-Saps and hike and extendbanks’ HTM limits by 2 percent of their books to FY26,and continue forward forexintervention,” the brokerage

said.On the vaccination front,

they said while 8.7 per cent ofthe total population hasreceived the first dose, only 1.6per cent have got both doses.

New Delhi: Global forecastingfirm Oxford Economics onMonday revised downwardsits India GDP growth forecastfor 2021 to 10.2 per centfrom 11.8 per cent previous-ly, citing the country’s escalat-ing health burden, falteringvaccination rate and lack of aconvincing government strat-egy to contain the pandemic.

Oxford Economics alsosaid that notwithstanding thelikelihood of further mobili-ty restrictions, it expectsIndia’s targeted lockdownapproach, less stringentrestrictions, and resilient con-sumer and business behaviourto mitigate the economicimpact of the second wave.

“India’s escalating healthburden, faltering vaccinationrate, and lack of a convincinggovernment strategy to con-

tain the pandemic haveprompted us to downgradeour 2021 GDP growth fore-cast to 10.2 per cent from 11.8per cent previously,” it said.

The global forecasting firmadded it expects GDP to con-tract sequentially in the sec-ond quarter. “But if strugglinghealth systems force morestates to resort to stricter

lockdowns like Maharashtra,we will likely lower ourgrowth forecast further,” itadded.

Oxford Economics saidIndia’s health system has col-lapsed in the worst-hit states,with even the national capitalDelhi facing acute shortage ofoxygen and COVID-19 hos-pital beds.

New Delhi: Former FinanceSecretary SC Garg onMonday said the fresh Covid-19 wave and consequent locallockdowns may bring downthe economic growth to lessthan 10 per cent in the currentfiscal.

Earlier this month,International Monetary Fund(IMF) projected an impressive12.5 per cent growth rate forthe country in 2021. TheEconomic Survey projected agrowth rate of 11 per cent,while RBI retained its growthforecast at 10.5 per cent forthe ongoing financial year.

‘Fresh wave ofCovid may pulldown growthbelow double digit’

PTI n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Monday fixed thetenure of MD, CEO and whole-time director (WTD) in a pri-vate sector bank at 15 years andprescribed the maximum age of70 years for such functionaries.

These directives form part ofthe instructions issued by theRBI with regard to the chair andmeetings of the board, compo-sition of certain committees ofthe board, age, tenure andremuneration of directors, andappointment of the WTDs onMonday.

The RBI said it would comeout with a Master Direction onCorporate Governance in banksin due course.

“Subject to the statutoryapprovals required from time totime, the post of the MD &CEO or WTD cannot be heldby the same incumbent for

more than 15 years.“Thereafter, the individual

will be eligible for re-appoint-ment as MD & CEO or WTDin the same bank, if considerednecessary and desirable bythe board, after a minimumgap of three years, subject tomeeting other conditions,” theRBI said.

It added that during thisthree-year cooling period, theindividual shall not beappointed or associated withthe bank or its group entitiesin any capacity, either direct-ly or indirectly. With regard toupper age limit for MD &CEO and WTDs in the privatesector banks, the RBI said thatno person can continue onsuch positions beyond the ageof 70 years. The banks’ boards,however, will be free to pre-scribe a lower retirement agefor the WTDs, including theMD & CEO.

The maximum age limit forchairman and non-executivedirectors has been fixed at 75years.

The total tenure of an NED,continuously or otherwise, onthe board of a bank, shall notexceed eight years. After com-pleting eight years on the board,the person may be consideredfor re-appointment only after aminimum gap of three years.This directive will not precludehim/her from being appointedas a director in another banksubject to meeting the require-ments.

The RBI directives alsostipulate that the fixed remu-neration for an NED, otherthan the chair of the board,shall not exceed Rs 20 lakh perannum.The board will berequired to constitute an nom-ination and remunerationcommittee (NRC) made up ofonly NEDs.

RBI imposes ceiling of 70

yrs for MD, CEO of banks

PNS n MUMBAI

Foreign portfol ioinvestors (FPI) sold

stocks in the healthcare andIT sectors in March, showeda report by KotakInstitutional Equities.

Stocks worth $223 mil-lion were sold last month bythe foreign investors in thehealthcare segment, whileFPIs pulled out net invest-ments worth $330 millionin March from IT stocks,showed the ‘Foreign fund-flow tracker, April, 2021’.

The largest quantum ofFPI AUC (assets under cus-tody) came from US-basedinvestors, followed by thosefrom Mauritius andSingapore.

Fund allocations to Indiaby global emerging market(GEM) funds increased to10.6 per cent in March from10.2 per cent in February.

FPIs soldhealthcareand IT stocksin March

PTI n NEW DELHI

Steel plants have reduced theiroxygen stock to just half a dayfrom 3.5 days earlier to fulfil theshortage of the life-saving gasbeing used in the treatment ofCovid-19 patients, an officialstatement said on Monday.Steel plants usually keep a min-imum stock of over three daysof liquid oxygen from which inan emergency situation gaseousoxygen is extracted and sent forsteel making process.“The plants are normallyrequired to keep 3.5 days of safe-ty stock of LMO (liquid med-

ical oxygen) in their storagetanks. Through continuousengagement with the steel pro-ducers, the stock has beenreduced to 0.5 days because ofwhich LMO supply has signif-icantly increased,” the Ministryof Steel said in the statement.The steel plants supplied3,131.84 tonnes LMO onSunday to various health facil-ities across the states for treat-ment of COVID-19 patients, theministry added. At 3,131.84tonnes, the supply was over 8per cent higher from 2,894tonnes dispatched by steel plantson Saturday, the statement said.

Covid: Steel plants cut liquidoxygen storage to boost supply

PNS n MUMBAI

Market benchmarks made awinning start to the week onMonday as investors snappedup banking, consumption andenergy stocks despite a grim sit-uation on the Covid-19 front.

A rebounding rupee, whichclimbed 28 paise against the USdollar, added to the momentum,traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexopened on the front foot andremained in the positive terri-tory throughout the session,closing at 48,386.51 - up 508.06points or 1.06 per cent.

On similar lines, the broad-er NSE Nifty jumped 143.65points or 1 per cent to finish at14,485. Axis Bank was the topperformer in the Sensex pack,rallying 4.40 per cent. ICICIBank spurted 3.63 per centafter the company reported anearly four-fold jump in Marchquarter consolidated profit overthe weekend. UltraTech

Cement, SBI, HUL, PowerGrid,Bajaj Auto and RelianceIndustries were among the otherprominent gainers. On the other

hand, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank,Maruti, Sun Pharma, TCS,NTPC and ITC were the lag-gards, dropping up to 2.87%.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The insulators division ofOlectra Greentech Limitedbagged orders worth Rs 30crores which includes Rs 15crore export orders. Thedomestic order worth approxRs 15 crores was receivedfrom reputed Indian PowerTransmission Company tosupply composite long rodinsulators of 765KV capacity.The company has also baggedan export order worth approx.Rs 15 crores to supply 15 KVto 35 KV capacity insulatorsfrom US based company.

"We have a positive out-look for this financial yearwith faith reposed by ourclients in spite of the global

pandemic situation. We areconfident of good growth inour operations and are hope-ful of winning few more ordersto the tune of Rs 30 crores inthe next couple of months.The orders are a testament toour ability to deliver highquality Polymer Insulators,"said Mr Mahesh Balaiah, Vice-President, Electro Greentech.

