ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were...

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The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on Thursday directed the Andhra Pradesh government to stop works on the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme with immediate effect. The Board took the decision after finding fault with the AP Government went ahead and granted administrative sanc- tions for several projects on the River Krishna without necessary approvals from the KRMB, Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Apex Council. In a letter to the State’s spe- cial chief secretary (irrigation), KRMB member Harikesh Meena cautioned the AP gov- ernment not to initiate any works on the proposed project without sanction from the CWC. Telangana government had earlier registered a complaint with the KRMB against the pro- posed project, accusing the AP government of planning to divert Krishna water from Srisailam reservoir. The TS gov- ernment also alleged that the project negates the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The Centre on Thursday extended the tenure of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) for a period of one year to resolve water sharing disputes between State and Andhra Pradesh States. The tenure was extended for more one year from August 1, 2020, through a gazette noti- fication. The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti state that the extension of time was meant to resolve Krishna river water sharing disputes between Telangana and AP under Section 89 of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Simultaneously, the gov- ernment appointed Tripura High Court Judge Justice S Talapatra as a member filling a vacancy in the Tribunal. The vacancy arose consequent to the resignation of member of KWDT Justice BP Das, former Judge, Odisha High Court. The Attorney General has opined that the Centre has no statutory obligation to make up from its coffers any shortfall in GST revenues of states, which may now have to look at mar- ket borrowings against future revenue mop-up, sources said. The Centre had in March sought views from Attorney General K K Venugopal on the legality of market borrowing to make good the shortfall in compensation fund -- a corpus created from levy of addition- al tax on luxury and sin goods to compensate states for rev- enue shortfall arising from their taxes being subsumed into the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Sources said the AG in his view has said there is no oblig- ation on the central government to pay the GST compensation shortfall from its coffers. The AG has also said the GST Council has to decide on making good the shortfall in the GST compensation fund by providing the sufficient amount to be credited to it. Sources said the options before the Council for meeting the shortfall could be to ratio- nalise GST rates, cover more items under the compensation cess or increase the cess, or rec- ommend higher borrowing by states to be repaid by the future collections into the compensation fund. Since raising tax or cess rates might not be feasible in the current pandemic situa- tion, the option that remains would be each state borrowing from the market against the consolidated fund of the state to meet the shortfall in revenue. Under GST law, states were guaranteed to be compensated bi-monthly for any loss of rev- enue in the first five years of the GST implementation from July 1, 2017. The shortfall is calcu- lated assuming a 14 per cent annual growth in GST collec- tions by states over the base year of 2015-16. Under the GST structure, taxes are levied under 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent slabs. On top of the highest tax slab, a cess is levied on luxu- ry, sin and demerit goods and the pro- ceeds from the same are used to compen- sate states for any rev- enue loss. The Andhra Pradesh govern- ment on Wednesday terminat- ed the concession agreement signed with SCL-Turbo con- sortium for building a no-frills airport at Dagadarthi in SPS Nellore district. The agreement was termi- nated as the project could not be implemented as the consor- tium failed to achieve financial closure even though over two years have elapsed since the signing of the pact, said the Special Chief Secretary (indus- tries and infrastructure) R Karikal Valaven in an order. To develop the airport, the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited and the Nellore International Airport Private Ltd, the SPV (special purpose vehicle), signed the concession agreement on June 21, 2018. The airport at Dagadarthi, 25 km from Nellore town, was proposed to be developed on 1,352 acres of land at a cost of Rs 368 crore with a capaci- ty to handle 1.9 million passen- gers per annum and 55,000 metric tonnes of cargo when fully completed. It was to have a runway length of 3,150 metres to han- dle wide-body passenger and cargo aircraft. The new airport was envis- aged to be a catalyst for devel- opment of tourism and indus- try in SPS Nellore district. AP scraps pact for airport at Dagadarthi in Nellore Police have arrested a 45- year-old woman for posing as a doctor at a Covid-19 hospital in Vijayawada and misleading people. According to details shared by the police, the accused introduced herself as Dr Sailaja and has been visiting the hospital for the last four days. She even entered into the ICU where Covid-19 patients are being treated. On Wednesday, she visit- ed the hospital and took a PPE kit from the store by signing in the register as Shailaja. However, some members of the staff at the place grew suspicious and asked her about her where- abouts. To their shock, she replied, “I am Dr Shailaja, working here in the hospital’. Locals in Gooty area of Anantapur district saved at least three lives by coming to the rescue of some vehicles stranded in the flash floods fro m the swollen Guthi rivulet on Thursday. Thanks to the alert villagers, two persons travel- ling in a car were saved from being set aw a y in the flash floods. Dramatic scenes were witnessed after their car was caught in strong currents from the rivulet in spate. The villagers, alert to the danger, came to their rescue and pulled them out of the car before it was dragged away by the water. Faced with no option but to heed the directions of Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan and the High Court, the State Government late on Thursday issued orders reinstating Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as the State Election Commissioner. In a jolt to TDP former MLA JC Prabhakara Reddy and his son Asmit Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday dismissed their bail petitions. The court also questioned them as to how they would operate vehicles that were banned by the Supreme Court. “Who will take responsibility if any accidents occur? We will not entertain and allow such fraud- ulent activities,” the court thun- dered while refusing bail to the father and son duo. Understanding the tone and tenor of the court, members of the JC family also withdrew bail petitions pertaining to three other cases. The High Court however allowed the two to file their bail petitions in the district courts. Divakar Travels belonging to JC Prabhakara Reddy had alleged- ly committed a series of irreg- ularities by fraudulently regis- tering BS-3 vehicles that were banned by the Supreme Court as BS-4. As many as 154 buses and lorries were registered ille- gally in 2018 by forging docu- ments. Some of these vehicles were illegally registered in Nagaland. Presently, JC Prabhakara Reddy and his son Asmit Reddy are lodged in Kadapa Central Jail. In a setback to former Minister and TDP leader Kollu Ravindra, a district court on Thursday rejected his bail petition. Ravindra is an accused in the murder case of YSRCP leader Moka Bhaskara Rao. The judge agreed with the public prosecutor's argument that his release would affect the case. The court also denied issuing bail to other accused in the case. The exponential growth of coro- navirus cases continued in Andhra Pradesh as it recorded 10,000 plus cases for the second straight day on Thursday, taking the cumulative figure to 1,30,557. The state, only the second in the country after Maharashtra to post daily cases in excess of 10,000 so far, recorded a new single day high of 10,167 cases on Thursday. It had posted 10,093 cases on Wednesday. The last 24 hours ending at 9 am, the state also saw a new day’s high of 68 deaths, pushing the overall toll to 1,281, according to the latest bulletin. Over the past two days, a record number of 1,40,652 sam- ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ity rate shot further up to 6.91 per cent while the mortality rate fell marginally to 0.98 per cent from 1.04 on Tuesday. Also, a record number of 4,618 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours and the overall recovery rate stood at 45.98 per cent. In all, the state now has 69,252 active Covid-19 cases after recovery of 60,024 patients. East Godavari district contin- ued to register fresh cases at a virulent pace as 1,441 were added in a day, taking its total to 19,180. Kurnool (1,252), Visakhapatnam (1,223), West Godavari (998), Anantapur (954), Guntur (946), Kadapa (753) and SPS Nellore (702) came next, followed by Srikakulam (586), Chittoor (509), Prakasam (318), Krishna (271) and Vizianagaram (214). East Godavari and Guntur reported nine fresh casualties each while Anantapur, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam registered eight each. Only one of the two vacancies in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council under the MLAs quota will be filled up in a by-election to be held on August 24. The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced the schedule for the by-election to fill one casual vacancy, caused by the resigna- tion of the ruling YSR Congress member Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao on July 1. Though another YSRC mem- ber Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose also resigned along with Mopidevi, by-election to fill that vacancy was not notified ostensibly because the member's tenure was only till March 29, 2021. "Since the remaining tenure is only for a period less than a year, the vacancy is not being filled immediately," sources in the Election Commission here said. The other member's tenure is up to March 29, 2023 and hence the by-election, the sources added. Both Bose and Mopidevi, who were ministers in the YS Jaganmohan Reddy Cabinet, resigned from their posts upon their election to the Rajya Sabha last month. According to the schedule announced by the ECI, notifi- cation for the by-election to fill one vacancy under MLAs quota will be issued on August 6 and the last date for filing nomina- tions is August 13. Polling, if required, is sched- uled for August 24. KRMB directs AP to stop work on Seema lift irrigation project

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Page 1: ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ... virulent pace

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The Krishna River ManagementBoard (KRMB) on Thursdaydirected the Andhra Pradeshgovernment to stop works onthe Rayalaseema Lift IrrigationScheme with immediate effect.

The Board took the decisionafter finding fault with the APGovernment went ahead andgranted administrative sanc-tions for several projects on theRiver Krishna without necessaryapprovals from the KRMB,Central Water Commission(CWC) and the Apex Council.

In a letter to the State’s spe-cial chief secretary (irrigation),KRMB member HarikeshMeena cautioned the AP gov-ernment not to initiate anyworks on the proposed projectwithout sanction from theCWC.

Telangana government hadearlier registered a complaintwith the KRMB against the pro-posed project, accusing the APgovernment of planning todivert Krishna water fromSrisailam reservoir. The TS gov-ernment also alleged that theproject negates the provisions ofthe AP Reorganisation Act,2014.

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The Centre on Thursdayextended the tenure of KrishnaWater Disputes Tribunal(KWDT) for a period of oneyear to resolve water sharingdisputes between State andAndhra Pradesh States.

The tenure was extended formore one year from August 1,2020, through a gazette noti-fication.

The Union Ministry of JalShakti state that the extension

of time was meant to resolveKrishna river water sharingdisputes between Telanganaand AP under Section 89 ofAP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Simultaneously, the gov-ernment appointed TripuraHigh Court Judge Justice STalapatra as a member fillinga vacancy in the Tribunal. Thevacancy arose consequent tothe resignation of member ofKWDT Justice BP Das, formerJudge, Odisha High Court.

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The Attorney General hasopined that the Centre has nostatutory obligation to make upfrom its coffers any shortfall inGST revenues of states, whichmay now have to look at mar-ket borrowings against futurerevenue mop-up, sources said.

The Centre had in Marchsought views from AttorneyGeneral K K Venugopal on thelegality of market borrowing tomake good the shortfall incompensation fund -- a corpuscreated from levy of addition-al tax on luxury and sin goodsto compensate states for rev-enue shortfall arising from theirtaxes being subsumed into theGoods and Services Tax (GST).

Sources said the AG in hisview has said there is no oblig-ation on the central governmentto pay the GST compensationshortfall from its coffers.

The AG has also said theGST Council has to decide onmaking good the shortfall in the

GST compensation fund byproviding the sufficient amountto be credited to it.

Sources said the optionsbefore the Council for meetingthe shortfall could be to ratio-nalise GST rates, cover more

items under the compensationcess or increase the cess, or rec-ommend higher borrowing bystates to be repaid by thefuture collections intothe compensation fund.

Since raising tax or

cess rates might not be feasiblein the current pandemic situa-tion, the option that remainswould be each state borrowingfrom the market against theconsolidated fund of the state tomeet the shortfall in revenue.

Under GST law, states wereguaranteed to be compensatedbi-monthly for any loss of rev-enue in the first five years of theGST implementation from July1, 2017. The shortfall is calcu-lated assuming a 14 per centannual growth in GST collec-tions by states over the base yearof 2015-16.

Under the GST structure,taxes are levied under 5, 12, 18

and 28 per cent slabs. On topof the highest tax slab, a

cess is levied on luxu-ry, sin and demeritgoods and the pro-ceeds from the sameare used to compen-

sate states for any rev-enue loss.

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The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment on Wednesday terminat-ed the concession agreementsigned with SCL-Turbo con-sortium for building a no-frillsairport at Dagadarthi in SPSNellore district.

The agreement was termi-nated as the project could notbe implemented as the consor-tium failed to achieve financialclosure even though over twoyears have elapsed since thesigning of the pact, said theSpecial Chief Secretary (indus-tries and infrastructure) RKarikal Valaven in an order.

To develop the airport, theAndhra Pradesh AirportsDevelopment CorporationLimited and the Nellore

International Airport PrivateLtd, the SPV (special purposevehicle), signed the concessionagreement on June 21, 2018.

The airport at Dagadarthi,25 km from Nellore town,was proposed to be developedon 1,352 acres of land at a costof Rs 368 crore with a capaci-ty to handle 1.9 million passen-gers per annum and 55,000

metric tonnes of cargo whenfully completed.

It was to have a runwaylength of 3,150 metres to han-dle wide-body passenger andcargo aircraft.

The new airport was envis-aged to be a catalyst for devel-opment of tourism and indus-try in SPS Nellore district.

AP scraps pact for airportat Dagadarthi in Nellore

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Police have arrested a 45-year-old woman for posingas a doctor at a Covid-19hospital in Vijayawada andmisleading people.

According to detai lsshared by the police, theaccused introduced herselfas Dr Sailaja and has beenvisiting the hospital for thelast four days. She evenentered into the ICU where

Covid-19 patients are beingtreated.

On Wednesday, she visit-ed the hospital and took aPPE kit from the store bysigning in the register asShailaja. However, somemembers of the staff at theplace grew suspicious andasked her about her where-abouts. To their shock, shereplied, “I am Dr Shailaja,working here in the hospital’.

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Locals in Gooty area ofAnantapur district saved atleast three lives by coming tothe rescue of some vehiclesstranded in the flash floods from the swollen Guthi rivulet onThursday. Thanks to the alertvillagers, two persons travel-ling in a car were saved frombeing set aw a y in the flashfloods. Dramatic scenes werewitnessed after their car wascaught in strong currents fromthe rivulet in spate.

The villagers, alert to thedanger, came to their rescueand pulled them out of the carbefore it was dragged away bythe water.

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Faced with no option but toheed the directions of GovernorBiswabhushan Harichandanand the High Court, the State

Government late on Thursdayissued orders reinstatingNimmagadda Ramesh Kumaras the State ElectionCommissioner.

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In a jolt to TDP former MLA JCPrabhakara Reddy and his sonAsmit Reddy, the AndhraPradesh High Court onThursday dismissed their bailpetitions.

The court also questionedthem as to how they wouldoperate vehicles that werebanned by the Supreme Court.“Who will take responsibility ifany accidents occur? We will not

entertain and allow such fraud-ulent activities,” the court thun-dered while refusing bail to thefather and son duo.

Understanding the tone andtenor of the court, members ofthe JC family also withdrew bailpetitions pertaining to threeother cases.

The High Court howeverallowed the two to file their bailpetitions in the district courts.Divakar Travels belonging to JCPrabhakara Reddy had alleged-

ly committed a series of irreg-ularities by fraudulently regis-tering BS-3 vehicles that werebanned by the Supreme Courtas BS-4. As many as 154 busesand lorries were registered ille-gally in 2018 by forging docu-ments. Some of these vehicleswere illegally registered inNagaland.

Presently, JC PrabhakaraReddy and his son Asmit Reddyare lodged in Kadapa CentralJail.

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In a setback to formerMinister and TDP leaderKollu Ravindra, a districtcourt on Thursday rejectedhis bail petition. Ravindra isan accused in the murdercase of YSRCP leader MokaBhaskara Rao.

The judge agreed with thepublic prosecutor's argumentthat his release would affectthe case. The court alsodenied issuing bail to otheraccused in the case.

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The exponential growth of coro-navirus cases continued inAndhra Pradesh as it recorded10,000 plus cases for the secondstraight day on Thursday, takingthe cumulative figure to1,30,557.

The state, only the second inthe country after Maharashtra topost daily cases in excess of10,000 so far, recorded a newsingle day high of 10,167 caseson Thursday. It had posted10,093 cases on Wednesday.

The last 24 hours ending at 9

am, the state also saw a new day’shigh of 68 deaths, pushing theoverall toll to 1,281, according

to the latest bulletin.Over the past two days, a

record number of 1,40,652 sam-

ples were tested, of which 20,260turned positive.

The overall infection positiv-ity rate shot further up to 6.91per cent while the mortality ratefell marginally to 0.98 per centfrom 1.04 on Tuesday.

Also, a record number of4,618 patients were dischargedfrom hospitals in the last 24hours and the overall recoveryrate stood at 45.98 per cent.

In all, the state now has69,252 active Covid-19 casesafter recovery of 60,024 patients.

East Godavari district contin-ued to register fresh cases at a

virulent pace as 1,441 wereadded in a day, taking its totalto 19,180.

Kurnool (1,252),Visakhapatnam (1,223), WestGodavari (998), Anantapur(954), Guntur (946), Kadapa(753) and SPS Nellore (702)came next, followed bySrikakulam (586), Chittoor(509), Prakasam (318), Krishna(271) and Vizianagaram (214).

East Godavari and Gunturreported nine fresh casualtieseach while Anantapur, Kurnooland Visakhapatnam registeredeight each.

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Only one of the two vacanciesin the Andhra PradeshLegislative Council under theMLAs quota will be filled up ina by-election to be held onAugust 24.

The Election Commissionof India on Thursdayannounced the schedule for theby-election to fill one casual

vacancy, caused by the resigna-tion of the ruling YSR Congressmember MopideviVenkataramana Rao on July 1.

Though another YSRC mem-ber Pilli Subhash Chandra Bosealso resigned along withMopidevi, by-election to fillthat vacancy was not notifiedostensibly because the member'stenure was only till March 29,2021.

