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MONEY 8‘AIRTEL, VODAFONE IDEA

MUST DISCLOSE WORKINGS’

ANALYSIS 7HELP FARMERSGROW MONEY

SPORTS 11ISL HAS BECOME MORE

PROFESSIONAL OVER YEARS : HABAS

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY MARCH 16, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

Established 1864

*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 134*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

Yogi to becomefirst UP CM fromBJP to complete3 yrs in office

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Auditors mustuse latest techtools for qualityaudits: CEPR

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CRPF to providehealth cover for2,200 families

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Current Weather ConditionsUpdated March 15, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC TODAY

Month & Paksham:Phalguna & Krishna PakshaPanchangam:Tithi: Shashthi: 04:24 am (Next Day) Nakshatram: Vishakha: 12:20 pm Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 09:26 am – 10:56 amYamagandam: 01:54 pm – 03:23 pmVarjyam: 04:10 pm – 05:42 pmGulika: 06:28 am - 07:57 amGood Time: (to start any important

work)Amritakalam: 01:24 am – 02:56 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 12:01 pm – 12:49 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERFFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTemp: 36/22Humidity: 41%Sunrise: 06.23Sunset: 06.26

BEIJING TO SEND ALL INTERNATIONALARRIVALS TO QUARANTINE FACILITIES

Queen Elizabeth II has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace inLondon to Windsor Castle as the UK plans for isolation measures for

people over 70 amid the country's death toll fromCOVID-19 hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 withina day. The 93-year-old monarch and her 98-year-oldhusband, Prince Philip, are likely to be placedin quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estatein Norfolk in the coming weeks as toughermeasures are put in place to fight thecoronavirus outbreak in the UK affectingover 1,140 people.

TRUMP TESTS NEGATIVE FORCORONAVIRUS: PHYSICIANUS President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus,

the White House physician said, hours after his administration declaredthe COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency on Friday.Trump, 73, had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night.The results came out in less than 24 hours. "Last night, afteran in-depth discussion with the President regarding theCOVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, Ireceived confirmation that the test is negative," Dr SeanConley, the presidential physician, said in amemorandum to White House Press SecretaryStephanie Grisham on Saturday.

The Islamic endowment overseeing the Al-Aqsa mosque compound,the third holiest site in Islam, says the mosque itself and other

buildings will be closed over concerns about the new coronavirus.Sheikh Omar Kiswani, the director of the mosque, said on Sunday thatprayers will continue to be held outdoors. The closure isto continue indefinitely. Iran's official leading thecountry's response to the worst coronavirusoutbreak in the Middle East acknowledged that thepandemic could overwhelm healthfacilities in the country, which isunder severe US sanctions.

AL-AQSA MOSQUE, 3RD HOLIEST INISLAM, CLOSES OVER CORONA

QUEEN SHIFTED OUT OF BUCKINGHAMPALACE AMID COVID-19 CRISIS

Beijing authorities will send all international arrivals in the Chinesecapital to quarantine facilities starting Monday, state media reported,

as China steps up measures against imported coronavirus cases. Peoplearriving from abroad had previously beenallowed to undergo the mandatory two-week quarantine at home, but now onlythose in "special circumstances" will beexempted from being sent to facilitieswhere they must pay for their stay, localCommunist Party newspaper BeijingDaily reported Sunday.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

State Election Commissionon Sunday announced post-ponement of the local bodyelections in the State in viewof the prevailing situationdue to coronavirus outbreak.

State ElectionCommissioner RameshKumar told the media thatthe elections were being post-poned for six weeks. Theelections to rural local bod-ies and urban local bodieswere scheduled to be held onMarch 21 and March 23respectively. Polling forPanchayats were scheduled tobe held in two phases onMarch 27 and 29.

He said the decision wastaken in view of the precau-tionary measures being takenacross the country to preventpossible spread of coron-avirus. The Commissionersaid there was a possibility ofthe virus being spreadthrough ballot papers to beused for the polling. He saida decision on the new dateswould be taken after a reviewof the situation six weekslater.

COVID-19 SCARE: POLLSTO LOCAL BODIES PUT OFF

SEC clarifies onpostponementVIJAYAWADA: The State ElectionCommissioner on Sunday issueda clarification explaining thecauses for postponing the localbody elections in the State. StateElection commissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, ina statement released here, saidthat the elections were postponedafter discussing it with thenational level representatives.Refuting the allegations levelledagainst him by CM YSJaganmohan Reddy in the wake ofthe postponement of the elections,he clarified that the SEC wouldorder polls as soon as the Centredeclares corona as not a nationalcalamity anymore. During theelections, the code of conduct willbe in force. Distribution of house-sites among the poor comes underthe purview of the code of theconduct. He clarified that electionswere put on hold but were notcancelled at all. Various politicaloutfits brought to his notice aboutthe violence in the elections.

PNS n VIASAKHAPATNAM

The YSRCP will moveSupreme Court againstthe unilateral decisionof State ElectionCommission to post-pone local body elec-tions.

Addressing the mediahere on Sunday, YSRCPgeneral secretary

V Vijaysai Reddy said that thereason quoted by StateElection Commissioner N

Ramesh Kumar does notsuit to situation inAndhra Pradesh, asonly one person, whoreturned from Italy,was tested positive tocoronavirus, of the fourcrore people of State.

YSRCP to move SC

Jagan raises SEC caste forlocal body poll postponementPNS n AMARAVATI

Terming the decision of StateElection Commissioner to post-pone the local body polls as uni-lateral, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy metGovernor Biswa BushanHarichandan and complainedabout the move .

Speaking to the media afterapprising the Governor of thedichotomy of SEC, he said NRamesh Kumar has issued anotification postponing the elec-

tions, citing coronavirus as rea-son, on one hand, and transfer-ring officials on the other handbesides taking such an impor-

tant decision without consultingeither the Chief Secretary or theHealth Secretary.

n The Chief Minister saidcoronavirus was only anexcuse to postpone the

elections as the StateElection Commissioner didnot even consult the Chief

Secretary or Health Secretary

n Jagan said the coronavirussituation in the State was notserious to warrant such ameasuren CM complains to Guv overpostponement of elections tolocal bodies

Jagan’s remark against SEC irks NaiduPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of Opposition NChandrababu Naidu hasresponded saying that ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddymade public his ignorancethrough addressing a mediaconference speaking irresponsi-bly on the postponement oflocal body elections by the SEC.

Addressing the media at theTDP headquarters inMangalagiri, near here, onSunday, the former ChiefMinister said that the coron-avirus claimed lives of over5,000 worldwide and at leastone lakh persons have beensuffering from the symptomsof the virus. In China and Italy,normal life has been paralysed

with only medical shopsremaining open. The USA hasearmarked $3,50,000 to pre-vent spread of the virus. Local

elections have been put off inLondon because of the virus.

He found fault with Jagan forpassing remarks against the

SEC unmindful of the gravityof the situation. If the virusspreads, hospitals in the coun-try are inadequate to treat thepatients. Therefore, the ChiefMinister has no right to playwith the lives of people. He hasbeen speaking without basicawareness of the damage thevirus could cause. He ques-tioned whether the govern-ment gives precedence to elec-tions over lives of the people.

If any State in the country isnegligent in taking precau-tions, it would affect the wholecountry, he said. How can theChief Minister threaten the StateElection Commission, he saidquestioning "Who gave suchoverriding powers to Jagan?".

The SEC is anautonomousbody. Electionrules apply to allpolitical outfitsequally. TheChief Ministerseems to be morebothered aboutpolitics thanpublic health, he remarked

CMs of Telugu states think on same lines PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Ministers of Telugu Stateshave panacea for Corona Virusto treat the virus symptoms.They advocate popping theparacetamol pill to keep thevirus at bay.

Chief Minister of AndhraPradesh YS Jaganmohan Reddysuggested administering aparacetamol pill will treat thevirus symptoms. In fact, 81 percent of those tested positive forCorona recovered receivingtreatment at their homes. Only13 per cent of those tested pos-itive were hospitalised.

Those who are returning toAP are being screened at air-ports and seaports for the

virus symptoms, he said askingpeople to undertake travelsonly if it is absolutely necessary.He advised people to go for

shopping or to film theatresonly when it is absolutely nec-essary. He wanted the people totake some precautions.

Out of 70 samples tested inAP, only one sample tested pos-itive, he said.

Laboratories have been set

up at Vijayawada and Tirupatito test the blood samples whileefforts are under way to set upanother lab in Kakinada.

Isolation wards are beingset up in district headquar-ters hospitals. Medical offi-cers are closely monitoringthe patients kept under homeisolation.

Only, a quarantine hospitalis located in Visakhapatnam.The government readied 300beds in Visakhapatnam and 50beds in Vijayawada. Medicalteams have visited 20,000houses in a radius of one kmfrom Nellore as soon as onereported tested positive forcorona virus.

Those who arereturning to AP arebeing screened atairports andseaports for thevirus symptoms, hesaid asking peopleto undertaketravels only if it isabsolutelynecessary

One more tests COVID-19positive in TelanganaPNS n HYDERABAD

One more patient in Telanganatested positive for Covid-19 onSunday, the Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare (MoHFW)announced. This takes thetotal number of patients infect-ed with coronavirus in the stateto three. Among these threepatients, only the softwareemployee who had returnedfrom Dubai recovered and hassince been discharged fromGandhi Hospital. As perMoHFW, the new patient too isan Indian national. According toreports, the new patient had vis-ited the Netherlands. Telangana'sfirst COVID-19 patient was dis-charged two days back. TheUnion Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare announced thatTelangana registered three con-firmed cases of coronavirus onSunday. The ministry, whileincluding Telangana's dis-charged COVID-19 patient,added the names of two otherpersons to the list of corona-positive list from the state.

One person in this listincludes the 24-year-old studentwho had returned from Italy.Sources could not specify whothe second positive case is.

The 24-year-old student hadcome to Khammam on March7 from Italy. After she showedsymptoms of COVID-19, sheinitially got treated at a localhospital. She was admitted toGandhi Hospital on March11. It was on March 14 that she

tested positive for coronavirus.However, the state govern-

ment has not yet confirmedwhether there is a third coron-avirus patient. Dr. P SravanKumar, superintendent ofGandhi Hospital, said that therewere only two positive cases ofCOVID-19 in the state-- one,including the dischargedpatient, while the other is theItaly-returned student.

The new patient reportedly returned from Netherlands

Hyd grinds to a halt on Day-1 of ‘corona shutdown’PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad, bandied aboutas the most happening city inIndia, came to a grinding halton Sunday, day one of the'corona shutdown' declaredby Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to arrestthe spread of Covid-19.

Several hangouts, whichotherwise witness huge crowdson Sunday, wore a desertedlook as the response of busi-ness establishments to thegovernment orders, issued lateon Saturday night, was near

total. These include cinematheatres, pubs, bars and clubs.

Although shopping mallsand hotels were not closed,they too looked empty, withpeople preferring to stayindoors out of fears of con-tracting coronavirus, whosecommunity transmission hasbecome a headache for thehealth authorities. Thus,though some of the shoppingmalls and hotels were open,they did not witness even 20per cent of the total businessthey do on normal days.

1 year jail for spreadingrumours on coronavirusPNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad Police have warnedthat those spreading falsenews and rumours oncoronavirus may bejailed up to one year.

Hours after thestate government

announced shutdown to con-tain coronavirus, the policechief warned against rumours

and false news.Police Commissioner

Anjani Kumar said falsenews and rumours arebad for society.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy calls on Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan at the Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada onSunday protesting against State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar’s decision to postpone polls to local bodies

SEC Ramesh Kumar addressing the media in Vijayawada on Sunday

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3

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So far we have had threepositive cases and as of

now two people are in isolation.Today one person who travelledto The Netherlands alsotested positive for thevirus. We have alsotraced the people hecame in contact with

—DR PRABHAKARREDDY,

COVID-19 INCHARGE,GANDHI HOSPITAL

n Total number of patientsinfected with the disease in the

state increased to three

n The centre, while includingTelangana's discharged COVID-19

patient, had added two otherpeople to the corona-positive list from the

state.

Lumbini turns lonely park in Hyderabad on Sunday

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

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CAPSULE

Brahmotsavams ofPattabhirama SwamyTIRUPATI: The TTD isorganising the annualBrahmotsavams of the localtemple of Sri PattabhiramaSwamy at Valmikipuram fromMarch 30 to April 7 with KoilAlwar Thirumanjanam onMarch 26 and Ankurarpanamon March 29. Important days ofBrahmotsavams areDwajarohanam at Meenalagnam on March 30, GarudaVahanam on April 4,Rathotsavam on April 5,Vasantotsavam, ChakraSnanam and Dwajaavarohanmon April 7.

Two drown in Gunturchannel canal GUNTUR: Two youth drownedin Guntur channel canal onSunday when they went to thecanal for a swim. The deceasedwere identified as Sidhdhardhaof Namburu in Pedakakanimandal and Madan Kumar ofTadikonda village. Both of themare said to be close friends. Onreceiving information, policerushed to the canal and madearrangements to retrieve thebodies. Later, they sent thebodies to the GunturGovernment Hospital for post-mortem. Bodies have beenpreserved at the GGH mortuary.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 vijayawada 02

HC UPADHYAY n HYDERABAD

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment has dared to take the bullsby the horns in passing theordinance to recover damage topublic and private properties inany violent protest or demon-stration from the miscreants.'The Uttar Pradesh Recovery ofDamage to Public and PrivateProperty Ordinance, 2020' pro-mulgated on March 13 pro-vides legitimacy to the coercivemethods of the government torecover from the criminals andanti-nationals the amount ofloss caused by them, duringviolent protest, to the publicand private property.

Following the AllahabadHigh Court's order for removalof hoardings put up inLucknow featuring the names,pictures and addresses of anti-CAA protesters who werebooked for the violent protestsagainst the Citizenship Law onDecember 19, 2019, the Stategovernment has appealed tothe Apex Court, which in turn,has referred the matter to alarger bench. Now, with thisOrdinance, the way has been

cleared for the State govern-ment to tighten the noosearound miscreants who bla-tantly indulge in destroying pri-vate and public properties dur-ing riots or demonstrations.

True, the Courts go by therule book and hardly take intoaccount the popular sentimentwhile deciding a case. However,the judiciary ought not to betoo insensitive so as to com-pletely ignore the nationalinterest in the name of rule oflaw. Unfortunately, in ourcountry there seems to be nodefinite pattern to deal with thesensitive issues and courts,including the higher courts, areeither pressurised or misguid-ed by the powerful lobbies. Beit a case of Yakub Memon, thecondemned gangster for whosesake the Apex Court was madeto burn the midnight oil or beit the suo motu cognizance ofthe alleged manhandling ofTukde-Tukde gang's leaders bysome lawyers in Delhi, theSupreme Court has set badprecedents which are certain-ly not befitting to its past gloryand high reputation.

The same is true in the caseof recent Allahabad High

Court's verdict which objectedto the naming and shaming ofcriminals and anti-nationalsby the magistrate on behalf ofthe government. Legal techni-calities apart, the spirit of theConstitution of India unequiv-ocally mandates everyConstitutional authority toensure that not only the per-sonal freedom, liberty and pri-vacy of its citizens are protect-ed but also the overall nation-al interests of the country. Infact, the national interests areof paramount importance thanindividual freedom, privacy,etc. When there is a conflictbetween these two, certainlythe national interest must bepreferred.

In the name of Azadi andfreedom of expression, there is

no need to give a long rope tocriminals and anti-nationals.All laws should aim at strength-ening the national fabric andfostering unity and anyonewho goes against nationalinterest or nurtures a dream todivide India in the name ofregion, religion or languageshould be shunned by the peo-ple in authority, including thoseoccupying the august posi-tions in judiciary.

Hope, Parliament too, wouldemulate the Uttar Pradeshmodel and pass similar legisla-tion so as to deter the miscre-ants from taking law in theirhands. Certainly, such ele-ments need to be tackled withiron fist and exemplary punish-ment if India as a one countryhas to survive.

Advocates not to be broughtunder CP Act

Responding to the letterssent by the Chairman, BarCouncil of India andChairman, Bar Council ofDelhi, Union Minister forConsumer Affairs Ram VilasPaswan has clarified on Twitterthat there was no proposal toinclude Advocates under theConsumer Protection Act,2019.

Thus, the acrimony betweenthe Bar and theGovernment has finallyended in a cordial man-ner.SC surrenders to Covid-19

In a situationthat may be termedas 'unique', theApex Court onMarch 13th decidedthat it would take uponly urgent mattersfrom March 16, afterthe short break ofHoli festival and dates in rou-tine matters will be given by theCourt Masters before the Courtassembles. The meeting

presided over by the ChiefJustice of India decided to hearonly urgent matters by suchnumber of Benches as may befound appropriate.

The Delhi High Court toohas decided in a similar man-ner and also asked all theDistrict Courts of Delhi toaccommodate all parties/wit-nesses/advocates seekingadjournment 'favourably' in allmatters, including criminalmatters.

10 years jail for ex-BJPMLA

The Tees Hazari Courtin Delhi sentenced

expelled BJP MLAK u l d e e pSingh Sengarand six others

in Unnao Case, guiltyof culpable homicide

not amounting to mur-der, to 10 years' impris-onment under section304 IPC and 5 years'imprisonment for crim-inal conspiracy under

section 120 B of IPC.Sengar, currently in Tehar

Jail serving life sentence in therape case, and his brother Atul

Sengar have also been asked topay Rs 10 lakh each as compen-sation to the victim's family.

This augurs well forthe speedy disposal of heinouscrimes like rape, murder, etc.The present judgment wouldsend the warning signals to allthe criminal elements in thecountry.TSHC cracks whip on polluting plastic units

The Telangana High Courtcame down heavily on thehundreds of plastic units oper-ating in Kattedan IndustrialArea near Hyderabad andasked the authorities to shutdown all such units whichhave been operating withoutclearance from the PollutionControl Board (PCB).

A division, bench compris-ing Chief Justice R.S.Chauhanand Justice Abhishek Reddy,while hearing a plea filed byresidents of Shastripuram saidthat officials of GHMC andPCB remained 'mute specta-tors' as illegal plastic unitsmushroomed in the area. TheCourt added that it will person-ally responsible to monitor theclosure of polluting industries

and posted the matter to April7 for submission of the actiontaken report.

Thanks to the judiciary,which has shaken the author-ities from decades of slumber,many of the illegal plastic unitsdeal in single use plastic andPVC pipes. The thick smoke ofplastic waste burnt at the streetcorners pollutes the air andposes health hazard besidespolluting the ground water inthe region. But for the interven-tion of the High Court, theshow of minting moneythrough illegal gratificationcould have gone on eternally. Summer dress code for advocates

The Bar Council for thestate of Telangana, through acircular, has relaxed therequirement of wearing blackcoat and gown for the advo-cates practicing in the lowercourts during the summer peri-od from March 15 to July 15.Accordingly, the lawyers mayappear with black or grey pantand white shirt with black tieor white band or collar duringsummer period in all courtsexcept the High Court.

LEGAL ROUNDUP

The Courts go by the rule book andhardly take into account the popularsentiment while deciding a case.However, the judiciary ought not tobe too insensitive so as tocompletely ignore the nationalinterest in the name of rule of law

Criminals and anti-nationals don't deserve sympathy

PNS n HYDERABAD

The global markets remaineduncertain due to several fac-tors such as increasing rate ofCOVID-19 throughout theworld. North Korea is onceagain at its old game of threat-ening the US in particular andrest of the world in general,and fast changing geo-politi-cal equations all over theworld.

Gold remained buoyantand closed at US $ 1,529. 31(per ounce) while silver, fol-lowed suit and closed at $14.66 (per ounce). Platinumand palladium also marchedforward and closed at $ 766.35(per 10 gms) and $. 1,869.75(per 10 gms) respectively.

Other economic parame-ters, moved southward. Brentclosed at US $ 34.97 (per bar-rel), while Crude MCX oil wasquoted at Rs.2,414 (per bar-rel). While Gold MCXincreased and stood atRs.40,348 (per 10 gms)even MCX Silver hasseen an increase andclosed at Rs.40,487(per kg). Sensexand Nifty 50closed at34,103.48 and9,955 .20p o i n t srespective-ly. Leadingforeign currencies' exchangerates were: US $: Rs.73.74,British Pound: Rs. 90.75, Euro:Rs. 82.42, Singapore $:Rs.52.26, Swiss Franc:Rs.77.75, Australian $:Rs.45.71, Saudi Rial: Rs. 19.71,New Zealand Dollar: 44.85,Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs.240.01,

Omani Rial: Rs. 192.18 andUAE Dirham: Rs.20.14,Canadian Dollar $53.21.