Olectra Greentechbagged Rs 30 crorder for insulators

Mumbai:The rupeestrengthened by 28 paise toclose at 74.73 against the USdollar on Monday, endingits four-session losing runon the back of weakness inthe greenback and positivedomestic equities.

A fall in crude oil pricesand improved risk appetitesupported the local uniteven as worries over surg-ing COVID-19 casesrestricted the gains

Rupee rrecoversby 228 ppaise oonweak ddollar; eends4-dday llosing rrun

Bangkok: World shareswere mixed on Monday asworries over the pandem-ic clouded the outlook fora recovery from the coro-navirus crisis.

Tokyo and Parisadvanced, while Frankfurtand London were almostunchanged. Benchmarksfell in Hong Kong andShanghai and US futureswere mixed. Governmentprecautions to battle surg-ing outbreaks point to anuneven global recovery,economists say.

World shares mixedas pandemic worriescloud outlook

PNS n KOLKATA

A government policy on pro-ject financing in coal miningis on the anvil to supportdevelopment of private com-mercial mining in the countryamid increasing oppositionto back such projects overenvironmental concerns glob-ally, an official said onMonday.

The government also indi-cated that, in all possibility, thesecond tranche of commercialcoal mining auction will notbe postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, but theMinistry of Coal will monitorthe situation and make a deci-sion accordingly, the officialsaid after a virtual meeting theauthorities had with prospec-tive bidders.

"At the virtual pre-bid meet-ing for the second tranche ofcoal mining auction, the gov-

ernment said that it will comeout with a policy on projectfinancing in coal mining," theofficial told PTI.

A policy on this issue isbeing discussed in the govern-ment as financing coal miningprojects is gradually becominga challenge in wake of growingopposition globally.

Protestors claim that suchdirty projects cause damage tothe environment.

A nationalised bank hasreportedly been unable tomake a final decision onfinancing a major coal miningproject in Australia due tosuch opposition.

Owing to mounting pres-sure, global mining majorshave not shown any interest inthe commercial coal blockauctions by India. Mining ofthe dry fuel has been a monop-oly to state-owned Coal IndiaLimited.

Meanwhile, the governmentindicated to the prospectivebidders during the pre-bidmeeting that the Ministry ofCoal will decide on the auctionaccording to the coronavirussituation, the official said.

The government in Marchoffered 67 coal mines for sale,launching the second trancheof commercial coal miningauction and termed it a steptowards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

This is the highest numberof mines on offer in a partic-ular tranche after commence-ment of the auction regime in2014.

The blocks on offer are amix of mines with small andlarge reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully andpartially explored blocksspread across six states -Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra.

Govt to frame policy on projectfinancing in coal mining: Official

PNS n MUMBAI

Lockdowns and travel restric-tions imposed by states suchas Maharashtra, Delhi,Jharkhand and Rajasthan havedampened the sale of autofuels and aviation turbinefuel, leading to refining andmarketing companies reduc-ing throughputs, a report saidon Monday.

Going forward, the possi-bility of such a trend gather-ing pace, as more and morestates resort to lockdownsamid a surging case count andstrained healthcare system,cannot be ruled out, ratingsagency ICRA said in a note.

ICRA also notes that thebenchmark Singapore grossrefining margins (GRMs)remain subdued due to theglobal supply overhang amida demand slowdown and areunlikely to materially improvein the near-term, owing to thesecond wave of Covid-19 in

certain large economies suchas India and Japan.

Additionally, though manycountries have put travel

restrictions on flights fromIndia, the mutation, thoughtto be behind India's secondwave, has spread to at least 10

other countries. As morecountries witness a virulentsecond wave, oil demand andGRMs could be dampened, it

said."Refining and marketing

companies are cutting downon capacity uti l isationalthough the demand slow-down is not as severe asApril 2020.

"Nevertheless, the capaci-ty utilisation and revenuesand profitability of the refin-ing and marketing companiesare likely to be adverselyimpacted owing to thedemand slowdown,” saidSabyasachi Majumdar, GroupHead and Senior Vice-President at ICRA.

The GRMs are expected toremain muted owing to thedisproportionately higher fueland losses and operatingexpenses on a per barrel basisat lower capacity utilizations,he said.

Additionally, internation-al crude oil prices haveremained elevated due to theactive production manage-ment by OPEC+ countries,

leading to elevated levels offuel and losses, Majumdaradded.

Besides the impact of lowGRMs, the marketing mar-gins of oil marketing compa-nies have remained low as noincrease has been done in theretail prices of auto fuelssince February 27, despite theinternational crude oil pricesrising significantly duringthis period, ICRA said.

The ratings agency saidthough it expects the retailprices of auto fuels to behiked from May onwards,however, the said rise is like-ly to be calibrated over a peri-od of time, given the resurg-ing pandemic.

Accordingly, the operatingprofitability of the refiningand marketing companies islikely to be adversely impact-ed in Q1FY2022 owing to adecline in capacity utilisa-tions, subdued GRMs andmarketing margins, it stated.

Lockdowns, travel restrictions dampen fuel, ATF sale: ICRA

PNS n NEW DELHI

Besides incentives, manufactur-ers also need infrastructure onground for the successful imple-mentation of the PLI scheme forwhich states need to come onboard, a senior official of indus-try body MAIT said.

The Manufacturers'Association of InformationTechnology (MAIT), whosemembers include Apple, Dell,Lenovo, Cisco and HP, said sin-gle-window clearance system inseveral states has become anadditional window, whichmakes investors to run afterindividual departments forclearances.

"Larger issue is that stateshave to come on board.Without (their) active partici-pation, the scheme will not besuccessful.

"It will create massive tax andnon-tax revenue for the states.The government needs to takecalls and get states like AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Tamil

Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjaband Haryana on board," MAITPresident Nitin Kunkolienkertold PTI.

He said these states accountfor 70-80 per cent of electron-ic hardware manufacturing andthey have to come up with aproactive policy.

"The Centre has a PLIscheme but you need land,electricity and other infrastruc-

ture for manufacturing. In mostof the states, a single-windowinvestment system has becomean additional system.

"Even ease of doing businessrating is more investment cen-tric. What are the responsibil-ities? No one is talking aboutrunning and earning of theoperations and issues that comeup," Kunkolienker said.

The electronics and IT min-istry is inviting applications for

the IT hardware production-linked incentive (PLI) schemetill April 30.

The scheme, with an outlayof Rs 7,350 crore, will providean incentive for manufacturersof laptops, tablets, all-in-onePCs and servers.

Kunkolienker said incentivesprovided by the government arenot enough, and factors that canlead to demand aggregation aremissing in the policy.

States need to come on board for successof PLIs: Manufacturers’ Association of IT

Sensex surges 508 pts as banks,RIL zoom; Nifty tops 14,450

A month of national lockdown can eat up 1-2% of GDPOxford Economics lowers India’s2021 GDP growth forecast to 10.2 pc

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

FUN

9

Vijayawada Tuesday April 27, 2021what’s brewing?

elevision actorGurmeetChoudhary onSunday took tohis socialmedia plat-

forms to announce thathe will be opening an“ultra modern 1000

bed hospital inPatna andLucknow for thecommon man” tofight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gurmeetwrote onTwitter hewrote, “I havedecided I willbe openingultra modern1000 bed hos-pital in Patnaand Lucknowfor the com-mon man.Followed byother cities.Need yourblessings andSupport. Jai

Hind. Detailswill be shared

soon.”Gurmeet and his

wife Debina Bonnerjeehad tested positive forthe coronavirus inSeptember 2020.Recently, the actor hadshared that after beinginspired by SonuSood’s humanitarianwork during the pan-demic, he too wants tohelp people as thecountry deals with thesecond wave of thepandemic. Debina toohad taken to her socialmedia platforms toappeal all that peoplewho have recoveredfrom Covid-19 shoulddonate plasma for thetreatment of patientsare severely ill due tothe virus, she too hasdonated plasma.