"Since the remaining tenureis only for a period less than ayear, the vacancy is not beingfilled immediately," sources inthe Election Commission heresaid. The other member's tenureis up to March 29, 2023 andhence the by-election, thesources added.

Both Bose and Mopidevi,who were ministers in the YSJaganmohan Reddy Cabinet,

resigned from their posts upontheir election to the Rajya Sabhalast month.

According to the scheduleannounced by the ECI, notifi-cation for the by-election to fillone vacancy under MLAs quotawill be issued on August 6 andthe last date for filing nomina-tions is August 13.

Polling, if required, is sched-uled for August 24.

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Page 2: ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ... virulent pace

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The government will deliverpensions on August 1 to 61.28lakh beneficiaries, including2.20 lakh new pensioners, whoapplied in July under YSRPension Kanuka. Pensionswould be delivered at thedoorstep of beneficiaries onAugust 1 and the number ofbeneficiaries has beenincreased by over two lakhsunder YSR Pension Kanuka.The increase in number ofpensions would cost Rs 51.67crore to the government.

As many as 61.28 lakh ben-eficiaries will be receiving theirpensions at their doorstepthrough 2.68 lakh volunteers.In August, nearly 6,734 pen-sioners are to avail the pensionthrough portability and pen-sion of 1,458 have been put onhold as the beneficiaries werestranded in other places due tothe lockdown. Also, 1,52,095beneficiaries, who were unableto receive the pension from thepast six months, will be receiv-ing the entire amount this

month. In addition to these,1,568 health pensions werealso added to the list and thebeneficiaries can avail thefinancial aid from August.

Apart from these, even thepensions that are being offeredthrough BrahminCorporation, Kapu, SC, ST,BC, EBC and MinorityCorporations have beenbrought under YSR PensionKanuka and the beneficiariesshall receive their pension ofRs 2,250 at their doorstep.

Overall the State governmentwill spend Rs 1,478.90 croretowards YSR Pension Kanukafor August.

Amidst Covid-19, officialshave started using geo-tag-ging technology replacing thebiometric for safe distribu-tion. To prevent the virusspread, volunteers used thephoto-identification methodinstead of a biometric systemand a separate app was used tocapture the beneficiary picturethrough geo-tagging.

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

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TDP MLA Nimmala RamaNaidu on Thursday slammedthe YSRCP government forneglecting setting up of specialCovid hospitals to providingadequate beds, oxygen, ventila-tors and ICUs so that deaths ofvirus patients can be prevented.

Addressing a press conferencehere on Thursday, the TDPleader deplored that not a sin-gle exclusive Covid hospitalwas developed in the State sincethe outbreak. No efforts weremade to provide additionalstaff, doctors and beds. On theother hand, the whole focus ofChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy and ministers was onlaunching attacks and filingfalse cases against whoever rais-es a dissenting voice against thegovernment's negligence.

Liquor and ration shops wereproving dangerous as the crowdat these shops were acting as

super spreaders of infections.Men were being infected as theywere not maintaining socialdistancing at liquor shops, whilewomen were falling victims atthe ration shops to the virus, hepointed out.s

Rama Naidu said that the rul-ing party activities in the fieldlevel were absolutely low toprotect lives of people fromCoronavirus. “Half-cooked and

tasteless food was being servedat isolation centres. Pregnantwomen were having a toughtime for lack of services at bothgovernment and private hospi-tals. The government was notreleasing Rs 15,000 as promisedtowards the funeral expenses ofCovid victims. The ruling partyleaders were telling all lies on theimplementation of the CM'spromises,” he alleged.

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The Navi lending app, whichwas launched in June, hasreceived an overwhelmingresponse across cities and townsin the State with customers incities like Visakhapatnam,Rajahmahendravaram andVijayawada availing instantpaperless loans through theapp.

Aimed at middle-incomeIndians, who are comfortablewith smartphone and tech-nology, the Navi app providesinstant loans up to Rs 5 lakhwith tenures of up to 36months via a completely digi-tal and contactless process forcustomers. Available for down-load on the Google play store,customers can check their eli-gibility, select the loan and EMIamount, and enter their PANand Aadhaar number to receivethe loan amount in their bankaccount within minutes. Theprocess is entirely paperless anddoes not require uploading of

any documents like payslips, orbank statements.

Most of Navi’s loans weredisbursed to customers’ bankaccounts in less than 10 min-utes, while some customerswere able to avail loans in lessthan five minutes from the timethey installed the app.

According to Samit Shettyfrom Navi, “We received anexcellent response fromAndhra Pradesh and across thecountry for the Navi lending

app since its launch.Customers in Andhra Pradeshavailing loans up to Rs 5 lakhto tide over their needs are asign of their comfort and con-fidence with the app. Navi’stechnology platform is built forscale with an emphasis onleveraging ArtificialIntelligence (AI) and MachineLearning (ML) so that we cancontinuously improve thechoices and experience weoffer our customers.”

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Kia Motors Indiareleased officialimages of the interiorand exterior of itsupcoming Sonetcompact SUV. Theproduction-ready KiaSonet has a distinctiveand dynamic design aswell as many first-in-segmentfeatures. First showcased at theAuto Expo- 2020 as a concept,the all-new Kia Sonet is sched-uled to make its world premiereon August 7 making a boldstatement in the compact SUVsegment.

Karim Habib, Senior Vice-President and Head of KiaGlobal Design at Kia MotorsCorporation, said “We are excit-ed to introduce the new KiaSonet to the world, a compactSUV with a strong and muscu-lar character found only inmuch larger vehicles. With thisin mind, we designed this SUVwith a uniquely sporty attitude,a confident stance and adynamic silhouette. Its uncom-

promising attention to detailand selection of colours andmaterial could have only beinspired by the great culturalheritage that our designersfound across the country”.

He said “We believe the KiaSonet’s compelling characterwill hold major appeal foryoung, aspirational and always-connected customers in Indiaand beyond. Safety is a key con-sideration for all Kia Motorsvehicles, and the Sonet will fea-ture an extensive list of activeand passive safety equipment.It will come equipped with upto six airbags – offering a class-leading combination of front,side and curtain protection foroccupants.”

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Fino Payments Bank is leadingthe charge in ringing in a newdawn for the people of ruralAndhra Pradesh amidst theCovid-19 pandemic.

The bank plans to provideentrepreneurship opportunityto over 20,000 small businessowners as Fino banking pointsin the State by the end of theyear. The bank aims at playinga significant role in reviving therural economy by creatingopportunities during virus-infected days. Addressing themedia through a video confer-ence, Biswajeet Sinha, SeniorDivisional Head, Fino PaymentsBank (South), said, “Towardsour endeavour of making bank-ing simple and convenient forpeople, we are focussing onthree critical elements. Firstly,improve access by transformingthe neighbourhood provision,dairy and other shops intobanking points. Secondly, pro-vide convenience by ensuringpoints closer to customers that

help them avoid travel to faraway branches for simple bank-ing tasks. Thirdly, we have part-nered with NBFC companieswherein their customers can paytheir EMIs at our points with-out having to go to a bankbranch.”

Since the start of this finan-cial year, Fino has already pro-

vided entrepreneurial, oremployment opportunity toover 2,100 neighbourhoodshops. Fino currently has anetwork of close to 10,000 mer-chant points across the State.The network also includesaround 450 outlets of Fino’sstrategic partner BharatPetroleum (BPCL).

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In a f ight against novelCoronavirus, the researchershave found that children, espe-cially below 10 years, are nota major source of transmissionof Covid-19. The researchteam from McMasterUniversity in Canada provideshigh-quality summaries ofresearch evidence to supportpublic health professionals andpolicymakers in making evi-dence-based decisions.

"The bottom line thus far isthat children under 10 years ofage are unlikely to drive out-breaks of Covid-19 in daycaresand schools and that, to date,adults were much more likelyto be the transmitter of infec-tion than children," said studyresearcher Sarah Neil-

Sztramko from the McMasterUniversity.

The review found amongchildren who were infected,the transmission was tracedback to the community andhome settings or adults, ratherthan amongst children within

daycares or schools even injurisdictions where schoolsremained open or have sincereopened. "Within householdclusters, adults were muchmore likely to be the index casethan children. The quality ofevidence is moderate, and the

findings are consistent," theauthors said. The reviewincluded consideration of 33research publications. In thesecond research, the reviewalso found that families areundergoing considerable stressduring the pandemic.

"We found that families areunder strain, especially femalecaregivers and children, withincreasing gender gaps inemployment and household

labour and poor mental healthoutcomes in children," saidNeil-Sztramko.

The researchers also foundgender gaps in employmentbetween women and men havegrown during the pandemic,with women more than menexperiencing reduced hoursand job losses. Women andhigher-income earners aremore likely to be in occupa-tions that could be done from

home, and among parents whocan work from home, mothersreduced their work hours morethan fathers, particularlymothers of primary school-aged children.

"We recognised early onthat there was a significantneed to summarise the over-whelming amount of researchevidence emerging on Covid-19, appraise its quality, and dis-tribute widely that evidence tosupport public health deci-sion making in Canada," theauthors wrote.

Recently, another study pub-lished in The Lancet Child andAdolescent Health journal,revealed that mothers withCovid-19 infection are unlike-ly to pass the virus to theirnewborn if correct hygieneprecautions are observed.

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A woman with her two-month-old baby boy undergoing treat-ment at the GovernmentGeneral Hospital (GG) inGuntur blamed the authoritiesfor not providing proper treat-ment despite lodging com-plaints.

She released a selfie video onThursday explaining her plightand said that she and her babyboy, who were infected withCoronavirus, were admitted tothe GGH on July 24. She saidthat her infant was facing severedifficulties due to infection.Hence, the hospital staff toldthem to bring injection fromoutside as it was not available atthe GGH. But when theybrought it, the staff did notadminister it, which was pre-scribed three times a day, shealleged.

The woman patient said thather boy was crying all the timedue to pain, and when shelodged complaints with RMO inthe GGH nobody has respond-ed. She said that the gynaecolog-ical and paediatric wards staffdid not allow her into thosewards to get treatment andasked to get treatment in Covidward due to Corona infection.She alleged that nurses and doc-tors are reluctant in administer-

ing the injection and appealed tothem to provide treatment to herand boy to save their lives.

GGH superintendent Dr KSudhakar refuted the allega-tions of the woman patient asbaseless and said that doctors areadministering injections to theboy according to the prescrip-tion. He said that a few minutesdelay was caused in administer-ing the injection to the boy as thedoctors are serving emergency

patients but the woman turnededgy had released the selfie in ahurried manner.

He said that injection wasadministered and said that doc-tors are taking utmost care of themother and child putting theirlives at risk to treat Coronapatients.

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Coconut Theatre, VijayawadaChapter, has organised a seriesof live online sessions on ‘Chai-Wai and Rangmanch’ plat-form. The sessions are live onthe official CoconutT h e a t r eF a c e b o o kpage at 6pm.

Veterana c t o r s ,award win-ning play-wrights anddirectors,m a k e - u pspecialists,music com-posers, design-ers, choreographers and tech-nicians shared their memo-rable experiences, as also theirlife changing inspirationalmoments, which will be help-ful to all the theatre practition-ers based in the State, these ses-sions are freely available to alland no registration is required.

Upcoming sessions are withShatrughan Sinha (July 30) ,Shri Subhash Ghai ( July 31) ,Supriya Pathak (August 1) ,Shabana Azmi – (August 2)Rashmin Majithia (August 3).

And many other guestsspeakers will do their sessions,which will be beneficial to the-atre practitioners. This collec-tors’ item is an invaluable toolfor aspiring theatre students,amateur theatre artistes, writ-ers, make-up artists and theatregroups and everyone connect-ed with the theatre fraternity.

Producer of CoconutTheatre Rashmin Majithiashared that ‘Chai-Wai &Rangmanch – 2020’ is thebiggest online initiative.

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Former minister and YSRCPleader Koppana Mohan Raopassed away on Wednesday,due to age-related health prob-lems. He was 75. Koppanawas undergoing treatment at aprivate hospital in Kakinadaand breathed his last whileundergoing treatment.

He represented the Congresstwice from the Pithapuramconstituency in 1978 and 1989.

Kappa had served asMinister of Forests in the KotlaVijaya Bhaskara Reddy Cabinetand had joined the YSRCP afterit was formed.

Several YSRCP leaders,including MLA PandemDorababu, mourned his death.

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Special Chief Secretary,Medical and Health depart-ment, KS Jawahar Reddy onThursday said that theGovernment has fixed thecharges to be paid to privateand corporate hospitals fortreatment of Covid-19 patientsunder the Aarogyasri scheme.

For treatment of Covid-19,corporate hospitals would bepaid Rs 3,250 per day. If thepatients are treated withoutventilator or non-invasive ven-tilation (NIV), the hospitalswould be paid Rs 5,480 perday and in the case of provid-ing treatment in the ICU withNIV, the hospital would bepaid Rs 5,980 per day.

Likewise, if the patient is

treated in the ICU with ven-tilator support, the hospitalwould be paid Rs 9,580 perday.

If the patient is treated withseptic shock along with venti-lator, the hospital would bepaid Rs 10,380 per day,Jawahar Reddy said.

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On the lines of Tirumala Srivaritemple, to promote e-Hundifacility for devotees of SriPadmavati Ammavari temple,TTD has introduced e-Hundifacility. Devotees now shallmake their contributions onlinedirectly either through theTTD website of www.tirupat-ibalaji.ap.gov.in, or on Govindamobile App.

The online facility is open forboth the devotees, who havealready registered on the web-site and mobile app and alsothose who are yet to register. Alldevotees can make contribu-tions with either debit/creditcards after submitting basicdetails like name, email-ID,mobile number and address.

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Affirming that the NationalEducation Policy (NEP)-2020has carried many of the recom-mendations made by the Stategovernment, Minister forEducation Adimulapu Sureshsaid that Chief Minister YSJaganmohan has been ahead oftimes to visualise a level play-ing field to all students andtermed the news published ina section of the media as opin-ionated.

Speaking to the media hereon Thursday, he said, the ChiefMinister wanted education tobe accessible, affordable, haveequity, quality and accountabil-ity and all these reflect in theNEP- 2020. He has been advo-cating that poverty should notbe a barrier to higher educa-tion.

Amma Vodi has beenlaunched incentivising moth-ers to send her children toschool and the NEP talks aboutincentivising parents by cashtransfers to bring down thedropout rate. “Our govern-ment has brought in a legisla-tion to monitor and regulate

the education in corporateeducation institutions and theNEP clearly states that educa-tion is not a commercial activ-ity,” he said.

The previous government,however, behaved like a brandambassador to corporate edu-cation and went about closingdown government schools, hesaid and added that their gov-ernment has revived them andunder Nadu-Nedu it is devel-oping the infrastructure andambiance. The governmenthas earmarked Rs 12,000 crorefor educational institutions.

The Chief Minister was thefirst to say that the Degreecourse should be of four yearsand announced the pre prima-ry I and pre primary II, whichwas echoed in the new policy,which also spoke about bilin-gual approach, he reminded.

The nomenclature ofMinistry of Human ResourcesDevelopment was changed tothe Ministry of Education bythis government while the pre-vious government dilly-dalliedof its entire term. On Englishmedium, he said since the issueis in the court, it is not fair to

speak about it but the newsappearing in a section of mediadoes not touch the core issuesthat they have implemented.“We have taken the opinion ofparents and 95 per cent were infavour of the government deci-sion, which was taken aftercareful consideration and con-sultations with NCERT.Wherever possible, the NEPsaid, about home language and

the importance of multi-lan-guage possibility,” he said.

“We have thoroughly dis-cussed the NEP-2020 and willapprise the Chief Minister aboutthe outcome,” he said addingthere was a review on the qual-ity improvement in educationsystem. “Digitalisation of edu-cation was also a feature of theirpolicy, which found its place inthe new policy,” he said.

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The YSRCP government iscommitted to the empower-ment of women and Saheli isone such programme, saidMinister for Industries,Commerce and InformationTechnolog y MekapatiGoutham Reddy.

Addressing a virtual meet-ing with the representativesof Amazon on Thursday, hesaid the government was col-laborating with Amazon forSaheli. It is aimed at encour-aging women in handicrafts,toy-making and other prod-ucts and marketing.

Amazon would set up aCentre of Excellence out ofthe proposed 30 centres inthe State and priority is beinggiven to take administrationto the doorstep of peoplethrough high technology. ISBand Amazon would beinvolved in transforming theState by taking up Start ups,Data Security, Data Scienceand Internet, said the minis-ter.

As most of the Telugu peo-ple are shining in the field ofIT sector globally, the Stategovernment is making effortsto bring them back so that

the sector gets strengthenedin the State, he said. Amazonis also keen on bringingabout revolutionary changesin education, agriculture,medical and power sectors,he added.

IT department SecretaryBhanu Prakash, Specia lGeneral Secretary Sundar,APTS MD Nanda Kishore,Government AdvisorsVidyasagar Reddy, SrinathReddy, Lokeshwar Reddy,AISPL MD Rahul Sharma,State and Local Governmenthead Ajay Kaur and PublicPolicy head Lobo wereamong those who attendedthe virtual conference.

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"It will be a cargo export and import hub for themany industrial units in the district. Commercial oper-ations were expected to commence in January 2020from Dagadarthi, the government had announcedwhen the concession agreement was inked.

