VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY MAY 1, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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UN stands ready tostep up support to

India: UN chief

5

Centre asks fivestates to increase

onion acreage

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Getting the policyright: Top-down or

bottom-up?

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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

RINL, the corporate entity ofVisakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP),is readying a 1,000-beddedmakeshift hospital to treat Covidpatients on the plant premises.

Fabrication work for cots for theCovid care hospital is on at full swingat Utility Equipment Repair Shop(UERS) on the plant premises.

Procurement of all the necessarymaterial and arrangements to facil-itate the clinical delivery of medicalOxygen near the bed of the patientsare being expedited.

In the first step towards arrang-ing the 1,000-bed facility, theGurajada Kalakshetram, the mas-sive popular function hall inTownship of VSP is being madeinto a Covid Care Centre.

Further in phased manner var-ious community halls and publichalls and spaces will be convertedinto hospital wards for treatment of

Covid patients. All the wards of Visakha Steel

General Hospital with approxi-mately 110 beds have been convert-ed to Covid wards, barring one thatwould be used for emergency non-Covid cases.

In a statement, RINL said that itstands with the Nation in the pre-vailing Oxygen crisis for the Covidpatient and continues to supplyLiquid Medical Oxygen (LMO).

“So far in this FY 2021-22, sinceApril 13, more than 2,200 tonnesof LMO has been dispatched. Thesedispatches are mostly to AP statebut we have also supplied 100tonnes in the first Oxygen Expressto Maharashtra on April 22 due toacute emergency in that state. Asper government allocation planRINL is also extending support toKarnataka,” the RINL statementsaid.

“Since the onset of this pandem-ic RINL has already dispatched acumulative 11,000 tonnes of LMOto various destinations. The distri-bution and dispatches of LMO isbeing done as per the guideline ofDrug controller Authority of India.RINL is committed to stand byNation during this crisis and willextend all the support to meet theOxygen requirement of Covidpatients,” said an RINL official.

RINL readies 1,000 bed Covid hospital

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh High Courton Friday dismissed petitions filedby the TDP and the BJP seekingcancellation of the Tirupati by-poll,thus clearing the decks for count-ing of votes on May 2.

Earlier, two petitions were filedby TDP candidate PanabakaLakshmi and BJP candidate KRatna Prabha seeking cancellationof the April 17 Tirupati by-election.Both the petitioners sought nulli-fication of the by-poll saying thatthe ruling YSRCP resorted tolarge-scale use of bogus voters.

The court held hearings on thepetitions and ruled that it wouldnot be able to intervene with theelection process at this juncture.BJP candidate Ratna Prabha filedthe first petition seeking a freshnotification for the election.

Her advocates brought to the

notice of the court that there wasevidence to show how the rulingYSRCP leaders brought outsidersto vote in the Tirupati parliamen-tary constituency.

It was for the first time thatRatna Prabha contested in thedirect election after she retired asthe Chief Secretary of Karnatakastate.

The BJP Delhi leaders havepromised to give all their supportto her candidature. Her electionmanagers were also forced to com-plain to the Central ElectionCommission on the bogus voter’sproblem. Finally, she filed thepetition in the court.

The TDP also filed its petitionand complained against the seriouselection violations allegedly resort-ed to by YSRCP leaders. TheCongress also made serious allega-tions against bogus voting but itdid not move court.

HC dismiss petitions seekingcancellation of Tirupati by-poll

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP Government has directedthe State health department staff tosuspend RT-PCR tests to diagnoseCovid-19 for two days so that thebacklogs of results that has extend-ed to over a week could be cleared.

Testing using rapid antigen kitswould continue during these twodays.

Following a surge of Covid pos-itive cases across the state due tothe second wave, people with eventhe slightest of symptoms are rush-ing to Covid testing centres, thehealth department officials said.

“During the past few weeks, theaverage number of positive caseshas been over 10,000 cases per day.Over the past few days, the healthdepartment has been conductingmore than 85,000 tests and many

reports pertaining are pending, theofficials said.

The department has taken thedecision to suspend the RT-PCRtest for two days to clear all thebacklogs mounting over the lastone week. The government hasinstructed the health departmentstaff to conduct only rapid antigentests for the next two days, the offi-cials said. About 1.4 lakh rapidantigen kits are being distributedto the respective districts and thepending backlog RT-PCR reportswill be cleared during the mean-time.

Krishna district collector A MdImtiaz said that RT-PCR tests arebeing carried out on people withCovid symptoms in the district andthere are hardly 10,000 test reportspending.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh logged 17,354new Covid-19 cases, the State’shighest ever single day spike, tak-ing the caseload to 11,01,690 while64 fatalities pushed the toll to7,992, the state government said.

Anil Kumar Singhal, principalsecretary (medical and health),

said the mass vaccination pro-gramme for people aged between18 and 44 will not begin in AndhraPradesh from May 1 due to short-age of vaccine. He said the stateneeds four crore vaccines to inoc-ulate two crore people (two doses)in that age group.

The state has 1,22,980 activecases and over 86,000 samples

were tested during the last 24hours ending 9 am on Friday, anofficial bulletin said.

As many as 8,468 people recov-ered from the disease, taking thetotal recoveries to 9,70,718.

Nellore and Visakhapatnamtopped the toll chart with eightcasualties each followed byVizianagaram with seven.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday saidthe Centre should adopt a nationalimmunisation model for vaccinationof all and not leave it to privatevaccine manufacturers to decide onits allocation to states.A bench headed by Justices D YChandrachud said, "What happens tothe marginalised people and SC/STpopulation living in far flung areas?Should they be left to the mercy ofprivate vaccine manufacturers andhospitals? They will not be able topay for the vaccines , it said.The bench, also comprising JusticesL Nageswara Rao and S RabindraBhat, said that the government mustthink of providing free of costvaccination to all citizens.You should adopt a nationalimmunisation model to vaccinatepeople of all classes. Poor ormarginalised sections will not go tothe hospital and pay Rs 600 forvaccines. You should consider allthese aspects, the bench toldSolicitor General Tushar Mehta,appearing for the Centre.It said that it cannot be left to theprivate manufacturers to decide howmuch quantity be given to which

state and instead Centre shouldprocure all the vaccines and give it tothe states like done in nationalimmunisation programmes.The top court asked the Centre torespond to certain questions like howwill it ensure registration of personsfor vaccination, who are illiterate ordon't have access to the internetconsidering registration on CoWINapp is mandatory for vaccination forpersons aged 18-45 years.It asked Mehta whether the Centre orStates attempt to undertake targetedvaccination drives for crematoriumworkers and other coordinate groupswho are providing on-groundassistance during the pandemic andweren't considered as frontlineworkers.

SC warns against clampdownon raising grievances onlinePNS n NEW DELHI

Terming the second wave ofCovid-19 as a national crisis, theSupreme Court on Friday warnedauthorities, from the Centre downto police chiefs, against silencingpeople and their pleas for help onthe presumption that they areraising false grievances on theinternet.

The top court made clear thatany attempt to clampdown on freeflow of information on socialmedia including the call for helpfrom people would be treated ascontempt of court.

There should be free flow ofinformation; we should hear voic-es of citizens. This is a nationalcrisis. There should not be anypresumption that the grievancesraised on the internet are alwaysfalse. Let a strong message be sentto all the DGPs that there shouldnot be any kind of clampdown, abench headed by Justice D YChandrachud said, referring toposting of messages on socialmedia about issues like shortageof oxygen, beds or doctors.

The bench, also comprisingJustices L Nageswara Rao and SRavindra Bhat, said, If any actionis taken against such posts by cit-izens in distress, we will treat it ascontempt of the court.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the Centre,said that as an officer of the courthe agreed with the views.

The apex court's observationsassume significance following therecent decision of the UttarPradesh administration to pros-ecute people under the NationalSecurity Act for allegedly raisingfalse alarms on social media.

The court also pulled up theCentre for not ensuring continu-ous supply of oxygen to Delhi andsaid: “You cannot sit tight and donothing. My conscience is shak-en. We cannot have 500 deaths onour hands. You have to do some-thing urgently and supply a deficit200 MT oxygen to Delhi”.

“Not all deaths in the hospitalshere were due to oxygen short-age,” Mehta stated.

To this, the bench said that theCentre has a Constitutional obli-gation towards Delhi, which is theface of the country. The remarkswere made by the court duringthe hearing of the suo motu casefor ensuring essential supplies andservices during the Covid-19pandemic.

Supreme Courtsuggests nationalpolicy on hospitaladmissionsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Fridayasked the Centre to frame anational policy on admission ofpatients in hospitals after it wasapprised that some of them in theNCR are seeking local addressproof for admitting Covid-19infected people.

A bench headed by justice DYChandrachud was hearing the suomotu case on Covid-19 manage-ment in the country.

The Centre will have to makea uniform policy for admission ofpatients, observed the benchwhich also comprised justices LNageswara Rao and S RavindraBhat.

During the hearing, conduct-ed through video conferencing, alawyer said that a person wasdenied admission at a hospital inNoida as his Aadhaar Card had aresidential address of Mumbai.

The court said the Centralgovernment should ensure that nolocal address proof of patients aresought by hospitals for admission.

The bench on April 22 tooknote of the pandemic situationand said it expected the Centre tocome out with a national plan todeal with distribution of essentialservices and supplies.

State allocated 13 lakh vaccinedoses for May

Can't leave to pvt vax makers todecide quota: SC tells Centre

Reconsider decisionon exams, HC tells APPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh High Courton Friday advised the State govern-ment to reconsider its decision togo ahead with conducting the ClassX and Intermediate examinations inthe wake of an upsurge in the num-ber of Covid-19 cases in the State.

Hearing petitions filed against theState Government’s decision, thecourt pointed out that many factorslike the nearly 30 lakh students, par-ents, teachers will be part of theexams and the Government mustconsider the risk to their life andhealth.

Several people have filed petitionsin the High Court seeking the can-cellation of the Class X andIntermediate examinations.

During the arguments, the courtasked the government about thepreparations made for Covid-19positive students, since all thoseinfected should be either in isola-tion or hospitalised.

Counsel for the Governmenttold the court that tests would beconducted in special rooms forcorona-infected students withoutany difficulty. The court pointedout that the CBSE and ICSE boardshad also cancelled the examinationsin other states and directed the stategovernment to reconsider the con-duct of the examinations. Thecourt ordered that an affidavit befiled on the matter by May 3, thenext date of hearing.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy once again stronglydefended his government’sdecision to hold Intermediate andClass X exams. Reviewing theworks of Mana Badi-Nadu-Neduworks on Friday, Jagan said thatthe Union Government hasn’tannounced any policy on Class Xand Intermediate exams and hasinstead left the decision to the stategovernment. He pointed out thatwhile some states are conductingexams, other states have cancelledthem. The Chief Minister said thestates which didn't conduct examsare promoting students only withpass marks and questioned thefuture of such students. “The Stategovernment will be conductingClass X and Intermediate examsonly for the benefit of students.Cancelling the exams would beeasy for the Government whileconducting them would entailmore responsibility,” Jagan said.

AP goes past 11 lakh tally with 17,354 infections

AP suspends RT-PCRtests to clear backlogs

REPORT ON PAGE 2

INDIA EXTENDS BAN ON INTERNATIONALFLIGHTS TILL MAY-END

Amid an aggressive sweep of the secondcoronavirus wave, the Director General ofCivil Aviation on Friday further extended

the suspension of scheduled internationalflights till May 31. The earlier deadline forflights suspension was to end today."However, international scheduled flights maybe allowed on selected routes by thecompetent authority on a case to case basis,"the DGCA said in a circular.The restriction shall notapply to international all-cargo operations and flightsspecifically approved by the aviation regulator, it added. Scheduledinternational passenger services have been suspended in India sinceMarch 23 last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

SOLI SORABJEE, FORMER ATTORNEYGENERAL, DIES OF COVID

Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, one ofIndia's finest legal minds, died of Covid thismorning. He was 91. A senior lawyer and

Padma Vibhushan recipient, Soli Sorabjeewas being treated at a private hospital inDelhi. Chief Justice of India NV Ramannawas among those who paid tribute to SoliSorabjee. " Sad news. One of our legalluminaries and human rights activists, SoliSorabjee, passed away. May his soul rest inpeace," the Chief Justice said. Soli Jehangir Sorabjeewas born in Mumbai in 1930. He showed early promise as a studentat the prestigious Government Law College in Mumbai, the almamater of BR Ambedkar, the architect of the constitution.

EVEN A LITTLE EXTRA WEIGHT RAISES RISKOF SEVERE COVID IF BELOW 40: STUDY

Carrying even a little extra weight raises the riskof developing a severe form of Covid-19,especially in younger adults, according to

a new study. The findings published Thursdayoffer fresh insights into who is most at risk ofcomplications, laying out the effects forcertain age and ethnic groups and showinghow weight gain matters. The study comes asrepeated lockdowns and pandemic stress leadto expanding waistlines in many developedcountries and quashes the perception that only theobese face worse outcomes. Those with a body mass index above 23,which is considered at the upper end of the healthy range, are alreadyat higher risk, according to the U.K. researchers.

BIHAR CHIEF SECRETARY DIES DUE TO COVID COMPLICATIONS

Bihar chief secretary Arun KumarSingh on Friday died because ofCovid complications. The senior

Indian Administrative Service (IAS)officer was undergoing treatmentfor the disease at a hospital in statecapital Patna. Chief Minister NitishKumar, who received the news dur-ing a cabinet meeting, condoled hisdeath, an official statement said. Hesaid the officer was an efficient administra-tor and his death was an irreparable loss to the administra-tive service. Kumar has announced that the officer will becremated with full state honours.

The court asked theCentre how will itensure registration ofpersons for vaccination,who are illiterate ordon't have access tothe internet

Jagan againdefends decisionto go ahead with exams

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Shrimp, fish industry faces double whammy Covid 2

ndwave, surge in soya bean meal prices leave sector on the edge

SNV SUDHIR

n VIJAYAWADA

The shrimp and fish industry,which has been facing chal-lenging times due to Covid-induced situation since over ayear has been pushed furtherinto a severe crisis due to theunprecedented situation ofsteep surge of prices of soyabean meal, a major ingredientof shrimp and fish feed.

Andhra Pradesh accountsfor a lion’s share of almost 40percent of India’s total aquaexports and lakhs of aquafamers are dependent on thissector.

The current situation ofvery high prices of soya beanscoupled with artificial scarci-ty of soybean seed has left theshrimp and fish feed manufac-turing industry under severestress. The industry is alreadybattling with the problems ofrising input costs, lowerdemand of feed owing toCovid-19 and cheaper importsfrom South East Asia, partic-ularly from China andVietnam.

Currently, shrimp and fishculture are in operation inabout 1.60 lakh hectares inAndhra Pradesh earning anexport revenue of about Rs47,000 crore per annum.

The total production ofshrimp and fish feed in Indiais close to 27 lakh MetricTonnes (MTs) and the indus-try solely depends on thedomestically produced soyabean meal to meet its require-ments.

Soybean meal with 50 per-cent protein content is themain ingredient for manufac-turing shrimp and fish feedconstituting 40 percent in vol-ume.

However, due to the spi-

ralling soybeans seed priceswhich are currently around Rs6,700 per quintal excludingGST as against the MSP of Rs3,880 per quintal and the soy-bean meal of 50 percent pro-tein prices have increased byover 72 percent in the last threemonths.

As on date, the cost of 50percent protein soybean mealranges between Rs 6,850 perquintal in AP and Rs 6,500 perquintal in Maharashtra. Thehigher prices of soybean mealhave impacted the cost ofshrimp and fish feed directlythereby making the shrimpand fish culture unviable.

“With the inevitableincrease of cost of feed and fallin prices in international mar-kets, shrimp and fish produc-tion will not be viable to thefarmers affecting the entirevalue chain. Due to this, thelivelihood of more than onelakh shrimp and fish farmersand five lakh farm workers willbe affected. In addition, thejobs of more than two lakhworkers engaged in shrimpand fish hatcheries, feed millsand processing plants will alsobe in jeopardy,” a representa-tive of Shrimp FeedManufacturers Associationtold The Pioneer.

The Association had recent-

ly approached UnionCommerce Minister PiyushGoyal seeking his interventionto overcome the crisis.

The Shrimp FeedManufacturers Associationsought Goyal to allow duty freeimport of 12 lakh tonnes ofsoybean seed to the millers orpermit duty free import of 9lakh MT of soybean meal bythe shrimp and fish feed man-ufacturers in India to meet theneeds of shrimp and fish feedsin the country.

Soybean meal is also used inmanufacturing fish feeds. De-oiled Cake (DOC) of Soya with46 percent protein is used upto 20 percent in fish feed man-ufacturing process.

About 15 lakh tonnes of fishfeeds are manufactured inIndia to meet the demand offresh water fish culture con-suming about 3 lakh tonnes ofDOC.

About 15 lakh farmers areinvolved in inland fish cultureand at least one crore peopledepend on this sector in pro-duction, marketing of fish andother related activities.

The steep increase in DOCprices coupled with the scarci-ty of DOC has also beenadversely affecting the fishproduction and related activ-ities also.

Speculative trading,hoarding of soya bean pushes up prices PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The intervention of marketregulator Securities ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI) hasbeen sought into what isbeing called unbridled andexcessive speculation in thelast few weeks over the pricesof soya bean.

Prices of soya bean havereached Rs 7,250 perquintal from the Rs5,750 per quintal amonth ago.

“It is hard tofathom whathas changedso dramati-cally in such ashort periodof time to war-rant thisu npre c e d e nte dupswing in prices,”said The SolventExtractors’ Association ofIndia President AtulChaturvedi.

He said that this excessivespeculative activity has thepotential to seriously dis-turb the smooth functioningof the Solvent ExtractionIndustry engaged in pro-cessing soybeans as the avail-ability of beans has practical-ly dried up all of a suddenleading to all kinds of misin-formation being bandiedabout. “Poultry industrywhich is heavily dependenton soya meal to feed the

birds has been driven to thewall and finding it difficult tosurvive in these pandemictimes. Needless to say soyameal exports will now be outof question as we are heavi-ly out-priced in internation-al markets,” Chaturvedi said.

The Solvent Extractors’Association of India repre-sentatives also wrote to SEBI

chairman Ajay Tyagiseeking interven-

tion.S o y b e a n

market insid-ers said thatexports ofsoybean mealin the mar-keting season

of 2020-21,b e t w e e n

October 2020 toFebruar y 2021

stands at 11 lakh MetricTonnes (MTs) as against 3lakh MTs between October2019 to February 2020. Thisrepresents an increase of 267percent.

“The export demand led toa very high level of specula-tive trading activity by mid-dlemen, stockist lobbies andcommodity broking entities.It has resulted in large scalehoarding of soybean seedleading to scarcity of seed tothe solvent crushing plantspushing the prices furtherupwards artificially,” said anindustry insider.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Medical and Health PrincipalSecretary Anil Kumar Singhalon Friday said that the CentralGovernment has allocated9,91,700 doses of Covishieldand 3,43,930 doses of Covaxinvaccine to Andhra Pradesh forthe month of May. The allocat-ed doses will be administeredto beneficiaries aged 45 yearsand above in the state.

Singhal said that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy would write to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi seek-ing suggestions and ideas thatthe vaccine doses allocatedfor May will be utilised forbeneficiaries above 45 years.The Chief Minister would alsomention in his letter that thevaccination process for people

above 45 years was underway,with short supply of vaccinedoses it would hamper vacci-nation of this age group if thevaccination process of peoplebetween 18-45 years is started.

Singhal said that the ChiefMinister was very clear thatstarting to administer vac-cines for those aged 18-44years while keeping pendingdosage for 45 years and overwould not be prudent.

He said that the governmentcan also procure vaccine dosesthrough channels other thanthe Government of India.However, the AP governmentwould first complete vaccina-tion of people above 45 yearsacross the state.

Singhal said that the Statehas about 2.4 crore peopleaged between 18-45 years and

it needs more than 4 croredoses to vaccinate them.

Meanwhile, 15,291Remdesivir injection vials havebeen supplied to private hos-pitals in the state throughdirect purchase and throughthe drugs department while30,559 vials were distributed togovernment hospitals.

Singhal said that there wasa good response to ‘104’ callcentres and 15,000 calls arereceived on an average whichare attended by 2,612 doctors.

More patients are optingfor Covid care centres, as ofnow there are 7,749 patientsand this is easing the pressureon hospitals, he said.

The Principal Secretary saidthat they have tested 86,494samples out of which 17,354returned positive.

AP allocated 13 lakhvaccine doses for May

Continued from Page 1

The bench asked Mehta torespond to the question whetherthe central government has con-sidered exercising its power undersection 92 of Patents Act, 1970,which enables compulsory licens-ing of patents in a public healthemergency? Has the FinanceMinistry made any previousgrants/ sanctions to Bharat Biotechand Serum Institute of India (SII)in the past, like the current infusionof Rs 1,500 crore and 3,000 crorerespectively? If yes, what is theexact breakup, as against the totalcost of development and produc-tion of the two vaccines, the benchsaid. It also sought to know thedirect and indirect grant/aid thatwas provided for the research,development and manufacture ofvaccines. The top court posted thematter for further hearing on May10 and asked the Solicitor Generalto reply to the questions it hasposed.