As India continuesto record an alarmingrise in the daily num-ber of active casesevery passing day,many actors likeAkshay Kumar, SwaraBhaskar Bhumi

Pednekar, SonamKapoor have come for-ward to extend help.While Akshay hasdonated money to theGautam GambhirFoundation to feed theneedy, BhumiPednekar has appealedpeople to donate plas-ma, Swara Bhaskar andSonam Kapoor, who isin London at themoment, has beensharing collatedresources on her socialmedia platforms forpeople to visit in caseof need.

Sonu Sood who test-ed negative for Covid-19 on Friday has con-tinued his philanthrop-ic work in helping themigrant workers andCovid-19 patients findnecessary medicines,etc.

Reportedly, herecently also airlifted acritically ill Covid-19patient, from Nagpurto Hyderabad, to getspecial treatment done.

OSCARS 2021’S TRIBUTETO IRRFAN KHAN AND

BHANU ATHAIYAike every year,The AcademyAwards’ InMemoriam sec-tion paid trib-utes to film-

makers and artists whodeparted the world in2020. And not surprising-ly for a year that tookaway so many, the list wasa long one.

Among the notabledeceased personalitiesthat got a nod were IanHolm, Sean Connery Maxvon Sydow, ChristopherPlummer, ChadwickBoseman and our ownBhanu Athaiya and IrrfanKhan.

Bhanu Athaiya was thefirst Oscar winner from

India, taking home thetrophy for Best CostumeDesign for the 1982 filmGandhi. Irrfan Khan wasan international actorwho died after a long bat-tle with cancer on April29. Angela Bassett intro-duced the In Memoriamwith a sombre reflectionon the past year.

Cicely Tyson, ClorisLeachman, Yaphet Kotto,Joel Schumacher,Bertrand Tavernier, Jean-Claude Carrière, Olivia deHavilland, Paula Kelly,George Seagal, wereamong the other notableones who passed away.

Rishi Kapoor andSushant Singh Rajputwere absent from the list,

and their fans on socialmedia have commentedon their absence.However, they were

remembered on the web-site of the AcademyAwards in a special InMemoriam section.

One other tweeted,“Rishi Kapoor deserved tome in the “In Memoriam”section at the #Oscars.”

inema’s biggest night,the 93rd AcademyAwards, started offwith actor-directorRegina King grabbingan Oscar statuette out-

side Union Station in downtownLos Angeles and walking itinside while credits rolled fea-turing the show’s presenters.The prestigious award ceremonysaw Chloé Zhao set history yetagain! Taking home the awardfor best director for Nomadland,Chloé Zhao emerged as the firstwoman of color and the secondwoman to win the prestigiousaward. Korean actress Yuh-JungYoun picked up the trophy forBest Actress in a supporting roleand floored everyone with heracceptance speech.

Celebrated veteran actorAnthony Hopkins took home hissecond Oscar for Best Actor forhis performance in The Father.He had previously won the tro-phy for his performance in TheSilence of the Lambs. Anthony

Hopkins personally didn’t pickup his trophy at the 93rdAcademy Awards.

Frances McDormand baggedthe Oscar for Best Actress forher performance in Nomadlandat the 93 rd Academy Awards.

Interestingly, this is FrancesMcDormand’s third Best ActressOscar! She has previously wonthe golden statuette in 2018 forThree Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri and for Fargo'in 1997.

The 93rd Academy Awardswere held at both the DolbyTheatre and Union Station. Theceremony was delayed due tothe pandemic and took placetwo months after the originallyplanned date.

Interestingly, this year theAcademy Awards changed theirtradition and Best Picture first,post which the last award for theevening, Best Actor wasannounced.

The nominations for the 93rdAcademy Awards were unveiledon March 15 by PriyankaChopra and Nick Jonas. Allnominees and guests attendingthe prestigious ceremony hadundergone a minimum of twoCovid-19 tests and were notrequired to wear a face maskwhile the cameras are rolling.

efore Sunday, youmight have knownChloé Zhao as thedirector of Marvel’supcoming Eternals,but now she’s the

Oscar-winning director ofMarvel’s upcoming Eternals.Beijing-born Zhao just won bestdirector at the 2021 Oscars,beating Emerald Fennell andDavid Fincher, among others.

The victory makes her thefirst woman of color to takehome the award, and only thesecond woman in theAcademy’s 93-year history, afterKathryn Bigelow for 2008’s TheHurt Locker.

“This is for anyone who hasthe faith and the courage tohold on to the goodness inthemselves, and to hold on tothe goodness in each other, nomatter how difficult is to dothat,” Zhao said. “You inspireme to keep going. Thank you.”

The film that landed her theachievement: Nomadland, acontemplative drama set inAmerica’s Midwest that alsowon best picture. It followsFern —played by FrancesMcDormand — a woman wholoses her job in the GreatRecession and goes wandering.Taking odd jobs, meetingnomads and living in a tran-

sient community.What was Chloé Zhao up to

before Nomadland? Aside fromspending the pandemic editingEternals, starring AngelinaJolie, Richard Madden, KumailNanjiani and even more bignames, the 39-year-old cut herteeth and cemented her natural-istic and empathetic style in theindie realm. 2015’s Songs MyBrothers Taught Me and 2017’sThe Rider are both set in SouthDakota and star untrainedactors. They tell fact-based sto-ries, focused on the humancondition.

It’s a slight leap from quietcharacter dramas to big block-

busters, but that’s no roadblock.Zhao's next project? Dracula. Anew take on the Count forUniversal Pictures. A very dif-ferent take, if Kevin Feige’scomments on Eternals are any-thing to go by.

“Not only does Chloe makeremarkable, small, personalmovies in a remarkable, small,personal way, but she thinks ingrand, cosmic, gigantic terms,which fit perfectly with what wewanted to do,” Feige said ofZhao’s pitch for the MarvelCinematic Universe entry.“Eternals is a very big, sweep-ing, multimillennial-spanningstory. And she just got it.”

Zhao’s Dracula promises to bea sci-fi Western, with her singu-lar lens intact.

“I’ve always been fascinatedby vampires and the concept ofthe Other they embody,” Zhaosaid in a statement, followingthe news she would be directingthe monster film.

“I’m very excited to workwith Donna [Langley], Peter[Cramer], and the team atUniversal to reimagine such abeloved character.”

If you haven’t seen it yet,Nomadland is out on Hulu inthe US and through Star onDisney Plus elsewhere in theworld

Oscars 2021: Chloé Zhao makeshistory with best director win

Oscars: Nomadland is Best Picture, Anthony Hopkinsand Frances McDormand adjudged Best Actors

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Gurmeet Choudhary to open a 1000-bed hospital, starsextend help during trying times

itness entrepreneur andGympik founderAmaresh Ojha’s recent-ly-launched debutbook, Fitness Habits —Breaking The Barriers

To Fitness breaks down thenuances of everyday health and isa nudge towards developing last-ing fitness habits.