At home, though thedemand picked up due toongoing marriage season,both the precious metals weredivergent. Standard gold (24carats) depreciated by a whop-ping Rs.2,180, and closed atRs.42,290 (per 10 gms).Ornamental gold too, movedin tandem and was quoted inthe range of Rs.40,120 - Rs40,220 on the closing day.Similarly, silver (0.999) alsodepreciated significantly byRs. 6,500 and closed at

Rs.40,400 (per kg). COMMODITIES

The sentiment inthe principal

wholesale com-modity marketsin the twin

c i t i e sr e m a i n e d

moderate.R y t h uBazars andthe various

commodity markets locatedin Begum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir Alam Mandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally and GeneralBazar was moderate. Duringthe week, common pulsessuch as tuar dal, masoor dal,

moong dal and urad dal andcommodities like chillies,turmeric and garlic recordeda marginal appreciation, whilestaple food grains and com-mon edible oils remainedunchanged at the previousweek's closing levels.Turmeric, jeera and wheatwitnessed heavy inflow inthe markets, thanks to thebumper crop harvested byfarmers despite flood situa-tion. Coriander, ginger andtamarind remained divergentwithin narrow margins.

The prices of common veg-etables firmed up with thesummer setting in Telangana.Potatoes, the supply of whichhas been impacted adverselydue to the floods in the grow-ing areas, are likely to flare upby 25% in the near future.Common vegetables such ascabbage, cauliflower, ribbedgourd, snake gourd, lady'sfinger, cucumber, onions,tomatoes and French beans,along with other leafy vegeta-bles, recorded a decline in therange of 22 per cent to 46 percent.

The NECC wholesale eggprices recovered by Rs.15,and closed at Rs.295 (per 100closing). Burdwan andMidnapore recorded the high-est price of Rs.380, whileAjmer closed with the lowestprice of Rs.265.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Gold remained buoyant and closed at US $ 1,529.31 (per ounce) while silver, followed suit and closedat $ 14.66 (per ounce). Platinum and palladium alsomarched forward and closed at $ 766.35 (per 10gms) and $. 1,869.75 (per 10 gms) respectively

Life Time award for HomiBhabha Cancer Centre DirectorPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Indian CooperativeOncology Network (ICON)has conferred the Life TimeAchievement Award on DrDigumarti Raghunatha Rao,Director of Homi BhabhaCancer Hospital and ResearchCentre, for his pioneeringendeavours for establishment ofcancer centres, medical oncol-ogy departments and courses,doctoral labs, cancer registriesand cancer clinic units at the42nd Indian CooperativeOncology Network (ICON)conference held in Hyderabad.

On receiving the LifetimeAchievement Award, DrRaghunatha Rao said, “I amhonoured to receive this awardfrom Indian CooperativeOncology Network, an inde-pendent not for profit organ-isation & registered charitableorganisation, dedicated to thecause of cancer patient care inthe country since 1999.”

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid: “I enjoyed meeting chal-

lenges, making the most ofopportunities. I succeeded instarting a training programme,a PhD programme, collabora-tive research, epidemiologicstudies and cancer registries.Apart from developing clinicalresearch ward measuring up toworld standards, I also estab-lished Clinical Research Unitfor cancer drugs, which is firsttime in the country. All thiswas possible through intense

n Dr DigumartiRaghunatha Raoreceived the award forhis pioneeringendeavours forestablishment ofcancer centres

n He established ClinicalResearch Unit forcancer drugs for thefirst time in the country

Digumarti Raghunatha Rao, Director of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital andResearch Centre, receives award at the 42nd Indian Cooperative OncologyNetwork (ICON) conference in Hyderabad

Uncertainty grips markets amidCovid-19 concerns, NK posturing

Collector allays fears over coronaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Collector Md Imtiaz allayed thefears of people over coron-avirus, as the district adminis-tration was taking measures tocontrol the virus in Krishna dis-trict. The Collector on Sundaypaid a visit to RT-PCR lab,which was set up recently, at theGovernment Hospital for test-ing coronavirus.

Blood samples of Covid-19suspects from East Godavariand Eluru were tested at the laband the same was sent toNational Institute of Virology,Pune, to compare the accuracyof the test reports. Later, testspertaining to Covid-19 will beconducted here at the lab in thegovernment hospital, he said.

DM&HO TSR Murthy,Government Hospital superin-tendent Dr Nancharaiah, ProfLakshmi Kumari and otherswere present.

Meanwhile, the IndianAcademy of Paediatrics (IAP),AP State, IAP Krishna, NationalNeonatology Forum, AP State,jointly organised a programmeon coronavirus global update,in a particular situation in our

country, with special focus onour state here on Sunday.

Addressing a gathering, DrP Durga Prasad, IAP AP State,President, said that with earlyaction one can prevent infec-tions.

He recalled that of the 80,000reported cases in China, morethan 70 per cent recovered. Ofall the cases reported globallyso far, 93 per cent are from justfour countries. This is an

uneven epidemic at a globallevel. All countries must take acomprehensive blended strate-gy for controlling their epi-demics and pushing this dead-ly virus back. Of the four coun-tries with the most cases, Chinais bringing its epidemic undercontrol and there is now adecline in new cases beingreported from Korea.

Dr PV Rama Rao, NNF APState, Secretary, said that chil-

dren should be provided withinformation about how to pro-tect themselves, promoting besthand washing and hygienepractices, cleaning and disin-fecting school buildings, espe-cially water and sanitation facil-ities and increasing airflow andventilation.

Dr N Suryanarayana, NNFAP State, President, said theCentral and State govern-ments are taking appropriate

measures to prevent, identify,controlling, treating, isolatingand tracing contacts. As ofnow, there are now 83 coro-na positive cases identified inthe country, the Centre is tak-ing appropriate measures toisolate them and treatingthem effectively by taking allprecautionary measures toprevent further spread, hesaid.

There are now more than 57

screening corona centres wereset up in the country, while inthe State, a centre was estab-lished at SVIMS in Tirupati forscreening, some more centreswould be opened in Vijayawadaand Kakinada. The govern-ment has opened isolation andquarantine places inVijayawada, Visakhapatnamand Tirupati, he added.

n Visits a lab set up forcoronavirus test at theGovernment Hospital

n More than 57 screeningcorona centres were setup in the country, while inthe State, a centre wasestablished at SVIMS inTirupati for screening.Some more centreswould be opened inVijayawada and Kakinada

n The government hasopened isolation andquarantine centres inVijayawada,Visakhapatnam andTirupati.

Krishna District Collector Md Imitiaz interacts with a doctor at the newly established lab at the Government Hospital in Vijayawada on Sunday

Dr P Durga Prasad, IAP AP State, President, addresses a gathering to createawareness on coronavirus in Vijayawada on Sunday

BSF headconstableshoots himself PNS n TIRUPATI

Vexed with the ways of hiswife, a Border SecurityForce (BSF) head constablewent to burial ground andshot himself to deathputting the revolver to histemple, reports reachinghere said on Sunday. Theincident took place inKondareddygaripalle ofGarnemitta panchayat ofKV Pal le mandal inChittoor district.

He was identified asSiddaramu, 49, head con-stable in the BSF. He is sur-vived by wife Saranda andtwo sons. One of them is inIntermediate, the other sonis pursuing graduation.

He retired from servicefour months ago and settledin Sundaraiah Nagar inTirupati. Siddaramu andSarada quarrel almost on adaily basis.

Peeved with the life,Siddaramu, who had aquarrel with wife the previ-ous night, decided to takethe extreme step.

APNRTS conducts testto recruit teachers for USPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugus Society(APNRT), an entity ofGovernment of AndhraPradesh, in association withAcclaim Global EducationIndia Private Limited (AGE),a subsidiary of Star TechGroup, USA (STG), conduct-ed an online eligibilitytest for teachers regis-tered with APNRT,who are willingto acquire inter-national teach-ing experiencein the US. Thisonline eligibilitytest was conductedon Saturday andattended by 112 teach-ers.

Venkat S Medapati,President, APNRT, informedthat in the recent notificationpublished in January 2020, 10teachers received offer lettersfrom the US. He told that theentire process of recruitment

and placement is very transpar-ent, only documentationcharges and travelling expens-es should be borne by theselected teachers after receivingoffer letters, all other servicesare free of cost, which includeconsultation and assistance.

Currently there is a require-ment of teachers specialised inEnglish and Special Education

to work in the US forwhich this online eli-

gibility test wasconducted. Hefurther statedthat total expens-es for the processhave been

reduced by 15 percent by AGE-STG

for the teachers, whoare registered through

APNRT. Under APNRTGlobal Placement Programme,this partnership with AcclaimGlobal Education India PrivateLimited (AGE), will placemany more teachers in thecoming months throughAPNRT.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Prof P Rajasekhar, Vice-Chancellor of AcharyaNagarjuna University, released'Barber: The King' penned inTelugu by D Vizaibhaskar andtranslated into English byShantha Kumari at a pro-gramme organised by TheCultural Centre of Vijayawada& Amaravati (CCVA) here onSunday.

Chief guest Prof Rajasekhar

said that the book envisagedempowerment of the margin-alised, much neglected and

downtrodden. He also addedthat Rajigadu, a barber wasable to become a people's' rep-resentative under the provi-sions of constitutional reserva-tion.

Popular writer andCommissioner of SchoolEducation Vadrevu ChinaVirabhadrudu spoke on thepolitical dynamics of the castesystem and political unrest insociety and the book serves asan eye-opener. E Sivanagireddy,

CEO, CCVA, said that ShanthaKumari translated the play in alucid and readable manner.

Dr G Srilatha, AS PhaniKumari, Sujatha Agarwal, SKRehana and students David,Rama Rao and Sree Satya spokeon the occasion.

D Vizaibhaskar, author, andSantha Kumari said that it gavethem maximum satisfaction increating political awarenessamong the backward and drowntrodden.

Prof P Rajasekhar, Vice-Chancellor ofAcharya Nagarjuna University, andothers release a book ‘Barber-The King’in Vijayawada on Sunday

‘Barber:The King' eyes empowerment of downtrodden

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 vijayawada 03

TANA launchesHelpline for students in USVIJAYAWADA: The TeluguAssociation of North America(TANA) has taken initiative torescue Telugu studentsstudying at various universitiesin the US. TANA has launched ahelpline 1-855-OUR-TANA withthe support of TANA membersacross America to rescue thestudents, who are in need ofhelp. TANA president TJayashekar and member KAshok Babu informed thestudents to contact them if theyneed help. With the coronavirusepidemic, schools, colleges anduniversities have been closed inthe US, and students staying inhostels are clueless where togo. The US government isspending billions of dollars totackle the global epidemic. Allthe institutions will remainclosed in the US till the Covid-19 is brought under control.

Inter girl impregnatedby college electricianHYDERABAD: A first yearintermediate student of SriChaitanya Jr college wasallegedly impregnated by anelectrician working at the samecollege who cheated her in thepretext of love. According tosources, the victim was foundto be 5 months pregnant. "Shegot acquainted to theelectrician, identified as Babu,who works at the same collegeand got physically involved withhim as he lured her in the nameof love. Recently, the victimcomplained of stomach pain toher parents who then took herto hospital. The doctor then toldthe family that she was fivemonths pregnant. Uponenquiry, victim told her parentsabout the accused, who wasreportedly absconding.

CAPSULE

Very rarely one finds anuncanny resemblancebetween a filmi dialogue

and a statement in the Assembly. Inthe latest TS Assembly session, dur-ing a discussion on Palle Pragathi,Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao sounded likeMahesh Babu when he said thatbore wells are left open; and, if a kidfalls into it, the collector, firedepartment personnel and every-body else has to be on their toes.Can't we just fill it? It almostseemed like the reel talk by MaheshBabu in the recent flick Sarilerunikevaru echoed in real life. In themovie, Mahesh Babu, pointing toa politician says, kids are falling intobore wells; in other countries theyremove in 1 hour, but in our coun-

try, it would take three days afterthe proclainers are put to work. Theprotagonist asks politicians toupgrade. The entire sequence, inwhich Prakash Raj is at the receiv-ing end, almost was repeated in theAssembly.Freebies, phir bi no takers!

The coronavirus pandemic hasshattered and shuttered many busi-nesses over the past few weeksacross the nation. Poultry farms inthe state are no exception. In fact,they constitute the worst-hit busi-nesses. This is because of fake socialmedia messages which suggest

that consuming chicken could pavethe way for contracting the dead-ly coronavirus. The word is alsospreading by word of mouth. Nowonder, those relishing non-vege-tarian food have stopped eatingchicken. It is about a month sincepeople removed chicken from theirmenu.

Poultry farm owners initiallyresorted to issuing ads about thebenefits of eating chicken and sug-gested, in the context of Covid-19concerns, that it does not have any"side effects" on health. However,people did not bother about theads. Unable to bear the expenses

of feeding thousands of fowls infarms, poultry farm owners start-ed making attractive offers like 'buyone fowl and get one fowl free' andthe like. Even that did not workout. Now some poultry farm own-ers are giving away live birds freeof cost. That is, the birds are nowfreebies; phir bi no takers!

Few take RTC busesOn Sunday most roads were

deserted. Not only people but alsovehicles were hardly seen on theroads of Hyderabad, much unlikenormal Sundays. One of the mainreasons could be the closure ofcinema theatres and parks as wellas public places due to concernsover the accelerating communitytransmission of coronavirus. Notmany people took TSRTC buses.In general, RTC buses are packedon Sundays. However, the occu-pancy ratio in buses was not asusual, though there were manymarriages this Sunday. Bus con-

ductors, normally 'hard-pressed'to make their way in packedbuses, took leisurely walks in thebuses and were seen seated, tak-ing rest. A conductor, whilebreathing easy, said apologetical-ly that revenue had come downeven on a Sunday. Pre-shutdown functions smooth

Many of the pre-shutdown fix-tures and functions in ruralTelangana districts went offsmoothly, with usual pomp andparaphernalia on Sunday. In theWarangal urban district, the mar-riage reception of Rythu

Samanvaya Samithi chairpersonPalla Rajeshwar Reddy's son wasperformed grandly. People camefrom far and wide, includingparts of Warangal urban District.Most of the people of Sodashpallivillage in Velair mandal assembledunder one roof. Unlike in otherfunctions held in this rural part,the gathering at the reception wasvirtually a show of strength andPalla and his followers were metic-ulous in performing the functionunder utmost hygienic condi-tions. Food stuffs and water wereserved in a systematic manner.

(Contributed by Naveena Ghanate, Ch Pradeep,

K Venkateshwarlu and P V Kondal Rao)

REPORTERS’

D ARY

When KCR sounded like Mahesh Babu…

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Lambasting Opposition leaderN Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCPMLA Ambati Rambabu said theformer was behind postponingthe local body elections bywhich the State has lost Rs5,800 crore Central govern-ment funds.

Ambati Rambabu flayed theState Election Commissioner NRamesh Kumar for using coro-navirus as the reason to postponeelections. It was not fair to usecoronavirus as a reason to post-pone the elections, as there wasno virus effect in the State, he saidwhile speaking to the media hereon Sunday. The State could havereceived Rs 5,800 crore if the elec-tions have conducted as per the

schedule, he felt. The StateElection Commissioner insteadof abiding the constitutionalrules has taken the decision tofavour the opposition party andNaidu by whom Ramesh Kumarwas appointed in 2016.

Moreover, Ramesh Kumarhas misused power in severalinstances during the electionsprocess. It is evident that Naidu,who is known for managing thesystem, is behind the conspira-cy, he added.

Earlier, there are severalinstances where the electionshave not cancelled over majorissues. How can the elections becancelled this time? Whom didthey consult to cancel the elec-tions, he questioned? andalleged that Naidu was infectedwith the caste virus, which iswhy he conspired to cancel theelections. Rambabu emphasisedthat the YSRCP would winelections whenever they areconducted. The party is notworried about the elections butthe concern is the developmentprojects should not be haltedwith the delay of local body elec-tions. He asked the ElectionCommission to consider allthese issues and reconsider onpostponing of elections.

POLICE INACTION ON ATTACK

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP leader Bonda UmaMaheswara Rao disclosed thathe would launch a hungerstrike, as no action was takenby police till now against theculprits, who attacked himand Buddha Venkanna atMarcherla recently.

Addressing the media hereon Sunday Bonda said that asper the instruction of theparty they went to MacharlaPolice Station to lodge a com-plaint against the culprits,who attacked them.

He said that the attackagainst them was pre-plannedand demanded stern actionagainst those behind theattack. He recalled that thoughOpposition leader NChandrababu Naidu staged a

protest at the DGP office totake action against the culprits,DGP Gautam Sawang did notbother to initiate action.

He alleged that the policedepartment was acting at thebehest of the YSRCP. He furtherstated that the attack wasplanned because they are expos-ing irregularities of the rulingparty.

Bonda to go onhunger strike

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Senior TDP leader YanamalaRamakrishnudu welcomed thedecision of ElectionCommission to postpone thelocal body elections. In a releasehere on Sunday, he demandedthe removal of DGP GautamSawang, as he was responsiblefor the collapse of of law andorder in the elections.

A new DGP should beappointed to conduct the elec-tion in a free and fair manner,he suggested. Sawang becamea puppet in the hands of ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy, he alleged. In the lastgeneral election, the thenDGP Thakur was changedduring the election process,

he reminded. He further stat-ed that it is not enough to sus-pend lower-level officers butthe Election Commissionshould also take actionagainst the top officials, whocolluded with the YSRCPleaders, he said.

Yanamala demandsremoval of DGP

Continued from Page 1

"No third case has been con-firmed yet. We are awaitingresults for several cases. As ofnow, there are two COVID-19positive cases in the state."

The Telangana governmenthas 1,123 people in theirCOVID-19 suspects list. Resultsare awaited in respect of sam-ples of 18 people in the state,who are symptomatic of coro-navirus.

Meanwhile, the Centre saidthat a total of 90 Indian nation-als had been confirmed withCOVID-19. Maharashtra andKerala registered the highestnumber of cases. WhileMaharashtra registered 31 coro-

navirus patients, Kerala had 22patients, as of March 15.

On Saturday, the govern-ment announced that a patientwho had come from Italy test-ed positive, and two morewere suspected to havecontracted the disease.Their samples weresent to the NationalInstitute of Virology,Pune for confirma-tion. However, as theTelangana governmentdid not give an updateuntil late on Sunday, it wasnot clear whether one of thosetwo suspected patients testedpositive or a new case altogeth-er.

On Saturday, after a cabinet

meeting, the state governmenthad ordered a ban on publicgatherings and placed severalother restrictions for a week --until March 21. School holidays

have been extendedand coaching cen-

tres will have toshut down untilMarch 31.

C h i e fMinister KChandrashekar

Rao has orderedthe shutdown of

public places, cinemahalls, pubs, bars, swimmingpools, museums, indoor andoutdoor stadiums for a week, ina bid to prevent the spread ofcoronavirus.

One more tests COVID-19positive in Telangana

CMs of Telugustates think...

Continued from Page 1

Chief Minister of TelanganaK Chandrasekhar Rao adopt-ed more or less the same atti-tude and answered theOpposition in the same fashionduring the current budget ses-sion of the Assembly. Allyingfears of the people over thevirus, he felt that paracetamoladministered to fever patientswould do to tackle the virus.Further, he exuded confidencethat corona virus will notspread to Telangana as the daytemperature in the state iscrossing 30 degrees Celsius asthe virus would not be able tosurvive in temperatures greaterthan 22 degrees Celsius.However, he said that the gov-ernment would not allow thevirus to come to Telangana.

Continued from Page 1

The Chief Minister derives his powers fromConstitution. The SEC is an autonomous body.Election rules apply to all political outfits equal-ly. The Chief Minister seems to be more both-ered about politics than the public health, heremarked. He alleged that the government hasbeen filing false cases against the TDP candidatestaking advantage of the local body elections.

If the government wins local body electionsunanimously by threatening people, should theTDP honour the verdict, he questioned.

He alleged that TDP leaders were threatenedby police in the wee hours at their residences.Nominations of over 111 TDP candidateshave been rejected. If the Pulivendula mark ofpolitics is spread all over the State, the TDPwould not remain a mute spectator, he warned.

What would be the fate of the YSRCP, if theTDP were to do the same when it was in power,he questioned. "The SEC Ramesh Kumar wasnot appointed by me," he said.

He said that he proposed the name of BRBiswa for the post of SEC. But, the thenGovernor ESL Narasimhan, proposed thename of Ramesh Kumar. "To derive politicalmileage, Jagan has been ascribing me appoint-ment of the SEC", he analysed.

Jagan’s remarkagainst SEC...

1 year jail forspreading rumourson coronavirus

Continued from Page 1

He said those who are spreadingfalse information on social media andcreating panic on coronavirus wereliable for punishment under theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) Act section.Punishment under the Act can be upto one year imprisonment and fine,he said. "Whoever makes or circulatesa false alarm or warning as to disas-ter or its severity or magnitude,leading to panic, shall on conviction,be punishable with imprisonmentwhich may extend to one year or withfine," says section 54 of the Act.

Announcing the closure of all edu-cational institutions and banning pub-lic gatherings, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturdaynight warned the media against pub-lishing or airing unconfirmed reportsabout coronavirus cases. He asked themedia outlets to strictly go by the infor-mation released from the healthdepartment with regard to the coron-avirus cases. "Those spreading falsenews will face stringent action," he said.

