! women among " Maoists killed in Gadchiroli jungle shootout

Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Oct 18 (UNI) In a major vic-tory for the security forces, a crack team of commandos gunned down fi ve Maoists, including three women, after coming under attack in the thick forests of Maharash-tra’s Gadchiroli early on Sun-day, offi cials said. Around 4 a.m., Maoists opened fi re on a police patrol, conducting a search operation in the for-ests of Kosmi-Kisneli in the Dhanora region. “The Anti-Naxal (Maoist) Operations C-60 commandos opened re-taliatory fi re in the direction of the Maoists after which they fl ed the area,” said an offi cial. Later, the police re-covered the bodies of three female and two male Mao-ists from the bushes and ef-forts are on to confi rm their identity, the cases or rewards against them, etc. There were no casualties on the secu-rity side in the fi rst major en-counter for the current year besides being the maiden operation under new Gad-chiroli Superintendent of Police Ankit Goyal. The ANO and Maharashtra Police have intensifi ed anti-Maoist op-erations in a big way in the region in recent months.

Delhi govt launches campaign against drug abuseNew Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) The Delhi government on Sun-day launched a campaign against drug and substance abuse in the national capi-tal to ensure sustained and focused effort to combat the menace. For the purpose, Delhi Women and Child De-partment (WCD) Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam sug-gested the department Sec-retary and Director to con-stitute an expert committee to deal with the problem. Services for de-addiction and counselling will be pro-vided to the affected people at their place of stay under the campaign. Under an-other project, professional cab drivers who are among the prominent groups high-ly susceptible to misuse of alcohol for reasons such as reducing sleepiness or increasing willingness for work and socialization will be sensitized on harms and consequences of misuse, re-percussion of drunken driv-ing and about the myths and facts related to alcohol con-sumption. The Minister’s re-marks came while launching the campaign in a program organized by Prohibition, Women and Child Depart-ment. In his inaugural re-mark, Gautam underlined the need for regular coordi-nation of all stakeholders for a meaningful.

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMESENGLISH DAILYENGLISH DAILY

VOL NO. XII ISSUE NO. 55 PAGES. 8+8 VOL NO. XII ISSUE NO. 55 PAGES. 8+8 /- 4/- 4`

PUBLISHED FROM: HYDERABAD, CHENNAI & BANGALORE EDITOR IN CHIEF: BUCHI BABU VUPPALA19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020 www.thesouthindiatimes.com /facebook/thesouthindiatimes.yahoo.in / thesouthindiatimes.yahoo.in ////////////////////

NZ PM EXPECTS TO FORM NEW GOVT BEFORE OFFICIAL

POLL RESULTS

ANDHRA NOMINATES CHAIRPERSONS FOR 56

BACKWARD CLASS PANELS

SHORT TAKES

New Delhi, Oct 18: The eighth round of India-China military and dip-lomatic level talks is expected to take place next week to discuss disengagement in Lada-kh even as armies of the two countries prepare for snow and winter deployment along the 1,597km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

According to senior offi cials, both sides are not impatient over a resolution on the fric-tion points but have decided to keep the dialogue channels open at both military com-mander and diplomatic levels. The talks are also aimed at preventing any vertical escalation on the friction points either due to an accident or ag-gressiveness of an indi-

vidual commander.While the People’s Lib-

eration Army (PLA) has proposed that both sides withdraw armoured and artillery units as part of de-escalation fi rst and then go for dis-engagement of infantry, the Indian side is

very clear that armoured units cannot be with-drawn as it will give ad-vantage to the adversary due to terrain and capa-bility. As a senior military commander explained, the issue is that the Indian Army’s approach to both

north and south bank of Pangong Tso is through two very high mountain passes-- the 17,590 feet Chang La and 18,314 feet Marsimik La. While Chang La lies between the road from Leh to the contested south bank of

Pangong Tso, Marsimik La lies between the con-tested north banks of the lake and Kongka La. The road from contested Gogra-Hot Springs near KongKa La to north Pan-gong Tso runs through Marsimik La.

India, China militaries to hold eighth round of talks over border dispute

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) Congress’ interim Presi-dent Sonia Gandhi on Sun-day asked the party’s new state in-charges and Gen-eral Secretaries to fi ght for the people’s cause as the country’s democracy is in “diffi cult times”. In her fi rst interaction with the newly-appointed offi ce-bearers, she said: “Everyone has to wage a struggle for people’s issues and for ameliorating their sufferings as our de-mocracy is passing through most diffi cult times.”

She asked the state in charges to identify issues which are directly related to people and take on the gov-ernment over these for the people’s benefi t. Referring

to the passage of the three farm laws despite opposi-tion from political parties and farmers organisations, and rising crimes against women in various parts of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, she said: “Persis-tent and determined strug-gle for the cause of people is

the heart and soul of Indian National Congress. “Even today, dedicated service of fellow citizens and de-termined fi ght against the injustice, inequity and dis-crimination in all spheres is the guiding light for every Congress man and woman.”

Gandhi stressed that this

responsibility is even more onerous and important now as “our democracy is passing through its most tumultuous times”. “There is a designed attack on our Constitution and our democratic tradi-tions. Our country is ruled by a Government, which is systematically bartering the interests of our citizens at the altar of profi teering by handful of crony capitalists,” she added. Accusing the BJP-led government has attacked the very foundation of the country’s resilient agrar-ian economy by bringing in the farm laws, the Congress chief said that they were “black laws” for the farmers and have tried to snatch the living of many such people.

Fight for people’s issues and to ease their suffering: Sonia

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday attributed to the worsening Covid-19 situation in Kerala to the state government’s “gross negligence” during the recent Onam festivities.

“The state is paying the price of its gross negligence. There were huge congre-gations during Onam and adequate safety measures were not taken. “Epi(demic) curve of Kerala changed completely due to Onam festivities across the state... the daily new cases nearly doubled,” he said in “Sun-day Samvaad”, his Sunday webinar for his social media followers.

Noting that state-wise unlocking of services, along

with an increase in intra- and inter-state travel for trade and tourism, led to the spreading of Covid-19 cases across various dis-tricts of Kerala, Harsh Vard-han stressed that this ought to serve as a good lesson for all the state governments which were being negligent in planning for the festival

season. The fi rst confi rmed Covid-19 case in India was reported in Kerala on Janu-ary 30. Between January 30 and May 3, Kerala reported only 499 cases and two deaths and the cases were concentrated in only a few districts. It took 203 days to breach the 50,000-mark in total Covid cases as the

state managed to rein in the spread of the infection with stringent surveillance. How-ever, the next 50,000 were reached within the next 23 days. And on October 13, Kerala’s Covid-19 tally crossed the three lakh mark.

On Saturday, 9,016 new cases of infection were re-ported from the state. A central team was sent to the state to examine why the situation has worsened over the past few weeks. As per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Fam-ily Welfare, the load of ac-tive Covid-19 cases in Kerala has brought into the list of six worst-affected states in the country. Kerala’s TPR is highest at 17.31 per cent against the national.

Srinagar, Oct 18 (UNI) People in Jammu and Kashmir are unaffected with Pakistan’s propaganda about the In-dian government and armed forces, the Indian Army’s top commander in Kashmir said.

Lt Gen B.S. Raju, who heads the Srinagar-headquartered 15 Corps, told IANS that the situation in the Kashmir Val-ley is normal and Pakistan is not happy about it and “propagating false narratives about the Valley”. “Pakistan is not happy with the normalcy. They are propagating the nar-rative that there is violence, mishandling, misgovernance and the security forces in the Valley have gone berserk. They are doing it more for their domestic population,” he said. He stressed that

Pakistan has been stretched domestically but yet it is not able to let go of its Kashmir cause. “Today the little noise it is making is to only retain that little relevance within the community that they are still doing something for Kash-mir,” he said.

The Srinagar Corps Com-mander also held that theo-retically and practically, there is no option for Pakistan in the Valley. “From the military point of view or Information Warfare point of view, it can keep spending its money... but it is of no use,” he said.

Kerala paying for gross negligence during Onam: Harsh Vardhan

People in Kashmir unaffected by Pakistan’s false propaganda: Srinagar Corps chief

India’s nCoV tally mounts to 74,94,552 Recovery rate stands at 88.03%

New Delhi, Oct 17 (UNI) Amid Covid that is impacting global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has fore-cast that Bangladesh will edge past India this year in per capita GDP. According to sources, the IMF also observed that Bangla-desh has “lessons” for India to brave the pandemic induced economic and other distresses to revive country’s pre-Covid “performances”. “The spring-board for Bangladesh’s growth has been a tighter integration into global value chains for tex-tiles, while India has reverted to it’s import substitution ap-proach by using tariffs to pro-tect domestic industry,” the IMF maintained.”An export-oriented approach remains the

best bet to revive India’s pre-pandemic economic position,” it said. Incidentally, some po-litical pandits are of the view that the Government must also expand economic cooperation and connectivity with Bangla-desh. According to them, in

India’s “overheated” political rhetoric, references to Ban-gladesh are mostly “negative.” “The salient characterisation is that, besides current evidence, it’s an economic basket case, forcing desperate job seekers to cross illegally into India.

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) Congress’ interim President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday asked the party’s new state in-charges and General Secretaries to fi ght for the people’s cause as the country’s democracy is in “diffi cult times”. In her fi rst interaction with the newly-appointed offi ce-bearers, she said: “Everyone has to wage a struggle for people’s issues and for ameliorating their sufferings as our democracy is passing through most diffi cult times.” She asked the state in charges to identify issues which are directly related to people and take on the government over these

for the people’s benefi t. Referring to the passage of the three farm laws despite opposition from political parties and farmers organisations, and rising crimes against women in various parts of the country, includ-ing Uttar Pradesh, she said: “Per-sistent and determined struggle for the cause of people is the heart and soul of Indian National Congress. “Even today, dedicated service of fellow citizens and determined fi ght against the injustice, inequity and discrimination in all spheres is the guiding light for every Congress man and woman.”

Hyderabad ß oods affected over !#,$$$ families: GHMC

A YEAR AFTER SEEKING VOTES IN POURING RAIN, PAWAR

CONSOLES FLOOD VICTIMS

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19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Markets gained on four of the fi ve trading sessions, yet closed with losses in the week gone by. The BSESENSEX lost 526.51 points or 1.30 per cent to close at 39,982.98 points. NIFTY lost 151.75 points or 1.27 per cent to close at 11,762.45 points. The broader market saw BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 lose 1.43 per cent, 1.37 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively. BSEMIDCAP was down 0.98 per cent while BSESMALLCAP lost 1.40 per cent. The movement in BSESENSEX during the week needs to be looked at a little more closely. It traded in positive and negative territory intra-day during the fi rst three days and managed to gain on a net basis, 93 points, 32 points and 170 points. On Thursday it lost a massive 1,050 points and recovered 250 points on Friday. What is signifi cant to note is that on the fi rst three trading days though it made small gains, the difference between the high and the low of the day was signifi cant and it averaged over 400 points a day. This is what I had highlighted in the previous week about the jeweller and the blacksmith. The Indian Rupee lost 21 paisa or 0.29% to close at Rs 73.34 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones closed with gains of 19.41 points or 0.07% at 28,606.31 points. The US elections are getting closer in terms of time with just about a fortnight to go. Postal ballots have already begun and voting this time is far ahead than ever before. The lead notched up by Democrat candidate Joe Biden is moving up as far as the pollsters go. The election could be close as the American election is a winner takes the entire state and this has always caused swings in the election. The date of voting is Tuesday the 3rd of November. In primary market news, there were three listings during the week with two of them listing on Monday and one on Thursday. Monday saw Mazagon Dock and Shipbuilders list at Rs 216.65 and then close at the lower circuit at Rs 173, against an issue price of Rs 145. The share gained Rs 28 or 19.31%. The share closed the week at Rs 168.05, up 15.90%. Incidentally, this issue saw the HNI portion subscribed 678.88 times which implied that funding cost was in the region of Rs 135-145 or almost 90% of the issue price. All leveraged HNI’s who have sold shares have done so at a loss. The second listing was from UTI AMC which had issued shares at Rs 554. The share closed trading at Rs 476.60, a loss of Rs 77.40 or 13.83% on listing day. It recovered during the week and closed with weekly losses of Rs 9.23%. The third listing which happened on Thursday the 15th of October was of Likhitha Infrastructure limited which had issued shares at Rs 120. Shares of this company were traded in the ‘trade to trade’ category as the issue size was below Rs 250 crs. Shares gained Rs 16.60 or 13.83% on day one. They closed the week at the same level as the listing day. The week ahead sees an issue from Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited tapping the capital markets. The company is issuing shares in a price band of Rs 32-33 and would open on Tuesday the 20th of October and close on Thursday the 22nd of October. The issue consists of a fresh issue of Rs 280 crs and an offer for sale of 7.20 cr shares. The EPS of the company for the year ended March 2020, was Rs 2.39 which implies a PE ratio of 13.39-13.81 times. The holding company is listed since April 2016 when it had issued shares at Rs 110. While the share did touch a lifetime high of Rs 206 in July 2016, it made a lifetime low of Rs 32.75 in March 2020. It currently trades at Rs 49.95 on BSE as of Friday the 16th October having lost more than 55% of its issue price in roughly 4 � years. A comparable peer would be the holding company Ujjivan Financial Services Limited which had tapped the markets a week later than Equitas and issued shares at Rs 210. The high and low of this share was Rs 547 in July 2016 and the low of Rs 124.55 in March 2020. The share trades currently at Rs 209.50, which is almost the exact issue price.

MARKETS TO HAVE WILDER SWINGS INTRA%DAY

2EDIT19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMESTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

BEWARE, ECONOMY IS ON AUTOPILOTWhen you are unwell, you need a doctor. When your car has broken down, you need a mechanic. When you need 20 off the last over, you look up to MS Dhoni. In crisis, you look to an expert to bail you out. A crisis demands a series of calculated measures that can fetch positive results. Unfortu-nately, the current eco-nomic cockpit is being controlled by pilots who seem to be lost and have left the economy on au-topilot for too long, hop-ing for it to fi nd its own way. The Finance Min-istry came up with a set of measures on Monday that they chose to refer to as fi scal stimulus pack-age. The only thing worth welcoming about this was the acknowledgement that consumer demand is perhaps at an all-time low and deserves attention.

This is the second fi scal stimulus package that the Finance Minister has an-nounced ever since eco-nomic activities came to an abrupt halt due to CO-VID-19. The natural effect of such an economic clo-sure was on jobs. With 2.1 crore people losing jobs and millions of others in-secure about job losses or pay cuts, it is evident that consumer demand will fall. Although man-datory spending on food, electricity, etc. wasn’t too badly affected, discretion-ary spend like shopping, gifts, travel took a severe hit. During the fi rst fi scal stimulus announcement in May 2020, as an econo-mist, I expected the gov-ernment to announce a balanced set of measures to boost both supply and demand. What was dis-appointing was that al-though the 20 lakh crore package announced then

served well as a market-ing gimmick, most of it was focused on credit ex-pansion and debt restruc-turing. The component of actual expenditure of the government was only close to 5%. The credit rat-ing agencies have shown their assessment of these measures with each agen-cy massively downgrad-ing India’s GDP growth forecast for FY 2020-21 in July-August from their earlier estimates in April-May. Boosting consumer demand was the key fo-cus of the government in Fiscal Stimulus 2.0, an-nounced on Monday. I strongly argue that comes six months too late. Four major areas that the gov-ernment has narrowed down on to spur de-mand: LTC cash voucher scheme for government employees; festival ad-vance of 10,000; an extra

12,000 crore to states for capital expenditure; and 25,000 crore to be spent

by the central govern-ment as capital expen-diture. Firstly, I believe the government either doesn’t understand or wishes to conveniently ignore the essence of a stimulus - which is extra or additional money be-ing pumped in. Moving money from one pocket to another might be ap-preciated to those who are fans of trickery, but it is a joke as far as fi scal stimulus is concerned. The festival advance is an interest-free loan; it will be deducted from their paycheques in in-stallments. Through this scheme, the government seems to be suggesting credit as the route for li-quidity. Through the LTC Cash voucher scheme, central government em-

ployees are being nudged to buy goods that draw a larger than 12% GST at a GST-registered store in non-cash form. Also, back of the envelope calcula-tions suggest that if the LTA amount available is 15,000, to get the entire

amount as tax exempt, one would need to spend 45,000. A real stimulus

would have been the deci-sion to go ahead with the Dearness Allowance hike from 17% to 21% which the centre has suspended till June next year. The other announcement was around providing 12,000 crore to states for capital expenditure. Although increasing spending through capital expendi-ture is a welcome move, the question is: how much more money was given to states? A paltry 1.33% more. The states’ total capital expenditure

budget for FY21 is nearly 9 lakh crores. What will

a meagre 12,000 crore do and how will it “stimu-late” states to spend more on capital expenditure?

