c m y k c m y k

WEATHERMax: 33OC Min: 26OC Rainfall: 3mm

SPORT | 8Anand: Sports ministry to

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THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIACHENNAI I TUESDAY 1 I SEPTEMBER 2020

NATION | 4Sushanth case: ED

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WORLD | 5Merkel condemns

‘shameful’ virus stir

2,55,08,258WORLD CONFIRMED CASES

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+65,166)36,84,339

(+5,956)TN: 4,28,041

DEATHS

(+810) 65,427

7,323

8,52,390215

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

CORONA C UNT

worldometers.info

covid19india.org

deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 16 No. 157 Established 1938 | 8 PAGES| `3.00

ASTROGUIDESarvari: Aavani 16

Tithi: PournamiStar: AvittamRahukalam:

3 pm to 4.30 pmYamagandam:

9 am to 10.30 amPRAYERS

Fajar: 4.46 amZohar: 12.15 pm

Asar: 3.21 pmMaghrib: 6.21 pm

Isha: 7.33 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.20 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 5.58 AMMOONRISE TODAY 6.00 PM

MOONSET TOMORROW 6.42 AM

COUNTER POINT

No scheduled int’lflights till Sept 30

New Delhi: The suspension ofscheduled international pas-

senger flights has beenextended till September 30,said Directorate-General of

Civil Aviation (DGCA) onMonday. “However, interna-tional scheduled flights may

be allowed on selected routesby the competent authority on

a case-to-case basis," notedthe DGCA in a circular.

New Delhi: Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, who was

admitted to the AIIMS here onAugust 18 for post-Covid care,

was discharged on Monday,sources said. On August 2, MrShah, 55, had said on Twitter

that he had tested positive forCovid-19. He had undergone

treatment at Medanta Hospitaland was discharged after he

tested negative. PTI

Shah discharged from AIIMS

GDP contracts 23.9% inQ1; agri remains greenMADHUSUDAN SAHOONEW DELHI, AUG. 31

India’s economy saw itssteepest fall in GDPgrowth in April-June 2020,the first quarter of this fis-cal, as it contracted by 23.9per cent - negative growthfor the first time - as coro-navirus-related lockdownsweighed on the already-declining consumerdemand and investment.

This is the sharpest con-traction in 24 years - sincequarterly figures startedbeing released from 1996 -and contrasts with 3.1 percent growth in January-March quarter and 5.2 percent expansion in thesame period last year, offi-cial data released Mondayshowed.

The data showed thatGDP at constant (2011-12)prices in Q1 of 2020-21 wasestimated at Rs 26.90 lakhcrores, against Rs 35.35

lakh crores in Q1 of 2019-20, showing a contractionof 23.9 per cent. India’seconomic activities werecrippled after the nation-wide lockdown imposed inMarch to tackle the spreadof Covid-19.

Chief economic adviserK.V. Subramanian said:“We are witnessing a V-

shaped recovery as theeconomy unlocks e-waybills at 99.9 per cent vsAugust last year, despitelocal lockdowns. This willcontinue. Once the Unlockphase was undertaken, thedecline has been progres-sively lower. The trend isof a V-shaped recovery.There is still residualuncertainty, that will per-sist till pandemic isn’tbrought under completecontrol.”

The data shows manufac-turing has already enteredrecession as output fell39.3 per cent in the Junequarter after falling 1.4 percent in the earlier quarter.The positive news is thatthe farm sector’s annualgrowth stood at 3.4 percent in April-June, offer-ing hope that the ruraleconomy can support mil-lions of migrant workerswho returned to their vil-lages during the lockdown

period. The data furthershowed that the manufac-turing, construction andtrade sectors reportedmassive slumps of 39.3 percent, 50.3 per cent and 47per cent respectively.

“The government expen-diture, as represented bythe public administrationservices, contracted by10.3 per cent, while miningand electricity sector con-tracted by 23.3 per centand 7 per cent, respective-ly,” it said.

The stock markets,meanwhile, turned redhours before the data wasannounced.

“Investment growth hasbeen going down for quitesome time and investmentgrowth slowdown isunderstandable in thisenvironment. Issue iswhat will revive first:investment or consump-tion,” said senior econo-mist DK Joshi of Crisil.

Pranab Mukherjee, former president, diesSANJAY BASAK | DCNEW DELHI, AUG. 31

Former President of Indiaand stalwart of Indian poli-tics Pranab Mukherjee,who was often called the“man for all seasons”, diedat the Army’s Research andReferral Hospital in NewDelhi on Monday after ail-ing for some weeks. He was84.

His son AbhijitMukherjee announced thenews of his death. He is sur-vived by his son Abhijit and

daughter SharmisthaMukherjee.

Mukherjee’s funeral willbe held at the Lodhi Roadcrematorium in New Delhion Tuesday. The govern-ment announced sevendays of state mourningthroughout the country,when the tricolour will beflown at half-mast and therewill be no official entertain-ment.

Mukherjee, who wasfound to be coronaviruspositive, was admitted tothe Army R&R Hospital,

where he also underwentsurgery for a blood clot inthe brain. His condition

deteriorated over weeksand he was put on ventila-tor support. “With a heavyheart, this is to inform youthat my father PranabMukherjee has just passedaway in spite of the bestefforts of the doctors of R&RHospital and prayers, duasand prathanas from peoplethroughout India,” his sontweeted.

Mukherjee was conferredthe Padma Vibhushan in2008 and the Bharat Ratnain 2019. Speaking about hislong journey, Pranab

Mukherjee once said: “Ihave seen vast, perhapsunbelievable changes dur-ing the journey that hasbrought me from the flickerof a lamp in a small Bengalvillage to the chandeliers ofDelhi.”

His political careerspanned nearly fivedecades. Mukherjee, whostarted as an election man-ager, reached the top of thepyramid when he becamePresident in 2012. He servedas President till 2017.

During his long political

career, he donned manyhats. He served as externalaffairs minister, financeminister, defence minister,commerce minister,besides being leader of theLok Sabha and RajyaSabha.

Mukherjee was born onDecember 11, 1935 at Mirati,a village in the BengalPresidency of British India(now in Birbhum district ofWest Bengal). He studiedhistory, political scienceand law at CalcuttaUniversity.

Flare up as Army thwartsPLA bid on Pangong TsoPAWAN BALINEW DELHI, AUG. 31:

Indian Army thwarted anattempt by Chinese troopsto open a new front in theLadakh sector by trans-gressing and grabbingland on the southernbanks of Pangong Tso ineastern Ladakh on theintervening night of 29-30August. Till now thestand-off here was in theFinger area on theNorthern Bank ofPangong Tso but nowChinese are also lookingto infiltrate in theChushul sector.

In a pre-emptive move,Indian Army has nowoccupied a few heights inSouth Pangong Tso todominate the area, saidsources.

Indian Army in a state-ment on Monday said thePLA troops carried outprovocative militarymovements to change thestatus quo on the night of29-30 August 2020. “Indiantroops pre-empted thisPLA activity on theSouthern Bank ofPangong Tso Lake, under-took measures to strength-en our positions andthwart Chinese intentionsto unilaterally changefacts on ground,” saidIndian Army statement.

It said the Army is com-mitted to maintainingpeace and tranquilitythrough dialogue, but is

also equally determined toprotect its territorialintegrity.

A brigade commanderlevel flag meeting washeld at the Chushul toresolve the issue.

As per the initial reports,the Army had receivedinformation that Chinesehave started building upforces to occupy Indianterritory in the southernbanks of the Pangong Tso.The Army physicallyoccupied the area as soonas the PLA tried its trans-gressions. There was nophysical clash betweenthe troops.

The Army’s pre-emptivemove comes days afterChief of Defence Staff(CDS) General BipinRawat had warned thatIndia has ‘militaryoptions’ to deal withChinese transgressions inLadakh if talks betweenboth the countries at themilitary and diplomaticlevel don't yield anyresult.

Meanwhile, Chinese

army's western theatercommand accused India ofcrossing the LAC onMonday and of purposelylaunching provocations.“China strongly opposesthe acts and urges India toimmediately withdraw thetroops that have illegallycrossed the LAC,” it said.

It said the Chinesetroops are taking neces-sary measures in responseto Indian troops provoca-tions and will closely fol-low the situation and res-olutely safeguard nationalsovereignty, peace andstability at the borderarea.

The military stand-offbetween India and Chinain Ladakh will completefour months this week.The two armies areinvolved in stand-off inPangong Tso, Hot Springsarea and Despang-DBOsector in Ladakh. A seriesof military and diplomatictalks between India andChina have failed to per-suade China to disengageits forces.

CM WRITES TO MODI FOR 1 LAKH CR GRANT SC lets Bhushan

go off with `1 fine

Maha, AP, K’taka accountfor half of Covid-19 deathsSANJAY KAWNEW DELHI, AUG. 31

India reported 79,870 morecoronavirus infections onMonday, fewer than theprevious Sunday when itposted the highest single-day tally of infections ofany country in the pan-demic. With the recordsurge, the total number ofcases in the country nowstands at 36,22,603. For thelast five days, India hasalso been reporting over75,000 cases every day,more than any other coun-try has ever done.

So far, 64,487 people havesuccumbed to the viralinfection across the coun-try. Half of the country’scoronavirus death loadhas been reported fromMaharashtra, AndhraPradesh and Karnataka.Of the 989 deaths reportedacross the country in thelast 24 hours, about 30.48per cent were fromMaharashtra.

The three states alsoaccount for the highestnumber of new cases. Ofthe total cases reported inthe last 24 hours, 21 percent were fromMaharashtra, 13.5 per centfrom Andhra Pradesh and11.27 per cent fromKarnataka.

About 70 per cent of allnew cases were reportedfrom just seven states.Uttar Pradesh and Tamil

Nadu each accounted for8.27 per cent of the cases,West Bengal was at 3.85per cent while Odishareported 3.84 per cent ofthe total new infections inthe country.

India’s case fatality rate(CFR) – the proportion ofdeaths among those whotest positive for the infec-tion – stands at 1.78 percent, much lower than theglobal average of 3.34 percent. The highest CFR hasbeen recorded by theUnited Kingdom, where12.4 per cent of those diag-nosed with the infectionhave died, and Mexico,where 10.7 per cent havedied.

There are 7,83,333 activecases of novel coronavirusdisease in the country,while 27,74,801 peoplehave recovered. Therecovery rate hasincreased to 76.62 per cent.

TN daily caseloaddown by a whiskerDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG 31:

Fresh infections camedown slightly to 5,956when fatalities stood at 91on Monday as the spread ofCoronavirus has seeming-ly moved the western partsof the State.

Coimbatore had 589 newcases and 14 deaths andSalem had 497 cases whilein Chennai the number

was at 1150 with 19 fatali-ties. The Other districtsthat had high numberswere Chengalpattu 347,Cuddalore 307 andThiruvallur 299.

A 26-year-old woman anda 31-year-old man wereamong the people who suc-cumbed to the virus.

The death toll in the statehas crossed 7,300 whichincludes 2,747 deaths in thecapital Chennai.

iNSIDE

WARY CHENNAI BACK ON FEET

THUGS WITH MACHETESAT BJP MEET

���� REPORT ON PAGE 2

���� REPORT ON PAGE 3

TN appoints first woman ambulance driver

PARMOD KUMAR | DCNEW DELHI, AUG. 31:

Lawyer-activist PrashantBhushan, held guilty ofcontempt for his tweetscriticising Chief Justice ofIndia S.A. Bobde, formerCJIs and the SupremeCourt, was asked to pay anotional fine of Re 1 by thetop court on Monday. If hedid not pay the fine bySeptember 15, he will facejail for three months and aban from practising in theSupreme Court for threeyears, a three-judge benchordered while saying thatdespite its repeated sug-gestions, Mr Bhushan hadrefused to tender an apol-ogy, showing both“adamance and ego”though his act of denigrat-ing the judiciary was“very serious”.

In a tweet Monday after-noon, Mr Bhushan said hehad “gratefully accepted”the contribution for thefine from his lawyer.

“My lawyer & senior col-league Rajiv Dhavan con-tributed 1 Re immediatelyafter the contempt judge-ment today which I grate-fully accepted,” MrBhushan tweeted withphotographs of him hold-ing up a Re 1 coin.

“I propose to submit tothe order and respectfullypay the fine. I did notmean to disrespect thecourt with my tweets. Iwill pay the fine,” he toldreporters in the evening.

While passing the order,Justice Arun Mishra, whowas heading the bench,said, “In our consideredview, the act committedby the contemnor(Prashant Bhushan) is avery serious one. He hasattempted to denigrate thereputation of the institu-tion of administration ofjustice of which he him-self is a part.”

Speaking for the benchalso comprising JusticeB.R. Gavai and JusticeKrishna Murari, JusticeMishra said, “The court,from the very beginning,was desirous of givingquietus to this matter.Directly or indirectly, thecontemnor was persuadedto end this matter by ten-dering an apology andsave the grace of the insti-tution as well as the indi-vidual, who is an officer ofthe court”.

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG 31:

Chief Minister EdappadiK. Palaniswami has toldPrime MinisterNarendra Modi that theStates were in need ofresources and urged himto permit them a one-third additional borrow-ing over the 2019-20 leveland a untied specialgrant of Rs 1 lakh croreas budgetary support, inaddition to other grants.

In a letter to the PrimeMinister on Monday,Palaniswami said mostStates, particularlyTamil Nadu, agreed tothe implementation ofGST due to the unequivo-cal commitment given bythe Centre to compensatethe States for revenueloss.

‘So far, no compensa-tion has been releasedfor the shortfalls in rev-enue collection sinceApril 1, 2020. As on date,a total sum of Rs 12,250.50crores is due to TamilNadu as compensationfor shortfall in GST col-lections, of which Rs11,459.37 crores hasaccrued from April toJuly, 2020,” he pointedout.

States had suffered asevere loss in the wake ofthe Covid-19 pandemic,incurring an additionalexpenditure of nearlyRs.7,000 crore towardsupgrading health facili-ties, providing medicalsupplies and towardsrelief for the most affect-ed. ���� P3

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG 31

Chief Minister EdappadiK Palaniswami flagged off118 vehicles belonging tothe 108 ambulance schemeas part of an initiative tostrengthen the emergencyservices in the state, andalso appointed a woman asone of its drivers, which isclaimed to be a first in the

country.In a press

release, theg o v e r n m e n tsaid thewoman driverM. Veerala-

kshmi, hails fromBodinayakkanur, inTheni district. She cur-rently is a resident inTiruvottiyur nearChennai, living with her

husband and two children.Veeralakshmi had been

working as a car driver forthe last two years, and herhusband also is a car dri-ver.

“It was my long desire tobecome an ambulance dri-ver. I have been doing thiswork since the last month.It is very satisfying towork as an ambulance dri-ver,” said Veeralakshmi.

ADANI TO BUYGVK STAKE INMUMBAI AIRPORTDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, AUG. 31

Gujarat-based GautamAdani-led Adani Groupwill take over the opera-tions of Mumbai airportfrom Hyderabad-basedGVK Group, both compa-nies said in two separateannouncements onMonday.

Though financialdetails of the deal werenot revealed, the AdaniGroup would take overthe entire 50.5 per centstake of the GVK Groupand 23.5 per cent share-holding of two other for-eign minority investors.As part of the deal, theAdani Group would takeover the debt of GVKAirport Developers Ltd.

This deal marks theexit of the GVK Group,which operated presti-gious Mumbai andBengaluru airports, fromthe airport business inIndia. It had sold itsstake in Bengaluru air-port’s operating firm toHyderabad-born Indian-Canadian Prem Watsa’sFairfax India HoldingsLtd. The GVK Group nowoperates only one airportin Bali, Indonesia.

GVK Reddy, founderand chairman, GVK said,“The aviation industryhas been severely impac-ted by COVID-19, settingit back by many yearsand has impacted the fin-ancials of Mumbai Inter-national Airport Ltd.”

B RAVICHANDRAN | DCOOTY, AUG 31

A tribal woman wasmauled to death by a tigerin front of her husband onMonday, when she wentinside the woods in theMudumalai Tiger Reserve(MTR) buffer zone fringes.This is the first deathcaused by a tiger attack inthe Mudumalai jungles indecades.

Deputy director, MTR(buffer zone) L. C. S.Srikanth, identified the

deceased as Gowri, agedabout 50 years, hailingfrom Kurumbarpadi trib-al village adjoiningKallallah area, where theincident took place, in theSingara reserve forestrange of the MTR bufferzone.

“The deceased wasaccompanied by her hus-band, Madhan, and threeothers namely Selvam,Gopi and Jaya of Kuru-mbarpadi village, who tra-ditionally go cattle graz-ing in this area. ���� P3

Noted lawyer PrashantBhushan shows a onerupee coin after theSupreme Court's verdicton the contempt caseagainst him, in New Delhi,Monday. — PTI

CONS

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ACTU

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EXP

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TRIC

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AGRI

THE BIG SLIDE

-50.3%-47%

-39.3%

-23.3%

-10.3%-7%

+3.7%

Govtspendingtoo showsdecline

Tiger kills woman in MTRFIRST DEATH REPORTED IN DECADES

Representational image of Pangong Tso lake

Indian Army hasoccupied a few

heights in South Pangong Tso in apre-emptive strike to thwartChinese aggression plans on August29-30.���� Chinese army’s western theatrecommand has asked India to imme-diately withdraw the troops thathave “illegally crossed the LAC”.

THE STAND-OFF

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI

B. VIJAYALAKSHMI | DCCHENNAI, AUG. 31

With the Tamil Nadu gov-ernment on Sunday per-mitting temples to reopenon September 1 after a gapof over five months,HR&CE authorities aregearing up for a goodcrowd of devotees in thenext few days.

According to standardoperating proceduresissued by the state govern-ment, devotees shouldmaintain a distance of sixfeet from each other whilequeuing up at theentrance of the templeand while moving towardsthe sannadhis for dar-shan. Use of masks ismandatory and alcohol-based sanitizers will beplaced for cleaning thehands. Sanitizer dis-penser and thermal

screening provisions aremandatory at theentrance. Only asympto-matic people will beallowed.

A video which wentviral on the social mediaelaborated the system inplace, with SOPs, for devo-tees who will be visitingthe temple from Tuesday.The video, shot atParthasarathy Swamytemple in Triplicane, hadpriests and devotees wear-

ing masks. Staggering ofdevotees was also done toensure social distancingnorms with temple staffdirecting them at vantagepoints.

Speaking to DC,Kapaleeswarar templeExecutive Officer Kaverisaid, “We have put stan-dard operating proce-dures in place. Devoteeswill be allowed to havedarshan of LordVinayaka, Lord Muruga,Goddess Karpagambaland presiding deityKapaleeswarar at theentrance of their respec-tive sannadhis, nearDwarapalakas. After dar-shan of four deities, devo-tees must exit the templethrough the gate oppositeswami sannidhi. Devoteescan take vibhuthi andkumkum packets kept outside for them.”

Wary Chennai back on feet

SHORT TAKES

62 booked underGoondas Act in

ThoothukudiARULOLI M. | DCTHOOTHUKUDI, AUG. 31

Cracking down on anti-socialelements in the district, policehere booked 62 men under theGoondas Act, who were arrest-ed in various criminal cases inthe past two months, said dis-trict police superintendentJeyakumar.

