dot allocates spectrum for p ‘new dna vaccinefor covid p

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HYDERABAD, SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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In brief

A family member holds onto Gianna Floyd, daughter of GeorgeFloyd, as family members face reporters at the White Housefollowing their meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden inWashington. A REUTERS photo

Patients administered monoclonalantibodies recovering well : AIG chairmanNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The world-renowned AsianInstitute of Gastroenterology(AIG) here has taken up astudy of the efficacy of mono-clonal antibodies on the dou-ble mutant B.1.617 variant ofCovid-19. The drug cocktail,which was administered to USformer President DonaldTrump, reduced the chance ofhospitalisation by 70 per centin patients with mild to mod-erate Covid-19 symptoms. Dr.D Nageshwar Reddy, chair-man of AIG, told The Pioneerthat the drug cocktail ofCasirivimab and Imdevimab,showed promising results.

How are the patients to whom youhave administered monoclonalantibodies responding?

They are doing well. Theexperience is very short.Usually it takes 3 days for thevirus to go off, but what we areseeing is the immediateresponse is also very good. Wehave already started, thereported literature response isalso 70% complete recovery i.e.70% of them do not becomeserious cases and theyrespond. Some 20% willrespond slowly and a verysmall percentage couldbecome serious cases. We arehoping that it will be similar inIndian patients also whereantibodies are neutralising andclearing the virus. The find-ings of the study that we have

taken up at AIG will be avail-able in 4 weeks.

Are there more such cocktails ofmonoclonal antibodies whichare artificially created in alaboratory and tailor-made tofight a particular disease?

The one we are usingCasirivimab and Imdivimabare made and developed byRegeneron and Roche. Thereare other cocktails made by Eli

Lilly. One more is coming inproduction. Single drug can-not be used as there won't beresistance; it has to be used ascocktail. This is the one whichthe Indian governmentapproved two days ago. Theothers are yet to be approved.According New England jour-nal article, efficacy is same forall of this for out-patient, butefficacy is not good in in-patients i.e. if a patient isadmitted, or on oxygen andventilator, it is not good.

Is it alternative to vaccine? Are youdoing it as a study for prophylaxis?

No, we are not. But techni-cally we can use it. Usually, ifwe give this injection, it willprotect people from virus for 3months. Right now there is nostudy in the world, becauseeffective vaccine has come.Instead of using this as pro-phylaxis, we use vaccine asprophylaxis; within 6 weeks wecan develop permanent immu-nity. But this is temporaryimmunity and again after 3months we have to repeat this,so you can't go on doing this.This is passive immunization,while vaccine is active immu-nization. Active immunizationshould be preferred only in sit-uations where vaccines cannotbe used or if someone needsurgent protection and theycan't wait for vaccine protec-tion to activate for 6 weeks;then, they can use thismethod.

We are hoping that it willbe similar in Indian

patients also whereantibodies are neutrali-sing andclearing the virus.

— DR. D NAGESHWAR REDDY

chairman of AIG

Dr. D NageshwarReddy with

TS seeks release of full GSTpayout, hike in FRBM to 5%ML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

With TS reeling under huge rev-enue shortfall for the second con-secutive year due to the Covid-19pandemic, State Finance MinisterT Harish Rao has advocated thatthe GST compensation, due fromthe Centre to offset the States' poorrevenue growth in a pandemic year,be paid in full.

Harish said that as the 2021-22 was the last year of thefive- year period under theGST Act to compensateStates registering rev-enue growth of lessthan 14 per cent, theCentre should notwithhold any amountand pay the compen-sation in full to theStates.

Participating in the43 rd GST Council

meeting chaired by Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitaraman aftera gap of seven months, he alsosought an increase in the FRBMlimit from the present four percent of GSDP to fiveper cent.

Govt revokes permissionto five private hospitalsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State government,tightening the screws on violatorsof the GO capping Covid treat-ment charges, has revoked fiveHyderabad-based hospitals' licenceto treat Covid-19 patients, follow-ing complaints that they were

fleecing the public. The hospitals are: Virinchi,

Banjara Hills; Vinn Hospital,Begumpet; Tx Hospital,Kachiguda; Neelima Hospital,Sanath Nagar and Max Hospital,Kukatpally.

Kin of deceased govt staff in ULBsto get compassionate appointmentsPNS n HYDERABAD

In a significant decision that willbring some solace to the families ofgovernment employees who die ofCovid-19, the State government hasdecided to provide immediately ajob to the dependents of thedeceased on compassionategrounds.

Minister for MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment K.T.Rama Rao issuedinstructions to the Commissionerand Director of MunicipalAdministration to provide compas-sionate appointment to thedependents of government employ-ees who died of Covid-19 in allUrban Local Bodies, except the

Greater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation.

The Minister issued instruc-tions to this effect on May 26 to theDirector of MunicipalAdministration and said the ordersshould be implemented on prior-ity. Measures should be taken for

the completion of compassionateappointments in not more thanseven days from the date of demiseof the employee due to Covid, heinstructed.

Dr.N.Satyanarayana, Director ofMunicipal Administration, in a cir-cular to the Regional Director,Municipal AdministrationWarangal/Hyderabad and all theMunicipal Commissioners in theState, except GHMC, said theyshould examine the compassionateappointments of the eligible as perthe rules in force and complete theprocess within two days from thedate of receiving of these instruc-tions and furnish compliance to theOffice of Director, MunicipalAdministration immediately.

Mamata made PM wait30 minutes, says CentrePNS n NEW DELHI

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee today skipped a meetingwith Prime Minister NarendraModi to assess the aftermath ofCyclone Yaas, choosing instead aquick 15-minute interaction atthe airbase where the PM's flightlanded after an aerial survey. Shewas to attend a review with PMModi and officials but left afterhanding him a report.

"You wanted to meet me that iswhy I have come today. Me and myChief Secretary want to submit thisreport to you. Now we have ameeting at Digha so we seek yourpermission to leave," the ChiefMinister was quoted as saying.

This was their first face-to-facesince the acrimonious Bengal elec-tion campaign.

The central government accusedMamata Banerjee of keeping PMModi and Governor JagdeepDhankhar waiting for half anhour.

NCB arrests SSR's flatmateSidharth from HyderabadPNS n HYDERABAD

In a major action, the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB)on Friday said that ithas arrestedSidharth Pitani,flatmate of lateBollywood actorSushant SinghRajput in adrug relatedcase.

"Pithani hasbeen arrestedfrom Hyderabad,"an NCB official said.

The arrest comesalmost two and half monthsafter it filed a 12,000-page chargesheet against 33 people, including

actress Rhea Chakraborty, herbrother Showik and others in theBollywood-drugs mafia probe

case linked to Sushant'sdeath on June 14, 2020,

when he was foundhanging in his flat.

On March 5,the NCB chargesheet was filedbefore aMumbai SpecialNDPS Court,

following twocases registered by

the drug lawenforcement agency

after intimation from theEnforcement Directorate which

was probing the financial angles inSushant's death.

TS extendsquota for BCsfor 10 more yrsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State governmenthas issued orders extending thereservations for Backward Classesin employment and educationalinstitutions for another 10 yearsi.e. till May 2031.

According to a GO to this effectissued by Principal SecretaryBackward Classes WelfareDepartment, a total of 130 com-munities figure in the list of BCsin Telangana.

The BC reservations amongdifferent categories of A, B, C, Dand E (due to expire on May 31,2021) have been extended foranother period of 10 years in edu-cation and employment as per therequest of Member-Secretary,Telangana State Commission forBackward Classes.

The extension of period willalso include the percentage ofreservations and also age con-cession for five years for the pur-pose of recruitment in order tofacilitate their adequate repre-sentation and also for BCs'uplift and overall development,the GO said.

Spl vax drive forhigh-risk groupsstarts in TSPNS n HYDERABAD

More than 1.4 lakh people will bevaccinated in all the districtsunder a special drive for high-riskgroups in the State over the nextthree days, said Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar.

The special vaccination drivebegan on Friday across the Statefollowing the instructions ofChief MinisterK.Chandrasekhar Rao to con-tain the pandemic by vaccinat-ing high-risk categories of peo-ple, including those in the 18-plus age group.

Black fungus medicineexempted from tax

The GST Council meeting washeld today after a gap of almost

eight months, amid the rangingsecond wave of the Covidpandemic in the country. While

addressing a press conferenceafter the Council meetingconcluded, Sitharaman announcedthat the IGST is exempted on freeCOVID-related essential items tillAugust 31, 2021

RBI imposes penalty of Rs10 crore on HDFC bankPNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) onFriday, imposed a monetary penal-ty of Rs 10 crore on HDFC BankLimited for violation of provisionsof section 6(2) and section 8 of theBanking Regulation Act, 1949 (theAct). The central bank said in astatement today that this action isbased on the deficiencies in regu-latory compliance and is notintended to pronounce upon thevalidity of any transaction or anagreement entered into by thebank with its customers. Accordingto the statement, an examination of

documents in the matters of mar-keting and the sale of third-partynon-financial products to thebank's customers, arising from awhistle blower complaint to theRBI, regarding irregularities in theauto loan portfolio of the bank,revealed violation of the above-mentioned provisions of theBanking Regulation Act.

The RBI said that after consid-ering the bank's reply to the showcause notice, the oral submissionsmade during the personal hearing,as well as examination of furtherclarifications or documents fur-nished by the bank, it was conclud-

ed that the aforesaid charge of con-travention of provisions of theBanking Regulation Act was sub-stantiated and a warranted impo-sition of monetary penalty.

Section 8 of the BankingRegulation Act states that a bankcannot directly or indirectly dealwith buying, selling, or bartering ofgoods. However, a bank may barter

the transactions relating to bills ofexchange received for collection ornegotiation.

The penalty was imposed in theexercise of powers vested by thecentral bank under the provisionsof Section 47A(1)(c) read withSection 46(4)(i) of the BankingRegulation Act.

Meanwhile, last year, the ReserveBank directed the private-sectorlender to temporarily stop alllaunches of its upcoming digitalbusiness-generating activities andsourcing of new credit card cus-tomers after a power outage of itsprimary data centre.

State opposesbringing liquor underpurview of GST

Seeks share inCentre's income from‘surcharge and cess’

All big firmsexcept Twittersent details undernew IT rulesPNS n NEW DELHI

All big social media firms exceptTwitter have shared detailsrequired under India's newinformation technology rules,government sources have said.Some of these are Facebook,Google, LinkedIn, WhatsApp,Koo, ShareChat, and Telegram,they said.

Such information includesnames of their chief complianceofficer, nodal contact persons,and grievance officers.

"Twitter is still not followingthe rules," one of the sourcessaid asking not to be named."Twitter has not yet sent thedetails of the chief complianceofficer to the ministry."

The Ministry of Electronicsand IT (MeitY) enforced the newrules on Wednesday, making itmust for social media platformsto appoint compliance officers inIndia, set up a grievanceresponse mechanisms, and takedown content within 36 hours ofa legal order.

Facebook-owned WhatsApphas sued the government, sayingthe rules are unconstitutionaland against user privacy.

The government yesterdayfirmly told Twitter to "stop beat-ing around the bush and complywith the laws of the land" insteadof "dictating terms" to theworld's largest democracy.

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Raashi KhannaShooting abroad as Indiabattled Covid was upsetting

Delhi will beginunlocking slowly fromMonday, says Kejriwal

Delhi will begin unlocking gradually

from Monday, thanks to theefforts of the two crore people ofthe city which helped bring under

control the second wave, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal said. "In thepast 24 hours, the positivity rate has

been around 1.5 per cent with only1,100 new cases being reported. This

is the time to unlock lest peopleescape corona only to die of hunger,"

Kejriwal said. He had announced alockdown on April 19 after the city

recorded over a lakh cases five dayson a trot till then. "Today there was a

meeting with the disaster managementauthority. Everyone is of the opinionwe must open slowly, slowly. There

has to be some balance," he said.

Actor Hooda removedas UN ambassador over

‘joke’ on Mayawati

Actor Randeep Hooda has been

removed as the ambassadorof Convention for the

Conservation of Migratory Species ofWild Animals (CMS), United Nation's

environmental treaty, following thecontroversy over his derogatory

comments against Bahujan SamajParty chief Mayawati. Hooda has been

under fire since Wednesday when anine-year-old video of him making a

"joke", which social media userstermed casteist and sexist, went viral

online. The 43-second-clip from anevent in 2012 resurfaced when a

Twitter user shared it. The video hasHooda cracking a joke and then

laughing along with the audience.

Take care ofchildren orphaned by

Covid: SC to States

The Supreme Court today came to

the rescue of children orphanedduring the COVID-19 lockdown,

both national and state level, sayingtheir basic needs must be taken care

of by the state governments. Itdirected them to identify children who

have lost their parents or the familybreadwinner following the nationwide

lockdown imposed in March 2020."Children in need must be taken care

of...Understand their agony andaddress their needs immediately," abench of Justices L Nageswara Raoand Aniruddha Bose, hearing a case

taken up suo motu said today.

India abstains from votingon UNHRC resolution to

probe Gaza conflict

India was among 14 countries that

abstained from voting on aresolution at the UN HumanRights Council to launch an

investigation into the crimes during the11-day conflict between Israel and

Hamas in Gaza. The resolution wasadopted as 24 countries voted in

favour of it while nine opposed it at theend of an all-day special session of the

47-member UN body in Geneva onThursday. India abstained from voting

together with 13 other membernations of the grouping. "The Human

Rights Council this afternoon adopteda resolution on ensuring respect forinternational human rights law and

international humanitarian law in theoccupied Palestinian territory," the UN

body said in a statement.

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Lessons from the pandemichave the potential to lead to

new ways of managing largegatherings of people -- a sort ofa new normal for post-pan-demic life. It is possible to learnfrom the experience of othercountries in regulating largecongregations (e.g. Haj man-agement in Saudi Arabia) andadapt these to Indian condi-tions. Some strategic activitiesare discussed below.

Testing and quarantineA negative PCR test result

taken 48 hours prior to arrivalfor all people coming from out-side would be mandatory. Onarrival, all would have toundergo a mandatory quaran-tine at a Government-approved hotel for six days ortake a PCR test after 48 hoursof the quarantine. If the testresults are negative, they couldleave the quarantine facility.People arriving from areasdesignated as "high-risk"would be required to completea mandatory, seven-day quar-antine as well as get a negativePCR test after completion of

the seven days. In addition,people who may want to enterkey areas (e.g. sanctum sancto-rum of religious places) wouldbe required to have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate aswell. The multiple layers pro-vide additional security andreduce the chance of infectedpeople from entering.

There have been severalinstances of people testingpositive at their destinationpoints even after obtainingnegative test certificates atpoints of departure. Multiplelayers guard against the risk offalse negatives that may arisedue to technical reasons or dueto fraud. Furthermore, sever-al layers of protection wouldavoid gatherings from becom-ing super-spreader events. Thisis based on a well-known prin-ciple of disaster management- redundancy - and excessiveprecautions at entry points.

Social distancingThe flow of people has to be

well-organized in order toavoid congestion and crowd-ing. One way is to allow onlya limited number of people ata time into key areas with clearphysical distancing. Police andvolunteers should be deployedto monitor and direct people.

It is well- known that face-masks provide a barrier andprevent the virus from spread-ing. Thus, facemasks would bemandatory and high penaltieswould be imposed on thosenot wearing masks or trying toenter main areas without

masks. High penalties have a deter-

rent effect as was seen inDelhi during the first wave ofthe pandemic when the traf-fic police effectively imposedmask-wearing. Additionally,daily bulletins in the form oftext messages would remindpeople about the penaltiesand other public health mea-sures.

The number of peopleentering the place of congre-gation would be limited. Thiswould lead to reliable enforce-ment of measures. Meals (e.g.prasadam) would be provid-

ed in neatly sealed packageswith labels indicating thestringent conditions of prepa-ration so as to obviate the riskof transmission of COVID-19during handling. Communaleating or sharing meals (e.g.water taps, eateries) makes foreasy transmission of the virus,and these would be disal-lowed.

Food and water would bedelivered to people. The prin-ciple is that instead of peoplegoing to the points to collectsealed material, it would beprovided to them while theymaintaining social distanc-ing at designated spots.

Use of digital toolsDigital tools (e.g. apps)

would be deployed for the fol-lowing purposes. First, allocateareas where individuals/fam-ilies can move about.

In case groups of peopledesire to gather for social events,they would use the tool app toapply for a gathering permit.Contact tracing would be builtin to detect any positive caseemerging after the event.Second, record, track, and mon-itor all COVID-19 related per-sonal records. This wouldinclude test results and vaccina-tion status of each individual.

Third, the digital tool should

be able to access every place(e.g. shops, restaurants, hotelsand vehicles); enable entrybased on record of PCR resultsand vaccination status so thatpeople who are positive-PCRare prevented from movingaround; and warn of peoplemoving out of their permittedzones with the help of a loca-tion tracker. Fourth, have aspecial feature for bookingspecific time slots for access to,say, sanctum sanctorum oftemples based on theirCOVID-19 status. Fifth, mon-itor social distancing. Forexample, using Bluetooth, thesocial-distancing app wouldrecord people around a person.

It would warn of peoplenearby who have tested pos-itive. Sixth, have a provision tosupply bar-coded wristbandson arrival, which would bescanned to confirm theCOVID-19 status of the per-

son. Admittedly, apps that track

people's movements - andthat store their medical andpersonal data - would raiseprivacy concerns, particular-ly if the data falls into thewrong hands or is misused.However, one has to weigh thetrade-offs in these unprece-dented times, and steps arerequired to be taken to protectthe data.

Managing large gatheringsof people in the post-pandem-ic era would provide peoplewith the option to visit events(e.g. sports, religious) as theywere doing before the out-break of COVID-19.

(Author has a PhD fromUSA and a D Litt from

Kanchi University. The arti-cle is based on his researchand practice and views are

personal)

DR. SAMEER SHARMA

Post-pandemic: Managing large gatherings of people It is possible to learn from theexperience of other countries inregulating large congregations (e.g.Haj management in Saudi Arabia) and adapt these to Indian conditions

ANUSHA PUPPALA

n HYDERABAD

Women activists in Telanganastarted #CallYourMLA cam-paign to understand their con-tributions during the Covidcrisis across the state. As partof #CallYourMLA campaign,WomComMatters team justcompleted two days of researchand calls on Friday. WhileIbrahimpatnam MLAManchireddy Kishanreddydin't answer the calls, JubileeHills MLA Maganti Gopinathanswered all the queries of theactivists very politely.

According to the campaign,both are inactive on socialmedia and a simple Googleresearch on their interven-tions during Covid hardlyresults any data. However,MLA Gopinath inaugurated40 bed isolation centre in

Borabanda on Wednesday,which is in partnership withNATCO trust, CII & GHMC.

WomComMatters team witha group of 15 volunteers fromacross Telangana have beencalling MPs and MLAs ofTelangana to understand theiraccessibility to common citizensin their constituency and theirinterventions in fighting Covidpandemic, if any. The volunteerscome from diverse backgroundsand include students, doctors,political strategists, youth whohave lost work due to Corona,etc.

The team just started callingMLAs. For the first round, theyhave picked 50 MLAs whoseconstituencies are highly-affect-ed by Covid-19. They havealso received 12 of 17 respons-es from MPs and are currentlycompiling them. They are plan-ning to make posters and

release all data as it is on theirsocial media accounts soon.

"Throughout the last month,I have witnessed relief workbeing undertaken by manycitizens, social workers, celebri-ties, etc. Most of the desperaterequests like ICU beds, oxygencylinders, medicines were alsobeing met through socialmedia with the help of NGOs.Naturally, this prompted manyof us to inquire what our pub-lic representatives were doingfor their constituents at least",says Spurthi, founder & cam-paign strategist atWomComMatters.

"At the same time, we foundposts by Young IndiaFoundation (YIF) on Instagramwhere a group of young peoplewere calling MPs across thecountry and reporting theiraccessibility in the spirit of vig-ilant democracy.

WomComMatters team collab-orated with YIF for this cam-paign and included MLAs intheir campaign too", she added.

27-year-old MeghanaChaganti, Project Lead with thiscampaign told The Pioneer, "Sofar we have called MPs ofTelangana state, although wedidn't receive a response frommany of them; some of the MPshave answered our calls andpolitely responded. I was on acall with Dr. Ranjith Reddy, MPof Chevella constituency, whopolitely answered all my ques-tions on what he was doing forpeople in his constituency. Heshared his experience of how hewas helping those who needplasma, medicines or bed. Howthey spread awareness aboutthe situation through what-sapp messages. He also spoke topharma companies to makeRemidesvir available at a nor-

mal cost. I think a campaignlike this important firstlybecause it gives us hope thatthere is some kind of interven-tion from our public represen-tatives. Secondly, I found outfrom this campaign that we cancall our elected public represen-tatives and talk to them direct-ly. It made me realise that theyare literally just a call away andwe can always take accountabil-ity from them as a citizen anda member of their constituen-cy". Over the course of two andhalf years, the team led bySpurthi Kolipaka realized theirpassion in upholding active cit-izenship especially at the inter-sections of gender and gover-nance. They had previouslyworked with Political Shakti asvolunteers where they firstcalled MPs asking them totable the Women's ReservationBill in winter parliament.

#CallYourMLA&MP to know about their contributions amid pandemic

Continued from Page 1

Is it possible to manufacturein India?

Yes, Zydus has alreadyapplied for study trial. Evenin our lab at AIG we areable to generate the mono-clonal antibodies. But wehave not done any commer-cialisation. We have doneonly research work on itand we are able to generatefrom single cell hugeamount of monoclonal anti-bodies.

How do you intend to stopthe wastage as one mixturehas to be used for twopatients within 36 hours?

The demand right now isvery high and we are get-ting patients in groups. So,

we can use it. But if thereare fewer patients, that's aproblem. That's the reasonwhy everybody cannot startthis because within 36hours we cannot get apatient, the injection will bewasted. It is expensive;together each of them costsabout Rs 60,000. The pricefor a dose of 1,200 mg (600mg of Casirivimab and 600mg of Imdevimab) is Rs59,750.