YSRCP to move SCContinued from Page 1

Being appointed and rehabilitatedby N Chandrababu Naidu, the SEChas been trying to show his gratitudeby speaking His Master's Voice, hesaid.

The SEC decision was arbitrary, dia-bolical and the contention that it hadconsulted political parties has nomeaning if YSRCP was not involved.

The casteist equations came to thefore with TDP being called for con-sultations. Ramesh Kumar shouldquit on moral grounds for taking suchirresponsible decisions, he said addingthat he has been carrying outChandrababu's agenda.

Meanwhile, Ministers K KannaBabu and Avanti Srinivas said thatNaidu is trying to manipulate theinstitution through his mole.

Vested interests are trying to con-trol the governance by backdoor butthey will fall flat as people are with us.

The decision was taken withoutproper review or consultations withofficials concerned and stakeholders.

"We condemn such unilateral deci-sions and postponing elections by sixweeks will not change our electoralequations and YSRCP will emerge vic-torious," they exuded confidence.

Continued from Page 1

“The notification was issuedin secrecy and without consult-ing officials concerned, is con-tradictory in nature, as elec-tions were postponed and inthe same breath higher officialsfrom Guntur and Chittoor dis-tricts were transferred, whilethe Collectors were asked notto take up the house site pattadistribution work. It seemsthat SEC is working at thebehest of others and is readingout the script prepared by oth-ers,” he alleged.

"Ever since YSRCP has wonconsiderable seats unanimous-ly, the TDP, along with itsfriendly media, has been con-spiring to stall polls to save itsface and to deprive the State ofthe Central funds to the tuneof Rs 5, 000 crore, which wehave to forfeit, if polls are notheld before March 31," hepointed out.

For the 9,600 posts, 50,000nominations were filed and2,000 YSRCP candidates wereunanimously elected forMPTCs. The Opposition partywas making an issue out of thisunmindful of the fact thatduring 2013 elections, the TDPhad won 269 MPTCs unop-posed.

"Naidu has conspired topostpone the polls with the fear

of defeat and spreadingrumours. We complained tothe Governor and will alsoexplore other options, as we arethe government elected with amajority of 151 seats in the175-member House, if theelections are postponed andofficials are being transferredwhat the elected representa-tives should do," he asked.

As far as coronavirus is con-

cerned, worldwide 80.9% caseswere cured by house isolationand in our State out of 70 sam-ples taken, only one case wastested positive and the govern-ment has taken effective stepsand screened people with care.

"Postponing election willnot be the answer, as we haveto live with tackling the coro-navirus cases for at least onemore year. In 10 days, the elec-tions would be over and mea-sures to handle will continue,including prevention of publicgatherings," he said.

The government has takeneffective steps for screeningand setting up of quarantinefacilities in Visakhapatnamand Vijayawada. Isolationrooms will be set up at sixplaces, he informed.

This is a continuous processand State Election Commissiontrying to take over the admin-istration postponing the elec-tions is unfair, he opined.

Jagan raises SEC caste forlocal body poll postponement

Delay in polls to cost govtRs 5,800 cr, says Ambati

SEC clarifies onpostponement

Continued from Page 1

The office of the StateElection Commissioner enjoysthe powers bestowed on a highcourt judge. It was very sad toascribe motives to those whoare in the constitutional posts,he said adding that suchremarks would weaken thedemocratic systems.

Meanwhile, the SEC isscheduled to call on state gov-ernor BiswabhushanHarichandan at Raj Bhavanhere on Monday at 10 am, itis learnt. He is likely to discussthe circumstances leading topostponement of local bodyelections and other aspectswith the Governor.

Hyd grinds to a halt on Day-1 of ‘corona shutdown’Continued from Page 1

Weekends being prized days forshopping malls, cinema theatres,bars and pubs, some have alreadybegun feeling the pinch of the lock-down.

Likewise, people avoided evenpromenades and leisure spots atTank Bund, Necklace Road, NTRGardens, Imax, Lumbini Park andSanjeevaiah Park.

In line with the government orders,the Greater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation and the HyderabadMetropolitan Development Authorityclosed public parks and other pub-

lic places to prevent gatherings ofpublic. Even the Nehru ZoologicalPark, which sees heavy footfall onSaturdays and Sundays, was closed onSunday and would remain closed"until further orders". Coaching hubsat Ashok Nagar, Himayathnagar,Dilsukhnagar, Mehdipatnam andNallakunta, which students takingcompetitive exams congregate, werealso locked.

All told, with most members of thepublic preferring to stay at home, theusual rush at Mahatma Gandhi BusStation, Jubilee Bus Station, and theSecunderabad Railway Station wasmissing. The services of MMTS and

Metro Rail ran with abnormallypoor occupancy ratios.

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao has warned businesses againstviolation of the orders of the govern-ment with regard to shutdown statingthat the licences and permits of vio-lators could be cancelled and casesbooked against them. He has issuedclear instructions in this regard to dis-trict collectors, SPs and police com-missioners to ensure strict implemen-tation of the shutdown orders so thatno one would dare to take anychances. The silver lining to the darkcloud was that there were no trafficsnarls anywhere in the city on Sunday!

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Macharla Circle Inspector hasbeen placed under suspensionfor giving station bail to theaccused Turaka Kishore in theattack case on TDP leadersBonda Uma and BuddhaVenkanna. Meanwhile, theaccused Turaka Kishore is like-ly to become the Macharlamunicipal chairman in spite ofhaving no history of holding anypolitical posts.

The Macharla Municipal

chairman post has been reservedfor BC general category. OnThursday, Kishore, belonging tothe same community, filed anomination from the 13th wardas counciilor. Though he wastaken under custody by thepolice in the attack case, the policegranted him station bail havingserved on him 41A notice. Anattempt to murder under Section307 has been registered againstKishore and presented before themagistrate, who remanded himto judicial custody.

CI placed under suspensionin Marcharla attack case

‘Solve pendingissues of bankemployees'PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Canara Bank OfficersAssociation All India generalsecretary GV Manimaranunderlined the need forstrengthening the CanaraBank after it merged withSyndicate Bank.

Addressing the media hereon Sunday, he said financialposition of Canara Bank isvery strong and felt moreefforts have to be made toexpand the banking servicesand activities in future.

Referring to the associationCentral Committee meeting inVijayawada, he said leadersdiscussed increasing amenitiesto bank customers, pay revi-sion and pending problems ofbank employees and officers.He demanded that the payrevision be implementedimmediately and recommen-dations made in the SeventhPay Revision should be fol-lowed. He recalled that officersof the SBI have insurancefacility and such facility shouldbe extended to Canara Bankofficials also.

Referring to bank activities,he said Canara Bank turnoveris Rs.10.5 lakh crore and it has6,300 branches across thecountry. Manimaran said thebank turnover will increase toRs 16 lakh crores with themerger of Syndicate Bank.Association chairmanJagadeesh, president Mehtawere present. In all, 200 bankofficials participated in thetwo-day meeting and dis-cussed pending issues.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 nation 04SHORT READS

C'garh: 4 dead, 22injured as pick-up vanoverturns in JashpurRAIGARH: Three women and a5-year-old boy were killed and22 people were injured whentheir pick-up van overturned inChhattisgarh's Raigarh district,police said on Sunday. Theaccident took place onSaturday night underDharamjaigarh police stationlimits when 30 villagers fromLailunga were returning aftervisiting a temple in Ambetikara,an official said. "The driver lostcontrol of the speeding vehiclenear Charkhapara village afterwhich it skidded off the roadand overturned. Three womenand a 5-year-old boy werekilled on the spot," he said. "The22 injured have been admittedin a hospital in Pathalgaon inneighbouring Jashpur district,"he added.

Maha: Toddler falls offfirst floor balcony inNagpur, dies

Militant arrested in BaramullaSRINAGAR: A militant wasarrested during a cordon andsearch operation in Baramulladistrict of Jammu and Kashmir,police said on Sunday. Themilitant was identified asDanish Kakroo, resident ofChesti Colony in Baramulla, apolice official said. Theoperation is still in progress,the official said, adding, furtherdetails are awaited. In aseparate incident, policeapprehended two persons fromAlstop Mirbazar in districtKulgam of South Kashmir. Oneof them has been identified asParveez Ahmad Mantoo,resident of Khudwani Kulgam,while the identity of the other isbeing ascertained, the officialsaid. He said police recovereda pistol, three grenades andsome cash from them.

NAGPUR: A two-and-half-year-old girl died after falling fromthe balcony of her first floorhouse in Saket Nagari area ofNagpur on Saturday morning,police said. Yunika Turale wasbeing fed by her mother whenthe mishap took place, aBeltarodi police station officialsaid. "When her mother went into get more food from thekitchen, the toddler climbed therailing of the balcony and felldown onto a concrete roadbelow. The child was rushed tohospital with severe headinjuries and died later in thenight," he said. An accidentaldeath case has been registered,he added.

Pak Rangers violatesceasefire along IB inJ-K's KathuaJAMMU: The Pakistani Rangersviolated the ceasefire byresorting to unprovokedovernight firing on forwardposts along the InternationalBorder (IB) in Kathua district ofJammu and Kashmir, officialssaid. However, there was noreport of any casualty in thefiring on the Indian side. TheBorder Security Force (BSF)retaliated effectively and theovernight cross-border firingbetween the two sides inManyari-Chorgali area ofHiranagar sector continuedthroughout the night, causingpanic among the borderresidents, they said. The firingwas initiated by the PakistaniRangers when they targeted theforward posts around 9.45 pmon Saturday, the officials said,adding that heavy firing rattledthe area till 4.35 am Sunday.

PNS n MUMBAI

As the battle against coronavirusintensifies, the railway authori-ties in Mumbai have starteddisinfecting local trains, whichcarry around 80 lakh suburbancommuters everyday, as well aslong distance trains.

According to the CentralRailway (CR), all the coach fit-tings, including grab handles,door handles, door latches, entrydoors, window grills, electricswitches and other parts insidelocal trains as well as outstationtrains are being cleaned usingdisinfectants.

"In order to ensure cleanlinessand hygiene, especially in view ofthe Covid-19 advisory, specialefforts are being put in duringprimary maintenance of coach-es at the coaching depots of CR,"an official statement said.

The CR officials said thatthey were also focusing on clean-liness of outstation trains.

An intensive cleaning and dis-infection of toilets is also beingensured, they said. The railwayauthorities said that on board

cleaning staff has been counselledfor frequent en-route cleaning incoaches. Topping up of liquidhandwash soap on board is alsobeing ensured in outstation trains.Linen cleanliness is also beingensured with laundries and coachattendants asked to ensure avail-ability of fresh linen to cus-tomers, the CR said.

"The coaching depot mainte-nance staff and other staff havebeen counselled to be carefultowards personal hygiene andtake guard against infections," theCR read. All curtains in AC

coaches will be removed withinnext 4-5 days, railway officialssaid.

"Special focus is being given tointensive cleaning of toilets,including wash basins, toilet seatwith hot water jet cleaning forbetter efficacy," the CR said in thestatement.

It also said that old blanketswill be replaced with new onesimmediately. "All the blanketswill be put through the hightemp soak in the tumble dryersof the laundries. The high tempsoak raises the temperature to 75-

80 degrees. This can be supple-mented by UV light immersion,"it added.

Railway authorities have alsoannounced to set the tempera-ture at AC coaches to summersettings of 23-25 degree Celsius.

A Western Railway (WR)spokesperson said that in orderto prevent the spread of COVID-19 blankets and curtains shall beimmediately withdrawn fromservice till further orders.

Railways start disinfecting Mumbai train coaches

Two Tripura tribal parties mergeahead of TTAADC pollsPNS n AGARTALA

Ahead of the elections to the30-member Tripura TribalAreas Autonomous DistrictCouncil (TTAADC), theNational Conference of Tripura(NCT) has merged with theIndigenous Nationalist Party ofTwipra (INPT).

NCT president AnimeshDebbarma said after the merg-er that took place on Friday,the new party has been namedthe Indigenous NationalistParty of Twipra (United).

"Once we were united butlater suffered a split and nowwe have reunited. I thank INPTchief Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawlfor taking the initiative in

reuniting the two parties. Wefeel there is no point in sepa-rately protesting the injusticethat is being meted out to thetribals," he told reporters onSunday. Hrangkhawl said themerger will strengthen thepower of the indigenous peo-ple of the state.

He said the party is workingto bring other tribal outfits likethe Indigenous People's Front

of Tripura (IPFT) under theumbrella of INPT. IPFT is anally of the ruling BJP in Tripura.

"Talks are on with the IPFTand other political parties tobring them under the umbrel-la of the INPT. We feel all trib-al parties should be united,"Hrangkhawl told reporters.Draft electoral rolls for theTTAADC election was pub-lished on March 10.

Chhattisgarh raids: I-T to issuesummons to take probe forwardPNS n RAIPUR/NEW DELHI

The Income Tax Departmentis expected to soon summonsome government officials andbusinessmen in Chhattisgarhafter it raided their premisesand claimed that unaccountedcash was being paid to publicservants every month, officialssaid on Sunday.

Businessman Baldeo SinghBhatia alias Pappu Bhatia,however, clarified that it was"factually incorrect that anyincome tax raid was carriedout at his establishments or theestablishments of his relativesor any business owned andoperated by him".

Police officials in Raipurhad earlier said that premis-es linked to Pappu Bhatiawere also covered as part ofthe action undertaken onFebruary 27.

However, it turned out tobe that of Amolakh Bhatia.The tax department will soonsummon people to take probein the case forward, the offi-cials said.

CRPF to provide health coverfor 2,200 families

TROOPS KILLED IN ACTION

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a first-of-its kind initiative, theCRPF has decided to provide acomprehensive health cover andpay full premium for familymembers of its about 2,200personnel who were killed in theline of duty since its raising.

The country's largest paramil-itary force, with 3.25 lakh per-sonnel in various ranks, haslaunched a theme of 'proud ofour martyrs, we celebrate theirvalour' as part of its 81st anniver-sary on March 19.

The healthcare cover andother measures are beinglaunched as part of this theme.

"We have decided to providea comprehensive health carecover to family members of allour martyrs. The force will paythe full premium for these ser-vices and it will be drawn fromthe welfare fund," CRPF

Director General (DG) A PMaheshwari said.

This will benefit the familiesof our 2,200 martyrs and willalso fill the existing gap inensuring better healthcare tothose whose loving family mem-ber laid down their life for thenation, the DG said.

Till now, the family of a slaintrooper used to make self-pay-ment of premium to avail gov-ernment health care benefits.

For the lowest rank of consta-ble or jawan, the premiumamount is Rs 30,000 per annumand its goes up with the rank toRs 1.20 lakh for officers.

A senior official said the DGwas informed about the issuewhen he met troops in various'sainik sammelan' meetings inthe country.

Families of 40 personnel whowere killed in the Pulwama ter-ror attack last year were extend-ed this full premium paid facil-

ity and hence a special sanctionwas accorded by the DG tobring all martyr families underthis healthcare umbrella, theofficial said.

Special health cards will alsobe issued to these families in duecourse, the official said.

The force, as part of its newwelfare initiatives to help itstroops incapacitated in combatoperations, has also inked MoUswith disability support andinformation technology trainingorganisations.

"We want to re-skill our sol-diers who have had to undergoamputation or some sort ofdisability during operations. Wedo not want that their self-esteem is affected by thesedevelopments.

"By collaborating with theseexpert institutions the aim is toprovide alternate skills to thesetroops," DG Maheshwari said.

PNS n SRINAGAR

A delegation of NationalConference (NC) leaders fromJammu led by its provincialpresident Davender Singh Ranaon Sunday called on party pres-ident Farooq Abdullah who hasbeen released after seven monthsin detention. The NC leadersfrom Jammu called on Abdullahat his Gupkar residence here andthe meeting lasted for aroundhalf-an-hour, a NC leader said.

He said the leaders enquiredabout the party president's well-being and discussed severalissues pertaining to Jammu andKashmir. Speaking to reporters

outside Abdullah's residence,Rana said all political detenuesshould be released so that gen-uine political activities takeplace in the Union territory.

“Farooq Abdullah is a symbolof mainstream politics of J-K andhis release is a welcome step. Ourdemand is that all politicaldetenues be released so thatgenuine political activities arestarted. NC has always believedin democracy and democraticvalues and its stand remains thesame (which is) to make democ-racy stronger and the party rep-resents the wishes and aspira-tions of the people of J-K and willcontinue to do so,” Rana said.

NC provincial prezRana meets Farooq

Delhi govt orders disinfection of all mini buses daily

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasordered all mini buses to bedisinfected daily in order toprevent the spread of coron-avirus in the city where sevenCOVID-19 cases and onedeath have been reported so far.

The government hadrecently also ordered theagencies concerned to disin-fect all DTC and cluster busesin the wake of the outbreak ofthe virus.

The transport departmenthas issued an order directingthe owners of mini buses ply-ing in the national capital towash and disinfect their vehi-cles every day.

"In order to prevent thespread of COVID-19, all thepermit holders and owners ofmini buses plying in Delhi onSTA (State TransportAuthority) permit are direct-ed to wash and disinfect theirbuses on daily basis," theorder stated.

It added that cleaning anddisinfection on daily basisare in the interest of passen-gers and staff deployed inthese mini buses.

The number of novel coro-navirus cases in the countryrose to 107 on Sunday, with12 fresh cases in Maharashtra.The number of cases includetwo persons who died inDelhi and Karnataka.

Screening for Covid-19 launchedat border points in KeralaPNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

With increase in number ofcoronavirus cases, the Keralagovernment on Sundaylaunched intensified med-ical check up at border areasfor people entering the stateby rail and road.

The government has iden-tified 24 spots in border areasthat Kerala share with TamilNadu and Karnataka andmultiple teams each headedby a Deputy Superintendentof Police (DySP) began thechecking of vehicles cominginto the state.

With a UK national testingpositive on Sunday, the num-ber of COVID-19 cases in thestate has risen to 20 and asmany as 302 people are inisolation wards of varioushospitals across the state.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan had yesterday said aset of volunteers will beenrolled to assist the healthdepartment and they wouldbe given special training bythe officials for screeningpeople in the border areas.

"Each team comprises asenior police official (DySP),a paramedical staff and alocal volunteer. There are

such multiple teams at var-ious border points. Theywill monitor every vehicleand record the temperature,and other details of the pas-sengers including travel his-tory," a senior police officialsaid.

Similar teams have alsobeen deputed to monitorpassengers at various borderrailway stations.

PNS n CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu governmenton Sunday directed closure ofall kintergarden and primaryschools till March 31 as itstepped up preventive mea-sures against coronavirus.

CM K Palaniswami alsoissued order for closure of cin-ema halls and malls wherepeople gather in large numberstill the month end in thetaluks in 16 districts borderingneighbouring Kerala andKarnataka, where the numberof COVID-19 cases is on therise, an official release said. Ina series of measures, he alsoordered released Rs 60 crorefrom the State Disaster relieffund to spruce up the preven-tive mechanism for containingthe spread of the virus, which,however, has infected onlyone person in the state so far.

Schools closed inTN till March 31;theatres, mallsdown shutters

CORONAVIRUS

UK nationaldetained alongwith 19 othersat Kochi airportPNS n KOCHI

Twenty Dubai-bound passen-gers were detained at the air-port here on Sunday shortlybefore takeoff after a UKnational among them testedpositive for novel coronavirus,official sources said.

This takes the total numberof confirmed COVID-19 casesin Kerala to 20 so far.

The person who tested pos-itive on Sunday has been takento an isolation facility at a near-by government hospital, aCochin International AirportLimited spokesman said.

The flight left for Dubai inthe afternoon after the 20 pas-sengers were detained.

Earlier, at least 289 passen-gers of the Dubai-boundEmirates flight were offloadedat the airport here after the UKperson was found to be infect-ed by the coronavirus.

10 hospitalised with Covid-19-like symptomsPNS n KOLKATA

Ten persons have been admit-ted to the isolation ward of theBeliaghata ID and BG Hospitalhere with novel coronavirus-like symptoms, a senior healthdepartment official said on

Sunday. All the 10 persons,who are from across the state,have a history of travellingabroad or coming in contactwith foreigners, he said.

One of the two admittedpersons from the city hadtravelled to Switzerland in the

last week of February, the offi-cial said.

"The other city resident hadrecently travelled to Darjeelingwith a British citizen. Afterreturning from the hill town,he complained of fever andcold," he said.

K’taka govt postpones exams for Classes VII to IXPNS n BENGALURU

The Karnataka governmenthas announced postponementof annual examinations forclasses seventh to ninth tillMarch 31 as part of measuresto prevent spread of coron-avirus, which has claimed onelife and affected five others inthe state.

Revised exam dates will bedeclared later and the stu-dents would have study holi-days till then, an Educationdepartment circular said here.