This coastal district, being ahub for drug smuggling in thesouthern parts of the state,police here have intensifiedpatrolling along the coastalareas, and seized around 52 kgof ganja. “Thirty cases against39 ganja peddlers have beenregistered in just two monthson July and August,” saidJeyakumar, adding that policehad seized 3,063 kilograms ofgutka in the same period.

“So far, 56 men were arrestedand 54 cases registered for pos-sessing and selling gutka in thedistrict since July,” said thepolice officer, who too addedthat all possible steps toenhance police-public relation-ship.

South zone IG Murugan, whovisited the family of police con-stable Subramanian, who diedin his attempt to nab a murderaccused a couple of weeks agoin Thoothukudi district, laudedthe stringent measures takenby police here. He said thatpolice action had been intensi-fied against anti-social ele-ments to maintain law andorder in the district.

The IG also handed over acheque for `86,50,000 as thedepartment’s contribution tothe family of constableSubramanian.

House burgled inGuduvanchery

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

Gold jewels and cash were bur-gled from a locked house of afarmer in Guduvanchery. Theburglary came to light after theresidents returned home onMonday.

Police said Selvaraj, 45, a resi-dent of Perumattunallur is afarmer. The burglary happenedon Sunday when the family leftfor a relative’s wedding in thecity. According to sources, thefamily stayed there overnightand returned home on Mondayafternoon. When they reachedhome, the bureau was foundforced open and the contentswere strewn about. gold jewelsworth 30 sovereigns and `10,000in cash were stolen from thehouse. A complaint had beenlodged at the Guduvancherypolice station.

The Guduvanchery policehave registered a case. Thepolice were checking footagefrom CCTV cameras in the area.Further investigations are on.

CCTV footages help nabaccused: In an unrelated case,the Mangadu police havesolved a house break-in caseafter scrutinising footages from100 CCTV cameras and arrestedthree suspects, including a juve-nile.

The complainant, S. Prabuhad gone to his native placeafter locking his house locatedon Gerugambakkam on August11. When he returned homeafter a week he was shocked tofind that the lock of the housewas broken open and 20 sover-eigns gold was stolen from thesteel bureau. He complained tothe Mangadu police.

The Mangadu police began aninvestigation after scrutinisingCCTV cameras which wereinstalled fromGerugambakkam toMadurvoyal. After goingthrough footage of 100 CCTVdevices, police apprehendedSurya alias ‘Kosuru’ Surya, 20,of Tsunami quarters,Thiruvottiyur, Vignesh aliasVikki, 19 of Nerkundram and a17-year-old juvenile. A total of20 sovereigns of gold jewellerywere recovered from them.

Puducherry reports291 new corona cases

Puducherry: Puducherryreported seven more Covid-19

related fatalities pushing thedeath toll to 228 while 291

fresh cases were recorded, atop Health department offi-

cial said on Monday. The 291new cases were identified at

the end of examination of1,074 samples taking the

overall tally to 14,411, Directorof Health and Family Welfare

S. Mohan Kumar said in apress release. Seven patients

including a 70-year oldwoman succumbed to the

infection during the last 24hours ending 10 am today.

Mohan Kumar further said ofthe total 14,411 cumulative

cases, 4,849 were activewhile 9,334 patients hadrecovered and were dis-

charged.—PTI

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

A Public InterestLitigation has been filedin the Madras high courtto direct the state govern-ment to fix the price of thecement in accordance wi-th the Competition Actand also in the light of theorder passed by the Comp-etition Commission of In-dia dated August 31, 2016.

A division bench com-prising Justices M.M.Sun-dresh and R.Hemalathabefore whom the PIL filedby Coimbatore Corpora-tion Contractors WelfareAssociation representedby its Treasurer A.Amma-saiappan, came up forhearing ordered notice,returnable by four weeks,to the State Public WorksDepartment Secretary andIndustries and Commercedepartment secretary.

According to petitioner,the state PWD every yearwill issue RevisedStandard Schedule ofRates with Basic Rates inrespect of cost of Cement,

Steel, Sand, M-Sand,Bitumen, Labour,Materials, Head Loads,Conveyance in plains,Conveyance in Hills, Ratesof other constructionmaterials and Rates ofelectrical items of worketc., Which are basic forthe preparation of theestimate for every work.Normally, the StandardRates includes all thetaxes, freight charges,excise duty and VAT (NowGST). The RatesCommittee fixes theStandard Rates so that itshould be adopted in thepreparation of the esti-mate for that revenue year,he added.

He said the members ofthe petitioner associationwere all doing business incivil construction. TheCement was the essentialingredient for the con-struction. During July,2019 a bag of cement costwas `385 in Tamil Nadu.Five months back prior toJuly 2019 the cement wassold at `340 per bag. Thecement manufacturers inTamil Nadu have enteredinto an agreement withthemselves and withoutany reason they haveincreased the cost by 13.23percent and now thecement was sold at Rs 395per bag. The increase ofthe cost of the cement wasnot made on the basis ofany increase of cost of themanufacturing materials.Because of suddenincrease of the cementprice, their business washeavily affected. Theyhave entered into contractagreement with the gov-ernment and the generalpublic on the basis of thecost of the cement preva-lent at the time of agree-

ment. Because of the sud-den increase of thecement price by nearly13.23 per cent (during July2019), they have to incurheavy loss, he added.

He said the members ofthe petitioner haveemployed more than threelakh employees. Becauseof the increase of thecement price, the liveli-hood of the employees wasaffected. They could notgive quality work due tothe increase in the cementprice. The cement priceper bag in AndhraPradesh was `320,Karnataka `335,Telangana `320.

The construction indus-try in Andhra Pradesh hasalso protested against thefixation of the cementprice at `320 per bag.When compared to othersouthern states, the differ-ence of cement price inTamil Nadu was `65,which was higher thanother states. That apartthey have to pay the GSTat the rate of theincreased price.

Plea in HC to fix cement price in TN

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

Monday was the most hec-tic of days for malls andhotels which had to swinginto action on preparationfor the opening onTuesday all over TamilNadu. The surpriseannouncement late onSunday night left themonly a little time to fine-tune the SOPs and finalisethe protocols that willensure hygiene whileoffering their clients thebest safety features tokeep off the coronavirus.Furious sanitisation workwas set in motion as manypremium establishmentshad been virtually closedfor 160 days.

The new normal thatwill greet shoppers andvisitors will be in personalhygiene practices likeoffering handy sanitisers.The markings for socialdistancing were also inplace for those who willstart stepping out ofhomes in an adventurousway in the coming days asthey visit their favouriteshops and eating places.

“The opening of hotels iswelcome news,” saysZubin Songadwala,General Manager, ITCGrand Chola, AreaManager – ITC Hotels,South. Among the newthings that guests will beoffered at the group’s flag-ship in Guindy are one-time use cutlery, strictprotocols for contactlessdelivery of most servicesincluding pre-arrivalcheck-in of guests, safecar rides, PPEs for serversand security personneland clinical levels of safe-

ty and hygiene, includingin sanitised service trol-leys and pre-packagedsauces and condiments.“Grab & Go” and "Knock

& Drop" menus, whichensure zero contact, willbe a novelty when the newnormal kicks in.

To begin with, “BuffetArmours” may seem noveltoo but would soon enoughbe just a SOP at food sta-tions, besides sustainablefood selection, revisedseating norms and con-tactless snack and wel-come drink stations anddigital menus. The hotelwill also insist on a 30-minute interval betweenguests to ensure deepcleaning of salon spotsand tables and QR-enabledmenus in restaurants.

Malls are looking at put-ting into practice lessonsfrom AI to predict pat-terns after studying foot-

falls. The ensuring ofmaximum possible dis-tancing in use of escala-tors (at least two emptysteps between any twousers), sanitising of fre-quently used contactpoints like elevator but-tons and floor markingsfor social distancing areSOPs that will be in placeat opening time. It is notonly the commercialspaces that are welcomingthe reopening but alsoplaces of worship wherethe public spaces arebeing disinfected andpriests have been accus-tomed to wearing protec-tive masks as they havebeen conducting ritualsduring the severe lock-downs too.

Luxury hotels, malls go extra mile for SOPs in new normal

State govt issues elaborate SOPs for places of worship DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

The government has comeout with elaborate stan-dard operating proce-dures to be followed in thevarious religious placesthat would be opened tothe faithful from Tuesdaywith the view to prevent-ing the spread of coron-avirus.

Stressing mostly onsocial distancing, hygiene,cleanliness and non-touching of objects in thevarious places of worship,the norms fix the numberof people who could beallowed into an enclosureat one point of time.Similarly, it mandates the

use of audio recordings toplay music instead ofusing live performers orchoirs at all places of wor-ship and bans ablutionsand sharing of vessels,sprinkling of water and

such religious rituals thatmight help the spread ofthe virus.Requesting people above

65 years, with co-morbidi-ties, pregnant women,children below 10 years tostay away from the crowd-ed places, the SOPs layimmense stress on wear-ing masks, without whichno one should be allowedinto any premises, and thesix feet physical distancebetween two individuals.

Respiratory etiquetteshould be strictly fol-lowed. Coughing or sneez-ing should be done intotissue, handkerchief orflexed elbow while spit-ting is totally banned.Self-monitoring of healthand the use of ArogyaSetu App are recommend-ed. Importance should begiven on crowd manage-ment by providing park-ing facilities outside thepremises and earmarking

separate entry and exitpoints. Leaving shoes andfootwear inside own carsor in enclosures should beencouraged. Social dis-tancing should be fol-lowed in all shops, stalls,cafeteria, dining facilitiesand kitchens on premisesof the place of worshipand facilities should bemade for washing handsand legs with soap andwater.No offering of prasadam

or the serving of HolyCommunion or eventouching of idols or HolyBooks while offeringprayers and even premis-es should have a Covid-19Safety Committee to mon-itor the implementation ofSOPs. Separate SOPs have been

released for temples,mosques, churches, gurd-waras, Budhist Viharasand Jain and Parsi placesof worship.

Have darshan of deities, at a distance

Safe banqueting at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai.

The ancient Dhenupureeswarar Temple at Madambakkam getting ready for public darshan from Tuesday. — DC

With malls opening on Tuesdasy, workers spray disinfectant in a popular shopping mall on Anna Salai.— DC

MTC buses get a disinfecant spray at Pallavan House depot on Monday after the governmentannounced buses will be operated from Tuesday. — DC

The video, shot atParthasarathy Swamytemple in Triplicane,had archakas (priests)and devotees wearingmasks. Staggering ofdevotees was alsodone to ensure socialdistancing norms withtemple staff directingthem at vantagepoints

The new normal thatwill greet shoppersand visitors will be inpersonal hygienepractices like offeringhandy sanitisers. Themarkings for socialdistancing were alsoin place for those whowill start stepping out of homes in anadventurous way inthe coming days asthey visit theirfavourite shops andeating places

STATE pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

The presence of half adozen local criminals,armed with machetes, at aBJP event in a communityhall near Vandalur inChengalpattu districtcaused a flutter as policestormed in and whiskedthem away to the stationfor an enquiry.

Though the six armedmen claimed that they hadcome for the function,attended by StatePresident L. Murugan todistribute welfare meas-ures, at the behest of BJPlocal leaders with the viewto joining the party, policetook them away.

Some of the BJP func-

tionaries reportedly wentto the station and ques-tioned the police as to whythey had taken away peo-ple who had come to themeeting with the inten-tion of joining the party.But police reportedlyexplained to them theirbackground

The criminals, who werepart of the crowd of theBJP members and leadersin the hall, were identified

by some local people, whocalled in the police.

Reacting to the incident,a senior state leader ofBJP said that the partyhad no compulsion to ropein rowdies and anti-socialelements.

BJP is a growing partyand people from all overthe State were enthusiasti-cally enrolling them-selves, he said, adding thatthe State President wouldnot have known about theidentity of the six men ifthey were criminals.

He also said that it wasnot clear if the men hadcome to join the party orfor something else.

However, the BJP hadbeen drawing flak forenrolling several men

with criminal records oflate and one of its office-bearers was expelled afterhe was caught smugglingnarcotics near Trichy. So,later in the day, Murugan,while addressing themedia in Trichy, wasasked about the generalcharge that the BJP wastaking in criminals androwdies as party mem-bers.

He said anyone can jointhe party as it was not pos-sible to verify their back-ground beforehand.However, once they enrollthemselves in the party,they would be assessedand would be givenresponsibilities only ifthey were found to bewithout blemish.

Thugs with machetes at BJP Vandalur meet

SHORT TAKES

Cops donate `86.50Lto family of constablekilled by rowdyTuticorin, Aug 31:More than `86 lakh hasbeen mobilised by wayof voluntary contribu-tion by police personnelas relief to the family ofa constable killed in abomb attack by a histo-ry-sheeter here recently.A cheque for `86.50 lakhwas on Monday handedover to the family of PSubramanian, killed onAugust 18 when a specialteam of police person-nel, including him, wentto arrest Duraimuthu,who hurled two countrybombs at them atManakkarai here. Policeofficers and personnel inten districts in the SouthZone had voluntarillycontributed the amount,officials said. The che-que was given to Subra-manian's wife and hisfather by Inspector-Ge-neral of Police (SouthZone) S Murugan, De-puty Inspector-GeneralPraveen Kumar, and SPJeyakumar, they said.

Modi idlis be sold inSalem at `10

for 4 piecesCoimbatore, Aug. 31: 'ModiIdlis', priced at Rs 10 for fourpieces, named after the PrimeMinister, are all set to beoffered to the public at Salem,courtesy a senior BJP func-tionary. 'Modi idli' posters havebeen put up in various parts ofthe city as part of giving widepublicity to the initiative, abrainchild of BJP propagandacell state vice presidentMahesh. The posters have thepicture of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the left side,"four idlis for Rs 10" written onthe centre and a photograph ofMahesh.

"Lotus hero Mahesh presentsModi idly. Four idlis for Rs 10with sambar, to be introducedsoon in Salem. Made with mod-ern kitchen equipment, tastyand healthy," the posters read.

'Bharath' R Balasubramanian,BJP Tamil Nadu secretary,Media, said the plan was toopen 22 shops initially to sellthe idlis and depending on itssuccess, the number of outletswould be increased. Machineryfor the project, to make 40,000idlis per day has alreadyarrived and is expected to startnext week, he said. — PTI

Hubby stages dramaover wife’s murder,

arrestedDC CORRESPONDENTTIRUCHY, AUG. 31

Police here arrested a 30-year-old man for murdering his 26-year-old newly-wedded wife,allegedly for refusing to havesex with him, by pushing her inthe stagnated water pool insidethe Kollidam river at suburbVazhavandhipuram near herein the wee hours of Sunday.

It might be recalled that thedeceased, Christi Helan Rani,who got married with oneArulraj of the same area onlyon July 10, was brutally mur-dered by unidentified miscre-ants and her body thrown in awater pool inside the Kollidamriver. Police arrested thewoman’s husband, and he con-fessed of murdering his wife.

Over 1K participatein Madras Open

Quiz 2020Chennai: Chennai’s popularquizzing event, the Madras

Open Quiz donned a newavatar and went online thisyear. Hosted by renownedQuizmaster, Dr Sumanth C

Raman, this fun-filled quiz onNamma Madras had over

1000 participants at the pre-liminary round.

The top-scoring 6 individualsbattled it out in the final

round conducted virtually.This event was also webcast

live and was watched by over250 viewers. Sriram Sridharwon the Madras Open Quiz

2020 while Jayakanthan wasthe first runner up followed

by Tejas Venkataraman as thesecond runner-up, according

to a press release.

ANANTH MATHIVANAN |DC COIMBATORE, AUG. 30

For the first time, the for-est department had claimedthat the numbers of big catsin Coimbatore forest divi-sion has increased, account-ing to more than 10 in num-ber, and are proclaimed tobe healthy. While conserva-tionists, activists, wildlifephotographers and NGOshere are stressed over theserial deaths of wild ele-phants in the division, theforest department’s reportfor the first time aboutincrease in numbers oftigers in the Bolovampattyrange, has left them all sur-prised.

Recently, the departmentinstalled over 60 cameratraps to study and monitorelephant movement. But for-tunately, the camera trapsapart from elephants havealso recorded pictures oftigers, leopards and bears.

The number of tigers inCoimbatore forest divisionis recently estimated to bebetween 10 and 12, based onreports of field staff after

witnessing the presence of ahuge tiger in the interiorforest area of Bolovampattyrange.

According to DistrictForest Officer (DFO) DVenkatesh, in a joint tigermonitoring programme con-

ducted by WWF andCoimbatore forest division,few camera traps were keptin unspecified locationinside the Boluvampattirange, based on sign surveyexercise and the presence ofa healthy male tiger hasbeen confirmed by the cam-

era trap pictures within aweek of placing the cam-eras. This is the first tigerpresence recorded in thewatershed of Noyal river indecades.

This indicates a good eco-logical health status ofthick vegetation in theCoimbatore forest division,and also an indicator ofgood status of the protectionoffered by forest field staff.

The movement of tigersalso indicates that tigerbreeding areas ofMudhumalai andSathyamangalam tigerreserves possess good eco-logical integrity and tigersare successfully breedingand dispersing into neigh-boring parts of the land-scape from there, and set-tling down in areas withgood prey abundance.

Pictures of a leopard andsloth bear in the same areaalso indicate the high quali-ty of wildlife habitats in theforest. This is also the south-ernmost tiger presencerecorded in the WesternGhats, added theDFO.quashed the order ofthe RDO.

Rise in tiger count in Kovai forests

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

Tamil Nadu made historyas the first ever woman tobe appointed as ambu-lance driver in the coun-try, M Veeralakshmi,drove one of the 118 newambulances flagged off byChief Minister EdappadiK. Palaniswami onMonday.

Of the total 118 vehicles,90 were procured by thegovernment at a cost of Rs20.65 crore for the 108emergency service, 10 ofthem, bought for Rs 3.90crore, were blood dona-tion vehicles to be used bythe government bloodbanks and remaining 18ambulances, costing Rs1.26 lakh, were donated byZee EntertainmentEnterprises Ltd.

The 108 EmergencyService had a fleet of 1005ambulances and it hadbenefited over 1,00,20,000persons, the release said,adding that it was thosevehicles that were used toferry Covid-19 patients tohospitals and also to theirhomes after recovery dur-ing the pandemic.

The new 90 ambulances,fitted with life-savingequipment, and 10 blooddonation vehicles formedthe first batch of the 500ambulances, proposed tobe bought by the govern-ment at a cost of Rs 125crore.

The announcement onthe procurement of ambu-lances was made by theChief Minister at theState Assembly on March24, the release said.

Zee Entertainment thathad promised 45 ambu-lances for deployment inthe Coronavirus controlactivities had alsoreleased the 18 vehicles inthe first phase of theirdonation, the release said.

Besides taking part inthe event to mark thelaunch of the fleet ofambulances for publicservice, the ChiefMinister also issuedappointment orders tosome candidates chosenfor jobs in the healthdepartment.