The only onus that the central government has taken is committing on spending an additional 25,000 crores on capital expenditure, which, by the way, is just a 6% in-crease over and beyond the budgeted Rs 4.13 lakh crore for capital expen-diture. It’s like the king asking his army to win the war but refusing to leave his own den. The economic growth of a na-tion occurs on account of three levers: consump-tion, savings and invest-ment. Credit growth has been stagnant indicating a weak credit demand. On the other hand, deposit growth witnessed a 10.9% rise year-on-year. This

clearly indicates that peo-ple prefer savings against either investment or con-sumption - and credit is not the answer to the current crisis. In order to spur demand, the govern-ment must: - Increase its own capital expenditure to reignite the economy. This will not only push the growth of core sectors but also help create more jobs and allay the fears of uncertainty among con-sumers - Clear all pending dues to states which will allow them to further in-vest, create job opportu-nities and spur consumer spending - An unemploy-ment benefi t mechanism should be instituted with a separate allocation to push money into the hands of the unemployed

Credit is not the answer at the moment. Cash in the hands of the needy is the need of the hour.

President Donald Trump and his National Secu-rity Adviser, Robert C. O’ Brien are aching to an-nounce troop withdrawal from Afghanistan as a last-minute sweetener for the American voter, rather like fl oral touches in an Indian wedding. Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is probably looking at life beyond Trump, unless there is a second coming. He is talking of ending the Afghan war “responsibly”, which means “not in a hurry”.

When President Barack Obama had set fi rm dead-lines for withdrawal, I made an extensive survey of the country for the Ob-server Research Founda-tion. I had concluded that the US is “not leaving Af-ghanistan today; it is not leaving it tomorrow.” A super power enters a ma-jor theatre with one set of interests but, over a peri-od of time, develops mul-tiple compelling interests.

Why would a country, which is directly involved in 14 shooting wars in various parts of the globe,

walk away from its lon-gest war ever without any identifi able gain. With-drawing empty handed would be an admission of defeat. Since this is not on the cards, the only conclu-sion one can draw is that a plan for the future is not being disclosed for now.

US involvement in Af-ghanistan has been a great tragedy, but its frequent false starts in a rush to the exit door and announce withdrawal, is material for a spoof by someone like Michael Moore. Take for instance the peace agreement the US signed with the Afghan Taliban on February 29 in Doha.

So eager was US nego-tiator Zalmay Khalilzad to fl ourish a peace agree-ment just when the elec-tion campaign in the US was picking up that he would have inserted into the agreement anything the Taliban wished. Read the title headline of that agreement: it is patently absurd. “Agreement for bringing Peace to Afghan-istan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America.” The fragility of the agreement is transparent in the pulls

and counter pulls that have obviously gone into the headline. There is un-bridgeable distance on the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s role, for instance. The Taliban will not talk to Ghani whom they de-scribe quite brazenly as a US “toady”.

Ghani deludes himself if he imagines he is be-ing “fi rm”. He is com-ing across to the world at large as a leader with a very thick skin. New Delhi wishes to keep ap-pearances. In the trapeze act, South Block does not wish to be seen loosening the clasp of Ghani’s hand mid-air. The zero-sum

game with Pakistan may operate as a factor but, in deference to realism, not a defi ning one.

If New Delhi is seen to be digging in for Ghani, it will only fi nd itself em-barrassed down the line because it is clear as day-light that intra Afghan talks will not move unless Ghani steps aside. By vis-iting Islamabad and New Delhi, Abdullah Abdullah is positioning himself to step in as soon as the op-portunity arises. This is not a process that is likely to reach fruition before the end of the year. So, no confetti on election eve. One of the advantages the US extracts from its position of being a super-power is to keep making mistakes almost willfully without any fear of being called to account. It is al-most a forgotten story that in December 2001 NATO, helped by Russia, Iran, In-dia and the Northern Alli-ance headquartered in the Panjsher valley defeated Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Punjsher was also the op-erational headquarters for the Tajik hero Ahmad

Shah Masoud. So strong was Masoud’s opposition to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, that he travelled extensively to acquaint various international fora of the danger that Al-Qa-eda and Taliban posed to Afghanistan. His address to the European Parlia-ment in the summer of 2001, months before 9/11 was historic by any yard-stick. Complete silence on this speech of Masoud’s is surprising. His forces had picked up chatter about a possible Al-Qaeda action in the American main-land. He was speaking in Brussels. On September 9, precisely two days be-fore September 11 (9/11) two Arabs, disguised as journalists, visited him in his hideout near the Tajik border for an inter-view. Their passports, it was revealed much later, had been forged in Brus-sels. These “journalists”, while saying goodbye to Masoud, detonated their vests. All three died in-stantly. Two days later, the twin towers came down in New York. Is there nothing here that deserves.

THERE CAN BE NO INTRA AFGHAN TALKS UNLESS GHANI STEPS ASIDE

3NATION19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

Mumbai, Oct 18 (UNI) Ex-actly a year ago on this day, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar had grabbed the nation’s atten-tion by campaigning at a poll rally in Satara under a downpour, which ultimately led to an unexpected mega-setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A year later on Sunday (October 18, 2020), the never-say-die Pawar again went to the electorate of the region, this time battered by last week’s heavy rain and fl oods, which has so far claimed around 30 lives.

However, on October 18, 2019, Pawar’s booming voice seemed to quiver in the bone-chilling cold rain then, but simultaneously boosted

the morale of poll ally Con-gress and rattled the wary BJP-Shiv Sena desperate for a comeback. The NCP had nominated Shriniwas Patil for the Satara Lok Sabha by-election and Deepak Sahe-brao Pawar Satara assembly seat, both falling in the erst-while royal kingdom of Sata-ra ruled by the Chhatrapatis.

Aiming for a ‘royal’ advan-tage, the BJP had nominated scions of the Chhatrapati clan -- the 13th direct de-scendent and sitting MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who had jolted Pawar by quit-ting NCP just weeks before the October 2019 state polls, for the Lok Sabha by-elec-tion -- and his (Udayanraje Bhosale’s) cousin Shiven-draraje Bhosale for the as-

sembly seat. Undeterred by the daunting challenges, Pawar emotionally declared in the downpour: “This is Varun Raja’s (Rain God Va-run) blessings for the NCP... It will lead to a amiracle’ in the state, and that marvel will start from October 21... I am confi dent!” as the crowds reciprocated with a thunder-ous applause overshadow-ing the raging thunderstorm

above. On Counting Day, Pawar again created history of sorts when he trounced a ‘Chhatrapati’ -- something that the Mughals could nev-er achieve for centuries.

Though Shivendraraje Bhosale bagged the Satara assembly seat, Udayanraje Bhosale tasted a humiliating defeat - and Pawar proved a Point without shedding a drop of blood. In the sec-

ond half of November 2019, Pawar again fought a valiant battle on the political and family fronts when a new government was secretly sworn-in in an early morn-ing operation, headed by BJP Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Pawar’s neph-ew Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister!

Rudely woken up by the development, Pawar fought tooth-and-nail and after an 80-hour long drama uproot-ed the two-men regime, and on Nov. 28, he kept his prom-ise by ensuring that Uddhav Thackeray was installed as the new Chief Minister -- a fi rst for anybody from the Thackeray clan to occupy an elected public offi ce. In the past 11 months, Thackeray

is in an unviable position as CM in what has now become the second most diffi cult job in the country after the PM, but despite pathological dif-ferences among Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, he continues to rule the roost.

Thackeray is piloting the state in the most turbu-lent times ever witnessed by any past CM - the allies who often become ‘naraaz’ (grumpy) with each other, a belligerent Opposition that takes gleeful potshots at the so-called aautorickshaw government’ almost daily and a host of other ahidden enemies’ that pop up oc-casionally to embarrass the Maha Vikas Aghadi govern-ment. Then came the Coro-navirus pandemic.

A YEAR AFTER SEEKING VOTES IN POURING RAIN, PAWAR CONSOLES FLOOD VICTIMS Srinagar, Oct 18 (UNI) The

famous 3-km-long Sunday Market in the heart of the Srinagar city reopened af-ter remaining closed for over eight months in view of COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining social dis-tancing, hundreds of ven-dors have put up their stalls in the weekly fl ea mar-ket from Tourist Recep-tion Centre (TRC) to Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), including Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the sum-mer capital, Srinagar.

However, very few peo-ple have turned up to make purchases in the market, which during this time of the year in the past used to be abuzz with customers. The continuous closure of the famous market, which attracts customers from across Kashmir valley,

since March this year, had badly affected to vendors, who claim that they have incurred losses to the tune of crores of rupees.

The closure of the week-ly fl ea market since March in the heart of the city had left people, particularly economically weaker sec-tion of the society, with no option but to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha without new clothes and other items, otherwise available in the market in reasonable rates. The weekly fl ea market was closed on March 8, about three weeks before J&K witnessed its fi rst COVID-19-related death. The mar-ket attracts thousands of customers from different parts of the Valley. Busi-ness worth crores of ru-pees was done every week.

Famous Sunday market in Srinagar reopens after 8 months

Guwahati, Oct 18 (UNI) The Madrasa Board in Assam would be dis-solved and all state-run madrasas would be converted into general schools, state Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.

The Minister said that the Sanskrit tols (schools) would be closed down as well by the Assam govern-ment. Sarma said that the government has no intention of closing the private madrasas. "In or-der to bring uniformity, teaching the Quran at the cost of government exchequer could not be allowed to continue," he

added. "We would soon introduce necessary regulation in this regard. The state government took this decision based on research on madra-sas. The government-run madrasas in Assam would either be convert-ed into regular schools or they would be closed down. Teachers would be transferred to general schools after issuance of a government notifi ca-tion next month," the Minister told the media. "In order to bring unifor-mity, teaching the Quran at the cost of govern-ment exchequer could not be allowed to con-tinue," he added.

Bhubaneswar, Oct 17 (UNI) India on Friday successfully conducted another night trial of indigenously-developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile from a defence test facility off Odisha coast, DRDO sources said.

The short-range sur-face-to-surface missile was test-fired from the launching complex III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 7.30 p.m. as part of user trial by the Strategic Forces Command, De-fence Research and De-velopment Organisation (DRDO) sources said.

This was the second successful night trial of Prithvi-II missile in less than a month. Earlier,

the Indian Army suc-cessfully conducted a night trial on Septem-ber 23. Prithvi-II is ca-pable of attacking tar-gets at a range of 350 km. The Prithvi missile project encompassed developing three vari-ants for use by the In-dian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian

Navy. The initial project framework of the Inte-grated Guided Missile Development Program outlines the variants in the following manner. Prithvi I (SS-150) – Army version (150 km (93 mi) range with a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). Prithvi II (SS-250) – Air Force version (350 km

(220 mi)[6] range with a payload of 500 kg (1,100 lb). Prithvi III (SS-350) – Naval version (350 km (220 mi) range with a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). The Prithvi II missile can be used as an anti-ship weapon as well as for destroying land targets depending on the range.

INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST FIRES BRAHMOS MISSILE FROM

BARC INDIA EXPRESSES DIS-MAY AT REPUBLIC NETWORK

TENSION ON 2 INTER-STATE BORDERS IN NE; SHOPS, HOUSES BURNT, 50 IN-

Mumbai, Oct 18 (UNI) Broad-cast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has slammed news channel Re-public network for disclosing confi dential communica-tion and misrepresenting the same. In a statement, BARC India also said that it has not commented on the ongoing investigation and it is provid-ing necessary assistance to the law enforcement agency.

"BARC India has not com-mented on the ongoing in-vestigation and it is providing necessary assistance to the

law enforcement agency," the body said in a statement re-leased on Sunday.

"BARC India is highly dis-appointed with the actions of the Republic network by disclosing private and confi -dential communications and misrepresenting the same.

BARC India reiterates that it has not commented on the ongoing investigation and without prejudice to BARC India's rights, it expresses its dismay at the actions of the Republic Network," it further read. The statement comes in response to Republic network claiming that BARC's re-sponse in an e-mail exchange with the channel stands in contradiction to the allega-tions levelled by Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh. Earlier this month, the Mum-bai Police busted.

Silchar, Oct 18: The situation on the Assam-Mizoram border took an ugly turn in the past 48 hours with many shops and houses burnt and over 50 people injured, offi cials said on Sunday.

Security was also beefed up along Tripu-ra-Mizoram border and prohibitory orders pro-mulgated, even as the Tri-pura authorities stopped reconstruction of a tem-ple at the disputed Ph-uldungsei village on the

inter-state border. On the Assam-Mizoram border tension, Deputy Inspector

General of Police, South-ern Assam, Dilip Kumar Dey said that Cachar

district police have ap-proached their Mizoram counterparts in a bid to dispel the problem and prevent clashes between people from both sides.

Explaining the cause, Dey, talking to IANS over phone, said that a Co-vid-19 testing centre was set up at Mizoram gov-ernment at Lailapur, 1.5 km into Assamese ter-ritory, on Friday, to test samples of Mizoram-bound truckers and oth-er people. (UNI)

Bengaluru, Oct 18(UNI) Central Crime Branch (CCB) has informed the Karnataka High Court that it has found evidence and incriminating documents in Aditya Alva’s house during the raid recently in connection with drug menace.

In the statement of ob-jections fi led in response to Aditya’s petition on Saturday, CCB said it found MDMA pills, mari-

juana and other materials while searching his house in September. The court

posted the matter for No-vember 13. Aditya’s peti-tion, fi led in September seeking quashing of the FIR, stated that unquali-fi ed allegations had been made in the complaint and it had no mention of the commission of a cog-nizable offence.

The petition also stated that Aditya is a realtor by profession and holds a master’s degree in inter-national diplomacy.

Gonda, Oct 18 (UNI) Gonda police have ar-rested seven persons af-ter it was revealed that priest Samrat Das had orchestrated an attack on himself on October 10 as he wanted to frame one Amar Singh and grab his 120 bigha land, police said on Sunday. The attack had attracted flak from the opposition on the Yogi Adityanath government.

The Gonda police ar-

rested Munna Singh, Vipin, Neeraj Singh, Sonu Singh, Mahant Sitaram, Shiv Shankar Singh, and Vinay Kumar on Saturday from Haridwar Singh Bagh in Tiremanorama village under Ithiyathok police station jurisdiction.

Gonda SP Shailesh Pan-dey said that Samrat Das would be arrested once he is discharged from hos-pital for the treatment of a gunshot injury on his shoulder.

Found drugs in Aditya Alva’s house during raid: CCB to K'taka HC

Patna, Oct 18 (UNI) Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) na-tional President Chirag Paswan on Sunday said that he was deeply hurt by the 'vote katwa' remark by BJP leaders in the run-up to the Bihar Assembly elec-tions and was an "insult" to his late father and Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan.

"Vote Katwa remark is not an insult to my party or me. It is an insult to my fa-ther who formed the party for the welfare of deprived

sections of society. Every-one knew the popularity of Ram Vilasji in Bihar. The party belongs to my father," Chirag Paswan said.

