c m y k c m y k

WEATHERMax: 35OC Min: 28OC Rainfall: 1.3mm

ASTROGUIDESarvari: Aani 12

Tithi: Panchami/ ShashtiStar: Magam/ Puram

Rahukalam:10.30 am to 12 noon

Yamagandam: 3 pm to 4.30 pm

PRAYERSFajar: 4.25 am

Jumma: 12.16 pm Asar: 3.37 pm

Maghrib: 6.38 pm Isha: 7.57 pm

SUNSET TODAY 6.39 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 5.46 AM

MOONRISE TODAY 10.20 AMMOONSET TOMORROW 11.08 PM

COUNTER POINT

SPORT | 8Robin’s car seized for

flouting lockdown rule

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIACHENNAI I FRIDAY 26 I JUNE 2020

WORLD | 5Pompeo threatens UN

sanctions against Iran

New Delhi: All regular mail,express and passenger servicesas well as suburban trains whichhad been cancelled till June 30

due to the coronavirus pandemicwill now remain cancelled till

August 12, the Railway Board saidon Thursday.

All regular train servicesto remain cancelled till

Aug 12: Railways

Tirunelveli: The popular‘Iruttukadai’ halwa shop

owner in Tirunelveli commit-ted suicide on Thursday. The

halwa shop owner, HariSingh (75), a diabetic, got

admitted to a private hospi-tal at Perumalpuram in

Tirunelveli a couple of daysago for kidney problem.

However as it is the medicalprotocol now to take coronatest for all the patients, HariSingh too tested and found

positive for Covid-19.

Iruttukadai halwa shopowner ends life after

testing positive

deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 16 No. 91 Established 1938 | 8 PAGES| `3.00

FINANCIAL CHRONICLE | 7PPE kits hit 8 lakh from

zero, now face glut

96,25,813 WORLD CONFIRMED CASES

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+17,895)4,90,880

(+3,509)TN: 70,977

DEATHS

(+401) 15,308

911

4,87,417213

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

CORONA C UNT

worldometers.info

covid19india.org

China amassing troops on LAC: India SRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

Signalling that there hashardly been any de-esca-lation so far despite ongo-ing diplomatic and mili-tary talks with Beijing,India admitted onThursday that a largenumber of Chinese troopsremain deployed in bor-der areas along the Lineof Actual Control (LAC). In its hardest statement

ever since the Ladakhstandoff began in May,New Delhi said, “Thedeployment of a largebody of troops andchanges in behaviour (ofPLA soldiers) has alsobeen aggravated by unjus-tified and untenableclaims.”

Releasing the govern-ment’s statement, MEAspokesperson AnuragSrivastava said thatChina has now “shiftedits position” to claim theGalwan Valley.

Several rounds of talkshave taken place betweenthe two countries' seniormilitary and foreign min-istry officials and therehave been assurancesfrom the Chinese to carryout the mutually-agreedde-escalation, but therehas been no change on theground, New Delhi indi-cated, hinting at a disqui-eting level of distrust ofthe Chinese establish-

ment and its Army.“At the heart of the mat-

ter,” Mr Srivastava said,“is that since early May,the Chinese side has beenamassing a large contin-gent of troops and arma-ments along the LAC.This is not in accordancewith the provisions of ourvarious bilateral agree-ments... Both sidesremain deployed in largenumbers in the region,

while military and diplo-matic contacts are contin-uing.”

Squarely putting theblame on Beijing for theJune 15 clash and risingtension between the twonuclear-armed nations,India said that a largenumber of its troops arenow positioned on theborder as a counter-deployment measure.India’s statement comes aday after satellite images,taken by US satellite firmMaxar on June 22,emerged showing Chinesesoldiers near patrollingpoint 14 in Galwan rivervalley.The images, and reports

of fresh Chinese incur-sions in Depsang andDaulat Beg Oldie areas,coincided with a meetingbetween the ministry ofexternal affairs’ joint sec-retary Naveen Srivastavaand director general inthe Chinese foreign min-istry Hong Liang,Wednesday. � P4

CBSE, ICSE cancelClass 10, 12 examsPARMOD KUMAR | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

The Central Board ofSecondary Education toldthe Supreme Court onThursday that boardexaminations for theremaining papers ofClasses 10 and 12 standcancelled due to risingCovid-19 cases. The can-celled exams were duefrom July 1 to July 15.

S o l i c i t o r - g e n e r a lTushar Mehta told thethree-member bench ofJustices A.M. Khanw-ilkar, Dinesh Mahes-hwari and Sanjiv Khannaof the exams’ cancellationfor the remaining papersand said their marks willbe allocated on the basisof the assessment of the“past three examina-tions”.

There will also be anoption for students who

for “better performance”choose to appear for theexams as they are heldwhen the situation is“conducive”.

Following the CBSE’sfootsteps, the Council forthe Indian SchoolCertificate Examinationsalso told the court that“in principle” they toowould cancel the remain-ing ICSE (Class 10) andISC (Class 12) exams. “Inprinciple we are agree-able to the (CBSE)

scheme, we will followthe same”, said seniorcounsel Jaideep Gupta,appearing for the CISCE.

The court asked whowould take a call whenthe situation was con-ducive – the Centre orstates – given that the sit-uation may differ fromstate to state. Seekingclarity, the court said itwould pass orders onFriday, when a furtherhearing will be held at10.30 am.

���� Class 12 studentscould either opt foran assessmentscheme based ontheir performance inthe last exams orappear for theremaining examswhenever theyare held

Shocking 3,509 casesin a day in Tamil Nadu

CM kicks off Pilloor dam drinking water project for Coimbatore city

D. SEKAR &M.R. VENKATESH | DCCHENNAI, JUNE 25

Breaking all previous one-day highs, the number of per-sons testing positive forCovid-19, novel coronavirusin Tamil Nadu on Thursdaysizzled at 3,509 cases, even as45 deaths confirmed by thehealth department todaytook the State’s death toll dueto the virus to 911.

Of the fresh positive coron-avirus cases, GreaterChennai alone accounted for1,834, a day after what itsCorporation CommissionerG Prakash said they havetested a record 38,000 peopleon a single day on Wed-nesday in the nearly 600‘'fever clinics’ conducted inthe containment zones (CZ).

While the total number ofpersons tested today acrossTamil Nadu was anotherhigh of 30,307, the overallnumber of persons testingpositive for the virus till datein the State crossed the 70Kmark to touch 70,977. Of thetotal fatalities, Chennai al-one saw 694 deaths of Covid-19 infected persons. Again,the majority of deaths aretraced to patients withcomorbidities.

After Chennai, the red dis-tricts continue to be Madurai(203 positive cases), Cheng-alpattu-191, Thiruvallur-170,Vellore- 168, Ramnad-140,Kancheepuram-98, Salem-59,Kanyakumari-47 andTiruchy- 27 among others.

There was a large group of151 persons under variouscategories of in-coming per-sons who tested positivetoday. They included 13 fromKuwait, five from Bahrain,two from Singapore, 32 fromKarnataka, 11 each fromRajasthan and Kerala,besides ten fromMaharashtra.

Mr Prakash said they wereequally focusing on thehealth needs of the 20,000 san-itary staff deployed ingreater Chennai alone, giv-ing them the needed facialmasks, gloves, hand sanitiz-ers and so on. So far, 202tonnes of solid waste havebeen safely moved out of thecontainment zones in thecity to a secluded spot andburnt, he said.

India registersbiggest single-dayspike of nearly 17K virus cases

Academicians laud CBSE decision One family’s greedled to Emergencyin 1975: Amit Shah

New Delhi, June 25: Arecord spike in Covid-19cases in Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu and AndhraPradesh on Thursday trig-gered the biggest single-day jump of close to 17,000infections in the countryeven as Maharashtradecided to undertake anti-gen and rapid antibodytests for the disease in theworst hit state.

According to the Unionhealth ministry data,Covid-19 cases rose by thehighest-ever number of16,922 to reach 4,73,105,while the death tollclimbed to 14,894 with 418new fatalities.

This was the sixth con-secutive day when coron-avirus cases increased bymore than 14,000. Consequently, India has

added 92,573 cases sinceJune 20, and over 2.82lakh this month alonesince June 1.

However, the recoveryrate has improved to 57.43per cent, according to theHealth ministry. It alsosaid there are 33.39 Covid-19 cases in India for everyone lakh population, asagainst the global averageof 114.67. Also, the country has 1.06

deaths per lakh popula-tion, which is amongst thelowest in the world andthe global average is 6.24,it added. A central teamled by joint decretary inthe health ministry LavAgarwal will visitGujarat, Maharashtraand Telangana betweenJune 26 and 29 to coordi-nate with the state offi-cials in strengtheningCovid-19 managementefforts in those areas. According to officials, theteam will also review themeasures undertaken bythe states for containmentof Covid-19.

Maharashtra recordedthe highest daily jump of4,841 new cases. — PTI

Valiant Havildar Palaniburnt Chinese tent

City walkers get fined for defying lockdown

PAWAN BALI | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

The soldiers of 81 FieldRegiment, an artillery reg-iment of Indian army,fought ferociously in nearhand to hand combat withChinese soldiers on June15 at Galwan Valley inLadakh sector.

Havildar K. Palani, from81 Field Regiment, whohails from Tamil Naduwas in the first party whoconfronted Chinese anddismantled their tent frompatrolling point 14 inGalwan valley. “He wasahead of others in con-fronting the Chinese anddismantled their tent,”said a senior officer.

“Havildar Palani was adaredevil and a very braveman. Despite being froman artillery unit, 16 BiharCommanding Officer ColSantosh Babu used to takehim whenever he used togo out,” said the officer.

The troops of 81 FieldRegiment were part ofjoint patrol with 16 Biharon June 15. The Chinesesoldiers attacked Indiantroops with improvisedweapons including nail-studded iron rods andbatons. Hav Palani wasfighting alongside 16Bihar CommandingOfficer Col Santosh Babu

before making thesupreme sacrifice duringthe clash which sawvaliant action by Indiantroops.

He was among the firstthree casualties reportedby the Army on June 16th.

The June 15 clashinvolved personnel from16 Bihar, 3 Punjab and twoartillery units, the 81 FieldRegiment and 3 MediumRegiment.

81 Field Regiment led bytheir CO fought ferocious-ly and had many soldierswounded seriously in thebrutal fight after causingheavy causality on theenemy. Hav Palani wasthe only soldier from 81Field Regiment who waskilled in the clash.

After the clashes the reg-iment regrouped and

deployed its guns to getready for any escalationfrom the Chinese side.“The brave gunnersproved their mettle inGalwan heights alongsideinfantry troops in closecombat and taughtChinese a bitter lesson for-ever,” said a senior offi-cial.

In all battles that Indiafought, artillery units arealways at the forefrontwith infantry troops.

“When situationdemanded, the artilleryjawans were never foundwanting and gave Chineselessons for the life duringGalwan clash. The brav-ery of Havildar Palani willbe an inspiration for 81field regiment, Indianarmy and nation,” said theofficial.

���� “Havildar Palaniwas a daredevil anda very brave man.Despite being froman artillery unit, 16Bihar CommandingOfficer Col SantoshBabu used to takehim whenever heused to gooutwould endangerher safety.” said asenior officer

SINDHIYA SAMUEL | DCCHENNAI, JUNE 25

In the first-ever incident ofits kind, a morning walkerin the city was penalisedfor violating the lockdownnorms in the city.

This became the talk ofthe city after the image ofthe challan issued by thecivic body, mentioned thecategory of violation in thechallan as 'morning walk'

went viral on social media. Sources said that the

man left for his usual walkto Pondy Bazaar onThursday morning like hehad been doing for the pastthree months, but thistime, cops intercepted himand fined him Rs 100 forviolating the lockdownrules.

Some morning walkersin Besant Nagar said thatthey were unaware of any

such rules. they said thegovernment should keepthem informed if theywere too fine for a morn-ing walk.

Talking to the DC, anofficial from the civic bodysaid that they wereunaware about who finedthe morning walker inT.Nagar and they were try-ing to find who issued thechallan. However, duringthe lockdown, people are

expected to stay at theirhomes, not head out fortheir daily morning walk.People should know thatthey will remain safeindoors,” the officeradded.

The cops in the city havebeen appealing to people toremain indoors. Even so,some people were seenstepping out of theirhomes early in the morn-ing.

DC CORRESPONDENTwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

The Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and theCongress sparred onThursday, the 45thanniversary the imposi-tion of Emergency by thethen Indira Gandhi-ledgovernment, with the rul-ing party invoking thedynastic nature of theparty, and the Oppositionparty hitting back with aquestion — “Why is thesaffron party’s majoritari-an rule described as a gov-ernment of two people?”

While Prime MinisterNarendra Modi paid trib-ute to those who opposedthe Emergency and saidthe country will never for-get their sacrifice, Unionhome minister Amit Shah,in a series of tweets, target-ed the Congress.

“On this day, 45 yearsago one family’s greed forpower led to the imposi-tion of the Emergency.Overnight the nation wasturned into a prison. Thepress, courts, freespeech… all were tram-pled,” he tweeted andadded that democracyremains absent in theCongress even today asthe “interests of one fam-ily” prevail over partyand national interest.

DC CORRESPONDENTCOIMBATORE, JUNE 25

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister,Mr Edappadi K. Palansi-wami, who launched andlaid the foundation stonesfor various developmentprojects worth `230 crore inCoimbatore district onFriday, said Covid-19, coron-avirus spread has been con-siderably brought undercontrol in this western dis-trict.

The top bill among the newprojects he kick-started at asimple function at theCollectorate here, includedRs.166 crore Pilloor thirdphase drinking water and

treatment plant project,through video-conferencing,in the presence of the StateMunicipal Administrationminister SP. Velumani,Coimbatore Collector KRajamani, legislators andother senior officials.

Speaking at a meeting toreview the development pro-jects and the steps taken sofar to control and containthe spread of Covid-19 coron-avirus in the district, MrPalaniswami said the thirdstage drinking water pro-ject, drawing water fromPilloor dam to meet thewater needs of an expandingCoimbatore city, have beensplit into three civil tenders.

Land acquisition for theproject was going on and itwould be completed in timeto ensure durable watersupply to the residents ofCoimbatore, said the ChiefMinister. Top officials ofvarious departmentsincluding PWD, Highways,Local administration,Public Health and Policeparticipated in the meeting.

Mr Palansiwami, who

reviewed the other develop-ment projects being imple-mented in the districtincluding the Athikadavu-Avinashi water scheme,said public lighting beingreplaced by ‘LED bulbs’ inCoimbatore and other pl-aces would be a significantenergy-saver in the days tocome.

Going over the Highwaysand bridges being con-structed in the district withfacts and figures, besidesthe western ring road and anew bus terminus, Mr.Palaniswami said all theseinfrastructure projects hasbeen taken up consideringthe expanding economy of

Coimbatore, the increasingworkforce who are attract-ed to the city including inindustries and to ensurethat the road infrastructurekept pace with its vehiculargrowth.

Pointing out thatCoimbatore had madeimpressive strides in thegrowth of textile industry,engineering, in agriculture,array of educational insti-tutions and its expandinghealth infrastructure, Mr.Palaniswami said if therewas one district in the Statewhere the maximum num-ber of development projectswere being implemented itis Coimbatore district. � P3

���� Of the fresh posi-tive coronaviruscases, GreaterChennai aloneaccounted for 1,834

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inspectingAthikdavu-Avinashi scheme at Coimbatore-Tirupurborder on Thursday. — DC

Chinese camps build-up has been spotted in PangongTso region of Galwan valley, eastern Ladakh in the Lineof Control (LAC) after new satellite images accessed byMaxar Technologies surfaced. — Image source: AP

Havildar Palani with hisfamily. — DC

New Delhi, June 25:Academicians and parentbodies on Thursday wel-comed the CBSE’s deci-sion to cancel pendingboard exams in view of thespike in Covid-19 cases,but said it may affect theperformance of students,many of whom do not takepre-boards seriously.

The remaining CBSEand ICSE board examina-tions for classes 10 and 12,scheduled to be held inJuly, have been cancelleddue to the Covid-19 pan-

demic, the Supreme Courtwas informed onThursday.

The examinees of Class12 students of CBSE boardwill have an option ofeither taking the examslater or to move aheadwith the assessment basedon their performance inthe last three internalexams.

The re-exam option willnot be available to Class 10students. Jyoti Arora,principal of Mount AbuSchool in Rohini, said,

“The decision to cancelthe exams in the currentsituation is a child-friend-ly one. There would havebeen many challenges inconducting the exam in ascenario like this. Safetyof students is paramountduring this time”.

Ritu Mehta, principal ofApeejay School in SheikhSarai, said it is a rightdecision which comes at atime “when parents werescared and also schoolswere not sure of how toconduct exams”. — PTI

���� No communitytransmission inTN, says CM

PAGE 3

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

SHORT TAKESMask producing factory in Pondy

bookedPuducherry: PuducherryChief Minister V.Narayanasamy on Thursdaysaid a case was registeredagainst a private company-here manufacturing masksneeded in the context ofspread of Covid-19 in theUnion Territory, for negli-gence in following lockdownnorms, leading to rise incases. He told reporters that there

was alleged failure on thepart of the factory to adhereto the norms of lockdownand consequently around 70workers in the industry hadtested positive for Covid. Thevillage, where these workerswere coming from was alsotaken up for a thoroughinvestigation. The factorywas also closed followingincidence of the Covidamong a good number ofworkers as there was noadoption of the norms by themanagement. “The negli-gence on the part of the fac-tory has resulted in workerscontracting the virus.”— PTI

T. SUDHEESH I DCCHENNAI, JUNE 25

An average 26 people suc-cumbed to Covid-19 inChennai every day duringthe last 20 days eventhough the recovery rateof patients has signifi-cantly improved in thesame period. This dataanalysis of the last 20 dayscomes even as the city con-tinues to add at least 2,000daily fresh cases for thelast few days.

The analysis shows thatat least 17,956 patientshave recovered in the last20 days (897 people perday) while the number ofactive cases has camedown to 10,868 (543 everyday). When it comes topositive cases, at least29,229 people tested posi-tive with a daily accountof 1,461 adding to the 533death cases in the last 20days.

According to the data asof June 23 published bythe Greater ChennaiCorporation (GCC), thetotal death toll is 668,

active cases 18,673 andtotal recovered cases is26,473. And the positivecases recorded as 45,814.Meanwhile, the death tollrose from 17 on May 3 to668 as of June 23 (almosttwo months). The numberof recovered casesquadrupled from May 3 toMay 13, doubled betweenMay 13 and May 23, androse by nearly 70 percentin the last 20 days.

The active casesincreased from 1,007 onMay 3 to 4,012 on May 13 to5,461 on May 23 to 7,805 onJune 3 and to 1,8673 onJune 23. The growth of thepositive cases shows 1,273on May 3 to 4,882 on May13 to 9,364 on May 23 to16,585 on June 3 and to

45,814 in June 23.The first case of Covid-19

was reported in Chennaion March 9. But the casesstarted spiralling as aresult of attendance ofChennaites in the TablighiJamaat conclave held inDelhi in March and thecrowds at the Koyambeduvegetable wholesale mar-ket. The spread of thevirus to the densely popu-lated slums in the city wasalso one of the reasons.

As per the data availablewith GCC, five zonesincluding Tiru-vi-kaNagar, KodambakkamTeynampet, Royapuram,and Tondiarpet accountedover 60 per cent of theactive cases whileRoyapuram remains the

worst hit.Meanwhile, health min-

ister C. Vijayabashker, inhis latest press briefing onJune 22, said the mortalityrate remains low in thestate compared to otherstates. ‘Tamil Nadu is inthe top in terms of testingwith 9,19,204 tests and thestate has managed tomaintain the highestrecovery rate in the coun-try so far. The ministeralso pointed out that mostof the death cases are withco-morbid conditions.

Meanwhile, the strictlockdown announced tillthe end of this month hashelped the authorities toavoid gathering of peoplein public places, but thebiggest challenge remainsthe monitoring of posi-tive cases sent to homequarantine. The other day,to tackle this issue, theChennai corporation hadintroduced a home-quar-antine monitoring systemdeploying 4,000 volunteersto observe those quaran-tined and to cater to theirbasic needs.

26 died of Covid every dayin last 20 days in Chennai

The strict lockdownannounced till the

end of this month has helped the authori-ties to avoid gathering of people in publicplaces, but the biggest challenge remainsthe monitoring of positive cases sent tohome quarantine.

BIG CHALLENGE

Even while intenselockdown is in place,several cases have

been registered againstbikers and motorists forviolation of regulations.As many as 10,000 vehiclesincluding two-wheelers,load autos, autos and carshave been seized by thepolice in four districtsduring the last 24 hoursfor flouting guidelines.Also most of them weretravelling without e-pass-es.