Continued from Page 1

The bench also pulled upthe Delhi government andsaid, there should not be anypolitical bickering. Delhi gov-ernment has to cooperate withthe Centre to deal with the sit-uation. “Politics is for electionbut here at this time of human-itarian crisis; each and everylife needs to be saved. Pleaseconvey our message to thehighest level that they have tokeep politics aside and talk tothe Centre,” the bench said.

It told senior advocate RahulMehra, appearing for Delhigovernment, that they need totalk to the Centre to sort outthe problems.

Mehra, who pointed to thefigures regarding ambiguityin supply of oxygen to thenational capital by the Centre,assured the top court that itssuggestion will be followed inletter and spirit and they willcooperate with the Union gov-ernment.

The bench has taken upissues such as projecteddemand of oxygen in the coun-try at present and near future,how the government intends toallocate it to critically-affectedstates and the monitoringmechanism to ensure supply.

It observed during the vir-

tual hearing that even frontlinedoctors and healthcare work-ers were not getting beds fortreatment, the healthcare infra-structure inherited over thepast 70 years was not sufficientand the situation was grim inthe country. The apex courtsuggested that hostels, temples,churches and other places beopened for converting them asCovid-19 care centres and theCentre should adopt a nation-al immunisation model aspoor people will not be able topay for vaccines.

"What happens to the mar-ginalised people and SC/STpopulation living in far flungareas? Should they be left to themercy of private vaccine man-ufacturers hospitals? They willnot be able to pay for the vac-cines , it said, adding that thegovernment must think ofproviding free of cost vaccina-tion to all citizens.

It said private vaccine man-ufacturers cannot be allowed todecide which state should gethow much quota, and theCentre should procure it fromthem and distribute it to thestates. Acknowledging thestrain on the healthcare sectorthe bench said that it was on abreakpoint and suggested thatretired medical workers can bere-employed for the purpose.

The top court allowedAdditional secretary ofMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare Sumita Dawra to givethe PowerPoint presentationon supply of oxygen across thecountry. She said that there wasno shortage of medical oxygenin the country.

Mehta and senior advocateRanjit Kumar, appearing forBihar government pointed tothe court that several highcourts which are hearingmatter related to Covidreliefs are making off the cuffremarks, which are dentingthe morale of officials work-ing continuously.The benchsaid that off the cuff remarksby High courts, which arenot necessary to the case inhand, should be avoided andjudges should maintain somejudicial restraint.

"Even when we are criti-cising a judgement of a HighCourt, we do not say exact-ly what is in our heart andwe exercise a degree ofrestraint. We would onlyexpect that as freedom hasbeen given to the HighCourts to deal with theseissues, certain of-the-cuffremarks, which are not nec-essary may be avoided," thetop court said and posted thematter for May 10.

Continued from Page 1

Most of the pending testreports are of people withnegative results which weredue to server problems andshortage of data entry staff,Imtiaz said.

He said that on a dailybasis about 7,000 RT-PCRtests are being carried outacross the district.

The Collector said thatthere are about 5,000 rapidantigen kits available in thedistrict, while at six variouslocations they have startedTrueNat tests.

Jagan again defends decision to go ahead with examsContinued from Page 1Asserting that the State government has decided to go ahead with theexams only after considering the future of the students, the ChiefMinister said every teacher should understand the rationale. Heappealed to the teachers to explain to the parents that their cooperationand support were needed. Jagan instructed teachers to conduct theexams following all Covid protocols.

AP suspendsRT-PCR teststo clearbacklogs

SC warns against clampdown on raising...

Can't leave to...

Centre to give addl Rs 15,000 crinterest-free loan to statesPNS n NEW DELHI

The finance ministry on Fridaysaid it will give an additional Rs15,000 crore to the states asinterest free 50-year loan forspending on capital projects inthe current fiscal.

The Scheme for SpecialAssistance to States for CapitalExpenditure for 2021-22 alsoincludes incentives to statesfor monetising/ recy-cling of infrastructureassets and disinvest-ment of the StatePublic SectorEnterprises (SPSEs).

"The Ministry ofFinance, Governmentof India has decided toprovide an additional amount ofupto Rs 15,000 crore to states asinterest free 50 year loan forspending on capital projects,"the finance ministry said in astatement.

The Scheme for SpecialAssistance to States for CapitalExpenditure for 2021-22 hasthree parts, including linkage ofasset monetisation with fundsrelease by the Centre.

For the North-East and HillStates, the Centre has ear-marked Rs 2,600 crore. Out of

this, Assam, Himachal Pradeshand Uttarakhand will get Rs 400crore each while remainingstates in this group have beenallocated Rs 200 crore each.

An amount of Rs 7,400 croreis earmarked for all other states.This amount has been allocat-ed amongst these states in pro-portion to their share of centraltaxes as per the award of the

15th Finance Commissionfor the year 2021-22, the

ministry said.The third part of

the scheme is forproviding incentivesto States for moneti-

sation/ recycling ofinfrastructure assets

and disinvestment ofSPSEs.

"An amount of Rs 5,000crore is allocated for this part ofthe scheme. Under this part,states will receive interest free 50years loan ranging from 33 percent to 100 per cent of theamount realised by them,through assets monetisation,listing and disinvestment," theministry added.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in her 2021-22Budget speech said that toincentivise states to take to dis-

investment of their public sec-tor companies, the Centrewould work out an incentivepackage of central funds forstates.

The government has budget-ed to raise Rs 1.75 lakh crorethrough CPSE disinvestment inthe current fiscal, over fivetimes what it raised in the lastfinancial year. The ministerhad also said that the Centrewould work out specific mech-anisms to nudge states to spendmore of their budget on creationof infrastructure.

Monetisation of assetsunlocks their value, eliminatestheir holding cost and enablesscarce public funds to bedeployed to new projects, thusspeeding up the implementationof the National InfrastructurePipeline, the ministry said.

Under the Scheme forSpecial Assistance to States forCapital Expenditure, financialassistance is provided by theCentre to the state govern-ments in the form of 50-yearinterest free loan. As againstRs 12,000 crore earmarked forthe scheme for the financialyear 2020-21, a sum of Rs11,830.29 crore was releasedto the states.

Night curfew in TSextended till May 8PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana governmenthas decided to extend theexisting night curfew by onemore week i.e. till May 8,putting an end to speculationsin some circles over imposi-tion of lockdown for now.

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar issued orders onFriday extending the curfewtill 5 am on May 8 under theDisaster Management Act,2005. The governmentimposed night curfew initial-ly from April 20 to 30 in thewake of surging cases ofCovid-19 under the secondwave and restricted free move-ment of people from 9-00 pmto 5-00 am in accordance

with the order issued by theUnion Ministry of HomeAffairs on March 23.

The MHA issued the orderlaying down guidelines foreffective control of Covid-19,while allowing States toimpose local restrictions tocurb the spread of the virus.

The extension of the nightcurfew comes in the wake ofthe Telangana High Courtexpressing its impatience onThursday over the delay by theState in taking a decision oncontinuation of night curfewor imposition of lockdown.The Advocate General hadsubmitted to the Court thatthe government would take adecision on Friday, afterassessing the situation.

Policies to designCOVID-19-related inter-ventions could be top-

down or bottom-up, or a mixof the two. The differencebetween top-down and bot-tom-up policies is describedbelow.

Current top-down policiesowe their origins to GarrettHardin, famous for his influ-ential essay 'The Tragedy of theCommons'. Simply put,Garrett described the popula-tion problem as too manypeople scrambling for too fewresources, and used themetaphor of too many herds-men overgrazing a commonpasture. He called this thetragedy of the commons. Theunderlying logic was that "therational herdsman concludesthe only sensible course forhim to pursue is to add anoth-er animal to his herd. Andanother, and another … Butthis is the conclusion reachedby each and every rationalherdsman sharing a com-mons. Therein lies the tragedy.Each man is locked into a sys-

tem that compels him toincrease his herd without limit- in a world that is limited.Ruin is the destination …Freedom in commons bringsruin to all".

During the 1970s, Hardin'sideas gained widespread sup-port among governments,environmentalists and devel-opment agencies. Hardin'sprescriptions for privatizationand state-control over com-mon resources were enthusi-astically adopted by policy-makers. Governments startedto issue licences and prescribelimits on the use of commonresources (e.g. forests, fisheriesand pastureland). Coal, steel,copper, refining, cotton tex-tiles, oil and insurance indus-tries were nationalized in Indiaas well during this period.

These conclusions wereupturned by a series of casesstudied by the Nobel laureate

Elinor Ostrom. She found thatHardin's top-down policiescrafted by a centralizedauthority were unable to solvethe tragedy. She did not denythat tragedies in commonsoccur, but found that peoplecould effectively organizethemselves to manage theircommons if the right condi-tions were put in place by poli-cies. Let us look at some of thecases examined by Ostrom.

In her study of depletingground water table in LosAngeles, Ostrom found thatseveral water-managing insti-tutions had clumsily, but

assuredly, worked towards solu-tions to use less ground waterand report how much theyused and adjust water alloca-tions all the time. These agree-ments arose from hundreds offace-to-face meetings - repletewith multiple conflicts, butwithout a central authorityimposing rules and restric-tions.

These on-the-ground obser-vations of water managementin Los Angeles were followedup by a study of a tiny villagecalled Torbel in the Swiss Alps.Twenty-two residents gatheredin 1482 to draw up a voluntary

agreement to specify how theywould share the common graz-ing resources, such as the num-ber of cows a resident couldkeep during different seasonsand severe fines for violations.The agreement was by andlarge working well.

Later, in Nepal she studiedthe way people allocate wateramong themselves to irrigate

paddy fields. Farmers craftedcomplex irrigation systemswith dams, tunnels and water-diverting structures. The sys-tems had rules for allocatingwater among users and collec-tively sharing labor, materialsand costs to build and main-tain the systems without anycentral authority. There wererules to punish free riderswho used more than theirshare of water.Undoubtedly, allthese bottom-up policies bypeople were clumsy and messy,but paid off in the long run.

Based on these real-lifeobservations, Ostrom devel-oped eight "design principles"for what is called bottom-uppolicy-making. Some of theprinciples are: clearly definewho has the right to use theresource, a credible way tomonitor the condition of theresource, mechanisms toresolve conflicts, and rights for

people to set their own rules.All these rules would emergefrom the ecology and cultureof the place and the people,without top-down impositionby officials.

Ostrom's eighth and finalprinciple provides guidancefor self-organization when theresources are part of a largersystem beyond the control ofusers. She suggests thatresponsibility for making andenforcing rules should be del-egated at several nested levels- from local authorities tointernational agreements.

Policy problems are of twotypes: simple and complex. Forsimple problems, "top-downclockwork" polices work well.An example is the MontrealProtocol. The problem wassimple and well-defined --some substances deplete theozone layer that protects all lifeon Earth. The solution was

clockwork: stop using chemi-cals that adversely affect theozone layer and graduallyphase out their production.

On the other hand, policysettings for complex prob-lems are unpredictable andrapidly change where com-mand-and-control tactics donot work. Here, bottom-upapproaches work best, andOstrom's design principlesprovide a useful starting pointwhere the local people andhigher authorities get togeth-er to carefully design rules.However, as Ostrom pointedout, every set of local rules isnot a pre-defined solution, butan experiment to be tested.

The challenge before policy-makers is to become conver-sant with this way of bottom-up policy design and developthe skill-set to distinguishbetween simple and complexproblems.

(Author has a PhD fromUSA and a DLitt from KanchiUniversity. The article is based

on his research and practiceand views are personal)

DR. SAMEER SHARMA

Getting the policy right: Top-down or bottom-up?During the 1970s, Hardin's ideas gainedwidespread support among governments,environmentalists and development agencies.Hardin's prescriptions for privatization and state-control over common resources wereenthusiastically adopted by policy-makers.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has directed officials notto compromise on quality ofworks under Manabadi-NaduNedu works and said qualityauditing of every work in all theschools should be done.

During a review meetingheld at camp office here onFriday on Manabadi-NaduNedu works, the Chief Ministerinstructed officials to drawpaintings on the buildings of theschools, which were being ren-ovated, to look more attractive.

He said the photos of schoolsbefore and after Nadu Neduworks should be displayed inschools after the completion ofthe works so that the importanceof the scheme could be under-stood and also the staff will getan idea on maintenance.

He said the works of painting,setting up smart TVs, wall artworks and other works shouldbe completed by the end of May.Jagan said there should be nocompromise over the quality ofworks and that's the reasonparent committees are alsoformed.

He said the officials shouldcheck the quality of work inschools during May and Juneand quality audit should becompleted. The Chief Ministersaid the toilet maintenance sys-tem should be ready by the timeschools reopen. He said teach-ers should be given training toensure smooth functioning ofEnglish as the medium ofinstruction.

Jagan said Vidya Kanuka Kitsshould be ready by the timeschools reopen and English dic-tionaries should be made avail-able in the kit.

Andhra CM for qualityaudit of schools

C PRADEEP KUMAR

n VIJAYAWADA

Stating that the fight againstCovid-19 could be won onlywith the active cooperation ofthe every member of the soci-ety, Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswa Bhusan Harichandanappealed to the people ofAndhra Pradesh to strictly fol-low the Covid-appropriatebehavior and take all necessaryprecautions to curb furtherspread of the coronavirus.

In a programme telecast onDoordarshan regional channel,the Governor said: “Covid hasposed an unprecedented chal-lenge before the entire worldand the public health is wit-nessing a biggest crisis in Indiaand the world over.”

To deal with such enor-mous challenge, it is essentialto behave responsibly byadopting the health protocol,strictly following the Covid-appropriate behavior and tak-ing all necessary precautions asadvised to curb the furtherspread of the coronavirus, hesaid.

The Governor urged the

people to stay alert and takenecessary precautions to pro-tect themselves, their familymembers and fellow citizens.He added that it was not thetime for any laxity in behaviour.

“Country today is witnessinga new high in the number ofdaily Covid cases with newstrains of virus which appear tobe more contagious. The pre-sent pandemic situation isputting an enormous pressureon the medical resources andhealth infrastructure and thegovernment is putting all

efforts in optimum utilisationof the resources for maximumbenefit of the people,” heobserved.

The Governor called uponthe civil society organisations,Red Cross volunteers, volun-tary organisations and othersto play a crucial role in creat-ing awareness among peopleon steps to be taken to containthe pandemic.

He appealed to people toimmediately dial 104 call cen-tre for help in case they devel-op any symptoms of Covid.

Expert doctors are availableat the call centre round-the-clock to guide the patients.Fatalities can be reduced if thepatients are treated at any earlystage without any delay, headvised.

He recalled the fivefold strat-egy advocated by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi oftesting, tracing, treatment,Covid-appropriate behaviorand vaccination as the onlyweapon to fight the pandem-ic.

Stressing the urgent need toprevent further spread of thevirus, the Governor attributedthe rise in the number ofCovid to people complacencyand non-adherence to Covidnorms and Covid-appropri-ate behaviour. “Wearing maskis an important measure tocontain the spread of virus andsave lives. Home isolation is thebest option people can opt forif they develop any Covid-related symptoms such as fever,cough and difficulty in breath-ing. They should immediateseek medical advise by dialing104 call centre,” the Governoradvised.

Covid-appropriate behavior, vaxonly weapons to fight virus: GuvPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh CIDsleuths have servednotices to TDP seniorleader and former minis-ter DevineniUmamaheshwar Rao yetagain on Friday directinghim to appear beforethem on May 1.

The CID has filed casesagainst UmamaheshwarRao accusing him ofmorphing a video of APChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy andplaying the morphedvideo during his pressconference early thismonth.

I n t e r e s t i n g l y ,Umamaheshwar Raoappeared before CID inthis case only onThursday.

The CID sleuths grilledhim for nine hours andreleased him later.However, CID officialsclaimed that they servednotices again because hedid not cooperate duringquestioning on Thursdayand did not give satisfac-tory replies.

Uma toappear beforeCID today

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for MunicipalAdministration BotsaSatyanarayana flayed opposi-tion leader N ChandrababuNaidu for misleading the pub-lic in the name of the SaveAmaravati movement, whilethe nation is fighting againstCovid.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Friday, the min-ister said that it is irresponsi-ble for the opposition to cele-brate 500 days of the SaveAmaravati campaign in a zoommeeting, while the state gov-ernment is putting efforts tocontrol the pandemic.

He questioned Naidu for

what ‘Parirakshana Samithi’ isfor and stated that the commit-tee was formed only to safe-guard benami assets ofChandrababu Naidu inAmaravati region. He said thata fight should be for the soci-ety but not for a single caste.

The Minister said that thegovernment has enacted thelegislation with the main objec-tive of developing all threeregions alike fulfilling theneeds of five crore people.

In this context, Kurnool waschosen as Judicial capital,Visakhapatnam as Executivecapital and Amaravati as aLegislative capital, which wereindeed approved by the peopleand the results of local body

polls are the proof, he added.He said that Telugu Desam

Party leaders are unleashing avenomous tirade against thegovernment only to show theirexistence and create uncer-tainty across the state.

Chandrababu Naidu hasconfined himself to the zoomapp by staying in Hyderabadand once again leaving people

amidst the Covid crisis. Thegovernment had increased thecompensation given toAmaravati farmers and extend-ed pension every month ontime, said the minister andclarified that the developmentof Amaravati region was halt-ed only because of TDP lead-ers who approached courtsand brought stays.

Botsa Satyanarayana statedthat the government is takingeffective measures in control-ling the Covid and alsofocussing on vaccinating thoseover 18 years of age.

In the past, 5,000 tests weredone daily, but as on date over70,000 Covid tests are beingdone on a daily basis.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief and leader of theOpposition N ChandrababuNaidu on Friday lauded thefarmers, women and youthfor continuing the agitationrelentlessly for 500 days forAmaravati capital city with-out yielding to the threatsfrom the YSRCP governmentin the State.

Naidu hoped that the agi-tators would finally win thebattle for Amaravati consid-ering the fact that dharmaand justice were on theirside.

Addressing the 500-dayvirtual meeting of AmaravatiJAC, the TDP chief said thatnobody would be able to cre-ate three capitals for AndhraPradesh.

“It is painful to think howthe ruling YSRCP leaders aretrying hard to destroy thedream capital of the AP peo-ple. Except the YSRCP, allother political parties andintellectuals are in favour ofAmaravati as the capital ofthe state just because it wasjustifiable and unstoppable,”he said.

Naidu said: “I am extend-

ing my full support to thecapital city agitation notbecause this project was start-ed during my regime. It isbecause dharma and justiceare on the side of all the29,000 farmers' families. Theyhave sacrificed their lands forcreating a capital for thewhole State. If anybody pro-tects dharma, then dharmawill protect them. The farm-ers are now suffering justbecause of the bad intentionsof some atrocious rulers.”

The TDP chief was allpraise for the Amaravati agi-tators saying that the farmers,women and workers wereleading the struggle with an

iron will and an unwaveringconfidence.

They have been continuingthe agitation duly followingthe guidelines issued by theCentral government eversince Covid broke out over ayear ago. The agitators didnot give up their stir eventhough the government triedto suppress them with falsecases, lathicharges and threatsby using the brute force of thepolice, he said.

Naidu expressed surpriseover Jaganmohan Reddyregime's constant attacks onthe Amaravati agitators with-out trying to open any dia-logue with them.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP official spokespersonSyed Rafi on Friday allegedthat the government was total-ly neglecting people’s healthand remained a mute specta-tor even though the privatehospitals are denying treat-ment to poor Covid patientsunder Aarogyasri.

Rafi alleged that the hospi-tal managements were notaccepting the Aarogyasri cardsand not giving oxygen beds forthe Covid patients.

In a statement here, theTDP leader asked why theChief Minister was silent now.Rafi recalled that he had madebig promises on extendingAarogyasri services to thepoor patients infected withcoronavirus.

“Though some hospitals areadmitting Covid patientsunder Aarogyasri, they arenot being given proper treat-ment. In Nellore, a hospitaldenied bed to a poor patientwith Aarogyasri card but thesame hospital began immedi-

ate treatment for anotherpatient who paid Rs 3 lakh,” healleged.

Rafi asked why theJaganmohan Reddy regimewas not taking any stepsagainst the hospitals whichwere violating governmentguidelines.

“The hospitals are denyingservices citing lack of oxygenas the reason, while the gov-ernment is claiming that therewas no shortage of oxygen atall. The YSRCP is interested inboosting its image throughfull-page advertisements onfront pages of newspapers,but not coming to the rescue

of the people in times of cri-sis,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, TDP state exec-utive secretary Buchi RamPrasad slammed the YSRCPregime for not taking any pre-ventive steps even though theCoronavirus wreaked havoc atthe Tirumala temple.

Over 16 employees of theTTD have lost their lives dueto deadly coronavirus becauseof the government's negli-gence. Each deceased familyshould be given Rs 1 crore ex-gratia. A Covid treatment cen-tre should be opened for serv-ing the devotees and the TTDemployees, he demanded.