On Friday, Bihar Dep-uty Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had alleg-edly said that the LJP had parted ways with the Na-tional Democratic Alliance since it wanted more seats than what the BJP was will-ing to give. "The LJP is a vote katwa (votes-divider) party and does not want a BJP government to come to power in Bihar." Union Minister Prakash Javadekar too had dubbed the LJP as votes-divider.

BJP'S 'VOTE KATWA' REMARKS IN-SULT MY LATE FATHER: CHIRAG

Agra, Oct 18 (UNI) A huge blast in a godown full of stockpiles of fi recrackers killed three unidentifi ed persons and injured half a dozen people in Agra. The number of casual-ties could go up after the debris is cleared, police said. The whole area was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and stink. The ex-plosion was heard even two kilometres away.

All three succumbed to injuries while being shifted to hospital. Shah Ganj police station of-fi cials said the blast took place in New Azam Pada godown, near Sun-fl ower School, close to the Prithvi Nath police chowki.

Locals said illegal stocking of fi recrack-ers was going on in the

godown for the past several days. Anticipat-ing Diwali sales several godowns in the city have begun stocking a wide range of crackers. The godown allegedly be-longs to a local business-man Chaman Mansuri, people living nearby told the police. Senior police offi cials had reached the site of the blast along with fi re brigade person-nel to douse the fi re.

Assam to shut down govt-run

madrasas

Rahul in Wayanad for ! days

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) Con-gress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit his par-liamentary constituency of Wayanad in Kerala for three days starting Monday, party sources said on Sunday. Rahul Gandhi will on Tuesday hold a review meetings in Malap-puram on Covid-19 situation in his constituency. On Tues-day, Rahul will also attend the District Development Coordi-nation and Monitoring Com-mittee meeting. After a visit to Mananthavady hospital on Wednesday, he will return to New Delhi from Kannur.

UP priest faked attack to grab land, 7 held

MAJOR BLAST IN AGRA, 3 DEAD

MIZORAM CHIEF MINISTER ZORAMTHANGA HELD AN EMERGENT CABINET MEETING TO DISCUSS THE BORDER CONFLICT

BETWEEN MIZORAM AND ASSAM.

4SOUTH19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

TSIT Staff Reporter :Karimnagar, October-18 : Meanwhile, the BJP Karimnagar district unit presi-dent, Gangidi Krishna Reddy accom-panied with State general secretary of the Dalith Morhca Gaddam Naga Raju along with others after inspect-ing the damaged crops in Ambalapur village of Keshavapatnam mandal al-leged that with the restriction imposed by the state government in the name of new agricultural policy, the farmers by investing huge amounts cultivated fine rice variety due to which they got less yield this season and as are about to harvest their produce and sell, the sudden rains caused huge loss to the farmers. When they were expecting good yield from the crops, the frequent and unseasonal rains which occurred from the past two months dashed their hopes. The farmers are left in hapless

condition as their standing and har-vested paddy crop was damaged due to heavy rains with gusty winds with food grains soaked in rain water. When the central government is trying to help the farmers who faced loss with the dam-age of crops due to various reasons by introducing ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’, the TRS government by not creating awareness about the scheme is betraying the farming sector of the state, he criticized. Mr.Krishna Reddy demanded the government pay Rs.40,000 for one acre of paddy.

Sanction Rs.40K per acre as compensation to farmers-BJP

Amaravati, Oct 18 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment on Sunday an-nounced chairpersons for 56 corporations, set up for the development of back-ward classes.

With 50 per cent res-ervation provided to women, 29 corporations will be headed by women chairpersons. In addition to this, the state govern-ment also appointed 12 directors for each cor-

poration representing all the 13 districts. Min-ister for Backward Class Welfare, Ch Venugopala Krishna said that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government is commit-ted to development of backward classes. He said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy undertook the initiative of setting up corporations for 56 back-ward class communities to focus on their all-round

development.“The Chief Minister

firmly believes that BCs are backbone classes and not backward classes. As promised during elections to provide separate corpo-rations for every commu-nity to give equal political prominence, the Chief Minister has stood by it and brought it into real-ity,” he said. The minister said after a careful study, out of 138 castes, 56 castes

with over 30,000 popula-tion were finalised to have separate corporations. Funds will be allocated to the corporations and the people will be receiving more benefits.

Reiterating that the state government prioritises welfare of the backward classes and strives for the uplift, Minister for Mu-nicipal Administration, Botsa Satyanarayana said that this is first of its kind

initiative taken up by any state in the country, pro-viding an equal platform for every backward class community. Slamming opposition TDP leaders for creating controversies over this novel initiative, he alleged that the previ-ous government failed to deliver the promises made to BCs and never both-ered about them while in power, besides using them as a vote bank for

political gains. “It is well known that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy gov-ernment gives the highest priority to BCs in every welfare scheme and stood by every promise made to the BCs,” he added. Min-isters Dharmana Krish-nadas, Anil Kumar Yadav, Ch Venugopala Krishna, Shankar Narayana, and MP Mopidevi Venkatara-mana were also present on the occasion.

Andhra nominates chairpersons for 56 backward class panels

Navaratri celebration began on a gran note at Bhadrakali temple in Warangal

TSIT Bureau :Warangal Urban, October-18 : Sri

Bhadrakali Devi Sharan Navaratri (Dussehra) Mahotsavams started on a grand note from Saturday with the dwajarohanam and kalash sthapana rituals to mark the beginning of the nine-day event here in Hanamkonda of Warangal district.

The Temple officials of the famous Bhadrakali Temple made elaborate arrangements following the guide-lines of Covid-19 along with taking all precautionary steps to conduct the nine day event spiritually. Before conducting the event, a poster was released publicizing the Sharan Na-varatri festivities at Bhadrakali tem-ple situated in Warangal.

Mayor Gunda Prakash Rao who at-tended as a chief guest said that the Greater Warangal Municipal Corpo-ration (GWMC) has allocated Rs 3 crore towards the development of the temple. He said that Warangal is the most happening city in the state and has all the requisites to be developed

as a spiritual and educational hub.G Prakash Rao assured the public

that he would construct the madha veedhulu at the Bhadrakali temple and promised to allocate Rs 10 crore for the purpose. Affirming that the government was committed to de-velop temples, he revealed that the

government plans to turn Govinda-rajula Gutta into a tourist centre.

Bhadrakali Temple executive of-ficer ,R Sunitha assured that all the arrangements for the Sharan Navaratri fete were made perfectly along with providing all kinds of facilities for the convenience of the devotees who thronged the temple during the occasion. She said that devotees will only be allowed to have a glimpse of the Goddess. Dev-otees have to wear masks besides maintaining physical distance. The daily rituals to the Goddess will be conducted as usual. Devotees will not be allowed to take part in the Teppotsavam and Rathotsavam, she informed.

Mulugu, October 18 : “Regis-tration and mutation services would be easier with the Dha-rani portal,” said the District Collector S. Krishna Aditya. Speaking to The South India Times on Sunday, Krishna Aditya said that Dharani portal is a very simple web-site wherein the seller and the buyer of the land can do registration by themselves and added that entering the details on the portal is as easy as WhatsApp. Stating that the details of land are registered in the website dharani.telan-gana.gov.in., he said, “At the

time of registering the details, the land owner gets an OTP, with the help of which one can enter the website and se-lect the options.” The District Collector explained that af-ter registering the land at the registration office in the past,

one would have to apply for a mutation at the Tahsildar’s office to get the rights over the land, adding that in the new process, the land purchased would be added to the buyer’s account as soon as the land transactions are completed. Terming the introduction of Dharani as an innovation by the Govt. of Telangana, Krish-na Aditya said that it would be launched officially by the Chief Minister on October 25 and added that Dharani por-tal is a highly secured system with transparency and ac-countability.

Registration of land becomes as easy as doing something on WhatsApp, says Collector Krishna Aditya

TSIT BUREAU

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Bhadradri Kothagudem, October 18: District Collector Dr MV Reddy directed the officials of the agriculture and al-lied departments to create awareness among the farmers on regulated crop-ping pattern at the village and mandal levels on the Yasangi 2020-21 crop cul-tivation plan.Releasing the Yasangi 2020-21 crop plan here on Sunday, Dr MV Reddy said that the government had released the cultivation acreage of various crops dis-trict-wise during this Yasangi season. Accordingly, the Collector directed the agricultural authorities to take steps to

cultivate various crops in 1,07,265 acres in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. He said the government had issued guide-lines to implement a crop-controlled system for Yasangi as well, in the wake of good results due to better adherence to crop cultivation guidelines followed by farmers during the Vaanakalam sea-son and added that farmers should be made aware of cultivation of regulated crops. He advised the agriculture au-thorities to encourage the cultivation of dry crops, especially oilseeds, along with rice in all water-rich conditions in the district due to abundant rains this year. He said the plan was approved at the district level in the presence.

Officials asked to make farmers aware of regulated cropping pattern

Thousands of sleepers are re-leased every year in view of track safety, during track re-newals.SWR has found out a novel way to put these redun-dant concrete sleepers to use in the ghat section of Castle Rock- Dudh Sagar. This ghat section has one of steepest gradients on Indian Railways. Track maintainers, gangmen and key men have to move on section by foot, for checking and ensuring safety of track. The Sleepers released from track after inserting new sleep-ers have been laid in inverted and longitudinal manner par-

allel to the track facilitating a pathway for Track maintainers and Keymen. Care has been taken to ensure that the verti-cal distance from rail level to pathway level is maintained suitably. Pathway has been constructed in this ghat sec-tion for 12 Km using about 10,000 scrapped sleepers. The sleeper pathway helps in easy access of track for inspection by Railway officials. In addi-tion Loco Pilots of trains use these paths to check their train formations during halts and when waiting for signal in this section. The Keyman/

Night patrolman/ Track Main-tainer can also safely move to the shelter of track pathway, if there is any train movement

during inspections. The path-way also provides easy plat-form for workers for loading and unloading rails sleepers

during track renewal/ main-tenance etc,. In addition to pathway these sleepers have been used to prepare Trol-ley Refugee platforms where sleepers are placed laterally to the track in batches of 8 to 10. Trolley refugees are built at an interval of 100m and facilitates placing of trolley used for in-spections during train move-ment. The trolley platforms are also being used for keeping rail dolly, trucked out Rails and Sleepers and even used as a resting place for Keyman after completion of his beat. Around 2,500 sleepers.

IN THE PART OF SRI DEVI SHARAN NAVARATRI (DASSAHRA) MAHOTSAVAMS, THE PUJARIS OF THE TEMPLE ON THE SECOND DAY DECORATED THE PRESIDING DEITY IN THE FORM OF SRI ANNAPURNA DEVI AND CONDUCTED PANCHAMRUTHA ABHISHEKAM HERE AT SRI VASAVI KANYAKA PARAMESHWARI MATA TEMPLE IN KHAMMAM

DISTRICT ON SUNDAY.(GANGIRALA SRREDHAR)

WARANGAL URBAN DISTRICT COLLECTOR RAJEEVGANDHI HANUMANTHU INSPECTING THE DUMMY DHARANI PORTAL AT KAZIPET TEHSILDAR'S OFFICE ON SUNDAY.

SWR REUSES SCRAP SLEEPERS AND RAILS IN GHAT SECTION

Two Maoists killed in encounter in Mulugu district

TSIT BUREAU

Mulugu, October 18: Superintendent of Police said in a press note that two Maoists had been killed on Sunday in an encounter with the security forces at Musalammagutta locality in the forest area under Mangapet police station limits in Mulug district. “When a special party from Mulugu district and a greyhounds team were combing the area fol-lowing specific information that an action team of Maoists was planning to carry out an attack on the police, they came across Maoists and an exchange of fire with the combing party took place,” SP said and added that the police had re-covered the bodies of two male Maoists. “The details of the dead are yet to be ascertained. “The police have also inten-sified combing operations in SS Tadwai, Pasra, Mangapet forests,” the SP added.

Trump has already won, even if he loses on November 3By Mohammed Almezel

No matter who wins on the night of November 3, politics in the United States will for many years to come be impacted by the real legacy of President Donald Trump. His four years in office have already reshaped America in a way that few presidents can claim to have done in at least the past 40 years. Even if he loses his uniquely chaotic bid for re-election, Trump (knowingly or unknowingly, it doesn’t matter really) has managed to alter the course of America’s modern history in favour of old-school conserva-tism.

President Trump is not known to be a deep thinker. At least he never claimed to be. He has always boasted that he was a ‘brilliant dealmaker’, a shrewd businessman. He has never claimed to be a politi-cal ideologue nor has he espoused a clear political school of thought. Yes, he is a populist. A demagogue? Absolutely. But he is not a genuine conservative. He is definitely no Ronald Reagan.

Donald Trump is a Republican because it helped him achieve his lifelong pursuit of being the most powerful man on the planet. He is

motivated by ego. He could very well have been a Democrat if that meant getting him to the White House. But Hillary Clinton was run-ning as Democrat in 2016, so he chose to be a Republican.

I remember an August 2016 con-versation with a senior Republican strategist, an original member of the ‘neocons’ group of right-wing intellectuals who have had a great deal of influence on US foreign pol-icy during the George W. Bush years in office. I asked him if he thought Trump would win. With a confident smile, I thought it was a bit patron-ising, he said no. he went on: “He is a divisive personality with no prin-ciples. He is already dividing the Republican party. I don’t think he represents what the party is about. He is in fact a threat to the Republi-can party. I don’t think he will win.”

Nevertheless, four years later, Trump achieved what the conser-vative elite, the right establishment, were unable to do for the past 70 years — tightening their grip on the country. He might as well has achieved this historic transforma-tion without even realising it. He surely enjoyed it though as the con-servative media, such as Fox and

Breitbart, Republican strategies and old money — for four years — fed into his egoistic hunger for lead-ership, fame, and prestige. He was their hit man. An efficient one.

And if his choice for the vacant Supreme Court seat, conservative federal judge Amy Coney Barrett, is fast-tracked into confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate before election day, the job is done. After that, Joe Biden can win all he wants. It doesn’t matter anymore. And if Trump wins, against all the apparent odds, it is even better.

Seventy years ago, America began a profound transformation towards a more liberal society. That pos-sibly started in 1953 when Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed former California Governor Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court which has been the main conduit for political, economic, and mainly social, change in America, especial-ly during the tumultuous 1960s.

The 1954 Brown vs Board of Edu-cation is often cited as the true leg-acy of Warren and his court, which ruled that state laws establishing

racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, thereby giving the green light to whole lot of state and federal rules that curtailed ra-cial inequality and boosted the civil rights movement. In 1973, in Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is a constitutional right for women. For the past 50 years, the decision has been the target for conservatives who have been trying to reverse it.

Warren’s court is no longer there to fend off the right-wing onslaught. Warren, who retired in 1969, didn’t think of the court as a means to re-solve conflicts. He believed that the Supreme Court was there to protect the soul of America. For him, the constitutional law, with its wide-ranging freedoms, was not just text; it was a way of life that must be protected from the transgression of populist politicians who don’t mind utilising anti-freedom demagogu-ery to get elected.

President Trump has already ap-pointed two conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh a year later to sit be-side the already three conservatives there — Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice

Clarence Thomas, who is the most conservative member of the court. With Barret’s confirmation, which looks like a sure thing, America will have a new 6-3 conservative major-ity Supreme Court, a margin big-ger than Warren’s 5-4 court, which helped transform America into the one we know until now. With such a decisive majority, there will be no need for compromise. The court will be set to take crucial decisions that would realise the goals, even dreams, of the conservative estab-lishment.

There are various issues at stake, and in danger of reversal if the Re-publicans feel like, such as abor-tion, immigration, health care, economic regulation, gun control, electoral gerrymandering, voting and civil rights, and the role of reli-gion in public life. These are critical issues that, if reversed by the newly restructured court, will be almost impossible to rectify by any Demo-cratic led administration or even Congress as most of the current justices are relatively young and ap-pointed for life. They will be serving on the apex bench for at least two to three decades.