Cops and flying squadshave been deployed instrategic locations torestrict the movement ofpeople since June 19. Itmay be recalled thatTamil Nadu governmenthas permitted the move-ment of people only formedical emergencies andfor purchasing essentials.

Two months ago,shocked at seeing personswalking in and out of con-tainment zones freely, theChennai police beganusing Eye Tracker, an app,to track people with theirAadhaar and drivinglicence details who fre-quently leave their houseswithout valid reasons.The Chennai cops havebeen using drones notonly to monitor hotspotsbut also to sensitise publicabout the need to stay athome and follow norms.Recorded messages are

broadcast through loud-speakers fitted on drones.

Violators were evenasked to do sit-ups or half-squats. Some were told torecite Tamil ThaiVazhathu or Tirukkural.A video of a traffic copurging motorists to followlockdown rules went viralon the social media. Somebikers were made to wearcoronavirus masks withawareness placardsaround their neck. Theywere made to take apledge against roaming onthe streets.

Health secretary DrRadhakrishnan had evensaid such violators will becaught and taken straightto an institutional quar-antine.

Even days before intenselockdown was implement-ed in Chennai, there weremedia reports along withphotos of people exercis-ing, doing yoga and walk-ing on Marina sands.Some of them were foundwithout masks.

Despite being warned

against venturing out,particularly to publicplaces like beach, some ofthem don’t listen. But thepolice have confirmedthat beaches are not opento the public.

The city police haveinstalled more than 250checkposts in its limits tomonitor movement ofpeople and vehicles.

Cops have beenpatrolling streets to checkviolations and implementlockdown effectively.Also, traffic police datashows that number of vio-lations in South Chennaiis more than in NorthChennai.

Better enforcement oflockdown rules by settingup checkposts at vantagepoints across the city willhelp in reining in thosewho step out thinking thattheir immune system isgood and overlook theseriousness of the pan-demic. Self-discipline andself-restraint will help inpreventing the spread ofinfection.

Beat lockdown blues withself-restraint, self-disciplineB. Vijayalakshmi

Viewpoint

Traffic cops checking motorists at Tambaram onThursday. — DC

Police commandos conduct a flag march in Old Washermenpet on Wednesday night.— DC

Malaysian held in drugs seizure

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

The Indian Institute ofTechnology, Madras, (IIT-M) Researchers are collabo-rating with GermanResearchers to develop newmaterials for 'GreenEnergy' solutions.

The project aims to devel-op alternative technologiesto produce 'Green Hydrogen' as the world is expectedto eventually transit to ahydrogen-based economy,an IIT-M press release heresaid on Thursday.

Depletion of conventionalfossil fuels and naturalgases combined withincreasing demand foralternative sources of ener-gy necessitates prioritizingresearch on producing andstoring non-polluting ener-gy forms or ‘Green Energy.’In this context, the hydro-gen-based economy is apromising area to investscientific interest in thehumanitarian quest to

reduce carbon footprint.This research project was

taken up under the 'Schemefor Promotion of Academicand Research Collaborationor ‘SPARC,’ an initiative ofthe Union HRD Ministry.

A team of researchers ledby Prof. N.V. Ravi Kumar,Laboratory for HighPerformance Ceramics,Department of Metallu-rgi-cal and Materials Engin-eering, IIT Madras, is col-laborating with Prof.Sanjay Mathur, Chair ofInorganic and MaterialsChemistry, Institute ofInorganic Chemistry, University of Cologne, Germanyand other researchers.

Prof. Sanjay Mathur isalso one of the AdjunctFaculty Members of theDepartment ofMetallurgical andMaterials Engineering, IITMadras. A budget of Rs. 66lakh has been allocated forthis 'SPARC' project.

Prof Ravi Kumar saidsince carbon dioxide is a

“notorious greenhousegas” imposing serious envi-ronmental concerns, “elec-trochemical splitting ofwater termed as 'WaterElectrolysis (WE)' to pro-duce clean energy is thefocus of this Indo-Germanresearch programme. Thiscollaborative project aimsat using high efficient tech-nology for large-scale pro-duction of high-purity H2at low cost, he explained.

The first phase of thisproject kicked off success-fully with a visit toUniversity of Cologne byIIT-Madras Researchers DrT Ganesh Babu, postdoctor-al fellow, and Mr. M.V.S.SRaghunath Sharma, PhDscholar, for three monthsbetween September andNovember 2019. The firstphase culminated with thevisit of Prof. SanjayMathur, University ofCologne, Germany, to IITMadras from February 24,2020, to March 8, 2020, therelease added.

IIT-M, German varsity collaborate for green energy solutions

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

After the Indian Instituteof Technology, Madrasadministration sent anonline re-approval form,seeking reasons to stayback in hostels withinthree days, as many as279 students are confusedon the matter of leavingthe hostel in the middleof lockdown.

A student told DC thatthe sudden issuance ofthe approval letter hadpressured some studentsto vacate. ‘There arethree sections of stu-dents in the hostel now.The first section wants togo home as the viruscontinues to spread on

campus, the second sec-tion is confused due tothe difficulties in gettinge-passes and transportand the third sectionwants to stay back topursue academic activi-ties.

''We have been askedthe reason for stayingback at the hostel and aregiven three days toanswer, which will endon Friday. But I thinkmost of the students willremain in the hostel tillthe lockdown ends,” saida student who stays atthe hostel. It was onTuesday, Shruti Dubey,warden of the SabarmatiHostel in IIT-M, wrote tothe students asking themto answer the re-approval

firm within the next twoto three days. The stu-dents who are staying inhostels are enrolled invarious courses includ-ing MSc, M.Tech, B.Tech,DD, and MBA.According to a student,the online letter didn’tgive any ultimatum toleave the hostel.

The letter indicatedthat the approval criteriafor staying back in thehostel would be verystrict and students weretold “kindly do not try itunless you and yourguide would be able tosupport the request withstrong reasons.

However, the IITauthorities have refusedto respond.

Students confused: IIT-M seeksreasons for staying in hostel

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

The Union government hasinformed the Madras highcourt that the Governmentof India is committed toensuring that online educa-tion is safe for children andhas been issuing advisories(CERT-In) from time to timeon various vulnerabilitiesand risks in websites andmobile applications.

Dhawal Gupta, working asscientist in the Office of theCyber law division of Mini-stry of Electronics and Info-rmation Technology, Gover-nment of India, has statedthis in his counter affidavitfiled in response to thePublic Interest Litigationfiled by S.Saranya, whichsought to restrain theauthorities and schools fromconducting online classeswithout framing properschemes and guidelines asprescribed under the rele-vant Act and Rules for suchonline portals and classesfrom accessing illegal ,immoral adult websites,thereby preventing studentsfrom accessing such web-sites through any pop-up re-directs. A division benchcomprising Justices R.Sub-biah and Krishnan Ramasa-my posted to July 6, 2020,further hearing of the case.

In his counter affidavit,Dhawal Gupta said in viewof the fact that the Ministryof Information and Techno-logy has already placed arobust administrative fra-mework available under theIT Act and the Rules madethere under and the reme-dies available and also inview of the various advi-sories issued by CERT-In(Indian ComputerEmergency Response Team)

from time to time, the stategover nment/educationalauthorities have to ensurethat online classes are con-ducted safely.

He submitted that onlineplatforms were only facili-tating the interaction of stu-dent and teachers in anonline environment. Thepetitioner can report issuesto the grievance officer ofthe online platforms if anyunlawful or explicit contentwas noticed or pops up. Thepetitioner can also file acomplaint before the locallaw enforcement agency forany unlawful content in

online platforms, he added.He said CERT-In was the

national nodal agency forcyber security incidents inthe country. CERT-In wastasked with the primary roleto respond to “cyber inci-dent response”. CERT-In hasissued various advisoriesfrom time to time whichwere made publicly avail-able on the website http://www.cert.in.org.in/ for safeinternet use and browsing.All these advisories serve asan alert and caution for thegeneral public to use theinternet and mobile applica-tions. Advisories were

issued with “severity rat-ings” for the general public(which applies to all agegroups including childrenalso) . In fact during the year2020 alone there were 39advisories issued on variouscyber threats and issues.The list of advisories wasexhaustive, he added.

He said education to chil-dren was one of the primaryaims for the Government ofIndia. The government wasmaking every effort toensure that there was nostoppage of learning forchildren due to pandemic orany other reason. Online

education was an evolvingconcept and has become anecessity during this pan-demic time. The governmentof India was committed toensuring that online educa-tion was safe for childrenand has been issuing advi-sories (CERT-In) from timeto time on various vulnera-bilities and risks in websitesand mobile applications.Since the Ministry ofInformation and Technologywas discharging its duties inaccordance with its man-date, the reliefs soughtagainst it were liable to bedismissed, he added.

Govt to ensure online edu is safe for kids DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

The Madras high court hasordered notice to the IncomeTax department on a peti-tion, which challenged anorder passed by the DeputyCommissioner of IncomeTax (Benami Prohibition)against V.S.J.Dinakaran,alleged to be the benami ofV.K.Sasikala, a close aide offormer Chief Minister LateJ.Jayalalithaa.

Justice R.Mahadevan post-ed after two weeks, furtherhearing of the petition filedby V.S.J.Dinakaran whichsought to quash the orderpassed by the DeputyCommissioner of IncomeTax ((Benami Prohibition)under section 24 (4) of theProhibition of BenamiProperty Transactions Act,for the continuance of theprovisional attachment (ofthe properties) till the orderof the AdjudicatingAuthority is passed undersection 26 (3) of the Act.

According to petitioner,the Spectrum Mall was ajoint venture between M/sGanga Foundations pvt. Ltdand two other land ownersbeing D.V.Balaji andI . S h a n m u g h a d u r a i .Through registered saledeeds, the petitioner pur-chased an undivided shareof 4554 sq.ft and another6582 sq.ft from one IShanmughadurai. He alsopurchased a shop in the Mallfrom Ganga Foundations.Owing to business contin-gencies, he mortgaged thesaid properties altogetherwith Bank of India in theyear 2014 and has been serv-icing interest till date, headded.

He said pursuant to thefirst search conducted onJanuary 27, 2015, which tookplace on the premises of thepetitioner, while the assess-ment were still pending, thepetitioner was once againsubjected to another searchin November 2017 conse-quent to a search in the case

of V.K.Sasikala. During thesearch the petitioner wasquestioned about the sale ofthe mall to V.K.Sasikala .Since the petitioner had noidea about the entire trans-action, he has out rightlyrefused his involvement inthe impugned sale. While so,the impugned proceedingsunder the PBPT Act was ini-tiated by the DeputyCommissioner of IncomeTax, he added.

He said during thereassessment proceedings,the petitioner was informedby the assessing officer thatthe Memorandum ofUnderstanding which washeavily relied on by theDeputy Commissioner toinitiate the impugned pro-ceedings, was not even inpossession of the DeputyCommissioner.

Beyond this the othermaterials in possession wereonly the photocopies of thetitle documents which weremortgaged with the bankand the sworn statement

recorded by various personswhich at no event could beconsidered a substantialmaterial to issue a noticeunder the Act. Further theDeputy Commissioner hasinitiated the benami pro-ceedings on the basis of thesatisfaction that he hadreceived from the assessingofficer.

On a mere analysis of thematerials available with theDeputy Commissioner itwould be evident that thepetitioner cannot be calledas a “benamidar” as he doesnot fit into the definitions ofany sections in the PBPT.While so, the petitioner tohis shock and dismay, wasserved with the impugnedorder under section 24 (4) ofthe Act through which theDeputy Commissioner ofincome Tax has ordered forthe continuance of the pro-visional attachment till theorder of the AdjudicatingAuthority was passed undersection 26 (3) of the Act, headded.

Sasi’s ‘benami deals’: Notice to I-T dept

Chennai, June 25: The Madrashigh court on Thursdayissued notice to the Centreand Tamil Nadu governmenton a PIL seeking to declare asunconstitutional a recentstate revenue departmentorder not to issue income orassets certificates to the eco-nomically weaker sections(EWS) required to avail reser-vation benefits for the catego-ry.

When the PIL filed by theAkhila Bharatha BrahminAssociation came up for hear-ing, a bench of Justice R.Subbiah and JusticeKrishnan Ramasamy issuedthe notice returnable by June30. Petitioner association rep-resented by its president T KKulathumani submitted thatthe Commissioner of RevenueAdministration had on June 4issued an order directing the

district collectors to instructtheir subordinates not toissue any income certificatesor assets certificates to eco-nomically weaker sectionseither online or manually.

It said the government byway of 103rd Constitutionalamendment provided 10 percent reservation for peoplefrom economically weakersections in civil posts andservices in the Central gov-

ernment and admission ineducational institutions.

The government issued acircular to all the districtauthorities to issue incomeand assets certifications tothe EWS on May 4, 2019.

But after one year, the stategovernment withdrew the cir-cular in contravention of thethe Constitutional amend-ment.

— PTI

PIL IN HCFAULTS TN OVER EWS

QUOTA

Homeopathy doctors checking Arsenicum album 30 tablets at theHomeopathy Centre in Padi on Thursday. The Ayush ministry hasrecommended such homeopathic and unani medicines for prevention of coronavirus infection. —DC

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

A 25-year-old Malaysiannational of Indian originhas been arrested afterthe Chennai Air Customsfound a package contain-ing narcotic drugsaddressed to him. Total100 pills suspected to beMDMA and valued at ` 3lakh were seized from theparcel meant for him.

According to a pressrelease from the ChennaiAir Customs, the packagewas withheld based oninformation that narcoticdrugs were likely to besmuggled into India fromFrankfurt in Germany.

On examination, theparcel was found to con-

tain light yellow colourpills and a few light pinkcolour pills which on test-ing with the narcotic kitfound to be tested positivefor MDMA (3,4-methyl-enedioxymethampheta-mine), a narcotics sub-stance. MDMA, common-ly known as Ecstasy andMolly, is a party drug thatalters mood and percep-tion and is chemicallysimilar to both stimulantsand hallucinogens, whichproduce feelings ofincreased energy andpleasure.

The drugs were recov-ered and seized under theNDPS Act, 1985, beforesamples were sent to thelaboratory for testing.The light yellow hexago-

nal-shaped pills, ‘PhilippPlein’ aka PP SKULL havebeen around since 2017and contain 225 mg ofMDMA, whereas the lightpink pills with ‘CNN’ logocontain 285 mg of MDMA.

"The parcel wasaddressed to a person inErode. On enquiry, it wasfound that the consignee’smother was residingthere who informed thather son, Kavi Kumar (25),a Malaysian national, wasworking in Bengaluruand has not come sincelockdown. A search wascarried out at his apart-ment located in poshKoramangala localityKavi Kumar was appre-hended and brought toChennai by road.”

Stop venturing out

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

Preventing spreadSHORT TAKESKin get bodies of police

torture victimsARULOLI M | DCTIRUNELVELI, JUNE 25

The kin of the father and sonwho were allegedly died inpolice custody, received theirbodies after an autopsy, onThursday noon.

The family and friends ofthe deceased Sathankulamtraders P Jeyaraj (63) and sonJ Fenix (31), received the bod-ies under assurance providedby the judicial magistrateand the police to ensure jus-tice in the case.

“We received the bodies ofmy father and brother on theassurance given by the policeand the judicial magistrate toensure justice,” said Percy,sister of Jeyaraj. Percy alsoadded that they reposed faithon the judiciary that wouldensure justice for the death ofthe father and the son.

The ambulance carryingthe bodies of the deceasedwas escorted by police withrestricted number of vehi-cles following it. Instructedto perform the last rites thesame evening, police alsoplaced restriction on thecrowd accompanying thebodies to the grave yard.

Meanwhile, another undertrial, Raja Singh (34) ofSathankulam, lodged atKovilpatti sub-jail was admit-ted to the Kovilpatti govern-ment hospital as he com-plained of vomiting andstomach disorder.

Raja Singh was arrested inconnection with a murdercase on June 21 by RaguGanesh, sub-inspectorinvolved in the torture ofJeyaraj and his son Fenix.

DC CORRESPONDENTSCOIMBATORE/ERODE, JUNE 25:

Thanks to Tamil Naduadministration and thefrontline staff includingdoctors, nurses, para-medics and sanitary work-ers straining every nervein the last over 90 days tostop the spread of Covid-19 novel coronavirus,there has been no commu-nity transmission of thedisease in the State.

Refuting OppositionDMK leader M K Stalin’scharges that the govern-ment had wasted 90 daysduring the lockdown peri-od in failing to control thespread of the deadly virus,Palansiwami, speaking toreporters in Coimbatorethis evening before a spotinspection of theA t h i k d ava u - Av i n a s h iwater supply project areaon the borders ofCoimbatore-Tirupur dis-trict, categorically said,“there is no communitytransmission at all” in theState.

“If any person tests posi-tive for Covid-19 we aretracing his/her contactsand testing them to ensurethat the virus does notspread; we are giving thedetails of all these on adaily basis. If there iscommunity transmissioncan such a large mediacontingent be here freelyspeaking to me,” he said.

Detailing the varioussteps the government hadtaken in the past over 90days in very difficulttimes since the outbreakof the virus, including set-ting up a special task forceunder the ChiefSecretary’s headship, hisfrequent video-confer-ences with district collec-tors and epidemiologistsand medical experts,Palaniswami said the gov-ernment’s decision atevery step including thelockdown extensions andthe relaxations have beenbased on extensive consul-tations with experts andon the Central govern-ment’s directives. The

lockdown is only to helpcontain the spread of thevirus.

Lashing out at Stalingoing to the press everyday with some “false state-ments”, the ChiefMinister asked what con-structive suggestion theformer had given to con-trol the Covid-19 spread.“The only political leaderin the entire country nowto do politics over Covid-19is the DMK leader M KStalin,” regrettedPalaniswami posed whyhe was not reacting to sim-ilar developments inMaharashtra or WestBengal. Even today, Ms.Mamata Bannerjee, ChiefMinister of West Bengalhas extended the lock-down there till July 31 andwhat is Stalin’s responseto it, he asked.

Referring to the govern-ment’s earlier appeal tocooperate with the admin-istration in disbursingCovid-19 relief to the poor-er sections to avoid directcontact with the people,which could lead to thespread of infection,Palaniswami said “we hadadvised all to coordinatewith the local bodyauthorities in reachingout the relief materials.”

The DMK president wentto court over this issue,but later when their ownparty-men did not followthe guidelines prescribedby medical experts indirectly handing overCovid-19 relief materialsto the poor and the needy,it had led to a situationwhere one of the MLAs’(without mentioning for-mer DMK MLA JAnbazhagan by name),succumbed to the virus,

said Palaniswami. Thestate only pleaded for fol-lowing the guidelines, butthat was misinterpretedas trying to keep out theopposition, he regretted.

Palaniswami said it wasbecause of the lockdownand the strenuous multi-level efforts of theAIADMK government that“we have been able to testthe maximum number ofpeople in the country sofar, ensure a good recov-ery rate for Covid-19patients and kept the mor-tality rate low.” TheOpposition leader Stalindoes not even seem toknow these basic facts, theChief Minister regretted.

Mr. Palaniswami said inCoimbatore district aloneso far, the government hasmanaged to secure a cred-it assistance of `76.15crore to 9,991 MSME entre-preneurs from the Centralgovernment’s mega reliefpackage.

For the State as a whole“we have been able tosecure credit assistance of`4,145 crore to benefit over1.57 lakh MSMEs’ to helptide over the huge eco-nomic loss due to theCovid-19 induced lock-down, he underscored.

On the Athikadavu-Avinashi watersupply/irrigation schemewhich he reviewed thisevening, Palaniswamisaid the `1,652 crore proj-ect was being implement-ed expeditiously to helprealize a 50-year-old dreamof the farmers ofCoimbatore and Tirupurdistricts.

“We plan to complete theproject by December2021,” he said. The secondphase of the project was

also under the govern-ment’s consideration, headded to a query.

On the two deaths of afather-son traders duo inSathankulam who diedafter being remanded tojudicial custody and thecharges against the Policein the circumstances lead-ing to their death, Mr.Palaniswami said he hadadvised the DGP to strictlyensure that such incidentswill never recur in thestate.

Police should behavecourteously with tradersand the general public,particularly in a crisis sit-uation in the wake ofCovid-19, he added.

No community transmissionin TN, says CM Palaniswami � Slams Stalin for issuing false statements

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

Thanks to the TamilNadu Chief Minister, Mr.Eadppadi K Palaniswamitaking up through theIndian External AffairsMinistry to press theGovernment of Iran tomake arrangements tosend a large number offishermen from TamilNadu stranded there inthe wake of the Covid-19novel coronavirus pan-demic, a chartered shipwith 673 Indian fishermenbound for Tamil Nadu isall set to leave the shoresof Iran on Thursday.