Co-authored by Subhra Moitra,this operating guide to fitness ispublished by Srishti Publications.In Ojha’s words, “there is a funda-mental drawback in the way peo-ple approach fitness and lookdown upon the nuances of form-ing fitness as a habit.” With thepandemic changing lives in anunprecedented way, Ojha’s newbook spells why proactively invest-ing time for health is important. Itserves as a guide on how to main-tain an equilibrium with existinghabits, while creating new fitnessroutines, and how to understandand reshape your behaviouralpattern.

Amaresh Ojha speaksabout his debut book, andembracing fitness for bet-ter life:

Q: How did the book‘Fitness Habits’come about? Whydid you want towrite somethinglike this?

A: In my experi-ence, fitness is one ofthe most confusingand scatteredindustries. Thereis no clearadvice on howto start, con-tinue, and suc-ceed as every-body has their ownway of approachingfitness. A large part of my journeylies in my lifelong predisposition

to adopt goodhabits. It is my

hope to share a holistic approachto fitness through the medium ofthis book.

Q: Getting started with fit-ness is often the hardest.What does the book sug-gest as a solution?

A: In this new era of healthcare,achieving your fitness goalsrequires a continuous practice ofcertain habits that focus on theaction plan rather than the goal.Most people fail not because theydon’t have a goal, but they don’thave an action plan that deter-mines their progress. There is afundamental drawback in the waypeople approach fitness and lookdown upon the nuances of form-ing fitness as a habit. The book,Fitness Habits, is that guide youneed to take the first step to createa sustainable habit through mini-mal shifts and modifications inyour life.

Q: What are your top tips toget started with one’s fit-ness journey and keep at it?

A: Start easy, find the simplestworkout you can do in a day, andfollow the 8 secrets of making fit-ness a habit as I have mentioned inthe book. They are — Awareness,Find Your Why, Go slow but GoForward, Add some Fun, Declutteryour Cue, Prep Your Environmentand Evaluate your Progress. Sincefitness habit formation is a long-term process, it needs a constantboost to keep you motivated tillyou make it. The truth is you canmake fitness an integral part ofyour daily life only when you takesmall steps consistently.

Q: The pandemic has madepeople both unfit, and alsopartly aware of this lack ofphysical activity. Howwould you say the book willhelp?

A: Covid or not, we all knowthat a regular workout routine is adoor to optimum health. The pan-demic has just highlighted the factthat taking care of our health isnot an option but a sheer necessity.People want to stay healthy, butthey do not know how to stayhealthy; and when we talk aboutstaying healthy there are a lotmany changes come along namelydietary changes, lifestyle modifica-tions, limiting sugar and so on. Allthese can be taken care of withonly one single change i.e., whenyou make fitness a habit. Once youhave your fitness habits in place,you will automatically eat healthy,you will have better sleep, you willchoose habits that will help youbecome healthier.

Q: It’s all in the mind —What is your mind transfor-mation mantra to alter howone looks at fitness?

A: Often people are trapped inthe vicious cycle of following someirregular fitness routine and faddiets to get skinny in a short time.But soon it becomes painful,exhausting, and wry because theyare unsustainable, unhealthy, andforced.

A ‘strategic planning

mind-

set’, which focuseson reaching smaller

goals, can work as a hugemotivating factor and makes

your fitness routine easilydoable. The more you tick offsmaller goals the easier it is toachieve the bigger picture.

Repeat your routine — evenwhen it is a 10 minutes’ walk or a5 minute jog, do it for the lowesttime and repeat the routine everysingle day.

Look at reaching smaller goalsand you will build the pillars toattain your bigger fitness goals.This way you feel more confidentabout your progress and that, infact, works as a motivational perk.

F

nd, it’s a match!Online datingapps continue tobe much indemand and useamong people of

different age groups. In fact,many are constantly glued tothese apps to find the onethat clicks with their vibe.Sure, these apps have madethe search for a match fasterand easier than before.

While dating is well andalive, many factors influencethe behaviour of daters andtheir online dating experi-ence. The major concernswhile using a dating app,preferences while searchingfor a suitable match and rele-

vance of dating apps in find-ing a soulmate differ foreveryone due to differentopinions.

A dating platform,QuackQuack, where one canmeet several verified localsingles and like-minded peo-ple for dating and match-making, has shared some keyinsights into daters’ behav-

iour regarding the relevanceand safety of dating apps tofind that ‘special someone’.

The report revealed users’opinion on three key para-meters — major concernswhile using dating apps,sharing using dating appwith friends and family andusing a dating app to find asoulmate. The responses

were categorised gender-wiseas well as age-wise. The threeage groups were 18-20, 21-30and 31 and above.

Major concerns

When asked about themajor concern while using adating app, 65 per cent peo-ple in the age group 18-20,52 per cent of people in theage group 21-30 and 43.4 percent people in the age group31 and above felt safety astheir primary concern.

On the other hand, fakeprofiles were the major con-cern for 41.5 per cent of peo-ple and 37 per cent of peoplein the age group 31 & aboveand 21-20 respectively.Further, very few peoplewere bothered aboutfriends/family finding theirprofile on a dating app.

Talking about gender-wiseconcerns, women (67 percent) were most concernedabout safety while using adating app whereas menwere equally worried aboutsafety (44 per cent) and fakeprofiles (43 per cent).

Willingness to tellfriends and family

Majority of people — 51per cent, 52 per cent and 59per cent between the ages 18-20, 21-30 and 31 above —wouldn’t tell anyone aboutusing a dating app out of thefear of being judged.

On the contrary, 48 percent of people in the agegroup 18-30 didn’t mindsharing if asked.

Using apps to find soul-mates

Surprisingly, the majorityof people in all age groupsi.e. 83 per cent would preferusing a dating app to findtheir soulmate, consideringmatrimonial apps will mostlypressurise them for marriageand wouldn’t help much infinding their life partner.

And on the contrary, atotal of 17 per cent of people,in all age groups and gen-ders, said they would prefermatrimonial apps.

Further, 82 per cent ofmen and women would pre-fer using a dating app to findtheir soulmate as comparedto 18 per cent of men andwomen who would prefer amatrimonial app for findingtheir soulmate.

Speaking about the surveyreport, Ravi Mittal, founderand CEO of QuackQuack,said, “Dating apps continueto grow in popularity. Bothmen and women across dif-ferent age groups are equallyusing these apps to find aperfect date.”

He goes on to add, “Whilethey date online; there arevarious concerns, trends andpreferences that influencetheir dating experience. Ourrecent report providedkey insights into allthese parame-ters.

Thestatis-ticswereinter-esting andreveal a lotabout evolvingbehaviour of today’sdaters.”

An onlinedatingplatformshares somekey insightsinto daters’behaviourregarding therelevance andsafety of appsto find theirspecialsomeone

A

Made inheaven...or hell?

ere’s somegreat news forfashion afi-cionados —VogueWedding

Show — the annualextravaganza is poised tobe grander and biggerthan ever before this sea-son, because will be host-ed on a tailor-made,mobile-friendly platformand can be accessed on-the-go 24/7 via anydevice from almost everypart of the world!

The virtual edit of theVogue Wedding Show,allows one to enjoy per-sonal interactions anddirectly inquire withIndia’s leading weddingcouture designer brandslike Amit Aggarwal,Anita Dongre, FalguniShane Peacock, GauravGupta, JADE by Monica& Karishma, ManishMalhotra, Rahul Mishra,Sabyasachi, Shantanu &Nikhil, Shivan &Narresh, Shyamal &Bhumika, and TarunTahiliani, amongst manyothers, who will beshowcasing their latestSpring/Summer 2021Bridal collections.