_GULF NEW

By Salem Al KetbiSince its establishment on Decem-

ber 2, 1971 by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emir-ates has adopted a rational foreign policy based on the principles and charter of the United Nations. It has a stance that abides by the laws and customs on which international legitimacy is based. This consistent approach has always charac-terised the UAE’s relations with all coun-tries of the world. Therefore, the recent speech delivered by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Af-fairs and International Cooperation to the United Nations General Assembly, expressed the trends that represent the basic framework for Emirati diplomacy, which is characterised by a tremendous extent of dynamism, effectiveness and the ability to move outside the frame-works of traditionalism and stereotyping.

It was natural for the speech to focus heavily on addressing the UAE’s vision for the historic peace treaty with Israel, and how it aims to open new horizons and paths for future generations, by lay-ing solid foundations for coexistence, openness and real acceptance of the other.

The Emirati vision for the present and the future is based on interconnected principles and foundations, foremost of which is the need to resolve conflicts by peaceful means, openness, pluralism, and acceptance of the other. The closed, unilateral visions have aggravated the Palestinian cause.

It was very important for the UAE to

confirm the real causes of the current crises in the region, which has been af-flicted with many conflicts and areas of chaos that have spread in several coun-tries. The UAE Foreign Minister’s speech is clear and revealing about the warn-ing against the expansionist ambitions of some regional countries that live in historical delusions, which prompted them to blatant military interventions in several Arab countries, believing that the current Arab strategic weakness could be the gateway to rewriting history, redraw-ing maps and re-engineering the region according to their interests and goals!

Sheikh Abdullah explained the UAE vision, “These warnings came out of our reality and our experience, as the flash points in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Iraq and others are linked to crude interference in Arab affairs by countries that carry the fuse of sedition or historical illusions to re-establish control and colonialism over the Arab region and the Horn of Africa,

causing bloody wars.”The UAE’s affirmation of its support

to the Secretary-General of the United Nations regarding a ceasefire around the world is a clear reflection of the deep strategic awareness of the danger of continuing conflicts, disagreements, wars and crises, and their coincidence with unconventional threats, foremost among which is the outbreak of epidem-ics, as various countries and regions of the world suffer from an unprecedented spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 35 million people so far, and caused the death of more than one million people.

The UAE’s strategic vision is based on respecting the sovereignty of States and preserving the interests of the peoples. It calls for peace and stability in Yemen and believes that “the current climate may be appropriate for reaching a compre-hensive ceasefire and a permanent po-litical solution under the auspices of the

United Nations,” and it calls for “unit-ing the Yemeni ranks to reach towards a sustainable solution, ”and supports“ the repeated calls for an immediate cease-fire in Libya, and we call on all parties to adhere to the political process under the auspices of the United Nations and build on the outcomes of Berlin ”and stress the continuation of the call and work to reach a peaceful political solution to the crisis to achieve lasting security and sta-bility in This Arab country. The speech also stated the need to stop foreign inter-ference in Syrian affairs, and to empha-sise that “the political process is the only way to end the crisis, and to preserve the security of the Syrian people.”

The UAE drew the attention of the world to a very important and dangerous issue, which is to warn against the exposure of conflict areas to the pandemic, consider-ing these areas as less prepared for this danger, which puts the residents of these areas and the world at large at risk.

The UAE stresses that the three occu-pied islands (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa) must be returned by Iran. The country continues its support of the Palestinian people and their just cause. Sheikh Abdulla’s UN speech silenced those who doubt the UAE’s stance to-wards the Palestinian people. The coun-try reiterated “the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the relevant international decisions and in line with the Arab and international consensus”.

_GULF NEW

By Ferdinando GiuglianoThe pandemic has prompted gov-

ernments to take a more active role in managing their economies. Politicians are giving out generous loan guarantees and subsidising wages to reduce the risk of a wave of bankruptcies and mass unemployment. The next step is taking over companies directly. After a spree of recent acquisitions “- from payment systems to airlines “- Italy appears to be headed in this direction already.

It’s a troubling prospect.For much of the past three decades,

Italy had shifted decisively away from the command economy model that dominat-ed the country after the late 1930s. Under Mario Draghi’s stewardship, Italy’s Trea-sury embarked on one of the largest pri-vatisation programs in western Europe, encompassing everything from banks to utilities. Public spending still accounted for 48.7% of gross domestic product last year. But from left to right successive gov-ernments tried to introduce structural re-forms and open up to private investment.

The present coalition government of the left-of-centre Democratic Party and

the populist Five Star Movement has put a stop to all that. Last week it unveiled the new board of Alitalia, the chronically unprofitable airline, and will spend 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) nationalising it. Meanwhile, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA, Itay’s state lender, has acquired a 7.3% stake in Euronext as part of the lat-ter’s takeover of exchange operator Borsa Italiana. Similarly, CDP has become the top investor of Nexi SpA following the digital-payment company’s purchase of SIA SpA. CDP is also involved in the nego-tiations to strip the billionaire Benetton family of its controlling share in motor-way operator Autostrade per l’Italia SpA, after the 2018 collapse of Genoa’s Mo-randi Bridge. The state lender is also in-vesting in a string of smaller companies, and stewarding efforts to create a single Italian broadband network.

This sharp change in direction is only partly a response to the pandemic. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s economic ad-viser is University College professor Mar-iana Mazzucato, a long-time supporter of government intervention. Five Star has advocated the nationalisation of banks,

utilities and other public infrastructure since its creation in 2009. The Democrats have followed suit, abandoning the re-formist instincts of former party leader Matteo Renzi.

Italy’s record on state intervention is mixed, at best. After the Great Depres-sion, the Fascist regime created the Insti-tute for Industrial Reconstruction, which dominated the post-war economy. Some economists credit IRI with prompting Italy’s remarkable catchup during the 1950s and 1960s “- while others believe this was a natural consequence of post-war reconstruction and the transition from an agricultural economy. In the 1980s, many state-owned companies be-came bastions of inefficiency and privi-lege, leading to privatisation.

Rome hopes its new round of nation-alisations, allied with new EU pandemic funds, will spur public investment after a decade of contraction. It believes a long-term investor such as the state or CDP will force companies to pursue broad-er objectives such as fighting climate change, rather than simply rewarding shareholders.

Unfortunately, pursuing efficiency while keeping a government happy is of-ten incompatible. For example, the state is almost certain to resist calls to cut jobs at Alitalia, even if that’s needed for an ef-fective turnaround. If Italy’s motorway network is nationalised, the government and CDP will find it hard to increase tolls, an important source of funds for mainte-nance work. More generally, foreign in-vestors may get the impression that they need to team up with a state-controlled entity if they’re to pour money into Italy. That’s not an attractive vision.

Neither is the lack of independence in running these enterprises. CDP is strug-gling to keep its distance from Italy’s pol-iticians as they demand its involvement in more and more companies. The coali-tion has stuffed loyalists onto the boards of state-owned entities such as defence group Leonardo SpA and oil giant ENI SpA. Italy isn’t alone in the shift towards big government. France has never really moved away from dirigisme. But even Britain’s Conservatives, the champions of free markets.

_GULF NEW

UAE has a vision for world security and stability

This is why Italy is suddenly looking very French

By Jutta Urpilainen and Henrietta Fore“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can

change the world.” These words by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai could not ring more true. Making sure girls and boys all over the world get good quality education is how we will build a more sustainable, more equal and more peaceful world. Global school closures in response to the CO-VID-19 pandemic have resulted in unprecedented disruption to children’s education, with more than a billion students affected.

Those who have returned to school are presented with new challenges — masks, social distancing, lack of access to handwashing facilities and fears of getting sick. As the digital divide deepens, most will have missed out on the chance to learn from home over the past few months. They will have fallen be-hind as a result, making the return to classrooms more daunting for them — and for their teachers.

In many ways, however, they are still the lucky ones. The new challenges they face are by far over-shadowed by the catastrophic long-term impact of missing out on education altogether, particularly in the poorest countries and those affected by conflicts or crises. We know from previous crises that the lon-ger children stay out of school, the less likely they are to return. We also know that when children do not go to school, they are at increased risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. Girls face the additional risk of early marriage and pregnancy. Now with COVID, and as essential health, nutrition, immunisation and child protection services are put on hold, children are also exposed to undernutrition, disease, mental health issues and abuse. In these most difficult of circumstances, can we still win the battle to educate our children? The answer is a resounding “yes”. But for this, like model students, we will need to work even harder to get the results we want.

In response to global pandemic, the European Union and its Member States — Team Europe — have demonstrated the power of working together for better results. Given our proven track record of getting results from our partnerships, the EU and UNICEF can together make a lasting difference to education outcomes worldwide. There are concrete steps we can take to safeguard children’s futures, steps that will build on existing work and strike out in new, innovative directions. This means invest-ing now, so that the most vulnerable children can re-enter education. It means making sure that their schools are safe and their teachers can respond to their needs. It means reshaping education systems so that children graduate with 21st-century skills, such as digital skills and entrepreneurship training, ready for the new world before them.

Recently, we have seen impressive change, with many governments providing education online, on television, on the radio and via mobile phone. For instance, in Somalia, offline recorded lessons are be-ing uploaded onto solar-powered tablets and made available to children. In Kyrgyzstan, children can access remote learning through online platforms, three national TV channels and two mobile network applications free of charge. In Vietnam, certain tests and modules have been dropped from the curricu-lum, while others have been postponed to the next school year to allow students to catch up on missed learning over the whole of next year.

_GULF NEW

We must get children back to learning

5OP-ED19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

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6INTERNATIONAL19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

Washington, Oct 18 (UNI) Fe-male protesters and support-ers of the Women's March movement staged a rally in Washington D.C., against the October 22 confirmation vote to approve US President Don-ald Trump's nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Su-preme Court.

The rally, which was the second Women's March of this year, was staged at the capital city's Freedom Plaza, reports The Hill news website.

The participants were re-quired to wear a mask or face covering and practice social distancing due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Besides the rally, several other events were also held virtually. While some demon-strators wore pink knit pussy-hats and black face masks

honouring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a group of at least a dozen women dressed in red dresses and white bon-nets attended the protest. Their garb mirrored Margaret Atwood's dystopian classic "The Handmaid's Tale". Signs like "Trump Pence out now", "Hell no, Amy must go" and "You call us nasty because

you are afraid of what strong women can do" were carried by the demonstrators. Mean-while, a smaller rally of con-servative women's activists gathered Saturday afternoon at the Supreme Court to sup-port Barrett's potential ap-pointment. Following Gins-burg's death on September 18 due to pancreatic cancer, President Donald Trump.

Female protesters rally against Judge Barret's confirmation vote

NZ PM expects to form new govt before official poll results

Wellington, Oct 18 (UNI) New Zealand Prime Min-ister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday said that she expected to form a new government within the next two to three weeks before the official results of the general elections in which her Labour Party secured a landslide majority, were declared.

According to the pre-liminary count results for the election held on Saturday, the Labour Party won 49 per cent of the vote, which trans-fers to 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament in a Mixed-Member Proportional voting sys-

tem, with the opposition National Party lagging behind at 27 per cent, or 35 seats, reports Xin-hua news agency. While

addressing the media in Auckland on Sunday afternoon, Ardern said the work would begin and the Labour caucus

will meet on Monday. "My expectation is that we will form government within the next two to three weeks," said Ar-dern. "We clearly have a mandate on behalf of New Zealand to crack on with government forma-tion."

Besides the general election vote, New Zea-landers also cast their ballots for two refer-endums on end of life choice and legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis. Preliminary referendum results will be released on October 30, and the official re-sults of the election and

referendums will be re-leased on November 6. Meanwhile, Ardern did not rule out the possi-bility to form a coalition government with the Green Party, which won 7.6 per cent of the vote or 10 seats in Parliament.

There was a range of options for agreements with the Greens, said Ardern. After the 2017 general election, the Labour Party, which won 46 seats in Parlia-ment, formed a coali-tion government with the support from New Zealand First Party and Green party.

BANGKOK Oct 18 (UNI): Hundreds of Thai anti-gov-ernment protesters demon-strated in Bangkok on Sun-day, again defying a ban on protests against Prime Min-ister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the powerful monarchy.

Demonstrations have persisted despite the arrest of dozens of protesters and their leaders, the use of water cannon and shutdowns on much of Bangkok’s metro rail system in a bid to quell over three months of street action.

Protesters moved quickly from point to point, posting different sites for possible demonstrations on social media. “We will stay until it’s over or move to another lo-cation with other activists,” said Dee, 25, one of several

dozen protesters at Asok, one of the busiest interchanges in Bangkok. Hundreds gath-ered at the Victory Monu-ment, nearly 5km away by road. Protesters at Asok put up handwritten up notices on the shuttered station that read “Does licking the boots of the dictator taste good?” and other using coarser lan-

guage. A few police gathered on the other side of the inter-change but did not immedi-ately intervene.

“We are committed to maintain peace and order. In order to do so we are bound by laws, international stan-dards, human rights.” police spokesman Kissana Pha-thanacharoen told a news

conference. Protesters say Prayuth engineered last year’s election to keep power he seized in a 2014 coup – an accusation he denies.

The demonstrations have also become more openly critical of King Maha Va-jiralongkorn’s monarchy, breaking a longstanding ta-boo, demanding curbs to its powers despite potential jail terms of up 15 years for any-one insulting the king.

The Royal Palace has made no comment on the protests but the king has said Thai-land needed people who love the country and the monar-chy. The government banned demonstrations in Bangkok on Thursday. During dem-onstrations by tens of thou-sands of people.

Thai protesters take to streets in new show of defiance

Seoul, Oct 18 (UNI) A North Korean media out-let on Sunday slammed South Korea that it alleg-edly approached the US to purchase nuclear fuel for a nuclear-powered submarine.

Meari, one of the North's propaganda websites, called a visit by Kim Hyun-chong, South Korea's deputy national security adviser, and his alleged talks with Wash-ington, an "extremely dangerous" act that "de-stroys the peace of the Ko-rean Peninsula, heightens tension and triggers an arms race", reports Yon-hap News Agency

Earlier this month, South Korean newspa-per Donga Ilbo reported that Kim had travelled to Washington last month and expressed Seoul's intention to buy nuclear fuel from the US to run a nuclear submarine.

The newspaper said that US officials denied the request, citing its non-proliferation policy.The Presidential officce in Soul did not confirm the report and said Kim's visit to Washington was to dis-cuss bilateral .

N.K. media slams Seoul over alleged n-fuel purchase plan

Trump wishes Harris 'the best' after aide tests

Covid-&' positiveWashington, Oct 18 (UNI) US President Donald Trump has wished Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris "the best" and hoped that she was "in good shape" after an aide and a flight crew member involved in his rival Joe Bidens presidential cam-paign tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the me-dia reported. The President made the remarks while addressing supporters at re-election rally in Muskegon, Michigan, on Saturday eve-ning, The Hill news website reported. "I hope she's in good shape, because a num-ber of people in her group have caught Covid-19, so we all wish her best. "Do we all wish her best? Yes, we do.

New York, Oct 18 (UNI) Turn-ing a Bollywood hit tune into a campaign anthem, Demo-cratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's supporters are wooing Indian-American vot-ers with an eye on swing states where small margins can de-cide who becomes the next President.

Ajay Bhutoria, who pro-duced the video, told IANS that he wanted to reach the estimated 1.3 million Indian-American voters through a unique campaign media with an element from popular cul-ture that resonates with them. The campaign video based on the motif of "Lagaan" movie hit song "Chale Chalo" com-posed by A.R. Rahman, in-cludes appeals to voters in 14 languages. "We chose this song from the movie 'Lagaan'. Me and my wife wrote the lyrics for it, 'Chale chalo Biden, Harris ko vote do'," Bhutoria said. It is on

YouTube and is circulating on social media. A shorter version of it with three lan-guages is running on TV Asia, a channel popular among Indian-Americans.