The State FisheriesMinister, Mr. D.Jayakuamr said in a state-ment here that due to thecancellation of allInternational flights sincethe outbreak of Covid-19,

it was difficult to immedi-ately bring back all thestranded Tamil Nadu fish-ermen in Iran, in othercountries and from othercoastal States.

Mr. Jayakuamr said thesituation was being grad-ually eased and with Mr.Palaniswami writing toMEA about the strandedfishermen from TamilNadu in Iran, the IndianEmbassy officials in Irantook all the necessarysteps to facilitate theirreturn home includingundergoing Covid teststhere, ensuring their dailynecessities and their trav-el papers.

As a result of theseefforts, Mr. Jayakuamrsaid a chartered shipexclusively for fishermenfrom Tamil Nadu strand-ed in Iran is slated to leavefrom their shores on

Thursday and would soonreach Thoothukudi portin our State.

Meanwhile, Mr. JustinAntony, President of theInternational FishermenDevelopment Trust saidin a statement fromKanniyakumari that sixfishermen from Vallavilaiand Colachel fishing vil-lages in the district, whowere also stranded in Irandue to passport issues,have now informed Mr.Antony that due to theState and Central govern-ment’s action, the IndianEmbassy in Iran hasensured that the six gottheir passports today fromtheir employer in Iran.The six fishermen are:Amarsan, John Gadin,Ansari, Maria Kimslin,John Kennedy, and RisinMon.

Ship with Indian fishersleaves Iran for TN

���� The government’sdecision includinglockdown exten-sions and relax-ations have beenbased on extensiveconsultations withexperts and onCentre’s directives

DC CORRESPONDENTCOIMBATORE, JUNE 25

Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister Edappadi KPalaniswami on Thursdaysaid his government wascommitted to giving fullsupport to the ‘DefenceCorridor’ project inCoimbatore, announcedby Dr NirmalaSitharaman when she wasthe Union DefenceMinister.

Interacting with repre-sentatives of the Industryhere including MSMEentrepreneurs, he said the‘Defence Corridor’ projectwould spur lot more indus-trial investments toCoimbatore region, helpset up more industries,generate additionalemployment and the econ-omy as a whole will grow.

To help ease the trafficcongestion in the industri-al city of Coimbatore, Mr.Palaniswami also saidthat the government wastaking steps to construct amassive 8.5-km long fly-over on Avinashi Roadhere at a cost of `1,627crore.

TN TO FULLYSUPPORT DEFENCE CORRIDOR PROJECT

DC CORRESPONDENTOOTY, JUNE 25

Two more women heretested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. Therehas been a steadyincrease in corona caseshere over the past twoweeks with 36 positivecases in two weeks.

On Thursday, a womanfrom Model house areain Coonoor and anotherfrom Coimbatore whovisited the Nilgiristurned positive forCovid-19. With this, thetotal number of thoseinfected in the districthas risen to 50. But with21 having been dis-charged already, thereare only 29 active casesin the district now.

On Thursday, thepolice station atKolamabai nearCoonoor and the RI’soffice in Coonoor townwere put under thehealth department’sscanner, as a couple ofcops and a staff in theRI’s office were report-edly suspected to havedeveloped Covid-19symptoms.

Sources said that sam-ples were collected fromthem and sent for analy-sis. While the testresults are still awaited,officials have taken pre-cautionary steps to dis-infect the police stationand the RI’s office in thetaluk office campus, inCoonoor.

R. VALAYAPATHY | DCTIRUCHY / PERAMBALUR,JUNE 25:

The alleged lackadaisicalmanner in which a healthworker of a private med-ical college hospital atSiruganur near herethrew away the body of a70-year-old patient whohad tested positive forCovid-19 novel coron-avirus and later suc-cumbed to the virus at thehospital on Wednesday,has gone viral in socialmedia here on Thursday.

Official sources said,the health staff of thehospital took the body ofthe corona victim to theburial ground atKopttaimedu villagewhere he reportedlydumped the body andreturned. A purportedvideo clip of this wentviral in social media net-works. Moreover thehealth staff did not evenwear a facial mask.

The hospital authori-ties, however, denied thisand said it was true theman died not respondingto the treatment providedto him. They simplyhanded over the body tothe son and other rela-tives of the deceased andalso provided them withan ambulance facility.They took the body andgave it a dignified burial,it said.

The hospital said somemiscreants created “fic-tional” incidents by edit-ing such videos anduploading them on socialmedia networks in orderto damage the image ofthe institution.The hospi-tal plans to file a policecomplaint. Tiruchy col-

lector S Sivarasu said acommittee has been setup under the headship ofjoint director of publichealth to go into the inci-dent.

VILLAGE DECLAREDCONTAINMENT ZONE:Meanwhile, Police andPublic Health authoritiesdeclared Melmathur vil-lage in Perambalur dis-trict a ‘containment zone’after a cremation of a 55-year-old person, workingin a transport company inChennai and sufferingfrom co-morbidities haddied there and his rela-tives brought his body tothe village and crematedit as per their traditionalfamily custom.

Sources said thedeceased Palaniappanhad been tested inChennai on June 21, buthe passed away on June23 before the test resultcould be known.Thereafter, his relativesbrought the body to hisnative village and cremat-ed it. But as the test resulton June 24 showed him tobe positive, the healthdepartment in Peramba-lur was alerted and theywent to Palaniappan’shouse in the village alongwith the police today.

Even as Palaniappan’srelatives explained thathis body bad been cremat-ed as he died of cardiacarrest and that no Covid-19 test result was known,the authorities sealed thevillage and declared it acontainment zone today.As many as 70 peopleincluding his kin whoattended the last rites arenow being screened forany Covid-19 symptoms,sources added.

COVID COUNTTOUCHES 50IN NILGIRIS

Last rites of Covidpatients kick up row

R. VALAYAPATHY | DCPERAMBALUR, JUNE 25:

The district Policerecovered a one-day oldfemale infant found per-ilously abandoned undera road bridge atElambalur village nearhere on Thursday.

Police said, a womanpasserby had initiallynoticed a stray dogattempting to pull out abag from under the roadbridge there, when shewas surprised to hear thecries of an infant. Shechased away the stray dogand on inspecting the bagfound a newborn girl babyin it. On information,police rushed to the spotand retrieved the newbornand admitted her in theGovernment headquar-ters hospital here. Policehave registered a case andare investigating.

DC CORRESPONDENTRAMANATHAPURAM, JUNE25:

As many as 29 Navy per-sonnel at ‘INS Parundu’,near Uchipuli in TamilNadu’s Ramanathapuramdistrict have tested posi-tive for Covid-19, novelcoronavirus, officialsources said here onThursday.

Amid rising cases ofCovid-19 inRamanathapuram dis-trict and in the wake ofrecent transfers fromand to the Naval station,as many as 102 Navy menfrom other States whohad come to this basewere tested for the virusas a precautionary meas-ure.

Sources said of them,

29 have tested positive forCovid-19 and they havebeen quarantined in theNavy personnel quarters,adding, there is no causefor worry.

Elsewhere in the dis-trict, 61 persons whohave tested positive forcoronavirus in recentdays have been admittedto either the Paramakudigovernment hospital or

in the isolation ward in aprimary health centrenearby converted into aCovid-care centre,sources said, adding, thenumber of Covid-19 posi-tive cases in the districthas now crossed the 500-mark.

The present Naval AirStation, ‘INS Parundu’,in Ramanathapuram dis-trict, is the southern-

most Air station of theIndian Navy and hadstarted as a ‘NavalDetachment’ in 1982 inthe wake of ethnicattacks against theTamils in neighbouringSri Lanka.

The Air Station pro-vides air surveillanceover the Palk Bay andalso helps to keep an eyeover the East coast.

29 Naval personnel at INS Parunduin Ramnad test +ve for Covid-19

G.SRINIVASAN | DC THANJAVUR, JUNE 25

One silver lining inThanjavur district thisyear, even amidst thegloomy Covid- 19 coron-avirus pandemic, is thatwater reached tail endareas for cultivation andagriculture activitieshave picked up.

After a gap of eightyears, water was releasedfrom Mettur dam on June12, the traditional date ofreleasing water for‘Kuruvai (short termcrop)’ cultivation. Waterreached Grand Anicut onJune 16, from where it wasreleased to the down-stream parts of theCauvery delta on the sameday.

With desilting of canalsand rivers under kudi-maramathu and PWD reg-ular works (A and Bcanals) and underMahatma Gandhi Rural

Employment Guaranteescheme (MGNREGS) (Cand D canals), waterr e a c h e dSethubavachatram, tail-end in Thanjavur districtin three days.

Farmers ofSethubavachatram andother tail end areas saidthat they are taking up‘Kuruvai’ after eight years(they cultivated only‘Samba’, long term cropall these eight years), inPallathur, Aandikadu,i I a n d a m p u l i k a d u ,Nadiyam, Karambayam,M a r u n g a p a l l a m ,Thuraiyur, Maravakadu,U d a y a k a d u ,K a z h a n i k o t t a m ,Pookkollai, Pettaivayalvillages.

Water was released fromMettur dam only onAugust 14 last year. Thisyear water release was ontime for kuruvai ie June12. Farmers of the districtsaid that only this year

they could raise crops inthe “Aadipattam” i.e.Tamil month ‘Aadi’ is con-sidered the right time forsowing seeds.“Aadipattam thedi vithai”meaning ‘sow seeds in themonth of Aadi’.

“We hope to take a goodkuruvai crop in canal irri-gated areas this year”they said.

Meanwhile, water levelstood at 94,33 ft at Metturdam on Thursday.Storagewas 57.741 tmc ft. Inflowinto the dam was 1435cusecs.

Discharge from the damwas 10,000 cusecs.Discharge into Cauveryfrom Grand anicut was3,265 cusecs, into Vennar3,356 cusecs and intoGrand anicut canal 1,214cusecs.

It has been planned totake up ‘Kuruvai’ on45,000 hectares i.e. 1.10lakh acres in Thanjavurdistrict this year.

Farmers happy as Cauverywater reaches tail-end areas

GREEN CANOPY

The green NH stretch near Singaperumal Koil is a sight to sore eyes. —DC

NEWBORN RESCUED FROMUNDER BRIDGEIN PERAMBALUR

LALITHAA JEWELLERY’S GESTURE TO CORONA WARRIORS

Chennai: Lalithaa Jewellery has offered 2 per centless in V.A.charges on its entire range of gold jewelleryto doctors, police, hospital staff, nurses, people inmedia, bank staff, sanitary workers, ambulance driv-ers & helpers, ward boys, security staff, corporation &municipality staff, government officers & staff. “ These people are risking their health and safeguard-ing us. It is our duty to show them our gratitude,” saidMr Kiran Kumar, CMD of Lalithaa Jewellery.

����With 21 havingbeen dischargedalready, there are29 active cases

Private hospital inMadurantakam sealed

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

A private hospital inMadurantakam was sealed byrevenue and health officialsfor treating patients withfever. Chengalpet revenue andhealth officials had instructedprivate hospitals in the rev-enue division to convey to thehealth department, details ofpatients coming for treatmentof fever, cold, cough and respi-ratory problems. Despite sev-eral warnings, the private hos-pital in Madurantakam con-tinued treating patients forfever. Based on an alert,Madurantakam revenue divi-sional officer Lakhsmi Priyaand Chengalpet municipalcommissioner, Narayanan,raided the hospital and founda few fever patients undergo-ing treatment there.

The hospital was immediate-ly sealed and instructionsgiven that none from outsidebe allowed till further orders.

Karur Vysya Bankshares jump 8% after

Q4 earningsNew Delhi: Shares of Karur

Vysya Bank on Thursday ral-lied 8 per cent after the firmreported a 39.5 per cent jumpin net profit for the quarterended March 2020. Thelender's stock jumped 7.97 percent to close at Rs 33.85 on theBSE. During the day, it zoomed9.72 per cent to Rs 34.40. On theNSE, it gained 7.81 per cent tosettle at `33.80.he bank onWednesday reported a 39.5 percent jump in net profit at`83.70 crore for the quarterended March 2020. — PTI

On behalf of the Red Cross, about 300 vendors in Vellore Uzhavar Sandhai onThursday given masks as mandated by the district administration.

— K. Senthil Nathan

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020

SHORT TAKES

CONG ASKS PM TOCLARIFY CHINESEFORAY REPORTS

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

Training guns at the Centreover China, the Congress onThursday said while the Modigovernment was repeatedlyinforming the country thattalks were being held withBeijing, satellite images showthat the Chinese side haveagain captured certain parts ofthe border with Ladakh.

Congress sought an explana-tion from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on this andasked whether he had misledthe nation at the all partymeeting held recently.

“The government has main-tained that they are talking tocounterparts in China forrestoring the status quo anteat the Galwan Valley, PangongTso Lake and the area of HotSprings. This has been thePrime Minister’s consistentstand, but, if you read today’snewspapers, most of themcarry satellite images, quotesby former Generals of theArmy wherein we can veryclearly see that instead ofwithdrawing, the PLA has notonly come back but have start-ed making tents in GalwanValley again,” Congress spoke-sperson Pawan Khera said.

New Delhi, June 25: In amajor reform in the India’sspace arena, the private sectorwill now be allowed to carryout space activities like build-ing of rockets, satellites andproviding launch services,ISRO chief K. Sivan said onThursday.

Terming this a “majorreform,” Sivan said the privatesector can also be part of theinter-planetary missions ofthe Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO).

The Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved participation of theprivate sector in the entirerange of space activities,including planetary explo-ration missions.

“The private sector will beenabled to carry out spaceactivities like building ofrockets, satellites, providinglaunch services on a commer-cial basis. The private sectorcan also be part of interplane-tary missions of ISRO. This isbeing planned to be donethrough announcement ofopportunities,” Sivan said inan online briefing.

PVT SECTOR TO BEALLOWED TO

BUILD ROCKETS

NGT SLAMSINTERIM FINE OF`25 CR ON O.I.L.

New Delhi, June 25: TheNational Green Tribunal hasimposed an interim penalty of`25 crore on PSU major OilIndia over its failure to stopfire in Assam’s Baghjan oilwell resulting in damage to theenvironment.

Well number 5 at Baghjan inTinsukia district, has beenspewing gas uncontrollably forthe last 27 days and it caughtfire on June 9, killing two ofOIL’s firefighters at the site.

A bench comprising JusticeS.P. Wangdi and expert member Siddhanta Das consti-tuted a committee headed byformer high court judge B.P.Katakey to look into the mat-ter and submit a report in 30days.

“In view of the prima faciecase made out against OilIndia Ltd on the extent ofdamage caused to the environ-ment and biodiversity, damage to both human andwildlife, public health and,having regard to the financialworth of the Company and the extent of damage, wedirect the OIL to deposit aninitial amount of `25 crorewith Tinsukia DistrictMagistrate,” the bench said inits order.

The order came on a plea fil-ed by activist Bonani Kakkarand others alleging failure ofauthorities in preventing theblowout of Baghjan oil well.

Protecting borders

An Indian fighter jet flies over Leh, the capital of Union Territory of Ladakh on Thursday. Indian fighter jetsroared over a flashpoint Himalayan region on Wednesday. — AFP

India likely to cross 5 lakhmark in Covid cases today

Writes a four-page letter to CM about the legitimacy of state machinery

VINEETA PANDEY | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

India may cross the five-lakh mark in Covidcases on Friday. OnThursday, 17,895 wereregistered nationwide,taking the tally to4,90,880. A total of 401people died of the dis-ease, and the toll nowstands at 15,308.

According to the Unionhealth ministry, Indiarecorded 16,922 cases onWednesday, taking itsoverall tally to 4,73,105till Thursday morning.In the last 24 hours, 418new fatalities werereported taking the tollto 14,894.

The ministry said thatcases per lakh in Indiacurrently stand at 33.39against the world’s120.21 while death/lakhin the country isamongst the lowest inthe world at with 1.06against the world aver-age of 6.24.

The ministry addedthat so far 2,71,696patients have recovered,out of which 13,012 weredischarged in the last 24hours till Thursdaymorning, while 1,86,514are under treatment.The recovery rate is now57.43 per cent and Indiais globally ranked fourthin recovery rate as perJohns HopkinsUniversity.

India has tested morethan 75 lakh persons. Inthe last 24 hours, a littleover 2 lakh tests wereconducted.

Among those who havetested positive include 12Army personnel inKohima district ofNagaland. These person-nel were at JakhamaArmy camp quarantinecentre after reporting toduty.

Apart fromMaharashtra thatreported 1,42,900 totalcases so far out of which3,890 are new, and Delhithat has logged 70,390total cases with 3,788new ones, Tamil Nadu isfast reporting manycases.

According to econo-mist Prof Shamika Ravi,Tamil Nadu seems to bewitnessing a secondwave of cases since Mayend with higher numberof deaths.

“Tamil Nadu hadreported a large caseload from the beginningof the pandemic in Indiaand managed the firstwave remarkably well,with very few deaths”she said while addingthat such high numbersdaily could be due toineffective strategy ofcontact tracing, testingand isolation. She saidthere is a need for clus-ter analysis of testingdata at the earliest.

H-1B suspension toaffect professionalsSRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 25

India on Thursday con-ceded that the recentdecision by the UnitedStates to suspend the H-1B visas till the end ofthe year is “likely toaffect movement ofIndian skilled profes-sionals”, but said it is“assessing the impact ofthe order on Indiannationals and industryin consultation withstakeholders”.

Pointing out that “theUS has always wel-comed talent, India alsosaid it “hopes” thatIndian professionalswill “continue to be wel-comed in the US in thefuture”.

Reminding the US that“high-skilled Indian pr-ofessionals bring im-portant skill sets, bridgetechnological gaps andimpart a competitive ed-ge to the US economy”,New Delhi said “theyhave also been a criticalcomponent of the work-force that is at the fore-front of providing Cov-id-19 related assistancein key sectors, includinghealth, information tec-hnology and financialservices”.

In a blow to Indiantechies, US PresidentDonald Trump had onTuesday suspended theH-1B visas till the end of

the year. The H-1B visais a non-immigrant visathat allows US compani-es to employ foreign wo-rkers in speciality occ-upations that require th-eoretical or technical e-xpertise.

The technology com-panies depend on it tohire tens of thousandsof employees each year.According to some esti-mates before theCoronavirus pandemichit the globe, the USissued 85,000 H-1B visasevery year out of whichIndians reportedly getabout 60,000 visas.Therefore, the US movecould now severelyaffect the Indian indus-try especially the IT sec-tor.

In a statement, theMEA said, “We haveseen the Proclamationissued by PresidentTrump on June 22 tem-porarily suspendingentry of certain cate-gories of non-immi-grant visa-holders &their family memberstill December 31, 2020.This is likely to affectmovement of Indianskilled professionalswho avail of these non-immigrant visa pro-grammes to work law-fully in the US. We areassessing the impact ofthe order on Indiannationals and industryin consultation withstakeholders.”

RATH YATRAPRIESTS TO GETCOVID-19 TESTS AKSHAYA KUMARSAHOO | DCBHUBANESWAR, JUNE 25

The SrimandirManaging Committee ofPuri in Odisha hasdecided that all thosewho participated in LordJagannath’s Rath Yatrawill be tested for Covid-19 while the servi-tors of the temple will betested twice for the virusbefore Bahuda Yatra orthe return journey ofdeity.

The committee’s vicechairman SureshMohapatra said thatCovid-19 test of around5,000 people, includingservitors and police per-sonnel, who took part inthe Rath Yatra, will beconducted.

“A massive testingdrive will be taken up.Testing of the servitors,who were and willremain directly involvedin the chariot pulling,will be done in two phas-es. Only those police per-sonnel, who will test neg-ative for Covid-19, can beallowed to take part inthe ‘Dakhina Moda’ ritu-al,” said Mohapatra.

Nagaland Gov. says law,order has deterioratedMANOJ ANAND | DCGUWAHATI, JUNE 25

In what has created asensation in political circles in the Northeast,Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi has expresseddeep concern over the “precarious law andorder” situation in thestate since August.

In a four-page letter toChief Minister NeiphiuRio, a copy of which iswith this newspaper,Ravi said that over half adozen “armed gangs”have challenged the

legitimacy of the stategovernment on a dailybasis.

The June 16 letter saidthe state’s law and ordermachinery had created a“crisis of confidence”due to its unresponsive-ness.

Ravi wrote: “Law-abid-ing citizens — dailywage earners, petty vendors, businessmen,shopkeepers, owners of restaurants or govern-ment servants — aremade miserable by rampant extortion andviolence by armed

gangs.”Ravi, who earlier

served in the PMO asdeputy to NSA Ajit Dovalbefore becoming Governor in 2019, saidthe situation had

deteriorated and hecould no longer avoid hisconstitutional obliga-tions under Article371A(1)(b).