CM flags off 118 ambulances

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, AUG. 31

Rich tributes were paid bypolitical leaders to formerPresident PranabMukerjee, who passedaway in New Delhi onMonday.

Governor BanwarilalPurohit described the lateleader as an outstandingparliamentariand and aStatesman par excellence.

In his statement, he saidhe was respected by every-one across all sections ofsociety and political par-ties. ‘He brought dignityto all posts he held andworked diligently andtirelessly for the commonman,’ he said.

Governor of Telangana,Tamilisai Soundarrajan,expressing her condo-lences to his grieving fam-ily, said Mukerjee was aman who upheld Indiantraditions and culture.

His death was a greatloss to the nation, saidChief Minister Edappadi

K Palaniswami, recallingtheir political career thatthe Congress leader had,heading a plethora of Ministries at theCentre.

Deputy Chief Minister OPannerselvam tweetedthat he was greatly sad-dened by his demise. Heprayed Almighty to givestrength and solace to hisfamily member to tideover this difficult time.

Born in Mirati, a smallhamlet in West Bengal, ina mud house, Mukerjeereached the pinnacle ofhis career by living in theRashtrapathi Bhavan,said DMK President M KStalin, adding that heachieved everythingthrough his efficiency andhard work.

PMK founder SRamadoss said Mukerjee,who was identified at ayoung age by IndiraGandhi, excelled in everyMinistry he headed.

Mukerjee guided thenation at various points of

time, said BJP StatePresident L Murugan,adding that he interactedwith people irres-pective of party differ-ences.

The Prince of Arcot,Nawab Mohammed AbdulAli, in his condolencemessage, said that 'one ofthe towering personalitiesand elderly stalwart in thecountry, our respected for-mer President of India,late Mr PranabMukherjee Saheb, washighly respected and willbe long remembered bymany, who admired andregarded him for hisnoble services to thenation, till his lastbreath.” He was a simpleliving and high thinkingpersonality, with a visionto strengthen the basicsecular fabric of thenation.

It will be very difficultto fill the vacuum left byPranab Mukherjee Saheb,the Prince of Arcot addedin his statement.

Condolences to Pranab

‘States must get their full duesof compensation in current yr’From P1“This support wassought, anticipatingshortfall in State tax rev-enues, but after assumingthat the States wouldreceive the entire GSTcompensation’, the ChiefMinister said, adding,‘Our stance has consis-tently been that theGovernment of India hasa moral and legal obliga-tion to pay the compensa-tion for the shortfall inGST collections.”

At the 41st GST Councilmeeting on August 27, theState Minister DJayakumar had suggestedthat the Government ofIndia could mobiliseresources and lend thefunds required to the GSTCompensation Fund andthat loan could be serv-iced through an extensionof the GST Cess for a fewyears beyond 2021-22.

But, Palaniswami saidhe was concerned aboutthe two options given tothe States after the meet-ing. One the States wouldborrow from the marketto make good the shortfallin compensation due.Two, the entire `2.35 lakhcrore could be borrowedby States.

Both options were unac-ceptable, Palaniswamisaid, adding “Whetherthe Government of Indiaborrows or the StateGovernments borrow, forrating agencies and oth-ers who monitor themacro-economic indica-tors, it is the overallGeneral Governmentdeficit.”

“Hence, I reiterate theGovernment of TamilNadu’s stance that theGovernment of Indiashould advance funds tothe GST CompensationCess fund, if need be byborrowing in the marketand service the debt by anextension of the compen-sation cess. Further, in aneffort to reduce the total

amount of borrowing in2020-21, an artificial dis-tinction is being drawnbetween GST implemen-tation based losses andCOVID-induced losses,”he said.

So, he requested thePrime Minister to directthe Ministry of Financeto agree to a mechanismin which the Governmentof India raises therequired funds and lendsit to the GSTCompensation Fundagainst future cessreceipts.

He also wanted thePrime Minister to ensurethat the States get theirfull dues of the compen-sation in the current yearitself, and reduce neitherthe compensation payablenor the alreadyannounced and commit-ted additional borrowingpermissible to States of 2percent of GSDP underthe Atma Nirbhar Bharatstimulus package in anycircumstances.

From P1

“Though all witnessed thetiger attack, nothing couldbe done to save the victim.”

The incident happenedaround 12 noon on Monday.Camera traps would beplaced in the area to traceand track tiger movement inthe vicinity adjoining thetribal village.”

Meanwhile, Madhan, hus-band of the deceased said,that their group would gen-erally venture into the Kall-allah area to graze cattle andgoats. “On Monday noon,when we were inside thewoods, a kilometer away

from Singara road, a tigersuddenly appeared from anearby bush and began to ta-rget a cow. When Gowri tri-ed to chase the cow to safety,the tiger attacked her anddragged her for a few metersinside the woods. She imme-diately died, and the tigerleft her body and vanishedinside the jungles.”

The incident has triggeredpanic among residents inand around Singara andMasinagudi villages, and aforest team has beenformed to monitor the areato track the movement ofthe tiger.

‘All witnessed tiger attack but could not save victim’

Jumbo attack: Man founddead on temple premisesDC CORRESPONDENTCOIMBATORE, AUG. 31

A 55-year-old construc-tion worker died aftersuffering a mild injurydealt by a ‘Makna ele-phant’ (tuskless male ele-phant) that enteredCoimbatore forests fromKerala, a couple of daysago.

Sources said Nagaraj,resident ofSeeranaickenpalayam,had on Sunday nightslept at the Thadagam

Eshwaran Kovil premis-es, allegedly after con-suming alcohol.

The Makna elephantwith an injured mouthwhich is now being treat-ed by forest officials, hadcome to the temple prem-ises in the early hours ofMonday, and attackedNagaraj, in which he suf-fered a mild hip injury.

The elephant hadmoved away withouthurting him any more.On hearing his cry, thenight watchman there

rushed in and helpedNagaraj by providinghim water frequently,even as he madeattempts to inform thepolice. Nagaraj hadstopped him from callingthe police, claiming thathe would go to the hospi-tal after sunrise, afterwhich the security manleft.

While the security mancame to the templearound 5:30 am, he wasshocked to see Nagarajdead.

CM requested thePrime Minister to directthe Ministry of Financeto agree to a mecha-nism in which theGovernment of Indiaraises the requiredfunds and lends it tothe GST CompensationFund against futurecess receipts

Six armed men claimedthat they had come for thefunction, attended byState President L. Muruganto distribute welfare meas-ures, at the behest of BJPlocal leaders with the viewto joining the party, policetook them away

DCCHENNAI, AUG. 31

Indian Institute ofTechnology Madras (IITM)researchers have used elec-troencephalogram (EEG) toassess their mental sharpness,especially during times of cri-sis.

The result of the research ledby a team headed by Prof.

Rajagopalan Srinivasan,Department of ChemicalEngineering, was publishedrecently in the peer-reviewedJournal of Computers andComputer Engineering.

Prof. Srinivasan said that theteam fixed sensors to the headsof six participants and hadthem perform eight tasks each.The nature of the tasks was tomonitor a typical industrial

section for any disturbanceswhich if not controlled, by theparticipant, in a given time frame can lead to acci-dents.

Thus, the nature of the jobrequired them to understandthe plant (industrial section)behaviour and take appropri-ate decisions and actions if anydisturbance occu-rred.

IIT-Mresearchers

use EEG toread mind

during crisis

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKES7 HURT IN FAILEDGRENADE ATTACKON ARMY CONVOY

MAOISTS KILLABDUCTED COP IN

CHHATTISGARH

MAN HELD FORHOISTING PAK

FLAG IN M.PRABINDRA NATHCHOUDHURY | DCBHOPAL, AUG. 31

A man in a Madhya Pradeshvillage was arrested for hoist-ing the national flag ofPakistan at his house, policesaid on Monday.

Faruq Khan (44), a residentof Shipra village in Dewas dis-trict, was arrested on Sundaynight under IPC section 153A(promoting enmity betweengroups on ground of religion,race, place of birth, residence,language and disturbing harmony) following a com-plaint filed by a local revenueofficer.

A video clip showing thePakistan flag fluttering atophis house has gone viral,prompting local tehsildar toorder the revenue inspector ofthe area Lakhan Singh tomake an on-the-spot enquiry.

Mr Singh recorded Khan’sstatement and then lodged acomplaint with the localpolice, leading to the latter’sarrest, industrial area policestation in-charge R.K. Sharmasaid.

DC CORRESPONDENTSRINAGAR, AUG. 31

Seven pedestrians sustainedsplinter injuries when a mili-tant tossed a hand grenade atan Army convoy passingthrough Aazad Gunj area ofJammu and Kashmir’s north-western Baramulla town onMonday.

The police and Army offi-cials said that the failedattempt on the Army convoywas made at around 1.15 pmbut the grenade thrown at itmissed the intended target, fellon the road and exploded caus-ing splinter injuries to civil-ians. The injured were evacu-ated to a nearby hospital fromwhere two of them were shift-ed to a Srinagar hospital forspecialised treatment, the offi-cials said.

A police spokesman heresaid, “The terrorists lobbed a(hand) grenade at an Armyconvoy near Aazad GunjBridge in Baramulla which,however, exploded on the roadresulting in injuries to sevencivilians. The police continueto work to establish the fullcircumstances of this terrorcrime incident.”

Defence spokesman, ColonelRajesh Kalia, said that theArmy convoy was movingtowards Srinagar fromBaramulla. He added, “Thearea has been cordoned offand search operation is inprogress”.

The police sources said thatno arrests were made duringthe search operation in thearea.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inspects a flood-affected area with Army jawans near Hoshangabad district on Monday.He assured farmers that all possible measures will be taken to compensate for their losses. “Farmers should not get worried about the losses.The government is in action and all possible measures will be taken to compensate them through crop insurance scheme and RBC (revenue bookcode) provisions,” he said. — PTI

Chief inspection Maha eases curbson travel, officesSHAHAB ANSARI | DCMUMBAI, AUG. 31

The Maharashtra govern-ment on Mondayannounced extension ofthe Coronavirus-inducedlockdown till midnight ofSeptember 30. Whilerestrictions on inter-dis-trict movement of per-sons and goods have beenlifted, schools, colleges,cinema halls and swim-ming pools will continueto remain closed tillSeptember end.

As per the new guide-lines issued, hotels andlodges will be allowed tooperate at 100 per centcapacity from September2. No separate permis-sion/approval/e-permitwill be required for thevehicles and persons trav-elling therein for suchmovements, the govern-ment said in its MissionBegin Again order thatencapsulated “Unlock”norms.

The Uddhav Thackeraygovernment also allowedpassenger movement byprivate bus/mini bus andother operators. However,metro rail services will bedisallowed. The states

Transport Commissionerwill issue the standardoperating procedure forthe same. The govern-ment said that outdoorphysical activities withno restrictions will beallowed.

Easing of restrictionscame even asMaharashtra continues toregister a record numberof new Coronavirus caseswith no flattening ofcurve in sight in the state.

The order further statedthat the Maharashtra gov-ernments Group A andGroup B officers canattend offices to 100 percent of their strengthacross the state fromSeptember 2. Other gov-ernment staffers canattend offices with 30 percent of their strength orminimum 30 employees,whichever is more, inareas under municipalcorporations in MumbaiMetropolitan Region,Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and others —all Covid-19 hotspots. Inthe rest of the state, thenon-Group A and GroupB staffers can attendoffice to the extent oftheir 50 per cent strength.

India may overtake US in Oct.in number of Covid-19 casesDelhi breaches 2,000-mark indicating that the curve is rising againDC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, AUG. 31

After being admitted toAIIMS for post-Covid care,Home Minister Amit Shahwas discharged onMonday after 13 days.

During his stay inAIIMS, the minster wasattending to all his officialwork from the hospitalitself.

Ministry officialsclaimed that Shah waslikely to attend his NorthBlock office in the nextcouple of days.

He was discharged fromAIIMS on Monday ataround 7 am.

Shah was admitted toAIIMS on August 18 afterhe complained of “fatigueand body ache” havingrecovered from Corona.

Earlier, the HomeMinister was admitted tothe Medanta hospital inGurgaon after he testedpositive for theCoronavirus.

Shah had himself tweet-ed on August 14 that hewould be in home isola-tion for a few more days onthe advice of his doctorseven after recovering.

Ministry officialsclaimed that Shah had

now recovered completely. Meanwhile, home min-

istry, which is the nodalagency for administrativeissues related to Corona, isputting in place a detailedblueprint to deal with thecrisis as India recorded itsbiggest increase in casesof 78,761 on Monday.

It is estimated that Indiawill overtake Brazil nextmonth and US in Octoberwith most Corona cases inthe world.

Delhi too breached the2,000-mark on Mondayafter nearly two monthsindicating that Coronacurve was once again onthe rise.

Now that limited opera-tions of metro are likely toresume from September 7,officials felt that therecould be a sharp increasein cases.

Thus, efforts are beingmade to further strength-en the health infrastruc-ture, particularly on avail-ability of beds, in all thestates.

Home ministry has alsopermitted states to decideon their lockdown sched-ule though advising themto ensure that supplychain of essential com-modities is not disrupted.

DC CORRESPONDENTSAUG. 31:

Vijayawada: AndhraPradesh has crossed onelakh mark of Covid-19active cases on Monday.The state has now 1,00,276cases with the addition of10,004 cases in the last 24hours.

The state health authori-ties said the Covid-19 posi-tive tally in the state nowis 4,34,771 while the deathtoll was up by 85 at 3,969.

East Godavari continuesto top the state by regis-tering the highest numberof 1,383 new Coronavirusinfections followed by1,142 in West Godavari,1,023 in Srikakulam, 1,086in Nellore, 973 inAnantapur, 936 inChittoor, 686 in Kurnool,634 in Visakhapatnam, 540in Vizianagaram, 524 inPrakasam, 498 in Guntur,420 in Kadapa and 159 inKrishna.

1,873 more cases in Telangana

Hyderabad: Covid-19cases showed a significantdrop on Sunday inTelangana due to anequally steep fall in thenumber of people testedfor the disease. The healthdepartment on Mondaysaid fresh Covid-19 casesregistered betweenSaturday and Sundayevening were 1,873, downfrom 2,924 the day before.The number of Covid-19determination tests fell to37,791 from 61,148 onSaturday. As per theCovid-19 bulletin, ninemore persons lost theirlives taking the toll to 827.

Kerala's Covid tally crosses 75K mark

Thiruvananthapuram:Kerala's Covid-19 tallycrossed the 75,000 mark

with the addition of 1,530fresh cases on Monday.While the number of posi-tive cases rose to 75,384,seven more deaths tookthe toll to 294.

At least 1,693 peoplewere discharged, takingthe total of cured to 51,542."Currently, there are23,488 people under treat-ment in the state," healthminister K.K. Shailajasaid in a release here.

6,495 new cases, 113 deaths in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Karnatakaon Monday reported 6,495new cases of Covid-19 and113 related fatalities, tak-ing the total number ofinfections to 3,42,423 anddeath toll to 5,702. The dayalso saw 7,238 patients get-ting discharged afterrecovery. Out of 6,495fresh cases reported onMonday, 1,862 cases werefrom Bengaluru urban.

Active cases in AndhraPradesh cross 1-lk mark

Gandhis helpedPranab moveahead in careerDC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, AUG. 31

The political journey ofPranab Mukherjee beganin 1969 when he becamethe election manager ofV.K. Krishna Menon, whowas contesting as anIndependent. IndiraGandhi got him into theCongress and sent him tothe Rajya Sabha. His riseunder Mrs Gandhi wasmeteoric. At 47, hebecame India’s youngestfinance minister in 1982.He was one of the fewleaders who stood byIndira when she imposedEmergency in 1975 andwhen she split theCongress in 1978.

After the assassinationof Indira Gandhi in 1984,he fell from favour as thenPM Rajiv Gandhi and hiscoterie felt Mukherjee, asthe seniormost Cabinetminister, saw himself asthe rightful heir to thethrone. Rajiv not onlydropped Mukherjee fromthe Cabinet but alsoexpelled him from theparty.

Mukherjee formed hisown political party —Rashtriya SamajwadiCongress — in 1986. In1989, Mukherjee wasrecalled and he merged hisoutfit with the Congress.

Rajiv Gandhi later saidmany things told to himabout Mukherjee were“untrue”. In Mukherjee’swords – “to return to thequestion of why he (Rajiv)dropped me from theCabinet and expelled mefrom the party, all I can sayis that he made mistakes,and so did I. He let othersinfluence him and listed totheir calumnies againstme. I let my frustrationovertake my patience.”

After Rajiv Gandhi’sassassination, Mukherjeereturned to the govern-ment as external affairsminister under P.V.Narasimha Rao, whilethen RBI governorManmohan Singh becamefinance minister.

Once again he missedthe coveted throne whenSonia Gandhi chose DrSingh to lead the UPA.Even if he was “upset”,Mukherjee did not let thatinfluence his work and in2004-2014 he was headingmost of the groups of min-isters.

The Gandhi family alsoseemed reluctant at firstabout nominating him forPresident. Some say theGandhi family (post-Indira) “could never fullytrust Pranab da”. It wasthe Left which helped himget the nomination.

India will see fewer female births by 2030New Delhi, Aug. 31: Anestimated 6.8 millionfewer female births will berecorded across India by2030 due to sex-selectiveabortions, according to astudy. The study also proj-ects that the highestdeficit in the birth of girlswill occur in UttarPradesh.

Researchers from KingAbdullah University ofScience and Technology(KAUST), Saudi Arabia,and Universite de Paris,France, noted that therehas been a reported imbal-ance in India in the sexratio at birth (SRB) since

the 1970s due to the emer-gence of prenatal sexselection and the culturalpreference for malebabies. Unlike other coun-tries affected by suchimbalances, India isunique in its regionaldiversity of sex ratioimbalance, they said.

Previous projections ofsex ratio at birth in Indiahave been constructed atthe national level or werebased primarily on expertopinion rather than repro-ducible modelling.

In the latest study, pub-lished in the journal PLOSONE, researchers project-

ed the SRB in the 29 Indianstates and seven union ter-ritories (UTs), which cov-ered 98.4 per cent of thetotal population of Indiaas of the year 2011.

Among the 21 Indianstates or UTs with highquality birth data, 17 sho-wed a positive effective ofson preference on the SRB,with the highest SRBs con-centrated in the mostnorthwestern states orUTs, the researchers said.

The team found that, inparticular, the effect ofson preference is statisti-cally significant in ninestates or UTs.

“We project that thehighest deficits in femalebirths will occur in UttarPradesh, with a cumula-tive number of missingfemale births of 2 millionfrom 2017 to 2030,” theresearchers said.

“For the whole of India,summing up the 29 state-level projections, thecumulative number ofmissing female births dur-ing 2017 to 2030 is project-ed to be 6.8,” they wrote inthe study.

The average annualnumber of missing femalebirths between 2017 and2025 is projected to be

4,69,000 per year and isprojected to increase to5,19,000 per year for thetime period 2026 to 2030,according to theresearchers.

The projects representan essential input for pop-ulation projection modelsin India, especially at thesub-national level, theyadded.