Was this strategy used forany other disease?

Monoclonal antibodiesare used for many diseases,especially autoimmunediseases like Crohn'sdisease, ulcerative colitis.But for infectious disease,this is only the third

disease. We used forbacterial infective diseases.Generally we do not use forinfective diseases becausethe antibiotics are available.For this virus infection, wedon't have any othermethodology; this processhas come into use.

When will normalcy return? We are seeing a down-

trend now. By the middle ofnext month we will see asignificant downtrend. Thistrend will continue to occurin July and August also.Complete normalcy tocome out without masksand all will depend upontwo things: firstly, if we canvaccinate people at rate of 1crore per day, 3-4 times wecan completely get herd

immunity; secondly, if wehave Covid appropriatebehavior. Combination ofvaccination and Covidappropriate behavior willdefinitely help us to getback to normal by Octoberor November. If thesethings are not followed, thispandemic can go on fornext year also because thenwe will have pockets ofinfection in the communityand it will keep coming up.If variant develops and itescapes the immunity of thevirus, then it is a problemand whole cycle will devel-op. Immediate priority willbe how to vaccinate largepopulation and in nextthree months. Despite vac-cination, Covid appropriatebehavior has to be followed.

Patients administered monoclonal...


Such flexibility would allow theState to borrow more from theopen market in the face of sig-nificant revenue shortfall dueto adverse impacts of pan-demic on the State's economy,he said.

Speaking about the State'sfinancial position, Harish Raosaid that, despite trying circum-stances, Telangana was theState taking lowest GST com-pensation in the country.

In the financial year 2021-22,while the fiscal deficit of allStates was 36.3 per cent, forTelangana it was 23.10 percent. The State's revenue hadcome down significantlybecause of the pandemic, whileits expenditure had increasedmanifold. A major part of theexpenditure was towardsimproving public health. Hesaid last year the GST compen-sation was paid only partially.Again this year the State shouldget GST compensation of

Rs.7,000 crore and it should bereleased in full, he said.

About amounts due to theState from the Centre, he saidthat the IGST ConsolidatedFund currently had aboutRs.13,000 crore; of whichRs.218 crore due to the Stateshould be released immediate-ly. Telangana State has opposedthe Centre's proposal to bringneutral alcohol under thepurview of the Goods andServices Tax. Therefore, thestate, along with other States,requested the Centre to reducethe GST rate and tax on Covid-related medical essentials.

Explaining TS' stance onthe proposal to bring liquorand excise revenue under thepurview of GST, Harish Raoexplained that at present Stateshad flexibility and control overthe revenues from tworesources- petroleum prod-ucts and liquor, and exciserevenue was key as it helped theState implement many welfareschemes. It was not proper for

the Centre to take any decisionthat would further deprive theStates of their income, consid-ering they were already reelingunder revenue loss. Harishsaid that the Centre should takea decision on permanentlyexcluding liquor products fromthe purview of GST regime.

The States had been seekinga fair share of the Centre's rev-enue under the cess and sur-charge heads. In the last bud-get, 18 per cent of Centre'sincome came in the form ofsurcharges and cess. In a bud-get of Rs.22.17 lakh core, theCentre earned 3.99 lakh croreincome from the levy of sur-chage and cess on variousgoods and services.

However, states had beenlosing Rs.1.64 lakh crore i.e. 41per cent of the income from theamount accrued under sur-charges and cess. Telanganaalone was losing every yearRs.3,439 crore amounting 2.102per cent of income as a conse-quence, he detailed.


A photo of the meetingshowed the Prime Minister atthe head of a table with BJPleader Suvendu Adhikari andother officials to his left butempty chairs to his right.

The Chief Minister is "cal-lous, arrogant and supremelyunmindful of the welfare of thepeople of her state" and hasdealt "an unprecedented blowto propriety and federalism"with her "petulant" behavior,the government said on whatis perceived as a slight. TheGovernor straight out accusedher of "boycotting" the PrimeMinister.

"The conduct by MamataBanerjee, even during a natur-al calamity, is deplorable andreeks of low level petty poli-tics," said sources.

The Prime Minister landed atKalaikunda airbase in Bengalafter an aerial survey of cyclonedamage in the state and inOdisha.

"When PM arrived to attendthe review meet, there was noone from the West BengalGovernment. Both the ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee andthe Chief Secretary of WestBengal were present in thesame premises and YET theydid not come to receive thePM," said sources.

"Suddenly Mamata Banerjee,in her haughtiness, storms inand hands over a bunch ofpapers on the cyclone impact tothe PM and says that she is leav-ing as she has other visits linedup. Never before in the historyof the Indian Republic has aChief Minister of a statebehaved in such an ugly, disre-spectful and arrogant mannerwith High ConstitutionalPosition holders such as PrimeMinister and Governor."

Sources claimed MamataBanerjee "did not allow" officersof the West Bengal Governmentlike the Chief Secretary and theHome Secretary to make apresentation.


The permission to treat Covidpatients was revoked underthe Telangana AllopathicPrivate Medical CareEstablishments (Registrationand Regulation)Act -2002 andThe Epidemic Diseases Act -1897.

Following complaints,Director of Public Health DrSrinivasa Rao had issuedshow-cause notices to the hos-pitals, asking them to respondwithin 24 hours. Based on theexplanation given by the hos-pitals, the Health Departmentcancelled their permission totreat Covid patients.

The DPH said, "No newpatient will be admitted inthese hospitals and no incon-

venience should be caused tothe patients admitted already.They have to be treated as perthe ceilings fixed by the gov-ernment. If the hospitals arenot following these orders,then government would becompelled to cancel the licenceissued to the hospital".

It may be mentioned herethat the Telangana HealthDept had issued show-causenotices to 64 private hospitalsafter receiving complaints overWhatsApp on 9154170960.The department had receivedcomplaints against 39 hospitalsin Hyderabad, 22 in Medchal,15 in Ranga Reddy, 7 inWarangal Urban, 2 inSangareddy and one each inMahabubnagar, Nizamabadand Yadadri.

TS extendsquota forBCs for 10more yearsContinued from Page 1

The extension of reserva-tions till May 31, 2031 issubject to review/revi-sion of lists of BC class-es that may be suggestedby the State Commissionfor BCs.

The reservation infavour of BC Group E issubject to outcome ofappeal pending beforethe Supreme Court, theGovernment Orderadded.

TS seeks release of full GSTpayout, hike in FRBM to 5%


In the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation area,32 centres have been set up anddaily 30,000 people belongingto these categories will be vac-cinated for seven days, he said.

Somesh Kumar visited oneof the vaccination centres atRed Rose Function Palace hereon Friday and inspected thearrangements made for thehigh-risk and high-exposurepeople who got their first jabon Friday.

The vaccination centreswould start functioning from8 am daily for these groups,including street vendors,employees of seeds and pesti-cide shops, provisions stores,vegetable and fruit shops, LPGgas delivery boys, cab andautorickshaw drivers, fair priceshops and other identified cat-egories by various line depart-ments.

The departments concernedwould identify the high-riskgroups and give them coupons,

and only they would be vacci-nated. No walk-ins would beallowed, he said.

Somesh Kumar interactedwith people who came forvaccination at the centre andthey thanked the governmentfor the opportunity given tothem to get vaccinated on apriority basis. Later, he visitedPress Club at Somajigudawhere a special camp wasorganized for journalists underthe frontline workers' catego-ry. Secretary of Health andFamily Welfare Rizvi, GHMCCommissioner Lokesh Kumar,Hyderabad Collector SwethaMohanty, Director of PublicHealth, G.Srinivasa Rao andother officials accompaniedthe Chief Secretary.

Mamata made PM wait 30 minutes, says Centre

Govt revokes permissionto five private hospitals

Spl vax drive for highrisk groups starts in TS

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

Godavarikhani police regis-tered a case against PunnamRamchander, a Singareniemployee, for uploading objec-tionable comments in socialmedia against Chief MinisterK Chandrashekhar Rao andhis family members as well asencouraging disputes betweencastes.

A resident of Power HouseColony in Godavarikhani,Ramchander works as an exca-vation operator in Medipalliopencast project. Four daysago, he uploaded a message onWhatsApp group abusing theChief Minister and his familymembers using filthy language.His comments were intendedto provoke tension betweendifferent castes and groups.

Peeved by the objectionablecomments against the ChiefMinister, Telangana BogguGhani Karmika Sangham(TBGKS) representativeslodged a complaint withGodavarikhani police onWednesday.

Based on the complaint,police registered the caseagainst Ramchander undersections 153 (A), 504, 505(2), 506 IPC, 67 of IT Act onThursday.

Godavarikhani ACP VUmender said some peoplewere uploading objectionablecomments in social media fortheir personal gains. Hewarned of stern action againstpeople to try to disturb pub-lic peace through commentsagainst persons or groups onsocial media platforms.

Singareni employee heldfor comments against CM

PNS n SIRCILLA

Municipal Administrationand Urban DevelopmentMinister KT Rama Raoinstructed revenue officialson Friday to take steps to pro-vide pending compensationamount to land oustees ofVemulawada constituency asearly as possible.

Rama Rao, who held areview meeting with officialsin Sircilla after inauguratinga 100-bed hospital inVemulawada, instructed CivilSupplies Department offi-cials to complete paddy pro-curement on fast track modesince the rainy season was fastapproaching. “There shouldnot be any delay in shiftingpaddy to rice mills,” he said.

Rama Rao promised HRCTscanning machine in the dis-trict headquarters hospital forthe benefit of Covid patients.He wanted the districtMedical and HealthDepartment officials toarrange a special ward for dial-ysis patients who were infect-ed by coronavirus. He alsoinstructed officials to arrange50-bed capacity Covid wardsfor children in Sircilla andVemulawada. Rama Raowanted the authorities to takesteps to arrange medicines tofight black and white fungus.

Minister: Clearcompensation for land oustees

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021hyderabad 03

SPECIAL DRIVE

Telangana Information TechnologyAssociation (TITA) and AmericanTelangana Society (ATS) have

joined hands to launch health servicesto help patients battling Covid-19 inrural areas in the State. Both theorganisations announced their plan todeal with the pandemic through TITA'sTConsult initiative that helped the masses during the first wave ofCovid. Accordingly, both the institutes have established the first-everCovid Dawakhana at the Zilla Parishad High School in Maganur.Telangana IT and Industry principal secretary Jayesh Ranjanlaunched the first Covid DawaKhana virtually here. TITA announcedthat it will expand such services across the State in the comingdays. At the launch of the services, villagers availed online medicaladvice on Covid from doctors at nine sub-centres. At the medicalcentre, patients can avail doctor services through onlineconsultation and two doctors for online consultation along twohealth volunteers will be available at the centre. TITA has offered toprovide technical and other local logistics and arrangements at themedical centre. Speaking at the event Jayesh Ranjan appreciated theinitiative saying that it will be an immense help to the rural massesin the testing times.

CITY LIGHTS

TITA, ATS join hands to open first-ever Covid Dawakhana

In a bid to help patients inHyderabad with oxygenconcentrators at their homes,

the Cyberabad Police along withthe Society for CyberabadSecurity Council (SCSC) and afew NGOs, have set up anoxygen bank with 50 OxygenConcentrators.Speaking on theoccasion here on Friday, Cyberabad Police Commissioner VCSajjanar said the facility would be accessible to all patients whocould afford to buy or rent an Oxygen Concentrator to maintainsaturation levels prescribed by doctors. "Recently, we launched aCovid care centre in Gachibowli. Since its launch last week, 12patients have been admitted for post Covid oxygenation purposes.There has been a demand for oxygen concentrators at home andhence this facility is being launched to cater to that demand,"Sajjanar said.Telugu pop singer Smitha said it was a proud feelingto partner with the Cyberabad Police on various Covid relatedinitiatives and relief activities during the pandemic. Sajjanarappreciated efforts of SCSC, Breathe India and other organizationsfor supporting the initiative.

Cyberabad Police officials set up oxygen concentrator bank

The Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy has conducted surpriseinspections at the check-posts set up on the National Highway65 including Hayathnagar, Kothaguda, Pedda Amberpet and

Panama Godowns on Friday. Inspecting the enforcement oflockdown, the DGP interacted with Rachakonda Commissioner ofPolice Mahesh Bhagwat, Additional Commissioner of PoliceSudhir babu and other police personnel. Speaking to the media,DGP Mahender Reddy stated that the lockdown is beingimplemented strictly and 99.9 per cent of citizens across the stateare observing the lockdown strictly and very little are violatinglockdown rules. He opined that the violators have become a hurdleto the police in enforcing the lockdown strictly. He sought thecooperation of people to break the chain of Covid spread. Hespecially mentioned that Rachakonda Police are working round theclock and performing duties tirelessly on roads and hecommended the staff of respective check posts. He advisedeveryone to stay home to be safe.

Cops working round the clockto break the virus spread: DGP

PNS n HYDERABAD

At a time when the Covid pan-demic has driven millions outof jobs, this Telangana womanhas not only successfullyanchored her small and medi-um startup through the crisis,but has also become a job cre-ator for more than 100 women.

Latha Nadukuda, a schooldropout in Nizamabad town,symbolises women's empow-erment and is definitely aninspiration to many young andaspiring entrepreneurs.

The 31-year-old entrepre-neur is providing employmentto 120 women in her town,

through her startup, ShreeLatha Garments and LadiesTailors. Making a modestbeginning with tailoring workas a member of urban Self-Help Group (SHG) more thana decade ago to help the fam-ily, Latha has today evolvedinto a successful independententrepreneur, paying Rs 1.20lakh per month as salaries toher employees.

The unit continues to thrivewith an annual turnover of Rs25-30 lakh despite the pan-demic. Latha, who started theunit with just one sewingmachine, has given machinesto most of her employees, who

work from home to help theunit deliver a variety of ordersranging from women's sleep-wear and innerwear to facemasks and uniforms.

It has been a long and ardu-ous journey for Latha, who ishappy that her hard work hasfinally paid off.

The woman, who discon-tinued her education after 7thclass, recalled that the groupactivity and later her interac-tion with others gave her con-fidence.

"I was very shy and couldbarely speak a few words butthe exposure I had in SHG andthe support I got from WE Hub

boosted my confidence. Today,I can express myself withoutany hesitation and I considerthis as a big achievement,"Latha said. She made a smallbeginning in 2013 by setting upa small shop at home with aninvestment of Rs 1 lakh, whichshe mobilized through a loanagainst gold.

Shobha Rani, an official inthe district Collectorate whocoordinate SHG activities, saidLatha received all the supportfrom the strong ecosystem.She further strengthened herbusiness activity by availing aloan of Rs 3 lakh under StreeNidhi programme, aimed at

providing affordable credit toSHG women.

Her march was not hin-dered by the pandemic. Shealtered her business model tostitch school uniforms, facemasks and even PPE kits forsanitation staff. "We have deliv-ered one lakh masks and 300PPE kits," she said. Last year,Latha was identified as one ofhigh potential women entre-preneurs by WE Hub, India'sfirst state-led incubator to fos-ter and promote women entre-preneurship, under project'Her&Now'.

"Latha who is from a chal-lenged economic, educational

background is a trailblazerbecause she challenged thenarrative of what a ruralwomen entrepreneur is,"Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WEHub said.

Ravula pointed out thatthrough WE Hub, Lathareceived mentoring support infinancial literacy includingaccounting, bookkeeping bywhich she now handlesfinances in a better way.

"Behind the success of Lathawe can see a strong entrepre-neurial drive which was backedby an ecosystem created by theGovernment of Telangana,"she added.

This 31-year-old Telangana woman is a trailblazer

PNS n HYDERABAD

Rich tributes were paid to for-mer Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister NT Rama Rao on his98th birth anniversary onFriday with the leaders ofTelugu Desam Party (TDP)reiterating the demand forconferring country's highestcivilian award Bharat Ratna onhim.

TDP national president andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu, his sonNara Lokesh, grandsonDevansh and other familymembers and party leaderspaid tributes to Rama Rao atNTR Ghat on the banks ofHussain Sagar lake here.

Chandrababu Naidu, who isson-in-law of the late leader,said NTR would remain as arich legacy and heritage for theTelugu people forever.

He said the late leader wouldalways be remembered for hiscontributions in politics andfilms. "NTR will continue to bean inspiration not only for thisgeneration but also the cominggenerations," said Naidu. Later,addressing 'Mahanadu' orannual conclave of TDP viavideo conferencing, Naidu

recalled how NTR left anunforgettable impression onthe Telugu speaking people allover the world with his greatachievements. Born in an ordi-nary family, NTR rose to thegreatest heights in film andpolitical careers and became a'Yugpurush' for the people.

NTR's second wife LakshmiParvathi, actor son and MLAN Balakrishna and other fam-ily members separately paidtributes at NTR Ghat.

NTR's another son NRamakrishna released a videoand said that he and his fam-ily members were unable tovisit NTR Ghat for payingtributes because of the Covidpandemic.

Meanwhile, senior TDPleader and former union min-

ister Ashok Gajapathi Rajureiterated the demand thatBharat Ratna be posthumous-ly conferred on NTR. Herecalled that the TDP founderstrived for the upliftment of thebackward and weaker sectionsand always worked for decen-tralization and strengtheningof federal system.

NTR had launched TDP in1982 on the slogan of Teluguself-respect and created recordof sorts by coming to powerwithin nine months, endingthe single party rule ofCongress in the undividedAndhra Pradesh.

He died on January 18,1996, a few months afterChandrababu Naidu led arevolt against him and becamethe Chief Minister.

Rich tributes paid to NTR on 98th birth anniversary

PNS n HYDERABAD

The long-awaited dream of abullet train between Hyderabadand Mumbai may not stay adistant dream anymore. Thehigh-speed rail corridor to beset up to run the bullet trainbetween Hyderabad andMumbai for about 711 km hasreached final stages of Googlemapping for route survey.

The project was proposed bythe National High-Speed RailCorporation. And as persources from the corporation,the aerial survey will begin ina week. Pillars are currentlybeing set up from NaviMumbai to Hyderabad forGPS-based aerial survey.Recently, the construction ofbarricades between Vikarabadand Tandur has also beencompleted. The aerial surveyseems to be completed within

a month of its launch. Once thetechnical process is complete,the way will be paved for theconstruction of a high-speedrail corridor.

"The construction of thehigh-speed rail corridorbetween the two cities will takeat least three to four years," anofficial of the NHSRC said.

The bullet train will travelon these tracks at a speed of320 km per hour. It will takeabout three-and-a-half hours

to reach Mumbai fromHyderabad. Currently, trainsfrom Hyderabad take 13 to 14hours to reach Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the NationalHigh-Speed Rail Corporationhas covered 4,109 km in sixcorridors across the country.These are Mumbai-Ahmeda-bad, Mumbai-Nasi-Nagpur,Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore,Mumbai-Hyderabad, Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Ahmedabad,Delhi-Amritsar routes.

Bullet train between Hyd andMumbai not a dream anymore

PNS n HYDERABAD

In all, more than 50,000 teavendors across the city, most ofthem being migrants, areannoyed over their future asthe sales dipped to the lowest.As such, they are not able topay rent for the site where theylodged their tea vending carts.

The vendors who arrivedhere from other places includ-ing neighbouring states insearch of livelihood feel thattheir lives have been destroyedby the Covid-induced lock-down.

They are worried over howto pay house rent and rent fortheir business place.

Santosh, who runs a tea stallin Tarnaka arrived here trav-elling long distances to build acareer. Prior to lockdown, heused to sell 200 teas per day.Currently, his business is downto selling less than 50 teas. Hehas to borrow money fromothers to pay rents.

Many regular customerswho love tea stopped visitingSantosh's tea stall. Walkerswho prefer to have tea daily asthey go out for their morning

walk are not visiting the stall. There are many who would

have their breakfast in adjoin-ing hotels and visit Santosh'stea stall to have a sip of hot andrefreshing tea, have stoppedhaving food and tea outside.

Sanitation workers, pettystreet vendors and others who

come on to the streets on var-ious tasks will sip a tea fromone vendor or the other beforethey plunge into their workroutine.

People hit tea cup to haverelaxation from work and to letgo of their stress. But, there areno takers for the tea as hot tea

cup is not a spreader of Covid-19, but people gathering at oneplace to sip a cup of tea wouldprovide the perfect setting forthe spreading of the virus.Therefore, many take a backstep to throng these places.

The tea shops, tiffin centresand hotels start their day at 5.30

am and will run business up to10 am. People are not comingout of homes unless it isabsolutely essential. They arecoming out only to buy milk,vegetables and provisions. Thenormal life has been paralysedaffecting the sales on pave-ments.

Santosh Mallikarjun Sajjanmigrated to here from Bidar inKarnataka along with wife andtwo children. He took a roomon rent in Lalapet, while hisparents and brothers live inBidar. He worked for sometimein a fruit shop in Tarnaka. Hesaved some money and boughta tea vending cart two yearsago. His tea became popular.His life got a guarantee.

Because of Coronavirus, hisproblems started for over oneyear. When there is brisk or not,he has to buy milk, tea powder,sugar. Each day, he awaits busi-ness, but there is no change inhis fortune. Police reach streetsat 9 am and ask him and othervendors to leave the place. Ashe returns home, he is moreworried about the future of hisfour-year-old son and two-and-half-year-old daughter.

City ‘chai walas' stare at bleakfuture as sales hit rock bottom

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State created a newrecord by purchasing 67 lakhtonnes of paddy so far duringYasangi season and overtakinglast season's 64.11 lakh tonnes.

This is the highest everquantity purchased by theTelangana State in the lastseven years. Before the end ofYasangi season, the CivilSupplies Corporation isexpected to procure another10 to 15 lakh tonnes, saidChairman Mareddy SrinivasReddy. Giving the credit for therecord to the Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and hisvision, Srinivas Reddy said heproved people wrong who feltTelangana was not capable ofagriculture and the state pro-duced more than one croretonnes of paddy in a year.

The Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao alsoensured that the state boughtthe paddy from farmers at theMSP. While the State pur-chased 13.24 lakh tonnes inthe first year of state formationin 2014-15, today it bought 67lakh tonnes.

Srinivas Reddy said that 67lakh tonnes of paddy worthRs.12,247 crore was procuredfrom 10 lakh farmers and lastyear by this time, the CivilSupplies Corporation pro-cured 56.82 lakh tonnes andthis year state was ahead by 10lakh tonnes .

The paddy purchases werereaching final stage inNalgonda, Suryapeta, Nizama-bad, Kamareddy, Sangareddy,Siddipet, Kothagudem, Kari-mnagar, Nirmal and Manc-herial districts.

TS creates record inpaddy procurement

Health authorities on Fridaylaunched a special vaccination

drive to cover the high risk groups.In all, 7.87 lakh individuals from

high risk groups will be vaccinatedduring the special drive. The

authorities have set up 32 specialvaccination centres under the limits

of GHMC to cover the targettedbeneficiaries. He said 30,000

people will be vaccinated at thesecentres daily. Arrangements havebeen made to vaccinate three lakh

cab drivers and autorickshawdrivers, three lakh workers in

vegetable, meat, flower markets,kirana and saloon shops, 80,000people from civil supplies and30,000 from fertilizers shops.

PNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

The Jawaharnagar police ofRachakonda Police Commiss-ionerate arrested a lab techni-cian for cheating a family bymaking a fake Covid positiveRT-PCR test report.

According to the police, aperson Dhami Reddy SunilKumar, a resident of Keesarahas called a lab technicianKiran to get their family test-ed for Covid RT-PCR test,after developing symptomsfor Covid.

The lab technician aftercollecting the samples ofSunil's family members senttest reports to Sunil inWhatsApp after two days. Thereport read that Sunil hastested positive for Covid andhis kin were tested negative forCovid.

After a few days, Sunil hasagain called the lab technicianKiran to get the tests done tohis wife and daughter, afterthey developed symptoms. Hehas again collected the samplesand sent reports after fourdays. The reports showedCovid positive for both ofthem.

Later, Sunil's wife, who wassuffering from stomach paininformed the same to Kiran,who along with two doctorscame to their residence andcollected the blood samples ofhis wife, for which an amountof Rs 7,500 was paid to Kiran.

After home quarantine,Sunil and his family members,called Kiran for the test, whocollected samples and sentnegative reports.

Sunil, who enquired withthe Medcis path lab regardinghis samples, was shocked to toknown that his samples werenot tested in the Medcis pathlab and found that Kiran hadsent fake reports.

Sunil filed a complaint withthe Jawaharnagar Police, whoregistered a case and afterinvestigation arrested theaccused. During the investi-gation, it is revealed that theaccused without sending thesamples of Sunil's family to anyof the lab, with an intention togain money wrongfully, hadcreated fake RT-PCR testreports by editing the oldRTPCR PDF report and sentthem to the complainant andhis family.

Lab technician held for making fake +ve report

PNS n HYDERABAD

The second batch of threecryogenic tanks out of the 11imported by Hyderabad-based MEIL landed in AirForce Station Begumpet.

An Indian Air Force IL 76aircraft took off fromChandigarh air base toBangkok in Thailand and air-lifted the three cryogenic tanksand touchdown at Hyderabadon Friday. The remaining fivetanks will reach Hyderabadwithin a few days. The importof tanks will help increase thesupply of LMO to hospitals.

The first batch of threetanks were received atBegumpet Air Force Stationon May 22. Each cryogenictank could supply 1.40 crorelitres of medical oxygen and15.40 crore litres from all the11 tanks.

Second batch of MEIL's cryogenic tanks reach Hyd

hyderabad 04HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021

PNS n SURYAPET

A few district police teams inTelangana are using drones, insome cases equipped withsirens, for surveillance and forkeeping an eye out on lock-down violators. Since theTelangana governmentimposed a lockdown across thestate, the state police havebeen actively using unmannedaerial vehicles (UAV) acrossthree districts with the aim ofenforcing the lockdown rules.

Cops are using camera-mounted drones in Vikarabad,Suryapet and Mancherial dis-tricts to detect small gather-ings, shops that are open andvehicles which ply on the roadin violation of the 6 am-10 amrelaxation rule. While policeofficials in Vikarabad said thatthe drones were used on anexperimental basis once, policeofficials in Suryapet andMancherial said that the drivehas been going for days.Permissions for the drone flighthas been obtained from Statepolice authority, they said.

A month ago, the Ministryof Civil Aviation exempted theHome Ministry and UnionTerritory/State Police from

complying with the UnmannedAerial System Rules 2021,which essentially meant thatfederal and state police wouldact as the designated agency togrant permission to variousentities looking to operatedrones.

The police officials said thatcases are also being bookedagainst the violators, detectedwith the help of drones. On theone hand, the UAVs detect thenames of shops and, police offi-cials can register cases againsttheir owners, while on theother, the drones capture theregistration number of vehicleswhich allows the police to

identify the violators.In cases where people are

gathering in groups, be inopen ground or in lanes, by-lanes or gullies, the dronedetects people through its cam-era and relays the informationback to the police commandcentre. The command centrethen passes on the message tothe ground team, who in turnreach the location to bookcases against these persons,police officials said.

Siren-equipped drones sendcitizens scampering

Videos shared by Suryapetpolice show siren-equippeddrones detecting a few locals

on a large field, located around130 km from Hyderabad. Thedrone which is at a height ofaround 50-60 feet hoveredclose to four persons who werehuddled and sitting on theground. The siren was thenactivated, which then sent thelocals scampering. In a dis-tance, around 7 more peoplewere seen running from theground to a road nearby beforedispersing to nearby areas.The drone detected anothergroup of people who wereparked with their bikes on avast ground with palm trees.Police officials said that theentire district area was being

covered with the help of dronesover the last five days.

"The drones are being usedfor patrolling and also to ensureproper implementation ofCovid lockdown regulations. Apolice siren is also embeddedinto the drones that aredeployed over the town tocheck on the violators. Duringthe lockdown drone-basedpatrolling is definitely a tacticalforce multiplier. Using it withthe right strategy is definitelyproducing result, more partic-ularly during lockdown wherewe have limited force and thearea to have eyes on is huge,"Suryapet SP Bhaaskaran said.

The Mancherial Police hasbeen deploying drones in themain town located around 240km from Hyderabad. "Dronesare being used to keep a checkon small gatherings at publicplaces during the lockdown inMancherial town. It helps us inreaching inaccessible placesand is helping us in implement-ing the lockdown strictly," DUday Kumar Reddy, DCPMancherial said. He addedthat the drive was being takenup under the supervision ofRamagundam CommissionerV Satyanarayana.

Beware, drones are watching youSiren-equipped drones send citizens scampering in districts

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

After the incident of the privatehealthcare facility, SunriseHospital, charging hugeamount of money forRemdesivir injection from onepatient and allegedly treatinghim with fake medicines thateventually led to his death, waspublished in The Pioneer, theDistrict President of the IndianMedical Association (IMA)Dr Vasanth Rao expressed hisanguish and said that strictaction would be initiatedagainst the concerned hospitaland its doctors if the chargesbrought against it were proved.

He added, “If more casescome to our view, we will co-nduct a meeting to study thecases and the report of thosewill be sent to the state bodyof the IMA and action will betaken against the hospitalsand the concerned doctors."

The second wave of Covidhas indeed shaken the countryand this time alongside theaged people young persons arealso dying. Although the num-bers of Covid cases seem todrop in the last two days, theincidents of private hospitalsovercharging the coronapatients are still happening. Inthis backdrop the effect gener-ated by the Pioneer story onRaavikanti Ganesh, 45, nodoubt holds some hope forthose patients, who have beenfleeced by private hospitals inthe name of treatment.

The Pioneer readers wouldrecall that one RaavikantiGanesh, 45, was admitted tothe Sunrise Hospital ofKarimnagar after being diag-nosed with Covid and he even-tually lost his life on 12th ofMay as a result of alleged fakemedicines and improper treat-ment.

"We complained to theadditional collector and theDMHO of Kar imnagaragainst the Sunrise Hospitaland Dr. Suresh and his team.No action has been taken tillnow. We would fight for jus-tice legally and see to it thatmy nephew's family gets jus-tice and compensation too,"said Raavikanti Venkataiah,a retired ZP CEO, and uncleof the deceased.

"Government hospitalslack facilities and also lackin adequate number of staff.That is why we preferred theSunrise Hospital, a privatehospital, for my son's treat-ment. But the hospital didnot show any compassion orprofessional ethics in thisgrave pandemic situation.I lost my son, but I will fightfor jus t ice , " saidRajayellaiah, the father ofthe deceased.

THE PIONEER IMPACT

PNS n HYDERABAD

AICC spokesperson Dr DasojuSravan fired on TRSGovernment for booking casesagainst Congress leaders andunleashing vendetta politics,while opposition party hasbeen raising public issues dur-ing a health calamity. DrDasoju Sravan came downheavily on TRS top leadershipand Telangana police for filingcases against Congress leaders,citing latter's recent visit toUrban Primary Health Centreat Khairatabad violated Covidregulations.

"It is highly condemnablethat TRS Government isresorting to vendetta politicsagainst opposition, even forraising public issues. They areneither doing their duty nortolerating opposition for doingits duty. Government hasbecome so intolerant andTelangana police are stooping

so low that they have filed casesagainst us for visiting UrbanPrimary Health Centre atKhairatabad and highlightingthe urgent need for convertingit into a COVID-19 hospital, asscores of poor and middleclass families have been suffer-ing, unable to afford treatmentat private hospitals. It is unfor-tunate that police have filedcases against us under DisasterManagement Act and IPC,though we have not violatedany COVID-19 rules during

our visit. All members part ofour delegation have wornmasks, maintained social dis-tance, used sanitisers and wehave visited the UPHC,Khairatabad well within the'unlock' timings decided bygovernment i.e., between 6AM and 10 AM. It is atrociousthat instead of acting on theserious and urgent problemhighlighted by us, TRS govern-ment has filed cases against us"said Dr Dasoju Sravan express-ing severe anguish.

Citing the recent Covid vio-lations by those in power, DrDasoju Sravan challengedpolice to take action on rulingparty leaders. "Recently a mar-riage function was held in thefamily of IPS officer RajivTrivedi and over 1500 peoplehave visited it and all rules wereflouted. It is clear violation ofCovid guidelines and what'salarming is even HomeMinister, TRS leaders and IPSofficers visited it. Why didn'tpolice file a case in this issue?Just yesterday a patient has diedat Virinchi hospital and his kinhave protested alleging doctor'snegligence. But, police havearrested victim's kin.Government and police will paya heavy price if they keepingunleashing terror on oppositionleaders and general public forhighlighting issues and willsoon face the wrath of people,"warned Dr Dasoju Sravanexpressing severe concern.

Strict action would be taken againstSunrise Hospital: District IMA chief

TRS indulging in vendetta politics: Sravan

PNS n HYDERABAD

All the efforts of the CongressParty to take Eatela into theirfold seem to go down thedrains with Etela Rajender, theex-health minister in KCR'scabinet, reportedly decidingto join the BJP within a weekor two.

It may be recalled that lead-ers like TPCC working presi-dent A Revanth Reddy,Ponnam Prabhakar and MLCT Jeevan Reddy tried and areperhaps still trying to makeEatela Rajender join theCongress party. However,sources close to the formerHealth Minister said that hemight be joining the BJP.

With this development asection of Congress leaders,who from the very beginninghad some reservations againstEatela stand vindicated. They

have reportedly decided tostep up their criticism of Eatelaif he joined the BJP.

Actually, Eatela Rajendercontemplated to contest the by-election as an independentcandidate after tendering hisresignation to his MLA posi-tion and to the TRS party. He

also contemplated to float anew political outfit with like-minded leaders to fight ChiefMinister K Chandrashekar Raoafter the Huzurabad by-elec-tion. However, the TRS supre-mo moved pawns in a jetspeed against his ex-minister,but what turned the situation

in Eatela's favour to certainextent was the Court's inter-vention in his allegedencroachment of assigned land.Eatela got time to review hisstrategies and changed hisplans following the CM's speedof action.

It is a known fact that it willbe easier for KCR to tackleEatela if he joined Congress.But it will not be that easy forthe CM to tackle Eatela if hejoined the BJP.

This fact was also evidentin YSRCP MP K RaghuramaKrishnaraju's episode. Rajuwent to jail, but could savehis day as he was reportedlyclose to the BJP leaders.Raghurama Krishnaraju'sepisode might have helpedEatela to change his strate-gies to protect himself fromcases. Whatever might bethe case it was apparent that

the Congress could not ben-efit anything from the Eatelaepisode as he had decided tojoin the party that is inpower at the centre.

The Congress leaders hadcriticized TRS and KCR inconnection with the Eatelaepisode in such a way thatobservers thought they wereactually supporting Eatela.One of the senior Congressleaders said that the partyleaders could have taken asingle stand in regard toEatela.

Congress leaders almostseemed to own Eatela duringtheir criticism of KCR. Butnow that Eatela was contem-plating to join the BJP it wassurely quite embarrassingfor the Congress, he saidadding that Congress lost achance of directly criticizingEatela.

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Excise Minister andMahabubnagar MLA VSrinivas Goud directed officialsto make all necessary alternatearrangements to ensure suffi-cient supply of drinking waterto Mahabubnagar town andneighbouring villages, in thewake of technical works beingexecuted in the MissionBhagiratha supply system.

The Minister along withDistrict Collector S VenkatRao reviewed the progress ofdifferent works and alternativearrangements for drinkingwater to Mahabubnagar town.

Mission Bhagiratha offi-cials informed that the waterconnections in the town werebifurcated into two zones.Water would be supplied everyalternate day for each zone,they said. "Elaborate arrange-ments should be made toensure there is no scarcity ofdrinking water supply in thetown and neighbouring vil-lages," Srinivas Goud said.

As part of the developmentof the Government GeneralHospital in the town, heinstructed the officials to takeup beautification works at thehospital.

The hospital canteen needsto be refurbished and qualityfood should be served, thedamaged gates should bereplaced with new ones, thereshould be sufficient seatingfacilities for the patients' atten-dants to sit and the hospitalcompound wall should bepainted at the earliest, he said.

Probe into all land encroachments by leaders: VH to CM PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress senior leader VHanumantha Rao has dema-nded the government to con-duct an inquiry into all landencroachments by politicalleaders if Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao is sincere.

Hanumantha Rao allegedthat several political leadersare encroaching lands and arespending those money in theelections.

He said that the DGPknows everything, as heworked as an intelligence chiefpreviously. Telangana ChiefMinister has reacted imme-diately and has dismissedformer Health Minister afterallegations were made againstthe latter, but KCR is notdealing the others similarly,in regard to Miyapur lands,he said.

Congress to lose face if Eatela joins BJP

Minister of state forMunicipal

Administration andUrban Development

KT Rama Raoinaugurates a 100-bedgovernment hospitalconstructed at a cost

of Rs 22 crore inVemulawada, with theobjective of providing

state-of-the-art medicalfacilities to the peopleof the constituency.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Education SabithaIndra Reddy has said that it istargeted to administer vac-cine to 1000 journalists, whohave been identified as thefrontline warriors, in RangaReddy district

She was speaking in connec-tion with the vaccination cen-tre set up for journalists atGanesh Function Hall atDilsukhnagar here on Friday.

Later she went toSaroornagar Primary HealthCentre and ZP high School inBalapur where vaccinationcentres have been set up toadminister vaccines to thesuper spreaders. She madevarious suggestions to the doc-

tors on the vaccination drive. She said that 28 vaccination

centres have been set up in thedistrict for petrol pump work-ers, fair-price shop dealers,employees of fertiliser shopsand fertiliser dealers, tradersand street vendors.

The vaccination programmehas been commenced to givethe vaccine to over 3500 superspreaders in various mandals,municipalities, municipal cor-porations and areas underGHMC coming under RR dis-trict.

PNS n JAYASHANKAR

BHUPALAPALLY

Former MLA of ManthaniDuddilla Sridhar Babu hasurged the state government tohold all activities at the sandquarries in ManthaniAssembly constituency in theinterest of the pubic as thesand quarries have been caus-ing the spread of the virus.

He addressed letters in thisregard to District Collectorsof Peddapalli andBhupalapally and to theTSMDC head off ice onFriday and sent a copy of theletter to the office of ThePioneer.

He appealed to the ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao to suspend all activitiesin the sand quarries in hisconstituency as the number ofCovid cases are alarmingly onthe rise because of these quar-ries.

He alleged that sand lorriesare reaching the sand quarriesin the constituency from var-ious places without adheringto Covid rules. Daily, 4,000

trucks transport sand fromthe quarries to other places.Because of the unprecedent-ed transportation activity, theCovid cases are on the rise, hesaid

Therefore, the lives of thepeople at risk, he said point-ing out that the lorry drivers,tractors drivers and cleanersare not wearing masks andnot observing any sanitation.

No thermal screening ortesting of lorry drivers andcleaners is being done.Therefore, the people ofBhupalapally and Peddapalliare worried over their safety,he said.

He appealed to the author-ities to take steps to transportsand taking all Covid precau-tions and put on hold the ille-gal transportation of sand bytractors.

As the number of Covidcases are on the rise in allparts of the state under theimpact of the second wave, heasked the authorities to closedown the sand quarries toprevent spreading of virus tothe people of the two districts.

‘Stop sand quarrying to

tackle spread of Covid’ PNS n NARSAPUR

Protesting against thedelay in procurement ofpaddy at Gottimukkala inMedak, farmers as a markof protest set fire to paddyon Friday and staged sit-inon Toopran-Narsapur roadobstructing movement ofvehicular traffic for near-ly two hours leading to thevehicles getting strandedup to a distance of onekilometre on either side.

The farmers raised slo-gans in protest againstthe state government anddemanded the govern-ment to procure paddyimmediately, otherwisethey said that the farmerswould have no optionexcept committing sui-cide. District AdditionalCollector Ramesh assuredthe farmers that the gov-ernment would take stepsto lift paddy availablewith the farmers in themandal in one week.

Farmers set fire to paddy, stage sit-in in Medak

PNS n HYDERABAD

Prime Minister NarendraModi has lauded the 'GreenIndia Challenge' initiative ofTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) MP J Santosh Kumar.

In a letter to the Rajya Sabhamember, Modi wrote that itwas heartening to learn about'Green India Challenge', anendeavour to plant saplingsand increase the green coveracross the country. He con-veyed his heartiest congratula-tions to Santosh Kumar onundertaking 'this noble initia-tive to preserve a cleaner,greener environment.'

The Prime Minister statedthat it is the individual and col-lective responsibility of everycitizen to leave behind a greenfootprint for posterity. He saidendeavours like Green IndiaChallenge can succeed onlythrough people's participa-tion.

"We have always nurturedpeaceful co-existence and har-mony with nature. The inher-ent love and respect for naturehas been an integral part of our

heritage. Our deep reverencefor Mother Earth is reflectedthrough such saying as Earthis our Mother and we are itschildren," reads the letter bythe Prime Minister.

"Following in the footstepsof such a glorious heritage, wehave been striving tirelessly toenhance the green cover in ourcountry. A series of decisionssuch as increasing the share ofrenewable sources of energy,including solar energy, reduc-ing dependence on fossil fuelsand banning single plastic usereflect our undying commit-ment towards environmentconservation," Modi wrote.

On Santosh Kumar bringingout the book titled 'VrikshaVedam', the Prime Minister

hoped that this will educate thepeople, particularly youthabout the holistic relationshipbetween mankind and nature."I am sure that your initiativewill gather further pace," headded.

Santosh Kumar took toTwitter to thank Modi for hiskind words and valuable mes-sage and said this adds sancti-ty to the cause.

The MP requested thePrime Minister to participatein Green India Challenge.

Eminent people from vari-ous walks of life have partici-pated in Green India Challengeby planting the saplings.

Celebrities like SachinTendulkar, Sanjay Dutt, AjayDevgun, Shruthi Haasan,Shraddha Kapoor, Chiranjeevi,Nagarjuna, Prabhas, Krishna,Pavan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu,Rajamouli, Samanta, PullelaGopichand, P V. Sindhu, SainaNehwal, Sania Mirza, SaiPallavi besides politiciansSupriya Sule, Praksh Javadekar,K.T. Rama Rao and Kavithahave participated in GreenIndia Challenge.

PM lauds ‘Green India Challenge'

Vaccinate over 1,000 journalistsin Ranga Reddy district: Sabitha

Ensure sufficient supply of drinking water: Goud

nation 05HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021

PNS n NEW DELHI

The AAP on Friday allegedthat the Centre is creating"artificial scarcity" of COVID-19 vaccines to benefit BharatBiotech and Serum Institute ofIndia, a charge termed by theDelhi BJP as "unfounded".

Addressing a press confer-ence, AAP spokesperson Atishisaid the government's vaccinedrive has stopped in schoolsand this is the case throughoutthe country while in privatehospitals, vaccination is stillgoing on at different rates.

India is currently usingmainly two 'made-in India'jabs – Covishield manufac-tured by the Serum Instituteand Covaxin of Bharat Biotech– and Russian-made Sputnik Vat a smaller scale to inoculateits population.

"This is big racket. At gov-ernment centres where vacci-nation was given free to theyouth, vaccines are in shortagethere, while vaccinations aregoing on at higher prices athospitals," she alleged.

She further questioned theCentre over not giving emer-gency approval to more vac-cines.

"Many vaccines are beingapproved across the world.Pfizer vaccine has beenapproved in 85 countries,Moderna vaccine has beenapproved in 46 countries andJ&J is approved in 41 countries.