He proposed that keyfunctions like the trans-fer and posting of offi-cials be done only withhis approval.

Ravi also proposed toperiodically review thesituation and issue direc-tions if required.

The Governor’s letteralso highlighted that“armed gangs” appointtheir own “dealers” forevery commodity, from

salt to constructionmaterials, coming intoNagaland and also levyillegal taxes on everyitem.

“Transporters havecomplained to me thatthere is over 200 per centcost escalation in transportation themoment a goods-ladentruck enters Nagalanddue to gunpoint extor-tion by armed miscre-ants,” the Governor said, who is also theinterlocutor for the ongoing Naga peacetalks.

New Covid cases in Telangana close to 1000 a day nowDC CORRESPONDENTSHYDERABAD, VIJAYAWADAJUNE 25

Covid-19 cases appear to beon their way to crossingthe 1,000-a-day mark, with920 fresh cases beingreported on Thursday. Thetotal number cases so far is11,364. The GreaterHyderabad reported 737new cases.

Five more patients diedduring the day, taking the

toll to 230, the daily Covid-19 bulletin released by thehealth department said.While 327 persons were dis-charged, the number ofactive cases stood at 6,446.

The health department,which had very reluctantlyapproved Covid-19 testingby private accredited labo-ratories, hinted that thesepermissions may have avery short shelf life follow-ing "serious" abnormali-ties in the results uploaded

by private labs on the des-ignated web portal. "Thismay be due to technicalissues in the way of test-ing," it said.

Meanwhile, at least near-ly 180 doctors working indifferent government hos-pitals have contractedCovid-19. The highest num-ber among doctors, post-graduate doctors as well asmedical students workingas interns, around 85, arefrom the Osmania Medical

College. Following closelyare doctors from Nizam'sInstitute of MedicalSciences with 75, even asanother 16 are reported tohave been infected by thedisease in the KakatiyaMedical College andMahatma GandhiMemorial Hospital inWarangal.

The number of mediaper-sons affected by Covid-19 isnearing 100. Twelve jour-nalists tested positive on

Thursday, as per theTelangana State MediaAcademy that has beenhelping mediapersons whocaught Covid-19 withfinancial assistance of`20,000 to those admitted tohospitals and `10,000 eachto those in home quaran-tine.

Andhra Pradesh carriedout Covid-19 tests on7,69,319 samples and out ofthem 10,884 tuned out to bepositive to the virus.

The state health depart-ment in its bulletinreleased at 10 am onThursday reported that 477new cases have been foundout of 19,085 samples test-ed in the last 24 hours.Sixty-nine new cases fromother states and also sevennew cases from other coun-tries have also been report-ed.

With this, the total num-ber of new cases reportedin the state is 553.

New Delhi, June 24:The government hasextended the timelinesfor completion of hous-ing projects by sixmonths to protect theinterest of homebuyersand ensure they get deliv-ery of their flats withsome delay, as the con-struction work has beenimpacted due to Covid-19outbreak, according tothe PMO.

"Due to Covid-19, thework of ongoing realestate projects has halt-ed," the PMO said inresponse to a petition bySamachar FoundationDirector B N Kumar.Large scale reversemigration of labour andhuge disruption in sup-ply chain of material,have adversely impactedthe construction work,said the letter, which wascirculated to media bythe NGO.

"Labour is least likelyto return before festivalsin October -November getover. In such circum-stances, real estate proj-ects will take quite sometime to resume workfully,” it said. PTI

REAL ESTATEPROJECTS GET 6MORE MONTHS

LAW-ABIDINGcitizens like daily

wage earners, pettyvendors are mademiserable by rampantextortion and violenceby armed gangs.

R.N. RAVI, Nagaland Governor

PAWAN BALI |DCNEW DELHI, MAY 25:

Indian army is not expectingdisengagement with theChinese army to start anytime soon in Ladakh sector.

“Disengagement will taketime,” said sources onThursday.

Since the Corps Commandermeeting between the twoarmies on Monday, there hasbeen, no major general orcommanding officer leveltalks.

It is the local commanderswho will meet and decide step-wise disengagement at vari-ous locations. Currently, thereis a high level of distrust ofthe Chinese army in theIndian security establish-ment.

Army chief Gen. M.M.Naravane, who has returnedafter two days visit to Ladakhsector is expected to brief thepolitical leadership aboutIndian army’s operationalpreparedness to deal with anymisadventure by the China.He will also give an assess-ment of the situation in theLadakh and options availablewith India.

India and China had onMonday reached a “consensusto disengage” from “all fric-tion areas” in Eastern Ladakhduring the Corps Commander

meeting between the twoarmies.

Even as Chinese army hasbeen talking of peace it hasbeen building up its troops atvarious points on the border.It has even build up its troopsin new areas like Depsang andDaulat Beg Oldie sector to putpressure on Indian army.However, Indian army hasdone counter deployment inthe sector.

In Galwan valley, Chinesearmy is still present in largenumbers at a short distancefrom patrolling point 14, thesite of June 15 bloody clashbetween Indian and Chinesesoldiers. However, in Galwanvalley Indian soldiers havestarted dominating the peakswhich will help them to count-er any Chinese move in thearea. The Chinese have con-tinued with its build up in HotSprings and Gogra post.

In northern banks ofPangong Tso, which is themain issue of contentionbetween the two sides,Chinese soldiers are reported-ly continuing with their activ-ities and trying to build struc-tures in new positions. Thereis a large build-up of Chinesesoldiers around finger 4where they have constructedstructures and bunkers thereto prevent Indian soldiers topatrol in finger 4 to 8.

Army expects noearly withdrawalin Ladakh sector

From Page 1

Blaming China for the behav-iour of its troops and for try-ing to change the status quoon the LAC, which led toclashes on June 15 in which 20Indian soldiers were killed,New Delhi on Thursdaywarned that the continuationof the present situation wouldfurther vitiate the atmosphereand severely damage ties.

Meanwhile, Army sourcessaid they are not expectingdisengagement with theChinese Army any time soon."Disengagement will taketime," a source said onThursday.

While narrating the chronol-ogy of events since May, MEAspokesperson AnuragSrivastava said, "The Indianside has never undertakenany actions across the LACand has never attempted tounilaterally change the statusquo. However, that has notbeen reciprocated by the

Chinese side and that fromtime to time has led to face-offs... (Indian troops) havebeen patrolling all along theLAC, including in the GalwanValley, for a long time. Allinfrastructure built by theIndian side has always beenon its own side of the LAC…The deployment of a largebody of troops and changes inbehaviour (of PLA soldiers)has also been aggravated byunjustified and untenableclaims. The recent shift in theChinese position on theGalwan Valley is one exam-ple... (It has been) clearlyestablished it has been theChinese actions thus farwhich have led to increase intension in the region and alsoto the violent face-off of 15thJune with casualties." Indiasaid the two foreign ministershad a conversation on 17 June2020 and had agreed that theoverall situation would behandled in a responsible man-ner.

Buld up of ChineseArmy on border

TENDERS / NOTICES

WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020

Washington, June 25: WikiL-eaks founder Julian Assangesought to recruit hackers at co-nferences in Europe and Asiawho could provide his anti-sec-recy website with classified in-formation, and conspired withmembers of hacking organisat-ions, according to a new JusticeDepartment indictment annou-nced Wednesday.

The superseding indictmentdoes not contain additionalcharges beyond the 18 countsthe Justice Department unseal-ed last year. But prosecutorssay it underscores Assange’s ef-forts to procure and releaseclassified information, allegati-ons that form the basis of crim-inal charges he already faces.

Beyond recruiting hackers atconferences, the indictment ac-cuses Assange of conspiringwith members of hacking grou-ps known as LulzSec and Anon-ymous. He also worked with a17-year-old hacker who gavehim information stolen from abank and directed the teenagerto steal additional material,including audio recordings ofhigh-ranking government offi-cials, prosecutors say.

Assange’s lawyer, Barry Polla-ck, said in a statement that “thegovernment’s relentless pursu-it of Julian Assange poses a gr-ave threat to journalists every-where and to the public’s rightto know”.

“While today’s supersedingindictment is yet another chap-ter in the US Government’seffort to persuade the publicthat its pursuit of Julian Ass-ange is based on something ot-her than his publication of ne-wsworthy truthful informati-on,” he added, “the indictmentcontinues to charge him withviolating the Espionage Actbased on WikiLeaks publica-tions exposing war crimes com-mitted by the US Government.”

ASSANGEFACES NEW

U.S. CHARGE

IN BRIEFUS doubles new

IS chief’s bountyWashington: The United Stat-es has doubled the bounty to$10 million for information le-

ading to the capture of theIslamic State’s new leader

Amir Muhammad Sa’id Ab-dal-Rahma al-Mawla. Al-Ma-

wla, who is also known asHajji Abdallah and Abu-‘Umar

al-Turkmani, had succeededAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi follow-ing the latter’s death in a US

military operation in October2019. Born in Mosul, Iraq, in1976, al-Mawla was a seniorterrorist leader in IS’ prede-

cessor organisation, al-Qaedain Iraq. Al-Mawla steadilyrose through the ranks to

assume a senior leadershiprole as the deputy leader of

the militant group. On March18, 2020, the State Depar-

tment designated al-Mawlaas a Specially Designated

Global Terrorist.

Libya intercepts71 migrants

Cairo: Libya’s coast guardintercepted 71 migrants hop-ing to make it to Europe, in-

cluding four women and twochildren, and returned themto the capital Tripoli, the UNmigration organisation saidThursday. The InternationalOrganisation for Migrationtweeted that the migrants,

who were stopped late Wed-nesday, were given food andemergency assistance by itsstaffers. The tweet was acc-

ompanied by pictures, one ofthem showing an African

man speaking to two IOM st-affers. Libya, which descend-

ed into chaos following the2011 uprising that toppled

and killed longtime dictatorMoammar Gadhafi, has

emerged as a major transitpoint for African and Arab

migrants fleeing war andpoverty to Europe.

Pirates kidnapsix off Benin

Seoul: Pirates kidnapped fiveSouth Koreans and a Ghanai-

an after boarding their fishingvessel off Benin, Seoul’s fore-ign ministry and the Internati-onal Maritime Bureau said Th-ursday. The Ghanaian-flaggedPanofi Frontier with 30 crew

on board was attacked onWednesday about 60 nautical

miles south of the Beninesecapital Cotonou, both said.

Seoul’s foreign ministry saidthat the vessel had 24 more

crew members on board.“Currently, the identity and

the whereabouts of the kid-nappers have not been identi-

fied,” it said in a statement,adding it was working with

the relevant organisations andcountries to secure the

Koreans’ release. The Intern-ational Maritime Bureau con-firmed the attack by “armed

pirates” and issued a warningto all other seafarers.

People protesting police brutality, blowing steam over virus curbsNIGHTLY | NUISANCE

New York, June 25: Theyare a symbol of celebrati-on, loudly lighting up thenight sky and best knownin the US as the explosiveexclamation point to Four-th of July festivities.

This year, fireworks are-n’t being saved for Indepe-ndence Day. They’ve beco-me a nightly nuisance rin-ging out from Connecticutto California, angering sle-ep-deprived residents andalarming elected officials.All of them want to know:Why the fascination withfireworks, and where is ev-erybody getting the goods?“I had that same ques-tion,” said Julie L. Heckm-

an, executive director ofthe American Pyrotechn-ics Association.

Theories range from coo-rdinated efforts to blamethose protesting police br-utality to bored people blo-wing off steam followingCovid-19 lockdowns. Moststates allow at least sometypes of consumer firewo-rks, making them difficultto contain in cities likeNew York where they’rebanned because people candrive a couple of hoursaway to buy them legally.

New York Mayor Bill deBlasio set up a multiagen-cy task force in hopes ofgetting answers, after bla-

sts from Brooklyn to theBronx have people in thecity that never sleeps desp-erate to actually get some.Made up of police, firefigh-ters and the Sheriff ’s Bur-eau of Criminal Investiga-tion, the task force will co-nduct sting operations totry to stop the sales of exp-losives that are proving da-ngerous. A 3-year-old girlwas injured Wednesdaywhile watching fireworksfrom her apartment wind-ow. “This is a real problem.It is not just a quality-of-life problem and a noiseproblem,” de Blasio said.

Many Fourth of July cel-ebrations will be smaller

or eliminated entirely bec-ause of Covid-19 restric-tions. Yet the business offireworks is booming, with

some retailers reporting200 per cent increasesfrom the same time lastyear, Heckman said.

Her industry had highhopes for 2020, with July 4falling on a Saturday. Thencame the pandemic and itsclosures and cancellatio-ns, leaving fireworks reta-ilers worried they would-n’t be able to scratch outmuch of a sales season.

Those fears have gone upin smoke. “Sales are offthe hook right now. We’reseeing this anomaly inuse,” Heckman said.

“What’s concerning to usis this usage in citieswhere consumer fireworks

are not legal to use.” Officials have the same

concern. New JerseyGovernor Phil Murphysaid there are too manyreports of fireworks beingset off across the state,where they are mostly ille-gal. “This is no way toblow off steam,” he toldreporters Tuesday inTrenton, the capital.

New Jersey outlawspyrotechnics except forsparklers and snakes,which produce smoke butdon’t explode, though resi-dents have easy access tofireworks at shops inPennsylvania.

— AP

Fireworks are booming in the US before July 4�� MADE UP of police,firefighters and theSheriff’s Bureau ofCriminal Investigation,the task force will con-duct sting operations totry to stop the sales ofexplosives that are prov-ing dangerous. A 3-year-old girl was injuredWednesday while watch-ing fireworks from herapartment window.

‘Sea’ of humanity

Beachgoers enjoy the sunshine as they sunbathe and play in the sea on Boscombebeach in Bournemouth, southern England, on Thursday. — AFP

Houston, June 25: US off-icials on Wednesday impo-sed tough measures, inclu-ding quarantines and stay-at-home advice, as dailyCovid-19 cases approachedrecord levels after surgingacross the nation’s Southand West.

Nearly four months afterreporting its first deathfrom Covid-19, the UnitedStates faces a deepeninghealth crisis as a wave ofinfections hits young Am-ericans and experts issuenew acute warnings. Morethan 35,900 cases wererecorded in the past 24hours, according to a tallyby Johns Hopkins Univers-ity, with heavily populatedstates. including Florida,

Texas and California, allreporting daily record cas-es. The world’s largest eco-nomy is already the count-ry hardest hit by the pand-emic, with a mounting de-ath toll of almost 124,000.

Some officials — includi-ng the Texas governor —who loosened restrictionson business, dining, publicgatherings and tourism,are now urging residentsto again stay home. Threenortheastern states thatmade progress beatingback the pandemic — NewYork, New Jersey andConnecticut — urged visit-ors arriving from US hot-spots to quarantine thems-elves. New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo said the

advisory applied to visito-rs from Alabama, Arkan-sas, Arizona, Florida, Sou-th Carolina, North Caroli-na, Utah and Texas.

Washington state was or-iginally included, but Go-vernor Jay Inslee said thiswas by error and it wouldbe removed. Several statesin the South and West, inc-luding Florida and Texas,are suffering what WhiteHouse advisor and top sci-entist Anthony Fauci desc-ribed as “disturbing” newsurges in infections.

Fauci warned the nexttwo weeks would be “criti-cal” to addressing the sur-ges. Texas, among themost aggressive states inreopening in early June,

saw new cases hit a dailyhigh of 5,489 on Tuesday. Aconcerned Governor GregAbbott warned Texans ofthe virus’s “rampant” spr-ead and said the “safest”place to be was in their ho-mes, adding that thosewho needed to go outshould wear masks.

“If we are unable to slowthe spread over the nextfew weeks, then we willhave to reevaluate the ext-ent to which businessesare open,” he told a localNBC affiliate. “Because ifit’s not contained in thenext couple of weeks, itwill be completely out ofcontrol, and Texas willhave to ratchet back.”

— AFP

US reimposes curbs as cases near record

Paris, June 25: Touristsand Parisians ready for aworkout gathered at theEiffel Tower on Thursdayas the iron monument re-opened after its longest cl-osure since World War II, ahighly symbolic move asFrance emerges from itsCovid-19 lockdown.

Journalists from aroundthe world outnumberedabout 50 people, who beg-an the steep climb by st-airs to the first two levels,

as elevators and the topobservation deck will rem-ain closed because of soci-al distancing concerns.

“I’m tearing up, butthey’re tears of joy. It’s anemotional moment afterthese difficult months,”said Therese from the cityof Perpignan. PatrickBranco Ruivo, directorgeneral of the site’s oper-ating company SETE, saidthe top would reopen onJuly 15. — AFP

Eiffel Tower opensafter 104-day gap

SENEGAL PREZ INQUARANTINEOVER PANDEMICDakar, June 25: Senega-l’s national television saysPresident Macky Sall isgoing into quarantine aft-er being exposed to some-one who tested positive forthe new Covid-19. Thereport late Wednesdaysaid the 58-year-old Salltested negative for a virusinfection earlier in the daybut will still self isolate.The report didn't identifythe person who exposedthe president. — AP

Pompeo threatens UNsanctions against IranUnited Nations, June 25:US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo threatenedto seek to reimpose UNsanctions on Iran if theUN Security Council doesnot approve a resolutionthat would indefinitelyextend the arms embargoon Tehran, which is set toexpire in October.

Pompeo told a news conf-erence at the State Depar-tment in Washington onWednesday that withoutextending the arms emb-argo, “Iran will be able topurchase advanced weap-ons systems and becomean arms dealer of choicefor terrorists and rogueregimes all throughout theworld. This is unaccept-able.” He spoke ahead of aclosed video briefing toSecurity Council membersWednesday afternoon onthe US draft resolution tomaintain the arms embar-go by US Special Represe-ntative for Iran BrianHook and US AmbassadorKelly Craft.

Tensions between Iranand the US have escalatedsince the Trump administ-ration withdrew from the2015 nuclear deal betweenTehran and six major pow-ers in 2018 and reimposedcrippling US sanctions.

A year ago, the US sentthousands more troops,long-range bombers andan aircraft carrier to theMiddle East in response towhat it called a growingthreat of Iranian attackson US interests in theregion. The five other pow-ers that signed the nucleardeal — Russia, China, UK,France and Germany —remain committed to it,saying the agreement iskey to continuing inspec-tions by the InternationalAtomic Energy Agencyand preventing Iran frompursuing nuclear weap-ons. — AP

Japan confirms it’s scrappingUS missile defence system

Islamabad, June 25: Pa-kistan on Thursday expre-ssed its disappointmentover the US State Depart-ment’s report which desc-ribed the country as a “sa-fe harbour” for regionally-focused terrorist groups.

The State Department,in its Congressional-man-dated 2019 Country Repo-rts on Terrorism, said onWednesday that Pakistanremained a “safe harbo-ur” for regionally-focusedterrorist groups and thatthe suspension of US aidto the country remainedin effect throughout 2019.

“Pakistan is fully awareof its responsibilities as asovereign state. We rejectany insinuation about anysafe haven. Pakistan willnot allow any group or

entity to use its territoryagainst any country," theForeign Office said. It saidthe report was “self-cont-radictory and selective inits characterisation of Pa-kistan’s efforts for counte-ring terrorism and terror-ist financing”. — PTI

‘Haven for ultras’ USreport annoys Pak

Tokyo, June 25: Japan’sNational Security Councilhas endorsed plans to can-cel the deployment of twocostly land-based US miss-ile defence systems aimedat bolstering the country’scapability against threatsfrom North Korea, the co-untry’s defence ministersaid Thursday.

Defence Minister TaroKono said the country willnow revise its missile def-ence programme and scaleup its entire defence post-ure. The council made itsdecision on Wednesday,and now the government

will need to enter negotia-tions with the US aboutwhat to do with paymentsand the purchase contractalready made for theAegis Ashore systems.

Kono announced theplan to scrap the systemsearlier this month after itwas found that the safetyof one of the two plannedhost communities couldnot be ensured without ahardware redesign thatwould be too time consum-ing and costly.

“We couldn’t move forw-ard with this project, butstill there are threats from

North Korea,” Kono said.Japan will discuss ways tobetter protect the countryfrom the North’s missilesand other threats, he said.

Prime Minister ShinzoAbe said the governmentwould consider the possi-bility of acquiring pre-emptive strike capability,a controversial plan thatcritics say would violateJapan’s war-renouncingConstitution. Kono onThursday also raised con-cern about China’s incr-easingly assertive activityin regional seas and skies.

— AP

BLACK MAN’SKILLING: THREEMEN INDICTEDAtlanta, June 25: A pros-ecutor on Wednesday ann-ounced that three menhave been indicted on mu-rder charges in the killingof Ahmaud Arbery onFebruary 23 in Georgia.