All clearances and approvals from various agencieswere received for the project but the developer couldnot achieve financial closure saying the governmentdid not hand over the proposed site to the full extent.

Since the land is not encumbrance-free, the lendersare not showing interest to fund the project. As such,financial closure cannot be achieved in these circum-stances making it not possible to go ahead with theproject, the consortium told the government in a let-ter on June 17. To this, the Special Chief Secretary said,“Except for some portion, the remaining land wasmade available for the project.”

"As per the clauses of the concession agreement,financial closure is mandatory to be achieved withinthe period prescribed and this is an independent oblig-ation cast upon the developer. It is not connected tohanding over the land as per the agreement,” he said.

Continued from Page 1

Not satisfied with the reply, the staffmembers asked her to sign in the reg-ister at the time of obtaining a PPE kit.She also failed to produce her identi-ty card when asked to do so. When thehospital staff confronted her, she gavecontradictory statements like claimingto have come to the hospital on theinsistence of her relatives and then say-ing that she is an Ayurvedic practition-er and again saying that she came tosee her relatives who are in the ICU.

Realising something was wrong, thehospital staff informed theMachavaram police.

The police reached the hospital andtook her to the police station. Duringquestioning, she revealed that shebelongs to Prasadampadu and hascompleted post-graduation.

A case has been registered in thisregard and the investigation is going on.It is yet to be ascertained why she choseto visit the hospital in the guise of a doc-tor.

The staff at the hospital however stat-ed that the woman has been visiting thehospital for four days as Dr Shailaja.The hospital staff initially took her forone of the 80 new doctors who havebeen deputed to the hospital on Covid-19 duties. They also could not imme-diately establish her identity as she waswearing the PPE gear, the hospital staffclaimed. She was also suspected to beproviding access to relatives of someCovid-19 patients using her garb as adoctor. The woman is also giving jit-ters to the police questioning her dueto the fact that she has spent a goodfour days right inside the Covid-19 hos-pital.

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Continued from Page 1

The two survivors ofthe mishap, Rakesh andR af i , hai l ing f romKadapa, were on theirway to B el lar y inKarnataka. Itwas an act of indecisionthat made them attemptto cross the rivuletknowing well that it wasdangerously overflowing.

In a separate incident,the villagers joined handsand managed to pull outan RTC bus that wasstuck in the overflowingstream before it could be

washed away in thefloodwaters. The localsused ropes to connect itto a truck waiting on dryground to drag it. In yetanother incident, the vil-lagers also rescued a fish-erman who was strandedin Guthi lake.

Incidentally, the vil-lagers’ first rescue actinvolving the car wascaptured on a mobilephone by one of thebystanders. The video,which went viral soon,shows the car beingswept away by the strongwater current.

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Telangana State ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao on Thursday came downheavily on the Union govern-ment for its failure in resolv-ing inter-state water disputesand suggested that there wasno use of the Union Ministryof Jal Shakti if it was theremerely to meddle with thecontending states, instead ofcoming up with central ini-tiatives aimed at quicklyresolving the issues.

Citing the Centre'sdecades-long inaction andits abject failure in resolvinglong-standing inter-statewater disputes such as thosebetween Tamil Nadu andKarnataka, Odisha and TS,Odisha and Andhra Pradeshetc., KCR told a high-levelmeeting at Pragati Bhavanhere that the related projectswere getting stalled unneces-sarily.

Telangana State would pro-tect its rights over the watersof Godavari and Krishnarivers, "come what may".There was no question of los-ing "even a single drop ofwater" and the state govern-ment was "ready to fight for itsrights to any extent," officialsconcurred at the meeting.

Continued from Page 1

A GO was issued by thePanchayat Raj and RuralDevelopment Departmentlate in the night stating that“in compliance to the ordersof Hon’ble High Court in WPNo.8163 of 2020 and batchcases Dt.29.05.2020, theappended notification shall bepublished in the extraordi-nary issue of Andhra PradeshGazette”. The appended noti-fication said “Restoring theposition of State ElectionCommissioner”. Earlier, theYSRCP government had triedits best to take advantage ofthe wording used in the direc-tions issued by the Governorand put off reinstating theretired IAS officer. Earlier onJuly 22, the Governor issueda direction to the StateGovernment to follow theorders of the AP High Courtand reinstate Ramesh Kumar

as the SEC. A communique from Raj

Bhavan, sent to Chief SecretaryNilam Sawhney on Tuesdaynight, based on a representationsubmitted by Ramesh Kumaron Monday, said that “in pur-suance of pursuance of theinstructions of the High Courtin the contempt case given onJuly 17, the Governor has beenpleased to direct the govern-ment for taking necessaryaction as per the directions ofthe court in its order dated May29.” "After examining therepresentation, order in thecontempt case and the HighCourt order in writ petitionNo. 8163, the Governor hasbeen pleased to direct thegovernment for taking nec-essary action as per the direc-tions of the HC, dated May29, 2020," Governor'sSecretary Mukesh KumarMeena said in a letter toRamesh Kumar.

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Continued from Page 1

Against this backdrop, theKRMB in its response clearlystated that the AP govern-ment can't construct projectsillegally.

The Board also mentionedthat the project was against theprovisions of Section 84, Para7 of the AP Reorganisation Act,which stipulates that any newproject proposed by eitherState must seek clearance fromthe KRMB, CWC and theApex Council by submitting allDetailed Project Reports(DPR). The Board found faultwith AP for not following thenorms and further warnedthat any violation can be con-strued as against the Act.

Continued from Page 1

During the eighth meetingof the Council held in January2017, the then finance minis-ter of Karnataka had said "theunderstanding should be thatif the amount for compensa-tion was inadequate in theGST compensation fund, thencess could be collected in thesixth year or subsequent yearto adjust the payment."

Responding to this, the thenchairperson and UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyhad assured that "compensa-tion to states shall be paid forfive years in full within the stip-ulated period of five yearsand, in case the amount in the

GST compensation fund fellshort of the compensationpayable in any bi-monthlyperiod, the GST Council shalldecide the mode of raisingadditional resources includ-ing borrowing from the mar-ket which could be repaid bya collection of cess in the sixthyear or further subsequentyears."

Parliament had approved anamendment to the Constitutionthat enabled subsuming of overa dozen different central andstate taxes into the new taxregime, which provides forGST compensation to states forloss of revenue on account ofGST implementation for a peri-od of five years.

"There is no obligationunder the Constitution or GSTlaws to make good the loss onaccount of natural disaster,COVID, or economic slow-down etc.because they are notrelated to the implementationof GST," a source said.

The GST Council has todecide how to meet the short-fall in such circumstances andnot the central government, thesources added.

Any borrowing of the cen-tral government is upon thesecurity of the ConsolidatedFund of India. Similarly, bor-rowing by a state governmentis upon the security of the con-solidated fund of the state. Ineither case, it would lead to

increased general governmentdebt burden and also higherfiscal deficit.

The payment of GST com-pensation to states became anissue after revenues from theimposition of cess started dwin-dling since August 2019 and theCentre had to dive into theexcess cess amount collectedduring 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The Centre had releasedover Rs 1.65 lakh crore in2019-20 as GST compensation.However, the amount of cesscollected during the year 2019-20 was Rs 95,444 crore.

The compensation payoutamount was Rs 69,275 crore in2018-19 and Rs 41,146 crore in2017-18.

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State Mahila CommissionChairperson Vasireddy Padma saidthat the State government headed byChief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddypressed anti-human trafficking unitsinto service in the State to curb the ille-gal human trafficking. Addressingthe webinar jointly organised by theCommission, Red Rope Movementand the University of Hyderabad onThursday stressed the need on takingdrastic steps to curb illegal human traf-ficking.

The webinar was attended byChrysolyte Sanamanda of Red RopeMovement, PM Nair, retired DGP,Manoj, Additional DGP, Kerala, BSumathi, DIG (Women Protect Cell)AP, Dr Sangita of Proactive HealthTrust, Sony Kutti George of UNICEF,R Suez, Director of State MahilaCommission and Tambi of VisionRescue Organisation.

In her inaugural address, she saidthat services of village and ward vol-unteers in the Village and WardSecretariats across the State would alsobe effectively used to containing thehuman trafficking. “An action plan ison the cards to conduct awarenesscamps and symposiums in the collegesand universities throughout the Stateon the menace of illegal human traf-ficking,” she said.

PM Nair, retired DGP, who alsoworked in the CBI, NHRC and otherorganisations, underlined the impor-tance of creating awareness amongyouth to make them partners in the

curbing the menace of human traffick-ing. Tambi, representing Vision RescueOrganisation, stressed on providingeducation to children, which wouldhelp them to understand the socialproblems. Dr Sangita of ProactiveHealth Trust spoke on the value-basededucation.

She said that the children should beenlightened on human rights andalso rights of children. AdditionalDGP Manoj spoke on cybercrimeswhile DGI Sumathi spoke on the roleof law enforcement agencies in pre-venting human trafficking. All the par-ticipants unanimously stated, ‘Nowoman is for sale and No girl is forsale’.

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The annual three-day festivalof Pavitrotsavam commencedat the Srivari temple onThursday with PavitraPratistha. As part of the ritu-al, the utsava idols of SriMalayappaswamy and Hisconsorts were seated at Pavitramandapam for Homa andVaidika rituals. Earlier, theutsava idols were givenSnapana Tirumanjanam.Later,Vishesha Samarpana wasalso performed in the evening.

Speaking to the media, TTDChairman YV Subba Reddysaid Srivari darshan would con-tinue at Srivari temple following

Covid-19 restrictions. He saidvery soon the humanity acrossthe globe would be relievedfrom pandemic Corona. In viewof COVID, Pavitrotsavams willbe held in Ekantham on all three

days. Chinna Jeeyarswami ofTirumala, TTD Chairman YVSubba Reddy, TTD EO AnilKumar Singhal, Additional EOAV Dharma Reddy, and otherofficials participated.

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The Central Government had on April 2,2004, constituted KWDT to adjudicate dis-putes between Maharashtra, Karnataka andundivided Andhra Pradesh under Section 4of the Inter-State River Water Dispute(ISRWD) Act, 1956.

The tribunal then submitted its report inDecember 2010. Subsequently, the Ministryof Water Resources dissolved the Tribunal.

However, after the carving of a separateTelangana State, the Centre revived theTribunal to resolve disputes betweenTelangana and AP.

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TTD has extended the time span ofVIP Break Darshan tickets offered ondonations to the Srivani Trust from thepresent six months duration to one

year. ?Following requests from devo-tees in view of Covid-19 restrictionsprevailing across the country andeven overseas, TTD has facilitated thedevotees holding such break tickets toutilise them in the next 12 months.

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The YSRCP leader wasstabbed to death in broad day-light when he was supervisingrepair work at the local fishmarket in Machilipatnam onJune 29. Police arrested ChinthaNancharayya, ChinthaNagamalleswar Rao, Chintha

Vamsi Krishna, Pola Ramu,Dhana and a minor associatedwith the case.

Police arrested Ravindra forallegedly supporting his associ-ates to eliminate Bhaskara Raoand listed him as the conspir-ator in the case. He is lodged atRajahmundry Central Jail as aremand prisoner.

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Page 4: ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ... virulent pace

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Ruling out leadership change,Karnataka BJP President NalinKumar Kateel on Thursdaysaid there should be no doubtabout party giving a stablegovernment in the state for thenext three years, with B SYediyurappa as the ChiefMinister.

With speculations aboutleadership change and socialmedia posts allegedly byDeputy Chief MinisterLaxman Savadi's supporters,projecting him as the nextCM, the BJP Chief said it is theparty that decides on suchmatters not supporters, andany violation of discipline willnot be tolerated.

Speaking to reporters inChamarajanagara, Kateel said,"There are no discord (with in

the party). For next threeyears our government will bestable and run the administra-tion. Yediyurappa will be ChiefMinisters for remaining threeyears completely, let there beno doubt about it."

Seeking to know who askedfor a change in the ChiefMinister, he said, "No onehas asked from theparty....social media is not theparty."

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The Centre informed theSupreme Court Thursday thatan MoU has been prepared forthe installation of smog towerat Anand Vihar in east Delhiand it will be signed by thestakeholders.

Solicitor General TusharMehta told a bench headed byJustice Arun Mishra that afterWednesday's hearing, theCentre contacted IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT)Bombay and others, includingthe Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB), and the mem-orandum of understandingwas prepared.

The top court had yesterdayslammed the IIT Bombay forbacking out of the projectand said that it would take

action against the premierinstitute and others for violat-ing its order.

Smog tower is a structuredesigned as large-scale airpurifier to reduce air pollution.

After Mehta informed thetop court about the MoU, thebench questioned him as towhy its January 13 order, direct-ing the project to be complet-ed within three months, wasnot complied with.

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India is currently conductingaround five lakh COVID-19tests every day and the plan is todouble the number in next one-two months, Union Science andTechnology Minister HarshVardhan said on Thursday.

During the launch of a com-pendium on 'Council forScientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) Technologies forCOVID-19 Mitigation', Vardhan,who is also the Union healthminister, said the country's recov-ery rate of over 64 per cent is thebest in the world while the fatal-ity rate is nearly 2.2 per cent.

He also hailed the scientificcommunity for fighting along-side the medical community inthe battle against the virus.

The first COVID-19 case inIndia was detected on January 30and it has been six months sincethen but the fight against thevirus is still on. Despite the vast-ness of the country and its pop-ulation, the war against the virushas been successfully taken up in

every corner, Vardhan said.About ramping up health

infrastructure in the country, theminister said six months agoIndia was importing ventilators,but it has now developed acapacity to manufacture threelakh ventilators.

"Most of the ventilators arebeing made within the countrynow. India is supplying hydrox-ychloroquine drug to nearly 150countries," he said.

"In April, we used to conduct6,000 tests daily. Today, we are

conducting over five lakh testsevery day. Our plan is to take itto 10 lakh tests daily in 1-2months and we are workingtowards it," Vardhan said.

There was a time whenexports related to COVID-19were stopped to meet therequirements within the country.However, on Friday, in the Groupof Ministers, there will be a pre-sentation on what can be againopened up for the exports, hesaid. "This is possible because ofthe efforts undertaken by the

country to ramp up productionof critical equipment."

Vardhan asserted that whileglobal efforts are on to find a vac-cine against the novel coron-avirus, India is not behind.

"We have been able to dodetailed sequencing of over 1,000coronavirus genomes," Vardhansaid, adding that India wasamong the five nations whocould isolate the virus.

Referring to human trials ofvaccine candidates being con-ducted by Bharat Biotech andZydus Cadila, he said India isamong the very few countries toreach that stage.

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The CPI on Thursday allegedthat the new education policylaunched by the governmentstrayed away from the conceptof universalisation of educationand focused on creating "edu-cation markets".

Teaching up to class five inmother tongue or regionallanguage, lowering the stakesof board exams, allowing for-eign universities to set upcampuses in India, a single reg-ulator for higher educationinstitutions except for law andmedical colleges and commonentrance tests for universitiesare part of the sweepingreforms in the new NationalEducation Policy (NEP)unveiled on Wednesday.

"The RSS-led NDA govern-ment has approved the NewEducation Policy (NEP). Thepolicy brings with it a funda-mental change in the systemtowards creating educationmarkets and away from ensur-ing universalisation of educa-tion through governmentschools and rejecting quality

education to poor and social-ly disadvantaged sections ofthe society," the Left partysaid in a statement.

"In the absence of public-funded education this will takeaway the social justice, whatev-er little it is there today," it said.

The left also alleged that thegovernment bypassedParliament and underminedfederalism in formulating thepolicy and accused the centralgovernment of taking "unilat-eral decisions to aggressivelypush through its neo-liberalagenda including in the systemof education".

It further said the NEP is anattempt to lead to "total privati-sation, commercialisation and

over centralisation" and willresult in higher fees, attacks onautonomy of universities andno permanent jobs in teaching.

"The government will ear-mark six per cent of GDP foreducation. It was a proposalmade by Kothari Commissiondecades back. Now there is ademand that the Centre shouldspend on education more than10 per cent of the GDP. NEPwill lead to more privatisation,commercialisation under themanagement and control ofBoard of Governors.

"This is done to invite for-eign universities as per WTO.Also 50,000 educational insti-tutions will now be convertedto only 15,000 and all collegeswith less than 3,000 studentswill either be closed or mergedwith others. This will lead toregional disparities in a bigway," it said.

The statement claimed that asa consequence of the NEP,institutions like IIMS, IITs andISC with single subjects will beclosed and only institutionsteaching multiple subjects willexist, thus hurting specialisation.

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The minimum degree qualifica-tion for teaching will be a 4-yearintegrated BEd course by 2030and stringent action will betaken against "substandard"stand-alone teacher educationinstitutions, according to thenew National Education Policy(NEP).

The new NEP approved bythe Cabinet on Wednesday hasoutlined several reforms forboth school education and high-er education. The policy has alsolaid down a road map for howthe demands for training teach-ers in tune with the policyrequirements will be met.

"By 2030, the minimumdegree qualification for teach-ing will be a 4-year integratedBEd degree. Stringent actionwill be taken against substan-dard stand-alone TeacherEducation Institutions (TEIs),"the policy document said.