"As a precautionary measure

to prevent the spread of coro-navirus, the annual examina-tion of class seventh, eighth

and ninth has been postponedtill March 31," the Director ofPublic Instruction said in the

circular on Saturday.This was applicable to all

schools, including private andunaided schools, it said.

However, there would be nochange in the exam schedulefor class X, set to beginning onMarch 27, the order said.

The class XII board exami-nations were already underwayand would continue as sched-uled, officials said.

The government has alreadyannounced holiday for stu-dents up to class six as part ofprecautionary measure to con-tain the pandemic.

This will benefit thefamilies of our 2,200martyrs and willalso fill the existinggap in ensuringbetter healthcare tothose whose lovingfamily member laiddown their life forthe nation, the DG AP Maheshwari said

Topping up of liquidhandwash soap onboard is also beingensured in outstationtrains. Linen cleanlinessis also being ensuredwith laundries and coachattendants asked toensure availability offresh linen to customers,the CR said

After downpour,mercury dips inDelhiPNS n NEW DELHI

The mercury slipped by a fewnotches in Delhi, with theminimum temperature set-tling at 12 degrees Celsius onSunday, a day after heavy rainand hailstorm pounded thenational capital.

The relative humidity levelwas recorded at 93 per centin the morning.

The minimum tempera-ture was registered at 12degrees Celsius, three notch-es below the normal, aMeteorological (MeT)Department official said. Thecity on Sunday saw a low of16.4 degrees Celsius.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Don't conduct grouptours till Mar 31: Copsto tour operatorsMumbai: Amid thecoronavirus scare, theMumbai Police on Sundayissued an order for touroperators, asking them not totake any groups to foreign ordomestic destinations fortourism purpose till March 31,an official said. Defying theorder, which came into effecton Sunday, may attract actionunder IPC 188 (disobedienceto order duly promulgated bypublic servant), the officialsaid. "To prevent furtherspread of COVID-19, we haveissued an order prohibitingconduct of any kind of tourinvolving group of people,traveling together to a foreignor domestic destinationorganised by private touroperators. If found, the policewill take action against suchgroups under section 144 ofCrPC," Deputy Commissionerof Police Pranay Ashok said."This is a very specific orderaimed at preventing danger tohuman life and safety. Itshould not be confused withthe regular order issued undersection 144 CrPC," he said.

Anti-CAA stir:Protesters blockedfrom taking out marchat AMU Aligarh (UP): Studentprotesters tried to take out acandlelight march at AligarhMuslim University here tomourn the death of a youthwho had died of gunshotinjuries sustained in violentclashes during protests overthe amended citizenship actlast month, but were blockedat the main gate itself, policesaid. Sixty students including50 unnamed persons havebeen booked by police at theCivil Lines police station inconnection with the protestsat the AMU campus onSaturday night. Ten studentswere named for violatingSection 144 of the IndianPenal Code. The protesterstried to march towards thecollectorate, which is locatedclose to AMU, to submit amemorandum to seniordistrict officials but werethwarted from doing so bypolice personnel who reachedthe spot and blocked them atthe Sir Syed Crossing, themain university campus gate,according to Civil Lines CircleOfficer (CO) Anil Samania.

Trinamool MP givesZero Hour notice in RSto demonstrate steps New Delhi: MP Derek O'Brienhas given a Zero Hour noticein Rajya Sabha seekingpermission to "demonstrate"five steps from the floor ofParliament on how to preventcoronavirus, sources said onSunday. Generally MPs aregiven around three minutes tospeak on issues during ZeroHour. TMC chief and WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee last week made asimilar demonstration fromher office in Kolkata urgingpeople not to panic. In hisnotice, O'Brien has said thathe wanted to show from thefloor of the House how oneshould wash hands regularlyand thoroughly with soap andwater for at least 20 seconds.

PNS n SRINAGAR

NC president Farooq Abdullahon Sunday asked all politicalparties of Jammu and Kashmirto jointly appeal to the Centreto bring back all detaineeslodged outside the union ter-ritory on "humanitarian"grounds.

In his first statement afterbeing released on Friday, the82-year-old leader said he hasbeen consciously avoidingmaking any political state-ments since he was releasedfrom detention.

He was initially taken underpreventive custody and laterslapped with the Public SafetyAct on September 15, whichwas subsequently extendedon December 13 and March11.

Abdullah said while headvocated for a "free and frankexchange" of political views inorder to take stock of the"momentous changes" thatJammu and Kashmir has seensince August 5 last year, "weare still some way away froman environment where suchpolitical discourse will be pos-sible. This is especially so con-

sidering the number of peopledetained in August last yearwho remain in jails outside J-K". He said before "we allowpolitics to divide us, I appealto all political leaders in thestate to unite behind the call tothe Union government tobring back all detainees fromJammu and Kashmir from

prisons outside the union ter-ritory pending their release".

"While we would like to seethem all released as soon aspossible, pending that theyshould be shifted to J-K. Thisis a humanitarian demandand I hope others will join mein placing this demand infront of the government of

India," the former chief min-ister said.

The veteran politician, whohad gone to meet his son andformer chief minister OmarAbdullah on Saturday, said, "Iam acutely aware that com-pared to hundreds of Kashmirifamilies I have been far morefortunate."

"I was detained at home andmy family had access to me.Yesterday, when I went tomeet my son Omar, alsodetained under the PublicSafety Act, I had to travel akilometre from my home to beable to see him," he said.

Abdullah said, however, forthe families of most of thedetainees meeting their lovedones is not so easy.

"Their loved ones have beendetained in jails spread acrossa number of states. They gettwo visits a month for whichthey have to spend largeamounts of money they can illafford travelling to and stayingin the vicinity of these pris-ons," the National Conferencechief, whose PSA was revokedby the JK administration onFriday after being detained for221 days, said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Come March 19, Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathwill set a record of being thefirst chief minister from theBJP to complete three straightyears in office in the state.

Adityanath (47) was swornin as the 21st chief minister ofUttar Pradesh. He assumedoffice on March 19, 2017, saysthe official website of the UttarPradesh Legislative Assembly.

He is the fourth chief min-ister from the saffron party tohead the northern state.

Before Adityanath, KalyanSingh, Ram Prakash Guptaand Rajnath Singh of the BJPhad served as Uttar Pradeshchief ministers.

Kalyan Singh had held thehigh office twice. He becamethe chief minister of UP for thefirst time on June 24, 1991, andheld the post till December 6,1992. His second stint wasfrom September 21, 1997 toNovember 12, 1999.

He was succeeded by RamPrakash Gupta, who was theUP chief minister fromNovember 12, 1999 to October28, 2000.

Rajnath Singh occupied theoffice from October 28, 2000to March 8, 2002.

"Yogi Adityanath isfrom a humble back-ground. He doesnot belong to thecategory of

'viraasat ki siaasat' (politics ofinheritance). He achieved thisposition through sheer hard-work," UP BJP media coordi-nator Rakesh Tripathi toldPTI.

"Everyone has seen his spir-it of waging a war againstJapanese Encephalitis inGorakhpur, and today he haswaged a similar war againstvarious illnesses of UttarPradesh-- be it crime or cor-ruption. He is credited for thesuccessful organisation ofKumbh in Prayagraj, PravasiBharatiya Diwas, InvestorSummit and the recently con-cluded Defence Expo," he said.

The opposition Congress,however, pooh-poohed thethree-year rule of the priest-turned-politician.

"It has been three years ofblatant lies.Farmers andyouths of thestate havebeen duped.

'Jungle raaj' is prevailing inUttar Pradesh. There is no let-up in crime against women inthe state," UP Congressspokesperson Ashok Singhsaid.

In the 2017 UP assemblyelections, the BJP won 312 ofthe 403 seats, while Apna Dal(Sonelal) got nine seats andSuheldev Bharatiya SamajParty (SBSP) won four seats.

Later, the Om PrakashRajbhar-led SBSP parted wayswith the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Almost a year before the2019 Lok Sabha election, theBJP suffered shock defeats inthe bypolls.

The saffron party lost theLok Sabha bypolls inGorakhpur (vacated byAdityanath), Phulpur (vacat-

ed by UP Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya) and Kairana (neces-

sitated by the death of sittingBJP MP Hukum Singh)

and Noorpur assemblyseat (necessitated bythe death of BJP MLALokendra SinghChauhan).

Not taking the defeat to hisheart, Adityanath chose tolearn from the "mistakes".

He had said the bypoll losswas a "lesson to the BJP" andcited "over-confidence" andthe "inability to gauge theunderstanding between SP andBSP" as prime reasons behindthe party's defeat.

"When the election candi-dates were declared, the SP,BSP and Congress were nottogether... they had not joinedhands then.

But suddenly in the middleof the election, the SP and theBSP forged an electoral under-standing," he had told themedia at his residence. "Theover-confidence and inabilityto gauge the electoral under-standing between the SP andBSP led to the defeat," he hadsaid. The tables turned in 2019and the BJP won Kairana,Gorakhpur and Phulpur seatsin the Lok Sabha electionsthat year.

The BJP bagged 62 out of 80Lok Sabha seats in the state in2019, while its ally Apna Dal(Sonelal) got two seats.

Yogi to become first UP CM fromBJP to complete 3 yrs in office

JK Apni Partydelegation meetsAmit ShahPNS n NEW DELHI

Chief of newly-formed 'JKApni Party' Altaf Bukhari metUnion Home Minister AmitShah on Sunday during whichthe minister allayed fears ofdemographic changes inJammu and Kashmir and alsoassured for early return ofstatehood.

Emerging after a nearly two-hour long meeting with thehome minister, Bukhari, abusinessman-turned-politicianwho led a delegation of theparty, said various issues,including apprehension of peo-ple of a possible demographicchange, early restoration ofstatehood and release of polit-ical prisoners were discussed.

"The home minister made itclear that there was no questionon the issue of any demograph-ic change," Bukhari said.

He said the home ministeralso reiterated that the govern-ment was committed for early

restoration of statehood toJammu and Kashmir and alsosaid that the process of delim-itation would be completed inthe most scientific manner atthe earliest.

On release of politicaldetenues, who were detainedafter August 5 last year whenthe Centre revoked specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmirand bifurcated it into union ter-ritories of Jammu and Kashmir,and Ladakh.

The meeting came a dayafter the delegation had calledon Prime Minister NarendraModi.

"The Home Ministermade it clear thatthere was no questionon the issue of anydemographic change,"Bukhari said.

Cong MLAs return to Bhopal from JaipurPNS n BHOPAL

A day before the bud-get session of theMadhya PradeshAssembly begins,the CongressMLAs, who hadbeen camping inJaipur amid thepolitical crisisbeing faced by theKamal Nath govern-ment, returned to Bhopal onSunday.

Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon had late Saturdaynight directed Chief MinisterKamal Nath to seek a trust votein the assembly on Monday.

Talking to PTI, a CongressMLA said the party legislatorshave returned to the state cap-ital from Rajasthan.

"After landing at Bhopalairport, we are being taken

to a hotel in buses.Instead of returning

home, we will stayin Bhopal as thebudget session ofthe assembly willstart onMonday," the

MLA said.The Congress

Legislature Party hadon Saturday issued a whip,

asking its MLAs to remain pre-sent during the assembly ses-sion.

However, the BJP MLAs,who have been staying at ahotel in Haryana, have notreturned to Bhopal so far.They had been flown toHaryana a few days back.

Meanwhile, the Congress

expressed confidence that itwill prove its majority in theHouse, while the oppositionBJP claimed that the rulingdispensation has been reducedto minority as 22 of its MLAshave resigned.

"We are confident of prov-ing our majority," state PublicRelations Minister P C Sharmasaid.

He said although the gover-nor has asked the Congressgovernment to seek a trust voteafter his (governor's) addressin the assembly on Monday,

the Speaker was empowered todecide about the proceedingsof the House and he wouldtake a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip inthe assembly, NarottamMishra, said, "The Congresshas lost its majority. The gov-ernor is saying that was inminority. I am not sayingthis...it has been mentioned itthe governor's letter sent tochief minister."

The Kamal Nath-led gov-ernment has been facing adeep crisis following the resig-

nation of 22 Congress MLAsafter former Union ministerJyotiraditya Scindia quit theparty on Tuesday. A day later,Scindia joined the BJP.

On Saturday, the Speakerhad accepted the resignationsof six ministers, who areamong the 22 rebel MLAs.With this, the strength of theHouse has come down to 222and the majority mark is now112. However, the resigna-tions of 16 other rebel legisla-tors, have not been accepted sofar.

The Congress now has awafer-thin majority in the222-member House.

The Congress's strength hasnow come down to 92, after its22 legislators rebelled andresigned few days back. Beforethe rebellion, its tally was 114.

MP POLITICAL CRISIS

SER opens 50-bed isolationward in Ranchihospital

PNS n NEW DELHI

Taking a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Congress leader RahulGandhi on Sunday said hehad asked the PM to to passon the benefit of the global oilprice crash to Indian con-sumers, but instead "ourgenius" hiked excise duty onfuel.

His jibe at the prime min-ister came a day after the gov-ernment hiked excise duty onpetrol and diesel by a steep Rs3 per litre each to garnerabout Rs 39,000 crore addi-tional revenue.

"Just 3 days ago I hadrequested @PMOIndia topass on the benefit of theglobal oil price crash toIndian consumers, by slashingthe prices of petrol & diesel inIndia. Instead of heeding thisadvice, our genius has goneand hiked #exciseduty onfuel!" Gandhi tweeted.

He also tagged a video of apress conference in whichFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman purportedlyavoids answering a questionon why government has not

passed on the benefits of theglobal oil crash to the people.

He also tagged avideo of a pressconference in whichFinance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanpurportedly avoidsanswering a questionon why governmenthas not passed on thebenefits of the globaloil crash to the people.

"I was detained at home and my family hadaccess to me. Yesterday, when I went to meetmy son Omar, also detained under the PublicSafety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from myhome to be able to see him," he said.

PNS n BHOPAL

Jyotiraditya Scindia, whosemove of quitting the Congresshas pushed the Kamal Nath-ledgovernment in Madhya Pradeshto the brink, is likely arrive inBhopal on Sunday night orearly Monday, a leader said.

The rebel Congress MLAs,who have been camping inBengaluru, are also scheduled toreturn to the Madhya Pradeshcapital by Sunday night, sourcessaid.

Madhya Pradesh Governor

Lalji Tandon had lateSaturday night direct-ed Chief MinisterKamal Nath to seeka trust vote in theL e g i s l a t i v eAssembly onMonday, the first dayof the budget session.

"Scindia ji is scheduledto arrive Bhopal on Sundaynight or early on Mondaymorning," said PankajChaturvedi, a close confidanteof Scindia.

However, he did not reveal

anything aboutScindia's plans after

arriving in the city.Scindia had

gone to Delhi onFriday after filinghis nomination

paper for theupcoming Rajya Sabha

election as a BJP candi-date. Sources said that on hisarrival, Scindia would meet hisloyalist MLAs, who resignedfrom the state assembly andCongress after he left the grandold party.

These rebel Congress MLAsare likely to reach Bhopal onSunday night or early Mondaymorning from Bengaluru, theysaid.

Assam shutsschools,cancels examsPNS n GUWAHATI

The Assam government onSunday ordered shutting downof educational institutions,gymnasiums, swimming poolsand cinema halls with imme-diate effect till March 29 in thewake of novel coronavirusoutbreak.

Assam Chief SecretaryKumar Sanjay Krishna,addressing a press conferencehere said, "Even though nopositive case has been detect-ed in the state so far, we are tak-ing all precautionary mea-sures."

He said barring boardexaminations, all exams sched-uled till the specified datehave been cancelled.

"All programmes scheduledat government auditoriumshave also been cancelled. Wehope those owned by privatefirms will also follow," he said.The chief secretary said all thedeputy commissioners havebeen asked to discourage anypublic gathering in their dis-tricts. He said the state govern-ment is fully equipped to han-dle any crisis arising out of thepandemic.

PNS n BHOPAL

Madhya Pradesh BJPLegislature Party on Sundayissued a whip to all its MLAsto remain present in the Houseduring the Assembly sessionthat begins on Monday, andvote in favour of party duringthe trust vote.

The whip was issued by BJPchief whip and MLANarottam Mishra.

The chief whip told theparty MLAs to vote in favourof the BJP during the floor test.BJP MLAs are currently stay-ing at a resort in Gurugram(Haryana).

Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon had directedChief Minister Kamal Nath

late Saturday night to seek atrust vote in the assemblysoon after his (governor's)address on March 16.

The Kamal Nath govern-ment in the state is teeteringafter 22 MLAs, supporters ofJyotiraditya Scindia who quitthe Congress and joined theBJP, resigned.

MP jail inmatesto supply 2kmasks PNS n JABALPUR (MP)

Inmates of a jail in MadhyaPradesh will supply 2,000masks they have manufac-tured to the state healthdepartment in view of thenovel coronavirus outbreak,a senior official said onSunday.

The inmates of NetajiSubhash Chandra BoseCentral Jail in Jabalpur start-ed making the masks after arequest from the state healthdepartment, DeputyInspector General of Police(Jails)(Jabalpur range) GopalTamrakar told PTI."A teamof 50 inmates are engaged inmaking 2,000 masks. Thesewill be supplied by March 16.However, the BJP MLAs, who have been

staying at a hotel in Haryana, have notreturned to Bhopal so far. They had beenflown to Haryana a few days back.

Farooq asks political parties to bringback those detained in jails outside

"It has been three years of blatant lies. Farmers andyouths of the state have been duped. 'Jungle raaj' isprevailing in Uttar Pradesh. There is no let-up incrime against women in the state," UP Congressspokesperson Ashok Singh said.

PNS n RANCHI/HOWRAH

The South Eastern Railway(SER) has opened a 50-bedisolation ward in the Ranchirail division hospital in view ofthe novel coronavirus out-break, officials said on Sunday.Apart from the 50-bed isola-tion ward, a 24/7 emergencyteam has also been deployedat the hospital, the SER said ina statement.

Cleaning workers of theSER are sanitising points ofhuman contact such as door-knobs, washbasins and bench-es at major railway stations atregular intervals, it said.

There are 45 railway stationsin the Ranchi railway divisionof the SER.

The SER is also undertak-ing an awareness drive aboutCOVID-19 through publicaddress systems at major sta-tions and inside the compart-ments of local trains across therailway zone, SER CPROSanjay Ghosh said.

Pass on oil price crashbenefit to people: Rahul

218 Indians evacuated fromItaly sent to ITBP quarantinePNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 218 Indians,mostly students, broughthere from Italy on Sundayhave been taken to an ITBPquarantine facility insouth-west Delhi's Chhawlaarea, officials said.

The Air India flight fromMilan landed around 9.45 amat the Indira GandhiInternational Airport (IGIA).

Out of the total Indiannationals in this group, 211are students.

"All the 218 evacuees fromMilan are being taken to ourquarantine facility in southwest Delhi's Chhawla area.They will be there for over afortnight as per quarantineprocedures," an Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP)spokesperson said.

The facility has earlier

catered to two such batchesof Indians and foreigners,evacuated from Wuhan inChina, totalling 518 people.

The ITBP centre, like inthe past, will have a dedicat-ed team of doctors, para-medics and other staff apartfrom providing food, medicaltesting and indoor enter-tainment facility to theinmates, the spokespersonsaid.

These rebel CongressMLAs are likely toreach Bhopal onSunday night or earlyMonday morning fromBengaluru, they said.

Scindia to arrive in Bhopal before MP Assembly session BJP asks MLAs tobe present in House

Following an infructuous spell oflooking east, India’s Act EastPolicy (AEP) is hobbled by snagsin connectivity, continuing insur-gencies, agitations, blockades

and extortion in the North-east andreplication of some of these very problems,especially insurgencies and snarls, indecision-making in Myanmar, the launch-pad and fulcrum of AEP. Last month, thevisit of Myanmar President, U WinMyint, to India reminded us of AEP anew.

The open-door policy is intended tousher in development in the North-east,which could in turn facilitate the closureof insurgencies. For the Look East Policyto work, it was necessary to press the“pause” button on democracy and,instead, support the ruling militaryjunta. Reversion to democracy, albeit par-tial, has been achieved as I discovered lastmonth in Yangon through a joint civilmilitary leadership, with the Army hav-ing the last word.

At the core of AEP is connectivity —by road, rail, sea, inland waterways and air.The strategic geography in the North-eastchannelises this outreach through the nar-row and sensitive Siliguri corridor, the vul-nerable chicken’s neck of the region.Choices for bypassing the Siliguri constric-tion were to transit through Bangladeshand/or use the sea route to reach insur-gency-free Mizoram on the Myanmar bor-der — from Kolkata to Sittwe Port inMyanmar and upto Mizoram.