Bhutoria said that the prime target of the cam-paign is the Indian-Ameri-can living in the swing states e those which neither party has locked down and could go either way. After working in 2016 for Hillary Clinton who lost the election despite getting 2.3 million more popular votes than Donald Trump because she failed to carry the electoral college

made up of state delegates that finally decides who is the President, Bhutoria said he was determined to not see that happen again. See-ing that she lost Michigan by only 10,000 votes and some others by slim margins, he wanted to mobilise Indian-American voters there who could make the difference. He and his wife, Vinita, have also produced another vid-eo, "America ka neta kaisa ho, Joe Biden jaisa" (How should America's leader be? Just like Joe Biden!) and a set of visuals with catchy slogans like, "Trump hatao,

America bachao" (Remove Trump, Save America).

The sentiments on these visuals have been echoed in the idioms of 13 other languages. They're all mak-ing their rounds on social media. Bhutoria said that his campaign incorporates so many languages because the Indian diaspora is as diverse as India and the voters have to get the mes-sage in their own mother tongues. A member of the Biden campaign's national finance committee and the Asian American Pacific Is-lander Leadership Coun-cil, he has held fundraisers for Democrats and Biden's wife, Jill, was at one at his house in March, he said. His links to Biden and Har-ris go long back he said. He had worked with Biden on a programme when he was Vice President, and had known Vice Presidential .

Biden backers turn to Bollywood hit tune to woo Indian-Americans

Washington, Oct 18 (UNI) The Republican-majority US Senate will vote on a $500 billion coronavirus re-lief bill on Wednesday, Sen-ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced.

McConnell's announce-ment on Saturday comes after President Donald Trump's administration made a new $1.8 trillion package offer on October 9.

According to the Senate Majority leader, the new bill will include a federal unemployment benefit, another round of small-business assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), more than

$100 billion for schools, as well as money for test-ing, contact tracing, and vaccine development and distribution, The Hill news website reported.

For the new bill to pass in the Senate, it will need 60 Democratic votes. Democratic lawmakers had previously blocked a similar Republican leg-islation. "Nobody thinks this $500 billion proposal would resolve every prob-lem forever. It would de-liver huge am ounts of additional help to work-ers and families right now while Washington keeps arguing over the rest.

Islamabad, Oct 18 (UNI) As the anti-government alliance of 11 opposition po-litical parties under the name of Pakistan Democratic Move-ment (PDM) started its campaign, Prime Minister Imran Khan has come out guns blazing against the agenda of his prede-cessor Nawaz Sharif, which he said is aimed as "sowing dis-cord in the military, the judiciary, and the government". Lash-ing out in an aggres-

sive response to the PDM's first rally held in Gujranwala on Fri-day, Khan accused the former premier for working on the enemy's agenda in an attempt to escape accountability for his financial corrup-tion. A visibly angry Khan mocked Sharif as a "Jackal" who ran

away to London with his "tail between the legs". "This is the same man who had first become a Min-ister with the bless-ings of Gen (retd) Ghulam Jilani; this is the same man who had become the Chief Minister (Punjab) by polishing the boots of Gen Ziaul Haq; this is the same man who had received millions of rupees from the then ISI chief Gen (retd) (Asad) Durrani through Mehran Bank to cobble together.

US Senate to vote on $500bn Covid-19 bill on Wednesday

Sharif trying to sow discord between state institutions: Imran

Yerevan/Baku, Oct 18 (UNI) Arme-nia and Azerbaijan on Sunday ac-cused each other of violating a new ceasefire that came into force in the conflict-ridden Nagorno-Karabakh region just hours earlier.

The Armenian Defence Ministry claimed that Azerbaijan broke the ceasefire just four minutes after it was enforced at 12 a.m., by firing artillery shells and rockets, the BBC reported. "The enemy fired artil-

lery shells in the northern direction from 12.04 a.m. to 2.45 a.m. (local time) and fired rockets in the south-ern direction from 2.20-2.45 a.m.," Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said on Twitter.

She later said that Azerbaijan launched an assault in the south of Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday morning. "There are casualties and wounded on both sides." React-ing to the development, Armenia's

Foreign Ministry said that this was the second time that Azerbaijan had broken a ceasefire, adding that it would take all "necessary mea-sures" to bring about a ceasefire and ways of enforcing it "on the ground". But in a statement, Azer-baijan claimed that Armenia had broken the truce af ter two minutes. "The armed forces of Armenia im-mediately after the declared cease-fire, starting from 12.02 a.m. fired at

Jabrayil city," the BBC quoted Azer-baijan's Foreign Ministry as saying in the statement. "Azerbaijan re-mains committed to the humani-tarian ceasefire, however, Azerbai-jan reserves its right to take counter measures to protect its civilians and positions." The latest cease-fire is the second in a month, en-forced with an aim to bring peace in the disputed region. The accusa-tions come despite the two warring

countries welcoming the truce. On Saturday however, authorities in Azerbaijan claimed that 12 civilians were killed and 40 others injured after an Armenian missile struck the country's second largest city of Ganja. But Armenia denied the attack and accused Azerbaijan of continuing to shell some areas in-side Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, the major city of the mountainous region.

Armenia, Azerbaijan accused of violating new ceasefire

Abu Dhabi, Oct 18 (IANS) Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson on Sunday was the star as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a Super Over at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

This was the third time this season that a match had to be decided with a Super Over but Ferguson ended up making it a farce as he took both of SRH’s wickets for just two runs in three balls.

KKR captain Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik, who combined to score 58 runs in the last five overs to take their team to 163/5 earlier in the day, knocked off the required three runs in four balls.

Ferguson earlier brought KKR back into the game after the powerplay with figures of 3/15 in four overs.

He broke the opening partnership of 68 runs between his New Zealand team mate Kane

Williamson and Jonny Bairstow by dismissing the former while

he was on 29.He then bowled out Priyam Garg and Manish

7SPORTS19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMESFine-tuning few aspects will help us improve ahead of Oly, says Nilakanta

Nikhat Zareen (boxer), Shiva Kiran (Taekwondo international medallist), Swaroop Kiran (Taekwondo national medallist) and Surendhar Singh (Taekwondo

coach) received electric scootys.

The Indian para-badminton ace was featured in The Time magazine as the ‘Next Generation Leader’

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Indian men’s hockey team midfielder Nilakanta Sharma believes that fine-tuning a few aspects of the team’s game would make a big difference to their performance at the Tokyo Olympics slated to be held next year in Tokyo.The Indian team came out with good performances against top teams in the FIH Pro

League, however, Nilakanta feels that there is still more room for improvement.

“Playing well against the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia at the FIH Hockey Pro League has certainly given us a lot of confidence in our abilities, however, we have identified a few areas that we need to fine-tune in the upcoming months.Sometimes

small changes make a big difference to the way a team performs and we are looking to make those small changes to our game.

If we fine-tune our game properly, we will certainly be a much better unit at the Olympics,” said the midfielder.When asked about how he has felt about his game after returning to the pitch

in August, Nilakanta said he is taking small steps towards returning to full form.

“This is a tricky period for us. We have to be very careful. We shouldn’t push too hard and neither should we take it too easy as well.Personally, I am happy with the way I am moving forward with my game everyday. We are taking small steps at the

moment,” said the 25-year-old.“There’s still a lot of time to go for the Olympics and therefore I would like to thank Hockey India for organising a national coaching camp with all the precautions in the most efficient manner so that we have enough time to get back to our full form and then practice hard for the Olympics,” he added.

Madrid, Oct 18 (IANS) Cadiz striker ‘Choco’ Lozano made history with his 16th minute goal to give the recently-promoted side their first-ever away win against Real Madrid and hand the reigning champions their first defeat of the La Liga season.

Cadiz, who have won all three of their away games this season, had already had four decent chances before Lozano’s goal and were full value for their victory against a rival that rarely threatened, although Karim Benzema did hit the bar with a dipping shot eight minutes from time, reports Xinhua news agency.Sergio Ramos was forced out of the game in the 45th minute after hurting his knee in a collision with Lozano

and could now be a doubt for his side’s Champions League debut against Shakhtar Donetsk and next Saturday’s ‘Clasico’ away to FC Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Barca also crashed to a 0-1 defeat in Getafe with Jaime Mata’s second-half penalty condemning Ronald Koeman to his first defeat as Barca coach.Ousmane

Dembele, along with new signings Pedri and Sergino Dest, all started for Barca, who controlled the first half and should have scored through Antoine Griezmann.

However, Mata converted his spot-kick which was awarded after a rash Frenkie de Jong challenge on Djene. Barca never looked like getting back into the game after that.

Real Madrid, Barcelona both lose as La Liga returns to action

Happy my 1st IPL ton contributed to win, says Shikhar Dhawan

Hyderabad, Oct 18 (IANS) Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) distributed electric scootys to four eminent sportspersons _ Nikhat Zareen (boxer), Shiva Kiran (Taekwondo international medallist), Swaroop Kiran (Taekwondo national medallist) and Surendhar Singh (Taekwondo coach) _ at the premises of Palm Springs Motors in Madhapur, on Thursday.

Palm Springs Motors MD Vidyasagar, Directors Mallikarjun Goud, Venkatesh Goud, Anjaneya Prasad, GST Deputy Commissioner Srinivas, Nikhat father Jameel, Taekwondo Ganesh were also present at this event.

SATS presents scootys to eminent sportspersons

Sharjah, Oct 18 (IANS) Left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a brilliant century during Delhi Capitals' thrilling win over Chennai Super Kings, has stated he is happy that his first ton in the Indian Premier League came during a win.

On Saturday, Dhawan cracked a 58-ball unbeaten 101 to lead Capitals to a successful chase of 180 during their game against the MS Dhoni-led side at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

"I am very happy that after 13 years, I was able to score an IPL hundred. I was getting scores of 80s and 90s earlier. But I am glad that my maiden IPL hundred helped the team win while chasing," Dhawan told Patel in an interview for

iplt20.com.During the course of his innings, the left-handed batsman showed why he remains Team India's first choice white-ball opener. It was a single-handed effort till the 19th over.

"The wicket was slow and tricky. But after 13-14 overs, there was dew which made batting a little bit easier. Good

thing for us was that after losing a couple of wickets in the initial overs, we didn't lose any further wicket and kept the scoreboard ticking.

And when the dew settled in, CSK spinners found it difficult to grip which worked in our favour," he added.Following the wicket of Alex Carey, out came Axar Patel

and smacked three sixes off Ravindra Jadeja in the last over and ensured Dhawan's maiden IPL century didn't go in vain.Axar also talked about his batting plan and said: "I entered the field with a mindset of see the ball, hit the ball.

However, I was not focussed on hitting the ball hard, all I tried was to time it and thankfully it happened."Courtesy their efforts, Capitals are now placed at the top of the points table with 14 points from nine matches.

PCB 'disturbed & disappointed'

as ! players breach

bio-secure protocols

Lahore, Oct 18 (IANS) The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been left "disturbed and disappointed" after 12 persons, including nine players and three officials of the ongoing National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi, breached the bio-secure protocols in place for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though the PCB did not disclose the identity of the cricketers and officials who breached the protocols, Pakistani newspaper 'Dawn' said that the guilty included senior players like Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Khurram Manzoor, Sohail Khan, Anwar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq plus officials Abdul Razzaq, Basit Ali and Rashid Khan. The individuals had spent time outside the bubble area within the vicinity of the team hotel on Friday.

Issuing a warning, the PCB has stated that those breaching the bio-secure protocols in future will be sent packing from the tournament.

New Zealand cricketer John Reid passes

away

Auckland, Oct 18 (IANS) John Reid, the oldest surviving New Zealand cricketer, has died here, New Zealand Cricket confirmed on Wednesday.

Reid was considered one of the best all-rounders in the world in the 1950s and early 1960s.

He was a hard-hitting right-handed batsman and a seam bowler who played 58 Test matches, scoring 3428 runs at 33.28. He took 85 wickets at 33.35. Of his six Test centuries, the highest – 142 – came against South Africa in 1961 during the Boxing Day Test at Johannesburg.Reid played 246 first-class games, scoring 16,128 runs at 41.35, including

39 centuries. He took 466 wickets at 22.60.

He led his country in 34 Tests including in New Zealand’s first three victories, the first of which, against West Indies at Auckland in 1956, broke a winless streak of 26 years for the New Zealand team. The second and third both came during New Zealand’s drawn series in South Africa in 1961-62.

As a 19-year-old, Reid made his Test debut at Manchester on the 1949 tour of England, scoring 50 and 25; before standing in to keep wickets in the fourth and final Test, during which he scored 93 in his team’s second innings.

I hope that I keep inspiring the upcoming generation: Manasi Joshi

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) India’s para-badminton ace Manasi Joshi continues to inspire fellow para-athletes around the world. From setting examples to breaking stereotypes, Joshi has been a trailblazer ever since she took up the sport following an accident in 2011.She grabbed headlines last year by winning

the World Championships in Basel, beating compatriot and world number one Parul Parmar in the women’s singles SL3 final.Recently, The TIME magazine featured Joshi as the ‘Next Generation Leader’, a first for a para-athlete. The occasion soon turned into a double delight as the star shuttler got a one-of-a-kind

Barbie doll modelled to her likeness on the occasion of International Day of Girl Child on October 11.“I am glad I got a voice because of my sport. I have been fortunate enough to use this voice to raise awareness about prosthetics, road safety, disability and inclusion. To me, I am honoured beyond measure to

be a part of TIME 2020 Next Generation Leaders and also to make it to the cover of TIME Asia,” said Joshi as per a media release shared by Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).“I personally think that seeing a disabled athlete on the cover of TIME will change a lot of perceptions surrounding disability and para-sports in

India as well as Asia,” said the world number two, who lost her left leg in a road accident, having been hit by a truck.

With accomplishments comes responsibilities and the 31-year-old acknowledges that she would need to handle it with care and use her time and energy for the betterment of self and society.

LOCKIE FERGUSON STARS AS KKR BEAT SRH IN SUPER OVER

Kunming Marathon to be held online on December 6

KKR 163/5 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 36, Eoin Morgan 34; Thangarasu Natarajan 2/40) vs SRH 163/6 in 20 overs (David Warner 47 not out, Jonny Bairstow 36;

Lockie Ferguson 3/15)

Beijing, Oct 18 (IANS) The 5th Kunming Marathon will be held on December 6 in an online format, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) announced on Sunday.

The original edition of the SCO Kunming Marathon, which has been held annually since 2016, attracted more than 80,000 participants.

This event was recognised as a silver-licensed event by the World Athletics in March 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

Due to current epidemic control measures, the SCO Secretariat and the People's Government of Yunnan Province decided to hold the 5th Kunming Marathon online."The coronavirus pandemic has made significant changes to our lives and demonstrated the

importance of strengthening health and immunity," said Vladimir Norov, SCO Secretary-General ."We welcome professional athletes and running enthusiasts from all over the world to take part in our marathon through a

special application, which will be available online in Chinese, Russian and English languages," he added.According to Norov, more sports events will be held next year when the SCO celebrates its 20th anniversary, including

marathons, yoga events and Tai Chi Day, in addition to student football tournaments, art exhibitions, film festivals and children's painting.

"I am convinced that, by joint efforts, the cultural and sporting activities of the

8ENTERTAINMENRT19 MONDAY, OCTOBER, 2020

Email : thesouthindiatimes@yahoo.in / (H.O) HyderabadTHE SOUTH INDIA TIMES

Sonam Kapoor misses being on a film set.

The actress shared a video on her verified Instagram account on Friday where she can be seen getting her make-up and hair done. "Getting ready and doing make up and hair makes me miss the movies a lot.. I miss my job and being on set and mostly I miss my team.." the actress captioned her video.

Tagging her make-up artist, she added: "Thank you for being there for me and doing glam for me .. love you." Sonam, re-garded as a style icon by her fans, recently shared a video on so-cial media where she gave a step-by-step guide of how she does make-up.On the work front, Sonam was last seen in the film "The Zoya Factor".

SONAM KAPOOR: I

MISS MY JOB AND BEING

ON SET

ALIA BHATT RECALLS THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE WERE KIND

TARA SUTARIA, AADAR JAIN NOT TYING THE KNOT

TAMANNAAH BHATIA IS TAKING BABY STEPS BACK TO STAMINA

BIG B WISHES FANS ON OCCASION OF NAVRATRI

Tara Sutaria and Aa-dar Jain currently have no plans to get

married, contrary to me-dia reports that have been doing the rounds.