Prosecutor Joyette Hol-mes said a Glynn Countygrand jury has indictedTravis McMichael, GregMcMichael and William“Roddie” Bryan Jr. on cha-rges including malice andfelony murder in the dea-th of the African Americ-an man. Greg McMichaeltold police he suspectedArbery was a burglar.

— AP

RACIST RANTS: 3POLICE OFFICERSIN U.S. FIRED Wilmington (North Car-olina), June 25: Threemembers of a North Carol-ina police departmenthave been fired after a dep-artment audit of a videorecording captured one ofthe officers saying a civilwar was necessary to wipeBlack people off the map .

The Wilmington PoliceDepartment took the acti-on against Cpl. Jessie Moo-re, and officers Kevin Pin-er and Brian Gilmore.Each was accused of viola-ting standards of conduct,criticism and use of inap-propriate jokes and slurs.After conferring with thecity council, WilmingtonCity Manager Sterling Ch-eatham cleared Police Chi-ef Donny Williams to rele-ase the details. — AP

Washington, June 25:Former US vice presidentJoe Biden would formallyaccept his Democratic pre-sidential nomination atthe party’s scaled back co-nvention in Wisconsin’sMilwaukee city on August20, organisers of the megaevent have announced.

Biden, 77, is challengingRepublican incumbent Pr-esident Donald Trump, 74,in the November 3 preside-ntial elections. As per ma-jor opinion polls, he is lea-ding Trump by more thaneight percentage points. Inview of the Covid-19 pand-emic, the Democratic Nat-

ional Convention Commit-tee (DNCC) on Wednesdayannounced its conventionplan to broadcast from Mi-lwaukee and across the na-tion to reach out to all Am-ericans. At the conventi-on, Democrats will officia-lly nominate Biden as theDemocratic nominee forpresident, the DNCC saidas it announced plans togo virtual during the four-day event.

It also reiterated the par-ty’s commitment to prote-ct public health while tra-nsforming the conventionexperience for delegatesand viewers. Host city Mil-

waukee would anchor theevents for the week, conve-ntion planners said.

Programming would inc-lude both live broadcastsand curated content fromMilwaukee and other sate-llite cities, locations andlandmarks across the cou-ntry, they said.

“Vice President Bidenintends to proudly accepthis party’s nomination inMilwaukee and take thenext step forward towardsmaking Donald Trump aone-term president,” saidJen O’Malley Dillon, cam-paign manager, Biden forPresident. — PTI

Biden Dem prez nomination atvirtual Wisconsin convention

Islamabad, June 25: Thecash-strapped PakistanInternational Airlines onThursday announced thatit has grounded 150 pilotswith “dubious licences”,a day after the prelimina-ry probe report of the Ka-rachi plane crash blamedthe pilots and the air traf-fic control for the tragedythat killed 97 people.

“Grounding so many pi-lots will affect the PIA fli-ght operation,” the spoke-sperson for the nationalcarrier said, adding thatthey have already dismis-sed six pilots with fake de-grees. Those pilots whoget their licenses verifiedwill be allowed back onduty, Geo News quoted thePIA spokesperson as say-ing. The national flag car-rier on Thursday said ithas grounded 150 pilotswith “dubious licences”,a day after the report ofthe plane crash blamedthe pilots and the air traf-fic control (ATC) for theincident, the reportadded. — PTI

Fake licences: PIAgrounds 150 pilots

COURT ACQUITSFORMER PM INGRAFT CASESHAFQAT ALI | DCISLAMABAD, JUNE 25

A Pakistani accountabili-ty court in Islamabad ac-quitted on Thursday for-mer Prime Minister RajaPervez Ashraf in the ren-tal power case. JudgeMohammad Bashir, whileannouncing the verdict,said that the NationalAccountability Bureau(NAB) could not proveany corruption chargesagainst Ashraf.

Others, including Shau-kat Tareen, former Pescochief Basharat Cheemaand Shahid Rafique havebeen acquitted as well. Areference against Ashrafwas filed in December2019 after Rana Amjad,the manager of the Sahi-wal-Multan project, turn-ed approver.

TWO KOREASMARK WARANNIVERSARYSeoul, June 25: Northand South Korea on Th-ursday marked the 70thanniversary of the startof the Korean War withlargely subdued comme-morations amid the Cov-id-19 pandemic, a dayafter the North abruptlyhalted a pressure cam-paign against the South.

South Korea issued ajoint statement with theUnited States, which fou-ght alongside it duringthe 1950-53 war triggeredby a surprise North Kor-ean invasion. The US sti-ll stations about 28,500soldiers in South Koreain what North Korea vi-ews as a military threat.

In the statement, SouthKorean Defence Minist-er Jeong Kyeong-doo andUS Defense SecretaryMark T Esper said they“commit to strengthen-ing and adapting the all-iance to meet presentand future challenges”and urged North Koreato implement past disar-mament pledges. Jeongand other military lead-ers later paid their resp-ects at a national cemet-ery in Seoul, where abo-ut 130,000 war-relateddead, mostly South Kor-ean soldiers, are buriedor honoured.

They were given speci-al permission to enterSeoul National Cemete-ry, which has imposedentry restrictions amida resurgence of the Cov-id-19 in recent weeks.The cemetery receivedabout 530,000 visitors inJune last year but onlyabout 61,000 this month,according to cemeteryofficials. A war museumin Seoul, normally a po-pular place to visit onthe war’s anniversary oron Memorial Day onJune 6, remained shutThursday. In the eveni-ng, South Korea was tohold a ceremony with300 war veterans, berea-ved relatives and gover-nment officials. — AP

�� UN SECRETARY-GEN-ERAL Antonio Guterresexpects all member stat-es to “live up” to theirobligations under Secu-rity Council resolutions,after a US report notedthat Pakistan remains asafe haven for terroristsas it did not take actionsagainst JeM founderMasood Azhar.

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its two-month-old forecast to state that India’s economy would witness one of thesteepest contractions in its history. The global development lenderclaims that the size of the country’s economy would shrink by 4.5

per cent in the current financial year as compared to its earlier estimatethat it would post a growth of 1.9 per cent. It blamed the revision on the gov-ernment’s inability to contain the spread of coronavirus infections asexpected and a slower pickup in economic activity of the country.

With this revision, the IMF joined the chorus of other financial institu-tions and economists who have been suggesting an unprecedented contrac-tion in the country’s economic activity. The World Bank and theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) havealready predicted an over three per cent contraction in the Indian economy.Indian rating firm Crisil predicted a contraction of five per cent. The worstassessment, however, comes from economists of state-owned lender StateBank of India, who forecast a contraction of 6.8 per cent. To put it in simpleterms, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the financial year of 2020-21 would erode all the economic value that Indians have added in the last 16months — a full fiscal year of 2019-20 and the four preceding months. Itwould set the economy back by 28 months — the country has never seensuch unprecedented in its recent history.

The Great Contraction of the Indian economy would affect all productsand services which are not essential for a living. Government revenueswould decline because of lower consumption and the resultant lower prof-its. It would also impair the ability of state governments to spend on welfareschemes, which have mushroomed since the economy was liberalised in the1990s. Though agriculture remains more or less unaffected by the coron-avirus as on today, it cannot offset the slump in sectors like hospitality,travel, media and entertainment, real estate, wedding-related businesses,etc. There are two fears which caused the fall in demand — the fear of coro-navirus infection and the fear of future financial security.

While the fear about coronavirus will subside when people are confidentabout the availability and affordability of the treatment, the governmentcould at least give confidence to people about their future financial securi-ty. With no surety for their job or salary, people have almost stopped spend-ing on non-essential products, affecting the country’s industrial activity.This is where the government should step in, not merely by giving sermonsbut by releasing its dues to the private sector and increasing its spending onbig infrastructure projects. While the government has been hesitant aboutthe deficit financing option, there appears to be no option left other thanthis. Though various governments have been dipping into cash reserves ofpublic sector units (PSUs) to bail them out, this option may not be availablethis year because of the poor financial condition of PSUs. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, therefore, must shed his inhibitions and act with confi-dence to beat the economic contraction.

26 JUNE 2020

The champion tennis player Novak Djokovic finds himself in a pretty pick-le after his family’s well-intentioned charity event ran into an acrimo-nious link with the dreaded coronavirus. Calls have been growing for his

resignation as president of the ATP Player Council whose 500 members havebeen on tenterhooks regarding post-Covid resumption of their careers in theUS Open to be played in August. The all-time great may personally nursearcane beliefs like being an anti-vaxxer, as people who shun the science of vac-cination are called. But he had no business allowing conduct of the event with-out scientific protocols like testing of players on-site, masks for officials andspectators and strict social distancing among players.

As a non-contact sport, tennis should lend itself more readily to a near nor-mal comeback provided proper precautions are in place. On the contrary, inasinine defiance of science, the event helped spread the virus among key play-ers, including Djokovic himself and his wife. And not to mention kinky night-club celebrations with players dancing without their shirts on. The fallout ofthe competition staged in three Balkan nations represents a huge setback toquick return of major pro sport around the world. Just when other sports areplanning to emulate European soccer, which has made a successful comebackacross nations with scientific protocols and SOPs in eco-bubbles without spec-tators, this startling “Djoker” warning has come up.

Coronavirus cases are galloping globally at around a million a week now andeven asymptomatic people are disappearing in hours after falling sick.Sportsmen falling ill illustrates that fitness is no guarantee of virus immunityeither. It is against this backdrop that the attitude of prominent people likeDjokovic and Donald Trump, who are delusional in wishing away the virus,must be seen and condemned as a threat to society. As a great symbol of hope,sport must return, but must do so in a responsible manner.

Don’t ‘Djoke’ with Covid

Borrowing only optionafter decline warning

Can India challenge Chinesedominance in pharmaceuticalingredients? In normal times,this question wouldn’t be of

much interest to most Indians. Butthese aren’t normal times.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the ongo-ing India-China tensions following thedeadliest border clash in over half acentury, have pushed the dependenciesand inter-dependencies of globalisationout in the open. This is more so in thepharmaceutical industry, where thestakes are a matter of life and death.

Indians have woken up to the otherside of the “India as a pharmacy to thedeveloping world” narrative. India islegitimately lauded for its low-costgeneric drugs. Medicines made in Indiasave millions of lives within and out-side this country. But today, these med-icines depend hugely on importedactive pharmaceutical ingredients(APIs): the building blocks or key partsof a drug. Indian pharma firms importaround 70 per cent of APIs from China.

Worryingly, for decades now, thedependence has been on one country:China. The reasons India lost ground toChina are well-documented and knownto industry insiders. Over the years,there were several reports of India’sdangerous dependence on China forraw materials and low-cost ingredients

for its medicines.“The Indian pharmaceutical indus-

try, especially our bulk drug industry,was well ahead of China till the 1990s.Chinese pharmaceutical companiessupported by their government set uplarge fermentation units to mass-pro-duce bulk drugs and intermediates and,at the same time also established inter-mediates and bulk drug facilities formanufacturing by chemical synthesisroute,” says a 2014 white paper by theIndian Drug Manufacturers’Association (IDMA).

“At one point, India had achieved sig-nificant capacity of penicillin and itsderivatives (6-aminopenicillinic acid or6 APA),” it adds. “Indian pharma com-panies who were manufacturing peni-cillin and macrolides through the fer-mentation route have discontinued orshut down as they became unviableagainst same product line manufac-tured in China mainly as the plants inChina have huge capacity, are givenuninterrupted power and low-coststeam, cheap finance and conduciveinfrastructure, including land avail-ability at low cost.” The white paperadded: “Security of supply is a matter ofnational importance.”

There have been numerous sugges-tions from IDMA and IPA (IndianPharmaceutical Alliance) and others

on what must be done to counter theChinese advantages. Not much came ofthe recommendations. The Indianpharma industry continued to rely onlow-cost Chinese APIs and focusing onthe formulations market.

Then the pandemic started. The aver-age Indian woke up to the mayhem of aglobal pandemic with headlines like“Prices of Paracetamol, other bulkdrugs jump as coronavirus crisisstokes fear of shortage”.

Arguably, India is not the only coun-try worried about being overly depen-dent on China for pharmaceuticalingredients. For over a decade now,China has been the largest producer ofAPIs in the world. “The US, Europe andJapan produced 90 per cent of theworld’s APIs until the mid-1990s. Butnow it is estimated Chinese manufac-turers make around 40 per cent of APIsused worldwide, and China and Indiaare the source of 75-80 per cent of theAPIs imported to the US,” wrote RoyHorner, senior lecturer at ManchesterUniversity’s Global DevelopmentInstitute, in an article this May in TheConversation.

In the past few months, there havebeen several high-level meetings, con-sultations, announcements and newgovernment initiatives to reduceIndia’s dependence on China for phar-

maceutical ingredients. In March, theCentre approved an investment of`9,940 crores to boost API production inthe country. Much of this — around`6,940 crores — is meant to be spentover the next eight years to incentiviseIndian industry produce 27 APIsthrough chemical synthesis and 26 viafermentation. The rest is for setting upthree “mega parks” to manufactureAPIs. This month, the department ofpharmaceuticals announced draftguidelines for the `6,940-crore produc-tion-linked incentive scheme to bolsterdomestic manufacturing of critical“key starting materials, drug interme-diates and APIs”.

Industry sources say things havestarted moving. Many Indian firms areplanning to tap into the new scheme.The department has given the go-aheadto Andhra Pradesh, Telangana andHimachal to develop mega parks.Several other states are keen to follow.

But environmental clearances andred tape remain matters of concern.Globally, the pharma industry’sdemand for less stringent environmen-tal regulations is a prickly issue.Industry insiders told this columnistmany pharma firms that wish to takeadvantage of the new initiatives haveinstalled modern effluent systems withzero liquid discharge and water recy-

cling. The question is: should these becleared and then checked by theauthorities?

China has stricter environmental reg-ulations now. “The Chinese environ-mental cleanup programme is shiftingthe corporate landscape in unexpectedways and stoking inflationary pressurein supply chains worldwide. The priceof key raw materials and excipients hasincreased by around 40 per cent in thelast four months,” says a 2019 report“The Impact of China’s EnvironmentalLaw on the Procurement of API andExcipients” by Beroe, a leadingprovider of procurement intelligenceand supplier compliance solutions.

Can India turn the world’s warinessof Chinese imports in strategic areas toits advantage?

We don’t know yet. It depends largelyon speedy implementation. In the caseof APIs, for example, it will depend onhow various measures that have beenannounced in recent weeks actuallypan out on the ground. Even in the best-case scenario, the results will be visibleonly in two or three years.

The writer focuses on developmentissues in India and emerging

economies. She can be reached atpatralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com.

Medicine andfrontiers: Thechallenge that

China poses

The ongoing cri-sis in Ladakh’sGalwan Valleyand the Covid-19 pandemic cri-

sis, both leading to theloss of precious Indianlives, have laid bare a crit-ical failure in India’ssecurity apparatus.

When the first reports ofthe Chinese intrusions inthe Galwan Valleyemerged in May this year,the immediate crisis over-shadowed a long-pendingcrisis in India’s security.What was also forgottenwas another ongoing cri-sis that is linked to thehappenings in Ladakh.

It is now clear that theGalwan Valley crisis andthe Covid-19 pandemicare threats to India’snational security andhave the same point oforigin — China. In bothcases, from the materialthat is now publicly avail-able, the two crises arejust months apart. TheChinese threat to Ladakhbegan soon after Augustlast year, when the Indiangovernment announcedthe abrogation of Article370 that gave a constitu-tionally mandated specialstatus to the erstwhilestate of Jammu andKashmir.

The first reports of theCovid-19 virus emergedas early as November lastyear from Wuhan.

In either case, it is perti-nent to note that India’sintelligence communityfailed to anticipate andmitigate either crisis. Thereasons for this are mani-fold, systemic and anational tragedy.Failed reforms: Fordecades India has beentrying to fix its intelli-gence apparatus and try-ing to make it relevant todeal with emergingthreats. Unfortunately,every attempt at reformhas been after a crisis,making them reactiverather than compre-hensive. After the humili-ating 1962 war defeat,

when India lost vastswathes of territory toChina, there was a majorattempt to reform India’sintelligence community.Between 1962 and 1968,the efforts of Ram NathKao, then head of theIntelligence Bureau’s for-eign division, led to thecreation of the Researchand Analysis Wing R.N.Kao was a visionary andhad a bold plan to changeIndia’s intelligence appa-ratus and give it a formand substance neverattempted before.However, his ideas wereborne out of the failuresof 1962 and failed to builda comprehensive app-roach that met the expec-tations and needs of allkey stakeholders.

The early success ofR&AW in the successfulcreation of Bangladeshbefore and after the 1971war with Pakistan andthe subsequent annexa-tion of Sikkim hid manygaps in Kao’s boldattempt to reform India’sintelligence community.

Similarly, the IB neverreally grew out of its colo-nial mindset. Created as atool to keep watch onIndian “natives” by acolonial power, itremained an integral toolof the Government ofIndia after Independence,shaped more by the per-sonal equation betweenits second director, B.N.Mullick, and PrimeMinister JawaharlalNehru. This is most visi-ble in the IB’s role in thegovernance of Jammuand Kashmir, where secu-rity and political ambi-tions intermixed to createan unhealthy nexus bet-ween the political masterand the intelligence pro-fessional. This problem ofattitude remains a majorbane in India’s intelli-gence community.

Naturally, several att-empts at reform havefailed. Be it the move tocreate a National Sec-urity Council and secre-

tariat in 1998-99, theKargil Review Committeein 1999-2000 followed bythe Group of Ministersreport or the NareshChandra task force fol-lowing the 26/11 attack onMumbai — they have allfailed to address coreissues that dog India’sintelligence community.Twin failures: Modernintelligence processes arebased on the twin pillarsof the collection of intelli-gence followed by arobust analysis process.In India, both continue tofail repeatedly.

As a result, while thereare elaborate intelligencestructures that couldhave anticipated China’snew aggression to changethe status quo in Ladakh,none of them worked toprevent the crisis. This isa political failure. No gov-ernment has ever wantedto plug the gaps and pro-fessionalise India’s intel-ligence community toensure that political inte-rests are served abovenational security objec-tives. As a result, not onlyhave successive govern-ments failed to assess thequality of the intelligencebeing collected externallyand internally, it hasnever looked at the ana-lytical processes either.For instance, both theGalwan Valley crisis andthe Covid-19 pandemicare failures of externaland internal intelligence.Not only did they fail toproduce any early warn-ings, they also failed toalert the country’s otherkey stakeholders whenthe crisis was emerging.

As a result, there weresystemic failures inanalysis. No one couldcomprehend what washappening as the Chineseintrusions deepened, orthe Covid-19 virus spreadrapidly through districtafter district. None of theagencies used any mod-ern methods for analysis,such as big data analyticsor even basic data visuali-

sation, which are nowcommon tools for the pri-vate sector and academiaacross the globe.

Since 2003, a pandemichas been formally recog-nised as a national securi-ty threat by the NationalSecurity Council and sub-sequently by the NationalDisaster ManagementAuthority. However,there are no dedicatedintelligence resourcesmade available in IB orRAW to actually dealwith it even today.

In the case of theChinese intrusions inLadakh, it is a traditionalthreat and thereforemakes the intelligencefailure even more alarm-ing. A quick reading ofthe Kargil ReviewCommittee and its chap-ter and recommendationon intelligence reform inIndia are shocking. Theyare shocking becauseeven 20 years after thereport, key reforms havefailed to take place.

In 1999, the committeehad noted: “The political,bureaucratic, militaryand intelligence estab-lishments appear to havedeveloped a vested inter-est in the status quo.National security man-agement recedes into thebackground at the time ofpeace and is consideredtoo delicate to be tam-pered with at the time ofwar and proxy war.” Italso noted: “There is noinstitutionalised mecha-nism for coordination orobjective-oriented inter-action between the agen-cies and consumers at dif-ferent levels. Similarly,there is no mechanism fortasking the agencies,monitoring their perfor-mance and reviewingtheir records to evaluatetheir quality. Nor is thereany oversight of the over-all functioning of theagencies.”

The Chinese intrusionsand the Covid-19 pandem-ic are urgent wake-upcalls to reform a brokenintelligence system.Unless India’s politicalmasters address this now,the country will continueto pay a very high price inblood.