Earlier, Bangladesh had rejectedIndian requests to connect Myanmarthrough the Port of Chittagong uptoAgartala and thence to the Myanmar bor-der. What is being operationalised now isthe costly and delayed Kaladan multi-modal access from Sittwe toMyanmar/Mizoram through Rakhineand Chin States, currently beset with insur-gencies by the Arakam Army. Therefore,instead of working this project south-north, it has been reversed, starting fromMizoram to Sittwe, which will have a 1,000km special economic zone (SEZ) and agas land pipeline from its gasfields to Gayain Bihar. A number of roads to andthrough Myanmar to the east are underconstruction and completion, thusenhancing the AEP connectivity grid.

Unique to Myanmar is the civil-Armyjoint leadership arrangement under anArmy-dictated constitution of 2011, whichensures that 25 per cent of the elected seatsin Parliament is reserved for the Army. Asthe Constitution forbids Myanmar’s pop-ular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of theNational League of Democracy (NLD)from holding office, she is a StateCouncillor in the improvised system,which allows her the number three posi-tion in the State hierarchy after thePresident and Vice President; whereas the“C” in C Senior General Aung Hlaing, who

calls the shots, is at number five.The Constitution reserves theposts of defence, home and bor-der affairs Ministers for theArmy.

The NLD wants to changethe Constitution, which requiresan unachievable two-thirdsmajority in Parliament. Lastweek, State Counsellor Aung SanSuu Kyi unsuccessfully tried topass the Constitutional amend-ment. Senior General Min AungHlaing is in his second term,which will end in April 2021, andefforts are on to accommodatehim as the Vice President. Thismay introduce a modicum ofcivilian control over the military.While the Army is popular in thecountryside, it is disliked by theurban elite. It disapproves of theoverwhelming Chinese pres-ence and meddling inMyanmar’s internal affairs. Butothers don’t mind them as theyhave the money to invest anddevelop the country.

Another historical challengefacing Myanmar is its myriadinsurgencies, which like the clus-ter on the Indian side, is a hur-dle for AEP. At the time of inde-pendence, many States in theerstwhile Burma had soughtself-determination and separa-tion but the PanglongAgreement of 1947 promised tosettle Centre-State relations even

as the Communists and Karensfavoured independence. Today,there are more than two dozenactive and dormant insurgencies,the active ones in border Stateslike Shan, Kachin, Chin andRakhine. The world’s most com-plex but elaborate peace processis in Myanmar and it consists ofunilateral, bilateral and a nation-wide cease fire agreements,prone to violations and formaland informal dialogues backedby the international communi-ty, prominently by China.

The year 2019 was bad forthe peace process. The 21st cen-tury Panglong Union PeaceConference with 10 nation-wideceasefire signatories and thehigh-level Joint ImplementationCoordination Meeting couldnot be held, though the UnionPeace Dialogue took place in July.Both the failed meetings are like-ly to be held after the nationalelections later this year, which theLady — reference to NLD leaderDaw Suu Kyi — is expected towin but with a reduced majori-ty. For various reasons, her pop-ularity has waned but there is noalternative leader.

Chinese President Xi Jinpingvisited Myanmar this Januaryand signed 33 agreements, ofwhich the China-MyanmarEconomic Corridor (like theeconomic corridors with

Pakistan and Nepal) was the cen-tre piece. All three strategic cor-ridors seek access to markets buttwo have an eye on warm watersof the Indian Ocean. SurpassingIndia’s port potential at Sittwe isKyakpyu, the deep-water portcoupled with SEZ and ultimate-ly road, rail, oil and gas pipelinesradiating through Myanmarnorth of China’s Yunnanprovince. China’s footprint isenormous: There are hordes ofChinese in the north. Thoughthe controversial $3.6 billionhydel dam at Myitsone has beenput on hold, bilateral tradestands at $17 billion and Chinaholds 40 per cent of Myanmar’sforeign debt of $5 billion. Xisigned separate agreements withthe Senior General and StateCouncillor while hailing thenew blueprint for comprehensivestrategic cooperation and thenew 2+2 strategic dialogue,Myanmar’s first with any coun-try.

India, though with goodintentions and now sizeable civiland defence cooperation, is nomatch for China’s deep pocketsand outreach to play the role ofa regional equaliser. Still, itsimpressive infrastructure andcapacity-building programmeshave been appreciated. Japan willteam up in improving qualityand quick delivery of projects.

While the two million, mostlyIndian Tamil, diaspora is noasset, the Buddhism connecthas not been tested even asIndian tourists are throngingMyanmar. India has transferreda Russian kilo-class diesel-elec-tric attack submarine and maysoon sell Brahmos missilesagainst the $1.5 billion line ofcredit, of which $300 million isleft. Border trade — within 16km — is a paltry $25 million,though overall trade is around$2.5 billion, far below potential.

The flowering of bilateralrelations is stalled in part by thecomplexity of joint leadershipand the unstoppable rise ofChina. While Beijing has cast astring of pearls along India’speriphery, it has placed inMyanmar, an arrestor wire sys-tem of an aircraft carrier to bluntthe take-off of AEP towardsAsean, where China is also thedominant influencer. Myanmar’sfull transition to democracydepends on progress in ethnicreconciliation and resolving civil-military tensions throughConstitutional reform. Till then,AEP will remain constrained.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff.)

With the Coronavirus spreading like wildfire,Governments around the world have beenforced to close schools and colleges as

a precautionary measure. But should this be allowedto dampen the students’ future, upset schedulesor stunt their minds? For in these unfortunate times,there’s an opportunity for institutions to boost theironline capacity and mainstream tech education.Those possessing enough resources and infrastruc-ture must create a more robust system and thosewith deficiencies must evolve new learning tools.Though digital education has been a stated goal

of our education policy for a long time and distance learning has been seen as anoption in undeserved areas, there has not been mass adoption yet. Yet global insti-tutions have called for a shift from in-house tutorial to online learning to not only main-tain a continuity plan but create new value chains and fructify an ed-tech revolution.

Now as the conventional education system stands fractured, India cannot affordto be a laggard. Ed-tech is already bridging massive gaps in the conventional formof learning caused by the crisis and can very well be mainstreamed after this. Withmore people likely to work and learn online, the Kerala Government has announcedit would provide extra bandwidth across the State. Besides, many online learningwebsites are allowing free access to their content to close the gaps affected stu-dents are bound to face. But making the tech system work will require much morethan just temporary concessions. That’s partly because not all students will beable to tap the potential due to existing anomalies like capped and costly data plans,slow connectivity and lack of accessibility to smartphones among other things.Until now, the ed-tech’s focus has been on learners in the metropolitan cities, whichhave a robust payment system, internet bandwidth and familiarity with online prod-ucts. The challenge is to reach students belonging to low-income families and liv-ing in deep pockets of rural India. For educators, it will be a humongous task tocraft modules according to the learning trends of the students on a case-specificbasis and at the same time, they have to keep their course prices at par with theindustry average. The opportunity at hand is to grow the e-learning space at $243billion by 2022. With India having one of the largest networks of higher educationinstitutions in the world, it will be interesting to see how unicorns in the educa-tional space change their strategies.

The Government has finally realised that its sin-gle-minded Kashmir policy, the one it has beenramming hard without factoring in local con-

texts and complexities, is costing it internationalacceptability. So even while it convinced the worldabout changing the status of Jammu and Kashmiras an internal and sovereign matter and as a larg-er counter-terrorism initiative, its civil lockdown ofthe Valley ate into its credibility. But what made Indialook like an unfair oppressor was the arrest of demo-cratically-elected leaders, with a decided pro-Indiatilt, and labelling them as enemies of the State

overnight. Worse, they were considered as good as “terrorists” and booked underdraconian laws, nullifying any interlocutory scope that they could have offered withKashmir’s civil society and citizenry even in a changed scenario. The growing anx-ieties about human rights curbs in the Valley despite a largely incident-free record,both in the European Union (EU) and the US, and an interventionist push from USPresident Donald Trump, have finally forced the Government to yield some ground.So it has released former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference(NC) leader Farooq Abdullah after seven months of captivity. And it is likely that itmay release others over a period of time. The Government also has self-serving motives.For some time, it has been trying to restore a semblance of normalcy by conduct-ing panchayat and local-level polls, hoping to build a new narrative ground up, albeitwith candidates friendly to it. As another round of panchayat polls is scheduled forMarch, officials elected a year ago, most of whom were walkover wins, fear to moveout of Srinagar hotels, simply because they contested against local will. Such wasthe boycott then that over 12,000 panchayat seats continue to be vacant. This round,too, could collapse as panchayats have made it clear that any electoral process wouldhave to be preceded by the release of jailed NC and People’s Democratic Party (PDP)leaders. This has completely blasted holes in the BJP’s attempt to rebuild a grass-roots matrix or carry out its much-touted development agenda, something it thoughtwould be a cakewalk in the absence of traditional politicians. It has failed to raise analternative political front and, therefore, needs to create a political climate first. TheNC and PDP would still be needed for that purpose. The BJP may have encouragedthe formation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), drawing rejects fromthe PDP and NC, under the stewardship of ex-PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari, but it can-not generate reassurance, least of all credibility, driven as it is by self-serving trans-actional politics than ideology. The Government would still find it easier to deal withold faithfuls than new aspirants. Perhaps, it is to craft an environment of fairplay thatAbdullah has been released. The JKAP may have been formed but needs time todevelop a cadre base, something which is still concentrated around the NC and thePDP. Question is will the NC now be used as a polarity to justify the politics of theJKAP or be used to build new bridges? After being treated so unjustly for siding withNew Delhi throughout his career, Dr Abdullah has refused to comment on politicalmatters till all leaders are released.

In fact, he may use this unwanted alienation to his advantage and be of somerelevance. For at the moment, he hardly has any asset value. For the normal Kashmiri,he is a recipient of much of their hatred and abuse. They believe he shortchangedthem by choosing a secular and democratic India and lost Article 370. Now, not onlythat is gone, the former State has been reduced to a Union Territory. So Kashmirisare questioning his family legacy. For New Delhi, he may have been the moderateface that’s not needed in changed times, given the endorsement of Jammu andKashmir’s special status both at home and the world. Therefore, Abdullah’s inescapableneed to question the abrogation of Article 370 and appear an activist Kashmiri ismore than an irritant, it is an obstacle in the new narrative. His suggestions of a nego-tiated autonomy for the two sides of Kashmir and converting the LoC into a soft bor-der for trade and commerce to flourish seem impractical when all talk is about right-ing historical wrongs and reclaiming territories in that context, rather than address-ing current realities. Yet one must remember his worth through the decades of con-flict. He acted as a filter and as Chief Minister did manage to keep militancy in check,give some semblance of credibility to the election process and had a pan-India accept-ability as a regional voice. For Abdullah may be a spent force, but people, who haveinvested in the idea of India at his call, will only see this as betrayal and recede intoseparatist ways. Simply for that reason, he still has worth and the emotion of hispeople. It is through him that the Government can let people speak and be heard.Without it, there can be no reconciliation. And the Government’s intent would alwaysseem doubtful to the world.

World upside down

Sir — Nature has its own way oftesting humans. The spread of onevirus has brought the entire worldto its knees. The novel Coronaviruspandemic, which began in Chinain late December, has since sick-ened more than 11,0000 and killedmore than 5,000 people worldwide.Its spread has not only renderednations vulnerable but has servedas a warning to those who possessor are developing biologicalweapons. One can only imaginehow dangerous the situation wouldbe in case any nation resorts togerm warfare.

Some of the affluent coun-tries, like Italy, are experiencingscarcity of essential items. Thereare reports that supermarketsthere have run out of goodsbecause COVID-19 has crippledsome Chinese manufacturingplants, which produce those com-modities. Panic buying, too, hascontributed to the present situa-tion. But the worst is yet to come.

Compounding woes, stockmarkets have crashed. The glob-al economy has already suffereda loss of $2 trillion. Airlinesaround the globe are suffering set-backs and economies dependent

on tourism stand devastated.Many industries dependent onChinese imports are facing grimlosses. India is no exception tothis. The crippling of the Chinesefactories is bound to sound thedeath knell for many industries.

KS Jayatheertha Bengaluru

Swift reforms needed

Sir — The prompt bailout propos-al for Yes Bank, with the State Bankof India (SBI) and other privatebanks such as HDFC and AxisBank chipping in their bit to pro-vide financial aid, has averted the

tragedy for the moment. Further,the Cabinet, too, has approved thereconstruction of the crisis-hitYes Bank as per the scheme pro-posed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). But pro-active measures areonly temporary in nature.

The fact of the matter is thatthe Central bank could have

nipped the problem in the budhad it taken lessons from earliersuch episodes of banks coveringup their solvency. But in India, wewake up only with whistle-blow-ing and end up with a late reali-sation. India’s financial sector isin dire need of reforms.

T Ridhi SreelekhaSecunderabad

Good old ways

Sir — The spread of Coronavirushas remined us of the good oldways. Once again, emphasis isbeing laid on Ayurveda, other tra-ditional medicines like Unaniand homoeopathic medicine sys-tems. Besides, the Indian traditionof namaste has gone global withthe likes of US President DonaldTrump, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron and evenPrince Charles saying no to helloand yes to folded hands. Insteadof using tissue papers, people arenow getting accustomed to wash-ing hands. It is better to follow ahealthy and systematic lifestyle.

Nitesh KumarJharkhand

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

06

Neighbourhood challenge

ASHOK K MEHTA

Irrespective of India’s Look East and Act East policy, bilateral relations between New Delhi and Naypyidaw have been stalled because of China’s dominance

Scindia's exit could open the flood-gates in the Congress as no leaderhaving self-respect can survive in asuffocating environment. I am sure that filters are in place toweed out the migratory.

BJP leader—Tom Vadakkan

I'd want to contributetowards portrayal of Indianwoman in cinema who areforward-thinking, beautiful,strong, vocal, independentand upright human beings.

Miss World —Manushi Chhillar

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

IPL without fans may be a futile tournament

This refers to the editorial, “Cricket shutdown?”(March 13). The shadow of Coronavirus has beenincreasing and impacting all public activities and

sports cannot remain in isolation. The National RifleAssociation of India (NRAI) has cancelled theInternational Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) WorldCup, which was to be hosted in Delhi. The UEFA hascalled a meeting to review the ongoing Euro 2020 andforthcoming Champions League. Though theGovernment has left the decision to host the forthcom-ing Indian Premier League up to the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India (BCCI), the cricketing body has sus-pended the league till April 15. If the situation does notimprove in the coming days, the league could be calledoff altogether.

It goes without saying that fans are the soul for anygame and without their motivation, appreciation andencouragement, an athlete is never going to relish theexperience of going out on the field. The BCCI may havecommercial compulsions as everything is planned wellin advance but then this is an exceptional situation andit calls for some difficult decisions. Without spectators

on the ground, the IPL will not be the same anymore,irrespective of fans having the option of watching it overtelevision or mobile. In such a scenario, the BCCI andits chief, Sourav Ganguly, must take a decision whichis good for the safety of all players and in the largerinterest of the game. Some financial loss in the bargainshould not be a big deal.

Bal Govind Noida

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Time to take a leapI am no admirer of Modibut I admire his courage of conviction and uncompromising effort topolarise the country onevery possible issue.

Congress leader—Digvijaya Singh

What’s next for the NC chief, who still has a psychological hold on the people? Can he still be an asset?

With Coronavirus disrupting learning, it will be interestingto see how tech unicorns tap the potential

The anti-people policies of theBJP Government are responsiblefor the high prices of petrol anddiesel despite crude oil remain-ing down to less than 50 percent for the last six years.

Congress' spokesperson—Ajay Maken

Farooq is free

Help farmers grow money

THOUGH ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS WE MAY NOT BEABLE TO GET THE FIFTH SEAT WE DON’T SAY THAT WE

WON’T FIELD A CANDIDATE. WE WILL DECIDE SOON.—TMC GENERAL SECRETARY

PARTHA CHATTERJEE

FIELDING THE FIFTH CANDIDATE WAS THE RESULT OFTMC’S SECRET TALKS WITH THE BJP WHICH, TOO,WANTS TO BLOCK THE LEFT’S ENTRY TO PARLIAMENT.—FORMER CPI(M) MP SAMIK LAHIRI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

While the share of agriculture in India’s econ-omy has progressively declined, eventoday the sector directly and indirectly

occupies over 50 per cent of the country’s workforceand contributes to over 17 per cent of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP). However, the farm sec-tor’s importance in our economic and social fabricgoes well beyond these indicators as the majority ofIndia’s poor live in rural areas where farming is theprimary source of livelihood. Additionally, with agrowing population and rising incomes in the cities,farmers face the burden of increasing yields andimproving the quality of their produce. But, for manyyears now we have been beset with an agrarian cri-sis for a variety of reasons. The Government’s strat-egy, over the years, primarily focussed on raising agri-cultural output, improving food security and pro-viding subsidies and waivers rather than recognis-ing the need to raise farmers’ income. While theseprove helpful in the short run, they are not effec-tive measures for the long haul as farmers contin-ue to face the same issues that got them into a cat-astrophic situation in the first place.

Instead of handing out loan waivers, theGovernment could help farmers by providingaccess to exploitation-free credit. This has beenattempted but both vision and implementation havebeen lacking. If easy credit is available, farmers willhave improved access to seeds, pesticides, irrigationfacilities and even mechanisation. Since farmers typ-ically procure all these materials via an open mar-ket as there is no State support, higher income oreasy credit will enable them to produce more/bet-ter. As farm incomes reduce or stagnate over time,conversion of farmlands for alternate uses to gen-erate money has gone up significantly in the pastdecade as land prices have seen a considerable uptick.After putting in all the hard work, farmers do notreceive fair wages for their labours. This has tradi-tionally been due to unfair exploitative practices atthe mandis (wholesale food markets) and the largenumber of middlemen across the supply chain, rightfrom production to consumption. In addition, foryears now, low global prices have hurt exports andencouraged cheaper imports, that further hit farmerincomes. A highly-fragmented supply chain andpoor farm infrastructure is a contributing factor tothe farm crisis as more than 50 per cent of the pro-duce is wasted in distribution alone. At the front end,there is very little demand insight for various cropsand virtually no marketing infrastructure and at thefarmers’ end there are non-existent or poor storagefacilities and additional transport and manpowercosts. Due to all the contributing factors above, farm-ers’ incomes have either stagnated or been lowerwhile the cost of production and support servicesis perpetually increasing. The farmers, despite highinterest rates, take the risk and cultivate only to bedisheartened when their produce does not fetch suit-able prices that cover their costs and leave somethingover as profit. Only a small portion of the farm pro-duce gets the Minimum Support Price (MSP) andmore than 90 per cent of farmers are at the mercyof the traders who set the market price. As incomesbecome insufficient, more and more farmers facepoverty. This situation discourages the current cropof farmers but more so the next generation whichgravitates towards the city for better opportunities.This leads to a shortage of hands for farm activitiesand is a very prevalent problem in an agri-rich Statelike Maharashtra where a lot of the farm help and

labour is being brought from other States.The lack of fair return on both financialand effort investment by farmers has ledto a marked increase in farmer suicides.

To solve this crisis all controllable,supporting factors (Government policy,spending, initiatives, incentives amongothers) have to singly focus on helping thefarmer be self-sustainable. On an averagethe farmers’ income today is only ̀ 20,000a year in 17 States or about half the coun-try. That means that the monthly incomeof a farming family — with an average offive members — is less than `1,700. It ishard to imagine how farmers are surviv-ing today with these incomes which haveto suffice for supporting their families andcontinuing with their farm productionactivities. With 50 per cent of our popu-lation working in the agri sector, it isimperative to help generate more incomefor them both for their betterment and forthe economy to keep ticking.

Thankfully, the Centre has set a tar-get to double farmers’ income by 2022.While this is a good first step towardsenabling farmer self-sustainability, theincome has to go up significantly morethan double at the current levels for it tobe truly transformational. The broaderstrategy and framework outlined by theGovernment is based on good principles.However, implementation on the groundand ensuring effective and timely impactfor the farmer will make the difference.Some of the key factors to ensure that theoutcome is favorable are given below:

Productivity of farmland holdingshas to be prioritised and improved: Mostimportantly, reducing dependence whol-ly on rainwater through better irrigationmechanisms and better planning ofgroundwater, is important. Enabling bet-ter support services such as easy access tocredit on fair terms, availability andaccess to high-quality seeds, fertilisers, pes-ticides and technology-driven enhance-

ments would be extremely beneficial. Helping farmers align their produc-

tion with seasons and market demands:As phone and internet penetration growexponentially, providing farmers educa-tion, information on weather, marketrequirements, pricing, Governmentschemes and subsidies would be useful.

Crop diversification for betterincome: A lot of companies, especiallystart-ups are taking up the important taskof educating and advising farmers how tonot only improve farm yield but also todiversify their produce to increaseincomes. This farmer education andawareness, at a larger scale, would not onlyhelp increase farm income but also helpmeet the demands of a growing popula-tion.