"A common NationalProfessional Standards for

Teachers (NPST) will be devel-oped by the National Council forTeacher Education by 2022, inconsultation with NCERT,SCERTs, teachers and expertorganizations from across levelsand regions. "The standardswould cover expected roles ofthe teacher at different levels ofexpertise and stage, and thecompetencies required for thatstage. This could be adopted bystates to determine all aspects ofteacher career management,

including tenure, professionaldevelopment efforts, salaryincreases, promotions, and otherrecognitions. The professionalstandards will be reviewed andrevised in 2030, and thereafterevery ten years," it added.

By 2021, a new and compre-hensive National CurriculumFramework for TeacherEducation will be formulatedby the National Council ofTeacher Education (NCTE) inconsultation with the NCERT.

"A National Mission forMentoring will be established,with a large pool of outstand-ing senior and retired facultywho would be willing to pro-vide short and long-term men-toring and professional supportto university or college teach-ers," the policy said. The newpolicy has also focused on trans-parency in teacher recruitmentprocess and need for a mecha-nism for periodic performancereview of teachers.

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Actor-producer AnushkaSharma and Indian skipperVirat Kohli on Thursdayannounced that they havepledged their support to the peo-ple of flood ravaged Assam andBihar.

In a statement, Anushka andVirat said they are supportingthree organisations involved inrelief work -- Action Aid India,Rapid Response and Goonj.

"While our country is in themidst of the coronavirus pan-demic, people in Assam andBihar are also suffering due to

the devastating floods that haveaffected so many lives and liveli-hood.

"While we continue to prayfor the people in Assam &Bihar, Virat and I have alsopledged to help those in need bysupporting these three organi-sations (Action Aid India, RapidResponse and Goonj) that havebeen doing credible work inflood relief & welfare," the cou-ple said in the statement postedon their respective social mediahandles.

Anushka and Virat also calledupon their fans to help the peo-ple of these two states.

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Cases lodged against 150 peo-ple for allegedly attacking apolice station, after a key wasjabbed into a man's forehead bya policeman, will be with-drawn, CM Trivendra SinghRawat said on Thursday. Rawatgave the assurance to a delega-tion of residents of Rudrapur'sRampura ward, led by the vic-tim's grandfather, that methim on his visit here. "Noaction will be taken against anyRampura resident and all the150 cases lodged againstunidentified people in connec-tion with the incident will bewithdrawn," Rawat said. Policehad lodged cases against 150unidentified people for attack-ing the Kotwali in the wake ofthe incident. A policeman hadallegedly jabbed a key into theforehead of a man following anargument over not wearing ahelmet in Rudrapur area ofUttarakhand late on Mondayevening, leaving him injured.

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The Tamil Nadu governmenton Thursday announced theextension of coronavirus-induced lockdown in thestate till August 31, but withmore relaxations, includingscaling up workforce in pri-vate establishments andallowing dine-in services inhotels and restaurants.

Chief Minister KPalaniswami reasoned that'significant' number of coro-navirus cases had promptedthe continuation of curbsand called for public cooper-ation towards strict adher-ence to social distancing,wearing of masks and handhygiene to contain the spread.

The decision came afterPalaniswami held discussionswith District Collectors onWednesday and the govern-ment appointed medicalexpert panel on Thursdaywhere he took stock of the sit-uation in the state.

As of Thursday, TamilNadu has 2.34 lakh Covid-19cases, including 3,741 deaths.

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West Bengal Congress chiefSomen Mitra, who died onThursday, will go down in his-tory as a leader who could makefriends with rivals with the con-summate ease of a politicalcraftsman but failed to preventa debilitating split in the partyand presided over its gradualdecline. The split sowed theseeds for the formation of theTrinamool (grassroots) Congressled by a fiery Mamata Banerjeewho, in the years that followed,decimated both the mighty Leftand the Congress.

A known bete noire of WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, it was during Mitra'ssecond term as Congress presi-dent in the late 1990s that hisparty lost the status of the prin-cipal opposition to the thenseemingly invincible Left Front

to the TMC. Mitra passed awayat a city hospital in the earlyhours of Thursday aged 78. Hewas in the hospital for 17 daysdue to heart and kidney prob-lems. He died following a cardiacarrest, hospital sources said.

Born on December 31, 1941,in Jessore district of the erstwhileEast Bengal (now Bangladesh),Mitra was the eldest of five sib-lings. A stalwart in West Bengalpolitics, Mitra cut his teeth in

politics during the tumultuous1960s as a student leader.

After his baptism in politics asa student leader in 1967, whenBengal had its first non-Congressgovernment, Mitra, through hisorganisational and oratoricalskills, quickly rose through theranks and became one of themost popular leaders of theparty along with late unionminister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Mentored by Congress stal-warts like A B A Ghani KhanChowdhury, Mitra's first brushwith electoral politics happenedin 1972 when he became theyoungest MLA in the WestBengal Assembly from theSealdah seat at the age of 26.

Except for 1977, Mitra contin-ued to win the Sealdah assem-bly segment, which has nowceased to exist after delimitation,for six consecutive terms from1982 to 2006.

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India's development cooperationwith other nations does notcome with any conditions andis not influenced by political orcommercial considerations,Prime Minister Narendra Modiasserted on Thursday.

He also said that India'sapproach to development ismainly human-centric and itwants to work for the welfare ofhumanity.

"Our development partner-ships reflect the developmentpriorities of our partner nations,"he said.

The prime minister wasaddressing a virtual event of theinauguration of a new SupremeCourt building of Mauritius.

Modi and Mauritius PrimeMinister Pravind Jugnauth joint-ly inaugurated the new SupremeCourt building at Port Louis.

The new building in Port Louisis a symbol of our cooperationand shared values, Modi said.

"Both India and Mauritiusrespect our independent judicia-ries as important pillars of ourdemocratic systems," the primeminister observed.

Modi said history has taughtus that in the name of develop-ment partnerships, nations wereforced into "dependence part-nerships".

"It gave rise to colonial and

imperial rule. It gave rise toglobal power blocks andhumanity suffered," he said.

India is making developmentpartnerships that are marked byrespect, diversity, care for thefuture, and sustainable devel-opment, he noted.

For India, Modi said, themost fundamental principle indevelopment cooperation isrespecting its partners.

"This sharing of developmentlessons is our onlymotivation.That is why ourdevelopment cooperation doesnot come with any conditions.It is not influenced by politicalor commercial considerations,"the prime minister asserted.

Modi observed that MahatmaGandhi had said, "My patrio-tism includes the good ofmankind in general. Therefore,my service to India includes theservice of humanity."

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Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra vacatedher official Lodhi Estate bunga-low on Thursday.

An official statement issued bythe Congress said PriyankaGandhi handed over the posses-sion of her 35, Lodhi Estate bun-galow, "previously allotted toher on security grounds", to theCPWD today. Sources close toher said she will be staying for afew days in her Gurgaon pent-house before shifting to centralDelhi, where she has finalised ahouse on rent. Renovations arecurrently going on in her newhouse in Delhi, they said.

"She will be residing in a tem-porary accommodation until amore permanent accommoda-tion in Delhi rented by her is

ready for use," an official com-munication from the Congressparty said.

Earlier in the day, a team ofcentral PWD officials visited herhouse and took the keys of theLodhi Estate bungalow.

The party said CPWD juniorengineer P Senthil Kumar in thepresence of CE Vikas Rana,Yogesh Kumar Kardam (AE-

PAWD-I, CPWD) ManojKumar Chauhan (AE CPWDServices), B S Rana (JE PAWD-I, CPWD) accepted the keys onbehalf of the CPWD after a fullinspection of the house andafter finding that it was handedover in good condition. "Theyhave issued her a 'vacation report'for the premises on behalf of theCPWD," the party said.

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Actor Anil Murali, knownfor his villain roles inMalayalam movies, died at aprivate hospital here onThursday due to liver-relatedailments, film industry sourcessaid. He was 51 and is survivedby his wife and two children.

Murali, who hails fromThiruvananthapuram, beganhis film acting career in 1993with the movie "KanyakumariOru Kavitha" directed byVinayan.

The Malayalam film worldexpressed shock over the deathof Murali, who has acted inover 200 movies in Malayalam,Tamil and Telugu. Actorsincluding Mohanlal, PrithvirajSukumaran, Tovino Thomas,Nivin Pauly and Aju Varghesetook to social media to condoleMurali's death.

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Days after a judge and his sondied in Madhya Pradesh aftereating poisoned chapatis, sixpeople, including a woman anda "tantrik", have been arrested.

District additional and ses-sions judge Betul MahendraTripathi and his 33-year-oldson died on Sunday, two daysafter they fell ill at dinner.

The woman who has beenarrested, Sandhya Singh, runsan NGO. She allegedly gave thejudge's family poisoned atta orwheat flour after performingwhat she claimed was a puja tohelp "maintain harmony attheir home".

The judge brought home theflour on July 20 and the sameday the family had chapatismade of it at dinner. Accordingto the police, the judge and his

two sons ate the chapatis buthis wife ate only rice. The judgeand his older son started vom-iting. The two were taken tohospital when they fell serious-ly ill on July 23.

On July 25, they both wereshifted to a hospital in Nagpurafter their condition worsened.The judge's son died the daythey reached Nagpur. A daylater, Judge Tripathi also died.

The judge's younger sonAshish also fell ill after eatingthe chapatis but he is recover-ing, said the police.

The police say their investi-gations point at a plan bySandhya Singh to kill the judge,whom she knew from the timehe was posted in Chhindwara.

Sandhya Singh allegedlywanted to target the judgeand his family.

"Sandhya Singh was not ableto meet Tripathi for fourmonths after his family cameto live with him in Betul... Outof frustration, she conspired tokill the judge's family,"Superintendent of PoliceSimala Prasad said.

Singh, 45, asked the judge togive her wheat flour for a pujafor his family, to help him "getrid of all his problems", thepolice officer said.

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An ayurvedic doctor whoallegedly murdered over 50 peo-ple across Delhi and neighbour-ing states was arrested in thenational capital on Wednesday,the police said. The doctor hadbeen hiding in Baprola on theoukskirts of Delhi after jumpingparole in January.

The police said he could havebeen involved in over 100 mur-der cases, but an exact numberis yet to be worked out as sever-al cases have been filed againsthim in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Haryana and Rajasthan.

Devender Sharma, 62, aBachelor of Ayurvedic Medicineand Surgery, is a resident of UttarPradesh's Aligarh. The policesaid Sharma was convicted inseveral cases of kidnapping andmurder. He was arrested twiceearlier for running a fake gasagency in Uttar Pradesh and wasalso jailed for running a kidneyracket in different states.

"Sharma was serving life sen-tence in Central Jail, Jaipur in a

murder case and was out onparole for 20 days in January thisyear after spending 16 years injail. But he jumped parole andstayed at his village for a whilebefore moving to Delhi in earlyMarch," a police officer said.

"Earlier, he was living at thehouse of an acquaintance inDelhi's Mohan Garden and latermoved to Baprola, where hemarried a widow. Our teamarrested him after we receivedinformation about his hideout onTuesday," Deputy Commissionerof Police (Crime) RakeshPaweriya said.

Sharma came to Delhi withthe intention of starting afreshand married his distant relativewho knew about his criminalbackground, the police officersaid. He began a property busi-ness and was currently mediat-ing the sale of Marshal House inConnaught Place to a propertydealer in Jaipur, the police said.

His interrogation that startedon Tuesday went on till morn-ing the next day. The police saidhe remained calm and cooper-ated with the team, disclosingdetails about his involvement inseveral cases.

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A plea has been filed in theSupreme Court seeking a direc-tion to the Centre to immediate-ly assist the health ministry ofBihar government in dealingwith the Covid-19 situation,claiming that public health careinfrastructure in the state has"crumbled" due to the pan-demic. The public interest litiga-tion (PIL) has alleged that Bihargovernment has failed to use theperiod of Covid-19 inducednationwide lockdown, whichhad commenced on March 25,to prepare its health infrastruc-ture for the increased burden ofcoronavirus cases.

"The Covid-19 crisis has putunbearable stress upon an alreadybroken system and consequent-ly, the public health care infra-structure of Bihar has crumbled,"the plea, filed by Patna-basedbusinessman Aditya Jalan, said.

The plea, filed through advocateRoshan Santhalia, has also soughta direction to Bihar governmentto explain the reasons "leading toa complete failure" of publichealth system and to outline thesteps which are required to betaken to deal with the situation.It has claimed that there is lackof Covid-19 hospitals and hospi-tal beds, insufficient medicalpersonnel and testing, unsanitaryquarantine centres, lack ofenforcement of social distancingmeasures and authorities in thestate have failed to provide per-sonal protective equipment tofrontline health workers.

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The names of 20 Indian Armypersonnel, who were killedafter valiantly fighting Chinesetroops in Galwan Valley ineastern Ladakh on June 15, willbe inscribed on the NationalWar Memorial here, officialssaid on Thursday.

They said the process forinscribing the names of theArmy personnel on the memo-rial may take a few months.

Chinese and Indian troopsclashed in Galwan Valley forseveral hours on the night ofJune 15 in their deadliest brawlin the last five decades.

Colonel B Santosh Babu,the commanding officer of the16 Bihar regiment, was amongthe Indian Army personnelkilled in the clash

The incident significantlyescalated the border tension ineastern Ladakh with India call-ing it "a premeditated andplanned action by China"

The Chinese soldiers usedstones, nail-studded sticks,

iron rods and clubs in carryingout brutal attacks on Indiansoldiers after they protested theerection of a surveillance postby China around patrollingpoint 14 in Galwan Valley.

China has not disclosed thenumber of casualties its troopssuffered. According to anAmerican intelligence report,the number of casualties on theChinese side was 35.

During a visit to Lukung for-ward post in eastern Ladakh on

July 17, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh personally con-veyed his appreciation andcompliments to the troopsfrom the Bihar regiment fordisplaying exemplary grit andcourage in fighting the Chinesetroops.

In his address to the soldiers,the defence minister said theIndian soldiers killed in theGalwan Valley clash not onlyshowed exemplary courage insafeguarding the border but

also protected the pride of130 crore Indians.

Last month, Army ChiefGen M M Naravane awarded'Commendation Cards' to fivesoldiers for their bravery indealing with Chinese troopsduring the Galwan Valley clashas well as confronting rival sol-diers in Pangong Tso in May.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Thursday held ameeting with party's RajyaSabha members and dis-cussed the current politicalsituation with them, sourcessaid.

The meeting was organ-ised through video confer-ence in which its top lead-ers, including former primeminister Manmohan Singh,participated.

Former ministers A KAntony, Ahmed Patel ,Ghulam Nabi Azad, AnandSharma, Mal l ikar junKharge, Ambika Soni, PChidambaram and JairamRamesh were also part ofthe meeting.

The MPs also raised con-cern over the current eco-nomic situation and therise in the number ofCOVID-19 cases in thecountry, the sources said.

The meeting comes afterSonia Gandhi had organiseda similar meet for party'sLok Sabha members sometime back.

The Monsoon Session ofParliament is likely to be heldnext month. Efforts are on tohold the session followingthe physical distancing normswhich are in place due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

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Images of Lord Ram and 3Dportraits of the grand RamTemple in Ayodhya will bebeamed across the giant bill-boards in the iconic TimesSquare in New York on August5 to celebrate the temple'sgroundbreaking ceremony,with organisers describing thecommemoration as a one-of-a-kind and historic event.

Prominent community leaderand President of the AmericanIndia Public Affairs CommitteeJagdish Sewhani on Wednesdaysaid that arrangements are beingmade to celebrate the historicmoment in New York on August5, when Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is scheduled tolay the foundation stone for con-struction of the Ram Temple inAyodhya.

Mr Sewhani told news agency

Press Trust of India that amongthe prominent billboards thatare being leased for the occasionare the giant Nasdaq screen andthe 17,000-square-foot wrap-around LED display screen,

considered among the largestcontinuous exterior displays inthe world and the highest-res-olution exterior LED screen inTimes Square.

Beginning from 8 a.m. on

August 5 till 10 p.m., images ofthe words 'Jai Shri Ram' inHindi and English, Lord Ram'sportraits and videos, 3D por-traits of the temple's design andarchitecture as well as pictures

of the laying of the foundationstone by Prime Minister Modiwill be displayed across sever-al billboards, which are amongthe most striking and popularfeatures of Times Square, oneof the most popular tourist des-tinations in the world.

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Delhi airport will relocate ultra-violet tunnels installed outsidethe departure terminal to sani-tize passengers' luggage amid theCOVID-19 pandemic to theinline baggage handling system,its operator DIAL said onThursday. Once the new systemis put in place, passengers will nothave to queue up at the depar-ture forecourt area and gothrough manual loading andunloading of baggage.

Before resumption of domes-tic passenger flights in May, theDelhi International AirportLimited (DIAL) had installedeight UV tunnels outside theentry gates in the departureforecourt area of Terminal 3.

"Flyers used to sanitize theirbaggage before entering the ter-minal to board their flight. The

decision to shift these UV tun-nels was taken after passengerqueues were observed duringpeak hours," the GMR group-ledDIAL said in a press statement."The DIAL has planned to relo-cate UV tunnels at the inline bag-gage handling system by the endof this month. As all departureluggage are routed through it,hence it will ensure sanitisationof all check-in baggage," it said.

The flyers can directly go tothe check-in counter, drop theirbaggage and the inline systemwill ensure their sanitisationautomatically, the release said.

All passenger flights are cur-rently being operated from Delhiairport's Terminal 3 due to lessair traffic amid the pandemic.