The writer is a journal-ist based in New Delhi

and a founding partner ofCSDR Consulting

The Chinese intrusions and the

Covid-19 pandemicare urgent wake-up

calls to reform abroken intelligence

system

LETTERSSPACE FORPRIVATE SECTORIt’s interesting to notethat the Union Cabinethas cleared a proposalfacilitating the privatesector to participate inspace activities. Privatesector is known for itsindustriousness and abili-ty to achieve maximumoutput incurring mini-mum cost. It remains tobe seen how they step upto the plate in the spacesector, which is capital-intensive. Communicationis key to developmentand one hopes that theco-existence of both pri-vate and public sector inthe space industry wouldusher in a revolution inthe space economy andbenefit mankind.

S. RamakrishnasayeeChennai

Subhani

India to pay high pricefor intelligence lapses

TURMP’S JINGOISMAPROPOS THE editorial (US workvisa ban is openly xenophobic, June 25),it pummels judiciously on the Trump’sthoughtless governance, whose soleaim is to retain the chair for the secondconsecutive term resulting in hisimposing visa curbs, especially on theIT workers, despite his own staff call-ing the his power a damp squib. It is anundeniable fact that America standstop among all the developed nationsnot because of its local intelligence butbecause of foreign brains who sweatout for its growth, so to say, it hasturned an El Dorado because of manyimmigrants. Sure, as opined, Trump’spretentious display of jingoism andshowering xenophobic seeds are notgoing to help him even an iota, as hehas already caused damage with hismismanaged policies drawing ire fromall quarters. God save the US!

E.S. ChandrasekaranChennai

SELF-BELIEFTHIS REFERS to your report Cricketkick (June 25). Without doubt the firstlove cannot be forgotten. So is the casewith any maiden victory and our crick-et team maiden World Cup win in 1983,under the able leadership of legendaryKapil Dev, who led from the front.Definitely that victory was possibleonly due to our captain’s self-belief toconquer any top team. He had able sol-diers, who turned in all round perfor-mances to topple the then world cham-pion West Indies team, led by CliveLloyd.

Vinay MahadevanChennai

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

R. MOHANResident Editor

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Saikat Datta

PatralekhaChatterjee

Dev 360

Firm aims for inclusive vision of beauty

HUL removes ‘Fair’from Fair & Lovely

pg 7FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JUNE 25

While China is graduallyexiting the footwear busi-ness due to rising labourcost, India is unable to takeadvantage of it, as theindustry is still dependenton China for components.Large footwear companiescollaborating with smallcomponent suppliers andcreating an ecosystem canhelp in large-scale manu-facturing, finds industry.

Increasing factory wageshas seen footwear manu-facturing gradually shift-ing from China to coun-tries like Vietnam,Indonesia and Cambodia.Post-Covid-19, internation-al brands will further lookat diversifying productionto avoid risk of concentra-tion.

Though Indian footwearindustry has naturaladvantages like availabili-ty of leather and cheaplabour, it could not convertthem into a comparativeadvantage in production.While China produces 13.5billion pairs of footwear,India's production is just 2billion pairs.

India still imports compo-nents and finished goodsfrom overseas. Chinaaccounts for nearly 70 per

cent of the footwear andfootwear componentimports by India followedby Vietnam, Hong Kong,Cambodia and Indonesia.

"International brandsprefer China as it has thescale of manufacturing

and the entire ecosystem tosupport footwear produc-tion, including compo-nents, leather as well asskilled labour. Even thosewho buy processed leatherfrom us, want it to be sentto China for production offootwear and other arti-cles," said Rafeeq Ahmed,president of All-India Skinand Hide Tanners andMerchants Associa-tion.Further, India is still lag-ging behind in ladiesfootwear and high fashionleather products.

The components keepchanging in footwear man-ufacturing and the indus-try has to be in tune withthe changing trends in thefashion world. The govern-ment is working on aPhased ManufacturingProgramme to build anecosystem of componentsfor footwear and leatherproducts to curb imports.

"Generally, the govern-ment increases duties tocurb imports and to pro-mote domestic manufac-turing. In the case offootwear, a sudden hike induties of components willbe counter-productive. Weneed to build the ecosys-tem gradually and till itfully develops, duties haveto be retained at currentlevels,” he said.

Footwear needs ecosystemto scale up, reduce imports

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JUNE 25

After Johnson & Johnsonwithdrew a few fairnessproduct brands, HindustanUnilever has decided todrop 'Fair' from its popularbrand 'Fair & Lovely.' TheFMCG companies decisionto be more sensitive aboutracial stereotypes come ata time when the 'BlackLives Matter' campaignhas spread globally andstarted raising awarenessabout skin colour-relateddiscrimination in India.The move is likely to see amajor churn in the $450million fairness productsmarket in India.

"Taking forward thebrand's journey towards amore inclusive vision ofbeauty, the company willstop using the word 'fair' inthe brand name 'Fair andLovely'. The new name isawaiting regulatory appro-vals and we expect tochange the name in thenext few months," HULsaid.

The brand's vision is toadopt a holistic approachto beauty that cares forpeople and that must beinclusive and diverse'—foreveryone, everywhere. Thebrand, valued more thanRs 2,000 crore, is commit-ted to celebrating all skintones, the company said.

In early 2019, the brand'scommunication movedaway from the benefits offairness, whitening andskin lightening, towardsglow, even tone, skin clari-ty and radiance, which areholistic measures of ahealthy skin. HUL also

removed from Fair andLovely packaging wordssuch as 'fair/fairness','white/whitening', and'light/lightening' thatcould indicate a fairness-led transformation.

"We are making our skincare portfolio more inclu-sive and want to lead thecelebration of a morediverse portrayal of beau-ty. In 2019, we removed thecameo with two faces aswell as the shade guidesfrom the packaging of Fairand Lovely and the brandcommunication pro-gressed from fairness toglow, which is a more holis-tic and inclusive measureof healthy skin. Thesechanges were very wellreceived by our con-sumers," Sanjiv Mehta,chairman and managingdirector, HUL said.

HUL continue to evolveits advertising to featurewomen of different skintones, representative of thevariety of beauty acrossIndia.

Last week, Johnson &Johnson stopped selling itsskin whitening productrange under the Clean &Clear brand in India. It has

stopped shipping the prod-ucts to retail stores. J&Jhad also pulled out theNeutrogena Fine Fairnessline in from the Indianmarket.

The Indian fairnesscream market, valued $450million, is dominated byHUL, Procter & Gambleand Garnier. There are alsocompanies like Emami,Lotus Herbals, Himalaya,among others, who havebeen tapping into this mar-ket 'promising fairness'.

"HUL has been chasingthe "fairness" opportunityin the market for 45 years.Promoting fair skin ispolitically incorrect andsocially misplaced. The catwas let loose among thepigeons by a smaller playerlike Johnson & Johnsonand this forced even thebigger player to change. Sowe will see other brandsalso rebranding them-selves in the near future,"said brand expert HarishBijoor.

The fairness market itselfis set to see a lot of churn.According to Bijoor, thebrands will not lose any-thing, provided the reposi-tioning is done well.

SUDARSHAN VARADHAN& NIDHI VERMACHENNAI/NEW DELHI, JUNE 25

The government is con-sidering imposing animport tax of 20-25 percent on solar modulesand 15 per cent on solarcells for a year begin-ning in August, powerminister R.K. Singhsaid on Thursday.

Currently, there is nocustoms duty on impo-rts of solar cells andmodules, but there’s asafeguard duty to pro-tect local industrywhich expires in July.

“In the second year,we are looking toimpose a 40 per cent taxon solar modules,”Singh said in a virtualnews conference onThursday, adding thatcells will be taxed at 25per cent in the secondyear.

India imports most ofits solar cells and mod-ules from China,.

Electricity generationfrom non-fossil fuelsources has been steadi-ly rising and is expectedto reach 40 per cent by2022, and over half oftotal output by 2030,Singh said. — Reuters

Govt mulls 20-25% duty onsolar modules

New Delhi, June 25:Some exporters haveraised concerns overconsignments beingheld back by Hong Kongand Chinese customs inresponse to a similaraction allegedly beingtaken by Indian author-ities at Chennai port,exporters body Fieosaid on Thursday.

Fieo urged the com-merce ministry to takeup the matter withCBIC to see if any offi-cial communication hasbeen sent to customsregarding scrutiny ofChinese consignmentshere. —PTI

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 34,842.10 -0.08Nifty 50 10,288.90 -0.16S&P 500* 3,038.90 -0.37Dollar (`) 75.65 0.09Pound Sterling (`) 94.13 0.40Euro (`) 85.04 0.58Gold (10gm)* (`) 49,072▼293 0.59Brent crude ($/bbl)* 40.75 0.44IN 10-Yr bond yield 5.891 -0.027US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.663 -0.021

* As of 9:30 PM IST

Indian money inSwiss banksdown 6% in 2019Funds parked by Indian indi-viduals and enterprises inSwiss banks, including throughIndia-based branches, fell near-ly 6 per cent in 2019 to 899million Swiss francs (Rs 6,625crore), annual data from theSwiss National Bank (SNB)showed. The total amount ofCHF 899.46 mn, included CHF550 mn (over Rs 4,000 cr) ofcustomer deposits and CHF 88mn (Rs 650 cr) held throughother banks.

EXPORTERS FEARBACKLASH

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JUNE 25

Faced with surplus pro-duction of personal protec-tive equipment (PPE) kits,apparel exporters haveasked the government topermit exports of the

much sough after kits.Some competitors ofIndian apparel exportershave already started tap-ping the $60 billion globalPPE market.

In less than four months,the apparel industry hasscaled up the production of

PPE kits from zero to 8lakh units per day. Thereare over 500 units thatmakes PPE kits.

According to AEPCchairman A. Sakthivel, thegovernment used to pro-cure 4 to 4.5 lakh units aday earlier. Now, its pro-

curement has come downand the industry has sur-plus quantity of around 5lakh units per day. Hencethe industry has asked thegovernment to lift the banon exports of PPE kits,which was enforced whenthere was scarcity.

PPE kits hit 8 lakh from zero, now face glut

TAMINGthe Dragon

We are making ourskin care portfoliomore inclusive and

want to lead the celebration of a morediverse portrayal ofbeauty”

— Sanjiv Mehta, CMD, HUL

Aries: A spiritual awakening is indicated forsome. Time to take a break, relax with yourfamily, before stress pulls you down. Help fromfriends will infuse extra energy.

Taurus: Travel brings joy and expands yourbusiness. The day brings new businessopportunities and hectic socialising with peo-ple of influence.

Gemini: Children bring laurels. Speculativedeals may seem lucrative, but may not proveso. Property disputes will go in your favour.Financial stress will fade away.Cancer: Old friends return, bringing backmemories. Good advice and support will pourin from all quarters, helping you move aheadwith pending plans.Leo: You will re-look at your strengths andweakness. You’ll be on the look-out for morework and start focusing on a larger gamut ofactivities.

Virgo: You will pursue hobbies. You will avoidgetting into a serious relationship. Do test thewaters before taking the final plunge. You willbe realistic about challenges on the workfront.

Sagittarius: Money matters are in the forefront.Deals, partnerships and negotiations will pro-ceed as anticipated. Some shifts are likely.You tend to be in a spiritual mode.Capricorn: There will be peace at work and athome. Your work load will ease. Old contactsand associations will bring the peace and har-mony you crave.

Aquarius: Avoid unnecessary tensions. Yourextra sensory perception may reveal thingsbefore they actually take place. You feelrelate better.

Pisces: Social relations will strengthen you. Yourconcentration is on people, but finances andwork are important too. Love and adventure areon cards, and parties as well. You will feel neg-lected and over-sensitive about an issue though.

Your day today

Arjun kapoor is a Bollyood actor. He initially worked as anassistant director on his father’s productions No Entry and madehis acting debut in Ishaqzaade in 2012. He is known for his roles

in 2 States, Gunday, Finding Fanny, Ki and Ka.

You share your b’day with

COFFEE-BREAK

Across1.Squirmed (8)

6. Sword (4)7. Open-air meal (6)9. Claw (5)

11. Navigation aid (5)12. Drive forward (5)13. Intended (5)16. Water spout (6)18. Candle cord (4)19. Devise, bring about (8)

Down1. Fighting sport (9)2. Perfect (5)3. Face feature (4)4. Red lace (anag) (7)5. Travel on snow (3)8. Custodian (9)

10. Supervise (7)14. Lewis Carroll

character (5)15. Medicine (4)17. Tree (3)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 1.Wriggled, 6. Epee,7. Picnic, 9. Talon,11. Radar, 12.Impel, 13. Meant,16. Geyser, 18.Wick, 19.Engineer.

Down: 1. Wrestling,2. Ideal, 3. Lips, 4.Declare, 5. Ski, 8.Caretaker, 10.Oversee, 14. Alice,15. Drug, 17. Elm.

TODAY’S RATINGS: 15 AVERAGE; 17GOOD; 19 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

How many words of four ormore letters can you makefrom the letters shown in

today’s puzzle? In making aword, each letter may be used

once only. Each word mustcontain the letter at the top ofthe pyramid. There should beat least one nine letter word.

Plurals, foreign words andproper names are not allowed.

ANSWERS:duff, duffel, duffer, fend, fern, feud, fled,flue, fuel, fund, furl, furled, refund, rueful, ruffle,ruffled, unfurl, unfurled, UNRUFFLED

FU U R

F D L N E

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

Usually, when you cometo a road junction, youknow whether to turn

left or right. Your GPS will berepeatedly telling you. Also, ifyou disobey the GPS, you willbe told how to rectify yourerror.At the bridge table, some-times GPS won't help,because the way you will go inone suit may be decided bywhat happens in another suit.In today's deal, South pushedaggressively into six spades.

What should he have doneafter West led a heart?When North rebid one no-trump, showing a balanced12-14 points, South used theGerber ace-asking conven-tion.If you are going to bid up, youhave to play well or get lucky -- or both.Here, South had a possibleclub loser, but perhaps thefinesse would work. He alsohad two or three possiblespade losers -- he needed

some luck there, but howmuch?There was more than one wayto play the trump suit,depending upon how manylosers could be tolerated.Before touching that suit,declarer needed to knowabout clubs. So, he took thefirst trick on the board andimmediately played a club tohis queen.If the finesse had lost, Southcould not have afforded atrump loser. He would have

hoped that East held exactlyking-doubleton.Here, though, the club finessewon. Now declarer couldafford one trump loser, butnot two. So, he cashed thespade ace. When the kingdropped, South claimed. But ifhe had not seen the king, hewould have returned to theboard and played a trumptoward his queen.

Copyright United FeatureSyndicate

(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIPALDER

DO YOU

TURN LEFT

OR RIGHT?

jumble

C A L V I N A N D H O B B E S | B i l l W a t t e r s o n

B L O N D I E | D e a n Y o u n g a n d J o h n M a r s h a l l

A N D Y C A P P | R e g S m y t h e

T A R Z A N | E d g a r R i c e B u r r o u g h s

T H E W I Z A R D O F I D | P a r k e r a n d H a r t s d

A R C H I E | B i l l H e n r y S c a r p e l l i & c r a i g b o l d m a n

Libra: You will exercise skill and tact to balanceincome and expenditure. Quick gains are unlikely.Conflicts and showdowns are likely at work, butyou will settle most amicably.Scorpio: You are on the right track. You mayfeel exploited. However, your fortitude comesto your rescue and you win. Prayers, the occultand the metaphysical draw your attention.

Printed & Published by K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses

situated at SP-3 Developed Plot,Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.

Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI Reg.No. TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re1. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in

whole or in part without written per-mission of The Editor, Financial

Chronicle ® is prohibited.

GAMES pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | FRIDAY | 26 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

SHORT

RASQUINHARAISES MONEYFOR THE NEEDY

TAKES

Tokyo Olympicsgets $3.3b boost

Vaishali wins,Humpy bows out

New York Citymarathon is off

TTookkyyoo:: Local sponsors havechipped in a record $3.3 billion

to support the postponedTokyo Olympics. That’s at leasttwo times more than any previ-

ous Olympics, and it amountsto almost 60 per cent of the

income for the privately fundedoperating budget. Another 14

per cent of the income is bud-geted from ticket sales, which

could be in jeopardy withempty venues a possibility

because of the Coronavirus.With the games delayed for a

year, sponsors will be asked tosign up again. Tokyo

spokesman Masa Takaya saidtalks would begin next month.“We are planning to start sit-

ting together with those com-panies, including the arrange-ment and content of the con-tract, in the very near future,”

Takaya said this week in an on-line briefing with reporters. A

poll published earlier thismonth by Japanese broadcast-

ers NHK said two-thirds ofsponsors are undecided about

extending for another year.

CChheennnnaaii:: Young IndianGrandmaster R. Vaishali pulled

off an upset win over formerworld champion Antaoneta

Stefanova in first leg of FIDEchess.com Women Speed Chess

Championships but the coun-try’s top player Koneru Humpy

bowed out in the opener.The Chennai-based Vaishali

will take on International MasterMunkhzul Turmunkh of

Mongolia in the quarterfinals.Vaishali registered a 6-5 win

over Bulgarian opponent lateon Wednesday after having

beaten strong players likeValentina Gunina and Alina

Kashlinskaya in the qualifyingstages.

Reigning world rapid champi-on Humpy meanwhile went

down 4.5-5.5 to her Vietnameserival in the first round.

The scores were level at 3.5points after the first two seg-ments but the Vietnam player

won the first two games of thefinal phase to secure a spot in

the last eight.

NNeeww YYoorrkk:: The New York CityMarathon has been cancelled

because of the Coronaviruspandemic, with organisers and

city officials deciding that hold-ing the race on November 1

would be too risky.Organisers on Wednesday

announced the cancellation ofthe 50th anniversary edition of

the world’s largest marathonafter coordinating with the

mayor’s office and deciding therace posed too many healthand safety concerns for run-

ners, volunteers, spectators andothers.

“While the marathon is aniconic and beloved event in our

city, I applaud New York RoadRunners for putting the healthand safety of both spectators

and runners first,” Mayor Bill deBlasio said in a statement.

Last year’s marathon includeda world record 53,640 finishers,with half marathon record-hold-er Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenyawinning her debut at the 26.2-

mile distance. — AP

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Saddened by thefinancial hardship being faced

by the hockey community amidthe Covid-19 pandemic, formerIndia captain Viren Rasquinhahas raised `22 lakh to be dis-tributed as one-time benefitamong players, coaches andgroundsmen working at the

grassroots level.The fund has been raised in

just one week through a jointinitiative of non-profit organisa-

tions Olympic Gold Quest, ofwhich Rasquinha is a Director

and CEO, and Go SportsFoundation. They named theinitiative #LetsStickTogether.As per the initiative, `10,000each will be given as a one-time grant to 220 identified

beneficiaries to tide over thecrisis which arose because of

the Coronavirus-forced nation-wide lockdown.

“I was talking to my formerteammate Conroy Remedios,

the coach of RepublicansSports club in Mumbai, which isalso my childhood club and his

wife Dipika Murthy, who is aformer India goalkeeper and

came to know how bad the sit-uation was at the grassroot

level,” Rasquinha said about theinitiative.

— PTI

Connor takes centrestageClare first female president of MCC in 233-year historyLondon, June 25:Former England captainClare Connor is set tobecome the first femalepresident of theMarylebone Cricket Club(MCC), guardian of thelaws of the game, in its233-year history.

The 43-year-old was onWednesday named as thesuccessor to current chiefKumar Sangakkara, whosteps down from the postnext year.

The nomination ofConnor, who is currentlythe ECB’s managingdirector of women’s crick-et, was made bySangakkara himself dur-ing Wednesday’s AnnualGeneral Meeting.

Connor will take up thepost on October 1 nextyear, pending approval bythe club’s members, asSangakkara has beeninvited to remain in therole for a second twelve-month tenure due to theimpact of Covid-19 on thecricketing landscape.

“I am deeply honouredto be named the nextPresident of MCC. Crickethas enriched my life sodeeply already, and now ithands me this wonderfulprivilege,” said Connor,who was made anHonorary Life Member ofMCC in 2009.

“We often need to lookback to see how far we’vecome. I made my first visitto Lord’s as a starry-eyed,cricket-obsessed nine-year-old girl at a timewhen women were notwelcome in the LongRoom. Times have

changed,” the formerEngland captain added.

“Now I find myselfentrustesd with thisremarkable opportunity.The opportunity to play apart in helping MCC,cricket’s most influentialclub, to thrive and grow inan even more modern andinclusive future,” Clarefurther added.

Connor made herEngland debut in 1995 atthe age of 19, and tookover the captaincy in 2000,leading England at Lord’s

against Australia a yearlater. An allrounder whobowled left-arm spin,Connor led Englandwomen to their first Ashestriumph in 42 years, over-seeing a 1-0 series win in2005.

The Ashes win was theculmination of her six-year stint as captain ofher country. She retiredfrom the game thereafter.

She was appointed as theECB’s head of women’scricket in 2007, havingpreviously taught English

Literature and been headof PR at Brighton Collegealongside her cricketingcareer.