Ram Prasad deplored thatthe government was actingirresponsibly without giving‘work from home’ to the gov-ernment employees. Already,eight employees have lost theirlives due to Covid at theSecretariat. If 10 lakh stu-dents were forced to take theintermediate exams from May5, it would lead to a biggerCovid crisis in the State, headded.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The unprecedented rise indaily Covid cases has put a lotof strain on governmentmachinery and health organi-sations in providing necessarysupport to people affected byCovid-19 in southern states.The CII has once again comeforward to lend a helping handto strengthen the fight againstthe pandemic by partneringwith its member companiesacross southern region.

“Many of the CII membercompanies in the healthcare,pharma, life sciences and med-ical equipment sectors haveramped up production ofessential medical supplies likemedical oxygen, ventilators,makeshift hospitals, ICU beds,Remdesivir and other viral

drugs which are of immediaterequirement for hospitals andprimary health centres acrossthe Southern Region” said C KRanganathan, Chairman, CIISouthern Region.

As an immediate step, CIImember companies have comeforward in setting up around500 mobile make shift hospitalsas part of their CSR activities.Member companies in the ITsector is working with stategovernments in setting up ofBPO centres to provide realtime data on availability of bedsin hospitals, oxygen cylindersand other critical itemsrequired for treatment ofpatients, he said.

Taking into the considera-tion of shortage of Remdesivir,CII members in the pharmasector have ramped up produc-

tion of Remdesivir antiviraldrug on a war footing. CIImember companies have theproduction capacity of manu-facturing 1 crore doses ofRemdesivir in the comingmonths, said Mr Ranganathan.

CII urged the StateGovernment to step up the vac-cination drive by collaboratingwith industries in setting upvaccination camps in their fac-tory premises. Through thisinitiative, CII expects to vacci-nate over 3 lakh people com-prising industrial workers andtheir family members and

communities in the neigh-bourhood in the six SouthernStates.

As part of the second waveof Covid-19 interventions, CII-SR with the active support ofCII members including theYoung Indians and the IndianWomen Network (IWN), var-ious relief and rehabilitation

measures were rolled out inclose coordination with StateGovernments and districtadministration in the last fewweeks.

The relief measures includesupply of oxygen cylinders,ICU beds, Personal ProtectiveEquipment, hygiene kits, dryration kits, medicines, food

items and other daily essentials.CII, with the support of

member companies has dis-tributed more than 500 oxygencylinders, 150 ICU Beds withoxygen to various hospitalsacross the region.

CII is also mobilising reliefmaterials — 5 lakh sachets ofsanitisers, 10 lakh masks,50,000 gloves, 1,000 oxygencylinders and 3,500 ICU bedsfor supplying to hospitalswhich are giving treatment tocritical Covid patients inSouthern States. CommunityKitchens have also been set upbenefiting over 1,000 migrantlabourers besides supply ofration kits to the poor peoplein different parts of the region.

CII has been working close-ly with State Governments andindustry in Southern Region.

Amaravati stir completes 500days, Naidu lauds farmers

Save Amaravati campaign only to mislead people, alleges Botsa

PNS n TIRUPATI

A 60-year-old priestattached to the Padmavathishrine at Tiruchanur inTirupati died of Covid-19at a private hospital inChennai on Friday, a TTDofficial said.

The TTD priest, MGRamachandran, had testedpositive for Coronavirusabout ten days ago and hewas immediately admittedto a hospital in Chennai.

But he died on Friday,the official told PTI, addingthat on Thursday, KNagaraja, a TTD DeputyExecutive Officer, PilgrimFree Meal Trust, too diedof Covid.

Covid patients denied treatmentunder Aarogyasri, alleges TDP

PNS n KAKINADA

East Godavari joint collectorDr G Lakshmisha has asked theofficials to expedite the pur-chasing of paddy throughRythu Bharosa kendras forrabi as only 8,250 metric tonnesof paddy was purchased so far.

Reviewing the paddy pur-chase situation with the officialsof agriculture and civil suppliesover web conference from thecollectorate here on Friday,the Joint Collector said that rabipaddy harvesting was over tothe extent of sixty per cent assuch the paddy purchasecoupons to the farmersthrough the Rythu Bharosa

kendras needed to be speededup.

He advised the farmers toinform the authorities overphone either to 8886613611 orto 0884-2354341 numbers, ifthey face any problem.

Stating that the governmenthas prescribed the minimumsupport price for ordinarygrade of 75 kg bag as Rs 1,401and for grade -A variety Rs1,416, the Joint collector hasadvised the farmers not toresort to distress sales.

He advised them to makebest use of the quality testingmachines provided at theRythu Bharosa kendras forfree testing of their paddy.

Staff told to expeditepaddy purchasing

TTD priest,official dieof Covid

CII lends helping hand to states in battle against CovidMember companies in thehealthcare, pharma, life sciencesand medical equipment sectorsramp up production of essentialmedical supplies like medicaloxygen, ventilators, makeshifthospitals, ICU beds, Remdesivirand other viral drugs

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Manipal Hospital, locatednear here, is seeing close to200 Covid patients per day inFever Clinic on an average.The hospital has been seeinga total of 150 new cases sincethe second wave broke out inthe state while the hospital iscarrying out close to 600Covid tests per day.

Speaking about the impactof the second wave, Dr ChManoj Kumar, Chief ofClinical Services, ManipalHospital, Vijayawada, said,“Every age group is affected inthe present wave especiallythe younger populationbetween 15to 30 years of agegroup.”

There has been a significanteffect of Covid in the secondwave on children and elderpeople as compared to thefirst wave in 2020. The infec-

tivity rate is 4 times more inthe present wave. The effecton the lungs is greater nowand hence, a lot of people arerequiring oxygen. Diarrhoeais the most common symp-tom in the second wave, heobserved.

Dr Manoj Kumar said thatpeople should prefer RT-PCRtests for Covid testing and notbe dependent on home test-ing kits or antigen tests as theresults may not be as accurateas in an RT-PCR test.

Patients, who need toundergo dialysis orchemotherapy, should notrestrict their treatment sched-ule as it may have a very seri-ous outcome", he explained.

Adding to this, DrSudhakar Kantipudi, Director,Manipal Hospital, said, “Thepast couple of weeks wereoverwhelming for our entirestate.”

Police constables Nagaraju and Suresh carry the body of an unidentified person in makeshift stretcher from the interiorforest area in Dornala village in Prakasam district on Friday.

GOOD SAMARITANS

Manipal Hospitalsees 200+ Covidpatients per day

PNS n KAKINADA

The endowment department isthe worst-hit in the secondwave of corona as many as 503employees tested positive and31 succumbed to Covid with-in 28 days across the state, caus-ing a great threat to the devo-tees as well as the employees. Inthe wake of the surge in thecorona outbreak, many tem-pers were on the verge of clo-

sure in the state.Minister for Endowments

Vellampalli Srinivas held ameeting with EndowmentCommissioner P Arjuna Raoand Principal SecretaryVanimohan on Friday. Theyobserved that the endowmentdepartment was working onthe lines of frontline warriorsand decided to take toughermeasures to see that EOs,priests and other staff shouldnot fall prey to the dreadedcorona.

The meeting also decided toset up one hospital in every dis-trict for 6A Grade templeswhich have adequate fundsalong with the temples whichhave an annual income of Rs 5crore in the state for health pro-tection. These hospitals shouldhave at least a doctor, threepara-medical staff and arrangewards with oxygen beds. Theminister suggested that theofficials should take the sup-port of district medical andhealth officials to set up thehospitals. The Endowment spe-cial Commissioner would writea letter to the State Healthdepartment seeking support for

setting up the hospitals. TheMinister said a minimum of 50oxygen beds, nutritious foodand medicines should be madeavailable at the Covid carecentres. The meeting alsodecided to use choultries andbuildings of mutts should beused for the special hospitalsand Covid care centres.

Directives have been issuedthat these Covid centres wouldbe maintained by two to three6A Grade temples combined

which have an income of morethan Rs 5 crore. EndowmentExecutive Officers Union Statepresident Sri Giri NarasimhaBabu, general secretaryUndavalli VeerrajuChowhdary, executive mem-bers Vaddadi Sattibabu,Machiraju Lakshminarayana,Bokka Venkateswara Rao,Adisaiva union state presidentMuramalla Rambabu and oth-ers thanked the Minister in thisregard.

vijayawada 04VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021

PNS n KAKINADA

Despite the repeated appeals towear masks and maintain phys-ical distance, the people werepaying deaf ears to the requestsand hence there was an indis-criminate surge in corona casesin East Godavari district. In abid to control the spreading ofthe dreaded corona pandemic,the district administration hasdecided to appoint village andtown committees to ensurethe strict implementation ofCovid-19 regulations.

District CollectorMuralidhar Reddy has appoint-ed Covid control committeesand these committees would beheaded by sarpanches in vil-

lages and municipal chairmenin municipalities. Panchayatsecretaries and municipal com-missioners would act as con-venors for these committees.The ward members, council-lors, welfare secretaries, ANMs,Asha workers and womenpolice would be the membersof these Covid control panels.

Muralidhar Reddy said thecommittees would hold meet-ings frequently and ensure thateveryone should wear a maskand maintain physical dis-tance. The committees shouldsupervise that there would notbe any trade and commercialactivities before 9 am and after6 pm. Similarly, they have toensure that people attend for

marriage should not crossmore than 50 people and morethan 20 in the funerals. Thetemples should be kept openonly for two hours from 8 amto 10 am. More than 10 peopleshould not be allowed for

prayers in the masjids on theoccasion of Ramzan, whileonly 50 per cent of seats shouldbe allowed in the cinema the-atres.

The Collector said the com-mittees should take responsibil-

ity not to perform any celebra-tions in temples, churches andmasjids. Apart from theseresponsibilities, the committeesshould identify the people withCovid symptoms and sendingthem for undergoing the Covidtests. They should send theCovid positive people to homeisolation and distribute medicalkits and knowing about theirhealth conditions from time totime. If they were not in a sit-uation to stay at home, theyshould be shifted to Covidcare centres arranged atBommuru and Bodasakurru.These committees shouldsupervise to shift them to hos-pitals if the situation becameworse. The committees should

talk to concerned party leadersand cover the statues of lead-ers in villages and towns withmasks. The committee mem-bers should pledge that theywould do all these guidelinesup to May 21.

The district Collectorannounced that special giftswould be announced for thosevillages and towns where noCovid cases were reported upto May 21. He directed theofficials to begin the appoint-ments of these committees andthe committees should func-tion from May 1 onwards. Therespective Tahasildars andMDOs should make surprisevisits to ensure the implemen-tation of all guidelines.

Covid control committees set up in EG villages

PNS n GUNTUR

The urban police of Gunturdistrict have arrested six per-sons in connection with themurder of a youth ofKoppuravuru village inPedakakani mandal of Gunturdistrict over a love affair.

Disclosing the details ofthe case on Friday, district SPRN Ammireddy saidVinnakota Venkatesh (23) wasworking as a car driver andhad an affair with a girl of thesame village. The girl's fatherand other relatives havewarned Venkatesh of action ifhe continued his relationshipwith the girl in the presence ofvillage elders. Even after thewarning, Venkatesh continuedhis intimacy with the girl.Knowing that Venkatesh wastrying to eliminate the girl'sbrother Vaishnava Maniteja,the girl's father summonedVenkatesh through a mes-senger Bharath Kumar for

discussion on April 27 at 8.30pm. All the six personsambushed and hacked him todeath. Venkatesh died whileundergoing treatment atGGH.

On the complaint fromKumari, mother of thedeceased, Mangalagiri northSPDO Durgaprasad and CI USobhan Babu investigated thecase and arrested KotteBhaskara Rao (A1), KotteDurga Rao (A2), Kotte Mohan(A3), Kotte Venkata Gopi(A4), Kotte VaishnavaManiteja (A5) and ThotaBharat Kumar (A6). Twoswords, chilli powder packets,motorcycles and cell phoneswere seized from them.

SP Ammireddy said peopleshould not take the law intotheir hands and everyoneshould respect the law. Hecongratulated Pedakakani CISobhan Babu and his team forarresting all the accused with-in 48 hours.

Six held in youth'smurder case

No shortage ofO2, Remdesivir:District Collector

PNS n KAKINADA

Sri Venkateswara Swamytemple in Vadapalli inAthreyapuram mandal ofEast Godavari district, whichis popularly known asKonaseema Tirumala wasshut for more than a week inthe wake of second-wavecorona pandemic. The devo-tees vow to make sevenpradakshnas on consecutiveseven Saturdays and laterhave darshan of the lord.More than 50,000 devoteeswill throng the temple to ful-fil their vows.

The temple managementwas not permitting pradak-shnams in the temple onSaturdays under the pretextof Covid threat. The devoteeswere allowed for only twohours from 8 to 10 am. Oneof the temple priests have

tested positive for coronaon Friday and all the remain-ing priests went into homequarantine as a precaution-ary measure. TempleExecutive Officer M SatishRaju on Friday announcedthat the temple would beclosed up to May 8 in view ofthe growing threat of Covid.

PNS n NELLORE

About 18 per cent of people inNellore district got vaccinatedand all the people above 45years and were given the jab,District Collector KVNChakradhar Babu said onFriday.

The Collector held a mediaconference at Tikkana Bhavanon the Collectorate premises inNellore on Friday. He saidarrangements have been madeto vaccinate people above theage of 18 years and they wereadvised to register their namesonline. The district hasreceived 25,000 vaccine dosesand people who have taken twodoses would have no threatfrom Covid and appealed tothe people to take the jabwithout fail.

Chakradhar Babu said peo-ple should adhere to Covidprotocol and follow the govern-ment guidelines and especial-ly youth should wear a maskand maintain social distancing.They should come out only incase of any emergency. Hesaid measures were taken toconduct 7,000 tests in the labs

per day and steps were taken toavoid delay in announcing theresult. Fever clinics, sanitiza-tion and containment zoneswere set up in rural areas andthe door-to-door campaignwould be launched withANMs, Asha, Anganwadiworkers.

He said the control rooms of'104' and '1077' would workround the clock at TikkanaBhavan in the NelloreCollectorate and they wouldreceive calls from people and

were disseminating informa-tion to the field-level teams andalso state-level teams.Conducting Covid tests forpeople and providing beds andmedical assistance to the needywere carried out and truenatlabs were already commencedand the people who have Covidpositive symptoms should gofor tests and approach PHCsand Covid care centre if theytested positive.

Collector Chakradhar Babusaid Covid treatment would be

given at GGH, CHCs andPHCs and specialist doctors,oxygen beds and medicineswere made available at CHCsand PHCs. Medical kits werebeing given to people whowere in home isolation andpeople could opt for home iso-lation if they have mild symp-toms, separate toilets and a spe-cial room. He said about 3,000beds were arranged in 9 Covidcare centres in the district andnecessary equipment, medi-cines and haematology

machines, X-ray machines andoxygenated beds were alsokept ready.

Apart from it, more than 30concentrators were set up atCovid care centres and oxygencould be given to people if nec-essary. Oxygen cylinders werekept ready in every PHC andpermissions were given 3,000beds in 40 notified Covid hos-pitals. Priority was given tocritical cases and people above60 years for giving treatment inhospitals. About 1000 doctors,nurses and ANMs wererecruited in the Covid care cen-tres, he added.

He said the governmentordered Covid duties should beconducted under the supervi-sion of Joint Collector(Development) and hence DrPrabhakar Reddy would takeup the supervision responsibil-ities in the district. He furthersaid night curfew was in vogueand people should follow theregulations and extend theirsupport to the officials. JointCollector Dr N PrabhakarReddy and DFO ShanmukhKumar and others were pre-sent.

18 pc of 45 plus vaccinated in Nellore 503 test Covid +ve, 31 deadin Endowments Department

VADAPALLI TEMPLE CLOSED TILL MAY 8

Private hospital managementsapologise to District Collector

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District SPSiddharth Kaushal on Fridayinaugurated the DistrictTraining Center as a CovidCare Center with corporatehospital facilities for the welfareof police personnel and policefamilies during Covid times.

The District Training Centerwas converted into a CovidCare Center. The SP said thatin the wake of the rapid spread-ing of the corona second wavevirus, the welfare of policepersonnel and police familieswas given a high priority.

Speaking on the occasion,Siddharth Kaushal said thatspecial care was being taken forthe welfare of the police as thespread of the Covid-19 viruswas devastating and if anypolice personnel were affectedby a coronavirus, they wouldbe provided immediate med-ical attention. If any police per-sonnel or family membersfound symptoms of coron-avirus, they would be conduct-ed tests. If they tested positive,

immediate steps would betaken to give them treatment.

The Covid Care Centerwould be accessible to policepersonnel and their familymembers with a total of 45ordinary beds and 10 oxygenbeds, as many as 55 beds withseparate barracks for men andwomen. The barracks werefacilitated with televisions andinternet for relaxation and toboost their morale. They wouldbe suitable for spending their

time in a pleasant environ-ment. A pleasant environmentwas arranged for physical activ-ities, he said.

The police personnel wereadvised to seek immediatehelp by calling Covid helplinenumber 91211 02270 at DTCif they have any symptoms ofCovid. A special reception hasbeen arranged at the CovidCare Center, as well as a 24/7ambulance facility was avail-able at the DTC for staff affect-

ed by the Covid. Similarly, the SP said that

steps were taken to provide dryfruits, sanitisers, masks andthermal scanners to the per-sonnel and family membersreceiving medical treatmentat the Covid Care Center alongwith three meals a day toensure complete health.

The SP further added that allthe doctors and nursing staff atthe Covid Care Center wouldbe available 24 hours a day inthree shifts. All the medicalequipment and medicinesrequired to treat the Covidinfected staff were made avail-able, and that proper arrange-ment would be made to makeoxygen available at any time tothe staff at high severity. DTCDSP G Ramakrishna, who wasin-charge of the Covid CareCenter, said that the Covidinfected staffers who wereunder treatment at DTC werebeing monitored 24/7.

Additional SP (Admin) BRavichandra, several policeofficers and doctors participat-ed in the programme.

Exclusive Covid care centre for cops opened SPECIAL COVID

WARD FOR

POLICE ALLOTTED PNS n KAKINADA

On the request of EastGodavari districtSuperintendent of PoliceAdnam Nayeem Asmi, DistrictCollector Muralidhar Reddyhas arranged a special Covidward for police personnel. TheS5 Block in the Kakinadagovernment hospitals wasallotted for police personneland their family membersconverting it into a Covidhospital. It was handed over tothe SP on Friday. TheCollector said the ward wasallotted exclusively forpolicemen and their familymembers.

PNS n KADAPA

Controversy over the display ofboards by the private hospitalmanagements in Kadapa stat-ing that they won't treat coro-na patients was resolved onFriday as District CollectorCh Harikiran held delibera-tions with the representativesof the hospitals.

It may be recalled that someprivate hospitals displayedboards stating that they wouldnot treat the corona patientsafter the vigilance officialsconducted raids for charginghuge amounts from the coro-na patients. The DistrictCollector organized a meetingwith private hospital manage-ments in Kadapa on Friday.

Harikiran expressed his ireat the hospital managementsfor their attitude. He exhortedthem to act according to thegovernment guidelines.Admitting that displayingboards was not fair, the repre-sentatives of the hospital man-agements apologised to theCollector. They assured that

they would function as per theregulations of the government.

Speaking on the occasion,Harikiran said the State gov-ernment has provided somerelaxation to the hospitals andthe doctors should utilise them.About 20 hospitals were givenpermission in the district andfive more hospitalswould be per-mitted short-ly. Headvis edthe hos-pitals toextendm e d -ical ser-vices asper thep r i c e sfixed by thegovernment. Areport would besubmitted to the governmentas they said that the doctorsand nurses were expectingmore salaries than in the nor-mal course. The Collector clar-ified that enquiry would bedone as usual from now

Lawyers want action against private hospitalsPNS n KADAPA

The Kadapa Bar Associationhas demanded stern action

against the managementof private hospitals

which displayedboards that theywon't treat coronapatients inKadapa under theD i s a s t e rManagement Act.

Addressing amedia conference

at YSR Press Club inKadapa on Friday,

Kadapa Bar AssociationVice-president JinkaSubbarayudu and others crit-icised that it was unfair on thepart of the private hospitalsfor denying treatment tocorona patients. The policeregistered cases against some

private hospitals for charginghuge amounts from coronapatients two days ago. Shallthey shut down the hospitalsif action was taken againstthem for violating norms,they asked.

The advocates demandedthat since the people wereadmiring doctors by identify-ing them as frontline warriorsand they should reconsidertheir decision as it was anti-people policy. The state gov-ernment should take it as suomoto and initiate actionagainst the hospitals' manage-ments under DisasterManagement Act, they added.If the government failed totake the action, all the lawyers'fraternity would unitedlyfight and take the issue to thenotice of the court, the advo-cates warned.

PNS n GUNTUR

Considering the increase inthe cases of corona in Gunturdistrict, efforts were beingmade to ensure no shortage ofbeds, oxygen, remdesivir injec-tions, District Collector VivekYadav said on Friday.

He said around 27 Covidcare centres were set up acrossthe district and 3,000 bedswere arranged at these centres.Apart from it, permissionswere given to 60 private hos-pitals and they have 6,000beds. Special attention waspaid to the corona tests and

efforts were on to declare testresults within 24 hours.