"Then why these three vac-cines were not given emer-gency authorisation. If WHOcan approve them, why can'tIndia? This clearly shows thatthe Centre has created this arti-ficial scarcity to favour SerumInstitute of India and BharatBiotech," she alleged.

She further said these twocompanies do not have man-ufacturing capacity but theCentre has not approved morevaccines.

"The Centre created such anartificial scarcity that stateshave to buy from them only.The Centre should respond tothis," she said.

Delhi BJP SpokespersonPraveen Shankar Kapoor saidAtishi's allegation is unfound-ed as scarcity has not been cre-ated by the government.

Atishi should know that SIIand Bharat Biotech don't standto gain by the scarcity because

scarcity means entry of foreignmanufacturers.

Creating scarcity and puttinggeneral people at discomfort isthe speciality of Delhi chiefminister Arvind Kejriwal, heclaimed.

"He spoke on hospital beds

scarcity which forced people topay hefty fees to private hospi-tals, he spoke of oxygen scarci-ty and we saw oxygen mafialoot, we saw black marketing ofCovid medicines as he spoke ofmedicines shortage," Kapoorclaimed.

AAP: Centre creating artificialscarcity to benefit vax makers

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Culture and TourismMinister Prahlad Patel has hit

out at Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, accusing him ofusing the national flag as a"decoration" during televisedmedia addresses. In a letter toKejriwal, the Union ministeralleged that the flag seen behindthe chief minister during hispress briefings appears to be inviolation of the flag code. "Itappears that the national flaghas been used for decoration.The white portion in the centreappears to have been reducedand the green portion added toit, which is not in tune withprovisions of the Indian FlagCode specified by the Ministryof Home Affairs," Patel wrote inthe letter. "I do not expect such

an act, knowingly orunknowingly, from thehonourable chief minister," headded. A copy of the letter hasalso been marked to DelhiLieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.Patel also sought to draw thechief minister's attentiontowards section 2(ix) of ThePrevention of Insults to NationalHonour Act, 1971, which statesthat the flag should not be usedto decorate a speaker's stage.Section 2.2(1) states that thestatus of the flag should berespectful, he added. "Being a resident of India andholding the post of the proudchief minister of a state,everyone expects you tomaintain the honour and thedignity of the Tricolour, asymbol of national pride," Patelwrote in the letter.

Union Minister Prahlad Patelaccuses Kejriwal of usingnational flag as ‘decoration'

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National EnvironmentalEngineering Research Institute(NEERI) has developed a sim-ple and fast method of swabcollection and processing forRT-PCR coronavirus testwhich could be used in ruraland tribal areas.

The method is simple, fast,cost-effective, patient-friendlyand comfortable, the Councilfor Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR) said.

It is well-suited for rural andtribal areas, given minimalinfrastructure requirements,it said.

The Nagpur-based NEERI isa constituent laboratory ofCSIR.

Krishna Khairnar, seniorscientist, EnvironmentalVirology Cell at NEERI, saidthe swab collection methodrequires time. Moreover, sinceit is an invasive technique, it isa bit uncomfortable forpatients.

"Sometime, it is also lost inthe transport of the sample tothe collection centre. On theother hand, the Saline GargleRT-PCR method is instant,comfortable and patient-friendly. Sampling is doneinstantly and results will begenerated within threehours," he said. The methodis non-invasive and so simplethat a patient can collect thesample himself , saidKhairnar.

Collection methods likenasopharyngeal and oropha-

ryngeal swab collection requiretechnical expertise and theyare also time-consuming. Incontrast, the Saline Gargle RT-

PCR method uses a simple col-lection tube filled with salinesolution, he said.

The patient gargles the solu-tion and rinses it inside thetube. This sample in the collec-tion tube is taken to the labo-ratory where it is kept at roomtemperature, in a special buffersolution prepared by NEERI.

An RNA template is pro-duced when this solution isheated, which is furtherprocessed for ReverseTranscription-PolymeraseChain Reaction (RT-PCR).

This particular method ofcollecting and processing thesample enables to save on theotherwise costly infrastruc-tural requirement of RNAextraction. The method isenvironment-friendly as well,since waste generation is min-imised, Khairnar said.

The Nagpur MunicipalCorporation has given permis-sion to go ahead with themethod, following which test-ing has begun at NEERI, theCSIR said.

PNS n PANAJI

Union AYUSH MinisterShripad Naik on Friday saidpublic awareness on yogacreated by the Modi govern-ment at the global level hashelped several countries fightback the COVID-19 pan-demic.

The minister was addressinga group of people at the launchof a campaign to distribute'Ayush 64' medicine, used fortreating COVID-19, here.

Prime Minister NarendraModi's government began cel-ebrating International Yoga Day(June 21) seven years back dueto which there was awarenessabout yoga, Naik said at theevent where Goa Chief MinisterPramod Sawant was also pre-sent.

Now, many countries arerecognising that they couldfight COVID-19 through yogabecause its benefits were prop-agated and explained to them,the Union minister said.

He hailed the PM as a vision-ary leader who spread acrossthe world knowledge about theancient practice focusing onphysical, mental and spiritualaspects of human life.

Speaking on the occasion,Sawant said the state govern-ment has been taking the helpof AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yogaand Naturopathy, Unani, Siddhaand Homeopathy) doctors in itsCOVID-19 management pro-gramme.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Friday lashed outat Rahul Gandhi for his criti-cism of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi over the Covidvaccination programme, sayingthe kind of language theCongress leader used and theway he tried to stoke "fears" hasconfirmed that the "toolkit"was produced by his party.

Speaking to reporters, seniorBJP leader and Union ministerPrakash Javadekar also citedrecent remarks of the HealthMinistry to assert that the inoc-

ulation exercise in India will becompleted by December thisyear.

The ministry has given aroadmap about producing 216crore doses by December andhow 108 crore people will bevaccinated, he said.

Gandhi's choice of wordslike "nautanki" for the primeminister at a time when Modiis working to curb COVID-19is part of the toolkit's script, theminister alleged, referring to acontroversial document abouttargeting the government.

The BJP has claimed that the

Congress is behind it, a chargethe opposition party has reject-ed. It has instead blamed theBJP and sought police probeinto the matter.

"It has been confirmed, andthere is no need for any evi-dence. It is clear that the toolk-it was produced by you. Thekind of language you used andthe way you tried to stoke con-fusion and fear among peopleis part of that politics,"Javadekar said.

What Gandhi has said is aninsult to the country and peo-ple, he added.

With over 20 crore dosesbeing administered so far, Indiais second in the world and thevaccination is set to see a bigjump from August, he said,rebutting the Congress leader'scriticism about the alleged slowpace of the country's inocula-tion programme.

The BJP leader said Gandhishould rather be concernedabout the Congress-ruled statesas they have not been able lifttheir quota from vaccine pro-ducers.

Noting that Gandhi hadstressed the importance of vac-

cination, he said this is what thegovernment has been sayingand working on from the begin-ning and cited the productionof two vaccines in India.

When Covaxin was pro-duced indigenously, Congressleaders created doubts about itssafety while Modi put any suchquestion to rest by opting forthis jab, the minister said.

Gandhi had earlier askedthe government to evolve a vac-cine strategy for the entire pop-ulation, warning of multiplewaves of the virus at the currentrate of vaccination.

Yoga hashelped manycountries fightCovid: Minister

NEERI develops simple, fastmethod of swab test for Covid

“Sometime, it isalso lost in thetransport of thesample to thecollectioncentre. On theother hand, theSaline GargleRT-PCR methodis instant,comfortable andpatient-friendly.Sampling is doneinstantly andresults will begenerated withinthree hours”

Rahul’s language, attempt show Congress behind toolkit: BJP

Madhya Pradesh'sBandhavgarh Tiger

Reserve (BTR) has witnesseda big cat boom, as forestershave spotted nearly 41 tigercubs, from newborns to oneyear olds, at the sanctuary, asenior forest official said onFriday. Foresters havecollected the information from camera traps and based on actualsightings of cubs in the reserve, which is a densely populated havenfor big cats in the state, the official said. "The forest staff afteranalysing the data has found over 41 tiger cubs, from newborns toone year olds, at BTR," principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife)Alok Kumar said. As per the data, four eight to 10-month-old cubswere spotted in Kallavah beat, while 12 in the same age group wereseen in Pator. Similarly, five cubs of a tigress identified as T-17 wereseen in Tala beat, four six-month-old cubs were spotted inDhamakhor, while Panpatha core and buffer areas have two three-month-old big cats each, it was stated.

INDIA CORNER

Nearly 41 tiger cubs spottedin MP's Bandhavgarh reserve

A22-year-old man from a vil-lage in Porbandar has been

arrested for allegedly trying toharm Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani's reputation by creatingand uploading a "doctoredvideo", using a part of the latter'srecent speech, police said onFriday. Vivek Parmar, a residentof Gorsar village, was onThursday arrested under IPC section 469, which deals with forgery forthe purpose of harming reputation, sub-inspector A S Agravat ofMadhavpur police said. Investigations have revealed that Parmar, aCommerce graduate, shared funny videos at regular intervals on hisYouTube and Facebook accounts, he said. The police recently cameacross a "doctored video" of the chief minister, which the accused hadshared on his Facebook account, he said. "Parmar is accused of creatingand circulating an indecent doctored video clip, using some portion ofthe chief minister's original speech, with an intention to harm the latter'sreputation and position," the official said, quoting the FIR. The "indecentdoctored video" has since been removed from Parmar's Facebook andYouTube profiles, he said. The accused had allegedly used Rupani'srecent address to the media about cyclone Tauktae. Two weeks ago, adisc jockey (DJ) was arrested in Vadodara on the same charges formaking a spoof video of Rupani by using the latter's old speech onpotatoes.

YouTuber held for ‘harming'Guj CM's reputation

A21-year-old woman allegedlycommitted suicide due to

harassment by in-laws,following which, the latterprocured a fake COVID-19positive to evade autopsy inBeed district of Maharashtra,police said on Friday. A casehas been registered against fourmembers of the family, two ofwhom have been arrested, an official said. Puja Ganesh Raikar,resident of Dhangar Javalka village of Patoda tehsil, allegedlyconsumed sanitiser on May 19 due to harassment by her husbandand his family over dowry, the official said. The victim was admittedto a private hospital in Ahmednagar and was later taken to a hospitalin Pune, where she died on Wednesday (May 26), he said. Thevictim's in-laws knew that an autopsy would reveal that she hadconsumed a poisonous substance and hence, decided to procure afake COVID-19 positive report to cover up the cause of death, theofficial said. When the victim's family refused to believe that she haddied due to COVID-19, another test was done, the result of whichcame out negative, he said. A case has been registered against thevictim's husband Ganesh Raikar, father-in-Law Shivaji, mother-in-LawVijubai and Namdev Sukde, a relative, who helped get the fake report,the official said. While two of the accused have been arrested andtwo are absconding, he added.

Four booked for fake Covidreport to evade autopsy

PNS n NEW DELHI

Scientists in Taiwan have devel-oped a new DNA-based Covid-19vaccine that successfully inducedlong-lasting antibodies againstthe novel coronavirus in mice andhamsters.

Some currently availableCovid-19 vaccines rely on mes-senger RNA or mRNA strands toteach the human immune systemto recognise the SARS-CoV-2virus, which causes the disease.

Most viruses have either RNAor DNA as their genetic materi-al. The nucleic acid may be sin-gle- or double-stranded.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus hasRNA as its genetic material.

The new study, published in thejournal PLOS Neglected Tropical

Diseases, demonstrates the suc-cessful development of a vaccinethat instead uses DNA encodingthe virus' spike protein, whichallows it to enter and infect thehuman cells.

Both DNA and mRNA vac-cines use genetic material encod-ing part of a virus to elicit animmune response.

However, DNA vaccines canoften be produced more quicklyand at lower cost, and transport-ed without the requirement ofcold temperatures, the researcherssaid.

Recent clinical trials have indi-cated that DNA vaccines are safeand effective in treating infectionsincluding HIV-1, Zika virus,Ebola virus and influenza virus-es, they said.

In the latest study, researchersfrom the National HealthResearch Institutes, Taiwan, devel-oped a vaccine that uses DNAencoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike

protein.To overcome the poor delivery

of DNA into cells often seenwith DNA vaccines, the team cou-pled electroporation with the

delivery of the DNA vaccination.Electroporation is a technique

in which an electrical field isapplied to cells in order to increasethe permeability of the cell mem-brane, allowing chemicals, drugs,or DNA to be introduced into thecell.

The researchers showed thatmice and hamsters immunisedwith the new DNA vaccine devel-oped long-lasting antibodiesagainst the SARS-CoV-2 spikeprotein.

Those antibodies peaked ateight weeks post-immunisationbut levels remained relativelyhigh at week 20, they said.

Hamsters that received twodoses of the vaccine at a three-week interval and were exposedto COVID-19 after seven weeks

were protected from the virus,according to the researchers.

This shows no loss of bodyweight and less viral RNA in theirlungs compared to animals thatwere not immunised, they noted.

"The DNA vaccine is thermal-ly stable, which means no coldchain is needed, and can inducehigh level of long-lasting neutral-ising antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2," the authors of the studysaid. "The DNA vaccine confersprotective efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian ham-sters which is a severe COVID-19disease animal model," theyadded.

Viral titre refers to the concen-traion of infectious viral particlewhich is different from the totalvirus.

‘New DNA vaccine for Covid-19 effective in mice, hamsters’

PNS n KOLKATA

The Calcutta High Court onFriday granted interim bail totwo West Bengal ministersSubrata Mukherjee andFirhad Hakim, TMC MLAMadan Mitra and formercity mayor Sovan Chatterjee,arrested by CBI in the Naradasting tapes case.

Imposing conditions, afive-judge bench of the highcourt directed the fouraccused persons, who areunder house arrest, to furnishbail bonds of Rs 2 lakh each.

The bench directed themnot to make any comment inpublic or in media withregard to the matter.

They were also directed tomeet the investigating officerthrough virtual mode as andwhen required.

The four leaders werearrested on the morning ofMay 17 by the CBI, which isinvestigating the Naradasting tapes case on a 2017order of the Calcutta HighCourt.

Calcutta HCgrants interimbail to 2 Bengalministers

PM Modi paystributes to Savarkar on hisbirth anniversaryPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Friday paid tributes to pio-neering Hindutva ideologueVeer Savarkar on his birthanniversary. Tributes to thegreat freedom fighter and patri-ot Veer Savarkar on his birthanniversary, Modi tweeted.

Savarkar was born in 1883in Maharashtra, and is seenas a hero, especially to partiesand organisations which sub-scribe to Hindutva views.

PNS n NEW DELHI

An 18-year-old college stu-dent was arrested fromMadhya Pradesh for alleged-ly cheating people on thepretext of providing themRemdesivir injections, Delhipolice said on Friday.

The accused, a resident ofSeoni in Madhya Pradesh, ispursuing her graduation inPsychology from a distanceuniversity in Delhi, they said,adding she duped 11 personsin Delhi and the National

Capita l Region of Rs2,25,000. The woman wasarrested on Monday fromher house in Seoni.

On May 1, a case was reg-istered at Defence Colonypolice station in south Delhion the complaint of oneAnkit Kumar, who contactedsomeone following the leadsavailable online regardingthe Remdesivir injections,police said.

Kumar was promised thedelivery of five injectionsfor Rs 32,400 so he trans-

ferred the amount to theirbank but never receivedthem, the complaint said.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (South) Atul KumarThakur said the bankaccount details were used totrace the accused and she washeld.

Two mobile phones, bankpassbooks and four ATMcards were recovered fromher possession and her bankaccount with a total balanceof Rs 1,33,000 was seized, theofficer said.

Student arrested for dupingpeople looking for Remdesivir

Kerala promises to double farmers'income, lands to allPNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The second Pinarayi Vijayangovernment on Fridaypromised to raise farmers'income by 50 per cent in thenext five years and ensure therewould be no landless people inKerala even as it admitted thatthe COVID-19 pandemicwould cost the state economydearly.

All welfare and developmentinitiatives and mammoth infra-structure projects, launched bythe previous governmentincluding the flagship K-FONprogramme to provide free hi-speed internet to the poor fam-ilies, would be completed in atime-bound manner despitefinancial constraints, it said.

The priorities of the secondconsecutive Left governmentwere presented by GovernorArif Mohammed Khan in hispolicy address at the stateAssembly here.

Detailing the impact of thepandemic on the state'sfinances, he said it is estimated

that Gross State DomesticProduct (GSDP) would declineby about 3.82 per cent in 2020-21.

"We expected a sharp recov-ery in the economic growth to6.60 per cent in 2021-22. Butthe second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic can be an imped-iment to this expectation,"Khan said.

Though a sharp rise of 37.87per cent growth was expectedin revenue receipts in 2021-22,the consequences of lockdownnecessitated by a surge inCOVID-19 cases, is likely toconstrain this, he said, addingthat higher revenue as well asfiscal deficit were on cards.

A counter-cyclical fiscal pol-icy to stimulate the economyhas been initiated lest the eco-nomic slowdown shouldbecome steeper, he said.

In the address, the Governorrecalled the comprehensive Rs20,000 crore relief packageimplemented by the previousgovernment during the firstwave of the pandemic.

PNS n KOCHI

The Kerala High Court onFriday sought the responseof the Central governmenton a PIL challenging theLakshadweep administra-tion's move to introduceLakshadweep DevelopmentAuthority Regulation 2021(LDAR) and the Preventionof Anti-Social Activities Act(PASA) in the islands.

Considering the PIL, thecourt declined to stay theoperation of LDAR andPASA but directed the Centreto file a response in twoweeks.

The PIL was f i led byCongress leader K PNoushad Ali. In his plea, Alialleged illegal interferencewith the social, political andcultural real it ies inLakshadweep by the

Administrator.He submitted that the res-

idents of islands are opposedto the LDAR and the creationof a LakshadweepDevelopment Authority(LDA) issued by the admin-istration as it gives powers tothe administration to removethe small holding for proper-ty owned by the islandersbelonging to the ScheduledTribes.

Kerala HC seeks Centre's view LDAR in Lakshadweep

were ignited simply by the spir-it of serving fellow humanbeings, in the realisation of the“essential unity of all humanbeings”. As one looks around,one finds great examples ofcourage, dedication and com-mitment to the cause of helpingthe needy. Working in condi-tions of severe deficiencies, theyare great examples of humanempathy and compassion.Think doctors, paramedics,police personnel, railways, teach-ers and other public servants,they all rose to the occasion, atthe cost of grave personal risk,and hundreds of them sacrificedtheir lives.

Democracy depends on thedexterity-imbued dialogue.Unfortunately, all this unequiv-ocally emphasises the need forcontinuous, productive dia-logue among the political par-ties, among those in powers, andout of it. There ought to be nohesitation in mid-course correc-tion. The absence leads toinstances of political immaturi-ty, which are injurious to thepolity. One of the former ChiefMinisters, a fairly well-educat-ed young person, thundered hewould not get vaccinated sinceit was a party vaccine! Now, heis among those demanding freevaccine to all. Apparently hav-ing realised his folly, he could

have been advised by someonethat consistency is not a valuethat must be adhered to, even ifthe fallacy becomes obvious.

On April 29, 1933, MKGandhi in an article in theHarijan stated: “I am not at allconcerned with appearing to beconsistent. In my search fortruth, I have discarded manyideas and learnt many newthings…when anybody findsany inconsistency between anytwo writings of mine, if he hasstill faith in my sanity, he woulddo well to choose the later of thetwo on the same subject.” Hesaid so as he had “not ceased togrow inwardly”. This instancehas great relevance not only forthe particular person indicated,but also to all other ambitiousyoung persons in politics.

Indian politicians mustrealise that elections areimportant, that winning isimportant, but this alone isnot democracy. Most impor-tant is the public acceptanceof its credibility. This theycould comprehend if theypractice aparigraha and, forthat, the guiding light couldcome from Gandhi: “Allhumanity is one undividedand indivisible family, andeach one of us is responsiblefor the misdeeds of all of theothers.” A person becomes a

personality only when hemoves out of his own selfand starts internalising hisobligations to others. It wasbeautifully articulated byEinstein: “A person starts tolive when he can live outsidehimself ”.

Corona has clearly estab-lished before every human beingand every nation that, for it,every human being is just onemore target. And therefore, itcould be confronted onlythrough coordinated globalefforts; no nation, no race, noreligion can do it in isolation. Itis so succinctly articulated in thewords of HH Dalai Lama: “Inhuman societies, there willalways be differences of viewsand interests. But the realitytoday is that we are all interde-pendent and have to coexist onthis small planet. Therefore,the only sensible and intelligentway of resolving differencesand clashes of interest, whetherbetween individuals or nations,is through dialogue. The promo-tion of a culture of dialogue andnon-violence for the future ofmankind is thus an importanttask for the international com-munity.” Hope our politiciansare listening!

(The author works in educa-tion and social cohesion. Theviews expressed are personal.)

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), after 35 years ofits existence, has almost become a relic of the past. An organisation that was launchedfor regional cooperation has been dying a slow death ever since its inception on

December 8, 1985. It was to bring together the 21 per cent of the world’s population liv-ing in South Asia. The idea was to help the region by economic cooperation. It, howev-er, did not go beyond declarations that were never implemented by the member nations.South Asia remains one of the most impoverished regions in the world. The interaction

among SAARC nations, which share a common her-itage and history, is dismally low. The grouping wasmooted on the lines of ASEAN, which would providea common economic zone that would help trade andmake people prosperous. It was supposed to increasepeople-to-people contact. To build a framework for eco-nomic cooperation, it contemplated the South AsianEconomic Union (SAEU) to promote Free Trade Area,Customs Union, a Common Market and a CommonEconomic and Monetary Union.