Aside from her ECBduties, Connor has beenChair of the ICC Women’sCricket Committee since2011. She has also servedas a director on the boardof Sussex Cricket andSport England.

“I am thrilled that Clarehas accepted the invita-tion to become the nextPresident of MCC. Theclub has a significant role

to play in cricket’s globalappeal and with her influ-ence, I am sure she willmake a considerable con-tribution to MCC,” saidSangakkara.

“With the extended lead-in time until she takesoffice, she will have animportant part to play aspresident designate,”added the former SriLanka captain, whobecame the club’s firstnon-British presidentwhen he assumed office inOctober 2019. — PTI

DDCC CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTCHENNAI, JUNE 25

Former India all-rounderRobin Singh was fined andhis car was seized foralleged lockdown viola-tion. According to thepolice, the incident hap-pened on Saturday whenRobin travelled on the EastCoast Road to purchasevegetables. The car hasbeen seized and taken tothe Shastri Nagar policestation in the city, thesources said.

“He was very polite anddidn’t put on any airs. Weseized his vehicle for vio-lating the lockdown rules,”an agency quoted policeofficial.

Chennai has been undertotal lockdown since June

19 for 12 days after a spurtin coronavirus cases.

According to lockdownrules, people are advised tomove only within 2km oftheir residences to buyessentials and told not touse their vehicles.

NNEEHHAA SSUURRAANNAA II DDCCChennai, June 25

Chess is one of the veryfew sports which has notbeen impacted severely bythe outbreak ofCoronavirus. Despite thelockdown, chess playershave been actively partici-pating in online tourna-ments, from the comfort oftheir living rooms.

India’s youngestGrandmaster D. Gukeshspends the whole day play-ing online events with anaim to improve his game.

“My short term goal is toreach 2,600 ELO rating andI hope I become a Worldchampion someday,” saidthe 13-year-old with an Elorating of 2542.

Gukesh was just 12 years,seven months and 17 daysold when he became thecountry’s youngestGrandmaster and secondyoungest in the world.Earlier this year, he wonthe Cannes Open inFrance.

Gukesh who was earliercoached by M.S. Bhaskarcurrently trains under GMVishnu Prasanna. Vishnusaid Gukesh is working onthe mental aspects of hisgame. “Even during thislockdown, he is thinkingabout chess all the time.We are working on the psy-chological aspect as it’simportant treat successand failures in the sameway. He should feel alrighteven when he loses a

game,” added Vishnu. Gukesh recently attended

an eventful camp organ-ised by former Worldchampion VladimirKramnik and BorisGelfand. “VishwanathanAnand and MagnusCarlsen are my favouriteplayers. I had the luxury ofvisiting Anand sir’s houselast February and discussthe game. It was a memo-rable day,” said Gukesh.

Coming from a family ofdoctors, Gukesh’s rapidprogress has impressed thechess fraternity.

“He was just six or sevenyears old when my wifeand I used to sit with himand play chess. When wethought he was becomingmore involved with thegame, we enrolled him inan academy. After playingin several tournaments, heonly became better at it. Tobe honest, we never expect-ed him to become theyoungest Grandmaster,”said his father, Rajnikanth,an ENT specialist.

Robin’s car seized forflouting lockdown rule

Liverpool run over PalaceLiverpool, June 25:Liverpool is on the vergeof ending its 30-yearleague title drought aftercruising to a 4-0 victoryover Crystal Palace withan attacking display thatexemplified a dominantcampaign.

Jurgen Klopp’s teamcan even clinch thePremier League titlewithout playing ifManchester City fails tobeat Chelsea on Thursdaynight.

Liverpool later playCity, the second-placeddefending champion,next Thursday.

All that matters toKlopp is collecting themaximum two morepoints from sevenremaining games toclinch the trophy.

Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a freekick to start the routagainst Palace andMohamed Salah swept inthe second before halftime from Fabinho’sdinked ball.

Fabinho powered in thethird from distance in the55th minute and SadioMane raced onto Salah’sthroughball to complete acounterattack in the 69thto make it 16 wins in 16home games in the leaguethis season.

AANNTTHHOONNYY NNEETTSS UUNNIITTEEDD’’SSFFIIRRSSTT ’’TTRRIICCKK IINN 77 YYEEAARRSS

Meanwhile, Convertingfrom a winger to a centralstriker is bringing thebest out of AnthonyMartial at ManchesterUnited this season.

The French forwardscored his first hat trickfor United in the 3-0 winover Sheffield United inthe Premier League onWednesday, taking histally in all competitionsto 19 goals his highest inone season since joiningfrom Monaco in 2015.

It was the first hat trickby a United player sinceAlex Ferguson retired in2013 and the type of fin-ishes Martial deliveredshowed he is growing inhis new role.

Martial’s first two goalscame at either end of thefirst half.

— AFP

World title is mygoal, says Gukesh

New Delhi, June 25: The Sports Ministry onThursday withdrew provisional annual recognitiongranted to 54 National Sports Federations (NSFs) onthe directions of the Delhi High Court, which asked itto maintain status quo till further orders.

The court on Wednesday observed that the ministrydidn’t comply with its February 7 order and took thedecision without “informing the court in advance”.

The court’s February 7 order had come after a writpetition, filed by a lawyer.

“...to this Ministry’s letter of even dated 02.06.2020regarding Renewal of annual recognition of NationalSports Federations for the year 2020 and to say that incompliance of the order dated 24.06.2020 passed by theHon’ble Delhi Court, the Department’s letter of evennumber dated 02.06.2020 granting provisional annualrecognition of 54 NSFs stands withdrawn,” SportsMinistry Deputy Secretary SPS Tomar wrote in a let-ter to SAI Director General Sandeep Pradhan. — PTI

MINISTRY WITHDRAWS 54 NSF’s RECOGNITION

RAMOS CURLSREAL TO TOP OFSPANISH TABLEMadrid, June 25: SergioRamos’ sensational free-kick helped Real Madridmove back aboveBarcelona to the top of LaLiga as they defeated RealMallorca 2-0 onWednesday.

Ramos brushed asideGareth Bale to take theshot and justified hisclaim with a curlingstrike into the top cornerafter 19-year-old ViniciusJunior had put Madrid infront in the first half.

Madrid’s victory at theAlfredo di StefanoStadium means they arelevel again on points withBarcelona but sit abovetheir title rivals in thetable due to a superiorhead-to-head record.

SSOOCCIIEEDDAADD HHAANNDD VVIIGGOOTTHHIIRRDD--SSTTRRAAIIGGHHTT LLOOSSSS

Real Sociedad lost 1-0 toCelta Vigo to remain win-less after the pandemicbreak and lose ground inthe fight for ChampionsLeague places.

It was the third straightloss for Sociedad afteropening with a drawwhen the league resumed.Forward Iago Aspasscored Celta’s winner byconverting a penalty justbefore halftime. It was theteam’s second consecu-tive victory, after their 6-0rout of Alavs. — Agencies

ATALANTA EDGEPAST LAZIO INITALIAN LEAGUEMilan, June 25: Title-chasing Lazio sufferedtheir first Italian leaguedefeat in nine months,falling 2-3 at Atalanta onWednesday.

Lazio, playing their firstgame since February 29after the Coronaviruslockdown, thanked aMarten De Roon own-goalfor putting them aheadafter six minutes inBergamo with SergejMilinkovic-Savic adding asuperb second from dis-tance five minutes later.

But Robin Gosens head-ed fourth-placed Atalantaback into the game sevenminutes before the breakwith Ruslan Malinovskyirifling in the equaliser on66 minutes.

Jose Luis Palomino thensealed the home win 10minutes from time. Lazio— bidding for their thirdItalian league title after1974 and 2000 — have lostjust three times in theleague this season.— AFP

Former England captain Clare Connor, who is all set to become the first female pres-ident of the Marylebone Cricket Club, poses in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)Member’s Stand at the Lord’s Cricket Ground pavilion in this file photo.

Sheffield United goalkeeper Simon Moore (in green) vies for the ball withManchester United’s Odion Ighalo (in red) during their English Premier Leaguematch at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday. United won 3-0. — AP

We often need to lookback to see how farwe’ve come. I made myfirst visit to Lord’s as astarry-eyed, cricket-obsessed nine-year-oldgirl at a time whenwomen were not wel-come in the Long Room.Times have changed.

����Now I find myselfentrusted with thisremarkable opportunity.The opportunity to playa part in helping MCC,cricket’s most influentialclub, to thrive and growin an even more modernand inclusive future.

����I am deeply honoured tobe named the nextPresident of MCC.Cricket has enriched mylife so deeply already,and now it hands methis wonderful privilege.

— CLARE CONNOR

Ex-England captain

At 15, Romero youngestto play Spanish leagueMadrid, June 25: RealMallorca’s Luka Romeromade history onWednesday by becomingthe youngest player everto play in Spanish league,aged 15 years and 219days.

After training withMallorca’s senior teamfor the first time on June1, Romero, who plays asan attacking midfielder,came on as a substitute inthe 83rd minute of histeam’s 0-2 loss at RealMadrid.

“It was an unforgettablemoment. Thank you toeveryone on the technicalstaff and at Real Mallorcafor giving me this oppor-tunity. I will never forgetthis day. It was a shame tolose but we keep believ-

ing,” Romero wrote onTwitter after the game.

Romero beat the recordheld for 81 years byFrancisco Bao Rodriguezwho played on December31, 1939 aged 15 and 255days for Celta Vigoagainst Sevilla.

Mallorca coach VicenteMoreno was seen talkingto Romero before hebrought the youngster onas a substitute.

“I tried to just keep himcalm,” Moreno said.

Romero was born inMexico and could alsoplay for Spain but hisfamily is Argentinianand he has already repre-sented Argentina atunder-15 level.

“My whole family isArgentinian and mydream is to wear thenational team’s colours,”Romero told theArgentinian FootballAssociation in 2018.

Romero also had trialswith Barcelona but joinedMallorca in 2011.

— AFP

LLuukkaa RRoommeerroo

���� Gukesh was just 12years, seven monthsand 17 days old whenhe became thecountry’s youngestGrandmaster andsecond youngest inthe world. Earlier thisyear, he won theCannes Open inFrance.

Live on TVIITTAALLIIAANN LLEEAAGGUUEE

JJuuvveennttuuss vvss LLeecccceefrom 1.15 am (Saturday)

on Sony Ten 2

SSPPAANNIISSHH LLEEAAGGUUEE

SSeevviillllaa vvss RReeaallVVaallllaaddoolliidd

from 1.30 am (Saturday)on LaLiga page on

Facebook

Ex-cricketer Robin Singh’s car.

D. Gukesh and his family with Viswanathan Anand.

Printed & Published byK. Sudhakar on behalf of

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited and Printed at

Deccan Chronicle Presses situated at SP 3, Developed Plot, Industrial Estate,

Guindy, Chennai - 600 032. RNI Registration No: TN ENG/2005/14987 Ph Nos: 22254747, 22254748, 22254750,

22254751Editor: ADITYA SINHA

Regd. No.TNENG/2010/35692

NEIL PPATE

DECCAN CHRONICLE

Be it a soiree in London or aboard meeting in Switzerland,all heads turn and conversations

stop mid-sentence when KaramHinduja (29) walks in. The suave anddebonair CEO of the Hinduja Bank,Geneva tries to stay away from flash-bulbs, but the peeping paparazzi will doanything to ‘capture’ him.A patron of art, culture and a firmbeliever in the power of storytelling,Karam grew up in a household wherehe was encouraged to constantly broad-en his horizons, read widely and seekout new experiences.

A SCION & STORYTELLERLittle wonder that the Hinduja scionfeels storytelling today must stand for

much more than just entertainment – itmust set the tone for social discourse.“Storytelling is how we open people’sminds and create deeper human con-

nection that cuts through the superfi-cial differences of people. It has thepower to reach the core of what makeseach of us human — the love, fear andhope that we all experience regardlessof where we come from. Through mywork with Hinduja Bank, I want to tell anew story about the meaning of wealthfor the next generation – that true valuelies not just in financial returns, but inprotecting people and our planet,” saysKaram, sitting in front of an iconic M.F.Husain painting. Not many know thatin a friendship spanning severaldecades, M.F. Husain and Karam’s 84-year-old grandfather Srichand Hinduja(aka SP) collaborated to bring out someof Husain’s best works that the artworld has ever seen — a series of paint-ings capturing the essence of variousreligions.

TURN TO PAGE 3

‘Sometimes it’s ok towait for the opportunity’

PG | 2 GLAM SHAM

Someone to bank on

My grandfather’s belief that ourdharma is to advance the cause of

humankind is deeply ingrained inme. His philosophy of ‘I work sothat I can give’ has coloured my

own approach to the bankKaram Hinduja,

CEO Hinduja Bank, Geneva

The Upper Crust● According to the Sunday Times RichList, the Hinduja family is worth £16 billion

● The Hindujas are a permanent featurein the global list of rich families

● Karam is the grandson of SP Hinduja,chairman of Hinduja Group

● He is a voracious reader, music buff andCEO of Hinduja Bank, Geneva

● A series of M.F. Husain paintings adornthe walls of family’s Swiss bank

● The Hindujas’ Carlton Terraces mansionoverlooks St. James Park outsideBuckingham Palace

HHee’’ss ssuuaavvee,, ddeebboonnaaiirr aanndd aa rreecclluussee,, bbuutt wwhheenn hhee ssppeeaakksseevveerryybbooddyy lliisstteennss;; HHiinndduujjaa sscciioonn KKaarraamm HHiinndduujjaa ssppeeaakkss

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EXCLUSIVEFFRRIIDDAAYY || 2266 JJUUNNEE 22002200

PG7

‘‘II WWAANNTT SSTTOORRYYTTEELLLLIINNGGTTHHAATT CCEELLEEBBRRAATTEESS

WWOOMMEENN’’

ChennaiCHRONICLE

LIPIKA VVARMA

Sushmita Sen, who was missing from the celluloidscene for many years now, is back with the crimedrama Aarya. This show has brought her right back

into the limelight. When asked why she stayed away fromacting all these years, with a light signature chuckle, shesays, “Because nobody was offering me Aarya.” After atiny pause, however, she elaborates, “I needed this to comeback, and how! I chose this not because it’s an authorpacked role but because we have a fantastic team and aplatform like Disney Hotstar. It was all fabulous — thedirector and co-stars and all of that. So to answer yourquestion, it takes a lot for an actor to get an opportunitylike this one, so sometimes, it is okay if you just have towait for it.”

But being away for so long, did the insecurity of “out ofsight, out of mind” ever bother her?

Sushmita simply laughs in her mesmerising style. “Forme, it is the other way around because I always think dis-tance makes the heart grow founder,” she puts in. “So no,staying away from the camera was not something thatbrought any sense of insecurities in me. Even as I waswaiting for a good film or work to come by, my life has somany other purposes. I have been working on multiplethings. Yes, it took me a while to come back, because ofwhich I even lost many people who managed me who prob-ably thought ‘out of sight is out of mind’, but this come-back was worth all of it. Honestly, I really think peopleshould stop worrying whether your time is gone or it has-n’t come yet because all said and done, these are just per-ceptions, really.”

MUSICALLY INCLINED

Not many know thatSushmita is also a musiclover. “I thrive on music.Music inspires methrough every momentof my life, no matterwhat emotion. I love anymusic, be it jazz or popor any genre. I enjoy lis-tening to any song andmusic from anywhere

around the world.Whenever the unit people

come to me to narrate thescene in the van or on thesets, there was music playing.When I was busy doing myhair and makeup, there wasmusic playing. So, yes, inshort, I am a music buff.”

FINDING HERSELF IN HER CHARACTER

So what are the two aspects of Aarya, the characterSushmita portray in the series, she would imbibe inher real life, we ask her.

“When one considers the pain and sorrow and theethos of loss, which shatter a world, one would

expect women to break down and breakthings and not get out of her bed. Aarya’s char-

acter, on the other hand, is internalised because sheremains in the roughest of moments thinking shedoesn’t want to shove her baggage of pain on oth-ers. Then again, not carrying the baggage alsobecomes overwhelming to everyone around you,

that is. You can contain the pain and deal withit and not just suffer. That aspect of herrang deep in me,” she articulates. The sec-

ond aspect of the character was about beinga great mother, she tells us. “Being a good

mother doesn’t mean you have to molly-coddle your kids (or for that yourfamily members),” she explains.“Sometimes, you need to leave

your sick child to do what you needto do to keep them alive. And that is

not a projection; it’s the truth in timeslike ours. As a single mom, even I had to

handle my child telling me not to leave her andgo. I had to do that without feeling sorry orapologetic. And Aarya’s character is such, onethat tells you not to apologise. No one under-stands your situation. You are the only one in thatsituation and so you have to do your best to get outof there. So the two aspects of Aarya were like a pro-gression for me, into reality more than anything else.”

Friday 26 June 2020 2

Deccan Chronicle

‘Sometimesit’s ok to

wait for theopportunity’

Says Sushmita Sen whenasked why it took her so many

years to get back to acting

glam sham

“Staying away from the camera was not something thatbrought any sense of insecurities in me. My life has somany other purposes. Yes, it took me a while to comeback, because of which I even lost many people who

managed me who probably thought ‘out of sight is out ofmind’, but this comeback was worth all of it.”

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Following the rise inCoronavirus cases in India,

Sunny Leone, along with her hus-band Daniel Weber and their threechildren — Nisha Kaur Weber, NoahWeber and Asher Weber — flew toLos Angeles. The family has beenhaving a gala time since then, and theactress keeps updating her fans abouttheir fun activities via social media.

With the lockdown beginning toease all over the world, Sunny andher family took a trip to Lake Balboawhile taking all precautions. One

photo shows Sunny posing forthe camera wearing a mask,

and others are of her kidshaving fun at LakeBalboa. The last pictureis of Sunny posing for aselfie with her hubbyDaniel while enjoying aboat ride.

“So much fun findinga new place to take thekids and keep themaway from people :)@dirrty99 good jobbaby finding this place!Lake Balboa! (sic),” shecaptioned the post.

During her time inLA, Sunny has beenpicking her ownvegetables from afarm, visiting ananimal learningcentre, cooking,and working out.

The actress hadrevealed that shehad the opportuni-ty to take her chil-dren to LosAngeles, where sheand her husbandfelt they would besafer from theCoronavirus.

Sunnye Leone and her husband Daniel Weber enjoy a day out with kids in Los Angeles

Sunny’sfamilyoutingThe actress and her familyrecently took a day trip toLake Balboa for some timein the sun

“Being a good motherdoesn’t mean you have tomollycoddle your kids (orfor that your family mem-bers). Sometimes, youneed to leave your sickchild to do what you needto do to keep them alive.As a single mom, even Ihad to handle my childtelling me not to leave herand go. I had to do thatwithout feeling sorry orapologetic. And Aarya’scharacter is such, one thattells you not to apologise.”

Friday 26 June 2020 3

Deccan Chroniclethe buzzCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

They have adorned the walls ofthe family’s Swiss bank since1994. “You can see the originals(paintings) when you come here,”he says.

SIMPLE LIVING, HIGH THINKING

The Hindujas are a permanentfeature in the global list of richfamilies. Neighbours to theQueen, they are a stone’s throwfrom Buckingham Palace. Theirannual Diwali party at AlexandraPalace has become part ofLondon’s social calendar. Not toforget the birthday bash atHarrods or the big fat wedding inMumbai. But despite all themoney and luxuries, the Hindujasare all teetotallers and humilitypersonified.

Even today, if one were to visitthe family’s Carlton Terrace man-sion in London, SP and his daugh-ter Vinoo will greet you with awarm smile and a firm handshake.And as you crane your neck to seethe royal palace, a plate of roastedpapad, pakoras, Sindhi kadhi-chawal and masala chai is servedbefore you. “My grandfather’sbelief that our dharma is toadvance the cause of humankindis deeply ingrained in me. His phi-losophy of ‘I work so that I can give’has coloured my own approach tothe bank. He has always placed histrust in the next generation todrive this vision forward and solvefuture challenges – I am trying todo the same,” he says.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

But how does one carry forwardthe family legacy, especially inthese Covid-19 times, when theeconomy is in doldrums and thereis upheaval in the banking sector?“We are living through the mostchallenging cocktail of crises. Myheart goes out to all those who aresuffering financially or have lostloved ones,” he says, adding,“When the time for rebuildingcomes, we must create a better,more caring world – the privatesector must place the concerns ofpeople at their heart.”