Vivek Yadav said as many as9,000 Covid tests were beingconducted per day as of nowand nodal officers were deput-ed to oversee that there wouldnot be any shortage of oxygenand remdesivir injections. Asper the indent given by the pri-vate hospitals, these injectionswere distributed. Inspectionshave been carried out on theprivate hospitals and noticeshave been issued to erring hos-pitals. The vaccine would workas a weapon to control thecoronavirus, he added.

PNS n NELLORE

All health facilities would beprovided to face Covid-19effectively in the Atmakuruconstituency and all officialsmust work unitedly to ensureno one should suffer from thepandemic, Minister forIndustries MekapatiGowtham Reddy said onFriday.

Holding a video confer-ence with the officials ofAtmakuru constituency inNellore district on Friday,Gowtham Reddy advisedthem to follow the last year'sguidelines and go to the door-to-door to trace and trackcorona patients' details. Ifanyone found with corona

positive they should be givenhome isolation kits. Oxygencylinders and remdesivirinjections should be keptready. Stating that more bedswould be increased, he saidremdesivir injections must beused only in case of emer-gency. The Minister's OSDwas given the responsibility tobring necessary ventilatorsfor the Atmakuru constituen-cy from the Medtech zone inVisakhapatnam.

He directed the officials tospeed up delivering test resultby making many more testsfor corona. All the officialsshould readily available andinspect across the constituen-cy to detect and trace thecorona patients.

Trace, track coronapatients: Mekapati

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021 nation 05

Amazon's pandemic boomisn't showing signs of

slowing down. The companysaid Thursday that its first-quarter profit more thantripled from a year ago, fueledby the growth of onlineshopping. It also postedrevenue of more than USD100 billion, the second quarterin row that the company haspassed that milestone.Amazon is one of the few retailers that has benefited during thepandemic. As physical stores temporarily closed, people stuck athome turned to Amazon to buy groceries, cleaning supplies andmore. That doesn't seem to be dying down. In the first three monthsof this year, the company reported profit of USD 8.1 billion,compared to USD 2.5 billion the year before. Earnings per sharecame to USD 15.79, about USD 6 more per share than what WallStreet analysts expected, according to FactSet. Revenue jumped 44per cent to USD 108.5 billion.

Raids have been conductedat five hospitals in

Ghaziabad and irregularitieswere found in stocking of life-saving medicines. Theadministration had receivedcomplaints that the hospitalshave admitted people whowere not having COVID symptoms to show their beds occupied.The facilities were later providing beds at exorbitant rates, accordingto a statement. A team checked the stocks of Nagar Hospital and itwas found that from April 6, the facility hospital had received 250remdesivir injections, while it was declared as COVID hospital onApril 25. The medical store was selling remdesivir directly to theneedy and no record of sale was maintained, an official said.Remdesivir was not given to the patients who were admitted to thehospitals.

INDIA CORNER

The Chhattisgarh government on Fridayrequested the Centre to give priority to socially

and economically weaker sections in vaccinationagainst COVID-19 in the third phase when peoplein the 18 to 44 age group will be covered fromMay 1. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said given thevaccine demand-supply mismatch, the Centreshould prioritise vaccination and also allow spot registration ofbeneficiaries so that people not having access to the Co-WIN webportal do not miss out. In the letter, Baghel said as per the Governmentof Indias directives, registration of beneficiaries in the age group of 18to 44 years has started on the Co-WIN portal, the technologicalbackbone of the vaccination drive, from April 28. Although informationabout state-wise registration is not available on the portal, as per theinformation received, around 1.7 crore citizens of this age group haveregistered themselves on the digital platform so far, he said.

Amazon's profit more than triplesas pandemic boom continues

Focus on weaker sections in 3rd phase vaccine drive: Baghel

Raids at Ghaizabad hospitals overmisdeeds in stocking medicines

PNS n BENGALURU

The present system of electoralfunding is lopsided, and thefirst-past-the-post voting prac-tice has outlived its utility,former Chief ElectionCommissioner T SKrishnamurthy has said callingfor long-pending poll reforms.

He criticised political partiesfor their lack of interest in tak-ing up electoral reforms, andlamented that in the presentsystem, no poor man can standfor elections with any success.

"No political party has takenany interest in even mention-ing electoral reforms in theirmanifesto", Krishnamurthytold P T I.

"Electoral funding has tochange. The present system islopsided. It's not fully transpar-ent".

He said there must be anational election fund wherecompanies and individuals

could make contributions.This could then be used by

the Election Commissionbased on guidelines drawn byit in consultation with regis-tered and recognised politicalparties so that even an ordi-nary poor man can stand forelections.

"At the moment, no poorman can stand for electionswith any success. So, this (pre-sent system of) electoral fund-ing has to change",Krishnamurthy said.

He also said the first-past-the-post system, where a can-didate who receives the mostvotes wins, has outlived its util-ity and it must be changed.

"The present system wasokay when the country gotindependence...there was illit-eracy...not much awareness ofvoters. Now that we have hadmore than 70 years of electoraldemocracy, I think it's neces-sary to change the first-past-

the-post so that people with(just) 20-25 per cent of votesdon't get elected."

He suggested that ideally acandidate has to get 50 per centplus one vote of the total votespolled to win, adding, onlythen the candidate can trulyrepresent the majority of thepeople in the constituency.

"If that's not implementable-- I am sure political partieswon't accept (this proposal)immediately, as a first step, itshould be 33.33 per cent votespolled to win so that small par-ties, small lobbies, partiesbased on religion, caste, lan-guage do not thrive in this stateof affairs," Krishnamurthy said.

According to him, it'sabsolutely necessary to have aseparate law governing theworking of political partieswhich should include theirfinancial transactions and set-tlement of disputes, amongothers.

PNS n UNITED NATIONS

UN Secretary-General AntonioGuterres has said the worldorganisation stands ready to stepup its support to India to com-bat the “horrific” COVID-19wave in the country that hasinfected more than 18 millionpeople and killed over 200,000.

“With the entire @UN fami-ly, I stand in solidarity with thepeople of India as they face a hor-rific #COVID19 outbreak. TheUN stands ready to step up oursupport,” Guterres tweeted onThursday.

India's PermanentRepresentative to the UNAmbassador T S Tirumurtireplied to Guterres's tweet sayingthat India deeply appreciates“your sentiments and solidarityat this juncture. We also appre-ciate the support @UNinIndia isgiving us,” tagging the Twitterhandle of the United Nations inIndia.

As per data by the WorldHealth Organization, confirmedCOVID-19 cases in India standat over 18.37 million and morethan 204,000 people have dieddue to the virus.

Earlier this week, President ofthe UN General AssemblyVolkan Bozkir had tweeted thathe is “worried” about theCOVID-19 situation in India, “acountry which did so much toensure #Vaccines4All in vulner-able countries. It's time for theworld to extend aid & support toIndia. No one's safe until we're allsafe.”

He had added that histhoughts are with the people ofIndia at this time.

The United Nations team inIndia is supporting the responseof the country's authorities to theCOVID-19 pandemic by provid-ing critical supplies and UNagencies are procuring thou-sands of oxygen concentrators,oxygen generating plants andother essential equipment as well

as helping set up mobile hospi-tal units.

Deputy Spokesman for theSecretary-General, Farhan Haqhad told reporters at the dailypress briefing on Wednesdaythat the UN team in India, led byResident Coordinator RenataLok Dessallien, is supportingthe authorities' response to thepandemic by providing equip-ment and supplies, including tolocal governments.

The WHO and UNICEF(United Nations Children'sFund) are procuring equipmentand supplies, including 7,000oxygen concentrators and 500nasal devices for oxygen supply,as well as oxygen generatingplants, COVID-19 testingmachines, and personal protec-tive kits.

WHO is also helping to set upmobile hospital units and is pro-viding for laboratories.

About 2,600 WHO field offi-cers have been immediatelydeployed to support healthauthorities to curb the spread ofthe pandemic.

In Maharashtra, UNICEF hasengaged experts to work on riskgovernance. The UN team is alsocontinuing its campaign high-lighting the “three Ws: Wear amask, Wash your Hands, Watchyour distance and stay six feetapart.” “In India's time of need,the UN is doing everything it canto rapidly provide critical equip-ment and supplies to central andstate governments," Dessallienhas said.

WHO said in a press releasethat filling critical gaps in essen-tial medical supplies and hospi-tal capacities should be the toppriority as India battles surge inCOVID-19 cases.

WHO is chartering flights tobring in 4,000 oxygen concentra-tors to help meet the increaseddemands.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court onFriday directed authorities totake immediate steps forrelease of 170 oxygen con-centrators, which were seizedby the Delhi Police from theblack market, as they arerequired for the treatment ofCOVID-19 patients.

A bench of Justices VipinSanghi and Rekha Palli askedthe authorities to place com-pliance of its order by 1 PM.

Senior advocate SacchinPuri informed the bench

about news reports that 170oxygen concentrators havebeen seized by the DelhiPolice from the black marketand urged the court to passdirection for their release sothat they could be used bypatients.

The court said while legalproceedings may continue, it isthe need of the hour that these

equipments are released byauthorities without any delay.The bench said, “We direct thestate to immediately take stepsand release these equipments.”The bench said it had passed asimilar order on Thursday inwhich it had directed thedeputy commissioner (DC) ofthe AAP government's rev-enue department to issue ordersfor the release of Remdesivir,used in the treatment ofCOVID-19, as soon as themedicine is seized by the policefrom hoarders and black-mar-keteers.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh on Fridaydirected the state WaterResources department to iden-tify more areas for relining ofcanals to check seepage andsave the precious waterresource.

He underlined the need forurgent replacement of 72 aban-doned tube wells in the Kandibelt of the state to augment irri-gation facilities in the region

and directed Chief SecretaryVini Mahajan to allocate thenecessary funds for these onpriority.

Amarinder Singh wasreviewing the works of thedepartment through videoconferencing, an official state-ment said here.

Notably, the Kandi areacomprises stretches along theShivalik foothills inHoshiarpur, Nawanshahr,Rupnagar and Mohali districts.

The Chief Minister asked

the department to expeditethe ongoing canal relining pro-jects, including the relining ofRajasthan Feeder (41 kms),Sirhind Feeder (45 kms), aswell as the rehabilitation of BisDoab Canal system and BanurCanal system.

While significant progresshas been made on these pro-jects, the balance work shouldbe speeded up, he said.

Pointing out that 33 newschemes, worth Rs 473.15crore, had been included in the

state budget 2021-22, the ChiefMinister said the reliningworks were a major priority forhis government in view of thestate's depleting waterresources. Punjab has a totalcanal network length of 14,500km. In the year 2021, approx-imately 2,800 km drains will becleaned incurring a cost of Rs40 crore and flood protectionworks amounting to Rs 60crore will be executed beforethe onset of the monsoon sea-son, the statement said.

UN stands ready to step upsupport to India: UN chief

GUTERRES ON ‘HORRIFIC' COVID OUTBREAK

Japan to provide O2 concentrators,ventilators to IndiaPNS n TOKYO

Japan on Friday announced toprovide 300 oxygen concentra-tors and as many ventilators toIndia as it stands with its"friend and partner" in itsefforts to combat the unprece-dented surge in the coronaviruscases.

India on Friday logged3,86,452 new coronavirusinfections, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the totaltally of Covid cases to1,87,62,976, while active casescrossed the 31-lakh mark. Thedeath toll increased to 2,08,330with 3,498 new fatalities.

On the request of the Indiangovernment, Japan has "decid-ed to proceed with the proce-dure to provide 300 oxygenconcentrators and 300 ventila-tors to India in response to thecurrent surge of Covid infec-tions in India," the JapaneseForeign Ministry said here ina statement.

“Japan stands with India, ourfriend and partner, in herefforts to fight against Covidpandemic through this addi-tional emergency assistance.Japan will continue to extendfurther support promptly inorder to contain the Covid sit-uation," it said.

Release oxygen concentratorsseized from black market: HC

‘Electoral funding systemlopsided, has to change’

First lot of medical supplies from US lands in India

Punjab to identify more areas for relining of canals

PNS n CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary JRadhakrishnan said onThursday that remdesivir wasno "magic medicine" and only30 per cent of coronaviruspatients had required it fortreatment.

Talking to reporters afterinspecting a facility where addi-tional beds with oxygen supporthave been set up to treat

COVID-19 patients at the gov-ernment hospital in Chennai,Radhakrishnan said the TamilNadu government took a his-toric decision of allowing retailsale of remdesivir to about3,000 people a day.

"Though the number of peo-ple coming to buy is less than3,000 a day, there is an unnec-essary crowd, which is throng-ing to buy the medicine,"Radhakrishnan said.

"For Tamil Nadu, the alloca-tion of remdesivir medicinestands at 59,000 vials a weekand even if 3,000 people buy itin a day for six days, we will beselling only 18,000, which wecan manage. There is no neces-sity to panic," he said.

"Even medical experts,including AIIMS doctors andour own senior doctors, havesaid that various medicines liketocilizumab, azithromycin and

zinc tables are available in largequantities and can be taken asper protocols. Remdesivir is nota magic medicine and not everyCOVID-19 patient requires it,"he said.

Radhakrishnan also warnedthe government might takeaction against those privatedoctors who go against theprotocol laid out by senior doc-tors in Tamil Nadu on prescrib-ing remdesivir.

Remdesivir no magic medicine: TN health secy

PNS n NEW DELHI

A new capsule-based smelltest may help in the rapiddiagnosis of various diseaseslinked to the loss of smell suchas COVID-19, scientistssay.

The test hasbeen found tobe easy to usein patientsw i t hParkinson'sdisease, andcould also behelpful ind i a g n o s i n gCOVID-19 inthe broader popu-lation, according tothe study published in thejournal Royal SocietyInterface.

The researchers at QueenMary University of London inthe UK noted that smell testshave the potential to supportthe diagnosis of certain neu-rological conditions, includingParkinson's and Alzheimer's.

However, these tests arenot widely available, expen-sive, and take too long toadminister in routine health-care settings, they said.

To address this problem,the team developed a

novel smell test-ing kit which

uses capsulesof aromaticoils placedb e t w e e ntwo stripsof single-sided tape.

To takethe smell

test, the cap-sules are simply

crushed betweenthe fingers and the tape

strip peeled to release thearoma contained within thecapsules.

Based on a person's abilityto recognise these smells, ascore would be generated thatcan be sent to their doctor ifthey are experiencing a loss ofsmell.

Novel smell test may helpdiagnose Covid, say scientists

Goa govt rampsup bed capacityat hospitals asCovid cases risePNS n PANAJI

Considering the spike inCOVID-19 cases, the Goagovernment on Friday con-verted an examination hall atthe Goa Medical College andHospital near here into a150-bed coronavirus treat-ment facility.

Chief Minister PramodSawant and state HealthMinister Vishwajit Raneinspected the facility, whichis taking shape in a recordperiod of time.

Speaking to reporters,Sawant said, "This will be award with 150 beds,equipped with oxygen. Thefacility will be ready byevening."

Apart from this, 300-bedfacility in the GMCH com-plex will be ready in the nextfour days, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate on Fridaysaid it has taken "possession" of assetsworth Rs 304 crore in connection withits money laundering case in thealleged Rose Valley ponzi scam thattook place in West Bengal and Odisha.

"Possession has been taken of prop-erties of the Rose Valley group of com-panies throughout West Bengal,Tripura and Odisha under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA)," the central probe agency said

in a statement."This includes 412 mov-

able properties amount-ing to Rs 47 crore and426 immovable prop-erties worth Rs 257crore," it said.

The Rose Valleygroup of companies"had collected hugeamount of money fromgullible public by float-ing various fake and ficti-tious schemes and defaulted

the re-payments."Probe found, it said, thatseveral properties in West

Bengal, Odisha,Tripura, Assam,M a h a r a s h t r a ,Jharkhand and othersstates were "acquiredin the name of variouscompanies of group,

by illegally divertingthe funds collected from

the common public."These assets were earlier

provisionally attached by the ED underthe anti-money laundering law andafter getting approval from theAdjudicating Authority (under thePMLA), the agency is empowered totake possession of such properties.

The ED had filed a criminal case ofmoney laundering against the firm, itsChairman Gautam Kundu and othersin 2014 and later arrested him inKolkata.

Multiple charge sheets have beenfiled by it in this case till now even asthe probe continues.

PNS n LUCKNOW

BSP chief Mayawati onFriday demanded that theUttar Pradesh governmentprovide financial supportand government job todependents of employeeswho died due to coronaviruswhile on panchayat poll duty.

The four-phase panchay-at polls in Uttar Pradeshended on Thursday.Employee associations havebeen alleging that severalpeople on poll duty have suc-cumbed to coronavirus.

In a tweet in Hindi target-ing the state government,Mayawati said, "It wouldhave been better if the gov-ernment had postponedpanchayat polls and extendits date due to the risingcases of coronavirus. Itwould have prevented anumber of deaths of employ-ees on election duty. It is verysad".

Provide aid tostaff who diedwhile on pollduty: Mayawati

ED takes possession of `304-cr assets in Rose Valley case

Two held for selling

fake negative

RT-PCR reportPNS n BENGALURU

Two people allegedly issuingfake negative RT-PCR reportsfor Rs 700 each have beenarrested here, police said onFriday. Mukesh Singh (25), anative of Rajasthan, andNagaraj M (39) whose nativ-ity was not immediatelyknown were caught after adecoy customer was sent tothem to get the fake report,the police said.

PNS n MUMBAI

The Maharashtra government onFriday announced that it wouldtake back COVID-19 vaccines fromprivate hospitals and administerthese doses to people throughstate-run health centres only. StateHealth Minister Rajesh Tope saidthe government has decided to doso it as per the Centre's orders."The Maharashtra government isgoing to take back the vaccinesgiven to private hospitals for theinoculation drive as per theCentre's orders. These vaccinedoses will then be administered tobeneficiaries through state-runhospitals and centres only," hesaid. Talking about the vaccinationdrive for the 18-44 age group thatis supposed to start from May 1

as per the central government'sinstructions, Tope said, "We needto reduce the number ofvaccination centres so that it canoffer the doses smoothly on dailybasis." "We have been told by thevaccine makers that up to 18 lakhvials could be supplied toMaharashtra in the month of May.In such situation, the state isplanning to set up one centre perdistrict to inoculate people againstCOVID-19," he said. Tope insistedthat people should visit thevaccination centre with priorappointment. It will avoidcrowding and every one will getthe dose, he added. "Unless weget adequate supply of vaccines,we cannot increase the coverageof population. A detailedstatement about it will be made by

the chief minister," Tope said.Commenting on the vaccineprocurement policy, he said, "TheCentre is going to buy 50 percent of the total vials producedby the manufacturers. Now, thecrucial question is who shouldget the vaccines from theremaining 50 per cent quota,which the Centre has allowed tobe sold directly to the stategovernments and hospitals. Ithink the cental government willhave to intervene here as well."Every state is reporting a surgein COVID-19 cases, whichmeans more demand forvaccines, he said, adding thatthe central government needs tocome up with some policy sothat every state gets an equalshare of doses.

Maha govt to take back Covid vax from pvt hospitals

PNS n NEW DELHI

The United States on Friday deliv-ered to India its first consignmentof emergency medical suppliesincluding hundreds of much-need-ed oxygen cylinders and regula-tors to help the country fight thecoronavirus pandemic. The med-ical equipment and other supplieswere brought to Delhi in a C-5MSuper Galaxy, one of the largeststrategic airlift aircraft of the USAir Force. "The first of severalemergency COVID-19 relief ship-ments from the United States hasarrived in India! Building on over70 years of cooperation, theUnited States stands with India as

we fight the COVID-19 pandemictogether," the US embassy tweet-ed. Another military aircraft carry-ing a large number of medicalequipment and other materialsfrom the US is expected to land inthe national capital later in the day.In a tweet, External AffairsMinistry Spokesperson ArindamBagchi said healthcare partnershipbetween India and the US can helpeffectively tackle the global pan-demic. "A strategic partnership ofglobal significance! Our healthcarepartnership can help effectivelytackle the global pandemic. Deeplyappreciate gift of 423 oxygencylinders with regulators and othermedical supplies from the USA,"

he said. As India battles a devas-tating second wave of coronaviruspandemic, countries around theworld have announced sendingmedical supplies to help it tideover the situation. The leadingcountries which are sending assis-tance to India include Russia,France, Germany, Australia,Ireland, Belgium, Romania,Luxembourg, Singapore, Portugal,Sweden, New Zealand, Kuwait andMauritius. On Thursday, Russiadelivered to India 20 tonnes ofmedical supplies mainly compris-ing oxygen concentrators, ventila-tors and medicines.Romania alsoprovided India medical supplieson Friday.

other restrictions on move-ment, while providing somebreathing space in the interim,cause substantial economicdamage and social disrup-tion in the form of events likethe return of migrants.

While this is the best thatcould be done under the cir-cumstances, matters havebeen made worse by the inad-equate administrative actionleading to acute shortages ofvaccines, oxygen cylinders,beds in hospitals and intensivecare units, ventilators and cre-mation facilities. This hasbeen the result of complacenceand inadequate prioritisationof the fight against COVID-19. Particularly unfortunatehas been the role of theElection Commission of India.It should not have spread outthe elections in phases, whichextended campaigning overweeks in West Bengal andincreased the time span of theresultant spread of infection.