India resumed domestic pas-senger flights from May 25 aftera gap of two months due to the

pandemic. Airlines have beenallowed to operate only a maxi-mum of 45 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights.

However, occupancy rate inIndian domestic flights has beenaround 50-60 per cent sinceMay 25.

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Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)general secretary MilindParande on Thursday allegedthat those opposing the Ramtemple and subjects linked toit are doing so to achieve theirpolitical goals as they have noother option but to counter theinterests of Hindus. He said thiswhile addressing a press con-ference here. Replying to aquery about the recent state-ments made by NCP chiefSharad Pawar, MaharashtraCM Uddhav Thackeray andHyderabad MP AsaduddinOwaisi related to Ram temple,he said, "Some people havemade it their business tooppose any subject related withRam temple."

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The Rajasthan High Courton Thursday issued notices tothe Speaker and six MLAswho contested elections on aBahujan Samaj Party and thenmerged with the Congress.

The court issued the noticeswhile hearing a petition filedby the BSP against the merg-er of the MLAs intoRajasthan's ruling party.

They have to submit thereplies by August 11 and sub-mit their side of the case.

Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali,Deepchand Kheria, LakhanMeena, Jogendra Awana andRajendra Gudha won theassembly elections in 2018. InSeptember 2019, the entiregroup of BSP MLAs joined theCongress.

BJP MLA Madan Dilawarcomplained to the Speaker,saying it violated the anti-

defection law.Speaker C P Joshi rejected

the complaint, amid the cur-rent crisis in the state whereChief Minister Ashok Gehlotis battling to retain a majori-ty in the 200-MLA assembly.

Dilawar recently moved thehigh court and the BSP too hasfiled a petition against themerger.

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India reported over 50,000coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period for the first time,government data shows. Thisis the biggest one-day spike incases so far. At least 52,123COVID-19 cases have beenreported in the last 24 hours,taking the total cases to15,83,792. Government datashows 775 have died in the last24 hours; the total fatalities arenow 34,968. The total numberof people who have recoveredis 10,20,582 and recovery rate

is 64.43 per cent, while thepositivity rate is 11.67 percent. The total samples testedtill this morning is 1,81,90,382,while 4,46,642 samples weretested on Wednesday. The fivestates that reported the biggestspike in cases in the last 24hours are Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.Government data shows 66.41per cent of total cases report-ed in the last 24 hours are fromAndhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Karnataka andUttar Pradesh.

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Page 6: ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ... virulent pace

Overall, the NationalEducation Policy(NEP), 2020, is a goodpolicy document as itpromises a slew of

changes that can lead to a majormakeover of the education sector.It takes into account all sections ofsociety which were hitherto leftunattended. In the times to come,such groups of learners will bemainstreamed and will stand tobenefit from the new education sys-tem. Some of the major aspects ofthe NEP, which I think can have a transformative impact, are asfollows:

First, the age criteria for admis-sion to the primary school was sixyears. By this time, children alreadylose more than a thousand days oflearning. Early years are crucial fora child’s development and losingthese phases has proved to be verydamaging. Most children, whodropped out of school, were first-generation learners and had joinedthe school at the age of six. TheGovernment’s decision to includeUniversalisation of Early ChildhoodCare Education (ECCE) into theNEP will do a lot of good to the chil-dren, especially those coming fromhumble backgrounds.

Second, it was inappropriate toput all the learners into one catego-ry as “school children.” Childrenchange as they grow and so shouldthe pedagogical structure. In thenew NEP, it has been decided toinclude children aged three-eightyears into one group. This group ofchildren will also be put under aschool curriculum, which has beenrecognised globally. Hopefully,teachers, too, will be made availablesoon. The next group will be thosechildren aged eight to 11 years ie,those who attend classes III to V.The following group of learners willcomprise children in classes VI toVIII ie, those in the age group of 11to 14 years. Above the age of 14,children will belong to the sec-ondary class and teacher competen-cies for this group of children willbe different.

The new pattern of schoolingwill be 5+3+3+4, which should berelevant for the children and theyshould be able to enjoy each stageof their learning process. The chal-lenge, however, will be to prepareteachers for each level and they needto be adequately remunerated, too.Teachers at the lower levels shouldbe paid equally so that the less qual-ified do not come for teaching atlower levels. Considering the poor

performance of the NationalCouncil for Teacher Education(NCTE), preparation of teacherswill be a challenge.

Third, education in themother tongue up to at least classV is a welcome and landmarkmove. Most children used todrop out of schools becausethey were given instruction in adominant language of the region.Take the example of Bihar, wherethe mode of learning was Hindiwhereas most children speaklocal languages like Magahi,Maithili and Bhojpuri. TheGovernment’s aim to provideeducation during the early yearswill make the children feel lessdisplaced (from home to school)and retention will be easier.This will directly benefit the lessprivileged children. This movewas a long time coming. TheKothari Commission Report of1964 had recommended that thefirst language to be studied mustbe the mother tongue or theregional language. However, suc-cessive Governments did not payheed to implement the three-lan-guage formula in schools.

Fourth, the system ofbundling of courses like physics,chemistry with either mathemat-ics or biology at the senior sec-ondary level has been doneaway with. Children can now optfor any combination of subjects

as per their choice. This will alsodissuade a large number of chil-dren from dropping out of seniorsecondary because they couldnot cope with the mathematicssyllabus.

The rigid formation ofstreams such as science, arts andcommerce will wither now.Learners will be able to choosesubjects from any discipline,including vocational subjects,to get certified. This will helplearners, who wish to get intovocational areas after the com-pletion of their school education.At present, the curricular andnon-curricular areas cannot becombined. In future, this shall bepossible. This will help reducethe drop-out rate and at the sametime lead to the creation of self-employment opportunities.

Fifth, formative assessmenthas been a major stumblingblock for school education.Children felt pressured as theemphasis was on rote learning.The new NEP has taken cogni-sance of the erroneous system ofassessment and has decided toprovide multiple chances to thelearners to write and accumulategrades to finally get certified.

It appears that the finalassessment will be done to testthe actual competency, whichchildren can undertake withoutpressure or the stigma of failing

the examination. Sixth, assessment has been

under smoke all through. Now,a self-assessment will be donealong with peer assessment ofevery child. The teacher will alsobe assessed unlike the presentsystem where only the teacherevaluates the child and the childhas no clue how he/she is judged.The child as well as the parentswill trust the new system ofassessment.

Seven, the less privileged andthe specially-abled have receivedspecial focus in the NEP allthrough. For the first time, thelatter will be put into a differenttrack of schooling, which willhelp them use their potential andget recognised.

Eight, in a similar move, alarge number of girls, who havetraditionally been marginalised,will get due attention. The NEP2020 established the “GenderInclusion Fund” to help the lessprivileged girls. The policy alsopromises to upgrade theKasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalayas (KGBV) up to classXII. The KGBVs are fully resi-dential schools for girls fromhumble backgrounds but whoare very bright and deserving.This scheme has brought a dif-ference to their lives. With thisnew initiative, girls will be ableto directly enter college and

reap the benefit of schemes inhigher education, which at pre-sent go unused because they dis-continue education after theycome out of the KGBV.

In the true sense, the NEP2020 is an Antodyay school pol-icy. Every child, wherever he/shemay belong to, will be catered to.However, to achieve all that hasbeen promised in the NEP 2020,we will require a body of profes-sionals who understand school-ing. School education is at pre-sent managed by Governmentofficials and school educationdepartment of the Central or theState Governments. The officialsget transferred frequently. Theschool sector has been demand-ing a national body at par withthe University GrantsCommission or what has nowbeen proposed as the HigherEducation Commission of India(HECI). This time, too, their pleahas unfortunately been ignored.

It can be confidently saidthat the new NEP scores on sev-eral counts — be it the univer-salisation of education, promot-ing regional languages or theintroduction of a new circular.All such moves will help improvegovernance and improve theoverall quality of education.

(The writer is a professor ofeducation, IGNOU. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)chief Mayawati’s ire at the induc-tion of all six of her RajasthanMLAs into the Congress byChief Minister Ashok Gehlot lastyear is understandable. She isright when she says that Gehlotis crying foul over the poachingof MLAs by the BJP but wasecstatic when the six BSP MLAsmerged with the Congress. If heenjoyed the prospect of defectionfrom other parties, Gehlot mustalso withstand the pain of defec-tion from his own party.

The 91st Amendment tothe Constitution in 2003 hadstrengthened the anti-defectionlaw by increasing the bar on thenumber of MLAs switching sidesfrom a third to two-thirds. TheRajasthan High Court has right-ly junked the plea of BJP MLAMadan Dilwar, challenging theSpeaker’s decision to allow themerger of the six BSP MLAs withthe Congress. If defection has tobe prevented, even if all the law-makers of a party cross over tothe other side, defectors shouldbe disqualified first.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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Sir — The year 2020 has beendifficult on multiple counts. Notonly has India witnessed thespread of the novel Coronavirusbut there has been an unprece-dented economic crisis andimmense rainfall and floods inmany parts of the country.

As people move out of theirhomes in flood-affected areaswithout taking necessary precau-tions, they are exposing them-selves to the virus, making it evenmore difficult to contain thedisease. People are also wary ofmoving to Government reliefcentres for fear of contractingCOVID-19. Meanwhile, the fate

of wildlife in these regions, too,is hanging by a thread. People inmany parts of the country arestuck in between the pandemicand unending rains on the other.The present state of affairs,despite Government efforts, isdisturbing.

Kavya ShahUjjain

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Sir — The way a war is foughthas undergone a massive trans-formation in the last twodecades. With two hostile neigh-bours always on the lookout tofoment trouble, it’s better forIndia to be prepared.

Rafale, a multi-utility combatfighter, can be used for groundsupport, anti-depth strike andanti-ship strike. Its acquisition isgoing to significantly improveIndia’s defence and strike capa-bilities. Rafale would not havecome at a more opportune timewhen the IAF’s squadron strengthhas been a cause of worry. Froma sanctioned strength of 42, thesquadron strength will soonreach 27. It must also not be for-gotten that only the first batch ofthe jets has arrived when the totalorder is of 36 fighters. The onlyhope is that there is no delay inthe delivery of the rest of the jets.Even with the arrival of these jets,our defence procurement needsto be beefed up.

Bal GovindNoida

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When the Karuna Trust, the Karnataka-based not-for-profit organisation,undertook the responsibility of manag-

ing the primary health centre (PHC) at Wakka,a village in Tirap district, Arunachal Pradesh,many were surprised. The location was remoteand access was difficult. There was also an addi-tional fear of insurgency. But Dr H Sudarshan,the founder and secretary of the trust, was unde-terred as he wanted to reach the under-servedat all costs.

His confidence stemmed from the fact thatthe trust had successfully managed 26 poorly-runand derelict PHCs in its home State of Karnataka.Many of the PHCs were in remote and difficultlocations. If the public-private partnership (PPP)with the Government to provide healthcare to themarginalised population in rural areas couldwork in difficult conditions in the southernIndian State, there was no doubt in his mind thatthis successful health intervention could be scaledup in the northeastern State as well. Such was hisdetermination that Dr Sudarshan remainedunfazed even after he was accosted by a groupof insurgents in Wakka, which is predominant-ly a tribal village, and asked to pay a sizeable sumas “protection money” if he wanted to keep thePHC open. Despite being threatened that hewould not be able to work without their support,Dr Sudarshan refused to succumb to theirdemand. He was convinced that the trust, whichbelieved in a community-based and people-ori-ented approach, would be able to make the PHCfunction without paying any “protection money.”

And he was proved right. A couple of weekslater, when the same insurgents who haddemanded money realised that Dr Sudarshan andhis team were not giving up, they came to himseeking healthcare advice for their wives. Peoplein the village needed healthcare badly but the lackof a PHC had made it difficult for them to accessproper services. Once they realised that the trusthad come to provide quality healthcare, the com-munity, including the insurgents, readily support-ed the team.

In fact, so overwhelming was the support thatlocal women healthcare workers were motivat-ed to report for duty on time daily. Under ordi-nary circumstances, this may not have been con-sidered a big achievement, but when the trustteam saw that the women health workers crossednarrow, swaying bridges across deep rivers andgorges, and also resorted to swinging on a ropeto reach the PHC, they were impressed by theircommitment. It was this dedication of thehealth workers that helped the trust to bring eightmore PHCs in nine districts under its manage-ment.

But can all successful health interventions bescaled up? What are the processes that need tobe followed so that these interventions are sus-tainable? Should a health intervention be scaledup just because it has achieved success as a pilot?

If the trust’s journey from managing one PHCin Karnataka to managing 71 PHCs in sevenStates, including Arunachal Pradesh, is any indi-cation, clearly the answer is “yes.” Economicgrowth can be meaningful only if it brings greaterbenefits to a greater number of people over awider geographical area. This should happenquickly, equitably and be lasting.

However, it has been seen that women areoften excluded from this growth process and theirrole and contribution is overlooked by policy-makers. Health interventions that are scaled upcan only be sustainable when women are put atthe centre of development. An excellent exam-

ple of this is the Home-Based Newbornand Child Care (HBNCC) model devel-oped by the Society for Education,Action and Research in CommunityHealth (SEARCH), a not-for-profitbody headed by Dr Abhay Bang and DrRani Bang. Based in Gadchiroli, a pre-dominantly tribal and Naxal-affecteddistrict in Maharashtra, the NGO hasproven that tribal women are capableof saving lives of newborns. It would bewrong to judge their capabilities justbecause of their lack of formal educa-tion, their traditional attire and cus-toms. The bejewelled Gonda tribalwomen in Gadchiroli have shown thatalthough they follow traditional cus-toms by wearing customary silver jew-ellery from head to toe, this does notcome in the way of saving lives.

The HBNCC intervention, whichsensitised and trained these women, hasdemonstrated that they are equallycompetent in recognising and identi-fying life-threatening symptoms innewborns and administering life-sav-ing injections. So, it is not what is beingdone which is significant but how it isdone. Here, too, the crucial factor is therespect given to the women during theintervention.

The biggest factor in their successin reducing neonatal mortality is thewomen empowering model followed bythem. Just training the village’s womenhealth workers to provide home-basednewborn and childcare helped toreduce infant mortality from 121 for1,000 live births to 30 within six yearsof its implementation. The key to thesuccess of this intervention was toensure women became partners and notmerely passive recipients. This under-lines the need for partnerships asinnovators do not have the capacity forupscaling. The SEARCH experience hasshown that women are the right part-ners for scaling up healthcare at the

grassroots through Self-Help Groupsand community-based organisations.SEARCH is at present working with13,000 tribal people in 48 villages inGadchiroli. Its HBNCC model, adopt-ed by the Government for its NationalHealth Mission, is also being used by12 countries.

This underscores not just theimportance of engaging people andcommunity-based organisations inhealth interventions but also shows howensuring gender equality is paramountto its sustainability.

Equally important is the creation ofsocial values by ending discriminationagainst girls. Besides, the infrastructure,the content and the process, too, haveto be empowering for women. Clearly,the Gadchiroli model seems to haveworked out how to adapt to local situ-ations. It has been replicated inBangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and sevenAfrican countries.

The Karuna Trust model, too, isbeing used to address gaps in remotecentres through innovations in telemed-icine, health insurance, integration ofmental health and has reached 1.3 mil-lion people.

The Ekjut health model developedby Dr Prasanta Tripathy and DrNirmala Nair is another success storyof how interventions centred onempowering women can bring sustain-able change. Ekjut began its participa-tory and learning action (PLA)-basedintervention with just 20 women inthree tribal and remote villages aroundChakradharpur in West Singhbhumdistrict in Jharkhand.

The high maternal and newbornmortality in these areas led to theirbeing chosen for the pilot programme.During these monthly PLA meetings,women are trained to identify problemslike the two main causes of maternaland child death: Women delaying their

need for professional care and theirinability to find an appropriate health-care facility. They then discussed howto implement practical solutions andevaluate their effectiveness.

The impact of the programmebegan to be seen as the women over-came their fear, shyness and patriarchalbarriers to step out of their homes. Overthe next five years, it was scaled to eightdistricts and involved over 20,000women. By translating their newly-found knowledge into action, womenwere able to bring about a 20 per centreduction in maternal deaths and a 30per cent reduction in the neonataldeaths in 600 villages.

Ekjut now provides support to theNHM in scaling up its model in all 24districts in Jharkhand. Its PLA modelhas also been scaled in 17 districts inMadhya Pradesh. In 2016, the CentralGovernment began using the Ekjutmodel to bring down maternal andneonatal deaths in eight Indian States.Government frontline workers trainedby Ekjut are using the PLA method in40,000 villages all over the country toempower women to take charge.

However, challenges in scaling upsuccessful interventions still exist. Thelack of community participation is a bighurdle in scaling up interventions aswas seen in the resistance to a nation-wide roll-out of the weekly iron-folicacid supplementation programme foradolescents. Another impediment is theunavailability of requisite financialresources and trained personnel. Fundsfor research and monitoring and eval-uating data are often negligible. Greaterdissemination of successful scaled-upinterventions, strategic partnershipswith other stakeholders and integrationwith Government programmes will beuseful in overcoming some of thesechallenges.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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The pandemic has disrupted edu-cation, primarily with schoolclosures affecting more than 32

crore students in India. Whether chil-dren continue to learn, what they arelearning and how so are questions thathave answers in a wide range.However, a common factor acrossmost schools, both private andGovernment, has been that teachershave stepped up to ensure that learn-ing continues.