There have been media reports claiming that Tara, who has made a mark with her roles in "Student Of The Year 2" and "Mar-jaavan", and Aadar, who made his Bollywood de-but with "Qaidi Band", are planning to get married.

However, debunk-ing such reports, Aadar's spokesperson said: "These stories and rumours are baseless and untrue. He

is currently busy with his next film, Excel Entertain-ment's Hello Charlie."

Tara and Aadar have re-portedly been dating for a while now, and have often been pictured together. The actress was also spot-ted at the wedding of Aadar's brother Armaan Jain's wedding earlier this year.

Actress Alia Bhatt, who was mas-sively trolled

after the demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, took put a moment of Friday to look back at the time when people were kind/

In a new Instagram post, Alia shared an im-age wearing a facemask, and commented on things that have trans-pired over the last few months."Throwback to when masks were skin-care and people were kind," she wrote.

In the picture, she can be seen wearing a face mask and lying on a sheet laid out on the grass.Her admirers showered love, with rumoured boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor's mother Neetu Kapoor writing: "Fabbbb".Ishaan Khat-ter dropped a laughing face emoji.

Bigg Boss !": Sidharth Shukla keeps 'champi' tradition alive

Bigg Boss 13 winner Sidharth Shukla, who is a Toofani

Senior in the ongoing 14th season of the contro-versial reality show, has kept alive the tradition of champi, or head massage, in the show..Punjabi sing-er Shehnaz Gill was often seen giving Sidharth a "champi" in the 13th sea-son. However, this time it is actress Hina Khan, also

a Toofani Senior, who is doing the formality.The

14th season of the Colors show has a new concept of seniors and freshers. Sidharth along with two other former contestants, Gauahar Khan and Hina, are Toofani Seniors, to guide the freshers.Currently, in the show actress Rubina Dilaik, her husband Abhinav Shukla, model Shehzaad Deol, actress Jasmin Bhasin and playback singer Kumar

Amitabh Bachchan on Saturday post-ed an Instagram

wish for fans on the oc-casion of Navratri.In the picture, Big B is seen with his hands folded, with sketched images of Devi Durga and a rangoli in the backdrop. The words "Shubh Navratri" are writ-ten in Hindi.Alongside the image, he wrote in Hindi:

"Sarv mangal mangalya, shive sarvarth sadhike. Sharanye trambake gauri narayani namastute."Aaj Navratri ke paavan avsar par aapko aur apke parivar ko anek anek shubhkaam-nyein.

Devi ma apni kripa aap sab par banaye rakhe. Apko sukh, shanti, samridhi, swaasth, safalta aur prem sada milta rahe yehi meri

devi ke charno main prar-thana hai (today on the pi-ous occasion of Navratri, I wish you and your family all the best. May the goddess bestow her mercy upon all of you. I pray to the god-dess that happiness, peace, prosperity, health, success, and love always be with you)," he wrote.

Earlier, the 78-year-old veteran had posted an In-

stagram picture looking dapper in a night blue suit paired with a crisp white shirt."....once upon a time in Mumbai," he captioned the image, adding retro flair to the photograph.

On the work front, the actor has four films lined up. He will be seen in Na-graj Manjule's "Jhund", the Emraan Hashmi co-starrer "Chehre",

Tamannaah Bhatia, who has recovered from Co-vid-19, is taking baby

steps at regaining stamina.Ta-mannaah took to Instagram, where she shared a video of her workout schedule. The actress shared that she was struggling to do even four push-ups though there was a time she could do 40 at one go."#BackToFitness - Day 1 It's time to take baby steps and get back my stamina. This is an extremely important step after recovering from coro-navirus. Keep going but make sure you listen to your body," she captioned the video.Taman-naah was discharged from the hospital earlier this month and was advised by doctors to live in isolation for some time.She had issued a statement with the health update on her Twitter ac-count for fans and followers.In August, Tamannaah's parents had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The actress had informed fans of the develop-ment with a tweet posted on August 26.The actress will next be seen in the Telugu remake of the Hindi thriller fi lm "And-hadhun", besides the Hindi fi lm "Bole Chudiyan" co-starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

RAJKUMMAR RAO : AUDIENCES WANT TO SEE REAL CHARACTERS

Rajkummar Rao once again plays a relatable character in his upcom-ing fi lm, Chhalaang, and says there

is a demand for stories with real charac-ters.

In the Hansal Mehta-directed social comedy set in Haryana, he portrays the role of a PT teacher who initially doesn't take sports too seriously.

"I was into sports. I did my schooling in Haryana, so I could relate to it. The PT

teacher's accent... there is a lot of nostalgia and fun,"

said the actor."Audiences want to see real characters.That's why new genera-tion writers and fi lmmakers are making fi lms about real people and cultures.

You must have seen a guy like Montu (his character in-the fi lm) in real life.There is a demand for such stories," he added.Through the fi lm, he hopes people understand the importance of physical training.

"School has many op-portunities. Education is important, but physical fi t-ness is also important, es-pecially in today's time," said the actor."Chhalaang" reunites Rajkummar with director Hansal Mehta. "It is such a pleasure to work with Hansal sir. It is truly

special. Our fi rst meeting was in 2011 and there was an instant connection. Since then we have been work-ing together. I adore him," said Rajkummar."Working with Hansal sir on this fi lm was different. It is not one of the serious dramas. Hansal sir understands humour well," added the actor, who has delivered heavy-duty performances in serious Hansal Mehta directorials as "Shahid", "CityLights", and "Aligarh".

Produced by Ajay Devgn, Luv Ranjan, Ankur Garg, the fi lm also stars Nushrratt Bharuccha, Saurabh Shukla, Satish Kaushik, Zeeshan Ayyub, Ila Arun and Jatin Sarna."The fi lm is with chil-dren.

RAKUL PREET : IT'S COOL ONCE IN A WHILE TO CHEAT

Rakul Preet Singh shared some tips related to how we

should choose out food, on the occasion of World Food Day on Friday. Rakul also admitted being a foodie.

The actress took to her verified Instagram ac-count to share culinary tips for netizens, suggest-ing that if you abide by a diet, it's cool to cheat once in a while."The only thing I like better than talking about FOOD is EATING. Happy 'world

food day'. You are what you eat, so choose wisely, nourish your body and yeah it's cool once in a while to cheat

#foodieforlife #livetoeat," the ac-tress wrote on Instagram.

Rakul was recently summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for questioning in a drug-related case along with actresses Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Ka-

poor and Sara Ali Khan, as part of investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

Reminding her of the incident, a few users trolled the actress by commenting on her post enquiring about "maal" and "ganja".

KANGANA RANAUT CLAIMS MAHARASHTRA GOVT HAS FILED FRESH FIR AGAINST HER

Kangana Ranaut on Saturday claimed that a fresh FIR has been fi led against her by the Shiv Sena government in

Maharashtra. Kangana reacted saying the state government seems to be obsessing over her. The actress took to her verified Twitter

account to share photographs of her Na-varatri look this year while taking a sarcas-tic jibe at the state government.

"Who all are fasting on Navratris? Pic-tures clicked from today's celebrations as I am also fasting, meanwhile another FIR

filed against me, Pappu sena in Maharashtra seems to be obsessing over me, don't miss me so much I will be there soon," she captioned.A Mum-bai court has ordered the city police to investigate a com-plaint against Kangana and her sister Rangoli Chandel for spreading communal hatred and falsehoods, officials said here on Saturday.

The order by Bandra 12th Court Magistrate Jaidev Ghule came in a plea by Munaw-warali, alias Sahil A Sayyed, a Bollywood casting director, said his lawyer Ravish F Za-mindar.

Among other things, Sayyed accused Kangana and Rangoli of defaming Bollywood, por-traying people working in the industry in a bad light with her claims of nepotism, drug ad-diction, and communal bias, besides attempting to create a rift between artistes of dif-ferent communities, insult-ing religions, and calling them murderers on social media and through public statements.

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMESGreater Hyderabad

19 Monday, october, 2020 Pages-8

Congress demands high-level committee to enumerate flood losses

(TSIT bureau)

Hyderabad, Oct 18: The Congress party on Sunday demanded that the Telangana Government con-stitute a high-level committee to enumerate the extent of damages caused to private properties due to heavy rains and floods in different parts of Hyderabad. Former Minis-ter and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Mohammed Ali Shabbir, along with Hyderabad Congress Minorities Department Chairman Sameer Waliullah, TPCC Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin, senior leader Ashwaq Moham-med Khan and others, visited the rain affected areas in Malakpet. They also distributed food packets among the affected people at Im-perial Function Hall, Malakpet. They also had an interaction with

the people on the problems being faced by them. Speaking to the media person, Sameer Waliullah said that private properties worth hundreds of crores were lost due to floods. “Over 1,500 colonies in Hyderabad were submerged. Peo-ple lost all their property includ-ing electric, electronic and house-hold items. Many people also lost their valuables, including gold, silver and cash. Many houses are still submerged. But, so far, no efforts have been made to create a mechanism to assess the damage,” he said. Sameer Wailullah said that the damages should be assessed on an immediate basis. A high level team, comprising local revenue, police and officials of other de-partments, should be constituted

to enumerate the losses. He said all the affected people were entitled for compensation under the Section 66 of the Disas-ter Management Act, 2005. But the

damages need to be assessed by a Committee, Authority or officer, referred to in Sub-Section (1) of Section 65. The Congress leader said that the TRS Government not

only failed to prevent or minimise the damages caused due to floods, but provide any kind of relief in the majority of affected areas. He said that the ministers, including Municipal Administration Minis-ter K. Tarakarama Rao, were tour-ing the affected areas only to take pictures and get media coverage.

He said that the State Govern-ment should conduct enumera-tion of the total losses suffered by each individual and pay them ad-equate compensation. ‘It takes a lifetime for people to buy electric and electronic items, furniture and other household items. They buy those things from their sav-ings every month. But they lost everything at the blink of an eye due to the negligence of the TRS Government,” he said.

Hyderabad, Oct18:: Unity of press and media all india national chief secretary thanugula Jithender rao Speaking to media on Sunday “NIRBHAYA” Convicts got death sentenced. Disha con-victs got encountered.but there is no change in our Human mindset and society. “Nirbhaya” incidents are happening in India Repeat-edly.He expressed his anguish Speaking to TSIT bureau in Hy-derabad, he said that Nirbhaya in Delhi, Disha in Hyderabad.. and now this 19-year old girl in Hathras uttarpradesh who was gang raped.The family of a Hathras woman

who died after she was gang-raped has accused police officials have cremating her dead body with-out Family members permission. He said, The 19-year-old Mani-sha was allegedly raped in Hath-ras district in northern India. She was brutally injured and died in a Delhi hospital after Batteling her life for two weeks. And the girls’ al-leged attackers have been arrested and a fast-track court has been set up for hearing. Nirbhaya got jus-tice prolonged after eight years. Thanugula Said, This poor Ha-thras girl was brutally raped, suf-fered multiple fractures, paralysis

and a gash in her tongue in the horrific assault that drew parallels

to the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape.The police without paying heed to the family protests cremated the 19-year old girls body, another gang rape case covered up in In-dia where rapes happen day by day Jithender rao said, Nirbhaya, Disha and the Hathras girl, first they are gang-raped, then the system covers up in a brutal and heartless man-ner. He said, According to the vic-tim’s family, she was working in a farming land along with her mother and brother, plucking grass. Her brother returned home with a bun-dle of grass while she remained in the farmland with her mother. The

mother and daughter were at some distance in the farmland. The moth-er realised after some time that the victim was missing. She went look-ing for her and found her in an un-conscious condition. The family said four to five people brutally attacked her from behind, gagged her with her dupatta and dragged her to a ba-jra farmland where they gangraped her. Her neck was wounded severly.The 19-year-old girl left brethe in the hospital while undergoing the treatment.Thanugula Jithender rao demanded to the government to in-vestigate the entire episode and the culprits should be hanged.

“NIRBHAYA” Act Unable to protecting the women’s:Jitender Rao

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 219 Monday, october, 2020

Warangal 18 October, State Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Rural Fresh Water Supply Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Usha Dayakar Rao visited Amma as part of Sharanavaratri and Shakambari celebrations at the Bhadrakali Temple in Warangal

Hyderabad 18th October. Mohd. Mahmood Ali, Minister for Home visited the rain-hit areas on Sunday. Home Minister visited GHMC Colony and other areas in Azampura limits. On this occasion, he inquired about the problems faced by the locals due to the heavy rains. He instructed GHMC officials to take steps to resolve them expeditiously. Speaking to locals on the occasion, the Home Minister said care should be taken as there is a possibility of rains for another two days. And he said Officials of various departments are available in the rain-hit areas. The minister explained to the locals that the state government would take appropriate precautions to resolve the issues. The minster said that the Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao will take steps on a permanent basis to resolve the issues.

COLLECTOR VENKATESWARLU , MLA SUBASH REDDY CORPORATOR GANDHAM JYOTHSNA

VISITED FLOOD AFFECTED AREAS

TSIT BUREAU MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI DISTRICT COLLECTOR VASAM VENKATESWARLU ,UPPAL MLA BETHI SUBASH REDDY, RAMANTHAPUR CORPORATOR,GHMC STANDING COMMITTE MEMBER GANDHAM JYOTHSNA NAGESHWAR RAO VISITED FLOOD AFFECTED AREAS AT RAMANTHAPUR ON SUNDAY , due to heavy rains last night, the Musi Nala dam in Satyanagar was cut off and water was flowing

into the colony, causing severe problems to the people, as well as public representatives who came to visit the victims, District Collector Vasam Venkateshwarlu and Uppal MLA Bethi Subhash Reddy. Local Corporator and Standing Committee member Gantham Jyothsna Nageshwar Rao explained to collector and MLA in detail that the problem and urged to resolve the problem as soon as possible, where the colonists would be in great distress and panic.

Aakula Mahender distributed food items (veg biryani) to the flood victims in South

Swaroop Nagar Colony in Uppal.TSIT BUREAU On Sunday TRS party senior leader Aakula Mahender distributed food items (veg biryani) to the flood victims in South Swaroop Nagar Colony in Uppal, Aakula Mahender while speaking said that the water was coming to the colonies due to the negligence of the previous governments, taking money and giving permission for illegal constructions and seizing ponds and canals. But he said the TRS government was biased towards the poor and would

always be there for the poor with the help of local MLAs, mayors, corporators and local TRS leaders to find a permanent solution to this problem. Colony presidents Venkateshwar, Varkala

Bhujender Gowd, Panga Rajeshwar Reddy, Bhasha Palli Niranjan, Ram Reddy, Lingampally Anil, Akhil, Raju colonists Mahesh, Karthik, Ram, Laxman and others participated.

PRAVVEEN MUDIRAJ, UPPAL EE NAGENDER DISTRIBUTED BLANKETS TO FLOOD VICTIMSTSIT BUREAU Chilkanagar division president Bannala Praveen Mudiraj, with his own money, Distributed blankets for the families of 50 victims whose homes were flooded by heavy rains yesterday. Uppal Circle Executive Engineer NAGENDHER was the chief guest at the event. Bannala Praveen said that from tomorrow, the Telangana state government will provide essential kits and two blankets set up by KCR, KTR to Flood

victims , Uppal as per the MLA Bethi Subhash Reddy directions each flood affected family WIll get this Praveen said. TRS senior leaders Bazaru Jagan, Veeraboina Venkatesh, Palle Narsing,

Pittala Naresh, Allibilli Mahender, Bal Reddy, Kaukonda Jagan, Gudur Ramesh, Ramanjaneyulu, Apparao, Anji Reddy, Somesh Yadav, among others, were present.