The idea was indeed very promising, yet it nevertook off as it was defeated by regional politics. Pakistan’sobsession with Kashmir made it impossible to make

it a workable entity. The result was that no SAARC leaders’ meeting took place afterKathmandu in 2014 till 2020. The 2016 meeting was, though, boycotted by India dueto the Uri attack. A ray of hope for regional cooperation came in the form of the Coronapandemic. Just like elsewhere, the pandemic affected the people of this region as well.This was the time when regional cooperation could have helped the member countriesin terms of medicine, medical facilities and other necessary equipment. Though somepositive trends emerged but they had limited scope. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tookthe initiative on March 15, 2020, as India led from the front. It hosted a virtual meetingof the SAARC leaders; India pledged $10 million to a fund to fight Corona and other nationsfollowed suit. India also donated vaccines to the member nations. This meeting was indeedpath-breaking. At the ground level, the SAARC Disaster Management Centre has set upa website (http://www.covid19-sdmc.org/) for SAARC countries. A special cell in the Ministryof External Affairs is coordinating and monitoring with SAARC countries. Hope this revivesSAARC and regional cooperation gets a new lease of life.

Children are the last human frontier COVID-19 threatens to engulf. The secondsurge has seen quite a number of children infected. Even deaths have beenreported, including one of a day-old infant in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Most of

these patients were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms; they recovered withina week. A small percentage of cases needed hospitalisation and intensive medicalcare. India, like the rest of the world, is now gearing up to prepare to save childrenin the next surge, whenever that is. Lessons from the first two surges have chas-tened the Government and steps are already afoot to provide separate neonatal andpaediatric wards in hospitals. Contingency measures are on for oxygen, monitor-

ing equipment, ventilators and medicine. Medicaland paramedical staff are undergoing re-orienta-tion to handle young patients. Bharat Biotech ofCovaxin fame is also ahead of the curve in com-ing up with a vaccine for the two to 18 age group.In fact, it has got approval for stage 2 and 3 humantrials already. With 40 per cent of the populationin this age group, vaccination becomes impera-tive. But tackling child COVID-19 is a matter notmerely of logistics. It will be fought largely in thearena of the mind; a seesaw between the panicof parents and patience of doctors.

For instance, the question is: Are the hospitalwards children-friendly? If a discernible part of the scarcity of beds and oxygen inthe second surge was owing to panic among adults, imagine what parents can gothrough if their children become infected. Rationality will become scarce. The socialmedia will press a panic button of its own, mostly of the illegal variety. Should thelocation and names of the infected children be revealed on social media posts forhelp? Should pictures be circulated? How will these violations of privacy be checked?There are many NGOs handling awareness campaigns to keep children safe. Apartfrom safety measures, there is the need for a healthy diet, mental agility and physi-cal exercise, particularly when schools are closed and they are stuck at home. Butwhat about the rural areas? Nearly half of the population below 18 lives in the coun-tryside. There are issues with hygiene, availability of potable water and nutritious diet.Malaria, dengue and pneumonia are rampant. A large section of the rural parents isaware of their responsibilities, but hands of most would be tied by their economicsituation. As yet, no data shows that the third surge will affect children, but it is equal-ly important they be immunised. It is more important to inoculate their parents first.Both medical workers and parents need to realise that most children may not be ableto recognise COVID-19 symptoms; how then to diagnose at the earliest? A begin-ning has been made, but it has to be seen to be real. The UNICEF web advisory onchild protection, for example, is begging updation since September 2020.

No child’s play

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

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

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021

06

Regional cooperationThe pandemic is an opportunity for the

member nations to revive the SAARC spirit

Despite the Corona setback, the motivation to overcome hardships shall emerge simply from the spirit of serving fellow human beings

PICTALK

Cyclists during the 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia race, from Abbiategrasso to Alpe di Mera, Italy PTI

JS RAJPUT

India, like the world, is gearing up to protect its children from the next wave of COVID-19

Restoring sanity innational narrative

The true character of apeople and nation revealsitself only in the toughestof times. India is going

through such a phase and, sadlyenough, instead of presenting a pic-ture of national unity and socio-religious cohesion, the politicalclass that had tasted power in thepast and has been unseated by theelectorate, is using the Corona cri-sis as an opportunity to reverse itsfortunes. Those in power are,obviously, busy managing this cri-sis of unprecedented measure andmagnitude; all they are gettingfrom their political opponents isridicule, allegations and accusa-tions. The political scenario isindeed depressing for the commonpeople who are suffering on somany counts due to the epidemicand its impact on practically everysector of human activity.

This has attracted interna-tional attention and painted Indiandemocracy in poor light. TheCorona crisis, particularly in April-May 2021, weighed very heavily onIndia and its people. The inadequa-cies of the health infrastructure, asalso the systems of public serviceand governance, have revealeddistressing deficiencies. There wereheart-wrenching reports of peopledying in ambulances and even out-side hospital gates. In the 21st cen-tury, should even a single life be lostsimply because of non-availabili-ty of medical oxygen? It certainlywas serious mismanagement,lethargy and lack of commitment.

But the extra efforts put in atevery level to tide over the crisisalso deserve to be noticed. We havethe ingenuity to produce medicinesand vaccines, distribute better andensure adequate availability. If themishap was an outcome of sys-temic complacency and uncon-cern, these shall have to be wipedout completely from the work cul-ture in future. The Corona crisisshall certainly transform humanapproach to life, the nature ofhuman interactions and re-estab-lish the criticality of man-naturerelationship. The economic, socialand cultural implications of thepandemic are being assessed allaround.

The motivation and the will toovercome the impediments shallemerge from numerous instances,initiatives, acts and actions that

SOUNDBITETWITTER MUST ABIDE BY RULESSir — The freedom of expression has its ownlimitations. It can neither be overstepped nordoes it act as a threat to the security of anynation. The standoff between the Twittermanagement and the Government isunwanted. As Twitter is a foreign entity, ithas the obligation to abide by the rules andregulations of India if it wants to play here.

A part of Ladakh was shown as part ofChina by Twitter not too long ago. This isabsolute mockery of the laws of the land andit is a shame on the nation, which needs tobe condemned. It acted similarly in the after-math of the Delhi violence though a socialplatform should not be instrumental in cre-ating hatred, chaos or violence. Vaccine hes-itancy too was professed, which was total-ly uncalled for. So the Government’s movein this direction is absolutely right and nec-essary. Even in many European nations,there are watertight rules for social media.

The freedom of speech and workingagainst national interests are two differentissues. Twitter must obey the laws of theland, not join hands with the Oppositionand the so-called liberalists whose only aimis to dislodge the democratically electedModi Government.

Sravana Ramachandran | Secunderabad

RAMDEV IS FEELING THE PINCHSir — The Indian Medical Association(IMA) has served a defamation notice onBaba Ramdev for making disparagingremarks against allopathy and allopathic doc-tors, and demanded an apology from himwithin 15 days failing which, it said, it willdemand a compensation of `1,000 crorefrom the yoga guru. Around 2,000 allopath-ic practitioners are part of the association.

As Ramdev’s comment is a criminal actunder Section 499 of the IPC, the noticedemanded a written apology from him. Thenotice has also asked Ramdev to make a videoclip contradicting all his “false and defama-tory” allegations and circulate it on all socialmedia platforms where he had uploaded hisearlier video clip levelling the allegations.

It has also asked the yoga guru to with-draw all misleading “advertisements” from

all platforms endorsing the Coronil kit, aproduct of his firm, as an effective medicineagainst COVID-19, failing which an FIR anda criminal case would be lodged against himby the IMA. Ramdev, therefore, is in a soupand feeling the pinch.

CK Subramaniam | Navi Mumbai

LOCKDOWN IMPACTED MENSTRUAL HYGIENESir —Periods don’t stop just because thereare lockdowns, cyclones or any other formof a calamity or the pandemic. However, themanufacturing units that are in the businessof making affordable sanitary pads are fac-ing disruption as the successive lockdownshave slowed down, almost halted in fact, theprocess of importing raw materials.

The sorry development has led to theshortage of availability of affordable sanitary

napkins across the country. This has causedmillions of menstruating women to suffer,especially those belonging to the rural areasof India, as they could not access sanitarypads during the lockdowns.

It is forcing many women to adoptunhygienic methods of managing theirmonthly periods, which may give rise toother diseases. Therefore, both the Centreand the State Governments should act swift-ly to restore normalcy in the production ofaffordable sanitary pads. Otherwise, thegains made over the last decade in improv-ing menstrual hygiene and empoweringwomen in this field may be reversed.

PS Swagatika Sahoo | Jagatsinghpur

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Instead of being India’s Health Minister,Harsh Vardhan should have been the brandambassador for Patanjali. Otherwise, as the

son of a doctor, let me tell Harsh Vardhan thatgiving the “vultures” metaphor to foreignmedia is highly unprofessional and unbecom-ing of a doctor. It smacks of fascist and total-itarian tendencies.

We know that it is problematic for HarshVardhan and the BJP's top brass to readCongress leader Rahul Gandhi’s tweets orspeeches, but that does not also mean thatthe aam aadmi would start believing his factsand figures over the COVID-19 death count.Because hardly any statistics put out in thepublic domain by the Modi Government in the

last seven years is authentic. Harsh Vardhanmust admit that he has never been open,transparent, sensitive or honest.

The way he attacked Rahul in histweet, it wasn’t the language of a culturedperson: “Politics on corpses, INCIndiaStyle! Although vultures are disappearingfrom trees, it seems their spirit has beenabsorbed by vultures of theearth.@RahulGandhi ji trusts #NewYorkmore than #Delhi. One should learn to playpolitics on corpses from the vultures of theearth.” No doubt Harsh Vardhan attackedRahul on behalf of the Modi Government butpeople eagerly want to know from theGovernment that how would they silencepeople’s belief, as Gujarati poetess ParulKakkar said in her shav vahan poem: “Eksaath sab murde bole, ‘sab kuch changa-changa’, saheb tumahre Ramraj me shavvahini Ganga (Don’t worry, be happy, in onevoice speak the corpses; O King, in yourRam-Rajya, we see bodies flow in theGanges).

Had Harsh Vardhan worked harder forIndia, he would not have been in this pitiablecondition.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

Unbecoming of a doctor

To the men and womenwho were taken toprisoner of war campsor jail without charge,people who are no

longer with us to hear thisapology...we are sorry.

Canadian Prime Minister— Justin Trudeau

From Monday, twoactivities will be open— construction andfactories. We will takefurther decisions considering theCOVID situation in Delhi.

Chief Minister— Arvind Kejriwal

Our hearts go out tothousands of peoplewho have suffered theimpacts of#CycloneYaas. Somany lives and homes affected.

Actor— Dia Mirza

Such five-starpoliticians (AkhileshYadav) areresponsible for the fallin level of politicsbecause of theirsenseless comments. They shouldhave actually been serving people ofthe State in such troubled times

Uttar Pradesh Minister

—Sidharth Nath Singh

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

THERE WERE HEART-WRENCHING

REPORTS OF PEOPLEDYING IN

AMBULANCES ANDEVEN OUTSIDE

HOSPITAL GATES. INTHE 21ST CENTURY,

SHOULD EVEN ASINGLE LIFE BE LOSTSIMPLY BECAUSE OF

NON-AVAILABILITYOF MEDICALOXYGEN? IT

CERTAINLY WASSERIOUS

MISMANAGEMENT,LETHARGY AND

LACK OFCOMMITMENT

India look a superiorbatting side. How theytackle the conditions is

important. To me,India’s batting will hold

the key.

Former India captain

— Kapil Dev

The dragon’s footprint inselective spread of Covid?

THIS IS THE FOURTH DAY; NO VACCINATION

FOR YOUTH BETWEEN 18 AND 44 IN ANY OF

THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS OF DELHI IS DONE.

— AAP LEADER

ATISHI

THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PLAY POLITICS. BUYING

VACCINES INTERNATIONALLY IS NOT SIMILAR TO

BUYING OFF-THE-SHELF ITEMS.

— NITI AAYOG MEMBER

VK PAUL

It is widely suspected that the COVID-19 viruswas manufactured in a laboratory in China andwas let loose on the world. It is China which isthus claimed to be largely responsible for the loss

of more than 3.3 million lives and causing untoldsuffering to a far greater number of people.

If we look at the list of death by countries, wewill see that over half a million died in USA, thebiggest trade and military rival of China. Brazil andIndia, which are the two major members of the BRICcountries that together could make a formidablepower of challenge to China have collectivelyrecorded over another half a million deaths.Western European countries, which are allies of USand are power partners in the UN and NATO anddominate the world of commerce and military underthe patronage and partnership of US, have collec-tively seen another half a million deaths.

Actually, a laboratory manufactured agent ofdeath has allegedly been unleashed into countriesthat are the major threat and hurdle in China’smarathon 100-year run to finish as the world’s largestsuper power. In about a year, not just death, the healthand hygiene framework and the economic fabric ofthese countries have been damaged to such an extentthat the recovery could take years. On top of that,these nations, mostly democratic, are now facing peo-ple’s ire due to unquantifiable suffering, and very sta-ble political governance systems have been shakento the core. This kind of warfare has never been wit-nessed before in human history.

From the same list of countries, one may observethat countries in the neighbourhood of thesestrategic nations have not been so much affected bythe Chinese virus at all.

Is it a coincidence or a conspiracy that nationslike Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka andBhutan, most of which have societies that are close-ly linked to India’s in trade, cultural exchange, famil-ial relations and interactive through our perforatedborders do not have the viral infection anywhere nearto the proportion in India? Is it a coincidence orconspiracy that a similar disparity in the viral spreadhappens across Europe and only NATO countriesget severely affected and not the eastern nations onthat continent? Why and how is that the Chinesevirus affects only countries that may have a capac-ity to successfully control the hegemonistic ambi-tions and not the countries that secure aid and assis-tance from China and remain subservient to thegrowing power of the dragon?

This is only possible with the help of a labora-tory generated virus and not through an organismspun out of organic evolution. For this very rea-son, India should never accept the vaccine, medi-cines or any material of mass consumption originat-ing from China, because we could just become sit-ting ducks for a conspiracy that is deep and wide andis brought out through a careful fusion of science,technology and hegemonistic strategy.

We are living in times when completely unthink-able and what we thought as impossible have begunto happen. This month, a rocket launched by Chinafell back into sea and space agencies have wonderedwhat might have fallen from it into the Indian Ocean.We all remember not may years ago, across the world,unsolicited packets of seeds arrived at people’s doorsfrom China and agriculture experts warned peoplenot to sow them, for they might be seeds that willdestroy the native species and obliterate our food

security.Australia is in the eye of the storm

of the dragon because of its develop-mental position in south east and sci-entists wonder if there is any Chineseconnection to the devastating wild-fire of last year that burned forweeks on end. For scientists, the dev-astating glacier burst in Uttarakhand’sChamoli district, which lies in prox-imity to China, is also an unusual andrare occurrence in the peak wintermonths when the Himalayan glaci-ers remain in deep frozen state.

Technology companies in theSilicon Valley are increasingly beingestablished and led by people ofChinese origin, which might help inChina in global surveillance andinformation collection. Zoom, theleading Video Conferencing facilityhas been blamed on that count andnations have suspected that informa-tion from secretive and strategicvideo conferences may have alreadyreached Chinese informationarchives.

A recent publication of NITIAayog has elaborately traced thecharacter of India’s rural economyand put into perspective the impor-tance of rural sustainability of thenation. Although India is in a tran-sitionary state of economic resur-gence, 68.8 per cent of the nation’spopulation and 72.4 per cent ofnation’s workforce are from ruralareas. Nearly half of India’s NationalDomestic Product (NDP) is stillrural. While 96 per cent of agricul-tural employment is rural, 48.6 percent of non-agricultural employmenttoo is rural. Because of this, sustain-

able development of India dependspredominantly on rural industrious-ness, productivity, dynamics andlivelihood quality. The efforts of theKhadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) are intricatelylinked to this horizon of rural sus-tainable development of Indiathrough nearly 100 different kinds ofrural industrial entrepreneurshipand handholding activities. KVIC hasbeen sustaining a major part of vil-lage industries in India throughover 40 offices spread across thenation, around 5,000 aligned insti-tutions, 23 departmental sales out-lets and around 8035 Khadi sales out-lets /Khadi Bhavans run by KhadiInstitutions. The direct beneficiariesorganized through this mechanismexceed 15 million people, whileindirect beneficiaries run into sever-al additional millions. If you puttogether the direct, indirect associ-ated and familial beneficiaries of thiscarefully hand raised and sustainedsector, it could well over be a billionpeople in the lifeline of village indus-tries sustainable development pro-grammes. China understands thesocio-economic and socio-politicalpower of this community and itsinfluence on the mainstream life ofour nation. And it engages itself ina calculated and consistent mannerin which this delicate balance couldbe obliterated, so that the nation canbe hollowed from within.

In taking some examples of thisphenomenon, the ‘agarbatti’ (Incensestick) industry stands out. Out of thehalf-a-million-metric-ton ‘agarbat-ti’ requirement and production in

India annually, over 80 per cent rawmaterial come from China andVietnam.

Even the national flag of Indiathat is only made with Khadi cottonor silk fabric was not spared byChinese invasion. Counterfeitnational flags made of plastic andother artificial material from Chinaflooded Indian markets forcing thecurrent government to place theNational Flag under prohibited cat-egory of import in October, 2019.

Similarly, the traditional IndianSilk Industry, the heritage art of claypottery, handmade paper and leatherindustry were driven to the verge ofextinction. Imagine, the idols ofIndian deities were made in Chinaand worshipped in Indian house-holds. Toys, honey, minerals, anddozens of other natural-resources-based village industries have beenrendered unproductive due toChinese economic aggression ofpushing through our market a sub-sidized and quality-compromisedproduct till recently, until the presentgovernment made corrections byimposing higher import duty andimport restrictions on such Chineseproducts. It will, however, take yearsfor the Indian village industries torecuperate from the Chinese intru-sion and be self-reliant in all respects.

One can imagine the invasion ofthe dragon. The fire is not in theborders that guard the nation. Thefire is burning the nation to its coreand is devouring the integrity, nation-al character and our very ways ofexistence. And we have uncon-sciously allowed that.

Surprisingly, the virus affects only the countries that may have a capacity to controlChina’s hegemonist ambitions and not those securing aid and assistance from it

HIMANSHU RAI

IS IT ACOINCIDENCE OR

A CONSPIRACYTHAT NATIONS

LIKE PAKISTAN,MYANMAR,

BANGLADESH, SRI LANKA AND

BHUTAN, MOST OFWHICH HAVE

SOCIETIES THATARE CLOSELY

LINKED TO INDIA'S IN TRADE,

CULTURALEXCHANGE,

FAMILIALRELATIONS AND

INTERACTIVETHROUGH OUR

PERFORATEDBORDERS DO NOT

HAVE THE VIRALINFECTION

ANYWHERE NEAR TO THEPROPORTION

IN INDIA?

The global economic slowdown caused due to the pan-demic has been an eye-opener for various economieschasing growth. They have realized the importance of sus-

tainable growth and contingency planning to cushion deepshocks. Although the scale of the spread of the pandemic wasnot foreseeable, a resilient and robust underlying policy frame-work has enabled many nations to get on their feet again.Notwithstanding the unique challenges that countries faced,let us attempt a comparative analysis of economic metrics tounderstand the hits and misses in terms of economic policiesand practices and eventually help policymakers to replicate thesuccessful ones. Australia and New Zealand got the basics right

early and concentrated efforts on health infrastructure to min-imize the impact of supply shock and subsequent demand shockdue to lockdowns. Spending on goods and services grew by7.9 per cent in Australia for Q3 2020. In New Zealand, indus-trial production decreased by two per cent in Q4 2020 whilethe unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent. The GDP growth ratehas been projected within the range of 4 - 5 per cent for 2021,while the IMF projects a GDP growth of three per cent % for2021 for Australia.

Industrial production decreased by 1.9 per cent in January,2021 in Europe. New job postings reduced by around 40 percent in food and beverages sector, indicating challenges ofemployment. A report by McKinsey estimated that around 59million jobs may be at risk. The GDP growth rate of the USeconomy for 2021 was projected earlier to be around 3.08per cent. The recovery is slow but steady. The industrial pro-duction index decreased by 4.2 per cent in the last year, butthe increasing market confidence due to ongoing vaccinationdrives is raising hopes for normalcy.Joblessness is still a majorconcern with a February, 2021 McKinsey report saying only60 per cent of job losses have been recovered.

India has been on the path of recovery since Q4 2020,when the GDP increased by 0.4 per cent and GVA by one percent.The GST collection and eWay bills generation have reacheda high, signifying a boost in domestic spending. The share mar-ket also recorded significant growth. Indian Forex reserves havebecome the fourth largest in the world, surpassing Russia.

Though the economy is projected to contract in 2021,thereis a 12.6 per cent projected economic growth by OECD for2022.The Index of Industrial Production shrank by 12 per centin the period April,2020-January, 2021. The contraction inJanuary,2021 has been around 1.6 per cent, indicating slow-paced recovery.The unemployment rate increased from 6.53per cent in January,2021 to 6.9 per cent the next month andthe major contribution to unemployment has been from therural areas.

Thus, India needs to focus on the rural sector and boostemployment opportunities and stimulate rural markets to devel-op a solid base for recovery. An important element in this wouldbe the communication to remove skepticism and fear over vac-cines, and chart out a robust vaccine-coverage strategy.Sustenance and empowerment of rural and local economiesand strengthening the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative will go along way in helping us recover and reinvigorate.

The author is Director, IIM-Indore. The views expressedare personal.

Multiple Taxes, unem-ployment, high 10.49percent wholesale

price index (WPI) rise andsevere income losses are thaw-ing the nation amid highCovid-19 deaths.

The six-month high WPIfigures in April would bestraining the economy. Actualprice rise at the retail levelwould be a minimum of 10.49per cent plus 4.29 per cent CPIinflation, not less than 14.78per cent. The super inflationin 1974 was at 28.66 per cent,and 16.94 per cent in 1973.Those days purchasing powerof the people had collapsedand protests marked thenational scenario. It may notlook serious but if income loss-es of 84 per cent of the peopleare added it appears grim. Asper a study of the Azim PremjiUniversity study, the pandem-ic has led to worsening inquality of employment, with a

number of salaried employeesjoining the ranks of precari-ously self-employed.