Whether it is by experimentingwith various online platforms to seewhich one is most effective for their

needs or spending hours preparing foronline classes, uploading lessons onvideo-sharing platforms like YouTubeor patiently guiding students (andsometimes parents) on how to use theinterface, or by coming up with inno-vative solutions in resource-con-strained areas. We know of teachersusing loudspeakers to conduct class-es in villages while practising social dis-tancing where online learning is notviable.

Going by how the pandemic isunfolding, out of classroom teachingand learning is expected to continueat least for a while. And even once chil-dren go back to schools, blended learn-ing methods seem likely. The recent-ly-released guidelines for digital edu-cation, Pragyata, speak of “a healthymix of schooling at home and school-ing at school” to not let closures leadto loss of learning.

Pragyata outlines how variousdevices — computers, smartphones,television sets, radio sets or a basic

mobile phone — should be used byeducators to reach out to students andfacilitate learning. However, the use oftechnology in education is not a fall-out of the pandemic. Integration ofInformation and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) in education wasintroduced in various forms in differ-ent school systems.

In fact, the use of technology ineducation in India was adopted as earlyas in 1972 under the Fourth Five-YearPlan with the allocation of a budget forradio/cassette players and colour tele-vision sets.

Subsequent schemes, includingICT@Schools at the national level, andvarious others in the States reimaginedteaching and learning to integrate tech-nology-enabled pedagogy. Audio-visual classes became useful rein-forcement tools for concepts taught byteachers, apart from being an attrac-tion for students.

However, there has been consid-erable heterogeneity even within

Government and private schools, notjust between them. The usage of tech-nology in classes varied with infra-structure and resources available in theschool and then the level of readinessand comfort of the teacher in usingICT in the classroom.

Teacher readiness and prepared-ness in integrating ICT in pedagogyrequire relevant training and constantaid. Just as there are specific skills andcompetencies needed to impart lessonsin a classroom — including ensuringbasic discipline, eliciting responsive-ness from students, using the board towrite, developing and using otherteaching-learning materials (TLMs),facilitating student-to-student interac-tion, adopting relevant pedagogy as perthe concept being discussed, numberof students and resources availableamong many others — there areadditional skills that teachers requirein order to conduct classes on digitalplatforms. These range from beingfamiliar with the features of the plat-

form on which the class is to be con-ducted, choosing pedagogy that iseffective through the platform, design-ing activities and assessment that canbe administered digitally while ensur-ing that the learning objectives are met,finding ways to ensure that studentsengage with the teacher and with oneanother, while also figuring out howlife skills can be imparted within thespace and time constraint.

According to a recent UNESCOestimate, around 2.7 million teachersin India, who have been impacted bythe crisis, are untrained to tackle thesituation. Being a major cause of con-cern, there are multiple levels at whichteachers need to be supported. The firstlevel, which is a prerequisite to out-of-classroom teaching and learning, isthat of providing them basic and ade-quate infrastructural support. Thisincludes power supply, availability ofa computer and an internet connec-tion. The second level of supportwould be appropriate training in using

digital platforms for teaching andtechnical support for students and par-ents. ICT training for students wouldbe essential to ensure that teachers donot have to answer repeated questionsabout how to connect, troubleshooterrors and can focus on other aspectsof conducting the class. The third levelis remote training in digital and onlinepedagogy. This is particularly criticalbecause online classes or radio lessonsmay not work with reliance on conven-tional, in-classroom teaching methods.

A common concern shared byteachers is, in the absence of eye con-tact, how do we assess whether eachstudent is paying attention in class oridentify those that may have a doubtand are hesitant to ask. To address con-cerns like these, methods on a digitalplatform would be different fromthose in a physical classroom. Trainingand knowledge-sharing for digitalteaching would be helpful to answersuch questions.

The fourth level is socio-emotion-

al support. The pandemic has alteredeverybody’s life and we must not over-look its effects on the mental and emo-tional well-being of teachers. In addi-tion to tackling the pressures of remoteteaching along with household chores,teachers are dealing with anxiousparents and students. Online teaching,for most teachers, has resulted inextended working hours. For many ofthem, it is like learning a new skill,applying it and doing it — all at thesame time.

Another source of worry is the fearof pay cuts as also potential job loss-es. Real, concrete measures are need-ed to allay such fears and keep teach-ers motivated.

After all, it is how we support oureducators that would determinewhether this pandemic pushes ourcountry into a deeper learning crisisor sows seeds of resilience in our edu-cation system.

(The writer is an independentresearcher studying public education)

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The commerce and industryministry is trying to find asolution on the issue of exportincentive scheme MEIS with-out having a "serious" impacton government finances,Union Minister Piyush Goyalsaid on Thursday.

The commerce ministry hasblocked the online system forexporters to apply for availingtax incentives under the MEIS(merchandise export fromIndia scheme) from July 23, asthe Department of Revenuedecided to limit the benefitsunder the plan at Rs 9,000crore for April-December2020.

"I do not have a knee jerksolution on the MEIS. But, weare in dialogue with the requi-site authorities. It's not as if theMEIS is going away anywhere,its more a cash flow issue andwe are all aware that COVIDhas had a very significantimpact on govt revenues also.

"But I assure you, we are ontop of it. We are in dialogueand we are trying for an earlysolution which can be a win-win on both sides. So, withouta serious impact on govern-ment finances, we will try tofind a solution which can helpour exporters also," the com-merce and industry ministersaid at a webinar organised by

CII. The Department ofRevenue has also asked itscommerce counterpart toreview the coverage of exportincentive scheme MEIS, sothat the fiscal benefits underthis programme can bebrought down to Rs 9,000crore this fiscal as it has notyielded "desired" results.

It has also requested thecommerce department thatMEIS incentives should betargeted and need calibrationin a manner that it promotesexports instead of spreadingincentives in a manner thatdoes not yield the desiredresult. Under MEIS, the gov-ernment provides duty bene-fits depending on product andcountry.

Rewards under the schemeare payable as percentage of

realised free-on-board valueand MEIS duty credit scrip canbe transferred or used for pay-ment of a number of duties,including the basic customsduty.

The MEIS scheme, intro-duced in April 2015, will bewound up by December 31,2020, and the government hasalready announced theRemission of Duty or Taxes onExport Products (RoDTEP)scheme to replace MEIS.

According to an office mem-orandum of the DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT), the Department ofRevenue in May had conveyedthat it may not be feasible toexceed MEIS allocationbeyond Rs 9,000 crore for2020-21 (up to December2020).

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Google and Facebook tookparticularly sharp jabs foralleged abuse of their marketpower from Democrats andRepublicans on Wednesday ina much-anticipated congres-sional hearing that put four ofAmerica’s most prominent techCEOs in the hot seat.

The chairman of the U.S.House of Representativesantitrust panel holding thehearing said afterwards thatthe four CEOs had acknowl-edged concerning behavior.

“What we heard from wit-nesses at the hearing con-firmed the evidence that wehave collected over the lastyear,” Representative DavidCicilline, a Democrat, told

Reuters.Facebook Inc’s Mark

Zuckerberg, Amazon.com Inc’sJeff Bezos, Google ownerAlphabet Inc’s Sundar Pichai

and Apple Inc’s Tim Cook -whose companies have a com-bined market value of about $5trillion - parried a range ofaccusations that they crippled

smaller rivals in their quest formarket share.

The videoconference hear-ing was the first time the fourCEOs have appeared togetherbefore lawmakers.

Though it was Bezos’ firstcongressional testimony, heappeared the least fazed. Cookdrew fewer barbed questionsthan Bezos and handled themefficiently. Zuckerberg suf-fered the most damage, stum-bling at times when confront-ed with internal emails.

Pichai, CEO of bothAlphabet and Google, took themost heat from conservativeson the panel and looked theworse for it, as he repeatedlytold lawmakers he would behappy to look into various sit-uations and get back to them.

The Big Tech hearing trig-gered scorn from viewers overits own tech issues. Bezosescaped questioning for aboutan hour in what may have beena tech issue and was caught onscreen reaching for whatappeared to be a snack.

Poor audio, flat-screen tele-visions switching off, and chiefexecutives appearing togetheras thumbnails on a large screenled to mockery of the virtualset-up on Twitter.

Lawmakers descended intoshouting at each other atpoints, with a pandemic twist.One yelled: “Put your maskon!” Cicilline set the tone forthe hearing when he began byaccusing Google of theft. “Whydoes Google steal content fromhonest businesses?” he asked.

He alleged Google stolereviews from Yelp Inc andthreatened to delist Yelp fromsearch results if it objected.

Pichai responded mildly thathe would want to know thespecifics of the accusation.“We conduct ourselves to thehighest standards,” he added,disagreeing with the character-ization. Facebook’s Zuckerbergtook a series of questionsabout the company’s purchaseof Instagram in 2012 andwhether it was acquiredbecause it was a threat, as hedubbed it in an email obtainedby the committee.

Zuckerberg responded thatInstagram at the time was atiny photo-sharing app ratherthan a social-media phenom-enon.

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A government audit of India’sflagship payments processorlast year found more than 40security vulnerabilities includ-ing several it called “critical” and“high” risk, according to aninternal government documentseen by Reuters.

The audit, which took placeover four months to February2019, highlighted a lack ofencryption of personal data atthe National PaymentsCorporation of India (NPCI)which forms the backbone ofthe country’s digital paymentssystem and operates the RuPaycard network championed byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.The March 2019 governmentdocument cited the storing of16-digit card numbers and otherpersonal information such ascustomer names, account num-bers and national identity num-bers in “plain text” in some data-bases, leaving the data unpro-tected if the system wasbreached. The audit has not pre-viously been reported.

The NPCI said in a statementto Reuters it is regularly audit-ed in the interests of security andsenior management reviews allfindings, which are then “reme-diated to (the) satisfaction of theauditors”. This includes the find-ings cited by Reuters, it said.

India’s National CyberSecurity Coordinator, RajeshPant, whose office coordinatedthe audit, also said in a statement

to Reuters that “all observationsraised in last year’s report havebeen confirmed as resolved bythe NPCI”. Pant added audits arebest practice for the mitigationof cyberattacks and are conduct-ed on a periodic basis by allenterprises.

The audit was undertaken toprovide Modi’s NationalSecurity Council with anoverview of the NPCI’s defencesagainst cyberattacks. Modi’soffice and the finance ministrydid not respond to a Reutersrequest for comment.

The audit’s findings under-score the data-security chal-lenges faced by the NPCI whichprocesses billions of dollarsdaily via services that includeinter-bank fund transfers, ATMtransactions and digital pay-ments. In India and beyond,financial institutions are underimmense pressure to mounteffective defences to protecttheir customers as the number

of malicious cyberattacks growand hackers become moresophisticated.

Set up in 2008, the NPCI is anot-for-profit company which asof March 2019 counted 56banks as its shareholders,including the State Bank ofIndia, Citibank and HSBC.

RuPay, in particular, has beenenthusiastically endorsed byModi who has likened its use toa national duty. It has grown toaccount for almost two-thirds ofnearly 900 million debit andcredit cards issued in India as ofOctober, according to NPCI andcentral bank data.

GOVERNANCE CONCERNS

The audit followed a ReserveBank of India (RBI) inspectionreport on the NPCI in July 2017that found lapses in its internalauditing practices, operationalrisks and improper whistle-blower policies.

There was “lack of awareness

of risks and risk culture in theinstitution,” according to a most-ly redacted version of the 37-page report that was obtained byReuters via the Right toInformation Act (RTI) last year.

The 2019 government docu-ment about the audit also noted:“There is a strong need for prop-er governance.”

The RBI conducted anotherinspection between Novemberand December 2019. A 33-page report on that audit includ-ed its assessment of NPCI’sgovernance and operational andcredit risks. But most of thereport, also obtained by Reutersvia the RTI Act, was redacted bythe central bank which cited theneed to protect India’s and theNPCI’s economic interests.

The NPCI in its statement didnot comment specifically on theRBI reports, but said all obser-vations cited by Reuters wereremediated. The RBI did notcomment on the reports.

ISSUES CITED

The March 2019 governmentdocument said a variety of cardnumbers were unencryptedwithin the NPCI database forthe country’s network of almost250,000 ATMs, while unen-crypted RuPay card numberscould also be seen in the organ-isation’s server logs.

It recommended that sensi-tive data, customer data and per-sonal identity information be“properly encrypted/masked inthe database and logs”.

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Swelling foreign exchangereserves and current accountsurplus have helped the rupeeto remain stable since mid-March and the average valueof the local currency isexpected to be around Rs75.98 per US dollar in thecurrent fiscal, India Ratingsand Research said.

The country's foreignexchange reserves rose to alifetime high of USD 517.64billion in the week ended July17, 2020 from USD 476.88billion at end-March 2020.

"It is this swelling of foreignexchange reserves that incombination with benign oilprices and tepid imports,leading to a current accountsurplus, has helped the Indianrupee to remain broadly sta-ble since mid-March 2020,despite deterioration in someof the other macro parame-ters such as retail inflation,fiscal deficits and negativeGDP growth," India Ratingsand Research said in a report.

"We estimate the averagevalue of rupee to be Rs75.98/USD in FY21 (FY20-Rs 70.88/USD)," it added.

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Eighty-two percent of Indiancompanies expectto get back to pre-coronavirus rev-enue run rate byJune 2021, accord-ing to a report byPwC India.

The report is based on asurvey of 225 CXOs acrossindustries to assess the impactof the COVID-19 crisis. PwCconducted an anonymousonline survey between June17, 2020 and July 10, 2020, itsaid adding that the surveyrespondents were a mix ofCXOs and other senior man-agement personnel from var-ious industries in India.

The report suggests thatinfrastructure, real estate,industrials, retail, hospitalityand media and entertainmentsuffered significant revenuedecline due to the crisis, as perthe report titled 'COVID-19:

Path to Recovery'.Collapse in demand, sup-

ply-chain disruptions and liq-uidity constraints were thetop reasons for the decline, itsaid.

"Sectors such as informationtechnology, healthcare, phar-ma, telecom, utilities and con-sumer essentials were some-what resilient. Crisis manage-ment and agility to adapt tothe changing market were thekey for resilience," it said.

According to the report, 73per cent respondents areexpecting lower revenues in2020-21, but only 15 per centexpect the decline extending tothe next fiscal.

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The country's cyber securityagency has issued an alertagainst an Android malware,dubbed 'BlackRock', that hasthe potential to "steal" bankingand other confidential data ofa user. It can extract credentialsand credit card informationfrom over 300 apps such asemail, e-commerce apps, socialmedia apps, besides bankingand financial apps, the CERT-In said in an advisory.

The "attack campaign" ofthis 'Trojan' category virus isactive globally, said theComputer EmergencyResponse Team of India(CERT-In), the national tech-nology arm to combat cyber-attacks and guard Indian cyberspace. "It is reported that anew Android malware straindubbed 'BlackRock' equippedwith datastealing capabilities isattacking a wide range ofAndroid applications.

"The malware is developedusing the source code ofXerxes banking malwarewhich itself is a variant ofLokiBot Android Trojan," theadvisory said.

The "noteworthy feature" ofthis malware is that its targetlist contains 337 applications

including banking and finan-cial applications, and also non-financial and well-knowncommonly used brand nameapps on an Android device thatfocus on social, communica-tion, networking and datingplatforms, it said.

"It can steal credentials andcredit card information fromover 300 plus apps like emailclients, e-commerce apps, vir-tual currency, messaging orsocial media apps, entertain-ment apps, banking and finan-cial apps etc," the advisory said.

The advisory described theinfection activity of the virus.

"When the malware islaunched on the victim'sdevice, it hides its icon fromapp drawer and then masquer-ades itself as a fake Google

update to request accessibilityservice privileges."

"Once this privilege is grant-ed, it becomes free to grantitself additional permissionsallowing it to function furtherwithout interacting with user,"it said. Threat operators canissue a number of commandsfor various operations such aslogging keystrokes, spammingthe victims' contact lists withtext messages, setting the mal-ware as the default SMS man-ager, pushing system notifica-tions to the C2 (command andcontrol) server, locking thevictim in the device homescreen and steal and hide noti-fications, send spam and stealSMS messages and many moresuch activities, the advisorysaid.

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Domestic equity benchmarkSensex slumped 335 pointson Thursday, dragged bylosses in financial stocks amidnegative cues from globalmarkets.

The 30-share BSE bench-mark ended 335.06 points or0.88 per cent lower at37,736.07; while the NSENifty tumbled 100.70 pointsor 0.90 per cent to 11,102.15.

IndusInd Bank was thetop laggard in the Sensexpack, falling over 5 per cent,followed by HDFC, AxisBank, PowerGrid, SBI, BajajFinserv and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Maruti, Infosys andReliance Industries wereamong the gainers.

According to NarendraSolanki, Head- EquityResearch (Fundamental),Anand Rathi, Indian marketsopened in green followingmixed global cues as US Fedkept rates on hold.

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Countries like China andIndia have got a lot richerover the last two decades butthey have refused to take onany more responsibilities, atop US Senator has claimed,as he applauded PresidentDonald Trump for taking onthis "imbalance" to make theWorld Trade Organization(WTO) relevant.

Senator Chuck Grassley,Chairman of the powerfulSenate Finance Committee,made the comments duringa Congressional hearing onWTO on Wednesday.