In India, sex-selectiveabortions and prenatal sexdiscernment tests werebanned in 1994 under thePre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techn-iques (Prohibition of SexSelection) Act. — PTI

Study projects that highest deficit in birth of girls will occur in UPBIRTH | DATA

DC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, AUG. 31

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) onMonday grilled Goa hote-lier Gaurav Arya in con-nection with actorSushant Singh Rajput’ssuicide and possible laun-dering of his money asper allegations of hisfather. Arya’s namecropped up after sometext messages on nar-cotics substances wereallegedly shared betweenRhea Chakraborty, themain accused in the case,and him.

The Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) is also like-ly to grill Arya in connec-tion with the drugs angle.The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) mean-while grilledChakraborty for thefourth consecutive day onMonday.

The ED began question-ing Arya from 10.30 am atthe agency’s southMumbai office to undergoscrutiny on whetherthere was any launderingof money and on the nar-cotics messages that wereexchanged in 2017. Thetext messages were latershared with the NCB andthe CBI by the ED. Aryahas however refuted theallegations saying he nei-ther ever peddled drugs

nor spoke to Rhea tilldate.

The EnforcementDirectorate earlier ques-tioned Rhea, her brotherShowik and two sisters ofRajput apart from hischartered accountant andother staffers.

Meanwhile, the CBIagain summonedChakraborty on Mondayfor questioning at theirDRDO guest house inSantacruz. “Chakrabortyand her brother Showik,Rajput’s cook NeerajSingh were questioned onMonday. They may besummoned again as theprobe progresses,” saidan officer privy to theinvestigation.

On Sunday, Rhea wasquestioned for aroundnine hours. She alongwith some other accusedin the case have beengrilled by the ED on mul-tiple occasions before theCBI took over the probe.

SANJAY BASAK | DC NEW DELHI AUG. 31

A magazine once describedhim as “The man whoknew too much.”

Pranab Mukherjee, for-mer President was the “vet-eran insider” in the corri-dors of power. The man,who apparently had “thememory of an elephant.”Pranab, the treasure troveof political secrets was anavid diary writer as well.

His much talked about‘Red Diary’ is apparentlythe “truthful account of hispolitical journey.” It isbelieved that this diary ifever published could stirthe hornet’s nest in Indian

politics. In his e-book - Akothito

Pranab (Untold Pranab),journalist and author,Goutam Lahiri wrote thatPranab Mukherjee hadsaid, “My Red Diary willnever be published. It willbe cremated along with mybody.” There were specula-tions that he would eventu-ally handover his ‘RedDiary’ to his daughterSharmishtha.

Pranab Mukherjee’s,political journey began inWest Bengal in 1969, as theelection agent for V.K.Krishna Menon, who wascontesting a Lok Sabha by-election as an independentcandidate.

In his 50-odd years, hewas the ultimate insider.He had a vast network ofkey political players, cut-ting across party lines. Hewas not only close to theCPI(M) leader and the thenWest Bengal chief minister,Jyoti Basu but had ofteninvited RSS chief, MohanBhagwat to RashtrapatiBhawan during his tenureas the President.

He had powerful alliesand equally powerful ene-mies.

The man, who was virtu-ally “number two” duringthe rule of Indira Gandhiwas expelled from theparty by her son, RajivGandhi. Rajiv influenced

by Congress leaders, likeArun Nehru, A.B.A. GaniKhan Chowdhury, BalaramJhakhar among the few notexcluded Mukherjee fromUnion Council ofMinisters but laterexpelled him.

He was told that Pranabnurtured the ambition ofbeing the Prime Ministerafter the assassination ofIndira Gandhi in 1984.

Lahiri in his e-bookrecounts the details of this“misunderstanding.”

Lahiri writes, “RajivGandhi (on his way toDelhi from Bengal) soughtPranab’s advice on “whoafter Indira”.

Mukherjee reminded that

when Jawaharlal Nehrudied in 1964 and LalBahadur Shastri in 1966,the senior-most cabinetminister, Gulzari LalNanda was appointed asacting PM.

Pranab Mukherjee wasnumber two in IndiraGandhi’s cabinet. Thisapparently was distortedand the coterie close toRajiv Gandhi indicatedthat Pranab was pitchingfor himself.

This was the beginning ofPranab’s fall during RajivGandhi’s tenure. However,hit by Bofors scam, a revoltby V.P. Singh later forcedRajiv Gandhi to get Pranabback into Congress in 1988.

Pranab wanted ‘Red Diary’ to be cremated with him

ED questionsGoa hotelier

DC CORRESPONDENTBHOPAL, AUG. 31

Suspected Maoists killed anassistant sub-inspector whowas abducted by them atMengapat under Kutru policestation in Chhattisgarh’ssouth Bastar district ofBijapur on Sunday evening.

Body of Korsa Naigaiya (59),posted in Kutru police station,was recovered at Ketulnarnearly two km from Mengapaton Monday, a senior Bijapurdistrict police officer said.

The slain cop had taken afortnight’s leave to visit hishome in Dantewada in southBastar and started forDantewada on his bike onSunday evening, police said.

He was abducted by Maoistsat Mengapat, nearly five kmfrom his place of posting atKutru.

His abduction came to lightwhen the police found his bikeabandoned in Mengapat.

“A search operation waslaunched by security forces torescue him. His body wasrecovered at a deserted placein Ketulnar. A Maoist leafletwas found near his body”,police said.

In another incident, a Naxalwas gunned down in anencounter with security forcesunder Pushav police station inDhamtari district inChhattisgarh on Monday.

The slain has been identifiedas Ravi, member of GabraLocal Organisation Squad ofCPI (Maoist).

Sushant Singh Rajput

�� THE BODY of KorsaNaigaiya (59), posted in Kutrupolice station, was recoveredat Ketulnar nearly two kmfrom Mengapat on Monday, asenior police officer said.

Strike chief held inBelarus crackdownMinsk, Aug. 31:Belarus’ authorities onMonday detained theorganiser of a strike at atop industrial plant, partof a methodical effortto stifle weeks ofprotests demandingthe resignation of thecountry’s authoritari-an leader of 26 yearsafter an election theopposition denouncedas being rigged.

President AlexanderLukashenko has dis-missed the protestersas Western puppetsand rejected theEuropean Union’soffers of mediation.After a ferocious crack-down on demonstra-tors in the first daysafter the August 9 votethat caused interna-

tional outrage, his gov-ernment has avoidedlarge-scale violenceagainst demonstrators.

— AP

WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

Juba, Aug. 31: Sudanese lead-ers and rebel commandersagreed Monday on a historicpeace deal, a crucial steptowards ending 17 years of con-flict in which hundreds ofthousands of people werekilled.

Leaders of the SudanRevolutionary Front (SRF), anumbrella organisation of rebelgroups from the westernregion of Darfur and the south-ern states of South Kordofanand Blue Nile, raised their fistsin celebration after inking theagreement.

Fighting in Darfur alone leftaround three lakh people deadafter rebels took up arms therein 2003, according to the UnitedNations, with former govern-ment leaders accused of carry-ing out genocide and of crimesagainst humanity.

Conflict in South Kordofanand Blue Nile erupted in 2011,in the wake of South Sudan'sindependence, resuming twodecades of war.

“I congratulate all in Sudanon reaching a historic compre-hensive peace that addressedthe roots of the problem andended the war, God willing,”said Gibril Ibrahim, command-er of one of rebel groups, theJustice and EqualityMovement (JEM).

He paid tribute to all thosekilled or affected by the longyears of war.

Sudanese paramilitary com-

SUDAN, REBELSSTRIKE DEALTO END ROW

IN BRIEFNod to Amazondrone delivery

San Francisco: Amazon onMonday said a freshly-issued

Federal AviationAdministration certificate has

cleared the launch pad fordrone deliveries in the US.

“This certification is an impor-tant step forward for PrimeAir and indicates the FAA’s

confidence in Amazon’s oper-ating and safety procedures

for an autonomous dronedelivery service that will oneday deliver packages to our

customers,” Amazon VP DavidCarbon said. “We will contin-ue to develop and refine ourtechnology to fully integratedelivery drones into the air-

space,” he said. — AFP

Chinese-born Ozjournalist held

Sydney: A Chinese-bornAustralian journalist for CCTV-

News, the English-languagechannel of China Central

Television, has been detainedin China, Australia’s govern-

ment said Monday. Australianofficials had a consular visit

with Cheng Lei at a detentionfacility via video link on

Thursday, foreign ministerMarise Payne said in a state-

ment. They will continue toprovide assistance and sup-

port to her and her family,Australia had been informedby Chinese authorities of herdetention, but made its first

public announcement onMonday. — Agencies

2 die in UAErestaurant blastAbu Dhabi: A powerful blast

ripped through a restaurant inthe UAE’s capital here on

Monday, killing two persons,police said. A number of peo-ple were injured in the explo-sion which took place at the

fast food restaurant in a build-ing on Rashid Bin Saeed

Street, according to a news-paper report. According to

on-site investigations, the inci-dent was caused by a mis-

alignment in the gas containerfittings following refuelling,the Abu Dhabi Media Office

said. Emergency responseteams evacuated residents of

the building and cordoned offthe area. — PTI

Indian-origin leader underlines need to focus on foreigners’ living conditionsINDIA | ABROAD

Singapore, Aug. 31:Pritam Singh, Singapore’sIndian-origin politicianscripted history onMonday when the city-state’s Parliament con-ferred the duties and privi-leges to him as the coun-try’s first Leader of theOpposition.

Singh’s Workers’ Partywon 10 parliamentaryseats out of the 93 it con-tested in the July 10General Election, makingit the biggest oppositionpresence in Singapore’sparliamentary history.

As the House began pro-ceedings on Monday, one ofthe first orders of business

was a ministerial state-ment by the Leader of theHouse Indranee Rajah onformally recognisingSingh, 43, as the country’sfirst Opposition leader.

Addressing Parliament,Singh underlined the needto focus on foreigners andtheir living conditions. Hesaid how foreign workersare managed and accom-modated needs to beimproved.

Their (foreigners) pres-ence gives Singapore avitality that keeps us eco-nomically relevant andalso provides jobs andopportunities to our fellowSingaporeans. Many of us

count the foreigners in ourmidst — regardless ofrace, language or religion— as our friends, ChannelNews Asia quoted Singh assaying.

It is precisely because weneed foreigners to helppower our economy thatwe need to pay more atten-tion to the Singaporeworker... some of whomfeel excluded from (the)opportunities created intheir homeland, Singhsaid.

The House passed amotion to double Singh’sspeaking time from 20minutes — which is allot-ted to backbenchers — to

40 minutes, the durationallotted to office holders.

Singh took the seatdirectly opposite PrimeMinister Lee in the cham-ber. This is similar to thepractice in other countriesthat formally recognisethe role of the Leader ofthe Opposition, Indraneepointed out. Singh calledon the Ministry ofManpower to publish thenames of “recalcitrant”employers who do not givelocals a fair chance in hir-ing and promotion. TheMOM had recently placed47 companies on the FairConsideration Framework(FCF) watchlist. — AP

Pritam Singh is Singapore’s first Leader of Oppn

US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien speaks next to US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner (centre) andHead of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat (left) in front of an airplane of El Al at the tarmac ofAbu Dhabi airport, following the arrival of the first-ever commercial flight from Israel to the UAE, on Monday. TheUS-Israeli delegation took off on a historic first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi to mark the nor-malisation of ties between the Jewish state and the UAE. — AFP

Berlin, Aug. 31: GermanChancellor Angela Merkelon Monday condemned as“shameful” an attempt byprotesters angry atCoronavirus restrictionsto storm Parliament, say-ing they had abused theright to demonstratepeacefully.

Several hundred peopletried to get into theReichstag building duringa rally against Corona-virus rules in Berlin onSaturday.

“This right to demon-strate peacefully is ofcourse a very valuableasset even during a pan-demic,” Merkel’s spokes-man Steffen Seibert saidat a government pressconference in Berlin.

However, he said theiractions were “a clearabuse”.

“The result was dis-graceful images at theReichstag which are unac-ceptable, anti-democratstrying to make themselvesheard on the steps of ourdemocratic Parliament,”he said.

Police estimated 38,000people, double the numberexpected, gathered inBerlin on Saturday toprotest at restrictionsimposed to curb thespread of theCoronavirus, such aswearing masks and socialdistancing. Several hun-dred broke through barri-ers and a police cordon toclimb the steps leading tothe entrance to theReichstag. They were nar-rowly prevented from

entering the building bypolice, who used pepperspray and arrested severalpeople.

Merkel praised as“quick-witted and brave”three police officers whowere seen pushing backcrowds from the entranceto the Reichstag aloneuntil reinforcementsarrived. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier onMonday invited the offi-cers to Berlin's BellevuePalace to thank them fortheir work. He describedthe protesters’ actions as“despicable”, adding: “Wewill not tolerate any anti-democratic smear cam-paign or disparagement ofthe Federal Republic ofGermany at the

Bundestag.” About 300people were arrested inscuffles with police, infront of the Reichstag butalso outside the Russianembassy, where protesterspelted police with bottles.

Resistance toCoronavirus restrictionsin Germany has gatheredpace in recent weeks withdemos attracting a diversecrowd of conspiracy theo-rists, anti-vaxxers and far-right or far-left activists.

Health minister JensSpahn was spat on at theweekend as he tried totalk to protesters inBergisch Gladbach.Seibert condemned theincident, saying it was”certainly not democraticdialogue”. —AFP

Merkel condemns‘shameful’ virus stir38,000 had gathered in Berlin on Saturdayto protest restrictions to curb Coronavirus

Trump seizes on protests,Dems slam him for tensionWashington, Aug. 31:Democrats accusedPresident Donald Trumpof trying to inflame racialtensions and incite vio-lence to benefit his cam-paign after he praised sup-porters who clashed withprotesters during a deadlynight in Portland, Oregon.and announced he willtravel to Kenosha,Wisconsin, amid angerover the shooting ofanother Black man bypolice.

Trump unleashed a flur-ry of tweets and retweetsthe day after a man identi-fied as a supporter of aright-wing group was shotand killed in Portland.The city has been the siteof months of dailyprotests, and a large cara-van of Trump supportersand Black Lives Matterprotesters clashedSaturday night. Trumppraised the caravan par-ticipants as ‘GREATPATRIOTS!’ and retweetedwhat appeared to be thedead man’s name alongwith a message to ‘Rest inpeace’.

Trump also retweetedthose who blamed thecity’s Democratic mayorfor the death.

“The people of Portland,like all other cities & partsof our great Country, wantLaw & Order,” Trumpwrote Sunday. “TheRadical Left DemocratMayors, like the dummyrunning Portland, or theguy right now in his base-ment unwilling to lead oreven speak out againstcrime, will never be ableto do it!”

Trump has throughout

the summer castAmerican cities as undersiege by violence and law-lessness, despite the factthat most of the demon-strations against racialinjustice have been large-ly peaceful. With about

nine weeks until ElectionDay, some of his adviserssee an aggressive “law andorder” message as the bestway for the President toturn voters against hisDemocratic rival, JoeBiden. — AP

Portland, Aug. 31: StatePolice will return toPortland to help localauthorities after the fatalshooting of a man follow-ing clashes betweenPresident Donald Trumpsupporters and counter-protesters that led to anargument between thepresident and the mayorover who was to blame forthe violence.

Protesters were back onthe streets for a demon-stration Sunday night out-

side a public safety build-ing. Police declared anunlawful assembly andarrested 29 people. Two ofthose arrested had hand-guns and others hadknives and at least onehad an expandable baton,police said.

Many wore helmets, gasmasks, goggles and exter-nal armour. Police saidsome carried shields andreflective squares used toreflect police lights backtoward officers. — AP

State cops in Portlandto probe clashes death

Paris, Aug. 31: Germanyon Monday urged Moscowto step up its efforts toinvestigate the apparentpoisoning of oppositionleader Alexei Navalnywho is currently beingtreated at a Berlin hospi-tal in a coma.

Foreign minister HeikoMaas said in an addressto French ambassadorsthat Europe needed “con-structive” relations withRussia for the sake of thecontinent’s own securitybut it was clear now that“dark clouds” were hang-ing over bilateral ties.

“Of course we have theexpectation that Russiashould contribute more toclearing up of theNavalny case than it isdoing at the moment,” hesaid alongside Frenchcounterpart Jean-Yves LeDrian. Berlin’s Charitehospital said on Fridaythere was “some improve-ment” in Navalny's condi-tion, but the 44-year-oldremains in a medicallyinduced coma and on aventilator. Navalny fell illafter boarding a plane inSiberia earlier thismonth. — AFP

Germany tells Russiato probe poisoning

London, Aug. 31: ABritish Sikh soldier’s pro-motion within the UKArmy ranks has become asocial media sensationafter the news posted byhis proud wife attractedthousands of messagesand comments.

Corporal ChamandeepSingh, a Punjab-born sol-dier in the Royal LogisticCorps (RLC) of the BritishArmy, attended a military

school in India for 12years.

During this period, heread about another Indiansoldier, Havildar MajorRajinder Singh Dhatt, andhis heroic involvement inthe Burma campaign ofWorld War II. The story ofthis Sikh war veteran,along with Singh’s ownfather having served in theIndian Army, inspired himto move to the UK. — AP

UK Sikh soldier getspromoted, goes viral

Kansas City, Aug. 31:Four people were shot andinjured Sunday at a nightclub in Kansas City,Missouri, where a massshooting occurred inJanuary, police said.

Kansas City Policespokesman Sgt JakeBecchina said the latestshooting at the 9ine UltraLounge was reportedaround 2.30 a.m. Sunday.

Investigators said theshooting was related to anargument that startedinside the club and thenmoved outside where sev-eral people fired shots.

One victim found at thescene with several gun-shot wounds was taken toa hospital. Three othersarrived separately at hos-pitals. All four victimsremained stable. — AP

4 hurt in shootingat Kansas City club

CORONAVIRUSCASES IN U.S.NEAR 6 MILLIONNew York, Aug. 31:The United Statesneared six millionCoronavirus cases onSunday, nearly a quarterof the planet’s total, asnations around theworld battle to containthe raging pandemic.

Global Coronavirusinfections soared past 25million, as countriestightened restrictions tohalt the health crisisthat has upended life formost of humanity.

A million additionalcases have been detectedglobally roughly everyfour days since mid-July,according to an AFPtally, with India onSunday setting therecord for the highestsingle-day rise in caseswith 78,761.

The United States, hadrecorded 5.99 millioncases of infection as of0030 GMT Monday,according to JohnsHopkins University’stracker. The death toll isjust over 183,000. The UShit five million casesthree weeks ago, just 17days after reaching fourmillion, the trackersaid.

The virus has hobbledthe US economy andcast a shadow overPresident DonaldTrump’s once-promis-ing re-electionprospects. — AP

Lebanon’s PM-designate vows reformsBeirut, Aug. 31: Lebane-se Prime Minister-desig-nate Mustapha Adibvowed Monday to swiftlylaunch a reformist gov-ernment and seek interna-tional financial assistanceafter the Beirut blast deep-ened a political and eco-nomic crisis.

In a televised speechafter his nomination,Lebanon’s former ambas-sador to Germany saidthere is “a need to form a

government in recordtime and to begin imple-menting reforms immedi-ately, starting with anagreement with theInternational MonetaryFund”.