This might have had a lessdisastrous impact had the ECIdisallowed, from the beginning,the holding of large rallies andinsisted that both those attend-ing and addressing the onespermitted, wore masks.Realising that neither of thesewas happening, it should have,after due warning to all con-

cerned, banned the holding ofmammoth gatherings. It didnothing of the sort. It is perhapsnot a coincidence that the banon the holding of victory ralliescame after the Madras HighCourt had lambasted its role incontributing majorly to thespread of the present surge.

The ECI had either notrealised the implications of itsdecisions or was under pressureto do what it did. It is unbeliev-able that the former was thecase; a person with minimalcommon sense would haveknown. Nor can the latter, if ithas happened, be an excuse. Ithad a responsibility to resistpressure and act independent-ly. In either case, its conduct hasleft much to be desired.

Be that as it may, the ques-tion of humankind’s relation-ship with Nature remains. Itsown spiritual and biologicalattributes, and emergence andevolution in the matrix ofNature, had made its conflictwith the latter inevitable. As tothe former, MN Roy points outin the second of his Twenty-two Theses of RadicalDemocracy, “Quest for free-dom and search for truth con-stitute the basic urge of humanprogress. The quest for free-dom is the continuation, on ahigher level — of intelligence

and emotion — of the biolog-ical struggle for existence.”

Elements of Nature likewater, air, fire, plants and ani-mals sustained human exis-tence; those like floods,cyclones, droughts, fire, wildanimals and diseases threat-ened it. Humans survived byachieving mastery over, andharnessing, natural forces, toachieve ever-increasing levelsof comfort and luxury. In theprocess — lip service notwith-standing — it has come toregard Nature as something toconquer and exploit. TheCOVID-19 pandemic is aresult of its abuse of animals.

Individual liberty isimportant. Modern democra-cies, however, emphasise thatharmonious social existencerequires the imposition ofsome consensual limits on itto maximise freedom for all.The concept has to be extend-ed to Nature, and humanactivities that damage itbeyond the minimum need-ed, disallowed. No doubt non-human constituents of it, likeanimals, devour one anotherand/or plants. They, however,do not play the kind of havocthat humans do.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

As the Centre and States come in for stringent criticism for being caught nappingwhen the pandemic’s second wave hit the country and the subsequent misman-agement of the situation, the Uttarakhand Government has announced the suspen-

sion of the Char Dham Yatra. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said the gates of the fourHimalayan temples — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — would open onMay 14 as scheduled, but only for the priests. Though it is heartening that yet another

super-spreader event has been averted, what is sad-dening is that the Government didn’t do this on its ownaccord. The decision came a day after the RawatGovernment was castigated by the Uttarakhand HighCourt (HC) for mishandling the outbreak. The court said,and rightly so, that the State had become a “laughingstock” by allowing the Kumbh Mela to take place in themidst of a raging pandemic. To its credit, the HC hasbeen trying to make the Government see sense andrepeatedly taking it to task over its irresponsible deci-sion to continue with the yatra in the midst of a high-ly contagious outbreak, calling it “frightening”.

One only wishes that had such better sense pre-vailed on the Government earlier, it would have stopped the Kumbh Mela even before itbegan. Because, make no mistake, the Kumbh was as much a super-spreader as theAssembly polls. Daily COVID cases saw a 6,000 per cent increase between March 1 andApril 22 in poll-bound Bengal and a 450 per cent spike between April 1 and April 17,when the Kumbh congregation dispersed. Why is it that our leaders, who certainly shouldknow better, have to be forced by either the judiciary or the PMO to take decisions thatshould come to them naturally? Are our representatives so short of common sense oris it that political considerations take precedence over the well-being of citizens? Whatelse can explain the local body elections in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana which will alsoturn out to be super-spreaders. If the Madras High Court thinks that the Election Commissionofficials should be “booked for murder” for the spiralling Corona cases in the poll-boundStates, then what about the Uttarakhand CM? When everything is shut, as it ought to be,what is the justification behind holding the Kumbh, the Assembly polls and the local bodyelections? Shouldn’t the CMs of such States also be “booked for murder”?

The COVID-19 surge has exposed the bitter social and economic divide that hasexisted in India for centuries and which still persists despite tall claims by theso-called stakeholders of our democracy. Some recent events in the pandemic

era amply highlight this sad truth. The District Magistrate (DM) of West Tripura, SaileshKumar Jadav, is in the news for barging into a banquet hall and disrupting a weddingceremony to enforce the COVID-19 protocol. The DM acted as a law unto himself,disregarding the fact that due permission had been taken to host the wedding. Theerrant official apologised only because the ruling party MLAs demanded his scalpafter a public outcry. Shift to Bihar, and a Minister’s son holds a big fat wedding with

hundreds of guests in attendance making a mock-ery of the strict guidelines issued to contain the surgeof Coronavirus. The lack of sensitivity to the suf-fering of the common citizen also found a reflec-tion in the way policemen reportedly snatched anoxygen cylinder from a person who kept pleadingwith the cops to let him take the cylinder to savehis dying mother. There are myriad versions of theAgra story with the unifying theme that the copssnatched the cylinder from the wailing person whofell at their feet. Compare this to the treatment metedout to India’s powerful personalities who can walkinto any hospital where beds are reserved for them

and top doctors are in attendance round-the-clock to monitor their condition.Reports that in certain States the police have been told to crack down on hospi-

tals who report oxygen shortage to the media and to book people for seeking med-ical help on social media have triggered public outrage. We all know that despite allthe cover-ups by different State Governments, the ground situation remains prettygrim. Blaming the whistleblowers, the media in this case, for highlighting anomaliesin the number of deaths or shortage of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and ventila-tors is not going to help. Rather, the Governments should be happy that the whistle-blowers are exposing the loopholes in the system. In the process, if they commit afaux pas or two, it should be overlooked. The country must not be bogged down insettling petty political scores at a time when a tragedy of this magnitude has befall-en us. It’s unwise to think that there is no crisis and the people are using social mediaonly to spread unrest against the Government. What would you say about the SOStweet posted by Union Minister Gen VK Singh seeking a hospital bed for his brotheror, for that matter, his ministerial colleague Sanjiv Baliyan’s claim that doctors andmedical staff are running away from hospitals? If the property of a “mischief-mon-ger” can be confiscated over a “misleading” social media post in the name of cre-ating panic, should not the Governments also face the music for making misleadingclaims about the condition of hospitals or availability of drugs/oxygen? Don’t forget:Accountability starts at the top, not from the bottom.

A free rein

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

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VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021

06

Double standardsWhat’s the logic for allowing the Kumbh Mela lastmonth but suspending the Char Dham Yatra now?

Elements of Nature like water, air, fire, plants and animals sustained our existence but an exploitative approach is recoiling on humankind

PICTALK

Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand sculpture for public awareness, in Puri PTI

THE QUESTIONARISES WHETHER

THE VIRUS, NOW INITS DEVASTATINGSECOND COMING

IN INDIA, ISFUNDAMENTALLY

A PART OFHUMANKIND'S

GROWING CONFLICTWITH IT. LIKE

GLOBAL WARMING,IT IS A PART

OF NATURE'SCOUNTER-OFFENSIVE

AGAINST OURRELENTLESS

EXPLOITATION

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

The Governments must stop their machinery fromharassing people they consider a thorn in the flesh

The message ofthe pandemic

The report of the WorldHealth Organisation-appointed team ofi n t e r n a t i o n a l

researchers that visited Wuhan,China, in January-February2021 leaves one in no doubt thatthe COVID-19 virus originatedfrom animals. Submitted onMarch 30, 2021, it described as“extremely unlikely” the possi-bility that the virus had leakedout from a laboratory in Wuhan.While saying that the virus hadmost probably travelled fromone animal to another beforeafflicting humans, it also exam-ined the possibility of the virustravelling directly to peoplefrom the original host animalsor from the supply chain offrozen or refrigerated foods.

Animals and plants are partsof Nature. The question ariseswhether the COVID-19 virus,now in its devastating secondcoming in India, is fundamen-tally a part of humankind’s grow-ing conflict with it. Like globalwarming, it is part of Nature’scounter-offensive against ourrelentless, colonial exploitation ofalmost every aspect of it, not forjust survival but even luxuries. Itwould have been different oth-erwise. To quote MahatmaGandhi’s famous observation:“The world has enough foreveryone’s need, but not enoughfor everyone’s greed.”

A failure to recognise thisand confining oneself to aninstrumental response to thepandemic would not — even ifit succeeds — prevent anothermajor or similar calamity fromstriking us. The instrumentalresponse is, doubtless, criticallyimportant in its consequences inthe present instance and, equal-ly without doubt, has been gross-ly inadequate. There has been anobvious failure to anticipate thefearful extent and ferocity of thecurrent surge — if not the veryadvent. As has been said, amajor problem here has beeninsufficient knowledge aboutthe virus and the dynamics of itsmutations and spread. Hence,some part at least of the responsehas been on the basis of theknowledge of previous virusoutbreaks. However, lockdownsand measures like curfew and

All arms of the

Government are

working unitedly and

rapidly to deal with

the situation.

Prime Minister

— Narendra Modi

SOUNDBITECOMPASSION RULES THE HEARTSSir — It is heartening that a couple hasdonated 100 new electric fans for COVID-19 patients at the Government MedicalCollege and ESI Hospital in Coimbatore bypledging their jewellery. The greatest partof this news is that the good samaritans wantto remain anonymous. This is one of therarest of rare gestures stemming from thecompassion and love the couple have in theirhearts. With hospitals barred from using air-conditioners during the pandemic, thedonation would be of great help to thepatients. The couple reached the hospitalwith a truck carrying 100 fans. However,hospital authorities tried to turn down thedonation after learning that the couple hadpledged their gold ornaments. They final-ly relented after assurances from the cou-ple that they were not in dire need of money.

However, contrary to the above selflessservice by the anonymous couple, it is shock-ing that Karnataka Food and Civil SuppliesMinister Umesh Katti told a farmer-activistenquiring about food grain allotment to “godie”, following it up by saying that it is a“good time for farmers to die”. When aMinister does not have empathy, the leastto do is to throw him out of the Cabinet. Thelast time Katti courted controversy was inFebruary, when he declared that the fami-lies with televisions and two-wheelersshould surrender their Below Poverty Linecards or face action. It’s plain shameful.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

NATION MOURNS SORABJEE’S DEATHSir — The dreaded Coronavirus has nowsnatched away from us a passionate humanrights lawyer, former Attorney General andPadma Vibhushan recipient, Soli JehangirSorabjee (91). Country’s twice AttorneyGeneral, first in 1989 and then from 1998to 2004, Sorabjee was always in the forefrontof defending the fundamental rights andhuman rights. He was involved in manylandmark Supreme Court (SC) cases andargued for free speech and press freedom,limiting the police power of the State anda vibrant democracy protected from over-

reach by the PMs and the Governors.In his seven-decade career, Sorabjee (a

member of the UN Sub-Commission on thePrevention of Discrimination and Protectionof Minorities) was appointed a UN SpecialRapporteur for Nigeria in 1997. He joinedthe UN Sub-Commission on Promotionand Protection of Human Rights and wasits chairman from 1998 to 2004. What ismore praiseworthy is the fact that even atthis age, Sorabjee was available for all sortsof legal consultation. In his death, the coun-try has suffered an irreparable loss. May Godrest the noble soul in eternal peace.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

UNIFORM PRICING POLICY FOR VACCINESSir — This refers to the editorial, ‘Mayday!Mayday!’ (April 30). The moot pointremains that the Governments have failedto rein in the black marketeers of medicaloxygen and medicines when their demandis sky-high. The way more than 1.33 crore

people registered on the Aarogya Setu appand Co-WIN portal to participate in the vac-cination drive from May 1, shows how keenthe youth are to get vaccinated. There is alsoa great risk of contracting the virus amongthe youth in the age group of 18-44 years.

The pandemic’s second wave has jolt-ed the healthcare sector. However, the cen-tral and State Governments are workinghard to save the lives of their citizens by util-ising all the resources available. At this cru-cial juncture, curbing the shortage of oxy-gen, medicines and other equipment shouldbe the priority of the Government, policeand administration. The differential pricesof vaccines put a question mark on theGovernment’s policy. Making the prices uni-form is not only in the favour of the citizensbut also of the Government.

Yugal Kishore Sharma | Faridabad

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

It refers to the editorial ‘The real heroes’(April 30). It gives us immense confidenceand strength when we read about the sac-

rifice made by Narayan Dabhalkar of Nagpur.We must be proud of him. In these trying timeswhen some anti-social elements are findingopportunity in disaster and exploiting the sorrystate of affairs, there are some great souls likeDabhalkar who work in the interest of human-ity even if it comes at cost of their own life.The sacrifice made by the octogenarian, whovoluntarily gave up his bed at the hospital whenhe saw a woman pleading to get her 40-year-

old COVID-positive husband admitted, is nomean feat. “I am 85 years old. I have lived mylife. But if that woman’s husband dies, then thechildren will be orphaned. So it is my duty tosave that person’s life,” he said. However, hedied at home three days later. No words areenough to praise what RSS volunteer Dabhalkarhas done.

In the same vein, Mumbai–based busi-nessman Ketan Rawal, who has provided hisvanity vans to the Mumbai Police free of costfor ferrying the frontline healthcare workers andtaking care of them, merits a great deal ofappreciation. Besides, the good samaritans ofLudhiana sending free home-cooked food pack-ets to the COVID patients as well as organis-ing “oxygen langars” also deserve applause.Let's doff our hats to these noble, selfless soulswho are doing real service to the mankind andhave saved humanity by their selfless serviceand sacrifice from behind the scenes. RIP, hon-ourable Narayan Dabhalkarji!

Azhar Ali Khan | Rampur

Hats off to Dabhalkar

I encourage themember States to develop andimplement nationalaction plans onantimicrobial

resistance, strengthen regulation ofantimicrobials, improve knowledgeand awareness.

UN General Assembly President — Volkan Bozkir

Change is inevitable.When films startedcoming, peoplethought that maybethe audience for playswould be affected buttheatre has continued. Eventually,social media came and now we have OTT. With time, people adapt toevolution.

Actor— Sunil Grover

Let the roads beempty on May 2 butour hearts overwhelmwith joy over theelection victory.

DMK president

— MK Stalin

Australian playerscould accompanyIndian and Englishplayers to the UK andgo to Australia fromthere.

RCB batsman

— Glenn Maxwell

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

Need to grasp SMEcapital budgeting

DELHI IS ON FIRE. HAS ANY DELHIITE SEEN THE DELHI

BJP? WHERE IS THE BJP IN DELHI? OR HAS THE

STATE BODY BEEN DISSOLVED?

—RSS DELHI STATE EXECUTIVE MEMBER

RAJIV TULI

OUR FOCUS IS ON HELPING PEOPLE IN THIS HOUR OF

CRISIS. WHAT ANYONE IS SAYING ON A PERSONAL

LEVEL IS NOT THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE SANGH.

—RSS LEADER

SUNIL AMBEKAR

The lifeline of any business is finance. Theallocation and usage of funds — techni-cally known as capital budgeting — is one

of the most important strategic decisions of anybusiness. But is this decision different for smallfirms as compared to large ones? The allocationof capital in small enterprises is often moreimportant than in large firms — given their lackof access to capital markets — as the funds nec-essary to correct a mistake may not be available.Also, big firms allocate capital to numerous pro-jects, so a mistake in one can be offset by suc-cess in others.

While capital investment is a relevant areafor small firms, the majority of studies conduct-ed during the past four decades have focused onthe capital budgeting decisions of large enterpris-es and similar evidence does not exist for smallorganisations. Therefore, little is known aboutthe capital budgeting practices of small business-es. Given the proportion and importance of smallcompanies in economies the world over and theirconstant motivation for more efficient use ofresources to remain competitive, there is a def-inite need for information on the methods usedby small firms to accumulate and allocate theirscarce capital.

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)sector is the backbone of any growing economyand is recognised as the engine of growth —accounting for about 70 per cent of employmentand significantly contributing to the GrossDomestic Product (GDP). The contribution ofthis sector can be seen from the statistics pro-vided by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) which shows that it contributes about 6.11per cent to the manufacturing GDP and 24.6 percent to the GDP from services. Further, it has a45 per cent share in the overall exports fromIndia and provides employment to around 120million people. It manufactures more than 8,000diverse products, ranging from low-tech itemsto technologically-advanced ones. Globally,99.7 per cent of all enterprises in the world areSMEs and the balance 0.3 per cent are large-scaleenterprises.

The SME sector in India accounts for 95 percent of all industrial units. Since this sector iscritically important for any economy, properfinancial management is of utmost importancefor its survival. It is a known fact that financialproblems are often a major cause for the failureof small businesses. The two major problems,undercapitalisation and the difficulty in gettingexternal finance support, are often related to poorfiscal management. Poor and in some cases lackof proper financial record-keeping close theavenues of small firms to avail from tradition-al lending sources as these businesses cannotdemonstrate their financial viability.

Many SMEs in the start-up phase, underes-timate the cost of operating a business and thusfail to manage the cash flow and the amount ofoperating capital required. Several studies haveattempted to establish the existence of the asso-ciation between SME performance and specif-ic financial practices. The evidence suggests thatsuccessful financial performance by SMEs havea positive association with effective managementof financial matters, such as planning, mainte-

nance of financial records, obtain-ing external finance, professionalfinance advice and other factors.

The capital budgeting theoryis based on certain assumptionslike maximisation of shareholders’wealth by investing in all positiveNet Present Value (NPV) projectsand rejecting those with negativeNPV; and access to perfect finan-cial markets, allowing it to financeall value-enhancing projects.However, applicability of theseassumptions to small firms may bedoubtful. The separation principle,that states that investment deci-sions can be made independent ofshareholders’ tastes and prefer-ences, does not hold for closely-held and small businesses. Underthe NPV technique, the projectsare accepted if the NPV is positive,that is, if the cash outflows are lessthan the present values of futurecash inflows discounted at thefirm’s cost of capital. However,since shares of small firms are notreadily marketable, market deter-mined discount rates are inappro-priate in small businesses. One ofthe most important differencesbetween capital budgeting forlarge and small companies is thatin the former decisions can bemade independently of stock-holders’ view but in the latter, it isessential that owners be involvedin the decision-making process.

Small firms also face difficul-ty in raising funds from the capi-tal markets. In fact, shortage ofequity and long-term funds con-

tinue to halt the growth of SMEsin the country. In addition,research shows that small compa-nies are not able to access bankloans because of their information-opaqueness and lack of strongbanking relationships.

Furthermore, for some smallenterprises, it is impossible toraise funds through a public issueand for others it may be prohibi-tively expensive. The above-men-tioned cash constraints encouragethe small enterprises to maintainsufficient cash balances to beready for any potentially attractiveinvestment opportunity.

Although the SME sector con-tributes to the overall economy ina major way, over the past fourdecades financial research haslimited itself to understandingthe capital budgeting techniquespreferred by large organisationsand studied the usage of sophisti-cated tools like NPV, InternalRate of Return (IRR) , ProfitabilityIndex (PI) and easy tools like pay-back.

In a research conducted on 333small firms in India, it became evi-dent that small businesses in thecountry employ less sophisticatedmethods to analyse potentialinvestments than those recom-mended by the capital budgetingtheory. In particular, survey resultsshow these firms use DiscountedCash Flow (DCF) analysis less fre-quently than “gut feel”, paybackperiod and accounting rate ofreturn.

Although 46 per cent of therespondents have advanced profes-sional degrees, they may not befinancially literate and their smallmanagement team may not becompetent enough to undertake acapital budgeting analysis.Additionally, employing an outsideconsultant to implement the DCFtechniques may prove to be a cost-ly affair for small firms.

Since the capital projects arerelatively smaller in size, it may notbe economical to sustain the costof analysing them. This suggeststhat small firms with small projectsmay be making sense when theydepend on less sophisticated tech-niques or on the owners’ “gut feel”.Since small firms are concernedwith basic survival, they tend to becash-oriented and therefore mayemphasise on payback methods.

Small business owners are alsonot comfortable in making fore-casts beyond the immediate futuresince they face greater uncertain-ty in cash flows and capital bud-geting.

There exists a gap betweeneducation, Government policiesand the real business world. Thetraditional business educationmostly focuses on financial man-agement of large firms. However,the major focus has to now shiftto financial management of smallbusinesses. In addition, conducivepolicies have to be framed not onlyto provide funds to small firms butalso to help them in the manage-ment of funds.