“No one expected theUruguay Round to be the

last global trading round.Over the last two decades,countries like China andIndia got a lot richer, butthey've refused to take onany more responsibilities,” heclaimed.

“In fact, they claim theyare entitled to special treat-ment in any future negotia-

tions because they are devel-oping countries,” he said.

The Senator said that thenotion that China and Indiashould get the same consid-eration as a country likeCameroon is ridiculous. "SoI applaud the President fortaking on this imbalance,and pushing to make theWTO relevant.”

As part of reforms at theWTO, the US wants formu-lation of some guidelinesthat countries with high eco-nomic growth are preventedfrom taking benefits of spe-cial and differential treat-ment (S&DT), which ismeant for developing andpoor nations.

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The Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission hasreceived a purchase orderfrom the Indian Red CrossSociety to supply 1.80 lakhface masks.

According to KVIC, themasks for Indian Red CrossSociety (IRCS) will be made of100 per cent double-twistedhandcrafted cotton fabric inbrown colour with red piping.

"KVIC has especiallydesigned these double-layered cotton masksfor the Indian RedCross Society asper the samplesprovided bythem. The maskwill have a suit-ably printed IRCSlogo on the left sideand the Khadi India tagon the right side. The supplyof masks will begin by next

month," KVIC said.The execution of thisorder will require

over 20,000 metersof fabric which willgenerate 9,000additional man-days for the Khadi

artisans, it added. “This order will

help our Khadi arti-sans to produce more yarn

and fabric and will further addto their income in these diffi-

cult times,” KVIC ChairmanVinai Kumar Saxena said.KVIC (Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission) saidso far it has sold over 10 lakhface masks which include dou-ble layered cotton masks andtriple-layered silk masks.

The biggest order for facemasks that the KVIC receivedwas from the Jammu &Kashmir government for 7lakh masks which have beendelivered on time.

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Piramal Enterprises onThursday reported a 10.57 percent rise in consolidated netprofit at Rs 495.56 crore for thequarter ended June 30, 2020.

The company had posted anet profit of Rs 448.17 crore inthe corresponding period ofprevious fiscal, PiramalEnterprises said in a filing to theBSE. Consolidated revenuefrom operations stood at Rs2,937.34 crore during the quar-ter under review as against Rs3,186.82 crore in the sameperiod a year ago, it added.

"We have delivered a resilientperformance in Q1 with 11 percent YoY net profit growth to Rs496 crore during the quarter, we

substantially enhanced our liq-uidity position and strength-ened our balance sheet,"Piramal Enterprises ChairmanAjay Piramal said. Despite theslowdown caused by the glob-al pandemic, the companysigned an agreement with glob-al investment firm Carlyle toraise strategic growth invest-ment of USD 490 million inPiramal Pharma. These re-affirm the inherent robustnessof the businesses, he added.

"In financial services, we havemade significant progress on ourkey strategic priorities as we con-tinue to build our multi-prod-uct, tech-enabled retail lendingplatform, as well as to increasegranularity in the wholesaleportfolio," Piramal said.

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One of the most impor-tant rules to follow duringmonsoons is to keep yourhair dry. Rainwater cancause your scalp to get stickyand make the hair shaftporous leaving your hair dulland frizzy. Use a soft towel,preferably made ofmicrofiber that absorbswater rapidly rather thanblow-drying your hair toprotect it from any heatdamage

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This might be the simplestbut its also the most efficientstep to haircare. Just brush-ing your tresses right, willhelp clean your hair byremoving dirt, trapped deadskin cells, and residue fromvarious styling products youuse. Also, avoid brushingyour hair while it is wet asthat can lead to hair fall andbreakage. Broken hair isrough to touch and dull tolook at. So, choose a wide-toothed comb while yourhair is slightly damp to easi-ly detangle the knots or sim-ply finger comb it.

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Most of us use hair oilround the year but monsooncalls for some extra pamper-ing. Regular oil massages

help to keep the scalphealthy, nourish the hair,and improve dry and dam-aged hair. So, by all means,pamper yourself and indulgein a relaxing champi sessionwith an Aloe Vera EnrichedCoconut Hair Oil. Coconutoil penetrates the scalp 10xdeeper, coating the hair shaftfrom within, while the mira-cle conditioning ingredient‘Aloe Vera’ preserves themoisture externally makingit the most powerful combi-nation for soft, lustrous,healthy hair. This miraclecombination makes yourhair so soft that you willwant to keep touching it.Apply a light and non-stickyAloe Vera Enriched CoconutHair Oil combination atleast 30-45mins beforecleansing to make hair supersoft, healthy, and irresistibleto touch. This heavenlycombination of coconut andaloe vera provides a long-term solution by repairingfrizzy and dull or dry hair.

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Much like your skin, cleans-ing is an important routine foryour hair, as dirt and grimetend to build up due to thehumid stickiness of the mon-soon. Cleansing your scalpand roots is therefore anessential step. A healthy scalpis as important as a healthymane, so ensure you gentlycleanse your hair twice orthrice a week. And mostimportantly, remember thatwashing your hair every daywith hot water not only robsyour scalp of its natural oils

but also leads to damage anddryness. Try taking normalroom temperature watershowers instead of warm ones.

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Unfortunately, even whilesleeping we can end up dam-aging our tresses. Your cot-ton and linen pillowcases domore harm than good asthey tend to ‘catch’ on yourhair and cause breakage. Sobefore you go to sleep, wrapa silk or satin scarf aroundyour head, or put it overyour pillow cover to keepyour hair protected.

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While it is always advis-able to minimise the use ofstyling tools, using an excessof styling products loadedwith chemicals can alsomake your hair dry and dull.When it comes to stylingproducts for your hair, skipthose heavy-duty tools andchemicals and insteadembrace all-natural ingredi-ents such as few drops ofAloe Vera and Coconut oil tosupport your hairstyle. Thiswill not only give your hairthat much-needed detox butalso gives your hair thatextra boost of softness whileimparting shine.

C��2�A�<��+��BFollowing a healthy diet

might sound basic but it isone of the most crucial prac-tices to ensure healthier hair,especially during the mon-soon. What you eat plays abig role in how your hairbehaves. The excessive mois-ture in the air, brought by therains, needs to be counteredby the scalp. A combinationof Vitamin C, iron, and pro-tein-rich foods helps torestore your scalp health andfight hair fall. Additionally,include more omega 3 andomega 6 containing foods inthe diet such as eggs,almonds, and walnuts.

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Incorporate a simple DIYhair mask in your routine. A

mix of aloe vera enrichedcoconut hair oil, lemonjuice, and honey in equalparts to form a rich paste ofVitamin C, thoroughlymixed and gently massagedinto the lengths of the hairand scalp, will resort the hairtexture and instantly makethe hair softer, shinier andhealthier. While the lemonjuice and honey will bringshine to your dull and dryhair, the aloe vera combinedwith coconut oil will bringsoftness and nourishment tothe hair. This wonder hairmask will make your hair sosoft and silky that you willwant to keep touching it.Using this hair mask onceevery 10 days will give youirresistibly soft and healthyhair.

With many of us stayingindoors due to the pandem-ic, this is the perfect time togive your hair a break fromthe usual chemical overdose,travel, and everyday pollu-tants. Rather than waitingfor the salons to open up, it'stime to experiment withsome simple but effectiveDIY home remedies that notonly nourish your hair butalso make it soft and man-ageable. Coconut hair oilenriched with the benefits ofaloe vera is a must-have inyour hair care routine forsoft and healthy hair that isirresistible to touch.Coconut oil and Aloe Veraare the secret miracle work-ers that provide a long-termsolution by repairing frizzyand dull or dry hair and helpkeep your hair healthy andirresistibly soft.

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he start of the monsoon season marks the much-needed respite from the summer heat, but asrefreshing and beautiful as it may seem, this sea-son brings along aplenty of hair woes. Whether itis the oily and sticky scalp, excessive hair fall ordry, dull, and frizzy hair, maintaining your hair

health can be quite a task during the rainy season.Additionally, the lockdown due to the COVID pandemichas been hard on all of us. While everyone is trying theirbest to maintain hygiene and continue social distancing, itis the constant staying indoors, coupled with the monsoonhumidity, that impacts severely the texture of one’s hair.

Dr Aparna Santhanam (MD, DNB), ConsultantDermatologist, Marico India Limited for ParachuteAdvanced Coconut Hair Oil, gives us some tips on how totake proper care of your hair during monsoon and avoidfurther damage.

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hanks to the pandemic,looks like the future ofthe event managementindustry lies in goingvirtual. JCRT’s JuniorChamber International,

Hyderabad is in the race to makingthe best use of the direst of situa-tions we are going through, byorganising a virtual exhibition forall the shopaholics in the city. Theymade use of technology and man-aged to put in order an amazingfashion and lifestyle online expo onFacebook and Instagram.

“Netizens loved the new conceptof conducting an online mela forshopping purposes. The virus hasdisrupted society, but not our spir-its! We tried to move our businessinto a new direction and learnt alot in the process. I suppose it wasa progressive move that had myvolunteering team supporting ittoo. Although it was a challenge, itdidn’t take much time for us toadapt to online platforms with per-spiration,” shares MinakshiBhuroria, the project advisor ofbanjara mela.

Diverse sellers ranging from alocal clothing boutique, handicrafts,jewellery, kitchenware to bakeryitems from across the city were apart of this mela and of course,without the fear of contracting avirus, because it’s virtual. Veryeffortlessly and with an enjoyableexperience, the ladies of JCI cameup with this idea and in no timebegan executing it. “It’s been 12

years since we have been arrangingexhibitions at different places in thecity, but to resort to a virtual onewas never an idea we had everthought of. We are missing ourphysical meetups and especially ourstallholders but I am looking for-ward to a promising future. High-speed internet made it possible forus to receive responses on a largescale just in a matter of just min-utes. The 3D environment that wascreated online was as mesmerisingas the real one,” adds AnuradhaChitlangya, chairperson of JCI.

With an idea to support localbusinesses from Hyderabad andempower young entrepreneurs whoare working hard to earn a living,the mela has kept its doors openfor all. The Chairperson treasuresher relationship with customersand expects more sellers to set uptheir shops at their second phase ofmela coming up in the first week ofAugust. Considering the positivedevelopments and promotions ofsales, it’s a win-win situation forboth the exhibitors and the team.

With some restrictions in place,graphic designers made it possiblefor the banjara mela to create anaugmented reality. There were a lotof preparation meetings, theappointment of technicians, awareness about the online shop-ping concept that went into thehappening. People’s behaviour hasbeen irrevocably altered and thereis no stopping the rise of virtualevents.

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FridayJuly 31, 2020

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@TheDailyPioneer

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JP Rajya Sabha MPSubramanianSwamy stronglyfeels that actorSushant SinghRajput was “mur-

dered”.Swamy took to Twitter

on Thursday and posted adocument to support hisclaim.

“Why I think SushanthSingh Rajput was mur-dered,” Swamy tweetedalong with a photographof the document that has26 points. According tothe document, the markon Sushant’s neck did notindicate suicide butinstead hinted at homi-cide.

The document further

claims that for suicide byhanging, one has to hanghimself by removing thetable under his feet. “Thishuge force is not possiblein homicidal strangula-tion,” read the document.

The document furtherreads that marks on hisbody indicate “beating”.

This comes a day afterSwamy spoke to BiharChief Minister NitishKumar and said that hewill initiate a CBI inquiryinto the matter.

Sushant was found deadat his residence in Bandra,Mumbai on June 14. Postmortem report stated theactor had committed sui-cide. The police are stillinvestigating the case.

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ctress AnkitaLokhande, ex-girl-friend of SushantSingh Rajput, hadreportedly informedBihar Police that the

late actor was quiteunhappy because RheaChakraborty harassedhim.

Ankita made her claimwhile she was visitingSushant’s family in Patna,a report in news18.com

stated. According to thewebsite, Ankita told thepolice that through a chataround the time of releaseof her Bollywood debutfilm, Manikarnika: TheQueen Of Jhansi in 2019,Sushant mentioned being“harassed” by his thencurrent girlfriend Rhea.

A report indnaindia.com corroborat-ed the news saying asource had informed the

website that, according toAnkita, Sushant had toldher that he is “quiteunhappy in the relation-ship and wants to end it asRhea harassed him”.

The report further stat-ed that Ankita’s above-mentioned chat withSushant was shared withthe police at that time.

Sushant dated Ankita,his co-star of the hit TVseries Pavitra Rishta, for

almost six years afterwhich they parted ways.After Sushant’s demise inJune, Ankita had visitedthe actor’s family, whenthey were in Mumbai toperform his last rites.

During her visit toPatna later, Ankita hadreportedly shown theabove-mentioned chats toSushant’s sister ShwetaSingh Kirti.

On Tuesday, it came to

light that Sushant’s father KK Singh had filedan FIR at the Rajiv Nagarpolice station in Patnaaccusing six people,including his girlfriendRhea, for abetment to sui-cide.

On Wednesday, Ankitatook to social media toshare a cryptic post. Theactress tweeted an imagethat reads “Truth Wins”,on her verified account.

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Mumbai-basedlawyer onWednesday Filed acomplaint in a mag-istrate’s court againstBollywood actor

Kangana Ranaut and her sister

Rangoli Chandel for allegedlypromoting enmity between tworeligious groups through theirsocial media posts.

Recently Twitter had sus-pended Chandel’s account foran objectionable tweet.

The first hearing on hisapplication at Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court here is scheduled forAugust 14, said advocate AliKaashif Khan Deshmukh, thecomplainant.

treaming giantNetflix broke therecord for most nom-inations that any net-work, studio orstreaming platform

has ever earned, with 160Emmy nominations this year.The streaming platformsmashed the record set by thecable network HBO last year,with 137 nominations. Thisyear, HBO is second with 107nominations.

This is the second time thatNetflix has bested HBO. In2018, the streamer ended HBO’s17-year Emmy nominationdomination by landing 112nods to HBO’s 108.

This year, Netflix has beennominated in 10 of the 11 majorcategories that were unveiledduring the TV Academy’s live-stream announcement, includ-ing three nominations forOutstanding Drama Series, fournominations for OutstandingTelevision Movie and five nomi-nations for Outstanding VarietySpecial (Pre-Recorded).

The streamer leads the racewith shows including Ozark,The Crown, Dead To Me, The Politician and StrangerThings. HBO’s Watchmen scored the most nominationsoverall with 26 for the graphicnovel adaptation, reports dead-line.com.

As for other leading studios,NBC has 47 nods, ABC has 36,FX Networks has 33, andAmazon has 31. Disney+ has 19nods.

The Primetime EmmyAwards will take place onSeptember 20, 2020. The show will air in India on Star World.

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Pakistan Test captain Azhar Alion Thursday lauded bowlers

ahead of their series againstEngland and stated he is lucky tohave young pacers like ShaheenAfridi and Naseem Shah in theline-up.

20-year-old Afridi and 17-year-old Shah are on their maid-en tour of England and Pakistanhave pinned their hopes on theduo’s young shoulders totrouble the high-profile bat-ting line-up of the hosts.

“The way Naseem andShaheen have bowled inrecent series, I as captainfeel very lucky to havethem in my squad,”Ali said during aPCB podcast as perCricket Pakistan.

“The bestthing is that wehave experience inthe shape ofAbbas. SohailKhan is also onthis tour and he isalso sharing hisexperience withthe players.

“I think ourbowlers will get alot of advantage.Yasir Shah is there

as well who has ample experi-ence. He is a leg-spinner and hisguidance for young players is alsovery important,” he added.

This will be Pakistan’s firstseries after coronavirus stop-page while England will be com-ing into the series after register-ing a thrilling 2-1 series win overWest Indies in the #raisethebatseries.

Ali played down any con-cerns with respect to lack ofproper match practice forthe visitors ahead of theseries. He stated that playersare slowly and steadily

regaining theirrhythm and willbe ready whenthe series begins.

“Sometimesyou score runsand sometimes

you don’t. Ourplayers however seem tobe in good touch. The bal-ance of the side is alsovery good. Pakistanalways performs well inEngland,” the 35-year-old said.

“Because of coron-avirus we have been inlockdown for quite sometime. This has been achallenging experienceand in the start the play-

ers did seem a little rusty incamps especially in terms ofbowling.

“Slowly but surely, we are get-ting better with training and theplayers are recovering their form.The workload for the fast-bowlers has been good,” he

added.The first Test between the

two teams will be played inManchester starting August 5while the final two Tests arescheduled to be played inSouthampton from August 13and August 21 respectively.

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New Zealand speedster LockieFerguson has said it is chal-

lenging to bowl to Rohit Sharmaas the Indian batting ace picks upthe length very quickly.

In an interview withSportskeeda, Ferguson was askedto name the batsmen he finds dif-ficult to bowl at. “Good question,there’s quite a few. Rohit, I’vefound him very challenging,”Ferguson said. “With him, if youdon't get him out quickly, he tendsto go big. He picks up the lengthvery quickly and where mystrengths lie, batters play thewrong shot. He’s a world-class bat-ter,” Ferguson added.

“Rohit, I’m a huge fan of him,I think he's an exceptional batter.”

The Kiwi gun-quick alsoadded Australia stars Steve Smithand David Warner alongside Indiacaptain Virat Kohli to the list.

“Steve Smith, David Warner,Virat Kohli — these guys are

world-class for a reason. They’realways tough to bowl at but it feelsgood when you knock off the toporder and have a chance to get tobowl to the middle order or thelower order,” Ferguson said.