Better access to markets and pricing:Currently, the control of pricing or whatthe farmers receive for their hard work isin the hands of a few traders in mandis.Traditionally, this has been the area ofmost severe exploitation of farmers.Ensuring transparency in buying and sell-ing of agri goods at the mandis and ensur-ing MSP is an immediate impact solution.In the last few years, with the rise in over-seas Fast-Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) companies coming to Indiaand recently minted and existing compa-nies working in agriculture, farmers havebeen given an alternative to selling in man-dis. Here, for production to certain spec-ifications and quality standards, farmersearn more than what they would at man-dis and have some demand guarantees aswell. Companies such as Big Basket,More, Godrej, Reliance and so on all havecenters where farmers can sell their pro-duce directly with transparent pricing.However, this is limited to areas that arecloser to urban centres and has not yetpenetrated the deeper rural areas where-in there is a larger number of severely-impacted farmers.

Improved agri-infrastructure andsupply chain: A lot of the produce, be itvegetables, milk, grains and so on, is lostin distribution across the supply chain. Allstakeholders suffer additional costs due tothese losses. Farmers suffer the most dueto loss or quality deterioration and it alsodiscourages them from diversifying theircrops to fruits and vegetables. Enablingefficient, low-cost storage options atfarmer locations, improving access totransport or credit facilities for the same,subsidies on cold storage, use of technol-ogy to predict demand and so on wouldhelp eradicate some age-old problems andpositively impact farmer incomes.

Cooperative farming/cluster farm-ing/Farmer Producer Organisations:Most farmers across India have margin-al land holdings and this reduces their abil-ity to generate higher incomes individu-ally. Consolidation of land holdingsbecomes an important strategy to raisefarmer incomes. They can voluntarilycome together and pool land to gain thebenefits of size. Through consolidation,farmers can reap the benefits of economiesof scale both in input procurement andoutput marketing.

Focussing on these areas and imple-menting programmes with a single, uni-fied vision will be a huge step in the direc-tion of reviving India’s agriculture sector.Improving purchasing power in ruralareas, especially that of farmers, will alsohelp accelerate overall economic growth.Poor policy, high price volatility, climaterisk and indebtedness plague India’s farmsector. A majority of farmers — 85 per cent— include small and marginal ones, withdeclining and increasingly fragmentinglandholdings, where these external factorsand uncertainty make them even morevulnerable.

(The writer is Director, Farmpal,which helps farmers to connect with busi-nesses)

Improving purchasing power in rural areas, especially that of farmers who constitute over 50 per cent of the workforce, will accelerate the economic growth of the country

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Of threat and itsperception

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

It is nobody's case that danger is not there. It isa question of an intelligent understanding ofdisaster as it is possible to face it sensibly

PUNEET SETHI

POOR POLICY,HIGH PRICEVOLATILITY,

CLIMATE RISK AND

INDEBTEDNESSPLAGUE INDIA’SFARM SECTOR.

A MAJORITY OFFARMERS — 85

PER CENT —INCLUDE SMALLAND MARGINAL

ONES, WITHDECLINING ANDINCREASINGLYFRAGMENTING

LANDHOLDINGS,WHERE THESE

EXTERNALFACTORS

ANDUNCERTAINTY

MAKE THEM EVEN

MOREVULNERABLE

Periodically there are events which capture the people’s mindand imagination because they are so unusual. Recall the glob-al frenzy at the beginning of 21st century? The midnight of

December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000 were supposed to beepoch-making. However, any student of geography knows that thereis no such thing as a century changing. The planet Earth rotatesaround its own axis and around the sun. The flashpoint of December31, 1999 changing to January 1, 2000 would be at different pointsof the globe at different times of the same day. For the purposesof enabling “measurement of time”, the Earth is divided into lon-gitudes. This measurement begins at a given longitude in the PacificOcean region. The rest of the measurement of time follows. Themarking of the longitude is notional and the time taken by the Earthto rotate fully, once, around its axis is taken to be “24 hours.”

Because of this innovation, calendars could be created andseasons marked by months. This collection of months became ayear. The globe is dotted with many types of calendars, each mark-ing the days and the collection of days in its own unique manner.Ultimately, all calendars talk of a year. In a manner of speaking,the measurement of days, months and years is based on assump-tions which make learning scientific and sequential.

To get back to the story of the so-called beginning of the21st century, the “unique event” was projected as once-in-a-life-time occasion. People wanted to be among the first on the plan-et to witness the “birth” of the 21st century. They also wanted tohave a story for their children and grandchildren if they were everasked, “Where were you when the new century was born?” Sothe enterprising ones got to work and some of them sat on thebeaches of certain islands to be among the first to witness the firstsunrise of the 21st century. This became a multi-billion dollar busi-ness but no management book has discussed this. However, the“dawn of the new century” became a reality in perceptions.

Simply put, the gross truth is that there is no such thingas a sunrise or sunset. The simple truth is that the sun never risesand it never sets. It looks like a sunrise because the Earth rotates.Also, there would be no qualitative difference between a December31 and January 1. In a manner of speaking, January 1 would belike any other day at any other time. Nothing would have changedin nature or reality, other than one more rotation of the blue plan-et while orbiting around the great fireball in the sky. However, thefallacy does not end there.

A new century, even going by the self-given measurements,does not begin with a zero. A new century would begin with one.Hence, the 21st century did not begin, in a manner of speaking,in the year 2000 but would have begun in 2001 only. However,such is the power of the hype created by the media that no oneseriously questioned the beginning of the new century on January1, 2000. Thus it is that the new century was ushered in and cel-ebrated. Almost every kind of reaction, from that of theastronomers to statisticians, was conspicuous by its silence onthis anomaly. Clearly, in life, the importance of “belief” is high andthe media plays a determining role in it. This is a running themewhich has several precedents in this century. For instance, therewas the Y2K scare at the turn of the 21st century, where comput-er users and programmers feared that computers would stop work-ing on December 31, 1999. There was such a major brouhahaover the Y2K threat that it delivered huge financial gains for somecomputer companies. Ultimately, nothing happened but the beliefin and the fear of the Y2K phenomenon was enormous.

Come 2001, there was the “threat” of Anthrax and in 2002many believed that the West Nile virus was a threat to the world.In 2003 it was the fear of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS), while in 2005 the “Bird Flu” was believed by many to bea recipe for disaster. A few gained and many, especially poultryand those involved in animal husbandry, paid the price of the glob-al panic exacerbated by the media.

Whenever there was a threat perception the question of scale,magnitude and range of impact, were rarely built into the equa-tion. Ultimately, this was nowhere near many of the other equallydisastrous events that the world had seen, like in the time of the“great plague.” Swine flu, Ebola virus, Zika virus all had their days.

It is nobody’s case that danger is not there. It is a question ofan intelligent understanding of disaster as it is possible to face dan-ger sensibly. One of the media reports says that on March 12 alone,the ongoing Coronavirus wiped out ̀ 11 lakh crore from the sharemarket at Dalal Street with the Sensex crashing by 2,919 points.However, the biggest challenge of the time may be to face chal-lenge in a realistic manner.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

The National Programme forHealth Care of the Elderly(NPHCE) was launched by the

Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare in 2010 to provide accessibleand affordable healthcare for theelderly and the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) declared 2020-2030 as the ‘Decade of HealthyAgeing.’ This is very relevant for Indiaas according to census data, there areover 104 million senior citizens in thecountry. Out of this, more than halfof the elderly are women.

Approximately 71 per cent of thecountry’s elderly reside in areas withlimited access to healthcare. It goeswithout saying that the incidence ofhospitalisation is much higher in the

elderly as compared to the total pop-ulation.

A major cause for concern is thefact that 27 per cent of people abovethe age of 80 were found to be home-bound or immobile.

Despite the fact that the situationis grave, States have not managed touse more than seven per cent of thefunds disbursed by the Centre for thehealthcare needs of the elderly andonly five per cent of the fundsreleased for the management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) havebeen put to use.

This is particularly pathetic con-sidering the fact that the NPHCE ispart of the NCD flexi pool which isone of the major components of theNational Health Mission (NHM).

Providing access to quality health-care is the responsibility of the CentralGovernment as well as States and theyneed to put central funds to good useand ensure that healthcare schemesfor the elderly are implemented in alldistricts.

At present, the implementation islackadaisical and is marred by

unwieldy cost overruns. StateGovernments are already over-whelmed by their existing healthcareprogrammes and it is not unreason-able for them to expect a certainamount of flexibility in operations.However, the failure to produce tan-gible results points towards a lack ofplanning and organisation. Unlessthere is a strict oversight mechanism,course correction is difficult and theelderly of the nation will continue tosuffer the result of this indifference atthe State Government and bureaucrat-ic level.

Where do we stand?: At present,the facilities that are dedicated forgeriatric care are sub-standard. Inrural and remote areas, where a sub-stantial percentage of the elderlyreside, you would be hard-pressed tofind a functional facility, let alone awell-equipped one.

State Governments are not verykeen on spending money on pro-grammes like the NPHCE as they usethe funds for more immediaterequirements like skill training, salaryand infrastructure development, all of

which are crucial areas that are for-ever cash-strapped.

Even though the NPHCE isunder the NCD flexi pool, there aretwo main reasons behind the under-utilisation of funds. First, we suffer ashortage of medical professionalswho are trained in geriatric care.Second, State Treasuries take a lot oftime to release funds to the respectivedistrict administration.

Both of these factors lead to anunderutilisation of capital, preventingthe programme from taking flight.Also, depending on the economiccondition, a number of StateGovernments cut back on expendi-tures to trim the fiscal deficits.

Time to address the skill gap:Since the core of the programmefocusses on clinical care, it is not pos-sible to ensure effective implementa-tion, unless we train our healthcareprofessionals. Only a handful of med-ical colleges in India have postgrad-uate programmes to train undergrad-uate students in geriatric care, owingto the strict guidelines laid down bythe Medical Council of India (MCI).

Unless medical colleges get thetechnical and the bureaucratic supportthey need, it is unrealistic to expectthe current state of affairs to improve.Thankfully, the Government haswoken up to this reality and is nowsupporting two National Centres forAgeing (NCAs) that are dedicated totrain professionals, conduct research,and provide healthcare for the elder-ly. We also have regional geriatric cen-ters (RGCs) that aim to provide ter-tiary care through outpatient depart-ments for seniors in addition to pro-viding postgraduate medical coursesfor students who want to specialise ingeriatric medicine. If we open moreRGCs and NCAs, particularly inrural and remote areas, it will helpimprove health outcomes for theelderly.

The need for a multifacetedapproach: We also need a shift insocietal attitudes towards the elderlyif we want better results. Preventingand treating health problems in theelderly requires a multiprongedapproach that incorporates the activeinvolvement of the healthcare ecosys-

tem, urban/rural development, socialwelfare and legal sectors. We need toexpand our current geriatric care pro-gramme to include non-medicaldeterminants as well.

Unless we have an unwaveringpolitical commitment coupled withsocial action, it is difficult to imple-ment customised policies at the grass-root level. Seniors must be educatedabout potential risk factors so thatthey are empowered to take controlof their health. Children must volun-teer to look after their ageing parentsand we need customised health insur-ance schemes to take care of the needsof our senior citizens.

The Government must establishmore gerontology units to train med-ical and paramedical professionals onthe healthcare needs of the elderly. Tosum it up, a joint approach can helpaddress the challenges in geriatric carein the country. Failing to do so willdevelop into a costly proposition inthe future.

(The writer is Director andCreative Strategist at CHAI Kreativeand Return of Million Smiles)

States must utilise funds for geriatric careUnless there is a strict oversight mechanism, course correction is difficult and the elderly of the nation will continue to

suffer the result of this indifference at the Government and bureaucratic level

KEWAL KAPOOR

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

At no other time in historyhas fashion been accessibleto so many people. Tech-nology will help to makefashion greener. Plus, thereis a discernible shift fromdiscarding clothes torepairing, reusing or evenrenting them. However, it ishard to see how this will beenough to make fashionsustainable if the industrystill produces more clothes.We must rethink the ideathat the hunger for newclothes ought to be satedimmediately.

(The Guardian editorial)

FASHION CAN’TCOST THE EARTH

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

INOX beginscommercial op in LucknowNEW DELHI: Film exhibitorINOX Leisure on Sunday saidit has started commercialoperations at a multiplexcinema theatre in GomtiNagar, Lucknow fromSaturday. "The company hascommenced the CommercialOperations of a MultiplexCinema Theatre taken onLeave & License basis, locatedat INOX Leisure Limited, 3rdFloor, Phoenix Palassio Mall,Plot No 1, Sector No 7, GomtiNagar Extension, AmarShaheed Path, Lucknow -226010 with effect fromyesterday, i.e. Saturday, 14thMarch, 2020," a BSE filingsaid. The multiplex has 10screens and 1,710 seats, itadded. INOX is present in 68cities with 147 multiplexes,624 screens and a totalseating capacity of 144,394seats across India.

IDFC First to invest Rs 250 cr in Yes BankNEW DELHI: New Delhi, Mar15 (PTI) IDFC First Bank onSunday said it will make anequity investment of Rs 250crore in beleaguered Yes Bankto acquire 25 crore equityshares. "...duly authorizedcommittee of the Board ofDirectors of IDFC FIRST BankLtd had at its meeting held onMarch 14, 2020 accordedapproval for an equityinvestment of upto Rs 250crores comprising upto 25crore equity shares at a priceof Rs 10 each and face valueof Rs 2 each, under theproposed Scheme ofReconstruction of Yes BankLtd under the BankingRegulation Act, 1949, subjectto regulatory and governmentapproval(s), if any," the banksaid in a BSE filing. Earlier onSaturday, Federal Bank hadcommitted to investing Rs 300crore in Yes Bank forsubscription of its 30 croreshares.

NCLAT to have abench at Chennai,Govt issues orderNEW DELHI: A bench of theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) isbeing constituted in Chennaito handle matters arising fromSouthern states. Thegovernment has notified theconstitution of the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal, Chennai Bench,which will come into effectfrom March 18, 2020. TheChennai-based bench wouldhear the appeals against theorders of the benches of theNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) havingjurisdiction of Karnataka, TamilNadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Lakshadweep andPuducherry, the notificationsaid.

CORONA SCARE

FPIs press panic button, withdraw Rs 37,976 crPNS n NEW DELHI

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) have withdrawn a whop-ping Rs 37,976 crore on a netbasis from the Indian marketsin March so far amid the coro-navirus pandemic triggeringfears of a global recession.

Overseas investors pulledout a net sum of Rs 24,776.36crore from equities and Rs13,199.54 crore from the debtsegment between Mar 2-13,depositories data showed.

This translates into a totalnet outflow of Rs 37,975.90crore during the period underreview. Prior to this, foreigninvestors were net buyers forsix consecutive months sinceSeptember 2019.

"The spread of coronavirusoutbreak, which has now beendeclared a pandemic, and con-tinued slowdown in the glob-al economy, has created avicious cycle which is consum-ing investors worldwide," saidHimanshu Srivastava, senioranalyst manager research,

Morningstar InvestmentAdviser India. Global marketsreeled last week after the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)declared the coronavirus out-break a pandemic, andexpressed deep concern overthe "alarming levels of inac-tion". Given the ongoing sce-nario, foreign investors havetaken a flight to safer invest-ment options, such as dollar

denominated asset classes andgold as against fixed incomesecurities of emerging marketslike India, he added.

Going forward, as coron-avirus crosses boundaries andaffects other countries, it mayhave a more serious impact onthe already slowing globaleconomy and on foreign flowsinto emerging markets such asIndia, Srivastava said.

‘AIRTEL, VODAFONE IDEA MUST DISCLOSE WORKINGS’ PNS n NEW DELHI

Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea Ltd, whose self-assesseddues to the government are lessthan half of what theDepartment ofTelecommunications (DoT)estimates, must disclose work-ings highlighting areas of dif-ference as minority sharehold-ers deserve to know, an analystreport said.

While Bharti Airtel haspegged its dues arising from aSupreme Court ruling thatasked for non-telecom rev-enues to be included in calcu-lating spectrum charges andlicence fee at Rs 13,004 crore,the DoT puts the estimate at Rs35,000 crore.

In case of Vodafone Idea Ltd(VIL), the DoT is seeking overRs 53,000 crore, while thecompany estimates its duesare Rs 21,533 crore.

"While we appreciate thematter is still sub judice, oncethe legal chapter is over, Bhartiand VIL could (and should)disclose their self-assessmentworkings highlighting the areasof difference versus the DOTmath. Even as this isn't a statu-torily mandated disclosure, webelieve the minority share-holders deserve to know,"Kotak Institutional Equitiessaid in a March 9 report.

Stating that there is a case for

better disclosures on the mathfrom both the DoT as well asthe operators, it said a detailedexplanation of the calculationspost the closure of the legalproceedings is a must. "Itwould go a long way in inspir-ing confidence among theminority investors."

VIL has so far paid Rs 3,500crore out of its self-assessed lia-bility of Rs 21,533 crore, whileBharti Airtel has paid Rs13,004 crore to the governmentin two installments. It hadalso deposited an additional Rs

5,000 crore as an ad-hoc pay-ment to cover any reconcilia-tion differences.

Similarly, Tata Teleserviceshas paid Rs 2,197 crore in dues,and more recently an addition-al Rs 2,000 crore to cover rec-onciliation differences, whilethe DoT estimates the liabili-ties to be about Rs 14,000crore. "At some level, it is baf-fling that something as basicand critical as the base of rev-enues on which as much as 12-13% of sector revenues are paidas regulatory levies stayed a

matter of dispute on principlesand calculations more than twodecades after NTP-1999 (thetelecom policy that establishedrevenue share as a mecha-nism) was introduced andimplemented," Kotak said.

It hoped that for the sake ofminority investors, the telecompolicy hereon leaves little roomfor such material disputes, andeven when such disputes arise,they are settled (in or outsidecourts) in a more time-boundand reasonable manner.

Total adjusted gross rev-enue (AGR) dues, includinginterest and penalty, as per theself-assessment exercise doneby various telcos are 34.5 percent of the DoT assessed pro-visional dues for Bharti, 40.6per cent for VIL, and 16 percent for TTSL.

"We do not have sufficientdetails to be sure of why thedivergence. We do believe,however, that operators wouldhave been extra cautious intheir math given the SupremeCourt's tough stance on thematter," the report said.

Kotak said Bharti and VILmade higher provisions forthe dues in their Q2 FY20earnings as they many nothave had enough time post theSupreme Court's October 24,2019 order to complete theirself-assessments and adopted aconservative stance.

‘Construction, chemicalmanufacturing likely tobe worst-affected’PNS n NEW DELHI

Construction, transport andchemical manufacturing sec-tors are likely to be the worst-affected by the coronaviruspandemic in China, says areport. However, India's topimports — crude oil andgems and jewellery — whichcollectively account for 46 percent of total imports are rel-atively insulated from thepublic health crisis in China,according to the report byICICI Securities.

The novel coronaviruswhich originated in China'sWuhan city towards the endof 2019 has so far claimedover 5,000 lives and infectedmore than 1 lakh people glob-ally. Daily death toll due to thevirus is still very high andgiven the number of infectedpeople, the battle with thevirus is far from over, it said.

Since the severity of thevirus became known, globalfinancial markets have beenon the edge. Although mostof deaths are in China, thevirus has reportedly spread toabout 100 countries and has

been declared a pandemic bythe WHO. Out of India'stotal imports of USD 507billion in FY19, 26 per cent ofthe basket, which comprisesiron and steel and inorganicchemicals, is likely to beaffected modestly.

"We expect the impact oniron and steel to be moderatebecause India imports 11 percent of its iron and steel fromChina. Also, India's biggestimport source country foriron and steel, South Koreaimports 20 per cent of itsrequirement from China.

While Bharti Airtel has pegged its dues arisingfrom a SC ruling that asked for non-telecomrevenues to be included in calculatingspectrum charges and licence fee at Rs 13k cr,the DoT puts the estimate at Rs 35,000 crore

Auditors must use latest techtools for quality audits: CEPRPNS n NEW DELHI

Auditors need to be equippedwith the latest available tech-nological tools to execute highquality audits, right-leaningthink-tank Centre forEconomic Policy Research(CEPR) has said in a newreport.

"The business in presenttimes is becoming larger andmore complex. It is becomingdifficult for the auditor toreally access the complete dataand study the systems toachieve the in-depth examina-tion and subsequent analysis,"CEPR said.

"The limited tools to accessand analyse the data and studythe systems to bring out effec-tive reports is becoming a bigchallenge and these limita-tions are across both the largeand small enterprise," it added.

According to the report, arapid increase in the volume ofdata requires auditors to beequipped with the latest avail-able technological tools toanalyse a much higher volumeof data in their audits than pre-viously required.

Vijay Gupta, a former cen-tral council member of theICAI, said, "The globalisedbusinesses of the clients thatthe audit firms serve, calls forthe latest audit techniques andprocesses that needs to getdeployed by such audit firms,the absence of which becomesa handicap in apt deliverance

of their duties."He said there is a need for

better IT infrastructure to cre-ate more robust audit frame-work.

The audit industry has beenfacing multiple challenges inthe current macro-economicenvironment and these arefurther getting aggravated bya prevailing negative narrativearound the audit profession inthe country.