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 319 Monday, october, 2020

Smt.Indu satyam srirangam couples inaugurated the Hotel

“Rolls and bowls” at Kukat pally

MAKE FARMERS PROFITABLE - TELANGANA SPEAKER POCHARAM SRINIVAS REDDY

(TSIT bureau)Nizamabad Oct 18 ; State Legislative Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy called on the people to work through DCCB Bank to bring the farmers of the joint district on the path of profit. Sunday on the floor of the newly constructed DCCB Bank in Nizamabad district center He opened the Chairman’s Chamber. He told a press conference on the occasion that the Nizamabad District Co-operative Bank had a rich history in the state and it was the responsibility of everyone to preserve that history. He said that the performance of co-operative banks in the state was good and many changes were being made to benefit the farmers. He said that the nearest co-operative

banks to the farmers were the co-operative banks which not only provided loans to the farmers but also carried out programs like purchase of seeds, fertilizers and grains in collaboration with the co-operative societies. He recalled that he had served as chairman of the Joint District DCCB Bank. Many DCCB presidents have so far worked

for the development of the co-operative bank in the district, laying a solid foundation and the need to safeguard it wherever possible. He said the Nizamabad District Co-operative Bank has a history of successfully purchasing grain from farmers by setting up grain purchasing centers over the past few years. CM KCR said that the aim of the

farmer is to make a profit and accordingly the co-operative societies and co-operative banks want to work towards their goal of raising the farmers in your area to take loans and repay them. He said that it was not important to give loans to farmers and co-operative banks and co-operative societies should work to ensure that farmers develop without the need for loans. State Co-operative Bank president Kondur Ravinder Rao, MLA’s Bajireddy Govardhan, Hanmant Shinde, Nallamadugu Surender, MLC V. G Goud , Z. P chairman Dadanna Gary Vithal Rao, city mayor Dandu Neetu Kiran, state market chairman Mara Gangareddy and district collector C.Narayana Reddy were present on the occasion.

Vamshi demanded a clear and transparent CBI probe submergence KLI project.

TSIT bureau H y d e r a b a d , O C T 1 8 : : A I C C secretary Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Addressing to the media at Mahabhubnagar slammed the TRS govt and called it responsible for the submergence of the stage 1 pump house of the KLI project. He accused the govt of going ahead with the redesigning of the pump house of the PRLIS by considering the report from its favourable departmental committee that included even a contractor as one of its members while 3 other committees have rejected the re-design.He reminded them of how he had warned the govt of this disaster, in assembly during his term as an MLA in 2016. Vamshi demanded a clear and transparent CBI probe in this matter to reveal the facts and figures to the people of Telangana.With an eye on commissions, the TRS govt has stooped down to a dangerous level of not caring for the interests of the lakhs of farmers of Telangana. The govt including the then minister Jupally krishna Rao and MLAs disregarded repeated warnings from various irrigation experts, he said.Despite knowing of the facts and a loss of over 1000cr, they still went

ahead with the redesigning of the PRLIS project. He said TRS ministers and palamoor MLAs should be held accountable for the loss incurred and should resign from thier posts immediately. Mr. Penta Reddy, who was felicitated as the father of lift irrigation projects, by the Chief Minister and the then irrigation minister Harish Rao, Vamshi has cautioned and warned the govt going ahead with the re-design plans. He said that The steering committee too has called it a futile approach both technically and economically in June 2016 and warned of the difficulties to be faced in case the

project was executed.How has the govt forgotten that the respective collector has handed over the allotted lands to the contractors for the surface pump construction as agreed earlier and advised them to proceed accordingly, he questioned. The re-design proposal was not declined by steering committee alone but by a joint steering committee too. But with an intention to grab commission by hook or crook, the navayuga contractors along with the govt has gone ahead with the re-designing disregarding all the committee reports given by several irrigation experts,

(TSIT bureau)H y d e r a b a d , o c t o b e r 1 8 : : o n Sunday at KPHB colony Hitech city Dr.Srirangam satyam TPCC official spokes person, srirangam foundationchairman Smt.Indu satyam srirangam couples as a chief guest They inaugurated the Hotel “Rolls and bowls”offers a variety of popular indian dishes in the form of rice bowls and whole wheat rolls, delicious, convenient, healthy and affordable without compromising on quality or taste and hygienic measures in an organised and systematic manner.

In this event hotel organisers Jayakuma mary Victoria speaking to media said that This out let will do the food orders in span of minutes with hygienic as well as fresh And affordable prices and also they said that precious service to the customers The brnd intends to revolutionise the indian food sector and the way people perceive Indian food by bringing Indian food to the forefront of the QSR industry. All surfaces are disinfected at regular intervals while the food is made to order which guarantees everything is fresh, clean and contactless.

NIZAMABAD ARYA SAMAJ ORGANISED ASHTOTTARA SHATAKUNDIYA MAHA YAGNAM

Nizamabad Oct 18 ; The Arya Samaj Nizamabad ( Indur ) on Sunday morning organized a " Ashtottara Shatakundiya

Mahayaganm " simultaneously with google meet online through the world online and offline. The Arya Samaj in Nizamabad is a

venue where Telugu couples from all over the world like Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries participated in the event and made it a success. Telugu people settled in different countries

The Yagna was performed at their respective homes by the Arya Samaj supervisors under the auspices of Veda Mitra.

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 419 Monday, october, 2020

AMARAVATI, Oct 18: TDP National General and for-mer Minister Nara Lokesh on Sunday decried the YCP Government’s attempts to ‘divert’ the public money on a large scale to increase the circulation figures of CM Jaganmohan Reddy fam-ily’s own media in the State. Mr. Lokesh deplored that over Rs. 5.5 Cr public funds were being looted in vil-lage and ward Secretariats in the name of the ruling party’s media, which is noth-ing but a political pamphlet. In a statement here, the for-mer Minister said that the Jagan regime was shame-lessly promoting its own media and firms by spend-ing huge amounts of money and looting public properties everywhere. On the other hand, the Government was

saying that it had no money to open Anna Canteens that had quenched the hunger of poor workers, coolies, small time employees, ven-dors and different sections. Mr. Lokesh said that the Jagan Reddy rule literally snatched away food from the mouths of the poor people. But, by giving the Government advertise-ments aplenty, hundreds of crores were being given to the YCP media. Though all sec-tions of people were resenting its activities, the Government was treading all wrong paths to increase the circulation of the ruling party’s media. Mr. Lokesh deplored that the Jagan regime was not hesitat-ing to commit scam in every scheme and programme. The village Secretariats were also being used in a variety of ways to continue its corruption.

Hitting out at the KCR Gov-ernment for ignoring Pal-amur Ranga Reddy project, BJP National Vice President, D K Aruna today said to write a letter to the Centre to or-der a CBI probe on irrigation irregularities in Telangana. Addressing a press confer-ence at the state BJP office in the city, she accused the government of swindling funds of irrigation projects in the name of design changes. She attributed the sub-mergence of Vellur pump house under Kal-wakurty project followed by a blast to the negli-gence of the government. She expressed serious discontent that the gov-ernment used police to prevent them from vis-iting the incident spot. There might be something behind it she charged. Instead of resigning to their posts the ministers and TRS leaders who opposed it are dancing to the tunes of KCR government, Aruna fumed. In spite of engineers sug-gesting against it, the gov-ernment set up the pump house underground led to submergence, she charged. The BJP will urge the centre to conduct a CBI

probe on Telangana irri-gation projects to unravel facts behind the omis-sions and commissions. Palamur Ranga Reddy project, Chevella Pra-nahitha names and de-signs were changed to mint money, she alleged. Despite ministers and TRS leaders wrote a letter op-posing it, the government preferred to set up the pump house underground. The TRS leaders of pre-vious Mahabub Nagar should feel ashamed of the pump house incident. The KCR government should avoid lethargy and respond as to when the

pump house will be restored. When the people are facing difficulties of floods KCR is confined to farm house. On continuing rain fury and damage occurred, in the city and elsewhere, the former minister lashed out at the government. She flayed minister KT Rama Rao for touring rain hit and inundated areas with chief secretary and officials. While Chief Minister has failed to take up a helicop-ter trip to assess crops loss due to incessant rains, the BJP leader pointed out. She slammed the govern-ment for failing to give DPRs of the projects to

the apex council and KCR has to inform people of his version on the projects. Despite not spending a sin-gle rupee the KCR govern-ment claims of spending Rs 12000 cr for transforming Hyderabad as the global city. Expressing surprise that KTR is talking of spending Rs 67000 cr for the city develop-ment, she asked KCR as to which farm house does the money go, while Hyderabad is under waters followed by rain fury and deluge. The officials failed to at-tend to heavy rains and check nalas from over-flowing caused by en-croachments, she alleged.

BJP will seek CBI probe on irrigation projects : DK Aruna slams KCR on city

Public money diverted to Jagan

own media: Lokesh

Hyderabad, Oct 17 (UNI): Telangana Minister for Mu-nicipal Administration KT Rama Rao (KTR) directed the officials and public represen-tatives to distribute the CM Relief Kits at the doorsteps of the residents in the rain af-fected areas across the city. Each Chief Minister Relief Kit cost would be around Rs 2800 and it consists of provisions and essential commodities sufficient for a month and three blankets. KTR, who reviewed the progress of relief measures, including

dewatering and restoration activities being taken up by Greater Hyderabad Munici-pal Corporation (GHMC) in inundated areas of the city today, also directed the offi-

cials to expedite all the relief and restoration measures and bring back normalcy at the earliest. Instructions were issued to the officials to com-plete enumeration of house

and other property damages immediately, the Minister also directed the officials. If required, hire additional manpower, equipment and machines where ever neces-sary, the Minister said to the officials. Emphasizing on sanitation, the Minister spe-cifically directed the officials to take up special sanitation drives in all the rain affected areas in the city.Besides spraying disinfectants by de-ploying additional teams and machinery, mobile medical camps should be organised.

Rain-affected residents receive 'CM Relief Kits'

Amaravati, Oct 18 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh registered 3,676 new Covid positive cases, increasing the state's tally to 7.79 lakh, even as 5,529 more patients recovered from virus to outnumber infections.

East Godavari district ac-counted for the highest num-ber of infections, 567, followed by West Godavari (531), Chit-toor (473), Prakasam (348), Krishna (308), Guntur (259) and others. Meanwhile, 24 more patients succumbed to the virus, raising the state-wide toll to 6,406. In the past 24 hours, 5,529 more patients

recovered from the virus, in-creasing the total recoveries to 7.3 lakh. The positive trend of recoveries outnumbering infections continues in the southern state everyday. Of the 7.79 lakh cases, active cas-es currently stand at 37,102.

AndhrA registers 3K new Covid CAses

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 519 Monday, october, 2020

Hyderabad, Oct 18 (UNI): The National Investiga-tion Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against 12 accused including 9 Bangladeshi nationals in an international human trafficking case. The case was registered at Pahadi Shareef police station in Hyderabad on September 21 following the arrest of 10 human traffickers by police from two brothels at Jalpally village, Balapur, Rangareddy district and Mahimood colony, Bala-pur in Hyderabad.

Four young Bangladeshi girls were rescued from the brothels and several digital devices, fake In-dian identity documents and other incriminating

material were seized. The investigation agency said on Sunday that the charge sheet was filed in NIA Spe-cial Court in Hyderabad on Saturday.

The accused have been chargesheeted under sec-tions 120B, 370, 370(A), 465 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 3, 4, 5 & 6 of The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and Sections 14, 14A,14C of the Foreigners Act, 1946. The main accused Abdul Barik Shaik, a Bangla-deshi, is absconding. The other accused are Ruhul Amin Dhali, a resident of West Bengal, Asad Hasan and Shareeful Shaik, both residents of Maharashtra, Mohd Yousuf Khan, Bithi

Begum, Mohd Rana Hus-sain, Mohammed Al Ma-mun, Sojib Shaik, Suresh Kumar Das, Mohd Abdulla Munshi and Mohd Ayub Shaik, all Bangladeshis. Investigation by the NIA established that the ar-rested accused were as-sociates of Ruhul Amin Dhali and Abdul Barik Sheikh who illegally traf-ficked young girls from Bangladesh to India and vice versa. Ruhul Amin Dhali was already arrested by NIA on December 12, 2019 in another case.

Investigation further revealed that there were money transfers be-tween Ruhul Amin Dhali and Abdul Barik Shaik as commission paid to the

NIA files chargesheet in Hyd court in trafficking case HayaTHnagar CorporaTor HeCkled by flood vICTImS

Hyderabad, Oct 18 (UNI): As heavy and incessant rains in Hy-derabad has left the city into a flood-like situation submerging most of the low lying areas, public repre-sentatives, Corpora-tors, MLAs of the rul-ing Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party are facing wrath from the local residents during their visit to the affected places. In a recent such in-cident, Hayathnagar TRS Corporator Sama Tirumal Reddy on Sunday was heckled by locals when he vis-ited Ranga Nayakula Nagar area of Hayath-nagar, to take stock of the situation following heavy rains in the city on Saturday night.

The locals protested and sent him back for

his inaction over ille-gal encroachment of land over drainage.

They alleged that the TRS corporator failed to resolve the is-sue of encroachment of a Nala in their area

even after numerous complaints by them. Earlier, TRS Uppal MLA also had a similar experience when the locals agitated over the timely action dur-ing the rains.

former for trafficking across the borders. Ruhul Amin Dh-ali and other 10 arrested ac-cused had illegally entered India in 1980's and estab-lished a prostitution racket along with Yusuf Khan and Bithi Begum (husband and wife) in various parts of In-dia. The 12 accused hatched a criminal conspiracy along

. ith their associates in Ban-gladesh to look for young Bangladeshi girls in the age-group of 19-25 years. and trafficked to India by cross-ing Sonai River and via Kol-kata and then take them to various destinations in India including Mumbai and Hy-derabad, the agency said.

These girls are lured with

the promise of lucrative jobs and better quality of life in India. They are also provided fake Indian identity docu-ments and are eventually forced into prostitution. The rescued young girls are pres-ently at shelter homes in Hy-derabad and the arrested ac-cused are in judicial custody in Hyderabad, NIA said.

Tuni, Oct 17 (UNI) Engineers at the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) made use of drone technology to in-novatively restore power to five villages in East Godavari district's Tuni mandal. In the recent heavy rains due to the deep depression, five villages between Kolimeru and S. S. Venkatanagaram were cut off from power supply. Tuni is 257 km north east of Vijayawada, on the east coast of India by

the Bay of Bengal. The only way to reach those villages was to cross the Thandava river, which was in spate because of the downpour. "Thandava was gushing with floodwaters at full spate. It was not possible for anyone to either swim or row a boat to the other side carrying the necessary electrical equip-ment," an APEPDCL engineer told . “Later, we managed to restore power to those five villages, otherwise the villag-ers would have had to wait for

another five days,” he added. Considering the difficulties, the engineers innovatively flew a drone to the other of the bank, carrying a thin fishing wire to which they later tied a stron-ger rope made of coconut fibre to pass the equipment. "Once the fishing wire was passed to the other bank, we tied a strong rope made of coconut fibre to be tied to the fishing wire and got it pulled to the other side, through which we passed a conductor," said the engineer.

Andhra engineers use drone to restore power across raging river

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 619 Monday, october, 2020

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) Art since time immemorial has been a powerful medium of ex-pression and communication to inspire change and empower a voice. To commemorate Gender Equality Day (August 26) a new initiative aims to introduce a unique platform for young art-ists to inspire a more equal so-ciety.