Adib faces the nearlyimpossible challenge ofembodying change afterbeing picked by the politi-cal establishment.

Adib’s name onlyemerged on Sunday toreplace Hassan Diab,

whose governmentresigned in the aftermathof the deadly August 4blast at Beirut port.

The 48-year-old was bornin the northern city ofTripoli and is a SunniMuslim, making him eligi-ble to become PrimeMinister under Lebanon’ssectarian-based power-sharing system.

His biography on theBerlin embassy websitepresents him as an aca-

demic who holds a PhD inpolitical science. It says hehas conducted “researchand expert work in theareas of both human andstate security, parliamen-tary oversight of the secu-rity sector, decentralisa-tion and local democracy,and electoral laws”.

From 2000 to 2004, heserved as an adviser toNajib Mikati, a billionaireand former prime minis-ter. — AFP

Beijing, Aug. 31: Thegovernment in China’s farnorthwest Xinjiangregion is resorting to dra-conian measures to com-bat the Coronavirus,including sprayingdetainees with acidic dis-infectant, physically lock-ing residents in homes,imposing strict quaran-tines of more than 40 daysand arresting those whodo not comply.

Furthermore, in whatexperts call a breach ofmedical ethics, some resi-dents are being coercedinto swallowing tradition-

al Chinese medicinedespite a lack of rigorousclinical data proving itworks, according to gov-ernment notices, socialmedia posts, and inter-views with three people inquarantine in Xinjiang.

One middle-aged Uighurwoman said that when shewas detained at the heightof China’s Coronavirusoutbreak, she was forcedto drink a medicine thatmade her feel weak andnauseous. She and othersin her cell had to stripnaked once a week asguards hosed them and

their cells down with dis-infectant, she said.

“It was scalding,”recounted the woman byphone from Xinjiang,declining to be named outof fear of retribution.“My hands were ruined,my skin was peeling.”

The latest gruelling lock-down, now in its 45th day,comes in response to 826cases reported in Xinjiangsince mid-July, China’slargest caseload since theinitial outbreak.

The lockdown is espe-cially striking because ofits severity. — AP

China carries out forcedmedication on Uighurs

Israeli flight in UAE

Aides want Don to give aggressive message on law, order

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI

As the Centre and states open up more sectors and allow the resump-tion of further activities from Tuesday, September 1, as India beginsthe “Unlock 4.0” phase, it is important not to forget how the pan-demic is spiralling across the country, with daily coronavirus cases

crossing 80,000 Sunday, the highest anywhere in the world. The last week ofAugust witnessed a huge spurt in cases, and not just in Maharashtra andsome southern states but also Delhi, that earlier seemed to have the num-bers under control. And while there has also been a considerable increase inthe number of tests per day, which is likely to rise, there is no hard evidenceto say the rise in infections detected is primarily due to the increased testing– as health officials and the government fondly hope.

One really wonders how the Centre and state governments are confidentthat this is the right moment to open more activities. Schools/colleges willremain shut till September 30, but the authorities have decided to go aheadwith the JEE and NEET exams for medical and engineering admissions,which will expose thousands of students across the country to the risk ofcontracting the virus. Also, teachers and some students from Classes 9 to 12might be called to schools for “guidance” from later in September, the firsttime most will come into physical contact with each other since March –which again appears to be an avoidable step.

Most important, the government’s decision to allow the resumption ofMetro rail services – even if in a staggered manner – appears premature. Toallow public transport buses (with 20 people allowed and with seats spacedout; or taxis or autos, with two/three passengers) is one thing, but the Metrotrains carry thousands of passengers travelling in close proximity, not tomention the thousands who will collect at Metro stations even if the capaci-ty on the trains is restricted. All this creates a situation which might facili-tate the spread of the virus. A serious rethink needs to be done prior toSeptember 7, when Metro services are set to resume, and it should be per-mitted only in those areas where the Covid-19 pandemic is completely undercontrol. That, unfortunately, is not yet the case in any of India’s majormetropolises.

From September 21, social, religious, political, academic and sports func-tions can be held with up to 100 people, and weddings and funerals (nowallowed with lesser numbers) will be permitted with 100 people. This, in ourview, is also premature, and should wait till things stabilise further. The fes-tival season is fast approaching, and it is vital to set strict norms now toensure that low-key celebrations are held which will not endanger people’slives. There is, of course, the counter-argument: that we must “learn to livewith Covid” till a vaccine is found and distributed, which might take up to ayear, and that people cannot put off economic and other activities indefi-nitely. The lockdown that India imposed in March was one of the world’sharshest – which severely hurt a lot of people and its benefits remain debat-able. But now we might be swinging to the other extreme – rapidly openingup activities without considering all the consequences. We need to find a bal-ance – and move a little slower.

The stalemate in the process of preparing the Supreme Court-man-dated National Register of Citizens in Assam has put the lives of 19lakh-odd people who were excluded from it in serious trouble. The

process mandates that each excluded person should be issued a rejectionslip which can be challenged in the Foreigners Tribunal, which is empow-ered to declare a person non-citizen. The failure to issue the slips hasstalled the entire process. As a result, those affected face difficulties inmatters of their normal life such as finding a job, getting married, goingon a foreign tour and contesting polls. The government blames it onCovid-19, which made most government departments other than thoseinvolved in the containment of the pandemic non-functional for monthson end.

The very process of preparing the NRC was riddled with serious issues.It was at first perceived as an attempt to exclude Muslims who had migrat-ed to Assam from other parts of the country. Serious discrepancies suchas members of the same family getting different status were reported assoon as the list was published. The BJP, which had all along called it a toolto ‘eliminate infiltrators’, changed its stand after discovering that a thirdof those excluded were Hindus. The party’s Assam unit called for the ver-ification of the list but it looks next to impossible after reports said thebasic data of the NRC has been lost.

Citizenship is the primary identity of a person, and its denial, rightly orwrongly, compromises the very right to life. No government has the rightto keep a decision on it pending for long. The government must admit thatit had not thought through the process and hence the present mess. Itmust either cancel the entire exercise or fast-track it. This is not an issuefor which it can blame an act of God.

Trouble for NRC ‘rejects’

As Covid-19 cases spike,go slower on ‘unlocking’

From Tuesday, September 1, wewill have Unlock 4.0. I have losttrack of what this means and I

do not think anybody really under-stands it. What the Indian govern-ment has done is try and manage thespread of Covid-19 by keeping thingsshut. If India forces people to stayaway from one another by denyingthem access to services, it will stopor slow the spread of the infection.

This has produced rules that, as Isaid, I do not really understand. Forinstance, the airlines have beenoperating since May, and have beenflying for more than three monthsnow. Flights are allowed to be flownat full capacity, with the middle seatoccupied. However, the IndianRailways is still by and large largelyshut, and has been shut since thelockdown began. From running17,000 trains daily, it today runs only230 special ones. What is the logic ofnot having trains run when planesare allowed to run full? Air passen-gers cannot maintain the six-footseparation on their seats so it seemsillogical to allow people to fly but nottravel by train.

The benefit to the stopping thespread of Covid-19 is uncertain but

the damage to the economy is visi-ble. Reports from Surat last monthsaid that the production of textileswas less than 25 per cent of normaland the big reason was the lack oflabour.

More than 30 lakh people had leftSurat and its surrounding industrialzones in April and May, according toa report in the Hindu Frontline mag-azine published on July 31. There isalmost no way for these people toreturn to their jobs even if theywanted to now come back. There arereports that mill owners and otherbusinesses have begun flyinglabourers back. But why not justopen the Railways? This has notbeen explained to us.

Delhi’s Metro will reportedly open

this week with 50 per cent capacity(again note the difference with air-lines), while Mumbai’s local trains,the city’s lifeline and its artery, havestayed shut. I saw a very movingnote from journalists to the chiefminister asking that those who werenot accredited with the governmentto be allowed to use the trainsbecause it was too expensive forthem to take taxis everywhere.

Schools and colleges will remainshut but exams will continue to beheld. Again, this makes no sense tome. If we are asking all schools andcolleges to do online classes, why arewe then asking students to gather inmasses to take their exams?

We are told that cinema halls willhave to stay shut as it won’t be feasi-ble to run shows with only 25 percent capacity due to physical dis-tancing norms. But a movie is aboutas long as a flight and the seats areequidistant in both. What is thethinking behind the decision to dis-allow movie halls, a very large sec-tor of the entertainment industryand its employment, from opening?

It all seems slightly eccentric tome, and I suspect that some of this istouched with the moralism that we

see in the Prime Minister. Forinstance, restaurants were allowedto open but not bars. Why? There isno standard format in a restaurant’sseating, as we know. And the same istrue for bars. The only reason seemsto be that the government in someway looks down on those who drink.

In Unlock 4.0 bars, will be allowedto serve liquor over the counter butnot inside. Meaning the bar will beturned into a liquor store and theemployment that its waiters andcooks and other staff would haveotherwise got is not available eventoday, in September, more than fivefull months after the lockdownbegan.

Some of the confusion has thencome from the Centre versus Statedifferences. Apparently, the openingof gyms is allowed by the Centre butmany of the states are not lettingthem do so.

In other nations, the lockdownshave been mostly voluntary. InIndia, it has been like a curfew. Eventoday, the Mumbai police can confis-cate your vehicle if you cannot showa “good reason” for being out. Whatis a “good reason” is left for thepolice to determine of course.

We have one nation one tax, but wedo not have the free movement ofpeople. Those going from one state toanother state must fill out someapplication and ask for permissionwhich may or may not be given.

As I said at the beginning, Indiahas tried to slow or stop the spread ofCovid-19 through denial of services.Has it worked? I don’t think so. Indiais the only large nation along withArgentina whose numbers have con-tinuously and without a break risenfrom March. The only way of stop-ping the spread of Covid-19 is goodindividual behaviour at the masslevel. But we have Union ministersin meetings wearing their masks ontheir chin instead of covering theirmouth and nose. How can such peo-ple communicate good behaviour tothe public? They simply cannot. Andso we have the endless tweaking ofrules, all leading to failure as is visi-ble in the numbers, with bureau-crats being kept busy making funnyand illogical rules for 1.0 and 2.0 and3.0 and now 4.0.

Aakar Patel is a senior journalistand columnist

‘Unlock’ rulesare illogical: If

flights allowed,why not trains?

Speaking at theLondon BusinessSchool recently, for-

mer Reserve Bank gover-nor Raghuram Rajanwarned that the globaleconomy was “slowlyslipping” into the GreatDepression-like prob-lems of the 1930s and thatcentral banks must sittogether and define thenew “rules of the game”to find better solutions.Dr Rajan, who was earli-er IMF’s chief economist,was one of the few tohave predicted the 2007-08 financial crisis.

The essential problemwe must confront is howto rectify a world eco-nomic system that hasgone hopelessly wrongand resembles nothinglike what was envisagedin early 1940s. To under-stand the situation weare in, imagine living onan island as a part of asmall group, in whichpeople are assigned spe-cific vocations and tasks.In this system one personmakes clothes, anothershoes, someone pots andpans, someone growsfood and someone elseprints money to facilitatethe exchange of goodsand services. The shoe-maker exchanges hisgoods with another formoney which he uses topay for food or whatever.Since everybody in thissystem can produce asmuch as possible, the per-son who prints themoney will be best offamong all as he can buywhatever he wants andpay for it with his ownmoney. Take this onestep further. Producerswho hold more paperthan they need then startleaving it with the personwho prints them to hold.

In 2019, world GDP wasabout $88 trillion, and theper capita GDP was$11,400. In the past 10years, world GDP growthdeclined from 3.13 percent to 2.47 per cent. In1960, WGDP was $11.35trillion (constant 2010). Itwas just $1.1 trillion in1900 and took 50 years to

grow fourfold to $4.01 tril-lion. The big leaps beganafter 1971 when USPresident Richard Nixonunilaterally delinked theUS dollar from the inter-national gold standard.In 2000, it scaled $51 tril-lion.

The total world mer-chandise trade in 2019was $19.5 trillion, withChina (without HongKong) the biggest player,accounting for $5.31 tril-lion, with a trade surplusof $422 billion. The topfive global tradersaccount for 50.6 per centof world trade. The EU’sshare is $4.49 trillion andthe United States’ is $3.91trillion, also accountingfor about a quarter ofworld trade. The mostpreferred global curren-cy is the US dollar. Totalworld reserves in 2019-Q2was $11.8 trillion, ofwhich 61.8 per cent washeld in US dollars, 20.5per cent in euros, 5.7 percent in yen and 1.8 percent in Renminbi.

Almost all thesereserves are held by indi-vidual countries in theform of bonds, mostlyearning very small oreven zero interest rates.This is like moneydeposited in a bank, butit’s really money lent tothe issuing country. Asthe reserves are mostlyin US dollars and euros,the issuing countrieshave little reason to holdmuch of them asreserves. The total USreserves are about $132billion. Contrast this toIndia’s $535 billion(including $35 billion ingold) and China’s $3,300billion.

In 1995, advancedeconomies held around67 per cent of total for-eign exchange reserves,with 82 per cent of thesebeing allocated reserves.By 2011, the picture hadbeen flipped on its head:emerging and developingcountries held 67 per centof total reserves.

The purpose of sharingthese three world econo-my snapshots is to offer a

general backdrop on howwe have come to thispass. A situation wherethe rest of the worldinvests in the US, so thatit can splurge on itself.When it’s short, it canjust print more dollars,which the rest of us lapup quite happily. Everytime the US goes into con-vulsions due to its innateprofligacy and economicmismanagement, theworld economies go intoa tailspin as the US is theworld’s biggest importerand it’s where the worldkeeps its money. Nowlet’s turn to how the sys-tem actually works.

Countries like Chinaand India produce goodsand services at low costfor consumption in theUS, which in turn paysthem in dollars, that theydeposit in Americanbanks. Since money can’tsit still, this money inthen lent to Americans,who today have the high-est per capita indebted-ness in the world, tosplurge on houses, cars,flatscreen TVs and com-puters, that mostly theycan often ill-afford. Ineffect, the rest of theworld is plying the USwith cheap credit,encouraging it to splurgeeven more. But there isno global regulator tocaution the US on itsprofligacy or force it tomend its ways.

At the July 1944 BretonWoods Conference, in thelast phase of World WarII, Lord Keynes had inmind an elaboratescheme that called for theestablishment of an inter-

national reserve curren-cy called “bancor”,administered by a globalcentral bank. but thishad to be shelved in theface of American obdura-cy. This central bankwould be vested with thepossibility of creatingmoney and with theauthority to take actionto ensure balanced trade.As outlined by Keynes,countries with paymentsurpluses shouldincrease imports fromthe deficit countries,thereby ensuring foreigntrade equilibrium.

But the United States,as a likely net exporterand creditor nation, andeager to take on the roleof the world's economicpowerhouse, thwartedthe Keynes plan. TheAmerican delegatesseemed more concernedabout inflationary pres-sures in the post-wareconomy. Its delegate,Harry Dexter White,argued that an imbalancewas a problem only of thedeficit country. White’sdetermined obduracy isnow under a cloud afterhe was unmasked as aSoviet spy. Did he scuttle“bancor” at Moscow’sinsistence to ensure thecrisis we now are livingthrough?

The international sys-tem was unilaterallyabrogated in 1971 whenUS President Nixondelinked the dollar fromthe gold standard. In theabsence of a standard anda useful regulatory func-tion for the IMF, thegreat private banks weregiven a licence to runamok. We now reap thebitter harvest. With theUS dollar as the world’spreferred currency, theUS and its profligate citi-zens have an apparentlyendless access to easycredit to satiate theirsundry appetites.Ironically, the ever-ris-ing annual US tradedeficit is the de factoengine of growth formany economies, likeChina, the Asean coun-tries and even India.

The writer, a policy ana-lyst studying economicand security issues, heldsenior positions in govern-ment and industry. Healso specialises in theChinese economy.

LETTERSBHARAT RATNAThe news that the former

President Pranab Mukherjee

is no more has pained mil-

lions of our nation. One of

the most highly respected

personalities among politi-

cians he was affectionately

known as Pranab Da and was

well known for his intelli-

gence, wit and for his astute

political skills. More than

intellect, he’s one of the few

politicians in his career span-

ning for over a few decades

was unquestionable when it

comes to “integrity”, which

was rare among in his own

colleagues during his tenure

in the Congress Party. We

will miss an upright man who

led a life by setting an exam-

ple by loving his country and

for the people of India.

AA..PP.. TThhiirruuvvaaddii

Chennai

Subhani

Is another global ecocrisis now inevitable?

INTERPRETERS OFDISSENTRIGHT TO THE freedom of expres-sion and the right of the State tosecure its citizens have all suffered orthrived on how they are interpreted.Free speech, meaning free argument,is at the heart of a self-governingsociety and cannot be a partisanissue. Dissent being a product ofapplication of sane human intellectto an issue at hand, but the govern-ment would brand intellectualismper se, as anti-national. There is aprice to pay for sponsoring and pur-suing freedom of speech and sadly,few are prepared to pay for what isthe very sap that nurtures nationsand men. We just find newer ways tosustain the lid on free speechthrough pedantic obfuscation.

R. NarayananChennai

UNLOCK 4.0IT IS REALLY disturbing to knowthat India has become the first coun-try to cross 80,000 cases in a day. Sois the case with Tamil Nadu State,which too has peaked with 6,495cases on Sunday. Despite suchalarming increase in COVID cases inour country, especially in TamilNadu, the Govt. has come out withunlock 4.0 norms, allowing publictransport, opening of malls, etc.Fortunately they have wisely exclud-ed educational institutions and cine-ma halls, which is laudable. StillUnlock 4.0 is fraught with danger, ascases are bound to increase. Unlessstringent punishment is meted out tothe offenders against basic set normslike wearing mask, social distancingin public places, etc. the tally of ournation could even cross a lakh a day.

Capt. N. ViswanathanCoimbatore

Mohan Guruswamy

Aakar Patel

Schools and colleges willremain shut but exams willcontinue to be held. If weare asking all schools andcolleges to do onlineclasses, why are we thenasking students to gatherin masses to take theirexams?

The internationalsystem was unilat-erally abrogated in

1971 when USPresident Nixon

delinked the dollarfrom the gold

standard.

Total worldreserves in 2019-Q2 was $11.8 tril-lion, of which 61.8per cent was heldin US dollars, 20.5per cent in euros,

5.7 per cent inyen and 1.8 per

cent in Renminbi.