A host of topmenswear brands such asHerringbone & Sui,Kunal Rawal,Raghavendra RathoreJodhpur, Sarah &Sandeep will also be apart of the VogueWedding Show this year.

In an interview withThe Pioneer, Founder ofone of the finest weddingcouture brands AmitAggarwal speaks abouthis plans, his style ofdesigning and more.

Excerpts from theinterview:

Your comment onthe era of fast fash-ion

I think this dependson the sensitivity of theindividual. I consciouslydecided on some things.Right now the worldneeds less, not more. Ididn’t want to add thingsthat people might notneed. At Amit Aggarwal,we focus on creatingpieces that are timeless,that become part of whoyou are and your identity,you hold onto them foryour life

With the whole for-mat of a fashionshow moving digital,what are the novelchanges that you'reyearning toobserve? Do youlike this drasticchange? Why/(not)?

Change is the onlyconstant and adapting toit is the only key. Puttinga couture show togetheris like celebration for allthe five senses and henceit is always a challenge toweave the brand story ofintricate craftsmanshipand hand embroideryand put together animmersive experience forthe viewers. We howeverlove challenges and havehad a lot of fun trying torecreate the quintessen-tial Amit Aggarwal expe-rience through a digitallens and create an escapeto set the mind free andhelp reimagine the wear-ability of our signaturetextiles.

Digital media plat-forms have simplified thebuying process andhelped in mobilisingfinancial support for thepeople affected most

during these hard times.Embracing social mediaand E commerce is oneof the biggest way for-ward. However, I feelBrick and Mortar storeswill continue to be one ofthe most effective waysto get the whole experi-ence of buying a coutureproduct.

Tell us about yourlatest edit

The collection hasbeen a personal journeybut I also believe univer-sal because at its corenature can be true and istherapy for the humanrace.

Given our inspirationhas been nature and theblooming of flowers, thecolours we have focussedon range from blush tofuchsia, mint to emerald,our signature silver mov-ing into a melange of all

these colours together.Ranging from bridal cou-ture and lehenga’s tosaree gowns, our silhou-ettes as always arefocussed on being com-plimentary to all bodytypes and each ensembleis extremely lightweight.Innovating with tech-nique, ‘Euphor’ printsover hand embellishedfabric to create uniquesurface textures unlikeany of our past collec-tions. The collection alsouses metallic cordingmoulded to create organ-ic patterns

How's the bridalwedding fashionscene evolved bythe way?

Bridal outfits have andwill always be aspira-tional given the sacred-ness of the functions andtheir importance in life.

Families still considerweddings as one of themost important parts oftheir life and the memo-ries it makes.

The couple do not shyaway from investing increation of memories andfeeling which will lastthem more than a life-time. And clothing has avery large part to play indoing so. The bridestoday though are moreindependent in theirchoices and want cre-ations that celebrate theirindividuality and selvesand at Amit Aggarwalthis has always been ourfocus — to create designsthat celebrate the ‘you’.

What's the designphilosophy behindyour latest edit?

In this latest collectionof dreamy silhouettes intimeless statement fash-ion, I explored the thera-peutic balance of botani-cals- the visual and men-tal unleashing renderedby flowers. The collec-tion ‘Euphor’ drawsheavily from scientificjournals that describe thephysiological effects ofnature on human health.In bringing this collec-tion to life I tapped intothis deep understandingof couture and an experi-mentation of traditionalprint and embroiderytechniques.

Could you tells usmore about yourfuture plans? At Amit Aggarwal, wehave always stayed trueto our core belief; whichis to push forward Indiancraftmanship while inno-vating and experiment-ing with newer materialsand adding a modernperspective to eachdesign. Though our jour-ney as a brand, the mostimportant aspect hasbeen to stick to our pur-pose and to continuefocussing on our craft inorder to create a signa-ture like no other, this issomething that we willcontinue to work towardsin the years to come.

GOING DIGITALIS IN ‘VOGUE'

H

FIT, FAB and Fantastic

TuesdayApril 27, 2021

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Seeing the loss in their previous game as a blip,Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore

will have to be at their best to beat a formidableDelhi Capitals unit here on Tuesday.

While RCB will have to shrug off their 69-runsthrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kingsin their last game and start afresh, Delhi’s confi-dence would be boosted by their thrilling ‘SuperOver’ win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Up against Delhi Capitals, RCB will need toaddress their middle-order woes, to return to win-ning ways, in what could be touted as a battle ofequals.

For the RCB, it will be important that theopeners- the in-form Devdutt Padikkal (171 runs)and Kohli (151 runs) continue to provide a solidstart.

But the opening duo would need the much-needed support from the middle-order,which crumbled against CSK.

The likes of Glenn Maxwell (198runs), Ab de Villiers (129 runs), and themisfiring all-rounder WashingtonSundar (25 runs), will have to performin unison against a strong Delhi attack.

Australian Maxwell did justify hishigh price tag in the first few matches andwould be raring to go once again.

The RCB bowlers will have to forgetthe hammering received at the hands ofthe CSK batters, especially league’s lead-ing wicket-taker Harshal Patel, who wastaken apart by Ravindra Jadeja, as he con-ceded 37 runs in his final over.

Pacers Mohammed Siraj and KyleJamieson will have to stepup and deliver while spin-ners Yuzvendra Chahal andWashington Sundar, will alsohave to bowl tightly to containa strong DC batting-line, full ofhard-hitters.

RCB could also be tempted toplay left-arm tweaker Shahbaz Ahmed inplace of either Navdeep Saini or DanChristian, as the track could be conducivefor the spinners.

For Delhi, their opener and tourna-ment’s leading run-scorer ShikharDhawan (259 runs), would be eager tocarry forward his fine form, while hisopening partner Prithvi Shaw (166runs), would be looking to get more

runs under his belt.DC boast of a strong middle-order

comprising skipper Rishabh Pant (125runs), Australians Steve Smith and MarcusStoinis and Shimron Hetmyer, who can

be highly destructive on their day.In case the openers fail, the onus

will be on Pant and Smith to steer theinnings.

Delhi will miss the services of aceoff-spinner Ravichandra Ashwin, who has

left the team to support his family in thefight against Covid-19.

In his absence, left-arm spinner AxarPatel and experienced leg-spinner AmitMishra, who had wreaked havoc against

Mumbai Indians, will need to shoulder greaterresponsibility.

11IT WAS A THRILLING GAME (VS SRH) & SHOULDN'T

HAVE GONE TO THE SUPER OVER. WE SHOULDHAVE WON IT EASILY, BUT WE MADE FEW

MISTAKES BUT THAT'S PART OF THE JOURNEY— SHIKHAR DHAWAN

SOUND BITEVIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | APRIL 27, 2021

PLAYER RUNS

1. Shikhar Dhawan (DC) 259

2. KL Rahul (PBKS) 240

3. Faf du Plessis (CSK) 214

PLAYER WKTS

1. Harshal Patel (RCB) 15

2. Avesh Khan (DC) 11

3. Rahul Chahar (MI) 9

MOST SIXES

1. Jonny Bairstow (SRH) 14

2. KL Rahul (PBKS) 11

3. Rohit Sharma (MI) 9

SUMMER SLAM

MOTION PICTURE

WILLIAMSON TIRED OF COMING 2ND Be it in the World Cup or IPL, Kane Williamson is“getting tired” of finishing second in Super Overs. TheNew Zealander's latest tryst with the Super Over cameon Sunday when his team Sunrisers Hyderabad failedto achieve the desired result against Delhi Capitals. “Iam getting tired of coming second in the Super Overs,”Williamson said. “Throughout the game, wheneverthere is a Super Over, as a batting side chasing a scorethat was very competitive, there are a lot of positives totake out of it. “It is really uncanny in game of cricketthat things can end in a tie but I suppose it is very, veryexciting. A lot of positives, we move on really quickly toDelhi,” he added.