"The annual rate of infla-tion in April 2021, is high pri-marily because of rise in pricesof crude petroleum, petrol,diesel and manufactured prod-ucts as compared to the cor-responding month of the pre-vious year," the Commerceand Industry Ministry (CIM)said.

As most rise in prices,fares, freight are due to theCIM stated factors, the econ-omy is slowing down, indicat-ing a lower GDP as well. It isbeing further complicated byrising joblessness at 8 per centin April amid the secondcovid19 wave from 7.4 percent in March 2021. A CMIEstudy - Consumer PyramidsHousehold Survey (CPHS) -observes weekly unemploy-ment rate touched 14.5 percenton May 15. The CMIE says

that 84 per cent householdshave suffered a decrease inmonthly income and thatmore than one-fourth of thecountry's working-age popu-lation is unemployed.

World Bank warns 70 percent of employment and abouta third of GDP comes from the'informal' workers. They arelikely to lose their jobs or suf-fer severe income losses dur-ing Covid-19 lockdowns and

they tend to be largely exclud-ed from social safety nets.Informality has made eightlakh migrant workers moveout of Delhi, according to thestate government. No nation,World Bank says, could haveactual recovery unless these'informal' people, particularlywomen, are taken care of.

RBI governor ShaktikantaDas says that manufacturingand services PMI along with

inflation would continue theprice pressure. It may aggravatebecause global prices continueto rise.

Amid such scenario itlooks strange that RBI, itself incrisis, approves a dividendpayout bonanza of Rs 99,122crore for July, 2020-March,2021. It is 73 per cent higherthan the entire previous year'sRs 57,126 crore. It is time forausterity not only in the debil-itated public sector units butalso in its expenses on manyreal estate and cosmetic pro-jects.

The country is avoidingdiscussing such criticality thatleads to impasses. The recentfarmers' stir against the threedraconian laws is the result ofthe 'partycracy'. The nationdoes not want to discuss theirrationality of multiple taxesand the woes of the people.They are paying taxes on taxes- on old cars, multiple taxes on

petrol, bank deposits, vaccine,coffin, Rs 25 per km road tolland also a GST on that, junk-ing their own cars and even onoxygen -that thankfully wasundone by Delhi high court,and irrational atrocities andpenalties on masks and Covid-19-related issues. A seniorpolitical observer and journal-ist, Ajai Setia, comments thateven in government "ministersdon't know what is going on intheir ministries".

The discriminations arenot being discussed. TheSerum Institute of India isstated to have made profits ofRs 59,000 crore ($8.2 billion)in 2020 and Rs 85,000 crore($12.7 billion) in 2021.Similarly, some select corpo-rates are making tons as edibleoil, fruit and gas prices aresoaring apart from their inter-national and national busi-ness. The concern of risingmonopolies that are checked in

the US through anti-trust lawsremains missing. The PSUsthat are sustaining the nationare designed to become junks.

The second wave or spurtin cases of Covid-19 sinceApril has not only caused lossof lives but has cast its shadowson growth prospects. A thirdwave has been warned.Downward revision of tax rev-enue and GDP projections arerealities. The central govern-ment's gross tax revenue inBudget 2020-21 estimates wasreduced by more than 20 percent in 2021-22 Budget.

The governance methodhas to change with the partic-ipation even the opposition.The crisis is national and tosurpass Bangladesh, the coun-try has to take prudent drasticsteps, prune expenses and notdo politicking on issues ofbenevolence. One step wouldgo through long chain ofchanges.

The crisis is national and the country has to take prudent steps, prune expenses and not do politicking on issues of benevolence

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

POWERING THE GROWTH IMPETUS

How India should ensure sustainedeconomic recovery post-pandemic

VINAI KUMAR SAXENA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The author isChairman, Khadi

and VillageIndustries

Commission, NewDelhi. The views

expressed are personal.

Super inflation and income loss thaw India

SHIVAJI SARKAR

(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

MG Motor India on Fridaysaid it has joined handswith Attero for recycling

of electric vehicle (EV)batteries in the country. Thepartnership is aimed at reusingand recycling the Li-ionbatteries used in theautomaker's ZS EV units aftertheir end-of-life, MG MotorIndia said in a statement. Noida-based Attero, which is the country'sleading electronic asset management company and clean-techprovider, deals in battery end-of-use management. "We have beencontinuously working on expanding the ecosystem in the EV space,as one of the first entrants in the segment. The partnership withAttero gives our customers more confidence with respect to thebattery's end-of-life usage. The move will assist in responsiblerecycling and will further minimise the carbon footprint of ZS EVusers while supporting the local economy," MG Motor IndiaPresident and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba said. MG Motorsells models like Hector and Gloster in the country.

Diversified JK Group on Friday saidit will provide financial suppo rtthrough continuance of salary,

covering education for children andmedical insurance for the family incase of demise of an employee due toCOVID-19 Under its 'JK CARES'program, the group comprisingcompanies such as JK Tyre, JK Paper, JK Lakshmi Cement, JKFenner, JK Agri Genetics, Umang Dairy and PSRI Hospital, said itwill provide support to affected families of employees whosuccumbed to the pandemic between April 2020 and March 2022,thus covering both the waves of COVID-19. "Safety and wellbeing ofour employees is of utmost importance for us. As part of our valueof “caring for people”, we have been extremely mindful of the needto provide extended support to the families of our belovedemployees, who have unfortunately lost their lives," said JK GroupChairman Bharat Hari Singhania. Elaborating further, he said, "incase of any casualty of any of our employees, we will support thebereaved families on three fronts.”

JK Group announces supportto Covid-affected employees

Drug major Sun Pharma on Fridaysaid it has acquired the rights totrademarks of diabetes drug

Dapagliflozin under brands Oxra,Oxramet and Oxraduo in India fromAstraZeneca Pharma India's parentcompany. "Sun Pharma has nowacquired the rights to trademarks Oxra, Oxramet and Oxraduo inIndia from AstraZeneca AB, Sweden, parent company ofAstraZeneca Pharma India Limited, with effect from May 28, 2021,"Sun Pharma said in a regulatory filing. Sun Pharma said it has alsotaken a patent license to manufacture and commercialiseDapagliflozin and Dapagliflozin with Metformin combination in Indiafrom AstraZeneca AB with effect from May 28, 2021, the filingadded. Consequently, AstraZeneca India and Sun Pharma havediscontinued their existing distribution services agreement signed in2016, for distribution of Dapagliflozin. Under the said agreement,AstraZeneca India had granted rights to Sun Pharma to promoteand distribute Dapagliflozin under the brand name Oxra.

Sun Pharma acquires rights totrademarks of 3 drug brands

Drug firm Ipca Laboratorieson Friday reported 94.09per cent rise in

consolidated net profit at Rs161.20 crore for March quarter2020-21 mainly on account ofhigher sales and reduction inexpenses. The company posted a net profit of Rs 83.05 crore forthe same period a year ago, Ipca Labs said in a filing to BSE. Totalincome stood at Rs 1,134.58 crore in the quarter under review. Itwas Rs 1,087.49 crore in March quarter 2019-20, it added. Totalexpenses were Rs 939.95 crore in the quarter ended March 31,2021 as against Rs 972.91 crore in the year-ago period, it said. For2020-21, the company posted a net profit of Rs 1,141.14 crore asagainst Rs 603.56 crore in the previous fiscal year, Ipca Labs said.Total income during the last financial year was Rs 5,482.83 crore. Itwas Rs 4,715.71 crore in 2019-20, it added. In a separate filing,Ipca Labs said its board has approved reappointment of PrashantGodha as Executive Director of the company for a further period of5 years with effect from August 16, 2021.

Ipca Labs Q4 profit up 94 per cent at Rs 161 crore

MG joins hands with Atterofor recycling of EV batteries

PNS n MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexrallied 308 points and NSENifty hit a fresh record onFriday, tracking gains inindex heavyweights RelianceIndustries, HDFC twins andKotak Bank amid positivecues from global markets.

Further, decline in dailyCOVID-19 caseload too bol-stered investor sentiment, ana-lysts said.

The 30-share BSE indexended 307.66 points or 0.60 percent higher at 51,422.88. Thebroader NSE Nifty surged97.80 points or 0.64 per cent toclose at its fresh peak of15,435.65.

Reliance Industries was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,soaring nearly 6 per cent, fol-lowed by M&M, HDFC twins,Kotak Bank, ITC and BhartiAirtel.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Bajaj Finserv, ICICIBank and Dr Reddy's were

among the laggards."Domestic equities remained

upbeat and recorded fresh highas improved prospects of econ-omy recovery and strong4QFY21 earnings continued tobolster investors' sentiments. Astrong rebound in RelianceIndustries was a key driving

force," said Binod Modi, HeadStrategy at Reliance Securities.

Sustained market rallyadded over Rs 3 trillion ininvestors' wealth this week,with the market capitalisationof BSE-listed companies cross-ing the landmark USD 3 tril-lion during the week, he noted.

Further, a sharp drop indaily COVID-19 caseloadin second wave (remainingbelow 2 lakhs despite high-er testing) and improve-ment in recovery rates haveemboldened investors in thelast couple of days, he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-

es in Hong Kong, Seoul andTokyo ended on a positivenote, while Shanghai was inthe red.

Sto ck exchanges inEurope were also tradingwith gains in mid-sessiondeals.

International oil bench-mark Brent crude was trad-ing 0.25 per cent higher atUSD 69.37 per barrel.

Stock exchangesin Europe werealso trading withgains in mid-session deals.International oilbenchmark Brentcrude wastrading 0.25%higher at $69.37per barrel

Govt considering policy tweak to facilitate BPCL privatisationPNS n NEW DELHI

The government is consideringa tweak in the current foreigndirect investment (FDI) poli-cy to allow overseas investorspick up majority stake in theIndia's second biggest oil refin-er Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd(BPCL), sources said.

The government is privatis-ing BPCL and is selling itsentire 52.98 per cent stake inthe company.

For BPCL privatisation,mining-to-oil conglomerateVedanta had put in an expres-sion of interest (EoI) for buy-ing the government's 52.98per cent stake in the PSU. Theother two bidders are said to beglobal funds, one of thembeing Apollo GlobalManagement.

The proposal is under dis-cussion between the depart-ments of disinvestment(DIPAM), industry (DPIIT)and economic affairs (DEA),they said.

At present, only 49 per centFDI is permitted through auto-matic route in petroleum refin-

ing by the public sector under-takings (PSU), without any dis-investment or dilution ofdomestic equity in the existingPSUs. With this provision, aforeign player would not beable to buy more than 49 percent stake in BPCL.

According to sources,DIPAM has suggested toamend the existing FDI poli-cy in order to allow 100 percent foreign direct investmentin a central public sector enter-

prise (CPSE) in the petroleumand natural gas sector.

On the other hand, theDepartment for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) has proposed for aseparate provision for this spe-cific situation.

The proposed amendmentto the FDI policy is under con-sideration for enabling invest-ment in BPCL as part of thedisinvestment process, theyadded.

‘India well-placed to apply AI to solve challenges’PNS n NEW DELHI

Aadhaar architect NandanNilekani on Friday India iswell-placed on the govern-ment and businesses fronts toleverage artificial intelligence(AI) in unique ways to solvechallenges and tap into oppor-tunities.

Nilekani noted that over thelast few years, the governmenthas focussed on how to maketransactions more efficient andeffective, which has drivendigitisation across the board.

He added that as a byprod-uct of this, huge data nowacross systems has been gener-ated and that the time is rightto apply AI across the board toIndia's most challenging issuesacross areas like healthcareand education.

On the business front,

Indian companies are lookingat using AI to solve problemsin a big way across the world,and especially after the pan-demic that has accelerated dig-ital adoption, Nilekani saidduring a fireside chat MakingIndia a Global Leader of AI.

"I think India is actually onthe cusp of some major AIinnovation... both on the busi-ness side as well as on the gov-ernment and national side, weare well placed to really applyAI in a very unique way toIndia's challenges as well as

opportunities," he added.The discussion was organ-

ised on the sidelines of theone-year anniversary ofINDIAai. INDIAai (TheNational AI Portal of India) isa joint venture by Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology (MeitY), NationalE-Governance Division(NEGD), and Nasscom thatwas set up to prepare thenation for an AI future.

It is a central knowledgehub on artificial intelligenceand allied fields for entrepre-neurs, students, academicsand professionals.

MeitY Secretary AjaySawhney pointed out that AIcan be applied to improve ser-vices, quality of delivery anddecision making.

He emphasised that Indiamust recognise that the coun-

try's primary strength lies inscale.

"It is not technology, tech-nology plays on top of theIndia scale. The data thatcomes from India scale, thedemand comes from Indiascale, and it creates such apowerful combination whenwe have data, we havedemand, we have talent, wehave a supply of services thattremendous amount of inno-vation can happen on top ofthat," he said.

Sawhney said as thingsprogress, one will see emer-gence of open, public digitalplatforms in healthcare, educa-tion, urban governance, logis-tics and even horizontals likelanguage technologies that willmake use of all emerging tech-nologies, which will be facili-tated with the skills India has.

DoT allocates spectrum for5G trials to telecom operatorsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Department of Telecom(DoT) has allocated spectrumto telecom operators to start5G trials in the country,sources said.

The trials will be conductedat various locations includingDelhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,Bengaluru, Gujarat,Hyderabad, among others,according to industry sources.

"Telecom operators havebeen allocated spectrum in 700Mhz band, 3.3-3.6 gigahertz(Ghz) band and 24.25-28.5Ghz band across various loca-tions," a telecom companyofficial said.

On May 4, DoT hadapproved applications fromReliance Jio, Bharti Airtel,Vodafone Idea and MTNL forconducting 5G trials withoutusing technologies fromChinese companies.

DoT had approved trials of5G with Ericsson, Nokia,Samsung and C-DOT. In addi-tion, Reliance Jio Infocommwill be conducting trials usingits own indigenous technolo-

gy.According to DoT, 5G tech-

nology is expected to deliverten times better downloadspeed than that of 4G and upto three times greater spectrumefficiency.

During the trials, applicationof 5G in Indian settings will gettested. This includes tele-med-icine, tele-education anddrone-based agriculture mon-itoring etc.

Telecom operators will beable to test various 5G deviceson their network.The durationof the trials, at present, is fora period of 6 months. This

includes a time period of 2months for procurement andsetting up of the equipment.

The permission letters spec-ify that each telecom serviceprovider will have to conducttrials in rural and semi-urbansettings in addition to urbansettings so that the benefit ofthe 5G technology proliferatesacross the country and is notconfined only to urban areas.

Industry sources, however,said none of of the telecomoperators has been allocatedspectrum in Punjab, Haryanaand union territory ofChandigarh.

Zydus Cadila introduces scratch code in drug packs PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm Zydus Cadila onFriday said it has introduced anew feature in the packaging ofits critical drugs to helppatients ensure that the prod-uct is not fake or counterfeit-ed.

To start with, technology isbeing implemented in thecompany's products Remdac(Remdesivir) and Virafin Inj(Pegylated Interpheron Alpha2b) and will be seen on theproduct packs in the thirdweek of June, the drug firmsaid in a statement.

The feature will also beextended to other products ofthe company, it added.

The company said it hasincorporated a new IT-enabledscratch code which shall beprinted under a scratchablesurface.

The patients can check tosee if the product purchasedby them is genuine or not byscratching the surface andverifying the code through theapp or the website, it added.

"The problem of counterfeitdrugs undermines thepainstaking efforts that are putin to ensure that the end useror patients receive a productthat is safe and manufacturedwith the highest standards ofquality excellence.

"Counterfeit drugs canbe harmful as they may nothave the desired outcomeand could a l s o b e l i fethreatening in some cases,"C a d i l a He a l t hc areManaging Director SharvilPatel noted.

To curb this menace, thecompany has looked at a user-friendly solution which canreassure the patient that theproduct is genuine and safe,he added.

Canara announces three loan schemes PNS n NEW DELHI

State-run Canara Bank onFriday announced three loanschemes as part of the fightagainst the pandemic underwhich it will offer healthcarecredit, business and personalloan to individuals.

The Canara Chikitsahealthcare credit facility willoffer loans from over Rs 10lakh to Rs 50 crore to regis-tered hospitals, nursinghomes, medical practition-ers, diagnostic centres, pathol-ogy labs and all other unitsengaged in the servicinghealthcare infrastructure.

The loan to be offered at aconcessional rate of interestwill have tenor of 10 yearswith moratorium up to 18months, Canara Bank said inan advertisement.

The Canara Jeevanrekhahealthcare business loan willoffer loan up to Rs 2 crore ata concessional interest rate formanufacture and supply ofhealthcare products such asmedical oxygen and oxygencylinders and oxygen con-

centrators to registered hospi-tals and nursing homes orother manufacturers and sup-pliers.

Canara Bank said there willbe no processing fee for thisloan. For MSMEs, there willbe no collateral security,which the lender will coverunder CGTMSE, and thebank will bear the guaranteepremium.

CGTMSE is meant to pro-vide financial assistance tosuch kinds of industries with-out any third party guaranteeor collateral.

For non-MSMEs, the collat-eral security will be minimum25 per cent.

Canara Chikitsa andCanara Jeevanrekha loanschemes will be valid tillMarch 31, 2022.

Under the third category ofloan -- Canara Suraksha per-sonal loan scheme -- thelender will offer loan from Rs25,000 - Rs 5 lakh as immedi-ate financial assistance to cus-tomers for COVID-19 treat-ment during admission orpost discharge.

Kenya donates12 tonnes offood productsPNS n MUMBAI

Kenya has donated 12tonnes of food products toIndia as part of its COVID-19 relief efforts, a state-ment said on Friday.

The east African countryhas sent 12 tonnes of tea,coffee and groundnut pro-duced locally to the IndianRed Cross Society, it saidadding that the packets willbe distr ibuted acrossMaharashtra with food aid.

"The Government ofKenya wishes to stand insolidarity with the peopleand Government of Indiaduring this time of theCOVID-19 pandemic bydonating consumable foodstuffs," Willy Bett, highcommissioner of theAfrican country to to India,said. Bett, who came to thefinancial capital from NewDelhi to hand over the foodarticles, said the donation isdirected to the frontlinecare givers who continue towork long hours to savelives.

JBM rolls out ‘Eco-Life'electric AC buses in GujPNS n MUMBAI

JBM Auto has rolled out itselectric air conditioned busEco-Life in Gujarat, withstate Chief Minister VijayRupani virtually launchingthe first batch of 50 busesfrom Vastral Bus RapidTransport System (BRTS)Depo in Ahmedabad onFriday.

The bus service has beenrolled out under the BRTSscheme by AhmedabadJanmarg Ltd (AJL), which isa wholly-owned subsidiary ofAhmedabad MunicipalCorporation, JBM Auto saidin a release.

Powered by fast charginglithium-ion batteries, thesebuses can run up to 250 kmper day with opportunitycharging, depending on thecity's traffic conditions, thecompany said.

These buses are equippedwith all high-tech featuressuch as real time PassengerInformation System (PIS),panic buttons for emergency,automatic bus vehicle loca-tion system, CCTV cameras,public address system andstop request buttons, amongothers.

Nishant Ar ya, ViceChairman, JBM Group, said,"JBM is determined to createstate-of-the-art e-mobilityecosystem across the country.The launch of electric busesin Ahmedabad is in line withour vision to provide greenand sustainable transportsolutions."

"Our buses are successful-ly serving the masses in manyother states as well, such asDelhi, Maharashtra, Haryana,UP, Andaman and Nicobar,Karnataka, among others,”he said.

Rupee gains forthirdsession; rises 15 paise to72.45 against $ PNS n MUMBAI

The rupee strengthened forthe third straight session onFriday and closed 15 paisehigher at 72.45 (provisional)against the US dollar trackingpositive domestic equities.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unit openedat 72.46 against the greenbackand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 72.31 and a low of72.49 during the session.

It finally ended at 72.45against the American curren-cy, registering a rise of 15paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupeehad settled at 72.60 againstthe US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges thegreenback's strength againsta basket of six currencies, rose0.14 per cent to 90.09.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark,advanced 0.30 per cent toUSD 69.67 per barrel.

On the domestic equitymarket front, the BSE Sensexended 307.66 points or 0.60per cent higher at 51,422.88,while the broader NSE Niftyadvanced 97.80 points or0.64 per cent to 15,435.65.

Foreign institutionalinvestors were net sellers inthe capital market onThursday as they offloadedshares worth Rs 660.90 crore,as per exchange data.

Further, the rupee gainedstrength as daily COVID-19cases declined, traders said.

The single day rise in coro-navirus cases in India fellbelow the 2-lakh mark for thesecond time this month,while the recoveries contin-ue to outnumber daily casesfor the 15th consecutive day,according to the UnionHealth Ministry data updat-ed on Friday.

Sensex rallies 308 pts; Nifty hits fresh record at 15,436

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SaturdayMay 29, 2021

hayan Italia, whomade his debutwith the ‘Hinglish’single Sha La La,has stolen ourhearts already with

the recreated version of JanaGana Mana that went viral.An engaging personality onsocial media, the global-award-winning musician wasnamed ‘Global Indian of theYear’ in 2018 for his musicalcontributions to the country,including his version of ournational anthem! His musicpurely depicts optimism andpositivity, he brings different

layers and dimensions to themusic he produces. Born aZoroastrian in Hyderabad,his musical talent has alsohelped him raise enoughfunds to support his philan-thropic endeavours such asresearch groups for cancerand multiple sclerosis inmemory of his parents. Whilehe’s passionate about creatingmusic for years, he alwaysmanaged to receive the recog-nition he rightly deserveswhich continues to keep hisfaith in his work.