“We are 100 per cent back tonormal in New Zealand. We arevery fortunate,” he added on theCOVID-19 situation back home.

Ferguson helped NewZealand reach the World Cupfinal in 2019 where they lost bythe narrowest of margins toEngland. “For many reasons I wasfeeling things were not quitegoing my way (before the WorldCup). It was nice to get the wick-ets in the tournament. The bowl-ing group was fantastic through-out. I got the bigger chunk (ofwickets) than some of the othersbut as a bowling unit we did verywell,” he said.

Ferguson bagged 21 wicketsin the tournament and finishedbehind Mitchell Starc as the sec-ond highest wicket taker.

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No 1-ranked Ash Barty has pulled outof the US Open because she doesn't

want to risk travelling during the coron-avirus pandemic.

The 24-year-old Australian is thehighest-profile player so far to opt out ofthe August 31-September 13 Grand Slamtournament in New York because of theglobal health crisis.

“My team and I have decided that wewon't be travelling to the ... Western &Southern Open and the US Open thisyear,” Barty said in a statement e-mailedto The Associated Press on Thursday.

“I love both events so this was a dif-ficult decision, but there are still signifi-cant risks involved due to COVID-19 andI don’t feel comfortable putting my teamand I in that position.

“I wish the USTA all the best for thetournaments and I look forward to beingback in the US next year.”

Barty is yet to decide if she’ll defendthe French Open title she won last year forher breakthrough singles major. The clay-court Grand Slam event was postponedearlier in the year and rescheduled to startSeptember 27, after the US Open.

Australia’s closed international borderswould make it difficult for Barty to trav-el during the pandemic.

Technically, Barty would have toreceive permission from the governmentto travel abroad, and flight options are lim-ited. Upon returning to Australia, travel-

ers face a mandatory two weeks in quar-antine.

Other players have expressed concernabout travelling to the US, where morethan 150,000 people have died fromCOVID-19.

Barty had to make her decisionbecause entries were open for the Western& Southern Open, which is scheduled forAugust 20-28 and was moved to the samehard courts at the Billie Jean King NationalTennis Center that are slated to host theUS Open.

Serena Williams, Coco Gauff, NovakDjokovic and Rafael Nadal were onWednesday's initial entry lists - but Barty,two-time Grand Slam champion NaomiOsaka and 2019 US Open championBianca Andreescu were not - for the tour-nament moved from Cincinnati toFlushing Meadows.

Being on Wednesday’s lists doesn’t nec-essarily mean a player will compete at thetournament.

No sanctioned professional tennisevents have been played since Marchbecause of the coronavirus. Both thewomen’s and men’s tours plan to return inAugust. The women's tour still aims toreturn next week at Palermo, Italy.

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Top Indian boxer VikasKrishan has decided to

revive his professional career inthe US instead of training atthe national camp in Patiala ashe believes conventional isjust not good enough for apodium finish at next year’sTokyo Olympics.

Vikas is currently trainingin Bengaluru’s Inspire Instituteof Sports (IIS) with anotherprofessional boxer and closefriend Neeraj Goyat after beingasked to leave NIS Patiala foralleged violation of COVID-19quarantine norms, laterdeemed unintentional.

He has no plans of goingback even though the SportsAuthority of India (SAI) decid-ed to allow him to return afteran inquiry.

“I will continue traininghere (in Bengaluru). I have fall-en into a rhythm and I don't

wish to disturb myself by onceagain taking the trip to Patiala.I don't see the point," Vikas,who is training underAmerican coach RonaldSimms at the IIS, told PTI inan interview over phone.

Asked about the contro-versy in Patiala, and Vikasoffered a philosophical take.

“I have never harmed any-one. I have made mistakes butthe intent is only to do well forthe country. I have nevercaused problems for anyoneelse. That’s all I have to say,” hesaid.

The 28-year-old Haryana-lad is more eager to talk abouthis plans to return to the US,where he continues to have acontract with Hall of FamerBob Arum's Top RankPromotions.

The welterweight (69kgcategory) boxer will competein the 70kg division in the procircuit.

“As soon as I manage to geta flight, I am going to the USA.I am in touch with Top RankPromotions. They havepromised to arrange fights forme and I hope to compete in3-4 bouts before the Olympics,”he said.

“That would help myOlympic chances more thananything else because it is inthe pro circuit that I learnt thecrucial lesson of not believingin luck.

It is all about ability, thereis nothing called luck,” addedthe former world bronze-win-ner, who won his two probouts before returning to ama-teur circuit last year.

The Asian Games andCommonwealth Games gold-winner will be making thirdOlympic appearance in Tokyonext year. He is the most expe-rienced among the five menwho have made the cut so far.

“I took a break from pro-

fessional with due permissionfrom my promoter to pursuemy Olympic dream. Now thatI have qualified, I will go backto pro to prepare myself," hesaid.

Talking of preparations,do High Performance DirectorSantiago Nieva and nationalcoach C A Kuttappa know ofhis plans?

“They know and they aresupportive. They know what Iam capable of and they haveencouraged me. I have also gotimmense support from BoxingFederation of India ExecutiveDirector R K Sacheti,” he said.

Less than a year away fromhis third Olympics, Vikas saidhe has never enjoyed boxing asmuch as he does now.

“If you watch me fightnow, you can see the artistry.In my past two Olympics (2012and 2016), I used to be both-ered by pressure and expecta-tions, not anymore. I fee freeof that.

"This has made boxingvery enjoyable for me. Earlierthere was an element of stress,"he explained.

His friend Neeraj, also apro boxer, has been a constantin his life for the past few yearsand Vikas said he is grateful forthe support.

“I don’t think I will be ableto do as much for him as hehas done for me. He has cometo train with me, support mewhenever I have asked him,” hesaid.

Amid the strenuous prepa-rations, has he factored in theCOVID-19 mayhem, the onewhich forced the Olympics tobe postponed and which still isa threat to the Games goingahead even next year.

“I am destined to win anOlympic medal. Olympics willhappen because God can’t beso cruel to me. I know that,”asserted the boxer.

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Australia cricketer Matthew Wade onThursday heaped praise on New Zealand

fast-bowler Neil Wagner and recalled thebouncer barrage he faced from the latter dur-ing the Test series between the two teamsDown Under late last year.

Despite suffering a 0-3 hammering,Wagner returned home with his head held highas he was the only Kiwi bowler to trouble theAussie batsmen in the series.

Wagner ended the 2019/20 series with 17wickets and Wade claimed that he has neverseen a bowler who could bowl bouncers withsuch accuracy.

The southpaw also stated that Virat Kohli'stroops might go for similar strategy when thetwo teams clash in the Border-GavaskarTrophy later this year. Wade, however, saidIndian pace battery won't be as effective asWagner, as far as bouncers are concerned.

“Teams may try it but I don't think it willbe as successful,” Wade was quoted as sayingby cricket.com.au.

“I don’t think anyone in the game hasbowled bouncers the way he bowled and beenso consistent, and not gotten scored off whilealso picking up wickets. “I think we'll see it abit (from India) but I don’t think it will be aseffective as Wagner. He’s done it for a long timenow … to be honest I’ve never faced a bowlerwho is so accurate at bowling bouncers,” headded.

The four Tests of the much-anticipatedseries are currently scheduled to be played atGabba, Adelaide Oval, MCG and the SCGrespectively starting December 3.

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Indian golfer ShubhankarSharma began with a flourish,

but two slightly wayward teeshots cost him heavily as heended the first day with a roller-coaster one-over 73 in the HeroOpen on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Indian,who has two wins on theEuropean Tour, had a birdie fol-lowed by an eagle on the secondand third holes, but doublebogeys on the 10th and 13th onthe tougher back stretch sawhim drop a bunch of shots.

Overall, he had an eagle,three birdies, two bogeys andtwo double bogeys in an event-ful round at the Hero Open,which is the second event on theUK Swing, at the Forest ofArden Marriott Hotel &Country Club.

Spain's Sebastian GarciaRodriguez fired a stunning 62 tohold the clubhouse lead on dayone, as fellow Spaniard PabloLarrazabal shot 64. VeteranMiguel Angel Jimenez, the 56-year-old playing his record 707thEuropean Tour event, was five-under through 10 holes with five

birdies. Sharma said despite theover par round, he felt he playedwell. “Just the tee shot on 10thand 13th cost me a lot. On 10th,I hit it slightly to the left and thendid not have a shot, so chippedout and then missed an up-and-down too. On 13th, the windtook the tee shot a little toomuch to the left and I lost theball. “I feel I can get it all backtomorrow.” “As I said I did notfeel any rust because I have beenplaying and keeping scores athome in Chandigarh. Just needto tighten those small errors andit should be fine.”

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Left-arm fast bowlerMohammad Amir has joined

the Pakistan squad here afterclearing two consecutiveCOVID-19 tests following hisarrival in the United Kingdom.

The Pakistan Cricket Boardon Thursday confirmed thatAmir has integrated with rest ofthe squad after serving hismandatory quarantine period,during which he tested negativetwice.

“Amir left for England fromLahore on 24 July and, as per theUK government's guidelines,was in isolation for a period offive days during which he wastested twice,” the PCB said in astatement on its website.

Amir, who quit playing Testcricket, will feature in the three-match T20 series against

England to be played in a bio-secure environment at the OldTrafford, Manchester startingAugust 28.

Pakistan’s tour of Englandstarts with three Test matchesstarting August 5 at Manchester.

Besides, the PCB alsoinformed that fast bowler HarrisRauf, who had earlier testedpositive, is now clear of thevirus and is expected to join therest of the Pakistan squad inEngland soon.

“Fast bowler Haris Rauf hascleared his second COVID-19test and is eligible to join thesquad in England. As per theprotocols he was tested twice -Monday and Wednesday,” thecricket board said.

“He is expected to travelover the weekend. Details of histravel plan will be shared in duecourse.”

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Stolen in 1998, rareShiva statue on wayfrom London to India

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England’s limited-overs cap-tain Eoin Morgan has

revealed that his teammates’participation in the 2019 IPL,which was part of a well thoughtout plan, played a key role in

helping the side claim its maid-en World Cup title. Morgan saidhe pushed chairman of Englandand Wales Cricket Board’sCricket Committee, AndrewStrauss to take the decisionbecause he felt the pressureassociated with a world event

can only be matched by the cash-rich IPL.

“Playing in IPL was part ofStrauss’s plan. I pushed him tomake that call because in inter-national bilateral series, it’s so dif-ficult to replicate the pressurethat’s there in Champions

Trophy or the World Cup,”Morgan told Harsha Bhogle on'Cricbuzz in Conversation’.

“He asked me what’s differ-ent? One, you play as an over-seas player so there’s huge expec-tations. If you play in IPL, there’sdifferent pressure and different

expectation. Sometimes youcan’t get away with it and youhave to find a way to deal withit.” England won their maidenWorld Cup title at home turf lastyear, beating New Zealand onboundary count rule in a dra-matic final at the iconic Lord’s.

Page 12: ˆ! ˆ+ &˛ˆ% ˆ0˛).!* ˆ ˆ˛ˆ · 2020-07-30 · record number of 1,40,652 sam-ples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive. The overall infection positiv- ... virulent pace

hile his sophomoreventure SRKalyanamandapam isonly 40 per cent over,actor KiranAbbavaram recently

sprung a surprise when heannounced a new project,Sebastian P.C. 524, which marksthe directorial debut of BalajiSayyapureddy. He plays a con-stable based out of Madanapallepolice station, Chittoor, in thefilm produced by Pramod andRaju under EliteEntertainments. “It will beentertaining and at the sametime an emotional film. As anactor it’s a challenging role for

me as it requires me to get outof my comfort zone. I’ve alreadymet some constables during thelockdown as a part of my prepfor the part. The film will rollwithout me and I will join it asand when I wrap up my por-tions for SR Kalyanamandapam,”Kiran tells us.

The actor has also green-littwo other brand new projects,whose announcements will bemade at an appropriate name. Ishe in a hurry? “These projectshave been locked sometimeback. If I don’t get a right pro-ject, I don’t mind waiting fortwo-three years,” he points out.

— NG

s Sonu Sood turned a year older onThursday, lakhs of fans and well-wishers took to social media to pourin their wishes to the actor, hailinghim as the ‘Man with Golden Heart’.Sonu has become a savior for lakhs

of migrants during the lockdown, helpingthem reach their destinations in differentstates by paying from his own pocket. Not justthat, he is also looking after well being andrehabilitation of people who have lost theirlivelihoods due to the pandemic.

Down here in T-town, Ram is impressedwith his Kandireega co-stars humanitarianeffort, stating that his vote is for Sonu. “Thereare People.. There are Heros.. & then.. there areHumans.. If only we had more Humans..wewouldn’t be needing Heros.. Dear [email protected] hardly say this to anyone.. I’dVOTE for you.. Happy Birthday! Love.. (sic),”posted Ram on Thursday.

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rom finishing thebound script of hisas-yet-untitled nextwith Kalyaan Dhevto wrapping upleftover portions of

his maiden directorial,Brundavanamadi Andaridi, toeven penning the dialogues ofauteur K Raghavendra Rao’snext directorial effort, writerSreedhar Seepana has usedlockdown period to the opti-mum. No wonder he is elated.He happens to be the thirdmainstream director after RaviBabu and Puli Vasu to haveresumed shooting during thelockdown, wrapping up hislong-in-the-makingBrundavanamadi Andaridi.The likes of Posani KrishnaMurali, Prudhvi and someother new faces participated inthe shoot, which went on inHyderabad in adherence to allthe COVID-19 guidelines.“Initially, there were nerves

but after two days of shoot, weproceeded without worries. AsI shot mostly indoors, thespaces were under our control.Before we began shooting, thespots were sanitized thorough-ly. The crew members sportedmasks, face shields and main-tained social distance at allpoints throughout the 10-dayschedule. Every one hour, theentire unit was servedkashayam and tea. The castand crew temperatures wererecorded before and whileleaving the location. The factthat everybody took individ-ual care meant that work pro-gressed without hassles. It’sbeen 15 days since wewrapped up the shoot andluckily nothing happened toany of the members,” heexults, speaking to ThePioneer.

Shot as a full-length enter-tainer, BrundavanamadiAndaridi is presently in edit-

ing phase and Seepana is look-ing at a direct-to-web releasefor it. “My immediate chal-lenge is film with KalyaanDhev; it’s my life. If I obtain agood name out of it, it willhelp the cause ofBrundavanamadi Andaridimore,” he observes.

Seepana admits to haveshaken life a leaf when hewent to meet the legendary KRaghavendra Rao to pen thedialogues for the latter’s nextfilm. “Later, I understood whyhe is widely acknowledged asa writer’s director. He makesyou extremely comfortableand doesn’t get into argumentsabout what he wants in partic-ular. He would explain whathe wants very clearly and thenleave you with the freedom towork on it. His great trait isthat he is extremely ‘patient’.The way he conceived some ofmy work for his film as adirector took me by surprise.

It made me realize that it ishow I should envisage as adirector. He doled out direc-tion tips to me. I considermyself lucky to have workedwith him,” he rhapsodizes ofthe veteran, whose bona fidesinclude monster hits likeAdavi Ramudu, JagadekaVeerudu Athiloka Sundari andAnnamayya among others in acareer spanning more than 45years.

As a part of script sessions,KRR and Seepana travelled toBhadrachalam and it waswhen the former asked the lat-ter to narrate his script forKalyaan Dhev. “To begin with,I was terrified to narrate thescript to a director of hisrepute but I mustered couragesomehow. As I started narrat-ing it, I could see him in splitsall through our journey. Helauded my narrative skills andlater rang Chiranjeevi garu,informing that the script is

fantastic and that Kalyaan willestablish himself as a herowith the film. He spoke to thefilm’s producers as well andtold them not to bother me asthe script is watertight,”Seepana recounts, smiling.

He goes on to mention thateven Koratala Siva — withwhom he worked on thescript of MegastarChiranjeevi-starrer Acharya— listened to the script of hisnext with Kalyaan and

encouraged him. He con-cedes to be “a little scared” aseverybody reposed their faithin him and his script. “Now,I’m worried where to hide myface if the output doesn’tmatch what’s written onpaper. I’m taking the film as aresponsibility but it is sendingshivers down my spine,” henotes, adding that he is plan-ning to roll with the film inAugust-end by taking all safe-ty measures.

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Vijayawada Friday July 31 2020

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uperstar MaheshBabu’s launch vehi-cle Rajakumarudu,directed by veteranK RaghavendraRao, on Thursday

clocked 21 years of its release.The action-entertainer with agenerous dose of comedy anda super hit soundtrack provedto be a perfect platform forMahesh, who later went on tofeature in a wide variety ofcontent-rich films, attainingimmense fan base and reach-ing peaks of stardom — à lahis father Krisha.

KRR, who is considered agolden hand for debutantactors, tweeted on the occa-sion, “Have many sweetmemories… I congratulateAswini Dutt and the crew. Ihope to see our Mahesh beingpart of many more super hits(sic).”

Mahesh was quick torevert. “21 years and how.Thank you@Ragavendraraoba for mak-ing my first a super specialone. The learning that camewith the experience is some-thing I'll always cherish.Extremely glad to haveknown and worked with youand our amazing team (sic),”he posted along with a pic-ture where KRR is guidinghim and Preity Zinta on howto go about a scene.

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