Conducive policies have to be framed not only to provide funds to smallfirms but also to help them in the management of cash resources

NILESH SHUKLA

THEREEXISTS A GAP

BETWEENEDUCATION,

GOVERNMENTPOLICIES AND

THE REALBUSINESS

WORLD. THETRADITIONAL

BUSINESSEDUCATION

MOSTLY FOCUSES ON

FINANCIALMANAGEMENT

OF LARGE FIRMS.HOWEVER, THEMAJOR FOCUS

HAS TO NOW SHIFT TO

FINANCIALMANAGEMENT

OF SMALLBUSINESSES

On May 1, 1960, Bombay State was dissolved and split on lin-guistic lines into the two States of Gujarat, with a Gujarati speak-ing population and Maharashtra, with a Marathi speaking pop-

ulation. The creation of an independent State of Gujarat was a triumphof the Mahagujarat movement, also known as the Mahagujarat Andolan,which was a political movement demanding the creation of a sepa-rate State for Gujarati-speaking people from the bilingual Bombay Statesince 1956. Ever since then, Gujarat has not looked back. Over thelast six decades, Gujarat has not only emerged as a key player in boost-ing the economy of our country but also been a hub of tourism, indus-trialisation and innovation. The State has also produced a number ofprominent national leaders and exceptional personalities such as MahatmaGandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Homi Bhabha, VikramSarabhai, Jamsetji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Narendra Modi and SunitaWilliams, to name a few.

Gujarat has become the growth engine of India today. However,when it was separated from Bruhad Mumbai and came into existenceas an individual State, there were many challenges in front of the thenleaders of Gujarat. There was no cultivable land and water and elec-tricity facilities were almost absent in the State. The entire infrastruc-ture needed to be developed to fulfil the leaders’ goal of making Gujarata progressive State. It was due to the collective efforts of the leadersand the people that Gujarat reached the pinnacle of success.

In the six decades since its formation, Gujarat has transformedinto ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ and has become a model State of India. Gujarathas created its unique identity in the world with its good governance,people-oriented administration, holistic development, peace, securityand public welfare policies.

Gujarat has achieved phenomenal growth in each sector. Today,with business-friendly policies and an environment that fosters the ‘Easeof Doing Business (EODB)’, Gujarat has become one of the top tenindustrial States of India. Gujarat is number one in attracting ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) and received the highest FDI worth 1.58 lakhcrore during April-December 2020. Gujarat has successfully attract-ed investments in the automobile sector and is emerging as an auto-mobile manufacturing hub. The rapid industrial growth in the State hasenabled it to reduce its unemployment rate and Gujarat has the low-est urban unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent.

Gujarat has also achieved a high growth rate in the agricultural sec-tor and its irrigation area has doubled with the advent of the Narmadacanal. As a result, agricultural production has increased manifold andtoday, Gujarat ranks first in the country in groundnut production, witha 40 per cent share. With various farmer-oriented schemes like the ‘KrishiMahotsav’, the ‘Drip Irrigation scheme’, ‘7 Steps of Farmer Welfare’and the ‘Kisan Suryoday Yojana’ Gujarat is leading in agricultural devel-opment and the prosperity of farmers. With the Sardar Sarovar pro-ject, the ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan’ and the ‘SAUNI Yojana’, Gujarathas become a water surplus State from a water deficient one. Besides,Gujarat has become the front runner among the top seven perform-ers in the nationwide ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and more than 80 per centhouseholds of Gujarat are getting potable water through taps. The Stateis taking a significant step towards transforming sea water into potabledrinking water and establishing a desalination plant at Mandvi.

It has been 60 years since the State of Gujarat was established,and today the word ‘Gujarat’ has become synonymous with develop-ment. Under a decisive leadership Gujarat is set to create a ‘New India’through a ‘New Gujarat.’

(The writer is Joint Director, Information, Gujarat Bhawan, New Delhi.The views expressed are personal.)

Ever since Michael Youngcoined the term‘Meritocracy’ in his bril-

liantly dystopian portrayal in‘The Rise of Meritocracy’ in1958, it has become a leadingsocial ideal of our times.Meritocratic standards gave usthe promise of breaking downestablished hierarchies of priv-ilege. Meritocracy has beenseen as an instrument ofupward social mobility as itpromises an even playing field— rewarding talent, ability,effort and hard work, therebydownplaying the role of one’ssocial position and wealth asdetermined by the lottery ofbirth. However, in reality, it hasbecome a smokescreen forinequality favouring the elite incontemporary times.

Meritocracy has been thetop agenda of political partiesacross the spectrum for decadessince people find it the mostconvincing way to achieve an

egalitarian society. When weruminate about meritocracy asthe best alternative way for acommunity to function, wealso must consider that meritlargely depends on one’s socio-economic status, gender andfamily. Merit is a product ofprivilege and has taken theshape of “neo-inheritance.”Wealthy parents pass their priv-ilege to their children. In theold-world order, people inher-ited wealth, which allowedthem to produce more wealth;in the current system, parentshave to have succeeded at thehuman capital game to concocttheir child’s human capital to becompetitive.

Research has shown thatchildren of meritocraticallysuccessful parents always havean edge in building skills thatwill allow them to succeed inlife since the elite get their chil-dren admitted to the best edu-cational institutions, which

were seen as passports to thebest jobs and elite positions.

This “hereditary meritocra-cy” has given rise to this new“meritocratic aristocracy.” Thus,it takes the form of a viciouscycle in which educationalaccomplishments and wealthreinforce each other from onegeneration to the next.

People often speak about“equality of opportunity” asthe big Indian aspiration. Buthaving anything close to equalopportunity would require asevere radical re-engineering ofour society from top to bottomas access to resources remainsa fundamental issue. As long asthere are significant wealthinequalities, there will be colos-sal differences in children’sopportunities. The place wherean individual is born, the com-munity they grew up in and theinstitutions they attend shapesthem. The wide disparities inevery sphere of life are consid-

erably evident in the Indiancontext. Suppose a child hadmiserable primary schooling,no matter which institutions/he later attends, s/he won’t beable to do the best because ofthe poor foundation. No mat-ter what admissions criteria areset, affluent children willunequivocally have the advan-tage. If we focus on entranceexaminations, parents will payfor extra-tutoring and entrancepreparation courses. If we con-

centrate instead on “holistic” or“all-round” qualities. Certainly,wealth always confers a greatercapacity to proffer privilegedchildren the edge over otherpeople’s children in terms ofopportunities and resources. Ifwe want anything resembling a“meritocracy” in the truestsense of the term, we wouldprobably have to start by insti-tutionalising full egalitariancommunism.

Not just opportunities, “oldboys club” of elite networks asa form of lobbying in upperechelons (closed-door policies)and absence of professors frommarginalised communities inleading academic and researchinstitutions in India (despitehaving constitutionally mandat-ed affirmative action policies)show the deep-embedded flawsin the system.

We have divided our soci-ety into winners and loserswhere the cost of even coming

second is unfortunately toohigh. In fact, in the popular sit-com ‘Breaking Bad’, being bril-liant at chemistry was notenough to guarantee main-stream career progression orsurvival.

These structural inequali-ties present in the system fur-ther deepen class consciousness(as education reinforces classlines) wherein the elite fail tofeel the wind of privilege as theybelieve they are entitled totheir privilege, and those borninto disadvantage are convincedthey have themselves to blamefor their inadequacy to over-come the sizeable barriers tosocial mobility.

The elite, plagued by theirinsecurities perpetuate this as itlicences them to view them-selves as productive geniusesoffering moral assurance andpersonal flattery. Recentresearch in neuroscience andpsychology suggests that

“believing in meritocracymakes people more selfish, lessself-critical and even moreprone to acting in discrimina-tory ways.”

Still, people find the notionof meritocracy appealing: Itcarries with it the idea of mov-ing beyond where you start inlife. However, the ideal hasfailed. We all need to acknowl-edge these deep structuralinequalities and that everyonein this world does not have thesame starting point. At a timewhen quality employment hasdried up, and there is growinginequality, we need to scruti-nise the elitist foundations ofmeritocratic ideals and merito-cratic policy practice bringingabout reforms like equalisingeducation to ensure that the sys-tem is just and fair, whereeveryone gets equal opportuni-ties to flourish, achieving socialmobility and social solidarity inthe long run.

At a time when quality employment has dried up and there is growing inequality, we need to scrutinise the elitist foundations of meritocratic ideals and policy

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMN

SIX DECADES OFDEVELOPMENT

Today the word ‘Gujarat’ has become synonymous with development

HIMA BINDU KOTA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is AssociateProfessor at Amity

University, Noida. Theviews expressed

are personal.

Busting the myth of a failed meritocracy

DIPAYAN PAL

The writer is founder,covidaidindia.in and a

post-graduate student atIIT Gandhinagar.

The views expressed are personal.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

American auto major Ford MotorCompany on Friday said it is

donating 50 lakh surgical masks, 1lakh N95 masks and 50,000 gownsto help fight the surge of COVID-19cases in India. The company furthersaid Ford Fund is also donating USD200,000 (around Rs 1.5 crore) tosupport organisations providing

essential COVID-19 relief in India and Brazil. "To help mitigate thesurge of coronavirus cases in India, @Ford is donating 5 millionsurgical masks, 100K N95 masks and 50K gowns to the area," Fordsaid in a tweet. In addition, it said, "Ford Fund is donating USD200,000 to support organizations providing essential COVID-19 reliefin India and Brazil." India is currently reeling under a devastatingsecond wave of the pandemic. According to the Union Health Ministrydata updated on Friday, the country saw 3,86,452 new coronavirusinfections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far.

Ford Motor to donate surgicalmasks, N95 masks to India

Cement makerDalmia Bharat Ltd

on Friday reporteda sharp uptick inconsolidated profitat Rs 640 crore forthe fourth quarterended March 31,2021, on accountof higher revenuefrom operations

and tax credit. Dalmia Bharat had reported a profit of Rs 24crore in the corresponding period a year ago. Its revenue fromoperations stood at Rs 3,281 crore during the quarter underreview, up 32.13 per cent, compared to Rs 2,483 crore in theyear-ago period, Dalmia Bharat said in a regulatory filing.During the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021, Dalmia Bharatreported tax credit of Rs 212 crore as against a tax expense ofRs 41 crore in the same period of the previous year.

Dalmia Bharat Q4 consolidatedprofit zooms to Rs 640 cr

JSW Energy on Friday saidthat Central Electricity

Authority has approved theuprating of its KarchamWangtoo hydro power plantto 1,091 megawatt (MW)from 1,000 MW. This capaci-ty uprating has been done by9 per cent to 1,091 MW with-out any additional capital

expenditure, and is a significant boost to the earnings potential ofthis key asset of JSW Energy Ltd, the company said in a regulatoryfiling. "The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has permitted upratingof the Karcham Wangtoo Hydro Electric Power Plant owned by JSWHydro Energy Limited (100 per cent subsidiary of JSW Energy Ltd)from 1,000 MW to 1,091 MW...," the filing added. The uprating willbe done in a phased manner -- 1,000 MW to 1,045 MW in the firstphase for two monsoon seasons in (calendar year) CY 2021 and CY2022; and to 1,091 MW thereafter, the filing added.

CEA uprates JSW KarchamWangtoo power plant to 1091 MW

Shares of Tata Coffee on Friday jumpedover 9 per cent after the company

posted a more than two-fold jump inconsolidated net profit for the fourthquarter of the 2020-21 fiscal. The stockgained 9.26 per cent to Rs 139.70 -- its52-week high -- on the BSE. On NSE, it

zoomed 9.42 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 139.85. Tata Coffeeon Thursday posted a more than two-fold jump in consolidated netprofit at Rs 57.37 crore for the fourth quarter of the 2020-21 fiscalon strong income. The company had posted a net profit of Rs24.05 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, according to aregulatory filing. Net income rose by 17 per cent to Rs 612.06 crorein the fourth quarter of 2020-21 from Rs 523.46 crore in the year-ago period. Expenses remained higher at Rs 529.48 crore asagainst Rs 475.71 crore in the said period. Tata Coffee ManagingDirector Chacko P Thomas said: "Despite challenging conditions, ouroverall performance has been strong."

Tata Coffee shares zoom over9 pc after strong Q4 earnings

Sensex nosedives 984 pts;financial stocks lead sell-offPNS n MUMBAI

Snapping its four-sessionwinning run, market bench-mark Sensex plummeted 984points on Friday, trackingan intense selloff in financialstocks amid a negative trendin Asian equities.

The 30-share BSE indexsank 983.58 points or 1.98 percent to finish at 48,782.36.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty tanked 263.80 points or1.77 per cent to 14,631.10.

HDFC twins were the toplosers in the Sensex pack,shedding over 4 per cent, fol-lowed by ICICI Bank, KotakBank, Asian Paints, M&M,HUL, TCS and Maruti.

On the other hand,ONGC, Sun Pharma, DrReddy's and Bajaj Auto werethe gainers.

According to Binod Modi,Head-Strategy at RelianceSecurities, domestic equitiesfell sharply on weak globalcues and heavy sell-off infinancial stocks. Asian mar-kets traded weak on emerg-

ing concerns about growthafter China's factory activityexpanded slow er thanexpected in April.

Barring pharma, metalsand IT, most of key sectoralindices saw selling pressure.

"Persistent rise in dailycaseload and higher numberof deaths continue to remain

matter of concerns for centraland state governments andtherefore any possibility offurther economic restrictionscannot be ruled out by thestate governments. Marketis expected to be volatileuntil we see a clear reversal inCOVID-19 cases," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-

es in Shanghai, Hong Kong,Seoul and Tokyo ended on anegative note.

Bourses in Europe weretrading with marginal gainsin mid-session deals.Meanwhile, international oilbenchmark Brent crude wastrading 1.31 per cent lower atUSD 67.15 per barrel.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Retail inflation for industrialworkers rose to 5.64 per cent inMarch, mainly due to higherprices of certain food items andfuel including petrol and cookinggas.

"Year-on-year inflation for themonth (March) stood at 5.64 percent compared to 4.48 per cent forthe previous month (February2021) and 5.50 per cent duringthe corresponding month (March2020) of the previous year," thelabour ministry said in a state-ment.

Food inflation stood at 5.36 percent against 4.64 per cent of theprevious month and 6.67 per centduring the corresponding montha year ago, according to the state-ment.

The All-India CPI-IW(Consumer Price Index forIndustrial Workers) for March2021 increased 0.6 points andstood at 119.6 points.

On a 1-month percentagechange, it increased by 0.50 percent with respect to the previousmonth (February 2021) whereasthere was a decline of 0.61 percent between correspondingmonths a year ago.

The maximum upward pres-

sure in current index came from'fuel and light' group contributing0.40 percentage points to the totalchange, it said.

It was further supplemented bymiscellaneous group contributing0.15 percentage points to the totalrise.

At item level, cooking gas,petrol, poultry chicken, edible oils,apple, orange, tea leaf, and servedand processed packaged food areresponsible for the rise in index.

However, this increase wasmostly checked by vegetables,putting downward pressure onthe index.

At the centre level,Jamshedpur andSangrur recorded thehighest increaseof 3 pointseach. Amongoth-ers,

fourcentresobserved

an increase in the range of 2-2.9points, 22 centres in 1-1.9 pointsand 45 centres 0-0.9 points.

On the contrary, Doom-Dooma Tinsukia recorded thehighest decrease of 3.2 points.Among others, two centresobserved a decline in the range of2-2.9 points, another 2 centres in1-1.9 points and remain-ing 10 centres 0-0.9points.

Retail inflation for industrialworkers rises to 5.64%

PNS n MUMBAI

Private non-life insurerSBI General Insurance(SBIG) Friday said itsnet profit grew by 32 percent to Rs 544 crore inthe fiscal ended March3, 2021.

Gross written premi-um (GWP) rose 22 percent to Rs 8,312 crore inthe fiscal compared toRs 6,840 crore in the fis-cal 2019-20, a releasesaid.

“We all have gonethrough challengingtimes in the last financialyear, however, I'm gladthat SBIG has shown adecent growth in topline and bottom linewith the support of ourdistribution partnersand customers,” thecompany's managingdirector and CEO P CKandpal said.

During the year, itssolvency ratio stood at 2as against 2.27 in the pre-vious fiscal. Combinedratio was at 99.8 percent compared to 98 percent in fiscal 2019-20.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Rahul Bajaj, one of the mostsuccessful business leaders inthe country, has finally decid-ed to hang his boots at BajajAuto, the company he nur-tured and steered to one of theleading firms in two andthree-wheeler space.

The non-executive chair-man of the Pune-based twoand three-wheeler maker hastendered his resignationwhich would come into effectfrom close of business hourson April 30, 2021, Bajaj Autosaid in a regulatory filing.

In place of Rahul Bajaj, thecompany has appointed NirajBajaj, 67, as Chairman witheffect from May 1, 2021, itadded.

A cousin of Rahul Bajaj,Niraj's career spans more than25 years. After doing a shortstint at Bajaj Auto and BajajElectricals, he has been asso-

ciated with Mukand Ltd, invarious positions and is nowits Chairman and ManagingDirector.

Besides Bajaj Auto, he isalso on the Board of BajajAllianz Life and GeneralInsurance Co Ltd, Bachhraj &Company, Jamnalal Sons andvarious other Bajaj Groupcompanies.

Rahul Bajaj would contin-ue as Chairman Emeritus ofthe company for a term of five

years with effect from May 1,2021.

His son Rajiv Bajaj is theManaging Director whileMadhur Bajaj (Rahul's cousin)continues as Vice Chairman ofthe company.

As a non-executiveChairman of the company,Rahul Bajaj has been at thehelm of the company since1972 and the group for fivedecades.

Considering his age, 83, he

has tendered his resignation asnon-executive director andChairman, the filing said.

The senior Bajaj has madea huge contribution to the suc-cess of the company and theGroup over the last fivedecades and considering histremendous experience and inthe interest of the companyand to continue to benefitfrom his experience, knowl-edge and wisdom from time totime in an advisory role andas a mentor, the company'sboard has approved hisappointment as ChairmanEmeritus, the filing added.

Rahul Bajaj had takencharge of the Bajaj group in1965, when India was still aclosed economy. He led thecompany, known for its BajajChetak scooters -- a productthat was an aspirational sym-bol for the middle class Indianfamilies then -- from strengthto strength.

Rahul Bajaj hangs up hisboots as Bajaj boss

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Friday seta record rice production targetof 104.3 million tonne for thekharif season of 2021-22 cropyear (July-June).

Rice is the main crop grownin the kharif season, sowing ofwhich begins with the onset ofsouthwest monsoon from June.

In the kharif season lastcrop year, rice production wasestimated to be at 103.75 mil-lion tonne against the target of102.60 million tonne, as perthe agriculture ministry's sec-ond advance estimate.

Discussing with states aboutthe preparedness for the forth-coming kharif season,Agriculture Commissioner S KMalhotra said southwest mon-soon as a whole is likely to benormal this year as per the MetDepartment.

The rice production targetfor the 2021-22 kharif season

is set at a record 104.3 milliontonne.

He asked the states to pro-mote rice hybrid and drought,salinity and flood-tolerant seedvarieties, besides encouragingsafe and judicious use of tricy-clazole and buprofezin in riceto avoid the presence of residuein rice exports.

Whereas the production tar-get for coarse cereals is kept at37.31 million tonne, oilseeds at26.20 million tonne and puls-

es at 9.82 million tonne for thekharif season of 2021-22.

The Total foodgrains pro-duction target of 151.43 mil-lion tonne has been set for thekharif season of this year.

In the same kharif seasonlast year, foodgrains produc-tion was estimated to havebeen 147.95 million tonne,slightly below the target of149.35 million tonne set forthat season, as per the min-istry's data.

Govt sets 104.3 mn ton riceproduction target for kharif

PNS n NEW DELHI

Retail giant Walmart on Fridaysaid it is mobilising its globalresources to further expandsupport for COVID-19 reliefefforts in the country, which isreeling under a deadly secondwave of the pandemic.

Walmart, the WalmartFoundation, Flipkart andPhonePe, along with Walmart'sGlobal Technology andSourcing hubs, are collaborat-ing to counter oxygen short-ages, support the national vac-cination drive and donate toorganizations making a differ-ence in communities nation-wide, a statement said.

This includes a Rs 14.82crore (USD 2 million) dona-tion from the WalmartFoundation to support variousNGOs in India.

"Walmart is a global family...We are working hard to com-bine Walmart's global capabil-ities and Flipkart's distributionnetwork to ensure vital oxygenand supplies are made availableto those who need them most.Our hearts are with everyonein India," Doug McMillon,President and CEO of WalmartInc, said.

Walmart businesses world-wide are working together toprocure vital oxygen concen-trators and other equipment.

Walmart will donate up to20 oxygen-generating plantsand 20 cryogenic containersfor oxygen storage and trans-portation, as well as morethan 3,000 oxygen concentra-tors and 500 oxygen cylindersfor delivering oxygen therapyto patients at home or in hos-pital.

.PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre on Friday askedfive non-traditional oniongrowing states includingRajasthan to increase the areasown under the crop by 9,900hectares in the forthcomingkharif season to avoid anyprice rise situation.

Karnataka, Maharashtra andAndhra Pradesh are majorkharif onion growing states,while Rajasthan, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, andUttar Pradesh are five stateswhich are non-traditionalonion growing states.

Chalking out a strategy forthe forthcoming kharif seasonof the 2021-22 crop year (July-June), AgricultureCommissioner S K Malhotrain a conference with state gov-

ernments emphasised on theneed to increase kharif onionarea in non-traditional states.

This would help when avail-ability gets affected in tradi-tional onion growing areasdue to natural calamities, hesaid.