There has been a spate ofactions taken against auditorsin the recent times, including

against PwC in the Satyamscam case, and against Deloitteand BSR with regard to theIL&FS fraud.

Also, in the 2013 case ofNSEL, auditors were arrestedby the Economic OffencesWing (EOW) Mumbai, butwere realised on bail later.

According to CEPR, latestadvances in technologypromise significant benefitsfor the audit profession, witha number of key drivers sig-nalling the need for technolog-ical change in audit.

According to report, a rapid increase involume of data requires auditors to beequipped with latest available technologicaltools to analyse a much higher volume ofdata in their audits than previously required

Top 10 cos lose Rs 4.22 lakh crin m-cap; TCS, RIL hit hardThe 10 most valued domestic companies lost a massive Rs

4,22,393.44 crore in market capitalisation last week, withheavyweights TCS and RIL taking the biggest hit. In a nerve-wracking week for the markets, the BSE Sensex plummeted3,473.14 points or 9.24 per cent, largely in tandem with globalequities which were hammered by panic selling amid thecoronavirus pandemic. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of TCSdropped by Rs 1,16,549.07 crore to reach Rs 6,78,168.49 crorefor the week ended Friday. Reliance Industries' m-cap plummetedRs 1,03,425.15 crore to Rs 7,01,693.52 crore. Infosys wasanother major drag, with its valuation plunging Rs 41,315.98 croreto Rs 2,73,505.62 crore. HDFC Bank's m-cap tanked Rs 34,919.51crore to reach Rs 5,87,190.43 crore and that of HindustanUnilever Limited (HUL) tumbled Rs 33,208.35 crore to Rs4,40,151.42 crore. The valuation of Kotak Mahindra Bank declinedRs 30,931.1 crore to Rs 2,81,237.76 crore and that of ICICI Bankfell Rs 25,098.54 crore to Rs 2,89,606.69 crore. Likewise, BajajFinance witnessed a drop of Rs 16,320.81 crore in its m-cap toreach Rs 2,37,989.09 crore. Bharti Airtel suffered a decline of Rs13,611.62 crore in its valuation to stand at Rs 2,69,613.64 crore.The market-cap of HDFC fell by Rs 7,013.31 crore to Rs3,58,201.28 crore. In the ranking of the 10 most valued firms, RILremained at the top, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, HDFC,ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and BajajFinance.

PNS n DUBAI

The central bank of the UnitedArab Emirates, home to theskyscraper-studded city ofDubai, on Sunday announceda USD 27 billion stimuluspackage to deal with the eco-nomic effects of the coron-avirus pandemic.

The money will go towardsupporting the country'sbanks, and regulatory limits onloans will be eased.

Nations across the MiddleEast have pledged to stimulatetheir economies as they weath-er the global pandemic, whichhas led to widespread schoolclosures, the cancellation ofsporting and other events, as

well as sweeping lockdowns insome hard-hit areas.

For most people, the newcoronavirus causes only mildor moderate symptoms, suchas fever and cough. For some,especially older adults andpeople with existing health

problems, it can cause moresevere illness, including pneu-monia.

Most people recover in amatter of weeks. But the virusis highly contagious and can bespread by individuals with novisible symptoms.

DoT units routinely seeking bulk call data recordsPNS n NEW DELHI

Some units of the telecomdepartment are seeking huge calldata records of people in somecircles on a routine basis whichis alleged to be in deviation fromthe standard operating proce-dure laid down by the govern-ment, according to sources.

Industry players have raisedconcerns over such practices ina communication to theTelecom Secretary, the sourcessaid.

They claimed the DoT unit ofDelhi demanded call datarecords (CDRs) of entire statefor February 2, 3 and 4, 2020and separately for specific routesin Delhi with residences ofMinisters, Members ofParliament, Judge, important

offices etc following whichindustry players gave represen-tation before telecom secretaryAnshu Prakash to raise concernon such practice.

"Telecom industry playershave written to the telecom

secretary that CDRs sought forspecific routes and areas maylead to allegations of surveil-lance, especially in the state likeDelhi having numerous VVIPzones having offices and resi-dences of ministers, MPs, judges

etc," a source aware of the com-munication said.

An email query sent to theDepartment of Telecom in thisregard elicited no reply.

According to the source, whodid not wish to be named, saidthat the DoT has already issueddetailed instructions and stan-dard operating procedures(SOPs) for providing CDRs tolaw enforcement agencies inAugust 2016 and April 2019.

The DoT including its fieldunits under the SOP arerequired to ascertain the iden-tity of the subscriber, examinethe justification carefully forCDR demand, detail purposefor seeking CDRs and not usingsuch CDRs received for anyother purpose, define the offi-cers authorised to seek and

approve such a request.However, various licence servicearea units of the DoT are notadhering to the set process andseek voluminous CDR detailsfrom telecom operators on reg-ular basis in contravention to the SOP.

"Almost all LSA units of DoTseek one day CDR details fromtelecom operators on monthlybasis in states like AndhraPradesh on 1st and 5th day ofthe month, Delhi on 18th day,Haryana on 21st day, HimachalPradesh and Jammu andKashmir on the last day of themonth, Kerala and Odisha onthe 15th day, Madhya Pradeshand Punjab on the last day of theprevious month and the first dayof the current month," thesource said.

PNS n RIYADH

Saudi Aramco on Sundayreported a 20.6 percent drop inits net profit for 2019 due tolow oil prices and pro-duction levels, thecompany said in astatement.

These are thefirst annual resultsto be announced bythe energy giant afterits historical USD 29.4billion initial public offering andlisting on the Saudi Tadawulmarket last December.

Aramco posted net profits ofUSD 88.2 billion last year com-pared to USD 111.1 billion in2018, Monday's statement said.

"The decrease was primari-ly due to lower crude oil pricesand production volumes, cou-pled with declining refining andchemical margins," it said.

The company alsomade USD 1.6 billion of

impairment provisionsfor losses associatedwith Sadara ChemicalCompany, an Aramco

subsidiary."2019 was an excep-

tional year for SaudiAramco. Through a variety ofcircumstances — some plannedand some not -- the world wasoffered unprecedented insightinto Saudi Aramco's agility andresilience," CEO Amin Nassersaid.

Aramco reports 20.6%drop in 2019 profit

Volatility to rule markets, Fed ratedecision to drive equities: AnalystsPNS n NEW DELHI

Equity markets are likely to seemore volatility this week andmay also witness a relief rallyafter suffering a massive drub-bing recently due to the coro-navirus pandemic, analystssaid.

In a nerve-wracking weekfor the markets, the BSESensex plummeted 3,473.14points or 9.24 per cent whilethe NSE Nifty lost 1,034.25points or 9.41 per cent, large-ly in tandem with global equi-ties which succumbed to panicselling triggered by the coro-navirus outbreak.

Domestic markets witnessed

a roller-coaster session onFriday, with trading being halt-ed for the first time in 12 yearsas benchmarks plunged over10 per cent in opening trade,before staging a record-shatter-ing comeback.

Analysts said participantswould keep an eye on the

spread of the coronavirus, aswell as further stimulus mea-sures by global central banksand governments. The USFederal Reserve is also sched-uled to announce its rate deci-sion this week.

"Markets would take a whileto recover from this significantprice damage. While volatilitymay continue in coming days,we could see intermittent reliefrallies, however these are like-ly to be short-lived. In suchtimes of global volatility, retailinvestors should keep calmand not panic," said SiddharthaKhemka, Head - RetailResearch, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.

UAE pledges $27 bn in stimulusas Mideast works to slow virus

Petrol price cut by 12 paise/ltr,diesel by 14 paisePNS n NEW DELHI

Petrol price was on Sundaycut by 12 paise a litre anddiesel rates by 14 paise as oilcompanies moderatedrate reduction amid thefall in global prices toabsorb the hike in exciseduty on fuel by the gov-ernment.

Petrol in Delhi now costsRs 69.75 per litre, whilediesel is priced at Rs 62.44,according to a price notifica-

tion of state-owned oil firms.Delhi has the lowest fuelprices among metros becauseof lower state taxes.

Industry sources said thereduction in rates would

have been higher butfor the Rs 3 perlitre increase in

excise duty effected onSaturday. Oil companies,they said, had been moder-ating reduction warranted inretail prices in anticipation ofan excise duty hike.

hat women see,perceive, thinkand function dif-ferently, is aknown fact.Capitalising on

this, Hyderabad Centre forPhotography in associationwith the State Art Galleryhas organised a photographyexhibition called ‘Resilience’that has photographs cap-tured by women.

Inaugurated by TelanganaGovernor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan, the Gallerywill display work of 20women photographers on 29different subjects, rangingfrom old women to babiesto waterfalls among others.A woman herself, the gover-nor lauded the photogra-phers for their work andencouraged many others.

Acquin Matthews, direc-tor of Indian PhotographyFestival says that one of pri-mary aims to hold the exhi-bition was to encouragewomen photographersacross the country to pursuetheir interests.

“We believe that photog-raphy communicates manycomplex and heart touchingissues with ease. Resilienceis a word that has a lot ofsignificance in the current

world conditions wherewe’re facing a lot of topicalsocial issues. We askedwomen photographers aboutthat one image that holdsclose to their heart and whyit's significant to them,”Matthews explains.

Women photographerswho have their work put upinclude Aditi Talwar, AmitaTalwar, Ananya Sinha,Ashima Raizada, BhargaviNaveen, Deepali Sharma,Jovy Thomas, KranthiRemala, Kirthana Devdas,Madhavi Kuram, MallikaRajkumar, Menty Jamir,Namrata Rupani, NishatFatima, Nupur Aai, PadmaT, Prerana Patil, Radhaprasad, Samyukta Lakshmi,Smita Sharma, SushmithaTadakamadla and SutapaRoy. The artists exploredmyriad themes includinghappiness, love, sadness, joy,fear, identity and variousother facets of life throughtheir images.

Award-winning indepen-dent photojournalist SmitaSharma’s work focusses pri-marily on human rights,gender, health and socialissues. Her work has beenpublished in various placesall over the world. In theexhibition, Smita showcasedher work of teenage preg-nancy in Kenya.

“During my travel, I metDamacline, my subject, at aprimary school and learntthat she was a new mother.She is one among the few lotof the girls who strive tocontinue their educationafter childbirth,” Sharmainforms. She learnt that hersubject joined school amonth after giving birth .Damacline wo run to herhouse during lunch breaksto breastfeed her newbornevery day.

“We decided to follow herhome one afternoon andhad to walk more than threekilometres in the blazingsun through fields and anarrow stream to reach herplace. She ran as fast as shecould to spend more timewith her baby during thehour-long break. I took thisimage at her home as shewas cuddling him. I wasamazed by her dedication topursue her studies whilegiving adequate attention toher new-born,” Sharma says.

Self-taught photographerMadhavi Kuram showcasedher work of an old womanwho was deserted by her

family. “This is a portrait ofa lady left by her family in ahome for the aged.Deserted, lonely and psy-chologically distraught,”Kuram describes her sub-ject.

“One morning, when Ivisited the place, I found herin a situation that churnedmy insides. A moment ofanger for her family that lefther there, helplessness that Icould not be of any help toher, sympathy for her trau-ma and situation, worryover how she would manageeverything all by herself,”she explains. Kuram was ina dilemma whether to pho-tograph the old woman insuch a situation, but realisedthat she badly wanted toshowcase this emotion.

“The portrait showseverything wrong with us asa society,” she tells us.

Another photographerBhargavi Jakkala believesthat memories must neverfade and hence loves to cap-ture babies. “Being a moth-er, I'm more insightful withevery portrait of my littleone and that’s how I fell inlove with every baby I meet.It’s a blessing to carry tinynew-born babies and that’sthe most beautiful part ofmy job,” Jakkala smiles.

“I love the calm and cutesmile babies give me everytime I take the into my armsand that, I will cherish for-ever,” she adds.

Photographer T Padma isa nature lover and likes tocapture her surroundings.

She is showcasing her pho-tograph of Sathodi waterfallsin the state of Karnataka.“Located at Yellapur inKarnataka, Sathodi water-falls is a beauty to watch atdawn with absolutely no onearound. I loved this compo-sition as the arrangement ofthe rocks leads to the water-falls, beautifully nestled inthe tress,” she talks abouther work.

“I fixed my tripod andstarted capturing as the lightwas apt for a slightly longerexposure for a bit ofsmoothening of the water. Afew minutes later, I couldsee a single beam of lightray falling on the waterfallsafter hitting a tall rock, andI knew there is going to bemore as the sun goes up and

captured it,” she says, look-ing at her photograph withpride.

(The gallery will be opento public from 10 am to 6

pm until the March 27)

Through the eyes of

WOMENMore than 20 women

photographersfrom across the

country areshowcasing

variousemotions,issues and

more throughphotographscaptured by

them at StateArt Gallery,

reports VSATEESH

REDDY

T

‘Beauty of this countrylies in its diversity'

Sachin's Ode to Urduopular actor anddirector SachinPilgaonkar, whowas recently intown, loves tofondly brag

about his Urdu speakingskills.

Pilgaonkar, who loveseverything in Urdu, spokeabout the language, gram-mar, its usage in Indiancinemas and nuances ofghazal and poetry. Theactor credits MeenaKumari for making him tolearn and love the lan-guage. “I am grateful to herfor having encouraged myparents to teach me thisbeautiful language,” hesays.

The actor was all of nineyears old when he had tolearn the language for arole in the film Majhli Didito play the character ofKishan. And there has beenno stopping for him eversince. While Pilgaonkar’smother tongue is Marathi,he says his language ofthought is now Urdu.

While he was learningUrdu as a child, the actorone day found out that the legendary poet ManjuSultanpuri stayed rightopposite his house. The poet’s son andPilgaonkar were goodfriends, who played togeth-er in the neighbourhood.He addressed Sultanpuri as“abbaji”. The actor recalls atime when all the kids,including himself, queuedup at the poet’s house toreceive an Eidi of Rs 10.Pilgaonkar was given anUrdu script for Eidi. Thatgesture inspired him topursue his love for the language more deeply.

While talking about vari-ous brilliant songs andpoems by several poets, he

also recited some of hisown shayaris. On beingasked how he became ashayar, Pilgaonkar says,“Learning the languageautomatically makes one a shayar. The languageis so beautiful, it just

flows out. Urdu has anessence of its own.”

The actor recalled thetime he met former PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru.“I received the nationalaward for Best Child Artist for the film Ha Maza Marg Ekla. Nehrujicalled me, put me on his

lap, and broke his protocol to remove theiconic rose and pin it to my Sherwani,” he remi-nisces with a sense ofpride.

The actor counts himselffortunate for witnessingthe changing revolutions inIndian cinema from Blackand White to colour, from‘Mitchell Camera toArriflex Camera.’

One the work front,Pilgaonkar’s City of DreamsSeason 2 is all set to releasesoon on Hotstar.

— Meshael Saleem

MESHAEL SALEEM n HYDERABAD

ollywood actor, dancer,comedian, voice artist,impressionist JavedJaffery was in townrecently. He spoke atlength about his love for

Hyderabad, its people, culture, lan-guage, humour and cuisine.

In conversation with Prof. AmirUllah Khan, a development econo-mist, Javed Jaffery left the audiencein splits while he spoke on variousissue about his life, personal andprofessional.

The actor reminisced his earliestdays in the film industry and said hecherishes his Maggie advertisementdays. “I thoroughly enjoyed shootingfor the ketchup ad. It was fun andcreative,” he says. Jaffery was alsoknown for being the commentator inHindi for popular kids Japanesegame show, the Takeshi’s Castle.Although several other comedianstried their hand at the same, nothingcould match the comical level set byJaffrey. “People still walk up to tilldate and thank me for making theirchildhood special,” the actor gushes.

Commenting on the yesteryearactors of Bollywood, the actor says,“The actors back then had a styleand charm of their own. I seldomsee that in the actors of today.”

The actor had a brief stint in poli-tics back in 2014. He contested the2014 Lok Sabha polls on an AamAdmi Party ticket but lost to our

current Defence Minister RajnathSingh. But that didn’t stop the actorfrom raising his voice on politicalissues. The actor is among the fewlot of celebrities who dared to speakout against the CitizenshipAmendment Bill. “The beauty of thiscountry lies in its diversity. Any actto break this, will result in greatharm to the very fibre that makesIndia,” he says.

Speaking on the perils of it, Javedsays, “Everything we say or do isunder constant criticism. And any-body can come troll or threaten us.Social media comes with its own setof advantages and disadvantages. Butthat should never stop a responsiblecitizen from calling out the wrong-doers.” The actor was all praise forthe students who “bravely came outand were part of the struggle” againstthe CAA.

On the work front, Jaffery’s filmMaska, will soon be released onNetflix. It also stars Boman Irani,Manisha Koirala and Nikita Dutta inprominent roles.

B

P

THE BEAUTY OF THISCOUNTRY LIES IN ITSDIVERSITY. ANY ACT TOBREAK THIS, WILL RESULTIN GREAT HARM TO THEVERY FIBRE THAT MAKESINDIA, HE SAID.

MondayMarch 16, 2020

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

he production of JurassicWorld: Dominion has been

suspended due to the coro-navirus pandemic.

The filming was going onin London since February,

but work on the movie, along withother Universal Pictures projects

including Flint Strong and the untitledBilly Eichner project, went on a hiatuson March 13, reports aceshowbiz.com.

A representative for the studioannounced the decision was made “for

the safety of all involved to delay theshoot indefinitel”.

It’s unknown if the delay will impactthe original release date of June 2021.

Actors Chris Pratt and Bryce DallasHoward will be returning for the movie,

along with franchise original stars Laura Dern,Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill.

Jurassic World:Dominion production

suspended

10

Vijayawada Monday March 16, 2020 what’s brewing?

ctor Tom Holland hasrevealed that his

upcoming Spider-Manmovie has an

“absolutely insane”story.

The British actor said the teamwill start shooting for his third

standalone movie as the web-slinger in July.

“I’m super happy about it. It’sabsolutely insane. We will be shoot-ing Spider-Man 3 in July in Atlanta.

As for me showing up in otherMarvel movies, I’m not sure as to

what they want me to do,” Hollandsaid in an interview with Inquirer.

The actor also revealed thatZendaya would be reprising the

role of MJ in the upcoming sequel.“In Spider-Man 3, Zendaya will

most definitely be in the film. As tothe relationship between Peter and

MJ, I’m not too sure what it willbe.”

Holland, 23, made his debut asthe comic superhero in Captain

America: Civil War and went on tofeature in Marvel Cinematic

Universe movies — Avengers:Infinity War (2018), Avengers:

Endgame (2019).His first standalone — Spider-

Man: Homecoming — released in2017, while 2019’s Spider-Man: Far

From Home marked the culmina-tion of MCU’s Infinity saga.

Spider-Man 3 is scheduled torelease in July, 2021.

A

Spider-Man 3will be

absolutelyinsane: TOM

HOLLAND

he production forthe upcomingmovie, The Batmanhas been shut

down for two weeks due tothe coronavirus pandemic.

Following the news thatHollywood superstar TomHanks and his wife RitaWilson were tested positivefor the disease while shoot-ing for the untitled ElvisPresley biopic inAustralia, Warner Bros.

decided to halt produc-tion on The Batman

for two weeks,reports

variety.com.The film’screw had

been

shooting in a sound stage inLondon since January andwas planning to change loca-tions to Liverpool. WarnerBros. thought it was best togo on a hiatus during thelocation change.

It is unknown when theshoot was going to end and ifit will impact the June 2021release date at this time.

As for the two otherWarner Bros. films in pro-duction — Matrix 4 andKing Richard starring WillSmith — they have not beenput on hiatus as of yet.

The shooting for Matrix 4was going on in Berlin, butin a soundstage where safetymeasures are being taken,while King Richard’s shoothas already been rearrangeddue to bad weather in Los

Angeles, which is expect-ed to continue for the nextfew days.

The Batman stars RobertPattinson, Zoe Kravitz asCatwoman, Paul Dano as theRiddler, Colin Farrell as thePenguin, Jeffrey Wright asJames Gordon and AndySerkis as AlfredPennyworth.

It is set to open on June25, 2021.

The film joined a longlist of Hollywood filmscurrently in produc-tion that have beenput on temporaryhold due to theCOVID-19pandemic.

The Batmanshuts down

production for 2 weeks

T

T

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

sport 11VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | MARCH 16, 2020

PTI n MARGAO

Chennaiyin FC headcoach Owen Coyle rued

his side’s missed chances intheir 1-3 defeat against ATKin the Indian Super Leaguesummit clash that cost thema third title.

Chennaiyin failed to givetheir magical turnaround inthis ISL the desired fairytaleending, and Coyle minced nowords that his side playedbetter than ATK in the finalheld here without spectatorson Saturday due to COVID-19 pandemic.

“Goals change games.We had a few easy chances ininitial phase but could nottake them. No one should tellme they (ATK) were the bet-ter team. My disappointmentis for how much my team putinto the game. But ultimate-ly if you don’t take yourchances, you give away softgoals,” he said.