Throughout human history, art has always been a significant tool to chronicle different fac-ets of culture and react against inequalities and injustice. ITC Vivel has embarked on a unique celebratory and expressive ini-tiative, Vivel Voice of Art, to

weave a new-age narrative of equality through art. In a first, Vivel Voice of Art brings together one of India’s largest collective of young artists in an initiative to give expression to and inspire a more equal society. The unique platform gives young artists the Voice of Art. Together young artists with celebrate equality this month, through their pas-sionate expressions against patriarchy - be it stereotyping on the basis of gender or attire, highlighting pay gap or societal expectation set on the basis of gender. With more than 400 art entries received from artists across the country sharing their

interpretation of a progressive and an equal society, Vivel Voice of Art is a beginning of a unique expression that encourages women to say ‘Ab Samjhauta Nahin’ (No more compromise). The brand has been relentlessly working towards empowering women to have an informed ‘Voice’, encouraging them to challenge the status quo on gender- based stereotypes and the prescriptive behavioural norms they need to conform to. It firmly believes that no one should have to compromise on their dignity or be discriminated against. Vivel Ab Samjhauta Na-hin with its unique Know Your

Rights initiative is working ex-tensively with colleges across India to empower everyone with the knowledge of rights and build equality champions across the nation. More than 700 colleges have experienced the workshop co-created with one of the most renowned legal authorities in India, Ms. Karuna Nundy and around 1 lakh stu-dents have actively participated in the workshops that began its outreach in 2019. It has also collaborated with Azad Founda-tion India to launch �Parvaz’ a feminist leadership programme to empower women and trans-form communities.

‘Voice of Art’ on Gender Equality Day

New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) One of the most anticipated Asian art auctions for the Fall season has been announced. Aptly titled ‘Sacred and Imperial: The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection’ the sale pays hom-age to the objects the Alsdorfs spent their lives supporting and collecting.

Christie’s announced final details of the sale of the private collection of James and Mari-lynn Alsdorf, which will be sold across two sessions on Septem-ber 24, with a complementary online auction from Septem-ber 4 to 29. The collection will be presented in an exhibition, open by appointment, starting September 16th during Asian Art Week at Christie’s New York.

Known for their generosity of spirit as significant arts patrons in their hometown of Chicago, James and Marilynn Alsdorf spent their 38-year marriage building a wide-ranging col-lection marked by both quality and diversity. For the Alsdorfs, collecting represented the op-portunity for exploration, ad-venture and pursuit of beauty, extending from the art-filled rooms of their Chicago resi-dence to China and India. From the 1950s on, the Alsdorfs were especially ardent patrons of The Art Institute of Chicago, gifting or lending hundreds of works to the museum, commencing in their earliest days of collecting. A longtime trustee, Mrs. Alsdorf served for a time as president of the museum’s Women’s Board, while Mr. Alsdorf served as

Chairman from 1975 to 1978. In 1997, Mrs. Alsdorf presented the AIC with 400 works of In-dian, Himalayan, and South-east Asian art, a transformative bequest celebrated by the land-mark exhibition ‘A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection’. Less than a decade later, Mrs. Alsdorf made yet an-other monumental gift when she supported the Renzo Piano-designed renovation of what are now the Alsdorf Galleries for Indian, Himalayan, and South-east Asian Art.

Tina Zonars, Co-Chairman of Asian Art, Christie’s, remarks: “The Collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf represents a notable achievement in the history of American connois-seurship. Steadily acquired throughout the latter half of the 20th century by two of Chi-cago’s most important civic and cultural patrons, the collection is unparalleled in its breadth and quality, illuminating the remarkable feats of human artistry across time and geog-raphy. This collection affords the rare opportunity to acquire museum-quality works with the esteemed provenance of two of America’s leading collectors of Asian art.” Bridget Alsdorf, the couple’s granddaughter, recalls: “As a couple, my grand-parents were the picture of el-egance. They had impeccable taste, but to their family and many friends they were known for their warmth, wit, and hu-

mor. Studying and collecting art was their all-consuming passion, and it took them all over the world. Their spirit of adventure was unique; they went places that few collectors at the time were curious and confident enough to explore. They were not strategic in their collecting, instead, they were guided by what fascinated them and gave them pleasure, by knowledge and instinct.”

The Alsdorfs’ Collecting His-tory

Married in 1952, the couple quickly discovered a shared passion for cultural explora-tion and collecting, which for them was not a hobby but a way of life. Together they shared the odyssey of life-long global discovery through generous contributions to the arts com-munity of Chicago and beyond. During their first trip to India in 1968, they met former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Minister of Cultural Affairs, An-dr� Malraux, close friend of the dealer Robert Rousset, from whom they had acquired their first work of art in 1955. The Alsdorfs’ love of Indian, South-east Asian and Himalayan art informed their early collection in the 1960s.

After her husband’s passing in 1990, Marilynn Alsdorf be-came known as “the queen of the Chicago arts community.” In 1997, she donated 400 Indi-an, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian works to the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 2006, a sub-sequent donation made pos-

sible the Renzo Piano-designed renovation of what is now the Alsdorf Galleries for Indian, Hi-malayan, and Southeast Asian Art.

Part I: Masterpieces of Asian Art (Lots 801-823)

Part I offers a curated cross-section of 24 of the best exam-ples across the Alsdorfs’ most collected categories spanning South Indian bronzes, Qing dy-nasty porcelain, Chinese paint-ing, and Chinese and Japanese works of art. Featured lots in-clude A Rare and Magnificent Bronze Figure of Shiva Tri-puravijaya, South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola Period, circa 1050 ($1,000,000-1,500,000); A Very Rare and Important Marble Head of Buddha, Chi-na, Sui Dynasty, AD 550-618 ($500,000-700,000) Part II: Asian Art and European Deco-rative Arts (Lots 825-1049) Part II of the sale features Chinese works of art, Chinese paint-ings, Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian works of Art, Japanese works of art, and a se-lection of decorative arts. From among the Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan art, high-lights include A Gilt-bronze Figure of Amoghapasha Lokeshvara ($20,000-30,000). Highlights from the decorative arts include An Italian Gilt-Bronze, Porphyry, Lapis La-zuli and Hardstone-Mounted Collector’s Cabinet, 19th cen-tury ($8,000-12,000); and A Silk and Metallic Thread ‘Phoenix’ Carpet, China, Qing Dynasty, ($2,000-3,000).

Most awaited Asian art auction announced for Fall

Monsoon hair woes?New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) The ongoing wet

season, rainwater and constant humidity can certainly wreak havoc on our hair. One can’t do enough during this time to protect your locks and scalp, a while a good hair-care rou-tine is imperative, quality products are equal-ly important. For the first time Keratase India has launched a unique Social Commerce platform to reach out to consumers and give them the convenience of having their luxury haircare delivered to their doorstep. Kerastase has been offering its consumers in India a personalised yet indulgent hair care experience for more than10 years by partner-ing with only the most luxurious salons across the country. However, with the current situ-ation being challenging the brand took this as an opportunity and curated a unique plat-form giving consumers the convenience of an online experience, without eliminating the personalisation and human element of the salon / hair expert conversation.

Ahead of the launch life spoke to Moni-sha Bhatia, Head of Education- Kerastase In-dia, to guide us through the best products and how to take care of our locks this season. Hu-mid conditions during monsoons cause two different kinds of concerns. The most com-mon concern is frizzy, unruly hair. Kerastase Discipline Bain Fluidealiste and mask Mas-keratine work wonders at keeping frizz at bay and leaving you with manageable, smoother hair. Use the Keratin thermique before blow drying/styling your hair as that offers heat protection up to 180 degrees. Its anti-humidi-ty and anti-frizz properties ensure styled hair is shiny and stays smoother for longer.

Keratase India launches its Social Com-merce platform

The second concern with the constant moisture in the air is that it encourages the growth of bacteria and fungi on the scalp, triggering and aggravating scalp concerns such as itchiness, flakiness, excess oiliness and even hair loss. Frequent shampooing with a scalp specific shampoo helps maintain a clean scalp and keeps the micro-organisms away. The Specifique scalp care range by Ker-astase has different shampoos for addressing your scalp concerns and the Masque Hydra Apaisant is specifically designed for the scalp, leaving it soothed and hydrated.

Bonus tip: The Kerastase Elixir Ultime Oil is a must have! Enriched with sacred Marula and Camellia oil it adds instant nourishment and iconic shine to your hair. You can use it in many ways - for heat protection (upto 230 degrees) use it before a blow dry, for that en-hanced luster use a few pumps after and for your daily nourishment add it to your every-day hair care routine!

The brand new SoCom platform gives you the opportunity to discover, consider, consult with an expert and finally make a purchase - all online. Explaining the strategy for the launch of the platform, General Manager of Kerastase India, Rachit Mathur states, “Any new strategy formulated by the brand is al-

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 719 Monday, october, 2020

Varun Dhawan channels lonely vibes on social media

Actor Varun Dhawan has been in a lonely mood this Monday.He

took to Instagram to share a picture from one of his photo shoots. In the image, he strikes a stylish seated pose, but all alone."Lonely Monday," he wrote with the picture, using hashtag social distancing.

Recently, Varun garnered 30 million followers on Ins-tagram. The actor made the announcement sharing a fan-made video on the pho-to-video sharing platform.

"30 MILLION #varuniacs… Thank u for believing in me Keep moving on the beat. Thank u @stevenroythomas for this edit," he posted with the video.

Over the years, Varun has

used social media to connect with his fans, sharing tidbits about his professional as well as personal life. During the lockdown amid the Covid out-break, the actor used the plat-form to send positive vibes and spread awareness about the deadly virus.

On the film front, Varun was last seen in dance movie "Street Dancer 3D" this year. His next film is "Coolie No 1" is directed by his father, film-maker David Dhawan."Coolie No 1" is a remake of the Gov-inda-Karisma Kapoor original the director made in 1995. In the remake, Varun and Sara Ali Khan reprise the lead roles. The film was originally slated to hit theatres in May, but got pushed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Late actor Om Puri’s wife Nandita and son Ishaan have launched a YouTube channel to mark the 70th birth an-niversary of the former.

Titled “Puri Baatein”, the channel aims to im-part unknown facts about the legendary actor.

The first video of the channel shows several unseen pictures of Om Puri along with his family members.

In the clip, we can also see Ishaan and Nandita remembering Om Puri.

Apart rom them, popu-lar ghazal singer, Talat Aziz, and singer-actress Ila Arun also shared in-sights into Om Puri’s love for music. From doing socially relevant movies to tickling audience with comedy films, Om Puri

had done versatile proj-ects. “Aakrosh”, “Ardh Satya”, “Dharavi”, “Mirch Masala”, “Jaane Bhi Do

Yaaro”, “Chachi 420”, “Hera Pheri” and “Mala-maal Weekly” are some of his memorable movies.

He had also made his name in international cinema. He had played a cameo in Richard At-

tenborough’s iconic 1982 film “Gandhi”. Among some of his British films were “My Son the Fa-

natic”, “East Is East” and “The Parole Officer”.

He also appeared in Hollywood films includ-ing “City of Joy”, “Wolf” and “The Ghost and the Darkness”.

On his birth anniver-sary, several actors have also paid tribute to him on social media.

Actor-producer Nikhil Dwivedi tweeted: “He was also a simple man. He wasn’t being articu-late and for that, he was vilified and humiliated. Every contribution of his was forgotten by an ungrateful soci ety in a whiff.”

“Happy birth anni-versary to one of the few masters of acting in the history of Indian cinema. Om Puri,” actor Shashank Arora wrote on Twitter.

YouTube channel launched on Om Puri’s 70th birth anniversary

THE SOUTH INDIA TIMES 25 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2020 819 Monday, october, 2020

gurram Cheruvu lake breaches capacity after overnight rainfall, houses

Hyderabad. Oct 18 (UNI): Gur-ram Cheruvu aka Balapur lake breached its capacity after heavy rainfall in the late hours of Satur-day. Rainwater entered stormwa-ter drains and even some houses in low-lying areas.

Following which, Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mah-mood Ali on Sunday morning in-spected Azampura, Chaderghat, MCH Quarters, Rehmat Nagar and surrounding areas to take stock of the situation. The Home Minister instructed the GHMC officials to immediately start cleaning the en-tire area and remove dirt providing relief to the people. He asked the residents to be patient and vigilant as well. Mahmood Ali assured sup-port and assistance to the flood victims and informed that arrange-

ments have been made at Azam Function Hall for accommodation of Azampura Chaman victims, where food has also been arranged.

Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-It-tehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Floor Leader in Assembly and Chandray-angutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi

along with Hyderabad Police Com-missioner Anjani Kumar too visited Hafiz Baba Nagar to take stock of the situation.

The Police Commissioner said that low-lying colonies Hafiz Baba Nagar, Phoolbagh, Omar Colony, Indra Nagar, Shivaji Nagar and Ra-

jiv Nagar were inundated. “Please cooperate with the police in the evacuation exercise,” Anjani Ku-mar tweeted. He also supervised rescue work in Golnaka, Moo-sarambagh, Malakpet, Madan-napet, Lal Darwaza, Aliabad, Shamsherganj, Al Jubail Colony and Gazi-e-Millat Colony. Assert-ing that things were “in control”, he said that onlookers should not come out on roads.Rescue work was also launched in Singareni employees’ colony in Saroornagar. Several colonies in the area went under water for the second time in less than a week. Overflowing lakes and nullahs inundated many residential areas in and around the city. Following the inundation, po-lice closed the Malakpet Road un-derbridge, Gaddi Annaram to Shi-

va Ganga Road, Moosaram Bagh causeway and Chaderghat cause-way. Falaknuma bridge near the famous Falaknuma Palace in the old city was also closed for traffic after it was damaged. It appealed to the commuters to take alternate routes.The rain further damaged the Hyderabad-Bengaluru high-way at Gaganpahad. The Cyber-abad police urged people going to Hyderabad Airport to use the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Vehicles coming from Kurnool and Bengaluru were also diverted to take ORR at Ton-dupally. According to Telangana State Development Planning Soci-ety, Singapur Township in Ghatke-sar near Hyderabad received a maximum rainfall of 19.73 cm. Many areas in and around the city saw over 15 cm rainfall.

Hyderabad, Oct.18 (UNI): Congress Party MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy today toured the flood hit areas of his con-stituency. He visited the Mallepally vil-lage tank that has breached due to the ongoing rains. The breach has also led to disruption of the traffic between Mal-lepally and Gopalapuram villages. The breach has also led to the damage of

the crops in 200 acres of land in the vil-lage. The MLA visited the Kondapuram mandal and consoled the families of the affected farmers .Speaking on the oc-casion he demanded the state govern-ment to pay compensation to the affect-ed farmers. He also asked the officials to take steps for plugging the breach and restore the transportation.

Jagga Reddy tours flood hit areas of sanga reddy district

T-govt seeks Rs 300 cr from NHAI for repairs on highwaysHyderabad, Oct 17(UNI): Telangana Government has sought Rs 300 crore fund from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take up permanent repairs of highways damaged in the recent heavy rains and floods in the state. The government has carried out immediate temporary repairs on National High-ways with over Rs 10 crore to clear vehicular traffic affected due to washing away and portions of the roads caved in as rain wa-ter flooded the highways from the overflowing

tanks due to heavy rains in the state, one official from Roads and Building said here on Saturday. We have already sent a report of damages to NHAI seek-

ing funds for repairs, the official added.The roads and buildings depart-ment maintains 2,690-km of national highways in the state.

Amaravati, Oct 18 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday announced chair-persons for 56 corporations, set up for the development of back-ward classes.

With 50 per cent reservation provided to women, 29 corpora-tions will be headed by women chairpersons. In addition to this, the state government also appointed 12 directors for each corporation representing all the 13 districts. Minister for Back-ward Class Welfare, Ch Venu-gopala Krishna said that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) govern-ment is committed to develop-ment of backward classes. He said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy undertook the

initiative of setting up corpo-rations for 56 backward class communities to focus on their all-round development.

"The Chief Minister firmly believes that BCs are backbone classes and not backward class-es. As promised during elec-tions to provide separate corpo-rations for every community to give equal political prominence,

the Chief Minister has stood by it and brought it into reality," he said. The minister said after a careful study, out of 138 castes, 56 castes with over 30,000 pop-ulation were finalised to have separate corporations.

Funds will be allocated to the corporations and the peo-ple will be receiving more ben-efits. Reiterating that the state government prioritises welfare of the backward classes and strives for the uplift, Minister for Municipal Administration, Botsa Satyanarayana said that this is first of its kind initiative taken up by any state in the country, providing an equal platform for every backward class community.

Andhra nominates chairpersons for 56 backward class panels