He asked five non-tradi-tional onion growing states toincrease onion area in thekharif season of this year to51,000 hectares from 41,081hectares in the year-ago peri-od.

In Rajasthan, kharif onionarea can be increased to 24,500hectares this year from 22,295hectares in the same seasonprevious year.

In Haryana, kharif onionarea can be increased to to10,000 hectares from 7,250hectares and in Gujarat to5,500 hectares from 5,000hectares in the said period.

Similarly in MadhyaPradesh, kharif onion areacan be increased to 6,500hectares this year from 4,729hectares in the year-ago peri-od, while that of in Uttarpradesh to 4,500 hectares from4,000 hectares in the said peri-od.

The official said that kharifonions will help meet the localdemand and maintain pricesduring the lean period.

Centre asks five states toincrease onion acreage

PNS n HYDERABAD

CtrlS Datacenters, Asia's largestrated-4 hyperscale data centerand managed services playerrecently collaborated withCanara HSBC Oriental BankOf Commerce Life Insuranceas a strategic technology part-ner to enhance their overalltechnology infrastructureresilience by deciding to oper-ate out of one of CtrlS data cen-ter facilities thereby supportingand enabling the life insurer'soverall digital transformationjourney. The Company aims toprovide seamless customerexperience round the clock toits customers and therefore hasbeen investing in upgrading

the entire technology land-scape including the architec-ture and infrastructure over thelast couple of years.

The data center facilitiesprovided by CtrlS are designedto respond to the increasingdemand of hyperscalers andmission critical applicationsbacked by its operational excel-lence framework, zero down-time DC architecture, 6 to 9zone military grade security, toaddress the non-negotiabletechnology mandate of busi-nesses today.

CtrlS has proven experi-ence in powering 3 of theWorld's Top 5 hyperscalersand 30 of the Fortune 500Global Multinationals.

SBI Generalinsurance netprofit grows 32%

Walmart, Flipkart toscale up support forIndia’s Covid battle

CtrlS Datacenterspartners with India’sinsurance firmPNS n LONDON

European Union regulatorsare accusing Apple of violat-ing the bloc's antitrust rules,alleging that the companydistorts competition formusic streaming throughrules for its App Store.

The EU's executiveCommission said Friday itobjected to Apple's way ofdoing business, which itsaid ends up costing con-sumers more and limitingtheir choice.

The EU said it was con-cerned that Apple forces appdevelopers selling digitalcontent to use its in-housepayment system, whichcharges a 30% commissionon all subscriptions.

EU accusesApple ofantitrust breach

PNS n MUMABI

The Indian rupee opened ona flat note and edged lower by5 paise to 74.12 against the USdollar in opening trade onFriday, amid a lacklustre trendin the domestic equity market.

At the interbank forex mar-ket, the domestic unit openedat 74.03 against the US dollarand inched lower to 74.12against the greenback, register-ing a fall of 5 paise over its pre-vious close.

On Thursday, the rupeehad settled at 74.07 against theAmerican currency.

The domestic unit alsotouched an early high of 74 perdollar in initial deals.

The rupee started on a flatto weaker note against thegreenback, Reliance Securities

said in a research note, addingthat "improved risk appetite inthe markets could cap depre-ciation bias; however month-end dollar demand fromimporters could cap the appre-ciation bias."

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back's strength against a bas-ket of six currencies, rose 0.02per cent to 90.63.

Rupee opens on flatnote against USD

PNS n NEW DELHI

Wipro on Friday revisedupwards its IT servicesrevenue outlook to 8-10per cent sequential gro-wth in the June 2021quarter, following thecompletion of its USD1.45 billion buyout ofCapco.

While announcing itsMarch quarter results ear-lier this month, Wiprohad said it expects to loga sequential growth of 2-4 per cent in its IT ser-vices revenues in the June2021 quarter withoutincluding revenue fromCapco and Ampionacquisitions.

In March, Wipro hadannounced the acquisi-tion of London-head-quartered Capco in aUSD 1.45 billion deal - itslargest ever till date.

Wipro upsIT servicesrevenue

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

9

Vijayawada Saturday May 1, 2021what’s brewing?

FUN

Neetu pens emotionalnote for RISHI KAPOOR

eetu Kapoor anddaughter RiddhimaKapoor Sahniremembered RishiKapoor in emo-tional notes on his

first death anniversary. Bothof them shared throwbackphotos with the late actorand wrote how much theymiss him and his “wisecracks”, his “wise advice” andhis “anecdotes”. RanbirKapoor and Alia Bhatt werealso seen reaching Neetu’shome on Friday. Ranbir andAlia had both tested positivefor the coronavirus and haverecovered now. They alsovisited the Maldives earlierthis month.

Posting a monochromepicture of herself with RishiKapoor from their youngerdays, Neetu rememberedhow the last year has beenfull of sorrow as she lost thelove of her life. She wrote,“All of last year has been ofgrief and sadness around theworld for us maybe more aswe lost him... Not a day hasgone by when we have notdiscussed or reminisced himas he was an extension of ourexistence... sometimes hiswise advice: his wise cracks:his anecdotes!!”

The Amar Akbar Anthonyactor has remembered herlate husband with a smileand has accepted that “life

will never be the same with-out him.” She added, “Wehave celebrated him all yearwith a smile on the lips as hewill stay in our hearts foreverwe have accepted life willnever be the same withouthim!!! But life will go on….#rishikapoor”.

Rishi Kapoor’s daughterRiddhima shared a collage ofpictures on her father’s firstdeath anniversary. In aheartfelt note, she wrote, “Ifonly i could hear you call memushk once more…” Shealso quoted the poet DorothyMae Cavendish as she added,“‘Until we meet againwe think about you always,we talk about you still, youhave never been forgotten,and you never will. We holdyou close within our heartsand there you will remain, towalk and guide us throughour lives, until we meetagain.’— Dorothy Mae

Cavendish”Rishi Kapoor passed away

on April 30, 2020, after bat-tling with cancer for almosttwo years. As he died, hisfamily released a statementthat mentioned howBollywood’s heartthrob wasfull of life even during hisfight against cancer. “Heremained jovial and deter-mined to live to the fullestright through two years oftreatment across two conti-nents. Family, friends, foodand films remained his focusand everyone who met himduring this time was amazedat how he did not let his ill-ness get the better of him. Hewas grateful for the love ofhis fans that poured in fromthe world over. In his pass-ing, they would all under-stand that he would like tobe remembered with a smileand not with tears,” the state-ment read.

RANBIR, ALIA BHATT VISIT HER

N

enior Tamil actorRSG Chelladuraipassed away onThursday eveningat his residence inChennai’s Periyar

Nagar. He was 84.Chelladurai has appeared

in more than 100 Tamilmovies, entering the indus-try as a character artist.Irrespective of the length ofhis character, he always

made an impression on theaudience with his strongperformances. He hasappeared alongside super-star Vijay in several movies.His scenes with Vijay inTheri are especially memo-rable. In the 2016 film, heplayed the role of a helplessfather. In a scene,Chelladurai brings to lifethe worst nightmare of afather as he speaks about

his daughter, who had beenmissing for a few days.

He had also made mem-orable appearances inVijay’s Kaththi, Dhanush’sMaari, Rajinikanth’s Sivajiand director Atlee’s RajaRani, to name a few.

Fans and members of theTamil film fraternity haveshared messages condolingthe death of Chelladurai.He will be remembered.

Tamil actor RSG Chelladurai passes away at 84fter severalmovies, a TVshow and evenvideo-games,The Fast &Furious franchise

is getting a new podcastahead of the release ofninth iteration in the filmseries.

This will be the firstofficial Fast & Furiouspodcast. It will have nineepisodes, mirroring thenumber of films. Theepisodes will feature inter-

views from the cast andcrew of the franchise. Theywill talk about their jour-ney in Fast & Furious sofar and will also shareinsights.

Each episode will featurea hero interview, whichwill demystify every moviein the main series.

The first episode, whichdebuts on Friday, will havean interaction with VinDiesel, who plays the leadrole of Dominic Toretto inthe movies. It will be fol-

lowed by a new episodeevery Friday until the lastepisode.

Meanwhile, MichelleRodriguez and CharlizeTheron are reprising theirroles of Letty Ortiz andcyber-terrorist Cipher,respectively. Helen Mirrenis playing MagdaleneShaw, the mother of JasonStatham’s characterDeckard Shaw. Mirren alsoappeared in the role in2019’s Hobbes and Shaw.Jordana Brewster is back as

Mia Toretto as John Cenaplays the role of the BigBad Jakob Toretto in F9.Cardi B and Ozuna alsojoin the franchise with thisfilm. Tyrese Gibson, Chris“Ludacris” Bridges,Jordana Brewster, NathalieEmmanuel, Sung Kang,among others also appear.

Justin Lin is directingthe film. He previouslydirected the third, fourth,fifth and sixth installmentof the franchise. F9 willrelease on June 25, 2021.

AS

irector Zack Snyder hasrevealed the poster ofBollywood actor HumaQureshi from his upcomingmovie Army of the Dead.Huma plays the role of a

mother to an estranged daughter.Synder also shared character posters ofother lead actors of the zombie thriller.

Besides Huma, the film also starsDave Bautista, Ella Purnell, OmariHardwick, Ana de la Reguera, TheoRossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, NoraArnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, TigNotaro, Raúl Castillo, Samantha Win,Michael Cassidy, Richard Cetrone andGarret Dillahunt.

The poster shows Huma Qureshi’scharacter Geeta holding a knife in herhand, and the intense look on her facesuggests that her character means busi-

ness. When the trailer of Army of theDead came out on April 13, Huma hadwritten about working with Snyder onTwitter. “Super proud to be a smallpart of this genius man’s vision@ZackSnyder always a fan and friendforever” she tweeted.

While sharing the poster of themovie, Huma also wrote a note for herfans urging them to stay safe. Shewrote, “My heart bleeds as my country

and my fellow Indians fight personalloss, hurt, pain and devastation everyday because of the Covid-19 pandemic.I stand alongside them in sharingevery bit of it with them.”

But being an actor, Huma Qureshisaid she has to keep up with her pro-fessional duties and hence she is shar-ing the poster of her upcoming film forwhich she shot in 2019.

She concluded her note by wishing“health and peace” to those who have“encountered the wrath of this pan-demic”. She wrote, “Urging those whoare safe to continue staying safe andfollow every possible regulation inthese torrid times, while dedicating mywork to those who have encounteredthe wrath of this pandemic and wish-ing them health & peace. Love, HumaS Qureshi.”

D

Zack Snyder shares Huma Qureshi’scharacter poster from Army oof tthe DDead

FAST AND FURIOUS

gets official podcast

eet the gener-ation thatwants to con-sume lessmeat, butdoesn’t shy

away from Cheetos!According to anAmerican report, Gen Zwants to eat healthier,looking towards bal-anced foods and con-suming less meat.However, this generationis still fond of sweet andsalty snacks, as shownby their favouritebrands.

They are curious,open to new experi-ences, and don’t likestaying still. The indi-viduals who make upGen Z are applying theirvalues to their foodchoices. Proof of theirconcern for what theyput on their plates is thefact that they devote alarge part of their spend-ing money to it which is23% of their budget.

Additive-free food

Boys aged 13 to 19with the highest incomesspend the most moneyon food. Meanwhile, girlsof the same age prioritiseclothing. But they alsospend 24% of their bud-get on food. Both boysand girls say they preferorganic food or naturalfood without additives. Achoice that can easily beexplained by the fact thatthey have grown up in anera where consumers aremore attentive to thechoice of ingredientsthan before.

Snacks come first

Rather than sittingdown for lunch or din-ner, Gen Z prefers to eatshort meals or snacksduring the day. Theirfocus is on healthy foodwith 54% of them sayingthey prefer to eat healthysnacks. However, when

asked to choose theirfavorite snacks, only 3%of them mentioned fruits,vegetables, or nuts.

Their top-rankedfavorites include Lay’s,Doritos and Cheetos, andOreo cookies. Still, thereare brands with a healthi-er reputation!

Towards a diet

with less meat

Half of the teenagerssurveyed already con-sume or intend to con-sume plant-based meat.A 2019 study had alreadypointed out young peo-ple’s increased receptive-ness to eating vegan thantheir elders. Some 15%have already consumedplant-based meat. A thirdof the respondents havenot tried vegan meat, butwant to try it. That’s fargreater than the propor-tion of adults (20%) whosay they want to try thisnew type of meat.

M

WELCOME TO‘SMART' EATING

Oscar winners to enliven your

WEEKENDBeing one of the most

prestigious cinema awardsin the world, the Oscars

never fail to get avidcinephiles right at the edgeof their seats. The recentlyheld 93rd Academy Awardswitnessed a host of stellarperformers and films bagthe coveted trophy. With

each of us hitting the playbutton as soon as we readthe winner’s list, here are

five fabulous Oscar-winningfilms from this year’s

edition that you can watchright now.

TENET

Tenet is a 2020 science fiction action-

thriller film written and directed by

Christopher Nolan. At the 93rd

Academy Awards, Nolan’s thriller Tenet

took home the award for Best Visual

Effects. It stars John David Washington,

Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki,

Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and

Kenneth Branagh. The film follows a

secret agent who learns to manipulate

the flow of time to prevent an attack

from the future that threatens to anni-

hilate the present world. Knowing just

how good Nolan is when it comes to

leaving his viewers spellbound, it’s a

movie you certainly don’t want to miss.

SOUL

The fantasy comedy-drama film, Soul deserv-

ingly bagged the award for Best Animated

Feature Film. Directed by Pete Docter and co-

directed by Kemp Powers, the film stars the

voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton,

Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade,

Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove,

and Angela Bassett. Soul is a heart-warming

Disney movie that follows the story of a music

teacher who seeks to reunite his soul and his

body after it was accidentally separated. If you

haven’t seen it, it’s never too late to hit play for

this one.

SOUND OF

METAL

Sound of Metal won the

Academy Award for the

Best Sound. And rightly so. It

is a tragic drama about a

drummer who suffers from

degenerative hearing and is

desperate to find a new

meaning in life. Directed and

co-written by Darius Marder,

the film stars Riz Ahmed as a

metal drummer who loses his

hearing alongside Olivia

Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren

Ridloff, and Mathieu

Amalric.

MANK

Mank is a biographical drama based on

screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz

and his journey towards writing the screen-

play for Citizen Kane (1941). It stars Gary

Oldman in the title role, alongside Amanda

Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Charles Dance.

The film bagged the award for Best

Cinematography.

MA RAINEY’S BLACKBOTTOM

W ith five nominations in this year’sAcademy Awards, Ma Rainey’s BlackBottom took home the award for the BestCostume Design. Ma Rainey's Black Bottomtakes its audiences through the journey ofthe friction that takes place between leg-endary blues singer Ma Rainey, her trumpetplayer Levee, and their white managementteam. The film depicts the racism the artistsand musicians had to face at the time and isan eye-opener to say the very least.

She's entertained us infilms like Sita,

Jakkanna, Thikka

and more. She's madeus laugh, cry and fall

for her. From the smalltown of Ambala, shelanded in Hyderabad

to make her name inthe Telugu film

industry. She talksto The Pioneer's

SHIKHADUGGAL

about why thecity has a

special placein her heart.

Making her home inthe city of NIZAMS

s cheesy as it can get, a small-town setting is indeed a goldmine for many films but that's a true facet formany in reality as well! With the confines of a small-town feisty girl, actress Mannara Chopra came toHyderabad with big dreams for her future from the famous Ambala Cantt. You must have heard this namemany times when we speak of Bollywood actresses Priyanka and Parineeti Chopra. Yep, Mannara is thesecond cousin of global diva PeeCee! Mannara is sharp and always driven towards a single goal — launching herself like a rocket towards

success. With a desire to move from her home to fulfil dreams and take the big bad real world head-on in the process,she found a sense of amiability in the city of Hyderabad. At the moment, she is a regular face in the major socialevents and parties that are held across the city. There's no way that the cameras escape Mannara Chopra from their

lens! “Once I started getting work in Tollywood, it was my time to shine here. I became a regular visitor! As

history goes by, the city is of nawabs so I also get the royal treatment here. Humility is frequentlyassociated with being too passive but the Hyderabadis are far away from this, because they are truly

confident and nice people at heart. They seek to self-actualise by helping theirs! It's like lettingtheir actions speak for their ideals. It's a pleasure for me to meet royal delegates here,” the Zid

actress shared.A career-oriented woman, Hyderabad city gives a boost to her aspirations as they are

inspiring and a sign of feminist progress! More importantly, it was in herself that she couldleave behind that persona of a small-townie and be amid the bevvy of the posh, frequentlybeing spotted at branded stores of Hyderabad.“I have spent quite some time both in the metropolitan cities of Delhi and Mumbai, butHyderabad is the only city that gives that right amount of mix, just as a chef wouldrequire in his special cuisine. Whenever I have interacted with somebody, the one

sentence that constantly keepscoming up in Hyderabad is the

best city to live in. It's the bestshot at valuing money! It offersthe right housing luxury that'sprobably not possible in thecrowded city of Mumbai —there's ample crunch forspace! High-end residentialproperties always provide asilver lining. Even itscorporate luxury is so scenic,the commercial pathways are full of greenery.”Sharing her ‘oh so wow moment' in Hyderabad, she stated how she got anunexpected chance to meet superstar Salman Khan while shooting forher first-ever television commercial in Ramoji Film City which made hergo awwww for a while. She says she was awestruck! One thing thatcomes to her mind whenever someone mentions the city's name is‘Mughlai food' — “It's rich, you wouldn't want to trade succulentdishes for anything else. Keeping the trend of variety alive, the foodhere is has a drastic range! All of it will surely please your tastebuds.”Truly believing in the notion that people make the city, Mannara

knows that the population is the one who owns it. Allare fighting to secure the competition of their citiesand the livelihoods of the people who live in them!The one thing that she disapproves of, currently, ishow certain natives are acting irresponsibly by notmasking up, a major concern for her! “I can seemany of them who are making fun of theseunprecedented times and hardly following anyprotocols. I urge people to donate their plasmasfor others to recover! The state is in a crisis aswell as the country, there are no beds availableso take coronavirus seriously. Double maskingis more effective so do that. It's a city thatallowed me to fulfil my dreams truly so I don'twant anybody's dreams to get sabotagedbecause of an unwanted pandemic,” the Rogueactress concluded.

A

Hyderabad offers the righthousing luxury that's probablynot possible in the crowdedcity of Mumbai — there'sample crunch for space!!

SaturdayMay 1, 2021

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

PTI n NEW DELHI

Rohit Sharma’s elegance and SuryakumarYadav’s flamboyance will be pitted against the

brute power of Faf du Plessis and grace of RuturajGaikwad when heavyweights Mumbai Indians andChennai Super Kings cross swords here onSaturday.

MI and CSK head into the match after iden-tical seven-wicket wins over Rajasthan Royals andSunrisers Hyderabad respectively and both teamswould be keen to continue their winning streak.

The biggest positive for Mumbai has been thereturn to form of opener Quinton de Kock (117runs), who made a blistering, unbeaten 70against Rajasthan.

The faltering Mumbai middle-order alsoclicked in the previous game, on a comparative-ly easy batting track compared to the one at theChepauk.

Suryakumar (170 runs) would need to con-vert his starts while Krunal Pandya (68 runs)played a useful cameo, which would have bolsteredhis confidence. He would be keen to take it for-ward from where he left.

Kieron Pollard (81 runs) also displayedhis hard-hitting skills on Thursday and wouldbe raring to go once again, and so would fel-low all-rounder Hardik Pandya (36 runs).

Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boulthave been exceptional, particularly at thedeath, and would need to perform again tocontain the in-form CSK batters.

Leggie Rahul Chahar, with 11scalps, has been MI’s leading wicket-taker. He would, however, needsupport from Krunal and the sea-soned off-spinner Jayant Yadav,who was a tad expensive in the lastgame.

Meanwhile, CSK have been a forceto reckon with this season, having wonfive of their six games.

Openers du Plessis (270 runs) andRuturaj (192 runs) have been in top formand would be keen to provide the teamwith another strong start.

Their middle-order has also beenamong runs. Moeen Ali (148 runs) hasadjusted well to the role of pinch-hitter,while the presence of the ever-reliable

Suresh Raina (121 runs) gives theteam a huge cushion.

Then there are Ambati Rayadu(64 runs) and Ravindra Jadeja (109

runs), who has improved as a batsmanand can plunder sixes at will, apartfrom skipper MS Dhoni (37 runs),who appears content to playing secondfiddle these days. Add EnglishmanSam Curran and CSK can take anyattack apart when in form.

CSK bowlers led by DeepakChahar (8 wickets) and Curran (6wickets) have done a splendid job,while Shardul Thakur, with fourscalps, could be decisive in breakingpartnerships.

Jadeja has also shone with theball, taking five wickets whileMoeen has four and all of themwould be hoping to be at theirbest against Mumbai.