‘VOLUNTEERED TO BOWL SUPER OVER’Delhi Capitals' left-arm spinner Axar Patel said that hehad volunteered to bowl the high-octane Super Over intheir win over SRH, which was his first game sincerecovering from Covid-19. “When I was in the dressingroom, I knew that the pitch would assist spinners,”Axar said of the challenging Chepauk track. “When wewent down, there were a lot of discussions. We thoughtinitially that we could go with a pacer since they will besending a left-right combination. “After that, just whenwe were going to the ground, I thought, even a spinnercould be effective. So I told Rishabh ‘Even I can bowl,think about it'. So he spoke to (coach) Ricky (Ponting)and it was decided at the last moment that I will bowl.”

POINTS TABLEP W L NRR PTS

1 CSK 5 4 1 +1.612 8

2 DC 5 4 1 +0.334 8

3 RCB 5 4 1 +0.096 8

4 MI 5 2 3 -0.032 4

5 KKR 6 2 4 -0.305 4

6 PBKS 6 2 4 -0.608 4

7 RR 5 2 3 -0.681 4

8 SRH 5 1 4 -0.180 2

4s 566

6s 254

boundarymeter

RANI, 6 OTHER PLAYERS TEST +VE NEW DELHI: Seven members of the Indianwomen's hockey team, including captain RaniRampal, and two support staff members onMonday tested positive for Covid-19 ahead ofa training camp at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru.

INDIA QUALIFY FOR CWG 2022 NEW DELHI: India is among six teams whichhave qualified for the women's T20competition of the 2022 CWG as cricketreturns for the second time in the event.

12TH BARCELONA OPEN FOR RAFABARCELONA: Rafael Nadal saved achampionship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5 and claim a 12th BarcelonaOpen title in the ATP's longest match of 2021.

HENRY, SHEARER IN HALL OF FAMELONDON: Thierry Henry and Alan Shearerwere named as the first players inducted intothe official Premier League Hall of Fame inrecognition of a combined 435 goals.

CRISIS IN SA CRICKET AVERTED DURBAN: SA cricket stepped back from thebrink of an international crisis when officialsannounced that the differences between thetwo rival factions had been resolved.

LILLE RETAKE TOP SPOTPARIS: Burak Yilmaz scored twice and set upanother as Lille staged a brilliant comeback toclaim a thrilling 3-2 victory at title rivals Lyonand reclaim top spot in Ligue 1. Agencies

shortpasses

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TODAYTODAY VSLIVE FROM

7:30PM IST

STAR SSPORTS 11 NNETWORK

Mumbai Indians Kiwi players Jimmy Neesham, left, TrentBoult, center and newly added reserve player Scott Kuggeleijnenjoy beer as they spend time in pool Neesham/Instagram

Matches 25Delhi CCapitals 11Royal CChallengers BBangalore 14

LAST YEAR’S MATCHES

Delhi Capitals defeated Royal

Challengers Bangalore by 59

runs in Dubai

Delhi Capitals beat Royal

Challengers Bangalore by 6

wickets in Abu Dhabi

VENUE: NARENDRA MODI STADIUM, AHMEDABAD

Rishabh Pant who hit 199 fours in

73 innings of as many matches,

needs just one four to become

only second batsman after

Virender Sehwag (266 fours) to

complete a double century of

fours for Delhi Capitals in IPL

Ab de Villiers with 4978 runs at

an average of 40.47 in 160

innings of 174 matches, needs

22 runs to become sixth

batsman to complete 5000

runs in IPL historyFaisel FFeatures

199

HEAD TO HEADKEY PLAYERS

AVESH KHAN

Khan has impressed everyone with

his performance this time and he is

second in the race for Purple Cap

MOHAMMED SIRAJ

Siraj looked a completely different

player in 2021 and is a key

component of RCB's bowling unit

22

RCB, Delhi eye top spot

PTI n GUATEMALA CITY

Indian archery’s star couple DeepikaKumari and Atanu Das led the show

with two individual Gold medals as thecountry capped its best ever perfor-mance in a World Cup, claiming threeGolds and a Bronze in the tournament’sfirst stage here.

Former world number one Deepikaclaimed her career’s third individualWorld Cup Gold to add to the team’s tri-umph, while her husband Das grabbedhis first ever World Cup individualmedal in style winning the men’s recurveindividual final.

The two are now automaticallyqualified for this season’s most-covetedArchery World Cup Final.

“We travel together, train together,compete together and win together,”Das, who got married to Deepika in Junelast year after a two-year courtship, saidafter claiming the Gold medal onSunday.

“She knows what I like, and I knowwhat she likes.”

This was the best ever World Cupfinish by India’s recurve archers with twoindividual and one team Gold medals intheir return to the top International cal-endar year event after almost two years.

Deepika-Atanu shoot triple Gold

Bilbao: Atletico Madrid’s titlehopes suffered a setback onSunday as a shock 2-1 defeat atAthletic Bilbao handedBarcelona the upper hand in athrilling race at the top of LaLiga.

Real Madrid’s draw withReal Betis on Saturday gaveAtletico the chance to pullfurther clear but instead theyended the weekend with theirlead reduced, a loss at SanMames the latest twist inEurope’s most unpredictabledomestic chase.

Barcelona now can go topof the table if they win theirgame in hand at home toGranada on Thursday, even ifAtletico might have a way backgiven they are still to play atCamp Nou on May 8. AFP

Atletico Madridlose to Bilbao

PTI n NEW DELHI

Anxiety pierced through IPL’s bio-secure bubble on Monday withleading Indian off-spinner

Ravichandran Ashwin and someAustralian players withdrawing from theleague amid the escalating Covid-19 cri-sis in India even as the BCCI insisted thatthe glitzy league will go on.

The 34-year-old Ashwin, competingfor Delhi Capitals, decided to take abreak saying that his family is current-ly “putting up a fight against Covid-19”and he wants to support them. He hopesto return to the side “if things go in theright direction”.

However, Andrew Tye (RajasthanRoyals) and the duo of Kane Richardsonand Adam Zampa (both RoyalChallengers Bangalore) withdrew asapprehension set in after a couple ofweeks went by smoothly for the leaguebeing held in front of empty stands acrosssix venues.

While Zampa and Richardson have

not yet spoken about their “personal rea-sons” for leaving, Tye said he feared get-ting locked out of his own country owingto mounting quarantine cases fromIndia in his hometown Perth.

“I just thought to try and get on thefront foot and get home before I gotlocked out of the country...Think I’ve had11 days at home out of the bubble sinceAugust, so for me I just wanted to gethome,” Tye told SEN Radio from Doha,the transit point before his flight to Perth.

The BCCI, on its part, insisted thatthe event will continue and it wouldn’tcome in the way of those wanting to leave.

“As of now, IPL is going ahead.Obviously, if anyone wants to leave, that’sperfectly fine,” a senior Board official saidon conditions of anonymity.

While leg-spinner Zampa wasbought for ̀ 1.5 crore, RCB spent ̀ 4 croreto buy pacer Richardson at the players’auction.