1 SEPTEMBER 2020

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

R. MOHANResident Editor

DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at:Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747,22254748Coimbatore: 77 Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore 641009. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040)27805256. Bengaluru: 5th Floor, BMTC Commercial Complex, 80 Ft. Road, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095. Ph:08043460500; Fax: 080-22960551/52/55Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony,Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866)2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903,Fax: 08554-276904Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore.Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580Karimnagar: Survey No. 1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar 505 001. Phone: (0878 ) 2228908; Telefax (0878) 2220433Kochi: No. 3-B, 3rd Floor, DD TRADE TOWER, Kaloor-Kadavanthara Road, Ernakulam, Ph: 0484-4039408Kozhikode: No 6/1002 E, First Floor City Mall, Opp. YMCA Kannur Road, Kozhikode - 673 001Fax : 0495 4019018 Thiruvananthapuram: St Joseph Press Thycaud post, Cotton Hills, Thiruvananthapuram-14, Ph: 0471-2735105/6/7, Fax: 0471-4016112 Gram: CHRONICLE Postal registration no: No. H/SD-348/2006-08ss

Sebi’s new margin rules sour sentiments

pg 7TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 | CHENNAI

GWLADYS FFOUCHE &&TERJE SSOLSVIKOSLO, AUG. 31

Norway's $1 trillionwealth fund said it hadexcluded Taiwan's Form-osa Chemicals and Fibre,Formosa Taffeta andIndia's Page Industriesfrom its portfolio, sayingthey posed an "unaccept-able risk for violation ofhuman rights".

The world's largest sov-ereign wealth fund sellsholdings before announc-ing such exclusions toavoid excessive marketmoves.

Formosa Chemicals andFibre declined to com-ment. An official reachedby telephone at FormosaTaffeta said the companywas closed for the day.Page Industries was notimmediately reachable forcomment.

In recent years, the fund,which operates underguidelines established bythe Norwegian parlia-ment, has focused onworking conditions in tex-tile factories in Asia,excluding companies it

thinks pose an ethical riskto its investments.

Set up in 1996 to preserveNorway's oil revenues forfuture generations, thefund holds around 1.5 percent of globally listedshares and its decisionsare often followed by otherinvestors.

At the end of 2019, NBIMheld a 0.84 per cent stakein Formosa Chemicals &Fibre, valued at $144 mil-lion, and a 0.64 per centstake in Formosa Taffetavalued at $12.2 million.

The stake in PageIndustries at that timestood at 0.42 per cent, witha market value of $15.4million.

The fund said in thestatement that its manage-ment will also scrutiniseoil firm PetroChina'swork, engaging in activeownership in the hope ofboosting the company'santi-corruption practices.

PetroChina had beenunder observation for pos-sible exclusion since 2017and had not responded toinquiries from the fund'sethics watchdog, theCouncil on Ethics, NorgesBank said.

The board of theNorwegian central bank,which manages the fund,concluded "active owner-ship" was therefore appro-priate. —Reuters

Norway fund drops Page Inds.over human rights breach risk

RAVI RRANJAN PPRASADMUMBAI, AUG. 31

Market benchmark Sensexfell more than 1,600 pointsintra-day on fresh Chinamilitary buildup andunconfirmed reports ofclashes in the Ladakhregion. This unexpecteddevelopment together withfear of a likely sharp fall inthe first quarter GDPgrowth, scheduled to beannounced after markethours, led to profit-takingin the market.

The selling pressure mayincrease on Tuesday, withGDP contracting by- 23.9 per cent in the Junequarter.

“Indian Army informedthat Chinese troops violat-ed the earlier agreementand carried out provoca-tive military movements tochange the status quo onthe nights of August 29-30,”reports said.

Sameet Chavan, chiefanalyst-technical andderivatives, AngelBroking, said, the sell-offwas triggered mainly bythe news of India-Chinaclash once again takingplace at the border. Thisresulted in a massive liq-uidation in the market bycontinued selling in theremaining part of the day.

New Sebi rule for mar-gins in equity trading com-ing into effect fromSeptember 1 also playedspoilsport in the secondhalf of trading, as themarket regulator hasdeclined an extensionbeing sought by thebroking community.

Sensex and Nifty-50 final-

ly closed more than 2 percent down after strongearly morning gainspushed the Sensex abovethe 40,000 mark.

The Sensex closed 839points down at 38,628.39,recovering partly from theday's low of 38,395.89 andthe Nifty-50 closed at11,387.50, down by 260points.

Investors lost more thanRs 4.55 lakh crore in a dayas the broader market fellmore, with the BSE Mid-cap Index down 3.79 percent and the BSE Small-capIndex down 4.73 per cent.

All sectoral indicesclosed down by 2 to 4.5 percent except the IT index,which was down over half

a per cent. Sectoral heavy-weight banks and finan-cials fell heavily with theBSE Bankex Index plung-ing 3.29 per cent and theNifty Bank, by 3.14 percent.

Deepak Jasani, head ofretail research, HDFCSecurities, said, "Thechange in margin systemand securities pledge-repledging could undoubt-edly bring disruptions involumes of daily trading,as there is insufficientpreparation and validationby the participants in thissystem, viz. exchanges,depositories, depositoryparticipants, ClearingCorporation, brokers andclients."

HANNA HHOIKKALA &&JESPER SSTARNAUG. 31

A Swedish joint venturethat hopes to rewritethe rules of steel pro-duction took a majorstep forward onMonday.

Hybrit, an initiativerun by steelmakerSSAB AB, iron ore pro-ducer LKAB and energysupplier Vattenfall AB,aims to remove fossilfuels from the steelmak-ing value chain byreplacing coking coalwith hydrogen andclean energy.

The project is nowstarting test operationsfor the production offossil-free sponge iron -- something thatSSAB's chief executiveMartin Lindqvist seesas a "milestone" giventhe industry accountsfor 7 per cent of carbondioxide emissions glob-ally and 10% inSweden, he said.

The Hybrit projectaims to reduce CO2emissions to 25 kg pertonne of steel fromabout 1.6 tonnes byusing hydrogen to pro-duce direct reducediron (DRI) as a feed-stock, along with scrap,to make the metal.Electrolysing waterfrom renewable energysources will generatethe hydrogen.

Product launch in a"big, commercial scale"is planned for the firstquarter of 2026 and willtarget "the automotiveindustry and others,"Lindqvist said in aninterview. —Bloomberg

SWEDEN MOVESCLOSER TO MAKINGFOSSIL-FUEL-FREE

STEEL

New Delhi, Aug 31:Singapore-based fintechcompany Atlantis onMonday said it has enteredthe Indian market with thelaunch of its digital bank,Neo-Bank.

Eyeing the $15.7 billionglobal millennial bankingindustry, Atlantis haslaunched Neo-Bank forGen Z and millennials, acompany release said.

The financial value of

millennials to the bankingsystem is expected toincrease by almost 80 percent in the next five yearsto more than $27 billionfrom the current $15.7 bil-lion in revenue that mil-lennials contribute.

The company believesthat customer-first intelli-gent systems and designwill drive the future ofneo-banking, it said. Neobanking is an online con-

cept where there are nophysical branches of abank and customers trans-act all services digitally.

The bank is looking tosign up not more than 3,000users in the first threemonths as it aims to createa personalised experiencefor each of its users.

Currently, it accepts anew user either through awaitlist or an invite froman existing member.— PTI

Figures in ‘ Source: KBK Infographics

11800116001140011200110001980010600

NSENifty

BSE Sensex

NSE Nifty10,891.60

36,939.60

STOCK MARKET IN AUGUST 40000

39000

38000

37000

36000

3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 26 27 28 31Date:

38,628.29

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 38,628.29 -2.13Nifty 50 11,387.50 -2.23S&P 500* 3,505.94 -0.06Dollar (‘) 73.60 -0.27Pound Sterling (‘) 97.93 0.50Euro (‘) 87.50 0.10Gold (10gm)* (‘) 52,638▲161 0.30Brent crude ($/bbl)* 45.84 0.03IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.078 -0.019US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.723 -0.006

* As of 9:30 PM IST

Vedanta ties withSBI for ‘10,000 cr syndicated loanVedanta Ltd said it has tied upwith State Bank of India for along-term syndicated loanfacility worth Rs 10,000 crore.A syndicated loan is offered bya group of lenders. SBI hasgiven a commitment of Rs5,000 crore as a lender,Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary ofVedanta, said in a filing to theBSE. The facility end use stipu-lates refinancing of near-termdebt maturities of Vedanta andfor capital expenditure.

Singapore’s Atlantis launches digital bank

Border clash, GDP worries fell stocks

11,387.50

Aries: Work-wise, today runs smoothly; yourreputation at work may increase. Health issuesmay resolve. Artists may expect financial diffi-culties to end.

Taurus: Expect more money than anticipated.Family members support; spouse provideslove. Misunderstandings with partner maycause business to suffer.Gemini: Frequent arguments could vitiate yourhome’s harmony; avoid arguing. Settle minordisputes and resolve past differences now.Cash flow is normal.

Cancer: Expenditures on beautifying yourhome or domestic requirements may rise.Stress may trigger emotional outbursts. Bepatient through difficult situations.Leo: An old friend might make a surprise visit.Today is about being cautious. Work projectscould be unsuccessful despite multiple efforts.Stick to routine duties.

Your day today

Sonam Wangchuk, an Indian engineer,innovator and education reformist. He invented

the Ice Stupa technique that creates artificialglaciers, used for storing winter water in form

of conical shaped ice heap.

You share your b’day with

COFFEE-BREAK

Across6.Red ttape eexponent ((10)

8. Springtime constructions ((5)

10. Swampy llake ooutlet iinthe ssouthern UUS ((5)

13. Plight ((11)14. Removes hheat ffrom ((5)17. Semiaquatic

animal ((5)19. Laden ppast

capacity ((10)

Down1. Unopened fflowers ((4)2. Clutter ((4)3. SSpeechless ((4)4. Quarry ((4)5. Building ((9)7. Official eexaminer ((9)9. Of ttides ((5)

11. Let iin ((5)12. Frozen wwater ((3)15. Unlock ((4)16. Lustrous ffabric ((4)17. Colourful ffemstone ((4)18. Bound ((4)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 1. Driver,3. Crab, 7. Toss, 8.Sprain, 10. Frantic,13. Rebuked, 16.Pliant, 17. Limb,18. Romp, 19.Inmate.

Down: 1. Duty, 2.Insure, 4. Ream, 5.Banner, 6. Split up,9. Inferno, 11.Draper, 12. Retina,14. Firm,15. Able.

TODAY’S RATINGS: 5 AVERAGE; 4 GOOD;5 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

KA A L

I A L B A

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

Ralph Waldo Emersonwrote, "Finish each daybefore you begin the

next, and interpose a solidwall of sleep between thetwo."

That is sound advice forsure. Sometimes at thebridge table, you have yourback against the proverbialwall, seemingly destined todive to defeat. But maybeyou can get lucky -- as intoday's deal.

How should South play inthree no-trump after Westleads a low club to the king

and ace?South's bid was in the

modern style, whereby youmay open in no-trump with asingleton ace or king.Obviously, South might havebegun with one diamond,planning to reverse intohearts. Note that here, fourhearts and five diamondswould make without toomuch difficulty.

Three no-trump, though,looks nigh impossible. Southcannot play a spade to forcea dummy entry, because thedefenders will cash too many

club tricks. Declarer mustget lucky in a red suit.

He starts by cashing theheart ace and king, but thejack does not appear. Thenhe tries the diamond ace andking. Bingo! The queen doesdrop. So South plays a dia-mond to the jack, returns tohis hand in hearts and runsthe diamonds to take 10tricks: four hearts, five dia-monds and one club.

Finally, note that if Westhad had queen-doubleton ofdiamonds, it would havebeen great defense for either

defender to drop the heartjack on the second round ofthe suit. Then declarer wouldhave crossed to the heart 10and taken the diamondfinesse. Or ... he might havewondered why the defenderwith the heart jack suddenlyfollowed on the third round!Would he have noticed anaroma of rodent?

Copyright United FeatureSyndicate

(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIPALDER

WHEN BACKED UP

TO A WALL,

HOPE

jumble

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

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

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

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

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

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

Libra: Respecting your romantic partner’s feel-ings help cementing the bond. You may bubblewith ideas, but control them to enjoy peace.Keep adjusting your opinions situationally.

Sagittarius: You may feel bewildered about ashort separation from family. Ensure it doesn’taffect the kids. At work, it is advisable to notheed to gossips.

Aquarius: Peace of mind is affected by constant pressure from creditors, children’saffairs and arguments with close relatives.Stay cautious. Old issues crop up.

Pisces: Politicians should avoid unwanted controversies. Businessmen earn good returns. Signnew partnerships, expand business activities andinitiate business ventures. Secret rivals attempt to undermine your prospects. Stay alert.

Capricorn: Expect hectic activities across different fields. Keep your work statementsshort to avoid confusion. You’ll love your partner’s company.

ANSWERS:alkali, BALALAIKA, balk, bilk, kill

Scorpio: A trustworthy and fun-loving romanticpartner’s company helps you immensely.Remember how comfortable you’ve been whenworking in a team.

Virgo: You may go abroad. Maintain harmonywith family and relations. Act on new plans.Your efforts bear fruits. Communicate whole-heartedly with people who matters most.

How many words of four ormore letters can you make from

the letters shown in today’spuzzle? In making a word, eachletter may be used once only.Each word must contain the

letter at the top of the pyramid.There should be at least one

nine letter word. Plurals, foreignwords and proper names are not

allowed.

Printed & Published by K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses

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

Editor: TT..VVeennkkaattrraamm RReeddddyy, RNI Reg.No. TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re1. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in

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

Chronicle ® is prohibited.

GAMES pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | TUESDAY | 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

SURASH SHOT!SHORT TAKES

MMaanncchheesstteerr:: Englandannounced on Monday they hadrecalled several World Cup win-

ners for their upcoming white-ball series against Australia butTest captain Joe Root has again

been omitted from theTwenty20 squad.

Fifty-over world championsEngland have been fieldingseparate red and white ball

squads in a season hit by thecoronavirus pandemic.

But with all six Tests spanningtwo series wins against the

West Indies and Pakistan nowcompleted, England have

recalled some of their multi-for-mat players for next month’s

limited-overs matches againstAustralia.

Root was the third-highest run-scorer at the 2016 T20 WorldCup but has not played a T20

international for over a year,despite still wanting to feature

in the format.He has, however, hit scores of

64 and 65 for Yorkshire in thisseason’s Twenty20 Blast.

— AFP

WWaasshhiinnggttoonn:: Jon Rahm draineda swinging 60-foot birdie putt

at the first playoff hole onSunday to win the US PGA TourBMW Championship over world

number one Dustin Johnson.Spain’s Rahm, ranked second inthe world behind Johnson, wasin the right rough off the tee at

the first playoff hole, the 18th atOlympia Fields near Chicago.His second shot rolled to the

back of the green, leaving himwhat could have been a tough

two-putt for par. “Never did I think I’d be making

another 50-, 60-footer — cou-ple of breaks in there, too — toend up winning it,” said Rahm,who gave a roaring fist pump

as the putt dropped. Johnson’s tee shot was also off

course, but ricocheted off atree to settle in the fairway. The

American found the middle ofthe green, but after Rahm’s

miraculous birdie effort,Johnson’s birdie attempt set-

tled inches from the cup.— AFP

TTookkyyoo:: The Olympic flame isgoing on display in Tokyo, just

a short walk from the newNational Stadium where it was

supposed to be burning amonth ago.

The flame arrived in Japan fromGreece in March and has beenlargely hidden away in Tokyo

since the Olympics were post-poned until next year because

of the Covid-19 pandemic.The flame was unveiled on

Monday at a small ceremonywith Yoshiro Mori, the president

of the Tokyo Olympic organiz-ing committee, and Yasuhiro

Yamashita, the president of theJapanese Olympic Committee.

— AFP

SSiisstteerroonn,, FFrraannccee:: AustralianCaleb Ewan timed his effort to

perfection to win the thirdstage of the Tour de France in a

bunch sprint at the end of a198-km hilly ride through the

Alpine foothills on Monday.Sam Bennett looked in controlbut the Irishman had probablyunderestimated the headwind

and settled for second place ashe watched Lotto-Soudal fast-

man Ewan whizz around him tosnatch his fourth stage win on

the Tour. Italian GiacomoNizzolo took third place.

— Reuters

Miami, Aug. 31: JaysonTatum and Marcus Smarteach scored 21 points tolead the Boston Celticsover defending championToronto 112-94 inSunday’s opening game oftheir second-round NBAplayoff series.

Kemba Walker added 18points and 10 assists forthe Celtics, who also had

17 points from JaylenBrown plus 13 points and15 rebounds from DanielTheis. “Marcus today wasunbelievable on bothends,” Celtics coach BradStevens said.

“All our guys playedwith great purpose, greatenthusiasm. We just haveto clean some stuff up.”

— AFP

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Bouts from 5.30 am (Tuesday) onSony Ten 1, 3, HD New Delhi, Aug. 31:

Olympic championAbhinav Bindra says thethrill — the biggest of hislife — lasted merely twoseconds after his gold atBeijing Games whererelief was the first andonly emotion he feltdespite scripting history.

A web series titled ‘TheFinish Line’ has been con-ceptualised to relive eightdefining moments ofIndian sports through theathletes themselves. AndBindra was the first guestto fature on the show host-ed by ace squash player

Saurav Ghosal.“It was the greatest emo-

tion that I had felt. I wasvery happy as thismoment was the biggestthrill of my life, that thrilllasted for two seconds andthat's it,” Bindra said onthe show, recalling themoment 12 years later.

“The greatest emotion Ifelt at that moment wasthe feeling of reliefbecause, throughout myjourney, I have been veryobsessive with my goal.

“All my eggs were in onebasket, certainly not theway I promote to young

athletes. It was a hugeamount of relief that,what I had set out to do inmy life, I was able to

achieve that.”Bindra remains India's

only individual goldmedallist at the Olympicsand he came tantalisinglyclose to adding anotherpodium finish at the 2016Rio Games, only to missout by a point.

While it is documented,Bindra recalled how hecarried on with his shoot-ing after finding out thathis gun had been tam-pered with just before thebig final in Beijing.

“Just five minutes beforethe big final, I realisedthat the sight of my gun

had been altered just a lit-tle bit. There was com-plete panic that was run-ning through my head,but funnily enough, goinginto Beijing I had alsotrained for it.

“I was frozen for amoment though and hadno clue what to do but giv-ing up was not an option. Idecided that I have tofight, hence I got up andtried to get my sightsworking in order. Fromthere on I shot the best 10shot of my life that even-tually got me the medal.”

— PTI

Bindra’s gold thrill lasted 2 seconds

US OPEN || TENNIS

Root returns forODIs, misses T20s

Oly flame out ondisplay in Tokyo

Ewan takes TourStage 3 honours

Birdie bomb liftsRahm to victory

New Delhi, Aug. 31:His exit from the IPLattributed to personalreasons this season,all-rounder SureshRaina’s stint withChennai Super Kingsseems in jeopardy evennext year as the fran-chise might part wayswith him before the2021 edition.

The CSK camp basedin Dubai reported 13COVID-19 cases,including two mainsquad membersDeepak Chahar andRuturaj Gaikwad, adevelopment which anIPL source said, playeda role in the recently-retired India player’sexit from the eventstarting September 19.

However, it has nowemerged that the teammanagement was notparticularly happywith the 32-year-old’s“conduct” during thequarantine time, some-thing which infuriatedCSK owner and formerBCCI president N.Srinivasan.

“In CSK, the norm isthat the coach, captainand the manager getsuites. However, Rainaalso gets a suite in anyhotel that the franchisestays. It’s just that hisroom didn’t have a bal-cony,” an IPL sourcesaid.