“We were the team thatplayed all the football. To befair to them they stuck totheir task. They made ittough for us by banging theball forward. The spoils wentto ATK so all the very best tothem. We were the teamwho kept pushing on, butthey were clinical and wewere not,” Coyle added.

The 53-year-old Irishcoach said ATK must berelieved to have won thefinal and the title given thatChhenaiyin had more pos-session and goal-scoringchances.

“We had almost 70%

possession but ultimately ifyou don't take your chances,it will come back to hauntyou. There were two thingsfrom our perspective. One,we were not clinical enoughwith our chances and second,I felt ATK’s last two goalswere certainly avoidable,” hesaid.

“I think ATK will bevery relieved to get awaywith the trophy given whatwe brought to the game. Butthat is how football is at thehighest level.”

Coyle praised ATK goal-keeper ArindamBhattacharja despite he wasbeing the thorn inChennaiyin’s flesh by savingsome crucial saves.

“However, I have to sayATK’s goal in the first halfwas a wonderful finish andcredit to them. The man of

the match for me was theirgoalkeeper ArindamBhattacharja. He was trulyoutstanding. I have to givecredit to ATK for winning,”he said.

Despite the disappoint-ing stumble in the final hur-dle, it has been a season toremember for the MarinaMachans who made it to thesummit clash after languish-ing near the bottom of thetable midway into the season.

“My feelings go out to mygroup of players, becausethose players, particularlythe young players, they havedone so much. They havebeen a joy to watch. I reallyfeel for them. They love theirclub. I feel disappointed forthem. It is a tough night tolose and it is important torecognize the players whohave done very well.”

PTI n MARGAO

The first head coach to winthe Indian Super Leaguetrophy twice, Antonio

Habas of ATK feels that theleague has become more pro-fessional over the years with thecoming in of better playersand support staff.

He also said the latest titleATK won on Saturday afterdefeating Chennaiyin FC 3-1 inthe final here, though it wasplayed without spectators dueto COVID-19 pandemic, wasmore important than the clubwon in the inaugural seasonunder him in 2014.

“It’s different because in thefirst season, the Hero ISL wasnot the same competition. Nowit is much more professional.There are better coaches, bet-ter players, more teams, moretime in the competition,” hesaid when asked to compare hissuccess in the first ISL to thelatest one.

“This title is more impor-tant than the first, but the firstwas also important because itwas the first title,” Habas added.

ATK have now become thefirst ISL team to win the titlethrice in the league's six yearhistory, having also won thetrophy in 2016. ChennaiyinFC, who lost 1-2 in the summitclash on Saturday, had won thetitle twice (2015 and 2017-18).

Habas credited the collec-tive effort of the team as thereason behind their latest titleafter injuries to key playersearly in the season createdproblems.

“We are a group always,inside and outside of the pitch.This is important. We had bigproblems with injuries to CarlMcHugh, then Agus (Iniguez)and in the final, the problem to(Krishna) Roy. But the strengthof the team was the collectiveeffort,” he said.

“His (Carl McHugh) injurywas a big miss. With the prob-lem with Agus, the team was ina problem for two, three match-es. But the strength of thegroup salvaged the situation.When you have individualproblems, the only solution isthe team, the collective. Themix between Indian and for-eign players was fantastic this

season.”The 62-year-old Spaniard

admitted his side did not playwell in the second half of thesummit clash againstChennaiyin FC and his playerswere nervous.

“I think the match hadtwo different parts. In the firsthalf after the initial few min-utes, we were better than

Chennaiyin. And after that inthe second half, with the injuryto Roy (Krishna), the teamwas nervous.

“We could not find thenecessary personnel to keepscoring and kill the match off.In the second half, the team didnot play well. Even though wedid not play well, we had fan-tastic character. In some match-

es, you can win with the heart,”he said.

Asked about the secretbehind his success with ATK,Habas said,” “ATK has peoplethat love me, like I love ATK. Ihave a special connect withATK since the first season andit continues. We are a family.This is amazing. This is thesecret.”

AFP n LONDON

Former Manchester Unitedstar Wayne Rooney claims

the British government andfootball authorities have treat-ed players like “guinea pigs”during the coronavirus crisis.

While the rest ofEuropean football was shut-ting down due to the growingthreat of the global pandem-ic, Rooney is angry it took sev-eral days for the PremierLeague and Football League topostpone their matches untilApril 3.

It was only when Arsenalmanager Mikel Arteta andChelsea winger CallumHudson-Odoi tested positivefor the virus on Friday thatfootball’s UK governing bod-ies called a temporary halt tothe season.

Rooney, currently play-ing for second tier Derby, feltthey should have acted quick-er and the former Englandcaptain said he would “neverforgive” the authorities if hisfamily fell ill as a result.

“Why did we wait untilFriday? Why did it take MikelArteta to get ill for the gamein England to do the rightthing?” Rooney wrote in theSunday Times.

“For players, staff andtheir families it has been aworrying week - one inwhich you felt a lack of lead-ership from the govern-ment and from the FA andPremier League.

“After the emergencymeeting, at last the rightdecision was made -until then italmost felt likefootballers inEngland werebeing treatedlike guineapigs.

“I knowhow I feel. Ifany of my fam-ily get infectedthrough mebecause I’ve hadto play when it’snot safe, andthey get seri-ously i l l , I’dhave to thinkhard about everplaying again. Iwould neverforgive theauthorities.”

M a n ymatches atn o n - l e a g u elevel weregoing ahead asscheduled in

Britain this weekend andRooney believes PrimeMinister Boris Johnson“dodged” the issue by lettingfootball make its own decisionabout playing on.

The 34-year-old claimedmoney was key to the author-ities' reluctance to cancelgames.

“The rest of sport - tennis,Formula One, rugby, golf,football in other countries -was closing down and wewere being told to carry on,”Rooney said.

“I think a lot of foot-ballers were wondering, ‘Is itsomething to do with moneybeing involved in this?'”

Once the virus is undercontrol, Rooney wants a rad-ical schedule shake-up whichcould see the current seasonbeing concluded as late asSeptember, and the next twokicking off in winter-time asa result.

“We’re happy to play untilSeptember if the seasonextends to then, if that’s howit has to be. That’s our job. Aslong as we know we’re safe toplay and it's a safe environ-ment for spectators, we’ll play,”Rooney said.

“The next World Cup is inNovember and December

2022, so you couldactually use this sit-uation as anopportunity andsay we're going tofinish the 2019-20 season later thisyear, then preparefor 2022 by having

the next two sea-sons starting

in winter.”

‘We were better side, paidprice of poor finishing,’

ISL has become more professional over years : Habas

Players treated like ‘guineapigs’ over coronavirus: Rooney

AFP n VALENCIA

Valencia confirmed onSunday five of the club's

players and staff have testedpositive for coronavirus,including Argentiniandefender Ezequiel Garay.

Valencia said all thoseaffected were "now at home,in good health and obeyingself-isolation measures."

Garay, who was set tomiss the rest of the seasonwith a knee injury, becamethe first player in La Liga toconfirm a positive test earli-er on Sunday.

"Clearly I've got off onthe wrong foot in 2020,"Garay wrote on social media."I've tested positive for thecoronavirus, I'm fine andnow just listening to thehealth authorities, at themoment in isolation."

Valencia confirmedmore cases shortly afterGaray's announcement."Valencia CF confirm fivepositive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus have beendetected amongst first teamstaff and players.

“All of these persons are

now at home, in good healthand obeying self-isolationmeasures.”

Valencia played behindclosed doors on Tuesday inthe Champions Leagueagainst Atalanta, the Serie Ateam based in Lombardy,one of Italy's worst-hitregions by the virus.

The club announced onFebruary 28 they would besuspending all non-sporting

activity with the first-teamafter a journalist attendingthe opening game againstAtalanta was confirmed tohave tested positive.

All engagement with themedia before and after sub-sequent matches against RealBetis on February 29 andAlaves on Friday was can-celled, while a tribute to theclub's former player DavidVilla was also called off.

Axelsen lifts maidenAll England Open titleAFP n ENGLAND

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen clinched themen's singles title of the All England

Open at Birmingham Arena here on Sunday.Axelsen outclassed Taiwan’s Chou Tien-

Chen in two straight games 21-13, 21-14. Thesummit clash lasted for about 46 minutes.Axelsen did not give any chance to worldnumber two to make a comeback in the clash.This was Axelsen’s maiden All EnglandOpen title.

Valencia confirm five positive testsfor coronavirus, among them Garay

PTI n NEW DELHI

The visit of a high-powered delegation compris-ing Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and top IOA

officials to Tokyo later this month to look into India'slogistical preparedness for the Olympics has beenput on hold in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visit was scheduled for March 25 to 29 butwill now happen at a later date which is yet to bedecided.

Besides Rijiju, the other members of the dele-gation included Indian Olympic Association pres-ident Narinder Batra, secretary-general RajeevMehta, Boxing Federation of India president AjaySingh, sports secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya andSports Authority of India director general SandipPradhan.

"The pro-posed visit ofHigh LevelI n d i a nDelegation toTokyo con-sisting ofGovt Officialsand IndianO l y m p i cAssociation toreview India's#Tokyo2020preparationon 25thMarch is tem-porarily post-poned," Rijijutweeted.

Mehta told PTI, "In view of the rising threat ofthis COVID-19 pandemic, the visit has been put onhold. As of now, we have not decided when the del-egation will visit Tokyo. It will happen at a later datedepending on the situation."

India will have its first-ever Olympic HospitalityHouse in Tokyo during the Summer Games,scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9. Itwill be built by JSW on a piece of land of 2,200square metre area and in close proximity to theGames Village and multiple venues in the Ariakeregion of the Japanese capital.

It will offer a range of activities and experiencesfor travelling fans and supporters who will be inTokyo for the Olympics.

Running through the duration of the Games,the India House will host watch parties, medal cel-ebrations and meet-and-greet opportunities with theIndian athletes. The visitors will also get a taste ofvariety of Indian cuisine.

There will be a dedicated Athlete Lounge forIndian Olympians and access to medical facilitiesand food will be available on site. A media centreto host travelling Indian media personnel has alsobeen planned in the area. Several Indian and inter-national brands will also have their stalls to displayand sell their products.

More than 70 Indian athletes have so far qual-ified for the Tokyo Olympics and the IOA is expect-ing the number to touch at least 125 before theGames.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to specula-tion over the fate of the Olympics this year. TheInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), howev-er, has insisted that the Games will be held as sched-uled in July-August.

Sports Min and IOAdelegation’s visit toTokyo cancelled

AFP n LOS ANGELES

Four-time Olympic Gold medallistSimone Biles wants more than good

wishes from USA Gymnastics.The US federation wished Biles a

happy 23rd birthday on social media onSaturday.

Biles — who also owns 19 world titlesand is expected to be among the stars ofthe Tokyo Olympics — used their tweetas a chance to demand an independentinvestigation into the Larry Nassar sexabuse scandal.

“how about you amaze me and do theright thing ... have an independent inves-tigation,” Biles snapped on Twitter after thefederation's birthday tweet.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the mostdecorated gymnast of all time,@simonebiles!” USA Gymnastics wrote,posting a video of Biles in action in a floorexercise. “We know you will only contin-ue to amaze us and make history!”

Former national gymnastics teamdoctor Nassar was jailed for life for abus-ing more than 250 athletes, including starsof the United States' 2012 and 2016 goldmedal-winning Olympic teams.

A US Senate investigation found that“multiple institutions" failed to adequate-ly respond to credible allegations againstNassar, but Biles has said that USAGymnastics and the US Olympic andParalympic Committee still owe his vic-

tims, including herself, more answers anda framework to ensure such abuses won'toccur again.

“Wish they BOTH wanted an inde-pendent investigation as much as the sur-vivors & I do,” she tweeted earlier thismonth..”

AFP n LAUSANNE

With less than five months to go before the TokyoOlympics, International Olympic Committee

President Thomas Bach plans emergency talks withmember organisations, sources close to the IOC saidon Sunday.

The IOC plans a conference call on Tuesday to“keep the international federations informed of thesituation, as well as the National Olympic Committeesand athletes,” one source close to the IOC told AFP.

The IOC “will take stock of the actions taken”to respond to the coronavirus crisis “and the feder-ations will have the opportunity to ask questions”added a source close to one international sports fed-eration

The IOC “conducts a regular dialogue with allthe Olympic partners and regularly informs them ofthe situation,” added an IOC spokesman.

While many international sporting events havebeen postponed or cancelled, Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe promised on Friday that Tokyowould host the Olympic Games as planned in Julyand August, despite questions raised by the pandem-ic.

Thomas Bach said on Thursday that his organ-isation would follow the recommendations of theWorld Health Organisation regarding a possible post-ponement.

He acknowledged, however, that the cancellationof qualifying events due to the epidemic was alreadyposing "serious problems”.

Biles takes aim at USA GymnasticsIOC to holdcoronavirus crisis talkswith sports bodies

lose on the heels ofPradeep Machirajudebuting as a leadactor with 30 RojulloPreminchadam Ela?,another popular

anchor Ravi has followed suit.His maiden film as a lead, titledThotabhavi, is directed b AnjiDevendla, and is an action-thriller. The shooting has beenwrapped up and currently it’s inpost-production. NewbieGauthami is paired oppositeRavi in the film, a productionventure of A Prakash Goud. Thefilm’s teaser was unveiled byJayam Manadera directorShankar recently in Hyderabad.“The teaser looks good and thefilm seems to be rich on pro-duction values. Ravi has a goodtiming and I wish the entire unitall the best,” the director said.

Sivashankar master,Chatrapati Shekar, NarasimhaReddy, Jabardusth Apparao,Rohini and Unnikrishna amongothers have played supportingroles in the film.

ith the Statecabinet’sdecision toshut the-atres fromSunday

across the entireTelangana regionuntil March 21, theeffects were felt inTollywood circles. The latest is thatthe Indian MotionsPicture Producers’

Association hasdecided to stopshooting of films,TV serials, web seriesand other entertain-ment including digital

formats till March 31. “In view of the epidemic

spread of Covid 19, the associa-tion has unanimously decidedto stop shootings of films, TVserials, web series and otherentertainment from March 19 to31. Decision about restartingshootings shall be taken onMarch 30 after considering theprevailing situation,” read anofficial statement.Meanwhile, films like Palasa1978 and College Kumar whichreleased recently didn’t witness aspike in collections over thecourse of their first week theatri-cal run, it’s the upcoming releas-es that felt the heat. Nani-starrer

V which was announced forUgadi more than four monthsago has been moved to in anindefinite date in April. Orey..Bujjiga starring Raj Tarun was tobattle it out with V on Ugadi,with the film’s unit already kick-ing off active promotions in thepast 10 days. They’ve justreturned to Hyderabad afterwrapping up a major event inKarimnagar on Saturday.However, they seem to be clue-less on the date now. “We haven’tcome to a conclusion on the dateyet. As of now, we are thinkingof coming on the intended dateof Ugadi if the government liftsthe ban after March 21. But thenwill the audience muster courageto visit theatres four days afterthe ban, is still lingering in ourminds. It’s a dicey situation to bein, especially for a medium bud-get film like ours. If we moveaway from a date like Ugadinow, it would be extremely diffi-cult to get another good slot asthe summer season is packed tothe rafters,” told film’s directorVijay Konda speaking to us.

He added that the theatreshutdown will be a loss to theindustry as a major reshuffle inrelease days is around the cor-ner. “I believe summer is biggerthan Sankranti for industry andthere are some big films lined upin the next two months. If April

releases are pushed to May andMay releases are pushed to June,it will be a chaos of sorts. Thesummer advantage will be lostfor June releases which were ini-tially planned for May. We’veeven put a proposal inProducer’s Guild recently that ifa film that has been promotedextensively is deferred by 10days due to such a health emer-gency, then other films whichare lined up for next week

should be rescheduled by 10days. But then it’s a tall ask,” heinformed.

Producer KL DamodarPrasad, who is member of theProducer’s Guild, stated thatwhen a film is postponed toother date, it will inadvertentlyclash with the other film, whichbooked its date long time back.So how does the Guild intend tosolve such issues? “We can onlyadvice the producers in the bestinterest of other films and theindustry but it’s their call at theend of the day,” he replied.

Films which were on sets havealso borne the brunt ofCoronavirus. MegastarChiranjeevi has decided to stopshooting his next, Acharya, withKoratala Siva for the next 10-15

days. Stressing that importanceof health; Chiru said industryshould also do its bit to containthe Coronavirus. He also laudedthe efforts of central governmentand the two Telugu governmentsfor the efforts they are undertak-ing to control the deadly virus.We’ve also learnt that AlluArjun’s next with Sukumar willnow start in Maredumilli forestsnear Rajahmundry than inKerala. The fresh schedule wasto commence last week in theforests of Kerala but the Keralagovernment revoked the permis-sion in view of Covid-19. Onthe other hand, UV Creations isfacing criticism for shootingtheir next with Prabhas andPooja Hedge in Georgia despitethe prevailing condition. — NG

ven during hisprime, PawanKalyan washappy doingone film peryear. But with

an eye on his political life,Pawan is in fast mode onthe films front. Presentlyjuggling between the setsof Vakeel Saab and an unti-tled film with Krish — not toforget his nod to HarishShankar for Mythri MovieMakers, the film of which rollstowards the year-end — theactor, we’ve learnt from closesources, has approached PuriJagannadh to do a film forhim. It was Pawan who intro-duced Puri as a director twodecades ago with Badri.They’ve teamed up again forCameraman GangathoRambabu (2012) but it’s nosecret that they didn’t bond onthe sets as much as theywould’ve liked to.

A source close to the devel-opment tells us, “Pawan islooking at wrapping up filmsat a good speed to balance hispolitical life as well. Which iswhy, he is choosing filmmak

erswho can

wind up shoot under 80 days.While he is on the brink ofcompleting his portions forVakeel Saab, Krish, who isknown for his speed and qual-ity, has promised the actorthat he will complete theirfilm in less than 85-90 daysunless there’s a delay becauseof the actor’s political commit-ments. The director wrappedup a periodical film likeGautamiputra Satakarni in 79days. Harish’s film is a com-mercial potboiler, requiring agood 70 days of the actor. Onthe other hand, Puri is brand-ed for his breakneck speedand it is in this context that

Pawan hasapproached thedirector despitetheir past differ-ences.”

The source addsthat Pawan rangPuri a week agoand the conversa-tion lasted for anhour nearly. “Thedirector has lined-up other films-prominent of whichincludes Jana GanaMana with Yash — afterhe wraps up his presentventure with VijayDeverakonda but hesaid yes to Pawan. Herespects Pawan a lot ashe was the one whogave him a break inthe industry. Thestory hasn’t fea-tured in thescheme of theirdiscussion butPuri will work onit after he completesDeverakonda’s film. JPulla Rao and J Bhagavan arethe frontrunners to producethe film.”

Pawan islooking at

wrapping upfilms at a good

speed tobalance his

political life aswell. Which is

why, he ischoosing

filmmakerswho can wind

up shoot under80 days, finds

NAGARAJGOUD

Vijayawada Monday March 16, 2020

E

12

tollywood

Pawan to joinforces with PURI AGAIN

WParugu fameSheela tiesthe knot

issing in action fornearly a decade inTollywood, actressSheela Kaur, whoplayed the femalelead in films like

Parugu and Rajubhai, hastied the knot with a Chennai-based businessman SantoshReddy last week. The wed-ding, which was arranged bythe parents and relatives ofthe actor, was a close affairwith families and friends ofthe newlyweds in attendance.Sharing the news on hersocial handle, the 30-year-old

actress wrote, “Theday for us is special. Atime beyond compare.. Thejoy we feel deep in ourhearts..A new day, a new lifetogether #Married (sic).”

Besides Telugu cinema,Sheela set foot in multipleSouth languages includingTamil, Malayalam andKannada. Her latest appear-ance was in a Kannada filmcalled Hyper. As soon as sheposted her wedding pictureon social media, netizenswere quick to shower thecouple with their wishes.

M

Now, anchorRavi debuts as

a lead actortylish starAllu Arjun,who is bask-ing in theafterglow ofAla

Vaikunthapuramlo, onSunday, shared a photo-graph of his son Ayaanfrom his pre-schoolgraduation celebrations.

Allu Arjun took toTwitter, where he shared

an adorable photographof his son. “Pre SchoolGraduation Celebrations.Ayaan, I am so proud ofyou for excelling so well.I wholeheartedly Thank@bodhivalleyschool forteaching the foundationof life to my son. I am soglad as parents we madea good choice byenrolling in this school,”he captioned the image.

The actor thenthanked the teachers formaking his son ground-ed.

“Thanks to all theTeachers for making himgrounded, and all thehelpers for taking care allthese years. Thanks toBodhi Valley Schoolonce again. Proud andMemorable Day!” hewrote.

S

C

Bunny is proudof his son Ayaan

COVID 19 SCARE: ALLSHOOTINGS HALTED!