Richardson featured in one matchfor RCB against Rajasthan Royals inMumbai, but Zampa couldn’t make it tothe playing XI this season.

The 34-year-old Tye had also not gota game with the Royals so far and hiscontract with the franchise was worth ̀ 1crore.

Kolkata Knight Riders mentor DavidHussey acknowledged that Australiansin the IPL are a “bit nervous” about get-ting back home in the wake of the situ-

ation here.“Everyone is sort of a bit nervous

about whether they can get back intoAustralia. I dare say there will be a fewother Australians a bit nervous about get-ting back into Australia,” Hussey, a for-mer Australia international, told theSydney Morning Herald.

However, not all Australians are will-ing to leave.

Another pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile,who has a `5 crore deal with MumbaiIndians would rather be in the bio-bub-ble than risk a trip back home at thispoint.

“I feel like it’s safer for me to stay inthe bubble than try and get home at themoment,” he told cricket.Com.Au.

Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Pontingsaid he is aware of the “grim” situationoutside the IPL bio-bubble but wouldwant the league to continue for it is a wel-come escape for a few hours.

Several England and New Zealandplayers are also competing in the eventbut haven’t yet spoken about their con-cerns.

The players from New Zealand,including stars such Kane Williamsonand Trent Boult, are expected to leaveearly in any case as they have a Test seriesagainst England starting June 2. They willhave to head back in last week of Mayto be available for it because of quaran-tine rules.

The IPL final is scheduled to be heldon May 30 in Ahmedabad.

Australia, it is learnt, might arrangea chartered flight for its IPL cricketersonce their engagement is over.

As many as 14 Australian playersnow remain in the event, including starssuch as Steve Smith (DC), David Warner

(SunRisers Hyderabad) and PatCummins (Kolkata Knight Riders), aswell as coaches Ricky Ponting (DC) andSimon Katich (RCB).

Commentators Matthew Hayden,Brett Lee, Michael Slater and LisaSthalekar are also among the Australiansinvolved with the league right now.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Rajasthan Royals haveapproached fellow IPL

teams to loan players after thedeparture of their four foreignplayers due to various reasonsthat include injuries, bubblefatigue and Covid-19 fear.

Ben Stokes and JofraArcher are out of the IPL dueto injuries while LiamLivingstone had gone back

home citing bubble fatigue.On Sunday, Andrew Tye leftfor Australia, citing fear due tosurge of Covid-19 cases inIndia, making Royals theworst affected team from play-er pull-outs.

“The team is looking toloan players and has written toother franchisees but nothingis decided at this point,” asource close the team manage-ment said.

The IPL loan windowstarted on Monday and willend with the conclusion of theleague stage.

IPL rules state that a play-er who have played less thantwo matches in the season canbe loaned and cannot playagainst his home franchise.

Royals have two winsfrom five games and playtheir next game in Delhi onThursday.

Rajasthan seek to loanplayers from other teams

Ashwin decides to takebreak & support family asRCB’s Kane Richardson &Zampa join Tye to walk outbecause of personal reasons

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Asuperlative bowling effortby Kolkata Knight Riders

found Punjab Kings gaspingfor breath as they managed aplatry 123 for 9 in an IPLencounter here on Monday.

After suffering fourdefeats on the trot in Chennaiand Mumbai, the bottom-placed KKR’s campaign final-ly got some boost as the bowl-ing unit led by Pat Cumminsfired in unison.

Youngster Shivam Mavi(1/13) started it all, tyingthings down with the new ball,bowling 15 dot balls in hisfour overs on the trot, beforeCummins (2/31) and PrasidhKrishna (3/30) tightened thenoose sharing five wicketsbetween them at the death.

The pace troika removed

the top three KL Rahul (19),Chris Gayle (0) and DeepakHooda (1) in space of 12balls for six runs to leavePBKS in a disarray in the first10 overs.

On a pitch where ballstayed low and gripped a bit,the Punjab batsmen failed toapply themselves with SunilNarine (2/22) and VarunChakravarthy (1/24) furtherdenting their progress duringthe middle overs as well asback-end.

Prasidh has the best fig-ures as he ended ChrisJordan's 18-ball 30 cameowhich took the total past 120-run mark.

Mavi capped a fine open-ing spell of four overs dismiss-ing Chris Gayle for a goldenduck with the Universe Bosstaking a bottom edge.

SCOREBOARDPUNJAB KINGS

KL Rahul c Narine b Cummins 19Mayank AAgarwal c Tripathi b Narine 31Chris GGayle c Karthik b Mavi 0Deepak HHooda c Morgan b Prasidh 1Nicholas PPooran b Chakravarthy 19Moises HHenriques b Narine 2Shahrukh KKhan c Morgan b Prasidh 13Chris JJordan b Prasidh 30Ravi BBishnoi c Morgan b Cummins 1Mohammed SShami not out 1Arshdeep SSingh not out 1Extras (b 0, lb 1, w 4, nb 0, p 0) 5Total (9 wkts, 20 Overs) 123Fall oof wwickets: 36-1 (KL Rahul, 5.4), 38-2 (ChrisGayle, 6.3), 42-3 (Deepak Hooda, 7.4), 60-4(Mayank Agarwal, 11.2), 75-5 (Moises Henriques,13.1), 79-6 (Nicholas Pooran, 14.2), 95-7 (ShahrukhKhan, 17.2), 98-8 (Ravi Bishnoi, 18.1), 121-9 (ChrisJordan, 19.4)BowlingShivam MMavi 4-0-13-1Pat CCummins 3-0-31-2Sunil NNarine 4-0-22-2Prasidh KKrishna 4-0-30-3Andre RRussell 1-0-2-0Varun CChakravarthy 4-0-24-1

Bowling with the new ball, theyoungster was superb in the Powerplay,conceding just nine runs from histhree overs, never allowing the two starPunjab openers, Mayank Agarwal andKL Rahul, to express themselves.

The pressure was evident on Rahulwhen he perished after trying to breakfree against Cummins in the final overof Powerplay.

The dangerous Deepak Hooda (1)got out courtesy a stunning low catchby Eoin Morgan as Punjab had a terri-ble start losing three wickets in 12 ballsfor six runs.

Amid ruins, opener MayankAgarwal scored a painstaking 31 off 34balls which also halted the team’smomentum.

KKR hold Punjab to 123

Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Prasidh Krishna celebrates with teammates EoinMorgan, Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik after he takes wicket @IPL

PTI n NEW DELHI

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Australianpacer Pat Cummins on Monday

announced a $50,000 donation towardsPM CARES Fund for oxygen suppliesin India’s Covid-19 ravaged hospitalsand backed the IPL to continue, sayinghe has been “advised” that the IndianGovernment views it “as few hours ofjoy” in a difficult time.

In a statement on his official Twitterhandle, he made the announcement andurged other top players to do the sameas the country battles a deadly secondwave of the pandemic recording morethan 2,000 daily deaths for the past fewdays.

“As players, we are privileged tohave the platform that allows us to reachmillions of people that we can use for

good. With that in mind, I have madea contribution to the PM CARES Fund,specifically to purchase oxygen suppliesfor India’s hospitals,” he stated.

He also said that he is aware of theongoing discussion on whether the IPLshould continue amid the destructioncaused by the virus but has been toldthat the event offers some respite fromthe gloom.

“There has been a lot of discussionover here as to whether it is appropri-ate for the IPL to continue whileCovid-19 infection rates remain high,”he said. “I am advised that IndianGovernment is of the view that playingthe IPL while the population is in lock-down provides few hours of joy andrespite each day at an otherwise diffi-cult time for the country,” Cummins saidin his statement.