Throwing light on his asso-ciation with the city of pearls,Shayan shares, “I was bornand brought up inSecunderabad and have myrelatives and really closefriends living there, those thatI keep in touch with, play‘Fortnite’ with, almost daily. Itry my best to keep in touchwith people, while I’ve alsorealised it’s wasted energy andcalories if the same love is notreciprocated. Then therecame a time when I had tomove out of Hyderabad as Ilost my parents when I wastoo young and I wanted tostudy music abroad to honemy craft. My elder brotherwas in London at the time, sothat was my city of choice!London was already the cen-tre of the music industryworldwide and the Britishhave spawned some of the

greatest music artists in histo-ry from there. It made senseto move as there was much tolearn. There was nothingwrong with Hyderabad as acity and there still isn’tthough.”

Give Shayan any song andhe will make it his own withhis signature style — he keepsit melodious, effortless, andunhurried. He is one of thosesingers who don’t need a bigbanner or a movie to own asong and can simply elevatethe music with an impeccableperformance. But, what is hisoutlook on the music indus-try down south? He says,“Music is the world’s globallanguage that needs no barri-ers and every culture has itsown take on music. It’s whatmakes the world of musicwondrous. While some musichas universal appeal, I meanthe massive worldwide smashhits, music, in general, ishighly personal! What is oneman’s dessert can be anotherman’s poison when it comesto music. Music in the southhas always been the heart andsoul of all creativity, longbefore movies became a turn-ing point. It is why mostmovies have so much musicin them, less now than beforethough. Music from the southhas an energy to it that isinfectious, be it a dance tuneor a slow ballad. The instru-

mentation is also unique andinstantly identifiable! Also,with the evolution of technol-ogy in both music and film,southern music is also start-ing to evolve and venture intoexperimental areas.”

Secunderabad remains oneof the cleanest cities in Indiaaccording to the pianist andwith the nicest and warmestof people. He feels althoughlife is a bit slower comparedto other metropolitan cities,they make up for it in a num-ber of other ways like hospi-tality, care, etc. He adds,“People in Hyderabad lookout for each other more; thereis a sense of family and long-term friendships that youwouldn’t necessarily find infaster-paced metropolitanslike Mumbai, which can, formany, prove to be a lonelyplace to live. Also in terms oftourism, the twin cities per-haps have the most to see ofany city in India bar-none.”

To lift spirits amid thispandemic, he released a songof hope and empowerment!The single has literallybecome music to the ears ofthose who have caught thenovel coronavirus. He haspenned down three differentversions of it without theyearning of any publicitystunt but pure aspirations forCovid-infected people onlybecause he certainly believesthat music is a powerfulmedium that reaches themasses in no time. He’s sodeeply rooted with souls andinner psyches because he losttouch with a very dear friendof his from the Nawabi citywho he thought of as nothingless than a younger brother.But now when he’s able toconnect with him all overagain amid the pandem-ic, he’s so full of joy!

“We are bothmovie lovers,gadget lovers,gamers, andwe try toconnect ona dailybasis andhave agoodlaugh.It’spricelessto me!He’s abrilliantsoul,kind,andcomesfrom awonderful

family. He lives in Hyderabad.You can be in a different cityaltogether and be more con-nected than ever,” heexpressed.

Labelling the ZoroastrianParsi community as a heart-felt and well-mannered cliqueof people while he was herein Hyderabad, he finds theirgiving nature to be the mostintriguing part of his life.

Recollecting one of hisfondest memories spent here,he remembers, “I miss myparents, my home inSecunderabad, when it wascompletely lively — every daythere were guests, peoplestaying over, it was like a legitzoo because the energy wasso infectious! I realised it’speople that make a home, notmaterial things. It’s astonish-ing to recall how dead my oldhome in Secunderabad waswhen mum and dad were nomore, for the few monthswhen I was alone there. It waslike a ghost house! So I’vealways taught myself there-after, to have an ‘open home’policy like my home inSecunderabad did — toalways let people stay andadopt a ‘my home is yourhome’ policy. In faster-pacedcities, this is very weird forpeople, but I find this life pol-icy far outweighs the oppositewhere one never opens theirhome to others. I wouldnever want to be like that,

and this is thegreatest take-away and les-

son I

have learnt from my parentsand family.”

An enthusiast forHyderabadi food, the onlyfactor that he dislikes fromhere is its heat! “It’s an age ofmy life lost, a chapter closedforever. There is much hurttied to this city for me per-sonally with all that I’ve gonethrough! But, it is my duty toovercome that, turn it into agreat set of new memoriesand cherish the past for thegood as it was and themoments of wonder it gaveme. That will come in timeand effort put by me intomaking it. I owe it to myselfto go see my family membersand my friends when thispandemic starts to witheraway and normality returns.Secunderabad andHyderabad are great citieswith wonderful people andwonderful memories.”

With Sir David Frost say-ing, ‘Is the new Elton Johngoing to come from India?’and Ratan Tata describinghim as an extremely enter-prising and talented individ-ual, Shayan could not havebeen happier for the fruitfulefforts that he’s been puttinginto this diverse businesses ofhis.

Charmingand talented,Shayan Italiais aninternationalmusicianhailing fromour very ownSecunderabad

and is nowresiding inLondon.The singer-songwritertalks to The

Pioneer'sSHIKHADUGGALabout his life in thecity, hisunbreakablebond withthe City of Pearls,and more.

hen we see peoplegoing out for anearly morningwalk, on a solotrip, celebrating aspecial event or

advertising a product, onecommon thing is the art ofcapturing the subject with

the lens of their eyes, a phonecamera or a DSLR.Photography is an art ofexpression and with the evo-lution of time, the way peo-ple express their art has alsotransitioned. From black andwhite pictures to high-defini-tion photography, the mainagenda has always been tolock the subject or memoriesfor life.

The photography industryis an unusual sector to saythe least since it allows peo-ple to capture human emo-tions through a lens. The artwas not easily accessible toanyone until a few years ago.It was within the reach of theprivileged, who could affordthe cameras and the expen-sive accessories it came with.However, with the introduc-tion of the latest technologiesand smartphones becomingcheaper, everyone in theworld can now capture what-ever they want wheneverthey want, allowing peoplebeyond the professional pho-tography circle to introducenewer trends and changingthe photography industrylandscape.

Photography, as a field, isno longer limited to just pro-fessionals, especially sincemillions of pictures are post-ed on social media platformsevery day. So here are a fewtrends that one can dig in tocatch up with the ever-evolv-ing industry:

HDR photography: Thismethod of photography has

taken both advanced photog-raphers and amateurs by thestorm, especially because itdoes not require any specificequipment. Anyone who isinterested in any kind of pho-tography can take this up asseveral cameras available inthe market have built-inHDR mode which adjustscontrast ratios, allowing the

user to take unrealistic pic-tures. Thus, high dynamicrange photography is con-stantly getting popular inrecent times.

Light painting: A funtechnique that enables thephotographer in taking themost artistic pictures byadjusting exposure time, nat-ural lightening, aperture and

other features on the camera.This form of art allows thephotographer to create greatpictures with the use of softglow or different sources oflight. Every picture is equallyunique as creativity variesfrom person to person as wellas the camera settings.

Phonegraphy: Smartphonephotography a.k.a. phonegra-

phy is a widespread phenom-enon. Today, more and morepeople have access to smart-phones, allowing them toexplore their creative skillsand capture subjects the waythey see them. Clicking pic-tures has transitioned frommanaging background noiseor free spaces to just makingthe subject of the image moreaesthetic. This culture thathas influenced the photogra-phy world. Over the lastdecade, it has created itsniche in the industry. Someof the biggest developmentssince the invention of thesmartphone are the ability toinstantly share pictures witha large crowd at the click of abutton, or even print it onthe go using a portable pock-et-size printer. It has allowedphotographers to ditch theirheavy DSLRs and movearound easily.

Panotography:Photography is not justbound by some limiting fac-tors such as lighting, expo-sure time, etc. It is an art thattakes shapes and sizes, andso, the frame size also helpsthe photographer to express adifferent kind of story.Panotography a.k.a panoram-ic photography is 360-degreewide format photography.This form of photographyallows the user to capture alandscape from an angle likea human eye wouldsee it, creatingunforgettableimpressions of real life.

Instant photography:Next to phone and DSLRphotography, instant cameraphotography has also found asweet spot in the heart of thephotographer for its ability tocreate a time capsule in formof small credit card size pic-tures. Earlier, the availabilityof instant cameras was onlylimited to people who couldafford it, but with the tech-nology being available for themasses, people have turnedto instant photography tocapture and behold their pre-cious times. Besides, instantcameras allow users to take anormal, square or wide pic-ture, inspiring them to tellthe story behind a picture ina frame they like. The trendis influencing many everyday. Embracing the art ofunexpected, instant photog-raphy is on the rise, espe-cially among the mil-lennials due to itsartistic andraw repre-sentation ofwhat theyperceive ofthe world. Thesubtle concept allowsthe users to stay inthe moment, valuethe time and real-ly look atwhat’sinfront

of them instead of looking atthe display of the camera.Furthermore, it allows theusers to get close to the sub-jects and capture them notjust as a beautiful picture butalso imprint them on theirminds.

The way ahead:Technology is the solution toalmost every problem todayas it maximises conveniencewhile improving quality. ThePhotography world is no dif-ferent. In the coming times,technology will take theworld of photography to thenext level with advancedeffects, precision, amongother features. And, with arange of cameras available inthe market, the trends takenew forms enabling one andall to dive into artistic expres-

sion.(The writer,

Kunal Girotra, isthe Head ofDivision, Image

Capturing,Fujifilm

India.)

Photography,as a field, is nolonger limitedto justprofessionalsas millions ofpictures areposted onsocial mediaplatformsevery day. Sohere are a fewtrends thatone can dig into catch upwith the ever-evolvingindustry.

FRAME A LIFETIME

OF MEMORIES

S

W

SHAYAN'S EMOTIONALCONNECT WITH THE CITY

ollywoodactressDeepikaPadukone hasfeatured inthe Seven

Happy Women list byChopard under itsHappy Diamond cam-paign.

The other names inthe list include AjaNaomi King, JungRyeo-Won, Sadie Sink,Anne Nakamura, DorraZarrouk and Yang Zi.

Chopard’s Co-President and ArtisticDirector, CarolineScheufele, has chosenthe names with unpar-alleled influence toembody HappyDiamonds.

“Seven Friends of theMaison who represent,each through in theirown way, a strong, free,joyful way of living inthe world and of own-ing the spirit of the era.Deepika Padukone, AjaNaomi King, JungRyeo-Won, Sadie Sink,Anne Nakamura, DorraZarrouk and Yang Zi

have all grasped thecodes of their time toblaze their trail in amanner that is bothsingular and generous.”

Theirs are powerfulvoices that resonatewith that of KarinScheufele — CarolineScheufele’s mother —who once exclaimed,faced with the firstsketches of the futureHappy Diamonds: “dia-monds are happierwhen they are free.”

The brand quotes:“An indispensable voice,she (Deepika) speaks ofthe fragility andstrength of the humanmind, which shedescribes with greatintelligence: ‘To acceptthe highs and the lows.To embrace the variousemotions that we arechallenged with everysingle day. And to live alife that is fuelled byauthenticity and pur-pose.’ A strong mantrafor a free spirit thatbears witness to a deephumanity, making her atrue global icon.”

B

Actress DeepikaPadukonefeatures on thelist of ‘SevenHappy Women'

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

10

Hyderabad Saturday May 29, 2021health

FUN

ven thoughthe Covidcurve hasstarted toflatten,Covidx

deaths are an all timehigh. What is furtherwrecking havoc is theBlack Fungus, whichhas been declared asan epidemic by sever-al States includingJammu and Kashmir.This is not all. Alarmbells have rung yetagain as four peoplein Patna was found tohave White Fungus.What is it you ask?Doctor responds toyour query.

“White fungus iscaused by candidagroup of organismsand Aspergillus. It isfound in thosepatients with lowimmunity, Diabetesmellitus, usingsteroids, case of can-cer. It involves areasin the body likeMouth, private parts,heart, kidney andlungs. It is also verydeadly but it is easilymanageable with anti-fungal drugs likeFluconazole. It is pre-sent in the air andwhenever there is adecrease in immunity,patient may get affect-ed with this infec-tion,” Dr HKMahajan,Anaesthesiologist,Indian Spinal InjuriesCentre, Vasant Kunj,tells you. With notmuch study in place,it is difficult to findout the actual cause ofthe infection.

What is morealarming is the factthat the infection isapparently more dan-ger than the BlackFungus, as per doc-tors.

“White fungusinfections are moredangerous than blackfungus due to itsacute effect on lungsand other body partssuch as other respira-tory organs, brain,digestive tract, kid-neys, nailbed or even

private parts. Whitefungus is gettingmuch more mortalbecause of the way itincreases and cancause a big damage tothe vital organs. Blackand White Fungusinfections werereported long beforethe Covidx outbreak,but were rare. Now,there is a suddenincrease in cases sincethe onset of the sec-ond Covid wave,” hesays. The signs andsymptoms, he says,resemble to that ofCovid.

“The signs andsymptoms of blackfungus include pain incheekbones and face,eye swelling, conges-tion, nasal blockage,facial or cheekbonepain, nasal dischargewith foul smell andblack in colour, andimpaired vision.However, the signsand symptoms ofwhite fungus includethose which are quitesimilar toCoronavirus likecough, cold and lowoxygen levels alongwith white marks inthe oral cavity,”Mahajan explains.

He adds that Covid-related symptomswere seen in all thefour white funguspatients of Patna hos-pital and all of them

were not found posi-tive in Covid test.“This clearly meansthat their lungs gotinfected as the whitefungus damages thelungs and chest andmay lead to cough,chest pain and breath-lessness. This mayhave irritant symp-toms and cause acutepain, headache andswelling. This can betraced through X-raysand CT scans. Suchpatients are givenanti-fungal medica-tion and the same wasgiven to all the fourpatients in Patna andthey have recovered,”Mahajan says.

In order to preventthese fungal infec-tions, judicious use ofsteroids for treatingCovid-19 is recom-mended. “Whiteinfection, like I saidbefore, comprises arisk of low oxygenlevels and if detectedlate, may lead todeath. Hence, earlydiagnosis is the key toproper treatment,” hetells you.

Dr ShashankVashist, ENT andCochlear ImplantSurgeon, ColumbiaAsia, Palam Vihar,Gurugram, tells youthat the most effectivetreatment is a newerantifungal drug,voriconazole.

Amphotericin B isanother option.

He adds that this isthe most severe formof aspergillosis. Itoccurs when theinfection spreadsrapidly from the lungsto the brain, heart,kidneys or skin.“Invasive aspergillosisoccurs only in peoplewhose immune sys-tems are weakened asa result of cancerchemotherapy, bonemarrow transplanta-tion or a disease ofthe immune system.Untreated, this formof aspergillosis maybe fatal,” Vashistopines.

This is not all. Acase of yellow funguswas apparentlyreported in Ghaziabadyesterday. Many doc-tors say there is noth-ing called YellowFungus in science andthat such names arecreating confusionamong the generalpublic.

With that beingsaid, the symptoms ofYellow Fungus aresaid to be lethargy,lack of appetite andloss of weight. Whilein certain severecases, it may result inpus, wounds taking along time to heal,malnutrition, organsnot functioning orsunken eyes.

FUNGUS ON LIFE

Recently,severalStatesdeclaredBlackFungus anepidemic.While wecontinue tofight withrising fungalinfections,cases ofWhite andYellowFungus havestartedadding tothe alarmbells. The

Pioneer

speaks withdoctors tobring you areport

E

onsumption ofultra-processedfood items, fast-food restaurantmeals, softdrinks, and

industrially processedconvenience food withsalt, sugar, fat, and addi-tives lead to obesity.Besides having an adverseimpact on respiratory andcardiac problems, obesityis a major risk factor forstone formation in thebody. Considering thestartling facts and statis-tics, on this WorldDigestive Day, let’s zoomin on problems such asgallstones that are a resultof obesity.

Excerpts from the inter-view with Dr Nirmaljeet SMalhi, Director andSenior Consultant at AGI— The Gastrociti,Ludhiana and DebasisDatta, Senior ConsultantGastroenterologist andHepatologist Director,Fortis Hospitals, Kolkataand Overseas Advisor atRoyal College ofPhysicians, London.

How are Body MassIndex and Bile DuctStones Linked?

Body mass index (BMI)defined as weight in kilo-grams divided by squareof height in centimetres, isa measure of body fat thatapplies to adults, and itsresults ranges from under-weight to obesity. Morethan 135 million peopleare obese (BMI >30Kg/cm2) in India. Now,with the increase in BMI,the risk of non-cardiacdiseases has grown expo-nentially.

People who eat a highfat diet, have a sedentarylifestyle and are obesedevelop gallstones that inturn lead to bile ductstones. When cholesterol,calcium salts and bilirubindeposit in gallbladder,they form gallstones. Thegallbladder containsdigestive fluid called bilethat is passed into thesmall intestine via bileduct. In some cases,stones that form in gall-bladder slip into bile ductand get trapped in it.These are known as com-mon bile duct (CBD)stones.

A stone in the bile ductcan cause pain, block thebile duct, and damage theliver, pancreas, and diges-tive system. A person withbile duct stones usuallyexperiences pain in the

upper abdomen, back orshoulder, and around theribs. Some people can alsodevelop jaundice whichmay cause their skin andeyes to appear yellowalong with fever and/orchills. A subset of patientscan develop pancreatitisdue to CBD stones that isa major medical emer-gency and could result indeath in 5-10 per cent ofcases, if not treated intime. When one developssuch symptoms, itbecomes imperative toseek timely medical inven-tion and to undergo therequired treatment.

Treating Bile DuctStones withadvanced technolo-gies

The doctor can confirmthe diagnosis throughmedical history, physicalexamination of theabdomen, blood tests andimaging tests like ultra-sonography of theabdomen. In cases ofdiagnostic uncertainty,Endoscopic Ultrasound(EUS) or MRCP haveemerged as the modalitiesof choice. The treatmentof CBD stones is done bya specialised endoscopicprocedure called as ERCP(Endoscopic retrogradecholangiopancreatogra-phy). The dye is injectedinto the bile duct duringthis procedure that pro-

vides a clear visibility tolocate bile duct stonescausing the blockage,which in turn are removedby giving a small incisionin a region called papillain upper part of smallintestine.

ERCP has been used fordecades for diagnosis andtreatment of bile ductstones. However, today,technological break-throughs have redefinedhealthcare in India. Wenow have procedures likeCholangioscopy thatenable faster and moreaccurate treatment in dif-ficult to remove CBDstones, reduced risk asso-ciated with repeated pro-cedures and give patientsa better quality of life. Thetherapy is used to treatbile duct stones that can-not be treated using tradi-tional methods and forelderly patients.

A small straw like tubewith a camera and light atthe end is used to disinte-grate stones. The doctormonitors the stone loca-tion on a screen andbursts the stone using atiny probe attached in thetube.

Reducing obesity toprevent Bile DuctStones

While an outright con-trol of gallbladder prob-lems is inevitable, peoplecan take appropriate mea-

sures to reduce the risk ofdeveloping stones andassociated symptoms andcomplications. To preventgallbladder or bile ductsstones, it is imperative toreduce overweight andobesity. Choice of healthi-er foods and regular exer-cise can go a long way inpreventing obesity. Onecan limit energy intakefrom sugars and total fats,increase consumption ofvegetables, fruits, grains,and nuts and engage inphysical activities for atleast 60 minutes a day.

Although a lifestylemodification is the key toweight loss, newer endo-scopic approaches likeIntra-Gastric Balloon andEndoscopic SleeveGastroplasty are newadditions to aGastroenterologist’s arma-mentarium to tackle obe-sity. As per the NationalInstitute of Diabetes andDigestive and KidneyDiseases (NIDDK),women and people over40, obesity and a familyhistory of stones are moreprone to getting gallstonesor bile duct stones.Gallbladder problems areusually managed easily inexpert hands now-a-days.The main solution formanaging stones is tospread awareness aboutthe root cause and poten-tial treatment optionsavailable.

C

Are Body Mass Index andBile Duct Stones linked?

n legendary actor NTR’sbirth anniversaryMegastar Chiranjeevidemanded that BharatRatna, the highest civil-ian award of the coun-

try, be conferred posthumouslyformer Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Nandamuri Taraka RamaRao — NTR. Chiru took to hisTwitter and requested the centralgovernment to confer Bharat Ratnato NTR.

Taking to Twitter, megastar said,“Pride of the Telugu people andwell renowned leader NTR well

and truly deserves Bharat Ratna. Ifthe prestigious award is conferredupon him, it would be a proudhonor for Telugu community. I amfondly remembering the great per-sonality Nandamuri Taraka RamaRao on the occasion of his 98thbirth anniversary.”

On the work front, Chiranjeeviwill be seen playing the lead role inAcharya, which is being helmed byKoratala Siva. The sources close tothe makers of Acharya revealedthat the majority of the shoot hasbeen wrapped up and only a 10-day shoot is left.

11

Hyderabad Saturday May 29, 2021

aashi Khanna says shooting inItaly was safe because people inthe country very responsiblyobserved protocol.

“We were in the middle ofthe pandemic and I was at first

scared to go there (Italy). Once there, Irealised people in Italy were very respon-sible with wearing masks even though thesecond wave had passed. Very few peoplewere shooting with us in the crew and allprecautions had been taken,” she tells.

“While I was there, the second wave inIndia intensified and I was constantlyreading about what was happening inIndia. It was upsetting. It felt bad that ourcountry was suffering and we were away.Now we are back and we can’t do much.It's a helpless situation. We shot for whatwe had gone for, but it was upsettinghumanly. We were constantly thinkingabout what was happening back home,”Raashi adds.