Needless to say, it is a busy peri-od for all banks as they implementnew strategies to help clients nav-igate through the Covid-19 crisis.The Hinduja Bank is the firstIndian-owned Swiss bank whichhas acted as a bridge betweenEast and West, active acrossEurope, the Middle East andIndia. Karam believes that think-ing positively and creatively iswhat drives the world forward. Hewants to redefine what it means tobe a private bank. “That meanslooking towards the next genera-tion of investors, who understandthat wealth is more than merelyfinancial returns – that true valueis rooted in adherence to socialand environmental principlesthat enhance the state of peopleand planet. It also means partner-ing with our clients as fellow cre-ative entrepreneurs,” he says.

STRIVING FOR A BETTER WORLD

The Hindujas have an incredibleability to forge friendships withpeople from all walks of life, right

from the Shah of Iran to HerMajesty, from prime ministers topop stars, from hospital doctors toneedy patients. “In my view, suc-cess can only be defined collec-tively and by the impact we haveon other people and the world,”says Karam. A forward-thinkingLibran, he meditates and gymsregularly to keep fit.

However, he is rattled by therecent racist attacks. “We have tocreate harmonious societies,where diversity is celebrated andthe rights of all minorities arerespected. It is not just a moralimperative – it’s an economicnecessity. For India, a countrywhose rich diversity is almostunparalleled, tackling socialinjustices – racism, casteism, sex-ism, homophobia – will unlock abright future. It’s up to theyounger generations to lead theway,” Karam says.

Not someone who minces words,he adds, “We’ve seen with the

recent protests in the US andEurope, combating prejudice is aconstant battle – even for the mostdeveloped nations. India’s historyis bittersweet – we have stories ofharmony in diversity as well asdeep-rooted injustice. But I havefaith in this generation that is dri-ving the future of India to createan example for other nations bydrawing on the multi-culturalunderstanding that has definedour ancient history and values,rather than the patterns of therecent past.”

According to him, businessesand entrepreneurs are in a primeposition to spur technologicalinnovation and protect the envi-ronment. “We want to help envi-ronmentally conscious investorsdirect their resources to the mostinnovative, impactful projects.Managing wealth is no longersimply a question of financialreturns – it’s about creating truevalue for the world,” he says.

Perhaps it is this now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t attitude ofKaram, which makes him a sightfor jaded eyes. He has among themost coveted mentors in the busi-ness world (grandfather SP andmother Shanu Hinduja) and afleet of admirers, both womenand men. His concerns towardsclimate change and CSR are gen-uine.

The other plus point – Karam isopen to all questions. So I ask himabout his idea of an ideal date.The only minus point – He useshis cute smile to ignore the ques-tion! Kutch toh bol dete yaar.

For India, a country whoserich diversity is almost unpar-alleled, tackling social injus-tices – racism, casteism, sex-ism, homophobia – will unlocka bright future. It’s up to theyounger generations to lead

the way— KARAM HINDUJA,

CEO Hinduja Bank, Geneva

Someone to bank on

Birthday wishespour in for LoloKarisma’s girl gang and familyshowers the birthday girl withlots of love on social mediaDC CCORRESPONDENT

Kareena and Karisma Kapoor’s birthdays have alwaysbeen special days, calling for special celebrations.Whether it is about travelling to some exotic location

or a small get-together at Pataudi Palace, the Kapoor sistershave a lot of fun. However, with the on-going pandemic andpartial lockdown, Karisma Kapoor’s birthday celebration onJune 25 this year was low-key, involving just her girl squad,including Kareena as well as Malaika and Amrita Arora.

Although, Karisma couldn’t be with them for a formal cele-bration on her birth-day, her girl gangensured that the daywas special for her.

As the Zubaidaactress turned 46,Kareena shared anadorable video collageof Lolo’s childhoodimages and stills fromher films like Dil ToPagal Hain, RajaHindustani and HumSaath Saath Hain. “Tothe most purest, mostprecious love ever! Mysister, my secondmother and my bestfriend...To the ulti-mate Diva... Happybirthday Lolo @there-alkarismakapoor! <3May our morning

phone chats last forever.,” Kareena wrote.Malaika Arora did a live chat on video call with Karisma on

the eve of her birthday and later shared some unseen pictureson her Instagram stories. In one picture, Karisma is seen pos-ing with the entire girl gang. “We love you Lolo.,” Malaikacaptioned the picture.

Later, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja took to Instagram and shared alovely message for Karisma and thanked her for paving theway for the Kapoor girls in movies. Sharing some throwbackpictures of Lolo with her and husband Anand Ahuja at theirwedding, she penned an emotional note. “Happy happy birth-day @therealkarismakapoor. You are our inspiration for hardwork determination and doing things no matter the chal-lenges…also thanks for paving the way for the Kapoor girls inmovies... if it weren’t for you we all wouldn’t be here... loveyou <3,” wrote the Neerja actress.

Karisma Kapoor celebrated her birthday with her gang of girls

Kareena shared an adorable videocollage of Lolo’s childhood imagesand stills from her films like Dil To

Pagal Hain, Raja Hindustani andHum Saath Saath Hain

4Friday 26 June 2020

Deccan ChronicleKollywood

We had reported that AjithKumar had been appointed

as the Helicopter Test Pilot andUAV System advisor for TeamDaksha from MIT (MadrasInstitute of Technology.)Recently, the Tamil Nadu gov-ernment used drones designedby the Daksha Team to spraydisinfectants over COVID-19-affected containment areas. Itwas a big success, and now theyare ready for more action.

The Daksha team has nowdesigned a high-capacity drone

with a 16-litre tank andthe ability to cover more thanan acre in 30 minutes.

Dr Karthik Narayan, who isin charge of the project, hasreportedly mentioned thatTeam Daksha was mentored byactor Ajith and added thatDistrict Collectors have beeninstructed to make use ofAjith’s innovative idea.

This is a proud moment forThala fans who are trendingthe hashtag#AjithLedDroneToFightCorona

ANUPAMA SSUBRAMANIAN

Top heroes from thesouth Indian filmindustries, namely

Karthi, Arya, Rana,Mohanlal and Yash, joinhands to release the trailerof Vishal’s Chakra, a cyber-crime thriller, which willhit the marquee in Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam andKannada.

“Many people ask ifChakra is a sequel toIrumbu Thirai. It is not,”said Anandan, a formerassistant of Ezhil, speakingto DC. “This film has afresh script and thoughChakra is also about cyber-crime, the storyline is total-ly different. It deals withonline business scams,” heclarified. “The narration isfast-paced and it will be anedge-of-the-seat actionthriller,” Anandan added.

While Vishal will be seen

as an army officer,Shraddha dons khaki.Regina Cassandra appearsin a crucial role. The sup-porting cast includes Robo

Shankar, K.R. Vijaya,Srushti Dange, Mano Balaand Vijayababu.

Yuvan Shankar Raja doesthe music and

Balasubramaniam is incharge of visuals.Vishal Film Factorybankrolls the film.While the trailerwill be unveiled onSaturday, Vishalplans to release itonce lockdown islifted and theatresare ready toscreen movies.

Top southern heroes come together for Vishal’s OTT release

This film has afresh scriptand thoughChakra isalso aboutcybercrime,the story-line istotallydifferent –Anandan

A still from the movie Chakra starring Vishal and Shraddha

Ajith illustrating to the Diksha Team

The debate on OTT vs Theatres is stillgoing on between producers and theatre

owners. It started when Jyotika’s PonmagalVandhal and Keerthy Suresh’s Penguin got adirect digital release during the lockdown.Now, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s upcomingfemale-centric film Danny joins the list andwill be streamed on Zee5.

Directed by Santhanamoorthy, it is anaction thriller set in Thanjavur,

where Varu takes on a copavatar. A Labrador dog playsthe titular role.

The movie also stars SayajiShinde, Vela Ramamoorthy,Anitha Sampath, DuraiSudhakar and Ramar.Produced by ace cinematog-

rapher P.G. Muthiah,Santhosh Dayanidhi com-

posed the music.

Varu goes theJyotika andKeerthy way

Ajith’s ideasfor disinfection

Top Southern heroescome together for Vishal

Drone wages war on Coronavirus

Danny to be streamed on Zee5

Mohanlal Rana Daggubati

Arya Yash

5Friday 26 June 2020

Deccan Chroniclecitylife

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Busy media baroness RayaneMithun, who helms her motherRaadikha Sarathkumar’s produc-

tion enterprise and is married to crick-eter Abhimanyu Mithun, has createdsomething for those who want to bake,but don’t have the time for the nitty-grit-ty, or are just plain lazy.

She says, “There are a few dishes every-one should have in their cooking reper-toire. They may be time-consuming, butwe can’t define our cravings by how longthey take to bake. Most people love tosnack and have a sweet tooth, but are lesslikely to come home from work and startmaking a cookie crumble. But that does-

n’t mean dishes like this should only beordered at a fancy bakery. That’swhy I launched my online busi-ness, Flying Apron, thatmakes DIY dessert boxes.”

Rayane, a much-lovedChennai girl, has been thekingpin of some of themost successful televisionand digital entertainmentventures but alongside,she has nursed her “talentand passion” for bakingever since she was a child.“My mother and father areboth very encouraging of usexperimenting with cuisines andthey’ve always taught me to think outside

the box even when it comes to my culi-nary adventures,” she says.

Her signature dessert boxesinclude Traditional

Chocolate Cake DIY Mix,Coffee Cake Mix, CerealMilk Pannacotta Boxand even a supercrunchy and deliciousBiscuit Pudding Mix.Nadeeha is one ofChennai’s super popu-

lar go-to dessert persons,known particularly for

her unparalleled ‘JapaneseCakes’. She now satiates the

taste-buds of celebrities with herbakes. She says, “It all started with my

sister, who lives in Canada, being reallygood at baking. She is my inspiration andshe was the one who suggested that I tryout some Brownies. My husband, who is aperfectionist, appreciated the first everbatch of Brownies that I baked. This gaveme a lot of confidence and I felt I couldestablish a small baking business on myown.”Nadeeha says, “As a policy, I do not getrecipes from anyone. I do afair bit ofresearch on YouTube/Google and alterrecipes I find there to suit my taste. I addthem to my menu only after my familyapproves of them.” She signs off saying“I am thankful to God for helping me establish my baking business@favedainty.”

Rayane a super busy media honcho chose to indulge in herchildhood favourite the hot fudge sauce for a new business

Nadeeha who hails from a aristocratic business family gaveflight to her dreams through a touch of sugar inspired byJapanese baking techniques

Thoughthe lockdownhas been chal-

lenging, for some,it has been aboutrekindling the oldhobby of bakingand mastering

the skill

For the BAKE of itThe llockdown hhas iignited cculinary fflares nnot oonly aamongwomen wwho ccommonly ccook uup aa sstorm, bbut aalso aamongthose wwho wwere ootherwise bbusy. WWomen wwho hhave bbeenrunning ddiverse bbusinesses aare nnow mmaking aan eeffort ttocommercialise wwhat wwas ooriginally aa hhobby.

Just a few days ago, the Telugu FilmIndustry was raring to resumeshootings, and had even got

Government permission for the same. Butthe situation has now totally changed —people are afraid to even to come out oftheir homes. The trigger for this was oneperson from the office of a top distributor-cum-producer testing COVID-19 positive.Most film offices have since been closed.

“We can’t say when we will start shoot-ing,” says producer Tagore Madhu, addingthat the way the COVID-19 cases were ris-ing, he wouldn’t be surprised if they hadto wait for the rest of the year.

“Even if some producers dare to startshooting, crew members, including assis-tant directors and technical assistants, arescared to come to work. We have to waituntil the number of cases come down,” he

said.

Stakeholders gointo a huddle todiscuss whether

to strengthenprecautions and

carry on with theshoots or cancel

them B.V.S. PRAKASH

Reports that 3 crewmembers involved inthe shooting of a TV

serial have tested positive forCOVID-19 have sent shock-waves through the TeluguFilm and Television industry

Two production boys andone light-man tested positivein the last one week, but theissue came to light only onTuesday, when a voice mes-sage by a small screen actor,who said he had also testedpositive, went viral.

TV actors, producers andothers are meeting to furtherstrengthen safety measuresto prevent recurrence ofsuch incidents. “It is truethat actors are a bit appre-hensive about shooting afterlearning that our colleaguetested positive. We are follow-ing all protocols laid down bythe authorities like disinfec-tant tunnels, PPE kits andreducing personal staff,”says popular TV actor LohitKumar, vice-president,Artistes Association ofTelugu Television (AATT).

“In fact, when we have totouch a heroine, both of ususe sanitisers before andafter,” he adds. “We startedshootings a week ago but weintend to strengthen our safe-ty measures further,” LohitKumar stresses. However,when asked to comment onthe three crew members test-ing positive last week, hisonly response is “I don’tknow about it.”

Nonetheless, the impact ofthis news is bound to impactthe film industry as well. “Iread about COVID-19-positivecases in TV shootings and itis unfortunate. It is true thatbig budget filmmakers areobserving the shootingschedules of a few moviesand TV serials to study thesafety precautions and thenintroduce more fool-proofmeasures,” says leading pro-ducer Sravanthi RaviKishore, a prominent mem-ber of the Active Telugu FilmProducers Guild. He alsorules out differences betweenfilmmakers over commence-ment of shootings. “Thereare no differences and all big

producers are united.Actually, filmmakers of star-studded movies are not in ahurry to start shooting. Ofcourse, permissions havebeen given, but we are wor-ried about maintaining themost difficult guideline —social distancing — on thesets. Also, we can’t force starsto come to the sets in thisdicey situation, so it will take

more time for big stars to dongrease paint once again,” headds. Director Teja says“Pampering” of big stars andtheir personal staff willmake things difficult for film-makers. “It is bound to ham-per safety measures on thesets,” he points out. “In fact,personal staff of each bigstar often behave as ifthey’re much bigger than the

star himself,” he alleges.”According to Teja,

“Probably, the film industryheld back information aboutpeople testing positive at TVshootings because it couldlead to cancellation of per-missions. I am not againstshootings per se, but I wantfilmmakers to strictly followguidelines,” he stresses.

With stars are reluctant tojoin the sets, producerLagadapati Sridhar, who ismaking an entertainerwith his son Vikram,is also holding hishorses. “ThoughVikram is raringto resumeshooting, Idon’t want totake anyc h a n c e ssince mostof my teamm e m b e r sare youngand aspir-ing. I don’tmind los-ing somemoney, buttheir safetycomes first,though just20 days ofwork isremaining,” heconcludes.

2Friday 26 June 2020

Deccan Chronicletollywood

The latest buzz is that ace director S.S. Rajamouli, who was reportedly planning a testshoot of his much-anticipated film RRR, has now dropped this plan after hearing a tele-

vision actor had tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus after shooting schedules forthe small screen were resumed. The rising number of people getting COVID-19 inHyderabad must have been a factor in the decision too.

Filmmakers terrified byCOVID at TV shootings

BANDLA GANESHON THE MEND

Producer BandlaGanesh, who testedCOVID-19 positive, is

recovering. “I am taking themedicines and also main-taining quarantine at myhouse. I spend most of mytime listening to musicand doing meditation,”says the producer.“I learnt a big lesson –

that money and fame arenot permanent and health is

very important. My lifestylehas completely changed,” he

says. This is the first time in the 46years of his life that he has been scared, he confesses.He also realized the importance of doing away with

negativity, he said, adding that he is confident ofmaking a full recovery.

— Snippets by Suresh Kavirayani

“There are no differences among us producers.We are united. Actually, filmmakers of star-studded movies are not in a hurry to startshooting. Of course, permissions have beengiven, but we are worried about maintaining themost difficult guideline — social distancing —on the sets.”

SRAVANTHI RAVI KISHORE, Producer a prominent memberof the Active Telugu Film Producers Guild

“Pampering of big stars and their personal staffwill make things difficult for filmmakers. It isbound to hamper safety measures on the sets.The personal staff of each big star often behaveas if they’re much bigger than the star himself”

Teja, Director

“Though my son Vikram wants to resume shoot-ing, I don’t want to take any chances since mostof my team members are young and aspiring. Idon’t mind losing some money, but their safetycomes first, though just 20 days of work isremaining”

Lagadapati Sridhar, Producer

Sombre moodin the FilmIndustryOne person from theoffice of a top distributor-cum-producer testedCOVID-19 positive. Mostfilm offices have sincebeen closed

RAJAMOULI CANCELS RRR TEST SHOOT?Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Jr NTR and Rajamouli on the sets of RRR

CORONA SCARE

6

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Recently, there wastalk on social media

about a potential sequelto the romantic dramaRehna Hai Tere Dil Main(2001). The Dia Mirzaand R. Madhavan star-rer not only was a

blockbuster hit butalso changed theromantic narrativefor the new gener-

ation. And whileit has been 19years since thefilm first released, there are several reports sug-gesting that the makers are interested in asequel and have found a script for the originallead actors to reprise their roles of Maddy andReena. Just like fans of the film, Madhavan toois excited at the idea of a sequel. The actor tookto his Twitter and expressed his excitement,“#RHTDM ..Guysss ...been reading rumors

about the sequel .. and hoping it’s true-cause Ihave no idea about this...just praying that some-

one somewhere has an age-appropriate script forDia and I. (sic),” the 3 Idiots actor tweeted.While the actor keeps his fingers crossed for the

second instalment of RHTDM, there is no officialconfirmation made by the producers. Directed byGautham Menon and produced by Vishu Bhagnani,RHTDM also starred Saif Ali Khan in an importantrole.

Madhavan ready for RHTDM 2

A fukra (jobless) mind is a writer’s workshop. And as the lock-down has taken place, Excel Entertainment and the team that

made two successful editions of Fukrey, is now ready with the storyfor the third part of the film.

The makers decided to quietly surprise the audiences with a cryp-tic meme that has the character of Pandit played by Pankaj Tripathitelling the Fukrey boys Hunny (Pulkit Samrat), Choocha (VarunSharma) and Zafar (Ali Fazal) that the third part is being made.

“It is true that they have been working on the idea for Fukrey 3 fora long time. Just that the lockdown gave them the impetus to flushout the idea quickly. Apart from Pulkit, Ali and Varun who playedChoocha and shot to fame with that, there are others like RichaChadda who played Bholi Punjaban, Pankaj himself and ManjotSingh who played Lali will have their meaty parts to play. Fukreycame in 2013, Fukrey Returns in 2017 and the third part may wellbe on the cards by next year,” add our sources.

The Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani-produced secondpart made and marketed at a cost of `22 crore netted over `100crore at the box-office. — Sanskriti Media

The actress-producer iselated by the positiveresponse to her latestOTT offering titledBulbbul

7Friday 26 June 2020

Deccan Chroniclematinee

After the massive success ofPataal Lok, the producer-duoof Anushka Sharma and

brother Karnesh Sharma have recent-ly come out with their next OTT offer-ing Bulbbul. Anushka, who turned pro-ducer at 25 with the NH10, created asub-genre of supernatural-feministfilms like Pari, Phillauri and nowBulbbul, which have pushed the envelopeand become success stories.

“It wasn’t intentional to create a genreof our own. We, however, always wantedto create a style of story-telling that cele-brates women and their spirit,” says theactress-producer, adding that she didwant to contribute to a strong female pro-tagonist narrative. “We always wantedto show strong, independent women toaudiences through cinema andBulbbul is our new offering in thisregard. The portrayal of women in ourcinema has always been skewed andlopsided. I felt that as an actress and Idecided that I will correct this as muchas I can through my productions,” shesays.

Anushka is kicked that the audience ishooked on to the OTT platforms and thefilm as well. “We are really proud thatBulbbul is being loved by audiencesbecause Karnesh and I really put our neckson the line to make projects that we hopewill be clutter-breaking. The fact that peoplehave called each and every attempt of oursas daring and adventurous is validationenough for us, because Clean Slate Films hasreally tried to give something new to peoplewith each attempt.”

It is the urge to experiment, says Anushka,that has propelled the siblings to try out freshideas. “Karnesh and I aren’t scared storytellers. Wemake each project thinking we have nothing to lose. Weare non-conformists and that’s what has really helped us toexplore and create. It is a huge milestone moment for us atClean Slate Films because both Pataal Lok and now Bulbbulhas got great reviews and janta ka appreciation.”

The Sui Dhaaga actress duly credits names like AnvitaDutt, Sudip Sharma, Prosit Roy, Avinash Arun and AnshaiLal for helming these projects. “They have made both(Bulbbul and Paatal Lok) these projects immensely success-ful. Clean Slate Films has always been home to really talent-ed first time writers, directors, musicians and actors lookingto make a mark in cluttered Bollywood, and we have triedto do our best to bring their geniuses on screen withevery single project. We take pride in that and it’sour core ethos which thankfully has resonatedwith like-minded creative artists,” she says inconclusion. — Sanskriti Media

“The portrayal of women inour cinema has always beenskewed and lopsided so Idecided to correct this

I want storytellingthat celebrateswomen: Anushka

Fukrey 3 tostart soon