Cummins donates $50K in fight vs Covid

IPL PLAYERS START PULLING OUT

arthi has created aniche for himselfeven amongstTelugu audienceswith films likeOopiri, Yuganiki

Okkadu, Khaidi, Avara. Theactor who was last seen play-ing the lead in Sulthan withRashmika Mandanna as theleading lady opened to posi-tive response even in theTelugu states.

The actor now released theposter of his next project,titled Sardar. Karthi starrerSardar is helmed by PSMithran who earlier madeIrumbu Thirai and Hero, and

it has Venky Mama and WorldFamous Lover fame actressRaashi Khanna as the leadinglady. In this upcoming filmKarthi will make his screenpresence in a dual role. Themakers of Sardar alsounveiled the first look poster.

Apart from the lead pair,the film Sardar also hasRajisha Vijayan in the crucialroles. George C Williams hasbeen roped in to handle thecinematography departmentwhereas GV Prakash Kumar isthe music director.

Ruben is the editor ofSardar, K Kadhir is the artdirector and Dhilip

Subbarayan is the stunt direc-tor. Sardmear is penned byM.R Pon Parthipan, and Roju,Bipin Ragu whereas it isbankrolled by S.LakshmanKumar. On the otherside,Karthi also has ManiRatnam’s magnumopus the multistarrerPonniyin Selvan,which also hasChiyaan Vikram,Jayam Ravi,Aishwarya RaiBachchan,Aishwarya Lekshmi,Vikram Prabhu,Trisha and othersin the crucial roles.

12

Vijayawada Tuesday April 27, 2021 tollywood

he internet is seton fire as super-star Salman Khantakes to his socialmedia to thankIcon Star Allu

Arjun for Seeti Maar (asong that originally fea-tured in Allu Arjun’sDuvvada Jagannadhamand now in Khan’supcoming filmRadhe). Khanalso expressedadmiration forthe latter’s danc-ing skills andunmistakablestyle.

As revealedby the trailer,Khan’s highlyanticipatedfilm Radhehas a re-created AlluArjun's chartbuster songSeeti Maar originally com-posed by Devi Sri Prasad.

Salman took to hisTwitter addressing AlluArjun. He wrote, “Thank uAllu Arjun for Seeti Maarabsolutely loved the way uhave performed in the song,the way u dance, your style,

u r simply fantastic...tk caren b safe.Rgds to ur fami-ly...Love u brother.”

Replying to Khan, IconStaar wrote, “Thank you soomuch Salman Garu. It’s apleasure to receive a com-pliment from you. It’s such asweet gesture.

Looking forward for theRADHE magic on screens

with fans doing SEETIMAAR for you. Thank youfor your love.”

The banter betweenIndia’s biggest superstarsnot only cheered their fansbut also created excitementabout the song. Whatremains to be seen is if itcan recreate the magic theoriginal did four years ago

SALMAN KHAN PENSDOWN FOND WORDS

FOR ALLU ARJUN

fter Mohanlaland NagarjunaAkkineni,superstarMahesh Babuhas taken the

first jab of the Covid-19vaccine on Monday. Theactor had isolated himselfa few days back after hisstylist had tested positivefor Covid-19. Now daysafter, he has taken thefirst dose of the vaccineand has also requestedeveryone above 18 age totake theirs from May 1.Taking to Twitter, hewrote, “Done with myvaccination! Please getyours!! The COVID-19second wave has hiteveryone hard and get-ting vaccinated is theneed of the hour. Those

aged 18 years and aboveare eligible to get theirsfrom May 1st.#GetVaccinated. Stay safeeveryone.”

Many Indian celebslike Mohanlal, NagarjunaAkkineni, KamalHaasan, Rakesh Roshan,Hema Malini, SatishShah, Johnny Lever,Upasana Kamineniamong others have takenthe Covid-19 vaccine.Meanwhile, after a fewmembers tested positiveon the sets of MaheshBabu starrer SarkaruVaari Paata, the makersdecided to stop theshoot.

The shooting has beenpostponed to May amidstthe rising cases ofCoronavirus.

KARTHI

AS

SARDAR

After a rollickingstart to 2021 withKrack, GaaliSampath, Naandhi,11th Hour, Mail,Thellavarithe

Guruvaram and Chaavu KaburuChallaga, an intriguing thriller,Thank You Brother, is set tohave a direct OTT premiereacross the globe on aha on May7. Thank You Brother, featuringViraj Ashwin and Anasuya inthe lead roles, has been directedby Ramesh Raparthi. Thethriller, produced by Magunta

Sarath Chandra Reddy revolvesaround a hot-blooded youngsterand a pregnant woman stuck ina non-functional lift. Thoughthe film was slated to release intheatres later this month, themakers have opted for a directdigital release on aha, keepingin view the unprecedented situ-ation caused by the second waveof the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thank You Brother is filledwith several twists and turnsand is complemented by theright blend of emotions anddrama.

Thank You Brother torelease on aha on May 7

T

K

A

MAHESH BABU GETS

FIRST JAB OF THE

COVID-19 VACCINE

ctor couple DrRajasekhar andJeevitha alongwith severalothers from theindustry people

paid floral tributes to themortal remains of veter-an actor Potti Veeraiah,who passed away onSunday following a heartstroke. Jeevitha andRajashekar interactedwith his daughter andextended their condo-lences to his family.

Expressing condo-lences, MegastarChiranjeevi recalledhis association withVeeraiah. “Personallyand professionally,Veeraiah faced lotmany struggles in hislife. Acting in vari-ous south Indianlanguage films forfive decades,Veeraiah created hisown mark in Telugufilm industry,”Chiranjeevi said in astatement.

“Veeraiah acted in300 movies despiteinsurmountable per-sonal and profes-sional challenges.

The news of his demiseis a matter of grief," theAcharya actor said.

Veeraiah made his act-ing debut withVittalacharya’s 1967 filmAggi Dora and went onto feature in RadhammaPelli, Jaganmohini,Yugandhar, Gaja Dongaand others. He acted inover 500 films acrossTelugu, Tamil, Kannada,and Malayalam lan-guages.

T-town mourns Potti Veeraiah’s demise

a

a

Pooja Hegdetests positive

for Covidctress Pooja Hegde,one of the most busiestand sought-afteractress of Telugu cine-ma, has tested positivefor Covid 19. Theactress took to her

social media handles to announcethe same. The actress is currentlyunder home quarantine and hasrequested those in contact with her,to get tested too. While she said sheis recuperating well, she has been intouch with the doc-tors and has fol-lowed all theBMC proto-cols so far.

“Helloeveryone.This is toinformyou allthat Ihave test-ed posi-

tive for Covid-19. Following all theprotocols I have isolated, and home-quarantined myself.” The RadheShyam actress also requested peopleto get tested for Covid-19 who haverecently come in contact with her. “Irequest all those who have come incontact with me recently to get test-ed too.”

Pooja also thanked her well-wish-ers for the love and support andshared that she is feeling well.

She added, “Thank you for yourlove and support I am currentlyrecuperating well. Please stay home,stay safe and take care.”

On the work front, Pooja Hegdewas last seen in AlaVaikunthapurramuloo last year

alongside Allu Arjun. Pooja isnow gearing up for Most

Eligible Bachelor, RadheShyam, Acharya, Cirkus

andThalapathy

65.

A

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