Raashi made her acting debut withShoojit Sircar’s 2013 Hindi film MadrasCafe, and eventually forayed Telugu film-dom with hits such as Touch ChesiChudu, Tholi Prema, Venky Mama andWorld Famous Lover.

Talking about how Covid broughtobstacles for the production team ofThank You, the actress says: “Honestly,there is always pressure to finish on timebut I had a very good team that had takeneverything under consideration and theydidn’t put any pressure. We were allstressed about finishing the shoot as therewere restrictions because we were fromIndia. There were certain locations thatwere cancelled. There was this wholething about the pandemic growing inIndia that went against us.”

She adds: “There were challenges thatthe production team faced but other thanthat we were really protected. There weredays when we were shooting for 18 hoursa day because we didn't have a choice. Itwasn’t like pre-pandemic, that you couldshoot at luxury and anywhere you wantto. It was difficult this time.”

Thank You will be her second releasewith Naga Chaitanya after Venky Mama,and Raashi says her role in the film willbe relatable.

"People like me mostly in romanticfilms, and that is what I have figured out.In 'Thank You' there is a nice part writtenfor me. I think the audience will enjoy itbecause it is real. Usually, sometimes weplay over-the-top characters and I amknown for my comedy in the south. Sothis is something I am really lookingforward to," she signs off.

RR O

ctress Ileana D’Cruz hashad a great run downSouth and has also beendoing her share ofBollywood films. She

says everything comes down topeople and, as an artiste, onejust wants the audience to likewatching you. Popularity, sheexplains, is the one thing thatbalances the fact that the filmindustry can actually be a verycruel place to survive.

“It (the film industry) is bru-tal, of course, but it comesdown to people. If they (people)

like you that is all you need.You just want people to likewatching you,” she said. Ileanafeels the moment an actor is notappreciated they lose the mark.

“It basically goes the same forme. I wouldn’t want to watch afilm with an actor I don’t likewatching. The minute you arenot liked anymore, you sort oflose the mark. The industry isbrutal in a sense, but it has gotso many perks as well,” she says.Acting is a profession thatcomes with its pros and cons,the actress notes, in this con-

text. “You cannot have all thegood things only, there isalways a little bit of con. Ithink that makes it inter-esting.

It makes you workharder. It makes youstrive to keepdoing better,” shesums up. Ileanawill next be seenin Unfair NLovely, a comictake on India’sobsession withfair skin.

aring and dynamichero NandamuriKalyan Ram’s next, his18th film’s title andfirst glimpse was final-ly unveiled. Produced

by Hari Krishna K under theNTR Arts banner, the film hasbeen titled Bimbisara and comeswith the tagline ‘A Time TravelFrom Evil To Good.’

Mallidi Vashist is directing

Bimbisara and on the occasion ofNTR’s birth anniversary, theannouncements were made. Thefirst glimpse shows Kalyan Ramin a never-before avatar.

Seen as a barbaric king,Kalyan Ram holds a sword thathas blood stains and is seatedabove a pool of dead bodies.Kalyan Ram’s look and the back-drop with vfx are just terrific.“We started the shooting of the

film last year. We are making thefilm with high technical valuesand involves a lot of graphicwork. Huge sets were erected forthis film and it is going to be abig budget film in Kalyan’scareer. Currently, the shooting isstalled due to the Covid andonce things normalise, the worksresume. We are planning torelease the movie in the secondhalf of this year,” said theBimbisara team.

Kalyan yet again proved thathe is game for diverse content.Catherine of Iddarammayilathofame and Samyuktha Menon ofVellam fame are to play impor-tant roles in the film.

ctress Seerat Kapoor, who is known forher big curls and is often showered withcompliments for her hairstyle, says shedoesn’t mind going bald if a rolerequires.

The actress, who mainly works inTelugu films, will soon be seen in the Bollywoodfilm Maarrich, with Naseeruddin Shah and TussharKapoor.

“If the character has depth, I will most likelyconsider it (going bald). My fans have alwaysappreciated every hairstyle on me — be it straight,wavy or curly. Over the years I have come to realisethat the bond we share goes beyond visual appeal.When they say we love her curls, it’s not the hair-style that they are attached to. It comes from theintent of loving who I am naturally. If I were everto play such a role, I can only imagine how excitedthey’d be to watch how I'd carry it,” she claimed.

Seerat is known for her work in Telugu filmssuch as Run Raja Run, Raju Gari Gadhi 2,Columbia , Touch Chesi Chudu, and more recently,Maa Vintha Gadha Vinuma.

Her debut Bollywood act was in a 2014 filmtitled Zid, starring Mannara Chopra.

Ileana D’Cruz: You just wantpeople to like watching you

ith more andmore films,amid theunprecedentedpandemic,going to digital

platforms this year, it wasnatural for rumours aboutmany films willing to takethe same route. One suchfilm that became a victimof such rumours has to beSR Kalyanamandapam. Butrubbishing all those

rumours, the makers of thefilm said the film is all setto be released in “theatresonly.”The makers took toTwitter to make theannouncement:“#SRKalyanamandapam isready. We’re pumped.Theatres are waiting. Whatabout you? Coming only totheatres near you, get readyto witness all the fun! #SRK@Kiran_Abbavaram@ItsJawalkar

@sridhar_chotu @chaitan-music @EliteGroupOffcl@LahariMusic@IamEluruSreenu@Ticket_Factory (sic).”

Touted to be a familyentertainer set against aRayalaseema backdrop, thefilm that has actors KiranAbbavaram and PriyankaJawalkar’ in the lead, isdirected by Sridhar Gadeand produced by Pramodand Raju under the bannerof Elite Entertainments.The supporting castincludes Sai Kumar,Tanikella Bharani, andTulasi among a few others.

A

A

W

D

SEERAT KAPOOR may consider goingbald if role demands

SR Kalyanamandapam

to release in “theatres only”

Kalyan Ram to play a

barbaric king in his next

tollywood

RAASHI KHANNA:SHOOTING ABROAD AS INDIA BATTLEDCOVID WAS UPSETTING Chiru demands

Bharat Ratna for NTR

sport 12HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | MAY 29, 2021

PTI n DUBAI

India and New Zealand willbe adjudged joint winners

of the inaugural World TestChampionship if their finalclash in Southampton ends ina draw or tie, the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) said onFriday.

According to the playingconditions unveiled by theglobal body, “a draw or a tiewill see both teams crownedas joint winners...” The ICChas also allocated a ReserveDay to make up for any lost-time during the regular daysof the Final, scheduled to beplayed from 18 to 22 June,with 23 June set aside as theReserve Day.

“Both of these decisionswere made in June 2018, priorto the commencement of theICC World TestChampionship.”

The Reserve Day has beenscheduled to ensure five fulldays of play, and it will onlybe used if lost playing timecannot be recovered throughthe normal provisions foreach day.

“There will be no addi-tional day’s play if a positiveresult is not achieved after fivefull days of play and thematch will be declared a drawin such a scenario,” the ICCstated.

In the event of time beinglost during the match, the ICCmatch referee will regularlyupdate the teams and mediaabout the way in which theReserve Day may be used.

The final decision onwhether the Reserve Dayneeds to be used will beannounced at the scheduledstart of the last hour on thefifth day.

While India play at homewith SG Test and NewZealand use Kookaburra athome, the final will be playedwith Grade 1 Dukes balls.

The final will also featurethe implementation of threechanges to international play-ing conditions, which werebrought into effect with theongoing World Cup SuperLeague series betweenBangladesh and Sri Lanka:

Short Runs — The ThirdUmpire will automaticallyreview any call of a ‘short run’by the on-field umpire andcommunicate the decisionprior to the next ball beingbowled.

Player Reviews — Thefielding captain or the dis-missed batsman will be ableconfirm with the umpirewhether a genuine attempthas been made to play the ballprior to deciding whether toinitiate a review for LBW.

DRS Reviews — For LBWreviews, the height margin ofthe wicket zone has been lift-ed to the top of the stumps toensure the sameUmpire’s Callmargin around the stumps forboth height and width.

PTI n BENGALURU

Indian men’s hockey teamdefender Jarmanpreet Singh

on Friday stressed on theimportance of mental fitness asthey prepare for the TokyoOlympic amid a ragingCOVID-19 pandemic.

The 24-year-old has beentraining at SAI centre inBengaluru as part of the SeniorCore Group ahead of theOlympics.

“I feel mental fitness is asimportant as physical fitness todeal with the current situa-tions. A player needs to bementally strong,

and for that, we have beenhelping each other,” saidJarmanpreet in a release issuedby Hockey India.

India were supposed toplay their FIH Pro Leagueaway matches against GreatBritain, Spain and Germanythis month but the ties werepostponed due to travelrestrictions imposed in thewake of a surge in COVID-19cases.

“We communicate witheach other, we try to create apositive environment aroundso that everyone stays in ahappy zone. I feel because ofthis, there’s a very good teambonding, which has been help-ing us with our preparationsfor the Olympics,” he said.

Asked how he is preparingfor the Tokyo Games,Jarmanpreet said, “My focusremains only on giving mybest, with the full energy, andtrying to improve each and

every day at the training.“I put on a challenge to

myself that, I should keepreducing my margin of error.”

Jarmanpreet, who madehis debut for the national teamin 2018, feels he is fortunate tohave the support from thesenior players since the begin-ning of his career.

“I am very fortunate andthankful to all senior players aswell as coaches because theyknew my past (the two-yeardoping ban in 2015), theyknew I was returning after along time.

“They have always sup-ported me since the beginning.They ha e guided me at eachstep, and have been motivatingme a lot.

“Moreover, it also helpswhen you have a senior play-er as a roommate. Kothajit(Singh) paaji is my roommatehere, and we share a goodbond on and off the field.”

PTI n KOLKATA

Livid with the strict quarantinearrangementsin Qatar, Indian football team head

coach Igor Stimac on Friday said theirpreparation is “far from being ideal” forthe upcoming World Cup and AsianCup Qualifiers.

Already out of contention for aWorld Cup berth, India will face Asianchampions Qatar on June 3 before tak-ing on Bangladesh (June 7) andAfghanistan (June 15) in their remain-ing group E matches, with an aim toqualify for the 2023 Asian Cup inChina.

The Sunil Chhetri-led Blue Tigers,who were originally slated to reach Qataron May 30, advanced their arrival to May19. As per the strict quarantine, they arenot allowed to train in gym, use themeeting hall or even eat together.

“If I knew that everything will be likeit is today, I would never accept to behonest. We could organise such gamesin such way in India also. At the end welost possibility of playing two homegames,” Stimac told reporters during avirtual interaction.

“Here we are now, not in great con-ditions. This is far away from a properpreparation for the World Cup qualifiers,but it is what it is. This is not a properfootball work which needs to beobtained before the World Cup quali-fiers.”

Frustrated with the arrangements,Stimac continued: “I’m well aware thatQatar is future host of the World Cup,and we all know about the great facili-ties for football teams.

“But, as a coach, personally I expect-ed a lot more from this organisation. Iknow that we changed all our plans dueto the pandemic. I say a big thank youto Qatar government for allowing us tocome over here.”

Under the current circumstances,the Indian players are forced to practiceon the corridor, in front of their respec-tive rooms, the 53-year-old CroatianWorld Cupper said.

“I didn’t expect this. I expected as acoach that we’re going to have a possi-bility of using the gym.

“We are doing our morning sessionsin the hall in front of our rooms, and ourplayers are eating delivery food, whichis left in front of our rooms.

“That’s not proper preparation for afootball players, I’m quite sure that theQatari team is not in the same position.”Stimac said they are forced to gothrough all this despite being testedCOVID-19 negative three times.

“We were tested three times already,all the tests are negative. Why we don'thave a proper meeting hall, so we can

discuss and analyse our opponents,why we don't have a possibility ofspending more time together, eatingtogether.

“Instead of that we have one chancegoing out in the evenings for the train-ing session, that's all.” With India reel-ing under a second wave of the pandem-ic, most of the players, barring the onesfrom Bengaluru FC and FC Goa whowereinvolved in the AFC club tourna-ments, have not played any match sincethe ISL got over earlier this year.

But Stimac is hopeful that theywould make the Asian Cup. Currentlyplaced third with three points, India stillhave a bright chance to make the con-tinental showpiece even if they finish lastin their group.

“I’m very confident that at the endof this journey, we will be in the AFCCup. I know that our actual situation atthe moment is far from ideal. TheQatar team is fully prepared.

“The Bangladesh side was playing intheir league until recently.

They will be much better prepared.23 out of 28 players in the Afghanistanside are playing in Europe or in theUnited States, so they will be in fullswing.

“On the other hand, you know thesituation of our team. But what I canpromise to all of you we’re going to giveeverything we have at the moment, play-ing these games.

“Our players will leave each atom ofenergy on the field, will do everythingto get as many points as possible in thesematches to qualify for the for the AFCAsian Cup. We can judge ourselves afterthat.” Stimac said they are eying a third-place finish in the group to make the cut.

“We will try everything to finishthird but if it’s not possible, fromwhichever position we start further,we're going to do everything and qual-ify for the AFC cup.”

PTI n DUBAI

The defending champion AmitPanghal punched his way

into the men’s 52kg final at the2021 ASBC Asian BoxingChampionships after outpunch-ing Kazakhstan’s SakenBibossinov in the last-4 clash inDubai on Friday.

During an intense battlebetween World ChampionshipsSilver medallist Panghal andBronze medallist Bibossinov, theIndian made a cautious startand tried to keep a distancefrom the opponent. He lookedmore aggressive later in the sec-ond round and hit some cleanpunches to put pressure onBibossinov.

Panghal carried on themomentum throughout thematch and stamped his authori-ty over Kazakh boxer to secure acommanding 5-0 win. Aiming towin second successive gold, theIndian boxer will take on Rio

Olympic champion ZoirovShakhobidin of Uzbekistan in thegold medal match on Monday.

India is now assured of atleast five Silver medals with fourwomen already making theirway into the finals earlier onThursday at the prestigious eventwhich is jointly hosted by theBoxing Federation of India (BFI)and UAE Boxing Federation.With 15 medals confirmed,Indian contingent also achievedtheir highest medal haul, surpass-ing the previous best of 13 (2gold, 4 silver and 7 Bronze)from the 2019 edition inBangkok.

On Thursday six-time WorldChampion Mary Kom (51kg)alongside three more Indianwomen pugilists-Pooja Rani(75kg), Anupama (+81kg) andLalbuatsahi (64kg)-progressedinto the finals. The defendingchampion Pooja received a walk-over against Mongolia’sMunkhbat.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indian seamerBhuvneshwar Kumar says

he never realised the impor-tance of adding pace to hisbowling in his formativeyears but once he did, ithelped him “maintain thatswing” which keeps batsmenguessing.

“To be honest, first cou-ple of years I didn’t realisepace is

something that needs tobe added,” he said in a videoposted by his IPL teamSunRisers Hyderabad on itstwitter handle.

“As I kept playing, Irealised with swing I need toimprove my pace becausebowling in late 120kph orjust 130kph, batsmen wereadjusting to the swing. So, Iwanted to increase the pace,but I didn’t know how to doit...

The 31-year-old has sofar taken 63 wickets in 21Tests, 138 and 45 scalps in117 ODIs and 48 T20Is.

“Fortunately, I was ableto improve the pace and that

really helped me in the laterstages. So yes, when youhave pace, not the express140-plus, but bowling in themid-130kph helps maintain-ing that swing and keep thebatsman guessing,” he said.

Bhuvneshwar has been

troubled by injuries and wasnot considered for theupcoming World TestChampionship final againstNew Zealand inSouthampton and the five-match Test series againstEngland.

‘I didn’t realise importance ofadding pace to my bowling’

IND, NZ TO SHARE TROPHY IF WTC FINAL ENDS IN DRAW

Panghal cruises into final Our preparation far from being ideal: Stimac Mental fitness is as importantas physical fitness’

HARSHIT BISHT n NEW DELHI

2012 London Olympic Bronzemedallist Saina Nehwal and

former world number oneKidambi Srikanth hopes of qual-ifying for the Tokyo Olympicsended on Friday after BadmintonWorld Federation (BWF)announced there will be nochange in the current ranking listand no further tournaments willbe played inside the Olympicqualification period.

“The Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) can confirmno further tournaments will beplayed inside the Tokyo 2020Olympic Games qualifying win-dow,” the sport body said in astatement.

“As such, while the qualifica-tion period officially closes 15June 2021 as per the RevisedTokyo 2020 Qualification System,the current Race To Tokyo rank-ings list will not change.”

Because of the ongoinghealth crisis, BWF on February19 had decided to extend thequalification period to June 15after postponing Malaysia OpenSuper 750 and Singapore OpenSuper 500 tournaments to a laterdate.

But with no improvement inthe situation after a brief periodtoo, the tournaments were

shelved, which dashed Saina andSrikanth hopes to earn a chancefor qualification.

“The Olympic qualificationprocess is in effect closed as thereare no additional opportunitiesfor players to earn points,” BWFsecretary general Thomas Lundsaid.

According to the qualifica-tion rules, the top 16 players —a maximum of two players eachin men’s and women’s singlesfrom a country — as on June 15will gain direct entries.

HARSHIT BISHT n

NEW DELHI

Premier League clubLiverpool FC on Friday

completed the first sum-mer signing after theysnapped up young Frenchcentre-back IbrahimaKonaté from Bundesligaside RB Leipzig.

The Reds triggered thereported £36 million ($50million) release clause inhis Leipzig contract.

The France Under-21international has signed afive-year deal with bossJürgen Klopp believinghim to be the ideal long-term defensive partner forVirgil van Dijk.

Speaking to the club’swebsite, Konaté said: “I’mreally happy to be joiningsuch a massive club likeLiverpool.

“It’s a really excitingmoment for me and myfamily and I am reallylooking forward to meet-ing my new teammates,the staff and getting start-ed on this new chapter.

The centre-back, whocan also play right-backjoined Leipzig in 2017 andmade 95 appearances forthe club. He was an inte-gral part of the side whichreached the Champions

League semi-finals in 2020.“I’m really pleased

we've been able to add aplayer of Ibrahima’s qual-ity to our squad and he issomeone I’ve admired fora long time, ever since Ifirst became aware of hispotential,” Klopp told theclub website.

“After the problems wehad with injuries in thecentre-half position lastseason, there’s no doubt itwas clear it was an area ofthe team we needed tostrengthen.”

Klopp believesKonaté’s physical qualities

make him ideally suited tothe Premier League.

“In Ibrahima we aresigning a player who willadd to the quality wealready have here. Hisphysical attributes are veryimpressive; he is quick, heis very strong and he isdominant in the air.”

The 2019-20 PremierLeague champions hadsuffered last season due toseason ending injuries toVan Dijk, Joe Gomez andJoël Matip and Konaté’saddition is part of a newlong term project for theMerseyside club.

HARSHIT BISHT n NEW DELHI

Serie A giants Juventus onFriday reappointed former

manager Massimiliano Allegri asnew head coach hours after part-ing ways with Andrea Pirlo.

The former AC Milan andJuventus midfielder Pirlo wassacked as Bianconeri failed toretain the Scudetto and finishedfourth in the Serie A table.

Even though he won CoppaItalia and Supercoppa Italiana inhis first job as a manager, a failedbid to win 10th consecutive SerieA title and another disappoint-ing exit from the ChampionsLeague (R16 loss against FCPorto) led to his dismissal.

The club released a state-ment headlined “Good Luck,Andrea Pirlo”.

“Pirlo has just begun thefirst steps of what will no doubtbecome a brilliant career as acoach,” Juventus’ statement read.

He followed Maurizio Sarri,who was also sacked last yearafter the club suffered a shockdefeat against French side Lyonin the Champions League roundof 16.

“My first season as a man-ager has ended,” Pirlo said onInstagram. “It has been anintense, complicated but in anycase wonderful year.

After Pirlo’s departure, Juveturned back to serial winnerAllegri, who won five straight

Serie A titles between 2014 and2019 with The Old Lady, includ-ing four Serie A and Coppa Italiadoubles (2014-2018).

He also reached twoChampions League finals in2015 (vs Barcelona) and in 2017(vs Real Madrid) but Juve endedup losing both of them. He wasfired by the club two years ago.

“WELCOME BACKHOME, MAX! MassimilianoAllegri is the Juventus manageronce more,” Juventus said in astatement.

“Allegri finds a bench thathe knows very well, a club thathe loves and that loves him back,as today a new journey beginstogether, towards new goals.”

The 53-year-old has report-edly signed a three-year dealwith the club.

AP n DHAKA

Sri Lanka avoided being sweptby Bangladesh in their one-day

international series when it wonthe third match by 97 runs witha Kusal Perera century andDushmantha Chameera’s maidenfive-for on Friday.

Perera struck a 122-ball 120,including 11 fours and one six, tolead Sri Lanka to a respectable286-6. The fast bowler Chameerathen took 5-16 to undermine thereply by Bangladesh, which was allout for 189 in 42.3 overs.

The victory marked SriLanka's first in the ODI SuperLeague.

Perera and DanushkaGunathilaka opened with an 82-run stand after they won the toss.

Bangladesh fast bowler TaskinAhmed, who claimed 4-46,brought the home side back incontention with a double strike,dismissing Gunathilaka for 39 andPathum Nissanka for 0.

Perera drove Taskin to sweep-er cover for a single in a bullet-proof 50 off 44 balls, but the skip-per needed luck three times toreach his sixth ODI century.

He was dropped on 66 byMustafizur Rahman at short thirdman, dropped on 79 by AfifHossain at long on off left-armspinner Shakib Al Hasan, anddropped on 99 by Mahmudullahat mid on off fast bowlerMustafizur Rahman.

Allegri In, Pirlo Out Perera, Chameerastar for Lanka

Tokyo hopes over for

Saina & SrikanthKonaté joins Liverpool

There will be no additional day’s play if a

positive result is not achieved after five full

days of play and the match will be declared

a draw in such a scenario

dot allocates spectrum for p ‘new dna vaccinefor covid p

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