11WHAT WE SAW FROM PRITHVI WAS THE PERFECTTEMPLATE OF HOW WE WANT TO PLAY. YOU'RE

NOT ALWAYS GOING TO HIT EVERY BALL FOR 4 OR6, BUT YOU CAN HAVE THE INTENT TO DO SO

— BRENDON MCCULLUM

COACH SPEAKVIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | MAY 1, 2021

PLAYER RUNS

1. KL Rahul (PBKS) 330

2. Shikhar Dhawan (DC) 311

3. Faf du Plessis (CSK) 270

PLAYER WKTS

1. Harshal Patel (RCB) 17

2. Avesh Khan (DC) 13

3. Rahul Chahar (MI) 11

MOST SIXES

1. KL Rahul (PBKS) 17

2. Jonny Bairstow (SRH) 14

3. Andre Russell (KKR) 13

SUMMER SLAM

MOTION PICTURE

POINTS TABLEP W L NRR PTS

1 CSK 6 5 1 +1.475 10

2 DC 7 5 2 +0.466 10

3 RCB 7 5 2 -0.171 10

4 MI 6 3 3 +0.071 6

5 PBKS 7 3 4 -0.264 6

6 KKR 7 2 5 -0.494 4

7 RR 6 2 4 -0.690 4

8 SRH 6 1 5 -0.264 2

4s 717

6s 309

boundarymeter

SHOOTER DADI CHANDRO DIES NEW DELHI: Octogenarian shooter ChandroTomar, who became the oldest woman sharpshooter in the world after taking up the sportin her 60s, died on Friday after battling Covid-19. She was 89 and was being treated at ahospital in Meerut since April 26.

WRESTLERS REACH SOFIANEW DELHI: India's wrestlers have finallylanded in Sofia for the World Qualifiers startingMay 6 after missing an earlier scheduled flightbeacuse of the travel ban.

OSAKA ENJOYS WINNING STARTMADRID: Naomi Osaka began her bid tocapture a first clay court title with a 7-5, 6-2win over compatriot Misaki Doi in the openinground of the Madrid Open on Friday.

TEN HAG EXTENDS AJAX DEALTHE HAUGE: Ajax coach Erik ten Hag hasextended his contract until 2023, the Dutchclub announced on Friday, pouring cold wateron rumours that he was about to leave.

TASKIN SHINES FOR B’DESHPALLEKELE: Bangladesh paceman TaskinAhmed took three wickets for 119 on day twoof the second Test against Sri Lanka on Fridayas the hosts piled up 469 runs for 6 at stumps.

CARVAJAL INJURED MADRID: Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajalhas injured a muscle in his right leg, makinghim a doubtful for Chelsea clash. Agencies

shortpasses

OT

HE

R S

PO

RT

TODAYTODAY VSLIVE FROM

7:30PM IST

STAR SSPORTS 11 NNETWORK

Matches 30Mumbai IIndians 18Chennai SSuper KKings 12

LAST YEAR’S MATCHES

Chennai Super Kings defeated

Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets in

Abu Dhabi

Mumbai Indians beat Chennai

Super Kings by 10 wickets in

Sharjah

VENUE: ARUN JAITLEY STADIUM, DELHI

Suresh Raina will become fourth

player to complete a double

century of matches in IPL history.

He has played 199 matches so

far for CSK and Gujarat Lions

Rohit Sharma scored 717 runs at

an average of 28.68 in 28

innings vs Chennai

Super Kings in IPLFaisel FFeatures

199

HEAD TO HEADKEY PLAYERS

QUINTON DE KOCK

Quinton finds form with unbeaten

70 against Royals and his return

will relief pressure from Rohit

FAF DU PLESSIS

Former SA captain is the leading

run getter for CSK and has formed

a good p’ship with Ruturaj at top

717

SCOREBOARDPUNJAB KINGS

KL Rahul not out 91

Prabhsimran SSingh c Kohli b Jamieson 7Chris GGayle c de Villiers b Sams 46Nicholas PPooran c Shahbaz b Jamieson 0 Deepak HHooda c Patidar b Shahbaz 5Shahrukh KKhan b Chahal 0Harpreet BBrar not out 25Did nnot bbat: Chris Jordan, Riley Meredith, RaviBishnoi, Mohammed ShamiExtras (b 0, lb 1, w 4, nb 0, p 0) 5Total (5 wkts, 20 Overs) 179Fall oof wwickets: 19-1 (Prabhsimran Singh, 3.3), 99-2(Chris Gayle, 10.4), 107-3 (Nicholas Pooran, 11.3),117-4 (Deepak Hooda, 13.6), 118-5 (ShahrukhKhan, 14.4)BowlingDaniel SSams 4-0-24-1Mohammed SSiraj 3-0-24-0Kyle JJamieson 3-0-32-2Yuzvendra CChahal 4-0-34-1Harshal PPatel 4-0-53-0Shahbaz AAhmed 2-0-11-1

Mumbai, Chennaibattle for supremacy

Barcelona: Barcelona spurnedthe chance to go top of the tableon Thursday as a shock 2-1defeat by Granada added anoth-er twist to La Liga’s most unpre-dictable title race in years.

Barca could have taken con-trol at the top by moving a pointahead of Atletico Madrid butGranada came from behind tosnatch a stunning win at CampNou, in what will be a hugeboost to the other title con-tenders.

Lionel Messi scored his 33rdgoal of the season to putBarcelona in front but theyfailed to put the result beyonddoubt and Granada hit back,Darwin Machis driving in andJorge Molina’s header complet-ing a remarkable turnaround.

Defeat means Barca tooknothing from their game inhand except disappointment,which might be difficult toshake ahead of two crunchgames now away at Valencia andat home to Atletico Madrid.

They stay third, level onpoints with Real Madrid, asAtletico retain their two-pointadvantage at the top, whileSevilla in fourth remain justthree points off first. AFP

Barca blow chanceto go top in Spain

AFP nMANCHESTER

Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavanieach scored twice as Manchester

United thrashed an injury-hit Roma 6-2at Old Trafford to close in on the EuropaLeague final.

United are aiming to get to a finalunder Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the fifthtime of asking after four semi-final defeatsin the past two seasons. But only a secondleg collapse will prevent them from fac-ing Villarreal or Arsenal in Gdansk on May26 after a stunning second-half perfor-mance.

The home side trailed at the break asLorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty and EdinDzeko’s tap-in cancelled out Fernandes’searly opener. But the Italians lost threeplayers to injury before the break andUnited took full advantage.

Two predatory finishes from Cavaniturned the tie around before Fernandesalso fired home from the spot. PaulPogba and Mason Greenwood rounded offthe scoring as United became the first teamto score six goals in a European semi-finalsince Real Madrid in 1964.

“Very pleased with the response,” saidSolskjaer. “Second half we were verygood.”

In the other semifinal, Unai Emery

won his big reunion with Arsenal but 2-1 might prove a small reward for Villarreal,who failed to take advantage of DaniCeballos being sent off in a frantic first leg.

Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol gaveVillarreal a dream start at La Ceramica andthe tie looked to be slipping away fromArsenal when Ceballos was shown a sec-ond yellow card early in the second half.

But 10-man Arsenal rallied andgrabbed an away goal when Nicolas Pepeconverted a penalty in the 73rd minute,before Villarreal’s Etienne Capoue also sawred with 10 minutes left to play.

Man Utd on cusp ofEuropa League final

PTI n NEW DELHI

The BCCI is confident that Indiawill host the World T20 in

October as per schedule despite asurge in Covid-19 cases in thecountry but the marquee ICC eventcould be held in five cities insteadof originally nine short-listedvenues.

As per convention, ICC keepsa back-up country ready and it’sbeen the UAE for the past one year.

The IPL is currently on at dif-ferent venues in separate bio-secureenvironments but BCCI will faceperhaps its biggest test of managinga big-ticket ICC tournament inadverse circumstances.

“We are still hopeful that withfive months left and significantpopulation being vaccinated, we willbe in a position to host World T20.Yes, one of the options could be cur-tailing the nine venues to a maxi-mum four or five,” a senior BCCIoffice bearer said on Friday.

An ICC recce team was sup-posed to reach Delhi on April 26 toinspect the bio-secure arrange-

ments for the IPL, keeping in mindthe World T20 but the travel bansimposed on India led to the post-ponement of the trip.

“Yes, the team was supposed toarrive earlier this week but with trav-el bans in place, they will come lateronce situation returns to normalcy,”the office bearer said.

An ICC spokesperson told PTIthat shifting the tournament to theUAE is not being considered at thisstage.

“We’re monitoring the situation.Too early at this stage to make a call.Team didn’t travel as UAE has shut

its borders to India,” the ICC offi-cial said.

BCCI’s GM (GameDevelopment) Dhiraj Malhotra wason Friday quoted as saying by theBBC that “UAE is the back upvenue”.

However an office bearer saidthat UAE was always the secondoption as per rules.

“You always have a back upvenue and UAE has been the venueafter it was passed at ICC meetinglast year. There’s nothing new inwhat Dhiraj had said. Obviously, ifthe situation remains same after fivemonths, you will have to have PlanB ready,” the office bearer said.

Usually, when ICC World T20has been held in other countries likeSri Lanka, Bangladesh, the event hasalways been confined to three orfour venues but it hasn’t been a casein India due to board politics and itsrelated compulsions.

The distribution of matcheshas always been a very touchy issuein the BCCI and if the World T20goes ahead as per plan, some toughdecisions will have to be taken.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma cuts cake to celebratehis 34th birthday on Friday ritssajdeh/Instagram

Sunrisers Hyderabad players spend some fun time duringteam’s bonding session @SunRisers

DHAWAN, JD, POORAN CONTRIBUTEIndia & DC opener Shikhar Dhawan, Rajasthan Royalspacer Jaydev Unadkat announced their contributiontowards Covid-19 relief work. Dhawan said that he willcontribute `20 lakh plus money from all post-matchindividual awards he receives during the season toMission Oxygen. Unadkat said 10% of his IPL salarywill be contributed to help patients who need essentialmedical resources. Punjab Kings' Nicolas Pooran hasalso decided to donate a part of his IPL salary.

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Star Australian all-rounderGlenn Maxwell says that he,

along with other cricketers ofhis country, wouldn’t mindbeing on the same charteredflight that would take India,New Zealand and Englandplayers to the United Kingdomafter the IPL.

A senior BCCI officialagreed that the option could beexplored looking at the inter-national travel guidelines dur-ing the last week of May as allcommercial flights from Indiato Australia are banned at themoment due to sky-rocketingcases of Covid-19 here.

“We just want to find away to go home. The BCCI,both Governments can work asolution. If we have to wait bitlonger, so be it but there is away to get home at somestage,” Maxwell told The FinalWord Podcast conducted byjournalists Geoff Lemon andAdam Collins.

“India and England aregoing to play in England.Worst comes to worst, wehave to wait in England andtry and find a way out in thatchartered (flight) and get outof India. I am sure a lot of guyswill try and put their hand upin trying to do that as well,”Maxwell said.

India and New Zealandare set to fight it out in theWorld Test Championshipfinal from June 18 and will flyto England for that after theIPL ends. England players inthe ongoing league are expect-ed to accompany them in thesame flight.

BCCI treasurer ArunDhumal said the idea could beexplored as BCCI looks at sev-

eral options for all the overseasplayers’ safe passage back totheir respective countries intimes of travel restrictions.

“Travelling to Englandand going to Australia fromthere could be an option thatcan be explored. There will bevarious options and obvious-ly BCCI will try and take thesafest one which doesn’t com-promise any of the players’health and security,” Dhumaltold PTI.

For Maxwell, it’s aboutfiguring the safest route thatthey can avail once the IPL isover as the bio-bubble isexpected to break after that.There are 14 Australian play-ers still remaining in theleague after three pullouts.

“Once IPL finishes andpotentially the bubble will bebroken, you don’t want to bestuck here, just try and lookfor the safest way to move on,”the Big Show said.

“It’s something I floated toVinnie (fiancee), if things goextremely south, a whole lotworse, what are we actuallysupposed to do if there is nohelp? I am sure there will behelp from BCCI to accommo-date the overseas players at themoment,” he added.

While Maxwell acknowl-edged that the health situationin India with above 3 lakh pos-itive cases everyday, is grim,the BCCI has managed tocreate a “solid bio-bubble.”

“It’s changed pretty fast inIndia but we have been shel-tered well in the bubble. Weare not really exposed toomuch (to the outside world).We straight move into thehotel, trying to stick to fran-chise’s business as usual, thatis playing your sport...”

Aussies could fly to UKwith England & Indiaplayers, hints Maxwell

Punjab Kings crush RCBPBKS skipper continues his scoring run against RCB, thistime with unbeaten 91 to help Kings post fighting totalPTI n AHMEDABAD

Skipper KL Rahul scored acombative 91 while Harpreet

Brar accounted for three keybatsmen as Punjab Kingsthumped Royal ChallengersBangalore by 34 runs in an IPLmatch, here on Friday.

Put into bat, Punjab were ina spot of bother at one stage butRahul's perseverance, power-hitting of Chris Gayle (46) andenergy of Brar (25) ensuredthey had a competitive 179 forfive on board.

Rahul and Gayle shared a80-run stand but Punjab's mid-dle order collapsed as Brar, bat-ting at number seven, was theonly other batsman to managea double-digit score.

Skipper KL Rahul scored acombative unbeaten 91 to leadPunjab Kings to a competitive179 for five against RoyalChallenger Bangalore in theirIPL match here at NarendraModi Stadium on Friday.

Rahul and Chris Gayle (46off 24) shared 80 runs butPunjab’s middle order collapsedas Harpreet Brar, batting atnumber seven, was the onlyother batsman to manage adouble-digit score.

Rahul and Brar added 61runs for the unbeaten eighthwicket to rescue the side afterthe RCB bowlers seized the ini-tiative once Gayle was sentback in the 11th over.

Rahul hit seven fours andfive sixes in his 57-ball knock,while Brar took 17 balls for his25 that had two sixes and a four.

The pace duo of DanielSams and Mohammed Sirajbowled tight spells initially to

keep the Punjab batsmen on atight leash, not letting themopen their arms.

Prabhsimran Singh, whoplayed in place of injuredMayank Agarwal, could not

contribute much, scoring a-run-a-ball 7.

Rahul looked in good touch, dri-ving the ball elegantly but runs did notcome at a good pace for the side untilGayle exploded.

The West Indian creamed fivefours, including four in a row, in thelast over of the Powerplay, bowled byJamieson. He followed that up with twosixes off Yuzvendra Chahal in the nextover with the first one being a flat max-imum.

Runs came thick and fast, boost-ing the run rate but Gayle could notconvert that into a big knock.

Jamieson got rid of the Caribbeanmarauder, getting him caught behind.It was a soft dismissal as the sharp shortball touched Gayle’s gloves and reachedinto the hands of AB de Villiers.

Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul chats with teammate Chris Gayle @IPL

BCCI confident of hosting T20 WC

ctor Bellamkonda SaiSreenivas, fresh off hisfame from Alludu Adhurs,is all set to play the leadrole in the Telugu remakeof critically acclaimed

Tamil hit, Karnan. Directed by MariSelvaraj in Tamil, the Dhanush-star-rer released on April 9 and becamean instant hit at the ticket windows.

A source confirmed thatBellamkonda Sreenivas will definitelybe reprising Dhanush’s role in theTelugu remake of Karnan, But

Bellamkonda Suresh, the actor’sfather, is not the producer. “The offi-cial announcement for the same willbe made very soon,” they said.

Bellamkonda Srinivas is known forstarring in the Telugu action enter-tainers like Jaya Janaki Nayaka andRakshasudu.

The actor is currently busy withthe Hindi remake of Prabhas-starredChatrapathi. Produced by PenStudios of Jayantilal Gada, the filmmarks Bellamkonda’s Bollywooddebut.

ctor Rao Ramesh is one of the rarest actorswho likes to do challenging roles and issurprising with his variation in acting fromfilm to film. He’s known for playing hischaracters exceptionally well in films likeand more.

The talented actor is now all set to play yet anotherchallenging role in Sharwanand and Siddharth-star-rer Maha Samudram being directed by AjayBhupathi. Rao Ramesh’s character in the filmhas spinal disorder called hunchback. A

hunchback — medically termedkyphosis or hyperkyphosis in theextreme — is an abnormal for-ward curvature in the upperback.

Director Ajay Bhupathi ofRX100 fame, is presenting everyartist in the film in a never seenbefore role. It is heard that, there isno single character in the film thatdoes not contribute to the plot.Similarly, Rao Ramesh is expectedto amaze as hunchback in MahaSamudram.

The film’s shoot is currently going on at abrisk pace in Vizag and the team is canningcrucial sequences on the lead cast.

12

Vijayawada Saturday May 1, 2021 tollywood

Balakrishna'semotional side WINS HEARTS

ctor Balakrishna is often in thenews for his bad temper. He's hasbeen on the receiving end severaltimes for yelling or slappingpeople. But of late, an audio clip

of the actor's telephonic conversation withthe son of his senior fan ‘Bellary Balayya’ hasbeen going viral on social media.

Bellary Balayya needs no introduction andhe and his family have been loyal fans of theNandamuri family for decades. In fact,Bellary Balayya was famous for his stylishlook which is inspired by Balayya’s Legendlook.

Unfortunately, Bellary Balayya fell ill on

Ugadi and he breathed his last on April 26.And on the very evening, Balayya telephonedhis fan’s bereaved family members andoffered his deepest condolences. BellaryBalayya is survived by his wife,a son andgive daughters who are all married.

The way Balayya condoled BellaryBalayya’s son and wife and gave themassurance that he and all the Nandamuri fanswill stand by them in their hour of grief andalso enquired about the daughters is winningeveryone’s hearts now.

This viral audio clip now shows the otherside of the otherwise short-tempered actor,which has earned him applause.

A

A

Bellary

Bala

yya (

File)

Rao Ramesh's challenging role in

RAO RAMESH’SCHARACTER IN THEFILM HAS SPINALDISORDER CALLEDHUNCHBACK.

A HUNCHBACK —MEDICALLY TERMEDKYPHOSIS ORHYPERKYPHOSIS INTHE EXTREME — ISAN ABNORMALFORWARDCURVATURE INTHE UPPER BACK.

“

ctor Sonu Soodwill graceHindi realityshow DanceDeewane 3stage this week-

end. The upcoming episodeof Dance Deewane 3 willsee Dhookudu actor SonuSood joining in as a specialguest. Given the curfew inMumbai, the shoot for theepisode happened earlierthis week in Bengaluru.Through their perfor-mances, contestantsbrought to fore the ordealof Indians as they deal withthe pandemic, and paid atribute to real-life heroes.

Uday Singh, a resident ofa small town Neemuch,Madhya Pradesh, per-formed a special act salut-ing Sonu Sood’s contribu-tion towards daily wagersand Covid-19 affected peo-ple. While thanking himfor his efforts, Uday sharedhow his entire village sur-vives on daily wage, andwith the lockdown in place,they have been left withoutany earning, and the vil-lagers are struggling tomake ends meet.

Moved by his story, SonuSood immediately toldUday that for the entireperiod of the lockdown, hewill feed the entire village.He assured him that regu-

lar ration would be provid-ed to everyone, howeverlong the lockdown contin-ues.

Calling Uday a superstar,Sonu said, “I want to tellthe people in your villagethat the lockdown, whetherit lasts for one month, twomonths or even six months,I will ensure that yourentire village will keep get-ting rations. Tell them notto take tension, no one willgo hungry there, no matterhow long the lockdowncontinues.”

Host Bharti Singh rushedto hug Sonu Sood. She alsothanked him for saving somany in these toughtimes.

As a mark of trib-ute, Dance Deewane3 team also playeda video showcas-ing Sonu Sood’seffort during thepandemic. Theyalso invited afamily thatSonu hadhelped. Sonuwas left tearyeyed as he lis-tened to the family’sstory.

Given the lockdown-likesituation in Maharashtra,the entire team of DanceDeewane 3 flew toKarnataka for the shoot. As

judge Madhuri Dixitexcused herself, dancingstar Nora Fatehi joinedjudges Tushar Kalia andDharmesh Yelande.

Host Raghav Juyal is alsorecuperating from thecoronavirus and thusBharti and Haarshtook chargeas hosts.

SONU SOOD promises to feed dancer's village during lockdown

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ilmmakers Raj and DK present theaudience with a “sweet little film —about making a film — with loads ofhumour and a huge heart!” The newproject is named cinema bandi, and thetrailer which released on Friday,

promises the film to be a heartwarming tale. The trailer shows us an autorickshaw driver

who finds a camera on the back seat. Along withhis friend, he sets out to make a superhit movie,hoping to use all the money they earn to bringpower and water to their village. The movie seemsto be another feel good movie after the recentpopularity of village-based stories.

Raj & DK tweeted along with the trailer, “Madeby first-time director, Praveen Kandregula, hiswriting partner Vasanth Maringanti, and shot by asmall group of friends, Cinema Bandi is quintes-sential, grassroots filmmaking. A true indie :)Kudos to the entire team for pulling this off!”

Manoj Bajpayee wished the entire team of the filmgood luck.

The movie is being released under the D2Rbanner, which brought the critically acclaimedThe Family Man to the country. Cinema Bandiwill start streaming on Netflix on May 14.

Bellamkonda Sreenivastakes on Dhanush’s role inTelugu remake of KARNAN

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Raj and DK capture the essenceof film-making in Cinema Bandi