“It was an issue but Idon’t think big enoughto warrant a comeback(to India). There couldbe something morethan just the scare ofrising COVID-caseloadin Chennai,” thesource added, alludingto a speculated breachof the bio-bubble byRaina.

He said given the sit-uation, Raina couldwell be gone for goodnow not only this sea-son but also the nextIPL scheduled in April,2021. Is there a possibil-ity of Raina comingback this season, there-by changing the cir-cumstances?

“He is unavailablethis season and that isclear from the officialstatement issued bythe CSK. Now there arecertain things thathave not gone down toowell with the top peo-ple,” the source said.

“It looks highlyimprobable that some-one who has retired

and likely won’t playany cricket will comeback for CSK. Maybe,he will be back in auc-tion and someone elsemight pick him.”

CSK is punting heavi-ly on young Ruturaj,expecting that he willcome good once hecompletes the quaran-tine and rejoins thetraining session aftertwo negative tests.

“CSK has not yetasked for an officialreplacement forRaina...they are unde-cided,” the sourceadded.

On the speculatedbio-bubble breach, thesource said an apologyfrom Raina will havelittle impact given thatthe team is lookingahead. “I don’t knowabout the apology partbut CSK will now beeyeing to prepareRuturaj looking at thefuture and Dhoni andFleming will rejig theirstrategy accordingly,”the source added.

— PTI

New Delhi, Aug. 31:Mahendra Singh Dhonishould be batting at num-ber three for ChennaiSuper Kings now thatSuresh Raina has pulledout of the Indian PremierLeague, feels former Indiaopener Gautam Gambhir.

Raina pulled out of theIPL due to “personal rea-sons” and Gambhir thinksthat Dhoni, who has beenaway from the game forover a year, should try andplay as many balls possi-ble.

“It will be a good opportu-nity for M.S. Dhoni to comeand bat at No. 3,” Gambhirsaid Gambhir said on StarSports’ show.

“And he has been awayfrom the game for the lastone year, so he would endup getting a lot more ballsto face and then he can

actually play the anchorinnings as well which hehas been doing for Indiafor the last couple ofyears,” the two-time IPL-winning skipper said.

Gambhir said that Dhonican come at one down asthere are batsmen who canplay the finishing game.

“So, MS Dhoni at No. 3and then they have gotdepth with Kedar Jadhav,Dwayne Bravo, SamCurran, all those guys theycan come in.” — PTI

New York, Aug. 31:Former championAngelique Kerberreturned to action for thefirst time in seven monthsand beat Australian AjlaTomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 onMonday to reach the sec-ond round of the U.S.Open.

The 17th-seeded German,who entered the matchhaving not competed sincethe fourth round of theAustralian Open, over-came a shaky start onserve and got better as the88-minute match at LouisArmstrong Stadium woreon.

Kerber, a three-timesGrand Slam champion whotriumphed at FlushingMeadows in 2016, tradedbreaks with Tomljanovicthrough the first fourgames of the match andthen found her footing totake over the match.

The German southpawconverted all three breakpoint chances to pull ahead5-4 and then went on toserve out at love to grab thefirst set.

In the second, Kerber set-tled into a groove andbroke her opponent twicebefore sealing the win on

her third match pointwhen a Tomljanovic fore-hand sailed long.

The US Open is the firstGrand Slam to be contestedsince the Covid-19 pandem-ic shutdown global tennisin March.

Meanwhile, NovakDjokovic sets out on hisquest for an 18th GrandSlam title at the US Openwith his world number onestanding enhanced in thelatest ATP rankingsreleased on Monday.

Fresh from his success inthe ATP Western &Southern Open finalagainst Milos Raonic, theSerb headlines the openingday at Flushing Meadowswhere he faces DamirDzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He leads the ATP chart on10860 points from RafaelNadal who like fourth-ranked Roger Federer isskipping the rescheduledUS Open being held undertight Covid-19 healthrestrictions. WhileDjokovic heads anunchanged top 10, Raonicjumps 12 places to 18th onthe back of his run toSaturday’s decider in theUS Open tune-up. — AFP

Kerber cruisesinto 2nd round

Dhoni should batat No. 3: Gambhir

���� Bindra remainsIndia's onlyindividual goldmedallist at theOlympics and hecame tantalisinglyclose to addinganother podiumfinish at the 2016Rio Games, only tomiss out by a point.

CSK might part ways with its star Raina

CC.. SSAANNTTHHOOSSHH KKUUMMAARR CHENNAI, AUG. 31

The first online chessOlympiad that witnessedan anticlimactic finish dueto a global internet outagehas triggered controversyafter India and Russia weredeclared joint winners.Russian grandmasterDaniil Dubov didn’t mincewords when he termed theevent a “circus” and said“don’t just call it anOlympiad and it was a fail-ure.”

The controversial ending,however, didn’t stop theIndian team from celebrat-ing their maiden Olympiadgold by organising anonline meeting where eachmember of the side spokeabout the memorable day.

During the final, India’sNihal Sarin and DivyaDeshmukh were discon-nected from the host serv-er. Viswanathan Anandsaid the global internetoutage wasn’t India’sfault. “We did nothingwrong. We were ready foranything. We were ready toplay two games or even sixgames. Fide looked at thebig picture,” Anand said.

There was a hint of dis-appointment when Anandspoke about the lack ofrecognition for chess play-ers in the past few years.“There’s been a drop off inthe attitude of the SportsMinistry towards chessplayers. I don’t mean at apersonal level obviously.Just that institutionally, weno longer get the awardsfor international competi-tions,” said Anand.

The veteran player fromChennai feels the issues inthe All India ChessFederation could be a rea-son for the awards snub. “Ithink some of it might bedue to various issues theyhave brought up pertain-ing to the code of conductand so on. And our federa-

tion has had some difficul-ties. But it would be nice toreset this,” he said.

Anand said the best wayto change the scenario isnot by writing long lettersto the editor but by havinggood results like theOlympiad success.

“I hope that this resultwill have a positive impactand that they will look atchess as they did years ago.Several years ago they hadrecognised this as one ofthe sports where we doincredibly well...and thatwe have a good team. And Ihope this will have animpact and we will onceagain start coming in forArjuna and Dronacharyaawards,” he added.

Grandmaster P.Harikrishna said it’s theresponsibility of the feder-ation to take up this issue.“It is sad that none of thechess players have won anArjuna Award orDronacharya Award forseveral years. But these arenot the reasons why chessplayers are playing thegame. These are howeversmall things that the govtand federation can takeup,” he said.

���� Former Indiaopener GautamGambhir said thatM.S. Dhoni can comeat one down as thereare batsmen whocan play thefinishing game.

Pune, Aug. 31: Bullishabout the IPL’s success asa TV-only event, BCCIpresident SouravGanguly on Monday saidhe expects the T20 extrav-aganza to shatter viewer-ship records this year.

The IPL begins onSeptember 19 and will beplayed across three citiesin the UAE — Dubai, AbuDhabi and Sharjah.

“Crowds will watch it ontelevision... they (thebroadcasters) are actuallyexpecting the highest rat-ing of IPL this seasonbecause they believe if(people) don’t turn up inthe ground, they will beactually watching ontheir television sets,”Ganguly said while deliv-ering an online lecture aspart of the ‘SymbiosisGolden Jubilee LectureSeries’.

“There is a positive ineverything,” he added.

Ganguly also said hold-ing the IPL was importantto ensure a sense of nor-malcy amid the pandem-ic.

Asked how cricketerswould feel about playingin front of empty stands,Ganguly said, “...becauseof the COVID and infec-tion, you don’t want peo-ple to be too close to eachother, but very soon youwill see there will be 30per cent people in theground with social dis-tancing.

“They are properly test-ed and allowed to enterthe ground. But I thinkthat is going to happenover a period of time,” headded referring to thepossibility of IPL’s latermatches being opened forfans depending on theCOVID-19 situation.

“...it is actually an effortto bring life back to nor-mal. This will go on foranother five-six monthstill the vaccine comes andI am sure everything thenwill be back to normal,”he asserted. — PTI

DADA SEESHIGHEST IPL TV RATINGS

Royal Challenger Bangalore’s AB de Villiers (centre) at a training session in Dubai.

Lyon players run towards the trophy after beating VFL Wolfsburg in the UEFA Women’s Champions League foot-ball final in San Sebastian, Spain, on Sunday. Lyon won 3-1 to win their fifth straight Champions League. — AFP

Lyon ladies leap for joy

Recognise chessplayers: Anand

A screengrab of an online media interaction of India’sgold medal winning Olympiad team.

TTNNEEBB ssaavveess tthheeddaayy ffoorr VViisshhyy

Viswanathan Anand saidIndia’s non-playing cap-tain N. Srinath called upTamil Nadu ElectricityBoard with a request tocancel the scheduledpower cut in theGrandmaster’s area as hewas competing in theonline Olympiad. AndTNEB duly obliged.“When I was wonderingwhat to do, Srinath calledup TNEB and ensured thepower supply was notinterrupted. I would havebeen only halfwaythrough my first match ifthe power cut had hap-pened,” said Anand.

Printed & Published byK. Sudhakar on behalf of

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited and Printed at

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

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

22254751Editor: ADITYA SINHA

Regd. No.TNENG/2010/35692

ChennaiTTUUEESSDDAAYY || 11 SSEEPPTTEEMMBBEERR 22002200

CHRONICLEglam sham

4 >>

Lady Gaga makes history

matinee

7 >>

Tiger is hardat work

SASHIDHAR AADIVI

DECCAN CHRONICLE

India and Russia emergedjoint gold medal winnersat the first-ever FIDE

online Chess Olympiad onSunday. India created history bywinning a gold medal in the bien-nial championship.

The Indian contingent com-prised Koneru Humpy, HarikaDronavalli, Nihal Sarin andDivya Deshmukh, VishwanathanAnand, Vidit Gujrathi, P.Harikrishna, Vantika Agrawaland R. Praggnanandhaa.

A euphoric Humpy describesthe victory as an ‘unexpectedwin’. “It’s the world’s preeminentteam tournament, and 163 coun-tries participated, so it’s a cele-bration of team spirit,” she said.

AN INSPIRATION FOR GENNEXTKoneru Humpy says the victorywas particularly unexpected asthey had a bad tournament in therecent summer. “But everyone

chipped in at the right time, andyoungsters too rose to the occa-sion. It’s a committed team,” sheshares, adding that the cama-raderie in the team has beengreat. “Since it is an online cham-

pionship it is challenging to havethe entire team on the same page.But everyone quickly gelled as acohesive unit,” Humpy exults.She is confident that theOlympiad win will inspireGenNext. “We have won severaltournaments individually, and asa team, but the magnitude of thistitle (Olympiad) will create a sig-nificant impact among the young-sters to take up chess,” feels theWorld No. 2.

TURN TO PAGE 2

“Everyone chipped in at the right time, andyoungsters too rose to the occasion. It’s a

committed team. Since it is an onlinechampionship it is challenging to have the

entire team on the same page. Buteveryone quickly gelled as a cohesive unit”

— KONERU HUMPY

“I always like playing in team championships.I dreamed from the start of my career of

winning this championship. So it was avery gratifying moment. Perhaps this winis an ideal anniversary gift for my

husband”

— HARIKA DRONAVALLI

Tenet triumphs, but Indiawaits for theatres to openGive the movie industry a chance, say theatre owners

ON PAGE 2

A DREAM WIN!

Team spirittriumphed despitetechnical glitches,

as India won its firstgold medal at the

FIDE ChessOlympiad

Harika DronavalliKoneru Humpy

A still from the movie Tenet

Even as Tenet, the firstHollywood film to releasein the pandemic situation,

has done well at the internation-al box office despite social dis-tancing and other hurdles, col-lecting a whopping $53 million in40 overseas markets, cinemas inIndia are yet to open even in thiscurrent Unlock 4 stage, and thefilm exhibition sector is ratherperturbed.

Many theatres in India haveshut down after facing huge loss-es following the lockdown whichstarted in mid-March, whenfilms like Angrezi Medium,Baaghi 3 and Tanhaji were beingscreened and going great guns.

“Over ten percent of theatreshave shut down. Losses havemounted to thousands of croresin the film sector and will be a lot

more if theatres don’t open soon.This kind of loss has never beenseen before for cinema and manysmall and medium filmmakersare in dire straits,” says ImtiazBaghdadi, writer and historian.

Many filmmakers have nowappealed to the government toallow multiplexes and singlescreens to open up again.

“The cinema industry is aninherent part of the country’sculture, and of the economy, sup-porting millions of livelihoods.Most countries have allowed cin-emas to operate. We request theIndian government to allow us tooperate as well. We are commit-ted to offering a safe and hygien-ic cinema experience. If avia-tion, metros, malls, wellness cen-tres and restaurants can beallowed to operate, the movie

industry too deserves a chance,”says a representative of theMultiplex Association of India.

While many cine workers areback at work at shoots of TVserials, web series and some filmprojects, the exhibition sectorseems most affected.

“A few lakh people areemployed with the exhibitionsector. They need to get back towork. Right from the guys whowork at the food counters of mul-tiplexes to the ushers and otherstaff at the thousands of the-atres in India, everyone is suffer-ing. It seems like an endlesswait,” says Atul Mohan, editor,Complete Cinema.

— Sanskriti Media

Tenet triumphs, but India still on hold

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Admitting that doing household chores whileplaying chess is challenging, she said, “Myfamily’s support was crucial during the 10-day championship. My parents looked aftermy child while I was playing.”

During the finals, at a time when the matchwas on a knife’s edge, two Indian players lostInternet connection due to a server crash.“We were so worried; I thought we had lostthe game as I could not see anything on thescreen,” reveals Humpy, stating that theyappealed to the authorities on the servercrash. “As sportspersons, we were ready toaccept any decision of the authorities. But itwas very heartening that they declared boththe teams joint winners. Losing the champi-onship for no fault of ours would have beenso frustrating,” the Grand Master signs off.

PERFECT ANNIVERSARY GIFT!Harika Dronavalli sees winning the Chess

Olympiad as a team effort. “All of us congrat-ulated each other over the Zoom call. Sincethe format was also new (online), it was evenmore thrilling,” Harika says, and feels thatthe win is a great leap for Indian Chess. Shereveals that a couple of weeks back, she andher husband (Karteek Chandra) had cele-brated their second wedding anniversary.“Perhaps this win is an ideal anniversary giftfor my husband,” she quips.

The Arjuna Award winner describes thewin as a dream come true. “I always like play-ing in team championships. I dreamed fromthe start of my career of winning this cham-pionship. So it was a very gratifyingmoment,” she shares. Harika, who won threebronze medals in the Women’s World ChessChampionship, ascribes her success to herparents. “My husband knows how hard I pre-pared for this championship,” she adds. “Hesaw to it that guests did not disrupt my con-centration. And whenever he went out, Iwould play well, so he ensured that he wentout of the house for the final match too,” theGrand Master chuckles. “My eyes were burn-ing,” says Harika, referring to challenges sheencountered while playing online. “I put icecubes on my eyes for a long time before thefinals started so that I would feel fresh.Practising and playing online was very tiringon the eyes and brain,” she says.

2Tuesday 1 September 2020

Deccan Chroniclethe buzz

A few lakh peo-ple are

employed with theexhibition sector.They need to getback to work. Rightfrom the guys whowork at the foodcounters of multiplex-es to the ushers andother staff at thethousands of theatresin India, everyone issuffering. It seemslike an endless wait

—Atul Mohan, editor,Complete Cinema

A dream victory

Taapseeslams Rhea’smedia trialDC CCORRESPONDENT

The Thappadactress becamethe latest celebri-

ty after Tollywoodactress LakshmiManchu and filmmakerRam Gopal Varma forcriticising the mediatrial of the late SushantSingh Rajput’s actorgirlfriend RheaChakraborty. Few daysago Lakshmi had takento Twitter to share herconcerns, where shehad demanded justice

not just for Sushantbut for Rhea as well.

Referring to oneof Rhea’s latestinterviews, shewrote, “Ithought a lotabout if Is h o u l drespond ornot. I see somany peo-ple sosilent because the media has made amonster out of a girl. I don’t know thetruth and I want to know the truth andI hope the truth will come out in themost honest way. I have complete trustin the judiciary system and all theagencies that are involved in bringingjustice to Sushant...”

Taking a cue from Lakshmi’s post,Taapsee wrote, “I didn’t know Sushanton a personal level nor do I know Rheabut what I know is, it only takes to be ahuman to understand how wrong it is

to overtake judiciary to convictsomeone who isn’t proven guilty.

Trust the law of the land foryour sanity and thedeceased’s sanctity.”

Lakshmi Manchu

Takinga cue from

Lakshmi’s post, Taapseewrote, “I didn’t know

Sushant on a personal level nordo I know Rhea but what I knowis, it only takes to be a human to

understand how wrong it is toovertake judiciary to convict

someone who isn’t proven guilty.Trust the law of the land for

your sanity and thedeceased’s sanctity.”

ANUPAMA SSUBRAMANIAN

Priyanka Upendra, who had ear-lier worked with the likes ofAjith and Vikram in Tamil,

returns to K’town after a long gap. TheTamil version of one of her Kannadahits, a horror thriller titled Mummy,with the tagline Save Me, was streamedon Sunday (August30) on JSK PrimeMedia, an OTT platform launched bynational award-winning producer J.S.K.Satish Kumar.

Though there are several corporateonline platforms, Tamil film producersare now launching independent plat-forms aiming at small films.

Besides Priyanka, who plays a preg-nant mother, the film features childartiste Yuvina Parthavi. Director Lohithhas woven the script around these twocharacters and relied heavily on them,and they have not let him down — theygive impeccable performances.

Although, Tamil cinema has seen somewell-made hardcore horror films in therecent past, Mummy, which providesenough thrills and chills, is worth watch-ing from the comfort of one’s home.

Satish Kumar claims that so far, thefilm has attracted 12000 viewers.

kollywood3Tuesday 1 September 2020

Deccan Chronicle

Power-packed perfor-mances by Priyanakaand Yuvina

A film on the greed ofthe medical world Mask is Srikanth Deva’s 101st film

Journo-turned-f i l m m a k e rAadhirajan, to

whom belongs thecredit of making thefirst full-length Tamilfeature film, Silandhi,in digital format, is gear-ing for his fourth movie,titled Mask. An edge-of-the-seatthriller, Mask exposes malprac-tices in hospitals.

Says Aadhi, “The film exposesgreedy doctors who want toextract money from patientsplaying on their fear and usingdubious methods. I have given asocial approach to the narra-tion. I am happy to bring

Srikanth Deva onboard.”

Incidentally, thisis SrikanthDeva’s 101st filmas a composer.

Several sup-porting artistes,

including popularcomedian Madhumitha,who shot to fame with hercontroversial stint in BiggBoss 3, Sampathram, P. L.Thenappan, ImmanAnnachi and Sharath havebeen roped in.

Aadhi, who alsobankrolls the film, is yet tofinalise the lead pair.

Srikanth, who was last seen in the 2019 filmRocky-The Revenge, and has half a dozen films inhis kitty at different stages of production, has

been roped in for a psychological thriller titled Echo.Giving him company is actress Vidya Pradeep, knownfor her power-packed performance in films like Thadam.Director Nawin Ghanesh, who made a short film withthe same name, is adapting his script to make a full-

length feature film. Informed sources say thatSrikanth will have different dimensions to

portray.The buzz is that there’s one more hero-ine in the film. The makers are in talkswith a few more actresses. AshishVidyarthi plays an important roletoo.

Bankrolled by Dr Rajasekar andHaroon’s Intuitive Cinemas, ace

cinematographer Gopinath willcrank the camera and John Peterwill be composing the music.

And, now, withthe govern-

ment permit-ting filmshootingswith cer-tain guide-lines, thefilm is likelyto go on the

floors in thecity in mid-

September.

Srikanth in a three-dimensional role in Echo

The shooting is likelyto start soon

Horror thriller Mummyreleased digitally

Nayan-Vignesh

in Kochi

Nayanthara and VigneshShivan were spotted atKochi Airport, deplaning

from a private chartered jet.Nayan, being a Malayalee, appar-ently wanted to celebrate Onamat her hometown, Kochi, inKerala.

Wearing an all-black pantsuit,sunglasses and a pair of neon yel-low heels, Nayan, looked stylish.

Vignesh was clad in a red T-shirtand jeans.

At a recent interview to a webportal, Vignesh had said,“Rumours about our weddingkeep coming up from time totime. We both have professionalgoals to achieve. So, marriagewill not happen anytime soon. Weare happy with the way things areright now.”

Couple took a chartered flight to celebrate Onam

4Tuesday 1 September 2020

Deccan Chronicleglam shamSonam’stheatrerunThe aactress wwasecstatic tto wwatchTenet in aa mmovie theatre iin LLondon

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Until a few months ago,nobody could have imaginedfor the theatres to open. Now

that the world has begun to unlockamidst the pandemic, the doors of movie the-atres in London opened for much-awaitedChristopher Nolan’s Tenet. And Sonam Kapoorand her designer husband Anand Ahuja madesure to catch a show of the film.

The Delhi 6 actress, who is currently inLondon with her husband, took the precautionsby wearing a mask while watching the action-thriller. Taking to Instagram, Sonam shared aselfie, in which she is seen sitting in themovie theatre. “At last in the cinema…sohappy…The big screen is magic (sic).”

Reeling from the experience, the Neerjaactress posted a still from the film and was allpraise for Dimple Kapadia’s performance.

“So I went to watch @tenetfilm in the cin-ema today. Firstly the incredible experi-ence of watching a film on the big screenis unparalleled. Secondly to watch theluminous Dimple Kapadia in the filmgave me goosebumps. Nothing com-pares to cinema, the big screen and itsmagic. Nothing,” Sonam wrote.

Her post had approval comments fromAnil Kapoor, Ayesha Shroff, and othersagreeing that there is nothing better thanwatching a film on the 70 mm screen.

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Actress Raveena Tandon is one of the fewactresses in Bollywood who has been quite

vocal about social change. She has now joinedher contemporaries from Bollywood to voiceout her opinions on human rights. Present onthe Born Free & Equal podcast by United forHuman Rights, Raveena chose to talk aboutthe importance of being aware of ourrights.

“People in different parts of thecountry don’t attempt to chase theirdreams or do things they really wantto do because of illiteracy andunawareness. There’s no out-

reach. The Constitution, Ibelieve, should be simplified.

Basic rights need to be alsotaught to our children. Ithink it should be mademandatory (sic),” she said.

Mentioning why our gov-ernment must spread aware-ness and education today,

Raveena adds, “It’s necessary totake the awareness into the country,into our interiors, where people areliving completely unaware. Becausebeing unaware of their rights, theyare taken an unfair advantage of — itcould be labour rights, child labour,exploitation of the very basic, simplerights to life. Once you have that edu-cation, the proper resources, whereyou need to go, what you need to do,how you need to fight for yourrights, then people become harderto take advantage of because theyare aware (sic).”

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Lady Gaga is on a roll. Afterwinning an Academy Award

this year, the hitmaker sweptawards back-to-back at the MTVVMAs held on Sunday. Rain on Mesinger not only won the highestaward, Artist of the Year, but alsobecame the first recipient of theaward show’s Tricon Award. Thelatter honoured her for being anicon in music, acting, fashion, andactivism.

On receiving the Tricon Awardby Bella Hadid, Gaga said, “I wantto share this award with every-

body at home tonight, everybodyat home who is their own form of aTricon.” Adding further, she con-tinued, “I want you to know thatyou can do this too. Just becausewe’re separated right now and cul-ture may feel less alive in someways, I know a renaissance is com-ing, and the wrath of pop culturewill inspire you, and the rage ofart will empower you as itresponds to hardship with its gen-erosity and love.”

The singer also collected awardsfor Song of the Year and BestCollaboration of the Year for Rainon Me.

Lady Gagamakes history

Raveena stands for a fair world

PRIYANKA CCHANDANI

Have you ever noticedsmall white bumps onyour nose, cheeks or eye-

lids? You might call them white-heads or think they’re just smallpimples, but that is not whatthey are. Dermatologists callthem Milia. These protrusionsare groups of cysts. Althoughmilia frequently occur in new-born babies, adults also fall preyto this skin issue.

A result of trapped keratin – astrong protein typically found inskin tissues, hair and nail cells –beneath the surface of the skin,milia cysts are usually found onthe face, lips, eyelids and cheeks.However, these cysts can befound on other parts of the body,such as the torso or genitalia, aswell.

According to consultant der-matologist and trichologist DrSonali Kantak, milia are oftenassociated with minor damage tothe skin. Intense facial massage,strong facials, frequent scrub-bing, harsh skin care products,sun damage, some diseaseswhich cause blisters, and burnstoo can cause the formation orspread of milia.

“In rare cases, some medicinescan lead to milia formation.

They are often confused withbaby acne,” says Dr Kantak.However, unlike baby acne, miliadon’t cause inflammation orswelling and they go away ontheir own. “Milia do not causeany serious problems and canexist for long durations withoutcausing any harm. They maydisappear spontaneously. Theycan only cause a cosmetic con-cern,” concurs Dr ShilpiBhadani, plastic and aestheticsurgeon and founder of SBAesthetics in Gurugram.

Milia are usually classified onthe basis of the sufferer’s age

and the causative factors. Theyare divided into primary andsecondary categories. While pri-mary milia are formed directlyfrom entrapped keratin, sec-ondary milia are formed whenthe skin surface is blocked owingto an injury, burn or blistering.“New-born milia are primarymilia and they develop sponta-neously. Adult milia may be pre-vented by regular exfoliation,which helps in keeping the accu-mulation of dead cells in con-trol,” says Dr Bhadani.

According to experts, miliaoften tend to recur in spite oftreatment, since the exact causesmay be difficult to ascertain.

Milia associated with otherskin conditions or injuries, canbe treated. “Vitamin A-basedretinoid creams can be tried forearly lesions. Surgical treat-ments like needling with manualexpression of the inside materi-al, curettage, electrofulguration,radiofrequency, and carbon diox-ide laser lead to immediateremoval of milia,” explains DrKantak. She however, cautionsthat the treatment should be per-formed by a trained dermatolo-gist. “In the wrong hands, it cancause scarring and post inflam-matory hyperpigmentation,” shewarns.

5Tuesday 1 September 2020

Deccan Chroniclebodylicious

YOGURT

It has natural enzymes that act with theacids in lemon to remove all dark

patches from the skin. It also nourishesthe skin and makes it smooth. Apply twotablespoons of yoghurt and a teaspoon oflemon juice. Mix it and apply it to thepatches. Leave it for about 20 minutesbefore and after that rinse off with water.

Get rid of Itchy skin

Do yyou ooften wwonder aabout hhow tto eeliminate tthose ddark sspots on yyour fface aand bbody? HHere aare ssome hhome rremedies tto mmask

your ddark sspots aand rrejuvenate yyour bbeauty.

MENTHOL:A part of essential oil plants ofthe mint family, Menthol has acooling effect and can helprelieve itching and pain.

INSTRUCTIONS:Apply menthol or menthol con-tained oil to areas of itchy skintwice a day for two weeks.Always dilute essential oils incarrier oil before applyingthem to the skin.

WET WRAP THERAPY (WWT):Apply water-soaked fabricwraps made ofgauze or surgicalnetting to areas ofitchy skin. Thesewraps rehydrateand soothe skinwhile providing abarrier that pro-tects scratching.

INSTRUCTIONS:Rub medications on the area ofitching followed by a layer ofmoisturiser. Moisten the wrapin warm water until it is damp.Wrap it around the itchy skinarea and hold them with ban-dages. Leave it for several hoursat night. Smoothly remove thewrap and wash the face.

COLLOIDAL OATMEAL:Colloidal oatmeal containsantioxidant and anti-inflam-matory properties whichcan reduce skin irrita-tion. Oatmeal dis-solved in water,

forms a protective barrier onthe surface of the skin, whichhelps to cover the moisture.

INSTRUCTIONS:Colloidal oatmeal is availablein creams and lotions. Chooseone that suits your skin. Addfinely grounded powder to bathwater alternatively. Dry theitchy skin area and apply mois-turiser.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR:Rich in acetic acid, Apple cidervinegar can act as antiseptic

and helps disin-fect the wound.

INSTRUCTIONS: Dilute the Applecider vinegar inwater. Apply thesolution to theitchy skin areaand let it dry and

rinse it with lukewarm water.Avoid this treatment if you havecracked and bleeding skin.

BAKING SODA:Baking soda contains antifun-gal properties and it is greatfor fungal and itchy skin condi-tions.

INSTRUCTIONS: Add one third cup of bakingsoda to a warm water to forma paste. Apply it onto itchyskin. Wash it with warmwater. Pet dry the skin andapply moisturiser.

—PC

● Clean the face with a mild cleanser

● Avoide harsh products on skin

● Remove make up especially aroundthe eyes before going to bed

● Avoid heavy oil based creams andmakeup

● Avoid strong facials, intense assages or harsh parlour/ homemadetreatments

● Always apply a good sunscreen

● Use topical retinoid

● Avoid poking or picking Milia

TIPS FFOR PREVENTING MMILIA

Itchy skin or pruritus can be uncomfortable and frustratingespecially for the people who experience it frequently.

According to doctors, itchy skin causes difficulty in sleeping,which can often lead to depression and anxiety. If not, itchy

skin might force one to scratch their skin, causing smalltears which can also lead to an infection. The common

causes may be insects bites, allergies, or other skin condi-tions such as eczema or psoriasis, but a few home remedies

and care can help one to get rid of it completely.

POTATOES

Potatoes have a bleaching propertythat helps to remove all dark patches

from the skin and makes skin tone even.Grate the potatoes, apply the juice andleave it for some time and then rinsewith lukewarm water. Finish it with yourfavourite moisturiser or serum.

Those irritating whitebumps on the skin……ARE HARMLESS, AND CCAN BE TTREATED TO AAN EXTENT, SSAY DERMATOLOGISTS

Freepik

Freepik

DC CCORRESPONDENT

‘Elephant poop tea’ isapparently the beverage of

choice (or no choice) in thejungle, at least if you’re withAkshay Kumar and BearGrylls!

The new teaser of the BearGrylls’ Into the Wild episodefeaturing Akshay Kumarshows the actor sipping on this‘brew’.

“I knew there would be stiffchallenges prior to#IntoTheWildWithBearGryllsbut @beargrylls completelysurprised me with the ele-phant poop tea. What a day!@discoverychannelin @dis-coveryplusindia (sic),” wroteAkshay, who shared the teaseron Instagram.

In the teaser, Bear Gryllsintroduces Akshay as a ‘leg-end’ known for his actionfilms, to which the actorreplies, “I am a reel hero, he isa real hero.” The trailer fea-tures some intrepid exploits ofthe two, including anencounter with a crocodile-infested river in Mysuru’s

Bandipur Tiger Reserve.The episode will premiere on

Discovery+ on September 11and air on Discovery Channelon September 14.

Akshay is shooting for hisupcoming spy thriller BellBottom in UK now. Dismissingrumours that the film is aremake of a Kannada movie,the actor asserted that it has“an original screenplayinspired by true events.”

Directed by Ranjit M Tewariand written by Aseem Arroraand Parveez Shaikh, the filmalso features Vaani Kapoor,Huma Qureshi and LaraDutta. It is scheduled to bereleased on April 2, 2021.

6Tuesday 1 September 2020

Deccan Chroniclespotlight

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Ace chef Vikas Khanna’srelentless efforts to feedthose who have been

affected by the pandemic situa-tion have helped millions to notgo to bed on an empty stomach.The Michelin Star chef ’s FeedIndia Campaign has not justgained national attention buthas also created a buzz interna-tionally.

He has been supplying food,sanitation kits and essentials tothe less-privileged sections ofsociety and the campaign hasalready touched 30 million peo-ple. Vikas, who is currently inthe US, ensures that food trucksreach even remote places whichare probably not even on mostmaps.

Besides meals, he has also dis-tributed 4,000,000 pairs offootwear and 2 million facemasks to those in need. Vikasnow plans to distribute 2 mil-lion meals during the ongoingGanesh Chaturthi festival. Themeal bags will first be sent tothe Siddhivinayak temple andLal Bagh Ka Raja and fromthere, they will be taken bytrucks to various locations fordistribution.

He also plans to send mealbags to his idols, LataMangeshkar, Neena Gupta,Farah Khan and Madhuri Dixit-

Nene, as a mark of respect andto seek their blessing.

As someone who believes inspreading joy during festivals,Vikas says, “Ganesh Pooja is avery special festival foreveryone in India andthere cannot be a betterday to celebrate it byfeeding those who arein need. No one shouldbe deprived of food onany day. Doing this forthe people of mycountry givesme immensejoy and sat-isfaction.”

This is not the first time thatVikas has made festivals joyousfor the underprivileged. He hasdistributed meals during Eidtoo. He also arranged for food

packets to be given tothousands of people

affected by the Assamfloods.

On the festival ofRakshabandhan, aspart of the Feed IndiaCampaign, the chef

also distributed 3 mil-lion sanitary pads towomen across thecountry.

Generous dose &helpings of love Vikas Khanna’s initiative attracts international notice

Wild exploits!

Akshay Kumar with Bear Grylls enjoying ‘elephant poop tea’

Akshay Kumar’s tryst with Bear Gryllspromises lots of action

DC CCORRESPONDENT

For Rajkummar Rao, it’s a dou-ble celebration — he himself is a

year older, and his hit film Stree hascompleted two years!

The day was made special for himnot only by wishes from his manyfriends, fans and co-stars, but alsofrom his girlfriend Patralekhaa.

Sharing three photos on Instagram,Patrelekhaa wrote, “Happy birthdayto the golden boy with a beautiful

heart.” Thank you for telling me#Rasodemeinkauntha #happybirth-dayrajkummarrao,” she added,tongue-in-cheek!

Anuhska Sharma and Farah Khanwere two others who wished theactor. “Happy Birthday to one of thefinest actors. Have an amazing oneRajkummar,” wrote Anushka, whileFarah Khan posted “Happy birthdaymy dearest @rajkummar_rao .. send-ing u loads of love till we can meetagain” on Instagram.

Anniversary joyRajkummar Rao celebrates birthday in style

In the teaser, Bear Gryllsintroduces Akshay as a‘legend’ known for hisaction films. The trailerfeatures an encounterwith a crocodile-infestedriver in Mysuru’sBandipur Tiger Reserve

LIPIKA VVARMA

Actor Darshan Kumar,whose latest release,

Ashram, directed byPrakash Jha, is turningout to be an audiencefavourite, is busydubbing for hiss o o n - t o - b e -r e l e a s e dFamily Man-2.

“We are tak-ing all precau-tions. It’s onlyme with a mikeand two or threeother peoplearound. So thereare no problems at all,”he says.

Darshan feels web seriesare a blessing in today’s try-ing times. “They are not onlykeeping the actors busy butthey are a blessing for direc-

tors, writers and every tech-nician too,” he says, adding,“Entertainment is essentialfor all. The shows on OTTplatforms are especially ben-

eficial as they can bewatched all over

the globeaccording to

people’s con-venience.”

Darshan’snext big pro-ject will beT o o f a n ,

u n d e rD i r e c t o r

Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra.

Though the filmwas announced in January2016 it began in August 2019.It was due to be released onSeptember 18, 2020.

About his role, he con-firms, “I play the antagonist,

a boxer, oppositeFarhan Akhtar.”

Elaborating, he says,“As an actor I do notconsider any characterto be positive or nega-tive. I just work on mycraft and portray thecharacter to the best ofmy abilities. I alwaysbelieve in the character Iperform so that it reachesthe audiences. Nowadays,the practice of categoris-ing actors under comedy,serious or villain roles isno more prevalent. Anactor plays any role that heagrees to take up.”

Darshan says Toofan iscomplete. But whether thefilm will have a theatricalrelease or come out on anOTT platform has to bedecided by Rakeysh andFarhan, he says.

7Tuesday 1 August 2020

Deccan Chroniclematinee

Tiger Shroff has been working hard ever since thedubbing studios started functioning after the unlockbegan. The actor has been dubbing for some secret

project at the late Adesh Shrivastava’s Avitesh Studios, aswell as having meets, virtual and face-to-face, to discussmovie ideas.

Apart from working on the Sajid Nadiadwala-backed sequelto Heropanti by Ahmed Khan, he has also okayed the Ramboremake. “There is a buzz that the film will now be directed byRohit Dhawan and will still have Siddharth Anand as the cre-

ative force behind it. And Tiger is also speakingto the director of Hrithik Roshan’s Super 30

— Vikas Bahl — for a film. It is a raw actionfilm which Vikas intends to do. He alreadyhas a film project with Amitabh Bachchanand Kriti Sanon for Balaji, and this projectwill fall into place depending on how theother films pan out,” says the source. At the time of going to press, Tiger had

still not signed on the dotted line though hehad expressed his willingness to do the film

after reading the final draft of thebound script. — Sanskriti Media

Shekhar’sin a film discussionThere’s a possibility that Shekar Kapur, onceone of the leading Indian filmmakers in

Hollywood along with the likes of ManojShyamalan, will be making a movie based on Amish

Tripathi’s Ram Chandra series of novels. It all beganwith a Twitter conver-sation.

In a chat revolvingaround his shelvedfilm Paani with thelate Sushant SinghRajput and his reac-tion to the actor’sdeath, among otherthings, a Twitter userasked Kapur to directa film on Tripathi’snovels, and the direc-tor said he would ifthe author was keenon the idea.

“If Amish Tripathiagrees, I would happi-ly do so,” he said.

Taking up thethread, Amish quick-ly tweeted, “Let thediscussions begin.”

We are not sure ifthe director of filmslike Masoom and Bandit Queen, and the Shiva Trilogywriter will decide to take things forward, but wellbegun is half done.

Tripathi’s book Suheldev-The Battle of Bahraich isslated to be made into a feature film by Ajay Devgn.

— Sanskriti Media

‘Farhan Akhtar will decide Toofan’s release’

Darshan Kumar

In ttalks wwith VVikas BBahl ffor aaction ffilm

Tiger is hardat work